Fighting apathy at full force

When some students at Nazareth College decided that they wanted to learn more about politics and current events, they started a new club called Students for Political Action and Awareness. In the short time since its creation, SPAA has attracted a variety of students who meet to discuss and debate the issues they find most interesting. However, the group enjoys their newfound awareness so much that they decided to share it with the rest of campus through an upcoming event called Apathy Stinks!

SPAA president Jessica Oustrich says that spreading the word to college students is vitally important, but that reaching students and encouraging them to get involved can be difficult. “The future of our country is in the hands of our generation. It is our responsibility to get informed and care about what is going on.” But the problem, according to Oustrich, is that “so many college students are wrapped up in only what is going on in their world. They don’t have time to worry about everything else.”

The members of SPAA planned Apathy Stinks to make it as accessible as possible to students—the events are spread throughout the day on Thursday and cover a variety of topics to catch anyone’s interest. The club has teamed up with other awareness groups on Nazareth’s campus to provide information about animal rights, the environment and human rights at “anti-apathy tables” that students can stop at during their lunch break. The Rochester branch of the Raging Grannies also will be performing a concert in the Shults Center Forum.

At night, Brian Lenzo of Rochester Against War will speak about apathy and activism during the Vietnam War, and the event will wrap up with a talk by Nazareth professor Dr. Harry Murray, notorious around campus for his impressive record of involvement in protests and a number of arrests related to his anti-war activism.

“With this event, we are trying to get people informed and involved in our country,” Jessica Oustrich says. One way the groups plan to do this is by having a voter-registration table open all day, with club members available to help other students register, because SPAA sees this as one of the easiest ways to get involved in the world beyond the limits of campus. The group hopes that by getting students informed and aware, their involvement will continue after graduation, when our generation takes responsibility for running the country.

Apathy Stinks!
When: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 24
Where: Nazareth College Shults Center
For more info: spaa@naz.edu