Friday, March 14, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

ATTENTION, EDITORS: The MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs has moved from Room 209 in the Cope Administration Building to the Tom H. Jackson Building just off Middle Tennessee Boulevard between Kirksey Old Main and the Voorhies Industrial Studies Building. Our phone numbers and e-mail addresses remain the same, but our post office box number for “snail mail” on campus is now Box 72. Please continue to visit www.mtsunews.com for MTSU information.

Lottery lessons

At present, lottery scholarship recipients in Tennessee are required to maintain a “B” average or better in order to keep their scholarships. According to the latest MTSU Poll, 65% of Tennesseans approve of keeping that mandate in place. However, 27% think the standard should be somewhere below a “B,” and 5% think the standard should be higher. The rest are undecided. Dr. Ken Blake, director of the poll, says, “Attitudes about lottery scholarship requirements break most strongly along income lines with over a third (39%) of Tennesseans earning $50,000 in household income per year or less favoring a standard somewhere below a “B” compared to under a quarter (23%) of those with higher annual household incomes.”

Contact Blake at 615-210-6187.
kblake@mtsu.edu

Oh, Canada!

Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stated in their final debate before the VOTR (Vermont, Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island) primaries that they would consider renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) if elected president. Canada’s Federal Trade Minister, David Emerson, has indicated that, if that happens, America’s priority access to Canadian oil would be on the table. Dr. Steven Livingston, political science, says, “Canada is America’s leading supplier of energy. It accounts for about 15% of American oil imports and about a third of our natural gas imports. So Canadian production is obviously critical to the American price, whether at the pump or at the house.”

Contact Livingston at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu

“Leave the Driving” to Neil

The godfather of grunge rock, Neil Young, has converted his 1960 Lincoln Continental Mark IV to run on biodiesel, and he’s working on making it a plug-in hybrid. The car is nicknamed “Linc-Volt,” and Young is working on a documentary on the car’s transition. Young says “Linc-Volt” will embody “classic Americana from then meeting the Americana of now.” Dr. Cliff Ricketts, agribusiness and agriscience, has a lot of experience with alternative fuel vehicles. He says the old cars can’t be as fuel-efficient as today’s vehicles, “however, the other part of the story is that it is not using fossil fuel; thus, it is better than someone who does not do anything. If it works for him with an extremely heavy vehicle, look at what we can learn to apply to much lighter and more efficient vehicles.”

Contact Ricketts at 615-898-2430.
srickett@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

FEMINIST—NOW AND ALWAYS--Visual depictions of feminists, words of wisdom from women in science and visits from dynamic activists are part of the observance of National Women’s History Month, which kicks into high gear at MTSU in the month of March with the theme of “Feminist Now.” Watching the progression of the first response to being called a feminist to the reaction now makes me feel good about the future,” says Terri Johnson, co-chair of the MTSU National Women’s History Month Committee and director of the June Anderson Women’s Center. “When people are educated, they want to work and fight for change,” Johnson says of the opportunities for enlightenment offered during National Women’s History Month. “And even though I know there are challenges ahead, there’s a comfort in knowing we are all in this together.” For the complete MTSU National Women’s History Month Calendar of events, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE--Dr. Donna J. Dean, national president of the Association for Women in Science, will speak on “Networking and Mentoring: Keys to Success in Science” at 7 p.m. tonight, March 13, in Room 102 of Wiser-Patten Science Hall. “She’s earned many honors and awards in recognition of her work in research and science policy at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration,” says Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross, professor of chemistry. For more information, contact Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or Randy Weiler in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

IT’S INSTRUMENTAL--The Aulos Ensemble, a New York-based period instrument group, will perform in the third and final concert of the MTSU School of Music’s Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. tonight, March 14, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. Gold and Glitter: From Venice to Versailles is the title of the free and open performance that will include works by Antonio Vivaldi, Bernardo Storace, Dario Castello, Bartolome de Selma, Francois Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau. As part of its brief residency, the ensemble’s members also will present a series of master classes at 11:30 a.m. today, March 14 at the MTSU Music School. For more information, visit www.mtsumusic.com, or call 615-898-2493.