Urban and regional planning master's student Aiden Taliaferro said that he does not think that the U.S. should not be “putting our influence on countries halfway around the world,” but he realizes that human rights violations may take place. He said he would like to see the U.S. do more to try to mediate the situation but realizes that has not done much.

“I’m not the most informed person about it, but I feel like there are better routes to defuse the situation,” Taliaferro said.

Hospitality freshman Elise Knebel, whose family is Russian and Ukrainian, is nervous about another world war happening, even though she thinks it is unlikely.

“I want them to send troops in, but I don’t,” Knebel said. “I don’t want another world war. That doesn’t sound fun.”

English junior Mary Cunningham does not normally keep up with world events, but it was hard not to hear about this, she said.

“It’s definitely concerning, because most of us this age, have never gone through like a time in our world like this,” Cunningham said. “Like, a whole war between other continents that involves us.”

However, Cunningham said that she thinks her generation is more desensitized to war and violence because of social media.

Comparative cultures and politics senior Cooper Burton said he is worried about his family friends in Ukraine, near the border with Russia. Burton said that he visited them about five or six years ago. He believes they are now moving west of Ukraine.

Burton said he does not think the U.S. is doing enough to stop anything, through the use of economic sanctions. He mentioned putting up an embargo but said he is not sure because it may affect the U.S. and other nations.

“I think anything short of actually sending troops in, which it might even come to that, too,” Burton said. “I don’t know, I just think that now’s not the time for hesitation or prudence on our part. We just need to kind of let loose everything we have.”

Burton said that he first heard about the invasion when he was on Snapchat, but then he started to watch what was happening on CNN.

“It was really surreal,” Burton said. “So, they had footage of explosions and bombs going off as the sun was rising over the city. And it's very surreal and this idea that we’re living through a very big moment in history. It kind of set in. It was very sobering.”