THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2008
NEWS
5A
CAMPUS
Vote measures influence
BY JESSE TRIMBLE
jtrimble@kansan.com
With all eyes focused on highprofile candidates in elections this year, residence halls Lewis and Templin have initiated a debate among students on the top 10 influential Americans. The discussion will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Gridiron Room of the Burge Union.
The idea for the discussion originated from a Discovery Channel special called "The Greatest American," a program that named the top 100 Americans.
The Lewis and Templin staff created a modified version by first taking the votes of students from Daisy Hill and Oliver residence halls to narrow down the list to the top 25. From there, a campus-wide vote was conducted in front of Wescoe Hall, which reduced the list to 10. Students will vote for the final five online until Tuesday and the results will be released at the event.
Amelia Bray, Kansas City, Kan. junior and resident assistant in Templin Hall, said the resident assistants and Cody Charles, complex director for both Lewis and Templin, worked on the event since September.
"We decided to take out a lot of the contemporary figures the Discovery Channel had listed to narrow it down a bit more" Bray said.
The goal, Bray said, was to get students to decide who the most influential Americans are, whether they were contemporary or historical figures, dead or alive.
Bray said she voted for the more historical figures because she said they took precedence over contemporary figures.
"Those people will never fall out of our history books." Bray said.
She said after she voted, she regretted not voting for one influential contemporary figure — Walt Disney.
"He has had a huge influence on our culture," Bray said. "He didn't write the Declaration of
Independence, but he has had more influence on economics and how people see America."
The top five most influential Americans will be discussed and debated on Tuesday and students will discuss whether they support the most chosen American.
Bray said five members of the University debate team would also assist students with voicing their opinions during the discussion.
"I think it's a good idea to have more experienced individuals there to get the ball rolling." Bray said. "Then the pressure is not all on the students and they are more receptive to coming."
Mark Marquez, Kansas City , Kan., junior and resident assistant for Lewis Hall, said it was important for students to voice their opinions on who they thought was the most influential American.
"Everyone has different opinions on who has shaped the country we live in today," Marquez said. "That's why we're having the forum."
Bray said that she thought the forum was especially important during the election year.
"We want to know why people think about the skills these people have and as leaders how they influence us as Americans and KU students," Bray said. "What do students value in our leaders?"
Daniel DeJong, Overland Park junior and resident assistant for Templin Hall, said it wasn't about the individual people on the list, but was more about getting students to
the nominees
Washington
Einstein
10p 10 Most Influential Americans to vote on:
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Abraham Lincoln
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Benjamin Franklin
Walt Disney
Albert Einstein
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
Oprah Winfrey
Bill Gates
King
Disney
think about the process as a whole especially with the upcoming elections.
"It's about what kind of things are important in our country and what really matters in the long run." Delong said.
DeFong said voting online should continue until Tuesday afternoon. To vote, visit http://groups.ku.edu/~greatestamerican.
—Edited by Rachel Burchfield
ELECTION 2008
Obama excites Colorado crowd
BY BEN FELLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Back in the city where he claimed history, Barack Obama presided Sunday over a Colorado rally so enormous and energetic that even he seemed surprised at his following.
"Goodness gracious," Obama said as he took the stage and peered at the human mass in Denver's Civic Center Park. Smelling victory, Obama supporters were everywhere, packing even the steps of the state Capitol way off in the distance.
In a campaign of huge Obama rallies across the United States, the Denver gathering topped them all. Local police put the crowd estimate at "well over" 100,000 people.
The setting, on a sparkling day in this battleground state, said perhaps more than Obama did in his actual speech. It rippled with the kind of enthusiasm found at victory rallies.
Later, in Fort Collins, there was more symbolism in the eyes of Obama backers. Obama spoke to tens of thousands of people on a Colorado State University lawn known as "The Oval."
Obama's campaign is capitalizing on the scope of such rallies to get people to cast votes early, permitted in Colorado and more than two dozen other states.
"How many people have early voted?" Obama said, eliciting cheers from people bundled up in fleece. "That's what I'm talking about."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, (D-DILVs), waves as he takes the stage at a rally at The Oval at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., Sunday.
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