Dear president-elect, I do not know who you are yet — I’m writing this column the Saturday before you were elected — but whoever you are, congratulations on your victory. It sure has been a long road to get to this point, president-elect. Make sure to send the other guy a consolation Hallmark card, at least. It will be your first act of presidential statesmanship.
President Obama, if this is you, good luck with four more years of Congressional gridlock. Governor Romney, if this is you, welcome to the big time. This is no Winter Olympics, I’m afraid. You face great challenges ahead, and I am writing this letter because I thought you would like to have the perspective of the youth. Though we may be inexperienced, we’re still the ones who are going to run the country after you leave, so perhaps you might like to know where we want the Ship of State to be sailing.
First and foremost, we share the common cause of reforming the costs of higher education. If college is to continue as the “Great Equalizer” and the best opportunity for improving our stations in life, then it has to be affordable. Providing student aid in the form of grants and loans is commendable, but recent measures such as extending the low interest rates on Stafford loans is but a temporary measure that only attacks the symptoms of the larger problem: skyrocketing tuition. There are a large number of factors involved with this increase in cost — waning state support for public universities, a drive to increase spending to attract students and increase prestige — and to neglect this growing concern would be tantamount to abandoning the prospects of future generations.
Coupled with our concern for the cost of college also comes our concern for employment after we graduate. We expect that after working hard to get a diploma, we can find good employment to use the skills we have fostered for the last four years. That more than half of all recent college graduates are working in jobs that do not require a degree or are outright unemployed is a travesty. If left unchecked, we will become a generation crushed under the burden of insurmountable student debt because we cannot acquire jobs that would allow us to pay such debts. A recent report by the Associated Press suggests that the rising number of people attending college — and the lack of a corresponding rise in jobs — has made the traditional liberal arts degree less of a credential as it has been in the past and that more training in technical fields such as science and health care is needed for an edge in the employment market. If that is the case, expanding such technical education is most naturally the best plan. President Obama’s efforts to expand aid for community colleges and foster STEM education by hiring more teachers and encouraging students to take up STEM degrees are a start. Mr. president-elect, you would do good to continue the president’s current plans, if not in letter then at least in spirit.
Finally, aside from economic issues, we the youth also care about social issues. Though we as a group may disagree on many disparate matters, we converge on the topic of gay marriage. A study by the Pew Research Center found that an overwhelming majority (58 percent) of young people ages 18-29 support gay marriage, and an even greater majority (68 percent) support civil unions. This is not just because young people are more likely to be liberal and therefore Democrats; many young Republicans are at least moderates in social issues and are Republican only because of economic issues. A piecemeal approach of legalizing gay marriage through the states is inefficient and allows gay couples in conservative states to suffer the privation of legal status. A federal effort spearheaded by the chief executive — with a little cooperation from Congress — would make short work of giving rights to such couples. President Obama’s recent endorsement for gay marriage is a step in the right direction; again, Mr. president-elect, you would do well to follow the footsteps of your predecessor.
A long and arduous four years await you, Mr. president-elect. You will face many challenges in many different domains. We, the youth, ask not for your full and undivided attention, but rather only a small part of it. These are the issues that matter to us; all we ask is for you to give a bit of your effort to make our hopes for the future — a future where college is affordable, where we can acquire gainful employment and where fellow citizens can freely marry whomever they love — a reality.
Rolph Recto’s column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at r.recto@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
KURTZWEIL: True financial aid must be transparent
By Paul Kurtzweil | 2 days agoThe implications and revelations of the lawsuit should inspire greater transparency at the University in order to ensure that financial aid is properly and equitably distributed.
SULLIVAN: Ramp up physical accessibility on Grounds
By Scarlett Sullivan | 4 days agoThe University must take responsibility for the inaccessibility of Grounds and work to promote accessibility for all students despite misguided laws.
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | April 25, 2024Instead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
