Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The best and the brightest

Dr. Debra Sells, associate vice provost for Academic Support Services, has been appointed interim vice president for the Division of Student Affairs, effective Aug. 1. She replaces Dr. Bob Glenn, who has accepted the position of president at Athens (Ala.) State University. Sells says she sees her greatest challenge as being able to prioritize and figure out which areas need the most attention. She says her management style is simply to hire the very best people and give them the support and direction they need to do what they do well. “Hiring the very best people for each job is one of our most important responsibilities,” Sells says. “I want to hire the smartest, most highly qualified people we can attract to MTSU.”

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

Do clothes make the mandate?

In May, a federal appellate court upheld a lower court decision in Jacobs v. Clark County School District. Several students who had been suspended for violating the dress code filed suit, claiming their free speech rights had been violated, but the courts have sided largely with the school system. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says civil libertarians are concerned that this flies in the face of the 1969 ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. “In Tinker, the court ruled that public school officials violated the … rights of several students when they suspended them for wearing black armbands,” Hudson says. “The court in Tinker created the standard that public school officials cannot censor student expression unless they can reasonably forecast that the student expression will create a substantial disruption of school activities or invade the rights of others.”

Contact Hudson at 615-727-1600.
dhudson@fac.org

Recovering relics in Rebel country

After a lot of hard work under the brutal summer sun, the volunteers involved in the Harding House Civil War History Survey hopes that they will be allowed to return to the site after construction crews begin grading the area for development. On July 19-20, the team under the supervision of Dr. Tom Nolan and Zada Law, geosciences professors, recovered a Civil War-period spur with a silver rowel. Nolan says, “It even had the chain and buckle that had held it on (its owner’s boot) … and you could see how it had been lost because one of the attachments on it broke.” The Harding House site is reported to be the venue of heavy fighting during the initial Confederate attack on Stones River Battlefield. Nolan says the small amounts of ammunition and other artifacts found there will help historians better pinpoint the location of the troops on the first day of the Stones River conflict.

To request interviews, contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.
lrollins@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.