News has always traveled fast. In the age of Twitter, Facebook, texting and Internet access on your phone, it’s almost impossible to avoid real-time updates of current events. This digital word-of-mouth should hypothetically make us all experts ““ or at least informed ““ on international affairs. It’s not called the “information superhighway” for nothing. But funnily enough, it seems as though that awareness of the news comes to a grinding halt, right at the edge of UCLA. Some might blame being busy, but we all are. The real fault lies with students themselves.
Our self-induced insulation is the result of a combination of several different factors coming together ““ primarily, prioritizing what we do with our free time and the idea that what happens outside of UCLA, stays outside of UCLA. This is not to belittle the students who do actively seek out current events, but to lament the plight of students for whom, for some reason, international ““ sometimes even just national ““ news-savvy has decreased.
I speak from experience. The entire world is up to something, and I have been left out. My awareness on major issues around the world right now is mortifying. North Korea and South Korea are on edge over North Korea’s sinking of a South Korean battleship on March 26, and I found out about it last week. The Gulf of Mexico is rapidly being sullied by what might be the largest environmental disaster ever, and I learned about that 10 days after it occurred, because I happened to be watching the news with my mother.
One might wonder, why do you care that these things happened, and why do you care to know more about them? Even though it seems like these things don’t affect us as students, we must think of the old cliche: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” Despite the fact that current international affairs are not yet history, the knowledge we gain at UCLA is not learned in a vacuum. It is useful only when applied to the outside world, in helping us understand the problems and the means by which we can come to solutions.
So it is rather sad that students prioritize things like catching up on “House” or “Glee” over keeping up with the news. With all our stress over classes, midterms and work, none of us want to read discouraging news about destructive tropical storms in Guatemala and Mexico’s increasingly threatening drug wars. Everyone is too busy or too preoccupied to make time.
Ariana Guillermo, a first-year political science student, said she “dabbled” in the news before coming to UCLA, but “when stuff happened, (she) knew about it.”
“UCLA has its own little bubble. You’re so focused on midterms, finals, hanging out with friends, clubs, that you don’t make time to learn about what’s happening beyond UCLA borders,” said Guillermo.
But the fact of the matter is that UCLA is a self-imposed bubble. We are all citizens of the world and should behave as such by keeping up to date with the latest on each and every continent. Students are on Facebook and Twitter anyway ““ why not follow CNN on Twitter? Instead of spending 20 minutes Facebook-stalking your best friend’s ex-boyfriend’s sister, use that time to read up on the sudden spate of presidents and prime ministers resigning all over the world, like in Germany and Japan. It doesn’t even have to be global; national topics are also woefully ignored. Another cliche applies: the butterfly effect. How will Mexico’s drug wars and increasing political instability affect us? Especially here, so close to the border and in a city of predominantly Latino origin?
It’s sad that these feelings of being insulated and “in a bubble” are happening despite our limitless access to all sorts of technology: It could be because we don’t care, or because we don’t have time, or even simply because we forget to check. The feeling of isolation from the outside world contradicts the point of our education ““ to become well-rounded, informed citizens of an increasingly global community. The things we learn cannot be applied absolutely; they must be adapted to the world around us as it changes and shifts from one focus to another.
Happily, summer approaches, as my resolve to read the Los Angeles Times faithfully every morning increases. And as I type, I’ve already logged off Facebook and turned to CNN.com instead, where there are articles on Israel’s raid on a flotilla attempting to approach Gaza. Just few more minutes spent reading can be another needle poked through the bubble.
If you like popping bubbles, contact de la Fuente at fdelafuente@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.