Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Rock the house!

Bolstered by an all-time record enrollment of 90 participants, the sixth annual Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp will shake up the MTSU campus July 14-19. As usual, the camp will culminate in a powerful showcase concert when the girls will form nearly 20 bands and show off their talents at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 19, in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building. Girls ages 10-17 will receive instruction in guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, vocals, hip-hop and electronic music. In addition, they will learn about songwriting, recording, music “herstory,” DIY arts and crafts and zine making in workshops. Independent female performers slated to lend their expertise include Michelle Malone, Anne McCue, Kelly Shay Hicks and Caitlin Rose. Admission to the Saturday night showcase is $8 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m. Concert begins at 7 p.m. The camp is a flagship program of Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities, a nonprofit organization.

Contact the camp office at 615-849-8140.
sgrrc05@gmail.com

An honorable man

Dr. John Vile spent 19 years of his distinguished academic career as chair of the MTSU Department of Political Science. The mock trial teams he has coached have placed in the top 10 nationally for 11 years, and MTSU plays host to one of the largest invitational mock trial tournaments in the nation as a result of his hard work. Now he embarks on a new adventure as the dean of the University Honors College. Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, says Vile is “an exemplary academic, an involved university and community citizen, and a man with a wonderful laugh.” You can hear that laugh as well as Vile’s insights into the future of higher education when he guests on “MTSU On the Record,” a 30-minute public affairs program, hosted by Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 on the radio or wmot.org) at 7 a.m. this Sunday, July 6.

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596 or jvile@mtsu.edu
For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Gina Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

Tough times, tough questions

Nobel Prize-winner Paul Samuelson defines economics as “the study of the allocation of scarce resources to competing ends over time to maximize utility.” In the latest edition of “Tennessee’s Business,” Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the MTSU College of Business, uses this definition to frame his thoughts about the current budget crunch. He writes, “What do we really care about? What do we want to maximize? Is K-12 state education more important than state parks? Are new highways more important than higher education? Is the possible increase in crime a reasonable tradeoff for fewer police on the streets? We need to be asking ourselves questions such as these. And we need forums where we can and will do exactly that. Of course, it is easier just to make ‘cuts across the board.’ Everyone takes off 1% or 2% or 20% or whatever the number may be. But that sort of decision process raises the really important and very difficult questions, ‘What is utility?’ and ‘Are we maximizing it?’”

Contact Burton at 615-898-2764.
eburton@mtsu.edu
Read “Tennessee’s Business” online at http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc.

TR EXTRA

GOING STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE--A grant of $300,000 to the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation will provide Tennessee educators with opportunities to access some of the most important historical documents of the American experience. The money comes from the Library of Congress through its Teaching with Primary Sources program. Some of the primary sources available through the Library of Congress include the complete papers of Abraham Lincoln and the complete papers of Thomas Jefferson. The Age of Jackson, the Civil War and Reconstruction period, the Depression Decade and World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement will be the first four eras on which the center will focus, says Dr. Stacey Graham, research professor at the Center for Historic Preservation and project coordinator. “Those are points in Tennessee history that are also important in American history,” Graham says. Contact Graham at 615-494-8783 or sgraham@mtsu.edu.

ATTACK THE TAX!--The MTSU College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning and the Tennessee Department of Revenue will offer a Tennessee Business Tax Seminar from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Murfreesboro. Continuing Education and Distance Learning Director David Foster says, “This seminar is extremely valuable and pertinent to anyone who prepares or pays taxes. In this economic environment when we all have to tighten our belts, we want to make sure we’re paying our legal obligations but no more. One idea from here could save thousands of dollars.” Online registration is $155, a savings of $10 per registrant over other methods. Registration includes all materials, breakfast, lunch and refreshments. For more information or to register, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/learn.
Contact Foster at 615-898-5033 or dfoster@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.

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.

A FOGGY DAY IN MUSIC CITY--Charles Fogg is the first African-American criminal court judge in Nashville history, but his climb up the ladder of jurisprudence isn’t an easy one. Fogg dispenses justice and wisdom as his personal life crumbles under the expectations of power and wealth in the decadent 1980s. This is the basis of Judge Fogg, a novel by Randy O’Brien, News Director for MTSU’s public radio station, WMOT-FM. Steven Womack, Edgar Award-winning author of Dead Folks Blues, says, “Judge Fogg is compelling and engaging and I guarantee you, if you’ll just read the first chapter, you won’t be able to put it down. It’s not only a page-turner, but a page-turner that makes you think and moves you profoundly.” O’Brien will discuss and sign copies of Judge Fogg at Davis-Kidd Booksellers, 2121 Green Hills Village Drive in Nashville, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 10. Contact O’Brien at 615-898-2800 or robrien@mtsu.edu.