Friday, May 25, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Imus in the courthouse

Dismissed DJ Don Imus is suing CBS Radio for $120 million, claiming that his former employer encouraged him in writing to make the kind of remarks that got him fired. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says, “I don’t think this is going to be a slam dunk for either side, but I remain convinced Imus is not the only party to blame. Because the owner/operators of broadcast stations are stewards of the airwaves, management must bear a bulk of the responsibility in this matter.” Part of Imus’s contract with CBS reads that the employer acknowledges that his services are “of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character and that programs of the same general type and nature containing these components are desired by Company and are consistent with Company rules and policies.”

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

Get it write!

Thanks to generous matching grants totaling $90,000, MTSU soon will embark upon its third annual Middle Tennessee Writing Project (MTWP), an on-campus writing institute for select teachers of kindergarten through college students, on June 4-29, and three Youth Writer’s Camp sessions, which are two-week intensive writing camps held Mondays through Thursdays for students from Rutherford and other local counties. Michael Shoulders, author of V is for Volunteer, a book about Tennessee, will be the guest author at all three youth camps. The MTWP is one of 185 sites of The National Writing Project, a federally funded program launched in 1974 by professors at the University of California at Berkeley.

For more information about the MTWP, including the Youth Writer’s Camp, access its Web site online at http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtwp. For youth camp registration information, contact coordinator Marcy Pfleuger of Eagleville School via e-mail at pfluegerm@rcs.k12.tn.us or by calling (615) 274-6320.

Keep it clean

Students in two sixth-grade classes at the Homer Pittard Campus School in Murfreesboro recently decided to give back to MTSU by helping perform needed groundskeeping on the university’s campus. The first class reported for duty May 21 and spent most of their school day performing tasks. The second group worked on May 22. The first group gathered leaves and helped clean up the nursery. The second group helped plant different types of grasses around the rain garden. Campus School teacher LeAnn Hays says the students came up with the idea as a way to say “thank you” for all the help MTSU had given them over the past several years.

For more information about Homer Pittard Campus School, go to http://www.hpc.rcs.k12.tn.us/index.htm. To interview participating students, teachers, or MTSU personnel, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LET THE ROCK ROLL--Time is running out to register your daughter for the fifth annual Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp (SGRRC), a week-long music day camp for girls ages 10-17 slated for July 16-21 on the campus of MTSU. The final day of registration is May 31. Volunteers will tutor the campers in vocals, keyboards, drums, guitar, and electronic music. The girls will learn about other aspects of the music industry through workshops in subjects such as photography, music journalism, recording, DIY arts and crafts, and songwriting, as well as panel discussions with industry insiders. Throughout the week, campers will form their own bands, write songs, and practice two hours each day with volunteer band managers. At the end of the week, the girls will show off their talents in a Saturday night showcase in Tucker Theatre. For more information, visit http://www.sgrrc.org/, call 615-849-8140, or send an e-mail to sgrrc05@gmail.com.

THAT’S A TAKE!--Don’t wait to give your child an exciting, fulfilling way to spend part of his or her summer! Registration runs through June 15 for another recording workshop for children ages 12-17 at MTSU. The workshop will be conducted from June 21-July 15 in the John Bragg Mass Communication Building under the tutelage of Ryan York, who also teaches guitar, bass and drums at Chambers Guitars and Musical Instruments in Murfreesboro. For a fee of $125 per student, York will introduce the youngsters to cassette four-track recording, digital eight-track, computer recording and electronic music. The workshop is sponsored by the Youth Culture and Arts Center, a project of Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities, a nonprofit organization. For more information, or to enroll, contact York at bororecording@gmail.com.

ACCORDING TO CUSTOMS--CUSTOMS, the summer orientation for new MTSU students and family members, will begin a two-month run May 30-31 and will continue until July 31. CUSTOMS is a two-day session to aid the transition of new undergraduate students to the university, prepare them for educational opportunities, and to initiate the integration of new students into the intellectual, cultural and social climate of MTSU. College of Basic and Applied Sciences and College of Mass Communication majors may attend CUSTOMS May 30-31, June 8-9, June 19-20, July 10-11, July 24-25, and July 30-31. College of Business, College of Education and Behavioral Science and College of Liberal Arts majors may attend June 5-6, June 12-13, June 22-23, July 19-20, and July 30-31. For more information, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~customs, e-mail customs@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-5533. For questions about admission status, call 615-898-2111.

THE GRIDIRON GIRLS, WHOSE THEME SONG IS “THANK YOU FOR BEING AN END”--MTSU Head Football Coach Rick Stockstill and the MTSU football staff invite you to join them for the 2007 Ladies Football Clinic on Saturday, July 14 in Murphy Center. The clinic, which will feature seminars on strategy, equipment, training and rules, will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with registration slated to start at 8 a.m. Ladies will be encouraged to take part in coaches’ drills and demonstrations. The goal is to provide a fun learning experience. Participants will receive commemorative T-shirts and lunch will be provided. The cost of the clinic is $25 dollars. For the children, the Rick Stockstill Youth Camp for rising 1st through 8th graders will be held June 4-7. For more information, contact Danny Lewis at 615-898-2311.

SPRING FLING--Spring Fling, the postseason competitions of the Tennessee Secondary Schools Athletic Association’s member schools, will take place through May 26 at various Rutherford County venues. Track and field events, some tennis matches, and Class AAA and all championship baseball games are slated to be held at MTSU, according to the organization’s Web site (http://www.tssaa.org). A study on the local impact of Spring Fling 2006, completed by Dr. David Penn of the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center, found that Spring Fling created a total effect of approximately $3.4 million on the local economy. For more information, contact the Business and Economic Research Center at 615-898-2610 or Mona Herring, vice president, Rutherford County Convention & Visitors Bureau, at 615-278-2014.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, ALFIE?--Grades, standardized tests and a reward/punishment system of behavior modification can be hazardous to your child’s educational development. That’s the belief of education reform activist Alfie Kohn, who will speak at MTSU’s inaugural Positive Behavior Support Conference for teachers only June 2. “Kohn is a sometimes controversial and often irreverent speaker, but he always challenges us to look beyond the façade to the important issues affecting children and the quality of their education today,” Dr. Connie A. Jones, chairwoman of the Department of Elementary and Special Education, says. Kohn’s four-hour workshop, titled “Beyond Bribes and Threats: Realistic Alternatives to Controlling Students’ Behavior,” will begin at 8 a.m. in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. Other education sessions will be held up to the event’s scheduled 3:30 p.m. conclusion. Teachers may learn more and register by contacting Linda Copciac at 615-898-2680 or at lcopciac@mtsu.edu.