THE NEWS RECORD
132 YEARS IN PRINT VOL. CXXXII ISSUE LVVII
Monday | September, 17 | 2012
LESS THAN UPRISE IN IMPRESSIVE MIDEAST sports | 6
special section | 3
Ohio’s early voting law struck down THURSDAY | MAY 31 | 2012
BENJAMIN GOLDSCHMIDT | CHIEF REPORTER The state of Ohio is appealing a federal judge’s recent decision to strike down a controversial law restricting early voting in Ohio. Federal Judge Peter Economus struck down a state law Aug. 31, barring in-person-early voting the weekend before the Nov. 6 election, FitzGibbon Media announced in a statement. Ohio is appealing the ruling, and Secretary of State Jon Husted isn’t allowing boards to set up for early voting until the appeal is resolved, but does intend to follow the ruling of the court, said Matt McClellan, Husted’s press secretary. “The Board of Elections asked for a break between election day and the early voting timeframe to process absentee ballots so they can update the list of who voted,” McClellan said. This would prevent people from voting twice — once as an absentee and again on election day — and still provide ample time for voters to get to the polls, McClellan said. FitzGibbon Media stated critics of Husted’s early
voting position delivered more than 80,000 petition signatures to his office Wednesday, calling for him to ensure a “fair election.” “Access to the polls is not about partisan politics, it’s about a functioning democracy,” said Rashad Robinson, executive director of ColorOfChange, an activist group dedicated to voter outreach in the black community, in the statement. “We’re here today to show Secretary Husted that tens of thousands of people are calling on him to ensure a fair election,” Robinson said. Organizations such as ColorOfChange, Fighting for Ohio Jobs and Stand up for Ohio were involved in organizing the petition delivery. Voting fraud as a result of early, in-person voting is a “rare, infrequent bipartisan occurrence,” said Patrick Miller, assistant professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati. “You have to go back decades to find evidence of early voting fraud,” Miller said. But Miller also said the idea that early voting gets more people to the polls is inaccurate. SEE VOTING | 2
MADISON SCHMIDT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
VOTING IN OHIO Legislation prohibiting voting the weekend before the general election was ruled against by Federal Judge Aug. 31.
Military costs up poverty KELSEA DAULTON | SENIOR REPORTER
A professor from the University of Cincinnati has produced new research concerning the way military spending effects governments and economies. The research conducted by Steve Carlton-Ford, professor and head of the sociology department, , analyzed the adverse effects that heavily militarized and corrupt governments have on their civilian populations. The mortality rate of children under five years old was used to determine the state of well being in a country. If the children are poorly taken care of, then the country CARLTON-FORD whole is probably suffering, Carlton-Ford said. It became clear praetorian militarization — direct or strong indirect military control of the government — is a particularly harmful infrastructure on civilian populations, Carlton-Ford said. “It’s typically thought this happens more often in countries with poorly institutionalized civil societies and typically non-democratically organized governments,” Carlton-Ford said. Praetorian armies control a large portion of the national budget, resulting in small, expensive armies, CarltonFord said. He measured the governmental spending on the military of different countries by comparing how much was spent per soldier relative to GDP per capita. The United States spends sixto-seven times GDP per capita per soldier, whereas some of the most expensive militaries spend up to 70-times GDP per capita per soldier, Carlton-Ford said. There is increasing concern about which countries the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and donor nations should support because it is unclear if the aid given actually benefits the countries, Carlton-Ford said.
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Demonstrators remember former ambassador’s efforts in Libya BENJAMIN GOLDSCHMIDT | CHIEF REPORTER Members of the University of Cincinnati and Clifton communities gathered Friday to condemn the attacks in Libya and express sorrow over the loss of the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens. The demonstration started at 3:00 p.m. on the corner of Martin Luther King Drive and Clifton Avenue after Jumu’ah, the prayer Muslims hold every Friday. Demonstrators held signs, handed out American flags and flowers to passers by. The signs condemned the death of Stevens along with the mocking of the prophet, Muhammad — a reference to a parody of the Islamic faith on YouTube. The adviser of the University of Cincinnati Muslim Student Association, Amina Darwish, saw online that other Muslim groups were hosting similar demonstrations in their respective communities and thought
MADISON SCHMIDT | SENIOR REPORTER
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SHOWING APPRECIATION Cincinnati should join, she said. “We want to continue [Stevens’] legacy of bridge-building and peacemaking in Libya,” Darwish said. “He wasn’t just doing a job, he genuinely cared.” Many of the demonstrators were Libyans who wanted to express their gratitude for the work Stevens’ did in their home country. “What happened in Libya does not represent the people of Libya, and does not represent Islam,” said Ali Alghonas, a UC graduate of political science who is from Libya. Muslims were not the only group represented at the demonstration. The Rev. Alice Connor was in attendance because she didn’t want to “support [her] brothers and sisters silently across the street,” she said. Aileen Fraser of Mt. Washington, also came to show her support. “I’m devastated that this happened, but thrilled there is a Muslim student association putting this on,” Fraser said. “I want to see the
PHIL DIDION | SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
STANDING FOR AMERICA Norah Zanbrano, 5, waves an American flag at a vigil Friday in Clifton. blame cast where it’s deserved.” Jim Berns, the Libertarian congressional candidate for Ohio’s First District, was on hand to at the demonstration to show his support for the community and discuss the need to change negative views of Arabs in America.
Ohio universities discuss assault response
Special Section Nation/ World Crossword Sports
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ANNA BENTLEY | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
FRIEND OF LIBYA Farihah Ibrahim and Farheen Asif hold a sign honoring the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, who was killed Sept. 11, after an attack on the Embassy.
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The University System of Ohio Campus Safety hosted a meeting at the University of Cincinnati Tangeman University Center Thursday to discuss and reinforce guidelines for sexual assault response set by the Ohio Board of Regents. Universities throughout the state had representatives in attendance for the meeting centered on gender equality in Ohio and advised actions toward the appropriate prevention and response of sexual harassment. The guidelines originate from “A Safer Campus: A Guidebook on Prevention and Response to Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking for Ohio Campuses,” established by the Ohio Board of Regents in 2010, and a letter titled “Dear Colleague” published by the Department of Education in April of 2011. Katie Hanna of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and Beth Malchus of the Ohio Department of Health led discussions at the meeting to enforce the Dear Colleague
and Ohio campus safety guidelines. The “Dear Colleague” letter has to do with creating a safe learning environment for all genders, Hanna said. The practices taught by Hanna and Malchus follow the structure of a law enforcement model and urge help from officers in the community, Malchus said. Currently, many campuses don’t have the resources to comply with these guidelines and to provide help to students, Howton said. “We’re trying to set recommendations for the best practices,” Malchus said. “Not every campus in Ohio are implementing these practices, but if they did, campuses would be a lot safer.” UC has maintained its Sexual Offense Response Team, with representatives from Public Safety, Women’s Center and University Judicial Affairs since 1998, Howton said. In the 2011-2012 academic year, 13 sexual offenses took place either on or off campus — eight were not reported, according to UC Women’s Center statistics. While assault reported through the
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KEITH BOWERS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
REINFORCING THE GUIDELINES The University of Cincinnati hosted a regional sexual assault meeting Thursday at TUC. women’s center remains confidential if the victim does not want it to be reported, the Cleary Act requires the total number of reported and unreported assaults be documented annually.