SHOWING THE LOVE - MTSU student Nick Mabry ponders how quickly life can change for good as she prepares to donate a kidney to her boyfriend. photo by Ken Robinson

Life-saving quest leads to new love

By Gina K. Logue

Each Feb. 14, many women give men their hearts. This Feb. 22, Nik Mabry also will give her man a kidney.

The 21-year-old English and theatre double major became intrigued with organ donation last year after the death of a friend and high school bandmate in Clarksville, Tenn. Joey Ansberry died in a wreck on Aug. 11, 2004—his 18th birthday. While an organ transplant wouldn’t have saved Joey, Nik had discussed the subject with him at some length.

The product of a hardscrabble childhood in Sandy Hook, Ky., Angela Nicole Mabry grew up without electricity or indoor plumbing. Her father used a mule to plow the fields; he worked at a brickyard before disability ended that job. Her parents divorced when she was in third grade, and she moved with her mother, brother and stepfather to Clarksville. After two years at Western Kentucky University, Nik moved to Nashville and transferred to MTSU.

In an Aug. 20, 2004 blog entry, she wrote, "I feel like I’m sounding rediculous (sic) … like I’m anxious to give my body away … but I’d just really like to find a way to help someone in need if I can only find out how."

The next day, a Vance, Ala., woman named Maggie responded to Nik’s blog. She wrote that her 22-year-old son, Jesse, needed a kidney.

"I don’t think you are riduculous (sic)," Maggie assured Nik. "I think you are a caring person, just like everyone else on here."

Earlier blog entries had revealed that in January 2002, Jesse Boyd developed disturbing physical symptoms—shivering, unusually pale skin, headaches, seizures. Initial misdiagnoses ranged from nerve problems to drug abuse. Jesse’s brushes with death propelled his mother into a frantic search for answers.

Jesse went into renal failure at a Tuscaloosa hospital and had to be transported to University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital, where he was diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic pupura (TTP), a rare and deadly blood disease. The illness played havoc with his kidneys. The formerly athletic young man began dialysis treatments, which he still endures three times each week.

Only 14 days before the crisis, Jesse had signed his organ donor card. The TTP diagnosis rendered it worthless.

Both of Jesse’s parents are diabetic. They could not be tested. His brother was not an organ donor match. Maggie’s pleas to an Internet audience only strengthened Nik’s resolve to be tested in order to help Jesse.

"It would be so wonderful for my son to be able to have a semi-normal life," Maggie wrote. "For anyone to have to have dialysis done in this day and age of modern medicine is awful, but people don’t know how much easier it is to become a donor than it was years ago."

Maggie was correct, according to Carol Smith, coordinator, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, and a former researcher for the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) in Richmond, Va., for six years.

"Five to 10 years ago, organ donation was a relatively new phenomenon and the donors were primarily family members," Smith says. "There is a huge discrepancy between the number of donors and the number of organs needed, and it’s primarily due to the lack of donors."

According to the UNOS Web site, more than 87,000 people are on a waiting list for donor organs. As of Oct. 2004, 22,555 transplants had been performed and 11,762 donors had been registered.

"I don’t understand why people wouldn’t do it (donate organs) if they can," Nik says.

Why don’t more people step forward?

"I feel that some people say, ‘Hey, don’t tempt fate,’" Smith says. "Some of it is pure distrust. Also, there’s a certain mystique about medicine, and people are afraid of what they don’t understand."

All Maggie understood was that her son was dying, and she would do anything to help him. When she informed Jesse of her cyberspace conversations with Nik, he decided to join the online discussion.

"I am completely numb most days," he wrote on Oct. 12, 2004. "It’s as if i (sic) could care less about anyone or anything."

Writing directly to Nik, Jesse ventured, "I have never spoken to you. Why would you do something like this? … I cant (sic) tell you how much this means to me. Even if you aren’t able to donate it will still mean so much to me that you offered."

Later, offline, Jesse would admit, "I thought (that) if my mom likes her, this chick must be some kind of a nut."

Nik, a petite girl with short brown hair and a seemingly permanent smile, lives in Nashville and recently worked at a local bank. She exudes an upbeat approach to almost any situation.

At six-foot-three, Jesse sports three spikes in his lower lip and other piercings in his ears and above one eye. His hair is short now after having shorn 16 curly blond inches for Locks of Love, the organization that provides hair to cancer patients who lose their tresses to chemotherapy. He likes alternative rock and loves Auburn University football, which puts him in the minority in the Tuscaloosa area.

Since Nik had to undergo an electrocardiogram (EKG), an angiogram and a glucose tolerance test at UAB, Jesse finally had an opportunity to meet her on Dec. 7, 2004.

"When I looked into her eyes my heart almost melted so I couldn’t do it but once (…) all the other times I would look at the corner of her glasses," he gushed on the blog site. "Never in my life have I hugged anyone I just met until today. I was more nervous meeting her than I have been anyone in my life."

Hours and hours of intense conversations later, Nik and Jesse fell in love.

Two days later, doctors confirmed that Nik and Jesse were a match—for the transplant.

"He’s a beautiful person with a beautiful soul," Nik wrote on the blog site on Dec. 12. "He’s got a wonderful personality and an amazing smile. He’s got the biggest heart … and he’s brave … and he’s loving and gentle and caring and smart. He loves his family more than anything in this world."

The son of a coal-mining father and a mother who raises Boston terriers, Jesse confesses to having "done some things I shouldn’t have been doing" in the past and writes poetry to give voice to his feelings. He projects a "don’t mess with me" air, but Nik says it’s only a façade.

"He’s really very gentle," she says. "He won’t kill animals, not even a ladybug."

In fact, Jesse is concerned about the quality of life Nik will have following the transplant.

"If she has to have dialysis because of me, then I’ll be upset," he says.

Nik says she has no fears about living life with one kidney.

"If that’s what I have to do, I’ll do it."

For more information about organ donation, contact the United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org. For specific information about kidney donation, contact the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org.

Events to raise funds, hopes, awareness

by Lisa L. Rollins

V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls founded by playwright/performer Eve Ensler, is set to visit MTSU on Feb. 13-14, thanks to the talent and efforts of the university’s speech and theatre faculty and students.

Deborah Anderson, professor of speech and theatre and the event’s coordinator, said Ensler’s "The Vagina Monologues" will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 13 and 14 in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre.

"The show is designed to raise awareness of women’s violence issues and to raise money for local and international causes," says Anderson, an award-winning thespian.

Through the local MTSU V-Day campaign, students and members of the MTSU community also will produce benefit performances of the "Vagina Monologues" to raise awareness and funds for the nonprofit Rape Recovery and Prevention Center of Murfreesboro. The organization provides 24-hour assistance to anyone in crisis or in need of advice through its crisis line at 615-494-9262.

Each year, V-Day spotlights an international issue to raise awareness and funds on a worldwide scale via targeted media and its worldwide and college campaigns.

Organizers of V-Day benefits in the United States and around the world are asked to address the spotlight at their events and to donate 10 percent of event proceeds to the issue. The 2004 Spotlight: Missing and Murdered Women of Juárez raised more than $175,000, garnered worldwide media coverage via the March on Juárez and generated numerous feature articles on the issue.

For V-Day 2005, the spotlight is “Women of Iraq: Under Siege.” Ac-cording to information from the V-Day organization, "Since the U.S. occupation and regime change in Iraq, women have lost more freedom than they've gained. Incidents of rape and abduction by organized gangs has increased fear of sexual violence, deterring women from returning to work or seeking employment and families from permitting their daughters to go to school."

As of early December, there were V-Day 2005 benefit productions of the "The Vagina Monologues" being planned in 940-plus cities and colleges around the world. Some 619 V-Days are slated on college campuses, including MTSU, which is the most in V-Day’s history.

General admission tickets will be available at the door for a minimum $10 donation. MTSU students will be admitted for a $5 donation. Advance reservations may be made by calling the Theatre & Dance Ticket Office at 615-494-8810.

“Let’s go higher”

SHARING THE JOY— Janard Cross, a December recording industry graduate, sings with The Sons & Daughters of the Father at the fifth annual Gospel Music Extravaganza in Tucker Theatre. Proceeds from the event, which featured dozens of talented performers with MTSU ties, benefited the new African-American History Month Study Abroad Scholarship Fund. photo by Ken Robinson

Business, schools SAIL into mentoring

by Tom Tozer

Thanks to computer technology and an innovative partnership between education and business, student athletes in three Middle Tennessee school systems will soon be able to receive tutoring as well as take college-level courses in high school for credit.

Organizers hope to expand that partnership to include other schools and universities in the area.

SAIL Athletes, a nonprofit corporation recently launched by two area business executives, is a mentoring pilot project with MTSU, Davidson County Metro School System and Montgomery Bell Academy to connect about 150 student athletes in a collaborative computer network. The participating schools will provide mentors to students who need extra academic help or who want to earn some of their college credits before leaving high school.

"SAIL is a four-year project that has built a community support system that will assist student athletes to leverage athletic scholarship dollars into meaningful academic improvement," said David Joiner, SAIL chairman.

"We are thankful to the local educators who have tirelessly supported our efforts to make this program possible."

Jon Scarlett, an instructor MTSU’s Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Safety, will coordinate the SAIL Athletes program at MTSU. He said SAIL will better prepare students to balance college studies with sports.

"Student athletes and university officials face tremendous pressures to improve academic performance," Scarlett noted.

"Unfortunately, freshmen athletes often don’t have the learning skills or foundation to face university demands. SAIL will identify and address those shortcomings."

MTSU already offers courses that assist athletes in areas such as time management, English, leadership and ACT testing. Scarlett said that through the Sail program, MTSU will make these courses available for high school student athletes beginning in grades 10 through 12.

"Our goal is for students to have 10 to 20 hours of completed college credits when entering college," said Doug Ivey, president of SAIL Athletes.

Montgomery Bell Academy and other private schools will provide network mentors to the program.

"Our students will learn communication skills as they assist student athletes to address their academic needs," commented Brad Gioia, MBA schoolmaster. "This is a win-win for our community."

SAIL also is working with principals in the Metro School System to help identify students and their families who want and need to take advantage of this service.

"Most high school and college athletes never receive a professional athletic contract and often don’t realize that until it’s too late," said Metro Superintendent Pedro Garcia. "The SAIL program is looking for good kids who can leverage their athletic skills into a meaningful college degree."

The next five months will be dedicated to networking the mentors and students together, Ivey said. Students and mentors will also take a non-credit class to learn the SAIL computer network, the first of which will be offered next fall.

"The program is free to our students, and we depend on donations to pay for the tuitions. We will certainly accept financial contributions to help us launch and sustain the program," said Lucius Carroll II, SAIL board member.

"With the new NCAA guidelines for academics for college athletes, this program is very timely," MTSU’s Scarlett noted. "I think this could become a signature program at MTSU within three or four years."

Dr. Rosemary Owens, dean, MTSU Continuing Studies and Public Service, calls SAIL one of the best projects directly related to pre-college students with which her division has ever been involved.

"I am excited because someone has recognized that students who have been extremely successful in sports are sometimes not prepared to make decisions about their own lives and futures," Owens said.

"This program promises to do that in several ways. One of the delivery methods being considered is online. We will be able to offer these athletes courses that they need in a format and environment that will allow them to continue their hectic sports schedules."

For more information, visit www.sailathletes.com or call Scarlett at 615-898-2911.

Fascinatin’ Rhythm — Dr. Charles Wolfe, English, chuckles while watching a videotape of Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash performing on Cash’s TV show in 1970. The tape was thought lost for more than 30 years. photo by J. Intintoli

New perspectives on pop music: Lecture series lets faculty shine

by Gina E. Fann

What fascinates MTSU faculty members? Perhaps it’s discovering a long-missing videotape of a jam session by music legends Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash. Maybe it’s analyzing the culture-changing fusion of religion and rap in the music of the Five Percent Nation.

The newest "Perspectives on Popular Music" lecture series from MTSU’s Center for Popular Music is a weekly multidisciplinary revelation of scholarly pursuits, and during African-American History Month, their topics have a special focus on the interplay between "black" and "white" music.

"There ain’t no such thing as ‘black man’s music’ or ‘white man’s music,’" Armstrong once said, according to music scholar Dr. Charles Wolfe. "It’s all just music. And that’s puttin’ it in black and white!"

Each Wednesday through April 6, from 11:30 a.m. until 12:25 p.m. in the Seminar Room of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building (HONR 116), experts campuswide will expound on the facets of music that intrigue them most.

"It’s an opportunity to hear our faculty talk about the things that make them passionate, in a way that goes across the university," said Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, in kicking off the informal, brown-bag lecture series.

"When I was in school, I always wanted to get the teachers . . . to talk about the things that interested them, motivated them. This is an opportunity for all of us to . . . interact with faculty with enormous national and international reputations in their fields."

For Wolfe, whose resume reads like the Library of Congress’ music catalog, watching the grainy tape of Cash and Armstrong joyously recreating Jimmie Rodgers’ "Blue Yodel No. 9" on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium in 1970 was "absolutely fascinating."

"Whenever we scholars write our books and present our papers, we divide music into categories," the Grammy-nominated English professor noted. "The problem is, people forget to tell the musicians that. … This underlying amalgamation of ‘black’ and ‘white’ music has been going on for years and years."

Indeed, that’s what kept bringing Armstrong back to Nashville, Wolfe said. In and out of the city for years as its reputation as a center for R&B music grew, Armstrong was convinced in the late ‘60s to record "Louis ‘Country Western’ Armstrong," an album of Music Row-written songs.

Just before the album’s release in 1970, the entertainer stopped by the Ryman to tape an episode of Cash’s variety show. It turned out to be Armstrong’s last recorded appearance, thought gone forever until Grand Ole Opry Museum Curator Brenda Colladay called Wolfe with her discovery.

That amazing find led to Wolfe’s presentation, "`I’ll Blow those Cats into the Cumberland River’: Louis Armstrong, Nashville, and Country Music." It will be included in The Oxford American magazine’s annual Southern Music Issue and CD, available in July.

Dr. Felicia Miyakawa, McLean School of Music, was scheduled at press time to lead the second session in the series, "`We Ain’t Just Rappers, We Changers of Black Situation’: Five Percenter Rap’s Black Muslim Message."

The weekly lecture series, now in its third year at MTSU and separate from the Honors Lecture Series produced on Mondays by the University Honors College, is free and open to the community.

For more information, call the CPM at 615-898-2449 or see the full schedule at popmusic.mtsu.edu/BrownBag2005.html.

Harvard senior fellow to analyze Asian economies

by Gina K. Logue

Jun Kurihara, senior fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, will share his views on the economics of Asia in two lectures sponsored by the Japan-U.S. Program at MTSU on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18-19.

At 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18, Kurihara will discuss the "Japanese Economy: Present and Future" in Room S336 of the Business Aerospace Building. At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19, Kurihara will lecture on "Pacific Asia: Economic Conditions and Business Practices" in BAS S334.

Dr. Kiyoshi Kawahito, director, Japan-U.S. Program, and professor, economics and finance, says the Friday lecture will be a professional and technical seminar directed mostly at students and faculty in the Department of Economics and Finance. The Saturday discussion will be a more informal guest lecture.

Kurihara has been with the Kennedy School since May 2003. His other resume credits include stints as the senior economist at the Fujitsu Research Institute and senior staff researcher for Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. Most of his research has been focused on Japan’s industrial rejuvenation from the perspective of venture capital activity, according to the JFK School’s Web site.

Both lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Kawahito at 615-898-2229 or at kawahito@mtsu.edu.

NCSC honors ‘extraordinary educator’

by Lauren Bullock

McClure-Wade

Lisa McClure-Wade encourages her students to have as keen a sense of curiosity as the one shown in her favorite book, "Huckleberry Finn."

McClure-Wade, MTSU literature and composition teacher, has a special knack for stirring student curiosity about life issues. Her ability to awake her students’ interest has earned her a nomination to join The National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) as Faculty of the Year.

McClure-Wade began teaching at MTSU in 2000 after earning a bachelor of arts degree in 1995 and a master’s degree from MTSU in 2000.

Like most English instructors, McClure-Wade loves a good book, but she quickly adds that she loves her students more. Loving her students, she says, means encouraging them to be curious and to "speak opinions without fear of ridicule."

Student John Raeth was so encouraged by McClure-Wade that he decided to nominate his teacher for Faculty of the Year. NSCS now has recognized McClure-Wade as an "extraordinary educator."

Although she would never admit to being an "extraordinary educator," McClure-Wade says extraordinary educators surround her when she walks through the ranks of her MTSU colleagues.

McClure-Wade said that the best part of teaching is "working with everyone in the English department and coming across students with an interest in learning."

Labor-management conference set

by Tom Tozer

Leaders in labor, management, government and academia across the state will meet March 3 and 4 in Knoxville for the seventh annual Tennessee Labor-Management Winter Conference to focus on the theme, "Surviving the Global Economy."

Coordinated by the Tennessee Center for Labor-Management Relations (TNCLMR) in cooperation with MTSU, the event will be held at the Knoxville Marriott Hotel, 500 Hill Drive S.E.

Following a formal welcome at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, March 3, by Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, nationally known speaker Ben Bissell will kick off the conference with "Facing Change in Today’s Workforce." Bissell is widely known for his entertaining and informative motivational seminars.

The first day will be full of labor-management workshops. Peter Cheng, commissioner, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, will share the latest trends in bargaining for health care. Companion workshops during the morning will provide an update on Tennessee’s Workers’ Compensation Law and an overview of the new overtime rules and regulations.

Following lunch, the morning’s first two workshops will be repeated from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. A third session will address nanotechnology in the workplace.

From 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., three workshops will be offered concurrently. They will deal with wellness benefits, workplace diversity and EEOC updates on the subject of harassment.

An evening panel discussion by representatives of Prudential and Central States will address the critical issue of pension plans.

"Many groups are interested in pensions and how changes in these plans may affect not only folks who are planning retirement but those who are already retired," said Dr. Barbara Haskew, professor, economics and finance, and TNCLMR interim director.

"Those companies and unions who are studying retirement for employees 10 years down the road will be interested in how proposed changes tie in with the possible options for ‘reforming’ social security."

On Friday, beginning at 8:15 a.m., the "Best Practices" winners will be recognized.

The Award for Excellence, which honors an outstanding employer-employee partnership in Tennessee, will be presented to Knoxville Construction and Building Trades. The Horizon Award, honoring a labor-management partnership in the state that has enhanced the community, will be given to Spallation Neutron Source. The Pioneer Award spotlights an innovative project or program that has heightened the quality of a labor-management partnership in Tennessee. Knight Jacobs JV will be the recipient.

A final panel discussion from 9:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. will address arbitration/mediation. Haskew will moderate the panel, which will include noted arbitrators Linda Byars, Jack Clarke and Phil LaPorte.

"This conference provides a wonderful opportunity for management, labor and other labor relations professionals to network," Haskew noted.

Those who would like to register attendance or obtain more information regarding conference fees should visit www.tnlabormgmt.org, call 615-895-4166 or e-mail Catherine Sutton at csutton@tnlabormgmt.org.

Room reservations can be made at www.Marriott.com/tysmc or by calling 1-800-836-8031.

“A new partnership”

SIGNING OFF — Murfreesboro City School Board Chairman David Hopper, left, and Schools Director Marilyn Mathis watch as MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee signs a partnership agreement between MTSU and the city school system. The three-year pact allows students and faculty from departments such as liberal arts, business, public service and communications to conduct field research at city school "partner sites." photo by J. Intintoli

Panel takes on ‘Solid South’ politics

from Staff Reports

From Reconstruction to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the "Solid South" meant Democratic rule. Today, the term is back in favor but suggests a new political alignment where Republicans dominate. Analysts cite a variety of factors that have contributed to this new political reality, and central among them is the role of race.

On Monday, Feb. 14, a distinguished panel will discuss the role of race in the politics of the new Solid South. The program, which is jointly sponsored by the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence, is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the State Farm Room of the university’s Business and Aerospace Building.

Tucker

O'Leary

Sack

Participating in the discussion will be:

• Cynthia Tucker, editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a syndicated columnist whose commentary appears in dozens of newspapers across the country. She is also a frequent commentator on the "News-Hour with Jim Lehrer" and "CNN and Company."

• Hazel R. O'Leary, president of Fisk University. O’Leary was Secretary of the Department of Energy in the Clinton Administration.

• Kevin Sack, a Pulitzer-winning national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times who writes investigative and narrative projects from the paper's Atlanta bureau. He has reported extensively about race, politics and his native South for both the New York Times, where he began his career, and the Los Angeles Times. While at the New York Times, his three-page profile of an integrated Pentecostal church in the Atlanta suburbs kicked off the "How Race is Lived in America" series, which won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting.

The panel moderator is John Seigenthaler, former Tennessean editor and the namesake of the MTSU Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.

The panel discussion is free and open to the public. For more information, call 615-898-2919.

Feeling the music

BEFORE THE LENS — Jazz legend Nina Simone takes a breather during a performance captured on film by photographer Joe La Russo. Fifty of La Russo’s black-and-white prints from live jazz performances are on exhibit in the Baldwin Photographic Gallery in the Learning Resource Center through March 3. Hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Saturdays 1-4 p.m. and Sundays 6-9:45 p.m. For more information, call 615-898-2085.

Pink Brigade raises knitting baskets for a cure

by Lauren Bullock

By fund-raising for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade is proving that a knitting needle is mightier than a sword.

The six-member Brigade has already raised over $1,000 this semester selling hand-knitted wares and accessories at Keathley University Center.

WARM HEARTS, HANDS — Freshman Candice Maisiln, at left, displays some of the creative knitwear offered for sale by the Pink Raider Knitting Brigade to raise funds for St. Jude’s. Above, Maisiln, Julie Upshaw, center, and Kelly Higdon take a break in the KUC. The Up ‘Til Dawn Finale Event is set 7p.m.-7 a.m. Feb. 25-26. photos by Lauren Bullock

Knitter Kelly Higdon says the Brigade ensures "that 100 percent of the profit from sales goes to supporting Up 'Til Dawn."

The all-freshman Brigade is one of more than 40 campus teams participating in the annual event, which raises money to cure catastrophic childhood diseases.

In 1999, MTSU became the second university in the nation to join with Up ‘Til Dawn. Throughout the event, teams of six participants will join fund-raising activities at the Campus Recreation Center until the Feb. 25-26 finale event in hopes of raising $100,000.

Sophomore Jennifer Fish, owner of a new Brigade scarf, said, "I'm glad that freshmen took the initiative to bring something new to Up 'Til Dawn."

New music master’s blends tradition, technology

by Doug Williams

After 12 years of planning and persistence, a new Masters of Recording Arts and Technology was approved at the recent quarterly meeting of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

The unique three-year program is now on a fast track and will officially begin in fall 2005, said Dr. Rich Barnet, professor, recording industry.

It took more than a decade for the program to come to fruition because of budget restraints and continual changes in the industry, Barnet said. It was designed for graduate students interested in expanding their skill in creating sound and music in a variety of electronic media.

"This program is designed to give students extensive experience in the technology used in the industry in a variety of media," Barnet said. "There is a convergence of media in the industry where people need to combine animated sound, traditional music and graphics.

"There will be an emphasis on production and students will use these skills in producing sound and music for TV, film, video games and traditional recordings."

Barnet said the master’s program is suited to both "right-brained people and creative types who don’t want to be locked into doing one thing." He added that the new MFA is a terminal degree for students in the creative arts and one of the few such programs of its kind in the country.

Drs. Robert Woods and James Piekarski contributed to the development of the new master’s program. Piekarski, associate professor, recording industry, said the program will fill a "unique niche" not satisfied by other programs that focus solely on recording classical music.

"The MFA in Recording Arts and Technologies offers students an alternative to similar programs housed in a traditional conservatory of music," Piekarski said. "There are many students out there with musical abilities, and perhaps even a good deal of formal training, whose interests encompass more than just classical music and jazz, which are the limits of typical conservatory offerings.

"Here, students will not be limited as to the creative content of their projects. I am not in any way slighting the serious study of art music, as I have the utmost regard for the conservatory model. But our MFA will offer a unique place to those who want to pursue study outside that model.

“I might add that our proximity to a major music recording center also offers professional opportunities students may have missed at the undergraduate level."

The intensive six-semester program will feature small classes with an emphasis on studio work in top-flight studios, Barnet said. The curriculum is designed not only for those who want to advance in the recording field, he added, but also to fill a growing demand for recording educators in colleges and secondary schools.

Program candidates need experience, a love for the process of recording music, and a bachelor’s degree in an area related to music, communications, animation or computer science. Candidates can apply to the College of Graduate Studies, and each should submit a portfolio of creative achievements and two letters of recommendation.

For more information, contact the chair’s office in the Department of Recording Industry at 615-898-2578.

ETIS construction team building ‘good reputation’

by Randy Weiler

Students representing MTSU’s Department of Engineering Technology and Industrial Studies scored a surprise coup by finishing fourth out of 34 teams in the Residential Construction Competition in mid-January in Orlando.

"It was a great experience and very rewarding," team leader James Buckley, a senior from Gallatin, said. "We have received a lot of recognition we would not have gotten. We (MTSU) are starting to develop a good reputation nationally from that contest."

MTSU has been represented in the past in the National Association of Homebuilders-sponsored NAHB Student Chapters competition, but this marks the highest finish, said Dr. David Hatfield, professor, ETIS.

"It exposes them to the (homebuilding construction) business in the best way," Hatfield said. "They all got a lot out of it. . . . It’s a lot of effort, but it’s worth it."

This year, 17 students were involved in the process, but only six comprised the team. They included Buckley and fellow seniors Carey Sloan, Chris Smith, Shaun Knight, Brian Barrington and Matt Fugate.

"Our homebuilder student chapter’s a lot smaller," Tim Milazo, a senior from New Orleans, Marathon team participant, and student chapter president, said. "Being smaller, we accomplished much more and had a higher goal."

All of the competing teams have to plan the start-to-finish management proposal for a new residential construction project. The students work on the "management proposal for a real project by completing an estimate, schedule, cash flow forecast and other essential elements of the proposal," according to competition guidelines.

"We did a marketing study performance, cash flow, scheduling, estimates, staffing, (considered) environmental issues and financing," Buckley said. "For us, this was as close to the real world as you can get without really doing it."

"The bottom line," Hatfield said, "is to come up with the percentage of net profit and the amount of time it will take to build."

In addition to the Marathon Team experience for the 17 students, the annual competition, which is tied into massive NAHB trade show, likely will benefit their careers because of the networking and meeting with industry representatives from across the nation, Hatfield said.

"It’s important for the kids to be there and exposed to 120 seminars and even the floor show itself," he said.

As part of the Marathon experience, team members visited Mt. Pleasant, S.C., where the actual project site was located, "to look at the property, talk to engineers and the chamber of commerce and get a feel for the area and market," Buckley said.

Hatfield added that the group received funds from the MTSU Student Government Association to defray costs for the trip and that David Hughes, president of the Nashville division of Beazer Homes, and Mark Guidroz, regional vice president of employees and organization development with Beazer, served in coaching capacities for MTSU team members.

“COHRE of the discussion”

Effective networking — Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, left, reacts to a comment by Dr. Rick Moffett, center, director of the new MTSU Center for Organizational and Human Resource Effectiveness (COHRE), while Patrick McCarthy, master’s program coordinator, listens. The three attended a recent open house at the new facility, located at 132 Heritage Park Drive, Suite 2, in Murfreesboro. COHRE is the first signature program of excellence in the College of Education and Behavioral Science and is part of the move to expand MTSU’s industrial/organizational psychology program. photo by J. Intintoli

‘Neo-romantic’ music on ensemble’s calendar

by Tim Musselman

The Stones River Chamber Players (SRCP), an ensemble-in-residence at MTSU, will perform the third program of its four-program season at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in the music hall of the Wright Music Building on the MTSU campus.

Slated for this program are "Ten Blake Songs for tenor and oboe" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, "Trio (1992) for trumpet, violin and piano" by Eric Ewazen and "Quintet in E-flat for winds and piano" by W. A. Mozart.

Regarding the Ewazen piece, Dr. Jerry Perkins, professor of piano and artistic director for SRCP, described the trio work as "a very beautiful and a neo-romantic style composition written by one of the most-performed young American composers of our time.

"This trio is for the very unusual combination of trumpet, violin and piano, and (Ewazen) is able to fuse this interesting combination of instruments into a very telling and dramatic work," Perkins added.

Perkins also noted that Ewazen is a much-admired composer on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in New York.

Regarding the "Quintet" work that the group will perform, Perkins said that the Mozart piece is one of the great chamber works of the Classical period.

Performing on this program will be MTSU faculty members Sandra Arndt, piano; Michael Arndt, trumpet; Dewayne Pigg, oboe; Radu Rousou, horn; Stefan Petrescu, violin; Stephen Smith, tenor; Maya Stone, bassoon; and Todd Waldecker, clarinet.

The concert is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact the McLean School of Music at 615-898-2493.

Middle-high-schoolers will find magnetic appeal in Science Olympiad

by Randy Weiler

MTSU will serve as host to the largest Regional Science Olympiad that has ever been held on campus, event organizers say.

The Regional Science Olympiad will begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 19, across the MTSU campus.

"We will host our largest competition to date with 17 middle (including five Rutherford County) and 14 high school (with five Rutherford County) teams registered," said Dr. Pat Patterson, associate professor, chemistry, and director of the event. "There will be about 450 students competing."

Schools from across Middle Tennessee will send teams to the Science Olympiad, which received $2,850 in sponsorship from State Farm Insurance Companies/ Murfreesboro Operations Center.

Patterson said the schools will have an added incentive this year.

"This year, MTSU will send four teams to the state competition in each division, and the other regions will send two," she said. Middle schools compete in Division B and high schools compete in Division C.

Medals will be awarded to first- through fourth-place finishers, and ribbons will be given for fifth and sixth place, she added.

Many of the events will be administered by MTSU faculty members. Some of the popular events include "Wright Stuff," "Bridge Building" and "Bottle Rocket."

University student volunteers will assist faculty members or help Patterson and Dr. Amy Phelps, professor, chemistry, and Regional Science Olympiad assistant director, with running the event.

In addition to State Farm, other sponsors include the MTSU College of Basic and Applied Sciences and Department of Chemistry, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Wal-mart.

For more information, contact Patterson (ppatters@mtsu.edu) at 615-898-5085 or Phelps (ajphelps@mtsu.edu) at 615-898-2077.

“Signing time again”

SPRING TRAINING’S UP SOON — MTSU Head Football Coach Andy McCollum announces the class of 2005 recruits on national signing day at the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame. Twenty-five players inked scholarship agreements with the Blue Raiders. Ten players hail from Georgia, and Florida sent six of its sons north to play in Division I-A. Middle Tennessee also signed four new players from Tennessee, two from Alabama, two from California and one from Mississippi. The team’s off-season conditioning sessions begin Feb. 15, and spring drills get under way March 15. photo by J. Intintoli

People Around Campus

A different flight path for training pilots

by Laura Beth Jackson

Upon first impression, one would think Dr. Paul Craig, chairman of the aerospace department at MTSU, likes his job. But like many first impressions, that would be inaccurate.

He loves his job.

"I need new challenges everyday," he said with a smile. "I’ve been flying for 31 years, and there’s never been two flights the same. Anything that’s natural and fun that you can make a living out of, that’s cool."

HIGH HONORS — Dr. Paul Craig recalls his surprise upon learning that he’d won one of the top national aerospace education awards. photo by Ken Robinson

Obviously Craig is in the right place. Last fall, the University Aviation Association (UAA) presented Craig with the William A. Wheatley Award, one of the highest national honors to be given an aerospace educator.

"The award was kind of a shock," Craig said. "I don’t know who nominated me. I just got this random call on my cell phone one day telling me that I’ve been awarded the Wheatley!"

"The Wheatley," named for aviation education pioneer William A. Wheatley, is awarded every year to an outstanding aerospace educator. The College Aviation News wrote that Craig received the Wheatley for his "significant impact on aviation education and [his leadership] in addressing technological advances and their safe integration into collegiate training programs."

Craig is the third faculty member from MTSU to receive the Wheatley in its 50-year history. The others were Randall C. Wood (1980) and Dr. Wallace R. Maples (1992), and Craig says he’s excited to share the honor with two men he respected both professionally and personally.

"Wood was the [aerospace] department chair when I was an undergrad," said Craig, "And Dr. Maples was my adviser for my master’s degree. So I think it’s pretty neat that I get to do something that was also done by these men who did so much for me."

An MTSU alumnus, Craig received his master’s in aerospace education at MTSU and earned his doctorate in education from Tennessee State University in 1998. Craig has written several books on aerospace technology and safety, and, since 1993, he’s worked at MTSU to educate aerospace students about new developments and the safety measures that must accompany them.

"Our newest challenge right now is to take the new technology that is emerging and maintain safety levels," said Craig. "Things that have been taught in the past have become obsolete because of the new technology."

With the help of a recent grant from NASA, the MTSU aerospace department has been able to invest even more in technological development and safety education for its students.

MTSU is the first university in the nation to offer freshman flight courses using planes with glass cockpits – computer screens that alert the pilots to irregularities in the atmosphere. Most universities teach transition classes in which students learn in older models first.

Craig noted that the new technology is relatively easy for computer-savvy college students to learn. The difficulty is seeing whether they can pilot without it. And Craig wants his students to learn both.

This year, Craig will speak at the 13th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology in April and the Summer Federal Aviation Administration’s Industry Standards Training Group in Alaska. Craig will be sharing research on safety issues and cockpit resource management.

"Students are training with new equipment and are able to face first-hand the challenges that the new technology brings," he said. "Like computers, aerospace technology is moving so fast that what has always been taught will soon need to be replaced.

"I want to take a different approach to the way pilots train; I want them to learn mission instead of just maneuvers. I want to train the person to make the right decision in a situation and not just a procedure decision."