Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

As I lay dying

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a two-year grant to Dr. Kris McCusker, associate professor of history at MTSU, to study the nexus of public health issues and political power during a critical period in the American South. “’Just Enough to Put Him Away Decent’: The Management of Death and the Evolution of Public Health Policy in the South, 1918-1945” is completely supported by federal funds. The book is under option by the University of Illinois Press. “In the South, whether one was black or white, death was a common and important part of the region’s self-conception, its ‘mind,’ in writer W.J. Cash’s words, since the death of young and old alike was ever present,” writes McCusker. “What happened, then, when public health policy, which assumed that dying was bad except in old age or on a battlefield, infiltrated the South?”

Contact McCusker at 615-898-2544.
mccusker@mtsu.edu

The keyboards to the kingdom

Musicians from across the region will flock to the first Music City Piano Workshop and Concert this Friday, 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.
gfann@mtsu.edu

Me and my arrows

More arrows point up than down in the latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index from MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research. 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. Compared to May 2009 figures, there was a three percent increase in the number of people who believe business conditions in the U.S. are good and a four percent increase in the number who believe business conditions in Middle Tennessee are good. However, there were declines in the number who believe now is a good time to make large purchases, who believe now is a good time to buy a home, and who believe now is a good time to buy a car (two percent fewer in each category). The number of respondents who believe jobs in Middle Tennessee are easy to find decreased one percent.

Contact Dr. Tim Graeff, director of MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research, at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

GET THE GIANT ECONOMY SIZE--C. Dowd Ritter, chair, president and CEO of Regions Financial Corporation, will be the keynote speaker at MTSU’s 17th annual Economic Outlook Conference, tomorrow, Sept. 24 at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro, with registration beginning at 8:15 a.m. Ritter will speak at 9 a.m. The head of one of the nation’s largest banks, Ritter began his banking career in 1969. “Mr. Ritter will speak from the unique vantage point of the head of a bank that survived the economic storms of the last 18 months,” says Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU. “He will likely have interesting thoughts about what the future of the banking industry may be. The program also will feature Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, with a midstate/regional economic update at 10:30 a.m. Dr. Donald Ratajczak, Regents Professor of Economics Emeritus at Georgia State University, will be the luncheon speaker. Call 615-898-2764 for more information.

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.

CROP ROTATION--Officials in the MTSU School of Agribusiness and Agriscience will hold their second Field Day tomorrow, Sept. 24, at 4 p.m. at the Agricultural Laboratory Farm, 3301 Guy James Rd. More than 80 people had registered to attend as of Sept. 16. For more information, call Dr. Jessica Carter at 615-898-2419, the University of Tennessee Extension Office at 615-898-7710 or Dr. Warren 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.