College students need wake-up call

By Andrew Lewis
Collegian Reporter
March 28, 2007

Did you know last week marked the fourth anniversary of the United States military action in Iraq? That’s an easy one, of course. You knew that, right?

Did you know that since the beginning of the war in 2003, approximately 3,200 American troops (many in their early 20s like us) have been killed? And, did you know about the estimated thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians who have been killed? What about the estimated $1-2 trillion that the United States’ taxpayers will spend by the time the war has ended? Were you aware of that?

In a recent New York Times study, it was found that for every second the United States military spends in Iraq, we are spending an additional $6,300. Did you know that? I am sure that once you enter the workforce and are forced to pay taxes, you might want to know just where a portion of your hard earned salary will end up – most likely in some form or another, in Iraq.

If you are like the majority of American college students across the country, the Iraq War is an event taking place thousands of miles away. The entire issue really isn’t hitting home for most young Americans. As demonstrated by the rather small turnout for the anti-war rally on La Salle’s campus March 20, people aren’t aware. Sure, you hear about it often, or happen to catch a news story flipping through the channels in a rush to catch the latest episode of American Idol or Grey’s Anatomy. Of course you have heard about it, but why aren’t you listening?

The Vietnam conflict is remembered through countless images and events, as well as by the immense number of American casualties. However, one of the most important images in American culture remains the enormous number of protests, sit-ins and rallies demonstrating the gruesome conflict in Vietnam. Chances are most of your parents experienced this movement in some way or another.

In the ’60s, college students across the country helped spark a movement that alerted and impacted the nation for the duration of the war. The efforts were a way for America’s youth to become involved in what our country was doing thousands of miles away. But where has the same interest and caring attitude of our parents’ generation gone? Why is it, for the most part, almost entirely nonexistent?

The answer, in my opinion, is due to several important differences in our culture today. First, much of our generation is too concerned with television sitcoms, video games and the Internet. Getting drunk is a more essential part of the week than learning about what is going on across the globe, even when many of our former high school classmates are risking their lives in the military. Too much of our day is filled with meaningless activities that have no real impact on our future, our knowledge or the future of our country. Regardless, the primary and most fundamental difference between the American college student culture of the Vietnam era and our culture today is simply the fact that there hasn’t been a threat of a draft.

Jesse Hamilton, a current La Salle student and an Iraq War veteran, proposed this argument during the rally. I completely agree with Hamilton’s position, and would also be willing to bet that if the United States government instituted a draft that didn’t exempt pampered college students by way of deferments, all of a sudden the conflict in Iraq would become a serious priority.

The conflict we are currently involved with in Iraq is worsening every moment. The death tolls are rising on a monthly basis, and with the recent troop surge, an end isn’t looking likely in the near future. Regardless, the time has come for college students across America to wake up. We must realize that hundreds of thousands of people are dying across the globe as a result of our country’s actions.

Is it just? Is it immoral? Does it speak for you? That is for you to decide, as, fortunately, this remains a free country. However, the time has come for those of us who are home in the USA enjoying the college life to become familiar with what is going on. We must truly engage in learning and learn from the lessons of Vietnam, as our parents did. Globalization has made the world smaller than it ever has been. We must realize that what happens thousands of miles away could have devastating effects in our own backyards, from global warming to war.

Before you know it, our generation will be up to bat, dealing with these types of international issues, and we don’t want to be left in the dust. Don’t be intimated by politicians or global events you don’t know anything about. Use the curiosity and intellect of a college student and realize that you have the power to create a change, a change for the positive. Get up off your couch and wake up. This is what being an American is all about.

lewisa3@lasalle.edu