INSIDE TODAY:

MARATHON RUNNING
Minister runs in his 13th
straight Heart of America
COLUMBIA’S MORNING NEWSPAPER Marathon today. Page 1B
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ESTABLISHED IN 1908 Q www.ColumbiaMissourian.com
Monday, September 1, 2008

Supporters rally around McCain, Obama Hulshof’s

proposal
GOP urges involvement banks on
hospitals
HealthMAX would redirect
state money to help
uninsured Missourians.
By DAVID A. LIEB
The Associated Press
JEFFERSON CITY — To expand
health coverage to the uninsured,
Republican gubernatorial candidate
Kenny Hulshof wants to dip deep into
the money now paid to hospitals as
reimbursement for their charity care.
He’s following a financial strategy
first employed by GOP Gov. Matt
Blunt — pledging to increase the
government’s role in providing health
insurance largely by redirecting exist-
ing dollars.
Hospitals got on board with Blunt’s
plan, though it ultimately failed in the
House. The assumption for their sup-
port was that a reduction in govern-
ment payments for uninsured patients
would be offset by payments from
a greater number of patients having
health insurance.
But hospitals would have more at
stake under Hulshof’s plan.
As of yet, the Missouri Hospital
Association hasn’t endorsed it. Nor has
it endorsed a rival plan by Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Jay Nixon.
As outlined last week, Hulshof’s
HealthMAX proposal would cost an
estimated $590 million when fully
implemented.
JOHN SCHREIBER/Missourian It would offer subsidies and tax incen-
Presidential nominee John McCain and vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin greet attendees at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon. tives for lower-income Missourians to
buy high-deductible insurance plans

Palin debuts at Republican rally Obama nomination coupled with health savings accounts.
The state would set up a legal frame-
work giving people multiple choices of
By CATHERINE MARTIN
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
sparks enthusiasm plans from multiple insurers. Anyone
could purchase insurance through the
new pool.
O’FALLON — In the roughly 90-degree heat, a mass of people wearing red Some black residents view
Please see HEALTH, page 8A
shirts crowded into T.R. Hughes Ballpark on Sunday in O’Fallon, eagerly watch- the candidate’s rise as an

ing the stage as a country band played music.
Suddenly the crowd erupted with applause as
Sen. John McCain’s bus pulled into the stadium.
The crowd gathered for John and Cindy
McCain’s “Road to the Convention Rally”
cheered as Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, the
McCains, and John McCain’s newly selected
running mate, Sarah Palin, walked onto the
stage.
The crowd applauded after each of the Repub-
licans gave a brief speech. Each speaker not only
endorsed McCain, but encouraged the members
of the crowd to be proactive in the effort to help
those on the Gulf Coast, which is currently in a
state of emergency due toHurricane Gustav.
The crowd erupted again as McCain began
to speak, but his running mate, Palin, was the
rally’s main event.
Minority
inspiration.
Palin, like her colleagues, started off by By KHADIJAH RENTAS
addressing the Gulf Coast issue and then began and JONATHON BRADEN
to describe the changes she intends to make in
Washington and the progress she has made in
Alaska as governor.
As Palin’s speech ended, the crowd began to
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Monica Naylor and her husband
watched Barack Obama accept the enrollment
rises at MU
Democratic nomination with tears slid-
chant, “Sarah! Sarah!” ing down their faces.
One of the attendees, St. Charles resident “We were just so proud,” Monica Nay-
Mary Lisic, 32, describes Palin as “a strong gov- lor said. “I never thought I’d see it in my
ernor who has reformed Alaska and can help the lifetime.”
rest of America reform as well.” As a former Columbia Public Schools Hispanic students see the
Lisic not only sees Palin as a strong politician,
but can also relate to her on a personal level,
student, Naylor, 55, experienced racism highest rate of growth at
firsthand. She attended kindergarten
“because we both call our husbands ‘dude,’” and first grade at the then all-black Dou- 29.7 percent.
Lisic said, “and she talks like a normal person.” glass School before getting transferred By STEFANIE KIENSTRA
Although Lisic’s vote was decided before to integrated Ridgeway Elementary. news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Please see MCCAIN, page 8A Within the well-publicized news that
Please see OBAMA, page 8A
MU’s freshmen enrollment is the high-
est in its history is another record-
breaking statistic: The rates of Afri-
can-American and Hispanic freshmen

COMMU NI T Y VOICE S ON OBA M A enrollment also are the highest in

MU’s history.
The number of freshmen African-
American students has grown 27.5
“I don’t want to see it as a black “It’s not about him being black. I’m percent, and Hispanic student enroll-
ment increased 29.7 percent this fall.
thing. I want to look at it as what thrilled he is black, but it’s not about Both numbers are higher than the 15.6
percent increase in freshmen enroll-
he can do for everybody.” that. It’s really time for a change.” ment, reported earlier by MU News
Bureau.
DARYLICIA WILKERSON SEREATHA BRANHAM Overall, MU freshman enrollment
for fall semester is 5,812 — 785 more
freshmen than than last year.
As of Aug. 25, all minority groups

City to consider expanding its deer program

The program aims to
regulate populations within
the city limits.
By MOLLY HARBARGER
news@ColumbiaMissourian.com
Archers like Jack Hempen who
enjoy hunting deer within the city
limits are likely to find more competi-
tion in their favorite spots this year, a
situation that has the city pondering
whether to expand its deer manage-
ment program.
Every year, more hunters are reg-
istering to participate in Columbia’s
deer management program. Hempen,
a veteran of the program, was one of
288 hunters who registered last year,
when participants reported killing 22
deer in the city. Hunters are supposed
to report their kills, but city officials
said they suspect some don’t.
Hempen said he killed a doe last
year on a sewer utility property along
Strawn Road.
“It’s not much of a story, (but) I real-
ly like the program,” Hempen said.
Still, Hempen said he is a bit dis-
couraged by the subdivisions sprout-
ing up along Strawn Road, which is
among the most heavily hunted areas
of the city, according to several hunt-
ers who attended an orientation ses-
sion for the 2008 season last week.
Participating hunters are required to
attend an orientation in order to obtain
a special permit to pursue deer within
city boundaries.
The seven properties open to bow
hunters are the city landfill, Twin
Lakes Recreation Area, Smithton Park,
Grindstone Nature Area and the sewer
utility properties on Strawn Road,
Please see DEER, page 2A
Need to know
PLACES IMPACTED
Columbia landfill, Twin Lakes Recreation
Area, Smithton Park, Grindstone Nature
Area and sewer utility properties on
Strawn Road, Bainbridge and Coats Lane
2008 SEASON DATES
Sept. 15 to Nov. 14, Nov. 26 to Jan. 15
REQUIREMENTS
Hunters must attend a special orientation.
were up by 153 freshmen, an increase
of 26.9 percent from 2007. Overall
minority enrollment numbers in
the past few years have remained
unchanged. African-American stu-
dents make up 6 percent of the total
undergraduate population, according
to opening day numbers. Similarly, the
Hispanic group makes up 2 percent of
the population. These numbers have
not moved since the fall of 2005.
Roger Worthington, assistant dep-
uty chancellor and chief diversity
officer of the chancellor’s diversity
initiative, says MU has a long-range
plan to increase diversity enrollment,
and that’s one of the reasons for the
increase. But there are others.
“A major factor is the kind of campus
Please see ENROLLMENT, page 2A

Outside today Correction Index

HEADLINES

NAACP board OKs contract for president Our 100th year/#353

2 sections
BALTIMORE — The NAACP’s national board of direc- Today: Mostly sunny with wind Matt Burgess, a former MU football player, Abby 7A Nation 3A 16 pages
tors has approved a three-year contract for new presi- between 5 and 10 mph. held the position of center. His position Calendar 2A Opinion 5A
dent Ben Jealous, the youngest leader in the civil rights Temp: 90° on the team was incorrect in an article on Classified 5B Second Front 6A
organization’s history. Jealous, 35, will attend his first Tonight: Partly cloudy. page 1A Sunday. Comics 7A Sports 1B
board meeting as president in Baltimore on Oct. 18. Temp: 69° Page 2A Lottery 2A World 4A
— The Associated Press 6 54051 90850 3