Election sparks global interest
FOREIGN from page 1
results is bizarre and hard to
understand, she said.
“Lots of it has gone over my
head,’’Ward said.
Hie complicated U.S. system
has not stopped her fellow
Britons from watching her new
home’s election coverage, though,
she said.
Ward said people in England
are far from condemning the
United States. But, she said, the
political wrangling has decreased
her faith in the United States to
act effectively because it can’t
even elect its own president
Jason Duarte, a agricultural
economics graduate student
from Brazil, is not as gentle about
American election woes.
He said the United States is
deeply involved in an embarrass
ing political mess.
People in Brazil are laughing
and joking about America’s politi
cians and its political system, he
said.
“The United States’ behavior
is more close to the behavior of
the Banana Republic," Duarte
said.
This tidal wave of cynicism is
directed more toward A1 Gore
than George W. Bush, Duarte said.
People believe Gore is playing
with the system to get the out
come that he wants, Duarte said.
But Bush, he said, is definitely
not innocent of tinkering with the
system to further his own needs.
Beyond the humor, Duarte
said, people in his country are dis
appointed in the entire event.
People in Brazil simply didn’t
expect such a spectacle to happen
in the United States, he said.
Ahmed Mahdy, a computer
science graduate student from
Egypt, agrees with Duarte.
Such political debacles can
happen almost anywhere else in
the world, but they are not sup
posed to pop up in the United
States, Mahdy said.
“The United States is the
mother of the world,” Mahdy
said.
The United States has to rec
ognize that something went afoul
and remedy the problem to avoid
similar ones, he said.
Mahdy said he isn’t sure how
people in Egypt are reacting to the
problem, but he is sure they are
watching the events along with
the rest of the world.
George Onyeaghala, an elec
trical engineering major from
Nigeria, isn’t ready to give such a
harsh critique of the United
States.
He said the United States
needs to patch up its electoral
process before it hurts the citi
zens.
But, he said, election mistakes
are not the end of the world.
Mistakes plague countries
across the globe, and it is only nat
ural for the problem to strike the
United States occasionally,
Onyeaghala said.
“No one’s perfect,” he said.
The global community is sur
prised that the United States, a
country that many believed was a
perfect democracy, could stum
ble during its presidential elec
tions, he said.
Nevertheless, people in
Nigeria are not condemning
America, he said.
Other countries will still look
to the United States as an exam
ple of a good democracy,
Onyeaghala said.
Now, the countries will simply
realize that every nation runs into
trouble, Onyeaghala said.
"The big guy can also cry.”
4
Days
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The
Post &
Nickel
Some tiring of election coverage
REACTION from pagel
Anderson, a Gore supporter, said he’s still keep
ing up on the election even with the overwhelming
amount of media coverage.
“I'm following it for the sheer entertainment of
following it,” he said.
Sophomore architecture major Matt Clause
said he thought news organizations called the
election too early, adding to the confusion.
Besides the Florida recounts, Bush and Gore
could continue to contest vote counts in other
states, which would drag out the election even
longer, he said.
And with each new development, Clause said,
he thought there were even more things going on
that the public doesn’t know about.
“I think it’s telling us our government is going
down the tubes,” he said.
Andrew Carr, sophomore political science,
international studies and economics major and
president of the College Republicans, said he was
confident Bush would come out with a victory.
But like many others, Carr said he was ready to
see the end of all the controversy.
"I’m a pretty patient guy, and this is getting
old,” he said.
In Carr's eyes, Gore shouldn’t concede until
Friday, when all absentee ballots are counted, he
said.
“I’m just anxious to get Bush in there,” he said.
But Bush should not be ushered into the White
House until it’s certain he won the race, said Heath
Mello, senior political science major and secretary
of UNL’s Young Democrats.
Mello said he was willing to wait as long as it
takes to ensure the election results are fair.
Even though Bush still holds on to his lead in
Florida, Mello said he thought Gore had a chance
at winning the presidency.
And while some students may tire of reading
Bush and Gore’s names in the headlines every day,
it's important to follow along, he said.
“It’s a great civics lesson for a lot of people,”
Mello said. “It shows how important voting really
is.”
Karen Brown, Green Party campaign volunteer
and UNL senior English and film studies major,
said she was tired of hearing people blame Nader
for Gore’s loss.
"I don’t think (Nader) is to blame,” she said. “If
he doesn’t run now, when is he going to run?”
Brown said she thought the election should
depend on the popular vote, which now tilts
toward Gore.
“All I cared about was Ralph Nader getting 5
percent (of the popular vote),” she said. “He didn’t,
and for me, it's over.”
jill ««»<»
Thank you for this past summer.
You deserve every cent you earned!
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These students will also be enjoying a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, November 20-26.
r~_:__x._l.__ __ xL .
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For more info about Southwestern’s summer work contact
Yvette Kuester at ykuester@hotmaii.com.
BUILDING CHARACTER IN YOUNG PEOPLE SINCE 1868
