Can’t make it to Springfest 2009? Want to still catch all the action?

Just tune in to BlazeRadio.org this Saturday, April 4th starting at 11 AM Central to hear One Sweet Band play live from the campus green!

And in case you missed it, be sure to check out Lonnie’s interview with the band members here.

Happy Springfest!

Now you can virtually flip through Phoenix (the monthly supplement to the Kaleidoscope student newspaper) without leaving your computer! Just click on the cover image below to access all the goodness…

Citizens across the country watched as Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States. Birmingham, the city at the heart of the Civil Rights movement, held a celebration in honor of the inauguration at the Boutwell Auditorium, where the experiences of the past collided with the exuberance of the present.

Mike Nabors, a scrub tech in the UAB cardiovascular thoracic surgery division, helped with the development of Birmingham’s celebration. He felt that the inauguration would change the way people see Birmingham and themselves.

“There were over 6,000 [people],” said Nabors. “[The overall feeling] was jubilant, simply overjoyed. Very refreshing.”
Nabors said that many Civil Rights leaders were at the celebration, watching the moment that they fought for many years ago. “[Rev. Fred] Shuttlesworth was there,” he said. “He got to live to see this day.”

What Nabors took from the celebration was the feeling that times are changing for the better.

“All things are possible,” he said. “It lets you know that times really have changed from 40 years ago. It’s a change from the norm, getting rid of old ideas and Jim Crow laws. It’s hard to forget, but we forgive and move on.”

Birmingham, which is still viewed by others in the country as “Bombingham” or “The Tragic City” might also be changed by the inauguration, said Nabors.

“[Birmingham] will change in the utmost positive way,” he said. “This is where everything started. It started right down here in Birmingham. People are going to start looking at Birmingham like it’s a hospitable place.”

Hernandez Stroud, USGA senator for the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and candidate for USGA president, said the inauguration was a huge moment for America. It was “[a] defining moment in history. The inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th president, embodied the hope of blacks, whites, Hispanics, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike,” said Stroud. “This inauguration stood as a receipt of this country’s apparent investment in the democratic process, a process that has excavated an intelligent, reasonable and competent gentleman regardless of race. The inauguration, more importantly, stood as a measurement that portrayed how far we’ve come as a country. ”

Stroud, a junior majoring in history with a minor in political science, has studied America and its inconsistencies. “The improbability that was often associated with Obama’s candidacy at the start of the campaign is the fundamental aspect that coincides with the idea of America and its improbabilities,” said Stroud. “The African-American journey, the notion that the same country, over 200 years ago, condoned slavery now elects a black as their leader is immeasurable in significance and note. Obama’s presidency reminds us that we’re a country of new beginnings, and despite the magnitude of the challenges we face, there is nothing too vast if we place bitter partisanship to the side and work collectively.”

Obama has already started trying to build a bipartisan government by meeting with congressional bipartisan leaders. He has also made swift action of defining his administration by signing an executive order demanding the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, prison be closed within a year, lifting the ban on stem-cell research and reversing a policy stating that U.S. money will not be used for funding family planning clinics that promote abortion or give referrals and counseling about abortion, according to CNN.

Stroud said that Obama’s administration could provide the image boost America needs. “As for our image abroad, Obama’s election sends a clear message that we’re a nation that doesn’t allow for our past to strangle future progress, specifically race relations, the idea that we truly are a nation that is accepting of all people, despite race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, etc.,” he said.

Although Stroud does think the racial divide hasn’t been closed, he thinks the new president will help bring people together. “I’m not submitting that I believe that because America has elected a black president there is an absence of racial bigotry and injustice. It continues to plague our society,” said Stroud. “I do, however, believe that we’ve been progressing, though; the election of Barack Obama is simply an indicator of how far we’ve come. Obama’s appeal is probably credited to how folks, from all walks of life, draw a sense of belonging from him.”