My brother ran away when he was seven years old because my parents would not buy him Nintendo 64. They found him at his friend’s house (a friend who had N64, of course) and promptly punished him for making them worry. He learned his lesson and hasn’t disappeared without warning since then.

It seems some children did not learn this lesson. Last Thursday, Andrew T. Morgan, a part-time University of Minnesota student returned to his home after he was missing for more than a week. Police, volunteers, family and friends, who had been searching for Morgan for days, were at his North Minneapolis home upon his return.

Morgan was reported missing by his parents Tuesday after his roommates called to inform them their son had not been home and had not reported to work or class for days.

His parents filed a missing person report before going to Minnesota to search for him.

Morgan said he drove to Wisconsin and stayed in hotels for a few days to work out “personal matters” before returning home last Thursday.

According to the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota’s student newspaper, Morgan was shocked by the attention his disappearance received.

Hmmm. This all sounds a bit familiar.

Apparently, Morgan was in a cave when our very own Audrey Seiler went missing and a manhunt involving hundreds of police officers and the FBI ensued. Seiler’s disappearance, which included a staged abduction and cost the city thousands of dollars, garnered attention from media across the country last spring. The attention, many concluded, was part of the reason Seiler ran away, although she probably did not realize the magnitude of her actions.

Attention seems to be the cause for Morgan’s disappearance as well. Running away for more than a week without letting anyone know where you are and you don’t think people are going to become worried? Give me a break.

Both Morgan and Seiler blamed their antics on stress due to school and life, stress, that at one point or another, everyone faces. The difference is not everyone is as selfish when coping with his or her problems.

These two cases obviously involve individuals who are unstable and stressed out beyond belief but their actions were immature and costly and there are other more effective ways of coping with stress and other problems.

Every college student is stressed out at some point, but not everyone runs away like my seven-year-old brother did. Go get a massage. Go for a run. But don’t make the FBI come to Madison and search for a non-existent abductor and make everyone in the country worry.

All it takes is a phone call or a visit to University Health Services and a much more effective solution to the problems a person in distress is facing will be reached. The actions of these two individuals not only takes away from other investigations police could be pursuing, but also takes away from the validity of a person who truly is missing.

Next time a person who is stressed out is thinking about running away, think about someone besides yourself, get help and get better, but don’t put the entire country on alert.

Joanna Salmen ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in journalism and Spanish.