EPORTER
Vol. CXXIII Issue 12
Final State of the Union
brings students together
Stetson University | DeLand, Fla.
Photo courtesy Christina Bong
Students gather to watch the latest and last State of the Union address in Elizabeth hall on Jan. 8.
Jason Cruz
Staff Writer
A small but passionate
group of students came together to watch President
Barack Obama's final State
of the Union address last
Tuesday night, Jan. 8.
Stetson Votes, a student-run organization
whose mission is to "encourage and enable students
to participate in the democratic process," hosted the
gathering in the T.-C. Lane
seminar room of Elizabeth
Hall, Despite alarming technical difficulties, the night's
cookies and camaraderie
helped make Obama's last
address seem a fitting start
to what will almost certainly
be a wild finish to his presidency.
According to President Obama, the union is
in much better shape than
many realize. With a confident swagger and fiery tone,
Obama refuted the rhetoric
of those hoping to succeed
him next January by telling
Americans his time in office
has brought havoc upon the
country. His first remark was
a jab at the campaign fervor
sweeping the nation, noting
many of the politicians present "are antsy to get back to
Iowa" as that state's presidential caucus approaches.
He then openly defended his
seven years as President on
several grounds.
"Let me start with the
economy, and a basic fact:
the United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy
in the world," Obama exclaimed, touting "the lon
gest streak of private-sector
job creation in history. More
than 14 million new jobs;
the strongest two years of
job growth since the '90s;
an unemployment rate cut
in half." Punching back after months of Republican
presidential candidates insisting he has crippled the
US economy, Obama told
Congress "anyone claiming
that America's economy is
in decline is peddling fiction."
Not content to rest
on laurels, the president
called for changes he believes would strengthen the
economy going forward,
including improvements to
early childhood education
and making college more
affordable, a line which received big applause here at
Stetson. An emphasis on
career training and the expansion of social safety net
programs such as Social Security and Medicaid came
up before Obama moved
into a call for the new
Speaker of the House Paul
Ryan to help bring bipartisan taxation and regulatory
reforms to fruition..
In a surprising moment,
Obama evoked the voice
of a long-shot Democratic
challenger for the presidency. As he declared "Food
Stamp recipients didn't
cause the financial crisis;
recklessness on Wall Street
did," one could almost feel
the furious grin spreading
on Senator Bernie Sanders' face somewhere on the
House floor. Mr. Obama's
continued discussion of
the undue influence of the
wealthiest people in America also drew claps and
-whoops from the students
watching the speech.
At the same time,
Speaker Ryan's stoic frown,
clearly driven by a party-line
mandate to disagree with
President Obama on every
possible issue, remained a
source of laughter throughout the night. That intense
partisan rancor became the
final focus of Obama's address while he described the
difficulties polarizing de-
monization of political enemies makes when it comes
to governing. In a call to
"fix our politics," Obama
called forth images of civil
disagreement and cooperation which he thinks makes
the United States great.
Noting that "it's one of the
few regrets of my presidency—that the rancor and suspicion between the parties
has gotten worse instead of
better," Obama urged citizens and politicians alike to
open their hearts and minds,
compromise and participate
in the democratic process so
that the country can move
forward with unity and defend itself from the interests
of the most powerful individuals.
As his hour-long speech
wrapped up, we the students
quickly ate a few more
cookies, expressed a few,
mostly positive, reactions,
and went back to doing our
part towards a brighter future.
Stetson Votes is based
out of the of the Center for
Community Engagement
(Tri-C) on Bert Fish Road.
They are available to help
students register for voting
as the election year moves
on.
Men and Women's Basketball at
A-Sun Conference
Sports, Page 8
Feel the Force
Star Wars and more in A&E
