By Tom Tozer

They say his mind is even quicker than his fists.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter--professional middleweight boxer who was arrested in 1966 for the murder of three whites, sentenced to a triple-life term and finally exonerated in 1988--will be the African-American History Month keynote speaker at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 in Tucker Theatre. Carter's address will be free and open to the public.

Carter

To complement Carter's visit, the movie "The Hurricane," starring Denzel Washington, will be shown Feb. 3 through 8, twice daily at 6 and 9 p.m. The film will be presented in the Keathley University Center Theater. Admission will be $2 per person.

As a youngster, Carter used his fists to help dissuade others from laughing at his stuttering. He enlisted in the U.S. Army to escape a troubled youth. He became a paratrooper in the elite "Screaming Eagles" and served with the 11th Airborne in Germany. While in the service, he learned a finer art of boxing and was twice the European Light Welterweight Champion. With his powerful left hook, shaved head and early knockouts, he earned the name "Hurricane."

In 1966, Hurricane's career came to a halt when he and a teen-ager were arrested for the murder of three whites in a New Jersey bar. Narrowly escaping the electric chair, both men were sentenced to triple-life terms.

With the publication of his autobiography, "The 16th Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472," plus the recantations of the state's two witnesses, the case attracted worldwide attention. Not only did Carter become a civil rights cause, he was immortalized in the Bob Dylan song, "Hurricane." In 1976, the state threw out the convictions.

A new trial ended in Carter's being re-convicted and returned to prison. In 1985, with the help of Professor Leon Friedman and Myron Beldock, Carter appealed to federal court. U.S. District Court ruled that Carter's conviction was based on "racism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure and that his imprisonment had been a travesty." On Nov. 8, 1985, he was a free man after serving 19 years for a crime he did not commit. In February 1988, the court dismissed the 22-year-old indictment against Carter.

Now making his home in Ontario, Canada, Carter speaks to civic and community groups, as well as high school and college students, and Congress. Carter is on the board of the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Alliance for Prison Justice and is executive director of the Toronto-based Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted. Carter is the subject of a new book by Jim Hirsch titled, "Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter." The World Boxing Council recently honored Carter by awarding him the WBC Championship Belt.

The theme of this year's MTSU African-American History Month celebration is "The Color Line Revisited: Is Racism Dead?" For more information about Carter's Feb. 5 appearance in Tucker Theatre, call Student Programming at 615-898-2551. Other events include--Jan. 21: Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture, 6 p.m., KUC, speaker Dr. Ron Rochon, University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse; Jan. 25: "Black Men and Spirituality" lecture, 4 p.m., Room 103, Bragg Mass Communication Building, speaker Nasheed Dean; and Jan. 28: "Is Racism Dead in the Classroom?" a faculty development lecture, 3 p.m., Room S279, Business and Aerospace Building, speaker Steve Birdine.

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

SPRING SEMESTER CLASSES BEGIN--MTSU began Spring 2002 semester classes with 17,643 students on Jan. 7. Spring semester enrollment this year is up about 5 percent over last spring. Spring enrollment is typically lower than fall enrollment. At left, students go in and out of Keathley University Center where the grill, U.S. Postal Service boxes and Phillips Bookstore are located. Fall 2001 enrollment at MTSU was a record 20,073 students. Enrollment numbers aren't official until two weeks after the fall and spring semesters begin.

photo by Ken Robinson

Editor addresses Sept. 11 effects on news

By Angela Cannon Hayes

A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who's now editor of The Baltimore Sun says he would honor government's desire to keep certain information secret in a time of war unless the government is discovered to be "misleading."

Marimow

Editor William K. Marimow gave his perspective on the realm of freedom of information following the events of Sept. 11 in a presentation to students, staff and the media on Jan. 14 in the John Bragg Mass Communication Building.

He began by telling the audience to keep in mind public information is the "lifeblood of democracy."

"We lose site of the fact--this is our government," Marimow said. "It's easy to forget these elected officials are the stewards of our government."

However, in a time of war such as now when it's a close call whether to keep information secret, Marimow said, "I would give the government the nod."

But, "We have to keep that healthy skepticism," he said.

He discussed several instances since Sept. 11 which might trigger some skepticism of the government. For example, schedules of President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been kept confidential since Sept. 11. "This makes good sense-- before their appearances," Marimow said.

But their schedules have been secretive after their appearances, he said.

In one instance, Cheney had been raising funds in Texas, and that event was believed to have been kept secret to avoid political embarrassment, Marimow said. Another example is the prohibition of federal public information officers from speaking with the press without clearance from Health and Human Services.

One audience member asked Marimow how he thought the government was doing as far as integrity. "I honestly don't know. ... I have a healthy skepticism," he said, adding the development in HHS "disturbed me."

Before joining The Baltimore Sun in 1993, Marimow spent 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer in various roles. As a reporter, he received the Pulitzer for investigative reporting in 1985 and for public service in 1978.

CO-OP PROGRAM PROVIDES EXPERIENCE--MTSU graduate Brian McNeese says MTSU's cooperative education program "is the perfect solution for the student looking to make some money and gain valuable work experience." Last semester, about 90 students were involved in a co-op education experience, including freshman Shannon Morris, center, pre-pharmacy major, who worked as a clerk at Reeves-Sain Drug Store. Morris is joined by her parents, Barbara and David Morris of Murfreesboro. Also shown are Dr. Wayne Rollins, far left, co-op education director, and Lori Smith, far right, general manager of Reeves-Sain.

photo by Ken Robinson

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

Music lectures starting

By Tom Tozer

New pop music studies group will hold its first brown-bag gathering Jan. 23.

Recently, several faculty from various departments on campus discovered they had something in common--an interest in popular music scholarship, which was, as Paul Wells, director, Center for Popular Music, called it--"a good thing."

It was also surprising. "It's pretty unusual to have that much of a concentration of people on one campus, which is a real asset to MTSU," Wells added. "There is no program in popular music studies, but we're trying to build a cohesiveness among the people here who are interested in it in one way or another."

Wells said he and a few of his colleagues decided they should get together and discuss topics of mutual interest.

"There is a lot of interest in developing some kind of curriculum for popular music studies," Wells said. "That will have to come from some of the people within the teaching departments."

An important first step is the development of a brown-bag multi-disciplinary series of informal lectures and discussions on popular music topics, under the banner "Music at Mid-Week." It will be sponsored by the Center for Popular Music and this fledgling Middle Tennessee Popular Music Studies Group.

All talks will be held in the Bragg Mass Communications Building (241), with the exception of April 3, which will be in Peck Hall 222. For more information, call the Center for Popular Music at 615-898-2449. Lectures times are from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m. Schedules follows:

*Jan. 23--Dr. Stephen Shearon (music), "Popular Music Studies: A Musicologist's Perspective."

*Jan. 30 --Sonya Lawson (music),

"Strings in Jazz."

*Feb. 6--Dan Pfeifer (recording industry), "Communication Aspects of Production."

*Feb. 13--Dr. Paul Fischer (recording industry), "Popular Music and Public Policy."

*Feb. 20--Dr. Kristine McCusker (history), "Authenticating America: Lily May Ledford and the King of England."

*Feb. 27--Dr. Michael Dunne (English), "Dance as a Narrative Agent in Hollywood Musicals."

*March 6--Dr. Charles Wolfe (English), "The Bristol Syndrome: Early Field Recordings of Country Music."

*March 13--Paul Wells (Center for Popular Music), "The Early Music Business in Tennessee."

*March 20--Bruce Nemerov (Center for Popular Music) and Dr. Mary Nichols (digital media communications), "Documenting Music in a West Tennessee Community."

*March 27--spring break

*April 3--Dr. Timothy H. Breen (Strickland Visiting Scholar, history), "Writing an Opera about Slavery. (Peck Hall 222)

*April 10--Dr. John Dougan (recording industry), "Objects of Desire: Canon Formation and Blues Record Collecting."

*April 17--Dr. Mike Alleyne (recording industry), "Caribbean Music and the American Mainstream."

HONORED--President Sidney McPhee, right, congratulates Dr. Charles Baum, economics and finance.

Baum earns 1st Bridgestone honor

By Tom Tozer

Investing in young teaching talent is what the new Bridgestone-Firestone Distinguished Assistant Professorship is all about. The award is presented to a faculty member who has exhibited early success and outstanding promise, said Dr. Jim Burton, business dean.

Dr. Charles Baum, assistant professor, economics and finance, recently was selected to receive that honor for 2001-2002.

The Bridgestone-Firestone Trust Fund will contribute $15,000 each year for three years to the Jennings A. Jones College of Business to fund the program.

"This is a unique award, and we are extremely gratified by Bridgestone-Firestone's commitment," Burton said. "Most often, professorships are provided to the most successful professors somewhat later in their careers as a means of recognizing past accomplishments. This gift is given to a young faculty member in order to encourage him or her to reach and continue that high level of performance."

Baum's research includes areas in labor economics and public policy. He joined MTSU in August 1999.

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

ON DISPLAY--Baldwin Photographic Gallery displays an exhibit called, "IMAGES: The Burning Man Festival," through Feb. 28. It features the work of Barbara Traub and A. Leo Nash. They'll lecture Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Room 103, Bragg Mass Communication Building. The gallery is in the Learning Resources Center. The exhibit is displayed 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8-11:45 a.m. Saturdays and 6-9:45 p.m. Sundays.

photo by Barbara Traub

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

Rucker talks about hope in lecture

By Lisa L. Rollins

Hope will be at the heart of a Monday, Jan. 28, lecture sponsored by MTSU's Honors College as part of its Spring 2002 Lecture Series.

The free talk, which will run 3-3:50 p.m. in Peck Hall 109A, is the second of 13 presentations in the college's "Survival" lecture series.

 

Rucker

Robert L. Rucker, associate professor, social work, will center his upcoming presentation on the extraordinary examples set by three hope-inspiring individuals--concentration camp survivor and best-selling author Viktor Frankl, renowned blues guitarist B.B. King and Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, whose career has focused on working with the terminally ill.

"The definition of hope is to wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment, to look forward to with confidence or expectation," said Rucker.

Rucker said he will approach the series' "Survival" theme from the perspective of "surviving in terms of looking for better days and better times, and just looking for endurance."

Moreover, in the aftermath of Sept. 11, hope is something everyone can use more of, he said.

"I think hope is innate, but then at the same time, if you are around people who have hope, then you are going to learn the power of hope, to see that something is not futile, because you know that individuals have hope and can be brought into touch with hope and fulfillment," Rucker said.

Regarding the individuals Rucker will discuss, "Viktor Frankl, the author of 'Man's Search for Meaning,' survived Nazi concentration camps through hope," Rucker said. "B.B. King, in singing the blues, talks about a better world, somewhere, with his guitar and his folksy presentation. And Dr. Kubler-Ross talks about hope with terminally ill patients and patients who are in the process of dying.

"I like Viktor Frankl because (he) deals with the whole issue of logotherapy, and I am in the process of really looking at it to find out what logotherapy really is. But we already know that it involves a type of psychology that you can think about something to the point that it actually comes into being."

As for Kubler-Ross, Rucker said her identification of the five stages that terminally ill patients experience is something we can all learn from when facing trying situations. "There's the whole issue, first of all, of anger and denial, depression, bargaining and acceptance--though not necessarily in that order," he said. Hope permeates through stages.

The musical artistry of King also is something that exemplifies hope, and contemporary music fans and theatergoers have embraced this message as of late, as evidenced by the commercial success of the "O' Brother, Where Art Thou?" film and soundtrack, depicting the Depression era, he said.

For more information on the lecture, call 615-898-2152.

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist to perform

Jeff Coffin, others take part in MTSU festival

by Lisa L. Rollins

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin will be among the guest performers who'll take part in the second annual MTSU Saxophone Festival from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2.

In addition to Coffin, saxophonist for Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, other featured artists-clinicians who are slated to perform at the jazz-packed event include Don Aliquo, assistant professor of music and recording artist; Denis Solee, acclaimed Nashville jazz and studio musician; and Brian Horner, saxophonist for The Arbor Quartet.

The festival, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Wright Music Building and the Saunders Fine Arts Building on the MTSU campus.

"This totally free festival is tailored to all levels of saxophone study, from beginners to advanced students ... (and) both classical and jazz styles will be explored," Aliquo said. "This is a great opportunity to learn more about your instrument (sax) and study with some of the region's top saxophonists."

The daylong workshop will include master classes designed to provide attendees with an opportunity to learn about several aspects of saxophone performance.

Later in the day during the event, Coffin, Aliquo and Solee will deliver performances. Also, attendees will have opportunities to play for one another as well as receive instruction from the festival faculty throughout the day. Students will be encouraged to perform and participate in master classes and bring their saxophones.

In addition to his heavy touring schedule with the Flecktones, saxophonist/composer Coffin's versatility has made him a highly in demand session player, having performed on nearly 100 recordings. He also continues to teach privately and conduct clinics at schools around the country, trying to pass along his belief that "it's all about education."

"I am always looking for new things to think about and new ideas to develop musically," he said. "I ask people all the time to share with me what they are checking out and I, in turn, try to do the same."

Music faculty member Aliquo is active as an educator, performer and clinician. His two compact discs, "February Regrets" and "Power of Two," showcase Aliquo's original compositional style and innovative modern tenor approach within the genre. Moreover, "Power of Two" was featured on JazzSouth Radio and was nominated for Nashville Music Award's Jazz Album of the Year in 2000. His yet-to-be-titled third CD of original jazz compositions will be released in 2002.

To register to participate in the festival, contact Aliquo at 615-904-8362 or via e-mail at daliquo@mtsu.edu. For additional performance information, contact the School of Music at 615-898-2493.

NEW DEVELOPMENT OFFICE GOING UP--The contractor for the $830,988, 7,000-square-foot Development Building is Romach Inc. The new facility will be located across from the Cope Administration Building, where the Earthman House once stood. Excavation is under way. Workers are also digging a trench for the data/telephone lines. Completion date is projected to be August 2002.

photo by Ken Robinson

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

Construction goes on

New parking lots opening for MTSU campus

By Tom Tozer

Although it may not always seem so, there is indeed an end to construction projects on campus as evidenced by the completion of the paving and striping of the Kirksey Old Main parking lot, adjacent to the Voorhies Industrial Complex.

In addition, the new Woodfin parking lot on the corner of Tennessee Boulevard and Greenland Avenue should, as of this reading, be open for business--barring inclement weather.

The steam replacement line project, Phase III, should be completed as of this reading. The seeding and strawing for new grass as well as sidewalk restoration comprised the final phase. Discussions are under way regarding Phase IV.

Chiller replacement project bids were received Oct. 10. Anderson Piping of Nashville was low bidder, and the notice to proceed was received Nov. 12. The old chillers and controls centers have been removed, and the two new ones have arrived. Only one 10-year-old chiller is left--all others have been replaced.

Inclement weather has periodically stalled work on the quadrangle, with the completion date now moved to the middle of this month. The concrete work is 95 percent finished, and brick work is 95 percent completed. The granite has arrived, and sod was installed prior to the semester break.

The Tennessee Miller Coliseum project is on schedule. Steel is going up on the North Thompson Lane site. Storm drainage is being installed. Columns are poured as well as some footings at the north end of the event level. The form for the elevated slab on the north end has begun. Roofing panels are being installed on the arena, and workers are pouring slab on grade concourses. Completion date is projected to be Dec. 1, 2003.

Also, workers have poured the footings, piers and pedestals for the Horse Science Building adjacent to the coliseum site. Steel should be going up as of this reading. Completion date is scheduled for July 26, 2002.

Weather has hampered both elevator projects. The Cope Administration Building elevator should be finished by the end of this month. The James Union Building elevator should be completed by early February.

The contractor for the $830,988 7,000-square-foot Development Building is Romach Inc. The new facility will be located across from Cope where the Earthman House once stood. Excavation is under way, and the construction of a water line from East Main Street is 80 percent completed. Workers are also digging a trench for the data/telephone lines. Completion date is projected to be August 2002.

The Keathley University Center renovation entails closing the third floor game room permanently and moving the store to the second floor across from the grill-TV viewing area. The third floor space will be converted into offices. The job should go out for bids this month.

The Honors College building went out for bids Jan. 16. Design plans for the renovation of the Todd Building are in progress, and more details will be forthcoming.

The fire alarm system in KOM will be upgraded, and that project went out for bids Jan. 16. Upcoming projects include renovation of Smith Hall, the re-roofing of several buildings, and finding a new location for the MTSU observatory. Also, a study of the center section on the third floor of Jones Hall--after sections of ceiling plaster collapsed recently--will determine what needs to be done to repair the damage. In the meantime, several faculty offices have been temporarily relocated to the study carrels in the James E. Walker Library. Progress of construction is influenced by weather.

The Record, January 21, 2002, V10.14

TIGG RECEIVES PLAQUE--Lewis Tigg, left, stock room manager in the Department of Chemistry, receives a plaque from MTSU President Sidney McPhee honoring Tigg's 45 years of service to the university. In the center is Dr. Barbara Haskew, MTSU provost and vice president, Academic Affairs.

Tigg honored for 45 years of service with university

By Tom Tozer

The chemistry just must be perfect between Lewis Tigg and MTSU.

How else can one explain the fact that Tigg has worked at the university for 45 years--"the only job I ever had?"

Recently Tigg was honored for his years of service as chief stock clerk in the Department of Chemistry. The formal program recognized groups of faculty and staff who have served for 25, 30 and 35 years--but Tigg's name stood alone under the heading "45 Years."

"I started my employment here right out of high school in 1956 as a custodian at what was then the Training School where Dr. Hilary Parker was principal," Tigg recalled.

"In 1960, I started working in the chemistry department as stock room manager. I was the first to work in that position," Tigg said. "Before I came, only students worked there between classes. It was on-the-job training in those days--now you have to already have experience or a degree for a job like this."

Tigg organizes and arranges all the chemicals and has literally created his own system for everything he does.

When Tigg joined the chemistry department, Dr. J.E. Wiser was department chair and Dr. Q.M. Smith was president.

"I have worked under four department chairs and six university presidents," Tigg said.

"I am grateful for the position, and I am also grateful for the recognition. I have enjoyed working here," he said.