While the Presidential election rightfully garners the majority of the attention, not only of the press but also the voters, there are plenty of other races going on when Hamden residents enter the polls on November 4th. One of those races will be for the Republican State Representative for Connecticut’s 103rd District which covers portions of Hamden, Wallingford and Chesire. The two republican candidates are Al Adinolfi and Elizabeth Esty.
Adinolfi who is currently serving his fourth term as the representative of the 103rd District is poised to continue to lead and serve the people of his district. The 2006 “Legistlator Of The Year” from the Connecticut chapter of the American League, and Korean War era veteran as part of the U.S. Air Force has worked hard for veterans’ and senior issues. Adinolfi is working towards higher education standards and to make sure area schools get a fair share of the education budget. A strong supporter of lowering taxes Adinolfi passed the “No Tax Increase” state budget last year.
In a contrast to Adinolfi’s experience Esty comes from a long line of education. The Harvard graduate spent time overseas on a Rotary International Scholarship before returning to the United States where she attended Yale Law School. Esty has served on several committees and looks forward to being able to serve the Hamden, Wallingford, and Chesire area. An accomplished educator and mother of 3, Esty has had plenty of experience dealing with and coping with problems. She spent time working with a private law firm in Washington D.C. working on a variety of cases, many of which were heard by the Supreme court.
Whether it’s the older experienced candidate or the younger candidate with a varied back ground of education and work, this race has a candidate for you; both are looking to the future and hope to be the winner on November 4th.
For more information on either candidate you can visit their websites at:
http://aladinolfi.com/
http://www.elizabethesty.com/index.html
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Lost Remote: User Friendly
As I scrolled down the page of lostremote.com I found it very user friendly, each article gives you a short little synopsis making it easy for a user to decide if he/she wants to read it or not with out having to either skip it entirely, or spend time reading something they're not interested in. The right side of the page has the local spotlight followed by their articles featuring the most comments. I liked this feature because some people like to look at articles that are stirring conversation, and for the local ones you don't have to sort through all the articles. Overall lostremote was very user friendly, simple and easy to read.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
What Matters Most
As first time voters prepare for this year’s historical Presidential election many of them are truly looking at their countries future for the first time in their lives. As this election comes and goes current college students will be entering the work force and becoming part of the working society that makes up this country. Becoming part of the working class means that for the first time elected officials are truly going to be the voice of these young men and women, making the politicians stance on certain issues much more important to this young demographic. While many other demographics are concerned with topics such as social security, it is other issues that are facing first time voters that are much more prevalent in their lives immediately rather than years and years down the road.
In light of recent events Quinnipiac junior Michael Nairn is focused on the economy. “Two of the biggest financial institutes, one went bankrupt and one got bought out,” said Nairn referring to Bank of America recently buying out financial super power Merrill Lynch. Even with the current state of the economy many students are finding their focus to be elsewhere.
Quinnipiac junior, and health science major Jillian Estes has her focus in her future field of work. “It’s not fair people are unable to get treatment they need, because they don’t have health care,” says Estes. Unlike our friendly neighbors to the north, not all Americans have health care. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, 16 percent of the population were without health insurance in 2005. To read more about the National Coalition on Health Care click here.
Other students have their focuses not only set at home but also abroad. Quinnipiac junior Matt Andrew finds the environment and war to be the biggest concerns he has, but also ties it in with the current economy. “The environment is pretty important to the world, [we] can’t depend on oil for the rest of our lives, [we] need to develop new forms of energy,” said Andrew, who certainly is not alone as the environment and energy cost/forms of energy have become some of the biggest issues discussed by the candidates.
As a generation who for the first time is seeing the true effects of war on the world, either by the constantly improving technology available to the media outlets or that peers of these first time voters are fighting in the war. “A lot of money is being spent on the war that I don’t think should be spent,” added Andrew who feels the money could be better spent in other places.
No matter the issue these first time voters are tuning in and paying attention, gathering the knowledge needed to head to the poles and elect their next leader.
In light of recent events Quinnipiac junior Michael Nairn is focused on the economy. “Two of the biggest financial institutes, one went bankrupt and one got bought out,” said Nairn referring to Bank of America recently buying out financial super power Merrill Lynch. Even with the current state of the economy many students are finding their focus to be elsewhere.
Quinnipiac junior, and health science major Jillian Estes has her focus in her future field of work. “It’s not fair people are unable to get treatment they need, because they don’t have health care,” says Estes. Unlike our friendly neighbors to the north, not all Americans have health care. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, 16 percent of the population were without health insurance in 2005. To read more about the National Coalition on Health Care click here.
Other students have their focuses not only set at home but also abroad. Quinnipiac junior Matt Andrew finds the environment and war to be the biggest concerns he has, but also ties it in with the current economy. “The environment is pretty important to the world, [we] can’t depend on oil for the rest of our lives, [we] need to develop new forms of energy,” said Andrew, who certainly is not alone as the environment and energy cost/forms of energy have become some of the biggest issues discussed by the candidates.
As a generation who for the first time is seeing the true effects of war on the world, either by the constantly improving technology available to the media outlets or that peers of these first time voters are fighting in the war. “A lot of money is being spent on the war that I don’t think should be spent,” added Andrew who feels the money could be better spent in other places.
No matter the issue these first time voters are tuning in and paying attention, gathering the knowledge needed to head to the poles and elect their next leader.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Exercising Their Rights
As one of the most historic elections in our countries history quickly approaches, many of the issues at hand will become very prevalent to current college students as they leave their safe havens for the real world. This thought alone would cause one to think that students would be heading to the poles to help elect an official who they best identify with. However for college students voting can be quite difficult as they often times are miles and miles away from home. Quinnipiac junior Dan McHale who is from the Albany, NY area says “I feel that I’m too far away to register and vote.”
For other students who live closer to school, don’t face the same problems when it comes to voting. Matt Andrew a junior who lives only about 20 minutes away in Naugatuck, CT. plans on taking the quick drive home to vote. “I think everyone should vote, the reason we have democracy is so people can vote,” said Andrew.
This could cause problems for students who are first time voters and now find themselves at school and unregistered. John Danz another Quinnipiac junior who is from Northern New Jersey plans on registering before the election and voting. “I’m going to register at home soon, and plan on voting absentee,” said Danz.
First time voters also face the challenge of keeping up with the ever changing world of politics as for the first time they have a say in the direction our country is heading in. “I feel that I’m not informed enough to vote,” said McHale who would be a first time voter. Whether they are heading to the poles or not, many students are paying more attention to politics then they have in the pastTuesday, September 2, 2008
Topics
http://activecitizen.tufts.edu/?pid=199
In this short clip on Tufts Universities website, Richard Niemi a professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester, examines voting patterns in students, especially those which attend college away from their home town. As students are encouraged not to vote in the towns where they attend college, Professor Niemi has found little reason not to do so. While age, employment and mobility do not effect whether students vote, the amount of time they spend discussing politics and current events outside of the class room does.
http://teenadvice.about.com/od/teenlifefaqsandqas/a/youthvote2004a.htm
I plan on focusing part of my blogs to why students should vote and why they don't vote. This site looks at 5 reasons why students should be in the polls. From how the parties themselves often overlook the youth voters, and how teens who don't vote should not complain about their government or the outcome of the election. Many of the highly debated topics of this years election will make a large impact on the portion of the election between the ages of 18-22 who will be 22-26 at the end of this first term. The war being a large part as many kids who are now 18 and in their senior year of high school will be very much impacted by the war in Iraq and whether or not more troops are deployed or with drawn.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/another-war-election/
This piece from todays New York Times opinion section looks at the war as a central topic for this years election. However it goes back and forth as to whether or not this should be the most important topic. Although the war garners a lot of attention and requires a lot of funding, it is a problem abroad, and their are many problems facing Americans right here at home.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/08/obama-ad-says-2.html#more
In USA Todays blogs I found one that looks at Obama's new ad campaign in which he says he will be cutting middle class taxes more than three times as much as John McCain has said he will. The ad is directed at a very large portion of the country who is facing economic difficulties, it is also a topic that could be very persuasive to moderate republicans that sometimes sway to the side of democratic.
In this short clip on Tufts Universities website, Richard Niemi a professor of Political Science at the University of Rochester, examines voting patterns in students, especially those which attend college away from their home town. As students are encouraged not to vote in the towns where they attend college, Professor Niemi has found little reason not to do so. While age, employment and mobility do not effect whether students vote, the amount of time they spend discussing politics and current events outside of the class room does.
http://teenadvice.about.com/od/teenlifefaqsandqas/a/youthvote2004a.htm
I plan on focusing part of my blogs to why students should vote and why they don't vote. This site looks at 5 reasons why students should be in the polls. From how the parties themselves often overlook the youth voters, and how teens who don't vote should not complain about their government or the outcome of the election. Many of the highly debated topics of this years election will make a large impact on the portion of the election between the ages of 18-22 who will be 22-26 at the end of this first term. The war being a large part as many kids who are now 18 and in their senior year of high school will be very much impacted by the war in Iraq and whether or not more troops are deployed or with drawn.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/another-war-election/
This piece from todays New York Times opinion section looks at the war as a central topic for this years election. However it goes back and forth as to whether or not this should be the most important topic. Although the war garners a lot of attention and requires a lot of funding, it is a problem abroad, and their are many problems facing Americans right here at home.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2008/08/obama-ad-says-2.html#more
In USA Todays blogs I found one that looks at Obama's new ad campaign in which he says he will be cutting middle class taxes more than three times as much as John McCain has said he will. The ad is directed at a very large portion of the country who is facing economic difficulties, it is also a topic that could be very persuasive to moderate republicans that sometimes sway to the side of democratic.
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