Monday, October 26, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Rosie the RBIter

The 2009 World Series will begin on Wednesday night, Oct. 28, in New York as the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies take on the American League champion New York Yankees. During World War II, women could be more than spectators of the great national pastime. Dr. Jan Leone, history, says, “The All-American Girls Baseball League was … born during the war. By 1942, minor league baseball teams had disbanded as young men went off to war. Major league owners worried that their teams would meet the same fate if the war continued. Phillip Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, supported one solution, and that was to create women’s teams. From 1943 to 1954, over 600 women played professional ball following major league men’s rules and reaching their peak in 1948 with ten teams and 910,000 paying fans.”

Contact Leone at 615-898-5580.
jleone@mtsu.edu

Put a tuber in your tank.

The Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether a production standard of something less than 100 million gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol might be the most viable option for next year. Dr. Cliff Ricketts, agribusiness and agriscience, says, “With the drop in oil prices, approximately 85 percent of the ethanol plants went bankrupt and closed. It is hard for any alternative fuel to compete with gas that goes under $2.50 per gallon. Another issue with ethanol (E-85) is that you get 20-25 percent fewer miles per gallon. Another problem that has arisen lately is there are reports that event gas with 10 percent ethanol in it is causing problems for small gas engines. Really, I do not believe this is really the problem, but much of the public believes it to be true. Perception is reality.”

Contact Ricketts at 615-898-2430.
srickett@mtsu.edu

Fighting photos

The U.S. military has backed away from its ban on photos of war dead in Afghanistan. The former rule was implemented after the Associated Press released a photograph showing a badly injured Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, who later died of his wounds. The revised rule allows for photographs, but material where faces or other identifiable features are recognizable cannot be used. Chris Harris, electronic media communication, says, “Ultimately, the question becomes, ‘Do we show the effects of war or sanitize it?’ To document events for others to see and make decisions from is not a simple task. Photojournalists are not the villains they are often thought to be. But, rather, they are committed to showing the truth as they know it to be.”

Contact Harris at 615-898-2841.
crharris@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

THE MUSIC, THE MESSAGE AND MESSIAEN--The Stones River Chamber Players, an ensemble-in-residence at MTSU, will open its 2009-2010 season with Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Oct. 26, in the Hinton Music Hall of MTSU’s Wright Music Building. Faculty performers will include Andrea Dawson (violin), Todd Waldecker (clarinet), Xiao-Fan Zhang (cello) and Leopoldo Erice (piano). Michael Linton, music theory and composition professor, will serve as commentator for the concert. Linton says Messiaen wrote Quartet for the End of Time when he was in a POW camp and was performed first by the composer and fellow inmates before an audience of prisoners and guards. “It is a piece that carries with it none of the smoke of war but in every measure is lighted by the joy of transcendence,” says Linton. This event is free and open to the public. Contact the School of Music at 615-898-2493 or go to www.mtsumusic.com.

YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE— The Department of Health and Human Performance and Student Health Services will co-host the 8th Annual Tunnel of Terror from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, October 26, in MTSU’s James Union Building. The tunnel is a sexually transmitted infection education event for all students, faculty, and staff. Since two-thirds of all STIs occur in 16-24 year olds, this is a great opportunity to educate students on how to protect themselves from becoming infected. Classes are welcome. It is a self-guided event so participants can move through as slowly or as quickly as they like. For more information, contact Casie Higginbotham at 615-904-8274 or chigginb@mtsu.edu.

I WANT TO PLAY, TOO!--Dr. Dan Gould, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University (MSU) and Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports at MSU, will speak at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 27, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Gould’s topic will be “The Professionalization of Youth Sports: Implications for Involvement and Youth Development.” Gould has served as a consultant to the U.S. Ski Team, NASCAR pit crews and drivers, professional tennis players, and numerous Olympic athletes. This event, which is free and open to the public, is presented by the MTSU-based Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth. Contact Dr. Don Morgan at 615-898-5549 or dmorgan@mtsu.edu.