Illustration by Cody Angell

I've been troubled lately. I've been thinking a lot about UA-related issues to write about, and to be honest, there are a lot of them out there to talk about: the budget crisis, construction, brain drain, parking, tuition rates, admissions standards, you name it. These are the problems that get a lot of attention and press at the UA. But I think the UA community has some other issues these days that deserve some consideration.

Perhaps I should give you some background about myself before I discuss the problems I'm talking about. I'm a people watcher. I'm generally aware of my surroundings and observe what happens around me. Aside from being a columnist, I work in retail security. So by training, I just tend to notice little things, especially little things that don't seem right or seem out of place.

Jason Winksy Columnist

I've been noticing a lot of these things this semester at UA. All semester long I've tried to put my finger on it, but haven't been able to. Finally, the other day, it dawned on me: People, in general, are caring less and less about each other.

Now I know this sounds like a harsh statement to make, but I call things as I see them. The UA community this year is noticeably different from last year ÷ it seems that we're losing our sense of common decency in helping one another.

Maybe we were spoiled after the terrorist attacks with a good sense of community. It's sad to say, but a national tragedy of that proportion brought the nation, our state, and the UA closer together than I've seen in my lifetime. Besides large gatherings, public prayer services and ceremonies for the victims, the little things in our community changed, too. People opened doors for each other, helped one another and gave to charity. People took the time to notice one another.

This semester, however, it seems that we've lost the little things. Walking around campus, I notice fewer and fewer examples of people randomly helping each other out in small ways. I've noticed that I'm being less helpful to strangers in small ways this year than last.

I'd like to say that I've just noticed these problems on the UA campus, but the Tucson community at large faces the same issues. Here's an example: One of the more unpleasant aspects of my job is making sure that people don't ask the customers at my store for money. The place where I work sees a pretty high incidence of panhandlers.

Just the other day a teenage person who looked to be homeless appeared in the parking lot asking customers for money. Instead of asking him to leave right away (which is my job), I stood by for a minute to make sure I knew what was happening (I was, I admit, surprised to see a kid asking for money). I watched as about one person out of thirty-five gave him some money. After that, customers were complaining, so I asked him to leave, which he did without complaint. I didn't take any pleasure in asking him to leave, but I didn't feel guilty about it either. I don't get to make those kinds of distinctions.

This time last year, the kid would have been much more successful asking people for money. After the terrorist attacks, people were willing to be more generous. It seems that the spirit of giving is dying.

So what's the solution? Young people of my political persuasion refer to ourselves as "compassionate" conservatives. Most people don't know what this means or just think it's a big lie. It's not. It just means that we think that the individual citizen should be responsible for the amount of charity they show to others. We feel that the government can't (and shouldn't) force people to take care of others. Instead, we hear the call of President Bush to serve in our communities. As Bush has said, "you overcome the evil in society by helping somebody. It's a momentum of millions of acts of kindness."

It's hard. It's hard to make enough time and money to help those around us. But it's not all bad news. There are people out there trying to make a difference. It doesn't take much time to donate blood or make a sandwich.

That is what Project Volunteer is doing this week on the UA Mall. Stop by and check out their tent, or visit http://www.union.arizona.edu/csil/uab/ and see what you can do to make a difference.