2 - Friday, October 31, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 2 - Friday, October 31, 2008 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom I Scheduling around the harvest This Tuesday, many vot- ers will skip class or a job to cast their votes. The Obama campaign has even encour- aged ditching work or school in recent weeks to help with last- minute campaigning. Innumer- able campaign volunteers are working to "get out the vote" on Election Day. But why are elec- tions held on Tuesdays in the middle of the work week? According to Kate Kelly, author of "Election Day: An American Holiday, an American History," the reason lies in the country's agrarian roots. "It's timed based on the fact that we were a country of farm- ers," Kelly said in an interview, explaining that November is an off-season for farming. "In colonial days, the Electoral Col- lege met the first Wednesday in December. States could choose a date to vote up to 34 days before then." Tuesday wasn't made the standard until 1845, when Congress looked for a single, national presidential election day. But the concerns of that time were different from those of today. "In those days, it was diffi- cult to travel. Sunday was the Sabbath, so you had to be home, and Monday was a travel day. So Tuesday was the best day to vote," Kelly said. According to whytuesday. org, an organization for voting reform, Wednesday was not a viable option because it was a market day. Election Day is scheduled for the "first Tuesday after the first Monday" to avoid Nov. 1, the Catholic holiday of All Saints' Day, and to allow merchants to do their books from the preceding month on the first of the month. In recent years, some have questioned the tradition. With modern schedules, it can be dif- ficult to miss work, leading vot- ers to use other means to ensure their vote is counted. "People kind of wonder whether we'll ever have a feder- al holiday. I think the new trend will be early voting," Kelly said. "They expect a third of all vot- ers this year to vote early. It's good because the machines are complicated; the lines are long. It gets around the problem of having to vote on a workday." Thirty states offer early vot- ing this year, though Michigan is not one of them. . STEPHANIE BERLIANT SAM WOLSON/ Daily Spoken word poet Paul Flores and rapper Julio Cardenas perform in iREPRESENTA!, a bilingual play intended as a social commentary on immigration, U.S. foreign policy and pan-Latino identity. 5 MIC41*0an DAMl 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com ANDREW GROSSMAN ELAINA BUGLI Editor in Chief Business Manager 734-647-3330 734-764-nays gnounmas@michigasdaily.com bugli@michigandaily.com CONTACT INFORMATION Newsroom Office hours: Sun.-Thurs. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m. 734-763-2459 News Tips news@michigandaily.com Corrections corrections@nichigandaily.com LetterstothetEditor rothedaily@michigandaily.com Photography Department photo@michigandaily.com 734-764-0563 Arts Section artspage@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com 734-763-0379 Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com DisplaySales display@michigandaily.com 734-764-05s4 Classified Sales classifed@michigandaily.com 734-764-0557 Online Sales onlineads@michigandaily.com Finance finance@michigandaily.com . 734-763-3246 EDITORIAL STAFF Gabe Nelson Managing Editor nelson@michigandaily.com Chris Herring ManagingNews Editor herring@michigandaily.com SENIOR NEWS EDITORS: Emily Barton,Kelly Fraser, Lisa Haidostian, Andy Kroll Gary Grata EditorialPageEditor graca@michigandaily.com SNRsnDnO ,^LGEEDInOR: emnHuetemanEslyMhels Nate Sandals ManagingeSportsEditor sandals@michigandaily.com SEN IOR SPORTS EDITORS: Dan Feldman, Courtney Ratkowiak, AS"TAT PORTSEDIOSioeAuerbach, Ruth Lincoln, Chris Meszaros, Colt Rosensweig, Alex Prosperi, Jason Kohler MichaelPassmanand Matt Emery ManagingArtsEditors arts@michigandaily com SENIORARTS EDITORS: Brandon Conradis, Caroline Hartmann ASSISTA NT A RTS EDITORS: Blake Goble, Whitney Pow, Mark Schultz, David Watnick RodriotGaya Managing PhotoEditor gaya@michigandaily.eon ENORPHOTOEDTORS:JremyChoZacharyMeisnery,, gdyc ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS:Benji Dell,Rob Migrin, Clif Reeder, Chanel Von-Habsburg-Lothringen AllisonGhaman ManagingDesign Editor ghaman@michigandaily.com SENIOR DESIGN EDITORS: Bridget O'Donnell, Hillary Ruffe Bridget O'Donnell Managing OnlineEditor odonnell@michigandaily.com SENIOR ONLINE EDITORS: Tom Haynes JessicaVOsgerchian Magazine Editor vosgerchian@michigandaily.com Ben Simon Multimedia Editor blrsimon@umich.edu Katherine Mitchell CopyChief mitchkl@umich.edu BUSINESS STAFF MichaelSchrotenboer DisplayAdvertisingsales Manager DISPLAY ADVERTISING ASSOCIATE MANAGERS: Daniel Newman. Christie Phillips Ryan Businski ClassifiedSales Manager Marissa Gerber OnlineSales Manager Ben English ProductionManager Daniel Cheung Finance Manager The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967)is published Mondaythrough Friday during the fall and witner terms by students at the University of Michigan.One copy is avalable free of chargetoall rear us. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily'soffice for $2.Subscriptionsforfall term,startiigin Septembervia U.S.malares110.inter term Januarythrough Apri) isy115yearlong(September through Aprilis $195.University afflinates are subet to a redued subscription rate.On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.The Michigan Daily is a member of TheAssociated Press and TheAssociated Collegiate Press i a CRIME NOTES CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Diapers, juicer day. Police have no suspects. All Hallow's Diwali event Four men have just com- stolen at M ott Buses collide on Eve festivities WHAT: A performance to 1 pleteda 24-year-long pub celebrate the Indian holiday crawl through the United WHERE: Mott Children's and Church street WHAT: An observance of of Diwali. Tickets are $9 at Kingdom, The Sun reported. Women's Hospital the ancient holiday. A proces- the Michigan Union Ticket Since 1984, the men have vis- WHEN: Wednesday at about WHERE: Church Street sion will conclude at Forest Office. ited 14,000 bars and imbibed 8:3: a8 m WHEN: Wednesday at about Hill Cemetery with music WHO: Indian Students Asso- 84,000 pints of ale. WHAT: Two packs of diapers, a reference manual and a juicer were taken from Mott Chil- dren's and Women's Hospital, University Police reported. The property had been left unat- tended. Police have no suspects. 9:30 p.m. WHAT: Two University buses were involved in a fender bend- er on Church Street, University Police reported. Both buses had minor damage, but no one was injured and no medical atten- tion was required. Paintings swiped Ex -girlfriend and readings of "The Witch of Endor" and "The Valley of the Dry Bones." WHO: Canterbury House, Episcopal Student Founda- tion WHEN: Tonight at 6 p.m. WHERE: Canterbury House, 712 E. Huron Street Screening of 'The Shining' WHAT: A viewing of the classic horror film WHO: M-Flicks WHEN: Tonight from 8to 10:30 p.m. WHERE: Auditorium, Nat- ural ScienceBuilding' ciation WHEN: Tonight from 6:30 to 10 p.m. WHERE: Great Lakes Room, Palmer Commons God discussion WHAT: A forum titled, "Is God a Democrat or Repub- lican?" WHO: Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship WHEN: Tonight at 7 p.m. WHERE: Forum Hall, Palm-' er Commons CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@ michigandaily.com. WHERE: Medical Inn, 1501 Catherine Street WHEN: Wednesday at about 11 a.m. WHAT: Two pictures were stolen from the wall of the Medical Inn Building, Univer- sity Police reported. The theft happened between 5 p.m. on Tuesday and 8 a.m. on Wednes- steals book WHERE: University Hospital WHEN: Thursday at about 12:15 a.m. WHAT: A man reported that his ex-girlfriend used a spare key to enter his car and steal a textbook and folders, Univer- sity Police reported. The Michigan hockey team has split the last, four series with rival Ohio State. The two teams match up this Friday and Saturday. aFOR MORE, SEE SPORTS PAGE 9 Last night marked the 70th anniversary of H.G. Wells's infamous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast, which terrified millions who believed the report of an alien invasion in New Jersey was really-happening. 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