Monday, July 21, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The troll under the digital bridge

That guy who hung out under a bridge and harassed the three billy goats walking over it in the popular fairy tale may be the most famous troll in history. But he's not the only "troll" out there. A "troll," in Internet-speak, is someone who posts something provocative online just for the sake of baiting other users or to get attention. Dr. John Maynor, political science, says these users and others who post vulgar, irrelevant or obnoxious comments are making it difficult for the blogosphere to gain credibility as a place for serious public discourse. "At times, the language of blogging can be said to lie far outside of the norms of civility as the words idiot, cretin, stupid, and, of course, other more obscene uses of language regularly appear on many blogs," Maynor says. "The upshot is that incivility is threatening the emergence of a useful and meaningful new area of public space that can help encourage and transform political engagement."

Contact Maynor at 615-898-2708.
jmaynor@mtsu.edu

Got any Edison phonograph cylinders?

If you have audio, video or pictorial keepsakes you’d like to pass on to your descendants, make sure you keep preserving them in whatever the latest format happens to be. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalist, warns, “Did you know that some linguists and symbologists are trying to figure out what kinds of signage to put on nuclear waste repositories so people will know what they are several thousand years from now? If you think that’s silly, remember that until the 1800s, it was impossible for anyone to read hieroglyphics. The meanings of the symbols had been completely forgotten after only a couple of thousand years.” So it will be with 8-track tapes, beta videotapes, reel-to-reel tapes, CDs and USB drives one day.

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

It’s the real thing.

Consumers still need gasoline and food even though prices are rising. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, is not so sure that all consumers will bite the bullet when the largest producer of Coca-Cola products in the U.S. raises prices after Labor Day. He thinks consumers will opt for lower-priced carbonated beverages, cut back on consumption or stop drinking soft drinks altogether. “I don't fault Coca-Cola for seeking to cover its costs, but Coke is accepting a risk that its sales will take a hit,” Roy says. “A situation like this is precisely why companies need to avoid a reliance on selling price-sensitive products. If Coca-Cola can deliver innovative, unique products, it would have a chance to realize higher profit margins that the commoditized standard cola product cannot deliver.”

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

TR EXTRA

WAR AND REMEMBRANCE--An MTSU history professor will accompany students and members of the community on an exploration of the Central Pacific World War II battlefields of Guam, Iwo Jima and Pelelieu in the Spring 2009 semester. Dr. Derek Frisby, who is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, says the trip is part of MTSU’s Study Abroad program (MT Abroad) and will offer students college credit for studying in international settings. Participants will study the World War II Pacific campaigns in the presence of surviving American and Japanese veterans. They will tour the War in the Pacific National Historical Park, hike through the jungles of Pelelieu and meet on Guam with American and Japanese historians and Iwo Jima veterans. Participants who choose not to enroll in the course may still join the expedition. Additional information can be found at http://www.mtsu.edu/~dfrisby. Contact Frisby at 615-494-8620 or
dfrisby@mtsu.edu.

LEND A HAND--Have you checked out the new gizmo in the MTSU ID office? It utilizes hand-geometry technology in bringing identification cards up to date. When you get a new ID, you place your hand into the outline on the hand scanner, which reads your own distinctive silhouette (not fingerprints or palm prints). The device turns the silhouette into an alphanumeric template, which will be linked in the system to an “M” number. That’s a personalized ID number that will be used instead of a Social Security number. Hand readers also will be installed on the turnstiles at the Campus Recreation Center, which will help folks who forget their ID cards. By this fall, each student, faculty and staff member will have a new BlueID and a “Hand Reader” scan in the system. Contact the BlueID office at 615-898-5523. If you want to know more about hand-geometry technology, visit www.biometrics.gov/Documents/HandGeometry.pdf.

TOWER OF EMPOWERMENT--An educational video produced for a program administered through MTSU’s Center for Environmental Education has won a coveted Silver Telly Award. “The Empower Hour” was made for WaterWorks!, a program designed to educate the public about how to protect water quality. The 13-minute video featured students from Brentwood High School and the Nashville School for the Arts. It was distributed to high schools, public access channels, and other outlets to enlighten viewers about the environmental impact of automotive fluids and the proper ways to recycle or dispose of them. The video was chosen from among approximately 13,500 entries and judged by more than 40 video, advertising and TV industry professionals. Broadcast Media Group of Starkville, Miss., produced it in conjunction with Nashville-based Bill Hudson & Associates. For more information about WaterWorks!, call 615-898-2660 or visit http://www.tennesseewaterworks.com.

HOMETOWN HEROES--“Revisiting and Re-visioning the Hometown” is a unique opportunity for MTSU Honors students to learn more about the history, people, traditions, and future of their respective hometowns. The class, which is scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays in the Fall 2008 semester, will require students to write journal entries and finished essays. They will make contacts in their communities, forming partnerships with schools, senior centers and other socially important groups or entities. Under the guidance of Dr. Ron Kates, English, each student will synthesize what he or she has learned in other classes to create a suitable and effective approach to the topic. Participants will create and refine the history-making and re-visioning processes as they learn while teaching others. Contact Kates at 615-898-2595 or rkates@mtsu.edu.

THE NAME GAME--Place Names of Rutherford County, the newest exhibit at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, explores the history and folklore of how communities and geographic landmarks earned their names. The exhibit provides information on topics such as who Walter Hill was and why Murfreesboro’s major river is called the Stones River. Melissa Zimmerman, heritage programming specialist for the center, says, “Rutherford County has a rich and diverse history, and its place names serve as markers for the people who passed through or settled in the area.” MTSU students Heather Bailey and Kevin Cason, both Ph.D. candidates in the university’s public history program, created the exhibit. Contact the center at 615-217-8013. To request interviews, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or lrollins@mtsu.edu.

BLAST FROM THE PAST--Some 40-50 artifacts were recovered July 12 near the Stones River Battlefield on the first day of the Harding House Civil War History Survey, a geospatial/archaeological project that is being conducted this month on land slated for development this summer. Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology, along with archaeologist Zada Law, led the all-volunteer team on its first day of the survey, which yielded Civil War-era artifact finds such as lead shot, a minie ball and a canister shot, among other battle-related discoveries. “Once the area is developed, this historic record will be gone for good so it’s vital that we work to recover historically significant artifacts and identify the location of the Harding house and any outbuildings to further an existing GIS study on regimental positions and movements during the Battle of Stones River,” Nolan says. To request interviews, contact Lisa L. Rollins at 615-494-8857 and lrollins@mtsu.edu.