Pilipino Studies rooted in community, allies
Though I appreciate the good intentions to publicize the Pilipino studies concentration in Christine Yuan’s article (“Students granted Pilipino studies,” May 21) what appeared in the paper does not represent the importance behind this achievement. Yes, it is a big step, but not only for Pilipino students at UCLA. The story made it sound like only a few students assembled the effort. This was a community-led effort on multiple levels. This was a student-run campaign backed by Pilipino community-based organizations, graduate students, alumni, staff, faculty and other campuses. With an administration that does not see eye-to-eye with the needs of a student in higher education, it should not go without notice that the program was a result of grassroots organizing. Not only do students come to UCLA and learn more about themselves, many of them face critical conditions affecting their family and community. Part of what the Pilipino studies concentration stands for is the ability to expand knowledge outside the classroom so students can take an active role in addressing present-day issues. (There is a requirement that addresses this.) Samahang Pilipino alone could not have achieved this.
Furthermore, it is also important to recognize allies of the Pilipino community. Realizing how the program is a step toward diversifying the campus is actually a step toward unifying it. In its first year, the Asian American and Pacific Island Studies Undergraduate Association has worked to increase the visibility of students within the Asian-American studies department, and was instrumental in providing guidance throughout the bureaucratic process for the concentration. Let it be known that if you aim to have your voice heard within a department, undergraduate representatives of the department are the first to contact. The Asian Pacific Coalition and the Asian American Studies Graduate Student Association, as well as student organizations outside the Asian Pacific Islander community, have demonstrated solidarity throughout the campaign process.
This is a community-wide effort, and it is not over. Our K-14 students are receiving less educational resources every year. Our friends who are in same-sex relationships have been stripped of their right to marry. Many of us at UCLA cannot apply for financial aid. The Pilipino studies concentration is more than just learning. It is beyond Samahang Pilipino. It is beyond recognition. It is beyond us.
Michael de Vera
Fourth-year, anthropology and Asian-American Studies
Education Coordinator, Samahang Pilipino
Benefits of abstinence overlooked
I’m responding to Carla Gharibian’s column “Get the info before having sex” (May 19).
The statement that irked me most was this: “With someone like Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the world’s estimated one billion Catholics, stating that condoms are not the answer to AIDS, and that “˜on the contrary, it increases the problem,’ it really is no wonder that ignorance in matters of sex is an issue of such magnitude.”
Calling Pope Benedict’s statement on AIDS prevention “ignorant” is ignorance in itself. How can teaching self-control, sexual (marital) fidelity, and responsibility for one’s actions, be “ignorant”? If someone is ill, shouldn’t we work to eradicate the illness completely and thoroughly? Why settle for only “85-98 percent effective” (as condoms typically are) when we can have 100 percent? If you don’t roll in the mud, your shirt won’t get dirty. I’ve never heard of anyone dying from a lack of sex.
Katrina Murata
Class of 2008