L.A. cemetery should be open to all

In a city where the car already reigns supreme, cyclists and
pedestrians just suffered another blow. Recently, the Department of
Veterans Affairs decided to close access to the Los Angeles
National Cemetery to bicyclists, runners and walkers alike. The
reason? Apparently passing through the cemetery is
disrespectful.

It’s a bit puzzling that the VA would come to this
conclusion now, after over three decades of cyclist and pedestrian
access. The decision has infuriated many UCLA students, including
myself. First of all, by closing the cemetery, the VA has closed
the only safe passageway between UCLA and neighboring Brentwood.
Without access to the cemetery, people commuting to and from UCLA
by foot or bike from Brentwood are forced to choose between the
lesser of two evils. They can either brave the bumper-to-bumper
parking lot that is Wilshire and the 405 on-ramp, or opt to take
their chances with the high-speed traffic racing down Sepulveda
Boulevard. With most Angelino drivers wielding cellular phones,
horns and an obliviousness that effectively renders them blind,
it’s not easy being a two-wheeled or two-footed traveler in
this city. The cemetery provides the only safe haven for cyclists
and pedestrians.

The VA claims by using this route, UCLA students are being
disrespectful to the cemetery. I don’t recall ever
disrespecting the cemetery and neither do any of the members of the
UCLA cycling team or any of the runners who routinely use the
cemetery on their way into Brentwood. In fact, as I silently pass
through during my morning cycling training sessions, I am routinely
reminded of the men and women who proudly served our nation. With
the current war, this reminder seems ever more important. UCLA
cyclist Chris Iokimedes said it best when he wrote to the UCLA
cycling team: “It is impossible not to think of those who
rest there and sometimes read a name from a headstone. To me, that
is showing both respect and remembrance. Just what we all want.
These men and women who served our country do not want to be
isolated and forgotten. I submit that they want to be remembered in
some way, even if only by a passing bicyclist.” I agree.

Opening the cemetery opens the minds of all those who pass
through, even if only for a minute. It reminds them of the price of
freedom.

I find it unfair that while Hollywood is still allowed to enter
the cemetery for filming, ordinary taxpaying citizens are not
allowed to pass through on bicycles or during a mid-morning stroll.
While the VA is not required by any means to allow anyone to pass
through the cemetery and neighboring hospital grounds, it has been
graciously doing so for years. Why stop now?

The VA contends that the cemetery must remain closed so that
passersby do not interfere with burial proceedings. While I
completely agree that we should not interfere with such honorable
practices, I also believe that the VA needs to compromise, if only
for the good of cyclists, pedestrians and the community. Burials
are a rare event at the Los Angeles National Cemetery, and the
grounds need only be closed during these times. The extreme
measures the VA is taking are outrageous and detrimental to an
already endangered species in Los Angeles: the pedestrian.
Hopefully the VA will reconsider its actions before we cyclists and
pedestrians go extinct.

Voisen is a fourth-year computer science student.