The possibility of a lottery in Tennessee has some support on ETSU’s campus, but not all believe that it is the right decision.
For years, the Tennessee legislature has discussed a state lottery. The legislature recently added the issue to the ballot allowing Tennessee voters to decide whether to amend the state constitution to allow a lottery.
Junior Gena Cockran supports a lottery. “I am totally for it,” Cockran said. “It should have been brought up a long time ago.”
Cockran believes a lottery would help tax problems and the justice system. She said ETSU could have better food facilities, better housing and more hands-on learning if the lottery passed.
Kendra Veazey, a senior and native of Connecticut, said Tennessee has been known to have economic problems. “They can’t even balance a budget. The solution is money; a lottery is a way to get money. You don’t have to gamble if you don’t want to.”
Senior Mandy Crowe believes a lottery will benefit education in Tennessee.
“As an education major, I’ve seen the poor quality of our educational system,” she said. “I lost my job as a teacher’s aid at John Sevier Middle School because of the budget, so we need a lottery to secure jobs and to fund education.”
Junior Julie Barger sees people driving to her home state of Virginia to play the lottery and believes a lottery would keep money in Tennessee.
If the money was managed well, Barger said higher education would benefit. “Obviously we don’t have enough money if we had to shut down this summer.”
Debbie White, the assistant vice president of student life and leadership believes Tennessee basically already has a lottery.
“People drive very short distances and participate in lots of lotteries,” White said. “People are participating in such large numbers and we aren’t even getting the benefits.”
Not everyone believes the lottery is a good idea. Senior Alison Brooks is opposed to it.
“The majority of people who buy lottery tickets are low income,” she said. “Some people that win end up in worse shape than before and some even commit suicide. If there were a lottery, I don’t think the money would ever get to education the way the lawmakers are working now.”
Some even offered alternatives to a lottery.
“An income tax is the fairest way to tax,” White said.
Barger believes if the lottery isn’t passed, better management of the budget is Tennessee’s only option.
Tennessee residents will be able to act on their opinions when the lottery issue is placed on the ballot in November.

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