I’m not about to call the recent BDS demonstrations by concerned undergraduates sanctimonious; it is my heartfelt belief that those protesting genuinely care about the many individuals who tirelessly serve us. Begrudgingly, I even stood through one of their jejune man-puppet displays on my way to a Ratty dinner.

But I also understand the difficult decision of the folks holding the purse strings, the ever-lambasted Brown Corporation. Every financial determination they must make is a tradeoff – some must lose so that others may subsist. In this case, the Corporation has proposed a “sliding scale” to determine BDS workers’ health care premiums. (Interestingly, this scheme is similar to the US progressive tax system, something many SDS and SLA members, I imagine, would support.) The university also plans on refashioning the retirement benefits for new hires and is considering a wage freeze.

I would like here to offer a solution to this current predicament. I mean this without a drop of Swiftian satire: Brown should simply institute a tuition hike.

Why can’t undergraduates, quite literally, put their money where their mouth is? If they so ardently care about the plight of BDS workers, they will have no hesitation in coughing up a few extra grand a semester to offset the cost of lower healthcare premiums and increased wages. But if you feel the same moral confusion that I do when considering this dilemma, perhaps you can begin to sympathize with the tough, inevitably unpopular decision the Corporation must make. The protests so far have been useful, but keep in mind the underlying tension of the Corporation’s decision as you march your man-puppet across the Main Green. In the end, you may get more than you bargained for.

Anthony Badami ’11

Opinions Columnist

Newly-christened Fall Weekend 2009 has come and gone, leaving Columbus Day behind for the first time…but not without protest and debate. You tell us: which name is more fitting for the holiday weekend? Or should the observance be moved to a different date altogether?

When President Obama speaks to schoolchildren nationwide today around noon, hard work won’t be the only thing getting a shout-out. Jazmin Perez, an ‘09 graduate who is now a masters student at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, is one of a handful of individuals he will single out as a good role model for today’s youth. Quoth the President:

Congrats to Perez, who by our unofficial count is the first member of the class of 2009 to be mentioned by name by the President in a high-profile public address — and a controversial one at that!