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.