MTSU News Summary for December 2001
The following is a summary of major news activities at MTSU divided into National, Metropolitan, and Local, and further broken down as follows: Administrative, Athletics, Basic and Applied Sciences, Business, Education and Behavioral Science, Liberal Arts, Mass Communication, and Student Affairs.
The last category is General Interest and may include a broad spectrum of programs and people, encompassing such areas as alumni, public safety, graduate programs, human interest, special celebrations, concerts, etc.NATIONAL NEWS

Basic and Applied Sciences
The Washington Post highlighted MTSU’s Concrete Industry Management program.
Business
Dr. William Ford, Weatherford Chair of Finance, predicted at least a 2 percent increase in same-store retail sales for the entire 32-day holiday shopping period, according to P.R. Newswire.
Ford told P.R. Newswire that Thanksgiving weekend same-store retail sales went up 2.3 percent.
Ford told P.R. Newswire that the modest 2.2 percent pre-Christmas spending surge was good, given the events of Sept. 11.
Page Two
Liberal Arts
Dr. Ted Sherman, English, talked with the L.A. Weekly and the Oakland Press about J.R.R. Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
The Salem, Mass., Public Library Newsletter noted that Sherman would speak there on "The Mystery of Tolkien."
Pensions and Investments, a trade publication, reported that former Vice President Al Gore will continue to teach at MTSU in addition to his new job for a Los Angeles financial services firm.
Mass Communication
The Chronicle of Higher Education printed a photo of the license plate of Dr. Paul Fischer, recording industry. (It reads, "DOCROCK.")
Student Affairs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution printed MTSU student Pablo Ahogado's reaction to the death of former Beatle George Harrison.

METROPOLITAN NEWS
Administration
The Tennessean reported that MTSU has received enough money to complete its Honors College building without a $250,000 allocation from the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board.
The Andrew Woodfin Miller Foundation donated $250,000 to MTSU for construction of an Honors College, reported The Tennessean.
MTSU President Sidney McPhee says the university will break ground on the site of the new Honors College in the next few months, reported The Tennessean and WMOT-FM.
McPhee told The Tennessean that he has asked the committee charged with searching for a new athletic director to examine the candidates' backgrounds thoroughly.
Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Barbara Haskew told the Chattanooga Times-Free Press that she commutes more than 100 miles from her home on Elder Mountain to her job at MTSU.
Athletics
Darrin Malone of Smyrna said in a letter to The Tennessean that MTSU should be included in a proposed "Governor's Cup" basketball event involving Memphis and the University of Tennessee.
Basic and Applied Sciences
Tennessee Concrete Magazine printed a photo taken during construction of the Concrete Industry Management parking lot on the front cover of its December issue.
Page Three (Metro, Basic and Applied Sciences, cont'd.)
Dr. Thomas Hemmerly, biology, told The Tennessean about the research he has conducted on mistletoe over the past 20 years.
WMOT-FM, The Tennessean, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, and the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal noted that Federal Express is donating a 727 to MTSU's aerospace program.
Dr. Stephen Wright, biology, told the DNJ that the combined stress of the holidays, Sept. 11, and everyday difficulties can lower the body's resistance to illness.
Dr. Stephen Krau, nursing, explained the difference between flu symptoms and anthrax symptoms in the Lewis County Herald.
Judy Campbell, nursing, talked with the DNJ about teaching the "Baby Boom" generation to be caregivers to senior citizens.

Business
Dr. William Ford, Weatherford Chair of Finance, told the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and WMOT-FM that Thanksgiving weekend same-store retail sales went up 2.3 percent.
In a separate article, Ford told the Chattanooga Times-Free Press that same-store Christmas sales should be up 2 percent nationwide.
The Chattanooga Times-Free Press quoted Ford as telling the State Funding Board that it would be "ludicrous" to combine a state income tax with sales tax exemptions for food and clothing.
Ford told P.R. Newswire that sales dropped only four-tenths of a percent after the Thanksgiving upturn.
The Tennessean printed a photo of attendees at the International Economic Summit sponsored by MTSU.
Middle Tennesseans’ confidence in the economy went up from October to November, according to a poll by MTSU’s Office of Consumer Research, reported The Tennessean.
Leighton Bush, an inductee into the Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame, was featured in The Tennessee Agent, an insurance industry publication.
Dr. Albert DePrince, Business and Economic Research Center, told the State Funding Board that the economy will recover during the second and third quarters of next year, reported The Tennessean and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
According to The Tennessean, the November unemployment rate leads DePrince to believe the worst may be over.
DePrince told The Tennessean that Middle Tennessee might have nothing more than a growth recession if the national recession ends in March.
The Tennessean reported that MTSU's Small Business Development Center will sponsor an employment law workshop on interviewing and hiring procedures.
Education and Behavioral Science
The Tennessean and WMOT-FM previewed the grand opening of MTSU’s Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia.
Page Four (Metro, Education and Behavioral Science, cont'd.)
Dr. Pat Nation, sociology and anthropology, said arsonists set fires to give themselves a "sense of power," reported the Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
Dr. Doug Winborn, HPERS, told the Lewis County Herald that smokers who want to quit should prepare and plan.
Liberal Arts
Dr. Mark Byrnes, political science and president of MTSU’s Phi Kappa Phi chapter, was interviewed by WGOW-AM/FM and WLAC-AM about former Vice President Al Gore’s induction into the honor society.
WMOT-FM reported that Gore would be inducted into Phi Kappa Phi.
WTVF-TV showed videotape of Gore’s induction ceremony.
The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, The Tennessean, and WMOT-FM reported that MTSU has commissioned Dr. Tony Badger of Cambridge University to write a biography of Albert Gore Sr.
WMOT-FM interviewed Dr. John Vile, chairman, political science, on a new ad campaign being planned by the Democratic Party.
MTSU's Center for Historic Preservation is looking for any remaining slave dwellings in Tennessee to find out more about how slaves were treated, reported WMOT-FM.
WMOT-FM reported that MTSU's mock mediation team placed third in an annual national collegiate competition.

Mass Communication
Commentaries by Dr. Larry Burriss, journalism, on WMOT-FM covered the changing nature of language and a possible rewriting of the Bill of Rights.
Renee Grant-Williams, who has given vocal instruction to Faith Hill, Christina Aguilera, and other singing stars, spoke with MTSU recording industry students about vocal techniques, reported WMOT-FM.
Student Affairs
MTSU student Andy Johnson was dismissed from his job as a Rutherford County substitute teacher for using profanity and locking students in a storage closet, reported The Tennessean.

General Interest
The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal and the Knoxville News-Sentinel covered a panel discussion on terrorism and civil liberties at MTSU.
The Tennessean reported that bullets struck MTSU’s Kappa Alpha house and two cars, but no one was injured.
The Tennessean interviewed Addie Wright about the scholarship fund created at MTSU in her late daughter's name.

Page Five (Metro, General Interest, cont'd.)
NewsChannel5+ interviewed Drs. Robert Wyatt, Teresa Mastin and Ken Blake, journalism, on the results of the latest MT Poll.
Lewis Laska's column in the Nashville Business Journal noted that MTSU has a 58 percent yield ratio, which is the percentage of students admitted who show up for freshman registration.


LOCAL NEWS
Administration
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette, the (Memphis) Commercial Appeal, the Dyersburg State Gazette, the Cleveland Daily Banner, the Athens Post-Athenian, the Oak Ridger, the Paris Post-Intelligencer, the Cookeville Herald-Citizen, and the Morristown Citizen Tribune reported that MTSU’s adjunct professors are demanding pay increases.
The Neill-Sandler Scholars program will hold its fourth annual Strive for Excellence banquet in April, according to the Smithville Review.
The Lewisburg Tribune, the Cookeville Herald-Citizen, and the DNJ Business Pulse reported that Cingular Wireless gave $100,000 to MTSU’s Honors College.
An anonymous donor gave $250,000 to the Honors College, according to the Tullahoma News and the Lewisburg Tribune.
The DNJ Business Pulse noted that the MTSU Library was renamed the James E. Walker Library in honor of former MTSU President James E. Walker.
MTSU President Sidney McPhee was named the DNJ Business Pulse’s Feature Member of the Month.
McPhee's selection as MTSU president was ninth on the DNJ's list of the top 10 stories of 2001.
McPhee and MTSU Foundation President Bill Jones were named to the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, according to the DNJ Business Pulse.
The Tennessee Higher Education Commission is under review by a panel of state lawmakers and gubernatorial appointees, according to the DNJ.
THEC representatives say MTSU probably won't be able to establish Ph.D. programs until the state's budget crisis is resolved, according to the DNJ.
A DNJ editorial blasted THEC for saying MTSU must put its plans for Ph.D. programs on hold.
McPhee says MTSU should be allowed to create Ph.D. programs regardless of the state's budget problems, reported the DNJ.
Undergraduate enrollment at MTSU has gone up 28.6 percent this fall over the fall of 1991 compared with 5 percent statewide, THEC director of academic programs Brian Noland told the DNJ.
A DNJ editorial urged the Rutherford County Commission to give money toward the construction of MTSU’s Honors College building.Page Six (Local, Administration, cont'd.)
The DNJ reported that MTSU has received enough money to complete its Honors College building without a $250,000 allocation from the Rutherford County Industrial Development Board.
The Andrew Woodfin Miller Foundation donated $250,000 to MTSU for construction of an Honors College, reported the DNJ.
The DNJ noted that the Honors College will be named for the program's first graduate, Paul W. Martin.
A DNJ editorial hailed the successful completion of the Honors College construction fund-raising drive.
Pedro Garcia, director, Metro Nashville Public Schools, will deliver the commencement address at MTSU’s graduation, according to the DNJ and the Lewisburg Gazette.
Dr. Bill Badley, director, general studies and professor of developmental writing, told the DNJ that students will lose elective course options if the state reduces the number of credit hours required for a bachelor's degree.
A DNJ editorial indicated the Tennessee Board of Regents' plan to eliminate remedial programs in five years could work to the detriment of some of MTSU's nontraditional students.
The DNJ noted the passing of Dr. Cliff Gillespie, the arrest of a suspect in the 1984 slaying of an MTSU freshman, and the university's achievement of more than 20,000 students enrolled in an editorial reviewing the events of 2001.

Athletics
MTSU President Sidney McPhee is getting closer to naming a new athletic director, according to the DNJ.
A letter from Fred Walther to the DNJ opined that MTSU needs an athletic director who can rally support.
Basic and Applied Sciences
MTSU is cooperating with a new statewide program to increase industry awareness of Tennessee beef cattle, according to the Cleveland Daily Banner, the Lenoir City News-Herald, the Trenton Herald-Gazette, the Lewis County Herald and the Dayton Herald-News.
MTSU experts in geography and geology and health care went to South Africa over the summer to participate in relief efforts there, reported the DNJ.
Dr. Stephen Wright, biology, told the DNJ he "thinks we are over the hump" regarding the national anthrax scare.
Dr. George Garrison of the University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma says UTSI is forming alliances with MTSU and other "institutes of technology," according to the Winchester Herald-Chronicle.
The DNJ, the Paris Post-Intelligencer and the Johnson City Press noted that Federal Express is donating a 727 to MTSU's aerospace program.
Dr. Melissa Schrift, sociology and anthropology, told the DNJ that the post-Sept. 11 reaction to terrorism "calls for a greater range of responses than just flag-waving."
Page Seven (Local, Basic and Applied Sciences, cont'd.)
MTSU could receive $525,000 in federal funding over the next three years for math, science and technology training, reported the Jackson Sun.
Dr. Thomas Hemmerly, biology, has conducted research on mistletoe over the past 20 years, reported the Johnson City Press and the Franklin Review-Appeal.

Business
A report by MTSU’s Business and Economic Research Center predicts the Sept. 11 attacks on America will overshadow the Middle Tennessee economy, making it hard to predict economic trends, according to the Ardmore Community Shopper.
The Lewisburg Tribune noted that the National Association of Sales Professionals donated $1000 to the sales and marketing program at MTSU.
Dr. William Ford, Weatherford Chair of Finance, told the DNJ that retail sales in the Southeast led the entire nation over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Ford also told the DNJ that sales dropped only four-tenths of a percent after the Thanksgiving upturn.
Holiday shopping grew 1.8 percent% in the few days just prior to a final surge, Ford told the DNJ.
The DNJ reported that Ford said Tennessee's holiday retail sales were 2.7 percent higher than last year.
Martha Turner, director, Career and Employment Center, told the DNJ that employers offered MTSU graduates 15 percent lower entry-level salaries than last year.
Dr. Albert DePrince, director, Business and Economic Research Center, said the Sept. 11 attacks on America partially caused a rise in unemployment in October, reported the Johnson City Press, the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, the Jackson Sun and the Oak Ridger.
"The worst may be behind us," said DePrince regarding the November unemployment rate, reported the Jackson Sun.
DePrince said Tennessee’s economy, especially the Middle Tennessee economy, is stronger than in other parts of the country, according to the Gallatin News-Examiner.
In a column in the Gallatin News-Examiner, DePrince said the Middle Tennessee economic forecast will be complicated by the events of Sept. 11.
In two separate columns in Nashville Westview, state Representative Bob Bogen cited data prepared by MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center as justification for the implementation of impact fees or development fees in Metro Nashville/Davidson County.
Dr. Kenneth Hollman, Martin Chair of Insurance, told the Lewisburg Tribune that collegiate training could be "the most effective way to enhance the prestige of the insurance business."
The Elk Valley Times printed a photo of the National Association of Sales Professionals' donation of $1,000 to the sales and marketing program at MTSU.

Education and Behavioral Science
Tom Tozer, director, media relations, was interviewed on WGNS-AM about the grand opening of MTSU’s Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia.
Page Eight (Local, Education and Behavioral Science, cont'd.)
Rutherford Parent previewed the grand opening of the center.
The DNJ covered the grand opening and printed an editorial praising the center.
The DNJ also profiled Dr. Diane Sawyer, chair, Katherine Davis Murfree Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies.
Dr. Janice Hayes, educational leadership, received a $10,000 award from the National Education Association Foundation for the Improvement of Education, according to the DNJ.
Dr. Pat Nation, sociology and anthropology, said arsonists set fires to give themselves a "sense of power," reported the Kingsport Times-News, the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, the Johnson City Press, and the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.
DNJ columnist Nancy Duggin wrote that MTSU's Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia "houses state-of-the-art equipment and is staffed with highly skilled and knowledgeable educators."
In another DNJ column, Duggin cited Katherine Davis Murfree, namesake of the Chair of Excellence in Dyslexic Studies at MTSU, as an example of the ability of one person to make a difference.
Dr. Gloria Bonner, dean, Education and Behavioral Studies, told the DNJ that the low salaries paid to teachers could be due partially to the number of women in the profession.
Liberal Arts
The Shelbyville Times-Gazette and the Tullahoma News previewed a workshop on "How to Be Published" by Michael Garrett, MTSU fiction writing instructor and Stephen King’s first editor and publisher.
Garrett has published a suspense novel entitled "Keeper," reported the Marshall Gazette.
MTSU’s production of Shakespeare’s "The Comedy of Errors" was previewed in the Shelbyville Times-Gazette and the Lewisburg Tribune.
A DNJ editorial praised senior Daniel Brunner for placing a 13-foot question mark sculpture in front of MTSU's Art Barn.
Robert Mirabal will perform Native American music at MTSU, according to the Columbia Daily Herald and the Marshall Gazette.
Dr. Carroll Van West, associate professor, Center for Historic Preservation, has written "Tennessee's New Deal Landscape: A Guidebook," which highlights more than 250 historic sites created between 1933 and 1942 in Tennessee, noted the Dickson Herald.
MTSU’s Albert Gore Sr. Research Center has commissioned a Cambridge professor to write a scholarly biography about Albert Gore Sr., according to the DNJ, the Crossville Chronicle, the Paris Post-Intelligencer and the Lewisburg Tribune.
Student Affairs
MTSU student Daniel Brunner placed his sculpture, a 13-foot question mark, in front of the art barn for critiquing by faculty, reported the DNJ.
The DNJ covered the official lighting of the sculpture.
Page Nine (Local, Student Affairs, cont'd.)

The DNJ reported that MTSU students Reggie Grisham, Daniel Whaley, Matt Worley and Brandon Armstrong performed with the Tennessee Philharmonic at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre.
MTSU senior Susan Shemwell was shown shoveling new bedding for the stables at the Tennessee Livestock Center in a photo in the DNJ.
The Franklin Review-Appeal noted that Scenic America has named the Harpeth River Valley one of America’s "Last Chance Landscapes" following an application by MTSU doctoral candidate Mary Allison Haynie.
MTSU recording industry major Chad Holt is one of several individuals who will carry the Olympic torch through Nashville, reported the Rutherford Courier and the DNJ.
Daniel O'Brien and his mother, Tina, graduated MTSU on the same day, according to the DNJ.
Some 1,175 students received their diplomas at commencement at Murphy Center, reported the DNJ and the Tullahoma News.
Congressman Bart Gordon (D-Murfreesboro) told the DNJ that low-income MTSU students should be able to receive additional financial aid through the Pell Grant program in 2002.

General Interest
The readers of Rutherford Parent gave MTSU third-place honors for its Developmental Play Program and its Tutoring/Learning Service in the magazine’s "Best of Parenting 2001" Awards.
MTSU is offering a class on chemical, biological and radiation challenges though the division of continuing studies and public service, according to the Lebanon Democrat and the Tullahoma News.
The Lafollette Press reported that Macon County High School biology teacher Peggy Stephens is a winner of the "Apple 4 The Teacher" award co-sponsored by MTSU.
In a letter to the DNJ, Betty Rowland of Eagleville thanked MTSU and the American Heart Association for placing a defibrillator in the campus recreation center, where it was used to save her husband’s life.
The DNJ reported that bullets struck MTSU’s Kappa Alpha house and two cars, but no one was injured.
Phi Kappa Phi, the oldest honor society in the U.S., will induct former vice president and MTSU faculty member Al Gore, reported the DNJ.
The DNJ also covered the induction ceremony.
In a letter to the DNJ, Mrs. A.J. Ray described Gore's induction as "demeaning to the hard-working students who have earned membership into PKP."
V. Dawn Shelar, coordinator, recreation and leisure services, told the DNJ that modern medicine, healthier habits and cultural and spiritual involvement have helped increased the number of centenarians in the U.S.
The DNJ spotlighted the Home Pittard Campus School, which is owned by MTSU.
Ron Reasonover, project coordinator, Center for Energy Efficiency, was quoted in the DNJ about the difficulties of adopting Romanian children.
Page Ten (Local, General Interest, cont'd.)
A poll by MTSU’s Office of Communications Research shows that 59 percent of Tennesseans believe there is a budget crisis in the state, according to the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle, the Lewisburg Tribune and the Jackson Sun.
The Paris Post-Intelligencer, the Lebanon Democrat, the Kingsport Times-News, the Knoxville News-Sentinel, the Cleveland Daily Banner and the Johnson City Press reported on an MTSU panel discussion on terrorism and civil liberties.
The Franklin Review-Appeal printed a photo of the first-place foursome in the MTSU Weatherford Chair of Finance Golf Scramble Tournament, which raises money for scholarships and other chair-related activities .
The DNJ noted that Dr. Kenneth Hollman, Martin Chair of Insurance, has penned a book titled "The Way We Said It in Loretto," a compilation of colorful expressions he learned growing up in Loretto, Tenn.
The DNJ ranked the arrest of a suspect in the 1984 slaying of an MTSU freshman number four in its top 10 stories of 2001.