By Justin Page Wood
President Bush’s recent State of the Union address was the most
watched television event, which aired Tuesday. Yet only some were
surprised at the President’s words during his seventh address since
taking office.
Some Cal Poly students thought the President’s speech was a
waste of time.
“Nothing in this speech could have provided much value to
college students,” said Hygen Ngo, an economics student. “They may
as well have never watched it.”
According to the Nielsen Media Research Company, 45 million
people watched the speech on major television networks as compared
with 32 million who watched American Idol just an hour before.
“I didn’t feel enthusiastic about the speech; I didn’t bother
listening to it,” said Richard Woo, a student in the Collins School
of Hospitality Management. “I was so busy preparing for
midterms.”
Professor of political science, John L. Korey, agreed that of
the major issues covered in the speech, such as a new increase of
troops to Iraq, only some will have immediate relevance to
students.
“To emphasize the obvious, the main impact of whatever happens
in Iraq will be on Iraqis,” said Korey. “It will, of course,
directly affect Cal Poly students who are in the reserves or
National Guard.”
Ngo doubts that the speech accomplished much in terms of
enlightening Americans.
“This State of the Union speech was only able to give the
President a psychological boost,” said Ngo. “It was used to improve
his image among the citizens.”
According to research from the Ipsos News Center, Bush’s overall
approval ratings were at 85 percent just after the Sept. 11
attacks, and have since steadily declined to about 32 percent
today.
During the 2007 address, President Bush introduced Nancy Pelosi
as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. It was
also the first address to a Democrat-controlled Congress since
1994.
“We’re not the first to come here with a government divided and
uncertainty in the air (…) Our citizens don’t much care which
side of the aisle we sit on – as long as we’re willing to cross
that aisle when there is work to be done,” said President Bush.
President Bush covered popular war-time topics such as
augmenting current U.S. forces in Iraq by 20,000 soldiers and
increasing the size of Army and Marine Corps by 92,000 soldiers and
marines within the next five years. He firmly stated that fleeing
from our duty in the war against terrorism is still not an
option.
Bush proposed a reinstatement of the No Child Left Behind Act, a
further increase in aid to Africa in medical services, improvements
in health insurance, new immigration reform, better spending of
federal taxes and balancing the federal budget.
The President addressed environmental and energy issues by
proposing to cut gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent
in the next 10 years. He also called to diversify our nation’s
energy supply.
Some were surprised when the President said, “America is on the
verge of technological breakthroughs that will enable us to live
our lives less dependent on oil (…) They will help us to confront
the serious challenge of global climate change.”
However, with the many arguably ambitious proposals, even
various Republicans, such as Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, were
skeptical of the President’s propositions.
“What remains to be seen is whether any of the President’s
domestic agendas, no matter how worthy, can get off the ground
without greater public and congressional support,” said
Roberts.
“He’s not popular with either party; he’s just a lame duck,”
said Woo. “He can barely be productive with the rest of this
presidency on his own.”
Among all these proposed changes, few will happen without the
support of the Democratic majority in Congress.
“Whether one agrees or disagrees with the specifics, these
issues will need to be addressed and will require compromise by
both parties,” said Korey. “Maybe with the widely touted new spirit
of bipartisanship this will happen, but I’m not holding my
breath.”
Justin Page Wood can be reached by e-mail at
news@thepolypost.com or by phone at (909) 869-3747.
Students Find President’s Speech Irrelvant
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