Letters to the editor

Senate issue needs balanced analysis

In the letter to the editor “USAC should hear out
potential reforms” (Feb. 28), the author alleges that members
of the Undergraduate Students Association Council have tried to
“suppress the labors” of a student.

If I remember correctly, the majority of USAC councilmembers
were simply making their voices heard on the issue of the proposed
senate system. After all, up to that point only opinions favoring
the senate system had been heard.

Also, at the very same meeting USAC President Allende
Palma/Saracho respectfully thanked Brian Neesby for putting so much
time and thought into his senate proposal. Should the current
council not be thanked for our thoughtful response?

The student also incorrectly implies that only members of
Students First! are against the proposed senate system. Perhaps she
overlooked the fact that three out of four of the independent
councilmembers are also against the senate proposal. Or maybe the
student disregarded that five of the seven commissions think the
commission-based council is necessary for the work that we do?

Not to mention that these same five commissions (Academic
Affairs, Campus Events, Cultural Affairs, Community Service and
Student Welfare) are the five largest commissions that do the most
programming and advocacy work.

The truth of the matter is that the proposed senate system has
many implications that need to be addressed and publicized to the
students. Only by viewing the senate system holistically and with
critical consciousness can students make an informed decision on
whether or not the 40-year-old commissioner-based system should be
replaced.

Crystal Lee USAC Community Service
commissioner

UCLA arts are happening

I disagree with Daniel Miller’s criticism of the UCLA
Happenings campaign in his column, “Not much seems to be
happening with UCLA’s new campaign” (News, Feb. 28).
His inaccurate portrayal is a stigmatized view of the arts as a
pedantic and inaccessible pursuit. If Mr. Miller would like to
criticize the Fowler and Hammer museums for not being the Louvre,
then he is missing the point.

If he bothered to look, he might see an array of events any UCLA
student could appreciate, such as spoken word by David Sedaris and
Sarah Vowell, jazz by Wynton Marsalis and Wayne Shorter, rare film
screenings at the Film and Television Archive, Yo Yo Ma, incredible
dance and theater and a wealth of exciting speakers and events
around campus. Besides New York, this is one of the only places
students can experience the profusion of culture that we are
blessed with. Considering our extraordinary wealth of riches, we
should not be so culturally apathetic. Without the Happenings Web
site, discerning events on campus would be nearly impossible.

I feel Miller’s column was biased against the arts from
the start, and is an example of what belongs in the editorials
rather than on page one, where it might be misconstrued as news or,
worse yet, truth.

Rahim Kurwa First-year, political science