The ads for BP and Kodak on the Georgia Tech sign by the freeway were just mildly amusing. The Golden Arches on the basketball court were also simply funny, since McDonalds gave a tidy sum of money to renovate our facilities and deserves some recognition for their donations. The constant lineup of people pushing credit cards, pagers, and periodicals in the bookstore mall and Student Center can get slightly irritating, but is bearable since the well-dressed, toothy-smiled wolves generally remain at their tables, out of my way. I tend to get really P.O.'d at the flashy, nauseating displays that invade the SC walkway several times quarterly, primarily because the folks in marketing at these companies seem to believe that college students are simpletons who are uncontrollably attracted to flashing lights, loud music, and stupid gimmicks.
But now Tech's practice of whoring itself out to capitalism has reached a new level, and I'm forced to write a letter! The incident occured in my current CmpE class: The professor makes her way to the front of the room, and instead of beginning the lecture introduces a man from Byte magazine, who gives his well-practiced sales pitch and offers subscription forms to the members of the class. The whole process was brief and not really offensive, but I was still left in awe that it happened. Perhaps this sort of thing has been going on for some time, but this was my first experience with it.
Although I do not want college to be an isolated, ivory tower experience, I still feel that the search for pure knowledge is disturbed by influences from the outside, commercial world. While the field of engineering is based on satisfying real-world demands by applying pure knowledge, the study of the subject should remain apart from brand names and registered trademarks.
The incident described was not a direct attack on the sanctity of my profession, but I feel it is an example of commercialism pushing too far into [the academic world]. I am forced to ponder: What is important to Tech, students or money?
