The gist of Henry Spurgin’s letter (see “No jumping on the sofas,” Jan.31; we got the name wrong and put “Spurzar”) is about the annoyances and unruly behavior he has had to endure while in the student center.

Among these annoyances, he has witnessed certain individuals who walked or jumped on the couches, has heard loud, obnoxious and rude people who disturbed other students, and has been subjected to the vulgar use of the “F” word.

I have never seen anyone jumping on the sofas. However, on several occasions, the place has looked (and sounded) more like a playground than a place where students attending an institution of higher learning can go to relax, take a break from their studies, or socialize with other students.

I, too, have been irritated by loud, obnoxious people, and on occasion with the “F” word being thrown around, felt like I was in some seedy barroom rather than Cerritos College’s student center.

However, in describing the incidents he witnessed, Spurgin makes sure to mention that one of the individuals he observed walking on some of the couches was African-American.

Including Spurgin, I counted six specific individuals he mentioned in his letter, yet only one of these individuals was singled out because of her race.

Now, I do not know Henry Spurgin. He may be a wonderful human being. So I won’t make any accusations about his character.

However, I will say that by mentioning the race of only one individual, his letter takes on strong racial overtones.

It would have been in really poor taste to also list the races or ethnicities of the other five people.

However, I suppose the reader could have at the very least reasoned that Spurgin is just ignorant, rather than possibly a bigot.

If he did not want people to misinterpret his letter or form an inaccurate opinion about him, he should have left race out of it.

I have observed the disappointing behaviors of some of our fellow students, which have included people running around, screaming at the top of their lungs and generally not having any regard for their fellow student.

However, the people whom I have seen performing these acts have represented a wide range of ethnicities and races on our campus, not just one, as Spurgin suggests. We could attribute this kind of behavior to poor parenting, rather than the color of skin.

In my mind, only a bigot could spend three-and-a-half-hours in the student center and not see that it is a mix of different races who sometimes behave poorly, and not just one.

Open your eyes. Stop spending so much time in the student center, and go out and take the time to get to know the people whom you seem to be prejudiced toward.

You might be pleasantly surprised to find that not all members of any particular group are like the few bad apples you have observed.

Maybe then you will have learned to see people as a whole, and not judge them by the actions of some confused girl who does not know the difference between her feet and her rear end.