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