16
THURSDAY, JANUARY 81, 2008
Clj
SARAH HODGES
I AM LEGEND. HEAR ME ROAR
Sarah Hodges is a senior psychology
major from Durham
E-MAIL SEHOOGESOEMAIL.UNC.EDU
The next
virus to
infect the
Internet
Viruses are scars things. They
infect a host cell, then lease
the infected cell to contami
nate others. That is the principle
behind viral marketing and sse, as
consumers, need to be careful not
to lose sight of propaganda mas
querading as entertainment
Despite attempts by multiple
people to explain football to me. I
ssill tune into the Super Bosvl this
year purely for the commercials.
Next week, svhen fans are dis
cussing the results of the game.
11l be talking about the premiere
of the next Pepsi commercial. But
what if instead of using it as fod
der for svater-cooler conversation,
1 sent out links to the video over
the listservs
that I'm a mem
ber of (sorry
AT-LARGE
COLUMNIST
"seniorsOH")? Companies can
reach many more consumers
through the Internet than by other
means, which is why viral market
ing online works much better than
word of mouth.
Hotmail is generally accepted
as having the first successful viral
marketing campaign. By putting
an ad for their free e-mail at the
end of even item sent from their
site, they greatly increased the
number of people signing up for
their accounts.
But viral advertisements seem
to work best when they don't even
look like advertisements.
Taxbrain.com faked the theft of
a race car for an advertising cam
paign. The video footage was so
convincing that they got more than
$1 million in free advertising when
it was aired repeatedly on ESPN,
among other networks, as a real
news story.
Then there's the “Will It Blend?"
series of videos. Blendtec spent
SSO on the initial campaign, post
ing Youlbbe videos of household
odds and ends being tom to pieces
in their blenders. They’ve since
blended golf balls, glow sticks and
an iPhone. The videos boosted
their company sales by 43 percent
when they debuted in 2006.
Children often don't understand
the persuasive nature of advertis
ing. causing concern for parents
;md, in some countries, a ban on
commercials geared toward kids
younger than 12. Adults are pre
sumably able to handle this pro
paganda, but it becomes hander to
see these videos as advertisements
when they are encroaching on the
territory of entertainment This
is especially true for the massive
campaign for "Cloverfield"
“Cloverfield" has been referred
to as the first film of the YouTiibe
generation partly because of the
shaky camera work and the intense
online advertising.
I personally think that
“Cloverfield" is one of the best
movies I’ve seen in a long time
(take that “Juno"), but I’ve heard a
lot of people say that it didn't live
up to the hype. You have to admit
there's a lot of hype to live up to.
At least seven of the film's char
acters have MySpace pages, which
allow for character development
outside of the 85 minutes of non
stop action and tugs on your heart
strings like no Hallmark commer
cial could. There is a video blog
belonging to one of the characters
and, of course, there are countless
fan sites to help keep it all straight
Not that the movie lacks coherence
if you haven't visited the sites, but
looking at the extras adds some
thing to the spectacle of the thing.
Even if the film didn't meet your
expectations, you have to have seen
it to be able to say that which is
the goal of the hype, after all. All of
these Web sites coupled with the
vague trailers and popularity of
producer JJ. Abrams led to a s4l
million opening weekend, the best
January opening for a film ever.
So go ahead and discuss how
funny it is to imagine Mr. T as a
Night Elf or how the Geico spots
have gone downhill since the
gecko's accent went from upper
class British to cockney. Just
remember that ads can't replace
your favorite TV shows. And the
best part is that your shows don't
ask you to buy anything. All they
ask is for you to watch the com
mercials.
EDITORIAL CARTOON By Mason Phillips, mphilOemail.unc.edu
o
The Price is right
Congress should revamp primary election system
After serving on two sepa
rate commissions in 1984
and in 2008 to exam
ine and rewrite the rules on
Democratic presidential nomi
nations, U.S. Rep. David Price,
D-N.C., fears that the current
primary system needs more than
a little fixing. And he’s right.
Price proposed anew system
Monday in which five state pri
maries would be held each week
for a period of 10 weeks starting
in early March and ending mid
way through May.
His proposal also espouses the
revamping of public financing
rules. In suggesting the altera
tions, he hopes to lessen the role
of big money in the evaluation
and success of candidates.
Currently, these traditional
electoral bellwethers commence
in lowa and New Hampshire
in early January and end in
Montana, New Mexico and
South Dakota in early June.
With an early primary comes
The wrong kind of tax cut
Sales tax holiday proposal ignores states’ rights
Not paving sales tax is a
nice break. And while
the N.C. sales tax of 6.75
percent might not seem like
much, on SSOO of textbooks
you’d save $33.75. That’s enough
to buy 225 blue books.
In an attempt to stimu
late the economy and boost
spending, U.S. Sen. Richard
Burr, R-N.C., pitched a plan in
Congress that would establish
a nationwide sales tax holiday
for 10 days in April.
As appealing as a week with
out sales tax would be— espe
cially one right before tax time
that includes two weekends
sales tax is, and needs to
remain, solely the right of indi
vidual states.
Burr wants his plan to be
considered as an alternative to
the bill that was passed by the
House on Tuesday which would
send rebate checks of S6OO
to individuals and $1,200 to
families.
While we applaud Burr for
promoting discussion and a
free flow of ideas, a tax-free
week isn’t the best idea to help
stave off a recession.
Bogus buyout
CSU shouldn’t sell its college newspaper to Gannett
College papers are becom
ing serious business.
Gannett, the nation’s
largest newspaper publisher,
is in talks with Colorado State
University to buy its student
newspaper. The Rocky Mountain
Collegian, and merge it with The
Coloradoan, a local newspaper
owned by the company.
We have serious reservations
about a major publisher buying
out a college newspaper. The
CSU president should leave the
paper in student hands.
The deal mirrors Gannett s
purchase of Florida State
University’s newspaper, The
FSView. It’s clear why Gannett
wants the paper: a source of
future employees, access to a
desirable demographic group
and low operating costs.
Opinion
increased focus on your state.
Therefore, states have attempted
to “front load," pushing their pri
maries earlier and earlier on the
calendar to gain influence and
attention from the candidates.
Because New Hampshire has
a state law' requiring its primary
occur first and lowa has a bloat
ed sense of self importance, the
campaigning season gradually
balloons, placing less wealthy
candidates at a disadvantage.
After Super Tuesday, when
more than 20 states hold prima
ries, the process hobbles slowly,
painfully and expensively to the
June finish, draining less finan
cially stable candidates of funds
needed for eventual victory.
Condensing the primaries,
as Price suggests, diminishes
the gargantuan role of money
in the primary process, and in
doing so could revitalize the
importance of competence on
the issues something that
generally is rather important.
Most states rely on sales taxes
as a source of revenue, and they
need the power to decide what
rate to charge on commercial
items. Sales tax brought in
$498,672,598 to North Carolina
in April alone last year, and the
amount collected in April has
risen every year since 2001.
Although the states that par
ticipate in the holiday would be
reimbursed 60 percent of their
lost revenue by the federal gov
ernment, Washington shouldn’t
have anything to do with their
right to charge sales tax.
And even with some com
pensation by the federal gov
ernment, 10 days of sales tax is
a lot to lose.
On the plus side, no state
would be forced to participate in
this holiday; under the proposal,
the 45 states that have sales tax
would have to voluntarily buy' in
for the bill to pass.
But if it weren’t for the fact
that the resolution is nonbind
ing it would be entirely uncon
stitutional, and though it isn’t
officially obligatory, if it passes,
political pressure would make it
implicitly’ required.
And for CSU administrators,
the deal could help rid them of
a pesky newspaper infamous for
running an editorial that simply
read, “T&ser this... F — Bush.”
But this isn’t a win-win situ
ation for everybody.
The deal raises concerns about
potential violations of students'
First Amendment rights.
If the paper is sold to Gannett,
students could lose control over
the paper’s content, though the
CSU president has said that
the editorial content remaining
in student control would be a
requirement of any deal.
CSU officials can’t exercise
editorial control without the
buyout because of laws protect
ing student press.
There is something inher
ently wrong with a college
Prices proposal is a viable
solution to die primary problem,
but his assertion that lowa and
New Hampshire should con
tinue to perform the influential
opening acts of the theatrical
primary process is still flawed.
For the roughly 295 million
of you living outside of these
two states, lowa’s population is
94.6 percent white, while New
Hampshire’s is 95.8 percent.
These states could not possi
bly be any less representative of
the increasingly diverse United
States population, and they play
disproportionately crucial roles
in the nomination process.
As such, Price’s proposal
should include some sort of
measure to balance the influence
of states in the primary process,
such as total randomization.
Price’s plan is a welcome
solution to a chronic primary
problem, providing the fairest
possible system of candidate
nominations.
Even if it was the job of the
federal government to regulate
state sales tax, whether the
proposed tax holiday would
encourage spending is debat
able at best.
North Carolina already
holds an annual sales tax holi
day for certain back-to-school
items during the first weekend
of August, from Friday through
Sunday.
Many states hold a tax-free
weekend, but economists argue
that these sales boosters have
negligible or even negative
effects on retail businesses.
While sales do increase on a
tax-free holiday, they drop sig
nificantly in the weeks before
the special holiday.
It’s more likely that consum
ers will just shift their consump
tion from other weeks to the
tax-free week, leaving no real
effect on total expenditure.
But regardless of whether
Burr’s tax-free week would get
more money flowing through
the economy, Congress needs
to stay within its bounds and
not infringe on the power of
the states.
newspaper being owned and
run by a media conglomerate.
Student newspapers are
meant to be run by students,
with only minimal outside reg
ulation. Ceding control of the
paper to a publicly owned cor
poration with quarterly earnings
goals to meet is a bad idea.
Plus, in what seems repre
sentative of the whole deal, all
of the negotiations concerning
the paper’s future are going on
behind closed doors, without
any student input whatsoever.
If the university is intent on
selling the paper, they should
at least seek student opinion.
But inane editorials aside,
the fact remains that the paper
exists for the students, both for
those who work for it and those
who read it
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Its been a long haul ... its
something we ve all believed in
really passionately”
LAURA STROUD, CAROLINA FOR (JOHN) EDWARDS SECRETARY
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
To read the full-length versions
VISIT http://daitytariieelpublicwQfdpress.com
Post your own response to a letter, editorial or story online.
VISIT www.dailytarheei.com/feedbadc
Maybe coexistence can
happen in the Middle East
TO THE EDITOR:
When 1 first heard that
Palestine Week was being
planned I felt immediately a
sense of discomfort Not because
of the idea of having a week
devoted to Palestinians, but
because of its name: “Palestine.’
I grew up believing that there is
no such thing as “Palestine," that
this place existed long ago and has
now been replaced by the country
I was bom into lsrael.
Most of my life I believed either
“Israel” or “Palestine” could exist,
but the two could not coexist My
opinion has been in a transitional
mode for the last few years.
Last summer in Jordan, I
found a coin being sold by a
vendor, dated 1939. It had the
word “Palestine’ written on it
in English, Arabic and Hebrew.
Next to the Hebrew word, it had
the acronym letters of Alef and
Yud, which stands for Erctz Israel
(the Land of Israel). “Finally," I
thought “I found something that
allows both ideas to coexist, nei
ther canceling each other." I now
wear that coin around my neck.
1 decided to join the plan
ning of Palestine Week because
1 wanted this week to be one of
debate, discussions and argu
ments. And guess what? It has.
We can choose to avoid com
ing to the panels, or we can
attend and voice our opinions.
Either way, this week is going
to effect change. We can be part
of it or stand aside and watch it
happen. I’ve made up my mind.
Have you?
Shai Tamari
Graduate Student
History
WNBA popularity aside, a
woman can be president
TO THE EDITOR:
This presidential debate has
been an absolute joy to witness.
What better way to show how
far our nation has come than to
have both a female and black
presidential candidate.
But let's stop making this elec
tion about race and gender. Let's
make it about the best person for
the job. I’m not here to defend
one candidate over the other.
I am interested in voicing my
opinion about how Mr. (Nathan)
Nyanjom depicted women in
(Wednesday's column, “America
not ready for Ms. President," Jan.
30). 1 was dumbfounded by the
obnoxious headline, and 1 was less
than amused that he decided to
defend hLs idea by looking to the
fact that the show “Commander
in Chief" was canceled and “24"
is still going strong; that the
WNBA is not as well-supported
as the NBA; or that women hap
pen to appear on GoDaddy.com
in scantily clad outfits.
How does that correlate to
whether or not our country is
ready for a female president?
Can I remind Mr. Nyanjom
that our country has had a num
ber of very highly accomplished,
admired, intelligent and effective
women who could easily run this
country if given the chance.
Mr. Nyanjom, I urge you to
take a closer look at the country in
which you live. You might be hang
ing out at Hooters too much.
Paige Zinn
Class of 1991
SPEAK OUT
WRITING GUIDELINES:
► Hease type: Handwritten
letters will not be accepted.
► Sign and date: No more than
two people should sign letters.
► Students: Indude your year,
major and phone number.
► Faculty/staff: Include your
department and phone number.
► Edit: The DTH edits lor space,
darity. accuracy and vulgarity,
limit letters to 250 wonk
SUBMISSION:
► Drop-off: at our office at Suite
2409 in die Student Union.
► E-mall: to ecEtdeshOunc.edu
► Send: to P.O. Box 3257, Chapel
Hill, N.C., 27515.
EWTOa'S NOTE: Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinions of
The Daily Tar Keel or its staff. Editorials art the opinions soWy of The Daily Tar Heel edrto
rial board. The board consists of eight board members, the associate opinion editor, the
opinion ecktor and the editor. Hie 2007-08 editor decided not to vote on the board.
QJhr SaiUi (Jar Hrri
Palestine Week doesn't
mean anti-Israel week
TO THE EDITOR:
On behalf of N.C. Hillel’s
Executive Student Board we are
w-riting this letter to clarify that
one person s views do not define
the Jewish community-.
In direct response to (Ben)
Packer’s letter to the editor
Tuesday (“Column didn’t clearly
show situation in West Bank,"
Jan. 29), we disagree that “any
thing pro-Israel or pro-Jewish”
must be left out of Palestine
Week. Judaism might be one
religion, but it is an umbrella for
a diversity of opinions on spiri
tuality, life —and Israel.
For many, the Holy Land is
synonymous with conflict and
strife. Not all Jews agree with
every action of the Israel govern
ment, but dialogue about Israel’s
policies is in fact encouraged by
the emphasis placed on discus
sion and critical thought in the
Jewish tradition.
The conflict in Israel and
Palestine is a deeply poignant
issue. Combating it with hatred
and inflammatory language is
the antithesis of what an insti
tute of higher education like
UNC stands for.
Learning cannot happen when
the lines of communication are
obstructed by hate: Peace will
follow mutual understanding.
Palestine Week exemplifies this
by presenting a sometimes-over
looked aspect of the conflict.
Today N.C. Hillel and SPEAC
are co-sponsoring a falafel
“Friendship Lunch." All inter
ested in promoting dialogue and
collaboration between student
groups on campus are welcome
to join us from noon to 2 p.m.
at N.C. Hillel (210 W. Cameron
Ave.).
Elizabeth Bemold
President
N.C. Hillel
Allison Rose
Executive Vice President
N.C. Hillel
We've given John Edwards
no reason to return to UNC
TO THE EDITOR:
In response to the editorial on
John Edwards coming back to
UNC (“Look homeward, John,’
Jan. 28), I have a piece of advice
for him don’t
Clearly he cannot win on this
campus. He starts a poverty cen
ter, and he gets criticized because
he is covertly campaigning for
the 2008 nomination.
He runs for the Democratic
nomination, and the very little
coverage that he gets from cam
pus media is negative (see James
Edward Dillard and Carla Babb).
I love this university, but it
hasn’t given him any reason to
return. My suggestion to Edwards:
Spend some time with your family,
buy a house in New Orleans, get
to work on the Ninth Ward and
prove the cynics wrong.
Eugene Rossitch 111
Junior
Political Science
Saiiy (Ear Hrrl
Established 1893,
114 years
of editorial freedom
ERIN ZUREfCK
EDITOR, 962-4086
2UREICKOEMAILUNC.EDU
OfFICE HOURS:
MON, WED, HU. 1-2 P.M
ADAM STORCK
OPINION EDfTOR. 952-07S0
APSTOROMWNC.EDU
JONATHAN TUGMAN
ASSOCIATE OPINION EDITOR. 962-0750
TUGMANmUNC.EDU
ANDREW JONES
PUBLIC EDITOR
JONESAWOEMAILUNC.EDU
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
JESSICA SCISM
SARAH WHITWORTH
KATHRYN ARDIZZONE
SARAH LETRENT
DUNCAN CARLTON
ELYSE MCCOY
GRAHAM ROWE
DAVID GIANCASPRO