With elections and impeachments, along with a variety of other economic, social and environmental hot topics, 2020 is a big year in politics. The Daily Emerald asked University of Oregon students what political issues are on their mind.
Eli Shipley, sophomore studying English
“The difficult situation in the Middle East, especially with the withdrawal of US forces from Syria and the Rojava region, because the U.S. forces were important there in protecting Kurdish people from invasion by the Turkish government. So the U.S. withdrawal of forces has the possibility to end up with a lot of deaths.”
Carson Schmittle, junior studying Latin American studies
“I think I feel pretty concerned about a lot of different levels of politics right, like at the Federal level, and I get pretty concerned about the Democratic primary. I guess that’s not all that’s on my mind. I’m also pretty concerned about city politics and right now — the city is addressing its climate action plan again. I’ve been trying to follow that pretty closely, just to see whatever’s in the city’s power can really be fleshed out as that relates to broader issues of climate change and justice and equity and all that’s associated with that.”
“The city can’t do much, but it can do things as it relates to transportation, like zoning and development in the city. That’s another thing that bothers me, that I can’t stop thinking about, is the construction. I had some friends in town, I was giving them a tour, and I realized half the buildings, it seems like, were built in the last ten years. On campus, downtown — I’m concerned I’ll be priced out on rent soon.”
Alanna Uding, sophomore studying education
“I would probably say the impeachment trial right now, that’s a pretty major thing. Watching that go down, it’s going to be a part of history, so that’s definitely been something I’ve been paying attention to and listening to. I wasn’t too surprised, but I was a little disappointed, for sure, and frustrated, too, because it felt like there were a lot of questions that were left unanswered and a lot of things were kind of just skipped over, so I’m not surprised, really.”
Kezia Setyawan, senior studying journalism
“I think right now, especially with the protests in Canada and Southern Oregon, I’m thinking about Indigenous land sovereignty and land rights and usage of land. I’ve been interviewing a lot of people, as well, like landowners, tribal members, climate activists, about what are different approaches to combating a common problem, and what solutions can come out of it?”
“I also think that it’s interesting, especially with looking at local politicians like Peter DaFazio, or Doyle Canning, who’s running in the primary, or even Sarah [Iannarone, candidate for Portland mayor] and looking on a national level, which candidates have actually addressed different interest groups in mind.”
