Letters to the editor

Professors have the right to opine

It disgusts me that some students here think professors should
be forbidden from voicing their political opinions for the fear
that it might infect the students. 

In that case, parents shouldn’t preach their political
views at the dinner table, and political analysts should not be on
television. Students here need to realize professors are people
too, and they have a right to voice their opinions. In fact, I for
one am very interested in the opinions of people with a higher
education. 

It is good that professors voice their opinions. Those who
listen and understand that it is only one opinion are fortunate
enough to be exposed to other views, and those who are so ignorant
as to think that all of what their professors say is fact are
better off with the political opinion of someone much smarter than
they are.

Tom Berger Second-year, aerospace
engineering

Syria is a major threat

The editorial “U.S. plays bully with threats against
Syria” (April 15) highlights the editorial board’s lack
of understanding in regard to the entire Middle East. The editorial
board claims that Syria is not as threatening to the United States
as was Hussein’s fallen regime and that Syrian-supported
terrorists only occasionally attack Israel.

This could not be further from the truth. Hezbollah, which is
funded by Iran and Syria, is the terrorist organization that has
killed more Americans than any other organization besides al-Qaeda.
Hezbollah’s attacks on an U.S. embassy in Lebanon and U.S.
military barracks were acts of terrorism later mimicked by
al-Qaeda.

Today, with the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the
arrest of many high-level al-Qaeda leaders, several top officials
(like CIA Director George J. Tenent) consider Hezbollah to be a
bigger terrorist threat to Americans than al-Qaeda.

Furthermore, if Syria openly supports such a murderous
organization and can possibly give them chemical weapons to use on
our ally, Israel, should we just sit around and wait for them to do
so as the editorial suggests?

Gal Sitty Second-year, international
economics

Professors should speak out

As one of the faculty members who spoke and voted for the
Academic Senate’s resolution, I would like to address the
qualms expressed by the students interviewed in “Speaks
Out” (April 16) concerning faculty voicing their opinions on
such matters such as war.

Two points:

First, our resolution concerns preventive war in general, not
just our attack on Iraq. Point one of the resolution reads,
“We deplore the doctrine of preventive war espoused by the
President of which the invasion of Iraq is the first
application.” Our resolution would equally deplore a U.S.
attack on Syria, or an Egyptian attack on Israel (which has weapons
of mass destruction and which Egypt rightly sees as a threat).

Second, the Bush administration is currently floating the idea
of an attack on Syria. The United States needs to hear voices in
opposition ““ not just mine, or yours, but those of voting
blocs like labor unions or academics.

As a former colleague (and vice chancellor of the UCLA Graduate
Division), Vicki Fromkin used to repeat to me, “All it takes
for the world to go to hell is for enough good people to remain
silent.”

Edward L. Keenan Professor and chairman of
linguistics