Week 2 Story: The Citizens of Campus
One boring day in class at the University of Oklahoma in the finest of buildings, Dale Hall, a student was daydreaming in his biology class about the possibilities of the world ending due to nuclear warfare. The thought scared him - he had so many plans for the future - and the possibility of it all just suddenly ending due to a conflict between two countries enveloped him. Suddenly, there was a crash, a flash, and a shake.
"Oh no, there's been a nuclear attack! This can't be happening now, I still need to graduate, to get married, and have kids!" screamed the now fully awake student. The first thought that came to his mind following his cry was to run, to run as far away as he could away from campus, a place where he dreaded being, and to get back home to say a final goodbye to his family and friends.
You see, most students would act confused, and wonder what that sound was. Unfortunately, after having a tough week of organic chemistry, calculus, and molecular biology exams, anything made any student in this biology class jump. And that is exactly what he did, he ran out of the building. He was down the main stairs in what seemed like seconds, and suddenly he blasted through the doors of Dale Hall and stepped on South Oval.
"What are you running from?" exclaimed another student on South Oval as he ran past. "There's a nuclear attack happening. We have to get out of here!" he yelled back at him. The skies were dark gray, the birds of campus flew off campus, and students were gazing all around.
The now frightened student followed - he, too, needed to say a final goodbye to all who he loved, and began running behind him. This led to another student asking a similar question, then another, and another, until there were so many students running off campus that not even Dale 211 could fit them in to be counted. This alerted a tour group full of parents and their aspiring children.
“Follow us. There is going to be a nuclear attack!” yelled the students. And so, they followed, growing the crowd that was now a mass in what seemed like a marathon to outsiders.
The crowd of people grew, and grew, as the entire tour joined the group to get off campus. In the blink of an eye, faculty members, residents of Norman, and even the squirrels on campus followed the group. The thought of dying on campus scared them more than the thought of dying at all. They had to get home to say their final goodbyes.
"Stop!" yelled a professor. "Why is everyone trying to leave campus? What happened?" He understood a lot of things: nuclear physics, organic chemistry, how to start his own business, the cure to cancer; his graduate program had taught him everything, everything except why these students were running off campus.
"One of the faculty members said there was a nuclear bomb that hit campus," said a squirrel. "Don't look at me. A tour guide told me it happened,” said the faculty member. "Don't look at me either. A student told me we were under nuclear threat," replied the tour guide.
After pinpointing the original, daydreaming student for starting the chaos, the professor asked, "What in the world makes you think there is a nuclear threat on campus right now? How is that even possible?"
The student explained he had heard a loud crash back in his lecture hall. The professor asked the student to take him to the area at which it happened.
It was pouring as they arrived, and lightning filled the air. "Oh... it must have just been some thunder, but I had heard we were under threat for World War III in light of recent news. I read it on Twitter!" the student remarked, in an attempt to defend himself.
"Just because it was posted on social media does not mean it is true; the chances of that happening are much lower than you think,” said the professor.
And the professor continued on to his staff meeting to tell the great tale of what had just happened. If he had fallen for the misinformation like the crowd - they may have still been running.
~ Author's Note ~
This story is based on The Foolish, Timid Rabbit which has essentially the same plot - but a rabbit runs from a coconut after thinking the world is ending, where several animals begin to follow the rabbit after hearing of what was happening. They were eventually stopped by the King Lion who, like the professor, demanded to know why the rabbit thought what he did, which he then resolved.
I chose to target a very important topic that his prevalent today: misinformation. Anyone can fall into the pit of misinformation by using poor sources, or just being easily influenced. I took this to campus as it could possibly relate to the students, as false information can spread easily in places such as a college campus. Although the focus of it was a campus setting, there can be many incidents where it happens online. Social media sites are very plausible locations in which misinformation is spread, as it easy to do so. People can easily influence the opinions of others. This story represents
the idea that it is extremely easy to fall into this pit of misinformation, as it can spread extremely fast, and the best way to combat it is learning about it.
Bibliography. "The Foolish, Timid Rabbit" from Jataka Tales by Ellen. C. Babbitt. Web Source.