As the people of the greater Middle East continue to push for democracy, their political protests have impacted members of the ASU community from how much they pay to fill up to the news they write about.
Amber Johnson, a public-health graduate student, has begun taking the light rail more than using the car she regularly commutes in to avoid high gas prices caused by protests in countries such as Egypt, Libya, Iran and Tunisia.
“It seems (gas prices) have gone up over night,” Johnson said. “It solidified my opinion about the light rail.”
The average price of gas per gallon in the U.S., including taxes, has increased by 13.2 percent in six weeks from $3.11 on Jan. 24, the day before the Cairo protests began, to $3.52 on Monday, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In comparison, the price of gas rose 4.4 percent in the six weeks prior to Jan. 24, from $2.98, according to the EIA.
The trend is more pronounced on the West Coast, which includes Arizona. According to the EIA, the region has the highest average gas price in the U.S., at $3.767 per gallon, which rose 14.4 percent from $3.293 on Jan. 24. Over the six weeks prior to Jan. 24, gas prices increased by 3.3 percent.
Vannessa Moreno, a nonprofit leadership and management sophomore, said she was more concerned about the protests’ impact on the people involved than about its effect on Americans and said she believed everyone deserves democracy even if it means temporary instability.
“It’s only fair that they get democracy for themselves,” she said. “Just because it doesn’t benefit me, I’m not going to be against it.”
Political science junior Cameron Bean said he saw the events as an opportunity to learn about a potentially misunderstood region and consequently organized a panel discussion called “The Day the Pharaoh Fell” at Barrett, the Honors College in Tempe.
Bean said he wanted to have the discussion to make sure people were learning about the events in the Middle East.
“A big part of it was to provide a forum for students to think about all the aspects of the issues,” he said. “You know, people might have a vague idea … but maybe they don’t follow current events that much, maybe they don’t know that much about what’s going on or about the history.”
Bean experienced the cultures of Tunisia and Egypt while living in each for two months in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and said both countries had similar uncompromising attitudes toward political demonstrations.
“It’s kind of a climate of fear,” Bean said. “Dissent isn’t tolerated. It’s not like the U.S. … You can’t call for a change in government.”
While out with some friends near the Tunisian presidential palace, Bean said his Tunisian friends joked about how much they loved President Ben Ali, even though Bean said they generally disapproved of him. When Bean joked that they should share their real opinions, he said his friends became much more serious.
“There is legitimate fear of the government,” Bean said. “To say something like, ‘Ben Ali is a terrible president,’ if someone is listening, — and the government does have these plainclothes policemen, people keeping an eye out — something bad could legitimately happen to you.”
In contrast, Walter Cronkite School alumnus Ian Lee, who covered the protests in Cairo for CNN and the Daily News Egypt and is now reporting in Libya, said he was surprised at the national pride he saw in Cairo. Throughout the protests, Lee said, volunteers cleaned the streets, fed the hungry and provided medical care.
As for gas prices, Lee said he thinks the revolution will be worth it for Americans who are excited to see democracy in these countries.
“Oil and gas prices will rise for sure,” he said in an e-mail. “Unrest leads to high prices. But I suspect things will settle down later in the year. The bottom line is that democratic countries are better for everyone.”
Contact the reporter at john.l.fitzpatrick@asu.edu
