Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Want to find something in your stocking? Put your leg in it.

How much money do you intend to spend on Christmas gifts this year? According to the MTSU Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index, 45 percent of local consumers plan to spend less than they spent last year. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research, says, “Less than half (46 percent) of consumers expect to spend more than $500. However, this compares favorably to the 27 percent of consumers across the country as a whole who plan to spend more than $500 (Conference Board Survey, Nov. 21, 2008). The recent downturn in the economy has not dampened the spending spirits of all consumers. One in six (17 percent) expect to spend more than $1,000 on Christmas and holiday gifts this year.”

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

Sales and the city

Chattanooga and Clarksville aren’t faring any better economically than the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) or Tennessee as a whole. The latest edition of Midstate Economic Indicators from MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) states, “Both areas are experiencing sharp increases in unemployment, sharp declines in taxable sales and declining nonfarm employment. Similar to the Nashville MSA and Tennessee, both experienced a very large drop in taxable sales in the third quarter, down 1.7 percent for the Chattanooga MSA and 5.5 percent in the Clarksville MSA over the year. Remarkably, most of the drop in sales occurred in the quarter just ended with Chattanooga down 2.6 percent from the second quarter and Clarksville down 3.1 percent.”

Contact Dr. David Penn, BERC Director, at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu

“I’m going to live forever/Baby, remember my name”—from “Fame” by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford

What would you be willing to give up to become famous? Well, some people think media attention to “Joe the Plumber” has gotten out of hand, but Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, says Joe brought a lot of this on himself by embarking on a recording career and writing a book. Burriss says, “There is a phrase that often comes up in debate about privacy and fame, and that is ‘voluntarily thrust himself into the vortex of public debate.’ The phrase means Joe Wurzelbacher volunteered to become ‘Joe the Plumber.’ He volunteered to become famous. And with that fame, rightly or wrongly, comes public and media scrutiny.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

LEAVE ROOM FOR THE BLOOMS--MTSU’s Plant and Soil Science Club continues its annual poinsettia sale on Thursday, Dec. 11, and Friday, Dec. 12, from 12-5 p.m. at the Horticulture Facility just off Blue Raider Drive. Four-inch pots cost $3 each, and 6-inch pots cost $5 each. Chrysanthemums also will be on sale in four-inch pots for $3 each. For more information, contact Nathan Phillips at 615-494-8985.

A WORK OF ART--The works of MTSU art professors John Donovan and Erin Anfinson are on display at the Tennessee Arts Commission Gallery in Nashville through Friday, Dec. 12. Anfinson’s encaustic paintings and Donovan’s ceramic sculpture have been on display since Nov. 6. Both artists view this exhibition as an opportunity to connect what they teach in the classroom with their own creative studio practices. Their students will have the opportunity to view and enjoy the work and to better understand the effort that goes into an active and successful creative career. The gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call Julie Roberts at 615-532-9798 or julie.roberts@state.tn.us.

MIDDLE EAST MACKIE--An MTSU senior is one of only 10 college students in the nation selected to study as a William Jefferson Clinton Scholar in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next semester. Nick Mackie, who is a double major in archaeology and international relations with a minor in Middle East studies, will depart for UAE on Tuesday, Jan. 6, and study at American University in Dubai (AUD) through the spring 2009 semester, returning on April 30. Although a semester at AUD costs $15,000, the Clinton scholarship will absorb nearly $10,700 of that amount. His courses include Comparative Politics of the Middle East, Islamic Art and Architecture, Media Culture and Society, History of the Middle East, and second-year Arabic language studies. For more information, contact Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science, at 615-494-8662 or kpeterse@mtsu.edu.