[1067] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: commencement speaker
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Christopher Beland)
Wed Mar 6 21:02:59 2002
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Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2002 18:00:33 -0800
From: Christopher Beland <beland@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
The World Bank is the world's largest external funder of education, HIV
intervention, and health programs, and supports and funds debt relief,
biodiversity projects, and environmental sustainability, and local
governance. Its President, James Wolfsohn, is an outspoken advocate for
the elimination of poverty worldwide. He has urged rich countries to
increase aid to the developing world, and has criticized developed
countries like the United States for subsidizing domestic agri-business
at the expense of third-world farmers. Regardless of controversy
surrounding how well the World Bank has or has not achieved its stated
aims, I'm very interested in what President Wolfsohn will have to say at
my Commencement.
MIT should and does work toward greater global prosperity, through
promoting innovations in technology, scientific discovery, and study of
pressing social, economic, and environmental problems. In this
particular instance, it has an opportunity to help shifting discussion
of the World Bank's role away from polarizing protests and disengaged
ideologies, and toward a more moderate, considered, and better-informed
dialog. I applaud the Institute and President Vest for not shrinking
from public controversy, especially when such important issues are at
stake.
Beland
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