Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

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. on Saturday, 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.

“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”—Standing Bear

At MTSU’s 2010 philosophy lyceum, Scott Pratt of the University of Oregon posited that Native American traditions can teach us a lot about our place in nature. Dr. Phil Oliver, philosophy, says, “I’m not prepared to endorse his suggestion that native creation myths constitute any kind of ‘knowledge,’ but maybe some of them do embody (as he said) a ‘disposition’ to wisdom that can coexist peaceably and fruitfully alongside so-called Western ways of knowing. … My concern is that we not settle for a kind of pluralism that treats all identity as local and tribal, and thus reduces our best way of knowing, science, to just one more tribe among all the others. We should grow the tribe, expand our sense of who we are to the species level and beyond. If ‘indigenous’ just means ‘of a place,’ it is crucial to our survival that we understand ourselves as all belonging to the same place, the same nature, planet, cosmos.”

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

The war at home

The Spring 2010 Community Heritage Lecture Series will end its current season with the grand opening of its “Sowing the Seeds of Change: World War II Home Front in Rutherford County” exhibit tomorrow, April 29. Photographs, memorabilia and information gathered through oral interviews of Rutherford County residents who fought in World War II or lived through what is known as the “Tennessee Maneuvers” is the theme of the display. Research for the exhibit was conducted by MTSU public history students enrolled in “Essentials in Museum Management,” a course taught by Dr. Brenden Martin, director of the MTSU Public History Program. An opening reception for the exhibit will take place from 3-5 p.m. tomorrow at The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, 225 West College St.

Call 615-217-8013 for more information.
heritage@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

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.

ARE YOU FORUM OR AGAINST ‘EM?--MTSU, in cooperation with the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, will play host to a gubernatorial forum tomorrow, April 29. The program, moderated by John Seigenthaler, will begin promptly at 7 p.m. in Murphy Center. The free public event is being underwritten, in part, by Farmers Insurance Group. Doors will open at 6 p.m. MTSU students, faculty and staff may pick up tickets at the MTSU Ticket Office at Floyd Stadium Gate 1A and the Student Life Office in Room 326S of Keathley University Center. Off-campus locations for tickets include the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, the Rutherford County Election Commission office at 1 South Side Square, all MidSouth Bank office and all Farmers Insurance locations throughout the midstate. For ticket information, call 1-888-YES-MTSU (1-888-937-6878).

SHEAR GENIUS--The 2010 Tennessee Sheep Shearing School, which will be held April 30 and 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. 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.

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.