Candidates focus on education

While the campaigns for the White House are heating up, local elections have more important implications for IU students. \nGubernatorial candidates (incumbent Democratic governor) Joe Kernan and Republican candidate Mitch Daniels both say education is one of the more important issues for getting elected.\n"Education is one of the cornerstones to economic revitalization of Indiana," said Marc Lotter, press secretary for Mitch Daniels. "We want Indiana to have good-paying jobs matching the skills acquired by a college education so that our students do not leave the state."\nKernan and Daniels have similar ideas on higher education.\n"Gov. Kernan has worked hard to convince statewide universities to keep tuition increases to a maximum of 4 percent," said Terry Burns, communications director for the Indiana State Democratic Party. "He has a limited ability to affect tuition rates, but he has expressed his ideas to the General Assembly who decide higher education funding."\nGov. Kernan has been successful at limiting tuition increases. The IU board of trustees approved a 4 percent tuition increase for all resident students returning to IU next year. By barely meeting Kernan's suggestions, many students will be pinching pennies in order to continue their college education. Many students are not able to solely rely on their parents to pay for tuition and other college necessities like food and rent.\n"Some of my friends may have to drop out and come back because their loans will be too high," senior Sarah O'Brien said.\nInternational students attending IU will also be affected. \n"Tuition increases may not affect wealthy Americans very much, but they are hard for international and (lower-class) citizens," said international student and sophomore Francisco Scifres.\nThe hardship on Indiana's economy due to graduating students leaving to other states is apparent at IU. It is important for businesses to have available young workers, but it is just as important for new graduates to have a place to start their careers.\n"Where I find a job, it really depends on the market," said graduate student Jose Najar, who is working toward his Ph.D. in history.\nBoth candidates have visions for lower education, with specific similarities such as trying to offer full-day kindergarten. Besides education, both Kernan and Daniels find Indiana jobs a need to reform state government. The Democratic platform is broad, including issues like civil rights and diversity, transportation and infrastructure and Opportunity Indiana -- where the state government works to support local companies by purchasing products and services from them. \nThe Republican platform focuses on the three common issues, which include efforts to combat government fraud and corruption, health care that focuses on obesity and exercise and cheap medicine for the poor and elderly.\n-- Contact staff writer Benjames Derrick at bderrick@indiana.edu .