Unfortunately, it is now too late to read the free online version of Louise Story's NYT report on how many women at elite universities are planning to put their careers on hold in order to be home with their children. I didn't need the YDN to tell me what a big controversy this was among campus women; everywhere from debates in the dining halls to irate mass emails, people have been talking. "I'm not planning to be a stay-at home mom! Maybe some of us are just here to get their Mrs., but nobody I know."

Some are outraged that the piece made the front page. Many feel personally offended, and some have written the author to question her survey methods.

The article adddressed many questions. Is it possible to balance a career and a family? Is it somehow the duty of Ivy League women to go out and conquer the world, and by being stay-at-home (or at least part-time) moms, are they wasting their education?

Personally, I think the whole thing is being blown out of proportion. I admit I was surprised when I read Story's numbers. Nobody can plan that far ahead to know where in their careers they will be when they marry, or whom they will marry. Everyone who gets offended by this claims to have tremendous respect for stay-at-home mothers; yet apparently the thought of spending any time as one attacks their sense of self. It's true that traditional gender roles are not hard and fast, but there are reasons for them that go back to the dawn of time. I do hope to be able to take a little time off when my kids are very young, but I would hope that my husband would make comparable sacrifices.

This strikes me as a very personal decision that is being turned into an almost political issue on campus, fostering nothing but animosity. If I were one of those who had planned to stop working after childbirth, I would not feel comfortable admitting it to some of my fellow students, for fear they would feel I was "taking up someone else's valuable spot at Yale" for nothing.

I think motherhood is a career unto itself, and for those unprepared for it (as most of us students, still dependent on our own parents, are), it seems remote and foreign. Working hard to get ahead is all most Yalies have ever known. I think most of the ire this article stirred up is really due to the fact that it forced us to briefly question exactly what we've been working for.