Monday, February 22, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The power and the Gloria

Writer and lecturer Gloria Steinem, whose pivotal role in the women’s rights movement has resulted in great strides toward equality, will deliver the keynote address of MTSU’s National Women’s History Month celebration at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 2, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. This event is free and open to the public and will be followed with a reception and book signing. Steinem, a co-founder of Ms. magazine in 1972, raised the public profile of feminism with her writing, lectures and public appearances. “Gloria Steinem is an icon!,” says Terri Johnson, chair of MTSU’s Women’s History Month Committee and director of the June Anderson Women’s Center. “Her place in the women’s movement is one that will always be respected and honored.”

Contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193.
jawc@mtsu.edu

A playwright named Desire

Heather Raffo, actress and playwright, will present a staged reading of selections from her award-winning play “9 Parts of Desire” from 9:40-11:05 a. m. tomorrow, Feb. 23, in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre. The play, a one-woman show told through the lives of nine Iraqi women, is Raffo’s first work as a playwright. Raffo’s appearance is part of her week in residence at MTSU, during which she is teaching a Visiting Artist’s Seminar on Writing Identity. Her students will present their work on Friday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building with a reception to follow. Both events are free and open to the public. These events are made possible by the Distinguished Lecture Fund, the Middle East Center, the Virginia Peck Trust Fund, the University Honors College, the Women’s Studies Program and the departments of Art, English and Speech and Theatre.

Contact Dr. Claudia Barnett at 615-898-2887.
cbarnett@mtsu.edu

Out of the Woods yet?

Is there anything left to say about Tiger Woods’ public statement after the chattering class has saturated the airwaves and sports pages? Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, offers this perspective. “There is little doubt about his sincerity after hearing his apologies and viewing his demeanor,” says Anshel. “No one wants to ever be put in that position, even with all of his money. It was uncomfortable to hear because ALL of us have done things we have regretted and have skeletons hidden (permanently, we hope) in our closets. Hopefully, we have learned and grown from those unfortunate experiences and have become better people as a result. … But the exposure of one’s behavior pattern, in this case, repeated episodes of adultery with multiple partners, is the ultimate humiliation.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

HAPPY HISTORY DAY!--MTSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Department of History will co-sponsor the annual Middle Tennessee District History Day Competition on the MTSU campus on Friday, Feb. 26. The daylong event is one of four district competitions in Tennessee that lead to a statewide competition in April and culminate in a national competition each June at the University of Maryland in College Park. This year’s event is expected to attract more than 200 middle- and high-school participants from as many as 30 area counties. Judging will be conducted from 10 a.m.-noon in the James Union Building (JUB), the Keathley University Center (KUC) and the Tom Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall with a 2:30 p.m. awards ceremony for students in the KUC Theater. Exhibits will be open to the public for viewing in the JUB until 1 p.m. Media welcomed. Contact Dr. Rebecca Conard at 615-898-2423 or rconard@mtsu.edu.

HELP FOR HAITI--“Restoration Haiti,” an informational benefit concert planned and performed by MTSU students to help the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake, will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at MTSU’s Wright Music Hall. Admission is $10 for non-students and $5 for students with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. In addition, MTSU student Ertha Luma, a Haitian native, will share photographs and stories of catastrophic conditions in the Caribbean nation. As of Feb. 11, the official death toll stood at 230,000. Some one million Haitians have been rendered homeless by the quake. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive estimates it will take 10 years to rebuild his country. The concert is the brainchild of MTSU junior Jasmine Pratt, a 20-year-old English major from Atlanta, Ga. For more information, contact the Office of Leadership and Service at 615-898-5812 or contact Pratt at princess.jasmine213@gmail.com.

MAKING A FASHION STATEMENT--MTSU’s Eta Kappa Chapter of the Gamma Sigma Sigma national service sorority will present its second annual Prom Dress Collection Drive from through Saturday, Feb. 27. Drop off your prom dresses at Holiday Cleaners, 911 Memorial Blvd. in Murfreesboro, for distribution in March to high school junior and senior girls in Rutherford and Williamson counties who are on the free/reduced lunch program. Dresses must be from 2002 to the present, must be dry-cleaned and on hangers, and must be prom dresses, formal gowns or fancy party dresses. Garments that were purchased before 2002 or have not been dry-cleaned, wedding dresses, casual or semiformal clothing and tuxedoes are unacceptable. To make an appointment for dropping off a dress, or to make a monetary donation, contact Claressa Johnson at 615-427-1816 or claressa0467@hotmail.com.

LEARNING FROM THE LANDSCAPE--MTSU history students produced the exhibit “Listening to the Landscape: The Stories of Stones River National Battlefield,” which is on display at Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro, through March 9th. The exhibit highlights the changes that occurred on the battlefield landscape prior to the Civil War through the present. One of the four exhibit panels highlights the African-American community known as “Cemetery.” It formed around Stones River National Cemetery after the Civil War. Linebaugh also will feature books that are related to the exhibit. “Listening to the Landscape” is sponsored by Eastern National, the Public History Program at MTSU, the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area and Stones River National Battlefield. Contact the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area office at 615-898-2947 or the MTSU Department of History at 615-898-2536.

SOMEDAY YOUR PRINTS WILL COME.--The Todd Hall Art Gallery will present “PRINTS: Through the Collector’s Eyes,” an exhibition that brings together a wide variety of original prints, through Sunday, March 4. Among the works that will be displayed are wood engravings, etchings, lithographs and screen prints, all of which are primarily from area collectors. “Included are prints from the 17th to the 21st centuries with work by famous artists as well as those who are less known,” says Christie Nuell, exhibit curator and MTSU art professor. The gallery is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9 a.m.-noon on Fridays. Call Eric Snyder, gallery curator, at 615-898-5653 or esnyder@mtsu.edu.

HOME IS WHERE THE VOLUNTEERS ARE.--MTSU students are building a second Habitat for Humanity home for a Rutherford County resident. Building dates will include Wednesdays, Fridays and some Saturdays. There will be two shifts per day—in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to noon and in the afternoon from noon until 4 p.m. The home dedication is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 25. The Office of Leadership and Service is rounding up volunteers from student organizations for this humanitarian effort. The future resident’s family also will be helping to build their home, and Central Middle School and Jason’s Deli are pitching in. Media welcomed. Good photo opportunities throughout the construction process. For more information, contact Jackie Victory at 615-898-5812 or mtleader@mtsu.edu.