A call to action: A new New Deal
Our country is facing an economic crisis of proportions unmatched since the Great Depression. The middle class is bearing the greatest burden of this crisis and the housing meltdown and the resulting financial downturn is making it increasingly difficult for the majority of Americans to get the credit they have come to depend on. As a Northwestern undergrad, you might not be taking out a mortgage anytime soon, but you or a friend of yours has probably taken out a loan in order to attend this university - and the credit crunch has already extended to college loans. At least one million students next year will not receive their college loans as a result of the financial meltdown.
NU students should care about what our economy has become because it is changing the very definition of what it means to be an American. Economic risk for the average household has never been higher, and wages are deteriorating for the majority of Americans, all while the income of the wealthiest few continues to grow at astonishing rates. For the first time in more than half a century, a child born in this year will on average neither live longer nor more prosperously than his or her parents. In short, the foundation of the American dream - upward mobility - has become increasingly untenable.
Whatever your political leanings, you can agree that this country was founded on the principle of equality of opportunity. We seek to restore that equality through innovative policies and reforms that will mitigate the effects of an increasingly uneven playing field, and to rebuild the American Dream. This is not the first time our country has faced such a crisis, nor is it the first time that a series of bold, unprecedented reforms have restored the motivation and opportunity necessary for prosperity. This was the case with the New Deal, and it can be true again today, with a New New Deal.
The burden of engendering a New New Deal falls squarely on the shoulders of our generation. Consider this a call to action. We, the authors of this letter, are members of the Roosevelt Institution, a non-partisan, non-profit network of student think tanks on over 70 campuses across the country. The Roosevelt Institution has successfully connected dozens of student-written policy proposals to policymakers, many of which have been implemented at the local, state, and national levels. We want you to join us.
The Roosevelt Institution at NU will be hosting its first event - a workshop on U.S. health policy reform - on May 24. At this workshop, you will first hear from leading policy experts and policymakers about the issues affecting campus, state, and national level health systems, and then will be given the chance to create your own ideas for reform and present them to the community. All of the participants in the workshop will then have the opportunity to submit their ideas at a later date to a special national publication on health policy reform. This journal will then be distributed to hundreds of policymakers in state and federal legislatures.
If you are interested in participating in this workshop or joining the Roosevelt Institution, email us at roosevelt.northwestern@gmail.com. Now is the time for our talented and diverse student body to contribute to the national dialogue and take a stand at this critical moment in our nation's history. We are ready to help you pursue your own bold and imaginative solutions.
- STephanie Gross
Weinberg junior
Roosevelt Institution Co-founder
- Alexander HerTel-Fernandez
Weinberg senior
Roosevelt Institution Co-founder
- Matthew Fischler
Weinberg sophomore
Roosevelt Institution Co-founder
Campus construction and prospective students
A recent editorial ("Untidy grounds" April 21) commented on the construction on campus and the impression it makes on prospective students. I made the same assumption but asked a friend who brought his son to campus to visit and tour. He responded, "Peter actually commented on the Northwestern construction. His take on the construction was that we have seen this at a number of schools that we've visited and he thinks it is done intentionally to show the school is dedicated to growth, better facilities, showing it has money... I also personally view construction as a positive."
- John Fuqua
Evanston resident
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