Monday, June 22, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Earning and learning

Dr. Murat Arik, associate director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, conducted a study of the educational attainment of the workforce in a 14-county area in Middle Tennessee. In the latest edition of Tennessee’s Business, Arik writes, “Although the 14-county region showed some improvement between 2000 and 2006 in the bachelor’s degree and higher educational categories, it is still significantly behind the U.S. average and Tennessee. For example, the number of those over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased 2.75 percent in that period. However, the region lagged behind the U.S. 13.6 percent in 2006 for the same educational attainment level.”

Contact Arik at 615-898-5424.
marik@mtsu.edu

The line grows longer.

In the week ending June 6, seasonally adjusted weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance in Tennessee was 14,041, a sizable increase from 12,531 in the previous week. The increase is attributed to layoffs in manufacturing. Since the first week of January, initial claims have averaged 13,703 per week. Continued claims for unemployment insurance (insured unemployment) also rose from 113,482 in the previous week to 115,643. Insured unemployment has averaged 109,321 since January 1.

Contact the Business and Economic Research Center at 615-898-2601.

Clean and green

How can Middle Tennessee gain nearly 15,000 new jobs? A report from the University of Massachusetts asserts that a $150 billion national investment in a green economy could not only boost the employment picture. It could provide pathways out of poverty for many low-income workers. Dr. Sekou Franklin, political science, is a volunteer for a Nashville-based task force on green jobs. He says mass transit is an important part of the equation. “We need a broader public transportation system that links Nashville to Murfreesboro to Cookeville so that low-income workers can get to work and also to reduce fossil fuels, to reduce people using cars, spending money on gas (and) oil that are released into the environment.” Hear Franklin’s other comments and read the radio-ready stories that accompany them in the latest edition of MTSU Audio Clips at www.mtsunews.com. Click on “Audio Clips” on the right side of the page.

Contact Franklin at 615-904-8232.
franklin@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.