by Jameson Roper | Apr 30, 2010 | News Slider
Thursday morning, Lipscomb University hosted their second Hispanic Forum in the Ezell Center. Entitled “Opening Doors,” the forum was an informative event meant to cast light on the social outlook of America and Tennessee’s Hispanic youth and their education. Lipscomb held the event to bring together educators, students, and other public leaders to focus on diversity in our communities. President Randy Lowry began the morning stressing the importance of diversity in our community. Dr. Stella Flores shared her outlook on the current situation. Flores is a Vanderbilt University professor and internationally recognized expert on Hispanic relations. Prior to becoming a staff member at Vanderbilt, Flores worked in the United States Government Accountability Office. Flores, a Texas-native and Harvard graduate, stressed from the beginning that America’s Hispanic youth has not been targeted with enough help and it must change. “Immigration is inching to the top of the policy agenda [in America],” Flores said. Flores stated laws like the one recently passed in Arizona are a step back in America’s relations with immigrants. The new law Flores spoke of, entitled Arizona SB1070, has an aim to find and deport suspected illegal immigrants. The law grants Arizona police officers the right to question suspected illegal immigrants and demand identification. If the person fails to produce a valid form of identification, they can and will be prosecuted and deported. Flores said that we as Americans must give these Spanish-speaking students a fair chance at equal education. Flores’ parents are both college-educated Hispanics. However, she said that her mother was placed in speech classes throughout her schooling in an attempt to eliminate her accent...
by Jameson Roper | Apr 19, 2010 | Sports
The Nashville Predators hockey team is one of the National Hockey League’s recent fairy tale stories. At a time in the sport where it seems as though only marquee names like Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby gain any attention, the Predators are a breath of fresh air. While the team quietly climbed up the standings eventually to finish the regular season with 100 points, they have done so with a roster comprised of no definitive stars. Since the team’s inception, they have always chosen to draft little-known players and grow them. David Poile, the Predators’ Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, has never been the type to sacrifice a potential talent for a hot player in the short term. The Predators have established a mentality of producing “homegrown” players– players that go through the system and are bred to play a style of hockey befitting to the club. Anyone who watched the Winter Olympics this past February in Vancouver will probably remember the names Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. The Canadian gold medalist and U.S. silver medalist, respectively, received praise from media outlets and analysts after both playing major roles in their countries’ play. Both were drafted and bred within the organization, and have become premier defensemen in the game of hockey. Both are prime examples of the homegrown players, a process this organization has stressed from day one. Despite making trips to the postseason in five of the previous six seasons and consistently being a force within the league, the attendance has suffered. Hockey has always been a hard sell in southern America, especially in...
by Jameson Roper | Apr 11, 2010 | News Slider
The newly formed Prentice Meador Distinguished Lectures began on Tuesday with Landon Saunders from Heartbeat Ministries speaking in Willard Collins Alumni Auditorium at Lipscomb University. The lecture series showcases speakers who exemplify effective Christian ministry, as Meador did throughout his career. Saunders, a Lipscomb graduate and personal friend of Meador, founded Heartbeat Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit organization that aims to show people that they can live a joyous life regardless of circumstance. Through Heartbeat Ministries, Saunders targets young people between the ages of 18 and 29, an age group that Meador believed in and constantly reached out to. “He may be from your parents’ generation, but he’s doing so much for your generation,” President Randy Lowry said in his introduction of Saunders. Saunders spoke of his experience with young people who had stopped going to church and the reasons they stopped. A common strain of answers Saunders received pertains to the nature of the church as an assembled group. One primary area of focus in Saunders’ address was about the overemphasis of time spent in the church, which Saunders calls “assembled time.” Saunders stressed how the way we act outside of church assembled, which he calls “church unassembled,” is far more vital as is an unlimited amount of time. “Maybe we have this conception of church, that it only occupies three hours on a Sunday morning,” Saunders said. “And most people’s conception of church is based on that three hours.” Saunders said this assembled church can be a potentially negative thing because of some churches’ homologous and sometimes exclusive nature. “No one needs to tell us how much time...
