Tuition Freedom Day 2011

Tuition Freedom Day 2011

“In Donors We Trust” was the theme of  Tuition Freedom Day 2011. The Event was hosted for the first time by Lipscomb and sponsored by the Student Philanthropy Council. Assistant Director of Annual Giving Sonja Hayes was on-hand at the event to spill all the juicy details about Tuition Freedom Day 2011. “Tuition Freedom Day is meant to bring awareness to students about what private gifts can do for the school,” Hayes said. “We really want students to pay it forward.” Senior law, justice and society major Conrad Beauchamp shouted for joy at the day’s celebration. “Thank you for supporting broke kids like me!” said Beauchamp. Hayes said this day has been set aside for students to write thank you notes to those donors who have given over $6 million this year to Lipscomb University. Donations made by anonymous donors, parents and friends of the university cover about 30 percent of each student’s educational costs per school year. Members of the Student Philanthropy Council helped to run the event. The chair of the council and president of the Student Government Association Jackson Sprayberry, council member Bryce Davidson and theatre major Carter Martin were among the first group. They all took the time to explain the benefits these donations had for all students to each person as they walked in the Bennett Campus Center. Just before 10:35 a.m. three freshman, Angie Harding, Jasmine Booker and Jasmine Gales snatched up the last three small t-shirts leaving only one 2XL t-shirt for the taking. The event was held in the lobby of the Bennett Campus Center from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m....

New consequences for texting behind the wheel

Professors threaten to lower your final grade in a class if they catch on your cell phone during class. With threats like these most students can’t afford to use their phones until they’re out of class, walking to their cars and eventually on the road. Not all drivers are texting on the road, but Metro police officers are determined to find the drivers who are. The Tennessean reported that the Metro Police Department has “text patrols” on the road observing drivers who seem to be texting while driving. The police officers will be in unmarked SUVs patrolling the streets looking for violators. Kristi Mason, a theater major from Kansas, thinks that knowing what to expect will simply result in more disguised techniques. “If the people know the police’s plan, they will try to be more discreet about texting,” Mason said. “They will lower phones down to a level [where they] completely take [their] eyes off the road.” These antics make the issue seem far more dangerous. Can the issue can be resolved safely at all? Mason doesn’t think so. “If people want to risk their lives and others for a simple text, they will,” Mason said. Metro police officers are now instructed to issue tickets instead of warning violations for people caught texting and driving. Texting while driving is against the law in Tennessee, as in many other states. It’s not an obvious violation police officers can catch with a radar gun or check points, so they have resorted to the more proactive method of casing drivers on the road. Anna Thomas, a senior pre-med student from Franklin, Tenn.,...