By Matthew Schwartz The University of Memphis hosted its annual Tiger Blue Goes Green Day on Tuesday, Oct. 8, on the Alumni Mall Plaza. This event was designed to raise environmental awareness, answer any concerns on green initiatives and promote ways to save energy. “This event is very important for students to learn about all the green opportunities in Memphis,” said Nancy Ream, President of the Greater Memphis Green Line. She said that bike commuting in the University District has increased by 400 percent over the last year. |
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By Natalie Cole
For many students, entering college is a time full of infinite opportunities. But along with the excitement of being a new student, there is often the anxiety of picking a major. The University of Memphis held its ninth annual Discover Your Major Day on Thursday, Oct. 3, in the University Center Ballroom in hopes of helping alleviate such stresses. Lawn signs, banners and a bustling of student traffic all lead the way to the event full of informative tables for an impressive showing of the majors offered at the University of Memphis. “I needed to find out more information about what I want to major in; I had no idea at the beginning of the year…I came in undecided," said Trey Seymour, a U of M freshman. While some students enter into college well aware and confident in their plans for their future career goals, there is a resounding majority that struggle to find their path. However, that is why Discover Your Major Day was created and has become a successful event that many students, often freshman, rely on for guidance and knowledge of the various majors offered. “Discover Your Major Day is an opportunity for students to 'shop' for a major in an informal setting," according to the U of M Academic Counseling website. “They can gather information, meet with current faculty and advisors, and learn more about the many areas of study available at the U of M.” By Grant Milner
When Justin Fuente arrived on campus and became the head coach at the University of Memphis, the football program was in shambles. The team had won five games in their last three seasons and needed a complete makeover. One of the fastest turnarounds in the Fuente era thus far has been the defense. In 2011, Memphis ranked 117th nationally in total defense, 97th in rushing defense and 108th in total sacks. Before he became the defensive coordinator at Memphis, Barry Odom was the safeties coach at his alma mater Missouri and developed quite the reputation over a long period of time. “We graduated high school in Oklahoma the same year, so I knew about him when we came out of high school,” Fuente said of Odom. “That name in that part of Oklahoma because of his brothers and everything, you know about the Odom family.” Still, Odom had spent 15 of the last 16 years in Columbia since arriving as a freshman linebacker in 1996. Fuente knew that he wanted him to be his defensive coordinator, but he didn’t think he’d ever leave Missouri. “When he came in for an interview, he had more questions than I did,” Fuente explained. “He was just very thorough and very prepared and very professional. I had never worked with him, but I knew people that had, and he had certainly earned a really good reputation.” By Erica Holmes
McDonald’s is gearing up to pull a fast one on the Highland Strip by creating a sibling location, not exactly a twin, intending to prove to city council that they don’t have to build to code on the corner of South Highland St. Heirs to the Madison family’s real estate fortune, who own the shopping center, seem to be holding out for a buyer, and it appears McDonald’s may be the winner. The corporation is taking some curious steps to help the living wage and obesity endemic/epidemic in Memphis. The property appears to not adhere to any safety codes. James Sexton, the owner of Whatever located in the strip, said he believes this is because the family has managed to maintain historically complicated ownership rights to the land. They haven’t had to fix a leaking roof in quite some time. And the Madison heirs, Marion Madison, Harry Madison Jr. and Sally Walton, seem to be entangled in a family disagreement, Sexton said. If McDonald’s wants to build to code, the simple reality is that they have a right to come in, Sexton said. By Erica Horton
Montreal Bradley has style. “I would describe it (my style) as mine," he said. "It isn’t too different and it isn’t too plain. It is versatile and totally mine." Inspired by designers such as Jonas Bevacqua, Ralph Lauren, Nicky Diamond, Calvin Klein and Benny Gold, Bradley, a 24-year-old south Memphis native, decided to make it his business to brand and sell his style to others. He began his career as an entrepreneur, working with Built Together Clothing, mostly making T-shirts for men and women with an original logo drawn by him. The logo features what appears to be a blindfolded angel with lion heads and snakes for wings. “My logo means several things,” Bradley, a sophomore business administration major at the University of Memphis, added. “The angel means we all have some good in us. The snakes mean we all have some bad in us, and the lions mean that no matter what, we all have royalty within us.” Priced at $15 each, Bradley’s designs are printed on fitted, crew neck T-shirts and jersey tanks in sizes ranging from extra small to 2XL on a variety of colors such as pink, white, red, cream and black. Bradley sells his products in person and online. His items will soon be featured on Karmaloop, an urban and street wear website with other custom designs. Karmaloop is one of many upcoming partnerships with Built Together clothing. In the upcoming months, Bradley plans to expand his clothing line to include scarves, hats and jackets for men and women. Bradley said self-motivation and nurturing is the key to being a young, successful entrepreneur and that he wanted to work for himself for as long as he can remember. “It is a great feeling to know that I built something from the ground up with hard work and support from the people who help me,” he said. A solid example of Bradley’s style is his shoe collection. His monthly clothing budget fluctuates between $150 and $300 depending on the pair of shoes he will buy for an outfit. Among the top five items in his wardrobe are a pair of grape Air Jordan 5’s, which can begin at $90 and price upwards of $300 online depending on where they are bought, as well as the condition and age of the shoe. “Fashion is more than just what I’m wearing; it is an expression of my true personality,” he added. A man of few words, when Bradley is not working on his line, he is working on himself with daily trips to the gym and hobbies such as skate boarding, basketball and flag football. When he is not going to classes at the U of M, he works as a team leader—“basically ensuring all employees have what they need to work properly and effectively”—at night at the FedEx Memphis World Hub. “My passion is people,” he said. “I truly believe in people, and I feel that we all are built together as equals.” By Hassan Allawi
The University District Neighborhood Associations have been in a struggle to preserve the district’s urban identity for the past few months. Soon, however, they may celebrate a victory or be forced to swallow a bitter compromise. Several years ago, the neighborhoods and businesses in the University of Memphis District, in collaboration with the university, envisioned the Highland Strip as a vibrant urban street--safe, pedestrian friendly, and fun to walk along. “Bring the shops out to the front and make it a nice place to walk, so that people want to be on the street,” said David Cox, the university liaison with area neighborhoods and officer of the University Neighborhoods Development Corporation. “When you have more people on the street, it’s a more pleasant experience, but also crime goes down.” The community plan gained the recognition of the City Council in 2009, and the University District Overlay (UDO) became the official set of standards that will guide all new construction. Back in May, McDonald's applied to build a restaurant on the southeast corner of Southern and Highland, where the Whatever Store and Z Market are currently located. The fast food company intends to vacate its building on 657 S. Highland St., almost across the street, if permitted to build the new restaurant. Upon the news, neighbors welcomed the new development. “On behalf of Mr. Martin [U of M President], The University of Memphis, and the University District Development Corporation, I want to express our support and excitement for the project,” Cox wrote in a letter to the president of Century Management, McDonalds’ franchisee. But the excitement didn’t last long. Cox, UD associations, along with many business owners and residents in the district were soon writing letters to the Land Use Control Board, objecting McDonalds’ proposed site-plan for its inconsistency with the University District Overlay. The planned building sets away from both streets, Highland and Southern, to allow for drive-through lanes to wrap around it. Pedestrians would have to walk through cars to enter the building. “It’s not an urban design. It fits out on Germantown Parkway. But nobody walks up and down Germantown Parkway,” Cox said. By Margot Pera
The University District may potentially receive a makeover in the next couple of months as the McDonald’s on the Highland strip makes plans to renovate its restaurant and move to the Southeast corner of Highland and Southern, where the head shop Whatever is located. History buffs and University District residents are concerned that the iconic sign, which is the last original McDonald's sign in Memphis, in front of the building will be destroyed in the process of this renovation. Jimmy Ogle, a Memphis tour guide who regularly gives historically dense tours around the city, would be highly disappointed if the sign was not preserved during the destruction of McDonald’s. “I believe that the McDonald’s sign is the only original one left in the city of Memphis. I hope to see it preserved. I remember going there as a kid,” Ogle said. “Maybe they can put in a McDonald’s museum somewhere.” TK Buchanan, the community safety liaison to the University District and also longtime resident of the district’s Sherwood-Forrest neighborhood, does not see a bright future for the sign if the plan to reconstruct the McDonald’s passes through city council on Oct. 15. “Moving a sign that old is going to very problematic, if one of the parts break, there will no parts to replace them since it is from the '50s,” she said. The sign is one of the oldest in the city, according to Ogle. The McDonald’s reconstruction is not only agitating history buffs nostalgic for old fashioned architecture, but it is also an annoyance to the University Neighborhoods Development Corporation because McDonalds' proposed plan does not correspond with the requirements of the neighborhoods overlay. The drive-thru’s new location will also create mayhem in terms of traffic congestion near the University. “Basically, McDonald’s want to put a stamp size building in a football stadium size lot,” Buchanan said. “This new drive-thru is going to bring a lot of commercial traffic into a residential neighborhood, which will cause a lot of traffic jams, and factor in the train that comes by every 15 minutes or so and it is recipe for disaster.” Buchanan went on to state the emphasis that the UNDC is trying to place on making the University District more pedestrian friendly, and the renovation of McDonald’s will only sabotage this process. This prospect disappointed Brad Hancock, CEO of Modern Services and a former resident of the University District, who expressed that if McDonald’s becomes so contemporary, it would ruin one of the trademarks of the neighborhood’s “old Memphis” atmosphere. “With a little forethought that area could be turned into something great, but based on the blueprint it looks like a McDonald’s you would see in Collierville,” he said. This is terrible way to get rid of that shopping center.” Pastor Peter Mickelonis of Universal Ministries is a regular Sunday customer of McDonald’s and used to manage nine McDonald's stores in the early ’60s. “I think the McDonald’s should stay right where it is. It is the first one I remember going to as a teenager,” he said. “They can always turn the sign sideways.” A petition to prevent the Memphis City Council from approving the design for McDonald’s can be signed on the University District’s website. By Jasmine Elizabeth
Angela Brown, author of "How to Get the Healthy Back in Your Hair," has published a new book in October 2012, "Loving the Foods I Use to Hate," and she has a testimony that supports weight loss and living a happier healthy life. When Brown, the owner of Eye Con Hair Solutions Hair Salon located at 2600 Poplar Ave., was motivated to journal about her weight, she was over 200 pounds, borderline diabetic and suffering from mild depression. She lived in denial, avoiding shopping for clothes that fit and often wearing painfully uncomfortable undergarments, designed to camouflage obesity. “I used to wear the popular advertised body shapers designed to make you look two sizes smaller, and I would often have red marks on my skin because the garment was too tight,” Brown said. In many cases, Brown found that her weight prevented her from completing a simple task such as tying her shoes. “If my husband wasn't around to tie or strap up my shoes, I would find myself settling for flip flop shoes,” she said. An in-depth look at the relationship of Memphis men's basketball's freshman players By Grant Milner
It’s no secret that the Memphis Tigers and Josh Pastner have a veteran backcourt. Not only will the Tigers lose their four senior guards after this year, but ultimately 35 percent of their roster. Fortunately, a good bit of the necessary help has already arrived. The Tigers brought in six players in the class of 2013: two guards, two wings and two frontcourt players. Even though only half of the freshman class is from the city of Memphis, they already seem to get along like old friends. “We really meshed from the beginning because we went to camps together, and we already knew each other’s games,”Nick King said . “We’ve seen each other play before so when we saw each other, we already knew what we had to do.” In today’s world, it’s not unrealistic for recruits to become close, even if they aren’t together very often. “Before we started workouts in the summer, we had a group message going, and we’d text each other back and forth just making sure everything is all right and that went pretty well,” added Austin Nichols. “We got here, and our bond has gotten even stronger since we’ve been able to hang out together and everything.” Players meet at the numerous camps and events on the AAU circuit, and can text and keep up with one another in an instant on social media. “I think we developed that bond before we got here,” Markel Crawford explained. “There’s a good bond between us.” Dominic Woodson said that knowing his freshman teammates made him feel more comfortable about attending the U of M. A prior relationship doesn’t necessarily guarantee success on the court, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Pookie Powell hopes that the more time they spend together, the better they’ll perform on the floor next year. “It’s definitely a positive because when you are coming into something new like coming to Memphis, you definitely want somebody who is your position to be able talk to about what you are going through,” Nichols explained. A successful outcome on the court predicated by a close person bond is far from a lock. Just ask the 2010 class. According to 247Sports, the Tigers had the best recruiting class in the nation that year with the likes of the Barton brothers, Chris Crawford, Joe Jackson, Tarik Black and Jelan Kendrick. That was a very close-knit group as well. They were all buddy-buddy with each other and not just the local kids. They had all met at camps and had an existing relationship prior to the U of M. However, the situation when the 2010 class arrived on campus was much different than it has been for the 2013 group. The 2009-10 season ended with a loss in the second round of the NIT, and the pressure to win was at an all-time high. Sure, the 2010 class had a few seniors on the roster to learn the ropes from, but the focus was on that class and how long it would take them to return to the program from one of its nadiral stages back to the pinnacle of college basketball. Memphis would make the NCAA tournament in 2010-11, but it wouldn’t be until two seasons later that this group would get their first tournament victory. A great deal was expected from the 2010 class, but the foundation just wasn’t there prior to them arriving on campus. Over time, this group molded itself into a winner. Tiger nation was patient, and got rewarded last season with an undefeated record in conference play and a third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. So here’s the point. There is no covenant in place promising that the class of 2013, rated as the top class in the American Athletic Conference by 247Sports, will be an instant winner. But here’s the thing; they don’t have to be. Josh Pastner has done the groundwork and this group now has six seniors to learn from and develop under. The 2013-14 season hasn’t even started yet, and the freshman class is already learning from the veterans. “You can tell that they (the seniors) have bought into what coach Pastner has said,” added Kuran Iverson. “Everybody is getting it now and listening.” King praised the seniors for being role models on and off the court, and their role in pushing to freshman to reach the next level. “They work like they’ve been here and know what they are doing,” Crawford said. “They just set an example for the younger guys to not give up on what you are doing. Just keep pushing through everything.” Obviously a number of the freshman will contribute and play a major role this season, but the pressure to deliver immediately is not quite as overwhelming as it was three years ago. This class has time to learn from the talented group already in place at the U of M, and ultimately translate their friendship into a successful product on the court. When a team starts playing for each other rather than themselves, the possibilities are endless. “As far as right now, I haven’t scored for Memphis, no rebounds or anything,” said Crawford. “For me, it’s just listening to what they have to say. Whatever they have to say, I’m listening. They have so much to teach us in terms of basketball and what we do off the court so I’m going to listen.” By Matthew Schwartz
Career Services at the University of Memphis hosted its bi-annual Career and Internship Expo on Wednesday, Sept. 25, in the University Center Ballroom. The department’s goal is to provide guiding assistance to U of M students and alumni who are seeking jobs and internships. More than 86 companies were in attendance, some local to the University District and city of Memphis, as well as major corporations. Each company paid an entry fee of $350 or more to be present. Verizon, Target, Aflac, and Kroger were among the big corporations at the Expo. FedEx, AutoZone, and the Collierville Police Department came from within the city of Memphis limits. The event was free to all undergraduate and graduate U of M students, and alumni were encouraged to attend. “This (event) was critical, and helped me in the right direction towards a job,” Dennis Jinks, an MBA student, said. |