KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, APRIL 18, 2011 / NEWS
7A
SAFETY
Students learn from tornado safety advice
Safety officer gives tips for severe weather
BY SARAH HOCKEL shockel@kansan.com
As tornado season commences, it is important for students to know how to stay safe in severe weather.
Tornado sirens are one of the most important ways that the Douglas County department of emergency management communicates with the community when there is dangerous weather.
According to John Marmon, emergency management coordinator for the University of Kansas, it is important to seek shelter once a tornado siren goes off. He said that if there were no buildings in the area, then people should seek low ground such as a ditch and protect the neck and head.
Capt. Schuyler Bailey from the KU Public Safety Office said that a tornado siren only goes off when a funnel has been spotted. Bailey said that the most dangerous thing a student could do was to run outside when a tornado siren goes off and search for a tornado.
"That's the absolute worst thing that they could do," Bailey said. "Take the sirens seriously and take shelter," said Bailey.
tant to stay aware of what the weather was doing.
Edited by Samantha Collins
Marmon said it was impor-
"Keep informed. Listen to your radio. Before you start your day be prepared and take a look at what's going on weather-wise and plan accordingly," Marmon said.
TORNADO FACTS
- Tornadoes most often occur between 3 and 9 p.m.
- A tornado usually only last for a few mintues.
- The U.S. has the most tornados in the world.
- Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska and South Dakota are the states that make up 'Tornado Alley'
source: tornado-facts.com
GOVERNMENT
Campaigns use social networks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Republican Tim Pawlenty disclosed his 2012 presidential aspirations on Facebook. Rival Mitt Romney did it with a tweet. President Barack Obama kicked off his re-election bid with a digital video emailed to the 13 million online backers who helped power his historic campaign in 2008.
Welcome to The Social Network, presidential campaign edition.
The candidates and contenders have embraced the Internet to far greater degrees than previous White House campaigns, communicating directly with voters on platforms where they work and play. If Obama's online army helped define the last campaign and Howard Dean's Internet fundraising revolutionized the Democratic primary in 2004, next year's race will be the first to reflect the broad cultural migration to the digital world.
"You have to take your message to the places where people are consuming content and spending their time," said Romney's online director, Zac Moffatt. "We have to recognize that people have choices and you have to reach them where they are, and on their terms."
The most influential of those destinations include the video sharing website YouTube; Facebook, the giant social network with 500 million active users; and Twitter, the cacophonous conversational site where news is made and shared in tweets of 140 characters or less.
Facebook presence, using the site to post videos and messages and to host online discussions. In the latest indication of the site's reach and influence, Obama plans to visit Facebook headquarters in California this coming Wednesday for a live chat with company founder Mark Zuckerberg and to take questions from users who submit questions on the site.
Candidates have embraced Twitter with an intensity that rivals pop star Justin Bieber's. Twitter was the Republican hopefuls' platform of choice last Wednesday, moments after Obama gave a budget speech calling for some tax increases and decrying GOP proposals to cut Medicare.
"President Obama doesn't get it. The fear of higher taxes tomorrow hurts job creation today," Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour tweeted.
All the campaigns have a robust
"The president's plan will kill jobs and increase the deficit," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned in a tweet, attaching a link to a more detailed statement posted on Facebook.
In the past, candidates would have pointed supporters to their websites for such a response. Now, as Moffatt puts it, "the campaign site may be headquarters, but it needs digital embassies across the web."
Republicans once seemed slow to harness the power of the web. The party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, told reporters he didn't even use email. The 2012 hopefuls have worked hard to prove their Internet savvy, particularly with social media.
Pawlenty "understands the power of new technology and he wants it to be at the forefront. We are going to compete aggressively with President Obama in this space," spokesman Alex Conant said. Conant pointed to efforts to live stream videos to Facebook and award points and badges to supporters in a way that mirrors Foursquare, the emerging location-based mobile site.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's 2008 running mate and a potential presidential candidate this time, has made Facebook a centerpiece of her communication efforts to supporters.
Palin has been criticized for treating it as a one-way form of communication that allows her to bypass direct questions from reporters and voters. Other Republicans insist they're willing to wade into the messy digital fray and cede some control of their message.
"We trust our supporters and want to err on the side of giving them more control, not less," Conant said.
Just as social networking liberates candidates to take their message directly to voters, it offers plenty of pitfalls as well.
It's prone to mischief, with dozens of fake Twitter accounts and Facebook pages popping up daily that are intended to embarrass the candidates. Also, a candidate's gaffe or an inconsistency on issues can be counted on to go viral immediately.
Gingrich has gotten ensnared in some online traps. His apparent back-and-forth on whether the U.S. should intervene in the conflict in Libya was discussed widely and amplified online. He first advocated military engagement, then came out against it after Obama ordered airstrikes.
COPY CO
MORE THAN JUST A COPY CENTER
SAVING
STUDENTS
TIME & MONEY
785-832-COPY
1401 W 23RD LAWRENCE KS
copycousa.com - lawrence@copycousa.com
STAY ON THE ROAD WITH THE HAWKS
STAND OUT.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
voted "Best Ad Staff in the Nation" at CNBAM 2011
It's never too early to start your career.
-Classifieds
we're hiring for summer and fall semesters:
-Account Executives
-Creatives
-Marketing Team
-Interns
-Digital Team
here's how.
Step 1: Attend an info session
Monday, April 18 - 3:00 to 4:30 Tuesday, April 19-5:00 to 6:30 Wednesday, April 20-6:00 to 7:30 all in Dole 2092
Step 2: Get your game face on.
Sell yourself. Show us what makes you stand out in the crowd.