Cal Ripken Jr. came to Penn State last Thursday. For one night, sports fans in State College found time to look away from ESPN to listen to a sports figure talk about life, liberty and the pursuit of baseball.

We wouldn't care what he had to say if he weren't Cal Ripken Jr., and if he didn't play in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 games in 1995.

He probably wouldn't have been invited to speak here if he weren't the perennial ambassador of baseball. He's only here because he's famous. And we only listen because he's famous.

Other celebrities have championed causes they find worthwhile. And we wouldn't care about these causes either if they weren't upheld by these celebrities. U2's Bono created the Debt AIDS Trade Africa, or DATA, organization, which works to promote awareness about enormous debts, the rabid spread of AIDS and unfair trade rules in Africa. Coldplay supports OxFam, a british humanitarian organization that champions fair trade practices and the abolition of worldwide poverty. Sum 41 filmed a documentary in May 2004 which exposed the poor conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And a slew of celebrities, including Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks, have joined the One Campaign to help draw attention to global poverty.

The trend here is that these famous figures care about these causes and they want us to care as well. They may subtly support their cause by writing on their piano "Make Trade Fair" like Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. Others like Bono may state their concern for issues in their lyrics.

Still others like Sum 41 take a more active role, putting themselves in danger to expose horrid injustices.

The question then becomes, do we only care about these causes because our favorite singer or actress cares about them as well? Some of us don't care if our favorite artist supports curbing pollution trends. We are satisfied as long as he makes good music. Since when have celebrities and musicians crossed the line from entertainers to role models and activists?

Do we need these people to increase our awareness of these issues?

Perhaps the problem is that we barely care about these issues. We need these musicians and celebrities to champion these causes for us to even realize there's something besides music videos and movies.

Others might say we don't even care if and when our favorite celebrities support these causes, which is the real problem in America. If this weren't the problem, and if we were all informed and aware of global issues, then our favorite singers and stars wouldn't need to attach their name and face to an organization.

We should solve our own problems first. Currently, we have people without homes or an education, and our own country is so split between what to do with our own money that maybe worrying about other countries is the last thing we need to do.

We have American mouths to feed and lives to save at home, but at the same time, it is difficult to ignore the atrocities that occur outside our borders.

Is this phenomenon unique to Americans? Canadians and Europeans have their own problems too, but it seems like Americans are the most self-involved of any citizens in developed countries.

Our culture is at least partly to blame for our ignorance and apathy. We have television advertisements that show the nicest cars, the trendiest fashions and the latest in portable music players. We have musicians selling us their newest albums and actors selling us their newest movies as if we can't live happily without them.

The most we would ever care to do is donate our money. We wait until water submerges an entire state before thinking about donating the money we spend on iPods and the latest fashion accessories to a worthy cause.

We as a society just don't care enough. One day when America falls from power and grace we will all realize how great we had it and only then will we care enough to change.