Thursday, April 20, 2006

Today's Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Dead men do tell tales

A forensic anthropologist at MTSU is one of a select number of scientists to participate in the examination of a skeleton that could force historians to rewrite the story of the entire North American continent. Dr. Hugh Berryman was one of only 11 experts allowed to scrutinize the bones of Kennewick Man, a 9,300-year-old skeleton found in Washington state. Their analysis is that he did not look like a Native American. If it ultimately is determined that he was not a Native American, it would turn much of what we thought we knew about the origins of America on its head. But much more study is needed. “Bone is great at recording its own history,” Berryman says. “Throughout your life, there are different things that you do, and they may leave little signs in the bone. If you can read those signs, it’s almost like interviewing a person.”

Contact Berryman at 615-898-7896.
berryman@mtsu.edu

Alvin York’s battlefield

If you’re one of the few Tennesseans who has yet to learn about the thrilling new discovery by Tom Nolan, geosciences, you’re in for a treat, especially if you’re a history buff. Using global positioning systems, Nolan and his team have pinpointed the exact site in France where Pall Mall native Alvin York performed his legendary World War I heroics. They recovered rifle cartridges believed to have been fired from York’s rifle, as well as German grenades. “We do plan to return, but we funded ourselves so we are looking for additional money that will allow us to continue our work,” Nolan says.

Contact Nolan at 615-898-5561.
tnolan@mtsu.edu

The stress mess

If occupational stress costs American businesses and consumers billions of dollars each year, why don’t companies do more to alleviate it? Research by Dr. Larry Howard, management and marketing, shows that only a small minority of companies have policies to deal with stress. “Similarly, a survey of nearly 28,000 insurance policy holders found almost no correlation between employee burnout problems and physical issues addressed by employee wellness programs,” Howard says. On the other hand, “the potential for diminishing the multitude of mental, emotional and physical health consequences attributed to employee stress and burnout by enhancing perceptions of organizational justice seems great.”

Contact Howard at 615-898-2825.
lhoward@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE BEST DEFENSE—TODAY--A new Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) class for women will begin TODAY at the MTSU Police Department training room, 1412 East Main Street. The program is free and open to university students, faculty, and staff, and to the community at large. The class will be held from 6-9 p.m. for six consecutive Thursdays. The teacher, Officer David Smith, says, “The beauty of the RAD system is that it teaches only self-defense techniques that have been proven to work. We put students in simulation training where an aggressor dresses up in a padded suit, and we put the women in different situations to see how they react. We teach them maximum effective targets on an aggressor and show them that they have enough strength to be effective.” Contact Smith at 615-494-8855.

SHALL WE DANCE?—TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY—The Spring Dance Concert by MTSU Dance Theatre will conclude the 2005-2006 MTSU CenterStage Series at 7:30 p.m. each evening in Tucker Theatre. Kim Neal Nofsinger, director of the dance program, says the concert will be the culmination of a year’s work with nationally and internationally known choreographers in what promises to be the event of the season. For more information, contact the Department of Speech and Theatre at 615-898-2640.

WHY NOT THE BEST?—TOMORROW, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.--Ken Bain, director of the Center of Teaching Excellence at New York University and author of What the Best College Teachers Do, will be the featured speaker at the culminating workshop for the College Showcast Series this TOMORROW. The event, titled “Teaching the Basics with New Technologies,” will take place at the Consolidated Utility District Conference Center at 709 New Salem Road in Murfreesboro. Bain will address what makes a “great” teacher, why students remember some professors long after college, how the great teachers engage and challenge students, and other issues. The event is sponsored by MTSU’s Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center. For more information, contact Bobbie J. Palmer at 615-494-7671 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~ltanditc.

WEIRD SCIENCE—SATURDAY--Are theapists treating their mental health patients with pseudoscience instead of using widely tested and accepted modalities? Dr. Scott Lilienfeld of Emory University fears that some of them are doing just that. He’ll address that issue at the 2006 Middle Tennessee Psychological Association Conference this SATURDAY in the Business Aerospace Building at MTSU. Lilienfeld “claims that most of what therapists do either isn’t supported by research evidence or actually flies in the face of the evidence that we have,” says Dr. William Langston, associate professor of psychology at MTSU. Admission to the conference is open to the public and costs $5 per person. Contact the MTSU Department of Psychology at 615-898-2706.

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. Beginning today, we will 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.

ATTENTION: MTSU AUDIO CLIPS

MTSU Audio Clips and radio-ready stories for your newscasts are available at:http://mtsu20.mtsu.edu:880/redirect?http://www.mtsunews.comClick on "MTSU Audio Clips" on the right side of the page.TOPIC 1—BATTER UP!: It’s spring, when every young fan’s heart turns to baseball. Dr. Ron Kates, associate professor of English and Chicago Cubs fan extraordinaire, will celebrate this annual rite of rebirth with the Baseball Literature Conference March 31st. Special guests will be East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Don Johnson, editor of the sports literature journal “Aethlon,” and former Boston Red Sox and Montreal Expos pitcher Bill “The Spaceman” Lee.

TOPIC 2—NATIONAL WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH: The president of the American Civil Liberties Union, Nadine Strossen, will be the keynote speaker for National Women’s History Month at MTSU. Dr. Elyce Helford, chair of the Women’s Studies program, discusses Strossen’s upcoming appearance and the other events on tap to celebrate women’s fight for equality and justice.
Radio stations, if you need audio from MTSU, please call 615-898-2919 or email news@mtsu.edu. We will be glad to send MP3 audio via email or post the audio on our Audio Clips web page http://www.mtsunews.com/. Click on "MTSU Audio Clips" on the right side of the page.

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.