For a preview of Saturday’s game, see page 8
DAILY HELMSMAN Friday 1.31.14
The
Vol. 81 No. 064
Independent Student Newspaper of the University of Memphis
Juried Student Exhibition
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Memphis Tigers’ 5 Emmy Tuba Love Songs 6
www.dailyhelmsman.com
Galloping into the New Year
Students present Chinese New Year marks beginning of Year of the Horse research at annual forum “You try your best to see your parents (and) grandparents,” he said. Yang has worked at the U of M since 2009 and has not been able to visit home. “We are a family here,” Yang said. “My colleagues, friends, the people I see everyday are close enough for me to consider them a family — we are a family.” A vital part of many cel- e b r a tions is the festive food, and the Chinese New Year is no different. According to Yang, the Chinese New Year has Jiaozi, or dumplings. U of M student Tammy Louie,
By Amber Williams
news@dailyhelmsman.com
While most people rang in the New Year three weeks ago, for some it hasn’t even started yet. The Lunar New Year, more commonly known as the Chinese New Year, begins on Jan. 31. According to the lunar calendar, which is based off phases of the moon, Friday marks t h e beginning o f t h e year of the Horse, a symbol of success in the Chinese zodiac. Riki Jackson is the assistant director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Memphis, which promotes Chinese language and culture in Memphis. She said the American New Year and the Chinese New Year bring about similar feelings of new beginnings. “We all have the desire to start new — cleaning of the house, removal of the old worries, removal of the old debts,” Jackson said. “It is the biggest holiday, (and) it is very difficult to duplicate the events in the U.S. especially, because it’s
not a mainstream holiday (here.)” Yiping Yang, associate director of the CIUM, openly celebrates the holiday, which typically lasts for fifteen days. “We call it the Spring Festival,” Yang said. According to Yang, the Chinese New Year is similar to the “American Christmas.” He emphasized the importance of family during this time and even went as far as calling it a reunion.
18, looks forward to the celebratory food ever y year. “On a typical Chinese New Year, we have dumplings in the morning,” Louie, a finance major, said.
“At night time, we have a lot of food, (and) each food has a different meaning — health, prosperity, happiness, luck, long life.” The finance major admitted that her favorite part of the holiday is the Red Pocket. She described it as an envelope filled with money. According to Louie, the noodle symbolizes long life. “The longer the noodle, the longer the life,” she said. She stated that some days they would not eat any meat in order to cleanse their system. Because Louie lives here in Tennessee, she admitted that their celebration of the New Year is Americanized because they only celebrate it for three days. “Traditionally, by the third or fourth day, everybody goes back to work anyway,” Louie said. Even though her family may not celebrate the New Year in its entirety, Louie said they make sure to do all of the “important things,” including praying and celebrating with family. Louie remembered her father giving her a piece of candy each day they celebrated the festival as a symbol of good fortune and a sweeter
do volunteer work with no charge. “This is a good way for students to give back locally and make relationships with students and fellow community members,” Angie Norwood, senior coordinator for student activities at U of M, said. “Both separate tours give students a different outlook on volunteering, and hopefully students will take something from it.” According to Norwood, the destination tour and the Staycation have different goals, but the same objective – assisting those in need.
see SPRING on page 5
see RESEARCH on page 6
see NEW YEAR on page 4
Students abandon the beach for community outreach news@dailyhelmsman.com For University of Memphis students who can’t get to the beach over spring break, the Student Leadership and Involvement Center is offering a chance to get out of the city in exchange for community service. Unlike the time traditionally spent soaking up the sun in Florida, Alternative Spring Break volunteers will assist the SLI Center in a sevenday destination tour from March 10 to March 14 that will delve into other cities through community
service. For $75, students can join the SLI in visiting Shreveport, La.; Greenville, Miss.; and Little Rock, Ark. “This is a way for students to participate by helping local communities and learn about a community’s culture,” Charmaine Connor, a graduate assistant for the SLI Center, said. “It’s good being able to help people and give back to communities you wouldn’t normally see.” According to Connor, students will be volunteering all the time, and there will be at least one project a day. From working with children
The Daily Helmsman is a “designated public forum.” Students have authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval. The Daily Helmsman is pleased to make a maximum of 10 copies of each issue available to a reader for free. Additional copies are $1. Partial printing and distribution costs are provided by an allocation from the Student Activity Fee.
to helping animals, the SLI Center intends to offer a helping hand in each community wherever they can. “The trips help students be able to foster a community in trouble or with issues,” Connor said. “It’s good for them to make connections with students and community members.” For students who can’t go out of town, the SLI Center has a tour focused solely on fostering the Memphis community. While people may not be able to leave for spring break, the organization’s “Staycation” spans over the same seven days and allows them to still
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news@dailyhelmsman.com The University of Memphis is sending seven honors students to Nashville on Feb. 12 to present their research in the annual Posters at the Capitol event. This year’s participants are Joshua Canterbury, Damian Coomes, William King, Nicholas Mastron, Patrick McNicholas, Breya Walker and Grace Waters. The participants’ research comes from a variety of undergraduate fields and majors, ranging from economics to biomedical engineering. Honors Program Director and Associate Professor Melinda Jones believes this is a great event that benefits the University. “It demonstrates the University’s commitment to undergraduate research and benefits the University because most of these students are working with faculty members on research projects,” Jones said. Each fall semester, U of M undergraduate students present their research at the Works in Progress Symposium, sponsored by the University’s Honors Program. After evaluations from the faculty, the Honors Program then selects seven undergraduate students to participate in the Posters at the Capitol. “We try to select seven students that represent different disciplines at the University of Memphis,” Jones said. Damian Coomes, a senior psychology major with a concentration in behavioral neuroscience and participant in this year’s Posters at the Capitol, is very excited to be a part of the event and feels it is a reward for all the work he has put into his research. “This is definitely rewarding,” Coomes said. “Research is quite the process. Even with the best experimental designs, things will go wrong.” Not only will the students get to present their research at the Capitol, but they will also get a chance to meet the Tennessee state legislators. While it hasn’t been confirmed, they may also get a chance to go to lunch
Alternative Spring Break Forever By Brady Boswell
By J. T. Mullen
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