Monday, April 24, 2006

Today's Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Apples for the teachers

The Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame will induct six new members at its annual induction ceremony and banquet at 5:30 p.m. this SATURDAY 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.

Clean and green

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 THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. 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.

“Dear Mr. President”

Pink has written “the first bona fide American protest song of the 21st century” in the opinion of Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication. Pondillo finds “Dear Mr. President” reminiscent of the protest music of the 1960s and early ‘70s. “Her son isn’t just a protest of the war alone,” he says. “Pink takes on urban poverty, women’s rights, gay issues, the minimum wage, the homeless, even No Child Left Behind. She wails, as if writing a letter to President Bush, ‘How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?’” Pondillo says “Dear Mr. President has “a great hook and a haunting melody.” The question is whether a controversial song like this will get played on radio stations.

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-9465.


TR EXTRA

PUMP IT UP!—TODAY, 4:30 p.m.—Campus Recreation and Disabled Students Services invite you to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Challenge Circuit 7000 adaptive weight-lifting machine in the Campus Recreation Weight Room. For more information, call 615-898-5569.

IT’S AN HONOR—TOMORROW, 3 p.m.—The College of Basic and Applied Sciences will recognize about 200 students with its annual Awards Day in the James Union’s Building’s Tennessee Room. State Rep. John Hood (D-Murfreesboro) will serve as master of ceremonies. For more information, call 615-898-2613.

SPRINGOUT SING OUT—TOMORROW, 7:30 p.m.—Nashville in Harmony will perform in concert in Room 204 of the Todd Building. Nashville in Harmony is Nashville’s only gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender and friends community chorus. This event is a presentation of SpringOut, sponsored by the student organization Lambda and the National Women’s History Month Committee. For more information, contact Dr. Trixie Smith at 615-904-8153 or tgsmith@mtsu.edu.

IT’S AN HONOR, TAKE TWO—THURSDAY, 7 p.m.—The African American Organization United and the Office of Multicultural Affairs will present the 15th annual Ebony Achievement Awards Banquet in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room. Tickets are $8 each and are available in the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Room 128 of the Keathley University Center. For more information, call 615-898-2987.

THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY—MAY 1--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.

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.