In spite of budget tightening across the state and at MTSU, construction trucks and machinery continue working on several projects around campus. Because some were funded before the budget cuts, they have the green flag to proceed.

“All of the projects that you see or that are in the planning stage were funded before the budget cuts,” said Patti Miller, director of campus planning. “In fact, funding for some of the projects has been acquired over a period of the last five years or so.

“For example, we received construction funding for the new chilled water building that is being built on the south side of campus and full funding for the design of the science building, the latter in anticipation of future construction funds.”

Where does money for campus construction originate?

There are various funding sources for construction and improvement projects on campus, which is why some projects can move ahead while others remain stalled in preliminary stages of development.

State capital funding is appropriated through the state budgeting process. The Tennessee Board of Regents, Tennessee Higher Education Commission and the governor’s office prioritize those projects earmarked for state dollars, with final approval made by the state Legislature. Those state dollars include:

• capital outlay for planning and design of the new science building, the chilled water building and the proposed College of Education and Behavioral Science building; and

• capital maintenance for repair of the facade on Kirksey Old Main, reroofing projects for academic and administrative buildings and utility-line replacements.

Bonds—or interest-bearing loans—are issued for Tennessee State School Board Authority projects and paid via sources such as program service fees and auxiliary fees. For example, TSSBA bonds for the new student union will be repaid by student fees. TSSBA bonds issued for parking and transportation improvements will be paid by parking fees, while bonds for housing renovations will be paid by housing rents. The Student Health, Recreation and Wellness Center expansion/addition was made possible by TSSBA bonds paid by recreation and health-service fees.

Gifts encompass donations, bequests and foundations. The Tennessee Miller Coliseum is one example of a gift-funded project.

Local government funds help fund some projects.

Federal funds, such as grants, provide for such facilities as the new Observatory and Uranidrome at MTSU. Those projects’ funding came from a NASA grant.

Campus operating funds are balances left from appropriations and tuition that are allotted for improvement projects.

Some projects are made possible by a combination of funding sources. For example, the new addition to the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building was funded by the Christy-Houston Foundation along with federal grants and campus dollars, while the baseball stadium upgrade was built with government funds from the City of Murfreesboro, private gifts from individuals and campus athletic funds.


A newer way to build

Construction at MTSU has recently undergone some fundamental managerial changes, which have helped to ensure that the university gets a bigger bang and a better building for the buck. The “construction manager/general contractor,” or CM/GC, is a term applied to a construction company that oversees every facet of the project from design and planning to construction materials and costs.

“We’re getting a lot better-quality building and better control of budgets,” campus planning’s Miller said. “A construction manager starts at the beginning. He provides budget information because he knows what’s affordable, and he knows the differences in costs among materials. He tracks costs throughout the design process. He guarantees his price at the end of the bid phase. He’s very professional, structured and knowledgeable—and he adheres to industry standards.”

There was a period when too many projects were coming in over bid because of inflation in the building industry, especially following Katrina, Miller said. Also, she said, the quality of construction over the last few decades has been problematic.

Miller said the state of Tennessee is adding alternative construction-delivery processes to improve pricing, schedule and quality issues. Under the construction-management system, officials still go through a request-for-proposal and evaluation process to select a CM/GC. The CM/GC, in turn, bids sub-contract work, which is still based on the lowest qualified bid.

“You still get a good value because he is overseeing the entire construction project,” Miller noted.

How do a construction manager’s tasks differ now? The building designers and contractor used to work separately, but in the CM/GC process, Miller explained, teamwork improves throughout the project from early design through the end of construction.

“Under the old system, there is minimum input from potential contractors,” Miller said. “The new system really affects the level of expertise available during design. The construction manager is in control of the schedule, so if the designers are lagging, he can push them to get back on track. The construction manager looks at all the building materials and suggests alternative ways of doing things. It just makes good sense to have the entire team involved in the process from the beginning. No matter how good the design is, if it’s bad construction, you’re living with that problem forever.”

Miller added that there is a list of qualifications that a construction manager has to meet, and the rating system is complicated and stringent.

“The quality of construction is your most overarching goal,” she noted. “We want to achieve that.”

What is the status of construction projects at MTSU?

By now, perhaps everyone has had some experience going in circles on the newly opened roundabout at the intersection of Middle Tennessee Boulevard and Blue Raider Drive. According to one traffic-pattern study, in areas that feature roundabouts as opposed to traditional intersections, there are 40 percent fewer collisions and 80 percent fewer injuries.

Alumni Drive from Blue Raider Drive to Friendship Drive is closed for the fall semester. The road is being widened to accommodate a bus lane.

The renovation of Lyon Hall is complete, and interior renovation and re-roofing of Cummings Hall is now in progress.

The baseball stadium work should be completed later this fall.

The satellite chilled water building (adjacent to Project Help) is nearly complete. A portion of Blue Raider Drive near the Wesley Foundation is closed in order to connect to existing lines.

The exterior work on Kirksey Old Main will be completed by the end of this month. The roof on the main building is finished.

Photo p5

WELCOME—The soaring new entrance to MTSU’s Student Health, Recreation and Wellness Center features a corridor leading to the recreation areas to the left and another corridor to Student Health Services to the right. The renovation and expansion project, funded by state School Board Authority bonds, is one of several completed just as the fall 2008 semester began, and more new construction and renovations are under way campuswide. photo by Andy Heidt

MTSU’s campus community can ensure that they’re properly registered to vote in the Nov. 4 presidential election with a few simple clicks of a mouse.

And keeping the process simple will help ensure a good voter turnout, says Jennifer Kirk, assistant director of student unions and programming and a longtime volunteer for HeadCount, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization devoted to voter registration and participation in democracy.

“This date—Monday, Oct. 6—is very important for the state of Tennessee,” Kirk says, “because voter registration forms must be postmarked or turned in to Tennessee county election offices no later than that date.

“We want to let our students, old and new, know that even though they’re not permanent residents of Murfreesboro, for the purposes of voting they can be residents if they live on-campus. If they live off-campus, they can still claim residency here for voting purposes.”

Students, faculty and staff who’ve moved since they last voted also must update their addresses before Oct. 6 at their local election office to ensure that they can vote in this election, Kirk adds.

“Right now also is the time to seek absentee-voting information from your home county, if you need it, to allow for time for voting by mail,” she says.

Kirk, who travels with HeadCount to music festivals and concerts around the country to help register voters, says young adults appear to be registering in greater numbers for the upcoming election, reflecting the youth vote’s increased presence in national elections in the last decade.

“They seem more interested,” Kirk says of voters ages 18 to 29, “but the turnout still isn’t what it should be. The eligible younger voters’ demographic makes up more than one-fifth of the population, so they can clearly make a significant difference in the outcome of the election, especially in the swing states.”

HeadCount conducted registration drives at 721 concerts this spring and summer, registering 46,171 voters on the way to its goal of registering 100,000 voters for the Nov. 4 election. At MTSU, HeadCount has established a local chapter through the Office of Student Organizations and Community Services, and its members have attended football games and set up a booth in the tailgating area in Walnut Grove to provide registration information for voters.

“We registered 20 voters at the first home game and were very pleased with the response,” Kirk says. “I’m also teaching a University 1010 course this semester, and I’ve told my students I’ll give extra credit to anyone who shows me his or her voter-registration card. I’ve gotten a great response on that; I’ve been reminding them to use that card on Nov. 4, too.”

Any student on campus who will be 18 by Nov. 4, or any other unregistered voter, can pick up a registration form at the Keathley University Center information desk or visit www.tennessee.gov/sos/election/forms/ss-3010.pdf to print out, fill out and mail (or hand-deliver) the form before Oct. 6.

“The election commission is asking that everyone please include their phone numbers, so if there’s a problem with the registration form, the office can contact them to resolve it by the registration deadline,” Kirk says.

Students who live on campus must include their campus mailbox number and MTSU’s 1301 E. Main St. address to receive a voter-registration card if they want to vote in Rutherford County.

“We’ve seen about 220 people register using our forms at the information desk just since the end of July,” Kirk says. “We’ve already run out of forms and gotten replacements, so we’ll be sure to have enough on hand for anyone who needs one before the deadline.”

Visit www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election for more information about voting Nov. 4.

Your first stop for Tennessee voter registration information is www.tennessee.gov/sos/election/registration.htm. There you can download a voter registration application, check your eligibility status and voting precinct and find county election commission information.

Early voting for the Nov. 4 election begins Wednesday, Oct. 15, and lasts until Thursday, Oct. 30. Hours and locations for Rutherford County are available online at www.rutherfordcountytn.gov/election or by calling 615-898-7743.

The June Anderson Women’s Center at MTSU will augment its year-round concern for the health and safety of women and girls in October by observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Janine Latus, author of If I Am Missing or Dead: A Sister’s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation, will be the keynote speaker for Domestic Violence Awareness Month activities. Latus will speak at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7, in Cantrell Hall in the Tom H. Jackson Building; a reception and book-signing will follow her talk.

Latus’ book also will be the focus of discussion at the JAWC’s first “Our Friends/Our Selves Bookclub” meeting of the new academic year from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29, at the center, which is located in Room 206 of the James Union Building.

An international best-seller, If I Am Missing or Dead chronicles Latus’ courage in breaking out of a repressive marriage only to learn that her younger sister, Amy, had been murdered by a boyfriend. A note Amy left in 2002 foreshadowed her own demise. The book is a gut-wrenching exploration of how two successful, intelligent women could fall for men who would disrespect and abuse them.

“Our keynote speaker will make one of the most powerful and personal presentations ever on the trauma and tragedy of domestic violence,” says Terri Johnson, JAWC director. “Ms. Latus graciously also is making time to visit classes on campus and community groups.”

Jennifer Rawls, executive director of the Tennessee Economic Council for Women, will deliver a presentation on “The Economics of Domestic Violence” Wednesday, Oct. 1, from noon to 1 p.m. in the JUB’s Hazlewood Room.

Also in October, the JAWC will present a breast cancer keychain/educational awareness workshop Tuesday, Oct. 21, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Hazlewood Room. Participants will assemble key chains to take home. The bead sizes on the key chains represent the various sizes of lumps found in mammograms and breast self-examinations.

The key chains are offered by the Breast Health Initiative, a program of the Student Community Health Coalition at the Vanderbilt Center for Health Services in Nashville. The program is funded partially by the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and the Tennessee Commission on National and Community Service.

Offices and departments around campus will provide ribbons made by the Women’s Center—purple for domestic violence awareness and pink for breast cancer awareness—throughout the month of October.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the June Anderson Women’s Center at 615-898-2193 or jawc@mtsu.edu.

The Blue Raider Athletic Association is sponsoring bus trips to football games against Louisville (Oct. 18), Mississippi State (Oct. 25) and Western Kentucky (Nov. 15) this season. Per-person costs are $50 plus game ticket for Louisville, $80 plus game ticket for Mississippi State and $35 plus game ticket for WKU. For more details, contact the BRAA office at 615-898-2210.

On Aug. 1, I woke up and felt as if I were in a stranger’s house, one that was much bigger than my own. It has a huge air-conditioned attic with row after row of shelves teeming with boxes full of papers, books, maps, photographs and various other things, including a gavel made from wood from Andrew Jackson’s law office.

It’s not a dream—but perhaps a dream job—for on that day, I became the director of the Albert Gore Research Center at MTSU. I’ve discovered that few people on campus really know what the Gore Center is, or the treasures that we have in what could be called the university’s attic.

The core of our archival collections is of course the House and Senate papers of Albert Gore Sr., a graduate of Middle Tennessee State Teachers College in 1932. Stretch these out in a row and it would reach 900 feet! John Bragg, Jim Cummings, Jim Cooper and other local and state politicians also have donated their papers to the Gore Center.

But we’re certainly not all about politics. We have amassed more than 500 oral history tape-recorded interviews with common folks that deal with such topics as the presidency of Q.M. Smith, MT alumni, American veterans, African-Americans in Murfreesboro, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and Hurricane Katrina.

And if you hear a whinny in the background, it’s probably coming from the Warden Collection of equestrian books, periodicals, research notes—and nearly 2,700 photographs of horses. To these we can add more than 1,200 photographs in the Homer Pittard Campus School collection and hundreds more showing all aspects of life at the university since its founding in 1911.

In keeping with MTSU’s mission to play a vital part in the region we serve, the Gore Center also accepts historical materials from individuals and organizations, such as the League of Women Voters of Rutherford County and the Tennessee Coalition Against State Killing.

In taking on this new challenge, and in hiring Matthew Brown, our first full-time professional archivist (who we lured away from Boston University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project), I look forward to spending this first year on the job exploring new ways that the Gore Center can serve the university and in expanding our usefulness to Middle Tennessee. Partly for this reason I asked to remain the coordinator of the American Democracy Project here at MTSU. What better home could there be for the project than the Gore Center, which preserves the memories and contributions of so many Middle Tennesseans who have devoted their lives to preserving and building American democracy?

So it is likely you will read plenty of e-mails from me this fall—or see me under a tent on campus—promoting voter registration drives or Constitution Day or presidential debate discussions or Campus Conversations about the latest news. Check the ADP Web site for full details: www.mtsu.edu/~amerdem.

Do stop by the Gore Center and say hello. Browse our collections. Think about donating materials from your time here as a student, alumnus, employee or friend of MTSU. We’d be glad to add your memories to “the university’s attic.”

Dr. Jim Williams, a history professor at MTSU since 1996, is the new director of the Albert Gore Research Center.

Newer building-security measures are being implemented at MTSU, and the Todd Building has become a pilot project to secure interior and external doors.

A group of academics and administrators has been meeting over the last several months to craft a plan and monitor results with an eye on refining the process and working out the bugs.

The Todd Building was chosen because it houses a rather eclectic mix of people, some with regular schedules and others who use the building at all hours. Todd is home to the Dean’s Office, College of Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Department of Art and the Albert Gore Research Center. It contains master classrooms, original works of art by students and faculty and a host of valuable papers and collections amassed over many years. Of course, there also is the concern for information security on computers and inside file cabinets.

“Todd has a considerable amount of equipment, and art students in particular need access to the building at off-hours because of the kinds of creative projects they’re involved in,” said Dr. John McDaniel, Liberal Arts dean. “They often have posters, paintings and other work that require a sustained effort at nights. Secondly, Todd is centrally located on campus. There’s a lot of traffic with the KUC on one side and Peck Hall on the other side. And yet Todd has the virtue of being relatively small in terms of the number of people who are in it. It seems about the right size for a pilot project.”

“We were struggling with a situation in this building where doors were being left open and propped open,” added Dr. Hilary Stallings, recruitment and resources manager for the College of Liberal Arts. “It was evident that we had a need, so it was a matter of everyone coming to the table. Doors were being propped open at night after they were locked, and after a while, it became normal. Some alarms had never been activated, so a door could stand open and be undetected.”

The solution was to install a card-swipe system on select doors. The doors will be unlocked during regular hours, and at night, the person needs to swipe a card to enter. When those who need to get in the building have card access, having doors propped open should be a thing of the past.

According to the plan, which will be a work in progress, all faculty in Todd have or will have the card-swiping ability. Main exterior doors and some classroom and office-suite doors will be only card-swipe accessible. Students will have access to the building and to certain classrooms with their ID cards, but each department will arrange student access. Access privileges will change every semester, depending on class schedules and personnel. Eventually, there will be no keys to the building.

“It will be a matter of educating people,” said McDaniel, who informed department chairs and explained the procedures at the beginning of the semester. Department chairs were instructed to talk to their faculty, and, in turn, faculty were asked to inform their students.

“I hope everyone appreciates that the university is taking measures to secure the building and the entire campus,” Stallings noted. “We want students, staff and faculty to find and report any glitches in the system so that we can plug the holes.”

McDaniel also stressed the importance of securing information.

“The college has already had a lengthy audit by (the Division of) Information Technology,” he said. “They ran programs on all our computers, and they examined our physical setup as well as our lock-and-key system on all of our hard-copy files. This is a practical and symbolic way of saying that we as a college are taking the lead to make sure we are as secure as we reasonably can be with our office space, our information, our computers—and I will invite our departments to go through a similar audit process.”

There’s no such thing as “normal” school hours anymore, McDaniel pointed out, explaining the need for updated security measures. Classes used to fall between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. with a few evening sessions. Now operations are 24/7, he said.

“Look at mass communication or photography; look at the chemistry labs and the hours they are operating. Given our size and demographics and the way increasing traffic is coming and going at various times, we are at a point where this is becoming more and more typical of the academic year,” he added.

McDaniel and Stallings credited Dr. Watson Harris in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost with heading the Todd effort, along with people in Facilities Services, Public Safety, Construction/Renovation Services and other departments.

“It’s a team effort,” McDaniel said. “The idea is to contribute to each other’s interests and find solutions. We hope to use (Todd) as a model that will be sharable.”

Faculty and staff may now apply for funding from MTSU’s Clean Energy Committee to implement projects and proposals that focus on renewable energy, energy conservation and efficiency, alternative fuels or sustainable design.

The $8-per-semester Clean Energy Fee, implemented by student vote in 2006, generates the funds. The application deadline is Wednesday, Oct. 8.

Dr. Gene Fitch, a committee member and associate vice president for student affairs/dean of student life, said that eligible spending may include:

• on-site generation projects that utilize and publicize renewable energy technologies, such as solar array displays on campus;

• opportunities that may arise to gain additional funding or offset costs through rebate programs, such as the Generation Partners program provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority and Murfreesboro Electric Department;

• up to 10 percent of the total annual appropriations to perform studies that analyze energy-efficiency initiatives; and

• up to 10 percent of the total annual appropriations for research grants, as well as academic programs for educational, training and research purposes, to help develop awareness of energy use, consumption and conservation to be awarded within the MTSU community.

To submit a Clean Energy Fee funding proposal, please visit the Student Government Association Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~sga and click on the “Clean Energy Fee” link on the right side of the page.

For more information, please contact Fitch at 615-898-2750 or gfitch@mtsu.edu.

College of Basic and Applied Sciences Dean Tom Cheatham paints a bright picture and high expectations for a successful 2008-09 academic year for the college, despite state budget cuts that have affected some programs and personnel.

As of Sept. 10, there were a record 5,651 students and 220 full-time faculty within the college, he reported, adding that there is both a 4 percent growth in the number of majors and 6 percent growth in the number of student credit hours.

Cheatham presented his State of the College address Sept. 11 in the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building.

“We’re going to have a good year,” Cheatham said. “We have great department chairs and great faculty. Budget cuts will slow us down but won’t stop us.”

Cheatham said the two major issues again this fall are funding for the science building, which the state’s economy has helped to put on hold, and approval for the first three doctoral programs in the college’s history.

The proposed doctoral programs include molecular biosciences, computational sciences and math and science education. Cheat-ham said external reviews have been held for the first two, and the external review for the math and science education Ph.D. program will be Oct. 7.

Cheatham said he is hopeful that all three programs will go to the Tennessee Board of Regents in December and then to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission in January. If approved by both, the programs would start in fall 2009.

“It will be exciting for us to have Ph.D. programs,” he said. “It’s a great step for the future of our college. It’s a real plus in recruiting good faculty and a real plus in how other universities view your programs. Having Ph.D. programs will help us in winning research grants in the future.”

Cheatham lauded the aerospace efforts in the naming of the hangar in honor of Donald McDonald (a Sept. 17 event held at Murfreesboro Airport) and an upcoming celebration of eight new state-of-the-art training planes.

The CBAS dean also praised the engineering technology leaders for their roles in raising financial support for a new commercial construction management program. He commended the work by Agribusiness and Agriscience Chair Warren Gill in generating interest for a field day held Sept. 18 at the new MTSU farm and for a move to start a dual-credit program being coordinated by Alanna Neely.

Cheatham added that Jennifer Allen, the college’s development director, has been involved with the commercial construction management program fundraising, the McDonald airport hangar and this fall’s Homecoming Gala event to raise money for scholarships.

He also mentioned grants received by Dr. Dovie Kimmins, assistant director in the Tennessee Math, Science and Technology Education Center, and Dr. Phil Waldrop in the College of Education and Behavioral Science. Kimmins’ grant is to work with middle-school math and science teachers; Waldrop’s grant is a Teacher Quality Initiative pilot program.

The early deadline to register to attend the College of Basic and Applied Sciences Alumni and Patron Homecoming Gala will be Wednesday, Oct. 1, Dean Tom Cheatham said.

The early registration fee is $60 per person with $20 tax-deductible. From Oct. 2 to 31, the fee increases to $75 with $35 tax-deductible. The weekend package includes admission to the semi-formal dinner and tickets to the Nov. 8 MTSU vs. Louisiana-Monroe football game.

The Nov. 7 gala will be held from 6 until 10 p.m. at Stones River Country Club. Festivities will include a reception starting at 6, dinner and program at 6:30 and a dance to follow.

Cheatham said proceeds exceeding event costs would benefit student scholarships. To register, visit www.mtsu.edu/~career/cbas_HCgala.htm.

If you’re having trouble during the week finding time to work out, or if you just want to do something different with your workout on the weekend, Campus Recreation has a program for you: Weekend Warriors!

Every Saturday at 10:30 a.m., two or more trainers will take participants to a new fitness venue for a different and challenging workout. Participants must be signed in each Thursday by 1 p.m. to participate.

Each workout is $5 for participants or $3 each for Wellness Program and Get Fit, Stay Fit Program participants. An entire semester of Weekend Warriors may be purchased for $20 or $12 for program participants.

Programs include a Boot Camp on Saturday, Sept. 27, Oct. 4 Challenge Course and a Barfield Nature Walk/Workout on Oct. 25.

Participants may join in all of the workouts or individual workouts as they have time and inclination. Remember, register by 1 p.m. Thursdays to ensure a place in the Weekend Warriors workouts!

For more information, contact Jerry Langham at 615-898-2104.

Dr. Felicia Miyakawa, assistant professor of music at MTSU, kicked off this academic year’s Women’s Studies Research Lectures with “Queering the ‘Sometimes’ Trope: Gay Choruses and Gendered Readings of ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child’” on Sept. 18 in the SunTrust Room of the Business and Aerospace Building.

Miyakawa shared examples of “how this beloved tune has been wrapped into issues of gender identity.” She explored “what performances of this song by gay-identified choruses or in gay-themed performance contexts reveal not only about what these particular performance groups value in this song, but also how their appropriations of this song are indicative of a seemingly universal tendency of finding endless troves of personal meaning in the song’s text, music and traditions.”

Other scheduled lectures in the series are:

• Thursday, Oct. 16: “Piecing a Quilt: Jessie Carney Smith and Black Women’s History,” Christa Hardy, James E. Walker Library fellow; 3 p.m., BAS SunTrust Room;

• Thursday, Nov. 20: “Choice or Chance?: Gender, Victimization, and Responsibility in ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,’” Dr. Katie Foss, journalism; 3 p.m., BAS SunTrust Room;

• Thursday, Jan. 15: “A Century of Anne: Green Gables and the Development of Canadian Literary Tradition,” Dr. Susan Hopkirk, English; 3 p.m., Room 100, James Union Building.

• Thursday, Feb. 12: “American Masquerades of African Empire: Race, Sexuality, and Colonialism in the Gabonese Travel Narratives of Richard Garner and Ida Simonton, 1906-1914,” Dr. Jeremy Rich, history; 3 p.m., JUB 100;

• Thursday, March 19: “Pregnancy and Research: A Critique of Subpart B,” Tara Prairie, compliance officer; 3 p.m., JUB 100;

• Thursday, April 19: “From Nosferatu to Buffy: The Horrific Evolution of the Female Action Heroine,” Tiffany Dawn Hughes, English major, and “The Blacker the Berry: Colorism in Popular African-American Films,” Brandy Transou, mass communication major; 3 p.m., JUB 100.

“The MTSU Women’s Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women’s experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.”

All lectures are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu.

Mark your calendar for the GRITS Collaborative Kickoff Conference, which will be held Friday, Sept. 26, at MTSU.

The event is open to anyone—individuals, institutions or organizations—interested in helping girls become involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) educational aspects, said Lacey Fleming, assistant director for GRITS, or Girls Raised in Tennessee Science.

Fleming said “people who are involved with companies or heading up programs with girls” are especially encouraged to attend the kickoff, which is scheduled for 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will be held in the Keathley University Center lobby, theater and KUC Room 322. “We want to appeal to them to come to this meeting,” she added.

Dr. Leslie Wisner-Lynch, a co-founder of BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc., will be the keynote speaker, Fleming added. Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, will introduce Wisner-Lynch.

Fleming said Gov. Phil Bredesen has asked Margaret Horn of the Governor’s Office of Policy and Planning to attend on his behalf. Others who have indicated they will attend include state Sen. Bill Ketron and John Hood of the MTSU Office of Community Engagement and Support.

“I am very excited these VIPs will be showing their support at the kickoff,” Fleming said.

The kickoff is a National Girls Collaborative Project “to bring girls and institutions together for mutually beneficial relationships,” Fleming said.

She added that $1,000 mini-grants would be available to start programs that serve girls’ collaborations of two or more companies or organizations.

The National Science Foundation and National Girls Collaborative Project will sponsor the event.

Fleming and Cacy DeSheles, the GRITS program student coordinator, were among about 80 attendees at a Kentucky kickoff event May 23 in Lexington.

“They engaged us all,” Fleming said. “They had interesting speakers. A lot of women talked about their experiences. People were networking at lunch. There was a lot of energy. Those are the things I’ll remember. We hope to duplicate that energy.”

The event is free and also includes free parking and free lunch. For more information, visit www.mtsu.edu/~grits or contact Fleming at 615-494-7763 or lfleming@mtsu.edu.

Middle Tennessee Director of Athletics Chris Massaro has announced the hiring of Associate Athletic Director for Compliance Daryl Simpson, filling a position vacated in July by Michael Moleta, who left the Blue Raiders to work in the NCAA Compliance Office.

Simpson returns to MTSU after serving as a graduate assistant in the compliance office in 2004 and 2005. He has since worked at the University of North Texas, serving as an assistant compliance director for one year before taking over as the assistant athletic director for compliance.

“We are excited to be able to attract a quality field of candidates for the position. Given Daryl’s level of experience in the same conference and working previously here ... we feel like he can hit the ground running,” Massaro said. “It is a very critical position for our department, and we have confidence he will do well.”

A native of Seward, Alaska, Simpson earned a bachelor’s degree in hotel/ restaurant management from Northern Arizona University and received a master’s in sports management from MTSU in 2005.

“I’m really, really excited to be a part of Blue Raider athletics again,” Simpson said. “I think it can be a smooth transition, and I’ll be able to jump right in because of the good relationship I have with people on campus from my previous experience at Middle Tennessee.”

Simpson was the athletic department travel coordinator for two years and director of football operations one year at Northern Arizona.

Win Case followed the advice of a former college teammate who became a highly successful head coach when pursuing the vacant Middle Tennessee men’s basketball assistant coach position, and he’s glad he did.

Case, who has been part of four national championships at the college level, has been hired as an assistant on the Blue Raiders’ staff, head coach Kermit Davis announced.

“Win is a proven head coach and he won two national championships as a head coach, which speaks for itself,” Davis said. “Win has had a lot of opportunities to get to this level. He came on an interview and was blown away by the community, the school (and) the commitment, and he just thought this would be a good place for him and his family.”

Case’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, recruiting, scouting and day-to-day preparation of the Blue Raider basketball team. He compiled a 364-138 record in 16 seasons as a head coach, winning two national championships as head coach at Oklahoma City University during a 15-year run.

“First and foremost was the chance to work for one of the best coaches in the country,” Case said of his decision. “That got my initial interest, and then, once I came here and saw this university, I was blown away with what they have with the facilities and how everything is run first-class.”

He most recently was head men’s basketball coach at Redlands College, posting a 21-11 mark in 2007-08.

MTSU’s celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month will be in full swing through Oct. 15 with numerous cultural and informational events on tap.

On Wednesday, Oct. 1, Dr. Sidney A. McPhee, MTSU President, will attend a reception for Hispanic students from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Room 316 of the Keathley University Center. On Monday, Oct. 6, Sidelines, the student newspaper, will feature a crossword puzzle with an Hispanic history theme. Prizes will be awarded in KUC Room 326 for the first five correct submissions.

Also, ongoing Hispanic Poetry Periods and Latin music experiences will be conducted near the KUC Knoll, and special programming will be shown in dormitory lobbies. WMOT-FM (89.5) will air Latin jazz every Sunday.

All events are free and open to the public. For additional information, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812.

MTSU’s Career Development Center will host more than 120 organizations from business, industry, government, nonprofit and graduate/professional schools at the 2008 Fall Career Fair Wednesday, Oct. 1.

Representatives from a wide-range of industries and fields will be on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the track level of Murphy Center to provide information on full-time career-related employment, co-op and internship opportunities as well as educational requirements and demand for graduates in various career fields. Graduate and professional schools also will be on-site with admission information.

“Even though the economy is unstable right now, we still have a large amount of employers recruiting MTSU students,” said Bill Fletcher, center director. “Students should take advantage of this opportunity to speak to employers face-to-face and be proactive in their career management.”

The fair is open for current MTSU students and graduates. For additional information, contact the Career Development Center at 615-898-2500 or online at www.mtsu.edu/~career.

The second group of 20 Buchanan Scholars will be recognized Friday, Oct. 3, during the Buchanan Inauguration, University Honors College Dean John Vile said.

“We had 200 applications for Buchanans and 20 are selected. It’s a very elite group,” Vile said, adding that the 2008-09 crop includes students with an overall ACT score of 31 and a combined 3.87 high-school grade-point average.

The formal program will begin at 6 p.m. in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building Amphitheatre (Room 106). Because of limited seating, it will be an invitation-only event.

Dr. Kevin J. Donovan, professor in the English department, will deliver the challenge to the Buchanan Class of 2008. Jeff Whorley, chairman of the Honors College Board of Visitors, will introduce him.

Sophomore Buchanan Fellows Chelsea Curtis and Aaron Scherer will add to the welcome by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, who will be introduced by Vile after the Buchanan faculty are recognized.

Former Dean Phil Mathis, who now is professor emeritus, will provide the introduction of the Book of Town and Gown. Dr. Scott Carnicom, Honors College associate dean, will preside over the ceremonial signing of the book.

All of the Buchanan Fellows will participate in the recitation of the Honors Creed, which will be led by Dr. Angela Hague, Honors faculty member and professor in the English department.

Vile said the Buchanan Fellowship is the highest award given to an entering Honors College student.

The 2008-09 freshman class of Buchanan Fellows includes Eldridge Alexander, Riverdale High School; Shelby Barton, Libby (Mont.) High School; Kaitlin Beck, Oakland High School; Troy Berry, Oakland High School; Erica Cathey, Siegel High School; Holly Cunningham, Clinton (Iowa) High School; Adam Emerson, DeKalb County High School; Adam Raul Gimenez, Bob Jones High School (Madison, Ala.); Eric Guyes, Cave Spring High School (Roanoke, Va.); Jennifer Johnson, Maryville High School; Katherine Miller, Cedar Shoals High School (Athens, Ga.); Haley Pimentel, Cascade High School; Shelby Ragan, Eagleville High School; Nathan Reale, Franklin High School; Samuel “Lee” Reed, Siegel High School; Lauren Rigsby, Riverdale High School; James Skelley, Jackson Liberty High School; Chad Slaven, Cumberland Gap High School; and Christen Denise Vann, Moore County High School.

In addition to Curtis and Scherer, the returning Buchanan Scholars are Robert Bridgers, Jordan Cox, Meghan Davis, Michelle Ebel, Elizabeth Henegar, James Larson, Nellery Marty, Taffy O’Neal, Danielle Rutherford, Jonathan Siler, Richard Skelley, Jessica Taylor, Jordan Timmons and Andrew Trivette.

The University Honors College will welcome its Board of Visitors for the second time when members gather Oct. 2-3 in Murfreesboro, Dean John Vile said.

“This is our second meeting and the first that I will attend, so I am particularly excited to meet the board members to whom I have not yet been introduced,” said Vile, who was named dean in late May, replacing Dr. Phil Mathis, now professor emeritus.

Vile said Mathis will be “announcing a special ‘challenge’ to raise money for a fund that he is establishing to help students with expenses to conferences.”

“We also are going to brainstorm over possible ways that board members can help with recruiting,” Vile said. “We will be introducing some of our students to board members, and we anticipate that some board members also will stay for the Buchanan Inauguration (Friday night).”

All Thursday, Oct. 2, activities will be held at the new Embassy Suites Hotel. Dr. David Rowe of the history department will give a short presentation on his new book on William Miller, an important 19th-century religious figure.

After dinner, Board Chairman Jeff Whorley—a nephew of MTSU alumnus James M. Buchanan, the winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for whom the Buchanan Fellows are named—will preside over the meeting.

Vile said he plans to share his vision for the Honors College and will introduce sophomore Michelle Eble, a Buchanan Fellow, and Taylor A. Barnes, a Goldwater Scholar, who will give a brief welcome on behalf of fellow students.

Vile said he anticipates that Whorley will share his ideas on how board members can help recruit students by sharing the news of the quality education available through the Honors College.

Along with Vile’s vision and Mathis’ fundraising challenge, the Honors dean said the student-recruiting angle again would be part of the Friday agenda when the group gathers in subcommittees in the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.

Gregg F. Morton, president of AT&T Tennessee and the board’s newest member, will be introduced. He replaces James A. Thorpe, vice president and general manager of Kentucky-Tennessee AT&T. Also moving off the board is alumnus Vincent Windrow, MTSU’s new director of the Office of Intercultural-al and Diversity Affairs.

Other board members are Don R. Ash, James H. Bailey III, Albert Cauz, Emily Ellis, Mark A. Hall, Emil Hassan, Debra H. Hopkins, H. Lee Martin, Paul W. Martin, Chasity Wilson Nicoll, Utpal P. Patel, Byron Smith, Holly Thompson and Jim Tracy.

The Distinguished Board members are Buchanan and Dr. June Hall McCash, who was the founding director of the MTSU Honors Program and professor emeritus in foreign languages and literatures.

Several courses at MTSU this semester are geared toward capitalizing on the energy and excitement of what could be one of the most unique presidential elections in American history. Three of these courses will examine the relationships between politics and media, the nature of political speech, and concrete strategies for political involvement.

Perhaps the most hands-on course is “Electronic Media Production: Election Night News Coverage,” taught by Dr. Bob Pondillo, associate professor of electronic media communication. Students will prepare and broadcast their own election night roundup live on MTTV, Channel 10, from 8 to 11 p.m. or possibly later, depending on how close the tallies are.

“It becomes more than just an organizational exercise, which is important,” Pondillo says. “However, it’s one thing to know how to make great television, but it’s quite another to know how to engage the community.”

Plans call for three bases for live shots—outside Studio C of the John Bragg Mass Communication Building, outside the Rutherford County Election Commission building on the south side of the public square in Murfreesboro, and in the Keathley University Center, where a panel of pundits will analyze the results.

“The idea is that we’re going to go live as much as possible,” says student Richard Lowe, who will be the editorial content producer.

In addition to the presidential contest, “Election Party ’08: Bring In The Vote” will focus on Tennessee races for the U.S. Senate and House; state Senate District 16; state House Districts 34, 48, 49 and 62; two aldermanic seats in La Vergne; three council seats in Eagleville; and three council seats and a package liquor referendum in Smyrna. The numbers will be displayed at the bottom of the television screen through a black box Associated Press interface device.

“It enables us to run live, real-time stats on the air no matter what else is on the screen,” says Lowe.

Since the broadcast is still in the planning stages, Lowe says, the most time-consuming preparation involves jumping through some logistical hoops.

“We have to go through a lot of different levels to get people to understand what we’re doing,” he says. “It’s definitely testing our networking skills.”

Several elected officials are scheduled to drop in on another election- related course, the “Political Communication” course taught by Dr. Russell Church in the Department of Speech and Theatre. State Rep. Kent Coleman and State Sen. Bill Ketron, as well as outgoing State Rep. John Hood, are slated to meet with students. Kim Harris-Mullins, an aide to U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon who has taught the course herself at MTSU, has been helping to recruit other speakers.

Students will take on questions of whether race and gender are still issues, who votes and why, whether candidates are now more important than parties, whether the media now call the shots, the power of interest groups and how parties can increase turnout.

The fall lecture series from the University Honors College, “Politics and the Press: The Relationship Between Government and the Fourth Estate,” kicked off in earnest Sept. 8 with “Immigrationomics,” a dissection of the impact of undocumented aliens in America, by Dr. William Ford, holder of the Weatherford Chair of Finance.

Other topics to be explored include “Politics, the Presidency and Film,” “Politics, Non-Traditional Media and Young Voters,” “Agenda-Setting Images in National Politics” and “Between Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama: Race Management, Electoral Populism and Presidential Politics.”

“Political Communication” is being offered Mondays and Wednesdays from 2:20 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. in Room 302 of the E.W. Midgett Business Building. For more information, contact Church at 615-494-7958 or rchurch@mtsu.edu.

The Honors Lecture Series on “Politics and the Press” meets each Monday at 3 p.m. in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building. To learn more, contact the University Honors College at 615-898-2152. Honors lectures are free and open to the public.