Fresno City College is home to the minds that both contribute and determine our future. These students hold change in the palms of their hands but they have become apathetic and complacent. The ignorance of the student population is alarming. Not all students choose not to be informed but a great number do.
I discovered this as I made my rounds through the campus asking students their views on the upcoming presidential elections. As students, I expected their responses to be passionate and firm. I was confronted with the opposite in most cases.
“What do you think the biggest issue of the 2012 elections is”? A simple enough question that would give anyone a chance to have their voice heard. The responses I received though shocked me into silence and fear. The interviewees said, “I don’t know,” “I’m not into politics” and “What election,” I found myself in disbelief. Surely I was hearing things, surely there was a mistake.
It worries me that decisions and issues are decided upon by people that do not care or are simply uninterested in things that will affect their lives and the lives of others. Some students do not even take advantage of the simplest form of action our country offers; voting.
We as students have the minds to change the world and as citizens with the right to vote, we have the tools as well. Being in college gives us an extra step forward to informed and educated about what is going on in the world around us.
All it takes is us, as a community, to pay attention and act. We have the power to vote but that does little when we do not know what we are voting on. How can we make the right decision if we do not first look around and gather information?
Of course there are reasons that we may not know what is going on as our lives are hectic but there is always five minutes to catch up on current events. Living in the age of information, where the world is literally at our finger tips, gives us no excuse to not be informed.
I am not just talking about national or political issues either. There are changes happening on campus that not many people know about. When students are asked about budget cuts and how they feel about them, the reporter is greeted with “We have budget cuts”?
As I walk the campus, I hear students talking to each other about not being able to afford a book or having to carpool. Their tones sadden me as they seem to just accept it and not ask questions. We have become lazy, as students, when it comes to finding ways to get by or taking action against something that we feel is unfair.
Times are hard right now and everyone understands that. Each person has been affected by the economy in one way or another but that is no reason to be disheartened. There are ways to voice your discontent and there are ways to accomplish your goals.
With the campus in emotional limbo over the coming changes, it is no wonder that there are not lines of students waiting for deans or voicing their opinions. Tuition is being raised again and there is not even a whisper of it going through the students.
Many, when asked about it, reply with a shrug of the shoulders and say “It’s still cheap”. It may be cheap in comparison to other colleges and universities but where is the response?
I want the student body to care what happens to their education and take charge of it. Pick up a newspaper more often or even go online and get up to date on the events happening around the world.
Learn about what is going on so that when the issue arises, something can be done about it. Change does not happen on its own. It has to be forced into existence and who better to be the voice of change than the minds of the future?