Thursday, October 12, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Giving Buck his propers

With the passing of Buck O’Neil last Friday at the age of 94, baseball afficionados are clamoring for the sport to do for this former Negro Leaguer and racial pioneer posthumously what it would not do for him in life—induct him into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Dr. Roger Heinrich, electronic media communication, teaches a course on the history of sports in the media each year. He says, “Many of us got to know O’Neil through the PBS broadcast of Ken Burns’ (documentary series) ‘Baseball.’ O’Neil’s soft-spoken delivery did little to mask the twinkle in his eyes as his recollections brought the Negro League back to life.” Heinrich calls the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee’s failure earlier this year to enshrine O’Neil at Cooperstown “one of the great injustices in sports.”

Contact Heinrich at 615-904-8565.
heinrich@mtsu.edu

The Kyoto conundrum

Should the United States have signed the Kyoto Protocol, which sets a goal of reducing carbon dioxide below 1990 levels by 2012? Dr. Jim Henry, geosciences, says he thinks the U.S. should sign the document, but he also thinks it’s not global enough to work. Henry notes that China and India are the fastest-growing countries in terms of the greenhouse gases produced, and they haven’t signed it, either. However, if there’s a practical model for reducing greenhouse gases and combating the argument that doing so is not cost-effective, it might be found in Portland, Oregon. “They’ve got their carbon dioxide levels below 1990 levels,” Henry says. “Their economy has skyrocketed, and, next year, all gas sold in Portland, Oregon, is going to have to be partly ethanol. It can be done without wiping out your economy.”

Contact Henry at 615-904-8452.
jhenry@mtsu.edu

Be our guest!

Register now for the Nov. 11 Fall Visit Day. Prospective students can register for the tour and meetings with student services departments such as financial aid, housing, admissions and academic representatives from various colleges by going online to http://www.mtsu.edu/~admissn. Click “Prospective” and then “Campus Tour.” Or you can call 1-800-331-6878 or 615-898-5670. Both Saturday tours will start at 10 a.m. Central time and will begin in the lobby of the Cope Administration Building. Prospective students and their parents or guardians also may schedule a tour and campus visit during the week Monday-Friday except for Oct. 13, Oct. 16-17 (fall break), and Nov. 22 (day before Thanksgiving).

For more information, contact Christopher Fleming at 615-898-2237.

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

DYNAMISM AND SENSITIVITY--Masaaki and Chikako Tanaka, two distinguished Japanese artists, will display their word from Monday, Oct. 16 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

“FIT FOR THE FUTURE”--Find out how to ensure a healthier experience at school for your children at the Tennessee School Health Coalition “Fit for the Future” conference Oct. 16 and 17 at MTSU. Musician Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, who heads an anti-bullying movement called Operation Respect, will deliver his message in music and words at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 17 at Tucker Theatre. Yarrow’s appearance will be free and open to the public. Other sessions scheduled for the conference include discussions of “How Schools Can Provide Daily Physical Education,” “Keeping Sales Up with Fat and Sugar Down,” and “School Health Services—It’s More than Just the Nurse.” Media welcomed. For more information, contact Dr. Doug Winborn, health and human performance, at 615-898-5110 or jwinborn@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.