UA News

Friday is the last day to vote at the UA's early polling site, located at the Student Union Memorial Center. Several departments also are sponsoring important post-Election Day events.

The University of Arizona campus has a number of events relevant to the pre- and post- Election Day climate.

Thursday and Friday are the final days the UA will serve as an early polling site for the general election.

So far, more than 1,200 people have used the early polling site, located at the Associated Students of The University of Arizona’s office in Room 325W of the Student Union Memorial Center.

The office had more than 200 people vote the morning and early afternoon of Wednesday, said Claudia Davila, ASUA’s advisor and senior coordinator.

Registered voters in Pima County who have an early voting ballot can drop it off at the location – but not having one will not prevent individuals from being able to vote on-site.

“Voters registered in any district of Pima County are welcome to vote for their candidates during this two week period,” Tommy Bruce, ASUA president, said in a notice sent to the campus community earlier this week.

The site – part of the UAVOTES 2008 campaign headed up by ASUA – will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday. The semester-long campaign focused on boosting voter registration while also mobilizing a nonpartisan volunteer base to educate the community about election issues.

“The response has been very positive with people thanking us for having it here. It’s very convenient,” Davila said, adding that the votes submitted at the early site will count toward the numbers that come in Tuesday night.

“We’re telling people to come out and get the voting done early so they don’t have to wait in long lines because there will obviously be lines on Tuesday,” she said. “And, this is a great opportunity for the University to do this and engage people.”

Elsewhere on campus, the Eller College of Management will be hosting Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steven Pearlstein for a Nov. 6 lecture to discuss the outcomes of the general election. Harris Private Bank is the event sponsor.

The event, which will begin at 5:15 p.m., will be held at McClelland Hall, is part of the college’s Distinguished Speaker Series and is free and open to the public. Attendees may register to attend by calling 520-626-7842.

Pearlstein, a business columnist for The Washington Post, will give his lecture titled, “The Morning After: The economic mess facing the new president.”

The first business columnist ever to win Pulitzer Prize, Pearlstein joined The Washington Post in 1988 as deputy editor. He returned to a reporting position in 1991 and has covered the post-Cold War defense industry before going on to become the newspaper’s chief economics correspondent, based in Toronto.

Pearlstein returned to Washington in 2000 where he reported on the tech and telecom bubble as well as business, management, economics and economic policy.

Another politically-relevant event is a Nov. 18 public forum, “The Middle East and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election.”

The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Room 100 of the UA’s Social Sciences Building, 1145 E. South Campus Dr.

During the event, the UA’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies presents a panel of experts who will offer an analysis of the geostrategic implications of the presidential elections for the Middle East. The event is free and open to the public.

The event’s panelists include Shlomo Aronson, the Schusterman Visiting Professor in Israel studies; David Dunford, an adjunct instructor in political science and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies; Richard Eaton, a history and Near Eastern studies professor; Shahira Fahmy, an associate professor of journalism; Faten Halawi-Ghosn, an assistant professor of political science and Near Eastern studies; and David Gibbs, an associate professor of history and political science.