Friday, February 27, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Money for school

Applications materials are being accepted through March 15 for the Ruth Houston Memorial Scholarship. The Murfreesboro Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) will award a $1,000 scholarship each semester—Fall 2009 and Spring 2010—to the MTSU undergraduate student who best demonstrates academic promise and financial need. To be eligible for consideration, applicants must have successfully completed their freshman year at MTSU. Returning adult students, in particular, are encouraged to apply. The scholarship is renewable each semester as long as full-time status and a 2.5 GPA are maintained. AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

For complete scholarship criteria, contact Dr. Tanya M. Peres, chair of the Ruth Houston Scholarship Committee, at 615-904-8590.
mailto:615-904-8590.tperes@mtsu.edu

Money for sustenance

The Society for International Affairs (SIA), an MTSU student organization, helps raise money for some of the most vulnerable students at MTSU—those who are from other nations. Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science and faculty adviser to SIA, says, “What we would like to do ideally is to be able to provide financial assistance in emergency situations for international students, particularly students who have no family support, who are here in Murfreesboro, alone oftentimes, without the infrastructure that typical students take for granted.” She says small grants of $50 to $100 for these emergency expenses can help international students over the rough spots so they can stay in college and concentrate on their studies.

For more information about SIA, go to www.mtsu.edu/~sia or contact Petersen at 615-494-8662.
kpeterse@mtsu.edu

Money for science

The founders of CLEAR (Collaborative Education and Research) at MTSU believe that environmental research should bring together academics not only from the science fields, but also from the worlds of history, economics, education and other disciplines. Dr. John DiVincenzo, professor of chemistry, says the rewards can be large-scale grants from government agencies or private foundations. “You’re starting to see more requests for proposals from organizations like EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and NSF (National Science Foundation) that want the holistic picture,” Divincenzo says. “They don’t want to look at just the impact of a chemical in the soil and water. They also want to know, ‘If we remove that chemical, what’s the economic impact?’”

For more information about CLEAR, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~clearmt/. To contact DiVincenzo, call 615-904-8251.
jdivince@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

MIGHT MAKES RIGHT—The MTSU Campus Recreation Fitness Department will present the Strongman Competition at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 28, in the indoor arena of the Campus Recreation Center. There will be three weight classes: lightweight (under 190 pounds), middleweight (191-220 lbs.), and heavyweight (over 221 lbs.) Events include tire flip, shuttle carry, standing medicine ball toss, loading event and a truck push/pull. The competition is open to faculty, staff and students. For more information, call 615-898-2104.

RAD STREET CRED--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge every Thursday through Mar. 26 from 6-8 p.m. in the MTSU police training room located at 1412 East Main Street. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff as well as to the general public. For more information or to enroll, call RAD instructor David Smith at 615-692-2424.

NOW YOU’RE TALKING MY LANGUAGE!--Donna Myers, director of MTSU’s new English Language Schools (ELS) Center, and Jeff Hutcheson, ELS District Director, will be Gina Logue’s guests on “MTSU on the Record” at 7 a.m. this Sunday, March 1, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). MTSU’s ELS Center in the Fairview Building is helping students from countries around the world improve their English language proficiency. The work of ELS is not only essential to helping international students improve in their college studies. ELS also arranges social activities, housing, home-stay experiences and cultural/immigration counseling to help ease the challenge of becoming acclimated to a completely new environment. For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.