The comparison of ECC student issues and voters nationwide.

Mark Brown, Staff Writer

Does the overall American population represent what you, as a voter and Elgin Community College student, deem important?

“I believe, for the most part, that the students here at ECC are just a small sample size of what America looks like,” said Kian Madden, a first-year ECC student. “[ECC] is more diverse. It is more compact.”

A Gallup poll on voter issues for the 2020 election was recently released, and the top three goes as follows: healthcare, terrorism and gun policy. This was crossed with a student poll of ECC students, whose numbers are neck-and-neck with each other at healthcare, education and the environment.

The number one stayed the same to crossover each other. There are a number of presidential candidates running for the 2020 presidential election.

Even though community college is supposed to be more affordable, I still believe many of us struggle when it comes to paying off student debt,” said Sandra Perez-Mora, a current ECC student, on how the students at ECC reflect America as a whole. “Of course, there are many other issues that could be talked about, but I believe this would be a major commonality.”

As it comes closer to election season, voters will need to make a choice. And several students already have a candidate on their mind.

“[I’d choose] Bernie Sanders because he is a pro-choice candidate. He also believes in having Medicare for all and he wants to eliminate student loan debt.” Perez-Mora said.

While that is not the only option on the market, that was the same with some of the students on campus.

“[I would choose] Mike Bloomberg,” Madden said.

Healthcare has been a debated topic through generations, and it is still a subject that many presidential candidates have to address. The part that makes this such a hot topic is the fact that there are many different ways to implement such methods. Such as a private option, a public option or a mixture of both of them.

ECC does well to represent the U.S. as a whole. The diverse ethnicities are prevalent in both. People financially struggle in both, while some do not go through such financial hardships. The U.S. and ECC are both committed to helping those who have fallen on hard times. Madden and Perez-Mora both suggest ways to better student life, as well as all life as a whole.

“Donate to the food pantry here and anywhere,” Madden said.

Madden promoted the idea of promotion of services that benefit the student.

They can be involved in community service,” Perez-Mora said, in helping out those who need it. “Helping those that need it is what I will think of when I cast my ballot.”