A running live stream of text and photo updates as Neon Tommy reporters cover President Obama's rally with incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer and gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown at USC.

6:00 a.m.

"Line's already formed along W. 34th St. at Trusdale. At least a couple hundred people out here braving the drizzle. Most of the people out here as yet appear to be students, but there are some older faces in the crowd."

Ryan Lee Kindel

"Line is starting to build, I'd say in 10 minutes it should reach the Cinema School. Tickets? No tickets? Food? Is an umbrella a weapon? Security is already getting hounded with questions at the Obama event."

Laura Cueva

6:20 a.m.

"People cheering for the news camera. Students at the front of the line started waiting at 3:30 this morning after little to no sleep. Perhaps it goes without saying that they're big Obama fans."

RLK

Editor's Note: Though initial reports said people who arrived before 6 a.m. would be turned away, this turned out not to be true.

"Apparently they just weren't allowed to camp out. They had been planning to set up blankets by Doheny [Library, where the rally will take place]. Got steered here by security, hung out."

RLK

"Cheers are growing as the line waits and newspeople with cameras show up. A group of about 20 got chastised by DPS [USC's police force, Department of Public Safety] for cutting."

LC

6:40 a.m.

"Not enough room for everone--the line is going to be expanded at the front rather than the back, with caution tape. One volunteer, motioning to caution tape, said, 'It's gonna be Disneyland right here.'"

RLK

"The rain isn't too bad. Light sprinkling on and off, but people definitely seem prepared. Lots of people with hats, jackets, and adults mostly are equipped with umbrellas. No sleeping bags though there are about five or six small groups with chairs."

LC

6:45 a.m.

"Overheard another person compare the queue to Disneyland--it snakes back and forth with the front of the line on Trousdale by the CAS building."

RLK

"Barricades were set up toward the front of the line to move people forward once more show up. [Ratio of students to adults] is about 20 to 1. The line is definitely more students and the adults here seem to be in their 40s for the most part. No young children. The adults are decked out in Obama gear while the students are repping USC. Saw one UCLA sweatshirt."

LC

6:55 a.m.

"A lot of volunteers are here from UCSB Campus Democrats. "We all carpooled," one UCSB volunteer explained.

RLK

"The volunteers haven't been given instructions and neither has DPS. "Guess we'll deal with it when it comes," a DPS officer said about the end of the line.

LC

7:00 a.m.

"Strollers and umbrellas aren't allowed. According to a volunteer, Secret Service will take away 'clunky objects' like umbrellas. There are a lot of strollers and umbrellas out here, as well as some chairs, which I'm guessing count as 'clunky,' too."

RLK

"People with disabilities under the American Disabilities Act need to check in near Tommy Trojan and the Campus Center. Ticket holders are being directed to McCarthy Quad."

LC

7:30 a.m.
 

"Hundreds of people standing in line, mostly students but not an overwhelming majority. It's cloudy but not raining anymore."
 

RLK

"Get Out The Vote volunteers are handing out donation/volunteer sheets to people in line. Also includes information for how to vote this election. No information on Prop. 19."

LC

7:45 a.m.
"OVERHEARD: People are cutting in the front of the line, upsetting those who have been waiting since the wee hours. So far the rate of people arriving even as it's getting later and the weather's better, has been pretty much constant."

RLK

"Singer/performer Chelsea Williams is setting up to perform for the crowd as they wait in line. She was asked by event organizers to do so. She'll be starting up within the hour."

LC

8 a.m.

"Signs will not be allowed in the rally. Weird, because a lot of free 'Moving America Forward' signs were handed out by Democrat volunteers. I guess they're trying to make the rally seem less partisan?"

RLK

8:15 a.m.

"People are definitely arriving at a greater rate. News stations here interviewing folks. Fire trucks, paramedics here."

RLK

"Crowd definitely growing. Lots of students and more adults. Guesstimate of adults in crowd: 10 percent Latino, 60 percent Black and 30 percent white."

8:25 a.m.

"Older adults standing by Finger Fountain with signs saying 'Repeal DADT' [Don't Ask Don't Tell]. They're not going to the rally because signs are not allowed in. One explains, 'If you don't have Obama's message, they don't let you in.' Students are mostly from USC, though a lot of volunteers are from UCSB Democrats organization. Steady stream entering, more will start after 8 a.m. for sure."

RLK

"Ambulance and fire truck on 34th Street. Trying to find out why. They turned sirens semi-on. A woman was knocked out of her wheelchair while scurrying to get out of the way of the ambulance/fire truck. Still not sure what's going on."

LC

8:30 a.m.

"'Disneyland' queue has closed. Second line forming at the same place people were waiting this morning (on 34th Street by Taper Hall). Second line has instantly become massive."

RLK

"DPS officer says, they were 'Checking up on something but everything's OK.'"

LC

8:40 a.m.

"College Republicans are out by Jefferson, protesting with signs and T-shirt sales. One said to me that Obama's here to advance Boxer, and he doesn't have plans to move America forward. 'Maybe that's for the better,' she said. 'His plans would probably just screw things up.'"

RLK

8:45 a.m.

"Singer/guitarist Chelsea Williams is doing an acoustic version of 'Such Great Heights' near the front of the line."

RLK

8:50 a.m.

Second line now stretches all the way to the Cinema School, and it's growing fast.

RLK

9:00 a.m.

"JCLU, a private Armenian School in the Valley, is here supporting Boxer and Obama on a class field trip."

LC

9:10 a.m.

"Mobile phone banking is going on. People are being handed sheets with names, phone numbers and a script. They are being told to call and increase registration."

LC

"The second line has crossed the street by Cafe 84, now coming back down along the Dental School on 34th. Just a humongous amount of people here."

RLK

9:25 a.m.

"Vendors along Jefferson selling buttons and other Obama gear to passersby."

Sarah Erickson

"The line's now turned, creeping out along the Finger Fountain. Volunteers are asking for more volunteers to help direct the crowd."

RLK

9:30 a.m.

"Ellen Sturtz, a protestor (see image on right), said, "I'm tired of being perceived as a political splinter in [Obama's] side." Sturtz is here demanding that Obama do something. "He's made lots of promises and we want him to follow through." Campaigning for LGBT rights."
 

LC

"College Republicans sign reads, 'The problem with socialism: eventually you run out of OTHER PEOPLES MONEY.' Another: 'TEACH A MAN TO FISH...THE DEMOCRATS LOSE A VOTER.'"

RLK

9:35 a.m.

"Sturtz, the demonstrator with the "Repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell" sign was kindly asked to leave the premises by a group of DPS officers. Protestors and demonstrators with signs evidently aren't allowed on campus near the line."

SE

9:40 a.m.

"Giant 'Farewell Queen Meg' tour bus with a picture of the candidate in the corner with a queen hat waving. On the bottom of the bus it said, 'Lies...pink slips.'"

LC

"People of all ages waiting in line--many wearing Obama apparel. The crowd seems jittery and excited. Despite the rain earlier in the morning and it being a Friday, students are peppy and alert."

Callie Schweitzer

9:45 a.m.

"Literally busloads of people arriving. Backmost leg of the general admission line now stretches all the way from the Finger Fountain to past McClintock. It's hard to convey without a map just how massive this line is."

RLK

9:50 a.m.

"Suddenly the line is moving. People are not being let in but the gates have apparently been opened."

RLK 

10:15 a.m.

"Right behind Leavey Library there are four protestors holding signs that say 'End the War,' 'US out of Afghanistan,' 'Respect international law' and 'Critique US foreign policy.' They also have two gallons of water and a victim with brown cloth covering his face. To make a statement they poured water on the victim--simulating the torture tactics being used abroad."

GinaLisa Tamayo

10:20 a.m.

"Most people in line are not affiliated with USC. Several school groups are in line. Volunteers for the event are trying to pump up the crowd with cheers while handing out flyers for Barbara Boxer. Cheers such as "We are...pumped up" similar to the we are SC chants. Several people in line have large cameras that I doubt will get by Secret Service. Also, items like umbrellas and pocket knives. One man was concerned they would take his knife away (umm..duh?). It appears that track and field athletes were able to cut the line but they are so far ahead of me now it's hard to tell."

Kelly Williams

10:25 a.m.

"People are officially being let in in small groups. A steady stream."

RLK

10:30 a.m.

"Two women dressed as royalty are impersonating Meg Whitman as British monarchy and are marching around the crowd. Said the one with a Meg Whitman sash in a fake high British accent, 'The working class are supposed to work.'"

SE

10:33 a.m.

"Crowd of line cutters being booed by the rest of the ticketed line."

Taylor Freitas

10:45 a.m.

"According to Twitter updates, the back of the line has gone past campus and is now at the Smart & Final on Vermont Avenue. Barbara Boxer supporters are beginning to enter the Ronald Tudor Campus Center, which is where the Obama's Boxer fundraiser is being held. The event is reportedly scheduled to begin at 11 or 11:30 a.m. Obama is slated to speak at the private event at 12:45 p.m."

CS

11:20 a.m.

Though the sun is shining, the crowd is reportedly very restless. The first groups have been let in--including Neon Tommy reporter Taylor Freitas who is 40 feet from the podium--others are still waiting. Neon Tommy reporter Kelly Williams is waiting in line in front of Leavey Library and says there are people pushing and shoving and others trying to cut the line. People are also reportedly selling food, water and Obama gear--$20 for a small T-shirt and $5 for a small button of an Obama portrait.

CS

 

Compiled by Editor-in-Chief Callie Schweitzer.

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