Letters to the Editor

Thank you Sutton for your column

I am relieved to finally see a Daily Bruin columnist make an
eloquent argument (“Patriotic war fever unjustly bars
criticism,” April 18) against the current air of McCarthyism
that seems to be invading our country. I too have been alarmed by
incidents like the cancelation of the “Bull Durham”
celebration and the backlash against professors for simply giving
their opinions on the war. The leaders of the country are at the
head of this movement, with the U.S. House wasting time on the
ridiculous “Freedom Fries” resolution.

Essentially, all this has created an atmosphere in which we are
allowed our right to free speech only when we agree with the
president. Everyone has their own opinions, but we should welcome
as many different opinions on the war as we can find ““
including those of France and of UCLA professors.

“Silence,” Sutton writes, “is the true
danger.” Thank you Sutton for standing up for what some of us
love about this country: the right to hear and be heard.

Kartik Krishnan
Third-year
Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics

Pacifism not always the answer

It’s one thing to say the war in Iraq is
unjustified. However, to say all war is wrong is simply
naive. In her column, “Patriotic war fever unjustly bars
criticism” (April 18), Jenna Sutton claims that “other
factors” could have led to a peaceful alternative for
dealing with Nazi Germany. Maybe Hitler would have died
of a heart attack before he killed the rest of the European
Jews. Maybe he would have stepped down once
he conquered all of Europe. Right. 

To put it bluntly, if Gandhi lived in the Third Reich,
he’d have been smoke up a chimney faster than you can say
“non-violent resistance.”Â Sutton should stick to
speaking out against this war. She’s out on quite a limb
protesting World War II.

 Jonathan Solnit
Fourth-year
Electrical engineering

Dahle protects aspiring student groups

I found the Daily Bruin editorial board’s April 15 claim
that “there is no reason the Chess Club should be receiving
financial support from students” to be particularly pompous
(“USAC needs to learn from Dahle’s
mistakes”).

The offhanded dismissal of any student group as unworthy of
support reeks of prejudice. Any student’s money will inevitably end
up being used for at least a few groups he or she doesn’t
personally support. But every group deserves the right to make a
case (before unbiased judges) for how it can bring something
valuable to the UCLA community.

It is up to the elected and appointed student representatives of
the Undergraduate Students Association Council Budget Review
Committee to decide if a student group’s contributions to the
campus merit financial support; it is not up to the Daily Bruin
editorial board.

If true diversity is important, then funding more groups than
ever before is certainly something to boast about. Four years ago I
co-founded a unique student group that received USAC funding for
the first time this year. So I can attest firsthand to the merit of
the reformed system USAC President David Dahle has brought about.
He has provided valuable protection for aspiring student groups
against exclusionary opinions, like those of the editorial
board.

Jason Finley
Fifth-year
Cognitive science