August E. “Augie” Grant, the J. Rion McKissick Professor of Journalism at the University of South Carolina, will deliver the keynote address. He will speak on “Convergence and Disruption: The New Research Paradigms.”

The symposium will be held in the Communications Building Auditorium (Room 321), with the poster session located in the foyer outside the auditorium. A lunch will be held in the Scripps Convergence Lab (Communications Building Room 402). Tickets to the lunch are $10. All other events during the symposium are free and open to the public.

“The theme of this year’s symposium highlights the changes that are leading to the transformation and convergence of the fields of communication and information,” said CCI Dean Mike Wirth.

“Our keynoter, Augie Grant, is an internationally known expert on media convergence and technology. His talk will set the tone for what promises to be an exciting day of paper presentations, posters, and discourse,” Wirth said.

The symposium begins at 9:00 a.m. with a continental breakfast in the CCI lobby, followed by Grant’s keynote address at 9:30 a.m.

Research paper presentations will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium on the topic of “New Roles for Media in Society,” and the poster session begins at 11:30 a.m. in the lobby.

Lunch begins at 12:15 p.m. in the Scripps Convergence Lab. The next paper presentation session begins at 1:45 p.m. in the auditorium on the topic of “Media’s Role in Society.”

The final paper presentation session begins at 2:45 p.m. in the auditorium on the topic of “Science Communication,” and the closing comments and awards ceremony are set for 3:30 p.m. Awards will be given to the best paper by undergraduate students, the best paper by master’s students, the best collaborative paper by faculty and doctoral students, and the best poster.

For more information about the symposium program, call 865-974-6651 or visit the symposium website.

CONTACT:

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, charles.primm@tennessee.edu)

Christopher Stephens, (left), and Mohamed Mahfouz, (right), help lead collaborative research through the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

UT has launched a new institute to research solutions to medical problems such as devices for improved delivery of medications, better imaging technology, and optimized efficiency in the healthcare setting. Finding answers to these and many other healthcare problems is possible through a unique collaboration introduced by the new Institute of Biomedical Engineering. This new institute connects not only engineering and medicine but also three diverse UT campuses in a collaboration that is unique in the country; innovative for faculty, physicians and students; and beneficial to people. To learn more about the institute, visit the College of Engineering website.

He’ll be discussing its applications at the Science Forum on March 1.

The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research and the general public to learn about science through a conversational presentation.

The weekly presentations begin at noon on Fridays in Room C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena. Attendees can bring lunch or purchase it at the arena. Each presentation is forty minutes long and is followed by a question-and-answer session. Science Forum presentations are free and open to the public.

Electron microscopes, similar to optical microscopes, are used to reveal the structure of small objects. Electron microscopes make use of the properties of electrons to magnify small objects for study instead of using light, as in optical microscopes.

“Electron microscopes have been around since the early 1930s. But only in the last thirteen years has the technology matured to the point that we can study materials literally atom by atom,” Idrobo said.

Idrobo uses electron microscopy to study, at the atomic scale, the chemical bonding and optical properties of graphene. Graphene is a pure-carbon substance similar to graphite, but lighter. These properties can be applied in the production of novel electronic devices and more efficient energy-related materials.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• March 8: Dr. Paul Campbell Erwin, professor and head of the Department of Public Health, presenting “John Snow and Cholera: The Foundation for Modern Disease Investigation.”
• March 15: Kevin Hoyt, director of UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, presenting “The Proposed UT AgResearch Gas and Oil Well Research Project.”
• April 5: William T. Bogart, president of Maryville College and professor of economics there, discussing “Cargo Cult Economic Policy: Urban Development and Green Energy.”
• April 12: Stephanie K. Drumheller-Horton, instructor of earth and planetary sciences, presenting “Crocodylian Bite Marks in the Fossil Record.”
• April 19: Devon M. Burr, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, discussing “The Moon That Would Be A Planet: Saturn’s Giant Titan.”
• April 26: Joan Markel, curator of Civil War exhibits at the McClung Museum, presenting “Digging into Our Civil War Past.”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. For more information about the Science Forum, visit the Office of Research website.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

He will discuss the fire service and tell his stories at Friday’s Science Forum.

The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research and the general public to learn about science through a conversational presentation.

The weekly presentations begin at noon on Fridays in Room C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena. Attendees can bring lunch or purchase it at the arena. Each presentation is forty minutes long and is followed by a question-and-answer session. Science Forum presentations are free and open to the public.

Nix will talk about the “hot-potato baby” phenomenon that firefighters encounter.

He said that when firefighters or paramedics answer a call at a home with a sick or injured child, parents often bring the child outside instead of waiting.

“The parent presents us with a very sick child as soon as we get there,” he said. “Sometimes when we pull up, they come sprinting out.”

In contrast, when adults in the house are in need, they wait inside. Children are portable and often inspire more worry, Nix said.

Nix will also present a general history of the fire service and talk about the medical work he does.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• March 1: Juan-Carlos Idrobo, research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussing “Exploring the Universe One Atom at a Time.”
• March 8: Paul Campbell Erwin, professor and head of the Department of Public Health, presenting “John Snow and Cholera: The Foundation for Modern Disease Investigation.”
• March 15: Kevin Hoyt, director of UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, presenting “The Proposed UT AgResearch Gas and Oil Well Research Project.”
• April 5: William T. Bogart, president of Maryville College and professor of economics there, discussing “Cargo Cult Economic Policy: Urban Development and Green Energy.”
• April 12: Stephanie K. Drumheller-Horton, instructor of earth and planetary sciences, presenting “Crocodylian Bite Marks in the Fossil Record.”
• April 19: Devon M. Burr, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, discussing “The Moon That Would Be a Planet: Saturn’s Giant Titan.”
• April 26: Joan Markel, curator of Civil War exhibits at the McClung Museum, presenting “Digging into Our Civil War Past.”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. For more information about the Science Forum, visit the Office of Research website.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

His presentation on “Cobalt-Catalyzed Oxidation of p-Substituted Phenols: Developments toward an Efficient Conversion of Lignin to High Value Chemicals” was selected from more than eighty other entries that focused on the symposium’s topic: “Impact on the Southeast by the World’s Renewable Energy Future.”

Students attending any of the SEC’s fourteen universities were eligible to enter, and the poster awards were broken into education-based categories: undergraduate students, graduate students, and post-doctoral scholars.

“The research of the award recipients was truly exemplary and our judges had a difficult task choosing the winners, which is a testament to the quality of work of the students in the Southeastern Conference,” said Torie Johnson, executive director of SECU, the SEC’s academic initiative.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive presented the certificates of achievement at the symposium.

“The symposium offers our students the opportunity to come together as part of a conference and to share information,” Slive said. “When we first started thinking about the symposium, one of the most important things was to give our students a chance to learn about the educational components of other institutions and to give them a chance to broaden the scope of their own education.”

Sougata Bardhan of the University of Missouri placed second in the post-doctoral scholar category.

The undergraduate student winners were Travis Williams of the University of Georgia (first place) and Sherrard Davidson of Louisiana State University (second place). There was a tie for first place in the graduate student category between Christopher Bobryk of the University of Missouri and Robert Mueller of the University of Florida.

For complete information on SECU, the academic initiative of the SEC, follow @TheSECU on Twitter.

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C O N T A C T :

Christine Copelan (ccopela7@utk.edu)

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The CAREER award is the NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty who demonstrate outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

“We are delighted that Dr. Jenkins has been chosen for a NSF Career Award,” said Charles Feigerle, department head. “Professor Jenkins has established a record of achievement in research, scholarship, and teaching that places him among the top young academics in his field.”

Jenkins’s award includes a $650,000 grant over five years, beginning May 1, to support his educational activities and research.

“My group has worked very hard over the last few years on this project and has published some great results already,” said Jenkins. “This award confirms that we are on the right track to solving this challenging synthetic chemistry problem.”

Jenkins’s research group will be designing new catalysts for forming aziridines. The aziridine functional group is critically important in biology and synthetic organic chemistry. Aziridines are found in natural products that have antitumor and antibiotic properties, and are crucial in pharmaceutical research.

In addition, Jenkins’ team will work with Central High School in several capacities, including the Pre-Collegiate Scholar Program and the development of new teaching materials for Advanced Preparation Chemistry labs that focus on sustainable synthesis.

She will be discussing the mission at the Science Forum on Friday.

The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research and the general public to learn about science through a conversational presentation.

The weekly presentations begin at noon on Fridays in Room C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena. Attendees can bring lunch or purchase it at the arena. Each presentation is forty minutes long and is followed by a question-and-answer session. Science Forum presentations are free and open to the public.

Kah will talk about the mission’s goal to assess if any area of Mars is habitable or has been in the past. She will explain the makeup of the Curiosity rover, how it will assess habitability, and a few of its recent discoveries. She also will discuss why the mission chose Gale Crater for this excursion.

Kah’s job on the mission is co-investigator on several of the camera teams, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California.

A few days a week, she works to help choose objects for the rover to photograph and makes sure that the cameras are programmed correctly.

“The remaining time I act as a full-fledged part of the science team as a geologist and an expert in interpreting both textural information and chemistry of rocks: participating in discussions and planning sessions, and interpreting the images and other data that come down,” she said.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• February 22: Lt. Robby Nix, critical care paramedic for the Rural Metro Fire Department, presenting “Firefighter Paramedics and the Hot Potato Baby—It’s Not What You Think.”
• March 1: Juan-Carlos Idrobo, research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussing “Exploring the Universe One Atom at a Time.”
• March 8: Dr. Paul Campbell Erwin, professor and head of the Department of Public Health, presenting “John Snow and Cholera: The Foundation for Modern Disease Investigation.”
• March 15: Kevin Hoyt, director of UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, presenting “The Proposed UT AgResearch Gas and Oil Well Research Project.”
• April 5: William T. Bogart, president of Maryville College and professor of economics, discussing “Cargo Cult Economic Policy: Urban Development and Green Energy.”
• April 12: Stephanie K. Drumheller-Horton, instructor of earth and planetary sciences, presenting “Crocodylian Bite Marks in the Fossil Record.”
• April 19: Devon M. Burr, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, discussing “The Moon That Would Be A Planet: Saturn’s Giant Titan.”
• April 26: Joan Markel, curator of Civil War exhibits at the McClung Museum, presenting “Digging into Our Civil War Past.”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. For more information about the Science Forum, visit the Office of Research website.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

The debate over the nation’s debt ceiling, the looming risk of sequestration of federal spending, and the payroll tax increase contribute to the slowdown in predicted gains, according to the forecast in the 2013 Economic Report to the Governor of the State of Tennessee, released today.

The study, prepared by the UT Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER), predicts the trajectory of the state and national economies by examining many economic and fiscal factors and trends.

“The U.S. economy is projected to continue to grow in the quarters ahead and the unemployment rate will continue its slow but steady decline,” said Matt Murray, CBER associate director and the report’s author. “For Tennessee, the economic outlook calls for modest growth in 2013 followed by substantially stronger growth in 2014.”

Several good signs for the nation’s still fragile economy are the rebound of the housing sector and tangible contributions from the construction and manufacturing sectors in job growth. Manufacturing jobs will be up for the third year in a row after thirteen years of contraction.

The expiration of the payroll tax cut is one of the most significant factors that puts downward pressure on consumer spending and overall economic growth for our state and the nation.

“To put it in perspective, for a Tennessee household earning $50,000 per year, this translates into a tax increase of $1,000,” said Murray. “It is expected that the payroll tax increase will have a significant negative effect on taxable sales for the year.”

For the US economy, inflation-adjusted gross domestic product is projected to grow only 1.7 percent in 2013, down from 2.3 percent growth in 2012. The unemployment rate will stay relatively flat this year, ending around 7.6 percent, just 0.2 percentage points down from its current level. Inflation is projected to remain benign and average under 2 percent over the next few years, despite interest rates being kept at historically low levels by the Federal Reserve.

Murray noted that while the last-minute cliff package averted large economic setbacks, continued positive growth is reliant on finding solutions to the nation’s fiscal woes.

“There is still much uncertainty clouding the outlook of the economy,” he noted. “The last-minute action helped avert tax hikes and drastic spending cuts, but it failed to address the core issue of how to bring the nation’s deficit and debt under control.”

Tennessee economy

Tennessee can expect slow growth this year, followed by stronger growth in 2014, according to the report.

This year and next, the state’s unemployment rate will drift down but remain above pre-recession levels. The state’s annual rate for 2013 is expected to be 7.9 percent. The rate will improve to 7.5 percent next year, according to the report.

Other findings:

• Nonfarm employment should advance 1 percent in 2013 and 1.7 percent in 2014.
• Employment growth in manufacturing will slow from the heated pace of 2012 but still see healthy growth of 1.2 percent; gains in durable goods manufacturing will more than offset losses in nondurable goods manufacturing.
• Natural resources, mining, and construction, along with professional and business
• services, will enjoy the strongest rates of growth in 2013. Information and financial activities are expected to perform poorly.
• Tennessee’s labor force will contract again in 2013, but only by a small amount. The number of employed people will improve slightly while the number of unemployed will fall by 2.2 percent. Substantial improvement is expected in 2014.
• The housing market is on the rise in Tennessee. Nashville-area Realtors reported a 20 percent increase in home sales this December compared to last.

State revenue performance

Tennessee performed better than the Southeastern region and the nation in fiscal year 2012 with total tax collections growing at 8 percent over 2011.

The state also had healthy sales tax collections, growing 6.7 percent, the second highest in the region behind West Virginia. However, third quarter 2012 data showed somewhat slower growth rates. Sales tax collections fell just below the nation and the region, growing at 2.4 percent.

As noted, taxable sales will likely take a severe hit due to the payroll tax.

The report also includes a special focus on e-commerce, which is important since the state relies heavily on the sales tax. Tennessee online business-to-business sales reached $3.5 trillion in 2010, and individual consumers’ online purchases totaled $170 billion that same year. Due to noncompliance in sales and use tax, CBER estimates Tennessee lost approximately $401 million in taxes in 2010 and predicts that these annual losses will continue to grow.

Read the entire report here (pdf).

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CONTACT:

Matt Murray (865-974-6084 or 865-974-0931, mmurray1@utk.edu)

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

He will talk about the perceptions and misconceptions of the condition at the Science Forum on Friday.

The Science Forum is a weekly brown-bag lunch series that allows professors and area scientists to discuss their research and the general public to learn about science through a conversational presentation.

The weekly presentations begin at noon on Fridays in Room C-D of Thompson-Boling Arena. Attendees can bring lunch or purchase it at the arena. Each presentation is forty minutes long and is followed by a question-and-answer session. Science Forums are free and open to the public.

A broad range of testosterone levels can be considered normal in men, Namey said. Health issues can arise when testosterone levels fall dramatically. Beyond the expected sexual issues, low testosterone can lead to muscle wasting, osteoporosis, and depression. Namey believes that tests for low testosterone should be improved to take into account this broad range of health effects.

He has written several textbook chapters and papers as well as given lectures on this topic. Namey also writes for healthtap.com and is the top-rated physician in five of their health categories. He was listed in the 2004-05 Consumers’ Research Council of America’s Guide to America’s Top Physicians.

For more information about his work, visit drnamey.com.

Future Science Forums will feature:

• February 15: Linda C. Kah, Ken Walker Associate Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, discussing “Curiouser and Curiouser: NASA’s Curiosity Rover’s Mission in Gale Crater.”
• February 22: Lt. Robby Nix, critical care paramedic for the Rural Metro Fire Department, presenting “Firefighter Paramedics and the Hot Potato Baby—It’s Not What You Think.”
• March 1: Juan Carlos Idrobo, research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, discussing “Exploring the Universe One Atom at a Time.”
• March 8: Dr. Paul Campbell Erwin, professor and head of the Department of Public Health, presenting “John Snow and Cholera: The Foundation for Modern Disease Investigation.”
• March 15: Kevin Hoyt, director of UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center, presenting “The Proposed UT AgResearch Gas and Oil Well Research Project.”
• April 5: William T. Bogart, president of Maryville College and professor of economics there, discussing “Cargo Cult Economic Policy: Urban Development and Green Energy.”
• April 12: Stephanie K. Drumheller-Horton, instructor of earth and planetary sciences, presenting “Crocodylian Bite Marks in the Fossil Record.”
• April 19: Devon M. Burr, assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences, discussing “The Moon That Would Be a Planet: Saturn’s Giant Titan.”
• April 26: Joan Markel, curator of Civil War exhibits at the McClung Museum, presenting “Digging into Our Civil War Past.”

The Science Forum is sponsored by the UT Office of Research. Click here for more information about the Science Forum.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

The university has two new cutting-edge microscopes worth a total of $3.5 million. One microscope has the power to see at the atomic level, while the other has the power to slice and cut at the nano scale.

Image taken using the Zeiss Auriga. Extracted from plant leaves, these protein complexes are involved with the conversion of solar energy by plants. Professor of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology Barry Bruce and his students are exploring how plants harvest solar energy and how the process may be used in hybrid photovoltaic devices.

The microscopes are key to discovering and improving advanced materials used in areas like medicine, nuclear security, nanotechnology, and green power. They eventually will be housed in the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM), currently under construction.

The university is hosting an open house to view the instruments on February 6 from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m. in Science and Engineering Research Facility (SERF) Room 307. All students, faculty, and staff from the University of Tennessee-system, University of Tennessee Medical Center, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are welcome. A tour and lecture will follow. Parking is available for a fee at the Eleventh Street Parking Garage at the corner of Eleventh Street and Cumberland Avenue.

The microscopes are among the most powerful in the world and unique in that they can be controlled remotely. Complementary to capabilities at ORNL, the new microscopes will be used for fundamental research as well as a training bed for students. Personnel within academic institutions and industry, across the region and around the world, can access them for a modest fee.

“Understanding how and why materials behave the way they do and how new and improved materials can be made starts at the level of the atom and builds up from there,” said George Pharr, JIAM director. “The new instruments have the ability to probe, see and characterize materials from the atomic scale up so we can make breakthrough discoveries.”

The $2.5 million Zeiss Libra 200 Transmission Electron Microscope, with the magnification power of 1 to 10 million times, can resolve and image individual atoms. Already, the instrument has been used to produce three-dimensional images of molecules to improve drug delivery, develop a handheld neutron detector for control of nuclear materials, and study materials to build better fuels cells for hydrogen cars.

Image taken by Professor Gerd Duscher and his students showing the effect of helium implantation into a new lithographic mask material. The image in the background was taken with Zeiss Auriga and the two images in the foreground were taken with the Zeiss Libra. Materials Science and Engineering Professor Philip Rack is testing new methods to manipulate these materials for Intel, Inc.

The Libra is one of a few instruments in the world that can simultaneously examine specimens cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures, fully image a structure three-dimensionally, and produce extremely high energy resolution in chemical analysis.

“These features make the instruments extremely versatile in advanced materials development and can be used to study polymeric, biological and crystalline materials, as well as composites or hybrids of these materials,” said Pharr.

The $1 million Zeiss Auriga Crossbeam microscope has the magnification power of 100,000, with the ability to machine—or cut through—features as small as a few nanometers. It can prepare samples, etch substrates and slice and image successively to get three-dimensional interior images of small objects. The Auriga has been used to slice through single biological cells to identify the internal cell structure and study the effects of diseases and pathogens. It holds promise in nanotechnology in creating nanoscale electrical and mechanical devices.

Gerd Duscher is lead scientist and John Dunlap is the facility manager for JIAM. The microscopes were funded by UT Knoxville and the UT system.

Established in 2005, the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, which comprises a multidisciplinary team of scientists from UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, operates at the forefront of modern materials science in facilities across campus. The permanent site of JIAM, located at Cherokee farm, is slated to open in 2015.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Research conducted by Matthew Shaffer, a doctoral psychology student at UT, and C. Veronica Smith, an assistant psychology professor at the University of Mississippi, reveals that the first sexual experience can set the tone for the rest of one’s sexual life.

The study is published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy and is the first to look at whether the circumstances of losing one’s virginity have lasting consequences.

“The loss of virginity is often viewed as an important milestone in human development, signifying a transition to adulthood,” said Shaffer. “However, it has not been studied in this capacity. We wanted to see the influence it may have related to emotional and physical development.”

The researchers examined how first-time sexual satisfaction impacts long-term sexual function as well as how first-time physical and emotional responses affect long-term sexual experiences. They found that positive first-time experiences were predictive of physical and emotional satisfaction. Specifically, those who felt loved and respected by their partner found later encounters more emotionally satisfying.

The researchers asked 331 young men and women about how they lost their virginity. The anonymous participants ranked the experience according to emotions related to anxiety, contentment, and regret. They also answered questions about their sex life using scales measuring sense of control, satisfaction, and well-being. Finally, the participants filled out a diary for two weeks describing each sexual experience.

A series of analyses revealed those who were most emotionally and physically satisfied the first time found their sex lives the most fulfilling. Those who reported higher levels of anxiety and negativity with the first time reported lower overall sexual functioning.

“While this study doesn’t prove that a better first time makes for a better sex life in general, a person’s experience of losing their virginity may set the pattern for years to come,” said Shaffer.

Shaffer suggests that a first-time sexual experience may create a general pattern of thought and behavior that guides sexual experiences and understanding of information concerning sexuality.

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C O N T A C T :

Matthew Shaffer (mshaffe4@utk.edu)

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Derek Alderman, professor and department head of geography at UT is a specialist on streets named for King. Alderman is a cultural and historical geographer; he looks into how places are used to express culture and commemorate the past, and how these places become important.

When Alderman began his research on streets named after King in mid-1990s, he looked at three things:

“How many streets are named for King, and where are they located nationally? What struggles do African-Americans face when trying to commemorate King in cities? And what are the specific locations of streets named after King within a city, and what does this say about the struggles African-Americans face in memorializing the American civil rights movement?”

Derek Alderman

Alderman’s research shows that more than 900 streets are named after King. These streets are in forty states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, and the streets are densely clustered in the southeastern United States.

“About 70 percent of streets named for King are found in the southeastern states. That shouldn’t be surprising; the Southeast was the major location for the civil rights battle,” Alderman said.

Although the number of streets dedicated to King continues to grow, the controversy surrounding renaming a street in his memory remains.

“I believe early proponents of honoring King with street names thought it would be an easier and less costly way of making King’s name visible to everyone in the city, but they found out it could be just as controversial,” said Alderman.

The opposition comes mainly from the desire to protect one’s turf.

“Street names are powerful symbols of identity, and some people are very unwilling to give up that identity. It’s about protecting space, which can be a racial issue,” Alderman said. “It’s a protection of racial boundaries and racial power.”

Much street naming in the past focused on commemorating white figures in history, and to a certain extent African-Americans still do not have complete freedom to engage in rewriting cities.

“Many street-naming proponents ask for a street that cuts across racial boundaries, but a lot of the opposition doesn’t allow that to happen,” Alderman said.

This leads streets named after King to be located in largely African-American neighborhoods.

“It’s a bitter irony; we’re commemorating a man who battled against segregation by segregating his memory,” Alderman said.

As the number of streets named after King continues to grow, the conversation about racial issues grows with it.

“These streets are points of pride but they’re also points of struggle,” Alderman said. “These streets are arenas for debating race. They have power to ensure King’s legacy will not be bypassed.”

Alderman has discussed his research on CBS Evening News, the BBC, and NPR’s Morning Edition, and in USA Today, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Ebony magazine, as well as in newspapers from Atlanta and New Orleans to Seattle and Sacramento.

For more information about streets named after King, visit Alderman’s website at mlkstreet.com.

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C O N T A C T :

Christine Copelan (865-974-2225, ccopela7@utk.edu)

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, ablakely@utk.edu)

The Working Safely Is No Accident website won $15,000 in the Department of Labor Worker Safety and Health App Challenge.

The site is aimed at teaching workers ages thirteen to twenty-four about factors that increase workplace safety. The site features a game in which users evaluate relative probabilities of interesting events. The concept is then applied to workplace safety, with additional links to work-safety sources.

The goal of the contest was to encourage entities to build tools to educate the public about safety in the workplace.

For more information about the contest, visit the Department of Labor’s website.