Thursday, August 7, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Her song

“Women in Music,” a brand new class to be taught at MTSU this fall, will be an exploration of the vast variety of women’s musical activities. Dr. Felicia Miyakawa, who will teach both undergraduates and graduate students, says, “The course will cover not only women composers in the western tradition, but also women performers, women patrons, and women as objects and symbols in the marketing of music.” Students will discuss cultural constructions of gender as they pertain to music, identify important women in musical history and outline their significance, talk about connections between diverse forms of feminism and their manifestations in music and much more. Women to be studied will range from Clara Schumann to Janis Joplin and from Jenny Lind to Tori Amos.

Contact Miyakawa at 615-904-8043.
miyakawa@mtsu.edu

Going global

Not all the export news was bad for Tennessee in the first economic quarter. While the transportation and computer sectors suffered losses, Dr. Steven Livingston, political science, says, “It was another good quarter for the state’s medical industries. Medical equipment sales were up strongly in the Euro zone, the U.K., Japan, and Australia. … Total medicament and pharmaceutical exports were up well over 50 percent for the quarter. Chemicals were strong, enough so that the sector was able to leapfrog the computer and electronics industry to again become the state’s second largest export industry. Most of the gains were in medical products plastics and synthetic textiles rather than in ‘pure’ chemicals.”

Contact Livingston at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu

In the “o” zone

Is ozone divided into “good” and “bad” characterizations the way cholesterol is? Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says, “For instance, stratospheric ozone is said to be ‘good’ because it absorbs a lot of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation that can quickly burn fair skin. I would say it is really good because I have fair skin, and UV radiation is more intense at the northern latitudes where I learned that ozone is a less stable form of the element that we’ll suffocate without—apparently three’s a crowd for oxygen because ozone has one more atom than the paired atoms we breathe. On the other hand, ground-level ozone is said to be ‘bad’ because it is one of the most harmful components of air pollution. Eager to ditch the extra oxygen atom, lung tissue gets damaged, or oxidized, when we breathe even low concentrations of ozone for an extended period.”

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

TR EXTRA

“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.

A REALLY BIG SHEW--The August edition of “Middle Tennessee Record” is packed with fascinating stories and compelling video of MTSU sights and sounds. Watch the Plant and Soil Science Club’s members as they grow and sell farm-fresh produce to raise funds. Check out the art deco-style Jazz Age mural painted by professor Erin Anfinsson at the Heritage Center in downtown Murfreesboro. Return with MTSU alumni to those thrilling days of yesteryear at the inaugural Alumni Summer College. And celebrate the success of the Center for Environmental Education, whose latest video to promote clean water in Tennessee won a Silver Telly Award. “Middle Tennessee Record” airs on NewsChannel5+ at 1:30 p.m. on Sundays. For a complete listing of other cable outlets that run the program, go to www.mtsunews.com. Contact John Lynch at 615-898-2919 or jlynch@mtsu.edu.

WELCOME, NEIGHBOR!--As state Rep. John Hood leaves the Tennessee General Assembly following six terms serving the 48th District, he embarks on a new mission for MTSU’s Office of Community Engagement and Support. Hood began assisting Dr. Gloria Bonner, the director of the office, on Aug. 1. “During my 12 years in the legislature, I have worked in support of MTSU, and this will give me another opportunity to represent the university with the community and local governments,” Hood says. Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, MTSU president, adds, “Any endeavor that John is involved in will be enhanced and enriched by his knowledge and skills, and we are extremely fortunate that he will continue to be a valuable resource for a university that he loves and has served for so many years.”Contact Tom Tozer in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or ttozer@mtsu.edu for more information.

“POVERTY IS LIKE PUNISHMENT FOR A CRIME YOU DIDN’T COMMIT”—ELI KHAMAROV--MTSU student Steve Sibley will realize the educational experience of a lifetime this fall when he interns for 10 weeks in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank, the financial institution founded by Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former MTSU professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus. Sibley is the first recipient of the Kawahito Scholarship for Experiential World Poverty Studies. Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, for whom the scholarship is named, says he created it to give students a chance to live in some of the most debilitating conditions on the planet, examine why these areas are impoverished and witness conscientious efforts to fight the poverty. “You have to jump into the midst of poverty and really observe and feel how poor people live and struggle,” says the professor emeritus of economics and finance and former director of the U.S.-Japan Program. For interviews or photos, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO GRADUATE.--Cancer survivor Gayle Jones has overcome enormous obstacles to earn her degree in liberal studies, which she will collect at MTSU’s summer 2008 commencement this Saturday, Aug. 9, in Murphy Center. The 50-year-old Hendersonville resident says, “The very same week I started fall classes at MTSU is when I started having (health) problems. I went to the doctor. He said it was a thyroid problem, but he did not know if it was malignant because the tests were inconclusive. I had surgery Oct. 9—in the middle of fall break and midterms. They tested it, and it was malignant, so they removed the entire thyroid.” Doctors recently told Jones she is cancer-free. Her 22-year-old son, Jordan, is a junior and a business administration major at MTSU. For an interview with Jones, contact Randy Weiler in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu.