God, Country, Notre Dame. The saying becomes embedded into our minds as the ideal priority of living. It is chiseled in stone at the entrance to the Sacred Heart Basilica.
At Notre Dame we have a history of supporting our troops - our active ROTC programs, the Stonehenge memorial commemorating those who lost their lives in World War II. We are first and foremost a Catholic School, however immediately following our faith comes our duty to the United States of America.
The article in the Viewpoint yesterday raises concerns about admitting the CIA and Raytheon into our career fair. Mr. Angulo, Ms. Hass, and Ms. Quiros bring forth various facts about the war in Iraq and concerns about the CIA's operations. While no one can refute their evidence, to suggest that we refuse companies who support our government and the armed forces to recruit at our career fair is asinine and ignorant. If anything we should be supporting these types of companies to recruit from our university. Corporations like the CIA and Raytheon, even other government contractors like the FBI and Boeing, need the best and brightest minds to keep our country safe. Refusing them the option to recruit at such a renowned institution as ours would infringe upon our duty to pay service to our country.
Furthermore, I would like to think that upon graduating from this illustrious university, the recognized men and women would have the competence and intelligence to choose their own career paths without someone restricting their options. The proposed exclusion of certain companies due certain small aspects of their work ignores the other countless other industries that the CIA and Raytheon specifically are involved in. Raytheon's sole product is not the 5,000 pound bomb being used in Afghanistan. The entirety of CIA operatives is not solely involved in the War on Terror.
The Career Fair at the University of Notre Dame is one of the best opportunities across the U.S. to be exposed to an extremely wide variety of companies and to use that opportunity to explore a wide variety of career options. To thwart this opportunity would be a blatant misuse of the wonderful prospects this great University gives us as students.
Nic Ponzio
sophomore
Keenan Hall
Sept. 19
