Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Hello? It’s for you.

Can anything stop the juggernaut that is the Apple iPhone? Crowd Science magazine reports that 82 percent of iPhone customers will remain loyal to the brand the next time they buy a phone. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “In the long run, Apple must expand its distribution beyond a single carrier if it intends to become the dominant smartphone brand. For all of the hype and attention the iPhone garners, Apple is third in global smartphone market share behind Nokia and Blackberry. Apple may be a niche player in the personal computer market, but it dominates the portable music category. Now, it may be driving toward achieving dominance in the smartphone category, too.”

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

Weakly weekly

In the week ending June 20, seasonally adjusted weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance in Tennessee was 13,386, an increase from 12,454 in the previous week, somewhat lower than the weekly average during the past six months. Since the first week of January, initial claims have averaged 13,641 per week. Continued claims for unemployment insurance (insured unemployment) increased to 116,844 from 115,751 in the previous week. Insured unemployment has averaged 109,879 since January 1.

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

Never can say goodbye

Wall-to-wall cable television coverage of the memorial service for Michael Jackson is slated for today. The wealth of reportage to date has some complaining of media exploitation. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, says, “In fact, although viewership for news about Jackson was high, the number of viewers for the multitude of specials was fairly low with an audience of only about five million. The Super Bowl, by comparison, routinely draws some 80 million viewers, about 40 percent of U.S. television households. And back in 1964, The Beatles’ first appearance on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ attracted 45 percent of television households. In 1980, more than half of America watched the ‘Who Shot J.R.?’ episode of ‘Dallas,’ and, in 1983, 60 percent of America watched the ‘M*A*S*H’ finale.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SEA HUNT (MINUS LLOYD BRIDGES)--MTSU sophomore Terrance Adams and his fellow representatives of the Diving with a Purpose program will travel to Washington, D.C., July 16-17 to accept the “Take Pride in America” award in the Public-Private Partnership category from the U.S. Department of the Interior. Diving with a Purpose (DWP) is a program that trains young African-American divers. “I went to a party one time, and everybody knew how to swim except me,” says Adams, a journalism major from Madison. “I’ve been told by my peers that black people don’t scuba dive or swim. But how can you let a color determine who you are?” Divers in DWP have helped the National Park Service, a division of the Interior Department, to identify and research a number of sunken shipwrecks and develop professional site plans for historical and archaeological sites in Biscayne National Park in Florida. For more information and/or a photo of Terrance Adams, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

PRESSING ON--The legacy of MTSU’s working replica of an 18th century printing press will be explained through photos and prints as part of an exhibit at the main branch of the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St., through Sept. 27. The exhibit is titled “Telling the Story: Letterpress Printing and Community.” The university’s segment will include the story of letterpress printing at MTSU. The works of current MTSU art students; alumni; visiting artists; faculty; elementary, middle- and high-school teachers and students who printed on the James E. Walker Library’s unique device will be highlighted. A reproduction of the English common press used by Benjamin Franklin in the early 1700s, the printing press was handcrafted in 2004 and 2005 out of chestnut and white oak wood from a 100-year-old house in Virginia. Contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.

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 July. 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.