Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Milton Friedman (1912-2006)

Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist whose theory of monetarism influenced the policies of three U.S. presidents, died Thursday at age 94. Dr. Bill Ford, holder of the Weatherford Chair of Finance, calls Friedman “arguably the most distinguished and important economist who lived during the 20th century. … His treatises on welfare program reforms, a simplified flat-tax system, privatization of Social Security, and the case for using education vouchers to provide a better education for inner-city school students are still shaping the ongoing debates of all those subjects.” On a personal note, Ford remembers the “wit, personal charm and warmth he always exhibited toward his professional colleagues, including those who did not share his views,” and Ford extends his sympathies to Friedman’s wife, Rose, his lifelong partner and sometime co-author.

Contact Ford at 615-898-2889.
wfford@mtsu.edu

Stringing along

MTSU Guitar Ensembles will present a concert of Brazilian and Baroque music at 8 p.m. TUESDAY in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on campus. The group will perform works by composers such as Piazzolla, Bach, Domeniconi, Vivaldi and Albeniz. They will be led by instructors Salome Sandoval and Josh Tannehill. “These students have been working hard on this repertoire all summer,” Sandoval says. “Talent will range from more experienced students to those who will be performing for the first time.” This concert is free and open to the public.

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

I’d like to be under the sea in an octopus’s garden in the shade.

A report by Dalhousie University in the journal Science warns that the population of almost all seafood face collapse by 2048 if current overfishing and pollution trends continue. Dr. Padgett Kelly, biology, says, “The timeline may be a bit dire, but the trend is there. There are many organizations worldwide, including the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, that are publishing lists of sustainable fish populations for human consumption. Currently, use of these fish stocks is increasing. So they may soon start declining, as well. Most of the ‘large fish’ species are already drastically reduced and the ecological effects of this decline may greatly outweigh the economic aspects of the problem.”

Contact Kelly at 615-898-5615.
jpkelly@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

TEN-HUT!--Local and regional military veterans will be recognized SATURDAY during the 25th annual Salute to Veterans at MTSU’s 2:30 p.m. football game against Troy State University. Maj. Chuck Giles, military science, says about 250 to 300 veterans and their families are expected to attend. All service groups will have activities and recruiters in Walnut Grove with other campus and student organizations during pregame tailgate events. There will be a picnic at 11 a.m. outside Forrest Hall (or inside the hall in the event of inclement weather). Four Army ROTC cadets who served in Iraq will be honorary captains for the pregame coin toss. They are Spcs. Matt Wallace of McMinnville and James Lax of Murfreesboro and Sgts. Ken McDevitt of Christiana and Paul Wise of Smyrna.Contact Giles at 615-898-2470, or Harriet Howard at 615-355-0746.

SANTA’S LITTLE RAIDERS--The “Santa’s Little Raiders” program, sponsored by MTSU Public Safety, is in full swing. It helps to make the holidays a little brighter for some of the children of MTSU students. The gift tree is up in the lobby of police headquarters on East Main Street, and several “Little Raiders” are available for “adoption.” The cards on the tree have the gender and age of each child. A “party gift” with a value of $10 to $15 for each “Little Raider” may be purchased. That gift will be opened on the evening of the holiday party in the James Union Building on Friday, Dec. 8. All gifts must be wrapped and returned to Public Safety by Wednesday, Nov. 29. Contact Officer Brett Huskey at 615-898-2424.

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.