Friday, September 25, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Getting out of the rough

This weekend’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta will be Tiger Woods’ last chance of the PGA season to make his mark. In his first year back after knee surgery, Woods has won six tournaments this year, but for the first time in his career, he did not win one of the majors (PGA, Masters, British Open, U.S. Open). How does a top-flight athlete like Woods, who is unaccustomed to disappointment, maintain his level of excellence? Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “Elite athletes are, by nature, very competitive and often have very high—sometimes excessive—expectations and standards, a condition known as perfectionism. These athletes often take the blame for performance outcomes that do not match these lofty expectations. An athlete with an extensive history of success such as Tiger Woods will move on and recover quickly from his disappointments.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

Population explosion

MTSU has surpassed the 25,000 mark in combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment for the first time in its history. What has led to this 5-6 percent increase? Dr. Deb Sells, vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment services, says, “We are driven by the pursuit of quality in the types of students we enroll, the academic programs that we offer and in the kind of experience students have as a part of this academic community. Growth is an outcome of demand to be a part of this high quality institution. I think that MTSU understands that if we do the right things to create a first-rate learning environment, the reasonable growth will be a natural byproduct.”

Contact Sells at 615-898-2440.
dsells@mtsu.edu

“There’s so many things I need to know.”—“Crystal Ball” by Styx

MTSU recording industry students are revealing “Rock Prophecies” on Wednesday, Sept. 30, in a free film screening and concert in the Wright Music Building. Dick Williams’ MTSU Record Label course guides students into the music business by giving them hands-on experience. The screening of “Rock Prophecies,” a documentary featuring 18-year-old Texas guitar virtuoso Tyler Bryant, starts at 7 p.m. with the concert by The Tyler Bryant Band to follow in Hinton Music Hall. The band cut several demos in MTSU’s Studio B in August. The event also is an opportunity for students who attend the concert to win a Fender Stratocaster guitar, a new Samsung Gravity 2 cell phone and Bluetooth.

Contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5385.
gfann@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

YOUR COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED--Dr. Justin Gardner, assistant professor of agribusiness and agriscience, will talk about the application of the co-op model to health care at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Sept. 27, on “MTSU On the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). A co-op (short for “cooperative”) is a not-for-profit, member-owned group that bands together to achieve common goals and regulates itself through a representative panel. Farmers are familiar with the co-op as a means of providing agricultural supplies at lower prices. U.S. Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has proposed health care co-ops as alternatives to a public option. To hear last week’s interview with Professor David Hudson about his new book on combat sports, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “September 20, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

ART FOR STUDENTS’ SAKE--The MTSU Department of Art and its Student Art Alliance will team to present their first-ever joint exhibition featuring the juried work of MTSU students. The works will be on display through Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Todd Art Gallery on the MTSU campus. “This show gives MTSU students the opportunity to engage in the process of submitting and showing their work in a public space, as well as competing with other artists for awards,” says John Donovan, assistant professor of art and SAA faculty adviser. For more information or directions to the campus gallery, call Eric Snyder, gallery curator, at 615-898-5653.

THE KEYBOARDS TO THE KINGDOM--Musicians from across the region will flock to the first Music City Piano Workshop and Concert today, Sept. 25, at the Sound Kitchen, 112 Seaboard Lane in Franklin. The event is made possible by a public-service grant from MTSU. Students, teachers and aspiring professionals can learn about music production, music business, performance and more during a day of three free workshops with industry professional at the Southeast’s largest recording and production studio. Following the workshops, a Whisperings Solo Piano Concert, featuring the renowned David Lanz and guests, is planned for 8 p.m. at the same location. The intimate concert will include other artists featured on Whisperings: Solo Piano Radio, the No. 1 broadcast on Live356.com for almost four years running. The program can be heard on iTunes, the Windows Media Tuner and TiVo and streams to nearly a million piano-music fans all over the world every month. Contact Gina E. Fann in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5385 or gfann@mtsu.edu.

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.” Exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Tom Jimison at 615-898-2085 or tjimison@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 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.