Series of events to culminate in 11th Annual Family Literacy Day ‘Read With Me’ Event Sat., April 9
Belmont University’s 11th Annual Family Literacy Day “Read With Me” event will take place on Sat., April 9 from 1-4 p.m. in the Easley Center at Rose Park in the Edgehill community. Family Literacy Day represents the culmination of a week-long celebration of literacy efforts that will include guest lectures on Belmont’s campus from acclaimed and award-winning children’s author Faye Gibbons and award-winning poet and former head of the National Endowment for the Arts Dana Gioia. (Gioia will offer a free public lecture on “Reading and Civic Engagement” Thursday evening, April 8, from 8-9 p.m. in the Belmont Heights Baptist Church sanctuary on the campus of Belmont University. A book signing will follow his talk.)
The Family Literacy Day “Read With Me” event is aimed at children from pre-K through grade 6 and their families and is designed to celebrate the joys of reading with a free afternoon of interactive story times, crafts and games. The primary focus of the event is Reading Circles, hosted by various campus groups such as the Student Government Association, the English Club, fraternities and sororities, the Black Student Alliance and the Student Athlete Council. Each group picks a different theme and offers a variety of books for all ages.
Belmont Celebrates Literacy Week With Acclaimed Writers Faye Gibbons, Dana Gioia
Adams Selected for Internship in France
Camille Adams, a junior French and Religious Studies major from Greeneville, Tenn., has been chosen by Sister Cities of Nashville to work this July as an intern in the Mayor’s office in Caen, France (Nashville’s Sister City). Adams has been studying French since her sophomore year in high school and has always dreamed of travelling to France. She will receive free lodging and a salary for her month-long internship. Belmont’s Center for International Business recently became an official sponsor of Sister Cities of Nashville, and Camille is the first Belmont student chosen for this internship.
First-Year Writing Students Prepare a Meal for Dismas House Residents
Students for Charmion Gustke’s (English) First-year Writing class, “Cultivating a Garden of One’s Own,” prepared a vegetarian meal for the residents of the Dismas House. The mission of the Dismas House, a neighbor of Belmont since 1974, is to reconcile former prisoners to society in a family setting that fosters community building. The students of this service-learning course, inspired by scholars such as Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry, learn about the intrinsic connections between citizenship and food production, breaking the barriers between what is taught in the classroom and what is practiced in the community.
Tim Lauer Receives Curtain Call Award
School of Music alumnus Tim Lauer received the Curtain Call Award last Thursday at a concert in his honor. The award is presented annually to a School of Music alumnus in honor of achievement in the field of commercial and popular music.
Upon his graduation in 1990, Lauer used his Belmont education and connections to secure jobs playing piano and percussion, songwriting, arranging and producing. He was a band leader for Trisha Yearwood and has toured with Kathy Mattea and Wynonna Judd. Lauer has played on more than 200 records with a variety of artists including Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Faith Hill, Sugarland, Brad Paisley, Dolly Parton, Michael McDonald, Amy Grant and the Gospel Music Association’s 2010 Artist of the Year, Francesca Battistelli. His songs have appeared on “The Simple Life,” “One Tree Hill” and “Drop Dead Diva,” and he received an Emmy nomination for the song “Can You Love Me with the Lights On” featured on “Guiding Light.”
Previous Curtain Call Award winners include Josh Turner, Ginny Owens, Chester Thompson, Jill Phillips Gullahorn, Will Denton, Fleming McWilliams, Melodie Crittenden, Jozef Nuyens, Gordon Mote, Tammy Rogers King, Bernie Herms and Chris Rodriguez. Click here to see additional photos from the event.
Unabomber’s Brother Speaks on Mental Illness, Death Penalty
David Kaczynski, the executive director of New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the younger brother of Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a., the “Unabomber,” spoke on Belmont’s campus Wednesday in a convocation co-sponsored by Belmont’s Psychology Club and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).
During his hour-long talk David Kaczynski recounted life growing up with his gifted older brother, whose IQ was tested at a genius level, 165. “I always knew he was special, different,” David said. “If there was a Michael Jordan of mathematics, it would have been my brother.”
However, Ted Kaczynski’s academic gifts didn’t translate to the social realm, and David worried that his brother had no friends. Following a full scholarship to Harvard University at the age of 16, Ted was working as a professor of mathematics in his mid-20s when he announced he was quitting his job because of his concerns about technology, calling it a monster. He moved to a solitary cabin in the woods of Montana, where he spent the next 25 years with little contact with his family.
When the New York Times published an anti-technology manifesto in 1995 written by the Unabomber, David and his wife found the document’s writing style eerily familiar, resembling letters received from Ted through the years. The target of an intense FBI investigation, the Unabomber had engaged in a mail bombing spree that spanned nearly 20 years, killing three people and injuring 23 others.
Alumni Siblings Take Global ‘Journey of Action’
Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Belmont alumni Ryan and Kassidy Brown live by Mead’s words. Ryan graduated in 2003 with a double major in broadcast journalism and Spanish, while Kassidy graduated in 2007 as a broadcast journalism major and Spanish minor.
The Brown siblings have started their Journey of Action tour, which is dedicated to highlighting the culture of social activism in the millennial generation. As part of the tour, Ryan and Kassidy are traveling from Alaska to Argentina, highlighting young social activists. Journey of Action revolves entirely around the millennial generation and trying to move online action offline. The Browns believe Generation Y is socially conscious, but they lack daily tools for action. Ryan and Kassidy aim to inspire their generation by proving that significant change is possible.
“We basically highlight amazing members of our generation… people changing the traditional systems,” said Kassidy, who was recently named one of the “Greatest Women of the Day” by the Huffington Post.. “We have some groups who are very much social activists, and the other half is apathetic. I sign a petition almost every day on Change.org, but what am I doing offline that’s actually going to change these things?”
The Browns thought of the tour after going on a Netflix documentary binge and discovering that few documentaries featured millennials or their efforts to enact change. “No one’s highlighting the culture of social activism. We saw this void of entertainment,” said Kassidy.
Massey TV Ad Wins Telly Award
A television ad, “Break Through – Whip,” created to support the Massey Graduate School of Business programs recently received a second place Bronze Telly Award. The Telly Awards receive over 13,000 entries annually from around the world, and it is the premier award honoring outstanding commercials and programs as well as video, film productions and work created for the Web. The TV spot was produced by DNA Creative in conjunction with the Massey School and Belmont’s Office of University Marketing and Special Initiatives. Click here to view the 30-second ad.
Alumnus Named ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year
School of Music Alumnus Dan Muckala (’93) was named the 2011 top ASCAP Christian songwriter this week. ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) saluted the songwriters and publishers of Christian music’s most performed songs at its 33rd annual Christian Music Awards held March 28 in Nashville. In addition to being named ASCAP Christian Songwriter of the Year, Muckala was also honored as a co-writer on the ASCAP Christian Song of the Year, “All of Creation,” which was recorded by MercyMe, and spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Christian radio charts. In addition, Muckala was noted for writing two of the other most performed songs of the past year: “Beautiful” (MercyMe) and “Light Up the Sky” (The Afters).
Belmont University Celebrates Earth Hour
On Sat., March 26, Belmont University will participate for the third year in a row in “Belmont Goes Dark: An Earth Hour Celebration” as part of a global project to raise awareness of climate change. Belmont’s celebration of Earth Hour is part of a world-wide event supporting environmental awareness and sustainability.
An initiative of the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour was started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turned their lights off for one hour to take a stand against climate change. This year the Belmont community will join with hundreds of millions of people in 133 countries around the globe in observing Earth Hour.
Belmont’s O.N.E. Club (Our Natural Environment), a student organization, in partnership with Residence Life, will participate in the 8-9 p.m. campus celebration of Earth Hour Saturday. All non-emergency lighting in residence halls and on campus grounds will be turned off, and all students are being encouraged to refrain from using energy-consuming devices during that time. Earth Hour, however, will not interfere with other regularly scheduled campus events. For more information on Earth Hour 2011, visit www.earthhour.org.
Sheth Advocates Business with China and India
Dr. Jagdish Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, delivered the keynote address for Belmont University’s Second Annual International Business Symposium on March 17. Dr. Sheth, a world renowned expert in marketing and geopolitical analysis, spoke on his book, Chindia Rising: How China and India Will Benefit Your Business.
Dr. J. Patrick Raines, dean of the College of Business Administration, welcomed the audience of about 75 people. The Symposium was co-sponsored by the International Business Council of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, the Society of International Business Fellows, Sister Cities of Nashville, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Tennessee Department of Economic Development and the Tennessee World Affairs Council.
Dr. Sheth opened his talk by arguing that while the 20th Century was driven by government policy of advanced nations, the 21st Century will be driven by competitive markets of emerging nations. Describing the 21st Century as the “Asian Century,” Sheth projected that the old triad of the U.S., Europe and Japan would be supplanted by the new triad of the U.S., China and India, noting that the three can work cooperatively or become rivals. He added that economic interdependence created by investing in each other will create peace, since hurting the other will also hurt one’s investment in the other. He also encouraged companies to follow the examples of Ford, Kodak and Avon by creating and marketing affordable products to the common person rather than targeting products to the wealthy.
