University of Memphis Students Give Back

University of Memphis students are giving back to the community through the social work program.  53,000 hours were donated back to the community in the 2012-2013 school year.  Students are responsible for more than half of those hours.  This amount of hours translates to about 1 million dollars in volunteer time.

University of Memphis students are giving back to the community in a big way. Recently, the Department of Social Work teamed with agencies in the Memphis area to place graduate and undergraduate students in social work settings where they can get on-the-job experiences.

By the end of the 2012-13 academic year, students will have donated almost 53,000 hours to the community. The graduate students are responsible for about 31,600 of these hours and the undergraduate students accumulated about 21,400 hours. That amount of time translates to almost $1 million of volunteered time.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to experience the clinical side of social work at Daybreak," said Rachel Duerr, a graduate student placed at Daybreak Treatment Center. "It is such a welcoming environment in which to learn and provides challenging experiences with many opportunities for professional growth and development. I am confident that when I leave my placement at Daybreak I will be prepared to step into a permanent position as a social worker.”

Ashley Higginbottom is an undergraduate student placed with the Department of Children’s Services. At her placement, she worked with the Child Protection Investigation Team, which is responsible for investigating allegations of severe physical and sexual abuse and ensuring the children are safe."I am gaining an abundance of knowledge with my placement at the Department of Children's Services," Higginbottom said. "I am confident that what I am learning now will be beneficial in the future."

The Bachelor of Arts Social Work Program places 12 student interns at the Department of Children’s Services each year. The Department of Social Work also offers internships with Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, St. Jude, the Med and other community hospitals welcoming students who are in pursuit of a career in medical social work. Synergy Treatment Centers, Friends for Life, the UT Boling Center, the VA Hospital Memphis, Compass Intervention Center, AGAPE and the Exchange Club are among many other agencies that also accept students from the Department. For more information about the Department of Social Work, visit http://www.memphis.edu/socialwork. 

For more information see the University of Memphis.

The Tigers Have a New Football Schedule

 Make sure to check out the new revised football schedule for the University of Memphis.  They will be playing some new opponents that you have not seen before.  UConn and USF are some of the exciting matches for the 2013 year.  Keep reading to learn all about the new schedule and reworked conference.

The University of Memphis received its updated Big East football schedule Friday, a re-worked version necessitated by the recent departures of Boise State and San Diego State.

Memphis, as a member of the league's newly formed west division, was scheduled to play Boise State and San Diego State in 2013, but instead will play at UConn and at home against UCF. UCF, like Memphis, is a new Big East member joining the league officially in July from Conference USA.
All Big East teams will play an eight-game league schedule. In the 10-team football conference, the Tigers will play each of the other schools except Rutgers. Memphis will have home games against UCF, Temple, SMU and Cincinnati and away games against UConn, USF, Louisville and Houston. Dates have not been set, but should be announced in mid-February.



In replacing Boise State with UConn, the Tigers, 4-8 last fall in coach Justin Fuente's first season, play a team that finished 5-7 instead of one that went 11-2 and was ranked in the top 20.
The U of M's non-conference schedule is Duke, Arkansas State, UT Martin and Middle Tennessee State.

While a first-ever Big East Championship game was set for December, the reduction of football-playing members from 12 to 10 will eliminate the two-division setup and title game.

New commissioner Mike Aresco had announced the league schedule — with Boise State and San Diego State — Dec. 11, but Boise State announced three weeks later it would remain in the Mountain West Conference. San Diego State followed earlier this week with a similar move. Neither Boise State nor San Diego State, who would have been football-only members, spent a day as a Big East program.

For more information see Commercial Appeal.

Stay Safe During the Storm

Freezing Rain expected across much of the Mid South on Tuesday.
An Upper level disturbance will move across the region today bringing another round of wintry precipitation mainly in the form of freezing rain. There is a potential for significant ice accumulations across portions of Southwest Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas.
Ice Storm Warning remains in effect until 6 am CST Wednesday.

• Ice accumulations: freezing rain will produce ice accumulations of a quarter of an inch to four tenths of inch through early evening, mainly on trees, power lines and elevated road surfaces.
• Timing: through 6 am CST Wednesday with the greatest potential for icing this afternoon.
• Impacts: hazardous road conditions will likely develop. Especially on elevated surfaces such as bridges and overpasses.

Precautionary/preparedness actions. An Ice Storm Warning means severe winter weather conditions are expected or occurring. Significant amounts of ice accumulations will make travel dangerous or impossible. Travel is strongly discouraged. Commerce will likely be severely impacted. If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food, and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. Ice accumulations and winds will likely lead to snapped power lines and falling tree branches that add to the danger.

For more information see google.

Congratulations to the Opera at the University of Memphis

The University of Memphis Opera Program has won first place at the National Opera Association's Production Competition.  They won for their 2011 production of Idomeneo.   The competition is judged by opera professionals who review the videos of the production.  They do not know who submits the videos or from what school they have come from.

The University of Memphis Opera at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music won first place in its category in the National Opera Association’s Production Competition for the 2011 production of Mozart’s Idomeneo. This is the second win for the School of Music, following its 2008 production of Hansel and Gretel.

Each year the NOA selects winners, based on the production budget and size of the program. The competition is judged by a panel of opera professionals who review videos of the entered productions with no knowledge of which opera companies submitted them. Productions are critiqued on vocal and orchestral performance, dramatic quality, stage direction, set, lighting and costumes.

Idomeneo tells the story of the King of Crete who returns home after the siege of Troy. Because of a vow to save his life, he has to sacrifice the life of his son, Idamante, to appease the god Neptune. Complicating matters, Idamante is in love with Trojan prisoner-of-war Ilia and loved by Greek princess Electra.

The company’s production emulated the violence that Mozart incorporated in the composition of Idomeneo. He used the post-Trojan War heroes to add his own battle cry to the Enlightenment philosophers, artists, scientists and statesmen of the day. Just as Mozart's Trojan War is the background for his artistic lunge, this opera is the background for exploration of the movement from one generation to another and the violence of letting go.

Faculty member Copeland Woodruff directed the opera and Mark Ensley was conductor and music director. The production starred Malcolm Cooper, Idomeneo; Christina Paz, Ilia; Annabeth Novitzki, Idamante; Katie Liesner, Elettra; Phillip Himebook, Arbace; and Steven Albart, High Priest. The technical crew was comprised of Michael Montgomery, Set & Costume Design; Les Dickert, Lighting Design; Luke Hall, Props Design; and Matthew Strampe, Technical Director.

The National Opera Association was founded in 1955 to promote a greater appreciation of opera. Its membership extends to the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. 

For more information see Memphis.edu.