The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 7A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, September 27, 2012 - 7/
Obama visits colleges
in critical swing state
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In h
sident speaks at cifically mentioned Romney's
opposition to the bailouts of
[ly, emphasizes Chrysler and General Motors,
noting that the companies help
nomlc recovery support numerous job opportu-
nities in Ohio.
By STEVE ZOSKI "Today the American auto
DailyStaffReporter industry has come roaring back
with nearly 250,000 new jobs,"
WLING GREEN, Ohio Obama said. "Now you've got
ough a pep band played a choice, we can give more tax
songs to a crowd of more breaks to companies that are
5,500 adorned in shades shipping jobs overseas or we can
nge and brown at Bowl- start rewarding companies for
ireen State University's opening new plants and training
enter on Wednesday, the new workers, and creating jobs
fans weren't gearing up right here in the United States."
e basketball team, but for Obama also referred to Rom-
dress by President Barack ney's now infamous comments
a. that 47 percent of the country
the Ohio campaign stop, is dependent on the government
a attempted to garner sup- and believe they are "victims."
or his re-election with just "I don't believe we can get
than a month left before very far with leaders who write
on Day. Republican presi- off half the nation as a bunch of
i candidate Mitt Romney victims who never take respon-
pent the day campaigning sibility for their own lives,"
state. Ohio, which opens Obama said. "As I drive around
voting on Oct. 2, has his- Ohio and as I look around, I
Ily been a critical compo- don't see a bunch of victims, I
owinning an election, and see hard-working Ohioans."
y contested battleground He added, "We've got stu-
dents who are trying to work
the speech, Obama said their way through college, we've
ey and his running mate got single moms who put in
Ryan's believe in a policy overtime to raise their kids."
p-down economics" that Obama said increasing acces-
tutes tax breaks for the sibility to higher education is
hy. The comment drew critical, noting that college has
rom the crowd, to which served as a "gateway to opportu-
a responded with "Don't nity" leading him to where he is
ote!" today. To meet this goal, he said
his speech, Obama he has worked to provide college
ssed the need for jobs in students with more grants and
:ate - Ohio's unemploy- lower student loan rates.
rate reached 7.2 percent "Today millions of students
gust - adding that he has are paying less for college
y made strides toward because we took on a system
gorating the workforce that was wasting billions of dol-
is opponent will destroy if lars by using banks and lenders
d. (in) the student loan process ...
focus on the state's We said let's give that money
my will only escalate as directly to students, and as a
on Day nears as no candi- consequence millions of stu-
as been elected president dents are getting more grants
ut winning Ohio's elec- and we kept interest rates on
votes since then-Senator student loans low," Obama said.
. Kennedy lost the state to In an interview following
rd M. Nixon in 1960. Any the president's speech, White
lican that has ever won House Press Secretary Jay Car-
residency has also won ney said Obama's visit to Ohio
shows his commitment to work-
ordingtoMichael Heaney, ing families.
istant professor of politi- "The president is committed
ence, a win in Ohio is cru- to the people taking these auto
clenching the election. bailouts," Carney said
critical for Romney, and He noted that the alterna-
ama it's a really valuable tive "would have had a dra-
t's not essential. If Obama matic impact on the livelihood
Ohio, he will almost cer- of a million families, or more,
win the presidential including so many here in Ohio."
tn," Heaney said. "If Rom- Caitlyn Fuller, a BGSU senior
tesn't win Ohio ... he wilt and life-long resident of Bowl-
t certainly lose the presi- ing Green, said she came to the
I election." event to support the president,
his remarks. Obama spe- who she finds much more relat-
able than Romney.
"(Romney is)-just really, real-
ly wealthy and I'm not sure how
in touch he is with Ohio," Fuller
said.
Fuller said she believes the
president has the right idea
about a college education as a
crucial means of boosting the
economy.
"We need a president who is
helping us out and not penaliz-
ing people for seeking out high-
er education," Fuller said. "I've
taken out unsubsidized loans,
and it's been a huge help that I
don't have to go to a bank, that
I can rely on the government,
and I've also got government aid
through FAFSA."
Fuller, who has worked as
a waitress to help pay for col-
lege, said she found Romney's
"victims" comments to be out of
line, asa citizen who has worked
hard to provide for herself' as
much as possible.
"I might get government
aid by unsubsidized loans and
things like hat, but I'm defi-
nitely not looking to be on gov-
ernment aid mny entire life," she
said.
Seth Melchor, a BGSU senior
who has volunteered for the
Obama campaign since 2008
and introduced the president
before his remarks, said he
believes Obama resonates with
Americans in a way Romney
can't.
"You'll notice that the way
that he connects with average
Americans, we haven't seen in
generations, it's truly unique,"
Melchor said. "The fact that he's
interested in connecting with
each and every person ... He
brought my entire family back
and signed stuff for us and he
gave my grandma a kiss on the
cheek. (She) just about passed
out she was so excited."
Melchor said Obama is clearly
the strong candidate, noting
how Romney's "victims" com-
ment has alienated a substantial
portion of the population.
"I don't pay income tax
because I'm a college student.
I don't think the government
owes me anything, I'm not a vic-
tim, I just don't make enough
money to do it yet," Melchor
said. "When I will eventually,
I have no problem doing that, I
think that we have to support
those that aren't yet in a position
to succeed, and the president is
absolutely willing to do that as
opposed to someone who wants
to ignore half our nation."
-Daily Staff Reporter
Andrew Schulman
contributed to this report.
on Saturday, which was celebrat-
ed at an event on Gullen Mall.
Professional artists worked with
children to extend the course,
using hundreds of boxes of chalk
and chalk paint. Playworks - a
professional recess program -
came and facilitated four square,
jump rope and hula hooping
events for children throughout
the afternoon.
The paint - a mixture of
cornstarch, water, flour, sugar
and tempera paint - will last
three to four rains before wash-
ing away.
Box was considered the chief
"chalkologist" and explained
that the homemade mixture
was the best solution and better
than spray-paint or spray chalk
because it didn't use aerosol.
While the group was forced
to re-paint an entire mile and a
half of the course after a night
of heavy rain, Sethi said she
was inspired by the event and
thought it was a great success.
"It took so much more effort,
time and commitment than we
thought, but the experience was
amazing," Sethi said.
A supporter holds up a sign at Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's rally in Toledo Wednesday.
Debt, unemnployment
focus of Ro mney speec
HOPSCOTCH
From Page 1A
of the Diag.t Volunteers used
homemade cornstarch-based
chalk paint and stencils to cre-
ate squares along the sidewalk,
adding about a mile to the course
each day and eventually surpass-
ing the previous world record
length of 3.4 miles.
*Wedge collaborated with
Imagine Detroit Together, a
Detroit-based community-build-
ing organization, to develop the
program.
While the original goal of
Hopscotch Detroit was to beat
the world record and bring posi-
tive attention to the struggling
city, it grew into something
much more, according to Univer-
sity alum Laura Willming, a co-
founder of Wedge.
"Our goal really became get-
ting people out in the streets of
Detroit creating, collaborating
and bringing different commu-
nities to one common space,"
Willming said.
University alum Dylan Box,
GOP nominee
addresses party
faithful in Toledo,
Ohio
By TUI RADEMAKER
Daily StaffReporter
TOLEDO, Ohio - Enthusias-
tically reaching out to voters in
one of the election's most cru-
cial states, Republican presi-
dential nominee Mitt Romney
spoke in front of a packed audi-
torium at the SeaGate Conven-
tion Centre here on Wednesday
evening.
Romney focused on unem-
ployment and the national debt
during his address, continually
pointing to President Barack
Obama's failure to revive the
economy during the past four
years. A large poster reading
"We Can't Afford Four More
Years" and a digital national
debt clock served as a backdrop
to his speech.
"You see that clock up
there?" Romney said, gesturing
to the clock. "16 trillion dollars
in debt. When (Obam's) cam-
paign began it was a heck of a
lot less than that. When the
president was elected it was
about 10 point something. It's
not good for the economy, it's
not good for jobs, and in my
view I think it's amoral for us to
pass on obligations to our kids
of that nature."
His rhetoric was met with
strong encouragement from
the crowd, who frequently
drowned out his words with
cheering and clapping as they
waved their American flags,
pom-poms, and Romney-Ryan
2012 posters.
As part of his reassurance
that he will be an adept leader
to fix the economy, Romney
articulated his five step plan
for the economy, a measure he
argued will create 12 million
jobs. The first step of his plan
involves a movement toward
energy independence by taking
advantage of North American
SIKH
From Page 1A
at the vigil emphasized that it
is important to honor the vic-
tims of the event and reflect on
overcoming cultural misunder-
standings.
Rackham student Anneeth
Hundle said it was important to
recognize the shooting, particu-
larly since many students were
not on campus at the time.
"It was a great and important
event to have because there are
so many Sikh students on cam-
pus," Hundle said. "The event
happened over the summer,
so people felt really alienated
about what happened and there
needed to be sort of some vis-
ibility surrounding the violence
that happened and the politics
that happened."
Arvind-Pal Mandair, an
Asian Languages and Culture
professor, was among numerous
another co-founder of Wedge,
explained that a key part of the
program was bringing out the
community's creativity, and
hosting an event for people to
enjoy the art.
"one of the good signs for me
was walking down the street
and seeing random people hop-
ping - kids and adults,", Box
said. "We saw one woman who
was eight months pregnant in
heels and hopping."
University alum Ajooni Sethi,
also a co-founder of Wedge, said
the project was also part of the
Detroit Design Festival, noting
that the particular type of com-
munity-based design work tran-
scends logos and websites and is
dedicated to city improvement.
Sethi said the program cre-
ates connections and opportu-
nities for recreation without
changing the physical attributes
of the sidewalk.
"That is the power of design,"
Sethi said. "It re-designs the way
we look at something to improve
and highlight the resources in
Detroit."
The world record was broken
natural gas, oil and coal.
"Prices at the pump have
doubled (during Obama's
term)," Romney said. "We're
going to have North American
energy independence within
eight years. That's going to hap-
pen"
The second part of his pro-
posed plan focuses on job
training and would give states
federal grants to set up their
own training programs. He
emphasized the importance
of education, noting that Mas-
sachusetts, where he served as
governor from 2003-2007, has
one of the nation's best educa-
tion systems.
In the third part of his plan,
Romney chided Obama's inter-
national economic relations,
emphasizing that if he is elect-
ed, he would give America the
upper hand in trade relations
with China. The fourth part
of his plan involved instilling
faith in job creators and entre-
preneurs by working toward
achieving a balanced budget,
and his fifth step detailed his
plan to invest his personal
attention to small business.
"We need to champion small
business ... small business is
where jobs come from." Rom-
ney said. "The president's plan,
by the way, you know what it is.
He plans on raising taxes. He's
already said he's going to raise
taxes on some one million small
businesses. I'm going to lower
the tax rates. I'm going to cre-
ate jobs, he'll kill them."
In an attempt to appeal to
middle and lower class voters
- in light of the recent release
of video of a speech to donors
last May where he claimed that
47 percent of the population is
dependent on the government
and believes they are victims -
Romney insisted that he would
be attentive to the needs of
struggling Americans.
"We have people that are
hurting. We have people that
are disabled. We have people
that are poor and need our help
and will receive our help. We're
a charitable people. No nation
on earth is as charitable as the
faculty members in attendance,
and said honoring the victims is
important not just in showing
respect for the Sikh community,
but for all groups affected by
violence.
"We think this is not just
something that affected Sikhs,"
Mandair said. "It is very much
affecting ethnic minorities at
large, but it's about America
itself. So we'd like to really
discuss this at a very serious
level."
LSA sophomore Courtney
Green said she was inspired to
attend the vigil after receiving
an e-mail about the event, and
enjoyed seeing support from a
variety of organizations repre-
senting different backgrounds.
"What makes it so great is
the diversity in this country
and the willingness of support-
ing each other no matter what
our background is," Green said.
When the shooting happened
on Aug. 5, LSA senior Marisa
people of the United States of
America ... We're a compassion-
ate people." Romney said.
Romney also emphasized his
belief that Obama's health care
plan has been detrimental to
job growth and small business
prosperity, citing a survey in
which allegedly three-quar-
ters of small business owners
responded that the healthcare
plan discouraged them from
hiring.
"Obamacare is really exhibit
number one of the president's
political philosophy and that
is that government knows bet-
ter than people how to run
your lives, it is a view that
the government should stand
between you and your doctor,"
Romney said. "I believe in free
people pursuing their dreams. I
believe in freedom."
Romney continually refer-
enced patriotic ideals, citing the
founding fathers and arguing
that his own vision for America
stems fromhis faith in the Con-
stitution and what it stands for,
especially in limitingthe power
of government.
"'We take our inspiration
from the founding documents
- the Declaration of Indepen-
dence and the Constitution. We
believe the founders were right
when they said that our rights
came from God not from gov-
ernment"
Though the crowd appeared
to be mostly comprised of mid-
dle-aged and older attendees,
younger members of the crowd
were vocal and energized.
Michigan native Taylor
Smelser, 19, said he believes
Romney is the practical choice
for president, despite Obama's
propensity to excite younger
voters.
"I think Obama's a really
good motivational speaker, so
he naturally catches the atten-
tion of younger people but I'm
really into politics, so I look
beyond just the flash of it."
Smelser said. "(Romney) just
needs to keep getting out there
and keep stating his plan. I
mean he's got so much ammu-
nition with the economy."
Perera was visiting Northern
India. Though she is not Sikh,
the solidarity she saw during
her visit motivated her to honor
the victims at the University.
"Being here, just being
around students, students with
such a strong faith, it was just
beautiful," Perera said. "It was
so calm to see another side of it
to see the great things, the posi-
tive things that such'a negative
event can bring up."
Green said she felt the event
was effective in raising aware-
ness about hate crime and
injustice and was impressed
by the diversity of the crowd,
though noted she would like to
see greater attendance at future
events.
"I think that this is a great
start and this is how you start
spreading the word," Green
said. "We took pictures and we
can spread that on Facebook,
so its impact will definitely go
beyond just this."
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