This spring, an MTSU student was sitting in her car when a man tried to force his way in.

“He came up, he opened the door and tried to get in the car, like he was going to push me over in the seat,” Elise recalls now.

Unfortunately for him, she was enrolled in the Rape Aggression Defense System program on campus. She’d taken only three sessions but was able to use the skills she’d already learned to stop the attack. Elise yelled, “No, get away, what are you doing, get out of my car!” The man stopped, looked at her, then ran away.

She had been taught to yell instead of scream, because screams are rather common on campuses. Forceful shouting is more rare, she was taught, and catches people’s attention.

Her yelling also caused another woman nearby to get out of her car to see what was happening. The student told the woman that everything was OK because the attacker had run away.

Not every woman is as fortunate. This fall, a woman reported that she had been raped in an MTSU fraternity house; that case is still pending.

Counselor Shelly Wright of Murfreesboro’s Domestic Violence Program and Sexual Assault Services says that college-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than other women. About a third of the clients she sees each year are either in high school or college. Because of the nature of the crime, there can be a significant impact on a student’s school efforts.

Survivors of an attack are subject to strong emotional and psychological disturbances, Wright notes. Their rate of depression is three times greater than the average, and they are four times more likely to contemplate suicide. Close to a third of all survivors develop rape-related post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and most survivors develop some trauma-related symptoms.

Some of the emotional symptoms that survivors struggle with include uncontrollable distressing memories, flashbacks and nightmares, avoiding reminders of the assault, numbing of feelings, sleeplessness and an inability to concentrate. Self-esteem may suffer. Survivors often blame themselves, especially if they were assaulted while intoxicated. They may have difficulty trusting people in relationships, especially if they knew the attacker. The emotional aftermath may also include intense emotions, physical symptoms and increased fears about safety.

Considering these effects, a woman’s efforts to continue with her studies can become very difficult. But there are steps a woman can take to keep an attack from ending the pursuit of her dreams or, worse, her life.

The most important thing a survivor can do is to get support, Wright says. This can be difficult for a survivor to do, but there are a variety of choices for her to consider.

In the immediate aftermath, a trusted friend, family member or advocate should be contacted to help the survivor reduce her feelings of isolation and powerlessness. If she finds it difficult to tell someone she knows, the crisis line of Sexual Assault Services can provide confidential and professional support for the survivor.

Another form of support that many assaulted women are reluctant to use is the police; Wright says it’s estimated that 60 percent of survivors do not report the attack. There are several reasons: first, statistics show that 84 percent of assaulted women were attacked by someone they know, ranging from relatives to casual acquaintances. The survivor may have feelings of betrayal and fear or isolation from family or friends if she reveals the crime.

Some survivors do not report the crimes against them because they fear being blamed or disbelieved or feel embarrassed or ashamed because of the nature of the crime. Their assailants threaten some with reprisal. Still others simply want their lives to return to normal and downplay the lingering impact of the assault. Also, a perpetrator will usually try to make the victim feel isolated, Wright says, giving them a sense that they cannot turn to anyone.

Wright says that a survivor should never be shamed or humiliated into reporting the crime, but if she does choose to report the assault, taking that action can help her reclaim a sense of personal power and control. If she does want to report the crime, the counselor adds, she should go to an emergency room where evidence can be collected.

Terri Johnson of the June Anderson Women’s Center at MTSU says that there are many resources that are available to survivors. In addition to working with Wright’s organization, MTSU has the full resources of the university’s Department of Public Safety, Student Health Services, Counseling Services and others.

The JAWC can serve the survivor as a guide and supporter through the entire recovery process, Johnson says, adding that the center will work with visitors to ensure they’re connected to all of the appropriate services.

Johnson and Wright agree that attacks will happen, regardless of the best efforts of police and women seeking to minimize the risks. Fortunately, many resources are available to help stop attacks and to help survivors cope afterward. One of the premier resources on campus is the RAD program, which is offered to the university community at least once a year.

Johnson says that all women who are attacked must remember that they are never at fault.

For more information about coping with an attack, contact the JAWC at 615-898-2193.

Authorities and support networks offer the following suggestions for anyone who is sexually assaulted:

• Contact law enforcement if you want to report the assault.

• Get medical attention. Discuss the risk of exposure to sexually transmitted infections and the possibility of pregnancy.

• If the assault just happened, go to the nearest hospital emergency room. Don’t bathe, go to the bathroom, douche, drink or eat, brush your teeth or change your clothing.

• Talk with someone you trust—a friend, family member or advocate. The Sexual Assault Services crisis line number is 615-494-9262.

• Talk with a counselor who has specialized training in this area. Murfreesboro’s Domestic Violence Program and Sexual Assault Services offers counseling at no cost to the victim by calling 615-494-9881.

• Get immediate help if you are having thoughts of harming yourself as a result of the attack and accompanying feelings.

• Contact the June Anderson Women’s Center on campus at 615-898-2193 for help in finding the services you need to recover.

• Consider taking the Rape Aggression Defense System program to gain a sense of safety. Call 615-692-2424 to sign up, or visit http://police.mtsu.edu for more information.

A number of MTSU military science alumni who later became U.S. Army general officers will add spice to the 27th annual Salute to Armed Services/ Veterans Day on Saturday, Nov. 22, Lt. Col. Mike Walsh said.

At least seven of the ROTC program’s alumni have accepted President Sidney A. McPhee’s invitation to attend a brunch, which will be hosted by McPhee and his wife, Elizabeth, and attend other Salute to Armed Services/ Veterans Day events. The brunch will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the president’s home.

The returning alumni/general officers include Brig. Gens. Max Haston (1979 graduate), Robert D. Ogg (’78), Stan Lillie (’76) and Patrick W. Harrison (’51); Maj. Gen. James Myles (’74); and Lt. Gens. Horace “Pete” Taylor (’60) and George Stotser (’56).

The military science program has a number of events leading to and including MTSU’s 2:30 p.m. Sun Belt Conference football game against North Texas.

Key activities for the officers and other attendees will include:

• 10 a.m.—Army ROTC alumni meeting in Forrest Hall;

• 11 a.m.—Veterans’ Memorial Service at the Tom Jackson Building;

• 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.—Veterans/Service Members Picnic outside the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame building;

• 12:45 p.m.—#presentation of the Joe B. Nunley Award to Fayne Haynes of Murfreesboro, who served in World War II and is known for his patriotism as owner of Haynes Flag and Flag Pole Company; and

• 2:30-5:30 p.m.—the MTSU-North Texas game, with veterans sitting in special areas and walking across the field with fellow veterans during halftime ceremonies.

During the day, other special attractions will include an Air National Guard flyover of Floyd Stadium, the Army National Guard armored vehicle and aircraft display, the Marine Toys for Tots, a Navy display, tailgating and videos of deployed alumni.

State Farm Insurance is providing complimentary tickets to current military, veterans and their families. These will be available at the picnic and on a first-come, first-serve basis.

On Friday, Nov. 21, McPhee also has invited the general officers to attend the MTSU men’s basketball game against state rival Tennessee in Murphy Center.

For more information, call 615-898-2470.

Seeking a college degree provides a great experience in learning, but the reward most students anticipate is getting a job they enjoy. The degree earned to achieve that goal, however, may be worth nothing if the student can’t convince an employer that he’s the right person for the job.

So how does a new job seeker carry out a successful interview? Walking into an interview confidently and staying calm and collected in response to difficult questions requires preparation and practice.

That’s where people like Bill Fletcher, director of the Career and Employment Center at MTSU, come in. One of his responsibilities is helping students entering the job market prepare for the interviewing process. He draws on 18 years’ worth of experience in career development, student affairs and Greek life and has helped thousands of students with their interviewing skills.

One of the first things to keep in mind when interviewing, Fletcher tells students, is to maintain the same intensity that landed the interview appointment.

”The candidate had to develop the resume, develop the cover letter, develop and cultivate a network to get to the interviewing process, so keep the momentum going,” he says.

Fletcher also emphasizes the importance of research—“Research the employer, research the field, research the industry. (Students) need to be knowledgeable.” Making that effort, Fletcher says, gives a candidate a clear advantage over less-prepared applicants by allowing her to tailor her professional information to fit the employer’s needs. It also allows the candidate to ask intelligent, serious questions of the interviewer to make herself stand out.

“Practice interview questions,” the director advises. “They [students] need to know the different type of interviews that they come upon. They can’t know every question that will be asked of them, but they can know themselves—their skills, abilities and interests. And they can know what’s important for the potential employer in that industry.”

He also believes in the importance of practicing the interview.

“They need to do mock interviews. They need to stand in front of the mirror; they need to say their answers out loud,” Fletcher explains, adding that preparation helps with presentation, too.

Job candidates can be ready by knowing “how they present themselves in the interview, how they do their handshake, dressing for success, arriving to the interview early, knowing what the traffic patterns are so that they are not running late and making excuses,” he says. “It’s the overall total package of looking like you’re knowledgeable, being knowledgeable and presenting your best foot forward in the interview process.”

A candidate also can do things that can hurt his job chances. Fletcher says he’s observed two major mistakes made by job applicants: not taking credit for their accomplishments and not preparing.

An employer needs to know what you are capable of, he says, and communicating your accomplishments is an important part of that knowledge. Fletcher says he has more problems trying to get candidates to take credit than trying to prevent them from sounding arrogant. He suggests stating past accomplishments and the skills that were used and then drawing connections to how those skills would benefit the employer now.

A lack of preparation also comes up frequently as a problem for the students Fletcher works with. “Life gets busy and certain things get put aside and sometimes they will think that they will, like on a test, walk into it cold and see how they do,” he says. “It takes a lot of preparation and a lot of practice to come out of it with flying colors.”

Another problem that plagues students is a lack of experience to combine with their degrees on the resumes, but proactive students can prevent it.

“Students who are graduating from a college or university should have some experience,” Fletcher notes. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a co-op or an internship; it can be a job-shadowing experience, volunteer experience, doing informational interviews with alums or people in the field.”

Speaking is not the only way you’re telling the interviewer about yourself; you’re providing important nonverbal clues, too. Fletcher says students “should always sit more on the edge of the seat leaning toward the interviewer, making eye contact with the interviewer, (with a) good firm handshake.” He sees nonverbal clues that have hurt candidates: “I see nervousness in mock interviews, and that can come across by what I call ‘happy foot’ or the foot that bounces up and down. It (nervousness) can come across with not very good eye contact, maybe no motion at all or too much hand motion.”

Fletcher’s final piece of advice is to remember the most important rule of interviewing for a job: “It’s not necessarily the best candidate who gets the position—it’s the best prepared.”

• Continue the momentum that has landed you the interview. You have worked hard on developing resumes and cover letters and cultivating your network. Keep it going! 

• Research the employer, field and industry. It is important to know what is important to the employer. Use third-party resources, not just the employer’s Web site.  How are you going to sell your skills to employers if you don’t know what interests them?

• Prepare for the types of interviews and types of questions.  Develop examples demonstrating your skills and abilities. Have a good “story” to tell. You can’t know every question that could be asked, but you can know yourself and your career field!

• Practice answering interview questions out loud. Have friends ask you questions. Conduct mock interviews.

• Demonstrate that you are interested. Arrive at the interview 10 minutes early, allow time for traffic and parking, dress for success, have a firm handshake and make good eye contact. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have (college student). Demonstrate that you would be a good employee.

Learn more at http://career.web.mtsu.edu.

The 13th annual Unity Luncheon, honoring unsung heroes who have devoted their lives to service for others, will be held Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room during Black History Month. Now is the time for nominations. Please visit www.mtsu.edu/aahm/unity_luncheon.shtml for nomination procedures and deadline information. For more information, contact 615-898-2718.

It started innocently enough: a group of geographers and historians trying to locate the site where World War I’s most-decorated U.S. soldier, Alvin York, conducted his fight in France’s Forest of Argonne in 1918. In hindsight, who could have guessed that this research quest and its subsequent findings would end up as a media and Internet blog battle pitting the U.S. Army against the Tennessee-based research crew?

To preface the current situation, it is important to explain that as a geographer, I have long been interested in applying geographic information science, or GIS, to the study of military history. And in 2005, I first toured the area where Tennessee native York won his Medal of Honor. At that time, I was armed with several books and articles describing the fight and attempted to reconstruct the engagement on the ground. After several hours of climbing hills and wading through briars, however, I was forced to conclude that the real landscape did not agree with the maps and descriptions in my books.

From there, it occurred to me that this was a wonderful opportunity to use GIS to discover the location of York’s exploits. So, when I got back to Tennessee, I contacted a friend, Dr. Michael Birdwell, who is the curator of the Alvin York Papers and the foremost authority on York. Together we decided it would be worth a try to pursue this research. Birdwell provided me with access to his wealth of information and I went to The National Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Md., in search of maps and spatial information to create a model of the World War I landscape on top of the modern landscape.

In summer 2005, I also contacted a French archaeologist, Yves Desfosses, to get permission to conduct a surface archaeology survey of the battle site in Châtel-Chéhéry. Plus, I contacted another friend and colleague, Michael Kelly, a WWI battlefield tour guide from the United Kingdom, who volunteered to help with the logistics of doing fieldwork in France.

In 2006, we made two trips to the battlefield to recover and map artifacts relating to the battle. It took several more months to analyze that data and synthesize the artifact patterns with historic maps and documents. In the end, we were able to say that the preponderance of evidence indicated a particular site as being where York fought, even though we were unable to resolve all the contradictions. However, we soon found that our conclusions deeply offended Lt. Col. Douglas Mastriano, an army officer stationed in Germany and a self-appointed expert on the York story.

Mastriano claimed support from the U.S. Army Center of Military History and produced a report remarkable for misinformation and faulty research to justify his claims. Mastriano based his claims on artifacts recovered in a metal-detector survey conducted without official authorization from the French regional archaeologist and in violation of French law. He carefully orchestrated the media coverage in advance and his claims were published in The New York Times and Stars and Stripes and featured on the Armed Forces News Network.

In December 2007, a representative of the U.S Army Center of Military History asked me to write an article describing my research and conclusions for publication in the fall issue of its magazine, Army History. Mastriano, too, was asked to supply an article detailing his work for publication in the same issue. I was seeking an objective, professional forum to debate Mastriano’s claims and was glad to have an opportunity to respond to all the media coverage. Subsequently, I submitted my article in May 2008.

Unfortunately, just prior to publication of the fall issue of Army History, I discovered a decision had been made not to publish my article because of “a lack of reader interest.” I also learned that the director of the U.S. Army Center of Military History previously had endorsed Mastriano’s research. I was left with no alternative but to find another forum to present my research. In the meantime, Mastriano had succeeded in erecting a monument to York on the wrong spot and constructing an interpretive trail to the monument. He celebrated his achievements by staging a dedication ceremony in Châtel-Chéhéry on Oct. 4, 2008, with support from the U.S. Army and American Battle Monuments Commission. I am indebted to Brad Posey, an accomplished military historian and collector living in Germany for providing me with information about these developments.

Posey, as it turns out, had assisted Mastriano with his metal-detector survey and has doubts about the methods and results. Because of these doubts, he contacted his friend, Jim Legg, an archaeologist with the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, and expressed his concerns. Posey and Legg eventually contacted me, and I provided them with a copy of my research results related to the York site. Both agreed that the site I identified was almost certainly the scene of Sgt. York’s action and that Mastriano’s efforts were a well-intentioned relic hunt. Both men also have offered to help correct the historical record.

This article, written on behalf of all the Tennessee researchers who made the research expeditions with me to France in 2006, represents the first step in the process of discrediting Mastriano’s claims and presenting an accurate account of exactly where Alvin York won his Medal of Honor. It is our sincere hope that well-conducted, scholarly research eventually will prevail over highly publicized but faulty amateur efforts.

Dr. Tom Nolan, director of MTSU’s R.O. Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology, led the interdisciplinary research team that located the York battlefield site near Châtel-Chéhéry, France, in 2006.

Eligible students have until Tuesday, Nov. 18, to join Phi Kappa Phi, said Kathy Davis, who is coordinator for MTSU’s Chapter No. 246.

The invitation to join Phi Kappa Phi is extended to seniors and graduates who are in the top 10 percent of their class and to juniors who are in the top 7.5 percent, Davis said.

The fall initiation ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room.

MTSU’s Phi Kappa Phi, which became a chapter in December 1987, is now housed in the University Honors College.

The primary objective of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the recognition and encouragement of superior scholarship in all academic disciplines.

For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, please visit the MTSU chapter’s Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~pkp/index.htm.

MTSU recognized and honored 52 newly tenured and promoted faculty members at an Oct. 21 reception in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

Newly tenured faculty and their respective colleges are:

• Basic and Applied Sciences—Wayne A. Dornan, Don Hong and Abdul M. Khaliq;

• Business—Christopher C. Klein and David Penn;

• Education and Behavioral Science—Frederick Vanosdall and Mary L. Veal;

• Liberal Arts—W. Craig Carter and Cedric C. Dent;

• Mass Communication—Roy L. Moore.

Newly tenured and promoted faculty are:

• Basic and Applied Sciences—George W. Benz, A. Bruce Cahoon and Mary B. Farone;

• Business—K. Virginia Hemby-Grubb and Cheryl B. Ward;

• Liberal Arts—Mohamed A. Albakry, Sisavanh Houghton, J. Seth Johnson, Yang Soo Kim, Jennifer E. Marchant, Rhonda L. McDaniel, Kim Neal Nofsinger and Debrah Sickler-Voigt; and

• James E. Walker Library—Jane M. Davis.

New promotions include:

• Basic and Applied Sciences—Norma K. Dunlap, Tony V. Johnston, Dovie L. Kimmins, Preston J. MacDougall and Jeffrey L. Walck;

• Business—R. Bryan Kethley, Timothy R. Koski and Raholanda White;

• Education and Behavioral Science—Teresa L. Davis, Alan D. Musicant, John T. Pennington, Tara L. Perry, Christopher J. Quarto, Craig J. Rice and Lisa M. Sheehan-Smith;

• Liberal Arts—Elvira Casal, Oscar A. Diaz, M. Crosby Hunt, Newtona A. O. Johnson, Vicky M. MacLean, Angela G. Mertig, Susan E. Myers-Shirk, Melinda L. Richards, Christoph Rosenmuller, Amy L. Sayward, H. Stephen Smith, Tanya Tewell and J. Brandon Wallace.

That cup of premium coffee or rich hot cocoa can certainly warm you up on the way to work this winter.

That warmth can stay with you year-round if you choose to join the university’s Employee Charitable Giving Program, because small change—the cost of that same cup of coffee—can make a big difference in the community.

In fact, if each of MTSU’s 2,263 employees donates just $40 a year, or $3.33 a month, the effort can easily meet the university’s $90,000 fundraising goal for 2008.

“We all know what the economy’s like and how it’s affecting all of us and our neighbors,” Dr. Gloria Bonner, 2008 campaign chair and special assistant to the president for the Office of Community Engagement and Support, said during the Nov. 6 campaign kickoff. “We can find creative ways to give, ways to give in small ways and in large ways, to help our community. It’s true that small change can make a big difference.”

(Please see page 3 for a chart showing how small weekly savings can create larger monthly donations.)

Once again, donors can choose up to three different organizations from a roster of 10 independent charities and three federated charitable organizations. Those gifts can be given via one-time or monthly payroll deductions.

Pledge forms are available online at www.mtsu.edu/givemtsu and also can be filled out by hand; the donor keeps one copy and turns in the remaining four copies to the departmental campaign coordinator.

All pledge forms must be returned to campaign headquarters in Room 114 of the Cope Administration Building, via departmental coordinators or direct campus mail, by Friday, Nov. 21, at 4:30 p.m. Employees who return their forms by the deadline will be eligible for a campuswide drawing on Wednesday, Nov. 26, at 1:30 p.m. for dozens of prizes. (A full listing is available at the “prizes” link at www.mtsu.edu/givemtsu.) Donations are not required to enter drawings, but those who do give are eligible for even more fun prizes, including an airplane flight over Murfreesboro, dance lessons, an MTSU Theatre season subscription for two, an interior design consultation, an overnight stay at the Hastings House Bed & Breakfast in Murfreesboro and a private tour and wine tasting at Monteagle Winery.

“Our goal is ambitious,” said Bonner, “but we’re accustomed to striving for excellence at MTSU. And it really is simple: everyone helps in small ways to make a big change. We can think of our goal as helping just one program—for example, our own Project Help. The whole $90,000 could easily go to that program and do magnificent things! But, of course, our donors can choose any recipients they want for their hard-earned dollars.”

The annual effort at MTSU is conducted in unison with all Tennessee Board of Regents institutions. MTSU’s contributions increase every year, with the 2007 campaign netting a record $81,000-plus to serve the community.

For more information, contact Laurie Glenn at 615-494-7900.

The Society for International Affairs will send its latest Model United Nations team to the Southeast Regional conference in Atlanta Nov. 20-22 with the attendees representing United Arab Emirates.

However, the organization is extending its mission and its methods. SIA will continue to learn about people in other parts of the world not only by portraying them but also by assisting them.

“The Society for International Affairs is unique in that our primary focus is on service and teaching students at this point in their lives to really value a service ethic,” says Dr. Karen Petersen, assistant professor of political science and faculty adviser to SIA. Many of the organization’s members learn about global poverty and inequality in class from Petersen and other MTSU professors and yearn to do something to help.

For example, last spring, SIA made loans to a farmer in Tajikistan, a group of Cambodian women subsistence farmers and a small Peruvian grocery store. All of those loans are being repaid gradually. When one SIA member, Rachel Peck of Rockvale, announced that she would be traveling to Uganda, the group provided her with more than $100 worth of school supplies to give to children there. Here at home, SIA gave $180 to the American Red Cross to help tornado victims, but the organization plans to use its fundraising efforts to help fellow MTSU students as well.

“What we would like to do, ideally, is to be able to provide financial assistance in emergency situations for international students, particularly students who have no family support, who are here in Murfreesboro ... without the infrastructure that typical students take for granted,” Petersen says.

She says small grants of $50 to $100 for these emergency expenses can help international students over the rough spots so they can stay in college and concentrate on their studies. Frequently, after graduation, they return to war-torn or impoverished countries to put what they learned at MTSU to use in solving those nations’ problems.

Petersen finds that young people are far less likely to hesitate when asked to get involved with individuals from other cultures.

“I think that college students are certainly less likely to carry that post-9/11 baggage or post-Communist baggage … and are much more open to reaching out to others,” Petersen observes, noting that college students also have more opportunities to interact with people from other cultures in a campus environment.

SIA is also helping to form an MTSU chapter of the international service club for young adults known as ROTARACT. Sponsored by the University Honors College, the College of Liberal Arts, the Department of Political Science and the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary, ROTARACT strives to promote international understanding through friendship and service. The program is for adults ages 18 to 30, and each chapter carries out at least one community service project and one international service project per year.

SIA meets on Mondays from 3 to 4 p.m. in Room 208 of Peck Hall. For information on how you can help or to join SIA, visit www.mtsu.edu/~sia or contact Petersen at 615-494-8662 or kpeterse@mtsu.edu.

Photos p3

MAKING A DIFFERENCE—Members of MTSU’s Society for International Affairs gather, at right, with school supplies they’ve collected for children in Uganda. SIA member Rachel Peck, above left, poses with children in Uganda while delivering the supplies and distributing snacks. photos submitted

Anime fans unite! The MTSU Anime Club hosts a monthly gathering of friends and enthusiasts known as the All-Day Anime, perhaps better known as an ADA.

This month’s meeting is set for Saturday, Nov. 22. Anime Club President Nicholas Qualls said this month’s ADA will have a Shojo theme, which is characterized as a romantic, soap-opera type of anime. Club officers select the monthly themes with input from club members.

Things will get started at 11 a.m. in Room S213 in the Business and Aerospace Building, which is designated as the anime room. Then, around 12:30 p.m., the group usually migrates to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. Qualls said the destination was not finalized at press time.

Afterward, anime based on a particular theme will start showing in the anime room. There also will be a game room set up next door in Room S208.

The Anime Club, which was organized in spring 2005, meets every Wednesday night in the Bragg Mass Communication Building in Room 101 from 6 to 9 p.m., but Qualls said that ADA gives members and their friends a chance to get together for an extended period of time.

Qualls said that one of the best times he had at an ADA was when he was organizing the event and began to implement themes.

“We had a Mecha theme, and a lot of people were really interested,” Qualls said. “That made me very happy.”

Anime Club member Angelo Diamante said one of his favorite things to do at an ADA is to alternate back and forth between the game room and anime room to catch the anime that he’s most interested in.

“They schedule out what they’re going to show,” Diamante said. “I already know what they’ll be showing in advance, so I’ll take a break from video games to see it.”

Anime Club members usually bring in equipment in the game room, and there have been tournaments that have taken place for Soul Caliber and other games.

“You can bring your own games and consoles and get to play games you wouldn’t have gotten to play otherwise,” Diamante said.

For Stan Montgomery, head of programming for the group, the best part of the ADA is “getting together with friends who can’t make it to the weekly meetings and cracking up over some good anime.”

Kawan Baxter, Anime Club member and former vice president, said one of his favorite moments from an ADA came when he showed “Kanon.”

“It’s a romance anime, and on one of the saddest episodes I saw Tanner (a character) crying, and it made me feel good that I could show my friends good anime,” Baxter said.

For more information about the MTSU Anime Club, visit the group’s Web site at www.mtsuac.com.

Beth Ann Fennelly will teach the Spring 2009 Visiting Artist’s Seminar (UH 3200), a one-week, one-credit class open to MTSU honors students with upper-division standing. This year’s seminar is “The Art and Craft of Poetry.”

“We’ll seek to discover the pleasures of poetry through music and rhythm and learn why poetry can contribute to a life rich in joy and understanding,” Fennelly says of the class. “Our goal will be to become better readers and appreciators of poetry and to learn some skills from the writing of poetry that we can apply to other types of writing, so we can become better writers in general.”

This course will include intensive, interactive craft classes combined with workshops so students can learn by doing. Students (at all levels of experience) will be introduced to various aspects of craft with the goal of helping them better understand how poems create meaning.

Fennelly is the author of three books of poetry—Unmentionables (Norton, 2008), Tender Hooks (Norton, 2004) and Open House (Zoo Press, 2002)—and a book of letters, Great with Child (Norton, 2007). Her poems have appeared in such prominent journals as Ploughshares, TriQuarterly and Shenandoah and also in Best American Poetry 2005 and Best American Poetry 2006. She has won the Kenyon Review Prize for a First Book, a Pushcart Prize and numerous other awards. She has attended the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference on fellowship and has conducted more than 100 readings and presentations of her poetry over the past eight years. She is an associate professor of English at the University of Mississippi.

The Visiting Artist’s Seminar, an interdisciplinary course taught by an established artist, is offered every spring by the Honors College. While speakers frequently visit campus to speak to students, the Visiting Artist’s Seminar couples that inspirational experience with a hands-on component that lasts an entire week and requires intensive student participation. It’s taught at an introductory level so that students from any field of study can participate, it’s limited to 15 students, and the only prerequisites are upper-division standing and a 3.25 GPA.

The 2008 seminar will meet daily from 3 to 5:40 p.m. Feb. 2-6. It will culminate in a free public reading by Fennelly and her students on Friday, Feb. 6, at 4 p.m. The Honors College will host a reception after the reading so the audience may meet informally with the artist and the students.

The 2008 Visiting Artist’s Seminar is supported by the University Honors College, the Distinguished Lectures Committee, the Virginia Peck Trust Fund Committee and the English Department.

For more information, contact the program coordinator, Dr. Claudia Barnett, at cbarnett@mtsu.edu or 615-898-2887.

The MTSU Women’s Chorale will present its first Victorian Holiday Feast on Friday, Dec. 5, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building.

Attendees will be able to travel back in time and usher in the holidays with the beautiful singing and caroling of the MTSU Women’s Chorale and MTSU Bel Canto, as well as piano, string and brass music throughout the evening.

The feast will feature chicken cordon bleu with spiced hollandaise sauce accompanied by Caesar salad, green beans almandine, au gratin potatoes, dinner rolls with butter, and a choice of water, tea or coffee, topped off with chocolate cake for dessert.

The event begins with the assembly of guests in the lobby of the James Union Building starting at 6 p.m. with entrance into the dining area of the Tennessee Room at 6:30 p.m. sharp. Admission is $30 per person for the meal and evening of entertainment; MTSU student admission is $17.

To order feast tickets, visit the MTSU School of Music Web site at www.mtsumusic.com and click on the “Victorian Holiday Feast” link. Fill out the ticket order form, print it, enclose a check made out to the MTSU School of Music and mail it to Victorian Holiday Feast, MTSU School of Music, MTSU Box 47, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 37132. Off-campus ticket buyers should enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

No tickets will be available at the door, so attendees should reserve their seats early. For more information, call 615-898-5922.

Don’t put those political yard signs in the trash—donate them to the Albert Gore Research Center at MTSU!

The center collects political signs for exhibits and educational purposes. If you have regular-sized signs (2 feet square) for a candidate or election issue from this or previous elections and would like to make contributions, please drop them off at the Gore Center in Room 128 of the Todd Building. (The center can’t pick up signs from your home or office.)

The center also collects bumper stickers, buttons, fans and other political memorabilia. Samples are on display in the hall outside the center.

For more information, contact Dr. Jim Williams, director of the Gore Center, at 615-898-2633 or jhwillia@mtsu.edu.

Students and faculty who have an interest or involvement in the labor-relations market will have a chance to further themselves in the field starting Wednesday, Nov. 19, when the 11th annual Tennessee Employment Relations Research Association, or TERRA, conference begins at Arnold Air Force Base in Tullahoma.

Dr. Bill Canak, TERRA treasurer and sociology professor at MTSU, said that the conference’s main purpose is to provide seminars that will present informational material and also will allow those working in labor management fields to network with one another.

“It serves as a forum for different constituents to learn from each other and for experts to address hot topics,” Canak said.

Some of the featured speakers for the Nov. 19-21 event include Steve Rondone, regional economist for the U.S. Department of Labor; Dr. Joel Cutcher-Gerschenfeld, dean of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at the University of Illinois; and Dr. Bruce Barry from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

“The content of the workshops and speakers is of the highest quality and is relevant to the interests of careers in the labor field,” Canak said. “It is also a wonderful opportunity to be off-campus and establish a network of interpersonal communication with people well-established in the field.”

He said that people working in labor industry-related fields typically attend the TERRA conference, including union officials, managers, academic researchers, attorneys, and arbitrators and mediators.

The event will take place over three days, so hotel accommodations have been made. The Wingo Inn will accommodate guests traveling in for the conference. The rate will be $37.50 per night. The number to register is 931-454-3051.

There also is a contingent of students that makes the trip every year. Canak pointed out that several former MTSU students have attended the conference in years past and made great leaps in their professional lives. An example he cited is Craig Neel, who now serves as the southeast district director for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management.

“He’s supervising the entire southeast for a federal agency,” Canak said. “That’s a very big job.”

Neel, who attended the TERRA conference while he was still a student at MTSU, said the networking opportunities he received led directly to an internship. From there, Neel said, he was much more prepared to break into the professional world and was able to show employers that he had a good understanding of unions and how they work.

“That’s what they were really interested in,” he said.

Randall Adams, now a sociology professor at Tennessee Tech, also was able to benefit from attending the TERRA conference while he was a student at MTSU.

“There are a wide variety of people there who can offer insight into how to improve relations between workers and corporations and between labor leaders and the people they work with,” Adams said.

Canak said attending conferences like the TERRA event is important for students because they can meet employers who are in a position to fund internships and provide entry-level jobs. Many students don’t think about their careers until they’re almost ready to graduate, he said.

“If you’ve established a connection, the transition to a career is smooth,” Canak said.

TERRA, a nonprofit membership organization, encourages research, open discussion and the dissemination of data to ensure its members keep abreast of current practices and innovations in the field and to strengthen the community and workplace. It was founded at MTSU in 1997 as a state chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, or LERA.

For more information about TERRA and the conference, visit the organization’s Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~terra.

MTSU’s Center for Health and Human Services hosted a celebration on Oct. 1 for the one-year anniversary of the enactment of the Clean Air legislation, which prohibits smoking inside all Tennessee restaurants.

The CHHS also conducted a training session for representatives from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, the state Department of Health and university partners for two new initiatives in Tennessee.

The THEC created two programs that function within nine Tennessee counties—Campbell, Cocke, Grundy, Hardeman, Johnson, Lake, Meigs, Union and Wayne—to promote better health and higher education. Dr. Martha Jo Edwards, CHHS director and holder of the Adams Chair of Excellence in Health Care Services, said MTSU was selected to train county officials and regional coordinators for these programs.

The first, GEAR UP TN, is a federally funded program that attempts to increase the percentage of students within these counties who complete high school and go on to higher education.

The second program, Student Tobacco Outreach Prevention or STOP, is funded by a grant to THEC from the Department of Health. STOP is being used in these counties to assist schools and communities in creating programs to end and prevent tobacco use among high-school students.

The STOP program incorporates existing anti-tobacco initiatives created by county health councils and the State Tobacco Control Office. All STOP activities are evaluated for effectiveness, and the resulting data may be used to measure change in students’ attitudes toward tobacco use over time.

The CHHS received a $105,000 grant from the THEC to conduct the STOP program training for the nine at-risk counties. The center has received five additional grants this year to increase health care education on a number of issues.

Two projects are funded by community grants from the Tennessee Chapter of the March of Dimes. “Good Health Looks Good” uses Girl Scout workshops and other initiatives to teach adolescent girls about folic acid and the supplement’s role in preventing birth defects. A SIDS education grant focuses on reducing the risk of SIDS by training Rutherford County Health Department workers and local day care providers about the syndrome.

The CHHS received a similar grant of nearly $185,000 from the Tennessee Department of Health to investigate unexpected infant and child deaths and to create a training program for emergency responders such as EMTs and firefighters.

The CHHS also received more than $87,000 from the state health department to compile a Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan for the state, generate media coverage for the plan and evaluate its success.

The Nashville Career Advancement Center presented the CHHS with a grant for their Career Mapping Program, which provides information on careers and job requirements for students interested in health care jobs in Middle Tennessee.

The CHHS was created to support the work of the Adams Chair of Excellence. Since its development in 1992, the CHHS has worked with university and external organizations to improve state health care initiatives and create highly qualified health care employees.

Prospective and returning students seeking merit scholarships and awards for the 2009-10 academic year must submit all their information by the priority deadline of Monday, Dec. 1, said David Hutton, director of the MTSU Office of Financial Aid.

Prospective students should submit an admission application, official ACT or SAT test scores and an official transcript to the admissions office, said Hutton, who added that information mailed with a Dec. 1 postmark will meet the deadline.

Students who apply between Dec. 2 and Feb. 15, 2009, may be considered if funding is available.

Merit scholarships and awards include National Merit and National Achievement Finalist, Valedictorians and Salutatorians, and Chancellor, Presidential, Buchanan Fellowship, Academic Service, Provost and Raider scholarships.

Transfer applicants must submit official college transcripts. The scholarship deadline for transfer applicants is Feb. 1.

MTSU Foundation Scholarships and DREAM (Diverse Representation and Educational Access at MTSU) Scholarships have a Feb. 15 deadline, said Julie Hughes, a scholarship clerk in the financial aid office.

High-school students interested in applying for an Army ROTC national scholarship must apply through www.armyrotc.com, call 615-898-2470 or e-mail Maj. Trey Brannom at lbrannom@mtsu.edu.

The School of Music awards scholarships on a competitive basis to music and nonmusic majors. These will be awarded in 2009 after auditions are held on Jan. 30, Feb. 14 and Feb. 27 in the Wright Music Building. Students can register for auditions by visiting www.mtsumusic.com online.

Students and their parents or guardians must complete the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, to receive federal and other forms of financial aid starting Jan. 1, Hutton said.

For more information, call 615-898-2830 or visit the financial aid Web site at http://financialaid.web.mtsu.edu.  

MTSU’s Flying Raiders competitive flight team is bringing national recognition to the university’s aerospace program after placing third in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association 2008 Region VIII competition in Carbondale, Ill., Oct. 29-Nov. 2.

That means the Flying Raiders have earned a berth in the nationals, which will be hosted by Saint Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology next May. The top three teams from each region comprise the 30-team field competing for the national title.

This past May, MTSU’s flight team finished 17th in the NIFA SAFECON nationals, which were held at Smyrna Airport.

Although MTSU has been to the nationals before, this will be the first time it has earned a spot through merit in more than 25 years, said Paul Mosey, coach and chief flight instructor.

“This is a huge deal,” Mosey said of the accomplishment. “They’re fired up and already planning for the spring. The investment they will have to make is for the next seven months, where they work out a practice schedule, plan study time and the (student) administrative setup. There’s leadership for each event,” which includes nine in the regional and more events in the nationals.

“We were pumped, very pumped,” added Carl Roby, a senior aerospace major and team co- captain. “We were very happy. We went out and celebrated. I believe we were more excited about winning third than the other two teams winning first and second.”

Perennial region power Southern Illinois again dominated the field with a final total of 152 points. The University of Illinois was second with 112, and MTSU earned its third-place finish with 46 points.

Mosey said a committed group of Blue Raiders have led the charge. “This group started together three to four years ago,” he said. “Three years ago, we started to go to the region. I said, ‘We’re not ready.’ We weren’t prepared. That seemed to put a fire under a core group. We’ve reached a point where we’re very competitive. It’s a year-round commitment.”

The team members also earned individual recognition for their work. Roby earned first place in aircraft recognition. Erin Wadlington earned second place in the simulated comprehensive aircraft navigation ranking. He placed third in the Top Pilot Award individual competition, third in the Top-Scoring Male division and third in the ground-trainer ranking.

Co-captain Eric Christiansen placed in the top 10 in four separate events. Cole Merrick placed in two events, and James Taylor and Kevin Jones each earned a top-10 finish in their individual events.

The regional competition is composed of five ground events—aircraft identification, flight simulator, manual flight computer, simulated comprehensive air navigation and pre-flight—and four flying events, including power-off landings, short field landings, message drop and flight navigation.

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FLYING HIGH—MTSU's Flying Raiders flight team celebrates its third-place win in the Region VIII competition Oct. 29-Nov. 1 in Carbondale, Ill., which earned the group a trip to next May's National Intercollegiate Flying Association competition. MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee recognized the team, which is coached by Paul Mosey, the university's chief flight instructor, for its accomplishment when he met with the group and aerospace faculty Nov. 12 in the Business and Aerospace Building. photo submitted/by Woody Hatchett