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Books from Birth launches April 4
by Forrest Sanders
Educators list preschool reading as among the most vital influences on a student's success in school. For that reason, MTSU is lending a helping hand to a statewide initiative called Books from Birth.
In a unique partnership with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library Foundation, Gov. Phil Bredesen's Books from Birth literacy program provides children with a free, age-appropriate book each month from the child's birth up until his or her fifth birthday.
Earlier this year, Rutherford County joined 90 other Tennessee counties in the Books from Birth program. More than 2,500 children have already been enrolled, and the public's enthusiasm for the organization is showing no signs of letting up, with 50 to 100 enrollment forms being mailed out each day.
While Books from Birth is only offered to children age five and under, senior advertising major Nicholas Wehmeyer believes that the cause is still very relevant to college students.
"We've found that there's a correlation between early childhood reading and the college dropout rate," says Wehmeyer. "People in college don't realize the importance and significance of childhood reading and how it can be effective in getting through college."
Along with Student Government Association President Paul Fulcher and a campus coalition of faculty and staff, Wehmeyer has been leading a Books from Birth campaign to raise $27,000 at MTSU. During the week of March 27-31, a street team will be collecting donations for Books from Birth campuswide. However, it's on Tuesday, April 4, that the campaign really kicks into high gear.
"We'll have our street team of about 20 college students walking around with signs showing their favorite children's book," says Wehmeyer. "They'll be on campus asking students to donate a dollar to Books from Birth."
Rutherford County Books from Birth organizers have set a countywide fund-raising goal of $100,000 in child sponsorships and an impressive $3 million endowment goal.
Since MTSU has set its portion of the county fund-raising goal at $27,000, a dollar from each of 22,000-plus students would just about meet it, organizers say, even before faculty and staff contributions are tabulated.
"MTSU is kicking off the project for Rutherford County," adds Faye Johnson, assistant to the executive vice president and provost for special initiatives and an MTSU Books from Birth committee member. "The foundation is really looking to us to set the stage for the rest of the county, so we're already out there working."
In addition to designing posters and handouts for the Books from Birth informational blitz on campus in April, MTSU organizers are targeting student groups to sponsor a child. During the week of March 27-31, Fulcher will be meeting with sororities, fraternities and other student organization leaders to persuade them to sponsor a child for the five-year duration of the child's Books from Birth participation.
"Endowing a child for $270 means that, forever, one child will get a book a month for five years," explains Jackie Victory, director of student organizations and community service. "The endowment provides a return on the principal investment that funds a child receiving a book."
Organizations and individuals also can "adopt a child" for $67.50, which will fund one child's Books from Birth participation for five years, or for $13.50, which funds a book a month for one child for one year.
Recognition for those who participate will be marked by a huge board that will be making an appearance in the Keathley University Center during the first week of April. On the board, the student organization will be listed next to the picture of the child it is sponsoring.
Wehmeyer says he's encouraging MTSU organizations to get involved to help children get a jump-start on learning in school, as well as helping them in the formation of their personalities.
"I can remember what books I read as a child and the sort of effect they had on me," says Wehmeyer. "There are certainly characteristics that I've developed because of the books I read as a child.
"It's partly because of this that I think it's very, very important just to have books around the house. This campaign focuses on just getting literature around kids."
Parents wishing to enroll their child in the Books from Birth program may pick up a brochure at any library in Rutherford County. For more information about the MTSU fund-raising effort, call 615-898-5941 or e-mail pthomas@mtsu.edu.
Inventive solutions
JUST DON'T ADD WATER-Bellwood Discovery School fourth-graders (from left) Caroline Dodd, Carolina Tuma and Alyssa Stender demonstrate "Shampoo-a-Go-Go," a powdered shampoo in capsule form, at the 14th annual Invention Convention as Connie Jones, chair of MTSU's Department of Elementary and Special Education, looks on. The annual event lets elementary students put their useful ideas to work.
photo by Ken Robinson
TSSAA time again!
The TSSAA boys' Division I high school basketball tournament has been scheduled for March 15-18 in Murphy Center, and that means temporary traffic and parking changes around campus for students, faculty and staff.
During the tournament, the Greenland Drive lots will be reserved for TSSAA game ticket holders, who will pay $5 per vehicle to park in those lots.
Students, faculty and staff who normally use the Greenland Drive lots are being encouraged to park in the Tennessee Livestock Center lot and use Raider Xpress shuttles to reach the interior of campus. A third bus will be added to the Raider Xpress route to accommodate the temporary changes.
As in the past, tournament team buses will be parked along the east side of Middle Tennessee Boulevard, creating a single lane of traffic heading north on MT Boulevard between East Main Street and Greenland Drive.
The Faulkinberry entrance from MT Boulevard will be closed Wednesday through Saturday during the tournament time. Faulkinberry Drive also will be closed at Normal Way.
Students, faculty and staff with current MTSU parking decals-as well as visitors with appropriate permits-will be allowed to park in the Woodfin, Maintenance, Horseshoe, Corral and Jones Field parking lots during the tournament.
Visitors attending the tournament games will be routed to outer lots on campus, including the Tennessee Livestock Center and Rutherford Boulevard lots.
The Raider Xpress Shuttle service will run its normal schedule, with the exception of the Green Route.
Parking and Transportation officials say the Green Route will not use Greenland Drive or access the Greenland Drive parking lot for the duration of the TSSAA tournaments.
Instead, the route will be modified to access the lots along Crestland and Ellington, travel down MT Boulevard and enter campus behind the James Union Building.
The Green Route will then loop around Old Main Circle to Peck Hall and then travel back out to MT Boulevard from behind the JUB to continue its route.
For more information, please call Parking and Transportation Services at 615-898-2850 or visit their Web site at www.mtsu.edu/ ~parking.
Aerospace's Hawkins earns national award
by Randy Weiler
Two years into the academic arena but with 30-plus years experience in aircraft maintenance, MTSU's Joe Hawkins recently experienced the "pinnacle" in his profession.
Hawkins, 51, assistant professor, aerospace, made aviation history in Tennessee as the state's first National Aviation Technician of the Year for 2006. The Tennessee Aviation Association's Aviation Maintenance Conference Steering Committee nominated him for the award.
Marion Blakey, Federal Aviation Administration administrator, will present the award to Hawkins during Experimental Aircraft Association's 2006 Airventure at Oshkosh, Wis., July 24-30. The National General Aviation Awards Program annually recognizes excellence in aviation maintenance technology.
"To be picked No. 1 is humbling," Hawkins, an MTSU alumnus, said. "I'm here to teach. I'm in a comfortable environment. I'm elated that I won, and I did work hard. But I've achieved my goal, and that was to work at MTSU."
"Our committee nominated him because we knew he was a very strong candidate for this national award," said Bob Minter, chairman of the TAA's executive committee. "We also know him as a man of impeccable character, integrity, dedication, skill and energy. Joe Hawkins deserves this national recognition for all he has done and continues to do for aviation."
Dr. Paul Craig, Hawkins' colleague and immediate superior, was elated upon receiving the news.
"This is really a big deal for MTSU and the aerospace department," Craig, chair, aerospace, wrote in a campus e-mail. "I was proud to write one of Joe's recommendation letters for this award and proud that he has been recognized in this way. We now have further proof that 'best at MTSU equals best in the USA.'"
Hawkins, who joined the aerospace faculty in 2004 after spending 13 years as chief aviation maintenance technician for the Tennessee Department of Transportation, said he credits Dr. Wallace Maples, professor emeritus, and Gail Zlotky, associate professor, for playing key roles that led to him venturing into the education arena.
"Dr. Maples came to check on some interns," Hawkins said. "He saw that the kids loved the internship program and asked me to think about going back to school. He lit a fire even though it took me a year to get going."
Hawkins said he came to MTSU in his late 30s and started at the freshman level, though he'd already been in the industry 20-plus years.
"One summer, I was taking the intro to aerospace class in Alumni Memorial Gym with Professor Gail Zlotky," he recalled. "She was talking to these young people and said, 'We've got an expert in back.' It was unplanned, but she turned the class over to me for about an hour. I was nervous, stuttering and my heart was beating [fast]. Then after it was over, I thought, 'I kind of like this.'"
In 2001, Hawkins was recognized as the FAA Nashville Flight Standards District Office Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year. In 2003, he was awarded the National Business Aviation Association's Aviation Maintenance Technician Safety Award for more than 25 years of aircraft maintenance operations without an accident or serious injury to aircraft, crew members or passengers.
Hawkins earned his B.A. from MTSU in 1999, then his master's in 2003. He and Toni, his wife of 24 years, have a daughter, Kimberly, an MTSU psychology major, and a son, Brandon, who attends Oakland High School.
In Brief:
WOMEN MAKE IT A THREE-PEAT; NEXT ON AGENDA IS BIG DANCE
MTSU's women's basketball team will learn on Monday, March 13, where and against whom they'll be playing in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, after earning their third straight Sun Belt Conference Tournament title March 7 with an 84-73 win over Western Kentucky. This marks only the second time in school history the Blue Raiders have advanced to the NCAA three years in a row. The women also join Old Dominion (1983-85), Western Kentucky (1991-93) and Louisiana Tech (1996-2001) as the only programs to win three straight SBC Women's Tournament titles. Keep checking www.goblueraiders.com for the latest NCAA tourney updates!
RESERVE A PLACE BY MARCH 13 AT ANNUAL WOMEN'S BREAKFAST
The Association of Faculty and Administrative Women and the June Anderson Women's Center have scheduled the 2006 International Women's Breakfast for Thursday, March 16, from 7 a.m. until 9 a.m. in the Hazlewood Dining Room of the James Union Building. MTSU's Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services, Dr. Martha Jo Edwards, will speak on an MTSU faculty project in Durban, South Africa, aimed at empowering women in squatter settlements to become community health educators on the issues of safe water, sanitation and HIV/AIDS care and prevention. Cost is $10 per person; please e-mail ktodd@mtsu.edu before noon on Monday, March 13, to reserve a place at the breakfast. For more information, call 615-898-2193.
NEW PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR WILL BEGIN WORK ON APRIL 3
Capt. Carl Peaster of Georgia Southern University will join MTSU's Department of Public Safety April 3 as its new director, replacing longtime chief Jack Drugmand, who retired in October 2004. Peaster was chosen from more than 40 applicants to lead the department, which has been under the leadership of interim director Roy Brewer since Drugmand's retirement. Peaster, a 23-year veteran of university safety, was responsible for investigations, training, crime prevention and community relations at Georgia Southern.
Strickland Scholar lecture March 16 has Southern flair
by Gina K. Logue
Dr. Vernon Burton, a researcher who specializes in the American South, will deliver the 2006 Strickland Visiting Scholar Lecture in History at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 16, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building.
The topic of Burton's talk will be "The South as Other, the Southerner as Stranger." The discussion is free and open to the public. Burton will be on campus March 13-24 for formal and informal classes and workshops with undergraduates, graduates and faculty.
In a 2001 interview for George Mason University's "History Matters" Web site, Burton said, "As an art, history encourages intellect and spirit. As a discipline, history sharpens analytical rigor. American history should be inclusive, meaningful, and relevant to every age; it is inescapable and every person plays a part. When we learn to make judgments about historical interpretations, we are also learning to make judgments about the daily news, conventional wisdom and even our own ideas. I am firm in my belief that teaching a critical perspective is essential, not for history alone, but for all aspects of modern life."
The purpose of the Strickland Visiting Scholar program is to allow students to meet with accomplished scholars whose expertise spans a variety of historical issues. It was established through the support of the Strickland family in memory of Dr. Roscoe Lee Strickland Jr., a longtime professor of European history at MTSU. Strickland was the first president of the MTSU Faculty Senate.
Burton, a professor of history and sociology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, also is director of the UIUC Center for Computational Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences and a professor and senior research scientist at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Additionally, Burton is an affiliate of the Afro-American Studies and Research Program and a member of the Campus Honors Program at UIUC. He also serves as executive director of the College of Charleston's Program in the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World.
Burton's research and teaching about the South focus on race relations, family, community, politics and religion. He is the author of more than 100 articles and the author or editor of eight books, including In My Father's House Are Many Mansions: Family and Community in Edgefield, South Carolina and Toward a New South? Studies in Post-Civil War Southern Communities (edited with Robert C. McMath Jr.).
Burton earned his bachelor's degree from Furman University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Princeton University.
Nursing, Aging Studies are co-sponsors: Elderly Caregiving conference April 6-7
from Staff Reports
The 12th annual Dynamics of Elderly Caregiving Conference, "Creating an Environment Promoting Respect, Safety and Hope for Those We Love," is scheduled Thursday and Friday, April 6 and 7.
The event, co-sponsored by MTSU's School of Nursing and Chairs of Excellence and the MTSU Aging Studies Program, will kick off April 6 with a 7 p.m. keynote address by Dr. William Thomas, an international authority on geriatric medicine and elder care, at Third Baptist Church, 310 W. McKnight Drive in Murfreesboro.
Thomas's research on long-term elder care led to the "Eden Alternative," a caregiving emphasis on a true "human habitat" instead of simply focusing on medical issues, which has been adopted by nursing homes and retirement centers throughout the United States.
Conference registration on April 7 will begin at 7:30 a.m. at the St. Clair Street Senior Center, 325 St. Clair St. in Murfreesboro. A day of breakout sessions will include discussions on maintaining safety and quality of life as people age and need help with their normal daily activities. Topics include "Resources," "Faith-Based Care," "Caregiving 101," "Motivating Care Providers" and more.
The conference fee is $50 per person and $15 for students and includes lunch and breaks. Registra-tion forms, which are available at nursing.web.mtsu.edu/caring.htm, must be returned with payment before Saturday, April 1, to Linda Lawrence at Eden Alternative, MTSU School of Nursing, P.O. Box 81, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132.
The conference is also co-sponsored by AARP, the Greater Nashville Regional Council Area Agency on Aging and Disability, Community Care of Rutherford County, Tennessee Eden Coalition, Middle Tennessee Medical Center, National Healthcare Corp., Veterans' Administration-Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Rutherford County Council on Aging, the Alzheimer's Association, Tennessee Healthcare Association, Bordeaux Long Term Care and Caris Hospice.
For more information, call 615-898-5950.
Top profs
DISTINGUISHED COLLEAGUES-Dr. Charlie Baum (seated, left), economics and finance, and Dr. Timothy Graeff, management and marketing, accept their recent honors as State Farm Distinguished Professors. Joining them are (standing, from left) G. Ron Nichols, State Farm vice president of operations for Tennessee, and College of Business Dean Dr. Jim Burton.
photo by Ken Robinson
New psychological center opens
by Tiffany Jordan
Graduate students in the MTSU Professional Counseling Program are now able to gain more experience by helping children and parents in the local community.
The MTSU Psychological Services Center, located in Peck Hall 224, offers individual, parent-child and group counseling services to those in need.
Dr. Christopher Quarto, who is a member of the Professional Counseling faculty and a licensed psychologist, is the creator and supervisor of the center.
The types of problems for which clients can obtain counseling include adjustment and anxiety issues, low self-esteem, relationship difficulties and disobedient behavior at home or school.
All discussions are kept confidential, except those involving a child being harmed by another person or a child hurting himself or someone else.
Students must be very tactful when handling such matters with clients at such young ages, Quarto said.
Stacey Landa, a graduate student and worker at the Center, says that "patience" is the most valuable skill she has learned so far in practice.
"I've had to learn how to take [the] time to allow the clients to answer questions or respond to statements in their own way, on their own time. It's important to give clients time to process and then respond," Landa says.
The Psychological Services Center is open Mondays from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Children between the ages of 8 and 18 and their parents are eligible to receive counseling.
Appointments can only be made after a referral form has been received by the Center from a professional in the community. The fee for each session is $5 and must be paid at the end of the session.
For more information, contact Dr. Quarto at 615-898-5313 or visit the Center's Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~psc.
NWHM speaker Del Federico blends art, chemistry
by Randy Weiler
Dr. Eleonora Del Federico, an assistant professor in chemistry in the mathematics and science department at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., will be the 2006 Women in Science invited lecturer during National Women's History Month activities, Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross said.
Del Federico will discuss "The Chemistry of Fresco Paintings" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, in WPS Room 102, and it will be open to both the MTSU community and the general public.
While at MTSU, Iriarte-Gross said Del Federico would meet with the Women in Science and Engineering group at a time and location to be announced later and do a demonstration about fresco painting with the art department.
"I heard her talk at a national meeting about her work, and she is very good," Iriarte-Gross, associate professor, chemistry, said. "She does a wonderful job of connecting chemistry and art."
Dr. Wendy Koenig, assistant professor, art, said Del Federico will be doing the fresco demonstration with students and any MTSU student is welcome, as there will be groups of four or five students creating small frescoes on ceramic tiles.
The demonstration is tentatively scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, on the second floor of the Todd Building, Koenig said, adding that the event is sponsored by MTSU Women's Studies in conjunction with National Women's History Month. For more information, call Koenig at 615-898-2014.
Del Federico's main duty at Pratt has been developing courses at the chemistry/art and art history interface. She also directs fine arts and art history majors in research projects that often involve the re-creation of ancient artist's techniques such as Roman and/or medieval wall paintings.
She presently is a Visiting Research Scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she is involved in a study on the degradation of lead paint in traditional oil paintings and in illuminated manuscripts.
Del Federico is collaborating with New York University in a study of pigment degradation on fresco paintings by NMR spectroscopy and with l'Istituto di Fisca Applica "Nello Carrara," Florence, Italy, in a study of provenance of ultramarine pigments. She holds a doctorate in biophysical chemistry from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
For more information about the visit, call Iriarte-Gross at 615-898-8253 or e-mail her at jiriarte@mtsu.edu.
Labor-management conference to deal with changing world
by Tom Tozer
Last year's Tennessee Labor-Management Conference in Knoxville broke all attendance records, but organizers of the eighth annual TLM Winter Conference say that with the line-up of speakers and educational programs, attendance is likely to go through the roof of the Hilton Memphis Hotel.
The theme of the March 30-31 conference in Memphis is "Facing a Changing World." The conference is facilitated by the Tennessee Center for Labor-Management Relations at Middle Tennessee State University, which is funded by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
"We are excited that Memphis has been chosen as the host city," said Roger Womble, 2006 conference president. "Companies and bargaining units in Tennessee have set the standard for labor-management relations over the past year, and we look forward to sharing our best practices with attendees from across the state."
A special feature of the conference will be a March 30 afternoon presentation by the Honorable D'Army Bailey, focusing on the 1960's Memphis garbage strike, the Civil Rights Movement and the need for continued activism. Bailey, an activist, politician, writer and public servant, was elected circuit court judge in Tennessee's 30th Judicial District in 1990. He was re-elected in 1998 and continues to fight for civil rights.
A labor law panel will be moderated by Othal Smith Jr., attorney and IVP International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and panelists will include Ronald Hooks, regional director, NLRB, Memphis; Arnold Perl, Young & Perl, Memphis; and Samuel Morris of Godwin, Morris, Laurenzi and Bloomfield, Memphis.
Workshops throughout the two-day conference will focus on health care, pensions, workplace safety, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Tennessee AFL-CIO's connecting people with possibilities, emergency preparedness, diversity, workers compensation and the negative impact of methamphetamine use, among other issues.
Information and online registration can be found at www.tnlabormgmt.org or by calling 615-895-4166.
<"Women in the Curriculum" series listing - PDF available if needed>
Standard & Poor's equity research chief to speak March 28
Stephen Biggar, director of U.S. Equity Research for Standard & Poor's, will bring his insights on the U.S. economy to the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building on Tuesday, March 28, at 6 p.m.
Biggar manages the day-to-day research process of S&P's 65 equity research analysts in the U.S. Prior to this position, he was director of financial institutions research and principal bank equity analyst for Standard & Poor's, covering major regional and money center banks.
A member of S&P's Investment Policy Committee and Senior Portfolio Group, he has been widely quoted on banking-related matters by publications such as American Banker, Forbes and Money magazines and news services including Bloomberg and Reuters, and he frequently appears on CNBC and CNBC Asia discussing the equity markets.
Biggar received a B.A. degree in economics from Rutgers University and holds Series 7 and 16 licenses.
A singular honor
A JOB WELL DONE-Dr. Jette Halladay (left), speech and theatre, accepts congratulations from MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee at a Feb. 28 reception honoring Halladay for her recent selection as Tennessee's Carnegie Foundation Teaching Professor of the Year. The honor is bestowed annually on a single educator in each state who delivers the most outstanding undergraduate instruction in the country.
photo by Ken Robinson
Let your voice be heard! Faculty expertise can shine with media's help
by Tom Tozer
Faculty experts are the faces and voices of Middle Tennessee State University. You put us front and center in the media. Without your willingness and ability to talk to the media about the important issues of the day, reporters, editors and producers will shop elsewhere.
We in the Office of News and Public Affairs don't want media to go somewhere else for their sources. To the extent that we can accommodate their needs, we want the media community to feel welcomed and at home right here.
The rule is simple. If we are accessible to media-if we work hard to accommodate them at their convenience-they will come back to us again and again. That keeps MTSU where we need to be-in the media mix with other universities vying for valuable but limited ink and air.
We appreciate all of you-our president, vice presidents and faculty in every college and department-who share your scholarship and learned opinions with a reporter who's on deadline.
We are grateful also to those of you who dare to go out on a limb-only occasionally a precarious one-and comment on something that is controversial. Professionally, it's a feather in your cap to be out there. Institutionally speaking, it's a necessity.
Midway through another semester, let this just be a reminder to faculty-veterans as well as those who are new to MTSU-that we appreciate your being a source of expertise for us. We need your participation. When you receive a "Today's Response" pitch from Gina Logue or Tom Tozer, please respond, if you are able. We need you.
"Today's Response" works. We send it out every morning to more than 170 reporters, editors and producers. For every 10 pitches, we receive four to five media "hits" in the form of a print story, radio interview or occasional TV spot. That's an amazing return that keeps on giving!
Help us keep MTSU front and center. If you're not already involved in "Today's Response," please send your name and areas of expertise to news@mtsu.edu so we can add you to our experts' list. If you've participated in TR in the past, then you know its value, and we hope you will continue to respond when contacted.
Thanks for the partnership.
'Real substance' is goal of 1st teaching summit
by Lisa L. Rollins
MTSU was the site of the first-ever Tennessee Summit on Teaching Quality, a daylong conference set to explore ways to achieve and maintain optimal teaching quality and effectiveness.
Dubbed as a "commitment to teaching excellence" at both the K-12 and higher education levels, the invitation-only conference took place Feb. 24 in MTSU's Business and Aerospace Building, where representatives from state government and Tennessee universities and community colleges, as well as the Tennessee State Board of Education, Tennessee Department of Education, Tennessee Education Association, Tennessee School Boards Association, Tennessee Organization of Superintendents, Tennessee Board of Regents and the Tennessee Association of Colleges of Teacher Education were represented.
"Maintaining the highest quality of teaching at all levels in Tennessee should be of utmost concern to every citizen because we are all beneficiaries of a good and comprehensive education," said TBR Chancellor Charles W. Manning.
"However, in order to maintain a level of excellence, we have to attract gifted people to the profession, provide them with the best possible training and preparation, and keep them both in the profession and in Tennessee.
"We must recognize their value to society and compensate them accordingly," Manning added. "(And) I am pleased that MTSU is playing host to this important summit on teaching quality. It promises to be a working conference and a commitment to action by all participants."
During the event, which was themed "Working Together to Meet the Demand," participants discussed the current status of teaching in Tennessee and divided into groups to attend sessions and discuss the tasks now faced by the state's education entities and how to accomplish those goals.
Co-sponsored by MTSU, TBR and the state Board of Education and the Department of Education, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee said, "MTSU is honored to play host to this important summit on teaching quality. It is most appropriate since MTSU trains more than 25 percent of all the teachers in the state of Tennessee ... (and) this working summit will involve leaders at each of those levels.
"It is my hope that the ideas that emerge from this summit will become practical, doable and sustainable programs of real substance that contribute to the prosperity of all Tennesseans."
Dr. Gloria Bonner, dean of the College of Education and Behavioral Science at MTSU and a conference organizer, described the Feb. 24 undertaking as a partnership and process that is "designed to significantly impact the strategic direction of teacher education throughout the state of Tennessee."
QUALITY DISCUSSION-State Education Commissioner Lana Seivers; keynote speaker Sharon P. Robinson, president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in Washington; and MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee listen as Congressman Bart Gordon makes a point before the first Summit on Teaching Quality.
photo by Ken Robinson
March 'MT Record' is on-air
by Leigh Harrington
The March edition of "Middle Tennessee Record" focuses on the inspiring stories of MTSU faculty, staff and students who really make a difference and includes a new segment, "The Know Zone," featuring highlights of campus activity.
The line-up for the March program includes:
¥ Cancer survivors Terri Tharp, associate director of records, and Anne Sloan, associate professor of political science, who offer advice about women's need to be proactive in their own health;
¥ Former U.S. Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson helping to kick off MTSU's obesity initiative;
¥ MTSU students pull an all-nighter to raise money for young cancer patients at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital;
¥ The university offers a fond farewell to former President James E. Walker and former English professor Dr. Charles Wolfe;
¥ And school-age youth visit campus as part of the Demomania and Science Olympiad events.
"Middle Tennessee Record" airs daily on Murfreesboro cable channel 9 at 5 p.m. and Saturdays on News Channel 5+ at 1:30 p.m. Archives are located at www.mtsunews.com.
EXL, SACS down to the wire
It's down to the wire for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmation process for MTSU! Wednesday, March 15, is EXL (EXperiential Learning) Day, when program organizers have scheduled an informational event on the second floor of Keathley University Center, outside The Grill, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
There'll be EXL news as well as information about programs such as cooperative education, study abroad, service learning, undergraduate research and the Katrina Restoration Project. At 11:15 a.m., Drs. Sidney A. McPhee, Kaylene Gebert and Gene Fitch will offer a short program on the contributions and potential of EXL.
EXL Day is a preliminary for the SACS on-site visit March 21-23, when reviewers will be on campus to discuss EXL with the campus community.
EXL is part one of the three-phase SACS reaffirmation project. Phase two, "Institutional Effectiveness," has been ongoing since the last SACS review and has been refined over the last two years. The "Compliance Audit" third phase deals with faculty credentials, library standards and the like.
If all goes well with the on-site visit and peer review, reaffirmation should occur in December of this year, officials have said.
The SACS team will return to campus in 2011 to determine if the university is sustaining and building upon the initiative.
New Todd Gallery exhibit 'raises the bar' for art
by Carrie Hargett
MTSU has a new art exhibit, called "Raising the Bar in Nashville: Carol Stein's Cumberland Gallery," now through Friday, March 17, at The Art Gallery in Todd Hall.
The exhibit features pieces from nearly 50 artists, including Red Grooms, Sylvia Hyman and Tom Wesselman. Most of the artists are from the Southeast. The types of work on display are 3-D, abstract and realism.
Stein opened Cumberland Gallery 26 years ago. For years, she has shown pieces of work by MTSU faculty and students at her gallery. The exhibit is a tribute to Stein and the contribution she has made to the art community in Nashville.
"Her passion for quality images and objects, a trained eye and mind that understands the nature of what 'fine' art is, and her feeling for the needs of the professional artist have left a permanent mark on the community," says Lon Nuell, professor and director of the Art Gallery at MTSU.
Stein says being able to help several local artists' careers by getting them national recognition at shows in Chicago, New York and San Francisco is "very satisfying."
Stein says she hopes "Raising the Bar in Nashville" will make locals aware of the arts community Nashville has to offer. She says many people believe since Nashville is a smaller city that there are no opportunities to see art.
"We hold up quite well as an arts community compared to other cities, even much larger cities," she says.
Nuell asked Stein to bring pieces from her gallery to Murfreesboro. Stein says she hopes locals who aren't willing to drive to Green Hills will visit the MTSU campus to see the artwork that Nashville has to offer.
"The growth of the visual art community in Nashville is a result of her ... willingness to take risks in the work shown, sometimes knowing that the sales might not be there, but that showing the work was too important to ignore," Nuell says.
Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 615-898-2505.
Mission specialists
ASTRONAUTS VISIT-Former NASA astronauts Capt. Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson and Dr. Rhea Seddon visit MTSU classes as part of a daylong mission Feb. 28 to encourage students to continue their emphasis on aerospace and health care education. Gibson, shown at right speaking to combined commercial and flight safety classes, flew five shuttle missions during his tenure with NASA, including commanding the Columbia and the shuttle Endeavor; the latter was the first to dock with the Russian craft Mir. Seddon, a native of Murfreesboro who now is the assistant chief medical officer at the Vanderbilt Medical Group, is shown at left speaking to a health assessment class. Seddon flew three shuttle missions with NASA, specializing in Spacelab life sciences projects.
photos by J. Intintoli
Visiting Artists Seminar a big hit
by Lisa L. Rollins
Award-winning playwright Carson Kreitzer recently spent time at MTSU as part of the university's Visiting Artists Seminar, which culminated with a student-created show, "Road Trip," that was presented Feb. 24 in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building Amphitheatre.
Inspired by plays that take their inspiration from locations, "Road Trip" was overseen by Kreitzer and featured MTSU students enrolled in the seminar, which was an intensive one-week, one-credit class funded by the Distinguished Lectures Commit-tee, the Virginia Peck Trust Fund, the Department of English and the University Honors College.
Dr. Claudia Barnett, English professor, said the Visiting Artists Seminar was created as a way to meet students' requests to learn more about guest artists who visited MTSU's classrooms.
"When I used to invite writers to campus to do an afternoon reading or to meet a class, students would invariably tell me that they wished they could get to know the writers better," explained Barnett.
In turn, Barnett said she worked with MTSU's Honors College to develop the Visiting Artists Seminar, wherein "a guest artist comes to campus and teaches this very intensive class-three hours a day, every day for a week-and by the end of it, the students have worked closely with the artist, they are immersed in the genre, and they produce something worthy of presentation."
For more information on Kreitzer's MTSU visit or the "Road Trip" production, please call 615-898-2887.
TVA provides $2K for conference
by Randy Weiler
The MTSU/Tennessee Valley Authority partnership continues with a gift of $2,000 for the second Manufacturing Excellence Conference.
Jim Keiffer, TVA director of marketing, delivered the check to Dr. Charles Perry, chair holder, Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence, on March 7.
"This means a great deal," Perry said. "This gift will go toward the Marvin Runyon Scholarship Fund."
Runyon, who served as the chair holder of the Russell Chair of Manufacturing Excellence from 1999 until 2003, served as TVA chairman from 1988 until 1992. He also served as president of Nissan Motor Manufacturing Corp. in Smyrna (1980-1988) and U.S. postmaster general (1992-98), as well as spending 37 years with Ford Motor Company. He died in 2004 at age 79.
The Manufacturing Excellence Conference will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at the World Outreach Church conference facilities in Murfreesboro.
Last summer, MTSU became the first commercial-scale solar power supplier for TVA's Green Power Switch Generation Partners alternative energy program.
People Around Campus: Sloan's global studies come full circle
by Valerie Nutt
International education at MTSU has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1968, when students and faculty of the fledgling aerospace department visited WWII air bases in Italy.
Last year, 257 students from MTSU left the country to study abroad. Those MTSU students account for 42 percent of the number of students from Tennessee Board of Regents institutions who studied abroad in 2005.
The options for international education are numerous. There are consortial programs, bilateral exchange programs, faculty-led groups, athletic teams that travel, theater troupes that travel, service-related projects overseas, sister universities in every hemisphere, language acquisition programs and a growing amount of information internationally disseminated by MTSU faculty.
But until January, there was no one to officially tie all of these academic opportunities together.
"I see myself as a facilitator," said Dr. Anne Sloan, the new special assistant to the provost for international education, "helping people do what they want to do but also working with the university's administration to create an environment to reach their goals."
Sloan's new position includes acting as a liaison between offices handling different aspects of international education on campus.
"Up to this point the program has been developed independently by faculty members," Sloan said. "There are all sorts of different projects, but no infrastructure."
Sloan has a well-established connection to MTSU and the university's international education program. She graduated from MTSU with a degree in international relations and participated in one of the university's first study-abroad programs in 1968, when she spent five weeks in Germany.
She also served as director of global studies from 1994 to 2001 and served for five years as associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
"Anne has such respect on the college and across campus," said Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost. "This was a hard decision, but one with an opportunity for her to spend more time with an old love, international education."
International education has taken a front seat in MTSU's Academic Master Plan, which says that the university "will encourage its departments, schools and colleges to develop programs that broaden the world perspectives of its students."
That's where Sloan comes in. One of the additional responsibilities of the special assistant to the provost for international education is guiding the growth of international education opportunities at MTSU.
"We are a member of a bilateral exchange with 11 universities around the world," Sloan said, noting that the arrangement allows students to pay MTSU tuition but study in other countries by taking advantage of the long-standing relationship with Kansai Gaidai University in Japan and other universities in Germany, France, Brazil and China.
Other unions are in the works with universities in England, Switzerland and Russia. "There is one bilateral exchange about to go through with Scotland," Sloan added.
Sloan's position also helps ensure the safety of students traveling abroad by requiring them to provide contact information and obtain a minimum level of insurance.
"We build phone-trees and they are extremely effective," Sloan said. "Within 24 hours of the first bombing in London (in July 2005), we had contacted each of our students in the country."
Sloan's new position ensures the continued success of international education at MTSU as she promotes student travel, faculty Fulbright scholars, new language acquisitions and an increasing amount of global perspective in all aspects of the university.
To learn more about international education opportunities at MTSU, make your first stop the Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~mtabroad/.
The Record, March 13, 2006, V14.17
Campus Calendar
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Campus Calendar
March 13-26
"Middle Tennessee Record"
Cable Channel 9
Monday-Sunday-5 p.m.
NewsChannel 5+
Saturdays-1:30 p.m.
Through April 15
Women's History Month Event
"The Faces of Poetry" Photo exhibit, Baldwin Gallery
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m-4:30 p.m.; Saturday, noon-4 p.m.; Sunday, 6-10 p.m.
For information, contact: 615-898-5910 or 615-898-2085.
Monday, March 13
Honors Lecture Series
Dr. Stephen Howard, "The Triumph of Darwinian Thinking"
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.
Tuesday, March 14
Dr. Charles K. Wolfe Memorial
10 a.m., Tom H. Jackson Building
For information, contact: 615-494-7628 or 615-898-2449.
African-American History Month Event
John Pleas Award Ceremony honoring Dr. Rosemary Owens
3-5 p.m., Tom H. Jackson Building
For information, contact: 615-898-2956.
March 15-18
TSSAA Boys Division 1 Basketball Tournament
Murphy Center
For information, contact: 615-889-6740 or visit www.tssaa.org.
Wednesday, March 15
Women's History Month Event
"The Death Penalty: Distinctive Female Experiences" panel discussion
12:40 p.m., JUB 100
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
Women's History Month Event
"Because Equity is Still an Issue: AAUW Then and Now" panel discussion
5 p.m., JUB Dining Room C
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
Thursday, March 16
Women's History Month Event
International Women's Breakfast
7-9 a.m., JUB Hazlewood Dining Room
Admission: $10 per person
Make reservations by March 13 by e-mailing ktodd@mtsu.edu.
Manufacturing Excellence Conference
8 a.m.-3 p.m., World Outreach Church, Murfreesboro
Registration: $125 per person
For information, contact: 615-898-5683.
Women's History Month Event
"Force Multiplier" lecture
LTC Patricia Jones
11 a.m., Forrest Hall
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
African-American History Month Event
"The South as Other, The South as Strangers"
7 p.m., State Farm Lecture Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact: 615-898-2987.
MTSU Baseball vs. UT Martin
3 p.m., Reese Smith Field
For information, contact: 615-898-2103.
Women's History Month Event
Women's Studies Research Series
"Office Debutantes and Two-Job Wives: Early Magazine Stereotypes of Employed Women ...," Dr. Jane Marcellus 3:30 p.m., JUB 100
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
Saturday, March 18
Clavierfest
All day; 7 p.m. final concert in Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
Sunday, March 19
"MTSU On the Record-The South as Other"
Guest: Dr. Vernon Burton
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
Podcast at www.mtsunews.com
Monday, March 20
MTSU Softball vs. Southeast Missouri State
2 p.m., Observatory Park
For information, contact: 615-898-2103.
Honors Lecture Series
Dr. Richard Bauer, "Freud's Seduction Theory"
3-3:55 p.m., HONR 106
For information, contact: 615-898-2152.
Wednesday, March 22
Women's History Month Event
"North Country" film and discussion
Speaker: attorney Anne Martin
4 p.m., KUC Theater
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
"Bangin' in the Boro: Rock Music Showcase"
MTSU Urban Music Society
8 p.m., Sweetwater Saloon, Murfreesboro
For information, e-mail: UrbanMusicSociety@yahoo.com.
Thursday, March 23
National Women's History Month Keynote Address
"Gender, Sexuality and Civil Liberties," ACLU president Nadine Strossen
4 p.m., State Farm Lecture Hall
For information, contact: 615-898-5910.
MTSU Chamber Winds/Brass Ensemble Concert
8 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
March 24-25
Flute Festival MidSouth 2006
March 24: 7:30 p.m. Masters Concert, Hinton Music Hall
March 25: 7:30 p.m. Gala Concert, Hinton Music Hall
No admission charge
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
March 24-26
MTSU Baseball vs. Arkansas-Little Rock
March 24, 7 p.m.; March 25, 2 p.m.; March 26, 1 p.m.
Reese Smith Field
For information, contact: 615-898-2103.
March 25-26
Tennessee Valley Texas Longhorn Breeders World Qualifying Show
8 a.m.- 3 p.m. daily, Tennessee Livestock Center
No admission charge
For information, contact: 615-898-5575.
Saturday, March 25
MTSU Women's Tennis vs. Louisville
2 p.m., Bouldin Tennis Center
For information, contact: 615-898-2103.
President's Celebration of Excellence
6 p.m., JUB Tennessee Room
Admission: $15 per person
For information, contact: 615-898-2922.
Sunday, March 26
"MTSU On the Record-Concrete and China"
Guest: Dr. Austin Cheney
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
Podcast at www.mtsunews.com
MTSU Men's Tennis vs. Louisville
1 p.m., Bouldin Tennis Center
For information, contact: 615-898-2103.
Calendar Items Welcomed
Submit your campus event calendar items (at least three weeks in advance of the event, please) to gfann@mtsu.edu or via fax to 615-898-5714.
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