Ellen Barnes- Public Issues

This is, as many have said, sort of hard for me to answer. One public issue that I feel somewhat educated on is, ironically, education. I (attempted to) write an article last semester on HOPE and all of its terrible new changes, and it really is very alarming to learn about. It’s reassuring to know that students my age will have missed the worst of the changes, but I worry for students down the line who will be left with ever-increasing tuition costs and ever-decreasing HOPE funds, even causing in-state UGA attendance to go down and therefore possibly make UGA less credible of a school eventually. It is definitely an issue that needs to be fixed or else it will just continue to spiral downward. 

A public issue that I recently experienced first-hand is the public health care in America. I was in need of a doctor’s appointment and while the secretary insisted that I was only able to see my doctor and no other doctors, she also added that he was booked until May and that I would simply have to wait. It ended up working out, but what if I had been in a dire situation where I needed to see him sooner than that? I would’ve been SOL, and that’s just scary to me. 

Something else that I recently read about that I find interesting is the skyrocketed number of autism children in America today. In the past, 1 in every 101 children had autism; now, it is 1 in every 88. It makes me and many others wonder, what is the cause of this? Is it due to pollution and radioactivity in the air? Is it simply an issue of over-diagnosis? Either way, the new numbers are very alarming and the lack of answers are even more so. 

While I am not extremely educated on any of these issues, I do care about them all and am curious to see how they all pan out in the times to come. 

Public Issues- Sarah Lightle

I’d like to think that I know enough about what’s going on in the world to get by. I try and at least go to the New York Times home page once a day. Now, once there, I can’t promise that I read any of the breaking news stories or that I don’t drift to the travel section and get lost in others’ adventures. But, I do feel like when people mention things happening around the world I’ve typically at least read a headline concerning the matter or read a snipet about it.

I’ll start with my interests by saying that I’m least interested in politics. Yes, I know this is terrible (just like everyone else has said) but I find it to be a very confusing and deceitful world. That aside, I am trying to be more on top of current events with the upcoming election. I think overall I’m most interested in reading about places different from my own. So as far as things that really matter in world, I’m much more likely to read an article concerning international news than Romney winning Washington, D.C. (if that’s even what we talked about today).

Public Issues- Kelly Whitmire

I like to think I am knowledgeable about most social issues.  While I wouldn’t call myself an activist, or even a slacktivist, I usually am aware of what is going on the world and usually have an opinion on most issues.  One issue I do care about is gay rights.  This is a little strange since I am not gay and know only a dozen or so LGBT people, but I’m still interested in the subject.  Personally, I see it as an issue of someone infringing on another group of peoples’ right, and that irks me. While giving gays equal rights to straights would probably not affect my life greatly, I don’t like to see a misunderstood minority subjugated by a resentful majority.  Continuing with my leftist leanings, I am also interested in government spending.  I’m not of the mindset that spending should be cut, but I think we should reallocate our tax dollars.  I think our government could be run more efficiently, but too many hands are in the pot.  Even if we were forced to raise taxes, I would like to see the government spend more money on infrastructure, like Athens’ crumbling roads and bridges.  I will admit my bias as student, but I also believe we should spend more on public schools.  As a graduate of the No Child Left Behind public school system, especially in rural north Georgia, I have seen how schools push towards standardized testing for funding instead of general education.  While defense is very important, I believe we could cut some out of the budget to help fund projects for American citizens.

Public Issues- Grace

I probably know the most about civil rights issues and politics and international affairs. Interestingly, one area where I’ve developed a lot more awareness and knowledge about is Russia. While I am by no means an expert, I have spent (because of a class requirement for International Communications) a few minutes every week scrolling through The Moscow Times, Russia’s only daily English newspaper. I’ve learned a lot about the politics and social climate of Russia this semester. 

 

I care the most about human rights issues, like sex trafficking, child labor, and discrimination. I also have a guilty pleasure of procrastinating by looking at Yahoo! News articles. They vary in topic, length, and caliber, but never fail to be interesting. 

Public Issues – Kaitlyn Frizzell

When I think of news, I automatically want to fall asleep. Most of the news I used to watch was on TV and it got to the point where all they were talking about was deaths and the economy crashing to the ground. So I stopped watching. Recently, I’ve tried watching the news again here and there but it still bores me. Most of the news I do read about or follow is when I get on the computer. My homepage is set to AOL so I see the current headlines flash and if something catches my attention, I’ll take a few minutes to read it. I will admit that I do follow celebrity news by watching E! but other than that it’s whatever is on my computer too. If I see or hear a headline that affects me personally (gas prices, HOPE funds, etc.) I definitely take the time to figure out what is going on. Also, I try staying up-to-date on news in places that I have traveled (Rwanda, India) but not as much as I would like to. I think sometimes if it doesn’t affect me or I have no interest in the matter I don’t bother listening which could potentially be a bad thing. I do want to be better informed about what is going on in the country and world. I just hope news organizations find a better way of presenting it.

Public Issues – KV

Just like my peers, I am ashamed to say that I don’t pay that much attention to important public issues. Not too ashamed to actually start following up on issues, though.

I used to read the newspaper a lot and follow up on the environment, technology, some politics, world news, etc.

I thought that if I knew about current issues, I would be able to join conversations and start them  easily. I read New York Times, checked CNN, the whole nine yards.

What has discouraged me, though, after two years of actively following the news and public issues such as sustainability and politics… is that none of my peers seem to care.

I can’t join the conversations because they’re simply not happening. My peers would rather talk about last week’s episode of Jersey Shore or how Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are now dating. While I will never succumb to watching Jersey Shore no matter how much I want to fit in and keep up with the latest trend, I have simply abandoned the news due to lack of interest, on my part and on my peers’ parts.

There’s hope, though, because I still do follow technology blogs religiously. I like to know about the new technology coming out and how professionals rate them. I do get daily news from the NYT emailed to me, but I only find myself clicking and following the ones about sustainability or something that really, really interests me.

Public Issues, Tabitha Phillips

I know the most about animal rights and welfare issues, public health issues, environmental issues, civil rights and labor rights issues. I stay informed on these subjects because they are all interrelated and the news outlets and the blogs that I read usually cover most of these subjects at one point. I am also very interested in how all of these things impact me and the people I know, so I have a special interest in learning about these topics. I am most informed on animal rights and welfare issues, because it overlaps with my responsibilities as President of Speak Out for Species.
I care most about animal rights and labor rights issues because there are huge implications tied to some of the hot button issues like factory farms and the Monsanto revolving door.

Public Issues-Sykes

Honestly, I am not very big on following the news so would not consider myself on any topic.  However, I am interested in international affairs and medical research.  I also have interest our country’s policy, but get frustrated with all the politics related with this topic. Reading the news out of my own motivation is definitely an area I need to work on, and it is interesting to see how my generation goes about this.  The internet is almost overwhelming because there is so much information available there. News papers narrow it down a little to a less overwhelming manner, however I find that very few of my peers read the news paper anymore.   

Public Issues – Gina Borg

To be truthful, I don’t pay enough attention to most public issues to call myself an expert on any of them. However, the one’s that I do pay attention to are the one’s that I care most about. It is concern over issues that leads most people to pay attention to issues, I think. I am probably most concerned about abortion, and therefore pay a good deal of attention to abortion laws, cases and debates. It is the issue that I listen to most closely when I hear potential candidates discuss it. I also pay some attention to  sustainability and environmental issues because I think that it is important to honor our environment and be good stewards of our planet’s resources for future generations.