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Wednesday, August 25, 2010 Issue 06
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World’s hottest pepper now grown at UT Staff Reports The hottest pepper in the world has recently been included as a new crop at UT's Culinary Institute. The pepper, bhut jolokia, is deemed the hottest pepper in the world and can do more than just arouse taste buds. Bhut jolokia is a Thai pepper that has been known to cause severe responses by those who consume it, including heart attacks, if not prepared and served correctly. The severity of flavor is reinforced by signs in the culinary kitchen garden which warn people to not eat the peppers raw and denote their whereabouts to avoid any confusion. The particular area of the garden where the pepper resides has been deemed the Five Alarm Garden, because of its inclusion of other spicy food items including jalapeño, habaneros and many other hot peppers. All of the peppers are available for culinary students to use when preparing different dishes as a part of the Institute’s training program.
John Antun, assistant professor of retail, hospitality and tourism management and director of the Culinary Institute, can be credited with the creation of the Five Alarm Garden. Antun was first alerted to bhut jolokia by Annette Wszelaki, assistant professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and UT vegetable extension specialist. The Culinary Institute's 2-year-old kitchen garden is located outside the UT Visitors Center and is known for producing figs, carrots, blueberries, thyme, curly parsley and other ingredients that are used by the Culinary Institute's student chefs. UT's Culinary Institute program includes Antun, as well as other local chefs as instructors, and is offered by the Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management of UT's College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. The program consists of a 10-month intensive course, which prepares students to take the National Restaurant Association-approved exam.
Anyone with a high school diploma is allowed to participate in the program and is given a certificate of culinary arts and ServSafe food service. The Culinary Institute has announced it will be pairing with 50 students pursuing culinary arts from Pellissippi State Community College. The importance of having a kitchen garden on site is not missed by Antun and others involved with the program. “Students need to connect to the food in the ground, not only in a physical way, but a psychological way,” Antun said, according to a UT press release. “When you can fully understand it is when you can deal with it best.” Kitchen gardens reinforce the use of local foods, which can have many benefits. The miles that food travels is drastically reduced when grown and consumed locally, going from the garden to the table with little travel in between. Working with food from UT's kitchen garden not only unlocks environmental benefits, but it also allows the student chefs an opportunity to have a hands-on experience.
Islamist militants invade Somali hotel, target government officials Associated Press
Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon
The UT Bookstore’s shelves have emptied during the first days of classes. Most used books are already sold, but students can still find their books for classes.
Body snatchers steal tomb remains, vandalize Long Island mausoleum Associated Press EAST FARMINGDALE, N.Y.— Thieves vandalized mausoleums at a Catholic cemetery on Long Island and stole a woman's remains during an overnight break-in, police said Tuesday. The break-in happened at St. Charles Cemetery between 6:30 p.m. Monday and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, when a caretaker discovered the damage. Three mausoleums were entered and a casket was removed from one, Suffolk County Deputy Inspector Robert Brown said. He added that, while cemetery vandalism is a somewhat regular occurrence, he had only heard of a body being stolen once or twice in his 25-year career. “The removal of a body is very uncommon,” Brown said. Investigators believe the remains were not specifically targeted but said the culprits came prepared to break into a locked mausoleum. “They knew what they would face in order to open a casket,” Brown said. He declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation. Because heavy marble slabs had to be moved in order to get to the casket, investigators believe
more than one suspect was involved, he said. Police believe the intruders likely hopped over a fence surrounding the sprawling cemetery. Relatives of the woman whose body was stolen have been notified, Brown said. He declined to identify the woman, who was interred about 12 years ago, or her family, but said she was not a public figure. “She was certainly significant to her family,” he added. He said cadaver dogs were deployed in the surrounding area in case the thieves decided to abandon the woman's remains. The cemetery, which opened in 1914, is operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. It is bordered by Republic Airport to the west and a number of other large cemeteries to the east. “It is incomprehensible that anyone would violate the sacred resting place of those that have passed from this world to eternal life,” diocesan spokesman Monsignor Kieran E. Harrington said in a statement. He added that Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio has reached out to immediate family members of the woman to express his “profound sorrow and solidarity in this painful time.”
MOGADISHU, Somalia— Islamist militants wearing Somali military uniforms stormed a hotel favored by lawmakers in the war-battered capital Tuesday, firing indiscriminately and killing 32 people, including six parliamentarians. A suicide bomber and one of the gunmen were also killed in the brazen attack just a half-mile (1 kilometer) from the presidential palace. The attack showed the insurgent group al-Shabab, which controls wide areas of Somalia, can penetrate even the few blocks of the capital under the control of the government and African Union troops. Tuesday's well-planned assault came one day after al-Shabab warned of a new “massive war.” Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, an insurgent spokesman, said the attack by members of the group's "special forces" targeted government leaders, foreign agents and "apostates" at the $10-anight Muna Hotel. Survivors of the hour-long slaughter described seeing bodies strewn throughout the hotel and people scrambling to safety through windows. An 11year-old shoeshine boy and a woman selling tea were among the dead. In an interview with The Associated Press, one parliamentarian said she was jolted awake by the popping sound of gunfire. Saynab Qayad said three fellow lawmakers staying on the top floor of the three-story hotel drew their guns while other guests fled out windows. “Smoke filled my room after bullets smashed my window. I hid myself in a corner of the room. Then a guest next door came to my door, screaming ‘Come out! Come out!’ And when I came out bullets continued to fly around. “I went back to my room and locked my door. Shortly afterward, the hotel staff asked me to come down and put me in a room at the second floor with four other survivors,” she said. “The body of a member of parliament was lying at that small room's door.” A manager at the Muna Hotel, Abdullahi Warsame, said the attack was carried out by two gunmen who first fired on people sitting under a tree, then opened fire at the reception desk. The gunmen then moved to the second floor, where they battled security forces and armed parliamentarians, he said. The two fought until they ran out of ammunition, when one blew himself up, Warsame said. After it was over, Somali government forces tied the body of one of the dead assailants to the back of a pickup truck and dragged it through the dusty streets of the capital, a scene eerily reminiscent of how bodies of dead American soldiers were treated following the disastrous Black Hawk Down battle of 1993 in Mogadishu. Tuesday's attack only extended the stream of warfare that rattled Mogadishu on Monday, when 40 civilians died in fighting between al-Shabab and Somali and African Union troops. Somalia's deputy prime minister told AP that 19 civilians, six members of parliament, five security forces and two hotel workers were killed Tuesday — a total of 32. Two attackers also were killed, said
Abdirahman Haji Aden Ibi, the deputy prime minister. A government statement said 31 people were killed. There was no way to immediately reconcile the figures. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the attack during Ramadan highlighted al-Shabab's “complete disregard for human life, Somali culture and Islamic values.” Al-Shabab, which has links to al-Qaida and boasts veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars among its ranks, has grown deadlier in recent months. Last month it claimed twin bombings in Uganda during the World Cup final that killed 76 people. “The only intention of this group is to destroy the nation, massacre people and then finally hand the country to ruthless foreigners,” Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed said. “So I call upon all Somali people to unite fighting against these enemies and help government forces.” The militant group is fighting to oust the 6,000 African Union troops from Uganda and Burundi that prop up the U.N.-backed Somali government — forces whom al-Shabab calls crusaders and invaders. “We will eliminate them from our country in a battle we call ‘the end of the aggressors,’” Rage said. “They wanted to enjoy themselves in hotels while women and children are sent to makeshift homes.” Al-Shabab calls itself a defender of the nation, but its interpretation of Islam is harsh. Al-Shabab forbids music, TV or letting women walk alone. Men must grow beards. Punishments can range from amputation to death by stoning. In response to the World Cup attacks, the African Union pledged to increase its troop commitments to Somalia, an approach backed by the United States. The U.S. does not have any troops in Somalia but helps pay to train Somali troops and sends surveillance aircraft over Somalia. “The United States reaffirms its strong commitment to stand with the Somali people and transitional government and the African Union mission in Somalia as they courageously work to restore peace and stability in Somalia. And we're very grateful for the fact that this week we have additional resources arriving in support of the (African Union) mission troops coming from Uganda,” Crowley said. The Somali government has struggled for years to gain relevancy, but corruption and its minuscule footprint in the country — just a few city blocks near the seaside airport — have limited its effectiveness. The deaths of six parliamentarians will have no practical effect on the government functions. Al-Shabab operatives frequently infiltrate the small government-controlled area. In a similar attack in December, a suicide bomber detonated himself at a university graduation ceremony about 11⁄2 miles (3 kilometers ) from Tuesday's hotel attack, killing 24 people, including three government ministers, medical students and doctors. Somalia has not had an effective government for 19 years.