Sunny with a 0% chance of rain HIGH LOW 91 68
UT-Florida rivalry different from past
Vols fall short against Florida, 31-17
Monday, September 20, 2010
PAGE 6 T H E
E D I T O R I A L L Y
Issue 23 I N D E P E N D E N T
PAGE 6
PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 http://dailybeacon.utk.edu
Vol. 115 S T U D E N T
N E W S P A P E R
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
T E N N E S S E E
Justice Thomas answers student questions Chris Bratta
Staff Writer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas spoke to alumni, law students and a limited number of other UT students and faculty Friday. The speech itself had no predetermined topic, and the majority of Thomas’s lecture was in the form of Q-and-A. “My wife suggested to me, years ago, that I not give lectures, but rather talk with people and have them talk about the things that they are interested in,” Thomas said. “Of course, there is always some risk in that, because then people might want to talk about nuclear physics or something, and then I would have to pretend that I actually know what a nucleus is ... So I decided, years ago, to allow the asking of more questions. That way, I’ll be able to talk about the things you are interested in.” The questions varied along with the answers — some short and some long. However, Thomas made a clear and bold statement. “The only rule I have about (asking) questions, is that it is a question to which you want an answer,” he said. This statement was an attempt to set a strong precedent for legitimate questions containing legitimate answers, but from this format, the audience took away more of Thomas’s personal life and opinions than his opinions pertaining to law. Will Perry, chair of the moot court board, said Thomas was limited in his responses on political matters. “It is difficult to ask about specific cases, because Judge Thomas is limited to how he can respond in this informal setting,” Perry said. “His responses have to be relatively apolitical, and that prevents him from certain responses.” Although the speech was lacking in actual political conversation, Thomas did give a lot of insight into himself, and he gave some tips for life in general. “I am more idealistic now than I ever have been in my whole life,” he said. He then described the progression to idealism. “When I was younger, I was an angry black man,” he said. “I was very, very upset. I was
upset with the South. I was upset with the church. I was upset with my grandparents. I was upset with everybody ... I was looking for reasons to be upset. At 26, I was cynical, and at 62, I am idealist, not because I am on the court, but because of what I have seen in life.” Furthermore, he offered a message which created an uproar of applause and approval from the audience. “I have seen people engage in cynicism, bitterness, negativity, etc.,” he said. “It is not a good diet. If you think that smoking is bad for you, I can assure you that those things, negativity and cynicism, are far more carcinogenic to the spirit than cigarettes are to the lungs.” Thomas also offered insight from his perspective. As he described his transformation from angst-filled to idealistic, he described details of his personal life. “I was living in a roach-infested apartment five years before I went on the Supreme Court,” he said. “I was a sad, overworked and unhappy person until I met my bride in 1986.” Thomas explained that he was the first in his family to graduate from high school, and he didn’t skip steps. He also instructed the audience to, “do every job in front of you the best you can, and do it honestly,” and to “treat people the way you want to be treated. I don’t care who it is.” Thomas addressed a question about regret. “In this business, you do the best you can at the time,” he said. “That way, if you think you change your mind later on, you know you gave it your best shot. But then, I also have a rule that if you think you change your mind, write it. You say it. You let the world know. You don’t go around defending the indefensible ... but you don’t regret, because at the time you thought it was the best you could do.” Thomas also addressed doing the right thing. “Just because you are alone doesn’t mean you are wrong,” he said. “It means you are alone ... If you think you are right, there is nothing wrong with being the only one.” Students said they enjoyed the lecture’s format. “It is a tremendous honor to have Judge Thomas here, and it took great courage and strength to present in a question-and-answer format rather than a lecture,” Perry said.
John Qiu • The Daily Beacon
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks Friday, Sept. 17, in the Alumni Memorial Building in a lecture to the College of Law. Thomas, who is the first justice to visit UT in 20 years, gave students insight from his unique position at the top of the judicial branch and enjoyed a leisurely weekend, watching the Vols take on Florida Saturday afternoon.
Early votes heavily impact elections Pregame lectures offer new insights Sarah Murphree
Associated Press Candidates of all political stripes are latching on to the tantalizing reality that a huge — and growing — chunk of voters casts ballots well ahead of Election Day. They know it’s big. They know it requires different campaign strategies. They just don’t agree on how to do it. Some are spending more money earlier. Others are trying to gradually dole out their stash of cash. Some are courting loyal supporters first. Others are trying to lock in unreliable voters. Some are rushing out ads. Others are pumping up early phone contacts. Whatever the strategy, more candidates are keenly aware their campaigns must have a smart early-vote program. More people, too, are figuring out that early voting has benefits for them beyond the convenience of voting at the time of their own choosing. It’s dawning on people that once they cast their ballots, those annoying phone calls and mailings from politicians and their allies might slow down or even stop. With each election, early voters make up a bigger share of the American electorate. In 2008, about 30 percent of all votes came in ahead of the election, either by mail or in person. If the numbers are similar this year, as expected, that would be a substantial jump from the 20 percent who voted early in the last midterm elections, in 2006. In 1992, by contrast, just seven percent of ballots came in early. The trend away from voting on Election Day gained momentum after the contentious 2000 presidential election, which inspired a wave of election overhauls. At least 33 states now offer some sort of no-excuse-needed early voting.
In some states, such as Colorado, the early-voting habit is so ingrained that it’s “part of the fabric of the campaign,” says Floyd Ciruli, an independent pollster in Denver. In others, such as Maryland, early voting is still so new that the candidates for governor have squabbled over its merits. Republican challenger Bob Ehrlich, who vetoed an early-voting law when he was governor, called it “a solution in search of a problem.” Dan Tokaji, an early-voting expert and professor at Ohio State
“
It’s not likely to result in a seismic shift in turnout,
but it can make a difference in close races.
”
– Ohio State Professor Dan Tokaji, on early voting
University’s Moritz College of Law, said evidence is mixed on whether early voting increases turnout. “It’s not likely to result in a seismic shift in turnout, but it can make a difference in close races,” he said. “There may be some voters teetering on the edge in terms of whether they’ll come out to vote.” This year’s primary elections offer ample evidence of the perils of ceding the early vote. In Tennessee, state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, who came in third in a spirited primary for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, lamented that he didn’t have enough money to get his message out at the kickoff of early voting because
he had to make his cash last. “I would have loved to have an extra $1 million in the bank and peaked a week before that,” he said. Early-vote strategies vary wildly. In Colorado, where early voters were instrumental in Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet’s winning campaign against a strong primary challenger, Bennet worked hard to bank the early ballots of unlikely voters — those who had never voted in a primary or had done so just once. Sixty-six percent of his early ballots came from this group, according to the campaign. In Wisconsin, Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold is trying to harness the early votes of college students, among his most loyal supporters. He’s asking them to vote early so they can spend Election Day turning out other voters for his campaign. In Ohio, Republican strategist Mark Weaver said early voting means campaigns have to reach out to voters much sooner, and that means candidates must either “raise more money or spread the peanut butter on the bread a little further.” Both parties are refining their earlyvote strategies and focusing on key states. Lynda Tran, a spokeswoman for Organizing for America, the president’s national political organization, says the state and national Democratic parties are teaming up to bank ballots in states such as Ohio and Arizona. The Arizona effort, she said, involves making sure first-time voters who are likely to support Democrats are added to the state’s permanent early-voting list. Those who sign up automatically receive early ballots in the mail for every election. Republicans, who saw the results of Obama’s strong operation in 2008, say they won’t be burned again.
Staff Writer The UT Faculty Pregame Showcase is a public lecture series, scheduled two hours before each home football game in the UC ballroom. The pregame showcase was founded in 1989 by Lynn Champion, director of academic outreach and communications for the College of Arts and Sciences. The program consists of 30-minute presentations followed by a 10-to-15 minute Q-and-A session. The presentations are presented by various faculty members from the divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences. Robyn Steffen, junior in marketing, went to her first presentation last week. “It was a great experience to learn something new about a topic I did not know much about,” she said. The speakers discuss topics involving the social sciences, natural sciences, humanities, fine arts and performing arts. “Topics are chosen that would be of interest to alumni, fans and others who are on campus for the game,” Champion said. After the presentations, guests can enjoy light complementary refreshments and enter to win door prizes. The remainder of the 2010 Pregame Showcase lineup includes the following topics: “Exploring the Utility and Beauty of Medieval Gardens” presented by Laura Howes, associate professor of English and interim director of the Marco Institute, on Sept. 25; “Place Matters: Characteristics of Cities that Attract and Sustain New Immigrants” presented by Stephanie Bohon, associate professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice on Oct. 23; “Nature’s Legos: The Building Blocks of the Universe” presented by Soren Sorensen, department head and professor of physics and astronomy on Nov. 13; and “The Pendulum of Congressional Power: Partisan Opposition to Presidential Foreign Policy” presented by Brandon Prins, associate professor of political science on Nov. 27. The presentations are free and open to the public.