LETTERS: Stereotypes of undergraduates

To the Editor: For those of you not familiar with Benjamin's response, let me recapitulate: "SAS students should be be proud and honored to live amongst Wharton students in their dorms. They should not hold spiteful grudges as Stein seemingly does? you must remember, that when you do graduate and get a job, you may very well be working for one of your Wharton classmates." Not only did this letter churn my stomach as I ate lunch at 1920 Commons, but it also disgusted a neighbor of mine into re-reading the letter to her entire lunch table. Like the pie-eating contest in Stand by Me, the disgust was contagious. As a junior in the Engineering School, I stand merely as a witness to these rather crude remarks, but I cannot stand by passively while Benjamin expresses these views. Benjamin states that College students should be "proud and honored" to live with Wharton students -- what, pray tell, should Engineering students do? I don't curtsy very well, but I guess I could learn. Benjamin seems to say that one should first find out if a stranger is in Wharton, and then act accordingly. Does anybody else think there is something fundamentally wrong with this way of thinking? Some of my best friends are in Wharton, but they became my friends long before I knew they were Whartonites. Once stumbling upon this knowledge, do you think I became more friendly? Of course not, but Benjamin might say otherwise. P. T. Barnum said there's a sucker born every minute, I can't help but agree. It seems like Benjamin has gone for Stein's bait -- hook, line and sinker. By expressing your views to the DP audience, I firmly believe Benjamin has embarassed himself by epitomizing what people don't like about some Wharton students, namely being a rather stuck-up individual. I want to emphasize "some," because a lot of Wharton students are being misrepresented by Benjamin. If this feeling of superiority makes it easy for Benjamin and others like him to sleep at night, that's smurfy, but please, keep it to yourself. For some odd reason, I'm pretty sure that I will not be working for Benjamin, and if I did, I'd quit. Kahn Jekarl Engineering '99