Bill Alexson competed in the first annual Jazz Piano Competition at West Virginia University on July 2 and 3. He made the finals and earned first place.
Alexson is a junior studying commercial music with a performance piano emphasis.
Alexson Wins Jazz Piano Competition
Students’ Band Recognized for Performance
Composed of Belmont students, the Luke Preston Band won the Road to Country Stampede band competition in June that put them on the main stage with with J.T. Hodges, Jerrod Niemann, Brantley Gilbert and Toby Keith. The Kansas concert was part of one of the biggest country music festivals in the country.
Band members are guitarist and lead vocalist Luke Preston, lead guitarist Luke Enyeart, bassist Jared Chapman and drummer Jeremy Gold, studying music business and entrepreneurship.
Some 19 bands entered the competition through digital submissions on Sonicbids.com, and The BIG 94.5 Country Radio selected nine to compete in online listener voting. The top two acts traveled to Manhattan, Kan. for a battle of the bands, and the Luke Preston Band earned a spot on the main stage at Country Stampede Festival 2012,
The band has receive much media attention this summer and was feature on the front page of Kansas newspaper Manhattan with the Zac Brown Band. Preston, who is studying music business, also was featured on Tampa’s WQYK radio station, Academy of Country Music’s 2012 Radio Station of the Year.
The band released its debut extended play “When You’re Lost” on April 28, and it can be streaming for free here.
DeWitt Earns Physical Therapy’s Outstanding Alumnus Award
The School of Physical Therapy honored alumnus John DeWitt (’01) with its Outstanding Alumnus Award on Aug. 10 during its Hooding Ceremony in the Troutt Theatre.
“I am thrilled and humbled by this honor and to be the inaugural recipient,” he said. “It is always nice to be appreciated not only by your peers but also your mentors.”
DeWitt, who earned his Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Belmont, serves as team leader for clinical development, clinical assistant professor and director of physical therapy residencies at The Ohio State University.
Speaking to the summer 2012 class, DeWitt urged them to live out of their comfort zones by continually challenging themselves to drive growth in their personal lives and careers.
“Find fire in your gut that makes you do more for yourself, more for your family, more for your profession and more for your patients. See people as people and not as a person with disabilities,” he said. “Tell people that you want help, you want to learn and do more. Amateurs train until they can get it right, but professionals train until they cannot get it wrong.”
Prior to enrolling at Belmont University, DeWitt was an athletic training with the New England Patriots.
“I knew someone in the first class, and when I came to visit, I was impressed with vision, facilities and exceptional quality of the instructors,” he said. DeWitt went on to become the 2008 Ohio Physical Therapist of the Year and earn a 2009 New Horizon Award from the American Association of Physical Therapy.
BLINK Charging Stations Welcome Electric Vehicles to Belmont
The Curb and North parking garages may soon become a destination for the more than 300 Nissan Leafs in the Nashville area with six free electric vehicle charging stations being installed on campus this month.
As part of The EV Project, a public-private partnership between ECOtality Inc. and the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BLINK Level 2 Wall Mount charging stations are provided without charge to Belmont University. The San Francisco, Calif.-based clean electric transportation company and the federal department are each covering half of BLINK’s costs, which usually retail for $3,000 each plus $400 in shipping and handling fees, said ECOtality Area Manager Stephanie Cox.
“We see this as being the future of fuel conservation,” said Alison McCommons in Belmont’s Office of University Counsel. “If there aren’t a lot of people that drive electric cars, then hopefully having the chargers on campus will encourage them to consider it as an option.”
Eliminating the need for drivers to stop and fuel up at gas stations, BLINK allows electric cars to charge while their drivers are at their destinations. Students and professors can charge their electric vehicles while in class and visitors while they are touring campus. Electric vehicle owners driving through the area also will see the stations appear on navigation units on their dashboard. The charging stations, three on the sixth floor of the Curb Garage and three on level one of the North Garage, are free and open to the public.
Fifth Third Bank Gives Belmont Community-Building Funds
Fifth Third Bank presented a $15,000 check to the Belmont University Office of Community Relations and Center for Service Learning on Aug. 9. The money will benefit the neighborhoods surrounding Belmont through student outreach and service projects.
Among the projects was the Next Generation Now Summer Enrichment Program, which hosted some 30 youth, many of them Edgehill residents, in a camp to improve academic achievement, community safety and nutritional health. Belmont senior Gabrielle Hampton was camp director.
Family Literacy Day and the Edgehill’s BEST newsletter, a collaboration between Belmont journalism students and Rose Park Middle School, also will benefit from the donation.
Niedzwiecki Speaks on Genetics Research
Assistant Professor of Biology John Niedzwiecki presented his population genetics research to the Research Club of Nashville on July 29. This club, the second of its kind in the nation, holds monthly meetings at the Brick Factory in Cummins Station for members to meet and discuss their research passions amongst themselves and with invited speakers such as Niedzwiecki. The Research Club draws academically minded professionals from around the area with a broad range of interests. In addition to Niedzwiecki, July’s speakers included a photographer, who is heading soon to northern India to study landscape tourism on a Fulbright Scholarship, and an enthusiast for the Slow Money movement, which strives to strengthen food access and economic diversity through local investment.
Rigsby, Daus Present at International Chemistry Conference
Rachel Rigsby and Kim Daus, of the Chemistry Department, recently attended the 2012 Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) at Pennsylvania State University. This international event is the largest gathering of chemistry educators in the world which brings together over 1,000 teachers committed to inspiring tomorrow’s leaders in the sciences. At this five-day event, middle school science teachers, high school chemistry teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, and professors connect with colleagues at all levels through technical and poster sessions, workshops, plenary lectures and a vendor exhibition. Rigsby and Daus attended workshops on computer resources for chemical educators, chemical transformations with food and chemistry of art and conservation science in the laboratory.
They also attended three days of sessions highlighting best practices in chemistry education. Rigsby presented a poster titled Protein Visualization Throughout the Biochemistry Laboratory presenting teaching strategies she uses in CEM 3510. Daus presented a poster titled Wizard of Oz and Beryllium? Using a Periodic Table Project to Teach Chemistry and Art which illustrated the project she and Professor David Ribar, of the Art Department, had students complete for their CEM/ART learning community courses. Daus also gave a presentation titled Better Eating Through Chemistry: Using Chemistry to Explore and Improve Local Cuisine which highlighted the accomplishments of her recent Maymester CEM 3015 course.
Daus Conducts Scientific Food Demonstrations at Adventure Science Center
Professor of Chemistry Kim Daus participated in CHOMP!, a special food event held on July 21 at the Adventure Science Center. This event explored the science of food. Daus conducted four Food Science Demonstrations – two each of “Bread: The Dough also Rises,” which explored the science of flour and yeast, and “Fats and Oils and Water – Oh My,” which examined the science of solubility and how to make stable emulsions. More than eighty people attended the four presentations.
Littlejohn Contracted to Write Books on Chinese Philosophy
Ronnie Littlejohn, chair of Philosophy and Director of Asian Studies, has signed two contracts with I.B. Tauris & Co, LTD in London to write Chinese Philosophy: An Introduction and to edit a collection of primary writings entitled Chinese Philosophy: The Essential Writings. The introduction will be the first monographic work in English to provide a comprehensive historical and analytical overview of Chinese philosophy from the period of Warring States China to the present since the publication of Wing-tsit Chan’s Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy last issued in 1963 by Princeton UP. The collection of Essential Writings has as its purpose the goal to provide a basis for an understanding of China’s major philosophical traditions through the most important original writings. Littlejohn is author of four other books and editor of three others.
Belmont Graduates 211 in Summer 2012 Commencement
Belmont University held its summer 2012 commencement ceremony for graduate and undergraduate students at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 10 in the Curb Event Center.
The University celebrated the graduation of a total of 211 students. During the graduation ceremony, 78 undergraduate, 98 master’s and 35 doctoral degrees were conferred.
Dr. Robert C. Fisher, president of the University, presided over the event. Dr. Vaughn May, associate professor of political science, presented the commencement address.
