First Presentation

For my first poll, I chose one that might catch the attention of others in the class considering it is about college. Earlier this year, President Obama addressed Congress and outlined four major priorities. One of these priorities is to provide every child in America a college education. To find the opinion of whether people believed that every child should go to college,Rasmussen Reports conducted a phone interview of 1,000 Americans May 4-5, 2009. The poll results suggested that 56% of American adults say every American should attend college, while 30% disagree and 13% are not sure. THe wording of the question said post-secondary school, so to include vocational schools as a form of college.

The poll also asked, “In America today, can just about any good student who wants to attend college find a way to do so?”
54% said yes
31% said no
16% not sure

The final question asked what is a more important role for the government- helping the best and brightest or aiding low income students?
30% helping the best and brightest students
41% aiding low income students
29% not sure

The report for this poll discussed variances on the responses based on two other demographics: political party affiliation and income level. An idea I thought that might have been interesting was to include whether the respondent had attended post-secondary schooling- this would be neat to see if they went if they felt it was important or unnecessary.

As discussed in class, the type of questions asked were direction, as in all were pro or con.

For more information, visit the poll.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/may_2009/56_say_every_american_should_attend_college

Beginning my Issue Blog

Hi, my name is Sarah Phillippe. I am a senior double majoring in Political Science and Public Relations. I’m pretty excited about this class because I feel that it will be combining political issues with many of the topics discussed in my public relations classes. I have never blogged before and this will be a great experience as social networking is being used more as a P.R. technique.

For the semester, I have chosen the topic of education for my blogging. I have several family members who have different careers in the education system. Also, many of my close friends are starting their teaching careers, something I’m sure others in the class have in common. I feel that this topic can be explored through various subtopics such as public opinion on higher education and the achievement gap. Hope to post again soon!