Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Por favor, el doctor!

The towns of El Paso, Tex., and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, are twin cities separated only by the U..S-Mexico border. The need for health care transcends that border, according to the findings of Dr. Patricia Boda, geosciences. For a study she conducted, Boda used GIS (geographic information system) to locate health care facilities and pharmacies on both sides and to create maps of those providers. She concluded, in part, that international health care is not only occurring, but is encouraged. “The dentists and farmacias exist in the patterns that they do because of the U.S. market,” Boda writes. “By offering these heavily used providers at a minimal distance, they are, in fact, marketing to the U.S. resident. In addition, many of the dentists and farmacias visited in Juarez have an El Paso telephone number, Internet access and advertising, or both.”

Contact Boda at 615-904-8098.
pboda@mtsu.edu

Fitting right in

Betty Spann was working full-time for the State of Tennessee and taking night classes at MTSU when she finished her two-year business degree in 2000. In 2008, the state offered her an employee buyout with the additional benefit of a two-year scholarship. She jumped at the opportunity. In the essay she wrote for Nontraditional Students Week (Nov. 1-5), Spann states, “Being on campus with traditional students is a unique experience. Their youth and their vitality are contagious and it’s a joy to be around them. The doors they open for me are symbolic of the opportunities we all have for learning and advancing together. Yes, I have found them to be respectful and courteous, something we don’t always attribute to youth. … The satisfaction I gain from staying in school is worth the extra effort of driving from Nashville to Murfreesboro three times a week. It is a rewarding experience that I can recommend to anyone.”

Contact the June Anderson Center for Women and Nontraditional Students at 615-898-5989.
jawc@mtsu.edu

I’m your biggest fan!

Lost in all the ballyhoo surrounding the Miami Heat’s NBA opener against the Boston Celtics was Heat coach Erik Spoelstra’s comment to USAToday about the extra security in place at the team’s hotel. Spoelstra said, “I liked it. There was more security and more barricades so fans couldn’t get close to us, rather than in years past where they could walk right up to you.” Dr. Don Roy, management and marketing, while acknowledging the need to protect the players’ safety, warns against distancing the players from the fans too much. “Most fans simply want a glimpse of their favorite team or players, maybe a quick photo, and a chance to express their admiration,” Roy says. “The risk is becoming too isolated from customers who care about you most.”

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.

TALKING TRASH--Dr. William L. Rathje, an expert on the archaeology of modern garbage, will speak at MTSU’s Undergraduate Social Science Symposium at 6 p.m. tonight, Nov. 2, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. His topic will be “Our Garbage Dilemma from the Perspective of an Anthropologist.” This event is free and open to the public. A professor at the University of Arizona, Rathje is also founder and director of The Garbage Project, which conducts archaeological studies of modern refuse. For more information, contact Dr. Brian Hinote at 615-494-7914 or bhinote@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.

SIZE MATTERS--Doug Tatum, associate professor in the MTSU Department of Business Communication and Entrepreneurship, will shed light on the topic “Too Big to be Small, Too Small to be Big: Navigating No Man’s Land” in a panel discussion before the Young Presidents’ Organization at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in Austin, Tex. Along with experienced CEOs, Tatum will provide insight on how to avoid hurdles during the time in a company’s development when its payroll grows from fewer than 20 employees to more than 100 workers. To talk to Tatum about entrepreneurship in today’s economy, contact him at 615-898-2785 or dtatum@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.