2008 Woodie Awards
Financial worries climb Manitou Hill
Molly Trucano
Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: Variety
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These horrifying facts constantly loom over our heads as American citizens, but also as college students. We're inundated with information about how difficult the world is for adults - losing jobs, homes, pensions - but for us in the St. Olaf bubble, it's been easy to ignore. However, many students are feeling the pinch - and it doesn't seem to be getting better anytime soon.
Clare Dudzinski '10 says she has become more aware of her environment since the economic downturn. "I've always been very money conscious, I suppose, but I know that before this crisis hit, I wasn't worried about the most efficient highway speed or whether keeping the windows open versus using the air conditioning would waste more gas," she said.
Dudzinski spent the summer in Northfield. She says it was during this independent time that she really started to notice a difference. "In performing everyday tasks, like grocery shopping, we definitely had much more personal contact with the economic situation," she said.
James Doyle '10 has a job in his hometown of Lakeville. He drives to work four or five times a week to coach high school speech.
"The job I work to pay for Olaf is harder and harder to get to with rising gas prices. It's hard to break even," Doyle said. He also said he finds himself not buying unnecessary food - since the Caf can provide him with what he needs.
Arguments dealing with the economy are extremely political - especially since President Bush proposed a $700 billion bailout of many of these investment banks. According to Doyle, the current state of the economy has made him more politically active.
"If I want to graduate and find a job," he says, "the outcome of the upcoming election is crucial."
Some students, however, are more critical and pessimistic of the current economic system and its role in their lives. A St. Olaf senior who wished to remain anonymous said she no longer wants "to work for the man because it's the man who made the economy fail." Before the failure of the economy, this student had aspirations to work for the government by representing the United States in diplomacy. Now she says she feels embarrassed and doesn't want to represent the United States in any way.
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