Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The death of a comet

Comet 73P Schassman-Wachman 3 will be observable this weekend, May 12-14. Dr. Chuck Higgins, physics and astronomy, says the best time to see it will be in the morning before sunrise. The comet “was discovered in 1930 and is known to have an orbit period around the sun of about five years,” Higgins says. “Back in 1995, the comet broke into several pieces, and all the pieces are orbiting the sun like ‘beads on a string’.” But, since the comet is fragmented, each piece is not terribly bright. Higgins advises viewing Schassman-Wachman 3 with a good pair of binoculars or a telescope near the constellation Cygnus. “The reason this comet is special is that we are seeing it break apart and ‘die’ right before our eyes,” Higgins says.

Contact Higgins at 615-898-5946.
chiggins@mtsu.edu

Another reason to celebrate Mother’s Day

“Your mother not only gave you your start in life; she also took molecular steps to minimize the odds of an early finish,” says Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry. The ends of chromosomes, which are called telomeres, are long when we are conceived. But they get shorter as we develop normally. “It is thought that the aging process is closely tied to the intricacies of telomere chemistry,” MacDougall says. But why are we still born with long telemeres after thousands of years of human ancestry? There is another enzyme that can extend the telomeres back to their original length. “This enzyme has since been isolated, and it is called telomerase,” MacDougall explains. “It is active in sex cells … and some stem cells, but not in normal adult cells that show signs of age.”

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

It’s not just for kids!

Don’t underestimate the mumps! Dr. Marcie Castleberry, an internal medicine specialist, says, while death from mumps is rare, severe cases are more common in adults than in children. “People sometimes develop inflammation of the brain tissue associated with mumps,” Castleberry says. “Orchitis, inflammation of the testes, can occur and can lead to sterility. An increase in first trimester spontaneous abortion is seen in affected pregnant patients, but mumps virus is not known to be associated with fetal malformations.” And, while mumps is associated with a detectable swelling of the salivary glands, Castleberry says up to a third of people with mumps don’t have that symptom.

Contact Middle Tennessee Medical Center’s Kim Reynolds at 615-284-6468 or Dr. Castleberry at mcastleberry@mmclinic.com.

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!—THURSDAY—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.