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Ad space is limited and is taken on a first-come, first-serve basis. Contact the Business Manager at business@ technewsiit.com for more information. LOCAL 8' NATIONAL ADVERTISERS To place an ad, contact us via email at business@technewsiit.com. ILLINOIS INSTITUTEVII OF TECHNOLOGY SHREEYEH RAJAN opinion@technewsiit.com TechNews TechNews | Tuesday, November 6, 2012 Election Coverage Ourw iters decide on theimpo antissues, awh t ey'llvo 1‘ Campaign hot topics include educatIon, women's healthcare By Shreeyeh Rajan OPINION EDITOR Did anyone watch the Presidential Debate that happened exactly three weeks ago? If not, there are a few points worth highlighting, especially before casting your vote today. This article isn’t enough to cover all the topics both candidates spoke about, so I’d like to pinpoint one certain topic that’s important to students at IIT: education, spee cifrcally higher education. Education, being a right to every citizen, can be pretty expensive when it comes to paying for your college. First, let’s take the liberal point of view. Citing a state, ment on education that I read from www. barackobama.com. “By doubling funding for Pell Grants and establishing a college tax credit, President Obama is putting higher educa tion within reach for millions more Amerie cans, “ cited the POTUS’ campaign website. “Mitt Romney’s plan to cut middleeclass in, vestments could slash Pell Grants for nearly 9.6 million students, and he would eliminate the President’s college tax credit.” His suge gestion to students worried about paying for college is to “shop around.” If I had a choice, I’d be shopping around in Macy’s instead of studying Computer Science; just saying. The other objectives Obama wants to implement are rewarding responsible students, keep, ing good teachers in the classroom, using local solutions to improve schools, provid ing pathways to good jobs, partnering with states to raise standards and ensuring a good future for our veterans. Switching to a conservative point of view, Romney states that foureyear col, leges are the “heart of our nation’s higher education system,” according to a statement from www.mittromney.com. “However, a flood of federal dollars is driving up tuition and burdening too many young Amerie cans with substantial debt and too few op, portunities. Meanwhile, other models of advanced skills training are becoming ever more important to success in the American economy, and new educational institutions will be required to fill those roles.” So, to solve this, Romney’s plan is to “strengthen and simplify” the financial aid system, wele come private sector participation instead of pushing it away, replace burdensome regue lation with innovation and competition, ac, cording to Romney’s campaign website. Other than the higher education issues, Obamacare and women’s rights have been the most controversial topics during the campaign. There were some really good points Hannah Larson, TechNews’ Assistant Editor, pointed out to me, “Obamacare and women’s rights is a huge issue, in my humble opinion. But most people forget that Obame acare is heavily based off of Massachusetts’ socialized healthcare that was implemented while Romney was governor. Fun fact, he hasn’t been in legit politics in four years, he didn’t run for office after his stint as govere nor ended in 2008. Romney has also flip, flopped on his opinions of abortion, and is against providing contraceptive for women through national healthcare.” And let’s consider what roles First Lady Michelle Obama and Ann Romney have played in this election. As Larson said it, “Michelle Obama has been campaigning hard for BO, while poor Ann Romney (who suffers from multiple sclerosis 8K has had several bouts with cancer) has been tossed around, and her own husband described her as a political tool in that videoetaped spone sor’s dinner that was leaked to the media. Both Romneys have said that if Mitt loses this election they will back out of politics and focus on their family and Ann’s health. Personally, I think that should have hap pened after his gubernatorial tenure.” There’s one more topic I want to mention but it has nothing to do with any of the candidates’ objectives. Does the word “flipeflopping” ring a bell? So I was watching YouTube videos a few days ago and I came across this interesting video called “Mittve Mitt.com: The story of two men trapped in one body.” It’s been a while since I laughed that hard. I mean, who is he? One second ago, he said “I respect and will protect a woman’s right to choose,” and then the next second he states the complete opposite, “I never really called myself proechoice.” The one that got me laughing on the floor is when he said, “I believe the world is getting warmer and I believe that humans contribute to that,” and then in another in, stant he claims “my view is: we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this plane et.” Interesting as it may seem to another country’s citizens, would you like him to be elected as the President of the United States? I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few people who would argue against Romney’s notorious flipeflopping, considering that the only thing that both Romney’s personalities will agree on, it they both want to be presie dent. Oh wait, did I say that? No, I didn’t. Undecided voters make significant decisions By Katie Peters COPY & LAYOUT EDITOR One of the most recent YouTube viral videos is of a little redehaired girl named Abigail who has turned splotchy red from crying. The reason why she’s cry, ing is the funny part: she complains that she is tired of “Bronco Bama” and “Mitt Romney.” She speaks for a lot of us though; this election season has seemed to drag on forever, and I have to admit I’m glad it’s ale most over. However, after attending the So, cial Sciences lecture last week, “A Debate on the Power of the President: How Much is Too Much?” I finally began to see the significance about this election. During the debate, Professor William Howell brought up an excellent point: “Has the American presidency been designed to work in the posteindustrial age?” While I do believe that the presie dential candidates are appealing to the masses on specific issues, we don’t seem to be looking at the candidates as our future presidents who have an entire branch of our government to them. Yes, some people do look at the candidates and think, “Oh, Obama has lead our country for the last four years and could continue to make a difference in the next four,” or “Romney has a great new chance to lead, and could make a needed change in our country.” Due to human nature, however, I argue that as voters we are finding it easier to tear down one candidate rather than support the other. What kind of represen tation are we asking for then? Instead of looking for someone who doesn’t disagree with us on specific issues that may not even be addressed during a term, we should be working together as a nation to find what is right for us. As an undecided voter, I have struggled since the beginning of the elece tion to choose which candidate matches my personal beliefs most; I have discovered that there is not a perfect answer, and each candidate has ideals I both agree and dis, agree with. How then, am I going to pick? How can any of us, who are inherently unique and passionate in our views, be a deciding factor in our country’s fate? It is a hard question, and “with great power comes great responsibility,” but remember this: it is a privilege, though maybe a tere rible privilege at that. Today, we are all a part of the future of our country for the next four years, and no one will ever be completely right. As a united and free country, we should stand together for the next four years and take responsibility for what hape pens, instead of wasting our energy on tearing the opposing viewpoints down. Let’s work on refining what America needs, rather than what Amerie cans want, so we can build a stronger nae tion. Congratulations on voting today, now let’s see what we can do with our ac, tions.