Students respond to State of Union ideas
President Barack Obama spoke to the nation Tuesday night about issues concerning education, health care and the economy, starting a debate that could last for months to come.
A State of the Union viewing party was hosted by Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Honors society and Justin Hinh, a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha, said the state of the union is important because it is a prime example of political rhetoric at its best.
He said it is the time of year where the country looks to the president and hears what he has to say and then talks about it for months down the road.
“How the media and people look at the future and how they will talk about it will all boil down to what the president said tonight,” he said.
The president spent time talking about how spending money on innovation and education will help the economy later on. He said there is no point in cutting the budget in places that are essential to success later on.
Terry Camp, College Republicans president, said Obama didn’t bring up the economy soon enough in his speech, making it clear that “cutting spending is the last thing on his mind.”
“It kind of seemed like he missed the point the people tried to send to Washington in November about jobs,” Camp said. “It took him three-fourths of his speech to start talking about the recession and job creation and even then he barely touched on it. It was devastating.”
He said Obama’s speech went on to show he didn’t have a lot of plans to cut spending, and just reaffirmed “that the Democrats are the party of government.”
Obama said steps have been taken in the past two years that “may have broken the back of the recession.” He pointed out that finding a job was a lot different back then, and the world has changed, so the ways to finding a job have changed, too. He said despite the competition for jobs, there are positive aspects out there.
“The competition for jobs is real but this should not discourage us, it should challenge us,” Obama said. “America still has the largest and most prosperous economy in the world.”
Jared Arnell, freshman aerospace engineering, appreciated the emphasis Obama put on alternative energy because that is a direction that the country needs to start heading, he said. Arnell also said he liked the points Obama made in reference to education and how America is losing competitiveness on a global scale and how Americans need to “up their game.”
Camp said while Obama talked big, his suggestions for the future were small feats that couldn’t be compared to Sputnik like the president attempted to do.
“His new catch phrase is investing in the future, which essentially just means more spending,” Camp said. “He only talked about small innovations like solar shingling and better railways. It’s kind of funny because he tried to compare these to larger accomplishments but only brought up small suggestions.”
Obama said America is home to the best colleges and universities in the world and education is the answer to a better life down the road. He said higher education must be in the reach of every student and college needs to become affordable to everyone. He said people need to “train for the fast-paced economy” and if the right steps are taken, every child can reach their goals.
Student success starts in the home with parents who “instill the love of learning to a child,” Obama said. He said success is not a “function of fame, but hard work and discipline,” and schools share the responsibility with parents to create high expectations.
David Stewart, a sophomore in broadcast journalism, said he felt like Obama did a good job at keeping things neutral.
“I liked how neutral and unifying he kept his speech. He did a good job at staying in the center for the most part,” Stewart said.
Arnell said the fact that Obama stayed so neutral surprised him.
“I expected him to take more of a defensive stance to things like health care. He called for alternatives and said if anyone has any ideas to let him know, and that surprised me,”Arnell said.
Camp said the fact that he was willing to change some aspects of the health care law was a positive within his speech.
“He spoke on repealing some parts of health care law that weren’t responsible or that won’t work to create a benefit, so that is definitely something that is viewed as a positive for us (Republicans),” he said.
Hinh said it was vital that the president points out how toxic of an environment it is and how things need to change.
“Different representatives from opposite parties are now sitting next to each other. I hope the president can change the tone in Washington because it is kind of depressing to see how bad things are getting,” Hinh said.
President Obama tried to get that point across by saying that members of congress can “sit together tonight, but also need to work together tomorrow.”
“I believe we can and I believe we must,” he said, “that is what the people who sent us here expect of us.”
– megan.b@aggiemail.usu.edu