Langford, Wachovia encourage savings by giving away money

UPDATE: New video appended below.

We just got this press release from PR Newswire. We’re still trying to confirm that’s it’s real, but CNN Money has posted it already, so what the hell. It seems that Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and Wachovia are encouraging people to save by giving away money in a wild wind machine full of cash, or something like that. Representatives from local colleges and universities will climb into the “money machine” and grab flying bills for scholarships. We don’t normally print press releases verbatim and we would say something quick and witty about Mayor Langford and saving, but we’re still waiting for our brains to reboot after the overload.

Mayor Larry P. Langford Challenges

Citizens of Birmingham to Save

Local Colleges and Universities Compete To Raise Scholarship Dollars
Free Event - Open to the Public Linn Park Tue., April 22, 11:00 a.m. to
1:00 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., April 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — On Tues., April
22, Mayor Larry P. Langford will appear at Linn Park to encourage the
residents of “The Magic City” to start saving.

To emphasize the event’s focus on financial education, leaders from
Birmingham-Southern College, Miles College, Samford University, and the
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will compete in a charity grab
for scholarships. The college and university leaders will go head-to-head
in a glass “money machine” to grab flying dollars for their school’s
scholarship funds.

The free public event at Linn Park, designed to encourage Americans to
start saving, is a sneak peak at the Way2Save Challenge, which features a
consumer contest and educational activities to help consumers learn ways to
save.

Proceeds from the charity event will benefit the scholarship programs
at Birmingham-Southern College, Miles College, Samford University, and the
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The next Way2Save Challenge Tour will be at the Talladega Superspeedway on
April 26 and April 27. Over two days, individuals can take the high-speed
challenge of grabbing flying dollars for a chance to win $2,000 — fans can
take the Way2Save Challenge before the Aaron’s 312 NASCAR Nationwide Series
Race on April 26 and before the Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race on
April 27.

Who: Mayor Larry P. Langford
College and University Leaders from:
Birmingham-Southern College, Miles College, Samford University,
and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

What: College and University Leaders Compete For Scholarship Funds in
Money Grab
Charity Competition Will Raise $8,000 for Scholarships

When: Tue., April 22
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Free Event, Open to Public
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. - WBHK 98.7 Kiss-FM radio station
appearance
12:00 noon - 12:30 p.m. - Charity grab between leaders from
Birmingham-Southern College, Miles College, Samford University,
and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)

Where: Linn Park
710 20th Street North
Birmingham, AL 35203
Photo Ops: Mayor Larry P. Langford and leaders from Birmingham-Southern
College, Miles College, Samford University, and the University of Alabama
at Birmingham (UAB) competition to raise money for university scholarships,
glass money truck.

Seriously, Siegelman’s lottery idea was better, but which makes for better TV?

Popularity: 8% [?]

Earlier this week, a group of students at Birmingham-Southern College set out from their dorms with tents, sleeping bags, musical instruments and whatever else they could carry. They gathered together on the academic quad, set up a camp and began asking passing students, professors and administrators for food.

“We’re depending on other people for everything other than what we brought in one trip. That doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it takes away your dignity,” said Marc Parker, a junior philosophy major from Thorsby, Ala.

Parker and 15 other BSC students are participating in an event called “Refugee Live for Free,” organized by a campus cultural awareness organization called the Middle Eastern/Central Asian Alliance. The students are living on the quad for a week to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the world. They hope that relying on other students for food and other supplies will raise awareness on campus of what refugees around the world must endure.

Refugees are people fleeing persecution based on religion, ethnicity or other traits. The United Nations estimates that at the end of 2006, there were 9.9 million refugees and 12.8 million internally displaced persons (refugees who haven’t left their home country). The students participating in Refugee Live for Free represent refugees from many different countries, including Burma, Tibet, Sudan, and Iraq.

“On the first day I told everybody that this is really what everyone makes it to be. Everyone has their own concerns. Mine are for Palestinian refugees,” said Parker, who founded MECAA in 2007.

To add to the realism of their event, the BSC students vowed not to use motor vehicles, money or electricity for a week. Cell phones are allowed, but they can’t be recharged.

Despite these restrictions, things weren’t all bad in BSC’s refugee camp. In between classes, students entertained themselves and each other with guitars, harmonicas and even a didgeridoo.

Kirk Hooten, a senior from Vestavia Hills, said that so far they had received plenty of food. “Dr. Trench even brought us some candy,” said Hooten, referring to psychology professor Lynne Trench. Nevertheless, some students were bracing for any future decline in food supplies - one had constructed a questionable squirrel trap from a small charcoal grill, and another had painted a sign that said “Will sing a song of your choice for food.”

“We cannot actually simulate what refugees actually go through,” Parker admitted. “We’re going back to normal middle class life after this, and this isn’t that far from normal middle-class life anyway. We have really nice tents and we’re eating Pop-tarts.

“We’re doing what we can. There aren’t really a lot of options as far as being able to do something,” Parker said. “But at least we can build a community of compassion, of thoughtfulness. Hopefully people that aren’t sleeping outside with us will have concern for people that are out of sight and usually out of mind.”

Popularity: 14% [?]