Do you watch the news? Are you informed about world events? Does it even matter? Oddly enough, college students oftentimes answer all these questions in the negative.

Thinking about that is both disconcerting and mildly terrifying. The news does not only give us information that is considered dull by many, such as the weather or traffic report, but it also briefly informs us about what is happening in the rest of the world.

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Do you watch the news? Are you informed about world events? Does it even matter? Oddly enough, college students oftentimes answer all these questions in the negative.

Thinking about that is both disconcerting and mildly terrifying. The news does not only give us information that is considered dull by many, such as the weather or traffic report, but it also briefly informs us about what is happening in the rest of the world.

As college students, we frequently fall unaware of the happenings of the rest of the world. Currently, we live in the bubble that is The University of Akron; outside of that bubble is the sphere that is Ohio, then the United States and so on. It is very easy to remain comfortably within our UA bubble and not think about all of the problems so removed from our sphere. However, nothing is entirely isolated within its own sphere; complex interactions are always taking place. Just as the personal is political, the local is global.

Events from the outside affect the interior just as greatly as though they were the epicenter; it simply takes longer and manifests itself in different ways. A shockwave like the one that sent a massive wall of water toward Japan in recent events sends pulses, both directly and indirectly, throughout the entire world. The impact of one nation’s disaster is felt here. Yes, even in Ohio.

As students, we may not feel that it is our place to worry about things that happen so far away, like the disaster Japan is currently experiencing. In this we are cheating ourselves.

The Japanese have not only suffered from the immediate problem caused by the earthquake and tsunami, but they now face a disaster in the form of damaged nuclear power plants. The lives of those living in Japan are being forever altered in so many ways that we cannot turn our cheek to their suffering.

It has many times been said that it is our obligation to know what is happening in the rest of the world because we are all members of humankind and, as such, live in fellowship no matter the distance. Though this had always sounded cliché, I now see truth in it and urge others to think of all those suffering right now as a potential friend.

Be aware of what is happening. The things that happen in this world are by no means confined to their starting points. Don’t live in ignorance, pretending that the suffering of those on the other side of the world does not affect you. We are all people, essentially all roommates here on the planet Earth. Show compassion by simply being informed.

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