TRANSCRIPT:

0:08: Welcome to Chronicle Conversations. 

0:11: I’m your guest host, Sydney Richardson. 

0:14: It’s three weeks until the election and early voting has started. Around 41 million Gen Z are eligible to vote, which could make them an influential demographic in this election. 

0:27: We’re asking students at Columbia College what issues are most important to them in the November 5th election. 

0:34: Environmental change is a big thing for me and also women’s reproductive rights. 

0:39: And I think just making sure everyone has the right to everything, is like — seems pretty simple, but I think it’s really important. 

0:46: Currently, my main focus would be women’s health, so like easy access to abortion and just making sure that women have the freedom over their own bodies. 

0:59: I think it’s a little scary about Project 2025 and the things that come along with that. 

1:05: So when it does come, come time for me to vote, I’m definitely gonna be looking for a candidate that obviously does not support what that entitles. 

1:15: I feel like a lot of women’s rights for sure. 

1:20: Inflation is a big issue right now. 

1:23: I will say those are the two major things. 

1:25: Oh, also the whole Palestine thing going on, but like it does have a lot of faith in here. 

1:32: But I do have hope because we are the Gen Z. 

1:34: So I feel like we are very known for just, you know, speaking our mind up. 

1:39: Right now, now, the most important issue for me is seeing more actions done for the genocide in Palestine, the amount of resources, the amount of abundance that we have, especially as one of the leading kind of countries in the world. 

1:48: There’s absolutely no reason why our funding should be going to supporting a genocide of a people and kind of like really actively ignoring it in most of like the debates, the election, especially in Congress right now. 

2:01: There’s just a lot happening that’s kind of being overlooked. 

2:12: Thanks for listening.