News Briefs

UMNews

SG Senate passes resolution on fall break, football games

At the Student Government Senate meeting last Wednesday, senators voted on a recommendation bill to extend fall break for the academic calendar. The bill recommends that fall break be changed to a Monday and extended to include the following Tuesday, as opposed to the Friday that is now given as break. The recommendation will now move to university administrators.

The Senate also voted on a resolution to keep football games at the Orange Bowl. The vote came in response to the possibility that UM football games may move to Dolphins Stadium to avoid spending money on renovations to the Orange Bowl, the renovation costs for which may double.

Hot air balloon race coming to South Florida

Sunrise Community, Inc. is looking for volunteers to help at the 24th annual Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race. The event will take place April 14 and 15 at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. Anyone interesting in volunteering at the event may contact Sunrise Community, Inc. at 305-275-3317 or online at www.sunriseballoonrace.org.

ELSEWhere

Candidates seize Facebook to reach Internet generation

MELISSA DANIELS // DAILY ORANGE (SYRACUSE)

(U-WIRE) SYRACUSE, N.Y. – As the 2008 Presidential campaign is underway, major political players have chosen Facebook as a campaign battleground.

Presidential candidates, such as Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, are seizing new political opportunities for social networking in Facebook’s Internet community to “befriend” younger voters.

By simply searching some of these names on the Web site, members can “poke” Rudy Giuliani, read personal announcements from Barack Obama’s “notes” or read up on Mitt Romney’s favorite inspirational quotes.

One of the main perks of political networking on Facebook is that it facilitates horizontal conversation, creating an environment ultimately leading to people talking to each other about the presidential candidates, said Grant Reeher, associate professor of political science at Syracuse University.

Readers should note the difference between personal messages on Facebook walls and the somewhat “echoing” rhetoric of a presidential candidate’s canned messages and carefully constructed image, said Steve Masiclat, director of the SU new media graduate program.

“Clearly, money is not a goal,” Masiclat said. Facebook members, being mostly college students, are not typically going to give away $40 to a presidential cause.

But the candidates are actually saving money in television advertising fees by using Facebook, Masiclat said.

This attitude differs greatly from the Internet campaigns of John Kerry and George W. Bush in the 2004 elections.

Kerry’s 2004 campaign used the Internet to raise money “because he couldn’t afford to concentrate on anything else,” Davis said. “Bush used the Internet community as an organizational tool.”

About 80 percent of Kerry’s campaign money was derived from financial supporters online.

ETC.

The “Cane For A Day” program is now accepting host applications. Applications are available online at www.miami.edu/caneday/hostapplication. All applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.