Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Going through CUSTOMS

Starting tomorrow, May 20, and running through late July, incoming MTSU students and their families will start familiarizing themselves with their new academic home through the CUSTOMS orientation process. “So many parents and students comment on how friendly folks are and how comfortable they feel about their choice of coming to MTSU,” says Gina Poff, director of New Student and Family Programs. “Although CUSTOMS is a lot of work for the staff and the new students, it really pays off in the end. It is a great way to start off the new journey into MTSU, and the freshmen really get a sense of what it is like to be part of the MTSU community.” Poff says officials expect 50 to 75 more students at each session this summer than in previous years.

Contact Poff at 615-898-2454.
gpoff@mtsu.edu

Post-commencement concerns

The MTSU Career Development Center’s May 2009 Career and Employment Snapshot advises us, “In a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (JobOutlook 2009), the following were cited by employers at ‘top’ bachelor’s degree level majors in the manufacturing, service and government sectors. The same is true for Middle Tennessee: 1) accounting; 2) mechanical engineering; 3) electrical engineering; 4) computer science; 5) business administration/management; 6) economics/finance (including banking); 7) information sciences and systems; 8) computer engineering; 9) management information systems; and 10) marketing/marketing management.”

Contact Bill Fletcher, center director, at 615-898-2501.
bfletch@mtsu.edu

The Souter legacy, part three

David Souter, who will step down as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court at the end of the current term, has played a key role in the interpretation of the secondary-effects doctrine. That doctrine provides that governments have greater leeway to regulate adult businesses if they are concerned with “harmful side effects” such as increased crime and decreased property values. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, writes that Souter’s concurring opinion in Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991) “extended the doctrine from its traditional application in land-use zoning cases to direct regulations on the content of erotic expression. Souter’s concurrence became the model for municipalities across the country which sought to justify restrictions on adult entertainment not on moral grounds but on the secondary-effects doctrine.”

Contact Hudson at 615-741-1600.
dhudson@fac.org

TR EXTRA

PUTTING IT ON THE PAGE--Suzanne Fisher Staples will be the visiting author at this summer’s Youth Writer’s Camp at MTSU. Staples, a former correspondent for United Press International in Asia who now writes young adult novels, is the winner of the prestigious Newberry Award for her novel Shabanu. The Youth Writer’s Camp is a two-week intensive writing camp for 4th through 12th graders Monday through Thursday June 8-18. Youngsters can expect community building with fellow writers, realistic feedback from peers and mentors, supportive writing groups, guided writing experiences, and exploration of new writing styles and topics. Each camper will get a writer’s camp T-shirt, a writer’s notebook, and an anthology of writing. Drs. Bobbie Solley and Ellen Donovan of the MTSU Department of Elementary and Special Education are camp directors. For more information, go to www.middletnwritingproject.org or send an e-mail to dianne.hall@comcast.net

THE TOUR DU JOUR--MTSU’s Office of Admissions will offer student-led campus tours at 10 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding holidays) through July 31. The tours are by reservation only. The tours slated for May 18, May 22 and May 27 are full. Plenty of openings remain for all of June and July. No tours will be given May 25 (Memorial Day) and July 3 because the university will be closed for those holidays. To make a reservation, call 615-898-5670 or visit mtsu.edu/admissn/tour_admissn.shtml and click on “Schedule Campus Tours.” For more information, contact Michelle Arnold at 615-898-5280 or maarnold@mtsu.edu.

MAZEL TOV!—Congratulations to WMOT-FM News Producer Shawn Jacobs, who won three Honorable Mention honors in the latest round of the statewide Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters Association Awards. Jacobs was acknowledged in the “Best Radio Newscast,” “Best Radio Enterprise,” and “Best Radio Public Affairs” categories. WMOT-FM is the 100,000-watt public broadcasting service of MTSU. Turn to 89.5 on your FM dial or listen in real time at www.wmot.org. For more information, call the station at 615-898-2800.

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.