What loss will recipients suffer from? If they feel the process to cultivate their sense of gratitude is an arduous one, it's their own fault.

Yang Jinxi (www.people.com.cn): From a positive perspective, the "donation relay" commitment will help sustain this charity activity. According to the commitment, when recipients have graduated from college and have stable employment, they should donate a certain amount of money to help other students in need of help. In this sense, the commitment will help the charity organization to have a stable source of funds. This all means that recipients do not have to return the money to donors, but to other needy students. As far as recipients are concerned, this is an honor, rather than something harmful.

Another function of the commitment is to cultivate the quality of gratitude in recipients, as it keeps reminding the students that it is thanks to the kindness of others that they manage to finish their studies. In the same light, the recipients should pass on this gratitude to others. It may seem like pressure, but this pressure will help the recipients develop the true spirit of gratitude.

Gratitude cannot be bought

Li Shaoqiang (China Youth Daily): The correct attitude toward charity donations is to see the offerings as an embodiment of high morality. If so, recipients will regard the donations as a gift and develop heartfelt gratitude.

The "donation relay" commitment, however, will make recipients feel that the donation they receive is actually a loan. From this perspective, they will not be moved and thus never feel grateful. For one to feel grateful, donors should never ask for anything in return. If there are any attached conditions, any feelings of compassion are reduced.

There are many reasons for recipients not to feel grateful: Some are too insensitive to, some are not good at expressing gratitude and some may not feel the necessity to do so. Whatever the reason, it's improper to force those people to express their gratitude in the form of a contract. If one does not feel grateful for a donation, it's a matter of morality and education is the only right way to solve this, not strict attached terms.

Li Hongjun (www.newssc.org): According to the "donation relay" commitment, the Henan Charity Federation requires that the students who receive its aid must report their study progress and promise to pay back all the funds they have received. The first promise is not difficult to fulfill, but the second one is not so easy. As we all know, nowadays, not all students can successfully find employment. In most cases, students living in poverty may have more difficulty in finding an ideal job.

In this context, it's obviously unrealistic to ask the needy students to make such a promise. To some extent, to impose such conditions reflects a distrust of today's college students.

It's true that college students should feel gratitude toward those who provide financial aid. After all, it is with their support that they manage to finish their studies. However, when providing help to the students, donors should not set out to harm the personality and dignity of the young.

Tian Jixian (Qianjiang Evening News): When donors start demanding gratitude from recipients, they are possibly asking the latter to give up some of their rights. Originally, recipients and donors are equal, but with the "donor relay" commitment, recipients seem to owe something to donors. In this way, a charity donation becomes a means for the donor to deprive the recipient of certain rights.

It's not that a charity donation is not allowed to attach any conditions to recipients, but these conditions are not imposed by the donor on the recipients, but by the charity organization or society as a whole. When an organization demands individuals to do something, it must be equal for every individual; but once it is donors that demand recipients to do something, it's quite possible that the latter have to pay for the aid they receive.

Wen Zhi (Zhongshan Daily): For recipients, the "donation relay" commitment smells like discrimination. If love is delivered in the form of a contract, maybe the essence of love won't be felt, because while a donation is given as aid attached with certain conditions, the recipient is saddled with psychological and emotional burdens, instead of feeling the warmth of being cared for.

As far as an education fund is concerned, donors and recipients are equal and only based on equality can we have a real "donation relay" commitment. Charity aid must be conducted on the basis of recipients' free will and the Henan Charity Federation must have full knowledge of the living conditions of the applicants. Compared with the commitment, social supervision is more acceptable. If the public is involved in this affair, instead of a piece of paper, the education assistance fund will begin to snowball and do more good to those who need help.