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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Obama's words received differently throughout UB community

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Eliza Upton-Green, a sophomore linguistics major, opened her email and received dreadful news: For the first time since 1853, a U.S. president was visiting UB, and Upton-Green was not going to be in attendance.

After entering a raffle with thousands of other students, Upton-Green was one of the many not chosen to see the president speak.

But she wouldn't give up. And after a frustrating hunt, Upton-Green wound up snagging the third-to-last ticket to see the president's speech on the cost of higher education. She was one of 7,200 people to pack into Alumni Arena and witness what President Satish Tripathi described as "history in the making."

Obama's words about national college-related debt and loans inspired many UB students, but others claimed to see past "empty promises."

On Thursday, Aug. 22, students lined up at the front doors of Alumni Arena past the Student Union and through the Academic Spine, wrapped around to the end of Park Hall.

"You could feel the anticipation and excitement in the air as the arena awaited Obama's entrance," Upton-Green said.

Though Upton-Green found Obama's proposals plausible, others weren't as convinced.

"I think he's a great speaker and he says what people want to hear," said Lauren Orlando, a senior communication major. "He states the obvious - the country is in a difficult state and there are things that we need to do. He just doesn't actually do it, though."

Orlando applied to win a lottery ticket to the event because she wanted to hear what she believed would be "more empty promises from the president," she said. Orlando said she agreed with many of her friends who think while Obama inspired students to take a stronger role in their education, he still has a lot to prove by following through with these plans.

"He's locked in for four years, so I feel like we'll see nothing from him," Orlando said.

Jamie Altneu, a junior interdisciplinary degree programs social sciences major, thought Obama's plan for higher education motivated everyone in the room to work hard.

Obama said he and his wife were paying off their college debt until their 40s, which affected their children's college funds. Altneu said Obama's personal experience is what is going to motivate the president to work hard toward making college students' futures easier.

Upton-Green liked that Obama didn't only address the loan and debt issue, but also called on students to work as hard as they can to get their degrees in four years. The president emphasized the idea of getting 'more bang for your buck.'

"I like that Obama stated that students would have to pass all of their classes each semester to make sure that the federal aid they were receiving wasn't going to be wasted on students who weren't focusing on school," Upton-Green said.

Part of Obama's higher education plan is to rank colleges on value and performance, which Altneu believes will bring more applicants to UB.

"Often, teens are researching colleges that are ranked based on terms irrelevant to their education, such as 'biggest party schools,'" Altneu said. "Obama's focus on value and performance will encourage parents to take a more active role throughout the college application process and UB, in turn, will be looked at in a greater light."

Adam Gassman, a UB alumnus, is the founder and CEO of Newslo, a hybrid news/satire platform.

As a former UB student, he found it cool and exciting that Obama paid a visit to his school. But as a reporter and lover of politics, he did not find the speech meaningful.

"Personally, I think Obama made a great speech," Gassman said. "That's the point: He tends to just make great speeches and do absolutely nothing."

Gassman categorized it as "another meaningless speech that sounded really nice."

National college loan debt recently passed the $1 trillion mark and the average student leaves school with almost $27,000 of debt, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Upton-Green left the arena excited for Obama's reforms. Her yearning for a personal connection with Obama was satisfied and she said she will one day tell her children about the speech.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com


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