Friday, September 28, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

New Faces, New Sounds

The Stones River Chamber Players, artists-in-residence at MTSU, will present New Faces, New Sounds, the group’s first concert of the 2007-2008 season, at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of Wright Music Building. Event organizers say one highlight of the free and open concert will be its finale, The Creation of the World, by Darius Milhaud, a ballet score for chamber orchestra that will be conducted by Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands. The work, which is considered innovative for its fusion of jazz and classical styles, will be accompanied by abstract paintings projected on a screen. The artworks were painted by art students at the new Discovery School, a magnet school for high-achieving elementary students in Murfreesboro.

For more information, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com/.

Burning down the house

Japan’s finance minister says the Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers will talk about how to limit the effects of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis next month at a meeting in Washington. Dr. Doug Timmons, economics and finance, says, “The problems began in 2004 as the Fed started raising interest rates as the economy started to recover. Most of the subprime loans were adjustable rate loans, and, as rates rose, the rate of the loans were reset at a higher rate, which meant a higher monthly mortgage payment. By mid-2005, the housing bubble had burst, and, in some areas of the country, home prices were even falling. With higher monthly prices, loan defaults increased, but, unlike the 2001-2005 period, home prices were no longer going up.”

Contact Timmons at 615-898-5750.
jtimmons@mtsu.edu

The era of good feeling?

The percentage of local consumers who said that business conditions in middle Tennessee are “good” increased to 63 from 58 in May. The percentage of consumers who said that business conditions in the region will be “better” six months from now increased to 33 from 27. These are some of the results from the latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index, a poll of 400 randomly selected adult residents of Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties conducted on Sept. 18 and 19. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research, attributes the good feelings to lower interest rates and higher stock market yields. “When the market rises, consumers with investments in the stock market for retirement and long-term savings feel like they have more money,” Graeff says.

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

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

THERE’S STILL A CHANCE--Openings remain for girls in grades 5-8 to register online to attend the 11th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science through the registration deadline of Oct. 1. EYH will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at sites across the MTSU campus. About 100 openings remain for the girls in grades 5-8. There is a $12 registration fee, but scholarships are available. For the first time, high-school girls will participate with a separate EYH event. As of Sept. 24, about 20 openings remained. Their registration fee is $15. EYH is a hands-on science and math conference. Participants will learn more about science and math careers from MTSU faculty and off-campus professionals. To register, visit mtsu.edu/~eyh. For more information about the girls in grades 5-8, call Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or Dr. Rebecca Zijlstra at 615-898-5776. For more information about the high-school girls, call Karen Claud at 615-504-8587.

MONEY MATTERS--Dennis P. Lockhart, 14th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Economic Outlook Conference at MTSU today, Sept. 28. Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, says the conference is targeted especially to bankers, business owners and managers, community officials and leaders, as well as business and economics faculty and students. Continuing its tradition of providing substantive information, the conference also will feature Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will provide a midstate/regional economic update. Visit http://business.web.mtsu.edu/ for more information.

COURAGE--MTSU Theatre will present its first outdoor theatrical experience with the classic drama “Mother Courage and Her Children” by Bertolt Brecht. The production will play at 7:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow night and Oct. 3, 5 and 6 on the south lawn of the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building’s Tucker Theatre. The play’s storyline takes place amid a 30-year war in which Mother Courage, a canteen woman, continues to profit from the war. Her business is the war, and the wagon she pulls is her only possession. Her three children—Eilif, Swiss Cheese and Kattrin—have no father and no home. There is no charge for admission, and spaces are on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 7 p.m. prior to each performance. Donations are appreciated. For more information, please visit MTSU Theatre online at http://www.mtsu.edu/~theatre.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Courage

MTSU Theatre will present its first outdoor theatrical experience with the classic drama “Mother Courage and Her Children” by Bertolt Brecht. The production will play at 7:30 nightly Sept. 28-29 and Oct. 3, 5 and 6 on the south lawn of the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building’s Tucker Theatre. The play’s storyline takes place amid a 30-year war in which Mother Courage, a canteen woman, continues to profit from the war. Her business is the war, and the wagon she pulls is her only possession. Her three children—Eilif, Swiss Cheese and Kattrin—have no father and no home. There is no charge for admission, and spaces are on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 7 p.m. prior to each performance. Donations are appreciated.

For more information, please visit MTSU Theatre online at http://www.mtsu.edu/~theatre.

A confidence job

The latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index indicates that consumer confidence is on the rise. The index jumped from 206 in May to 242 in a poll of 400 randomly selected adult residents of Davidson, Rutherford and Williamson counties. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research at MTSU, says, “Recent cuts in interest rates by the Fed have contributed to the increasingly positive feeling among local consumers. With lower interest rates, consumers with adjustable rate mortgages should see a reduction in their monthly payments and an increase in the amount of money available for other purchases. Similarly, the large gains in the stock market in response to the rate cuts also provide consumers with a feeling of being wealthier.”

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

Does it give you wings?

Some beverage companies, knowing that teens drink a lot of nonalcoholic energy drinks, are marketing alcoholic energy drinks to teens, as well. Do parents know the difference, or are there so many new beverages on the market that they don’t really know the difference between Liquid Charge and Red Bull? Dr. Doug Winborn, health and human performance, says, “This is nothing new. Joe Camel was created to target children. Spuds McKenzie was created to target children as were the ‘Bud-Wis-Er’ frogs and other crafty methods of marketing drugs. Beverage companies are just doing what product/sales companies do—all they can to move more product.”

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

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

LET’S GIVE ‘EM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.--Vanderbilt University professor and author Dr. Bruce Barry will deliver a lecture titled “Will Work Leave You Speechless? The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace” today, Sept. 27, in the Keathley University Center at MTSU. The 9:45 a.m. event is free and open to the public. In his new book, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace, Barry examines the history of free expression in the workplace, how and why Americans have come to take free speech for granted and how employers can legally punish employees for speaking their minds. Barry’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and MTSU’s American Democracy Project. Contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT--To mark the convergence of two religious holidays, Hillel, the Jewish student organization at MTSU, will provide a meal for the Muslim Students Association at 7 p.m. today, Sept. 27, on the Keathley University Center (KUC) knoll. The meal will be an opportunity for Muslim students who have been engaged in Ramadan, a month-long observance during which Muslims fast in the daylight hours, to break their fasts. The Jewish students will celebrate Sukkot, which commemorates the 40-year period during which the Jews wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters. The students will build a tabernacle called a sukkah on the lawn in front of the KUC. Media welcomed. Contact Dr. Lon Nuell at 615-898-2505 or lrnuell@mtsu.edu
or Dr. Saleh Sbenaty at 615-898-2966 or ssbenaty@mtsu.edu.

THERE’S STILL A CHANCE--Openings remain for girls in grades 5-8 to register online to attend the 11th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science through the registration deadline of Oct. 1. EYH will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at sites across the MTSU campus. About 100 openings remain for the girls in grades 5-8. There is a $12 registration fee, but scholarships are available. For the first time, high-school girls will participate with a separate EYH event. As of Sept. 24, about 20 openings remained. Their registration fee is $15. EYH is a hands-on science and math conference. Participants will learn more about science and math careers from MTSU faculty and off-campus professionals. To register, visit mtsu.edu/~eyh. For more information about the girls in grades 5-8, call Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or Dr. Rebecca Zijlstra at 615-898-5776. For more information about the high-school girls, call Karen Claud at 615-504-8587.

MONEY MATTERS--Dennis P. Lockhart, 14th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Economic Outlook Conference at MTSU tomorrow, Sept. 28. Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, says the conference is targeted especially to bankers, business owners and managers, community officials and leaders, as well as business and economics faculty and students. Continuing its tradition of providing substantive information, the conference also will feature Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will provide a midstate/regional economic update. Visit http://business.web.mtsu.edu for more information.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“Tonight, tonight won’t be just any night.”—Maria in West Side Story

West Side Story, the musical that took Romeo and Juliet out of Elizabethan England and put them on the mean streets of urban America surrounded by rival gangs, debuted on Broadway 50 years ago tonight. When it was first performed in 1957, it was edgier and more ethnic than anything the New York stage had ever seen. “Even though we see the production as a brilliant idea, when it opened 50 years ago, there was much fear the show might bomb,” says Dale McGilliard, speech and theatre. Why has it endured? “West Side Story remains a popular musical today because it has the solid story of love and tragedy, just as Romeo and Juliet does,” says McGilliard. “Just as with Romeo and Juliet, we love to see young people in love, we love to see them join together, and we cry to see them as star-crossed lovers.”

Contact McGilliard at 615-898-2274.
dmcgilli@mtsu.edu

Money matters

Dennis P. Lockhart, 14th president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, will be the keynote speaker at the 15th annual Economic Outlook Conference at MTSU Friday, Sept. 28. Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, says the conference is targeted especially to bankers, business owners and managers, community officials and leaders, as well as business and economics faculty and students. Continuing its tradition of providing substantive information, the conference also will feature Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, who will provide a midstate/regional economic update.

Visit http://business.web.mtsu.edu/ for more information.

“Pop” goes the history

Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers (pronounced JEERS) was the “Grand Old Man” of harness racing, a sport that elevated the spirits of downtrodden Reconstruction-era Tennesseans and filled the idle hours of elite Northeasterners. Now an MTSU graduate student is bringing his life and his legend into focus with her master’s thesis. History major Sarah Elizabeth Hickman says, “It just amazed me how a country boy from Tennessee … was known up in New York like he was and how he was known throughout the harness racing industry.” Geers, a native of Lebanon who adopted his wife’s hometown of Columbia as his own, made more than a million dollars in his career and became the first harness racer to break the two-minute barrier in a race. More amazing is the fact that Geers never used a whip or harsh words with his horses. “They said he had something in his voice, something in his demeanor that made the horse go,” Hickman says.

Contact Hickman by calling her at the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna at 615-459-2341.
sarelibeth@yahoo.com
For an interview with Hickman and more info, go to http://www.mtsunews.com and click on “MTSU Audio Clips.”

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

LET’S GIVE ‘EM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.--Vanderbilt University professor and author Dr. Bruce Barry will deliver a lecture titled “Will Work Leave You Speechless? The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace” on Thursday, Sept. 27, in the Keathley University Center at MTSU. The 9:45 a.m. event is free and open to the public. In his new book, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace, Barry examines the history of free expression in the workplace, how and why Americans have come to take free speech for granted and how employers can legally punish employees for speaking their minds. Barry’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and MTSU’s American Democracy Project. Contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT--To mark the convergence of two religious holidays, Hillel, the Jewish student organization at MTSU, will provide a meal for the Muslim Students Association at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, on the Keathley University Center (KUC) knoll. The meal will be an opportunity for Muslim students who have been engaged in Ramadan, a month-long observance during which Muslims fast in the daylight hours, to break their fasts. The Jewish students will celebrate Sukkot, which commemorates the 40-year period during which the Jews wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters. The students will build a tabernacle called a sukkah on the lawn in front of the KUC. Media welcomed. Contact Dr. Lon Nuell at 615-898-2505 or lrnuell@mtsu.edu
or Dr. Saleh Sbenaty at 615-898-2966 or ssbenaty@mtsu.edu.

THERE’S STILL A CHANCE--Openings remain for girls in grades 5-8 to register online to attend the 11th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science through the registration deadline of Oct. 1. EYH will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at sites across the MTSU campus. About 100 openings remain for the girls in grades 5-8. There is a $12 registration fee, but scholarships are available. For the first time, high-school girls will participate with a separate EYH event. As of Sept. 24, about 20 openings remained. Their registration fee is $15. EYH is a hands-on science and math conference. Participants will learn more about science and math careers from MTSU faculty and off-campus professionals. To register, visit mtsu.edu/~eyh. For more information about the girls in grades 5-8, call Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-825 or Dr. Rebecca Zijlstra at 615-898-5776. For more information about the high-school girls, call Karen Claud at 615-504-8587.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Mahmoud across the water (with apologies to Elton John and Bernie Taupin)

Following an interview on “60 Minutes” Sunday and a controversial address at Columbia University yesterday, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is slated to speak to the United Nations General Assembly today in New York. What does he hope to get out of this series of appearances? Dr. Karen Petersen, political science, says, “A lot of the international impact hinges on what Ahmadinejad does or does not say. Venomous anti-Israel, anti-U.S. rhetoric would not serve him well internationally (and will likely be reserved for his speech to the U.N.). However, the largest potential gain is domestic legitimacy. He can use this ‘invitation’ to inflate his power position at home and legitimate his role as an important player in international politics.”

Contact Petersen at 615-494-8662.
kpeterse@mtsu.edu

Deadline extended

Openings remain for girls in grades 5-8 to register online to attend the 11th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science. EYH will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at sites across the MTSU campus. About 100 openings remain for the girls in grades 5-8. There is a $12 registration fee, but scholarships are available. For the first time, high-school girls will participate with a separate EYH event. As of Sept. 24, about 20 openings remained. Their registration fee is $15. EYH is a hands-on science and math conference. Participants will learn more about science and math careers from MTSU faculty and off-campus professionals.

To register, visit mtsu.edu/~eyh. For more information about the girls in grades 5-8, call Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-825 or Dr. Rebecca Zijlstra at 615-898-5776. For more information about the high-school girls, call Karen Claud at 615-504-8587.

Food for thought

To mark the convergence of two religious holidays, Hillel, the Jewish student organization at MTSU, will provide a meal for the Muslim Students Association at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, on the Keathley University Center (KUC) knoll. The meal will be an opportunity for Muslim students who have been engaged in Ramadan, a month-long observance during which Muslims fast in the daylight hours, to break their fasts. The Jewish students will celebrate Sukkot, which commemorates the 40-year period during which the Jews wandered in the desert, living in temporary shelters. The students will build a tabernacle called a sukkah on the lawn in front of the KUC. Media welcomed.

Contact Dr. Lon Nuell at 615-898-2505
lrnuell@mtsu.edu
or Dr. Saleh Sbenaty at 615-898-2966.
ssbenaty@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin today, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

A SOUND DECISION--Check out MTSU Audio Clips on the Web at http://www.mtsunews.com. Click on “MTSU Audio Clips” on the right side of the page to read radio-ready stories, and click on the mp3 files to listen to the accompanying sound. Topic One is the upcoming Presidential Prism Gala Concert slated for Oct. 4 to benefit hurricane-ravaged Southern University at New Orleans. Topic Two is the rediscovery of a bit of hidden history by MTSU graduate student Sarah Elizabeth Hickman, who is writing her master’s thesis about Harness Racing Hall-of-Famer and Tennessee native Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers. Audio Clips are fashioned for radio professionals to use in their newscasts by simply cutting and pasting. For more information, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

THE STEM SELLING JOB--Who will be the next generation of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career professionals? Find out what it takes to enjoy a great career in the STEM field. Meet an engineer, a computer scientist, a geologist and a mathematician and ask them questions. Prepare to be surprised as these dynamic professionals discuss their education, jobs and career successes in “STEM Power,” an enrichment program for students in grades 9-12, presented via MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center today, Sept. 25, from 9-10 a.m. CST, 10-11 a.m. EST. Karen Claud, director of Girls Raised in Tennessee Science (GRITS), and Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, professor of chemistry at MTSU, will make the presentation. For more information, call 615-898-2737 or send an e-mail to vmoxley@mtsu.edu.

LET’S GIVE ‘EM SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT.--Vanderbilt University professor and author Dr. Bruce Barry will deliver a lecture titled “Will Work Leave You Speechless? The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace” on Thursday, Sept. 27, in the Keathley University Center at MTSU. The 9:45 a.m. event is free and open to the public. In his new book, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace, Barry examines the history of free expression in the workplace, how and why Americans have come to take free speech for granted and how employers can legally punish employees for speaking their minds. Barry’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and MTSU’s American Democracy Project. Contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Words and music

Stephen Smith, tenor and associate professor of voice at MTSU, will perform in a faculty recital with collaborative pianist Caleb Harris at 8 p.m. tonight, Sept. 24, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. Smith and Harris will perform the works of Benjamin Britten, Richard Strauss, Henri Duparc and Gabriel Faure. Smith has a master’s degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music in New York. He has performed leading roles on numerous opera stages. Harris, a former member of the music school’s faculty, is a doctoral candidate at the Eastman School and an in-demand competition accompanist and vocal coach.

Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493.
tmusselm@mtsu.edu

Let’s give ‘em something to talk about.

Vanderbilt University professor and author Dr. Bruce Barry will deliver a lecture titled “Will Work Leave You Speechless? The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace” on Thursday, Sept. 27, in the Keathley University Center at MTSU. The 9:45 a.m. event is free and open to the public. In his new book, Speechless: The Erosion of Free Expression in the American Workplace, Barry examines the history of free expression in the workplace, how and why Americans have come to take free speech for granted and how employers can legally punish employees for speaking their minds. Barry’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and MTSU’s American Democracy Project.

Contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150.
bkeel@mtsu.edu

The STEM selling job

Who will be the next generation of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) career professionals? Find out what it takes to enjoy a great career in the STEM field. Meet an engineer, a computer scientist, a geologist and a mathematician and ask them questions. Prepare to be surprised as these dynamic professionals discuss their education, jobs and career successes in “STEM Power,” an enrichment program for students in grades 9-12, presented via MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center tomorrow, Sept. 25, from 9-10 a.m. CST, 10-11 a.m. EST. Karen Claud, director of Girls Raised in Tennessee Science (GRITS), and Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, professor of chemistry at MTSU, will make the presentation.

For more information, call 615-898-2737 or send an e-mail to vmoxley@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin tomorrow, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

A SOUND DECISION--Check out MTSU Audio Clips on the Web at http://www.mtsunews.com. Click on “MTSU Audio Clips” on the right side of the page to read radio-ready stories, and click on the mp3 files to listen to the accompanying sound. Topic One is the upcoming Presidential Prism Gala Concert slated for Oct. 4 to benefit hurricane-ravaged Southern University at New Orleans. Topic Two is the rediscovery of a bit of hidden history by MTSU graduate student Sarah Elizabeth Hickman, who is writing her master’s thesis about Harness Racing Hall-of-Famer and Tennessee native Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers. Audio Clips are fashioned for radio professionals to use in their newscasts by simply cutting and pasting. For more information, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“Do, do, do, do, da, da, da, da/Is all I want to say to you”—The Police

At about the age of 18 months, kids undergo a “vocabulary explosion.” Bob McMurray of the University of Iowa says kids are always going to have this word spurt as long as they are learning more than one word at a time and they are learning a greater number of difficult or moderately difficult words than easy words. Dr. Kathleen Burriss, elementary and special education, says, “Repetition of songs, children’s poems, and rhyming games provide a foundation for children’s language. In further support of infant/toddler vocabulary development and fluency, adults, using eye-to-eye contact, warmth and expression daily read aloud to their children. And, yes, when adults help, even infants and toddlers can interact with the story, the characters and the action.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2323.
kburriss@mtsu.edu

Stride for stride

The inaugural Murfreesboro Half Marathon is scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 22, at 7 a.m. with a wheelchair start at 6:55 a.m. Because the 13.1-mile course runs by the geographic center of Tennessee and begins and ends at MTSU, it has been tagged “The Middle Half.” The course goes past Greek Row and down scenic tree-lined Main Street. Runners will circle the Rutherford County Courthouse on the square; run to Oaklands Historic House Museum, where they will be cheered by onlookers in period costumes; and finish in grand style by running the “Lightning Bolt” on the MTSU track. The runners will cross the finish line at the MTSU Track and Soccer Field.

For more information, go to http://www.themiddlehalf.com.

The power of piano

MTSU faculty pianist Lynn Rice-See will give a public recital at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. Rice-See will perform Chopin’s Nocturne in B major and Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Alexander Scriabin’s Sonata No. 7, and Schubert’s Sonata in A major. Additionally, a special feature will be the premiere of In the Tower of Sleep, a new work by Paul Osterfield, associate professor of music composition and theory at MTSU. Rice-See debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1982. Her new CD, Evocacion, will be available from Americus CD in fall 2007.

Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493.
tmusselm@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

VISITORS WELCOME--Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday). Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

GONE WITH THE WINDS--The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its 2007-2008 season with a combination of standard wind repertoire and new works in a free and open concert at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Sept. 21, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. The concert will begin with David Dzubay’s Ra!, followed by Suite Francais by Milhaud, the world premiere of Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble by Robert Bradshaw, and Samuel Hazo’s Ride. The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass, and percussion students at the university. Members are selected through audition each semester and comprise the best musicians at MTSU. For more information, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

A SOUND DECISION--Check out MTSU Audio Clips on the Web at http://www.mtsunews.com. Click on “MTSU Audio Clips” on the right side of the page to read radio-ready stories, and click on the mp3 files to listen to the accompanying sound. Topic One is the upcoming Presidential Prism Gala Concert slated for Oct. 4 to benefit hurricane-ravaged Southern University at New Orleans. Topic Two is the rediscovery of a bit of hidden history by MTSU graduate student Sarah Elizabeth Hickman, who is writing her master’s thesis about Harness Racing Hall-of-Famer and Tennessee native Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers. Audio Clips are fashioned for radio professionals to use in their newscasts by simply cutting and pasting. For more information, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

A sound decision

Check out MTSU Audio Clips on the Web at http://www.mtsunews.com. Click on “MTSU Audio Clips” on the right side of the page to read radio-ready stories, and click on the mp3 files to listen to the accompanying sound. Topic One is the upcoming Presidential Prism Gala Concert slated for Oct. 4 to benefit hurricane-ravaged Southern University at New Orleans. Topic Two is the rediscovery of a bit of hidden history by MTSU graduate student Sarah Elizabeth Hickman, who is writing her master’s thesis about Harness Racing Hall-of-Famer and Tennessee native Edward Franklin “Pop” Geers. Audio Clips are fashioned for radio professionals to use in their newscasts by simply cutting and pasting.

For more information, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

Should I take Fred or Barney today?

ConsumerLab.com singles out 11 multivitamins to avoid. They say that more than half of the 21 multivitamins they tested have too much or too little of certain vitamins or have been contaminated with dangerous substances such as lead. Dr. Janet Colson, human sciences, says, “My advice to confused consumers is to stay away from supplements that are a single vitamin. Select supplements that don’t exceed 100 percent of the DRI (dietary reference intakes). And many supplements are gender- and age-specific. Children, women of child-bearing years, postmenopausal women, young active men, sedentary old men, etc., all have slightly different nutrient needs.

Contact Colson at 615-898-2091.
jcolson@mtsu.edu

Gone with the winds

The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its 2007-2008 season with a combination of standard wind repertoire and new works in a free and open concert at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night, Sept. 21, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. The concert will begin with David Dzubay’s Ra!, followed by Suite Francais by Milhaud, the world premiere of Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble by Robert Bradshaw, and Samuel Hazo’s Ride. The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass, and percussion students at the university. Members are selected through audition each semester and comprise the best musicians at MTSU.

For more information, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

VISITORS WELCOME--Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday). Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

GET A JOB--Almost 200 top name employers and graduate school recruiters will be available to MTSU students at the annual Career Day on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, Sept. 20. The fair will include representatives from nationally known and regionally based companies including Hospital Corporation of America, Federal Express, Dell, and SunTrust Bank, as well as graduate school recruiters from Belmont, Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee, among others. The 26th annual fair will be held on the Murphy Center track. Students are asked to bring their IDs for admittance, and professional dress is recommended for all seniors. For more information, contact the Career and Employment Center at 615-898-5732 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~career.

PROOF POSITIVE--“Positive Behavior Supports: What Is It and How Can It Help Schools Improve Student Behavior?” is the title of a professional development program for teachers to be offered by MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center today, Sept. 20, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. CST. Dr. Zaf Khan, elementary and special education, will give participants an overview of PBS and will learn how this “systems-change” model can improve school climate and reduce office discipline referrals significantly. This workshop will discuss the three levels of positive behavior interventions as delineated by researchers George Sugai and Rob Horner: primary, secondary and tertiary interventions. This program is for teachers and administrators, grades K-12. For more information, call 615-898-2737 or send an e-mail to vmoxley@mtsu.edu.

BAREFOOT AND PREGNANT, BUT GOOSE-STEPPING ALL THE WAY--The first presentation in the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series, “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” will be delivered at 3 p.m. today, Sept. 20 in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, says she will discuss “the Hitler Youth Organization’s attempt to resocialize German girls to accept and embody the aggressive, male-oriented behavioral values of Nazi ideology, yet embrace the second-class citizenship designed for them as ideal German wives and mothers.” Topics for future lectures include women and war, elderly women in prison and the presidential quest of Hillary Clinton. For more information, contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Barefoot and pregnant, but goose-stepping all the way

The first presentation in the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series, “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” will be delivered at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20 in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, says she will discuss “the Hitler Youth Organization’s attempt to resocialize German girls to accept and embody the aggressive, male-oriented behavioral values of Nazi ideology, yet embrace the second-class citizenship designed for them as ideal German wives and mothers.” Topics for future lectures include women and war, elderly women in prison and the presidential quest of Hillary Clinton.

For more information, contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910.
womenstu@mtsu.edu

In like Flynt

This Saturday, the Lobos of Sul Ross State University will play their 2007 home opener against East Texas Baptist University. It will be the first home game in decades for 59-year-old Mike Flynt, who tried out for and made the roster of the Division III football team as a linebacker. Prior to this season, he hadn’t played college football since 1970. Can a 59-year-old take the hits? Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “Not as many, nor at the same intensity, but, yes, as long as there is no pre-existing injury and damaged tissue, we can go on far longer than many of us thought.” (Sul Ross State is 2-1 on the season thus far. Flynt missed the first two games with a slight groin injury.)

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

Breaking up is hard to do.

According to one report in The New York Times, researchers have said that about 60 percent of all marriages ultimately come to an end during the first decade of marriage. However, per the same study, when it comes to college graduates, the divorce rate for this group during the first 10 years of marriage has dropped to just 16 percent for those who married between 1990 and 1994; that’s down from 27 percent of those who wed between 1970 and 1975. Dr. Janet Belsky, psychology, is not surprised. “As a lifespan teacher, I always take a poll to see what percentage of my (college) students have had parents who divorced or have grown up in a single-parent family because it’s typically about 50 percent,” she says. “(My students) are well aware of the depressing divorce statistics, and they’re vitally interested in how they can choose the right person.”

Contact Belsky at 615-898-5935.
jbelsky@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

VISITORS WELCOME--Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday). Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

TRIO TRILLS--The Verdehr Trio, a violin-clarinet-piano trio in residence at Michigan State University, will open MTSU’s 2007-2008 Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m.today, Sept. 19, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building. According to one Washington Post story, “The Verdehr Trio is a first-rate chamber group with a difference—the three have been winning celebrity over 30 years for creating a new niche in world music, commissioning 170-plus works by an international bevy of composers … impeccably matched phrasing and contrasting tonal colors as clearly etched as Mozart’s operatic characters.” All events in the Presidential Concert Series are free and open to the public. Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493 or tmusselm@mtsu.edu.

GET A JOB--Almost 200 top name employers and graduate school recruiters will be available to MTSU students at the annual Career Day on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, Sept. 20. The fair will include representatives from nationally known and regionally based companies including Hospital Corporation of America, Federal Express, Dell, and SunTrust Bank, as well as graduate school recruiters from Belmont, Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee, among others. The 26th annual fair will be held on the Murphy Center track. Students are asked to bring their IDs for admittance, and professional dress is recommended for all seniors. For more information, contact the Career and Employment Center at 615-898-5732 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~career.

PROOF POSITIVE--“Positive Behavior Supports: What Is It and How Can It Help Schools Improve Student Behavior?” is the title of a professional development program for teachers to be offered by MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center tomorrow, Sept. 20, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. CST. Dr. Zaf Khan, elementary and special education, will give participants an overview of PBS and will learn how this “systems-change” model can improve school climate and reduce office discipline referrals significantly. This workshop will discuss the three levels of positive behavior interventions as delineated by researchers George Sugai and Rob Horner: primary, secondary and tertiary interventions. This program is for teachers and administrators, grades K-12. For more information, call 615-898-2737 or send an e-mail to vmoxley@mtsu.edu.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Proof positive

“Positive Behavior Supports: What Is It and How Can It Help Schools Improve Student Behavior?” is the title of a professional development program for teachers to be offered by MTSU’s Satellite and Webcasting Center Thursday, Sept. 20, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. CST. Dr. Zaf Khan, elementary and special education, will give participants an overview of PBS and will learn how this “systems-change” model can improve school climate and reduce office discipline referrals significantly. This workshop will discuss the three levels of positive behavior interventions as delineated by researchers George Sugai and Rob Horner: primary, secondary and tertiary interventions. This program is for teachers and administrators, grades K-12.

For more information, call 615-898-2737 or send an e-mail to vmoxley@mtsu.edu.

Get a job

Almost 200 top name employers and graduate school recruiters will be available to MTSU students at the annual Career Day on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20. The fair will include representatives from nationally known and regionally based companies including Hospital Corporation of America, Federal Express, Dell, and SunTrust Bank, as well as graduate school recruiters from Belmont, Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee, among others. The 26th annual fair will be held on the Murphy Center track. Students are asked to bring their IDs for admittance, and professional dress is recommended for all seniors.

For more information, contact the Career and Employment Center at 615-898-5732 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~career.

Is it in you?

If you’re looking for all the post-workout rehydration of Gatorade with fewer calories, Pepsico, Gatorade’s parent company, is trying to accommodate you. A serving of the new Gatorade drink G2 has only 25 calories, half the calories of regular Gatorade. What makes G2 better than the Gatorade Light of the 1990s? Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “By avoiding the ‘Light’ tag in the brand name, there is less chance that consumers will feel they are getting a ‘diet’ version of the product. It is similar to what Coca-Cola is trying to do with its branding of Coke Zero. They are diet drinks that are not positioned as diet drinks!”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

WOMEN IN DEPTH--From prisoners to poetry and from Hitler to Hillary, the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series at MTSU will offer presentations on a diversity of provocative and thought-provoking topics this academic year. Each of the seven lectures is slated to take place at 3 p.m. one Thursday a month in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. All lectures are free and open to the public. “The MTSU women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.” The first presentation will be “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” by Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, Sept. 20. Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that is being presented through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

VISITORS WELCOME--Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday). Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

TRIO TRILLS--The Verdehr Trio, a violin-clarinet-piano trio in residence at Michigan State Univrsity, will open MTSU’s 2007-2008 Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building. According to one Washington Post story, “The Verdehr Trio is a first-rate chamber group with a difference—the three have been winning celebrity over 30 years for creating a new niche in world music, commissioning 170-plus works by an international bevy of composers … impeccably matched phrasing and contrasting tonal colors as clearly etched as Mozart’s operatic characters.” All events in the Presidential Concert Series are free and open to the public. Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493 or tmusselm@mtsu.edu.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Trio trills

The Verdehr Trio, a violin-clarinet-piano trio in residence at Michigan State Univrsity, will open MTSU’s 2007-2008 Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building. According to one Washington Post story, “The Verdehr Trio is a first-rate chamber group with a difference—the three have been winning celebrity over 30 years for creating a new niche in world music, commissioning 170-plus works by an international bevy of composers … impeccably matched phrasing and contrasting tonal colors as clearly etched as Mozart’s operatic characters.” All events in the Presidential Concert Series are free and open to the public.

Contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493.
tmusselm@mtsu.edu

Fuel for thought

The July issue of Popular Science magazine considers the potential of making biofuels from green algae. “One study reports that 15,000 acres flooded in the west could grow enough green algae to replace the foreign oil used for diesel fuel,” says Dr. Cliff Ricketts, agribusiness and agriscience. “The rest of the story is that it is still in research, and it is far from being complete. Several companies throughout the world are working on the process, but if they reach their objectives it would free fertile farmland for food and the deserts for food production.”

Contact Ricketts at 615-898-2430.
srickett@mtsu.edu

R U Aware?

MTSU students, faculty and staff now will be able to receive safety-alert text messages on their cell phones when they register and become part of MTSU’s Emergency Text Messaging Service. The university recently contracted with RAVE Wireless to administer the service. “In our efforts to keep our campus as safe as possible, especially in today’s uncertain world, we must be able to notify students, faculty and staff in a timely and responsible manner,” President Sidney A. McPhee says. “To become part of this vital communication network, however, a person must opt into the program.” Campus safety alerts may include a security breach, fire, or class cancellation due to impending severe weather, among other situations.

Contact Buddy Peaster, Director of Public Safety, at 615-898-2424.
cpeaster@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

WOMEN IN DEPTH--From prisoners to poetry and from Hitler to Hillary, the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series at MTSU will offer presentations on a diversity of provocative and thought-provoking topics this academic year. Each of the seven lectures is slated to take place at 3 p.m. one Thursday a month in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. All lectures are free and open to the public. “The MTSU women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.” The first presentation will be “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” by Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, Sept. 20. Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

WE THE PEOPLE--Exercise your rights—speak your mind! Today, September 17, is Constitution Day at MTSU. An open mike will be available on the Keathley University Center knoll from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students who speak their minds will receive an American Democracy Project t-shirt. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the KUC area, students will distribute pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to passersby. Five thousand copies will be on hand as needed. The ADP will plant signs across the campus with the text of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Five other sets of five signs will be placed in sequence so that passersby will be able to read the full text of the First Amendment. Contact Dr. Jim Williams, ADP Coordinator, at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that will be presented today through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

DON’T GET MAD, GET RAD!--The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street. For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

VISITORS WELCOME--Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday). Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Visitors welcome

Limited space remains available for prospective students to register for the Saturday, Sept. 22, Fall Visit Day. MTSU can accommodate up to 400 prospective students and their families, but only 59 spots remained open as of Sept. 13. Attendees on Sept. 22 can arrive as early as 9 a.m. CDT at the Cope Administration Building to register. The second Fall Visit Day will be held starting at 9 a.m. CDT Saturday, Nov. 3, and plenty of openings remain for that date. Daily tours are Monday through Friday throughout the fall, usually at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. No tours will be held Oct. 12/Oct. 15-16 (fall break), Nov. 14-16 (admissions staff at a conference), and Nov. 21-23 (Thanksgiving holiday).

Prospective students and their parents or guardians can register online at http://www.mtsu.edu/admissn by clicking on “prospective students” and then “campus tours” or by calling 615-898-5670.

Don’t get mad; get RAD!

The Rape Aggression Defense system is a program of realistic self-defense tactics and techniques. RAD is a comprehensive course for women that begins with awareness, prevention, risk reduction and avoidance, while progressing to the basics of hands-on defense training. Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 25, and will run through Tuesday, Oct. 30. Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. for six consecutive sessions. The class is offered free of charge to all MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as the general public. A workbook/training manual is provided to each student. Classes will be held at the MTSU Public Safety Training Room located at 1412 East Main Street.

For information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-494-8855.

The digital dilemma

At least one attempt by record labels to protect copyrighted works from piracy, Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, has had unexpected consequences that are not good for the consumer. Ken Sanney, recording industry adjunct professor and attorney, says, “First, DRM has created a dilemma known as ‘interoperability.’ This term refers to the obstacles consumers face in using their legally purchased copyrighted digital downloads on multiple mp3 players. Second, DRM has also impeded competition in the digital download and mp3 player marketplaces—as seen in Apple’s recent domination of these areas. Retailers like Wal-Mart, who are now partnering with record labels like EMI and Universal, are attempting to give consumers access to user-friendly downloads at a reasonable price.”

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

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

IN THE DRAWING ROOM--Youngsters who want professional instruction in drawing can experience a first-class introduction to the art at a Youth Culture & Arts Center (YCAC) workshop for ages 12-17. The workshop will take place from 1-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15, in Room 117 of the Todd Building on the MTSU campus. The instructor will be Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art at MTSU. “During this workshop, students will explore the media of charcoal, gesture drawing and working from a still life,” says Anfinson. She recommends that participants wear clothes they won’t mind getting dirty because “charcoal is a little messy.” Space for this workshop could fill quickly. The fee is $20 per person. To register, go to http://www.youthculturecenter.org. For more information, contact the instructor at anfinson@mtsu.edu.

WOMEN IN DEPTH--From prisoners to poetry and from Hitler to Hillary, the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series at MTSU will offer presentations on a diversity of provocative and thought-provoking topics this academic year. Each of the seven lectures is slated to take place at 3 p.m. one Thursday a month in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. All lectures are free and open to the public. “The MTSU women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.” The first presentation will be “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” by Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, Sept. 20. Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

WE THE PEOPLE--Exercise your rights—speak your mind! Monday, September 17, is Constitution Day at MTSU. An open mike will be available on the Keathley University Center knoll from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students who speak their minds will receive an American Democracy Project t-shirt. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the KUC area, students will distribute pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to passersby. Five thousand copies will be on hand as needed. The ADP will plant signs across the campus with the text of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Five other sets of five signs will be placed in sequence so that passersby will be able to read the full text of the First Amendment. Contact Dr. Jim Williams, ADP Coordinator, at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that will be presented Sept. 17 through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE--The MTSU Opera players will perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, and Saturday, Sept. 15, and again at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. “There will be combined talents from the MTSU School of Music’s opera department, the MTSU theater department, costumes from Tennessee Repertory Theater, and most importantly, gifted young children from the Homer Pittard Campus School,” says Dr. Raphael Bundage, producer of the show and director of opera and choral activities. Admission is $10 for the general public and $8 for seniors and students. For tickets, call 615-898-2849. For additional information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Professor Plato’s Cave

Scientists use electronic visualization technology to help them understand the composition of molecules, among other things. The CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment), which was conceived and built in 1991 at the University of Illinois at Chicago, since has been built at several universities, government laboratories and industrial research centers. In a recent Honors lecture, Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, said the acronym comes from Plato’s allegory of the cave. In the cave, prisoners are chained so that they can only see shadows on the wall. Their backs are to a fire and to the people making images in front of the fire. Therefore, the shadows are the only “reality” the prisoners know. When you put the goggles over your eyes in the CAVE, “It tricks your brain … What this person is seeing is a three-dimensional molecule. … You think you’re surrounded by this molecule. It’s really very cool!,” says MacDougall.

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

Brokeback britches

A version of the Levi’s TV commercial in which the entire urban world outside (and a beautiful girl) rises up through the floor when a young man puts on his jeans has been created for the gay male audience. Instead of a beautiful girl, a handsome young man rises up through the floor in a phone booth. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says, “Lee, Levi’s, etc., are looking to reach a very obvious and affluent, youthful gay/straight demographic, and do so by advertising on niche specific cable channels, i.e., ones that demonstrate they draw the ‘right’ customers. … cable audiences are small compared to broadcast channels (albeit major network audiences are shrinking, too), but the cable outlets are specifically targeted, which is their strength.”

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

Get WISE!

A group from Women in Science and Engineering, or WISE, will travel today and tomorrow to Eastman Chemical Company’s headquarters in Kingsport. They were invited by the women chemists, technicians and engineers at Eastman. “During our visit, we will chat with women scientists and engineers about industrial careers for women in chemistry,” says Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, faculty advisor and professor of chemistry. “We will also spend time with Katie Hunt, president of the American Chemical Society (ACS), who will be visiting Eastman. Katie has expressed a special interest in meeting women undergraduate and graduate students from MTSU. Katie is the sixth woman president of the ACS in over 125 years!”

For interviews with Iriarte-Gross and/or students when they return, call Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253.
jiriarte@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

IN THE DRAWING ROOM--Youngsters who want professional instruction in drawing can experience a first-class introduction to the art at a Youth Culture & Arts Center (YCAC) workshop for ages 12-17. The workshop will take place from 1-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15, in Room 117 of the Todd Building on the MTSU campus. The instructor will be Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art at MTSU. “During this workshop, students will explore the media of charcoal, gesture drawing and working from a still life,” says Anfinson. She recommends that participants wear clothes they won’t mind getting dirty because “charcoal is a little messy.” Space for this workshop could fill quickly. The fee is $20 per person. To register, go to http://www.youthculturecenter.org/. For more information, contact the instructor at anfinson@mtsu.edu.

WOMEN IN DEPTH--From prisoners to poetry and from Hitler to Hillary, the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series at MTSU will offer presentations on a diversity of provocative and thought-provoking topics this academic year. Each of the seven lectures is slated to take place at 3 p.m. one Thursday a month in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. All lectures are free and open to the public. “The MTSU women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.” The first presentation will be “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” by Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, Sept. 20. Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

WE THE PEOPLE--Exercise your rights—speak your mind! Monday, September 17, is Constitution Day at MTSU. An open mike will be available on the Keathley University Center knoll from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students who speak their minds will receive an American Democracy Project t-shirt. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the KUC area, students will distribute pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to passersby. Five thousand copies will be on hand as needed. The ADP will plant signs across the campus with the text of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Five other sets of five signs will be placed in sequence so that passersby will be able to read the full text of the First Amendment. Contact Dr. Jim Williams, ADP Coordinator, at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu.

THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY--“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that will be presented Sept. 17 through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public. For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

THE HILLS ARE ALIVE--The MTSU Opera players will perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, and Saturday, Sept. 15, and again at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. “There will be combined talents from the MTSU School of Music’s opera department, the MTSU theater department, costumes from Tennessee Repertory Theater, and most importantly, gifted young children from the Homer Pittard Campus School,” says Dr. Raphael Bundage, producer of the show and director of opera and choral activities. Admission is $10 for the general public and $8 for seniors and students. For tickets, call 615-898-2849. For additional information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com/.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The hills are alive

The MTSU Opera players will perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, and Saturday, Sept. 15, and again at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. “There will be combined talents from the MTSU School of Music’s opera department, the MTSU theater department, costumes from Tennessee Repertory Theater, and most importantly, gifted young children from the Homer Pittard Campus School,” says Dr. Raphael Bundage, producer of the show and director of opera and choral activities. Admission is $10 for the general public and $8 for seniors and students.

For tickets, call 615-898-2849. For additional information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

“Fire up a colortini and watch the pictures fly through the air.”—Tom Snyder, 1936-2007

Even now, in 2007, many folks still wonder why cable television pushes the edge of the envelope regarding language and adult subject matter more frequently than broadcast television. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “The idea behind broadcast regulation is that the airwaves are a scarce natural resource, and a broadcast licensee has what’s called a ‘fiduciary duty’ to operate in the public interest, convenience and necessity. So broadcasters in general have to be fair; they have to be careful about running political advertising; and they have to be especially careful about indecency. Cable operators are under no such restrictions because they are not, in the eyes of the law, ‘broadcasting’ at all. They are not using a piece of the electromagnetic spectrum in the same way over-the-air broadcasters are.”

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

The creative community

“Colleagues: A Community College Art Faculty Exhibition” is the title of the upcoming diversity-rich art exhibit that will be presented Sept. 17 through Oct. 4 in the Todd Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This exhibition recognizes the talented faculty who serve students enrolled in community colleges across the state that are often far removed from major population centers,” says Lon Nuell, professor of art and gallery curator. Nuell says each of the participating artists work and teach in traditional studio areas such as painting, photography, printmaking, drawing, ceramics and sculpture, and graphic design and visual communication. The Todd Gallery, located on the first floor of the Todd Building, is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays. Admission is always free, and the exhibit is open to the public.

For more information, please contact Eric Snyder, gallery assistant, at 615-898-5653.

TR EXTRA

BONJOUR!--Any student whose summer was no more exciting than spending endless hours lying by the pool frying to a crisp can prepare now for an unforgettable summer 2008. There’s no time like the present to register for the annual general education study abroad program in Cherbourg, France, which will run from June 2 to June 27. At this beautiful port town in the Normandy region of northwest France, students will experience the history, art and culture of the area. “With the general education program, a student can spend four weeks in Cherbourg and in Normandy, and they can begin studying French while they’re there if they choose to, but they don’t have to already know any French,” Dr. Anne Sloan, Assistant to the Provost for International Education, says. Contact Sloan at 615-898-5091 or asloan@mtsu.edu or Jennifer Campbell, Director of International Education and Exchange, at 615-898-5179 or jjcampbe@mtsu.edu.

IN THE DRAWING ROOM--Youngsters who want professional instruction in drawing can experience a first-class introduction to the art at a Youth Culture & Arts Center (YCAC) workshop for ages 12-17. The workshop will take place from 1-4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15, in Room 117 of the Todd Building on the MTSU campus. The instructor will be Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art at MTSU. “During this workshop, students will explore the media of charcoal, gesture drawing and working from a still life,” says Anfinson. She recommends that participants wear clothes they won’t mind getting dirty because “charcoal is a little messy.” Space for this workshop could fill quickly. The fee is $20 per person. To register, go to http://www.youthculturecenter.org. For more information, contact the instructor at anfinson@mtsu.edu.

WOMEN IN DEPTH--From prisoners to poetry and from Hitler to Hillary, the 2007-2008 Women’s Studies Research Series at MTSU will offer presentations on a diversity of provocative and thought-provoking topics this academic year. Each of the seven lectures is slated to take place at 3 p.m. one Thursday a month in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. All lectures are free and open to the public. “The MTSU women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.” The first presentation will be “Daughters in the Fatherland: Behavioral Socialization of German Girls in Nazi Germany,” by Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, professor of history, Sept. 20. Contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

WE THE PEOPLE--Exercise your rights—speak your mind! Monday, September 17, is Constitution Day at MTSU. An open mike will be available on the Keathley University Center knoll from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students who speak their minds will receive an American Democracy Project t-shirt. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the KUC area, students will distribute pocket copies of the U.S. Constitution to passersby. Five thousand copies will be on hand as needed. The ADP will plant signs across the campus with the text of the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. Five other sets of five signs will be placed in sequence so that passersby will be able to read the full text of the First Amendment. Contact Dr. Jim Williams, ADP Coordinator, at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu.