Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

You wear it well

MTSU’s June Anderson Women’s Center and the student organization Women in Action are co-sponsoring “The A(wear)ness Runway Project,” a free and open event that combines education, awareness and fashion, at 6 p.m., tonight, Feb. 12, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The event, which also is part of the university’s Black History Month celebration, is designed to create awareness of the different colors represented by ribbons for breast cancer, heart disease, domestic violence, sexual assault and AIDS. Statistics and prevention methods for these issues will be available at the event. Many people lose their lives because they do not recognize the warning signs of these maladies.

Contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@mtsu.edu

“I’ll see you then!”—Chris Clark’s classic sign-off phrase

Award-winning broadcast journalist Chris Clark has been named chairholder of MTSU’s John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. Clark, who was the longest-tenured television anchor in the Nashville market, retired from WTVF in 2007 after 41 years. During his four decades at the CBS affiliate, he was a champion of First Amendment rights and open government. Clark will teach courses in electronic media communication, deliver public lectures and conduct research. “Chris Clark is a distinguished Nashville journalist with a national reputation who has had a career-long commitment to First Amendment rights and values,” says Seigenthaler, publisher emeritus of The Tennessean.

For more information, contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150.
bkeel@mtsu.edu

Star power

The MTSU Department of Physics and Astronomy will present “Street Lights and Smoke Detectors: Stellar Early Warning Systems,” a speech by Dr. Debra J. Wallace, at 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in Room 220 of Wiser-Patten Science Building. Wallace, a visiting assistant professor, from the College of Charleston, will talk about how hot massive stars guide our journey to explore the universe, like streetlights illuminate a path to direct our way on Earth. Observable at great distances due to their intrinsic brightness, massive stars’ usefulness as calibrators enables us to learn more about our own and nearby galaxies.

Contact Donna Wolke at 615-898-2130.
dwolke@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.

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. tomorrow, 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.

“YOU AND ME AND ALL THAT STUFF WE’RE SO SCARED OF”—BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, “TUNNEL OF LOVE”--Most of the time, a tunnel of love is a leisurely romantic ride, not a house of horrors. But the sixth annual Tunnel of Love at MTSU will take participants on a self-guided tour of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and their terrifying impacts. Two-thirds of all STIs occur in 16-24 year-olds, which makes this event a great opportunity to educate students about how to guard against becoming infected. The Tunnel of Love will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on St. Valentine’s Day, Thursday, Feb. 14, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. It is sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Performance and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Casie Higginbotham at 615-904-8274 or
chigginb@mtsu.edu.

AN ARTIST’S DOZEN--The Department of Art’s second 12”x12” biannual national juried exhibition is on display through Friday, Feb. 22, in The Gallery at MTSU’s Todd Hall. Dave Hickey, nationally acclaimed culture and art critic, served as the juror for the exhibition. More than 200 artists from across the United States submitted more than 600 pieces of work for consideration. There were no media restrictions, and all works were to measure no more than 12” in any direction. Three-dimensional pieces were not to exceed 12” in any direction including the base. Included in the show are the works of Tennessee artists Rocky Horton, Nashville; Arlyn Ende, Sewanee; Dwayne Butcher and Trever Nicholas, Memphis; Melissa Krosnick, Cowan; and Sarah Shebaro, Knoxville. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Lon Nuell at 615-898-2505 or lrnuell@mtsu.edu.