There were only two things addressed in the past election that truly mattered to sophomore Josh Wood: the NCAA playoffs and stem cell research.

To someone who had never been political in the past, Wood voted in favor of change.<br/>Stem cells are like DNA collected from one's body and by conducting research can help cure over 70 main diseases.Stem cells are like DNA collected from one's body and by conducting research can help cure over 70 main diseases.
Stem cells are like DNA collected from one’s body and by conducting research can help cure over 70 main diseases.

President Barack Obama wants to innovate and continue to advance stem cell research. Obama displayed his enthusiasm in the matter by voting yes in The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, which was amended after the bill was vetoed in 2005.

“(John) McCain just kind of blew it off,” Wood said of McCain during a presidential debate last year. “Obama actually went into the details and how he would try and fix it.”

To some, stem cell research is simply a minor matter. With headlines of the economic crisis as well as global warming, individuals have passed over stem cell research.

In 2006, Wood’s mother passed away from melanoma, which is one of the more rare types of skin cancer. It is because of this that Wood and his family are strong advocates of stem cell research.

“There was a stem cell research that could have helped,” Wood said. “And because stem cell research was not allowed, it kind of eliminated that option.”

With the melanoma, the stem cell would not have helped the actual skin cancer. The stem cell would have, however, helped her white blood cell count. Those white blood cells combat and help fight disease.

“That could have been an option the first time she was diagnosed,” Wood said. “She could have been continually getting stem cell.”

The controversy of the matter deals with the fact of whether or not embryos are considered “potential life.”

“It’s a gradual developmental process,” freshman Joylin Hall said. “There is a difference between a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old and an embryo and a baby.”

Hall is not entirely sure of her stance on embryos being considered “human life.” She is strongly pro-life and isn’t comfortable with the idea of abortion.

“If stem cell research saves more lives than lost, then it is worth it,” Hall said.

In order to come to any type of conclusion, scientists would have to intensely study the embryos to see what types of cures they could provide. It would be almost impossible to know without sacrificing embryos, however.

“I just wonder why it is such a bad thing to run tests on embryos that aren’t going to be used,” Wood said.

Wood’s entire family shares these same political views, as well as senior Jackie Cordes and her family.

“Even my sister has the same opinion,” Cordes said. “And she is a hard core, pro-life conservative Catholic.

Like Wood, Cordes feels that stem cells could have made a difference. She lost her father to cancer when she was a freshman in high school and her mother suffers from multiple sclerosis.

“My mom could have been spared of living with the pain MS causes,” Cordes said. “And my dad’s life could have been saved if the use of stem cells was legal.”

Overall, Wood is very pleased with the way the election turned out.

“Stem cell research was something Barack Obama was passionate about,” Wood said. “And that really caught my eye.”