Who is Karl Rove? Who is Tom DeLay? What exactly is Abu Ghraib? If you said “I don’t know, I don’t know, and a type of ethnic food they serve in the cafeteria every other Wednesday,” you would be among several of the students here at GBS, uninterested and just plain confused when it comes to politics and culture.

Many say it is a sad fact, but a significant part of this school just doesn’t care about what the political climate is like today. To these indifferent scholars, left-wing and right-wing could easily be referring to a piece of fried chicken and Democrats and Republicans are about as different as apples…and slightly older apples.

As Gerald Fogarty in the social studies department puts it, “the word is just ‘political apathy.’”

But why exactly do many students not care? Where did the curiosity go? When did the disillusionment set in? After all, isn’t the U.S. fighting multiple wars overseas to ensure that other countries too can bask in “liberty and justice for all?” If U.S. soldiers are dying to bring democracy, our own political system, to the “oppressed” peoples of the world, why wouldn’t GBS students at least know what it’s about?

Junior Molly Yeh puts it simply as Fogarty cringes in the corner, “My Glenview bubble just isn’t affected with the change of a president, so I don’t have to care.”

“In our lifetime, we the students are definitely going to see some kind of change that affects our world; whether it is a result of science, religion, or economics, the deciding factor that controls all of them will be politics,” says junior Liam Conlon. “Therefore, I believe the earlier we start understanding what is going on around us, the better it’ll be for us in the long run.”

Fogarty seems to believe that the school has failed students in making them aware of issues. “I think the social studies department can open up for more debates and take a lead on getting politics to the people,” says Fogarty.

But is it really all their fault? Students might hold responsibility for this growing epidemic too. Junior Denny Vaccaro points out, “It is not impossible for students to get political information on their own. In addition to mainstream news, there are several non-corporate news sources out there including various websites. These can provide information that don’t always make it to the spotlight – I use them all the time.”

In agreement with Vaccaro, Fogarty urges students to get proactive about the world outside suburbia. “Watch the news, get all the information you can, and go do something about it!”

Past the Glen, beyond Pfingsten, and just outside of Chipotle is a whole other world that high school students will be entering very soon. By understanding the issues and politics associated with that world, each and every student might make a difference in it.

Though clubs like Young Republicans and Amnesty International are beginning to grow in size, many believe they are not growing fast enough or in a size great enough to convert a mostly apathetic student population at GBS.

Fogarty plainly states, “I think we all need to step outside the box every now and again, and that time is now.”

Jay Surati, staff reporter