As a journalism student knowing exactly what I intend to pursue after graduating in May 2015, I am in my third science class of college with a mindset not terribly conducive to making me successful.

I certainly appreciate UW-Eau Claire’s efforts to make me a well balanced person by having me learn across every academic field, but nine credits of science for a journalism student? Perhaps a bit excessive.

Instead of tacking on additional classes in an academic area we have already suffered through, a current events class should be mandatory for every student, just like English 110 for us non-freshman students and Writing 114 for freshman.

Here’s why.

Out of a little poll I conducted amongst students, only three of the six could tell me what is happening in Syria right now regarding the chemical weapon attack.

However, all of them could associate “twerking” with Miley Cyrus after her now infamous rendition of “We Can’t Stop” at the Video Music Awards.

Knowing what “twerking” is, however, isn’t going to help shape our future.

The fact of the matter is that we could go to war over what is happening in Syria.

First off, I should probably note what is happening in Syria for those who are unfortunately unaware.

The Ghouta attack, as it is known as, was an incident involving potential chemical bombardment in the Damascus region of Syria on Aug. 21. A wide range of citizen death numbers have been reported, but it is believed to be somewhere between 400 to even 1,200 deaths, according to the Los Angeles Times.

There is an ongoing question of whether or not Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the attacks or not, which has led countries such as the United States to question an attack on Syria.

President Obama stated in a press conference on Aug. 31, he would be willing to launch a military strike, if necessary, on the country bordering Iraq.

Yet, many college students don’t even know where Syria is located on a map. If the United States had to carry through on Obama’s words, millions of college students would immediately be affected because, for goodness sake, a war that might require a lot of military personnel could very well come out of that.

Aside from being physically thrown into the fire, which might happen in Syria, it is important to know what types of economic pieces of legislation are being voted on in the Senate because it shapes our policies.

College students might not recognize it now because many are still dependent on family money, but once they enter the workforce, these types of things are going to matter in the blink of an eye.

The most powerful tool a citizen has is a vote, but there is no room to complain if you can’t exercise that power because you didn’t vote due to a lack of global awareness.

But the university can fix that problem.

Right now, 45 credits of general education classes are required to graduate from this institution.

That’s a lot of credits to play with, and having to take a third class in a field that doesn’t interest you in the least perhaps could be interchanged with one class that will make you knowledgeable and aware of events happening around the world that are affecting us more than we even know it.

Eau Claire prides itself on being well-rounded and making students learn about a wide variety of subject matters. Taking apart the day’s headlines and analyzing them in a three credit class would only enhance that mission.