African-Americans Are Failing In U.S. Education

In reaction to one of my post on things I like about being in the USA a friend of mine critized my positive assessment of the U.S. higher education system. I asked her to write a guest post for my blog giving me her perspective: an African-American one. I am very excited to present her article on growing up in the U.S. education system as an African American.

African-Americans Are Failing In U.S. Education

By Charissa Gardner

Growing up African-American in the United States is difficult. Nevertheless trying to receive a quality education in a school district that is distressed may jeopardize your success in life. I attended Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) public schools in Cleveland, Ohio (ranked the second poorest city in the USA in 2008) from 1984-1997 or kindergarten to 12th grade.

Through the years of my education the district would undergo many metamorphoses. At least six potential teacher strikes (one during my last year of high school). Student teacher ratio is another issue which is probably 30 to 1 in Elementary (kindergarten-5 grades), 37 to 1 Intermediate (6-8 grades) and 43 to 1 in Secondary School (9-12 grades). A ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court stating that how Ohio schools are funded, should be changed for the reason that it is not fair for all school districts across the state: attending school less because they could not afford to pay teachers for certain days, thus they just got extra time off and so did students.

Racial separation in Cleveland
People in the Cleveland area have racially separated themselves. Consequently, when the CMSD halted cross town bussing this resegregated schools in the district. Schools in the area were closed due to a shortfall which overcrowded already overcrowded schools. I remember in high school that hallways were so packed full of students you would be late going to class, so instead of a two minute bell in between classes it became a five minute bell. The facilities were and still are falling apart; they need new heating ventilation air-condition systems, roofs, plumbing, electrical work, and flooring (the district finally started rehabbing or building new schools about five years ago).

Several dilemmas
The education achievement gap between African-Americans and Anglo-Saxons in the United States transpired for a multitude of reasons. Since the 17th century there have been de facto and de jure racial segregation in the North and South to deter African-Americans from receiving proper schooling. During slavery Negroes who were caught trying to learn how to read could be whipped or killed. Blacks were also denied the right to attend traditional White colleges and universities. Desegregation was supposed to counteract the damage done through segregation. But what it actually did was allow African-American students to attend White schools. This did not revamp failing schools in poor Black neighborhoods or send Caucasian students to black schools. Several dilemmas faced by poor districts who educate the largest quantity of minorities at high school levels are:

1) Poverty and inadequate funding

• More than 60 percent of Black students attend schools where more than 50 percent of the school population is identified as living in poverty, compared to 18 percent of White students (Orefield and Lee 2005).

• A high-poverty, majority-minority high school is five times more likely to have weak promoting power i.e. promoting 50 percent or fewer freshmen to senior status within four years (Balfanz and Legters 2004).

• In 31 of 49 states, school districts with the highest minority enrollments get fewer resources than school districts with the lowest number of minorities enrolled. These 31 states educate six out of every ten minority children in America (Carey 2004).

• 31 percent of African American children live in poverty, compared with 9 percent of White children. (National Center for Education Statistics, September 2003)

2) Unqualified or under qualified teachers

• In high schools where at least 75 percent of the students are low-income, there are three times as many uncertified or out-of-field teachers teaching both English and science than in schools with wealthier populations (Wirt et al. 2004)

3) Graduation Rates and college preparedness

• In 2003, only 55 percent of Black students graduated from high school on time with a regular diploma compared to 78 percent of Whites (Greene and Winters 2006).

• Nearly half of the nation’s African-American students but only 11 percent of White students attend high schools in which graduation is not the norm (Balfanz and Legters 2004).

• In 2002, 23 percent of all Black students who started public high school left it prepared for college compared to 40 percent of Whites (Greene and Winters 2005).

Gaps still exist in education between Blacks and Whites
However, gaps still exist in education between Blacks and Whites in affluent neighborhoods where poverty and inferior education does not arise. A study conducted of African-American students in Shaker Heights, Ohio [near Cleveland] -- one of the top public school districts kindergarte to 12th grade in the USA -- by John Ogbu documented in his book "Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb", concluded that Blacks in America are:

“Involuntary minorities those who did not immigrate to a country by choice. They became minorities through enslavement, colonization or conquest, a status that continues to shape how they are treated by the dominant group and how they perceive and respond to that treatment. Involuntary minorities developed their identity in opposition to the majority group that had oppressed them. As a result, they are often suspicious of societal institutions run by the dominant group, including the schools, believing that the curriculum threatens and denigrates their heritage.”

I managed to survive the failing public education system and graduate from college. Nevertheless, fewer African-American students are graduating from high school and transition to college, especially males. Maybe other factors should also be considered when educating Black youth: stressors at home, emotional problems, single parent households, reared by a grandparent, no one available at school or home to assist them with homework, and poor nutrition. With these conundrums wreaking havoc on the mental psyche focusing on your education can be impossible.

Milestones in African-American education
African-Americans in the United States have endured innumerable strifes to decrease the disparities in education between them and their Caucasian counterparts. Here is a timeline of African-American education (Milestones in African-American education):

1837 Institute for Colored Youth founded by Richard Humphreys; later became Cheyney University.

1854 Ashmun Institute, the first school of higher learning for young Black men, founded by John Miller Dickey and his wife, Sarah Emlen Cresson; later (1866) renamed Lincoln University (Pa.) after President Abraham Lincoln.

1856 Wilberforce University, the first Black school of higher learning owned and operated by African-Americans, founded by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Its president, Daniel A. Payne, became the first African-American University president in the country.

1869 Howard University's law school becomes the country's first Black law school.

1876 Meharry Medical College, the first Black medical school in the U.S., founded by the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

1881 Spellman College, the first college for Black women in the U.S., founded by Sophia B. Packard and Harriet E. Giles.

1881 Booker T. Washington founds the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute in Alabama. The school became one of the leading schools of higher learning for African-Americans, and stressed the practical application of knowledge. In 1896, George Washington Carver began teaching there as director of the department of agricultural research, gaining an international reputation for his agricultural advances.

1922 William Leo Hansberry teaches the first course in African civilization at an American university, at Howard University.

1944 Frederick Douglass Patterson establishes the United Negro College Fund to help support black colleges and black students.

1954 In the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court rules unanimously that segregation in public schools in unconstitutional.

1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops to ensure integration of the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Little Rock Nine were the first Black students to attend the school.

1960 Black and White students form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), dedicated to working against segregation and discrimination.

1962 James Meredith is the first Black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi; on the day he enters the university, he is escorted by U.S. marshals.

1963 Despite Governor George Wallace physically blocking their way, Vivian Malone and James Hood register for classes at the University of Alabama.

1968 San Francisco State University becomes the first four-year college to establish a Black studies department.

1969 The Ford Foundation gives $1 million to Morgan State University, Howard University, and Yale University to help prepare faculty members to teach courses in African-American studies.

as u.s. american as can be: homecoming

pride doesn't sit well with most germans because of germany's past in the 20th century. only since the world soccer cup in 2006 and again with the european soccer cup in summer 2008 a temporary small seas of black-red-golden flags swept across the country: on cars, windows, bicycles, and even erection cranes.

this general non-pride permeates all parts of society: no school colors or mascots in highschool, no fan culture and very limited paraphernalia in universities and colleges. an unknow in my home country, to me homecoming celebrations in athens emanates a fascinating attractivity. originally the purpose of this unique festival is for alumni to return to their alma mater to see friends, professors, and even relive it for example in the alumni band.

stine, madelaine (with proper beads around her neck) and "die katze" (engl. the cat) as the germans call rufus, the bobcat that is ohio university's mascott and gives its name to the ou's sports teams.

but it's much more: it's the peak of bobcat pride; ohio university's fan culture culminates in a glorious green and white celebration of itself. no doubt u.s. americans know how to have fun: ballons, beads, parade, receptions, tail gate parties, the football game and half-time show is the vocabulary that rules the day. yesterday ou (as ohio university is known across the state) was ripe again for its yearly 'go bobcats' orgasm.

the parade

"rotcies" are spearheading the parade: ou's college student soldiers in training march around the corner of court street so that the parade judges sitting in front of baker student center can have a good look at them.

among the three to four bands that performed the ou band was the first and most impressing: no wonder, they came in army like quantity with several generals, i mean conductors, who coordinated the huge groups' synchronic movements.

this year's motto "get your green on" didn't only pertain to school pride but also intended to boost the environmental spirit at the university. ohio is one of the playgrounds in the usa where alternative energy technology are developed and supported by governor ted strickland. (as sen. barack obama also pointed out in the first presidential debate on sept. 26, 2008)

political statements in blue, red, and white broke the day's color scheme but as the other parts of the parade they reflect the state of the nation: athens is in election mode.

athens is known to be a liberal, democratic pocket in conservative poor appalachia as the area is frequently referred to.

a twinge of excited happiness surges in my stomach as a german flag wobbles around the corner. far away from home i feel very german.

parade participants vied for the prize of best float: $500. so every type of vehicle was represented. among the many pick-up trucks, a couple of horses...

...and a streetcar stood out. one bystander commented he had never seen a streetcar in the parade before.

even a local supermarket rolled its dressed up carts across the brick: in a city with roughly 27,000 students and roughly 2.000 residents, athens businesses as well as chains are dependent on the undergraduate's dollars in exchange for beer and bread.

the game

properly dressed people went to peden stadium to cheer for the bobcats facing virginia military instute.

besides watching the game, it's a family and social event which boosts ou's income as the university sells pop & popcorn to dehydrated, hungry viewers roasting in the unbelievably sunny and hot weather (never mind the one big grey cloud wafting over the stadium during the second quarter).

the enemy...a german girl next to me remarked the players looked like oompa-loompas out of charlie and the chocolate factory.

the rush is on...
and every touchdown is rewarded with a blast from the cannon (the big one)...

...while the cheerleaders delight the audience with whirling around their partners' necks. among other things the front and back flipped across the lawn.

the half-time show gave the ou band a chance to show their skills in spelling out different words on the field while playing and dancing and marching. many people left after the half-time show as did i but crowning this glorious day was the bobcats' victory over the enemy: 51:31

ps: be aware, homecoming fever is contagious. please ask you doctor or pharmacists about risks and adverse effects before attending such event.

scripps school election blog

i am excited to tell you that the e.w. scripps school's election blog is up and running. but read for yourself what my classmates and i are doing in our blog description:

"This blog was created by E.W. Scripps School of Journalism students in a TV Election class. They are monitoring presidential election coverage on the broadcast and cable television and online networks. The blog posts will turn the tables on the television commentators and analysts, and analyze and react to what they're saying. Enjoy our weekly commentary!"

new posts are probably uploaded every tuesday (as this is the time when our assignment is due). i am monitoring NBC.online concentrating on the nightly news video clips and supplements. in addition our class looks at:

• NBC-TV
• MSNBC.com
• MSNBC-TV
• ABC-TV
• ABC.com
• CBS-TV
• CBS.com
• FOX-TV
• FOX.com
• CNN-TV
• CNN.com

enjoy this project's results to get an overview of u.s. mass media coverage of this unique election campaign.

Interview with Athens County Republicans Chairman Pete Couladis, Sept. 12, 2008

"They want something with her name on it" -- An Interview with Athens County Republican Party Chairman Pete Couladis

Exactly two weeks ago on Friday, August 29, 2008 the Athens County Republican Campaign Headquarters opened on 28 South Court Street. The office is open Monday to Friday 10AM to 6PM. Between eight to ten volunteers make up the staff of the headquarters with more expected to come in to work the phones soon.

Pete Couladis is the Chairman of the Athens County Republicans and in this interview of September 12, 2008 he talked to me about the local Sarah Palin effect, the upcoming events and goals of the campaign.

Athens County Republican Party Campaign Headquarters at 28 Court Street, right across the CVS store.

Stine Eckert: What are your goals for this election season?
Pete Couladis: We have a headquarters open, people come in and take signs and literature and we have a place for the Republican candidates to meet. We have some receptions here and distribute materials, yard signs, bumper sticker, buttons.

S.E.: How does a typical day at the campaign look like?
P.C.: Well, lots of people coming in wanting yard signs particularly with Sarah Palin’s name on it and that’s very encouraging. But people want to register to vote, change their residency, get an absentee ballot application. They may have some questions about a candidate. So we try to help them as much as we can.

S.E.: How many people come in every day approximately?
P.C.: We can have up to hundred, up to two hundred people coming in.

S.E.: Do you see certain groups coming in, students, and women?
P.C.: Mostly students, lots of women. There are some town’s people coming in occasionally. But mostly students.

S.E.: Do the women come because of the Sarah Palin effect?
P.C.: Yes, and they say that.

S.E.: What do they say?
P.C.: They want something with her name on it, a yard sign. Some of them take a McCain sign but many of them are waiting for the McCain-Palin signs, which are coming next week.

S.E.: What is the greatest challenge for the Republican campaign in Athens county and Athens city?
P.C.: To communicate with our base voters, to get the information to them, the yard signs and bumper stickers. And to be available for people who come in and have questions about voting here, where to vote, how they can register, how they can get an absentee ballot, what the deadline is. Basically providing the information to as many people as we can.

Everywhere in the headquarters yard signs are stacked. Most sought after are signs saying Palin or McCain-Palin, which will come in next week.

S.E.: Do you see an effect of the federal campaign on your local campaign?
P.C.: Yes. It’s one of these things; you suffer with the ups and downs of a national situation. If you have an unpopular candidate that tends to dampen the turnout, it could hurt your local candidates. The opposite is true as well if you have a popular candidate and we are seeing that with Governor Palin.

People are really interested in her, they want to read more about her, they want to hear things about her and they are looking for materials. It’s historic, in my view she’s going to be the first female vice president of the United States and possibly could be running for president in four years. People are looking for that material and they are probably will be holding on to it after the election. I bet they will be holding on to these. People are interested.

The national situation does have an impact. You still try to get your supporters as a local candidate to come out. But people tend to vote in larger numbers for presidential elections as they do for local elections.

Inside the Headquarters.

S.E.: Do you have a target number for how many people you would like to vote Republican in this election?
P.C.: No, we’re going to get our Republican voters out and let them know who the local candidates are. And then also the candidates do their own work and appeal to the other voters. And there is a lot of crossover voting as well.

S.E.: What do you mean by that?
P.C.: People who are registered Democrat who are going to vote for a Republican candidate.

S.E.: What events do you have planned throughout the campaign?
P.C.: We will have evenings here where candidates have receptions and people can come in and meet and socialize with them. We have a dinner next week, that’s our annual dinner. And we may have some surrogate candidates; surrogate people come in who represent the McCain-Palin ticket that will have receptions here. We have a gentleman in Lancaster, Ohio who was a POW with John McCain in Hanoi and he’s going to come down here next week. He will be back at the end of September as well.

S.E.: Where can people find a detailed schedule of your events?
P.C.: We have a website: athenscountyrepublicans.org and they can look there. We have a schedule of events.

S.E.: Is there anything you would like to add?
P.C.: No. It’s an exciting time in this country and it usually is for presidential elections. It’s historic regardless of who wins. I think people are starting right now to pay attention. During the summer the activists are the ones out there working now people are realizing October 6 is the deadline to register to vote and people are starting to pay attention. The yard signs are going out, the debates are being planned and talked about.

S.E.: Thank you very much.
P.C.: Thank you.

"sophisticated birthday planning"

recently i discussed upcoming birthdays with jerone: cake, flowers, party, gift altar, and right timing are all tricky questions in my opinion.

not so for him. celebrating before or after doesn't matter from my experience to most u.s. birthday children.

from a german perspective unheard of: no congratulating before the proper birthday. some radicals even go with the concrete birth time, which most of my german friends now up to the minute. not so jerone. if the day would not come with a cake he probably wouldn't even know the date.

once i witnessed one of my u.s. roomies ripping open a letter knowing it would be a birthday card a week before the actual date. this guy also had a party before he turned a year older. everything without qualms.

when i get a birtday letter, package or card, the sender writes -- usually in large font block letters -- NOT TO BE READ/OPENED BEFORE BIRTHDAY. and it's no joke. it's a command, a warning, a precaution. and i comply like every german would. the precious snail mail will be put on what will be the birthday altar to be attacked with joy when time has come.

that's why suprise calls one minute after midnight are expected and turn into a fun game of who is the first caller. congratulants vie for this privilege. that's why celebrating into the birthday with everyone starting singing at 12:00am at the slightly embarrased birthday child who doesn't know where to cast her/his eyes, is a blast. there is a pleasant anticipation, a tension that is half the joy of a this day.

in my opinion this gets lots when every day some congratulations trickle in, gifts appear peu a peu and quickly become part of normal possessions. on the day in germany, a small altar is built for the honored individual with flowers, candies, cards, and gifts. it lives for at least a week to extend the joy and to be a reminder for late congratulaters.

these ritual have been ingrained in me since birth -- socialization. maybe it has something to do with the alleged stereotypical german punctuality? never be too late, but also in reverse never be to early.

jerone calls these fine-tuned german birthday techniques "sophisticated birthday planning". so it may be -- like the fiddler on the roof sings: 'traaaaditioooooooon'. something that doesn't vanish by switching countries.

"people are totally cynical about politics" -- inside the athens obama camgaign

On July 27, 2008 the Obama Campaign office officially opened its doors on Court Street, Athens, Ohio in the old GRID Lab. It serves about seven to ten counties; four full paid staff members run it helped by a handful of volunteers. One of them is physical therapy student Simon Hargus, 24, who works as student outreach coordinator 15 to 25 hours for the Athens Obama Campaign.

In this interview from August 4, 2008 he talks about the hard tasks of winning the trust of elderly cynical non-voters and students without interest in politics as well as the effect of the federal campaign and who might visit Athens during the final spurt -- a glimpse into the workings of the Athens Obama Campaign.

Stine Eckert: How does a day at the Obama campaign in Athens look like?

Simon Hargus: Lots of students are gone during summer. Most work at the moment is calling into rural area and Athens, which is the campaign’s headquarters for volunteers in the area who canvass [knocking on people’s doors] once or twice a week. Every evening we register freshmen arriving on campus. We are basically gearing up before students return and help full time staffers from out of state get used to the community and get them in touch with people they need to now. We are also opening new offices in smaller cities around; every weekend one new opening is planned.

S.E.: How many calls do you make every day?

S.H.: It depends on how many volunteers come in, on a low day 70, on a high day several hundred, 400 to 500 would be really good day.

S.E.: What goals do you have for registering?

S.H.: Yes, yes the Students for Obama goal are about 6,000 registered. But our’s is about 10.000 or more. The deadline is a month before the election, so essentially roughly four weeks after the students get back. I think we pick up about 900 to 1,000 over the summer and another 8,000 to 9,000 in four weeks.

S.E.: How does registration work? Do you have to go to the Board of Election’s office?
S.H.: No, you can fill out a registration form. It takes about a minute and a half and we turn that it in for them. A lot of registrations are people who have never voted or have never registered. It’s registering in this county versus where they are from that way they can use a regular ballot rather than a provisional or absentee ballot, which we want to avoid especially in Ohio.

S.E.: In how far are you convinced that people who register would vote especially if they are not used to it?
S.H.: A lot of them are students and it will be their first time to vote. It takes a lot of convincing. I think the high water mark for voter turnout on this campus is about 32%, which is low to some people, high to others, to me it’s strikingly low but we are hoping we can really blow that out of the water. This is a high water mark; usually it’s twenty-something percent.

It’s a combination of talking to them a lot and we have an advantage of a whole month of early voting. They get every weekday from October 4 to November 4 to vote, which is going to be a huge help. We will have tables on the sidewalks saying, hey you can vote here right now, it will only take a minute, and there are no lines.

There will even be a week of overlap when you can register and vote in the same office. It is exciting in terms of the potential. For example the 6,000 registrations goal that the Students for Obama have is even high for what’s been done in the past. We are setting goals that are double than in the past for registration and turn out.

S.E.: Why is it so hard to a) register and b) to vote?

S.H.: I don’t know which comes first but a lack of interest because there is a lack of knowledge. They if are not informed on a lot of these issues, so they are not interested.

S.E.: In how far does the federal campaign affect the local campaign?

S.H.: It was a strange experience in the primary we really put our nose to the grindstone during the last week and a half and you lose track of what’s going on in the national media. You focus on getting the people you’ve contacted to vote, which is called GOTV week, Get Out The Voter.
When we lost the primary in Ohio we came out of this bubble and we saw the negative campaign ads on the national level and remembered that it has a huge effect on the local campaign. Even though you talk about a national candidate you can really lose track of that. Yes, it has a big effect but not in our day-to-day activities as much as on the results at the end of the election.

For example at the Farmer’s Market I had to answer lots of questions about the FISA [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]. When we are calling we dispel a lot of myths. There is an e-mail campaign that’s telling rural voters that Barack Obama is Muslim or he swore on the Quran.
That affects us on a day-to-day basis; often they heard a rumor or have a vague idea and they know what they want and we help them understand what our platform is and how we can help them.

Usually it’s getting generally organized, getting new registrations, and getting older voters who are disenfranchised with the system, which is very, very common in the rust belt rural part of this country. People are totally cynical about politics.

S.E.: How do you counter that?

S.H.: It’s not easy. We’re fighting that a lot because it takes a long time with this kind of voter to gain trust. A lot of times we talk to local politicians do your best to find an office and invite them into the office. Then it takes very long conversations that mostly involve listening. That’s why phone calls are particularly hard and we like to open up a lot of small offices on Main Street and say come over and ask me questions, your neighbor is here volunteering, talk to him.

That’s why community teams and canvassing is most effective with this type of voter. Because they trust their neighbor than us which also makes the myth dispelling very difficult because it is a word of mouth type of thing. But with patience and the philosophy of building a community and have it talk to itself and reach out, it’s doable. It takes a lot of biography especially with our candidate Barack Obama. Reintroducing who he is, where he is from, his background.

S.E.: What are the most common myths you have to dispel?

S.H.: Again and again myths in this area would be unfortunately that He wouldn’t say the pledge of allegiance. It’s not always that he is a Muslim but that he was born or lived in a foreign country that is extreme and that he was exposed to extreme policy as a child, which is not true. He lived overseas but was by no means an extremist.

I think there are specific myths like that and there is a small group who thinks he is Muslim but there is a general unfamiliarity and discomfort with him. It is a lack of distrust through not knowing enough about him. The general myth we dispel is his biography: He was in the state senate for a long time, he was a constitutional law professor, he organized in the community and after leaving a top notch law school and work for civil rights instead of working for a six figure salary.

S.E.: Are there days when you go home and you feel you accomplished nothing because you had a bunch of stubborn people?

S.H.: Yes, but these are actually the days that motivate you for the next one; it is not discouraging. Athens campus and Athens city can be a liberal bubble so you think this is going really well, I don’t see how we cannot pull that of. Then you do an hour of rural phone calls and you’re motivated again. We have a lot of work to do.

Even the bad phone calls are beneficial to volunteer if you approach any phone call correctly and try not to be too presumptuous but merely say ‘I call to answer questions you have. Are they any issues you have?’ Often it is: ‘I don’t vote.’ And you try to slightly push them: ‘Why is this, Sir? Is there something we can talk about?’

This time at least the candidates have very different views that people might have an opinion about if they are educated enough. But try not to sound to didactic; you don’t want to be too pushy but at the same time you can’t let them say ‘No, thanks.’

That’s why calls are very hard. We’re doing them now because it’s very spread out and it’s hard to walk to places. This is another hard part of rural America. Door knocking is much easier for talking to people face-to-face.

Simon Hargus in the Athens Obama Campaign Office on Court Street. The 24 year old is an executive board member of the Students for Obama chapter at Ohio University. He also studies physical therapy in his 2nd year as a graduate student.

S.E.: Are there special events you plan to reach out?

S.H.: Yes, especially as the students return we have what we call surrogates or celebrities or other politicians come in. For example we had several actors, the governor and Arcade Fire, which is a band popular among college students, come in and sing and talk about Barack Obama and to vote for him.

The way surrogates work is usually we get about four days notice. We’ll have a big list and we’ll submit the ones we’ll love to have. So it’s; ‘Oh, in four days these guys show up, tell everybody you can.’ It’s not as much planning as we like to have but sometimes it’s more than that, a week or a week and a half.

I would be surprised if we wouldn’t get any big names here. For example in the 2004 presidential election the vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket, John Edwards, gave a big speech, Ralph Nader came and gave a big speech. The Clintons have been in and out of this part of the country. During the primary Bill Clinton and Chelsea were here. Barack Obama came to Hocking College.

We are a large university in South East Ohio. This is the place to pump up the numbers. Even though this county will probably go Democratic we need to have voter turner because it is so Democratic the voter turnout needs to be extremely high.

S.E.: What are the names on your list?
S.H.: Obviously, Barack Obama. Every day a volunteer comes and lays out the reasons why he should really come here.

In the background volunteer Vicky Mattson interrupts: “We only get spouses and vice presidential candidates. We never get the real deal.” [Laughs.]

Yes, we don’t have a lot of say on the schedule. College wise it was big disappointment that Dave Matthews Band didn’t happen during the primary because they wanted to come here and there was an issue with the school and we couldn’t pull it of although I personally like Arcade Fire better. But Dave Matthews Band is still in the back of the student’s minds and it would be great to say: ‘Here he is.’ That would be great specifically for the campus.

There are several actors. Kal Penn who is on the show House and Harold and Kumar movies and he went over very well during the primaries and did a lot of dorm canvassing with us and it was a lot of fun. You two basic different surrogates, one that appeals to students, which is more the celebrity type and one that appeals to community and rural voters. Hopefully Ted Strickland can be here as much as possible. He is immensely popular.

Besides that you get to political celebrities like vice presidential candidates. Michelle Obama was here during the primaries and that went over very well. But that appealed more to students and volunteers more than to the small percentage of undecided voters.

S.E.: Is she coming again?

S.H.: I would be surprised if it wouldn’t be her or the vice presidential candidate or maybe him [Delaware Sen. Joe Biden].

S.E.: What have you planned for Election Day?

S.H.: As being in charge of the student votes we get all our volunteers together and we spread them out on the hot spots of the campus – any sidewalk, any hill, any door in front of class rooms that has high foot traffic. They will stand they and go: ‘Have you voted? Do you know where to go to vote?’ A lot of the day in terms of students will be to make sure they know where to vote because if they show up at the wrong place voting a provisional ballot, something we want to avoid.

So then that person says: ‘Oh, I don’t know where to vote.’ Then we call back to the hub and we look it up for them. Calling just takes sixty seconds because it’s just calling my cell phone in the coffee shop. I look it up for them and if you can you walk them there. You go hand in hand and drag them there.

As the evening goes on and it gets closer and we get back numbers and we go into dorms, which is bending a few rules. But you know on as many doors and asked: ‘Have you voted yet?’ Because if you live in the dorm you know where the polling location is and you don’t need to call back and you just say: ‘Okay you guys need to go to this hall, you have thirty minutes left.’

After that we have one of the local bars reserved with a big TV and we wait for the results and try not to pass out from exhaustion. This idea of GOTV [Get Out The Voter] is that you recontact eighty, ninety, hundred percent of that list and you remind them as frequently as possible in the last three days to vote. The last week is just very, very busy; to recontact, to organize volunteers, to have rides ready for people in the rural area to the polls.

S.E.: What will you do on the day after?

S.H.: Besides sleeping you come back to the office to clean up. The staff moves out pretty quickly. That’s how it was after the primary. A lot of it is done for most of us, which will be good in a sense because this takes up a lot of time. I don’t get to do lot of other things like reading for leisure, relax, exercise on a regular basis. My friends understand; I have always been a political person and I just disappear for a couple of months. You don’t have much of a social life but you feel honored to be part of it.

S.E.: Thank you for the interview.

S.H.: No problem.

ps: ohio liquor laws

since liquor laws are quite confusing and differ from u.s. state to state i thought it might be helpful to add a couple of links to give more background on my earlier post on the search for bier in the usa:

here are the long legal language texts of ohio's liquor law

this table gives a quick overview over all u.s. state's alcohol regulations

where lives time magazine?

during a recent trip through ohio and michigan i discovered a sad situation: u.s. residents barely stumple upon any political magazines in stores.

my suspicion arose after we had checked about three gas stations, all of them without any magazines. where would i find a news magazine for vacation reading?

hope appeared on the horizon in form of glen’s market, part of a regional supermarket chain, in gaylord, michigan. it’s big enough to have its own store brand, so news magazines might live there, too.

the magazine section in glen’s offered a great variety of special interest publications ranging body painting to country living. the cash register gave the usual impression: fashion & fitness, glamour & gossip plus weddings & cooking. no time, no newsweek, no u.s. news & world report, no national geographic.

finally, i found comfort in seeing the economist on the shelf, a rare species almost hidden among the clutter.

strange, i thought, in germany close to the cash register usually lie the political magazines (spiegel, focus, zeit) no matter if you enter a gas station or a supermarket. in addition, almost every decent sized town has a few newsstands of which i saw nil during our trip and come to think of it there is none in athens as far as i know.

the lack of public transportation in the usa might play a role, too. in germany, especially train stations are a paradise of newspapers and magazines and not only in german but also in foreign languages.

although i was content with my economist, my curiosity to find time magazine did not abate. in every town we went during vacation i visited the supermarkets i could find to check out the magazine situation. the few i found were out of date.

these towns are all on the upper peninsula of michigan; population ranges between a handful to 16,000.

seney:
*supermarket (the single one): will have magazines shortly though not sure which, just opened a month ago under new management according to cashier, no newspaper stands in the region, she says

grand marais:
*bay shore market: no political magazines
*superior store: no political magazines
*superior hotel: no political magazines (but playboy)

sault st. marie:
*soo supervalu foods: usual cash register display, no political magazines
*big k mart: usual cash register display, no political magazines
*walmart: 4 newsweeks, 2 u.s. news & world reports
*glen’s supermarket: a couple of newsweeks at the cash register

manistique:
*supervalu: first time magazine!!!, and newsweek, unfortunately both not recent issues

munising:
*glen’s supermarket: no political magazines on the first visit but lucky on the second: 1 time magazine, 1 newsweek (albeit not current issues) at the cash registers