If you’ve got a reference question while you’re on the go, send it to the Hagerty reference desk via text message, and we’ll text you back. Simply text drexellibraryref: and your question to 265010 between 8:30 am and 5 pm.

Standard text messaging charges apply.

This year, there was a record student turnout in Drexel’s voting district. Drexel Votes 2008 and the Office of Government and Community Relations have announced that 1,972 students cast ballots at Van Rensselaer Hall (33rd Street and Powelton Avenue) on Election Day. On-campus voter turn-out exceeded 70 percent of the 2,800 students registered to vote at that location.

Of the votes cast on-campus, Barack Obama received 77 percent and John McCain 22 percent. The remaining one percent was divided among Ralph Nader, Bob Barr and write-in candidates.

National Public Radio reports that excluding provisional ballots 62.5 percent of the nation’s registered voters actually voted, putting Drexel students ahead of the national voting average. Lowell Webb, judge of elections at the on-campus polling place, was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer saying that student voter turn out surpassed that of the 2004 presidential election at 6:30 p.m. with an hour-and-a-half until closing and hundreds of students still waiting in line.

For more information, email Sean Miller at sam772@drexel.edu.

After you vote, join us on Tuesday, November 4 starting at 8 p.m. in the Great Court, Main Building (32nd and Chestnut Streets).

The event will go on until all votes are counted and America’s next president is chosen. There will be great food, games and good conversation along with televisions tuned in to the election.

For more information, contact Marisa McStravick at mem82@drexel.edu.

Don’t forget…Tuesday, November 4 is Election Day. Your voice has never been louder!

For students living on campus, the polling location is Van Rensselaer Hall at 3320 Powelton Avenue–that’s for Philadelphia’s 24th Ward, 10th Division (24-10). This is a permanent change in the polling location for the registered voters living inside of 24-10.

Live off campus? Check out www.voteforchange.com or www.seventy.org to find your polling place.

Doors open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. If you’re in line by 8 p.m. you’ll be allowed to vote, no matter how long it takes. Be sure to bring a student ID, license, or voter registration card.

Feel free to wear any McCain or Obama clothing or pins, but no electioneering–you can’t go around telling people who they should vote for or ask people who they are voting for. Basically, use common courtesy and respect those with opposing views!

If you have any further questions, please contact Drexel’s Office of Government and Community Relations at 215.895.2109.

The Drexel Democrats and Drexel Republicans will host a debate on the economy Wednesday, October 29 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Mitchell Auditorium, Bossone Research Enterprise Center (Market Street between 31st and 32nd Streets).

This is the second and final debate between the two organizations. Following the debate, students will be encouraged to ask questions and get involved.

The event is co-sponsored by Drexel Votes 2008.

The Great Works Symposium will host a panel discussion on Thursday, October 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in room 108, Disque Hall (32nd Street, between Market and Chestnut Streets).

“The Media and Elections” will feature representatives from a variety of media sources discussing the role of the media in reporting and impacting elections.

Moderated by the University of Pennsylvania’s dean of the Annenberg School for Communications, Michael Delli Carpini, the panel includes WHYY’s Dave Heller, WPVI anchor Monica Malpass and political bloggers Kyle Kutuchief and Phil Martin.

For more information, email kde25@drexel.edu.

Join the Center for Civic Engagement and Committee of Seventy for a Proxy Debate between local representatives of the McCain and Obama campaigns.

Then, hang around for a watch party for the final Presidential debate–refreshments are included! The event will take place Wednesday, October 15 from 7:30-11:00 p.m. in the Bossone Auditorium and Lobby.

The Great Works Symposium will present a lecture,”The Keys to the White House: A Surefire Guide to Predicting the Next President,” today, October, 9, 2008, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Room 108, Disque Hall (32nd Street between Market and Chestnut Streets).

Allan Lichtman, a professor from American University, will present his model, which analyzes the 13 keys that have determined the winner of every Presidential election going back to 1860. He will also discuss the conditions that have already predicted the winner of this year’s election. Dr. Lichtman has provided commentary for all the major U.S. broadcasting networks and cable companies, the Voice of America and many foreign broadcast companies. He worked with Dan Rather as a CBS consultant during the impeachment of President Clinton, served as the 2004 election-night analyst for BBC Worldwide and political analyst for CNN Headline News.

For more information, email kde25@drexel.edu.

Wednesday, October 8 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Bossone Auditorium.

Come out, listen, and participate as Drexel Democrats and Republicans debate the major issues related to U.S. energy policy and the future of the energy economy.

Drexel Votes 2008 would like to remind all students, faculty, and staff who have not registered to vote in the Presidential election on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, that the voter registration deadline is Monday, October 6!

For more information, visit Drexel Votes 2008. Or, swing by Hagerty and Hahnemann’s Reference Desks to register to vote.