INSIDE
Exclusive interview with Kira Tennis ends winning streak Perry’s poor planning
‘The Hunger Games’ hits theaters
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FRIDAY
MARCH 23, 2012 FRIDAY High 77, Low 55 SATURDAY High 81, Low 59
VOLUME 96 ISSUE 73 FIRST COPY FREE, ADDITIONAL COPIES 50 CENTS
Politics
Technology
iShape offers voters more info on issues
Are Viral Videos effecting voters?
TASHIKA VARMA Assignments Editor tvarma@smu.edu
CHARLES SCOTT Contributing Writer cscott@smu.edu During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama and his team carved a path to the White House with the help of a tool never before used in American politics: social media. The 2008 presidential election was dubbed the first YouTube election, marked by the ability of people to put videos of a candidate on YouTube.com. Memorable videos from the time included “Obama Girl” and “I Feel Pretty.” Social media is driving the 2012 presidential election even more than before. It’s “influencing not only the voters but influencing the media,” according to Carolyn Barta, a journalism professor at SMU. She said that in 2008, Will.i.am’s “Yes We Can,” video, which put Obama’s vision to lyrics, gained him some votes. On Jan. 19, Obama wooed supporters by singing lines from Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” during a fundraiser at the Apollo Theater in New York. The commander and chief ’s rendition of the song went viral on YouTube and is already available for download as a cellphone ringtone. President Obama isn’t the only one singing about the upcoming election. Rick Santorum, the Republican White House hopeful, now has two vocalists on his side of the ring: Camille and Haley Harris from Tulsa, Okla.; and they’ve gone viral, too. The sisters’ music video, called “GameOn,” was recorded for Santorum after they met him at a campaign event just before Super Tuesday, which was on March 6. By Sunday afternoon on March 11, their video had gained more than a million views, according to a recent article. The sisters have now become celebrities among Santorum devotees. They’ve appeared at a number of Santorum’s campaign events to sing and speak to his supporters. Santorum acknowledged the sisters personally by mentioning them on his Twitter account and began trending the hash tag “#GameOn,” which has had over 100,000 people follow it. Barta said the sisters’ creation is “a good example on how a video that has gone viral can have impact.” “It’s like an everyman endorsement that these girls would do it on their own. People will take him more seriously because of it,” she said.
SPENCER J EGGERS / The Daily Campus
Gavin DeGraw’s performance in McFarlin Auditorium Wednesday evening proved to be a show-stopper.
DeGraw, Nail rock McFarlin MARK AGNEW Contributing Writer magnew@smu.edu Mcfarlin Auditorium roared Wednesday night as students let loose to the beats of pop artist Gavin DeGraw and his opening act, country singer David Nail. Program Council’s spring concert drew a crowd of around 600 people although more than 1,000 tickets were sold, according to Matthew Bolaños, Program Council vice president of communications. Ticket sales for DeGraw were around onehalf of the 2,000 tickets sold for Ke$ha last year. Sarah Kazmi, who works at the Mane Desk in the student center, said they sold more than 200 tickets on the day of the concert. Additionally, more than 100 tickets were sold at the door. Tickets were free to students and $10 for all others purchased with an SMU ID (faculty, staff and guests). Progam Council started working in September to plan this year’s
concert. William Vonderfecht, Progam Council’s vice-president of finance, noted that this year’s budget process was somewhat different since Student Senate budgets for the spring semester are not released until November now, which impacted the time frame for the bidding process. In previous years, Student Senate allocated annual budgets at the beginning of the school year, which for example enabled Progam Council to secure Ke$ha well in advance. This year’s concert is projected to cost around $80,000 according to Vonderfecht. It will be paid for by money allocated to Progam Council by Student Senate and EPIC funding. Program Council secured the maximum amount EPIC funding allows ($5,000) and used it to pay for agent fees. SMU has been working with Drew Pompilio of D Buyer, Inc. for six years now to find suitable artists to bring to campus based on availability and budget constraints. Pompilio serves as a middleman
between agencies who represent artists and SMU. He compiled a list of options and presented it to SMU. Courtney Blake Warren is a sophomore communications and pre-advertising major who currently interns for AEG Live Nation. On top of that, she is also Program Council’s concert chair. She felt that bringing DeGraw and Nail to campus was a good choice because DeGraw brought a pop culture appeal while Nail catered to country music fans. “That was the best option,” Warren said. Program Council President Elise McDonald explained that DeGraw and Nail were a package deal. “This has been nicer because the process has been easier, but it’s still the same caliber of artist,” McDonald said. Cooper Brown, senior from Teague, Texas, wasn’t too familiar with Nail’s music, but said she listened to some of his more popular songs such as “Red Lights” and
See CONCERT page 3
Meadows
SMU hires first Artist-in-Residence MEREDITH CAREY Staff Writer mcarey@smu.edu Will Power, a renowned playwright and performer, is returning to SMU in the fall to become the first Artist-in-Residence in the Division of Theatre in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. Power began his relationship with SMU this past fall as the winner of the 2010 Meadows Prize. As the winner, he spent four weeks working with Meadows students to create an original play.
“Alice Underground,” a modern spin on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel “Alice in Wonderland,” premiered last October in the Margo Jones Theater. “Last semester's Alice Underground was just a taste of what I believe Meadows and Will Power can create together,” said first year theatre student Alexander Hoskins. “I hope collaboration among Meadows students plays a big role in Will Power's time here.” The play embodied the spirit of all Power’s works, which combine the spoken word of hip-hop and
traditional theatre. “During his Meadows Prize residency, [Power] demonstrated that it is possible to work with a community, bring multiple art forms together, experiment and also produce great art. Will helped students [at SMU] understand that they can take risks and speak in their own voice,” said José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School. “We were incredibly impressed with his energy, creativity and his new vision for hip-hop theater.” “Will brings us national
See MEADOWS page 3
With elections coming up in November, talk of the candidates is everywhere. People begin to have pre-conceived notions of each candidate based on advertisements, media coverage and overall reputation. iShapePolicy, a new political technology site, seeks to give people the chance to find the best candidate based on issue. iShapePolicy’s newest application, iElectTM, gives voters instant match results for the 2012 presidential race. The application allows users to find their “best matched” candidate based on their own personal views and key issues. The application does not take into consideration one’s political party either. “The growth in public discontent within respective governments around the world clearly indicates citizens feel their views and well-being are being disregarded,” Brendan Watson, iShapePolicy’s CoFounder, said. “While a substantial surge in people becoming interested in politics is not something we expect will happen overnight, our vision for iElectTM is to help lay the groundwork and foster a connection between citizens and the views they feel would be best represented
by those candidates seeking public office.” The site hopes to reduce disappointment among citizens after the election because with the application citizens will be able to vote for the candidate who has the same views. Once a voter provides key information on his or her own personal viewpoints, the site takes research on the candidate and provides matched-based on a weighted score. Users can compare the results and information. Afterwards, the application encourages users to learn more about each candidate by providing links to the campaign websites, Facebook and Twitter. “I think that the application is a great idea because it lets people make a decision based on the issues they care about rather than whatever party is popular at the time,” sophomore Meera Nair said. The site also offers information on voting trends and top matches across all the membership according to different demographics. This allows members to compare their own results to other users on the site. iShapePolicy’s iElectTM is only functional for the 2012 U.S. presidential race currently, but it hopes to expand to other political races in and out of the U.S. To become a member and find your candidate match, visit www.ishapepolicy.com.
RECYCLEMANIA
Eco-Fashion Show concludes competition TASHIKA VARMA Assignments Editor tvarma@smu.edu RecycleMania, a two-month long national competition where universities are encouraged to promote recycling in communities, wraps up at SMU with an EcoFriendly fashion show Friday. SMU’s resident hall environmental hall representatives are putting on the second annual Eco-Friendly fashion show to try and help people become conscious of the impact of clothing on the environment. All designs must use at least 75 percent reclaimed, recycled, natural and/or organic materials. “Clothing is a basic need that affects essentially every person on Earth. The fashion industry for the United States alone impacts almost every country on Earth, more often than not in a negative way,” resident hall environmental hall representative Samuel Beyer said. “Events like EcoFriendly Fashion Show are a celebration of fashion that is sustainable and how it can have a positive impact in our world community.” The show allows students to be creative without impacting the Earth negatively. “As oil prices increase, our economy will begin to
turn to many sustainable alternatives; the clothing industry has vast potential to lead in this movement with creative materials and designs,” Beyer said. “Clothing made of materials such as organic cotton, recycled plastic and reused cotton are already available on the market.” In addition to the fashion show, residence halls competed in a recycling challenge, as a part of RecycleMania. Winners were determined by weight of amount of recycled material and trash collected each week. According to Beyer, the final results are not in yet, but Smith hall and Perkins hall have been in the lead for the past few weeks. Matthew Bolaños competed in the fashion show last year, winning “Most Wearable.” He believes in the cause and will participate again this year. “The eco fashion show is the perfect opportunity to show how we can improve the way we treat our earth without compromising things we love, like fashion,” Bolaños said. Admittance is free for students and food will be provided. Students only need to bring a recyclable item to enjoy the show and food. The show will be Friday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Varsity.