While Syracuse University Professor Eric Kingson’s campaign for Congress will focus on social security, Kingson says he will also work to combat issues relating to college students.

Kingson, a social work professor at SU, announced on Sept. 16 his running to New York’s 24th Congressional District representative. The 69-year-old said in his official campaign announcement that protecting and expanding social security is a major part of his platform, but said in an interview with The Daily Orange that he would also focus on student issues, including student debt, campus safety, environmental issues and an increase in the job market.

As a professor, Kingson said he believes that he has a special perspective and understanding of what college students face or want from a public figure, especially when it comes to student debt.

“It is wrong for young people to come out with a lot of debt,” he said. “We see the cost of education rising.”

The United States currently has $1.2 trillion in student debt.

Kingson said he wants to see college students’ and advanced vocational education be debt free because by doing so, “the better our society will be and the more productive it will be.”

“I will work at every level to make college affordable, (with the support of others) because not one person can do it on their own,” he said.

In order to combat this, Kingson said that if elected, he plans on supporting laws for lower interest rates on student loans. He added that the system needs to be reworked.

Kingson said he would also work to make it possible for students to have bankruptcy protection, which allows students and their families to restructure their assets and develop a plan moving forward so they are not in debt. This is especially beneficial to students who deal with major health problems either with themselves or with a family member, he said.

In addition, Kingson wants to work to restore the student benefits, a social security for children of people with disabilities or deceased workers. The benefit program currently goes until the student turns 18, but Kingson wants to extend the payment through college.

Campus safety is another issue that concerns college students. As a father of two, Kingson said he worries about the same issues. While Kingson does not have an exact plan to combat this issue, he said that even with current systems in place, anything additional that can be done should be done.

Environmental issues are also a major topic of discussion among college campuses. In order to combat these issues, Kingson said he would “invest more in the environment” by supporting laws that require massive investments in sustainable energy and working toward transitioning off of more dangerous emissions that harm the environment.

“I will look back on the (environmental) institutional discrimination law,” he said. “This will require massive investments in sustainable energy and working to transition off of more dangerous chemicals that harm the environment.”

Beyond making changes that will affect college students while they are students, Kingson said that if elected, he would also work to improve the job market for when they graduate from college.

There’s not a magic wand (to fix the job market), but there can be investments in sustainable industries that will create jobs, such as investing in infrastructure, Kingson said.

“I want to make good investments in the economy and the future because we ought to able to provide work,” he added.

If elected to Congress, Kingson said he would work to “put ideas forward, work with people and listen to them.”

“We can’t just say ‘oh, this is bad,’ we have to work hard with a lot of these issues,” he said.

Published on September 29, 2015 at 11:18 pm

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