Monday, February 8, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Percy’s progress

Dr. Preston MacDougall, chemistry, is shining the spotlight on trailblazer Percy Julian during Black History Month. Julian’s expertise had enormous impact on industrial chemistry. He received more than 130 patents, ranging “from one of the most commercially successful syntheses of cortisone to the fire-extinguishing foams that saved countless lives during World War II,” says MacDougall. But it was a rough ride for Julian. “For instance, after he obtained his doctorate in Vienna, he was denied a professorship at his alma mater, DePauw University, even though he had been the valedictorian in his class,” says MacDougall. “It is said that Percy Julian broke the color barrier in American science more than a decade before Jackie Robinson did it in baseball.”

Contact MacDougall at 615-898-5265.
pmacdoug@mtsu.edu

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.

The way they play the game

An interactive program on sportsmanship for both players and coaches that has already been shown to help reduce ejections in high school football by more than 60 percent over three years was adopted for use this past fall by the Sun Belt Conference with high expectations that it will have the same positive impact at the college level. Sun Belt players and coaches must complete the “RealSportsmanship” platform as part of its requirements for competing within a conference. Dr. Colby Jubenville, health and human performance, created the platform. “After many years of teaching, it has become clear to me that athletes have a better understanding of core values when they are placed in the decision-making process,” says Jubenville. “So I connected values to behavior. It’s important for coaches to tie concepts to behaviors in a way that athletes understand.”

Contact Jubenville at 615-898-2909.
jubenvil@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

GET THE PICTURE?--Professor Emeritus Harold Baldwin will deliver a lecture at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Feb. 8, in Room 221 of the Learning Resources Center. The current exhibit featured in the Baldwin Photographic Gallery curated by Baldwin includes images purchased since the gallery’s inception in 1961. During that time, major and emerging photographers of all genres have exhibited at MTSU, and Baldwin Gallery has become a popular venue that is scheduled years in advance. There will be a reception following the lecture in the gallery. Exhibits are free and open to the public. For information, call 615-898-2085.

IRAQ ON A ROLL?--Steve Saunders, interim director of the McNair Scholars Program at MTSU, will speak on “Calamitous Clusters: The Conflict Implications of a Democratic Iraq” today, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. The discussion is part of the Spring 2010 Honors Lecture Series “Global Tensions: A Focus on the Middle East.” This lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152.

SAVING SOUTH SUDAN--GLOBAL, an MTSU student organization, will hold a bake sale for the New Sudan Education Initiative, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10, the second floor of the Keathley University Center. New Sudan Education Initiative is a nonprofit organization “focused on increasing secondary education access, business training, and gender equity development. Our education enrichment programs are primarily targeted for young women in South Sudan,” according to its Web site, www.nesei.org. The GLOBAL organization at MTSU “strives to develop, foster and nurture diversity and tolerance within our campus community and provide intellectual training and outlets to aid well-informed, culturally tolerant global student citizens,” states the Global Studies Web site (http://www.mtsu.edu/global/GLOBALSO.shtml). For more information, call 615-494-7744 or send e-mails to jrw6m@mtsu.edu or keh3v@mtsu.edu.

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, Feb. 16 through March 4. An opening reception for the show will be held one day prior to its official opening, 6-8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, in the campus-based gallery. The public is encouraged and invited to attend this free event. 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.

“CELLULOID HEROES NEVER REALLY DIE.”—RAY DAVIES--Two MTSU students are semifinalists in the second annual “Oscar Correspondent Contest.” Nicki DeCroce, a junior journalism major from Nashville, and Tony Holt, a senior electronic media production major from Maryville, combine for one of ten teams hoping to win a chance to interview the stars on the red carpet at the 82nd annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7, in Los Angeles. The video DeCroce and Holt made can be viewed at http://oscars.mtvu.com. Visitors to the Web site may vote for their favorite teams once each day through the deadline of Wednesday, Feb. 10.

THE COLOR OF MONEY—Earl Graves Sr., founder and publisher of Black Enterprise magazine, will speak at 11 a.m. today, Feb. 8, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. Graves is a nationally recognized authority on black business development. He also has served as a director of Aetna, DaimlerChrysler, Federated Department Stores and American Airlines. Graves’ appearance is in celebration of Black History Month at MTSU, which is based on the theme of “The History of Black Economic Empowerment.” This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Black History Month Committee, the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence, the Distinguished Lecture Fund, the School of Journalism, and the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs. Contact Vincent Windrow at 615-898-2831 or vwindrow@mtsu.edu.

APPLAUSE FOR THE PLEAS AWARD--Dr. Dwight E. Patterson, associate professor of chemistry at MTSU, has been named as the 2010 winner of the John Pleas Faculty Recognition Award as part of the university community’s celebration of Black History Month. A reception in honor of Patterson will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, in the Tom Jackson Building’s Cantrell Hall on the MTSU campus. Presented since 1996, the Pleas honor is given to a minority faculty member who has made significant contributions to the university and community. He or she must have excelled in research, instruction, publications and/or service to the university. The recipient also must have demonstrated a commitment to MTSU’s African-American students. Contact Dr. Adonijah Bakari, director of African-American Studies, at 615-898-2536 or abakari@mtsu.edu.

HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS.--“Ramblings and Dwellings,” a joint exhibit of work by husband-and-wife artists Ken and Libby Rowe, is on display in MTSU’s Todd Art Gallery now through tomorrow, Feb. 9. An award-winning figurative sculptor, Ken’s “Ramblings” feature small-scale ceramic sculptures with a narrative bend and a whimsical nature. “His sculptures rely on a strong sense of humor and are often viewed as sardonic and quirky,” says Eric Snyder, gallery curator. In “Dwellings,” Libby’s current photographic work, she explores the emotional state of dwelling through the construction and photographing of small sculptural houses. The exhibit is free and open to the public. The Todd Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Admission is free. Call Snyder 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.