Hello reporters! In response to Obama's new plan to cut the federal budget, we have to find some local angles for the seacoast about the different aspects of the plan, and how we will all be affected by it. All of this talk seems so far away and beyond our readers that they may not see what increases and decreases in funding will do for them. We have to show them that Below, I have included five story ideas, complete with hyperlinks that should make research for these a little easier.
1. Increases in education spending at University and High school level. Even though Obama seems intent on putting a lot into education, do faculty and administrators think that the budget increase will show any effects in the area? What exactly do they think needs work when it comes to education in this country? Go to Dover, Oyster River, Portsmouth, and the University of New Hampshire. Ask students what they think the American education system is lacking.
2. With all the increases in education-related spending, the Pell Grant maximum has been untouched. Ask around the University and see if any students rely on the Pell Grant to go to college here and how they feel about the maximum staying the same. Are they relieved that it hasn’t been cut, or are some wondering why, with all this boost of money for education, it has not amounted to more.
3. With the significant cuts to the Pentagon’s budget, how will this affect veterans and active-duty soldiers living in the seacoast area? Are they fearful that because America is involved in so many wars that the cuts will have to be made at the domestic level giving them and their families healthcare benefits? Do they think that these military cuts are justified? Also, for another angle, maybe ask around the campus or the Seacoast area about what people think these military cuts will mean for them. Will they feel any less safe going to bed at night, or does that seem so far away that they are unaffected?
4. “Plans to regulate greenhouse gases and other air pollutants would suffer a $1.3 billion reduction”. Talk to Portsmouth Organization “Clean Air-Cool Planet” and find out if they rely on any government funding for their business. If not, what do they think that a decrease in government spending for other projects like their’s will mean for their cause. Do they think that this budget cut is justified, or are they getting left out in the cold?
5. According to the NY Times, Obama’s plan will eliminate a $318 million program that trains doctors at Children’s Hospitals, “jeopardizing children’s access to physicians” and will “exacerbate the current national shortage of pediatric specialists such as neurologists and surgeons”. Go to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital and talk to the pediatrics department about what such cuts will mean for staffing their hospital with qualified doctors. Also, ask what cuts like this might do for larger hospitals, such as the Children’s Hospital Boston. If they lose doctors that have special training in this area, will parents choose to have their children seen by normal pediatricians instead of taking them to larger, more renowned hospitals?
Ready to do some reporting? Good. Go!
