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.