Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The consumption conundrum

There’s nothing Andrew Speaker can tell Dr. Preston MacDougall about testing for tuberculosis. Last year, the MTSU chemistry professor was informed that one of his students at the time carried a form of TB that was being treated successfully. “Not only did I not notice any symptoms, but neither did the patient, and they stopped taking their medication—prematurely, it turned out, because the bacteria showed up during the student’s next check-up,” MacDougall says. A health department nurse “said that I should get a TB skin test, which tests to see if my immune system recognizes harmless chemical derivatives of purified proteins that are common to all known TB bacteria,” he adds. “My skin would have ‘bubbled’ if I had a positive immune response. It didn’t. Even if it had, and lung X-rays had shown spots of growing TB bacteria, antibiotics would have completely cured me, as they have since cured the student.”

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

For adults only

MTSU has a new Adult Degree Completion Program (ADCP) to enable adults who have left college prior to completing a degree track to earn a degree quickly and affordably. It’s applicable to any degree offered by the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning. “There are more than 60,000 Tennesseans who have completed at least 30 hours of college and who can benefit tremendously from completing their degrees,” says Lance Ikard, ADCP director. “The average worker with a bachelor’s degree earns nearly $240,000 more during his or her career than those without one.” Students have the choice of taking courses online, on campus or in combination. The program is individually customized so that each student works with the ADCP director and his or her academic advisor to select the most appropriate program.

Contact David Foster at 615-898-5033.
dfoster@mtsu.edu

Pain at the pumps

What impact will higher gas prices have on consumer spending in the region? According to MTSU’s latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index, “When asked about gas prices, 60 percent of consumers said that they expect to reduce their overall level of consumer spending in the next six months because of the recent increases in gas prices,” says Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research. “This is an increase from May, where 53 percent of consumers expected to reduce their spending because of higher gas prices. As more time passes without a significant reduction in prices, a greater number of consumers will feel the pinch in their budgets from the high price of gas.” The poll was conducted among 274 randomly selected adult residents of Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties.

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@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.