12/08/11 ci

HAYS, Kan. -- The Tiger Talkback white board in the Memorial Union sponsored by the American Democracy Project and the eCitizenship initiative has grown so much in popularity with the student body on the Fort Hays State University campus that the discussions will expand to the online student community by going on Twitter.

The American Democracy Project's goal is to create college graduates who are committed to their communities and are informed citizens. The eCitizenship initiative's goal is to engage students using social networking and other online tools to be more active in the political sysem and exercise leadership.

The idea of the Tiger Talkback Board was inspired by the Democracy Plaza at Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis. They have boards posted in a plaza on the campus that is open to students to write their feelings and views on important issues of the day. The original Tiger Talkback Board was made up of three dry-erase boards in the Memorial Union, much like the boards at IUPUI.

ADP and the eCitizenship initiative plan to place a monitor in Starbucks located in the Memorial Union and two monitors in the McMindes cafeteria that will show the Twitter feed. Students can interact with this board via their computer, Twitter's application on their mobile device, and SMS/text messaging.