Within the media world, columnists and reporters have the incredibly important responsibility of reporting the issues that face our community in an unbiased way so that all members of the community can judge for themselves what is best for the community.
The most disturbing component about this fact is that these columnists and reporters often abuse that responsibility in a way that oppresses the opposition’s view.
Imagine a system where the opinion columnists of the world presented each side of an argument in a constructive, unbiased way that did not dismiss the extremely relevant view of the opposition.
This is not the reality we see today. Recently, the Daily Bruin published an article dismissing the efforts of Bruin Republicans to oppose the diversity requirement as “an embarrassing attempt to hold the university back,” and claimed the attempt was a “laughable footnote” that will “ultimately prove fruitless.”
This sort of rhetoric is distasteful, and a shameful representation of the Daily Bruin and the UCLA community.
The article attempts to dismiss the voice of the opposition by asserting that “it’s a vital reform that will eventually pass despite petty and illegitimate objections” and that “there’s no need to repeat how helpful it could be.” But these assertions are wrong, and dangerous to the legislative process. The reason democracy works is because legislation goes through a rigorous vetting process. There are very important components of the diversity requirement that have not been addressed.
For example, no proposal to deal with the increase in demand for the 122 proposed courses has been offered. Students could face long waitlists and additional time at UCLA because they cannot get the courses they need. After reporting that 122 syllabi were submitted, the article says that “it is clear that there will not be an extraordinary shortage in options for students.” But it seems unclear why that simple fact solves this complex problem.
Also stated is the false assumption that the diversity requirement is “a popular new policy that has already gained traction with a decent number of faculty members in the College of Letters and Sciences,” and that this college “already passed the proposal in October.” The October vote not only received 303 “no” votes, out of 635 voting faculty, but the vote holds no legislative authority because it was only within the College of Letters and Sciences.
Another major point of concern is the diversity requirement forces students to take ethnic studies and humanities courses that teach controversial, unproductive and one-sided views on culturally important subjects. These subjects should be handled with objectivity in mind, and focus on how to think and understand their topics, not what to think about them.
It is clear that those in positions of influence on the UCLA campus would rather ram this requirement through the legislative process without thinking about the repercussions. The Bruin Republicans sees the malicious and blatantly biased efforts of those influences, and will not sit idly by as this university bypasses the legislative process. Members of the UCLA student body must understand this, and it is time to do something about it.
Jones is a fourth-year mathematics/economics student and the president of Bruin Republicans.