'Muddling along'

The midstate economy, while muddling along, showed a modest increase in employment from last year, writes Dr. David Penn, director of MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center in the Winter 2003 issue of Midstate Economic Indicators. "By contrast, nearly six in 10 metropolitan areas in the U.S. reported job losses from last year. In very large metro areas with 750,000 jobs or more, the pain was more severe: 29 of 38 metro areas lost jobs. Atlanta lost 61,800 jobs from 2001; Chicago lost 56,800 and New York 43,400." The good news is that in the midstate labor market, the unemployment rate continues to fall, Penn notes.

Contact Penn at 615-898-2610.
dpenn@mtsu.edu
Visit http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc

Lost in cyberspace

According to some reports, even many tech-savvy students are opting to apply to college using the paper application rather than online. Some say they fear their app will get lost in cyberspace; others are afraid of their privacy being violated; still others say they think electronic apps aren't taken as seriously. Lynn Palmer, MTSU director of admissions, says online apps are treated with the same respect as paper apps--and every app that arrives via the Internet is printed and entered by hand. "When students choose to apply electronically, they need to make sure the school's app is on a secure server. This should ease the concerns of sending personal information into cyberspace," she says.

Contact Palmer at 615-898-2239.
lpalmer@mtsu.edu

Super Bowl shoppers

Do people respond with their pocketbooks to advertising during a huge event like the Super Bowl? Does all the hype and excitement loosen the purse strings? Dr. Mark Anshel, sports psychologist, says while he doesn't have any hard data to support the issue one way or another, he guesses not. "Watchers want to see a football game, and the environment in which this is done is highly social. Alcohol and food that accompany Super Bowl parties distract viewers from product advertisements." However, there certainly are more viewers, which might lead to a different conclusion, he adds.

Contact Anshel at 615-898-2812.
manshel@mtsu.edu

TODAY'S MTSU UPLINK AT 10 A.M.

SEGMENT 1: "The Eternal Light," a photo exhibit in MTSU's Baldwin Photographic Gallery featuring the work of Arlene Gottfried, is part of the university's celebration of African American History Month.
SEGMENT 2: Planning for college--Lynn Palmer, admissions director, and David Hutton, financial aid director, offer advice for students who plan to attend college this fall.
SEGMENT 3: Dr. Tony Badger, Paul Mellon Professor of History at Cambridge University, has been commissioned by MTSU's Albert Gore Sr. Research Center to write a biography of the center's namesake. Badger discusses the project.