by Jimmy McCollum | Jun 9, 2011 | News Slider
By Meagan White Oakland High School This year’s Lipscomb Journalism Camp was decidedly one-sided gender-wise, a phenomenon that got mixed reviews. Twenty-four campers attended J-Camp, which ended on Wednesday; only four were boys. “We’re outrageously outnumbered, and that’s OK!” said Scott Dalton, a student at Montgomery Bell Academy. “I really thought there would be more [boys],” said Lee-Anna West, who attends home school in Nashville. “I have a lot of guy friends, and I usually get along really well with guys in general, so I was a little disappointed that there weren’t many here.” “As long as I have another guy with me it’s all good,” said Able Shi, who attends Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School, “but we need more guys at this camp.” Campers said that J-Camp was fun but intense. When asked what he initially expected from the camp, MBA student Karthik Sastry replied, “Hardcore journalism!” “I didn’t think I would have to use this much brainpower,” said Mark Gonzalez, from Nashville. J-Campers attended classes in writing, photography, design, advertising and video editing, but the sessions were not the only things the guys were excited about. “The food here isn’t like regular camp food,” Gonzalez said of the camp meals, which included pizza, lasagna, sub sandwiches and a baked-potato bar. Campers were able to eat in the Dining Center once; the other meals were served exclusively to them in one of the camp classrooms. “If you wanna be obese, come to this camp,” Shi said. In addition to feasting on junk food, Shi and Gonzalez had the opportunity to experience dormitory life while boarding in Sewell Hall. On...
by Hunter Patterson | Jun 9, 2011 | News Slider
For most students at Lipscomb, Advance means making friends, winning Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and revealing secrets during intense games of fruit basket turnover. For Jim Thomas, however, Advance runs much deeper than that. Dr. Thomas, a communications professor and an assistant to the president, started the Advance program 22 years ago with hopes of keeping incoming freshman at Lipscomb for the entirety of their college careers. “I see myself as more of a problem solver as opposed to someone who has great creativity,” Dr. Thomas said. “I always wondered why Lipscomb students transferred to Harding and vice versa.” After looking at the data, which had been complied after 20 years of research, Thomas soon found out that nearly 50 percent of those who start college never get their degree. Thomas then began to wonder if students were simply not as smart as they had thought upon entering college. “Surprisingly it is the brighter students who tend to drop out and never graduate,” Thomas said. “What is making the student say, ‘I’m just not going to do this?’” The main thing that Dr. Thomas found out was that most of the students’ decisions were made very early on in the college experience. He then concluded that if students were able to have a pleasant freshman year it was more likely they would finish college by walking the line and shaking the hand of the president instead of leaving during Spring break and never returning. “Having started at Lipscomb as a transfer student in 1967, I came in thinking that our registration process had a real problem with it,” Thomas said. “We...
by Lacy Pack | Jun 8, 2011 | News Slider
Lipscomb University hosted Volunteer Girl State (VGS) for the second year, and hopefully not the last. For the past 59 years, VGS was held at MTSU, but LU hosted the 2010 session. That session was deemed so successful that the VGS returned this year.Kathy Issaacson, Co-Director of VGS, is uncertain about whether next year’s session will be held at Lipscomb, but she says it is definitely a possibility. “We certainly enjoy it and we have been more than happy with all the accommodations here at Lipscomb,” says Issaacson. “We really appreciate the intimacy of the campus, its smallness, and its beauty and we think it really adds to the Girl State experience.” Wrenne Bartlett, a junior from Brentwood says she loves everything about Lipscomb and has enjoyed having Girl State here, even with all the cicadas. “You get around them… you avoid them,” laughs Bartlett. “You learn just to step around them or kinda wack them out of your face and get over them the best you can.” VGS is a one-week program offered to young women who are rising high school seniors. Girls from high schools all over Tennessee spend the week learning about state government, citizenship and how they can positively affect their communities by forming and running a mock government. Jordan Jowers, a junior from Lexington, TN, explains that all 550 girls or “citizens” are divided into two political parties and 12 cities to help them learn about government. “We get to elect mayors, a governor, and a Supreme Court, and we just go through all the roles of government,” says Jowers. “We develop a respect...
by Jimmy McCollum | Jun 7, 2011 | News Slider
A Tennessean editor gave advice to future journalists at Lipscomb University’s Journalism Camp Monday. Knight Stivender, senior editor, digital, informed the campers on the proper ways to use social media to prepare for a future career in journalism. Facebook, Twitter, and Google Profiles can manifest a person’s appealing qualities; however, since employers search prospective employees online, social networking should not be abused. “I would be classy – just classy, not with a ‘k,’” she said about Facebook profiles. “If you’re so inclined to have a dual personality, the one thing you could do is have a Facebook fan page for your classy with a ‘c,’ and a Facebook personal page for you classy with a ‘k.’ You could do both.” Knight said that to ensure a successful career, young writers should familiarize themselves with professional journalists and reporters through social networks by following them on Twitter or commenting on their Facebook fan page. “You’ve made some contacts, you’ve built some connections, you really need to showcase your work,” Knight said. After a writer has collected all of his or her work, whether it is videos, photos, or stories, the writer needs to save and share it. Once the work is published, others can comment and review on it, which improves the writer. Stivender stressed to write, report, and dig for interesting stories. She emphasized the importance of writing daily in a journal or a blog. “I never just blog,” she said. “I will journal constantly, like every day, multiple times a day. The more I do it, the more my thoughts crystalize.” Stivender left the campers with a new...
by Jimmy McCollum | Jun 6, 2011 | News Slider
Lipscomb University’s Journalism Camp kicked off on Sunday with a session on building a newscast. Instructors Brian O’Neal and Ray Harris let the students take turns as camera ops, audio directors and anchors. J-Camp is co-hosted by the department of communication and journalism and the Tennessee High School Press Association. Click on the photos below for a...
by Whitney Jarreld | Jun 3, 2011 | News Slider
For those who are not from Tennessee or old enough to remember, cicadas can seem like a plague of locusts. Every 13 years, Tennessee, along with 13 other states, experience an invasion of cicadas. While these insects are not related to locusts, they still can reek a havoc of annoyance. The majority of their life cycle is lived underground after they hatch from the eggs that the females lays into bark. Along with other noises, mating calls are produced by the males, called imagos, and sometimes multiple males join together for a chorus. They can reach around 100 decibels of noise. The cicadas make noise by using instruments called tymbals that are located on their abdomens. What makes the cicadas so loud? Their bodies are used as resonance chambers, amplifying the sound to deafening levels. Do not go outside and try and mow the lawn, either. You will more than likely be swarmed by the red-eyed creatures if you try and cut your grass. Cicadas are attracted to noises made my lawnmowers and other machinery because it is similar to their sounds. Their constant flying around and landing on or flying into people is just an annoyance. If one lands on someone it is just because they need a place to land. There is no real damage that can be done to people and their pets. If a pet eats a cicada there is no need to worry, it will most likely just give it a stomach ache. The torture is almost over, though. Cicadas only hang around the Nashville area for four to six weeks. If that timeline holds true,...
