Friday, January 26, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

South of the border

“Landscapes of Mexico,” a photography exhibit featuring the works of Hector Montes de Oca, is on display through February 28 at Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the Learning Resources Center. The exhibit is made up of 40 silver gelatine black-and-white prints. He is considered to be one of the most prominent Mexican photographers of his generation. He is especially distinguished for his black-and-white landscapes, which reveal his native country in a most striking and intimate manner. The exhibit will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Mr. de Oca will present a slide show/lecture on his work at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Exhibitions and lectures are free and open to the public.

Contact Tom Jimison at 615-898-2085.
tjimison@mtsu.edu

There I go, turn the page …

On Jan. 19, the U.S. House voted 416-0 to overhaul the board that supervises the Congressional page program. After Republican Mark Foley resigned his House seat in September after it was revealed he had sent suggestive messages to one or more male pages, Dr. Frank Essex, professor emeritus of political science, said, “Being negligent, as they had to have been to let that kind of thing unfold, is just unconscionable.” Essex was a Congressional page during World War II, when the nation’s richest CEOs quit their jobs to work for the government for $1 a year and a wide-eyed teenaged boy could walk both the streets of Washington and the halls of Congress day or night without trembling. His memorabilia from the period includes a photo of his dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt and autographs of the political giants of the day.

To reach Essex, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

Legislators gone wild!

Tennessee State Senator Doug Jackson says his bill to ban advertising material that is “harmful to minors” was inspired by the “Girls Gone Wild” program-length infomercials that are run on television stations nationwide, usually in the wee hours of the morning. But Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, points out that the measure does not define what is “harmful to minors.” Burriss says, “Have you seen any ads for fast food places? Those could certainly be harmful to children. What about the ads that show cars and trucks speeding down the road? Couldn’t those be harmful to children?” Burriss says Jackson’s bill probably won’t go anywhere, but it has attracted a lot of attention. “As a matter of fact,” Burriss observes, “some people might consider his actions themselves to be offensive.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THRILLS AND TRILLS--The seventh annual MTSU Flute Festival will be held THIS SATURDAY with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby and concluding with a 4 p.m. concert in Hinton Hall, also in Wright Music Building. Guest flutists include Erik Gratton, Ann Richards and Normal Rogers, all from the Nashville Symphony. Each guest artist will teach a master class. The final rounds of the high school and junior-level competitions, which are open to the public, will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Winners will be presented at the evening concert with other student flutists and area professionals. Admission is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as guests for all or one of the public concerts and public competitions for a one-time charge of $5. Contact Deanna Little, assistant professor of flute, at 615-898-2473, or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn and click on the Flute Festival link.

THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF PEACE--Internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lilly Rivlin will visit MTSU Wednesday, Jan. 31, to show her 2006 film “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace.” The viewing, which is free and open to the public, will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building. Rivlin will present the film and will be available afterward to answer questions. Directed, written, and produced by Rivlin and narrated by actress Debra Winger, “Can You Hear Me?” focuses on how dialogue, even among those who have profound disagrements, can bring about positive and significant change. Contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, Middle East Center, at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu or Dr. Sonja Hedgepeth at 615-898-2280 or shedgepe@mtsu.edu.

PRIME TIME FOR CRIME--“Crime—Causes, Detection, Punishment, Fact and Fiction” is the theme for the Spring 2007 Honors Lecture Series. Each talk will take place at 3 p.m. each Monday from Jan. 29 through April 9 in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. Dr. Phil Mathis, dean of the Honors College, says, “Today, crime is an unwelcome growth industry: correction facilities, law enforcement officers, lawyers, detectives and crime laboratories continue to grow in number.” The opening topic this Monday will be “The Sociology of Crime and Punishment” and will be presented by Dr. Andrew Austin, associate professor of social change and development chair of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Contact Mathis or Associate Dean Scott Carnicom at 615-898-2152.