Today one of my Profs decided to spend about 15 minutes reading Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The message that I got from the Professor was an opinion about affirmative action, though such words were never used. I too have feelings about affirmative action, though because of the lasting nature of the Internet, I will not voice them here. Rather, I wonder about the use of class time to talk about personal ethics.

Certainly racial issues are not directly related to engineering sciences – op-amps and turbines couldn’t care less who designs with them. None the less, ideas we experience in school will influence our morals throughout our lives, conciously or no. Therefore it is imperative that we mold our own minds in a manner that we may focus on the good and justness in one’s soul. When a professor talks about how to be an upright citizen and a moral professional, take heed; certainly one wastes more time daydreaming in class than the five minutes a week taken to discuss virtue.

I try to live a positive life. My mantra is, “Everything happens for a benneficial reason; it merely takes time to recognize the good.” I believe, like Cicero wrote, “nature has given to mankind … a compulsion to do good, and … a
desire to defend the well being of the community” [credit]. If someone feels the urge to recite rhetoric emphasizing positive ch ‘i, I am fully supportive.

The world would be a better place if everyone stopped for just one minute a day and wiped all hurtful thoughts from their psyches.

(Sorry, Netscape doesn’t support extended character sets very well)