Wednesday, October 19, 2022 – Volume 36 • Issue 9
@tccthecollegian • collegian.tccd.edu
ELECTION 2022
UPCOMING ELECTION CREATES CONFUSION editor-in-chief alexandra.hoben@my.tccd.edu
Some students are having difficulties sifting through information and decisions regarding the approaching election. The upcoming midterms, including the race for Texas governor between incumbent governor Greg Abbott and challenger Beto O’Rourke, are drawing closer. With early voting starting in Tarrant County on Oct. 24 and sample ballots now available, many are preparing for the election season. NE student Bryon Broadway has been keeping up with his research and said he is focused on two major things. “Honestly, the most important thing about this election to me is about a woman’s right to choose,” he said. “And further basis on that would be voting freedoms here in the state of Texas.” NE student Ty Coleman echoed that sentiment, saying it was embarrassing that the public still had to vote on the matter of abortion rights. “Just the fact that it’s still going on is just ridiculous,” Coleman said. Regarding the candidates, Broadway said that while O’Rourke is a good
Democratic candidate, he may not be the right one for Texas. “I think that Beto is an overtly emotional candidate, and he is unfit to run as a Democrat in the state of Texas,” Broadway said. “But I do think he is a very, very good Democratic candidate for a different state.” For Abbott, Broadway expressed his frustration with how his attorney general, Ken Paxton, recently fled from being served a subpoena and has been under indictment for security fraud for seven years. Even though Abbott’s been in office for seven years, he has not seen much change. “You’ve been in office too long, haven’t done too much and you need to get out now,” he said. Both Broadway and Coleman agreed that they believed there wasn’t a good candidate in the pool for this election. “The same seven years versus a man who’s just going to get emotional on a podium once not enough support happens in the state house,” Broadway said. “So we’re just going to end up with a governor who just yells at a podium for four years.” Not all share that viewpoint, South student Gary Jackson said he thinks there is a well-balanced selection of candidates this year.
“The reason is that each one of them has various positions and issues that they are standing by, and they all make good points,” Jackson said. “It is just the matter of what issues would you like to be addressed as a voter.” He believes the main issue is gun control and monitoring who can purchase them.
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The death of democracy here isn’t corruption. It’s the fact that we’re giving these executives too much power and we believe that they have this power.
Bryon Broadway NE student
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ALEX HOBEN
“Right now, how do we get control of 18-year-old kids purchasing guns of any kind and then using them for mass shootings?” Jackson said. “We must have tighter gun control over who is able to buy one.”
One of the major issues that should be addressed by the candidates is the immigration situation at the border, Broadway said. He’s gotten conflicting information that is incredibly confusing. “The entirely opaque situation down at the border, and I mean that from both the liberal and from a conservative side of things,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on at the border. I don’t think anybody really knows. Is it bad? Is it good? I don’t know.” Broadway also said how he wished his peers would research more into Texas government so they can realize it’s not just the governor’s election that’s important. “I think that even if Beto wins, enough young people aren’t going to do the right thing and vote in Democratic or moderate Republicans into the House of Representatives here in the state of Texas,” he said. “And ultimately just because you get a different governor — if you look at our constitution — the governor does not have any powers.” He has been trying to keep talking about it and keep people informed, but he’s tempted to take out the sixth-grade government books again.
See Midterms, page 2
SOUTHEAST
READ MORE ON ELECTIONS INSIDE Voter’s guide pages 4 and 5 • Candidate profiles • When and where to vote • FAQs Photos courtesy of Beto O’Rourke campaign and Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News/TNS
Marijuana pardon President Biden issues pardon for weed possession Page 2
Election affects first-gen voters Immigrant students speak about issues impacting their vote NINA BANKS
campus editor nina.banks@my.tccd.edu
As a border state, Texas is under constant debate over how immigration will be handled. The midterm elections are less than a month away, and with most of the TCC community eligible to vote, students are capable of influencing their future. Many students at SE Campus are immigrants themselves, such as Bhavya Gireesh, and are concerned about how the candidates stances on immigration may affect them.
South Campus veterans center New center for veterans resources opened Page 3
“I think immigrants should be treated with respect, and I don’t think they should be treated like aliens,” Gireesh said. “I don’t know what resolution would be good since people are so against immigrants coming into the country [and saying] they are stealing jobs. Immigrants have the education to take that role.” The history of the relationship between the U.S. and immigrants has been in turmoil in recent years. With xenophobic rhetoric as well as legislation being passed in the country, such as former president Donald Trump’s border wall, the discourse of what constitutes as legal
Midterm importance Upcoming election addresses important issues Page 6
immigration has increased. For History instructor Eric Salas, addressing topics such as immigration within the classroom is a tool to have an open dialogue. “I hope with these discussions, my students feel comfortable to explore ideas and positions. Understanding that we are learning to create and challenge the system of things,” Salas said. “If I can demonstrate how history is relevant in our current political context, then I’ve armed my students with the potential to see the power of their collective effort.” SE student Mahdi Hantouli immigrated from Jordan to the U.S. as a child.
See Immigration, page 2
Children in entertainment The destructive reality of kids in show business Page 6
Abrazando al Exito TR Campus holds event celebrating Hispanic heritage Page 8