OLD GOLD&BLACK WAKE FOREST UNIVERSIT Y
OPINION
LIFE
SPORTS
NEWS
VOL. 96, NO. 3
Put it in park: new rules on campus Page 3 Peter Kairoff, Renaissance man Page 4
F R I DAY, S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 01 2
oldgoldandblack.com
RNC, DNC platforms directly shape future of young voters
The week in campus crime Page 5
From the field to the microphone Page 9
Spotlight: Runner Anthony Marois Page 10
Latest fall shows hit the small screen Page 16 It’s getting hot in here: Bikram yoga Page 18
Angela Mazaris weighs in on Chickfil-A controversy Page 7 Is the 2012 election overrated? Page 7
See Chick-fil-A,Page 3
Meenu Krishnan and Ian Rutledge/Old Gold & Black
Though the Republican and Democratic conventions sought to energize their base in the two months before the election, they also hoped to appeal to youth voters on issues that matter to them.
Both parties present widely different paths for students BY MEENU KRISHNAN Editor-in-chief krism9@wfu.edu “Four more years!” “Fired up, ready to go!” “U.S.A, U.S.A!” These were the kinds of chants that greeted President Barack Obama as he strode onto the stage Sept. 6 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, to deliver his much anticipated nomination acceptance speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. “We don’t turn back,” Obama said. “We leave no one behind. We pull each other up.” The address capped four days of actionpacked convention events in downtown Charlotte, designed to energize Obama’s base and convince the American public of
his record on the economy, national security, healthcare, among many other issues. The DNC’s goals were clear from day one — foremost among them was to fundamentally distinguish their platform and agenda from that of the Republicans, who held their convention last week in Tampa. Beyond that end, the DNC sought to depict a narrative of where the nation was before Obama, where it went during his first term, and where it would go were he reelected. Bill Clinton’s nominating speech Sept. 5 alluded to the immense struggles faced by Obama upon assuming the presidency. “No president — no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years,” Clinton said. The convention also hoped to provide a personal portrayal of a president that many see as more aloof than some of his predecessors. Michelle Obama’s speech humanized
Obama, telling of when he used to pick her up for dates in a rusted car.“Being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals you,” Obama said in what has already become one of the most popular lines of her speech. No matter your party, though, one resounding lesson emerged from both the Republican and Democratic conventions: the tremendous importance of minority votes in this election, and in particular, the youth vote. Both parties, though with widely divergent visions for the country, sought to appeal to the youth vote. In this issue, we take a look at how the parties’ platforms stack up against each other. Most relevant for Wake Forest students, we look at what each of the candidates’ policies means for youth issues including student loans, health care, and minorities including women, LGBTQ, and ethnic groups.
See Conventions, Page 5