Menu items include chicken paprikash, a Hungarian dish of chicken cooked with onions and paprika; traditional adobo, a Filipino dish of pork in vinegar and soy sauce; chickpea stroganoff, a vegetarian twist on a traditional Russian dish; tilapia meunier, a French dish of fish in a sauce made of butter, wine, lemon juice and parsley; tiella, a southern Italian vegetable pie; yuca con mojo, a Cuban dish of cassava root in garlic citrus sauce; and cranberry fruit coleslaw.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out. The café accepts cash, all major credit cards, AllStar and Dining Dollars.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Valerie Brooks, of Memphis, a senior in HRT management. She has worked for ARAMARK at the Presidential Café and currently works for ARAMARK catering.

“I enjoy preparing and cooking food for my family and friends as a hobby, and aspire to be a chef or run my own food operation one day,” she said.

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C O N T A C T :

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

KNOXVILLE — Legal help is expensive for most people. For those with lower income, it can be a huge problem.

The College of Law at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, addresses that problem with its legal clinics.

Among the longest-running clinics in the nation, UT’s clinics help students learn how to practice law while providing a low-cost legal alternative for students, faculty and staff, and low-income people in Knoxville.

The College of Law’s legal clinics are examples of how UT encourages students to learn more about the issue of poverty this year and reach out to those in need. Ready for the World, the campus’ international and intercultural initiative, is spending this year focusing on “Our World in Need” with a particular emphasis on poverty.

Ben Barton, associate professor and director of the clinical programs, said the clinics serve an important role in the college and in the community.

“People who can’t afford a lawyer come to us,” said Barton, who works primarily with the advocacy clinic. “Students interview a person and appear in court with them. They take it the whole nine yards.

“Our clinics are one of the very best things about the law school. We’re thrilled about them and the work we do.”

The College of Law offers seven different clinics:

• Advocacy Clinic — handles civil, criminal matters and housing cases
• Domestic Violence Clinic — deals with victims of domestic violence
• Wills Clinic — new clinic, helps people write wills
• Wrongful Conviction Clinic — new clinic, aids those wrongfully convicted of a crime
• Business Clinic — works with nonprofit organizations and start-up businesses
• Externship Program — students prosecute cases on behalf of the state
• Mediation Clinic — students are trained to be mediators

All of the clinics are for core credit classes. Students participate in the clinics as part of their class requirements for the College of Law. Similar to the medical school model, where residents are overseen by attending physicians, students working in the legal clinics get real-world experience while being supervised by professors.

Also, the clinics are meant to encourage students to do pro bono work, Barton said. UT offers a nonprofit pro bono program, for which Barton twice won the Outstanding Faculty Adviser award.

“From the law school’s point of view, we’re trying to create good lawyers, and people,” Barton said. “We want to encourage them to do volunteer work or do pro bono work. Volunteering and clinics are critical for development as lawyers and people. Working with the poor broadens the students’ outlook. We share a lot in common with the poor, and it opens eyes to many difficulties people in East Tennessee face.”

“The students learn sympathy and empathy — the main part being empathy,” Barton said. “This is really helpful in representing them as a lawyer.”

Barton said that in addition to seeing how the clinics help students hone their skills, he enjoys seeing the reaction of clients.

“I get a lot of clients sending thank-you cards and telling me how pleased they are that students went the extra mile for them,” he said. “They just want to know that someone believes in them.”

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy, (865-974-2225, bhardy4@utk.edu)

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

The menu will include chicken a l’orange; sauteed tilapia with mushroom sauce and fried spinach; pork tenderloin with cranberry dressing; portabello mushroom Parmesan; loaded-potato soup; braised fall vegetables with red wine sauce; and green-and-yellow bean salad with tomato dressing and feta cheese.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Lindsey French, of Memphis, a senior in nutrition. She’s worked at Trio on Market Square, Curves and currently is interning for Knoxville Parks and Recreation planning a children’s after-school nutrition program called Nutrition Exercise and Activity Training (NEAT). She plans to complete a dietetic internship after graduation, get her registered dietitian’s license and work as a dietitian in a children’s hospital.

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C O N T A C T :

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

Faculty, staff and students are urged to use an electronic form to quickly and easily provide information about events related to the international and intercultural initiative. The form is found at www.utk.edu/readyfortheworld/passport.

For several years, Ready for the World “Passports” have helped promote campus activities and initiatives. The Passport is a great personal planner that is distributed free to students, faculty and staff. It is often used as a recruitment tool and serves as a valuable record of the extensive programming that supports Ready for the World goals.

In order to produce the Passport in time for spring semester distribution, information about your unit’s spring programs is needed by Friday, Nov. 13. These events might include, but are not limited to, films, lectures, exhibits, campus-wide activities, etc.

Remember that Ready for the World encompasses both international AND intercultural efforts. In addition to wide-ranging intercultural activities across campus, this year has a particular theme: a focus on poverty. We are especially interested in any initiatives or activities that are planned that target this theme.

The Passport provides free advertisement for programs, so please take advantage of this opportunity to broadcast information to the campus community and beyond.

For more information about the Passport, contact Amy Blakely at amy.blakely@tennessee.edu or 974-5034.

The international buffet’s menu will include: oven-roasted chicken roulade filled with fig, prosciutto and roasted chestnuts served on a tomato and artichoke ragout; Szechwan-marinated, wok-charred steak with five-spice-seasoned grilled vegetables in beef broth; sweet and sour deep-fried cod with white rice; winter vegetable ratatouille with herbed vinegar and fruit-infused olive oil; white and red potato dauphinoise with classic béchamel; white bean cassoulet with smoked pork belly and pork sausages; panzanella bread salad with garlic croutons; and orange-flavored panna cotta with light blueberry sauce.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Brian Drake, of Knoxville, a senior in HRT management. Drake said he’s held various restaurant jobs since age 17 and hopes to one day own and operate his own restaurant.

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C O N T A C T :

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

The buffet’s menu will feature a variety of international “comfort foods,” including chicken paella, pork with roasted vegetables, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, seafood chowder, grilled corn with honey and pine nuts, cheesy cream spinach and Mandarin chicken pasta salad.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Aaron O’Connor. A Maryville native, O’Connor is a junior in HRT management who hopes to one day open and run a successful restaurant.

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C O N T A C T :

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

The buffet’s menu will feature a variety of international “comfort foods,” including chicken paella, pork with roasted vegetables, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, seafood chowder, grilled corn with honey and pine nuts, cheesy cream spinach and Mandarin chicken pasta salad.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Aaron O’Connor. A Maryville native, O’Connor is a junior in HRT management who hopes to one day open and run a successful restaurant.

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C O N T A C T :

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

The Tennessee Organization of MBAs (TOMBA)’s community service project is featured in a “Volunteers Rock the World!” video now posted on Ready for the World’s Facebook page.

This year, Ready for the World, the campus’ international and intercultural initiative, is focusing on “Our World in Need” with a particular emphasis on poverty. As part of that, Ready for the World has challenged students, faculty, staff and alumni to share what they’re doing to make the world a better place through the “Volunteers Rock the World!” project.

This year’s TOMBA Habitat project began in September and took several weekends, but thanks to the video the MBA group made to chronicle its work, you can see the entire construction job, from beginning to end, in just four minutes and 13 seconds.

Jon Epperson, a second-year MBA candidate who serves as TOMBA president, said this year’s project was especially rewarding because the volunteers got to know the family now living in the home.

“The whole family greeted and thanked us,” he said. “It was less about the house and more about the family. When there is a face behind it, that’s more real.

“The mother came out and took pictures with us and did her bit to keep us motivated. She even helped out one day.”

TOMBA is a student-run organization for MBA students and faculty.

“Our principal goal in TOMBA is to spread awareness about our chosen field — and about the needs of our communities,” Epperson said. “We are really effective for networking and philanthropy.”

Several other UT organizations, including the women’s rowing team and track and field team, helped TOMBA build the Habitat house.

“The Habitat project is also fun because there are so many enthusiastic people who really want to help,” Epperson said. “Time flies by.”

John Batey, the philanthropy chair of TOMBA, created the video, which includes a time-lapsed look at the construction.

Epperson said the video shows the many people who played a role in this major undertaking.

“Everything is just in piles of lumber and from that — as you’ll see in the time-lapsed video — the house comes together so quickly,” Epperson said. “It’s a lot of fun. Framing the house was the most fun. This is the most dynamic part of the video.”

Epperson said the Habitat project was an eye-opener for many of the students who participated.

“Five minutes away from campus, you can have a family in need,” Epperson said. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to give back to people less fortunate. It’s important to give people the tools they need to succeed.

“We’re here for such a short time that it’s important to make an impact on the community while we can. This is a tangible impact we’re making by building a house.”

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Photo 1: Jon Epperson, far left, and others work on TOMBA’s Habitat for Humanity house.

Photo 2: A crew of UT MBA students and others build a house for a needy Knoxville family in TOMBA’s most recent Habitat for Humanity project.

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C O N T A C T :

Bridget Hardy, (865-974-2225, bhardy4@utk.edu)

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

Highlighting the conference will be a public reading by author and one-time Kenyan political prisoner Ngugi wa Thiong’o, now a distinguished professor of English and comparative literature and the director of the International Center for Writing and Translation at the University of California, Irvine.

Hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the conference, “ASAP/1: Arts of the Present,” will be held Oct. 22-25 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 401 W. Summit Hill Drive.

The conference will bring together scholars from Canada, China, Finland, England, Germany, Japan and the United States. Participants will discuss how to revitalize contemporary arts studies, create synergies between academic disciplines, start conversations between scholars and practitioners and jump-start new arts research.

Amy Elias, UT Knoxville associate professor of English, is both the elected president of the society and the organizer of the conference. Elias worked with a group of UT Knoxville faculty and graduate students to hold the conference in Knoxville.

“We faced a unique challenge in planning the launch conference for a society that didn’t yet exist, in a time of global economic turmoil,” Elias said. “It was an extraordinary experience to create the infrastructure for an international, multidisciplinary arts society at the same time that I was building the infrastructure for its first conference — and then doing the work to actually run that conference.

“The support from UT has been outstanding. At times I didn’t know if we were going to pull it off, but it happened and it’s wonderful,” Elias said.

Charles Maland, head of the English department, says Elias is attracting some of the world’s most respected scholars in contemporary visual, literary and media arts scholarship to Knoxville.

“We’re honored and excited to be hosting ASAP/1,” Maland said. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of Amy and her collaborators on the host committee, an outstanding group of artists, writers, critics and theorists of the contemporaneous arts will be at the conference.”

In 1977, following the publication of his novel “Petals of Blood” and a play he cowrote, “Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want),” Ngugi wa Thiong’o was arrested and imprisoned without charge at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi, Kenya. There he wrote in Gikuyu (his native tongue) the novel “Caitani Mutharabaini” (1981), translated into English as “Devil on the Cross” (1982).

After Amnesty International named Ngugi a “Prisoner of Conscience,” an international campaign secured his release in 1978; forced into exile by the Daniel arap Moi dictatorship, he worked with the London-based Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Kenya. When Ngugi and his wife, Njeeri, returned to Kenya in 2004 after 22 years in exile, they were attacked by hired gunmen and narrowly escaped with their lives.

Professor Ngugi will read from his book “Wizard of the Crow,” which earned international acclaim when its English translation was published in 2006. He will be introduced by Gichingiri Ndigirigi, a UT Knoxville assistant professor of English who calls Ngugi a “truly committed, cosmopolitan writer” and is the author of a book about Ngugi’s work. The reading will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

Free and open to the public, the event is sponsored by the Baker Center, UT Knoxville’s Ready for the World initiative, the UT Haines Morris Endowment, the UT Graduate School and the Department of English’s Literature Speakers Series.

For more information about the conference, visit the ASAP/1 Web site at http://asapconference2009.ning.com/.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Elias (865-974-6964, aelias2@utk.edu)

Charles Maland (865-974-6927, cmaland@utk.edu)

Charles Primm (865-974-5180, primmc@utk.edu)

The international buffet’s menu will feature pulled pork with Tennessee whiskey barbeque sauce, chicken and dumplings, creamy smoked trout chowder with roasted red pepper, vegetarian gumbo with red beans and mustard greens, collard greens, parsley potatoes and creamy Southern-style coleslaw.

The café also will feature an exhibit from local artists, brother and sister Bryan and Sarah Holland.

The Ready for the World Café is open from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Hermitage Room on the third floor of the University Center.

Diners pay $11 for the all-you-can-eat buffet or $9 for a plate of food to carry out.

Faculty and staff can use ARAMARK’s new UT Reward Card to receive a 15 percent discount at the café.

Students in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) 445, an advanced food production and service management class, plan the menu and operate the café; ARAMARK, UT’s provider of dining services, prepares the food.

This week’s café manager from HRT 445 is Wesley Walker. He has a culinary arts degree from Walters State and works as a chef at Blackberry Farms. He also has worked at The Orangery. “My ultimate career goal is to own and operate a sustainable restaurant,” he said. “My short-term career goal is to spend the next few years working at different well-known fine dining establishments in California to gain experience.”

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C O N T A C T :

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