Students parking in Valencia West Campus’ Beta lot on Friday were met with a 45 foot surprise.

Valencia West Campus was a stop on C-SPAN’s 11 month, “The Road to the White House” tour.  The tour boasts 2 buses complete with mobile television production equipment and studio facilities.  Students were invited on board to view the small scale version of a C-SPAN studio. 

The bus is equipped with New York and Washington, D.C. sets which make it virtually impossible for C-SPAN viewers to distinguish between the mobile studio and their studios in D.C.

Each C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus has visited all 50 states, all state capitals, and all presidential libraries.  The buses visit colleges, high schools and rotary clubs in an effort to educate students with regards to the campaigning process.

“It was important to come to Valencia because of its large student body which is very active in politics,” said Erin Patton, Marketing Representative for C-SPAN.

Valencia’s activity in politics was visible Friday morning as the West Campus chapter of Students for Liberty set up next to C-SPAN to discuss Libertarian concepts with inquisitive students.

Alicia Barker, president of West Campus chapter of Students for Liberty was eager to explain why her club felt it important to endorse Ron Paul.

“He is the only candidate that represents the constitution and true American values,” said Barker.

In agreement was the University of Central Florida club Knights for Liberty who was also on hand for Friday’s event.

“We felt like [Ron Paul] was the most genuine of the candidates,” said Nik Ritchie, president of the UCF club.

The bus and their crew were successful in drawing students aboard on Friday morning, and motor coach operator Terence Bilal never gets tired of it.  Bial has operated the bus for the past five years.  Recently, visitors to the bus included former republican candidate for president, Rudy Giulliani, former democratic candidate for president, John Edwards, and the wife of republican candidate John McCain, Cindy McCain.

C-SPAN is a different source of political news than many of the other networks that students may turn to for campaign news and updates.  The company is a non-profit that was created and is funded by the cable industry. 

“We have no advertisers and are able to show speeches in long form,” said Patton of one of the distinguishing factors between C-SPAN and the other news networks.

C-SPAN does not track viewership ratings but various studies have been conducted to collect data on audience interests.

In keeping up with the elements which set the 2008 campaign apart from those in the past, the C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus has its own MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/campaign2008bus. 

The page features photos from across the country, a number of blogs documenting their journey, and a program schedule summary. 

The MySpace page is also a good resource for other political organizations, as the Campaign 2008 Bus page has almost 800 “friends” which are comprised of many partisan and non-partisan political groups.

The event was successful in drawing in a large number of students and sparking discussion concerning the campaign.

“This event is very helpful,” said Ron Paul supporter and Valencia West Campus student Edwardo Muniz of the Campaign 2008 Bus visit.

With the bus headed off to its next location, talk of this monumental campaign still lingers at Valencia.

     The suite is booked, and the date is set.  July 12, my friends and I will be eagerly landing at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, JA. 

     Every year, in the middle of July, people come from all over the world to gather for the week-long event, Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest.  This is easily Jamaica's most large scale event as crowds in excess of 30,000 gather to hear the sounds native to their country.

   Completely taken by all the fun to be had, in past years I have completely overlooked the infinite writing opportunities this event presents.  Previously, I have tried networking with publicists who meant well, but were far too busy with the countless summer events to keep the lines of communication open with me.

   It has become clear to me through trial and error that the most logical way of shopping my Sumfest reviews around is to notify press and publicists before the event, and follow up afterwards.  Contacting various reggae media outlets is a far better plan than darting around Montego Bay pouncing on every publicists, artist manager, and credentialed media member I can find.

   Though it is still important to maintain a favorable raport with the various publicists and such, it is vital that I devise a more feasable plan of shopping my writing around this year while still having time to enjoy the festivities.

   If you are interested in obtaining a Sumfest 2008 preview or review, please email me at Keisha@keishasweeney.com or KayPeaEss@yahoo.com