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Show 3 NEWS www.doilyutahchronlcle.com • Thursday, November 6,2008 ^ Blacks feel significance of Obama victory Jed Layton HINCKLEY INSTITUTE JOURNALISM PROGRAM PHOENIX—Looking out of his taxi cab window, driver Judge Mabry's smile would not leave his face. He hit four red lights in a row, was cut off twice and almost ran into a garbage bin in the middle of his lane while driving around Wednesday morning. Nothing could upset him today, the Phoenix native said, because in a few months President-elect Barack Obama will be living in the White House. "I have been listening to the news all morning and every time they say Obama will be the next president, I can't help but shout for joy," he said. At the end of a historic election season, Obama was elected the first black president of the United States on Tuesday night. Obama won 349 electoral votes to Sen. John McCain's 163—as of Wednesday, Missouri and North Carolina were still too close to call. The historic meaning of the election was not lost on Phoenix's black population, said Tyjon Wyrick, afinancialconsultant from Phoenix. "Yesterday was an important day for our community. A lot of us think this is bigger than Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech,1" said Wyrick. While most blacks are proud MkJlNG/WNCKlCrMTIWTC JOURNALISM PROGRAM of Obama for challenging the norm and breaking barriers, Rita Young celebrates the results of the presidential election Tuesday night in they also deserve a pat on the Chicago. back for coming out to vote, said Eleesha Reavis, a cross- ing—take me for example, this and we helped Obama make ing guard from Phoenix. was the first election I had history." The black vote was es"Honestly, African-Amer- voted in for years," she said. icans are not the best at vot- "But this year, we came out sential for Obama because the majority of white voters made up 13 percent of Tuesselected McCain, CNN exit day's voters. Obama obtained polls indicated. McCain ob- 95 percent of their vote, comtained 55 percent of the white pared to just 48 percent of vote, compared to Obama, white votes. According to who only won 43 percent. But Gallup polls, the last time Obama made up lost ground a president won the White by winning the black vote 95 House without also winning percent to McCain's 4 per- the majority of white voters was Bill Clinton in 1992. cent. Joelle George, a waitress in The black vote was especially profound in key swing Phoenix, attended an election states such as Florida, Ohio night watch party in downand Pennsylvania—all won town Phoenix. She said the by Obama. In each state, the atmosphere there was one of Illinois senator lost the ma- gratitude, joy and excitement. jority of the white vote. In "When I got home, I got Florida, Obama obtained only down on my knees and 42 percent of the white vote, thanked God for his help," she according to CNN exit polls, said. "African-Americans have but because he obtained an wanted something like this for overwhelming 96 percent of a long time. We are lucky— a the black vote, he was able to great man, a great politician take the state. Blacks make up and leader, and he is black. 11 percent of Florida's voters. In Pennsylvania, blacks See REACTION Page 5 Panel: '08 was Obama's time Dan Treasure STAFF WRITER After a sizeable victory for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Tuesday night, thousands of pundits nationwide poured over the results searching for trends and patterns that led to Obama's decisive capture of the presidency. Utah pollster Dan Jones said many people claim this was Obama's time to shine, and that he would have won regardless of his opponent or Bush's approval rating. Jones, a U professor who co-owns the polling firm Dan Jones & Associates, voiced in on the election at the Hinckley Institute of Politics along with the Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute, and J. Quin Monson, assistant director for Brigham Young University's Study of Elections and Democracy Center. All three agreed that the nation has witnessed one of the most well-run campaigns with one of the most capable and eloquent candidates at the helm. Reminiscing back to the 1960s, Jones said he has rarely seen a more likeable candidate. "I saw the same enthusiasm in young voters. as I did in i960 with President John F. Kennedy," Jones said. "He gave people hope and excitement about the electoral process." Besides influencing people through his words, Jowers remarked that Obama was able KATE KELLY/rtie Bail/ Utah (hranklt Dan Jones, a professor of political science, and Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinkey Institute of Politics, analyze the outcome of the 2008 election. to invoke a sense of security in voters, despite his somewhat limited experience on Capitol Hill. "Between Democrats and Republicans, he was the most confident candidate on the economy," said Jowers, who supported McCain. Freshman engineering student Brendan Willis hopes Obama can reverse the economic downturn but thinks there are higher priorities to address. "I first hope that he improves our relationship with the other nations in the world," Willis said. "The economy kind of comes a tad-bit See PANEL Page 5 New device sees through walls Rosemary Campbell STAFF WRITER LUCAS \SLEY/Iht Daily Utah Chronictt The Utah marching band practices two hours a day, five days a week to prepare for its performances at the football games. Band members said they look forward to playing against BYU each year. Marchin' Utes gear up for BYU Brandon Fausett STAFF WRITER A month before the football game against BYU, members of the U's marching band grow out their beards and some girls refuse to shave their legs. "Most of (the guys) have beards for the BYU game," said Megan Ashby, a junior in chemistry who plays clarinet. "It's just this contest we have in the band." Through rain, hail and snow, the U's marching band goes to all home football games to lend support to the team and boost the morale of the fans. With practices five days a week for two hours each day, marching band students have to keep time to the music, do the correct steps and still follow their director. "It takes more time than I expected, but it's also a lot of fun," said Zaz McDonald, a freshman in music education. Brian Sproul, director of the marching band, said the band puts in about two hours of practice for every minute in the football game half-time show. The band plays a lot in all home and instate games, and will be sending a small pep band Nov. 15 for the football game against San Diego State. About 120 band members sit through every game memorizing cheers and game songs. "Last year, we played in the snowy games," Ashby said. "(We just) wear layers and hats. Playing is kind of hard in the cold because your fingers are cold and it's hard to hit the right notes." See BAND Page 5 $10 Joey Wilson wants to see through walls some day With the help of new research, he might get his chance. Using the same technology as a CAT scan, Wilson, a graduate student in engineering, is developing a prototype made of simple radios that can detect movement within a certain range. Last February, Wilson began helping Neal Patwari, a professor in computer science and electrical and computer engineering, develop this prototype. Patwari had already developed the imaging part of the device. Together with Wilson he was able to work out kinks and add a layer track movement. "We've been thrilled with the results we've got and the interest people have shown in the prototype," Wilson said. "There's always a way to make it better and more accurate." Wilson said they hope the small radios will eventually allow them to see detail through walls, which would enable them to be used in emergencies such as fires, hostage situations and other circumstances when it is not safe to enter a building. The radios would be attached to the outside of a structure and convey information about the location of a fire, where people are located in a building and how they are moving. Right now, the radios are only able to track movements. Wilson attaches the radios to plastic and vinyl pipes and sets them up in a square. Anyone walking within the perimeter is tracked, and the information is transmitted into a computer image where a bright spot on the screen depicts the moving object. Xuehong Mao, an engineering graduate student, said although Wilson's demo still has a long way to go, the idea behind it is fantastic and has a lot of useful applications. Wilson took the prototype to the MobiCom 2008 ACM Student Research Competition in San Francisco on Sept. 15 to compete with other engineering students worldwide. Wilson, the only student from the U to participate in this international competition, won the competition against 29 other prototypes. With his work earning awards and fame, Wilson has started his own company, Xandam, and is working to perfect the design. Wilson said he dreams of developing a number of wireless products like his current one and market them out to various companies. Wilson still has another two to three years left of school, but he said he hopes to continue working on this project to develop and improve it. "There's a lot of work* that still needs to be done," he said. r.campbell@ chronicle.utah.edu STUDENT RUSH Friday and Saturday" November 817:30pm KINGSBURY HALL M 4 r v *. t s Tickets must be purchased in person at the Kingsbury Hall box office from 10:00 am to showtime. Limit: Two tickets per valid U of U student ID. SUBJECTTO AVAILABILITY. No refunds or exchanges. |j§ TICKETS: 581-7100 | www.kingtix.com ZIONS BANK" GEORGE S. AND DOLORES DORS ECCLES 1; N n A T 1 r> N E 3 W - ^T A F THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH U KINGSBURY i |
