We the People of the United States of America, but more importantly college students across America have become the products of the "cool consumer" based marketing as Mark Edmundson proposes. Even institutes of higher education are playing the role, catering to the consumer mentality of the students. "Colleges don't have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments." I couldn't say that any better myself. They seem to sugarcoat everything with brochures featuring all the extracurricular activities, clubs, fraternities, never insinuating that you might actually be there to learn. Well at least that's what I'm here to do. I know that there are many students that come here and say "If it weren't for all the school work this place would be great." Whenever someone asks me what I'm going to college for I tell them engineering, I don't say "well the the extracurricular activities is why I 'm doing another four years of schooling." As Edmundson would say "why do college brochures depict well-appointed dorm rooms; elaborate phys-ed facilities; of fine dining rooms; of expertly kept sports fields; of orchestras and drama troupes; of students alone (no overbearing grown-ups in range), peering with high seriousness into computers and microscopes; or of students arrayed outdoors in attractive conversational garlands?" Anyone can make something look good with pictures, so what does it matter to me.
             Here at UMass Amherst we proclaim to have one of the most unique and diversified student body and student activities programs in the country. It's nice have a student body as diverse as ours, it truly is but, you shouldn't have to seek higher education to learn to accept others, not in this day in age. With over 200 RSO's, RSO's being registered student organizations, couldn't you also say that we are a...