Welcome to Chinatown
In this present economy, a person has to save as much money as possible. They can’t do what they used to before, like go to the movies.
Well, there is an alternative to that and it’s called “A Night in Chinatown,” held every Tuesday and Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Olson Auditorium in Academic Building IV. It began on February 15, 2011 and will end on March 24, 2011.
It is run by the 16 students of Zhejiang Police College, near Shanghai, China, who are studying here at the College of Criminal Justice for the 2010-2011 academic year.
The idea for the movie night came from Qiuming Yui, visiting scholar and advisor to the students. The planning process began in May 2010 while they were preparing to study here. Each student had chosen 16 movies that they liked and then from there, they narrowed it down to 10.
“We want to choose typical movies in China, like documentar(ies) and love stor(ies), but not only kung fu movie,” said Yingyu Le, one of the organizers of the festival. “And since we are criminal justice majors, we even have a movie about the social problems in China. We hope that these 10 movies can show a part of our culture.”
The students from China did a tremendous job of putting this event together, and it is one of the best events that has been done at this university.
For more information about “A Night In Chinatown”, you can contact Shu Cang at (936) 661-6254 or at sxc025@shsu.edu.
Here are a list of the movies that will be shown at “A Night In Chinatown”:
March 3: Beijing Bicycle
March 8: Shower
March 10: Eat, Drink, Man, Woman
March 22: The Equation of Love and Death
March 24: Dream Weaver: Beijing 2008
Now I’ve Seen Everything
by Cheval John
A little of Panama was featured at the Latin Jazz Concert last Saturday night. The concert was headlined by Danilo Perez of Panama and the “Perez Trio” which featured bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz, both who from the New York area.
The first half of the concert, the SHSU symphony orchestra played with the trio along with a couple of jazz musicians from Woodcreek High School.
The second half of the concert, the SHSU Jazz Band, under the direction of Aric Schneller, professor of music at SHSU, played along with the trio. In the final rendition, pianist Luis Marin of Puerto Rico, who played on Monday night, joined in the festivities.
The concert was the finale of Festival Inspiracion. I personally enjoyed it because of the presentations that was given, the improvisation concert on Wednesday that featured the works of Jesus Moroles, a sculptor from Corpus Christi, Texas in which the musicians played music from the works and the SHSU dancers created choreography for the performance.
Will we see another festival inspiracion? Only time will tell.
Bridging the Gap between an Economist and a Comedian
When a person thinks about an economist, they think about someone who’s in academia who teaches economics to students or who advises government on economic policies. And when someone thinks about comedians, they think about a person who tells jokes about different subjects.
Earlier today, Yoram Bauman, Ph.D, part-time professor at the University of Washington, who is also a stand-up economist, gave a presentation in the LSC theater as part of the Literacy Financial Week at Sam Houston State University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mathematics from Reed College in Portland Oregon and a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in economics from the University of Washington. “Comedy works when there are stereotypes and they are strong stereotypes about economist, so it is easy to [do]”, Bauman said. In 2008, he did a supply-side world tour in Europe and Israel.
His presentation was fun and interesting because he made fun of those who are in the profession such as the macro-economist. But his main focus is on environmental tax reform. It involves raising taxes on air pollution, fossil fuels, etc. and lowering taxes on income, etc. so that it will force those to find alternate resources that will be good for the environment. Bauman’s three main goals in performing stand-up are:
1. Spread the joy of economist comedy to the world
2. Get people excited about economics
3. Pollution pricing and environmental tax reform
The presentation was great because not only did it make people laugh, but it introduced a new type of genre that seems opposite to each other and it gives a new avenue to get an important message across to the audience.
For more information about the Stand Up Economist, click here.
For more information about SHSU’s BearkatOne Services, click here.
Let the Rythm Give You Inspiracion
Well-known international artist in the music and art world will be making their way to Sam Houston State University for festival called “Festival Inspiracion”. The Festival Inspiracion is a one week festival that is focused on the Latin American cultures of the world. The event will be held from February 21-February 26. It will feature music, art, lectures and workshops that will educate those that are interested in the Latin American field.
The four artist that are headlining the event are:
Danilo Perez of Panama and Luis Marin of Puerto Rico, who performed with the late Tito Puente and other artists; Adelina Moya of Mexico and Jesus Moroles a sculptor from the USA. Both will be displaying their artwork in the Wynne Home museum. Moroles won the 2008 National Medal of Arts which is the highest honor in the art world and was presented by the President of the United States.
The brainchild behind the first ever latin festival that will be occurring here on campus is Dr. Sergio Ruiz, professor of music in the School of Music at Sam Houston State University. “I have been planning this for several years”, he said. “The plan was to bring the art, the music, the lectures, and the workshops together to make it fun and educational for everyone that attends.
This event will be one of the major events that will ever happen at Sam Houston State University because it will be bringing a huge exposure not only to the Latin American music scene, but to the culture of Latin America and it will inspire those to have a greater understanding of the Latin American people.
For more information about Festival Inspiracion, visit these links:
www.shsu.edu/~music
today@SAM.edu
The Africa You Never Knew
Dr. Samake
When a person hears of Africa, they often perceive poverty, diseases and death. But what many people do not know is that Africa is rising as a prominent player in the world.
Last week, Macki Samake, Ph.D., professor of linguistics at the University of Bamako in Mali, gave a keynote adress about the independence of Mali and how it is progressing towards becoming an emerging power in the world. The presentation was part of a week of seminars in the history department at Sam Houston State University.
He explained how important kings died during the struggle for independence. He also said that women played an important role in the struggle, even though they did not fight in the struggle. But instead, the women’s role was to provide moral support and to cook meals and to replenish the men that fought in the struggle.
“Democracy is important in order to succeed,” Samake said. “Mali has taken that road and will be a great nation.”
The keynote address was presented in room CO90 in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building to an audience of faculty and students.
The presentation was impressive because people learned about a country that is a model for the rest of Africa. Samake showed that with persistence and patience, Mali will be a great nation.
Share this: