Monday, March 23, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

You can run, but you can’t hire.

How do Tennessee’s major urban areas compare with the nation and each other when it comes to unemployment? None of the cities has been immune to the economic decline of recent months. Knoxville posted the lowest preliminary jobless rate at 7.4 percent in January 2009, while Clarksville registered the highest rate at 9.6 percent. To lend a sense of perspective, Knoxville’s unemployment rate in January 2008 was 4.2 percent and Clarksville’s was 5.7 percent. The statewide figure soared from 5.9 percent to 9.3 percent between the two Januarys, while the national rate rose from 5.4 percent to 8.5 percent.

Contact the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center at 615-898-2616.

Math can save your life—or end it.

A Boeing 767 was scheduled to go from Montreal to Edmonton on July 23, 1983. Unfortunately, the fuel gauges in the cockpit weren’t working. Takeoff could be approved only if the fuel level was measured manually and there was enough fuel on board. Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, says, “The ground crew multiplied the volume on board by the density of fuel in pounds per liter to get the mass of fuel on board, which they then subtracted from the needed fuel to determine how much they needed to put into the tanks.” Unfortunately, Canada had just converted to the metric system. Oops. The plane ran out of gas at an altitude of 41,000 feet a little over halfway to Edmonton. Fortunately, the pilot was able to land the plane on a drag strip in a small farming community. No one was injured.

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

“For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall”—From “The Spirit of Radio” by Rush

Did you know that 90 percent of the singles released via radio fail to make a profit? And Ken Sanney, adjunct recording industry professor and practicing attorney, says the other 10 percent aren’t selling they way they once did because of digital technology. He believes it’s time for a change. Sanney says, “I’m talking about a more efficient business model—one that takes into account the current realities of exceedingly large numbers of individual songs on the Internet—one that abandons payola and where labels no longer package eight bad songs with two good ones so that they can charge $15 per album to turn a profit. I don’t know what this business model would look like yet, but it is an interesting thought.”

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

TR EXTRA

LIBERTY BELL—The author of numerous critically acclaimed and influential books on the politics of race, gender, class and culture, bell hooks (lower case is correct) will speak at 4 p.m. tomorrow, March 24, at MTSU’s Keathley University Center Theater. This event is free and open to the public. “Feminism Forever: Continuing the Struggle” is the title of hooks’ talk. A reception and booksigning will follow. For more information about this National Women’s History Month event, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

“MY SEXUALITY HAS NEVER BEEN A PROBLEM TO ME, BUT I THINK IT HAS BEEN FOR OTHER PEOPLE.”—DUSTY SPRINGFIELD--“Sexuality” is the theme of the 2009 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies at MTSU, which is slated for Thursday and Friday, March 26-27, in Cantrell Hall in MTSU’s Tom H. Jackson Building. Learned scholars from across the country, as well as the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, will present research on topics representing the vast panoply of perspectives on sexuality, including biology, culture, and sexuality; sex trafficking; feminism and sexuality; and gender construction and sexuality. “At MTSU, we have an inclusive definition of diversity,” says Dr. Kaylene Gebert, Executive Vice President and Provost. “The Women’s Studies Program and this conference give the campus and the community and opportunity to hear national speakers and scholars who focus on contemporary issues.” For more information, go to www.mtsu.edu/womenstu, or contact the Women’s Studies Program at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.

FARM FAIR--The first-ever MTSU School of Agribusiness and Agriscience Career Fair will be held from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 on the first floor of the Stark Agriculture Building. The ag program has nearly 400 students in three majors: animal science, including horse science; plant science; and agribusiness. The Student Agriculture Council, agribusiness and agriscience faculty and staff and the Career Development Center are serving as hosts of the ABAS Career Fair. The fair is for MTSU students only. Participants should bring updated copies of their resumes and professional attire is strongly encouraged. For more information, contact Nicole Green, career coordinator for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, at 615-494-8797.

THE REST OF THE STORY--The Muslim Student Association at MTSU will sponsor “Palestine, the Untold Side of the Story” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight, March 23, and tomorrow night, March 24, in the State Farm Lecture Hall in the Business and Aerospace Building. The sessions will be followed by questions and answers and are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Dr. Saleh Sbenaty at 615-898-2966 or ssbenaty@mtsu.edu.