Tuesday, June 30, 2009

[504] MTSU Farmers’ Market Open Wednesday, but Closed Friday for Holiday

Release date: June 30, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
MTSU Plant and Soil Science Club contact: Dr. Nate Phillips, 615-494-8985


MTSU Farmers’ Market Open Wednesday, but Closed Friday for Holiday


(MURFREESBORO) — The MTSU Plant and Soil Science Club student farmers’ market will be open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wednesday in the lobby of the Stark Ag Building, but the Friday, July 3, market is canceled because the university will be closed for the Independence Day holiday, Dr. Nate Phillips, professor in agribusiness and agriscience, said Tuesday.
“We have set up a special table in the lobby of the Stark Ag Building behind the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building,” Phillips said. “The veggies will be on the ‘honor’ system with prices posted. Just pick up your veggies and leave the money in the main office of the SAG.”
Phillips said items that will be available include tomatoes (slicing, roma and grape); hot peppers (jalapeƱos, cayennes and habaneros); baby cabbage; onions (red and whites); twinkle eggplant; green beans; okra; and more.
For more information, call 615-494-8985 or 898-2523.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

###

[503] FRANKLIN-ERA PRESS REPLICA TOUTED AT NASHVILLE LIBRARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Kristen Keene, 615-898-5376

FRANKLIN-ERA PRESS REPLICA TOUTED AT NASHVILLE LIBRARY
Exhibit Highlights MTSU Walker Library’s Community Outreach through Printing

(MURFREESBORO) – The legacy of Middle Tennessee State University’s working replica of an 18th century printing press will be explained through photos and prints as part of an exhibit at the main branch of the Nashville Public Library, 615 Church St., from July 1 through Sept. 27.
The exhibit is titled “Telling the Story: Letterpress Printing and Community.” The university’s segment will include the story of letterpress printing at MTSU. The works of current MTSU art students; alumni; visiting artists; faculty; elementary; middle- and high-school teachers and students who printed on the James E. Walker Library’s unique device will be highlighted.
A reproduction of the English common press used by Benjamin Franklin in the early 1700s, the printing press was handcrafted in 2004 and 2005 by cabinetmaker Keith Jenkins and blacksmith Jeff Henderson. The chestnut and white oak wood came from a 100-year-old house in Virginia, and all the brass, iron and steel parts were forged by hand. Faculty and students donate their time working on the press which is solely dependent on private support from individuals.
The press project offers students and the community a dramatic and unforgettable experience through activities that integrate history, writing and letterpress printing. Activities include lectures to university and school students about historical printing, a visiting artist each semester, community print nights, and printing demonstrations for community groups.
The construction of the press was made possible with grant money awarded to Walker Library faculty members Dr. Alan Boehm, Director of Special Collections, and William Black, Administrative Services Librarian, and Janet Higgins, Department of Art.
Items that were printed by MTSU art students on the Vandercook Press, a precision-built, flat bed cylinder proof device, and the Tulip Poplar Press will be featured, as well. Devotees of the Vandercook Press are celebrating the 100th anniversary of its creation this year. Austin Peay State University will also be part of the exhibit with works printed on its Goldsmith Press.
The exhibit will be located in the Nashville Public Library’s second floor Courtyard Gallery. For more information and for photos of the MTSU press, contact Kristen Keene at 615-898-5376 or kkeene@mtsu.edu.

[502] It could save America 120 million gallons of fuel per day.

June 19, 2009

It could save America 120 million gallons of fuel per day.

It’s called a Plug-in Hybrid Retrofit Kit. When in use, it could double your average mileage per gallon. If 50 percent of the automobiles in America used it, it could save 120 million gallons of fuel per day—globally, as much as 600 million gallons per day. It will reduce our dependence on oil. It will reduce carbon emissions. It will require a manufacturing facility that would create 2,000 new jobs. A potential foreign market is growing daily.

Dr. Charles Perry, electrical engineer and holder of the Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence at Middle Tennessee State University, took first place (out of 15 separate proposals) and received a $50,000 grant from the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation for his invention of a hybrid automobile retrofit kit. Palmer Labs LLC of Reston, Va., a firm that may become a commercial partner, has given an oral commitment (not in writing as of yet) to match that amount. Middle Tennessee State University and Tennessee Technological University are collaborating to build the first prototype.

Contact Dr. Perry at 615-898-5683 (chperry@mtsu.edu). Or call Tom Tozer, MTSU News and Public Affairs, at 615-898-2919, and we will help you connect with him.

[501] MTSU Professor’s Invention Lands $50K First-Place Award and Could Save Millions of Gallons of Fuel Every Day

MTSU Professor’s Invention Lands $50K First-Place Award and Could Save Millions of Gallons of Fuel Every Day
Hybrid Auto Retrofit Kit Invention also Gains Matching Funds from Virginia-Based Palmer Labs

(MURFREESBORO, TENN.) —Dr. Charles Perry’s newest patent, which is pending, potentially could save America 120 million gallons of fuel daily.
The invention has several names – wheel hub motor, Plug-in Hybrid Retrofit Kit or “Machine for Augmentation, Storage and Conservation of Vehicle Motive Energy (the one submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office) – and it recently gained statewide notoriety.
The Plug-in Hybrid received the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation’s first-place award of $50,000 in the semi-annual series of grants designed to help Tennessee inventors take their innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Perry, an electrical engineer and holder of the Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The award was tops among 15 proposals from institutions around the state, including Oak Ridge Laboratories, K-12 (a spin off of Oak Ridge), St. Jude Research Center, Vanderbilt University, the University of Tennessee Research Foundation and Tennessee Board of Regents universities.
Additionally, Palmer Labs LLC of Reston, Va., has made an oral agreement to match the $50K grant, Perry said.
“We are excited to support the work being done by Dr. Perry and his team at MTSU,” said Dr. Miles Palmer, president of Palmer Labs. “This technology will be a key element in Palmer Labs’ plan to help transform our nation’s transportation infrastructure.” The goal is to have Palmer Labs commercialize the invention.
“We’ve been trying to get money for two years,” Perry said. “We’ve been working with Dr. Mike Allen’s office (dean of MTSU’s College of Graduate Studies) and the TBR counsel, Lou Svendsen. Lou was very instrumental in us getting this (matching) grant. He has been our advocate and adviser in how to prepare this grant.”
MTSU will partner with Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tenn., another of the six four-year universities in the TBR system. TTU has agreed to serve as the sub-contractor that will build a prototype device. TTU’s Dr. Ali Alouani, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead an effort in developing the hardware and software of the control system that will automatically decide when to use the internal-combustion engine and the electric motor so that the energy consumption is optimized.
“This device is key to improving the gas mileage for hybrid vehicles,” Alouani said. In an earlier memo to Perry, Alouani wrote of his support. “I will be happy to work with you and deliver a product that we will all be proud of.”
“We are very pleased to find the electrical engineering expertise we need for this project at another of the Board of Regents schools,” Svendsen said. “We hope that this is the start of many productive collaborations between the world-class researchers found at various TBR institutions.”
“Environmental quality will be enhanced and energy savings will result,” Perry said of the patent application that will reduce carbon emissions.
With 80 percent of Americans driving an average of 28 miles per day in their vehicles, Perry said the wheel hub motor (in hybrid mode) would double drivers’ gas mileage, and that it mainly would be an around-town function, not for highway driving. He said once it becomes mass-produced, the target consumer installation cost would be $3,000 to $5,000.
“Our first goal is to build a demonstration of a working prototype,” Perry said. “Then, working with the state of Tennessee, we’d like to build one dozen to two dozen prototypes. We’d like to put them on state vehicles to get data. Then we’d look at a capital investment. Ultimately, Palmer Labs would like to build a facility that would create 2,000 jobs.”
Working with Perry on the project is Paul Martin III, who is an automotive engineering technology expert. He is the grandson of Paul W. Martin Sr., namesake of MTSU’s University Honors College building, and son of Murray and Paul W. Martin Jr., who, along with his brother, Lee, provided $2 million toward the honors building.
“He is a perfect match,” Perry said of the younger Martin. “He has the right combination of skills. He is an applications guy. He came up with other ways to do things.”
Perry said Martin’s name has been added to the patent.
He added that Tennessee Tech would receive part of the $100,000, but at this point he was not sure how much.
Perry saw 40 patents issued while he spent nearly 30 years working for IBM. The 1966 (B.S.) and 1969 (M.S.) MTSU alumnus returned to his alma mater in 2004.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

###

Contact Dr. Charles Perry (chperry@mtsu.edu) at 615-898-5683. Or call MTSU News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 for more information and a jpeg of Perry.

Monday, June 29, 2009

[500] MTSU Will Be Closed July 3 for University Holiday

Release date: June 29, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu



MTSU Will Be Closed July 3 for University Holiday


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU will be closed Friday, July 3, for a designated university holiday for staff and faculty, the Office of Human Resource Services said recently. All business offices will be closed and no classes will be held. No Saturday, July 4, classes will be held.
Business offices will resume their regular hours of operation (8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.) on Monday, July 6. Classes for the Summer July term begin July 6.
Quiznos in Keathley University Center will be open from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. July 3-5. All other dining venues will be closed. KUC will be open 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. July 3-5, but Dwight’s Mini-Mart and Phillips Bookstore will be closed.
The MTSU Health, Wellness and Recreation Center will be closed July 3-5 for the Independence Day holiday. It will reopen at 6 a.m. Monday, July 6.
The James Union Building will be closed July 3-5.
In case of emergency, people should contact the MTSU Police (Office of Public Safety) by calling 615-898-2424.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

[499] MTSU Professor’s Invention Lands $50K First-Place Award and Could Save Millions of Gallons of Fuel Every Day

Release date: June 29, 2009
News & Public Affairs contact:
Tom Tozer / Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or ttozer@mtsu.edu or jweiler@mtsu.edu



MTSU Professor’s Invention Lands $50K First-Place Award and Could Save Millions of Gallons of Fuel Every Day
Hybrid Auto Retrofit Kit Invention Gains Matching Funds from Virginia-Based Palmer Labs

(MURFREESBORO, TENN.) —Dr. Charles Perry’s newest patent, which is pending, potentially could save America 120 million gallons of fuel daily.
The invention has several names – wheel hub motor, Plug-in Hybrid Retrofit Kit or “Machine for Augmentation, Storage and Conservation of Vehicle Motive Energy (the one submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office) – and it recently gained statewide notoriety.
The Plug-in Hybrid received the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation’s first-place award of $50,000 in the semi-annual series of grants designed to help Tennessee inventors take their innovations from the lab to the marketplace.
“We’re pretty excited,” said Perry, an electrical engineer and holder of the Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. The award was tops among 15 proposals from institutions around the state, including Oak Ridge Laboratories, K-12 (a spin off of Oak Ridge), St. Jude Research Center, Vanderbilt University, the University of Tennessee Research Foundation and Tennessee Board of Regents universities.
Additionally, Palmer Labs LLC of Reston, Va., has made an oral agreement to match the $50K grant, Perry said.
“We are excited to support the work being done by Dr. Perry and his team at MTSU,” said Dr. Miles Palmer, president of Palmer Labs. “This technology will be a key element in Palmer Labs’ plan to help transform our nation’s transportation infrastructure.” The goal is to have Palmer Labs commercialize the invention.
“We’ve been trying to get money for two years,” Perry said. “We’ve been working with Dr. Mike Allen’s office (dean of MTSU’s College of Graduate Studies) and the TBR counsel, Lou Svendsen. Lou was very instrumental in us getting this (matching) grant. He has been our advocate and adviser in how to prepare this grant.”
MTSU will partner with Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tenn., another of the six four-year universities in the TBR system. TTU has agreed to serve as the sub-contractor that will build a prototype device. TTU’s Dr. Ali Alouani, professor of electrical and computer engineering, will lead an effort in developing the hardware and software of the control system that will automatically decide when to use the internal-combustion engine and the electric motor so that the energy consumption is optimized.
“This device is key to improving the gas mileage for hybrid vehicles,” Alouani said. In an earlier memo to Perry, Alouani wrote of his support. “I will be happy to work with you and deliver a product that we will all be proud of.”
“We are very pleased to find the electrical engineering expertise we need for this project at another of the Board of Regents schools,” Svendsen said. “We hope that this is the start of many productive collaborations between the world-class researchers found at various TBR institutions.”
“Environmental quality will be enhanced and energy savings will result,” Perry said of the patent application that will reduce carbon emissions.
With 80 percent of Americans driving an average of 28 miles per day in their vehicles, Perry said the wheel hub motor (in hybrid mode) would double drivers’ gas mileage, and that it mainly would be an around-town function, not for highway driving. He said once it becomes mass-produced, the target consumer installation cost would be $3,000 to $5,000.
“Our first goal is to build a demonstration of a working prototype,” Perry said. “Then, working with the state of Tennessee, we’d like to build one dozen to two dozen prototypes. We’d like to put them on state vehicles to get data. Then we’d look at a capital investment. Ultimately, Palmer Labs would like to build a facility that would create 2,000 jobs.”
Working with Perry on the project is Paul Martin III, who is an automotive engineering technology expert. He is the grandson of Paul W. Martin Sr., namesake of MTSU’s University Honors College building, and son of Murray and Paul W. Martin Jr., who, along with his brother, Lee, provided $2 million toward the honors building.
“He is a perfect match,” Perry said of the younger Martin. “He has the right combination of skills. He is an applications guy. He came up with other ways to do things.”
Perry said Martin’s name has been added to the patent.
He added that Tennessee Tech would receive part of the $100,000, but at this point he was not sure how much.
Perry saw 40 patents issued while he spent nearly 30 years working for IBM. The 1966 (B.S.) and 1969 (M.S.) MTSU alumnus returned to his alma mater in 2004.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

###

Note: Contact Dr. Charles Perry (chperry@mtsu.edu) at 615-898-5683. Or call MTSU News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919 for more information and a jpeg of Perry.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

[498] MTSU STUDENTS CAPTURE BIG BUCKS TO STUDY AROUND THE WORLD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 25, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MTSU STUDENTS CAPTURE BIG BUCKS TO STUDY AROUND THE WORLD
Murfreesboro and Tullahoma Natives to Work and Learn in India and Kenya

(MURFREESBORO) - In competition with students from universities all across the United States, two more MTSU international relations majors have landed prestigious scholarships that will enable them to nourish their own aspirations while improving others’ futures in far-flung regions of the globe.
Murfreesboro native Aaron Shew will celebrate his 22nd birthday in India in July. Shew landed a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study the Urdu language there this summer. The CLS, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, funds seven to-ten-week periods of intensive language instruction and cultural enrichment experiences.
“Urdu is kind of a combination of Arabic and Hindi,” says Shew. “Spoken, it’s closer to Hindi, but they write in Arabic and read in Arabic, so much of their religious text comes from Arabic. It’s a difficult language, but not as difficult as Arabic.”
With about $12,000 provided by the State Department, Shew will undergo five hours of classes for five days a week while staying with a host family in a town near Delhi. The living arrangements are a bit karmic since Shew’s interest in Asian culture and languages began with his family’s relationship with a Nepali student who came to the U.S. to study when Shew was younger.
Family also figures heavily in the other major influence on Shew’s education. His father is an agriculture teacher at Riverdale High School, and Shew is a double major in international relations and plant and soil science. While this is a highly unusual double major, Shew sees their combination as very realistic.
“History and politics intrigue me because they define where we are in the world, how nations are to interact, ideas of peace and war,” Shew says. “Agriculture is a very practical way of helping people, but, at the same time, I would say half the battle is usually policy.”
Indian people are becoming more advanced, pooling their resources to buy tractors and combines. However, Shew says they will have to diversify their output instead of monocropping huge tracts of land.
Patrick Pratt, a double major in international relations and political science, captured a David L. Boren Scholarship from the National Security Education Program to study international relations and Swahili at United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. Boren scholarships provide up to $20,000 to U.S. undergraduate students for study in areas that are critical to national security but underrepresented in study abroad programs.
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SCHOLARSHIPS
Add 1

“What we see of Africa here in the West has to do with conflict, poverty, disease, things like that,” says the 25-year-old from Tullahoma. “But after learning more about it, I realize it’s not all that way. There are problems, but I think there is something positive to be taken out of Africa.”
Pratt takes issue with prior Western policies on the continent, saying we have viewed Africans through our own culture for too long.
“We do have an interest in alleviating poverty and mediating conflict, but the second we don’t like a regime that gets elected, then we totally forget about stability and peace,” says Pratt.
In preparation for his upcoming academic year in Nairobi, Pratt is interning with Constituency for Africa, a Washington, D.C.-based nongovernmental organization concerned with raising awareness about African issues and influencing U.S. policy.
Both young men cite Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science, as an enormous source of invaluable guidance and inspiration. She says students like Pratt and Shew reflect positively on both the institution and the community.
“These experiences are needed, not just for international relations majors,” Petersen says. “We cannot let budget constraints and decreasing tax revenue and all these things stop us from providing the best we can. We have students here who are as good as students at any Ivy League university in the United States, hands down.”

--30—

ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpegs of Patrick Pratt and Aaron Shew, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

[497] THE LOWDOWN ON THE NEWS MEDIA FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 24, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800

THE LOWDOWN ON THE NEWS MEDIA FROM A RELIABLE SOURCE
Dr. Larry Burriss Critiques Journalists’ Performances on “MTSU on the Record”
(MURFREESBORO) – Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism professor and First Amendment expert, will dissect a variety of topics related to the news media on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, June 28, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
Burriss and Logue will discuss coverage of the worldwide swine flu outbreak, reporting during spates of severe weather, and the transition from analog to digital television. A former lieutenant colonel and public affairs officer with the U.S. Air Force, Burriss holds five degrees, including a doctorate in communication from Ohio University and a law degree from Concord Law School.
To hear last week’s program on the fall class titled “The Philosophy of Happiness,” go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “June 21, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

[496] MTSU’s LEADERSHIP STUDIES MINOR EARNS ALE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

MTSU’s LEADERSHIP STUDIES MINOR EARNS ALE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE
Program’s Creator Says Still-Developing Program Has Graduated 50 Thus Far

(MURFREESBORO)—The MTSU Leadership Studies Program has been named as the 2009 Outstanding Leadership Program by the Association of Leadership Educators Inc.
Known as ALE, the organization’s representatives will present the award to Dr. Deana Meadows Raffo on July 15 at its annual conference in Providence, R.I., where the MTSU program, which is a 17-credit, interdisciplinary minor offered to students, will be formally recognized for excellence.
The award was designed to recognize outstanding leadership programs developed or implemented by ALE members. Past recipients of the honor have included leadership majors, leadership minors, certificate programs, leadership workshops or programs, youth-development programs and adult-leadership development programs.
An assistant professor of speech and theatre, Raffo said the MTSU Leadership Studies Program “is completing its fifth year, so I feel that the award is an indication that we have a firm foundation in place and are ready for the second phase of development with additional course offerings beyond the core courses.”
To qualify for the ALE honor, award nominees must be ALE members in good standing, have never received the award previously and must have data that substantiates a program’s impact on individuals, organizations, institutions or communities.
Regarding the creation of the now-award-winning MTSU minor program, “I initiated the program (and) was the principal architect in program design … and advise all of the students,” Raffo shared. “However, since it is an interdisciplinary minor, I have not been alone in the (program’s) development.”
MTSU faculty who have assisted Raffo in building the program by serving on its development committee include Drs. Ron Kates (English), David Foote (management), Janet McCormick (speech and theatre), Cliff Ricketts (agribusiness and agriscience), Terry Whiteside (psychology) and Professor Greg Simerly (speech and theatre).
As of May, the campus-based program has graduated 50 students, Raffo noted.
For more information on the leadership program, please visit http://www.mtsu.edu/leadershipstudies.
To learn more about ALE, please access http://www.leadershipeducators.org.


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• ATTENTION, MEDIA: To request interviews with Dr. Raffo or other members of the leadership program’s committee, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at lrollins@mtsu.edu

Friday, June 19, 2009

[495] HALEY TO BE TOASTED … AND ROASTED

June 22, 2009
CONTACT: Tom Tozer, 615-898-2919

HALEY TO BE TOASTED … AND ROASTED

MURFREESBORO—Friends of Roger G. Haley will gather to roast Murfreesboro’s outgoing city manager, who has devoted 20 years to public service and recently was named “city manager of the year” by the Tennessee City Management Association during the Tennessee Municipal League’s annual conference held in Chattanooga.
Haley, 63, announced his retirement in March. He will officially retire Aug. 3 of this year and will be succeeded by Rob Lyons, deputy city manager.
The celebration and roast will be held Friday, July 17, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, with a meet-and-greet starting at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7. Reservations will be required in advance at $100 a person; $1,000 a table for 10 guests. Tickets will not be available at the door.
“This is really a collective effort by many people who appreciate and want to honor Roger’s years of service to our community,” commented Andy Womack, who conceived the idea for the celebration. “The planning committee is composed of people from city government, the chamber of commerce and MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business. When I asked Roger if he would agree to be roasted, he said okay, as long as it benefited the university by earmarking the proceeds from the event for the scholarship established in honor of his longtime friend and former Murfreesboro Mayor Joe B. Jackson. We will respect his wishes and donate the proceeds from the roast to the Middle Tennessee State University Foundation to support the Joe B. Jackson Scholarship,” noted Womack, who serves on the advisory board of the Jones College of Business.
Jackson (MTSU ’49 B.S.), who died in 2008, served in the U.S. Marines in World War II and was a graduate of the Nashville School of Law. He was elected to the Murfreesboro City Council in 1968, became vice mayor in 1978 and served as mayor from 1982 to 1998.
“I’m pleased to serve as committee co-chair with Andy for this event,” added Dr. E. James Burton, dean of the Jones College, “because it will help establish a permanent endowment, and recipients will be business majors who will be known as Joe B. Jackson Scholars.” Burton said the scholarship requirements stipulate that recipients must be high-school graduates in Rutherford County, have a 3.0 grade point average, and demonstrate financial need. The scholarship will be good for one academic year and will be awarded to a junior or senior.
“We appreciate Roger’s interest in supporting the Jones College, and we hope friends will help us pay tribute to his years of service,” Burton noted.
For more information and to make reservations, contact Gina Harrison, event committee member, at 615-405-4735 or e-mail gharrison@sec-civil.com. Reservations must be made by July 10.
Those who cannot attend but would like to make a donation to the Joe B. Jackson Scholarship in Haley’s honor should send a check payable to the MTSU Foundation (for the Joe B. Jackson Scholarship Fund) to the MTSU Foundation, 1301 East Main Street, P.O. Box 109, Murfreesboro, Tenn. 37132.

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Thursday, June 18, 2009

[493] SADDLE UP TO HELP THE CHILDREN JULY 30

SADDLE UP TO HELP THE CHILDREN JULY 30
Annual Fundraiser for Project Help Slated for Floyd Stadium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385

(MURFREESBORO)—Yee-haw! Hundreds of cowboys and cowgirls will don their finest Western duds to “Saddle Up for Project HELP” at the 2009 fundraiser, set for Thursday, July 30, at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium on the MTSU campus.
The fun gets under way at 6:30 p.m. with event registration. A barbecue dinner will be served at 7 p.m., followed by live music and dancing. Silent and love-auction bidding will close at 8:15 p.m., and auction checkout will be at 8:30 p.m.
Last year’s fundraiser collected $21,000, said Project Help Director Susan Waldrop, who added that she’s confident that community support for this year’s benefit will be just as strong.
“During my time at Project Help, there have been numerous opportunities for both personal and professional growth,” Waldrop said. “It’s rewarding as well as challenging to be the only provider of center-based early intervention services in Rutherford County. We see the challenge as a means of learning what is needed; we strive to continue to change our perceptions in order to better help families who have children with some type of delay or disability.
“It’s my perception that Project Help is a place where families, toddlers and MTSU students feel safe in taking the next steps in pursuit of strong learning outcomes. This ‘feeling safe’ is probably the pivotal feature of what Project Help is all about.
“Because I have repeatedly observed the unique connection of Project Help with MTSU and the Rutherford County community, it seems that we are now in a unique position to provide services for children and families who are experiencing the first wave of life-lessons involving Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASD,” Waldrop continued. “With the donations from Saddle Up, our goal is to begin wrap-around programs that afford a ‘one-stop’ buffet of therapies and techniques to families who have children with an ASD diagnosis.”
Founded in 1983, the nonprofit Project Help provides early intervention and family support services to children with disabilities and developmental delays up to age 3.
Project Help, which just began its 13th year in its North Baird Lane facility and its second in the Fairview Center’s Yellow Room, currently serves 48 children with special needs. It also is a stimulating, progressive preschool for families of 17 toddlers who are developing typically in a program that promotes diversity, creativity and cultural experiences. Practical outcomes are developed for all children in a play-oriented natural environment.
The center’s staff, which includes more than 150 student volunteers each semester, works with parents through family support programs, which include workshops, one-to-one interactions and informal training seminars that focus on specific instructional techniques.

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SADDLE UP/PROJECT HELP
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Grants from the Tennessee Department of Education through Early Intervention Services and the United Way of Rutherford County and Cannon Counties partially fund Project Help’s work. The Murfreesboro Charity Circle, Middle Tennessee Electric Customers Care, St. Rose Knights of Columbus, Gwenn Walker Memorial Fund, Bands for Babies, the MTSU Martial Arts Club and Wild About Smiles Pediatric Dentistry have also made major contributions to Project Help, providing the center with much-needed equipment, toys and consumable items.
Although the center’s staff members are grateful for the ongoing support, they admit they need additional money to help meet the organization’s child-centered mission. Fundraisers like the July 30 “Saddle Up!” event target those goals. In addition to expanding the program with services for children with ASD, Waldrop said the funds raised by the event also supplement daily operations.
Items up for bid at the live auction include a Cape Cod playhouse, tickets on Southwest Airlines and a Nashville Night-Out with a room at the Opryland Hotel.
Individual tickets, which include a meal and two drinks, are $50 each. They’re available by calling the center at 615-898-2458. The evening’s dress code is casual.
For more information about Project Help, please visit its new Web site at www.mtsu.edu/projecthelp.

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IN BRIEF: Project Help, MTSU’s nonprofit early intervention and family support program for young children with disabilities, will conduct its annual fundraiser, “Saddle Up for Project Help,” on Thursday, July 30, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium on the MTSU campus. Individual tickets for a barbecue dinner, live music and dancing, as well as both a live and silent auction are $50. For ticket information, please call 615-898-2458; for more on Project Help, please visit its Web site at www.mtsu.edu/projecthelp.
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NOTE: Media needing a color Project Help logo or a headshot of Director Susan Waldrop should contact the Office of News and Public Affairs via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385. Thanks!

[492] HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY—MINUS THE FLEAS AND VET BILLS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800

HAPPINESS IS A WARM PUPPY—MINUS THE FLEAS AND VET BILLS
New Class on the Nature of Happiness is Topic of Latest “MTSU on the Record”
(MURFREESBORO) – Everyone seeks the elusive quality of happiness, yet different people define it in different ways. What is the key? Money? Success? Beauty? Sex? Fame? Solitude? Family? Freedom? Great minds through the ages have pondered this matter and arrived at widely varying conclusions.
Dr. Phil Oliver, professor of philosophy, will teach a class titled “The Philosophy of Happiness” at MTSU beginning this fall. He’ll talk about it on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, June 21, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
To hear last week’s program on the future of the national Republican Party, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “June 14, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

[489] STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CLAIBORNE COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 16, 2009
CONTACT: Caneta Hankins, 615-898-2947

STATEWIDE PROGRAM RECOGNIZES CLAIBORNE COUNTY FARM’S CONTRIBUTIONS
J. D. Campbell Farm Brings County’s Tennessee Century Farms Total to 31

(MURFREESBORO)—The J. D. Campbell Farm in Claiborne 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, which is located on the MTSU campus.
According to CHP records, the descendents of the J. D. Campbell Farm may trace their origins to Scotland, where the Campbell clan is an ancient one. This family came to America in the 17th century, traveling through Virginia and North Carolina. As early as the 1790s, they came into in the area that would become Claiborne County, when it was carved from Grainger and Hawkins Counties in 1801.
The farm’s ownership originated in 1821, when two brothers, George Campbell and Barnett Campbell, purchased 75 acres for $100. Barnett married Mary Brooks, and their five children were Louisa, Eldridge, Andrew, John and Toliver.
The next owners of the property were John David Campbell, the 11th son of Eldridge and Emeline Campbell, and his wife Nellie Lanham. They were the parents of Minnie, Media, Pearl, Lon, Roy, Silas, Linnie and Irene. John David Campbell was often referred to as “Dock” because many “neighbors considered him an old-timey animal doctor,” the family reports. He was said to be knowledgeable about plants and herbs that could be used for medicinal purposes and he also served as a doctor for the African Americans.
Nellie, “self-sufficient and hardworking,” was responsible for overseeing the daily activities of the house, planting the garden, sewing clothes, making soap and candles. In addition, she taught the children to read, per the family.
A sawmill was located a few feet from the old farmhouse. On the 75 acres, the family grew a wide variety of crops, including corn, grain, cereal, legumes, peaches, apples and walnuts. They also raised beef and dairy cattle, chickens, turkeys, ducks, wild game and horses.
In 1956, Nellie deeded Bethel Baptist Church an acre of land from the farm. Two years later, Nellie deeded the old farmhouse and the surrounding acreage to daughter Media. Media owned the property until 1987 when she was severely burned in an accident and died from her injuries. After Media’s death, her five children divided the property; however, Norma Faye Whitaker Lanham bought out her other siblings.
Today, Norma Faye Whitaker Lanham and husband William B. Lanham continue to own and live in a house they built in 1983 on the property. Their daughter, Teresa L. Lanham Wamsher, and their oldest grandson, Christopher, live in the old farmhouse.
Faye and William also continue to work the land and operate a greenhouse known as Lanham’s Greenhouse. In the greenhouse, perennial and annual flowers and a variety of garden vegetables including beans, tomatoes, potatoes and corn, are grown.

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Faye sells many of the plants and vegetables at local markets. Bill and Faye write that farming “is full of rewards for them, their family and their community.”
The J. D. Campbell Farm, now 188 years old, is the 31st Century Farm to be certified in Claiborne County, Hankins confirmed.

About the Century Farms Program

The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. Since 1984, the CHP 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 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.
“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, please visit its Web site at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres. The Center for Historic Preservation also may be contacted via mail at Box 80, MTSU, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132, or by telephone at 615-898-2947.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: To interview the farm’s owners or request a jpeg of the property, please contact the CHP directly at 615-898-2947.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

[487] THE “ELEPHANT” IN THE ROOM THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 11, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800

THE “ELEPHANT” IN THE ROOM THAT EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT
Dr. Robb McDaniel Analyzes the Republicans’ Future on “MTSU on the Record”
(MURFREESBORO) - U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is now a Democrat. Most respondents in a recent poll see Rush Limbaugh as the voice of the Republican Party. If it isn’t Limbaugh, is it Sarah Palin? Mitt Romney? Newt Gingrich? Can the minority party regain its footing in time for the 2010 Congressional elections? Should Republicans emphasize the conservative values of their base or attempt to expand the base by moderating their positions?
Dr. Robb McDaniel, associate professor of political science, will discuss the search for leadership and direction in the GOP on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue at 7 a.m. this Sunday, June 14, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
To hear last week’s program on the CSI camp slated for June 16-19, go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “June 7, 2009.” For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

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Tuesday, June 09, 2009

[484] MTSU ARCHIVIST HELPS PRESERVE MEMPHIS MINISTER’S LEGACY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MTSU ARCHIVIST HELPS PRESERVE MEMPHIS MINISTER’S LEGACY
Martin Fisher Digitizes Historic Recordings of Amateur Audio and Video Buff

(MURFREESBORO) – Martin Fisher, Manager of Recorded Music Collections at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music, will be among those making presentations on the legacy of Rev. Lonzie Odie Taylor at a reception for invited guests from 5-8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, at the Center for Southern Folklore, 119 S. Main at Peabody Place Trolley Stop, in Memphis.
The reception is a prelude to the launch of the new online exhibit “TAYLOR MADE: The Life and Work of the Rev. L.O. Taylor.” The minister was a Renaissance man whose talents as a photographer, filmmaker, writer, recording artist and producer—all from his home “studio”—made him an invaluable chronicler of life in the African-American community of Memphis.
Taylor, who lived from 1900-1977, “purchased the newest available cameras and recording equipment from the 1920s to the 1950s to document his neighbors and friends who opened their homes, churches, business(es) and events to him,” according to www.southernfolklore.com. “His heart is evident in his choice of subjects: graduations, opening(s) of businesses, travels to National Baptist Conventions and numerous church services and religious musical recordings.”
Fisher’s hobby is making contemporary recordings with original Edison phonograph equipment onto cylinders that have a chemical composition similar to those of the Edison era. He displays this talent at arts and crafts festivals and folk festivals throughout the South. Fisher’s role in the preservation of artifacts in the exhibit was to transfer 90 audio lacquer disc recordings produced by Taylor to a digital format.
Taylor made his recordings of people, music and church services with a portable unit like a Presto Recording Machine, speculates Fisher. The stylus of the Presto was heated by a coil of wire wrapped around it.
“The heated stylus was gently lowered onto the spinning lacquer disc and the recording would begin,” Fisher writes for the exhibit. The masters would be recorded at speeds of either 33-and-a-third or 78 rpm (revolutions per minute) and placed on a



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Webster Model 60 record player, which would feed the recording unit for production of a 12-inch, 78 rpm copy.
“Taylor’s recording skills were extremely good,” Fisher writes. “His ‘master’ recordings probably sounded wonderful before all the wear they received from playing and copying.”
The Taylor exhibit will go online to the general public on Wednesday, June 10, at www.southernfolklore.com. It will include not only audio recordings of music, speeches and intimate moments but also photographs and films. For more information on the exhibit, call 901-525-3655.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For black-and-white jpeg photos of Rev. L.O. Taylor, contact Gina Logue in the MTSU Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu.

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

[483] BLOOD, HAIR, FIBERS—SOUNDS LIKE A FUN SUMMER AT “CSI: MTSU”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 3, 2009
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081; WMOT-FM, 615-898-2800

BLOOD, HAIR, FIBERS—SOUNDS LIKE A FUN SUMMER AT “CSI: MTSU”
Dr. Hugh Berryman Separates Truth from Television on “MTSU on the Record”

(MURFREESBORO) - One of the most unique summer camps anywhere, “CSI: MTSU,” gives high school students a chance to explore the fascinating world of forensic science. Dr. Hugh Berryman, forensic anthropologist and founder of the Forensic Institute for Research and Education, will talk about this summer’s event at 7 a.m. this Sunday, June 7, on “MTSU on the Record” with host Gina Logue on WMOT-FM (89.5 and wmot.org).
From June 16-19, campers will be divided into teams, each with a qualified professional, and inspect “crime scenes,” using math and science to solve the crimes. They’ll learn about DNA, fingerprints, hair and fiber evidence, simulated blood spatter, shoe prints and methods for processing the evidence.
For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800. To listen to last week’s program on “Citizenship and Community in a Globalized World,” go to http://frank.mtsu.edu/~proffice/podcast2009.html and click on “May 31, 2009.”

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