I believe the views expressed in Zack Beyer’s commentary (Dislike GW? Do something about it) appearing in the Feb. 17 Hatchet requires a response.
The views expressed by Beyer display a particular ignorance that is both rare to behold and a pleasure to address. Certainly, it appears that if Beyer has learned nothing else from his remarkably short time here it has been the University’s knack for blowing smoke up the asses of its student population.
I think Beyer is partially correct – a college education is not just about books and dissertations. I think the public relations program for which he works would be the first to profess the importance of education. Unfortunately for him, our young Spirit Program employee seems to be suffering from a warped sense of priority. While the experiences you have with your friends and colleagues outside the classroom are important, in no way should they eclipse our true purpose for being here – to receive a quality education.
For most of us, this should ring especially true with the $135,000 price tag that accompanies it. If I just wanted to spend my time and money hanging out with my friends I would have stayed at home and invested the $135,000.
Beyer dismisses this hefty price tag commenting that an education is not just going to be handed to you – you have to WORK for it. It has been my experience that those who dismiss $34,000 a year (a sum large enough to finance a home or equal to the yearly income of many hard-working American families) usually couldn’t give me an approximate price on a gallon of milk, never mind appreciate the value of $135,000.
As one who will graduate from this University with considerable debt, I can assure you that the only people who exhibit such a cavalier attitude are those who graduate with trust funds and a job at Daddy’s office and not thousands of dollars in the red.
What should I be getting for my money? Is a quality education too much to ask for or should I be content, as Beyer proposes, to go to a Colonials basketball game and do something for once!? I work 62 hours a week, attend a full schedule of classes and still find time to be the vice president of the GW College Democrats. If you have the luxury of attending a Colonials game then may I suggest that you do something for once and start earning your education. People like me are doing just that every day.
The advice Beyer has for the disillusioned? If you don’t like what’s going on at this University, change it. I hadn’t the slightest notion that the University was so receptive to my grievances! Once again, Sir, share with us your inspired plan for activism to change these horrendous conditions! Don’t stay at home Wednesday night – go to a Colonials basketball game is not the $135,000 plan I’m looking for.
In your commentary you challenged us to call (you) an idealistic fool. I’ll resist the temptation and simply call your ideas foolish. Beyer, you would do yourself a service to get off your stump, take that bag off your head and the silver spoon out of your mouth. The hard-working students at this University have legitimate claims against this institution. While this should be almost instantly evident, had you been enrolled here for more than one semester you may have begun to understand this. Your money, and that of every student at this University, is worth more than that.
-The writer is vice president of the GW College Democrats.
