YOUR VIEWS Letters to the Editor
Alternatives to honors program exist
In response to the Jan. 19, 2007 article "Life with honors," I think that while an honors program is a good thing to explore, the feedback its participants have given should be taken with a grain of salt. They didn't describe anything that every other student at Tech can't experience.
Extracurricular activities are there for everyone to enjoy. Thanks to a musical group I joined, I've performed for Institute President Wayne Clough several times and have gotten to talk with him personally, not just student-to-president. It didn't take an honors program.
If you want to meet faculty members, just go introduce yourself. Knocking on professors' doors was how I found a job when I graduated without one lined up.
I don't care how good they made English II, it won't hold a candle to some of the classes in your major (unless you're STAC). All the classes I liked best were in my third and fourth (and fifth) years.
Anybody can have a good experience at Tech. Don't let the honors students' rose-tinted glasses fool people into thinking their way is the only way to do it.
Peter Budny
CS '06
Airport security present for citizen safety
In the five years that have passed since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, it seems that the horror and tragedy of that day have faded in the minds and hearts of many people. Arcadiy Kantor's article on the alleged ineffectiveness of airport security ("Airport security still ineffective, Jan. 19, 2007) seems to illustrate this fact.
Not being of Middle Eastern descent, I can't claim to know what it feels like to be subjected to extra security based upon my appearance. But soon after 9/11, I had to take several one-way flights, and as a result I was subjected to extra security checks every time I flew for the next year. Was it an inconvenience? Yes. Was it a "monumental" one? Not by any means.
I urge Arcadiy Kantor and anyone else who finds themselves delayed or inconvenienced by airport security to try to remember how you felt on Sept. 11. Imagine how you'd feel if it happened again, because we didn't do everything we could to keep it from happening again.
The simple fact is that whether it's security at the airport, Times Square on New Year's Eve, on the border or here on campus, these people are doing the best they can to keep our country safe and strong. Perhaps there are missteps at times, and perhaps their methods don't make sense to some college journalists. But we should all be rooting for them to succeed in keeping us safe.
Robert Thompson
AE grad student
