Students have no opinion on health care

On Sunday night, I went to the Dean B. Ellis library in search of students who would be willing to give me a quote, or their personal opinion, on the ongoing health care reform debate that has taken hold of Washington D.C.

In the wake of this national debate, there are people throughout this country who are outraged and those who are passionate about the possibilities of a government controlled health care system.

In fact, it was only a few weeks ago that our very own Sen. Blanche Lincoln visited campus to hold a town hall meeting to discuss the case of reform with the community. The meeting was heated and many people came in with strong opinions.

Disappointment

Knowing the publicity that the media has been putting on this issue and knowing how many people attended Sen. Lincoln's meeting, I was certain that finding a mere four students to give me their opinion would be a breeze. Boy, was I wrong.

In the hour that I spent at the library, I thoroughly circled and maneuvered floors one through five in search of opinions. I even visited some floors more than once, asking people whom I might have missed on my first run through.

I was shocked, saddened and honestly outraged with the fact that I could only find one, single student who was willing to give me her opinion or who even knew what I was talking about for that matter.

This one individual student was not an expert on the health care reform debate, like most people in this country, but she had paid attention to either the news or to discussions in her classes, and she knew why she was telling me what she was telling me.

The rest of the students that I came across, for the most part, were completely unaware of the issue at hand.

Some asked me to explain it to them or looked at me with confusion on their face and asked me what I was talking about. Many others simply walked on by with their comment on the issue being, "I'm okay."

Are you really okay with the fact that you know nothing about this pressing issue that has consumed the attention of every lawmaker in Washington?

Do you really have nothing to say about an issue that will affect you, even if you pretend to believe that it won't?

Be informed

We are in college for a reason and that reason is to become more educated, more well rounded individuals and to become better contributors to our society.

Many of you are here on money provided to you by the very government you choose to ignore.

Students, quit being more willing to pick up the latest issue of People magazine and pick up a newspaper the next time you are standing in line at the grocery store.

I am not asking for students to become experts on every issue that happens in America, I am simply asking that you take some time out of your busy life to attempt to understand the laws and decisions that our lawmakers are making for us in Washington D.C.

Pick up a newspaper; turn your television to something more educating than E! News and instead of immediately flipping on your iPod when you get in your vehicle, tune into something informational on your radio.

I will be the first to admit that I enjoy the comforts of all the things I just blasted. I think that we all need forms of entertainment to remain sane.

But I assure you that Jon and Kate are not doing anything that will be the determining factor of if you can afford to visit the doctor.

We live in an era that is driven by communication. "Generation Y" is the most fascinating generation, simply because we have the ability to multi-task as we are receiving information.

Traditional students at ASU fall into this generation. We are the most technologically driven and we choose to receive our information from multiple, often non-traditional, forms of communication.

We should be using our ability to extract and obtain so much information to our advantage.

Our Problem

The events that are taking place across our country right now will, in some way, affect each and every person on the ASU campus at some point in their lives.

These decisions that are up for debate will not only affect your life, but it will affect the lives of your children and your grandchildren.

It is your responsibility as an American to keep yourself informed and to dig deeper into the stories to create your own opinion.

We have been given the right to vote in this country, a right that many people have not always had. Be informed, know the facts and please, want more from our generation.