Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Don’t it make my blue jeans blue?

How did a chemical process discovered in Germany alter the course of history in India? Well, indigo, a plant from which the dye used in blue jeans is made, grows in the Champaran region of northeast India. In 1897, BASF, a German chemical company, began industrial scale production of indigo after its chemist discovered a shortcut for synthesizing it. “Soon after that, the Raj in Bombay began to lose market share and profitability and foolishly tried to stave off chemical progress with the blood, sweat and taxes of poor farmers in Champaran,” says Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry. “… in 1918, when the price of indigo started to fade, and the British government levied a 23 percent surtax to make up for lost revenue, the Indian independence movement began. Instead of a tea party in Boston, Mohandas Gandhi proposed satyagraha—the name he gave to his ultimately effective strategy of nonviolent civil disobedience.”

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

Where’s a good ticked-off billionaire when you need one?

Bloomberg News reports that Rupert Murdoch’s pay-TV company in the United Kingdom might have to sell its stake in another television firm, ITV. An antitrust regulator in Britain supports entrepreneur Richard Branson, who claims Murdoch is stifling competition in the marketplace. Why doesn’t someone challenge Murdoch’s U.S. holdings? Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says he blames Congress and the Federal Communications Commission for helping make Murdoch a mogul. “Murdoch’s huge media empire would not exist had our government not bent over backwards to make [deals like his acquisition of the Wall Street Journal] happen—even to go so far as to grant Murdoch U.S. citizenship in order for him to buy media outlets!,” Pondillo says.

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

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.
chiggins@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 tomorrow 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. tonight, Oct. 3, as well as 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., tomorrow, 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.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE TIGER WOODS TO SIGN UP--Golfers can register to play in the 14th annual Danner Invitational Golf Tournament, which will be held today, Oct. 3, at Nashville’s Hermitage Golf Course. Sponsored by the Neill-Sandler Foundation to benefit the Neill-Sandler Scholars at MTSU program, up to 120 golfers will compete in the event. The tournament schedule includes registration and practice starting at 11:30 a.m., lunch at noon, 1 p.m. shotgun start, and beverages, dinner and awards after tournament play ends on the President’s Reserve Course. Eighty-five students have been awarded scholarships since 1999. Each spring, up to 10 scholarships are awarded to students from Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Rutherford, Warren, Williamson, and Wilson counties, and Tullahoma city schools. Contact Kippy Todd at 615-898-5756 or ktodd@mtsu.edu or Randy Weiler at 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu.

IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF IT AIN’T GOT THAT SWING--WMOT-FM’s annual membership appeal and on-air fundraising drive gets underway today, Oct. 3, to help the station bolster its budget and continue providing its award-winning local news, features, commentary and, of course, great jazz. The campaign, which will run through Oct. 18, 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. tomorrow, 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.