Personal Opinion
After reading Michael Goldberg’s “Fairer treatment needed” (Feb. 2, p. 4) and Kelly Taylor’s response to the John Edwards editorial (“Our Choice: John Edwards,” Feb. 2, p. 4), both people seemed to have forgotten something: they’re responding to editorial articles, which express somebody’s personal opinion. If somebody’s facts used to back an opinion are wrong, that is a separate issue. But nobody can argue that somebody’s opinion is right or wrong.
Taylor did the exact same thing as The Hatchet did; she tried to make a fact out of her opinion that former Vermont Governor Howard Dean is most supportive of college students’ needs. I’m in college, too, but will not be voting solely on who will best support college students. I also don’t appreciate somebody trying to speak for me by saying that one person is a better candidate for me. News flash: there’s more to running a country than taking care of college students.
-Julia Panebianco, junior
Gold digging 001
An important aspect of college students’ education is the opportunity to learn about career possibilities within their fields of study. I believe this is what Professor Henry Nau had in mind when he invited a guest speaker to his introductory international affairs class last Thursday. Regrettably, and hopefully to Professor Nau’s surprise, the speaker represented international affairs at its worst. The speaker’s career in international affairs consisted of entertaining international guests and marrying into European nobility.
The speaker began by admitting that the only major position she held during her career, a museum director, was one she was completely unqualified for. As a member of the audience, I was hoping that her good fortune in landing the museum job would be the springboard for the rest of her career in international affairs. Quite the opposite; she worked at the museum only until a Swedish duke proposed marriage, after which she stopped working all together.
Supposedly, it was this marriage that constituted her career in international affairs. The remainder of her speech, amidst a torrent of name-dropping, described several instances in which she and her husband had a variety of meals with other members of European nobility. By her conclusion, the audience was left with the chilling reality that a glorified hostess whose marriage qualified as a successful career in the realm of international affairs had just been exemplified.
It is unfortunate that Professor Nau was unable to locate a GW alumnus who could exemplify the meaningful and exciting aspects of international affairs. I grew up overseas, due to my parents’ work in international development, and I know that there is more to the career and the experience than dinner parties and marriage. It would be an understatement to claim that the speaker didn’t do international affairs justice and a pity if anyone were left with the impression that she had.
-Susannah George, freshman
