Monday, May 8, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

History or hysteria?

“United 93” dropped to fifth place in the national box office receipts over the weekend with a take of $5.2 million dollars. But the larger issue persists of how accurate the movie could be given that no survivors of the tragic 9/11 flight are available to tell their stories. Dr. David Rowe, a history professor who uses films in his classes, says, nonetheless, film is a good medium for exploring history. “You don’t always get the facts right, but sometimes you get the message right,” Rowe says. “Sometimes it’s bigger than the facts.” Rowe adds that film can be a dangerous medium for historians “because it can be manipulated so easily. But it’s also what makes it so rich because it can evoke so well.”

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

Snow on the verge of summer

Today is Tony Snow’s first day on the job as the new White House press secretary. Will a new face and new voice really make a difference in dealing with the news media? Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says “Snow is a competent man and will do, I’m sure, a much better job of ‘appearing’ to inform a finally feisty and reawakened press corps than did Scott McClellan.” But Pondillo says he doesn’t think Snow or anyone else can help President Bush with the chief executive’s poll numbers at an all-time low. “I think Snow will be spending much of his time plugging leaks, spinning bad news about high gas prices, the continuing and intractable problems in Iraq and Iran and working to keep as much damaging info as possible from the press.”

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

Politics at the pump

Will gasoline prices affect the 2006 midterm Congressional elections? Dr. Reuben Kyle, economics and finance, says that might happen, but Congress is largely powerless to have an impact on those prices. “Nonetheless, people are frustrated and angry about $3 per gallon gasoline, and they may take it out on incumbent politicians,” Kyle says. “In the longer term, American consumers will have the final word based on their decisions about the cars they drive and the products they consume. That impact will not be overnight.”

Contact Kyle at 615-898-5617.
rkyle@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.

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.