Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

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 the Discovery Center, 502 SE Broad Street, Murfreesboro, at 615-890-2300.

All in the family

According to a 2003 study by the University of Tulsa, more than half of America’s childless singles feel put-upon in the workplace by their married and child-rearing co-workers. They feel they are being stereotyped, stigmatized and discriminated against by being made to work longer hours or having to take less flexible vacation. Dr. Patrick McCarthy, psychology, says, “The 2003 Tulsa study offers one early look at an unintended side effect that could emerge. More recently, our research has identified a variety of potential pitfalls that have been largely ignored or underemphasized but are essential to the success of family-friendly initiatives.”

Contact McCarthy at 615-898-2126.
pmccarth@mtsu.edu

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring! Banana Phone!

Has technology outstripped our sense of propriety? In a commentary on cell phone etiquette, Bob Schieffer of CBS News recalled when he heard someone in the bathroom stall next to the one he occupied talking on a cell phone while relieving himself. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says he heard someone at a mall go into graphic detail about his colonoscopy over a cell phone. “In some places, schools have banned the phones,” Burriss says. “But a judge in Crown Point, Indiana, struck a major blow for civility when she detained five people and ordered community service for two of them when a cell phone rang in her courtroom for the third time. She found the other three in contempt of court when they refused to say whose phone had gone off.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@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

BEARING WITNESS--The “Silent Witness” exhibit in conjunction with Domestic Violence Awareness Month will resume THROUGH TODAY 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 or jawc@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