Letters to the Editor

'U' community should reject tobacco ads

To the Daily:

I am writing in response to a request by the Senate Assembly - the elected governing body of the faculty. At its Jan. 26 meeting, the assembly expressed deep concern over practices aimed at distributing "free" tobacco products to members of the University community. Tobacco, whether smoked or chewed, is highly addictive and has been directly linked by overwhelming evidence to a variety of cancers. In fact, it holds the dubious distinction of being a product that kills people when used strictly as intended. Because of this risk, people are less likely to purchase tobacco purposefully for a first encounter, and some parts of the tobacco industry have apparently adopted the unacceptably aggressive marketing practice of luring students with free samples.

The University of California at Los Angeles' Higher Education Research Institute recently reported that tobacco use is at the highest level in 30 years among surveyed students, and university campuses can expect continued aggressive efforts on the part of the industry to take advantage of what they view as an experiment-prone, lucrative market. All members of the University community are urged to recognize the magnitude of this threat, to exercise good judgment in rejecting and speaking out against samples of any addictive substance, and to exercise responsible judgment by not facilitating the distribution of materials related to this kind of practice.

Louis D'Alecy
Faculty Senate Chair

U.S. policies hurt innocent Iraqi people

To the Daily:

I am writing to urge everyone to oppose any and all efforts to initiate a military strike against Iraq. The United Nations estimates that 1,000,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the sanctions against the country. Yet U.S. President Bill Clinton and United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair brandished the use of American and British force before the international press. What can become of this?

The Iraqi infrastructure has been largely demolished by the Gulf War bombing. Iraqi medical facilities are incapable of dispensing aid to the majority of those needing it, largely due to the dearth of medical resources available.

In the face of this misery, we, as Americans, propose to bomb. Throughout this century, the U.S. military has killed an increasing number of civilians as a percentage of total deaths. This is unacceptable. Even the high-tech bombing that occurred during the Gulf War allowed the destruction of hospitals, schools and bomb shelters.

As to the demand that Iraq allow U.N. inspectors into anywhere in the country, I find it outrageous that the inspection teams have searched convents and churches while seeking chemical and biological weapons. Churches are a place of sanctuary. In the United States, we would be aghast at the searching of religious institutions for political reasons. I find it intolerable that Iraqi religious institutions are expected to allow themselves to be searched. As a person of faith and a human who values liberty, I find this conduct repugnant.

As to the sanctions and the ensuing starvation, death and misery in the face of an incompetently implemented "oil for food" program, I must question the ability of the Iraqi people - the recipients of damage from the sanctions - to significantly influence the policy of their government. Much less do I expect them to greet U.N. policy with open arms. Saddam Hussein has indeed committed atrocities upon his people, especially the Kurds and the Shi'a. But I do not believe that sanctions will stop this. I expect that they will drive him to desperation.

Chemical and biological weapons already exist in Syria, Israel, Libya, Egypt, the United States and other countries (despite international law). Nuclear weapons already exist in the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China and Israel and are dispersed throughout the world. Given this large number of weapons of mass destruction throughout the region and the world, I must believe that significant deterrence exists to prevent the use of biological weapons on the part of Iraq, even if they ever were developed. Yet U.S. measures provide significant impetus for Iraq to take military action. Could a starving nation do any less?

It is past due for us to oppose any attempt by the military to in any way injure the people of Iraq. Given our purported dedication to human rights, I can expect no less.

Chad Bailey
School of Public Health

New cafeteria should be on South Campus

To the Daily:

I would like to identify myself as a disgruntled South Campus resident. I was humored to find out that there is a plan to build one large cafeteria in the Hill area. The most obvious question is: Why waste $14 million to build a cafeteria so that lazy students would not have to walk a whole 20 yards to the next residence hall? What is really needed is a convenient way for residents of non-meal-serving halls to obtain food without having to take a brisk 12-minute walk (in the cold grips of winter) to South Quad. While there are many well-equipped cafeterias in the Hill area, South Campus is almost completely ignored.

Although this issue would only concern about 60 students in Fletcher Hall, I think it would be a feasible idea to consider building a cafeteria close to or inside of Fletcher Hall. This may sound like an incredulous negotiation, but it seems that headlines forget the smaller residence halls. I am challenging University President Lee Bollinger to take my plea under consideration. Building a cafeteria on South Campus would be in the best interests of the students of South Campus.

Nikhil Kumar
LSA sophomore

Error was a 'harsh blow' to sorority

To the Daily:

My name is Suki Kuang and I am a member of the gamma class of Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, the only Asian-American sorority on campus. I, along with the rest of my sisters, are incredibly upset at the misprinted letters of our sorority in the Jan. 28 Daily ("Ethnic Greek organizations build cultural awareness"). Each and every one of us went through a pledge period to earn our letters. To see what we have painfully earned misprinted in the widely circulated and read Daily was a harsh blow to our pride.

We are honored to be mentioned in the Daily, but the fact that our letters were misprinted in this way was dramatically painful. Printing a miniscule correction in the future will not change or undo the damage. The Daily should correct its mistake as soon as possible.

Suki Kuang
LSA first-year student

Reviewer was not paying attention

To the Daily:

Normally, I would never write a letter to the Daily in fear that it will serve to provide some validity to the Daily as an actual work of journalism, but I could not resist pointing out a glaring error in the "Replacement Killers" review ("Forgettable 'Killers' could be replaced," 2/9/98).

Matthew Barret mentions something about Chow Yun-Fat's character having a change of heart and not being able to kill the police officer. Was Barret paying attention to the movie at all? The character never had to kill the police officer. The assignment was to kill the officer's son. Hence, the whole saving-the-son aspect of the plot.

Additionally, if Barret is familiar at all with Yun-Fat's other movies, "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer," both directed by John Woo, he would know that the key feature of the movies is the gunfight, not the plot nor the character development. It is the marked feature of Hong Kong movies of this genre.

I agree with the two-star rating of the movie as it was only mildly entertaining, but perhaps a little research and better attention should be paid when writing reviews.

Margaret Le
LSA senior

02-17-98