president – The Transcript

Obama exits tech-savvy term

By Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

Barack Obama is and was a technologically savvy president.

Recently appearing on the Snapchat political show “Good Luck America,” Peter Hamby had a series of interview segments with the president.

Talking about social media, Hamby said, “Obama really gets it.”

During the interview, Obama said how he wasn’t always up-to-date with technology.

“Look, when I ran for president in 2008, it wasn’t like I was up to speed on every aspect of what was then the really early stage of social media,” Obama said on Snapchat. “But I hired a bunch of 25 and 26 year-olds who were all into it.”

Hamby said, “Obama’s use of social media to talk directly to people was very strategic.”

“When I watch Sasha and Malia consume information, it is chopped up,” Obama said on Snapchat.

“Make sure that interest is peaked by something short,” Obama added. “Go to the links, read the articles, get informed.”

On Snapchat, which was prior to election day, Obama had a strong message for viewers.

“People, this is Barack Obama. If I can figure out how to Snapchat, you can figure out how to go vote,” Obama said as he recorded a front-facing Snapchat video.

According to the Washington Post, Obama’s presidency has set a standard for social media candidacies.

“However history judges Obama’s role in transforming the office, this first American presi- dent of the social media age has already established a standard for how politicians connect with a digitally savvy electorate,” Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post reporter wrote in an article published on May 16, 2016.

“Other chief executives did net- work TV; Obama is the streaming- video, Netflix president,” Eilperin added in her article.

In the same article, Nate Persily, a Stanford University law professor, addresses how Obama’s messaging goes directly to the people.

“With the new platforms, not only can President Obama speak

directly to ‘the people,’” Persily said in the article. “But he can also target particular messages to audiences that ordinarily would not be paying attention.”

The White House reaches Americans and the world through three Twitter accounts, four Facebook accounts, a Google Plus account, Instagram and two Tumblr accounts.

Obama’s success with social media can be attributed the world making technological strides since he came into office in 2008.

“These changes are simply part of the new reality of having come to power during the digital and social media revolution,” Persily wrote in his article, attributing White House officials.

When Obama leaves the White House in January 2017, he leaves behind the legacy with the first of many things as president. He was the first African-American president and he was the first president to utilize social media.

President-elect Donald J. Trump’s Policies: International Relations

By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter

As president of the U.S., one of the largest responsibilities is to represent the country on issues of international relations and foreign policy.

On the topic of international relations, Donald Trump takes a stance that conflicts Barack Obama’s tactics. His agenda will likely undo many of the deals and policies that Obama has put in place.

Immigration has been one of the most foreign policy issues Trump’s campaign has addressed.

Trump said he believes that the U.S. needs to take stronger measures in preventing immigration. When he announced his candidacy, he revealed part of his plan includes building a wall across the border between the U.S. and

Mexico and having the Mexican government pay for it.

On the subject of nuclear proliferation and Iran, Trump plans to throw away the Iran Deal. The deal would relieve Iran of $100 billion in international sanctions if it halts its nuclear program.

Trump referred to the deal as, “one of the worst deals I’ve ever seen negotiated in my entire life.”

The Islamic State (IS) is a key issue and Trump has not revealed much about his plan to fight the terrorist organization. He has claimed to have a secret plan that he will not reveal until after his election and that he knows more about IS than U.S. generals do.

He does plan to increase U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria while also working with the military of European and Arab countries.

National security is an issue that Trump will take a big stand on. His policies will include keeping the Guantanamo Bay detention center open and using interrogation tactics like waterboarding on people suspected of terrorism.

Where North Korea is concerned, Trump plans to put pressure on China to urge North Korea to stop its nuclear weapons development program.

In January, Trump told Fox, “China has total control over North Korea. And China should solve that problem. And if they don’t solve the problem, we should make trade very difficult for China.”

Trump plans to continue U.S. support of Israel. He hopes to be a medium in negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

Russia is an issue on which Trump differs greatly from many Americans, especially Republicans.

According to Business Insider, Trump has repeatedly praised Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has suggested that Putin is a better leader than Obama and when Putin praised Trump, he happily received the support.

Trump has heavily criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and wants to encourage European countries to put its own pressure on Russia for its attempted intervention in Ukraine.

Cuba is one issue that Trump and Clinton have not differed on this election. Trump will continue what Obama has started in lifting the Cuban embargo and establishing normal diplomatic relations with the country.

New goals for familiar faces

Juniors Emma Drongowski and Jerry Lherisson, WCSA Vice President and President. Photo courtesy of Emma Drongowski.

Every new Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) administration has grand plans for their tenure, and this administration is no exception. President Jerry Lherrison and Vice President Emma Drongowski, both juniors, have ambitious plans and are willing to tackle them head on.

Their platform centered on three main ideas: the marketing of resources on campus, working with the university to build better relationships with freshmen and increasing sustainability on campus. One of their main goals is to create a welcome packet for every incoming freshman, so that they would be better acquainted with WCSA and everything it provides, Lherrison said.

“Every president has new things they want to do, every vice president has new things they want to do,” Lherrison said. “So what you get are a bunch of things you want to get done…what we want to do is continue [the previous administration’s work] but also include things like the work with the freshmen.”

Both Drongowski and Lherrison want to increase student group involvement within WCSA. Previously, WCSA encouraged ex-officio members of groups to come to WCSA meetings, but both Drongowski and Lherrison said very few groups participated or sent representatives.

“Engaging clubs and having them recognize that WCSA does more than just fund them is important to us, because oftentimes clubs don’t realize we have other resources available to them, like leadership support, organizational support…They basically come to us when they need money, and the relationship can be strained between WCSA and clubs and organizations if the only interaction they have with us is if we reject their funding,” Drongowski said.

The new treasurer, sophomore Graham Littlehale will also take an active role with student groups. He is planning on increasing budget management system (BMS) training, which is required in order to apply for funding. Instead of having only one session, he is increasing it to two sessions a semester, which allows for more training opportunities for the groups.

“We would see students send in budget requests but not attend BMS, and obviously they couldn’t receive funding and would be very angry about it. It’s just how it works, we have to inform them and have a proper session, and they would have to attend it,” Littlehale said.

Before funding requests are due, Littlehale is planning to meet with the executive boards of clubs and groups to answer any financial questions they may have to make the process smoother for everyone involved.

WCSA has regular meetings with the university’s administration, also known as Archway. They meet from once to as much as three times a month, and discuss issues involving the community and “OWU as a macroscopic view to be better,” as Lherrison puts it. Drongowski and Lherrison attend the meetings, and are planning on putting in a rotating chair for other members of WCSA to be a part of this process.

Drongowski and Lherrison also spoke of the possibility of the administration having focused meetings, open to the entire student body to discuss a specific topic. They said the administration brought up the idea and are very open to it.

One new initiative both Drongowski and Lherrison are very excited about is their push to get rid of all plastic water bottles on campus and moving towards reusable water bottles. WCSA recently purchased six new hydration stations and will be installed this semester in residence halls.

“It is in the university’s long-term plans to have them [hydration stations] installed in every building and have upkeep,” Lherrison said. “We wanted to foot the bill at first to show that we really wanted to push this thing forward, but it is well within their budget.”

Both Merrick Hall and the Simpson-Querrey Fitness Center will have the hydration stations.

Drongowski cautions this is still in the very early stages of development, and many of the logistics still need to be figured out.

“I think we would be in the first school in Ohio to do so,” Drongowski said. “As an organization, we are very excited to investigate it.”