USU chapter dedicated to America’s youth
As a national organization, CYA is a “nonpartisan group dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility at the local, state and federal levels,” according to their website.
Eric Levesque, a junior in economics and president of the USU chapter of Concerned Youth of America (CYA), said CYA is focused on “educating America’s youth about our nation’s fiscal policy and future problems that could come up.” He said the main purpose of the group is education.
“We believe by educating we can make the biggest impact,” he said.
To educate USU students, Levesque said the club is working with the Huntsman School of Business to bring David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller General and head of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), to campus.
Walker, appointed under the Clinton administration in 1998, worked as the federal government’s chief auditor under both Republican and Democrat administrations and in 2005 collaborated with the Brookings Institution, the Concord Coalition and the Heritage Foundation to undertake a campaign to educate citizens about government spending, called the Fiscal Wake-up Tour.
As a preceding event, the club showed the 2008 documentary “I.O.U.S.A.,” which follows Walker across the country as he explains the financial outlook of America.
The I.O.U.S.A. homepage states that the movie explores the “rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens.” Levesque said it is this type of education the USU club is attempting to bring to Logan.
“We’re not an organization that is a fearmonger,” he said. “We want to inspire people to go learn about the economy themselves.”
Chez Sealy, the club’s vice president, said it isn’t a “doomsday club.”
“CYA’s purpose is to raise awareness about the national debt to the generation it will be affecting,” he said. “One thing a lot of students aren’t thinking about is how things that are happening now will effect them in the years to come. It will effect their overall ability to create more for themselves.”
The current financial standing of the country has been a main topic in politics, Levesque said, making CYA a more prevalent organization. He said with the many differing views about how to improve the economy, there has been a great deal of controversy.
“You can argue either way but I think that’s beyond the scope of CYA,” he said.
Though the organization won’t officially give an opinion, Sealy said he thinks one way to help the global economy is to bring more awareness to the power held by individuals.
“I think a lot of times our generation thinks that things will just get done and CYA is an attempt to get something done,” he said. “It’s an attempt to raise awareness and help people understand that we actually have to do something about it.”
Levesque said there is hope and optimism throughout the organization.
“Overall, we as individuals and CYA as a whole are very optimistic,” he said. “We think our voices will be heard.”
Levesque said he would personally like to see more programs regulated and documented and the removal of programs that are inefficient or unnecessary.
“The best thing would be to set a specific plan for next five to 10 years as to how we will get ourselves out of the current fiscal situation,” he said, “as in managing our debt and returning to a balanced budget.”
One of the biggest issues CYA is concerned with, according to their website, is the national debt. Levesque said the current national debt calculator, showing more than $13 trillion in debt, is inaccurate since it doesn’t include already-promised funds. America’s growing debt led to nationwide financial stress and affected the world, Levesque said.
“We live in a global economy and the recession showed that,” he said. “When America hiccuped, the rest of the world sneezed.”
Levesque said: “If you are indebted to other countries and you have a very high trade deficit and your spending is out of control, it will hurt our economy and hurt us in the global sector and will hurt us college students who will be entering the job market in the next few years.”
Levesque and Sealy are trying to expand CYA to other campuses and the state of Utah. Levesque said some members of the club will be able to go meet with other campuses and high schools to pique the interest of other young adults.
“I think one of the most important things we want to get across to students is that by educating themselves and having an awareness of what is going on,” he said, “they can make a lot of change and they can bring about the best change for themselves in the future. Having at least a basic understanding of what politicians are doing is very important.”
Questions can be directed, by e-mail, to Eric Levesque at cyausu@gmail.com.
– k.vandyke@aggiemail.usu.edu