Friday, June 1, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“It was 40 years ago today Sgt. Pepper’s blew us all away.”—Paul Fischer, with apologies to The Beatles

“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released on this day in 1967, and it since has been acknowledged as a landmark event in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. “Some of the songs captured the fun spirit of earlier Beatle works,” Dr. Paul Fischer, recording industry, says, “but their newly adult political, cultural and introspective preoccupations were also on display for listeners to ruminate upon. With this record, The Beatles realized new levels of sophistication in their music and the art of recording same without losing their mass appeal. This record brought new topics of interest and concern to millions while still being entertaining.”

Contact Fischer at 615-898-5470.
pfischer@mtsu.edu

A mighty wind

A recent article by Peter N. Spotts in the Christian Science Monitor states that plumes of dust and soot from Asia “represent some of the largest pollution events on Earth, researchers say.” Why is all this air pollution wafting across the Pacific to North America, and what causes it? Dr. John DiVincenzo, chemistry, says, “North America has always received dust from deserts like the Gobi. Storms with severe winds kick the fine-grained sands into the atmosphere and the prevailing winds carry them across the Pacific to North America. The difference is that now it is mixed with pollution mainly originating from the growing coal-burning industries of China. The impacts are still poorly understood.”

Contact DiVincenzo at 615-904-8251.
jdivince@mtsu.edu

For the health of it

The panel investigating the April 16 Virginia Tech massacre is seeking access to the shooter’s mental health records. Is this an extraordinary step? Ken Sanney, adjunct recording industry professor, also is a lawyer and a military veteran who has had experience with unstable people with commitment issues. He says, “There are specific federal rules that allow the use and disclosure of health information for judicial, administrative, and law enforcement proceedings. (See 45 C.F.R. 164.512(e), (f).) This would require a subpoena or an order of a court or administrative tribunal. If the State of Virginia were to give the panel investigating the shootings subpoena power, the panel could obtain these records without court intervention. Otherwise, the panel would have to seek the assistance of the courts.”

Contact Sanney at 615-456-6502.
ksanney@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

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.

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.