The article in the Friday, March 5 paper was grand. I was very impressed with what Ben Godar had to say in his column “Hating the rich is as American as apple strudel.”

I was impressed with his description of worth. It disappoints me when people are so influenced by money and materialistic qualities.

Money; what is its worth, really? We don’t recall 100 hundred years later the last millionaire. We recall those who have displayed a special passion, those who have written great works and those who have achieved the impossible.

It disappoints me as Ben Godar states that Princess Di’s contributions were scaled as greater then those of Mother Teresa.

It disappoints me because he’s right. Princess Di was a great example among those who never did seem to give and contribute to the needy.

She shined because she was a good person among many who didn’t seem to think others deserved the help and attention that every soul deserves.

Mother Teresa was on a completely different scale. She was no way on a scale with Princess Di.

Mother Teresa was a women in the Catholic church system who utilized and conquered more things in her life time then more communities conquer in a decade.

Then we throw someone among these wonderful people such as Bill Gates and put him in these categories. What is everyone thinking? Bill Gates invented something. OK, it happens often.

Talk to some professors on campus they have invented some pretty cool stuff and have made a nice chunk of money too.

So, they had a great idea, some people will pay more for some ideas compared to others doesn’t mean each person’s idea isn’t as cool.

But it doesn’t mean that Bill Gates is a good person. It doesn’t mean that he is so great now because he gave less then one percent of his income from the year to charity, which is probably for a tax write off.

Think people; if Bill Gates had a chance to manipulate and screw those with hardly any money, so that he could make some fat cash, do you think he’d pass it up? Of course not.

That doesn’t sound like a good person to me. That doesn’t sound like someone I look at as role model of greatness.

I respect his ideas; I don’t respect the person.

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Dina Bertolini

Senior

Civil engineering