Activity of Note 2013

“By Their Fruits, Ye Shall Know Them…”

Paul C. Lampley Vice President for Academic Affairs January 18, 2013

Dr. A.J. Stovall Chair, Division of Social Science

Noah Moore Political Science Major

Noah Moore Represents Rust College in Ford Black College Quiz Bowl On Saturday, November 3, 2012, the 7th Annual Ford Black College Quiz Show brought together some of our nation's brightest minds for two days of fun and competition on the campus of Atlanta University Center's prestigious Spelman College. The "Jeopardy-style" televised competition offers a dozen gifted student players the chance to represent their schools and test their knowledge of African-American history. In addition to earning bragging rights for their performance, students compete for thousands of dollars for their studies. (Reference: The Front Page Firm, www.thefrontpagefirm.com). Noah walked away from the competition with second place prize of a $1,000 scholarship.

The competition included 12 students, accompanied by their coaches, from across the nation attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This year's participants are: College Student Bethune-Cookman University Ketrina Childs Central State University Karon Jones Claflin State University Brandon Britt Coppin State University Tanisha Smith Hampton University Ryan Brookens Paine College Artis Collins, III Rust College Noah Moore Southern University at New Orleans Terri Simon-Coleman Spelman College Nandi Stewart Stillman College Lawrence Brown Talledega College Alexis Tardy University of Maryland Eastern Shore Leroy Myers, Jr. Viewers can see Noah Moore represent Rust College on WLOV FOX Columbus-TupeloWest Point-Houston Sunday February 3, 2013 at 3:00 pm.

“By Their Fruits, Ye Shall Know Them…”

Paul C. Lampley Vice President for Academic Affairs January 24, 2013

Dr. Sujata Sinha Assistant Professor, Business

Sinha Report on American Economic Association Meeting There were many intellectually stimulating and fascinating forums. One of the most interesting forums was the Association for Social Economics Presidential Breakfast, where the outgoing president presented “The Social responsibility of Business through a Social Economics Lens”. This was a fascinating study of fortune 500 companies and their track record on social responsibility, good corporate governance practices and long term profitability. Another very interesting session was a panel discussion on “Designing a U.S. Carbon Tax” led by 5 economists from top institutions including the International Monetary Fund. The discussion introduced the CO2 emission per $ of revenue generated from various industries and goals which were considered politically viable. This is a relevant issue in President Obama’s second term. Another very interesting presentation discussed the financial crash of 2007-2008 by one of the governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Yellen showed how a description of the situation in the crash of 1917 could easily pass for that of 2007. This was a riveting joint AEA-AFA luncheon session that pointed out the increases in systemic risk in the financial markets that grew as new innovative financial products increasingly intertwined different sectors of the market. The regulatory response to the 20072008 crash by governments all over the world noted that many financial products that are not centrally transacted remain outside the purview of government regulators and continue to present systemic risks. There was also an American Economic Association Nobel Laureate Luncheon that had the 2011 Nobel Prize winners of Economics, Thomas Sargent and Christopher A. Sims critique each others work. The Nobel Prize was given for their work on economic expectations (rational expectation) about future inflation rates. Their work has helped to shape practical monetary policy aimed at pulling the economy out of the recession.

The exposure in all of these sessions will stimulate the material taught in my Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Money and Banking Management and Global Business Issues classes.

“By Their Fruits, Ye Shall Know Them…”

Paul C. Lampley Vice President for Academic Affairs February 4, 2013

Dr. Yao Foli Modey Associate Professor, History

The Angry Gods of Africa by Yao Foli Modey Dr. Yao Foli Modey has added to his list of publications with the January 13, 2013 release of The Angry Gods of Africa. In this epochal historical novel, Professor Modey revisits both the European slave trade to Africa and plantation slavery in the New World, both are old subjects. He dramatizes an imaginary journey of apology and shows how a delegation from fundamentalist groups from the former Old South traveled to Africa to show genuine remorse, make atonement and ask for reconciliation from the chiefs. He points out how the Europeans and the Americans, who had the lion’s share of trade and made tons of wealth from it, must go past the sugar coated words of apology---make "atonement" for the profane past and ask for final reconciliation.

He points out in the book that regardless of what people think, Africans did not invite the Europeans to their shores to buy their blood brothers and sisters. The "Oburonis" just showed up in Africa, but claimed that they just stumbled upon the continent. They imposed the slave trade on the African people using their guns and cannons to force the chiefs to exchange prisoners of war for guns, broadcloth and rum. So he said Africans are the victims and should not be going around doing all the apologizing and performing atonement rituals.

Available now from Trafford Publishing, www.trafford.com

“By Their Fruits, Ye Shall Know Them…”

Paul C. Lampley, Ph.D. Vice President for Academic Affairs February 5, 2013

Dr. Margaret Delashmit Chair, Division of Humanities

Thief! by Margaret V. Delashmit When thirteen-year-old Claire McGlaughlin’s parents leave for Kenya as medical missionaries, she is sent to live with her grandmother in Holly Springs, Mississippi— where she thinks nothing interesting ever happens. Soon after her arrival, a rash of burglaries and rumors of a cold case murder send this budding writer into investigative mode.

With the help of her new pal, Ralphie, Claire sets out to solve the mystery. Along the way, Claire and Ralphie make the acquaintance of vicious dogs, a shotgun-waving crazy lady, and an angry sheriff. What’s more, an unknown Mary Cassatt painting and a dog with mysterious powers may be the keys to unraveling a mystery that has haunted the town of Holly Springs for much too long.

This novel explores a society’s tendency to exclude outsiders and the hurt the outsider can suffer as a result. In a parallel plot, a young Kenyan working with Claire’s parents in the European hospital in Kenya is accused of theft simply because he, too, is an outsider.

By the end of the book, Claire begins to realize who she is and what she wants to do with her life.

“This inspiring novel of teenage angst set in a small Southern town captures the emotions of doubt, rejection, and love. It provides a convincing demonstration of the resilience of teenagers who are so often dismissed by adults who cannot see beyond their myopic preconceptions of adolescence (and have forgotten their own teenage years).’’

--B.C. Crawford, Educator, Oxford, Mississippi