Activists should channel energy where it counts

Published: Tuesday, November 29, 1994

By Kimberly Mackesy

So! I'm not the only one who's a little concerned about the ubiquitous proliferation of Proposition 187-bashing articles in the Daily Bruin! I'm about as far to the left as a person can get, and although their letter smacks of Republicanism, I have to say "Right on!" to Scott Burros and Michael Urcan for their Nov. 23 letter, "The Bruin takes the last straw."

Don't get me wrong, I'm anti-187. I think this is one initiative that will create more problems than it will solve. However, seeing at least a whole page on anti-187 in Viewpoint every single god-given day is starting to bore the hell out of me.

Oh, yes, I can hear all of you "activists" out there huffing in indignation. Truth hurts, doesn't it? I know, I know, the fight is not over, we have to make our voices heard, we have to take ACTION!, etc., etc. Fine. That's all well and good.

But I feel obligated to give you all a reality check: Writing whiny, petulant articles spouting the same ol' chewed up, tired rhetoric day after day isn't action. It doesn't solve anything. Unless they've been spending fall quarter on Mars, everyone knows the issues and has already made up their mind.

So seeing more of the same isn't going to touch any more lives or spur anyone into action. All it will do is make us think "Oh. Another one of those articles" and flip over to A&E even faster than usual.

So, if all of you "activists" really want to make a difference, I suggest you get off your high and mighty, holier-than-thou letter-writing kick (I call it the "my-conscience-is-clear-because-I-wrote-a-letter-so-I've-done-my-part" syndrome) and actually start doing something about it.

Call up and harass Wilson's staff. Write angry letters to him, not The Bruin. Hell, organize a weekend caravan up to Sacramento and traipse around on the lawn of the capitol building. Do something, anything.

But remember this: Writing angry letters didn't get students a meeting with Chuck Young, a 26-arrest protest did. Writing letters to The Bruin about Prop. 187 and condemning all the racist WASPs who voted for it isn't helping, it's just desensitizing the UCLA community through its futile repetition.

Knowledge is power. The pen is mightier than the sword. And the attention span of the average American is about the length of one of those 30-second TV news bites. Proposition 187 opponents, listen up. Don't waste precious time and energy putting your effort in the wrong places.

Mackesy is a first-year pre-communications studies student.