I don't want to say I'm apathetic, because I'm not, I'm far from it, I just have a hard time getting caught up in either side of the health care reform battle that is going on in Congress. If anything, I feel that the Keene State College student body is apathetic. There are pockets of politically minded people certainly, the Dems, Reps, and some of the clubs like Campus Ecology getting Power Vote. Power Vote was a green energy youth movement during the 2008 election to get the younger population to vote and push their legislators to pass green energy bills into law.
Amnesty International used to be here, but they are no longer because one reason or another. Some students a few years back were trying to start a Keene State lead Food Not Bombs, but all the restaurants and groceries stores either already donate their dated food to the food pantry or pour bleach on the day old bread in the dumpsters so that nobody will eat it when dumpster diving for a meal. Food Not Bombs is a movement based around serving free vegetarian food and protesting war, poverty, or any type of injustice in the world.
My point that I am trying to get to here is that there are a lot of good ideas, and a lot of things that people are doing, or trying but aren't getting the support they deserve.
There was a tea party in Keene this weekend, there wasn't a single Keene State College student that was actively participating in it. There were though students though that made the half hour drive from Franklin Pierce University. Junior Mike Barrasso went with two other FPU students because he felt this was an important event to attend. It was about preserving his rights as an American. Senior John Gordon, not pictured, openly invited anyone that knew of profound and provokative speakers to "come to FPU" because they have the facilities.
Keene State gets the same type of people on campus, and Keene State has the facilities to have these types of people to come here, but it's always more the community that is there or just empty chairs. Sometimes I just have to look in and see how many students are there for extra credit taking notes because they know their professor may ask them about the speaker during the next quiz or exam.
It's sad that the campus overall is in such a state, and that only pockets in the actual student body care. The election showed a wide variety of people coming out, but that doesn't reflect the persistent politically active students. Call it campus apathy, or just my cynicism in how motivated the campus is, but for whatever reason, in such an important time for my generation, I see those around me doing nothing as I stand waiting at a cross road...
Do I put down my camera and take the flag out of my closet, or wait for the the students to try and do something to promote political change in Washington, D.C.?
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