Monica YamamotoResults are in: Cal Poly students want Arnold back. An online Mustang Daily poll shows that 60 percent of the surveyed students will be voting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today, with just 23 percent for Democrat Phil Angelides.
“I think he’s doing a decent job in education,” mechanical engineering sophomore Bruno Caulk said of Schwarzenegger.
Caulk is a registered Democrat, but after researching both Schwarzenegger and Angelides, Schwarzenegger came out on top.
“We could be better off, but I think we’re doing OK,” he said.
History professor Lewis Call disagrees.
“I think (Angelides) is a much stronger candidate,” he said.
Call commented that Angelides would do a better job for higher education, and the governor makes important decisions like budgeting for California State University system.
Agribusiness senior Kirsten Sorensen would like to see Schwarzenegger back in office.
“We already know what he’s all about, and I like what he’s all about,” she said.
Angelides plans to “roll back Schwarzenegger’s college tuition and fee hikes and substantially expand state scholarship aid,” according to his official Web site.
He also plans to “raise the income ceilings on Cal Grants to make college more affordable for middle class families.”
Cal Grant A would increase from $69,900 to $80,000, and the ceiling for Cal Grant B would increase from $36,600 to $50,000.
Schwarzenegger’s budget plans for 2006-07 include an investment of more than $19 billion for higher education, according to his Web site.
The governor also increased financial aid “to keep college accessible to hundreds of thousands of students.”
The aid includes a $38.8 million net increase in the Cal Grant program, and $11.9 million to increase the maximum Cal Grant for new recipients at non-public colleges and universities.
Budget plans by Angelides and plans already set in motion by Schwarzenegger are already in close competition, but the real race begins today.