Letters to the editor

Bruin needs to cover more sports

For the duration of my time at UCLA, I have read the Daily Bruin
almost every day. Being an athlete, I pay quite a bit of attention
to the sports section. I have noticed that sports like football and
basketball receive the most coverage and support from the paper.
This is not surprising, only a bit frustrating.

What about the slightly unconventional sports, or the sports
that do not have NCAA status because of Title IX? What about all
the students that have absolutely no interest in football,
basketball or track? These are great sports, but the fact is not
everybody likes nor plays any of the sports focused on in The
Bruin. UCLA is a school that prides itself on its diversity. No
sport is better than any other. Students should be aware that there
are other sports out there to pursue.

I fence for the UCLA fencing team. At the last tournament, we
took third place in our league; we did this with almost no funding
from the school. The fencing team here at UCLA, even though it is
just a club, is exceptional and consistently beats out NCAA
teams.

Up until 1997, UCLA’s fencing team was NCAA, when it lost
its NCAA status due to political reasons of which the details are
not clear. But sports should not be about politics or the amount of
money the school can generate, but rather about the people that
play as teams and work together with their love for the game as a
common bond.

Diane Meier Third-year, philosophy

Agenda, not views, vital in presidency bid

With the failed campaign of independent Doug Ludlow, which was
endorsed by both the Daily Bruin and the Bruin Democrats in the
Undergraduate Students Association Council primary election, the
undergraduate student body is left with polarized faction leaders
for the office of USAC president. After days of deliberating the
impact either Allende Palma/Saracho or Josh Lawson would have in
office, the Bruin Democrats has chosen to endorse Lawson in the
USAC runoffs because of his commitment to true campus equality and
unity.

The decision to endorse Lawson was by no means unanimous.
Officers have raised serious questions about the ideological
beliefs of Lawson, whose reportedly conservative views not only
conflict with the Bruin Democrats’ platform, but with much of
the general student body’s preferences, as well. Lawson has
not clearly affirmed nor denounced the speculation that his voting
record reveals a possible discriminative personal belief
system.

Despite these concerns, the officers also generally agree with
Lawson’s assertion that the USAC presidential election is not
about ideological views but campus agendas. We support
Lawson’s prioritization of equal access funding for all
student groups, USAC voting reform, campaigning against student fee
increases, and creating a more accessible student government.

In the past 10 years, there is no doubt that Students First! has
given a valiant effort to protect the rights of underrepresented
students at UCLA. Unfortunately, SF! dogmatically adheres to its
agenda that primarily benefits the funded advocacy groups already
in power ““ even if it means disregarding Supreme Court
rulings. While official organizations’ executives receive
stipends, political and religious organizations struggle just for
an office to store tabling supplies.

Josh Lawson took action on this issue, initiating a cooperative
effort between the Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans on the
bipartisan independent group funding issue earlier this year. No
comparable effort was ever made by Palma/Saracho or SF! to expand
resource rights to political or religious groups. Students First!
has had its time to take care of unfinished business as the
incumbent slate, but Bruin Democrats is not satisfied with the
status quo.

The Bruin Democrats will in no way shift from its political
platform, but will reach out across the party line for the
well-being of the UCLA community to endorse Josh Lawson for USAC
president.

Kristina Doan, Derek Lowrey, Lauren Miller, Morgan
Miller, Scott Nenni, Joline Price and Greg Wannier Bruin Democrats
Executive Board 2004-2005

Media must show gruesome images

In response to this week’s Send Your Thoughts question
about whether newspapers should show graphic images if they are
central to the story, I feel these images should be acceptable
because they are critical in understanding the situation going on
in the Middle East.

The American public should be accustomed to the violence we so
abundantly see on TV shows and in the movies. Though this is real
life, violence is occurring whether we like it or not. I feel that
the response to Abu Ghraib is a retaliation to the killing the U.S.
Army has done.

I understand that Nick Berg was beheaded, which is a terrible
way to die, but showing portions of the video allows us as a nation
to realize the injustices and hatred we are causing others
(including innocent Nick Berg) by taking actions such as going to
war.

Mona Amin First-year, psychobiology