Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

Let’s build a stairway to the stars.

Carl Sagan would have been 76 years old on Saturday, Nov. 6. The astronomer and host of PBS’ popular “Cosmos” series inspired many to reach for the stars by making the complexities of the universe accessible to a mass audience. But Dr. Phil Oliver, philosophy, says Sagan, who died in 1996, still speaks to us today as we grapple with our place in the universe. “Carl spoke for Earth and for the insight that beyond all our personal and cultural particularity we are still one species,” says Oliver. “He was a cosmopolitan. We’re at a crucial decision point: will we choose the path of cooperation, mutuality and hope? Or will we break the social contract, revert to a primitive and combative state of nature, and destroy ourselves over our selfish differences? Carl hoped we’d lift the veil of destructive egoism and look to the future, to the stars, to our longest and deepest identity as children of light. We are billions, and we are one.”

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

The numbers game

When the U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that the national unemployment rate stayed unchanged at 9.6 percent, it also announced that the private sector added about 159,000 net new jobs. Why didn’t the jobless rate fall? Dr. Martin Kennedy, economics and finance, says, “Well, we need a monthly net gain of roughly 100,000 jobs just to maintain the unemployment rate due to increases in population. The labor force includes all those working or looking for work. Then there is the labor force participation rate. Changes in the labor force participation rate have an impact on the rate of unemployment. If someone enters the labor force by starting to look for a job after, say, being engaged in home production (perhaps as a full-time caregiver), then the unemployment rate goes up.”

Contact Kennedy at 615-494-8679.
mdkenned@mtsu.edu

Confucius says …

Are religion and science destined to be in conflict? Not necessarily. Consider Confucianism. Dr. Yuan-ling Chao, history, says, “Confucianism had absorbed many of the thoughts of other schools, creating an eclectic system that not only focused on proper government and family relations, but was closely intertwined with a view of the human world/human body as a microcosmic representation of the macrocosm. Thus, harmony was paramount in maintaining political and social order, as well as physical health. … As in classical Greece, science was closely tied to philosophy. The Confucian scholar was a generalist who learned subjects such as philosophy, poetry, calligraphy, mathematics, astronomy and medicine.”

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

SALUTE--The MTSU Veterans Memorial Committee will plant a tree to honor all Vietnam-era veterans in a ceremony beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, near the memorial in front of the Tom H. Jackson Building on campus. In addition, a flag paying tribute to prisoners of war and personnel listed as missing in action will be added to the new flagpole. Rolling Thunder will conduct the POW/MIA flag installation ceremony. The memorial is bipartite black granite wall engraved with the names of members of the MTSU community who have perished in the service of the nation. For more information, contact Robyn Kilpatrick at 615-309-5675.

FOR SANITY’S SAKE--Colleen Coffey will deliver four presentations of “The Heard: Talking about Mental Health” today, Nov. 9, at MTSU. Coffey uses her own experiences with a mental health disorder to address coping skills, leading a balanced life, eating disorders, anxiety, depression and survival. Programs are slated for 11:20 a.m. and 2:40 p.m. in the Keathley University Center Theatre and at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. Each presentation will last approximately one hour. These programs are free and open to the public. They are sponsored by the Student Programming Board, the Distinguished Lecture Series, Greek Affairs, Counseling Services and Health Services. For more information, contact Lisa Thomason Schrader at 615-494-8704 or lthomason@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. tomorrow, 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. tomorrow, 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.