The Continuing War on Higher Education

Today, Chicago State University asked it's students and employees to begin turning in their keys to campus buildings. Due to the Illinois governor vetoing several bills funding higher ed and and the two parties not agreeing on a budget for the year, many public colleges in Illinois are suffering, with the public colleges not receiving any funding for the last 10 months, because apparently party politics is more important than the thousands of students and employees who are facing the cuts, receiving layoff notices, being asked to turn in their keys, being told that the semester is ending early.

This is so unfortunate. Politicians acting like voting with their party is more important than actually getting things done. Now 4,800 students and over 900 employees at Chicago State, and many other students and employees at other Illinois public colleges are being affected by your party politics. Hopefully you Illinois folk vote your governor out in 2018, and a ton of your state house and senate members, whose seats are up for grabs in this year's election. If you didn't think your vote matters before, it certainly does now. Think about all of the employees, the students that this affects. Many of the students who go to Chicago are students of color and students from low socioeconomic statuses. Here, we again see strong inequity in higher education.

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education

Go Ahead And Vote For Who You Want -- The Odyssey

Go Ahead and Vote For Who You Want
Why Your Vote Is Never A Waste

http://theodysseyonline.com/denver/vote-never-waste/381721

Food for Thought: Politicians As the "Saviors" and Local Elections

In the midst of all of my politics-related studies, I sometimes forget our politicians and governmental officials are actual people. I just got a call from my local Representative to make sure I had the right information about this Saturday's county convention, which I actually didn't, because the lady who called me yesterday gave me the wrong information, and this was upsetting, considering she claimed to be a part of the headquarters for the candidate I represent as a delegate. Anyways, the real reason I share this is to show how important it is to interact with your constituents. That type of reaching out ought to mean much more than a politician saying they know how to figure out all of your problems without actually asking a community what it needs; I have a huge problem with this concept of someone needing to go in and be a savior of others, and we've seen that all too much in our presidential race, where these presidential candidates think they know what needs to be done. For example, Donald Trump thinks we need to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but I didn't see him consult any of the folks living along that border, in both nations, to see if that's what they need. After all, they live near the border, and experience life near the border on a day to day basis. Why shouldn't they be consulted before a giant wall is built in their backyard? I'm pretty sure they have a better idea of what they need than Donald Trump does. If the people that are supposed to represent us actually did this, we'd see a completely different political system, and a much different society. In addition to this, those that represent us on the local level have a pretty good idea about what their community needs, usually, which is why I personally think they're more effective leaders and politicians, and I think more national officeholders should take note, and follow the types of politics they exhibit. But that is not how our political system works, so as citizens, we need to stand up against it, and hold our political systems to higher standards. It could be so much more that it is now.

Also, state & local government matters, so make sure you consider the candidates of your local governmental positions as much as you do for a presidential election. One, your Representatives and Senators make up Congress, either U.S. Congress, or your state Congress, so you might as well pick quality ones in order to get stuff done. Two, I strongly believe that your local elections have a much larger impact on your day-to-day lives than do national elections. As important as it is to have a President who represents the people, the President doesn't have much power, and is more like a national figurehead than a political powerhouse. Now your local and state officials, they make most of the decisions that impact you on a daily basis. 

This is basically a little bit of a political rant My point is, don't forget to be an informed voters for all of your candidates, local, state, and national, and make sure to actually turn out.

Inside A Caucus -- The Odyssey

Inside A Caucus: A First Person Account of What It's Like To Participate in A Caucus

http://theodysseyonline.com/denver/inside-caucuses/344486

Your Handy Guide to Super Tuesday -- The Odyssey

Your Handy Guide to Super Tuesday
Everything you need to know about the primary contests on Tuesday, March 1.

http://theodysseyonline.com/denver/guide-to-super-tuesday/331165

Despite the date listed, it barely got published today, otherwise I would have had it up sooner. Better late than never! (: