by Jade Spilka | Nov 4, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge is a must-see film. Hacksaw Ridge, the incredible, true story of US Army medic Desmond Doss, is inspiring and thrills audiences. The World War II biographical stars Andrew Garfield. It received a 10-minute standing ovation at the 73rd annual Venice Film Festival where it premiered. Hacksaw Ridge portrays Doss’ commitment to his Seventh-day Adventist faith as a US Army medic who does not believe in touching a gun, killing another person or working on Saturday, the Sabbath. Doss is belittled, mocked and abused for his beliefs by fellow army men. He is even faced with a possible heavy prison sentence for disobeying orders after refusing to participate in rifle training for these reasons. Many of his commanders and peers considered Doss a coward because of his beliefs. Ironically, Doss ends up being the man who singlehandedly saves 75 of his comrades without a weapon while he is under constant enemy fire. Hacksaw Ridge is a phenomenal film. Garfield’s constant, genuine and kind performance is award-winning. The message of the movie is to be faithful to your beliefs, no matter the cost and live courageously. Though there was a lot of gore and conflict, you will leave the theater feeling happy and inspired. It is a must-see film! Photo courtesy of...
by Whitney Smith | Nov 2, 2016 | News Slider
After eight years of silence, the Lipscomb Underground is back in circulation. The Lipscomb Underground is a newsletter that was founded in 1994 by former Lipscomb students Todd DuPriest and Justin King. According to their first issue, the Underground was meant to be a free and open-forum news source for Lipscomb’s campus, relying almost entirely on student discussion for its content. In efforts to stay true to the original intent, the new host senior William Sisson wrote in the first issue since 2008, “This is college. We should be able to spread our ideas without fear of administrative retaliation.” One former contributor who knew the original hosts still calls Lipscomb’s campus home. Lipscomb’s Assistant Director of Security Patrick Cameron said the beginning of the Underground was far from an underground paper as it was once sent to the White House and the Space Shuttle. “When I was an undergraduate, there were a couple of guys that I was good friends with: Justin King and Todd DuPriest, and Justin and Todd were the original founders of the Underground,” Cameron said. “Since I was good friends with both of them, I had the opportunity to contribute and to publish occasionally.” Senior and Lipscomb Underground subscriber Jay Klein is only a recent patron, and he says he sees the Underground’s role on campus as a facilitator and encourager of free-thinking and...
by Whitney Smith | Oct 31, 2016 | News Slider
With Lipscomb’s largest graduating class walking across the stage in the spring, the students coming to Lipscomb this fall have big shoes to fill. Lipscomb reached its third highest enrollment with 4,554 students this year. Although this number is an increase from previous years, it is a decrease from last year’s 4,686 students. The university credits that decrease to graduating more students than ever. Darrell Duncan, the Associate Vice President of Finance, said that because Lipscomb does not officially set a budget for the upcoming year until the fall when they have the official enrollment numbers, the budget is still the largest in school history, but it’s smaller than what they had expected. “We wanted a higher enrollment than we got,” Duncan said. “Enrollment was actually down year over year, but it was in the top three of the school’s 125 year history. So on a grading scale, that’s an A+. “What’s happened is, because of Lipscomb’s success, we have a new measure of a new standard. The budget — actually, we were hoping it would go up by about 5% year over year — that was our hope going into the budget process, but when enrollment came in, we realized we can increase the budget 3% year over year; so the misinformation is it’s not a reduction over last year — it’s just less of an increase.” Since technically less of an increase does not indicate a decrease, Lipscomb’s enrollment is down, but its budget is not. For other areas of campus, Dr. Scott McDowell, Dean of Student Life, said the administration is careful in their planning to ensure...
by Charissa Ricker | Oct 30, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
Lipscomb Men’s Soccer (9-5-2, 3-2-1) tied with ASUN opponent No. 20 Florida Gulf Coast (12-3-2, 4-1-1) 1-1 Saturday night at the Lipscomb Soccer Complex in the final regular season game. The team also celebrated senior night honoring six senior student-athletes: Troy Barr, Micah Bledsoe, Josue Chavez, Shpend Rexhepi, Daniel Vieira and team manager Jared Hensley. These seniors have lead the team to 43 victories over their time, an ASUN Regular Season Championship and three ASUN Academic Championships. “I am so proud of this group of seniors,” head coach Charles Morrow said. “These young men have fought through adversity and demonstrated their commitment to this program. Witnessing their personal growth over their time here is what truly makes them men of character.” Senior Goalie Bledsoe broke his thumb during warm-ups and was not able to start as scheduled. Sophomore Chris Zappia started in place of Bledsoe and had seven saves during the game. “Chris Zappia stepped up and had a great game, and the seniors play today was outstanding,” Morrow noted. The team came out aggressively and played strong offense for the majority of the game, with 16 shots on the goal. After a corner kick, FGCU scored the first goal with five minutes left in the first half, leaving the score at half-time 0-1. The Bisons came out in the second half pushing offense. Within the first sevent minutes, defender Joe Kerridge scored a 30 yard goal tying the game. During the second half, the Bisons held the nation’s best offensive attackers to no shots but couldn’t pull ahead in double-overtime. “I think our pressure was outstanding tonight,” Morrow...
by Brooke Dorris | Oct 30, 2016 | News Slider
Pancakes were flipping in the Student Center on Monday evening when Delta Omega hosted a Waffle and Pancake Bar to raise money and awareness for Rett Syndrome. Delta Omega’s Philanthropy Chair, senior Rebecca Shannon, organized the fundraiser for a little girl named Blakely Goodman who the club has a special connection with. “She [Blakely] has Rett Syndrome, which is a rare genetic disease, and we are here tonight to try to raise money in order to find a cure,” Shannon said. “We figured that pancakes and waffles would be the perfect late night snack for students on a Monday night. We just try to do everything we can to give back to the community and especially Blakely.” At the fundraiser, the club sold pancakes and waffles for $2 each, with all-you-can-eat pancakes and waffles for $5. Delta Omega raised over $500 total. Rett Syndrome is a disease that affects one in 10,000 girls. It is a rare genetic disease and has many different varieties, but overall it takes away your five motor skills. Delta Omega senior Brennan Boucher has known the Goodman family personally for several years, so for her senior year, she wanted the club’s philanthropy focus to be on helping Blakely and raising money to find a cure for Rett syndrome. “She [Blakely] was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome when she was about three years old,” Boucher said. “She’s six now and is doing great, but she is still trying to overcome this disease. “Delta Omega is hosting this event to try to raise money to find a cure for Rett. There is a cure, and it could be found in Blakely’s lifetime, but...
by Erin Franklin | Oct 29, 2016 | News Slider
The “SRAT” team took home the trophy Friday night in Lipscomb’s annual dodgeball tournament, besting team “One Direction” in the final held in Fanning courtyard. It was a tough fight to the top, but the Final Four consisted of “SRAT,” “Stranger Things,” “One Direction” and “Brentwood Moms” with “SRAT” beating “Stranger Things” and “One Direction” defeating “Brentwood Moms” in round one of the finals. “SRAT” then played “One Direction” for a best of three out of five in the final round. “SRAT” won the first three matches to clinch their win. Senior Glenn Hill played on the winning team, “SRAT” and said he had an “awesome” time for his first time competing. “It feels amazing,” Hill said. “All of us are seniors, and this is my first time playing, so it’s nice to go out on top as a senior.” The dodgeball tournament is an annual event held around Halloween at Lipscomb. Multiple teams are decked out in crazy and creative costumes competing in a dodgeball cage to win the trophy and bragging rights. Junior Roman Ottinger competed on the “Mormons” team. Although they didn’t make it to the final, Ottinger said he had a fun time playing for his first time. “Lipscomb Dodgeball is 15% dodgeball skill and 85% your costume,” Ottinger noted. Staying in character, Ottinger quipped that his team would like for “everyone to become soldiers for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” 15 total teams competed in the competition. The complete list of teams that competed include: “Harambe,” “Olympic Swimmers,” “Stranger Things,” “Meme Team,” “SRAT,” “Jungle Cat,” “JuJu,” “Brentwood Moms,” “Cereal Killers,”...
