Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The State of the Union

Dr. Russell Church, speech and theatre, says President Bush did a “masterful job in a very difficult situation” in his delivery of last night’s State of the Union address. Facing a Democratic majority and numerous disenchanted members of Congress in his own party, Bush smartly waited until the middle of the speech to bring up the war in Iraq, Church says. He observes, “What this speech does is give him (Bush) some time to see if there’s any hope” for a positive solution to the war. If Church has one quibble with the rhetoric, it’s that Bush used the word “Islamic” too often in talking about terrorism, which could offend peaceful Muslims. Overall, though, Church says Bush, who does not have a reputation as a silver-tongued speaker, probably will get a “fairly big” post-oration jump in the polls. “I just don’t think he could have been better,” Church says.

Contact Church at 615-494-7958.
rchurch@mtsu.edu

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
ahibbard@mtsu.edu
or Dr. Sonja Hedgepeth at 615-898-2280.
shedgepe@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

DON’T GET MAD—GET RAD--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic, self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progression on to the basics of hands-on defense training. The class will start THIS THURSDAY and will run through Thursday, March 1. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The program is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room at 1412 East Main Street. Contact Instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

RELIEF FOR ROYCEANNE--RoyceAnne Miller, a former secretary for the MTSU Art Gallery, is fighting for her life at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, the victim of a murder attempt. On Jan. 8, Miller’s husband, James Morris, fired a shotgun at Miller, striking her in the lumbar (lower back) region. Morris turned the gun on himself and committed suicide as police arrived on the scene. To raise money to pay for Miller’s medical expenses, the Department of Art will hold an art sale from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. THIS THURSDAY at the Todd Gallery. The works of art available will be donated by MTSU faculty and student artists. All proceeds will benefit the RoyceAnne Miller Contributions Fund at Bank of America. For more information, contact Wendy Koenig, assistant professor of art history, at 615-898-2014 or wkoenig@mtsu.edu

TO BE FEMALE AND KURDISH--The Women’s Studies Research Series will present “Women’s Rights, Media, and Sharia Law in Kurdish Iraq” at 3 p.m. THIS THURSDAY in Room 100 of the James Union Building. The speaker will be Clare Bratten, assistant professor of electronic media communication and producer of a documentary on Kurdish immigrants in Nashville. Bratten says the U.S. government is not likely to support Kurdish separatism in northern Iraq because of the neighboring Turks’ fears that their own Kurdish population would rise up to claim autonomy. “Generally, most are grateful to the U.S. for eliminating Saddam Hussein’s government. … However, they are wary about the extent of the U.S. commitment to their cause since the U.S. has abandoned them in the past,” Bratten says. For more information, contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910.