Thursday, April 27, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

In the minds of the consumers

Middle Tennessee consumers increasingly feel they won’t be “better off financially” 12 months from now, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Index from MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research. The overall index dropped from 311 in February of this year to 260 in a poll of 406 randomly selected residents of Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the OCR, says, “A major source of this pessimism regarding the future of the economy can be found in consumers’ fears of continually increasing gasoline prices. Increased prices at the pump mean less discretionary dollars that consumers can spend on other purchases.”

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

Overcoming obstacles

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 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 3, 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.

Techological tools

Are students who are new to the collegiate experience using information technology to enhance their educations? According to the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research 2005 national survey, fewer MTSU freshmen than freshmen at other universities rat themselves as proficient at working with spreadsheets, presentation software, graphics and course management systems. But they say they are as proficient as other freshmen at word processing, video/audio files, Web pages, computer maintenance and securitng electronic devices. They consider themselves better than other freshmen at working with online library resources and computer operating systems. “Like the senior data, our freshmen found the CMS test-taking and assignments features more valuable than the communication features,” Dr. Thomas Brinthaupt, psychology professor and Information Technology Division faculty intern, says.

Contact Brinthaupt at 615-898-2317.tbrintha@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

CLEAN AND GREEN—TODAY AND FRIDAY--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.

IT’S AN HONOR, TAKE TWO—TODAY, 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.

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.

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.