Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Look for the silver lining.

The first quarter of 2009 was difficult, at best, for the Tennessee economy. However, Dr. David Penn, director of the Business and Economic Research Center at MTSU, sees two somewhat positive developments: 1) the pace of decline has slowed for some indicators, and 2) single-family home construction may have hit bottom. In the latest edition of Tennessee Housing Market, Penn also writes, “A faint positive sign can be found with initial claims for unemployment insurance. This figure represents the number of workers laid off in a particular week who file for unemployment insurance benefits. Following a very large increase in the fourth quarter, initial claims leveled off in the first quarter, but remain very high. This means that the unemployment rate will continue to rise, but not as fast as in the first quarter.”

Contact Penn at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu

Where’s Lee Iacocca when you need him?

Chrysler’s announcement that the corporation is terminating nearly 800 dealerships is sad news, but it’s unavoidable. So says Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing. “Lower demand for cars in general and market share losses to foreign brands have left GM (General Motors) and Chrysler with a bloated distribution network,” says Roy. “In short, there are too many sellers for too few customers. Downsizing the dealer roster is the best solution to re-size these companies for today’s market. A risk exists that customer service among existing owners of Chrysler and GM cars could suffer. In turn, lower customer satisfaction could negatively impact owners’ decision(s) to buy the same brand in the future.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

The Souter legacy, part four

The fourth area in which outgoing U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter has made a considerable impact on American jurisprudence is in cases pertaining to the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says Souter believes the clause erects “a fairly high wall of separation between church and state.” Hudson writes, “He (Souter) authored the Court’s main opinion in McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union (2005), which found that Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses violated the principle of church-state separation. ‘This is no time to deny the prudence of understanding the Establishment Clause to require the government to stay neutral on religious belief, which is reserved for the conscience of the individual,’ he (Souter) wrote.”

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

TR EXTRA

MAHER, MUHAMMAD AND MICROFINANCE—Dr. Muhammad Yunus, former MTSU economics professor and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, is scheduled to be a guest on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” at 9 p.m. Central time (10 p.m. Eastern) this Friday, May 22. The program will be repeated several times throughout the week. Check your television listings to locate HBO on your local cable or satellite system. Yunus, president of Grameen Bank in his native Bangladesh, was awarded the Nobel for his concept of microfinance, which holds that lending to the poor and those without traditional collateral helps build a society from the ground up. Nearly 97 percent of Grameen’s seven million borrowers are women. Since 1976, Grameen has loaned more than $6.5 billion with a repayment rate above 98 percent.

GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS--Starting today, 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 or gpoff@mtsu.edu.

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 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.

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.