Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Give me an L, give me an A, give me a B!

Research Triangle Park, N.C., is the largest research park in the United States. The geographical triangle of Duke, North Carolina State, and the University of North Carolina provides intellectual stimuli and talented personnel for scientific research. Why is it difficult to replicate this dynamic model? Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says, “One of the challenges is that the most creative scientists tend to be very independent-minded people. Many don’t like to put down roots. And, when they do, they expect the schools to be top-notch, where scholarship comes before standardized tests and state championships.”

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

The Great Wall of Censorship

Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says the global village might not be as global as we think. At least 25 countries around the world have enacted Internet censorship barriers, including Yemen, Myanmar, Tunisia, Syria, Sudan and Iran. Rupert Murdoch is trying to launch a Chinese version of MySpace, but Burriss says there are hurdles. “Discussion forums on religion and politics, some of the most popular topics in the West, are nonexistent on MySpace China,” Burriss says. “Another hindrance is that all users are told to click a button if they spot any ‘misconduct’ on the system. ‘Misconduct’ includes not only ‘endangering national security’ and ‘undermining national unity,’ but also things like ‘spreading rumors’ and ‘disturbing the national order.’”

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

Fit for life

MTSU faculty and staff will be heading back to work this summer—work on their bodies and their lives in the third incarnation of the MTSU Faculty-Staff Wellness Program slated for June 4 through August 17. Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says overweight or obese employees should participate and, if they already exercise, their strength and cardiovascular fitness and cholesterol numbers should still see some improvement. The 100 participants will undergo fitness and flood testing during the week of June 4. In addition, they will have individual 30-minute consultations with a registered dietitian and a life skills coach on examining the barriers to improving a healthy lifestyle and ways to address those barriers. Post-program testing is scheduled for the week of August 13.

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@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.

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.

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 by calling (615) 274-6320.