Thursday, October 4, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

It’s Banned Book Week; take Salman Rushdie to lunch.

It might have escaped your notice, but Sept. 29-Oct. 6 is Banned Book Week. The American Library Association’s annual event is intended to remind us not to take our First Amendment protection from censorship for granted. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says some groups are upset about Banned Book Week because they think the ALA is trying to undermine parents’ rights. But Burriss is also worried about “our attempts at making diversity practically an academic discipline, … our fear of offending any group or person, … our fear of promoting any idea that possibly could be misconstrued and result in litigation. … For example, how many children’s books are censored at their source—either by a wary author or by editors and publishers who have to market to educators living in fear that anything they say, do or teach might be used against them?”

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

Pink and purple power

The June Anderson Women’s Center at MTSU is distributing purple ribbons suitable for wearing in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “The numbers are alarming and the violence continues to spread across the United States,” says Terri Johnson, director of the Women’s Center. Since October also is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the center is making available pink ribbons to promote the need for early detection and more research. “Being a woman is the major risk factor for breast cancer,” Johnson says. “It is crucial to have early detection and screening to lower your risks.”

For more information, contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

My daddy was a pistol; I’m a son-of-a-gun.

According to a report in the Oct. 2 Times Daily of Florence, Ala., local law enforcement authorities are running out of .223-caliber rifle shells, .40-caliber pistol rounds and 9 mm pistol ammunition for training because the military is using more than a billion bullets a year in training. Carter Smith, criminal justice administration, says, “The alternative to not having enough ammunition for training is to send officers who have not (so) recently qualified or familiarized with their weapons out to do their job. Though not the ideal situation, it is rather difficult to forget how to use your issued weapon when on patrol, even if it has been 2-6 months.”

Contact Smith at 615-898-2630.
carterfsmith@gmail.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 today 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.

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. Oct. 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.

HE CAN DIG IT--Dr. Douglas Owsley, a forensic anthropologist who works in the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., will speak at 7 p.m., tonight, Oct. 4, in the State Farm Lecture Hall in the Business and Aerospace Building at MTSU. His lecture will be free and open to the public. Owsley has worked on numerous fascinating cases, including the demise of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Tex., and the casualties of Desert Storm. He has worked on the skeletal remains of colonial and Civil War soldiers and, with MTSU’s own Dr. Hugh Berryman and others, Owsley has studied Kennewick Man, a 10,000-year old skeleton found near the Columbia River in Washington state. Contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING--WMOT-FM’s annual membership appeal and on-air fundraising drive continues through Oct. 18. It will benefit MTSU’s nonprofit public broadcasting radio station. This year also marks the station’s 39th anniversary and its 25th year as an all-jazz formatted station. “Those who listen to and enjoy WMOT must support it financially,” says Keith Palmer, the station’s director of development. “Pledge so that radio in Middle Tennessee keeps swinging.” WMOT-FM is located on the radio dial at 89.5 and online at http://www.wmot.org. Contact Palmer at 615-898-2800 or kpalmer@mtsu.edu.

SPICY SOUNDS--Laura Fuentes y Calicanto will bring their Latin urban and roots stylings to MTSU with a performance at 7 p.m. tonight, Oct. 4, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union. The concert is free and open to the public. Fuentes, who was born to North American parents in Chile, is a classically trained guitarist and vocalist. According to the Web site http://www.realpeoplesmusic.com, “Calicanto is a bridge of warmth and song between musicians from Latin America and audiences from all over the world. Founded by Laura Fuentes in 1996, the Calicanto project gets its name from the historic landmark that once united the shores of the Mapocho River in Santiago, Chile. The core duo of Laura Fuentes and Pedro Villagra join together to light a new fire, celebrating the rich diversity of Latin American Music from Chile, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Venezuela.” Contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-2987.

NO, NOT BEYONCE AND JAY-Z--“Double Stars” will be the topic of the upcoming First Friday Star Party from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall at MTSU. Dr. Charles Higgins, physics and astronomy, will deliver a 30-45 minute lecture followed by outdoor telescope observation, weather permitting. The Star Party is free and open to the public. Contact Higgins at 615-898-5946 or chiggins@mtsu.edu.