FUSA President Paul Duffy:
I feel that our age bracket has the potential to make a tremendous difference in this election. Whichever way people choose to vote is fine by me as long as we get out there and vote. As young adults, we must realize how much of a privilege it is to be able to vote.
The few key issues that I am focused on is whether our next Commander in Chief is ready to address a potential draft and the war in which we are involved. We need to build up our domestic and foreign policy initiatives. I am going to Nicaragua this
Christmas break and also believe that we must become more socially responsible.
We should familiarize ourselves with the different objectives that each candidate has for improving the economy, too, since we are going to be affected by this when we leave Fairfield. I think that the debates are a great way for us to become informed, but we all need to become more educated because there is a lot more than meets the eye in the election process.
Social Justice Club:
The War in Iraq, capital punishment, outsourcing jobs to oppressed Asian countries, the newly expired ban on assault weapons, and many other things would presumably be issues of concern for the Social Justice Club. To simply ask what we want out of the next election, however, severely limits our scope and undermines all that we stand for: a deep commitment to social consciousness with a concentrated effort to promulgate justice throughout the world, regardless of political predispositions.
That being said, the need for social change is paramount. The disparity between the rich and the poor is not getting any better. We focus on the importance of effacing sweatshop labor in the Far East, a renewed concern for the homeless and poverty-stricken, and the importance of redistributing funds from military expenditures to programs of social uplift, such as public education. Martin Luther King Jr. stated in his Letter From a Birmingham Jail that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
This message couldn’t be more pertinent as we attempt to sew the seeds of justice regardless of superficial dividers like race, sex, nationality, or yes, even party affiliation.
Model UN:
In election 2004, we hope the candidates address the necessity of including the United Nations when making decisions. We believes in the sanctity of international coalitions and the key role the UN plays in ensuring that each country has an opportunity to voice its concerns.
The key issues of this election for Model UN have to do with human rights, US foreign policy, international trade and the role of multilateral decision making. The UN is firmly committed to upholding human rights treaties such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights, environmental treaties such as the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols, and disarmament and international security policy such as the Ottawa Convention banning landmines. The United States should be setting the example for other countries and many of these policies are without the signature of the United States.
With regard to US foreign policy, the presence of US troops in Iraq, the nuclear weapons program in North Korea, the genocide in Sudan are particularly important. We believe it is important to the US’s role in the UN that the people elect a candidate with good foreign policy experience and diplomatic skill.
College Democrats:
Upon leaving the safe haven of Fairfield University, we will be forced to find jobs, but over 1.8 million have been lost under the current administration, including hundreds of thousands overseas.
The average salary of entry-level jobs for college graduates has also decreased under Bush.
We will need to find a way to guarantee health insurance for ourselves as we will no longer be covered by our parents’ plans after graduation.
Most important to college students, though, is the fact that the cost of college tuition has soared over the last four years, with increases of 35 percent, on average.
Bush broke his campaign promise to boost federal aid programs and has instead cut Pell Grant awards and other financial aid programs.
The key issues of this all-important election are health care costs, access to higher education, creation and retention of good-paying jobs, the right to choose, and above all, the safety of our nation and the rest of the world. The decision is an easy one.
Bush’s record on these important issues throughout his last term is proof enough that he has overstayed his welcome in the White House. John Kerry is the man who can lead America to become a nation that reaches its potential.
Alliance:
Two of the major issues that our club is concerned with are civil unions and adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples. Both of these issues have a great impact on our club members and gay and lesbian citizens of America.
With no civil unions, gay and lesbian Americans are denied rights granted to married couples. These include federal benefits, such as survivor benefits through Social Security, veterans benefits, sick leave to care for ailing partner, and insurance and tax breaks. They also include family discounts, visiting your spouse in the hospital and making medical decisions if your partner is unable to.
The United States has many children waiting to be adopted. Older children and those with special needs, especially hard to place, are currently in foster homes with gay and lesbian parents who want to adopt them. Scientific studies have shown that children who grow up in one or two parent gay or lesbian households fare just as well emotionally and socially as children whose parents are heterosexual.
John Kerry supports recognition of civil unions to extend all federal benefits to same-sex couples and full adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples. Additionally, Kerry sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which bans job discrimination against homosexuals.
Alliance is a club supporting better relations between gay, straight, lesbian and transgender students.
Economics Student Josh Rogers:
Viewers beware! In the ensuing weeks of debate, one is almost certain to hear varied economic references including seemingly contradictory standpoints and potential “fuzzy numbers.” The usual suspects will include job growth, outsourcing, balancing the budget, tax breaks, foreign trade, social security and overall growth. So what does this all mean? It’s up to the educated voter to pay attention and try to decipher who is being reasonable and who is not.
A potential hot topic is how to restructure social security. President Bush has noted that he is in favor of investing some social security taxes into stocks, while Kerry has opposed such privatization. There are costs and benefits to each, but overall, their respective viewpoints are representative of their party’s stances on free market tactics vs. dependency on the government.
Discussions about the economy, especially during debates, can be confusing and not particularly informative. As always, the candidates will oversimplify things so as to get through to the average citizen. It is important to take both sides into consideration and hold statistics accountable for what they are.
Deciding what features of the economy you feel are personally and socially important is key.
Leave a Reply