Thursday, March 27, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Britney business

The economy is in recession; the presidential candidates are carping; and clashes are intensifying in the port of Basra. Even so, Britney Spears managed to make the news again this week, but not for miscreant behvavior. The troubled singer received good notices for a performance as a silly receptionist on the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” as she attempted to put her career back together. Combine this with January’s news that the Associated Press planned to add 22 positions to expand entertainment coverage, and the questions about infotainment in mainstream news continue. Dr. John Omachonu, interim dean of the College of Mass Communication, says, “The question is how much priority should be given to news about Britney … in the face of other compelling societal issues. That’s a tricky one. There should be a balancing test.”

Contact Omachonu at 615-898-2695.
omachonu@mtsu.edu

Misreading dyslexia

What do you think dyslexia really is? Well, there are certain myths that could stand debunking. In a recent Honors College lecture, Dr. Stuart Bernstein of the MTSU Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia said that dyslexics don’t necessarily reverse letters and numbers in their heads. He also stated that the disorder is not a visual problem that can be treated with colored lenses and eye-tracking devices. Furthermore, children do not outgrow dyslexia, and repeating a grade doesn’t help. “Dyslexics have difficulty learning symbol/sound correspondences,” Bernstein said. “Whatever areas of the brain are responsible for linking vision into language are not exactly the same in these people.”

Contact Bernstein at 615-494-8882.
sbernst@mtsu.edu

Around the world

In order to enhance MTSU’s burgeoning integration of international education into its academic life, Dr. Ron Messier, senior lecturer in history at Vanderbilt University and former history professor at MTSU, will return to the Murfreesboro campus in his new role as Director of International Outreach starting July 1. Messier will report to Dr. Kaylene Gebert, Executive Vice President and Provost. “Ron’s expertise and contacts in the Middle East and North Africa are wide-ranging and extensive,” says Dr. Allen Hibbard, director of MTSU’s Middle East Center. “I saw this firsthand when he visited me while I was teaching in Damascus and when the two of us recently traveled together in Morocco. He was a key moving force behind plans to create a Middle East Center on campus and has remained a strong, steadfast supporter of our work and activities.”

For interviews with Messier or other MTSU officials concerned with promoting international education, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

WIKI WORLD--“Accuracy, Privacy and the World Wide Web: The First Amendment and the Internet” is the title of a day-long event today, March 27, at MTSU’s Keathley University Center Theater. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore will be joined by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, author Cass Sunstein, Tennessean Publisher Emeritus John Seigenthaler, The New York Times’ Jonathan Landman, attorney Charles Sizemore, Poynter Institute President Karen Dunlap, and Media Bloggers Association President Robert Cox. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Beverly Keel at 615-898-5150 or bkeel@mtsu.edu.

RAD-ICAL!--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge every Thursday beginning today, March 27, through May 1, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the MTSU police training room located at 1412 East Main Street. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, call MTSU RAD Instructor David Smith at 615-692-2424.

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 tomorrow, 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.

PARALLEL UNIVERSES?--“What It Means to be Human: Science, Consciousness and Our Place in the Universe” is the topic of the MTSU Science and Spirituality Symposium at 7 p.m. tonight, March 27, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. The event is free and open to the public. The lecturers will be Dr. Joel R. Primack, a professor of physics and tone of the world’s leading cosmologists, and Nancy Ellen Abrams, attorney and former Fulbright Scholar. “At the heart of humanity’s problems on this planet is a terrible alienation from nature, both planetary and cosmic,” says Rami Shapiro, an adjunct religious studies professor at MTSU and an ordained rabbi. “The true hope that dialogue between science and spirituality holds out is this: to reawaken our capacity for wonder; to help us realize that we are the way the universe looks at itself and says ‘Wow!’” For more information, contact R. Neil Scott, associate professor of the library, or Bill Black, administrative services librarian, at 615-898-2772.

SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD--Dr. John Stuhr of Vanderbilt University will deliver a presentation titled “Against Forgiveness” at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 28, in Room 304 of the James Union Building. Stuhr will define and critically analyze forgiveness from its earlier ethical, religious and legal senses to later psychological, economic and medical ones. Drawing on everything from philosophy books to popular Websites, he will examine how the ways we understand forgiveness reveal the ways we understand ourselves. This lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Department of Philosophy as part of its annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum. For more information, call 615-898-2907.

BATTER UP!—Former Major League Baseball first baseman Orestes Destrade will be the luncheon speaker at the 13th annual Conference on Baseball in Literature and Culture, which is slated to begin at 8:15 a.m. tomorrow, March 28, in the James Union Building. Destrade, who played for the Yankees, Pirates and Marlins, has become one of the game’s more recognizable commentators, combining the perspectives of the farmhand, the rookie, the international star, the franchise fixture and the media personality. Destrade will begin his presentation at 12:45 p.m. In addition, MTSU alum and former professional baseball player Clay Snellgrove will read from his recently published book, The Ball Player. Snellgrove’s reading will begin at 2:30 p.m. MTSU students, faculty and staff may attend the conference for free, but those choosing to attend lunch will be charged $15 each. For more information, contact Warren Tormey at tormey@mtsu.edu or Dr. Ron Kates at rkates@mtsu.edu.