If you're anything like me, you spend most of your time focused intently on your particular field of study. For me, days are full of journalism. I'm at a computer working on various projects at least three-fourths of the time I'm awake.
The last two weeks, I've been focused on the Student Government Association election - it seems I'm in the minority of the student body here - the newspaper and my class work. This is completely normal for me, but I had a reality check Friday.
I was fortunate enough to talk to three high school classes at Muncie Central about journalism and what it's like to work at college student media. The first two classes consisted of younger students and the last class included students who worked on the school's student newspaper.
One of my titles at the Daily News is online editor, so I think a lot about how journalism changes when the Internet is involved. Lately I've been working on a new site for the newspaper - you'll be able to check it out when we all get back from Spring Break. I've been thinking about online news a lot as a result so I decided to ask the high school students how much they went online for news.
To my amazement, only about five out of 60 students said they used the Web daily for news. I changed my strategy and asked how many people go online every day for anything, even if it wasn't for news. To my utter amazement, only about 20 of the students raised their hands.
It felt like I was in some sort of alternate universe. In the course of talking to the students I received six e-mails and at least as many texts on my phone. I even replied to a couple e-mails in my time between classes. I knew most of the students wouldn't be that connected, but I never imagined they wouldn't go online at least once a day.
I asked the newspaper adviser how many computer labs were in the school, and she told me there were two labs for about 1,100 students. The publication room had a total of eight older Apple computers. Of these, there were demarcations based on older and newer models; it was obvious that the school could only afford to buy a computer or two at a time. The computer-to-student ratio was lower than I ever would have imagined.
I couldn't help but think that a few miles away campus had enough computer and technology resources to provide for 20,000-plus people. I know this is reality, but how is it possible that the high school right down the road can't even come close to providing for a mere fraction of students? That's a long and complicated conundrum, one I'll let you think about while I do the same.
I learned a lot from my visit to Muncie Central. I've been so focused on school, work and life as a college student that I've forgotten about the rest of the world out there. Sure, I can read all about the news (from my computer) every day, but it's not the same as experiencing it. Looking back, I know I've read about a lack of resources and money for primary education, but it never meant anything to me.
Ball State students can learn from what I went through. I'm not going to pretend like I'm capable of providing every high school student with access to what I've come to consider basic technology. Maybe if I win the lottery - or start playing it, for that matter - I'll look into that as an option. For now, I can be aware of the larger world around me and try to make sure my peers are as well.
Spring Break is almost here, which means many of us are going to places faraway and some are settling for destinations more domestic. If you're going away, use the opportunity to widen the lens through which you view the world. If you're stuck here, try to do the same.
Einstein was right when he said, "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible." It's certainly a confusing world out there, and understanding will never come unless we look past our own daily soap operas.
Write to Logan at lmbraman@bsu.edu
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