Wednesday, June 26, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

All that glitters isn’t lead.

In days of yore, alchemists tried to turn lead into gold, a highly tempting feat in today’s recession. Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says even Sir Isaac Newton devoted time to the transmutation of the elements. MacDougall says today we know that “… lead can be turned into gold. But it would be prohibitively expensive to do so, and the gold would be ‘hot’ in the radioactive sense. On the other hand, there may come a day when your life depends on transmutation. For instance, a diagnostic procedure used in treating coronary artery disease uses radioactive thallium-201. These atoms are produced on-site by transmutation of lead-201 atoms using portable isotope generators. And they are worth far more than their weight in gold both to the patient and to the medical supply company.”

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

It just doesn’t ad up.

Is television losing its marketing power? According to a study by Forrester Research for the Association of National Advertisers, 62 percent of marketers surveyed say TV ads have lessened in effectiveness in the past two years. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “The case for television advertising is not helped by the fact that much of the creativity we see in TV advertising today is not very good … OK, it’s bad! A disconnect exists too often between the message the creative people deliver and the branding needs of the advertiser. … Ad agencies are adept at creating messages that are entertaining (sometimes), but how does the entertainment value of an ad message fit into an integrated marketing communication strategy?”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

Science is our business.

The Master of Science in Professional Science degree program at MTSU has grown from three students in the spring of 2005 to 55 students last semester (spring 2008). The first six graduates from a partnership between the College of Basic and Applied Sciences and Blue Cross/Blue Shield received their diplomas last month. In fact, Dr. Allen Naidoo of Blue Cross/Blue Shield is chairman of the MS-PS Advisory Board. The MS-PS is a new kind of degree program aimed at preparing graduates for careers in corporate America. It emphasizes expertise in both science and business. There are strong concentrations in biotechnology, biostatistics, and health care informatics.

Contact Dr. Saeed Foroudastan, associate dean, at 615-494-8786.
sforouda@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.

CHINESE MATH-CHECKERS--MTSU and Northwest Normal University in Lanzhou, People’s Republic of China, will co-host a workshop on mathematics and science education on MTSU’s campus the week of June 22-27. Participation is by invitation only and will include 125 scholars, 50 confirmed from 20 universities in China and 75 confirmed from 40 universities in the United States. The week’s activities will begin Sunday, June 22, with a dinner event during which U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon will deliver the opening address. “The purpose of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for researchers from the United States and China to meet, discuss and identify common priorities that promote collaborative research,” says Dr. Diane Miller, the event’s organizing committee co-chair. Contact Miller at 615-898-2881 or dmiller@mtsu.edu.

DOES A KID SIT IN THE WOODS?--The MTSU Campus Recreation Center’s Adventure Camp for young people ages 14 to 17 is set for June 23-27 at a cost of $175 per camper. Students will learn and develop skills they can use to explore the great outdoors with an introduction to canoeing, a day hike, kayaking the Hiwassee River overnight and rafting the Ocoee River. Campers are responsible for their own food, and a healthy lunch is recommended. Organizers say a water bottle is a must. Participants may register at the Campus Rec office from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or by mail. Registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and a $25 nonrefundable deposit for each session must accompany the registration, but it will be applied to the total cost of the camp. For more details, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~camprec, or call 615-898-2104.