Monday, October 9, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The pages’ pain

Dr. John Maynor, political science, was a Congressional page in 1986, an experience he cherishes to this day. Maynor says he is very disappointed by the page scandal resulting from revelations about former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley. “For a member of Congress to take advantage of these young people is an incredible betrayal of trust,” Maynor says. “For the leaders of Congress to willingly ignore the problem for as long as it appears that they did is unforgivable. Their inaction and ineptitude jeopardized the lives of all those pages who served while Mark Foley was in office.” Maynor has only good things to say about his own experience as a page. “I learned many valuable lessons about how our government and politics work and count this experience as one of the most valuable of my life,” Maynor says.

Contact Maynor at 615- 494-8758.
jmaynor@mtsu.edu

What would MLK do?

The National Black Republican Association is sponsoring a radio ad in Maryland that asserts that Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican and Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan. The ad has outraged both Democrats and King historians. Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele, an African-American Republican running for an open U.S. Senate seat, demanded that the NBRA stop running the ad. Dr. Phillip Jeter, Geier Visiting Professor in the School of Journalism, says, “Political campaigns are always full of rhetoric. I keep hope alive that the public will recognize political rhetoric for what it is and evaluate candidates accordingly and by the rhetoric candidates use.” Jeter says it is good for our American tradition of free speech that broadcast stations can not edit political ads, and Maryland voters will have to make their decisions on the basis of how Steele handles the situation.

Contact Jeter at 615-898-2205.
pjeter@mtsu.edu

Bearing witness

The “Silent Witness” exhibit in conjunction with Domestic Violence Awareness Month will resume TODAY through WEDNESDAY and Oct. 23-25 on the second floor of the Keathley University Center. This powerful and effective display is intended to promote healing for the victims. It features blood red T-shirts, each of which is emblazoned with the story of a different domestic violence victim. One T-shirt tells the story of 26-year-old “Dorothy” of Murfreesboro, who was stabbed four times and left for dead by her boyfriend. The perpetrator, who had been charged previously with domestic assault, was tried on a charge of first-degree murder and convicted.

For more information, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@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 X161, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132. REGISTRATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13. For more information, contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or eyh@mtsu.edu or jiriarte@mtsu.edu

REAL MEN DON’T HIT WOMEN--Author and educator Rus Funk (spelling is correct) will deliver an address titled “What’s a Guy to Do?” from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. TOMORROW, Oct. 10, in the Keathley University Center (KUC) Theatre. Funk will talk about the effects of domestic violence, prevention strategies and educating men to be allies in this Domestic Violence Awareness Month event sponsored by the June Anderson Women’s Center and the student organization Women 4 Women. In addition, Funk will provide specific training for various groups in the campus community in a workshop from 4 p.m to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11 in the KUC Theatre. The author of Reaching Men: Strategies for Preventing Sexist Attitudes, Behaviors and Violence, Funk is on the faculty of the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville and the Spalding University School of Social Work. Contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu

CONCERT NUMBER TWO—The Austrian-Filipino pianist Aima Maria Labra-Makk will perform in the second event of the Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. TOMORROW NIGHT in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call 615-898-2493.