Daily Helmsman The
Strength In Numbers
Thursday, December 1, 2011 Vol. 79 No. 52
Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis
Small groups are making a difference in Memphis’ poorest zip codes
see page 4 www.dailyhelmsman.com
University to pay more than $1 million combined to departing Johnson, Porter BY CHELSEA BOOZER News Reporter
be paid for out of the athletic department’s budget. A stipulation in Porter’s contract, however, states that if he takes another job while The U of M is still buying
Agents of Change
Campus Activities
BY SIMON KRUSCHINSKI Contributing Writer Want to know the difference one person can make? Walk the empty, cracked streets of Binghamton down Harvard Avenue, with its ramshackle houses to the old metal door of Caritas Village. From the outside, the former Masonic Lodge, looks like a factory from the 18th century. You expect the old building to tell stories about heavy machines, arduous labor and sweating workers. But if you step through the heavy metal door and look inside, the masonry reveals its real interior: a big living room, where dozens of people from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds are sitting around small tables, draped in black-and-white checkered cloths, laughing, eating and smiling together. This is the heart of Caritas Village. Onie Johns Ask for Onie Johns, the 57-year-old founder. And when she walks over the creaking wooden floorboards, coming toward you with kind eyes and a warm smile, ask her about this old building, where she and a friend opened a community center in 2006. Don´t
see
Change, page 7
out his contract, The University will only pay him the difference, if any, between his new salary and his former salary as head football coach of the Tigers.
Black Student Association readies for annual fashion show BY ERICA HORTON News Reporter
Wearing khaki jeans, a red shirt and a jacket, Adrian Mahin took his first step as a model, walking past two rows of people on either side of him while practicing for the annual Black Student Association Fashion Show. But he missed the first practice for the show and was doing it all wrong. “It was really funny because I kept messing up bad,” Mahin said. “(The coach) pulled me out to the side like while I was walking and taught me how to walk correctly. He said to look forward, keep your back straight and use correct posture.” Mahin is one of 42 models participating in the fashion show on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. in The University Center Ballroom. The theme of this year’s 43rd annual show and fundraiser is “The Remedy: A Cure for Fashion Sickness.” Silas Vassar, show chairman and senior journalism major, said the repetitive fashion scene in Memphis inspired the theme. “You see guys dressing like Wiz
see
Fashion, page 3
by Aaron Turner
Caritas Village founder demonstrates how one person can affect change
photo illustration by Scott Carroll
University of Memphis officials said Wednesday that Athletic Director R. C. Johnson’s retirement is actually a mutual agreement between him and The University. Johnson will remain on The University’s payroll until his contract ends on June 30, 2013, one year after his announced retirement date. U of M Legal Counsel Sheryl Lipman said Johnson did not break his contract under his mutual agreement with The University, and therefore they remain bound under said contract to keep him on the payroll. Johnsons will continue to receive his annual salary of $316,725, which is pulled from the athletic department’s nearly $38 million budget. The budget consists of both state and donated funds. Johnsons will be paid on a monthly basis, Lipman said. She said $73,000 of Johnson’s salary, however, comes from an endowed fund that was set up previously to raise money for his salary, which at one time was the lowest of athletic directors in the country. Former head football coach Larry Porter, who was fired Sunday, remains under contract with The U of M until 2015. Lipman said The University will continue to pay his $754,890 total packaged salary until then, most of which consists of private funds. The $167,890 of Porter’s salary that isn’t donated will
Models practice walking in preparation for the Black Student Association fashion show in the lobby of the Rose Theatre during a regular Friday afternoon practice. The name of this year’s fashion show is “The Remedy” and will be held this Friday in the University Center Ball Room.
2 • Thursday, December 1, 2011
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DOMINO’S PIZZA Across 1 Onetime VHS rival 5 Like honed knives 10 Relaxed 14 The Earth turns on it 15 Swiss calculus pioneer 16 Hebrides hillside 17 Rules, in brief 18 Grassy Southwestern tract 19 “Mike and Mike in the Morning” radio station 20 On-the-go morning snack 23 Flight that may be round 24 Craft stabilizer 25 “No __!”: Mexican’s “Enough!” 28 Story spanning decades 31 St. Teresa’s home 33 Matador’s cloak 37 Cash for a sandwich 40 Tenth of a sawbuck 42 Tailgaters’ beverage carriers 43 Waiter’s handout 45 Dorothy’s dog 46 Run the show 47 Vidal’s Breckinridge 49 Actress Sandra 50 Moan and groan 53 Browning work 57 Familiarly, nutritious trio found twice in this puzzle 61 Dubai big shot 64 Medium’s card 65 Part of a float 66 Take it easy 67 Bacteria in rare meat 68 Footnote word 69 Biblical heirs, with “the” 70 Barber’s chair attachment 71 Corporate __ Down 1 Farm fence feature 2 Put into action, as effort 3 LSU mascot 4 Very, musically
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S u d o k u
Complete the grid so that each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9.
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The University of Memphis
Thursday, December 1, 2011 • 3
Fashion
Genes collection, Christian-based clothing. from page 1 Vassar said he’s looking forward to seeing the crowd’s reacKhalifa and girls dressing like tion to the show, though he’s not Nicki Minaj and we want to give trying to please them, per se. people a way to be unique in their “A lot of people have high styling,” he said. “We came up expectations,” he said. “I don’t with a cure for ‘basicness’ and want to meet their expectations. I ‘mediocrity’ in fashion.” want to put on a great show and He said he have people see also wants to my vision.” address some of Jenil Askew, he outfits the fashion misco-chair of the will help the show and senior takes students make on campus. audience figure fashion merchan“I understand dising major, said we’re on a col- out their whole she hopes people lege campus and appreciate the style.” being comfort“high fashion” in — Jenil Askew able is a grand the show. issue, but head “I feel like the Fashion show co-chair, wraps that are audience will Fashion merchandising not made for walk away with senior f a s h i o n — ro l l creativity,” she ers in your hair and bonnets, said. “The outfits will help them for instance—that’s a no-no for figure out their whole style and women,” he said. “And, guys are spark their interest in new things.” wearing jeans too big. Why would Tickets for the show will be you purchase skinny jeans three sold in The UC lobby on Friday, times too big? They’re tight on Dec. 2 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. your ankles, but falling off your Regular tickets are $10, while tail. I don’t understand.” VIP tickets are $15 and include The looks of this year’s show, front row seating on either side Vassar said, are trendy, vintage, of the stage, a gift bag with samurban and Christian. One design- ples from the sponsors and light er at the show will premiere the refreshments.
by Aaron Turner
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Agents of Change
Small but BY PAUL CRUM Contributing Writer
“My dad was, and is, a pipe fitter,” the 30-year-old philosophy major explained, “and seeing how workers are exploited and abused galvanized me into the labor movement in a general way, but also radical politics in a specific way.” Ironically, the elder Sledge doesn’t share his son’s pro-union stance. “That was a conversation that I had with my dad as a young man,
N
Spurred by inequality and injustice, groups of Memphians in the city’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods are finding ways to improve the lives of themselves and neighbors
The commitment Foster describes in the small groups coming to the aid of their neighbors is reflected in his own decision to abruptly change his career path. “I was at a place in life where I had been in private practice, then worked for a corporate client for a while,” Foster, 63, explained. “I sort of decided that I wanted to do something other than practice law, so I sat down with my family
into a particular organizational mission.”
LAWYERS, DOCTORS AND TEACHERS Occupying more than seven acres at the corner of Poplar and Goodlett is a large traditionallooking edifice that houses a congregation of nearly 4,000. But the members of Second Presbyterian
ever doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
”
Anthropologist Margaret Mead asking him why he was not in a union,” the Jackson, Miss. native said. “And just seeing how the bosses kept folks out the union, and scared of the union, was what actually drove me into the union. I think my dad and I probably still disagree about the unions. He’s one of those crotchety old southern guys who thinks unions are bought out by the mob, full of communists and things like that.” Sledge and Joyner have different views on the effectiveness of small versus large groups. “Most of the work I’ve been involved with over the past few years has just been with small groups of activists getting together to work on different types of issues, through ad hoc organizational campaigns rather than through more traditional organizations,” Joyner said. “That way we are flexible and can focus our energy on current events or local issues, from Arab Spring to the city budget, without having to fit our work
Church support small and large ministries that reach into neighborhoods far beyond their East Memphis location. Coordinating the effort is Eddie Foster, who gave up a successful law career more than five years ago to take on the role of Mission Memphis director at the church. Foster said Second Presbyterian directly supports 49 ministries, and enthusiastically recites a litany of committed individuals and groups having a positive impact on inner city life. One of his favorite examples is Christ Community Health Services. “Where there’s not accessible healthcare services in some of the neediest areas of the city,” Foster said, “that staff of doctors — maybe half of them — have not only given up lucrative medical practice careers, they are moving their families and living in these communities. That’s a big-scale ministry and they’re doing major, major things.”
by Casey Hilder
When Sally Joyner found herself handcuffed and face down on the floor of the state capitol building in Nashville last March, a sense of calm swept over her. She believes the feeling sprang from her commitment to justice and the solidarity she felt with the workers that the 27-year-old University of Memphis law student had traveled there to support. “A group of us went to Nashville last spring, not just because of the attacks on public workers, but also because of the attacks on women’s causes, attacks on the GLBC (Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual Community) and the attacks on people in general,” Joyner said. The small group of activists made headlines across the state after they were forcibly removed by Tennessee State Troopers from a legislative meeting and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. But not all activism involves protest and arrest — Joyner and fellow U of M graduate student Justin Sledge are among hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Memphians who are part of small, like-minded groups trying to make a difference in the community. Some are caring for the homeless, some are giving job training or medical care to the disadvantaged, and some are reaching out to veterans who have returned to a cruel daily reality after serving their country. Sledge and Joyner both credit early labor-related influences for their interest in activism and social justice. “I’ve always worked since I was teenager,” Joyner said. “From my first real job at Dixie Cafe, I became pretty amazed that women worked really hard full time and still had to depend on charities for their children’s school needs, or just to have Thanksgiving.” Sledge said he came from a working class family.
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Brown Baptist Church’s weekly gatherings typically host over 200 people.
and this opportunity developed to come here. I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to do something totally different in life.” Although Foster’s wife had been involved with inner city tutoring and he had served on various boards, he felt a longing to work more closely with the city’s less fortunate citizens. “You can’t read the newspaper or watch the TV every night and not be distressed by all of the ills in our city,” Foster lamented. “Much is broken, and that’s sort of the focus of our church, and how we want to be involved. We want to be engaged with others who are trying to create healthy communities… in some of the distressed areas in our city.” He speaks glowingly about inner city youth teaming up with suburban kids for joint mission trips to New Orleans and about Berclair Elementary, a city school adopted by the church where a number of initiatives have been taken by a small group to serve the largely Hispanic student body and their parents. “Schools are the crossroads of the neighborhood,” Foster said. “Before our church was there, they had less than 10 or 20 people attend parent-teacher meetings. We have a Sunday school class that sponsors the meetings now, and we have two or three hundred (Berclair parents) come to it.” Second Presbyterian’s Su Casa ministry also provides ESL classes and tutoring sessions four times weekly. “We have probably 140 adults come to those,” Foster said. “Volunteer teachers break up into small groups. That’s been a great effort for us, and it’s really rewarding.” Although the church works with ministries both large and small, Foster is quick to point out that even the most ambitious efforts start with small groups of committed individuals. “I have been amazed at the num-
ber of ministries, many of them that are very small, neighborhoodbased efforts — the effective work that is being done and the quality of leadership,” he observed.
A BLUE TOYOTA AND A FILE CABINET IN THE TRUNK One needs to drive less than seven miles to the west from the stately East Memphis church to find passion and commitment thriving in the state’s poorest urban zip code. In a cavernous warehouselike room inside a building at 769 Vance, Steve Nash sits at a boardroom table in close proximity to drill presses, forklifts, a loud multiheaded embroidery machine and other various tools of many trades. “This is my office now,” Nash finally said. “I had to give up my office space to make room for more staff.” Advance Memphis started from scratch in May of 1999, “with a blue Toyota Camry and a plastic filing cabinet in the trunk,” according to Nash. “Our mission is to serve residents in the Cleaborn community with knowledge, resources and skills to be economically selfsufficient through the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” explained Nash, who graduated with a degree in personnel management from the University of Memphis in 1988. “So over the past 12 years we have grown to where we are today — owners of a 9,000 square foot facility,” he continued. “We are graduating about 110 folks from a soft-job skills training class annually. We have just really hit stride and are finding our way with adult GED attainment, and this year to date we have had 10 adults receive their GED. We’re an official testing site now.” Nash pointed out that a financial literacy class is part of the Advance Memphis curriculum, and that the ministry also extended what he called “mercy loans.” “We start each year with $1,500 and loan it out, so we’ve done 94 or 96 loans to date and had eight defaults,” Nash calculated. “We have revolved that $1,500 over six times and have loaned out and repaid $9,500 from a community that is perceived as incapable of repayment.” He calls the perception of a diminished work ethic in the neighborhood “a myth” and claims that achievement in the workplace is entirely possible due to a strong desire to work and achieve academically. He went on to express gratitude to a number of companies that outsource work through Advance Memphis. The ministry also depends upon guest lecturers and business professionals who visit daily classes, a host of volunteers who help with reading skills and local community colleges and technical schools that help prepare job seekers.
see
Group, page 5
The University of Memphis
Inspired by a Harvard Business Review article dealing with Four Myths about the Inner City, and after hearing talks from home mission speakers at his church, Nash formed a small advisory board comprised of high school friends who had become business leaders, some older men from his church and non-profit ministry leaders. Initial plans were to launch a for-profit enterprise that would employ neighborhood men with an ultimate goal of turning majority ownership over to them for sustained economic activity, but the group decided on a non-profit training facility instead. Nash cites Bubba Halliday, Clay Smythe, Howard Eddings, Ken Bennett and others as the nucleus of a group of volunteers who helped him launch Advance Memphis. Twelve years later, with a staff of 15 and revenue exceeding $1.8 million annually, the 42-year-old Nash believes in the power of a small group to achieve a “ripple effect” as it relates to community ministry. “In business a satisfied customer will tell another and the business grows,” he said. “In my life, I’ve experienced men and women and a wife that have encouraged and believed in me, and that has been very supportive and encouraging to me to listen and love others and believe in them.”
FORMER PRIEST AND WORRIED MOM HELP VETERANS As a campus priest turned civil rights activist turned Army chaplain, Ed Wallin walked a long and varied path prior to finding himself placed in charge of an effort to bring Vietnam era veterans into VA treatment centers in 1980. According to Wallin, many vets were avoiding the centers because they viewed them as yet another military institution. The campaign to attract veterans to the centers was successful — so much so that a problem surfaced after a few years. “We noticed that when we closed at night some of these people had nowhere to go,” Wallin said. “We were really puzzled about what we could do for these people. Miraculously, I had a black lady come in to visit my office — two of her sons had come back from Vietnam as psychological casualties, and while we were trying to help her and them, she asked the question, ‘Why are all of these people in here?’” Wallin explained that some were waiting for counseling, some were waiting for state employment counselors and some of the others just had nowhere to go. “She asked,” Wallin recalled, “‘Well, what can we do about it?’” When he asked if she had any ideas, Ola Mae Ranson answered her own question. “She said, ‘Well, I could open up a house. I’ll rent a place and maybe we could find some beds where some of these people could stay while they’re getting treatment at the VA,’” Wallin explained. “Ms. Ranson said, ‘Well, you furnish me warm bodies, and I’ll do the rest.’” With that conversation, Ranson, with the help of Wallin and a small group of supporters, founded an organization in a small duplex that has now assisted more than 5,000
neighborhood picking up, cleaning up trash,” Moore said. Moore and her sister, Faith, stood behind an old firehouse at the corner of Faxon and Decatur describing the Youth United with Senior Citizens ministry their mother, Vicky Moore, started in 1991. Seniors would have their homes cleaned by youth volunteers. The only payment required was to share their life experiences. The concept was simple, but the results were far-reaching. “They taught us about self respect and respect for others,” said Timberly. “I was right there with her. I was four or five years old picking up trash in the community. I had on the big gloves and the garbage bags were taller than me. And it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, do you want to do this?’” “We had to be there,” Faith added. The elder sister, a graduate student studying public administration at Strayer University, explained that even before the ministry was established, the family learned the value of service. “Before she actually started this portion of the ministry, on her own she had us go every Thanksgiving and Christmas to serve the homeless on those holidays,” said Faith, 31. Now meals are served at noon the first and third Saturdays of each month and to the homeless and hungry every Sunday in the bright red former firehouse. Timberly said the ministry’s shortterm goal is to expand the serving of free meals to every Saturday, if donations make it possible. The old firehouse at 1010 Faxon, just south of the Jackson Ave. exit on Interstate 240, was sold for one dollar to Vicky Moore 15 years ago by former mayor Willie W. Herenton after he heard a report that she was instrumental in breaking up a gang of Gangster Disciples operating in the neighborhood. Neither sister was quite sure why their mother, who was out of town on business during the interview, painted the building bright red, but they pointed out that the city supplied no funding for improvements. Vicky Moore, who left a job in the corporate offices of FedEx, spent funds from her own pocket to expand the growing ministry that also supplies clothes and basic necessities to neighbors in need.
by Casey Hilder
from page 4
veterans. Wallin’s life is a testament to the power of small groups working to improve the lives of others. As chaplain of the Catholic Campus Ministry at Memphis State University in the 1960s, the Father recruited a few supporters and led the initiative that successfully integrated the restaurants surrounding the campus. A member of the Air Force reserve, Wallin expanded his small group to integrate the restaurants around the Air Force facility on Democrat Road. “And for my efforts, the John Birch Society labeled me as the number two communist in the city! I was very disappointed that I didn’t get number one,“ Wallin jokes, “but another priest beat me out. He was trying to unionize the sanitation workers.” The activist priest was asked by his order to serve as a chaplain in Vietnam. Before leaving, however, Wallin accompanied Dr. Martin Luther King on a march down Highway 51 to Jackson, Miss. But more changes were in store for the veteran priest upon his return. “When I came home from Vietnam, I met my wife. It was love at first sight,” he remembered. “I had pledged my life to poverty, obedience and chastity, yet she helped change my life. I decided I had to go back to school at the age of 42 and get myself a marketable degree — a psychiatric master’s degree in social work at Fordham University in New York. When I returned to Memphis, I was immediately employed by the Veterans Medical Center.” For the next 32 years Wallin worked with impaired veterans, specializing in the assessment and treatment of post-traumatic stress until his wife’s illness forced retirement. She died of brain cancer in 2005. Wallin, now 83, met a former nun in a grief group he organized and married her. Together, the couple continues to work for civil rights, social justice and to champion the cause of homeless veterans through volunteer work with the VA and Alpha Omega. Wallin said he never forgot the lesson learned from Ola Mae Ranson, the lady in the vet center whose question stirred them to action. “My present wife and I believe that the greatest way to gain the goals of change is through small groups — grassroots level,” Wallin said.
A patron of Brown Baptist Church clasps his hands in prayer as volunteer Brandi Franklin sings a rendition of “Light the Way.” When temperatures dropped severely during the last two winters, the old fire station has also served as a shelter for the homeless. Dismayed that the city’s warming tents were closed when temperatures reached a certain level, Faith said her mother once again took action. “My mom said, ‘I have this space, I’m going to open it up.’ There were so many cots in here it was like a maze,” she recalled. Though the ministry receives some support from Hope Presbyterian Church, it has remained officially non-denominational. “My mom was really careful about who she wanted to work with. Now we work with Hope, and they are awesome,” Timberly said. “Anything that they can do, they’re up for it.” The Moore sisters have learned firsthand the impact one family
can have on a community. “My mom says everybody is a role model,” Timberly said. “We have good role models and bad role models. In this inner city community, we’ve had some bad models — crackheads, drug dealers and prostitutes. She wanted to show the kids something different.” Turning to go back inside and assist with the Saturday feeding, Timberly offered one last thought. “The world is comprised of leaders and followers,” she observed. “But you cannot lead until you learn to follow. Until you learn what it means to serve, you cannot be a leader. That is why my mom had us out there every Saturday serving the elderly in the community, serving the homeless in the community and serving the community as a whole.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY Timberly Moore points toward a corner in her north Memphis neighborhood and recalls frightening scenes from her childhood. “When we were younger, that corner right there where the yellow building is, there were drug dealers standing out there and across the street on this little block. They were literally coked up right there,” said the University of Memphis senior. “And the children would see that when they went to the store. When I went to Northside High School, I remember seeing that on the corner, but I noticed that the more we became involved in the community, the less of it I would see.” Moore, 23, had an upbringing immersed in community involvement. She explained that her mother made sure of that. “Saturday, we were out in the
by Casey Hilder
Group
Thursday, December 1, 2011 • 5
Brown Baptist Church organizer Vicki Moore embraces service regular Jacqueline D. Jones.
6 • Thursday, December 1, 2011
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Police Beat — by Christina Holloway
Sexual Assault
On Sunday, Nov. 27 at 2:42 a.m., officers handled a complaint where the victim reported that over a month ago she was sexually assaulted by her thenboyfriend. The case is under investigation.
Burglary
On Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1:25 p.m., officers responded to Carpenter Complex on a burglary call. The student said he returned to his apartment to find electronic equipment missing. There was no forced entry and the case is under investigation. On Thursday, Nov. 24 at 4:39 p.m., officers responded to a University-owned residence at 3604 Midland. The victim said that electronic equipment was taken and entry was forced. The case is under investigation.
demanded his wallet. The victim handed over the wallet. The victim was not injured and said that no weapon was seen or implied. The case is under investigation. On Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 10:19 a.m., officers responded to the Central Parking Lot. The victim said that he was driving his vehicle when a person started following him and followed him onto Lot #44. The person claimed the victim had cut him off in traffic and threatened to do bodily
harm to the victim. The subject in question had left the scene before officers arrived, and the case is under investigation.
Theft
On Sunday, Nov. 27 at 11:16 a.m., officers responded to a reported bicycle theft at Richardson Towers. The victim said that he left his bicycle chained up outside the building, and when he returned it was gone. The case is under investigation.
Vandalism
On Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m., officers responded to a vandalism call at Richardson Towers. The victim said that a tire on her vehicle had been punctured. The case is under investigation.
Threat
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, between 8:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., a black male, 6-foot tall with medium complexion wearing a blue Memphis hoodie approached another male and
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Change
from page 1 forget to ask her about the former Grand Temple of the Masons, a 4,000 square feet hall with 100 theater seats and a stage, where children and youth can discover their artistic gifts. Johns grew up on a farm in Mississippi and worked in medicine for most of her life. She was trained in surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. After her graduation, she worked in surgery as an office nurse and later moved to medical management. “After my divorce, I wanted to start a new life. I wanted to create a place where people could come together every day, put their feet under the same table and share the journey,” Johns said. In 2000, Johns and a friend of hers moved into a house in Binghamton, five blocks away from what would become Caritas Village. They formed a mission group in their house, where peo-
Thursday, December 1, 2011 • 7
ple could meet and pray. After six months, her friend realized that he could not continue his involvement with the community. He moved on, married and started a new life, while Johns continued on her own for three years. “It was hard to move on alone, but the missionary group supported me and even encouraged me to build something bigger,”
D
people run the Village for a couple hundred participants. Without charging for any service, the center’s offerings include art workshops, yoga lessons, a chess club, movie nights, tutoring for children and hot lunch every day. The kitchen workers are the only ones who are paid. “I just love it. It´s pretty incredible what we´ve done just with
Ask Johns about Condori and a smile will form on her lips. “Oh,” she says, looking into the crowded room where an old man eats his soup in company with three African-American teenagers. “She is incredible. She is a blessing for Memphis.” Since she arrived in the U.S. in 2001, Condori has devoted her life to helping people who are in
”
o not wait for leaders— do it alone, person to person.
Johns said. When the Masons put their building on Harvard Avenue up for sale in 2004, the group bought it from their own money and got a zoning waiver as a Community Center in 2006. This laid the foundation of Caritas Village. A volunteer group of eight
Mother Teresa donations in five years,” Johns said with a big smile. One of the tutoring volunteers is Cristina Condori, a 44-yearold Argentinean. She found her way to Caritas Village through Hispanic immigrants, who asked her to teach other immigrants about their rights in the U.S.
need, no matter where they are from and what social background they have. “Why should I treat a Hispanic different than a U.S. American? All human beings are equal in dignity and rights,” Condori said. Every single day, Johns´ alarm wakes her up at 7 a.m. She walks
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The U of M Chess Club Welcome back to a wonderful second year at the University of Memphis Chess Club! Welcome back to a wonderful second semester at the University of Memphis Chess Club! This semester, we have a great number of wonderful and exciting new events planned for our members! We will kick off the first meeting of the semester Tuesday evening with the usual exciting free play as well as lessons for our beginner players who do not yet know how to play chess. Afterwards, there will be a surprise! Just come to club and you will find out in due time what the surprise is going to be! Be sure to bring friends and most importantly...YOUR BRAIN! See you there!
TUESDAY, JAN. 17 • 7-9 P.M. UC MEMPHIS ROOM A (340A) CHECK US OUT ON FACEBOOK: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/UOFMCHESS
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down Merton Street and unlocks the heavy door of Caritas Village. According to her, helping people is what she wants and wanted to do her whole lifetime. “It simply feeds my soul,” she said For Condori, the hours of work are countless also. When she flips open her organizer, there is almost no space to add a new event or appointment. Clean handwriting in the column for Monday says “Dia de los Muertos” in the morning, “Community Garden” at noon, “Teaching at the trailer” and “Community Award” in the evening. And then there is something added between the noon and evening appointments in scratchy writing: “Pick up Aylen from concert.” It was the summer of 2001 when Condori and her two daughters, Aylen and Iris, boarded the airplane to their new home in Miami, where Mario Mercado, the husband and father, found work as a mechanic one year earlier. They didn´t know what to expect and didn´t speak any English. The only thing they knew was they wanted to get away from the crashing economy in Argentina and start a new life for their two daughters, if nothing else. The helplessness the family felt when they arrived in the U.S. is part of what motivates Condori in her volunteer work. After the family moved to Memphis, Condori took on many volunteer duties and formed a group in Memphis called Comunidades Unidas en Una Voz, which translates to Communities of One United Voice. The group consists of 10 activists from Memphis and South America. They knock on doors, go out on the street to protest, and sometimes have to get in contact with the police to try to change something in the treatment of illegal Hispanic immigrants. But can one person really make a difference in the bigger picture? “I don´t think that one person on his own can change something in the whole system,“ Johns said. “But if you are passionate about something, it´s going to be contagious, and people will join you. And I believe all big movements start with one person, and all change starts with one conversation.”
Solutions Study, study, study!
8 • Thursday, December 1, 2011
www.dailyhelmsman.com
Women’s Basketball
Tigers off to hot start
Senior forward Brittany Carter named as early frontrunner for elite award as Tigers begin season 6-1 BY JASMINE VANN Sports Reporter
Award. She was one of 30 finalists on the national list for the award given to seniors in their final year
tournament team UT-Martin Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Elma Roane Fieldhouse. The two games The women’s basmake up the last of ketball team is off to a five-game home a good start as they before the The rittany has worked very stretch prepare for a game U of M begins a stint with Tennessee hard to be in this position. She of road games for State University on the majority of their wants to be a leader on our Thursday. December schedule. Along with their team ... Players come to memThis is the seventh winning streak, the meeting between phis because of players like Tigers got a bit of the two Tennesseegood news. Senior based Tiger squads. Brittany Carter.” guard and forward Memphis leads the Brittany Carter, the overall series 5-1. — Melissa McFerrin C-USA pre-season The Tigers have won Head coach player of the year, three straight games was named to the Women’s of eligibility. in the series since Tennessee State Naismith Trophy Early Season Memphis hosts Tennessee State won a game in Memphis 79-76 in Senior guard and forward Brittany Carter has been named to Watch List Wednesday. She is cur- tomorrow at 7 p.m. and NCAA the 1989-90 season. the Naismith Early Season Wach List. rently Memphis’ leading scorer with 15.5 points per game and ranks in the top 10 in Conference USA statistics in scoring, assists, blocked shots, three-point field goals made and assist/turnover ratio. “Brittany Carter is a very talented young lady,” said head coach Melissa McFerrin. “Brittany has worked very hard to be in this position. She wants to be a leader on our team, she wants to be the best player in this league, and Brittany wants to be a pro. Players come to Memphis because of players like Brittany Carter.” A native of Covington, Ga., Carter is the first Tiger to make the Naismith Trophy Award watch list and is also a two-time first team All-C-USA player. The Naismith Trophy Watch List is made up of the top women’s college basketball players from 35 schools around the country. 51 student-athletes were selected to this season’s Early Season Watch List. Carter is one of four players from the state of Tennessee on the list, but is the only representative from a Conference USA school. Players are selected based on player performances and expectations for the 2012 season. Carter also currently holds the University of Memphis single-game scoring record (male or female) and currently ranks 17th in career scoring at Memphis with To place your ad or for more information, please contact The Daily Helmsman at 1,147 points. She is also a candi(901) 678-2191 or come to 113 Meeman Journalism Bldg. Memphis, TN 38152-3290 date for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS
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HOUSING SEEKING ROOMMATE. Mature or grad student. $60 a week or $225 a month. You take care of
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