Less Bush and more EPIIC

Mr. Bush's speech last Thursday was not the best we have heard, to put it kindly. He was evasive, ambiguous, and vague, not unlike most politicians, in all honesty. But worst of all, he failed to share with us any moderately valuable insights about the current situation in the Middle East, which is what at least some of us were expecting. If the stated purpose of the Fares Lecture Series on the Middle East is to promote greater understanding between the United States and the Middle Eastern nations, George H.W. Bush's speech did little to achieve that.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is great that world leaders such as him come to our campus. Being exposed to them is a rare privilege for most college students in this country, not to mention the rest of the world. However, bringing Bush Sr. this year accomplished nothing except making some of us feel good about ourselves. Ahh -- we say -- former president Bush is coming to our campus, aren't we so special! We hear the name of our school mentioned in the evening news and we feel something closely resembling pride.

But that's it. As students we learned nothing, nil, nada. Actually, political science and IR majors did get a first-rate lesson on how to talk without saying anything, undoubtedly a useful skill in the political arena. But other than that, the educational value of this year's Fares lecture left much to be desired. Rodolfo Alborelli, a Tufts senior who attended the lecture put it this way: "Bush didn't give us anything to work with...where were the details, the policy recommendations? There was no substance. Talking about hope and peace is nice, but we knew that already."

I couldn't agree more.

Now, having said that, there is absolutely no excuse for the tasteless protests that took place during the lecture. We were all betrayed by some of our fellow students, who decided that rudeness and vulgarity were more effective for their alleged cause than politeness and civilized debate. They are dead wrong. Many of us felt shame. Eric Mitton wrote an eloquent Viewpoint this Tuesday ("Shameful attention-mongering" 3/4/03) about this disgraceful event and I would encourage everyone to read it. Whether we like it or not, the behavior of these students reflects badly on all of us as a community, and we must not tolerate it. These individuals made a disservice to the anti-war movement and to Tufts as a whole.

Just when I was about to give up all hope I was quickly reminded that intellectual sterility is not endemic here at Tufts. The annual EPIIC symposium just happened to begin the day following Bush's dry lecture. Thankfully, the symposium was a completely different academic experience. I was happy to attend some of the discussions that took place on a variety of subjects related to this year's EPIIC theme: sovereignty and intervention. The topics covered in the symposium were of imminent relevance to today's world and they ranged from humanitarian intervention to genomics. This forum provided an opportunity for students from all fields to learn more about their particular interests.

For the most part, the participants had interesting and valuable insights to share with their fellow panelists and with the audiences. As I listened to some of them I really felt that I was actually learning from their ideas and experiences. Anyone who attended the discussion of the Arab-Israeli conflict for five minutes learned a whole lot more about the Middle East than someone who listened to Bush Sr. for a whole hour. Furthermore, the educational value of this symposium is greatly enhanced by thoughtful exchanges between students and panelists. Any student with a specific question can approach anyone in the panels in a much more interactive and academic environment. The students and professors who help make this symposium a reality every year should be praised. Indeed, they are a shining example of what college students should strive for. The Tufts community should be proud of this effort, as well as encourage similar ones. Tufts will be better off with more EPIICs.

Mr. Fares should be commended as well. Few people have dedicated so much energy and resources to make Tufts a place of academic excellence. His annual lecture series does provide a great opportunity for the Tufts community to engage in thoughtful analysis of the Middle East and its old problems. However, bringing former president Bush turned out to be a bad idea. There is not much we can do about that now, but we should be sure to make better use of Fares Lecture Series in the future. Tufts will be better off with fewer Bushes.