Polemicists Debate the Wonk Menace

"Wonks are evil beings who see the world as one large bell curve," Evelyn Samuels '79, a member of the Student Polemical Society (SPS), said last night at an SPS debate titled "Resolved: Wonks Are Evil."

Speaking to approximately 20 students in the Winthrop House Owen Room, Samuels asserted "Intelligence and wonkdom are mutually exclusive. Wonks are notorious suck-ups dying for an A+."

Christopher Robinson '79 defended the wonks, saying, "A work ethic is something ingrained in society, it can't be evil."

"Look at the Franciscan motto, 'To work is to pray,'" Robinson noted, "and it's obvious that the word 'wonk' is just 'know' spelled backwards.

Hamish W. Norton '79, Samuels's partner on the affirmative team, said, "Society would not exist if everyone were wonks. They'd have a hard time unilaterally producing children," Norton said.

The society does not select winners in their debates because "it would be impolite," SPS co-president Susan A. Esser '79 said yesterday.