USD Magazine, Winter 1998

The Internet is a medium that demands freshness and constant work. Stale ar static pages that are outdated by even a lew weeks can lase a visitor as last as the click al a mouse. "We meet every couple of weeks and discuss the goals for the page," Genova explains. "I come up with the ideas and we brain– storm how we can make it happen. Zak and Tom are excellent at helping me implement my ideas." Genova is the creative mind. He has a background in art and painting, and can picture what the Web pages should look like. Roberts is the technical expert who has previous experience creating Web sites and who writes the HTML code for the journal. Sullivan worked in promotions for Broadway plays prior to starting law school, and brings to the team a talent for marketing the site. "One of the exciting things is we've been getting a lot of responses," Genova says. "We average 100 hits a day and 20 to 25 e-mail messages a week from around the world." With 100 people a day viewing the site, Genova, Roberts and Sullivan have to update the pages diligently and give Net surfers a reason to return and spread the word to other visitors. For all its potential to reach millions of people and the ease with which any– one can publish Web pages, the Internet is a medium that demands freshness and constant

HTML editor, learned quickly how to FTP the pages to the server and struggled with maximizing the available memory - proving that this century's newest technology is not just for computer nerds. USO offers every student the server space to maintain a Web site, but Ely decided to use a commercial Internet provider so her account would stay active after graduation. "When I put all this effort into it, I didn't want it to just go away," she says. Go away it hasn't. Ely receives e-mail weekly from interested cybersurfers, a fact she finds surprising and satisfying because she has not registered om biscavary ID Damisa her site with any http://pw2.netcom.com/-nely/Alcatraz.html search engines, sites that create a catalog of the Web. Visitors are finding the Alcatraz pages truly by net– working. Some of the messages, sent from all over the United States and as far away as England, ask for more information and some point out changes she could make. Ely responds to each message. "The writers will tell you things because Alcatraz is a com– mon interest," Ely says. "A Web site is not something you can create, put out there and forget about." Working the Het One of the most intriguing characteristics of the Internet is the ability to create a Web site and make it available to a global audience at very little cost. The affordability of publishing on the Net immediately appealed to third-year law student Angelo Genova when he resolved to start a journal focused on sports and enter– tainment law. After attending a conference on his chosen field, Genova was struck by the lack of networking opportunities for students eager to break into the competitive careers of sports and entertainment law. He thought a journal with interviews, a calendar of events and articles about job opportunities would be the perfect vehicle to help his fellow law students. The Southern California Sports and Entertainment Law Journal debuted online last spring. The con– tent is updated monthly by Genova and USO colleagues Tom Sullivan and Zak Roberts, also third-year students.

work. Stale or static pages that are outdat– ed by even a few weeks can lose a visi– tor as fast as the click of a mouse. Genova figures he averages 10 hours a week writing the stories, conducting interviews and

responding to e-mail. Students hoping to break into the field as agents, athletic directors, show directors or team owners ask for recom– mendations on the best schools, seek legal advice and inquire about jobs.

Genova also goes online every few days to keep abreast of the competition by exploring other sites centered on sports, entertain– ment and law. "I research to see

what's out there," he says. "You have to stay at the forefront."

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