Friday, September 18, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Chinese checkups

In the 1960s, the dictator of Albania, China’s only ally in Europe, announced that “together the 803 million people of China and Albania cannot be defeated.” It was a laughable comment, but Dr. Steven Livingston, editor of Global Commerce, writes that China’s economy is growing so fast that might not need the other three fastest trading partners in the world—Russia, India and Brazil. “Russia is the smallest of the four, and in another generation it will be quite a bit smaller,” Livingston writes. "India is, by quite a bit, the poorest and the youngest. … Brazil is perhaps the most internally diverse with portions of the country essentially fully developed while other regions remain poor. And China, of course, is economically almost on a different planet than the others. It has by far the largest and fastest-growing economy.”

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

Democracy in the classroom

Author and playwright Susan Griffin will lead the MTSU community in a workshop titled “Teaching Democracy: Integrating Themes of Social Responsibility in the Curriculum” from 1-4 p.m. today, Sept. 18, in the Faculty Senate Room of the James Union Building. Griffin will address how to connect private and public lives and how to encourage students to draw connections between events and memories in personal family histories with larger histories and issues. Using passages from her books Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy, Chorus of Stones and What Her Body Thought and her poem collection Bending Home, Griffin will discuss how to open up new avenues of inquiry through written reflection. This event is presented by the American Democracy Project and the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center.

Contact Dr. Mary Evins at 615-904-8241.
mevins@mtsu.edu

You gotta believe

Consumer confidence is looking up in Middle Tennessee. MTSU’s Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index rose from 113 in May to 142 in September. However, Dr. Tim Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research warns, “It is not clear how much of this increase in consumer confidence is due to perceived changes in the fundamentals of the economy or to merely thinking, ‘It cannot get much worse, so it has to get better.’ Perceptions of the current economy have become only slightly less negative, and consumers have actually become less likely to believe that now is a good time to make large purchases.” The poll of 450 randomly selected adult residents of Davidson, Williamson and Rutherford counties was conducted the evenings of Monday, Sept. 14, and Wednesday, Sept. 16.

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

TO FIGHT THE UNBEATABLE FOE--The range of ways in which to fight for fun and profit is growing exponentially in creativity and diversity. Some combine elements of traditional sports like boxing and wrestling with martial arts and just plain free-for-all, knock-down, drag-out pounding. Are the adventuresome men and women who take part in these sports true athletes? Are they destined to become as popular as the jocks in the NBA or the NFL? David Hudson, adjunct professor of political science and prolific writer about all kinds of sports, talks about the newest forms of fighting sports at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Sept. 20, on “MTSU On the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Hudson is the author of Combat Sports: An Encyclopedia of Wrestling, Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts. Contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

GET THE PICTURE?--“Relics,” an exhibit by Brad Temkin, is on display at the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in MTSU’s Learning Resources Center (LRC) through Oct. 22. Temkin says of his work, “My approach builds on the sculptural foundation that integrates the object and the landscape. Remnants of humanity are abandoned amidst vast, empty and anonymous landscapes. These forms exude an energy that transcends originating intention, becoming beautiful and monumental ‘earth works’ in their own right.” Temkin will lecture on his work at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, in Room 221 of the LRC with a reception to follow in the gallery. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Tom Jimison at 615-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

CROP ROTATION--Officials in the MTSU School of Agribusiness and Agriscience today postponed their second Field Day until Thursday, Sept. 24, because of rain forecast for today and the rain that has covered the Middle Tennessee region all week. Ag school director Dr. Warren Gill says the event will move to 4 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Agricultural Laboratory Farm, 3301 Guy James Rd. More than 80 people had registered to attend as of Sept. 16, Gill says, adding that others can register to attend by calling Dr. Jessica Carter at 615-898-2419, the University of Tennessee Extension office at 615-898-7710 or Gill at 615-898-2404.

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 Sunday, 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.