Monday, September 1, 2008 50 cents ESTABLISHED IN 1908 www.ColumbiaMissourian.com INSIDE TODAY: MARATHON RUNNING Minister runs in his 13th straight Heart of America Marathon today. Page 1B COLUMBIA’S MORNING NEWSPAPER 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. It would offer subsidies and tax incen- tives for lower-income Missourians to buy high-deductible insurance plans coupled with health savings accounts. The state would set up a legal frame- work giving people multiple choices of plans from multiple insurers. Anyone could purchase insurance through the new pool. Hispanic students see the highest rate of growth at 29.7 percent. By STEFANIE KIENSTRA [email protected] Within the well-publicized news that 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 enrollment also are the highest in MU’s history. The number of freshmen African- American students has grown 27.5 percent, and Hispanic student enroll- ment increased 29.7 percent this fall. Both numbers are higher than the 15.6 percent increase in freshmen enroll- ment, reported earlier by MU News Bureau. Overall, MU freshman enrollment for fall semester is 5,812 — 785 more freshmen than than last year. As of Aug. 25, all minority groups 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 Hulshof’s proposal banks on hospitals Minority enrollment rises at MU The program aims to regulate populations within the city limits. istering to participate in Columbia’s deer management program. Hempen, a veteran of the program, was one of 288 hunters who registered last year, 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- City to consider expanding its deer program GOP urges involvement Palin debuts at Republican rally Obama nomination sparks enthusiasm JOHN SCHREIBER/Missourian Presidential nominee John McCain and vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin greet attendees at T.R. Hughes Ballpark in O’Fallon. Supporters rally around McCain, Obama “I don’t want to see it as a black thing. I want to look at it as what he can do for everybody.” DARYLICIA WILKERSON Please see HEALTH, page 8A Need to know PLACES IMPACTED COMMUNITY VOICES ON OBAMA “It’s not about him being black. I’m thrilled he is black, but it’s not about that. It’s really time for a change. ” SEREATHA BRANHAM Some black residents view the candidate’s rise as an inspiration. By KHADIJAH RENTAS and JONATHON BRADEN [email protected] Monica Naylor and her husband watched Barack Obama accept the Democratic nomination with tears slid- ing down their faces. “We were just so proud,” Monica Nay- lor said. “I never thought I’d see it in my lifetime.” As a former Columbia Public Schools student, Naylor, 55, experienced racism firsthand. She attended kindergarten and first grade at the then a ll-black Dou- glass School before getting transferred to integrated Ridgeway Elementary. Please see OBAMA, page 8A By CATHERINE MARTIN [email protected] O’FALLON — In the roughly 90-degree heat, a mass of people wearing red shirts crowded into T.R. Hughes Ballpark on Sunday in O’Fallon, eagerly watch- 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. Palin, like her colleagues, started off by addressing the Gulf Coast issue and then began 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 chant, “Sarah! Sarah!” One of the attendees, St. Charles resident Mary Lisic, 32, describes Palin as “a strong gov- ernor who has reformed Alaska and can help the rest of America reform as well.” Lisic not only sees Palin as a strong politician, but can also relate to her on a personal level, “because we both call our husbands ‘dude,’” Lisic said, “and she talks like a normal person.” Although Lisic’s vote was decided before Please see MCCAIN, page 8A