Dan Fishback: On the verge of war, prioritizing your education

Some people will surely see posters for Wednesday's Student Walk-Out and roll their eyes, muttering something about stupid hippies and impotent gestures. I am generally unconcerned with these people. Nonetheless, I'd like to talk about the Walk-Out, and why it is anything but impotent. When we walk out of classes on Wednesday, we won't be going back to bed. We won't be getting drunk. We won't be spitting on the institution of education -- we will be improving it. We will be walking over to Houston Hall, where Penn for Peace and Penn Students Against War in Iraq will be hosting an all-day anti-war gathering. Those who come can listen to speakers, read literature, watch documentaries, hear poetry and, perhaps most importantly, talk to each other about the war. You don't have to be vehemently anti-war to join us at this event. In fact, the confused among us will probably benefit from the Walk-Out more than anyone else. "But why," you might ask, "should I walk out of class for an anti-war event if I'm on the fence about the whole thing?" Well, let me put it this way: you won't really be walking out of class. What are we paying all this money for anyway? Not just a few lectures. And not just the Pottruck Health and Fitness Center. We're paying for the events on all those flyers you see stapled to the kiosks on Locust Walk. We're paying, in a way, for this newspaper. For Penn for Peace. Even for College Republicans. We're paying to participate in an intellectual community. We're preparing ourselves for thoughtful and responsible involvement in civic society. We're paying for opportunities. And we should prioritize accordingly. So, with a major war just around the corner -- the effects of which will be impossible to predict -- how can you best spend your Wednesday? Maybe in class! Maybe you're taking a history course that will help you understand our global predicament. If that's the case, then it might be a good idea to show up for your lecture. But before and afterwards, there's Houston Hall. The Walk-Out shouldn't just be about disrupting our routine. Although such a disruption in and of itself might be worthwhile, this Wednesday has a more valuable purpose: it forces us to reassess what it means to get an education. Especially since this war might jeopardize that education. The theme of this strike is "Books Not Bombs" -- a motto both catchy and appropriate. It highlights what's at stake on the domestic front. A few weeks ago, a group of students and senior citizens went to Senator Specter's office to hand in their textbooks and social security checks. They actualized what might happen should this war siphon away tax dollars that could be used to take care of our elders and educate our youth. I can imagine few greater national security risks than allowing a generation of Americans to grow up undereducated, without access to college. Perhaps even scarier is a generation of University-educated Americans who don't really take advantage of their experience. When my brother graduated from Yale, we had to listen to George W. Bush's commencement speech. He made a bunch of jokes about how he didn't work hard at school, how he went to the library to take naps, how you can get C's in college and still become president of the United States. This man -- our president -- made it abundantly clear that he didn't think much of education, that he saw it as a chore, a distraction from his social life. Between and behind his words, he made it clear that education really doesn't matter when you have power and prestige. He made it clear that those of us who wish to fight such injustices must work that much harder. It's kind of upsetting when you realize that you're more serious about your education than your president was at your age -- perhaps even more serious than he is now. On Wednesday, many of us will follow through on that seriousness. Dan Fishback is a senior American Identities major from Olney, Md.

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