Matthew Shepard's legacy

The message and memory of the gay, young man who was hung on a fence to die remain alive through the work of his mother, Judy Shepard, who serves as executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Mrs. Shepard will be the guest of MTSU Ideas and Issues, MTSU Lambda and MTSU Freethought Alliance at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, April 2, in the Tennessee Room of the James Union Building. She will discuss the legacy of her son. The Foundation supports educational projects that raise awareness of the issues involving discrimination and diversity. Free and open. Reception will follow. Media welcomed.

For more information, contact Dr. James Williams at 615-898-2633.
jhwillia@mtsu.edu

Blocks from the towers

Todd Gitlin lived just blocks from where the twin towers once stood. The day after 9/11, Gitlin, Columbia University professor of journalism and sociology, wrote, "There's a perverse abuse of language in play from Washington officials. Disturbingly and repeatedly, they have been talking about freedomÑfreedom under attack. ... It obscures the nature of violence and buries it in abstraction. ... To identify America with freedom is to echo the blindness of the killers." Gitlin will speak at 3 p.m. April 3 in Mass Comm 104 as a guest of MTSU's John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. This is free and open to the public and to media.

Contact Dr. David Eason, chair director
deason@mtsu.edu
or Sharon Fitzgerald at 615-890-8578
fitzcomm@comcast.net

A lesson for teachers

Teachers of children should certainly talk to their school counselor or psychologist if they're not sure what to say in class about the war, advises Dr. Susan Sobel, licensed clinical and school psychologist. "Teachers or other adults who disagree with the war do need to be careful about separating our government's actions from those of military personnel. They are doing a very tough job, whether they agree with the reasons or not, and should not be condemned for it." Children who have loved ones in combat do not need to hear derogatory comments about our soldiers, she says, adding that a few teachers in Maine were called on the carpet for that kind of behavior.

Contact Sobel at 615-898-5288.
ssobel@mtsu.edu

TR EXTRA: TODAY, at 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., The Tunnel of Love or Pain, Murphy Center, Dance Studios A & B; the campus and general public are invited to walk through the tunnel and see displays, ask questions and obtain literature about STDs. Contact organizer Dr. Dianne Bartley at 615-898-2890. Media welcomed.
TODAY--The final day of the Eighth Annual Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference, "The Challenge Continues." Call the NPA office at 615-898-2919 for details regarding times and locations. Media welcomed.
TODAY, at 9 a.m., "Fad Diets Don't Work," a videoconference presented by Rebecca Roth, HPERS department, and Dr. Janet Colson, human sciences; a live studio audience will be composed of middle and high school students; Learning Resources Center, Satellite Videoconferencing Center; contact Dr. Connie Schmidt at 615-898-5191; Roth at 615-904-8426; Colson at 615-898-2884. Media welcomed.