In the past two months America has waged a war against terrorism, two national symbols have been attacked and the US economy has gone from bad to worse.
Two months ago, the University of Miami UC was filled with students glued to the television as the latest news unfolded.
Last Sunday, the television in the UC wass on ESPN and students clustered in groups to study, not discuss national issues.
The threat of disappointing GPA’s trumps the threat of terrorism for the majority of students.
There are less than two weeks until the end of classes and less than a month until finals. It is now time for students to separate themselves from everything going on outside and concentrate on what will be their end-of-semester results, they said.
“I’m responsible for my grades and depending on what I do, I stay in college,” explained Kike Edwards, a junior majoring in international marketing.
Students across the board of majors and standings echoed Edwards’ words.
“All the assignments are coming in. Finals are always the biggest concern at the end of the semester,” said Alicia Lopez, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism.
Students who have not directly been affected by the 9/11 tragedies and subsequent issues feel as though there is nothing they can do to change the situation in America right now, so they shouldn’t worry about it.
“If I die in a plane crash, or I get anthrax, there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s all God willing,” Edwards said.
“I’m not worried about anthrax, about flying, about terrorists. I’m a Christian and there is nothing for me to fear with the Lord on my side,” said sophomore Rachel Dooley-Tucker, a marine affairs major.
“Anthrax? It just hasn’t hit home,” Dixon said. “I’m flying on Tuesday. But the only reason is because last week’s plane crash wasn’t a terrorist attack. If it was, I wouldn’t be flying.”
For some students, grades this semester will determine if, when, and where they go to graduate school so concern for worldly issues has to be put aside, they said.
“Grades are what matter because I have to graduate this December and go to grad school in January!” said senior Robert Mullings, a Computer Information Systems major.
For other students, it was not a matter of putting aside world issues-grades just simply matter the most.
“Grades trump everything,” said freshman Melih Beken, a mechanical engineering major. Beken is also very excited about going home to Turkey, however, for him it is a matter of logistics:
“I have three weeks before I go home, but only two