As I am sure most of you have realized by now, the Writers Guild of America went on strike Nov. 5 at 12:01 a.m. in response to what they consider unfair compensation for their work. While Reuters' "BizofShowBiz" bloggers might claim the entire situation really implies unions are becoming irrelevant, in the real world, the general populace is going to have to deal with the effects of the strike. This could be a problem.

This might seem easy for you, considering Vanderbilt recommends students should study three hours for every credit-hour of class, but most people I know — myself included — do not intend to put in the 42 hours of study time this week (assuming a 14 credit-hour schedule). So what is going to be left to do? Well, late-night TV has already gone to reruns, and popular shows like “CSI” and “Lost” will soon follow, so you could listen to music, have a conversation or read a book … that is, if you actually do read. According to the National Institute for Literacy, only 50 percent of people 25 and older have actually read a book in the past six months. Now, I assume this is different for most Vanderbilt students, but that might just be because they have to read. There is nothing like the possibility of failing out of school to motivate you.

Of course, if you are reading this, it seems likely you would be in the 50 percent that does read, so don't worry about the next few months; you'll be all right. What you need to worry about is the state of the world you're planning to inherit. I don't mean the environment or the economy, but society.

In the future, the population likely will glean their information from audio-visual stimuli instead of the written word. I can't really claim this is negative, and besides, it's just a possibility.
The real question is, how comfortable are you with that scenario? If you plan to have children, how would you like them to learn? When does one form of media monopolize the others to a disagreeable point? In the coming years, you might just have to decide the answer to all these questions, but for now, you can just consider them leisurely.

So, when it comes down to it, should you be worried by the strike? Well, that just comes down to you and your opinion. When asked if he worries about the strike, freshman Jonathon Hoke said, "No. I don't really know what you're talking about."

Maybe he's right, and the whole strike business is nothing to be bothered about. However, he could just be ignoring the impending doom.