Tuesday November 6, 2012 year: 132 No. 129
the student voice of
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‘99 problems but Mitt ain’t 1’
Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen performed at an Obama rally and The Marshall Tucker Band performed at a Romney event.
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ANDREW HOLLERAN / Photo editor; TIM KUBICK / For the Lantern
President Barack Obama (left) speaks to a crowd at Nationwide Arena Nov. 5 during a final campaign event in Columbus. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (right) speaks at a crowd at Landmark Aviation Nov. 5 at a final campaign event in Columbus.
To the polls, Ohio 15,500 flock to Nationwide Arena to hear Obama, Jay-Z and Springsteen on the eve of Election Day
Romney rolls up in airplane to address Columbus crowd, pledges a brighter future for American people
ALLY MAROTTI Editor-in-chief marotti.5@osu.edu
CHRISTOPHER BRAUN Design editor braun.200@osu.edu
President Barack Obama came looking for his encore in Columbus Monday. But before he spoke to the crowd of about 15,500 at Nationwide Arena, Bruce Springsteen and rapper Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z, took up his fight. Springsteen wrote a campaign song for the president, and Jay-Z incorporated his lyrics into encouragements for the crowd to vote for Obama once again. “Can (he) get an encore? Do you want more?” Jay-Z sang. And Obama, who took the stage just after 4:30 p.m., said it was an honor to have both the singers with him on the same day. “Not only are they all on my iPod, and yes the president has an iPod, but it’s also because they both tell an American story,” Obama said. “They tell the story of what our country is but also what it should be and what it can be.” Jay-Z had most in the arena on their feet and they didn’t sit down when Obama began speaking of the change he has made and the battles he still needs to win. “I’m not ready to give up on the fight,” he said. “I’ve got a whole lot of fight left in me and I hope you do too.” After having visited Ohio State five times in the last two years and swarming a city with one of the biggest universities in the nation, Obama said one of the things he was unwilling to compromise on is the cost of a college education. “If the price of peace in Washington is cutting deals that are going to kick students off of financial aid … that’s not a price I’m willing to pay,” he said. “That’s not change, that’s surrender.” Obama touched on the dire state of the economy when he took office, calling it the “worst” economic situation in a generation, and the wars America was fighting in 2008. But now, he said, the economy has turned around, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are over or ending, Osama bin Laden is dead and al-Qaida is almost defeated.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney entered his final Columbus stop Monday, the day before Election Day, in an airplane. Romney spoke to a packed crowd at his “victory rally” at Landmark Aviation near the Port Columbus Airport about the fate of America if President Barack Obama is re-elected for a second term and painted his own plan for a better America. He said Obama promised change he did not create, and “accomplishing real change isn’t something I just talk about, but something I’ve already done and something I will continue to do as president of the United States with your help.” Introducing the Republican candidate was a tearful Ann Romney, who spoke about her husband’s, and her own, campaign journey. “This has been an experience of a lifetime to go across country and get to know the American people. It’s been humbling and a blessing in our life,” Ann Romney said. She also praised the role American women have played in the 2012 election and the importance of their place in educating America to a brighter future. Mitt Romney promised that if he takes office, instead of “(wasting) time complaining about his predecessor,” he will “spend effort trying to pass nonpartisan legislature” relating to jobs and growth with his five-part plan. He said he would take full advantage of energy resources including coal, gas and oil and increase drilling permits on federal lands and waters and advocate for the approval to open the Keystone pipeline in Canada to America. The candidate said he would also fight unfair trade practices by “designating China as a currency manipulator” that needs to “play by the rules.” Mitt Romney said he plans to train every worker with the skills needed to obtain a good job through better access to higher education. His fourth step is
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Snacks delivered to your Thomas Jefferson’s lineage linked to OSU door
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DANIELLE SEAMON Lantern reporter seamon.17@osu.edu
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GRANT GANNON / Lantern photographer
Jacqueline Yurkoski, a 1st-year OSU student and descendant of former president Thomas Jefferson.
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OSU students abroad face voting obstacles
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KAYLA BYLER Lantern reporter byler.18@osu.edu
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It’s not often when a branch from your family tree is a chapter in presidential history. Jacqueline Yurkoski’s genealogy links her as the great-great-great-great-great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. As a descendant of Madison Hemings, the alleged second son of Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the second-year in molecular genetics has participated in much of the recent research surrounding the historical relationship, including an oral history project with Monticello, Jefferson’s home, and an exhibit in the Smithsonian. Yurkoski’s family history links her as the greatgreat-great-great-great granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings. As a descendant of Madison Hemings, the alleged second son of Jefferson and Sally Hemings, Yurkoski has participated in some of the recent research surrounding the historical relationship.
Although her research in her genealogy is somewhat recent, Yurkoski explained that she has known her family’s history her entire life. Her interest in her origin piqued when she began to learn about the third U.S. president in elementary school. “I was very excited (when I found out about my relationship with Jefferson). It was never something I talked about at school or anything … obviously I didn’t brag about it,” Yurkoski said. “It makes you all antsy and jittery inside when you’re in class and you’re talking about a president, and you’re related to the president.” When Yurkoski began to reveal the significance of her bloodline to peers and teachers, she said the reactions varied, and defined it as “different strokes for different kinds of people.” Her friends, she said were excited and more accepting of the controversial relationship between Jefferson and Hemings. However, the adults’ reactions depended on their own feelings toward the former president. Once a high school history teacher
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For two Ohio State students, making sure their voice is heard on Election Day was an issue of transcontinental importance. “I wanted to make sure I could get my voice in there, even if it’s just one vote,” said Anna Irvine, a third-year in international studies and German. Irvine said via Skype she is studying abroad in Munich, Germany, more than 4,000 miles from Ohio, but still voted by absentee ballot in the 2012 presidential election. Elaina Gregg, a third-year in history of art and
Italian is studying abroad in Siena, Italy, and agreed that it is important to vote in this year’s presidential election. However, Gregg said she never received her absentee ballot in the mail. “It’s really a huge disappointment,” she said. “I’ve never not voted. This is something that is important to me and it’s something that I can’t control.” Gregg said via Skype she requested an absentee ballot to be sent to her residence in Siena more than a month before the election, along with seven other students from Ohio in her program. “Almost everybody did not get their ballot,” she said. “We all put our request in right away. We should have had them.” Gregg said she and other students sought advice from advisers in their program, Siena Italian Studies,
and were told they should continue to wait for their ballots to come in the mail. “We just kept waiting and figured they would be here,” she said, but the day before Election Day they have still not received their ballots. There are 449 OSU students studying abroad this semester, said Office of International Affairs spokeswoman Maureen Miller. Any voter registered in Ohio can vote absentee. However, requests for absentee ballots must have been received by local county board of elections by noon on Nov. 3, postmarked by Monday or returned prior to the close of the polls on Election Day. Ballots must be received no later than 10 days after the
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