Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

“Mom always liked you best.”—Tom Smothers to Dick Smothers

Did you ever think you were treated differently from your siblings because you were older or younger? Certain clichés about how birth order affects parent-child relationships have arisen over the years, but it’s not as easy to sort out as you might think. Dr. Dennis Papini, chair of the Department of Psychology, co-wrote a paper with two colleagues that states, in part, “Issues concerning the role of stepsiblings, half-siblings, adopted siblings, divorced parents and spacing between siblings’ births all complicate measurement. Because of these issues, the measurement of birth order varies across studies.” The paper also notes that parental age and level of education are factors. Papini and his co-authors ultimately recommended that future research should take into account development as well as individual differences.

Contact Papini at 615-898-2706.
dpapini@mtsu.edu

The taxman cometh

What sorts of purchases have resulted in the greatest amounts of growth in sales tax collections in Tennessee over the past fiscal year? Collections from auto dealers and service stations went up more than 10 percent. Furniture and home furnishings purchases resulted in an increase of more than eight percent in collections. There was a four percent growth in collections on building materials sales. All other categories are in a slump. There was a little more than two percent increase in collections on general merchandise sales. Tax collections from eating and drinking places rose at about two percent. Collections from food stores actually decreased. Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, presented these findings to Independent Trust in Franklin on Oct. 18.

Contact Penn at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu

Prosperity Port on Recovery River?

The work of Dr. Murat Arik, assistant director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, will provide a much-needed boost to the economy of Lake, Dyer and Obion counties. Based on Arik’s study, the federal government has awarded a $13 million grant to the Northwest Tennessee Port Authority and industrial park in Lake County for the completion of the Port of Cates Landing on the Mississippi River. Arik wrote, “Constructing an intermodal port in Cates Landing will change the business dynamics in the study region. It will not only retain existing manufacturing companies in the region but also attract new companies to the region. Marine-related businesses themselves will employ a sizable number of people.”

Contact Arik at 615-898-5424.
marik@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

IT WAS THE BUST OF TIMES—The Textiles, Merchandising and Design Program at MTSU will hold a celebration party for the “Bras for a Cause” campaign from 6-8 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 28, in the Georgetown Park Shopping Center, across the parking lot from Penny’s Closet, 1602 West Northfield Blvd. in Murfreesboro. Students in Dr. Teresa Robinson’s introductory fashion courses have lent their creative efforts to this activity during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bras are on display at Penny’s Closet, where customers are invited to vote for their favorites with donations of $1 each. The top 13 bras will be published in a 2011 calendar, which will be available for purchase next month. At the celebration party, voting will continue and winners will be announced. In addition, there will be a silent auction consisting of items and services donated by local businesses. All proceeds will benefit cancer research. For more information, contact Robinson at 615-898- 2156 or trobinson@mtsu.edu or Penny Bolton at 615-890-0415 or pennybolton@comcast.net.

WHERE TO BECOME AWARE--“Project AWAREness,” a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, will start at 7 p.m. tonight, Oct. 27, in Cantrell Hall in MTSU’s Tom H. Jackson Building. Information about various causes, including sexual assault and HIV/AIDS prevention, will be available amid displays and distribution of educational resources. Statistics quoted by the Domestic Violence Resource Center (www.drvc-or.org) indicate one in four women has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime and nearly three out of four Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. Purple ribbons, signifying the cause of domestic violence awareness, are available at the June Anderson Center, the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership and the information desk on the second floor of Keathley University Center. “Project AWAREness” is free and open to the public. For more information, call 615-898-5989.

I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND--Dr. David Lavery, professor of English at MTSU, will discuss “What Was ‘Lost?’ Where Television’s Most Extraordinary Series Came From and Where It Took Us” at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 28, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Lavery is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 20 books about television, two of which are about “Lost.” A 2006 winner of MTSU’s Distinguished Research Award, he has organized conferences on “The Sopranos” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and is a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in Television. This event is presented by the James E. Walker Library and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.

A WEIGHTY MATTER--Dr. David Bassett, professor in the Department of Exercise, Sport and Leisure Studies and Director of the Center for Physical Activity at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Bassett will speak about “Packing on the Pounds: Time Trends in Physical Activity and Diet in American Children.” This address is free and open to the public and is presented by the MTSU Center for Physical Activity and Health. For more information, contact Dr. Don Morgan at 615-898-5549 or dmorgan@mtsu.edu.

KEEPING IT COOL--Journalist, activist and political analyst Bakari Kitwana will lead a town hall meeting on the intersection of Islam, hip-hop and identity among a new generation of American youth with a panel discussion and viewing of the documentary film “The New Muslim Cool” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resources Center. The 2009 film follows Puerto Rican rapper Hamza Perez as he steers away from his former life as a drug dealer and embraces Islam. Following the screening, Kitwana will moderate an interactive panel discussion about the film with Perez and Nura Maznavi, staff attorney with Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization. Kitwana is Senior Media Fellow at The Jamestown Project, a think tank based at Harvard University Law School. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Felicia Miyakawa at 615-904-8043 or miyakawa@mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Expressing how they felt

Brilliantly colored, soft, fuzzy mobiles recently arrived from the United Kingdom at MTSU’s Ellington Human Sciences Building. These connected fabric swatches also connect artisans who are a desire for less violence and warfare in the world, giving a new meaning to the phrase “soft power.” Thirteen students in the Textiles, Merchandising and Design Program in the Department of Human Sciences received the felt crafts from their giving partner, The Herd Arts Drive, as part of Peace Felt 2010. The organization was created to promote love and peace through textile art. It was MTSU’s first year of participation in the project, and Assistant Professor Nancy Oxford intends to make sure it will be an ongoing endeavor. Oxford’s students made their own felt peace crafts for their receiving partner, Atelier Filt, in the Netherlands. The concept is designed to indicate a continuous circle of peace and brotherhood that has no beginning and no end.

Felt artworks are on display in the Ellington Building. Contact Oxford at 615-898-5689.
noxford@mtsu.edu

Penn’s prognostications

Gazing into his crystal ball, Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, expects there to be 1.5 percent job growth over the next 12 months in the Nashville area. With an unemployment rate of 8.7 percent now, Penn believes the jobless rate will drop to 7.9 percent over the year. However, he says growth in housing construction is questionable and home prices will be flat. All of these predictions are based on the presumption that job growth in the country as a whole will be moderate. Penn presented the economic estimates to Independence Trust in Franklin on Oct. 18.

Contact Penn at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu

The gridiron and the Great White Way

Dan Lauria, best known as the father in the TV series “The Wonder Years,” is starring on Broadway in “Lombardi,” a play based on the life of the legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. This puts the NFL in the unique position of being a Broadway “angel”—a financial backer of a stage production. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “If you own a business or are responsible for marketing a brand (which includes all of us since we are managers of our personal brand), is telling your brand’s story part of your branding platform? … Perhaps there is heritage to share, stories from the past like the Vince Lombardi story. The stories are there. Why not share them? People are more likely to connect with your brand through the emotions wrapped in a story than they are the features built into a product. Leave no brand story untold.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

IT WAS THE BUST OF TIMES—The Textiles, Merchandising and Design Program at MTSU will hold a celebration party for the “Bras for a Cause” campaign from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Georgetown Park Shopping Center, across the parking lot from Penny’s Closet, 1602 West Northfield Blvd. in Murfreesboro. Students in Dr. Teresa Robinson’s introductory fashion courses have lent their creative efforts to this activity during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bras are on display at Penny’s Closet, where customers are invited to vote for their favorites with donations of $1 each. The top 13 bras will be published in a 2011 calendar, which will be available for purchase next month. At the celebration party, voting will continue and winners will be announced. In addition, there will be a silent auction consisting of items and services donated by local businesses. All proceeds will benefit cancer research. For more information, contact Robinson at 615-898- 2156 or trobinson@mtsu.edu or Penny Bolton at 615-890-0415 or pennybolton@comcast.net.

WHERE TO BECOME AWARE--“Project AWAREness,” a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, will start at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 27, in Cantrell Hall in MTSU’s Tom H. Jackson Building. Information about various causes, including sexual assault and HIV/AIDS prevention, will be available amid displays and distribution of educational resources. Statistics quoted by the Domestic Violence Resource Center (www.drvc-or.org) indicate one in four women has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime and nearly three out of four Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. Purple ribbons, signifying the cause of domestic violence awareness, are available at the June Anderson Center, the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership and the information desk on the second floor of Keathley University Center. “Project AWAREness” is free and open to the public. For more information, call 615-898-5989.

TUNNEL VISION--The Department of Health and Human Performance and Student Health Services will host the 10th annual Tunnel of Terror from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. today, Oct. 26, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. The tunnel is a sexually transmitted infection education event for all students, faculty and staff. Two-thirds of all STIs occur in 16-24-year-olds. This is a self-guided event, which is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Casie Higginbotham at 615-904-8274 or chigginb@mtsu.edu.

I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND--Dr. David Lavery, professor of English at MTSU, will discuss “What Was ‘Lost?’ Where Television’s Most Extraordinary Series Came From and Where It Took Us” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Lavery is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 20 books about television, two of which are about “Lost.” A 2006 winner of MTSU’s Distinguished Research Award, he has organized conferences on “The Sopranos” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and is a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in Television. This event is presented by the James E. Walker Library and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.

KEEPING IT COOL--Journalist, activist and political analyst Bakari Kitwana will lead a town hall meeting on the intersection of Islam, hip-hop and identity among a new generation of American youth with a panel discussion and viewing of the documentary film “The New Muslim Cool” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resources Center. The 2009 film follows Puerto Rican rapper Hamza Perez as he steers away from his former life as a drug dealer and embraces Islam. Following the screening, Kitwana will moderate an interactive panel discussion about the film with Perez and Nura Maznavi, staff attorney with Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization. Kitwana is Senior Media Fellow at The Jamestown Project, a think tank based at Harvard University Law School. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Felicia Miyakawa at 615-904-8043 or miyakawa@mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

The bullying pulpit

It should come as no surprise to anyone concerned about bullying that it sometimes intimidates children so much that they skip school. Dr. Andrew Owusu, health and human performance, is a co-author of “Bullying and School Attendance: A Case Study of Senior High School Students in Ghana,” published in July 2010. The results show distinct gender differences. According to the paper, “For boys, increases in emotional problems are not associated with increased absenteeism for those who are bullied. On the other hand, for girls emotional problems were strongly associated with absenteeism and more so for girls who had not reported being bullied. The third strand of our analysis also showed gender differences in which absenteeism associated with bullying was mitigated by the support of friends for boys but not to the same degree for girls, especially those girls who had reported being psychologically bullied.” To hear Owusu being interviewed on this subject for the program “Up Front” on the Voice of America, go to:
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/voa-up-front/id299351984

Contact Owusu at 615-898-5689.
aowusu@mtsu.edu

The latest from the ER (economic report)

The patient has stabilized but remains in guarded condition. That’s Dr. David Penn’s diagnosis of the Nashville economy. The director of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center presented his expectations for the Nashville area to Independence Trust in Franklin on Oct. 18. Continuing with his medical metaphor, Penn says a long recovery period will be needed and support systems should not be removed too soon. He says a full recovery of the jobs lost in the Great Recession will require four to five years of moderate growth. But he warns that not only must the market recover the old jobs but more employment must be created for a growing labor force.

Contact Penn at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu

My world and welcome to it

Do you know why you make the choices you make regarding your relationship to the environment? In the spring 2011 semester, MTSU will offer “Environmental Ethics and Native Wisdom,” a course to be taught on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:40-2:05 p.m. in Room 202 of the James Union Building. The professor, Dr. Phil Oliver, philosophy, says, “The environmental ethics course, covering familiar issues involving climate change, global warming, the ethics of industrial agriculture and food distribution, the vehicles we drive, the homes we build, the waste we generate, the time we waste, the technology some think will save us from ourselves, how we conceive our relation to the rest of nature, and generally just the whole impact we humans have on our planet and biosphere, will add a new dimension … the wisdom of indigenous and native peoples.”

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

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

IT WAS THE BUST OF TIMES—The Textiles, Merchandising and Design Program at MTSU will hold a celebration party for the “Bras for a Cause” campaign from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Georgetown Park Shopping Center, across the parking lot from Penny’s Closet, 1602 West Northfield Blvd. in Murfreesboro. Students in Dr. Teresa Robinson’s introductory fashion courses have lent their creative efforts to this activity during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The bras are on display at Penny’s Closet, where customers are invited to vote for their favorites with donations of $1 each. The top 13 bras will be published in a 2011 calendar, which will be available for purchase next month. At the celebration party, voting will continue and winners will be announced. In addition, there will be a silent auction consisting of items and services donated by local businesses. All proceeds will benefit cancer research. For more information, contact Robinson at 615-898- 2156 or trobinson@mtsu.edu or Penny Bolton at 615-890-0415 or pennybolton@comcast.net.

WHERE TO BECOME AWARE--“Project AWAREness,” a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, will start at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, in Cantrell Hall in MTSU’s Tom H. Jackson Building. Information about various causes, including sexual assault and HIV/AIDS prevention, will be available amid displays and distribution of educational resources. Statistics quoted by the Domestic Violence Resource Center (www.drvc-or.org) indicate one in four women has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime and nearly three out of four Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. Purple ribbons, signifying the cause of domestic violence awareness, are available at the June Anderson Center, the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership and the information desk on the second floor of Keathley University Center. “Project AWAREness” is free and open to the public. For more information, call 615-898-5989.

TUNNEL VISION--The Department of Health and Human Performance and Student Health Services will host the 10th annual Tunnel of Terror from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 26, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building. The tunnel is a sexually transmitted infection education event for all students, faculty and staff. Two-thirds of all STIs occur in 16-24-year-olds. This is a self-guided event, which is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Casie Higginbotham at 615-904-8274 or chigginb@mtsu.edu.

I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND--Dr. David Lavery, professor of English at MTSU, will discuss “What Was ‘Lost?’ Where Television’s Most Extraordinary Series Came From and Where It Took Us” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. Lavery is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of more than 20 books about television, two of which are about “Lost.” A 2006 winner of MTSU’s Distinguished Research Award, he has organized conferences on “The Sopranos” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and is a founding co-editor of the journals Slayage: The Online International Journal of Buffy Studies and Critical Studies in Television. This event is presented by the James E. Walker Library and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.

KEEPING IT COOL--Journalist, activist and political analyst Bakari Kitwana will lead a town hall meeting on the intersection of Islam, hip-hop and identity among a new generation of American youth with a panel discussion and viewing of the documentary film “The New Muslim Cool” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resources Center. The 2009 film follows Puerto Rican rapper Hamza Perez as he steers away from his former life as a drug dealer and embraces Islam. Following the screening, Kitwana will moderate an interactive panel discussion about the film with Perez and Nura Maznavi, staff attorney with Muslim Advocates, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization. Kitwana is Senior Media Fellow at The Jamestown Project, a think tank based at Harvard University Law School. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dr. Felicia Miyakawa at 615-904-8043 or miyakawa@mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Scary stuff

As Halloween approaches, it behooves us to remember that not all horrors are cute, clever or temporary. The horrors of the Holocaust were all too real and beyond anything either Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King could have imagined. The impact of the Nazis’ institutionalized terrorism remains with us to this day. Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, history, and the Holocaust Studies committee have received a contract to create a second book based on papers from the MTSU International Holocaust Studies Conference. The title will be The Holocaust and World War II in History and in Memory. The MTSU Holocaust Conference became the International Holocaust Conference in 2009 after attracting other paper proposals from first-class scholars from Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Israel, Italy and Slovenia to participate in the ninth biennial conference.

Contact Rupprecht at 615-898-2645.
nrupprec@mtsu.edu

Going global

Dr. Steven Livingston, political science, is conducting a study titled Tennessee’s Global Competitiveness: A History of Globalization in the Volunteer State. This study is motivated by the realization that globalization will affect significantly the economy and society of Tennessee but that the extent of the globalization is poorly understood and has yet to be measured. It addresses the pattern and historical development of globalization in Tennessee, creating a methodology to assess the global competitiveness of each of the state’s counties and a set of variables to measure that competitiveness. It will produce a figurative map of globalization in Tennessee. The competitiveness of each county will be determined, as well as how that competitiveness is changing over time.

Contact Livingston at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu

Warrior words

Dr. Conrad Crane, director of the United States Army Military History Institute, will discuss the development and application of a new counterinsurgency doctrine to guide military leaders at 8 a.m. this Sunday, Oct. 24, on “MTSU on the Record” With host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org). Crane, who is slated to speak at MTSU on Tuesday, Nov. 2, was the lead author of the new Army-U.S. Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual, which was released in December 2006. In November 2007, he visited Iraq at the request of Gen. David Petraeus to evaluate the new doctrine in action. A veteran of 26 years of military service, Crane holds a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Military Academy and master’s and doctorate degrees from Stanford University.

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

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

STEP IT UP—Members of seven Greek organizations will step lively for prizes and pride at the annual homecoming week Step Show presented by the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, at MTSU’s Murphy Center. The teams will perform intricately designed and rehearsed routines that will be judged in the categories of complexity, creativity, synchronization, crowd interaction and other criteria. Admission for this year’s show is $12 in advance at the Murphy Center Gat A ticket office through tomorrow, Oct. 21, or $15 on the day of the show. Only cash will be accepted. For information, contact Angela King at 615-898-5812 or anking@mtsu.edu.

BODY AND SOUL--Women in Action, an MTSU student organization, will present “Love Your Body Day” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 21, on the Keathley University Center knoll on the MTSU campus. The purpose of the event is to encourage women to love themselves inside and out. Students and faculty will be asked to participate in physical activities, including jumping rope, hula hoops and jogging in place, for prizes. Vendors, including Curves, Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, MTSU Health Services, VOX-Voices of Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Studies Student Organization, will distribute information. For more information, contact Courtney Clardy at 615-995-0680 or cac5y@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday from Oct. 21 through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

COMING HOME--MTSU Student Government Association Homecoming events include T-shirt Swap Days Oct. 20-22; Horseshoe Competition, Oct. 21, 5 p.m., Recreation Center; Chili Cook-off and Corn Hole Competition, Oct. 22, 5 p.m., Murphy Center; NPHC Step Show, Oct. 22, Murphy Center; and Fight Song, Oct. 20, Murphy Center “Forest.” The homecoming parade will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 23, at the intersection of Maney Avenue and Main Street and will end at the Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Avenue. It all leads up to the homecoming football game against Louisiana-Monroe at Floyd Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23. For more information, contact Donald Abels at 615-898-2537 or sgahome@mtsu.edu.

SING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”--MTSU’s Center for Popular Music will celebrate its 25th birthday this month. Items from its collections are on display in the atrium of the James E. Walker Library. A 25th birthday gala, complete with cake and all the trimmings, is slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the center, which is located on the first floor of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. This event is free and open to the public.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear.

The recent death of actress Barbara Billingsley, who portrayed June Cleaver on “Leave It to Beaver,” put Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, in mind of other early television programs. While vintage TV is thought of by younger generations as unsophisticated, Burriss points out that many of the themes embraced by early shows were actually quite progressive. “There was, for example, ‘Have Gun, Will Travel,’ reminisces Burriss, “a bang-bang, shoot-em-up Western. One of the recurring characters in the drama was a stereotypical Chinese man, Hey Boy, who would certainly be politically incorrect today. But, in one adventure, the star of the show, Paladin, deals with exploitation of Chinese workers, who, for all intents and purposes, were being sold into slavery to work on the railroad. He spends the half-hour program commenting on equality and the need for better working conditions for all people. And this was in 1958, years before equal rights and equal opportunity were fashionable.”

Contact Burriss at 615-898-2983.
lburriss@mtsu.edu

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

How do Tennesseans feel about Wall Street after the scandals of earlier this year? According to the latest Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index, they’re rather optimistic. Dr. Tim Graeff, director of MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research, writes, “Consumers were asked whether they expected the stock market to be higher 12 months from now, lower or remain about the same. Of those who responded, only 13 percent expect the stock market to decrease in value in the next 12 months. Almost half (49 percent) of consumers expect the stock market to increase in value in the next 12 months. This is a sharp increase compared to June, when only 36 percent expected the stock market to increase. And this could partly explain the increase in the percent of consumers who expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next 12 months.”

Contact Graeff at 615-898-5124.
tgraeff@mtsu.edu

A minor consideration

A recent decision by a California appeals court sends a message that juvenile trial courts should keep their probation restrictions very specific in the interest of fairness to juvenile defendants. A court had prohibited a juvenile from coming “within 25 feet of a courthouse” when he knows there are criminal proceedings that involve gang members, victims of gangs or witnesses in gang-related trials. David Hudson, adjunct professor of political science and First Amendment Center scholar, writes, “The appeals court noted that the trial court’s broad language could apply even when the minor went to other parts of a courthouse to attend different court proceedings. It could even apply … when he was in ‘adjacent buildings,’ and that (the minor) could violate the condition if a car or bus in which he is a passenger passes by such a building.’”

Contact Hudson at 615-727-1342.
dhudson@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

BODY AND SOUL--Women in Action, an MTSU student organization, will present “Love Your Body Day” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 21, on the Keathley University Center knoll on the MTSU campus. The purpose of the event is to encourage women to love themselves inside and out. Students and faculty will be asked to participate in physical activities, including jumping rope, hula hoops and jogging in place, for prizes. Vendors, including Curves, Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, MTSU Health Services, VOX-Voices of Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Studies Student Organization, will distribute information. For more information, contact Courtney Clardy at 615-995-0680 or cac5y@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday from Oct. 21 through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

COMING HOME--MTSU Student Government Association Homecoming events include T-shirt Swap Days Oct. 20-22; Horseshoe Competition, Oct. 21, 5 p.m., Recreation Center; Chili Cook-off and Corn Hole Competition, Oct. 22, 5 p.m., Murphy Center; NPHC Step Show, Oct. 22, Murphy Center; and Fight Song, Oct. 20, Murphy Center “Forest.” The homecoming parade will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 23, at the intersection of Maney Avenue and Main Street and will end at the Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Avenue. It all leads up to the homecoming football game against Louisiana-Monroe at Floyd Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23. For more information, contact Donald Abels at 615-898-2537 or sgahome@mtsu.edu.

SING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”--MTSU’s Center for Popular Music will celebrate its 25th birthday this month. Items from its collections are on display in the atrium of the James E. Walker Library. A 25th birthday gala, complete with cake and all the trimmings, is slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the center, which is located on the first floor of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. This event is free and open to the public.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

War weariness

Tennesseans have mixed feelings about the war in Afghanistan. The latest MTSU Poll indicates that 50 percent believe in the U.S. involvement in the conflict while 39 percent say the war is a mistake. Dr. Jason Reineke, assistant director of the poll, says, “Attitudes about the war in Afghanistan are predictably determined by perception of how that war is going. Only two percent of poll respondents think that the war is going ‘very well,’ but among these individuals 80 percent say that the war was the right decision, and among the 30 percent of poll respondents overall who say the war is going ‘moderately well,’ 75 percent way the war was the right decision. A plurality, but not a majority, of the 34 percent of all respondents who say that the war is going ‘moderately badly’ still think the war was the right decision. But among the 25 percent who say the war is going ‘very badly,’ 70 percent say it was a mistake.”

Contact Reineke at 615-494-7746.
jreineke@mtsu.edu

Financial fretting

Economic worries still dominate Tennesseans’ minds. The latest MTSU Poll shows that 80 percent of respondents are either very worried (38 percent) or somewhat worried (42 percent) about the direction of the national economy. Dr. Ken Blake, director of the poll, says, “About as many (84 percent) rate the state’s economy as either only fair (54 percent) or poor (30 percent). Fewer, but still a 62 percent majority, say they are either very worried (20 percent) or somewhat worried (42 percent) about their own family’s financial situation. Seventy-three percent say the recession has hurt them. And of those, about half say the recession has hurt them ‘a great deal.’ … Worry about the national economy tends to break along political lines with Republicans and independents expressing more worry than Democrats. Worry about one’s family finances, though, appears more directly a function of income with poorer Tennesseans expressing more worry than wealthier ones.”

Contact Blake at 615-210-6187.
kblake@mtsu.edu

The body beautiful

Check your local newsstands next month for the November issue of Self magazine. It features an interview with Dr. Mark Anshel, professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at MTSU. An interview with Anshel will be in the magazine’s monthly Fitness Feature. He answers the question “Do men worry less than women do about what others think of their bodies?” and discusses two conditions, “body self-image” and “social physique anxiety.” Anshel is a board member of the Journal of Sport Behavior and is the author of Applied Exercise Psychology: A guide for consulting exercise participants (Springer, 2006). He holds a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University, a master’s degree from McGill University and a doctorate from Florida State University.

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

TR EXTRA

EXPLORE THE WAR--After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo. For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu. Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179 or mtabroad@mtsu.edu.

BODY AND SOUL--Women in Action, an MTSU student organization, will present “Love Your Body Day” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 21, on the Keathley University Center knoll on the MTSU campus. The purpose of the event is to encourage women to love themselves inside and out. Students and faculty will be asked to participate in physical activities, including jumping rope, hula hoops and jogging in place, for prizes. Vendors, including Curves, Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, MTSU Health Services, VOX-Voices of Planned Parenthood and the Women’s Studies Student Organization, will distribute information. For more information, contact Courtney Clardy at 615-995-0680 or cac5y@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

A RADICAL IDEA--A series of six Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes will be offered at no charge from 6-8 p.m. each Thursday from Oct. 21 through Dec. 2 at MTSU police headquarters, 1412 East Main St. in Murfreesboro. The class will be open to all female MTSU students, faculty and staff, as well as to the general public. A workbook/training manual will be provided to each student. Enrollment is limited. For more information or to enroll, contact MTSU RAD instructor Sgt. David Smith at 615-692-2424 or 615-494-7858.

COMING HOME--MTSU Student Government Association Homecoming events include T-shirt Swap Days Oct. 20-22; Horseshoe Competition, Oct. 21, 5 p.m., Recreation Center; Chili Cook-off and Corn Hole Competition, Oct. 22, 5 p.m., Murphy Center; NPHC Step Show, Oct. 22, Murphy Center; and Fight Song, Oct. 20, Murphy Center “Forest.” The homecoming parade will begin at 11 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 23, at the intersection of Maney Avenue and Main Street and will end at the Tennessee Livestock Center on Greenland Avenue. It all leads up to the homecoming football game against Louisiana-Monroe at Floyd Stadium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23. For more information, contact Donald Abels at 615-898-2537 or sgahome@mtsu.edu.

SING “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”--MTSU’s Center for Popular Music will celebrate its 25th birthday this month. Items from its collections are on display in the atrium of the James E. Walker Library. A 25th birthday gala, complete with cake and all the trimmings, is slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, at the center, which is located on the first floor of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building. This event is free and open to the public.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS--It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.” Contact Newton at 615-904-8573 or lnewton@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Explore the war

After two excursions to the South Pacific to expose students to some of the critical sites of World War II, an MTSU historian prepares to embark on a tour of some of the pivotal sites of the European Theater of Operations for his “Warfare and Public Memory in Western Europe” class (HIST 3070). Dr. Derek Frisby, associate professor of history, will escort students across the continent May 19-June 3, 2011, in tracing the war’s “Great Crusade.” The 16-day tour will include an examination of Normandy; Bastogne; Dachau; Operation Market Garden, a campaign fought in Germany and the Netherlands; and the “Eagle’s Nest,” Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s retreat in the mountains above Berchtesgarden. Students also will follow the route of the 101st Airborne Division’s “Band of Brothers.” Tours of Omaha and Utah beaches, Arnhem and the “Battle of the Bulge” site are on the itinerary, as well as the Bayeaux Tapestry, Paris, Verdun and Waterloo.

For more information, contact Frisby at 615-904-8097.
dfrisby@mtsu.edu
Financial aid is available. Apply as soon as possible. Contact the Office of Education Abroad and Student Exchange (MT Abroad) at 615-898-5179.
mtabroad@mtsu.edu

Happy holidays

It’s time again for “Operation Christmas Care,” the project that sends holiday cheer to wounded warriors. The service, which was started in 2006 by Lee Ann Newton, executive aide for the Tennessee Mathematics, Science and Technology Education Center, has sent more than 20,000 Christmas cards to hospitalized military personnel. “Unfortunately, our soldiers’ individual support systems often dwindle after the life-threatening danger has passed,” says Norton, “and yet their painful daily regiment toward recovery continues. E-mails are nice, and they’re appreciated, but a colorful card or letter with a heartfelt message of support and encouragement can beam from the walls of their hospital rooms until they leave.”

Contact Newton at 615-904-8573.
lnewton@mtsu.edu

Green is the color of money.

Will green jobs be the salvation of the American economy? In the latest edition of Tennessee’s Business, a publication of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business, writes, “I don’t know if green is a trillion-dollar industry or even an industry or if there is a revolution. This may be hyperbole. But I think the Urban Green Partnership may be at least partially right. That ‘the design, commercialization and use of processes and products’ must be ‘feasible and economical’ has always been a key to success. If you add reducing pollution and minimizing risk, you have a winner and might just get a significant piece of this supposed trillion-dollar pie.”

Contact Burton at 615-898-2764.
eburton@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SURVEY SAYS?--Dr. Ken Blake, director of the MTSU Poll, and Dr. Jason Reineke, associate director of the poll, will be guests on “OpenLine” on NewsChannel5+ from 7-8 p.m. Central time tomorrow, Oct. 14. Blake and Reineke also are slated to be on “This Week with Bob Mueller” on WKRN-TV (Channel 2) at 9 a.m. Central time on Sunday, Oct. 17. The fall MTSU Poll, which is slated for release this week, will focus on measuring Tennesseans’ attitudes toward Muslims, the Tennessee governor’s race, the Tea Party movement, and gun laws and ownership, among other issues. For more information, contact Blake at 615-210-6187 or Reineke at 615-494-7746.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?--As a free community service during National Audiology Awareness Month, MTSU undergraduate communication disorders majors will test the hearing of students at John Pittard Elementary School, 745 DeJarnette Lane in Murfreesboro, from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15. Using seven portable audiometers, the MTSU students will document the responses of children in second, fourth and sixth grades, as well as kindergarten. The youngsters will don headphones and raise their hands if they hear the tones emitted through the audiometers. In addition, the student clinicians will use two tympanometers to test for middle ear disease. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Elizabeth Smith at 615-898-2662 or elsmith@mtsu.edu.

FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH--As part of Earth Science Week. today, Oct. 13, from 3:30-4:15 p.m., Dr. Mark Abolins, associate professor of geosciences, will talk about “Urban Growth near Mobile Bay, Alabama: The ‘Other’ Threat to Gulf Coast Wetlands” in Room 452 of Kirksey Old Main. Tomorrow, Oct. 14, Bob Sneed, Chief of the Water Management Section, Nashville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will talk about the May 1-2 Middle Tennessee flood from 6-7 p.m., again in KOM 452. All Earth Science Week 2010 events, including a catered barbeque dinner at the MTSU Mineral, Gem and Fossil Museum, 122 Ezell Hall, following Sneed’s lecture, are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Abolins at 615-594-4210 or mabolins@mtsu.edu.

WHY CAN’T JOHNNY READ?--A dyslexia information forum is scheduled for parents, teachers and other interested individual from 6:25-8:00 p.m. for tomorrow, Oct. 14, on the second floor of the Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro. A panel of local teachers and personnel from Murfreesboro City Schools, along with school psychologists, professors and staff from the MTSU Department of Psychology and the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia will provide information about the learning disorder and will respond to questions from participants. The forum is being held in recognition of Dyslexia Awareness Month as designated by the International Dyslexia Association. For more information, contact Janet Camp at 615-896-5987 or jccamp41@comcast.net.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK/A WONDERFUL TOWN—MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is proud to play host to “New York, September 11” by world-renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos through Oct. 18. This stunning exhibition of 39 rare photographs began touring the nation five years after the terrorist attacks on the United States. These pictures capture images as they happened—many from an intimate, street-level perspective. Also included are beautiful photos of the World Trade Center twin towers before their fall. The Baldwin Gallery is in the McWherter Learning Resources Center. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 12-4 p.m.

FUN AND GAMES—MTSU Student Programming will present Videogame Night from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center and Karaoke Night at 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at the Cyber Café. For more information, contact Jenni McCray, Chair of Distribution, at mtdistribute@gmail.com or jlm7k@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

NUTS TO YOU--This is the final week to order Georgia pecans from ASCE. Three sizes are available this year: small pieces, medium pieces, and halves. Each size is $7 per pound. All orders and money must be submitted by noon on Friday, Oct. 15. For more information, contact Pansey Carter at 615-898-2508 or pcarter@mtsu.edu.

THE HUMAN TOUCH--The MTSU Department of Human Sciences will celebrate “100 Years of Human Sciences” at an open house from 3-6 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 14, at the Ellington Human Sciences Building and Annex, 2623 Middle Tennessee Blvd. This event will feature interactive cooking demonstrations, student displays and a pumpkin-carving contest, among other activities. Human Sciences includes Textiles, Merchandising and Design; Family and Consumer Studies; Nutrition and Food Sciences; and Interior Design. For more information, contact the department at 615-898-2884.

GETTING YOUR CAREER ON TRACK---The MTSU Career Development Center will host its fall 2010 Career Fair from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. today, Oct. 13, on the track in Murphy Center. More than 90 organizations are registered to attend. More than 40 are open to all majors. More than 15 graduate/professional schools will be in attendance. Employers are recruiting primarily for full-time employment. However, some have indicated they have internships, co-ops and even part-time positions available. For more information, contact the Career Development Center at 615-898-2500.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Funny, you don’t look Stewish!

Rick Sanchez is trying to reclaim his career after CNN fired him for remarks he made on a Sirius/XM radio program. The former news anchor called Jon Stewart, host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, a “bigot” and said that the media is run by Jews like Stewart. Dr. Rami Shapiro, adjunct professor of religious studies and an ordained rabbi, calls himself “Stewish” and writes, “Do Stews control the media? No, but we used to. Now it’s controlled by some Australian guy. In Bible times, we dominated the media, which was the Bible, and only Jews could write for it. When we moved from print to movies, we dominated that as well, but we were careful to hire goyim like Charlton Heston to play all the best Stewish roles.”

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

See it now

The October 2010 “MT Record” includes stories on how MTSU makes new students feel welcomed. They include highlights on the We-Haul program, “Meet Murfreesboro,” and “University 1010.” “MT Record” can be viewed on local channel 9, Monday through Sunday at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and on NewsChannel5+ at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. It is also seen over several local cable outlets. The filming and editing of the program was done by Susan Nogues and Kelly Ford, graduate assistants in the College of Mass Communication with the assistance of MTSU Audio-Visual Services. To view any of the video segments, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/news/MTR/index.shtml and click on “Browse.”

For more information, contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919.

Confusion over Confucius

Many people have heard some of the sayings of the great Chinese thinker Confucius. Some blame Confucianism for keeping China tied to the past for generations, but this is a limited and limiting way of looking at the philosophy. What is Confucianism? Dr. Yuan-ling Chao, history, writes, “Confucianism has been portrayed as the antithesis of the scientific tradition, backward-looking instead of forward-looking, with a focus on tradition rather than innovation, validation of truth based on ancient classics rather than objective proofs through experimentation. But, in traditional China, Confucian and Daoist scholars were deeply involved in the production of science, leading to a rich scientific tradition that at the elite level was mostly text-based, creating an orthodoxy tied to the philosophical tradition.”

Contact Chao at 615-898-2629.
ychao@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA

SURVEY SAYS?--Dr. Ken Blake, director of the MTSU Poll, and Dr. Jason Reineke, associate director of the poll, will be guests on “OpenLine” on NewsChannel5+ from 7-8 p.m. Central time on Thursday, Oct. 14. Blake and Reineke also are slated to be on “This Week with Bob Mueller” on WKRN-TV (Channel 2) at 9 a.m. Central time on Sunday, Oct. 17. The fall MTSU Poll, which is slated for release this week, will focus on measuring Tennesseans’ attitudes toward Muslims, the Tennessee governor’s race, the Tea Party movement, and gun laws and ownership, among other issues. For more information, contact Blake at 615-210-6187 or Reineke at 615-494-7746.

COEXIST IS MORE THAN A BUMPER STICKER--“Pathways to Religious Freedom: Respecting and Promoting Religious Tolerance” is slated for 7 p.m. tonight, Oct. 12, in MTSU’s Wright Music Hall. This panel forum is co-sponsored by the Wesley Foundation, the Jewish Student Union and the Muslim Student Association. This event is free and open to the public.

SILENCE HURTS AS MUCH AS VIOLENCE--“An Evening of Expression and Empowerment,” a Domestic Violence Awareness Month event, is slated for 5 p.m. today, Oct. 12, in Cantrell Hall in the Tom H. Jackson Building on the MTSU campus. This event will give creative individuals an opportunity to give voice to the targets of domestic violence through poetry readings and the performing arts. The Silent Witness Project will be on display from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, also in Cantrell Hall. The true stories of women, men and children who have been targets of domestic violence will be printed across the busts of blood-red T-shirts. A large poster detailing the “15 Signs Someone Might Be Dangerous” will list the warning signals. Experts on domestic violence and sexual assault will talk about pertinent issues in a community dialogue from 1-3 p.m. For more information, contact the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students at 615-898-5989 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?--As a free community service during National Audiology Awareness Month, MTSU undergraduate communication disorders majors will test the hearing of students at John Pittard Elementary School, 745 DeJarnette Lane in Murfreesboro, from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15. Using seven portable audiometers, the MTSU students will document the responses of children in second, fourth and sixth grades, as well as kindergarten. The youngsters will don headphones and raise their hands if they hear the tones emitted through the audiometers. In addition, the student clinicians will use two tympanometers to test for middle ear disease. Media welcomed. For more information, contact Elizabeth Smith at 615-898-2662 or elsmith@mtsu.edu.

FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH--Dr. Clay Harris, associate professor of geosciences at MTSU, will discuss “BP’s Crude Oil Disaster: Ancient Origins, Uncertain Future” from 4:20-5:15 p.m. today, Oct. 12, in Room 452 of Kirksey Old Main as part of Earth Science Week. Tomorrow, Oct. 13, from 3:30-4:15 p.m., Dr. Mark Abolins, associate professor of geosciences, will talk about “Urban Growth near Mobile Bay, Alabama: The ‘Other’ Threat to Gulf Coast Wetlands,” also in KOM 452. On Thursday, Oct. 14, Bob Sneed, Chief of the Water Management Section, Nashville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will talk about the May 1-2 Middle Tennessee flood from 6-7 p.m., again in KOM 452. All Earth Science Week 2010 events, including a catered barbeque dinner at the MTSU Mineral, Gem and Fossil Museum, 122 Ezell Hall, following Sneed’s lecture, are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Abolins at 615-594-4210 or mabolins@mtsu.edu.

WHY CAN’T JOHNNY READ?--A dyslexia information forum is scheduled for parents, teachers and other interested individual from 6:25-8:00 p.m. for Thursday, Oct. 14, on the second floor of the Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine St. in Murfreesboro. A panel of local teachers and personnel from Murfreesboro City Schools, along with school psychologists, professors and staff from the MTSU Department of Psychology and the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia will provide information about the learning disorder and will respond to questions from participants. The forum is being held in recognition of Dyslexia Awareness Month as designated by the International Dyslexia Association. For more information, contact Janet Camp at 615-896-5987 or jccamp41@comcast.net.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK/A WONDERFUL TOWN—MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is proud to play host to “New York, September 11” by world-renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos through Oct. 18. This stunning exhibition of 39 rare photographs began touring the nation five years after the terrorist attacks on the United States. These pictures capture images as they happened—many from an intimate, street-level perspective. Also included are beautiful photos of the World Trade Center twin towers before their fall. The Baldwin Gallery is in the McWherter Learning Resources Center. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 12-4 p.m.

FUN AND GAMES—MTSU Student Programming will present Videogame Night from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center and Karaoke Night at 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at the Cyber Café. For more information, contact Jenni McCray, Chair of Distribution, at mtdistribute@gmail.com or jlm7k@mtmail.mtsu.edu.

NUTS TO YOU--This is the final week to order Georgia pecans from ASCE. Three sizes are available this year: small pieces, medium pieces, and halves. Each size is $7 per pound. All orders and money must be submitted by noon on Friday, Oct. 15. For more information, contact Pansey Carter at 615-898-2508 or pcarter@mtsu.edu.

THE HUMAN TOUCH--The MTSU Department of Human Sciences will celebrate “100 Years of Human Sciences” at an open house from 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at the Ellington Human Sciences Building and Annex, 2623 Middle Tennessee Blvd. This event will feature interactive cooking demonstrations, student displays and a pumpkin-carving contest, among other activities. Human Sciences includes Textiles, Merchandising and Design; Family and Consumer Studies; Nutrition and Food Sciences; and Interior Design. For more information, contact the department at 615-898-2884.

GETTING YOUR CAREER ON TRACK---The MTSU Career Development Center will host its fall 2010 Career Fair from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. tomorrow, Oct. 13, on the track in Murphy Center. More than 90 organizations are registered to attend. More than 40 are open to all majors. More than 15 graduate/professional schools will be in attendance. Employers are recruiting primarily for full-time employment. However, some have indicated they have internships, co-ops and even part-time positions available. For more information, contact the Career Development Center at 615-898-2500.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Toyotas for Tots

If you watched “Sunday Night Football” on NBC last night, you probably saw a halftime feature called the “Tiny Football League” sponsored by Toyota. It’s a short package spotlighting various youth football teams across the country. Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, says, “At a time when it has become very expensive to be associated with top tier sports properties, Toyota’s foray into football via the TFL is brilliant. Toyota enjoys the best of both worlds. On one hand, it’s tie-in with the NFL via NBC’s Sunday night broadcasts gives it the exposure a national brand like Toyota seeks. For Toyota, linking its presence in football to grass-roots programs allows the company to show concern for local communities.”

Contact Roy at 615-904-8564.
droy@mtsu.edu

The cost of living

The new edition of Tennessee’s Business, a publication of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, focuses on the economics of environmental and energy issues. In the editor’s note, Dr. Horace Johns, business law, writes, “Is the earth’s temperature actually rising? If so, what is causing it—man-made greenhouse emissions (largely generated by the burning of fossil fuels), cyclical climate change unconnected with people’s behavior, or both? Remember that there are differing scientific opinions on these questions. Thus, it is difficult to empirically establish absolute proof for one position over the other. Nevertheless, it would be wise for us to err on the side of caution and do everything humanly and reasonably possible to protect our environment while, at the same time, insuring that we have ample energy supplies to sustain a healthy standard of living.”

Contact Johns at 615-898-2562.
hjohns@mtsu.edu

A master stroke

The Tennessee Board of Regents has presented MTSU with its Academic Excellence Award for the university’s highly touted and successful Master’s of Science in Professional Science degree program. Jim Monsor, MSPS advisory board member and senior vice president of operations at BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc., in Franklin, Tenn., was also recognized for the company’s partnership role in the program. Established in 2005 with support from the Sloan Foundation and approved by the TBR, the MSPS degree is currently the only interdisciplinary program of its kind in Tennessee and has been acclaimed as a model program by the Council of Graduate schools in Washington, D.C. The MSPS program received the highest scores in all categories during a recent five-year program review by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

For more information on the MSPS degree, visit www.mtsu.edu/~msps.

TR EXTRA

NEW YORK, NEW YORK/A WONDERFUL TOWN—MTSU’s Baldwin Photographic Gallery is proud to play host to “New York, September 11” by world-renowned photographic cooperative Magnum Photos through Oct. 18. This stunning exhibition of 39 rare photographs began touring the nation five years after the terrorist attacks on the United States. These pictures capture images as they happened—many from an intimate, street-level perspective. Also included are beautiful photos of the World Trade Center twin towers before their fall. The Baldwin Gallery is in the McWherter Learning Resources Center. Exhibitions are free and open to the public. Hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 12-4 p.m.

FUN AND GAMES--Student Programming will present Videogame Night from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15, on the second floor of the Keathley University Center and Karaoke Night at 10 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at the Cyber Café. For more information, contact Jenni McCray, Chair of Distribution, at mtdistribute@gmail.com or jlm7k@mtmail.mtsu.edu.