Monday, February 16, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Maybe we could major in alchemy.

Anyone who thinks that MTSU’s proposed new science building is “pork” had better not tangle with Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry professor. MacDougall points out that the State of Tennessee managed to find $225,000 for the construction of Wiser-Patten Science Hall in 1931 during the Great Depression. “The first impression of a chemistry and biology double-major who has gone on to become a locally-based and internationally successful biotechnology entrepreneur, but was a freshman in 1966, was ‘Gee, what an old building!’”, he comments. “If it was ‘long in tooth’ in 1966, how do you imagine young and bright Tennesseans react to their first chemistry lab in 2009? The building may be Roman neoclassical on the outside, but it is definitely Greek tragedy on the inside.”

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

Go ahead! Make my (expletive deleted)!

The movie “Gran Torino” is the highest-grossing film of Clint Eastwood’s career in North America, and it has garnered several critics’ awards. Eastwood plays an embittered widower engaged in a conflict with Asian gang members. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, says it contains language that will make people who are offended by ethnic slurs very uncomfortable. However, Burriss points out, “You know, words by themselves don’t mean anything. They are just strings of letters to which we assign meaning. For example, take the word ‘den,” d-e-n. In English, it means a cozy room. In German, it means ‘him’ or ‘which.’ In Czech, it means ‘day.’ The meaning of the word depends on how it’s being used, and that meaning can change from person to person, from culture to culture, and even from time to time.”

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

A date with diversity

The Society for International Affairs (SIA), an MTSU student organization, will present International Date Night from 7-10 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. “We’re celebrating international students for their bravery in coming to the United States for their education and giving other MTSU students a chance to meet them,” says Shayna Taylor, president of SIA. After dinner, the MTSU Salsa Dance Club will provide free salsa dancing lessons. Admission is $10 per couple or $5 per person. All proceeds will benefit KIVA, a fund to help international entrepreneurs through the principle of microlending, and the International Student Emergency Fund, which was created to help international students with small, unexpected expenses.

Contact Taylor at sbt2g@mtsu.edu or Dr. Karen Petersen at 615-494-8662 or kpeterse@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

HERSPANIOLA--The MTSU Black History Month Committee will present “Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy,” a documentary film, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. today, Feb. 16, at the Keathley University Center Theater. Co-producers Renee Bergan and Mark Schuller will be in attendance for a question-and-answer session. Told through the compelling lives of five courageous Haitian women, “Poto Mitan” gives the global economy a human face. While the film offers an in-depth understanding of Haiti, its focus on women’s subjugation, worker exploitation, poverty and resistance demonstrates that these are global struggles. Finally, through their collective activism, these women demonstrate that, despite monumental obstacles, collective action makes change possible. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Sekou Franklin at 615-904-8232 or Tara Prairie at 615-494-8918.

HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON.--Dr. Robert Hunt, professor of history at MTSU, will speak at the next meeting of the Middle Tennessee Civil War Roundtable at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 17, at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, 225 West College St. in Murfreesboro. Hunt will present “Citizen Soldiers and the Politics of an Anti-Slavery War,” a program based on his research for a new book that will be published soon by University of Alabama Press. Hunt will examine how Union soldiers, particularly those in the Army of the Cumberland, came to adopt emancipation as part of “their war” and not simply Lincoln’s war or the Republicans’ war. He also will talk about how veterans of the war later incorporated this emancipation event into their understanding of the national victory they had won, shaping the way future generations thought about the conflict. For more information, call Jim Lewis at 615-243-6830 (before 8 p.m.) or mtcwrt@comcast.net.

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.--To help students dealing with high prices and tight budgets, the MTSU Off-Campus Housing Web site will waive its $25 fee for posting notices of apartments to be sublet effective immediately. The Web site (www.mtsuoffcampus.com) was created in November 2007 by the Office of Off-Campus Student Services in cooperation with Off-Campus Partners, a Virginia-based company providing services to nearly 30 universities. Property managers pay fees to post information such as location, price and type about apartments, condominiums and houses for rent and for sale. To make it easier for students to cut transportation costs, the Web site also features Carpool Central, a message board for people seeking rides to and from school; Ride Board, for rides wherever they want to go out of town; and a Roommate Matching message board. For more information, contact the Office of Off-Campus Student Services at 615-898-5989 or ocss@mtsu.edu.

Y’ALL COME BACK NOW, YOU HEAR?--The MTSU Department of Art’s Gallery at Todd Hall presents “Revisited,” an exhibit featuring the collective works of four of its retired faculty members, through Friday, Feb. 20. The artists whose work is being showcased are Ollie Fancher, who taught graphic design and drawing; Jim Gibson, sculpture; Klaus Kallenberger, jewelry; and David LeDoux, painting. Eric Snyder, gallery curator, says these individuals “contributed a great deal to the Department of Art’s program and curriculum and have been asked to return to MTSU in honor of their hard work.” The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and is closed on all state holidays. Admission is always free and exhibits are open to the public. For more information, contact Snyder at 615-898-5653 or esnyder@mtsu.edu.