Last week, elections were held, and The Collegian did not cover the event. In our defense, it would’ve been too close to deadline to print the actual results, let alone gather student reactions to them.

This isn’t to say we made a mistake, though. Maybe we did and maybe we didn’t, but the fact of the matter is, we have to answer the question, do our readers care?

We pitched the story idea at our editorial meeting and it was met with next to no response.

We sent our photographer to a gathering in the Ashbrook Center the night of the elections.

When he went, he reported back that very few people were there.

So the answer to the question seems to be no, most people do not care, or at least not all that much.

Two years ago, The Collegian did cover the last presidential election, and while we were able to gather student reactions, the atmosphere wasn’t much different. Many people asked to participate in a student survey about the election but hadn’t thought much about it and didn’t know much about the candidates (several students said they were voting for one party or another because that’s who their family was voting for), or they simply weren’t interested enough to take part.

And that was for a presidential election.

Listening to the election talk around campus (or lack thereof); it doesn’t seem that much was different this year. Many of us weren’t able to go home and forgot to send for absentee ballots. Many of us were too busy with schoolwork to research the candidates or the issues.

Assuming that means that no one cares is presumptuous, and too much of a leap for a journalist.

But the lack of interest is worth noting nonetheless, even if it is just because we’re too busy or have “more important” things to worry about.

This could turn into another rant about how today’s generations don’t care enough about politics and don’t appreciate where our country’s been.

But that’s not the point.

Is this really a new or recent problem? Without conducting the proper research, it’s hard to say. But generally speaking, political interest is at its greatest when something “exciting” happens – an impassioned campaign for some noble cause, a move for great change or, tragic as it may be, war.

Is this bad? Is it wrong that it takes a momentous event to light a fire under the general population? Not necessarily.

Let’s face it: Most of us do our work, and possibly our best work, when we are under pressure. Is it sad that this age group is continually uninterested in politics? Who is really to say? After all, if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.