Friday, April 28, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Game called on account of darkness

Recently, Steve Masten, an 18-year-old University of Nevada pitcher, committed suicide by shooting himself. While media reports of Masten’s death do not speculate on what led to his demise, Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says athletes sometimes kill themselves when they are not meeting performance expectations. “The message here is that athletes must have a ‘healthy’ self-esteem about more than sport—to realize that sport is only one segment of life and does not represent success or failure as a human being,” Anshel says. “There are several sources of self-esteem, and it is unhealthy to define our self-worth by only one source. If that one source fails us or passes us by (e.g., retirement from sport, injury, performance failure), we feel worthless as a person.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

Believe and achieve

Darrell S. Freeman Sr., president and chief executive officer of Zycron Computer Services Inc. in Nashville, will be the featured speaker for the African American Awards Ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday, May 5, in the Tom H. Jackson Building (Alumni Center). Freeman founded Zycron in 1991 after earning his master’s degree at MTSU in 1990. The firm now employs more than 100 people. For the first year, the event will recognize both student and alumni award recipients at the same ceremony. Tickets are $10 per person or $5 for students. They may be purchased by calling 1-899-533-MTSU (6878) or by visiting http://www.mtalumni.com/.

For more information, contact Valerie Avent, Office of Multicultural Affairs, at 615-898-2718.
vavent@mtsu.edu

The leg bone’s connected to the …

When two college students stumbled over a skull in the Columbia River in 1996, they thought it was evidence of a modern homicide. Little did they know that what they found could be the start of a complete revamping of the history of North America. The skull and the 380 bones from its skeleton collectively are known as Kennewick Man since they were found near Kennewick, Wash. Dr. Hugh Berryman, a forensic anthropologist at MTSU, was one of the few experts brought in to analyze the findings. “It’s one of the oldest skeletons, one of the earliest individuals that populated this continent,” Berryman, a fracture expert, says. “And we have a chance to look at those remains and learn from them what they tell us about the past and who these people were.”

Contact Berryman at 615-494-7896.
berryman@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SAVE THOSE TICKETS!—Due to illness, “Fresh Air” radio show host Terry Gross was notable to fulfill her previously scheduled commitments at MTSU. Her appearance has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 19. Marc J. Barr, electronic media communication, says new tickets will not be printed. Therefore, people with the original April 17 tickets are encouraged to keep them for the September event. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or at mjbarr@mtsu.edu.

CLEAN AND GREEN—TODAY--Representatives from environment, education, state agencies, natural resource agencies and nonprofit groups from across Tennessee will be in attendance at MTSU’s first-ever Environmental Education Summit with the Tennessee Environmental Education Association. The event will take place in the Fairview Building off Greenland Drive in Murfreesboro. Summit presenters will include Dr. Padgett Kelly, biology, on the history of environmental education in Tennessee; Linda Jordan, science coordinator for the state Department of Education, on the No Child Left Behind Act; and Tami Coleman, coordinator of Project CENTS (Conservation Education Now for Tennessee Students) at the state Department of Education. Media welcomed. Contact Dr. Cindi Smith-Walters at 615-898-5449; Karen Hargrove at 615-898-2660; or Cynthia Allen at 615-904-8133.

APPLES FOR THE TEACHERS—SATURDAY, 5:30 p.m.--The Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame will induct six new members at its annual induction ceremony and banquet in the Presidential Ballroom of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. This year’s inductees are: Connie Balturshot of Gallatin; Ann Dunn of Murfreesboro; Ruth Gaines of Unicoi; Mary Lou Murphy of Oak Ridge; Joan Payne of Mountain City; and Mary Ann Stewart of Lenoir. “The hall of fame is a wonderful way for Tennesseans to honor those who have made exemplary contributions to the education profession and the lives of young people,” Dr. Gloria Bonner, dean, College of Education and Behavioral Science, says. Advance tickets are $35 each. Media welcomed. Contact the College of Education and Behavioral Science at 615-898-2874.

THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY—MONDAY--The May 1 deadline for registering for MTSU’s Summer Discovery Institute program is approaching quickly. Two potentially life-changing learning opportunities—“In Flight!” and “On Stage!”—await interested African American high school students who would like to learn how to pilot a plane or star in a theater production. “This program is a combination of campus projects, experiments and off-campus field trips,” Dr. Debra Sells, associate vice president of Academic Support Services, says. “Students will have time to visit and learn from topnotch faculty at our university. It is also meant to be a lot of fun.” The program is free, but students must register in advance. Contact Sells at 615-898-5342 or dsells@mtsu.edu.

SUPERVISING STUDENTS—TUESDAY, 12 p.m.—A panel of staffers from the Office of Financial Aid will discuss policies and procedures for the Federal Work-Study Program and the Scholarship Service Program at the June Anderson Women’s Center’s next Career/Professional Development Brown Bag luncheon. The event will take place in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building and is available to staff, administrators, faculty and students. Sign up by contacting the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES—WEDNESDAY, 6 p.m.--Ten high school seniors whose perseverence has seen them through tough times will be honored at the eighth annual Neill-Sandler Strive for Excellence Banquet in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room. The students were nominated by their schools and school systems to receive scholarships for achieving academic triumphs. “These students have weathereed many losses and hardships with gret courage and determination,” says Kippy Todd, assistant director for annual giving in the Office of Development. The youngsters hail from the Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Rutherford, Warren, Williamson and Wilson county school systems and Tullahoma City Schools.Contact Randy Weiler in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

MULTICULTURAL KIDS—THROUGH MAY 5--It’s time for the annual “Diverse Tales for Diverse Tots” book drive. The Diversity Committee of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women is asking for donations of children’s books that reflect or teach about any aspect of diversity and/or multiculturalism. These books may be old or new and for any age group. They will be presented in May to the MTSU Extended Evening School Program at the Homer Pittard Campus School. Dropoff locations include in the Sociology and Anthropology office (307 Todd Building), the English office (302 Peck Hall), the June Anderson Women’s Center (206 James Union Building), and the Older Wiser Learners office (320 Keathley University Center). Contact Dr. Ida Fadzillah at 615-898-8275 or ifadzill@mtsu.edu or Dr. Elvira Casal at 615-898-2668 or ecasal@mtsu.edu.

NEW WEB LOGS

We’ve made some changes on the News and Public Affairs website that will make your job a little easier. These changes won’t replace the mail, faxes and e-mails for those who prefer to get their information that way. The changes will be in addition to those methods. We now post TODAY’S RESPONSE and our NEWS RELEASES in a web log (blog) format. Links to TR and the news releases will be in the right column of the NPA website, http://mtsu20.mtsu.edu:880/redirect?http://www.mtsunews.com/.
One of the advantages of using the blog format is that the media will have an expanding, searchable archive of MTSU expert opinion and MTSU news releases. Thanks in advance for visiting these new features. If you have comments or questions, please contact John Lynch, director of marketing technologies, jlynch@mtsu.edu, 615-898-5591.

VIDEO UPLINK

TV stations, if you need video from an event at MTSU, interviews with MTSU experts, or other specific video from the MTSU campus, please call 615-898-2919 or email news@mtsu.edu. With sufficient advanced notice, we have the capability to uplink video to stations with digital decoding equipment, or we can make arrangements to deliver tape or DVD to you.