Numb.

It's the way in which I would describe my initial perception of the Duke community's attitude towards many local issues that take place on campus on a daily basis. From matters of immigration to LGBT concerns, for a long time I felt no substantial conversations took place regarding these topics and their presence on campus.

But to be fair, let me expand on this further.

During my first months at Duke I was deeply shocked by the fact that a really high percentage of Duke's employees-at least those with whom we interact the most, like kitchen and cleaning staff-are either Latin American or black. What was even more shocking, however, was that throughout the rest of the year I found very little, if any, discussion about this particular situation among students.

I don't want to imply that there is something wrong with having staff members from different races; because certainly there isn't. But it still strikes me as bizarre that the huge majority of these specific positions on campus belong mostly to these two racial groups in particular. Why do these jobs happen to be filled in by these specific races? Is it just a coincidence from last year or has this situation been taking place for a long time? How is it related to broader issues of immigration, the economy or social dynamics?

It is fundamental to read beyond these questions. Duke might be a tiny universe of its own; nevertheless I am sure it still reflects something about the broader world and the society we are meant to go into once we graduate. Or so I hope. And if we avoid looking within our own community, a big part of the goal of the education we are receiving is defeated.

When it comes to looking outside, Duke students are incredibly active. But, when it comes to looking within Duke's borders, I still find that there is a huge gap between what we learn in the classrooms and how we live on campus, and especially how we don't question our immediate surroundings as much as we question everything beyond them.

Throughout my first year, I was very impressed by the immense amount of conversations on campus regarding national and international issues. The numerous opportunities students have to volunteer, either abroad or locally and the great amount of effort, money and time the University devotes to these activities help trigger these discussions. A variety of programs that range from teaching children in Durham to engaging in movements of social change in countries like South Africa are great sources of inspiration and experience for students to be able to apply what they learn in the classroom. They are great opportunities to encourage students to procure change in the future, once they get out to the "real" world.

We seem to forget, however, that perhaps a lot of the situations we are being trained to deal with in the future, are in fact happening right under our noses, and we need to be attentive and critical.

To a certain extent I still think we remain numb to how we live at Duke and of all the people-like Duke's employees-who play such a significant, yet for some reason invisible, role in our lives. Perhaps, this situation hasn't yet been explored for different reasons other than lack of interest. After all, it is true that being self-critical is very difficult. Nevertheless, I am sure that other people have certainly thought about all these issues before; maybe the discussion simply has to be louder.

I remember being really glad last year at "All of the Above," an annual show consisting of a series of monologues written, directed and performed by Duke women. One of the authors expressed a very similar concern regarding students' indifference towards the employees here. In fact, it was a very angry but honest statement that made people in the audience shiver a bit, and which made me secretly happy because I felt as if my voice was being heard. Sadly enough, however, the anonymous writer's frustration with the lack of talk on campus about campus issues shows that there's still a lot for us to discuss and evaluate.

Andrea Patiño is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Tuesday.