Letters

Discrimination against

Greek system is unacceptable

I find it interesting that a main point of the submission,
“Denim Day helps to change stereotypes of sexual
assault” (April 22), was an argument relating fraternities to
date rape.

Fraternities are not one of the first things associated with
date rape. Alcohol, bars, drugs, etc. are the things that come to
my mind. These are not things upon which a fraternity is based. A
fraternity is based upon brotherhood, integrity, trust, duty, honor
and respect.

The author is obviously biased against males (you noticed that
sororities were not mentioned); however, this is something that is
embraced in today’s world. It is time that people like this
author stop generalizing groups based upon what they see in
movies.

I can assure you that I have never seen my fraternity in events
like those in scenes from “Old School.” If there is a
claim to be made against fraternities and sororities ““ groups
that actively work to better themselves and their community ““
I suggest that it be made, rather than left as an unsubstantiated
side comment.

One of the true remaining socially accepted (types of)
discrimination on campus is against fraternity and sorority
communities. It is time that people stop making statements about
something of which they know nothing. If the author truly wants to
stop misinformation and prevent incorrect attitudes, she will give
an apology.

Brent Barrett

Second-year, aerospace engineering 

Media fail to disclose whole truth

I read with dismay the letter by Chey Tor, “Academic
Senate Unprofessional” (April 17), which stated that seven of
10 Americans support the war in Iraq.

The reason the Bush administration has garnered this high
approval rating for war is the slanted, Pentagon-driven reporting
by most major media sources in the United States. The networks have
consistently only carried a single, pro-administration point of
view throughout the build-up of war and during the conflict. We
only saw retired general “analysts” that delivered a
sanitized version of the atrocities of the war. At the same time,
the media failed to show the true horrors the rest of the world
witnessed.

Most importantly, the media totally failed to highlight the many
lies the administration fabricated to justify the war to the
American people. We never heard about the plagiarized Tony Blair
dossier that Bush used as evidence supporting invasion in his State
of the Union address when he used fear tactics to gain American
support.

I believe that if the American people had heard the truth during
the build up to war, the 70 percent approval rating would have been
vastly lower. Americans can be reasonable if they know the
facts.

What amazes me most about letters such as Tor’s is that a
UCLA student did not take the effort to look beyond the surface.
The truth is there, you just need the motivation to look
deeper.

Dean J. Garrett

Class of 1988