JMU "bubble" needs to be popped

House Editorial

The majority of the students at JMU did not grow up in Harrisonburg and most likely, the majority of us do not plan to stay here after graduation. So why is it that while we are here, the majority of us only concern ourselves with what goes on inside the JMU bubble?

It is the joint blessing and curse that comes with going to school that resides in a semi-rural town speckled with horse farms and farmer's markets, both of which don't exactly bring us closer to national news.

According to an Oct. 4 article in The Washington Post, "Five people going about prosaic chores of daily life were indiscriminantly shot dead in a 17-hour span in Montgomery County [Oct. 2-3]."

The buzz on campus certainly spread the word of the news, but how many people can say they actually went home and turned on the news or read the article in The Washington Post the next day?
We need to ban together and pop this bubble in which we so pleasantly reside. Yes, those that go to school in metropolitan areas have it easier (and harder) than us in that the news is right in their faces. The news outside their classrooms and a short walk from their dorm rooms. If we walk too far from our dorm rooms, we can't even find any pavement.

It is no easy task to go that extra mile to find out what's really going on in the world. Not only are we bogged down with work but there is not that much that helps us open our eyes. Our social and political microcosm is such that we don't need to reach out to other places to find something to do. We've got our own little mini-world complete with local politics, University Program Board concerts and even a Super Wal-mart right here.

Some of what is going on now isn't relevant to our lives, that's true. But 10 years from now when our colleagues are talking about these events and how they shaped our lives, we just might be at a disadvantage. How long will we rely on our mom's to send us the important articles from the CNN Web site or our political science teachers to fill us on the latest happenings in the world?

We must take on the initiative to keep up to date on what is going on in the world even two hours away from us. Future employers will expect us to know about the recent history national news, not the names of the city council representatives in Harrisonburg. Although it may cut into some of our free time, it could prevent us from having too much free time after we graduate.