The battle against weight gain and obesity is a hot topic for today‘s youth, and if Dr. Don Morgan, professor of health and human performance, has his way, there will be many new ways to combat it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention granted Morgan $335,043 in late August to establish MTSU’s Center for Physical Activity and Health.

Morgan, who will serve as the center’s director, said its purpose will be twofold: to research the causes of obesity in youth and to initiate programs to encourage activity in youth. Included in the programs will be a summer football camp, which is expected to take place in 2009, and a lecture and symposia series on the prevention of childhood obesity.

“From about 1980 on, we’ve seen a linear increase in childhood obesity,” Morgan said. “It’s been very sobering.”

A Web site for the center is under development and it should be up “fairly quickly,” the professor said. “Hopefully, people will be able to go to the Web site as a basic entry point to the center.”

Morgan has said that he wants to get area schools, physicians and community members working with him, as well as faculty and staff on campus, to conduct the center’s programs and research.

Progress has been made in establishing a strength-training program at the Discovery School at Reeves-Rogers in Murfreesboro, Morgan said. Morgan also contacted the Discovery Center at Murfree Spring about developing a program to encourage activity in youth by using pedometers.

Another of the center’s objectives is the creation of a multimedia campaign to promote the benefits of physical activity for children and their families. Morgan said billboard advertisements and radio spots are likely to be a part of this facet.

The concept for the center began when Morgan was still at Arizona State University. After arriving at MTSU, Morgan said that he found the administration, including President Sidney A. McPhee and Vice President and Provost Kaylene Gebert, very supportive of his efforts.

“It has a lot of community engagement and involvement, which is part of our academic master plan,” Gebert said of Morgan’s plan. “We have three goals: academic quality, a focus on helping students be successful, and forming partnerships.”

Morgan sent a proposal to the CDC explaining the need for a Center for Physical Activity and Health and detailing his vision for how the center would operate.

“In addition to the rise in childhood obesity, the increased prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in young children is alarming,” the report stated, noting that fewer children are getting the opportunity to participate in physical education classes in school.

“We’ve become a society where a sedentary state is a normal state,” Morgan said. “We’ve become less physically active.”

His report also found that if obesity rates begin to level off, the chance of being diagnosed with diabetes at some point in life is 30 percent for boys and 40 percent in girls out of children born in 2000.

MTSU stands 128 students from reaching a 24,000 peak enrollment after submitting the fall 2008 headcount of 23,872 students to the Tennessee Board of Regents, said Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for enrollment services.

The fall headcount represents an increase of 626 students from 2007, when 23,246 students were included in the 14-day census headcount, Huddleston said. Overall, the total is a 2.69 percent increase.

“We’re very, very pleased with the increase, because from early spring going into summer, we were anticipating no more than a 1 percent increase,” Huddleston said.

She added that MTSU did surpass 24,000 during the 14-day registration period. “However, by the 14-day census, our enrollment dropped to 23,872 due to withdrawals and nonpayment of fees,” she said. “You reach a plateau, then you drop back down by the 14-day census.”

Huddleston said a number of factors helped improve the situation, including:

• a call center for financial aid, providing assistance for students paying fees and verifying financial aid; and

• academic departments contacting students eligible to return and encouraging them to register for classes for the fall term.

While MTSU did experience a decline in new freshmen (3,456 overall, 120 fewer than in fall 2007) and new transfers (1,935 overall, or 14 fewer than in ’07), the university experienced solid increases in:

• the number of continuing students (16,182 overall, or 399 more than in ’07);

• undergraduate students (21,252 overall, 369 more than ’07);

• re-enrollees (1,555 overall, or 283 more than ’07); and

• graduate students (2,620 overall, or 257 more than ’07).

Huddleston said the Tennessee Board of Regents reported “an increase in enrollment at MTSU’s primary transfer feeder schools—Motlow, Columbia State, Volunteer State and Nashville State Community Colleges.

“This means the pool of prospective transfer students is larger,” she said.

The annual MTSU Employee Benefits Fair will be held Thursday, Oct. 16, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

Open to all MTSU employees, the event will feature more than 50 vendors, including health insurance, dental, life, deferred compensation (401k and 403b), long-term disability and long-term care companies. Several charitable organizations also will be present.

Human Resource Services will assist those who want to make changes for the 2008 annual enrollment/transfer period. The MTSU sick-leave bank also will have a table.

Employees may register for door prizes but will not need to be present to win.

For more information, please call 615-898-2929.

A Dyslexia Information Forum is scheduled for parents, teachers and other interested individuals on Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 6:25 to 8 p.m. at Murfreesboro’s Linebaugh Public Library, 105 W. Vine St. A panel from Murfreesboro City Schools, MTSU and the Tennessee Center for the Study and Treatment of Dyslexia will answer questions about dyslexia. RSVP to Grace James at 615-494-8880 or e-mail dyslexia@mtsu.edu.

My first day at MTSU was a disaster. Not only did I miss my first class because of traffic and parking, but I was also late for other classes due to anxiety and stress. Unfortunately, my first year wasn’t much better. I struggled through it, and by the end of the year, I had nearly failed two courses and had a GPA hovering around 2.1.

I imagine that many first-generation college students have experiences similar to mine. I was never emotionally prepared for college, neither at high school nor at home. I graduated from a very small rural high school where relatively few graduates go on to college. In fact, I never seriously considered attending college until the latter half of my senior year in high school, so when I finally entered college, the experience was frightening

After taking some time off from college, I tried again. I was much more mature and prepared this time, and I tried much harder, re-entering MTSU with a major in biology. I was successful this time, earning straight A’s nearly every semester. Oddly enough, I began to love academia and wanted a career in it. In order to have such a career, though, I would have to earn a Ph.D.

Around this time, I discovered the McNair Scholars Program, which provides critical resources and research experience for first-generation college students who want to earn a Ph.D. Some of the resources they provide include special assistance in GRE preparation and graduate school admissions, fee waivers to take the GRE, free tutoring, funding to visit prospective graduate schools, academic and career counseling and helping to arrange mentoring relationships with experts in a student’s field of choice. The most important resource the program provides, though, is a generous stipend to conduct research during the summer, a must-do for those who want to be highly competitive for graduate school admissions. After a student completes the summer research internship, the program also provides funding for him or her to travel and present the research at professional conferences.

I took full advantage of all the opportunities the McNair Scholars Program provided for me. I recently graduated with a 3.65 GPA and with valuable research experience—a stark contrast from my first year—thanks, in large part, to the McNair Scholars Program. I am now a first-year Ph.D. student in a biomedical research program at Vanderbilt University, one of the top programs available in my field.

My experience in the McNair program was critical for my success. Without having gone through it, I would not have been nearly as well prepared for graduate school. Any first-generation college student interested in earning a Ph.D. should take time to talk to Steve Saunders or any of the other McNair staff. Steve’s office is in Room 103 of the Midgett Building, and his e-mail address is saunders@mtsu.edu.

Daniel Levic of Shelbyville graduated cum laude Aug. 9 with a degree in biology. In addition to being a McNair Scholar, he also was a science tutor for Student Support Services and a laboratory instructor intern for the chemistry department. He is currently enrolled in a biomedical research doctoral program at Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Julie Gragg Levic, are also eagerly awaiting the birth of their first child. For more information about the McNair Scholars Program, please visit www.mtsu.edu/~mcnair/.

History buffs and students alike are encouraged to attend “The Legacy of Stones River: Pathways to Freedom” in Murfreesboro, an Oct. 18 symposium featuring distinguished speakers addressing the demise of slavery during the Civil War.

The event will get under way beginning at 8 a.m. at the Rutherford County Courthouse, while the living-history program will take place in the afternoon at Fortress Rosecrans and Stones River National Battlefield. Symposium activities are slated to conclude at about 4 p.m., organizers reported.

Event speakers include Dr. Barbara J. Fields, history professor at Columbia University; Dr. William W. Freehling, senior fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities; and Dr. Robert E. Hunt, MTSU history professor.

“We are thrilled to have such great speakers on our program,” said Dr. Antoinette van Zelm, historian for the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area, one of the event’s coordinating organizations.

“The Heritage Area has made the story of emancipation one of its priorities over the years, and the symposium is a terrific place to tell this important story.”

About 150 people are expected to attend the upcoming “Legacy of Stones River” symposium that is now in its fifth incarnation, van Zelm noted.

In addition to the TCWNHA, the National Park Service will serve as co-coordinator for the symposium. Other sponsors include the MTSU history department, Eastern National, Friends of Stones River National Battlefield Inc. and MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation.

The symposium will start with a continental breakfast and registration at 8 a.m. at the Rutherford County Courthouse with music from the Nashville Old-Time String Band Association as a program highlight.

Afternoon activities will include “Fighting for Their Freedom” at Fortress Rosecrans. The 13th United States Colored Infantry re-enactment group will drill and talk about the transformation that took place when formerly enslaved men became soldiers fighting for the Union cause.

In addition, van Zelm said, “Rising from the Ashes: The Cemetery Community” will be offered at the battlefield. A National Park Service ranger will walk groups through the battlefield’s nearby cemetery neighborhood, one of Rutherford County’s historic African-American communities.

“The story of wartime emancipation is a story inextricably linked to the Battle of Stones River,” said Park Ranger Jim Lewis. “The battle was fought in part to support the Emancipation Proclamation, and the federal occupation after the battle all but destroyed slavery in the area as slaves took the initiative to leave their masters and seize their freedom.”

Lewis also noted that the afternoon programs will “help visitors understand two of the most important results of emancipation: the creation of the United States Colored Troops and the eventual formation of thriving black communities in the South.”

Registration is $10 per person. Brochures are available on the Web at http://histpres.mtsu.edu/tncivwar or www.nps.gov/stri.

For additional registration information or speaker times, please call the battlefield at 615-893-9501.

MTSU’s Department of Recording Industry and the College of Mass Communication will welcome the inaugural South East Regional Folk Alliance Music Conference to campus on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18.

“We are expecting between 75 and 100 musicians, songwriters, music business professionals and historians for three days of panels, workshops, concerts and advocacy,” said Charlie B. Dahan, an associate professor of recording industry and conference organizer.

“It’s going to bring some great attention to the college for its outreach to the music community, and we also want to let students know about it so they can attend the panels, workshops and concerts for free by contacting me by Friday, Oct. 10.”

Non-student attendees will pay a $140 registration fee for the SERFA conference, which will feature:

• professional development workshops, panel discussions and mentor sessions aimed at helping musicians continue to grow and develop their craft and their careers, learn more about recording at home/studio, songwriting critique/analysis and more;

• a series of workshops specifically for venues and house concerts to get the Southeast organized for stronger touring options while building bigger audiences; and

• exploring the rich cultures of the Southeast, including old-time/traditional, Appalachian, Celtic, Cajun and more.

Musical performances will include showcases on Friday and Saturday nights—in the State Farm Room of the Business and Aerospace Building and the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room, respectively—from artists Cady Finlayson and Elkin Brown, Danny Flowers, Ginny Hawker and Tracy Schwartz, Robby Hecht, Diana Jones, Tom Kimmel, The Laws, Rebecca Loebe, Linda McRae, Claudia Nygaard, Sabrina, The Smart Brothers, Sally Spring, Volatile Baby, and Anna Wolfe.

Registration for the conference begins Thursday, Oct. 16, at 5 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Murfreesboro and continues Friday morning until the workshops begin at 2:15 p.m. MTSU music showcases are set for 7 to 10:30 Friday and Saturday nights, followed by “Guerilla Showcases” at the Doubletree from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. each day. Saturday’s workshops begin at 9:15 a.m. at MTSU, and the day’s events also include an exhibit hall and mentor sessions.

SERFA is the southeast regional chapter of the North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance. The organization’s goal is to provide opportunities for members to network locally and advance the group’s overall mission to increase access to needed resources and expand the breadth of the folk music and dance experience for the general public, Dahan said.

SERFA fosters and promotes member initiatives in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

For more information about the conference, contact Dahan at 615-494-7704 or cdahan@mtsu.edu, or visit the SERFA site at www.serfa.org.

MTSU’s Office of Admissions will hold the second of three Fall Preview Days Saturday, Oct. 18, said Susanna Wassom, an assistant director.

“It’s an opportunity for students to come on a Saturday and visit campus if they cannot come during the week,” Wassom said.

The preview days will include an academic open house and tours, which will start at 10 a.m. from the new lobby area in the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center, Wassom said, adding that participants can come as early as 9 a.m. and Rec Center tours also will be given.

“The academic open house allows the prospective students the opportunity to get to talk to department advisers and representatives from housing, admissions and financial aid,” Wassom said.

“We’ll have a cookout afterward so we can get to know them (students) and they can get to know us, too.”

The cookout will be held across from the Rec Center in a tent next to the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building.

The final Fall Preview Day will be held Saturday, Nov. 15, with the same format as the Oct. 18 preview day.

Wassom said the admissions staff is asking prospective students, their parents or guardians to reserve a spot for either preview day by going online to www.mtsu.edu and clicking on “Apply Now” above the “I’m One!” student photos, visiting the admissions Web site at www.mtsu.edu/admissn or by calling admissions at 615-898-2111.

An e-mail confirmation, along with directions and a schedule of activities, will be sent to people who have registered, Wassom said. Once a preview day reaches its capacity, the date will be removed from the Web site.

Daily tours will be conducted at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. through Dec. 3, said Betty Pedigo, who coordinates admissions tours. No tours will be scheduled Oct. 10 and Oct. 13-14 because of fall break and Nov. 26-28 because of the Thanksgiving holidays, she added.

Prospective visitors can go online to register for tours or call 615-898-5670.

Following a successful function in Chattanooga Sept. 23, the Office of Admissions’ recruiting push for 2009-10 and beyond will be moving to five other cities statewide.

Student receptions for high-school juniors and seniors will be held Thursday, Oct. 9, in Nashville; Monday, Oct. 20, in Johnson City; Tuesday, Oct. 21, in Knoxville; Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Jackson; and Thursday, Nov. 6, in Memphis, said Susanna Wassom, an admissions assistant director.

Prospective students, their parents or guardians will witness firsthand the use of the university’s current marketing plan.

“All of the student receptions will go along with the ‘I’m One’ theme,” Wassom said. “I’m One students will be there to speak to students and parents and talk to the prospective students.”

Because of their academic and extracurricular activity success at MTSU, a number of students have received “I’m One” status after being recommended by the offices of financial aid, admissions and marketing and communication, said Cathy Lower, an editor in the Office of Publications and Graphics. Some have agreed to travel to these Tennessee cities and promote MTSU to the prospective students.

Wassom said it is important for MTSU to bring an academic open house to the five cities, enabling the prospective students from these cities, other nearby towns and surrounding counties to gain a glimpse of campus life.

All of the receptions are open to students, parents or guardians and their friends, Wassom said. One student will receive an iPod Touch, and other prizes will be awarded to those who attend.

MTSU officials will answer questions about admissions, financial aid, housing and academic programs.

“Students can come and pretty much get all of their questions answered,” Wassom said. A number of key university leaders also will be part of the recruiting trips.

In addition to the student receptions, there will be guidance-counselor luncheons for counselors in each of the areas being recruited that day.

For more information, contact Wassom at 615-898-5330 or go to www.mtsu.edu/admissn.

Works by “Pulled Resources,” a sculptural collaborative composed of artists Dan DeZarn and Thomas H. Sturgill, will be on display Oct. 6-17 at MTSU’s Todd Gallery.

The artmakers’ upcoming exhibition, “Housing Crunch,” will feature a free reception for DeZarn and Sturgill from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 6, in the gallery’s lobby.

“The two have worked together on a number of projects and proposals, exhibiting in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee,” Eric V. Snyder, gallery curator, said of the artists, who first met in 2001 as students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

After meeting, Sturgill and DeZarn reportedly discovered many shared conceptual similarities in each other’s work. By 2003, the two had begun collaborating to produce large-scale works under the “Pulled Resources” moniker.

“By working together in this way, they quickly found that they could construct impressively large, labor-intensive projects in relatively short periods of time and with fairly modest budgets,” Snyder explained.

With a shared interest in exploring the concerns of contemporary human culture, the artists have focused on material usage, commodity, nature and people, or, more importantly, how these ideas intersect, the curator added.

“We are building a full-scale structure based on the floor plan of a typical suburban home in the confines of the space in Todd Hall’s art gallery,” artist Sturgill explained. “The structure will be composed of dimensional lumber made by the artists from salvaged cardboard boxes.

“The end result,” he continued, “will be a structure that is too big for its allotted space (and is) made with a material more typically associated with vagrant structures, rather than traditional permanent homes.”

DeZarn received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Northern Kentucky University and his Master of Fine Arts from UT. He now resides in Geneseo, N.Y., where he serves as assistant professor at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Nashville resident Sturgill received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from UT and his Master of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. He serves as an assistant art professor at MTSU.

Located on the first floor of MTSU’s Todd Building, the Todd Gallery is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays and closed on state holidays. Admission is always free and exhibits are open to the public.

For more information on the exhibit, contact Snyder at 615-898-5653 or via e-mail at esnyder@mtsu.edu.

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JOINT EFFORTS—Works by “Pulled Resources” include “Tree,” above, and “Wind,” at right. See more Oct. 6-17 at the Todd Gallery. photos submitted

MTSU Theatre and Dance will present the fantastical, magical, musical extravaganza known as “Seussical the Musical” at 7:30 nightly Oct. 22-25 on the stage of the university’s Tucker Theatre.

Based on the zany and endearing characters and stories of Dr. Seuss, the musical will include appearances by some of his most famous characters, from Cat in the Hat and Horton the Elephant to the Whos of Whoville.

Directed by Dr. Jette Halladay, professor of speech and theatre, the all-ages musical follows a child’s imagination, as Horton the Elephant finds a mysterious speck of dust that turns out to be a tiny planet containing Whoville.

“Working on ‘Seussical the Musical’ has been an absolute joy!” Halladay exclaimed. “In its simplest form, the script focuses on integrity and kindness, yet that simplicity is portrayed in strong images, stirring music and zany Seuss characters.”

With its positive message, Halladay said, “Seussical” is a show for all ages, just like its inspiration—the Dr. Seuss book series by the literary icon related to by millions.

“The play marries story lines from several Seuss books, primarily ‘Horton Hears a Who’ and ‘Horton Hatches an Egg,’ with bits of ‘Gertrude McFuzz’ and ‘Oh The Thinks You Can Think,’ among others,” she added.

Scott Boyd, associate professor of speech and theatre, said, “While the setting is an essential aspect of theater and can help draw the audience into the world of Seuss, we want to bring something new to the table.

“We want to give the audience something that they don’t necessarily expect …while still paying homage to the legacy of Dr. Seuss,” added Boyd, the show’s scenic designer.

One of the best parts of “Seussical,” Halladay said, is the memory it conjures for both old and young, thanks to the many whimsical creations of Dr. Seuss.

“Whatever age, everyone should watch out for the brilliant cast as they sing and dance their way into your hearts,” she said. “We have a cast rich in talent, and our music director and choreographer are experts at harvesting and refining that talent.

“Sally Geib, our music director, is coaxing music from our students that fills me with joy each time I hear them sing,” Halladay said.

In addition to the Oct. 22-25 evening performances that are open to the general public, school-group matinees also are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 24 and Oct. 30-31. Student tickets for these matinees are $4. Reservations may be made by calling 615-494-8810.

Tickets for evening showings of “Seussical the Musical” must be purchased at the door prior to performance. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for MTSU staff and students in kindergarten through 12th grades. MTSU students will be admitted free with a valid ID. For more information, visit the department’s Web site at www.mtsu.edu/theatre.

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GREAT SET? YOU BET—The set for MTSU Theatre and Dance’s production of “Seussical the Musical” stands ready for silliness and song. photo submitted

The MTSU Police crime log is now regularly posted and available online for anyone to access, all in an effort to continue to comply with recent legislation on the disclosure of information as well as to respond to the public’s right to know.

Instead of going in person to MTSU Police headquarters on campus, anyone with Internet access now will be able to view and print out monthly crime logs at http://police.mtsu.edu.

“We really are committed to the idea that the community needs to know about incidents that occur on campus,” said MTSU Police Chief Buddy Peaster. “People need to be informed and make crime prevention part of their daily lives. All of us need to be more aware of what’s happening around us and implement crime-safety procedures.”

A crime log includes a general description of the incident, the date and time it occurred, where it happened and the disposition of the incident (whether the case is closed or open), Peaster noted. The chief added that he hopes to include case numbers, too.

“We want to go above and beyond what’s required and also include traffic stops and other infractions that are not considered criminal offenses,” Peaster said. “Anyone who has access to the Internet will be able to access this information. If you don’t have a computer, you can come to the police headquarters and we’ll provide computer access. It’s free of charge.”

Peaster added that as early as the spring 2009 semester, he hopes also to make basic police reports available online. Information will be accessible to anyone, including students, faculty and the media.

Information that is released will remain within the parameters of what the law requires to be shared as well as what the law prohibits from being released, including such information as birth date and Social Security and driver’s license numbers. Information on juveniles will not be disclosed.

MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education and the Distinguished Lectures Committee are bringing Dr. Thomas Holland to the university to speak on his work with various recovery missions in some of the most dangerous and remote regions of the world.

Holland will give his presentation, “The Recovery of U.S. War Dead,” on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. in the State Farm Room of the Business and Aerospace Building. The address is part of the William Bass Lectureship Series.

Holland is the scientific director of the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command-Central Identification Lab as well as a published fiction writer. His work with the JPAC-CIL has been a focus for various news media and television programs because of the organization’s efforts in identifying remains of victims killed in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon; sailors who died in a 1987 missile attack on the USS Stark in the Persian Gulf; and the people on board and on the ground when a Boeing 757 struck the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact 615-494-7713 or visit www.mtsu.edu/fire/lectureships.shtml.

The annual Grand Slam Fish Fry baseball fundraiser will take place on Monday, October 20, at 6 p.m. at the Tennessee Livestock Center, head Baseball Coach Steve Peterson announced.

As always, the event will feature country whole fried catfish with all the trimmings prepared by Shelbyville’s “Big Hoss” Cartwright and authentic Cajun gumbo by Blue Raider legend John Stanford, as well as hot dogs for the kids.

“We fried over 600 pounds of catfish and (cooked) 50 gallons of gumbo last year,” Peterson said.

Russ & Becky Jeffers Country Band from the Jack Daniel Distillery will be on hand for the evening’s entertainment.

“The Fish Fry is one of our biggest events of the year, an annual event we’ve been hosting since 1984. It’s a great way to socialize with everyone and raise money for the baseball program. It’s great food, fun and entertainment, and certainly an event you don’t want to miss,” Peterson said.

Tickets are $20, and children six and under will be admitted free. Tickets are available at the MTSU Ticket Office or Blue Raider Athletic Association office. For more information, please call 615-898-2450.

MTSU’s Electronic Resource Channel, Comcast Channel 9, has revamped its lineup to provide new quality programming for faculty, staff, students and the local community.

“Students, faculty and staff on this campus have many varied interests that aren’t necessarily class-related subjects,” said Gail B. Fedak, ERC station manager.

New material on Channel 9 includes programs from SCOLA, an international station offering news and arts shows in their native language. MTSU’s subscription to SCOLA includes access to online programming for MTSU students and faculty. Those interested in SCOLA online should see Fedak in the Learning Resource Center for details.

“The White House Chronicle” is a new informal news and interview program focused on our government and issues of national interest. This show focuses on more than political candidates; topics include policymakers and how international issues affect our lives.

Search for Common Ground is an organization that provides programming on conflict resolution across cultures. The ERC will now broadcast several documentary programs as well as a fictional drama, “Nashemaalo.” That program is based in an ethnically mixed apartment building in Macedonia and demonstrates realistic problem-solving.

The ERC also is working to provide live programming from the Kennedy Center for the Per-forming Arts. A live broadcast provides viewers with the opportunity to call in and interact with the show. ERC will continue to tape Kennedy Center programs for later broadcast, however, if they can’t be broadcast live.

Also new on the ERC is the “Constitution Project,” a program focusing on the history and legacy of the U.S. Constitution. The show is airing this semester in honor of Constitution Day, Sept. 17.

Programs removed from the ERC lineup include offerings by the Annenberg Channel and “Inside Academia” with Dr. Richard Hannah. The Annenberg Channel provides programs for kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers and is only available online at www.learner.org. “Inside Academia” was an MTSU-produced interview program that focused on faculty and student accomplishments. The show was removed from the lineup in fall 2007 after a 15-year run, Fedak said.

However, she said, “we thought that was a type of program which needed to be continued,” so this fall the ERC began airing “In the Middle,” a show geared toward student interests and hosted by Dr. Bob Pondillo. The program will showcase student projects and include interviews with people around campus.

Regular viewers of Channel 9 will recognize returning performance programs from the Classic Arts Channel, science and health information from the Research Channel and civics programming from American Democracy TV.

Channel 9 is a nonprofit educational- access channel provided free with cable service. Unlike other nonprofit television stations, the ERC does not solicit donations because it is funded through MTSU’s budget.

The station has been controlled by MTSU’s Instructional Technology Support Center since May 2005. The ITSC produces almost 40 live, interactive programs per academic year.

“Our primary function for operating Channel 9 with this department is to deliver the K-12 programs the ITSC produces to the Murfreesboro and other Rutherford County public schools,” said Fedak.

The ERC was originally used by the Office of Continuing Studies (now the College of Continuing Education and Distance Learning) to broadcast telecourses. With the expansion of the Internet, distance-learning programs were put online, freeing up space for more programming on the channel.

For more information, check out:

• MTSU’s Electronic Resource Channel—www.mtsu.edu/~ercmt

• SCOLA—www.scola.org

• Search for Common Ground—www.sfcg.org

• Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts—www.kennedy-center.org

Those who want to rock out while supporting college radio will soon get their chance.

MTSU’s student-run radio station, WMTS-FM, will host a benefit Thursday, Oct. 16, at Main Street (Club 527). Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the show will start at 9 p.m. Cover charge is $7, and the show will be open to patrons 18 and older.

Elaine Pearce, promotions director for WMTS, said that the station organizes a benefit every semester, and all proceeds will benefit the station, which can be heard at 88.3 FM.

“Last year’s benefit at Bluesboro was a huge success,” Pearce said.

Zombie Bazooka Patrol and Canon Blue will perform, along with The Cactus’s and The Champion and his Burning Flame.

“We’re having two bands that are mellow, then more high-energy stuff later in the night,” WMTS Music Director Amanda Nielsen said.

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

Georgia Southern University chemistry professor Shannon Davis will bring her wisdom to share with the Women in Science and Engineering student organization Wednesday, Oct. 8.

One day later, she will share her industrial chemist expertise with chemistry department faculty and others during the 11:30 a.m. weekly chemistry seminar in Room 100, Davis Science Building.

Cacy DeSheles, WISE 2008-09 president, said she met Davis at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans in April.

DeSheles said Davis’ WISE talk would focus on anecdotes from her 20-year career as an industrial chemist in the 6 p.m. WISE session in the Monohan Hall classroom. She’ll also compare career options and discuss salaries.

For the Oct. 9 faculty seminar, Davis, who worked at Monsanto Company and Solutia Inc., will speak on “Saving the Planet through Green Chemistry: New Routes to Adipic Acid.”

For WISE information, contact DeSheles at cdd3b@mtsu.edu. For chemistry seminar information, contact Dr. Martin Stewart at mstewart@mtsu.edu or call 615-898-2073.

The Department of Geosciences will participate in Earth Science Week this month with a series of free activities and events that are open to the public.

This year’s National Earth Science Week, which is designed to help raise awareness about the many contributions geoscientists make to society, is set for Oct. 12-18. MTSU’s geosciences faculty will celebrate the week with a number of activities.

Dr. Melissa Lobegeier, assistant professor of geosciences, said among the celebration’s MTSU-sponsored highlights will be a guest lecture/ brown-bag forum from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, by Gerry Calhoun, a surface geochemist consultant at New Paradigm Explor-ation, whose talk, “Petroleum: Its Past, Its Present, Its Possibilities,” will be held in Room 452 of Kirksey Old Main.

Another featured brown-bag forum, “Climate History and Global Warming: Fact and Fiction,” will begin at 12:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, in KOM 452. Led by Lobegeier and Dr. Jim Henry, geosciences professor, the two-hour discussion will include a panel whose members will answer questions about global warming and climate change.

Other on-campus Earth Science Week functions will include:

• Wednesday, Oct. 15: Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Keathley University Center courtyard. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the MTSU chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon.

• Thursday, Oct. 16: Department of Geosciences Open House, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in KOM 300. Sponsored by Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the event will feature posters and displays on department courses. SGE will provide refreshments and snacks.

Faculty and staff also will be present throughout the day on Oct. 16 to provide information and answer questions on careers in geosciences. Participating faculty will include Henry (remote sensing, meteorology), 9-9:45 a.m.; Lobegeier (paleontology, climatology), 9:45-10:30 a.m.; Dr. Warner Cribb (mining/mineralogy, geochemistry), 10:30-11:15 a.m.; Dr. Albert Ogden (hydrogeology), 11:15 a.m.-noon; Dr. Mark Abolins and Dr. Pat Boda (geographic information systems), noon-12:45 p.m.; Dr. Clay Harris (petroleum geology), 12:45-1:30 p.m.; and Dr. Laura Collins (K-12 earth science education), 1:30-2 p.m.

For more information about Earth Science Week events, please contact MTSU’s Geosciences Department at 615-898-2726.

Collage: A Journal of Creative Expression, is celebrating 40 years in publication with another Gold Medalist Certificate from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

This is the third consecutive year Collage has received the award.

“This national honor is well- deserved by the staff and advisers and shows MTSU students are as talented as any across the country,” said Jenny Tenpenny Crouch, MTSU’s former director of student publications.

“Producing a magazine of this caliber is not an easy task for students who are attending class and often working other part-time jobs to make ends meet. This award recognizes their many talents, skills and hard work,” she added.

Winning the Gold Medalist Award guarantees that Collage will be entered into the Collegiate Crown competition. Winners will be notified in January. The awards ceremony will be held March 15 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.

In addition to the new accolades, there is discussion about how the Honors College can promote Collage to an even greater level of national prominence.

“The beauty of Collage is it is designed for MTSU students,” said Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College. “However, it could be even more prestigious if we could accept submissions from other Honors Colleges. It is possible we could double the size.”

Increasing the number of pages in Collage could also put the publication in the running to receive the coveted Gold Crown Award. Collage has been awarded the Silver Crown award the past two years but has yet to receive a Gold Crown Award.

“Most of the publications that have recently won the Gold Crown Award are about 150 pages in length,” said Marsha Powers, Collage adviser. “The extra pages allow for more variety of content and better design. We are looking at expanding the publication in hopes of becoming more competitive in that realm.”

Although Collage is a publication of the Honors College, its content represents the entire MTSU student body. All MTSU students are encouraged to submit creative works for potential publication.

For more information, visit www.mtsu.edu/~collage.

Susan Hill is a senior journalism major from Brentwood, Tenn.

William Ryan is not your typical MTSU student majoring in horse science.

From the first glance of Ryan and his trusted companion Buffett responding to his owner’s commands, it’s obvious Ryan is visually impaired. He has been legally blind since his premature birth. Hospital personnel unknowingly administered too much oxygen, multiplying the damage to his eyes.

Now, 45 years, one great wife, four children, five grandchildren, six seeing-eye dogs, one associate’s degree and nearly half his life spent in the food-service business later, Ryan says he feels blessed for all that has happened in the past year as he nears graduation next August.

First, he met Disabled Student Services Director John Harris and Dwight Johnson of Dwight’s Mini Mart by chance. Then chance brought him to the Horse Science Center on West Thompson Lane, where he met equestrian team Coach Anne Brzezicki. Ryan, who says he’s “always loved horses,” decided he wanted to pursue the degree that would enable him to work with the animals as a career. He enrolled in spring 2007 classes at MTSU.

“When I found out they had a horse science program, I thought, ‘Where do I sign up?’” Ryan recalls.

The decision to return to college was not without complications. Ryan was living in Tullahoma with his wife, Sandy, and family. He chose to live in a dorm to continue his education and go home on weekends to rejoin his loved ones.

His father, David Ryan of Kansas City, Mo., taught him to “never take ‘I can’t’ for an excuse,” he says, so William dove right into his agribusiness and agriscience courses and began compiling excellent grades. His zest for learning caught the eye of Drs. Patrick Kayser and Rhonda Hoffman and Dr. Warren Gill, director of the School of Agribusiness and Agriscience. He became popular with his fellow students, many half his age.

Ryan, who is tall, sturdy and sports a leather cowboy hat, says his MTSU experience “has been wonderful. I have had more help through Disabled Student Services, and my instructors have gone way above and beyond what I thought. Dr. Kayser has taken time out before class to let me do a lot of hands-on exercises. Dr. Hoffman actually sent her nine Breyer horses to Disabled Student Services, where they proctored my test. Those things (models) are expensive.”

“William’s really a treat to work with,” Gill says. “He asks good questions. He came up to me out in the hallway and said he had signed up for the forage crop class. I thought, ‘How in the world am I going to teach a blind student?’ But it has worked out great.”

“He has a solid A in my class,” Hoffman adds. “The thing that’s most impressive to me is that he has the best attitude of almost any student. He has a can-do, never-going-to-quit attitude.”

During the past year, Ryan’s personal achievements include earning an orange belt in Tang So Do in December; posting, cantering and loping in Brzezicki’s class; receiving the horse science Winston Churchill Award; and being accepted into the National Scholar Honor Society.

His postgraduation goal is deceptively simple.

“All I’d like to do is work with horses,” Ryan says, adding that eventually he’d like to start an equine-assisted psychotherapy center for at-risk teenagers and their families.

Lofty goals? Yes. But don’t try to tell William Ryan he can’t achieve what he wants.

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INSPECTION TIME—Horse science major William Ryan, right, studies a model of an Arabian horse while working with agriculture professor Dr. Rhonda Hoffman in her office in the Stark Agribusiness and Agriscience Center. Ryan, who is blind, borrowed several of Hoffman’s horse models to identify and answer questions on a proctored exam in the Office of Disabled Student Services. photo by Andy Heidt