• DeVry University is partnering with the Jacksonville Jaguars to send two fans to New York City on April 26 to attend the NFL Draft. The prize package includes round trip air fare and two-night hotel stay for two as well as a pair of tickets to the first day of the 2008 player selection meeting. Fans may enter at www.devrydraftday.com, and the winner will be announced April 11. DeVry University and the Jaguars conducted a similar contest that sent one fan to Hawaii for the 2008 Pro Bowl.
• If you don’t win the aforementioned contest, the Jaguars and DeVry University are sponsoring a Draft Day party at the Landing April 26 beginning at 3 p.m. The proceedings at Madison Square Garden will be shown live on the big screen in the courtyard. Players will be signing autographs and The Roar, the D-Line and team mascot Jaxon De Ville will entertain fans. Information about the university’s academic programs will be available. Admission is free.
• If you noticed the City Council offices were quiet Wednesday morning, it was because nine executive council assistants were participating in the Celebrity Readers Event at Community Connections Florence N. Davis Center Daycare. Participants include Sarah Balme (Daniel Davis), Tiffany Clark (Denise Lee), Daphne Colbert (Mia Jones), Debbie Delgado (Art Shad), Mina Hosseini (Ronnie Fussell), Angela Ryan (Clay Yarborough), Scott Wilson (Don Redman), Rupal Wells (Johnny Gaffney) and Sandra Lane (Glorious Johnson). Lane also made a presentation designed to teach the children Spanish. The Florence N. Davis Center cares for homeless children from area shelters as their mothers work to regain independence.
• The Cultural Council’s 32nd Annual Arts Awards Luncheon, “Cultural Investments Make Sense,” will be held at noon April 15 in the Moran Theater at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts. Keynote speaker Julie Muraco is senior managing director of NASDAQ for Capital Markets Group and serves on the board of directors of Americans for the Arts in Washington, D.C., the nation’s leading nonprofit organization for advancing participation in the arts. Muraco will address the importance of creativity and innovation in the contemporary business landscape. Luncheon tickets are $55 and corporate tables of 10 are $800. For more information, visit www.experiencejax.com or call 358-3600.
• The new tree lights in the park across Forsyth Street from the Florida Theatre has been a hit with audiences. The project was inspired by the sold-out Jackson Browne show a couple of weeks ago. Last Friday night, Art After Dark patrons also noticed the difference the lights made in terms of atmosphere and visibility. “It’s definitely more of a place for people to hang out before or after a show,” said Florida Theatre Director of Marketing Kendall Barsin.
“A reservoir of rage exists in each person, waiting to burst out. We fantasize about killing or humiliating our boss or the guy who took our parking space. It is only by growing up in a civilized society of law that we learn the idea of proportionate response.”
– Dr. Rex Julian Beaber, clinical psychologist