Monday, June 23, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Lon lives on through literacy

The public is welcome to a dedication ceremony and community open house for The Lon Nuell Family Literacy Center from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, June 24. The center is located in Room 210 of the First Baptist Church Education Building on the corner of Vine and Spring Streets in Murfreesboro. It is named for the MTSU art professor who died of a stroke in March. Nuell also was a member of the Murfreesboro City School Board and a supporter of the Read to Succeed literacy organization since 2003. Partners, program providers and members of the center’s advisory council will be on hand for the ceremony.

For more information, contact Read to Succeed at 615-738-7323 or visit http://www.readtosucceed.org.

Keep your eye on the sparrow

Dr. Jan Hayes, an award-winning educator and professor emeritus at MTSU, has published her first children’s book, “The Split Tongue Sparrow,” a traditional Japanese folktale. Now available from O’More Publishing and illustrated by Franklin-based graphic designer Bobby Dawson, the hardcover book was adapted into English by Hayes. She also created haiku poems to begin and conclude the folktale. A member of MTSU’s educational leadership faculty from 1973 to 2007, Hayes says she first learned of the sparrow folktale in 1988 during a trip to the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Although she taught children’s literature for more than three decades and has authored books for educators and administrators on positive self-concept development, “The Split Tongue Sparrow” is Hayes’ first children’s book.

For an interview with Hayes, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu

Pick your poison

Many people admit to taking up the smoking habit to help control their weight. Research by Dr. Charles Baum, economics and finance, examines the correlation between higher cigarette taxes and the national increase in obesity. He finds that increasing the cost of cigarettes by 77 cents per pack would result in higher body mass index and a noticeable rise in the prevalence of obesity. “Up to 365,000 people are estimated to die prematurely each year due to obesity and 435,000 due to cigarette smoking, increasing the cost of cigarettes could increase premature deaths due to obesity, at least partially offsetting a simultaneous decrease in premature deaths due to cigarette smoking,” Baum says. “Regardless, the U.S. Surgeon General has consistently said that the benefits of quitting smoking outweigh any costs, acknowledging that this may include weight gain.”

Contact Baum at 615-898-2527.
cbaum@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

“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.

ALMA MATER MATTERS-- MTSU’s Alumni Summer College, a two-and-a-half-day event full of fun, fellowship and presentations on local topics, is slated for 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.

ROLL OVER, JUNIOR!--Everything a human being is concerned with is based on learning and theory. That’s what makes the Learning Theories class being taught by Dr. Donald Kendrick through Thursday, July 3, at MTSU so fascinating. Kendrick, a psychology professor, says, “For example, students will gain insights and learn specific techniques to train their pets to do fun and funny things. These training techniques also generalize to raising children, the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of punishment, accepted practices on permitting young children to sleep with Mom (and Dad), the nature of the mother-infant bond, breaking bad habits and acquiring new ones, and how to get your roommate to have more respect for your things!” Contact Kendrick at 615-898-2706 or psyskip@mtsu.edu.

DAD, TAKE THE LAMPSHADE OFF YOUR HEAD WHILE THE CAMERA’S ROLLING!--Working with perhaps the most technology-savvy generation of young adults ever, Dr. Lorne McWatters, history, will teach a class titled “Genealogy and Documentary Film: Doing Your Own Family History in Film” to undergraduates for the first time at MTSU this fall. “The fall class will have 15 students, and each student will make a film about 10 minutes long on either some aspect of his/her family (genealogy) or some aspect of the history of MTSU,” McWatters says. “In speaking to students about the class, I found the undergraduates to be very enthusiastic, much more so than the graduate students, in general.” Contact McWatters at 615-898-5805 or dmcwatte@mtsu.edu.

PRESERVING THE PAST--Dr. Michael Tomlan, historic preservationist and a pioneering scholar on planbook architects of the 19th century, will present “Why Historians and Preservationists Avoid Religion,” a free and open lecture, at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 26, in Parish Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 315 E. Main St. An associate professor of history and director of the graduate program in historic preservation planning program at Cornell University, Tomlan began a monthlong visit to the MTSU campus June 1, where he’s teaching a summer seminar. He is an historic preservation expert in building conservation technology, documentation methods for preservation and the history of the preservation movement. Just prior to his June 26 talk, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU will sponsor a public reception for Tomlan at 4:30 p.m. at The Heritage Center, 225. W. College St. Contact the MTSU Department of History at 615-898-2536.

SCOTT AND ZELDA SAY IT’S THE CAT’S MEOW!--The Jazz Age, that era when flappers danced the Charleston and speakeasys were all the rage, will find new life via art in downtown Murfreesboro through the creativity of Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art at MTSU. Beginning July 1 and continuing through mid-August, Anfinson—along with MTSU students Emily May-Ragland and Sarah Sullivan—will work each afternoon to create a Jazz Age-inspired mural more than six feet tall and nearly 20 feet long at The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. “Art deco design, patterns and color palettes have always struck me as exceptionally lively and fun subject matter, which made conducting research for this project a pleasure,” says Anfinson. Contact Melissa Zimmerman, heritage programming specialist for the Center for Historic Preservation, at 615-217-8013. For an interview with Anfinson, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu.