Monday, March 2, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Starve a Cold War country, feed a fever

The McNair Program, the University Honors College and the International Education Office at MTSU will present Fulbright Scholar Jan Jires at 9:40 a.m. tomorrow, March 3, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. Jires, A Ph.D. candidate in political science at the Charles University in Prague, will speak on “The Role of Central Europe in U.S. Foreign Policy after the Cold War.” Jires believes that the clash between the strategic environment that the nations of Central Europe face and their post-Cold War identity largely shapes their security attitudes toward Russia. “As long as the Central Europeans have legitimate reasons to believe that they are treated like third-class passengers by their Western fellow travelers, … they will tend to feel the need to affirm their Westerness by opposing Russia vigorously and pursuing identity-driven policies toward Moscow,” Jires says.

Contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.

Read the fine print

Ken Sanney, adjunct recording industry professor and licensed attorney, says he tell his clients and teaches his students to make sure they pay attention to indemnity clauses in entertainment and intellectual property agreements. “If a record label is going to invest in a band, provide them with A&R (artist and repertoire) services, pay them an advance, spend money producing and shipping their albums, they want to limit the level of risk in all the areas [in which] they have control,” Sanney says. “Since they can’t control with any degree of certainty what the consumers will purchase, they will focus on all the variables of risk they can control. Warranty language allows the record label to allocate the risk to the band for such things as copyright and trademark infringements.”

Contact Sanney at 615-456-6502.
ksanney@mtsu.edu

Sticker shock

Does the First Amendment protect you if you want to express yourself by keeping vehicle decals and emblems on your car that give people the false impression that you are a federal officer? A federal appeals court says no. Carl Dean Wynn Jr. pleaded guilty in 2007 to a federal charge of impersonating a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Wynn claimed the decal restriction that was built into his probation criteria was unconstitutional. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says the judicial panel wrote that “a district court can impose restrictions on fundamental rights, including freedom of speech, if the conditions are reasonably related to relevant factors allowed to be considered under federal law, such as the nature of the crime and the goal of deterring future crime.”

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

TR EXTRA

TO TELL “THE TRUTH”—Jeff Johnson, host and producer for Black Entertainment Television’s “The Truth with jeff Johnson,” will speak on “The Quest for Black Citizenship” at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, March 3, at Tucker Theater in MTSU’s Boutwell Dramatic Arts Building. This event is free and open to the public. Described by Source magazine as one of hip-hop’s political leaders, Johnson is former Vice President of the Hip-Hop Action Network and former National Director of the NAACP Youth and College Division. He is senior Adviser for Media and Youth Outreach for People for the American Way. In addition to his television show, Johnson is a regular commentator on Tom Joyner’s syndicated radio program. For more information, contact Dr. Sekou Franklin at 615-904-8232 or franklin@mtsu.edu.

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.

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 or tperes@mtsu.edu.

YOUNG MCDONALD TOOK A CLASS--MTSU is the first four-year university in the state to be included in the Perkins IV Reserve Fund Grant that allows high school students to take a Career Technical Education class for high school and college credit simultaneously. High school agriculture students taking Greenhouse Management will receive dual credit for the Introduction to Ornamental Horticultural Science course (ABAS 1101). Dr. Cliff Ricketts, professor, and Alanna L. Neely, instructor, will explore how this new dual credit program works in a professional development program for teachers from 3:30-4:30 p.m. CST (4:30-5:30 p.m. EST) on Thursday, March 5. This presentation will be delivered by the Satellite and Webcasting Center. For more information, call 615-898-2737.