by Erin Franklin | Jan 13, 2019 | News Slider
On Friday at midnight, the government shutdown beat the record for the longest government shutdown in history with an unprecedented 22 days. The shutdown has now been 23 days in total, beginning on Dec. 22 and in response to President Donald Trump’s demand that Congress include $5.7 billion for “the wall” along the southern border. Trump is adamant the wall is needed to keep undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S. illegally. Democrats now have control of the U.S. House and do not agree with Trump and Republicans that a wall is necessary, rather citing it as being unessential and too expensive. The shutdown is affecting many federal agencies, among those the FDA, which has postponed and halted some inspections. Vandalism has overtaken national parks, and scientific research has been stalled to an extent. Due to the shutdown, many federal workers are not getting paid. But how does the shutdown affect universities, and private universities — like Lipscomb — in particular? Lipscomb receives $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a fiscal year, so being a private university doesn’t make Lipscomb exempt from the effects of the shutdown. This sum largely comes from students’ financial aid, grants used for scientific research, stipends for undergraduate and graduate students and community outreach, such as the suicide prevention grant Lipscomb had for the counseling center and the federal grant that helps support the IDEAL program. But Tiffany Summers, Lipscomb’s director of student aid, said there really isn’t any reason for Lipscomb students to worry about the status of their financial aid due to the shutdown, at least right now. “There’s not any issues with...
by Spencer Boehme | Jan 13, 2019 | News Slider, Opinion
DISCLAIMER: This article is the opinion of the author and is not intended to reflect the opinions of Lumination Network. As classes begin ramping up once again, now is a great time to continue the conversation about how ludicrous the parking situation at Lipscomb University is. It really baffles me that Lipscomb, a flourishing school in the Southeast, cannot seem to accommodate its growing student body with an equal number of parking spaces. Instead, it seems like more spots continue to be taken away. I have a couple of examples. Right before the 2017 fall semester began, Patrick Cameron’s parking email at the time stated that the parking garage with the tennis court on top would “now be for Faculty, Staff and Guest use only.” To this day, that has not changed. Okay, so if you get paid to go to Lipscomb, you can park in the garage. That’s great. I’m not sure if they had previously closed off the garage in that manner before, but the point is that I wasn’t going to be able to park there. And then, towards the end of the 2018 spring semester, the Ezell parking lot next to the garage got the axe in favor of the upcoming George Shinn Event Center. If you’re a freshman or a transfer this year, yes, that building they’re working on used to be a parking lot. Again, all this blows my mind. You do have Stokes, which is honestly not that bad. It’s right next to the campus and is a short walk, especially if your first class is in McFarland or Hughes or one...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 13, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Senior guard Garrison Mathews is rewriting the Lipscomb basketball record books. Thanks to a 20-point performance against Stetson on Saturday, Mathews eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for his career and passed Adnan Hodzic (2,002) as the school’s leading scorer in the NCAA Division I era, which began with the 2001-02 season. “I struggled my freshman year, and I didn’t think I’d be at this point when I got here,” Mathews said. “I knew I had to work hard, and I did. I’ve got great coaches and teammates that have helped me along the way.” Senior forward Rob Marberry led all scorers with 23 points, and freshman Jake Wolfe emerged as an offensive threat with 16 points in Lipscomb’s 95-71 thrashing of the Hatters in front of 1,388 Allen Arena fans. “The scoring was really spread out, which was awesome to see,” Marberry said. “Teams don’t really know how to guard us. They can’t tell if it’s going to be one guy’s night or another player’s [night].” Lipscomb (12-4, 3-0 ASUN) started slow, and Stetson held a 19-18 lead after nine minutes of play. But the Bisons finished the final 10 minutes of the first half on a 38-11 run to take a 56-30 halftime lead and quell any concerns of a Stetson upset. “When you create a margin like that at halftime, you’ve obviously played well,” Lipscomb coach Casey Alexander said. “I was not pleased with the consistency of play. I felt like we had a lot of breakdowns and it wasn’t really clean, but I’ll take it overall.” Mathews also set Lipscomb’s record for three-pointers in the NCAA era....
by Erika Plunkett | Jan 12, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
For the first time this season, Lipscomb’s women’s basketball team was able to dress its entire team. But the return of redshirt sophomore forward Emily Kmec and freshman guard/forward Taylor Hammack did not prove to be enough to defeat the Stetson Hatters. Saturday’s 65-80 loss moved the Lady Bisons to a 2-14 record, while Stetson improved to 7-9. Lipscomb has now lost 13 straight games. Leading Stetson to the win was junior guard Addi Walters, who shot 7-of-12 from behind the arc and totaled a season-high 25 points. When asked how he was going to address this defensive lapse moving forward, Lipscomb coach Coach Greg Brown said that his focus is on “awareness and communication.” “We just didn’t communicate very well. There was nothing [offensively] where they would get us in a bind. We just weren’t aware out there to take care of those things.” Offensively, the Lady Bisons’ leading scorer, sophomore guard Taylor Clark, was able to contribute only six points. She got into foul trouble early, which limited her playing time. Despite these mistakes, there were a number of bright spots for Lipscomb, including freshman guard Jane Deason, who led the Lady Bisons with twenty points. Although this was a career high, her performance was no surprise to her coaches who have time and time again observed her work ethic. “Jane just continues to play hard,” Brown said. “Like all freshmen there is a learning curve, but she listens. She was one of the last ones to leave here last night. After practice she was playing some pickup, and then she turned around and was on the...
by Lumination Staff | Jan 12, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb men’s and women’s basketball teams are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 12, as the Stetson Hatters pay a visit to Allen Arena for a doubleheader. The women’s game will tip off at 1:30 p.m. CT and will be followed by the men’s contest at 4 p.m. Lumination Radio will broadcast both games, which can be streamed by clicking HERE. Sophomore Spencer Boehme will serve as the play-by-play announcer, while senior Russell Vannozzi will serve as the color commentator. Lumination will carry select men’s and women’s basketball games throughout the 2018-19 season. Stay tuned to our Facebook, Twitter and radio homepage for programming...
by Russell Vannozzi | Jan 10, 2019 | News Slider, Sports
Eli Pepper etched his name in the Lipscomb basketball record books Tuesday night. The lanky post grabbed his 841st career rebound in an 81-66 victory over North Florida, surpassing Adnan Hodzic’s previous record of 840 boards. Pepper now stands alone as Lipscomb’s most decorated rebounder in the NCAA Division I era, which began with the 2001-02 season. “It took a lot of hard work,” Pepper said. “[The record] is not what it’s ever been about. It’s been a goal, of course. But it’s more about this team and taking last year’s history and doing better and going further.” The feat did not come easily. The Kentucky native struggled with consistency early in his career and has often been overshadowed by Lipscomb’s premier scorers like Garrison Mathews and Rob Marberry. But now, as a senior, coach Casey Alexander said that Pepper serves as a model of consistency and an example for the team’s younger players. “His effort is always there,” Alexander said. “The thing we can count on the most with Eli is him being ready and giving his best effort. You have a good player and the making of a good team when you have a lot of those guys.” Pepper’s night against the Ospreys included much more than just the rebounding record. He finished with 20 points and 11 boards for his third double-double of the season. He also hit a trio of shots from beyond the arc for the second-straight game. Pepper is shooting 42 percent (11-of-26) from long range this season. “I’ve told a lot of people that it’s taken four years,” Pepper said of his shooting...
