IndieBandHub.com, 
a site created by students in the Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, recently completed its first project by supporting artist Rafeal Vasquez with everything from recording to manufacturing his new album.
Created as a class project in MBU 3630 (Record Company Operations), the site serves to encourage the local Nashville music scene and create opportunities for bands to communicate, share and assist each other’s efforts.
Rafeal Vasquez, an artist member of Indie Band Hub, performed Oct. 17 with the Mariachi Vargas at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Vasquez performed works from his upcoming CD produced by Indie Band Hub/Acklen Records. The album was recorded in Nashville’s historic RCA Studio B and ranges from flamenco guitar to classic Latin rock.
Student-Created Web Site Successfully Supports Local Artists
Belmont Tops Out New Health Science Building, Home for Schools of Pharmacy and Physical Therapy
Ceremony celebrates completion of $30 million building’s frame
Nearly one year after breaking ground, Belmont University today celebrated the “topping out” its new $30 million health sciences building, which will serve as the future home for the School of Pharmacy, a Belmont program which welcomed its second class this fall. The building, which has an anticipated completion date of June 2010, will also house the School of Physical Therapy and will include expansion space for the Schools of Nursing and Occupational Therapy as well as the Social Work and Psychology programs. (Click here to view a photo of gallery of today’s event.)
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “In addition to providing a time to celebrate and thank all the workers behind this immense project, a topping out is also a time to look forward to when this structure is complete. This building will be a model, 21st century academic facility, providing a venue where our students and faculty resources can intersect in service to help meet the medical needs of our community and our world.”
Designed by Earl Swensson Associates with construction by R.C. Mathews, the 90,000-square-foot building will continue the innovation for which Belmont University has become known, containing top-notch laboratories. The facility will emphasize integrated, “hands on” experiential learning components including a licensed, state-of-the-art campus pharmacy which will provide services to students, faculty and staff while also serving as a training site for student pharmacists. Of special note are the simulation labs, where students and community clinicians can practice skills either on actors who simulate patients or on high tech manikins; this simulation suite is interdisciplinary, and programs will be encouraged to work in simulated scenarios that involve several health disciplines. In addition, faculty will have sophisticated research labs set aside for research studies, and students will be able to assist in these studies.
Dr. Jack Williams, dean of Belmont’s College of Health Sciences and Nursing, said, “Together with the Gordon E. Inman Center, this new structure will unite Belmont’s health science studies in one strategic location on campus. By completing and enhancing our health sciences complex, the university is providing inter-professional education opportunities for all of our health science students and preparing them to be both competent and compassionate practitioners.”
Belmont Speech/Debate Team Wins Tournament
The Belmont University Speech and Debate team won 1st place overall in a tournament held Oct. 18 at Walters State University. Team members competed individually and every member made it to the finals in at least one event. Individual awards at the tournament were as follows:
Bethany Miller: Impromptu Speaking (1st), Informative Speaking (2nd), Extemporaneous Speaking (3rd)
Tim Smith: Impromptu Speaking (4th), Extemporaneous Speaking (2nd)
Kate Tully: After Dinner Speaking (2nd), Programmed Oral Interpretation (2nd), Dramatic Interpretation (1st)
Jaiden Phelps: Persuasive Speaking (1st)
Nicole Bright: Prose Interpretation (2nd), Programmed Oral Interpretation (1st), Dramatic Duo Interpretation (with Eric Schoen, 1st)
Eric Schoen: Impromptu Speaking (2nd) Poetry Interpretation (2nd) Dramatic Duo Interpretation (with Nicole Bright, 1st) Communication Analysis (1st)
Students Compete in ‘Battle of the Brains’
Belmont students will be competing in the 34th annual IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest, also known as the “Battle of the Brains,” regional competition Oct. 24 at Tennessee Technological University. Tens of thousands of students in more than 90 countries will participate in the global competition, and the top 100 regional champions will go on to compete Feb. 1-6 in Harbin, China.
Six Belmont students will be participating in this year’s competition. Team one, also known as “Force Quit,” includes Ross Buffington, Heather Ellis and Will Proffitt. Team two, also known as “Bandits,” consists of Cory Hughes, Trevor Hinesley and Hank Carter. Jordan Williams is the alternate for both teams.
Students will be challenged to use their programming skills and rely on their mental endurance to solve complex, real world problems under a five-hour deadline. Teammates collaborate to rank the difficulty of the problems, deduce the requirements, design test beds and build software systems that solve the problems under the scrutiny of expert judges. The team that solves the most problems correctly in the least amount of time will win a coveted spot on the world finals roster. The best and brightest information technology students from around the globe will compete for awards, scholarships, prizes and bragging rights to the “world’s smartest trophy.”
“The Battle of the Brains is one of the most demanding intellectual challenges,” said Alan Ganek, chief technology officer and vice president of strategy for business and technology at IBM Software Group. “These students possess an amazing talent to solve pressing issues involving transportation, energy, water, climate and health.”
The regional schools participating are Tennessee Technological University, Belmont University, Austin Peay State University, East Tennessee State University, Maryville College, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Middle Tennessee State, University of North Alabama, Vanderbilt University and Tuskegee University.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students. ACM serves its global membership of 80,000 by delivering technical information and transferring ideas from theory to practice. IBM’s sponsorship commitment to the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest is part of a company-wide effort to advance the next generation of computer scientists.
Alumnus Gorley Takes Home Top Honor at ASCAP Awards
Ashley Gorley, a 1999 Belmont graduate from the College of Entertainment and Music Business, received the Songwriter of the Year award at Monday night’s ASCAP Country Music Awards held at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, an invitation-only gala that salutes the songwriters and publishers of ASCAP’s most performed country songs of the past year.
Gorley wrote or co-wrote Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This,” Brad Paisley and Keith Urban’s “Start a Band” and Darius Rucker’s “It Won’t Be Like This for Long.” “You’re Gonna Miss This” was also named one of ASCAP’s five most-played songs in the past year and Country Song of the Year. For his wins, Gorley was presented with a special, limited edition Gibson Les Paul guitar. In referencing “You’re Gonna Miss This,” Adkins told NewsChannel5, “[Ashley’s] had a great year, not just with this song. He still has hits. He’s got new hits on the radio right now. I mean he’s on a roll.”
ASCAP also recognized a distinguished group of songwriters with the Silver Circle honor in recognition of 25 years or more of ASCAP membership. Among those honored were Gregg “Hobie” Hubbard, a graduate of Belmont’s Masters of English program and a Writing Center tutor, and Bob Regan, an adjunct in the College of Entertainment and Music Business who teaches “Fundamentals of Songwriting.”
PT Graduate Chosen as Outstanding Young Alumna from APSU
Dr. Bethany McKinney Froboese, a 2003 graduate of Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy, has been chosen as an Outstanding Young Alumna by her undergraduate alma mater, Austin Peay State University. The award recognizes her contribution to APSU as a volunteer. Froboese will be honored with other alumni award recipients during homecoming festivities at the end of October.
After receiving her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Belmont, Froboese took a job as a physical therapist with Inmotion Rehabilitation. Three year later, she joined Premier Medical Group and, in 2007, she found her current position as a physical therapist with Tennessee Orthopeadic Alliance.
Froboese is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association and is a Susan G. Komen lymphedema treatment provider. She is a certified Lymphedema therapist, a certified clinical instructor and a certified sole supports provider.
Her volunteer work also extends into her community, such as assisting in a one-day teaching experience for Clarksville-Montgomery County School System anatomy and physiology AP classes about physical therapy and physiological principles used for her profession.
Felter Named Emerging Leader by APTA
Cara Felter, a 2004 DPT graduate of the School of Physical Therapy, was recently named an Emerging Leader by the American Physical Therapy Association.
Felter was recognized in the October 2009 issue of PTinmotion Magazine with the following tribute: “Cara Felter, PT, DPT, is a senior physical therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute International Center for Spinal Cord Injury, in Baltimore, Maryland. Also a Brain Injury Specialist certified by the Brain Injury Association of America, she has a passion for working with individuals with brain and spinal cord injuries. Felter, who joined APTA in 2001, has been a member of the APTA Neurology Section since 2005. A former member of the Tennessee Physical Therapy Association, she is a current member of the APTA of Maryland, where she serves on the Continuing Education Committee and is being mentored to become the director of education. Felter expects to complete her Master of Public Health degree at The Johns Hopkins University in December 2009. In addition to her APTA activities, Felter raises dogs that are trained to help people with disabilities.”
In relating her honor to the School of Physical Therapy, Felter commented: “When Belmont says, ‘From here to anywhere,’ they really mean it. My education in the Belmont DPT program prepared me academically and clinically. My professors challenged me to think analytically and use research to guide clinical decision making. They also encouraged me to get involved in the APTA as a means of protecting and promoting my profession. I could not have asked for better mentors on the path to becoming a physical therapist.”
The purpose of the award is to identify and honor physical therapists or physical therapist assistants who have demonstrated extraordinary service early in his or her physical therapy career. The individual should have made exceptional overall accomplishments and contributions to the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and the physical therapy profession to advance APTA’s vision.
Wells Edits Edition of New Kittredge Shakespeare
Dr. James Wells (English) recently edited an edition of Shakespeare’s “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,” in which he provided annotations, an introduction and other supporting educational materials. The book is part of the New Kittredge Shakespeare series, published by Focus Publishing. Available now here, the work with be sold on Amazon within the next few weeks.
Wells Leads Blackfriars Theatre Trip
Dr. James Wells, assistant professor of English, led a group of students, faculty and staff on a trip to Blackfriars Theatre in Staunton, Va., recently. Blackfriars is a replica of Shakespeare’s smaller indoor theatre where his company performed plays later in his career. The group saw three plays: Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Much Ado about Nothing and George Villiers’ The Rehearsal.
Women’s Soccer, Men’s Basketball Represented in Debut of New Athletic Department Tradition
Junior Jayme Trocino (Franklin, Tenn.) of women’s soccer and junior Jordan Campbell (Indianapolis, Ind.) of men’s basketball have been named Belmont Student-Athletes of the Month for October. Trocino and Campbell were nominated by faculty, staff, coaches and athletic administrators for their respective achievement in the following areas: Effort and Excellence in Academics, Effort and Excellence in Athletics, Dedication to Team, Leadership
Integrity, Campus Involvement, Community Service and Ability to serve as a role model for current and future Belmont students and student-athletes. Monthly honorees will be recognized on belmontbruins.com and within the athletic complex. Click here for more information.
