Meet a great grad!

MTSU's commencement is May 10 at 10 a.m. in Murphy Center. Gov. Phil Bredesen will speak. One of our superstar grads is Amy Calloway, from Kingston, Tenn. Amy is a public relations major, with minors in English and marketing. She has a 4.0 GPA. She has received the Academic Service Scholarship, Paul Martin Honors Scholarship, Alpha Delta Pi Founders Day Scholarship and the Scott C. Ratterman Highest GPA Cheerleading Scholarship. Amy is a scholar, athlete and public servant. She was associate director of this year's "Up 'til Dawn' fund raiser for St. Jude, "one of the most rewarding experiences of my life." Her other activities include Student Ambassadors, Golden Key and Tau Omicron Honor Society.

Contact Amy at 615-867-9058 or meet her in person on May 10.

Obesity and cancer

According to some reports, there is a link between being overweight and cancer. But no one knows exactly why, says Dr. John Zamora, microbiologist and cancer expert. The problem isn't so much weight as the amount of body fat. "Water-soluble chemicals enter and leave the body quickly. Fat and fat-soluble chemicals are hard to get rid of. You would be exposed to the effects of that chemical for a long period of time. If the chemical is known to cause mutation or cancer, your exposure to that chemical would still occur long after you had removed that chemical from your environment." That long-term exposure would increase the risk of cancer.

Contact Zamora at 615-898-2067.
jzamora@mtsu.edu

Sex and salvation

For many reasons, including racism, minorities have HIV/AIDS rates that are much higher than the majority community, says Dr. Cheryl Ellis, professor of health education/public and community. "When we blanket these variables with the predominant conservative religious mentality of the South that for the most part frowns on comprehensive sexuality education, the only apparent outcome is an epidemic of HIV/AIDS." The incidence of AIDS is higher in rural areas and among female and African-American populations--often taking on the face of poverty. Inaccessible health care is a major problem, she points out.

Contact Ellis at 615-898-2893.
cellis@mtsu.edu