One glaring problem with the whole Ward Churchill phenomenon lies right here on the DU campus.

Students don’t even know who Ward Churchill is, much less why he’s in the news!

This, folks, is something that affects all of us.

As for my opinion, anytime there is even an obscure mention of anything tied to the Holocaust, especially when it involves a comparison to Nazism, students, of all people, should be knowledgeable.

I think that, regardless of what Churchill meant to say, the fact that there are still Holocaust survivors alive makes his comment completely unacceptable.

To refer to the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy as “little Eichmanns” is tasteless at best, no matter who you are or what you think of globalization or American capitalism.

You do not have to be a student of Jewish heritage to know about the Churchill situation and be able to comment on it.

Being a student educated on the subject of the Holocaust, the horrors that were perpetrated, and Adolf Eichmann (the offensive reference) should be enough.

For those of you who don’t know who Adolf Eichmann is, crawl out from the rock you’ve been living under.

Even being a student in Colorado should be enough, as this nationwide media phenomenon is going on in Boulder-practically in our backyard!

I asked numerous students whether Churchill should be fired, and many responded with blank looks.

Others responded with questions of what I was talking about or scattered thoughts about what was happening.

I ask that students become aware of what is going on in their world. Students at the University of Colorado at Boulder attended the Board of Regent’s meeting that looked into the Ward Churchill situation, brought signs, and a few were arrested.

Knowing what is happening on a campus near DU that involves our peers is something that we, as a student body, have to be aware of.

Regardless of whether Churchill is fired, or whether he was wrong to write the offending paper, students should be able to comment either way. Is it a problem of just pure apathy?

Do you just not care about the situation or do you choose not to expose yourself to important events because you’re afraid you’ll have to join a conversation about something timely and important?

I will never know what you’re thinking, but it would be nice if some students knew about events other than the ones that hit them right in the face.

Open your eyes, students.

We are the future. We have to know what’s happening in this world we are going to run one day.

Especially when it’s happening 30 minutes away.