Robert Magruder (Physics) has written an article titled “Oxygen Related Defect Bands in Oxygen Implanted Silica” which has been published by the Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. Click here to read the article.
Students, Faculty, Staff Depart for Spring Break Mission Trips
More than 65 Belmont students, faculty and staff depart this weekend to locations across the country and the globe as part of alternative Spring Break trips. Several groups plan to “immerse themselves in love” as part of Immersion 2011, Belmont’s Spring Break mission trip programs sponsored by University Ministries. Every immersion is just that – a chance to be immersed in local culture, in the cares and concerns of local folks, and an intense exposure to what God is doing in all over the world. Students will be traveling to Cumberland Island (Ga.), New York City, Appalachia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Haiti.
University Ministries’ Director of Outreach Micah Weedman said, “It’s our hope that by immersing themselves in service in these various locations, our students will have the opportunity to see what God is up to in the world and reflect on how God might be calling them.” Click the Read More button below to get more details on each location, and to follow blog entries from these trips, click here.
Also, Residence Life is leading a small group of students to Cleveland, Tenn. to work with Habitat for Humanity. Res Life is committed to working with Habitat here in Nashville and has sent a team to Cleveland for several years.
In addition, for the fifth consecutive year, the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences & Nursing will be sending a team of health professionals and students to Guatemala for a Christian service project. The mission trip was originated in 2007 by students in the School of Physical Therapy. Since then, students and staff from the other allied health disciplines in the College have joined the annual effort. Last year, a multidisciplinary medical team of 36 travelled to Guatemala City, where they taught at a Christian high school serving one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods and at a local university, served over 400 individuals at a soup kitchen each evening, and helped treat and immunize patients at several area clinics.
This year, a team of 13 faculty, students and clinicians will provide supplies, direct patient care and train staff at the Children’s Hospital for Rehabilitation and Infectious Diseases in Guatemala City and at the Shalom Foundation’s newly opened Moore Pediatric Surgery Center which will serve children from across the country. Team members have been invited to guest lecture in the physical therapy program at Mariano Galvez University of Guatemala and in the occupational therapy program at Centro Universitario Metropolitano. In addition, the group will be traveling to two rural clinics outside of Guatemala City to determine needs and seek opportunities to develop professional relationships with their Guatemalan colleagues.
Team members will again blog about their experience throughout the week. Click here to keep up with their efforts and read about previous trips.
Mathison Suggests ‘Tweeting Is Reporting’ in ‘Be the Media’ Convo
Author David Mathison returned to Belmont University this week to speak as part of the New Century Journalism speakers series. Mathison was originally scheduled to speak at Belmont on May 3, 2010, but postponed when Nashville flooding caused the university to cancel classes and events that day. The devastation he witnessed from the Nashville floods partly inspired Mathison to found the new fundraising and awareness event, Home Aid, to benefit the homeless and Americans who are affected by natural disasters.
Unlike many convocation speakers, Mathison opened his event by encouraging attendees to feel free to use their laptops, phones and other media devices to tweet or post status updates throughout his talk, noting that “Tweeting is reporting.”
He then let the audience determine the direction of his lecture, offering students the opportunity to hear more about the ideas in his book Be the Media or the plans behind the upcoming Home Aid event, which will be held this fall in Nashville and New Orleans. Following the students’ lead, he spent his time discussing the development of the Home Aid concept and the planning and promotion of the event.
Mathison’s book, Be the Media, was featured in the New York Times after he sold over 5,000 copies in 11 days via his web site, Twitter and Facebook. He has given keynote presentations everywhere from the United Nations to Columbia University, from Berlin to Cairo. From 1994-1999, Mathison was Vice President with Reuters, the world’s largest news agency, where he pioneered online content syndication. As founder and CEO of the Kinecta Corporation (now part of Oracle), he raised $30 million in under two years. Mathison is the executive producer of Home Aid, a virtual event to benefit the homeless and those facing foreclosure.
Men’s Basketball Team Receives All-Conference Honors
Four Bruins, Coach Byrd Earn Recognition
Four members of the Belmont men’s basketball team and head coach Rick Byrd earned recognition as the Atlantic Sun Conference office released its postseason honors Tuesday.
Sophomore Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) was named First Team All-Atlantic Sun, juniors Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville, Ala.) and Scott Saunders (New Orleans, La.) were named Second Team All-Atlantic Sun, freshman J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team and Byrd was named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year.
“Our staff and players are happy for the recognition received by Ian, Scott, Mick and JJ this week,” Byrd said. “We would not be where we are without their play all year long, but I think they would be the first to say that the individual honors they received are a result of the contributions made by their teammates. It is exciting for the future of the program that all of our award winners have more years left at Belmont.” Click here to read more on this story.
Belmont (27-4, 19-1 Atlantic Sun) returns to action Wed., Mar. 2 versus Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament Quarterfinals. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. CT from the University Center in Macon, Ga.
Belmont Students, Faculty Win Major Awards at SEJC
Belmont journalism students won several major awards at the Southeast Journalism Conference’s Best of the South competition held Feb. 17-19 at Troy University in Alabama. The SEJC named belmontvision.com the best Web site, and Connect, a magazine produced by Belmont students to distribute to incoming freshmen and transfer students, was named the top college magazine.
“BelmontVision.com recognizes the immediacy of the world college students live in — a continually evolving tech savvy world,” said editor Erin Carson. “Being college students ourselves, we know how to report on the topics that mean the most to Belmont students and get that information out to them.”
Several Belmont students won individual awards as well. Journalism students Erin Carson and Dustin Stout placed in onsite competitions, in which students competed on deadlines in individual and group categories.
In addition to the student awards, Linda Quigley, instructor in journalism and faculty adviser for The Vision, was named Journalism Educator of the Year. “This award acknowledges all our efforts in SEJC and in our own Department of Media Studies to teach solid journalistic values as well as new media skills,” said Quigley. “Journalism is undergoing constant change, and we have to meet the challenge of preparing students not only for current jobs, but also for job tracks that don’t even exist yet.”
Belmont Adds Chapter of Delta Chi Professional Pharmacy Fraternity
The Gamma Xi Chapter at Belmont University was recently inducted into Phi Delta Chi Professional Pharmacy Fraternity. Gamma Xi is the 86th Chapter chartered since the founding of the Fraternity on November 2, 1883. The Phi Delta Chi Fraternity develops leaders to advance the profession of pharmacy and its allied interests. It is a lifelong experience, promoting scholastic, professional and social growth in its Brothers. Over 25 Brothers from 13 different chapters across the United States were present to initiate 23 founding Brothers from Belmont University School of Pharmacy. The Gamma Xi Chapter of Phi Delta Chi looks forward to working with the other fraternities and organizations on campus to help develop a healthy culture for students, faculty, administration and community residents.
Greek Community Raises Money During Homecoming
The Greek community is proud to announce another crowning achievement following Saturday’s homecoming festivities: $321.06 was collectively raised through donations between fraternities and sororities at their 2nd annual chili and dessert cookoff. Winning the tasty competition were members of Phi Delta Theta and Phi Mu, who each raised $112.05 and $101.31, respectively. The money raised from this event will be donated to the 2011 Greek Week philanthropy, which is yet to be determined. Congratulations to all chapters who participated in the event and the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council for continuing to sponsor this new homecoming tradition for Greek Life.
Belmont Achieves Success at TN State Speech/Debate Tournament
On Feb. 19-20, the Belmont Speech and Debate team traveled to the Tennessee State Speech and Debate tournament on the campus of ETSU at Kingsport. Overall the team placed second in debate, third in individual events and second overall. Awards received were as follows:
Novice Debate: Sash Blevins & Emily Lico – Semi-Finalists
Open Debate:Tim Smith & Eric Schoen – Quarter-Finalists; Bethany Miller & Matthew Roberts – Semi-Finalists
Extemporaneous Speaking: Matthew Roberts – 6th place and 1st place novice competitor; Tim Smith – 5th place; Bethany Miller – 2nd place
Poetry Interpretation: Keayana Robinson – 5th place and 1st place novice competitor; Eric Schoen – 1st place
Dramatic Interpretation: Nicole Bright – 2nd place
After Dinner Speaking: Nick Yaksich – 5th place and 1st place novice competitor
Impromptu Speaking: Matthew Roberts – 6th place and 1st place novice competitor; Bethany Miller – 3rd place
Informative Speaking: Jaclyn Torrento – 1st place and 1st place novice competitor
Programmed Oral Interpretation: Matthew Roberts – 6th place and 1st place novice competitor; Eric Schoen – 3rd place
Communication Analysis: Tim Smith – 5th place; Matthew Roberts – 2nd place and 1st place novice competitor
Duo Interpretation: Eric Schoen & Sash Blevins – 6th; Nicole Bright & Nick Yaksich – 4th
Pentathlon (Top Overall Competitors): Eric Schoen – 6th place
Trebuchet Built by Society of Physics Students
Society of Physics Students (SPS) Phil Feurtado, Clark Shell and Stewart Brenegar recently built a trebuchet which is a medieval siege device similar to a catapult. It uses the potential energy of a heavy weight set to launch a smaller projectile to great distances. Dr. Scott Hawley is the faculty advisor for the Society of Physics Students club.
Woods Named Candidate for Lowe’s Senior Class Award
Belmont senior Nate Woods (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) was honored as one of 30 NCAA baseball student-athletes to be named candidates for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, as announced on Thursday. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The 2011 candidate class includes 15 student-athletes with cumulative grade point averages of better than a 3.5, including three with perfect 4.0 GPAs. Seven are from teams ranked in the Collegiate Baseball preseason top 35 poll.
Woods maintains a 3.58 GPA in information systems management. He has been a Dean’s List honoree five times and was named Atlantic Sun Conference All-Academic twice. Read more….
