Another rally was held by UPUA this afternoon at Old Main to raise awareness about Penn State’s budget crisis. However, despite the offer of free pretzels, only a handful of students attended, and most of those who attended were either in UPUA or with a media organization.

Why was the attendance so sparse?

OK, I’ll give you that the speakers weren’t very exciting and today’s event wasn’t publicized as well as a similar rally that was held in February. Even the Collegian article about the event only ran this morning.

But the main reason attendance was so low is that the student body as a whole is pretty apathetic.

The efforts of Gavin Keirans and the rest of the UPUA have been admirable, but they can’t effect change by themselves. They need the support of the student body. It’s possible that the student body really doesn’t care very much about tuition increases, but we should at least be consciously making that choice.

For another look at the event, check out the video the Collegian produced.