Letter to the Editor

Author: [no author name found]

Wow, I disagree with so much of the April 30 Campus editorial ["Demystifying the bubble," Opinions section, April 30]. No, the structure of higher education has not historically been one that breeds socially and environmentally conscious graduates, you are right. However, the fact that it has not been and continues to not be does not mean that it is excusable. If the most educated people in the world don't have as a scope of their formation to become socially and environmentally responsible, then who on earth should that task be left to? The editors make the following comment: "Irish chooses to see our privileged separation from the outside world as part of a dangerous recipe for corporate greed, while others may choose to focus instead on the inherent benefits of a haven where we are free to concentrate on our studies and extracurricular pursuits." It may be insensitive for me to say, but why are these studies and extracurricular activities so deserving of a haven if they will not, in the end, lead to awareness of the world around the bubble? I wouldn't mind this point of view if the students who benefited from a place where they were "free to concentrate on [their] studies and extracurricular pursuits" walked away with nothing more than their happiness. We don't, though. We walk away with a diploma that ensures the world bows down to us. We will be Midd alums, with a network of influential people willing to knock on and open any doors for us because of our alma mater. We have experts in the CSO whose full-time jobs are to find us full-time jobs - they tell us how to network and how to impress interviewers. Do we deserve influential connections and consequently influential jobs any more than anyone else because we freely pursued our selfish interests for four years? NO. We deserve this if and only if our four years were spent becoming citizens that will make the world a better place.

- Molley Kaiyoorawongs '09