Thursday, May 7, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Double-digit disaster

Two critical sectors of the economy--manufacturing and construction and mining--suffered double-digit drops in employment in Tennessee from March 2008 to March 2009. Preliminary statistics show an 11.72 percent decline in construction and mining and an 11.64 percent decline in manufacturing. Total nonfarm employment suffered a 3.65 percent downturn. The overall state unemployment rate rose from five percent to 8.8 percent over the 12-month period. The labor force fell from 789,231 to 787,134. The number of people employed sank from 749,590 to 718,061.

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

Muslim matters

Dr. Sean Foley, assistant professor of history, discusses how Islamic ideas sparked major social reform at three critical turning points in history at 7 a.m. this Sunday, May 10, on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 AND wmot.org). In January, Foley lectured at American University in Beirut about how Reformation leaders saw Islam as an omen of God’s displeasure with the Catholic Church; how the rise of European nationalism in the 16th and 17th centuries was linked to how nations defined themselves vis-à-vis the Muslim world; and how Thomas Jefferson and John Locke found evidence of the universality of human rights by reading the Koran.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

The key to the executive washroom

A team of faculty members from MTSU’s Department of Economics and Finance bases some new research on company executive salaries, benefits and bonuses using that compensation as a share of company earnings as a yardstick. Based on this research, Dr. Bill Ford, holder of MTSU’s Weatherford Chair of Finance, comes to the preliminary conclusion that the executives probably are not overpaid. “If we assume that CEOs of major U.S. firms should be compensated based on the earnings they manage to produce for the shareholder owners of their companies, this first pass at long-term trends in their total compensation does not indicate that S & P (Standard & Poor’s) 500 CEOs are receiving a growing share of their companies’ profit over time,” Ford writes. “Whether or not that finding holds for major financial firms and/or for top executives of failing firms supported by the taxpayers remains to be seen.”

Contact Ford at 615-898-2889.
wfford@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SHEEPSKINS ON PARADE--More than 2,200 degree candidates (approximately 1,866 undergraduates and 375 graduate students) are expected to graduate during MTSU’s 97th spring commencement during the university’s upcoming graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 9. The dual ceremonies will start at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively, in Murphy Center. G. Edmond Clark, president and CEO of FedEx Trade Networks Inc., a subsidiary of the Memphis-based FedEx Corporation, will serve as the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony. Brig. Gen. Terry M. “Max” Haston, who was appointed as assistant adjutant general for the U.S. Army on May 6, 2008, will be the featured speaker for the 1 p.m. ceremony. For complete graduation information, go to www.mtsunews.com and click on the mortarboard and diploma.

HAVING WONDERFUL TIME IN INDIA. VISHNU WERE HERE.--This summer, Dr. Karen Petersen, political science, will teach “India on the Eve of Independence,” a fascinating course that will help you hone your negotiation and public presentation skills as you explore the impact of religion on politics from multiple perspectives. The course will run from May 11-26. Petersen says, “In this course, you will read works from the great Hindu and Muslim thinkers who guided the movement for Indian independence from British colonial rule. Then you will see if you can do it better! Through an intensive experiential learning simulation, you will play the part of one of the primary characters at the Simla conference and negotiate the end of British rule of India.”For more information, contact Petersen at 615-494-8662 or kpeterse@mtsu.edu.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS--“People are shouting too many philosophies of health and happiness at us,” notes a commentator on the recent explosion of interest in a topic of vital interest to us all—our own perceived well-being. But long before the shouting began, philosophers like Aristotle, Epicurus, Montaigne, Spinoza, Mill, Hume and James were carefully considering the question of how to get happy and stay that way. Dr. James Oliver will lead students through an examination of this subject in “The Philosophy of Happiness,” a class slated for Tuesdays and Thursdays this fall at MTSU. “In this course, we’ll survey older philosophical ideas about happiness, the new approach in psychology, and some of the best fictional literature,” says Oliver. ”Our approach will be calm, reasonable and interdisciplinary, with no gratuitous shouting.” Contact Oliver at 615-898-2050 or poliver@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.