Monday, August 16, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Grousing over housing

After five quarters of growth, home construction declined during the second quarter in Tennessee. According to the latest edition of Tennessee Housing Market, a publication of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, “The decline was undoubtedly due to the expiration of the new home buyer’s tax credit. Single-family permits dropped from 13,600 to 12,700 for the second quarter, a 6.4 percent decrease. However, permits still are considerably higher over the year, up 14 percent from the second quarter of 2009. By comparison, construction activity dropped much more in the South (-13.2 percent) and the United States (-14.7 percent) from the first quarter. The South and the United States also produced a much smaller over-the-year increase in single-family permits as compared with Tennessee.”

Contact the Business and Economic Research Center at 615-898-2610.

“If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes.”—Mark Twain

It’s not unusual for presidents to refer to specific Americans as heroes in their speeches. Sometimes it’s helpful for the presidents to try to bask in the citizen heroes’ glory. However, the practice is not without pitfalls. Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College and former chair of the Department of Political Science, writes, “When presidents honor living individuals, they cannot always be sure how they will react or subsequently behave. Although at its best the public might perceive such a gesture as magnanimous, George H.W. Bush discovered that it can be particularly dicey to recognize, and thus give a potential platform to, individuals who represent rival political views. Individuals, especially young people, who presidents honor may embarrass the president or nation by later being discovered in dishonorable behavior.”

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596.
jvile@mtsu.edu

Cussing the caucus?

Do African-Americans feel a connection with the Congressional Black Caucus? Dr. Sekou Franklin, political science, and co-authors Richard Seltzer and John Davis, write, “While a cohort in the black community feels close to the CBC and view it as useful for articulating policy preferences, especially when compared to white congressional leaders, some blacks feel detached from the Black Caucus. … Surprisingly, we found very little differences across socioeconomic lines and among those involved in and alienated from the political process. The most significant variables that were able to connect the black electorate to the CBC were political ideology and party allegiance.”

Contact Franklin at 615-904-8232.
franklin@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

“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.