Students Offer Advice to Barack Obama

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 8, 2008 -- College students have many things to say, and they want President-elect Barack Obama to hear them.

In his speech Tuesday night, marking a watershed moment in United States' history as the first black man to be elected president, Obama said that the road will be long and rough but that Americans will reach our goals.

University students across the country, whether they voted for Obama or John McCain, have advice for the next president on how to get us there.

"I hope that the next administration will be able to work well and have a cooperative relationship with Congress and be able to implement policies that both parties can see the benefits of," said Catherine Bradley, a University of Texas at Austin public relations senior.

She is already prepared to hold Obama accountable for more than the promises he made in his speech: "Remember your campaign promises and stick to them or you'll alienate a lot of people."

Because university students across America face stresses such as student debt, the rising cost of college and the lack of jobs in the work force they are about to join, they have distinct perspectives on these issues.

At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., fewer student loans and merit-based scholarships are available because of the downturn in the economy, said Ashley Mergen a political science senior at George Washington. Mergen recommends increasing innovation in America's work force and supporting free trade to improve the situation, she said.

"We need to engage world leaders to get ourselves out of this mess. We can't do it alone; we are all interconnected," Mergen said. "One of the ways would be through trade liberalization."

Keshav Rajagopolan, Student Government president at the University of Texas, reflected Mergen's concerns and said that during the first 100 days in office the president should first and foremost address the economy because it affects so many of the other issues, such as the war in Iraq, foreign policy and education.