They're not playing our song

Dr. Tom Hutchison, associate professor, recording industry, wonders if we're returning to the era of Joseph McCarthy, when celebrities suffered from entertainment industry blacklisting for their unpopular beliefs. Referring to the Dixie Chicks incident, he says some stations, concerned about alienating listeners, tend to over-react to controversy. "After 9-11, Clear Channel circulated a memo advising that some songs may not be suitable for airplay, and listed those songs. This caused as much of a backlash as playing the songs--and is setting a dangerous precedent of corporate censorship," he says. By removing songs, stations themselves are making a political statement, he adds.

Contact Hutchison at 615-898-5695.
thutchis@mtsu.edu

Pledge allegiance ... or else!

The Utah Senate passed a bill that would require junior high and high school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. "I would support additional efforts to teach children about the benefits of citizenship rather than force them to demonstrate an attitude that they have not yet learned," says John Sanborn, associate professor, social work. Some adolescents learn at home not to make public affirmations regarding political issues, and some of those children are likely to refrain from a recitation of the pledge because of that type of family training, he notes. Is the pledge important enough to force children to disobey--or feel that they are disobeying their parents?

Contact Sanborn at 615-898-2685.
jsanborn@mtsu.edu

Cancer

Is the spread of American business and lifestyle a cause of the increasing incidence of cancer around the world, especially in emerging developing nations? Dr. John Zamora, professor of biology and cancer expert, says that although there is a strong correlation between certain environmental agents and cancer, there are many factors that play a role in cancer. Some cancers are genetic. Some are caused by genetic changes in a cell--or mutations. "Part of the increase in cancer rates ... could also be caused by some American industries--[namely] medical and pharmaceutical." People who once might have died from an easily curable disease are living to an age where cancer becomes a possibility, he notes.

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