The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC, "rick") is one of two existing heavy-ion colliders, and the only spin-polarized proton collider in the world. It is located at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York and operated by an international team of researchers. By using RHIC to collide ions traveling at relativistic speeds, physicists study the primordial form of matter that existed in the universe shortly after the Big Bang. By colliding spin-polarized protons, the spin structure of the proton is explored.

RHIC is now the second-highest-energy heavy-ion collider in the world. As of 7 November 2010, the LHC has collided heavy ions of lead at higher energies than RHIC.

In 2010, RHIC physicists published results of temperature measurements from earlier experiments which concluded that temperatures in excess of 4 trillion kelvins (7 trillion degrees Fahrenheit) had been achieved in gold ion collisions, and that these collision temperatures resulted in the breakdown of "normal matter" and the creation of a liquid-like quark-gluon plasma.

The accelerator

RHIC is an intersecting storage ring particle accelerator. Two independent rings (arbitrarily denoted as "Blue" and "Yellow" rings, see also the photograph) circulate heavy ions and/or protons in opposite directions and allow a virtually free choice of colliding positively charged particles (the eRHIC upgrade will allow collisions between positively and negatively charged particles). The RHIC double storage ring is itself hexagonally shaped and long in circumference, with curved edges in which stored particles are deflected and focused by 1,740 superconducting niobium-titanium magnets. The dipole magnets operate at . The six interaction points (between the particles circulating in the two rings) are at the middle of the six relatively straight sections, where the two rings cross, allowing the particles to collide. The interaction points are enumerated by clock positions, with the injection near 6 o'clock. Two large experiments, STAR and PHENIX, are located at 6 and 8 o'clock respectively.

A particle passes through several stages of boosters before it reaches the RHIC storage ring. The first stage for ions is the Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator, while for protons, the linear accelerator (Linac) is used. As an example, gold nuclei leaving the Tandem Van de Graaff have an energy of about per nucleon and have an electric charge Q = +31 (31 of 79 electrons stripped from the gold atom). The particles are then accelerated by the Booster Synchrotron to per nucleon, which injects the projectile now with Q = +77 into the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS), before they finally reach per nucleon and are injected in a Q = +79 state (no electrons left) into the RHIC storage ring over the AGS-to-RHIC Transfer Line (ATR).

The main types of particle combinations explored at RHIC are , , and . The projectiles typically travel at a speed of 99.995% of the speed of light. For collisions, the center-of-mass energy is typically (or per nucleon); an average luminosity of was targeted during the planning. The current average luminosity of the collider is , 10 times the design value. For polarized collision, Run-9 achieved center-of-mass energy of on 12 February 2009.

One unique characteristic of RHIC is its capability to produce polarized protons. RHIC holds the record of highest energy polarized protons. Polarized protons are injected into RHIC and preserve this state throughout the energy ramp. This is a difficult task that can only be accomplished with the aid of Siberian snakes (a chain of solenoids and quadrupoles for aligning particles) and AC dipoles. The AC dipoles have been also used in non-linear machine diagnostics for the first time in RHIC.

The experiments

There are four detectors at RHIC: STAR (6 o'clock, and near the AGS-to-RHIC Transfer Line), PHENIX (8 o'clock), PHOBOS (10 o'clock), and BRAHMS (2 o'clock). Two of them are still active, with PHOBOS having completed its operation after 2005 and Run-05, and BRAHMS after 2006 and Run-06.

Among the two larger detectors, STAR is aimed at the detection of hadrons with its system of time projection chambers covering a large solid angle and in a conventionally generated solenoidal magnetic field, while PHENIX is further specialized in detecting rare and electromagnetic particles, using a partial coverage detector system in a superconductively generated axial magnetic field. The smaller detectors have larger pseudorapidity coverage, PHOBOS has the largest pseudorapidity coverage of all detectors, and tailored for bulk particle multiplicity measurement, while BRAHMS is designed for momentum spectroscopy, in order to study the so called "small-x" and saturation physics. There is an additional experiment, PP2PP, investigating spin dependence in p + p scattering.

The spokespersons for each of the experiments are:

STAR: Nu Xu (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division)

PHENIX: Barbara Jacak (Stony Brook University, Department of Physics and Astronomy)

PHOBOS: Wit Busza (Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Physics and MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science)

BRAHMS: Flemming Videbaek (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Physics Department)

PP2PP: Włodek Guryn (Brookhaven National Laboratory, Physics Department)

Current results

For a complementary discussion, see also quark-gluon plasma.

For the experimental objective of creating and studying the quark-gluon plasma, RHIC has the unique ability to provide baseline measurements for itself. This consists of the both lower energy and also lower mass number projectile combinations that do not result in the density of 200 GeV Au + Au collisions, like the p + p and d + Au collisions of the earlier runs, and also Cu + Cu collisions in Run-5.

Using this approach, important results of the measurement of the hot QCD matter created at RHIC are:

Collective anisotropy, or elliptic flow. The multiplicity of the particles' bulk with lower momenta exhibits a dependency as $dn/d\backslash phi\; \backslash propto\; 1\; +\; 2\; v\_2(p\_\backslash mathrm\{T\})\; \backslash cos\; 2\; \backslash phi$ (p_T is the transverse momentum, $\backslash phi$ angle with the reaction plane). This is a direct result of the elliptic shape of the nucleus overlap region during the collision and hydrodynamical property of the matter created.

Jet quenching. In the heavy ion collision event, scattering with a high transverse p_T can serve as a probe for the hot QCD matter, as it loses its energy while traveling through the medium. Experimentally, the quantity R_AA (A is the mass number) being the quotient of observed jet yield in A + A collisions and N_bin × yield in p + p collisions shows a strong damping with increasing A, which is an indication of the new properties of the hot QCD matter created.

Color glass condensate saturation. The Balitsky–Fadin–Kuraev–Lipatov (BFKL) dynamics which are the result of a resummation of large logarithmic terms in Q² for deep inelastic scattering with small Bjorken-x, saturate at a unitarity limit $Q\_s^2\; \backslash propto\; \backslash langle\; N\_\backslash mathrm\{part\}\; \backslash rangle/2$, with N_part/2 being the number of participant nucleons in a collision (as opposed to the number of binary collisions). The observed charged multiplicity follows the expected dependency of $n\_\backslash mathrm\{ch\}/A\; \backslash propto\; 1/\backslash alpha\_s(Q\_s^2)$, supporting the predictions of the color glass condensate model. For a detailed discussion, see e.g. Kharzeev et al.; for an overview of color glass condensates, see e.g. Iancu & Venugopalan.

Particle ratios. The particle ratios predicted by statistical models allow the calculation of parameters such as the temperature at chemical freeze-out T_ch and hadron chemical potential $\backslash mu\_B$. The experimental value T_ch varies a bit with the model used, with most authors giving a value of 160 MeV < T_ch < 180 MeV, which is very close to the expected QCD phase transition value of approximately 170 MeV obtained by lattice QCD calculations (see e.g. Karsch).

While in the first years, theorists were eager to claim that RHIC has discovered the quark-gluon plasma (e.g. Gyulassy & McLarren), though the experimental groups were more careful not to jump to conclusions, citing various variables still in need of further measurement. The present results shows that the matter created is a fluid with a viscosity near the quantum limit, but is unlike a weakly interacting plasma (a widespread yet not quantitatively unfounded belief on how quark gluon plasma looks).

A recent overview of the physics result is provided by the RHIC Experimental Evaluations 2004, a community-wide effort of RHIC experiments to evaluate the current data in the context of implication for formation of a new state of matter. These results are from the first three years of data collection at RHIC.

New results were published in Physical Review Letters on February 16, 2010, stating the discovery of the first hints of symmetry transformations, and that the observations may suggest that bubbles formed in the aftermath of the collisions created in the RHIC may break parity symmetry, which normally characterizes interactions between quarks and gluons.

The RHIC physicists announced new temperature measurements for these experiments of up to 7.2 trillion kelvins, the highest temperature ever achieved in a laboratory. It is described as a recreation of the conditions that existed during the birth of the Universe.

The future

RHIC began operation in 2000 and until November 2010 was the most powerful heavy-ion collider in the world. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of CERN, while used mainly for colliding protons, will operate with heavy ions for about one month per year. LHC will eventually operate 28 times higher ion energies, although current LHC operation is at half this energy.

Due to the longer operating time per year, a greater number of colliding ion species and collision energies can be studied at RHIC. In addition and unlike the LHC, RHIC is able to accelerate spin polarized protons, which would leave RHIC as the world's highest energy accelerator for studying spin-polarized proton structure.

A planned major upgrade is eRHIC: The construction of a 10 GeV high intensity electron/positron beam facility, allowing electron-ion collisions. At least one new detector will have to be built to study the collisions. A recent review is given by A. Deshpande et al..

In October 2006, then Interim Director of BNL, Sam Aronson, has contested the claim in a Physics Today report that "Tevatron is unlikely to outlive the decade. Neither is ... the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider", referring to a report of the National Research Council.

Critics of high energy experiments

Before RHIC started operation, critics postulated that the extremely high energy could produce catastrophic scenarios, such as creating a black hole, a transition into a different quantum mechanical vacuum (see false vacuum), or the creation of strange matter that is more stable than ordinary matter. These hypotheses are complex, but many predict that the Earth would be destroyed in a time frame from seconds to millennia, depending on the theory considered. However, the fact that objects of the Solar System (e.g., the Moon) have been bombarded with cosmic particles of significantly higher energies than that of RHIC and other man made colliders for billions of years, without any harm to the Solar System, were among the most striking arguments that these hypotheses were unfounded.

The other main controversial issue was a demand by critics for physicists to reasonably exclude the probability for such a catastrophic scenario. Physicists are unable to demonstrate experimental and astrophysical constraints of zero probability of catastrophic events, nor that tomorrow Earth will be struck with a "doomsday" cosmic ray (they can only calculate an upper limit for the likelihood). The result would be the same destructive scenarios described above, although obviously not caused by humans. According to this argument of upper limits, RHIC would still modify the chance for the Earth's survival by an infinitesimal amount.

Concerns were raised in connection with the RHIC particle accelerator, both in the media and in the popular science media. The risk of a doomsday scenario was indicated by Martin Rees, with respect to the RHIC, as being at least a 1 in 50,000,000 chance. With regards to the production of strangelets, Frank Close, professor of physics at the University of Oxford, indicates that "the chance of this happening is like you winning the major prize on the lottery 3 weeks in succession; the problem is that people believe it is possible to win the lottery 3 weeks in succession." After detailed studies, scientists reached such conclusions as "beyond reasonable doubt, heavy-ion experiments at RHIC will not endanger our planet" and that there is "powerful empirical evidence against the possibility of dangerous strangelet production."

The debate started in 1999 with an exchange of letters in Scientific American between Walter L. Wagner, and F. Wilczek, Institute for Advanced Study, in response to a previous article by M. Mukerjee. The media attention unfolded with an article in U.K. Sunday Times of July 18, 1999 by J. Leake, closely followed by articles in the U.S. media. The controversy mostly ended with the report of a committee convened by the director of Brookhaven National Laboratory, J. H. Marburger, ostensibly ruling out the catastrophic scenarios depicted. However, the report left open the possibility that relativistic cosmic ray impact products might behave differently while transiting earth compared to "at rest" RHIC products; and the possibility that the qualitative difference between high-E proton collisions with earth or the moon might be different than gold on gold collisions at the RHIC. Wagner tried subsequently to stop full energy collision at RHIC by filing Federal lawsuits in San Francisco and New York, but without success. The New York suit was dismissed on the technicality that the San Francisco suit was the preferred forum. The San Francisco suit was dismissed, but with leave to refile if additional information was developed and presented to the court.

On March 17, 2005, the BBC published an article implying that researcher Horaţiu Năstase believes black holes have been created at RHIC. However, the original papers of H. Năstase and the New Scientist article cited by the BBC state that the correspondence of the hot dense QCD matter created in RHIC to a black hole is only in the sense of a correspondence of QCD scattering in Minkowski space and scattering in the AdS₅ × X₅ space in AdS/CFT; in other words, it is similar mathematically. Therefore, RHIC collisions might described by mathematics relevant to theories of quantum gravity within AdS/CFT, but the described physical phenomena are not the same.

Financial information

The RHIC project is sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics. It had a line-item budget of 616.6 million U.S. dollars. The annual operational budgets were:

fiscal year 2005: 131.6 million U.S. dollars

fiscal year 2006: 115.5 million U.S. dollars

fiscal year 2007, requested: 143.3 million U.S. dollars

The total investment by 2005 is approximately 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. Though operation under the fiscal year 2006 federal budget cut was uncertain, a key portion of the operational cost (13 million U.S. dollars) was contributed privately by a group close to Renaissance Technologies of East Setauket, New York.

RHIC in fiction

The novel Cosm (ISBN 0-380-79052-1) by the American author Gregory Benford takes place at RHIC. The science fiction setting describes the main character Alicia Butterworth, a physicist at the BRAHMS experiment, and a new universe being created in RHIC by accident, while running with uranium ions.

The zombie apocalypse novel The Rising by the American author Brian Keene referenced the media concerns of activating the RHIC raised by the article in The Sunday Times of July 18, 1999 by J. Leake,. As revealed very early in the story, side effects of the collider experiments of the RHIC (located at "Havenbrook National Laboratories") were the cause of the zombie uprising in the novel and its sequel City of the Dead.

See also

The ISABELLE Project

Large Hadron Collider

References

Further reading

Preprints are available at :* BRAHMS :* PHENIX :* PHOBOS :* STAR

External links

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

Brookhaven National Laboratory Collider-Accelerator Department

RHIC Run Overview

Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Google Maps

Various photos of the RHIC tunnel near the PHOBOS experiment

A Puzzling Signal in RHIC Experiments, Physics News, March 15, 2005

Category:Particle physics facilities Category:Quark matter Category:Brookhaven National Laboratory

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Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
Official name	Phenix City
Settlement type	City
Pushpin map	USA Alabama
Pushpin map caption	Location in Alabama.
Coordinates region	US-AL
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	State
Subdivision type2	Counties
Subdivision name	United States
Subdivision name1	Alabama
Subdivision name2	Russell, Lee
Leader title	Mayor
Leader name	Sonny Coulter
Established date	February 23, 1883
Area total km2	64.1
Area total sq mi	24.8
Area land km2	63.7
Area land sq mi	24.6
Area water km2	0.4
Area water sq mi	0.2
Elevation ft	243
Elevation m	74
Population as of	2006
Population total	30067
Population density km2	469.06
Population density sq mi	1139.7
Timezone	Eastern (EST)
Utc offset	-5
Timezone dst	EDT
Utc offset dst	-4
Coordinates display	displayinline,title
Postal code type	ZIP codes
Postal code	36867-36869
Area code	334
Blank name	FIPS code
Blank info	01-59472
Blank1 name	GNIS feature ID
Blank1 info	0155193
Website	http://www.phenixcityal.us }}

Phenix City is a city and the county seat in Russell County in the U.S. state of Alabama. Portions of Lee County are addressed as Phenix City, 36870 ZIP code, for the sole purpose that Smiths Station does not have full incorporation to annex the area. As of 2006, the population of the city was 30,067, according to Census Bureau estimates.

Phenix City is sometimes called a "Hub City", as it lies immediately west of Columbus, Georgia, which is a much larger city. It is included in the Columbus, Georgia-Alabama Metropolitan Statistical Area, but a section is located in Lee County, and is, therefore, in the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Statistical Area in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Russell County.

In 2007, BusinessWeek named Phenix City the nation's #1 Best Affordable Suburb to raise a family.

Currently, the mayor is Sonny Coulter, a local businessman, and previous mayor. The city manager, who holds the task of organizational matters is Wallace Hunter.

Geography

Phenix City is located at (32.472822, -85.020121).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.8 square miles (64.1 km²), of which, 24.6 square miles (63.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.61%) is water.

History

thumb|left|[[Russell County, Alabama|Russell County Courthouse in Phenix City]]The last true battle of the Civil War took place in Phenix City, then known as Girard.

In the late 19th century, Girard made up most of current downtown Phenix City, while Phenix City was mostly in Lee County. In the early 20th century, the two towns consolidated into the present Phenix City as county lines were redrawn to account for population shifts involved in the Auburn University opening and expansion.

Phenix City was notorious during the 1940s and 1950s as being a haven for organized crime, prostitution, and gambling, the result of its proximity to the United States Army training center at Fort Benning, Georgia. As a result, the city had a negative reputation, and many people still associate this legacy with Phenix City. The Tragedy and the Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama by Margaret Ann Barnes chronicles these events, which led to the small town to be known as "Sin City, USA". The bordertown was the subject of an acclaimed film, The Phenix City Story, made in 1955.

In 1955, it won the All-America City Award from the National Municipal League.

Religion

Christianity

Phenix City is home to many Christian churches. The denominations are as follows:

Roman Catholicism

Protestantism

*Baptist

**Southern Baptist Convention

*Methodist

Demographics

thumb|left|Phenix City Municipal buildingAs of the census of 2000, there were 28,265 people, 11,517 households, and 7,566 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,149.1 people per square mile (443.6/km²). There were 13,250 housing units at an average density of 538.7 per square mile (208.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.94% White, 44.97% Black or African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.56% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 1.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 11,517 households out of which 31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 22.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.99.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,720, and the median income for a family was $33,740. Males had a median income of $28,906 versus $21,348 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,619. About 18.8% of families and 21.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.5% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.

In the city, the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 86.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.

Time Zone (official and observed)

Although Alabama is legally part of the Central Time Zone, Phenix City's proximity to the larger city of Columbus, Georgia means that Phenix City and areas within a 10-15 mile radius (such as Smiths Station, Alabama) observe Eastern Time on a de facto basis, including the Phenix City municipal government.

Media

Phenix City also receives all major television networks and radio stations from nearby Columbus, Georgia. There are, however, three radio stations licensed in Phenix City: WURY-LP (97.1 FM), WGSY (100.1 FM), and WHAL (1460 AM).

Sister cities

Colomiers, France Kamenice, Czech Republic Västerås, Sweden

In popular culture

Ralph J. Bryant, The first black graduate of Columbus College & C.E.O of Decatur Capital Management was born and raised in Phenix City.

The character "Maggot" from E.M. Nathanson's novel The Dirty Dozen was from Phenix City.

The 1955 film The Phenix City Story (directed by Phil Karlson) is a biopic film noir focusing on the rampant crime and corruption in the city (then called "the wickedest city in the United States") and the 1954 murder of newly-nominated Alabama Attorney General candidate Albert Patterson.

Ska saxophonist Rolando Alphonso of the Skatalites had a 1960s hit titled "Phenix City"

The late recording artist Jimmie Spheeris was born in Phenix City in 1949. Also, Freddie Hart a Country singer who wrote and recorded "Phenix City" is from there.

Governor John Malcolm Patterson (Gov. of Alabama 1959-63) was from Phenix City.

The town gained attention in 1999 when Phenix City National Little League advanced to the final of the Little League World Series.

The city is mentioned in the film Driving Miss Daisy.

The city is mentioned as a former bootlegging city by the character played by Robert Mitchum in the film Thunder Road.

The 2008 novel Wicked City by Ace Atkins is set in Phenix City.

Colby Rasmus, Center Fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays is from Phenix City.

Atlanta Braves pitcher and Auburn University standout Tim Hudson is from Phenix City

Gallery

References

External links

The Fall and Rise of Phenix City from The Malefactor's Register

Up from the Ashes: The Rebirth of Phenix City, a public TV documentary

Category:Cities in Alabama Category:Populated places established in 1883 Category:Russell County, Alabama Category:Lee County, Alabama Category:County seats in Alabama Category:Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area Category:Auburn metropolitan area

ca:Phenix City (Alabama) de:Phenix City es:Phenix City (Alabama) fr:Phenix City io:Phenix City, Alabama it:Phenix City ht:Phenix City (Alabama) nl:Phenix City pl:Phenix City pt:Phenix City (Alabama) simple:Phenix City, Alabama sv:Phenix City vo:Phenix City

Coordinates	29°57′53″N90°4′14″N
name	The Cheetah Girls
background	group_or_band
origin	United States
genre	Pop, R&B;, Hip Hop
years active	2003–2008
label	Walt Disney (2005-2008) Hollywood (2006-2008)
associated acts	Belinda Peregrín, 3LW,
past members	Adrienne Bailon (2003-2008) Sabrina Bryan (2003-2008) Raven-Symoné (2003-2007) Kiely Williams (2003-2008)
website	www.tcgmusic.com/ }}

The Cheetah Girls were an American girl group consisting of Raven-Symoné as Galleria Garibaldi, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker. The group was created by The Walt Disney Company, and made famous by the eponymous Disney Channel original film and its sequels, The Cheetah Girls 2 and The Cheetah Girls: One World. The group has released three studio albums, Cheetah-licious Christmas, In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour, and TCG and several RIAA certified Platinum albums including, The Cheetah Girls, The Cheetah Girls 2, and The Cheetah Girls: One World. All of their albums and soundtracks have debuted in the Billboard 200. The soundtrack to their first movie sold over 2 million copies.

The group has launched a clothing line, several perfume collections, doll lines, room decor, a book series, and a video games line. The group has had three nationwide tours, Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour, The Party's Just Begun Tour and One World Tour. The Cheetah Girls grossed over USD $43 million from their second tour.

Career

The group had a television movie, based on a bestselling series of young adult books of the same name by Deborah Gregory, was debuted on August 15, 2003. The film won several awards including Black Reel awards, an Image Award. The movie's DVD sold over 800,000 copies. The film received over 84 million viewers worldwide and remained a hit in the ratings for months afterwards. The Cheetah Girls were also supposed to be a TV series for ABC in their 2004-2005 season. The show was to begin production in early 2004, according to an article on the MTV news site, but according to another article on MTV News website in February 2004, it said The Cheetah Girls sitcom had been delayed, due to the success of That's So Raven. Therefore, Raven would not be able to do the series. Although a pilot was shot in late 2003, ABC decided not to pick up the series.

Due to her busy schedule, as well as already being signed to the same label (Hollywood Records) as a solo act, Raven-Symoné decided not to be a part of the actual recording act, leaving the trio of just Bailon, Bryan and Williams. In January 2005, the girls recorded for the first time as a trio and recording act for the 2005 DisneyMania 3 album, remaking the song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" from the Hercules soundtrack.

The girls released their first recording in October, 2005 under Walt Disney Records, Cheetah-licious Christmas, the holiday album included classic Christmas songs, as well as several original songs, one of which was co-written by all three girls. The album peaked at number 74 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The lead single, "Cheetah-licious Christmas", was rotated on Radio Disney and a music video for the song was shown on Disney Channel. A second single from the album, "Five More Days 'Til Christmas" was released as a Radio Disney-only single. The girls went on tour to support the album that fall. Along with Aly & AJ as the opening act and The Jonas Brothers as special guests, the tour was successful.

The Cheetah Girls began work on their debut album in January 2006. However, when filming and recording for The Cheetah Girls 2 came up, the album was put on hold. "We'll be making a real album, not a soundtrack", Adrienne Bailon says. "Some of the music on there will be produced by will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas", she says. "It's important for people to see us as a real musical group. We have all this great marketing around us, with the movies and other things. But we are a musical group."

The Cheetah Girls 2 premiere received a total of over 8.1 million viewers, making it the highest rated premiere for a Disney Channel Original Movie at the time.

In an interview with Billboard about the postponed album, Sabrina Bryan stated that the girls worked on writing for the album on their Party's Just Begun tour and that they hoped to gather an audience of older fans while simultaneously staying true to their younger fan base. Bryan also stated that the girls would work with producers they've worked with in the past as well as exploring new producers, such as Timbaland.

The album was originally titled Who We Are, and set to be released on June 19, 2007 but this was postponed to September 25, 2007, with a release name of TCG.

The track "So Bring It On" was released as the album's first single. "Fuego" was released as the second single from the album.

Break-up

The girls began filming their third Cheetah Girls movie, entitled The Cheetah Girls: One World, in March 2008. It is the only movie not to feature Raven-Symone and premiered on August 22, with its soundtrack released on August 19. The movie debuted with 6.2 million viewers, the lowest-ever rated premiere for the series. In the fall of 2008, the group went on tour to support the One World movie, which would be their last tour together. In January 2009, the group disbanded.

All three girls are currently working on solo records. Bryan released a book titled Princess of Gossip in 2009, had a small supporting role in the straight-to-dvd film Mostly Ghostly, released another fitness DVD called Byou 2, and had a part in the indie film If It Ain't Broke, Break It. Both Williams and Bailon had small roles in 2008 film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, with Bryan making a cameo in the form of a set of her Byou DVDs on display. Williams played a supporting role in the film The House Bunny starring Anna Farris. Williams filmed the music video for her first single Make Me A Drink in New York City in November 2008, which was later scrapped in favor of a promotional single titled Spectacular. The album is scheduled to be released in 2011. Bailon's solo album is also scheduled for a 2011 release on Island Def Jam Records. In early 2009, Williams and Bryan talked about collaborating on a talk show together, which Williams described as "a young version of The View". The pilot for Dinner with Friends was filmed in May 2011.

Filmography

The Cheetah Girls 2The Cheetah Girls: One World

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
2003	The Cheetah Girls (film)>The Cheetah Girls	The Cheetah Girls Raven-Symoné as Galleria Garibaldi, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker
2006	|	The Cheetah Girls [Raven-Symoné as Galleria Garibaldi, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker]	Filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
2008	|	The Cheetah Girls [Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker]	Udaipur, Rajasthan>Udaipur, India.

Discography

Studio albums

Year !! Studio Album
2007	TCG (album)>TCG

Soundtracks albums

Year !! Soundtrack
2003	The Cheetah Girls (soundtrack)>The Cheetah Girls
2006	The Cheetah Girls 2 (soundtrack)>The Cheetah Girls 2
2008	The Cheetah Girls: One World (soundtrack)>The Cheetah Girls: One World

Other Albums

Year !! Live Album
2005	Cheetah-licious Christmas
2007	In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour

EPs

Year !! EP
2007	TCG EP
2008	The Cheetah Girls Soundcheck

Merchandise

There are Cheetah Girl based clothing lines, toys, and video games. The clothing line was made available in Sears stores, and its launch was the most successful in Sears history.

Videos games have been produced for GBA and Nintendo DS, as well as a dancemat game. Toy instruments have been produced for the children's market.

The Cheetah Girls also have a doll line, released in 2007, inspired by the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs). There are several versions of the dolls and the three members. The dolls are currently available at Sears stores nationwide and several other retailers.

Miscellaneous

;Book series For further information see: The Cheetah Girls (book series) The Cheetah Girls started as a book series that was written by Deborah Gregory. There are two versions of the Cheetah Girls book series. The original, which was the inspiration for the first movie, and the other by Disney authors released as movie tie-ins.

;DVDs The Disney Channel Original Movies, and the concert DVD, are released with The Cheetah Girls 2 Special Edition Soundtrack. A 20 minute highlights DVD of the Girls' The Party's Just Begun Tour was released on July 10, 2007 along with a live audio CD of the tour. The first DVD released has sold over 800,000 copies. The Cheetah Girls have also released a Calirfornia Adventures DVD and two compilation DVDs, DisneyMania 3 in Concert and Radio Disney's Totally 15th Birthday.

;Toothbrushes In 2006, The Cheetah Girls released a toothbrush modeled after them. The toothbrush features a picture of The Cheetah Girls and plays a clip of their single "Shake a Tail Feather". It was one of the most popular toothbrushes for all girls in 2006, the top being a spinning, singing Barbie toothbrush.

Awards

National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications Awards' Best Music Video Award (2007, Strut)

Tours

See: The Cheetah Girls tours

;Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour In the winter of 2005, The Cheetah Girls went on tour to support their Christmas album Cheetah-licious Christmas. Aly & AJ went along with them, as the opening act, to support their own album Into the Rush, although the Jonas Brothers performed as surprise guests opening for both The Cheetah Girls and Aly & AJ for a total of 10 shows of the tour, promoting It's About Time, their first album. The holiday theme of the concert included giant presents (in which the Cheetah Girls performed in), Winter clothes, and even a tropical theme for their song "Christmas in California", which included surf boards with the girls' names on them. The Cheetah Girls also sang songs from the first Cheetah Girls soundtrack, their song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" (from DisneyMania 3), and their version of "Shake a Tail Feather" (from the Chicken Little soundtrack).

;The Party's Just Begun Tour In July 2006, the girls stated to Disney 365, a brief Disney Channel So Hot Summer news program, that they would be hitting the road again in September 2006, however they didn't state whether or not Raven-Symoné would be joining them. However, in a later interview they confirmed that Raven would not be going with them. An ad inside of the Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack confirmed the name of the tour to be The Party's Just Begun Tour. The concert was released to a live CD and DVD combo on July 10, 2007. The opening acts for the tour were Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) for the first 20 dates, Vanessa Hudgens for the next 20 dates, and Everlife for the last 40 dates. Jordan Pruitt was also a special guest on the tour for the first 40 cities. The preteen group T-Squad was also a special guest for 5 of the 58 dates. The concert tour sold out every date. For the tour's finale the group performed in Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with Miley Cyrus as their opening act. Within 3 minutes, the concert had already sold 80,000 tickets.

;The One World Tour The girls announced their third tour in the summer of 2008. The tour, entitled the One World Tour began in October 2008 and is in support of the trio's third soundtrack from their Disney Channel film The Cheetah Girls: One World. Bailon stated in an interview that it was likely that this tour would travel to various other countries as well as the United States. Corbin Bleu was originally announced as the opening act for the tour but due to his busy schedule could not continue with the duties. The Clique Girlz were announced as the official opening act for the tour just days before it began.

References

External links

Official site on Hollywood Records

Official site on Walt Disney Records

Category:American dance music groups Category:American dancers Category:American pop music groups Category:American rhythm and blues musical groups Category:Girl groups Category:Fictional musical groups Category:Hollywood Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 2004 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Category:Musical trios

es:The Cheetah Girls (banda) fr:Les Cheetah Girls (groupe) it:The Cheetah Girls (gruppo musicale) ms:The Cheetah Girls nl:The Cheetah Girls (groep) ja:チーター・ガールズ pl:Cheetah Girls pt:The Cheetah Girls tr:The Cheetah Girls

Cracker, sometimes white cracker, is a pejorative term for white people. It is an ethnic slur that is especially used for the white inhabitants of the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida (Georgia crackers and Florida crackers), but it is also used throughout the United States.

Etymology

One theory holds that the term comes from the common diet of poor whites. According to the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is a term of contempt for the "poor" or "mean whites," particularly of the U.S. states of Georgia and Florida (see Georgia cracker and Florida cracker). Britannica notes that the term dates back to the American Revolution, and is derived from the cracked corn from which cornmeal and grits, which formed their staple food, are made, as well as corn whiskey. (In British English "mean" is also a term for tightfistedness, although in this context that is irrelevant as mean also refers to being ignoble or inferior).

Yet another theory is that the term derives from an Elizabethan word used to describe braggarts. The original root of this is the Middle English word crack meaning "entertaining conversation" (one may be said to "crack" a joke); this term and the Gaelic spelling craic are still in use in Ireland, Scotland and Northern England. It is documented in Shakespeare's King John (1595): "What cracker is this same that deafs our ears with this abundance of superfluous breath?"

The term Cracker was also given to the farm hands that would work on the plantations as slave drivers. They would put a short length of twisted twine or string attached to the end of a whip to produce a cracking sound. The plantation owners as well as the slaves began to refer to them as the Crackers.

Examples of historical usage

Historically the word suggested poor, white rural Americans with little formal education. Historians point out the term originally referred to the strong English & Scots-Irish farmers of the back country (as opposed to the wealthy planters of the seacoast). Thus a sociologist reported in 1913: "As the plantations expanded these freed men (formerly bond servants) were pushed further and further back upon the more and more sterile soil. They became 'pinelanders', 'corn-crackers', or 'crackers'."

As early as the 1760s, this term was in use by the upper class planters in the British North American colonies to refer to Scots-Irish and English settlers in the south. The vast majority of whom were descendants of English bond servants. A letter to the Earl of Dartmouth reads:

I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode.

A similar usage was that of Charles Darwin in his introduction to The Origin of Species, to refer to "Virginia squatters" (illegal settlers).

Frederick Law Olmsted, a prominent landscape architect from Connecticut, visited the South as a journalist in the 1850s and wrote that "some crackers owned a good many Negroes, and were by no means so poor as their appearance indicated."

In 1947, the student body of Florida State University voted for the name of their current athletic symbol of "Seminoles," out of more than 100 choices. The other finalists, in order of finish, were Statesmen, Rebels, Tarpons, Fighting Warriors, and Crackers.

Crackin' Good Snacks (a division of Winn-Dixie, a Southern grocery chain) has sold crackers similar to Ritz crackers under the name "Georgia Crackers". They sometimes were packaged in a red tin with a picture of The Crescent, an antebellum plantation house in Valdosta, Georgia.

"Cracker" has also been used as a proud or jocular self-description. With the huge influx of new residents from the North, "cracker" is used informally by some white residents of Florida and Georgia ("Florida cracker" or "Georgia cracker") to indicate that their family has lived there for many generations. However, the term "white cracker" is not always used self-referentially and remains a slur to many in the region.

Before the Milwaukee Braves baseball team moved to Atlanta, Georgia, the Atlanta minor league baseball team was known as the "Atlanta Crackers". The team existed under this name from 1901 until 1965. They were members of the Southern Association from their inception until 1961, and members of the International League from 1961 until they were moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1965. However, it is suggested the name was derived from players "cracking" the baseball bat and this origin makes sense when considering the Atlanta Negro League Baseball team was known as the "Atlanta Black Crackers".

The Florida Cracker Trail is a route which cuts across southern Florida, following the historic trail of the old cattle drives.

Examples of political usage

Singer-songwriter Randy Newman, on his socio-politically themed album Good Old Boys (1974) uses the term "cracker" on the song "Kingfish" ("I'm a cracker, You one too, Gonna take good care of you"). The song's subject is Huey Long, populist Governor and then Senator for Louisiana (1928–35). The term is also used in "Louisiana 1927" from the same album, where the line "Ain't it a shame what the river has done to this poor cracker's land" is attributed to President Coolidge.

In 2008, former President Bill Clinton used the term "cracker" on Larry King Live to describe white voters he was attempting to win over for Barack Obama: "You know, they think that because of who I am and where my politic[al] base has traditionally been, they may want me to go sort of hustle up what Lawton Chiles used to call the 'cracker vote' there."

See also

Hillbilly

Honky

Jimmy Crack Corn

List of ethnic slurs

Redneck

Cracker Barrel

References

Further reading

Brown, Roger Lyle. Ghost Dancing on the Cracker Circuit: The Culture Festivals in the American South (1997)

Burke, Karanja. "Cracker"

Language Sciences 33 (May 2011): 343-358.">Croom, Adam M. "Slurs." Language Sciences 33 (May 2011): 343-358.

Cassidy, Frederic G. Dictionary of American Regional English. Harvard University Press, Vol. I, 1985: 825-26

De Graffenried, Clare. "The Georgia Cracker in the Cotton Mills." Century 41 (February 1891): 483—98.

George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams. Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives: The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams edited by James M Denham and Canter Brown. U of South Carolina Press 2000/

Grady McWhiney, Cracker Culture: Celtic Ways in the Old South (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1988).

Grady McWhiney. Confederate Crackers and Cavaliers. (Abilene, Tex.: McWhiney Foundation Press, c. 2002. Pp. 312. ISBN 1-893114-27-9, collected essays

John Solomon Otto, "Cracker: The History of a Southeastern Ethnic, Economic, and Racial Epithet," Names' 35 (1987): 28-39.

Frank L. Owsley. Plain Folk of the Old South (1949)

Delma E. Presley, "The Crackers of Georgia," Georgia Historical Quarterly 60 (summer 1976): 102-16.

Major, Clarence (1994). Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang. Puffin Books.

External links

Cracker – Entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia

Etymology of "cracker" by Professor Kim Pearson

Category:Pejorative terms for people Category:Ethnic and religious slurs Category:Ethnic and racial stereotypes Category:Culture of the Southern United States Category:Social groups

nl:Cracker (scheldwoord) pl:Cracker