Students on Main Street at the University of Delaware are Feeling the Cold Winds From Wall Street – But Which Presidential Candidate Will Be Their Umbrella?
This Wednesday, John McCain and Barack Obama threw some punches as they debated the failing economy in the last presidential debate of 2008 – but it was Wall Street itself that walked away with a black eye. On October 15, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 733 points – the 2nd largest one-day point loss ever in U.S. history. As if that shiner weren’t black enough, The Standard and Poor’s 500 Index slipped 9% - the worst single-day percentage loss since Black Monday of 1987.
In Wednesday’s debate in New York, both candidates outlined a plan to brighten the economy’s dark forecasts and prevent a financial recession. Obama outlined his proposal to lower income taxes for the middle class Average Joe, while McCain promised a lower business income tax for Joe the Plumber. As they have before, both presidential candidates insisted that they won’t help the weather on Wall Street – without clearing the clouds over Main Street first.
The question is: Where is Main Street, USA, and who’s walking its walk? (Hint: It’s not always Joe the Plumber) Through the middle of the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Delaware runs East Main Street – a resource of restaurants, retail, and relaxation for UD students of all walks of life. Although the debate on the economy has been directed more at the middle class and middle aged – young students on E. Main St. insist that financial woes loom on their horizon as well. Due to the increasing pressure of tuition payments, student loans, rising fuel and food prices, and job scarcity – the sun may have set on students’ carefree ways of the past. A depression of sorts is setting in – and retail therapy can’t be a solution.
“I used to shop at all the designers’ stores and in the big malls, but now I’m going to thrift stores!” Amy Takano, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Delaware, humorously described herself as “materialistic,” but said the economy has forced her to curb her spending habits. “I want to buy everything…but I’ve had to cut way back.”
Amy’s friend Angelica Newsome, another 18-year-old freshman at UD, said she also used to indulge in shopping – until the economy and her bank account plummeted. “I used to be like, ‘I’m bored, let’s go shopping,’ but I can’t do that anymore. I’m 18 and I’m already $20,000 in debt. It’s ridiculous.” Angelica says her debt is caused by tuition payments and student loans – bills she can’t pay for now that she’s a full-time student and unemployed. “I worked so much during the summer and [the money] is already all gone. I definitely feel the crisis.”
As families struggle with higher commodity prices – the cost of higher education is increasingly being placed on students’ shoulders. Kate Grasso, 18, claims many of her fellow freshmen at UD have to shoulder the responsibility of tuition payments on their own – often at the cost of sleep or grades. “I have a couple of friends whose parents couldn’t swing tuition. Now they have to take two jobs, enter a work-study program, or take out more loans. It’s really hard [to pay for tuition] when you don’t have a full-time job.” Kate, a lifelong Delawarean, is fortunate enough to have her parents pay for tuition – as long as the check remains in-state. “We’ve really had to tighten up in my family. I was supposed to go to the University of Maryland, but since the economy is so bad, my parents couldn’t swing it. I still love it here [at the University of Delaware], but [the economy] definitely affected where I would go to school.”
Amy took the leap to an out-of-state school – though she may hit the ground hard with student debt in the future. “I’m from out of state, so Delaware tuition for me is extremely high. I had to take out a lot of loans and a lot of scholarships. It’s definitely costing me and my family a lot more.” Because Amy wants to focus on school during her first semester of college, she won’t be working during the school year – meaning her checkbook will be cast aside for school books. “I’m paying $30,000 a year in tuition, so I’m really going to have to cut back.”
Many students are seeking part-time jobs to foot the tuition bill – if they can get their hands on one. Beth Comeau, a 16-year-old student at Cab Calloway High School, works part-time at a nearby Rite Aid in Newark, Delaware. In addition to the “drastic” recent rise of prices in the store – the number of student job applications have gone up as well. “A lot of young people come in asking for applications, but it’s harder for students to get hired because of their bad schedules and the sheer number of people seeking work. It was really hard for me to get a job; I lucked out.”
Gia O’Keefe, 20, a junior at the University of Delaware, has put more time in at the gym this semester – but not for her health. “I work at the University gym. Once gas prices went up, I’ve had to put in a lot more hours at work.”
Still, many students within the protective college bubble have yet to feel the recession rain. “When I go home, my mom won’t buy certain things. At school I’ve only noticed that prices have gone up when I pay with cash, although I use my credit card most of the time. But other than that, I haven’t noticed a big change.” Tiara Goode, an 18-year-old UD freshman and a Delaware resident, may not be weathered by the economic storm – but her out-of-state friends have. “Students who live out-of-state are feeling the effects of the crisis when they travel. Gas prices have gone up, and bus and train tickets cost a lot more.”
“I haven’t really felt affected by the crisis. Students here are so protected from the ebb and flow of the economy. Most students charge their expenses to their parents, and don’t have to deal with it.” Like many other UD students, Sidney Hanick, 21, has been forced to take out a student loan – but won’t feel the hole in her wallet until she graduates next spring. “A lot of students take out student loans, but with interest rates so low, you don’t really feel the affects you until you graduate.”
It should come as no surprise that most of these cash-strapped students had Change on the mind. “I’m supporting Obama because I feel like his priorities are the most in line with my priorities,” Angelica said. “It’s just more believable that he’s going to take charge, make change, and put into action everything that he’s said more than McCain will.”
Amy is voting for Obama because she believes he has the right experience to be president – the experience of growing up in the middle class. “[Obama] has been through situations that regular middle class people have been through, so he knows how it feels…and he has a better chance of changing things. A lot of wealthy Americans are voting for McCain, and he relates to them well. But there are a lot more middle class people now, and Obama can relate to that population.”
“Obama is more focused on America,” said Andrew Brant, a 16-year-old student at Cab Calloway School of the Arts. Andrew can’t vote on November 4 – but that didn’t stop him from wearing his Obama-Biden ’08 t-shirt and canvassing up and down Main Street. “I know we have issues with foreign policy, which is all sorts of screwed up, but I think Obama is trying to change what we have here and focus on our needs first.”
Kate agrees that before we solve the world’s problems – we have to clean up the mess on Main Street, USA. “Obama is more focused on domestic issues. McCain is so focused on the war and on keeping our troops there. I think Obama has the better domestic sense to get us out of this economic mess we’re in.”
Although Sidney hasn’t yet decided which candidate she’ll vote for on Election Day, she knows that whoever is elected must be the calm eye in the economic storm. “We don’t know enough about how the economy will progress to have a set plan. Historically, there isn’t much going up to a stock market crash; everyone typically becomes panicked and pulls their money out at the last minute. What’s most important is having a strong leader, a president who can keep the people’s faith in a time of panic.”
- Stephanie Woods