Are American Students Apathetic?

As a student in America, I have noticed that my "colleagues" (other college/law school students) are a bit apathetic when it comes to, well, anything. They are not willing to put the work into the projects that are neccesary for success. I include myself in this group; I don't want to be accused of calling the kettle black. Compare this story: 1000 Protest War in Iraq ( http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=32202 ) to the one linked below.

It seems the passion behind protestors, especially students is gone in the U.S. Living in DC for four years, I witnessed many "protests" and the main thing I took away was how peaceful, calm and not disruptive they were. It seems to me that if you want to change something, you need to make a huge effort that actually brings change. The students in France have shutdown many of their colleges and they have gotten the attention of parliment. That was not the case in America as some commented on how weak the recent protets were: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3618103 .

Protests, like mass e-mails seem to have become useless. I am not siding with either protests, but if you want to change something, you better be willing to sacrifice.