WITF director of journalism Scott Blanchard (far end of table) talks with Shippensburg students (clockwise from upper right) Shippensburg University students Luke Rainey, Grace Coffman, Ren Wolford, Connor Niszczak, Jenna Cornell, Ian Thompson, Kennedy Holt and Natalie Nichols on Sept. 18 at Shippensburg U. WITF reporter Rachel McDevitt is at left.
Dhiman Chattopadhyay / Shippensburg University
Dhiman Chattopadhyay / Shippensburg University
WITF director of journalism Scott Blanchard (far end of table) talks with Shippensburg students (clockwise from upper right) Shippensburg University students Luke Rainey, Grace Coffman, Ren Wolford, Connor Niszczak, Jenna Cornell, Ian Thompson, Kennedy Holt and Natalie Nichols on Sept. 18 at Shippensburg U. WITF reporter Rachel McDevitt is at left.
Students at Shippensburg University, like others at central Pennsylvania colleges, are among those with a big stake in who the next U.S. president will be.
And they have questions for the candidates.
We recently sat down with eight students at the Cumberland County school: Luke Rainey, Grace Coffman, Ren Wolford, Connor Niszczak, Jenna Cornell, Ian Thompson, Kennedy Holt and Natalie Nichols.
Their responses to two basic questions provide a glimpse of what they’re looking for as the election nears.
Q: What issue do you want the candidates to be talking about?
LUKE RAINEY: I’m from Penn Run. I’m a junior at Shippensburg University here studying political science and communication journalism media with a public relations emphasis.
Foreign policy, that issue matters to me a lot given that we have major conflicts in Israel and the Gaza Strip. And of course, what’s going on in Russia, Ukraine. I think it’s in the best interest, in both matters, to see these conflicts in some way come to an end, just because these are tremendous strains on resources for not only them, but for us as well.
GRACE COFFMAN: I am a sophomore. I’m studying geoenvironmental sciences. I’m from Waynesboro. Affordability. What are we doing for our people? I feel like there’s been a lot of focus on major companies gaining capital over COVID, but, as far as the strain that it’s put on the people, I don’t think that we’ve seen a lot of policy trying to help that.
REN WOLFORD: I am a second year geoenvironmental science major. I’m from (the) Easton area. I would like to see a shared conversation between both sides of our political system on what is going to be done about the future of our planet. We all live on it, so we might as well care about it.
CONNOR NISZCZAK: I’m a senior here, I’m also a communication journalism student. The answer I usually go with is actually abortion. And it’s surprising to people sometimes because the male perspective occasionally is not necessarily looked at as, like, as valuable when it comes to that discussion, which in a sense is fair, because I am never going to be pregnant.
But we have to be thinking about things that are happening now because in 5, 10 years, some people are going to regret not being as aware of that now when we have our first opportunity to impact life in 10 years.
JENNA CORNELL: I am from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, and I am a senior here and I study communication journalism and media with an emphasis in visual media. The biggest thing for me right now is definitely, like, social issues slash human rights.
I think that everything that was on project 2025 is very dangerous. So that definitely scares me.
IAN THOMPSON: I’m from Shippensburg. I am studying political science with minors in comm journ and history. Safeguarding democracy and our institutions.
One side of the political spectrum has shown disregard for safeguarding those institutions. And I think that’s dangerous for the future of democracy in this country.
KENNEDY HOLT: I am a double major in political science and sociology. And I come from the great capital of Harrisburg, PA.
I also would like for our elected officials and soon-to-be elected officials to really begin humanizing and honoring the voices of our marginalized and under recognized communities. And to ensure that we’re not limiting those perspectives or those views, right?
NATALIE NICHOLS: I’m a junior here. I’m a communications major with a focus in journalism. I’m from Durham, North Carolina. So I’d love to see things like access to health care or marriage equality.
Q: What would you want to ask them about the issue you want them to be talking about?
RAINEY: I alluded to what was going on in Israel and Palestine and along the Gaza Strip.
My question would be, how do you want this conflict to end? What will you do to facilitate that end? And what is the response afterward? If the response is a two-state solution, how will you keep the peace?
COFFMAN: What are these politicians’ plans for the infrastructure in America? Because I know in my town, I think we’re still using lead pipes in, some of the old houses around Waynesboro.
WOLFORD: And I would really like to know what are their plans for the food crisis in America? I mean, we have food deserts popping up all over the place. What are you going to do for these communities that cannot get food?
NISZCZAK: Donald Trump has been known to flip-flop on the issue of abortion. So, I would ask something along the lines of, you have flip-flopped many times on abortion. So how can we trust you on that issue specifically?
CORNELL: I would almost want to flip the question you asked us onto both candidates.
And I would want to hear, what are the most important issues to you? Because I think that would tell me kind of exactly what I need to know.
THOMPSON: I would ask them what specific policies they would enact to secure the future in terms of climate change, in terms of the economy — what are they going to do to make sure that we have a livable planet that we can live comfortably on.
HOLT: I believe both candidates have spoken to faith at some point in time. So I would ask, how is faith intersected at that of justice for them? And moreover, how will that reflect in that of their policy decisions moving forward?
NICHOLS: I think I would want to know what their plans are to address and update the ADA, and potentially which improvements they could make to disability benefits and those attempting to reach them.
Disclosure: Jenna Cornell is an intern with The Spark, WITF’s daily talk show.
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