NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 6, 2004 - 5 ELECTIONS '04 Candidates meet in only vice presidential debate VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY DEBATE Continued from page 1 into a verbal tussle when Edwards's critique of the U.S. war effort caused Cheney to suggest that Edwards was trying to "demean (soldiers') sacrific- es" - a statement to which Edwards immediately objected. Last week's presidential debates were largely without such interruptions. The volleying between the candidates also pro- vided ample opportunity for errors, many stubborn- ly repeated. While Cheney said Kerry's "no" vote in Feb- ruary on an $87 billion defense-spending pack- age denied soldiers in Iraq much-needed body armor, the armor was a tiny fraction of the cost of the package - less than 1 percent, according to the University of Pennsylvania database Fact- Check.org. Kerry also did not specifically cast his vote against armor, as the package entailed a host of other items. Edwards also implied early in the debate that the Bush administration had spent $200 billion of tax revenue on the war. The figure stands nearer to $120 million. The candidates also locked horns on tax policy. Edwards affirmed his commitment to tax relief, list- ing a bevy of tax credits that Kerry would provide as president. This came despite Edwards's promise to cut the deficit in half. But Cheney said Kerry's plan to shift the tax bur- den to the highest tax bracket would affect many small businesses that file as individuals and not under the corporate tax code. He said Bush would make recent tax cuts permanent. University students and other local residents gathered in the co-op Canterbury House last night to participate in a debate viewing organized by the University Arts of Citizenship Program, which aims to enhance community service with art projects. After the conclusion of the debate, debate view- ers shied away from endorsing either candidate. Instead, they criticized both sides and the American political climate. Debate watchers complained the candidates' responses were too scripted and that they did not directly respond to each other or the questions posed by the moderator. They expressed a desire for true dialogue, reflection and flexibility in political discourse. But they acknowledged that the ideal of compromise is difficult to achieve when candidates must strive to avoid being seen as inconsistent. One feature of the debate was a dizzying array of statistics thrown out by both candidates. Debate watchers said the profusion of numbers made the debate hard to follow. They compared the back-and- forth to a tennis volley where the objective was to score points and not directly engage each other in productive debate. David Scobie of Arts of Citizenship said the debate-watching events are aimed at provoking eventual artistic responses. Arts of Citizenship will be hosting such forums for the two remaining presi- dential debates. Although polls taken around midnight by CNN. com and MSNBC.com on the candidates' perfor- mances in the debate showed Edwards with a dra- matic edge over Cheney, the effect such polls will have on the election - in fact, the effect the vice presidential debate will have on the race - remains up in the air. Going into tonight's debate, Kerry and Bush remained in close competition with each other, with a Newsweek poll giving Kerry a two-point advantage over Bush in the race, while a Wash- ington Post poll, taken during roughly the same time period after the presidential debate, gave Bush an eight-point lead over responders. SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS "It's hard, after John Kerry referred to our allies as a coalition of the coerced and the bribed, to go out and persuade people to send troops and to participate in this process." "The fact of the matter is a great many of our small businesses pay taxes under the personal income taxes rather than the corporate rate." "(Republicans) didn't have a plan to win the peace. They also didn't put the alliances together to make this successful. We need a fresh start." "But to help get us back on the path to a balanced budget, we also want to get rid of some of the bureaucratic spending in Washington." CRIME Continued from page 1 patrols by our police officers, and we arrested at least three individuals who we believe greatly contributed to our 2002 statistics," Bess said in the statement. Liquor law arrests and citations on campus dropped from 485 reports in 2002 to 465 in 2003. Though DPS also experienced drops in arson and aggravated assault reports, there was an increase in reported forcible sexual offenses, which rose from 15 reports in 2002 to 17 reports in 2003. "All nine forcible rapes or assault with an object involved acquaintance situations. So that type of thing is hard to equate to the campus environment, but it certainly is an unwanted situa- tion," Brown said. Brown added that out of the 17 reports of forcible sexual offenses - which includes rape along with other types of sexual assault - only five involved persons who did not have any prior acquaintance to the victim, and the offense was classified as unwanted fondling in all five reports. She also said DPS works with the University's Sexual Assault Preven- tion and Awareness Center in order to provide help to victims of sexual assault. "Any time any DPS officer encoun- ters a sexual assault or even a domes- tic violence situation, they always refer them to the appropriate ser- vice providers - including SAPAC - even if it's an acquaintance situa- tion," Brown said. SAPAC could not be reached for com- ment yesterday about the statistics. VOTERS Continued from page 1 registration groups. "The number of volunteers and hours that have been put into it this year is an unbe- lievable amount," said LSA junior Mike Forster, co-chair of Voice Your Vote. A commission of the Michigan Student Assembly, Voice Your Vote registered students on the Diag, in the Michigan Union and in the resi- dence halls until the Oct. 4 registra- tion deadline. Voice your Vote said yesterday that its final total of students registered is 10,038 since the semester. The Col- lege Democrats and College Repub- licans together have added about an additional 1,150 more students to the total registered. Forster pinned the increase in young voter activity on the previous election. He said since the results were so close in 2000, this time around groups are targeting young voters because they know that they can make the biggest difference. He also said the issues in this year's election, such as the war in Iraq and the sluggish economy, directly affect young voters more than the issues in 2000. "Young voters are more commit- ted" in comparison to the 2000 elec- tion, Forster said. He also said he has noticed the media are paying more attention to young voters, more young people are registering and overall youth are more involved in the election than in past years. "There has been a trend toward youth activism," said LSA sopho- more Allison Jacobs, chair of Col- lege Republicans. Forster said he did not think Presi- dent Bush and his Democratic chal- lenger, John Kerry, have been giving enough attention to the young voters and issues affecting them. "They are not acknowledging young voters, with topics like high- er education reforms," Forster said. He added that when issues impor- tant to young voters come up, the candidates tend to avoid them and sneak away from the topic. Middle- aged voters are the ones targeted, Forster said. State Sen. Liz Brater, a Democrat from Ann Arbor, also said young voters deserve added attention from candidates. "They are ... affected the most by what is going on in Wash- ington," Brater said. Brater also said there was a great deal of enthusiasm on campus for the election, adding that she noticed higher levels of political activity. Ann Arbor resident Terrence Campagna, who voted in his first presidential election in 2000, said voting in this year's decision will be different. People are more concerned about taking stances on important issues this year because they are worried about the direction in which the nation is heading, Campagna said. ISLAM Continued from page 1 Besides the African Muslims who were brought to America through the slave trade, Abdullah talked about the five Muslim migrations to the United States from the 1800s to the pres- ent. He also mentioned a theory that an African Muslim king discovered America even before Columbus. Abdullah highlighted the many achievements that Muslims have brought to America. "In this area you probably couldn't go to a hospital without encountering at least one Muslim physician, male or female," Abdullah said. Law student Hebba Aref said she enjoyed finding out more about Mus- lim history, especially, because it is not taught in the conventional primary or secondary school systems. "Yeah, it was good to take a look at our history. It was left out of the educational system most of us grew up in. It was good to hear about it from an outside source," Aref said.