Monday, April 6, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The lines are getting longer.

Clarksville’s unemployment rate hit double digits in the month of February. MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center reports that Clarksville’s jobless rate soared to 10 percent. That’s up from 9.6 percent in January and 6.1 percent in February of last year. Among Tennessee’s major metropolitan statistical areas, Clarksville was followed by Memphis with 8.9 percent, Chattanooga with 8.7 percent, Nashville with 8.4 percent, and Knoxville with 7.9 percent. Tennessee’s overall unemployment rate crept up to 9.5 percent in February from 9.2 percent the previous month. The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that the national economy lost 663,000 jobs in March as the overall jobless rate rose to 8.5 percent.

Contact the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center at 615-898-2610.

Torture chamber of commerce

The global economic credit crunch is hurting Tennessee exporters. In the latest edition of Global Commerce, MTSU’s Dr. Steven Livingston writes, “After a solid October, the state’s foreign sales fell moderately in November but far more steeply in December. As a result, at $5,587,000,000, quarterly exports were down 4.79 percent from a year ago—the first quarterly drop in exports since the second quarter of 2007. The biggest percentage losses were in the electronics industry and various raw material and intermediate goods industries such as chemicals and primary metal manufacturing. The worst-performing industry in the state was the once robust waste and scrap metal sector.”

Contact Livingston at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu

Get a clue!

MTSU is expanding its popular CSI: MTSU four-day program for students entering the 10th, 11th and 12th grades in Rutherford and surrounding counties. This year’s event is slated for June 16-19. The goals of CSI: MTSU are: to allow students to explore many unique career possibilities in forensic science; to provide a “real life” reasons to tackle higher level math and science courses; and to develop skills in teamwork, seeing and understanding details, critical thinking and presentation skills. The student investigators will be presented with a re-creation of an actual crime scene. Each student is trained in the fundamental processes of collecting evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, hair and fibers, simulated blood spatter, and shoe prints.

For more information or to register, call 615-898-2462 or send an e-mail to eshockle@mtsu.edu.

TR EXTRA

THE TOUGHEST JOB YOU’LL EVER LOVE—MTSU this year entered the Peace Corps’ Top 10 list of Tennessee colleges and universities producing Peace Corps volunteers. Since the organization’s inception in 1961, MTSU has produced 66 volunteers. Nine alumni currently serve in the Peace Corps, working in Samoa, the Kyrgyz Republic, Ukraine, Gambia and St. Lucia. Representatives from the Peace Corps will be on the MTSU campus tomorrow, April 7, and Wednesday, April 8. On Wednesday at 5 p.m., recruiter Toby Rowell, who served recently in Zambia, will present an information session in Room 313 of the Keathley University Center. This session will include the Peace Corps application process, what it’s like to live and work overseas, and the long-term career advantages of services. This event is free and open to the public. For more information about the Peace Corps, contact David Leavitt in the organization’s Atlanta office at 404-562-3472.

BENEATH THE VEIL--Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, whose novel Persepolis recently was made into a movie bearing the same title, is slated to speak at 7 p.m. tonight, April 6, in the State Farm Lecutre Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. One of the best-known Iranian woman artists in the West, Satrapi uses visual and narrative elements to tell stories that illuminate children’s perspectives, women’s rights, political oppression, and daily life in Iran in the 1970s and 1980s. The wearing of the veil, coming of age, political oppression, conflicts between East and West, and emigration are among the many issues Satrapi addresses in her work. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director of the Middle East Center, at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu.

“A GOOD DECISION IS BASED ON KNOWLEDGE AND NOT ON NUMBERS.”—PLATO—Dr. John Lachs, professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University, will present “Education in a Time of Crisis” at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, in Dining Room C of MTSU’s James Union Building. This timely lecture will address issues such as what it means to become an educated person, the function of the University, and the role philosophy and the humanities play in the institution. This event is free and open to the public as part of the MTSU Department of Philosophy’s annual Applied Philosophy Lyceum. The purpose of the Lyceum is to provoke philosophical reflection by bringing distinguished scholars to the MTSU campus to address crucial contemporary issues. A discussion period and an informal reception will follow. For more information, contact the MTSU Department of Philosophy at 615-898-2907.

T.J. STANDS FOR “TOUGH JOB”--Terrell “T.J.” Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Wake Up Youth Foundation, will be the keynote speaker at MTSU’s 18th annual Intercultural and Diversity Affairs Awards Banquet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. Johnson, a former gang member and drug dealer, is the first former felon to be hired by the Memphis Police Department. After being appointed by Mayor Willie Herenton as Prevention and Intervention Coordinator for the city’s Juvenile Justice Abatement Project, Johnson launched an anti-violence initiative in the city school system. Tickets are $11 for students and $20 for adults. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718 or vavent@mtsu.edu.

“ARE YOU REALLY JUST A SHADOW OF THE MAN THAT I ONCE KNEW?”—FROM “DOCTOR WU” BY STEELY DAN--How do you teach students the art of filmmaking? By letting them make a film. But how do you pay for it? With a national economic recession and the threat of budget cuts hitting close to home, Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, is going viral and asking for donations to pay for it online. Pondillo is the writer and director of “The New, True Charlie Wu,” a movie made with an all-MTSU student crew. The film is now in post-production. It’s “the story of a young man caught in a job he hates,” says Pondillo. He compensates for his malaise through conspicuous consumption, thinking that things can “fill the hole in his heart,” as Pondillo puts it. To contribute, go to www.youandcharliewu.com. For each dollar contributed, the donor gets a point. The more points the donor gets, the more prestigious the mention in the credits. Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465 and pondillo@mtsu.edu.

THE NITTY GRITTY--The Girls Raised in Tennessee Science (GRITS) Collaborative, a statewide initiative to encourage girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is inviting you to register your program in the National Girls Collaborative Project Program Directory. Teachers, community groups and other organizations committed to collaborating with, informing and motivating girls are encouraged to register. The online program directory lists programs and resources that encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM. The purpose of the directory is to help organizations and individuals network, share resources, and work together on STEM-related projects for girls. With the online program directory, you can enter a program for inclusion in the directory, sign up for the e-newsletter listserv and search for programs using various criteria. For more information, contact Cacy DeSheles, assistant director of GRITS, at 615-494-7763 or cdd3b@mtsu.edu.

A LAFFER MATTER--Arthur Laffer, supply-side economist who served on President Reagan’s Economic Policy Advisory Board and is best known for the “Laffer Curve,” will be guest speaker at this year’s MTSU Executives-in-Residence program, on Wednesday, April 8. Laffer will speak from 10:20 to 11:15 a.m. in Tucker Theater on “A Supply-Side View of the First 75 Days of the Obama Administration.” This executive briefing will be open to classes and to the public. There is no charge, but interested parties should reserve seating by calling 615-898-2764. The “Laffer Curve” theory asserts that in certain situations a decrease in tax rates can result in an increase in tax revenues. For more information, contact Tom Tozer in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or ttozer@mtsu.edu.