20081023

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OLD GOLD&BLACK W A K E

F O R E S T

U N I V E R S I T Y

T H U R S D AY, O C TO B E R 2 3 , 2 0 0 8

VOL. 92, NO. 10

“Covers the campus like the magnolias”

Campaigning on Campus By Sam Cernuto | Staff writer

Nov. 4 is quickly approaching and the presidential candidates are campaigning till the very last minute. This is going to be a historic election no matter who wins. With the first minority running for president and a woman running as vice president, the White House will be forever altered regardless of which party gets nominated. Katy Harriger, chair of the university’s political science department, said, “Not only will this be a historic election, but there is a certain intensity to this election than there has been in the past. The combination of the economic crisis and the war will bring a historic number of voters.” Interestingly enough, more college students are involved in this election than in years past. “Traditionally, Wake has not been politically active other than the times the presidential debates were held here,” Harriger said. “However, this election, Wake is like other universities where there’s more involvement than historically ever before.” Junior Benjamin Lynch, president of College Republicans, said, “Wake students have been very

receptive to the election and have taken initiative to become personally involved. It appears that the typical myths that college students are politically apathetic have been proven untrue. The enthusiasm in the 2008 election seems unparalleled as students are becoming increasing involved.” The College Republicans and College Democrats on campus have been drawn into these elections. Both groups have put on multiple events to promote their candidates and get more students interested. Dorm storms started last semester to make sure every student was registered to vote, and now shuttles are available to take students to vote early. “The College Dems have been very active since the beginning of this year,” junior Zahir Rahman, president of College Democrats, said. “We have hosted panel discussions with professors on topics ranging from education to fiscal policy, have traveled to see and meet Senator Obama across the state, have had phone banking events, canvassing events, done voter registration drives hardcore on campus, hosted actor Kal Penn and U.S. Senate Candidate

See Election, Page A3 Graphic by Ryan Caldwell/Old Gold & Black

Vandy professor discusses rhetoric

Outside the Bubble...

Katie Phillips | Staff writer

Vanessa Beasley, a professor of public address and presidential rhetoric at Vanderbilt University, discussed presidential rhetoric and its impact in elections in the first event of the university’s Great Teacher Lecture Series. Beasley began with a thank you to the audience, “The honor is entirely mine … especially because there are two reasons as to why I appreciate the turnout: the word presidential and the word rhetoric.” Beasley went on to explain what she considers rhetoric and the adoption of the meaning from Aristotle: “the study of good people speaking well.” Beasley proposed to the audience a question that segued into discussion of the current election atmosphere: “Where are the good people who are supposed to be speaking well?” It has been at least three decades, Beasley said, since quality presidential rhetoric. She led into two premises that are discussed in her books. The first states that presidential rhetoric is not what it used to be. There has been a significant decline in quality of speeches and an increase in quantity. The second premise states that when the president speaks, it is newsworthy and will eventually end up creating a deeper division between parties. Up until the 20th century, presidential rhetoric was spoken either directly to the audience or to the Congress;

Palin apologizes for ‘proAmerican’ comments

Mary Kate Wagner/Old Gold & Black

Vanessa Beasley spoke on Oct. 21 about the importance of rhetoric in presdential campaigns. there was no form of mass communicationfor citizens who did not attend presidential speeches. Prior to the 20th century, the president would be viewed as lazy if all he did was tour around the country to give speeches. Beasley defined presidential rhetoric as those texts primarily presented as public speeches that originated from the office of the president of the United States of America. It was seen as a poor use of time. Speaking to the public was of course in the job description, but it certainly was not the most important aspect. Now, Beasley continued, that most people are fatigued and cynical about campaign rhetoric, it is simply seen as word play to sway voters. The guest lecturer was sponsored by the communication department.

Beasley is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Outstanding New Teacher in the South States Communication Association. Nationally recognized in the field of communication for her work on presidential rhetoric, Beasley has published two books: Who Belongs in America: Presidents, Rhetoric, and Immigration and You, The People: American National Identity in Presidential Rhetoric. The Great Teachers Lecture Series is an annual series organized by university communication students enrolled in the Great Teachers course taught by Alessandra Beasley Von Burg, assistant professor of communication. In the course, students conduct indepth study on and interact with some of the nation’s top scholars and gain public relations experience.

Sarah Palin apologized on Oct. 21 for causing confusion with comments she made at a North Carolina rally. She called small towns the real America where the people are “pro-America.” She was criticized by Democrats for implying some parts of the country are more patriotic than others.

Popular TV anchor attacked at her home KATV anchorwomen, Anne Pressly, was attacked Oct. 20 at her Little Rock, Ark., home. She was found battered and bloodied after she did not answer a phone call. Her purse was missing, but there were no signs of forced entry. Police are questioning if she was a random victim of a home invasion or if she was targeted because of her job.

Saudi Arabia to hold trials for suspected terrorists Saudi Arabia announced that it will hold trials for 991 suspects accused of having ties to al Qaeda. The suspects were rounded up after anti-terror raids in recent years. Saudi Interior Minis-

ter Prince Naif Bin Abdel-Aziz blames al Qaeda for over 30 attacks in the kingdom. Human Rights Watch wants justice served fairly and asked to send observers to the trials of 70 defendants on Oct. 20.

Mongol motorcycle gang members arrested After a three-year undercover investigation, federal agents arrested at least 38 members of the Mongol Motorcycle Club on Oct. 21 with the gang, based in Southern California, on charges of murder, alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. The gang’s former president, Ruben Cavazos, was among those arrested.

Aid agencies to raise security after shooting The death of a foreign relief worker in Afghanistan has caused aid agencies to review their presence and security arrangements. The victim was Gayle Williams, 34, who was shot by a gunmen on a motorbike in Kabul on Oct. 20. The Taliban claimed responsibility for her death on its Web site. Williams worked for SERVE Afghanistan, an inter-denominational Christian charity that helps the disabled.

Lecture focuses on mortgage crisis and its reverberations By Caitlin Brooks | Asst. news editor

Bank failure, stock market collapse, lost savings, uncertainty, government buy-outs, talk of an economic recession; at the heart of all these things is the collapse of the housing market. How and why? The economics department, coupled with the Social Research Seminar, invited John Duca of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas to speak on the issue on Oct. 15. “I know what has happened has been very scary, but I’m not as worried as some people are, and I think it’s because I understand the problem,” Duca said at the lecture. “If you understand the problem, you can help get to the solution.” The talk focused

on analyzing the mortgage crisis and explaining its implications for our everyday lives and the grander effects on the economy. He also provided insight into how the government is attempting to rectify the situation. Duca began the lecture with a brief explanation of mortgage history and loaning. He explained that in the past, from the ‘50s to the late ‘90s, banks only loaned money to borrowers with reasonable ability to pay the loans back. These loans, called prime mortgages, are not the root of the problem at all. It was around the turn of the milleneum that a new kind of loan, subprime loans, emerged. These were given to people with no apparent ability to repay the loans, no credit his-

tory, no assets. Banks ordinarily would have denied these applicants loans because frankly, they were just too risky. These subprime loans were made possible by government packed organizations like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who guaranteed banks’ money against default mortgages. Why? The government wanted to stimulate economic growth. The more people able to buy houses, even if they traditionally could not, the more money goes into the economy. The housing market ballooned off this false security and over-optimism, home value skyrocketed, and people took out second mortgages on their homes to the increased value of their houses. When people had finally taken out the maximum

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amount of mortgages on their homes and housing prices leveled off, those with subprime mortgages began to default in greater numbers than ever before. Once everyone noticed this fact, 40 percent of the housing market dropped off. This lower demand for housing had numerous far-reaching effects on the economy. Demands for new construction and materials used for construction fell dramatically. A decrease in demand for housing created a decrease in home prices and a decrease in the wealth of those who already owned homes. This lower wealth led to slower consumption of goods and in turn, a GDP that fell into negative numbers by the end of 2006. On a grander scheme,

the mortgage and housing crisis contributed to lower capital for all financial firms involved in mortgage loaning. The huge number of subprime mortgages and subsequent defaults indicated to economists and investors, that credit standards had gotten too weak. This lead to a tightening of credit standards on all loans and an increase in counter-party risk, which basically means that banks no longer thought they could trust each other when doing business. Because banks are now afraid to trade and do commerce for fear that they will receive valueless assets, the money and bond markets were hit, causing even slower GDP growth. Despite all this bad news, Duca expressed hope. “We have a good

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game plan, resolve and flexibility which make (the economic crisis) less worrisome,” he said. He enumerated the government’s multipronged strategy to deal with the crisis. In order to reduce uncertainty, help build confidence and repair the financial system, the government will provide shortrun loans, re-capitalize the financial system, help foster a market for illiquid, troubled assets and foster work-outs of problem mortgages through programs such as the Hope Now Program and Hope for Homeowners. “While there may be some lags on the road to recovery, we should see some improvement by sometime next year. We will see a return to economic growth,” Duca said.

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20081023 by Old Gold & Black - Issuu