PLATFORM : Hail the Nerds
<i> SANDY SCHUCKETT</i> ,<i> president of the Los Angeles School Librarians Assn.</i> , <i> is the librarian at Eastman Avenue Elementary School in East Los Angeles. She is concerned about nerd-bashing in the media:</i>
It has become increasingly annoying and disheartening to see and hear the growing amount of nerd-bashing that continues to take place in the print and nonprint media.
Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Benjamin Franklin were nerds. Frederick Douglass and George Washington Carver would have been nerds had they not lived during times of slavery and legalized bigotry. Chopin and Beethoven were nerds. Jonas Salk is probably a nerd.
What did these nerds have in common?
They were all readers.
They had questioning minds.
They had dreams and high ideals.
They gave invaluable gifts to humanity.
Think about it.