Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Living in the Past by DR. MELINDA L. PASH I have a terrible confession to make. I hate grading. But, lucky for me, teaching history at Fayetteville Technical Community College comes with many perks to offset my loathing of trying to assign just the right number of points to an essay or exam. FTCC's campus ranks among the loveliest in the state, the students unfailingly keep me on my toes, and, more important, I get to do one of my favorite things — live in the past. On a daily basis, I transform from a normal 21st century woman (my kids and husband might dispute the normal part) into an ancient tour guide, leading students through the Egyptian desert to the land of pyramids and mummies, exploring the wonders of the Indus River Valley Civilization's flush toilets (as opposed to the horrors of Mesopotamian hygiene), forging a path through the complex Roman political system that allowed for both the rise and murder of Julius Caesar and marveling at the Hagia Sophia spiraling up from the cobbled streets of Constantinople. Sometimes I am even able to tell a story that nobody has ever told before. That is what I did last November in my book, In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation: The Americans Who Fought the Korean War (New York: New York University Press, 2012). Many years ago, in my former life as a graduate student, I began searching for a dissertation topic. The granddaughter of a Cherokee Indian World War II Navy veteran and a member of the generation that came of age to movies like Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now, I felt certain that destiny had chosen me to write the next brilliant work on the veterans of either World War II or Vietnam. But, a chance encounter with a group of Korean War veterans made me realize that, M*A*S*H reruns aside, I knew nothing about the men and women who served in Korea. And, after digging a little deeper into the scholarly and popular record, I realized that nobody else did, either. As a result, I began interviewing and surveying Korean War veterans and ultimately I shaped my research into a sort of collective biography. In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation follows the men and women who served in Korea from their shared childhood in the Great Depression and World War II through enlistment (voluntary or otherwise), military training, the war, homecoming experiences and more recent efforts to reclaim their rightfully earned status as war veterans. The book attempts to give a voice to these forgotten soldiers of the "Forgotten War" and to demonstrate the impact of that war not only on those who served but also on America. Korea, after all, was the first hot war of the Cold War and it was on the peninsula's rugged hills that commanders in the field began dismantling military segregation. My fascination with the Korean War and its veterans began long ago, but my view of that war and my work on Korean War veterans inevitably have been enriched by my experiences teaching at FTCC. Many of my students, themselves veterans of a war many Americans would like to put in the rear view mirror, have provided me with invaluable insights into military life and veteran struggles and have probably taught me more than I ever taught them. So far, living in the past — and bringing my students with me, sometimes as unwilling passengers — has proven fulfilling. I invite you to take a journey with me in my FTCC history class, and we'll tour some interesting places from the past. DR. MELINDA PASH, Contributing Now if I could just figure out a Writer, FTCC Instructor of History way to leave all the grading in COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomthe future. ingweekly.com Spring Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit at Methodist a STAFF REPORT Tedeschi is the inventor of Snap-it Screw, a stainless screw that comes The Center for Entrepreneurship at Methodist University is changing with an extension that snaps off, that was designed as a time-saving things up this year with the inaugural Spring Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit, formerly called the Stock Market Symposium, which will be held at solution to eye-glass repair. SnapIt Screw is sold in major retail stores throughout the United States, including Wal-Mart and Office Depot. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30. Tedeschi has received numerous awards for her SnapIt "The CFE's annual Spring Stock Market Symposium has Screw invention and as an entrepreneur, including first been a longstanding tradition in southeastern North Carolina place Inventors Club of Kansas City and the People's for the past 35 years," said CFE Director Marty Cayton. "In Choice Award at the 2010 National Invention Contest, the an effort to build on this legacy while offering programs that National Hardware Retailers Choice for Best Product in are in line with the CFE's new mission of creating wealth 2011 and was one of three winners of the Wal-Mart "Get producers and job creators, we are introducing the CFE's on the Shelf Contest" in 2012. Inaugural Spring Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit." Tedeschi brought her invention from concept to the global The new event will be held at the Embassy Suites market with little outside help. Her company, Eyeego, LLC, Fayetteville/Fort Bragg in the Richard M. Wiggins Conference has sold more than 5 million screws and 400,000 eye-glass Center, 4760 Lake Valley Dr. repair kits. After bringing SnapIt Screw to the retail market, Nancy Tedeschi, entrepreneur and award-winning inventor Tedeschi licensed her product in the United States to one of of Snap-it Screw, will be the event's keynote speaker. The the largest optical distributors in the world and is currently CFE will also present four prestigious business awards during duplicating her licensing efforts in multiple countries where the event: the American Business Ethics Award (sponsored by she holds more than 50 patents or patent pendings. Society of Financial Service Professionals), the Silver Spoon Tedeschi is passionate about helping other inventors Award, the Outstanding Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Nancy Tedeschi and entrepreneurs navigate the often difficult path to Award and the Small Business Excellence Award. The CFE is the marketplace and the option of licensing agreements. currently accepting nominations for these awards. She travels the country speaking to university students and invention New Mission associations and actively helps business-minded individuals on the road The CFE's new mission includes a focus on training students to start to entrepreneurship. new businesses and/or become successors to existing businesses. To help She is also an anti-bullying advocate, and a founder of the How to with that, all net proceeds raised from sponsors of the summit will go to UnMake a Bully program. While she is in the area, she will be visiting scholarships and programs in MU's Entrepreneurship program. Pine Forest High School and Reid Ross Classical School to talk about her Cayton said the Stock Market Symposium is not going away, but will be business and anti-bullying program. rolled into the annual fall event, the Economic Outlook Symposium, which For more information, please contact Marty Cayton at mcayton@ will broaden its focus to also include issues relating to the stock market. methodist.edu or 910.630.7616. Nancy Tedeschi WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 10-16, 2013 UCW 15