To the Daily:
Regarding the Daily's March 18 article, "Prop. 209 Affects UC," I was very disappointed with the bias in the reported figures. The Daily mentioned how much Black and Latino/a admissions dropped in a few schools, but it failed to give the whole story. It failed to mention that the white admissions at UC-San Diego and UC-Davis fell 9.8 percent, UC-Irvine fell 10 percent, and UC-Santa Cruz fell 9.5 percent. The decrease in white admissions at Santa Cruz was more than that of Asian Americans (8.6 percent), Hispanics (7.4 percent) and African Americans (1.8 percent). At Irvine, the Daily failed to mention that the Asian American admissions dropped by only 1.5 percent, which is much less that that of white enrollment (10 percent). At Davis, the only category that showed an increase in admissions was Asian Americans. Furthermore, although the Daily mentioned that UC-Riverside reported "increases in minority acceptances," it did not mention the extent of the increases. At Riverside, admissions increased 75.9 percent for American Indians, 47 percent for Hispanics, 41.9 percent for African Americans and 12.9 percent for Asian Americans in relation to the 13.7-percent increase for whites.
Next time, the Daily should report all of the information.
Afshin Beyzaee
LSA sophomore
To the Daily:
I just read Noah Robinson's letter ("Soldiers must think about their actions," 3/11/98) and Josh White's column ("'Babykillers?' The men and women in uniform deserve better," 2/24/98) and I was appalled but not surprised to see yet another naive and misinformed student unknowingly bashing the U.S. military. Believe it or not, the military has rules and laws that enforce moral conduct upon its soldiers. Orders, for example, to massacre civilians are illegal and a soldier who follows them, or an officer that gives them, will be punished. And these laws really are enforced.
As for each individual deciding to do whatever they want, that's not such a good idea in combat. Teammates are counting on each individual, and if they do something unexpected, people could end up dead.
More important, one of the foundations of the U.S. government is civilian control of the military. The second it has soldiers setting policy, as Robinson suggests, then it has a problem. Unless Americans would prefer to live in one of those countries where the military really is in control of public policy.
I was also very surprised that Robinson's arguments have so little substance. If he is going to make an emotional appeal, he should also include a rational argument. And don't the ultraliberals ever get tired of calling people "Nazis?" When they degenerate to name calling, they lose any chance of persuading people and even more, they're trivializing some truly horrific acts that were perpetrated by actual Nazis.
Let me reiterate that the military does what the U.S. president tells it to do. Under President Clinton's administration, that means whatever is in the latest opinion poll. Therefore, if people don't like what the military is doing, they should elect a different government and stop ripping on people that are selflessly trying to serve and protect the country.
Ian Cummings
Rackham
To the Daily:
We are writing this letter of concern regarding Brian Hayden's Feb. 20 letter, "Daily interview disappointed with ordinary questions." In his letter, Hayden responded to what he thought "was an interview that wasted Rudy T's time." He also said that "the Daily should ask questions that actually incite newsworthy answers."
Well, we've got news for him. We may not have the chance to read the Daily everyday, but for the first time in three years, there are Q&As in almost every SportsMonday. It seems like Daily Sports Writer Jordan Field does all of the interviews and Hayden should thank him, not berate him with questions Field should or could have asked.
Hayden is correct that the Daily should be thankful for getting these types of interviews with big-time athletes like Jalen Rose, Rudy T, Desmond Howard and Glen Rice. But what Hayden doesn't realize is that these interviews are not given to the Daily - someone is working very hard to have the interviews done for each Monday, and students should be thankful.
Hayden claims that " ... the Daily alluded to the fact that Rudy T coached three of the top 50 players of all time." He should watch Sportscenter or buy some NBA magazines to read about those things. The Daily may be a major paper, but it is still the University's paper. We want to read about how the University helped these athletes and coaches become more successful and learn from that.
Mike Feld
LSA junior
Jon Canarick
School of Business Administration
To the Daily:
I was truly offended when I opened the March 17 Daily and saw Yuki Kuniyuki's insulting cartoon "Ground Zero." The cartoon contained the top five reasons that make St. Patrick's Day special and unique in Ann Arbor and then promptly lists reasons all having to do with drinking heavily.
The implication that St. Patrick's Day is a day designed to drink excessively is ignorant and represents insensitivity to people of Irish descent. The day is meant to honor St. Patrick of Ireland, who is credited with converting most of Ireland to Christianity. The holiday is a celebration of a religious figure, and I don't remember a priest advocating drinking beer the last time I went to church.
Additionally, I opened the March 18 Daily and saw an article ("Students toast to St, Patrick") that details how students celebrated the holiday. The article mentioned only drinking-related activities such as going to the bar and partying.
There was no mention of students going to church to honor St. Patrick or showing their Irish pride in ways other than drinking.
It is funny how the Daily preaches sensitivity to all cultures and ethnic backgrounds and an abhorrence of stereotyping, but then promptly goes and promotes a holiday as an excuse to get drunk and wear green clothes. If Kuniyuki and the editors were really aware of other cultures, they would realize that this is Irish American month and take an opportunity to learn about Irish culture.
In the future, I hope the Daily is more cautious in its cartoons and reporting about religious or cultural holidays without bowing to popular stereotypes. Celebrating an Irish holiday, such as St. Patrick's Day, is a chance to have fun and show pride, not to promote excessive drinking and not to further false stereotypes. The Daily has insulted an Irishman and it should be ashamed.
Bill Briggs
LSA junior
03-25-98
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