LETTERS
Abortion warrants punishment
I appreciated the fine intellectual arguments that Patrick Friel
made in his column "Activists often go to extremes" (Viewpoint,
Feb. 24). They were a welcome relief to the jokes that other Bruin
columnists try to pass off as columns. Yet, despite his
well-represented arguments, I must disagree.
Friel argues that members of the pro-life cause either don’t
believe that abortion is murder and have fallen prey to fiery
rhetoric, or that if they do really believe that it is murder, then
they lack the courage to back up their convictions.
He bases this argument on the relatively few terrorist attacks
carried out against abortionists. And he sees in our society the
prevailing attitude that the punishment for murder is death and
that there should, logically, be more people carrying out justice
against abortionists.
This argument, however, is inherently flawed because it assumes
that people will automatically carry out justice as they perceive
it – with total disregard for the law.
I am not a victim of a politician’s fiery rhetoric. I have
analyzed the issue from an intellectual standpoint and I truly
believe that abortion is murder in the fullest sense of the word. I
also believe that death is the just penalty for the act of murder.
Furthermore, it is my strongest desire to see abortionists pay the
full penalty for their actions.
The reason that I do not administer this justice myself,
however, is not because I lack the convictions or courage, but
because I respect the rule of law that exists in this country. I do
not believe in taking the law into my own hands. If everybody did
this, we would have anarchy. Rather, it is the responsibility of
our legitimately elected government to punish criminals.
Even though this government’s policies are not aligned with my
convictions, I still do not have the right to engage in
vigilantism.
Instead, using the rights that this rule of law has given me, I
will use the soap box and the ballot box to get the government to
do its rightful duty which is to punish abortionists as
murderers.
Ryan Bradel
First-year
Political science
Paper delivery isn’t slave labor
I am writing in response to Matthew Gever’s column "Sweatshops
offer good jobs, chance to achieve better life" (Viewpoint,
Feb.25). I suppose these American newspaper boys to which Gever
refers support themselves and their families and cannot attend
school because the wages their parents make are so low and would
all starve without their labor.
It’s easy to make analogies like the one Gever made in his
ignorant column; when people have no facts, they rely on
assumptions pulled out of thin air. It’s easy to do that when you
are born into a middle class family that chooses to make you work
to learn "the value of a dollar."
The difference is that you work to buy a CD and not your next
meal.
Liz Geyer
Fourth-year
Sociology and Spanish
Race has nothing to do with talent
I was upset and disappointed by the article "Winners never quit"
(Viewpoint, Feb. 24), by Scott Kurashige. The subhead read "UCLA,
media should focus less on athletes who leave college to pursue pro
careers."
I personally love to read about players who may not necessarily
be the best on the team, but who play hard and study hard. I am
impressed by those athletes who complete their degrees in
competitive majors, such as engineering and biology to name a few.
And there are those athletes who volunteer to work with the
inner-city youth and other groups that could use some help and/or
guidance.
But what I got from this article had very little to do with
"Winners never quit." Kurashige got sidetracked talking about the
unfairness of the society. Fine, Kurashige, you can whine all you
want about how UCLA is just "exploiting black and brown bodies."
But I don’t believe that this was your primary intention.
I don’t care what color the person is, a winner is a winner and
a loser is a loser. What if Cade McNown were black? Do you think he
would have done things differently?
I think you are the one with racial stereotypes. It shouldn’t
matter what race McNown or Eric Scott is. One should be commended
for going to graduate school while keeping as difficult a schedule
as an athlete.
By bringing in the race issue you made this article less
convincing than it could have been. You need to choose one topic:
is it about the winners or is it about race? Or are you saying that
white athletes cannot be winners?
Reina Maehata
1993 alumnus
Astrophysics