Letters
Out of Bosnia
Editor:
In Monday’s Dec. 4 editorial, "Despite risks, U.S.
intervention
necessary," you state that the reason for U.S. intervention into
Bosnia is
for humanitarian reasons. But while the reasons may be
humanitarian, its
effects won’t be.
There will be pillage, death, and screams of anger of why
American men
and women lost their lives in a conflict that neither Congress
or the
American people supported in the first place. So much for the
idea of
democracy.
Atrococities will continue whether America is there or not. And
why?
Because if Bosnia and Serbia couldn’t make peace before, do you
seriously
think there will suddenly be peace when American soldiers arrive
on the
scene? In fact, the situation will only get worse because now
American
lives will be lost. Peace will only be guaranteed in the region
if the
people who live in the region make peace themselves.
Like World War I, or Vietnam, the situation will only worsen as
more and
more countries get involved in a situation that didn’t begin
with them in
the first place.
We should get the hell out of there, before more lives are
lost.
And what is so "humanitarian" about lives being lost?
Frank Atwood
Junior
Civil and Environmental EngineeringAltering coverage
Editor:
G. Lynn Svensson expresses concern ("Better health care coverage
needed
by SAGE members," Nov. 29) that some academic student employees
do not have
the same range of choices regarding health insurance coverage as
do the
UCLA faculty, staff or even certain other classifications of
academic
student employees. To illustrate the result of this diminished
choice in
health coverage, Svensson notes several procedures and coverage
options
included in other insurance plans that are not available under
the
University’s Medical Insurance Program.
Without addressing the Students Association of Graduate
Employees and
unionization issue that is the bulk of the article, I would like
to inform
Svensson, SAGE and all students receiving Medical Insurance
Program
coverage that a mechanism does exist to alter the benefits
available under
that insurance program.
The Student Health Advisory Committee is composed of both
graduate and
undergraduate students who are appointed by the Graduate
Students
Association and the Undergraduate Students Association. One of
the
committee’s duties is to serve as the official student adjunct
during the
negotiating process, which leads to the adoption of the Medical
Insurance
Program insurance underwriter, as well as the coverage options
provided by
the Medical Insurance Program.
During the next eight to 10 weeks, advisory committee members
will
engage in discussion and negotiations regarding the very
coverage issues
that Svensson mentions: detox and rehabilitation, dependent
coverage,
domestic partner coverage and inclusion of birth control
prescriptions,
among other issues.
We invite all Medical Insurance Program enrollees, including
SAGE, to
contact us regarding Medical Insurance Program coverage issues
so that we
may adequately represent student concerns as we contract for
future-year
Medical Insurance Program coverage.
Comments may be left at the information desk in Student Health
Services,
on our voice-mail at 206-3369 or via e-mail at
shac@asucla.ucla.edu.
Chuck Russell-Coons
Co-chair
Student Health Advisory CommitteePedal power
Editor:
The irony of UCLA’s most recent decision to crackdown on
cyclists is
that the administration has successfully pitted cyclist against
pedestrian
while keeping any criticism of UCLA’s autocentric policies at
bay.
We of the UCLA Cycling Club support the restriction of
bicyclists from
sidewalks and pedestrian paths. We believe as much in
nonpolluting foot
power as in pedal power. What we do not support, however, is the
creation
of a bicyclehostile campus in the midst of an autooriented
environment.
While UCLA pursues a policy to restrict bicycle parking on
campus to an
inadequate number of spaces in inconvenient locations, it
simultaneously
maintains 16,083 parking places for cars. Forty bicycles
(including racks)
could fit into the space allotted for one parking place.
Further, to
provide parking for these 40 bicycles would cost a lot less than
the
$23,600 it costs to build and maintain one auto parking place at
UCLA.
For those hundreds of students, staff and faculty that do arrive
by
bicycle each day to UCLA, however, the Cycling Club demands that
UCLA do
everything within its power to provide them with supportive
policy
decisions and infrastructure.
This shouldn’t include impoundment of bicycles or "crackdowns"
on
cyclists. The Cycling Club calls for the creation of a
bicyclefriendly
campus. We demand the immediate removal of any bicycle parking
restrictions
plus the provision of new rack spaces for bicycles.
We applaud UCLA for initiating the planning process for two bike
lanes,
but we feel this falls short of the need for an entire bike lane
network on
campus.
For those of us who cannot afford a car, auto insurance or a
parking
permit, bicycling, the bus or walking are our only available
alternatives.
UCLA needs to recognize our needs as much as it does its
car-dependent
constituency. While we support UCLA’s recent policy decision to
protect
pedestrians, we protest its unfriendly policies toward those of
us who
pedal to campus in an effort to keep the air a little cleaner
and the roads
a little less congested.
Virginia Parks
Representative
UCLA Cycling Club