Each time our phone rings in the Office of News and Public Affairs, it could be another opportunity for MTSU to “get noticed.”

Reporters frequently contact NPA with requests for quotes from faculty and staffers on subjects both compelling and whimsical. As the designated point person for finding faculty to comment for reporters, I’ve been asked to drum up experts for everything from the impact of the economy on college scholarships to why people wear funny sweaters at Christmas.

In only the last few weeks, I’ve fielded separate requests for comments on proper police behavior during an undercover prostitution sting and the emergence of a legally available chemical solvent as the latest dangerous recreational drug.

Whenever I search for a faculty member to talk to journalists, MTSU’s best-kept secret reemerges. The intellectual depth of the faculty, their unwavering dedication to their profession and their devotion to preparing students to embark on a lifelong search for knowledge are the lifeblood of the university. At times, they offer editorial columns I can pitch to newspapers. One popular occasional editorialist is Dr. John Vile, dean of the University Honors College.

Sometimes topics require collaboration with administrators, such as an inquiry last month about faculty workload on which I consulted with Dr. Diane Miller, vice provost for academic affairs, and Dr. Tonjanita Johnson, associate vice president for marketing and communications. On a rather hectic Oct. 1, I arranged for reporters from two Nashville television stations to conduct one-on-one interviews with President Sidney A. McPhee on budget issues. They literally passed each other in the hall!

I returned to the office just in time to respond to a print reporter’s e-mail request for contact with a student who had attended the presidential debate in Nashville. Arranging contact with specific students requires a more cautious approach because of federal privacy laws, but after I sent the reporter’s contact information to the student, they communicated, and the result was another media mention for MTSU.

Periodically, reporters’ pressing deadlines result in a flurry of last-minute movement to help meet their needs. One example is an area television station’s call at 3:35 p.m. to request access to WMOT facilities and personnel for a package to air in the 10 p.m. newscast. I called WMOT Director John Egly, Dr. Roy Moore (dean of the College of Mass Communication) and the reporter several times in rapid succession, and through several exchanges of ideas, cell-phone numbers and their gracious commitment to stay late, we made the arrangements.

Through Newswise, an online source for journalists, MTSU posts stories about faculty research and academic endeavors in science, medicine, business, political science and other fields. Recent posts include a story on the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, a comprehensive reference book co-edited by two MTSU professors with contributions by 19 members of the MTSU community, and an interdisciplinary research group formed by three professors in the College of Basic and Applied Sciences. Our post about the Kennewick Man project, an archaeological discovery researched by MTSU’s Dr. Hugh Berryman has netted more than 20,500 hits since it was uploaded in 2006!

The record for most frequent appearances on national platforms among MTSU faculty must belong to Dr. Bill Ford, holder of the Weatherford Chair of Finance. A regular on CNBC and Bloomberg Television, Ford analyzed the Federal Reserve Board’s most dramatic round of rate slashing on the Dec. 16 edition of “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.”

Closer to home, I’ve arranged for faculty to field questions on the programs of NewsChannel5+, WTVF-TV’s cable sibling. Some participants in recent months include Dr. Robb McDaniel (political science) on the presidential election, Dr. Martin Kennedy (economics and finance) on the auto industry’s woes and Dr. Janet Belsky (psychology) on whether people in real life would make their own “bucket lists” of things to do before they die, as Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman did in the movie.

The “bucket list” idea originated with “Today’s Response,” a Monday-through-Friday media tip sheet that provides commentary from faculty experts on the issues of the day, scholarly takes on pop culture, or research in which they are engaged. After perusing the Web for story ideas, I e-mail questions to faculty who might be able to shed light on the subjects. I take excerpts of their responses, combine them with facts from the stories and turn the blends into blurbs designed to pique reporters’ interest.

Our other platforms include The Record, the biweekly university newspaper with news the university community can use, as well as enlightening features; The Alumni Record, which keeps MTSU graduates informed about their alma mater; “Middle Tennessee Record,” a monthly television magazine that airs on local cable outlets and News-Channel5+; and “MTSU on the Record,” a weekly interview program on WMOT-FM that gives members of the campus community freedom and time that they would not find anywhere else to expound on a wide variety of subjects.

As chance would have it, the local, state and national economies are spiraling into the abyss of recession at the same time MTSU is ascending toward the celebration of its centennial in 2011. It is imperative for the university to continue to reveal itself to the general public as what it always strives to be—a cost-effective, student-friendly, vibrant comfort zone where quality education is top priority.

As consumers are inundated with advertising for more and more things they can’t afford, they will disregard shallow, vacuous cheerleading along with all the other white noise. If we are as good as we say we are, the truth should say it all. Toward that end, the professionals of the Office of News and Public Affairs will continue to tell the truth about MTSU’s stellar faculty, exceptional students and hard-working staff. We have a lot of ways to communicate, and, with your help, we’ll use all of them to your benefit and to the continued vitality of the university.

Gina K. Logue is NPA’s media representative.

Get noticed!

The Office of News and Public Affairs is helping you “GET NOTICED” with new publicity information sessions. Join us in Cantrell Hall in the Tom Jackson Building on:

• Monday, Feb. 23, 2-3 p.m.;
• Tuesday, Feb. 24, 10-11 a.m.; or
• Wednesday, Feb. 25, 10-11 a.m.

No need to register; just show up and ask questions!

MTSU’s new Campus Pharmacy is now open in the Student Health, Wellness and Recreation Center to serve currently enrolled MTSU students, faculty and staff.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays. The facility’s drive-in window will be open until 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and until 4:30 p.m. on Fridays.

For more information, visit the pharmacy’s Web site at www.mtsu.edu/pharmacy/index.shtml.

A campuswide tornado and emergency text-message drill will be conducted Friday, Feb. 6, beginning at 9:55 a.m. Public Safety will activate the drill by sending a text message and e-mail via the RAVE communications system. Those on campus should proceed to "safer locations" in their buildings (www.mtsu.edu/alert4u/tornado_shelter.shtml) and remain there for 10 minutes, when the all-clear message will be sent.

When I entered the Jennings A. Jones College of Business four years ago, I intended to study business finance to learn the skills necessary to better manage the financial side of my career as a musician and audio engineer. I never imagined that pursuing an undergraduate degree in finance at MTSU would lead to an internship with a Nobel Peace Prize-winning bank in Bangladesh. As the first recipient of the Kawahito Scholarship for Experiential World Poverty Studies, I was afforded the opportunity to do just that during my two-month internship with Grameen Bank.

Founded by former MTSU professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank provides microfinance loans (small, collateral-free loans to traditionally noncreditworthy individuals) to poor women in Bangladesh. With the loans, the recipients start small cottage industries such as tailoring, basket-weaving or baking businesses.

Located on the Indian subcontinent in South Asia, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, with approximately 50 percent of its citizens living below the poverty line. Bangladesh has a population of 150 million (half that of the United States), yet occupies an area slightly smaller than Iowa.

While in Bangladesh, I witnessed firsthand the harrowing and debilitating effects of poverty. In Dhaka, the capital city of 12 million people, abandoned street children clung to my arm begging for food. Withered old men with hunched backs and amputated limbs held out their hands begging for money. In a Grameen-funded school in the slums of Dhaka, I met 10-year-old children who work 24 hours per week as assistant auto mechanics, housekeepers and hotel staff to help provide for their families.

In the rural villages of Bangladesh, I saw houses with walls made of rags. Women washed clothes and cookware in filthy, mosquito-ridden ponds. I also met women who, by borrowing as little as $15 from Grameen Bank to start a business, have been able to dramatically increase their families’ weekly incomes.

In one village I visited, I met Shama, an elderly member of Grameen’s Struggling Member Program, through which Grameen lends money to beggar women. Shama’s husband had worked as a day laborer, earning low wages. Unable to afford home ownership, he and Shama had rented the one-room house in which they lived with their two sons. When her husband died 10 years ago, Shama had no income. Her two sons were both day laborers with families of their own, so they could not help support her.

Unable to afford rent on her house and with no assets of any value, Shama was forced out of her house. However, the village in which she lived banded together and built her a small house on community land so that she would have a roof over her head. For 10 years, Shama has begged her fellow villagers for the rice on which she has subsisted. With a $15 loan from Grameen Bank, Shama bought a female goat that produces milk for her to drink and sell. While Shama must still beg for her daily rice, the 25 cents she earns by selling milk enables her to afford her vegetables. Despite her meager income, Shama diligently repays 30 cents to Grameen Bank every week.

While such tremendous hardships face many Bangladeshis, those whom I met were incredibly generous and seemed quite content with what little they have. Families earning less money in one year than I earn in a week invited me into their homes and generously shared with me what little food they could afford. The hospitality of the Bangladeshis I encountered is unparalleled.

Amazed that those with so little can be content in their lacking, I felt more than a tinge of guilt for having taken for granted the abundance with which I have been blessed in America. I have so often failed to appreciate the simple things like drinkable tap water, a profusion of food and quality health care. My experience in Bangladesh, afforded to me by MTSU and the Kawahito Scholarship for Experiential World Poverty Studies, has enriched my life greatly and broadened my perspective. I have learned always to be mindful of and grateful for the riches that I have received by having been lucky enough to be born in America.

Steve Sibley is a December 2008 business finance graduate of MTSU.

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ENRICHING EXPERIENCE—Dr. Muhammad Yunus, above left, former economics professor at MTSU and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, poses with MTSU senior Steve Sibley during Sibley’s two-month internship at Yunus’ Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. In the photo aboe, a Bangladeshi woman makes bamboo stools. The profits from her home-based business have helped her repay a 1,000-taka (almost $15) bank loan, better feed her family and save money in a Grameen savings account. EMBRACING EDUCATION—MTSU senior Steve Sibley poses with a group of children at a Bangladeshi school during his fall 2008 internship with Grameen Bank. Families there told Sibley that small loans from Grameen have given families the opportunity to increase their incomes and allow their young children to get an education instead of going to work to support their families. photos courtesy Steve Sibley

A hallmark of Black History Month at MTSU since 1996, the 2009 Unity Luncheon honoring “unsung heroes” in the community will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the Tennessee Room of MTSU’s James Union Building.

This year’s honorees are Annie M. Cox, James E. McAdams Sr., the Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson.

Cox has been a dedicated schoolteacher in Cannon County for more than 30 years. She is considered an icon for coaching sports and molding young lives for the future in the school system and the county at large.

McAdams worked as a chauffeur at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Murfreesboro for 36 years. After retirement, he was employed as a dishwasher and head cook at Oakland High School’s cafeteria for a total of 20 years. McAdams is a member of First Baptist Church and was chairman of its deacon board for more than 43 years.

As pastor of Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church in Nashville since 1971, Thomas has been ranked among the top 100 most powerful and influential people in the city by the Nashville Post for several years. His leadership roles over the past 37 years include co-chair of the Davidson County Rainbow Coalition, president of the Missionary Baptist State Convention of Tennessee and president of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship.

Wade serves on the finance committee, education committee and the deacon board of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church. He retired from the Southern Baptist Convention Sunday School Board as warehouse leader after 22 years. Wade also serves on the board of commissioners of the Murfreesboro Housing Authority, which works with the director on budget, finances and housing projects.

A retired state employee, Wilson’s lifelong dedication to service includes work with the mentally retarded in the Bureau of TennCare and the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, as well as part-time employment for 33 1/2 years as special-event staff member in the MTSU Athletic Department. She chairs the boards of directors of Wee Care Day Care Center and the Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center.

Washington was custodian for MTSU’s Cope Administration Building from its opening in 1964 until his retirement in 1994. A dedicated churchgoer, he established a reputation as an ambassador for MTSU. Susan Turner Taylor, who nominated Washington, says, “He was always friendly to those who worked at the university and to guests of the university.”

Tickets for the Unity Luncheon are $20 for adults and $8 for students. No tickets will be sold at the door. For more information, contact Valerie Avent at 615-898-2718.

A century ago, an interracial group of Americans joined together and formed the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The story of the NAACP is the story of a universal struggle to create and maintain equal citizenship for all Americans. It is a transnational narrative that binds human- and civil-rights struggles in the United States with the aspirations for equality and justice in Latin America and the Caribbean. The NAACP centennial, the focus of the 2009 celebration of Black History Month with a theme of “The Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas,” is an occasion to highlight issues of race and citizenship from the experiences of African-Americans and African-descended people in the Americas.

All events at MTSU are free and open to the public unless otherwise specified. Please contact me at franklin@mtsu.edu with questions or concerns. Please be sure to check the Black History Month Web site at www.mtsu.edu/aahm for any announcements or changes to events.

Black History Month events at MTSU include:

• Tuesday, Feb. 3—Unity Luncheon and the Unsung Heroes Awards (to be presented to Annie M. Cox, James McAdams Sr., Rev. James Thomas, Carl Wade, William Washington and Katie F. Wilson), 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Tennessee Room, James Union Building; adults $20, students $8; for information, contact Valerie Avent at vavent@mtsu.edu;

• Wednesday, Feb. 4—“We’re Someplace We’ve Never Been: Race, Diversity and the New America,” Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post and MSNBC, 10:20-11:45 a.m., Keathley University Center Theater; co-sponsored by the Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies; contact franklin@mtsu.edu;

• Thursday, Feb. 5—“Literally Speaking: Poetry Presentation by MTSU Faculty,” 1:30 p.m., Honors College Room 106; sponsored by the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs; contact Vincent Windrow at vwindrow@mtsu.edu;

• Tuesday, Feb. 10—John Pleas Faculty Recognition Award honoring Dr. Adonijah L. Bakari, 4-6 p.m., Tom Jackson Building; contact Marlene Lane at amlane@mtsu.edu;

• Wednesday, Feb. 11—MTSU Jazz Artist Series Presents: Lecture/Master Class with Composer/Pianist Donald Brown, 3 p.m., Saunders Fine Arts 101; contact Don Aliquo at daliquo@mtsu.edu;

• Thursday, Feb. 12—“Going Back To Where I’ve Never Been,” a solo performance by Jacqueline Springfield, 7 p.m., Boutwell Dramatic Arts Studio Theatre; contact Jacqueline Springfield at jdholmes@mtsu.edu;

• Thursday, Feb. 12—Taste of Soul: 100th Anniversary Celebration of the NAACP, 7 p.m., location TBA; sponsored by the MTSU Chapter of the NAACP; contact Carlissa Shaw at cas4i@mtsu.edu;

MTSU Jazz Artist Series Presents: Composer/Pianist Donald Brown, 7:30 p.m., Hinton Music Hall in Wright Music Building; contact daliquo@mtsu.edu;

• Monday, Feb. 16—Screening of “Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy” and meeting with filmmakers Renée Bergan and Mark Schuller, 3:30-5 p.m., KUC Theater; co-sponsored by the MTSU Haitian Project; contact franklin@mtsu.edu;

• Tuesday, Feb. 17—Harlem Renaissance, 7 p.m., Tom Jackson Building; sponsored by MTSU NAACP; contact cas4i@mtsu.edu;

• Wednesday, Feb. 18—”Grassroots Activism, Racial Rezoning and School-Based Reform in Nashville,” Deirdre Reed, southeast regional organizer, Center for Community Change, 12:30-2 p.m. Peck Hall 211; contact franklin@mtsu.edu;

• Sunday, Feb. 22—Ninth Annual Gospel Extravaganza Benefit and Scholarship Program, 6 p.m., Murphy Center; adults $10, students $5, free for children under 6; contact Mary Glass at mglass@mtsu.edu;

• Monday, Feb. 23—“Poetry and Liberation,” spoken-word artist and actor Saul Williams, 7 p.m., Murphy Center; contact Rich Kershaw at rkershaw@mtsu.edu;

• Tuesday, Feb. 24—“The Quest for Black Citizenship,” Jeff Johnson of Black Entertainment Television’s “The Truth,” 7 p.m., Murphy Center; contact franklin@mtsu.edu;

• Wednesday, Feb. 25—Quiz Bowl, 7 p.m., BAS State Farm Room; sponsored by MTSU NAACP; contact cas4i@mtsu.edu;

• Friday, Feb. 27—“Excavation Self: Choreography Workshops on Cultural and Racial Identity,” Stefanie Batten Bland, guest artist in residency, 3-5 p.m., Fairview 140; contact Kim Neal Nofsinger at nofsinge@mtsu.edu;

• Wednesday, March 4—Informal Concert and Performance: Stefanie Batten Bland, 7:30 p.m., Tucker Theatre; contact nofsinge@mtsu.edu;

• Tuesday, March 24—Women’s History Month Celebration: Author and feminist scholar bell hooks, 4 p.m., KUC Theater; sponsored by the June Anderson Women’s Center; contact Terri Johnson at trjohnso@mtsu.edu;

• March 25-26—Women’s History Month Celebration: Peggy McIntosh, Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity Project, 4 p.m., Tom Jackson Building; contact trjohnso@mtsu.edu;

• Friday, March 27—“The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners,” Jim “Mudcat” Grant, author and former major league baseball pitcher, 14th Conference on Baseball in Literature and Culture Luncheon speaker, JUB Tennessee Room; contact Ronald E. Kates at rkates@mtsu.edu.

Dr. Sekou Franklin is an assistant professor of political science at MTSU and co-chair of the Black History Month Committee.

The East Main Street entrance to campus, by the MTSU monument, is now limited to traffic traveling only to the Cope Administration Building, Parking Services and the Wood/Stegall building while the expansion of Alumni Drive into the core of campus continues.

Old Main Circle south of Cope is now open to two-way traffic to allow vehicles to flow into and out of the metered parking area at Visitors’ Circle in front of Cope. Vehicles leaving Visitors’ Circle will turn right and drive back toward Main Street to exit with the help of new stop signs to aid with traffic flow. There will be no traffic access east or north on Old Main Circle past Visitors’ Circle, and, as a result, parking will not be allowed on the street in front of Cope, and the Cope East parking lot will not be accessible until construction is complete.

Parking Services is encouraging students, staff and visitors to seek alternative routes to campus and alternative parking locations during this transition.

For updates on route changes for the Raider Xpress, visit the MTSU Parking Services Web site at www.mtsu.edu/~parking and click on the “transportation” link.

After a productive fall semester in which MTSU concrete industry management program students participated in projects at two Murfreesboro-area golf courses, students and faculty will begin 2009 with a CIM-related social activity followed by the annual trip to Las Vegas for the World of Concrete.

CIM Director Dr. Heather Brown and her staff schedule socials in the Miller Club Room at Tennessee Miller Coliseum during the fall and spring semesters to give concrete companies the opportunity to recruit students from the program and let the students learn from industry insiders.

The Lafarge Social will be held from 6 until 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27. One week later, many of the students and faculty will join Brown and Dr. Tom Cheatham, dean of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, for the World of Concrete.

“It’s an impressive event,” Cheatham said.

Brown said she looks forward to the annual World of Concrete Auction, which will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5.

“If you would like to donate items or bid on items, please visit our site, www.concretedegree.com/auction,” she said. “The auction proceeds are used to support the CIM programs located across the country in their continued effort to ‘advance the concrete industry with degrees.’”

The program is still working to secure donations of materials and cash gifts, Brown explained. “Large donors are on hold until the economy turns around. The trend right now is that students must be willing to relocate to find a position. Local companies are wonderful in hiring, but there are only so many jobs, so we are placing most of our kids in the southeast region.”

In the fall, one project at Indian Hills Golf Course “was a collaboration amongst four companies between donated concrete by IMI Inc. and Metro Ready Mixed Inc., along with concrete contracting work donated by MarCor Inc.,” Brown said, adding that breakfast was sponsored by SEFA Inc.

“The final product was a 300-foot golf cart path section made out of pervious concrete,” she said. “We had eight students assist with the project and our CIM Patron, Chris Davenport, led the project.”

Brown said CIM Patron Ward Poston and industry supporter Clark Gates coordinated the Champions Run Golf Course project in Rockvale. Students Seth Williams and Ed Kowalski led the work with six other students.

“A golf cart path leading from the main course to the new training facility was constructed with concrete provided by IMI Inc.,” she said.

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CLEARING A PATH—Concrete industry management students work to level concrete poured for a golf-cart path at Champions Run. Making the effort are, from left, Ben Kurdy, Sean Freeman, Seth Williams, Jackson Ballman, Will Flanigan and Ed Kowalski. photo submitted

Lao-American author and poet Bryan Thao Worra will visit MTSU Feb. 2-5 and will conduct an hour-long poetry reading at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 3, in the State Farm Lecture Hall of the Business and Aerospace Building.

The event is free and open to the public. This is Thao Worra’s first reading in the southern United States, and he will draw from more than 17 years of his work as a poet.

Thao Worra also is willing to visit classes during his visit; contact Yuan-ling Chao at 615-898-2629 or ychao@mtsu.edu to make the arrangements. Possible discussion topics include:

• “Applied Issues in Southeast Asian-American Poetics and Literature”;

• “Ahead of the Curve: Poets, Technology and The Reader”;

• “Practical Matters: Getting published, staying read”;

• “The Universal in the Local: Appreciating Place, Culture and History”;

• “Creativity: Finding Inspiration and New Perspectives”;

• “Midwestern Approaches to Literature: An Overview of the Literary Culture in Minnesota and the Midwest, What Works, What Doesn’t, What Could Be Replicated, and Other Emerging Opportunities”;

• “Arts and Community Building: Why Support of the Arts is Essential”; and

• “Tomorrow’s English: A Perspective on the Malleability of the English Language.”

Thao Worra is the first Lao-American writer to receive a fellowship in literature and poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts. His first full-length book of poetry, On the Other Side of the Eye, was released in 2007 by Sam’s Dot Publishing, and he is the author of the smaller collections Winter Ink, Touching Detonations and The Tuk Tuk Diaries: My Dinner With Cluster Bombs. His writing covers topics from the ancient kingdom of Lane Xang to the CIA’s secret wartime activities in Laos during the Vietnam War era to science fiction and popular culture.

A resident of Minnesota, Thao Worra also has worked on issues of Southeast Asian refugee resettlement, the arts and community development. His newest book, Barrow, will be released in April. For more information about his work, visit http://thaoworra.blogspot.com.

Author and poet Beth Ann Fennelly and MTSU students will be featured in a poetry reading that will be open to the public at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, in Room 106 of the Paul W. Martin Sr. Honors Building, said Dr. Claudia Barnett, professor and Visiting Artist Series program coordinator.

The poetry reading will be followed by a book signing with Fennelly and a reception.

The Feb. 6 event will conclude the Feb. 2-6 Visiting Artist’s Seminar, “The Art and Craft of Poetry,” a one-credit class open to upper-division honors students.

Fennelly has published 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 Best American Poetry 2005 and Best American Poetry 2006.

Fennelly lives in Oxford, Miss., with her family and is an assistant professor of English at the University of Mississippi.

For more information, contact Barnett at 615-898-2887 or e-mail her at cbarnett@mtsu.edu.

Daily campus tours for prospective students interested in attending MTSU will resume Monday, Jan. 26, for the spring semester, officials in the Office of Admissions said.

The one-hour to 90-minute walking tours will begin in the lobby area near the main entrances to the Cope Administration Building. Participants can choose either a 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. tour.

No campus tours will be given during spring break (March 9-14) and Good Friday (April 10). Daily tours will run through Wednesday, April 29.

MTSU students usually lead the tours, which are limited to 15 to 20 people per group. To make a tour reservation, visit www.mtsu.edu/admissn/tour_admissn.shtml or call Betty Pedigo, tour coordinator, at 615-898-5670.

When inclement weather arises, MTSU closing information will be available online and on area radio and TV stations, and the university will send out a text-message and e-mail alert via the RAVE system.

Class cancellations will apply to all classes, credit and noncredit. MTSU offices will be open unless otherwise stated. Overnight decisions will be announced by 6 a.m. the next day.

Learn more anytime by visiting www.mtsunews.com and clicking on the snowflake!

Etown, a weekly radio broadcast heard from coast to coast on National Public Radio and other public and commercial radio stations, is now airing at 9 a.m. every Saturday on WMOT-FM Jazz89, MTSU’s nonprofit station.

Etown, which has been broadcast since 1991, is taped in front of a live audience and features performances from many of today’s top musical artists as well as interviews with a wide variety of authors, poets and policy-makers.

WMOT, located at 89.5 on the FM dial, also offers news, an events calendar and a streaming broadcast on its Web site, www.wmot.org.

The CLEAR Water Institute’s new Web site is available for campus and community viewing, its MTSU organizing members said.

The CLEAR Water Institute site can be found at http://frank.mtsu.edu/~clearmt/. The acronym CLEAR stands for Collaborative Education and Research.

The institute “is an interdisciplinary group of scientists from biology, chemistry, economics, environmental toxicology, education, sociology and concrete industry management that addresses social, economic and environmental issues related to water quality,” according to the “about us” information on the home page.

Members organized CLEAR Water Institute in 2008.

For more information, call 615-898-2660.

Certifications

Pat Fones (athletics), Rose Johnson (Basic and Applied Sciences) and Dana Potter (recording industry) recently received their Certified Professional Secretary designations.

Exhibitions

Computer-designed ceramic work by Professor Marc Barr (electronic media communication) will be on display at the Teapots IV exhibition through Feb. 27 at the Baltimore Clayworks; the International Cup competition Feb. 6-28 at the Clay Studio of Missoula, Montana; and “Beyond The Function: International Teapot Exhibition” at the French Designer Gallery in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Fellowships

Dr. Philip Edward Phillips (English) has received a 2008-09 Mary Catherine Mooney Research Fellowship by the Boston Athenæum for a book project on Edgar Allan Poe and Boston. The grant, which provides a $1,500 stipend for a 20-day residency, supports the use of the Athenæum’s collections for research, publication, curriculum and program development or other creative projects.

Honors

Dr. Heather Brown (concrete industry management) received the Walter P. Moore Jr. Faculty Achievement Award during the American Concrete Institute’s 2008 Spring Convention in Los Angeles.

Dr. Padgett Kelly (Center for Environmental Education) was named Tennessee Science Teachers Association 2008 Distinguished Educator of the Year and center colleague Dr. Kim Cleary Sadler was named 2008 Higher Education Teacher of the Year Nov. 21 in a ceremony at the Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville.

Lucinda Lea (information technology) was elected chair of the 2009 EDUCAUSE Board in fall 2008. EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.

Passages

Dr. Linda P. Hare (Development and University Relations) passed away Jan. 5. Dr. Hare, who served as the division vice president from 1995 to 2002, was working to increase diversity at Vanderbilt School of Medicine at the time of her death. She is survived by her husband, Dr. George C. Hill; her children, Nicole Yvette Hare, Brian Ray Hare, Yvette Hill Ray and Kevin Lewis Hill; four grandchildren, a brother, a beloved aunt, cousins and a host of other relatives and friends. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Linda P. Hare Scholarship Fund, through the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, to support underrepresented graduate and medical students at Meharry and Vanderbilt. For information, please contact James E. Lawson, executive director of the Alliance Foundation, at 1900 Church St., Suite 511, Nashville, Tenn. 37203, or 615-936-6070.

Presentations

Dr. Philip Edward Phillips (English) delivered a paper, “Alfred, Boethius, and the Victorian Imagination,” at the 124th Modern Language Association Annual Convention in San Francisco Dec. 27-30.

Publications

Dr. Edd Applegate (journalism) has published “Advertising Makes Products More Expensive” in Advertising and Society: Controversies and Consequences (Wiley-Blackwell), a book edited by former School of Journalism director Dr. Carol Pardun.

Dr. Wandi Ding (mathematical sciences) has published “Optimal Harvesting of a Spatially Explicit Fishery Model” in the Journal of Natural Resource Modeling and has had “Optimal Control of the Growth Coefficient in a Steady State Population Model” accepted by Nonlinear Analysis Series B. for its January 2009 issue. Ding also was invited to review two papers from Journal of Biological Dynamics and International Journal of Biomathematics, respectively, and to review a calculus textbook from Pearson Education.

Leigh Ann McInnis (nursing) co-authored “Visual Literacy in the Online Environment” in Nursing Clinics of North America, volume 42 (4), 575-582.

Pat O’Leary and Karen Ward (nursing) co-authored “Strategies for Success in Online Learning” in Nursing Clinics of North America, volume 43 (4), 547-556.

Drs. Sherry J. Roberts and Martha Balachandran (business communication and entrepreneurship) have published “Effective Telephone Interviews: A Role-Play Activity for the Business Communication Class” in the journal Business Education Forum (December 2008, Vol. 63, No. 2, pp42-45).

Dr. Debra Rose Wilson (nursing) has published a book review on Meat, Modernity, and the Rise of the Slaughterhouse by P. Y. Lee (2008) for the Social Science Journal, 46(1), January 2009. Wilson and Dr. Lita Warise (nursing) also recently published an article on cytokines and their role in depression in Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 44(4).

Workshops

Dr. Mark Anshel (health and human performance) gave a three-hour workshop on “Energy Management for High Performance” to the Fourth District Dental Society Jan. 16 at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in Murfreesboro.