Friday, November 9, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Would Sam Waterston be Fred’s running mate?

Native son Fred Thompson, former U.S. Senator and star of TV’s “Law and Order,” outdistances other presidential contenders in MTSU’s latest MT Poll. According to the telephone survey conducted by students in the College of Mass Communication on Oct. 17-27, 32 percent of Tennesseans say they favor Thompson in the 2008 election and 25 percent prefer U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.). Nine percent back U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.); another nine percent support former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican. Four percent choose U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). When Thompson and Clinton are pitted head-to-head in the poll, Thompson registers 50 percent support compared to Clinton’s 42 percent.

Contact Dr. Ken Blake at 615-210-6187.
kblake@mtsu.edu

Cognitive dissonance is unhealthy.

Tennesseans seem conflicted about health care, according to the latest MT Poll conducted by MTSU. Fifty-one percent of respondents say the federal government has a responsibility to guarantee health care for all. However, fifty-three percent say they prefer the current system of private health insurance over a government health care plan. Thirty-five percent of Tennesseans say they rate their current health care “excellent,” while 35 percent say it’s “good.” Fifteen percent say it’s “fair;” 12 percent say it’s “poor.” Assessments of health care quality are linked to income level. Fifty-two percent of those with family incomes of $15,000 or less rate their health care “fair” or “poor,” while only 20 percent say it’s “excellent.”

Contact Dr. Bob Wyatt at 615-477-8389.
rwyatt@mtsu.edu

“How’m I doin’?”—Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, on numerous occasions

Thirty-five percent of Tennesseans say they approve of how George W. Bush is handling his job as president in the latest MT Poll conducted by MTSU. The figure remains essentially unchanged from the 34 percent approval rating he had in last spring’s survey and substantially lower than his 42 percent approval rating a year before that. Bush still enjoys a 66 percent approval rating among the state’s Republicans, but he figure stands at 25 percent among independents and 10 percent among Democrats. Behind party identification, his highest approval figures lie among college-educated evangelical Christians (66 percent approval). By telephone, students from MTSU’s College of Mass Communication interviewed 593 people age 18 or older chosen at random from the state population on Oct. 17-27.

Contact Dr. Ken Blake at 615-210-6187.
kblake@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

IN REMEMBRANCE--MTSU officials will break ground on the future site of a permanent memorial to military veterans at 8:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Tom H. Jackson Building (formerly the Alumni Building) during a day of festivities to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices of military personnel. The memorial will honor MTSU faculty, students, staffers and administrators who served their country in the United States armed forces from the university’s inception in 1911 to the present and beyond. It will be a living memorial constructed in the form of a plaza that can be used equally well for classroom instruction, formal ceremonies or private contemplation. U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, MTSU President Sidney McPhee, numerous veterans and other dignitaries are slated to attend. Contact Dr. Derek Frisby at 615-494-8856 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu; Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-898-5223 or rkilpatr@mtsu.edu;
or Dr. Robb McDaniel at 615-904-8245 or rmcdanie@mtsu.edu.

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.

DEPENDING ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS--The Center Players will perform their inaugural presentation, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Thursday through Sunday Nov. 8-11 and Thursday through Saturday Nov. 15-17 at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts, 110 West College Street in Murfreesboro. Blanche DuBois will be portrayed by Dr. Elyce Helford, director of Women’s Studies and professor of English at MTSU. Dr. Robert Bray, an MTSU English professor and Tennessee Williams scholar, will deliver a talk titled “Laying the Tracks for His Streetcar: The Evolution of a Great American Play” at 7 p.m. on the night of the Nov. 8 performance. A video of Bray’s talk will be played at future performances. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. Contact the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts at 615-904-ARTS (2787) or http://www.boroarts.org.

NEVER FORGET--Distinguished scholars will join Nazi concentration camp survivors and some of the military veterans who liberated them as they explore the effects of the Holocaust on Nov. 8-10 during the eighth biennial Holocaust Studies Conference in MTSU’s James Union Building. “Questions of Memory and Conscience” is the theme of the three-day event. “This year’s conference will be a truly notable event, (and) a powerful and poignant experience is in store for both the participants and the audiences,” Dr. Nancy E. Rupprecht, chairwoman of the MTSU Holocaust Studies Committee, remarked. “In addition to the public session …, the academic sessions include scholarship in a rich variety of forms—papers, discussions and exhibits, as well as film, music and a live dance performance.” For more information on the 2007 Holocaust conference, including a detailed schedule that lists conference events that are open to the public, please access its Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~holostu.