Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Middle Tennessee State University
News and Public Affairs

The worst song of all time

Todd Leopold of CNN’s “Eye on Entertainment” asked his viewers and Web readers to name what they think is the worst song of all time. Leopold’s vote goes to “Honey” by Bobby Goldsboro. Other candidates were “Afternoon Delight” by Starland Vocal Band and “We Built This City” by Starship. But Dr. Paul Fischer, recording industry, says he wouldn’t vote in this poll, which he calls “meaningless and ill-informed. None of the songs mentioned go back further than the 1960s. These don’t even consider the Tin Pan Alley era when popular songs were (almost literally) a dime a dozen.” Fischer says Leopold has not even begun to plumb the depth of “awful songs. There are thousands of far worse stinkers out there.”

Contact Fischer at 615-898-5470.
pfischer@mtsu.edu

No nukes is good nukes?

With oil in the $75-a-barrel range and gasoline at $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, nuclear energy is being re-examined as an option. Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, notes that prominent environmentalist Patrick Moore now argues that nuclear energy is “one of the most environmentally responsible ways to meet the planet’s enormous energy needs” because it does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. In 1971, Moore co-founded Greenpeace, a movement that has protested both the construction of nuclear energy power plants and the testing of nuclear weapons. As for nuclear energy’s bad reputation, MacDougall says, “Rational responses require updated and correct knowledge. That applies to everybody—those who are for a particular technology and those who are opposed to it.”

Contact MacDougall at 615-898-5265.
pmacdoug@mtsu.edu

No music, no peace

Once upon a time, in a radio universe far, far away, protest songs were played on the radio—or were they? Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says in the 1960s, that heyday of dissent, “Peter, Paul & Mary’s ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ was stonewalled by Top 40 stations for a time, as was The Beatles’ ‘Come Together’ and John Lennon’s ‘Imagine.’” Pondillo was put in mind of all this after hearing and falling in love with “Dear Mr. President” by Pink, which he hopes radio will not ban. “A song like Pink’s would have taken more courage to release a few years ago, but, if art and music are the ‘canaries in the mine’ of culture, this song is a real harbinger of the rapidly changing attitudes toward the Bush administration,” Pondillo says.

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-9465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

IT’S AN HONOR—TODAY, 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—TODAY, 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.

CLEAN AND GREEN—THURSDAY 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—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.

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—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.