by Kelsey Durnin | Mar 21, 2011 | News Slider
A recently increasing level of violence at Middle Tennessee State Unievrsity has resulted in injuries, deaths and growing concern among students. Lara Kaplan, a senior from Brentwood majoring in foreign languages at MTSU, has been attending the school since 2006 and, initially, did not feel unsafe on campus. However, the school began the Rave Emergency Alert System that notifies students of potential safety threats via text messages and e-mails, consisting of everything from false alarm reports to the recent stabbing of Tina Stewart. This program has created awareness of the violence that has become more and more apparent. Former MTSU student Josh Gross, who attended the university from 2009-2010 says he received these violence alert messages about once a week. “It was somewhat comforting because the messages were pretty specific about the what, who and where,” Gross said. “But there seemed to be a lot more issues off campus in the student apartments.” Kaplan finds it hard to believe the violence didn’t exist prior to the program, but does believe it has definitely instilled more fear in people knowing that these things were going on. “There has always been violence to some degree in Murfreesboro,” Kaplan said. “But now there have been two shootings, a stabbing, a burglary and shots fired all within a month.” Former Lipscomb student and current MTSU student Anna Taylor doesn’t feel nearly as safe on the campus in Murfreesboro as she did when she attended school in Nashville. “At MTSU, I feel as though I am constantly checking my surroundings while making my usual 15 minute walk to class,” Taylor said. “I could probably...
by Vanessa Medina | Mar 15, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
If you drive out to a Little League Ballpark and ask any little kid what they want to be when they grow up, most will answer “a professional baseball player.” Caleb Joseph, who was one of those kids before his time at Lipscomb, is living that dream, aiming for a roster spot with the Baltimore Orioles when spring training breaks. The former Bison star got the call to join the big league team in Florida when the Orioles opened camp this winter. Joseph is one of seven catchers in the rotation, meaning he will catch about every three games until the dust settles and the roster is filled. This will give him the opportunity to wear the official Baltimore Orioles jersey. He comes by his baseball love naturally. Mom and Dad both graduated from Lipscomb and were involved with athletics. His dad, Mark, played baseball for the Bisons during the NAIA days. Caleb’s sister, Carly, currently cheers at Lipscomb. Caleb’s younger brother, Corban, is also in the minor leagues and is working out with the New York Yankees. The young Joseph has been working with the major league stars after being called upon twice in the past week to play alongside Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira. He also gets to learn from one of the best second basemen in the league, Robinson Cano. Corban was drafted out of Franklin High School and bypassed college ball to try his hand in the majors. While the Joseph brothers are both in the minor league stages, they work out together and push each other. Caleb finally got to see Corban in action on the field last summer. “It’s...
by Hunter Patterson | Mar 14, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
It’s that time of the year again, March Madness. This time around, Lumination Network is giving you the chance to benefit from all the madness. All we ask you to do is send your Final Four picks to editor@luminationnetwork.com. After you have narrowed it down to four teams, pick your final two and a final score. The deadline for entry is March 23. The bracket can be viewed below. To get a larger view, simply open the image in a new window. Your entry should look something like this: Your name and classification: Ohio Sate, Duke, Kansas, Pitt Ohio State 74 – 67 Kansas What’s the prize if you win? Well, it’s a $25 iTunes gift card, of course! Not bad for filling out the final part of a bracket. Good luck, and remember to get your entries in to editor@luminationnetwork.com by March...
by Amy Estepp | Mar 14, 2011 | News Slider
They’ve gone to a village in Guatemala, an orphanage in Mexico, New York City and points between and beyond. As usual, many Lipscomb students, with faculty support, are spending their spring break helping people in different parts of the world and also growing. Every year students, faculty, staff and alumni join together to partner with Lipscomb’s mission initiatives. Lipcomb offers a variety of trips both international and domestic. Hundreds of Lipscomb affiliates are involved and hundreds of lives changed. This year, the mission efforts began even before spring break officially got under way. The first trip departed at dawn March 10, leaving from Nashville International airport en route to Guatemala. Jordan Lewis, a junior nursing major said that she wasn’t nervous, but just excited to take part in the medical mission trip located in the Ulpan Valley of Guatemala. The Chattanooga native is a rookie to medical missions, but she is not letting her inexperience get in the way. “I expect to help with medicines and playing with the kids, and helping with the doctors,” said Lewis. “Overall, I am most excited about seeing a different culture and being somewhere completely rural.” This is the 10th consecutive year for Lipscomb admissions recruiter, Josh Link, to serve the City of Children. The City of Children is an orphanage located in Ensenada, Mexico. After spending every spring break of his college years in Ensenada, Link is now the trip leader. But what keeps Link returning to the City of Children? “I am most excited about seeing the kid that I have a relationship with,” said Link. “There is a kid that...
by Leah Raich | Mar 11, 2011 | News Slider
Makeisha Seagraves says Lipscomb students have made a major difference in her life during her 10 years behind bars at the Tennessee Prison for Women (TPW). “The Lipscomb community has shown what true Christian love means,” Seagraves said. “They embraced me with open arms, never with a judging eye.” Seagraves is talking about what she has gained by studying alongside Lipscomb students who attend classes at the prison as a part of LIFE, Lipscomb Initiative for Education. The program gives students a chance to delve into both academics and service learning. Lipscomb history professor Richard Goode started this program with hopes that every student who attends Lipscomb would have the chance to take at least one class at the TPW at some point in his or her collegiate career. This spring semester, two classes are being offered: Society and the Law, as well as Disciplines of Christian Living. “This program and all involved have given me the strength to know that I am good enough to have a future,” says Tabitha, another inmate who believes her life was changed by LIFE. Ricki Adkins, a rising senior at Lipscomb University, spoke highly of the program. “As a student at Lipscomb, I am always looking for ways to better impact the surrounding community of Nashville,” Adkins said. “Prior to taking a class at the TPW this semester, I had no idea the place existed. Being a social work major, I have studied cases in which the U.S. criminal justice system often dehumanizes the incarcerated. “This experience has been life-changing, and I am so grateful to go to a school that provides...
by Ashlan Williams | Mar 11, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
With their first weekend of conference play tucked away under their belts, the Bisons and Lady Bisons tennis teams are preparing to face the Atlantic Sun’s top competitor, East Tennessee State University on at 1 p.m. Saturday in Johnson City. After picking up wins on both the men’s and women’s side in their opening weekend of A-Sun play, head coach Andrew Harris said the teams are working to improve for ETSU this coming weekend. “Both teams are looking forward to another conference weekend,” Harris said. “After the matches against Mercer and Kennesaw State this past weekend, the teams recognize things we need to continue to work on as well as building on things we did well. Both ETSU’s men’s and women’s teams ranked first in the A-Sun preseason poll and pose a tough challenge for the Bisons and Lady Bisons this weekend. And with Spring Break just around the corner, Johnson City will be the teams’ first stop out of a series of three road matches. Harris said ETSU will bring strong competition to begin their road play. “ETSU has restructured their coaching staff similar to ours this past summer with Yaser Zaatini now overseeing both teams,” Harris said. “Their women’s program last year lost to UNF in the A-Sun finals, and their men’s program has annually been one of the more consistent teams in the country the past five years. This will be our first of three road matches over the next week, so we know we will have our work cut out for us come Saturday.” The women, coming off a successful weekend, picked up their first...
