Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Talk is cheap.

On a recent driving trip from Murfreesboro to Buffalo, N.Y., Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, listened to the radio all the way to his destination. He started listening to a local talk radio station and hit “seek” every time the station he was listening to would fade. Each station his radio found was a conservative talk radio station. “But what was particularly interesting was that every one of the hosts was criticizing the media, saying radio, television and newspapers are dominated by liberal commentators and reporters,” says Burriss. “The fact is the conservative message is getting out, and it’s getting out to a lot of people. But what must be discouraging is that during the last election, most people rejected what they had to say. Well, that’s not the same thing as not paying attention or not getting the message at all. People can hear your message loud and clear, but they can still reject it.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

“Not to transmit an experience is to betray it.”—Elie Wiesel

The MTSU Holocaust Studies Conference, slated for Oct. 22-24, will bring scholars from all over the world to campus to examine various aspects of one of the greatest tragedies of all time. Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, history professor and conference organizer, writes, “The masses of documents, interview transcripts, filmed and tape-recorded evidence, oral testimony and exhibits gathered for and presented at the (Nuremburg) trials clearly demonstrate the enormity of the crimes committed by German leaders. Most of the materials assembled by both the prosecution and the defense are easily accessible to historians and students of history. Only the most irrational of ideologues can deny the existence of the Holocaust given the masses of documents and other materials collected for the trials and subsequently made public.”

Contact Rupprecht at 615-898-2645.
nrupprec@mtsu.edu

It’s a high fry ball!

MTSU’s baseball team will hold its annual Grand Slam Fish Fry fundraiser at 6 p.m. tonight, Oct. 13, at the Tennessee Livestock Center. The event will feature country fried whole catfish with all the trimmings and authentic Cajun gumbo, as well as hot dogs for the kids. Entertainment will be provided by Russ & Becky Jeffers Country Band from Jack Daniels Distillery. Tickets are $20 at the door. Children six years of age and younger will be admitted free of charge. Tickets are available at the MTSU ticket office located at Gate 1A of Floyd Stadium and the Blue Raider Athletics Association office in Murphy Center. Proceeds benefit the baseball program.

Call 615-898-2210 or 615-898-2450 for more information.

TR EXTRA

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 this week. Undergraduate geosciences students will provide free geochemical analyses of drinking water for the campus community throughout the week. Tomorrow, 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 or 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., today, 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 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

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.