Fresh from Women's History Month celebrations, and with the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament set for April 6-8, spring is a timely season to think about the role and history of women's sports.

In 1997, the nation witnessed the first Women's National Basketball Association season. By 1999, Serena and Venus Williams had given tennis lovers a show for their money. And in 2005, Danica Patrick placed fourth at the Indianapolis 500, the best showing by a woman to date.

These recent accomplishments alone are enough for women athletes to stand proudly, but without overcoming obstacles, understanding and appreciating those accomplishments would be incomplete.

"Title IX was one of my most memorable moments in women's sports," said Diane Turnham, MTSU associate athletic director.

Title IX prohibits any sexual discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It is probably most well-known, though, for its role in the increase of women's participation in sports.

Full academic scholarships for women athletes were unheard of before the 1970s, but Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments finally made financial aid an option for aspiring female athletes.

"(Female) players paid for everything until the late '70s," recalled Turnham, who also was the first full-time women's assistant coach at MTSU.

In 1975, MTSU gave out three all-academic scholarships for women athletes, one for basketball and two for tennis. Sandra McMillan Neal, now a professor of health and human performance, received one of those first two tennis scholarships.

Neal remembers the days before financial assistance was available for women and the effects of Title IX while she was in school.

"Graduate students coached before the school could afford full-time women's coaches," Neal said.

Another well-known achievement in women's sports is the recent success of much-accomplished women's coach Pat Summitt. In 2003, Summitt became the first woman coach to reach her 800th victory, and 80 wins later, she was named the "winningest coach" in NCAA history.

"She is truly one of the best coaches ... one of the few women who could coach a men's team," Turnham said of Summitt's seven national championships.

"Everyone knew she was different, and she was highly respected," Neal added.

These women athletes were able to see Summitt when she was just beginning. Now, the current generation is able to see her at her strongest, and by her own admission, she is nowhere close to finished.

Turnham classified Summitt as "one of the heroes in women's sports." And as far as the future of women's sports, Turnham and Neal agree that it will only continue to improve, thanks to larger salaries that are now available for female coaches and good, quality coaching--the latter noted by both women as something they like to see.

"Beating big-name schools brings bigger crowds," said Neal, referring to the MTSU win over Louisiana State University last December.

Today, women athletes have more equality than ever before in regard to their opportunities, Turnham and Neal observed, citing as evidence of progress the 2007 announcement that Wimbledon would pay women players the same amount as men.

"I think that basically, 30 years after Title IX was begun, the opportunities for women athletes are visibly improved at all levels, including the local, collegiate and professional levels of play and competition," Turnham said.

In short, sports--from the hometown field or court to the high-profile arena of professional contest--is no longer a boys-only club, thanks largely to Title IX.

"Women have shown, and will continue to show, that they have the ability to fill sports venues and provide a high level of athleticism that's both competitive and entertaining for sports fans of all levels," Turnham confirmed. "The playing field for women athletes is more level than it's ever been, and that's a win-win for all sports fans."

Alesha Brown is a senior majoring in advertising/public relations.

FROM THE FRONT LINES--MTSU alumnus Brig. Gen. David Ogg (B.S. '78) speaks candidly and answers questions about his U.S. Army career from ROTC cadets, from left, Jason Eaves, Nick Gregory, Michael Burrows, Robert Barrett and Joshua Causey during the students' March 27 military science class. The general also spoke at the annual MTSU AROTC Spring Formal March 28.

photo by News and Public Affairs

"Keep playing the best of jazz. I wish we had it here in (the) Louisville area," says Jamey, one of WMOT-Jazz89's biggest supporters.

The staff at WMOT-Jazz89 is hoping that comments like Jamey's will help Middle Tennessee music fans understand how important it is to financially support this treasure of a radio station.

Jamey listens to streaming audio of WMOT's air signal and makes financial contributions online at www.wmot.org to help pay for the jazz he enjoys.

WMOT-Jazz89's annual membership appeal and on-air fundraising campaign kicks off Wednesday April 16, to help the station bolster its budget in tight economic times. Federal funds for WMOT are soon to be nonexistent, and operating dollars from the university continue to be flat.

Despite those factors, station Development Manager Keith Palmer says recent Arbitron ratings indicate that WMOT's audience is showing a positive growth trend.

The fundraising campaign, which runs through Wednesday, April 30--just days before Murfreesboro's annual Main Street Jazz Fest, of which WMOT has been a part and a promoter from the start--will benefit MTSU's noncommercial, public broadcasting radio station.

Financial support of any amount is welcome, Palmer says.

"Our listeners understand the importance of supporting the station financially and give in amounts from $10 to $1,000," Palmer says. "Also, all indications are that there will be no increase in operating funds from MTSU this year, due to the current state budget picture, so it is up to those who listen and love the station to help pay the rising costs of broadcasting a quality signal, on-air and online 24/7."

As a public broadcasting station and a public service of MTSU and its College of Mass Communication, WMOT relies on funding from MTSU and the public through membership dollars, philanthropic giving, business support underwriting and other fundraising ventures.

For information on how you can help, visit www.wmot.org anytime or call 615-898-2800 or 615-255-9071.

WMOT-JazzZ89, which is located on the FM dial at 89.5, is MTSU's National Public Radio member station and can easily set up payroll deduction for MTSU employees who wish to contribute. Call the station for details.

Business executives from around the region will take over 10:15 and 11:20 a.m. classes at MTSU on Friday, April 11, in an event that has become one of the university's signature occasions linking textbook theory and real-world applicability.

The 17th Annual University Takeover/Executives-in-Residence program, sponsored by the Jennings A. Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise, is the largest event of its kind in the Southeast, according to event organizers in the Jennings A. Jones College of Business.

Local CEOs, business owners, directors and managers will meet with morning classes to share their experiences and answer questions from students on topics like job interviewing and how to climb the corporate ladder.

"The Executives-in-Residence program provides an opportunity for our students to interact with some very dynamic executives in Middle Tennessee and gives them a chance to see some of the theory they're being taught in actual practice," said Dr. Jim Burton, dean of the Jones College of Business.

"The classroom experience will also give visiting executives an opportunity to know more about the quality of the students that we're making available to them as future employees. This event represents everything that Jennings Jones was about--vision, achievement and giving back."

Following the morning classes, there will be an invitation-only luncheon at 12:30 p.m. in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

The luncheon speaker will be John R. Ingram, vice chairman of Ingram Industries Inc. and CEO of Ingram Content Holdings, which includes Ingram Book Group, Lighting Source Inc., and Ingram Digital Group. Ingram earned his bachelor's degree in English from Princeton University in 1984 and received his MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Ingram is a member of the board of directors of Ingram Micro Inc., the National Book Foundation and the National Center for Learning Disabilities. He serves on the Board of Trustees for Vanderbilt, Montgomery Bell Academy and The Harpeth Hall School.

Fredricka Whitfield, anchor for Cable News Network, will be the featured speaker at the inaugural Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs Symposium on Tuesday, April 15. All of the day's events are free and open to the public and will take place in MTSU's Keathley University Center Theater.

The gathering will begin at 9:45 a.m. CNN's Whitfield will deliver her address, "Underrepresented and Overexposed: People of Color in the Media," at 4 p.m. Luther Buie, interim director of the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs, says the topic stems from discussions with mass communication students who had questions about their journalistic mission.

Buie says they asked, "Is there a social responsibility to my particular community that I come from, or is it just that of an ethical responsibility in general? Do we separate those two, or are they intertwined?"

Whitfield, who anchors the weekend edition of "CNN Newsroom," also has reported for the network from the Persian Gulf region during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, covered debates over public displays of the Ten Commandments and reported on arrests in arson cases in which African-American churches were damaged or destroyed.

Prior to joining CNN, Whitfield was a correspondent for NBC News. Her resume includes local market stints at television stations in Miami; Washington, D.C.; Dallas; New Haven, Conn.; and Charleston, S.C.

Her honors include the 1991 Groit Award, the Society of Professional Journalists' "Rookie of the Year" Award, a Sigma Delta Chi award and the 1988 Associated Press "Reporter of the Year" Award. A graduate of Howard University with a bachelor's degree in journalism, Whitfield received the school's "Alumna of the Year" Award in 2002.

In addition to Whitfield, attendees will hear Dr. Jennifer Woodard, an associate professor of electronic media communication at MTSU, speak on "Deconstructing Images of Women in the Media" at 9:45 a.m.

Buie says the symposium is a joint effort sponsored by his office, the College of Mass Communication and the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies.

"This is the first of its kind, and we definitely plan on trying to do this again, making it an annual event, and maybe move from college to college to hear diverse voices from the various schools and colleges that MTSU represents," Buie says.

For more information on other symposium events, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812 or send an e-mail to Buie at lbuie@mtsu.edu.

MAKING CONTACTS--Andrew Wright, left, a senior professional pilot aerospace major from Memphis, discusses job prospects with Joanne Blasingame and Kim Davis of Indianapolis-based Republic Airways during the second Aerospace Career Fair. Nearly 30 companies were represented at the fair, which was held March 19 in the James Union Building's Tennessee Room. Students could learn more about the companies and ask questions. Companies from as far away as Virginia, Ohio, Georgia and Arizona attended the event.

photo by News and Public Affairs

Edward Friz, instructor in the Department of Management and Marketing, recently was voted "Outstanding Professor in the College of Business" in an election conducted by the Omega Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma Insurance Fraternity.

"Dr. Friz is enormously popular with students," said Dr. Kenneth Hollman, faculty adviser for the fraternity. "He seems to have mastered the art of relating to students in an era of knowledge and technology explosion where the sanctity of the traditional student-teacher relationship is under severe stress."

Any student with a major or minor in the College of Business was eligible to vote in the election, which took place Jan. 23 in the Business and Aerospace Building. About 440 votes were cast.

"It is evident ... that business students approve of the teaching approach that Mr. Friz uses in teaching marketing courses," said Dr. Jill Austin, management and marketing department chair. "He works diligently to enhance his teaching so that students have a good learning experience in his classes."

Friz, who has been a professor at MTSU for five years and teaches courses in principles of marketing, consumer behavior and personal selling, received a plaque to honor his achievement Thursday, April 3, at the Omega Chapter Initiation Banquet. His name also will appear on a larger plaque that hangs in the faculty lounge of the Business and Aerospace Building.

"My classroom philosophy is to create a lighthearted learning environment," Friz said. "I strive to make the material interesting with real-life examples using products, services and companies with which the students can relate."

Friz received an undergraduate degree in psychology from MTSU in 1999 and an MBA with an emphasis in marketing from MTSU in 2003.

"It is a great honor to be chosen by the students for this award," Friz said. "I feel very blessed to know that what I do in the classroom is having an effect on our students and that my teaching style is well-received."

With 2008 as the 50th anniversary of MTSU's venerable Todd Building, the April edition of "Middle Tennessee Record," the university's monthly video magazine, looks back on a century of libraries on campus in its regular "Centennial Countdown" segment.

One of the key figures in bringing Middle Tennessee State Normal School to Murfreesboro was Andrew L. Todd, a member of the State Board of Education and, more importantly, a member of the selection committee that in 1909 chose Murfreesboro over Clarksville and Cookeville for the site of the new institution.

During his career as an educator, Todd held positions from high-school principal to assistant state superintendent of education. In his political career, he was a member of the Tennessee General Assembly and is credited with Tennessee's first compulsory school-attendance law.

Fifty years ago, on March 25, 1958, the newly built library on campus was dedicated in his name.

The Todd Building was the third home for MTSU's library. The first was the basement of Kirksey Old Main, the campus's first classroom and administration building. The second library location was Murfree Hall, which was located where Peck Hall stands today.

In 1999, the James E. Walker Library was dedicated. Today, the renovated Todd Building is the home of the Albert Gore Research Center and the Department of Art and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

When the Todd Library opened in 1958, it housed 64,000 volumes. The current number in the Walker Library is 937,000.

The April MTR lineup also includes:

* MTSU professors and students continuing their investigation of alternative energy sources;

* science prodigy Taylor Barnes getting his name on the A List;

* MTSU students helping families learn a healthier lifestyle through the Healthy Families program;

* young inventors learning what songwriters and inventors have in common; and

* four Tennessee writers visiting campus and sharing insights on their profession.

"Middle Tennessee Record" for April also mourns two beloved professors, Drs. Lon Nuell and David Walker. And musician alumnus William Richardson takes a trip to "Duke's Place."

To watch these stories in MTSU's monthly video magazine, check out local Cable Channel 9 daily at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., Sundays at 1:30 p.m. on NewsChannel5+, or anytime via www.mtsunews.com on YouTube.

STACKS OF HISTORY--Middle Tennessee Normal School got its first library building in 1925 with Murfree Hall, above, named for librarian Betty Avent Murfree. The facility housed the campus collection until 1958, when the new Todd Library, top, opened. Murfree Hall was demolished to make way for Peck Hall in 1967, and the library remained at Todd until the James E. Walker Library opened in 1999.

photos courtesy of the Albert Gore Research Center

Clinician and double bassist Barry Green, author of "The Inner Game of Music" and "Mastery of Music," will present free public workshops and master classes April 18-19 in Room 173 of the Wright Music Building.

A California native, Green's Friday, April 18, presentations include an "Inner Game" overview at 9 a.m.; musical coaching from "Inner Game" techniques at 10:15 a.m.; Music Alive, "Reaching the Mountain Top," at 1 p.m.; and musical coaching from "Inner Game" and Music Alive techniques at 2:15 p.m.

On Saturday, April 19, Green will present another musical coaching from "Inner Game" and Music Alive techniques at 9 a.m. and a music workshop, "Ten Pathways to True Artistry," at 10:15 a.m. He will close with a 1 p.m. master class for the string bass.

Green served as principal bassist of the Cincinnati Symphony for 28 years. He currently directs a young bassist program for the San Francisco Symphony Education Department and teaches privately at Stanley Intermediate in Lafayette and at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He also has organized the Northern California Bass Club.

Seating is limited; to reserve a seat, contact Deanna Little at drhahn@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2473 by Tuesday, April 15.

MTSU'S Muslim Student Association plans an Islamic Awareness Week April 7-10 featuring informational events and a bake sale to raise funds for a scholarship honoring the late Dr. Lon Nuell.

On Monday, April 7, an IAW information table and bake sale are planned on the KUC Knoll from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Rain location is KUC second floor.)

A lecture on "The Role of Women in Islam" by Tasneem Ahmed is set Tuesday, April 8, at 6 p.m. in BAS S316. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, the MSA will screen the "30 Days as a Muslim" episode of the F/X series "30 Days" in LRC 221. And on Thursday, April 10, the MSA will conduct an election and a potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m. in KUC 322.

For more information, please contact MSA adviser Dr. Saleh Sbenaty at ssbenaty@mtsu.edu or MSA President Nida Shirazi at nfs2c@mtsu.edu.

MTSU and the Department of Mathematical Sciences will serve as a regional host for the 52nd annual Statewide High School Mathematics Contest.

Between 300 and 400 students will be competing in the contest, which will start at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 15, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building, said Dr. Michael Beck, assistant chair of mathematical sciences and test center chair for the contest.

Participants may compete in only one of six test divisions--Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, statistics, precalculus, calculus and advanced topics.

The contest will end around 11:10 a.m., Beck said, adding that organizers hope to announce results at 1:30 p.m.

Awards will be presented to state winners and school representatives at the annual Tennessee Mathematics Teachers' Association Sept. 19 at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville.

"We like it that MTSU is part of the contest environment and a host," said Dr. George Havener, an associate professor of mathematical sciences who is among the faculty and staff helping organize the event.

"Students can consider MTSU as a potential school. It's math-focused. Students who participate are math-skilled already."

Havener said a lot of credit goes to the schools, their faculty, the students and their parents for preparing them for the contest.

Participating schools were invited to register on a first-come-first-served basis because of limited seating capacity, and the contest is scheduled to include public and private schools from several districts across the state.

While it is considered a high-school state contest, younger students from elementary and middle schools (including sixth through eighth grades) may enter the contest, said Gail Cripps, a secretary in the mathematical sciences department who is involved in the registration process.

According to the latest available statistics from the federal government (2006), women who work outside the home only receive an average of 77 cents in pay for every dollar a working man receives.

That's why various MTSU groups will sponsor Pay Equity Day activities on the Keathley University Center Knoll from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22.

At 2:40 p.m., professor emeritus Dr. Ayne Cantrell will deliver a free public address, "Behind the Pay Gap: How Far Have Women Come?" in Room 100 of the James Union Building. For more information, contact the June Anderson Women's Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

Co-sponsors of the event are the President's Commission on the Status of Women, MTSU National Women's History Month Committee, Women in Action, American Association of University Women, Women's Studies Program, Business and Professional Women and MTSU sororities.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and the MTSU Alumni Association extend an invitation to attend the fifth annual President's Celebration of Excellence.

The event will be held starting at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in the James Union Building's Tennessee Room.

This dinner and awards presentation are held each spring to honor students, alumni, faculty and friends of the university for their accomplishments and service to MTSU.

Various Student Government Association, Division of Student Affairs, Blue Raider Athletics, MTSU National Alumni Association, MTSU Foundation and Office of the President awards will be presented.

The cost to attend is $20 per person. Dress will be business attire. Please RAVP by Wednesday, April 9.

For more information and reservations, call 615-904-8260.

To enhance MTSU's burgeoning integration of international education into its academic life, Dr. Ron Messier, senior lecturer in history at Vanderbilt University and former history professor at MTSU, will return to the Murfreesboro campus in his new role as director of international outreach starting July 1.

Messier will report to Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost. However, his duties will include advising President Sidney A. McPhee on international endeavors, hosting international dignitaries who visit the campus and traveling outside the country with McPhee at the president's request.

"The provost and I are very happy to have Dr. Messier back on campus and working with us," says Dr. Anne Sloan, special assistant to the provost for international education. "He has a tremendous amount of expertise as the earliest director of any formal study-abroad program at MTSU dating back to the 1970s and extensive experience working in the field internationally, especially in North Africa and the Middle East. We value his knowledge of the university's history and his perspective on improving the international aspects of curriculum."

Messier will work closely with Sloan on curriculum internationalization and curriculum integration, recruiting international students and promoting student and faculty exchange. Communication with the broader university community, including the development of an international education newsletter, also will be part of Messier's focus.

"What I hope to be able to do is work with every segment of campus to try to identify things that MTSU does particularly well that will be marketable overseas and then identify target groups overseas and then connect the two," Messier says.

Additionally, Messier will advise the Office of International Programs and Services and the Middle East Center.

"Ron's expertise and contacts in the Middle East and North Africa are wide-ranging and extensive," says Dr. Allen Hibbard, director of the Middle East Center. "I saw this firsthand when he visited me while I was teaching in Damascus and when the two of us recently traveled together in Morocco. He was a key moving force behind plans to create a Middle East Center on campus and has remained a strong, steadfast supporter of our work and activities. I have always relied on his counsel and will lean on him more heavily once he assumes his official position here."

"A logical place for me to start, because of my own background and experience, will be in areas like public history (and) historic preservation," Messier says. "I know there's a market for that in the Middle East and North Africa, and I've already started unofficially to look at ways of making those connections."

In fact, over a six-week period between the conclusion of his time at Vanderbilt and the start of his new job at MTSU, Messier will travel to Morocco to continue an excavation that began in 2004 of a medieval Islamic city just south of Marrakech.

Messier will remain at Vanderbilt until April. His new MTSU position is a part-time job for which he anticipates working 20 hours a week over three or four days, which will enable him to travel and conduct research.

A professor of Middle East history and historical archaeology at MTSU from 1972 to 2004, Messier won the university's Outstanding Teacher Award in 1976, Outstanding Honors Faculty Award in 1978 and Outstanding Research Award in 1997, as well as the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education award as Tennessee Teacher of the Year in 1993. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1966 and his master's and doctorate from the University of Michigan in 1968 and 1972, respectively.

BACK FROM THE FIELD--Dr. Ron Messier, shown here in the ruins of a public bath at Aghmat, about 30 kilometers east of Marrakech, Morocco, will return to MTSU to serve as the new director of international outreach. The position will help promote international education and exchange at the university.

photo submitted

Rear Admiral Tony Cothron, director of naval intelligence and an MTSU alumnus, will visit the university Tuesday, April 8, to lecture on "U.S. National Security Policy and Decision-Making: Insights on How and Why Our Nation is at War."

The free lecture, sponsored by MTSU's History Department and History Club, will be held at 10 a.m. in Peck Hall Room 227.

Cothron, director of intelligence for the chief of naval operations and the 62nd director of naval intelligence, is a veteran of military operations around the world, including Operation Desert Shield/ Desert Storm.

His assignments most recently included responsibilities for transforming the intelligence community in response to the global war on terrorism and supporting combat operations against Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Cothron, a native of Greenbrier, Tenn., graduated from MTSU in 1977. For more information, contact 615-898-2536 or Dr. Derek Frisby at dfrisby@mtsu.edu.

NOV. 4 IS COMING--Members of the MTSU chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota, a music fraternity for women, help prepare voter registration forms for fellow student Chelsea Drummings during a three-day drive in the School of Music in March. Clockwise around the table in the photo above are, from left, Elizabeth Warren, Clarissa Moditz, Michael Turner, Nicole Fox, Raye Hunter and Drummings. In the photo at right are the information sheets prepared by SAI members to answer prospective voters' questions, as well as a registration form. Voters must be registered before Monday, Oct. 6, to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential elections; for more information, visit www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election anytime.

photos submitted

"A Traveler's Guide to Rutherford County's Log Architecture" is the title of a new driving-tour brochure produced by the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, a statewide program administered by the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation.

Michael Thomas Gavin, preservation specialist with the Heritage Area and author of "Building with Wood, Brick, and Stone: Vernacular Architecture in Tennessee, 1770-1900" (University of Tennessee Press, 2004), developed the free brochure, which contains a concise explanation of the origin and evolution of log buildings, accompanied by a brief driving tour of log homes across the county.

The illustrated brochure contains a map and photographs from local properties, including the Sam Davis birthplace house and slave dwellings at the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna, Cannonsburgh in Murfreesboro and the Akin House in Bicentennial Park in La Vergne.

"The brochure is intended to direct people to publicly accessible sites where they can examine and learn more about historic log buildings," remarked Gavin, who also authored "Restoration Guide for Historic Log Houses," a 20-page pamphlet recently published by the TCWNHA and the CHP.

Free copies of the brochure--as well as the pamphlet--are available at the Downtown Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County at 225 W. College St.; at the Sam Davis Home in Smyrna; La Vergne City Hall; Cannonsburgh; and the Heritage Area headquarters, 1417 E. Main St., and the Center for Historic Preservation office at 1416 E. Main St. in Murfreesboro.

For more information about the brochure, please contact the CHP by calling 615-898-2947.

WMTS-FM, MTSU's student-run radio station, will present its 2008 Record Convention, featuring local and regional vendors as well as musical guests, on Sunday, April 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Murfreesboro Holiday Inn on Old Fort Parkway at Interstate 24.

Admission is $3 per person or $2 with a handbill, and all proceeds from the vinyl show will benefit the station, which can be heard at 88.3 FM. Door prizes will be given away hourly, and Superdrag, the Knoxville-based power pop/alternative rock band now on a reunion tour, is scheduled to appear from 2 to 4 p.m.

"The idea for this event originally came up through collaboration with one of MTSU's recording industry professors, Dr. Paul Fischer," says Stan McCloud, station co-adviser and coordinator of the Keathley University Center. "Up to that point, we hadn't organized many events other than benefit shows in the surrounding area. We thought it was time to try something outside the norm."

The 2008 convention is WMTS's third in a year. "The first record convention was a great success; it drew much interest and quite a large crowd. We're hoping the upcoming one will do the same and better," McCloud adds. "It will be a great event for part-time collectors and serious record enthusiasts alike."

For more information, call 615-898-2591 or e-mail manager@wmts.org.

Vanderbilt University professor emeritus Dr. Elsie Quarterman, 96, will be honored during the April 11-13 Wildflower Weekend at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

The 31st annual event is being renamed Elsie Quarterman Wildflower Weekend, said Dr. Kim Cleary Sadler, associate professor of biology and director of the MTSU Center for Cedar Glade Studies, which is co-sponsoring the event along with Tennessee State Parks.

"Dr. Quarterman and her students have spent the last 60 years studying the unique ecology of the limestone glades," Sadler said. "Home to plant species not found anywhere else in the world, Dr. Quarterman's work has not only brought worldwide attention to the glades but also informed the public about the need for protection and appreciation of the limestone glade areas."

A dedication to Dr. Quarterman will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, April 11, in the Huddleston Cedar Forest Lodge, Sadler said. Mack Pritchard, naturalist with the Tennessee Department of Conservation, will be the guest speaker.

The Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade, a 185-acre natural area that is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Percy Priest Reservoir near La Vergne, already is named in her honor.

The festivities will continue Saturday, April 12, starting at 7 a.m. and continue with a full day of hikes, lectures, workshops and field trips into the unique Lebanon Limestone Glades at the Cedar Basin, Sadler added.

"Leaders for all the events represent the finest group of ecologists, botanists and naturalists from numerous professional organizations," Sadler said.

MTSU faculty and alumni will participate and lead caravans and talks, including Dr. Tom Hemmerly, a biology professor from 1964-2007; biology professor Dr. Kurt Blum; and alumni Landon McKinney, Danny Bryan, Melissa Turrentine, Terri Hogan and Mike Berkley.

All events are free and open to the public.

For more information, please call Cedars of Lebanon State Park at 615-443-2769. For a tentative schedule of events, visit www.tennessee.gov/environment/parks/Cedars/features/festival_april_11_2008.shtml.

WILDFLOWER WALK--Vanderbilt professor emeritus Dr. Elsie Quarterman, left, former MTSU graduate assistant Elizabeth Fitch and MTSU's Dr. Kim Cleary Sadler study a patch of Nashville Breadroot in the cedar glades near Cedars of Lebanon State Park during Wildflower Weekend in April 2007.

photo by Dr. Jeff Walck

Readers of Sidelines may have noticed interesting pictures and articles written by Yfang "Yvonne" Cao over the last year, but Cao never thought much about photography or journalism until she came to MTSU.

Cao is from Hunan, China, where she attended Hunan Normal University for two years. She came to MTSU through its highly competitive exchange program with Hunan Normal. This program allows one Chinese student to attend MTSU each year, but because the participants must study abroad during their junior year, they only have one window for the opportunity.

Cao was selected through a series of tests and interviews that measured her academic ability, knowledge of English and social presence.

"They really wanted you to speak up, to participate, so you wouldn't be the shame of the university in America," Cao says.

The exchange program allows Cao to pay tuition and living expenses for her home university, which creates a spot for an American student to study abroad at Hunan Normal.

As she approaches the end of her year abroad, Cao is currently studying electronic media communication in the College of Mass Communication, a field much different than what she was learning at Hunan Normal and one that is not offered at her home university.

In China, Cao studied broadcasting and hosting, which is an art major that trains students to perform on camera. When she first came to MTSU, she was not sure what classes to take, so she enrolled in some journalism and design classes. Cao soon learned that she no longer wanted to be in front of the camera.

She began to focus on photography and media design in her second semester at MTSU. Taking pictures has always been a hobby for her, and she began to realize she could turn it into a career.

"When I first came here, I was like a tourist. I loved to take pictures everywhere I went, on every corner, and I also loved to show them to people," says Cao.

"My friends started to encourage me to send my pictures to publications to show more people what America is like in my eyes."

Cao went to the editor of MTSU's independent newspaper, Sidelines, and asked if they would allow her to take pictures. Sidelines soon was publishing pictures and articles by Cao about her football-watching experiences at MTSU.

"I thought it would just be pictures," Cao says. "But they wanted me to explain the pictures also, so I was writing articles."

During a visit to the James E. Walker Library, Cao found a Chinese newspaper, the Tennessee Chinese News, and decided to contact the editors to see if they would be interested in her articles as well. The paper created an entire column for Cao called the "Study Abroad Diary."

Cao was required by Hunan Normal to record her thoughts and activities in a journal while she was abroad. The director of her major at Hunan Normal has helped her choose articles from her journal to be published later in the newspaper.

Cao says she's enjoyed her time at MTSU and would recommend that anyone with the opportunity to study abroad do so. She's happy to work on her graphic design and photojournalism skills and is excited to see where her education will lead her in the future.

"People from different places have different ways of thinking, so the more places you go, you will learn more about different thoughts, and that will make you have more experience," Cao says. "Your eyes were opened, your horizons were expanded--that will enrich your life."

GO BLUE!--MTSU cheerleaders encourage the Blue Raiders in a fall 2007 contest at Jones Field in this photo by Yfang Cao. The photo accompanied an article on her first college football game that ran in the Oct. 22, 2007, edition of Sidelines.

photo by Yfang "Yvonne" Cao