Month: January 2005

Categories
Music Music Features

sound advice

Newby’s is the place to be for local music fans this weekend as the Highland Strip club hosts a couple of special local bills. Friday night, January 28th, Newby’s welcomes the second of what will be a weekly showcase at the club. “Memphis Rocks,” sponsored by Response Records and the Baraka Group, began last Friday with performances by Yamagata and Surreel Music and continues this weekend with a double-bill of eclectic blues-rockers The Carlos Ecos Band and Southern-rockers The Clergy.

The series will largely showcase local bands included on the recent Response/Baraka compilation album Memphis Music Today Vol. 1, with later concerts featuring Crippled Nation, Deep Shag, FreeWorld, Halfacre Gunroom, and Free Sol, among other bands.

The Carlos Ecos Band hits the stage this week on the strength of not just an appearance on Memphis Music Today but with their own debut EP, the recently released Hola Day, which ranges from arena-sized rock to Hendrixian guitar to salsa references to jazzy flourishes.

The next night, Saturday, January 29th, Newby’s hosts the second in an ongoing series of local showcases sponsored (and filmed and recorded) by Memphis music Web site extraordinaire Live From Memphis. After getting the series started at Young Avenue Deli last month with a punk-oriented lineup, this second installment will feature longtime Memphis power-pop stalwarts Crash Into June, singer-songwriter Cody Smith, and up-and-coming alt-rockers This Is Goodbye, who have a debut album in the works.

Other local shows of note this week include former Porch Ghouls frontman El Dorado Rey with his new band, The Ruckus, at Murphy’s Thursday, January 27th; the CD-release party of hip-hop trio Tunnel Clones (see Music Feature, page 37) at the Hi-Tone Café Friday, January 28th; major-label-signed hard-rockers Egypt Central, with Chosen View and Crippled Nation, at the New Daisy Theater Saturday, January 29th; and roots-music master Alvin Youngblood Hart at the latest installment of the Coffee House Concert Series at the Church of the Holy Communion Sunday, January 30th.

It’s a slim week for touring shows, outside of the collection of garage and punk bands descending on town for the Goner Fest (see Feature, page 35) all weekend and Latin rockers Los Amigos Invisibles at the Plaza Club (see Local Beat, page 43) Friday, January 28th. Look for modern-rockers Shinedown and Theory of a Deadman at the New Daisy Sunday, January 30th, and Texas roots musician Monte Montgomery at the Hi-Tone Wednesday, February 2nd. n —

Categories
Editorial Opinion

EDITORIAL

Nobody could have seemed, at first thought, a more unlikely booster of the Flyer than Charles S. Peete, who died Sunday after a long and dedicated career as a conservative activist. He preferred the word “conservative” to “Republican,” because, frankly, he could get just as agitated about suspected abuses of power by GOP types as those he surmised so frequently among liberal politicians.

Charlie Peete was our friend, however — a dedicated Flyer reader who showered us with letters, advice, criticism, and, when he thought it was merited, praise. We took his interest as a sign that we were about the same business he was — that of taking the pulse of the public weal and of suggesting corrective action.

Tireless as he was in arranging political speakers for the monthly programs of the Dutch Treat Luncheon forums over several decades, Peete was content to remain in the background — first as the loyal factotum of the late mayor Henry Loeb back when Loeb was the luncheon’s public face and later when Christian Right luminary Ed McAteer was the official host. But Peete was the one who did the grunt work for those forums, and he was also the one who insisted on rules of civility from the almost exclusively conservative audience. During one presidential election year, he actually physically ran off a noisome critic of the speaker, who was dutifully espousing the campaign and platform of Democrat Bill Clinton.

Local politics just won’t seem the same without the conscientious Peete standing guard. And it won’t be the same around the Flyer offices without that weekly letter to the editor, written on an old typewriter and signed “Chas S. Peete.”

Categories
Editorial Opinion

EDITORIAL

For many of us, the golden, authoritative, and exuberant tones of Grizzlies broadcaster Don Poier — which first graced our ears in 2001, with the coming of the city’s NBA team — meant that we were big-league at last. Whether it was Poier’s inflection, his knowledge of the game, or his sense of humor, he was as valuable as any player or any franchise to a city that had felt itself to be minor-league in terms of sports and so much else for far too long.

“Only in the movies and in Memphis!” That was the excited finis spoken by Poier during one of the Grizzlies’ first game-saving moments in Memphis. It became a signature line for the whole fairy-tale saga of the now-beloved Griz.

This year, TV fans had the opportunity to put a face with the voice, as Poier became the Grizzlies’ television broadcaster. Though he preferred radio, Poier was a team player and agreed to the new duties after it was arranged for him to switch back to the radio broadcast on untelevised games.

“They asked if I would be interested in doing television,” Poier said when the change was announced by the Grizzlies’ front office last year. “I said, ‘Not really. I don’t want to give up doing every game.’ I have been since the team started. I wanted to continue.”

Though he’s gone — dead of an apparent heart attack in Denver last week during the Grizzlies’ recent road trip — the veteran broadcaster, one of several team figures who came with the team from Vancouver, leaves behind a legacy not only of professionalism but of goodwill and bountiful inspiration. And there’s no doubt: That legacy will continue, just as Don Poier wanted.

He is our loss but, for time to come, also our gain.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

postscript

Social Insecurity

To the Editor:

Why is President Bush so insistent on having young people put their future Social Security into private, risky stock market accounts (Editorial, January 13th issue)? Could it be because some of his biggest supporters are the financial services corporations that recently donated $4 million toward inaugural festivities — more than any other industry?

New investors came into the stock market during the mid-’90s boom that continued until early 2000. Then a decline began. With the corporate shenanigans at WorldCom and Enron, 9/11, and two wars, many of those newer investors left the market and have not returned

Scaring young people with the misinformation that Social Security is in crisis is a scheme to bring investors back into the market. Most experts say that funds will carry Social Security for another 40 years with small adjustments. There is no immediate crisis.

Emily Jorgensen

Memphis

Insensitive Leaders

To the Editor:

Why are the leaders of this city so insensitive to the needs of its citizens and the impressionable minds of its children, who see and learn from their behavior? I am a teacher and experience firsthand what many of our young ones see and think. Many of my students think that a person has the right to do what [U of M basketball player] Jeremy Hunt is accused of doing. They are not alone, obviously, since the university I graduated from is allowing him to continue to play. I would rather lose every game than cheer for such a person.

Our mayor likes to challenge people who don’t agree with him to fights, while we’re trying to tell our children that there are alternatives to violence. One African-American City Council member is so insensitive to racial issues that he refused to allow Iraqis into City Hall.

This list of “leaders” could go on and on. I hope I never see Hubon Sandridge again in public office, but who knows with Memphis politics? All you can be assured of is that the children of this city are watching and learning from their elders.

Gray Clawson

Memphis

Supporting the Troops

To the Editor:

I cannot understand why our military is having a problem with enlistments. I see dozens of vehicle bumpers every day with “W The President” and “Support the Troops” stickers. Why haven’t these real Americans signed up for service in our all-volunteer Army? Since the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans received a huge tax-cut, you would think they would do the patriotic thing and encourage their children to join the fight for freedom.

You can bet President and Mrs. Bush have talked to their girls about volunteering. After all, Bush is planning to expand freedom thoughout the world, and that means someone’s children must be sacrificed. So, let’s get with it, you Wall Street bulls. Before you take my Social Security money, sign up! And sign up your kids. Your uncle needs you.

Jack Bishop

Cordova

SpongeBob QueerPants?

To the Editor:

Thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died in a senseless war in Iraq. More than 200,000 people died in the tragic tsunami in Asia. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are hungry, homeless, abused, in prison, or otherwise living in despair. Greed and materialism are rampant, and the gap between the rich and the poor is growing.

So to what cause does the ultrapious James Dobson believe we should devote our Christian endeavors? Why, attacking a cartoon character, of course.

Yes, Dobson has now identified SpongeBob SquarePants as Public Enemy Number One. SpongeBob’s offense is that he appeared in a video promoting tolerance toward folks who are different.

The video featured cartoon characters learning to treat others (which would include gays and lesbians, presumably, though they are not mentioned in the video) with respect and charity — you know, the way Jesus treated people.

B. Keith English

Memphis

Smart People

To the Editor:

I enjoyed reading the article written about Shane Battier by Chris Herrington (Sports, January 20th issue). I’ve been a fan of Battier’s since his days at Duke, when everyone else was watching Elton Brand. He surprised a lot of people in college and apparently he still surprises people today. In an NBA that desperately needs good, smart people, I think we have one in Shane Battier.

Ruth Miller

Memphis

Categories
Opinion

health & fitness :: Seeing Fit

Last year more than 4.6 million Americans hired personal trainers to stretch, pull, and push their bodies into better shape. While individualized training has been around for years, the roles of personal trainers have evolved along with their popularity. What was once seen as a profession of pushy coaches yelling at clients “to give me one more pushup” now includes an expanded expertise in food and nutrition, psychological evaluation, and exercise.

In short, personal trainers are now responsible for the entire person, not just the parts with cellulite. To guarantee such expertise, trainers are required to become certified in at least one specific area by national agencies governing their industry.

“We’re here to guide people on their way to a healthy and happy life,” said local trainer and fitness-center owner Tonya Tittle. “This sounds weird, but actually we don’t want our clients to get hooked on us.”

In the cozy atmosphere of Tittle’s studio, Energy Fitness, it is easy to see how clients could get attached. The studio, which opened in August 2002 and is located at 265 S. Front, has about 50 clients helped by Tittle and four other trainers.

To provide such personalized service, each trainer faces strenuous and standardized evaluations, examinations, and continuing education. This type of training is necessary for client safety, says Stephanie Maks, an assistant director for the certification organization, the National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA). As one of the major certification groups, NETA teaches trainers how to handle clients and lead classes, and then tests them on those skills. “We require that trainers or people wanting to become trainers have a degree in a related field — exercise science and exercise psychology — or be already certified through another agency,” she explains.

The Minneapolis-based organization offers these fitness professionals certification in group exercise, Pilates, and personal training. The personal-training certification consists of a two-day, 14-hour session of lectures, an exercise-science refresher course, and a written examination. Certification is valid for two years. To maintain accreditation, personal trainers with NETA certification must also complete 15 hours of continuing education every two years.

Since its inception 28 years ago, NETA has certified more than 110,000 fitness professionals. The organization hosted a training workshop in Memphis last year and will return in May for another session at Lindenwood Christian Church. “Many of the people seeking certification are those leaving regular 9-to-5 jobs who want to do something different,” says Maks.

But certification is not cheap. For the NETA personal-training session, enrollees pay almost $400 in registration fees, plus an additional $110 in workshop materials.

The Energy Fitness trainers have various certifications, including personal training, Pilates, group exercise, health sports fitness, kickboxing, and several others. Each of these certifications is accompanied by its own set of guidelines, examinations, and costs. And because fitness is a constantly changing industry, trainers must stay updated on the latest exercises, equipment, and industry trends. Whereas the “step” was the equipment of choice a few years ago, it has now been replaced with the “ramp” — same concept, but the incline is easier on the knees and allows for an increased range of movements.

In addition to the national certifications, some fitness centers require their trainers to have additional training. In the 24-Hour Fitness chain, which has an East Memphis location, personal training applicants must be CPR-certified, pass the company’s pre-certification exam, and attend a five-day certification class. Once those steps are successfully completed, applicants must undergo an additional two to three weeks of in-club training and shadow other trainers before working with clients, says company spokesperson Shannon May.

“There are about 300 certifications that [fitness professionals] can get now,” says Tittle, “and in the past they were not all standardized. There was a time when anyone — whether degreed or not and even with no training — was getting certifications. In the last three to four years, trainers have been required to have a related degree. There is even a national board in the works to monitor the certification process.”

For Tittle, who has been in the fitness industry since 1992, the requirements and standardization are welcome additions to her profession. “You would be surprised at the number of people who never inquire about the certifications of their trainer,” she says. “That should be one of the first questions you ask. You have to guarantee that the person training you knows what they are doing.” n

— By Janel Davis —

What To Look for In a Personal Trainer

· Education: A personal trainer should be certified through a reputable fitness organization such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), American Council on Exercise (ACE), or National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). An exercise science or other related college degree isn’t necessary, but the more education your trainer has, the better your workouts will be.

· CPR: Your trainer should have an updated certification in CPR and/or first aid.

· Experience: Make sure your trainer has several years of experience, especially in relation to your goals. For example, if you’re a bodybuilder, you want someone knowledgeable in that area.

· Specifics: If you have a specific medical problem, injury, or condition (such as being pregnant, heart problems, diabetes, etc.), make sure your trainer has education in these areas and will work with your doctor.

· A good listener: A good trainer will listen closely to what you say and make sure he understands your goals.

· Attention: A good trainer will be focused only on you during your sessions.

· Tracking progress: A good trainer will regularly assess your progress and change things if necessary.

Source: About.com/exercise

Categories
Music Record Reviews

Short Cuts

Miles in their shoes: Indie-rockers approach classic blues.

Sunday Nights: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough

Various Artists

(Fat Possum)

More than the music’s stark beauty or (more believably) its trancelike guitar sound, punk and indie-rock fans have bought into Fat Possum’s take on the hill-country blues because so many of them are helplessly titillated by the subgenre’s perceived transgressive content (or, to be more charitable, its “authenticity”), a complicated dynamic that has everything to do with race, even if that alone doesn’t sufficiently explain it. How else can you account for the marketing roles played by those grotesque animated R.L. Burnside covers, awed alt-culture media reports of T-Model Ford’s sketchy bio, or the presence of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion?

The late Junior Kimbrough’s more stately music and less colorful persona have always seemed less susceptible to this dynamic than most of his other Fat Possum labelmates. He was a great artist with an utterly distinctive sound, certainly more worthy of a middling tribute album than most who’ve gotten the treatment. In fact, it’s pretty easy to conjure a fantasy list of artists who might produce something compelling with Kimbrough’s music as a template. My list would include guitar bands as disparate as Sonic Youth, the Drive-By Truckers, and Orchestra Baobob along with such singular blues-inspired solo artists as Bob Dylan, PJ Harvey, and Corey Harris.

You can’t fault Fat Possum for not wrangling a group of performers that impressive, of course, but the problem with Sunday Nights is that the participants seem to be largely Fat Possum bands too directly connected to the style to play around with it or scenester givens who provide more subcultural cachet to the project than they do sonic chops.

The only track on Sunday Nights that captures the tremendous potential of the project is British art-rockers Spiritualized’s total de(con)struction of Kimbrough’s “Sad Days, Lonely Nights.” Musically, this seemingly odd pairing makes some sense. Spiritualized’s essentially blues-free sound is just a different brand of hypnotic guitar music and the band turns this six-minute noise-fest into a psychic (and psychedelic) connection between musicians who otherwise have absolutely nothing in common.

Nothing else on Sunday Nights quite pushes the envelope like that, but there are other winners. Memphian Jack Oblivian’s relaxed, confident take on “I’m in Love With You” is the record’s most rewarding straight blues. He feels at ease with the music’s country roots in a way that no one else on this compilation can touch. And the molasses-slow slide-guitar duet between Entrance and Cat Power on “Do the Romp” builds up a considerable head of steam.

More earthbound but still commendable are a couple of Fat Possum bands: The Black Keys’ “My Mind Is Ramblin'” is a surprisingly fine and seemingly heartfelt bit of mimicry, nailing the trembling beauty of the source material both musically and vocally. And though the vocals on the Heartless Bastards’ “Done Got Old” sound a lot more Haight-Ashbury than Holly Springs, their take on one of Kimbrough’s most indelible songs crunches and stomps like an ace bit of lost ’60s psychedelic blues-rock.

Other youngish bands don’t fare as well. Thee Shams’ “Release Me” is spirited but entirely generic garage-rock. Outrageous Cherry’s “Lord Have Mercy on Me” is a muddle. And, sadly, the Ponys’ “Burn in Hell” is a cover that does a disservice to the artists on each end of the exchange. The Ponys are vibrant and immensely likable, but this attempt at getting slow and low to sound Old Testament-ancient just doesn’t become them.

The real “get” for Fat Possum here is clearly Iggy & the Stooges. Fat Possum seems so excited to have them that they give them two slots, bookending the project with alternate takes on Kimbrough’s scary “You Better Run.” I count the band’s 1970 proto-punk WMD Fun House among my favorite records, so I’m a fan. But this is the worst thing on Sunday Nights by far. Musically, the rumble is Raw Power dragged down by more than a little middle-aged paunch, but worse is the way Iggy preens through the song’s rape-threat lyric with the kind of knowing, self-conscious leer that Mick Jagger might have pulled off in 1968 but that otherwise white hipsters should stay away from. Slipping into falsetto to sing the woman’s part, he sounds like a self-satisfied ass and gives the whole album a bad aftertaste.

Grade: B

Categories
News The Fly-By

Faking the Big C

Could consolidation possibly be catching on?

After this year’s annual mayoral plea for the Big C, it seems like everybody is getting into the spirit. Ten city elementary schools are buddying up. The City Council is looking at getting into bed with the Shelby County trustee’s office. And the city and county school systems hooked up for a communal board meeting last week where they presented a joint committee report.

It’s not just the public sector coming together: I’ve been getting gas at my grocery store. My wireless company recently announced it had even found its cell-mate.

With so much urge to merge, could county and city governments be far behind?

For a consolidation proponent like myself, the sad answer is yes.

At their joint meeting last Thursday, the school systems were crystal clear about keeping their two households separate. Even though the subject was how the systems could save money through economies of scale, “cooperation, not consolidation” was the main theme of the day.

“What’s significant is what we didn’t hear today,” said Shelby County board president David Pickler. “[Cost savings] couldn’t be gained by joining our two organizations … . The solutions are much more complicated.”

The two systems did promise to continue seeing each other. They’ll send their legislative agenda to Nashville together, and staff members have even been instructed to approach MATA and MLGW about a joint fuel-buying venture.

A few days earlier, in the City Council’s O&M budget committee, Shelby County trustee Bob Patterson proposed taking over the city’s tax billing and collection, revenue forecasting and reporting, and banking functions. He estimated the savings to the city would be $2 million to $3 million a year.

“The county says we don’t have to make money on this contract; we just can’t lose money,” the trustee told committee members.

Under the agreement, the office would receive 1 percent of current fees and 2 percent of delinquent collections. Patterson’s office already handles tax collection for Arlington, Millington, and Shelby County and handles delinquent collections for Collierville and Bartlett. Councilman Rickey Peete pointed out that this wasn’t consolidation, but something close to it — the aligning of similar functions.

Councilman Joe Brown fretted that the contract would make $2 million for the county. He said he could see it if a private company came to them with a similar proposal — ostensibly someone who would be making money off the contract — but not another governmental body. Even so, the committee asked the trustee’s office for a cost/benefit analysis.

“We can’t have it both ways,” said Councilman Jack Sammons. “I can’t say we need to consolidate and out of the other side of my mouth say this is a bad idea. If we’re serious about doing things differently … this is a wonderful first step.”

But both cases remind me of a non-denial denial. We’re getting non-consolidation consolidation. It’s actually brilliant. These bodies are looking to get the financial benefits of consolidation without the nasty consolidation battle. In some ways, it’s a solution that should make everyone happy.

In other ways, though, it shows how our heels are dug in deeper than our pocketbooks. Are we keeping our friends close but our enemies closer?

I’ve always seen consolidation as a way to deal with problems as one community. With non-consolidation consolidation, we’re taking that option off the table. We’re working together, the school systems say, but it’s to build two special, separate school districts. By coming together — and faking the big C — we’ve never been further apart. We probably should thank Mayor Herenton. Maybe this is what he was going for all along.

I can understand why people who have moved out of the city don’t want to be part of it again. I’ve parted ways with a few companies. If they tried to force me to be their customer again — especially without special offers, enhanced services, or some plain ol’ booty kissing — I’d be furious.

If Herenton is really interested in joining the city and county governments, he needs to be a little less “King Willie” and a little more “Prince Charming.” Those pretty little suburbs need to be courted into a betrothal. They need candy and flowers, maybe even a love poem or two. Or maybe invite them to the ball to discuss the situation.

Despite the recent collaborations, some of the real benefits of consolidation can’t actually occur without consolidation. At the very least, there’d be one less mayor.

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Harper v. Herenton

Last week the good folks at WPTY-TV chose to air some comments of mine concerning the recent run-in between Mayor Herenton and ABC-24 anchor Cameron Harper.

I have to say, as I did in a portion of my remarks which didn’t make the cut, that Herenton is my favorite interview subject. In several longish conversations over the last 15 years or so, he has never lacked for candor.

Lookit, Harper is a classy guy, and I definitely have admiration for his gumption as a guest at the Rotary luncheon, in deciding to pick up the cudgels for his station, join up with a WPTY cameraman who was covering the affair solitaire, and turn into an on-the-spot interviewer. But — how to put it? — I don’t think asking Herenton if his resignation would benefit the goal of consolidation is the kind of thing that a Freedom of Information suit could be built on.

Cameron certainly had a right to ask the question. We’d all have been pleased to hear the answer. But just as certainly, the mayor had a right, after a short spell of back-and-forth, to brush it aside. There’s no law saying you have to answer something so clearly hypothetical. And to deny the implied challenge in the question would be disingenuous. Sometimes a question can be simultaneously pertinent and impertinent.

So it’s six-of-one, half-a-dozen-of-another on the first count. Continuing to press the question as other reporters attempted their own interviews, which is what a reporter for another station contends on his personal blog and which some of the raw videos of the occasion suggest may have happened, is something else again.

As for continuing to insist on an answer by putting his hand on the mayor’s arm (which Harper denies and which the various videos are unclear on) well, what we know is that the mayor is heard to tell Harper, “Don’t put your hands on me!” in an unmistakably imperative tone, followed by a softer, “Please don’t touch me. No. Don’t touch me. You’re way off base.” Which was followed, some time and distance later, by the macho line, “For him to put his hands on me, I’m going to drop him, okay?”

Meanwhile Harper is insisting to the mayoral press secretary and to a member of the mayor’s security detail, “I can ask him any question I want to ask him. I can ask him anything I want. I will ask him what I want to ask him.”

One is reminded of the scene in Henry IV: Part One in which the Welsh mystic Owen Glendower boasts, “I can call spirits from the very deep,” and the cynical Harry Hotspur responds, “Aye, so can I, and so can any man, but will they come?”

In a later statement on the incident, the mayor contended that “an observed media employee made physical contact” with him and “had to be restrained and prevented from making further unwanted and offensive contact.” He went on to assert that “under no circumstances” would “the office of the mayor accept the media’s behavior in the future that is of a harassing or abusive nature.”

In its own statement, the station disputed the mayor’s version: “We believe Mayor Herenton is doing this to disguise his efforts to avoid answering pertinent questions from the public and the media. We also feel the mayor falsified and invented the ‘contact’ in order to avoid Mr. Harper and further questioning.” Further: “Mr. Harper did not touch Mayor Herenton deliberately. If there was any contact at all, it was incidental and unintentional and was caused by the close proximity of the media to the mayor. We believe no rational person would interpret any facet of the incident as ‘threatening.'”

For what it’s worth, I am reminded of an occasion in 1997, when we at the Flyer were probing what we saw as a potential conflict of interest regarding Herenton’s awarding of a lucrative consultancy. As a good soldier, I had done my part on that project. Shortly thereafter, both Herenton and I attended a Chamber of Commerce event. Chamber publicist Allan Hester asked us to pose for a snapshot for the chamber’s newsletter. There we are in the archives, both beaming. But the mayor, a former Golden Gloves champion, is saying to me under his breath: “Back when I was a boxer, Jackson, I would shake hands with a fellow and then whip his butt.”

I thought about that in the wake of the current imbroglio: If Harper had really wanted to advance the sum of human knowledge, he might have gone ahead and touched the mayor after being warned. Horrified or fascinated, we’d all have watched that movie.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Schoolyard Bullies

“Don’t laugh at me. Don’t call me names. Don’t get your pleasure from my pain,” sing the kindergartners at Snowden School. The kids may be too young to have heard of the song’s originators — Peter, Paul, and Mary — but they are not too young to understand the words.

Bullying was on the agenda of the optional school Tuesday morning, as the school launched its two-year bully-prevention initiative. During three presentations, students sang, danced, and rapped about the need for acceptance.

“Bullying is everywhere, we’re just not afraid to talk about it,” said school counselor Sharon Carter.

Snowden and Colonial Middle School are the only two schools in West Tennessee selected to participate in the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, promoting a safer and more positive atmosphere on school campuses. Both schools applied for the program through the Nashville organization Students Taking a Right Stand (STARS). Funding was made available through the district’s Center for Safe and Drug Free Schools. Teachers and administrators completed program training in July.

“Think about the words to the [kindergartners’ song], and whether you’ve ever gotten pleasure from someone else’s pain. If you have, then that’s bullying,” said principal Catherine Battle.

The program is based on bullying research by Norwegian scientist Dr. Dan Olweus and involves four components: individual, classroom, schoolwide, and community/parent. Part of the community component included a program presentation to parents held during an evening PTA meeting. The initial school assessment included student surveys about bully behavior and victimization. From the surveys, teachers will hold classroom meetings to address the behaviors, and administrators have developed schoolwide and classroom rules based on the program tenets.

“In post-Columbine times, everything has changed,” said STARS president Rodger Dinwiddie. “We’re now looking at students who have been picked on so much and have internalized it to the point where they can inflict damage on themselves or others.” Dinwiddie admits that bullying has long existed in school but that the severity has greatly increased. “What we used to experience in school was conflict. Now, conflict has escalated. Bullying is not conflict. Bullying is abuse.”

Within the district, Snowden and Colonial Middle are not usually involved in unacceptable student behavior and violent situations. “Whether or not a school has other discipline problems means nothing,” said Ann Sharp with CSDFS. “All schools have a bully problem. It’s just that we tend not to place as much attention there.”

E-mail: jdavis@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Music Music Features

local beat

Memphis is known across the world as the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock-and-roll. But most people don’t realize that the city’s global-culture scene is also bustling, courtesy of the thousands of immigrants who now call the Bluff City home.

This weekend, for example, the local nonprofit group MPACT Memphis, with help from the local chapter of The Recording Academy, is hosting an annual fund-raiser highlighting the city’s burgeoning Latino culture.

Billed as MPACT ¡Impacto!, the event is slated for Friday, January 28th, at 8 p.m. in the former Plaza Club space downtown. A grant from the Greater Memphis Arts Council and the Tennessee Arts Commission will help fund a performance by Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles, who are flying in specifically for the event. Memphis’ own Los Cantadores (led by Mexican émigré Domingo Montez) will open the show, which will be recorded — and eventually broadcast internationally — by locally based radio program Beale Street Caravan, syndicated by NPR.

“The Recording Academy helped book Los Amigos Invisibles,” explains Katherine Sage, project manager of NARAS’ Memphis chapter. “[It’s] an effort to increase awareness of the Latin music industry. With their Latin funk and soul-driven rock, they seemed like the perfect band to bring to Memphis.”

For advance tickets or more information, call 901-312-7760 or go to MPACTMemphis.org.

If you missed last Saturday’s Dance Relief tsunami-aid party held at Midtown’s India Palace restaurant, you may get another chance to boogie for charity. The benefit’s coordinator, former Memphian Arjun Durghangi, hopes to make it a regular event.

“I’m currently getting my masters degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,” Durghangi says. “My track is in social and behavioral interventions, which deals with unconventional ways of changing knowledge, attitudes, and practices of people about health, disease, and education. So I see what I’m doing here with Dance Relief — raising awareness, directing civic activity, and combating health emergencies through dance and social engagement — as a direct extension of all that.”

Durghangi, who once worked as a journalist in Tamil Nadu, an Indian state that was badly hit by December’s tsunami, had originally planned to spend Christmas in the Andaman Islands, which were also devastated by the disaster.

“My impulse was to fly to Indonesia and provide direct relief myself. [That] fell apart,” Durghangi says, explaining how Dance Relief evolved from an impromptu meeting at the Deliberate Literate coffeeshop, where Memphians J.R. Kamra, Sandeep Raghow, Grishma Desai, Eric Morris, Santosh Kale, and Faisal Ansari volunteered to help. Ansari, a DJ and president of the International Cultural Club at Christian Brothers University, agreed to spin world beats and hip-hop at India Palace, where proceeds went to relief organizations in India, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia.

To learn about future Dance Relief events, e-mail dancerelief@gmail.comor visit GmodelDesign.com/dance/.

Memphis’ Chinese community will be celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Rooster at the University of Memphis on Saturday, January 29th. “We’ve got a real variety show planned,” says Jinliang Cai of the Greater Memphis United Chinese Association. “We’ve got Chinese bands and folksingers, a children’s chorus, dancers, tai chi demonstrations, comedy skits, and more. Members of the Memphis Youth Symphony will play Chinese compositions, and we’ll have traditional musicians on instruments like the erhu.”

Some of the performers are invited to Memphis by special invitation, while others are local, Cai adds, noting that the city is home to approximately 5,000 Chinese immigrants. “It’s a very vibrant community — very well-educated and very talented. But aside from the Center for Southern Folklore’s annual heritage festival, we only perform on very special occasions,” he says.

On Saturday, the Chinese Association will host two performances at the U of M’s Rose Theater, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Attendees can also participate in additional activities at the University Center from 4 to 7 p.m. Ticket prices range from $3 (with student ID) to $15. For more information, go to MemphisChinese.com.