Friday, April 30, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Do you feel a draft?

This year, the NFL Draft was held in prime time for the first time in the draft’s 75-year history. Audience ratings on ESPN and NFL Network for the first night of the draft (when most of the top players are chosen) constituted about 6.5 percent of all TV households in the U.S. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “Granted, not every brand can stoke the passion and interest of the NFL. However, if you are holding events already, why not explore how they can be branded to create more interest and engagement? … Make the event memorable to the target audience, and give them opportunities to interact with your event brands before and after the event. Social media provide many options for engaging people around your event brands long after the event is held.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

A modest proposal

The financial instability that brought the country to the brink of a second Great Depression has sparked more interest in civic engagement. However, Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business at MTSU, is concerned that our society is becoming more polarized as a result. In the April 2010 edition of Tennessee’s Business, Burton recommends reading once again the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, which he includes in his commentary. He writes, “It might do us all good to read our founding documents on a regular basis, to ground ourselves not only in the truths upon which our country was established but also in the patriotism, dedication and spiritual commitment of those who gave so much to birth the great nation in which we live and those privileges we enjoy.”

Read Tennessee’s Business at http://frank.mtsu.edu/~berc/tnbiz/tennessee/contents.html.

The sky’s the limit

Kevin Horst, a junior from Monterey, Tenn., is the first recipient of the Tiara Foundation Chair Award of Excellence, a new scholarship from the MTSU Department of Aerospace. The $10,000 award will be presented to the 23-year-old junior pro pilot major at the aerospace awards banquet in September. Horst, who works at the MTSU flight school, says he will use the scholarship to pay for his flight training. He already has completed the four required flight ratings for pro pilot majors and plans on working toward complete certification as a flight instructor this summer. The Tiara Foundation Chair Award of Excellence is endowed by an alum who wishes to remain anonymous. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and write an essay describing the attributes of an aerospace professional and how they strive to exemplify them.

Contact Tom Tozer in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.
ttozer@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

MEMORIES MATTER--Dr. Martha Norkunas, professor of history at MTSU, talks about her career as an oral historian at 8 a.m. this Sunday, May 2, on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). In 1999, Norkunas began the Project in Interpreting the Texas Past (ITP) to research, interpret and present the histories of women and minority communities. She has worked with museums, historic sites and nonprofits across the country on issues of memory, identity, gender and the representation of minority voices. Norkunas also has been involved in a number of oral history projects on industrial and labor history, immigration, racial identity and gender. To hear last week’s interview with Dr. Sean Foley on the Arab Gulf states, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2010.html and click on “April 25, 2010.” Contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

WHEN JOHNNY COMES TRUMPETING HOME--Musicians from MTSU and other area schools will participate in the fourth annual Battle of the Bands event at 10 a.m. tomorrow, May 1, at Stones River National Battlefield on Old Nashville Highway north of Murfreesboro. The bands will play selected songs from the Civil War era while a ranger tells the story of a unique musical event that occurred prior to the Battle of Stones River. On May 1-2, a series of living history programs to help visitors learn how soldiers and civilians lived between the battles will be presented. During the months between major military campaigns, days were filled with activities that had as much or more impact on the war’s outcome as the fighting. Call 615-893-9501 for more information or go to www.nps.gov/stri.

A FOREIGN AFFAIR--MTSU junior Aaron Shew will depart for Turkey around May 14 for study experiences that will enhance not only his education but his prestige and his portfolio. Shew, a double major in plant and soil science and international relations from Murfreesboro, will join students from other institutions in a conflict resolution course in Cyprus and Turkey at his own expense. Through June 9, Shew will question government diplomats on best practices for negotiating solutions to thorny issues between countries. From there, Shew will head back to Lucknow, India, where he studied in the summer of 2009 under a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the U.S. Department of State, for extensive instruction in the Urdu language. His summer studies will be funded with another CLS. The 2010-2011 academic year is covered under a fully endowed fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. For an interview with Shew, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

SHEAR GENIUS--The 2010 Tennessee Sheep Shearing School, which will be held today, April 30, and tomorrow, May 1, at the Tennessee Livestock Center, 1720 Greenland Dr., in Murfreesboro, is still taking applications for participants. Headline instructor for the school is Bill O’Conner, who will offer his refined technique to any student with some sheep-handling experience. Assisting O’Conner will be Mark Powell of the Wilson Farmers’ Co-op and Dr. Warren Gill, chair of the MTSU Department of Agribusiness and Agriscience. The sheep-shearing school is limited to the first 20 applicants who pay the $50 registration fee. The Tennessee Sheep Producers Association encourages participation by senior 4-H (high school) members, and scholarship assistance is available. Contact Gill at 615-898-2523 or wgill@mtsu.edu.

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 30, and today only all plants are half-price—cash or check! 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.