I read the newspaper a lot; almost everyday, in fact. It wasn’t always this way, I’ll admit. When I came to RPI freshman year, I was too overwhelmed to do much else besides study. I relied on hearing about current events by word of mouth—I reasoned that if something was important, I’d hear about it from someone else.
Looking back, I realize there were many fallacies with my reasoning. Word of mouth news is anything but news. I see now that it’s more of a sales pitch. When the Supreme Court released their decision overturning a Texas sodomy law a few weeks ago, I told a friend. But I didn’t just tell my friend the Supreme Court’s decision, I praised the decision and told them all about why this ruling was a huge step forward in the fight for ending discrimination against homosexuals.
Was it news? Hardly. My friend left with a biased opinion and I left satisfied that I pushed my views on an unsuspecting person. Don’t let yourself become that unsuspecting person. If my friend had read the newspaper, he would have seen both sides of the case and left with his own opinions, not mine.
After reading The New York Times, I realize there are many things going on in Washington that make me mad. Recently, the House and Senate passed an unclear and costly prescription drug plan for senior citizens—members of both parties supported it, although many of them admitted that the ramifications were unclear. Knowing things like this is especially important around election time. I plan on using this knowledge to make informed voting decisions.
On top of all that, by keeping up on current events, I get to choose what issues I read about. I’m not only hearing the information that others value. Read; watch the news; find out what you value.
As a staff member of the campus newspaper, of course I’m going to write a plug on how good it is to keep up on current events. I told you before, I find it hard to tell a story without a bias—that’s why I’m the editorial page editor. However, I do encourage you to utilize the news resources that are provided on campus. Obviously, I have to encourage you to start with The Poly, but there’s many resources beyond just that. The New York Times is at your disposal in the Commons during the school year. I realize the print version can be too much to handle while you’re trying to eat, so check out the online version—I find that it provides me with what I want to know. Beyond the regular news stops online, check out The Drudge Report, at http://drudgereport.com. This website is usually the first place you’ll find a breaking story—it provides updated headlines and links to newspapers from all over the world.
Now that you’re at school, it becomes harder to overhear the news your parents might be watching. It only takes a few minutes each day and is a large step towards becoming an informed citizen.
