Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Don’t worry! Joan Rivers won’t be there!

Some proud MTSU students and alumni will have a chance to find out what the “red carpet” experience is like tonight when the movie they helped to make is screened at the Nashville Film Festival. “My Name is Wallace,” written and directed by Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, will be shown along with other short films at 9 p.m. at the Regal Green Hills Stadium 16 Theater, 3815 Green Hills Village Drive in Nashville. If you miss it tonight, it will be shown again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26. “Wallace” tells the story of a lonely, socially inept man who, in all innocence, reaches out for companionship without realizing the phone number he calls is a phone sex hotline.

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

Welcome to the machine

The MTSU Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies will hold an open house from 3:30 until 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the Tom H. Jackson Building (formerly Alumni Center). The open house will be open to the campus community and the general public. Numerous posters will be on display regarding current research projects, student capstone projects and national student team competitions including NASA Moon Buggy, Solar Bike, Mini Baja, Space Elevator, Construction Management Competition and SAE Formula One. “The Lead Elimination Program and Concrete Industry Management program will have booths,” Sally Swoape of the Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies says. Also, a plug-in hybrid auto and other project vehicles will be on display. Media welcomed.


Call Swoape at 615-898-5009.
sswoape@mtsu.edu

A “teaching moment”

The Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center at MTSU has received from the Tennessee Department of Education a $2.5 million grant for three years to direct a statewide Math/Science Partnership Project. “The grant will provide high-quality professional development opportunities to high-school teachers of mathematics and science which are coherent with Gov. Phil Bredesen’s vision for mathematics and science learning,” project director Dr. Ray Phillips says. The most motivated teachers from across the state will compete for the opportunity to work with exceptional faculty from MTSU, UT-Knoxville, and the University of Memphis, as well as master teachers from across the state.

Media, contact Dr. Ray Phillips at 615-904-8573.
Interested teachers may request information through jcarter@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT--Your musically talented youngster could produce his or her own CD before he graduates high school. Ryan York, a 21-year-old MTSU student and teacher of guitar, bass and drums lessons, continues his recording workshops for kids ages 12-17. For a fee of $125 per student, the kids will be introduced to cassette four-track recording, digital eight-track, computer recording, and electronic music. All proceeds will help pay for the equipment. The next workshop classes are slated for May 10 through June 17 on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons in the John Bragg Mass Communication Building at MTSU. Registration for these classes is in progress and will continue through April 30. The recording workshops are sponsored by the Youth Culture and Arts Center, a function of Youth Empowerment Through Arts and Humanities (YEAH!), a nonprofit Murfreesboro-based organization. For more information about the workshops, contact York at bororecording@gmail.com. To learn more about the Youth Culture and Arts Center, go to http://www.youthculturecenter.org.

“DIVERSE TALES FOR DIVERSE TOTS”--The Diversity Subcommittee of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women is requesting donations of children’s books about any aspect of diversity now through April 27. The books could be old or new and for any age group. Gift certificates from your favorite bookstore also are welcome. These donations will be presented to MTSU’s Project HELP Program to help build up its new Dede Rucker Memorial Library collection. You can drop off your donations at several on-campus locations, including the Sociology and Anthropology mailroom (Room 335 in the Todd Building), the Upper Division English office (Room 323 in Peck Hall), the June Anderson Women’s Center (Room 206 of the James Union Building), and the Study Abroad office (Room 103A of Peck Hall. For more information, contact Dr. Ida Fadzillah at 615-904-8275 or ifadzill@mtsu.edu.