Lecture failed to address real issues
Regarding 'Horowitz decries 'Islamo-fascism' ' (Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007):
I attended David Horowitz' lecture and was shocked to learn from a man born in New York City in 1939 that my grandparents, along with a large number of aunts, uncles and cousins, all Greek Orthodox, Palestinian Christians, all born in and living in Jaffa in Mandatory Palestine, and all of whom were dispossessed in 1948, were in fact supporters of Nazism and had a genocidal agenda against Jewish people. I felt as if I had at last learned a dark family secret that has been hidden from me my entire life, and it took a man from Queens to lift the veil of ignorance from my eyes. As I listened to Horowtiz' talk, I wondered whether he knows any Arabs or whether he knows a word of Arabic. It's easy to hate and demonize from afar. Horowitz' talk was supposed to be about Islamo-fascism, but this was a topic he never defined and which he only touched on briefly in the course of the incoherent, and at times, deeply offensive rant he delivered.
If the College Republicans had wanted to bring in an articulate critic of militant Islam and religious fundamentalism, or a well-spoken defender of the State of Israel, or if they had simply wanted to have a pep rally for the War on Terror and the Bush administration, they could have chosen any number of other speakers who perhaps might have fostered real discussion and maybe even challenged their listeners to rethink entrenched viewpoints. Instead, they brought in an ideological hit man who spewed bilious, self-indulgent hate at anybody and everybody. Perhaps in bringing Horowitz, the College Republicans thought they were putting their best foot forward. In fact, they put forward another body part, and like Horowitz, it really stunk. Jack Tannous GS
An illiberal premise
Regarding 'You've gotta serve somebody' (Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007):
After reading Adam Bradlow '11's cry for required community service as a broadening of the liberal arts, I cannot help but be perplexed by his decidedly illiberal premise. It is our true and single purpose as Princeton students, he proclaims, "to educate ourselves to better serve others." This universalistic declaration leaves little room for dissent; indeed, it denies the very basis of liberalism: that we must be free to explore, question and determine truth and meaning for ourselves. Liberalism, as precisely opposed to other doctrines of social thought, denies a monopoly on the good life. Rather, it sees the University as a place for individual exploration and growth. Community service is one such avenue but is far from the only one, and it is far from clear why it should enjoy a University-sanctioned monopoly. Princeton adopted official nonsectarianism long ago in recognition that religion is something students must come to on their own; we should likewise not retread into the faith of community service, but rather continue to let students themselves direct their personal growth. Joshua Harris '11
A waste of money
Regarding 'Forbes to host $20K Gatsby festivities' (Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007):
I read this article from the office of a clinic in Mbale, Uganda while serving patients suffering from malaria, typhoid, dysentery, tuberculosis and a variety of other preventable and treatable yet fatal diseases. I have been volunteering at this clinic while fund raising for $30,000 to build a library ($20,000 would make a big dent!) that will serve over 30,000 Ugandan villagers. It definitely caught me by surprise to learn about this "grandiose and awesome" party. If the University can't think of anything better to do with $20,000, I can definitely help. Just shoot me an email. If providing educational resources to over 50 villages isn't up the University's alley, the clinic is short on drugs, patients are using an insufficient pit-latrine located 50 meters from the ward and the roof leaks on a regular basis. All of these problems could be fixed with less than the cost of this party. In the book, Fitzgerald was actually offering a critique of empty materialism in American society. So, while students sit at Princeton benefiting from the best education in the world and contemplating "the most important factors" relating to the party, perhaps one would like to consider helping people who would love nothing more than an opportunity to live and learn but lack access to adequate materials. Maital Friedman '07
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$56,000 in debt at graduation is not the financial aid Princeton advertises
Avi CheslerTake my story as an example — despite repeated evidence, both before and after taking out loans, that I would be unable to pay what Princeton asked of me — the University never set a cost that I could truly meet loan-free.
In the Garden State’s service and the service of humanity
Olivia Ragan, Lauren Aung, and Madison LintonIt is important to cultivate in students interest in local and state level change, because it is the most direct way to give back to the New Jersey community that sustains the University.
Why do two-thirds of your summer research wages go to Princeton, anyway?
Isaac BarsoumThe income that students earn from employment is not “miscellaneous.” So Princeton must decide: Does it want its students — all of them, not only those who can afford it — to be able to work on the important research happening at Princeton, or be forced to go home?
The income that students earn from employment is not “miscellaneous.” So Princeton must decide: Does it want its students — all of them, not only those who can afford it — to be able to work on the important research happening at Princeton, or be forced to go home?