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The Country Music Association selected Belmont University senior Benjamin Kann as the recipient of the 2008 CMA Close Up Award of Merit. The award was created in 2007 to honor the student who demonstrated the most creativity, dedication and promise in covering the CMA Music Festival on assignment from CMA. Kann was presented the award during the backstage press conference coverage of the 2008 CMA Awards on Wed., Nov. 12 at the Sommet Center in Nashville.
Bob Doerschuk, editor of CMA Close Up, said, “Benjamin possesses a rare combination of writing talent, attention to detail, deadline discipline and initiative. Just as important, he brings an infectious enthusiasm to the job that makes him a joy to work with. Benjamin can look forward to a bright future in music or whatever business he chooses to pursue.”
Kann Receives CMA Close Up Award of Merit
Riechert Leads Media Training Workshop for Metro Parks
Dr. Bonnie Riechert, Media Studies faculty and director of the Public Relations program, recently led a workshop session on “Telling Your Story” for 25 community center managers in the Metro Parks system. The half-day Media Training session was organized by Jackie Jones, community affairs superintendent with the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation, and was held at the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center in Shelby Park.
Sports Science Faculty Host ‘Conversations’ Event
Sports Science faculty members Dr. Tabby Bewley and Dr. Sarah Adams hosted a “Conversations@Belmont” event on Oct. 20 titled “Best Practices for Physical Education Teachers.” This event was open to area public and private K-12 physical education teachers, and approximately 35 teachers were in attendance. “Conversations@Belmont” provides an opportunity for subject area communities to develop across school district and geographic borders.
Littlejohn Selected as General Editor
Oxford University Press invited Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn (Asian Studies and Philosophy) to be the General Editor for The Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy and Religion. The Encyclopedia is expected to be an “instant classic” reference work for scholars with interests in Asian religion or philosophy. In addition, Littlejohn has a new book on Taoism, published by McMillan, coming out very soon.
Galloway Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel
Dr. Kathy Galloway, assistant professor in the School of Physical Therapy, was recently promoted in the Army National Guard. Her new rank is Lieutenant Colonel. Dr. Galloway spends several weeks each summer serving her active duty responsibilities.
Sells Contributes to Article on Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
Dr. Patrick Sells, assistant professor in the School of Physical Therapy, was a co-author of an article titled “Health-Risk Appraisal With or Without Disease Management for Worksite Cardiovascular Risk Reduction” in a recent edition of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. This article was authored by a six person Vanderbilt University Medical Center/Belmont University School of Physical Therapy research team.
Lilly Grant Awarded for Mentoring Program
Belmont University will be receiving a $12,000 grant from the Lilly Fellows Program for a mentoring program for second year and senior faculty for the academic year 2009-2010. The proposal, developed by Dr. Kim Boggs (Teaching Center, Chemistry and Physics) and Dr. Mike Pinter (Mathematics and Computer Science), along with Dr. Bonnie Smith (English), Dr. Jeff Cornwall (Business), Dr. Kristine LaLonde (Honors) and Dr. Patrick Schneider (Sport Science), seeks to extend the existing Mentoring program into a second year. In this program, mentor pairs will read, converse and serve together in venues that will intentionally explore the impact of Belmont’s mission and vision on their teaching lives.
PR Students Honored at National Conference
Three Belmont students received national honors at the recent Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) conference in Detroit. Anne Roberts (public relations graduate, May 2008) received a PRSSA Presidential Citation for her leadership in Tower Creative Consultants, Belmont’s student-run public relations firm. Sarah Norton and MacKenzie Fischer, officers in Belmont’s PRSSA chapter, received PRSSA Service Awards in recognition of the chapter development presentation on ethics they gave at the conference, titled “Got ethics? Doing the right thing in the right way for the right reasons.”
Norton is president of the Belmont PRSSA Chapter, and Fischer is director of the student-run firm. The Belmont chapter of PRSSA was chartered in 2005 and received national honors in 2006 and 2007. “Our student leaders are working to make our public relations program known for ethics, excellence, and service,” said Bonnie Riechert, director of the public relations program and faculty advisor to the Belmont Chapter of PRSSA. “These honors recognize the effectiveness of their leadership.”
Mundy Named Academic All-District
Senior outside hitter Cat Mundy added to her career accolades recently as she was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Volleyball Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Mundy was placed on the Third Team in the University Division of District IV – a region made up of Division I institutions in the states of Alabama, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The business and marketing major has earned a 3.81 GPA while being selected to Belmont’s Dean’s List and the Atlantic Sun Academic All-Conference Team three-straight years.
Two Belmont Teams Compete in Regional Programming Contest
Two teams represented Belmont University at the Mid-Central USA programming contest on Nov. 1 at Tennessee Tech University. This contest is part of the Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Competition. Details about the contest, rules and standings can be found at http://mcpc.cigas.net/.
