etricities.com

A Letter to the Editor By Steven Edwards
From Jama Oliver
I must say, although I still do not believe that Ludacris is educational, culturally significant, or worth the $170,000 ETSU spent to get him here, Steven raises a very interesting point. See my additional comments at the end. –Jama

Dear Editor,
I found this quote from a poster on Jama Oliver’s web page, www.jamesoliver.us/jama/?p=6#comments, concerning the recent Ludacris disaster: “I, as well as a number of my friends, pay money for an education, not for concerts.”
Yes, you do. You pay for a certain type of culture: an area where the free exploration of ideas is not hindered by parents, authority figures and government watchdogs. An “education” is not just learning that Plato was Aristotle’s teacher. An education is the intellectual, emotional AND moral growth fostered by the interaction of ideas. This includes the interaction of my world-view with Karl Marx, G. H. W. Bush and, yes, Ludacris.
That nearly everyone might walk away from the concert sharing (for a time, at least) the Ludacris view on women is irrelevant, in the same way that the possibility of everyone leaving a Howard Zinn lecture an anarcho-socialist is irrelevant. What matters is that Ludacris (and Zinn) CAN come here on everyone’s dime.
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By Don Fenley
There was a time when an professional altered photograph was a rare thing. It took special equipment, time and special skills. With today’s photo editing software it still takes special skills, but the volume and types of altered photographs are almost limitless. Some examples I ran across this week were at DiscoverKingsports.com.
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By R. Neal
Bands with ironic names like Southern Culture on the Skids notwithstanding (check out their “Dirt Track Date” CD if you haven’t already - trust me), Southern pop culture continues to break new ground. Southern art, literature, and music (the genuine variety, not the abominable “Dukes of Hazard” Hollywood style interpretations) have had a profound influence on American culture over the years. This week, a couple of Southern icons remind us why.
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When college senior Matt Czuchry told his parents he wanted to be an actor, he was the one to point out it might not be a good idea.

“I was actually the one saying I should go on to law school,” Czuchry recalls. “They were the ones who told me I should go ahead and act.”

His parents knew best. After five years of struggling, Czuchry was cast last year in the pivotal role of Logan Huntzberger on the WB family drama, “The Gilmore Girls.” The show’s new season begins Tuesday (8 p.m. EDT).
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Rocketown recording artist Alathea recently announced the band’s partnership with women’s speaker Ronda Paulson to present a series of women’s conferences and retreats across the United States. The four friends from East Tennessee are creating a women’s conference and retreat program that is both affordable and intimate and can be offered to churches in their own venues.

Alathea’s lead singer and chief songwriter Mandee Radford said, “Our goal is to offer a place where the women of a specific community can come together to connect with each other and share in their individual journeys as followers of Jesus. We want to tailor the event to the group, spending as much time listening as we spend speaking, so that we all leave the table full, refueled and refreshed.”
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To date, we have 24 artists signed up to paint the Art-O-Mobile, Kim Schnieder, Gail Oliver, Becky Mallory, Jamie Osborne, Susan Lachmann, Michael Garrett, Sharon Squibb, Catherine Murray, Joy MaGinnis, Sheryl Daniels, Val Lyle, Sylvia Middlemas, Sarah Crowe, Caroline Baker, Reese Chamness, Joan Elliott, Paula Sarut, Jessica Williams, Diane Nelson, Dave McClelland, Stacie Williams, Erin Fenley, Sam Mays, and Barbara Carter. Paul Bishop and Craig Torbett are benefactors sponsoring some of the artists above.
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