by Hunter Patterson | Nov 7, 2011 | News Slider
Bad news travels fast — especially when one of your own gets arrested downtown. That was the case on Oct. 29 when Brett Flener was arrested along with 26 others at Legislative Plaza as a part of Occupy Nashville. One of the others arrested was Nashville Scene reporter Jonathan Meador. Meador was on the scene covering the protests, an assignment given to him by his editor. Once the Tennessee Highway Patrol started approaching, they did not recognize Meador as a member of the media…even though he was exclaiming the fact as they pushed him to the ground before cuffing his wrists. You’ve heard that story, though. Everyone in Nashville has. When the Middle Tennessee Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists learned of the story, they decided to take action against the governor and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. On Saturday, SPJ learned of his arrest, prompting a chain of emails sent by the society’s president Deb Fisher and the other 11 members on the board. One of those members is Lipscomb Associate Professor of Communication Dr. Jimmy McCollum. “The deck was stacked against [Meador],” McCollum said. “It was dark, there were people all around and the troopers probably lumped everyone together.” McCollum says the board feels that the troopers should have paused when Meador said he was a member of the media and tried to verify that. The reports say that Meador never produced any press credentials during the time of his arrest. However, the THP never asked for credentials either, sparking outrage from the journalism community. The THP’s report says they smelled alcohol on...
by Hunter Patterson | Nov 6, 2011 | News Slider
In a letter to the Lipscomb community, University President Randy Lowry announced a major overhaul of the campus school. Thanks to donors Bill and Neika Stephens, the middle school will be moved from its current location to the site where the elementary school currently sits. The school will be a two-story K-8 building. In addition to the relocation of the middle school, a new campus school will be built on the property located between Granny White and the high school’s athletic complex. The buildings that the high school currently uses will be renovated and used by the university. The $10 million donation is the largest ever presented to the campus school and the third largest to the Lipscomb community. The letter reads as follows: I am pleased to share with you an announcement we made last night to our friends and supporters at the Associates Gala. The Stephens Christian Trust, an entity founded by Bill Stephens, has challenged us in our Lipscomb:Next effort by making a $10 million gift for Campus School. This represents the largest gift ever made to the Campus School and the third largest gift ever made to Lipscomb University. The gift has been given to support the activities and programs of the Campus School, the largest K-12 independent school in Middle Tennessee. In addition to announcing that gift last evening, I shared a vision for the Campus School that includes a renovated elementary school to be joined at Harding and Granny White by a new middle school on that site. The vision also includes a new high school on property already a part of the institutional overlay...
by Kathryn Claire Watts | Nov 6, 2011 | News Slider
Students from the university’s clubs and societies promoted themselves to local professionals on Nov. 3 as a part of the first annual reverse career fair. Students set up tables and presented to visiting businesses and professionals about their participation in campus organizations and about themselves. Leslie Shelby, assistant director of the Career Development Center, implemented this event. “We were struggling to get students to come to traditional career fairs,” Shelby said. “So this was an event proposed to fix that problem. We always have employers asking us for interns. They wanted to meet the leaders on campus, and we thought this would be a great way to do that.” The career fair was capped at 20 teams, and 30 employers attended. There was diversity of businesses as well as teams represented at the fair. The teams that were represented included the Society of Professional Journalists, Futuro, social clubs and others. Businesses included Caterpillar Finance, Aegis, Metro Police and even small businesses like Cullen Web Services. Cindy Cullen of Cullen Web Services said she was excited about this opportunity. “I got the email and was thrilled to come. I really enjoy working with interns,” Cullen said. “They have so much energy!” Most of the professionals asked the teams about their majors, goals and how hard they work to achieve them. After each round, employers were asked to grade the teams, and at the end of the night, the teams with the highest points won cash prizes. This year’s winner was the Campus Veterans Organization. “This career fair was very successful,” said Shelby. “We are already planning to do another one...
by Hunter Patterson | Nov 4, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
This week, anchors Kelly Dean and Hunter Patterson give you the latest on everything Lipscomb. Also, have you heard about Kim Kardashian’s split? Jessica Burke will fill you in on that and everything entertainment. Michael Fox brings you the latest sports news this week, and Anne Paquin has this week’s weather. Please upgrade your...
by David Ball | Nov 4, 2011 | News Slider
For American Christians, it can be all too easy to forget how God has blessed us so much with our country. Despite all the problems and issues our nation is undergoing, we still have the freedom to be Christians. We do not face life or death persecution for our faith on a daily basis. However, there are many people, Christians, who are faced with certain death if they are found out to be Christians. Many of us here at Lipscomb have no idea what it’s really like to face such harsh persecution because of our faith. There are some students on campus, however, who do know first hand. Here is one of Lipscomb’s own and her story on what that kind of Christian life is like. Shaman Alavi grew up and lived in Iran until four years ago when her family, in her own words, miraculously moved out of Iran and settled in the Nashville area. Shaman’s childhood for the most part was not all that different from a typical young American. She grew up with her mom and dad and younger brother, and as a young girl, she spent her time going to school and moving from town to town depending on her father’s work. Her father was a doctor and frequently moved from city to city to help provide care for those in low income areas. Iran, however, for the past 30 years, has been subject to an Islamic Republic. In this type of government citizens are to follow Islamic Law, and over the years, this government has stripped away freedoms Iranians previously enjoyed before the Islamic take-over in 1979. “There is no...
by TJ Ojehomon | Nov 4, 2011 | News Slider, Opinion, Sports
What comes to your mind when you think of Division I Athletics? Upper echelon athletes doing their thing in their respective fields? That buzz that is around campus on gameday? The thrill of cheering with your friends and classmates in your school’s colors? Recently, it’s felt like Lipscomb has had two of three. Sure, there is that buzz on campus when it’s gameday, but do the students and fans really bring it when the whistle blows? Honestly, Lipscomb lacks the school pride. Lipscomb is a small, private, predominantly Caucasian, Church of Christ university. Not surprisingly, the school tends to draw a fairly conservative body of students. They come from private schools, Christian schools, home-schools, smaller schools and the university’s neighboring campus school. These schools pride themselves on developing a student’s character and academics over athletic ability, and Lipscomb follows suit. For better or worse, we just don’t focus on school spirit much around here. And school spirit means being proud of your school – where it’s going and where it’s been. A student with school spirit is a constant reflection and representation of the school. They own half the campus bookstore, they’re always thinking of ways to make the school better, and they take pride in everything that the school stands for. By contrast, Lipscomb students come from conservative backgrounds, which makes them more reserved and less inclined to go crazy over a basketball game. Ironically, I hear students complain all the time about how Lipscomb doesn’t have a football team. Why should we field a mediocre football team? We have two teams that make it to national tournaments...
