Friday, March 21, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Race and the race

Some commentators see U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s speech on race on Tuesday in Philadelphia as one for the ages. Others say, while he elegantly elucidated America’s complicated racial dynamics, he failed to explain satisfactorily his relationship with controversial minister Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Russell Church, speech and theatre, says, “The problem for Obama was that, for much of the American public, there was a lack of understanding that this man that Obama saw as a beloved member of his religious family had uttered words that many heard as hateful and hurtful. The video outtakes from Wright’s speeches were very unsettling to many. They could not see him as a man to be loved or respected. They could not understand that there could be or should be any level of acceptance. They were unable to separate the man from his words.”

Contact Church at 615-494-7958.
rchurch@mtsu.edu

You gotta have heart

Outfielder Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns played Major League Baseball with only one arm. Former pitcher Jim Abbott played with a deformed hand. Tom Dempsey, former placekicker for the New Orleans Saints, set what was then the National Football League record for the longest field goal (63 yards) with a club foot. Should the disabled athlete compete side-by-side with the able-bodied athlete? Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, it depends on whether all athletes have a level playing field. “Gray and Abbott had to overcome their disability to play at an elite level using the same equipment as other athletes. Dempsey used an adjusted shoe, but this alteration did not result in a performance advantage. The shoe did not actually enhance performance; it was merely shorter and was within the rules.”

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

Workin’ on it!

Bill Fletcher, director of MTSU’s Career and Employment Center, says he wants to implement a peer-career adviser program in which students employed in his office will provide services to other students. “I also want to talk to employers and tell them why they should hire MTSU students for internships or post-graduate positions,” he says. “And I want to provide information to the media to let them know who we are.” The work of the center also must adjust to the needs of today’s employers and the expectations of today’s employees, he notes. Fletcher will elaborate on his plans to help MTSU students and alumni, especially during this economic downturn, at 7 a.m. this Sunday on “MTSU On the Record,” a 30-minute public affairs program hosted by Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5). You also can hear the program online in real time at http://www.wmot.org.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
To contact Fletcher, call 615-898-2500 or send an e-mail to bfletch@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

EGGCELLENT!--The annual Easter Egg Hunt on MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee’s lawn will take place tomorrow, March 22, from 10 am-12 p.m. There will be games, food and fun for the whole family. Sorority women are organizing four hunts for children ages 0-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. More than 4,000 eggs will be hidden. Refreshments will be available. The Easter Bunny, Plato from Publix, and Lightning, the MTSU mascot, all will be present. U.S. Bank will sponsor the Kid I.D. Program so that parents can register their children and receive an I.D. that can assist police in locating missing kids. For more information, contact the Office of Greek Affairs at 615-898-5812.

OH, I HAVE SLIPPED THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH—Vernice G. Armour, the first African-American female pilot in U.S. military history, will speak at 6 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building in celebration of National Women’s History Month. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or 615-898-2987.

BASSOON TUNES--Guest bassoonist Christin Schillinger will perform in a free and open concert at 8 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus. Schillinger will perform John Steinmetz’s Goodbye, Old Paint: a cowboy song for bassoon and piano; Robert Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style, Opus 102; Marcel Farago’s Phantasy, Opus 40a; and Henri Duteilleux’s Sarabande et Cortege. For more information, call 615-898-2493 or visit http://www.mtsumusic.com.

ART FOR ART’S SAKE--The Todd Gallery at MTSU will present “Domenic Cretara: The Large Drawings,” a 19-piece exhibit by the California-based artist, through Friday, March 28, in Todd Hall on the MTSU campus. The show, which is free and open to the public, will feature works by the contemporary realist that were created in some of his preferred media—charcoal, pastels (chalk and pencil) and chalk. The Todd Gallery is open 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays.

TRIALS, BUT NO TRIBULATIONS--An MTSU mock trial team placed second among 26 teams at the American Mock Trial Association National Tournament at Memphis over the weekend (March 14-16) and was one of three teams at the tournament to qualify for the National Championship tournament to be held in Minneapolis/St. Paul in April. This marks the 18th time in 19 years that MTSU has qualified for the nation’s most elite tournament. A team consisting of Daniel Vaughn, Natalie Schneider, Nick Lee, Julian Kissner, Lani Lester, Rachel Harmon and Austin Purvis compiled a record of six wins, one loss and one tie in rounds against Ohio State, Kennesaw State, Furman and Georgia State. In addition, Vaughn captured a Top Ten attorney award, and Lester won a Top Ten witness award. The University of Texas won the tourney with an 8-0 record while Washington and Lee University came in third with a 6-2 record. The MTSU team is coached by Dr. John R. Vile and Patrick Chinnery of the Department of Political Science and by former alums Brandi Snow and Jamie Kidd. Contact Vile at 615-898-2596 or jvile@mtsu.edu.