Monday, November 19, 2007

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Uninformed consumers

Have you ever given untrue answers to a person conducting a marketing survey? Well, you’re not alone, and it happens more often than you might think. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research at MTSU, and his colleagues recently published a study about this issue in the journal Psychology & Marketing. The researchers added a fictitious brand to their questions about the relative popularity of different running shoes—and some people actually said they liked the fictitious brand! Graeff says, “Although research has documented this phenomenon and examined the conditions under which it occurs, the current research project is the first to examine how survey researchers might reduce uninformed response bias through the use of additional questions added to surveys that measure knowledge of brands for which consumers might be uninformed.”

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

Home sweet home

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation aimed at preventing more mortgage foreclosures. The measure would force mortgage lenders to get licenses and make a determination of whether a potential borrower can make the payments. Mortgage lenders who guide their customers toward risky loans would be fined. Dr. Doug Timmons, economics and finance, says, “Typically, the subprime loan had … low borrower equity, and as home values dropped, the loan collateral no longer protected the lender. Subprime lenders started experiencing severe losses. As investors in these subprime funds realized what was happening, they started to withdraw their investments, and this has created a liquidity squeeze. The funds have been forced to liquidate their subprime mortgages as the investors wanted their money back and so are forced to incur losses on the mortgages.”

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

College info in cyberspace

A free Web site, CollegeforTN.org, is available as a comprehensive source for Tennessee higher education information. “CollegeforTN.org is the online, one-stop college shop where students and parents can plan, prepare, pay and apply for college,” says Richard Rhoda, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC). “It provides students the ability to create academic plans, select Tennessee colleges, prepare for standardized tests, research financial aid opportunities, explore career fields, apply online and more.” More than 60,000 student accounts have been created and more than 29,000 college applications have been created on CollegeforTN.org.

For more information, contact Wendy Tabor at 615-532-0419.
wendy.tabor@state.tn.us

TR EXTRA

TUNE IN NEXT TIME--The December edition of the television program “Middle Tennessee Record” will present MTSU homecoming highlights; the groundbreaking at the site where a veterans memorial will be erected on campus; the dedication of a new home built by MTSU students volunteering for Habitat for Humanity; the annual Expanding Your Horizons conference to encourage girls who are interested in math and science; a new television program from the Department of Recording Industry that offers professional advise on songwriting; and other features that highlight MTSU faculty, students and events. To find out when “Middle Tennessee Record” airs in your area, go to http://www.mtsunews.com and click on “Middle Tennessee Record” on the right side of the page. For more information, contact John Lynch, Director of Marketing Technologies, at 615-898-5591 or jlynch@mtsu.edu.

A FIRST AT THE FRIST--The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 919 Broadway in Nashville, will feature “Mid-State Art Majors,” an aptly titled exhibit that will include works by eight MTSU art students through Dec. 31. “I’ve been here four years and there’s never been a show put together like this,” says Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art and liaison for the exhibit. “They came to us with the opportunity, and we were thrilled.” Art professors nominated MTSU students to be featured in the exhibit. Then a panel of faculty chose students to represent each of the concentrations of the art department—printmaking, ceramics, paintings, sculpture and graphic design. For more information about the exhibit, including driving directions, please visit the center’s online site at http://www.fristcenter.org.

I’LL GRANT YOU THAT--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) at MTSU is accepting applications from faculty for its 2008 Curriculum Integration Grants. The 2007 grants, which have been awarded to three professors in allocations of $1,800 each, are being used to infuse courses at MTSU with an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of women. Dr. Jane Marcellus, journalism, will teach a course in the spring semester titled “Women in Journalism History.” Dr. Karen Petersen, political science, used her grant to create a version of her “Foundations of Government” general education class that would be applicable in a study-abroad context in Cherbourg, France. And Jeremy Rich, history, fashioned a course on “Women in Africa.” For more information on how to apply for this year’s grants, contact Dr. Tina Johnson, PCSW chair and associate professor of English at 615-898-2705 or ntjohnso@mtsu.edu.

WINTER WONDERLAND--The Stones River Chamber Players (SRCP), artists in residence at MTSU, will present a program of music titled “Winter Delights” at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Nov. 19, in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. This concert is free and open to the public. ‘The program consists of a blend of chamber works from Renaissance to modern times,” says Todd Waldecker, co-director of the SRCP. “The music is full of beautiful melodies that are very pleasing to the ear.” The works that will be performed include Frank Martin’s Trois chants de noel, Anthony Holborne’s A Suite of Renaissance Dances, selections from J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Gunter Moll’s Transition Man and Georg Philipp Telemann’s Quartet in d minor from Tafelmusik II. For more information on this and other events in the music school at MTSU, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

THE BUSINESS OF RUSSIA IS BUSINESS--MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise and the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning will sponsor the Bilateral Conference on Urban Land Use Resources all day today, Nov. 19, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. This gathering will allow community and business leaders, faculty members, students and interested public participants to hear outstanding speakers from both the public and private sectors. Dr. Andrei Korobkov, political science, says he believes the conference will provide insights not only for research but also for practical application in developing cities. Many of the goals of the New Eurasia Foundation, a group dedicated to using outside expertise to increase growth and development in Russia, will be topics for discussion. For more information, call 615-898-2764 or visit http://business.web.mtsu.edu and click on the link at the bottom of the page.