Letters to the Editor

Dean made lasting impacts on UCLA

Thank you for Jackie Barber’s eloquent reporting of the death of Eugen Weber (“Influential professor dies at age 82,” News, May 22).

Such was this man’s scholarly joy in the world that there will be many words of honor about Weber as historian, teacher and Renaissance man.

I want to add my own salute in an area perhaps less recognized than his books and works, but with no less indelible impact upon the life of UCLA.

As dean of the College in the late 1970s, Weber had an extraordinary vision. He convened and chaired a committee to develop a small program (that was then called the Lower Division Program) into a fully fledged Honors College with a four-year curriculum with high standards of excellence and with the goal of giving to undergraduate scholars at UCLA an education that rivals the best in the world.

I have devoted my working life to nourishing Dean Weber’s vision. His impact upon me, both professionally and personally, is stamped on my heart. His impact on UCLA as a public institution of national and international renown is immeasurable.

G. Jennifer Wilson

Assistant vice provost for honors

Palestinian voice deserves to be heard

Palestine Awareness Week is not set up to educate Bruins for Israel and other pro-Israeli groups. It is not set up to appease the Israeli government.

It is set up to broadcast the true message of the Palestinian people and to even out the playing field.

For too long, the media has been an unequivocal sounding board for the Israeli lobby.

Selling falafel sandwiches at Bruin Plaza is not an act of violence nor an endorsement of violence, as Bruins for Israel would like you to believe. Neither is having an entertainment banquet with cultural dance, spoken word, Arabic food and comedy.

We know that not everyone is going to be convinced by our attempt to express the flight of the Palestinian. We just want history to document that we tried.

With limited means and humble ambitions, we don’t want to be responsible for the extermination of a people and a culture.

Israel’s constitution states that no one should be in power except for the Jews. The United States was founded by immigrants who escaped the same kind of religious zealotry carried out by the Israeli authority.

It is in the United States’ interest that a person born to a Palestinian mother and father should have the same access to food, water and education as someone born to a Jewish mother and father.

We encourage everyone to attend our programs because students conscious of all faiths have come together in solidarity to create an exciting program that will not only stimulate your mind but also bring peace to your soul.

Norah Sarsour,

Muslim Student Association,

Access coordinator

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