War protests: an education outside the classroom

In lieu of reading a Thursday viewpoint that reminded me of the costs of university attendance, I wondered, how do I know I'm getting my money's worth? Though the question of why students feel the need to educate themselves in the first place seems tedious, I think now is more important a time than ever to ask, if the knowledge we seek is not for the betterment of society, then for what?

As for the faculty, I am fortunate to be in the midst of professors who use their wisdom to lead a community in current issues on which books have yet to be written _ books that, I might add, may one day be read in courses at this University.

I think the writer of one of last Thursday's viewpoints ("Professors should not be participants in walkout," Jan. 30, 2003) owes the organizers of the moratorium gratitude for invoking such a response, and I the same to the writer for infuriating me.

This is not so much a challenge as a plea for anyone who opposes the war on Iraq to use their creative, well-educated minds to come up with arguments more thought-provoking than attacks on personal hygiene. I also encourage those who do not wish to participate in a "walkout" to attend teach-ins when they can, remembering that education awaits outside the classroom as well as in.



Chelsea Feerer

LA '05