[550] In the News: WGNS radio features MTSU foreign language institute, bicycle safety, alum’s book on college life

  

Guests included:

• Dr. Shelley Thomas, founder of the MTSU Summer Language Institute, and employee Ahmad Jadeeni, a Fulbright scholar at MTSU in 2008 who teaches Arabic at the institute. 

They discussed the 2013 Summer Language Institute at MTSU’s Center for Accelerated Language Acquisition. The 11th annual institute is offering weeklong courses in multiple languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Latin classes along with Spanish and French instruction.

Training also will be offered in methodology, which helps teachers of young students learning English as a foreign or second language.

Deadline to register for the July classes is Monday, July 1. Read more here: http://mtsunews.com/summer-language-2013/.

• Josh Stone, associate director of recreation programs for MTSU Campus Recreation and coordinator of the campus’ bicycle safety initiatives.

Stone discussed bicycle safety on the MTSU campus and beyond as well as the university’s use of grants to enhance its bicycle rental program and provide students with reflective gear to make them more visible at night.

MTSU is trying to spread the word to student bicyclists and others about the importance of following the proper rules of the road as well as being very visible at night when riding on campus and city streets.

For more information about the MTSU bicycling program, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/camprec/cycling/index.php.

• Alumnus (’79) Michael Mc Donald, ordained minister and author of the book “College Life 101.”

Mc Donald discussed an updated edition of his book “College Life 101,” which he wrote to help guide young college-bound high school seniors through the transition into higher education with helpful tips/advice on how to make good choices.

His advice stems from his own college experience but also from his experience as an adjunct professor at Tennessee State and Belmont universities. To gather his nuggets of advice, he sent out a questionnaire to students and found common threads in their responses.

His first edition, released in 2004, was Christian-based and is still available. His second edition was a secular edition released in 2011 and addresses issues such as cyberspace and technology that young students increasingly face.

For more information about the book, email Mc Donald at mcdon6mch@aol.com.