Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

In unity there is strength

Smyrna Municipal/General Sessions Court Judge Keta Barnes, the first African-American official elected in Smyrna and the first African-American female judge elected in Rutherford County, will be the special speaker at the Unity Luncheon from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today, Wednesday, Feb. 6, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. The annual event, a staple of Black History Month at MTSU, honors important African-American community leaders. This year’s honorees are Mary Glass, Verna Bonner, Cornell Bingham and Charlie King Jr. This year’s Black History Month theme is “Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism.” Numerous events—including music, lectures and social gatherings—are slated to take place throughout February and March.

For more information, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/aahm.

Sax appeal

Two-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer Jeff Coffin will perform in the MTSU Jazz Artist Series at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in MTSU’s Wright Music Building. Coffin has traveled the world with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones since 1997. He has shared the stage with such diverse artists as The Dave Matthews Band, Van Morrison, Phish, The Dixie Chicks, Brooks and Dunn and McCoy Tyner. “Coffin is an outstanding saxophonist and a charismatic performer,” says Don Aliquo, associate professor of saxophone and jazz studies at MTSU. “His music covers a wide range of the jazz spectrum, and he plays with amazing energy.” Individual tickets are $15 at the door. MTSU students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid university ID.

For more information, call Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493 or go to http:///www.mtsumusic.com.

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.

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 1:30 p.m. today, Feb. 6; 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 Friday, 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.

POSTER POWER--Another talented group of MTSU students will make presentations of their research and mingle with state legislators today, Feb. 6, during the third annual Posters at the State Capitol in Nashville. MTSU serves as host of the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. event, which includes up to six presenters from other Tennessee Board of Regents schools, as well. The posters represent a wide range of disciplines, including music, psychology, geosciences, physics, and engineering technology and industrial studies. Their subjects range from “Learning Strategies of College Students With and Without Learning Disabilities” to “Investigation of Petro-Tectonic Settings of Felsic Igneous Rocks.” The students hail from Murfreesboro, Trenton, and Memphis, and were selected through a competitive process on campus. Contact Dr. Tom Cheatham at 615-898-2613 or cheatham@mtsu.edu or Dr. Diane Miller at 615-898-5472 or dmiller@mtsu.edu.