Letters to the editor

Submission too narrow In their submission
“Affirmative Action aims to fight disadvantaged” (Oct.
30), Karen Salazar and Eric Lopez have insulted thousands of
students across the UC system with their talk of “white
privilege” and the exclusion of “people of
color.” They have blatantly failed to even recognize the very
existence of Asian Americans in society ““ implying that
Asians such as myself do not even deserve consideration when
discussing an issue dealing with race and ethnicity. The Office of
the President has estimated that this year’s class of 2003 is
nearly 32.7 percent Asian American ““ a group that consists of
Chinese, East Filipino, Indian/Pakistani, Japanese, Koreans and
Vietnamese as well as “other Asians.” These statistics
clearly show that nearly a third of all admits to the UC system are
not white and not the underrepresented minorities considered
“people of color” by the likes of Salazar and Lopez. So
where does that leave Asians in the equation? Apparently, if it
were up to Salazar and Lopez, we just wouldn’t count. Even if
one were to look at the “flagship” campuses of UCLA and
Berkeley ““ which they like to tout as the real indicators of
the need for affirmative action ““ a cold hard look at the
facts will show that a majority of admits are not white. In fact,
not even a plurality of admits are white. I wonder very much
whether Salazar and Lopez have been attending class lately, because
they certainly haven’t looked around campus and realized that
Asians compose a significant portion of the student body. Perhaps
they need to wake up out of their fantasy world of “white
privilege” before seeking to promote policies that
disenfranchise entire ethnic groups.

Daniel Chang Second-year, political science

Criticism stems from education Contrary to Alan
Dershowitz’s claim, I am not a member of some vast campaign
to attack his book. Unlike Dershowitz, I am not well-funded.
Rather, I am a young woman who has gone to a great effort to
educate herself on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a
desire to help bring peace to those two peoples. In my
opinion, a just peace is not only necessary for the safety
of both peoples, but also for the security of
Americans. 

Sarah Weir UC Berkeley Alumna

Biases hurt Mexican women It’s a sad
commentary about the status of Mexican women that they must ask for
help from Americans and others to shame Mexico’s government
into properly investigating hundreds of shocking torture-murders of
young women in Juarez (“Conference to raise awareness of
ongoing murders in Mexico,” Oct. 31) The careless criminal
inquiry demonstrates that a decade-long series of barbaric murders
of females count for little in Mexican society, where traditional
values of machismo and sexism still rule. For example, one
government official blamed the crimes on the women’s short
skirts. Another suggested that Juarez women follow a midnight
curfew. Latin culture remains imbued with the belief that brutality
against women is a man’s right. The Washington Post reported
last year that “when it comes to punishing sexual violence
against women, surprisingly little has changed in a century. In
many parts of Mexico, the penalty for stealing a cow is harsher
than the punishment for rape.” In 19 of Mexico’s 31
states, the laws require that statutory rape charges be dropped if
the rapist is willing to marry his victim. Deluded feminists who
believe the multicultural fantasy that all cultures are morally and
behaviorally equivalent are simply not paying attention to the
evidence. The mass immigration of millions of Mexicans with no
requirement that they assimilate to American values of gender
equality presents a less secure future for women’s rights and
safety.

Brenda Walker Project Director,
www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org

Ralphs rally disruptive Regarding the recent
“protest” at Ralphs ““ shame on these students
(“Rally takes strike inside Westwood Ralphs,” Oct. 30).
Going to a grocery store to destroy food and interrupt legitimate
business operations? A nuisance at best, criminal at worst. Perhaps
Mike Quiñones, director of Westwood Ralphs, could have the
next round of protesters arrested for trespassing and destruction
of property, then maybe they could take some time to consider their
actions. Otherwise, I suggest they assault the replacement workers
and slash the tires on Metro buses. That’ll really send a
message.

Nicholas Keezer UCLA Alumnus

The article entitled “Rally takes strike inside Westwood
Ralphs” by Caitlin Roberson tried to make those 40
students seem like heroes for the labor union. However, the more I
read the article, the more disgusted I became. By purposely trying
to spoil Ralphs’ products, these students were
committing vandalism. I see it as no different than if a
student had walked into the store and began destroying eggs and
pouring out milk onto the ground. Their fun only ended because one
of the students finally decided to break something obvious enough
that the manager could call the police. Like an admission of guilt,
the participants as a whole, not the one culprit who broke the
vase, left the store to avoid police. Don’t run if you are
not guilty. Besides, you don’t see Ralphs’ workers
inside the store stomping on bread or filling up isles, do you? I
agree with the labor union’s right to free speech, but I
do not agree with any student supporting this good cause with
tactics such as vandalism. What’s next? Students getting on
buses, spraying graffiti, and cutting up the seats? Here’s a
little tip for these hooligans for next week: even if it was not
the collective goal to destroy products, the foul actions of a few
can ruin the message of the whole.

Michiaki Kono Third-year, cognitive science

Hovannisian’s column notable I found
Garin Hovannisian’s column “Forest care better in
private hands” (Oct. 29) to be fascinating. I was especially
impressed by the quote from Washington at the end, which compared
government to a fire ““ it was very appropriate, given the
context. It’s truly refreshing to see such talent in someone
so young ““ a first-year student ““ and it’s all
the more inspiring that the writer is an advocate of hands-off
government and laissez-faire capitalism. I can’t wait to read
more of Hovannisian’s articles!

Daniel O’Connor Third-year graduate student,
mathematics