“I try not to tell everybody my politics,” says Rachel Cobb, head of the government department and associate professor at Suffolk.  “But, I think [the government shutdown] is not necessary and doing more harm than good.”

America watched as its government shutdown last week, leaving many departments in the country unfunded and employees of the entire federal government out of work.  Some college students look at this event and may not directly feel its effects.

If any international student needs to use any federal business to verify their student visas, that is not possible during the shutdown, which obviously has potential issues.

Also, similar problems arise for students looking into study abroad programs.  Because of the shutdown, students may encounter issues obtaining proper documentation to study in other countries.  Consulates should still be proceeding as normal to issue visas and passports but delays may occur.  According to the Washington Post, almost 30,000 passports per day were unprocessed during the last federal government shutdown in the 1990s; so, essentially, expect delays.

Of course, there are other major issues spreading throughout the country, including problems getting any kind of mortgage or family loans, cuts in military salaries, and research institutes shutting down as well.  So, how long will this last?  According to Professor Cobb, hopefully not much longer.

“I think it’s going to last until late October,” said Cobb.  “We’ve got the debt crisis looming on Oct. 17, so we may solve this by then.  Basically, we’ve got two crises and some economists are saying that if we don’t solve them both soon, the results could be catastrophic.”

There are smaller issues that affect nearly everyone as well.  A couple who planned a wedding in Yellowstone National Park and were forced to reschedule became national news.

“I assigned a reading that wasn’t up because of the shutdown,” said Cobb.  “It said ‘this site is disabled because of the shutdown.’  I had other students who couldn’t go to Bunker Hill with their class because obviously it’s closed.”

All professors who interact daily with Suffolk students may not be aware of any daunting problems they may be having, especially ones that are indirectly related to them.

“I’m sure this is having impacts on [student’s] families in some way, shape, or form.”

Some government services are still offered to civilians but anything related to the federal government has been discontinued until further notice.  This affects everyone, to varying degrees.