Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Hope I download before I get old.

Pete Townshend, co-founder of The Who, says, “iTunes simply doesn’t have heart. It is software attached to a bank, nothing more, nothing less. Brilliant, but heartless.” Ken Sanney, adjunct recording industry professor at MTSU and licensed attorney, will demystify digital downloading on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Sept. 28, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Sanney, an associate with the Brentwood law firm of Day & Blair, P.C., will discuss the addition of digital downloads to audiobook offerings by the Borders bookstore chain, the role of musicians’ unions in the debate over the revenue split for digital downloads, and the music-streaming service Last.fm, which is paying unsigned artists for songs played on the site.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800. To hear last week’s show, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2008.html and click on “September 21, 2008.”

So much for having it your way

The three-way tussle among McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King for the cash-strapped customer is reaching its apex with so-called “value meal” menus. Lots of items have been priced at about $1. But Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says even value meal items are becoming more expensive. “Menu items for $1 are no longer realistic in that they are no longer low-margin items but, in many cases, loss leaders,” Roy says. “Thus, the frame of reference for what are value prices is shifting upward. Burger King has added two new items to its value menu (Cheesy Bacon BK Wrapper and Spicy Chicken BK Wrapper) at a price of $1.39. It is expected that other brands will have little choice but to follow suit if they intend to continue to market value-priced menu items.”

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

The miracle of microfinance

Steve Sibley’s first excursion from the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka to an outlying village reaffirmed his belief that microfinance can help poverty-stricken people. Sibley, an MTSU senior from Signal Mountain, is using his Kawahito Scholarship to study microfinance, the practice of lending money to people with little or no collateral so they may improve their lives, at Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Prize-winner and former MTSU professor Muhammad Yunus. Sibley writes about a woman named Shohana, who was borrowing 600,000 taka (more than $8,800). “With her first loan [3,000 taka 14 years ago], Shohana bought a used, broken-down bus,” he writes. “She and her husband repaired the bus and started a bus service. … The loan was funneled through the woman to her husband. However, Shohana and her husband now operate six buses. Her 600,000-taka loan is going to be used to purchase their seventh bus.”

For more information on the Kawahito Scholarship for Experiential World Poverty Studies, contact Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito at 615-898-5751.
kawahito@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

HABLAMOS ESPANOL--MTSU’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month is in full swing through Oct. 15 with numerous cultural and informational events on tap. On Wednesday, Oct. 1, Dr. Sidney McPhee, MTSU President, will attend a reception for Hispanic students from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 316 of the Keathley University Center (KUC). On Monday, Oct. 6, Sidelines, the student newspaper, will feature a crossword puzzle with a Hispanic history theme. Prizes will be awarded in KUC Room 326 for the first five correct submittals. Also, ongoing Hispanic Poetry Periods and Latin music experiences will be conducted near the KUC Knoll, and special programming will be shown in dormitory lobbies. WMOT-FM (89.5) will air Latin jazz every Sunday. All events are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812.

IN THE EYE OF THE ALUMNI--The MTSU Department of Art is hosting its second biennial exhibition of works by alumni, aptly titled “Alumni 2008,” through tomorrow, Sept. 26, in Todd Gallery. About 50 pieces representing a variety of media make up the exhibit, which will feature the art of Diane Fox (’86), Glenda Guinn (’85), George Juliano (’69), Rebecca Parker (’04), Jim Poag (’77), Tom Sain (’84), Patricia Tenpenny (’92) and Vicki Terry (’92). “They are active educators in higher education, performance artists or independent artists,” says Eric Snyder, gallery curator. “Their works are seen across the country, internationally in galleries and museums, found in private collections, and seen in regional and national publications.” Located on the first floor of the Todd Building, the Todd Gallery is open from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and closed on all state holidays. Admission is always free, and exhibits are open to the public. Contact Snyder at 615-898-5653 or esnyder@mtsu.edu.

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO AROUND.--The federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Bank of America’s agreement to acquire Merrill Lynch, the Chapter 11 filing by Lehman Brothers and other dramatic developments make this year’s MTSU Economic Outlook Conference a must. The conference will take place tomorrow, Sept. 26, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 1200 Conference Center Blvd. in Murfreesboro. Dr. James Bullard, President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, will speak at 9 a.m. Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, will provide the Midstate/Regional Economic Update at 10:30 a.m. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regents Professor of Economics Emeritus at Georgia State University in Atlanta, will deliver the luncheon address during the noon hour. For more information, contact Dr. Jim Burton, Dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, at 615-898-2764 or eburton@mtsu.edu.

NO NEED FOR THE TIM RUSSERT MEMORIAL DRY ERASE BOARD (FLORIDA! FLORIDA! FLORIDA!)—MTSU students will prepare and broadcast their own election night roundup live on MTTV, Channel 10, from 8 p.m. to 11 or possibly later, on Election Night, Tuesday, Nov. 4, depending on how close the tallies are. “It becomes more than just an organizational exercise, which is important,” says Dr. Bob Pondillo, who teaches “Electronic Media Production: Election Night News Coverage.” “However, it’s one thing to know how to make great television, but it’s quite another to know how to engage the community.” Although arrangements are subject to revision at a moment’s notice depending on the circumstances, the class is planning on three bases for live shots. The percentages in each race will be displayed at the bottom of the television screen through a black box Associated Press interface device. Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465 or pondillo@mtsu.edu.

THE MAIN COURSE IS GRITS.--Girls Raised in Tennessee Science, or GRITS, will hold its Collaborative Kickoff Conference tomorrow, Sept. 26, at MTSU. The event is open to anyone interested in helping girls become involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educational aspects, says Lacey Fleming, assistant director of GRITS. Attendees may be from education (K-12 and postsecondary), business, government and community-based and professional organizations across Tennessee and surrounding states. Dr. Leslie Wisner-Lynch, a co-founder of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc., will be the keynote speaker. The kickoff will run from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will be held in the Keathley University Center lobby, theater, and KUC Room 322. Fleming says “people who are involved with companies or heading up programs with girls” are especially encouraged to attend the kickoff. Media welcomed. Go to mtsu.edu/~grits or contact Fleming at 615-494-7763 or lfleming@mtsu.edu.