COLUMN: Students should involve themselves in ‘Wave of Relief’
Most Americans were still sleeping at 6:15 a.m., Dec. 26, 2004, when the most deadly tsunami in recorded history swept across South Asia taking the lives of residents and tourists that had been awake for hours. Deadly and devastating, it certainly came unexpected, but not only was it unexpected, the grandeur of its effect was in reality more than people worldwide had ever imagined. Just five days before the end of the year, it was like the grand and dreadful finale of a year full of unprecedented global events.
While the South Asian tsunami was a frightful finale for ’04 it was the grand entrance for devastating disasters still to come. Floods in Central America seemed to pass the baton closer to home as floods and mudslides moved mountains in California and even in Utah. Ice storms in the Great Lakes States, fires in the Carolinas, and tornadoes in the Southeast all have taken lives since the tsunami. What else could possibly happen? One answer, seriously: service.
Service, that’s right, service can happen and it is happening. I’ve seen it happening on our campus. Administration, faculty, staff, and students have all made it happen. I’ve seen them all together, gathered from every extreme, yet for one purpose: to serve. And how are they doing it? They are raising money, planning events, gathering materials. In response to the tsunami, for example, these people have come to a consensus that a goal of raising $100,000 can be reached, and they made that decision based on their judgment of us as Aggies. They believe in us and we can make them right.
Many of those involved in this “Wave of Relief” effort have direct ties to the areas in need, while many do not. What they do share is a concern for the need. Let us share that concern with them. Let us remember those who are alone, those who do not have enough to eat, those who have been injured, those who have lost what they’ve worked for, the parentless children, and all the many thousands who have lost loved ones or who have suffered in any way as a result of these disasters.
There are countless ways to remember and to help. And I commend all those who have given of themselves in order to help.
Formally, we will be remembering and honoring the tsunami victims in a memorial service held today, Jan. 26, at 6:15 pm in the International and Sunburst lounges.
Sheldon Browning is the service vice president for ASUSU. Comments can be sent to
shelddb@hotmail.com.