2A --- NEWS THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS quote of the day "Do you ever get the feeling that the only reason we have elections is to find out if the polls were right?" Robert Orben fact of the day The final Gallup 2008 pre-election poll shows Barack Obama with a $53% to 42% advantage over John McCain among likely voters. When undecided voters are allocated proportionately to the two candidates to better approximate the actual vote, the estimate becomes 55% for Obama to 44% for McCain. www.gallup.com on the record The KU Public Safety Office reported that: Someone threw a smokers' outpost at a screen door in K.K. Amira Scholarship Hall, incurring $20 in damage. In Hashinger Hall, an individual was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia after a marijuana pipe was discovered. In Ellsworth Hall, an alleged assailant was charged with battery after punching someone. Two citations were issued when one individual supplied another with a fake driver's license in order to enter Corbin Hall. An unknown suspect jumped on the roof of a vehicle parked on the KU campus, incurring $1,500 in damage. The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of The Kansan are 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, 1435 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045. et cetera The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4967) is published daily during the school year except Saturday, Sunday, fall break, spring break and exams. Weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Periodical postage is paid in Lawrence, KS 65044. Annual subscriptions by mail are $120 plus tax. Student subscriptions are paid through the student activity fee. Postmaster: Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall, 1435 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045 media partners KUJH For more news, go to KUJH- Sunflower Broadband Channel 31 in Lawrence. The student-produced news airs at 5:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m, and 11:30 p.m, every Monday through Friday. Also, check KUJH online at tv.Ku.edu. KJHK is the student voice in radio. Each day there is an event that talk shows and other content made for students, by students, at Wheaton Rock'n'roll or reggae, sports or special events, KJHK 90.7 is for you. Good things come to those who wait Tyler Cammack, Lenexa senior, and Nick Frisby, graduate student, wait in line to vote Monday morning at the Douglas County Courthouse in downtown Lawrence. The two said they had been waiting in line for about 25 minutes. "I've been waiting for this for months," said Cammack, 21, who wasn't old enough to vote in the 2004 presidential election by two months. Early voting in Douglas County closed on Monday. General voting is today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to do douglascountyelections.com to find your polling place. POLITICS How fair is the news? Rep. and Dem. student leaders point out media bias BY SAMANTHA FOSTER editor@kansan.com As leaders of political organizations at the University, Jesse Vaughn and Andrew Toth have formed concrete opinions about the media's coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. Concerns about media bias have attracted a lot of attention this year. Vaughn, president of KU College Republicans, said he noticed the media's bias after the first when MSNBC gave grades for the candidates. "They gave Obama a 'B' for brilliant and McCain a 'D' for dunce, Vaughn said. "That's ridiculous." Vaughn said the media had their own agenda, and that he thought virtually every media outlet was liberal. He said he preferred to listen to talk radio, which he said was more open-minded and provided an escape from liberal media. Vaughn said he didn't want the media to cover each candidate equally; he wanted them to cover the news. "There are so many times when the media ask specific questions to Republican candidates and not the Democrats," Vaughn said, "I wish the media would be more fair." Toth, president of KU Young Democrats, said he thought that the media should seek out middle ground between liberal and conservative extremes. "The media tend to exacerbate situations that aren't significant." Toth said. "That plays a big role in short-term perceptions of the candidates." Toth said the media put issues such as Darfur, Pakistan and the war in Iraq on hold to spend more time covering trivial gaffes. He cited the example of Gov. Sarah Palin's joke about being able to see Russia from her house. "No one should be judged by a seven-word sentence." Toth said. Another problem that Toth sees in media coverage is that it operates 24/7. He said it was a distraction for media consumers to have limitless amounts of information thrown "You have to sift through it," Toth said. "There's a lot of junk mixed in with the facts. But it's also hard to find out the real facts... you have to look at multiple perspectives to find out what's really going on." David Perlmutter, professor of journalism, said he agreed with Toth's analysis. The amount of information available to consumers through Internet sites, such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, he said, has made the concept of media more complicated. Perlmutter said the responsibility has become greater for us to put some energy and intelligence into sifting through information to find useful material. He said he told his students to examine themselves and realize what their biases were. at them. "We have a tendency when something confirms our beliefs to be lazier in confirming it." Perlmutter said. "When you sense bias, you should work harder against it." — Edited by Andy Greenhaw STATE More Kansans opt to use advance voting this year TOPEKA — Kansas set a record this year for the number of people casting advance ballots. The secretary of state's office said 283,294 people either voted in person or nailed in advance ballots as of Monday morning. That compares with the previous record of 245,680 set in 2004. Advance voting started in 1996. Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said Friday that he expects a record turnout at the polls on Tuesday of 1.36 million voters, or about 78 percent of those who are registered. NATIONAL AIG execs convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Five former executives tied to American International Group Inc. face up to life in prison under a financial manipulation scheme. The potential lengthy prison terms are the result of a federal judge's ruling that AIG shareholders lost more than $500 million under the scheme. The former executives were convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, mail fraud and making false statements. Associated Press What do you think? BY ALEXANDRA ESPOSITO JESSIE JORGENSEN WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ELECTION? Kansas City freshman "I think Obama will probably win, even though I am voting for McCain. There will definitely be a good turnout at the polls this year" Overland Park freshman "I think everyone will be talking about the election tomorrow, because it's a big deal, and the outcome will change a lot. I'm not voting because I didn't register in time, but it will be fun to watch what happens" MEGHAN PARK Columbus, Ohio, sophomore "The nature of this election is historical, and I'm just excited to be a part of it. I feel privileged to be able to vote at such a time. I'm voting for McCain because I want democracy and the privileges our government gives us to Iraq and other countries." KYLE MANSOOR TINA WOOD Wichita senior "I'm really excited. A lot of my friends are having election parties and gearing up for the election. We're hoping for Obama. I'm expecting a huge turnout at the polls. I plan on getting there at 7 a.m., because the lines are going to be very long, which is a good thing. But I wish I had voted early." KU Libraries Book Sale will begin at 9 a.m. on the main floor of Watson Library. The brownbag lecture "Not Just the National: Modernity and identity in the Cities of East Central Europe" will begin at noon in 318 Bailey Hall. The workshop "Supervisory Training for Excellence in Performance" will begin at 9 a.m. in 204 JRP Hall. The University Senate Executive Committee Meeting will begin at 3:30 p.m. in the Provost Conference Room in Strong Hall. "Persepolis" will be shown as a part of the Tourneys French Film Festival at 7:30 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Meet the Producer: Nicholas Bonner ('Crossing the Line') will begin at 4 p.m. in the English Room in the Kansas Union. NATIONAL GM sales down nearly 50 percent in October DETROIT — General Motors says its October U.S. sales plummeted 45 percent because of weak consumer confidence and tight credit markets. on campus The automaker said Monday that it sold nearly 169,000 vehicles, down from about 307,000 in the same month last year. The man was waving the flag with one hand and holding the handgun in the other when officers arrived at the overpass, police said. Members of a police special weapons and tactics team and a crisis negotiation team used a bullhorn to communicate with the man. After nearly three hours, he put the handgun on the ground, but police did not immediately move in. "The reason appears to be anti-war, but I don't know the specifics". Duarte said. The freeway was shut down in both directions. By midmorning, the California Highway Patrol said traffic was backed up at least three miles in each direction. Motorists stalled on the freeway got out and chatted or waved at media helicopters. Don's Auto: Tips for Better Gas Mileage Car sales fell 34 percent, while light truck sales dropped 51 percent. Authorities did not know the man's identity or exactly what he wanted, said police Sgt. Lorenzo Duarte. Masked man with gun closes busy highway Associated Press SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Police negotiated Monday with a masked man holding a gun and waving an American flag on an overpass, closing a major highway for hours. No shots were fired. Ford Motor Co. says its U.S auto sales plummeted 30 percent in October. Change your air filter regularly Slow down! Despite the drop, GM still beat Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales. GM's Japanese rival offered zero-percent financing on several models for most of last month and sold about 152,000 vehicles, a drop of 23 percent. contact us Use fuel injection cleaner every 30,000 to 60,000 miles Don's Auto Center 11th & Haskell • 841-4833 Tell us your news Contact Matt Erickson, Mark Dawle, Jani Hurst, Brenna Hawley or editor @kannau.com or editor @kannau.com STICK IT TO ME TUESDAY 1445 W 23rd St (785) 841-5000 BUY ONE GET ONE POKEY GUMBY GIVE-AWAY VALID TUESDAY ONLY. VALID REGULAR MENU BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!! ANY PIZZA OR POKEY STI Order online at www.gumbyspizza.com NOT VALID FRI & SAT AFTER MIDNIGHT OR WITH ANY OTHER COUPONS OR SPECIALS Kansas newsroom 11 Stauffer-Flint Hall 1435 Javahh 86d. kld. Lansing State Univ. 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