Thursday, January 31, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The State of the Uterus Address

A recent article in The New York Times found that advice on how much exercise pregnant women should do and to what extent they should do it is varied and contradictory. A photo of a pregnant entrant in the New York City Marathon accompanied the article. Dr. Janet Colson, human sciences, says, “Typically, women should be encouraged to do some moderate physical activity during pregnancy. For most, with the approval of their physician, they could continue the type of exercise program they had prior to conception—using some common sense. Most need to taper off toward the last weeks of pregnancy. And anything that could cause physical trauma to the fetus should be avoided, such as playing football, skydiving, or bungie jumping.”

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

All night long

Up ‘til Dawn, a benefit for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, will be held from 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, to 7 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, in MTSU’s Campus Recreation Center. It will be open to the public from 7 p.m. to midnight Feb. 1. A $5 donation is requested. Attendees will be entertained by sporting events, live entertainment and free food. A hypnotist is expected to be part of the late-night activities. A guest patient from St. Jude will speak. Last year, Up ‘til Dawn raised more than $96,000. This year’s goal is $105,000.

For more information, call 615-904-8270, or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~uptldawn.

Bang for the buck

Is the enormous cost of an advertisement in the Super Bowl necessarily a wise expenditure in terms of return on investment? What are the criteria for making that decision? Based on a combined estimated cost of $3 million for production and airtime, a company’s CPM (cost per thousand people reached) would be about $32, Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says. “The cost efficiency as measured by CPM makes Super Bowl advertising appealing, even if the outlay is quite high,” he notes. “The question a potential Super Bowl advertiser must ask, given these considerations, is, ‘How many of the 94 million viewers are part of my target market?’ If it is believed the audience has substantial overlap with a brand’s target market, then Super Bowl advertising may be the best $100K per second a marketer ever spends!”

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

TR EXTRA

LINGERIE LIVES!--MTSU Theatre & Dance will present Underwear: The Musical, book, music and lyrics by Heidi Ervin and Brandon Gwinn, at 7:30 p.m. from tonight, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. 2 in the Studio Theatre of the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building. This tender, hilariously irreverent and original musical reveals a unique plan to control men and rule the world through the ingenious design of their underwear. Though lighthearted and endearing, Underwear: The Musical features scantily clad performers (no nudity) and mature themes. Therefore, it might not be appropriate for teenagers and younger children. General admission tickets are $3 each. The show will be performed in two acts with a 15-minute intermission. More information is available at http://www.underwearthemusical.com/.

SHE’S A MAINIAC--MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of an exhibit titled “MAINE WOMEN living on the land” featuring the works of Lauren Shaw. She photographed, recorded and videotaped 20 women whose livelihoods come either from producing a product or building a community. Shaw’s work is in the collections of the Getty Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the Library of Congress, among other venues. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Tom Jimison at 615-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

BRINGING THE MIDDLE EAST TO MIDDLE TENNESSEE--MTSU Honors students are going beyond the headlines to understand more about the customs and values of people in the Middle East. In “Contemporary Middle East Culture: Film, Music and Literature,” students are listening to music from various traditions, viewing films produced by contemporary Arab and Israeli directors, and read literary work by writers from the region. In their explorations, they discuss issues of language, identity, borders, homeland and memory. The instructors, Dr. Sonja Hedgepeth, professor of foreign languages and literatures, and Dr. Allen Hibbard, English professor and director of the MTSU Middle East Center, can assure students of a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the Middle East than that which is afforded by news stories reported in the general media. Contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.

THE GREEN FIELDS OF THE MIND--The 35th annual Groundhog Day Luncheon to benefit Blue Raider baseball is slated for 11:30 a.m. this Friday, Feb. 1, at Murphy Center. The traditional menu of hamhocks, white beans, tomato salad, green onions, cornbread, chocolate cake and ice cream will be available. Former Blue Raider standouts Brett Carroll, Matt Ray and Todd Martin are among those who will be in attendance. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Middle Tennessee baseball program will conduct its “Show Me” Camp from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Murphy Center. The camp is for children ages six to 12. Hitting, pitching, infield play, outfield play, and base running will be the topics for the five sessions by coaches, players and former players. All campers should bring their gloves. For information on the luncheon, call 615-898-2103 or 615-898-2210. For information on the camp, call 615-898-2450 or 615-898-2961.