Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Today’s Response
Middle Tennessee State University

If you’re an actor, don’t talk about “shooting a pilot” at LAX.

Some pilots and crew members say they are as fed up as the flying public with the full-body scanning and security patdowns at airports. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, famous for landing a disabled U.S. Airways jet in the Hudson River last year, saving the passengers and crew, told National Public Radio that the scanning needlessly exposes pilots to more radiation than they already get since they fly at high altitudes. Will the pilots ultimately accept these new increased security measures, so will they prompt the Transportation Security Administration to make changes? Dr. Wayne Dornan, chair of the MTSU Department of Aerospace, says, “There needs to be some kind of compromise between TSA and the pilots. I remember flying after 9/11 and being subjected to numerous ‘patdowns.’ It didn’t bother me. I don’t see the need to have scan after scan, but I am under the impression that some of the newer devices don’t give off any radiation at all.”

Contact Dornan at 615-898-2788.
wdornan@mtsu.edu

It’s in the game.

Which is more important—your right to control you image or the rights of others to exercise freedom of speech by using it? David Hudson, adjunct professor of political science and First Amendment Center scholar, was quoted on the issue on the front page of yesterday’s New York Times. “It’s one of the most important clashes in all of First Amendment law and one of the more unsettled areas,” Hudson said. “I think it’s an area that is crying out for Supreme Court review in the right case.” The “right case” might be the class-action suit filed by former Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller against video game maker Electronic Arts, the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company. Keller claims the defendants profited illegally from marketing the images of college players in the games NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball because the players were not compensated.

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

The dog just peed on my “for sale” sign.

If you’re trying to sell your house, the latest information from Tennessee Housing Market, a publication of MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center, just confirms what you already know. THM states, “The price of existing homes continued to decline during the third quarter, but at a slower pace … Though the state and most metropolitan areas moved a little closer to price stability, this goal still remains elusive. Of the 10 metropolitan areas in Tennessee, eight experienced a slower rate of price decline over the year. For example, home prices dropped 3.9 percent for the state during the third quarter, compared with a 4.6 percent first-quarter decline.”

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

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.

TOO LEGIT NOT TO QUIT--The 35th annual Great American Smokeout, a day which encourages people who smoke to make a plan for quitting and/or to quit smoking that day, is slated for tomorrow, Nov. 18. Members of the MTSU Raider Health Corps will have free Tobacco Quit Kits available at tables outside the Keathley University Center and the John Bragg Mass Communication Building, weather permitting, until 4 p.m. or as supplies last. For more information, contact Lisa Thomason Schrader at 615-494-8704 or thomason@mtsu.edu.

DON’T LET YOUR FELLOWSHIP SAIL WITHOUT YOU.--Qualified high-school seniors interested in applying for the Buchanan Fellowships at MTSU must meet a Wednesday, Dec. 1, deadline in order to be considered. The fellowship pays full tuition (up to 16 hours a semester) and most fees for four years of eligibility as well as an annual book allowance of $1,000 and other perks such as early registration and study-abroad opportunities. Students interested in securing applications for Buchanan Fellowships should go online to mtsu.edu/honors/scholarships.html. The fellowships are limited to 20 students per year. The fellowship is named in honor of Dr. James M. Buchanan (Class of 1940), a Nobel Prize-winning alumnus. Contact Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College, at 615-898-2596 or jvile@mtsu.edu.

COUCH POTATO COMMUNITIES--Dr. Steven Hooker will discuss “Partnering with Communities to Promote Active Living: Accomplishments, Challenges and Lessons Learned” at 7 p.m. tomorrow, Nov. 18, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU’s Business and Aerospace Building. This event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the MTSU Center for Physical Activity and Health in Youth as part of its Distinguished Lecture Series. Hooker is director of the Prevention Research Center, Graduate Director of the Master of Public Health Program in Physical Activity and Public Health and Research Professor in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina. For more information, contact Dr. Don Morgan at 615-898-5549 or dmorgan@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.