Net Impact team at UC Davis holds forum on national debt

Organization aims to teach students about impact of rising debt

Net Impact, an organization on campus, aims to educate students about the country’s national debt.

“Net Impact Davis is an organization dedicated to sustainability,” said Viktoria Haghani, a third-year genetics and genomics major and the Net Impact president, in an email interview. “We’re currently focusing on economic sustainability by participating in the national competition: Up to Us.”

Up to Us is a nonpartisan organization that “inspires action among millennials, the generation most impacted by the nation’s long-term fiscal and economic health,” according to the group’s website.

On Nov. 8, Net Impact held a forum called “My Two Cents Day: Up-to-Us National Campaign” in Bainer Hall. The event discussed the U.S. debt, which is at $21.6 trillion. It also discussed how rising debt will affect the current generation and others to come.

“It’s important that students are aware of the national debt because it’s something that is continuously growing in the background and is easily an afterthought for everyday people,” said Kelsey Kim, a second-year environmental policy and economics double major and director of design for Net Impact. “However, all Americans will bear the burden of it, especially our generation.”

The event also featured UC Davis Economics Professor Gregory Clark.

“If we build awareness of it now, we have a better shot at managing it and not being blindsided by it,” Kim said. “As a club, our passion is tackling issues like this in order to create a more sustainable future.”

In addition to this event, Net Impact has also worked on a variety of other events and projects that promote sustainability.

According to the Net Impact Davis website, in the 2017-18 year, the organization created teams focused on one of three themes: poverty, food waste and waste management.

The Poverty team “is in the process of developing and implementing a mentorship program that helps students of Grant Union High School in Sacramento explore occupational and educational opportunities after high school.”

The Food Waste team is developing a “centralized online resource that provides transparent, accurate, and useful information on food help resources.”

Finally, the Waste team is creating a “smart trash can that can capture images of waste, process them and then automatically separate the waste into compost, recyclable, or landfill waste bins.”

“We focus on sustainability, but in all aspects not just environmental, like people may expect,” said Carolyn Chandler, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major and Net Impact director of Marketing. “By having such a broad outlook on sustainability, I believe that anyone can find a place in the club and a passion for sustainability in any form.”

Written by: Clara Zhao — campus@theaggie.org