An exporting powerhouse

Last year, Tennessee became the 17th leading exporter in the nation--and today is the 6th leading inland exporting state, according to Dr. Steven Livingston, associate professor, political science, in the Spring 2003 "Global Commerce," published by MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center. Tennessee exported more than $11.6 billion in 2002. For many years, the Volunteer State was in the middle of the pack, ranking 22nd in the value of its foreign sales. Ten years later it dropped to 24th. In the 1990s, however, it started a gradual ascent, and in 1997, it broke through the top 20.

Contact Livingston, editor, at 615-898-2720.
slivings@mtsu.edu
Online: http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/trade_database

Ari

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer has announced he will resign from that position as of July. How does he stack up with other presidential mouthpieces? His relationship with the press has been largely adversarial, says Dr. Bob Pondillo, assistant professor, electronic media communication. "To them, he was less than forthcoming, lacked candor and was heavily controlled. To the White House, he was excellent. He toed the administration line and was adept at spinning any awkward situation in his boss' favor. He was loyal, secretive and articulate."

Contact Pondillo at 615-904-8465.
pondillo@mtsu.edu

Poison pen

The College Board's National Commission on Writing says there is an urgent need for a writing revolution in our schools. The problem is certainly real, agrees Gary Wolf, assistant professor of journalism, and writing/editing expert. "Today's more lax communication standards are partly at fault," he says, "the traditional skills of grammar, spelling and punctuation having gone the way of clear diction in speech--just as what's correct, appropriate or effective has been replaced by what's catchy, cool or current."

Contact Wolf at 615-631-1250.
gwolf@mtsu.edu

MTSU UPLINK TODAY AT 10 A.M.

SEGMENT 1: The newly revised MTSU Academic Master Plan (AMP) sets a course for the next 10 years at the university, emphasizing student-centered learning, academic quality and developing community partnerships. Comments are offered by President Sidney A. McPhee, Dr. Kaylene Gebert, executive vice president and provost, and Dr. Phil Mathis, chair of the AMP committee.
SEGMENT 2: Dr. Janet Colson, professor, human sciences, dislikes intensely the food that is available in school vending machines, but she says the machines themselves are a windfall for school fund-raising. The school vending machines bill doesn't propose a ban on the machines--it simply wants these machines to cease dispensing junk food, which is accelerating obesity and poor health among young people.

THIS WEEK'S AUDIO CLIPS AT MTSU

Go to http://www.mtsu.edu/~proffice/audio/audio_clips.html
TOPIC 1: June is packed with events in the new Tennessee Miller Coliseum, including a 4-H horse show, a youth horsemanship camp and the Tennessee High School Rodeo finals.
TOPIC 2: MTSU students Natalie Calcaterra of Franklin and John Trenton of Somerset, Penn., share their thoughts on studying in France this summer for 10 weeks--as well as their feelings about the friction between France and the U.S. over the recent war in Iraq.
CLIP 3: Rabbi Bent Melchior discusses one of the most remarkable events of World War II--the escape from Nazi persecution by 7,000 Danish Jews who found refuge in neutral Sweden. This year marks the 60th anniversary of that event, and Melchior describes the exodus as uncommonly successful.