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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Bleed Blue! Aim to beat Memphis on, off the field
from Staff Reports
In conjunction with the Blue Raiders' 7 p.m. Oct. 13 football game against new in-state rival Memphis, students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends are being encouraged to "Bleed Blue" and donate blood during an American Red Cross blood drive in a competition between MTSU and Memphis.
The MTSU community can donate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 10 and 11, in Keathley University Center Room 322. Memphis will hold its drive on the same dates from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"It's a way to get the community and campus involved," said Jennifer Kirk, assistant director of student unions. "We want to see who can donate the most blood. It's for a good cause. Last year we held a very successful competition with Tennessee Tech. Currently, the blood supply in the middle Tennessee region is extremely low, and we're always looking for ways to increase awareness for the blood supply and American Red Cross."
Kirk said the MT-Memphis blood drive was crafted as a way to "try to instigate an in-state rivalry. We're playing Memphis for the next five years and thought this would be a great way to kick off the series. I can't wait until next year when we challenge Western Kentucky, since they will be joining the Sun Belt Conference. It's something we'd like to start as a tradition here at MTSU."
Kirk said blood donation guidelines require donors to be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds, "healthy" and to not have donated blood in the last 56 days.
"'Healthy' means that you feel well and can perform normal activities," Kirk noted. "If you have a chronic condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure, 'healthy' also means that you're being treated and the condition is under control."
Donors may now make an appointment online instead of waiting in line. To sign up, please go to www.givelife.org and enter "MTSU19" in the "Step 1: Find a Blood Drive" section. First-time users of the site will need to register general contact information to sign up.
For more information, please contact 615-898-2590.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
MTSU Foundation architect Stegall's legacy is strong, stable fund
by Gina E. Fann
Students attending MTSU today may only know his name from a sign outside a beautiful building. The foundation that retired Chancellor Whitney A. Stegall helped to lay for those students and for MTSU, however, leaves a much larger footprint than a brick-and-mortar facility.
Mr. Stegall, a 1937 alumnus of what was then Middle Tennessee State College and a former state senator, passed away Sept. 21 at the age of 91. A Rockvale, Tenn., native, the chancellor taught high-school chemistry and biology and coached basketball, worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps and served in World War II before embarking on his longest career path, that of an attorney and judge in Rutherford County for more than 40 years.
"Chancellor Stegall never asked for a lot of publicity, but in his own quiet way, he helped shape higher education here at MTSU and at public universities across the state," said Joe Bales, vice president for development and university relations, who worked closely with Mr. Stegall in his philanthropic efforts.
"By establishing the university foundation, he enabled this institution to achieve a level of excellence that state moneys alone can't provide."
In 1961, the chancellor saw one of his greatest philanthropic efforts come to fruition. He, along with fellow alumni Randolph C. Wood, N.C Beasley and Homer Pittard, joined with then-university President Quill E. Cope to charter The Middle Tennessee State College Loan, Scholarship and Development Foundation. In fact, Mr. Stegall wrote the legal document creating it.
The charter-the first of its kind for a regional university in Tennessee-created the nonprofit entity that accepts, invests and distributes gifts of personal or real property donated to MTSU for scholarships, faculty and staff support, capital campaigns and other educational efforts. In short, the Foundation was established to help attract high-caliber students who needed financial assistance to achieve their dream of a college education.
In 1965, while in the state Senate, Mr. Stegall moved MTSC into the future when he successfully introduced legislation to designate the college as a university.
"The chancellor loved the university and supported it athletically and academically," said longtime friend Ross Spielman (B.S. '55), former MTSU Foundation president. "It is a great loss, but there also are a lot of good people coming along behind him to continue his work."
Stegall, who was named as an MTSU Distinguished Alumnus in 1971, received the President's Legacy Award at the 2005 Celebration of Excellence ceremonies, among other awards and expressions of thanks. The Wood-Stegall Center, which opened in 2003 and houses MTSU's development and foundation offices, honors alumnus Wood, who helped launch the MTSU Foundation with a $40,000 donation, and the man who laid the legal groundwork for it.
The Foundation has a current endowment of $35 million and awards more than 500 scholarships annually, as well as numerous faculty and staff special projects, outstanding service and employee recognition awards.
"The (MTSU) Foundation has succeeded wonderfully well," Mr. Stegall said in an article in the Spring 2001 edition of Development Digest, the newsletter of the MTSU Development and Foundation Office.
"He recalled that in the early days of the Foundation, its advocates often had to correct the misconception that private support was unnecessary for a state-supported school," the article continued. "According to Stegall, such an attitude has virtually disappeared. 'No one fusses about giving to the Foundation now,' he remarked. 'The whole community is behind the Foundation. That's a tremendous change.'"
Mr. Stegall, son of the late B. D. and Nannie May Love Stegall, was preceded in death by his devoted wife, Orene Cowan Stegall; a brother, Goodwin Stegall; and a sister, May Love Stegall Gale. He is survived by his sister, Adelyn Stegall Stevenson and her husband, Dr. Jim Stevenson, of Atlanta, Ga.; his children, Whitney Stegall Jr. and his wife, Sherry H. Stegall, of Brentwood, and Amy Stegall Swartz and her husband, Dr. Kevin M. Swartz, of Murfreesboro; four grandchildren, Shannon W. Swartz, Benjamin P. Swartz, Sabrina L. Stegall and Sydney C. Stegall; five nieces, one nephew and countless Stegall and Steagall relatives, all of whom he loved and cherished. He was a member and past president of the Murfreesboro Kiwanis Club, as well as a member of the Rockvale Masonic Lodge. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and for the past 50 years attended the First United Methodist Church.
Memorials in honor of Mr. Stegall may be made to the Stegall Educational Foundation, 107 N. Maple St., Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37130; the MTSU Foundation (www.mtsu.edu/~devofc); or Vanderbilt Law School.
FIRM FOUNDATION-The Wood-Stegall Center, named for retired Chancellor Whitney Stegall and fellow alumnus Randolph Wood, honors their work on the MTSU Foundation.
photo by News and Public Affairs
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
McNair Program receives 4-year federal grant
from Staff Reports
A $227,904 U.S. Department of Education grant will help fund MTSU's McNair Scholars Program, officials announced Sept. 20.
The program, named in honor of astronaut Dr. Ronald E. McNair, who died in the 1986 Challenger explosion, prepares disadvantaged college students for successful completion of advanced degrees.
According to Dr. Diane Miller, director of both the McNair Scholars Program and Under-graduate Research Center at MTSU, the U.S. Department of Education will provide MTSU's program with $227,904 each year for four years.
MTSU has had a McNair Scholars Program since 1999, and it has helped 20 students a year to prepare for graduate school. The latest federal funding will aid 24 MTSU students a year.
"We have scholars from all five of the academic colleges," Miller said. "MTSU requires a GPA of 3.0 or better and completion of 60 hours. The program is evaluated on how many students graduate and are admitted into a graduate program."
Federal guidelines stipulate that students have 10 years to earn a doctoral degree, and at least two MTSU graduates will reach that goal within this year, Miller said.
The Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Program is designed to prepare low-income, first-generation college students or students from underrepresented groups in graduate education for doctoral-level study. McNair Scholars may receive academic counseling, financial aid assistance, mentoring, research opportunities, summer internships and tutoring.
U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, an MTSU alumnus who chairs the House Science and Technology Committee, aided in getting the grant approved.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
For the Record:
Diversity conference rich in multicultural learning
by Dr. Sharon Shaw-McEwen
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson will headline the MTSU Third International Conference on Cultural Diversity, speaking at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, in the Alumni Memorial Gym.
The conference will focus on bridging cultural gaps in education, socioeconomic development, religion, health care and media. The conference will be held Oct. 31 on the MTSU campus and continue Nov. 1-2 at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville.
Dyson, a professor, clergyman, author and lecturer, was named by Ebony Magazine as one of the 100 most influential black Americans, further hailed as one of a group of "new intellectuals"; and dubbed "the Hip-Hop Intellectual" by critics and fans alike for his pioneering explorations of rap music.
Dyson's visit comes through a partnership between the primary conference sponsor, the Office of Institutional Diversity, the new Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs (formerly the Office of Multicultural Affairs) and the Black History Month Committee.
Dyson is the author of 14 books, including Come Hell or High Water and The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm, and is a professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches theology, English and African American studies.
Participants may register for the conference at www.mtsu.edu/~cdinit. On-site registration will began Tuesday, Oct. 30, at noon in Peck Hall 107 following a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, led by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, and open house for the new Office of Institutional Diversity.
The Oct. 31 conference activities will begin in the Keathley University Theater at 8 a.m. MTSU students may attend those sessions free if they register online and if they are in the class of a faculty member who is a paid, registered participant.
Other exciting interactive sessions will be led by Dr. Kenneth Hardy of Syracuse University, who is back by popular demand from the 2005 conference, and movie producer and director Dr. Shakti Butler, who will be showing her newest film, "Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible." This film features the experiences and stories of white women and men who have worked to gain insight into what it means to challenge notions of racism and white supremacy in the United States. Regional producer and director Jeff Carr will also provide an interactive session with his film "Second Chances."
Internationally respected legal theorist Charles Ogletree, a Harvard Law professor and vice dean for the school's clinical programs, is well-known for discussions in prestigious law journals regarding the challenges that face our justice system to deliver the rights guaranteed by the Constitution for everyone equally under the law.
Ogletree, who will speak Wednesday at 1 p.m., was selected by the National Law Journal in 2000 as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. In 2002, he received the National Bar Association's prestigious Equal Justice Award, and in 2003, he was selected by Savoy Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in America and by Black Enterprise Magazine, along with the likes of Thurgood Marshall, as one of the legal legends among America's top black lawyers.
The MTSU Middle East Center has also partnered with the OID and will be presenting Dr. Abdul Aziz Said during the conference. Said, an author and frequent lecturer and participant in national and international peace conferences and dialogues, is the senior ranking professor at American University and the first occupant of the Mohammed Said Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace.
The Tennessee Board of Regents can also claim a piece of this conference, as its partnership brings Dr. Margarita Benitez, a former president in higher education in Puerto Rico and federal executive who oversaw the Title III and Title V institutional development programs for all minority-serving institutions of higher education. Joining her will be Drs. Raymond Padilla, co-founder of the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University and Scott Swalli, CEO of the Educational Policy Institute, dedicated to policy-based research on educational opportunity for all students.
Jazz producer, performer and attorney Marcus Johnson will perform and discuss the "business" of jazz, and a powerful concert, "From the Country Church to Carnegie Hall," will be sure to satisfy music-loving palates each evening. The conference will host a series of faculty-and student-led workshops and will close on Friday with a hard-hitting media panel from around the world to review the media's role in bridging cultural gaps. MTSU visiting professor Dr. Gregory Paul Meyjes will close the conference with an international perspective. This conference is one you should not miss!
For more program and registration information, go to www.mtsu.edu/~cdinit or contact the OID staff at 615-898-5975.
Dr. Sharon Shaw-McEwen is director of MTSU's new Office of Institutional Diversity and a professor of social work.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Students want to create new fraternity; seeking Alpha Kappa Lambda charter
by Gina K. Logue
A national fraternity that never has had a presence on the MTSU campus is trying to establish itself here.
If local organizers are successful, Alpha Kappa Lambda will travel the path from its current recognition as a student organization to recognition as a member of the Interfraternity Council.
The effort started with President Tradd Staecker's interest in becoming more involved in on-campus life. After some investigation, Staecker, a Murfreesboro senior, became impressed with what he heard from Jeremy Slivinsky, national director of AKL, including the emphasis on the principles of morality, leadership, scholarship and loyalty.
"In order to help out others and to be there as a pillar of your community and be able to assist others, you need to conduct yourself as a gentleman at all times," Staecker says.
Apparently, Slivinsky was impressed enough with the MTSU students who expressed an interest in joining that he initiated them into the fraternity at a regional leadership conference at Auburn University-prior to charter and IFC recognition, a highly unusual move.
AKL's MTSU hopefuls, currently at least 17 strong, stress diversity and respect for individuality as their watchwords.
"I always want more diversity (in membership)," says vice president Logan Grant, a senior from Chattanooga. "I want every race. I want nationalities. I want religions. I want ideologies. I want all these different people, because that strengthens the bond of brotherhood and being dedicated to being a person of character."
In addition to the usual cookouts, movie nights and other social gatherings associated with a fraternity, the AKL contingent at MTSU aspires to make sure everyone does his part.
"I think this would be an attractive group for those people who are tired of being the only one of their friends who can ever get anything done," Grant says.
However, it takes more than high ideals and hard work to be added to the existing 11 organizations in the IFC. Carrie Smith, MTSU coordinator of Greek affairs, says a rigorous process is in place to make sure that the fraternity chapter would be a "good fit."
Smith says aspirants must make a presentation before a panel appointed by the IFC. If that committee approves, and if the group gains at least 30 members with a cumulative grade point average of 2.5, all members go before the full IFC board, which may confer "colony" status.
After being a "colony" for at least a semester, the group must go through a second approval process. It must continue to demonstrate support from the national organization, evidence of new member education, willingness to participate with other fraternities in the IFC and continuing viability and strength.
For more information about Alpha Kappa Lambda, contact Staecker at 615-522-2013 or Grant at 423-322-3773, or go to ww.akl.org. For more information about Greek life at MTSU, contact Smith at 615-898-5812.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Nashville Predators have special MTSU ticket offer
from Staff Reports
The Nashville Predators are back with a special ticket offer to the MTSU community for home games during October-$4 to $6 off on tickets!
All games begin at 7 p.m. at the Sommet Center in downtown Nashville.
The remaining Saturday games are Oct. 13 against Calgary and Oct. 27 vs. Florida.
Premium Lower Bowl (Section 101-107; 114-120) seats for the Saturday games are regularly priced at $89, but MTSU ticketholders will receive the special price of $85. Lower Bowl End Zone (Section 101-103; 118-120) seats are usually $69, but the special MTSU price is $65. In the Shoot Twice Mezzanine (Section 313-319), $51 regular tickets will now be $46 for MTSU. And Goal Zone (Section 301-306; 329-333) seats, regularly $35, will be only $31.
MTSU fans also can take advantage of Thursday games at special prices on Oct. 11 as the Predators face Phoenix and again Oct. 25 when Atlanta comes to town.
Premium Lower Bowl seats for the Thursday games will be $76 for MTSU fans (a $4 savings), while Lower Bowl End Zone ticketholders will save $6 per seat with their $56 tickets. In the Shoot Twice Mezzanine, seats will be $39 instead of the regular $45, and in the Goal Zone, ticketholders will save $2 off the regular $29 seat price.
Ticketholders will pay no transaction fees. Orders received two weeks before the game will be mailed; later purchases can be picked up on game night at the center's "will call" window.
To order tickets by phone or for more information, call Dan Schaefer at 615-770-2115 and mention the MTSU promotion. To request an order form for tickets, contact Dr. Don Roy in the Department of Management and Marketing at 615-904-8564.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Meet the challenge, build the memorial
Gina K. Logue
Two physically and mentally challenging competitions open to the public as well as the MTSU community are slated for early next month to raise money for the MTSU Veterans Memorial.
The Alpine Tower Challenge is scheduled for 1-5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, and Friday, Nov. 2, behind the Campus Recreation Center. The National Guard Paintball Tournament is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Middle Tennessee Paintball, 4215 Kedron Road, in Spring Hill, Tenn. There is no entry fee for either event, but donations to fund the memorial are encouraged.
In the tower challenge, teams of two persons each will attempt to scale a 55-foot-high wooden structure by using climbing holds, four dangling poles, a wooden "corporate ladder" with several feet of space between the rungs, and a cargo net ladder.
"It looks like a big bonfire," Josh Stone, adventure trips coordinator at MTSU's campus rec center, says with a laugh.
Teams will be organized into divisions of same-sex and opposite-sex teams. One individual from each team will attempt to climb to the top on each side of the tower simultaneously. The other partners on the team will follow in similar fashion. The best of the two times posted by each team member is the time that will stand for that team for each round.
"The format I'm using is what they use in rock-climbing speed competitions," Stone says.
For safety's sake, all participants must wear helmets, and they will be harnessed and belayed by trained Recreation Center staffers.
"Any time you have nothing between your butt and the ground but air, it's kind of scary," Stone says.
Trophies and prizes will be awarded for the first- and second-place winners in each category. Plaques and prizes will be awarded to the organizations with the first-, second- and third-highest totals of money raised for the Veterans Memorial.
"We would like each organization on campus to have a two-person team and also raise funds for the Veterans Memorial," Maj. Chuck Giles, assistant professor of military science, says.
The first 100 participants will receive goody bags with free T-shirts, power bars and gift certificates. Free beverages will be provided for all.
Up to 200 combatants will be able to participate in the paintball tournament. Staff Sgt. Julius Santini, a Tennessee National Guard representative at MTSU, says each team must have at least 10 members. Individuals can register and be placed on a team.
The first-place team will win $1,000, and additional prizes will be awarded to the second- and third-place teams. Other prizes will be given away throughout the day. All equipment will be furnished, and a free lunch will be provided to all participants.
To register for the tower challenge, go to www.mtsu.edu/~camprec/outdoors/news.html, then click on "waiver form." The registration deadline is Friday, Oct. 26.
A registration kiosk for the paintball tournament will be positioned in front of the Keathley University Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, and registration desks will be inside the KUC and at the alpine tower challenge from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1-2. Online registration will be available at www.guardpaintball.com beginning Sunday, Oct. 7.
The MTSU Veterans Memorial will be dedicated in front of the Tom H. Jackson Building from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, before the Homecoming football game between the Blue Raiders and Louisiana-Lafayette. For more information about the Veterans Memorial dedication and design, contact Dr. Derek Frisby at 615- 494-8856 or dfrisby@mtsu.edu.
To learn more about the Alpine Tower Challenge, contact Stone at the Campus Recreation Center at 615-898-2104 or jrstone@mtsu.edu. SSgt. Santini is the contact person for the National Guard Paintball Tournament at 615-494-7682 or julius.santini@us.army.mil.
For directions to Middle Tennessee Paintball and to view photos of the courses, please visit http://themiddletennesseepaintball.com.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
The gold standard of business
TIMELY HONOR-Shirley Zeitlin, winner of the Jennings A. Jones Champion of Free Enterprise Award at the recent Economic Summit at MTSU, speaks to the crowd after receiving her honor. The Nashville entrepreneur was recognized as one "who exemplifies the ideals of free enterprise through any combination of entrepreneurship, governmental involvement, participation in civic and charitable affairs and education." She founded her namesake company, Shirley Zeitlin & Co. Realtors, in 1979, and by 2001, the company's 90 agents had sold more than $245 million worth of property. In 2002, her company launched the Shirley Zeitlin Charitable Fund as a way to give back to the community. Agents donate funds from home closings to the project, and each quarter, a committee of agents recommends and reviews several nonprofit organizations before choosing one as the recipient of the company's donation. During 2006, those contributions resulted in over $14,000 provided to nonprofit groups that included the Boys and Girls Club, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and Saddle Up. Zeitlin's firm, which recently added a division to serve homebuilders, has offices in Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin.
photo by J. Intintoli
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Shopaholics unite: special sale to aid Project HELP
from Staff Reports
Now you have an excuse to go shopping! The new Belk store at The Avenues of Murfreesboro is teaming up with MTSU's Project Help to offer discount tickets for the store's Oct. 15 pre-grand opening sale, which will benefit the program's children.
"We recently learned that Project Help is eligible to receive some money in a fairly different manner, at least for us," said program director Susan Waldrop. "The new Belk store is offering several agencies this opportunity to sell tickets, which cost $5 each. Project Help gets every cent of the money from sales we make."
The tickets are good for 20 percent off all regular and sale purchases made between noon and 8 p.m. on the sale date, with some exclusions that are listed on the ticket back. The discount ticket also entitles the buyer to 15 percent off home items.
Belk, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is the largest privately held department store chain in the United States and currently has more than 315 stores in 19 states, including four recently purchased Parisian department stores in Tennessee.
"The real grand opening is on Oct. 17, so this is two days early," said Waldrop. "It's almost time to Christmas shop, and they have some really nice merchandise. They want to be the `new Castner-Knott', if you remember them, in terms of customer satisfaction."
Tickets, along with fliers publicizing the event, are available by calling Waldrop's office at 615-898-2458 or stopping by the Project Help facility on North Baird Lane. The new Belk store is located at 2615 Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro.
Project Help, which has been in operation since 1983, currently serves 32 children with special-needs and 14 typical children in three classrooms. There are currently 35 children who qualify for the program but are on a waiting list because of a lack of space.
Grants from the Tennessee Department of Education partially fund Project Help's work. The Charity Circle of Rutherford County also is a major contributor to Project Help, providing the center with much-needed equipment, toys and consumable items. Others who support the program include the Knights of Columbus, Middle Tennessee Electric Customer Cares, the Murfreesboro Lioness Club, and the Adams Foundation.
For more information about Project Help, please visit its Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~projhelp/.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Support your hometown source for jazz this fall
from Staff Reports
WMOT-JAZZ89's annual membership appeal and on-air fundraising drive is under way through Thursday, Oct. 18, to help the station bolster its budget and continue providing award-winning local news, features, commentary and, of course, great jazz.
The campaign will benefit MTSU's nonprofit public broadcasting radio station.
This year also marks the station's 39th anniversary-and its 25th year as an all-jazz format station. In addition, this is the first fundraiser under the direction of John Egly, longtime staffer and new general manager and director of broadcasting for WMOT-JAZZ89.
"The station also has paid student workers on- and off-air, as well as scholarship students," said Keith Palmer, WMOT director of development. "Some of WMOT's professional staff teach classes in the College of Mass Communication.
"Those who listen to and enjoy WMOT must support it financially. Pledge so that radio in middle Tennessee keeps swinging."
WMOT-JAZZ89, a National Public Radio affiliate, is located on the FM dial at 89.5 and online at www.wmot.org. It also now simulcasts on HD Radio, which provides better fidelity via digital technology. As a public broadcasting station and a public service of MTSU and its College of Mass Communication, WMOT relies on funding from the federal government, MTSU and the public through membership dollars, business support underwriting and fundraising ventures.
For information on how your dollars can help, visit www.wmot.org anytime or contact 615-898-2800 or 615-255-9071. Payroll deduction is an option for MTSU employees.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Art/cultural critic Hickey plans lecture on campus
by Lisa L. Rollins
Dave Hickey, a freelance writer of fiction and cultural criticism, will make his first visit to the MTSU campus when he presents a free and open lecture, "Artfair Culture: Playing Fair without the Referee," at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of MTSU's Business and Aerospace Building.
Characterized as one of the best-known American art and cultural critics currently practicing, Hickey's upcoming visit was made possible by sponsorship from the university's art and English departments, the College of Liberal Arts and MTSU's Distinguished Lecture Fund.
"The art department is excited to host Dave Hickey's first visit to MTSU," said Cindy Rehm, assistant professor of art. "Hickey is one of the most preeminent critics of our time ... (and) his insightful and accessible writings and spirited lectures offer fresh perspectives on art and culture."
A recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, also dubbed the "genius grant," Hickey was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2003. He has written for most major American cultural publications, including Rolling Stone, Art News, Art in America, Artforum, Interview, Vanity Fair, The Village Voice and both The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, to name but a sampling. He currently serves as contributing editor to Art Issues magazine in L.A.
Hickey's critical essays on art have been collected in two volumes published by Art Issues Press-The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty (1993), which is in its sixth printing, and Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy (1998), now in its third printing. In 1989, SMU Press published Prior Convictions, a volume of his short fiction, and his most recent book, Stardumb (Artspace Press, 1999), is a collection of stories with drawings by artist John DeFazio.
A one-time staff songwriter for Nashville's Glaser Publications and former arts editor for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Hickey has enjoyed a varied career, but his writing lectures are credited with helping him gain a "substantial international reputation."
Regarding his foray into art criticism, Hickey told TheArtBiz.com, "I began writing about art because I was interested in the gap between what we see and what we say. Also, I wanted to write about things in the world that stayed in the world after I had written about them so (that) whatever I wrote would remain in a live relationship with its subject. If you write about a concert or a play or a public event, that event is gone and nothing remains but the writing. Works of art, however, survive as an ongoing critique of the critique you have written. I like that."
Currently a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Hickey has been a visiting professor at numerous institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin; The University of California, Santa Barbara; the Otis Parsons Institute; and The Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
Hickey also has served as owner-director of A Clean Well-Lighted Place, a short-lived but influential Austin, Texas, art gallery that he opened in 1967, and as director of the Reese Palley Gallery in New York City.
Rehm said the acclaimed writer/cultural critic's Nov. 12 talk likely will find favor with many.
"Hickey's plain-spoken style will appeal to the local arts community as well as anyone interested in the state of contemporary culture," she observed.
For more information about Hickey's visit, please contact Rehm at 615-904-8386.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Entrepreneurship earns national acclaim
by Tom Tozer
MTSU's Entrepreneurial Studies Program has been recognized as a Kauffman Platinum Award Recipient for its involvement and partnership with EntrepreneurshipWeek USA 2007.
"We have a lot of people to thank for this recognition, starting with my colleagues in the business communication and entrepreneurship department," said Dr. Robert Lahm, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneurship Intern Program coordinator. "While we were partnering with national organizers, several other members of the local business community also showed their generosity and support of our efforts. The Southwestern Corp. provided several speakers and sponsored refreshments, Ms. Kissy Black (a recording industry PR expert) judged our students' 'elevator pitches,' and we enjoyed the contributions of a number of other speakers as well.
"MTSU maintains an active chapter of a national organization, the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization, and several of its students also pitched in and were really a great help," added Lahm, who also served as EntrepreneurshipWeek USA 2007 Committee chair.
As a program partner, MTSU offered support and resources as part of a national effort to inspire and encourage young people to consider entrepreneurship as a career choice and to celebrate America's unique culture of inventiveness, he said.
EntrepreneurshipWeek USA 2007 was sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and by government, not-for-profit organizations and businesses, including The New York Times and Inc. magazine.
"We were delighted with the leadership and expertise that Middle Tennessee State University's faculty and staff brought to EntrepreneurshipWeek USA 2007 as program partners and contributors to our overall efforts," said Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. "Educating our young people about entrepreneurship and reinforcing the value that entrepreneurs and innovators bring to our economy is critical to America's long-term prosperity, more so now than ever before."
"Entrepreneurship provides everything a young person needs in a career and to lead a fulfilling life," Lahm added. "If one is spirited, passionate, creative, and energized by the challenge of changing the world, or on a smaller scale, helping customers achieve greater satisfaction by delivering value in a product or service, entrepreneurship provides an outlet with virtually endless possibilities."
"The opportunity to work on my business planning efforts while I was enrolled in my entrepreneurship class as well as additional discussions I had with Dr. Lahm after I graduated allowed me to lay all of the necessary groundwork to launch my business," said Bonnie Ozburn, a former MTSU student.
Lahm will again serve as committee chair in 2008, and "National Entrepreneurship Week '2' will be celebrated at MTSU, Feb. 23 to March 1.
WELL-DESERVED RECOGNITION-Dusty-Michelle Lindblad, president of the MTSU chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Organization, poses with Dr. Robert Lahm, assistant professor of business communication and entrepreneurship, after accepting the Kauffman Platinum Award Recipient for the chapter's involvement and partnership with EntrepreneurshipWeek USA 2007.
photo submitted
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Conference to again draw leading Milton scholars
by Lisa L. Rollins
The Department of English at MTSU will again serve as the sponsor and host of the ninth biennial Conference on John Milton Oct. 25-27 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Murfreesboro.
The conference, which was first held in Murfreesboro in 1991, attracts scholars of the great English poet Milton, who is best known for his epic, Paradise Lost. In fact, noted Dr. Kevin Donovan, MTSU English professor, past conference participants have traveled from throughout the United States, as well as from Japan, Australia, Korea, Norway, Canada and other locales.
"Since its inception, the conference has attracted most of the leading American scholars in the field of Milton studies," Donovan said. "This year's plenary speakers are Richard J. DuRocher of St. Olaf College and Laura L. Knoppers."
The MTSU-based Milton conference also has resulted in a series of collected essays, two of which have won the prestigious Irene Samuel Prize from the Milton Society of America, Donovan said. He, along with MTSU Professor Emeritus Charles W. Durham, past president of the Milton Society of America, and Kristin A. Pruitt, professor emerita of Christian Brothers University and the 2008 president of the Milton Society of America, will serve as co-directors of the event.
Past conferences have drawn participation from prominent American scholars in the field of Milton studies such as Stanley Fish, John Shawcross, Joseph Wittreich, Annabel Patterson, Michael Lieb, Stella Revard, Diana McColley, Barbara Lewalski and Paul Stevens.
Registration and an opening reception for Milton conference participants are scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, at the DoubleTree Hotel. The official welcome will be delivered at 9 a.m. Friday, Oct. 26, by Dr. Tom Strawman, MTSU English professor, and followed by DuRocher's opening address, "'Tears Such as Angels Weep: Passion and Allusion in Paradise Lost."
Throughout the two-day event, numerous Miltonists from across the United States will speak on the poet and his works, including the areas of Milton and the Classics, Milton: Past and Present, Milton and the Visual Arts, Milton's God, The Divorce Tracts, Milton in the Classroom, Milton and Ecocriticism, Milton in the Classroom, "Reading" Milton, Samson Agonistes, Milton and the Environment, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Miltonic Sources, Milton's Sonnets, Milton in Print and Milton and Religious Issues.
In addition to Donovan, Strawman and Durham, other MTSU English faculty participating in the conference will include Peter M. McCluskey, Warren Tormey and William Badley.
"We're expecting at least 120 people to attend the conference," Donovan said. "There are about 100 named individuals on the program, and we always have people attend who are not on the program, including MTSU faculty and students as well as other Miltonists from the region."
The registration cost of this year's event is $120 per person. In addition to admittance to all conference session, this fee includes the catered Oct. 25 opening reception, coffee and pastry Oct. 26-27 and dinner on Oct. 26.
For more information on the conference, including a full list of scheduled speakers and registration materials, please visit the conference Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~english2/milton.htm or contact Donovan at 615-898-5898.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Purple ribbons against violence, pink against cancer; June Anderson Women's Center shows true colors
from Staff Reports
The June Anderson Women's Center at MTSU is distributing purple ribbons suitable for wearing in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are nearly 5.3 million incidents of intimate partner violence against women and 3.2 million incidents against men each year in the United States.
In 2003, the last year for which CDC figures are available, IPV results in nearly two million injuries and 1,300 deaths nationwide annually.
Since October also is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the center is making available pink ribbons to promote the need for early detection and more research.
The American Cancer Society reports that breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in American women after lung cancer. The odds of a woman having invasive breast cancer at some point in her life is about one in eight, and the chance of a woman dying from breast cancer is about one in 35.
For more information about Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, contact the Women's Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Colleges to share wares Oct. 8
The MTSU-hosted Rutherford County College Night will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, at Tennessee Miller Coliseum, 304B West Thompson Lane, an admissions official said.
The event is free and open to the public. Any student and their parents or guardians from public or private high schools in Rutherford and surrounding counties are welcome to attend, said Heather Arrington, an admissions assistant director.
Representatives from more than 50 colleges, universities, community colleges and other organizations from across Tennessee and the South have requested booth space, she added. Seminars will be given on financial aid, scholarships and college choices.
Students may ask their guidance counselors for more information or call 615-898-2111.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
TBR gives OK to bonuses, pay raises for employees
from Staff Reports
The Tennessee Board of Regents approved President Sidney A. McPhee's recommendation on Sept. 28 for additional bonus and salary increases for MTSU employees.
The board approved a bonus of $500 or 1 percent of the employee's salary, whichever is greater, for all unrestricted, auxiliary and restricted regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff on the payroll as of June 30, 2007, the president said.
The bonus, which McPhee announced at the annual Fall Faculty Meeting Aug. 24, applies to those who do not leave the university before October and who are not in terminal leave status in October. Participants in the postretirement service programs will also receive the bonus.
The bonus will be included in employees' paychecks on Oct. 31, the president said.
The TBR also approved salary increases under the university's approved compensation plan to take effect in January 2008.
"The overall increase pool is limited to 2 percent per Board FY08 compensation guidelines," McPhee said. "Faculty and executive employee group increases will be the second one-third step increase, calculated based on data from the university's new peers groups and the expanded group of 25 institutions.
"Administrative, professional and classified employee increases will be the last one-third step increase, calculated using 2004 market data. Because of the July 1 across-the-board increase, employees will not receive the same dollar amount as previously received under their respective salary plan or may not even receive an increase under this additional increase."
The president noted that since increases for administrative, professional and classified employee will be calculated using the 2004 market data and that will be the last step increase in their salary plan, any remaining funds in their 2 percent pool allotment will be applied across-the-board for them.
Human Resource Services will send salary information in late November or early December to each department head for communication with their staff. At the end of January, employees receiving an increase will receive a salary letter stating their new salary effective Jan. 1, 2008.
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
People Around Campus: Volunteers' PET project makes people mobile
from Staff Reports
It's long been said that where there's a will, there's a way. And when it comes to helping others, Ralph Smith and Freddie Brown are two Middle Tennesseans who are leading the way, one wheelchair at a time.
The wheelchairs aren't typical, however, and neither are the volunteers who've learned to create the hand-cranked, wood-and-metal chairs known as personalized energy transportation, or PETS.
Smith, who serves as a dairy herdsman's assistant at MTSU's Stark Dairy, has donated not only his time and energy to making PETS, but also his 2,400-square-foot barn-turned-workshop. And each week, he and Freddie Brown-the founder and executive director of the Middle Tennessee PET Project-diligently work to produce the three-wheeled PETS that are sent to disadvantaged people in places such as Jamaica, Angola, Mexico and Uzbekistan.
With its simple design and sturdy, all-rubber wheels, the PETS are ideal for travel in rural areas and on rugged terrain in areas where there are no sidewalks. Plus, the special chairs are built to last a lifetime and made with materials that even a village carpenter can repair.
"We build all parts except for the front fork and hand crank," Smith proudly noted. "We're actually building the rest of it in the shop-welding the frame. We buy the lumber in bulk and cut it up and actually make the parts we need from the wood."
To date, Smith and Brown, with the help of community volunteers, have managed to make about 150 PETS in their spare time. Their goal, they say, is to assemble twice that many in a given year, because the need for these special chairs is seemingly infinite.
They put many hours into the project, Brown said, but "knowing that you are helping somebody that you will never see, and you may never get thanks from, but are still helping, is a personal satisfaction that everyone seems to be gathering from building the PET."
For more information about the Middle Tennessee Pet Project, please contact Brown at 615-351-0239 or e-mail petprojectmidtn@comcast.net.
The PET Project will be featured in the October edition of "Middle Tennessee Record." Visit www.mtsunews.com for a program schedule or see page 4 of this edition of The Record.
READY TO ROLL-MTSU's Ralph Smith, center, joins Freddie Brown and volunteer Rhonda Summar as they prepare to take a couple of hand-cranked mobile chairs, also known as personalized energy transportation or PETS, out for a spin. Smith and Brown, the founder and executive director of the Middle Tennessee PET Project, and their volunteers produce the sturdy three-wheeled PETS that are sent to disadvantaged people in places such as Jamaica, Angola, Mexico and Uzbekistan.
photo by News and Public Affairs
Photo page 8 |
TAKING THE REINS-MTSU history graduate student Sarah Elizabeth Hickman, above left, is joined by Ray Schnittker of Blue Chip Farms in Wallkill, N.Y., as they take Jagger Blue Chip for a turn around the track at the Harness Racing Hall of Fame and Museum in Goshen, N.Y. At left is the focus of her thesis, Edwin Franklin "Pop" Geers of Columbia, Tenn., whose gift with harness racing has gone largely unrecognized.
photos submitted
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The Record, October 8, 2007, V16.08
Campus Calendar
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Campus Calendar October 7 - 21
TV Schedule
"Middle Tennessee Record"
Cable Channel 9: Monday-Sunday-5 p.m.
NewsChannel 5+: Sundays-1:30 p.m.
Visit www.mtsunews.com for other cable outlet airtimes.
Monday, Oct. 8
Annual Grand Slam Fish Fry & Cajun Gumbo fundraiser
6 p.m., Tenn. Livestock Center
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door; children 6 and under free
For information, contact: 615-898-2450.
Faculty Senate Meeting
4:30 p.m., JUB 100
For information, contact: 615-898-2582.
Guest Bassoon Recital: Peter Kolkay
8 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
Tuesday, Oct. 9
Tornado Siren Test Date
12:20 p.m., campuswide
For information, contact: 615-898-2424.
Oct. 10-11
Red Cross Blood Drive
sponsors: Student Government Association and MT Athletics
10 a.m.-4 p.m., KUC 322
For information, contact: 615-898-2590.
Wednesday, Oct. 10
Employee Benefits Fair
9 a.m.-1:30 p.m., JUB Tenn. Room
For information, contact: 615-898-2929.
"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee": A Conversation with the Filmmakers
featuring director Yves Simoneau, screenwriter Daniel Giat and composer (and MTSU alumnus) George S. Clinton 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., KUC Theater
For information, contact: 615-898-2532.
Thursday, Oct. 11
Retired Faculty/Staff Coffee
9:30 a.m., Foundation House
For information, contact: 615-898-5756.
MTSU Symphonic Band/ Chamber Winds
7:30 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
Friday, Oct. 12
MT Soccer Faculty/Staff Appreciation Weekend: Women's Soccer vs. UALR
7 p.m., Blue Raider Field
For information, contact: 615-898-2450.
Oct. 13-16
Fall Break
No classes; university offices open.
Saturday, Oct. 13
Blue Raider Football @ Memphis
7 p.m., Memphis
For information, visit www.goblueraiders.com or contact: 615-898-2103.
Sunday, Oct. 14
"MTSU On the Record-Diversity Conference"
Guests: Dr. Sharon Shaw-McEwen, Dr. John Omachonu and Loren Mulraine
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
Podcast available at www.mtsunews.com.
Sunday, Oct. 14
MT Women's Soccer vs. Arkansas State
1 p.m., Blue Raider Field
For information, contact: 615-898-2450.
Thursday, Oct. 18
MT Basketball Fan Jam
6-8 p.m., Murphy Center Arena
For information, visit www.goblueraiders.com or contact: 615-898-2103.
Saturday, Oct. 20
Blue Raider Football vs. Arkansas State
2:30 p.m., Floyd Stadium
For information, visit www.goblueraiders.com or contact: 615-898-2103.
Sunday, Oct. 21
"MTSU On the Record-Digital Difficulties, Part Two"
Guest: Ken Sanney
7 a.m., WMOT 89.5-FM
Podcast available at www.mtsunews.com.
MTSU Symphony Orchestra
4 p.m., Hinton Music Hall
For information, contact: 615-898-2493.
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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