In the Sept. 24 issue of The Koala, there appeared a personal ad that singled out the members of a particular ethnic group and declared simply that nobody liked them. In the same issue, a satire of the UCSD Greek system was printed, naming a made-up Jewish fraternity called XKA, the members of which were called “”Chikes.”” The Greek letter X, or Chi, is pronounced with a hard “”k”” sound, making the word sound like a racial slur.

Now, freedom of the press is one of the most cherished and fiercely defended tenets of the American way of life. Being a newspaper, the Guardian is very aware of the necessity of this right for the existence of freedom of expression, especially at a university where young minds should be opened through exposure to as many viewpoints as possible.

It is exactly for this reason that the Guardian cannot agree with The Koala’s decision to run mock advertisements and personal ads that use hateful, racist language in their student-funded publication.

This type of material only acts to belittle people simply because of their racial backgrounds, and serves no purpose at this university. In fact, all it does is potentially make members of the UCSD community feel uncomfortable to study, work and live here.

We feel that this kind of message is stifling to the freedom of those who are made to feel hated simply because of which ethnic group they identify with, something over which they have absolutely no control. Even worse, it is the money of these individuals that is being used to fund the expression of hatred against them.

The Guardian is fully aware that The Koala is meant to be a humor publication. Much of what makes it so popular is its constant irreverence to the current standards of what is politically correct, and it achieves its humor by continually pushing this envelope. However, even if some on this campus find racism funny or amusing, that kind of humor does not belong in a student-funded publication.

The Koala states that it does not write the personals, but they certainly choose which ones to run. We hope The Koala reconsiders becoming a platform for racism at UCSD.