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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, October 31, 2008
michigandaily.com
TRICK OR TREAT AT SEXTIVAL
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PREPARING FOR ELECTION DAY
Professors
expect low
attendance
on Tuesday
Kelsey Kennedy, an LSA junior, and Nate Gire, an LSA senior, investigate the contents of their goody bags at Sextival, an annual event targeted at underclassmen to help raise
awareness about general sex information and to promote safe sex. Sextival also featured penis-shaped cookies along with a panel that answered questions posed by students.
SHOPPING FOR TEXTBOOKS
Uook'websiteadyfor launc
Obama campaign
urges supporters to
skip work or class
and volunteer
By CAITLIN SCHNEIDER
Daily StaffReporter
Democratic presidential nomi-
nee Barack Obama's campaign
sent an e-mail to supporters earli-
er thisweek, urgingthemto spend
Election Day volunteering for the
Democratic presidential nominee.
"Ask your Boss. Ask your Pro-
fessor," wrote Jon Carson, the
national field director of Obama
for America. "Take Election Day
off and volunteer to make his-
tory."
With support for Obama strong
on campus, many University pro-
fessors are anticipating low class
attendance on Tuesday.
Many politically-inclined stu-
dents are planning to spend the
day getting out the vote, but even
those who don't volunteer might
find that the process of voting
will cut into their class schedule.
Record registrationnumbers may
translate into long lines at the
polls, taking up a bigger chunk of
students' days that what they'd
planned.
For some in-state students,
the process requires driving long
distances to cast ballots in their
hometowns.
"In my class of about 55, there
are three or four who have yet to
receive their registrationand have
to go home to vote," said A. Melis-
sa Harris, an associate professor
in the Alfred Taubman College of
Architecture and Urban Planning.
"I told my group that they could
come alittle bit late or leave a little
bit early if they needed."
Nathaniel Eli Coats Styer, chair
of the University's chapter of Col-
lege Democrats, said he's ditching
class Tuesday to volunteer. He's
asking others to do the same.
"We are definitely encouraging
all of our members to take the day
off," Styer said. "Hit the street, hit
the phone and make sure that we
win in a landslide on Tuesday."
Brady Smith, chair of the Col-
lege Republicans, said he wasn't
sure if his entire group would skip
classes Tuesday, but he "we're
certainly goingto encourage them
to do whattheycan."
Harris said that she while she
won't cancel class, she and many
of her colleaguesplanto adaptles-
sons for the day to accommodate
the absent students.
"There's a lot of desire out there
for people to get out and vote," she
said. There's going to be a more
flexible attitude in the air."
See ELECTION DAY, Page 7A
Site lets faculty
post reading lists
earlier, but they're
not required to use it
By KYLE SWANSON
DailyStaffReporter
When registration for Winter
Term begins two weeks from now,
students will be able to see text-
book lists for some classes while
building a class schedule on Wol-
verine Access.
A program called UBook, slated
to launch next week, will allow
faculty to create textbook lists and
distribute the lists to the book-
store of their choice. The service
will allow students to access the
lists while choosing classes and
find used books from other Uni-
versity students.
The program, which was a year
and a half in the making, comes
during a time in which textbook
prices have tripled in past 20
years, according to US News and
World Report. Before, students
often received their textbook
requirements on the first day of
class, making it too late for them
to obtain cheaper copies via the
Internet.
Though UBook is intended to
give students earlier notice so they
can shop around and save money
on their books, professors won't be
required to use the system. .
Gretchen Weir, assistant vice
provost for academic affairs, said
she thinks many faculty members
will use it,butthe University didn't
want to require them to do so.
"We expect that as many faculty
as can will comply with both using
the tool and ordering early," she
said. "It isn't the Michigan way to
take any decision about pedagogy
out of the hands of the faculty
members."
Weir said many professors don't
use textbooks and that some cours-
es might require the most current
edition of textbooks, which could
make it difficult for some pro-
See UBOOKS, Page 7A
- ELECTION VOLUNTEERS
Unable to vote,
EHT teens staff polls
Local high-schoolers
use day off from
class to get involved
By THOMAS CHAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Although 16-year-old high
school juniors Noa Gutterman and
Bryan LaPointe don't have class
on Election Day because their
schools are being used as polling
places, neither one plans to take
the day off.
Gutterman and LaPointe are
among more than 100 local high
school students who are too young
to vote but are participating by
working at the polls or volunteer-
ing for a campaign on Tuesday.
LaPointe will work at the polls
as an election inspector and
Gutterman will be canvassing for
Democratic presidential nomi-
nee Barack Obama's campaign as
a "Barackstar" - the campaigns
nickname for volunteers under
the age of 18.
Guttermansaid she is frustrated
that she can't vote in this election,
but decided that volunteering was
the next best thing.
"I don't understand why teen-
agers are not allowed to vote," she
said. "So instead of sitting around
and complaining about why I can't
vote, I would rather help to inform
people about their political' fig-
ures and who they should be vot-
ing for."
"I'm excited to work and have
the election happen," LaPointe
said, adding that he's "anxious
about it because they say the voter
turnout is going to be huge."
Obama spokesman Brad Carroll
said the campaign's young volun-
teers have played a big part for the
campaign in the state.
"Barackstar groups across the
state have played a crucial role in
reaching out to their fellow stu-
dents, registering them to vote
and talking about the change that
Barack Obama will bring to Mich-
igan," he said.
About 110 Pioneer High School
students will work the polls in
addition to two groups of rough-
ly 25 students from Greenhills
School and Huron High School,
said Claire Dahl, a history teacher
at Pioneer. Ann Arbor City Clerk
Jacqueline Beaudry said students
from Community High School
See TEENS, Page 7A
Political Science Prof. ennet Kirkpatrick participated in a panel discussion last night in Weill Hall. The
professors discussed women's issues inthe upcoming election.
Panelists hash out women s
rights issues in 2008 election
Faculty say they
support Obama's stances
on abortion, sex ed
By JENNA SKOLLER
Daily StaffReporter
During a panel discussion Thursday
night, a trio of University faculty mem-
bers debated the role of women's rights in
the upcoming election.
The panelists - Prof. Helen Levy of the
Ford School of Public Policy, Prof. Paula
Lantz of the School of Public Health and
Political Science lecturer Jennet Kirkpat-
rick - said they considered Democratic
presidential nominee Barack Obama's
approach toward women's issues supe-
rior to that of Republican nominee John
McCain's. They cited Obama's pro-choice
stance asa large factor in their support.
Though the event was billed as one that
would pit McCain and Obama's views on
women's issues against each other, the
conversation also focused on Clinton and
Palin, both of whom had history-making
campaigns this year.
Panelists fielded numerous questions
about Palin, Clinton and what their can-
didacies would mean for women seeking
political office in the future.
See PANEL, Page 7A
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