Several students and faculty members feel the future of Social Security is in doubt, but they have hopes for President Clinton’s new plan.

“There has been so much talk on some long-run problems that people have lost confidence in the system,” said Roy Adams, professor of economics. “The problems are long run, and if nothing is done within the next 20 years, they are going to have to come up with some way to fund the benefits.”

Clinton recently proposed investing surplus money that has accumulated during the past two years in the stock market to acquire enough funds to continue Social Security.

However, Adams, 52, said this could become problematic because some people do not want the government involved with corporate America.

“They’ve sort of got a dilemma in that they want to invest in the stock market, but they don’t want to have the government own part of corporate America,” he said.

Charles Meyer, emeritus professor of economics, said the plan could work, but it is likely that other changes are going to have to be made.

“I’m somewhat skeptical whether his particular plan would generate enough revenue for the trust fund for another 20 years,” said Meyer, 66. “They are going to have to make some changes, cut benefits, raise taxes or delay the retirement age even more.”

Adams agreed that paying more taxes may be the final answer to the problem.

“Future retirees are going to have to be paid out of the nation’s production in future years,” he said. “Ultimately what’s going to happen is people in the future are going to have to pay taxes to invest in Social Security.”

Some students are glad the president is looking into options, but do not think Washington is looking in the right direction.

“It’s good that the government is looking at alternative ways for keeping the money there for the people who need it,” said Katie Gilbert, freshman in political science. “But the president’s plan is inconceivable. The money that he’s proposing to use isn’t there, and to play the stock market with money that belongs to the American people is insane.”

Gilbert said now is the time to act if Social Security is going to be saved.

“If we take a serious look at it now, and actually do something with the money that we know is a safe plan, it might be around [when our generation retires],” said Gilbert, 18. “But if we leave it as we have it now, unless we raise taxes, it’s not going to be enough for us to have anything.”

Adams said Social Security is slowly losing its benefits.

“In general, the best deal was gotten by the people that started getting benefits when the system went into play,” Adams said. “Each subsequent generation is going to get a slightly less deal as the previous generation.”

However, Meyer said the amount someone puts into Social Security is not necessarily the same amount they will get out of it.

“If your looking for a high rate of return from what you pay into the system, you’re not going to get it from Social Security,” Meyer said.

Some students are skeptical about the system’s ability to secure them when they reach retirement.

“[Social Security has] failed because the Social Security money is not enough for people to live off of,” said Shannon Schwab, freshman in psychology.

Schwab, 18, said people will have to find other ways of supporting themselves, which often includes working past retirement age.

“Social Security money is kind of the government’s way of taking out a loan on its people, and only paying it back years later with no interest,” Schwab said.

Schwab said it is unfair for people to pay for others benefits now, if the system will not be around for them.

“It’s not fair that I’m going to have to work and have taxes taken out to support the baby boomers,” Schwab said. “Yet there will be no Social Security for me when I reach that age.”

However, Meyer said it would be difficult to completely do away with the system.

“It’s a program that has made promises to a lot of the people that have retired or come close to retiring,” Meyer said. “Once you have this in effect, it’s really hard to eliminate the system.”

Some students are in support of Clinton’s plan.

“Social Security is receiving such a minimal return, and it’s likely that with the stock market, it will make a greater return,” said Paxton Williams, junior in political science and communication studies. “It’s a wise investment.”

Williams, 21, said boosting Social Security is a good use for the government’s surplus money.

“[Clinton] wants to take the surplus that the government has received for the second year in a row and save Social Security so the American people will have a future in Social Security,” Williams said. “It’s the right thing to do since we have the funds available to help save it, we should.”

Williams said though there is much worry over the future of Social Security now, he thinks it will probably still be around for his generation “in some form or another.”