While it’s often difficult to get back into the swing of academic life after partying for a week, world events are an even bigger distraction than usual. The country is on high alert for terrorism and no one can escape news bulletins in the paper, on the radio or flashing across the bottom of the Thursday night ritual of Friends.

Many students have friends and family members currently stationed in the Persian Gulf or are anxiously awaiting the call to return to duty.

And for those students who are not as personally affected by the war, they have other worries to attend to — finding housing, summer jobs and choosing classes for next year — besides stressing over finals.

But students can’t allow the stressors to distract them from their schoolwork.

They need to focus on finishing out the year and doing well on finals.

This doesn’t mean students should hide from the world or stop expressing their opinions about world events, but it does mean that students shouldn’t blow the rest of the semester because of the events.

There is no other time when the “real world” invades college campuses like tragic events, such as Sept. 11, 2001 or war.

This is real-world education creeping in to the realm of academia and students need to step up and prove they can handle the pressure.

However, students shouldn’t completely bury themselves in schoolwork and ignore events that are shaping the future. Now is also the time to take an active role in the real world and continue to voice either opposition or support for the war.

College students have often led the way to social change, and now is the time to continue that tradition. But students need to make sure they aren’t wasting their semester and they need to make the best of the situations at hand.

University Wire — University of Utah