Friday, September 29, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Chris Simms and Terrell Owens: Compare and Contrast

The emergency splenectomy that forced Tampa Bay QB Chris Simms to the sidelines and Terrell Owens’ trip to the hospital after taking too many painkillers for his broken finger raise questions about the medical treatment of professional athletes. Should Simms have been taken out of the game earlier? Should Owens have been prescribed hydrocodone? Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “There are many coaches who feel athletes need to be ‘mentally tough’ and play with pain … I have seen coaches first-hand tell a team doctor or athletic trainer to give the athlete pain-numbing medication to continue competing. These athletes often develop more serious injuries or arthritis relatively early in life. Some athletes have a low pain threshold and low pain tolerance, and these athletes may not be able to overcome discomfort easily.”

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

You always hurt the ones you love.

The dramatizations of actors who speak for thousands and the testimony of those who can no longer speak for themselves will mark the June Anderson Women’s Center’s observance of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month at MTSU. The “Silent Witness” exhibit of T-shirts emblazoned with stories of domestic violence victims will be shown from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 2-6, 9-11, and 23-25 on the second floor of the Keathley University Center. And to dramatize how dating violence traumatizes the lives of young adults, the Women’s Center and Women 4 Women will present “It’s Love, Isn’t It?” from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the KUC Theatre. The original play follows the travails of a female college freshman whose boyfriend has jealousy and anger management issues.

Contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@mtsu.edu

Alumni art

The art works of 24 MTSU alumni are on display at the Todd Gallery through Oct. 6. Paintings, prints, clay work, sculpture and graphic design imagery are among the featured media. The artists represent alumni from 1960 through 2004. Dr. Lon Nuell, art, says, “Their works are seen across the country and internationally in galleries and museums, are found in private collections, and seen in regional and national publications.” The Todd Gallery is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each Monday-Friday and closed on all state holidays. Admission is always free.

Contact Nuell at 615-898-2505.
lrnuell@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

WHO WILL PASS THE MIDTERM (ELECTION)?--Rutherford County candidates for the state legislature will square off in a forum from 7 to 9 p.m. THIS TUESDAY in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and all guests must be seated by 6:55. “This forum will provide voters a chance to familiarize themselves with the candidates and the issues in this important election,” Dr. Mark Byrnes, professor of political science. This event is made possible through the League of Women Voters and MTSU’s participation in the American Democracy Project. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, will be the moderator. Media welcomed. Contact Byrnes at 615-898-2351 or mbyrnes@mtsu.edu

LEAD THE WAY—The MT Leadership Conference is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the principles and techniques of effective leadership and network with other students. This year, the content will include lectures, facilitation exercises and debates on a variety of leadership topics. The conference will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. TODAY in the Keathley University Center. The cost is $15 for lunch and conference materials. Registration forms can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtleader. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or jvictory@mtsu.edu

IT’S YOUR BUSINESS--Bankers, business owners and managers, students, community officials and leaders—they’re all coming to the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference TODAY. Distinguished speakers will provide valuable insight into questions pertinent to today’s economic issues. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, former director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, will return to offer his expertise. Also slated to speak are William Poole, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who will talk about “Data Dependence,” and Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will present the BERC’s annual Midstate/Regional Economic Update. Media welcomed. Contact the College of Business at 615-898-4736.

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS OCT. 6. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

GET PUMPED!—The blood drive originally slated for Sept. 25 has been rescheduled for THIS MONDAY from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 109 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. For more information, contact Jenny Sauls at 615-898-5441 or jsauls@mtsu.edu

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Cigarettes and calories

Do smoking and obesity cost workers earnings? In an upcoming issue of Social Science Quarterly, Drs. William Ford and Charles Baum, along with Jeffery D. Hopper, state “Though the raw data indicate that obese smokers experience large earnings penalties, the wage penalties of smoking and obesity are, with some exceptions, not found to be directly causal. Our findings suggest that, in absence of a demonstrable direct causal effect of those behaviors on wages, associated individual-specific socioeconomic factors appear to be the driving forces behind the reported obese smokers’ wage penalties.” The authors say the effects of either employer or customer discrimination against obese workers might be signficant.

Contact Ford at 615-898-2889
wfford@mtsu.edu
and Baum at 615-898-2527.
cbaum@mtsu.edu

Helping Hezbollah?

Magnus Norell of the Swedish Defense Research Agency says he doesn’t think the nearly $1 billion pledged by the U.S., Europe and the Gulf states to help Lebanon recover from its recent war with Israel will help. Dr. Karen Petersen, political science, agrees. “Hezbollah was the infrastructure of southern Lebanon, and it will be a challenge to coordinate aid distribution without either benefiting Hezbollah (which is the short-term solution) or replacing them (which is the long-term solution). Terrorist organizations purposely destabilize regions or states in order to undermine the legitimacy of the government and then replace the government as the provider of basic services and security—not unlike other organized crime entities.”

Contact Petersen at 615-494-8662.
kpeterse@mtsu.edu

Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?

ESPN’s coverage of the grand reopening of the Louisiana Superdome for Monday night’s game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons drew an audience of 10,850,000 homes. It was the highest-rated program of the night on any television network, broadcast or cable. Part of the coverage was devoted to the city’s post-Katrina recovery and the work still to be done. Dr. Anantha Babbili, dean of the College of Mass Communication, expressed concern in a recent Honors College lecture that most of the news media have become “burned out” on The Big Easy. But he says it is “admirable” that NBC has established and maintained a bureau in New Orleans. “NBC took a great risk in going against the grain,” Babbili says. “In fact, they received enormous amounts of e-mail saying, ‘Enough of New Orleans! We don’t want to see it anymore on the newscasts.’ And some said they were concentrating a little bit too much on the African-Americans …”

Contact Babbili at 615-898-5872.
ababbili@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

WHO WILL PASS THE MIDTERM (ELECTION)?--Rutherford County candidates for the state legislature will square off in a forum from 7 to 9 p.m. THIS TUESDAY in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and all guests must be seated by 6:55. “This forum will provide voters a chance to familiarize themselves with the candidates and the issues in this important election,” Dr. Mark Byrnes, professor of political science. This event is made possible through the League of Women Voters and MTSU’s participation in the American Democracy Project. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, will be the moderator. Media welcomed. Contact Byrnes at 615-898-2351 or mbyrnes@mtsu.edu

LEAD THE WAY—The MT Leadership Conference is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the principles and techniques of effective leadership and network with other students. This year, the content will include lectures, facilitation exercises and debates on a variety of leadership topics. The conference will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. TOMORROW in the Keathley University Center. The cost is $15 for lunch and conference materials. Registration forms can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtleader. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or jvictory@mtsu.edu

IT’S YOUR BUSINESS--Bankers, business owners and managers, students, community officials and leaders—they’re all coming to the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference TOMORROW. Distinguished speakers will provide valuable insight into questions pertinent to today’s economic issues. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, former director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, will return to offer his expertise. Also slated to speak are William Poole, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who will talk about “Data Dependence,” and Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will present the BERC’s annual Midstate/Regional Economic Update. Media welcomed. Contact the College of Business at 615-898-4736.

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jriarte@mtsu.edu

GET PUMPED!—The blood drive originally slated for Sept. 25 has been rescheduled for THIS MONDAY from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 109 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. For more information, contact Jenny Sauls at 615-898-5441 or jsauls@mtsu.edu

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

My thyroid gland is not a terrorist weapon!

A recent article in the British Medical Journal says patients receiving treatment with radioisotopes could trigger radiation alarms. The article cites a case in which a patient activated an airport radiation detector six weeks after receiving radioiodine therapy. Dr. Terrence Lee, chemistry, says, “The thyroid collects and concentrates any iodine that is part of a person’s diet (usually as a trace element, and frequently found in seafood). Depending on the dose given and the isotope, it is possible that six weeks after treatment, enough radioactive iodine remains in the patient’s thyroid (located in the front of the neck) to register on an airport radiation detector.”

Contact Lee at 615-898-5947.
tlee@mtsu.edu

Corporate spy vs. corporate spy

Hewlett-Packard’s outgoing chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, and other H-P officials have been asked to testify before a U.S. House subcommittee tomorrow about the use of false identities to gain access to the confidential phone records of board members and reporters. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “While there has been a negative effect on HP’s stock price in recent days, the crisis can be overcome by swift, visible action from the company’s top management. Continued improvement in HP’s sales and profits will likely remove the issue from investors’ minds. However, the situation could negatively impact HP if it takes management’s focus off of business strategy or if more allegations of misconduct arise.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

Who will pass the midterm (election)?

Rutherford County candidates for the state legislature will square off in a forum from 7 to 9 p.m. THIS TUESDAY in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and all guests must be seated by 6:55. “This forum will provide voters a chance to familiarize themselves with the candidates and the issues in this important election,” Dr. Mark Byrnes, professor of political science. This event is made possible through the League of Women Voters and MTSU’s participation in the American Democracy Project. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, will be the moderator. Media welcomed.

Contact Byrnes at 615-898-2351.
mbyrnes@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LEAD THE WAY—The MT Leadership Conference is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the principles and techniques of effective leadership and network with other students. This year, the content will include lectures, facilitation exercises and debates on a variety of leadership topics. The conference will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. FRIDAY in the Keathley University Center. The cost is $15 for lunch and conference materials. Registration forms can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtleader. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or jvictory@mtsu.edu

IT’S YOUR BUSINESS--Bankers, business owners and managers, students, community officials and leaders—they’re all coming to the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference THIS FRIDAY. Distinguished speakers will provide valuable insight into questions pertinent to today’s economic issues. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, former director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, will return to offer his expertise. Also slated to speak are William Poole, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who will talk about “Data Dependence,” and Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will present the BERC’s annual Midstate/Regional Economic Update. Media welcomed. Contact the College of Business at 615-898-4736.

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Roasting Rummy

In remarks before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee yesterday, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld “incompetent strategically, operationally, and tactically.” Democrats attempted earlier this month to have a vote of “no confidence” in Rumsfeld, but Dr. John Vile, political science chair and constitutional scholar, says there is no mechanism in the U.S. Constitution for such a move. Vile says, “Votes of ‘no confidence’ mean something in parliamentary democracies where they can bring down the government by calling for a new election, but in a presidential system, they are little more than symbolic exercises in symbolic politics, what William Shakespeare might have said were ‘full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’”

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596.


What about the made-for-TV movie?

Talk about your media synergy! Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf refused to answer a question at a news conference last week because he has a book deal with Simon and Schuster, which is owned by Viacom, which also owns CBS, the network that aired Musharraf’s “exclusive” interview with “60 Minutes!” Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says, “Yes, even the government has become a part of the giant promotion wheel that is America. In Frank Rich’s new book, The Greatest Story Ever Sold, Rich recounts how the Bush administration, in its runup to the Iraq war, talked about not wanting to ‘roll out a new product’ (i.e., the war!) in the summer of ’92. Better to wait until the fall before midterm elections and after summer vacations. It’s ALL show biz, folks!”

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.


It’s your business.

Bankers, business owners and managers, students, community officials and leaders—they’re all coming to the MTSU Economic Outlook Conference THIS FRIDAY. Distinguished speakers will provide valuable insight into questions pertinent to today’s economic issues. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, former director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, will return to offer his expertise. Also slated to speak are William Poole, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, who will talk about “Data Dependence,” and Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will present the BERC’s annual Midstate/Regional Economic Update. Media welcomed.

Contact the College of Business at 615-898-4736.

TR EXTRA


WOMEN AT WORK—Terri Johnson, the new director of the June Anderson Women’s Center, will be the featured speaker at the fall luncheon of the Association of Faculty and Administrative Women from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. TODAY in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. For more information, contact Kippy Todd at 615-898-5756 or or Dr. Carol Ann Baily at 615-898-5989 or

LEAD THE WAY—The MT Leadership Conference is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the principles and techniques of effective leadership and network with other students. This year, the content will include lectures, facilitation exercises and debates on a variety of leadership topics. The conference will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. FRIDAY in the Keathley University Center. The cost is $15 for lunch and conference materials. Registration forms can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtleader. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or

Monday, September 25, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Rosy scenario

Twenty-eight percent of Middle Tennesseans surveyed in the latest MT Poll say jobs are “easy to find” in the region. That’s up substantially from 19 percent in May. Only 11 percent said jobs are “hard to find” in Middle Tennessee. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they expect their personal financial situations to improve over the next six months. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research, says that bodes well for local retailers. “The psychology of consumers can have dramatic effects on the future of the economy,” Graeff says. “Consumer spending makes up two-thirds of the American economy. Increases in consumer confidence that translate into accelerated purchasing patterns can have significant positive effects on the economy.”

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

Art for the anatomy

If you’re likely to be in northern Alabama in the next few days, it might be worth your while to stop off at the Alabama A&M University Art Gallery in Norman, Ala., and check out the “wearable art” of Lori Gann-Smith, an assistant professor in MTSU’s Department of Speech and Theatre. The exhibit features pieces made of hand-dyed silk and peacock feathers, as well as wire and garbage bags. “Some of the wearable pieces reflect my interests in playing with what is acceptable and unacceptable in our culture and what things whould be like as opposed to the way they are,” Gann-Smith says.

Contact the gallery at 256-372-4072 or Gann-Smith at 615-494-8745.
lgannsmi@mtsu.edu

The Pope’s predicament

Pope Benedict XVI met today with Muslim leaders at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo to try to defuse the fallout from a speech he delivered earlier this month. Since that address, Muslims worldwide have demonstrated, expressed outrage and burned Benedict in effigy. Dr. Sean Foley, professor of history and an expert in Middle East matters, says the pontiff implied in that speech that “Muslim thought is fatalistic: completely antithetical to Euro-Greek concepts of reason and approaches to religion.” But Foley says, “Muslims are at least as familiar with the ideas of Aristotle, Plato and other Greek philosophers as their European counterparts—they do not have to be taught ‘reason.’”

Contact Foley at 615-898-2536.
sfoley@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

GET PUMPED UP!—The MTSU School of Nursing will hold a blood drive from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. TODAY in Room 109 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. Contact Dr. Jenny Sauls at 615-898-5845 or at

WOMEN AT WORK—Terri Johnson, the new director of the June Anderson Women’s Center, will be the featured speaker at the fall luncheon of the Association of Faculty and Administrative Women from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. TOMORROW in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. For more information, contact Kippy Todd at 615-898-5756 or ktodd@mtsu.edu or Dr. Carol Ann Baily at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

LEAD THE WAY—The MT Leadership Conference is a unique opportunity for students to learn about the principles and techniques of effective leadership and network with other students. This year, the content will include lectures, facilitation exercises and debates on a variety of leadership topics. The conference will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. FRIDAY in the Keathley University Center. The cost is $15 for lunch and conference materials. Registration forms can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtleader. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or jvictory@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Things are looking up

The latest MT Poll shows that consumer confidence in Middle Tennessee is on the rise. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of consumer research, says, “The overall confidence index rose to 3005 from 283 in May. … The recent decreases in gasoline prices, coupled with the positive view that local consumers have regarding the job market, seem to have put Middle Tennessee consumers in a very good mood about the economy. These positive feelings about the economy should help spur on even more consumer spending as we approach the fall and winter months.”

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

Making it click

“Will the New Science Building Click? The Role and Effectiveness of Student Response Systems (“clickers”) in 21st Century Chemistry Teaching” will be the first presentation in the fall 2006 chemistry lecture series at 11:30 a.m. TODAY in Room 100 of the Davis Science Building. Dr. Gary Wulfsberg, chemistry, says, “Student Response Systems, or ‘clickers,’ are radio devices similar to remotes used by students in large classrooms to give their near-instantaneous multiple-choice (or soon numerical) responses to ConcepTests, quizzes, exams and so forth.”

Contact Wulfsberg at 615-898-2070.
gwulfsbe@mtsu.edu

A Christian by any other name

A new study by Baylor University shows that the percentage of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation has been overestimated over the past 15 years of polling. Dr. David Rowe, who teaches about the history of religion, says it’s possible that folks don’t want to be labeled or categorized. “For instance, some Baptists now-a-days don’t use that label for their churches because they are not fundamentalists, just as some Episcopalians do not use that label because they are not liberals,” Rowe says.

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

TR EXTRA

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

MAKING MUSIC--David Pruett, instructor for ethnomusicology, and Roger Hudson will perform as “Bella-Musiqa” from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. TOMORROW NIGHT at Mezza Cuisine, 2805 Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro. Global popular music and music of the Middle East and India are some of Pruett’s areas of interest. For more information, contact Pruett at 615-904-8354 or dpruett@mtsu.edu

Monday, September 18, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Fickle about faith?

In a new study by Baylor University, one-tenth of the people who picked “no religion” out of 40 possible religious groups when asked which religion they embrace later wrote down a place when asked where they worship. Dr. David Rowe, a history professor who specializes in American religion, says, “Perhaps they worship at a place where they do not belong and do not wish to belong. Commitment to institutions is weak among the last two or three cohorts in the population. Possibly, too, they do not wish to be labeled or categorized because labels always denote negative as well as positive qualities.”

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

Give until it feels good

The Office of Development’s fall annual giving phonathon begins TODAY. MTSU students will be calling alumni “to inform them of the latest developments from MTSU and their respective colleges and ask them to make a gift to the university,” says Lucie P. Murphy, coordinator of annual giving. The phonathon includes: TODAY: Regents Online Degree Program; Sept. 19-28: College of Education and Behavioral Science; Oct. 1-20: College of Basic and Applied Sciences; Oct. 22-26: College of Mass Communication; Oct. 29-Nov. 9: Jennings A. Jones College of Business; and Nov. 12-21: College of Liberal Arts.

Contact Murphy at 615-898-2728.

Middle East dialogue

Americans for Informed Democracy (AID) will present “The Israeli-Lebanese Conflict: How the Media Affect the U.S. Perspective,” a panel discussion, at 7 p.m. THIS WEDNESDAY in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. “The event will allow students an opportunity to ask questions and express their opinions about the current crisis between the Lebanese and Israelis,” Angie Feeney, president of the MTSU chapter of AID, says. MTSU professors participating in the dialogue include Dr. Karen Petersen, political science; Dr. Sean Foley, history; Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism; and Dr. John Omachonu, associate dean of the College of Mass Communication.

Contact Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu


TR EXTRA

THE ROAD TO MOROCCO--Dr. Khalid Amine, Professor at Abdelmalek Assaadi University in Tetouan, Morocco, will be giving a lecture entitled “Performing Postcoloniality in the Moroccan Scene” at 2:00 p.m. THIS MONDAY in Room 105 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. Amine is an expert in contemporary Moroccan drama and has written on the reception of Shakespeare in the Arab world. He has been the moving force behind two recent international conferences, “Writing Tangier” and “Voices of Tangier.” Amine is a Fulbright scholar at the Graduate Center of Theater Studies at the City University of New York, where he is doing research related to his current project,“Fields of Silence in Moroccan Performance Studies.” This lecture is sponsored by the MTSU Middle East Center. Contact: Dr. Allen Hibbard at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu

HE WRITES THE SONGS--Composer Ray Stephenson will conduct a special songwriter’s workshop TODAY at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. Stephenson, whose new album on the Universal South label is slated for release later this year, moved to Nashville in 1998. His songs have been recorded by Steve Holy, Sonya Isaacs, Guy Clark, The Wilkinsons, Wynonna Judd and Dean Miller, among others. Most recently, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and John Anderson recorded Stephenson’s “Me and Willie’s Guitar.” This free public event is sponsored by by the National Songwriters Association International at MTSU—the first student chapter of the Nashville-based NSAI.Contact the Department of Recording Industry at 615-898-2949.

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. TOMORROW in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

Friday, September 15, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Would Jimmy Carter monitor the ping-pong ball drawing?

In the November 7 general election, Arizonans will cast their ballots for or against Proposition 200, the Voter Rewards Act. If it passes, $1 million will be awarded by lottery to one lucky person who casts a ballot. Should we really lure voters to the polls by tempting them with the possibility of easy money? Dr. Mark Byrnes, political science and director of the American Democracy Project at MTSU, says votes should be cast on a sensible basis. “I will be among those this fall urging others to register and to vote, but I will also insert one condition: that the voters decide rationally,” Byrnes says. “Voting simply for the sake of voting--or just to become eligible to win a door prize--does no service to democracy.”

Contact Byrnes at 615-898-2351.
mbyrnes@mtsu.edu

The road to Morocco

Dr. Khalid Amine, Professor at Abdelmalek Assaadi University in Tetouan, Morocco, will be giving a lecture entitled “Performing Postcoloniality in the Moroccan Scene” at 2:00 p.m. THIS MONDAY in Room 105 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. Amine is an expert in contemporary Moroccan drama and has written on the reception of Shakespeare in the Arab world. He has been the moving force behind two recent international conferences, “Writing Tangier” and “Voices of Tangier.” Amine is a Fulbright scholar at the Graduate Center of Theater Studies at the City University of New York, where he is doing research related to his current project,“Fields of Silence in Moroccan Performance Studies.” This lecture is sponsored by the MTSU Middle East Center.Contact: Dr. Allen Hibbard at 615-494-8809.ahibbard@mtsu.edu

He writes the songs

Composer Ray Stephenson will conduct a special songwriter’s workshop THIS MONDAY at 7 p.m. in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. Stephenson, whose new album on the Universal South label is slated for release later this year, moved to Nashville in 1998. His songs have been recorded by Steve Holy, Sonya Isaacs, Guy Clark, The Wilkinsons, Wynonna Judd and Dean Miller, among others. Most recently, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and John Anderson recorded Stephenson’s “Me and Willie’s Guitar.” This free public event is sponsored by by the National Songwriters Association International at MTSU—the first student chapter of the Nashville-based NSAI.

Contact the Department of Recording Industry at 615-898-2949.


TR EXTRA

LACE ‘EM UP!--There is more than one reason to lace ‘em up for THIS SUNDAY’S Veterans Memorial 5K Run/Walk at MTSU—and there’s still time to sign up! Awards and prizes will be issued for team entries of registered groups of five or more and individuals in each age division. Drawings will be conducted for door prizes totaling more than $1,000 in value. The Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators are among the sponsors who have donated items for the runners. T-shirts are guaranteed to all pre-registrants on a first-come, first-served basis on race day. Not only will the runners and walkers win prizes. All proceeds will benefit the construction of an on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, administrators, staff and students who perished while serving their country in the military.Contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 615-898-2470 or cgiles@mtsu.edu
For a color jpeg photo of MTSU alumni serving their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. THIS TUESDAY in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating.
For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

LAND SAKES!--Seven high school Future Farmers of America chapters and the Rutherford County 4-H will participate in the Rutherford County Land Judging Contest that will be held from 12:30 until 2 p.m. TODAY at the Guy James farm, 3009 Halls Hill Pike. Dr. Warren Anderson, agribusiness and agriscience, says FFA members from Oakland, Blackman, Riverdale, Siegel, Eagleville, Smyrna and La Vergne high schools will compete. A number of MTSU alumni are vocational agriculture teachers for the local teams. Media welcomed. Contact Anderson at 615-898-2480 or wanderso@mtsu.edu

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Osama and Hitler

In recent weeks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and President Bush have compared opposition to their approach to the war on terror to British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempts to appease Hitler and the extent to which the pre-World War II world ignored Hitler. Dr. Jerry Brookshire, history, says, “Bush’s and Rumsfeld’s comparisons are odd and misleading. They want their war on terrorism to include the U.S. attack on Iraq and the ongoing U.S. involvement in the chaotic Iraqi situation. Perhaps a better parallel is the 1956 Suez Canal crisis when (President Dwight) Eisenhower’s administration opposed Britain’s attempt to claim the ‘Munich appeasement’ analogy in painting (Egyptian leader Gamal Abdul) Nasser … as a Hitler who must not be appeased.”

Contact Brookshire at 615-898-2547.
jbrooksh@mtsu.edu

His name is Stratocaster! You got a problem with that?

A recent Christian Science Monitor article reports that musicians are encountering turbulence from airline officials who won’t let them carry their instruments, which often are old and worth a lot of money, onto airplanes due to new security rules. Dr. William Yelverton, music, says, “Guitarists often put their instruments in soft cases and carry them on; soft cases are smaller and easier to stow. I carry my lute on in a soft case; it is a very fragile instrument. I gave up trying to bring my guitar on board in its normal case except on transatlantic flights where the planes have a larger overhead compartment. Even on international flights, I have checked my guitar because I have such a heavy flight case.”

Contact Yelverton at 615-898-5623.
yelverto@mtsu.edu

Land sakes!

Seven high school Future Farmers of America chapters and the Rutherford County 4-H will participate in the Rutherford County Land Judging Contest that will be held from 12:30 until 2 p.m. TOMORROW at the Guy James farm, 3009 Halls Hill Pike. Dr. Warren Anderson, agribusiness and agriscience, says FFA members from Oakland, Blackman, Riverdale, Siegel, Eagleville, Smyrna and La Vergne high schools will compete. A number of MTSU alumni are vocational agriculture teachers for the local teams. Media welcomed.

Contact Anderson at 615-898-2480.
wanderso@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LACE ‘EM UP!--There is more than one reason to lace ‘em up for THIS SUNDAY’S Veterans Memorial 5K Run/Walk at MTSU—and there’s still time to sign up! Awards and prizes will be issued for team entries of registered groups of five or more and individuals in each age division. Drawings will be conducted for door prizes totaling more than $1,000 in value. The Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators are among the sponsors who have donated items for the runners. T-shirts are guaranteed to all pre-registrants on a first-come, first-served basis on race day. Not only will the runners and walkers win prizes. All proceeds will benefit the construction of an on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, administrators, staff and students who perished while serving their country in the military.Contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 615-898-2470 or cgiles@mtsu.edu
For a color jpeg photo of MTSU alumni serving their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. TODAY in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The selling of 9/11

If you were offended at the way the fifth anniversary of 9/11 was used to sell everything from television shows to bric-a-brac, you’re not alone. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “The historian Daniel Boorstein once wrote about what he called ’pseudo-events.’ These are events such as anniversaries that are created simply for the purpose of having an event; they are intended to be reported, rather than really mean anything; they have limited connection with real events; and they tend to be self-fulfilling.” Burriss notes that the expression “God bless America” was plastered on everything from T-shirts to ash trays shortly after 9/11. “Somehow, though,” Burriss observes, “the phrase seems to have slipped from the public consciousness, except when invoked by politicians trying to show they are more patriotic and religious than their opponents.”

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

Mega-mortality

According to the United Nations, there were 280 million people living in mega-cities (urban areas with populations of 8 million or more) in 2000. By 2015, that number is expected to increase to 350 million. Unfortunately, many mega-cities are in disaster-prone areas where the rate of death in a natural disaster (hurricane, earthquake, tsunami, etc.) would outpace the availability of disaster services. “Unfortunately, the ones with the most rapid growth are those in less industrialized or non-industrialized nations, which, of course, don’t have the money, don’t have the technology, … don’t have the infrastructure to deal with natural hazards,” says Dr. Clay Harris, geosciences.

Contact Harris at 615-904-8019.
cdharris@mtsu.edu

Lace ‘em up!

There is more than one reason to lace ‘em up for this Sunday’s Veterans Memorial 5K Run/Walk at MTSU—and there’s still time to sign up! Awards and prizes will be issued for team entries of registered groups of five or more and individuals in each age division. Drawings will be conducted for door prizes totaling more than $1,000 in value. The Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators are among the sponsors who have donated items for the runners. T-shirts are guaranteed to all pre-registrants on a first-come, first-served basis on race day. Not only will the runners and walkers win prizes. All proceeds will benefit the construction of an on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, administrators, staff and students who perished while serving their country in the military.

Contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 615-898-2470.
cgiles@mtsu.edu
For a color jpeg photo of MTSU alumni serving their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu


TR EXTRA

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. TOMORROW in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Third World War?

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich recently posited that World War III has begun, and it’s the war on terrorism perpetrated by Islamic extremist groups. Is this an overreaction, or does it have an historical basis in fact? Dr. Sean Foley, history, says, without minimizing this past summer’s Israeli-Lebanese conflict, “it was not nearly as serious as the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. During that conflict, U.S. Soviet tensions were so great that the entire United States military went to DEFCON 3, the highest level of readiness of the U.S. military during peacetime. In the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962, portions of the U.S. military went to DEFCON 2 status—a status just short of nuclear war. The world was much closer to realizing a Third World War in 1962 and 1973 than it has been ever since.”

Contact Foley at 615-904-8294.
sfoley@mtsu.edu

The eyes have it

Pro golfer Michelle Wie uses them. Baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. uses them. Even high school and prep school athletes in Tennessee use them. They’re MaxSight contact lenses, which were designed to give athletes a competitive edge. Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says his brother, optometrist Dr. Jeff Anshel, tells him they’re “just another inexpensive piece of athletic equipment.” Dr. Mark Anshel says, “Certainly, players can choose the type of training technique they use to prepare for competition, as long as body chemistry is not artificially altered. Baseball players have used sunglasses as optional equipment to prevent sun glare for decades.”

Contact (no pun intended) Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

For the record

The fall 2006 semester student tally stands at a record 22,863 students. That’s a 1.4 percent increase, or 309 additional students, for the fall. “We’re still growing,” said Dr. Bob Glenn, vice provost for enrollment and academic services and vice president for student affairs. “It’s a little lower than what we would’ve liked. For budget purposes, we were hoping for a three percent increase. But, on a practical basis, we’re happy to be at 1.4 (percent).” Late spring and early summer projections indicated MTSU would pass 23,000 students.

For a breakdown of the numbers by categories, contact Dr. Sherian Huddleston, assistant vice provost, enrollment services, at 615-898-2828.
shuddles@mtsu.edu


TR EXTRA

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. THURSDAY in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

SAVING OUR HISTORY--The public is invited to participate in a town hall meeting on historic preservation at 7 p.m. TOMORROW at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 315 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. David Brown, executive vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be the featured host and speaker. Dr. Carroll Van West, director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, says, “Brown is the most illustrious alumnus of our nationally recognized historic preservation program … He grew up in the East Main historic district; he brings a love of Murfreesboro and its citizens, but adds a healthy dose of realism and experience to the issue of balancing the past with the present.” Contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

9/11 five years later

Have we learned anything since the cataclysmic events of September 11, 2001? Dr. Sean Foley, history, says it is important to remember that the men who launched the attacks “saw themselves as part of a century-old struggle to define Islam and its relationship to the Western world and modernity. For decades, they have sought to use terrorism and other means to promote their vision of the world and silence those who disagree with them. In their eyes, the U.S. government was a key actor in this drama by virtue of its supporting regimes which opposed their views. For them, the attacks in New York and Washington were simply another round in a conflict that had started many years before.”

Contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919, and we will put you in touch with Foley.
sfoley@mtsu.edu

Can you see me now?

The new MaxSight contact lenses, developed jointly by Nike and Bausch & Lomb, were designed to give athletes an edge. Amber lenses are for fast-moving ball sports; grey-green lenses are for blocking glare for runners or helping golfers read the contours of the ground. After consulting with his optometrist brother, Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, has reached the following conclusion. “Providing the type of eyeglasses that reduce glare or improve vision during competition is appropriate because it does not alters the body's chemistry and endanger health,” Anshel says. “Some aspects of equipment use, such as the size of a baseball bat or the weight of a football have to be regulated to avoid an unfair advantage.”

Contact (no pun intended) Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

Can U right it write?

A survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education finds that 44 percent of professors polled say students are not well prepared for college-level writing, compared to 10 percent of public high school teachers. Also, only six percent of professors see students as very well-prepared writers, compared with 36 percent of teachers. Dr. Robert Bray, English, says, “According to these figures, it would seem logical to assume that high school teachers are not adequately preparing their students for college-level writing, and that is undoubtedly the case in many instances. I teach freshman composition, and some of my students tell me that they did little, if any, expository writing at the high school level.”

Contact Bray at 615-898-5959.
rbray@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. THURSDAY in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

SAVING OUR HISTORY--The public is invited to participate in a town hall meeting on historic preservation at 7 p.m. TOMORROW at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 315 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. David Brown, executive vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be the featured host and speaker. Dr. Carroll Van West, director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, says, “Brown is the most illustrious alumnus of our nationally recognized historic preservation program … He grew up in the East Main historic district; he brings a love of Murfreesboro and its citizens, but adds a healthy dose of realism and experience to the issue of balancing the past with the present.” Contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

Friday, September 8, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Pump it out

Linda Decker, donor resources representative for the Tennessee Valley BloodServices Region of the American Red Cross, says blood donations from the MTvs. Tennessee Tech "Get Pumped for Football" competition will aid a dire situation. "The blood supply today is the worst it has been all summer," Decker says. The blood drive is part of the run-up to the Sept. 14 game between the Blue Raiders and Golden Eagles at Floyd Stadium. Red Cross officials can accommodate up to 252 MTSU students and others willing to donate blood. Kickoff for the nationally televised (ESPNU) game will be 6 p.m.

For more information, call Jennifer Kirk, KUC event coordinator, at 615-898-2590.

The trouble with Katie

The new “CBS Evening News” format with Katie Couric as anchor isn’t exactly revolutionizing what used to be called the “nightly national séance.” That’s the view of Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication. “More than anything, news presentation needs to give us contextual information, not naïve facticity,” Pondillo says. “We newscasts that not only tell us the oil companies found new oil reserves in the gulf, but why the U.S. does not have a coherent energy policy. We need newscasts that not only tell us the Taliban is back and stronger than ever in parts of Afghanistan because U.S. troops are spread too thin, but why and how this happened.”

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

Born to run

The MTSU Veterans Memorial Run/Walk needs you—TO RUN AND/OR WALK!
The fun will start at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions. Maj. Chuck Giles, military science, says the value of each participant packets far exceeds the registration fee. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions, as well as valuable door prizes. Each pre-registered entrant will receive a race T-shirt. Early registration is $15, and online registration will close at 8 p.m. Central time Friday, Sept. 15. All proceeds will go towards construction of an on-campus memorial to military personnel. Media welcomed.

For more information, contact Maj. Giles at 1-888-682-7682 or cgiles@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

SAVING OUR HISTORY--The public is invited to participate in a town hall meeting on historic preservation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 315 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. David Brown, executive vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be the featured host and speaker. Dr. Carroll Van West, director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, says, “Brown is the most illustrious alumnus of our nationally recognized historic preservation program … He grew up in the East Main historic district; he brings a love of Murfreesboro and its citizens, but adds a healthy dose of realism and experience to the issue of balancing the past with the present.” Contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

Thursday, September 7, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Saving our history

The public is invited to participate in a town hall meeting on historic preservation at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 12, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 315 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. David Brown, executive vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, will be the featured host and speaker. Dr. Carroll Van West, director of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, says, “Brown is the most illustrious alumnus of our nationally recognized historic preservation program … He grew up in the East Main historic district; he brings a love of Murfreesboro and its citizens, but adds a healthy dose of realism and experience to the issue of balancing the past with the present.”

Contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

The Couric Report

Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, has one word to describe how he feels about Katie Couric’s debut as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” Tuesday night—“disappointed.” Actually, he has a few more words. “Oh, she was fine,” Pondillo says. “The same perky Katie that we’ve all come to expect, but, in terms of news—i.e., writing, presentation, style, etc.—just more of the same old, same old. With CBS in the ratings cellar, one would have thought they’d be bold and try something really different—not just a new set, graphics package and hairdo for Katie. I mean making a real break with conventional news.”

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

Fitter, not fatter

TODAY, MTSU faculty, staff and students will participate in their orientation meeting for the “Fight Fat Land” program at 4:45 in the gym storage area of the Student Recreation Center. Participants will receive weight room orientation, cardiovascular room orientation, a fitness assessment, an aerobics punch pass good for 26 classes, and a coach/trainer to design individual regimens. Wellness workshops may be attended at no additional cost. The program is open to individuals and groups at a cost of $75 for individuals or $35 for each person in a team of five or more. An overall winner and a team winner will be crowned based on fitness improvements.

Contact Kim Sandman at 615-898-2104
ksandman@mtsu.edu
or Dr. Mark Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

RUN FOR THE VETERANS--Pay tribute to the MTSU faculty, staff, alumni and students who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces by taking part in the MTSU Veterans Memorial Run/Walk at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions. Each pre-registered entrant will receive a race T-shirt. Early registration is $15, and online registration will close at 8 p.m. Central time Friday, Sept. 15. All proceeds will go towards construction of an on-campus memorial to military personnel. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 1-888-682-7682 or cgiles@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

PROTECT YOURSELF--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge beginning TONIGHT through Thursday, Oct. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the MTSU Public Safety Training Room, located at 1412 East Main Street. The classes will be open to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. For information or to enroll, call Officer David Smith at 615-494-8855.

AGRARIAN ART—“The Upper Cumberland Collection: The Plateau Years” is on display at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the McWherter Learning Resources Center through TOMORROW. These photos are by Jack Stoddart, who began his career photographing a disappearing culture between 1971 and 1974. The gelatin silver images became a mainstay of future exhibits chronicling the last vestiges of an agrarian lifestyle that still existed in rural north central Tennessee. There will be a lecture by Stoddart at 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. A reception will follow in the gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sat. Noon-4 p.m. For more information contact Tom Jimison, curator, at 651-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu

BLOOD SPORT--MTSU vs. Tennessee Tech: It’s the Thursday, Sept. 14 football game and Sept. 12-13 blood drive. MT athletics and the Student Government Association arefully behind the Red Cross blood drive that will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. both days. Anyone 17-and-over with a valid ID can participate. MTSU will compete against its longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival to see which school can “pump up” the most blood. For more information, call Jennifer Kirk, KUC event coordinator, at 615-898-2590.

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

A LITTLE “FRESH AIR”--One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating. For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118 or mjbarr@mtsu.edu

Wednesday, September 5, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Yo! MTV reeks?

When the most replayed clip from MTV Music Video Awards is from former Vice President Al Gore’s lecture on global warming, it almost makes one nostalgic. Once upon a time, MTV was considered decadent enough to make your parents cringe. But, after the most recent awards ceremony, critics are beginning to say that the cable channel has lost its edge. Dr. John Dougan, recording industry, says, “After all, the VMAs have as much to do with celebrity as good music; it rewards style more than substance. Co-opting the Grammy format is a bad idea (too boring and predictable), but is is possible that the VMAs (and MTV in general) are running out of steam as it desparately continues to reinvent itself?”

Contact Dougan at 615-898-2578.
jdougan@mtsu.edu

The Crocodile Hunter, R.I.P.

The untimely death of Steve Irwin, better known as “The Crocodile Hunter” for his close encounters with the aquatic reptiles, has led Dr. George Benz, biology, to ponder how competitive the world has become. “Twenty years ago, it would have been ‘good enough’ to just film stingrays or crocodiles from the safety of a boat,” Benz says. “Today, however, the media, its advertising financial supporters, and the public demand a lot more. Mr. Irwin merely chose to compete at a high level. I personally think Irwin connected a lot of folks with nature, if even through activities that some might feel displayed a form of illegitimacy. Certainly, the persona that Irwin displayed on TV made it seem that he would be happier dying on the end of a stingray’s barb than getting hit by a bus or dying while sleeping in bed.”

Contact Benz at 615-898-5021.
gbenz@mtsu.edu

A little “fresh air”

One of the media’s premier interviewers, Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air with Terry Gross,” will lecture at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The talk is free and open to the public. “I think it’s a great opportunity to have a nationally recognized award-winning interviewer come here to talk,” Marc J. Barr, EMC professor, said. “She has come to be one of the best interviewers, if not the best interviewer, out there in media.” While the Tuesday night lecture is free, tickets are required for admission. Tickets that were issued for the original April date are good for Gross’ upcoming appearance, and those individuals will be allowed first entry. No new tickets will be issued. However, non-ticket holders will be allowed entry after ticket-holders based on available seating.

For more information, contact Barr at 615-898-5118.
mjbarr@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

RUN FOR THE VETERANS--Pay tribute to the MTSU faculty, staff, alumni and students who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces by taking part in the MTSU Veterans Memorial Run/Walk at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions. Each pre-registered entrant will receive a race T-shirt. Early registration is $15, and online registration will close at 8 p.m. Central time Friday, Sept. 15. All proceeds will go towards construction of an on-campus memorial to military personnel. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 1-888-682-7682 or cgiles@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

PROTECT YOURSELF--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge beginning THURSDAY through Thursday, Oct. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the MTSU Public Safety Training Room, located at 1412 East Main Street. The classes will be open to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. For information or to enroll, call Officer David Smith at 615-494-8855.

AGRARIAN ART—“The Upper Cumberland Collection: The Plateau Years” is on display at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the McWherter Learning Resources Center through Sept. 8. These photos are by Jack Stoddart, who began his career photographing a disappearing culture between 1971 and 1974. The gelatin silver images became a mainstay of future exhibits chronicling the last vestiges of an agrarian lifestyle that still existed in rural north central Tennessee. There will be a lecture by Stoddart at 7:30 p.m. TONIGHT in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. A reception will follow in the gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sat. Noon-4 p.m. For more information contact Tom Jimison, curator, at 651-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu

BLOOD SPORT--MTSU vs. Tennessee Tech: It’s the Thursday, Sept. 14 football game and Sept. 12-13 blood drive. MT athletics and the Student Government Association are
fully behind the Red Cross blood drive that will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. both days. Anyone 17-and-over with a valid ID can participate. MTSU will compete against its longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival to see which school can “pump up” the most blood. For more information, call Jennifer Kirk, KUC event coordinator, at 615-898-2590.

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

I want what used to be my MTV!

The reviews of the latest MTV Music Video Awards are in, and they’re not flattering. Critics are suggesting that the cable channel has lost its edge and has become too tame. Nekesa Mumbi of the Associated Press says, “Somewhere along the way, the MTV Awards seemed to have morphed into the Grammys.” Dr. John Dougan, recording industry, who watched some of the ceremony, says what he saw was more Grammy-like than in the past. He says the lack of raucousness is odd “considering that the target audience for the broadcast (15-to-25-year-olds) would probably prefer it being more outrageous and irreverent.”

Contact Dougan at 615-898-2578.
jdougan@mtsu.edu

She’s a whiz with the fizz!

One of the hottest videos on the Internet for the past several months has shown a rhythmically coordinated spray of Diet Coke high into the air from several two-liter bottles. The effect was achieved by dropping Mentos candies into the bottles and awaiting the fizzy reaction. Taking their cue from this entertaining video, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) will conduct a Diet Coke/Mentos contest TONIGHT outside McHenry Hall. Each of five teams will compete to create the most imaginative carbonated display. Of course, the chemistry of the event will be discussed, as well. The WISE meeting is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Media welcomed.

Contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253.
jiriarte@mtsu.edu

Calling occupants of interplanetary craft

Why all the fuss about Pluto? The International Astronomical Union has declared that Pluto really isn’t a planet, after all, sending millions of K-12 teachers scrambling to revise their lesson plans. Does it really matter how many planets are in the solar system? Dr. Chuck Higgins, physics and astronomy, says, “It makes no difference how many planets are in the solar system; the strain is that most people want Pluto to remain a planet, but most astronomers want a more clear definition of a planet. The definition is more clear than before, but there are still skeptics who don't like this definition and will fight to overturn it. I think this debate is good for astronomy and for science!”

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

TR EXTRA

RUN FOR THE VETERANS--Pay tribute to the MTSU faculty, staff, alumni and students who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces by taking part in the MTSU Veterans Memorial Run/Walk at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions. Each pre-registered entrant will receive a race T-shirt. Early registration is $15, and online registration will close at 8 p.m. Central time Friday, Sept. 15. All proceeds will go towards construction of an on-campus memorial to military personnel. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 1-888-682-7682 or cgiles@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

PROTECT YOURSELF--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge beginning Thursday, Sept. 7 through Thursday, Oct. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the MTSU Public Safety Training Room, located at 1412 East Main Street. The classes will be open to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. For information or to enroll, call Officer David Smith at 615-494-8855.

AGRARIAN ART—“The Upper Cumberland Collection: The Plateau Years” is on display at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the McWherter Learning Resources Center through Sept. 8. These photos are by Jack Stoddart, who began his career photographing a disappearing culture between 1971 and 1974. The gelatin silver images became a mainstay of future exhibits chronicling the last vestiges of an agrarian lifestyle that still existed in rural north central Tennessee. There will be a lecture by Stoddart at 7:30 p.m. TOMORROW in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. A reception will follow in the gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sat. Noon-4 p.m. For more information contact Tom Jimison, curator, at 651-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu

BLOOD SPORT--MTSU vs. Tennessee Tech: It’s the Thursday, Sept. 14 football game and Sept. 12-13 blood drive. MT athletics and the Student Government Association arefully behind the Red Cross blood drive that will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. both days. Anyone 17-and-over with a valid ID can participate. MTSU will compete against its longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival to see which school can “pump up” the most blood. For more information, call Jennifer Kirk, KUC event coordinator, at 615-898-2590.

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu

Friday, September 1, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Pondering Pluto

Why did the International Astronomical Union declare that Pluto is not a planet after all? Dr. Chuck Higgins, physics and astronomy, says, “Planets are now defined to be orbiting the Sun, big enough to be round in shape, and it must have cleared the neighborhood in its orbit. Pluto fails the mark on the last part of the definition because it crosses the orbit of Neptune—thus, Neptune has cleared the neighborhood.” If you’d like to learn more, attend the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s First Friday Star Party from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. TONIGHT in Room 102 of the Wiser-Patten Science Building. The 30-45 minute public lecture titled “What Is a Planet?” will be followed by outdoor telescope observation (weather permitting). FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Media welcomed.

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

My big fat Greek home

Officers with the MTSU chapter of Pi Kappa Phi have signed a one-year lease with an option to renew for a second year at the former Kappa Sigma house on Greek Row. The brothers are in the midst of sprucing up the place with fresh paint, new locks on the doors and other repairs. House Manager Jimmy Miller, a sophomore from Phoenix, Ariz., says, “It will just be a lot of fun to live with the brothers and establish relationships with other fraternities.” The new digs also mean the Pi Kapps will have a home base from which to plan their community service activities, which include raising awareness of people with disabilities and the need to improve their quality of life.

Contact Gentry McCreary, director of Greek Life, at 615-898-5812.mccreary@mtsu.edu

Law and Order: Special Camera Unit

Hollywood recreations are neither necessary nor desired in trials in which the parties agree to allow cameras in the courtroom. In fact, there is no technological reason why more trials should keep out cameras, says Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication. “Television technology has been so miniaturized that TV cameras are no longer the large, intrusive devices they once were,” Pondillo says. “Excellent color pictures can be transmitted from a camera as small as a lipstick tube, and low illumination situations—which would prompt the placement of large, hot studio lighting—is no longer a problem.”

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


TR EXTRA

RUN FOR THE VETERANS--Pay tribute to the MTSU faculty, staff, alumni and students who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces by taking part in the MTSU Veterans Memorial Run/Walk at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. There will be individual and team awards for top finishers in all age and gender divisions. Each pre-registered entrant will receive a race T-shirt. Early registration is $15, and online registration will close at 8 p.m. Central time Friday, Sept. 15. All proceeds will go towards construction of an on-campus memorial to military personnel. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Maj. Chuck Giles at 1-888-682-7682 or cgiles@mtsu.edu

THE SWEET SMELL OF SCIENCE--Registration is open for the 2006 Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. The conference for girls in grades 5-8 will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, across the MTSU campus. Open to the first 300 girls who register, EYH will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on campus. To register, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~EYH. Look for the registration button on the left side. Complete, print out, and mail the form to: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, c/o MTSU EYH, P.O. Box 161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

PROTECT YOURSELF--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge beginning Thursday, Sept. 7 through Thursday, Oct. 12, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the MTSU Public Safety Training Room, located at 1412 East Main Street. The classes will be open to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance and progresses to the basics of hands-on defense training. For information or to enroll, call Officer David Smith at 615-494-8855.

AGRARIAN ART—“The Upper Cumberland Collection: The Plateau Years” is on display at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the McWherter Learning Resources Center through Sept. 8. These photos are by Jack Stoddart, who began his career photographing a disappearing culture between 1971 and 1974. The gelatin silver images became a mainstay of future exhibits chronicling the last vestiges of an agrarian lifestyle that still existed in rural north central Tennessee. There will be a lecture by Stoddart at 7:30 p.m. on Wed., Sept. 6 in Room 104 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. A reception will follow in the gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and Sat. Noon-4 p.m. For more information contact Tom Jimison, curator, at 651-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE, DOUBLE YOUR FUN—Enjoy Japanese hospitality and learn more about the Asia-related courses offered at MTSU as the Japan-U.S. Program welcomes new Japanese students, their friends and all students enrolled in Japan-related courses at TWO parties TONIGHT. The first event will take place from 5-6:30 p.m. in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building. The follow-up party, or niji-kai, will take place at the home of Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, 202 Eventide Drive in Murfreesboro, at 7 p.m. Guests will include exchange students from partner institutions in Japan, Korea and the Philippines. But Kawahito says, “ … many returning Japanese students take this as a ‘welcome back party’ for them and as a great occasion to eat good foods—as much as they want. During the second party, I keep cooking, cooking and cooking.” For further information, especially about directions and parking, call the Japan-U.S. Program at 615-898-2229 or send an e-mail to japan@mtsu.edu

BLOOD SPORT--MTSU vs. Tennessee Tech: It’s the Thursday, Sept. 14 football game and Sept. 12-13 blood drive. MT athletics and the Student Government Association arefully behind the Red Cross blood drive that will be held from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. both days. Anyone 17-and-over with a valid ID can participate. MTSU will compete against its longtime Ohio Valley Conference rival to see which school can “pump up” the most blood. For more information, call Jennifer Kirk, KUC event coordinator, at 615-898-2590.

MOTHER EARTH IN A BAD MOOD--Why, with enormous advances in meteorology and geology, is the human race still plagued and perplexed by natural disasters? The Fall 2006 Honors Lecture Series at MTSU will strive to answer that question and many more. Titles range from “The Role of the Military in Natural Disasters” to “New Media and Natural Disasters” to “Natural Disasters: A Public Health Perspective.” All lectures are free and open to the public. Lectures are held on Mondays (except Labor Day, Sept. 4) from 3 p.m. to 3:50 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. For more information, contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.

BRAIN POWER--The Student Activity Fee funds are making possible two free workshops that can provide students with the necessary tips to earn better grades. Plymouth, Mich.-based Jamie Nast, a nationally acknowledged expert on helping individuals organize their thinking, will lead the “Mind Mapping” sessions from 1-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14 in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. In 1998, Nast and her husband founded NastGroup, a consultancy organization specializing in optimizing mind potential. Her first book, Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business, is slated for publication Sept. 20. For more information, contact Dr. Carol Ann Baily, Adult Services Center director, at 615-898-5989 or cabaily@mtsu.edu