Friday, February 8, 2008

Today's Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Hunker down, money mavens!

Consumer confidence among Middle Tennessee residents is down. The latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Report from the Office of Consumer Research (OCR) at MTSU fell 30 percent from 225 in December to 158 in January. This is the lowest recorded level for the index since the poll began in 2000. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the OCR, says, “As uncertainty about the future of the overall American economy lingers, consumers have become increasingly pessimistic about the future of the local economy. There is growing concern about the stability of the local job market and the future job market.” In addition, Graeff notes, “Compared to last December, fewer consumers feel that they are better off financially than they were one year ago. And hopes that personal finances will improve are beginning to fade.”

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

College Goal Sunday

Representatives from the MTSU Office of Financial Aid will be available to assist high-school seniors during the annual College Goal Sunday at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 in the north lobby of the Business and Aerospace Building. “It’s designed for high-school seniors, but we’ll be happy for anyone to join us,” says Bonnie McCarty, assistant director of scholarships. College Goal Sunday helps prospective college students get free onsite assistance filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form and enables them to talk to financial aid professionals. Students and their parents or guardians should bring a 2007 federal tax return or other income documentation, Social Security number, driver’s license, 2007 W-2 forms or year-end pay stubs and bank statements and other “what to bring” information found at http://www.collegegoalsundaytn.org/.

For more information, call McCarty at 615-904-8414.

Billions and billions of issues

Dr. Eric Klumpe, associate professor of physics and astronomy, will conduct a Faculty Brown Bag Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Room 475 (Conference Room) of MTSU’s James E. Walker Library. Klumpe will talk about the work titled Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos: The View from the Center of the Universe by Joel Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams. Also up for discussion are other issues raised by discoveries in the field of cosmology in the last 20 years. This talk is free, but seating is limited. Please register your attendance in advance.

Contact Bill Black at wblack@mtsu.edu or Dr. Gary Wulfsberg at gwulfsbe@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

WHAT ITEMS ARE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST?--Dr. Janet Belsky, professor of psychology, will be a guest on “In Your Prime,” a discussion program on NewsChannel5+ (Comcast Channel 50), with host Meryll Rose. Belsky, an expert on issues regarding aging, will discuss setting goals toward the end of one’s life as did the main characters in the recent movie “The Bucket List.” This program will air again at at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15; at noon, Saturday, Feb. 16; at 6:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17; and at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 20. For more information, contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

SPANNING THE GLOBE--MTSU students who want to broaden their educational lives by experiencing other cultures in other countries have a new source of funding to help them pay for their study-abroad trips. However, time is of the essence because students wishing to take advantage of these opportunities have tight deadlines to meet. The MT Abroad Office is offering a Study Abroad Scholarship to undergraduate and graduate students who established MTSU student enrollment during the previous semester and maintain at least a 2.75 grade point average. The deadline is today, Feb. 8, for all Kentucky Institute for International Studies (KIIS) applications. The deadline is Friday, Feb. 15, for all other applications. Download the forms and find more information at http://www.mtabroad.com/. Call the MT Abroad Office at 615-898-5179.

IRAQ AROUND THE CLOCK--Dr. Juan R.I. Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan, will speak on “The Millennium in Pursuit: Shi’ite Opposition to the U.S. in Iraq” at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Cole, a recent past president of the Middle East Studies Association, is a leading expert on Egypt, Iran, Iraq and South Asia, particularly 19th century history and studies of Shi’ite Islam and the Baha’i faith. Frequently, Cole appears as a guest on “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” on PBS and contributes op-ed columns for The Nation, Salon.com, Tikkun, The Guardian, The Daily Star (Beirut) and other media outlets. This lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director of MTSU’s Middle East Center at 615-494-7906 or 615-494-8809, or send an e-mail to ahibbard@mtsu.edu.

SAX APPEAL--Two-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer Jeff Coffin will speak at 12:40 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. This speech is free and open to the public.

PAPER PLANTS--View the works of students in the Spring 2008 Visiting Artist’s Seminar at 4:30 p.m. today, Feb. 8, in Room 354 of the Todd Building at MTSU. This year’s seminar, which was taught by Washington Post illustrator Patterson Clark, was titled “Sustainable Papermaking with Alien Weeds.” The MTSU students learned how to harvest invasive plants, make paper and other art materials from the plants and create works of art from the paper. The work on display was made from invasive paper mulberry harvested at the Stones River National Battlefield. There also will be a reception honoring Clark and the students. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Claudia Barnett at 615-898-2887 or cbarnett@mtsu.edu.

LAW AND ORDER: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT--The Forensic Institute for Research and Education at MTSU will present an eight-hour course titled “Seizing and Securing Digital Evidence” from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Feb. 8, in Room 178 of the Voorhies Industrial Studies Building. This course is designed to teach proper methods and protocols for seizing and securing digital evidence, computer components, and related equipment in computer-related investigations. The course will be instructed by Stan Mitchell, Forensic Lab Manager at LogicForce Consulting, LLC, a Nashville-based legal technology consulting firm where he conducts computer forensic examination in civil litigation. He has conducted more than 200 forensic analyses ranging from intellectual property theft to homicide investigations. For more information, contact John Burchfield at 615-898-5804 or burchfie@mtsu.edu.