One Iowa candidate is putting family issues on the top of her priorities list.

Glenda Bradshaw, Republican candidate for Iowa House of Representatives (63rd District), is a registered nurse by profession and has been active in her political party for eight years.

“I feel like I have a vision for young people that is far-sighted, not near-sighted,” she said.

On education, Bradshaw supports loans and grants for college students, but thinks students should be partly responsible for financing their education.

Research is important at universities like Iowa State, Bradshaw said, but classroom education should come first. “The university position first should be the teaching of students.”

She said students can get short-changed because too much emphasis is placed on research. She added that all of Iowa has reaped benefits from ISU’s agriculture research.

In agriculture, Bradshaw believes strongly in saving and restoring Iowa family farms. Inheritance taxes are plaguing these farms, she said. “One of the biggest things that keep family farms from being handed down” are inheritance taxes.

The legislature must walk a narrow line between controlling the environment and keeping family farms financially sound. “When we go overboard on environmental issues, we’re gonna hurt farmers.”

Bradshaw pointed out her differences with her opponent, Democrat Bill Bernau, on the crime issue. Bradshaw said Bernau voted to allow prisoners toll-free phone calls. While prisoners can use the service to call their attorney, Bradshaw said, they can also call and harass their victims.

She also objects to cable television in the inmates’ private cells. “A lot of us don’t have cable television on the outside,” she said. Prisoners shouldn’t have the same privileges as other citizens, she said.

When people are sentenced to a crime, they lose several rights, including the right to vote. “If the general population realized they’d lose their privilege to vote … ” Bradshaw said, “they might think twice before committing a crime.”