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Feature Stories |
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Why I
Care
Survey says: Students care
The country is at war. The job market is shaky. And students actually are
paying attention. That was the conclusion of a survey of University of
Illinois students by I-ELECT, a political reporting project in conjunction
with the College of Communications at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign..... Read more
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What's new:
In the I-Elect survey, the influence of media was the third
strongest factor in forming their political opinions
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Bottom
Line:
Politicians don't pay enough attention to
the youth vote. Historical reasoning says that this is because
youths don't tend to vote, therefore they get ignored; and the youth
don't vote because they're ignored by politicians. Quite the
'Vicious cycle.' |
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Student soldier
Iraq war hits close to home for one U of I
student who spent nine months fighting overseas
Alfredo Vargas, 22, sits in the bedroom of his frat house. A picture of the
American flag hangs on the wall. Only black and white photos of Saddam
Hussein serve as reminders of war now thousands of miles away.
But when Vargas, a National Guard sergeant who fought in Iraq for nearly
nine months, shed his fatigues for blue jeans and left the war behind to
return to school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign this
fall, he came home to a different kind of fight: a political fight......
Read more
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What's new:
War is one of the leading topics for the upcoming election,
many people are both for and against it.
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Bottom
Line:
The war in Iraq has dominated election rhetoric
in 2004 the way the economy dominated the campaign in 1992. And the
issue could drive more voters, especially young voters, to the polls
than ever before.
According to an I-ELECT survey, University of Illinois students
ranked war as one of the most important issues motivating
students to vote this year. Nearly 40 percent said it was
“extremely important." |
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Where have all the jobs gone?
Many recent grads are underemployed,
underpaid, as finding jobs becomes harder
Ben King, 25, expected nothing less than a comfortable, high-paying job
after graduating with a degree in computer engineering from the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Instead, he now waits tables and tends bar at Chili’s Grill & Bar in Peoria,
Ill. ..... Read more
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What's new:
College degrees have long been thought to guarantee better
jobs, higher wages and more comfortable lifestyles, but sometimes
this no longer is the case
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Bottom
line:
Many graduates with degrees in fields once
thought recession-proof – engineering, computer science, information
technology and communications – are finding themselves unemployed
or underemployed |
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Burdened, to a degree
Students struggle to pay for college
with the help of loans, grants, federal funding
Yasmin Youssef wants to be a doctor but can’t afford a university education
just yet. So she attends Parkland College, a Community College in Champaign,
Ill.
She’s an international student, but her parents just bought a house in
Illinois, which will make her an in-state student. That will lower her
tuition enough to attend the University of Illinois......
Read more
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What's new:
Students ranked higher education funding as one of the top
three political issues – right alongside the war and the economy –
in a survey conducted by I-ELECT
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Bottom
line:
With tuition rising, and aid either stagnating
or slashed, students and their parents are having a difficult time
affording a college education |
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Driving the vote
Government reforms fall short of
getting youths to the polls, experts say
College culture is built around the daily use of the Internet. Students use
it to check their e-mail, do online homework, check account balances, read
the day’s news and even pay tuition.
But in most Illinois counties, students cannot use the Internet to help in
their quest for an absentee ballot..... Read more
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Bottome Line:
I-ELECT survey of students at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, 41 percent of students plan to vote in their home
counties
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Sidebar:
Voting takes more than registering. The ease of registering
to vote doesn’t automatically turn into high voter turnout, some
experts say.....
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