Monday, October 12, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Office space

K.C. Conway, a real estate expert who works for the Federal Reserve in Atlanta, has told banking regulators that U.S. banks “are slow” to take losses on their commercial real estate loans. Dr. Doug Timmons, economics and finance, says, “For the economy as a whole, two key risks loom in a downturn of the commercial real estate market. A steep and prolonged decline in construction spending would place another burden on growth in an economy already reeling from falling housing prices and financial turmoil. Secondly, a fall in property values could result in losses for the banking sector. I am particularly worried about the regional banks. Construction lending is an important component of bank lending, and losses could further impair banks and the financial sector. This poses added risks to the economy from a reduced willingness to lend.”

Contact Timmons at 615-898-5750.
jtimmons@mtsu.edu

Rocks around the clock

MTSU’s Department of Geosciences will sponsor the campus celebration of Earth Science Week with a diverse array of activities that are free and open to the public Oct. 12-16. Undergraduate geosciences students will provide free geochemical analyses of drinking water for the campus community throughout the week. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, Dr. Mark Abolins will host a hands-on event titled “Understanding the Environment with GPS (Global Positioning System) and Satellite Images.” Dr. Melissa Lobegeier and Heather Volker will present “Geoscience as Green Science” at 4:20 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in Room 452 of Kirksey Old Main. At 1:50 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in Room 452 of Kirksey Old Main, Dr. Jonathan Gilligan of Vanderbilt University will discuss the scientific and human impact of climate change. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Abolins at 615-594-4210.
mabolins@mtsu.edu

Butterflies are free

L.Y. Marlow, author of Color Me Butterfly, will deliver the keynote speech of Domestic Violence Awareness Month observances at MTSU at 4:30 p.m., tomorrow, Oct. 13, in Cantrell Hall of the Tom Jackson Building on the MTSU campus. Doors will open at 4 p.m. A reception and book signing will follow the presentation. Color Me Butterfly, published in 2007, is based on a true story of four generations of mothers and daughters who suffered domestic abuse. Set in Philadelphia and spanning 60 years, the book tells the story of how Eloise, Mattie, Lydia and Treasure found the courage to persevere, each in her own way. Marlow’s appearance is free and open to the public, is presented by the June Anderson Women’s Center and Women in Action, and is sponsored by the Distinguished Lecture Fund.

For more information, contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE TOOTH, THE WHOLE TOOTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TOOTH--Dr. Lowell Levine, DDS, one of the top dental experts in the United States, will deliver a lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Levine, a forensic odontologist, is director of the New York State Police Medicolegal Investigations Unit. He has been a consultant to the POW/MIA Accounting Command—Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Dr. Levine also was a forensic consultant to the U.S. House of Representative’s Select Committee on Assassination Investigation regarding the death of President John F. Kennedy. He testified in the case of serial killer Ted Bundy, identified the remains of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, identified the remains of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, and was a member of the team of scientists who examined the remains of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family. This event, presented by MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education (FIRE), is free and open to the public. Contact FIRE at 615-494-7896 or rsnow@mtsu.edu.

IT’S FALL, YOU ALL--The October edition of “Middle Tennessee Record” is on the air and on the Web. Featured this month: the MTSU virtual tour, which allows anyone with access to a computer to wander around the campus without actually being there; Camp ENRGY, an innovative way to help children with physical disabilities participate more confidently in home- school- and community-based physical activities; interviews with Dr. Gerhard L. Weinberg, professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Whitwell Middle School Principal Linda Hooper, initiator of the Paper Clip Project, two attendees at MTSU’s Holocaust Studies Conference later this month; and a look at True Blue TV through the eyes of host and creator Steven Mizell. To find out where “Middle Tennessee Record” airs in your area, or to watch it online, go to www.mtsunews.com. Contact producer John Lynch at 615-898-2919 or jlynch@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.