Letters:

Schwartz fails in understanding ruling

His proclamations of atheism and boyish grin notwithstanding,
Joel Schwartz has a religious agenda. It is quite simply
inconceivable for an atheist to ever conclude a column by
suggesting anyone “thank God” for anything.

Despite his histrionics about what this ruling would lead to,
his assumptions are premised on a faulty understanding of the
ruling. The ruling does not prohibit anyone from reciting what they
please. Rather, it will prohibit teachers and other government
employees from promoting a version which violates the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment. Understanding that, one can
eliminate 80 percent of his rambling column.
-Philip Cziao

UCLA MCCS

Professors, divestment commendable

I was shocked to read three letters protesting the UC professors
who want to force the university to divest from Israel, and not one
supporting this movement. I applaud these professors for their
efforts and for seeing the humanitarian abuses that Israel afflicts
upon Palestinians. Those in doubt of these abuses should take a
look at an unbiased source ““ they will find documentation of
Israel’s human rights abuses and apartheid-like
measures.
-Leyla Ozgur

Margin of victory crucial to BCS rankings

Gilbert Quinonez is mistaken if he doesn’t think margin of
victory plays a role in determining how good teams are. Margin
of victory analysis is more than just the raw score of points
scored versus points allowed. It also takes into account the
greatness of the opponent.

If Miami beats Central Florida 84-0 and in the same week
Florida State beats Florida 64-3, who do you think is the stronger
team? How can you possibly say FSU ? Miami had a higher margin of
victory. But now let’s also consider when Colorado beat
Kansas State 42-38 and then Nebraska beat KSU 55-3; who do you
think is the stronger team? I’d hate to have margin of
victory thrown out and see Colorado or any other team get the same
credit when performances like that are turned in. A win is not just
a win.

The computers with margin of victory assist the process and in
the end, they only make up 1/8 of the Bowl Championship Series
since they are diluted by computers without margin of victory
analysis. It’s up to coaches and sports writers to also think
about their picks and to recognize that maybe Colorado didn’t
win by as much because it was 40 below zero degrees and 90 miles
per hour winds. I’m sorry that you are so incapable of
actually analyzing performance that you couldn’t imagine
incorporating a margin of victory component. I would have expected
more from someone who claims to know sports and competition on any
level.
-Anthony Frisbie