Friday, October 2, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Oyes! Oyes!

The new session of the U.S. Supreme Court gets underway Monday, Oct. 5. The alignment of the court will be slightly different with Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the high court’s first Latina justice, replacing retired Justice David Souter. Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College and constitutional law expert, says, “Observers will be watching to see whether Sotomayor will join the five justices (Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito) who typically align with the right or the three (Associate Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer) who more typically align with the left. Scholars undoubtedly also will keep a continuing eye on the health of Justice Ginsburg (who recently was hospitalized) and the retirement plans of Justice Stevens. Since both are considered to be ‘liberal’ justices, an Obama replacement would not necessarily lead to significant ideological realignments on the Court.”

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596.
jvile@mtsu.edu

“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”—Salvor Hardin in Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The June Anderson Women’s Center is making purple ribbons available across the MTSU campus for people to wear. On Monday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., the Women’s Center will sponsor the Silent Witness Project in the second floor lobby of the Keathley University Center. This exhibit will feature blood red T-shirts displaying true local stories of women, men and children who have been victims of domestic violence. The stories are printed across the busts of the T-shirts. This powerful exhibit promotes peace, healing, education and awareness. The Silent Witness Project is free and open to the public.

Contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@mtsu.edu

You’re traveling through another dimension.

Tonight, Friday, Oct. 2, marks the 50th anniversary of the first airing of “The Twilight Zone,” which the SyFy Channel is honoring with a 15-episode marathon. Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, says the anthology program created and scripted by the late Rod Serling “was a real departure for network TV and tackled a lot of huge issues of the time, including racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, as well as more esoteric subjects like man’s existential loneliness, the nature of beauty, and the concept of time itself. What was great about Rod Serling was his sense of mission. He once wrote, ‘The theater of the air should be both relevant and provocative, [an] agent of change and a spark to controversy. … The writer’s role is to menace the public’s conscience.’”

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

TEN-HUT!--Lt. Col. Therrel Kast, chair of the MTSU Department of Military Science, will discuss the education of the 21st century soldier and how colleges are helping to prepare young people for the armed forces at 7 a.m. this Sunday, Oct. 4, on “MTSU On the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Kast’s military career includes stints at Ft. McPherson, Ga., and Ft. Bragg, N.C., as well as a tour of duty in the 1st Sustainment CMD (Kuwait/Iraq). His awards include the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal, among others. Kast earned a bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. Contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

ORDER IN THE COURTYARD--Randy O’Brien, director of News and Public Affairs for WMOT-FM, will discuss his first published novel, Judge Fogg, at the 2009 Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. O’Brien will speak from 3-4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 11, in Room 29 of the Legislative Plaza building in downtown Nashville along with fellow authors Scott Pratt and Peggy Ehrhart. Inspired by Shakespeare’s “Othello,” Judge Fogg tells the fictional story of the first African-American criminal court judge in Nashville, his rise to power as a youthful corruption fighter and his downfall. O’Brien will sign copies of his book in the courtyard following the panel discussion. Free and open to the public. Contact O’Brien at 615-898-2800 orrobrien@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.

CLEAN AND GREEN--The first Summit for Campus Sustainability Conference—Tennessee Valley Universities Investing in a Clean Energy Future—will bring students and officials from across the region to MTSU from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. today, Oct. 2, in Cantrell Hall in the Tom H. Jackson Building. Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, Tennessee Valley Authority, Tennessee Department for Environment and Conservation and other organizations are expected to attend. MTSU professor and alternative fuels expert Dr. Cliff Ricketts, MTSU Facilities Services Executive Director Joe Whitefield, University of Tennessee graduate student Sara Malley, University of Memphis student Caledonia Allen, Vanderbilt University’s Kendra Abkowitz, Lightwave Solar Electric LLC owner Steve Johnson and members of Tennessee Alumni and Students for Sustainable Campuses will participate in morning and afternoon panel discussion. The event is co-sponsored by Green Power Switch, the MTSU Sustainable Campus Fund, cleanenergy.org and Tennessee Alumni and Students for Sustainable Campus. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Randy Weiler in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu.