Monday, July 16, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Rock Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors, the fearless group made up of Alexa Games (17), Hailey Rowe (16), and Rachael Durnin (15), first collided their keys strings, and beats in the summer of 2006 at the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp. When confronted with the challenge of no singer and no guitarist, Hailey offered up her vocal chords and left the missing six-string in the dust. They performed an original song titled “Lawn Gnomes” that left people both impressed and confused. After camp ended, the band decided to stick together and combine their different styles and influences while spending weekends practicing in the studio at Hailey’s house. Rock Paper Scissors is slated to lend its collective musical wisdom to the fifth annual Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp, which runs today through July 21 at MTSU. Girls ages 10-17 will benefit from the tutelage of experienced musicians and have fun exploring their own creativity.

Contact the camp office at 615-849-8140.
sgrrc05@gmail.com

Sudden impact

In 2002, after suffering his second concussion, NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart started wearing a new helmet that covers a larger area near the jawbone than previous helmets. It also has a stronger face mask. But Dr. Helen Binkley, health and human performance, says, “It would be next to impossible to eliminate concussions by modifying the helmet because the brain moves inside the skull even if we cushion the head by the helmet. The brain floats inside the skull in spinal fluid. If you shake the head side to side, it can move freely to adapt to the position changes with a little recoil room. However, if your head hits the ground hard and comes to a sudden stop, the brain continues to move inside of the head and hits the side of the skull. When the brain hits the skull, it becomes bruised, which is a form of a concussion.”

Contact Binkley at 615-904-8192.
hbinkley@mtsu.edu

Uncle Dave’s days

With a focus on paying tribute to the beloved old-time music festival known as Uncle Dave Macon Days, the staff of The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County recently unveiled an exhibit titled “Uncle Dave Macon Days: Celebrating Old Time Music in Rutherford County.” Melissa A. Zimmerman, heritage programming specialist with MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation, said the two-panel display offers viewers a bit of history, photographs and quotes from the earliest years of the festival to the present day. Located at 225 W. College St., the history-laden center also features photographs of Uncle Dave and his home as part of its newly opened display, “Entering the Modern Era: Murfreesboro’s Jazz Age.” Open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. each Monday through Friday, admission to the center is always free.

For more information, call the center at 615-217-8013. Please direct any inquiries for jpegs for editorial use to the center’s staff or by e-mailing mzimmerm@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

CREATIVE KIDS--Generation for Creation (GFC), a nonprofit visual and performing arts program founded in 2001, is based in Murfreesboro and housed in the local Boys and Girls Club facility. GFC’s founder, Monica Johnson, is a 1996 MTSU graduate with a B.S. in psychology and minors in speech and theatre and biology. Johnson says she created GFC to help talented children reach their artistic dreams with encouragement and positive motivation. GFC’s annual Children’s Benefit Talent Show, featuring children in the categories of art, dance, drama, music and modeling, will get underway at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre. Miss USA 2000, Columbia native Lynette Cole, will host the event. Tickets are $10 each with discounts available for groups. For more information, call GFC at 615-890-7116. To request interviews with Johnson or with child participants, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

GRISSOM AND WILLOWS, CALL YOUR OFFICE--For the first time, MTSU is introducing the CSI experience on campus. “CSI: MTSU” is a three-day program designed for eighth-grade students in Rutherford County and its surrounding area July 25-27. The goals of “CSI: MTSU” are to allow students to explore the many unique career possibilities in forensic science, to provide a “real life reason to tackle higher level math and science courses, and to develop skills in team work, seeing and understanding details, critical thinking, and presentations. The camp is co-sponsored by the Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE) and MTSU’s College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning. Due to space considerations, we are limited to 30 student investigators. Meals are included. To register or for more information, contact Eve Shockley at 615-898-2462 or eshockle@mtsu.edu.