Friday, April 16, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Home is where the cinema is.

The final movie in MTSU’s Chinese Film Festival series, “Getting Home,” will be shown at 6 p.m. this Sunday, April 18, in Room 103 of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. This event, which is co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute and the dean’s office of the College of Mass Communication, is free and open to the public. “Getting Home” (2007) is the humorous and moving tale of Zhao, a middle-aged construction worker struggling to fulfill a dying co-worker’s last wish to be buried in China’s Three Gorges region. Setting out with his colleague’s body in tow, Zhao travels hundreds of miles across extraordinary countryside, encountering a number of colorful adventures and characters—and even discovering love in some unlikely quarters. Liu Xiao, a master’s degree candidate, will conduct a discussion session following the film.

Contact the Confucius Institute at 615-494-8696 or Dr. Bob Spires at 615-898-2217.

Speak out, Stevens!

The record of U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who recently announced his retirement, shows a consistent regard for the free-speech rights of public employees. David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar, says, “Stevens wrote the majority opinion in United States v. National Treasury Employees Union (1995), which struck down a federal law that prohibited federal employees from receiving honoraria for speaking and writing.” Even when the case was not about public employees, Stevens managed to defend the rights of workers. “He joined the majority in Rankin v. McPherson (1987) in which the Court ruled that a Texas constable violated a clerical employee’s First Amendment rights when she made an offhand, negative remark about John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan,” Hudson notes.

Contact Hudson at 615-727-1342.
dhudson@fac.org

Pay up!

Red will be the color of the day at MTSU on Tuesday, April 20, as the June Anderson Women’s Center, the American Association of University Women, the Women’s Studies Program and the President’s Commission on the Status of Women observe Equity Pay Day. From 11 a.m.-2 p.m., volunteers on the Keathley University Center knoll will pass out Payday candy bars and informational literature to enlighten the public about the pay equity issue. Members of the campus community are encouraged to wear red to symbolize how far women and minorities are “in the red.” In 2008, the median annual earnings of year-round full-time male workers in the United States were $46,367, compared with $35,745 for women, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That means each woman earned only 77 cents for every dollar a man earned.

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

TR EXTRA

A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH--Tennessee’s New Abolitionists, a book chronicling the history of anti-death penalty activism in Tennessee, is the subject of “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 8 a.m. this Sunday, April 18, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Logue’s guests are Dr. Amy Sayward, chair of the MTSU Department of History and co-editor of the book, and Rev. Stacy Rector, executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Slated for release in May from the University of Tennessee Press, Abolitionists contains entries on numerous topics, including the execution of the mentally ill, legal representation in death penalty cases, judicial independence in capital cases, news media coverage of capital punishment, and perspectives from correction officials, spiritual counselors, and relatives of the inmates and the victims. Contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

MORE TO OVERCOME--On April 19, 1960, the Nashville home of attorney Z. Alexander Looby, who defended participants in civil rights sit-ins, was bombed. In response to the bombing, activists staged a “silent march” from north Nashville to the mayor’s office that culminated in an agreement to desegregate the downtown area. This Monday, April 19, activists will gather at 10 a.m. at the corner of 28th Ave. North and Jefferson St. to reenact the “silent march” of 50 years ago. Dr. Sekou Franklin, political science, says this demonstration isn’t just about the past, but about the present, as well. “Nashville is still ‘separate and unequal,’” says Franklin. “A racially segmented marketplace, segregated schools, environmental racism and the lack of governmental accountability still plague Nashville. Moreover, sexism and anti-immigrant sentiment have created a climate of fear in Middle Tennessee.” Contact Franklin at 615-904-8232 or franklin@mtsu.edu.

REBOUNDING FROM ADVERSITY--Businesswoman and motivational speaker Deloris E. Jordan will deliver the keynote address for MTSU’s annual observance of “Take Back the Night” at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20, in the Keathley University Center (KUC) Theatre with a reception and book signing to follow. The sister of Basketball Hall-of-Famer Michael Jordan, Ms. Jordan is the author of In My Family’s Shadow (2003), her story of how she was sexually molested from ages 8 to 16. Her new book, From Pain to Purpose, is slated for release this summer. Deloris Jordan also will address the “Take Back the Night” rally, which is slated for 6-9 p.m. that same evening on the KUC knoll. The purpose of the rally, as well as the candlelight vigil and march to follow, is to raise awareness about violence against women. An open microphone will be available for anyone to express views on sexual assault. Contact the Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawu@mtsu.edu.

THIS I BELIEVE--“Creation and Liberation: The Ontology of American Indian Origins” is the title and focus of this year’s Applied Philosophy Lyceum event at MTSU today, April 16. This free and open talk will be delivered by guest scholar Scott L. Pratt, chairman of the philosophy program at the University of Oregon, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Room 304 of MTSU’s James Union Building with an informal question-and-answer session and reception afterward. “Professor Pratt has done substantial work on the ways in which the ideas and practices of peoples indigenous to North America have influenced American philosophy,” says Dr. Michael Principe, MTSU philosophy professor. “His presentation at MTSU will focus on the significance of various creation stories as understood by American Indians.” Contact the Department of Philosophy at 615-898-2907.

THREE TO GET READY--The women of the Epsilon Tau Chapter of Alpha Delta Pi sorority at MTSU will sponsor the second annual “Alpha Delta Pi-athlon: A Unique Triathlon Challenge” on Sunday, April 18. This triathlon challenge will include a 300-meter swim, a 10-mile bike ride and a 5K run (3.14 miles). The swimming portion of the event will take place at the Campus Recreation Center. The bike ride will start and end on campus, but the majority of the ride will take place off-campus. The 5K run will be on campus. Awards will be given to the top male and female participants, as well as the top three in each age group. Door prizes also will be awarded. Proceeds from the triathlon will benefit the Ronald McDonald House and scholarship funding for MTSU students through Alpha Delta Pi’s scholarship program. Contact Shelby Smith at adpiathlon@gmail.com.

THE ONE THAT I WANT--The Wesley Players will present “Grease” through April 18 at the Wesley Foundation at MTSU, 218 College Heights Ave. in Murfreesboro. Tonight's performance will start at 8 p.m., and a dinner theatre performance is slated for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, April 17. A special matinee performance will be presented at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 18. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults. Dinner theatre tickets are $20 each. The Wesley Foundation is the United Methodist student center for MTSU. Contact the Wesley Foundation office at 615-893-0469 or wesleyfoundation@comcast.net.

ON THE GROW--MTSU students who take the ABAS 3600 course (“Horticulture in Our Lives”) will conduct their annual plant sale at the Horticulture Center located on Blue Raider Drive across from the Tennessee Livestock Center. The schedule is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, April 16, April 22-23, and April 29-30. The students raised the plants themselves. Funds are used for scholarships. The plants available for purchase include bedding plants, tomatoes, peppers, okra, squash, cucumbers, petunias, salvia, snapdragons, wax leaf begonias, dragon wing begonias, zinnias, geraniums, impatiens, double impatiens, million bells, million golds, periwinkle, Dusty Miller, celosia, coleus, and much, much more. Geraniums are $3 for each six-inch pot. All hanging baskets and flats are $12. Contact the College of Agribusiness and Agriscience at 615-898-2523.

MTSU MOVIEMAKERS--The initial public viewing of “The New, True Charlie Wu,” the fourth independent film from Dr. Bob Pondillo, electronic media communication, and a crew of MTSU students and alumni will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m tomorrow, April 17, at Premier 6 Theater, 810 N.W. Broad St. in Murfreesboro. In addition, there will be multiple special nighttime showings from 7-10 p.m. that evening on the first floor of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. The short movie follows the title character, a young accountant who is disenchanted with his job, on a trip into his subconscious mind, where his overbearing boss and a gospel choir compete for his soul and his future. “Charlie Wu” already has received the Remi Award out of more than 2,400 entries at the 43rd annual Worldfest, the oldest independent film festival in the country, in Houston, as well as “Best Comedy Short” awards from the Smogdance International Film Festival in Pomona, Calif., and the Fifteen Minutes of Fame Film Festival in Palm Bay, Fla. Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465 or pondillo@mtsu.edu.

LULLABY AND GOOD NIGHT--In March 2006, Jaz’s Jammies was created to collect new pajamas for sick children in hospitals to help them feel appreciated and loved while staying extended periods of time. Jaz’s Jammies has collected nearly 3,000 pairs of pajamas. Originally, it was the Girl Scout project of MTSU student Jasmine Gray, a young woman who had experienced dozens of surgeries for a facial disorder and had spent up to three months in the hospital at a time. You can help Jaz’s Jammies spread love by donating during the 2010 Pajama Drive through April 29. Drop off your children’s PJs at the University Honors College, the John Bragg Mass Communication Building, the Business and Aerospace Building or the second floor of the Keathley University Center. If you’re off-campus, you can set up a drive for your community organization, business or school. For more information, send an e-mail to jazsjammies@yahoo.com.