The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Thursday, January 3, 2008 - 7A BOWL From Page 1A Ohio State and Michigan would struggle against faster SEC teams like Louisiana State and Florida in the bowls. Most of the country agreed, with more than 90 per- cent of voters in an ESPN.com poll predicting the Gators would beat the Wolverines. "Ninety-one percent?" wide receiver Mario Manningham said after the game. "Come on, we aren't that bad." The Wolverines showed Florida and the rest of the country they had the speed and the defense to keep up. Cornerback Morgan Trent caught super-athlete Percy Harvin from behind on a 66-yard run early in the second quarter, preventing the Gators from scor- ing with the game tied at 14. Man- ningham looked just as elusive as Harvin, getting a career-high seven carries and turning one of them from what looked like a sure loss into a cross-field, highlight- reel 23-yard scamper. But for Michigan to pull out the win over double-digit favorite Florida, a lot stranger things had to happen than simply matching the Gators' speed. Chad Henne, mentioned by some as a dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidate before the sea- son, had to battle through a torn PCL in his knee early in the sea- son and a dislocated throwing shoulder later on, as well as "We want (backup quarterback Ryan) Mallett" chants from the Michi- gan crowd. Henne turned in argu- ably the best game of his career Tuesday, throwing for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns in an effort that garnered game MVP honors. For many, however, the perfor- mance was far from surprising. "I expected him to have that type of game," quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler said. "Every time he goes on the football field, he's expected to have that type of game, and things worked well today. We finally saw a healthy Chad Henne. He's almost com- pletely 100-percent." Far less anticipated than Henne's strong performance was how the senior got it done. Henne did nearly all of his work from a spread formation, one that surely shocked Wolverine fans accustomed to power football and straight-forward, drop-back passing. Michigan changed its gameplan for Florida, often using four and five-wide receiver sets and shotgun formations to give its playmakers opportunities to exploit mismatches. Predictably, runningback Mike Hart played well, gaining 129 yards and scoring twice. Aston- ishing, though, were the captain's two fumbles on Florida's goal line, one coming in the second quarter and one in the third. They were just the second and third fumbles Hart has lost in his career, and the senior had gone 1,004 touches without a fumble lost before giv- ing the ball away. "(My teammates) knew how I felt about it," Hart said. "To fum- ble two times inside the five-yard line ... they knew I wasn't feeling too good. The defense stepped up and the offense stepped up. I SVEJNAR From Page 1A holds U.S. citizenship. Michael Kraus, a professor of political sci- ence at Middlebury College and a long-time friend of Svejnar's, said the question of Svejnar's residen- cy could hurt him in the election. Several Czech publications have also said Svejnar will be hurt in the polls because his wife, Busi- ness Prof. Katherine Terrell, is an American. Kraus said the support of the Social Democrats, the country's major left-wing party, makes Svejnar a formidable candidate though. Kraus is currently working in the Czech Republic as an advisor to Svejnar. Kraus said Svejnar's goal if elected president of the Czech Republic, would be to revi- talize the Czech economy. "Svejnar is offering a new vision for his country," Kraus said. "He believes he can bring more energy and transparency and contribute more based on his experience and international connections." The role of the Czech president is largely ceremonial, but if elect- ed, Svejnar would be responsible for appointing the Prime Minis- ter, judges and bank officials. Terrellsaid Svejnar would serve thank them for that." Even Michigan's four turn- overs, compared to Florida's zero, couldn't stop the Wolverines. Not when Michigan converted third downs at a season-best 66 percent while the Gators moved the chains on just two of its 11 third-down tries. Not when the previously boring and predictable offense had a trick-play run for left tackle Jake Long, tried a double pass, endless end arounds, and oper- ated consistently out of the spread offense for the first time. Not when the defense, unable to stop spread offenses and mobile quarterbacks all season, added two new blitzes that confused the Gators and did just enough to get key stops when it needed to. Michigan Athletic Direc- tor Bill Martin called the win a "storybook ending" to the sea- son and the careers of Carr and his seniors. And after a season as emotional and as trying as this one was, nothing could have been more appropriate. Michigan entered the season regarded as National Champi- onship contenders and favored to win the Big Ten. Consecutive season-opening losses to Appa- lachian State and Oregon quickly dashed those hopes, and it looked like the Wolverines might have trouble simply ending the year with a winning record. An eight-game winning streak put them back in contention for the conference title and a Rose Bowl bid. But just when it looked like Michigan was perhaps the hottest team in the country, the back-to-back season-ending losses had the Wolverines hanging their heads. All that changed in the Capi- tal One Bowl, though. Expected not to have a chance against the Gators, Michigan finally ful- filled the potential that everyone thought it had before the year began. With Hart and Henne healthy and the team fired up to win their longtime leader's last game, all the Michigan pieces had come together. Everything the experts thought was turned on its head. Florida's defense wasn't too fast for the Wolverine offense, the Michigan defense contained Tebow and Harvin just enough, and the Wolverines managed to control the game in a tough road environment. Not even Florida coach Urban Meyer's spotless bowl record (4-0) compared to Michigan's five-game bowl-win- less streak worked out "like it was supposed to." Or maybe it did. After all, Meyer, Tebow, Har- vin, and almost every contribut- ing member of Florida's football team will return next season, likely as the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the nation. But for Hart, Henne, Long, Crable, the rest of the Michigan seniors and likely some important juniors, this was an all- important finale. Now, even with their four losses to Ohio State, even with their National Championship hopes quickly crushed in their senior season, even with Henne and Hart's injury-plagued sea- sons, this group of seniors and this coach have a complete, and fittingly finished, work of art to remember. as an international statesman and work to revitalize the country's economy. "He feels that he can bring a more modern and technical approach to the government," Terrell said. "He wants to have more positive dialogue about the Czech Republic's role in the European Union and the global economy." One of Svejnar's primary goals would be the early adoption of the euro in place of the koruna - the Czech Republic's native curren- cy. Although the Czecg Republic joined the European Union in 2004, incumbent president Vaclav Klaus has resisted the switch to the euro. A graduate of Cornell Universi- ty and Princeton University, Sve- jnar holds degrees in economics and industrial and labor relations. His research focuses on economic growth in Eastern Europe and the impact of government policy on the performance of independent companies. If elected, Svejnar plans to take a leave of absence from the Uni- versity to serve a five-year term as president. Terrell said Univer- sity President Mary Sue Coleman supports Svejnar's candidacy and assured Terrell and Svejnar that they would retain their positions at the University regardless of the New coach gets hit with lawsuit RODRIGUEZ From Page 1A "good nights" since becoming Michigan's head coach. Faced with the task of putting together a coaching staff for next season, Rodriguez has to decide if he should remain loyal to his for- mer assistants at West Virginia, keep enough Michigan assistants to make the transition easier or look nationally for some of the brightest up-and-coming minds to join him. "Obviously, I'm very loyal to the staff I had at West Virginia," Rodri- guez said. "There'll be several of them coming with me. Several oth- ers possibly from other schools." After interviewing all of Mich- igan's assistant coaches two days after his hiring, Rodriguez fired all nine of them, allowing them to pursue other jobs. He then re-hired running backs coach and noted recruiter Fred Jackson and said that one or two more former Michi- gan assistants might get their jobs back. But for the majority of assistants who worked under retiring coach Lloyd Carr, Tuesday's bowl win against Florida was their last time on the Wolverine sideline. "I'm blessed to have been around here," outgoing quarterbacks coach Scot Loefler said. "I am the luckiest guy to have worked for coach Carr and to coach at Michigan." Rodriguez has laid low since being hired in order to keep him- self from a situation that would have deflected attention from Carr. The former West Virginia coach, who watched Tuesday's first half from the Michigan sideline and the remainder of the game from a luxu- ry box, is anxious to get to work. He's been handcuffed when it comes to looking for new players since programs can only recruit on a limited basis for the next month. With approximately 10 open schol- arships left in the class, Rodriguez will have to hit the recruiting trails hard once NCAA rules allow him. Rodriguez might also have to retrace some of Carr's steps to make sure he doesn't lose any of the recruits who committed to Michi- gan before his hiring. "Obviously, there is some anxiety from the recruits who have com- mitted," Rodriguez said. "'Do you know us? Do you know how we fit?' We've talked to all of them several times." Currently, just one recruit - three-star quarterback John Wein- ke - has decommitted since Carr announced his retirement. New Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez watched soe of Michitan's 4-35 win over Florida in the Capital One Bowl on Tuesday from the sidelines. Young voters not always reliable CAUCUS From Page 1A voted overwhelmingly for John Kerry, helping the Massachusetts senator clinch a convincing Iowa victory. Dean's Iowa demise is still fresh in the minds of many candidates and their advisors, leading some to believe that the young voter demo- graphic cannot be relied upon for a caucus victory. Of the Democratic and Republi- can candidates, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has most heavily courted young voters for tonight's caucus, with an Obama advisor telling Newsday that the campaign hoped to capture 80 percent of voters under the age of 21. But even the Obama campaign has expressed doubts about the reliability of young voters. Gordon Fischer, an Obama advisor and for- mer chairman of the Iowa Demo- cratic Party, referred to young voters last month as the "icing on the cake," meaning that while they can't be relied on to swing an out- come, they're a nice bonus. Jeff Frazee, national youth coor- dinator for Rep. Ron Paul's (R- Texas) campaign, disagreed with Fischer, saying he thought students could be relied upon for significant support in tonight's caucus. He added that young voters will PETITION From Page 1A much we care about this issue?" Lester Monts, the University's senior vice provost for academic affairs, said the University would consider the proposal but would have to determine how the change would affect factors like faculty meeting times and energy costs before making a decision. Nowak said making winter break one week longer would ease the financial burden on out-of-state and international students who buy air- play an important role if Ron Paul is to do well tonight. "We're doing our best to make sure students do show up to the caucus with our Students for Ron Paul chapters and our canvassing here in Iowa," Frazee said. "They are an important part of the equa- tion, and we're counting on them to turn out." Although a December poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics showed that Rudy Giuliani led Republican candidates in sup- port among 18- to 24-year-olds, a Giuliani campaign spokesman said the campaign was not specifically targeting young voters. Instead, he said it was taking a more holistic approach to generating support for the former New York mayor. "We've been on college campuses with our Students for Rudy groups, but we really want support from all age groups, whether it's students or older people, because that's how you win an election," said Jarrod Agen, a Giuliani campaign spokes- man. William Woodman, a sociology professor at Iowa State who con- ducted a school-wide poll measur- ing the number of students who planned to caucus, said convention- al wisdom and experiences from past caucuses suggest that students won't turn out in large numbers. line tickets to return home for break. He said students often pay two or three times the average cost of airfare because they're flying on days during the busy holiday season when travel costs are much more expensive. According to online airfare estimates from Northwest Airlines, a return flight from New York's LaGuardia Airport or from Los Angeles International Airport costs $100 more on Jan. 2 than on Jan. 9. The petition, which hasn't been formally submitted yet, also asks the University to push spring break a week later so it aligns with spring But Woodman's student cau- cus poll, conducted at the end of December,contradictedthe percep- tion of students as "elusive voters," with 58 percent of eligible student caucus-goers saying they planned to participate in the caucus. With many students home for winter break, Woodman said stu- dents are more likely to participate because they aren't very busy. "In some of these little towns, there isn't much going on, and the caucus is biggest ticket in town," Woodmansaid. "What do you think students will be doing that night?" Alec Schierenbeck, president of the College Democrats of Iowa, said too many politicians and pun- dits believe in what he called the "Howard Dean myth" - the belief that young voters are too unreliable to depend on in caucus or election settings. 1 Although different polls report- ed significantly different total per- centages for the 18- to 29-year-old demographic turnout in 2004, Schierenbeck cited a Pew exit poll from that year's caucus that reported that 17 percent of all cau- cus-goers came from the 18- to 29- year-old demographic. "The fact is young people did show up, but they broke decisively toward John Kerry," Schierenbeck said. "Young people have been breaks at most other colleges. The University of Michigan's spring break is scheduled this year fromFeb. 23 to March 3, while break at Michigan State University and Western Michigan University won't start until the week of March 3. The UniversityofWisconsin at Madison, University of Iowa and Wayne State University all begin spring break on the week of March 17. Monts said the University chose the week ofFeb. 23 because italigns with the spring break dates for local school districtslikeAnnArborPub- lic Schools. "For years, we've tried to line amazingly important in the cau- cuses before, as we saw in 2004, helping Kerry to victory, and they're certainly going to be again in 2008." In talking to students across Iowa, Schierenbeck said he's never seen students as excited for politics as they are for tonight's caucus. "I wasn't here in 2004, but I can't imagine people were this tuned in and ready to caucus," Schierenbeck said. "Campaigns are paying such special attention to young people this cycle because they realize how important the young demographic is to winning the caucus." In 2004, the Iowa caucuses took place during the school year, which meant the impact of stu- dent caucus-goers was softened because students were concentrat- ed in fewer precincts throughout Iowa. This time around, there's a greater chance that student cau- cus-goers, with many students home for winter break, could have a greater influence in more precincts throughout the state, especially in smaller precincts where students can more easily pull other caucus- goers with them. "If the results of this caucus turn out very surprisingly," Woodman said. "It wouldn't surprise me if it was because of students." up that break during the second semester with local school systems because so many of our staff have children in the schools, which we have to consider as well," he said. Business School senior Matko Maravic, who travels home to Croatia each winter break, said travel time to and from Croatia cuts almost two days out of his break, and an extended break would allow him to spend more time with his family. "With jet lag and everything cutting down time I get at home, I think extending break would be great," Maravic said. Winter storm chills southern states Temperatures expected to drop into 20s, teens in Florida ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A win- try system that added inches to record snow accumulations in some Northern states sent temperatures plummeting yesterday in the South, where farmers scrambled to pro- tect their crops. Temperatures were expected to drop into the 20s and teens in parts of Florida by this morning, follow- ing the 30-degree temperatures some northern parts of the state saw yesterday. The cold spell could prove devas- tating to the state's citrus industry, which is the nation's largest and already has suffered from years of disease and hurricanes. "We will have a lot of growers across the state pulling all-nighters and keeping a close watch on their groves and the temperature," said Andrew Meadows, a spokesman for the grower advocacy group Florida Citrus Mutual. "We are cautiously optimistic the industry can weath- er this cold snap without significant damage." To help growers, Gov. Char- lie Crist has signed an emergency order to relax restrictions on trans- porting produce. Crops can withstand some cold, but not for long. Thirty-two degrees for four hours will damage an orange, for example, but 28 degrees for that long can actually ruin the tree. Most of the citrus industry is situated south, for this very rea- son, and in those areas it was not expected to get as cold. But citrus crops were not the only ones at risk. A broad variety of plants and produce - from broccoli and cabbage in the north to straw- berries, tomatoes and corn in the south - are also threatened. In Louisiana, strawberry farm- ers covered their crops with mate- rial in an attempt to protect them. Peach farmers, however, welcomed the cold, which they say benefits their fruit trees during their period of dormancy. "The more cold weather we have, the better," said Joe Mitchum, a peach grower outside Ruston, La. The unusually low temperatures led New Orleans emergency offi- cials to enact a "freeze plan" on New Year's Eve, allowing home- less shelters to temporarily exceed their fire safety capacity. Six shel- ters took on 700 extra cots between them, boosting the city's capacity of about 400 shelter beds. The plan is expected to last through Thursday. Following the snowiest Decem- ber on record, many areas of New Hampshire got about a foot of snow on New Year's Day, with a couple of inches added during the night and a couple more likely Wednesday. Storm totals could reach 18 inches in parts of Maine and New Hamp- shire and up to a foot in Vermont. The latest snowfall in New Eng- land followed a storm on Monday that made for the area's snowiest December in decades. December's snowfall at Concord, N.H., totaled 44.5 inches, toppling a record of 43 inches that had stood since 1876. Burlington, Vt., got 45.7 inches, far above its 17.2-inch December aver- age, and Portland, Maine, amassed 37.7 inches for its third-snowiest December on record. "It's been unbelievable. It just keeps coming," said Bill Swain, spokesman for Maine's Sugarloaf USA ski area, which got 70 inches of snow in December. Snow fell yesterday from Ohio through eastern Kentucky and West Virginia into parts of Virginia and Maryland. West Virginia's rugged Randolph County got 13 inches, the Weather Service said. As much as 6 inches of snow was possible in higher eleva- tions of eastern Kentucky, although 1 to 2 inches was likely in most areas, the Weather Service said. At least 40 of West Virginia's 55 counties closed schools Wednesday because of snow-covered roads and freezing temperatures. Dozens of schools also were closed Wednesday in southeastern Michigan, where asix-hour burst of snow on Tuesday dumped as much as 16 inches north of Detroit, the weather service said. Power was restored Wednesday to nearly all of the 10,000 custom- ers in Pierpont, Ohio, who were blacked out by a storm that dropped 15 inches of snow on the Cleveland suburb, as well as to about 4,000 customers in the southwest of the state, utility officials said. Two people were killed in weather related traffic accidents, one each in Ohio and Kentucky, authorities said. INTERESTED IN WEB DESIGN? Join the Daily. 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