207 January “Middle Tennessee Record” looks back at 2006

December 22, 2006

Contact: John Lynch, (615)898-5591
jlynch@mtsu.edu

On the January edition of “Middle Tennessee Record” Tom Tozer and Ashley Ball pick their favorite stories from 2006. Ten stories will be reviewed and updated. The discovery of the exact location of Alvin York’s heroic action in World War I is first on the list, followed by an update of our story about helmet liners for Marines in Iraq. Fred Belton’s visit to a volcano in Tanzania and Clare Bratten’s visit to Kurdistan round out segment one. In the second segment the program takes a close up view of the Naked Sky Observatory, the replica of Ben Franklin’s printing press and an underwater treadmill. In the final segment, Bob Womack talks about a famous horse that’s buried near the Tennessee Miller Coliseum. The program remembers two MTSU giants who passed away in 2006, and it concludes on a lighter note with a look at a dog gone good foot race. Music by alumna Annie Sellick concludes the January retrospective.

“Middle Tennessee Record” airs several times each month. Visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~proffice/MTR.html for times and stations. The program is archived on that same website. Users will need to install RealPlayer to view streaming video of archived programs. A link to that free software is also posted on that web page.

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206 MTSU OFFICES WILL CLOSE DEC. 25 UNTIL JAN. 2 FOR HOLIDAY BREAK

Editors/news directors: When running listings for “openings” and “closings”
for the upcoming holidays, please note the following:


Date: Dec. 20, 2006 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919



(MURFREESBORO) — (MURFREESBORO) — MTSU will be closed from Monday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day) until 8 a.m. Jan. 2, 2007, for the holiday break, university officials announced. All offices will be closed Dec. 25-Jan. 1.
MTSU undergraduate, graduate and transfer students are in the midst of a one-month semester break. Spring semester classes will begin on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

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Editor’s note: For emergencies, media should contact the MTSU Police (Office of Public Safety) by calling 615-898-2424. If necessary, MTSU Police can relay messages to MTSU News and Public Affairs personnel.

203 MTSU ANNOUNCES DEAN’S LIST FOR FALL 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 18, 2006
CONTACT: News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2493


County-by-County Listing of Current Dean’s List Students Available Online

(MURFREESBORO)—Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) has released the names and hometowns of those students who appear on the Dean’s List for the fall 2006 semester.
To qualify for this distinction, an undergraduate student must maintain a current semester grade-point average of 3.5 or above and earn at least 12 semester hours.

 HOW TO OBTAIN YOUR COUNTY’S STUDENT LIST: To obtain a list for editorial use of those students from your county who are on the current Dean’s List, please access this information on the News and Public Affairs (NPA) Web site at http://www.mtsunews.com/ and click on the “MTSU Dean’s List” link on the upper, left-hand side of the page.
Next, click on the “Fall” link, which will include an alphabetical, county-by-county listing of those MTSU students who are on the 2006 fall semester Dean’s List. ***Please note that this page also contains directions on how to download and save your county’s list for editorial use in your publication.



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ATTENTION, MEDIA: If you encounter any problems downloading and saving your county’s dean’s list, please contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU at 615-898-2919 for assistance.

198 MTSU CHANNEL 9 TO TAKE PROGRAM BREAK, CONTINUE BULLETINS

Media Alert from MTSU




Dec. 13, 2006
CONTACT: Gail Fedak at 615-898-2899

MURFREESBORO—MTSU’s Education Resource Channel, Channel 9 in Rutherford County, will be running only the bulletin board for four weeks, beginning at noon on Monday, Dec. 18, and ending at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2007.
The station will use this break to complete the channel’s installation and testing of new equipment and to get the new Web site up and running, Gail Fedak, manager of MTSU’s Instructional Media Resources Library, said.
“Once ERC@MTSU returns to regular programming, we look forward to bringing a broader range of programs to the community from current sources as well as some new sources,” Fedak commented. “We welcome comments, questions, any feedback at all, and we encourage people to tune in to Channel 9 for reliable information about events as well as interesting and informative programs.”
E-mail messages may be sent to ercmt@mtsu.edu.

197 MTSU ANNOUNCES GRADUATES FOR FALL 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 15, 2006
CONTACT: News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2493

County-by-County Listing of Fall 2006 Graduates Available Online Dec. 15

(MURFREESBORO)—Beginning Dec. 15, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) will release the names and hometowns of those students who will graduate during the fall 2006 commencement ceremony held Saturday, Dec. 16, in Murphy Center on the MTSU campus.
About 1,570 degree candidates—a record number of candidates for a December graduation event—graduated during the 95th fall commencement. Of the term’s graduating class, 1,409 are undergraduates and 161 graduate students, including 140 master’s candidates, nine education specialist (Ed.S.) degree candidates and three Ph.D. candidates.
The dual-commencement event featured Congressman Bart Gordon, who has served as the representative in the 6th District of middle Tennessee since first winning election in 1984, as the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings was the featured speaker for the 2 p.m. commencement ceremony. A native of Michigan and longtime resident of Houston, Texas, where she graduated from the University of Houston with a political science degree, Spellings is the country’s eighth education secretary, receiving confirmation of office from the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2005.
Following the ceremonies’ respective guest speakers, degree candidates from the College of Graduate Studies, Jennings A. Jones College of Business, and College of Education and Behavioral Science were conferred with their degrees in the morning ceremony, while degree candidates in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Mass Communication, and the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, were conferred during the afternoon event.

 HOW TO OBTAIN YOUR COUNTY’S STUDENT LIST: To obtain a list for editorial use of those students from your county who graduated during MTSU’s fall 2006 commencement, please access this information on the News and Public Affairs (NPA) Web site at www.mtsunews.com and click on the “MTSU Graduation Lists” link on the upper, left-hand side of the page.
Next, click on the “Fall” link, which will include an alphabetical, county-by-county listing of those MTSU students who graduate on Dec. 16.
***Please note that this Web page also contains directions on how to download and save your county’s list for editorial use in your publication.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: If you encounter any problems downloading and saving your county’s dean’s list, please contact the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU at 615-898-2919 for assistance.

196 FAMILY WITH MIXED ALLEGIANCES PREPARES FOR MOTOR CITY BOWL

Dec. 13, 2006

MEDIA CONTACT:
Lindsay Allen, CMU Media Relations, 989-774-7327Tom Tozer, MTSU News and Public Affairs, 615-898-5131
FOR COMMENTS, CONTACT:Kevin and Liz Campbell, 989-839-9130Kelly Campbell, 859-258-7772

FAMILY WITH MIXED ALLEGIANCES PREPARES FOR MOTOR CITY BOWL

(MOUNT PLEASANT, MICH)—The Motor City Bowl match-up of the Central Michigan University Chippewas versus the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders may not be significant to some people, but the Campbell family is preparing for a showdown.
Kevin and Liz Campbell are both CMU graduates—Kevin in 1974 and 1976, and Liz in 1977—while son Kelly, 27, is a 2003 graduate of MTSU. Kevin, a senior information specialist for Dow Corning, also teaches in CMU's School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts.But the coincidence does not end there. All three football fans have deep connections to their respective teams.During his college days at CMU, Kevin, whose father, George, was a locker room attendant at CMU's Kelly/Shorts Stadium, helped film football games for the Chippewas and often was a sound engineer for home games. He even stood Liz up for what was supposed to be their first date because he had to shoot a game at Ball State University (no, she hasn't forgotten).Similarly, Kelly spent four years on the crew of MTSU's football coaches' show, "which included videotaping home games, assisting in getting feeds from remote trucks, shooting and editing packages, studio components, and just about everything else," he said. Kelly was on the staff of MTSU’s Department of Audio-Visual Services, both while as a student and as a graduate.Given the Campbells' connections to the Motor City Bowl teams, they all knew what their holiday plans would be once MTSU received its bid to face CMU in the game."I just about fell off the couch when the announcement was made that CMU would be playing against MTSU," said Liz. "Before Kelly's years there, I hadn't even heard of MTSU. Kelly's first year at MTSU was the university’s first year as a Division I school [in football], and I remember watching them struggle to be competitive at the Division I level while growing their football program."Kelly, who now works for Kentucky Educational Television and also serves on the video crew for the University of Kentucky's football team, expects to return to his home state with his wife, Michelle, for the holidays, and the entire family—including Kelly’s younger brother Brian, 24, and his girlfriend—plans to be on hand at Detroit's Ford Field when the teams face off Tuesday, Dec. 26."It's pretty exciting, really,” Kelly said. “MTSU football has really fought hard over the past couple of years with the move to Division I-A. It takes a lot of talent and hard work to get a bowl bid, and both of those have happened for MTSU this year."Kelly and his parents may disagree about who will win the game, but don't expect any bets or brawls in this rivalry-torn family."So far no bets between the CMU alums and the MTSU alum," Liz said. "I'm just looking forward to sharing the day and the experience with Kevin and the boys."Kevin agreed, but he also made a bold prediction regarding the game's outcome."No bets going among us because CMU will win, hands down," he said. "A little family rivalry will be fun."As for where the Campbells will sit at Ford Field … well, Kelly might be a bit uncomfortable with that arrangement."I've got a pretty good feeling that I'll be the only one wearing blue and white in a sea of maroon and gold, since my parents bought the tickets," Kelly commented.

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NOTE: A special thanks to Lindsay Allen, CMU Media Relations for this story.

195 OBION COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 13, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
McGaugh Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The McGaugh Farm in Obion County recently was designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
Just north of Union City is the McGaugh Farm, which was founded in 1887 by Robert McGaugh. Married to Mary Hale, the couple had five children, though two of their daughters died at the age of 17 from typhoid fever. In 1906, the McGaughs built a farmhouse on the 92.5 acres.
In 1918, the founder’s son, Joseph A. McGaugh, acquired the land. Along with wife Ellen Alexander, the couple had one son, Joseph W. McGaugh, who became the third generation to own the farm. Joseph W. wed Ocella McGehee and they had four children—Ruth, Joseph B., Shirlee and Donald W.
In 1995, the great-grandson of the founder, Donald W. McGaugh, obtained the land. Currently, Donald and his wife Caroline (Robinson) continue to work the land that produces wheat, soybeans and corn.
The farmhouse that is one hundred years old this year remains the family home. Over the years, the house has been remodeled and the attic rooms were converted into bedrooms for their two daughters, Kellye and Amanda. Today, the McGaughs report that their granddaughters, Parker and Kyndall Albright, daughters of Kellye and James Paul Albright, are the sixth generation to enjoy the homeplace.
The Tennessee Century Farm program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural, and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, or to read about the histories of Gibson County farms as well as others across Tennessee, please visit its Web site at at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres.
The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, or obtain jpeg images of this farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.

194 OVERTON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM Hartsaw Cove

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 13, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

Predates Tennessee’s Statehood & County’s Oldest Farm, Hankins Says

(MURFREESBORO)—The Hartsaw Cove Farm in Overton County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
Farms that originated from land grants and have remained in the family until the present are rare in Tennessee. Gilbert Christian founded the Hartsaw Cove Farm with a land grant of 1, 208 acres in 1792, four years before Tennessee became a state and 14 years before Overton County was established in 1806.
The second owner of the property was Gilbert’s son, George Christian Sr. who he eventually deeded the land to his son, George Christian Jr. Generations, all named Christian, retained ownership of the farm until 1973 when Millard V. Oakley and his brother purchased the property. Oakley’s uncle, Marvin Brown, was the great-grandson of George Christian Jr.
Today, Millard Oakley raises cattle on the 1,200 acres. A white frame house that was constructed by the Christian family in 1902 still stands on the property. In addition, the Christian family cemetery is located on the property. The family reports that the graves of slaves are also located on the farm.
“Hartsaw Cove Farm is the oldest Century Farm in Overton County and one of the few farms that predates statehood,” Hankins noted.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural, and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”

For more information about the Century Farms Program, or to read about the histories of Gibson County farms as well as others across Tennessee, please visit its Web site at at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres.
The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.


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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.

193 RECORD NUMBER OF GRADUATES SET TO PARTICIPATE IN FALL COMMENCEMENT

Congressman Bart Gordon & U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
Will Serve as Featured Speakers for Dual-Ceremony Graduation Event at MTSU

(MURFREESBORO)—Approximately 1,570 degree candidates are expected to graduate during MTSU’s 95th fall commencement—a record number of candidates for a December graduation event—during the university’s upcoming commencement ceremonies, reports Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost, Enrollment Services.
On Saturday, Dec. 16, MTSU will again feature dual ceremonies and dual speakers starting at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. in Murphy Center. Of the 1,570 set to graduate, 1,409 are undergraduates and 161 graduate students, including 140 master’s candidates, nine education specialist (Ed.S.) degree candidates and three Ph.D. candidates.
Candidates from the College of Graduate Studies, Jennings A. Jones College of Business, and College of Education and Behavioral Science will receive their degrees in the morning ceremony. That afternoon degrees will be conferred on candidates in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, College of Liberal Arts, College of Mass Communication, and the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning, said Dr. Jack Thomas, senior vice provost for academic affairs and chairman of the commencement committee.
Congressman Bart Gordon, who has served as the representative in the 6th District of middle Tennessee since first winning election in 1984, will be the guest speaker for the 9 a.m. ceremony. A 1971 graduate with honors from MTSU, Gordon also received his J.D. from the law school at the University of Tennessee in 1973 and served in the United States Army Reserves in 1971-72 before being honorably discharged. Prior to being elected to the state’s House of Representatives, Gordon was an attorney in private practice.
A lifelong native of Murfreesboro, Gordon is the dean of the Tennessee delegation and has served as the ranking member on both the Technology Subcommittee (1995-96) and the Space Subcommittee (1997-2002). In 2003, Gordon assumed the senior Democratic post on the Full Committee. Additionally, he also serves on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as serving on two subcommittees in Energy and Commerce-Health and Telecommunications and the Internet.
A firm believer in a bipartisan form of government to create needed solutions, Gordon, among his many accomplishments, is perhaps best known for his work on issues related to NASA, including leading the call for an independent investigation of the Columbia disaster, pushing the agency on its financial management and cost estimating practices, and working to ensure that NASA addresses its workforce and infrastructure needs in a credible fashion.
A former director of the state Democratic Party in 1979 and state party chairman from 1981 to 1983, Gordon makes his home in Murfreesboro with wife Leslie and their daughter, Peyton Margaret Gordon.
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will be the featured speaker for the 2 p.m. ceremony. A native of Michigan and longtime resident of Houston, Texas, where she graduated from the University of Houston with a political science degree, Spellings is the country’s eighth education secretary, receiving confirmation of office from the U.S. Senate on Jan. 20, 2005.
The first mother of school-aged children to serve in the role as education secretary, Spellings has a special appreciation for the hopes and concerns of American families and actively works to ensure that every young American has the knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st century.
Prior to her current appointment, Spellings served as assistant to President George W. Bush in the area of domestic policy, where she helped craft education policies, including the No Child Left Behind Act, in addition to aiding in the development and implementation of White House policy on immigration, health, labor, transportation, justice and housing.
Spellings, before her White House tenure, also served for six years as a senior adviser to then-Texas Governor Bush. In this role, her responsibilities centered upon developing and implementing the governor’s education policy, which included the Texas reading Initiative, the Student Success Initiative to help eliminate social promotion, and the nation’s strongest school assessment and accountability system.
A former associate executive director of the Texas Association of School Boards, Spellings is the mother of two daughters, one of whom is a sophomore in college and the other is a freshman in high school.
Regarding the upcoming commencement event, Thomas said he wanted to remind all degree candidates of the importance of appropriate dress, decorum and respect for the commencement ceremony.
“We believe this is a very important day in the lives of many people,” Thomas said. “Commencement is a day that families always remember as special. It is difficult to give the ceremony the dignified atmosphere it deserves if people are using air horns or leaving before the completion of the ceremony.”
Additionally, per Thomas, the graduation committee also emphasized that students who participate in commencement will be required to stay for the entire ceremony. The December ceremony should last about two hours. If candidates are planning celebration activities, please be aware of this commitment, he said.
“To make this a special day, it requires cooperation from everyone in attendance,” Thomas said. “We believe it should be a dignified ceremony, which adds to its enjoyment of all in attendance.”
On Dec. 16, the doors to Murphy Center will open at 8 a.m. for the morning ceremony and candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas, dressed in their caps and gowns, no later than 8:30 a.m. For the afternoon ceremony, the doors will open at 1 p.m., and candidates are expected to be in their assigned areas and ready at 1:30 p.m.
Officials report that students who are not in their assigned gyms at the proper times will not be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Because commencement rehearsals are no longer conducted, timely attendance is mandatory for students to receive important instructions.
• For more information about commencement or receiving a degree in absentia, please visit the Records Office Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~records/grad.htm. Questions about graduation may be directed to the Records Office at 615-898-2600.

MTSU FALL 2006 COMMENCEMENT AT A GLANCE

Who: Approximately 1,570 graduates* (1,409 undergraduates, 161 graduate students)
What: 2006 MTSU fall commencement
When: 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Dec. 16.
Where: Murphy Center on the MTSU campus.
Commencement speakers:
• Bart Gordon, representative for the 15-county 6th Congressional District of middle Tennessee, at 9 a.m. ceremony.
• Margaret Spellings, eighth and current U.S. secretary of education, at 2 p.m. ceremony.


*— Approximate number as of Dec. 13, 2006.



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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To obtain a jpeg of guest speakers Gordon or Spellings for editorial use, please call the Office of News and Public Affairs at MTSU at 615-898-2919.

191 DICKSON COUNTY FARM JOIN RANKS OF CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 12, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947


Stone Hollow Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—Stone Hollow Farm in Dickson County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).
Near the Montgomery County line and about four miles from Cumberland Furnace, a farm of 93 acres was established not long after the beginning of the 20th century.
Frank Hardiman Stone paid $850 for the property in 1905. Married to Addie Shayden Stone, the couple had 10 children. Their son, Robert F. Stone, was the next generation to own the land. He and his wife, Anna Belle Stone, had three children.
In 1991, the grandson of the founder, Robert L. Stone, and his wife Mary acquired the property. Today, they continue the long tradition of raising tobacco just as his father and grandfather did. Robert, the current mayor of Dickson County, and Mary live on the farm in a house built in 1860.
Hankins said Stone Hollow Farm joins 18 other certified Century Farms in Dickson County.
The Tennessee Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural, and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, or to read about the histories of Gibson County farms as well as others across Tennessee, please visit its Web site at at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres.
The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.





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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, or obtain jpeg images of this farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.

190 3 MTSU STUDENTS CHOSEN TO CYCLE IN HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BIKE CHALLENGE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 11, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: MTSU News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919



(MURFREESBORO)— Three MTSU students, among 90 students nationwide, have been accepted as bike riders on the 2007 Habitat Bike Challenge. They will ride their bikes coast to coast for Habitat for Humanity. Two of the participating MTSU students are Claire Covic and Morgan Goepel, both seniors, who will ride the southern route. The other is sophomore Chris Sterling. He will be riding the northern route. In total, there are four students from Tennessee taking part in the challenge, with the fourth being from Sewanee. Each route is 4K miles long. Most of the riders are from Northern colleges, some are college graduates and graduate students.
Each student will be asked to raise $4K. They will ride from town to town, speak to community groups, build Habitat homes and raise awareness for Habitat. To find out more, go to www.habitatbike.org <http://www.habitatbike.org/> .
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ATTENTION, MEDIA: Call MTSU News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 for assistance in locating these students for interview purposes.

189 POLL: AMERICANS CONCERNED ABOUT MEDIA TRUTH-TELLING, EXCESS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 11, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Thomas W. Cooper, 615-904-8281 (a.m.) or 615-217-3333 (p.m.)
Dr. Kenneth Blake, 615-210-6187

MTSU Survey Shows Citizens Worry about Bias, Sensationalism and Privacy

(MURFREESBORO)—Americans cite bias and deception as the top two unethical behaviors by mass media that most concern them, according to a poll released today by Middle Tennessee State University’s College of Mass Communication.
Collectively, the study found, the most common concerns relate to media portrayals of the truth.
"One significant finding is that Americans are most concerned about issues orbiting truth-telling,” said Dr. Tom Cooper, MTSU’s Ethicist-in-Residence and a catalyst for the study.
“About two-fifths of those questioned voiced primary concern about deception, exaggeration, sensationalism, bias or inaccuracy,” Cooper said. “The second largest group seems concerned about issues of media excess, such as too much violence, foul language, gratuitous sex, redundancy and saturation, while the third largest group is concerned about privacy issues."
The poll of 1,017 randomly selected U.S. adults found that nearly a fifth (19%) say media bias or one-sidedness concerns them most. Another 11 percent name media dishonesty, and nine percent describe media invasion of privacy.
Other concerns expressed include inaccuracy (4%) and too much violent content, exaggeration, incomplete reporting, sexual content and repetition or saturation in coverage (3% each).
Concerns about sensationalism, too much profanity or bad language, and a lack of in-depth reporting each showed up among 2 percent of the respondents. Garnering 1 percent each were concerns about:
· too much media focus on celebrities;
· too much media focus on crime;
· rude, pushy or obnoxious behavior by media;
· unspecified concerns about reporting on the war in Iraq;
· too much negativity;
· revealing secret information;
· being interested solely in ratings; and
· focusing on unimportant stories.
"These trends seem consistent with previous polls and studies, which have shown a steady increase in Americans’ concern with journalistic truth-telling issues, entertainment excess, advertising saturation and Internet issues such as fraud, security, children's access to pornography, confidentiality, online pedophiles and privacy,” Cooper said.
The research is part of a larger study of the attitudes of the American public and media professionals toward media ethics issues. The study is part of background materials for the second U.S. Media Ethics Summit Conference, to be held Feb. 27-March 2 at MTSU.
The summit will gather media ethics experts from professional associations, academic organizations, institutes and relevant publications to evaluate and recommend solutions to U.S. civic and media leaders.
Administered by Opinion Research Corporation of Princeton, N.J., with guidance from Dr. Ken Blake, associate director of MTSU’s Office of Communication Research, and Cooper, the poll has an error margin of plus-or-minus three percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence. Opinion Research Corporation developed the categories used to code the poll's open-ended responses.
Of those polled, 19 percent said they did not know or declined to answer and 17 percent said they had no concerns. Nine percent of the respondents listed other concerns (less than 2% each), such as corporate control of news and political advertising.
The sum of the percentages exceeds 100 percent, both because of sample weighting factors and because respondents were allowed to name as many concerns as they wished. Most (85%) named one concern, but another 12 percent named two concerns, 2 percent named three, and the remaining 1 percent named either four or six concerns.
Completed interviews were weighted by age, gender, geographic region, and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the 18-and-older population.
Sponsors of the poll include the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation, MTSU’s Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, MTSU’s Office of Communication Research and the College of Mass Communication. More details and data are available at www.mtsusurveygroup.org/mtpoll/ethicspoll06.htm.

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188 MTSU BAND OF BLUE WILL MARCH TO MICHIGAN FOR DEC. 25 GAME

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 8, 2006
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

260 Members Sign on to Participate in Motor City Bowl Performance

(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Band of Blue will travel to Detroit, Mich., on Dec. 25 to perform in the half-time show and in the stands at the Motor City Bowl game, where the MTSU Blue Raider football team will face the Central Michigan Chippewas.
“I am extremely proud and excited to be taking the Band of Blue on this history-making trip to the Motor City Bowl,” said Craig Cornish, associate director of bands.
"I am equally proud to note that 260 members of the band are sacrificing part of their holiday to perform this service for the university and community," Cornish added. "It is a great testament to the kind of students we have in our band and university."
The band’s players have worked to customize their half-time show performance, which will feature 260 members instead of 305 players, the number of musicians who marched during the fall semester.
“We think that (these numbers) signals very high morale in the ensemble,” said Dr. George Riordan, director of the McLean School of Music. “(It) is a testament to the great support that they receive throughout the University and with the alumni.”
Members of the band who will participate in the Dec. 25 game performance are excited about traveling and the opportunity to be a part of this special game. And at least one student said she plans to maintain the holiday spirit while on the road.
“We’re planning on decorating the bus to keep us in happy holiday spirits,” said Katie Helms, a member of the Band of Blue.
“This will be a great experience for our students, for our supporters, and for those attending the game,” Riordan said.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please call 615-898-2493 or visit the calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.



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187 TENNESSEE RESEARCHERS UTILIZE SCIENTIFIC DETECTION, HISTORIC EVIDENCE TO UNCOVER SGT. YORK’S WORLD WAR I BATTLE SITE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 8, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Lisa L. Rollins, MTSU News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919
Karen Lykins, Tennessee Tech University, 931-372-3214

Listen to Dec. 8 News Conference
http://www.mtsu.edu/~proffice/audio/2006/Dec08/york_newsconf_dec8_06.htm


(MURFREESBORO, Tenn.)—A research team led by geographer Tom Nolan, a member of the geosciences faculty at Middle Tennessee State University, and Michael Birdwell, an Alvin York scholar and member of Tennessee Tech University’s history faculty, recently uncovered more than 1,400 artifacts in Chatel-Chehery, France, at the site that is believed to be the precise location where Sgt. York earned the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Birdwell and Nolan formally announced the historic find during a joint press conference at MTSU’s R.O. Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology on Dec. 8 following their Nov. 12-26, 2006, expedition to France, where they were joined by an international team of historians, archaeologists, geographers and interested parties that included French archaeologists Yves Desfosse and Olivier Brun; Belgian archaeologist Birger Stichelbaut; WWI historian Michael Kelly, a guide with Bartlett Battlefield Journeys in the United Kingdom; military artifact experts Eddie Browne and Ian Cobb of Great Britain; Frederic Castier, historian and official representative of the First Division Museum; the mayor of Chatel-Chehery, Roland Destenay; the mayor of Fleville, Damien Georges, who also serves as the regional forester for the Argonne; and Jim Deppen of Nashville, Tenn.
The November research expedition was the local researchers’ second sojourn to France this year in search of the precise locale of York’s historic victory. During the prior trip, the researchers returned with the news that they were “80 percent” certain they had located the site, but additional research and work were needed. However, their latest trip marks the confirmation that Nolan and Birdwell were correct in their research to locate the site.
“Discovery of a U.S. Army collar disk stamped ‘328 Infantry G,’ Sgt. York’s own company, added to a preponderance of evidence gathered by the team (that we had found) the location of the battle that occurred near Chatel-Chehery on Oct. 8, 1918,” Birdwell said.
In addition to the collar disk, the team recovered artifacts consistent with historic documents that described items discarded by German soldiers as they surrendered to Sgt. York and the seven survivors of Company G. Among the items recovered at the expedition site were German gas masks, German gas mask filters, German bayonets, Mauser rifle bolts, fired German and U.S. rifle rounds, and spent Colt .45 rounds.
In their efforts to locate the York battle site, the researchers called upon advanced mapping technology. Specifically, Nolan used GIS to synthesize spatial information obtained from historic French and German battle maps and maps annotated by York’s commanding officers, Col. G. Edward Buxton and Maj. E. C. B. Danforth, with written accounts by both German and American participants. This information was then superimposed upon the modern landscape to help the researchers focus their metal-detection fieldwork.
“While historic interpretation and surface archaeology were both important, it was geography and GIS that provided the means to interpret that information and relate it to the modern landscape,” observed Nolan. “Without geography and GIS, we would not have been able to do what we did, meaning find the York battlefield site.”
The researchers’ first foray to the Argonne in March 2006 recovered enough material to indicate that the team was looking in the right place, but time constraints made it impossible to search any further. Upon returning to Tennessee, Nolan and Birdwell continued to conduct historic and geographic research and seek expert advice from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee State Museum. Aside from re-examining affidavits taken in 1919, as well as reviewing correspondence and significant documents from the National Archives in Washington, the researchers also discovered the burial records of the six Americans killed on Oct. 8, 1918—documents that played a role in refining the search area.
Additionally, Nolan said that reviewing the 1929 correspondence between Col. Buxton and Capt. Henry O. Swindler, wherein they discussed the re-enactment of the Oct. 8, 1918, battle, proved crucial to ultimately locating the battle site.
“Although the discarded equipment, ammunition and expended cartridge cases we found have little individual historic value, their spatial relationships and patterns provide confirmation of the historic accounts of the engagement,” noted Nolan, who used GPS to map the locations of the artifacts and display their relationship with other historic data.
Regarding the pay-off for their tireless work to locate the site where York is credited with single-handedly capturing more than 100 German soldiers in one of the U.S. military’s most storied exploits, Nolan said, “It’s truly gratifying that the artifacts we found are consistent with what we thought we would find. The shovels, gas masks and other items that we recovered corroborate historic information that a large number of German troops surrendered at that site.”
At present, the research team is identifying and cataloging the artifacts found for museum placement. As a result of the team’s find, French authorities intend to erect an historic marker at the location of the machine-gun nest overlooking the once-lost spot where Pall Mall, Tenn., native York fired his weapons and where the nine soldiers were wounded or killed.
“They are planning to dedicate the marker next October at a ceremony to be attended by the research team, and hopefully, by representatives from the State of Tennessee and the presidents of Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee Technological University in October 2007,” Birdwell said.
For more information regarding the York Project, including research updates, please access http://www.sergeantyorkproject.com/ .

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• ATTENTION, MEDIA—For more information, including availability of audio of the Dec. 8 press conference via podcast, or to secure a battlefield site map created by Nolan for editorial

186 HUD AWARDS TN LEAP $2 MILLION TO EXTEND LEAD ELIMINATION ACTION PROGRAM TO 2009

Date: Dec. 6, 2006


Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
TN LEAP contact: Faye Ralston, 615-494-8091


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU and state officials and 21 grant partners met Dec. 5 to announce the awarding of a $2 million federal Housing and Urban Development grant to extend the Tennessee Lead Elimination Action Program for three more years.
TN LEAP is funded to control lead-based paint hazards affecting children less than 6 years old in Tennessee residential housing, program officials said.
“Everyone is affected,” Faye Ralston, TN LEAP program director, said during the lunch announcement at the Tom H. Jackson Building. “Childhood lead poisoning is the No. 1 environmental hazard affecting children today. It spans all populations regardless of socio-economic status, causing irreversible lifelong damage to those affected.
“During the next three years of grant funding, we plan to build on our accomplishments, learn from our mistakes and increase our activities and impact in the state to reduce or prevent the exposure to lead for many more Tennessee children and families.”
TN LEAP representatives will work with 13 regional and 95 county health departments in Tennessee, Ralston said.
Four years ago, the state approached MTSU and its engineering technology and industrial studies department with the first HUD proposal to address 100 housing units, said Andrianne White, manager of the toxic substances program in the solid waste division for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“It was worth the sweat and hard work to go outside the box and do something they were hired to do,” White said. “They cleared many hurdles. … They met their objective, but the battles are not over with the grant. Today they have a second consecutive HUD grant. My staff and I are honored to be a partner.”
Amy H. McLean of Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center in Memphis said,
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HUD awards TN LEAP $2 million/Page 2



“We have a lot of work to do in West Tennessee with landlords and schools. This is our first year to partner in the HUD grant. We just got back from our first HUD meeting. It’s exciting and scary.”
Ralston said “the Memphis/Shelby County HUD-funded programs have been proactive in supporting TN LEAP through mentoring and assisting with partnership developments through their contacts.”
Knoxville’s Bill Curran, a civil engineer by trade and the East Tennessee TN LEAP project coordinator, said, “We committed to do 50 percent better than we did the last time (the first grant) so we’ve got to beat that.”
“This partnerships is a real-life example of having great success in realizing the goal for strategic partnership,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said. “… This project is having an impact on the lives of young children. MTSU has a tradition of caring all across the state. … Hopefully, we’ll come back in three to five years with a $3 million to $5 million grant.”
MTSU Vice President and Provost Kaylene Gebert said the university is “trying to build a responsive institution” and cannot be doing this without all the partners. “In this season of music,” she said, “everybody needs to play their part for it to be successful.”
In addition to campus officials, among those attending were State Rep. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville; Rutherford County Trustee Teb Batey of Murfreesboro; Michael Schulz, field representative for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander; TDEC staff; and representatives of Andersen Windows and Doors from Winchester and Murfreesboro, respectively.
2006-09 grant partners include TDEC; Tennessee Department of Public Health; Tennessee Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program; University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension; Catholic Charities of East Tennessee; Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center; Project HELP at MTSU; Tennessee Center for Child Welfare; The Housing Fund of Nashville; Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise Inc; cities of Memphis, Knoxville and Clarksville Community development; Chattanooga State Community College; Tennessee Association for Community Action Weatherization Assistance Program; the East Tennessee, South Central, South East Tennessee and Upper Cumberland human resource agencies; Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency; and Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee.

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179 GIBSON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 1, 2006
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
Dowland-Hall Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Dowland-Hall Farm in Gibson County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
J. W. Dowland founded the Dowland-Hall Farm in 1890. Located in the Brazil community, J. W. raised cotton, corn, wheat, strawberries, cabbage, vegetables, orchards, cattle, hogs and poultry on the 20 acres. Married to Idella Dowland, they had five children. In addition to managing the farm, J. W. served as the postmaster for the Brazil community. According to the family’s records, the community also had three general stores, a blacksmith shop, a Baptist church, a Methodist church and a bank.
The next generation to own the land was the founder’s daughter, Ida Dowland, who purchased the other interests from her siblings. During her ownership, Ida’s brothers-in-law, Emerson Shivers and Martin Benge primarily farmed the land. Some of the crops and livestock that were raised on the farm included cotton, corn, cabbage, strawberries, peas, horses and mules. Per the family, the two-story residence was destroyed by fire. The family story of the fire is that son-in-law Emerson Shivers, in an attempt to retrieve honey from a hive inside the walls of the house, constructed a torch to drive away the honeybees. Unfortunately, the house caught on fire and burned completely. Not long after, a new smaller farmhouse was built on the property.
The third owner of the farm was James Wilson Hall, grandson of the founder. Married to Jo Young Hall, they had four children—Sandra Hall Arnold, James Wilson Hall Jr., Richard Gene Hall and Robert Barker Hall. The family produced cotton, soybeans, corn and cattle.
Sandra Hall Arnold became the next owner. She and husband John Richard Arnold had two children, Melissa JoNell Arnold and John Richard Arnold Jr. Over the years, the small farmhouse began to deteriorate. In 2004, Sandra and her brother Robert remodeled the house and tried to retain as much of the original construction as possible. Today, Sandra lives in the house and the farm currently produces cotton, soybeans and corn and is worked by Bob Holder, a longtime neighbor and family friend.
This late-19th century farmstead is the 19th farm in Gibson County to be certified as a Century Farm, Hankins said.
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The Tennessee Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign, noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins said, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural, and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, or to read about the histories of Gibson County farms as well as others across Tennessee, please visit its Web site at at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres.
The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.


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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, or obtain jpeg images of this farm for editorial use, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.

177 MTSU POLICE TO SET UP SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS ON CAMPUS

Nov. 27, 2006

CONTACT: Police Chief Buddy Peaster; Associate Police Chief Roy Brewer, at 615-898-2424

MURFREESBORO—Because there is a higher incidence of drunk driving right before and during traditional academic breaks, the Department of Public Safety at Middle Tennessee State University will set up field-sobriety check points on campus the evening of Thursday, Dec. 7, and repeat them on a quarterly basis throughout the year.
MTSU Police are joining local and state law-enforcement agencies, at the urging of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, to help make Tennessee streets and highways safer for everyone. The goal is to reduce alcohol- and drug-related fatalities to 35 percent in 2006 from a baseline of 41 percent in the year 2000.
A grant awarded to MTSU’s Public Safety department, financed with funds administered through the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the Governor’s Highway Safety Office, assisted in providing the necessary personnel and time to make this effort possible.
“Our goal is to reduce the number of impaired drivers by being proactive,” commented MTSU’s Associate Chief Roy Brewer.
According to a 2004 report from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a Web-Based Encyclopedia, Tennessee ranks 11th for overall alcohol-related fatalities on the highway. Additionally, with MTSU’s enrollment increasing 2 to 3 percent each year over the last several years, Public Safety records indicate there also has been a steady rise in the number of alcohol-related incidents and arrests on campus.
Brewer adds, “We have been fortunate that with the university’s growth, we have not had a fatality crash on campus as of yet. We are aware of numerous fatality crashes off campus involving MTSU students. If being more visible on campus can save just one life, our efforts will be worth it.”
This may be the first time in Tennessee history that sobriety check points will be conducted on a college campus, Brewer noted.
It takes more than enforcement measures to protect the community from drunk drivers, Brewer acknowledges. “We also have many education programs that we present to interested groups on campus, such as Drunk Goggles.”

176 PERFORMANCE AND GENDER TO COLLIDE AT CONFERENCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 28, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081


Discussions, Performance Art, Feminist Films to be Featured at MTSU Gathering

(MURFREESBORO) -- “Performing Gender” will be the embedded theme for the 2007 Interdisciplinary Conference in Women’s Studies Feb. 22-24, 2007 in the James Union Building. The conference, which is conducted once every two years, will feature noted speakers, a film series, performances and presentations of scholarly papers.
Jill Dolan, author of Presence and Desire: Essays on Gender, Sexuality, and Performance, and Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theater, will be the gathering’s keynote speaker. Dolan’s work bridges the theory/practice gap through work in performance studies, queer theory, and post-structural feminism. Her blog, The Feminist Spectator, can be accessed at http://www.feministspectator.blogspot.com.
Marissa Richmond, historian and president of the Tennessee Transgender Action Committee, will be a featured speaker. Richmond will explore the many permutations of “Performing Gender” by discussing transgender history, highlighting the contributions of transgender leaders and organizations over the years. In 2002, Richmond received the Trinity Award from the International Foundation for Gender Education and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tennessee Vals, the largest transgender group in the mid-south.
A special feature of the conference will be playwright and performance artist Deb Margolin’s new full-length work. Margolin is a founding member of Split Britches Theater Company and has been awarded an OBIE Award for sustained excellence of performance and the Joseph Kesselring Prize for playwriting. She is the author of seven full-length performance pieces, which she has performed off-Broadway and throughout the United States.

Conference registration will be $75 ($85 on-site) for non-students and $30 ($35 on-site) for students, unemployed, and underemployed individuals. The conference fee will be waived for the students, faculty, administration and staff of MTSU.
For further information on the conference and registration, please visit
http://womenstu.web.mtsu.edu/ and click on “Women’s Studies Conference” or call the Women’s Studies Program at 615-898-5910.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For photos of some of the principal speakers at the Women’s Studies Conference, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

175 WOMEN'S CHORALE CONCERT BRINGS IN SOUNDS OF THE SEASON

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 27, 2006
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

Public Encouraged to Attend Free Nov. 30 Performance of Musical Holiday Delights

(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Women's Chorale will present a free "sounds of the season" concert at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in the Hinton Music Hall on the MTSU campus.
"I think this would be a great way for people to enhance their holiday spirit on this first day of December, as we present a variety of traditional carols and songs of the season," said Dr. Jamila McWhirter, music education faculty and Women's Chorale director at MTSU.
McWhirter said the concert will begin with four piano preludes arranged and performed by Women's Chorale accompanist Tracey Phillips, an MTSU sophomore.
"Phillips is a very talented and dedicated student who has been and is a music professional yet she still sees the value of coming back to school for more formal education," McWhirter said.
The piano preludes will be The Christmas Song, I Saw Three Ships, In The Bleak Midwinter, and The Christmas Waltz.
McWhirter said that following the preludes, Women's Chorale will conduct a candlelight processional to Personent Hodie, then follow with Piae Cantiones, both of which will be unaccompanied Renaissance Christmas pieces.
Other sacred and secular holiday choral selections will include Ave Maria, Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, Let it Snow, Deck the Hall and Carol of the Bells.
Let it Snow will be a debut performance of a new arrangement by Phillips.
In addition, the chorale will perform two seasonal pieces about winter: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, a piece based on a poem of the same name by Robert Frost, and similarly, Edward Elgar's The Snow, which will be performed with accompaniment by two violins and piano.
The Nov. 30 performance is free and open to the public.
For more information, please contact the music school at MTSU at 615-898-2493.


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172 MTSU MUSIC FACULTY PRESENT ‘AN EVENING OF SCHUMANN’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

Public Encouraged to Attend Free Nov. 27 Performance

(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU’s H. Stephen Smith, associate professor of voice, and collaborative pianist Caleb Harris will present "An Evening of Schumann" at 8 p.m. Nov. 27 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
"This year ... marks the 150th anniversary of the year of Shumann's death," observed Smith, who—along with Harris—will perform two song cycles from the year 1840, which is known as Schumann’s “Year of Song.” These cycles are Liederkreis (Song Cycle) Op. 39 and Dichterliebe (Poet’s Love) Op. 48.
“The Liederkreis is a cycle of 12 songs about life and love,” Smith explained. “Dichterliebe is a cycle of 16 songs, reflecting the intense feeling of the joy that only true love can give, and the intense feeling of sadness one can feel having been rejected by the object of that true love.”
Schumann is known as a Romantic German composer and pianist. According to scholars, he believed that classical form and structure was too restrictive, leading him to write music outside of that popular tradition.
The Nov. 27 concert is free and open to the public.
For more information about this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit the calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.





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171 MTSU GUITAR ENSEMBLE CONCERT SET FOR NOV. 21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU Guitar Ensembles will present a concert of Brazilian and Baroque music at 8 p.m. Nov. 21 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
The group will perform works by composers such as Piazzolla, Bach, Domeniconi, Vivaldi and Albeniz. They will be led by instructors Salome Sandoval and Josh Tannehill.
“These students have been working hard on this repertoire all semester,” Sandoval said. “Talent will range from more experienced students to those who will be performing for the first time.”
The Nov. 21 concert is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit the calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.




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170 MTSU PROFESSOR NAMED HIGHER EDUCATION ART EDUCATOR OF YEAR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 15, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Office of News and Public Affairs, 615-898-2919


(MURFREESBORO)—Dr. Debrah “Debbie” Sickler-Voigt, assistant professor of art education at MTSU, recently was named as the 2007 Tennessee Art Education Association’s (TAEA) “Higher Education Art Educator of the Year.”
Sickler-Voigt was selected as a candidate for the award after a former student, a colleague and a professor at University of Tennessee at Martin nominated her.
“This award means a lot to me, especially knowing that people wanted to nominate me. It made me proud,” Sickler-Voigt said.
“She’s very good at what she does and she’s knowledgeable of art so I think she’s deserving of the award,” said Lindsey Hughes, one of Sickler-Voigt’s students.
A member of MTSU’s faculty for four years, Sickler-Voigt is originally from Miami, Fla. She attended the University of Florida and the University of Cologne in Germany, where she received her bachelor’s degree. She received her master’s degree from Florida International and her Ph.D. from Florida State University.
The Tennessee Art Education Association, a professional organization for art education, presented Sickler-Voigt with the honor at ceremony during its annual conference at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg on Nov. 9-12.
Regarding the professional arts association, Sickler-Voigt said, “The TAEA is a program that students can join at college level. There’s something for everyone and their needs, kind of like a support network for art educators.”
For more information about the TAEA, please access its Web site at www.tnarts.org.




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162 REFORMING SOCIAL SECURITY NO EASY FIX, MTSU PROFESSORS SAY

Nov. 14, 2006
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919

MURFREESBORO—Raising the normal retirement age (NRA) to maintain the solvency of Social Security seems like a good idea. However, younger job seekers would then have fewer opportunities from which to choose if their elders had to keep working longer to collect their SS benefits.
That’ s just one observation in a study conducted earlier this year by Drs. William Ford, Weatherford Chair of Finance, and Franklin Michello, associate professor, economics and finance, in the Jones College of Business titled “The Unemployment Effects of Proposed Changes in Social Security’s ‘Normal Retirement Age.’” The study was subsequently published in the prestigious “Business Economics.” Ford and Michello contend that the desire to reform Social Security and reduce unemployment can be conflicting objectives.
“Some of the many proposals for reforming SS involve either raising taxes or cutting benefits,” Ford noted. “Before World War II, 17 workers paid into SS for every retiree. Today, it’s down to 3 to 1, which means that a smaller number of workers relative to a growing number of retirees will have to pay more taxes. And the problem with cutting benefits is that if you do that, and also raise the NRA, many older workers who are just plain worn out will wind up on welfare, which will offset some hoped for improvements in the system’s financial viability.
“We think raising the retirement age is something that should not happen,” Ford said. “The longer you extend the retirement age, the higher the risk that older folks may not be able to keep working and may even get fired. Then they’ll be counted as unemployed instead of retired.”
Ford and Michello suggest that if the economy were persistently robust and the risk of inflation high, it might then make sense to encourage older workers to work longer to relieve labor market pressures. They point out that a cyclically adjusted retirement age during periods of low unemployment is when you might want people to work longer. If there were a severe, cyclical labor shortage, one might then encourage workers to stay on the job. However, that has not been the case in recent years.
Additionally, the trend toward early retirement has already begun to reverse itself. they contend. Life expectancy continues to increase, therefore, people have to plan for additional years of retirement. The so-called “Baby Boomers” aren’t saving enough to afford even normal retirement. While there’s about a $150 billion annual surplus right now in the SS budgets, the agency claims its trust fund is in debt because of a huge, long-term, unfunded liability that will surface as the “Boomers” retire.
“The amount of payroll taxes coming in continues to grow slowly, but the amount going out to retirees is accelerating,” Ford pointed out, adding that around the year 2015, those two lines will cross. “At that point, Social Security will have to dip into its Trust Fund, which contains nothing but government debt obligations. This means when they hand it to the Treasury, the Treasury either has to raise taxes or incur an even larger national debt,” he explained.
Right now the SS payroll tax rate is 12.6 percent, with the employee and employer each paying half. Ford and Michello project that rate will reach 13 or 14 percent in just a few years.
Ford and Michello also believe also that more research needs to be done before a decision is made to raise the NRA. In periods when there is already substantial unemployment, raising the NRA would only add to unemployment without making any positive impact on the SS system’s bleak financial outlook. Furthermore, they point out, unemployed people do not make FICA payments, which would only put a greater burden on the system.
Finally, public opinion polls also have consistently indicated that people do not favor raising the NRA, and it would be difficult to implement in today’s political environment. Out of political necessity, therefore, policy makers will be pressed to look for alternative solutions, the authors contend, such as partially privatizing the system, changing the current age 62 early-SS-retirement option or reducing the annual inflation increments paid to retirees.
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161 OPERA WORKSHOP PERFORMS ‘A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 7, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Tim Musselman, (615) 898-2493

Two-Night Performance Takes Centerstage at MTSU on Nov. 17 and 18

(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Opera Workshop will present two performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera, "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 17 and 18 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Britten’s opera was adapted by himself and Peter Pears from William Shakespeare’s play of the same name. It premiered in June 1960 at the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk.
The plot of the opera is an ethereal story of three pairs of star-crossed Athenian lovers involving magical potions, spells and fairies. Primarily, it focuses on the subject of the madness of love and follows Shakespeare’s play, with several alterations. The main alteration is that the first act of the play is cut out, giving much more focus to the scenes in the wood.
“Benjamin Britten's ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream’ is, in my opinion, one of the best settings of a Shakespearean text in all of music,” commented critic Chia Han-Leon. “It captures the side-splitting humor, the fairy enchantment, the light and darkness of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays with wonderful effectiveness.”
The MTSU Opera Workshop performance will feature music and preparations by MTSU’s collaborative pianist and an assistant professor, Caleb Harris, and Dr. Raphael Bundage, director of choral activities. Guest artist John Kramer will serve as the stage director for the opera.
TICKETS: General admission tickets for the Nov. 17 and 18 performances are $10 per person and may be purchased at the door. MTSU students, faculty and staff as well as high school students will be admitted free.
For more information on these and other events in the McLean School of Music, please call 615-898-2493 or visit the calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.




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160 MTSU INVITES VIOLIST JOEL PAGAN TO PERFORM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 7, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

(MURFREESBORO)—Joel Pagan, assistant professor of viola and violin at the University of Texas Pan American, will give a free viola recital at 8 p.m. Nov. 10 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Pagan will perform works by Mozart, R. Vaughan Williams and C. Franck.
Enjoying a multifaceted career as an educator as well as a chamber and solo recitalist, Pagan has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Canada and Italy.
He received his doctorate in musical arts from Michigan State University and a master's of music degree in violin and viola performance from the University of Akron.
The Nov. 10 concert is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit the calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.



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159 MTSU DANCE PROGRAM WELCOMES INTERNATIONAL GUEST ARTISTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 6, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919


Guest Dancers’ Master Classes, Lectures Free & Open to Public, Director Says

(MURFREESBORO)—The faculty of MTSU’s dance program will serve as host for two internationally known choreographers in November, Garbriel Masson and Zelma Badu-Younge, both of whom will provide master classes, deliver lectures and stage repertory for the MTSU Dance Theatre during their respective residencies.
“All master classes and lectures by Masson and Badu-Younge are open for public attendance and participation,” said Kim Neal Nofsinger, director of MTSU’s dance program.
Masson will be in residence Nov. 9-13, and during that time, he will choreograph a new work for MTSU dance faculty members Nofsinger and Marsha Tardy, who will premiere in the piece during the annual “Fall Dance Concert” on Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
With a varied career as a performer, choreographer and teacher that spans 20 years, Masson has toured the world in the companies of Hannah Kahn, Rosalind Newman, Lucinda Childs and Doug Varone. Since 1989, he has choreographed more than 25 pieces for repertory and university dance companies and was artistic director of his own company, Gabriel Masson Dance, for which he created a critically acclaimed group of dance titled the “Human Series, Part I-IV.”
Additionally, Nofsinger, who serves as director of dance at MTSU, said Masson “has also choreographed and directed two films with differently-abled dancer Hamel Bloom”— namely, “Almost Together” and “Family: Portrait.”
With an international reputation as a teacher, Masson has taught and performed at festivals worldwide including the American Dance Festival, U.S., Korea, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and the San Biennial in Brazil. He is on rotating faculty of several prestigious dance festivals in the U.S., including the Bates Dance Festival.
After receiving a master of fine arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Masson served on its faculty from 1990 to 1995 and from 1997 to 2001. He also served as guest artist at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Guest artist Badu-Younge will be in residence at MTSU on Nov. 15-21. During her residency, she will deliver a free and open lecture titled “Ewe Culture as Expressed in Ghana, West Africa: From the Village to the Stage to the West” at 9:10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 17, in the Honors College Amphitheatre. In addition, she will stage a new dance on members of MTSU Dance Theatre for performance during the spring semester.
Badu-Younge, who has visited MTSU previously, holds a B.F.A. in contemporary dance and choreography (Concordia University), an M.F.A. in dance ethnology (York University) and a Ph.D. in integrated studies in education (McGill University). Her research for both the M.F.A. thesis, "Atsiagbekor: Documentation of an Ewe Dance Form" and the Ph.D. thesis, "Ewe Culture as Expressed in Ghana West Africa Through Adzogbo Dance Ceremony: A Foundation for the Development of Interactive Multimedia Educational Materia,” took her to West Africa, where she studied the music and dances of Ghana.
Badu-Younge's most recent activities include teaching and performing in Taipei at the Taiwan University of the Arts and in Seoul, South Korea, at the World Cup Celebration with Azaguno, a newly formed African drumming and dance company that she founded and directed with Dr. Paschal Younge.
For additional information on either artists’ residency, please contact Nofsinger via e-mail at nofsinge@mtsu.edu.


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158 TENNESSEE LABOR-MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS ON SPECIFIC CAREER PATH

Nov. 3, 2006
CONTACT: Catherine Sutton, Tennessee Center for Labor-Management Relations, at 615-895-4166

MURFREESBORO—The Tennessee Labor-Management Conference offers scholarships to Tennessee college students planning careers in labor relations, human resource management and related fields. The scholarships are restricted to Tennessee students who are at least rising juniors in the state’s public or private colleges. Also, students pursuing graduate degrees in labor relations or related fields are eligible for these scholarship awards.
Three scholarships of $2,000 each are awarded each year at the Conference’s annual meeting in August. In addition, in the spring, one $1,000 scholarship is awarded in a special region of the state. In 2007, this scholarship will be competitively offered to college students in East Tennessee. The recipient will be announced at the Winter Conference in Chattanooga in late February.
Students interested in applying for the annual $2,000 scholarship or $1,000 Winter scholarship should visit www.tnlabormgmt.org for requirements and deadlines.
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156 MTSU PRESENTS GUEST ARTIST RECITAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 1, 2006
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

Nov. 6 Concert Free and Open to the Community

(MURFREESBORO)—Saxophonist and composer Peter Sommer and Grammy-nominated pianist Art Lande have been invited to perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 6 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Sommer and Lande have collaborated together for many years. The Capri label released their jazz CD titled “Sioux County” in 2005. Although the two artists travel all over the U.S., Canada and most European countries, where lead improvisational workshops across these countries, their homes are in Colorado.
The Nov. 6 concert is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other concerts in the Mclean School of Music, call 615-898-2493 or visit MTSU’s calendar of events at www.mtsumusic.com.



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•For more information on the Nov. 6 concert or other concerts in the McLean School of Music, please call 615-898-2493 or visit the "calendar of events" link at www.mtsumusic.com.


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155 2006-07 JAZZ ARTIST SERIES DEBUTS IN NOVEMBER WITH TOM HARRELL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 27, 2006
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

Trumpeter’s Original Works Cited Internationally, Aliquo Says

(MURFREESBORO)—Renowned trumpeter and jazz composer Tom Harrell will kickoff the eighth annual Jazz Artist Series at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
The concert will feature Harrell performing his award-winning compositions with both the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I and the MTSU Jazz faculty in a small group setting.
"Harrell has been at the forefront of the jazz trumpet for the past several decades,” said Don Aliquo, MTSU coordinator of jazz studies and professor of saxophone. "His compositions are beautifully written and are known throughout the world for their sophistication and originality."
Trumpeter Harrell has recorded as a bandleader since 1976. Along the way, he’s racked up numerous jazz magazine awards, including prizes for top composer and trumpeter, a Grammy nomination for his 1999 big-band album titled “Time's Mirror” and a "Best Jazz Album of the Year" from Entertainment Weekly, the latter of which called
Harrell “the premier trumpeter of his generation.”
"What Harrell [does] is spin out improvisational lines filled with instant melodies,” wrote one Los Angeles Times critic. “Like a lyricist who illuminates phrases with subtle internal rhymes, Harrell's soloing captivates both the hearts and the minds of his listeners.”
The MTSU Jazz Artist Series is offered each academic year and typically features three concerts. In addition to the Nov. 2 concert, this year’s series also will feature A-P-S-9 on Feb. 2. Rounding out the series, and in conjunction with the MTSU Jazz Festival, will be an April 14 performance by trumpeter Snooky Young, which will also feature Clay Jenkins and the MTSU Jazz Ensemble I. All concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall.
The MTSU Jazz Artist Series brings internationally renowned jazz artists to the region for performances and educational workshops. Past guest artists have included some of the most important jazz musicians and educators in jazz history including Benny Golson, David Liebman, Eric Alexander, Bob Mintzer and Dick Oatts, and Grammy-award winning artists Slide Hampton, Tim Hagans, Peter Erskine, Rufus Reid and Randy Brecker.
Last year's MTSU Jazz Festival, held in conjunction with the Jazz Artist Series, featured esteemed jazz clarinetist Eddie Daniels.
"Committed to jazz education, we are proud to present this unique concert series to Middle Tennessee," Aliquo said.
•TICKETS: Individual tickets are $15 at the door. MTSU students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid MTSU ID.
For more information on Tom Harrell or the Jazz Artist Series, contact Tim Musselman at 615-898-2493.
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149 STUDENTS: APPLY BY DEC. 1 FOR 2007-08 MTSU SCHOLARSHIPS

Date: Oct. 27, 2006 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919



(MURFREESBORO) — Friday, Dec. 1, will be the deadline for prospective freshmen and current MTSU students to apply for scholarships for the 2007-08 academic year. Merit scholarships and awards include Freshman Merit Scholarships, National Merit Finalists, Valedictorians and Salutatorians, and Chancellor, Presidential, Buchanan Fellowship, Academic Service, Provost and Raider scholarships.
Students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents and are interested in the above scholarships and awards should submit an admission application, official ACT or SAT test scores and an official transcript to the Office of Admissions. Transfer applicants must submit official college transcripts.
Students who have submitted all of the above information by Dec. 1 will be considered first for scholarships and awards. Students who submit the above information by Feb. 15, 2007, will be considered in the second round of scholarship and award offers, pending available funds. After Feb. 15, additional scholarships and awards may be given, pending available funds. Students should note that December ACT scores will be accepted for scholarship and award purposes.
Information about the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Program can be obtained online at tnscholardollars.org or by calling the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation at 615-741-1346 or 1-800-342-1663.
To ask about music scholarships (auditions will be held in spring ’07), call 615-898-2469; for MTSU Foundation Scholarships (Feb. 15 deadline), call 615-898-2502; for athletic scholarships (awarded throughout the year), call 615-898-2450; for Army Officer Scholarships (Nov. 15 deadline), call 615-898-2470.
Call admissions at 615-898-2111, financial aid at 615-898-2830 or visit the admissions Web page at mtsu.edu/~admissn for more information.

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148 NEW EVENTS SPICE MTSU SGA, ALUMNI HOMECOMING PLANS

Student schedule begins Oct. 26, key alum events Nov. 3-4 set stage for Blue Raiders game

Date: Oct. 25, 2006 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Alumni contact: Patience Long, 615-898-8198
SGA contact: Shane Fortner, 615-828-2433


(MURFREESBORO) — Offerings will be plentiful for both MTSU alumni and students for the upcoming 2006 homecoming.
More than a week of activities for young and old alike will lead to the 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4 Sun Belt Conference football game between the Blue Raiders and Florida Atlantic at Floyd Stadium.
“We have several new and exciting events to offer everybody this year,” said Patience Long, MTSU Alumni Relations assistant director. “We think there’s something for everyone. We hope to see you on campus.”
The new events will include the 9:30 a.m. Nov. 4 Mixer on Middle and Tennessee’s Best Alumni Tailgate, where the Colleges of Basic and Applied Sciences, Jennings A. Jones College of Business, Liberal Arts, Mass Communication and Education and Behavioral Science will have a “tent city” atmosphere for alumni from these respective colleges.
“The Mixer on Middle is a new tradition,” Long said, adding that alumni will receive a free continental breakfast, pay $10 for a beverage band and watch the parade from the Alumni House lawn at 2259 Middle Tennessee Blvd.
“With the Tennessee’s Best Alumni Tailgate,” Long said, “we hope alumni reconnect with faculty and staff and reunite with former classmates. Individual colleges may use this opportunity to establish and cultivate relationships with alumni and friends of the university while supporting student and alumni interaction.”
For Shane Fortner, homecoming director, and the Student Government Association committee, “one of the main focuses was to include groups that haven’t previously participated (in homecoming) and small organizations. We also want to have a good mix of competitive and noncompetitive events.”
Small student organizations might want to enter the small float category, with the hopes of advancing to the large float category in future years, Fortner said.
One of the main mid-week events for students will be a theme party Decade Dance, which will be held starting at 8 p.m. in the JUB Tennessee Room. It will be headlined by The Wooten Brothers featuring Rock Williams.
“There will be free entry for a tool donation,” said Fortner, who added that Habitat for Humanity would be the primary recipient for the tool donations.
Fortner said a new student competition would be a horseshoe competition for 2-man teams in the KUC Knoll area. Winners will receive a new iPod.
The Chili Cook-Off will be “an even bigger event this year,” Fortner said. “We’ll have a carnival-like atmosphere.”
For children, there will be Trick or Treat at the Grove from 5 until 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, in Walnut Grove, and kids and Baby Raiders can walk in the homecoming parade at 10 a.m. Nov. 4.
At 9 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Doubletree Hotel, the Al Wilkerson Scholarship Dance, sponsored by the African-American Alumni Council, will conclude homecoming events.
MTSU Alumni schedule
Friday, Nov. 3
11 a.m. — Homecoming Golf Tournament presented by Wilson Bank & Trust, Indian Hills Golf Course; 4:30 p.m., Golden Raiders; 6 p.m., Cooperative Education Awards Dinner, JUB Tennessee RoomSaturday, Nov. 4 9:30 a.m. — Mixer on Middle homecoming parade-watching party, Alumni House lawn, 2259 Middle Tennessee Blvd., with free continental breakfast and $10 beverage bands;
10 a.m., Homecoming Parade, including Baby Raiders;
All day — Reunions for Band of Blue, past homecoming queens and cheerleaders;
Noon — Tennessee’s Best Alumni Tailgate, a “tent city” for alumni from all MTSU colleges, Walnut Grove;
12:15 p.m. — Raider Walk, Walnut Grove;
2:30 p.m., MT vs. Florida Atlantic, Floyd Stadium;
9 p.m., Al Wilkerson Scholarship Dance sponsored by the African-American Alumni Council, $20 per person, Doubletree Hotel. Other alumni-related events include Hall of Fame Celebration (6 p.m. Nov. 3, Kennon Sports Hall of Fame) and Hall of Fame induction (noon Nov. 4, outside Kennon Sports Hall of Fame), open house hosted by Darrell Freeman at his home at The Governors Club in Brentwood (R.S.V.P. to 615-898-2718 or e-mail vavent@mtsu.edu), Horace Jones Field sign rededication ceremony, Varsity Club reception and more.Visit mtalumni.com for details or call 1-800-533-MTSU.

Student Government Association/Student Programming Homecoming 2006 Agenda
Thursday, Oct. 26
Banners due
Friday, Oct. 27
7 p.m. — MTSU Idol, Tucker Theatre
Saturday, Oct. 28
4 p.m. — Fight Song competition, Murphy Center
Monday, Oct. 30
25-cent refills at KUC Grill
T-shirt Swap (8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. all week while supplies last)
5-7 p.m. — Trick or Treat at Walnut Grove
Paint the Town Blue (all week)
Tuesday, Oct. 31
4 p.m. — Make-Up Artist at KUC
Wednesday, Nov. 1
8 p.m. — Themed Party Decade Dance (live band The Wooten Brothers featuring Rock Williams) at JUB (free admission with Habitat for Humanity tool donation)
Thursday, Nov. 2
9 a.m.-4 p.m. — Dirty Laundry Tour
4 p.m. — Horseshoe competition at KUC Knoll
Friday, Nov. 3
Noon — Floats Due at KUC Knoll
4:30 p.m. — Chili Cook-Off, KUC Knoll
5:30 p.m. — Pep Rally, Student Vote, KUC Knoll
7 p.m. — National Pan-Hellenic Council Step Show
Saturday, Nov. 4
10 a.m. — Parade
Tailgate
Raider Walk, 12:15 p.m., Walnut Grove
Football game, 2:30 p.m.
Contact Shane Fortner, SGA homecoming director, at 615-828-2433 for more information.

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146 OCT. 29th FACULTY RECITAL FEATURES VIOLIST SARAH COTE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 24, 2006
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493

(MUFREESBORO)—Sarah Cote, faculty member and instructor of viola at MTSU, will perform a faculty recital at 3p.m. Oct. 29 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Cote will present Hindemith’s Sonata Op. 25 nr.1 for solo viola and Shostakovich’s Sonata.
Caleb Harris, an assistant professor of music and collaborative pianist, will join Cote on Shostakovich’s work.
“I chose these pieces because both composers gave a lot of thought to the role of the artist in society,” Cote said. “Hindemith, because he lived in Nazi Germany, and Shostakovich, because he lived in Stalinist Russia.
“Both pieces are very expressive of the composer’s feelings about the human condition,” she added.
The Oct. 29 concert is free and open to the public.
For more information on the Oct. 29 concert or other concerts in the McLean School of Music, please call 615-898-2493 or visit the “calendar of events” link at www.mtsumusic.com.


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144 JEFFERSON COUNTY FARM JOIN S STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 23, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

Bruce Farm 16th in County to be Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Bruce Farm in Jefferson County recently was designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
William B. Bruce bought 90 acres north of Dandridge in 1891. With his wife, Elvira Gibson, and their three children, Kelly, Carrie and Ora, the family produced hay, tobacco, and corn as primary crops.
Carrie and Kelly became the second-generation owners of the family farm. Carrie married A. P. Zumble and they had three children, Helen, Elise and Elaine. The farm passed through another generation and the family continued to produce many of the same crops.
In 1963 Daniel B. Churchman, the great-grandson of the founder, acquired the farm. Today, he and wife Dolores live on the farm and mainly grow hay and tobacco.
A smokehouse and washhouse are some of the reminders of earlier generations on the Bruce Farm that joins 15 other certified Century Farms in Jefferson County, Hankins said.
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee. There are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins says, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”
For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.
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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with the owners of this farm, please contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.

143 SMITH COUNTY FARMS JOIN RANKS OF STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 23, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947


Moore and Wright Farms Recognized for Agricultural Contributions

(MURFREESBORO)—The Moore and Wright Farms, both located in Smith County, have been designated as Tennessee Century Farms, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
• As Tennessee was recovering from the Civil War, Joel B. Moore purchased 300 acres that would come to be known as Moore Farm. At its founding, this property was the John Moore plantation and as the only son, he bought his six sisters’ interest in the land. Married to Mary Elizabeth Agee Moore, the couple had four sons who all went by initials—J. H., J. M., R.H. and J. B. Largely self-sustaining, the family raised corn, hay, cows, chickens, hogs, and had a vegetable garden.
Each of the family’s four sons held an interest in the farm until 1910. J. B. and R. H. then purchased the acreage and owned it together until 1919 when J. B. became the sole owner. J.B., who built a house in 1908 that stands today, was married first to Laura Agee and after her death to Edna Allmon. He fathered six children, though two died. During his long ownership, the farm supported tobacco, corn, hay, cattle, hogs and sheep. Mules were the primary source of working power on the farm. Like most neighboring farms in the area, soldiers practiced maneuvers on the land during the 1940s.
Edna Allmon Moore became the farm’s owner in 1956. Under her ownership, she raised hay, tobacco, cattle and garden vegetables. Edna and J. B. had two sons, Roy and Cordell, and they became the next owners. Roy married Doris Bradley Moore and they had four children, while Cordell wed Christine Nixon Moore and they had three children.
In 1999, Roy, grandson of the founders, became the sole owner of the farm. Today, the land is leased to Jason Hall whose property adjoins the Moore Farm. Currently, the farm produces sorghum, sweet corn, beans, tomatoes, greens, onions and lettuce.
Hankins noted that only three generations have owned this farm that is now almost 140 years old.
• Located just north of Carthage in the Turkey Creek community is the Wright Farm, established in 1894 by brothers James Henry and W. D. Wright. On 585 acres, the Wrights produced corn, tobacco, pasture, beef cattle, swine, sheep and mules. James Henry was married to Bettie Gwaltney Wright and they had 10 children. This couple are the great-grandparents of the current owners.
William Elonzo Wright, son of James Henry and Bettie, and his brothers-in-law, R. C., A. H. and C. E. Hackett, became the next owners of the land in 1903 and added more acreage to the farm.

William, married first to Pearl Hackett and after her death to Minnie Hackett, fathered five children. The third owner of the property was Charles Edward “C. E.” Wright, who married Ruth Cornwell Wright. Their two children are Julia Wright Goodlett and Roger Edward Wright. The family reports that
U.S. Army training maneuvers were conducted on this farm during World War II.
Under C. E.’s ownership, the farm progressed with modern machinery such as using tractors for cultivating the crops. In 1965, 119 acres were sold to the U.S. Corp of Engineers for the Cordell Hull Dam, reducing the farm’s river bottom acreage by a third.
While they managed the farm, the Wright family was also very active in the community. All of the family served as members of the Smith County Farm Bureau. In addition, C. E. was a director for the Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Cooperative. During the 1930s, Ruth Wright organized the Turkey Creek Home Demonstration Club and served as its president for more than 30 years. Roger was an active member of the Future Farmers of America and he exhibited his calves and beef cattle at county fairs in Carthage and in Nashville. Julia was an active member in 4-H club work and in 1955 she won a trip to National 4-H Congress in Chicago as a state bread-baking winner.
In 2001, Julia Wright Goodlett and Roger E. Wright inherited the farm and actively manages and operates the property. She is married to Frank Goodlett and Roger is wed to Janet Mott Wright.
Today, the farm produces beef cattle and pasture. The family has recorded many stories of the farm and Smith County history. For example, Hankins said, a racetrack was part of the farm in the late 19th century and people would travel by boat to attend the horse races. People from the Turkey Creek community and Carthage came to picnics and outing at “Mint Springs” on the farm. The area had large shade trees near a spring that formed a small swimming hole enjoyed by children of all ages. And today, flocks of wild turkeys, for which the creek and community were named, have returned.
The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the Center for Historic Preservation at MTSU has been a leader in the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program, and continues to administer this program.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign noting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.
To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.
Today, there are more than 1,000 Century Farms across the state and all 95 of Tennessee’s counties are represented.
“The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee,” Hankins says, “and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”


For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.





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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request an interview with the owners of these farms or obtain jpegs of the farms for editorial use, please contact the Center for Historic Preservation at 615-898-2947.