Monday, July 28, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Evinrude, eat your heart out!

MTSU is conducting cutting edge research in the field of alternative fuels, and part of the process is having students build their own conveyances and match them against vehicles built by other schools. Dr. Saeed Foroudastan, associate dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, says one such contest is the annual Solar Splash World Championship of Intercollegiate Boating. In 2007, Foroudastan says, “MTSU won first place in Outstanding Drive Train Design, third for Outstanding Technical Report, fourth for Visual Display, and sixth in Workmanship. In the Technical Design Report, MTSU scored 85 out of 90 possible points, less than one point from winning second place. In 2006, the solar boat received the Rookie of the Year award with the highest overall score.”

Contact Foroudastan at 615-494-8786.
sforouda@mtsu.edu

Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation!

MTSU has agreed in principle with Pepsi Bottling Group on a five-year contract for pouring rights on the Murfreesboro campus. This includes the positioning of ads and vending machines for Pepsi products, including Mountain Dew, 7Up, Squirt, Aquafina, Propel, Tropicana, Life Water, Lipton and Gatorade. The agreement, which is still being finalized and is expected to be signed in early August, is renewable for an additional five years. Coca-Cola bottling just ended a 10-year tenure on campus. “We hope to have 95 percent of the Pepsi machines on campus changed out by the end of July,” says Joe Hugh, assistant vice president for procurement services at MTSU. “Part of the requirement was to replace all of the equipment on campus and guarantee that the commissions would be as great as they were last year with Coke.”

Contact Tom Tozer in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.
ttozer@mtsu.edu

“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”—Mark Twain

With a lifetime in academic achievement, Dr. Bob Glenn, outgoing vice president of student affairs and vice provost for enrollment management, knows the importance of integrity at the highest levels of university administration. “Integrity is central to any kind of leadership, and the reason for that is because people will not follow you if they can’t trust you,” Glenn says. For example, he notes, what or whom you choose to laugh at is a telltale sign of character or lack of same. Another factor is how you treat people who are not in a position to help you. “You look in any culture, Christian or non-Christian, you’ll find a version of the Golden Rule because it is a universal truth and is core to integrity,” Glenn says. “Look at how people treat someone who can’t do anything for them.” (Beginning Aug. 1, Glenn will take over the presidency of Athens State University in Alabama.)

Contact Glenn at 615-898-2440.
rglenn@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.

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.

“A POLITICIAN IS A STATESMAN WHO APPROACHES EVERY QUESTION WITH AN OPEN MOUTH.”—ADLAI STEVENSON--Has a particular turn of phrase in a politician’s speech caught your ear and made you wonder why he or she chose those particular words? What is the speaker really saying? How do the candidates get their messages across to the voters? To figure all this out in this presidential election year, students can sign up for “Political Communication,” a class to be taught this fall at MTSU by Dr. Russell Church, speech and theatre professor. Participants will take on questions of whether race and gender are still issues, who votes and why, whether candidates are now more important than parties, whether the media now call all the shots, the power of interest groups, and how parties can increase turnout. The class will take place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:20 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. Contact Church at 615-494-7958 or rchurch@mtsu.edu.

TO THE “NTH” DEGREE—A projected 832 degree candidates will graduate during the 96th annual summer commencement ceremony at MTSU. The single-ceremony graduation will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 9, in Murphy Center with Dr. Kevin E. Smith, professor for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the current MTSU representative of the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Faculty Subcouncil, delivering the commencement address. At 8:30 a.m., Aug. 9, Murphy Center doors will open for the commencement ceremony. Candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas, dressed in their caps and gowns, no later than 9 a.m. Officials report that students who are not in their assigned places at the proper times will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Because commencement rehearsals are no longer conducted, timely attendance is mandatory for students to receive important instructions. Contact the Records Office at 615-898-2600 or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~records/grad.htm.

THE SOUNDS OF SYRIA AND SAUDI ARABIA (AND MORE) --You can be transported to fascinating locales this fall without ever leaving home. Explore the fascinating, diverse “Music of the Middle East” in a new course at MTSU. Dr. David B. Pruett will take you on a “trip” through various Middle Eastern cultural soundscapes, including the relationship between folk, classical and popular musical traditions. Students also will examine music’s role in religious expression in the region. The class will take place from 6-9 p.m. on Mondays in Room 205 of the Saunders Fine Arts Building. Contact Pruett at 615-904-8354 or dpruett@mtsu.edu.

STAND AND DELIVER--The ninth annual MTSU McNair Symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, July 30 and 31, in the Tom H. Jackson Building. The McNair Program is designed to give low-income/first-generation and under-represented undergraduate students the support they need to prepare for and successfully complete a doctorate degree in their chosen fields. McNair scholars will make oral presentations of their 2008 summer research. Their research posters also will be on display. Topics to be addressed by the scholars include “A Mystery on Our Plate: Beliefs about Agriculture from a College Peer Group;” “Benefits of Physical Therapy from the Patients’ Perspective;” “Perceptions of Campus Crime Prevention Activities;” and “From Fright to Fight: The Evolution of the Female Action Hero.” Contact Cindy Howell at 615-904-8462 or chowell@mtsu.edu.