Monday, May 1, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“United 93”

“United 93,” a feature-length dramatization of what happened on a plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 9, 2001, opened in theatres this past weekend and finished second at the box office. While praised by most critics for its realistic documentary style, many also admitted that the movie made them somewhat uncomfortable. But Dr. David Rowe, an MTSU history professor who uses films in his classes, says waiting until we as a nation achieve more emotional distance from 9/11 wouldn’t necessarily have been a better move. “Distance from an event does not always lead to perspective,” Rowe says. “Distance from an event can create illusion. We can cover things up so well that we convince ourselves that something is true that is not.”

Contact Rowe at 615-898-2646.
dlrowe@mtsu.edu

Pomp and circumstance

The Right Honorable Perry Gladstone Christie, prime minister of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas, will be the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. Spring 2006 commencement ceremony Saturday, May 6 at Murphy Center. The guest speaker for the 2 p.m. ceremony will be Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell. This semester’s commencement marks a record number of degree candidates for a spring semester event—2,042. The doors to Murphy Center will open at 8 a.m. for the morning ceremony. Both ceremonies will be Webcast at http://www.mtsu.edu. The link to the Webcast will not be active on the day of commencement until about 15 minutes prior to the star of each ceremony.

Contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

I’d like to send a telegram. Stop.

The world paid scant attention to the end of an era on January 27th when Western Union sent its last telegram ever. But Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “The legacy and impact of the telegram is still with us, even if people who think they are being clever don’t know it. You know all those cute coded text messages kids send to each other? I bet most of them think they made all of those abbreviations up. Well, they didn’t. They were being used by the telegraph company more than 100 years ago.” And, just as cell phones and text messages have rendered the telegraph outdated, the telegraph itself replaced another form of communication when the first continental telegraph line debuted in 1861—the Pony Express.

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@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.

THE THRILL OF DISCOVERY—TODAY—The deadline for registering for MTSU’s Summer Discovery Institute program is TODAY. 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—TOMORROW, 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.

FORE!—WEDNESDAY—The second MTSU Concrete Industry Management program golf tournament tees off at Indian Hills Golf Course in Murfreesboro to raise money for CIM’s building fund. Last year, the tournament raised more than $100,000. As of April 28, 20 teams (a total of 80 golfers) had committed to play. Interested golfers should contact Jessica Ramm NO LATER THAN TODAY by calling 615-904-8599 or fax entry forms to 615-898-5296.

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.

BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE—FRIDAY, 5 p.m.--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 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 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

THROUGH A LENS DARKLY—FRIDAY, 6:30 p.m.—Dr. Eric Klumpe, physics and astronomy, will lecture on “How Do Telescopes Work?” in the final First Friday Star Party of the academic year in Room 102 of the Wiser-Patten Science Building. Telescopes will be set up in the field in front of the building for observing if the weather is clear. For more information, contact the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 615-898-2130.

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, 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.