Around campus, many students serve at local restaurants. They are greatly affected by the fall of economy. To this group of students, the economy is one of the main concerns in this election. Servers at restaurants say that the economy has to change to keep them financially stable. 

Four out of five servers at a local steakhouse were interviewed pre-election. Four said they would vote for Barack Obama over John McCain because McCain will adopt the same economic policies that George W. Bush has used. 

The restaurant industry has 13 million workers in almost one million locations, according to the National Restaurant Association. The group recently urged Congress and the Administration to act quickly to stabilize the U.S. financial system.

Liz Fults, a server who is a graduate student in the history department at ETSU, said Obama would “put us a step in the right direction.” She has always had Democratic views but now more than ever plans to act upon them on election day. Fults was raised in a primarily Republican and conservative household in South Carolina. 

“Obama is not only a great representative of many minorities in the United States, but also qualified as a leader through many windows,” she said.

One reason that Fults chose Obama is because of his stance on abortion. She believes that it should be at the discretion of the mother of the fetus.

“I feel that McCain would repeat the acts and presidency of George W. Bush,” said Fults.

With the current presidency, there has clearly been a decline in the economy. A few servers expressed concern with the amount of money that people are tipping.

“Within the past couple of months, my daily earnings from work have declined significantly,” said Tiffany Potter, another server.

Many servers claim that no one can necessarily be blamed other than the government. People cannot help that cost of daily living has increased, therefore diners cannot tip as well as in previous years. 

Meredith Bundren, another server, said that when she walks into work she can see the turmoil in the economy simply through one business.

There are many signs that show the economy is not as well as it was. One is when people choose to order water to avoid extra costs. Another is people trying to fill up on rolls and peanuts to avoid buying extra food. 

To most of the students interviewed, their work at the restaurant is simply a job that helps them get through college.

Not all servers were voting for Obama.

One server who wishes to remain anonymous said, “I feel that we will be out of the bad situation with the economy very soon and I also feel that McCain is our means by which to do this.