August 4, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Health care—good for what ails the economy

Dr. Murat Arik, assistant director of the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center, will explain his recent study assessing the impact of the health care industry in Nashville at 8 a.m. this Sunday, Aug. 8, on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). The study, which was unveiled at a July 7 news conference, shows one in eight Nashville workers to be employed by health care providers. Furthermore, more than 250 health care companies have operations in Nashville, which ranks it above 13 other similar cities, including Atlanta, Birmingham, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis and Louisville. “The findings of this study underscore what we’ve always known to be true—that Nashville’s health care industry is unique to other markets, especially in the creation of jobs, both locally and globally,” says Arik.

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

“I can believe anything provided it is incredible.”—Oscar Wilde

Philosophy and faith are both at their best when lit by experience, according to Dr. Phil Oliver, philosophy. “Too often, though, they’re reduced and diminished by an attempt to declare a winner,” Oliver laments. “The issue is much more important than that. … We don’t summon strong memories, yearn for our children’s positive futures, or credit the consciousness of our peers on a shaky wing and a flimsy prayer. ‘Our experience in the world’ counts for a lot more than that, and the tendency of philosophers to differ sharply and passionately amongst themselves is a measured reflection of just how much more. The mealy agnostic conclusion is not the ‘winner’ here.”

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

Planting the SEEDs of success

Ashley Rambo of McMinnville has completed a summer full of scientific research through Project SEED (Summer Educational Experience for the Economically Disadvantaged). Sponsored by the American Chemical Society, SEED gives high school juniors and seniors a chance to work with mentors in research projects in industrial, academic and federal laboratories. MTSU chemistry professor Dr. B.G. Ooi was Rambo’s mentor. She says of her experience, “I came here not knowing anything. I learned a whole lot more than I ever dreamed. It’s different here doing labs than in a high school lab.” Ooi says, “Ashley has carried out research in developing chemistry-based experiments for demonstrating to young students and investigating the pretreatment of cellulose to make it more readily digestible by the cellulase enzyme to produce sugar.”

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

TR EXTRA

GRITS ARE GOOD FOR YOU.--The GRITS Collaborative Project and MTSU invite you to participate in their 2010 forum from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. The keynote speaker will be Lee Rennick, executive director of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce’s Business Education Partnership. Her address is titled “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.” Guest speaker Donna M. Inch, newly appointed Chairman and CEO of Ford Land, will discuss the importance of attracting and retaining women in the engineering and science pipeline. GRITS stands for Girls Raised in Tennessee Science. Its collaborative project brings together organizations and individuals committed to informing and motivating girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The registration fee is $10. Students may attend for free. Contact Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross at 615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu.

“A HEALTHY STATE ENCOURAGES MANY VOICES—AND LOTS OF LISTENING.”—HHS SECRETARY KATHLEEN SEBELIUS--Expressions of confidence, faith, defiance, togetherness, satire and sobriety characterize the second edition of Voices We Haven’t Heard, a publication of MTSU’s June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students. The latest Voices is larger than last year’s edition, and it includes feminist poetry and prose nestled between glossy, colorful covers. Center Director Terri Johnson says the magazine empowers students by providing them with a creative outlet for their observations on racism, sexism, classism, homophobia and other forms of oppression. Voices We Haven’t Heard is free and available from the June Anderson Center in its new home, Room 320 of the Keathley University Center. For more information, call 615-898-5989 or go to www.mtsu.edu/jac.

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.