Last Friday the Iranian students and faculty hosted a Persian New Year party on campus. All were invited to learn more about the culture and New Year festivities, including the staff from The Daily Universe. We were hoping that the publicity from the paper would show people the distinct cultural characteristics of Iran and that an Iranian minority does exist here on campus.
However, several of us were disappointed with the article printed last Monday. Rather than a photo of the traditional Iranian sofreh, the musical instruments or actual Iranian people, the article’s only picture was of a blonde girl with blue eyes. We are very glad that she was there, but this gave the students who didn’t make it to the event no chance to visualize the colorfulness of the festivities.
Secondly, the writer quoted a source who really had no understanding of the Persian New Year or Iran. The manner in which the quote was used implied that Saddam Hussein was from Iran or that his presence was welcome there. (Never mind that Iran and Iraq fought a bitter eight-year war against each other not long ago.)
The source used perpetuated the naive belief that all Middle Easterners can be lumped in the same category. Why wasn’t an Iranian student’s perspective asked? We wish that our opinions could have been expressed.
We don’t want to criticize or sound angry. Instead, we just ask that a little more sensitivity be given to minority students on campus. It’s especially important that, during this time of war, we try to genuinely learn of other cultures to dispel misconceptions.
REBEKAH TAYEBI
SARAH TAYEBI
Yorba Linda, Calif.
