Friday, May 9, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“England swings like a pendulum do.”—Roger Miller

The Fab Four, miniskirts and go-go boots, the “mods” versus the “rockers”—If you’re looking for a fun and informative course to take this summer, MTSU is offering British Popular Culture from 10:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday July 7-August 7. This English course, taught by Dr. Jill Hague, will look at the development of popular culture in the United Kingdom after World War II, focusing on innovations in music, film and drama. Students will examine the cultural, historical and political contexts of the 1950s, the phenomenon of “Swinging London” and the Beatles in the 1960s and the rise of punk culture in the 1970s.

Contact Hague at 615-904-8123.
ahague@mtsu.edu

Top-of-mind awareness

In his latest book Musicophilia, Dr. Oliver Sacks examines, among other phenomena, the occurrence of musical hallucinations in the brain. Why do songs pop into our heads for no apparent reason? Sacks says this is no accident. As he told NPR in January, “I mean, by the nature of things, there cannot be anything random in the mind. You know, there must be determinance.” Dr. Scott Carnicom, associate dean of the MTSU University Honors College, says it might have something to do with the engram, the permanent trace left by a stimulus in nerve tissue. “While the search for the ‘engram’ has proven inconclusive, the neo-cortex (the top layer of the cerebral hemispheres) in humans has been implicated in long-term memory storage,” Carnicom says. “Thus, perhaps it isn’t a hallucination at all, but rather the stimulation of a memory.”

Contact Carnicom at 615-494-7611.
carnicom@mtsu.edu

“Try to be like the turtle—at ease in your own shell.”—Bill Copeland

Allison, a three-year-old Atlantic Green sea turtle in the care of a Texas-based nonprofit group, has only one flipper. As a result, she can swim only in counterclockwise circles, and it’s difficult for her to surface. Her caretakers suspect she was the victim of a shark attack. That’s why they are fashioning prosthetic flippers for Allison made out of the same kind of silicone used in humans’ facial implants. Dr. Vincent Cobb, biology, isn’t terribly optimistic about the chances for success. Cobb says, “… because this turtle is young, it will soon outgrow the prosthetic flippers, which will, of course, reduce its swimming ability. As sad as it is, the turtle probably should have been euthanized humanely.”

Contact Cobb at 615-898-2059.
vcobb@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

WOOF!—The See Spot Run 5K Run/Walk, a fun event for people and their dogs to support the MTSU Habitat Blitz Build and Rutherford County Habitat for Humanity will take place at 8 a.m. tomorrow, May 10, at MTSU. Registration will begin at 6:30 a.m. at Peck Hall. The entry fee is $25. The first 200 participants will get T-shirts, and the top age group finishers will get awards. To register, go to http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1489959. For more information, contact the Office of Leadership and Service at 615-898-5812, or send an e-mail to Meagan Flippin at camporgs@mtsu.edu.

BRINGING IT UP TO PAR--The National Advisory Board for the Scholars Academy at MTSU presents the first annual Diversity and Multicultural Golf Outing on Wednesday, May 28, at Gaylord Springs Golf Course in Nashville. Founded in 2005, the Scholars Academy was developed to support bright and talented college students who may be underachieving. The Academy generally serves minority and other underserved students who benefit from a culturally rich learning environment. Throughout their collegiate careers, students are mentored and their development enhanced in the following areas: academics, psychological, social, bio-physical, and careers. All students remain in the program until college graduation. For sponsorship, golfer packages, or more information, contact Jerry M. Whitmore, Jr., in the Office of Institutional Diversity at 615-898-5975 or whitmore@mtsu.edu.

“LANGUAGE IS THE DRESS OF THOUGHT.”—SAMUEL JOHNSON--MTSU’s annual Summer Language Institute will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 16-20, June 23-27 and July 28-August 1 at the University School of Nashville. Languages to be taught will include Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Scottish Gaelic, Arabic and Spanish Levels 1 and 2. The innovative teaching methods used at the institute, are designed to teach students a second language the same way they learned their first—by relating vocabulary to movement and learning grammar through storytelling. Students are completely immersed in the language from the first day of instruction in a fun environment. “I can now tell people who regret never having studied a language or who had a bad experience that it is not too late,” says Dr. Shelley Thomas, MTSU associate professor and institute founder. Tuition includes instruction and course materials and must be paid in full by Thursday, May 15. Contact Thomas at 615-898-5757 or
shthomas@mtsu.edu.