News 2A - Wednesday October 31, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 40 . ..... ........ PLATES AND POLITICS BRINGS OPPOSING OPINIONS TOGETHER Students enjoy food, debate + tol#idg 0aiIy 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com JOSEPH.LICHTERMAN RACHEL GREINETZ EditorinChief Business Manager 734-418-4115 ext. 1252 734-418-4115 ext. 1241 lichtern, njmichigandailycom rgrin@michigandaily.com Plates and Politics seeks to merge politics with food, a combination that yields fruitful discussion, LSA sophomore Samantha Schmitz, the group's presi- dent, said. With Election Day just around the corner, the group 'seeks to educate its members about prominent issues and policies in an attempt to cul- tivate informed student vot- ers leading into the election on Tuesday. Schmitz said as the club's president she works to establish a com- fortable atmosphere to talk about political views and explore civic engagement through sharing meals. "It is a place where stu- dents can share thoughts on a particular political topic in a safe and welcoming environment while enjoy- ing a home cooked meal," Schmitz said. Schmitz said she finds that food brings together disparate opinions no matter. how polarized the national political discourse is. "Politics can definitely be a dividing factor between people," Schmitz said. "We judge others based on their political stance on an issue rather than discussing why they feel the way they do about a topic. Food is a great way to bridge those differ- ences in feelings about poli- tics. Who can really get mad at someone else over a bowl of chicken noodle soup?" This year, most of the group's monthly meetings have been dominated by election conversations, but the group plans to share their knowledge with other students outside of the orga- nization. "The best way we've been able to help other students learn about the upcom- ing election is by word of mouth," Schmitz said. -MOLLYBLOCK Nesrosm 734-418-4115uopt.3 Corrections corectibns@michiandaily.com Arts Section arts@michigandaily.com SportsSection sports@michigandaily.com Display Sales display@michigandaily.com Online Sales aoneieads@michigandaily.com, News Tips news@mihigandaily.com Lettersto the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com Photography Section photo@michigandaily.com Classifed Sales ctassified@michigandaily.com Finance finance@nmichigandailycom, Art and Design freshman Vasilisa Dyakonova picks out yarn on a trip organized by Art and Design Senior Morgan Beckett. Ann Arbor art store closings have made buying supplies difficult. CRIME NOTES Dine, dent and ditch CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES Port Huron Film showing WHERE: University Golf Course WHEN: Monday at about 11:35 p.m. WHAT: A truck damaged a parked vehicle at a tailgating area, University Police reported. The offender drove away before identification. Aching for a laptop WHERE: University Hospital WHEN: Monday at about 12:25 p.m. WHAT: A University-owned laptop was taken from the first level of the hospital between Oct.12 and 14, University Police reported. The scent of the pot WHERE: Northwood IV WHEN: Monday at about 8:05 p.m. WHAT: There was a smell of smoke reported that was determined to originate from apot left on a stove, University Police reported. The resident shut off the stove upon returning home. No damaged reported. Statement Conference WHAT: "A New Insur- gency: ThePort Huron Statement in its Time and Ours is a three-day confer- ence that marks the 50th anniversary of The Port Huron Statement, a historic 1962 manifesto of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS, and an inspiration for the name of The Michgian Daily's newsmagazine, The Statement. Keynote peakers include Jounrnalist Ruth Rosen, a professor emerita at the University of Cali- fornia at Davis and Activist Tom Hayden, a Daily alum and SDS founder. WHO: Teaching and Technology Collaborative WHEN: Today through Friday WHERE: Various locations on campus WHAT: Author Mina Shin will dicuss the representa- tion of ethnic minorities in South Korean cinema, and how demographic changes are represented in film. WHO: Nam Center for Korean Studies WHEN: Today at 4 p.m. WHERE: School of Social Work Building room 1636 CORRECTIONS " An Oct.26 article in the Daily ("CSG contemplates altered policies in wake of election") misrepresented the maximum amount of funds a student can contribute to a Central Student Government campaign. The maximum is $150 per student; a single student could not donate $950 to campaigns as suggested in the article. TH REE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW TODAY A Fla. mother is suing her daughter's daycare after determining that a used condom that the 3-year old girl placed in her mouth tested postive for Gonorrhea, The Huffington Post reported. The young girl found the condom on the daycare's playground. Author of the Port Huron Statement Tom Hayden, musing on Mitt Romney and atrip to a gun range in rural Pa in a special elections issue. >> FOR MORE, SEE THE STATEMENT INSIDE 3 A 14-year-old reportedly died of a caffeine overdose after she drank two cans of Monster, Popular Science reported. The Journal of Caffeine Research says overdose for adults is roughly 10 grams of caffeine. There is usually 1 to 2 mg of caffeine per drink. EDITORIALSTAFF AndrewWeiner Managing Editor anweiner@michigandailycom BethtanytBimn ManagngewsErediton biron@michigandailycm SENIORN EITORS:aeyGlaEton, HaleyGoldberRay I hGodmit,h Pe earyenAdam enire, ASSISTA NEWsED I 1ORS: Katie Burke, Anna Rozenberg, Peter Shahin, Taylor Wzner Timothy Rabb and opinioneditors@michiandaily.com Adrienne Roberts Editorial Page Editors SENIOR EDITORIALPAGE EDITORS:MelanieKruvelis,Harsha Nahata,VanessaRychlinski ASSISTANT EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Jesse Klein, Sarah Skaluba Stephen Nesbitt Managing SportstEditor nesbitt@mikhigandaity.com SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS: Everett Cook, Ben Estes, Zach Helfand, Luke Pasch NealRothschild,MattSlovin ASSSTA NTSPORTSEDITORS:StevnBraMchaelLaurila, MattSpelich, ColleenThomasLiz.'Vuklih,el Wsemaen Leah Burgin Managing Arts Editor burgin@michigandaily.eom SENIOR ARTS EDITORS: Elliot Alpern, DavidTao,Kayla Upadhyaya AssIsTANT ARTS EDITORS:JacobAxelrad, LarenCaserta, Matt Easton, Kelly Etz, Erin Kirkland and photo@michigandailyaom Alden Reiss Managing Photo Editors SENIORPHOTO EDITORS;TerraMolengraff,ToddNeedle ASSISTANTPHOTO EDITORS: AdamGlanzman, Austen Hufford, Allison Kruske MareneLacasse,AdamSchnitzer Alicia Kovalcheckand design@michigandaily.com Amy Mackens Managing Design Editors DylantCintiand statement@michigandaily.com Jennifer Xu Magazine Editors DEPUTY MAGAZINE EDITOR: Zach Bergson, Kaitlin Wiliams HannahPoindexter copy chief copydesk@michigandaily.com SENIOR COPY EDITORS: Josephine Adams, Beth Coplowitz BUSINESSSTAFF AshleyKaradsheh Associate Eusiness Manager Sean Jackson Sales Manager Sophie Greenbaum Production Manager ConnorByrd Finance Manager Meryl Hulteng National Account Manager The Michigan Daily(ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday duringthe fall and wnerntermsbysudents at the0Unversity nf Mihia.One nopy is avaalefree,,ofScharge tatoeads.Additionaln iesmaybe ickdupat teaily'oficefr$2Su iptiono fall term, start in September,via U.s.mailare $110. Winter term Oanuary through April)is $1S, yearlong (September through April) is $195. University affiliates are subject toa reduced subscriptionrate.On-campssubscriptionsfortalltermare$3.Subscriptionsmust be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is amember of The Associated Press and The Associated Collegiate Press. $yria activists report 23 dead outside Damascus A dea BEI by Syr tanks 1 a resti Damas 18 peoj fighter with said. The Douma left res huge e their h bodies, eos pos Scen those I have g rebels dent B bout 150 daily gains on the ground, and Assad's forces have responded with ths reported in overwhelming air power. In the past weeks, anti-regime recent weeks activists say about 150 people have been killed a day in fighting. of uprising Since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011, they say RUT (AP) - Airstrikes 35,000 have died. ian jets and shells from Tuesday's airstrikes came a eveled a neighborhood in dayafterwhatactivistscalledthe ve city near the capital of heaviest and most widespread cus on Tuesday, killing bombing campaign nationwide, ple, and at least five rebel on what was to be the final day s died nearby in clashes of an internationally sanctioned regime troops, activists truce that never took hold. The death toll for what was airstrikes on the city of supposed to be a four-day cease- a, northeast of the capital, fire ending Monday exceeded idents scampering over a 500. xpanse of rubble andusing Activists speculated that the sands to dig up mangled government's heavy reliance on according to activist vid- air power reflected its inability to ted online. roll back rebel gains, especially es of vast destruction like in the north of the country near from Douma on Tuesday the border with Turkey, where rown more common as rebels have control of swathes of seeking to topple Presi- territory. ashar Assad have made The international community remains at a loss about how to stop the Syria violence. The U.S. and other Western and Arab nations have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran continue to back him. In the latest fighting after nightfall Tuesday, the 'Britain- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 18 civilians were killed in an airstrike and tank fire Tuesday in the Hajari- yeh neighborhood in the suburb of Douma, northeast of Damas- cus. The dead included four women and five children, the group said, adding that the toll could rise as residents were still searching through the rubble. Five rebel fighters were also killed in clashes with regime forces elsewhere in Douma, the group said. Amateur videos posted online showed a deep, rubble-filled crater in the middle of what appeared to be a poor neighbor- hood, with many walls collapsed in the blast. Men were seen chanting "God is great!" while pulling a man- gled body from the rubble in one video. They used their hands to dig through cinder blocks and cement dust in another to uncov- er another dead body. In yet another video, a man standing in the destruction yells at the camera, "These are the accomplishments of Lakhdar Brahimi," referring to the inter- national envoy who proposed the recent, failed cease-fire. Regime airstrikes also col- lapsed buildings in the rebel- held northern city of Maaret al-Numan, which straddles a key supply route from the capital to Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a main front in the civil war: Assad's regime has been hammering away at Maaret al- Numan, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Aleppo, with heavy airstrikes since it fell to rebels on Oct. 10. One amateur video purport- ing to show the aftermath of an airstrike on Tuesday showed a man holding up the dead body of a small girl in a red and white shirt and baby blue pants. Other videos showed men carrying bloodied women and children from destroyed buildings. The Observatory said the day's airstrikes on the city killed at least seven people, four of them children. One video showed the bodies of three girls wrapped in white shrouds. Nearby, a man dripped water on the face of a dead older man with a white beard, saying: "Go to heaven, dad. May God take revenge." The Observatory said at least one rebel fighter was also killed in clashes south of the city, and regime forces were trying to bring in reinforcements from further south. Activist claims and videos could not be independently veri- fied because of restrictions on reporting in Syria, but the vid- eos appeared genuine and cor- responded with other Associated Press reporting on the events depicted. Violence also flared elsewhere in and around Damascus. The Observatory said missiles fired from a fighter jet struck the capital's Jobar neighborhood -,a rare hit in the capital's munici- pal area. Most of the fighting around Damascus for the past few months has been in sub- urbs and outskirts, where rebels have managed to challenge the regime. Syria's state news agency said an "armed terrorist group" assassinated a high-ranking air force general. Maj. Gen. Abdul- lah Mahmoud al-Khalidi was gunned down while getting out of his car in the mostly Kurdish neighborhood of Rukn Eddine in Damascus. The government views the rebels as terrorists and accuses them of being foot soldiers in a foreign plot to destroy Syria. I GO NLI N BEFORE STAND IN LINE DON'T WAIT UNTIL ELECTION DAY, TUESDAY, NOV. 6, TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU SHOULD BE VOTING... GO ONLINE: WWW. MICHIGANwOV/VOTE THE MICHIGAN.GOV/VOTE WEBSITE WILLTELL YOU WHERE YOUR POLLING PLACE IS LOCATED AND YOUR REGISTRATION STATUS. YOU CAN ALSO VIEW A SAMPLE BALLOT SPECIFIC TO THE PRECINCT IN WHICH YOU CURRENTLY RESIDE. WHY GO ONLINE BEFORE ELECTION DAY? " YOU MAY NOT BE REGISTERED IN ANN ARBOR " YOU MOVED SINCE YOU LAST VOTED GO ONLINE OR SCAN THIS OR CODE TO CHECK YOUR POLLING PLACE ON A MOBILE DEVICE. 4 0 S I t * A