Friday, January 30, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The internship for Bangladesh

Steve Sibley, a Fall 2008 MTSU graduate, will talk about his experiences working with the poverty-stricken population of Bangladesh on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Feb. 1, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Sibley, the initial recipient of the Kawahito Scholarship for Experiential World Poverty Studies, worked at the Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former MTSU economics professor Dr. Muhammed Yunus, in the capital city of Dhaka. Sibley lived among the people who took out small loans from the bank, which helped them create or enhance small businesses to improve the quality of their lives.

For more information, call Gina Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

…and I can see Russia from my desk!

Andranik Migranyan, one of Russia’s foremost foreign policy experts, will speak at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building at MTSU. This event is free and open to the public. The director of the New York branch of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation, Migranyan also is a professor of political science at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. He has been an acting member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation since 2005. A frequent commentator on television and radio, Migranyan has published several books and hundreds of articles in leading Russian and international publications.

For more information, contact Dr. Andrei Korobkov at 615-898-2945.
korobkov@mtsu.edu

“This is the NFL, which stands for ‘not for long’ when you make calls like that.”—Former Atlanta Falcons head coach Jerry Glanville to an official

Some people don’t know anything about football. Furthermore, they don’t care anything about football. Those poor souls will be persona non grata this Sunday, when the Arizona Cardinals take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and football fan, has some advice for those people who will have to go back to the office on Monday and make water cooler conversation. Burriss says, “Walk up to the group, and, before anyone says anything to you, blurt out, ‘Wow, wasn’t that a great effort there in the fourth quarter?’ Immediately, everyone will start to talk about all the plays they can think of. And all you have to say is, ‘Yeah, but it worked better in the regular season.’”

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

TR EXTRA

MELTING POT, MOSAIC, OR MELANGE?--Eugene Robinson, associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post and MSNBC political analyst, will speak at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, in MTSU’s Keathley University Center Theater. This event, which is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and the MTSU Black History Committee, is free and open to the public. Robinson, whose twice-weekly Post column is syndicated in 145 newspapers across the country, will speak on “We’re Someplace We’ve Never Been: Race, Diversity and the New America.” The address will focus on Robinson’s upbringing in segregated South Carolina with reviews of the educational and economic progress made by African-Americans, the increase in interracial marriage, the rise of Latinos as the largest minority group in the U.S., the polarization of Americans according to class, and the scientific consensus that race is meaningless except as a social construct. For more information, contact Dr. Sekou Franklin at 615-904-8232 or franklin@mtsu.edu.

DESIGNING WOMEN—AND MEN--Shirley Horowitz, interior designer and owner of Davishire Interiors, will visit MTSU on Saturday, Feb. 7, to serve as the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Interior Design Showcase. Members of the MTSU student chapter of ASID/IIDA will serve as hosts for the Nashville-based designer’s upcoming talk, “An Interior Design Journey: The Interior Renovation of Far Hills, Tennessee Governor’s Residence,” which will be presented in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. In addition to the public lecture, “Students in the MTSU interior design program will present vignettes of drawings, models and project boards that include residential, contract, commercial and lighting design,” says Deborah Belcher, registered interior designer and faculty adviser for ASID/IIDA. Tickets are $25 each and include a 6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner and a 7:30 p.m. lecture. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, Feb. 2. For more information, contact Belcher at 615-898-5604 or dbelcher@mtsu.edu.

WE CAN BE HEROES FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY.--An annual hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson. Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

A WORD ON WORDS--Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on tomorrow, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English. Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960 orablackwe@mtsu.edu.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is today, Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

“I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF AS HAVING MASTERED THE FLUTE, BUT I GET A REAL KICK OUT OF TRYING.”—JAMES GALWAY--The ninth annual MTSU Flute Festival, featuring guest artist Katherine Kemler, will be held tomorrow, Jan. 31, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Kemler will give a 1 p.m. recital performance and a 3:30 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. In addition, Kemler will give a workshop titled “Introduction to Body Mapping for Flutist” at 2:30 p.m. “Dr. Kemler is an exciting and vivacious performer,” says Deanna Little, associate professor of flute and organizer of the festival. “Her enthusiasm is infectious and all that attend will be sure to have a fantastic experience.” Admission is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as guests for one or all of the public concerts and competitions for a one-time charge of $5. For more information, go to www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn/flutefest09.html or call Little at 615-898-2473.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Building the better baby backfield

Atlas Sports of Boulder, Colorado, is offering a $149 test that the company claims will help determine what a child’s natural athletic abilities are. It involves using a cheek swab to search for the ACTN3 gene, which has been linked to athletic abilities. Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “This is a dangerous test because no published research currently exists that supports the extent to which genetic predisposition predicts athletic success. There is extensive literature on ‘talent identification’ in sport, and not test exists that predicts future sport success. One reason for this is that there are too many other factors that are predictive of sport success. These include coaching, skill instruction, opportunity to compete, physiological and anatomical growth and development, and practice.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

The Pampers portfolio

There’s always enormous focus on what kind of television commercials will run during the Super Bowl. But Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says TV ads are only the beginning. He says, “Examples of communication tools Super Bowl advertisers can and should utilize include public relations efforts in advance of the game to tout their commercial, a presence on YouTube to show teasers or other video to pique interest, search engine ads driving traffic to the advertiser’s Web site, and a social networking presence to allow interested persons to connect with the brand around the Super Bowl commercial message.” For example, E*Trade, which increased its brokerage accounts 32 percent following last year’s Super Bowl, now has its creepy market maven baby on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

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

Melting pot, mosaic, or mélange?

Eugene Robinson, associate editor and columnist for the Washington Post and MSNBC political analyst, will speak at 10:20 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, in MTSU’s Keathley University Center Theater. This event, which is co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies and the MTSU Black History Committee, is free and open to the public. Robinson, whose twice-weekly Post column is syndicated in 145 newspapers across the country, will speak on “We’re Someplace We’ve Never Been: Race, Diversity and the New America.” The address will focus on Robinson’s upbringing in segregated South Carolina with reviews of the educational and economic progress made by African-Americans, the increase in interracial marriage, the rise of Latinos as the largest minority group in the U.S., the polarization of Americans according to class, and the scientific consensus that race is meaningless except as a social construct.

For more information, contact Dr. Sekou Franklin at 615-904-8232.
franklin@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

DESIGNING WOMEN—AND MEN--Shirley Horowitz, interior designer and owner of Davishire Interiors, will visit MTSU on Saturday, Feb. 7, to serve as the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Interior Design Showcase. Members of the MTSU student chapter of ASID/IIDA will serve as hosts for the Nashville-based designer’s upcoming talk, “An Interior Design Journey: The Interior Renovation of Far Hills, Tennessee Governor’s Residence,” which will be presented in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. In addition to the public lecture, “Students in the MTSU interior design program will present vignettes of drawings, models and project boards that include residential, contract, commercial and lighting design,” says Deborah Belcher, registered interior designer and faculty adviser for ASID/IIDA. Tickets are $25 each and include a 6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner and a 7:30 p.m. lecture. Tickets must be purchased by Monday, Feb. 2. For more information, contact Belcher at 615-898-5604 or dbelcher@mtsu.edu.

WE CAN BE HEROES FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY.--An annual hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson. Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

A WORD ON WORDS--Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on Saturday, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English. Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960 orablackwe@mtsu.edu.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is tomorrow, Jan. 30. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

“I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF AS HAVING MASTERED THE FLUTE, BUT I GET A REAL KICK OUT OF TRYING.”—JAMES GALWAY--The ninth annual MTSU Flute Festival, featuring guest artist Katherine Kemler, will be held Saturday, Jan. 31, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Kemler will give a 1 p.m. recital performance and a 3:30 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. In addition, Kemler will give a workshop titled “Introduction to Body Mapping for Flutist” at 2:30 p.m. “Dr. Kemler is an exciting and vivacious performer,” says Deanna Little, associate professor of flute and organizer of the festival. “Her enthusiasm is infectious and all that attend will be sure to have a fantastic experience.” Admission is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as guests for one or all of the public concerts and competitions for a one-time charge of $5. For more information, go to www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn/flutefest09.html or call Little at 615-898-2473.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Designing women—and men

Shirley Horowitz, interior designer and owner of Davishire Interiors, will visit MTSU on Saturday, Feb. 7, to serve as the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Interior Design Showcase. Members of the MTSU student chapter of ASID/IIDA will serve as hosts for the Nashville-based designer’s upcoming talk, “An Interior Design Journey: The Interior Renovation of Far Hills, Tennessee Governor’s Residence,” which will be presented in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. In addition to the public lecture, “Students in the MTSU interior design program will present vignettes of drawings, models and project boards that include residential, contract, commercial and lighting design,” says Deborah Belcher, registered interior designer and faculty adviser for ASID/IIDA.

Tickets are $25 each and include a 6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner and a 7:30 p.m. lecture. Tickets must be purchased by Feb. 2. For more information, contact Belcher at 615-898-5604.
dbelcher@mtsu.edu

Making it CLEAR

Environmental research at colleges and universities isn’t just scientific anymore. Increasingly, scientists are taking an approach to their work that includes more than laboratory analysis. That is the concept behind CLEAR, or Collaborative Education and Research, the brainchild of three professors at MTSU. “What we’re trying to do is bring together as many professors as we can in all different disciplines to work on projects from a very integrated standpoint,” says Dr. Frank Bailey, associate professor of biology. The starting point for CLEAR is the study of watersheds specifically the waters and streams of Smyrna. The ultimate beneficiaries will be the students, both undergraduate and graduate level, who will be working with Bailey and his colleagues, Dr. Ryan Otter, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. John DiVincenzo, professor of chemistry.

For more information, call 615-898-2660 or go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~clearmt/.

The next glass ceiling?

Now that Americans have elected an African-American president, are they ready to consider a handicapped president? John Harris, director of Disabled Student Services, says he or she would have to answer a plethora of questions—even some ridiculous questions. Harris says, “They will face things like ‘Can the person physically manage this job?’, ‘How will they handle stress?’, ‘How will the media view them?’, and silly things like ‘How will they be able to travel from place to place?’, ‘How will they get out of bed in the morning?’, ‘How will they navigate in inaccessible buildings?’, perhaps ‘How will they be able to read?’ because, of course, in politics, anything can go if you can make it stick.”

Contact Harris at 615-898-2783.
jlharris@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

WE CAN BE HEROES FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY.--An annual hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson. Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

A WORD ON WORDS--Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on Saturday, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English. Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960 orablackwe@mtsu.edu.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

“I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF AS HAVING MASTERED THE FLUTE, BUT I GET A REAL KICK OUT OF TRYING.”—JAMES GALWAY--The ninth annual MTSU Flute Festival, featuring guest artist Katherine Kemler, will be held Saturday, Jan. 31, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Kemler will give a 1 p.m. recital performance and a 3:30 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. In addition, Kemler will give a workshop titled “Introduction to Body Mapping for Flutist” at 2:30 p.m. “Dr. Kemler is an exciting and vivacious performer,” says Deanna Little, associate professor of flute and organizer of the festival. “Her enthusiasm is infectious and all that attend will be sure to have a fantastic experience.” Admission is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as guests for one or all of the public concerts and competitions for a one-time charge of $5. For more information, go to www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn/flutefest09.html or call Little at 615-898-2473.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

A different kind of bond rating

Is it possible for molecules to “know” what they’re doing? Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says, “In chemistry, when two atoms collide and the formation of a new chemical bond is energetically favorable, the odds strongly favor the chemical reaction going forward. We can be very thankful that all chemical reactions, whether they occur in the atmosphere or in our blood cells, are highly regulated by so-called rate laws. For a given set of conditions, such as temperature and pressure, every reaction has its own rate constant, which only depends on the nature of the bonds to be made and/or broken.”

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

“I do not consider myself as having mastered the flute, but I get a real kick out of trying.”—
James Galway

The ninth annual MTSU Flute Festival, featuring guest artist Katherine Kemler, will be held Saturday, Jan. 31, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus. Kemler will give a 1 p.m. recital performance and a 3:30 p.m. master class in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. In addition, Kemler will give a workshop titled “Introduction to Body Mapping for Flutist” at 2:30 p.m. “Dr. Kemler is an exciting and vivacious performer,” says Deanna Little, associate professor of flute and organizer of the festival. “Her enthusiasm is infectious and all that attend will be sure to have a fantastic experience.” Admission is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as guests for one or all of the public concerts and competitions for a one-time charge of $5.

For more information, go to www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn/flutefest09.html or call Little at 615-898-2473.

Let there be light.

President Obama intends for his administration to be open and forthcoming if his first week of work in the Oval Office is any indication. So says Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert. “Under (George W.) Bush and his attorney general, John Ashcroft, if you made a request to a government agency for information, there was a presumption that the information was not to be released,” says Burriss. “In other words, you, the citizen, had to prove the information should be made available. But, in one of his first official acts, President Obama rewrote the rules and told agency heads that the presumption should be in favor of releasing information—that the only way for the government to operate was in the open with a new emphasis on transparency.”

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

TR EXTRA

WE CAN BE HEROES FOR MORE THAN ONE DAY.--An annual hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson. Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

A WORD ON WORDS--Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on Saturday, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English. Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960 orablackwe@mtsu.edu.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Lauded by librarians

The January 1 issue of Booklist, the American Library Association’s major library media review publication, has selected a reference work co-edited by two MTSU professors as a 2008 Editors’ Choice/Reference pick. In a starred review in Booklist, Janice Lewis praises the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment as “an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn more about broadcast regulation, the establishment of religion clause, students’ rights, or a myriad of other topics involving the First Amendment and its political, cultural and legal significance … highly recommended for academic, public and law libraries.” The Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, published by CQ Press, was co-edited by Dr. John R. Vile, Dean of the University Honors College, and David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and scholar at the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt.

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596.
jvile@mtsu.edu

The burden of autism

A recent study in Pediatrics magazine shows that the parents of autistic children are three times more likely to have to quit their jobs or reduce work hours to care for their kids than the parents of other kids with chronic health care needs. Ed Evans, president of Students for Autism Awareness at MTSU and father of two autistic children, says, “My wife left the military for this very reason. We went through as many as eight daycare providers in one year due to lack of their understanding of how to care for our oldest son. Most of it is due to behavioral outbursts, mostly construed as an unruly child that has lacked discipline from the parents. We have had our youngest son (six years old) suspended from after-school care for this very reason.”

Contact Evans at 615-439-7379.
edevans43@comcast.net

We can be heroes for more than one day.

An annual hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson. Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door.

For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718.
vavent@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

A WORD ON WORDS--Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on Saturday, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English. Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960 or ablackwe@mtsu.edu.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Friday, Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Grading the teachers

The results of fall 2008 student evaluations of MTSU faculty should be available for internal use by the end of January, says Barbara Draude, Assistant Vice President for Academic and Instructional Technologies and Co-Director of the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center. Last semester marked the university’s first use of a questionnaire developed at the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Vic Montemayor, physics professor and former chair of the Pedagogy Task Force, says a pilot study found the Berkeley instrument to be superior. “The best way to improve is to inform,” says Montemayor. “This instrument can help professors work on improving teaching in all disciplines across campus.”

Contact Montemayor at 615-898-2108.
vjm@mtsu.edu

May it please the court …

With so much focus on President Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, Eric Holder, Obama’s choice for Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, has received practically no attention. However, David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says the Harvard Law School dean has an impressive record of First Amendment scholarship. “An academic who also worked in the Clinton Administration, Kagan wrote a number of First Amendment-related law-review articles while teaching at the University of Chicago Law School in the 1990s,” Hudson says. “In those articles, Kagan—who clerked for the late Justice Thurgood Marshall—has tackled such issues and doctrines as hate speech, pornography, viewpoint discrimination, secondary effects and more.” (The U.S. Solicitor General argues the federal government’s cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.)

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

A word on words

Middle-school and high-school students who have a way with words will vie to determine verbal supremacy in the Third Annual Linguistics Olympiad at MTSU on Saturday, Jan. 31, on the second floor of the Business and Aerospace Building. More than 80 students representing eight schools in the region are enrolled in junior and senior levels of competition. Traditional challenges in the Olympiad include such exercises as identifying the word formation of a foreign language based on the information presented, deciphering proverbs from other languages, finding commonalities among English words, and decoding cryptic messages. “Following the competition, we have organized fun activities for the students while judges are scoring, including Swahili 101, Word Games, and Psycholinguistic Experiments,” says Dr. Aleka Blackwell, associate professor of English.

Contact Blackwell at 615-898-5960.
ablackwe@mtsu.edu


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MAKE LIFE CREATIVE--For the first time, Collage, MTSU’s literary magazine, is offering monetary awards for deserving student entries. Editor-in-Chief Hannah Green and Marsha Powers, University Honors College coordinator, will talk about this award-winning outlet for creative student expression on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Jan. 25, on WMOT-FM (89.5 AND wmot.org). To listen to the latest program, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html anytime and click on “January 18, 2009” at the top of the page. For more information about “MTSU on the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

PANDEMIC PLAY--“You Shall Live,” a dramatic presentation about the impact of HIV/AIDS, will be presented at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Jan. 24, at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building. The production was created by Nashville playwright Timothy Hampton, a.k.a. Thunder Kellie. “A continuous HIV/AIDS conversation is crucial in terms of understanding, prevention, maintenance and compassion,” says Vincent Windrow, director of MTSU’s Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs (IDA). “Thunder Kellie and his group do an awesome job at facilitating that conversation.” “You Shall Live” is sponsored by IDA as part of the university’s Black History Month activities. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased either at the door or by contacting Valerie Avent at 615-898-5812.

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

“IF YOU HAVE TO ASK WHAT JAZZ IS, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW.”—LOUIS ARMSTRONG--WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org), which recently added an award for journalistic excellence to its lengthy list of honors, will hold a joint fundraising concert with the Nashville Jazz Workshop at 8 p.m. tonight, Jan. 23, at the workshop’s Jazz Cave, 1319 Adams Street in Nashville. Slated to perform in this special edition of the workshop’s “Snap on 2 & 4” series are the Beegie Adair Trio with special guests Jeff Hall, Connye Florance and Denis Solee. There will be two sets as well as a silent auction, door prize giveaways and complementary refreshments. Admission is $30 per person. Tickets are available at 615-242-5299 (242-JAZZ). Advance purchase is recommended. WMOT-FM is the music and public affairs voice of the MTSU community, a 24-hour station with an all-jazz format that the university has operated for nearly 40 years. For more information, call Lori Mechem at 615-242-5299 or Greg Lee at 615-898-2800 or visit http://www.nashvillejazz.org/

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Mortar and pestle without the hassle

MTSU’s new Campus Pharmacy, which features a drive-thru window, is open for business in the Health, Wellness and Recreation Center. The pharmacy is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday with the drive-thru open until 5 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday with the drive-thru open until 4:30 p.m. “We’re excited to be serving MTSU students, staff and faculty,” says Director of Pharmacy Tabby Ragland, who is assisted by Pharmacy Tech Gina Hale. “We plan to keep prices as low as possible.” In addition to providing full prescription services, the pharmacy offers a complete line of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products, including cough and cold remedies, foot care products, vitamins, antacids, first aid items and more.

For more information, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/pharmacy/index.shtml, or phone 615-494-8888.

Make life creative

For the first time, Collage, MTSU’s literary magazine, is offering monetary awards for deserving student entries. Editor-in-Chief Hannah Green and Marsha Powers, University Honors College coordinator, will talk about this award-winning outlet for creative student expression on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Jan. 25, on WMOT-FM (89.5 AND wmot.org). To listen to the latest program, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html anytime and click on “January 18, 2009” at the top of the page.

For more information about “MTSU on the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

Pandemic play

“You Shall Live,” a dramatic presentation about the impact of HIV/AIDS, will be presented at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24, at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre in the Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building. The production was created by Nashville playwright Timothy Hampton, a.k.a. Thunder Kellie. “A continuous HIV/AIDS conversation is crucial in terms of understanding, prevention, maintenance and compassion,” says Vincent Windrow, director of MTSU’s Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs (IDA). “Thunder Kellie and his group do an awesome job at facilitating that conversation.” “You Shall Live” is sponsored by IDA as part of the university’s Black History Month activities.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased either at the door or by contacting Valerie Avent at 615-898-5812.

TR EXTRA

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

“IF YOU HAVE TO ASK WHAT JAZZ IS, YOU’LL NEVER KNOW.”—LOUIS ARMSTRONG--WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org), which recently added an award for journalistic excellence to its lengthy list of honors, will hold a joint fundraising concert with the Nashville Jazz Workshop at 8 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 23, at the workshop’s Jazz Cave, 1319 Adams Street in Nashville. Slated to perform in this special edition of the workshop’s “Snap on 2 & 4” series are the Beegie Adair Trio with special guests Jeff Hall, Connye Florance and Denis Solee. There will be two sets as well as a silent auction, door prize giveaways and complementary refreshments. Admission is $30 per person. Tickets are available at 615-242-5299 (242-JAZZ). Advance purchase is recommended. WMOT-FM is the music and public affairs voice of the MTSU community, a 24-hour station with an all-jazz format that the university has operated for nearly 40 years. For more information, call Lori Mechem at 615-242-5299 or Greg Lee at 615-898-2800 or visit www.nashvillejazz.org.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”— Louis Armstrong

WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org), which recently added an award for journalistic excellence to its lengthy list of honors, will hold a joint fundraising concert with the Nashville Jazz Workshop at 8 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 23, at the workshop’s Jazz Cave, 1319 Adams Street in Nashville. Slated to perform in this special edition of the workshop’s “Snap on 2 & 4” series are the Beegie Adair Trio with special guests Jeff Hall, Connye Florance and Denis Solee. There will be two sets as well as a silent auction, door prize giveaways and complementary refresehments. Admission is $30 per person. Tickets are available at 615-242-5299 (242-JAZZ). Advance purchase is recommended. WMOT-FM is the music and public affairs voice of the MTSU community, a 24-hour station with an all-jazz format that the university has operated for nearly 40 years.

For more information, call Lori Mechem at 615-242-5299 or Greg Lee at 615-898-2800 or visit www.nashvillejazz.org.

Pennies from Heaven

Dr. Amy Sayward’s history class at MTSU raised the equivalent of 27,500 pennies—or $275—for the Pennies for Peace program, an initiative to help support the building of schools in Pakistan, where education is a luxury for most and nearly an impossibility for women. Sayward, who also is chair of the university’s history department, says she was inspired to put the idea into action after hearing Greg Mortenson, founder of Pennies for Peace, speak at this year’s fall convocation at MTSU in August. “He has focused on the importance of education and the education of girls in particular,” Sayward says. Mortenson founded the Pennies for Peace organization in 1993 after climbing Pakistan’s K2 mountain in honor of his deceased sister, according to his Website, www.gregmortensen.com.

Contact Sayward at 615-898-2536.
asayward@mtsu.edu

Burger King abroad

Burger King’s latest television advertising campaign presents people in lands that are unfamiliar with hamburgers a taste test between the Whopper and McDonald’s Big Mac. The ad agency of Crispin Porter & Bogusky developed the “Whopper Virgins” campaign for Burger King. But Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says this approach might backfire on BK. “The question surrounding BK’s campaign is whether it exploits or makes fun of less sophisticated consumers (if you consider having no knowledge of fast food restaurants makes on less sophisticated),” Roy says. “Having typical customers render a judgment on whether the Whopper or Big Mac tastes better would be accepted common practice. Creating a scene that reminds one of a National Geographic TV special as the setting for a taste test may be too bizarre for some tastes. But that is the MO of Crispin Porter & Bogusky—push the envelope on conventions to create memorable advertising.”

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

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THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Inauguration Station—Where to watch

According to CIRCLE, a non-partisan organization that tracks youth civic involvement, young voters preferred Barack Obama over John McCain 68 percent to 30 percent in the November 2008 election. Now it’s their turn to savor their victory. At MTSU, Student Programming will present CNN’s live inauguration coverage in the Keathley University Center (KUC) Theater today, January 20, beginning at 9:30 a.m. (The swearing-in ceremony is slated to start at 11 a.m.) Seating is limited to 300. Viewing also will be available in the KUC second- and third-floor television lounges. Housing and Residential Life will have televisions in residence hall lounges tuned to inaugural events. Televisions are available in various dining facilities on campus, including the James Union Building’s faculty/staff dining room and the Cyber Café, as well as the cardio room of the Campus Recreation Center.

For more information on viewing opportunities in the KUC, contact Stan McCloud at
615-898-2591.
smccloud@mtsu.edu

Inauguration Station—Who will watch

Today’s inauguration of Barack Obama has a special significance for Kenyan students attending MTSU. They expect the joy they will feel in celebrating wearing-in ceremony for Obama, the son of a Kenyan economist, to exceed even the elation they felt in celebrating his Election Night victory in November. “To me, it gave me a sense of hope that you can do anything once you set your mind to it,” says 21-year-old nursing major William Songock. “When Obama started running, probably few people had hopes that he was going to win, actually, but he did it.” BenVictor Sang, a 26-year-old math major, says, “I know people in Africa and all around the world are hopeful about Obama. I’m very optimistic America will be viewed as a different country from the last eight years.”

Audio clips and radio-ready stories with William Songock, as well as Dr. Kris McCusker’s take on comparisons between Barack Obama and Franklin D. Roosevelt, are available at http://www.mtsunews.com/. Click on “Audio Clips” on the right side of the page. For more information, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

Inauguration Station—Who will be there

MTSU student Kelman Edwards of Nashville, a graduate of Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet School, has been in Washington since Saturday participating in the gathering of Inaugural Scholars sponsored by the University Presidential Inaugural Conference. This 21-year-old junior and pre-med major, whose good grades and leadership skills earned him a trip to the inauguration, says of Barack Obama’s inspiring personal narrative, “It definitely makes you feel as though you can reach higher than usual.” The cost of Edwards’ trip is being handled through the Tennessee Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (TLSAMP). The program’s mission is “to increase the number of underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics … by at least 100 percent within a five-year period,” states its MTSU Web page.

Contact Mimi Thomas, TLSAMP Director at MTSU, at 615-898-5311.
mthomas@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE WISDOM OF WOMEN--The President’s Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) is accepting applications from MTSU faculty for three grants of $1,800 each to be awarded in summer 2009 for integrating women’s issues into the curriculum. The grants are for use by tenured or tenure-track professors for the revision of a course, revision of a general education course for the Study Abroad program, the creation of a new course, the re-conceptualization of a current minor, or the creation of a new minor. Proposals will be reviewed by the Academic Affairs Subcommittee of the PCSW. The deadline for faculty to submit grant applications is Jan. 30, 2009. Details are available at http://www.mtsu.edu/~pcsw/grants.htm. Contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell in the Office of Research Services at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

CONFEDERATES UNCOVERED--Learn about a significant but little-known Tennessean at the next “Between the Lines: Reading About the Civil War” book discussion group, a free and open activity that is meeting on Thursdays in January 2009. During the upcoming discussions, the group will consider Sam Davis Elliott’s Soldier of Tennessee: General Alexander P. Stewart and the Civil War in the West (1999), a book that has been praised as providing “a fresh look at an often ignored but important figure.” The group meets at 7 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. The book discussion group is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, Linebaugh Public Library, and the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County. Contact Dr. Antoinette van Zelm at 615-217-8013 or avanzelm@mtsu.edu.