by Darcy Todd | Sep 19, 2016 | News Slider
People of all ages gathered in Allen Arena this morning for the annual Music City Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, or BEST, robotics competition kick-off event. The event is sponsored by NISSAN and Lipscomb University’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering. Seventeen teams are expecting to participate this year, including three rookie teams hoping to make their mark. BEST is a national, six-week competition held each fall in which middle and high schools design robots to perform tasks specific to the playing field. These tasks change every year. While teachers and parents supervise the building process, students must assemble the robots on their own using the parts provided in their kits. The teams will return to the field to compete with their robots on October 25th. Competition day involves over 70 volunteers who help referee and judge. Not only does each team have the chance to impress judges with the abilities of their robots, but also with the exhibits that will be set up around the arena. Each team will be judged on their engineering notebook, marketing presentation, team exhibit and interviews, spirit and sportsmanship and robot performance. The over-all competition process provides a unique opportunity for young students across the country to practice their engineering skills. This year, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) expressed interest in the program. The TVA is also sponsoring this year’s teams in Music City by awarding each team $100 in order to aid in the robot construction process. “I’ve done this since 6th grade,” Chloe, now an 8th grader at Cannon County High School, said. “I do engineering!” Shawn Williams, the Plant Manager of Car...
by KJ Lauck | Sep 18, 2016 | News Slider, Sports
A one-hour lightning delay, Chick-fil-A minis and a torrential downpour welcomed the Lipscomb men’s and women’s cross country team to Vaughn’s Gap on Saturday at the Commodore Classic. The lighting delay occurred after the men’s race, which was at 9 a.m. The women were scheduled for 10:00 a.m. but had to wait until 11 a.m. to run. The inclement weather was not common to the Commodore Classic. “It’s pretty rare,” Bill Taylor, Director of Cross Country, said, “It’s only happened once since I’ve been at Lipscomb in 10 years, and it was actually the Belmont race one year, but it’s not very common for that to happen.” Taylor did not believe the weather was an excuse for either team. The men’s team performed well finishing 10th out of 23 teams, while also besting in-town rivals Belmont (12th) and Vanderbilt (18th) in the team rankings. The other in-state schools fared far better as MTSU finished in 1st, Tennessee in 8th, and Tennessee Tech in 9th. “There’s a lot of younger guys who ran their first 8K today of their lives, so that’s a factor for the guys,” Taylor noted. Freshman Brent Leber was the only Bison to finish in the top 50 and finished with a time of 25:29.7. Taylor was pleased with his performance in his first two outdoor meets. “He’s a tough kid, and he’s willing to put himself in position to give himself a chance,” Taylor said. “I think that was his first 8K cross country race, and I just like that he’s brave and that he’s willing to go out there run top of the competition.”...
by Becca Risley | Sep 16, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Presented by the Lipscomb Theatre Department, The 39 Steps opens Friday evening and stars junior Connor Weaver as the well-intentioned, although slightly misled, Richard Hannay. This Alfred Hitchcock classic spy thriller features the adventures of Hannay as he encounters double-crossing secret agents, meets incredibly seductive women and gets framed for a murder he did not commit. “The play cranks everything up to eleven and turns just about every aspect of the story into a parody of itself,” Weaver said. “The villain is delightfully over the top, the romantic interests weave in and out with little to no greater repercussion and the hopelessly complex plot details are hilariously and even blatantly glossed over at times.” Even with an increased level of satirical comedy, the play speaks volumes to strong themes and elaborate characters. The play is driven by Hannay, a depressed 30-year-old man looking to spice up his life. In the midst of the show, he is made to bite off more than he can chew while trying to balance the safety of the world on his shoulders. “Somehow he manages to grow as a person through it all,” Weaver said. “It’s a tale of intrigue, redemption, courage and lots of costume changes.” Directed by Lipscomb’s own Kari Smith, The 39 Steps is portrayed as a satire of itself. One of the most noteworthy and unconventional adaptations comes when the audience meets two clown actors who end up playing almost every character in the show. This leads to several moments that break the fourth wall, where the joke is largely on the actors having to balance everything, rather than the characters’...
by Jade Spilka | Sep 16, 2016 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider, Opinion
Over 50 million people around the world sing Hillsong United songs on any given Sunday. The Australia-based Christian-band’s success is so far-reaching that director Michael John Warren decided to make a film documenting their popularity. Hillsong: Let Hope Rise provides an inside look at the band that sprung from the international megachurch Hillsong. The film’s narratives include interview segments from band members, their families and Hillsong pastors. Along with the documentary elements of the film, viewers are invited to join in on an interactive concert experience. Hillsong United came from humble beginnings but rose to international fame with hits like “Oceans” and “Touch the Sky.” Since the band’s formation, they have released 11 live albums and four studio albums. Let Hope Rise shows an overview of their earlier success, but mainly focuses on their mission, their members and their most recent tour. The film succeeds in keeping the audience’s attention throughout, and I appreciated the consistent positive message. Let Hope Rise is an inspirational documentary that is not only family-friendly, but it is also something someone of any age could find interest in. The live concert aspect of the documentary is a nice component that allows viewers to truly experience Hillsong United in the way their music is intended to be experienced. Near the beginning of the film, Joel Houston, a leading band member, stated that music is a way for people to experience God. He claimed that God made music as a connection between Heaven and the human heart. This theme carries on throughout the entirety of Let Hope Rise. The filmmakers and band members say they hope...
by Katie Bianchini | Sep 15, 2016 | News Slider
Currently, it’s hard for Lipscomb students to see beyond the chain link fences and road blocks that signify the closing of yet another parking area on campus. However, by fall 2017, the lot behind the Village will offer more than just parking spaces to upperclassmen with the opening of a brand new residence hall. While the building does not yet have a name, Sam Smith, Dean of Student Life, said Lipscomb has big plans for the new structure. “The best way to help students understand the design of the new building is to ask them to think of the Hampton Inn,” Smith said. “The new building will be a beautiful living space that will promote community through its design.” Smith has spent the last couple of years visiting 20 other college campuses from California to Massachusetts, looking at a variety of dorm options. He said he hopes with his research that Lipscomb can provide students with the best space to live. “There will be around 174 beds in the new residence hall, and each hall will have a mix of community areas for the residents to interact with each other and build relationships,” Smith said. “The lower level will include office space, a full kitchen, a classroom and a beautiful courtyard.” While not a co-ed dorm — keeping with Lipscomb’s standards — the new hall will have a flexible building design to allow both males and females to live in different wings. Smith said he and other staff members hope to name the structure in the coming months. Options include: the name of a historical figure from Lipscomb’s past,...
