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