Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The Kandahar conundrum

President Obama met at the White House yesterday with his national security team to talk about strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science and Middle East expert, says, “As discussions of troop strength in Afghanistan heat up, it is worthwhile to consider why we entered the ‘Graveyard of Empires.’ This year’s … incoming freshmen at MTSU were in elementary school on Sept. 11, 2001. While indelible, the mark of that attack has begun to fade in the absence of further attacks on the U.S. homeland, making justification of the war in Afghanistan difficult. Clearly, the initial decision to enter Afghanistan was the removal of a safe haven for Al-Qaeda provided by the Taliban regime. Now that we have severely weakened Al-Qaeda, the current administration has begun a not-so-subtle shift away from the problems of the Taliban to an Al-Qaeda-centric story.”

Contact Petersen at 615-494-8662.
kpeterse@mtsu.edu

Ladies in the laboratories

The 13th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science Conference for middle-school and high-school girls is slated for this Saturday, Oct. 31, at MTSU. This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Leslie Wisner-Lynch, co-founder of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc. The company is described on its Web site (http://biomimetics.com) as “a biotech company utilizing recombinant human platelet-derived growth factor as its primary technology platform.” EYH is a hands-on science and math gathering that will give girls opportunities to participate in science workshops that are educational and fun. Workshops slated for this year’s event include “Lighting Up the Future;” “Ooze, Goo and Slime;” and “Egg Drop Contest.” Participants also will be able to learn the perspectives of undergraduate students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253.
jiriarte@mtsu.edu

The Martians are coming! Shucks, it’s just the Heene family again!

Seventy-one years ago this Friday night, Oct. 30, Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre players managed to convince thousands of Halloween-happy listeners that Martians were invading Earth with their performance of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.” “But before you get too smug and claim you could never be taken in by such a hoax,” warns Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, “how many of you respond to Internet rumors, horoscopes and programs that purport to have interviews with UFO abductees, Bigfoot photographers and assorted other supposedly paranormal activities? And just in the last few weeks, how many of us, including first responders and television networks, were taken in by the ‘balloon boy’ story?”

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

TR EXTRA

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. tonight, 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.