Dear Editor,
I must congratulate you for such a powerful article [“The power is yours” by Raechel Fittante, Feb. 21], and I hope you can help inspire more people in to actually participating on campus. I was discouraged from doing many things on campus because of the apathy and the incompetence of certain important bodies at ULV.
The main problem is the administrative leadership on campus. It’s almost as if they benefit more from apathy than from an active student body. I hope one day I see people like Ruby Cordova or Melissa Jaunal actually inspire students to defend their basic rights as students.
Please do keep up with this hot topic. You have my sincere support and admiration.
Herman Barahona
Junior
Via Internet
Dear Editor,
Raechel, I would like to commend you for writing such a tasteful column regarding ASF [“Take a second look,” Feb. 28]. I was disappointed when I heard that ASF was putting in an ad in order to retaliate the “cries and complaints” they are having. As a member of the Senior Retreat Committee, I have a big problem accepting that they don’t have the funds to help sponsor a senior class tradition. What about “providing for the students” as they preach they do? I don’t see it. Nobody wanted Mighty Ducks tickets. Hmm, and what organization ended up buying a large amount of them? A Greek one with many seniors!!! That’s nice how they can’t pay for seniors to attend [senior retreat], but can spend money on tickets nobody, much less seniors, bought. Well, enough of that, it is evident that ASF has a lot to reconsider if they want to be the “providers” they are. I think that if they put the effort into publicizing how they are so criticized, they should at least have the intention to put some effort into their organization first, instead of attacking you as a journalist and a member of the Campus Times.
Alma Barrera
Junior
Via Internet
Dear Editor,
As a ULV alumnus and former member of ASF and Campus Times, I am writing in response to a few hypocritical statements I read in the Feb. 28 edition.
Let me start by stating that the Campus Times is doing a great job. I am writing in response to the half-page ad by the ASF Forum in response to columns by Ms. Fittante [“The power is yours,” Feb. 21] and Ms. Avelar [“Seniors must pay for memories,” Feb. 21]. It is not fair of me to attack the Forum as a whole, so I would like to address it to whomever wrote the ad. True, the senior retreat is never fully funded by ASF, but there should be some consistency on how much ASF allocates for the retreat. The ad complained about the lack of letters and support to get more funds. Why should students bother? The ad stated that the Office of Student Life has received $3,800 from ASF, and “more money would not be prudent.” Could there be a better way to budget the money so students get full use of the $90 they pay each year to ASF?
There was also a statement asking how underclassman would feel about paying for 30 seniors to go on a retreat to reminisce about the last four years. The underclassman I spoke to felt it was okay, because they too would like to have a retreat. Instead of wondering how the underclassman feel, they should be asked how they feel about funding an ASF retreat to Disneyland, that an overwhelming majority of underclassman will not be allowed to participate in, or spending $180 to take out a half-page ad to heal the bruised egos of a select few.
Cory Cruz (’96)
Dear Editor,
Is anyone keeping score? I am an active alumna of ULV and, much to my disbelief, the Campus Times and ASF are still at it! The CT continues to blame ASF for everything, and ASF is still running around picking up the pieces of bad press. And you wonder why students run unopposed in elections? I don’t agree with your opinion that the money ASF spent to run an ad rebutting your claims was a waste of students’ money. ASF needs to keep the students informed of the facts, not allowing them to be swayed by possibly biased opinions. I do commend you on your thoughts of student power in the Feb. 21 issue [“The power is yours” by Raechel Fittante], though I hope for your sake they aren’t as apathetic as you claim. Go to an ASF meeting. Voice your opinions. The student body is lucky to have as strong a voice as ASF is. Were you aware that you have one of the only Boards of Trustees to allow a student to be present at meetings and have a voice? Did you know that members of ASF meet regularly with the president and deans to voice students’ concerns? If you have a problem with the way ULV is managed: stop the gossip and bickering, go to ASF, and propose a solution. I am willing to give you my personal guarantee that ASF will have an open ear and willingness to help.
Kristy Meier
ASF President ’92-’93
Via Internet
Herman Barahona
Alma Barrera
Cory Cruz