Conference to Be Held at Belmont May 22-24
The 25th Annual International Country Music Conference (ICMC), co-chaired by James Akenson and Belmont Professor of Music Business Don Cusic, will be held on campus May 22-24. The annual conference is a premier event for country music scholars and enthusiasts alike, celebrating the diverse history of country music through educational and entertaining presentations and panels.
“The International Country Music Conference is the premier academic event for those studying and writing about country music,” said Cusic. “It is appropriate that ICMC is held at Nashville’s Belmont University. Chet Atkins, one of the ‘fathers’ of Music Row and the Nashville Sound, once said about country music, ‘they should study this in college.’ Well, now we do, and the ICMC is the center of that universe.”
Conference presenters span all facets of the country music community, including representatives from academic institutions, the media, historians, public libraries and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Registration for ICMC is $100 and includes breakfast and lunch. Registration materials must be received by Fri., May 16. Checks should be sent to James Akenson, Box 5042, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, Tennessee 38505. For more information on the conference, including a complete schedule, visit www.internationalcountrymusic.org.
International Country Music Conference Celebrates 25th Year
CMT Fans Vote Adkins, Pickler, Swift as Big Winners at ‘2008 CMT Music Awards’
In a night filled with surprises, Trace Adkins (“I’ve Got My Game On”), Taylor Swift (“Our Song”) and Kellie Pickler (“I Wonder”) emerged as the evening’s biggest winners at the “2008 CMT Music Awards,” which was broadcast live for the third straight year from the Curb Event Center at Belmont University.
More than 9.1 million viewers tuned in for the premiere and repeat telecasts of the show, and traffic on CMT.com hit record highs the day following the telecast, breaking all previous records for page views, uniques and streams. According to Nielsen Media Research, the two-and-a-half hour “2008 CMT Music Awards” scored a 1.27 rating among people age 18-49 up more than 35 percent from last year. In addition, more than 11.1 million viewers cumulative tuned in Monday for related programming, including the live CMT Music Awards Red Carpet show, which was filmed on the Belmont University sidewalk on Belmont Boulevard.
Adkins took home top honors for Male Video of the Year (“I’ve Got My Game On”); Taylor Swift won Female Video of the Year (“Our Song”); Rascal Flatts won Group Video of the Year (“Take Me There”); Sugarland won Duo Video of the Year (“Stay”); and Taylor Swift won Video of the Year (“Our Song”). Pickler won the first awards of her professional career with three CMT buckles for USA Weekend Breakthrough, Performance and Tearjerker Video of the Year for the video “I Wonder.” She accepted the accolades via satellite from Scottsdale, Ariz., where she had a concert.
Hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus, the “2008 CMT Music Awards” kicked off with a special “red-carpet” broadcast of the various artists arriving at the venue on Belmont Boulevard. Fans lined the streets and the steps leading to the Maddox Grand Atrium to get a first-hand glimpse of their favorite performers.
Keith Urban, joined by Brooks & Dunn, ignited the live show with Urban’s “Raise the Barn,” followed by a fantastic musical number by LeAnn Rimes in which she re-created the video for her nominated song “Nothin’ Better to Do.” Rascal Flatts performed latest single, “Bob That Head,” which featured user-generated clips from fans who “sang along” during the chorus.
In addition, a number of powerful performances marked the evening, as Sugarland was joined by tour mates Little Big Town and Jake Owen for their cover of “Life in a Northern Town”; Tim McGraw with wife Faith Hill sang their duet “I Need You”; Alan Jackson performed his newest single “Good Time”; hosts Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus performed the duet “Ready, Set, Don’t Go”; special guest Hank Williams Jr. joined Brad Paisley on Paisley’s song “I’m Still a Guy”; Taylor Swift rocked her single “Picture to Burn”; Toby Keith performed his newest hit, “She’s a Hottie”; Kenny Chesney sang “Never Wanted Nothing More”; and Carrie Underwood closed the show with her hit, “All-American Girl.”
For the first time, the show also featured a side stage that included such up-and-coming artists as Bucky Covington, James Otto, Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Ashton Shepherd and Chuck Wicks. Visit CMT.com for a complete list of winners as well as exclusive content from the evening and a listing of encore airings of the show and the red carpet special.
Click the more button below to see additional photos from the event.
Author Jim Wallis to Speak on Faith and Politics April 24
New York Times-bestselling author Jim Wallis will bring his message on politics, religion and justice to the Belmont University campus on April 24 at 7:30 p.m. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Belmont Heights Baptist Church sanctuary and will include a short in-the-round style concert by acclaimed and Grammy-winning Nashville singer songwriters Ashley Cleveland and Marcus Hummon, as well as a book signing by Wallis at the conclusion of the event.
Wallis follows up his New York Times bestseller God’s Politics with a call to action for people who want to address urgent problems that politics has failed to solve. His new book, The Great Awakening: Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, released in January and heralds a new era for faith and politics.
Wallis said, “God’s Politics called on people to take back their faith after it had been ‘hijacked’ by the Religious Right. Millions of Christians have done just that, and now the question is what are we going to do with our faith, now that we have it back? My new book, The Great Awakening, addresses that new question.”
Dr. Todd Lake, the vice president of spiritual development at Belmont, explained that Wallis’ ideas and remarks couldn’t come at a more appropriate time. “We are in the midst of an election year in which all of these issues are 
dominating news coverage,” Lake said. “Jim’s book, and his talk at Belmont, will give us another forum to wrestle with how conversations of social issues and political quandaries directly relate to faith. This will be an evening to fully engage the mind and the spirit.”
In his new book, Wallis revisits spiritual revivals and movements throughout history that led to great social change, ultimately concluding the world is on the verge of the next Great Awakening. He then addresses seven moral issues that are and will be critical to such conversations: global and domestic poverty, the environment and climate change, pandemic diseases, human rights, health care, war and peace. Wallis explains that only a revival of faith can spark the necessary changes in public opinion and political will on those key agendas, and that spiritual transformation is necessary for social change.
Students Earn Honorable Mention in International Math Contest
A team of Belmont mathematics students earned an Honorable Mention in this year’s Mathematical Contest in Modeling. This year’s contest ran from Feb. 14-18. During that time, teams of up to three undergraduate or high school students researched, modeled and submitted a solution to one of two modeling problems. In this international competition, mathematics majors Nikki Finuf, Matt Perry and Amy Valentine had three days to model the effects on the Florida coastline of the melting of the polar ice cap and to evaluate various prevention and remediation measures. Their Honorable Mention designation places them in the top 55 percent of the 1,162 competing teams representing institutions from 14 countries. The students will be presenting their model and results at BURS this year.
Belmont to Hold Seventh Annual Nashville Arthritis Walk
The Tennessee Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation will for the first time this year hold its annual Nashville Arthritis Walk on the Belmont University campus. The event, which supports public awareness and raises funds to fight the nation’s leading cause of disability, is May 4 at 2 p.m., rain or shine. Check in for the event begins at 1 p.m.
The Arthritis Walk is the nationwide signature event of the Arthritis Foundation. Currently held in 14 communities in Tennessee and 400 across the country, the Arthritis Walk is the fastest growing walk event in the nation. In Tennessee alone, 1.3 million adults suffer from arthritis and approximately 6,000 Tennessee children are affected. Arthritis is the third leading cause of work limitation in the nation and is a more frequent cause of activity limitation than heart disease, cancer or diabetes.
“Belmont is excited to welcome the Arthritis Walk to our campus,” said Dr. Jack Williams, Dean of the Gordon E. Inman College of Health Sciences and Nursing. “We are glad our students will have the opportunity to learn from this notable health organization that does so much to educate and raise awareness of this widespread and debilitating disease.”
Len Smith, president/CEO for the Tennessee Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, said, “We are thrilled to be teaming with Belmont University for our 7th annual Nashville Arthritis Walk. They have been very supportive in all efforts surrounding the event and offer an outstanding campus as site for the Walk.”
CEMB to Host Fourth Annual Leadership Music Digital Summit
The Nashville Chamber of Commerce has joined forces with Leadership Music this year to present the fourth annual Digital Summit, hosted by the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business, on Tues., April 22 in Belmont’s Curb Event Center. In just three years, LDMS has proven to be a valuable event for both the entertainment community and city of Nashville by becoming one of Tennessee’s largest music-related summits. With an increase from 400 attendees in 2005 to more than 600 in 2007, the growth of the conference has challenged the volunteer and staff resources of Leadership Music. A partnership with the Chamber will allow for its continued improvement and reach and help strengthen relationships within the technology sector. Leadership Music alumni and industry volunteers with expertise in music technology create the programming, with the Chamber focusing on marketing, logistics and accommodating the event’s technology industry speakers and sponsors.
Pharmacy Faculty Participate in Practice and Research Forum
Dr. Cathy Turner and Dr. Julie Rafferty, assistant professors of Pharmacy, attended the American College of Clinical Pharmacy’s Spring Practice and Research Forum in Phoenix, Ariz. (April 5-9) as part of their preparation to achieve Board Certified Pharmacy Specialist (BCPS) status. They will sit for the BCPS exam in October 2008. In addition, Dr. Eric Hobson, professor of Pharmacy Practice, was a featured speaker at the forum where he served as lead faculty in the ACCP Academy Teaching and Learning Certificate Program. He presented two workshops: “Implementing Teaching and Learning Strategies” and “Classroom/Clerkship Assessment Techniques: Monitoring the Pulse of Student Learning.”
Hare Receives National Academic Honor
Belmont University senior Justin Hare (Cleveland, Tenn.) received yet another prestigious national honor recently, as he was named 2008 Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association. This is the latest award in a long and distinguished career for Hare. Last week, the 6-2 guard was named Mid-Major Most Valuable Player by CollegeInsider.com. A month prior, Hare was named First Team Academic All-American – becoming the third Bruin to earn multiple Academic All-America honors.
Hare is a two-time Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament MVP, a two-time First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference player and led Belmont to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Hare is one of just 12 student-athletes in NCAA Division-I men’s basketball to be recognized. Moreover, Hare is one of just two honorees to have played in this year’s NCAA Tournament, joining Travis Lay of American University. The Cleveland, Tenn. native sports a 3.87 GPA in his major of exercise science and health promotion. He plans to attend medical school upon graduation.
Beckmann Encourages Students to Connect Faith to Business
A Lutheran minister with a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, Rev. David Beckmann spoke on campus twice this past week, offering perspective on business and the poor as well as his life as a “missionary economist.” Beckmann will appear Fri., April 11 as a guest on “Bill Moyers Journal,” a weekly PBS program, to discuss how the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill impacts low-income families and poor farmers.
Rev. Beckmann, whose visit to Belmont was sponsored by the Office of Spiritual Development and the Center for Business Ethics, served for several years on the board of Bread for the World before becoming president of the organization in 1991. Bread for the World is a grass-roots, Christian citizens’ movement against hunger. Its 56,000 members and member churches urge the U.S. government to take actions to reduce hunger, both domestic and international. Rev. Beckmann is also president of Bread for the World Institute, which does research and education on hunger.
In Wednesday’s convocation lecture for students, Beckmann encouraged them to connect their faith and ethics to their future professions, whatever they might be. “You can go into business with a purpose, a moral purpose… If we think God is concerned about justice and poverty, then we need to weigh in on those issues.”
Jones Provides Keynote for ‘Belmont and Beyond’ Finale
Patrick Jones, MBA, and executive vice president and executive producer of Journey Productions, gave an inspirational talk to students in MPAC Thursday. Jones shared his personal journey with students and talked about how he found the “heart ” of his career when he produced the award-winning film, The Journey. The film follows four young adults as they search for the meaning of life.
Jones also reflected on his meetings with Mrs. Coretta Scott King and other famous political figures. He encouraged students to listen to themselves, make inspired choices and go where their hearts lead them. The “Belmont and Beyond” series, sponsored by Career Services, is offered as co-curricular programming that is designed specifically to assist students transitioning to life after Belmont.
