Jumbos work hard to get out the vote locally

Hours before Deval Patrick became the newest Governor of Massachusetts, members of the Tufts Democrats were still campaigning for him on campus. Outside the polling center in the Gantcher Center, several group members held signs in support of Patrick, which seemed to appeal to voters. "People like to honk as they drive by," freshman and Philadelphia voter Andrea Lowe said. Freshman Xavier Molina, originally of Oakland, Calif., who lived in France for the past 10 years, had not worked extensively with the group before but wanted to help out. "I had nothing to do so it was either sit in my room or come support something I believe in," he said. Inside the center, Polling Center Warden Sharon Bourque said that she noticed more voters coming from on-campus addresses than during previous local elections. "Most of our turnout from [students] is during the presidential [election]," she said. "But we have gotten a lot more college students than usual today." Tufts Democrats roamed elsewhere. Twenty were on "visibility" duty around campus, Tufts Democrats President Kayt Norris said. Six volunteers campaigned for Patrick at Downtown Crossing in the afternoon, and six helped out Connecticut congressional candidate Joe Courtney. Tufts Republicans president Jordan Greene could not be reached for comment on this article by press time. But after the day's campaigning wrapped up at 8 p.m., there was still fun to be had. Assistant Political Science Professor Vincent Phillip Munoz, a participant in the scholar-in-residence program, hosted a get-together in his Houston Hall apartment for students to watch the election returns. As he walked around with pizza and cookies, he provided "a chance for the students to get together and talk about politics," he said. And his more than 20 student guests from his hall and classes, as well as Political Science Professors Deborah Schildkraut, James Glaser and Kent Portney, did just that. "I've been listening to pundits all election season," said junior and Massachusetts resident Josh Silverstein, a student of Munoz. Now, "I'd like to hear from real people." For Glaser, the night had more than just political meaning, as he brought his 11-year-old son Jared to enjoy the festivities. The two of them joined students in watching the results as Jared kept track of the winners and losers. "My dad used to keep score with me on election night, and that's how I first got interested in politics," Glaser said. I'm "sort of hoping he [will] catch the same fever." Portney valued the chance to get to know students better, he said, comparing it to the return-watching gathering the ExCollege typically puts together for presidential elections. "Just as a social event it's a nice opportunity," he said. But a group of students sat away from the professors, watching the returns in a second room. "I'm waiting for Colorado [results]," freshman and Houston Hall resident Lara Crenshaw said as she watched the results roll in before her home state's election results were called. "Colorado's kind of a moderate state so it's interesting to see where it's going." Her friend and hall-mate Emily Brown, also a freshman, hails from Crownsville, Md., but was more concerned with the Massachusetts gubernatorial race. "Just from seeing it so much on TV I've sort of gotten into the whole Deval Patrick thing," she said. But Patrick was not the only issue of interest at Tufts yesterday. Students from the Tufts Socialist Alternative (TSA) set up a table with pamphlets yesterday afternoon above the library steps. They spoke to passing students of their goal to bring an immediate end to the war in Iraq. This issue appeared on Somerville ballots, and residents ended up voting in favor of having local authorities support an end to the war. Other Jumbos, working with neighborhood residents, made their way into Davis Square throughout the day to influence local voters. Students mobilized to support or fight against several issues, including Somerville's proposed divestment from Israel and the proposed licensing of "food stores" in Massachusetts to sell wine. Senior Philip Moss organized about 10 Tufts students to picket against divestment propositions outside polling centers in and around Davis Square all day. The two non-binding propositions suggested that Somerville officials remove all investment from Israel, while supporting the rights of Palestinians to return to their "land of origin." Brookline resident Alan Ronkin, Deputy Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, supported this effort. "We reached out to students at Tufts," Ronkin said, describing how Moss gathered "all the stuff he would need [posters and flyers] to make it happen." "I'm pretty confident that [they're] going to be defeated," senior and Israeli citizen Ilan Behm said while he picketed yesterday evening. The Boston Globe reported that "no" was winning out for the resolution by nearly a two-to-one margin. Behm said that yesterday was the first time he campaigned for a political issue at Tufts. "I stick to my engineering usually," he said. In addition to covering polling centers that had the propositions on the ballot, Moss sent student volunteers anywhere his opponents, mainly Somerville Divestment Project (SPD) members, were holding signs. Quarrels frequently erupted as a result, Behm said. "The worst thing I heard [is when an SPD member] refused to call Israelis Semites. She called them Eastern European converts," he said. "It was pretty offensive." But some of the work was more rewarding. "It's actually really nice when people say thank you," picketer and Friends of Israel president sophomore Naomi Berlin said. Next to these students, other students held signs against Massachusetts proposition one, also non-binding. That question proposed to allow "food stores," including convenience and chain stores, to sell wine. This proposition was defeated last night, the Globe reported. "I have a friend who owns a liquor store," said senior Aaron Narva, one of two Tufts students picketing outside Davis polling stations last night. He was referring to Terry Devlin, owner of Hillside Wine and Spirits on Boston Ave., who has been outspoken against the proposition with signs on his door for months. "We've been talking this thing to death for so long," Devlin said. "When we look around most people have just started to decide [how to vote]."