Sister of Ravitz grateful to UCLA community
As the sister of Lee Ravitz, I wanted to take a moment to thank
writer Andrew Finley and the Daily Bruin for the spotlight piece on
my brother (“Being a sideline regular a full time job for
Ravitz,” Sports, May 13).
Autism is a very mysterious and frustrating illness, and Lee has
had many struggles; however, he has now found a routine and a
lifestyle that gives him joy. Part of the joy he feels is the
acceptance of others, and I cannot thank the people of UCLA and
Southern California for accepting Lee as he is and making him feel
a part of something.
Living up here in Olympia, Washington, it gives me a sense of
security to know good people are watching out for him and helping
to impact his life in such a positive way.
About five years ago, the UCLA women’s basketball team was
up playing a game at the University of Washington. My family went
to the game. Afterwards, I went down and introduced myself to Coach
Kathy Olivier and thanked her for her kindness to my brother. Her
assistant coach at the time, Willette White, along with Olivier,
said, “Lee is teaching us all about diversity.” I was
so touched by their comment and so grateful to everyone for their
acceptance of my brother. Thank you all.
Nelsa Brodie
Olympia, Washington
No need for UC to be attached to lab
In between afternoon naps and weekend retreats to his Texas
ranch, George W. Bush must have taken time out to watch “The
Core” in order to think of the brilliant idea of building a
Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator.
What’s even more alarming is that the University of
California, already under fire for mismanagement of the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, one of our nation’s three UC-run nuclear
research facilities, will be paying researchers through government
funding of this weapon at Los Alamos (“Bush may use labs run
by UC,” Daily Bruin, May 8).
We’re talking about the development of a bomb which might
not be able to contain its radioactive fallout underground,
according to the Daily Bruin article.
Even if the United States were able to build a nuclear bomb
“capable of destroying targets buried thousands of feet
underground,” according to deputy assistant Secretary of
Defense Fred Celec, what targets could possibly be that deep?
While it is important to bear in mind that at this stage funding
is only being allocated for research, it is research that leads to
the building of new nuclear bombs. I, for one, don’t want my
university’s name attached to such a project, and I believe
that the UC should take a stand against the Bush
administration’s nuclear policies.
Jonathan Shue
Second-year, theater
Sororities wrongly bashed in cartoon
We are writing this letter in response Jennifer Babcock’s
comic strip “C’est la Vie,” which failed in its
sad attempt at humor in last Thursday’s paper.
Babcock’s creation, Mona Montrois, claims, “I
“˜ate those God damned pants zat say “˜Uzeela’ or
“˜Theta’ on the rear ““ last thing I want eez to
“˜ave my attention brought to your nasty lumpy ass! Contrary
to ze stereotypical image of ze anorexic sorority girl, I found
many of zem to be just as blubbery as ze rest of America. Good God!
Next thing you’ll find out eez zat zey are actually smart!
Hoh Hoh Hoh!”
Before we address the numerous offenses that this comic strip
presents, we would first like to draw attention to the
distastefulness in printing this in the Daily Bruin. While it is in
poor form to make an example out of a single sorority, had any
other organization at UCLA been targeted by the comic strip in such
a fashion, we would be equally offended. Unfortunately, the search
for humor in the stereotypes of sorority girls only managed to make
the comic strip and the rest of the newspaper appear extremely
petty.
As members of the Greek System we are often confronted with the
stereotype that all sorority girls have eating disorders. Given
this, we would like to speak for all women and the struggles they
face with image problems. It certainly does not help to promote a
positive body image among young women when you poke fun at such a
sensitive subject for many people, possibly altering their
self-perceptions. However, as a group of healthy girls, we are glad
that we can negate your warped image of sorority girls.
As for the “clever” quip that questions our
intelligence, we would like to commend each of the 11 sororities on
campus who contribute to the All-Sorority GPA average, which
exceeds the All-Women GPA average at “Uzeela.” Also
ironic, you happened to single out the house recognized by the
Panhellenic Board of Southern California for outstanding
scholarship, maintaining the top position on the row for GPA all
throughout last year.
Perhaps in Babcock’s journalistic future she should better
research the subject of her castigation.
All “ze” best to you Babs,
Cara Cassidy, Sarah Komin, Shaina Lemmerman and Caroline
McCarthy
UCLA students
Students First! not at fault for rally
In her submission, “SF! should re-evaluate how it relates
to the student body” (Daily Bruin, May 21), Emily Currin
complains that she could not concentrate on her midterm because of
the rally to stop the increase on student fees. I am also in the
philosophy class she mentioned and was taking the same midterm she
was. While one could hear the rally going on outside, it was not so
loud that one could concentrate. In fact, I was able to take the
midterm without any problems.
The rally has been an event planned for months ahead of time,
and Student Affairs allowed Royce Quad to be used. It would have
been impossible to change the location of the rally while it was
going on, as Currin had asked. Even the professor of that
philosophy class agreed that the organizers were not at fault. If
there was anyone to blame, it would be those who allocated the
space.
Furthermore, it is a shame that Currin doesn’t understand
the issues surrounding the proposed fee increase. Maybe her family
can afford that increase, but there are many other students on this
campus who will be unable to. This dramatic increase could mean
that these students will not be able to afford to go to UCLA and
will be forced to drop out. These students do not see a protest of
the student fee increase as “selfishness disguised with
democratic fervor.”
The Students First! officers on USAC have also done other things
for all students on this campus. They fought to maintain and expand
BruinGo! when the administration wanted to get rid of it. They
fought against minimum progress, which is forcing more students to
take more classes than they can handle.
I invite Currin to look past her own experiences and try to
understand that Students First! lives up to its name.
Kian Boloori
Second-year, world arts and cultures and philosophy
“Love Matters” insert should not be
published
There are the three fundamental problems with
“lovematters.com:” First, it is religiously
oriented (conservative Christian), as evidenced by the presence of
Dr. Laura, The Newsboys, and a section on the Bible’s
responses to “love, sex, lust, temptation, and purity.”
Second, the publication’s arguments are based in appeals to
pathos and flawed logic, sometimes bordering on blatant lies about
the risks and after-effects of abortion. Third, it makes an
erroneous connection between a pro-life stance and a woman’s
self-esteem and strength of character. I am pro-choice and can
honestly say that I do not suffer any self-esteem problems due to
my stance ““ quite the opposite, in fact.
Considering the extreme conservatism of our current presidential
administration, I am actually not surprised that
“lovematters.com” (which is itself a misleading title
““ whatever love advice is contained in the publication is
fundamentally biased) found its way into the Daily Bruin on
Wednesday, May 21st.
However, we should keep in mind that it is quite possible that
our esteemed President will be able to soon choose a new member of
the Supreme Court. Therefore, those of us who may be undecided on
the abortion issue should not believe the erroneous information
that is so prettily packaged by
“lovematters.com.” The Daily Bruin deserves strong
criticism for allowing this shameful publication to be included
with its regular newspaper. I would encourage all men and women to
get the facts before they make up their minds about abortion,
and not to be swayed by propaganda such as
“lovematters.com.”
Megan Rancier
Graduate student, UCLA Dept. of Ethnomusicology