U-of-I students attend "Think Tank"

Seven University of Iowa students leave tomorrow for Tennessee to take part in a three-day think tank as part of what’s dubbed a “national creativity effort.” Jesse Elliott, a senior at the U-of-I, says they’ll be among one-hundred people from across the U-S who’ll help create what’s to be called the Memphis Manifesto. Creation of the document will bring together people from all sorts of communities — bankers, journalists, artists, politicians — to talk about economic development and the role of creativity in its success. Elliott says the manifesto, which will be sent out to cities across the nation, will be a declaration of steps that need to be taken to build communities for members of the “creative class.”After this week’s three-day summit in Memphis, the manifesto will be posted on numerous websites and will be distributed to mayors, congressional leaders, business leaders and key influencers across the U-S. Elliott is from Elgin, Illinois, and he’s triple-majoring in political science, film and Spanish. He’s not sure what sort of role he’ll play in creating the maifesto, but he’ll be one of one-hundred voices brainstorming on the effort.Four Iowans are among the other six U-of-I students on the trip: Jacek Pruski of Ames, Amanda Styron of Mount Pleasant and Mike Brooks and Spencer Griffin, both of West Des Moines. For more information, surf to “www.memphismanifesto.com”.