Tuesday, March 11, 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.

What did you do in the war, Daddy?

A majority of Tennesseans say the Iraq war is going badly, according to the latest MTSU Poll. Fifty-one percent have a negative view of the war, down three percent from the spring poll’s results. Fifty-six percent say sending troops was a mistake, although only 25 percent of Republicans agree. “A similar spread is found on whether sending troops to Iraq was a mistake with a firm majority (56%) saying it was a mistake, as opposed to 44% who think it was not,” says Dr. Bob Wyatt, Director of Communication Research. “Political party again emerges as the important predictor with 86% of Democrats saying yes, while 65% of independents agree. Among Republicans, only 25% say it was a mistake, and 41% of a small contingent of ‘others’ (10% of sample) say it was a mistake.

Contact Wyatt at 615-477-8389.
rwyatt@mtsu.edu

A peace at a time?

Two senior U.N. envoys have told the Security Council that no progress has been made towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement since the start of US-sponsored talks last year. Yet, Washington Post reporter Robin Wright sees some hope in grass roots activists using cell phones in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Morocco Iraq and the Palestinian territories to push for democracy and human rights. Dr. Karen Petersen, political science, says, “Grass roots movements, while important tools, should not be seen as serious threats to the power structure in this case (or most others). Until the Palestinian leadership (either Hamas or the PLO), Israel, and, most importantly, the Arab states in the region ALL genuinely desire peace, there will be no true and lasting peace.”

Contact Petersen at 615-494-8662.
kpeterse@mtsu.edu

Whaddya know?

The group Common Core, a new organization that says it will press for more teaching of the liberal arts in public schools, has released a survey that shows that fewer than half of American teenagers questioned by telephone knew when the Civil War was fought. One in four said Columbus sailed to the New World some time after 1750. The group concluded that lots of teens have a “stunning ignorance” of history and literature. Dr. John McDaniel, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, says another recent study “offered the observation that 40% of Americans, most pointedly teenagers, have not read a single book in the last year. Books are just full of contextualized information and ideas, but that vehicle has largely been co-opted in these cyberspatial days by other forms of communication: cell phones, Ipods and, most notably, the Internet, where free-floating factoids rule. Stunning? No. Regrettable? Well, that’s another story altogether.”

Contact McDaniel at 615-898-2534.
mcdaniel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

ON TRIAL AND ON TOP--An MTSU mock trial team consisting of attorneys Daniel Vaughan, Natalie Schneider and Nick Lee, witnesses Lani Lester, Rachel Harmon and Austin Purvis, and timekeeper Ben Winter placed third at a regional competition in Birmingham, AL in February. In addition, Lani Lester and Emily Petro each won Top 10 witness awards. The third-place showing qualifies the group for a national tournament to be held in Memphis on March 14, 15 and 16. Dr. John Vile, chair of the Department of Political Science and mock trial coach, says if MTSU’s teams can make the top three in Memphis, they will then qualify for the National Championship Tournament in St. Paul, MN. In 19 years of participation, MTSU has qualified for a national mock trial tournament every year except one. Contact Vile at 615-898-2596 or
jvile@mtsu.edu.

DON’T LET IT BE FORGOT/THAT ONCE THERE WAS A SPOT/ FOR ONE BRIEF SHINING MOMENT THAT WAS KNOWN/ AS CAMELOT--Elaine Rice Bachmann, curator for the Maryland Commission on Artistic Property, will be the featured guest speaker tonight, March 11, for the 2008 Lecture Series presented by the MTSU student chapter of American Society of Interior Designers/International Interior Design Association. “Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration” is the title of Bachman’s free and open 6:30-8 p.m. talk, which will take place in the State Farm Lecture Hall in MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. For more information, contact Carla Sanders, student event coordinator, at 931-308-2117, or Deborah Belcher, associate professor, at 615-898-5604 or dbelcher@mtsu.edu.

SHRIMP BOATS ARE A’COMIN’—Activist Diane Wilson, author of An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters,, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas, will visit MTSU tomorrow and Thursday, March 12 and 13, to speak with classes and deliver a free public lecture. Wilson’s talk, titled “Diane versus Goliath: Taking on Politicians and Corporations to Protect Family and the Environment” will get underway at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 12, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building with a book signing to follow. Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimp boat captain and mother of five, learned that she lived in the most polluted county in the U.S. and then decided to fight back by launching a campaign against a multibillion-dollar corporation. For more information, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu.

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.