Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Best biz

Ed Friz, instructor in MTSU’s Department of Management and Marketing, assigned his two classes the task of coming up with promotional campaigns to increase customer traffic in four target markets by one percent at Best Buy in Murfreesboro. The classes are divided into six teams of four to five students each. Tomorrow, Nov. 19, executives from the local Best Buy and one executive from the company’s national headquarters will judge the presentations in two sessions—one at 1 p.m. and one at 2:40 p.m.—in Room S276 of the Business and Aerospace Building. Judges will consider campaign content, organization, presentation, and creativity, as well as team appearance and professional demeanor. Members of the winning two teams will be interviewed for a chance to earn two paid internships at Best Buy. Media welcomed, but please come at around 12:30 so the presentations will not be disrupted.

Contact Friz at 615-494-8864.
efriz@mtsu.edu

Hail the heroes!

MTSU’s Black History Month Committee is accepting nominations for unsung heroes to be honored at the annual Unity Luncheon, which is slated for Feb. 3, 2010. Nominees must be individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their community, are age 60 or older and have lived in the Middle Tennessee area for 25 years or more. The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, Dec. 11. To nominate a person worthy of this great traditional honor, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/aahm/nominations/shtml and fill in the online questionnaire.

For more information, contact Valerie Avent, assistant director of the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-2718.
vavent@mtsu.edu

Firearms, fidelity, film, and finance

MTSU students will tour Barrett Firearms Manufacturing, Inc., in Murfreesboro at 9:40 a.m. today, Nov. 18, as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week activities. At 10:20 a.m. in Room S324 of the Business and Aerospace Building, Lorenzo Spikes, CEO of Eclipse Artists Management Group will discuss “Tips for Making It in the Music Industry.” In the same room at 12:40 p.m., Mary Maggio, director, will preview her film “TEN9EIGHT.” The movie tells the stories of inner-city teens as they compete in an annual business plan competition. And at 2:20 p.m., also in Room S324, Jim Gilmore, partner in Audio Productions, Inc., will talk about “Dealing with Today’s Economy.”All Global Entrepreneurship Week events are open to the public, and media are welcomed. For a complete listing of the week’s events, go to www.mtsu.edu/~entre.

For more information, call 615-898-2902.

TR EXTRA

TECH TREK--“Celebrate Your World with GIS” is the theme of this year’s annual GIS Day, an open-house event that will get underway from 1-4 p.m. today, Nov. 18, in the Tom H. Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall on the MTSU Campus. Held each year on the Wednesday of the National Geographic Society’s Geography Awareness Week (Nov. 16-20 in 2009), GIS Day is a global event initiated to help raise awareness about geographic information system technology and its many contributions to the field of science, technology, information and the humanities. “The power supply directed to homes, the patrol cars and fire trucks that keep neighborhoods safe and the delivery trucks on the road all function more efficiently because of GIS,” says Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s Laboratory for Spatial Technology. Contact Nolan at 615-898-5561 or tnolan@mtsu.edu.

“A KALEIDOSCOPIC PHANTASMAGORIA”—NBC EXECUTIVE PAT WEAVER DESCRIBING MONITOR RADIO--The November 2009 edition of “Middle Tennessee Record” is a kaleidoscopic phantasmagoria indeed. This month, the program features perspectives from Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, Georgia State University Professor Emeritus Donald Ratajczak, and MTSU students on the state of the economy; the poignant expressions of Holocaust liberators and survivors at MTSU’s ninth biennial International Holocaust Studies Conference; and an exhibit displaying the dazzling lineup of stars who have appeared at Murphy Center over the years—everyone from Garth Brooks to Elton John. To see the cable TV schedule or view the video online, go to mtsunews.com and click on “Middle Tennessee Record.” For more information, contact John Lynch at 615-898-5591 or jlynch@mtsu.edu.

I’LL GRANT YOU THAT.--The MTSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women is offering three grants of $1,800 each to faculty members who want to integrate the experiences and perspectives of women into the curriculum. The grants are intended for use in the summer of 2010. The 2009 winners include Dr. Gretchen Webber, sociology, for her new undergraduate course “Gender, Work and Family in the 21st Century; Dr. Meredith Huey Dye, sociology, for her special topics course “Women in Prison;” and Dr. Tricia Farwell, journalism, for her “Advertising and Social Media” course. The deadline for faculty to submit applications for the 2010 grants is Jan. 19. For more information, contact Dr. Samantha Cantrell at 615-494-8751 or scantrel@mtsu.edu.

PICTURES OF YOU, PICTURES OF ME--A different take on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is on display in Stan Strembicki’s exhibit “Memory Loss/Lost Library” in the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the Learning Resources Center at MTSU. Strembicki has been photographing the streets, people and events of New Orleans since 1984. Returning after Katrina, he was drawn to photograph not the ubiquitous crushed homes or overturned cars, but the subtler tragedy of washed-away personal ephemera in the debris of the Lower Ninth Ward. “Memory Loss/Lost Library” will be on display until Dec. 9. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Tom Jimison at 615-898-2085 or tjimison@mtsu.edu.

MICKEY MAKES A SCHEDULE CHANGE--The date of the Disney Keys to Excellence Conference hosted by MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business at the Sheraton Downtown Nashville has been changed to Tuesday, Dec. 1, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This is a rare opportunity to take an exclusive look at the "business behind the magic" from Walt Disney World© insiders, who will share the successful business practices and unique philosophies that have made the Disney name synonymous with creativity, quality, and innovation the world over. To learn more and to register, go to www.keysnashville.com or call 877-544-2384.