Monday, February 1, 1999
Week of Remembrance events fail to draw crowds
RECAP: Program tries to promote acceptance through speakers,
films
By Barbara Ortutay
Daily Bruin Staff
Little student participation characterized the Undergraduate
Students Association Council’s (USAC) "Week of Remembrance" last
week, which sought to raise awareness among students about hate
crimes through speakers and a trip to the Museum of Tolerance.
Of the two scheduled speakers, only one – Mexican human rights
activist Rosario Ibarra de Piedra – showed up, drawing a crowd of
about 35 listeners in Meyerhoff Park on Tuesday.
"It’s always hard to get people out there for these events,"
said USAC president Stacy Lee. "The turnout wasn’t that
inconsistent with other events."
"With hate crimes especially, I think people don’t pay attention
until it happens to them," she said.
On Wednesday night, about 15 students waited for speaker T. J.
Leyden to share his experiences as a former skinhead. After Leyden
did not arrive for an hour, students left and the event was
canceled.
His booking agent, Avra Shapiro, said Tuesday that she was not
aware Leyden was scheduled to speak at UCLA the next day.
Among the week’s events, Thursday’s program attracted the
largest audience, with more than 40 students attending a
documentary film about the life and death of Thien Minh Ly, a
former UCLA student who was murdered in 1996 by an alleged
neo-Nazi.
It was the second year since his death that students gathered to
watch the film, entitled "Letters to Thien" and held a candlelight
vigil afterward.
"Last year, I thought I didn’t have time to go see the
documentary," said Vinh Nguyen, a second-year biology student.
"After watching it today, I see myself as very similar to him – how
I came to America, how I strived hard to get where I am."
After the film screening, students walked outside and lit their
candles silently. Forming a close circle around a memorial display
for hate crime victims, students stepped up one by one to share
their thoughts.
"It’s easy to forget about death in Los Angeles," said Tram Linh
Ho, USAC financial supports commissioner and co-organizer of the
event.
"It happens every day and we are desensitized to it, but this
hits close to home. It could have happened to any of us," she
added.
While Thursday’s vigil focused on the victims of hate crimes,
having Leyden speak would have shed light on the other side of the
issue, according to organizers.
While waiting for Leyden Wednesday night, USAC General
Representative Mike de la Rocha led a discussion among audience
members about hate crimes.
Students raised the issue of the university’s responsibility to
prevent hate crimes. Some agreed that the administration should go
beyond punishing criminal offenses.
"The university is here to create a safe educational
environment," said USAC General Representative John Strelow.
"When someone interferes with that, the university should be
able to prosecute that, even if it’s not criminally
prosecutable."
Strelow, the only member of USAC who did not run on the Praxis
slate, was also the only member of the council who abstained from
voting on USAC’s hate crimes resolution, which was passed last
week.
The resolution called for a campus hate crimes policy and
federal hate crime legislation, among other things.
Strelow supported the policies against hate crimes, but did not
agree with the clause that stated that Proposition 209 created an
"atmosphere of isolation and misunderstanding" on campus.
He said that the clause may lead to "unnecessary division" on an
issue that most people agree on.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]