Friday, October 20, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“America’s Historian”

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough will speak on “Qualities of Leadership” at 7 p.m. TUESDAY in Tucker Theatre. The author of highly acclaimed biographies of John Adams and Harry Truman, McCullough’s latest title, 1776, entered The New York Times’ bestseller list at the top in June. “David McCullough is often regarded in academic circles as ‘America’s Historian,’ an unofficial title now embraced by a growing number of the country’s reading public as well,” Dr. John McDaniel, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, says. The lecture is free and open to the public, but seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. A 15-minute question-and-answer session will be followed by an 8 p.m. book signing in the theatre lobby.

For more information regarding McCullough’s lecture, contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator, at 615-494-7628.

For children of all ages

The Stones River Chamber Players will open their 2006-2007 season with “Story Time” at 7:30 p.m. MONDAY in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. The MTSU ensemble-in-residence will perform “Sleeping Beauty,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and “The Empress of the Pagodas” from the “Mother Goose Suite” by Ravel, as well as “Three Petrarch Sonnets” by Liszt and “Short Stories” by Zohn in the opening half. The second half will feature “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saens. Dr. John McDaniel, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, will narrate the text by poet Ogden Nash in “Carnival.” “The Saint-Saens ‘Carnival of the Animals’ is a perennial favorite of children and adults, particularly when the Ogden Nash poetry is included,” Dr. Lynn Rice-See, professor of piano and co-director of the group, says. Free and open to the public.

Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493.
tmusselm@mtsu.edu

How’s your helix, Felix?

The secret code to packing long DNA molecules into compact chromosomes has begun to unravel. On the cutting edge of what has been called epigenetics is Harvard chemist Stuart Schreiber. One of the key chemical changes in molecular structure which causes DNA to unravel is acetylation. “This is the same minor chemical modification that Bayer chemist Felix Hoffman made to willow bark extract over 100 years ago,” Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says. “Students routinely redo this experiment in freshman chemistry labs when they make aspirin on their own.” So why is this significant? “Various diseases and embryo development failures are thought to be caused by erroneous folding or unfolding of DNA,” MacDougall explains.

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

TR EXTRA

DYNAMISM AND SENSITIVITY--Masaaki and Chikako Tanaka, two distinguished Japanese artists, will display their word through Friday, Nov. 3 in the Todd Gallery at MTSU. Receptions for the Tanakas are slated for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 16 an from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, in the gallery. The receptions are free and open to the public. “(Masaaki Tanaka) is a master in the use of the paper stencil technique of screenprinting, the process by which colors and shapes are layered onto paper and coalesce, after many applications, into the finished image,” Dr. Lon Nuell, professor of art, says. By contrast, Nuell says Chikako Tanaka’s work is “fanciful, ethereal in some instances, suggesting the dream-like imagery of the surrealists.” Contact Nuell at 615-898-5653 or 615-898-2505 or lrnuell@mtsu.edu

A WHOLE NEW WORLD--Your children can be transported to Japan, China and Indonesia without flight reservations. A new exhibit at the Discovery Center enables youngsters to play dress-up with sarongs and kimonos, view animated superhero Astro Boy or learn about Japanese folklore on a 20-inch DVD player, construct their own colorful kites, make origami figures, work challenging tangram puzzles, stage their own hand puppet theatre and hold Japanese tea parties. The interactive exhibit is made possible by generous donations from Toshiba, Nissan, the Foreign Ministry of Japan and the Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU. The Discovery Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $5 for anyone age 2 and up. Contact Steve Hoskins at the Discovery Center, 502 SE Broad Street, Murfreesboro, at 615-890-2300.

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?--To dramatize how dating violence traumatizes the lives of young adults, the June Anderson Women’s Center and Women 4 Women, a student organization, will present “It’s Love, Isn’t It?” from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25, in the Keathley University Center Theatre. The original play, written and produced with ABC grants from Allied Arts of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Arts Commission and directed by Dr. Ayne Cantrell, professor emeritus, follows the travails of a female college freshman whose boyfriend has jealousy and anger management issues. “It’s Love, Isn’t It?” is free and open to the public and is part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month at MTSU. For more information, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu

CURRY FAVOR WITH A DANCE MASTER--Sample some savory footwork with guest dancer Ivan Pulinkala next week. The director of dance at Kennesaw State University, Pulinkala will present a lecture on “The Sensuality of Indian Movement” from 9:10 a.m. to 10:05 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, in the University Honors College Ampitheatre. The lecture is free and open to the public. Pulinkala will teach a modern dance class and work with members of the MTSU Dance Theatre to produce a show at 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 28, in Room 140 of the Fairview Building following a Dance Theatre class. According to his online biography, Pulinkala, a New Delhi native, has served as the choreographer-in-residence for Delhi Music Theatre and was named among the 25 Indian artists of the Millennium in the December 1999 issue of India Today magazine. Media welcomed. Contact Kim Neal Nofsinger, director of MTSU’s dance program, at 615-904-8392 or nofsinge@mtsu.edu
To request interviews, contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

SHAYKH IT UP!--The MTSU Middle East Center will present the first in its brown bag lunch lecture series MONDAY to spotlight faculty members with experience and expertise in the Middle East. The inaugural topic is “Shaykh Khalid and the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya” by Dr. Sean Foley, history, at noon in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building. Foley will focus on Shaykh Khalid’s socio-religious movement and his influence on Muslim thought and social movements. Foley has received both Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays fellowships for research projects in Syria and Turkey. He also is working on a book under contract to Lynne Rienner Press titled “The Arab Gulf States: When Oil is Not Enough.” Contact Foley at 615-904-8294 or sfoley@mtsu.edu