Racial privilege must be recognized
While I agree that Tristan Reed’s column (“Admitting white privilege first step to equality,” March 5) provides no solutions for solving socioeconomic inequities, I believe it presents an important discussion and is far from irrelevant.
It is necessary for people of all races to examine their privilege.
Furthermore, the response to Reed’s article was only proof of the denial of privilege (“White-privilege talk ignores real issues,” March 7) as well as an obvious belief in the inherently racist myth of the “culture of poverty.”
Moreover, by pointing out that whites are a “minority” at UCLA, the author points to Asian Americans, who make up a larger percentage of the UCLA population, perpetuating another false myth that fails to acknowledge continuing challenges facing Asian Americans.
Dian Sohn, first-year, undeclared
Stem cell argument misleading, illogical
I was appalled by the misleading facts in John Crandall’s column opposing stem cell research (“Research should seek ethical cell removal,” March 7). In response, I have a few facts about stem cells of my own.
First, the majority of stem cells come from embryos that are ready to be discarded and will be destroyed anyway.
Also, while it is true that stem cells can be pulled from the umbilical cord, embryonic stem cells are unique in that they can differentiate into any type of cell in the human body.
In addition, diseases that have benefited from stem cell research include Parkinson’s disease and cancer.
Is it true, then, that these people are less entitled to the right to life than embryos?
Furthermore, it is not true that everyone believes life begins at conception.
While I happen to ascribe to that belief, there are plenty of people that believe life doesn’t begin until birth.
And, finally, there are at least 20 differences I can name between a 1-week-old embryo and a 1-month-old baby.
One of which is that a 1-month-old baby has a distinguished and functioning brain. A 1-week-old embryo, if in utero, is not even implanted in the mother’s uterine wall yet.
Also, a 1-week-old embryo’s cells are not distinguished.
They still have the possibility of becoming any cell in the human body.
That is what makes embryonic stem cell research so great.
As a Christian and a scientist, I am absolutely floored at the lack of logic in Crandall’s argument.
I am glad someone else
realizes the importance of stem cell research and gave this
much-needed research grant to UCLA.
Raquel Buckle, third-year, psychobiology