San Diego Climber Dies in Andes

Ben Horne was a graduate student in the economics program at UCSD, and he was lost along with his partner in the Andes last week. A lot of people at the med school knew him, although I am not one. My heart goes out to family and friends. I realize that it may seem inappropriate to say this now, but here goes. People absolutely love doing things like mountain climbing, but it's dangerous - that's part of the addiction - but the question is always the risk-benefit ratio. What do we get, really, by risking our lives doing it? Whatever the percentage chance of disaster, is it a good trade? I'm willing to risk offending people if someone reads this and decides not to do something risky, and in so doing fewer hearts break in the future. By all accounts Ben was a great guy with a fantastic life ahead of him, a life which I'm sure his loved ones would say was too dear a price to pay. Read more about him here.