Colorado could play major role in election with electoral votes

KRISTEN CATALANOTTO NEWS EDITOR KMC723@CABRINI EDU

The state of Colorado could play a key role is who wins Nov. 2 presidential election. The state is waiting to see if Amendment 36 will pass. The Amendment could split the state's electoral votes instead of giving all nine to the candidate who wins the popular vote. If the act were in place during the 2000 election than Bush would have lost three electoral votes therefore giving the presidency to Al Gore. Those trying to pass the bill feel it will give the voters more f a voice and will make sure their vote counts more. Opponents feel it will leave the candidates simply campaigning for a single electoral vote that may be up for grabs. There are currently more republicans than democrats in Colorado. If the Amendment passes than it will take affect immediately, according to CBS News.

Government cracking down on spyware

The federal government is cracking down on spyware for computer users. The United States House of Representatives passed two bills last week to try and deter the makers of spyware programs. Many are concerned that the bills were brought up too later for anything to be done. Many senators and representatives are busy running election campaigns and the bills will more than likely be pushed back until next years. Spyware can cause computers to crash and allow others to take personal information from consumers hard drives. Microsoft has vowed to take part in lawsuits going after those who make spyware, according to MSNBC.

Production continues on Reeve’s movie deterred from voting because they believe that their votes will not affect the election. Presidential candidate Al Gore won the popular vote with 50,992,335 votes over opponent George W. Bush, who had 50,455,156 votes; however, Bush was able to claim the presidency by winning the Electoral College—after his success in Florida, Bush had successfully gained the majority needed to take the election.

The Electoral College is a weighted voting system in which each state is assigned a specific number of votes in accordance with its’population. In every state, each political party offers a “slate of electors”; a list of individuals devoted to their presidential candidate and equal in number to that of the state’s electoral votes. On Election Day, voters in each state cast their ballots for the party “slate of electors” that are representing their choice for president and vice president. The party slate that wins the most votes in the state becomes that state’s electors; therefore, whichever presidential ticket receives the majority of the votes in a state wins all the electoral votes of that state.

Croce disagrees with those who think that their votes will not affect the overall outcome of the election. “Your vote counts because it chooses the Electoral College, which determines who will be president,” Croce said. “It’s foolish if 18 to 24-year-olds don’t realize the kind of impact we’d have on the election if everyone our age voted.” Croce urges young American voters to take the initiative and appropriately educate themselves by thoroughly researching each of the candidate’s campaigns to ensure conversant decisions. “The ends are the same. The means are what you need to focus on,” Croce said.

An animated movie that Christopher Reeve had been working on during the time of his death will continue with production. The actor passed away on Sunday, Oct. 10 due to a heart attack. Reeve was directing the movie “Yankee Irving” and worked primarily from his house via a computer and videoconferencing system. The production company has not yet decided who will take over as director and is still waiting to cast speaking roles for the animated characters, according to Reuters.

Supreme Court to hearlandmark case

The Supreme Court decided on Tuesday, Oct. 12 that they will hear two controversial cases dealing with the Ten Commandments being displayed in government buildings. The cases come from Texas and Kentucky and the court will court will decided the case that is being battled between the Firth and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the New York Times.

Crocodile attacks in Australia

In Australia a 60-year old woman jumped on top of a 12 foot crocodile in order to save a 34-year old man that was being attacked by the crocodile. The man was camping and was woken up by the crocodile dragging him out of his tent. Once the woman jumped on top of the crocodile she was then attacked herself. Both individuals had minor injuries, according to MSNBC.

Mask sales may predict election

The online company buycostumes.com says they can tell based on mask sales who will win the presidential election. President Bush masks were leading in sales until the debates started. Bush masks have dropped a few percentage points while Sen. Kerry's have gone up since the debates. The website did research looking back at past presidential elections and masks sales. They found that each time there was an election then winner sold more masks, according to MSNBC.