Monday, August 10, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Not so nifty with the NAFTA neighbors

Tennessee’s trade figures were so bad in the first quarter of 2009 that not even transactions with Canada and Mexico gave them much of a boost. Dr. Steven Livingston, editor of Global Commerce, writes, “Tennessee exports to Canada were down a full 21 percent. Heavy machinery, auto parts, and electronics (including video games) all took large losses. In Mexico, large losses across the chemical and automotive sectors led to an 11 percent drop in exports. These losses were mitigated a bit by increases in cotton and soybean sales. Soybean exports were in fact one of the few bright spots for the quarter. Tennessee’s global sales of soybeans increased from $4.2 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $36.5 million this past quarter.”

Contact Livingston at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu

Andy and Barney they ain’t

In July 2005, Michael Schuh, an 18-year veteran of the Milwaukee County (Wisc.) Sheriff’s Department, criticized Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. in a newsletter for ordering on-duty officers to escort him to and from the airport. Schuh suggested that Clarke should resign if he wanted to boost departmental morale. Clarke retaliated by assigning Schuh to patrol a very dangerous Milwaukee neighborhood on foot. A federal district court dismissed Schuh’s claims that his First Amendment rights were violated, and an appeals court upheld that ruling. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says the appellate panel “ruled against Schuh and the association because it determined that Schuh’s expression did not address a matter of public concern or importance. … The panel found that Schuh spoke as a citizen when he wrote the response because he wrote it off-duty and his job did not require him to write for the newsletter.”

Contact Hudson at 615-727-1342.
dhudson@fac.org

What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is yours, too.

A Michigan high school student who bought an electronic copy of George Orwell’s 1984 from Amazon.com found himself in a bind when Amazon found out the copy they had sold was pirated. The company erased the copy from the student’s Kindle reader. In so doing, all of the notes the student had made were also wiped out. The student didn’t know that Amazon had the ability to erase his device by remote control. Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, says, “What makes this whole thing even more ironic is that the intrusion involved the novel 1984, where Big Brother is always watching and keeping track of everything we do. … The Amazon procedure may be legal, but it certainly illustrates how the company or the government can remotely manage our computers, cell phones, and who knows what else without our knowledge or permission.”

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

TR EXTRA

SOLID AS A ROCK BLOK—Registration is open now for this fall’s Rock Blok workshop at MTSU. Young musicians ages 10-17 can learn music, make friends and form a band at the workshop, which is slated to begin September 5th. “When a student signs up, he or she is assigned to a band with other students,” says Ryan York, executive leader of Youth Empowerment through Arts and Humanities (YEAH!) and workshop leader. “Each band has two professional musicians as volunteer teachers. The students then spend two hours each Saturday learning music, working up a set list, making merchandise for their band, recording an album and writing music.” At the conclusion of the workshop, the bands will perform in concert. The fee is $40 a month ($120 total). For more information, go to www.YEAHintheBoro.org, send an e-mail to info@YEAHintheBoro.org, or call 615-849-8140.

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.