Letters to the Editor

Say it loud, I'm a geek and I'm proud

In response to the article on the Mr. Engineering Pageant (Nov. 24):

"If you are sick and tired of engineers being stereotyped as nerds who never leave the E-Quad, this is your chance to prove everyone wrong," reads the email promo for the Mr. Engineering Pageant that took place this past weekend. I really wanted to be in that pageant, not because I wanted to showcase myself as an exception to the image of the "classic engineer," but because I exemplify it. As well intentioned as the event may have been, it failed to address what seemed to be the heart of the issue: engineering stereotypes.

My pride in engineering and geekdom is a self-defense mechanism against a sense of social inferiority; it is a rationalization for what I am passionate about, a defense of my interests. Should there be such a need to justify myself? What if I do spend all my time in the E-quad? What if my best jokes are those about seg faults and fourier transforms? What if I fulfill every engineering stereotype known to mankind?

By saying "not all engineers are nerds and geeks" and parading around exceptions to the rule, we only emphasize the social astigmatization of those who genuinely are "nerds and geeks": the Asians with thick glasses and thicker accents; the hunched-over, pasty skinned programmers; the wearers of pocket protectors and buck teeth. The need for their defense indicates that an offense has taken place.

I thought the article was hilarious. I support the engineering school and the pageant. What I have qualms with is the image we are purveying and our approach to defeating engineering stereotypes.

In essence: Long live the geeks. — David D. Chen '05

Chinese students not in wrong for protest

Re: "New York protest draws Chinese grad students" (Nov. 21):

I am very disappointed to read the article which presupposes the intention of the students who went to a political protest. The author makes his own judgment prematurely, i.e. the students went to protest partly because there was a cash incentive, which is obviously not true even from his own words later on in the article. It is an insult to the political conviction manifested by the five students who did participate the protest. Compared to "Israel Inspires," a counter-rally organized by the Jewish organiations on campus a month ago, they provide free buses, free food, free drink and even free party with live music which runs a much heavier budget than $25 per head. — Xinping Zhu GS

Questioning the numbers at protest

Regarding "Letters to the editor'" (Nov. 24):

If Miss Chou "joined a crowd of thousands" in New York, she must be at the same side with Mr. Liang, because there were only two hundred or so people welcoming Mr. Chen in contrast to over three thousand people protesting him. — Neil Lee GS