Air " - .:: r ; , i , A4 , t 'r..t , - 'b I ate. oday: Partly cloudy. High 53. Low 31 ~omorrow: Partly cloudy. High 62. One hundred nine years of editoriidfreedom Thursday November 18, 1999 rt r q itial voter lly signals igh turnout y Jeannie Baumann aily Staff Reporter In one day, the voter turnout for this fall's Michigan tudent Assembly elections for representatives has surpassed ast year's total. "Last fall, a total of 2,249 people voted for MSA elections, nd this year 2,240 have voted in this election," MSA Election Director Mehul Madia, an LSA senior, said of the ote total as of 8:30 p.m. yesterday. The evening tally indi- ed that the number of voters would easily surpass last fall's , Madia said. "For last fall's LSA-(Student Government) elections, just 1,362 people voted over two days, nd 1,127 have voted already oted. M cA "We're really pleased with Fall eltdios oter turnout this fall. It has dra- atically improved from last fall. f this pace continues, we could e-hitting record levels for voter urnout for MSA elections,"t ia said." e trend is that people are vot- ng online," MSA Rep. Shari Katz said, who worked the polling ite yesterday in Angell Hall. Since its start in winter 1997, rnline voting has almost entirely replaced paper polls. LSA senior Tuve Floden said it is important for students to- >articipate in student government. "If we don't cast our otes, our voices can't be represented," he said.s LSA sophomore Jeremy Wilkins, who voted in the Angell all paper polling site yesterday afternoon, said voting provides students greater influence over the direction of the assembly. @ believe if you don't vote, then you don't have the right o criticize," he said.r Students also expressed their individual agendas in voting. "I wanted to voice my opinion about certain issues on cam- = us, such as affirmative action and the rise of tuition - things hat affect all students," LSA junior Charmeece Miller said. Floden, a former participant in Ultimate Frisbee through lub sports, said he specifically wanted to vote in this elec- ion because of the ballot question. The question asks stu- dents if they favor a $0.25 increase in student fees for two semesters to start an endowment for club sports., JNRE Rep. Mona Gupta also worked at a voting booth a said the assembly definitely had concerns about low See MSA, Page 8A A tale of two elections: Last fall, 2,249 students voted in Michigan Student Assembly elections. As of 8:30 last night, 2,240 had voted during the first day of this fa*'s election. * 1,362 students voted in last fall's LSA-Student Government elections. As of 8:30 last night; 1,127 had ed. Paper polling sites are open at Angell Hall and Pierpont Commons until 4 p.m. today. Voting is available online at wwwumich.edu/-vote until midnight. OSU an sues U' MAKING ' : - :. THE CALL Ofi cials brav e ta u nts, theaits fr loe fgame By Dan Dingerson There i io one more reviled on a aurv afiernoon than the men in stripes. Whie both Ibotbal teams can hope for there is nothing an official can do to in the respect of the crowd: no matter what he resul of the game, they will be booed, jred and hated during the 60-minute con- teA. _ 's one of the toughest jobs in the ation. Critic iin officials is commonplace and there is not a clear reward, so why would any one want to become an official? Why do these men choose to give up 11 weekends each fall to get heckled and pelted with any- thiing available? The answer is simple: an unrequited love of football. . For ihe officials, once they become part of the o ci iating fraternity, there is almost nothing betier. For them, football becomes a pmrt :f their lives, not only on Saturdays but every day of the year. Years ago when I started refereeing, it was an avocation, now it's a science says Tom Ransom. head linesman for Saturday's game against Ohio State. "It used to be that all you did was go out on Friday night and work a high school game and Saturday do a college gane. Once the season was over, you didn't pick up the rulebook until about a month before the next season. Now, I don't think that there is a day that goes by during the year -365 days, not even Christmas day - that we don't think about football offici- ating in some way because it is such a part of ouir lives=. And not necessarily the rule book either. The camaraderie of the friends that we htve made over the years, the friend- ships, the fellowships, the communica- tions that we have with each other and people that have come and gone are such a big part of our lives." See OFFICIALS, Page 7A (O DANA; _ 20y