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It is the ignorance of students like Farber that forms my (and probably many other science students) general opinion of humanities students here at Brandeis. As usual, it is the select few that tarnish the reputation of a hard working and intelligent group of people. Second semester senior or not, there is no justification for scoffing at the dangers of a chemistry lab, or the freshman premed students in general.

The most puzzling part of the article was the end;

until you have another one of those epiphanies and stop caring about your grades. Personally, Im glad I dont have epiphanies like that, but hey, that might be just me. Maybe things worked differently for Mr. Farber in the NEJS department, though. It must have been nice majoring in a subject where if your neurons fire even once in a while you can get an A. Why this unfounded accusation you ask? Statements such as, 4) a fire extinguisher, although Im not quite sure what that one is for, might point you in the right direction. With any luck Rabb will never catch fire.

Im going to go out on a limb here and take exactly the opposite stance as Mr. Farber. For those who still arent sure if they are interested in the NEJS track, my advice is to think carefully about it. Will your four years be nothing more than a huge waste of time and money? I mean, if I need heart surgery, Id certainly want a doctor to do the operation. But on the other hand, I might need extensive knowledge of Judaism, stat. These are issues I struggle with every day. After all, who treats the wounded after a suicide bombing in Haifa or Tel Aviv? Im pretty sure theyre doctors. Im also fairly sure that they were once in a chemistry lab much like those here at Brandeis. Everyone starts somewhere, after all.

Finally, for those seniors in the “Graduating Seniors Taking Premed Courses for Absolutely No Reason,” just accept the fact that everyone in Chemistry 11 will be more successful then you are for one simple reason: they care enough to put in the time and effort. Maybe you don't care, which is probably good because you might get really depressed if you did. Ignorance may be bliss, but watch out- sometimes its painful.
Miles Ketchum '08