Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Join together with the band

Three hospitals have obtained approval from the Food and Drug Administration to test how obese teens respond to a procedure called laparoscopic gastric banding. In this procedure, an elastic band is placed around the stomach, limiting how much one can eat. Dr. Doug Winborn, health and human performance, says it could work for morbidly obese adolescents. But he warns that the need for food to fill an emotional or interpersonal void should be taken into consideration, as well. "It becomes crucial that when gastric banding is used as an intervention (that) counseling and exploration of the psychology of eating can be explored," Winborn says. "This can be a whole-healing approach to a problem that is at risk of recurrence."

Contact Winborn at 615-898-5110.
jwinborn@mtsu.edu

Black and white

Bruno Marcotulli and Brian Sparks, the fathers of the families in the 2006 FX television channel reality series "Black.White," will speak about their experience at 7 p.m. THURSDAY in Tucker Theatre. In the series, two American families--one black and one white--lived together under the same roof in Los Angeles. Makeup was applied to each participant to make white participants appear black and vice versa. Their observations about how they were treated in society as members of another race made for provocative and compelling viewing. "Black.White" is free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by the Black History Month Committee, the Student Government Association, and the National Panhellenic Council.

Contact the Student Government Association at 615-904-8231.

The children of invention

Tennessee Titans center Kevin Mawae will be the motivational speaker for this year's Invention Convention at 9 a.m. THURSDAY in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. Now in its 15th year under the direction of founder Dr. Tracey Ring, professor of elementary and special education, the event is free and open to the public. The Invention Convention draws nearly 300 young participants from schools across Middle Tennessee. Awards are given to fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders for their innovations. Participants must create working models of their inventions, a requirement that pushes them to stretch their creativity and makes their feat more impressive, Ring says.

Contact Ring at 615-898-5500.
tring@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

UNIVERSITY DAY--Memphis native Aureal Alexander will represent MTSU in accompanying university officials as they call on our state lawmakers during the Tennessee Board of Regents' "University Day at the Legislature" TODAY at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. Each of the six TBR universities will participate with booths and displays showcasing a signature program. MTSU will focus on its experiential learning programs, which provide students opportunities for hands-on learning experiences in their fields of study. Alexander, along with other institutions' students, was featured in TBR's recent publication Educating Tennessee: Tennessee Board of Regents Institutions and Providing Access to Higher Education. Contact Mary Morgan at the Tennessee Board of Regents at 615-366-4414.

A GAY DAY--Hohenwald native William Gay will deliver a free public reading at 4:30 p.m. THURSDAY in the Hazlewood Dining Hall of the James Union Building. Gay is the author of three novels--The Long Home, Provinces of Night, and Twilight--and one collection of short stories titled I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down. Randal Mackin, assistant professor of English, says of Gay, "His stories have been widely anthologized, including several selections chosen for New Stories from the South, and he has published in the Georgia Review and Missouri Review, among other notable literary magazines." A past winner of the William Peden Award and the James Michener Memorial Prize, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Gay will be available for a book signing immediately following his reading. Contact Mackin at 615-904-8155 or rtmackin@mtsu.edu.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to THURSDAY for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu/.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER--“Landscapes of Mexico,” a photography exhibit featuring the works of Hector Montes de Oca, is on display through TOMORROW 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., TOMORROW NIGHT 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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN HIGH--Dr. Jack Justin Turner, professor emeritus of political science, will discuss his novel, The Sheriffs’ Murder Cases (Chestnut Hill, 2006), at 2:30 p.m., THURSDAY, in Room 103 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This event is free and open to the public. Turner will read selected portions of his book, which is the story of Jake Herald, High Sheriff or Chief Deputy or Chinoe County from 1920-1945. “I think of Jake Herald as a kind of mixture, and it’s a strange mixture, of Hamlet, maybe, and Dirty Harry,” Turner says, referring to William Shakespeare’s tragic prince and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante movie detective. “He likes to think about things and work them out, but once he gets started, he’s capable of taking extreme action, if necessary.” Contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts, at 615-494-7628 or chudd@mtsu.edu.

BRICK BY BRICK--Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel. To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.

SPIN OR SUBSTANCE?--MTSU's College of Mass Communication will host a national summit through March 2 to address the top issues regarding media ethics in the United States. TOMORROW NIGHT at 7:30 p.m., there will be a screening of filmmaker and Harvard University professor Robb Moss's latest work, "Secrecy," a collaboration with Peter Galison exploring the world of government secrecy, in Room 221 of the Learning Resource Center, to be followed by a public question-and-answer period. The public also is invited to a lecture by Adam Clayton Powell III, former vice president of technology and programs at The Freedom Forum, a veteran newsman and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, at 7:30 p.m. THURSDAY NIGHT, also in LRC 221. Contact Cooper at 615-904-8281 or twcooper@mtsu.edu.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

University Day

Memphis native Aureal Alexander will represent MTSU in accompanying university officials as they call on our state lawmakers during the Tennessee Board of Regents' "University Day at the Legislature" TOMORROW at Legislative Plaza in Nashville. Each of the six TBR universities will participate with booths and displays showcasing a signature program. MTSU will focus on its experiential learning programs, which provide students opportunities for hands-on learning experiences in their fields of study. Alexander, along with other institutions' students, was featured in TBR's recent publication Educating Tennessee: Tennessee Board of Regents Institutions and Providing Access to Higher Education.

Contact Mary Morgan at the Tennessee Board of Regents at 615-366-4414.

A Gay day

Hohenwald native William Gay will deliver a free public reading at 4:30 p.m. THURSDAY in the Hazlewood Dining Hall of the James Union Building. Gay is the author of three novels--The Long Home, Provinces of Night, and Twilight--and one collection of short stories titled I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down. Randal Mackin, assistant professor of English, says of Gay, "His stories have been widely anthologized, including several selections chosen for New Stories from the South, and he has published in the Georgia Review and Missouri Review, among other notable literary magazines." A past winner of the William Peden Award and the James Michener Memorial Prize, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient, Gay will be available for a book signing immediately following his reading.

Contact Mackin at 615-904-8155.
rtmackin@mtsu.edu

A day without violence?

A draft report from the Federal Communications Commission suggests the commissioners think Congress can crack down on violence without violating the First Amendment. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says, "It's really simplistic and unrealistic--which is probably why the FCC and Congress plan to pursue it--to try to isolate TV, video games, films, or any single factor as the sole cause for behavioral violence in the general culture and children specifically. It is, however, a political winner and a presidential election IS on the horizon. Plus, when we're focused on the so-called 'culture wars' we're not talking about health care and Social Security. Who do you suppose gains when we don't think about the high cost of health care or issues of global warming? But that's another story."

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE ROAD TO (AND FROM) MOROCCO--Dr. Ron Messier, professor emeritus of MTSU and senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University , will give a lecture titled “Allah and Dr. Buzzard: Muslim Slaves in America ” at 4:30 p.m. TODAY in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The event is free and open to the public. A well-known and highly respected figure in Middle East Studies, Dr. Messier recently has headed extensive archeological investigations of the medieval city of Sijilmasa and an Aghmat site in Morocco . Messier taught courses in Middle East history for thirty years at MTSU and has been an instrumental, moving force behind the creation of MTSU’s new Middle East Center.Contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, Middle East Center, at 615-898-2665 or
ahibbard@mtsu.edu.

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. TONIGHT in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. TONIGHT in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu/.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER--“Landscapes of Mexico,” a photography exhibit featuring the works of Hector Montes de Oca, is on display through WEDNESDAY 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 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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN HIGH--Dr. Jack Justin Turner, professor emeritus of political science, will discuss his novel, The Sheriffs’ Murder Cases (Chestnut Hill, 2006), at 2:30 p.m., THURSDAY, in Room 103 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This event is free and open to the public. Turner will read selected portions of his book, which is the story of Jake Herald, High Sheriff or Chief Deputy or Chinoe County from 1920-1945. “I think of Jake Herald as a kind of mixture, and it’s a strange mixture, of Hamlet, maybe, and Dirty Harry,” Turner says, referring to William Shakespeare’s tragic prince and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante movie detective. “He likes to think about things and work them out, but once he gets started, he’s capable of taking extreme action, if necessary.” Contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts, at 615-494-7628 or chudd@mtsu.edu.

BRICK BY BRICK--Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel. To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.

SPIN OR SUBSTANCE?--MTSU's College of Mass Communication will host a national summit tomorrow through March 2 to address the top issues regarding media ethics in the United States. TOMORROW NIGHT at 7:30 p.m., there will be a screening of filmmaker and Harvard University professor Robb Moss's latest work, "Secrecy," a collaboration with Peter Galison exploring the world of government secrecy, in Room 221 of the Learning Resource Center, to be followed by a public question-and-answer period. The public also is invited to a lecture by Adam Clayton Powell III, former vice president of technology and programs at The Freedom Forum, a veteran newsman and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, at 7:30 p.m. THURSDAY NIGHT, also in LRC 221. Contact Cooper at 615-904-8281 or twcooper@mtsu.edu.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Gold, silver, and bronze

About 400 middle and high school students will be competing in the annual Regional Science Olympiad TOMORROW at various campus sites. Dr. Pat Patterson, event director, said teams from 14 middle schools and 13 high schools will participate. Four high school teams and two middle school teams will advance to the state competition Saturday, March 31, at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The National Science Olympiad will take place May 18-19 in Wichita, Kansas. Patterson says two of the high schools in the competition, Nashville's Hume-Fogg and Martin Luther King, are in the top 50 in the country. "We want all kids exposed to Science Olympiad," Patterson says. "We need to show it's for all kids."

Contact Patterson at 615-898-5085.
ppatters@mtsu.edu

Hit the high notes

The first-ever MTSU Women's Choir Invitational featuring select high school choirs and the MTSU Women's Chorale will be held beginning with 8:30 a.m. registration TOMORROW in Wright Music Building and ending with a final concert performance at 4:30 p.m. in the building's Hinton Music Hall. "The MTSU Women's Choir Invitational has been designed to recognize some of the state's top female high school choirs," Dr. Jamila McWhirter, assistant professor of choral music education, says. "This is a wonderful opportunity for these young women to sing together in a supportive environment." The 4:30 p.m. concert is free and open to the public.

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

Spin or substance?

MTSU's College of Mass Communication will host a national summit Feb. 27-March 2 to address the top issues regarding media ethics in the United States. On Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m., there will be a screening of filmmaker and Harvard University professor Robb Moss's latest work, "Secrecy," a collaboration with Peter Galison exploring the world of government secrecy, in Room 221 of the Learning Resource Center, to be followed by a public question-and-answer period. The public also is invited to a lecture by Adam Clayton Powell III, former vice president of technology and programs at The Freedom Forum, a veteran newsman and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, at 7:30 p.m. March 1, also in LRC 221.

Contact Cooper at 615-904-8281.
twcooper@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE WORKING WORLD--A highly skilled workforce is critical in order to compete in today's global economy. What should our community do to build a competitive workforce? These matters and others will be discussed in a community forum titled "Building the Next Workforce: Making Choices for Our Community" from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. TOMORROW at Through the Grapevine Restaurant, 630 Broadmor St. in Murfreesboro. This event is sponsored by MTSU and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce through the auspices of the Southern Growth Policies Board. Among the topics to be discussed are educational achievement, serving industry, and workforce traits. Contact Rosemary Owens at 615-898-2180 or owens@mtsu.edu.

THE ROAD TO (AND FROM) MOROCCO--Dr. Ron Messier, professor emeritus of MTSU and senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University , will give a lecture titled “Allah and Dr. Buzzard: Muslim Slaves in America ” at 4:30 p.m. on MONDAY in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The event is free and open to the public. A well-known and highly respected figure in Middle East Studies, Dr. Messier recently has headed extensive archeological investigations of the medieval city of Sijilmasa and an Aghmat site in Morocco . Messier taught courses in Middle East history for thirty years at MTSU and has been an instrumental, moving force behind the creation of MTSU’s new Middle East Center.Contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, Middle East Center, at 615-898-2665 or
ahibbard@mtsu.edu.

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. MONDAY in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. MONDAY in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

DROP AND GIVE ME 20!--A groundbreaking ceremony for the Campus Recreation Center expansion and new Health and Wellness Center will be held at 2 p.m. TODAY in the dance aerobics room at the Rec Center. The expansion program will include an enlarged weight room, sport club/dance room, outdoor recreation equipment room, cardiovascular room, group meeting room, office suite, new entrance lobby, health assessment room, and family changing room. Another part of the expansion program already well underway is the multi-sport field complex on East Main Street. The project will include a field house, three fields, a jogging track, and parking area. This project is slated for completion this August. Recreation Center/Health and Wellness staff and Campus Planning officials will be on hand at the groundbreaking to answer questions. Media welcomed. Contact Arthur Reed, manager, campus planning, at 615-494-8867 or adreed@mtsu.edu.

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN HIGH--Dr. Jack Justin Turner, professor emeritus of political science, will discuss his novel, The Sheriffs’ Murder Cases (Chestnut Hill, 2006), at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Mar. 1, in Room 103 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This event is free and open to the public. Turner will read selected portions of his book, which is the story of Jake Herald, High Sheriff or Chief Deputy or Chinoe County from 1920-1945. “I think of Jake Herald as a kind of mixture, and it’s a strange mixture, of Hamlet, maybe, and Dirty Harry,” Turner says, referring to William Shakespeare’s tragic prince and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante movie detective. “He likes to think about things and work them out, but once he gets started, he’s capable of taking extreme action, if necessary.” Contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts, at 615-494-7628 or chudd@mtsu.edu.

BRICK BY BRICK--Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel. To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Do the math (and science)

The Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center will hold its first statewide Mathematics and Science Education Research Conference funded by the Tennessee Space Grant Consortium and MTSU. About 70 math and science educators from across the state are expected to take part at MTSU TODAY AND TOMORROW. The purposes of the event are to raise awareness of the need to improve K-16 math and science education in the nation and particularly in Tennessee; to inform participants of national initiatives to enhance math and science education and of funding sources; to encourage and facilitate more statewide collaboration in conducting research that could lead to improving K-16 math and science education in the state; and to provide a venue for some of Tennessee's math and science educators to discuss their current research projects.

Contact Ray Phillips and Dovie Kimmins at 615-904-8573.

The working world

A highly skilled workforce is critical in order to compete in today's global economy. What should our community do to build a competitive workforce? These matters and others will be discussed in a community forum titled "Building the Next Workforce: Making Choices for Our Community" from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. TOMORROW at Through the Grapevine Restaurant, 630 Broadmor St. in Murfreesboro. This event is sponsored by MTSU and the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce through the auspices of the Southern Growth Policies Board. Among the topics to be discussed are educational achievement, serving industry, and workforce traits.

Contact Rosemary Owens at 615-898-2180.
owens@mtsu.edu

The road to (and from) Morocco

Dr. Ron Messier, professor emeritus of MTSU and senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University , will give a lecture titled “Allah and Dr. Buzzard: Muslim Slaves in America ” at 4:30 p.m. on MONDAY in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The event is free and open to the public. A well-known and highly respected figure in Middle East Studies, Dr. Messier recently has headed extensive archeological investigations of the medieval city of Sijilmasa and an Aghmat site in Morocco . Messier taught courses in Middle East history for thirty years at MTSU and has been an instrumental, moving force behind the creation of MTSU’s new Middle East Center .

Contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, Middle East Center, at 615-898-2665.
ahibbard@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. MONDAY in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. MONDAY in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

“PERFORMING GENDER”--Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.” For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

YES, THERE’S LIFE AFTER COLLEGE, BUT IS THERE MONEY?--“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference TODAY AND FRIDAY. This year’s gathering will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers. For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

DROP AND GIVE ME 20!--A groundbreaking ceremony for the Campus Recreation Center expansion and new Health and Wellness Center will be held at 2 p.m. FRIDAY in the dance aerobics room at the Rec Center. The expansion program will include an enlarged weight room, sport club/dance room, outdoor recreation equipment room, cardiovascular room, group meeting room, office suite, new entrance lobby, health assessment room, and family changing room. Another part of the expansion program already well underway is the multi-sport field complex on East Main Street. The project will include a field house, three fields, a jogging track, and parking area. This project is slated for completion this August. Recreation Center/Health and Wellness staff and Campus Planning officials will be on hand at the groundbreaking to answer questions. Media welcomed. Contact Arthur Reed, manager, campus planning, at 615-494-8867 or adreed@mtsu.edu.

CUMBERLAND MOUNTAIN HIGH--Dr. Jack Justin Turner, professor emeritus of political science, will discuss his novel, The Sheriffs’ Murder Cases (Chestnut Hill, 2006), at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Mar. 1, in Room 103 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This event is free and open to the public. Turner will read selected portions of his book, which is the story of Jake Herald, High Sheriff or Chief Deputy or Chinoe County from 1920-1945. “I think of Jake Herald as a kind of mixture, and it’s a strange mixture, of Hamlet, maybe, and Dirty Harry,” Turner says, referring to William Shakespeare’s tragic prince and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante movie detective. “He likes to think about things and work them out, but once he gets started, he’s capable of taking extreme action, if necessary.” Contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts, at 615-494-7628 or chudd@mtsu.edu.

BRICK BY BRICK--Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel. To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.

READING, WRITING, AND FREE SPEECH--The U.S. Supreme Court has said students do not leave their First Amendment rights outside the schoolhouse door. But the court also has given school administrators wide latitude in controlling behavior, including speech. What are the requirements and options when rights and responsibilities come into conflict? Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, will discuss this topic in “Time, Place, and Manner: When the First Amendment and School Discipline Collide,” a professional development program for K-12 teachers and administrators to be made available by MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center at 3:30 p.m. TODAY. For details, call 615-898-2737 or contact itsc@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Reading, writing, and free speech

The U.S. Supreme Court has said students do not leave their First Amendment rights outside the schoolhouse door. But the court also has given school administrators wide latitude in controlling behavior, including speech. What are the requirements and options when rights and responsibilities come into conflict? Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, will discuss this topic in “Time, Place, and Manner: When the First Amendment and School Discipline Collide,” a professional development program for K-12 teachers and administrators to be made available by MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center at 3:30 p.m. TOMORROW.

For details, call 615-898-2737 or contact itsc@mtsu.edu.

Brick by brick

Each and every brick to be laid in the MTSU Veterans Memorial will represent the support of an entire community for the enlightenment and inspiration of future generations. The bricks may be reserved by all those who wish to honor a veteran or active-duty service member or merely acknowledge their support for the construction of a permanent on-campus memorial to MTSU faculty, students, staff and administrators who perished while serving their country. The bricks will be integrated into the overall memorial design. All proceeds will help to pay for the memorial, which will be an outdoor classroom that includes a wall with the names of the military personnel.

To purhcase a brick with a memorial message, send a tax-deductible check of $150 payable to “MTSU Foundation—Veterans Memorial,” to P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Credit cards also are accepted. Address any questions about brick purchases or donations to Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu.

Cumberland Mountain high

Dr. Jack Justin Turner, professor emeritus of political science, will discuss his novel, The Sheriffs’ Murder Cases (Chestnut Hill, 2006), at 2:30 p.m., Thursday, Mar. 1, in Room 103 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This event is free and open to the public. Turner will read selected portions of his book, which is the story of Jake Herald, High Sheriff or Chief Deputy or Chinoe County from 1920-1945. “I think of Jake Herald as a kind of mixture, and it’s a strange mixture, of Hamlet, maybe, and Dirty Harry,” Turner says, referring to William Shakespeare’s tragic prince and Clint Eastwood’s vigilante movie detective. “He likes to think about things and work them out, but once he gets started, he’s capable of taking extreme action, if necessary.”

Contact Connie Huddleston, events coordinator for the College of Liberal Arts, at 615-494-7628.
chudd@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

“PERFORMING GENDER”--Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.” For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

YES, THERE’S LIFE AFTER COLLEGE, BUT IS THERE MONEY?--“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. This year’s gathering will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers. For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE--Guest artists Linda Pereksta (flute), Michael Rowlett (clarinet) and Brian Osborne (piano) will perform under the Doubled Air moniker at 8 p.m. TOMORROW in a free and open recital in Hinton Hall of Wright Music Building. Pereksta and Rowlett have performed together for more than 10 years, most recently under the Doubled Air name. They are members of the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, an organization that commissions new compositions for this combination of instruments. The program will include such works at Georg Philipp Telemann's Canonic Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre's Ecos, Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet, Steve Reich's Clapping Music, and Charles Ives's At the River. Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493 or tmusselm@mtsu.edu.

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

DROP AND GIVE ME 20!--A groundbreaking ceremony for the Campus Recreation Center expansion and new Health and Wellness Center will be held at 2 p.m. FRIDAY in the dance aerobics room at the Rec Center. The expansion program will include an enlarged weight room, sport club/dance room, outdoor recreation equipment room, cardiovascular room, group meeting room, office suite, new entrance lobby, health assessment room, and family changing room. Another part of the expansion program already well underway is the multi-sport field complex on East Main Street. The project will include a field house, three fields, a jogging track, and parking area. This project is slated for completion this August. Recreation Center/Health and Wellness staff and Campus Planning officials will be on hand at the groundbreaking to answer questions. Media welcomed. Contact Arthur Reed, manager, campus planning, at 615-494-8867 or adreed@mtsu.edu.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Paper or plastic?

Dr. Tammy Melton, chemistry, is not a crime scene investigator, but she knows her way around DNA. In a recent Honors Lecture, Melton advised nursing students concerned with preserving the integrity of specimens not to put anything into plastic bags. “We tend to think that’s the best place to put things because they’re drippy and wet,” Melton says. The problem is that the evidence stays too wet in plastic bags. Paper bags are preferable. Also, DNA evidence should be kept cool because it starts to degrade at 30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit. “You can have a lot of DNA, but if it’s completely degraded, it won’t matter how much of it you’ve got,” Melton says. “Imagine trying to photocopy a piece of paper that’s been wadded up and run through the washing machine. … If it’s too degraded, it doesn’t matter how many copies you make. You still can’t read it.”

Contact Melton at 615-898-2626.
tmelton@mtsu.edu

Women and the atom

“History Rewritten: The Pioneer Women of Atomic Science” will be the topic of the MTSU Women in Science lecture at 7 o’clock TONIGHT in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall. Dr. Geoff Rayner-Canham, a professor of chemistry at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada, will be the first male keynote speaker in the history of the event, which is free and open to the public. He will be joined by his wife, Marelene Rayner-Canham, now retired, who was a physics laboratory instructor at Greenfell. “Traditional accounts of the history of atomic science make it appear that it was solely a ‘man’s world,’” Geoff Rayner-Canham wrote in the abstract about his talk. “Certainly, except for Marie Curie, the top positions were held by male scientists. Nevertheless, there were at least 23 pioneering women scientists involved, and it was their dedication at the lab bench that produced several of the key discoveries.”

Contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, chemistry, at 615-904-8253.
jiriarte@mtsu.edu

Drop and give me 20!

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Campus Recreation Center expansion and new Health and Wellness Center will be held at 2 p.m. FRIDAY in the dance aerobics room at the Rec Center. The expansion program will include an enlarged weight room, sport club/dance room, outdoor recreation equipment room, cardiovascular room, group meeting room, office suite, new entrance lobby, health assessment room, and family changing room. Another part of the expansion program already well underway is the multi-sport field complex on East Main Street. The project will include a field house, three fields, a jogging track, and parking area. This project is slated for completion this August. Recreation Center/Health and Wellness staff and Campus Planning officials will be on hand at the groundbreaking to answer questions. Media welcomed.

Contact Arthur Reed, manager, campus planning, at 615-494-8867.
adreed@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

“PERFORMING GENDER”--Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu/ and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.” For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

YES, THERE’S LIFE AFTER COLLEGE, BUT IS THERE MONEY?--“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. This year’s gathering will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers. For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu/.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE--Guest artists Linda Pereksta (flute), Michael Rowlett (clarinet) and Brian Osborne (piano) will perform under the Doubled Air moniker at 8 p.m. TOMORROW in a free and open recital in Hinton Hall of Wright Music Building. Pereksta and Rowlett have performed together for more than 10 years, most recently under the Doubled Air name. They are members of the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, an organization that commissions new compositions for this combination of instruments. The program will include such works at Georg Philipp Telemann's Canonic Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre's Ecos, Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet, Steve Reich's Clapping Music, and Charles Ives's At the River. Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493 or

“THE EMPIRES OF THE FUTURE ARE THE EMPIRES OF THE MIND.”—WINSTON CHURCHILL--The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946. Contact Williams at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”—Winston Churchill

The cigar-chomping bulldog of Britain during World War II, Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership is legendary. But what about the other Churchills—prisoner of war, disgraced politician, painter, and Nobel Prize-winning author? MTSU is offering a July 2007 study-abroad history course which will take students to the Cabinet War Rooms underneath London, as well as Parliament, Churchill’s birthplace, his country estate, and other sites related to the life of this great statesman. The instructor will be Dr. Jim Williams, a Churchill Fellow of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., site of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech in 1946.

Contact Williams at 615-898-2633
jhwillia@mtsu.edu
or Jennifer Campbell, MTSU Study Abroad Office, at 615-898-5179.
jjcampbe@mtsu.edu

Much Adu about something

What will happen to phenom Freddy Adu now that he has been seduced and abandoned by D.C. United of Major League Soccer? The Ghanaian was signed at age 14, making him the youngest athlete to play in United States professional sports since 1887. Disgruntled with his progress, D.C. United traded Adu and a goalie to the Real Salt Lake franchise in December 2006. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says he doesn’t think the young man’s value is completely diminished. “The novelty of such a young player is beginning to wear off,” Roy says. “He’s a very talented player, but until he enjoys high levels of on-field success, he will continue to be on the ‘Not Hot’ list. He’ll be at an age in which he could possibly play on the next U.S. World Cup team in 2010. That could give him the boost he needs to rekindle his popularity.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

Double your pleasure

Guest artists Linda Pereksta (flute), Michael Rowlett (clarinet) and Brian Osborne (piano) will perform under the Doubled Air moniker at 8 p.m. WEDNESDAY in a free and open recital in Hinton Hall of Wright Music Building. Pereksta and Rowlett have performed together for more than 10 years, most recently under the Doubled Air name. They are members of the Flute/Clarinet Duos Consortium, an organization that commissions new compositions for this combination of instruments. The program will include such works at Georg Philipp Telemann's Canonic Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Jacques-Martin Hotteterre's Ecos, Leonard Bernstein's Sonata for Clarinet, Steve Reich's Clapping Music, and Charles Ives's At the River.

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

TR EXTRA

BEAUTIFUL BIWA--The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132. For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or japan@mtsu.edu.

WE’RE NOT PUTIN YOU ON.--Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945 or korobkov@mtsu.edu or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu.

“PERFORMING GENDER”--Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.” For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

YES, THERE’S LIFE AFTER COLLEGE, BUT IS THERE MONEY?--“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. This year’s gathering will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers. For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, says. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

They won the coin toss and elected to deceive.

The U.S. Mint yesterday unveiled a new $1 presidential coin featuring George Washington on one side and the Statue of Liberty on the other. To the best of our knowledge, there are no microtransmitters in these new coins. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says the Department of Defense issued a report last June expressing concern that government contractors had been slipped Canadian coins containing transmitters that could track the contractors’ movements. “Now the DOD has reversed itself and said it is trying to figure out how the incorrect information made its way into the report,” Burriss says. “But now the conspiracy underworld, a group that also spends time looking for Big Foot and interviewing alien abductees, is saying the report is true, and the fact that defense officials are saying the report is false shows it is actually true--sort of a reverse psychology thing.”

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

Beautiful biwa

The Japan-U.S. Program of MTSU will present the Junko Tahara Biwa Ensemble at this year’s Music from Japan concert at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26 in Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building. Tahara has performed extensively in Japan and at major venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in the United States. Her instrument, the biwa, is a fretted lute frequently used in the performance of traditional Japanese music. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To obtain tickets by mail, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to the Japan-U.S. Program, Box 167, MTSU, Murfreesboro, TN, 37132.

For more information, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-2229.
japan@mtsu.edu

We’re not Putin you on.

Dr. Vladimir Mukomel, lead researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business Aerospace Building. Mukomel will discuss the ethnic aspects of migration in Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s policies in the area of civil liberties. The holder of doctorates in sociology and economics, Mukomel has published more than 120 academic works, including 13 books. He regularly comments on Russian politics for the Russian and international media. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the American Democracy Project, GLOBAL (Get Lost Outside Boundaries and Limitations), and Americans for Informed Democracy (AID).

Contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945
korobkov@mtsu.edu
or GLOBAL President Candi Nunley at global@mtsu.edu
or AID President Angie Feeney at amf3g@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

“PERFORMING GENDER”--Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for Feb. 22-24 in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.” For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

YES, THERE’S LIFE AFTER COLLEGE, BUT IS THERE MONEY?--“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference Feb. 22-23. This year’s gathering will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers. For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE--MTSU will be one of more than 30 sites statewide for College Goal Sunday, which will start at 2 p.m. SUNDAY, weather permitting, in the Business Aerospace Building's State Farm Lecture Hall and SunTrust Room. Whether they plan to attend MTSU or any other college, prospective students and their parents or guardians can get answers to questions, particularly in the area of completing the federal FAFSA form, university officials said. In case of bad weather, check your local news to see if the event will be canceled. For more information, contact, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, by calling 615-904-8414.

IT’S GOT A GOOD BEAT, AND YOU CAN DANCE TO IT--The Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp will host an all-girl dance party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. SATURDAY at SportsCom, 2310 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro, to kick off registration for this year’s camp. The festivities will be open to girls ages 10-17. DJs Bawston Sean and Nicole Tekulve will provide the music. Admission is $10 at the door. Prior to and during the dance party, camp organizers will register girls and volunteers for the fifth annual day camp, which is slated for July 16-21 on the MTSU campus. This year’s camp will feature instruction in voice, keyboards, drums, guitar, electronic music, and vocals. A special discount tuition rate of $225 will be available through Feb. 28. From March 1 to May 1, tuition will cost $250. For more information, visit http://www.sgrrc.org or send an e-mail to sgrrc05@gmail.com.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, said today. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu.

VAUDEVILLE ISN’T DEAD!--Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) THROUGH SUNDAY at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts. The entertainment will consist of three one-act farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes. Times are 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors. The Center for the Arts, a non-profit organization, is located at 110 West College Street. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. To interview director Ayne Cantrell, call 615-893-1786 or write to acantrell@comcast.net. To interview MET founder and artistic director Tom Harris, call 615-895-0755 or write to millermn@comcast.net.

THE FREEDOM OF DANCE--“In the Spirit of Pearl: Using Identity and Womanist Thought to Liberate Performance” will be presented TODAY in Room 140 of the Fairview Building. Facilitated by Ursula Payne, award-winning choreographer and the artistic director of Soul Deep Creations, this performance workshop will explore issues of race, gender, class and identity. Payne has danced in the film “Beloved” and with the National Black Arts Festival. Contact Kim Neal Nofsinger at nofsinge@mtsu.edu for more information.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“Performing Gender”

Discussions, performance art, and feminist films are all part of the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies slated for Feb. 22-24 in the James Union Building. The theme of the 2007 gathering, which is held every two years, is “Performing Gender.” Special guests include keynote speaker Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance; Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee; and Deb Margolin, playwright and performance artist and founding member of Split Britches Theater Company. To register, please visit http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu/ and click on “Women’s Studies Conference.”

For more information, call the Women’s Studies program at 615-898-5910.

Yes, there’s life after college, but is there money?

“From Student Poverty to Financial Security: Planning to Get from Here to There” is the theme of the 14th annual Adult Learning in Tennessee Conference Feb. 22-23. This year’s gathering, which is geared each year to college students ages 25 and older, will focus on giving “both adult students and the educational professionals who work with them some new insights about preparing for financial security after graduation,” according to conference literature. The luncheon and keynote speaker Feb. 22 will be Dallas Nichols Ruddell, a 1996 alumna who lived on food stamps while earning her degree. After graduating with a degree in psychology, Ruddell moved to the San Francisco area, where she recruits and trains insurance agents and financial advisers.

For more information, contact the Adult Services Center at 615-898-5989.

My brilliant career

A new study by the Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) shows that Tennessee’s private for-profit career colleges supply nearly 34 percent of the workforce with a career-level college education. The report was sponsored by the Tennessee Association for Independent Colleges and Schools and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Dr. Murat Arik, associate director of the BERC and lead investigator for the study, says, “Given the fact that private for-profit colleges are racially more diverse, have more nontraditional students, and have programs reflecting demands in labor market, the economic impact of these colleges on Tennessee’s economy goes well beyond the $330 million economic impact of their operations.”

Contact Arik at 615-898-5424.
marik@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO RHYME EVERY TIME--“Promoting Student Thinking: Using Poetry to Scaffold Student Creativity,” a prerecorded professional development program for teachers in grades 6-8, will be presented via satellite, Webcast, and cable TV at 3:30 p.m. TODAY from MTSU. Dr. Bobbie Solley, elementary and special education, and Beverly Barnes of Community High School in Bedford County will demonstrate ways in which poetry from both published poets and student poets can foster creativity. They will examine poems and poets that are especially appropriate for middle grade learners. In addition, students will write their own original poems. For more information, send an e-mail to itsc@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2737.

COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE--MTSU will be one of more than 30 sites statewide for College Goal Sunday, which will start at 2 p.m. SUNDAY, weather permitting, in the Business Aerospace Building's State Farm Lecture Hall and SunTrust Room. Whether they plan to attend MTSU or any other college, prospective students and their parents or guardians can get answers to questions, particularly in the area of completing the federal FAFSA form, university officials said. In case of bad weather, check your local news to see if the event will be canceled. For more information, contact, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, by calling 615-904-8414.

IT’S GOT A GOOD BEAT, AND YOU CAN DANCE TO IT--The Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp will host an all-girl dance party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. SATURDAY at SportsCom, 2310 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro, to kick off registration for this year’s camp. The festivities will be open to girls ages 10-17. DJs Bawston Sean and Nicole Tekulve will provide the music. Admission is $10 at the door. Prior to and during the dance party, camp organizers will register girls and volunteers for the fifth annual day camp, which is slated for July 16-21 on the MTSU campus. This year’s camp will feature instruction in voice, keyboards, drums, guitar, electronic music, and vocals. A special discount tuition rate of $225 will be available through Feb. 28. From March 1 to May 1, tuition will cost $250. For more information, visit http://www.sgrrc.org/ or send an e-mail to sgrrc05@gmail.com.

“ALTERNATIVE FUEL DAY”--Dave Pelton with Clean Air for Tennessee will speak to the Field Crops class of Alanna Neely, agribusiness and agriscience, from 2:40 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. TODAY in the main classroom of the Horticulture Center. The subject will be alternative fuels. Drs. Warren Anderson and Cliff Ricketts of the MTSU faculty also will address the class. Ricketts is known for his electric hybrid five-speed solar-powered Nissan pickup truck. Its power is produced by a 10-kilowatt solar array. “Every day we are hearing about the future impacts of alternative fuels,” Neely says. “I am constantly asked questions like ‘What does this mean for Ag?’ and ‘Will there be many ethanol distributing plants in Tennessee?’” Media welcomed. Contact Neely at 615-898-2432 or alneely@mtsu.edu.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, said today. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu/.

VAUDEVILLE ISN’T DEAD!--Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) THROUGH SUNDAY at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts. The entertainment will consist of three one-act farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes. Times are 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors. The Center for the Arts, a non-profit organization, is located at 110 West College Street. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. To interview director Ayne Cantrell, call 615-893-1786 or write to acantrell@comcast.net. To interview MET founder and artistic director Tom Harris, call 615-895-0755 or write to millermn@comcast.net.

THE FREEDOM OF DANCE--“In the Spirit of Pearl: Using Identity and Womanist Thought to Liberate Performance” will be presented TODAY AND TOMORROW in Room 140 of the Fairview Building. Facilitated by Ursula Payne, award-winning choreographer and the artistic director of Soul Deep Creations, this performance workshop will explore issues of race, gender, class and identity. Payne has danced in the film “Beloved” and with the National Black Arts Festival. Contact Kim Neal Nofsinger at nofsinge@mtsu.edu for more information.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Not so elementary, after all

When he’s not fulfilling his role as vice president of student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services, Dr. Bob Glenn admires and adds to his sizable collection of Sherlock Holmes paraphernalia. In a recent University Honors Lecture titled “Sherlock Holmes: The First CSI,” Glenn stated, “Sherlock Holmes is arguably the greatest fictional detective ever created. Whether you are talking about the stories themselves, the writings about the stories, the theatrical versions of the stories, or any other criteria, Sherlock Holmes surpasses all others.” He also pointed out that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character never really said, “Elementary, my dear Watson” to his loyal assistant.

Contact Glenn at 615-898-2440.
rglenn@mtsu.edu

It doesn’t have to rhyme every time.

“Promoting Student Thinking: Using Poetry to Scaffold Student Creativity,” a prerecorded professional development program for teachers in grades 6-8, will be presented via satellite, Webcast, and cable TV at 3:30 p.m. TOMORROW from MTSU. Dr. Bobbie Solley, elementary and special education, and Beverly Barnes of Community High School in Bedford County will demonstrate ways in which poetry from both published poets and student poets can foster creativity. They will examine poems and poets that are especially appropriate for middle grade learners. In addition, students will write their own original poems.

For more information, send an e-mail to itsc@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2737.

Put a little love in your laboratory, baby.

Lest you think that Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, is all about test tubes and petri dishes, be advised that the professor has a sentimental streak, especially on Valentine’s Day. “The digital side of John Mayer’s CD ‘Room for Squares’ has one of my favorite ultraromantic songs—‘Your Body’s a Wonderland,’” MacDougall says. “But the best part of the CD is the periodic table gracing the other side.” He points out that chemistry and romance have a long history together. “A comparison of books on Western civilization and the history of science will reveal that physics became king of the sciences during the Enlightenment, while chemistry became their queen with the help of Romanticism,” he says.

Contact MacDougall at 615-898-5265.
pmacdoug@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE--MTSU will be one of more than 30 sites statewide for College Goal Sunday, which will start at 2 p.m.SUNDAY, weather permitting, in the Business Aerospace Building's State Farm Lecture Hall and SunTrust Room. Whether they plan to attend MTSU or any other college, prospective students and their parents or guardians can get answers to questions, particularly in the area of completing the federal FAFSA form, university officials said. In case of bad weather, check your local news to see if the event will be canceled. For more information, contact, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, by calling 615-904-8414.

WE’RE IN TOUCH, SO YOU BE IN TOUCH—The June Anderson Women’s Center will present “N-Touch with My Brother,” a networking workshop, TODAY at 1 p.m. in Dining Room C of the James Union Building. This event will demonstrate how to form a strong support network for both men and women on campus. Participants will be able to discuss a wide range of topics, issues, and concerns, as well as provide suggestions for future programs and events for the Women’s Center. JAWC Director Terri Johnson and Charlie Gregory, director of Campus Recreation, will be the facilitators. For more information, call the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.

IT’S GOT A GOOD BEAT, AND YOU CAN DANCE TO IT--The Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp will host an all-girl dance party from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. SATURDAY at SportsCom, 2310 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro, to kick off registration for this year’s camp. The festivities will be open to girls ages 10-17. DJs Bawston Sean and Nicole Tekulve will provide the music. Admission is $10 at the door. Prior to and during the dance party, camp organizers will register girls and volunteers for the fifth annual day camp, which is slated for July 16-21 on the MTSU campus. This year’s camp will feature instruction in voice, keyboards, drums, guitar, electronic music, and vocals. A special discount tuition rate of $225 will be available through Feb. 28. From March 1 to May 1, tuition will cost $250. For more information, visit http://www.sgrrc.org/ or send an e-mail to sgrrc05@gmail.com.

“ALTERNATIVE FUEL DAY”--Dave Pelton with Clean Air for Tennessee will speak to the Field Crops class of Alanna Neely, agribusiness and agriscience, from 2:40 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. TOMORROW in the main classroom of the Horticulture Center. The subject will be alternative fuels. Drs. Warren Anderson and Cliff Ricketts of the MTSU faculty also will address the class. Ricketts is known for his electric hybrid five-speed solar-powered Nissan pickup truck. Its power is produced by a 10-kilowatt solar array. “Every day we are hearing about the future impacts of alternative fuels,” Neely says. “I am constantly asked questions like ‘What does this mean for Ag?’ and ‘Will there be many ethanol distributing plants in Tennessee?’” Contact Neely at 615-898-2432 or alneely@mtsu.edu.

GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME--Officials at MTSU have extended the deadline to March 1 for prospective students wanting to apply for the EdScholar scholarships and approximately 70 MTSU Foundation scholarships offered by the Office of Financial Aid, Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships, said today. The deadline was to be Feb. 15. A transition to a new computer software system from an old one is the reason for the extension. In addition to applying for the scholarships (EdScholar can be done online), students must apply for admission to the university. For information, call Admissions at 615-898-2111 or Financial Aid at 615-898-2830, or visit their Web sites at http://www.mtsu.edu/.

VAUDEVILLE ISN’T DEAD!--Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) THROUGH FEB. 18 at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts. The entertainment will consist of three one-act farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes. Times are 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors. The Center for the Arts, a non-profit organization, is located at 110 West College Street. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. To interview director Ayne Cantrell, call 615-893-1786 or write to acantrell@comcast.net. To interview MET founder and artistic director Tom Harris, call 615-895-0755 or write to millermn@comcast.net.

THE FREEDOM OF DANCE--“In the Spirit of Pearl: Using Identity and Womanist Thought to Liberate Performance” will be presented TODAY through FRIDAY in Room 140 of the Fairview Building. Facilitated by Ursula Payne, award-winning choreographer and the artistic director of Soul Deep Creations, this performance workshop will explore issues of race, gender, class and identity. Payne has danced in the film “Beloved” and with the National Black Arts Festival. Contact Kim Neal Nofsinger at nofsinge@mtsu.edu for more information.

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 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

ROCK, ROLL, AND RUN THE MIXING BOARD--If you missed the first Youth Culture and Arts Center recording workshop series of the year, you still have plenty of chances to learn cassette four-track, digital eight-track, computer recording and electronic music. It’s the hippest, smartest extracurricular activity your kids will ever enjoy. Children ages 12-17 are invited to participate under the tutelage of Ryan York, teacher of guitar, bass and drums at Chambers Guitars and Musical Instruments in Murfreesboro for a fee of $125. Classes are taught in Room 149 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building each Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and each Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is open now for the next session, which will last from Feb. 15 through Mar. 11. For more information, contact York at bororecording@gmail.com.