• Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Learn More
• His Master's Voice

1. An MTSU education professor advocates providing equal opportunity for higher education to undocumented aliens. Dr. Laura Blackwell Clark cites a 1982 Supreme Court ruling that deems a K-12 education as a life necessity that cannot be refused youngsters on the basis of immigration status. But Clark says colleges are not bound by that decision.

Laura1.mp3 :18 OC: "of universities, obviously";

A state legislative subcommittee this year tabled a bill that would have denied undocumented aliens access to public universities in Tennessee. Clark, who works with Latino groups, says people who think an undocumented person would take a slot designated for a Tennessean or other American are wrong.

2. Largely because of the economy, immigration bills have not gained much traction in the state legislature this year. One bill that died would have denied access to public universities in Tennessee to undocumented aliens. Dr. Laura Blackwell Clark, an MTSU assistant professor of educational leadership, says some people fear that providing undocumented aliens access to higher education would be a waste of time and money. But she insists they would change their minds if they spent time with the Latino groups she helps.

Laura2.mp3 :20 OC: "status, I should say";

In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law denying K-12 education to children who are undocumented aliens. Clark says she would like to see the same standard applied to higher education.

3. While economists say the millions of undocumented aliens in the workforce represent a sort of permanent underclass, what chance will they have at upward mobility if they are denied access to higher education? That is the question Dr. Laura Blackwell Clark poses. Clark, an assistant professor of educational leadership, works with Latinos in Middle Tennessee. She says the stigma of their status as illegal aliens doesn't tell the whole story.

Laura3.mp3 :13 OC: "when they work";

Clark says immigrants should be granted access to higher education on the basis of residence, not immigration status. She supports passage of the DREAM Act, a bill pending in Congress that would provide some 65,000 people a pathway to citizenship through either two years of college or two years of military service. To qualify, undocumented young people would have to be of good moral character and stay in conditional residency.

4. Why recreate the production quality of the earliest audio recordings in existence when today's digital technology provides the purest, cleanest sound to date? Because it's fun! That's what Martin Fisher says about his hobby of making modern recordings on wax cylinders not unlike those used on a turn-of-the-century Edison phonograph.

Martin1.mp3 :17 OC: "up through 1902";

Fisher is the manager of Recorded Media Collections at MTSU's Center for Popular Music. He says the original Edison cylinders were about four inches long, two inches in diameter and about a quarter of an inch thick. Fisher says he orders his cylinders from an Englishman who makes them as a specialty but can ship them in bulk.

5. You, too, can return to those golden days of yesteryear, complete with all the snap, crackle and pop that characterizes turn-of-the-century phonograph recordings. Martin Fisher of MTSU's Center for Popular Music makes contemporary recordings of folk music on a 1906-era Edison cylinder device. Fisher says an expert probably could tell the difference between his recordings and those done on an original Edison machine, but an amateur probably could not tell them apart.

Martin2.mp3 :17 OC: "modified recording head";

Fisher says the best way to listen to the original early brown wax recordings is through ear tubes, the predecessors to headphones, which were made of rubber and inserted directly into the ears. This brings out much more of their true fidelity than the standard horns, which were also used at the time.

6. When Martin Fisher isn't collecting and preserving musical recordings for MTSU's Center for Popular Music, he's indulging his unique hobby—making contemporary recordings with Edison-era equipment on wax cylinders. Fisher shows off his labor of love at area gatherings like the 2007 Reelfoot Lake Arts and Crafts Festival, where he recorded Jeff Long's performance of "The Old Man and the Lawyer";—Edison-style.

Martin3.mp3 :29 OC: "seldom lose"; (guitar out)

Fisher says all of his cylinder tracks are recorded directly into a computer with an electric pickup with no equalization. Pitch and volume are adjusted in the audio files, and fades are added for the modern version of the recording.

7. Today's sounds captured with yesterday's methods—that's what Martin Fisher demonstrates at events like the Reelfoot Arts and Crafts Festival and the Memphis Folk Alliance festival. Fisher is in charge of Recorded Media Collections for MTSU's Center for Popular Music, but in his spare time he records music on turn-of-the-century-style wax cylinders. Fisher says he does it for fun, but his skills have a practical application.

Martin4.mp3 :18 OC: "you can hear their voice";

Fisher's equipment includes a cylinder shaver that enables cylinders to be reused, an Edison Home Phonograph with a swan-necked horn for playback, and an Edison Triumph to record the cylinders. He says the modern-day cylinders have almost the same chemical composition as the original Edison-era cylinders.

8. ADDITIONAL CUT TO BE USED AT THE ANCHOR'S DISCRETION: For comparison's sake, here is the first recorded promotional message on an Edison phonograph. The original 1906 recording features Len Spencer delivering a sales pitch for the Edison device on which the cylinder is being played. Note the stentorian tone of Spencer's voice.

Edison1.mp3 2:10 OC: "Ask the dealer!";