Thursday, May 08, 2003 :::
Recently a few people have been raising a stink over an article the Daily Cal ran a few days ago about a brawl. Most recently, newspapers have been stolen from bins, the perpetrators leaving behind fliers saying to boycott the Daily Cal for its racism.
First of all, the article was about a football player who (allegedly) smashed a guy in the head with a bottle, fracturing his skull. The athlete was black, and the Daily Cal ran a picture of him. Some consider this to be "racist", as it perpetuates the stereotype that blacks commit crime.
Students said the inclusion of previous fraternity scuffles in the article unfairly linked African Americans to those incidents.
Students objected to what they said depicted the predominately white Greek community as victims because they, as minorities, already felt like outsiders on fraternity row.
Apparently the students who are objecting to the article would rather focus on the larger story, of a brawl erupting between two fraternities. You have to search the article a bit to find the larger picture, which was that this huge brawl erupted between two fraternities, a couple people were hurt, and another was arrested for assault. So, the Daily Cal noted that the objecting students were irate at the "limited scope" of the article. So, the Daily Cal probably should have made the brawl the main story and not the football player.
As for whether or not it is racist to place a photo of an arrested individual who happens to be black, I think that all depends on the sensitivity threshhold of the individual. Sure, it seems like blacks get a bad rap in the media, but when you print something factual like the picture of a black guy who got arrested, it doesn't automatically refer to all blacks. It refers to one guy, who in this case hit someone in the head with a bottle.
On top of all that, the objecting students feel the need to point out their view of the "predominately white Greek community" as claiming to be victims in this incident. It's rediculous to invent racial tensions that simply do not exist like that. People "take up arms" against the Daily Cal because they think there's racism abound in Berkeley, when in reality Berkeley is pretty harmonious in terms of races getting along. I'll tell you, stealing Daily Cals is no way to protest your views (unless you're trying to be mayor, in which case it works out in the end).
::: posted by Andrewski at 1:31 AM
Tuesday, May 06, 2003 :::
If you picked up a copy of the Berkeley Jewish Journal today, you might have seen the explosive article on the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley. The article exposes Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud and Saudi-based Xenel Industries as major contributors to both CMES and to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The highly detailed and informative article shows that those who hate Israel take a direct role in funding the CMES program at Berkeley. If this connection gives you the willies, then be glad your spidey sense is still in check. Kudos to the Berkeley Jewish Journal for the story- a true scoop.
I'd like the Berkeley Jewish Journal a little more if the photo on the back of their latest issue made any sense. The "Israel.... Apartheid?" and "You Decide!" captions make little sense of a blurry picture of people sitting at a conference table. While Anti-Israel photos shock people with their graphic depictions of Israeli soldiers and dead Palestinians, this apparently Pro-Israel photo needs a bit of context. Work on that, BJJ.
Meanwhile, Berkeley is in the national news again. A spot ran on CNN regarding Berkeley's attempt to prevent SARS outbreaks in the Bay Area by denying summer school classes to individuals from "affected" countries. A Berkeley professor went on CNN to argue that the bill would only increase hysteria about the outbreak, and that it was an unnecessary measure. Berdahl figures, "better safe than sorry".
"Son, I have SARS. There is only a 98% chance I will live. You must find a cure, son- soon there will only be 98% of us left."-South Park
::: posted by Andrewski at 10:44 PM
