Due to staff being out of the office, there will be no formal "Today's Response" on Feb. 6, 7 or 10. However, singular items of interest may be sent to the TR list during that time. Thank you.

Bush speech 'powerful'

When Dr. John Vile, political science chair, read rather than watched President's Bush's speech Saturday following the shuttle disaster, "it impresses me as one of the most powerful in memory. ... It was personal, consoling, and uplifting, all within little more compass than the Gettysburg Address. Like that address, it unapologetically used religious imagery but in a manner that I think very few will find objectionable." The president should give his speech writer a pay raise, Vile adds.

Contact Vile at 615-898-2596.
jvile@mtsu.edu

Major is cemented

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission recently approved MTSU's Concrete Industry Management program as a major, the first such designation by THEC statewide since it changed the required number of hours for students to graduate from 132 to 120 last fall. There are 205 students currently enrolled in the CIM program. "The external support provided by the concrete industry is evidence of its demand," says Dr. Diane Miller, interim vice provost for academic affairs. "This degree will certainly address the needs of the industry in Tennessee and has the potential for national impact."

Contact Miller at 615-898-2881 dmiller@mtsu.edu or contact Austin Cheney, CIM director, at 615-904-8470 acheney@mtsu.edu.

Music immortalized

Dr. John Dougan, assistant professor, recording industry, says that all 50 inaugural recordings introduced into the new National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress are culturally, historically and aesthetically significant and "to varying degrees, spectacular moments in recorded sound and American history." Dougan notes that Hank Williams is "conspicuously absent," as are Mississippi delta blues artists of the 20s and 30s such as Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. "A strong case could also be made for Mamie Smith's 1920 recording of 'Crazy Blues,'" he says, adding that some of these may be among future selections.

Contact Dougan at 615-898-2578.
jdougan@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA: TODAY, Feb. 3, at 3:00 p.m. in Peck Hall 109A, Dr. Richard Hannah, professor of economics and finance and Honors Lecture Series presenter, will speak on "The Commercialization of Culture." Contact Hannah at rlhannah@mtsu.edu. Media welcomed.
TODAY, Feb. 3, 11:30 a.m., a free and open reception for artists Donna Stack of Murfreesboro, Barry Jones of Cochran, Ga., and Chad Curtis of Claremont, Calif., installation artists whose works will be displayed in MTSU's Art Barn Gallery. At noon to 1 p.m., the three artists will take guests on a walk-through tour and discuss their art. Media welcomed.
TOMORROW, Feb. 4, 9 a.m., Learning Resources Center, John Sanborn and Dr. Stacey Borasky, social work, will present a video conference, "Student Social Workers in Your Community," to a live studio audience and several remote audiences of high school students and teachers. The program will introduce students to social services resources and fieldwork opportunities in Middle Tennessee. Contact Dr. Connie Schmidt, director, Instructional Technical Support Center, at 615-898-5191. Media welcomed.
TOMORROW, Feb. 4, 10 a.m., Homer Pittard Campus School, 923 E. Lytle St. in Murfreesboro, 1st- and 6th--graders will welcome guests--including alumni from several decadesÑfor the kickoff of a yearlong celebration (and oral history project) of the school's 75th anniversary. Media welcomed. Contact Cindy Cliche and Dr. Stan Baskin, principal, at 615-895-1030; for information about the "Hometown Connection" oral history project, contact Dr. Ron Kates at 615-898-2595.