BY SAVANNAH PRESCOTT
All the presidential debates are over. Although many people don’t know which candidate they want to vote for, many have a firm standing on their political beliefs.
This election is not only making history because of the candidates. It’s making history because of the issues that are on the top of the agenda for the next coming years.
Climate change, immigration, national debt, equality and policy reform — they are all up in the air.
Americans are anxious to see what the top priorities will be in the coming years and what will fall low on the totem pole. On Drake’s campus, concerns are across the board.
For visiting professor Kieran Williams, climate change is his top concern.
“Climate and the environment in general are important,” Williams said. “We should be focusing on policies that would minimize the impact that is inevitable-but also be preparing for impacts that may come.”
Williams believes the candidates need to focus on climate change because it is important for the stability of the country.
“Clean water, food, supplies … all of that goes together and is effected by climate change,” Williams said. “This would mean the beginning of a long-range thinking. City planning and the development of cities would be contrasted in a way to minimize the environmental impact.”
Williams would like to see governments get involved in committing of our country to climate change.
Sophomore pharmacy student,Taylor Boorn, is also looking towards the future of America but offers a different perspective.
“I care most about immigration, securing our borders and our national debt,” Boorn said. “Trump wants to build a wall … I’m not sure how the hell he thinks he’s going to do that. It’s just not practical. But at the same time I don’t agree with just letting anyone into our country. It’s just not an option either.”
As a college student, Boorn feels that she is going to be heavily affected by the national debt.
“I feel like it’s something that we will have to pay off in our lifetime,” Boorn said. “Student loans are hard to balance enough and soon we’ll have to provide for families, as adults, so that worries me, too.”
First-year pharmacy student Darshika Desai is concerned with immigration, tax policy reform and equality. Much like Boorn, Desai believes a wall won’t be attainable.
“A logical plan has to be made to make a fair and easier process so people don’t have to jump through hoops to come here legally,” Desai said. “The reason they come illegally is because of the difficult process of coming to America legally.”
Regarding tax reform, Desai wants to see a shift from the US’s current policy.
“I think we should increase taxes on the upper class,” Desai said. “I don’t believe in trickle-down economics. Obviously it just doesn’t work.”
Equality is important to Desai and she hopes to see our country only move forward.
“We’ve made huge progress over time”, Desai said. “I would hate to see us go backwards. It should be an important value because this nation was built on equality.”
Sophomore economics and politics double major Alex Freeman feels this election should be focused on working on the policies that have already been established as well as improving state and local economies.
An understanding of how federal policy affects local economies is important to Freeman.
“Some politicians don’t understand that (what is) one percent unemployment to them is one hundred percent unemployment to the person without the job,” Freeman said.
Freeman would like to see steps taken towards reform with an added focus put on the issues with current policies.
“Some steps were misguided and even mal-intended,” Freeman said. “In some spheres, the federal government has over and incorrectly stepped in the wrong directions. In the next four years, it’s critical we recalculate the role of the federal government in regulating the economy at the state and local levels.”
Freeman says that he feels disillusioned by the presidential election as a whole and has decided to abstain from voting for president this year, but will participate in state and local elections.
Election day is on Nov. 8 and students and faculty hope to see a president elected that holds similar values as them.
Whether or not those values are put to action will only be a matter of time.