‘CHANGE HAS COME’Barack Obama elected first African-American president

By THEO MILONOPOULOSSENIOR STAFF WRITER

A makeshift bonfire broke out in theMain Quad on Tuesday night as Stanfordstudents celebrated the election of Sen.Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as the first African-American president of the United States.

Red plastic cups were thrust high into theair as students celebrated the landslideElectoral College victory of the son of aKenyan father and Kansas mother who rosefrom an unconventional upbringing to thenational spotlight after being elected to theSenate just two years before.

Obama’s calls for change mobilized hun-dreds of thousands of college students andgenerated one of the highest turnouts ofyoung voters in the nation’s history.

This heightened awareness was in noshort supply at Stanford, where early elec-tion returns from the East Coast made it dif-ficult for students to concentrate duringafternoon classes and threatened to pre-empt some of the celebrations planned forlater in the evening.

But even as national polls pointedtowards a decisive victory for Obama, stu-dents’ enthusiasm could not be dampenedby the possibility of a predetermined out-come. Cheers erupted at the CoHo as sever-al hundred students attending a campus-wide Election Night party watched swingstate after swing state fall into Obama’s col-umn.

“This is a historical moment,” said ToluOlorunnipa MA ‘09.

Reactions were markedly subdued at asmall, off-campus gathering of conserva-tives, many of whom had been supportingthe candidacy of Obama’s opponent, Sen.John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“I’ve pretty much expected [the election]to go for Obama,” said Nathan Barnett ‘12while watching results come in at a restau-rant on University Ave. “I held onto a littlehope, but the news has kind of made me alittle less optimistic.”

‘Never the likeliest candidate’Obama’s victory marked the culmination

of a nearly two-year election cycle that wit-nessed a long-fought primary battle, record-breaking fundraising efforts and a series ofhistorical milestones that shattered race andgender barriers in the contest for thenation’s highest office.

“If there is anyone out there who stilldoubts that America is a place where allthings are possible, who still wonders if thedream of our founders is alive in our time,who still questions the power of our democ-racy, tonight is your answer,” Obama told anestimated 125,000 people in Chicago.

The election night extravaganza at theCoHo, sponsored by many of theUniversity’s major political student groups,was the largest of a number of election-watching gatherings taking place on and offcampus. At Branner Hall, close to 50 fresh-men — many of whom voted in their firstpresidential election — clustered around aprojection screen in the dorm’s lounge towatch the results filter in.

“I’m just excited to have a president thatI can believe in,” said Ross Darwin ‘12 about

an hour before the polls closed in California.“I don’t remember being excited about apresident. Now I can be.”

Acknowledging that he “was never thelikeliest candidate,” Obama attributed hissuccess to the growth of a grassroots cam-paign that built on small donations and amessage of change that appealed to adiverse cross-section of the American elec-torate.

“It grew from the young people whorejected the myth of their generation’s apa-thy, who left their homes and their familiesfor jobs that offered little pay and lesssleep,” Obama said. “It drew strength fromthe not-so-young people who braved the bit-ter cold and scorching heat to knock ondoors of perfect strangers, and from the mil-lions of Americans who volunteered andorganized and proved that more than twocenturies later a government of the people,by the people and for the people has notperished from the Earth.”

‘A Journey of Self-Discovery’One of these volunteers was Elizabeth

D’Aunno ‘09, political co-director and chieffinancial officer of the Stanford Democrats,

The Stanford DailyA n I n d e p e n d e n t P u b l i c a t i o n

WEDNESDAY Volume 234November 5, 2008 Issue 34

www.stanforddaily.com

ELECTION 2008 EDITIONNEVADA

130 STANFORD STUDENTS

CAMPAIGNEDSEE PAGE 3

PROPOSITION 8SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

PASSINGFRONT PAGE

PROPOSITION 4ABORTION NOTIFICATION

FAILINGSEE PAGE 2

STANFORD VOTESTHE DAILY SURVEYS THE GCC

EXIT POLLSBACK PAGE

The Associated Press

Illinois Senator Barack Obama won a landslide victory over Arizona Senator John McCain on Tuesday to become the 44th president of theUnited States of America. Obama will now be expected to move quickly and may soon name key officials in his administration.

SAMMY ABUSRUR/The Stanford Daily

Students celebrated Barack Obama’s presidential victory by lighting a bonfire in the Main Quadlast night. Revelers joined in chants of “Obama!” and sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Index Opinions/4 • Sports/6 • Classifieds/7 Recycle Me

Proposition 8 likely to pass; students to protestBy DEVIN BANERJEE and AN LE NGUYEN

This article was reported by An Le Nguyenand written by Devin Banerjee.

The $70-million campaign to overturnCalifornia’s Proposition 8 quickly lost trac-tion Tuesday night as poll results showedCalifornia voters leaning toward overturning

same-sex marriage in the state. As of presstime, 52 percent of voters favored passage ofthe proposition, with 89 percent of precinctsreporting.

During the weeks leading up to Tuesday’selection, much of the Stanford communitylashed out against Prop. 8. If passed, theproposition would amend the Golden State’sConstitution to “eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.”

“It’s such an unjust, immoral propositionthat threatens to take away people’s rightsand the love that people share,” said AmandaGelender ‘10, founder of the Stanford TheatreActivist Mobilization Project (STAMP). “I’mdisgusted by the proponents of this initiative,and I felt propelled to do something.”

Both gay and straight members of thecommunity gathered at the LGBTCommunity Resource Center on Tuesday

night to watch the election returns.“It’s great to get people together,” said

fourth-year medical student Mitch Lunn,“especially when people share the same inter-ests and beliefs on issues.”

“Students are really focused on beinghere,” Gelender added. “We’re kind of shar-ing this really intimate moment together.”

ELECTION ‘08

Stanfordvote goesto Obama

By JAMES HOHMANNSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Reflecting an overwhelmingdesire for change, President-electBarack Obama received nearly 90percent of the votes cast atStanford’s main polling placeTuesday, according to exit pollingconducted by The Daily.

Election officials reported that,from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., roughly 1,000ballots were cast at the GraduateCommunity Center (GCC). In 147anonymous surveys, distributedthroughout the day to a randomsample primarily composed of stu-dents, voters also expressed strongopposition to Proposition 8, themeasure to ban same-sex marriage,and Proposition 4, which wouldrequire doctors to notify the parentsof a minor seeking an abortion.

In line with support for Obama’scandidacy, 89 percent of those sur-

Please see OBAMA, page 2

90 percent at GCC chooseObama, says exit poll

Please see POLL, page 8Please see PROPS, page 8

who stopped out of Stanford last fall to cam-paign for Obama in Iowa. She worked on ateam responsible for planning and executingthe senator’s appearances in Iowa inadvance of the state’s primary caucuses,which ultimately gave Obama an early leadon the path to his party’s nomination.

Although her family had been living inIowa, D’Aunno described her campaignwork as “a journey of self-discovery.” Bybringing her in contact with residents ofother parts of the state, D’Aunno said thecampaign gave her an education in Iowa’spolitics that paralleled the same learningcurve Obama met as he canvassed the state.

“For me, it was the most formative expe-rience of my life,” she said.

D’Aunno spent the early hours ofElection Night at the CoHo, where a stand-ing-room-only crowd was served freenachos and beer while watching electionreturns on four screens. The traditionallylow-key atmosphere of the campus coffeehouse was decked out with shimmering redand blue streamers. Face masks of the candi-dates and election-themed coloring bookswere on hand for those who sought a breakfrom watching election coverage.

“It’s been outstanding so far,” said EricShowen ‘09, chair of Stanford inGovernment (SIG), one of the co-sponsorsof the event.“It’s exceeded my expectations.People seem to be excited regardless of theirpolitical affiliation.”

The party, which was co-sponsored by theASSU, Stanford in Washington and theStanford Democrats, was billed as a non-partisan event. But the crowd overwhelm-ingly supported Obama’s candidacy, oftencounting down the seconds to network pro-jections and cheering for each state decidedin Obama’s favor. States that went red were

usually met by jeers from those assembled.“I’m more of an Obama guy, but I like

both candidates,” said Will Young ‘09, whoattended the CoHo party. “So when peoplehere boo McCain whenever he wins a state,I don’t join in. He doesn’t deserve that.”

‘Another Spectrum’The increasingly rowdy atmosphere at

the CoHo contrasted with a smaller, quietergathering of conservative students watchingthe election results on a small television atRound Table Pizza in Palo Alto.

Organizers said the event, co-hosted byThe Stanford Review and the StanfordCollege Republicans, was designed to pro-vide attendees a comfortable environmentto view the results regardless of their politi-cal leanings.

“The gathering was supposed to be a sortof place where people could come and meettogether, to feel they can express whatevertheir views are,” said Irina Oberman ‘09,president of the Stanford CollegeRepublicans. “People don’t want to arguewith their friends over political problemssometimes. It doesn’t have to be in yourface.”

Many conservatives suggested thatStanford is an overwhelmingly liberal cam-pus and that it can often be difficult to pres-ent alternative viewpoints. They viewed theoff-campus gathering as a place to voicetheir own views in a more accepting atmos-phere.

“It’s really offering another spectrum,”Thomas Stilson ‘09. “Here you can beamongst . . . like-minded supporters withoutfeeling like an outcast.”

Garrett Taylor ‘12 said he thought theCoHo party would not provide the sameatmosphere since some of the co-sponsors

seemed liberal leaning.But Cameron Bell ‘09, one of the lead

organizers of the CoHo event, told TheDaily on Sunday that they had reached outto conservative student groups on campus tohelp organize the CoHo event.

“We reached out to The Review, theStanford Conservative Society and theCollege Republicans, but there was not somuch interest there,” said Bell, SIG’s vicechair of operations.

A race beyond race?The historical significance of the first

African-American man elected as com-mander-in-chief was not lost on Stanford stu-dents across campus.

“It says a lot that less than half a centuryago, there were laws that prevented African-Americans the use of even the same bath-rooms as white Americans,” Olorunnipa, thegraduate student at the CoHo, said.

“This is huge for all African Americans,minorities or anybody else who has everbeen discriminated against before or now,”he added.

Some suggested that Obama’s appealtranscended racial lines. Colleen Okyere ‘11said she felt race had faded as an issue in theelection as more people voted for candidatesbecause of the substance of their ideas, notthe color of their skin.

“As an African-American woman, thatmakes me very happy,” Okyere said.

But others, like Tajah Tubbs ‘12, a residentin Ujamaa, suggested that some may be tooquick to assume that Obama’s electionwould overcome racial inequalities.

“It’s good, but there’s still progress to bemade,” Tubbs said.

Much of the same could be said forwomen seeking higher office. Although the2008 election saw the first competitivefemale presidential candidate in Sen. HillaryRodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and the firstfemale vice-presidential candidate on aRepublican ticket, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin,the West Wing remained out of a woman’sgrasp.

James Barton ‘09 supported Clinton dur-ing the hard-fought Democratic primariesand felt that although Obama shared someof Hillary’s views, the victory was bitter-sweet.

“Hillary was the first politician I had atrue connection to,” Barton said.“Her defeatwas crushing for me. I’m excited that Obamawon, but Hillary would have been better.”

‘Tomorrow’Early returns from the East Coast inter-

rupted lecture halls full of students eagerlyanticipating the results. In a Hewlett lecturehall, students and even teaching assistantsfrequently checked their laptops throughouta two-hour review session, breaking intochatter as those leading the review sessionswitched between slides and election updates.

Some of the University’s biggest politicaljunkies, however, weren’t on campus.

About 25 students at Stanford inWashington crowded around a lounge televi-sion to watch the returns, eating donkey- andelephant-shaped cookies and coloring inelectoral maps as network news channelsmade their projections. Joining them werelife-sized cutouts of the candidates.

Back on campus, enthusiasm for Obama’svictory swelled into a kind of pandemoniumin the Main Quad as celebrants — reminis-cent of the revelry following Stanford foot-ball’s upset victory over Southern Californialast year — set a pile of newspapers andnearby branches ablaze in front of MemorialChurch.The flames grew into a sizeable bon-fire before being neutralized by firefighterswho responded to the scene.

For many, the real celebrations wouldstart once Obama entered the Oval Office.

“There are so many problems right now,and they’re not going to be different tomor-row,” Allison Fink ‘12 said. “But for the firsttime in eight years, there’s a chance that it’sgoing to be better.”Daily staffers James Hohmann, DevinBanerjee, Nikhil Joshi, Josh Alvarez, MikeDing, Elliot Jin, Julia Brownell, SamCoggeshall, Marisa Landicho, Ryan Mac,Christine McFadden, Jenny Rempel, EmmaTrotter and Jess Wertheim contributed to thisreport. Ali Guio and Jessie Knight con-tributed to this report from Washington.

Contact Theo Milonopoulos at milonot@stan-ford.edu.

2 � Wednesday, November 5, 2008 The Stanford Daily

ELECTION ‘08

Triumphant Obama turns to challengesBy TERRENCE HUNT

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — His nameetched in history as America’s firstblack president, Barack Obamaturned from the jubilation of victoryto the sobering challenge of leadinga nation worried about economic cri-sis, two unfinished wars and globaluncertainty.

“The road ahead will be long. Ourclimb will be steep,” Obama cau-tioned.

Young and charismatic but withlittle experience on the nationallevel, Obama smashed throughracial barriers and easily defeatedRepublican John McCain to becomethe first African-American destinedto sit in the Oval Office, America’s44th president. He was the firstDemocrat to receive more than 50percent of the popular vote sinceJimmy Carter in 1976.

“It’s been a long time coming, buttonight, because of what we did onthis date in this election at this defin-ing moment, change has come toAmerica,” Obama told a victory rallyof 125,000 people jammed intoChicago’s Grant Park.

Obama scored an ElectoralCollege landslide that redrewAmerica’s political map. He wonstates that reliably voted Republicanin presidential elections, like Indianaand Virginia, which hadn’t supportedthe Democratic candidate in 44years. Ohio and Florida, key toBush’s twin victories, also went forObama, as did Pennsylvania, which

McCain had deemed crucial for hiselection hopes.

With just 76 days until the inaugu-ration, Obama is expected to movequickly to begin assembling a WhiteHouse staff and selecting Cabinetnominees.

Campaign officials said IllinoisRep. Rahm Emanuel was the front-runner to be Obama’s chief of staff.The advisers spoke on a condition ofanonymity because the announce-ment had not yet been made.

Democrats expanded theirmajority in both houses of Congress.In the Senate, Democrats oustedRepublicans Elizabeth Dole ofNorth Carolina and John Sununu ofNew Hampshire and captured seatsheld by retiring GOP senators inVirginia, New Mexico and Colorado.Still, the GOP blocked a completerout, holding the Kentucky seat ofSenate Minority Leader MitchMcConnell and a Mississippi seatonce held by Trent Lott — two topDemocratic targets.

In the House, with fewer than adozen races still undecided,Democrats captured Republican-held seats in the Northeast, Southand West and were on a path to pickup as many as 20 seats.

When Obama and running mateJoe Biden take their oath of office onJan. 20, Democrats will control boththe White House and Congress forthe first time since 1994.

“It is not a mandate for a party orideology but a mandate for change,”said Senate Majority Leader HarryReid of Nevada.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ofCalifornia said: “Tonight theAmerican people have called for anew direction. They have called forchange in America.”

After the longest and costliestcampaign in U.S. history, Obama waspropelled to victory by voters dis-mayed by eight years of George W.Bush’s presidency and deeply anx-ious about rising unemployment andhome foreclosures and a batteredstock market that has erased tril-lions of dollars of savings forAmericans.

Six in 10 voters picked the econ-omy as the most important issue fac-ing the nation in an Associated Pressexit poll. None of the other topissues — energy, Iraq, terrorism andhealth care — was selected by morethan one in 10. Obama has promisedto cut taxes for most Americans, getthe United States out of Iraq andexpand health care, includingmandatory coverage for children.

Obama acknowledged thatrepairing the economy and dealingwith problems at home and overseaswill not happen quickly. “We maynot get there in one year or even inone term,” he said. “But, America, Ihave never been more hopeful than Iam tonight that we will get there. Ipromise you, we as a people will getthere.”

McCain conceded defeat shortlyafter 11 p.m. EST, telling supportersoutside the Arizona Biltmore Hotel,“The American people have spoken,and they have spoken clearly.”

“This is an historic election, and

I recognize the special significanceit has for African-Americans andthe special pride that must be theirstonight,” McCain said. “These aredifficult times for our country. AndI pledge to him tonight to do all inmy power to help him lead usthrough the many challenges weface.”

Obama faces a staggering list ofproblems, and he mentioned some ofthem in his victory speech. “Even aswe celebrate tonight, we know thechallenges that tomorrow will bringare the greatest of our lifetime —two wars, a planet in peril, the worstfinancial crisis in a century.” Hespoke of parents who worry aboutpaying their mortgages and medicalbills.

“There will be setbacks and falsestarts,” Obama said. “There aremany who won’t agree with everydecision or policy I make as presi-dent. And we know the governmentcan’t solve every problem.”

The son of a Kenyan father and awhite mother from Kansas, the 47-year-old Obama has had a startlinglyrapid rise, from lawyer and commu-nity organizer to state legislator andU.S. senator, now just four years intohis first term. He is the first senatorelected to the White House sinceJohn F. Kennedy in 1960.

Bush called Obama with congrat-ulations at 11:12 p.m. EST. “I prom-ise to make this a smooth transition,”the president said.“You are about togo on one of the great journeys oflife. Congratulations and go enjoyyourself.” He invited Obama and his

family to visit the White House soon.Bush planned to make a state-

ment about the election at midmorn-ing Wednesday in the Rose Garden.

With most U.S. precincts tallied,the popular vote was 51.9 percent forObama and 46.8 percent forMcCain. But the count in theElectoral College was lopsided inObama’s favor over McCain — 349to 147 as of early Wednesday, withthree states still to be decided.Thosewere North Carolina, Georgia andMissouri.

Obama won California,Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware,the District of Columbia, Florida,Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, NewHampshire, New Jersey, NewMexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon,Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,Virginia, Vermont, Washington andWisconsin.

McCain had Alabama, Arizona,Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky,Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana,Nebraska, North Dakota,Oklahoma, South Carolina, SouthDakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah,West Virginia and Wyoming. He also

won at least 3 of Nebraska’s fiveelectoral votes, with the other two indoubt.

Almost six in 10 women support-ed Obama nationwide, while menleaned his way by a narrow margin,according to interviews with voters.Just over half of whites supportedMcCain, giving him a slim advantagein a group that Bush carried over-whelmingly in 2004.

The results of the AP survey werebased on a preliminary partial sam-ple of nearly 10,000 voters inElection Day polls and in telephoneinterviews over the past week forearly voters.

In terms of turnout, Americavoted in record numbers. It lookslike 136.6 million Americans willhave voted for president this elec-tion, based on 88 percent of thecountry’s precincts tallied and pro-jections for absentee ballots, saidMichael McDonald of GeorgeMason University. Using his meth-ods, that would give 2008 a 64.1 per-cent turnout rate.

“That would be the highestturnout rate that we’ve seen since1908,” which was 65.7 percent,McDonald said early Wednesday.

MASARU OKA/The Stanford Daily

Students in Roble’s lounge jump to their feet as CNN projects IllinoisSenator Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. Obamadecisively defeated Arizona Senator John McCain in an historic election.

ISAAC GATENO/The Stanford Daily

Lines at the Graduate Community Center (GCC) stretched to an hour and a half when polls opened in the morning, but eased laterin the day. A Daily exit poll showed that the vast majority of voters were satisfied with polling conditions at the GCC.

SAMMY ABUSRUR/The Stanford Daily

Students at Ujamaa react to incoming election results. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois swiftly picked up Electoral College votes to defeatSen. John McCain of Arizona in a landslide victory. Both campaigns had been in action for at least 18 months, culminating on Tuesday.

Continued from front page

OBAMA|Campus reacts to win

The Stanford Daily Wednesday, November 5, 2008 � 3

NADIA MUFTI/The Stanford Daily

130 students from Stanford headed to Nevada this past weekend in alast-minute effort to swing the state to Senator Barack Obama. The Illinoissenator won Nevada on Tuesday, picking up five Electoral College votes.

Courtesy of TAYLOR YOUNG

Students in Washington, D.C. react to news that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will be the 44th president of the United States. Obama handily defeat-ed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after more than 18 months of campaigning.

Students in U.K.herald Obama winBy ERIC MESSINGERSENIOR STAFF WRITER

In a historic election, even those Americansacross the Atlantic trained an eye towardTuesday’s results.

On Election Night at the Stanford House inOxford — 3,000 miles from the U.S. and 5,400miles from the Stanford campus — students con-gregated around television sets to learn the out-come of the 2008 presidential election. Many hadvoted absentee and were anxious to learn theresults in their home states.

Stanford students in the U.K. quickly learnedthat Americans were not the only ones interestedin the election results. Many Oxford colleges andeven clubs hosted events that were soon crowdedby waves of British attendees.

Two Stanford-associated colleges, Magdalenand Corpus Christi, drew large crowds. Among

Oxford students, the enthusiasm of internationalstudents toward the American political processwas clear.

“Normally, people would consider politicians tobe very similar,” said classics student ThomasCorcoran, who organized an election viewing partyfor Corpus Christi College. “This time, they acteddifferent, and it felt like it meant something.”

Like many of their American counterparts,British students favored Democratic nomineeSen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Numerous studentssported Obama T-shirts, while McCain supportersstayed under the radar.

“The first time I noticed Obama was in 2005,in a YouTube clip of the 2004 keynote,” said JohnBeresford, an Oxford law student. “A phenome-non was the only proper way to describe the gen-tleman.”

When the returns favoring Obama came in,Stanford students at the Oxford house were over-

joyed.“I’m excited to see the kind of enthusiasm and

support I see because of Barack Obama,” saidFrancesca Mazzola ‘10.

“Barack Obama has just overcome barriers forpeople of all differences,” added Ansaf Kareem‘10.“He has, like never before, given hope to peo-ple who had never before had hope within them.”

By being in the United Kingdom, students atthe Stanford House noted an increased aware-ness of their place within the international com-munity, and the impressions they imparted whileabroad.

“You realize, when people hear your voice,that they immediately judge you,” said MatthewLucky ‘10. “Sometimes, you’re emblematic, notbecause of who you are, but because you areAmerican.”

Contact Eric Messinger at messinger@stanford.edu.

Student volunteersdescend on Nevada

By KAMIL DADADESK EDITOR

LAS VEGAS — Calls of “OBAA-MAAA” could be heard resonatingthroughout the nigtt in many LasVegas suburbs on Election Day, as averitable army of volunteers, includ-ing 130 Stanford students, cam-paigned for the Democratic candi-date.

Students spoke of how, when uni-fied in support of Obama, they feltthat they could really make a differ-ence — and the presidential ticketthey helped to elect agreed.

“Thanks to young voters, thiselection has been a success,” saidVice President-elect Joe Biden in aphone interview with The Daily.

Biden spoke about the role ofyoung adults in the 2008 electionseason at 8:17 p.m. PST last night,just 17 minutes after the major newsnetworks called the election inObama’s favor.

But despite being coronated bythe media minutes before the inter-view, Biden was cautious to declarevictory.

“I am confident, but will not com-ment on the outcome yet,” he said.“We need to wait until all the resultsare in.”

Most of all, Biden lauded theefforts of the volunteers.

“Obama’s troops out on the fieldhave had a tremendous impact uponthis election,” he said.

Some 70 out of Stanford’s 130“troops” headed to Las Vegas, whilethe rest went to Reno. They drovefor up to 12 hours to reach Nevadaon Saturday morning, and oftenwoke up at 4 a.m. to begin cam-paign-related work. By 6:30 a.m.,they started to put out door hangersthat reminded people to vote. By 9a.m., they were knocking on doors,reminding people of their votingrights and the importance of voting.

Sam Kaspick ‘10, who coordinat-ed the canvassing activities of themajority of Stanford students in LasVegas, explained the importance ofcampaigning in Nevada.

“Nevada is the closest swing stateto campus,” he said. “It is also a lotof fun to be in a place where the raceis so close, and you can really feelthat you’re going to make a differ-ence in the state.”

Kaspick also pointed out that hewould be campaigning regardless ofwho the candidate was.

“I’m a Democrat and believe inDemocratic values,” he said. “Soeven if it was Clinton, I would stillbe out here helping, no matter what.But Obama [is] special. I guaranteethat if it was one of the other candi-dates, the volunteer group wouldn’tbe as big. He inspired us.”

Others students drew inspirationdirectly from Obama.

“If Clinton were the candidate, Iwould not be here,” said MichaelAlbada ‘11. “I am here because Ibelieve in Obama. I think he is apolitical messiah. He is the man ourgeneration needs.”

While there were many Obamasupporters on the streets, there wasa notable lack of Republicans can-vassing in Las Vegas. Studentsreported they had come across veryfew Republican campaigners overthe four days that they were in LasVegas.

The president of the StanfordCollege Republicans, IrinaOberman ‘09, said she was not awareof any Stanford Republicans visitingLas Vegas to campaign.

Campaign experiencesDespite the end result, students

reported mixed feelings with cam-paigning on the trip. While therewere many overwhelmingly positiveexperiences, the campaigners didalso run into several roadblocks.

Students found the positive spirit

of Obama supporters contagious,and bathed in the tide of support fortheir candidate.

“There [is] something in the airthat’s really different this year thananything I have felt,” Kaspick said.

There were also a number ofcases in which the students felt theymade a big difference individually.

“People are generally happy tosee you,” said Chris Anelli ‘09. “Thisone guy was unbelievable. When westarted talking about what this cam-paign meant, he invited us in andoffered us chicken, onions and pota-toes on his barbeque. We ate andtalked about how politics connectedpeople to each other.”

Albada agreed and referred tothe case of a 79-year-old femaleDemocrat who had a long record ofvoting for the Democratic Party.

“She told us that she wasn’t vot-ing because she couldn’t make it tothe polling station because her hus-band had died and she couldn’tdrive,” Albada said. “We wereshocked and arranged a ride for her.There is such good infrastructurepresent [in the campaign], that wewrote it on our sheet, and thensomeone picked her up and took herto the voting station later.”

But not all of the students’ cam-paigning was well-received byNevada voters.

“People are generally frustratedwith us,” Albada said. “Especiallythe number of times we come backday after day with fliers, door hang-ers and other [campaign materials].Some people threatened us by say-ing that they were no longer going

Stanford sends 130;Biden says thanks

Courtesy of Arnav MoudgilStanford students in Australia celebrate the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, despite being thousands of miles away. Many of those abroad this quarter mailed in absentee ballots.

Please see NEVADA, page 5

We all know that wearing a helmetwhile biking can save your life, or, atleast, we should. Bike accidents hap-

pen approximately 30 times more often thancoitus on campus, and yet, the vast majority ofus refuse to wear helmets to protect the brainsthat got us here.Why? Because somehow,tak-ing protective measures to safeguard whatmakes us,well,us — is uncool.

“And coolness,” argues the Fonz,“leads tosex.”Now,I have absolutely no idea if he actu-ally said that (given that “Happy Days”endedseven years before I first remember televi-sion’s sweet, sweet embrace), but even if hedidn’t say those words precisely, he basicallyproved the mantra every day of his fictionallife.

Unfortunately, though, I am not the Fonz.At Stanford, I have been in two respectablebike accidents;My freshman year,I was bikingat night when a kid pedaled headfirst into me(I had stopped by then), permanently damag-ing both of our bikes. The whole thing hap-pened in front of my PHE,who laughed at me.

The second time was a fantastic spill whereI hit a bump wrong, my chain fell off, my bikeflipped over,the Jamba Juice I was holding ex-ploded in my hand, and I landed in front ofhundreds of people covered in blood, oil and32 ounces of Peanut Butter Mood.The biggesttragedy? No one was holding a camera.

I have also had friends get hit by cars, andone who was mauled by a collapsing fence.Forproducts designed simply to stay upright,fences are alarmingly poor at it.

Really, between Stanford’s constant con-struction, less-than-ideally designed bikepaths, and its rushing, sleep-deprived bikers,accidents are a very real threat. And bicyclehelmets, though funky-looking and made offoam, are probably about the best way, asidefrom not biking, to prevent seriously debilitat-ing injury in the event of a collision.

But here’s the problem:Bike helmets makepeople look more nerdy on an already verynerdy campus, and when it comes to impress-ing the opposite sex, that’s probably the lastthing most of us need.

Before writing this column,I ran a bunch ofstatistically significant tests using “regres-sions,” “logarithms” and “imagination,” and Irealized that the likelihood of death or injury ispretty decently correlated with the chance ofsex.Think of stereotypical chess nerds — theyhave a very low risk of death (not counting anystereotypical bullies out there), but they alsohave a low risk of sex.

After the debacle that was last week’s col-

umn, I feel it necessary to point out here thatThis is a stereotype. Chess nerds are perfectlycapable of incurring ricks and getting tail,should they so desire. So please, please, pleasedon’t send me dozens of angry emails.

Now,at the other extreme,we have footballplayers, rock stars and pirates, all of whomhave a higher risk of death or bizarre injury,but who, I assume, get significantly higheramounts of play.

Again, this is a stereotype. I am sure thereare football players,rock stars and pirates whohave made the decision to remain chaste,and Iam happy for them. Please don’t send meangry emails.

I should point out, though, that there wereexceptions to my thorough study.James Bond,for example, has a zero percent risk of deathand a 100 percent chance of sex.John McCain,on the other hand, has a 22 percent chance ofsex and an 87 percent risk of death.

John McCain is a proud American and,even though he may not be president, he hasworked hard to serve our country and de-serves our utmost respect.

Now, the study did bring into focus the hel-met issue.If not wearing a helmet means high-er risk, which in turn means higher chance ofsex, people, who I will assume are concernedabout their own sex appeal (not everyone is,nor should they be), will continue to not weartheir helmets.

As such, I have devised two brilliant waysto put the “elme” back in “helmet,” assumingthat “elme”means “sexy.”

Idea No. 1: Make not wearing a helmet un-bearably repulsive.Let’s try an exercise!

Picture someone you consider absurdly,mind-blowingly gorgeous.At this time,I wouldlike to remind readers that, yes, there is a pic-ture of me at the top of this column. Now, pic-ture that same person in a coma.Is sex the firstthing you think of when you think of them in-capacitated? Before you say anything outloud,please make sure your answer is “no.”

Meet “the future of adult entertain-ment,” the Svedka_Grl — extraor-dinaire and cover girl for Svedka

vodka. Completely computer-generated(with no clothes written into her code), she’sdefinitely not your ordinary model.

But this is definitely not your ordinaryvodka ad campaign, either.

With its ubiquitous exposure in magazinesand subway stops everywhere, the Svedkavodka campaign is possibly one of the mostsophisticated alcohol ad campaigns in themarket. Part of this sophistication comesfrom the talent that constantly fuels creativi-ty into the campaign — a team of 16 writerswhose sole task is to come up with 16 differ-ent scenarios of life in 2033, the year fromwhich the Svedka_Grl comes.

The campaign offers a complex andmulti-layered form of satire. First there isthe Svedka_Grl herself, whose enormousbreasts, childbearing hips and non-existentwaist makes her an exaggerated and inhu-man version of the “ideal” female body.(Think “I-Robot” meets porn-star Barbie).Along with her description as “the future ofadult entertainment,” the look of the Sved-ka_Grl alone serves as a merciless parody ofthe way in which unrealistic body imageshave changed our concept of “sexy” to “un-real.”

Then there is the Svedka_Grl’s functionalpurpose in the campaign. Aside from thesatire inherent in her looks, she is also themouthpiece of the campaign writers — thefortuneteller dripping in irony who dishesout wry social commentary to consumerseverywhere.In one ad, for example, she urgesconsumers from 2033 to “make your next tro-phy wife 100 percent titanium,” while in an-other, she claims that in 2033 “gay men stillprefer Svedka over sex with women.” Yetwhile her outlook can amuse us present-dwellers by offering scenarios that some-times seem outlandish, it can also have a dis-

tinctly sobering effect. When all is said anddone, behind the thin veil of irony, her mes-sages inevitably cause us to think about themore unpleasant facts about our realitytoday.

Having already tackled some of the morecontroversial social issues, it was only a mat-ter of time until the Svedka writers put intheir two cents about global warming. In thatparticular ad, the Svedka_Grl looks over hershoulder at the consumer with an unreadablegaze, her hands on her hips in a sexually sug-gestive pose. Next to her, “Do your part tohelp end global warming. Add more ice” isprinted in clear, unapologetic font.

Last week, I criticized Absolut for the“add more ice” line because I felt it perpetu-ated a retrogressive worldview. This week, Iam going to commend Svedka for the exactsame line, simply because it is used in a com-pletely different context.

Instead of endeavoring to represent anideal, as in the Absolut ad, the Svedka_Grlrepresents an extrapolation of our current re-ality. And since her messages routinely sati-rize the shortcomings of our world today,onething is certain — we can’t take what we seeat face value.

If we were to interpret this ad at facevalue, we would probably conclude that itdoes not take global warming seriously at all.It seems to mock the gravity of climatechange with the quip about adding more ice,which is only made worse by the over-the-topnature of the Svedka_Grl’s appearance.But I

don’t think that interpretation is consistentwith the tone and purpose of the Svedkacampaign.Svedka ads tend to hold the mirrorup to consumers and make them face theirown degenerate cultural trends. So ratherthan sending us the message that globalwarming is a matter worthy of flippancy, thisad does exactly the opposite — it subtlymocks us for thinking we could ever be flip-pant about it in the first place.

Where does this flippancy come from? Assurprising as it may seem to some, an over-whelming majority of people are still reluc-tant to recognize that we are facing a globalenvironmental crisis — to the point wherethey cannot even fathom making any seriouseffort to combat it. In some people’s minds,“add more ice” is just an imaginary solutionto an imaginary problem.Their outlook is un-derstandable, though not exactly justifiable.After all, global warming probably hasn’t yetdirectly affected them much at all — no won-der it seems unreal.

But here’s the rub: This particular prob-lem isn’t imaginary, and it will affect every-one sooner or later (even people who can af-ford to drink Svedka vodka). What if wedon’t take any action in the next few years toreduce our impact on climate change? By2033, “add more ice” might really be all wecan do — add more ice to our vodka soursand toast to the death of the Earth that weknow and love.

Want to prevent that scenario? Then startenvisioning our planet 25 years from now,with your life figured into it. Start thinkingabout the future, and what you can do now toensure that your quality of life will be just asgood. Start taking measures to help the plan-et today . . . while we can still even presumeto laugh about it.

Think you’d be a better model for the Svedkacampaign than the Svedka_Grl? Email yourreason why to Sandy at slnader@stanford.edu.

4 � Wednesday, November 5, 2008 The Stanford Daily

OPINIONSManaging Editors

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Board of Directors

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Contacting The Daily: Section editors can be reached at (650) 725-2100 from 3 to 10 p.m. The Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 723-2555 ext. 401, and theClassified Advertising Department can be reached at (650) 723-2555 during normal business hours.

SandyNader

Continue your activism pastElection Day

An old dream actualized

Approximately 45 years ago, Martin Luther King,Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, with thehighest hopes that some day his dream could be actu-alized. On Nov. 4, the dream came to fruition with theelection of the first African-American president,Barack Obama. Over 200 years of inequality and dis-crimination against African Americans in the forms oflynchings,white-only signs and institutionalized racismall seemed to melt away with the flash of life-alteringwords across television sets worldwide:Barack ObamaElected President.King’s dream has been 45 long yearsin the making. Finally, it has come true.

Within only two minutes of hearing the news, myphone began to ring off the hook.My most heartwarm-ing phone call came from one ocean and one continentaway in Sierra Leone. My dear friend Dabo came in,through heavy static, saying, “Re, Re, hello . . . Re?This is Dabo. I am listening live. Obama! Congratula-tions.”

“Congratulations to all of us,” I said before we lostcontact.

With the receipt of his call, it dawned on me just howmeaningful this historic moment was for the entireAfrican Diaspora.For the first time in a very long time,we are united, proud, strong. In the face of the SocialDarwinist notion that Blacks are lesser, impoverished,beneath and “othered,” we stand.This moment is trulyhistoric for all of us.

History has been made, not just for the African-American community, but also for every existing un-derdog and for the nation as a whole. What has oc-curred this night was enough to beckon the tears ofgrown men, to summon the attention and support ofthe international community and to renew the long-de-parted faith and hope of myself, a young African-American woman budding into adulthood.

The history has been made. The change has come.The dream has been actualized.

Onward.

RE PHILLIPS ‘10

The ballots have been cast in unprece-dented amounts. The votes have beentallied, and a new president has been

elected to lead this nation for the next fouryears. Senators have been ousted, new gov-ernors have emerged and a wide array ofstates, including California,have weighed ona variety of consequential ballot initiativesthat will be discussed for years to come. Onthe whole,this election has been momentousin terms of time, dollars and significance.

Stanford University can look with prideand satisfaction on its contributions to thistremendous election season.The campaignsof Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and JohnMcCain included among its advisors a num-ber of distinguished Stanford faculty.

Droves of students volunteered for cam-paigns, making phone calls, canvassingneighborhoods, hosting on campus debatesand traveling to battleground states to regis-ter voters and rally support. Of particularnote, the opponents of California Proposi-tion 8, the measure that sought to overturngay marriage in the Golden State, whippedthe campus into a frenzy with their purple T-shirts and phonebank operation, which waslargest in the state and held in spite of thedriving rain last Saturday.

Regardless of who you donated moneyto, what cause you rallied around or whatcandidate you fervently supported, the edi-torial board lauds the tireless efforts of allStanford students who were impassionedenough to vigorously participate in this un-precedented exercise of American democ-racy.You defied the notion that Stanford is apolitically apathetic campus.

We are now left with a great dilemma:how to effectively engage Stanford students,and the rest of the country,now that the elec-tion is over. It is incumbent upon this univer-

sity to reflect on how this recent surge ofcampus activism can be effectively translat-ed into something more than a quadrennialphenomenon.

Both the McCain and Obama campaignshave inspired a generation of new voters,both on the campus and across the nation.Huge swaths of Americans, heretofore apa-thetic towards elections, have been incorpo-rated into the body politic.

Particularly when our country faces un-precedented challenges both at home andabroad,one of the most basic responsibilitieswe have is to stay informed and abreast ofthe continual developments that will shapeand define our next president’s term in of-fice. Keeping our elected leaders responsibleto us, their constituents, will be vital in ensur-ing that the United States climbs out of theBush administration’s ruins.

The Constitution enshrines both therights of political majorities and minorities,and especially if your candidate did not fareas well as hoped, petition the government,stage rallies for certain causes or work to ed-ucate your peers about an issue. In the pastweek,we have seen a large spike in the num-ber of op-ed submissions to The Daily fromboth sides of the aisle. The election is over,but the troubles facing our society are noless real,and we hope that students continueto discuss how to solve them.

We leave it up to the student leaders wholed these political movements to keep advo-cating for their causes. We hope that thosestudents not involved are now inspired bytheir peers, who looked beyond their ownsuccess and thought about the success of ournation and our world. Just because Nov. 4 isnow a memory, albeit a recent and extraor-dinarily emotional one, that does not meanour fight is finished.

THE AD ANALYST

OP-ED

EDITORIAL

KevinWebb

LIKE A ROCK

Sex, death and bike helmets

Cheers to global warming, part two

Unsigned editorials in the space above represent the views of The Stanford Daily's editorial board and do notnecessarily reflect the opinions of the Daily staff.The editorial board is comprised of three former Daily

staffers, three at-large student members and the editorial board chair.Any signed columns and contributionsare the views of their respective writers and do not necessarily represent the views of the entire editorial board.

To contact the editorial board for an issue to be considered, or to submit an op-ed, please emaileditorial@daily.stanford.edu.

Write to us.We want to hear from you.

SEND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR TOEIC@DAILY.STANFORD.EDU

AND SEND OP-EDS TO

EDITORIAL@DAILY.STANFORD.EDU

Please see KEVIN,page 5

The Stanford Daily Wednesday, November 5, 2008 � 5

And if I have to tell you, perma-nent brain damage is about as sexual-ly appealing as Rainn Wilson in a leo-tard. (Rainn Wilson is a beautifulhuman being whose body should becelebrated). Now, Stanford, just makeeveryone go through this simplemental exercise and biking helmet-less will seem totally not hot.

Problem solved!Idea No. 2: Make wearing helmets

literally the sexiest thing a person canpossibly do at Stanford. Here’s how:

First, find all of the attractive girlson campus (this will be easy becausethey’re the ones who avoid eye con-tact with me).

Next, pay/convince them all towear helmets (bonus points for biki-nis, if we really want to beat a deadhorse with the sex thing, which wedefinitely should. For safety).

Finally, pay/convince them to onlydate guys who wear helmets (it isn’tmorally corrupt if we’re savinglives!).

Problem solved — and awesome-ly, I might add.

I suppose that this attractive girlpolicy could cause more accidents foreasily distracted bikers, but hey, that’sjust another reason to wear a helmet.Get on it, Stanford.

Contact Kevin Webb at ktwebb “at”stanford.edu.

KEVINContinued from page 4

STUDENT GOV’T

Senate talks advocacyon day of election

By MARISA LANDICHOCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Undergraduate Senate wasonce again confronted with its advo-cacy policy in an abbreviated meetinglast night. The Graduate StudentCouncil (GSC) questioned theSenate’s expansion into politicalissues, specifically the recent resolu-tion to go against CaliforniaProposition 8, which was passed byvoters yesterday.

“A third of the graduate popula-tion are international and there mightbe repercussions for students whosehome countries are not so free,” saidDeputy Chair Shelley Gao ‘11,reporting from the GSC.“In fact, [thestudents] might be prosecuted.”

Currently, the GSC is looking intointernational law, California law andthe ASSU Constitution to assessthese possibilities.The council did notwant its support to be included withfuture ASSU resolutions passed onpolitical topics.

The other main issue discussed lastnight was the lack of parties held oncampus due to increased restrictionsby the University. Senator Zachary

Johnson ‘10 argued that because ithas been harder for houses on theRow to host parties, students havebeen partying instead at their owndorms and private residences.

“When there is nothing going on,I’ve talked to a number of RAs, andtheir kids have been drinking a lotmore and pre-gaming,” Johnson said.“At least for my freshmen, therehave been a lot more parties in thedorms.”

Johnson said he was circulating apetition on the Row to make it easi-er for houses to throw parties. Ifmore parties were scheduled, stu-dents, especially freshman, wouldhave another outlet on weekendsand would not consume as muchalcohol, Johnson argued.

After 20 minutes, the meeting wasconcluded and the senators hurried towatch the incoming election results.

“In case you weren’t aware, pollsclose in 36 minutes,” announcedSenator Yvorn “Doc” Aswad-Thomas ‘11, as the senators streamedout the door.

Contact Marisa Landicho at landi-cho@stanford.edu.

DAILY POLL

to vote or that they would vote forMcCain because they were annoyedwith the campaigners. However,those people are so few and so farbetween that is it worth it to get theinformation out.”

He added that students also hadto deal with abusive language andinsults from the public.

“Several people cursed at us,”Albada said. “After the rally [withMichelle Obama on Monday], wewere out dancing in the street andthrowing fliers around when somepeople drove past us screaming, ‘I’mnever voting for a black guy!’ andshouted [profanities at] us.”

Students also faced the issue ofgated compounds and had to resortto guerilla tactics to spread theirmessage.

“Some of the addresses wereceive from the campaign are ingated communities,” Kaspick said.“They give us the addresses anywayand we have to figure out a way howto get in there. We sometimes haveto climb over walls or fences.”

Many commented on the tight-knit cohesion that quickly devel-oped between students.

“Just walking around and meet-ing a lot of new people has beenreally exciting,” said NicholasRosellini ‘12. “Before this trip, I did-n’t know that many other StanfordDemocrats, and now I know many.”

Students also reported meetingtheir peers from UC-Berkeley whileout campaigning and pointed outthat they put their usual rivalryaside for the sake of the campaign.

“This is one of the few timeswe’re friendly with them,” Kaspicksaid.“We jest at each other now andthen, but we’re pretty friendly. Weare all here for the same reason.”

Strong supportAshwin Mudaliar ‘09, president

of the Stanford Democrats,remarked on how there was an

incredible number of students will-ing to volunteer in the days leadingup to the election.

“I receive emails every day frompeople asking how to get involved,”Mudaliar said. “Sending so manystudents to Nevada has been thecapstone of all our efforts this year.People read about the election andmake phone calls, but really there isnothing more satisfying that actual-ly getting in the field.”

Sarahi Constantine ‘11, presidentof the Students for Barack ObamaStanford Chapter, noted that not allstudents who wanted to go to cam-paign were able to make the trip.

“I have heard of a lot of peoplewho weren’t able to go,” she said.“Some students needed to leaveearlier because of midterms. Otherstudents have to miss theirmidterms altogether. In classes thatdrop the lowest midterm grade, Iknow many students who haveopted to take the zero.”

In fact, many students were con-cerned that spending time canvass-ing would have academic conse-quences.

“I felt like this was a once in alifetime chance and something thatwas very important to me,” Kaspicksaid. “School became a second pri-ority. My GPA will probably dropafter this quarter, but hopefully Ican make up for it in the quarters tocome.”

Voter fraud monitoringWhile Stanford students primari-

ly went door-to-door campaigningin Las Vegas, Constantine said thatsome Stanford Law students werehelping monitor the election sta-tions for fraud in Reno.

“They have [a] legal backgroundand so participate in voter protec-tion in the campaign,” she said. “Ifthere are any issues with voting andsomeone feels that the process is notrunning smoothly, then they cantake action immediately.”

Perry Rosenstein, ‘07, new mediadirector for the Obama campaign inNevada explained that people couldalso utilize the Internet to reportvoter fraud.

“I would check periodically ifthere were any complaints reportedon the Web site and then forwardedthem on to the voter protectionteam,” he said. “There weren’t a lotof problems at all.”

ReactionsOnce the election results started

streaming in on national televisionstations, many students began tocelebrate right away. AndreaRomero ‘09 was reduced to tearsupon hearing that Obama was pro-jected to win in Virginia.

“I am elated,” she said. “This isthe proudest day of my human life.I feel so proud of our nation. I amfloored by democracy.”

Bethany Woolman ‘09 addedthat the American Dream was stillalive.

“It really goes to show that any-one can accomplish anything in thiscountry,” she said. “This is the bestthing that has happened to our coun-try. Racially, this is the biggestadvance that has happened in histo-ry.”

But Vice President-elect Bidenwasn’t celebrating yet. Instead, heinsisted that young people continuetheir activism.

“I don’t want young voters to becomplacent, however,” Biden saidto The Daily. “They need to keepon fighting for positive change.”

Contact Kamil Dada at kamild@stan-ford.edu.

NEVADAContinued from page 3

VINCENT CHEN/The Stanford Daily

A voter waits in line on Tuesday at the GraduateCommunity Center (GCC). No major problems werereported at Stanford’s sole polling place on campus.

“Thanks toyoung voters,

this election hasbeen a success.”

— JOE BIDEN,Vice President elect

L ike many other freshman, rookie midfielder TeresaNoyola has spent her first fall quarter at the Farm ex-ploring classes, making friends, and adjusting to din-ing hall food. In her spare time, though, the Palo Altonative has been busy ripping apart Division I defens-

es and supporting one of the most prolific offenses in the NCAA.Noyola’s soccer career had humble beginnings, but it didn’t

take her long to be recognized for her talent.She first began play-ing at age seven, for an American Youth Soccer Organizationteam named “The Purple Penguins.”

As a Penguin, ironically enough, Noyola’s skills took flight.She stuck with soccer, and some time later, joined the MountainView-Los Altos (MVLA) Mercury, where she played champi-onship-caliber soccer for several years alongside current Stan-ford classmate Lindsay Taylor, and played an incredible six sea-sons with US national teams and development programs. Atbarely 17, she was the youngest person to ever play for America’sUnder-20 team.

She credits her time with these teams for much of her growthand success as a player.

“Playing for the national team gave me invaluable experienceand prepared me well for college soccer,” Noyola said. “I lovedtraveling around the world to places like Japan, Brazil, France,and Argentina.And playing with Lindsay Taylor, as many otherswould agree, is a treat. Her nose for the goal is amazing, and ouryears of playing together are definitely showing on the field.”

As a senior at Palo Alto High School, Noyola had many op-tions for her future. She was the three-time MVP and captain ofher soccer team, had amassed a record amount of athletic and ac-ademic scholarships and would eventually be named theGatorade National Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year. In short, shecould have gone almost anywhere.So how did she wind up on theFarm?

“Growing up in Palo Alto, I always loved Stanford. But theclose location to home was pretty irrelevant in my decision,” shesaid. “No other school that I looked at matched Stanford’s aca-demic and athletic balance.”

To say that the decision is working out well for Noyola wouldbe putting it mildly.The Cardinal freshman was named the Pacif-ic-10 Conference’s player of the week in the first full weekend ofthe season, when she scored three goals against Navy and No. 15Boston College. She has started every game for the Cardinal,scored three game-winners, and has the only penalty-kick goal ofStanford’s season.

Noyola says she loves soccer for its “balance of structure andcreativity.” Previously named to the Nike Premier 50 Most Cre-ative Player list, she certainly hasn’t had trouble expressing hercreativity this season: Noyola leads the midfielders in assists (9)and shots (39), and has been a direct part of 15 Stanford goals, sixof which were her own.

Her teammates are certainly glad to have her on their side.“T has a huge offensive impact in the midfield,” junior mid-

fielder Kristin Stannard said. She makes unselfish runs all overthe place, just to open other players up. Our opponents have lotsof difficulty marking her, and we often hear them yelling at eachother, trying to figure out marking. She’s scored lots of goals andalso made some crucial assists so far this year.”

With the regular season now winding to a close, Noyola con-tinues to contribute and remains focused on capitalizing on agreat year for the Cardinal, whose first loss came just last week-end at UCLA.

“Amazing is the only way I can describe our season. Our suc-cess has come from everyone executing their individual role onthe field,but also from an intangible common desire to win aboveall else,” she said. “We had a bad game against UCLA, butshowed resilience in notching a big win against USC.We came offthe weekend as a better team, and I am confident in our positionheading into postseason. Our goal remains the same as in the be-ginning of the season...national championship.”

Noyola and the Cardinal will end their regular season at Calthis Saturday,where a win will keep their hopes of a Pac-10 cham-pionship over UCLA alive.

Contact Nate Adams at nbadams@stanford.edu.

6 � Wednesday, November 5, 2008 The Stanford Daily

SPORTS

Show Harbaughthe moneyIt was tempting to make this a

sports-in-politics column, ormaybe a politics-in-sports piece.

After all, with all the bright reds andblues, shifting electoral collegescores and constant media coverageand color commentary, it seems thatAmerican politics in the media shiftsever closer to being a Red Sox-Yan-kees, Michigan-Ohio State or USC-Notre Dame style grudge match.Which nation are you a part of?Show your colors and cheer along.

It’s even more tempting when apair of Bay Area sports icons (ok,one icon and one villain) makestheir voices heard on one of the mostcontroversial state propositions inrecent years. And let’s just say thatJeff Kent’s reported $1500 donatedto the Yes On 8 campaign and SteveYoung’s quiet support for the count-er campaign (he did not openly op-pose the proposition,but his wife didand loudly) only further reinforcemy already existing opinions of bothof them as a Giants and 49ers fan.

But frankly, I have to say I’m notreally a fan of the collision betweenthe sporting and political worlds. SoI wasn’t too eager to go that direc-tion myself, and was about as happyas a Stanford fan could be today toread rumors that football coach JimHarbaugh could be a prominentcandidate for the soon to be vacantOakland Raiders head coaching jobafter the season. Which is to say Iwas miserable, but not quite to thepoint of making myself sick.

Tim Kawakami, a prominent BayArea sports columnist for the SanJose Mercury News, wrote in hisblog yesterday that Harbaugh isvery likely to be offered the Raiders’job after interim coach Tom Cable ispresumably fired at the end of theseason. Citing a source within theRaiders organization, who, Kawaka-mi wrote, “has been very reliable inthe past,” was adamant that Raidersowner Al Davis loved Harbaugh,and that the only question would bewhether the Cardinal coach wouldfeel similarly towards accepting aposition with the Raiders.

Of course, on the surface, this isall speculation. This is just onewriter, citing recent informationfrom an unnamed source. But it rais-es an issue with the Stanford pro-gram that has been lurking in thebackground for years — long beforeHarbaugh’s reign as coach, evenbegan.

The essential problem with build-ing a successful Cardinal programhas always been that if the Universi-ty finds a good football coach, he in-evitably moves on to greener pas-tures. It happened with Bill Walsh, ithappened with Denny Green, it hap-pened with Tyrone Willingham andthere’s no reason to think it won’teventually happen to Harbaugh,too. Unless, that is, Stanford wises upfast.

You see, we’ve all heard the argu-ments and in a way, they’re right.There’s no way a football coach ismore important to the overall healthof an academic institution than auniversity president, so why shouldhe be paid more? This essentiallylimits the amount of money the Uni-versity has been willing to pay itscoaches over the years, meaning thateventually they all decide to justtake the money and go somewhereelse.

The problem with that line ofthinking though, is that it complete-ly ignores the reason college coach-es in the big money sports (footballand men’s basketball) need to bepaid more — because they areeverywhere else.And you know whythat is? Because they bring inmoney.

It’s simple economics really.Good coaches build good footballprograms. Good football programscan rake in cash by the boatloads.Therefore, other universities, seeingthe opportunity to rake in said cash,offer good football coaches a por-tion of the tremendous riches theyexpect them to bring in. Stanford,meanwhile, sits back and wonderswhy it can’t fill a glorious new stadi-um that took millions of dollars tobuild.

The solution isn’t hard to grasp.

JEFF KEACHER/The Stanford Daily

Freshman Teresa Noyola has been a star since her first day on the Farm and is a key member of a dynamic rookie class that ishelping keep the Cardinal in Pac-10 championship contention. Noyola leads Stanford midfielders in both assists and shots.

Please see GRIFFIN,page 7

MEN’S WATER POLO

Stanford takes on two top-10 opponents

By KENAN JIANGSTAFF WRITER

The No. 2 Stanford men’s waterpolo will hit the road to play two,tough ranked opponents this week-end: No. 5 Pepperdine on Saturday,and No. 8 UC-Santa Barbara onSunday. These two contests willcount for Mountain Pacific SportsFederation tournament points, andare key to the Cardinal’s quest tomake the MPSF top four at the endof the season.

“We will prepare by watchingfilm and walking through tendenciesthat they have shown,” freshmanPeter Sefton said.“We go into everygame with the mindset that thegame is very important and we haveto play at a high level.”

The top two teams in MPSF willreceive an automatic berth in theNCAA men’s water polo champi-onships while the other two teamsare selected based on wild card.Every year, the two top teams in theMPSF essentially play for the cham-pionship as the conference has hadthe four best teams in the nationeach year in UCLA, USC, Cal andStanford. This season, No. 4 UCLAhas lost to Stanford twice including a12-2 rout in mid-October. The Car-dinal has also beaten No. 3 Cal thisyear in a thrilling, triple overtime

victory at the NorCal Tournament inSeptember.

The Cardinal is 20-2 overall and4-0 in MPSF play. Sunday’s 19-7 vic-tory over Santa Clara marked Stan-ford’s sixth straight win, and gavethe Cardinal its first 20 win seasonsince 2005, where it went 20-7.

Offensively, Stanford is led byjunior Janson Wigo who has put upan incredible 43 goals and averages1.95 goals per game. Janson is close-ly followed by his brother Drac, whohas put up an impressive 39 goals onthe season — they are the numberfive and number eight leading goalscorers in the MPSF, respectively.MPSF rankings also essentiallyamount to rankings for the bestwater polo teams around the nation.

Stanford’s offensive depth is il-lustrated by the presence of multiplescorers in each game. In any regularcontest, Stanford usually has be-tween five and seven different play-ers each contributing offensively.Thanks, in part, to its offensivedepth, Stanford is currently secondin the nation in goals scored pergame with 12.14, while USC is No. 1with 12. 40.

On the defensive side, junior cap-tain Jimmie Sandman is ninth in thenation for goal attempts saved pergame with 7.28.Stanford’s defense isnumber two nationally for totalgoals allowed per game at 4.82 goalsper game — again, only the Trojanstop the Cardinal with 4.45 goals al-lowed per game.

UC-Santa Barbara has the top

goal scorer in the nation in MilosGolic, who averages 3.15 goals pergame and leads the MPSF with 63goals scored. The Gauchos have apair of goalkeepers splitting time inFraser Bunn and Michael Robinson,who have made 100 and 96 saves re-spectively on the season. UCSB is

number five in the nation in goalsper game with 10.50 while its de-fense is somewhat more suspectwith 9.40 goals allowed per game.

“We need to play great team de-fense, as always,” Sefton said. “Also,we will have to come into the gamewith a great mental attitude and

ready to battle.”Stanford’s trip against Pepper-

dine will be much tougher as theWaves will feature stars JP Mac-Donnell and Grant Miller who bothaverage 1.95 goals per game, with 39

Cardinal faces MPSFfoes on the road

DenisGriffinRants and Raves

FROSH FOOT FORWARDBY NATE ADAMS

PAUL ZAICH/The Stanford Daily

The Cardinal has a difficult weekend ahead of it, with two games on consecutive days against highly ranked Pepperdine and UC-Santa Barbara. The games are integral to Stanford’s hopes of high placement in the MPSF.

Please see WATER POLO,page 7

T The Stanford men’s soccer teamhates to lose. And head coach BretSimon just might hate it more thananyone. In 29 years of collegiatecoaching, Simon has only produced

a handful of losing seasons; unfortunately, threeof them have come over the last six years.

“I haven’t had too many of them,” Simonsaid.“We enter every game and season with highexpectations.”

This year, the Cardinal squad has fallen shortof those expectations. After dropping both con-tests on last weekend’s Southern California roadtrip, the team is 3-10-2 overall.

“We’re all disappointed,” Simon said. But heemphasized that all is not lost — despite itsmediocre record, the team has made significantprogress.

“We also know that we’re playing well,”Simon continued. “We’re just a piece or twoaway.”

Stanford will look to its younger players to fillin those missing pieces.Coach Simon specificallycalled on the class of 2011 to contribute nextyear.

“This year’s sophomore class is a big,talentedclass,”Simon said,adding that they need to growfrom being “important pieces” to the “heart andsoul of the team.”Although the class of 2010 willprovide strong leadership next season, Simonwants his underclassmen to start to “develop asleaders of the team.”

The Cardinal hopes that it will also retain theservices of two of this year’s seniors for the 2009season.TJ Novak suffered a hamstring injury inthe 66th minute against Drake on Sept. 21, andhas been unable to play since. Redshirt seniorEvan Morgan will have surgery in about a weekto correct a torn knee ligament suffered early inthe season. Both have applied to the NCAA foran extra year of eligibility because of medicalhardship.

Although being granted a medical redshirt isby no means a guarantee, Simon thinks that hisplayers will be able to come back for one moreyear of soccer on the Farm.

“We think Evan and TJ fit the definition of‘medical hardship,’” he said. “Having those twoback would be a big help.”

With or without the leadership of Morganand Novak, the team must replace the rest of itsgraduating seniors. That will be no small task,given that Stanford will graduate eight seniorsthis year — not including the two redshirt appli-cants. Simon hopes that the incoming freshmanclass will help to compensate for the loss of a bigand talented senior class.

“We have a number of guys with national ex-perience coming in [next year],” he said. Al-though the team cannot announce its class of2013 until signing day in February, Simon ap-pears confident that next year’s freshmen will beable to contribute right away — especially on of-fense.

“That’s been the focus since I’ve been here,getting top attacking players,” he said.

Even with a superstar recruiting class, Simonwill miss his seniors.

“We ended up with 10 after starting with sixor seven [in the class of ‘09]”, said Simon, refer-ring to the additions to the class via a walk-on, atransfer and injuries that resulted in medical red-shirts for other players. “I’m really fond of thisgroup — they make my job fun.”

Ryan Imamura transferred to Stanford fromCornell after his freshman year.The redshirt sen-ior suffered his share of injuries during his yearson the Farm,but “last year he really blossomed,”Simon said. “I think he’s the best center-mid inthe conference.He’s the core of our defense. I’mreally proud of him.”

Another standout senior is defender TimJones.A four-year starter,Simon describes Jonesas “talented,” an “exciting player” and “fun tocoach.”Jones’ has utilized his blazing speed as anattacking defender.

“[Defenders] who can help the attack” arevaluable and rare, Simon said — especially for aStanford squad that has struggled to score goals.Jones’ quickness and playmaking ability at out-side back will definitely be missed.

Another starter Simon praised was redshirtsenior Tom Montgomery. Simon describes the

former walk-on as a“workaholic” and a“self-made player.” Thehead coach gave Mont-gomery perhaps thebiggest compliment ofall: “Nobody worksharder than him.”

But Simon stressedthat it wasn’t just the on-field contributions fromhis seniors that wouldbe missed.Redshirt sen-ior Enrique Allen is a“wonderful person anda team leader,” Simonsaid. “[Allen] got achance to play this year,and he hasn’t let go.He’s one of those guysyou really root for.”

Goalie Josh Nesbit isanother player who hasmade huge contribu-tions as a team leader,despite limited minutes.Nesbit has been a back-up for his entire colle-giate career.Still,Simonheaped on the praise:

“Josh is just awe-some,” he said. “He isone of the favorite peo-ple I’ve coached in 29years. Everyday hecomes out with a goodattitude and leads theteam.”

One of the Cardinal’smain goals next year willbe to improve its offensive production. Simonexpects to make some changes to Stanford’s sys-tem, but they will be relatively minor adjust-ments.The personnel on the team will determinethe style of play, Simon said.

“The system that fits the players is ultimatelythe best system.”

“I’m sure [the team] won’t look exactly thesame [next year],” he added.“But I don’t antici-pate any dramatic changes.”

Except, the Cardinal hopes, a lot more goalsand wins.

Contact Jacob Johnson at twoj@stanford.edu.

The Stanford Daily Wednesday, November 5, 2008 � 7

TODAY’S RATING: Easy

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SENIOR STANDOUTSBY JACOB JOHNSONStanford needs to take a long look in

the mirror and realize that themoney it would need to spend tokeep a solid young coach like Har-baugh in house is a pittance com-pared to the benefit it stands to gainby his presence and continued work.Whether Harbaugh decides to con-sign himself to a coaching fate worsethan death in Oakland or not, even-tually a richer offer will come along.

And when that happens, Stan-ford needs to ante up, for the firsttime in far too long.

Denis Grifin can only contribute $19,or he won’t have any heat for the win-ter. Kick in some more coin at dj-griff@stanford.edu.

GRIFFINContinued from page 6

goals and 37 goals scored on the sea-son respectively. Pepperdine’s scor-ers are ranked sixth in the nationand will also be aided by AdamHewko, the 11th top scorer in thenation with 33 goals. The Waves’Matt McDonnell is 17th on the sameleaderboard with 26 goals,and Clay-ton Snyder is 23rd nationally with 23goals.Pepperdine’s dynamic offenseis ranked fourth in the nation over-all in goals scored per game with10.90, and their defense also only al-lows 7.10 goals per game, whichpoints to a tough challenge for theCard.

The Cardinal is slated to openplay at 12 p.m. in Malibu and SantaBarbara, Calif. on Saturday andSunday, respectively.

Contact Kenan Jiang at kenanj@stan-ford.edu.

WATER POLOContinued from page 6

JEFF KEACHER/The Stanford Daily

Stanford has suffered through a difficult 2008 season, but through theleadership of its senior class, feels prepared to face new challenges in2009 as the Cardinal looks to improve in all aspects of the game.

8 � Wednesday, November 5, 2008 The Stanford Daily

Continued from front page

POLL|Economy is No.1 issue for votersveyed said the country has been on thewrong track. Ninety-six percent dis-approved of President George W.Bush’s performance.

After several days of rain andinclement weather, the skies partedfor Election Day. The morning sawthe longest lines, with voters whocame at 8 a.m. waiting up to an hourand a half. A few graduate studentsgrilled hotdogs and burgers for votersleaving the polling place in the after-noon.

Caught off guard by recordturnout in the February primary, theSanta Clara County Registrar ofVoters prepared for long lines thistime around, sending more poll work-ers and bringing extra equipment.

One issue arose, however, whenseveral students with addresses onthe Upper Row and in the CowellCluster discovered that, in order tovote, they needed to go to EscondidoElementary School on Stanford Ave.About 280 votes were cast at theschool during the day, mostly fromcommunity members.

Aside from the polling place con-fusion and the GCC running short onprovisional ballot envelopes, electionworkers and most voters said theywere satisfied.

A majority of polled voters identi-fied the economy as the most impor-tant factor in their decision. Nationalsecurity, including the wars in Iraqand Afghanistan, was most importantto 17 percent of those polled. While13 percent of the Stanford samplesaid the war in Iraq has been worththe costs, 44 percent believed it was“absolutely not.”

Virtually all the supporters of Sen.John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the warin Iraq was worth the cost. One-tenthof those surveyed felt moral or socialissues were most important.

Four in 10 polled were voting forthe first time.

“It feels so exciting, so incrediblethat this is the first election we canvote in,” said Jenny Depierre ‘10, anObama supporter.

A number of provisional ballotswere cast by first-time voters who didnot receive their absentee ballots orprovide their documentation in timefor the election. Absentee voters reg-

istered to vote in other Californiacounties encountered difficultieswhen submitting ballots.

“The assumption is that they candrop off ballots from outside of thecounty,” said Dan Gentile, an assis-tant trainer with the county whoworked at the GCC on Tuesday.“That’s false.”

A third of those surveyed by TheDaily said that they changed the statethey were registered in so they couldcast a ballot in the Golden State — achoice typically motivated by a desireto vote on the referendums.

Both of the most controversial bal-lot initiatives were opposed by morethan three-fourths of those surveyed,although twice as many supported theparental notification measure (25percent) as the marriage ban. Eight ofthe 19 people who voted forProposition 8 also supported Obama.

Throughout the day, volunteerswaved signs urging a yes vote onProp. 2, a measure intended to restrictanimal cruelty, while others handedout flyers advocating gay rights.

“People think we’re in California,by the Bay, and so they’ll think, ‘Ofcourse, it won’t pass,’” said TamikaButler, a gay third-year law studentwho rallied to oppose Prop. 8. “Butit’s still really important to vote.”

Jamila Rufaro, the election officialresponsible for overseeing the opera-tion at the GCC, said the day went“really smoothly.” The polling placeswere quieter than she had expectedduring the normally busy lunch hour,as well as the period after the end ofthe workday, around 5 p.m.

“Most of the machines workedfine,” said Rufaro, who also serves asresidence dean for Florence Moore,Lagunita and Roble. “There wasenough room for everyone. Peopleseemed generally comfortable.”

Many counties report electionresults precinct by precinct, but SantaClara County combines votes frommultiple polling places before passingtallies to the central office. Exit pollsoffer a more meaningful sense of howvoters on the Farm felt about the can-didates and issues. Countywide, withtwo-thirds of votes reported, Obamawas ahead of McCain by a margin of40 percent — 69 to 29. Statewide,

Obama led McCain by 24 points, 61 to37.

The Daily set out to poll every sev-enth voter throughout the day.Among those not included in thissample are students who submittedabsentee ballots, either to theCalifornia county where they main-tain residency or in their home state.

Most voters walked to the GCC,but many came on bicycle.

Throughout the day, a handful ofvoters parked illegally in the bikelane on Escondido Dr., leaving theirflashers on as they waited. Amid thenoise from a nearby construction site,those in line stayed relatively quiet.

On Super Tuesday, when theDemocratic nomination was up forgrabs, The Daily’s exit poll found that75 percent of students supportedObama. On Tuesday, all 21 percent ofthose who said they had supportedSen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in theprimary voted for Obama.

McCain’s support came almostexclusively from white students.Three admitted that Obama’s racemade them less likely to support him.None of the three voted for him.

About one-third of respondentssaid Obama being an AfricanAmerican made them more likely tovote for him. Only 17 percent of thosewho gave that answer were them-selves black.

As the sun set and the networkscalled Pennsylvania for Obama, mak-ing it clear he would win, studentscontinued to vote.

“I think that every Americanshould exercise their right to vote,”said James McGillicuddy ‘09, “regard-less of the projected outcome.”

Rufaro told several people theycouldn’t wear Obama buttons as theywaited.

“Sorry but that’s electioneering,”she said.

Daily staffers Theo Milonopoulos,Jess Wertheim, Andrew Valencia, AnLe Nguyen, Marisa Landicho,Caroline Caselli, Alexa Merz, KelleyFong and Nikhil Joshi contributed tothis report.

Contact James Hohmann at jhohmann@stanford.edu.

The Daily randomly sampled 147 vot-ers at the Graduate Community Center(GCC) on Election Day. What followsare the results of their anonymousresponses, with vote totals noted as notall questions were answered byrespondents.

Who did you vote for in the presidentialelection?JOHN MCCAIN 9.52%

BARACK OBAMA 89.12%

OTHER 1.36%147 TOTAL VOTES

How did you vote on Proposition 8, the meas-ure to amend the California Constitution toeliminate the right of same-sex couples tomarry?YES 13.0%

NO 87.0%146 TOTAL VOTES

How did you vote on Proposition 4, the initia-tive that would require a waiting period andparental notification before the terminationof a minor’s pregnancy?YES 24.8%

NO 75.2%145 TOTAL VOTES

Do you think things in this country are gen-erally going in the right direction or do youfeel things have gotten pretty seriously offon the wrong track?RIGHT DIRECTION 10.6%

WRONG TRACK 89.4%132 TOTAL VOTES

Do you approve of George Bush’s perform-ance as president?YES 4.2%

NO 95.8%142 TOTAL VOTES

Were you a supporter of Hillary Clinton inthe primaries?YES 25.4%

NO 57.5%

DID NOT VOTE IN DEMOCRATIC

PRIMARIES 23.4%145 TOTAL VOTES

What effect did Barack Obama’s race haveon your presidential vote choice? Did it makeyou more likely to support him, less likely,or did it not make a difference.MORE LIKELY 32.6%

LESS LIKELY 2.1%

NO DIFFERENCE 65.3%144 TOTAL VOTES

All in all, considering the costs versus thebenefits to the United States, do you thinkthe war with Iraq was worth fighting ornot? Do you feel that way strongly orsomewhat? ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT 1.4%

WORTH IT 11.3%

NOT WORTH IT 43.7%

ABSOLUTELY NOT WORTH IT 43.7%142 TOTAL VOTES

Which of these issues was the most impor-tant factor in your vote for president?THE ECONOMY 51.0%

NATIONAL SECURITY/WAR IN IRAQ

AND AFGHANISTAN 16.7%

HEALTH CARE 5.2%

THE ENVIRONMENT 9.4%

MORAL/SOCIAL ISSUES 9.4%

OTHER 8.3%96 TOTAL VOTES

Are you a first-time voter?YES 41.0%

NO 59.0%144 TOTAL VOTES

Did you change the state in which you areregistered to vote in order to cast a ballot inCalifornia?YES 33.3%

NO 66.7%144 TOTAL VOTES

Were you satisfied with the way that theStanford polling place was operated?YES 96.5%

NO 3.5%142 TOTAL VOTES

Would it be a good idea if Stanford hadanother polling place for the next election?YES 73.1%

NO 26.9%134 TOTAL VOTES

SURVEY POPULATION:

STANFORD AFFILIATIONUNDERGRADUATE STUDENT 62.7%

GRADUATE STUDENT 32.8%

FACULTY 0.0%

STAFF 2.2%

COMMUNITY MEMBER 2.2%134 TOTAL VOTES

RACE/ETHNICITYAFRICAN AMERICAN 11.4%

LATINO/HISPANIC 5.0%

ASIAN 15.0%

WHITE 59.3%

NATIVE AMERICAN 0.7%

OTHER 8.6%140 TOTAL VOTES

LIBERAL VS. CONSERVATIVEVERY LIBERAL 10.9%

LIBERAL 46.7%

MODERATE 33.6%

CONSERVATIVE 8.8%

VERY CONSERVATIVE 0.0%137 TOTAL VOTES

PARTY REGISTRATIONREPUBLICAN 9.2%

INDEPENDENT 28.4%

DEMOCRAT 62.4%141 TOTAL VOTES

Many students were anxiousthroughout the day, unsure of what toanticipate when early results beganrolling in during the evening hours.

“I have never been so afraid,” saidGreg, an anti-Prop. 8 organizer whoasked to keep his last name confiden-tial for privacy reasons. “This is toomuch.”

“I’ve been nervous all day,” addedA-lan Holt ‘11 on Tuesday evening.“California is split for Prop. 8, so I’mnervous but also hopeful.”

Several students cried while watch-ing the returns, Gelender noted.

On the other side of the fence stoodmany supporters of Prop. 8, includingMike Bailey, a PhD candidate in eco-nomics. Bailey only supports marriagebetween a man and a woman, becausehe believes marriage is an institutionmeant to nurture natural children.

“Marriage is a societal institutionthat teaches people what they need todo to raise children in the world,” hesaid. “I fear that the consequencesdown the line are people seeing mar-

riage as a way to get personal happi-ness — and they lose sight about thekids. Marriage is fundamentally aboutthe children it creates.”

Stanford faculty members alsoweighed in on the issue, many of whomsigned an online petition against Prop.8 that began circulating on Oct. 28.

Larry Diamond, petition signatoryand senior fellow at the HooverInstitution, called it “particularly dis-turbing” that an initiative — Prop. 8 —aimed to reverse a decision by theCalifornia Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court approvedsame-sex marriage in a ruling on May15 of this year.

“Gays should have the right tomarry, to have their union fully recog-nized by the state,” Diamond told TheDaily earlier this week.

Bailey noted that his differenceswith opponents of Prop. 8 are not per-sonal, but stem simply from a differentdefinition of marriage.

“All of us on the ‘yes’ side have gayfriends and family whom we love,” hesaid. “Even if it does pass, I’m notgoing to be happy because I know howmuch pain my gay friends will suffer. Itwill be bittersweet.”

In opposition to what many “No onProp. 8” supporters are viewing as

temporary defeat, a rally and Marchwill be held today at 12:30 p.m. inWhite Plaza.

Proposition 4

Over the past few weeks, opposi-tion to Prop. 8 has grown hand-in-handwith opposition to Prop. 4, which, ifpassed, would prohibit abortion for aminor until 48 hours after a physiciannotifies her parent.

As of press time, 53 percent of vot-ers opposed the proposition, with 89percent of precincts reporting.

Amy Herbertson ‘11, publicitycoordinator for the Women’sCommunity Center, said “a lot of dia-logue” was held at the center duringthe past few weeks. The center activelysupported a no vote on Prop. 4.

“We hosted a debate in the center,and we tried to provide a space forpeople to have these types of discus-sions,” Herbertson said.

Regardless of whether or not Prop.4 passes, Herbertson pointed to VicePresident-elect Joe Biden as a support-er of women’s rights, noting that he“has a fabulous record.”

Contact Devin Banerjee at devin11@stanford.edu.

PROPSContinued from front page

ANDY Y. LIN/The Stanford Daily

Students packed the CoHo, enjoying free nachos and beer as election returns came in. The crowd erupted each timea state was called for Obama, and students celebrated Obama’s victory by leaving to start a bonfire in the Quad.

CHRISTIAN TORRES

DEVIN BANERJEE

JAMES HOHMANN

THEO MILONOPOULOS

NIKHIL JOSHI

MIKE DING

AN LE NGUYEN

JOSH ALVAREZ

SAM COGGESHALL

ELLIOTT JIN

JULIA BROWNELL

MARISA LANDICHO

RYAN MAC

CHRISTINE MCFADDEN

JENNY REMPEL

EMMA TROTTER

ANDREW VALENCIA

JESS WERTHEIM

Election Staff