Dr. Jamie Adam, a faculty member in the School of Nursing, is presenting her doctoral research at two conferences this month. She will present Depressive Symptoms, Self-Efficacy and Adherence in Patients with Type 2 DM at the Western Institute of Nursing Research and again at the 18th Annual National Evidence-Based Practice Conference.
Adam Presents Research at Two Conferences
Littlejohn Publishes Book
Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn, department chair and professor of philosophy, has recently published his book, Riding the Wind with Liezi: New Perspectives on the Daoist Classic.
Littlejohn’s book offers philosophical and religious perspectives on the Liezi, a little known, important text that sheds light on the early history of Daoism. Co-authored with Jeffrey Dippmann, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies at Central Washington University, Riding the Wind with Liezi argues the text’s historical, philosophical and literary significance, using contemporary approaches and providing novel insights.
The book is available here.
Pathways Scholars Visit Mammoth Cave
Danny Biles (Mathematics and Computer Science) and seven of the Pathways Scholars visited Mammoth Cave on Saturday, April 2. The Pathway Scholars included Grayson Carroll, Liberty Foye, Angela Gaetano, Alina Lepkowski, Lee McGill, Rebecca Newton and Corey Schmidt. The group first received a cave tour given by Shannon Tromboli, Education Program Specialist at Mammoth Cave. The tour included cave history and an introduction to the various scientific studies that are being conducted in the cave which relate to water flow, air flow and other factors of the cave climate. Following the tour, they were given an in-depth look at the surface Air Quality Station, where Johnathan Jernigan, Physical Scientist in the National Park Service Air Resources Division and Cumberland Piedmont Network, discussed the various air quality and meteorology sensors and data and their significance. Click here for more information on the Pathway Scholars Program:
Eighth Graders Learn from Communication Studies Majors
The Communication Studies Department hosted 116 eighth-graders from Southside Elementary School in Wilson County for the “Three Cs: Communication College Connection” conference. Lambda Pi Eta members Meg Tully, Kate Harris and Eric Schoen led a large group workshop on speech organization and audience analysis. Students from Mary Vaughn’s COM 1100 classes conducted break-out workshops on speech delivery and led walking tours of campus. Southside teacher Janie Johnson commented, “Belmont has a nationally winning Speech & Debate Team, so we knew this would be the best place to come for instruction in public speaking. I can teach these TCAP competencies all year, but when a cool college student does it, it sticks!”
Belmont Vision Holds Reunion
Editors and staff from the 1987-89 Belmont Vision held a reunion Saturday, April 2 at the home of Journalism Professor Thom Storey, newspaper advisor from 1985-1996. Shown from left with Storey are: Michelle Williams (’89), South Atlantic Bureau Chief for the Associated Press; Chris Villines (’91), East Tennessee Communications Manager for Tennessee Farmers Cooperative; Mark Townsend (’90), Associate Editor of the Cherokee Scout newspaper in Murphy, N.C.; Karin Miller (’88), Communications Director for AARP Tennessee; and Jeannine Renfro (’90), Planning Facilitator for Davidson County Metro Schools. The Belmont grads are all sporting New Century Journalism Program caps as souvenirs of the event.
Stamper Named to New Role in SACS Committee
Jim Stamper (Education) has been named by the president of SACS to be part of a seven-member team to review all SACS standards, particularly those which deal with federal requirements. The committee is to make recommendations to the SACS membership as to how the SACS Criteria can include federal requirements so the “feds” will not be sending separate compliance committees to SACS schools. The committee is chaired by Dr. Robin Hoffman, president of DeKalb Technical College, and met once in March and is scheduled to meet once in April and once in May.
Spring Lectures at Pitzer College, Art-o-Matic 419
Ken Spring (Sociology) spoke on March 29 at Pizter College as part of their Sociology Spearker Series. The title of his lecture was “Creating Community: From Here to Anywhere.” Spring also spoke at the Art-o-Matic 419 event held by the Greater Toledo Arts Commission on April 1. The title of his talk was “The Role of Creative Communities in Cities.”
Niedzwiecki Hosts Seminars for Grassmere Zookeepers
John Niedzwiecki (Biology) recently hosted a series of seminars for the zookeepers at The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. The goal of the seminars was to introduce the zookeepers to behavioral research techniques and the basics of experimental design so that they might be able to employ the techniques with the animals they work with at the zoo. The Nashville Zoo is growing and is looking to take on an increasing role in zoo animal research. The zookeepers will be conducting small test projects this spring and summer based on these seminars and hope to soon gear up for larger projects. Dr. Niedzwiecki also uses the zoo animals, with the assistance of their keepers, for research projects in his Animal Behavior Class.
Biology Faculty, Students Take Part in BioBlitz
On April 2, Belmont biology professors John Niedzwiecki and Steve Murphree hosted a BioBlitz at the Beaman Park Nature Center. Beaman Park is one of Metro Nashville’s newest and most natural Parks. Bioblitzs are a chance for the public to go off-trail, turn over rocks and logs and identify the organisms living in the park and also look for new species to the park, especially salamanders and frogs. The staff at The Beaman Park Nature Center benefit by getting an inventory of the natural diversity within the park. Belmont students and others from the Nashville community participated. The activity was coordinated by Linnann Welch (’93) , director of both The Beaman Park and Bell’s Bend Nature Centers.
Chemistry Students Participate in Prescription Drug Take-Back Event
On Saturday, April 2, 11 students in Professor Kim Daus’ Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry class participated in a Prescription Drug Take-Back event in Dickson County. The students participating were Taylor Andrew, Caleb Binkley, Mike Boyle, Brandon Ladage, Vihn Mai, Mydoy Nguyen, Marie Sisco, Emily Smothers, Matthew Turner, Jenny Westbrook and Devon Whalley. Daus and the Belmont students worked with Vanderbilt nursing students and Lipscomb pharmacy students in identifying, counting and cataloguing drugs submitted for disposal by the citizens in Dickson County. Over 3,000 controlled substances were collected as well as several thousand non-controlled drugs and over-the-counter medications. Additionally, Belmont students developed a poster and five brochures for the event that examined the effect of the five most common prescription drugs on the environment.
