The Career Services staff welcomed Kenichiro “Ken” Horino, senior career coordinator with the Senshu University in Japan, and Naoki Yamada, adviser for Corporate Human Resource with Bridgestone Americas Inc. Horino and Yamada visited Career Services on Sept. 11. Horino, a Japanese colleague, met with Career Services to learn more about Belmont’s internship programs, Belmont and Beyond programs, career coaching, career assessments, career management tools, employer outreach and LinkedIn.
Assistant Professor of Theatre Jim Al-Shamma has had an article accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal, The Eugene O’Neill Review. The article compares the depiction of melancholy in the plays of Eugene O’Neill and Sarah Ruhl and will appear in the Spring 2014 issue.
Five of the more than 10 Keith Urban songs audio engineering technology instructor Joe Baldridge recorded over the past year made it to the official release of “Fuse.” Justin Niebank put finishing touches on the Trigger Hippy EP, which Baldridge recorded, for a fall Record Day release on vinyl. Baldridge also tracked the Jackie Greene composition “It’s Alright” this month and will track the final two songs in October on the next Black Crowes tour break. He also works with developing artist Alec Benjamin consulting with producer Sacha Skarbek and coordinating branding with Sneak Attack in New York City. Benjamin continued to grow his fan base by playing Fluxbah in Berlin, Reeperbahn in Hamburg and Enterprise in London, and Benjamin’s Mixtape 2 released to iTunes on Sept. 17.
Audio Engineering Technology Assistant Professor David Tough and adjunct music faculty Billy Contreras were nominated for a Dove Award in Canada. The song “Comfort and Peace” was written by Sean Spicer, Judy Paster and Bill Dilugi. It was performed by Contreras and produced and engineered by Tough. It been nominated for Instrumental Song of the Year.
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but acrylics on canvases tell the life story of a Vietnamese political refugee who found inspiration and acceptance at Belmont University.
Painting a bird flying in the moonlight reminds Tam Mai of his mom, who married young and lived a difficult life in poverty. Brush strokes detail a small boatman crossing a large river and make Mai reflect on how he forsook his teachers as a child. Mixing the reds, oranges and yellows of fall leaves give him strength. A brightly colored landscape brings to his mind the romantic dreams he wants to accomplish with his wife.
These and a dozen other Mai paintings are on display in the Leu Art Gallery where on Monday the University hosted a reception for Mai, a Wheeler Hall custodian.
Mai, who has worked at Belmont for a decade, immigrated to Nashville as a political refugee. He speaks little English but with fellow custodians and his son, a Belmont alumnus, working as translators, he addressed the Belmont community during the reception.
Alumna Kathleen Bond (’11) knew she wanted to own her own business, so she studied entrepreneurship while in the Honors Program at Belmont University. But it was two years later that the then-Turnip Truck manager would return to campus for insight at the Center for Entrepreneurship. With the guidance of professors, she and her parents purchased and remodeled a coffee shop in the Gulch.
“When we first started looking at Casablanca, background research could only get us so far,” Bond said. “We needed someone who could help us understand why they were trying to get out of the market and how we could make profits and lower costs.”
Entrepreneurship Professor Jeff Cornwall helped her parents see the big picture as investors, she said. Today Bond employs 17 people, including her younger brother and sister and oversees the 1,200-square-foot Bond Coffee Shop that serves paninis and bagels alongside its coffee.
Bond returned to campus again Wednesday to share her success story and promote her business during the second annual Entrepreneurship Village. In the amphitheater and surrounding the Bell Tower, 33 student- and alumni-owned businesses in the idea, early start-up and revenue generating phases showcased their innovation and creativity.
“I think by assembling this critical mass, we are able to share the quality, ability and volume of what’s been happening in the program. It is great for alumni to connect with current students, find interns and make contacts,” Cornwall said.
Sabrina Sullenberger, chairwoman of the Department of Social Work, co-authored “The Key to Learning: Engaging Undergraduate Students in Authentic Social Work Research” in the Fall 2013 issue of The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work with Carol Hostetler and Leila Wood.
Belmont freshman Cameron Barton was one of two live entertainers on hand to perform and test the microphones and studio playback systems during the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Nashville’s Vocal Microphone Invitational at Belmont’s Oceanway Nashville Studios. Barton was selected to perform on demand short selections in various vocal styles for presenters. This event allowed microphone manufacturers an opportunity to present and demonstrate their products. Oceanway Nashville is a world-class Music Row studio owned and operated by Belmont University as part of the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.
Belmont senior Lesya Zhukovska, who is studying mathematics, was awarded the Southeastern Actuaries Conference (SEAC) Scholarship for the 2013-2014 academic year. Each year the Southeastern Actuaries Conference funds actuarial science scholarships for full-time students at universities and colleges in the Southeast who have demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a career in the actuarial field. The SEAC Scholarship Committee receives scholarship applications from students and then meets to select the scholarship winners, typically five each year. The actuarial profession is usually ranked in the top five of career choices. Actuaries analyze the financial costs of risk and uncertainty. They use mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk that an event will occur and to help businesses and clients develop policies that minimize the cost of that risk.
A group of students and faculty representing the Belmont University Student Chapter of the Mathematical Association of America and Association for Computing Machinery (MAA/ACM) participated in the Hands on Nashville work day event on Sept. 21. The group of volunteers converged on Gra-Mar Middle School in Nashville for a morning of painting and landscaping. The MAA/ACM Club participants included Angela Gaetano, Alice Curtis, David Strength, Geoff Gross, Zach Winton, Jonathan McAfee, Jackson Streeter and Dr. Maria Neophytou.
This is the fifth consecutive year that MAA/ACM has participated in Hands on NashvilleDay. Hands On Nashville Day 2013, the area’s largest day of service benefiting Metro Nashville Public Schools, will go down as the biggest and best HON Day in the event’s 22-year history. More than 2,300 volunteers participated in painting and landscaping projects at 63 schools in Davidson County, both record highs for this annual event.
