Monday, June 2, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Identifying the issues

Do you know where Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain stand on the issue of a national I.D. card? Well, neither does Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, and he made a concerted effort to find out. He went to their campaign Web sites and submitted the question. Burriss says, “Well, Senator Clinton replied in less than an hour. Wait, let me rephrase that: her Web site’s auto-responder replied in less than an hour and told me they get so much e-mail they couldn’t answer my question. I’m still waiting for Senator McCain and Senator Obama to reply.” Burriss suggests, “Why don’t a bunch of you get together in your neighborhood or church group or P.T.A. and all of you send a question to the Web site? Then, when the candidates don’t respond, call the local newspaper and see if they’ll do a story about how the candidates are ignoring the voters.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

Think about it.

Do parrots merely mimic human words, or do they understand their meaning? Do dolphins discuss plans of action when swimming in pods? Is there meaning behind the songs of the whales? Do gorillas who learn American Sign Language have anything interesting to tell their human teachers? These and many other questions will be explored in Dr. Donald Kendrick’s Learning Theories psychology course today, June 2, through Thursday, July 3. “Learning is an enduring change in behavior, and over the centuries a multitude of theories have been proposed to account for learning,” Kendrick says. “Adaptive mechanisms, associative connections to reflexes, effort versus automaticity (learning to read, to walk, and to do multiplication), and whether or not the mind is the same as the brain are just some of the theoretical issues covered.”

Contact Kendrick at 615-898-2706.
psyskip@mtsu.edu

Be our guest.

Hotel occupancy remained essentially flat in April 2008 in Nashville and the United States as a whole compared to the same period a year ago. According to the latest statistics from MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, occupancy in Nashville actually declined slightly from 69.5% last year to 69.2% this year. Nationwide, occupancy slipped from 63.9% to 63.6%. The average room rate in Nashville went up from $90.75 to $101.53. The average room rate in the United States as a whole rose from $103.28 to $108.07.

Contact the Business and Economic Research Center at 651-898-2610 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc.

TR EXTRA

“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. Contact Thomas at 615-898-5757 or
shthomas@mtsu.edu.

“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 or ahague@mtsu.edu.

THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT--You can spend part of your summer examining the fascinating Native American history and prehistory of the Southwest and get geography or history credit for it at MTSU! The class is titled “Geography of Native Americans” and will be conducted for the 15th consecutive year by Dr. Doug Heffington, professor of historical geography and director of the Global Studies Program. “The class focuses on the examination of the human/land relationships between the native peoples of New Mexico and their natural environment,” Heffington says. “Most of our base camp is in the small colonial village of Truchas, which dates to the mid-1700s with its blend of Genizaro, Mestizo and Hispano cultures. The trip/course starts July 21st and takes about nine days to complete.” The cost is approximately $400 per student and includes transportation, two meals a day, lodging and entry fees. Contact Heffington at 615-898-5978 or jheffing@mtsu.edu.

LOOKS LIKE A HOMICIDE, HORATIO--Is your child itching to learn how forensic investigators examine crime scenes and ferret out the clues that solve real world mysteries? This summer’s “CSI: MTSU”, which will run from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on June 11-13, is a three-day program designed for students entering the 10th, 11th and 12th grades in Rutherford and surrounding counties. The students will be presented with a re-creation of an actual crime scene. They will be trained in the processes of collecting evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, hair and fibers, simulated blood splatter and shoe prints. Young people will explore the career possibilities in forensic science, understand a “real life” reason to tackle higher level math and science courses, and develop skills in teamwork, seeing and understanding details, critical thinking and presentations. The program is co-sponsored by the Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE) and MTSU’s College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning. For more information, contact Eve Shockley at 615-898-5530 or eshockle@mtsu.edu.

“BLESSED ARE THE CRACKED FOR THEY SHALL LET IN THE LIGHT.”—GROUCHO MARX--How do you see God? Do you see the Almighty as a man, a woman, an ambiguous force of nature? These are questions to be explored this summer as Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, teaches “Images of God in the American Media” from July 7 through August 8 at MTSU. Pondillo and his students will pursue the subject by examining television programs ranging from “Family Guy” to “Joan of Arcadia” and movies like “Oh, God” and “The Last Temptation of Christ.” Pondilo says, “We’ll have an intellectual discussion and a cosmological discussion and a theological discussion—a discussion, not make it a time to convert people or anything like that. Let’s just talk and try to understand.” Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465 or pondillo@mtsu.edu.

ALMA MATER MATTERS--Registration has been extended to June 10 for MTSU’s Alumni Summer College, a two-and-a-half-day even full of fun, fellowship and presentations on local topics June 25-27. Faculty, staff and other experts who are slated to speak include Dr. Lisa Pruitt, director of the Gore Center, on “A Century of Service: The History of MTSU”; Dr. Rhonda Hoffman, associate professor of equine science, will introduce attendees to the latest research and technology in the horse world; and alumni Gloria Christy (’71) and Bill Shacklett (’73) will discuss the technical world of photo restoration. Also on tap are a trip to the Grand Ole Opry, dinner at Caney Fork Fish Camp and a scavenger hunt. Contact Rhonda Wright at 1-800-533-6878 or rwright@mtsu.edu.