Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Dialing for delegates

Dr. Michael Nelson, the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College, will present “MTSU’s Super Tuesday Lecture” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building. A member of Rhodes’ political science faculty since 1991, Nelson is the author of more than 200 articles published in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Politics and Political Science Quarterly and in periodicals such as Newsweek and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Dr. John Vile, chairman of MTSU’s political science department, says Nelson is considered “the gold standard” when it comes to presidential discourse. “He’s one of the leading presidential scholars in the country,” Vile says.

For more information, call 615-898-2534 or 615-898-2351.

General assignment

Combining knowledge of practical applications with an understanding of the theory behind the actions continues to be one of higher education’s trickiest balancing acts. But many colleges and universities, including MTSU, limit the number of mass communication courses a student who has chosen that major can take. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “Instead of students narrowly focusing simply on communication courses, they are required to broaden their horizons outside the field. They have to have, for example, a working knowledge of economics, history and science. After all, mass communicators do not produce messages for themselves like the early television pioneers working in electrical engineering labs did; now they produce messages for others to read and see.”

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

Fit for life

The MTSU Faculty-Staff Health and Wellness Program for the spring semester will begin Monday, Jan. 28, and run through April 11. For a $25 fee, each registrant will get blood testing before and after the 10-week program, fitness testing, nutritional coaching by a registered dietician and an optional session with a “life skills coach.” Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “The main focus of the program is to replace negative habits related to lack of exercise, poor nutrition and other lifestyle choices that compromise your health and quality of life. … Our exercise coaches are either graduate students in the MTSU exercise science program or have extensive experience as a personal trainer.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LET FREEDOM RING--To celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the MTSU chapter of the NAACP will sponsor a voter registration drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today, Jan. 23, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center. Also on the second floor will be a display chronicling King’s life. Donations will be accepted for the National MLK Memorial being constructed in Washington, D.C. Tonight, at 7 p.m., you can lace up your skates for “Skating for Justice,” an outing at Skatecenter of Murfreesboro, 849 West College Street. For more information on MLK tributes, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-2987 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/aahm/events_aahm.shtml.

GOING GRAY BEHIND BARS--“Grandma Lifers in Prison: Approaches to Understanding the Lives of a Forgotten Population” will be the first presentation of the new year in the Women’s Studies Research Series at 3 p.m., tomorrow, Jan. 24, in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. This lecture is free and open to the public. Dr. Ron Aday, professor of sociology and anthropology, will deliver the address and answer questions. “The number of women inmates in state and federal prisons has increased rapidly in recent decades and, more recently, older women have been the fastest growing segment of this population,” Aday says. “As a forgotten minority, virtually nothing is known about the distinct experiences of older women in prison.” For more information, contact Dr. Jane Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu, or contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.

“THE ONLY WOMAN AWAKE IS THE WOMAN WHO HAS THE FLUTE.”—RUMI--
The eighth annual MTSU Flute Festival featuring guest artist Jonathan Keeble will be held Saturday, Jan. 26, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Guest artist Keeble will give a 2 p.m. recital performance and a 4 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall located in the Wright Music Building. In addition, Keeble will make a presentation titled Making Old Music New: Transforming the ‘Warhorses’ Into Modern Language. “Other flute festival events include a High School Solo and a Junior Solo Competition, which takes place in the morning. Also, area college teachers will be the hosts of a Flute Chat session,” says Deanna Little, festival coordinator and assistant professor of flute. Contact Little at 615-898-2473 or drhahn@mtsu.edu.

THE SEVENTIES’ SCREEN--In the 1970s, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and other filmmakers responded in passionate but diverse ways to the defining events of a highly charged political era, including Watergate, Vietnam, the emergence of global corporatism and the continued threat of nuclear holocaust. It was a period when the American film industry eagerly absorbed the values of the counterculture, which, in turn, had deeply questioned the seemingly sacred foundations of American society. This semester, Dr. Will Brantley, English, is teaching “American Film in the 70s,” a University Honors College class which explores some of the ways in which the creative community made sense of the so-called “Me Decade.” Screenings include Cabaret, Carrie, The Conversation, The Deer Hunter, Five Easy Pieces, The Last Picture Show, Nashville, and Taxi Driver. Contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.