A new study shows more college students intend to vote this year. Roughly one-third of the voters in the under-30 crowd cast ballots in the last presidential election. But a Harvard University study has found 70 percent of college students intend to vote this year. Fueled mainly by anger, the survey found 52 percent of college students would support John Kerry and 39 percent planned to vote for George Bush. Twenty-one-year-old Simpson college student Kelsey Christiansen of Lake Mills is a relative of former republican Governor Terry Branstad, but she’s already cast her absentee ballot for democrat John Kerry. “I think we need a change,” she says. “I haven’t been impressed with George Bush and I just think we need something different.” Twenty-year-old Simpson College student Nikki Carlton of Pleasantville is voting for the first time. “I feel that it’s a big responsibility and that kids like young kids or like 18 and over obviously need to go out and vote because their vote truly does count,” Carlton says. Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards campaigned on the Simpson College campus this week, and targeted part of his message to young voters. “So many times in our country’s history it’s taken young people to change the country the way we needed to be changed,” Edwards said. “If you drive by polling places on election day and there are long lines and those lines are filled with young people, John Kerry will be the next President of the United States.” This past July, President Bush spoke at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, and he urged students to become part of his campaign. “Listen, there’s a place you can go on…the Internet called georgewbush.com, and you need to get on there if you want to figure out how to help,” Bush said. “You can sign up to work in your neighborhood and that’s what I’m here to ask you to do…I want your help to convincing people from all walks of life — republicans and discerning democrats and wise independents.” To give you an idea of how interest in politics among college students has jumped this election, there were nearly 30,000 requests for absentee ballots in Johnson County this year — Johnson County is the home of the University of Iowa. That’s nearly double the number of absentee ballots requested in that county four years ago. While not all of those absentee ballot requests came from students, many did and it’s indicative of the heightened interest on college campuses in Iowa and nationwide.
Cedar Falls looks for a double run to cross country championships
Cedar Falls is looking for a sweep at the state cross country meet in Fort Dodge tomorrow. The Tigers boy’s squad is the top ranked team in Class 4-A, while the girl’s team is rated 3rd. Cedar Falls boy’s coach Troy Becker says the Tigers don’t have any pressure on them despite their number one ranking. He says it’s fun to get the ranking after working hard, but he says they realize they still need to have a great race. Becker shared what the strengths of the Tigers team is team depth as he says they have eight very good runners. Cedar Falls girl’s coach Bob Schmidt feels that running in the competitive Mississippi Valley Conference helps prepares the team for the state meet. He says normally many of the top teams come from the MVC, so they have good competition. The Tigers are led by senior Samantha Nygren who was the medalist at Regionals in Cedar Falls. Nygren says that it helps that she’s faced many of the top runners in the state this year including those from top ranked Iowa City West. Cedar Falls last won the girl’s state meet in 1996 and are the last team to win it besides an Iowa City school.
Iowa hits the road, ISU glad to be home this football weekend
The Iowa Hawkeyes bid for their fourth straight win as they visit Illinois in the Big Ten Saturday. The Illini are winless in the Big Ten and coming off a 45-0 loss to Minnesota. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz expects to meet an Illinois team that is rallying behind embattled coach Ron Turner. Ferentz says he’s known Turner for some time and has a great deal of respect for him, and he says Turner’s players probably feel the same way. Former Iowa quarterback Jon Beutjer will not start for Illinois. He is one of three quarterbacks that have played this year and Ferentz says they have prepared for all of them. He says last week they weren’t sure what quarterback they might see and they prepared for both and they’re doing the same this week. Iowa’s offense struggled in last week’s victory over Penn State and Ferentz says the Hawks need to make fewer mistakes. He says if everyone does their jobs, that’s where it all starts. Ferentz says there are a lot of things to clean up from last week, or they’re pressing their luck.Iowa State hosts Kansas in a battle of teams with identical 1-3 Big-12 records. The Cyclones are coming off a victory over Baylor and coach Dan McCarney says they will need an even better effort tomorrow. He says they have 16 starters back and are a veteran physical football team. The Cyclones finish the season by playing three of their last four games at home. McCarney says it seems like they’ve been on the road a long time and it’s good to get home. McCarney hopes a recent trend continues. The home team has won six of the last seven games in this series.
Professor says vampires are misunderstood
The myth of blood-sucking vampires has a basis in misunderstood science and a University of Northern Iowa researcher is working to explain fiction with facts. Catherine Zemen, a professor of preventative medicine at U-N-I, has been studying blood disorders in Romania the past several summers — yes — in the region of Transylvania. Dr. Zemen says there’s a long history of mythology in rural Romania involving werewolves and various types of night spirits that may cause people to go mad or steal their vitality. According to the myths, the various creatures had increased activity during the spring and winter — the same times when people are more susceptible to infectious diseases and poor water quality. Zemen is studying a blood disorder caused by high levels of nitrate in the blood.Nitrate can occur naturally in the soil but can also be derived from human and animal waste, for example, if a well is located near a barn. Zemen says too much nitrate in the system can cause red blood cells to malfunction, making a person short of breath, fall into a stupor and even turn blue around the mouth and sternum. Some of the symptoms match up with western tales of vampires. Zemen hopes to publish her study of Romanian mythology and blood disorders in an international journal of global health next spring.
Center helps raptors recover
Owls may be the mail carrier for Harry Potter and a symbol of spooky things on Halloween, but when they’re hurt or sick many vets don’t have the training to help the big birds. A center in Carrol County offers a refuge for wild birds, and director Kay Newman works with sponsors and volunteers to run SOAR — “Saving Our Avian Resources.” She started it 17 years ago and moved to a home near Dedham over a dozen years ago. As time passes more people learn about her center and bring more wild animals. When she couldn’t afford to do it all on her own, around 1999 she started SOAR as a nonprofit so they could raise money for medical costs, x-rays, food and cages to do the rehabilitation. Newman has a degree in wildlife biology and works with vets in Manning and Storm Lake to fix up and rehab birds, with the goal of returning them to the wild. She says people find SOAR in many different ways. Some find her through the internet, and when somebody sees an injured bird and calls their county conservation board of the DNR, those agencies can direct people and even sometimes help pick up and transport an injured bird. The center gets the proper permits from the Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of natural Resources, since all the animals they work with are protected by state and federal laws. To help with the cost, Newman’s found business benefactors to “sponsor” some of the birds too badly hurt to return to the wild. Some have wing injuries that render them unable to hunt, or eye injuries that’d prevent them from living as a wild birds, and so the center’s allowed to keep them and use them in educational programs. So despite laws forbidding private individuals to have such raptors as pets or possessions, the center has some it’s allowed to keep, birds Newman calls “ambassadors.” Twelve non-releasable raptors they take to schools so people can see a bald eagle or peregrin falcon up close. Last night she did a program at Jester Park, and says people come to see the birds and give her a chance to talk about “all kinds of things they’d never listen to me otherwise.” She says the owls are mysterious, the bald eagles named Liberty and Spirit are popular with schoolkids, and Manly schools held a contest recently to name the falcon, now dubbed “Victory.” The center sponsors a workshop in Vinton for people interested in becoming rehabilitators, and Newman will do more “Bald Eagle Days” in midwinter at Polk County’s Jester Park Lodge. The website for more information is www.soarraptors.org
Herky statues pulled in early
Vandals have won and an Iowa City display of mascots will end. Fiberglass statues of University of Iowa mascot Herky the Hawk have been a target for vandals since just hours after they were put up on the streets of Iowa City and Coralville. The seven-foot figures made of copper and fiberglass were put up in honor of the 75th anniversary of the University of Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium, and they were supposed to remain up until November 21, when the Hawkeyes play Wisconsin, their last game of the season. Culprits have broken off hats and other props, damaged the statues themselves, torn them off their concrete bases and left at least one shattered in the street. After repeatedly saying the display would not come down early, organizers have changed their minds and taken all the Herkys off their posts and put them into storage to preclude another burst of vandalism on Halloween. You’ll be able to see them one more time — on December 13 there’ll be a ceremony at Coralville’s ice arena called Herky on Ice — A Frozen Farewell.
Plenty of birds expected for the opening of Pheasant season
Iowa’s most popular hunting season begins Saturday. Pheasant hunters take to the field with reports that pheasant numbers will be down a little due to some wet-rainy spring weather. But, Rod Slings of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources says there’ll be plenty of ringnecks available as they anticipate between 800 and 900-thousand birds harvest by 130-thousand hunters. Slings heads up the D-N-R safety bureau, and says pheasant hunters have to add orange to their hunting attire this year. He says Iowa’s new law requires the orange for hunters of upland game birds, which include: pheasant, hungarian partridge, quail, rough grouse and woodcock. Slings says the orange requirement is designed to make it easier for hunters to see each other. You have to wear at least a cap, hat, vest, coat, jacket, sweatshirt, sweater, shirt or coveralls that has material that’s at least 50 percent blaze orange. While the blaze orange is a requirement, Slings says some common sense safety is important to a good hunt. He says you always want to remember who you’re hunting with, you’re hunting with your family and friends and he says that’s “critically important.” In 2003, Iowa hunters shot just over one million ringnecks with continued a rebound from 2001 when the harvest of 470-thousand hit an all-time record low. He says the year before last there were five hunting related incidents, and last year there were 15. He says the number of hunters went up and consequently, the number of injuries went up.A U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service survey from 2001 estimates Iowa pheasant hunters spent over 53-million dollars in the state. That same survey said the impact of the money on the economy had a multiplier effect that hit nearly 97-million dollars.
