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Show Wednesday, 27,2008 weanesaay, August august /./, 2 rw-i DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE www.dailyutahchronide.com The University o fUtah's I n d e p e n d e n t Student Voice Since 1 8 9 0 Vol. 118 I No. 4 I ©2008 Young voters flock to Obama Students Obama to victory in November is clearly the youth vote. The Obama Appeal Hinckley Institute of Politics Director Kirk Jowers said several factors contribute to the appeal Obama has among young voters and college students in particular. "Barack Obama is one of the most exciting candidates we've had certainly in our students' lifetime and, I think, in my lifetime," Jowers said. "He's charismatic he's young, he's good looking and he gives the best speeches. But I think, even beyond all of those things, he's run a very populist type of campaign." As examples, Jowers points to Obama's decision to first announce his selection of a running mate via text message to millions of predominantly younger supporters and the visual settings he chooses for his speeches, with hundreds of mostly young faces arrayed on the platform PHOTO COURTESY D^EW CONRAD behind him. "It creates this kind of rock star Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention, in Denver, was well received among those in attendance. College students feeling and it gives younger people and supporters crowded the Pepsi Center to hear her speech. some empowerment because they time since the primary campaigns mitted bases of support Some have David Servatius see others who are so excited," Jowended and both of the major party said that this group was the key to STAFF WRITER ers said. his triumph over Sen. Hillary Clin- nominees were selected. Erica Williams, policy and advocaAmong all voters, the race has esPollsters, pundits and the voting ton in the primary election and the public seem to agree on at least one reason he has been considered the sentially tightened to a dead heat cy manager with Campus Progress, thing about this year's presidential front runner going into the general in most recent polls. A CNN sur- said as her group has been workvey taken over the weekend had it ing with college students across the race-among college students from election against Sea John McCain. deadlocked at 47 percent apiece for country she has seen firsthand the coast to coast, there is something Obama and McCain, and an Aug. 19 phenomenal level of enthusiasm and powerfully appealing about Sen. BaLeading in the polls rack Obama. In April, at the height of the pri- Wall Street Journal/NBC poll put the support on campuses for Obama. Campus Progress is the youth outEven in Utah, traditionally the mary campaign. Alloy Media + race at 45 percent to 42 percent for reach arm of the Center for Amerireddest of the red states, the 2008 Marketing's 2008 College Explorer Obama. However, a separate Wall Street can Progress, a Washington think Democratic nominee has captured report showed that of the 1,554 U.S. the imagination and unleashed the college students ages 18-30 that were Journal/NBC poll done in late July tank. The staff works closely with collective energy of this particular surveyed, Obama had the support of showed that among voters ages students to train and support them demographic in a way not seen since more than 43 percent of all respon- 18-34, Obama is trouncing McCain in various types of campus activism and is positioned to observe whatEugene McCarthy's failed 1968 bid dents—double the level of support by a whopping 24 point margin. for either McCain, who captured 21 for the White House. In contrast, among voters age 65 ever political trends exist at the coland older in the same survey, McCa- lege level. Poll after poll confirms college stu- percent, or Clinton, at 18 percent. dents and young voters are among Obama's appeal among younger in is favored by 10 percentage points, Obama's strongest and most com- voters hasn't diminished at all in the indicating that the engine driving See OBAMA Page 8 Draper fire still burning Isabella Bravo STAFF WRITER A wildfire that spread through Draper's Corner Canyon threatened more than 53 homes on Monday night, but U students who live in the area are trying to stay optimistic, even while the nearby wildfire continues uncontained. "It is scary to think about, because you wake up one day, go off to work or school and then by the time you come home you see this mountain on fire," said Tatshiana Sanchez, a junior. "Half of the houses have been evacuated and it is just scary to know what will happen next and if it will be OK." The fire started on a hillside north of Corner Canyon in Draper City. High winds, low humidity, high temperature, dry brush and grass carried the fire 600 acres west to the homes along the east bench within a few hours. Kathy Pollock, the Forest Service spokeswoman for the Corner Canyon fire, said the fire was moving west downhill, being quickly pushed by the wind. "When fire moves, there is a possibility ash could go into someone's yard or roof. If there is anything at all that could burn, it will," Pollock said. The evacuation order issued by the city lasted four hours for just under 60 households. Although the order was lifted at 8 p.m. Monday, 112 structures in the area were still at risk on Tuesday. "We have about 160 people out. there today. 140 are out (on the mountain working on containment) or working with the helicopter," said Pollock. "Also, there are about 120 involving (United Fire Authority) engines. We still have structure-protect ion engines as a precaution." The UFA and the Forest Service are working under a unified command to stop the fire. Their key objective now is to protect the nearby homes and buildings. The UFA specifically watches the nearby neighborhoods. "Our role has been to protect the homes. They actually saved a few homes in Big Hollow throughout the night, while looking for spot fires," said Captain Jay Fearnley, UFA's spokesman, about Monday night's efforts. The containment crews and fire personnel are not the only ones on the mountainside. "We have not been evacuated, however, we can see flames from my bedroom window," said Lacey Jorgensen, a freshman in political science. "Whenever there's a gust of wind, we can see it flare up." While the fire crews work to contain the fire, U students and their families are taking precautions, "The fire was only about two miles from my house," said Mayra Silva, a freshman in business. "I was not evacuated, but I was informed to stay indoors so I wouldn't breathe all that smoke. I decided to water the lawn just as a precaution. I actually went up the mountain to get closer to where the fire was and it was pretty impressive. It was hard to breathe and the flames were right above me." "The only real way that this fire has affected me is that it has made me think about what I would do if South Mountain (the ridge south of Corner Canyon) caught on fire," said Jonathan Bowen, a junior in finance. "It's important for us to have an evacuation plan because if a fire ever starts, the whole thing would burn up in an instant, putting a lot of people and their homes in jeopardy in a very short time." Although the city lifted the evacuation order, Pollock stresses the importance of preparedness. "They need to be prepared. They need to know what they are going to take." Bowen believes the city could do more in the future to prevent these wildfires endangering homes. "In light of this incident, I hope that Draper City will take more notice of the amount of dead and dry bushes, grass or weeds and will require them to be cut down and removed from residential areas in order to prevent more incidents like what we saw on Monday." The environmental conditions help spread the fire, but "firestarts" sometimes have preventable origins. "The public has been excep- See FIRE Page 3 SPORTS: OPINION: Do Michael Gina Lea Nickl says stu- Phelps'eight gold * •;;:'• dents should take admedals make • ; : •' vantage of family conhim the greatest nections to propel their athlete in history? careers and shouldn't See the Great Defear the nepotism label. bate on page 10. See page 4 rally for McCain Jed Layton STAFF WRITER DENVER—Max Loveless is not one of the thousands of university students supporting Barack Obama's Democratic bid for the White House. Instead, Loveless is promoting Republican candidate John McCain at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, amid a sea of college-aged Obama fans. "Not ah1 young people are supporting Barack Obama," said Loveless, a junior majoring in history. "Our goal is to show that a lot of young students are in support of John McCain." Loveless is with six other students representing the U College Republicans and is volunteering in Denver for the convention. The U students have been in Denver since Saturday helping the Colorado GOP by handing out flyers, stickers, posters and letting people know the student voice for McCain exists. "Since Colorado is a swing state, we felt we needed to come and help during this convention," said Heather Berg, chairwoman for the U College Republicans. "All of the kids here feel that we need to show that John McCain has a grassroots movement that is just as strong, actually stronger, than Obama's." Alexis Zollinger, a sophomore in international studies and French, said initially she was worried about coming to the DNC as a College Republican. "I was worried that I would be surrounded by a bunch of Democrats that wouldn't want us to be here and would See PROTEST Page 9 Humanities building now open for classes Lana Groves ASST. NEWS EDITOR As students were preparing to rush back to class for the start of the Fall Semester, philosophy professor Lex Newman was just finishing his move into the new Tanner Humanities Building. Newman said he is glad for the move because the new building has better heating LUCAS ISLEY/Tttf toily UtahOvmidf and air conditioning than his previous of- Despite construction delays, the Tanner Humanites building is now open to nee in OSH, but he students and faculty. wishes they could have made the transition sooner. pus that has gone up as fast as it has," she "I think the building (is) fantastic, but said. "These guys have been so fabulous. because of delays, here we are in the start They're there all day long (to push) evof the semester and it's not complete," erything through." Newman said. Camp also said contractors stayed right The Humanities Building, which is lo- on track with the S16 million budget. cated east of the LNCO Building, will The 52,000 square foot building will be house faculty from the history, philosophy officially announced at the ribbon cutand international studies departments, as ting Oct. 3. well as the Tanner Humanities Center. Newman said he can't speak for the The new building opened a week late rest of the philosophy department, but due to manufacturing problems with the that he likes the new location, t glass work on the main staircase. "Having to start school today (was The glass broke during delivery and frustrating), but that's one of those cirthe building inspector did not think it cumstances that happens," he said. "We was safe for use until the piece had been now all have good heating, air conditionreplaced, said Heidi Camp, assistant dean ing and fantastic lobbies." for the CoUege of Humanities. The move from OSH to the new HuDespite the delay, Camp said the build- manities Building was not a big differing will be a "treasure" for faculty to ence for philosophy professors, but facwork in together. ulty from the history department are "They're (now) in a state-of-the-art excited about the change. building," she said. "We have faculty "It's good because the overall location now that can talk with their peers. (It is is more central on campus and I'm closer a) much more collegial set up with more to colleagues in other departments like library spaces and lots of common public philosophy and those in LNCO and OSH," space so students can talk." said Peter von Sivers, a history professor. Troy North, site manager, said the con- "We had our classrooms all on the upper struction crew managed to complete the (part of lower) campus. It was all uphill building in the set period of time despite with my laptop and my bag." having to add an extra floor upon request. The history department was originally "Near the end of the design plans, they located at Carlson Hall, which is situated asked us to add a fourth floor, which we between Rice-Eccles Stadium and the S.J. added without an extension to the proj- Quinney CoUege of Law. ect (timetable)," North said. "The (history) department now has Contractors finished the building very nice seminar and conference rooms, close to schedule compared to other and it's so much easier to park," he said. projects on campus, Camp said.1 "It's one of the few buildings on cam- See TANNER Page 3 \ |