Letters to the Editor

Doing our part for the environment

I was very pleased to hear that the University of California is one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly schools in the nation (“UC top green public system,” News, Oct. 30).

It is so important that colleges and universities across America recognize the vast amount that can be done on our own campuses to further our environmental goals.

That’s what the Student Public Interest Research Groups’ Campus Climate Challenge is all about.

College and high school campuses across the nation are huge centers of learning, research and new technology, and it takes a lot of energy to power them. By becoming more sustainable, we are not only reducing our impact on the environment but encouraging other institutions to go green as well.

As one of the top public school systems in the world and one of the most environmentally responsible already, the example the UC sets is critical to the fight against global warming.

Having one Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building at UCLA is great, but we can do better; the UC should develop a concrete plan to get 100 percent of our energy from renewable resources like wind and solar power.

We should also invest even more into our recycling program, limit the materials on-campus food vendors can use (such as Styrofoam), and investigate composting the food waste that comes from each meal at the dining halls. It is our responsibility to make sure that as leaders in the fight for a clean environment, we set the bar high.

Coreen Weintraub

Second-year, undeclared

Politically defeat event’s supporters

­Patently missing from the coverage of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week was the week-long political resistance by students, faculty and others. Jessica Roy’s article (“Writer outlines terrorist links,” News, Oct. 26) left out the heated debate that took place outside and the fact that Joe Kaufman ““ the week’s keynote speaker at UCLA ““ was repeatedly challenged during the Q&A session.

More significantly, the coverage ignored the deeper implications of Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week and what it aims to achieve in society, to prepare the public for war with Iran and the suppression of dissent.

For example, before Kaufman spoke, two students outside told a group of dissenters they should be sent to Guantanamo and tortured. We who have been organizing resistance feel this more accurately represents the atmosphere being cultivated on campus and in society overall by events like last week’s.

The Daily Bruin, instead, took Kaufman at his word that he “does not consider himself completely right-wing.”

Apparently, the administration told the public the WMDs were destroyed in the war in order to keep public support for the war as high as it was early on.

This adds new meaning to supporter John Ellis’ quote that Kaufman’s speech captured the “true reason” for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.

Given the existence of the Military Commissions Act, Kaufman’s associating the Muslim Student Association with terrorist groups could land UCLA students in prison or worse if validated by the federal government.

Apparently headed for a successful career in today’s “fair and balanced” corporate media, Roy acted as a mere stenographer for the extreme right. This group advocates the repealing of basic rights and trying so-called “suspected terrorists” (including, by Kaufman’s argument, members of groups like MSA) in military tribunals.

If he’s convinced they’re terrorist supporters, how long until Kaufman would have us forgo the “kangaroo courts” and go straight to executions? This illustrates powerfully why the forces behind Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week must be politically defeated and their arguments repudiated.

Jared Thomas

UCLA Alumnus

Queer students need more safe space

The Office Space Allocation Committee’s recognition of the need for safe space for queer students is commendable (“Groups give feedback about office space,” News, Oct. 26).

However, their plan to use the smallest office in Kerckhoff Hall (at 99 square feet) is inappropriate, given the size and needs of the queer student body.

Currently, the Queer Alliance is housed in Kerckhoff 136, a 303 square-foot space that provides essential office and gathering space for the entire queer population of UCLA.

It is the only true “safe space” on campus, where any student can go to discuss issues of concern or to simply spend time without fear of judgment. The UCLA Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Campus Resource Center, while a wonderful resource, does not fulfill these safe-space needs since it is essentially public.

It is also important to note that the Queer Sexuality Collective serves not only the Queer Alliance but also eight student groups, as well as independent individuals. The move to a space less than one-third the size of the current office would be an enormous blow to the queer student population.

We also take issue with writer Lucy Benz-Rogers’ assertion that “those student leaders … believe (Queer Alliance’s need for safe space) should be taken into consideration during the application process instead of allocating space ahead of time.”

In fact, only one audience member voiced this opinion, while others, including representatives of Samahang Pilipino, the Vietnamese Student Union, and Enigma, supported QA’s need for special consideration and suggested alternative methods of granting the group space.

The Queer Alliance at UCLA

La Familia

QueerXGirl

Blaque

Pan-Asian Queers

Fluid

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