Thursday, June 10, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Before the six-second delay button

When television was new, how did network executives determine what content was inappropriate or offensive? A man named Stockton Helffrich set the standards for the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and Dr. Bob Pondillo, associate professor of electronic media communication at MTSU, tells his story on the next edition of “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 8 a.m. this Sunday, June 13, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Pondillo’s new book, America’s First Network TV Censor: The Work of NBC’s Stockton Helffrich (Southern Illinois University Press), chronicles Helffrich’s career and puts it in cultural perspective, examining it in the context of an America that was stifled by Cold War paranoia, racial and sexual oppression and sexual tension.

Contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

Taking charge of technology

Bruce M. Petryshak, who has served as chief information officer for Bowling Green (Ohio) State University since 2001, is the new vice president for information technology and CIO at MTSU. Petryshak will replace vice president/CIO Lucinda Lea, who began her career at MTSU in 1973 and served as vice president of the Information Technology Division for eight years. Lea retired April 30. Petryshak has more than 30 years of experience in a variety of areas of information technology. Before joining Bowling Green State, Petryshak was employed at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, serving in various positions between 1984 and 2001. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Kent State. Petryshak is expected to assume his new role at MTSU on Aug. 16, supervising 75 staffers and 22 students.

Contract Randy Weiler in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5616.
jweiler@mtsu.edu

Helen reels

Veteran journalist Helen Thomas, the 89-year-old dean of the White House press corps, was prompted to apologize and retire after telling a rabbi that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine and go home.” Dr. Rami Shapiro, adjunct professor of religious studies and an ordained rabbi, thanks Thomas (who is of Lebanese descent) for her candid, if anti-Semitic, remark, but he’d like to add a little history lesson. “Helen’s history extends only back to the mid-20th century and is decidedly Eurocentric,” says Shapiro. “She wants Israeli Jews to go back to Germany and Poland. She wants them to go back to the death camps. But what about the hundreds of thousands who came from Arab lands? And why stop with the 20th century? Go back far enough and the Jews came from the very land that Helen wants them to leave. They can’t go home, Helen; they are home.”

Read Shapiro’s blog at http://rabbirami.blogspot.com/.

TR EXTRA

SCAN YOUR SCHOOL--MTSU’s James E. Walker Library and Digital Initiatives Group will present Community Scanning Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 12, at Eagleville Bicentennial Library, 317 Highway 99, in Eagleville. The purpose of the event is to preserve Eagleville’s history in education. Organizers invite the public to bring the following materials for scanning: school class photographs, photographs of school buildings, commencement announcements or programs, school activities (including sports), and school-related photos or memorabilia. Individuals may take their original materials back home for safekeeping. Copies of the digital image will be made available upon request. Contact Lynda Duke at 615-904-8525 or
lnduke@mtsu.edu.

KEYBOARD CAMPERS--“Partners for Innovation in Information Technology” at MTSU will be conducting summer computer camps for local area high school students July 12-16. Starting with rising ninth-graders, students will be invited to attend one of the three week-long (full-time, 40-hour) summer camps: the Alice camp, the Robotics camp and the Multimedia camp. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of computer science through experiences that have proven successful in advancing learning of high school students. The week-long camps will be free to attend, but seating will be limited. For more information and camp applications, contact the PIIT website at http://www.mtsu.edu/~piit.

SUMMER SCRIPTS--MTSU’s Youth Writers’ Camp is in progress and runs through Thursday, June 17 for students who have completed sixth through twelfth grades. This annual project of the Middle Tennessee Writing Project aims to make each camper part of a community of authors working to explore different writing styles and genres. Within this community, each camper spends extended periods of time writing, conferences with peers and teachers and ultimately discovers his or her own writing style. Each student receives a writer’s notebook, a camp T-shirt, a daily snack, a writing anthology and a visit with a published author. Camp instructors are experienced classroom teachers. Contact MTWP Youth Camp Coordinator Angela Pope at pope_a@worldnet.att.net.

2 + 2 = TEACHERS--MTSU will host an orientation and advising session for the “2+2” bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15, at the Middle Tennessee Education Center, 841 Union St. in Shelbyville. “2+2+ is a joint effort of MTSU and Motlow State Community College to enable students to earn an Associate of Science in Teaching degree at Motlow and a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from MTSU. The courses of study will prepare students for teaching careers in K-6 elementary education. Attendees to the orientation session should bring unofficial copies of their transcripts. Contact Molly Culbreath or Renea Cotham at 931-685-4444.

THE CLUE CREW--The MTSU Forensic Institute for Research and Education will sponsor “CSI-MTSU,” a four-day program designed for students entering the 10th, 11th and 12th grades in Rutherford and surrounding counties June 22-25. The student investigators will be presented with a re-creation of an actual crime scene. They will be divided into several teams. A professional will direct and coach each team as the students use math and science to solve the crime. Each student will be trained in the fundamental processes of collecting evidence, including DNA, fingerprints, hair and fibers, simulated blood spatter and shoe prints. Additionally, students will learn how to process the evidence, conduct interviews and formulate theories while working in a team environment. Registration for this day camp runs through tomorrow, June 11, but space is limited. Snacks, lunches, T-shirts and baseball-style caps are included in the fee of $250. For more information, contact Eve Shockley at 615-898-5530, or go to http://www.mtsu.edu/fire/workshops.shtml.

I’M PLAYING WITH MY BOOKS, MOMMY.--“Books and Children in the 19th Century: A Small Portrait” is the theme of an exhibit on display now and throughout this summer in the fourth floor Special Collections area of MTSU’s James E. Walker Library. The purpose is to show the variety of ways children and the adults around them engaged with books in the 1800s and early 1900s. The works available for viewing are indicative of the children’s book as an object of moral and educational value. The idea behind the books is to teach values and build character. Entertainment techniques are employed strictly to attract the children and hold their interest. Highlights include several movable books, which are books that contain text or illustrations that the child can manipulate. Pop-up books are one such type of movable book. Many items in the display have never been exhibited previously. Call the James E. Walker Library at 615-898-2772.

ADOPT A VET--The Albert Gore Research Center is an official partner in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. The center participates as part of its public service mission. Currently, the Gore Center has about 50 veterans of World War II and Korea on its list of those willing to be interviewed for the Veterans History Project at MTSU, but these vets are in their 80s and 90s. It is urgent that the Gore Center have funds in hand to record their stories in 2010. With each tax-deductible contribution of only $50, the Gore Center can fund one interview with a WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf War or Iraq/Afghanistan veteran, or a civilian who supported the war effort by working in war industries or volunteering for the USO, Red Cross or other support organizations. Your donation will pay for tapes and other supplies, transcription, permanent archiving and posting of the materials on a website. For more information, go to http://gorecenter.mtsu.edu/adoptvet.hem.

APRENDA CON ME--The University School of Nashville is hosting MTSU’s 2010 Summer Language Institute, where you can learn Spanish in a fun, low-stress environment. The methods employed are Total Physical Response (TPR) and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS). These methods mimic the way you learned your first language. Movement, games, songs and storytelling are all part of the instruction. Brian Roberts will teach Spanish I for ages 16 and up from July 19-23 at the University School and from Aug. 2-6 at the O’More School of Design in Franklin. Jason Fritze will teach Spanish II for ages 16 and up from July 19-23 at the University School. The cost for all language classes is $350 with a $20 materials fee due on the first day of class. Contact Dr. Shelley Thomas at 615-898-5757 or shthomas@mtsu.edu.