by Anna McClure | Jul 27, 2015 | News Slider
Generations of Lipscomb students have heard the mysterious tale of the cave system that runs beneath campus but have been unable to dig deeply enough into the story — or into the ground for that matter — to discover the truth. “I went to school here back in the mid ’80s and graduated in the ’90s, so I’ve always heard of the cave system,” said Kim Chaudoin, associate vice president of communication and marketing. “I never went digging or exploring, but I reached out to people who I knew might know.” What she discovered are various writings and records that indicate that beneath Avalon House — home of David and Margaret Lipscomb on the campus’ edge — was a spring, that is now thought to be part of the cave system. The Lipscombs lived there in the mid 1800s, before the invention of refrigerators, and — as was common upper-class practice in those days, either by building a spring house or in their case simply descending beneath the home to the coolness of a natural spring below — they used the spring to store perishables like milk and meat. Because of Tennessee’s porous limestone underpinnings springs and caves are relatively common. “The cave system has not been mapped out by the U.S. Geological Association and is not shown on the maps of any Tennessee cave systems,” Chaudoin said. “But what we think we know is that there are some places under the campus and that there’s evidence of it as far away as 100 Oaks Mall.” The theory is that one could travel beneath the ground from the old Lipscomb home all the way to that mall, if there...
by Leslie Newman | Jul 22, 2015 | Arts and Entertainment, News Slider
Lipscomb’s Cinematic and Theatre Arts programs are working together to create “Drama Major,” a mini-web series that will showcase students both in front of and behind the camera. During a week this summer, students and faculty joined together for long hours in a writer’s room with Dean Batali -known for producing and writing “That ‘70s Show” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” “Dean [Batali] knows so much about writing, I am even learning new things,” said Dave DeBorde, Film and Creative Media professor. During the writing sessions, Batali taught students how to build a good TV series from scratch. “You want to be able to pitch a show to the top of the yellow steno pad,” Batali said. “The shorter the description, the better.” “There is so much more to think about in a TV show than I thought,” graduate film student Josh Link said. “This is such an amazing learning experience.” Batali guided students through structure, noting that each episode is a three or four act play in itself. Students participated in the creating of the play while Batali “worked the writer’s room” by guiding writers to conjectures. “We hope that everyone at Lipscomb will watch the mini-series, and as far as I know, I think it is going to be really good,” said Steve Taylor, Lipscomb’s filmmaker-in-residence. Photo courtesy of Lipscomb...
by Anna McClure | Jul 18, 2015 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s Swang Business Center is getting a face lift including the addition of the BAYMAR Telepresence Center and renovations to classrooms, which have not been updated since their construction in 1984. Three first-floor classrooms will be given new paint, carpet and furniture with the front lecture hall being converted for the Cisco Telepresence System. The circular classroom was converted from a tiered room to a single floor and enclosed with a glass wall looking into the lobby. The system will allow students, clients, and guest speakers outside of the classroom to communicate and contribute to the class while watching a real-time video feed using an app on their tablets or phones. “On the graduate side, people want our degrees but can’t drive here one night a week, and they just can’t physically get here,” said Ray Eldridge, Interim Dean of the College of Business. “Now they can be here. I think that really allows Lipscomb to go beyond it’s boundaries.” The Telepresence System will include three plasma screens and cameras at the front of the room with up to 48 different locations that can be fed in to the classroom. This will allow students seeking a graduate business degree that live outside of driving range from the campus or the Spark facility in Cool Springs to take classes more involved than online. “We can also have guest speakers, so now we can have a CEO in New York who doesn’t have time to come down here,” Eldridge said. “All we have to do is give him an app for his iPad and he can talk directly to our...
by Erin Turner | Jul 17, 2015 | News Slider
Robots slid through the classrooms of James D. Hughes Center this week under the direction of young campers, ages 8-11, who carefully piloted the controllers. The youngsters were a part of Lipscomb’s Junior BisonBot Camp — now in its ninth year. The robot experience began as a small camp and has grown into a program that now includes several weeks of robotics camps for different age groups, sponsored by the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering and Nissan. Robotics camp co-director Ginger Reasonover — whose son Bryan hatched the idea for the camp — has been watching young engineers build robots since the camp began in 2006. The camp started out as Bryan’s Eagle project for scouting. The year before Bryan had been a part of BEST Robotics, a middle and high school robotics competition. “He said ‘you know, it’d be really cool if kids knew a little bit about electronics and motors and gears before they came to BEST,’ so he put on — with the blessing and help of [Lipscomb’s] Engineering College — the first robot camp,” Reasonover said. The first year the camp was called BERP, standing for “Bryan’s Engineering Robotic Project.” “It was such a success and there was such a need that the university picked it up and then the year after that Nissan came along as a sponsor,” Reasonover said. And Reasonover isn’t the only person to continue with the camp as it has developed. Counselor David Jack started as a camper and now serves as a counselor. “The first year that I was here it was not nearly as elaborate, but we had a...
by Anna McClure | Jul 15, 2015 | News Slider
Students returning this fall can expect to see a variety of changes across campus, but perhaps the most noticeable will be a raise in prices at Starbucks. The company wide changes will result in 5 to 20 cent raises in prices, depending on the drink. A small cup of black coffee, previously $1.91, will now cost $2.02 including tax. “We’ll be encouraging students to use reusable cups,” Starbucks manager Nancy Behrendt said. “You can save up to 50 cents every time that you bring it in.” Other changes students can expect to see will include the availability of mini Frappuccinos and cold brew coffee. “Cold brew coffee is brand new,” Behrendt said. “Instead of brewing coffee double strength and it being hot, cold brew coffee is actually steaped like we brew tea in cold water for 20 hours. “So it’s a lot more flavorful without that bitter kick like [hot] coffee sometimes does.” New food items have also been added to the menu including sandwiches such as roast beef on sourdough and foldovers. Despite the price increases, Starbucks prices remain similar to many of the other options on and surrounding campus. Lipscomb’s newest dinning option Au Bon Pain offers small coffees at $1.79 without tax and a 50-cent discount with a refillable mug. The Well, located across from campus on Granny White Pike, offers drip coffee for $2.20 for a 12 ounce drink and $2.50 for a 16 ounce including taxes. Drip coffee is not available after 3 p.m. Down the street from campus in 12th South other choices include Portland Brew, where a small cup of coffee is $1.91, tax...
by Leslie Newman | Jul 6, 2015 | News Slider
Lipscomb’s three swings and a ring saying likely grew because there are so many swings on campus and so often passers-by see couples sitting on the swings. The basic premise of “romantic” myth is that if a couple is spotted swinging three times, then the woman will get a ring. Sometimes love does spring from those swings, other times not. “My brother and his girlfriend used to sit on the swings on campus all the time and they did get married,” 2010 grad Rachel Stevens said. “He even built a swing just like the one on campus in their backyard.” Beaman Library Archivist Marie Byers added another detail to Lipscomb students’ pursuit of a college-romance-turned-lifelong-commitment. Byers said before there were swings there were signature green benches all over campus which were known as “office spotlights.” The benches were placed in very public areas to make sure modesty was a part of any heterosexual seating. The swings of love didn’t even arrive on campus until the spring of 1989, when students spied them upon returning from spring break. The swings accompanied plans for some major buildings on campus. The new library, athletic facilities, an addition to Johnson Hall, more parking spaces and a new baseball field were all to begin construction that July. To make room six run-down houses — they must have been, as students referred to them as “the ghetto” — were demolished. That neighborhood stood where the baseball field is now. Ronnie Farris, head postmaster for The Connection, used to live in the old neighborhood that was displaced for the baseball field. He remembers having a picture of his son on a...
