Altruism is more than a one-time effort

Mr. President, you've got your work cut out for you. I'm talking to you, Leslie (I've given up on that other guy). You are attempting perhaps the most ambitious agenda the USG has ever conceived. The USG's aims are ambitious in that they are not nearly as concrete as, say, extending late meals or establishing a 24-hour study space. At the forefront of this agenda is the Princeton in the Nation's Service initiative (www.princeton.edu/~pins). PINS is described on its website as "different than anything ever seen on campus before," a claim I agree with completely. In fact, I have not been nearly as excited about anything the USG has done while I've been here as I am today.

This initiative is, to some extent, about getting things done, about reaching out to the community and helping people; all tangible goals. There is no doubt that there will be countless events and fundraisers under the auspices of PINS in the coming months and, hopefully, years. PINS is innovative in that it focuses on what we can accomplish if we come together, while also encouraging every student to channel his or her creativity toward noble ends.

But if PINS is to be something that we truly haven't seen before, it has to be about more than that. And so, at its most ambitious, PINS is about changing attitudes. PINS is about changing the way that students on this campus think about and approach service.

It is often difficult to get students to attend a given event or donate a meal at the dining hall, so to imagine Princeton students living and breathing service is no easy task. So how are we to accomplish this feat? Princeton students are in no way lacking in vigor or ingenuity. When we put our noses to the grindstone, especially collectively, we have the potential to do great things. However, as any member of this community would readily acknowledge, there is no shortage of egotism and self-indulgence here, either.

Just yesterday, instead of thinking about how a genocide awareness organization I helped found last year would continue to exist after my colleagues and I graduate, I spent a good part of the day preparing the schedule for the alternative film series I co-manage for the Undergraduate Film Organization. Surely I should be permitted, as I permit any of my peers, to pursue projects that perhaps don't seem as pressing or relevant as world hunger and genocide, because these pursuits are crucial to our human experience. Art, music, dance, theater, language, writing ... name it and I will not condemn you for pursuing it. Go out and party, even — who is to say that life shouldn't be fun sometimes?

But please, think about how lucky you are — and not in any sort of abstract way — to be sitting here reading the newspaper, practicing a musical instrument or watching television instead of worrying about bullets flying through windows, bombs dropping from the sky, grumbling tummies and cardboard homes. I am not trying to guilt you into anything. I am not arguing that we should walk around campus every day with a knot in our stomachs thinking about how bad the world is outside the gates. You don't have to drop out of school and join the Peace Corps. Altruism need not entail martyrdom. I ask only that you consider the following proposition: If these activities we fortunate ones engage and indulge in are worthwhile in our human experience, then shouldn't we use our talents and privileged position to build toward a world in which others born under less fortunate circumstances can have a chance to live as full a life as we do?

We have the capacity and we have the brainpower. We just need to convince ourselves we're up to the challenge. I applaud the organizers and performers who put together the series of Hurricane Katrina relief shows this week, including the one tonight at Quad. I urge you all to attend, but understand that our work must not end after the curtain falls or the last note of the concert is played. We must realize that altruism is a virtue that ought to be manifested in everything we do, and that our commitment to our fellow man is undying. Freddie LaFemina is a history major from North Massapequa, N.Y. He can be reached at lafemina@princeton.edu.