Hear from Northeast Ohioans living with the pressures and changes of everything from college debt to pensions, and the activists and policy makers who work with the issues on a larger scale.

 

The program will be rebroadcast October 22nd at 9 p.m. on Channels 45/49.



(Click photos for more)
                       


Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher also directs the Ohio Department of Development, and recently launched a master plan for economic growth in Ohio. He was Ohio's attorney general, a state senator and representative, and president of the Center for Families and Children in Cleveland. He holds law and master's degrees from Case Western Reserve University.


Former U.S. Senator Michael DeWine served as Green County prosecutor and four terms in Congress before being elected lieutenant governor and then U.S. senator. He served on the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary committees. He chairs John McCain's presidential campaign in Ohio and holds his law degree from Ohio Northern University.

Moderator Alice Rodgers has been a focus-group facilitator specializing in public policy for more than 30 years. She's worked with the Beacon Journal on social issues since the late 1980s, including the year-long examination of race relations that earned the paper a Pulitzer Prize.

Jay Seaton is president of Consumer Credit Counseling of Northeast Ohio, headquartered in Cleveland. His non-profit organization counsels families and individuals throughout Northeast Ohio who are seeking financial guidance. His agency participated in financial makeovers arranged by the Akron Beacon Journal and helped plan the Oct. 18 Financial fair at the John S. Knight Center.

Aniqa Feerasta is a senior at the University of Akron's Honors College, majoring in economics and marketing. She's a native of Pakistan who grew up in the Akron. Feerasta presented a paper this summer on "Global Capitalism/Local Values" in Switzerland, and was among 200 students worldwide invited to the 2007 conference on "The Power of Natural Resources."

Akron Beacon Journal columnist and former "Beavis and Butt-Head" writer David Giffels has published three books, including his recent memoir: "All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-down House." He and David Knox have spearheaded the Beacon Journal's year-long examination of the squeeze on the middle class.

David Knox is the Akron Beacon Journal's specialist in computer research. As a Kiplinger Fellowship at Ohio State University, he analyzed 51 million computer records to study what has happened to the underpinnings of the middle class. An Arny veteran, Knox also was a member of the reporting team for the Beacon's Pulitzer winning examination of race.

WKSU News Director M.L. Schultze joined the station 15 months ago after 25 years with The Repository. Her reporting this year has concentrated on economic pressures and politics, including the subprime mortgage meltdown, attempts to rebuild city cores and attempts to market the region.



Change has knocked hard and fast against many of the underpinnings of the middle class. Our confidence has been shaken in many of the things we used to be count on: our ability to own a home, get a college education, rely on a healthcare plan, and depend on a pension to carry through retirement.

We've done a lot to document the pressures on the middle class in the last year, as evidenced by the stories by the Akron Beacon Journal and WKSU that you'll find on this site.

Now - especially in the face of massive upheaval and uncertainty in the financial market - we're looking to help you find ways to deal with the changes.





The Akron Beacon Journal and WKSU have been telling the stories of area residents who have followed their ideas on how to achieve the American Dream, only to find the rules changing and the goal growing more distant.

Tell us how achieving the American Dream has changed for you, and offer ideas on how individuals, organizations and leaders can work together to Reclaim the Dream.



















presented by:







sponsored by: