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Friday, January 16, 2015

No Money for Turkey?

Editorial in the Daily Bruin:

Members of the Turkish Cultural Club tried to deny on Tuesday that the massacre of 1.5 million Armenians near the start of the 20th century was a genocide. Denying the existence of a genocide is a heinous act that degrades the experience of an entire people and is threatening to the prevention of future racism and genocides. To an audience of Armenian students and the undergraduate student government, members of the Turkish Cultural Club defended the Turkish government, which has failed to recognize the genocide for the last century. The presentation and public comments were part of the group’s efforts to sway councilmembers to vote against a resolution next week that calls for the University of California to divest from the Republic of Turkey...

Full editorial at http://dailybruin.com/2015/01/15/editorial-ucla-community-should-stand-against-armenian-genocide-denial/

Just a reminder that the UC pension fund remains underfunded, that it requires significant annual employer and employee contributions (to which the state refuses to commit), and that it needs to earn 7.5% per annum to become fully funded over an extended period.  Proponents of each divestment plan claim their proposal is costless, if they address the issue at all.  Recently, however, there has been unease among UC students over the Regents' November tuition/funding proposal and whether some of that tuition will go toward covering the pension. These issues would seem to be connected, but recognition of the connection seems to be lacking.

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