Library Stuff

A packed house at the Friends of the Library December meeting heard Jed Marum perform a mix of Celtic folksongs, some of his own compositions, and holiday songs. He accompanied himself on several instruments.

Last weekend the Dallas folksinger participated in a battle reenactment in Oklahoma and this wonderful little snippit of camp life was posted: a duet with Jed and a small fan on violin, performing his song “Come Back Katy” (copyright 2005).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqeyr-Kg280&feature=colike

Focus on Faculty Asst. Professor Ya’ke Smith
Wednesday, February 6, 2012
Central Library sixth floor parlor, 12 – 1:30pm
WOLF: A case study in the making of a feature film.

WOLF tells the story of a family that is shaken to the core when they discover that their son has been molested. As they struggle to deal with the betrayal, their son heads towards a total mental collapse because of his love for his abuser. Assistant Professor Ya’Ke has made a name for himself as a filmmaker with a veracious style of storytelling that takes an unflinching look at issues facing today’s society and his most recent work is no different. Shot over 15 days this past summer in San Antonio, TX, Professor Smith will share his experience making the film as well as what attracted him to the topic. Currently in Post-Production, Smith’s discussion will give insight into what it takes to make a film from initial idea to final execution. He will also share a short clip of the work in progress.

The Focus on Faculty Lecture Series is free and open to all. For more information, contact Tommie Wingfield at wingfield@uta.edu or 817-272-2658.

There is a purple martin house in a pretty little copse next to the parking lot I use south of the Library and Life Sciences building. I had a feeling I was being watched as I walked past earlier this week.

I moved around the structure until the curious occupant took a look to see if I was going to climb up to eat him. I decided against it.

Urban landscapes with active wildlife show a level of health that users may not regularly recognize, but is important. The turtles in the pond under the bridge to the large student parking lot south of my lot, the birds that hop in the fountain on the southwest corner of the Central Library, squirrels that ignore food from people because there is so much indigenous food, they’re welcome signs that the percent of lawn and trees, when compared to the amount of concrete and buildings, sustain an environment for these small animals. I watch people along with the wildlife, and am glad to regularly see individuals walking up the hill from the parking areas pause to watch the antics of a squirrel or grackles in the fountain.

In summer when there were concrete benches under the trees near University Hall one could see these squirrels spread eagle on the cool concrete, dissipating heat from their bodies through their torsos and the membranes at their armpit and groin areas. In fall you can pick up pecans on the lawn of the Library Mall and generate high-pitched scolds from the squirrels that are dropping the nuts from those trees. This isn’t random noise unrelated to you, you’re interacting with that tiny individual.

There’s a lot of life on campus, and I predict that with the advent of the community gardens more wildlife, with an adverse effect, may arrive. Here’s hoping resourceful gardeners can set up the gardens and its defenses in a way that don’t harm the beneficial wildlife while still finding a way to exclude the interlopers. The many facets of companion planting are useful in this. And have-a-heart traps. As with the squirrel above, wildlife doesn’t always live in the places we would wish them to (or not.)

The last Friends of the UTA Library meeting for 2011 will be on December 2, when folksinger Jed Marum performs forthe group. This meeting begins at 7:30pm in the Central Library sixth floor atrium. The library is located at 702 Planetarium Place.

Jed Marum was born in Massachusetts and until his early-30s spent his days working in construction and excavation and his evenings playing in bars and coffeehouses. For a number of years he dropped music and switched to IT work in both the airline and telecom industries, but at age 48 reversed course, picked up music again, and “I quit the day job in January of 2000 and I have earned my living at performing music ever since.”

He performs in Celtic or Folk/Bluegrass festivals (appearing for many years in Arlington at the North Texas Scottish Festival) and concert venues around the US. He has done “a little bit of TV and lot of radio” and has licensed songs and recordings to film and television productions playing to international markets on PBS, cable channels and in theaters. He produced and released nine albums on Boston Road Records and his music is published through Weston Grand Arts in association with ASCAP.

Marum’s album Cross Over The River: A Confederate Collection won the Traditional/Folk Album of the Year Award in the JP Folk Awards program in 2009. The album is a collection of true stories from history in song, as retold from the points-of-view of the American and Irish Americans who fought and reflects a true and South positive image throughout. His latest album is Rejoice!: A Christmas Album, released in November, 2011.

This meeting fills up early, so email or call Tommie Wingfield to hold a seat for you: wingfield@uta.edu or 817-272-2658.

The Staff Advisory Council and Golden Key International Honour Society have joined forces for third annual food drive. The groups aim to collect 600 pounds of food for Tarrant Area Food Bank and Mission Arlington.

In a November 14, 2011 press release the groups stated

In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that one out of every five children living in Tarrant County lived in poverty. Poverty and hunger go hand in hand so, for the third year, the UT Arlington Staff Advisory Council (SAC) and UTA’s Golden Key International Honour Society have joined in November to fight hunger in our area.

“Hunger can happen to anybody,” SAC Representative Angela Ezell said. “It’s important for us to be compassionate to each other.”

In that spirit, SAC and Golden Key urge the UTA community to donate non-perishable food items for those in need. Collection boxes are located in the following buildings: https://www.uta.edu/sac/events/index.php

ARDC
Health Center
University Hall
Central Library
Maverick Activities Center
Watson Building
Davis Hall
Santa Fe
Wetsel Building
Engineering Building
University Center

Collected food will be distributed to the Tarrant Area Food Bank and Mission Arlington.

“Ten pounds of food feed a family of four for a day,” said SAC Chair Kevin Schuck. “Our goal is to raise 600 pounds of food to feed a family for two months.”

Suggested donations include canned fruits, vegetables, and meats; boxed pasta; soups; peanut butter; and rice.

The drive runs through Nov. 28. For more information about the drive, contact Angela Ezell at 817-272-5667 or ezell@uta.edu. You may also contact Golden Key President Kaiem Joseph at president@utagoldenkey.com. Visit http://www.tafb.org for information about the Tarrant Area Food Bank or www.missionarlington.org for information about Mission Arlington.

There is a box inside the front doors of Central Library to leave food donations.

Click on the image to see the full-size flier in a new screen

National Public Radio correspondent John Burnett speaks about “The War Next Door” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the sixth floor atrium of the Central Library.

The event is part of “The War Next Door: Narco-Violence and the U.S.-Mexico Border” series tied to the “Life and Death in the Northern Pass” photography exhibit in the Central Library sixth floor parlor.

Burnett, who is based in Austin, has spent much of his career producing investigative reports from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. His special reporting projects have included New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, and many reports on the drug war in the Americas.

He has received the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting. His reports are heard regularly on NPR’s award-winning newsmagazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

For more information, contact Sam Haynes in the Center for Greater Southwestern Studies at 817-272-3997 or haynes@uta.edu.

Lifted directly and without editing from UTA TrailBlazer newsletter

Need to know how to use Word to format your thesis or dissertation? Want to figure out how to get those layers and selected windows to do what you want them to do in InDesign? Need to know how to resize images in Photoshop? These and many more programs (as well as introduction to free software, such as Google applications) are offered during the semester.

Visit the TechnoScholar page to find upcoming courses and be sure to sign up early, they fill quickly.

Dr. Douglas Richmond (History) is a recipient of the Distinguished Record of Research or Creative Activity in 2011 and a Fellow of the Center for Greater Southwestern Studies and the History of Cartography. He became involved with the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-1848 when he helped organize a conference on this theme in 1985 in the form of a Webb Lectures symposium. Dr. Richmond edited the publication of papers from this conference, Essays on the Mexican War, in 1986 and co-edited another volume of essays, Dueling Eagles: Reinterpreting the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1848, in 2000.

Title and Abstract: ”The Mexican Struggle for Independence from Spain, 1810-1821″
Just as patriots in the United States, Mexican rebels initially sought local autonomy rather than independence. After two priests initiated regional insurrections, the war for independence often became local conflicts rather than a movement for national liberation. This became particularly evident when upper class forces battled Hidalgo and Morelos, who attempted to use the insurrection to obtain redress of socioeconomic problems.  Eventually the criollo determination to control Mexico triumphed when the unheralded Iturbide provided the formula for consensus with his brilliant Plan de Iguala.

Call Nadine at 817-272-0102 or email nadine@uta.edu to sign up for the poetry slam. A small reception will follow the event.