President Barack Obama is speaking Friday at the University of Michigan about college affordability.
Since taking office in 2008, Obama has accomplished many things of national importance. He ordered the Navy’s S.E.A.L. Team 6 into the compound in which Osama Bin Laden resided where they killed the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks. He has succeeded in ending the Iraq war, and he has a
timetable for ending the Afghanistan war as well.
He also signed into law the Matthew Sheppard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Bill, which provides state and local law enforcement the ability to access federal support for investigating hate crimes, most notably the ones “motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of the victim,” according to the Library of Congress’ website.
Despite these accomplishments, some former supporters of President Obama are disappointed with his presidency and are considering other candidates in the upcoming election.
Students like freshman Cryssa Kahler believe Obama needs to address the growing issue of illegal immigration.
“Something needs to be done,” Kahler said. “We can’t give citizenship to all illegal [immigrants].”
Kahler said illegal immigrants give a bad name to the immigrants entering the country legally. The biggest concern about immigration to her is sustainability.
“We can’t sustain all of the people moving in,” she said.
Illegal Immigration is undoubtedly on the docket for the president, but, this year being an election year, he is likely to be reminding Michigan residents how much good the bailouts did for General Motors, according to a report by Annarbor.com.
Voters this year might respond to his signing National Defense Authorization Act, NDAA into law. The controversial law, in part, allows a person to be held indefinitely without being arrested or having charges filed against them. He signed this into law Dec. 31, 2011.
Aaron Keller, a junior, said he will not vote for President Obama this time around because he feels “he didn’t keep his promises.”
Amanda Sumrall, junior, said she believes President Obama is headed for a second term, but she is not happy.
“Unfortunately, he will have a second term,” she said. “He is not a bad person, but he is just not following through [on campaign promises]. He seems like a socialite.”
She went on to explain he should really focus more on making higher education more affordable. Sumrall said Obama needs to “be the change [he] wants to see.”
There are some students who believe President Obama is the only person for the job in 2012.
Student Body President and senior, Jelani McGadney said, “The only candidate I would endorse is President Barack Obama. He has been a good steward for the economy. He has been able to cauterize the leaking of jobs that President [George W.] Bush had allowed.”
McGadney only sees one issue as being priority: the economy. He recommends politicians “start tackling real issues,” as opposed to social policies that spurn little more than debates.
“[President Obama] is trying hard to find jobs for people who are unemployed,” said Ossumane Cisse, a student from Senegal. “He is trying his best to make American relationships better on an international scale.”
“Americans have to understand that being [a] resident doesn’t mean solving all people’s problems,” continued Cisse. “He is still working hard to make things better in the United States.”
Tickets to see the President speak “will be limited to one per person and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 9 a.m. Thursday, at the Michigan Union Ticket Office,” according to www.umich.edu.
