The Report Card

By Zach Silber

Just days after Americans elected Barack Obama to be the 44th President, visitors to the National Mall were greeted with the chance to "talk" to their next leader.

A blank wall assembled at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial is intended to serve as a message board for well wishers to share thoughts of encouragement and congratulations with the President-Elect. Erected just two days after the election by Avaaz.org, an environmental group, the 24-foot long tribute has been filled to the brim with pictures, thoughts, and signatures.

Among its inscribers were GW students who made their way to the National Mall this past weekend to enjoy the unseasonably warm Washington weather.

Dan Maffei (D) won his bid to represent New York's 25 congressional District Tuesday night. He shared his victory at the Holiday Inn in Liverpool, just outside of the city of Syracuse, with a number of Democrats that also won races throughout the county.

For the first time in almost a century, Democrats in New York state now have control over the state Senate, state Assembly, the governorship and the Attorney General's office.

"You've truly made my dream come true," said Maffei. "Now it's my job to make your dreams come true."

Minutes after Maffei's victory speech, Barack Obama was announced the winner. As the crowd erupted, tears flowed freely amongt both young and old supporters.

 

Mike Short, Director for the Students For BarackObama at Syracuse University said it was tremendous what he and his organization were able to do. He acknowledged the many challenges the new administration would have to face.  

"We want a democratic congress to support Obama's agenda, that's crucial," Short said. "It's important the democrats are aware of the country they will govern."

 

By Chelsea Radler

By 11:20 PM, upon the announcement of Barack Obama's certain victory in the 2008 Presidential Election, students of The George Washington University flooded the streets of the capital.

The sounds of cheering and shouting drew throngs of students four blocks away to the White House, where an impromptu group gathered to celebrate and revel in the making of history.

Supporters held campaign signs, T-shirts, balloons, flags and their hands in the air. Different sections of the crowd cheered, "O-bam-a," "U-S-A" and "Yes, we did!" to the same beat, contributing to the air of patriotism that seemed to supersede partisanship.

Long-term Obama supporter and sophomore Patrick Hanley was overwhelmed by the energy of the crowd. "Triumphant embraces and tears were proof that people of every demographic won a personal victory even more than a national one. It was a poetic night. I don't know how many people I hugged last night, but I didn't know most of them," he said in retrospect.

The group of students became more cohesive as partisanship became secondary to the historical implications of the night.

Senior Ashley Rosen observed that even McCain supporters rallied at the White House. "They weren't cheering for Obama, but for the incredible moment in history we were witnessing. I feel like a lot of people put party politics aside and just cheered for our first black president," she said.

McCain supporter Erin Fee explains, "I was sad for awhile last night, but even my very Democratic friends didn't rub [McCain's loss] in my face. Instead, we ran to the White House and cheered all night in the pouring rain. It was one of the best nights I've had so far in college."

More than 2,000 students took to the streets last night after John McCain conceded the election to Barack Obama, according to the Richmond-Times Dispatch. Several blocks of Richmond's Broad St. were blocked off by Richmond and VCU Police, who allowed the students to parade all the way to the capitol.

Madeline Dell-Aria, 18, a  VCU student, said she found an Obama flag and turned it into a poncho-shirt.  "It's just so great and there's finally going to be some change. We all just started parading, impromptu parading," she said.

Traditionally the only reason for Tar Heels to rush Franklin Street is when our basketball team sweeps the NCAA tournament.

Tuesday night, Barack Obama's victory brought hundreds of students streaming into the street, showing that, yes, something equals some students' love for basketball.

Chapel Hill police pushed the throngs of students back onto the sidewalks as cars drove by honking. Some rolled down their windows and gave high-fives to the students. Others waved Obama signs out the windows.

People on the sidewalks belted out The Star Spangled Banner and chanted "yes we can," "yes we did" and "U-S-A."

On my way back to my dorm 30 minutes later, excited groups of people still pushed past me on the sidewalks.

"It means that this country is going to be able to move," UNC-CH Young Democrat LaTasha Hill said. "Now we are actually living up to all the things we stand for."

Hundreds of students put in hours for Obama's campaign and other local campaigns. Charlie Sellow, a Young Democrat leader, estimates that UNC students dedicated more than 8,000 hours to the campaigns.

"This campaign is showing that young voters can be a decisive voice in an election," Sellow said.

Now the campaign volunteers will be left wondering how to fill their free time.

"I'll probably do the school work I haven't been doing lately," Young Democrat Jordan Warshauer said.

And soon there will also be basketball games to attend. Maybe you'll see Ashley Judd in our student section.

By Collen Beagen

Headlines have been dominated by stories of voting difficulties, fraud and inappropriate practices within Acorn, while few authorities have offered alternative methods. GWU Computer Science PhD student Stephan Popoveninc, however, spent election testing a new system.

Popoveninc, working independently of the university, in conjuncture with a research team headed by distinguished cryptographer David Chaum, asked international students to cast their ballot.

The ballot featured the standard bubble format, except instead of filling in each bubble with a number two pencil (a terribly complex concept for some states), the voter used a "magic pen." Once the pen glided over the bubble a number-letter code appeared. The voter then recorded their code on their ballot receipt and placed their ballot in the box.

"The voter can go online tomorrow and confirm that their vote was counted properly by comparing the code on their receipt to the code recorded," Popoveninc explained.

The "magic pen" contains chemicals developed by the multinational research team that expose the code within each bubble that is invisible to the naked eye. Every ballot contains different codes; so sacred secret ballot is maintained. 

"This technique empowers voters to check their ballot. Right now they put a ballot in the box, a physical or electronic one, and have no idea as to its fate," Popoveninc said.

This system was being tested on GWU and MIT campuses, with the emphasis on international student ballots. Could this be the future of voting?

By Chloe Popescu

I don't love election day. For the past two elections, these evenings glued to the TV have usually meant Chinese take out and extreme disappointment. The first Tuesday in November is cursed. It always feel too weird, too surreal. The stars are never aligned on this day. As goes Election Day 2008, I  had hope that this day would be hopeful, exciting and truly historical. Maybe, but still completely schizoid.

Let me explain. I woke up yesterday morning to the sounds of Bob Marley coming in through my window. My apartment building, conveniently located next door to a voting station, was just within earshot of a massive line of voters outside. They weren't bored, stressed, annoyed. They weren't even acting like Americans. Soccer moms had even come down from Maryland to pass out baked goods to voters. So there they were: citizens from every walk of life chomping down on cookies and chillin' to "One Love." I knew this day would be surreal.

I got out of the house and did my usual morning ritual of checking out the news. Guess what the headlines were this morning? Perez Hilton was telling me to get my ass to Ben and Jerry's, voters were getting free ice cream cones - but you have to have a sticker proclaiming that you voted. Hipsters could also get there fix of free "stuff", Starbucks was serving free coffee with the "I Voted" sticker. I didn't consider any of these pitiful voting incentives and made my way to class. Two hours later, as I made my way back across campus, I saw what looked like a dance party in an open plaza in the center of campus. Not exactly. I got closer and saw free ice cream and snacks for students who voted. Oh, wait, no sticker? Next.
   
I got back inside my apartment only to find my roommate glued to her laptop screen. "Chick-Fil- A is giving away free chicken sandwiches today. Did you vote yet? I need that sticker."

Before I could even reply, there was a knock on our door. It was a girl who lived down the hall. She wanted to get to Krispy Kreme before they ran out of free election-themed dough nuts. She wanted to know if we had an extra "I Voted" sticker. (Note: This wasn't written for the sake of the story. I am a journalist. This really happened.) 

By Leighanna Driftmier

The Republican victory party at GW began full of promise and expectation.    

To emphasize that this was definitely the REPUBLICAN party, there were red centerpieces and table cloths. A cardboard cutout of John McCain stood to one side against a backdrop that featured GW Republicans running across it, alternating with the logo. Red, white, and blue balloons soared; McCain-Palin signs were plastered to the walls; the giant projector was playing FOX news; there was a mechanical bull, free food, and the conversation was happily thriving.

As the night wore on, however, things began to get more strained.

The attendance at the College Democrat party next door had swelled to full capacity and Obama supporters began to trickle into the Republican domain eating their food, taking over their seats, and offering unwanted opinions.

In one giant sweep the northeast went blue. But things were still ok as McCain won West Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. And then Pennsylvania was called. More nail-biting ensued but hope was not given up.

Then, shortly before 9:30 p.m. FOX declared Ohio for Obama.

Both visiting democrats and faithful republicans began to trickle out the door.

"The only cheering is coming from the mechanical bull," remarked one bystander.

One CR freshmen remained positive to the last. "At least now it's our turn to complain," stated freshmen Keaghan Ames.  "We get to do what the Democrats have been doing for the past 8 years!"

Live from The Biltmore of Phoenix where John McCain and Sarah Palin will announce either their victory or defeat, unless of course the election results become contested a la 2000. You can view the entire feed at http://twitter.com/cqreportcard/.