Collegiate Times

After consideration, I decided not to focus this column on what the future might bring, but how the events of the past year have affected society on the whole. Subsequently, I began searching for the top events of the past year. In doing so, I found interesting commentary from Phil Lewis, editor of the Naples Daily News.

Each year, the Associated Press passes out a ballot to newspapers asking editors to rank the year?s top news stories. After perusing topics, the Naples Daily News came up with their top 10 list (the full article can be viewed at www.naplesnews.com) that included the following:

?1. Hurricane Katrina worst in record-breaking season; at least 1,300 die, New Orleans floods.

2. Dramatic economic growth in China, India, far outpacing Western nations.

3. Pope John Paul II dies; Joseph Ratzinger succeeds him as Pope Benedict XVI.

4. Two U.S. Supreme Court vacancies open with O?Connor retirement and Rehnquist death.

5. Earthquake hits region along Pakistan-India border. Death toll in tens of thousands.

6. Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Iraq for charges including mass murder and torture.

7. Israel withdraws from Gaza Strip; tensions with Palestinians persist.

8. Terrorist bombings in London transit system kill 52 commuters.

9. Former Klansman convicted in 1964 Mississippi civil rights killings.

10. Syria withdraws troops from Lebanon; blamed for killing of Lebanese ex-premier.?

And to think, my biggest concerns at the moment are gas prices going back up, needing a new car and, of course, finals.

My question, then, is this: How is it that in a year filled with events that have changed the lives of many, those of us not directly affected in society tend to look past the important things, see only our own selfish desires and hope the following year will bring them to us?

Maybe we can blame part of this horrific problem on advertising campaigns which influence us to think of what that ?special someone? can give us in this time of apparent receiving, as opposed to giving. Then again, to blame television and print on the delusions of everyday life is an extremely overused excuse that has needed to be knocked off the top of the totem pole with a realization of responsibility for our own actions for some time now.

And so, I ask myself again how society became so selfish and self-absorbed? Then again, I don?t think that question is really too difficult to answer. Considering I know I came to college to receive an education that would merit me obtaining a job in which I could earn something more than mediocre salary, to say that we as Americans deem ?success? a vital part of everyday life seems not too difficult to accept as truth.

After thinking about when we decided to let the pursuit of money and material things overtake our lives, I concluded that I cannot really remember a time when what I had didn?t have to be better than everyone else?s ?haves.? My ?wants? were the most important thing in the universe, next to my mother, when I was six years old. As a little girl, I was frequently caught going over the speed limit suggested by the manufacturers of Power Wheels in my hot pink Barbie convertible. As a college student, I?ve traded in my sweet ride for a less than fantastic, beat up, old Jetta ? and yet, I still suggest that even though the car gets me where I have to go, I should have something newer and shinier.

So, I still have pinpointed the time frame in which my selfish desires allowed me to forget about everything else that was going on in the world. I?m not really sure I can because, as I said, even at a young age, children want the best toys or the coolest clothes. Have we as a society allowed our children to be influenced by our own personal desires so much so that children are raised to want the best for themselves? And if so, is this really the wrong way of bringing up a child? After all, we stress the importance of going to good schools, obtaining an appropriate education and seeking out a well paying job. So to suggest raising our children to want the best for themselves seems like saying we don?t want the best for our children. That simply isn?t true, right?

I?m not sure it?s possible to get past the mindset we as Americans have today of wanting the best, being the best, having the best. At this point, I think we engulf ourselves with such ideals that a point is reached where these ideals spill over onto our children and the cycle begins again. So, I really don?t have advice for how to change this way of living. But what I do have is this ? stop living so fast you forget to take time out to see your surroundings. Some of the best, and unfortunately worst, things in life are all too frequently overlooked because in an attempt at seeking out the best we forget the scenery of life. The year 2005 brought with it some unfortunate tragedies, but then again you can?t have a rainbow without the storm. I challenge each of you to start to open your eyes up to the good and bad, take time out to fully experience what is around you and stop overlooking things that seriously impact our present, and future, in an attempt to focus on your own selfish desires. I promise material things don?t last, but memories, good or bad, stay with you forever.