George Mason University is running a survey of student opinions on issues that are important to them in choosing to vote, and choosing for whom to vote.
Category: Mason Votes
Both candidates support loans as a way to help students pay for college. Obama’s plan seeks to increase loan forgiveness, a federal program that cancels all or a portion of a student’s loan, most often in exchange for some form of public service. McCain, however, has voted against programs to provide loan forgiveness on two occasions.
See more on how the candidates plan to work loans into their overall plans to help students pay for college in Part 4 of Mason Votes’ series on college affordability.
When it comes to community and vocational schools, Obama sees them as essential to providing local students with the skills they need and intends to reward community colleges that increase their graduates and transfers to four-year colleges. McCain focuses on retraining workers.
Read more about how the two candidates intend to support community schools and how they want to implement vocational training in Part 3 of Mason Votes’ series on college affordability.
Tax credit programs allow those applicable for a credit to subtract the value from their annual tax payment, or claim it as a deduction. So if you were required to pay $5,000 in taxes this year and you received the $4,000 tax credit that Obama proposes for students, you would only have to pay $1,000 in taxes. Many politicians, including Obama, favor providing tax credits to college students in exchange for public service. However, some college administrators state that tax credit programs force an increase in overall student tuition.
Obama wants to increase tax credits, McCain states he wants to simplify them, but by simplify, does he mean eliminate? Find out in Part 2 of Mason Votes series on College Affordability.
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama have had plenty to say about Wall Street and Main Street, but they have said little about how the economic situation makes it difficult for students who want to live on University Row. Though college students are expected to be a deciding factor in a number of states, including Virginia, the issue of college tuition barely shows up on both candidates’ radars.
This is Part 1 in a five part series on how the presidential candidates plan to help students pay for college. This section focuses on the College Cost Reduction Act and federal grants.
ABC’s John Stossel briefs viewers on some of the big issues in the election in a 20/20 special series The Politically Incorrect Guide to Politics. YouTube videos are below and you can find higher quality video at the 20/20 website.
What People in Power Can Do and “Rinkonomics”
Mason Votes’ roundtable podcast with representatives from Women and Gender Studies at George Mason University. Are there “women’s issues?” If so, what are they?
Virginia Congressional hopefuls gathered in Harris Theatre to deliver their proposals about healthcare and to respond to specific policy questions from panel members on Wednesday night.
The candidates were each given fifteen minutes to present how they would improve healthcare in Virginia and in the nation. Speeches were followed by five minutes questions formulated by healthcare experts.
The night began with a brief address by university President Alan Merten, about George Mason University’s community involvement and the importance of the work conducted by Health and Human Services.
Tim Henderson, active Deputy Director for the Center For Health Policy Research and Ethics, led the panel asking the delegates questions on health policy. He shared the results of a survey by Kaiser Family Foundation to set the mood for the forum. According to the survey, paying for healthcare remains a problem for one in four Americans.
Chairman Gerry Connolly of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors was the first to speak. The Democratic congressional hopeful for the 11th District led off by telling an anecdote from his days as Chairman. He received a call from a woman, who said, ”I have a dead deer in my front lawn What are you going to do about it?” When he asked, ”Well, have you thought about calling animal control?,” she said. ”No, I didn’t want to bother them this early on a Sunday morning.” This story, he said, illustrates the accessibility of local politics that is lost on the federal level.
Connolly went on to address the issue of healthcare. We have to do something to make healthcare accessible and affordable to all Americans, Connolly claimed, but we cannot do that until concerns can be heard by legislators. He said that he could take that message to the federal level.
He also said that health insurance companies should not be able to cherry pick and exclude people based upon pre-existing health conditions.
“Insurance companies need a risk pool, and need to spread the risk across the board,” Connolly said. “I believe that there is a lot that can be done, I believe there is a lot that has to be done…We need to move to an electronic medical record system…the only caveat is that we need to be careful when considering rural healthcare systems and mandating an electronic medical record system because they have limited resources.”
Because of the event’s late start, Keith Fimian, the Republican congressional hopeful for the 11th District, was only able to speak briefly before leaving for another event. He stated that patients should be in charge of their healthcare and families should have refundable tax credits to purchase health insurance but that he would make sure that every dime he spent if elected would be spent as efficiently as possible.
He also stressed that there is an urgent need to reform malpractice liability and that the healthcare system should convert to an electronic medical record system. A tax credit should be granted to health care providers to help relieve IT expenses when converting.
Fimian did not mince words when it came to the fiscal reality currently facing America, saying that the tumult on Wall Street came from foreign creditors calling on their debt and that days of free credit were over. He said it was crucial to recognize the economic reality of the situation.
Virginia Delegate Mark Sickles, of the 43rd District, spoke on behalf of Democratic Congressman Jim Moran, of the 8th District. Sickles said that Moran is passionate about expanding health care for uninsured and underinsured, and supports the statewide healthcare plan of Massachusetts.
Sickles then concentrated on Senator John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) healthcare plan. Sickles said the plan would take away the deduction for providing health insurance given to employers and give a private tax credit of up to $5,000 for a family of four. However, Sickles said, if a family is not making enough money to pay $5,000 in taxes, it will not receive the credit.
Sickles stressed that Moran believes preventative healthcare would be the most efficient solution to growing costs and inefficiency. However, until people have guaranteed coverage and did not have to rely on the Emergency Room as a last resort, Moran does not think there would be much improvement.
The health forum was hosted by The Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics and The Department of Health Administration and Policy.
By Maria Carabelli – UPI
During the 2004 presidential election, only 47 percent of youth ages 18-24 voted and only 66 percent of those aged 25 or older took to the polls, according to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement Web site. These statistics concern Jason Warren, communication instructor at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va., who at 26 years old is a young voter himself. With 30,000 students the university is home to a plethora of young voters, many of whom will have the opportunity to vote for the first time in November.
Warren, who was recently recognized as Outstanding New Coach of the Year by the American Forensics Association, teaches students the value of their voice and the ethical obligations of their First Amendment right to free speech. This semester as the presidential campaigns heat up, his free speech and ethics class has no shortage of material to discuss.
As a student in George Mason’s doctoral program in communication, Warren understands there are many life events that might prevent a person from physically going to vote but he also says there is a false ideology that young votes do not make an impact. “Young voters feel they have no personal stake and they feel their vote doesn’t make a difference,” Warren said. He also believes that young voters are less educated about the election and he uses his position as an educator to help his students understand the importance of their vote.
Yet, he can only do so much. The candidates, he asserts, need to find ways to engage young voters and make them feel included in the democratic process. In Warren’s eyes, Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama, has an edge over his Republican Party opponent John McCain. U.S. Sen. Obama, according to Warren, put the spotlight on young voters by working to increase the number of registered young voters and by talking to them about issues that are important to them, such as the economy, education, foreign relations and the War on Terror.
U.S. Sen. McCain, however, has a slightly more uphill battle as his party must be able to convince a skeptical audience that they are a party of change, said Warren. Regardless of either candidate’s current position with young voters, the questions remain: Will young people voice their opinions? Will young people vote in November, or will they continue to give into the idea that they are a powerless demographic?
If Warren has anything to say about it, young people will vote. His students who stand with him in line at the polls will be those who understand the power of free speech, ethics and the right to vote.
From: The Voice of the Young Voter
Published: Sept. 18, 2008 at 5:36 PM