A Quarterly Newsletter

COSY SHERIDAN TO PERFORM AT ETSU

National award-winning songwriter Cosy Sheridan has been performing her one-woman show, The Pomegranate Seed, across the country. Delighting audiences with her distinctive take on the media's message about women's bodies, and her modern-day retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone's journey to the underworld, Sheridan is scheduled to perform on the ETSU campus on Monday, February 18, 2008. Location is the Brown Hall Auditorium at 7:00 p.m.

Audiences call the show affirming. After seeing the show one woman was overheard saying, "Every woman in American should see this."

The Pomegranate Seed (An Exploration of Appetite, Body-Image and Myth in Modern Culture) is a two-act narrative of songs and monologue chronicling one woman's journey into the symbolic underworld and her emergence as a more vibrant and empowered woman.

In framing one woman's life mythically as she moves into enlightenment, The Pomegranate Seed is a story of finding meaning in life's experiences. The first act weaves together humor and music in an exploration of messages from the media, from cultural icons and family. The second act parallels the Greek myth of Persephone, who was abducted to the underworld and forced to eat the food of the dead, the pomegranate seed. This modern Persephone, who falls in love with a biker named Hades, learns how to turn the food of the dead into the seed of her own rebirth.

Cosy Sheridan and her music have played everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Dr. Demento Show. The winner of the Kerrville NewFolk songwriting award and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's Troubadour award, The Boston Globe called her "a wonderfully lively, very funny and enormously amiable entertainer, with a keen and wicked eye for the excesses of our fast-food, TV-happy and noisome culture." The Albuquerque Journal dubbed her "a Buddhist monk in a 12-step program trapped in the body of a singer-songwriter."

In reviewing her critically-acclaimed CD, Anthymn, Acoustic Guitar Magazine said, "If I were going to throw an all-girl dinner party at which I wanted to laugh and cry from the hors d'oeuvres to the chocolate pudding, Cosy Sheridan is the first woman I'd invite."

Sheridan’s performance is sponsored by the ETSU Counseling Center, Mountain States Health Alliance, Frontier Health, Buctainment, and the Women’s Resource Center. For more information contact the ETSU Counseling Center at 423-439-4841 or the Women’s Center at 423-439-7847.

Article photo credits: T. R. Ritchie.

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Murray to conduct
visual journaling workshop

Pam Murray, B.A., M.B.A., local artist and art instructor, returns to campus during Spring Semester 2008 to conduct a two-part series entitled “Visual Journaling.” Murray’s two-part workshop is focused on assisting your personal growth, soul searching, and self expression. By going beyond just words, that sometimes you cannot find; to see and describe what your thoughts, imaginations, and feelings might look like in colors, shapes, imagery; Murray’s series is designed to open up new horizons. Using both writing and visual expressions – from doodles and scribbles to drawings, from poems and quotations to letters and maps, from colors and abstract to collages and realistic portrayals (illustrations you made or found in magazines, cards, brochures, anywhere), the goal is not to create a work of art or literature but to explore YOU.

Scheduled for January 29 and February 5, both sessions will be held at the Women’s Resource Center, Panhellenic Hall, basement suite 2, at noon. Reservations are required. To reserve a space or should you need additional information, contact the Women’s Resource Center at 423-439-7847.

Women’s Health Series -
Winter/Spring 2008

Among people seeking pain relief alternatives, most choose chiropractic treatment. About 22 million Americans visit chiropractors annually. Of these, 7.7 million, or 35 percent, are seeking relief from back pain from various causes, including accidents, sports injuries, and muscle strains.

On Tuesday, February 12, 2008, Edward J. Peeks, D.C., is guest speaker for “Chiropractic: Connecting the Brain and the Body.” Location is the East Tennessee Room in the D.P. Culp University Center, at noon.

Dr. Peeks, who is Johnson City’s longest practicing chiropractor, will discuss why chiropractors do what they do and why he is a lifetime chiropractic patient. This Women’s Health Series seminar includes a health quiz, along with a question and answer period.

The normal, healthy heart has its own pacemaker that regulates the rate that the heart beats. However, some hearts don't beat regularly. Often a pacemaker device can correct the problem. Primarily used to maintain a suitable heart rate and rhythm, a pacemaker may also be used to treat fainting spells (syncope), congestive heart failure, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

On Tuesday, February 26, 2008, Phyllis Eldridge, R.N., N.A.S.P.E., clinical specialist with Medtronic, Inc., is guest speaker for “Hearts, Pacemakers, and Women.” Location for the Eldridge seminar is the East Tennessee Room, D.P. Culp University Center, at noon.

Eldridge will discuss everything from general heart anatomy to patient expectations following a pacemaker implant. Even if an implant is not a personal concern, often many of us are caring for a family member or loved one with a pacemaker implant and don’t know what to expect along the way; this Women’s Health Series seminar will help address many of those concerns.

For more information on the Peeks or Eldridge seminars, contact the Women’s Resource Center at 423-439-7847.

Saluting the Women of ETSU

In November 2007 Mary “Murry” Andrews was recognized for her “outstanding service to the university and/or our surrounding community” through the Employee Recognition Program coordinated through the Office of Human Resources. Andrews has been employed with ETSU since December of 2000 and according to the written nomination, her job performance goes above and beyond the call of duty as she goes the “extra mile” to assist students.

Andrews, pictured left, provides Financial Aid Awareness throughout our campus, local high schools, and city. She diligently notifies students and parents about the importance of “Applying Early” for Financial Aid and scholarships. She also seeks departmental and community involvement in the application process.

Due to Andrews’ hard work, ETSU was awarded special recognition from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for Creating Financial Aid Awareness in East Tennessee. She is also providing workshops at state conferences to assist other colleges in developing a Financial Aid Awareness Program. The Office of Financial Aid and the students at ETSU are very fortunate to have such a dedicated counselor in our midst.

Congratulations on this much deserved recognition.

5th Annual
“HEAD 2 TOE”

During the last four years the annual “HEAD 2 TOE” project and sale has provided the opportunity for more than 275 young women from the upper-east Tennessee region with the option of purchasing prom- and formal-wear at “rock-bottom” prices. An annual project that offers alternatives to high-ticket attire for prom-goers, “HEAD 2 TOE” makes a large selection of fashionable, like-new gowns available for young women to purchase at a price of $25 each and oftentimes accessories can be purchased for just a few additional dollars. All proceeds from the sales of the items will benefit Girl’s Inc. of Johnson City/Washington County.

For the fifth consecutive year the ETSU Women’s Resource Center will serve as a drop-off site for “HEAD 2 TOE” donations. Items requested include prom or formal dresses, shoes, and/or accessories. The Center has received numerous donations to date and items for donation will be accepted through February 8, 2008. The annual “HEAD 2 TOE” sale is held in February of each year at Girl’s Inc, which is located in the heart of Johnson City at 227 Library Lane. So go through your closets at home and locate that like-new prom and formal-wear clothing taking up your valuable closet space and donate those items to a great community-based project.

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