Recently, many students are more interested in the president rather than learning all about the field of political science.
Marina Jaimes
A brand-new semester means brand-new faces, brand-new classes but the same old topics: Trump, Trump, and more Trump. This doesn’t surprise me, being in the political-science classes required for my major. What is surprising to see is the number of students unwilling to learn, all for the sake of spending a few minutes to talk about the president of the United States.
In my fourth semester as a political-science student, I have gathered many observations of the students obsessed with President Donald Trump. I’ve seen students on the verge of falling out of their seats in order to bring up his name. The unhealthy infatuation has dominated many class periods, often taking attention away from important lectures that future lawyers, analysts, consultants, and lawmakers could find useful and valuable to their potential careers.
Instead, time is wasted on current events in national politics. While knowledge of current events matters, it is not what most students pay for when they register for classes on specific areas of study. Better yet, if we, as students, are so interested in politics, why is it that we do not focus on the local politics surrounding us? Is it politics that students are really interested in, or is it a hate-filled passion toward the president that has drawn students to the major, only to get some sense of fulfillment and encouragement from their leftist professor?
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In the past week, the Iowa House of Representatives passed a new water-quality bill and immigrants rallied at the State Capitol to voice their opinions about DACA. Next week, the state Senate will meet to discuss cutting $8.7 million from the University of Iowa. These are all conversations students interested in politics should be engaging in, but instead, they are too fascinated with Washington to make a difference in the community they belong to.
As Iowa prepares for an election in 2018, voters will get to prove that actions speak louder than words and voice their opinion in polling places instead of classrooms. The sad reality is, midterm elections gain far less popularity than presidential elections, leaving many to wonder why citizens care more about the executive office than the land in their very backyard. It seems that for some, going on lengthy rants about the president is much easier than waiting in line to perform a civic duty.
If students care enough to waste expensive class time on irrelevant topics, one could only hope they cared enough about politics to know the names of members of local government, the functions of government, or anything besides their undying obsession with Trump. Years from now, Trump will fade but our community will last forever. Let’s not forget the beauty of federalism and improve the cities we reside in if we cannot control the actions of the president. Iowa is too great of a state to forget about, even in the chaotic order of national politics we currently live in.
