With more than a year of campaigning done and less than a week left until Election Day, the race for the presidency has helped to bring to the forefront the issues that matter most to students across the UC system.
Regardless of their interest in the presidential election, students consistently showed a deep interest in at least one particular issue.
The state of the economy topped the list, with many students expressing their concerns over diminished state funding and higher interest rates on loans.
For some students, the current ups and downs of the stock market hit right at home.
“I have a lot of my savings in stocks and I’ve lost 40 percent of my investments, so that sucks,” said Ross Locher, a second-year management science student at UC San Diego. He said he is fortunate to not be too dependent on those investments, though he noticed that the tips he gets from being a valet driver are smaller, possibly due to the state of the economy.
How the presidential candidates would address the current economic situation continued to be a central issue for several students at every campus.
“One of the greatest things about the economy is that you need a problem solver,” said Veeral Patel, a third-year business administration student at UC Riverside. “We need someone who is going to be versatile, someone who is going to act upon changes drastically, and I think Obama is going to be someone who strives for change.”
For others, equal access to health care continues to be a problem.
“I believe in universal health care. That’s something that everyone needs, no matter how poor or rich you are, everyone should be able to get health care,” said Joanna Lee, a first-year visual arts student at UC San Diego. “If I want a regular checkup it’s going to cost a lot for me. Even now people complain if we get universal health care it’s going to be a long way. Even now with the whole insurance policy you still have to wait just as long,” she said.
Some students also cited social issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion as important factors in deciding which candidate to support.
Immigration was also an important issue for several students, especially for first-generation students whose families struggled to gain U.S. citizenship. For Jose Napoles, a third-year business management student at UC Merced, the issue is more relevant than ever. His parents immigrated from Mexico and though his mother is now a citizen, his uncle has thus far been unable to become a citizen.
For some students, finding a balance between their personal belief system can sometimes pose difficulties when deciding which way to vote. Students said that they sometimes find it difficult to reconcile their political views with their faith and with their long-standing political commitments.
“I’m actually a progressive Catholic and although I agree with the whole pro-life stance, I feel that I cannot vote for the Republican party because of the fact that although that is a huge factor for me, it’s not the only factor that I care about. I feel like it is kind of a political ploy on their part to get more votes,” said Emmanuel Soriano, a graduate student in urban planning. “I feel like I’m more connected to the faith rather than the structure of the church. I have an aunt who was gay and stuff and she’s been with her partner for 40 years and I can’t seem them having any less fights than I do.”
With reports by Alene Tchekmedyian, Theresa Avila, Will Weiss, JJ Yang, Kim Lajcik, Maya Sugarman and Derek Liu, Bruin senior staff.