Red Cross shelter in student activities center

Red Cross shelter in student activities center

by | May 2, 2010 | News Slider

Click to expand the video player. SAC (LTV) – Cots are not items usually found in the Student Activities Center.  But when the Red Cross calls, Lipscomb responds. The heavy rain and thunderstorms last night led to severe flooding across Middle Tennesee, and the Red Cross immediately responded with several shelters, one right here on campus. The SAC is set up with sleeping areas for families, single males, single females and the elderly.  Volunteers brought in snacks and drinks with the intention of staying all night. Lipscomb University is the only shelter set up in Davidson County, and the SAC is equipped for several hundred people. Tim Temple, a Red Cross Volunteer from Nashville, was headed out of town but quickly changed his plans. “They called all of us and said ‘Be ready,'” he said. The Red Cross works with churches, recreation centers and schools to set up shelters.  He said that Lipscomb and the Red Cross had an agreement ahead of time, so the university was on the emergency shelter list. Hurricane Gustav two years ago was Lipscomb’s first experience with the Red Cross.  Lipscomb housed people for a week in the SAC and McQuiddy.  So faculty, staff and students know the drill for working in an emergency. “It really is nice that people help us,” Temple said. The Red Cross contacted Lipscomb around 5:30 p.m., and within the hour volunteers were on site setting up the SAC and McQuiddy. Walt Leaver, a coordinator for the event, immediately contacted Mike Smith to get students involved. “It’s really pretty exciting, first of all, to see the way the Lipscomb...

Lipscomb hosts Hispanic forum on education

by | Apr 30, 2010 | News Slider

Thursday morning, Lipscomb University hosted their second Hispanic Forum in the Ezell Center.  Entitled “Opening Doors,” the forum was an informative event meant to cast light on the social outlook of America and Tennessee’s Hispanic youth and their education. Lipscomb held the event to bring together educators, students, and other public leaders to focus on diversity in our communities. President Randy Lowry began the morning stressing the importance of diversity in our community. Dr. Stella Flores shared her outlook on the current situation.  Flores is a Vanderbilt University professor and internationally recognized expert on Hispanic relations.  Prior to becoming a staff member at Vanderbilt, Flores worked in the United States Government Accountability Office. Flores, a Texas-native and Harvard graduate, stressed from the beginning that America’s Hispanic youth has not been targeted with enough help and it must change. “Immigration is inching to the top of the policy agenda [in America],” Flores said. Flores stated laws like the one recently passed in Arizona are a step back in America’s relations with immigrants. The new law Flores spoke of, entitled Arizona SB1070, has an aim to find and deport suspected illegal immigrants.  The law grants Arizona police officers the right to question suspected illegal immigrants and demand identification.  If the person fails to produce a valid form of identification, they can and will be prosecuted and deported. Flores said that we as Americans must give these Spanish-speaking students a fair chance at equal education.  Flores’ parents are both college-educated Hispanics.  However, she said that her mother was placed in speech classes throughout her schooling in an attempt to eliminate her accent...

David Wolfe balances music and sports

by | Apr 29, 2010 | News Slider

It’s 1999. David Wolfe is 9 years old. He is set to select his first musical instrument. One-by-one everyone in the band gets their pick. But what happens when his hands are too small for the saxophone, the instrument he is dying to play? Well, he plays the clarinet, of course. Now, David Wolfe, a senior at Lipscomb University, plays the clarinet here in Nashville. Wolfe has been juggling two very different talents throughout his life. He has played the clarinet for eleven years and he ran track and cross country for seven, including three seasons for the Lipscomb Bisons. He was on both rosters for the Bisons this year, but chose to concentrate on his musical obligations. This year he decided to give up running for his ambitions in music, but he still runs on his own time. He spends most of his time practicing the clarinet- six hours of individual practice every day, plus group practice for an average of about four hours. Obviously this was not easy to juggle with school and track. “I have good time management I guess,” Wolfe said. “We had a lot of early morning practices for track which helped.” Wolfe is double-majoring in Clarinet Performance and Music Theory and Composition. He has been busy auditioning for graduate schools around the country, including the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ohio State, and USC. He will be attending Ohio State next fall, which has one of the best music programs in the country. On Wolfe’s visit to Ohio State, he fell in love with the atmosphere even though the huge campus was a bit...