<p>School: Dartmouth</p>
<p>When: Dec. 9</p>
<p>How: Online</p>
<p>Accepted: Shriek and yell and scare the crap outta everyone in the J room with me.</p>
<p>Deferred: Be sad, but get my other apps ready and resolve that now I’ll see where else I might get into.</p>
<p>Rejected: Cry, probably. Lock myself in my room. You know, the usual.</p>
<p>First of all, I am educated enough to know that there really isn’t a right and wrong in politics. That said, I find it incredibly sad that people believe Bush is the right thing for America. I’m not familiar with the “Vandy” mold, but I can say that I would love to go to a college with “frat guys and pretty girls”. However, I would not like to go to a college where people think they have the superior opinons on terrorism, homeland security, etc. than the people who have actually EXPERIENCED IT.</p>
<p>This is “A LETTER TO THE RED STATES” and if you haven’t read it, I think you should…maybe it would help you GET A CLUE.</p>
<p>Sorry, I try not to deluge people with my ramblings. But I had to
write this and, having written it, had to send it. Even though I
don’t know anyone I can send it to (without alienating my
Republican in-laws, who are the only “middle country” people I
know.)</p>
<p>I am writing this letter to the people in the red states in the
middle of the country – the people who voted for George W.
Bush. I am writing this letter because I don’t think we know each
other.</p>
<p>So I’ll make an introduction. I am a New Yorker who voted for
John Kerry. I used to live in California, and if I still lived there, I
would vote for Kerry. I used to live in Washington, DC, and if I
still lived there, I would vote for Kerry. Kerry won in all three of
those regions.</p>
<p>Maybe you want to know more about me. Or maybe not; maybe
you think you know me already. You think I am some anti-
American anarchist because I dislike George W. Bush. You
think that I am immoral and anti-family, because I support
women’s reproductive freedom and gay rights. You think that I
am dangerous, and even evil, because I do not abide by your
religious beliefs.</p>
<p>Maybe you are content to think that, to write me off as a “liberal”
– the dreaded “L” word – and rejoice that your candidate has
triumphed over evil, immoral, anti-American, anti-family people
like me. But maybe you are still curious. So here goes: this is
who I am.</p>
<p>I am a New Yorker. I was here, in my apartment downtown, on
September 11th. I watched the Towers burn from the roof of my
building. I went inside so that I couldn’t see them when they fell.
I had friends who were inside. I have a friend who still has
nightmares about watching people jump and fall from the
Towers. He will never be the same. How many people like him
do you know? People that can’t sit in a restaurant without
plotting an escape route, in case it blows up?</p>
<p>I am a worker. I work across the street from the Citigroup
Center, which the government told us is a “target” of terrorism.
Later, we found out they were relaying very old information, but
it was already too late. They had given me bad dreams again.
The subway stop near my office was crowded with bomb-
sniffing dogs, policemen in heavy protective gear, soldiers.
Now, every time I enter or exit my office, all of my possessions
are X-rayed to make sure I don’t have any weapons. How often
are you stopped by a soldier with a bomb-sniffing dog outside
your office?</p>
<p>I am a neighbor. I have a neighbor who is a 9/11 widow. She
has two children. My husband does odd jobs for her now, like
building bookshelves. Things her husband should do. He uses
her husband’s tools, and the two little girls tell him, “Those are
our daddy’s tools.” How many 9/11 widows and orphans do you
know? How often do you fill in for their dead loved ones?</p>
<p>I am a taxpayer. I worked my butt off to get where I did, and so
did my parents. My parents saved and borrowed and sent me
to college. I worked my way through graduate school. I won a
full tuition scholarship to law school. All for the privilege of
working 2,600 hours last year. That works out to a 50 hour
week, every week, without any vacation days at all. I get to work
by 9 am and rarely leave before 9 pm. I eat dinner at my office
much more often than I eat dinner at home. My husband and I
paid over $70,000 in federal income tax last year. At some
point in the future, we will have to pay much more – once this
country faces its deficit and the impossible burden of Social
Security. In fact, the areas of the country that supported Kerry –
New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts – they are the
financial centers of the nation. They are the tax base of this
country. How much did you pay, Kansas? How much did you
contribute to this government you support, Alabama? How
much of this war in Iraq did you pay for?</p>
<p>I am a liberal. The funny part is, liberals have this reputation for
living in Never-Neverland, being idealists, not being sensible.
But let me tell you how I see the world: I see America as one
nation in a world of nations. Therefore, I think we should try to
get along with other nations. I see that gay people exist.
Therefore, I think they should be allowed to exist, and be
treated the same as other people. I see ways in which women
are not allowed to control their own bodies. Therefore, I think
we should give women more control over their bodies. I see
that people have awful diseases. Therefore, I think we should
enable scientists to try to cure them. I see that we have a
Constitution. Therefore, I think it should be upheld. I see that
there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Therefore, I
think that Iraq was not an imminent danger to me. It seems so
pragmatic to me. How do you see the world? Do you really
think voting against gay marriage will keep people from being
gay? Would you really prefer that people continue to die from
Parkinson’s disease? Do you really not care about the
Constitutional rights of political detainees? Would you really
have supported the war if you knew the truth, or would you
have wanted to spend more of our money on health care, job
training, terrorism preparedness?</p>
<p>I am an American. I have an American flag flying outside my
home. I love my home more than anything. I love that I grew up
right outside New York City. I first went to the Statue of Liberty
with my 5th grade class, and my mom and dad took me to the
Empire State Building when I was 8. I love taking the subway to
Yankee Stadium. I loved living in Washington DC and going on
dates to the Lincoln Memorial. It is because I love this country
so much that I argue with my political opponents as much I do.</p>
<p>I am not safe. I never feel safe. My in-laws live in a small town
in Ohio, and that town has received more federal funding, per
capita, for terrorism preparedness than New York City has. I
take subways and buses every day. I work in a skyscraper
across the street from a “target.” I have emergency supplies
and a spare pair of sneakers in my desk, in case somethng
happens while I’m at work. Do you? How many times a month
do you worry that your subway is going to blow up? When you
hear sirens on the street, do you run to the window to make
sure everything is okay? When you hear an airplane, do you
flinch? Do you dread beautiful, blue-skied September days? I
don’t know a single New Yorker who doesn’t spend the month
of September on tip-toes, superstitiously praying for rain so we
don’t have to relive that beautiful, blue-skied day.</p>
<p>I am lonely. I feel that we, as a nation, have alienated all our
friends and further provoked our enemies. I feel unprotected.
Most of all I feel alienated from my fellow citizens, because I
don’t understand what you are thinking. You voted for a man
who started a war in Iraq for no reason, against the wishes of
the entire world. You voted for a man whose lack of foresight
and inability to plan has led to massive insurgencies in Iraq,
where weapons are disappearing into the hands of terrorists.
You voted for a man who let Osama Bin Laden escape into the
hills of Afghanistan so that he could start that war in Iraq. You
voted for a man who doesn’t want to let people love who they
want to love; doesn’t want to let doctors cure their patients;
doesn’t want to let women rule their destinies. I don’t
understand why you voted for this man. For me, it is not enough
that he is personable; it is not enough that he seems like one of
the guys. Why did you vote for him? Why did you elect a man
that lied to us in order to convince us to go to war? (Ten years
ago you were incensed when our president lied about his sex
life; you thought it was an impeachable offense.) Why did you
elect a leader who thinks that strength cannot include
diplomacy or international cooperation? Why did you elect a
man who did nothing except run away and hide on September
11?</p>
<p>Most of all, I am terrified. I mean daily, I am afraid that I will not
survive this. I am afraid that I will lose my husband, that I will
never have children, that I will never grow old and watch the
sunset in a backyard of my own. I am afraid that my career –
which should end with a triumphant and good-natured roast at
a retirement party in 2035 – will be cut short by an attack on me
and my colleagues, as we sit sending emails and making
phone calls one ordinary afternoon. Is your life at stake? Are
you terrified?</p>
<p>I don’t think you are. I don’t think you realize what you have
done. And if anything happens to me or the people I love, I
blame you. I wanted you to know that.</p>
<p>Get a clue? If there is “no right and wrong” in politics, why would I need to get a clue just because I disagree with you? Anyway, if that letter was supposed to tug at my heartstrings, it didn’t. Actually, I didn’t even finish it. I can’t stand it when people blame September 11 and the war in Iraq all on Bush. Maybe if Clinton had done a better job, things would have been different. Thanks for your concern over me getting a clue, but I consider myself well informed. I don’t really have the energy to argue with you anymore. Since I am from the South, or as you would say the red states, I am supposed to be well mannered. I think we should agree to disagree. Have a nice day in “NEW YORK BABY!!!”.</p>
<p>I will thanks!! Good luck with Vanderbilt :)</p>
<p>School - University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill & Rice University (both EA)
When You Expect to Hear - January 31, and February something respectively
How-Online
What You Will do if Accepted/ Rejected (or Waitlisted) - Cry.</p>
<p>Haha that was hilarious. Why does every argument come back to politics?</p>
<p>hahahah because this is America man!!!</p>
<p>Hey “Nicky Jane” (lol two first names… typical) go shove your estrogen down someone elses throat. Go pray to mother Gaia and leave us all alone you elitist lib. I suppose Kerry represents you better speaking into a loud speaker on the bow of his yacht. But I suppose you are more cultured than I am, and like those kind of men. Anyway, maybe when you grow up and stop letting your hormones and emotions control your mind, you will become a conservative. </p>
<p>“NEW YORK BABY!!!” ??? </p>
<p>Kind of reminds me of Hillary shouting “You go girl!” to Teresa Kerry after she, a cultured intellectual woman, cursed out a reporter. Anyway, she has much more class than Laura Bush, because Laura is from a red state so she MUST be ignorant!!! </p>
<p>Libs…</p>
<p>School: University of Rochester
Expecting: December 15th
Where: At my home by myself
Accepted: Get very happy and faint
Deferred: Sulk and start preparing other Apps
Rejected: Be in a bad mood for the rest of the day and possibly week and month and…</p>
<p>Real mature, deusch. Go back to Texas.</p>
<p>I don’t let my hormones and emotions control my mind, thank you very much. I have to ask, have you ever been outside of your state? Or out of the country? Traveling would really help you to gain a more secular perspective on politics, and I think it would truly do you a lot of good.</p>
<p>Personally, I am of the belief that it is better for a presidential candidate’s wife to cuss out a reporter than for our VICE PRESIDENT to stick his middle finger up at someone on the Senate floor. Then again, I am probably wrong, I am not as cultured as you so I am probably not aware of the fact that this is appropriate behavior where you come from.</p>
<p>As for Laura, she is a disgrace to the women of America. At least Hilary SPOKE UP, and DID THINGS. Yes, I realize Laura does things, but she is not in the public eye championing important social policies, as Hilary was. I feel that people like Laura are actually regressing the progress woman have made, by sitting silently next to her idiot husband and nodding and smiling. Don’t even get me started on those twins…</p>
<p>I had to laugh at the political argument here. With politics it quite often seems impossible to convert someone with a debate. It usually takes a change of age, significant experience, or something else besides one person one time trying to use logic.</p>
<p>But I guess we still try to convince others to see things our way. I know I do, mostly because I really love debating. </p>
<p>I think it is important to be open-minded though. For example, claiming that the red states are dumb is ignorant but so is saying because you are a liberal you are ignorant. I don’t know. I just wish people wouldn’t hop on each other in a mean way about their political beliefs. Debating is great but name calling and so forth gets old.</p>
<p>Back to ED/ EA talk :)</p>
<p>Where did you apply EA/ED Nicky? Just curious. You know, I was fine waiting and forgetting about my Williams app until here in December when I know the decision is within two weeks. Two weeks ago I wasn’t thinking much about my ED applicant. Now, I can’t seem to focus on my work because thinking about the decision letter is so distracting!</p>
<p>Ahh…Let’s keep these thread going. They sadly entertain me during this high anxiety week…</p>
<p>Oh, and PS, those stats were from the NY times right after the election, by Paul Krugman, I’m sure you can find them online somewhere!!</p>
<p>I know what you mean. It’s all I can think about now!!!</p>
<p>I applied ED to Cornell. :)</p>
<p>Excuse me. </p>
<p>I can’t help but interrupt. All I see is an innoculous letter that is very personal and full of honest pain, albeit with a political undertone. If it offends you, write one in return, with your own experiences and opinions. Don’t make personal attacks, please. Just because you’re anonymous doesn’t give you the right to be offensive and rude. </p>
<p>I’m sorry for preaching, but brenner’s post made me very angry. </p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I’m not sure if you understand the difference between the political and the layman’s terms of “conservative.” Politically, conservatives oppose rapid change in governmental and societal institutions. Fiscal conservatives (which I am, by the way) oppose excessive government debt; this belief in balanced budgets tends to be coupled with a belief that government welfare programs should be narrowly tailored and that tax rates should be low, which implies relatively small government institutions. </p>
<p>The layman’s “conservative” is different; favoring traditional views and values, or conforming to the standards and conventions of the middle class. </p>
<p>I don’t know which one you mean, but I can assure you that I am, in layman’s terms, a conservative. I am of a traditional Asian family and first-born to boot, which, historically, implies a closer bond with my parents’ values and resistent to changes. In addition, I am a fiscal (government economic policy) conservative and fear the gigantic debt that Bush (a “conservative”) has consigned the country too. </p>
<p>If you have taken economics, in particular macro economics, you will understand that the US has no real value to pay back its annual deficit/compounded debt. This borrowing from the international sphere + its alienation of other countries = serious trouble. </p>
<p>I believe Nicky’s “NYB” was an expression of pride, commendable after the trouble last few years and the tragedy of 9/11. I do not see how you logically arrived at your last complete sentence. In addition, why did you chew out Laura Bush? Her devotion to her husband and her quiet dignity are truly lovely, and have nothing to do with red state/blue state. I’m offended that you think she is ignorant–she strikes me as an intelligent woman who does not seek the spotlight but prefers to be a supporting pillar. </p>
<p>I’d love it if we could discuss this further. Politics are truly fascinating.</p>
<p>Props to Leonesa and tebro for advocating open-mindedness, rational discussion, and tolerance. Props to everyone for having opinions and stating them in the face of those who disagree. </p>
<p>And props to everyone applying EA/Ed… good luck.</p>
<p>I think Laura is very intelligent. I think her devotion to President Bush is great.<br>
However, I do think that she is sending the wrong message to women. I have seen several interviews with her where she just smiles and nods, occaisonally gazing over adoringly at dear old Georgey. While some may think these are good qualities, I think it is reminiscent of the 50s…she is there to support and help out her husband, and essentially doesn’t have a mind of her own. I know this may be a difference of background and opinion, but I want a first lady who is out on the front lines, so to speak, initiating her own policies, and truly having a significant impact on the country. I don’t think Laura has done this at all (granted, she has a few interesting educational programs, however I don’t think she has publicized them enough, and I don’t think they can compare to all that Hilary did.) I think she’s sending an entirely wrong message to women and girls everywhere.</p>
<p>“dear old Georgey” –> “dear old fogey”</p>
<p>HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! <em>am amused</em> </p>
<p>I think it’s more a question of temperament and education than anything else. Remember, she’s actually pretty old even if she’s still quite pretty. The political spectrum is very intimidating and a wrong comment can alienate a whole sector of the population. I think she thinks the best thing she can do is to support her husband. </p>
<p>I actually didn’t like Heinz-Kerry all that much. She was…awkward at the wrong times and never quite forceful enough on the issues that mattered. However, Hillary would be excellent as a Democratic nominee as President…</p>
<p>would that make Clinton First Husband?</p>
<p>LOL…I want Clinton to be my boyfriend!!</p>
<p>I have to agree w/you on big T though, she didn’t really strike me as someone who would make an exemplary leader (however, I do think she rocks.)</p>