Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Design for living

For the first time ever, MTSU’s Department of Human Sciences has honored members of the faculty with interior design awards. Members of the student chapter of the American Society of Interior Deisgners (ASID) recognized Sharon Coleman, Dana L. Miller and Dr. Janis Brickey, all assistant professors of interior design, April 26 for their exceptional contributions to the students’ learning within the field of design, says Dr. Deborah Belcher, faculty adviser. Coleman developed and led study tours to New York and abroad and developed computer-assisted design courses and 3-D software programs. Miller has helped to write the Tennessee Interior Design Consumer Protection Act under consideration by the Tennessee General Assembly. Brickey has been instrumental in bringing a variety of industry speakers into MTSU’s classrooms and ASID chapter meetings.

Contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.
lrollins@mtsu.edu

Home on the road

The Middle Tennessee Association of Realtors has donated $1,000 to the Habitat for Humanity Bike Challenge in sponsorship of MTSU student Chris Sterling. Chris will ride the northern route form New Haven, Conn., to Seattle, Wash., this summer. Claire Covic and Morgan Goepel, also from MTSU, will ride the southern route from New Haven to San Francisco, Calif. Each route is 4,000 miles long. Riders are slated to begin on both routes and a central route June 2. Each student is being asked to raise $4,000. “Every night, the riders will give presentations and answer questions in churches and community centers, trying to increase Habitat's visibility, stimulate the formation of new chapters, and encourage donations,” according to http://www.habitatbike.org. Profiles of Chris, Claire, and Morgan are accessible at that Web site.

For assistance in locating the students, contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

Be true to your school

About three out of 10 American ninth-graders don’t graduate with their class. Dr. Ellen Slicker, psychology, says students drop out for various reasons, the greatest of which seems to be not feeling connected to the school. “To help feel students feel more connected to their high schools, and not just anonymous numbers,” Slicker says, “mentors have been found to be effective in keeping students in school. School employees, through an organized program, can be assigned to mentor a student who has been identified as ‘at risk’ for dropping out. Showing interest and encouragement of this student on a predictable and regular basis can make a huge difference in the ‘connectedness’ this student feels toward the school and can keep this student in school until graduation.”

Contact Slicker at 615-898-5966.
eslicker@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.

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.

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 or manshel@mtsu.edu.