Assistant Professor of Physics Scott Hawley has contributed lesson plans to the Valve (Software) Corporation online physics-teaching web service www.teachwithportals.com. Since last summer Hawley has worked with Leslie Redd, Valve Corporation’s director of education and outreach, on this project. Hawley’s written two great lesson plans for high school students about Portal “Bouncing” and Oscillations and Simple Harmonic Motion and Hooke’s Law. The lessons show students how to compare and contrast oscillation behavior as it adheres to the game world’s laws of physics versus those of our own. Austin Guthrie, a Belmont physics and mathematics double major, is also mentioned in the introduction to the lesson plans.
Belmont Renames Residence Hall in Honor of Late Benefactor
Belmont University remembered long-time benefactor Virginia Frances Potter July 30 with the renaming of a residence hall in her honor.
Potter was active in Belmont campus life from 1951 forward and a lead donor to the University for many years. She believed that “Christian education is an answer to our world’s problems” and shared gifts for new or refurbished buildings, scholarships, mission programs and faculty support. A longtime Nashvillian and 1932 graduate of Tennessee College for Women, Potter had faith in the vitality and potential of Belmont students. Her quiet nature, brilliant mind and gentle humor will be remembered through the co-ed residence hall, formerly known as Maple Hall. Potter Hall is a suite-style building housing 190 freshmen. It opened in the fall of 2008 as part of the North Lawn community.
“Frances Potter believed in Belmont University and the value of a Christian education. From the founding of Belmont College in 1951 until her death Nov. 9, 2011, she supported the work of four University presidents, was a member of the Belmont Auxiliary, helped raise money for Belmont scholarships through the Tennessee College for Women Alumnae and quietly gave her own personal leadership gifts. She is missed and will long be remembered,” said Vice President of University Advancement Bethel E. Thomas.
Physics Professor Lands Sizable Research Grant
A professor and two alumni have received a grant to further understanding of gravity and the universe through a computer code.
The National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratories has awarded Physics Assistant Professor Scott Hawley a grant of 250,000 service units, valued at $112,500, to upgrade the code and allow it to be interfaced with other research groups around the world. The grant is a follow-up to the “startup” allocation of 20,000 service units Hawley was awarded last fall. It reflects NICS’s mission to support Tennessee institutions of higher learning and the National Science Foundation’s EPSCOR program.
“The fact that Belmont is a teaching university and located in Tennessee made it very easy for NICS to award my grant request,” Hawley said.
Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity says that gravity is an effect of the geometry of space and time being warped. When matter becomes super dense, it forms a spinning black hole, which is a region of gravity that is so intense that nothing can get out. Hawley’s research concerns the effects that the direction of the spin has on the gravitational attraction between two nearby-black holes and the ripple of gravitational waves.
“My research involves writing a general purpose, publicly-available computer code for solving Einstein’s equation, which will allow researchers around the world to produce more accurate simulations of gravitational wave signals,” Hawley said.
It took Hawley 10 years to develop the former version of the code, known as Tex Mex. He has dubbed the new version as BRUISER, an acronym standing for Belmont Research for Undergraduates In Studies of Einstein’s Relativity.
Alumnus and campus security officer Tyler Welton is working with Hawley to overhaul the codes to make them directly interface with the most popular simulations used in the relativity community. The two met when Welton took a class on the physics of audio engineering from Hawley, and they spent time writing plugins for digital audio work stations on Welton’s senior research project. Welton plans to re-enroll as a computer science major this fall as he works on BRUISER.
Hawley also continues to work with alumna Lindsey Thompson, a psychology honors student who took an interest in physics and ran simulations and computations on TexMex using a Belmont server until its 48 gigabyte memory was exhausted. She currently is a Fulbright scholar in England.
“Other people will begin collaborating with me to use the code in all of the wonderful simulations that they can dream up to do dealing with neutron stars and black holes,” Hawley said. His code currently works only for vacuum solutions, or empty space, and he is working with a Louisiana State University professor to make it functional on mass like neutron stars. “It really is a group effort and my code is just one important piece.”
Niedzwiecki and Biology Student Present at Evolution 2012
Assistant Professor of Biology John Niedzwiecki and Belmont honors student and biology major Rachel Chandler attended Evolution 2012 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, from July 6-10. It was the annual meeting of the American Society of Naturalists and Society for the Study of Evolution, but this year was billed as the First International Evolutionary Congress, as the Canadian, British and European Evolutionary Societies also attended. Niedzwiecki presented a talk in the Evolution Education Section titled Presenting Evolution by Natural Selection at a Christian University. Chandler presented a poster of her honors research with Niedzwiecki titled “Testing the Specificity of a Predator Cue in Relation to Phylogeny in a Salamander Sunfish System.” In addition to presenting her poster, Chandler was able to meet students and professors, and learn about the research in their labs as she prepares to apply to their graduate programs in evolutionary ecology this fall.
Shin Lectures at Four Universities During Visit to South Korea
Department of Sport Science Assistant Professor Stephen Shin presented lectures at four universities during his visit to South Korea. He gave a first lecture to the junior and senior students of Public Administration class in Kwangwoon University in Seoul. The title of the lecture was “Relationship Orientation vs. Task Orientation in Leadership and Management.” The intent of the lecture was focused on how to balance relationship orientation with task orientation in the public and private sectors in South Korean society where dehumanizing social pressure is great and task-oriented styles are dominant.
The next lectures presented successively were in the Annual Sport Marketing Seminar at Tongmyong University in Busan and in a sport marketing class at Dankook University in Cheonan. The topic was related to effective sport marketing strategies and promotional approaches. The main issue was how to incorporate the recent sport marketing strategies and approaches used in the American sport to South Korean sport industry. An active discussion was generated among the participants and students by debating which marketing strategies and approaches are working or not in Korean sport culture and how to reinvent or modify them based on different cultural context. The extended follow-up discussion aimed at 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics which will be held in South Korea.
The last lecture presented at Korea Maritime University in Busan, was with Jiho Kim of Wingate University, N.C. to introduce American intercollegiate athletics and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its organizational/divisional structure. The lecture was for the personnel and students working in athletics in high school and colleges where the Korean athletic system is mainly organized and operated based on amateurism.
Murphree Speaks at ‘Insects of the Night’ Festival
On July 13, biology Professor Steve Murphree was a speaker at the Warner Parks Nature Center’s “Insects of the Night” festival. Murphree set up a UV light/scorpion tent for the event. A great time was had by all the lightening bugs, bees and random creepy crawlers that dressed up for the insect parade.
Biology Associate Professor Lori McGrew and environmental science student Erin Pitts also were volunteers. Pitts is working at Warner Parks Nature Center this summer.
Belmont Band Dearly Brothers Competes for Letterman Slot
The band Dearly Brothers, featuring Belmont students and alumni, just landed a song titled “Marble Floors” on the soundtrack for upcoming Worldwide Pants Production We Made This Movie, which releases in theaters Sept. 20.
As part of the competition which landed the band on the soundtrack, Dearly Brothers now has an opportunity to score a performance slot on the “Late Show with David Letterman.” Click here to vote for the band. The contest runs through Aug. 7, and fans may vote once per day every day.
“Marble Floors” was recorded at RCA B, Oceanway Nashville and REM Studios at Belmont. Dearly Brothers consists of junior Vian Zaayman (vocals), sophomore Joseph Kenkel (guitar, mandolin, harmonica, vocals), recent class of 2012 graduate Phillip Englehart (guitar, banjo, vocals), sophomore Trevor Nikrant (bass), sophomore Drake Morey (keyboards) and sophomore Chris Worley (drums). Sophomore music business major Drew Hoffman manages the band and first discovered the contest, while senior audio engineering major Justin Croft engineered the band’s debut.
Alexander Appointed to 2012 TNCPE Board of Examiners
Dr. Joe F. Alexander, associate dean of Belmont’s Massey Graduate School of Business, has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) to the 2012 Board of Examiners. Every year the TNCPE award program recognizes organizations demonstrating excellence in business operations and results.
As an examiner, Alexander is responsible for reviewing and evaluating organizations that apply for a TNCPE Award. The Board of Examiners comprises experts from all sectors of the regional economy, including health care, service, non-profit, manufacturing, education and government. All members of the Board of Examiners must complete extensive training in the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Examiners take the skills developed during training and the assessment process back to their own jobs, benefiting and improving their own organizations in the process.
Each year, the TNCPE Board of Examiners contributes more than 10,000 hours of volunteer service to organizations across Tennessee.
Established in 1993 as a public-private partnership by Governor Ned R. McWherter, the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence strives to promote economic development by helping companies and organizations grow more competitive in today’s global marketplace through affordable, in-depth assessments. A statewide non-profit, TNCPE is patterned after the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, the national standard for recognizing organizational excellence. More than 1,200 organizations have participated in and benefited from the TNCPE program. Four Tennessee businesses—Caterpillar Financial Services, Pal’s Sudden Service, Eastman Chemical Company and Federal Express—have received both the prestigious Baldrige National Quality Award and the TNCPE Excellence Award. For more information, visit www.tncpe.org .
Belmont SIFE Welcomes Championship Trophy to Campus
Several members of Belmont’s SIFE team took breaks from their summer jobs to visit campus July 20 to celebrate the arrival of the national championship trophy. The win, which came at the SIFE USA National Exposition held in Kansas City in May, represents Belmont SIFE’s second national title in three years.
Belmont SIFE will compete at the international SIFE World Cup Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is confirmed to host the event. The team is currently working to update their presentation script, video and annual report to reflect their position as “SIFE USA” and highlight progress made since the National Exposition. Belmont SIFE is also preparing for the Cultural Fair, a much anticipated networking event that takes place the first night of the World Cup, at which every country’s winning team hosts a booth with giveaways and symbols from their country.
In the midst of World Cup preparation, the team continues to develop new and existing projects. Eric Taft and Brennon Mobley have spent several hours this summer compiling a Spring Back Recycling Operations Manual so that the operation can be replicated in other cities around the world.
Notably, Belmont’s team is also meeting with top executives from some of SIFE’s sponsor companies, including Tractor Supply Co., Wells Fargo and Dollar General, to network and share its winning presentation.
Phi Delts Earn National Community Service Award
Belmont University’s Tennessee Zeta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta received the Stan Brown Award at its annual Phi Delta Theta Convention held in Washington, D.C. The Stan Brown Award is presented to the chapter judged to have the most outstanding one-day or individual community service project. Belmont’s Phi Delta Theta members received the award as a result of the Edgehill Family Halloween Sports Night on Oct. 29, 2011 at E.S. Rose Park. They co-sponsored the community event with Phi Mu, Edgehill Rose Park Walking Club, Easley Community Center, Belmont Athletics, Belmont Sports Administration, the School of Pharmacy and the Office of Community Relations.
