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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1998)
Festival showcases rich diversity of black arts The BSU says the event is a unique chance to learn about the art of black America By Chris Kenning Student Activities Reporter African-American art, music, dancing, cuisine and poetry filled the EMU courtyard yester day as the Black Arts Festival got underway. The 11th annual festi val, sponsored by the Black Stu dent Union, showcases different facets of the African-American arts scene. The celebration includes an art exhibit in the EMU Fir Room and continues until Tuesday at 7 p.m. The University's Gospel Choir will perform at the festival today at 5:30 p.m. Organizer Ayana Kee, a mem ber of the BSU, said the festival focuses on the diversity of influ ences within the black arts scene. “You really see a blending of African cultures and American cultures in everything from jazz to dance,” Kee said. Putting on the festival every year is especially relevant in Eu gene, where African-Americans are a small minority, according to Kee. “We put this on because there’s not much else in the com munity that focuses on African American arts,” she said. "It’s nice to be able to share the cul ture with people who haven’t been exposed to it.” African-American art, which addresses cultural and political issues of black America, has seen a boom in recent years, said Ani ta Mason, one of the vendors who came from Portland for the event. Mason owns an ethnic arts gallery that specializes in African-American prints and posters. “It used to be that lots of great African-American art was never exposed because black artists didn’t have the same connections others did,’’ she said. “But now the younger generation is really getting more exposure for their work.” She said an increasing pres ence of African-Americans in the media has spurred an interest in art that is representative of black culture. “When ‘The Cosby Show’ was on in the 1980s, there were paint ings on the walls of the set done by black artists. People didn’t re alize there were so many artists no one knew about,” she said. Carry-on-Q, a local barbecue joint, served up succulent ribs, red beans and rice, hot corn bread and iced tea in the EMU Amphitheater. “I smelled the barbecue as I was passing by,” said University se nior Jason McKay as he licked fin gers which were greasy with bar becued chicken. “It’s awesome.” Mason said vendors at festivals like these usually don’t make much money, but educating about black arts is important: “We may only make $50, but it’s good to get the word out,” she said. Along with vendors and ex hibits, the BSU is trying to raise money by selling writing journals with covers designed by BSU co director Yvonne Stubbs. The BSU sponsors several events each year. In May, the group plans to celebrate the life of Malcolm X. AMANDA COWAN/Emerald Jamila Flowers watches over the many books and cards for sale from the Looks Like Me Gallery at the Black Arts Festival on Monday. ■ AMANDA COWAN/Emerald Jennifer Scott coats her hand in paint while making a T-shirt at the Black Arts Festival at the EMU Am phitheater on Monday. trinceion professor to lecture on the economics of wine Orley C. Ashenfelter is the man behind the ‘taste’forecaster, which can predict wine quality By Amalie Young Higher Education Reporter Wine tasters around the world are up in arms because of a method that uses meteorological data to calculate the quality of fu ture grape harvests. Orley C. Ashenfelter, a world renowned economist who devel oped the computer-generated "taste" forecaster, will present a public lecture called “Anatomy of an Inefficient Market: Bordeaux Wine” on Tuesday, April 28 at 4 p m. in the Alumni Lounge of Ger linger Hall. He will address both wine and economic issues. “I got interested in wine when I was trying to buy it,” Ashenfelter said. “I wanted to figure out how to do it without spending too much money.” He uses statistics describing weather conditions that have helped create quality wine in the past to make predic tions for future harvests. An article appearing in Barron’s magazine in 1996, “Grape Expec tations," introduced Ashenfelter’s method of generating wine predic tions and sparked a controversy in the wine industry. Traditional wine tasters take the juice of immature grapes and “swirl it around in their mouths,” said eco nomics Professor George Evans. While wineries have used centuries old techniques to make proclama tions about the quality of their wines, “statistical techniques can predict pretty well whether a particular har vest will be good or not,” he said. His forecasting method will be used to determine the quality of the grapes, but tasters are still needed to test their flavor, Ashenfelter said. Ashenfelter’s predictions are published in the newsletter “Liq uid Assets,” which provides early forecasts of wine quality. He has also written about the connection between weather and the quality of wine and how wine auctions work. Although his recent exploration of the wine industry has been well documented, Ashenfelter is pri marily a labor economist and made a name for himself with his work on labor unions, arbitration, employment and discrimination, Evans said. The Department of Economics has invited a number of top-rank ing economists to the University in the past, and Ashenfelter will bring another representation of how economists work in the real world, Evans said. Ashenfelter will also explore the factors that determine wine prices in Oregon. “We have tried to choose ...peo ple who are thinking about ap plied economic issues,” Evans said. The Oregon Daily Emerald is published daily Monday through Friday during the school year and Tuesday and Thursday during the summer by the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon. A member of the Associated Press, the Emerald op erates independently of the University with offices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private prop erty. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable bylaw Anrll 00 -trw NEWSROOM — T46-SM1 Editor in chief: Sarah Kickler Managing Editor Nicole Krueger Community: Michael Burnham, editor. Tricia Duryee, Jesse Sowa Entertainment Evan Denbaum, editor. Shannon Sneed Higher Education: Ten Meeuwsen, editor. Ben Romano, Amalie Young Penpecthre: Michael Schmierbach, editor. Chris Hutchinson, illustrator. Jonas Allen. Kameron Cole, Hannah Dillon. Jett Shaw, columnists Student Activities: Doug Irving, editor. Michael Hines, Chris Kenning, Kristina Rudinskas Sport*: Alex Pond, editor. Joel Hood, Rob Moseley. Tim Pyle Copy Desk: Holly Sanders, copy chief. Brian Deka, Kelly Schulze, Shannon Sneed Now* Ait Matt Garton, editor Pamela Sirianni, CaraStrazzo Photography: Amanda Cowan, Rose Fung, Laura Goss, Nick Medley, Kristen Sullivan On-line: Jake Ortman, editor Nicholas Stiffler, webmaster Freelance: Carl Yeh, editor ADVERTISING - S46-S712 Becky Merchant, director Yujin Chi, Leigh-Ann Cyboron, Brian Diamond, Chns Ertckson, Lindsay Knaak, Andy Lakefish, Justice Rhodes, Ertck Schiess, Rose Soil, Chns Suydam, Emily Wallace, CLASSIFIEDS — S444S4S Anne Nielsen, manager Heather Moye, Angela McGrath, Gillian Bentley BUSINESS — ttb-Vil?. General Manager: Judy Riedl Business: Kathy Carbone, business supervisor. Judy Connolly, recepttonist. Distribution: John Long, Joy Seats. 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