TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2004
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
Bush, Kerry finish up last-minute campaigning
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MILWAUKEE — President Bush and Sen. John Kerry reached for the finish line yesterday in a campaign for the ages, each claiming to be the strong, steady leader needed in a time of terrorism. "The world is watching," said the Democratic challenger in a race that defied safe prediction.
"This election comes down to who do you trust." Bush said as Air Force One carried him to a half-dezen states on a final full day of campaigning.
By election eve, uncounted millions of Americans had voted early in 32 states, including more than 1.8 million in Florida alone.
Both campaigns primed Election Day turnout programs in battleground states from New Hampshire to Nevada.
Democrats, claiming Republicans were seeking to discourage minority voters, won a pair of court rulings yesterday in Ohio that barred party representatives from challenging voters at their polling places. GOP lawyers quickly appealed, hoping for a reversal before polls opened at 6:30 a.m. on Election Day.
The nation's terror alert — a constant reminder of the attacks of 2001 — remained at yellow for most of the country, despite the emergence late last week of a videotape of Osama bin Laden taunting Bush.
After nearly eight months of head-to-head campaigning between the president and the Massachusetts senator, the final pre-election polls turned up tied 49-49 in one CNN-USA Today-Gallup survey, with Ralph Nader at 1 percent.
Tight surveys in Florida as well as Ohio and other Midwestern states added to the uncertainty of the competition for 270 electoral votes.
With the nation divided,
Democrats needed ticket-splitters to help them to gain seats in
Congress. Only nine of 34 Senate races on the ballot appeared competitive, seven of them in states where Kerry had not seriously contested Bush.
Texas, the president's home state, figured to have an outsized influence on the battle for the House.
There, five Democratic incumbents with 82 years seniority combined faced difficult challenges as the result of GOP-engineered redistricting. $ ^{*} $
Kerry made six stops in four states yesterday — two each in Ohio and Wisconsin — pledging to be an advocate for the middle class and those struggling to join it. "I've heard your struggles. I share your hopes. And together, tomorrow we have a chance to make a difference," he said, casting Bush as a friend of the rich and powerful.
In Florida, Kerry said he stood ready to assume national command in a time of terrorism. "I believe we can bring the world back to the side of America. I
believe that we can regain America's respect and influence in the world, and I believe we deserve a president who knows how to fight a more effective war on terror and make America safe," he said.
In Iowa several hours later, he pledged a "fresh start to Iraq."
"I know what we need to do and so do you. It is inexcusable that American troops have been sent to war without the armor they need, without the number of troops that they need, without the ability to have allies at their side, making America stronger.
This president rushed to war without a plan to win the peace, and we need a commander in chief who knows how to get the job done."
Bush campaigned across five states before heading home to vote on Election Day. At one point, the two men and their entourages nearly crossed paths, the president preparing to leave Milwaukee aboard Air Force
One in early afternoon as Kerry's chartered jet was arriving.
"There have been some tough times in Ohio," Bush conceded as he began his day in a state that has lost 232,000 jobs since he took office. But he said the state has 5,500 new jobs since last month, and added, "We are moving in the right direction."
He said his rival belongs in the "flip-flop hall of fame" for saying he voted for and against legislation providing $87 billion for troops in Iraq, but for the most part, the criticism was muted.
"The American president must lead with clarity and purpose. As presidents from Lincoln to Roosevelt to Reagan so clearly demonstrated, a president must not shift with the wind," Bush said. "A president has to make the tough decisions and stand by them."
Vice President Dick Cheney was far more pointed. "The clearest, most important difference in this campaign is simple
to state: President Bush understands the war on terror and has a strategy for winning it. John Kerry does not," he said in Hawaii, a traditionally Democratic state where Republicans hoped to spring an Election Day surprise.
Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, was in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio and Florida, forecasting victory for the Democrats at every opportunity. "Tomorrow, hope will arrive," he said in Iowa, the state where precinct caucuses provided the first returns in the race for the White House more than nine months ago.
With the polls so tight, the biggest imponderable was turnout.
Curtis Gans, director of the nonpartisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, estimated that as many as 117.5 million to 121 million voters would cast ballots, 58 percent to 60 percent of those eligible.
Officials predict tight races in Kansas
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOPEKA — Election officials across the state expect a large voter turnout for today's election, but forecasts for parts of Kansas include the possibility of rain — and even a little snow.
The presidential race has increased voter interest, even though Kansas isn't a battleground state, officials said. Also, voters will decide local propositions and hotly contested legislative races.
The state's most competitive congressional contest was in the 3rd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore faces Republican challenger Kris Kobach. Both campaigns expected a tight race.
really strong voter interest."
Election officials said higher advance voting was one indication of Kansans' interest in the election. In Johnson County, Election Commissioner Connie Schmidt estimated that 105,000 residents voted early, either by mail or at an election office before today.
And Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh said: "All the indications are that we're seeing
But the weather was a question in parts of the state, with a mix of rain and snow forecast for southwest Kansas and a chance of showers in south-central Kansas, according to the National Weather Service.
In Grant County, Clerk Linda McHenry had predicted that 73 percent to 75 percent of the county's registered voters would turn out. She said yesterday that snow could decrease turnout, which was 67 percent four years ago.
Still, she said "The ones who vote all the time will get out."
Thornburgh said he doesn't expect weather to affect turnout significantly. He predicted that a record 1.29 million Kansans would cast ballots - 76 percent of those registered. Turnout four years ago was 67 percent.
"Kansans are a hardy breed," he said. "A little bit of rain is not got going to keep us from voting."
Some polls open as early as 6 a.m. and close as late as 8 p.m.
In Douglas County, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Olive oil reduces risk of heart disease
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON—Food containing olive oil can carry labels saying it may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, the government says, citing limited evidence from a dozen scientific studies about the benefits of monounsaturated fats.
As long as people don't increase the number of calories they consume daily, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed a reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease when people replace foods high in saturated fat with the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.
That means a change as simple as sautéing food in two tablespoons of olive oil instead of butter may be healthier for your heart.
"Since CHD is the number one killer of both men and women in the United States, it is a public health priority to make sure that consumers have accurate and useful information on reducing their risk," Lester M. Crawford, acting FDA commissioner, said in a prepared statement.
"It's good news for consumers," said Bob Bauer, president of the North American
Olive Oil Association, which sought the qualified health claim on Aug. 28, 2003. "Olive oil is a healthy product to help them fight heart disease."
Recent research has underscored the heart benefits from so-called Mediterranean diets high in unsaturated fats from vegetable oil, nuts and such fish as salmon and tuna. Mortality rates dropped by more than 50 percent among elderly Europeans who stuck to such diets and led healthy lifestyles, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in September.
The North American Olive Oil Association included 88 publications to back its claim for the heart-healthy benefits of olive oil. The group wanted to make the claim for monounsaturated fats contained in just one tablespoon of olive oil per day.
Olive oil and certain food containing olive oil can now indicate that "limited and not conclusive scientific evidence suggests that eating about two tablespoons (23 grams) of olive oil daily may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the monounsaturated fat in olive oil," the FDA concluded.
"I think FDA just took a more conservative view," Bauer said.
Manufacturers waited for the FDA's precise wording before revising labels. "I expect, over time, most every container of olive oil will have this," he said.
Already, American restaurants and consumers drive $450 million in olive oil sales per year. Supermarket sales in 2003 accounted for 132 million pounds of olive oil, up by nearly one-third over the past six years.
According to the American Heart Association, coronary heart disease caused 502,189 deaths — or one in five deaths — in 2001, the most current statistic available. Another 13.2 million Americans that year survived the heart attacks, chest pains and other ailments caused by coronary heart disease.
Along with lowering cholesterol, cutting out cigarettes and exercising, the group says Americans can boost heart health by eating foods low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
The FDA discounted most of the submitted studies because the methodology made it difficult to tease out the effect of the monounsaturated fats in olive oil. Of a dozen studies that survived the cut, four were the most persuasive.
Thirty-three healthy young American men ate diets high in saturated fats from butter or cocoa butter, olive oil's monounsaturated fats or polyunsaturated fats from soybean oil. The soybean and olive oil groups significantly lowered total and bad LDL cholesterol.
In another trial involving 21 middle-aged Spanish women, those with diets in which olive oil replaced 8 percent of total daily calories from saturated fats lowered their total and bad cholesterol while significantly boosting good HDL cholesterol.
Forty-one young Spanish men lowered total and bad LDL cholesterol with an olive oil diet. Levels of good cholesterol did not drop in the olive oil group, as they did for youthful peers who replaced calories from saturated fats with carbohydrates.
And 22 healthy, middle-aged Spanish men with slightly elevated cholesterol counts were put on a four-week diet high in saturated fat. Those who switched to a diets high in olive oil and those who replaced calories from saturated fats with carbohydrates lowered total and bad LDL cholesterol levels.
Whether in-store or online, receive 5% off Tuesdays for each touchdown scored by KU the previous weekend.* Visit Jayhawks.com or call 864-4640 for more info.
*Up to 30% off. Some restrictions apply. See store for details
Flu Vaccine Available at Watkins Memorial Health Center
Student Health Services will offer the flu vaccine to students, faculty and staff at the University of Kansas-Lawrence campus who are in the Flu Priority Groups. You must present your KU ID to receive your vaccination. For more information, check the Student Health Services website at www.ku.edu/-shs or call 864-9570. Flu immunization clinics are open to KU students, faculty and staff in the Flu Priority Groups only.
Flu Clinic Hours at Watkins Memorial Health Center
KU students only*
Tues., Nov. $ 2^{\mathrm{nd}} $
KUstudents only*
10 AM-4 PM
Wed., Nov. 3 $ ^{rd} $
10 AM-4 PM
KU Students, Faculty & Staff $ ^{*} $
Thurs., Nov. 4th
KU Students, Faculty & Staff $ ^{*} $
Fri., Nov. 5th
10 AM-6 PM
10 AM - 6 PM
*The Flu Priority Groups include:
Persons aged 2-64 with chronic medical conditions
Persons through age 18 years old on chronic aspirin therapy
Persons aged 65 or older
- Women who will be pregnant during the nu season
- Women who will be pregnant during the 1st season
- Healthcare workers with direct hands-on patient contact
- Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children
- Out-of-home caregivers and household contacts of children younger than 6 months old, such as daycare employees and babysitters
Cost for the flu shot is $15 and is $25 for the intranasal FluMist. Vaccinations are payable by cash, check or credit card.
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