Quad City Times: First Vote

Lots of movement, fast-paced and fun, was what I expected at my first caucus experience. Mildly disorganized, frustrating, and somewhat slow was what I experienced.
Once I was at my designated area at Wood Intermediate School, I needed to register for the Democratic Party. This was painful. I asked one woman at a registration desk. She didn’t know and referred me to another person who didn’t know. Finally, a third person was able to provide me a card for registration. It took two more people to find where I needed to take my registration card. No signs were posted and it was hard to tell who the volunteers were. Very unorganized.
Then came the persuading, which was a bit more fun. It was interesting to see a dozen or so people get heckled to join a different  candidate group. One woman offered a teen chocolate to come over to the Obama side.
Then came the final count, which took at least three tries to get right. The outcome? 44 for Edwards, 60 for Clinton and 66 — including me — for Obama.
Although it isn’t as exciting as a rock concert, the fact that it’s an important act of democracy should be reason enough for everyone to go.

Mark Schwenker
Davenport West

A: First Vote journalist Bryn Lawrence tracked down 11 presidential candidates in Iowa to get answers to this one simple question.

Candidates shouldn’t have to look very far to find one of the reasons students aren’t involved in their campaigns. Typical campaign stops are during the school day and most visits are far from any school or campus. The lack of young adults at campaign events serves as a microcosm of the larger problem. That generation shows little interest in politics and the politicians don’t target them.
It’s unfortunate that the younger generation isn’t involved since many of the major issues, like the war and Social Security, will have a great impact on that age group. Luckily, a majority of the candidates do talk frequently about handing down the country to the next generation in better shape.
Most students don’t pay taxes, worry about health insurance, or have kids in a failing public school. Likewise, the candidates lack reasons to target us in their campaigns. We don’t have money to donate, we don’t show up for the caucuses and it’s difficult to get our attention.
I found that many of the students who did show up had already decided whom they would caucus for. They just came to see their candidate in real life. This served as a reassuring experience for them since caucusing can feel like a big commitment.
Curiosity also motivated many of the young adults who showed up at events. Several students at a Bill Clinton event in DeWitt showed up just to see the former president. Some of them were even Republicans who planned to vote for Huckabee or Romney. John Edwards was onto something when he said the younger crowd looks for causes to join. A good example is high school student Zoe Grueskin, who believes strongly in protecting the environment. That issue got her involved in the Obama campaign.
Finally, while students do need to become more aware of politics, it’s not a big deal that they aren’t showing up at these events. Figuring out which candidate to vote for doesn’t require meeting them since many of the speeches are loaded with wishful thinking and ridiculous proposals. Even though personality and character carry importance in electing a president, these traits are hard to find while meeting a candidate.

Bryn Lawrence
Augustana College

Barack Obama

LeClaire Park, Sept. 12; Coralville Marriott, Oct. 2; Quad-City Times Editorial Board, Dec. 18.

Barack Obama has had an enormous amount of success courting the young vote. Crowds of young people normally come to his rallies. To get them involved in the campaign, Obama has targeted students as young as high school age by starting groups called the “Barack Stars.” Jake Pilcher of Bettendorf said he first heard about the group at school. Later, he went to the Obama office where he found out more information and volunteered for the campaign.
Some students have gotten involved in the Obama campaign because he’s shown an interest in them too.
I finally got the chance to ask Obama at the Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview. He said young adults really haven’t had opportunities until recently to get involved. “There haven’t been any outlets for them.” He said his campaign has given students real opportunities and that his volunteers don’t just do simple things like get coffee. “We’ve given them substantive ways to get involved.”

Chris Dodd

Bettendorf VFW Post, Nov. 12; Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview, Dec. 14.

After missing my turn and driving past a few times, I finally pulled into the Bettendorf VFW hall’s small gravel parking lot. Inside, no one at the bar had heard of Chris Dodd. The ladies playing bridge in the side room hadn’t heard of him either. At the entrance, a sign taped to the door said I was a day early.
The next night the parking lot overflowed with cars parked in uncomfortable directions. Inside, the signup table blocked entry to the room where Dodd would speak. After signing in, supporters gathered in the side room, behind a sliding wooden curtain keeping out the bar noise. The curtain also divided the intensely interested activists from the veterans who just wanted a drink.
The U.S. senator told the crowd full of veterans that the country needed to provide students with opportunities for national service and require community service as a part of high school graduation.
Dodd, a Peace Corps as well as National Guard veteran, told me these types of service would encourage students to become more involved in the political process.
A few months later the senator gave me a more extensive response at a Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview. I asked why more students weren’t involved in politics. He first jokingly said, “Well, they’re chasing girls and having a good time.” Then he offered a more sober response: “If people feel comfortable enough, and you’re serious enough, and you’re truly interested and you don’t talk down, and you treat them as adults, you’d be amazed at how (much) earlier you could begin this process,” he said. “I think we start too late at the collegiate level or post-high school level.”

Fred Thompson

Coralville Marriott, Oct. 2; Thunder Bay Grille, Dec.7.

Greg Baker, president of the College Republicans at the University of Iowa, is one of the students who believe candidates need to do a better job of targeting young voters. He said if issues like college tuition were mentioned more, students would become more interested. Baker cheered on Fred Thompson at a campaign stop in the Coralville Marriott. He came with a handful of members who also had some input on why students aren’t more involved. Amy Cheng said students think they should let politicians take care of politics because they’re busy with their own lives. She also thinks students are cynical because there’s a “stereotype of politicians wanting to win elections and not keeping their words.” When Thompson finished speaking, he didn’t take questions from the audience.
At a later Thompson visit, an overflowing crowd crammed inside of a dining room at the Thunder Bay Grille in Davenport. This time Thompson brought his wife along and happily answered my question. He said, “I think (students are) pretty involved. You know, as I go around I see a lot of young people actively involved.” He then said, “You might ask why older Americans aren’t more involved in politics too.”
At the rally there were only a handful of students and a few children accompanying their parents.

Tom Tancredo

Shooting Sports Unlimited, Moline, Oct. 26.

A handful of Tancredo supporters gathered at a shooting range, lining up awkwardly to greet their candidate, who chatted with them shyly and without an apparent agenda. The supporters showed up with video cameras, guns and ammunition to meet the congressman. A small shooting range hid down a hallway and behind a few doors. Tancredo’s supporters huddled in the nearby shooting stalls to watch him take aim.
The congressman loaded his gun slowly, not talking much. After putting on ear protection, he took a two-handed grip on the gun and shot the entire clip at a paper target featuring the silhouette of a man. A supporter then pointed out that his aim missed to the left on every shot. The congressman laughed hysterically.
Tancredo’s advisor asked me if I’d like to take a few shots, then handed me a gun. Since it was my first time, he gave me a crash course and turned me loose on the paper target. I fired at least eight times, wounding my paper target victim in the head and neck.
Later on, Tancredo sat on a stool and signed paper targets, “Keep the faith, Tom Tancredo.” After signing targets he chatted freely with a few late comers, grinning the whole time. One asked him what should be done about incidents like Columbine. He paused, and told the voter of his pro-family stance and how abortions should be made illegal. “What does that teach kids about the value of life?” he said.
I was the only one under 30 at the event and Tancredo had this to say to my question about student involvement: Young adults aren’t involved because they’re too busy. He attended college during the Vietnam War and said that this got students involved. “It’s unfortunate that’s the only time when people are involved,” he said about times of war.

John Edwards

Davenport North High School Auditorium, Nov. 19; Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview, Dec. 14.

Students crammed into the Davenport North High School auditorium for a rally with John Edwards and musicians Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne. Then they ended up squirming in their seats. Edwards was an hour late. The students seemed to enjoy the music, though none I interviewed had ever heard of Raitt or Browne. Afterward, I joined other reporters surrounding Edwards and asked my question.
He said young people are drawn to causes and issues rather than the political process. “I think the campaign of causes and change we’re running is something they’ll respond to,” he said. His response certainly scored highest with me for insight and originality.
Later at a Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview, I asked him to elaborate. Edwards said “I don’t think young people are driven by party politics.” He also emphasized the importance of visiting with students. “I don’t talk at them or down to them, but I treat them as equals and I listen to them.”

Mitt Romney

Best Western Steeplegate Inn, Davenport, Oct. 16.

I skipped a geography class and grabbed a quick lunch on the drive to catch the former Massachusetts governor at a hotel conference room on Davenport’s far north side. He arrived a half hour late. He spoke, then took questions and eventually called on me. He pointed out that the candidates don’t target the younger generation enough while campaigning. “Maybe it’s partly our fault, those of us who are running for office. We don’t spend more time on campus and we probably should spend more time with students and say, ‘guys get involved and get educated.’”
How true. Unfortunately, this event was miles from the nearest college campus and smack in the middle of the school day.

Rudy Giuliani

Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, Oct. 24.

Ninety minutes after he was scheduled to appear, Rudy Giuliani showed up to a warm cheer, then headed straight for a restroom. When he returned, one supporter suggested Giuliani should have opened the bar if he was going to be so late.
The mayor spoke for 20 minutes, drawing strong applause, then took questions. I kept my hand up through Q & A about taxes and torture. Then he called on me.
“I think there’s a certain feeling about government now that we’re going to have to change; that you can’t get anything done,” he said. “So that may create a little bit less enthusiasm for politics.”
He also blamed the negativity in politics for the cynicism in young voters. “And it almost seems like politics gets organized around personalities and usually in a negative way.” He said. “Like a lot of Democratic politics is organized around anger at President Bush. It’s not healthy. And some of our politics is organized around anger at Hillary Clinton.”

Bill Richardson

Davenport River Center, Nov. 2.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson intended to campaign on veterans’ issues at the Davenport River Center. He spoke from an executive podium and introduced his entourage of war vets who were endorsing his candidacy. Scheduled to start at noon, Richardson arrived a bit late and I missed another class.
I tracked down the governor after the event and he responded to my question by saying he’s noticed a lot of cynicism in young adults. “Candidates need to be more genuine and pro-student and address issues like college loans like I am.” He said. “I think students are very cynical about politicians. They kind of think it’s all just trying to get votes and raise money.” The governor thought that engaging students in the political process through programs like national service would help get them involved in politics.

John McCain

North-Gate Place, Davenport, Dec. 13.

I missed my first chance to question U.S. Sen. McCain at a health care forum on the Genesis Medical Center campus in October. So I tracked him down at a town hall meeting two months later at the North-Gate Place, a banquet hall next to a Hy-Vee. I held my hand up through the entire question and answer session without any luck, so I joined a gaggle of autograph seekers afterwards. One woman had three books to sign. Several supporters handed me cameras to snap photos of them with the senator.
He kept shaking hands and signing autographs as he answered my question. “We’ve got to be into the issues they care about: education, national security, many issues. You’ve got to go to the venues that they watch. Not many get up early on Sunday morning to watch Sunday talk shows, but they do watch John Stewart and they watch … MTV and others.”

Hillary Clinton

Quad-City Times Editorial Board interview, Dec. 17.

My chance to ask the question to U.S. Sen. Clinton finally came at the editorial board interview. Clinton sat at the opposite end of the board room table and said she pushed hard for lowering the voting age to 18 during the 60s. She thought since the war in Vietnam was going on, changing the voting age would be “revolutionary since the elections were much more about their futures than mine.”
She also acknowledged that young people have a lot going on in their lives. “You’re learning, you know, to fend for yourselves, how to live away from your families. Relationships are really important. You’re trying to figure out what you want to do to make a living,” she said. “There’s just a lot unsettled.”
Clinton said she tries to connect issues young people are worried about with politics. “Global warming has that effect for some young people. They’re very invested in it,” she said. “The terrible situation in Darfur has motivated people to get involved.”

Mike Huckabee

Scott County Republican Party headquarters, Davenport, Dec. 21

I finally found former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on the Friday before Christmas at his party’s county headquarters. Out front, a huge portrait of him covered the side of the campaign bus. The driver spent several minutes trying to turn around in the tiny parking lot. Supporters were equally congested inside and overflowed into the hallway.
After his speech, Huckabee shook hands with the people who came. He looked relaxed, taking time to visit a bit with each of them and he gave an unhurried answer to my question.
“I don’t think they realize how much the next elections will affect them. Because truthfully it’ll affect you guys more than it will people of my generation.
“The next president could really mess things up more for you than he could mess it up for me.

Frantic campaigns aren’t exactly student friendly

Candidates shouldn’t have to look very far to find one of the reasons students aren’t involved in their campaigns. Typical campaign stops are during the school day and most visits are far from any school or campus. The lack of young adults at campaign events serves as a microcosm of the larger problem. That generation shows little interest in politics and the politicians don’t target them.
It’s unfortunate that the younger generation isn’t involved since many of the major issues, like the war and Social Security, will have a great impact on that age group. Luckily, a majority of the candidates do talk frequently about handing down the country to the next generation in better shape.
Most students don’t pay taxes, worry about health insurance, or have kids in a failing public school. Likewise, the candidates lack reasons to target us in their campaigns. We don’t have money to donate, we don’t show up for the caucuses and it’s difficult to get our attention.
I found that many of the students who did show up had already decided whom they would caucus for. They just came to see their candidate in real life. This served as a reassuring experience for them since caucusing can feel like a big commitment.
Curiosity also motivated many of the young adults who showed up at events. Several students at a Bill Clinton event in DeWitt showed up just to see the former president. Some of them were even Republicans who planned to vote for Huckabee or Romney. John Edwards was onto something when he said the younger crowd looks for causes to join. A good example is high school student Zoe Grueskin, who believes strongly in protecting the environment. That issue got her involved in the Obama campaign.
Finally, while students do need to become more aware of politics, it’s not a big deal that they aren’t showing up at these events. Figuring out which candidate to vote for doesn’t require meeting them since many of the speeches are loaded with wishful thinking and ridiculous proposals. Even though personality and character carry importance in electing a president, these traits are hard to find while meeting a candidate.

Bryn Lawrence
Augustana College

Starting off completely neutral, I was given an unbiased opportunity to listen to viewpoints from both the Republicans and Democrats. I agree with some issues on both sides, yet I can’t call myself one or the other. However, when I think of what the country needs now, some change is needed. I think the views and plans on the Democratic side could provide that.
The hard part was then picking a candidate.
Health care for all, getting the troops out of Iraq, and reworking the educational
system are all issues that the top-tier Democrats will address in a relatively similar way.
Having the chance to meet and greet several candidates, I have to say Barack Obama came off to me as being the most interested, compassionate, and genuine to talk with. Briefly talking about my school and mundane daily things, it felt as if he cared instead of making me feel like I’m just another vote.
U.S. Sen. Obama could provide solutions to issues while also having the edge of providing that sense of enthusiasm, care, and compassion for not only the country, but individuals as well.

Mark Schwenker
Davenport West High School

What separates the Democratic candidates? Even though they all share ideals, Clinton differs by pushing her experience, Edwards separates himself with his ability to fight, and Obama sends the message of change through unity. As the time to vote draws nearer, a person has to choose which direction to take to achieve the goals of democratic America.
Barack Obama’s path inspires me. He’ll reinstate the bond among Americans by paying attention to his entire constituency. In a democracy, the majority might rule but the minority has the right to address what’s wrong. I believe the senator won’t ignore any fraction of America’s problems, thus bringing back camaraderie.
Obama’s ability to serve the minority is highlighted in his immigration policy. He appeals to the majority of Americans by promising to crack down on employers of illegal aliens. Yet he addresses the minority by promising to make legal immigration easier, thus cutting down on illegal immigrants.
I feel Obama will bring America’s majorities and minorities together, enacting change for the general good. I’ve asked conservatives what Democratic candidate they respect the most; the answer is predominantly Barack Obama. I think this happens because of his appeal to every American, not just liberals. The idea of unity is why I’m supporting the best campaign for our country, the Obama campaign.

Amelia Schoeneman
Rock Island High School

The Democrats have such an amazing array of candidates that actually making a choice is difficult. I have decided to support the senator from Illinois, Barack Obama. Obama is a candidate who will unite the heavily divided country and bring the country back to our former glory.
When I see Obama on commercials and at public appearances, he shows that he cares for the people of this country and that he will do everything in his power to fight corruption.
Obama is a strong candidate who attracts the crowds of people and makes us all feel warm and offers a sense that we all can make a difference in the government.
When people question his experience level, all I have to say is: What has experience given us in Washington? With Obama, Clinton and Edwards in a close battle that can go any way, Obama seems to bring a sense of hope to us all which we all want.

David Ballard
Moline High School

By Kevin Trahan

First Vote

For me, it is very hard to pick one candidate because I support different candidates on different issues. So I decided to write what I believe on each issue and then pick the candidate that most shares my opinion on that issue. In the end, I did pick a candidate that I support the most, but it wasn’t easy.

Immigration:

Illegal immigration into the US has gotten out of hand. Half a million people come into our country illegally each year. We have the personnel and the technology to prevent illegal immigration, but we have not done much to solve the problem. Our next President needs to build a touch-sensitive fence that will notify an immigration authority and have the border patrol there within minutes, even seconds. We need to take just a handful of the US army troops in Iraq and station them at the border. This way, we will catch many more illegal immigrants. It will also discourage others from coming across the border. We also need amnesty for the immigrants who are already here. If they can speak English somewhat well, have no criminal record, and prove they can support themselves and their family, they should be able to stay. They would not receive health care under a universal plan, but could receive it if they applied for citizenship.

Obama and Clinton: Both want amnesty for illegal immigrants. They also want to toughen border security, but in different ways. Obama wants to use more technology and Clinton wants to use more personnel. Both plans together would be great.

Health Care:

There has been speculation that a universal health care system would not work. Many people think that it would reduce the quality of health care. This is a big problem that should not be overlooked. Universal health care will also be a big blow to health insurers. I believe that all employers should be forced to have health insurance for their workers and their workers’ families. Other people would be the ones to be under a universal system. This way there is not a big blow to health insurers. Also, the working people would have better health coverage so the quality of their health care would not be changed.

Obama and Edwards: No candidate has my exact views on health care, but these two are the closest. Edwards will require by law that all Americans have health insurance. Obama wants to give health care to people who can’t afford it and to people who don’t have it provided for them by their workplace.

Iraq War:

The War in Iraq was a huge mistake in the first place. Saddam Hussein was never an imminent threat to the US and Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction. We need to end this insensible war. Some Democratic candidates call for complete and immediate withdrawal of US troops. This would be a disaster. The country would erupt and the last troops to leave would be in danger of an attack. We need a gradual plan to have troops out by the end of 2009 (a year after the next President takes office because we all know that Bush will do nothing to end the war). We do need to keep the Army Corps of Engineers there to help rebuild the country and we will need just a few troops to protect them.

Biden: Biden is the only candidate that supports a gradual withdrawal because he believes the same as me; Iraq will be chaos with immediate withdrawal. The only problem with his plan is that he wants to decentralize Iraq’s government and divide up the rival groups to prevent another civil war. Because of this, Biden was a tough choice for me, but I love his gradual troop removal plan.

Education:

Education is very important but it seems to have taken a back seat to many other issues. The Bush Administration has handled education very poorly and America is in need of a change. We need to start in middle school by having an honors level, general level, and introduction level in each subject. In high school, and AP class should be added above the honors level. Also we need to stop basing a school’s performance on standardized tests. Schools need to be judged on a case-by-case basis, and not be placed on a watch list just because of their standardized test scores. Also, all teachers should receive a 45% increase in pay. I would also teach parents how to better prepare their kids for school and would strongly encourage that all children go to preschool.

Clinton: Hillary has a great stance on education and is talking about the issue more than any other candidate. To me, she is a great choice because she wants to stop judging everything on standardized tests and start judging schools on a case-by-case basis.

Energy:

Because of “The Inconvenient Truth” and Al Gore, global warming, energy, and the environment have become hot topics and major issues in the US. The first thing that we need to do is to raise fuel economy standards. Fuel economy standards will be required to go up 5%. We also need to end drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We should require that all oil companies offer E85 Ethanol and should develop thousands more wind farms and support more research in solar power. We also need to end the Bush tax cuts for oil companies and use that money to research and develop alternative energy sources.

Biden and Dodd: Dodd plans to stop drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He also wants to take aggressive measures to increase fuel standards to 50 mpg by 2017 (maybe a bit unreasonable, but still a great goal to shoot for). Biden is really stressing developing alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Economy:

The biggest thing that can help the economy is dropping unemployment rates. We need to greatly emphasize the Job Corps and help young people who have made mistakes with their education get good job training and a job that can support them and their family. We also need to provide money for entrepreneurs to help them start up their own businesses. We need to raise the minimum wage to help the low-income workers who are living right on the poverty line.

Obama: Most of the Democratic candidates had about the same views, but Obama talked about providing money to help out entrepreneurs, which I feel is a very important part in making our economy flourish.

The Candidate I support:

This was a very tough decision. It was a close three-way race between Obama, Clinton, and Biden. The problem with Biden is his plan to decentralize Iraq’s government. I feel that this will make the civil war there even worse. I feel that Clinton is a good candidate and she is probably my second favorite candidate. I just don’t like her Iraq War plan. Pulling troops out as quickly as she wants to could create even more chaos in Iraq and be a disaster for the US. I love her education plan though, but I feel Obama is catching up on the education issue and has the potential to put together an education plan that is just as good. He just isn’t there yet. With that said, I support Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Election. I feel that he is a great leader with charisma and determination. He doesn’t use attack ads to gain votes and has great views on the economy. Although he doesn’t agree with me exactly on every issue, he comes pretty close on most. I also feel that all of the other candidates have at least one view that, if implemented badly, could take our country in the wrong direction. Obama is the only candidate without one of these views. All in all, after going through all of the issues, I think Barack Obama is the best choice for America. As his bumper stickers say, he is the best hope for a brighter future for America.

Choosing a candidate to vote for in the caucus was not easy. There were many candidates who I could have chosen, but above them all I chose Barack Obama. The first part of narrowing my search for a candidate was choosing a Democrat or Republican. I chose to go with the Democrats because of the last two bad terms the Republicans had.
Then after that was determining the Democratic candidate I would caucus for. Out of all of them, Obama stuck out to me. I liked how he basically said that it doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, blue or even red. We all have to stick together as a nation to better our country and our world. Obama is black and to me if people from different races and political parties can vote for him, then Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s. dream is coming true.
So when I caucus for Obama, I think of a future of people of different colors holding hands to better America in all aspects.

Gabe Hearn
Davenport Central
High School

By Mark Schwenker
First Vote
Sen. Barack Obama was drilled on questions pertaining to his leadership experience and foreign policy objectives. When my turn came to ask him a question, I thought I’d go easy on him.
“As my friends and I are talking about what career fields we might go into, I was wondering, what did you want to be when you were in high school?” I asked, breaking the serious tension in the room as the Senator looked me in the eye while drinking out of an unmarked water bottle.
The senator, chuckling to himself, replied “in kindergarten I wanted to be President, then I went through wanting to be an astronaut and basketball player.“
“By the time I was in high school, I actually thought I wanted to be an architect,” he said. “I thought the idea of designing buildings would be fascinating.”
I find it very interesting that Sen. Obama wanted to be an architect. As an architect, one most likely wants to leave their mark on the world by having a lasting impact with their designs. Although the senator isn’t an architect, he is still leaving a lasting impact on the landscape of America today.
“How I became a lawyer instead is a sad tale,” Sen. Obama, said.
I also dabbled on the thought of being an architect, but new interests and opportunities came up as time went on, which Sen. Obama experienced as well.
Who knows, maybe I’m going down a similar path as the senator. How does “Mark Schwenker in 2048” sound?

Mark Schwenker is a student at Davenport West High School.

By Amelia Schoeneman
First Vote
When opponents of Barack Obama criticize the senator, they start with his apparent lack of experience. But, at the Quad-City Times Editorial Board meeting, it was clear his wisdom with politics was not an issue. Obama knows he’s new to Washington D.C., but he’s also aware that being elected president is “not a question of longevity in Washington.“
Obama’s judgments on foreign policy are not just beginners’ luck. In the senate he voted against the war in Iraq realizing more attention needed to be paid to Afghanistan. Today the call for more troops in Afghanistan is being made. He was also wary of the fact that there wasn’t an exit strategy for Iraq. Now, every candidate has written one. As the senator said himself, it’s not luck after a certain point.
Experience also ties into knowledge of policies, not just voting for the correct ones. I asked Obama about what he would do to keep arts alive in public schools. He said that No Child Left Behind is the reason money is taken from the arts.
“Part of the reason that you’re seeing pressure on arts programs and music programs … is that No Child Left Behind is structured where the success of the school is measured entirely in terms by what happens on those high stakes standardize tests.”
Those tests are helpful, but schools need to be assessed on other things, too.
“Right now, if a child comes in and they’re three years behind, and at the end of the year they’re only one year behind, that school’s actually done a very good job. But it wouldn’t show up on No Child Left Behind. They would be still labeled, potentially, as a failure.”
He would modify the act when in office.
“If we can change those assessments then once again we will be emphasizing arts, music, literature, social studies, foreign languages, the things that provide a well-rounded education.”
Sen. Barack Obama clearly has enough experience to discover, understand, and fix problems. As president he’ll bring White House decisions and reports to his constituency. Obama helped to pass “Google for Government” and wants to reinstate fireside chats. He’ll use C-SPAN to involve the public in government decisions. The experience Sen. Barack Obama has is clearly the right kind. He has the perspective to make logical, insightful decisions for America.

Amelia Schoeneman is a student at Rock Island High School.

By Mark Schwenker
First Vote
Traveling on Interstates 80 and 380 in an ice storm, I was forced to pull over every couple of miles to scrape ice off my windshield as my squeaky wipers and empty washer fluid reservoir could no longer provide safe vision.
Although I drove an average of around 40 miles per hour, I managed to get to the Dec. 8 event in Cedar Rapids featuring Barackand Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
An hour before the “triple-O-show” began, energy filled the U.S. Cellular Center. A college a Capella group sang pop songs on stage. Others acted out a mock-caucus skit that entertained the waiting audience (take note, other candidate hosts).
Another student started a wave that washed around the full arena five times.
U.S. Sen. Barack Obama opened with a greeting to young and old, white and black, gays and straights. From what I noticed in the crowd, there was not one dominant group of people.
Michelle Eberhart, 18, of Maquoketa, noticed this, too. “I do think that Obama appeals more to young people than other candidates, but I’d also like to think that he appeals more to all Americans than his opponents do,” she said. “I know some older people feel that Obama doesn’t have enough experience to do a good job in Washington, but Oprah made the point that Obama has quite a lot of experience just from living and being the person that he is.“
Oprah Winfrey entered exhibiting an aura of majesty, enhanced by the sparkle of thousands of camera flashes.
When someone such as Oprah backs a candidate, you take notice.
Davenport West class of ‘06 alumni Adam Peters noticed. “Oprah is such an influential person, and I think to some, knowing that Oprah is behind someone will give a flag saying that they should be, too.”
Eberhart summed it up well. “I loved the combination of seriousness and humor from the speakers, such as when Barack said Oprah shouldn’t be the only person building schools in Africa and that we should be communicating with our enemies overseas, teaching children math and science and demonstrating that the United States isn’t one of the bad guys,” she said. “I’ve never seen such a large group of people so united for one cause, hope.”

Mark Schwenker attends Davenport West High School.