Monday, June 9, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

PISA poor grades

The most recent version of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) makes American kids look intellectually weak. PISA is given every three years to almost a half-million 15-year-olds from 30 industrialized countries. Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says “… high school students in the U.S. scored far below average in their mathematical competency and slightly below average in their ability to apply scientific reasoning in problem-solving. For U.S. students, officials said that all the results of the reading portion of the test were discarded because of a printing error. In a global economy, it is surely not a good prognosis when American teens were out-performed by their peers in 23 out of the 30 industrialized countries on the mathematics portion of the test.”

Contact McDougall at 615-898-5265.
pmacdoug@mtsu.edu

We were green when green wasn’t cool.

Did you know that MTSU has been conducting research into alternative fuels since 1979? The Iranian hostage crisis and OPEC’s attempt to dominate the world’s oil supply were the catalysts, says Dr. Cliff Ricketts, agribusiness and agriscience. After years of work with corn and cow manure, “The MTSU team on October 14, 1987, ran an engine for eight seconds off hydrogen from water,” says Ricketts. “The next day they ran the eight-horsepower engine for two minutes. Since that time [Ricketts] and his students have run tractors, cars, trucks and stationary engines off hydrogen.” Now, with funding from a grant secured through the Tennessee Department of Energy, Ricketts is trying to convert a Toyota Prius to run off of sun and hydrogen from water.

Contact Ricketts at 615-898-2430.
sricketts@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.
dmcwatte@mtsu.edu

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.

HOMETOWN BOYS AND GIRLS MAKE GOOD--ATTENTION, EDITORS AND REPORTERS: Admissions officials have released their list of some 554 students who, as of May 30, have accepted scholarships to attend MTSU beginning in the fall 2008 semester. To obtain the list of those students from your Tennessee county who were awarded scholarships for the upcoming academic term, please go to http://www.mtsunews.com and click on the “Scholarship Recipients” link on the upper left-hand side of the page. Click on the “2008--June” link, which will lead to an alphabetical, county-by-county listing. This list includes each student’s hometown, high school, name of scholarship and award amount. Please note that students are listed by county based upon the information they provided to MTSU’s Records Office regarding their permanent address. Contact the Office of Admissions at 615-898-2111 or visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~admissn.

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.

THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE PLAYSTATION.--Budding authors who have completed fourth through 12th grades will invade MTSU next week for the Youth Writers’ Camp presented by the Middle Tennessee Writing Project. This two-week day camp today through June 19 helps kids who are excited about writing make connections with experienced classroom teachers who have a passion for writing. The camp counselors strive to make sure that students become more confident in their own writing ability while fostering a supportive, non-threatening environment. Youngsters will receive realistic feedback from peers and mentors, explore new writing styles and topics, and meet published authors. For more information, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~mtwp or contact Angela Pope, Youth Camp Coordinator, at pope_a@worldnet.att.net or Dr. Bobbie Solley, MTWP Director, at bsolley@mtsu.edu.