Thursday, August 5, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Cut grass, not yard signs!

Governments should stop trying to put restrictions on election yard signs. That’s the view of David Hudson, adjunct political science professor and First Amendment Center scholar. Some laws prohibit homeowners from displaying more than two or three signs on their property. Others limit the duration of display to from 60 days before to 60 days after an election. Hudson says, “First, the law selectively regulates a specific type of speech on the basis of (its) content—political campaign speech. In free-speech law, content-based laws are viewed with much greater skepticism than laws that treat speech equally—so-called content-neutral laws. Second, political speech represents the core type of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect. For-sale signs, lawn-cutting ad signs and other commercial signs shouldn’t receive more protection than signs suggesting who should be our next leaders.”

Contact Hudson at 615-727-1342.
dhudson@fac.org

A kiss to build a dream on?

Building permits issued for single-family units in the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area rose to 401 in June 2010 from 275 the month before. However, according to the figures from the MTSU Business and Economic Research Center, only two permits were issued for multi-family units. That’s a decrease from 18 in May. The collective value of those June single-family units is $69,850,582, and the collective value of the June multi-family units is $50,000 for a total value of $69,900, 582. So far in 2010, February has been the best month for housing permit issuance in the Nashville area with a total of 654 permits. May was the worst month with only 293 permits issued.

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

Toothless Tiger?

Here we go again. Tiger Woods has gone seven tournaments without a victory, the longest start to a season without a win in his professional golfing life. At a news conference yesterday on the eve of the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio, Woods said he hadn’t been able to practice as much as he has wanted to because “people have been wanting more of my time.” One of his best friends, Notah Begay, let the cat out of the bag last month—Woods is going through a divorce following several acts of widely reported infidelity. Dr. Mark Anshel, health and human performance, says, “Playing golf at the highest level is what he must do and stop reflecting on what other people think. With time, this sad episode will be minimized (not forgotten) in importance. If his wife files for divorce, that’s their business. He’ll have to deal with that separately, but hopefully, with family therapy, things can improve.”

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

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.

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.