[223] History of housing discrimination topic of next ‘MTSU On the Record’

MURFREESBORO — The next edition of the “MTSU On the Record” radio program outlines how America’s tortured history of racial discrimination continues to ripple through society.

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Louis Woods, an associate professor of history, will air from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, and from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 30, on WMOT-FM (89.5 and www.wmot.org).

In a paper published in “The Journal of African-American History,” Woods details the bureaucratic policies and U.S. Supreme Court decisions that made it almost impossible for blacks to get home loans between 1917 and 1960.

Another Woods paper, co-written with Mary Shaw-Ridley and Charlotte A. Woods for the journal “Health Promotion Practice,” makes the connection between systemic housing segregation and the deterioration of African-Americans’ physical and mental health.

“If you’re trying to intervene in communities that have very little wealth based largely on policies that they didn’t control, that happened before some of their grandparents were alive, but still resonate within their family and their conditions, it’s very difficult … to argue to them that they just need to walk more,” Woods said.

To listen to previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, go to http://www.mtsunews.com/ontherecord/.

For more information, contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

[222] MTSU ‘salutes’ veterans with Nov. 22 game-day activities

MURFREESBORO — MTSU will serve as host for the 33^rd annual Salute to Armed Services and Veterans Day Saturday, Nov. 22, in Floyd Stadium and other nearby venues.

The activities, which will begin with the Veterans’ Memorial Service at 2 p.m., will be a prelude to the 6 p.m. kickoff for the Conference USA football game between MTSU and Florida Atlantic University.

The Salute to Armed Services events pay tribute to the men and women who serve or who have served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. The Blue Raiders want you to join them in one of the nation’s longest-running veterans’ celebrations.

Various streets near the stadium will be blocked. To locate parking, a printable campus map can be found at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking14-15.

All veterans and their families will receive complimentary tickets to the game. The tickets will be available during the Veterans’ Picnic, which will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. near the Rose and Emmett Kennon Hall of Fame next to Murphy Center.

The day will be filled with numerous events for veterans, including:

• 2 p.m. Veterans’ Memorial Service at the MTSU Veterans’ Memorial outside the Tom H. Jackson Building. Many-Bears Grinder, commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs, will be the featured speaker;

• 2:45 to 4:45 p.m. silent auction benefiting A Soldier’s Child inside Kennon Hall of Fame. Items will include an autographed guitar from the ABC television show “Nashville;” an autographed fiddle from country music legend Charlie Daniels; a signed Salute to Armed Services edition MTSU football helmet; and Mizuno golf clubs;

3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Veterans’ Picnic featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies and drinks. The game tickets for vets and their families are courtesy of State Farm and Barrett Firearms.

4 p.m. presentation of the Joe Nunley Award at the Kennon Hall of Fame. This year’s recipients will all be World War II veterans. The award is named for the late Nunley, a World War II vet who was an MTSU education professor beginning in 1961 and who retired as alumni director in 1987. He died in 1993; and

4:30 p.m. start for the Vets Village, which will be located in Floyd Stadium’s Gate 3. Presented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, the village will provide vets and their families with opportunities to obtain information and receive answers to questions. 

JT Cooper will perform the national anthem. Skydivers will deliver the game ball. At halftime, the more than 300-member Band of Blue will perform special patriotic music as veterans march across Horace Jones Field with other members of their service branches.

Fans attending the game are requested to bring new toy donations for the Toys for Tots collection bins. Duiring pregame and at the beginning of each of the four quarters, each of the respective branches of military will be recognized.

Textbook Brokers will be offering 20 percent off any one item with the purchase of the Salute to Armed Services game-day T-shirt.

Participating organizations include MTSU ROTC, Toys for Tots, State Farm Military Affinity Group, BRAVO (Blue Raider American Veterans Organization), USAA Military Affairs, School of Agribusiness and Agriscience, Vet Tix, Fisher House and Dr. Joe Nunley Award Committee.

Other participating organizations include Rutherford County, Wounded Warriors, Veterans Affairs, VA Nashville, MTSU Veterans Affairs coordinator, Veterans Group-Shelbyville, Vietnam Veteran Chapter 10, Brand Mortgage, A Soldier’s Child, Tennessee National Guard and VFW/American Legion.

For more information or to order tickets, call 1-888-937-6878.

[221] Retired Army officer discusses leadership Nov. 20 at MTSU

MURFREESBORO — As part of the MTSU College of Liberal Arts Military Lecture Series, retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith M. Huber will speak at MTSU this week.

Huber, who lives in Franklin, Tennessee, will share “Thoughts on Leadership: Lessons Learned Over a 40-year Career in the Military” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Simmons Amphitheater (Room 106) of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.

The event is free and open to the public. A printable campus map can be found at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking14-15.

Huber served 38 years in the U.S. Army as an infantry and special forces officer.

His many and varied experiences during his service in both combat and peace provide him a unique perspective on the art of leadership and leading people and organizations, said Hilary Miller, manager of recruitment and resources in the College of Liberal Arts and a member of the MTSU Veterans Committee.

Huber spoke during the MTSU ROTC spring awards event April 29 in Keathley University Center Theater.

A reception will follow Huber’s presentation, which is co-sponsored by BRAVO or Blue Raider American Veterans Organization, the University Honors College and Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society.

[220] MTSU welcomes music historian for ‘Hillbilly to Rockabilly’ Nov. 21 multimedia lecture

MURFREESBORO — Music producer, historian and educator Jerry Zolten will link artists like Uncle Dave Macon and Bill Monroe to musicians like Elvis Presley and his contemporaries in a special lecture, “From Hillbilly to Rockabilly: The Country Roots of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Friday, Nov. 21, at MTSU’s Center for Popular Music.

The free public lecture is set from 11 a.m. to noon in the center’s reading room, located in Room 140 of MTSU’s Bragg Mass Communication Building.

A searchable campus map with parking notes is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParking14-15.

Zolten, producer of the Grammy-winning Fairfield Four and author of “Great God A’Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music,” is an associate professor of communication arts and sciences and American studies at the Pennsylvania State University at Altoona.

Among his specialties is American roots music, which also is a specialty of MTSU’s Center for Popular Music.

The center, established in 1985 by the Tennessee Board of Regents as one of 16 Centers of Excellence across the TBR system, is devoted to the study and scholarship of popular music in America.

Its staff maintains a unique archive of research materials that spans shaped-note songbooks to hip-hop mash-ups in a collection stretching from the early 18th century to the present.

The Center for Popular Music also develops and sponsors programs in American vernacular music and regularly presents special concerts, lectures and events for the campus community.

Zolten’s Nov. 21 MTSU talk will include historic performance clips of artists such as Jimmie Rodgers, Macon and Monroe and show how they pointed the way to supercharged rockers such as Presley, Carl Perkins and the like.

Zolten also is set to present the lecture at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in downtown Nashville. That talk will be included in the $24.95 museum admission price.

For more information on the Nov. 21 lecture at MTSU, email the Center for Popular Music at popular.music@mtsu.edu.

[219] Free MTSU Guardian app turns cell phone into virtual escort

MTSU students, faculty and staff can download a free app that turns their cell phone into a virtual security guard while they’re on campus.

The MTSU Rave Guardian is a free mobile app available on iTunes and Google Play that students, faculty and staff can sign up for using their MTSU email addresses.

The app transforms a mobile phone into a personal safety device by setting up a virtual safety network of friends, family and campus police. Features include:

• A panic button — direct immediate connection to campus police with GPS location and personal profile information in case of emergency.
• Personal guardians — Users can identify friends, roommates and family as ‘guardians’ along with campus police. Users also can set timers. During a timer session, their guardians and campus police can check their status. If the timer is not deactivated before it expires, University Police is automatically provided with the user’s profile to proactively identify and check-in on the individual.
• Sending tips — Users can also send tips, including photos, to campus police if they see something suspicious on campus.

Whenever students, faculty or staff connect with University Police from their mobile phone, the app automatically delivers a complete caller profile — including current location, medical conditions, course schedule, addresses, campus ID photo and other critical data.

While the MTSU campus remains a very safe environment, University Police Chief Buddy Peaster encourages the campus community to take advantage of the app as an added layer of protection and safety.

“The MTSU Rave Guardian puts important information and campus police assistance at your fingertips,” Peaster said. “Staying safe on campus means partnering with MTSU to make technology and police services work for you. MTSU Rave Guardian does just that.”

To get the app, for iPhones go to iTunes or to Google Play for Androids.

For more information about MTSU Rave Guardian, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions, go to http://police.mtsu.edu/guardian.php.

The MTSU Rave Guardian app is separate from the MTSU Alert4U emergency notification system, which sends text, email, and/or voice alerts regarding campus emergencies to those in the system.

All staff, faculty and students at MTSU are entered into the MTSU Alert4U emergency notification system. They are automatically signed up for this service with their university email address.

For more information about the emergency notification system, go to http://www.mtsu.edu/alert4u/