By Andy Murphy ’17
On the eve of Election Day, many Siena College students are preparing to cast their ballots. More than 100 students gathered recently to hear Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate Howie Hawkins give his take on the issues facing New York State. His appearance at Siena was part of the Economics Department Gubernatorial Speaker Series.
Despite trailing significantly in the polls, Hawkins seemed optimistic and said that the Green Party is the up and coming party in New York State. He said that it is the only progressive party on the ballot, adding that if the Green Party could be heard and garnered more media support, it could compete in New York.
Hawkins said he enjoyed the discussion and told students “not to waste their vote and to vote for what they want.”
Hawkins has a platform that differs from Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, and Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino, the Republican Party challenger. Hawkins supports a ban on hydrofracking, raising the minimum wage to $15/hour, fully funding public schools, publicly-funded, single-payer health care and legalizing marijuana.
Accounting major Travis Brodbeck ’16 asked Hawkins about his stance on marijuana and his response was one few students expected. Hawkins said he wants to legalize marijuana in New York State and make marijuana and heroin usage a health issue, not a crime problem. He believes legalizing, regulating and taxing these drugs will help the economy grow.
“Having events like this will allow students to become more aware of the issues,” said English major Kristen Ippolito ’15.
Siena Economics professor Aaron Pacitti, Ph.D. helped to organize the speaker series. Pacitti said that both Astriono and Cuomo were invited to speak at Siena, but both candidates declined the invitation.
“It’s unfortunate that these two candidates don’t want to come and talk to college students because young people do vote and college loans are a vital issue,” Pacitti said.
Click here to learn more about studying economics at Siena or here to learn about political science.
