Letters to the Editor

PLEDGE referendum essential to retention

Three-thousand and ninety.

That is the number of hours of writing tutorials that will no longer be available to students for the 2009-2010 academic year. The Covel writing lab will be closed next year. This, coupled with cuts in numbers of teaching assistants, Academic Advancement Program tutorials and other programs makes me wonder: Where are students supposed to go for support?

I’m a counselor with the Writing Success Program, which is part of the Student Retention Center in the Community Programs Office. The retention center is the first student-initiated, student-run retention program in the country and has inspired the creation of similar programs on other campuses across the state and nation. I have witnessed firsthand the importance and benefits of the programs that the center offers, including our writing service, academic counseling and peer mentorship.

Along with these services, resources like the test bank, computer lab, study halls and workshops are also available to all UCLA students, providing the support necessary for academic success.

Since the conception of the retention center, UCLA’s graduation rate (particularly for students from underrepresented communities) has continued to rise, reaching a current rate of 89 percent.

Our school is consistently the most applied-to school in the nation, and this year was no exception. With more than 55,000 applications, UCLA was able to pick the cream of the crop for the class of 2013. As Chancellor Block noted, “We are proud of the breadth and depth of the achievements, leadership and talents of the students who have been admitted to the university. Our mission at UCLA is not only to stress academic achievement but to instill a sense of service that will have lasting benefits to society as our students go out into the world.”

I appreciate that UCLA is fulfilling its mission insofar as admitting students of the highest caliber and creating classes composed of the most intelligent, driven and talented students in the state, nation and even the world.

However, its commitment to excellence cannot stop there. The school must do its part to not just admit, but also support its students, providing the tools necessary to not just survive but thrive in UCLA’s demanding, competitive atmosphere. Supporting the PLEDGE referendum will ensure that entities like the Student Retention Center will be able to continue to provide the academic and social support that students need to have a successful and enjoyable college experience.

Anjali Rodrigues

Third-year, American literature and culture

Column ignorant of Catholicism

I found Negar Tehrani’s column (“Notre Dame needs to grow up, put differences aside and let Obama speak,” April 16) uninformed in Catholicism or the situation as a whole.

First of all, President Barack Obama has spoken at Georgetown University, a Catholic university, so his speaking at Notre Dame is not the shocking issue.

The shocking issue is that Notre Dame is willing to give the President an honorary law degree ““ which Tehrani downplayed.

For the university to do this signifies its support for the President’s stance on law ““ such as the belief in a “right to abortion” trumping the right to life. This is highly in opposition to the Catholic faith and that is why Church leaders and faithful individuals have spoken up.

Sadly, Jesuit universities have lost most of their Catholicity, so let us not think Notre Dame is acting as a devout Catholic school but as one seeking secular favor without obedience to faith.

One should remember ““ truth and fact are not formed by a democracy. We enter school ignorant and so must be taught. Likewise, we enter faith ignorant of its entirety and must be taught. If there are many Catholics ignorant that abortion is inherently contrary to their faith, their views do not form Catholicism, just as a freshmen’s knowledge does not form a university’s curriculum.

The Catholic Church, rooted in Scripture and in transmitted doctrine throughout the ages, has spoken clearly that abortion is opposed to Christian morality.

The voluntary taking of an innocent life can never be accepted for whatever reason. The Christian must defend a well-formed morality and assist the vulnerable and unaided.

Joshua Nogales

UCLA Alumni, class of 2008

computer science

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