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Blue Raiders, come on down!
by Katy Francisco Riddle
Homecoming 2005 will take place Oct. 17-22 with fun-filled activities,
including a special dedication of a new campus tradition.
MTSU students broke from conventional ideas when selecting this year's
theme: game shows. The slogan is "Raiders, you are the next contestant
on ...," and student events throughout the week will play off this
theme.
"We are pleased to offer a homecoming schedule with something for
everyone," said Allison Payne, assistant director, alumni relations.
"Our hope is that all our campus community will take advantage of
the opportunity to get involved and celebrate this year's events."
The week begins Monday, Oct. 17, with a T-shirt swap that continues through
Friday, Oct. 21. Employees and alumni can visit the Office of Alumni Relations
any day of the week between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to trade a T-shirt from
another school for a free MTSU shirt to replace it. Shirts also will be
available for students in the Student Government Association office. All
of the shirts collected will be donated to local charities.
Golfers will have the chance to hit the links at the annual Homecoming
Golf Tournament, sponsored this year by the Alumni Association and the
Blue Raider Athletic Association. The event will take place Friday, Oct.
21, at Indian Hills Golf Club, and the entry fee is $100 per player or
$400 per foursome. Registration and lunch will begin at 11 a.m., followed
by a shotgun start at noon.
Later that evening, the newest members will be inducted into the Golden
Raiders Society, which honors alumni who graduated or attended the university
50 or more years ago. Golden Raider registration will begin at 3:30 p.m.,
followed by a campus tour. The induction ceremony will take place at 5
p.m. in the newly renamed Alumni Center, now the Tom H. Jackson Building.
Additional activities on Friday include the National Pan-Hellenic Council
step show at 7 p.m. in Murphy Center. At 10 p.m., the African-American
Alumni Council will host a social mixer at the Doubletree Hotel.
The week culminates on Saturday with plenty of fun activities planned.
A free continental breakfast and open house at the Alumni Center will
be offered at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Homecoming Parade at 11 a.m.
Alumna Lana Seviers (B.S. '72), commissioner of the Tennessee Department
of Education, will serve as the parade's grand marshal. For the second
time, Baby Raiders will be featured parade participants, and staff members
with children who would like to participate in the parade are encouraged
to contact the alumni relations office.
After the parade, a special dedication ceremony will take place in Walnut
Grove. At 12:30 p.m., MTSU Student Ambassadors will unveil the new horseshoe
statue to alumni, friends and fans.
Student Ambassadors organized several fund-raisers to pay for the statue,
and students in the concrete industry management program were vital in
its construction. Alumni, students and fans will be encouraged to touch
the statue for good luck before an event, such as a big game, performance,
test or class presentation.
Following the dedication in Walnut Grove, fans will rally for the 1 p.m.
Raider Walk. The football team will make a special pregame appearance,
and fans are encouraged to touch the horseshoe for good luck before they
head to the stadium for the 4 p.m. kickoff against Louisiana-Lafayette.
A homecoming picnic is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. under the big tent in Walnut
Grove with fried chicken and all of the fixings available to adults for
$10 and $5 for children. Tailgating crews also will be firing up the grills
for the annual Blue Bolt Tailgate Contest, where food and creativity will
be judged for a trophy, on-field recognition and $250 in prize money.
Please make plans to join this year's homecoming events. For reservations
or more information, visit www.mtalumni.com or call 615-898-2922.
All game tickets will be $5 in advance and will increase to $10 on the
day of the game. For tickets, please call the Athletic Ticket Office at
615-898-2103 or 1-888-YES-MTSU.
Sidebar: Warm up for the game with Oct. 18 rally
The Rally on Maple, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 18, from 5 p.m. until
7 p.m., is a traditional town-gown pep rally to fire up the Blue Raiders
and their fans for a big homecoming celebration and gridiron showdown.
This year the focus is on the Oct. 22 game against Louisiana-Lafayette.
The rally will take place at Cavalry Bank on Maple between College Avenue
and Lytle Street. Along with the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce,
additional hosts will be The Daily News Journal, Main Street and Cavalry
Banking.
Admission to the rally will be $5 for Chamber members and $10 for nonmembers.
There will be ample food and beverages.
In case of rain, the event will go on as planned on the fifth floor of
Cavalry Banking.
For more information, contact 615-893-6565.Employee giving campaign begins
later this month
MTSU's Employee Charitable Giving Campaign will kick off later this month,
so take stock now to reach out to neighbors in need in Rutherford County.
"Whatever amount you give will raise someone's quality of life right
here at home," says Dr. Jim Burton, campaign chair. "You may
help transform a person's life. And some day, that person will remember
the lift he or she received-and pay it forward."
Campaign information will be arriving soon. Help MTSU reach and surpass
its goal!Spike Lee to join conference
by Liz Karlson Baker
Noted filmmaker Spike Lee will join MTSU's annual International Conference
on Cultural Diversity on Nov. 2, screening his film "Do the Right
Thing" in the Alumni Memorial Gym at 5:15 p.m. and speaking on "Multicultural
Communi-cation in the World of Film" at 7:30 p.m. in the AMG.
"This conference is concentrating on inter- and intra-cultural communication,"
said Dr. Sharon Shaw-McEwen, MTSU social work professor and conference
director, "and certainly Spike Lee has been in the forefront of trying
to communicate cultural information to our society."
Lee's film and lecture will be free to MTSU students, faculty and staff
with an MTSU ID and a ticket, which may be obtained by calling 615-898-5975.
Conference attendees can attend free by showing their conference nametags.
Cost to the public will be $10 per person at the door.
The successful author and director is best known for films such as "The
25th Hour," "Summer of Sam" and "Jungle Fever."
Lee's latest project is a partnership with DDB Needham to create Spike/DDB,
a full-service advertising agency.
For a complete conference schedule, visit www.mtsu.edu/~cdinit.For the
Record: 'Falling asleep to ... an erupting volcano'
by Josh Gordon
Editor's note: In July 2005, senior geosciences major Josh Gordon joined
a group of explorers led by developmental studies instructor Fred Belton
on a four-week expedition to Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano located
in the African Rift valley in Tanzania. Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only volcano
in the world that erupts natrocarbonatite lava, a "very strange"
highly fluid lava that contains no silica-rich minerals like quartz. It
also is much cooler than other lavas; its average temperature upon eruption
is 500 degrees Centigrade. Gordon provides photos and an excerpt from
his daily journal of the trip:
Day 7 (July 21)-I woke up this morning to the news of an eruption. The
eruption occurred at 1 a.m. of the 21st of July. I went over to the active
crater after breakfast to check it out. There had been a massive flow.
There was evidence showing that the eruption threw lava 40-50+ feet up
into the air over and on top of adjacent spatter cones. The lava was still
red-hot at 8 a.m., seven hours after the eruption that only lasted for
30 minutes. The eruption occurred as the moon was directly overhead and
full and while the barometric pressure was falling. This is a good sign
for the research. Tonight is the official full moon. It's 8 p.m. as I
am writing this. I'm about to go to sleep; I'm setting my alarm to wake
me at midnight. I plan on going to the active crater rim tonight to see
if I can catch an eruption on video. I hope it isn't too big. Man, I'm
so dirty. I would pay a hundred bucks just to take a shower.
Day 8 (1:07 a.m., morning of July 22) - I've just returned from the active
crater. I woke at midnight and went to see if there was any action. The
moon was almost directly overhead and full. When I got there I couldn't
see anything because the cloud cover was so thick. The wind is strong
and blowing due north across the crater. I imagine whether or not the
Bernoulli Effect could also play a role in the eruptions. I could hear
the eruptions very well, bubbling, boiling, sloshing, flowing, cooling
and crackling like a giant bowl of Rice Krispies, but I saw nothing. It's
so dark, and because of the fog, I can't see 10 feet in front of me. When
the wind isn't blowing, I can hear the eruptions from my tent. Walking
from the south to the active north crater takes 15 minutes. Walking alone
in the dark with the thick fog is kind of spooky, especially knowing that
there is a leopard that prowls around at night here. I took a strong light
and my machete. The volcano is right at this very minute erupting. I have
set my alarm for 5 a.m. Hopefully, the fog may have cleared some by then
and I might see something; it's too dangerous to go close to the crater
with such poor visibility. It may be a larger eruption than last night's.
There have been two others over the course of yesterday. They both were
too small to mention. This makes the fourth eruption since we've arrived.
I don't know if I can sleep. Who would have ever imagined falling asleep
to the sound of an erupting volcano? Dr. (Warner) Cribb would be going
nuts.
For more about the volcano and the 2005 expedition, visit Belton's Web
site at www.mtsu.edu/~fbelton/ lengai.html.Study Abroad Fair set Oct.
26
by Lauren Bullock
MTSU International Education and Exchange will serve as host of the Study
Abroad Fair 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, in the Keathley University
Center.
The fair is a "one-stop shop for study abroad," IEE Director
Jennifer Campbell said, noting that fairgoers can obtain information on
exchange programs, applications and the financial aid process.
"If you really want to know what's going to be offered for study
abroad, this is the place you need to be," Campbell said.
Several exchange groups, including the Kentucky Institute of International
Studies, Semester at Sea and MTSU's Japan Center, will provide information
at the fair.
The Japan Center, which focuses on Asian exchange, Campbell said, will
have information on exchanges in less-traveled countries such as Hong
Kong and Thailand.
Veteran exchange students also will talk about their study-abroad experiences
and give tips on preparing for an exchange.
"It's important to take this chance to talk to other study-abroad
students," junior Carrie Bell said. "I am traveling to Spain
in the spring, and I was convinced by students, not exchange groups, to
study abroad."
Last year, 600 students attended the fair, and a similar number is expected
this year, Campbell said. Another Study Abroad Fair held in the spring.
For more information, visit Room 3 in Reynolds Hall or contact Jennifer
Campbell at 615-898-5179.Women's Chorale opens season
from Staff Reports
The MTSU Women's Chorale will open the 2005-2006 season with a free concert
at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 in the T. Earl Hinton Music Hall of MTSU's Wright
Music Building.
"This concert explores pairings of 20th century choral compositions
by four of today's leading choral composers-Joseph M. Martin, James Mulholland,
David N. Childs and René Clausen," said Jamila McWhirter,
women's chorale director and professor of music education for the McLean
School of Music.
"The texts are both sacred and secular in nature, including poetry
by Emily Dickinson and Lord Byron," she added.
McWhirter said that the use of piccolo, flute, percussion, French horn
and string bass will add vibrancy to the program. "Come to the Music"will
feature Elissa Stuart on piccolo; "So I Let Him Lead Me Home"
and "Heart We Will Not Forget Him" will feature Ryan Kirk on
horn; "Ave Maria" and "She Walks in Beauty" will feature
Stuart on flute; and "Laudamus Te" will feature Julian Gonzales,
Adam Sones, Andrew Hale, Rick Wilkerson and Garrett Davidson on percussion
and Peter Wallace on double bass.
"The women have really enjoyed working on these challenging octavos,"
McWhirter said, adding that although the concert will be short, it will
be full of variety.
"I think the audience will feel this enjoyment," she noted.
For more information on MTSU Women's Chorale, please call Tim Musselman
at 615-898-2493. Visit www.mtsu music.com for more School of Music concert
schedules.Federal grand boosts nursing expansion
from Staff Reports
A $736,548 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grant will enable
MTSU to continue construction of a 28,000-square-foot expansion to the
existing Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building, U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon said.
"We are facing a serious nationwide shortage of nurses that requires
immediate attention," the Sixth District congressman from Murfreesboro
said.
"This will be an especially acute problem in Tennessee due to the
heavy reliance of nurses and nurse practitioners in underserved areas
and the fact that our state attracts a higher than average number of retirees.
This grant will enable the university to train more students to become
nurses.
"Senator Bill Frist has been instrumental in securing federal funding
for this expansion. I thank him for his support of MTSU on this worthwhile
project."
The extra space will feature a large computer learning laboratory, three
master classrooms, two seminar rooms, a large clinical lab, more faculty
and administrative offices, and student study and lounge areas.
"It is getting pretty cozy in the nursing building, but we had to
do something to combat the nursing shortage in Tennessee," said Dr.
Lynn Parsons, MTSU School of Nursing director. "The Southern states
are more adversely affected by the nursing shortage than other regions
of the country. It is moving beyond a shortage situation to a crisis situation."
MTSU received $1 million last year through the same competitive HHS Health
Resources and Services Administration grant program. The Christy-Houston
Foundation donated more than $2 million for the building expansion and
built the existing structure that opened in 1994, Parsons said.
Ten years ago, the MTSU School of Nursing admitted 36 students each semester.
Last year, the number of admissions rose to 52 students each semester.
Parsons said the school's strategic plan calls for admitting 120 students
each semester by 2014.Evacuees working to settle into campus life
by Gina K. Logue
Nearly 50 students from areas ravaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita have
found safe harbor at MTSU. But those from the water-logged city of New
Orleans will remain adrift for an indeterminate period.
At a time when most of their contemporaries are busily mapping their futures,
they're trying to maintain normal routines during their weather-induced
limbo.
"My return is unknown at this point," says Jerrica Lugo, who
had planned to enter Loyola University as a freshman. "According
to several Web sites, I could return to pick up my belongings in January,
but at this point, it's still too early to tell."
Jerrica, a New York native majoring in international business, fled New
Orleans and went to Nashville, where her mother lives, with nothing more
than her laptop computer and the clothes she wore as Katrina pummeled
the Gulf Coast. Her aunt and uncle's family, who had lived in the Crescent
City for 20 years, chose to ride out the storm.
"Their first floor was flooded, so they actually were stranded on
their roof for about three days," Jerrica says. "And a boat
came, picked them up off their roof and then took them straight to Houston."
But Jerrica and her other loved ones didn't know that for about a week
and a half. She finally found out they had been taken to a shelter and
reunited with their pets. Now they are staying with other relatives in
Houston.
Travis Sanders, a native New Orleanian and a special education major who
attended Dillard University, believed he could ride out Katrina with some
friends in the bar where he worked.
The five-story building was more than 200 years old and had withstood
everything Mother Nature had directed at it. Besides, it seemed an opportune
time to have a hurricane party.
"We had all the mixers upstairs. We already had, like 20, 30 gallons
of ice," Travis says. "Once we ran out of liquor, we were, like,
'Well, if we run out of Jack Daniels, we'll just swim downstairs.'"
For non-Louisianians surprised at the people who refused to evacuate,
perhaps a brief explanation is in order. The locals, who have made the
bayou their home and their livelihood since the Acadians' expulsion from
Canada in the mid-1700s, are accustomed to life in and on the water. They
say it's part of the air they breathe, their culture, their customs, almost
their DNA-and they do not fear Mother Nature.
Also, there's that uniquely Gulf Coast factor called "hurricane fatigue."
Residents are tired of hearing every new storm being hyped as "the
big one."
"Last year, you know, with (Hurricane) Ivan, we evacuated. I came
up to Memphis, and it was a complete waste of my time," Travis recalls.
"I mean, literally, I got to Memphis, and the city was still high
and dry. And, I was, like, 'Man, I just spent 80 dollars, 90 dollars in
gas coming up here, and I'm going to spend another 80 dollars going home
for nothing.'"
Unfortunately, Katrina turned out to be "the big one." Travis
and his friends did not realize that until their boss called from New
York and told him that news reports were warning of months without power
and drinking water in the Big Easy.
"So we had to go into the parking lot, get our cars, start breaking
into other people's cars, siphoning off the gas, just so we could get
out of the city," Travis says.
Jerrica, Travis and their fellow evacuees had no sooner settled in to
continue their educations at MTSU than they saw coverage of Rita slamming
into the region. The east Texas coastal towns of Beaumont and Port Arthur
and the west Louisiana parishes of Cameron, Calcasieu and Vermillion bore
the brunt of Rita's fury. But her storm surge once again swamped New Orleans'
Ninth Ward and adjacent St. Bernard Parish, which already had been decimated
by Katrina.
"I do know that Rita has rebroken a levee in my aunt's neighborhood,"
Jerrica says. "Therefore, her return is unknown, and I feel a little
insecure about moving back without my family unit."
Travis has learned that his uptown apartment received no water damage,
but he fears looters have taken their toll. His father's house was inundated
with water up to the second-floor level. Like Jerrica's relatives, Travis'
father had to be rescued from his roof.
Travis' mother, who lived between the New Orleans bedroom communities
of Chalmette and Slidell, had just moved back into her home Aug. 8, after
an April storm damaged the roof and caused extensive water damage. Both
Travis and his mother had jobs at storm-ravaged schools in the Ninth Ward.
Yet more than the coastal erosion to the estuaries or the homes and businesses
reduced to rubble, Travis mourns the potential loss of the city's unique
character-jazzy, spicy, bohemian and bubbly.
"There is no other city like New Orleans ... no other mixing of cultures;
no happy balance of black and white; upper-class, middle-class and low-class;
no balance of the educated and the uneducated," he laments. "Even
after the city has been rebuilt, and the city looks pretty and all, it
won't be the same."
So while the national media mangle names like Delahoussaye and LaFourche,
and the political storm over relief efforts hovers over Washington like
a high pressure system, at least one New Orleanian is digging deep within
himself and trying to envision a day when the city can once again flourish.
"I plan to return and help my beloved New Orleans rebuild. I just
don't plan to live there," Travis says. "I plan to invest in
property, presumably left by most people, and, hopefully, get my hands
on a few shares of some startup companies in New Orleans and even do some
volunteering for a few weeks or months.
"Then, in five years or so, after I have (obtained) my degree and
begin thinking about having a family, NEW ORLEANS will be the place."New
science building tops CBAS future projects
by Randy Weiler
Dean Tom Cheatham highlighted the past, considered the present and looked
toward a bright future when he delivered a "State of the College"
address Sept. 15 to College of Basic and Applied Sciences faculty and
staff.
The future includes an $87 million (current projected cost) science building
that Cheatham estimates would open in 2011-MTSU's 100th anniversary. It
will serve as classroom, office, laboratory and other uses for departments
that might include biology, chemistry, computer science, geology (from
the College of Liberal Arts), mathematics and physics and astronomy.
"So it's very important to our college that we have a building that
will serve our needs," he said. "The future of science is at
stake here (at MTSU). I don't believe the state has ever funded a project
like this, and we need help to make sure this gets full funding."
Cheatham said that according to MTSU alumnus and State Rep. John Hood
(D-Murfreesboro), the science building is "the first project on the
Tennessee Board of Regents list and second on the Tennessee Higher Education
Commission list."
MTSU science and math planning committee members from the six departments
have been meeting twice a month for a year, developing a vision and setting
goals for the project, Cheatham said.
"We are looking at space needs," Cheatham said, "and what
space we can share-a philosophy of the building to meet students' needs.
We are trying to develop a plan of what the science building should be
like on this campus 10 years from now.
"In the summer of 2006, hopefully the Legislature will appropriate
us money to move ahead with the science building, and we want to be ready
to move ahead," he added.
Other Basic and Applied Sciences' facilities projects include completion
of the naked-eye observatory (late December), maintenance hangar at the
Murfreesboro Airport (mid-April 2006) and expansion of the Cason-Kennedy
Nursing Building to nearly double its size (30,000 square feet to 58,000
square feet).
"What we're going to be doing in 2005-06 ... is a continuation of
what we've been working on last year," Cheatham said. "None
of these building projects is finished."
Other large amounts of time were invested in developing the proposal for
the new Ph.D. in interdisciplinary sciences and new tenure and promotion
guidelines, Cheatham said.October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
from Staff Reports
The Blue Raider Nation is again ablaze with purple lapel ribbons as MTSU's
June Anderson Women's Center commemorates Domestic Violence Awareness
Month with a slate of consciousness-raising events.
The ribbons, worn as a symbol of courage and survival as well as to honor
those who've suffered domestic violence and show dedication to ending
it, are available in offices across campus as well as in the JAWC offices
in Room 200 of the James Union Building.
Awareness events scheduled for the month include a Silent Witness Exhibit
from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 24 and 25, on the
Keathley University Center knoll. Free-standing, life-sized red wooden
figures, each bearing the name of a woman who perished due to domestic
violence, will symbolize women who died at the hands of a husband, ex-husband,
partner or acquaintance.
On Wednesday, Oct. 26, storyteller and inspirational speaker Wambui Bahati
will take on the persona of the topic in "I Am Domestic Violence,"
a performance slated for 7:30 p.m. in the State Farm Room of the Business
and Aerospace Building.
For more information about Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities
at MTSU, call the June Anderson Women's Center at 615-898-2193.
For help with a domestic violence problem, contact the Domestic Violence
Program at 615-896-9452. The crisis line for emergencies is 615-896-2012.'From
Liberation to Life': Holocaust Studies Conference planned Oct. 27-29
by Lisa L. Rollins
The seventh biennial MTSU Holocaust Studies Conference, with the theme
"From Liberation to Life: 60 Years After Auschwitz,"will be
held Oct. 27-29 at MTSU.
Throughout the weekend event, which will get under way at 8:30 a.m. daily
in the James Union Building and in Todd Hall, the conference, sponsored
by MTSU's Holocaust Studies Commit-tee, will feature back-to-back presentations
commemorating the Holocaust experience from cultural, educational and
historical perspectives.
University educators, authors and historians from throughout the United
States, as well as from the Ukraine and Poland, among other locales, will
lead conference sessions.
"The 2005 Holocaust conference will include American liberators of
various concentration camps and one Russian Jewish liberator who will
join us from Moscow," says Dr. Lon Nuell, art professor. "That
part of the program, along with a panel of Holocaust survivors, creates
a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the public to meet those who experienced
the reality of the brutality of German Nazi policies.
"Such meetings seem to create vivid and lasting memories for the
participant," he adds.
Many of the three-day conference's discussion and panels are free and
open to the public, including a viewing and discussion of "Hitler's
Plan," a cable television documentary originally shown on the History
Channel. The documentary explores the contents of a once-secret book penned
by Adolf Hitler outlining his plans for continuous war and demonstrating
his racial hatred.
Author and Holocaust historian Dr. Gerhard Weinberg, one of the event's
guest speakers, came across Hitler's unpublished book in 1958 when he
was combing through massive stacks of documents that the United States
had captured from Nazi Germany. Hitler dictated the secret book, which
includes his plans for global domination and an American invasion, in
1928. Since its discovery, the book has been authenticated and the documents
are considered legitimate, as outlined in the documentary.
"Hitler's Plan" will be shown and Weinberg will lead a discussion
about the historical document from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 29, in the JUB's Tennessee Room.
Weinberg also will present another free and open session, "Two Separate
Subjects? Thinking About World War II and the Holocaust" at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 27, in the Tennessee Room.
On the conference's opening day, Dr. Rochelle Saidel, founder and executive
director of New York's Remember the Women Institute, will deliver a free
presentation, "Ravensbruch 60 Years After Liberation: The Politics
of Memory," at 12:45-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, in the Hazlewood
Room of the JUB.
Then, on Friday, Oct. 28, featured speaker Dr. Myra Goldenberg will deliver
a free and open session, "Sex in the Service of Survival: Women and
the Holocaust" from 1 p.m. until 1:45 p.m. in the JUB's Hazlewood
Room.
Goldenberg, who is the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Scholar of Holocaust
Studies at New Jersey's Richard Stockton College, is the author of numerous
articles and essays, and co-editor of the forthcoming book, Tensions,
Testimony and Tikkun: Teaching the Holocaust in Colleges and Universities.
Also on Oct. 28, the conference will serve as host for a military honor
guard and a number of panel discussions to commemorate the heroes and
survivors of the Holocaust from 1:45 p.m. until 5 p.m. As part of this
day's discussions, American and Russian liberators will remember 1945;
Holocaust survivors will remember 1945; excerpts from the film "D-Day
to Berlin," featuring footage shot by George Stevens of American
troops liberating Dachau in 1944-45, will be shown; and Susan Lee Pentlin
of Central Missouri State University will present "A Journey in Pictures:
60 Years Later, American Liberators Return to Danube Valley." All
of these sessions will be free and open to the public.
For more information on the conference, including a full schedule of programming
events, or to download a registration form, please visit its Web site
at www.mtsu.edu/~holoed/.
For additional conference information not found on the Web site, please
contact Dr. Nancy Rupprecht, history professor, at 615-898 2645 or Nuell
at 615-898-2505. SIDEBAR: Exhibit shows artist's response to 'Final Solution'
by Lisa L. Rollins
A 42-piece exhibit, "Perpetrators," created as artist Sidney
Chafetz's response to the Holocaust, will be on display at MTSU Oct. 20
through Nov. 4.
Sponsored by the MTSU art department, the free exhibit-which comprises
large-format original prints, or lithographs, and one large wood block,
or relief print-will be on display 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday in the
university's Todd Gallery.
A professor emeritus at Ohio State University, Chafetz said he felt a
need to make a statement about the Holocaust, and subsequently, he struggled
with the issue for many months before beginning the body of work.
"The artist has said that it was impossible for him to make imagery
that included bodies of victims, and that the loss of 6 million Jewish
women, children and men was more than images could ever convey,"
Dr. Lon Nuell, gallery curator, said.
In describing the intent behind the exhibit's creation, Chafetz said,
"Today, older people seem either inured against those ghastly images
or disinterested. Whole generations are uninformed. Sadly, totalitarian
governments, anti-Semitism, racism and genocide are still ugly realities.
I decided to portray the people who made Hitler possible.
"These perpetrators came from every facet of life: law, education,
the military, industry, finance, medicine, religion, science, journalism,
art," he continued.
"They were mainly men of position and education. ... It is my hope
to provoke the audience to think critically about the present by remembering
a past when a single tyrant was joined by a cadre of men in perpetrating
evil across the world."
Although Chafetz's work does not show the victims of the Holocaust, he
"causes us to remember them through those who participated in creating
that disaster," Nuell remarked.
For more information regarding "Perpetrators," please contact
Nuell at 615-898-2505.October 'MT Record' a harvest of new features
by Leigh Harrington
The old saying "Every cloud has a silver lining" seems to ring
true in this month's episode of "Middle Tennessee Record" television
show. The October program features:
• the stories of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are
now attending MTSU;
• a faculty research project that brought a once-divided community
together again; and
• efforts by volunteers and professionals to enhance children's learning
environments.
Though they have endured hardship, several students from schools affected
by Hurricane Katrina share how the kindness of strangers has helped them
find a safe place at MTSU. Nearly 50 students from accredited colleges
and universities along the coast have transferred to MTSU free of charge.
Sharon Kintzler of admissions said that many showed up with only a backpack
and faced the additional challenge of starting classes after the semester
had begun.
In the show's second segment, MTSU professors Dr. Barbara Haskew and Dr.
Bob Jones share the highlights from their recently published research
on a 75-year-old gun battle that took place in South Pittsburg, Tenn.
A labor dispute had divided the town, and the situation finally came to
a boiling point on Christmas Day 1927, when a shoot-out on the town's
main street escalated into the "Christmas Massacre." An overflow
crowd recently gathered in South Pittsburg, some to hear about the event
from Haskew and Jones and others to share how it had touched their live.
This month's episode wraps up with a collection of stories that demonstrate
that learning really can be fun. First, teachers of gifted students received
some tips on how keep those intelligent young minds active. MTSU professor
Dr. John Vile recently dressed in colonial attire to lead a symposium
for high school students on the Bill of Rights, and volunteers from Ingram
Book Co. took a day to brighten the classrooms of Project HELP, which
assists children with various developmental challenges.
MTR airs daily on cable channel 9 in Murfreesboro and weekly on NewsChannel
5+; the schedule is listed at the top of the campus calendar on page 4.
The program also can be viewed via streaming video by clicking on "Middle
Tennessee Record" at www.mtsunews.com.Prepare to be thrilled at Contest
of Champions
by Lisa L. Rollins
Some 3,000 high school band students and 10,000-plus spectators are expected
to again converge on MTSU's Floyd Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 29, for the
44th annual Contest of Champions, the longest-running high school band
competition in the United States.
Sponsored by MTSU's Department of Bands, the contest is a regional competition
that draws many high-school bands from Tennessee and Kentucky and from
as far away as New York and Florida. The grand-prize winner will be recognized
during a formal presentation of the COC coat of arms plaque designating
the band as "2005 Grand Champion."
The two-tiered competition will begin with a 10 a.m. preliminary competition,
where each of the bands will perform in 15-minute intervals for a panel
of judges selected from colleges or professional affiliations around the
country.
Only eight of the top-scoring bands in the contest will advance to the
Finals Competition, which will be held at 7 p.m. Caption-style adjudication
will be employed during both preliminaries and finals. Using this form
of judging, three judges will evaluate the musical performance of each
band and award up to 20 points. Designated judges also will evaluate the
visual performance of each band for a maximum 10-point visual score, and
other designated judges will evaluate the general effect of each performance
for a maximum score of 10 points.
At the close of the competition, the highest-scoring band will be denoted
"Grand Champion," and the highest-scoring Tennessee band will
be recognized by the governor's office as the best in the state and awarded
with the Governor's Cup.
Subsequent awards will include "Reserve Grand Champion" for
the second-highest score and "Honorable Mention" for the third-highest
score. Each of the competition's eight finalists will receive the silver
"Finalist Cup" in recognition of outstanding accomplishments.
According to the COC statement of purpose, COC was established for the
improvement of bands and dedicated to men and women who pursue perfection,
whether on the football field or the concert stage. University facilities
are furnished at no charge, and the MTSU band directors donate their time
and service There is no entry fee for participating bands.
Tickets for COC are now on sale at the MTSU Ticket Office. Depend-ing
on seating and type of performance tickets, prices will vary. Reserved
preliminary tickets are $15-$16; reserved finals tickets are $18-$20;
and reserved combined tickets are $25-$30. General admission is$10 for
preliminaries and $12 for finals, with combined general admission for
$20 per person. Children 11 and under will be admitted free with general
admission only.
For more information on tickets, please call the ticket office at 615-898-2103.
For more information on the COC, please contact Tim Musselman in the McLean
School of Music at 615-898-2493 or visit the Contest of Champions Web
site at www.mtsu.edu/~coc/.Gift of life is worth the wait for kidney donor
by Gina K. Logue
Almost nine months after Angela Nicole Mabry planned to go into the hospital,
she shared a blessed event with her boyfriend, Jesse Boyd-a kidney transplant.
Nik, as her friends call her, a former resident of Clarksville, Tenn.,
and Nashville, and Jesse, a resident of Vance, Ala., entered University
of Alabama at UAB (University of Alabama-Birmingham) Hospital Sept. 28.
The procedure was performed Sept. 30.
The 22-year-old Nik interrupted her college career at MTSU with the intention
of giving one of her kidneys to Jesse.
She became intrigued with organ donation last year following the death
of a friend and high school bandmate in Clarksville. Joey Ansberry died
in a wreck on his 18th birthday, and while an organ transplant would not
have saved him, Nik had discussed the subject with him at some length.
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 woman named Maggie responded on the blog site. She wrote
that her son, Jesse, 22 at the time, needed a kidney.
Jesse suffers from thrombotic thrombocytopenic pupura, a rare and deadly
blood disease. The illness has played havoc with his kidneys, forcing
the former athlete to endure dialysis treatments three times each week
since January 2002.
"The more fluid that has to be removed from his blood, the worse
the headaches seem to be afterward," Nik says. "Sometimes he's
in so much pain and so weak afterwards, I just have to throw his arm around
me and help him to the car."
Both of Jesse's parents are diabetic and could not be tested; his brother
proved not to be an organ donor match. Maggie's pleas only strengthened
Nik's resolve to be tested in order to help Jesse. Fortunately, she was
deemed a match.
Unexpectedly, Nik and Jesse became a match in another way-they fell in
love. Nik has been living with Jesse and his family ever since.
"Five to 10 years ago, organ donation was a relatively new phenomenon,
and the donors were primarily family members," says Carol Smith,
coordinator, College of Basic and Applied Sciences at MTSU. Smith worked
as a researcher for the United Network for Organ Sharing in Richmond,
Va., for six years.
"There is a huge discrepancy between the number of donors and the
number of organs needed," Smith says, "and it's primarily due
to the lack of donors."
According to the UNOS Web site, more than 89,500 people are on a waiting
list for donor organs. As of Sept. 17, 14,010 transplants had been performed;
through June of this year, 7,243 donors had been registered.
Unfortunately, Nik and Jesse's operation, which originally was slated
for Feb. 22, had to be postponed because of Jesse's health. After months
of treatment, on Sept. 15, doctors at UAB finally consented to perform
the surgery they hope will alleviate his suffering.
Despite an initial crisis when Nik proved allergic to some pain medication,
both patients were recovering nicely at press time. For Nik, the message
to those awaiting donor organs is clear-there's always hope.
"We were complete strangers when we found out we were a match,"
Nik says. "You don't have to be in someone's family or know someone's
background for them to help. Donors are everywhere. They just have to
be educated and informed of the need."
For more information about organ donation, visit www.unos.org. For specific
information about kidney donation, visit www.kidney.org.People Around
Campus: Residential Life, Security team up for safety
by Liz Karlson Baker
Students around campus may have noticed some new employees scouting around
their residence halls. They may seem intimidating at first, but they're
really into safety. Who are they? Your friendly university police officers.
Beginning this semester, as part of a joint effort between Residential
Life and the MTSU Department of Public Safety, every residence hall has
been assigned a specific officer from the campus police department. During
each work shift, the officer will take 30 minutes to an hour to go into
the dorms to talk to students, discuss new programs and attend resident-assistant
floor meetings.
"This is not just putting cops in the dorms to spy on people and
see what they're doing wrong; this is about making the residents feel
safer, adding to the quality of life and reducing the crime rate,"
Public Safety Interim Chief Roy Brewer said of the new project, dubbed
"Adopt-a-Cop." "We don't have a lot of crime, but we do
have an obligation to reduce what we have."
"We'd rather be here for good reasons than bad," added Sgt.
Jason Morton, who works with Wood and Felder halls-in part because he
lived at Felder when he attended MTSU.
"This allows students to meet us in a positive light, instead of
our only responding when they need us. It puts us (officers and students)
on more of an equal footing."
Similar programs at places like the University of West Virginia and Central
Florida have reduced crime rates up to 20 percent, officials said, so
the MTSU department wanted a way to extend its already productive programs
such as Rape Aggression Defense and Operation ID.
With campus police officers interacting with students on a daily basis,
however, most participants feel the plan will only improve relationships
between officers and residents.
"You really can't even consider this a reduction in patrol-officers
taking 30 minutes to an hour and going into the dorms-because in reality,
it's a better form of patrol," said Sgt. Steve Scott.
"They're actually getting out of that car, where they're not having
contact with people that we serve, to having contact with possibly several
hundred."
Melissa Lamb, who serves as Area IV coordinator (including Wood and Felder),
said she's already seen some positive responses.
"A lot of the girls were really happy to see police officers walking
around, and the staff has been excited about it too," she said. "I
didn't have this sort of program at my last school, but we still had a
close working relationship with the officers there. It's good to know
the officers and to have an intentional police presence."
Student Ashley Knight, 19, agrees: "I think it might be kind of weird
at first, but I would really feel safer with an officer around. It's a
good idea."
However, some students have expressed concerns about what they see as
another unnecessary security measure.
"The kids have to scan their ID before they come in, show it to the
desk assistant, then use it to go on the elevator," said a Corlew
Hall RA. "I think having a cop around will only make it worse."
Despite differing student opinions, officers hope for the best. "To
get to know these people on a one-on-one basis can only help and improve
the relationship with the police department and the student body,"
said Scott. "This can only be a good thing."
The Record, October 10, 2005, V14.08
Campus Calendar
>>Top of Page
Monday, Oct. 10
Honors Lecture Series
"Collegiate Sports Today" panel with NCAA president
Dr. Myles Brand
3-3:55 p.m., HONR 106
For information, contact:
615-898-2152.
Faculty Senate meeting
4:30 p.m., JUB 100
For information, contact:
615-898-2582.
Dr. Myles Brand,
"The Myths of College Sports"
7 p.m., BAS, State Farm Room
No charge, but tickets required
For information, contact:
615-898-2919.
Tuesday, Oct. 11
MTSU Women's Chorale
7:30 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2493.
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Hispanic Heritage Celebration
7 p.m., Tucker Theatre
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-4733.
MTSU Symphonic Band/
Wind Ensemble
7:30 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2493.
Oct. 14-15
Dairy Expo Junior Show
8 p.m., Tenn. Livestock Center
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-459-6608.
Oct. 15-18
Fall Break
Campuswide
No classes; university offices open as usual Oct. 17-18
Saturday, Oct. 15
MTSU Alumni Association Pregame Tailgate
3 p.m. EDT, Fort Lauderdale
For information, contact:
615-898-2922.
MTSU Football
vs. Florida Atlantic
5 p.m. EDT, Fort Lauderdale
For information, contact:
615-898-2103.
Walking for the Children Horse Show
6 p.m., Miller Coliseum
Admission: $5 adult,
children 6 and under free
For information, contact:
615-494-8822.
Sunday, Oct. 16
"For the Record-Milton Conference"
Guest: Dr. Kevin Donovan
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
Friday, Oct. 21
MTSU Chamber Winds/Brass Ensemble
7:30 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2493.
Saturday, Oct. 22
Homecoming Parade:
Grand Marshal Lana Seivers
11 a.m., MT Boulevard
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2922.
Horseshoe Monument Dedication Ceremony
12:30 p.m., Walnut Grove
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2922.
African-American Alumni Council Meeting
1 p.m., Doubletree Hotel
For information, contact:
615-898-2718.
Homecoming Picnic
1:30 p.m., Walnut Grove
Adults $10, children $5;
no charge for BRAA members
For information, contact:
615-898-2922.
MTSU Football
vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
4 p.m., Floyd Stadium
For information, contact:
615-898-2103.
Al Wilkerson
Scholarship Dance
9 p.m., Doubletree Hotel
$20 per person
For information, contact:
615-898-2718 or 898-2922.
Sunday, Oct. 23
"For the Record-Cultural Diversity Conference"
Guests: Drs. Sharon Shaw-McEwen, Anantha Babbili,
Jack Thomas and others
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
MTSU Symphony Orchestra
8 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact:
615-898-2493.
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