U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats came to Ball State on Tuesday to highlight the importance of the November midterm elections and to get students engaged in politics.
Speaking to an audience of about 50 students and staff, Coats talked about the main issues he wants to bring to the front of Americans' concerns.
"Getting the economy back on track and keeping America safe from threats from abroad are serious challenges that require serious determination, analysis and judgment in terms of how we proceed," Coats said.
Coats has worked in politics as a congressman and senator. Stepping down from the Senate in 1999, he took up the post of ambassador to Germany in 2001. He re-entered the politics before Sen. Evan Bayh announced he was stepping down. Coats said that he wanted to give Indiana another choice for candidacy.
"At my age, I have nothing to lose," he said. "I'm not looking for a long-term career or to run for a higher office or anything other than to go back and do the best job that I can."
With a key focus of his campaign being the economy, Coats said he is concerned about student loans and the cost of higher education.
"I would say that one thing that I'm unhappy about is that all student-lending opportunities were turned into one source, mainly the Department of Education, as opposed to having competition and allowing private sources to provide loans," he said. "As a consequence of that, lack of competition will drive up the cost and the availability of credit."
Coats said the job market affects students' ability to repay loans and the government must work to get the economy back on track in order to create jobs, which he believes are being denied to a lot of young people.
After recently releasing his energy solutions plan, Coats said he is interested in learning about the geothermal project at Ball State.
"I am very supportive of all alternative forms of energy that will put us in a better state to not be so dependent on foreign sources, particularly oil from the Middle East," Coats said. "[Geothermal energy] is one of those domestic resources that needs to be used to substitute for the cost of importing energy sources here that puts us in awkward positions politically, military-wise and cost-wise."
A few members from the Brad Ellsworth campaign were present at Coats' speech. Nolan Born, the president of University Democrats, said that they were there to give Ellsworth a voice and let students know that there is an option other than Coats.
"Ellsworth voted for student-loan reform. Dan Coats said that he will not support that, and that directly effects students," Born said. "Ellsworth is from Indiana; he has lived in Indiana his entire life. Ellsworth knows Indiana and his here to work for Indiana. He has Indiana in his best interest."
Born said that University Democrats hope to bring Ellsworth to Ball State sometime the near future.
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