8A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DARLY KANSAN
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2008
» MASCOT CHALLENGE
Big Jay up for game cover
BY LUKE MORRIS
Imorris@kansan.com
An online vote is giving Jayhawk fans the opportunity to vote for Big Jay to grace the cover of NCAA Football '09 on the Nintendo Wii.
The EA Sports Mascot Challenge, a promotion for the NCAA Football video game series' return to the Nintendo lineup, allows college fans to vote for the mascot they want to be featured on the game's cover.
Fans can vote for any NCAA Division-I Football Bowl Subdivision school's mascot. EA Sports hasn't released an NCAA football game for Nintendo systems since 2004.
"One of the great things about NCAA football is the tradition and how those fans are attached to their mascots," said Kendall Boyd, product manager for NCAA Football '09.
Sunday afternoon, the group had more than 7,000 members.
"If we were to ever make the cover, this year would be our year
"If we were to cover, this year we because we did so well this season." Griswold said.
Friday, Boyd said that more than 200,000 votes had been cast in the competition so far. EA Sports Big did a similar promotion for their NFL Tour video
Griswold was surprised that Kansas was ranked that high in the competition.
"I think the Facebook craze really boosted the votes," Boyd said.
"If we were ever to make the cover, this year would be our year because we did so well this season."
STEVEN GRISWOLD Forsyth, Ill., junior
game. That promotion received only 60,000 votes.
Boyd also said that Kansas was in the top 15 in
"We did pretty well in the Capital One Bowl contest.
Big Jay participated in the Capital One Mascot Challenge, another online voting competition, in 2005, but did not win.
and we have considerable success on the field since then," said Associate Athletics Director Jim Marchiony. "Our fans are energized, and Kansas has been in the limelight all fall. I think we have a good shot to do well."
Fans can vote once a day at easports.com/ncaa09. Voting began on Feb. 14 and will end on March 14. EA sports will announce the winner on March 18. NCAA Football '09 will be released on July 15.
- Edited by Daniel Reyes
help Big Jay
How to vote for Big Jay:
What: Vote for Big Jay to be on the cover of Nintendo Wii's NCAA Football 09 video game
Where: easports.com/
ncaa09
When: Fans can vote once a day until March 14
Winner:The results will be announced March 18
INTERNATIONAL
Castro's brother takes control
Dictator ends 49 years of rule, remains Communist leader
BY ANITA SNOW ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fidel Castro's younger brother Raul Castro, left, speaks after being elected President of Cuba's supreme governing body, the Council of State, by the new National Assembly in Havana, Sunday. The council's president acts as Cuba's head of state. Castro was accompanied by Cuba's Vice President Juan AlMEsia Bosque.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HAVANA — Cuba's parliament named Raul Castro president on Sunday, ending nearly 50 years of rule by his brother Fidel but leaving the island's communist system unshaken.
In a surprise move, officials bypassed younger candidates to name a 77-year-old revolutionary leader, Jose Ramon Machado, to Cuba's No.2 spot — apparently assuring the old guard that no significant political changes will be made soon.
The retirement of the ailing 81 year-old president caps a career in which he frustrated efforts by 10 U.S. presidents to oust him.
The U.S. has said the change from one Castro to another would
"This conviction has particular importance because the founding and forging generation of the revolution is disappearing." Raul Castro added.
In his first speech as president, Raul Castro suggested that the Communist Party as a whole would take over the role long held by Fidel, who formally remains its leader. The new president said the nation's sole legal party "is the directing and superior force of society and the state."
Raul Castro stressed that his brother remains "commander in chief" even if he is not president and proposed to consult with Fidel on all major decisions of state — a motion approved by acclamation.
Though the succession was not likely to bring a major shift in the communist government policies that have put Cuba at odds with the United States, many Cubans were hoping it would open the door to modest economic reforms that might improve their daily lives.
not be significant, calling it a "transfer of authority and power from dictator to dictator light."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday Cubans have a right "to choose their leaders in democratic elections" and urged the government "to begin a process of peaceful, democratic change by releasing all political prisoners, respecting human rights, and creating a clear pathway towards free and fair elections."
Her statement, issued shortly before parliament met, called the developments a "significant moment in Cuba's history."
Cuba's parliament chose a new 31-member ruling body known as the Council of State to lead the country. The council's president serves as the head of state and government.
The vote ended Castro's 49 years as head of the communist state in America's backyard. He retains his post as a lawmaker and as head of the Communist Party. But his power in government has
eroded since July 31, 2006, when he announced he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was provisionally ceding his powers to Raul.
The younger Castro has headed Cuba's caretaker government in the 19 months since then, and Fidel Castro has not appeared in public.
In his final essay as president, Castro wrote that preparations for the parliament meeting "left me exhausted," and he said he did not regret his decision to step down.
"I slept better than ever," he wrote in the commentary published on Friday. "My conscience was clear and I promised myself a vacation."
In Old Havana, Maria Martinez, a 67-year-old retiree, watched the announcement on a Chinese-made television in her dark living room.
"He's a trustworthy man," she said. "He won't make mistakes."
"All we really want is peace and tranquility," she added.
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