One Bright Spot in the Dismal Economy: Less Money Needed For Gas

As I'm looking on CNN and Yahoo for news, I keep seeing dismal news about the national and world economy, wildfires in California, helping the floundering auto industry, and Citigroup expecting to cut over 50,000 jobs. The unemployment rate surpassed a 14-year high in October, and over 95 percent of economic analysts say that the country is currently in a recession, and we won't get out of it for at least the next two quarters or more.
The good news? Look at gas stations recently.
I watched in amazement as I was riding up to Mountain Lake this weekend to see almost every gas station on the four-hour ride to advertise less than $2 a gallon for regular fuel. I can't remember the last time I saw less than $2, and to think that just this summer the country was over $3 and pushing toward $4 and $5 a gallon.
According to CNNmoney.com, light crude oil closed at just over $57 on Friday, which is mind-boggling to think about when just a few months ago oil prices were soaring past $100 a barrel and expected to go even higher.

There has also been a 60-day consecutive drop in gas prices. The national average price for a gallon of gas has now dropped to $2.105 from the shocking peak of $4.114 in July. To think, just five months ago many were complaining about how much gas cost and how we couldn't afford it.

Look at us now. I'm expecting a lot more smiling faces around campus and more outings since gas is something that even poor college students like us can now afford again. I don't think that the reality of gas dropping so low has even hit some people yet since it's been so high for so many months.

Unfortunately, this lone bright spot in our country these days is a result of lots of troubles that have been building in the last few weeks and months. I don't have to elaborate on the economic problems; I think we've heard enough of it to last us a while.

As I've said in my previous columns, I'm grateful that I'm a college student and don't have to deal with these problems and worries long term at the moment. But, at the same time, I realize I won't be in college forever. None of us will. I feel especially bad for you seniors since you're inheriting these worries come graduation.

Although I'm happy to see that paying for gas is becoming a little easier on the wallet, I'm still concerned about other matters, especially whether or not I'm going to be able to get a job for summer break. I know that I'm not the only one thinking that way, which makes me wonder how our country got into this whole mess anyway, and just how are we going to get out of it?

There are lots of unanswered questions and skepticism that is echoed on the newspaper pages and Web site headlines every single day. I'm getting tired of seeing all this bad, disappointing, discouraging news and I wonder if there's anyone who can do anything to try and fix these problems.

I'm putting my faith in President-elect Obama, but we have such a multitude of problems that each issue will have to be spotlighted, focused on and resolved slowly. We are an impatient, have-to-have-everything-right-now culture, and I don't think that the country is ready for or anticipating the time and investment that it will take to turn our nation and world around.

I hope readers will take some time every day to look at the news, whether it is in the papers, on TV or on the Web. It's important that we all have some insight or knowledge into these problems and issues that our nation and world are facing. I myself am guilty of avoiding the news in the last few months because of all the dismal and disappointing economic news. But that's not the solution. Avoiding it now won't help fix these problems.

We need to be a more educated society in news. Without knowing what is going on small milestones such as the radical drop in gas prices can be and are easily overlooked. We are the future of this country, and it's about time that we start changing it for the better.