FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 31, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—The A-P-S-9, a newly formed jazz nonet composed mainly of MTSU jazz faculty, will perform in the second of three-concert series known as the MTSU Jazz Artist Series at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 8 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
MTSU jazz faculty members Don Aliquo (tenor saxophone), Shawn Purcell (jazz guitar) and Jamey Simmons (jazz trumpet) are the co-leaders for A-P-S-9, whose name is derived from the first letters of their respective last names.
Aliquo, who is also the director of jazz studies at MTSU, said the trio decided to expand on the idea of composing original music for this specific instrumentation after a successful performance on radio station WPLN’s “Live in Studio C” program.
“I am very excited about our second concert (in the series) this year," Aliquo explained. "First of all, the proceeds will go toward a jazz scholarship for a deserving jazz studies major. Secondly, the group A-P-S-9 has written compositions specifically for this event. Finally, we are planning to record the concert live for commercial release.”
The nonet consists entirely of professional jazz musicians who are considered some of the top players in the region, many of whom are known nationally, Aliquo said. These instrumentalists, in addition to Aliquo, Purcell and Simmons, include Denis Solee (alto saxophone), Mike Jenner (baritone saxophone), Tyler Kuebler (baritone saxophone), David Loucky (trombone), Pat Coil (piano), Jim Ferguson (bass) and Tom Giampieto (drums).
Aliquo said all of the players are members of the MTSU jazz faculty with the exception of Solee, who is a Nashville top studio musician; Kuebler, who is an assistant professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; and Jenner, who is a graduate student and a jazz studies major at MTSU.
Aliquo said the Feb. 8 concert will consist of two sets. The first set will feature Slippin’, composed and arranged by Simmons; Central Park West by John Coltrane and arranged by Simmons; Love for Sale by Cole Porter and arranged by Purcell; and On Broadway by Weill, Mann, Lieber and Stoller and also arranged by Simmons.
Set two will feature Sequoia composed and arranged by Purcell; ZuZu's Petals, composed and arranged by Aliquo; Departure From the Garden, composed and arranged by Simmons and T49, composed and arranged by Aliquo.
Now in its eighth season, the MTSU Jazz Artist Series brings internationally renowned jazz artists to the region for performances and educational workshops. Past guest artists have included respected jazz musicians and educators such as clarinetist Eddie Daniels; saxophonists Benny Golson, Phil Woods, David Liebman and Dick Oatts; and Grammy-winning artists Slide Hampton, Jim McNeeley, Tim Hagans, Peter Erskine, Rufus Reid and Randy Brecker.
•TICKETS: Individual tickets for the Feb. 8 concert are $15 at the door. MTSU faculty, staff and students will be admitted free with a valid ID.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
246 STUDENT RESEARCHERS WILL PRESENT POSTERS AT STATE CAPITOL
Release date: Jan. 31, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Event contact: Dr. Tom Cheatham, 615-898-2613
MTSU, TBR SCHOOLS’ STUDENT RESEARCHERS WILL PRESENT
POSTERS AT STATE CAPITOL FEB. 7 IN NASHVILLE
(MURFREESBORO) — Six MTSU students will be among 36 statewide participating in the second Posters at the State Capitol, which will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, in Nashville, said Dr. Tom Cheatham, dean of the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences and event coordinator.
“I think it will be a great day,” Cheatham said of the posters event. “The first year (2006) was tremendous. The students had a terrific time. They left the capitol with a real sense of helping the universities spread the word about research. I think the legislature will be more comfortable with our students being there this year.”
The students will try to meet individually with their local legislators, have lunch with various legislators, have the poster session and also pose for a photo with Gov. Phil Bredesen, Cheatham said.
MTSU’s student presenters will include:
• Collin Davey, a senior English major from Murfreesboro, whose poster will be titled “Morphology, Matiere & Marie.” His faculty mentor is Monica Wright;
• Lacey Fleming, a senior anthropology major from Nashville, whose poster will be titled “The Role of the Domesticated Dog in Prehistoric Middle Tennessee.” Her mentor is Tanya M. Peres;
• Brandy Dacus, a senior anthropology major from Nashville, whose poster will be titled “Lithic Analysis from Castalian Springs Mound Site.” Her mentor is Shannon Hodge;
• Teri Proctor, a senior psychology major from Murfreesboro, whose poster will be titled “College Adjustment & Retention in First Semester Traditional Students.” Her mentor is Michelle Boyer-Pennington;
• Adam Shulman, a senior physics major from Shelbyville, whose poster will be titled “Stretching of an Equine Red Blood Cell Using Optical Tweezers.” His mentor is Daniel Erenso;
• And Richard Sharpe, a December 2006 graduate who majored in biology and graduate student concentrating in genetics and biotechnology from Antioch, whose poster will be titled “Preparatory Steps for Daucus carota Transformation with an O-Antigen Gene from Shigella sonnei for Possible Vaccine Use.” His mentor is Bruce Cahoon.
McNair Scholars Program Director Diane Miller is coordinating MTSU’s student presenters, Cheatham said.
###
Media welcomed.
Event contact: Dr. Tom Cheatham, 615-898-2613
MTSU, TBR SCHOOLS’ STUDENT RESEARCHERS WILL PRESENT
POSTERS AT STATE CAPITOL FEB. 7 IN NASHVILLE
(MURFREESBORO) — Six MTSU students will be among 36 statewide participating in the second Posters at the State Capitol, which will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, in Nashville, said Dr. Tom Cheatham, dean of the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences and event coordinator.
“I think it will be a great day,” Cheatham said of the posters event. “The first year (2006) was tremendous. The students had a terrific time. They left the capitol with a real sense of helping the universities spread the word about research. I think the legislature will be more comfortable with our students being there this year.”
The students will try to meet individually with their local legislators, have lunch with various legislators, have the poster session and also pose for a photo with Gov. Phil Bredesen, Cheatham said.
MTSU’s student presenters will include:
• Collin Davey, a senior English major from Murfreesboro, whose poster will be titled “Morphology, Matiere & Marie.” His faculty mentor is Monica Wright;
• Lacey Fleming, a senior anthropology major from Nashville, whose poster will be titled “The Role of the Domesticated Dog in Prehistoric Middle Tennessee.” Her mentor is Tanya M. Peres;
• Brandy Dacus, a senior anthropology major from Nashville, whose poster will be titled “Lithic Analysis from Castalian Springs Mound Site.” Her mentor is Shannon Hodge;
• Teri Proctor, a senior psychology major from Murfreesboro, whose poster will be titled “College Adjustment & Retention in First Semester Traditional Students.” Her mentor is Michelle Boyer-Pennington;
• Adam Shulman, a senior physics major from Shelbyville, whose poster will be titled “Stretching of an Equine Red Blood Cell Using Optical Tweezers.” His mentor is Daniel Erenso;
• And Richard Sharpe, a December 2006 graduate who majored in biology and graduate student concentrating in genetics and biotechnology from Antioch, whose poster will be titled “Preparatory Steps for Daucus carota Transformation with an O-Antigen Gene from Shigella sonnei for Possible Vaccine Use.” His mentor is Bruce Cahoon.
McNair Scholars Program Director Diane Miller is coordinating MTSU’s student presenters, Cheatham said.
###
Media welcomed.
245 STUDENTS INVITED TO ATTEND FEB. 6 AVIATION
Date: Jan. 31, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Military science contact: Maj. Chuck Giles, 615-898-2470
IN BAS STATE FARM ROOM
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU students are invited to attend the Aviation Careers/Jobs/Experience/Scholarships Conference, which will be held from 3 until 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Business and Aerospace Building’s State Farm Lecture Hall.
Sponsored by the MTSU Department of Military Science, the conference will provide information on full- and part-time aviation jobs, careers and scholarships for students who might consider this path, said Maj. Chuck Giles, who is professor of military science and event coordinator.
Giles said the Tennessee National Guard and Army Reserve would have representatives there discussing the various jobs and options.
“You can get 100 percent tuition assistance,” Giles said. “And there are part-time jobs in aviation in Smyrna and other reserve locations like West Tennessee.
Positions include pilot, traffic controller, transportation management, aviation operations and simulations, crew chief, maintenance technician, management, cargo specialist, and the areas of pneudraulics, aviation, power plant, structural, armorment, electrical and repairer.
Refreshments will be served, Giles said.
For more information, contact Giles (cgiles@mtsu.edu) by calling 615-898-2470.
###
Media welcomed.
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Military science contact: Maj. Chuck Giles, 615-898-2470
IN BAS STATE FARM ROOM
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU students are invited to attend the Aviation Careers/Jobs/Experience/Scholarships Conference, which will be held from 3 until 5 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Business and Aerospace Building’s State Farm Lecture Hall.
Sponsored by the MTSU Department of Military Science, the conference will provide information on full- and part-time aviation jobs, careers and scholarships for students who might consider this path, said Maj. Chuck Giles, who is professor of military science and event coordinator.
Giles said the Tennessee National Guard and Army Reserve would have representatives there discussing the various jobs and options.
“You can get 100 percent tuition assistance,” Giles said. “And there are part-time jobs in aviation in Smyrna and other reserve locations like West Tennessee.
Positions include pilot, traffic controller, transportation management, aviation operations and simulations, crew chief, maintenance technician, management, cargo specialist, and the areas of pneudraulics, aviation, power plant, structural, armorment, electrical and repairer.
Refreshments will be served, Giles said.
For more information, contact Giles (cgiles@mtsu.edu) by calling 615-898-2470.
###
Media welcomed.
244 MTSU SUBMITS 21,296 FINAL SPRING ENROLLMENT TOTAL TO TBR
Release date: Jan. 30, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Enrollment contacts: Dr. Sherian Huddleston, 615-898-2828
Dr. Bob Glenn, 615-898-2440
Financial aid contact: Melanie Collins, 615-898-5101
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU enrollment services officials submitted 21,296 students enrolled at this semester to the Tennessee Board of Regents earlier today.
The 21,296 students is an increase of 345 students — or 1.65 percent – from the spring 2006 census (20,951) submitted to TBR a year ago, said Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services. The TBR’s 14-day census period ended Jan. 29. Huddleston said she froze the enrollment totals at midnight, and then submitted them to TBR by e-mail.
This semester, Huddleston said MTSU is seeing an increase in re-enrolling students (1,109 compared to 1,025 in 2006) and first-time freshmen (205 compared to 167 in ’06), but is seeing a decrease in the number of new transfer students (870 compared to 914 in ’06).
“First-time freshmen (generally) have stayed out a semester,” Huddleston said. “Perhaps they worked, or were working to save money for college. Perhaps in the fall they weren’t sure if they were going to attend college. Some could have been doing volunteer public service. Some didn’t meet deadlines (admissions and financial aid), so they’ve sat out until the spring.”
The first-time freshmen may be eligible to receive Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarships, said Bonnie McCarty, MTSU assistant director of scholarships in the financial aid office. McCarty said nontraditional (25-over) students “may” receive the HOPE Lottery scholarship once they attempt 24 hours, have a 2.5 or higher grade point average and “meet initial requirements.”.
McCarty said first-time and nontraditional students should contact Melanie Collins (macollinamtsu.edu) by e-mail or visit the financial aid office, 218 Cope Administration Building, to learn if they are eligible for lottery scholarships.
MTSU’s 5-year spring growth chart
Year Spring enrollment
2007 21,296
2006 20,951
2005 20,656
2004 20,229
2003 ` 19,615
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Enrollment contacts: Dr. Sherian Huddleston, 615-898-2828
Dr. Bob Glenn, 615-898-2440
Financial aid contact: Melanie Collins, 615-898-5101
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU enrollment services officials submitted 21,296 students enrolled at this semester to the Tennessee Board of Regents earlier today.
The 21,296 students is an increase of 345 students — or 1.65 percent – from the spring 2006 census (20,951) submitted to TBR a year ago, said Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services. The TBR’s 14-day census period ended Jan. 29. Huddleston said she froze the enrollment totals at midnight, and then submitted them to TBR by e-mail.
This semester, Huddleston said MTSU is seeing an increase in re-enrolling students (1,109 compared to 1,025 in 2006) and first-time freshmen (205 compared to 167 in ’06), but is seeing a decrease in the number of new transfer students (870 compared to 914 in ’06).
“First-time freshmen (generally) have stayed out a semester,” Huddleston said. “Perhaps they worked, or were working to save money for college. Perhaps in the fall they weren’t sure if they were going to attend college. Some could have been doing volunteer public service. Some didn’t meet deadlines (admissions and financial aid), so they’ve sat out until the spring.”
The first-time freshmen may be eligible to receive Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarships, said Bonnie McCarty, MTSU assistant director of scholarships in the financial aid office. McCarty said nontraditional (25-over) students “may” receive the HOPE Lottery scholarship once they attempt 24 hours, have a 2.5 or higher grade point average and “meet initial requirements.”.
McCarty said first-time and nontraditional students should contact Melanie Collins (macollinamtsu.edu) by e-mail or visit the financial aid office, 218 Cope Administration Building, to learn if they are eligible for lottery scholarships.
MTSU’s 5-year spring growth chart
Year Spring enrollment
2007 21,296
2006 20,951
2005 20,656
2004 20,229
2003 ` 19,615
###
243 FINAL EVENT IN MTSU’S PRESIDENTIAL CONCERT SERIES ON FEB. 10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—Vanderbilt’s Blair String Quartet will perform the final concert in MTSU’s annual Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Violinists Christian Teal and Cornelia Heard, along with violist John Kochanowski and cellist Felix Wang compose the group.
"The Blair String Quartet has a well-deserved national reputation for the excellence and verve of their chamber music performances," said George Riordan, director for the McLean School of Music at MTSU. "Collectively, these four players summon the sound of an orchestra.
"We worked with the group to design a program that has wide appeal, with two familiar works bracketing a pair of lesser-known compositions," he added.
Riordan said the concert will open with a quartet by Joseph Haydn (in G major, Op. 54, No. 1) and end with Maurice Ravel's Quartet in F that was composed in 1903.
"(This is) arguably the best-loved of all string quartets," Riordan commented.
In the middle will be two brief 20th century pieces—the first an early work by Anton Webern and the other by contemporary Romanian composer György Kurtág.
"This is a program that should be attractive to musical connoisseurs and first-time concert goers alike," Riordan said.
Widely acclaimed in performances across the country, the quartet has enhanced its national reputation through appearances at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, New York’s 92nd Street Y and Merkin Concert Hall.
The quartet has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Southern Arts Federation, the Tennessee Arts Commission and Chamber Music America’s C. Michael Paul Residency Program.
"The McLean School of Music is pleased to be able to partner with our colleagues in the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt in presenting this Presidential Series Concert," Riordan said.
The Feb. 10 performance is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—Vanderbilt’s Blair String Quartet will perform the final concert in MTSU’s annual Presidential Concert Series at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Violinists Christian Teal and Cornelia Heard, along with violist John Kochanowski and cellist Felix Wang compose the group.
"The Blair String Quartet has a well-deserved national reputation for the excellence and verve of their chamber music performances," said George Riordan, director for the McLean School of Music at MTSU. "Collectively, these four players summon the sound of an orchestra.
"We worked with the group to design a program that has wide appeal, with two familiar works bracketing a pair of lesser-known compositions," he added.
Riordan said the concert will open with a quartet by Joseph Haydn (in G major, Op. 54, No. 1) and end with Maurice Ravel's Quartet in F that was composed in 1903.
"(This is) arguably the best-loved of all string quartets," Riordan commented.
In the middle will be two brief 20th century pieces—the first an early work by Anton Webern and the other by contemporary Romanian composer György Kurtág.
"This is a program that should be attractive to musical connoisseurs and first-time concert goers alike," Riordan said.
Widely acclaimed in performances across the country, the quartet has enhanced its national reputation through appearances at the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, New York’s 92nd Street Y and Merkin Concert Hall.
The quartet has received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Southern Arts Federation, the Tennessee Arts Commission and Chamber Music America’s C. Michael Paul Residency Program.
"The McLean School of Music is pleased to be able to partner with our colleagues in the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt in presenting this Presidential Series Concert," Riordan said.
The Feb. 10 performance is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
242 TROUSDALE COUNTY FARM JOINS CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
State Recognizes 139-Year-Old Terry Farm for Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)— The Terry Farm in Trousdale 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 MTSU.
Located three miles from Hartsville, the Terry Farm that was established by George T. Terry Sr. in January 1868. On 255 acres, the Terry family, including his wife Elizabeth and five children, raised hay, tobacco, corn, cattle, hogs and mules. The old Providence School and Presbyterian Church were located on this farm.
In 1901, George’s son, Goodall Terry, acquired the farm. During his ownership, he gave Trousdale County a plot of land for the new Providence school. Goodall married Sidney Terry and they had one child named George D. Terry.
Eventually, the land was passed to George and his wife Edna Mae Terry. While managing the farm, George served as a county road superintendent and he built a shop on the land for storing county road equipment. Edna’s nephew, Quindy Robertson, and her niece, Connie Robertson Massey, were next to inherit the land.
In 2001, Connie and husband Joe Massey became the owners of the farm. Today, Joe works the land that mainly produces hay and cattle. A farmhouse and a round-top barn with a basement, built in 1948, and the county road equipment shop that was built by George Terry in 1949 remain on the property.
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, the same family must own a farm
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.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
State Recognizes 139-Year-Old Terry Farm for Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)— The Terry Farm in Trousdale 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 MTSU.
Located three miles from Hartsville, the Terry Farm that was established by George T. Terry Sr. in January 1868. On 255 acres, the Terry family, including his wife Elizabeth and five children, raised hay, tobacco, corn, cattle, hogs and mules. The old Providence School and Presbyterian Church were located on this farm.
In 1901, George’s son, Goodall Terry, acquired the farm. During his ownership, he gave Trousdale County a plot of land for the new Providence school. Goodall married Sidney Terry and they had one child named George D. Terry.
Eventually, the land was passed to George and his wife Edna Mae Terry. While managing the farm, George served as a county road superintendent and he built a shop on the land for storing county road equipment. Edna’s nephew, Quindy Robertson, and her niece, Connie Robertson Massey, were next to inherit the land.
In 2001, Connie and husband Joe Massey became the owners of the farm. Today, Joe works the land that mainly produces hay and cattle. A farmhouse and a round-top barn with a basement, built in 1948, and the county road equipment shop that was built by George Terry in 1949 remain on the property.
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, the same family must own a farm
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.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
241 GREENE COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)—The Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm in Greene 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 MTSU.
In 1889, Jonathan “John” Wiley Waddell and his wife, Elvina Elizabeth Bowers Waddell, purchased a farm of just more than 231 acres southwest of Greeneville on the Nolichucky River. The couple and their four sons raised cattle, horses, hogs, chickens, tobacco, hay, corn, small grain and vegetables.
In 1930, two of their sons, William Robert Waddell and Decatur Fox Waddell, acquired the farm. Under their ownership, the farm continued to support a variety of crops and livestock. William married Hattie Rader Waddell and they had three children—William Adelbert, Peggy Jane and Betty Joe, who died as an infant.
In 1958, William and Peggy inherited the farm, and then in 1961 William purchased Peggy’s acreage. William married Madge Smith Waddell and they had two sons, Robert Frank Waddell and Darwyn William Waddell.
In 1993 and 1994, the great-grandson of the founder, Darwyn William Waddell, acquired the property. Today, Darwyn and wife Virginia, along with son Eric, work the land, where they produce cattle and hay. Several buildings, including a smokehouse and cattle and tobacco barns, remain on this homestead.
Hankins said the Waddell family farm joins 41 other farms in Greene County that have been certified as a Tennessee Century Farm. Greene County ranks third in the state in the number of Century Farms.
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.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
*** PLEASE NOTE: Nolachuckey (not Nolichucky) is the correct spelling in regard to referencing the Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm, per the farm’s owners.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm Recognized for Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)—The Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm in Greene 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 MTSU.
In 1889, Jonathan “John” Wiley Waddell and his wife, Elvina Elizabeth Bowers Waddell, purchased a farm of just more than 231 acres southwest of Greeneville on the Nolichucky River. The couple and their four sons raised cattle, horses, hogs, chickens, tobacco, hay, corn, small grain and vegetables.
In 1930, two of their sons, William Robert Waddell and Decatur Fox Waddell, acquired the farm. Under their ownership, the farm continued to support a variety of crops and livestock. William married Hattie Rader Waddell and they had three children—William Adelbert, Peggy Jane and Betty Joe, who died as an infant.
In 1958, William and Peggy inherited the farm, and then in 1961 William purchased Peggy’s acreage. William married Madge Smith Waddell and they had two sons, Robert Frank Waddell and Darwyn William Waddell.
In 1993 and 1994, the great-grandson of the founder, Darwyn William Waddell, acquired the property. Today, Darwyn and wife Virginia, along with son Eric, work the land, where they produce cattle and hay. Several buildings, including a smokehouse and cattle and tobacco barns, remain on this homestead.
Hankins said the Waddell family farm joins 41 other farms in Greene County that have been certified as a Tennessee Century Farm. Greene County ranks third in the state in the number of Century Farms.
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.
—30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview Hankins or the farm’s owners, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
*** PLEASE NOTE: Nolachuckey (not Nolichucky) is the correct spelling in regard to referencing the Waddell Nolachuckey River Farm, per the farm’s owners.
240 QUARANTA, BROWN WILL BE FEATURED SPEAKERS AT MATH SYMPOSIUM
VANDERBILT’S QUARANTA, MTSU’S BROWN WILL BE
FEATURED SPEAKERS DURING FEB. 8 MATH SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM
Date: Jan. 29, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Symposium contact: Mimi Thomas, 615-494-8797
Department of Mathematical Sciences contact: Dr. Terry Quinn, 615-898-2669
(MURFREESBORO) — “Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences,” the MTSU Mathematical Sciences Spring Symposium 2007, will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Tom H. Jackson Building, event organizer Mimi Thomas said.
Dr. Vito Quaranta, director of the Vanderbilt Integrative Cancer Biology Center, and Dr. Heather Brown, associate professor in the MTSU Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies department, will serve as guest speakers for the event. Brown serves as interim director for the Concrete Industry Management program.
Brown and Quaranta will discuss the role of mathematics in their professions, Thomas said. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The symposium is open to the public, and will be of interest to College of Basic and Applied Sciences students and faculty, Thomas said. Refreshments will be served.
For more information, please contact Dr. Terry Quinn (tquinn@mtsu.edu), first-year chair of the math department, by calling 615-898-2669.
###
Media welcomed.
FEATURED SPEAKERS DURING FEB. 8 MATH SCIENCES SYMPOSIUM
Date: Jan. 29, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Symposium contact: Mimi Thomas, 615-494-8797
Department of Mathematical Sciences contact: Dr. Terry Quinn, 615-898-2669
(MURFREESBORO) — “Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences,” the MTSU Mathematical Sciences Spring Symposium 2007, will be held from 2 until 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Tom H. Jackson Building, event organizer Mimi Thomas said.
Dr. Vito Quaranta, director of the Vanderbilt Integrative Cancer Biology Center, and Dr. Heather Brown, associate professor in the MTSU Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies department, will serve as guest speakers for the event. Brown serves as interim director for the Concrete Industry Management program.
Brown and Quaranta will discuss the role of mathematics in their professions, Thomas said. A question-and-answer session will follow.
The symposium is open to the public, and will be of interest to College of Basic and Applied Sciences students and faculty, Thomas said. Refreshments will be served.
For more information, please contact Dr. Terry Quinn (tquinn@mtsu.edu), first-year chair of the math department, by calling 615-898-2669.
###
Media welcomed.
239 VAUDEVILLE ISN’T DEAD—IT’S AT THE MET IN THE ‘BORO
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
MTSU Academics Bring Three Chekhov Farces to Life
(MURFREESBORO) – Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) Feb. 8-18 at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts.
While the Russian author Anton Chekhov is most widely associated with dramas, the entertainment will consist of three of his one-act comic farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes.
“Truly, there will be something for everyone,” Ayne Cantrell, professor emeritus, English, president of the MET, and director of Vaudevilles, says. “We are approaching the performances imagining ourselves as a rag-tag, but talented family of vaudeville performers who has been working the circuit for many years. We are happy to be in the ‘Boro and promise audiences a delightfully fun-filled evening.”
The Bear presents an overbearing landowner (portrayed by Todd Seage, manager, speech and theatre) who demands that a widow (Elyce Helford, English professor and director of Women’s Studies) immediately pay off a debt her late husband owed. When the widow refuses, the landowner refuses to leave until the debt is paid, sparking a verbal battle of the sexes.
In The Proposal, the hypochondriac Ivan (Warren Tormey, associate professor, English) proposes marriage to Natalya. However, the couple engages in one ludicrous argument after another before Ivan can pop the question. Before all the laughter dies down, Ivan thinks he is on the verge of death.
An aging actor (Tom Harris, associate professor emeritus, English, and founder and artistic director of the MET) awakens from a drunken snooze following a performance to find that he is locked in the theatre in Swan Song. While he bemoans having not maximized his acting talents, the theatre’s prompter reminds him of his past achievements and what theatre really means to him.
An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles will open at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8 with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 10, 16, and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors.
The Center for the Arts is located at 110 West College Street in Murfreesboro. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. The center is a non-profit organization.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpeg photos of the cast of An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu. To interview Ayne Cantrell or Tom Harris, contact Cantrell at 615-893-1786 or acantrell@comcast.net or Harris at 615-895-0755 or millermn@comcast.net.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
MTSU Academics Bring Three Chekhov Farces to Life
(MURFREESBORO) – Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) Feb. 8-18 at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts.
While the Russian author Anton Chekhov is most widely associated with dramas, the entertainment will consist of three of his one-act comic farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes.
“Truly, there will be something for everyone,” Ayne Cantrell, professor emeritus, English, president of the MET, and director of Vaudevilles, says. “We are approaching the performances imagining ourselves as a rag-tag, but talented family of vaudeville performers who has been working the circuit for many years. We are happy to be in the ‘Boro and promise audiences a delightfully fun-filled evening.”
The Bear presents an overbearing landowner (portrayed by Todd Seage, manager, speech and theatre) who demands that a widow (Elyce Helford, English professor and director of Women’s Studies) immediately pay off a debt her late husband owed. When the widow refuses, the landowner refuses to leave until the debt is paid, sparking a verbal battle of the sexes.
In The Proposal, the hypochondriac Ivan (Warren Tormey, associate professor, English) proposes marriage to Natalya. However, the couple engages in one ludicrous argument after another before Ivan can pop the question. Before all the laughter dies down, Ivan thinks he is on the verge of death.
An aging actor (Tom Harris, associate professor emeritus, English, and founder and artistic director of the MET) awakens from a drunken snooze following a performance to find that he is locked in the theatre in Swan Song. While he bemoans having not maximized his acting talents, the theatre’s prompter reminds him of his past achievements and what theatre really means to him.
An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles will open at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8 with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 10, 16, and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors.
The Center for the Arts is located at 110 West College Street in Murfreesboro. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. The center is a non-profit organization.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpeg photos of the cast of An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu. To interview Ayne Cantrell or Tom Harris, contact Cantrell at 615-893-1786 or acantrell@comcast.net or Harris at 615-895-0755 or millermn@comcast.net.
Friday, January 26, 2007
238 FEB. 23-25 MTSU FAMILY WEEKEND FULL OF ACTIVITIES
Date: Jan. 26, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
New Student and Family Programs contacts: Rob Patterson, 615-898-2454
Gina Poff, 615-898-2454
(MURFREESBORO) — Organizers planning for the first spring Family Weekend Feb. 23-25 have an event-filled lineup.
Sponsored by New Student and Family Programs, students and their families can attend athletic events (basketball, softball and baseball games) the entire weekend, attend a play, “Ramona Quimby,” Feb. 23 or Feb. 24, hear the MTSU Symphonic Band and Chamber Winds Feb. 23 or attend a performance by illusionist Wayne Hoffman Feb. 23.
“This should be a fun weekend, and certainly will be busy,” Rob Patterson, New Student and Family Programs coordinator, said recently.
“This is the first time we’ve done it with basketball, baseball and softball,” Director Gina Poff added. “Hopefully, the weather will be good. We think it will be a big success.”
MTSU usually holds Family Weekends during the fall, but the 2006 home football schedule, which included two Thursday night games and a Friday night game in Nashville, was not conducive, they said.
Patterson said a main focus will be promoting attendance for the Feb. 24 Senior Day basketball games.
The nationally ranked Lady Raiders will entertain Sun Belt Conference opponent Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. in Murphy Center. The Blue Raiders will meet the Owls’ men’s team at 7 p.m. in Murphy Center.
A silent auction sponsored by the MTSU Parents Association, with all proceeds going for a book scholarship, that will be awarded to a student next fall, will begin with registration at 9 a.m. Feb. 24 and continue into the 10 a.m. brunch and 5 p.m. dinner.
Patterson said another weekend feature would be a CANstruction food drive. Students and their families will be encouraged to bring cans of food when they register. Event organizers will construct a pyramid of cans as high as a basketball goal. Later, it will be donated to a local food bank.
MTSU students will attend free with ID. The cost for family members is $30 per package. The Feb. 23-24 baseball games vs. Bowling Green and the “Ramona Quimby” performances will require additional admission fees. Family Weekend T-shirts will be available for $10 each. Registrations need to be returned by Feb. 16.
For more information including a list of sponsor hotels and weekend schedule, call
615-898-2454 or visit www.mtsu.edu/~nsfp.
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
New Student and Family Programs contacts: Rob Patterson, 615-898-2454
Gina Poff, 615-898-2454
(MURFREESBORO) — Organizers planning for the first spring Family Weekend Feb. 23-25 have an event-filled lineup.
Sponsored by New Student and Family Programs, students and their families can attend athletic events (basketball, softball and baseball games) the entire weekend, attend a play, “Ramona Quimby,” Feb. 23 or Feb. 24, hear the MTSU Symphonic Band and Chamber Winds Feb. 23 or attend a performance by illusionist Wayne Hoffman Feb. 23.
“This should be a fun weekend, and certainly will be busy,” Rob Patterson, New Student and Family Programs coordinator, said recently.
“This is the first time we’ve done it with basketball, baseball and softball,” Director Gina Poff added. “Hopefully, the weather will be good. We think it will be a big success.”
MTSU usually holds Family Weekends during the fall, but the 2006 home football schedule, which included two Thursday night games and a Friday night game in Nashville, was not conducive, they said.
Patterson said a main focus will be promoting attendance for the Feb. 24 Senior Day basketball games.
The nationally ranked Lady Raiders will entertain Sun Belt Conference opponent Florida Atlantic at 2 p.m. in Murphy Center. The Blue Raiders will meet the Owls’ men’s team at 7 p.m. in Murphy Center.
A silent auction sponsored by the MTSU Parents Association, with all proceeds going for a book scholarship, that will be awarded to a student next fall, will begin with registration at 9 a.m. Feb. 24 and continue into the 10 a.m. brunch and 5 p.m. dinner.
Patterson said another weekend feature would be a CANstruction food drive. Students and their families will be encouraged to bring cans of food when they register. Event organizers will construct a pyramid of cans as high as a basketball goal. Later, it will be donated to a local food bank.
MTSU students will attend free with ID. The cost for family members is $30 per package. The Feb. 23-24 baseball games vs. Bowling Green and the “Ramona Quimby” performances will require additional admission fees. Family Weekend T-shirts will be available for $10 each. Registrations need to be returned by Feb. 16.
For more information including a list of sponsor hotels and weekend schedule, call
615-898-2454 or visit www.mtsu.edu/~nsfp.
###
237 MEDIA ETHICS: WHAT DO AMERICANS WANT TO KNOW?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 26, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Thomas W. Cooper, 615-904-8281
Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
National Summit Feb. 27-March 2 at MTSU to Address Credibility Issues
(MURFREESBORO)—Twenty years ago, ethics leaders in media and higher education at a national conference asked: How can we understand and promote better media practices in the United States? Is TV too violent? Is election coverage too biased? Are newspapers and TV too explicit? And is what the media tells us true?
Asking those questions, and more, these leaders will gather Feb. 27-March 2 to once again discuss Americans’ greatest concerns about media ethics and recommend change to government, industry and education.
This second conference, set for the Middle Tennessee State University campus, will draw experts nationwide to review results from a recent national poll on media ethics and overviews of similar polls and studies over the last two decades.
“We’ll be looking at the last 20 years and what we’ve all learned from it, and then looking ahead to the next 20 and what we can do about it,” said Dr. Thomas W. Cooper, ethicist-in-residence at MTSU and one of the co-conveners, with Dr. Clifford Christians of the University of Illinois, of the original 1987 ethics summit.
“We want to find out both the public’s and professionals’ ethics concerns and then ask leaders in the field how to publicize, understand and, whenever possible, counterbalance and minimize those problems.”
Former Vice President Al Gore will exchange ideas with attendees on Tuesday, Feb. 27, and respond to findings from two new Middle Tennessee polls, one national and one statewide. During the week, conferees will analyze the data and propose solutions.
The second phase will involve delegates from leading media organizations and a “circle of elders” who will critique and endorse suggestions offered by the conferees. Also, they will help determine which actions are most pressing, practical and achievable to set the agenda for the next 20 years. On Friday, March 2, the public and press will be invited to an open session, where leaders will announce the group’s consensus on the issues and make recommendations for 2007 and beyond. Guests may ask questions at the event, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the State Farm Room of the university’s Business and Aerospace Building. “We’ll then be taking our findings to the White House, Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, colleges and universities and professional and academic associations,” Cooper said. “We want to move the agenda to the public sector so we can see it implemented.”
In addition to the March 2 open session, other free public events include:
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.—A screening of filmmaker and Harvard University professor Robb Moss’s latest work, “Secrecy,” a collaboration with Peter Galison exploring the world of government secrecy, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resource Center. The screening will be followed by a public question-and-answer period from 9 until 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.—A lecture by Adam Clayton Powell III, former vice president of technology and programs at The Freedom Forum, a veteran newsman and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Powell also is the author of “Reinventing Local News: Connecting Communities Through New Technologies” and “Adam By Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” a memoir of his late father, the powerful New York congressman.
Participants such as Geneva Overholser, Deni Elliott, Jane Kirtley and Steve Coltrin and special guests including John Seigenthaler will join delegates from several professional and academic associations, media ethics publications and institutions such as The Poynter Institute, the International Radio and Television Society and The American Society of Newspaper Editors for the summit. The event is sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and MTSU and hosted by Dr. Anantha S. Babbili, dean of MTSU’s College of Mass Communication; more details may be found at www.mtsu.edu/~masscomm/ethics/ethics_index.html.
Cooper, the author or co-author of five published books and more than 100 articles and reviews and the co-publisher of Media Ethics magazine, has taught at Emerson College in Boston since 1983. He co-produced some of the first audio spacebridges between U.S. and Soviet communications professionals and was founding director of the Association for Responsible Communication, which was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.
His yearlong tenure as ethicist-in-residence at MTSU is funded by a $120,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in Oklahoma City.
“Professional ethics must form the basis of higher education in mass communication disciplines,” noted Babbili. "We live in an age where students and professionals are increasingly confronted with challenges at the workplace. They must be well-equipped to make wise choices quickly and confidently.
“The College of Mass Communication has made a renewed commitment to the teaching and discussion of ethics in and outside the classroom,” Babbili added. “We have fostered an intellectual atmosphere in which students and faculty look to leading figures that this summit attracts and learn from the fruits of their labor. There is a great deal of potential for us to be leaders in the debates on ethics.”
One of the largest programs in the nation, the MTSU College of Mass Communication offers degrees in 14 major areas—ranging from journalism to digital media and media management to recording industry management—and is accredited by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
—30—
NOTE: Media needing technical accommodations to cover the March 2 open session should contact the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385 by Wednesday, Feb. 7, to ensure accessibility. For color headshots of the principal speakers and organizers, please use the same contact information. Thanks!
EDITORIAL CONTACTS: Dr. Thomas W. Cooper, 615-904-8281
Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385
National Summit Feb. 27-March 2 at MTSU to Address Credibility Issues
(MURFREESBORO)—Twenty years ago, ethics leaders in media and higher education at a national conference asked: How can we understand and promote better media practices in the United States? Is TV too violent? Is election coverage too biased? Are newspapers and TV too explicit? And is what the media tells us true?
Asking those questions, and more, these leaders will gather Feb. 27-March 2 to once again discuss Americans’ greatest concerns about media ethics and recommend change to government, industry and education.
This second conference, set for the Middle Tennessee State University campus, will draw experts nationwide to review results from a recent national poll on media ethics and overviews of similar polls and studies over the last two decades.
“We’ll be looking at the last 20 years and what we’ve all learned from it, and then looking ahead to the next 20 and what we can do about it,” said Dr. Thomas W. Cooper, ethicist-in-residence at MTSU and one of the co-conveners, with Dr. Clifford Christians of the University of Illinois, of the original 1987 ethics summit.
“We want to find out both the public’s and professionals’ ethics concerns and then ask leaders in the field how to publicize, understand and, whenever possible, counterbalance and minimize those problems.”
Former Vice President Al Gore will exchange ideas with attendees on Tuesday, Feb. 27, and respond to findings from two new Middle Tennessee polls, one national and one statewide. During the week, conferees will analyze the data and propose solutions.
The second phase will involve delegates from leading media organizations and a “circle of elders” who will critique and endorse suggestions offered by the conferees. Also, they will help determine which actions are most pressing, practical and achievable to set the agenda for the next 20 years. On Friday, March 2, the public and press will be invited to an open session, where leaders will announce the group’s consensus on the issues and make recommendations for 2007 and beyond. Guests may ask questions at the event, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in the State Farm Room of the university’s Business and Aerospace Building. “We’ll then be taking our findings to the White House, Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, colleges and universities and professional and academic associations,” Cooper said. “We want to move the agenda to the public sector so we can see it implemented.”
In addition to the March 2 open session, other free public events include:
Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m.—A screening of filmmaker and Harvard University professor Robb Moss’s latest work, “Secrecy,” a collaboration with Peter Galison exploring the world of government secrecy, in Room 221 of MTSU’s Learning Resource Center. The screening will be followed by a public question-and-answer period from 9 until 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 1, 7:30 p.m.—A lecture by Adam Clayton Powell III, former vice president of technology and programs at The Freedom Forum, a veteran newsman and a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Powell also is the author of “Reinventing Local News: Connecting Communities Through New Technologies” and “Adam By Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” a memoir of his late father, the powerful New York congressman.
Participants such as Geneva Overholser, Deni Elliott, Jane Kirtley and Steve Coltrin and special guests including John Seigenthaler will join delegates from several professional and academic associations, media ethics publications and institutions such as The Poynter Institute, the International Radio and Television Society and The American Society of Newspaper Editors for the summit. The event is sponsored by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation and MTSU and hosted by Dr. Anantha S. Babbili, dean of MTSU’s College of Mass Communication; more details may be found at www.mtsu.edu/~masscomm/ethics/ethics_index.html.
Cooper, the author or co-author of five published books and more than 100 articles and reviews and the co-publisher of Media Ethics magazine, has taught at Emerson College in Boston since 1983. He co-produced some of the first audio spacebridges between U.S. and Soviet communications professionals and was founding director of the Association for Responsible Communication, which was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.
His yearlong tenure as ethicist-in-residence at MTSU is funded by a $120,000 grant from the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation in Oklahoma City.
“Professional ethics must form the basis of higher education in mass communication disciplines,” noted Babbili. "We live in an age where students and professionals are increasingly confronted with challenges at the workplace. They must be well-equipped to make wise choices quickly and confidently.
“The College of Mass Communication has made a renewed commitment to the teaching and discussion of ethics in and outside the classroom,” Babbili added. “We have fostered an intellectual atmosphere in which students and faculty look to leading figures that this summit attracts and learn from the fruits of their labor. There is a great deal of potential for us to be leaders in the debates on ethics.”
One of the largest programs in the nation, the MTSU College of Mass Communication offers degrees in 14 major areas—ranging from journalism to digital media and media management to recording industry management—and is accredited by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
—30—
NOTE: Media needing technical accommodations to cover the March 2 open session should contact the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385 by Wednesday, Feb. 7, to ensure accessibility. For color headshots of the principal speakers and organizers, please use the same contact information. Thanks!
236 UPGRADING THE WAY THE TEACHERS ARE GRADED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Student Assessment of Professors Under Revision
(MURFREESBORO) – The questionnaire with which students assess their professors at the end of each semester is undergoing a major overhaul, but not without the ascertainment of feedback from a wide cross-section of the campus community.
The Pedagogy Task Force has been at work since the fall of 2003 on ways to reformulate the instrument so students will have the chance to provide a more precise critique, one that is more helpful in determining which educators most need improvement and in which areas.
Under the leadership of Dr. Vic Montemayor, professor of physics and astronomy, the panel presented an instrument developed by assessment experts at the University of California at Berkeley to 1,629 students, 36 faculty members and eight deans and chairs. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
One hundred percent of faculty volunteers, 100 percent of deans and chairs and 76 percent of students felt that the Berkeley-designed questionnaire was superior to the one currently in place at MTSU.
“We’re actually quite excited about the positive aspects of the new proposed teaching evaluation instrument because it not only offers meaningful constructive criticism but also an avenue toward improvement,” Michael Fleming, assistant professor of recording industry and task force co-chair, says.
The panel recommends that the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center develop workshops to show faculty how to improve their performance in their weaker categories. These workshops would be ready by the time the first results from the new evaluation instrument are available.
“Many people view the evaluation as a means of policing the teaching that’s taking place in our classrooms, but that was not the view taken by the task force members,” Montemayor says.
As it turns out, the Berkeley instrument was already being used by the MTSU mentoring program. Even so, Montemayor says that fact had no impact on the panel’s proposals.
The current student evaluation calls for ratings of “almost always,” “usually,” “rarely,” “never,” or “not applicable” to statements such as “course requirements are clear,” “the class begins at scheduled times,” and “instructor presents material clearly.”
--more--
ASSESSMENT
Add 1
Under the Berkeley rubric, more than 30 statements are divided into the categories of “Presentation Ability,” “Organization and Clarity,” “Assignments and Grading,” “Intellectual and Scholarly Approach,” “Incorporation of Student Interaction,” “Motivating the Students,” and “Effectiveness and Worth.”
Students are asked to disagree or agree on a scale of one (disagree) to five (agree) with statements such as “has a genuine interest in students,” “lectures easy to outline or case discussion well organized,” “gives assignments and exams that are reasonable in length and difficulty,” “discusses recent developments in the field,” “invites criticism of own ideas,” and “motivates me to do my best work.”
“It is more specific,” Wendy Koenig, assistant professor of art and task force co-chair, says. “It is unlikely you’re going to get perfect scores on every question.”
However, Koenig notes that the professors’ scores would be expressed as true percentiles to be compared only with other scores in their own department, college or university. The numbers also would be tracked longitudinally so that trends over time could be analyzed.
“We do not wish performance to be summarized as a single number,” Fleming says. “That’s not appropriate for any person, nor is it appropriate for any specific discipline or class or department or college.”
Koenig says Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, is supportive of the task force’s mission. The panel has presented its findings to the dean’s cabinet and plans to discuss its recommendations with the chairs’ council, the Faculty Senate, and representatives of individual colleges.
“I think that a good bit of discussion still needs to take place across campus in order for faculty to buy into the idea of this new instrument and the feedback it provides,” Montemayor says.
For complete information, including graphs and charts, go to http://physics.mtsu.edu/~vjm/task_force.html.
--30--
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Student Assessment of Professors Under Revision
(MURFREESBORO) – The questionnaire with which students assess their professors at the end of each semester is undergoing a major overhaul, but not without the ascertainment of feedback from a wide cross-section of the campus community.
The Pedagogy Task Force has been at work since the fall of 2003 on ways to reformulate the instrument so students will have the chance to provide a more precise critique, one that is more helpful in determining which educators most need improvement and in which areas.
Under the leadership of Dr. Vic Montemayor, professor of physics and astronomy, the panel presented an instrument developed by assessment experts at the University of California at Berkeley to 1,629 students, 36 faculty members and eight deans and chairs. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
One hundred percent of faculty volunteers, 100 percent of deans and chairs and 76 percent of students felt that the Berkeley-designed questionnaire was superior to the one currently in place at MTSU.
“We’re actually quite excited about the positive aspects of the new proposed teaching evaluation instrument because it not only offers meaningful constructive criticism but also an avenue toward improvement,” Michael Fleming, assistant professor of recording industry and task force co-chair, says.
The panel recommends that the Learning, Teaching and Innovative Technologies Center develop workshops to show faculty how to improve their performance in their weaker categories. These workshops would be ready by the time the first results from the new evaluation instrument are available.
“Many people view the evaluation as a means of policing the teaching that’s taking place in our classrooms, but that was not the view taken by the task force members,” Montemayor says.
As it turns out, the Berkeley instrument was already being used by the MTSU mentoring program. Even so, Montemayor says that fact had no impact on the panel’s proposals.
The current student evaluation calls for ratings of “almost always,” “usually,” “rarely,” “never,” or “not applicable” to statements such as “course requirements are clear,” “the class begins at scheduled times,” and “instructor presents material clearly.”
--more--
ASSESSMENT
Add 1
Under the Berkeley rubric, more than 30 statements are divided into the categories of “Presentation Ability,” “Organization and Clarity,” “Assignments and Grading,” “Intellectual and Scholarly Approach,” “Incorporation of Student Interaction,” “Motivating the Students,” and “Effectiveness and Worth.”
Students are asked to disagree or agree on a scale of one (disagree) to five (agree) with statements such as “has a genuine interest in students,” “lectures easy to outline or case discussion well organized,” “gives assignments and exams that are reasonable in length and difficulty,” “discusses recent developments in the field,” “invites criticism of own ideas,” and “motivates me to do my best work.”
“It is more specific,” Wendy Koenig, assistant professor of art and task force co-chair, says. “It is unlikely you’re going to get perfect scores on every question.”
However, Koenig notes that the professors’ scores would be expressed as true percentiles to be compared only with other scores in their own department, college or university. The numbers also would be tracked longitudinally so that trends over time could be analyzed.
“We do not wish performance to be summarized as a single number,” Fleming says. “That’s not appropriate for any person, nor is it appropriate for any specific discipline or class or department or college.”
Koenig says Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, is supportive of the task force’s mission. The panel has presented its findings to the dean’s cabinet and plans to discuss its recommendations with the chairs’ council, the Faculty Senate, and representatives of individual colleges.
“I think that a good bit of discussion still needs to take place across campus in order for faculty to buy into the idea of this new instrument and the feedback it provides,” Montemayor says.
For complete information, including graphs and charts, go to http://physics.mtsu.edu/~vjm/task_force.html.
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235 UNIVERSITY WILL UNVEIL MIMIC RESEARCH FACILITY FEB. 2
Release date: Jan. 26, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
MIMIC contact: Dr. Andrienne Friedli, 615-898-2071
(MURFREESBORO) — The realization of biology professor emeritus Marion Wells’ dream and “determination” of chemistry professor and administrative director Andrienne Friedli has led to the newest technology to arrive at the MTSU campus.
The MTSU Interdisciplinary Microanalysis and Imaging Center grand opening will be held from 2 until 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, in the Forrest Hall Annex behind the Keathley University Center, Friedli said.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will preside at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the annex’s west wing.
Faculty, staff and students interested in the research center are welcomed to attend to learn more about the center and celebrate the completion of renovations. Refreshments will be served.
The center’s showpiece equipment includes a state-of-the-art Hitachi-made transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope with an X-ray analyzer, Friedli said, adding that both electron microscopes are all-digital and have remote access capability.
“Somebody from Tennessee State University (or another college or university) could study samples from their locations,” College of Basic and Applied Sciences Dean Tom Cheatham said of the remote access capability while giving a brief tour of the facility.
Other equipment includes a Perkin-Elmer Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer, an ultramicrotome, critical point dryer, knife maker, sputter coater, vacuum evaporator, rototorque rotator (microcentrifuge) and biosafety cabinet.
The nearly $1 million funding for equipment came from the MTSU Office of Research (with credit to former vice provost for research Abdul Rao and interim vice provost Robert Carlton) and National Science Foundation, Friedli said.
So what is MIMIC, the acronym for MTSU’s Interdisciplinary Microanalysis and Imaging Center?
MIMIC is the first university-supported core facility for state-of-the–art research instrumentation, Friedli said, adding that its origins build on Wells’ work “throughout his long and distinguished career as a microbiologist specializing in electron microscopy techniques.”
“Through his efforts in science and fund-raising, a microscopy lab was built and maintained in the biology department over the past 20-plus years,” Friedli added.
In addition to the remote access capability, MIMIC’s “unique features,” said Friedli, include a research and education and training missions (grants allowing Drs, Heather Brown in ETIS/concrete management and Warner Cribb in geosciences), technical staff (Wells, Friedli and technical manager Joyce Miller), internal and external fees for service and an advisory board.
The board includes Brown, Cribb, Wells, Friedli, Miller and Drs. George Benz and George Murphy (biology); and Drs. Ngee-Sing Chong (chemistry), Ron Henderson (physics and astronomy) and Tanya Peres (anthropology).
Eventually, MIMIC will move into MTSU’s new science building, which is in the planning stages now and hopefully will be built and ready by 2011 – MTSU’s 100th anniversary.
For more information, call Friedli at 615-898-2071 or Miller at 615-494-7976.
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
MIMIC contact: Dr. Andrienne Friedli, 615-898-2071
(MURFREESBORO) — The realization of biology professor emeritus Marion Wells’ dream and “determination” of chemistry professor and administrative director Andrienne Friedli has led to the newest technology to arrive at the MTSU campus.
The MTSU Interdisciplinary Microanalysis and Imaging Center grand opening will be held from 2 until 3:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, in the Forrest Hall Annex behind the Keathley University Center, Friedli said.
MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee will preside at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the annex’s west wing.
Faculty, staff and students interested in the research center are welcomed to attend to learn more about the center and celebrate the completion of renovations. Refreshments will be served.
The center’s showpiece equipment includes a state-of-the-art Hitachi-made transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscope with an X-ray analyzer, Friedli said, adding that both electron microscopes are all-digital and have remote access capability.
“Somebody from Tennessee State University (or another college or university) could study samples from their locations,” College of Basic and Applied Sciences Dean Tom Cheatham said of the remote access capability while giving a brief tour of the facility.
Other equipment includes a Perkin-Elmer Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometer, an ultramicrotome, critical point dryer, knife maker, sputter coater, vacuum evaporator, rototorque rotator (microcentrifuge) and biosafety cabinet.
The nearly $1 million funding for equipment came from the MTSU Office of Research (with credit to former vice provost for research Abdul Rao and interim vice provost Robert Carlton) and National Science Foundation, Friedli said.
So what is MIMIC, the acronym for MTSU’s Interdisciplinary Microanalysis and Imaging Center?
MIMIC is the first university-supported core facility for state-of-the–art research instrumentation, Friedli said, adding that its origins build on Wells’ work “throughout his long and distinguished career as a microbiologist specializing in electron microscopy techniques.”
“Through his efforts in science and fund-raising, a microscopy lab was built and maintained in the biology department over the past 20-plus years,” Friedli added.
In addition to the remote access capability, MIMIC’s “unique features,” said Friedli, include a research and education and training missions (grants allowing Drs, Heather Brown in ETIS/concrete management and Warner Cribb in geosciences), technical staff (Wells, Friedli and technical manager Joyce Miller), internal and external fees for service and an advisory board.
The board includes Brown, Cribb, Wells, Friedli, Miller and Drs. George Benz and George Murphy (biology); and Drs. Ngee-Sing Chong (chemistry), Ron Henderson (physics and astronomy) and Tanya Peres (anthropology).
Eventually, MIMIC will move into MTSU’s new science building, which is in the planning stages now and hopefully will be built and ready by 2011 – MTSU’s 100th anniversary.
For more information, call Friedli at 615-898-2071 or Miller at 615-494-7976.
###
234 CEDRIC DENT WILL PRESENT FREE BLACK GOSPEL HISTORY LECTURE AND PERFORMANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 25, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
TAKE 6 MEMBER & MTSU MUSIC FACULTY MEMBER CEDRIC DENT WILL PRESENT
CEDRIC DENT WILL PRESENT FREE BLACK GOSPEL HISTORY LECTURE AND PERFORMANCE ON FEB. 6
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU's Cedric Dent, music professor, will present black gospel history lecture as well as original piano performances in a free and open lecture/recital at 6 p.m. Feb. 6 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
“This presentation is quite unique in that I present the history of black gospel music in a relaxed setting, encouraging audience participation,” Dent said. “The idea is to create a call-and-response atmosphere that is common in the black church.”
Dent said the presentation will examine the development of black gospel music beginning with blacks’ manipulation of European-derived hymns while slaves in the United States. It will also show how the slaves’ creative use of African retentions in the 17th and 18th centuries not only influenced structural developments in the European-style hymn, but also led to the invention of the Negro spiritual.
"The lecture will trace the development of gospel music from the Negro spiritual through early gospel music to contemporary gospel music," Dent said.
Piano performances throughout the 60-minute lecture will support the discussion and address five centuries of cultural, religious and music history.
Dent, a native of Detroit, Mich., holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama and the University of Maryland. His research interests include the historic and harmonic development of black gospel music, and vocal jazz group arranging and performance. He has held lectures for several universities around the country.
Recognition for Dent’s creative endeavors includes two Grammy nominations, two Dove Award nominations and two Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) nominations.
As a baritone vocalist, arranger and producer, Dent is a member of Take 6, which has released 10 recordings for Warner Bros. Records. One Take 6 recording has reached platinum sales (1,000,000 units sold) and three others have garnered gold. With 10 Grammy honors to the group's credit, Take 6 also holds the distinct honor of being the most Grammy-nominated vocal group in history.
This lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
TAKE 6 MEMBER & MTSU MUSIC FACULTY MEMBER CEDRIC DENT WILL PRESENT
CEDRIC DENT WILL PRESENT FREE BLACK GOSPEL HISTORY LECTURE AND PERFORMANCE ON FEB. 6
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU's Cedric Dent, music professor, will present black gospel history lecture as well as original piano performances in a free and open lecture/recital at 6 p.m. Feb. 6 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
“This presentation is quite unique in that I present the history of black gospel music in a relaxed setting, encouraging audience participation,” Dent said. “The idea is to create a call-and-response atmosphere that is common in the black church.”
Dent said the presentation will examine the development of black gospel music beginning with blacks’ manipulation of European-derived hymns while slaves in the United States. It will also show how the slaves’ creative use of African retentions in the 17th and 18th centuries not only influenced structural developments in the European-style hymn, but also led to the invention of the Negro spiritual.
"The lecture will trace the development of gospel music from the Negro spiritual through early gospel music to contemporary gospel music," Dent said.
Piano performances throughout the 60-minute lecture will support the discussion and address five centuries of cultural, religious and music history.
Dent, a native of Detroit, Mich., holds degrees from the University of Michigan, the University of Alabama and the University of Maryland. His research interests include the historic and harmonic development of black gospel music, and vocal jazz group arranging and performance. He has held lectures for several universities around the country.
Recognition for Dent’s creative endeavors includes two Grammy nominations, two Dove Award nominations and two Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) nominations.
As a baritone vocalist, arranger and producer, Dent is a member of Take 6, which has released 10 recordings for Warner Bros. Records. One Take 6 recording has reached platinum sales (1,000,000 units sold) and three others have garnered gold. With 10 Grammy honors to the group's credit, Take 6 also holds the distinct honor of being the most Grammy-nominated vocal group in history.
This lecture is free and open to the public.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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233 MTSU GUEST CLARINETIST LAWSON PRESENTS FREE RECITAL ON FEB. 7
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 26, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU guest clarinetist Tonya Lawson will perform in a free and open concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
"It's exciting to have an MTSU alum performing again in Hinton Hall,” said Todd Waldecker, associate professor of clarinet at MTSU. “Her program represents a variety of styles and features a work written by Charles Camilleri, a composer who is unknown to most concert attendees."
Along with Charles Camilleri’s Three Visions for an Imaginary Dancer, Lawson will also perform Ernest Chausson’s Andante et Allegro, Louis Cahuzac’s Cantilene, and Joseph Horovitz’s Sonatina.
A graduate of MTSU and Texas Tech University, Lawson currently teaches in the middle Tennessee area and performs in several groups. She has conducted classes at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts as well as Murfreesboro City Schools.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—MTSU guest clarinetist Tonya Lawson will perform in a free and open concert at 8 p.m. Feb. 7 in the T. Earl Hinton Hall in the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
"It's exciting to have an MTSU alum performing again in Hinton Hall,” said Todd Waldecker, associate professor of clarinet at MTSU. “Her program represents a variety of styles and features a work written by Charles Camilleri, a composer who is unknown to most concert attendees."
Along with Charles Camilleri’s Three Visions for an Imaginary Dancer, Lawson will also perform Ernest Chausson’s Andante et Allegro, Louis Cahuzac’s Cantilene, and Joseph Horovitz’s Sonatina.
A graduate of MTSU and Texas Tech University, Lawson currently teaches in the middle Tennessee area and performs in several groups. She has conducted classes at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts as well as Murfreesboro City Schools.
For more information on this and other events in the McLean School of Music, please visit www.mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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232 STUDENT RECOGNITION AWARDS NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED
Release date: Jan. 24, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Office of Leadership Development contact: Dr. Deana Raffo, 615-898-5786
2007 STUDENT RECOGNITION AWARDS NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED THROUGH FEB. 20 BY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
(MURFREESBORO) — Nominations are being accepted for the 2007 Student Recognition Awards, Dr. Deana Raffo, director of Leadership Development, announced recently.
This university-wide awards program will pay tribute to four undergraduate
students honored for exemplary character and achievements in scholarship,
leadership and service, Raffo said.
All members of the MTSU community are encouraged to nominate students who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and meet the awards criteria, she said, adding that the four awards include the President’s Award, the Provost’s Award, the Robert C. LaLance Jr. Achievement Award and the Community Service Award.
Award descriptions, including applications and selection criteria, can be
found at mtsu.edu/~mtleader/scholar.htm. The nomination deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 20. The recipients will be honored at the President’s Celebration of Excellence in April.
“I encourage you to nominate a student who is deserving of one of these
prestigious awards,” Raffo said.
Raffo added that people can submit the nomination (students name and award)
to the Office of Leadership Development by e-mail or phone. She said she would follow up with each nominee regarding the application process.
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Office of Leadership Development contact: Dr. Deana Raffo, 615-898-5786
2007 STUDENT RECOGNITION AWARDS NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED THROUGH FEB. 20 BY LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
(MURFREESBORO) — Nominations are being accepted for the 2007 Student Recognition Awards, Dr. Deana Raffo, director of Leadership Development, announced recently.
This university-wide awards program will pay tribute to four undergraduate
students honored for exemplary character and achievements in scholarship,
leadership and service, Raffo said.
All members of the MTSU community are encouraged to nominate students who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence and meet the awards criteria, she said, adding that the four awards include the President’s Award, the Provost’s Award, the Robert C. LaLance Jr. Achievement Award and the Community Service Award.
Award descriptions, including applications and selection criteria, can be
found at mtsu.edu/~mtleader/scholar.htm. The nomination deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 20. The recipients will be honored at the President’s Celebration of Excellence in April.
“I encourage you to nominate a student who is deserving of one of these
prestigious awards,” Raffo said.
Raffo added that people can submit the nomination (students name and award)
to the Office of Leadership Development by e-mail or phone. She said she would follow up with each nominee regarding the application process.
###
231 STAY UP ’TIL DAWN JAN. 26-27; ORGANIZERS GOAL: $95,000
Release date: Jan. 23, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Up ’til Dawn contacts: Jeanne Jodoin or Meagan Flippin, 615-904-8270
(MURFREESBORO) — Since May 2006, a committee and what may be a record 71 teams have been working hard to reach a goal to raise $95,000 in MTSU’s Up ’til Dawn’s effort to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Everybody’s been very encouraging and very excited. We’re very proud of the enthusiasm of all the team in raising the money,” said senior Meagan Flippin, an associate director of the 2007 student-led Up ’til Dawn, which will be held from 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, until 7 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Campus Recreation Center.
Committee members attended a training session at St. Jude in Memphis, said Flippin, who added, “Since then, we’ve hit the ground running.”
The Great Lick-A-Thon last fall generated $22,000 as of Dec. 20, Flippin said.
“Every team’s responsible for raising $600 minimum,” she said, adding that through bake sales and other methods, teams will raise more money.
The finale will feature a beachy, “Lifesaver” theme that will include games, live entertainment and free food for the teams and participants, who have been raising funds through many activities and educating the community about St. Jude, organizers said.
“You can be a life saver for St. Jude,” Flippin said of the theme, then added that several groups — fraternities and sororities — will perform step shows and a band, Groove Addiction, will play.
During the finale, participants will have an opportunity to hear the stories of St. Jude and meet the children and families the teams and committee members have worked so hard to help, organizers said.
MTSU’s Up ’til Dawn organization is one of more than 135 college and university groups nationwide working to raise funds for St. Jude.
The student executive director is senior Jeanne Jodoin. Associate directors are Flippin and senior Sheila Umayam. Jackie Victory serves as adviser.
The public can attend from 7 p.m. until midnight for $5 per person, Flippin said.
For more information, call the Up ’til Dawn office at 615-904-8270.
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Up ’til Dawn contacts: Jeanne Jodoin or Meagan Flippin, 615-904-8270
(MURFREESBORO) — Since May 2006, a committee and what may be a record 71 teams have been working hard to reach a goal to raise $95,000 in MTSU’s Up ’til Dawn’s effort to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Everybody’s been very encouraging and very excited. We’re very proud of the enthusiasm of all the team in raising the money,” said senior Meagan Flippin, an associate director of the 2007 student-led Up ’til Dawn, which will be held from 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, until 7 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at the Campus Recreation Center.
Committee members attended a training session at St. Jude in Memphis, said Flippin, who added, “Since then, we’ve hit the ground running.”
The Great Lick-A-Thon last fall generated $22,000 as of Dec. 20, Flippin said.
“Every team’s responsible for raising $600 minimum,” she said, adding that through bake sales and other methods, teams will raise more money.
The finale will feature a beachy, “Lifesaver” theme that will include games, live entertainment and free food for the teams and participants, who have been raising funds through many activities and educating the community about St. Jude, organizers said.
“You can be a life saver for St. Jude,” Flippin said of the theme, then added that several groups — fraternities and sororities — will perform step shows and a band, Groove Addiction, will play.
During the finale, participants will have an opportunity to hear the stories of St. Jude and meet the children and families the teams and committee members have worked so hard to help, organizers said.
MTSU’s Up ’til Dawn organization is one of more than 135 college and university groups nationwide working to raise funds for St. Jude.
The student executive director is senior Jeanne Jodoin. Associate directors are Flippin and senior Sheila Umayam. Jackie Victory serves as adviser.
The public can attend from 7 p.m. until midnight for $5 per person, Flippin said.
For more information, call the Up ’til Dawn office at 615-904-8270.
###
230 WOMEN TAKE INITIATIVE IN RESOLVING ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CRISIS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 23, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Accomplished Documentarian to Show Film on Middle East at MTSU
(MURFREESBORO) – Internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lilly Rivlin will visit MTSU Wednesday, Jan. 31, to show her 2006 film “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace.”
The viewing, which is free and open to the public, will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building. Rivlin will present the film and will be available afterward to answer questions.
Directed, written and produced by Rivlin and narrated by actress Debra Winger, “Can You Hear Me?” focuses on how dialogue, even among those who have profound disagreements, can bring about positive and significant change
Rivlin’s Web site (http://www.lillyrivlin.com) states, “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace’ is the first documentary to explore in depth the role of Israeli and Palestinian women peace activists dealing with one of the world’s oldest conflicts. Though prospects for peace have ebbed and flowed between Israelis and Palestinians, women peace activists have worked consistently to bring an end to the bloodshed that has brought so much anguish to both sides.”
Lilly Rivlin, who can trace her heritage as a Jerusalemite back seven generations, has worked as a journalist, writer and filmmaker for the last 35 years internationally and in the U.S. She also works as a consultant to foundations on Middle East politics, Jewish affairs, gender issues and non-violent conflict resolution. In addition to “Can You Hear Me?,” her films include “Miriam’s Daughters Now,” “Gimme a Kiss,” and “The Tribe.” Rivlin’s writings have appeared in the Washington Post and Ms. magazine, among other publications.
This event is sponsored by MTSU’s Middle East Center. For more information, contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu, or Dr. Sonja Hedgepeth at 615-898-2280 or shedgepe@mtsu.edu.
--30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpegs of scenes from the film “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace” and/or a color jpeg of Lilly Rivlin, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Accomplished Documentarian to Show Film on Middle East at MTSU
(MURFREESBORO) – Internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker Lilly Rivlin will visit MTSU Wednesday, Jan. 31, to show her 2006 film “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace.”
The viewing, which is free and open to the public, will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the SunTrust Room of the Business Aerospace Building. Rivlin will present the film and will be available afterward to answer questions.
Directed, written and produced by Rivlin and narrated by actress Debra Winger, “Can You Hear Me?” focuses on how dialogue, even among those who have profound disagreements, can bring about positive and significant change
Rivlin’s Web site (http://www.lillyrivlin.com) states, “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace’ is the first documentary to explore in depth the role of Israeli and Palestinian women peace activists dealing with one of the world’s oldest conflicts. Though prospects for peace have ebbed and flowed between Israelis and Palestinians, women peace activists have worked consistently to bring an end to the bloodshed that has brought so much anguish to both sides.”
Lilly Rivlin, who can trace her heritage as a Jerusalemite back seven generations, has worked as a journalist, writer and filmmaker for the last 35 years internationally and in the U.S. She also works as a consultant to foundations on Middle East politics, Jewish affairs, gender issues and non-violent conflict resolution. In addition to “Can You Hear Me?,” her films include “Miriam’s Daughters Now,” “Gimme a Kiss,” and “The Tribe.” Rivlin’s writings have appeared in the Washington Post and Ms. magazine, among other publications.
This event is sponsored by MTSU’s Middle East Center. For more information, contact Dr. Allen Hibbard, director, at 615-494-8809 or ahibbard@mtsu.edu, or Dr. Sonja Hedgepeth at 615-898-2280 or shedgepe@mtsu.edu.
--30—
ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpegs of scenes from the film “Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace” and/or a color jpeg of Lilly Rivlin, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
229 THE “PAGES” OF HISTORY READ DIFFERENTLY THEN AND NOW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 23, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Congressional Page-Turned-Professor Reacts as Post-Foley Reforms are Passed
(MURFREESBORO) – Of all the issues tackled by the 110th Congress in its first “100 hours,” one measure received relatively scant media attention. On Jan. 19, the House voted 416-0 to overhaul the board that supervises the Congressional page program. A House Ethics Committee report issued in December acknowledged that the leaders of the 109th Congress were negligent in failing to protect pages from improper advances.
Once upon a time in America, things were very, very different.
Frank Essex began his work as a Congressional page to Rep. W.F. Norrell on Jan. 10, 1944. In a Jan. 20 letter to his mother in Stuttgart, Ark., young Frank wrote, “Mr. Norrell wasn’t there, but his secretary fixed me up and got me over to the Capitol. And then I made out with the assistance of the other pages.”
The expressions “fixed me up” and “made out” had much more innocuous meanings in 1944, especially in this context.
When Republican Mark Foley resigned his seat as the representative of Florida’s 16th District in September after it was revealed that Foley had sent suggestive messages to one or more male pages, Essex could only shake his head.
“Being negligent, as they had to have been to let that kind of thing unfold, is just unconscionable,” says the former MTSU political science professor.
By contrast, Essex has only golden memories of an era in which he walked among and served the giants of American politics and rambled freely on foot throughout the District of Columbia without fear of either mugging or molestation.
He earned $150 a month as a page, spending $40 a month for room and board, which included two meals a day except for Sunday. He managed to save $50 every month, a fortune to a poor country boy in a nation that was pouring all its resources into the war effort.
A day on the job could include taking old copies of the Congressional Record out of an enormous book to make room for the new ones, answering telephones in the cloakroom, and sending documents to constituents. Additional duties could include stuffing and addressing envelopes and stamping farm bulletins.
Rep. Norrell, as an example, had only two secretaries, and pages did much of the work done today by dozens of salaried staffers. Federal civil service merit tests were not implemented until the 1950s.
“Virtually every job that was not because of public election at the Capitol was a patronage job, and you got it through a Congressman or a Senator,” Essex says.
There was a box at the back of the House chamber with rows of buttons identified with seat numbers. Whenever a member wanted a page to run an errand, he pushed a button at his seat that would cause a corresponding button on the box to light up.
Lean and lanky John McCormack, described by Essex as a “cigar-chomping Irish Catholic from South Boston” with “a lot of gold teeth” was the House majority leader. The masterful Sam Rayburn from Texas wielded the speaker’s gavel. Essex remembers Rayburn’s expedient sense of hearing on voice votes, declaring the “ayes” or the “nays” victorious on the basis of what he wanted to happen and avoiding roll call tallies. Lyndon Johnson, a mere freshman, did “Mr. Sam’s” bidding and cagily observed the arm-twisting techniques he would hone to a fine art in the years to come.
“The South virtually controlled chairmanships of all committees because of the seniority,” Essex says. “Almost every seat in the South was a safe seat, and … some [chairmen] were really old.”
The elegant marble halls were supplied with cuspidors for the convenience of members who needed to spit without excusing themselves to the men’s room. Essex says the pages, fortunately, did not have to empty the expectorated tobacco juice.
When duty did not call, Essex spent some of his free time downtown in the ornate movie houses owned by Loew’s and RKO and decorated with humongous drapes which sometimes parted between films to reveal a live vaudeville act. At other times, Essex and his friends would jump, jive and wail to the tunes of all the hottest swing bands. For variety, the pages would go to the amusement park in Glen Echo, Md., riding a bumpy, speeding streetcar which felt like an amusement park ride all its own.
When he wasn’t performing the rudimentary tasks that kept the legislative branch functioning or enjoying his free time with a tourist’s wide-eyed wonder, young Essex was paying attention to the issues at stake with a maturity beyond his years. The legislation that was most important to him was the “Soldiers Vote” bill, a measure that would enable all military members to cast ballots in federal elections.
Essex fervently wanted the bill to pass because he believed that if soldiers were old enough to fight and die, they were old enough to exercise the franchise that they were fighting to preserve. After considerable opposition from those who considered young soldiers too immature for such important decisions and Southerners who feared how African American soldiers might vote, a compromise bill became law without President Roosevelt’s signature.
Frank Essex dutifully documented it all for his mother with his most prized possession, a classy Schaeffer pen with a bladder he filled from an inkwell. His collection of letters, a journal, a black-and-white picture book with numerous autographs, and a page school yearbook, complete with a group photo at the White House dinner Eleanor Roosevelt hosted for the pages, make up a fascinating collection of personal memories and American history through the eyes of an Arkansas youngster.
Yet, Essex can’t say that his experience as a page definitely led him to an academic career. After his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt, he pursued the family business by attending embalming school. After four years in the Air Force during the
Korean War, his interests changed. From 1967 to 1993, he taught at MTSU, serving as interim chair of the political science department for one semester and chairing the Faculty Senate in 1978.
Lest you think that Essex’s idyllic childhood experience on Capitol Hill blinded him to the rough-and-tumble of the political world, consider his assessment of the November 2006 midterm elections.
“It’s easy to … get a feeling that it’s more mudslinging than normal,” Essex admits. “But, then, when you reflect back, not only in one’s own observation over the years, but in what you read from historians and journalists and other long-time observers, it’s really not all that different.”
Even so, Essex expresses a certain wistfulness upon realizing that the America of his youth, an America in which a sense of community and shared sacrifice translated to a concern for doing the right thing, is more of a memory than a modern-day imperative.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: A color jpeg photo of Dr. Frank Essex perusing the memorabilia of his experience as a Congressional page is available by contacting Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081
Congressional Page-Turned-Professor Reacts as Post-Foley Reforms are Passed
(MURFREESBORO) – Of all the issues tackled by the 110th Congress in its first “100 hours,” one measure received relatively scant media attention. On Jan. 19, the House voted 416-0 to overhaul the board that supervises the Congressional page program. A House Ethics Committee report issued in December acknowledged that the leaders of the 109th Congress were negligent in failing to protect pages from improper advances.
Once upon a time in America, things were very, very different.
Frank Essex began his work as a Congressional page to Rep. W.F. Norrell on Jan. 10, 1944. In a Jan. 20 letter to his mother in Stuttgart, Ark., young Frank wrote, “Mr. Norrell wasn’t there, but his secretary fixed me up and got me over to the Capitol. And then I made out with the assistance of the other pages.”
The expressions “fixed me up” and “made out” had much more innocuous meanings in 1944, especially in this context.
When Republican Mark Foley resigned his seat as the representative of Florida’s 16th District in September after it was revealed that Foley had sent suggestive messages to one or more male pages, Essex could only shake his head.
“Being negligent, as they had to have been to let that kind of thing unfold, is just unconscionable,” says the former MTSU political science professor.
By contrast, Essex has only golden memories of an era in which he walked among and served the giants of American politics and rambled freely on foot throughout the District of Columbia without fear of either mugging or molestation.
He earned $150 a month as a page, spending $40 a month for room and board, which included two meals a day except for Sunday. He managed to save $50 every month, a fortune to a poor country boy in a nation that was pouring all its resources into the war effort.
A day on the job could include taking old copies of the Congressional Record out of an enormous book to make room for the new ones, answering telephones in the cloakroom, and sending documents to constituents. Additional duties could include stuffing and addressing envelopes and stamping farm bulletins.
Rep. Norrell, as an example, had only two secretaries, and pages did much of the work done today by dozens of salaried staffers. Federal civil service merit tests were not implemented until the 1950s.
“Virtually every job that was not because of public election at the Capitol was a patronage job, and you got it through a Congressman or a Senator,” Essex says.
There was a box at the back of the House chamber with rows of buttons identified with seat numbers. Whenever a member wanted a page to run an errand, he pushed a button at his seat that would cause a corresponding button on the box to light up.
Lean and lanky John McCormack, described by Essex as a “cigar-chomping Irish Catholic from South Boston” with “a lot of gold teeth” was the House majority leader. The masterful Sam Rayburn from Texas wielded the speaker’s gavel. Essex remembers Rayburn’s expedient sense of hearing on voice votes, declaring the “ayes” or the “nays” victorious on the basis of what he wanted to happen and avoiding roll call tallies. Lyndon Johnson, a mere freshman, did “Mr. Sam’s” bidding and cagily observed the arm-twisting techniques he would hone to a fine art in the years to come.
“The South virtually controlled chairmanships of all committees because of the seniority,” Essex says. “Almost every seat in the South was a safe seat, and … some [chairmen] were really old.”
The elegant marble halls were supplied with cuspidors for the convenience of members who needed to spit without excusing themselves to the men’s room. Essex says the pages, fortunately, did not have to empty the expectorated tobacco juice.
When duty did not call, Essex spent some of his free time downtown in the ornate movie houses owned by Loew’s and RKO and decorated with humongous drapes which sometimes parted between films to reveal a live vaudeville act. At other times, Essex and his friends would jump, jive and wail to the tunes of all the hottest swing bands. For variety, the pages would go to the amusement park in Glen Echo, Md., riding a bumpy, speeding streetcar which felt like an amusement park ride all its own.
When he wasn’t performing the rudimentary tasks that kept the legislative branch functioning or enjoying his free time with a tourist’s wide-eyed wonder, young Essex was paying attention to the issues at stake with a maturity beyond his years. The legislation that was most important to him was the “Soldiers Vote” bill, a measure that would enable all military members to cast ballots in federal elections.
Essex fervently wanted the bill to pass because he believed that if soldiers were old enough to fight and die, they were old enough to exercise the franchise that they were fighting to preserve. After considerable opposition from those who considered young soldiers too immature for such important decisions and Southerners who feared how African American soldiers might vote, a compromise bill became law without President Roosevelt’s signature.
Frank Essex dutifully documented it all for his mother with his most prized possession, a classy Schaeffer pen with a bladder he filled from an inkwell. His collection of letters, a journal, a black-and-white picture book with numerous autographs, and a page school yearbook, complete with a group photo at the White House dinner Eleanor Roosevelt hosted for the pages, make up a fascinating collection of personal memories and American history through the eyes of an Arkansas youngster.
Yet, Essex can’t say that his experience as a page definitely led him to an academic career. After his undergraduate work at Vanderbilt, he pursued the family business by attending embalming school. After four years in the Air Force during the
Korean War, his interests changed. From 1967 to 1993, he taught at MTSU, serving as interim chair of the political science department for one semester and chairing the Faculty Senate in 1978.
Lest you think that Essex’s idyllic childhood experience on Capitol Hill blinded him to the rough-and-tumble of the political world, consider his assessment of the November 2006 midterm elections.
“It’s easy to … get a feeling that it’s more mudslinging than normal,” Essex admits. “But, then, when you reflect back, not only in one’s own observation over the years, but in what you read from historians and journalists and other long-time observers, it’s really not all that different.”
Even so, Essex expresses a certain wistfulness upon realizing that the America of his youth, an America in which a sense of community and shared sacrifice translated to a concern for doing the right thing, is more of a memory than a modern-day imperative.
--30--
ATTENTION, MEDIA: A color jpeg photo of Dr. Frank Essex perusing the memorabilia of his experience as a Congressional page is available by contacting Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.
228 MCNAIR, HONORS COLLEGE PLAN JAN. 31 RECRUITING RECEPTION
Date: Jan. 23, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Honors College contacts: Coordinator/adviser Michelle Arnold, 615-898-2152
Dean Phil Mathis, 615-898-2152
Associate Dean Scott Carnicom, 615-898-2152
McNair Scholars Program contacts: Director Diane Miller, 615-904-8462
Coordinator Steve Saunders, 615-904-8462
(MURFREESBORO) — The McNair Scholars Program and University Honors College will hold a joint recruiting reception for current MTSU students from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, in honors room 106 (amphitheater), representatives from both organizations said recently.
“(Current McNair and Honors College) students will talk about their experiences and the deans or directors of the programs will offer a welcome and talk about general information about their programs,” Michelle Arnold, Honors College program coordinator and adviser, said. “It’s very informal. People in the audience will ask questions. It was a great success last year.”
Arnold said either McNair Director Diane Miller or Coordinator Steve Saunders and Honor College Dean Phil Mathis or Associate Dean Scott Carnicom would discuss their respective programs.
Saunders said food will be provided, and the event is open to students with a 3.0 grade point average or higher and who meet respective McNair and Honors College qualifications.
###
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Honors College contacts: Coordinator/adviser Michelle Arnold, 615-898-2152
Dean Phil Mathis, 615-898-2152
Associate Dean Scott Carnicom, 615-898-2152
McNair Scholars Program contacts: Director Diane Miller, 615-904-8462
Coordinator Steve Saunders, 615-904-8462
(MURFREESBORO) — The McNair Scholars Program and University Honors College will hold a joint recruiting reception for current MTSU students from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, in honors room 106 (amphitheater), representatives from both organizations said recently.
“(Current McNair and Honors College) students will talk about their experiences and the deans or directors of the programs will offer a welcome and talk about general information about their programs,” Michelle Arnold, Honors College program coordinator and adviser, said. “It’s very informal. People in the audience will ask questions. It was a great success last year.”
Arnold said either McNair Director Diane Miller or Coordinator Steve Saunders and Honor College Dean Phil Mathis or Associate Dean Scott Carnicom would discuss their respective programs.
Saunders said food will be provided, and the event is open to students with a 3.0 grade point average or higher and who meet respective McNair and Honors College qualifications.
###
Monday, January 22, 2007
227 SPRING HONORS LECTURE SERIES INVESTIGATES ‘CRIME’
Date: Jan. 22, 2007
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Honors College contacts: Dean Phil Mathis, 615-898-2152
and Associate Dean Scott Carnicom
615-898-2152
(MURFREESBORO) — “Crime – Causes, Detection, Punishment, Fact and Fiction” will be the theme for the Spring 2007 Honors Lecture Series.
After honors students’ study abroad presentations Jan. 22, the lecture series will begin Monday, Jan. 29, in the amphitheater (Room 106) of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. All lectures are free and open to the public.
“The spring lecture series represents a smorgasbord of topics with something for everyone,” Dr. Phil Mathis, dean of the University Honors College, said. “Those who attend all scheduled lectures are likely to come away with a more complete understanding of the complex nature of crime as a subject, including many little known costs to society.
“By beginning to understand the crime problem and by gaining some understanding of its causes, students and members of the Murfreesboro community will be better positioned to develop solutions to tomorrow’s problems. More importantly, they will be more capable of formulating policies that will prevent many of today’s problems altogether.”
Dr. Jill Hague, professor in English and former interim associate dean for the honors college, and Mathis “selected the top after vetting it through the Honors Council in the early part of 2006,” he said.
“We chose the topic because of perceived student interest in ‘Cold Case,’ ‘CSI’ and other TV programming that deals with crime seems to be high,” Mathis said, adding, “the fact that the topic is one with broad impact on society, and we felt that the topic would have the potential to elicit vigorous debate, something that we always strive for in the Honors Lecture Series.
“Today, crime is an unwelcome growth industry: correction facilities, law enforcement officers, lawyers, detectives and crime laboratories continue to grow in number. Less obvious cost of crime includes the emotional impact on victims and families of victims.”
— MORE —
Spring 2007 Honors Lecture Series/Page 2
The lecture series schedule includes:
Jan. 29 — “The Sociology of Crime and Punishment,” presented by Dr. Andrew Austin, associate professor of social change and development chair of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay;
Feb. 5 — “Sherlock Holmes: The First CSI,” presented by Dr. Bob Glenn, vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services;
Feb. 12 — “DNA and Crime Scene Evidence,” presented by Dr. Tammy Melton, professor, chemistry;
Feb. 19 — “The Death Penalty: If At First We Don’t Succeed …,” presented by Dr. Bill Shulman, associate professor, criminal justice administration;
Feb. 26 — “Crime in Film,” presented by Dr. Mark Byrnes, associate dean, College of Liberal Arts;
March 12 — “Detective Fiction,” presented by Dr. Pete McCluskey, associate professor, English;
March 19 — “Talking to the Dead: A Forensic Anthropologist’s Persepective,” presented by Dr. Hugh Berryman, professor, sociology and anthropology;
March 26 — “Causes of Crime,” presented by Dr. James Tate, associate professor, psychology;
April 2 — “Crime: Intervention and Prevention — What Works?” presented by Dr. Gloria Hamilton, professor, psychology;
April 9 — “Crime and Punishment in 1940s Murfreesboro,” presented by Josh Alexander, Honors College alumnus.
###
Media welcomed.
Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Honors College contacts: Dean Phil Mathis, 615-898-2152
and Associate Dean Scott Carnicom
615-898-2152
(MURFREESBORO) — “Crime – Causes, Detection, Punishment, Fact and Fiction” will be the theme for the Spring 2007 Honors Lecture Series.
After honors students’ study abroad presentations Jan. 22, the lecture series will begin Monday, Jan. 29, in the amphitheater (Room 106) of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. All lectures are free and open to the public.
“The spring lecture series represents a smorgasbord of topics with something for everyone,” Dr. Phil Mathis, dean of the University Honors College, said. “Those who attend all scheduled lectures are likely to come away with a more complete understanding of the complex nature of crime as a subject, including many little known costs to society.
“By beginning to understand the crime problem and by gaining some understanding of its causes, students and members of the Murfreesboro community will be better positioned to develop solutions to tomorrow’s problems. More importantly, they will be more capable of formulating policies that will prevent many of today’s problems altogether.”
Dr. Jill Hague, professor in English and former interim associate dean for the honors college, and Mathis “selected the top after vetting it through the Honors Council in the early part of 2006,” he said.
“We chose the topic because of perceived student interest in ‘Cold Case,’ ‘CSI’ and other TV programming that deals with crime seems to be high,” Mathis said, adding, “the fact that the topic is one with broad impact on society, and we felt that the topic would have the potential to elicit vigorous debate, something that we always strive for in the Honors Lecture Series.
“Today, crime is an unwelcome growth industry: correction facilities, law enforcement officers, lawyers, detectives and crime laboratories continue to grow in number. Less obvious cost of crime includes the emotional impact on victims and families of victims.”
— MORE —
Spring 2007 Honors Lecture Series/Page 2
The lecture series schedule includes:
Jan. 29 — “The Sociology of Crime and Punishment,” presented by Dr. Andrew Austin, associate professor of social change and development chair of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay;
Feb. 5 — “Sherlock Holmes: The First CSI,” presented by Dr. Bob Glenn, vice president for student affairs and vice provost for enrollment and academic services;
Feb. 12 — “DNA and Crime Scene Evidence,” presented by Dr. Tammy Melton, professor, chemistry;
Feb. 19 — “The Death Penalty: If At First We Don’t Succeed …,” presented by Dr. Bill Shulman, associate professor, criminal justice administration;
Feb. 26 — “Crime in Film,” presented by Dr. Mark Byrnes, associate dean, College of Liberal Arts;
March 12 — “Detective Fiction,” presented by Dr. Pete McCluskey, associate professor, English;
March 19 — “Talking to the Dead: A Forensic Anthropologist’s Persepective,” presented by Dr. Hugh Berryman, professor, sociology and anthropology;
March 26 — “Causes of Crime,” presented by Dr. James Tate, associate professor, psychology;
April 2 — “Crime: Intervention and Prevention — What Works?” presented by Dr. Gloria Hamilton, professor, psychology;
April 9 — “Crime and Punishment in 1940s Murfreesboro,” presented by Josh Alexander, Honors College alumnus.
###
Media welcomed.
226 MTSU SPONORS SEVENTH ANNUAL FLUTE FESTIVAL ON CAMPUS ON JAN. 27
(MURFREESBORO)—The seventh annual MTSU Flute Festival will be held Jan. 27, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. in the Wright Music Building lobby on the MTSU campus and concluding with a 4 p.m. concert in the Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building.
This yearly event, coordinated by MTSU’s Deanna Little, assistant professor of flute, will feature guest flutists Erik Gratton, Ann Richards and Norma Rogers, all from the Nashville Symphony.
“I am very excited to have the Nashville Symphony flutists here,” Little said. “They will each bring a different element of flute pedagogy to the participants at the festival.”
Each guest artist will teach a master class. These will include piccolo, solo flute repertoire and orchestral excerpts.
“The program they will be performing will offer a wonderful variety from piccolo all the way down to bass flute,” Little commented.
The festival will also feature a session on spontaneous expression, competitions for high school and junior-level performers, as well as a few exhibits.
The final rounds of the high school and junior-level competitions, which are open to the public, will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Winners will be presented at the evening concert with other student flutists and area professionals.
Admission for the flute festival is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as a guest for one or all of the public concerts and public competitions for a one-time charge of $5.
For more information, please call Little at 615-898-2473 or go online to access http://www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn and click on the Flute Festival link.
—30—
This yearly event, coordinated by MTSU’s Deanna Little, assistant professor of flute, will feature guest flutists Erik Gratton, Ann Richards and Norma Rogers, all from the Nashville Symphony.
“I am very excited to have the Nashville Symphony flutists here,” Little said. “They will each bring a different element of flute pedagogy to the participants at the festival.”
Each guest artist will teach a master class. These will include piccolo, solo flute repertoire and orchestral excerpts.
“The program they will be performing will offer a wonderful variety from piccolo all the way down to bass flute,” Little commented.
The festival will also feature a session on spontaneous expression, competitions for high school and junior-level performers, as well as a few exhibits.
The final rounds of the high school and junior-level competitions, which are open to the public, will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Winners will be presented at the evening concert with other student flutists and area professionals.
Admission for the flute festival is $15 to register for the day as a participating flutist. The general public may register as a guest for one or all of the public concerts and public competitions for a one-time charge of $5.
For more information, please call Little at 615-898-2473 or go online to access http://www.mtsu.edu/~drhahn and click on the Flute Festival link.
—30—
225 MTSU CELEBRATES OPENING OF $5.5 MILLION NURSING BUILDING
Date: Jan. 19, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
School of Nursing contact: Dr. Lynn Parsons, 615-898-2437
(MURFREESBORO) — A standing-room-only crowd attended today’s grand opening of the $5.5 million, 23,717-square foot addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.
“This building will allow us to accomplish many things for people who are ill and need a nurse,” MTSU School of Nursing Director Lynn Parsons said to the audience that included state legislators, community leaders, alumni and MTSU students, faculty, staff and administrators. “On behalf of our entire faculty, staff and student nurses, our future RNs (registered nurses) wish to convey a heartfelt thanks for the new addition and our entire building. Words can never adequately express our gratitude.”
“We are excited about the expansion of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building and the opportunities we now have to educate even more students in the nursing profession,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said.
“Over three years ago, we developed a strategic plan that called for elevating the status of our nursing program to one of the premier programs in the country,” McPhee added. “Our plan included expanding our facilities to accommodate more students, strengthening the curriculum, recruiting the best faculty and students for the program and providing increased scholarship support for our students.
“We have made great progress toward elevating the academic status of the nursing school: The curriculum has been enhanced, we have raised thousands of dollars for new scholarships, our applicant pool continues to grow both in numbers and in overall quality and today’s event reflects our commitment to improving the facilities and providing our students with a world-class teaching and learning environment.”
David Gregory, an MTSU student in the 1970s who now is vice chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents, represented Chancellor David Manning, who was unable to attend because of another commitment.
“When you have a school that pays particular attention to state needs, that’s growth for meaningful purposes,” Gregory said. “And look across the state right now. There’s no greater need than what is happing in the health care arena, and nursing is probably leading that way.
“Just like you have seen Middle Tennessee step up in the role of teacher education in the past, you are seeing Middle Tennessee step up in the area of nursing and allied health professions to meet a particular state need.”
Parsons said up to 66 students in the general program and an additional 150 annually in an accelerated LPN to B.S.N. program can benefit from five clinical laboratories (health assessment, two large medical/surgical labs with critical care and triage beds, an obstetrics lab and a computer simulation lab). All of the classrooms and the clinical labs have multimedia capability, she added.
McPhee and Parsons acknowledged community partner Christy-Houston Foundation and Director Bob Mifflin. The president also acknowledged federal support shown by senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Bart Gordon.
Thomas, Miller & Partners LLC of Nashville was the building designer
###
School of Nursing contact: Dr. Lynn Parsons, 615-898-2437
(MURFREESBORO) — A standing-room-only crowd attended today’s grand opening of the $5.5 million, 23,717-square foot addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.
“This building will allow us to accomplish many things for people who are ill and need a nurse,” MTSU School of Nursing Director Lynn Parsons said to the audience that included state legislators, community leaders, alumni and MTSU students, faculty, staff and administrators. “On behalf of our entire faculty, staff and student nurses, our future RNs (registered nurses) wish to convey a heartfelt thanks for the new addition and our entire building. Words can never adequately express our gratitude.”
“We are excited about the expansion of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building and the opportunities we now have to educate even more students in the nursing profession,” MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said.
“Over three years ago, we developed a strategic plan that called for elevating the status of our nursing program to one of the premier programs in the country,” McPhee added. “Our plan included expanding our facilities to accommodate more students, strengthening the curriculum, recruiting the best faculty and students for the program and providing increased scholarship support for our students.
“We have made great progress toward elevating the academic status of the nursing school: The curriculum has been enhanced, we have raised thousands of dollars for new scholarships, our applicant pool continues to grow both in numbers and in overall quality and today’s event reflects our commitment to improving the facilities and providing our students with a world-class teaching and learning environment.”
David Gregory, an MTSU student in the 1970s who now is vice chancellor for the Tennessee Board of Regents, represented Chancellor David Manning, who was unable to attend because of another commitment.
“When you have a school that pays particular attention to state needs, that’s growth for meaningful purposes,” Gregory said. “And look across the state right now. There’s no greater need than what is happing in the health care arena, and nursing is probably leading that way.
“Just like you have seen Middle Tennessee step up in the role of teacher education in the past, you are seeing Middle Tennessee step up in the area of nursing and allied health professions to meet a particular state need.”
Parsons said up to 66 students in the general program and an additional 150 annually in an accelerated LPN to B.S.N. program can benefit from five clinical laboratories (health assessment, two large medical/surgical labs with critical care and triage beds, an obstetrics lab and a computer simulation lab). All of the classrooms and the clinical labs have multimedia capability, she added.
McPhee and Parsons acknowledged community partner Christy-Houston Foundation and Director Bob Mifflin. The president also acknowledged federal support shown by senators Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander, and Rep. Bart Gordon.
Thomas, Miller & Partners LLC of Nashville was the building designer
###
224 ANNUAL WIND BAND CONFERENCE CONCERT FEATURES PREMIERE COMPOSITION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 19, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its spring semester concert series with the annual Wind Band Conference Concert, which will feature the Tennessee premiere of a composition by David Dillingham, at 8 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Gillingham’s Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble is a three-movement work that explores the entire five-octave range of the Grand Concert Marimba, and will feature guest soloist and world-class marimba artist She-e Wu.
“We are extremely lucky to be able to have a marimba soloist of Ms. Wu's caliber,” said Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands.
Additionally, Dillingham, who will be present for the concert, will guest conduct another new piece he penned titled Aerodynamics, a composition that was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight.
Award-winning composer John Mackey’s first wind ensemble piece, Redline Tango will, also be performed in the concert.
“The piece is in three sections; the first is a skillful ‘redline’ section, followed by a slightly sleazy tango, and ending with an even ‘redder’ redline section,” explained Thomas. “It is a very exciting piece.”
The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass and percussion students at the university. This group comprises some of the best musicians at MTSU and is dedicated to performing outstanding and challenging works of diverse musical styles while furthering wind music of artistic and historical significance.
The Feb. 2 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its spring semester concert series with the annual Wind Band Conference Concert, which will feature the Tennessee premiere of a composition by David Dillingham, at 8 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Gillingham’s Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble is a three-movement work that explores the entire five-octave range of the Grand Concert Marimba, and will feature guest soloist and world-class marimba artist She-e Wu.
“We are extremely lucky to be able to have a marimba soloist of Ms. Wu's caliber,” said Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands.
Additionally, Dillingham, who will be present for the concert, will guest conduct another new piece he penned titled Aerodynamics, a composition that was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight.
Award-winning composer John Mackey’s first wind ensemble piece, Redline Tango will, also be performed in the concert.
“The piece is in three sections; the first is a skillful ‘redline’ section, followed by a slightly sleazy tango, and ending with an even ‘redder’ redline section,” explained Thomas. “It is a very exciting piece.”
The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass and percussion students at the university. This group comprises some of the best musicians at MTSU and is dedicated to performing outstanding and challenging works of diverse musical styles while furthering wind music of artistic and historical significance.
The Feb. 2 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
224 ANNUAL WIND BAND CONFERENCE CONCERT FEATURES PREMIERE COMPOSITION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 19, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its spring semester concert series with the annual Wind Band Conference Concert, which will feature the Tennessee premiere of a composition by David Dillingham, at 8 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Gillingham’s Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble is a three-movement work that explores the entire five-octave range of the Grand Concert Marimba, and will feature guest soloist and world-class marimba artist She-e Wu.
“We are extremely lucky to be able to have a marimba soloist of Ms. Wu's caliber,” said Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands.
Additionally, Dillingham, who will be present for the concert, will guest conduct another new piece he penned titled Aerodynamics, a composition that was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight.
Award-winning composer John Mackey’s first wind ensemble piece, Redline Tango will, also be performed in the concert.
“The piece is in three sections; the first is a skillful ‘redline’ section, followed by a slightly sleazy tango, and ending with an even ‘redder’ redline section,” explained Thomas. “It is a very exciting piece.”
The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass and percussion students at the university. This group comprises some of the best musicians at MTSU and is dedicated to performing outstanding and challenging works of diverse musical styles while furthering wind music of artistic and historical significance.
The Feb. 2 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Wind Ensemble will open its spring semester concert series with the annual Wind Band Conference Concert, which will feature the Tennessee premiere of a composition by David Dillingham, at 8 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
Gillingham’s Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble is a three-movement work that explores the entire five-octave range of the Grand Concert Marimba, and will feature guest soloist and world-class marimba artist She-e Wu.
“We are extremely lucky to be able to have a marimba soloist of Ms. Wu's caliber,” said Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands.
Additionally, Dillingham, who will be present for the concert, will guest conduct another new piece he penned titled Aerodynamics, a composition that was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the Wright brother’s first flight.
Award-winning composer John Mackey’s first wind ensemble piece, Redline Tango will, also be performed in the concert.
“The piece is in three sections; the first is a skillful ‘redline’ section, followed by a slightly sleazy tango, and ending with an even ‘redder’ redline section,” explained Thomas. “It is a very exciting piece.”
The MTSU Wind Ensemble is the premier performing ensemble for wind, brass and percussion students at the university. This group comprises some of the best musicians at MTSU and is dedicated to performing outstanding and challenging works of diverse musical styles while furthering wind music of artistic and historical significance.
The Feb. 2 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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222 MTSU UNITY LUNCHEON TO HONOR FIVE 'UNSUNG HEROES'
Jan. 19, 2007
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
MURFREESBORO—A traditional kickoff event for Middle Tennessee State University's African American History Month celebration every winter is the Unity Luncheon, which recognizes and honors select "unsung heroes" in the community who have spent a large part of their lives serving others through their time and energy.
This year’s event will be held at 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room on the MTSU campus. Tickets are $18 per person. Admission for students with a valid MTSU ID is $8.00.
The luncheon speaker will be Dr. Gilman W. Whiting, director, Undergraduate Studies and senior lecturer in the African American and Diaspora Studies Program at Vanderbilt University.
This year’s honorees are Mrs. Barbara Murray Alexander, Mrs. Marilyn Massengale, Mrs. Lillie W. McCrary, Mrs. Kathryn McCroskey, and Mrs. Susie Mae Simmons.
This year's MTSU AAHM theme is “From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas.” There will be a variety of events—music, lectures and social gatherings—throughout the months of February and March. For a list of those activities, please visit www.mtsu.edu/aahm.
To register or for more information about the Unity Luncheon, call Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718. Organizers would prefer registration payment by no later than Jan. 31. You may mail your check, payable to MTSU, to MTSU Multicultural Affairs, Box 88, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Please include the names and phone numbers of all registrants represented in your payment.
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MEDIA: The honorees will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 in Room 100 of the James Union Building for a group photo. Media are invited to come to the early photo session and/or to the banquet. If you would like to receive headshots of the honorees, please contact Tom Tozer or Gina Fann in the MTSU News and Public Affairs Office at 615-898-2919. If you plan to attend the banquet, please contact Tom Tozer in advance at 615-898-5131. Media members will be admitted free of charge. Thank you.
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919
MURFREESBORO—A traditional kickoff event for Middle Tennessee State University's African American History Month celebration every winter is the Unity Luncheon, which recognizes and honors select "unsung heroes" in the community who have spent a large part of their lives serving others through their time and energy.
This year’s event will be held at 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room on the MTSU campus. Tickets are $18 per person. Admission for students with a valid MTSU ID is $8.00.
The luncheon speaker will be Dr. Gilman W. Whiting, director, Undergraduate Studies and senior lecturer in the African American and Diaspora Studies Program at Vanderbilt University.
This year’s honorees are Mrs. Barbara Murray Alexander, Mrs. Marilyn Massengale, Mrs. Lillie W. McCrary, Mrs. Kathryn McCroskey, and Mrs. Susie Mae Simmons.
This year's MTSU AAHM theme is “From Slavery to Freedom: Africans in the Americas.” There will be a variety of events—music, lectures and social gatherings—throughout the months of February and March. For a list of those activities, please visit www.mtsu.edu/aahm.
To register or for more information about the Unity Luncheon, call Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718. Organizers would prefer registration payment by no later than Jan. 31. You may mail your check, payable to MTSU, to MTSU Multicultural Affairs, Box 88, Murfreesboro, TN 37132. Please include the names and phone numbers of all registrants represented in your payment.
####
MEDIA: The honorees will meet at 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 in Room 100 of the James Union Building for a group photo. Media are invited to come to the early photo session and/or to the banquet. If you would like to receive headshots of the honorees, please contact Tom Tozer or Gina Fann in the MTSU News and Public Affairs Office at 615-898-2919. If you plan to attend the banquet, please contact Tom Tozer in advance at 615-898-5131. Media members will be admitted free of charge. Thank you.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
220 SIGMA NU FRATERNITY REVOKES CHARTER OF MTSU CHAPTER
Jan. 17, 2007
CONTACT: Dr. Bob Glenn, 615-898-2440
Tom Tozer, 615-898-291
MURFREESBORO—The High Council of Sigma Nu Fraternity has voted to revoke the charter of Theta Iota Chapter at Middle Tennessee State University following an investigation in December of alleged violations of the organization’s laws and policies. The infractions are related to allegations of hazing that Sigma Nu’s High Council claim occurred and remained undetected for the past three years.
Dr. Bob Glenn, MTSU vice president for Student Affairs and vice provost for Enrollment Management, stated that while the university in no way condones hazing activities of any kind in its Greek organizations, the university believes that revoking the chapter’s charter is too severe a step in this case. Part of this stance by the university, Glenn says, is due to the fact that he has received no details of the charges prior to the action of the High Council, only a notice that a complaint has been lodged against the chapter.
“We received a complaint but our internal investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence to support the allegation,” Glenn noted. “This typically is a chapter near the top in grades, student leadership, and it has been the recipient of the Rock Award, which is the organization’s top chapter award,” he emphasized. “Nothing was ever reported to us—nothing was there to give us a clue.”
Regarding the hazing charges, Glenn said he’s been led to believe that there was a small core of members involved in the hazing but that the chapter covered up the behavior of those few.
“We agree that hazing should be punished. However, it’s hard for us to determine at what level punishment should be when we haven’t been given anything from the national office. There is nothing in writing.”
Glenn added, “We’re disappointed with the decision, especially because we thought we were in partnership with the local alumni, the membership and the national office. We don’t think the national office is acting in a way that is consistent with a true partnership.”
In addition to the charter revocation itself, there is the matter of a Greek house carrying a mortgage. Glenn said the chapter has been easy to work with in regards to payment responsibilities. Members typically have been strong campus leaders as well. Glenn said the university will work hard to try to keep the house open and occupied.
“The chapter is fighting the decision, and we support the chapter,” the vice president said. “They’re [the national office] going from not doing anything to revoking their charter in one step. We think it’s a bad idea. But we’re going into uncharted waters here,” he added.
Glenn said once the hazers are identified, they could face expulsion from the fraternity, university discipline, and perhaps even legal action since hazing is against the law.
####
CONTACT: Dr. Bob Glenn, 615-898-2440
Tom Tozer, 615-898-291
MURFREESBORO—The High Council of Sigma Nu Fraternity has voted to revoke the charter of Theta Iota Chapter at Middle Tennessee State University following an investigation in December of alleged violations of the organization’s laws and policies. The infractions are related to allegations of hazing that Sigma Nu’s High Council claim occurred and remained undetected for the past three years.
Dr. Bob Glenn, MTSU vice president for Student Affairs and vice provost for Enrollment Management, stated that while the university in no way condones hazing activities of any kind in its Greek organizations, the university believes that revoking the chapter’s charter is too severe a step in this case. Part of this stance by the university, Glenn says, is due to the fact that he has received no details of the charges prior to the action of the High Council, only a notice that a complaint has been lodged against the chapter.
“We received a complaint but our internal investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence to support the allegation,” Glenn noted. “This typically is a chapter near the top in grades, student leadership, and it has been the recipient of the Rock Award, which is the organization’s top chapter award,” he emphasized. “Nothing was ever reported to us—nothing was there to give us a clue.”
Regarding the hazing charges, Glenn said he’s been led to believe that there was a small core of members involved in the hazing but that the chapter covered up the behavior of those few.
“We agree that hazing should be punished. However, it’s hard for us to determine at what level punishment should be when we haven’t been given anything from the national office. There is nothing in writing.”
Glenn added, “We’re disappointed with the decision, especially because we thought we were in partnership with the local alumni, the membership and the national office. We don’t think the national office is acting in a way that is consistent with a true partnership.”
In addition to the charter revocation itself, there is the matter of a Greek house carrying a mortgage. Glenn said the chapter has been easy to work with in regards to payment responsibilities. Members typically have been strong campus leaders as well. Glenn said the university will work hard to try to keep the house open and occupied.
“The chapter is fighting the decision, and we support the chapter,” the vice president said. “They’re [the national office] going from not doing anything to revoking their charter in one step. We think it’s a bad idea. But we’re going into uncharted waters here,” he added.
Glenn said once the hazers are identified, they could face expulsion from the fraternity, university discipline, and perhaps even legal action since hazing is against the law.
####
219 OVERTON COUNTY FARM JOINS STATE’S CENTURY FARMS PROGRAM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 17, 2007
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
Dodson Farm Recognized for Long History of Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)—The Dodson Farm in Overton County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Tennessee Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
In 1856, the Rev. Thomas R. Dodson moved from upper east Tennessee to Overton County. Two years later he purchased a little more than 203 acres and began a career as a farmer and merchant. Dotson raised corn, hay, cattle, sheep, horses and mules and also operated a general store on the property. Thomas was also an active volunteer for the American Bible Society and traveled many miles on horseback each month to distribute Bibles to families and individuals who did not have one of their own.
In 1873, Dodson deeded some of his land for Dodson’s Chapel Church and cemetery. Eventually, he helped build the church and served as its first pastor. In 1884 the Miranda Tennessee Post Office was established and housed in Dodson’s general store. The post office was named Miranda after one of his and Martha Johnson Dodson’s daughters. The couple raised eleven children on the farm.
The next generation to own the land was their son, John Larkin Dodson. Married twice, he fathered eight children. During his ownership, the farm produced a variety of livestock and crops. According to the family, a weekly “trade day,” where local farmers gathered to buy and sell livestock was held on the farm.
Tommie C. Dodson, a son of John Larkin Dodson, owned the land until he died in 1962. At that time, the property was divided into interests of one-third and distributed to different heirs. In 1991-92, the current owner, Ken E. Dodson II, whose father Kenneth Edward Dodson was a son of Tommie Dodson, purchased 40.8 acres of the farm from two of the three heirs.
Today, Ken, his wife, Gretchen and their daughters, Sydney and Harley, live on the farm, which currently produces hay and cattle. Dodson’s Chapel still stands as a reminder of the family’s ties and contributions to the community.
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, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947
Dodson Farm Recognized for Long History of Agricultural Contributions
(MURFREESBORO)—The Dodson Farm in Overton County has been designated as a Tennessee Century Farm, reports Caneta S. Hankins, director of the Tennessee Century Farms program at the Center for Historic Preservation (CHP), which is located on the MTSU campus.
In 1856, the Rev. Thomas R. Dodson moved from upper east Tennessee to Overton County. Two years later he purchased a little more than 203 acres and began a career as a farmer and merchant. Dotson raised corn, hay, cattle, sheep, horses and mules and also operated a general store on the property. Thomas was also an active volunteer for the American Bible Society and traveled many miles on horseback each month to distribute Bibles to families and individuals who did not have one of their own.
In 1873, Dodson deeded some of his land for Dodson’s Chapel Church and cemetery. Eventually, he helped build the church and served as its first pastor. In 1884 the Miranda Tennessee Post Office was established and housed in Dodson’s general store. The post office was named Miranda after one of his and Martha Johnson Dodson’s daughters. The couple raised eleven children on the farm.
The next generation to own the land was their son, John Larkin Dodson. Married twice, he fathered eight children. During his ownership, the farm produced a variety of livestock and crops. According to the family, a weekly “trade day,” where local farmers gathered to buy and sell livestock was held on the farm.
Tommie C. Dodson, a son of John Larkin Dodson, owned the land until he died in 1962. At that time, the property was divided into interests of one-third and distributed to different heirs. In 1991-92, the current owner, Ken E. Dodson II, whose father Kenneth Edward Dodson was a son of Tommie Dodson, purchased 40.8 acres of the farm from two of the three heirs.
Today, Ken, his wife, Gretchen and their daughters, Sydney and Harley, live on the farm, which currently produces hay and cattle. Dodson’s Chapel still stands as a reminder of the family’s ties and contributions to the community.
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, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
218 4TH ANNUAL DOUBLE REED DAY AT MTSU SET FOR FEB. 10
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 16, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
Daylong Music Event Features Two Free & Open Performances
(MURFREESBORO)—The 4th annual MTSU Double Reed Day will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Wright Music Building of the MTSU campus.
Maya Stone, professor of bassoon at MTSU and co-host of the event, said Double Reed Day is designed specifically for double-reed players from throughout the region who are in middle school and high school, but musicians of all ages are encouraged to attend, as are music directors and parents.
"The purpose of Double Reed Day is to give an opportunity for bassoonists and oboists of various ages and experiences to gather and delight in their instruments," Stone said. "They also get expert instruction from world-renowned teachers and musicians."
Beginning with an 8:30 a.m. registration, the day’s events will include a 10:15 a.m. recital featuring guest clinicians, the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble and MTSU faculty oboist Dewayne Pigg, as well as bassoonist Stone. The morning recital is free and open to the public.
The day will also bring a rare opportunity to attend master classes by clinicians Jonathan Dlouhy, principal oboe (retired) of the Atlanta Symphony and Christopher Weait, professor emeritus of bassoon at Ohio State University.
Additionally, the double-reeders will be able to rehearse in large double-reed ensembles during the day as well as perform together in a final 3:30 p.m. concert.
"This final concert allows participants to display their new knowledge and skills learned during the day," Stone remarked.
The 3:30 p.m. concert also is free and open to the public.
Vendors such as Charles Double Reeds, Fox Corporation, Miller Marketing, Good Tone Guild Double Reeds, William T. Robinson Music, and Music and Arts Music Store also will be on hand to supply participants with the chance to try out instruments as well as purchase music, recordings, reeds and other double-reed merchandise.
"This MTSU Double Reed Day 2007 promises to be an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved," Stone noted.
• For more information, please contact the music school at MTSU at 615-898-2493.
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CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
Daylong Music Event Features Two Free & Open Performances
(MURFREESBORO)—The 4th annual MTSU Double Reed Day will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in the Wright Music Building of the MTSU campus.
Maya Stone, professor of bassoon at MTSU and co-host of the event, said Double Reed Day is designed specifically for double-reed players from throughout the region who are in middle school and high school, but musicians of all ages are encouraged to attend, as are music directors and parents.
"The purpose of Double Reed Day is to give an opportunity for bassoonists and oboists of various ages and experiences to gather and delight in their instruments," Stone said. "They also get expert instruction from world-renowned teachers and musicians."
Beginning with an 8:30 a.m. registration, the day’s events will include a 10:15 a.m. recital featuring guest clinicians, the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble and MTSU faculty oboist Dewayne Pigg, as well as bassoonist Stone. The morning recital is free and open to the public.
The day will also bring a rare opportunity to attend master classes by clinicians Jonathan Dlouhy, principal oboe (retired) of the Atlanta Symphony and Christopher Weait, professor emeritus of bassoon at Ohio State University.
Additionally, the double-reeders will be able to rehearse in large double-reed ensembles during the day as well as perform together in a final 3:30 p.m. concert.
"This final concert allows participants to display their new knowledge and skills learned during the day," Stone remarked.
The 3:30 p.m. concert also is free and open to the public.
Vendors such as Charles Double Reeds, Fox Corporation, Miller Marketing, Good Tone Guild Double Reeds, William T. Robinson Music, and Music and Arts Music Store also will be on hand to supply participants with the chance to try out instruments as well as purchase music, recordings, reeds and other double-reed merchandise.
"This MTSU Double Reed Day 2007 promises to be an exciting and rewarding experience for all involved," Stone noted.
• For more information, please contact the music school at MTSU at 615-898-2493.
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217 FREE STONES RIVER CHAMBER PLAYERS CONCERT AT MTSU ON JAN. 29
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 16, 2007
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
Concert Will Feature World Premiere by Local Composer Osterfield
(MURFREESBORO)—The Stones River Chamber Players (SRCP), an ensemble in residence at MTSU, will perform the second of its annual three-concert series at MTSU at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 in Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
The title of the program, "Two, Four, Six, Eight," describes how the program will unfold to the audience," said Todd Waldecker, MTSU professor of clarinet and co-director for the group.
Waldecker explained that the first piece will be a duo and the second will be a quartet, with the third a sextet and the fourth an octet.
The duo for cello and piano will feature Beethoven's Sonata in g minor, Op. 5, No. 2. Next the quartet will present Maxine Warshauer's Time to Blossom for soprano, flute, cello and piano.
Waldecker said that the next piece for six players will be a world premiere by Paul Osterfield, professor of composition at MTSU. The piece is titled Divertimento for winds, piano, and double bass.
The concert will close with Stravinsky's 1923 Octet for Winds, which will be conducted by Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands,
SRCP players participating in this program will include MTSU faculty members Don Aliquo, saxophone; Michael Arndt, trumpet; Sandra Arndt, piano; Deanna Hahn-Little, flute; Caleb Harris, piano; David Hobbs, trumpet; Christine Isley-Farmer, soprano; David Loucky, trombone; Maya Stone, bassoon; Xiao-Fa Zhang, cello; and Waldecker, clarinet, with Thomas conducting. The group will be assisted by Tim Pearson, double bass, as well as MTSU graduate students Courtney Mosley, trombone, and Meghan Ryan, bassoon.
The Jan. 29 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
—30—
CONTACT: Tim Musselman, 615-898-2493
Concert Will Feature World Premiere by Local Composer Osterfield
(MURFREESBORO)—The Stones River Chamber Players (SRCP), an ensemble in residence at MTSU, will perform the second of its annual three-concert series at MTSU at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 29 in Hinton Hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.
The title of the program, "Two, Four, Six, Eight," describes how the program will unfold to the audience," said Todd Waldecker, MTSU professor of clarinet and co-director for the group.
Waldecker explained that the first piece will be a duo and the second will be a quartet, with the third a sextet and the fourth an octet.
The duo for cello and piano will feature Beethoven's Sonata in g minor, Op. 5, No. 2. Next the quartet will present Maxine Warshauer's Time to Blossom for soprano, flute, cello and piano.
Waldecker said that the next piece for six players will be a world premiere by Paul Osterfield, professor of composition at MTSU. The piece is titled Divertimento for winds, piano, and double bass.
The concert will close with Stravinsky's 1923 Octet for Winds, which will be conducted by Reed Thomas, MTSU director of bands,
SRCP players participating in this program will include MTSU faculty members Don Aliquo, saxophone; Michael Arndt, trumpet; Sandra Arndt, piano; Deanna Hahn-Little, flute; Caleb Harris, piano; David Hobbs, trumpet; Christine Isley-Farmer, soprano; David Loucky, trombone; Maya Stone, bassoon; Xiao-Fa Zhang, cello; and Waldecker, clarinet, with Thomas conducting. The group will be assisted by Tim Pearson, double bass, as well as MTSU graduate students Courtney Mosley, trombone, and Meghan Ryan, bassoon.
The Jan. 29 concert is free and open to the public.
• For more information on this and other concerts at the MTSU McLean School of Music, please access mtsumusic.com or call 615-898-2493.
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216 20,797 ATTEND FIRST DAY OF CLASSES FOR MTSU’S SPRING SEMESTER
Date: Jan. 16, 2007
Editorial contact:
Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Enrollment contact:
Dr. Sherian Huddleston, 615-898-2828
(MURFREESBORO) — First-day totals included 20,797 students enrolled in classes for the spring 2007 semester, Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services, announced earlier today.
The Day 1 headcount was 350 more than the 20,447 students who attended the first day of classes Jan. 16, 2006, Huddleston said, adding that it is a 1.68 percent increase.
The 14-day census report date will be Monday, Jan. 29. Huddleston will submit final enrollment totals to the Tennessee Board of Regents that day.
By late morning, Huddleston and the academic affairs and student affairs offices reported no problems as classes resumed.
“I did see several people in financial aid and in admissions, students trying to get admitted,” Huddleston said.
There also was a line of students at the business office, which is located in the Cope Administration Building.
Huddleston said Jan. 29 also will be the same day students can receive a “75 percent fee refund if they drop below full time and the deadline for them to drop a course without a grade being recorded on their transcript.”
Students still can register for classes through Wednesday, Jan. 17, and can add classes through Friday, Jan. 19, Huddleston said, adding that students can drop any or all classes. In addition to other fees, there is a $100 late registration fee.
###
Editorial contact:
Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
Enrollment contact:
Dr. Sherian Huddleston, 615-898-2828
(MURFREESBORO) — First-day totals included 20,797 students enrolled in classes for the spring 2007 semester, Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services, announced earlier today.
The Day 1 headcount was 350 more than the 20,447 students who attended the first day of classes Jan. 16, 2006, Huddleston said, adding that it is a 1.68 percent increase.
The 14-day census report date will be Monday, Jan. 29. Huddleston will submit final enrollment totals to the Tennessee Board of Regents that day.
By late morning, Huddleston and the academic affairs and student affairs offices reported no problems as classes resumed.
“I did see several people in financial aid and in admissions, students trying to get admitted,” Huddleston said.
There also was a line of students at the business office, which is located in the Cope Administration Building.
Huddleston said Jan. 29 also will be the same day students can receive a “75 percent fee refund if they drop below full time and the deadline for them to drop a course without a grade being recorded on their transcript.”
Students still can register for classes through Wednesday, Jan. 17, and can add classes through Friday, Jan. 19, Huddleston said, adding that students can drop any or all classes. In addition to other fees, there is a $100 late registration fee.
###
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
214 STUDENTS RETURN TO MTSU JAN. 16 ‘REINVIGORATED’ FOR SPRING
Date: Jan. 10, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
(MURFREESBORO) — Students and faculty will return to campus in droves by Tuesday, Jan. 16, as MTSU spring semester classes get under way.
Enrollment could top 21,000, which would be a record for a spring semester, enrollment services officials said just after the winter break.
“Spring runs 5 to 7 percent below fall enrollment,” Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services, said.
On Jan. 9 and after one purge for non-fee payment, 20,192 students had registered for classes, an increase of 844 from the Jan. 9, 2006, headcount of 19,348, she said. Final spring enrollment totals will be announced on or after Jan. 29 when MTSU submits the number to the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“We’ll have more students returning (from the fall semester) in the spring,” Huddleston said. “Attendance at CUSTOMS (Dec. 2 orientation) was slightly less than the previous year. Even though there were fewer people, perhaps others have done individual advising and registration, and we have more students being retained.”
Prospective students still can register for classes through Wednesday, Jan. 17, and students can add classes through Friday, Jan. 19, Huddleston said, adding that students can drop any or all classes.
“We all expect that we will be reinvigorated during a break and will come to the new semester ready to make a wholehearted commitment to MTSU and its academic programs,” said Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost.
“The new year is a great time to make specific resolutions and commitments to visit the writing center, take a workshop in study skills, sign up for a library orientation workshop and schedule appointments with your spring faculty,” Gebert said.
It’s also an excellent time to discover or get reacquainted with various campus services offered to students.
“We’d love for faculty to be reminded that the Academic Support Center (contact is Laurie Witherow at 615-898-2339) will help students connect to the academic resources on campus, and (it) will also help students who are considering changing their majors or who haven’t declared one yet,” said Dr. Deb Sells, associate vice provost for academic support services.
“Student Support Services,” added Sells, “is a federally funded TRiO program providing academic support to low income, high risk and first generation students.” The contact is Crickett Pimentel, director, at 615-898-5443.
“We expect to have some very promising academic progress on the part of our student-athletes to report,” Sells said. “We’ve had amazing progress this year with the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center.” The contact is Jim Rost, director,
at 615-904-8492.
Another helpful avenue is Disabled Student Services (the contact is John Harris, director, at 615-898-2783).
For students who have not decided on a career or major, a visit to the
Career Center will be most profitable, Gebert said, adding, “Our new EXL program and classes are under way, providing students with classes that have an extra experiential learning component.
“January is a good time to take stock of where you are in your career, your academic program and your life. If students have not been involved in extracurricular campus activities, there are many opportunities that will enrich your academic skills as well as your personal life.”
Gebert encourages students “to make full use of the campus for their academic and extracurricular endeavors, including the Boston Brass (7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in Wright Music Building’s Hinton Music Hall), “Ramona Quimby” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 23-24 in Tucker Theatre) and “Mozart on Stage” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 16-17 in Hinton Music Hall), and there will be basketball, baseball and other athletic activities.”
Spring break will be March 5-10, April 25 will be the last day of classes, study day will be April 26, final exams will be April 27-May 3 and two commencements (times TBA) will be held Saturday, May 5, in Murphy Center.
Summer ’07 priority registration on WebMT will be held March 19-23, with summer and fall registration unavailable March 24-April 8. Summer registration will resume April 9, and fall priority registration on the new RaiderNet system is set for
April 9-20.
Starting with summer classes, schedule books no longer will be printed. Students will need to register will be their adviser and use PipelineMT.
###
Editor’s note: Sources for this story include:
Dr. Sherian Huddleston (enrollment services), 615-898-2828
Dr. Bob Glenn (student affairs VP/enrollment services provost), 615-898-2440
Dr. Kaylene Gebert (academic affairs VP and provost), 615-898-2880
Dr. Deb Sells (academic support services), 615-898-5342
Laurie Witherow (academic support center/advising), 615-898-2339
Crickett Pimentel (student support services), 615-898-5443
Jim Rost (student-athlete enhancement center), 615-904-8492
John Harris (disabled student services), 615-898-2783
Dr. Jill Austin (experiential learning or EXL), 615-898-2736
(MURFREESBORO) — Students and faculty will return to campus in droves by Tuesday, Jan. 16, as MTSU spring semester classes get under way.
Enrollment could top 21,000, which would be a record for a spring semester, enrollment services officials said just after the winter break.
“Spring runs 5 to 7 percent below fall enrollment,” Dr. Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services, said.
On Jan. 9 and after one purge for non-fee payment, 20,192 students had registered for classes, an increase of 844 from the Jan. 9, 2006, headcount of 19,348, she said. Final spring enrollment totals will be announced on or after Jan. 29 when MTSU submits the number to the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“We’ll have more students returning (from the fall semester) in the spring,” Huddleston said. “Attendance at CUSTOMS (Dec. 2 orientation) was slightly less than the previous year. Even though there were fewer people, perhaps others have done individual advising and registration, and we have more students being retained.”
Prospective students still can register for classes through Wednesday, Jan. 17, and students can add classes through Friday, Jan. 19, Huddleston said, adding that students can drop any or all classes.
“We all expect that we will be reinvigorated during a break and will come to the new semester ready to make a wholehearted commitment to MTSU and its academic programs,” said Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost.
“The new year is a great time to make specific resolutions and commitments to visit the writing center, take a workshop in study skills, sign up for a library orientation workshop and schedule appointments with your spring faculty,” Gebert said.
It’s also an excellent time to discover or get reacquainted with various campus services offered to students.
“We’d love for faculty to be reminded that the Academic Support Center (contact is Laurie Witherow at 615-898-2339) will help students connect to the academic resources on campus, and (it) will also help students who are considering changing their majors or who haven’t declared one yet,” said Dr. Deb Sells, associate vice provost for academic support services.
“Student Support Services,” added Sells, “is a federally funded TRiO program providing academic support to low income, high risk and first generation students.” The contact is Crickett Pimentel, director, at 615-898-5443.
“We expect to have some very promising academic progress on the part of our student-athletes to report,” Sells said. “We’ve had amazing progress this year with the Student-Athlete Enhancement Center.” The contact is Jim Rost, director,
at 615-904-8492.
Another helpful avenue is Disabled Student Services (the contact is John Harris, director, at 615-898-2783).
For students who have not decided on a career or major, a visit to the
Career Center will be most profitable, Gebert said, adding, “Our new EXL program and classes are under way, providing students with classes that have an extra experiential learning component.
“January is a good time to take stock of where you are in your career, your academic program and your life. If students have not been involved in extracurricular campus activities, there are many opportunities that will enrich your academic skills as well as your personal life.”
Gebert encourages students “to make full use of the campus for their academic and extracurricular endeavors, including the Boston Brass (7:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in Wright Music Building’s Hinton Music Hall), “Ramona Quimby” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 23-24 in Tucker Theatre) and “Mozart on Stage” (7:30 p.m. Feb. 16-17 in Hinton Music Hall), and there will be basketball, baseball and other athletic activities.”
Spring break will be March 5-10, April 25 will be the last day of classes, study day will be April 26, final exams will be April 27-May 3 and two commencements (times TBA) will be held Saturday, May 5, in Murphy Center.
Summer ’07 priority registration on WebMT will be held March 19-23, with summer and fall registration unavailable March 24-April 8. Summer registration will resume April 9, and fall priority registration on the new RaiderNet system is set for
April 9-20.
Starting with summer classes, schedule books no longer will be printed. Students will need to register will be their adviser and use PipelineMT.
###
Editor’s note: Sources for this story include:
Dr. Sherian Huddleston (enrollment services), 615-898-2828
Dr. Bob Glenn (student affairs VP/enrollment services provost), 615-898-2440
Dr. Kaylene Gebert (academic affairs VP and provost), 615-898-2880
Dr. Deb Sells (academic support services), 615-898-5342
Laurie Witherow (academic support center/advising), 615-898-2339
Crickett Pimentel (student support services), 615-898-5443
Jim Rost (student-athlete enhancement center), 615-904-8492
John Harris (disabled student services), 615-898-2783
Dr. Jill Austin (experiential learning or EXL), 615-898-2736
213 MTSU, SCHOOL OF NURSING WILL DEDICATE NEW CASON-KENNEDY BUILDING ADDITION JAN. 19
Date: Jan. 10, 2007 Editorial contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU School of Nursing students may miss a class or two Friday, Jan. 19, with excused absences.
Students will be part of the dedication of the addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building, with the celebration to begin at 10 a.m. The two-story, 23,717-square foot addition is connected to the original CKNB and sits across from Tucker Theatre near the intersection of Blue Raider and Faulkinberry drives.
The campus community and general public are invited, said university President Sidney A. McPhee and Dr. Lynn Parsons, School of Nursing director.
“Students will be there,” Parsons said. “It’s (the addition) for the students. Suzanne Prevost (National HealthCare Chair in Nursing), Pam Roesler (assistant professor in nursing) and I were in on the planning and design. The whole idea behind the building was that it needed to be a student-centered environment. We needed more space for them.”
Added Dr. Tom Cheatham, dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, “We’re very excited to have the potential space to allow us to expand the program.
“Two issues that have to be dealt with are the physical space to hold larger classes and serve more students and to increase the number of nursing faculty, which is something over the next few years we can address.”
Nursing, which could hold 36 students when Parsons joined the faculty in 1995, will grow to 64 students in the generic program plus two discretionary military slots and admitting 50 students each semester in an accelerated LPN to B.S.N. program this fall, Parsons said.
The second floor includes 12 faculty offices and secretary/reception suite, 30-seat clinical consultation room, state-of-the-art 20-bed clinical lab with two storage areas, two informal student seating areas, a faculty lounge with a kitchen and two data storage rooms and rest rooms.
The first floor features a 60-seat Dell computer lab classroom, a 78-seat master classroom, a classroom to accommodate 60 to 120 people, a small kitchen area, a student seminar room to hold up to 18 people and rest rooms.
All of the classrooms and the clinical lab have multimedia capability, Cheatham said.
Community partner Christy-Houston Foundation donated more than $2 million for the building expansion and built the first CKNB that opened in 1994, Parsons said. A $736,548 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant enabled MTSU to continue construction in fall of 2005. This was in addition to a $1 million HHS Health Resources and Services Administration grant in 2004.
Christy-Houston representatives, government officials and other guests are expected to attend.
Thomas, Miller & Partners LLC of Nashville was the building designer.
###
Media welcomed.
Note: Interior (atrium/student sitting area) and exterior .jpg photos are available. To request, call
615-898-2919. Please credit J. Intintoli/MTSU Photographic Services.
(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU School of Nursing students may miss a class or two Friday, Jan. 19, with excused absences.
Students will be part of the dedication of the addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building, with the celebration to begin at 10 a.m. The two-story, 23,717-square foot addition is connected to the original CKNB and sits across from Tucker Theatre near the intersection of Blue Raider and Faulkinberry drives.
The campus community and general public are invited, said university President Sidney A. McPhee and Dr. Lynn Parsons, School of Nursing director.
“Students will be there,” Parsons said. “It’s (the addition) for the students. Suzanne Prevost (National HealthCare Chair in Nursing), Pam Roesler (assistant professor in nursing) and I were in on the planning and design. The whole idea behind the building was that it needed to be a student-centered environment. We needed more space for them.”
Added Dr. Tom Cheatham, dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, “We’re very excited to have the potential space to allow us to expand the program.
“Two issues that have to be dealt with are the physical space to hold larger classes and serve more students and to increase the number of nursing faculty, which is something over the next few years we can address.”
Nursing, which could hold 36 students when Parsons joined the faculty in 1995, will grow to 64 students in the generic program plus two discretionary military slots and admitting 50 students each semester in an accelerated LPN to B.S.N. program this fall, Parsons said.
The second floor includes 12 faculty offices and secretary/reception suite, 30-seat clinical consultation room, state-of-the-art 20-bed clinical lab with two storage areas, two informal student seating areas, a faculty lounge with a kitchen and two data storage rooms and rest rooms.
The first floor features a 60-seat Dell computer lab classroom, a 78-seat master classroom, a classroom to accommodate 60 to 120 people, a small kitchen area, a student seminar room to hold up to 18 people and rest rooms.
All of the classrooms and the clinical lab have multimedia capability, Cheatham said.
Community partner Christy-Houston Foundation donated more than $2 million for the building expansion and built the first CKNB that opened in 1994, Parsons said. A $736,548 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant enabled MTSU to continue construction in fall of 2005. This was in addition to a $1 million HHS Health Resources and Services Administration grant in 2004.
Christy-Houston representatives, government officials and other guests are expected to attend.
Thomas, Miller & Partners LLC of Nashville was the building designer.
###
Media welcomed.
Note: Interior (atrium/student sitting area) and exterior .jpg photos are available. To request, call
615-898-2919. Please credit J. Intintoli/MTSU Photographic Services.
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