MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2004
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
3A
Transit system, parties to offer free rides to voters
BY AUSTIN CASTER
acaster@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITE
No car, no gas, no problem.
The Lawrence Transit System and the Democratic and Republican parties of Douglas County will provide free rides to the polls on election day.
This year marks the first time the T, the bus system's nickname, will offer free ridership, said Karin Rexroad, public transit administrator for the Lawrence Transit System, 930 East 30th St.
"Hopefully they'll take advantage of it to go vote," Rexroad said. "Anything we can do to help the community do their civic duty."
She said the T offered free ridership for special events suggested by riders.
Buses will pick up voters at the sites listed on www.lawrencectransit.org. The T runs eight routes, but voters can call the company at 312-7054 if they have another pickup location, Rexroad said.
The Douglas County Republican Party will also offer
free rides to anyone who calls 691-8283, said Richard Todd, treasurer of the Douglas County Republican Party.
Todd said some voters knew about advance ballots, but liked the idea of going to the polling sites. He said the ridership program was for voters who wanted to ensure their vote was counted.
The Republican Party will deploy three drivers with no restrictions on areas, Todd said.
The Douglas County Democratic party will send volunteers to take voters to the
The Lawrence Transit System, 312-7054
NEED A RIDE?
The Douglas County Republican party, 691-8283
The Douglas County Democratic party, 749-2121
polls, said Aimee Polson, volunteer coordinator. She said she
did not know how long the party had offered free rides on election day, but thought it was ingrained in the election process.
"Voting is important and some people are busy, it relieves one more pressure," Polson said.
She said more than 250 volunteers work for the Douglas County Democratic Party. Volunteers range from high school and college students to other members of the community who take off work. Voters can call 749-2121 for a ride.
Some volunteers will make
phone calls and other will drive, depending on the need, she said.
Nate Thames started working at the party at the beginning of the semester.
He has collected advanced ballots and made phone calls for the party, but did not know whether he would drive voters on election day.
"We're trying to make it as easy as possible," Thames, Wichita junior, said. "This year, especially, it's important to vote."
'Driving Votes' tries to oust Bush
- Edited by Ryan Greene
BY KELLIR ROBINETE
editor@kansan.com
SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN
Stephen Lerner does not want to see George Bush in the Oval Office for another four years.
Lerner is so motivated to remove the president that every weekend for the last five months he and a handful of other Lawrence Democrats traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to campaign for John Kerry, in an attempt to win the swing state.
"Republicans have convinced the average middle class person in Kansas that they offer more than the Democrats do," said Lerner. "They have a huge advantage, and Kansas is nowhere near being a swing state."
The last time a Democrat won Kansas in a presidential election was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But according to a September Gallup poll, Missouri is still considered a swing state, even though Bush is ahead by 14 points. For that reason, Lerner is part of a national organization called Driving Votes.
Driving Votes has targeted 20 states across the country as swing states and has established chapters in 25 states. It started to pick up momentum on the
national scale this summer when Michael Moore endorsed the organization. Its Web site, www.drivingvoices.com, received 10,000 hits the following week. Lerner formed the local chapter of Driving Votes and has recruited 20 Democrats from as far away as Manhattan.
Each Saturday the group has split into pairs and gone to Kansas City, MO., sites that are likely to attract Democratic voters. This summer, they set up tables outside movie theaters showing the anti-Bush film Fahrenheit 9/11, and have recently campaigned at places in Missouri such as Habitat for Humanity and Westport Market.
Lerner has personally registered 822 new voters in Missouri, and he estimates that his local chapter has signed up as many as 25,000.
Although members spend most of their time at businesses, they do not limit themselves to those venues. They also have registered voters in areas with under-funded schools and high levels of unemployment.
The mission of the group is to register as many Kerry voters as possible, but it has also registered some Republicans.
social welfare and one of the local Democrats who drives to Missouri with Lerner, said she had not turned away anyone who wanted to sign up to vote.
"We've probably registered between two and four percent Republican," Lieberman said. "However, most of the time when you ask if you want to vote, everyone is really excited and says I want to get rid of him, and I want him gone. There is a lot of enthusiasm to get rid of Bush out there."
Alice Lieberman, professor of
It is that kind of enthusiasm that has the Driving Votes group thinking it will make an impact on the presidential election.
"My little group of people in concert with everybody else in the KC area of Missouri has registered about 25,000 new voters," said Lieberman. "I don't know if that makes a difference or not, but when Florida is decided by like 550 votes it can be huge."
Burdett Loomis, professor of political science at the University of Kansas, agrees with Lieberman, and thinks her group can end up making a difference in Missouri.
tested state, and there is no question that registering more voters and getting them to the polls is a big part of the Democratic strategy."
"I think it can have an impact in the presidential election," Loomis said. "I think that Missouri is a very closely con-
He also said he can't remember an organization doing what Driving Votes is doing, nor has he ever seen a year with such emphasis on signing up new voters.
The time to register new voters has passed in Missouri, and the Lawrence Driving Votes team is now focusing on getting all the Democrats they registered to the polls.
They will also be coordinating with Missouri Pro-Vote and Democracy Now to help the Kerry campaign.
"A lot of us from Kansas are either going to vote as absentees or vote early on election day and then try our best to get out the vote," said Lerner. "It's part of a huge national campaign that will be going on in every swing state."
Lerner and his Driving Votes participants will find out Tuesday whether their efforts worked. But win or lose, Lerner said talking with so many new people has been a high point of his life.
- Edited by Ashley Bechard
Ottawa celebration marks Veterans Day
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OTTAWA — In many cities, Veterans Day is just that — a day. That won't suffice in Ottawa, where a week's worth of events intended to honor, educate and entertain surround this year's annual parade.
Parades marking the Nov. 11 holiday have been held in the city for nine straight years, and the activities have grown steadily, said Harold Mayes, chairman of the Ottawa Veterans Committee, which organizes the events.
Except tomorrow — Election Day — a series of nightly tributes will be held starting today at the Ottawa Community Arts Center. Each evening is dedicated to an individual war, and veterans will be invited to tell their stories.
The city's parade takes place Saturday, with activities continuing through Sunday.
"It's an opportunity for the town and the county to honor its veterans, and we think that is especially important because we've lost two of our own in the Iraq war," Mayes said.
Sgt. Jacob Butler, of nearby
Wellsville, became Kansas' first casualty of the current war when he was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade in Assamawah, Iraq, on April 1, 2003.
Butler was a cavalry scout with the 3rd Brigade of the Army's 1st Armored Division, based at Fort Riley.
On April 8, 2004, Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Wasser, 21, was killed by hostile fire in Iraq's Al Anbar province.
A 2001 graduate of Ottawa High School, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Wasser had joined the Marines soon after high school as a way to earn money for college.
He began his basic training on Sept. 11, 2001.
The events of that date contributed to the growth of Ottawa's annual salute to veterans, which drew about 95 parade entries in 2000 but even more amid the surge of patriotism that followed the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS NOVEMBER 1,2004 PRESENTED BY SENATE
SCARED STRAIGHT How Homophobia Hurts Us ALL!
Dr. Robert N.Minor, Professor of Religious Studies and author of "Scared Straight" will be exploring the issues of homophobia and how they impair not only faith, but also the quality of each person's life, regardless of sexual orientation.
Two-part Seminar Tuesday, Oct.19 and Tuesday, Oct.26 6:30-10:00 pm ECM Center Basement $5 Students/$8 Non-students
The Real Person's Guide to Intimacy
Jayhawk Room Kansas Union
Presented by Dennis Daily KU Professor of Social Welfare
Oct.21 7-9pm
What is intimacy? What are the personal requirements to the attainment of intimacy? Why is intimacy so hard to attain?
Do many people actually live in relationships that could be considered
VOTE TOMORROW
First of Four Part Series Called.The Real Person's Guide
slab
student legislative awareness board
SOKA GAKKI INTERNATIONAL-USA
Promoting peace, culture and education based on the teaching of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism
MEETINGS:
TUESDAYS @ 7PM
emailwwlew@hotmail.comfor more info.
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