Friday, June 19, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Happiness is a warm puppy—without the fleas and vet bills.

Everyone seeks the elusive quality of happiness, yet different people define it in different ways. What is the key? Money? Success? Beauty? Sex? Fame? Solitude? Family? Freedom? Great minds through the ages have pondered this matter and arrived at widely varying conclusions. Dr. Phil Oliver, professor of philosophy, will teach a class titled “The Philosophy of Happiness” at MTSU beginning this fall. He’ll talk about it on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, June 21, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). To hear last week’s program on the future of the national Republican Party, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “June 14, 2009.”

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

“If I’d known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.”—Eubie Blake

An independent World Health Organization commission takes note of enormous differences in life expectancy worldwide. A woman in Botswana can expect to live to be 43; in Japan, 86. Is life expectancy all about the difference between living in industrialized nations and developing countries? Dr. Brandon Wallace, sociology, says, “Most of the world has seen dramatic increases in life expectancy over the last century. However, parts of Africa have not seen such advances in large part due to HIV and AIDS as well as other diseases. Further, recurring droughts and resulting famine have plagued parts of Africa. The spread of AIDS in this part of the world can be blamed on an inadequate health care system, lack of education and knowledge, and limited financial resources.”

Contact Wallace at 615-898-5976.
jbwallae@mtsu.edu

Candor about cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in Tennessee, which is one reason why the Center for Health and Human Services at MTSU has been working with the Tennessee Department of Health for the past five years to compile and distribute the state’s first control plan through the Tennessee Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition. “The (CDC) tells us that colorectal cancer screening saves lives,” says Dr. Martha Jo Edwards, CHHS director and holder of the interdisciplinary Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services at MTSU. “If everyone 50 years and older were screened regularly, as many as 60 percent of deaths from this cancer could be avoided.”

Contact Edwards at 615-898-2905.
mjedward@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

A FRESH FEAST--Locally grown produce is available in bounty at the MTSU Farmers’ Market each Friday this summer from 1-5 p.m. in the Horticulture Center off Blue Raider Drive on the MTSU campus. Students enrolled in a vegetable gardening class and members of the Plant and Soil Science Club grow all plants and produce from seed to maturation. “We grow our own transplants in the greenhouse on campus and then transfer them to a quarter-acre plot on the Guy James Farm (off Halls Hill Pike in Murfreesboro),” says Dr. Nate Phillips, professor of horticulture, who began the market last year. While the risk of salmonella and E. coli outbreaks made headlines last year, MTSU’s market was able to offer locally grown products that were guaranteed safe. Contact the Department of Agribusiness and Agriscience at 615-898-2523.

GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS--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.

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. Plenty of openings remain for all of June and July. No tours will be given July 3 because the university will be closed for that holiday. 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.

THE REV’S RECORDINGS--Martin Fisher, Manager of Recorded Music Collections at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music, is playing a major role in preserving the legacy of the Rev. Lonzie Odie Taylor for the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis. The new online exhibit “TAYLOR MADE: The Life and Work of the Rev. L.O. Taylor” is accessible at www.southernfolklore.com. The minister was a Renaissance man whose talents as a photographer, filmmaker, writer, recording artist and producer—all from his home “studio”—made him an invaluable chronicler of life in the African-American community of Memphis. Fisher’s role in the preservation of artifacts in the exhibit was to transfer 90 audio lacquer disc recordings produced by Taylor to a digital format. Contact Fisher at 615-898-5509 or wmfisher@mtsu.edu.

TELL A VISION--The June edition of “Middle Tennessee Record” includes features on the job market for graduates, a student’s charitable work for ill and abused children, national plaudits for a couple of top-notch alumni, educational opportunities for older learners, a student’s 10-week internship in Bangladesh, the work of the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, and the future of online degrees and distance learning. The monthly television program is available for viewing on NewsChannel5+ and Murfreesboro Cable Channel 9, as well as 16 different cable TV outlets in the region. Check your local listings or watch the show at www.mtsunews.com. The stories also have been posted to YouTube. For more information or to obtain a DVD, contact John Lynch at 615-898-5591 or jlynch@mtsu.edu.