A word on La Salle’s Iraq War protest

By Olivia Biagi
Collegian Staff
March 21, 2007

Maybe I’m still recovering from the winter-time blues, which rendered me lethargic most of winter break, but the thought of getting fired up March 20 for the anti-war rally held on the Union Patio never crossed my mind. In fact, at the time of the rally, I was sitting at Treetops enjoying a nice turkey and cheese sandwich, thinking about my plans for the upcoming weekend.

Or perhaps, it is more accurate to say that I’m suffering from the numbness to this cruel and corrupt world that seems to plague many students my age.

Yes, we all realize that the war in Iraq has been going on for four years, and that unfortunately, over 3,000 American lives have been lost, but there seems to be a lack of young college students who truly care about current events, as compared to those during the Vietnam War. Maybe we don’t care as much about it as our parents did because we are not at risk of a draft.

All of the soldiers fighting in Iraq signed up for the military voluntary. It has been argued in my high school U.S. History classes that the uproar among college students during Vietnam had a lot to do with the threat of the draft upon graduation. I know I would definitely care a lot more about the current war if there was a chance I was getting shipped off against my will.

But, I think the biggest contribution to my (and many others’) apathy of war protests has more to due with our priorities, in which we place the events of the last episode of Grey’s Anatomy and Britney Spears’ latest publicity stunt ahead of important factors. How many of us know by heart the full names of all of the characters on Grey’s Anatomy, the actors who play them and their storylines for the last three years? How many of those people can also name 10 current senators?

So, I admit it, my priorities are way out-of-whack. Angelina Jolie’s adoption of a non-American child fired me up more than this protest. But, I think the saddest part of all is that I’m not the only one here at La Salle and at colleges and universities across the country who are too numb to the cruel world to care enough about a war.

biagio1@lasalle.edu