Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Post-mortem privacy

The relatives of Seung Hui Cho have given Virginia Tech permission to turn over his mental health records to a special panel examining the April 16 shootings. Previously, the school had argued that federal privacy rights protect the individual even after death. (Cho committed suicide.) Ken Sanney, in addition to being an adjunct professor of recording industry, also is an attorney who has dealt with legal issues involving the mentally ill. He says he believes Virginia Tech’s initial argument was correct. “The policy reasoning behind this type of rule can easily been seen in the example of the death of any famous individual,” Sanney says. “If the right to privacy did not survive the death of the movie star, politician, or other individual of note, then some in the news media would likely publish all sorts of details about the medical history after their passing.”

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

Oh, what a tangled Web they weave!

A study by the OpenNet Initiative finds that China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam have the strictest censorship of political Web sites in the world. The same study finds that Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen have the most stringent social controls. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “What is particularly interesting is that the researchers who conducted the project did not look at North Korea or Cuba. The reason: they were afraid people in those countries would be prosecuted by talking about Web censorship. The study did not examine how effective the controls are, and there is a kind of arms race between those seeking to control the Web and those working around the controls.”

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

The year of the khat

The latest challenge to drug enforcement agents is khat, a plant grown in the Horn of Africa and imported by African immigrants. Khat is chewed to alter one’s state of consciousness, much the way coca leaves are chewed by South American natives. Dr. Doug Winborn, health and human performance, says, “Problems with these substances are limited until enterprising chemists begin to isolate the active ingredients in each of the substances. Caffeine is isolated and becomes the active ingredient in ‘stay awake’ pills, dietary aids and, currently, energy drinks. Coca leaves have the active ingredient extracted, and we have cocaine. Khat has two active ingredients, cathinone and cathine. Cathinone acts in ways similar to caffeine only more powerful SO LONG as it is fresh (as in home-grown). Otherwise, the potency diminishes.”

Contact Winborn at 615-898-5110.
jwinborn@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

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.

LEARN ABOUT IT--Educational leaders from throughout the region are returning to the college classroom this month to take part in helping prepare a group of MTSU graduate students for their futures within education. Dr. David Sevier, a research analyst and policy adviser for the Tennessee State Board of Education, will speak today, June 20. Sevier’s talk and all of the slated educational lectures will be held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in Room 158 of the Kirksey Old Main Building. “I am especially grateful to these professionals who are taking their time to come and speak to my students about the expectations that are placed upon them in their jobs in the field of education and about special topics or issues that they confront on a regular basis,” says Dr. Terry Goodin, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership. Members of the media are invited and encouraged to attend the guest speaker sessions, but advance notice of attendance is requested. Contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu. Contact Goodin at tgoodin@mtsu.edu.