Letters to the editor

Cohen should be praised

Irene Basa’s column “Military base protests
misdirected, illogical” (Feb. 11) was as misdirected and
illogical as she claims the protests at Fort Benning were. Coming
from a Salvadorian family, I can verify that no one in my family
felt degraded by the protest that took place at Fort Benning.
Instead, they avidly supported it.

Graduates of School of Americas committed some of the most
atrocious and barbarous acts during EL Salvador’s civil war.
These notorious men embody what SOA should really stand for: School
of Assassins. They were trained to brutally kill, and brutally kill
they did. Supporting a school of this sort is morally wrong, and
Seth Cohen and the other protesters should not be criticized for
having the courage to take action.

Cynthia Aguilar Second-year, cognitive
science

Delrahim is also uninformed

Shiva Delrahim’s viewpoint “Accusations against
Israel, Bush ignorant” (Feb. 11) is itself uninformed and
misleading. What kind of democracy does not have internationally
recognized borders? The contention with the
“territories” is that the occupation is indeed a
military occupation that tyrannizes Palestinians. Curfews, military
checkpoints, illegal house demolitions, undue process of law and
segregationist policies seek to humiliate the inhabitants to
force them to finally leave. If that is not ethnic
cleansing, I don’t know what is.

Muneer Adhami Fourth-year, political
science

Guns shouldn’t be part of education

I am writing in regard to the abhorrent commentary “Armed
student body better crime deterrent,” (Feb. 10) urging the
UCLA student population to come to school packing hand guns. Is the
kind of environment we desire for an institution of higher learning
one where students carry around textbooks, calculators and Glocks
in their backpacks?

Schwartz’s recommendation is paranoid, reactionary, and
just plain absurd. We need fewer guns, not more, in this country.
Unless residents of the Hill are actually a “well-regulated
militia,” I think we better keep guns where they belong, in
shooting ranges and for game hunting. I hope our legislators take
heed when listening to hyper-libertarian or neo-conservative
zealots like Schwartz and keep a tight control over guns.

Dean J. Garrett UCLA Alumnus