Kelly Wentworth (Take Five)kw004i@mail.rochester.edu585-274-0311860-463-4874
It is editorials like the one written by Mr. Sean Croston in last week’s edition of the Campus Times that makes me question the priorities of college students. In his article, “Bush: fuzzy math or fuzzy priorities,” Mr. Croston boldly suggests that it is more worthwhile to spend $87 billion on financing college students’ education than on freeing Iraqi citizens from the rule of an oppressive dictator and aiding them in the process of reconstruction. It seems, Mr. Croston, that it is not President Bush who refuses to “sacrifice,” but college students such as you who appear to be more concerned with the status of your own financial aid package than with the condition of the Iraqi people. Do you truly believe that $87 billion is better spent on “doubl(ing) your student aid?” Are you so vehemently opposed to American assistance in the reconstruction of a new democratic nation that you are willing to make such an absurd suggestion? Is comparing the cost of reconstruction to our own tuition bills a valid and intelligent reason for suggesting that we withhold aid from Iraq? The thought of placing the financing of our own privileged education above the needs of both the citizens of Iraq and the American soldiers who risk their lives to defend their freedom is unthinkable. It is my sincere hope that others on this campus are equally appalled by this assertion. So no, Mr. Croston, “we DON’T really need that extra financial aid.”
