Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The big chill

As the weather alternates between snow and rain, darkness descends sooner and orneriness becomes second nature, consider the perspective of Dr. Phil Oliver, philosophy. He says of Iceland, “One of the coldest, darkest spots on Earth turns out also to be one of the happiest and coolest. Icelanders are stylish, literate, tolerantly heathenish, helpful, friendly … they do drink a bit much on the weekends, but still seem to manage their excess admirably and do not let it interfere with weekday life and work. They seem immune to SADness (Seasonal Affective Disorder).” How do they do it? Oliver says Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss, explains that it might actually have something to do with the cold. As Weiner put it, “In colder places, cooperation is mandatory; interdependence is the mother of affection.”

Contact Oliver at 615-898-2050.
poliver@mtsu.edu

The might of micromoney

Linebaugh Public Library will host the first in a series of microloan orientation training workshops conducted by the Tennessee Small Business Development Center at 4 p.m. tomorrow, Feb. 11, in the second floor board room. The City of Murfreesboro, in partnership with the TSBDC and MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business, is administering a microenterprise loan fund. It will provide approved applicants with allocations to expand, improve or create small businesses that might not be eligible for traditional commercial financing. The TSBDC’s role in the process will include working with borrowers initially to help them understand the loan process and to assist them with the implementation of the loans after the city issues them.

Contact the TSBDC at 615-898-2745. Contact Linebaugh at 615-893-4131, extension 110.

Common ground

A Muslim group has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the mayor of Lancaster, Calif., after he remarked in his State of the City address that he was “growing a Christian community.” How can Christians and Muslims minimize friction and painful misunderstandings? Dr. Ron Messier, former director of the University Honors Program and professor emeritus of history, is working on a book about how Jesus can serve as a locus for discussions. He writes, “The goal is NOT to show that Muslim and Christian beliefs are the same. They are not. Nor is the goal to minimize the differences between the two religions for the sake of peace. That would be unfair to one, or more likely, to both religions. Nor is the goal to show that one tradition is true and the other is not. Hopefully, we will find that within each tradition, there is sufficient similarity to explore ways in which each religion can find in the other ways to better understand ‘truths’ most central unto itself.”

To contact Messier, call Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081.
gklogue@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

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 Monday, Feb. 15 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.

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. today, 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 today, Feb. 10.

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. today, 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 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.