Thursday, May 11, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Keep it clean!

Have fun this weekend for a good cause! Volunteer for Raiders on the Harpeth, a family-oriented stream cleanup and picnic this Saturday. Participants will gather at 8:30 a.m. at the Aspen Grove Park Pavilion in Cool Springs at Cool Springs Boulevard near P.F. Chang’s. MTSU will provide lunch for all volunteers at 12 noon. The first 25 people to register will get a free MT T-shirt. The City of Franklin will provide equipment, including work gloves, trash bags and grabber tools for removing trash and debris from the Harpeth, along its banks and from areas adjacent to the watershed. This event is sponsored by the MTSU Williamson County Alumni Chapter.

Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 1-800-533-MTSU or visit http://www.mtalumni.com/.

Summer school

As of May 8, 8,553 students had registered for eight sessions of classes at MTSU, where the summer semester will begin this Monday. Dr. Sherian Huddleston, assistant vice provost for enrollment services says that appears to be on par with the previous two years’ totals. About 60 fewer students had registered by the same date in 2005. But Huddleston says the 9,096 students who were enrolled in 2005 “was actually a slight increase over the previous summer (9,027), but going into the summer we were slightly behind. We had not quite a one percent increase.” Students planning to attend classes this summer should be aware that the final dates to register are the first days of classes for the session.

Contact Huddleston at 615-898-2828.
shuddles@mtsu.edu

Siesta time

Some reports indicate that taking a nap in the middle of the day would help all of us perform better on the job and in our social activities. But Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says “napping is not the answer because it reflects our failure to be more efficient in our sleep and daytime recovery.” Anshel suggests a short recovery period from non-stop mental activity is in order. He defines “short recovery period” as “distracting ourselves from the task at hand and any task that has reenergizing effects, such as going for a walk, closing one’s eyes and thinking relaxing thoughts, laughter.” This will replenish the brain chemical acetylcholine, which is depleted with constant cognitive activity.

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@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.

DON’T HIT THE CHOO-CHOO!—TODAY—If you’re in the Chattanooga area on May 11, you might want to join MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, Director of Athletics Chris Massaro and MTSU head coaches Rick Stockstill (football), Kermit Davis (men’s basketball) and Rick Insell (women’s basketball) at Creeks Bend Golf Club, 5900 Hixson Pike in Hixson. An 11 a.m. lunch will precede a 12:30 p.m. golf scramble. Following the golf, a reception will be held at 5:30 for MTSU alumni and friends. The charge is $75 per person for the entire event or $10 for just the reception. For more information, contact the MTSU Office of Alumni Relations at 1-800-533-6878. Media welcomed.

SEE SPOT RUN!—SATURDAY, 8 a.m.--Runners, walkers and their dogs will jog, trot and pant for a good cause in the See Spot Run 5K event on the west side of Peck Hall near the starting line. Proceeds will benefit MTSU’s goal of building a house for Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity. Registration will begin at 6:30 a.m. The entry fee is $15 and includes awards, t-shirts and doggie bags for all participants. The course is certified, flat and fast. Additionally, Tennessee Performing Arts Center staffers will be on site to select one lucky canine for a walk-on role in the May 16 performance of “Annie.” The dog’s owner will receive four complementary tickets to the musical and will be invited to the cast party following the show. The race is sponsored by Raider Habitat, Eta Sigma Pi, MTSU Alumni Relations, and the Office of Student Organizations & Community Service. Contact the Office of Alumni Relations at 1-800-533-MTSU (6878) or via http://www.mtalumni.com.

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.