Volunteer Girl State at LU

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...

We’ll miss you, David Howard!

Nearly 54 years ago, a confused and fascinated hoard of students, faculty and news reporters gazed at the multi-colored smoke billowing from the old chemistry building. Among them was a freshmen named David Howard, who you may know now as Beaman’s periodicals librarian. That event, which marked the beginning of his decades at Lipscomb, has stuck in the mind of Howard ever since. Howard grew up in a small town in southern Illinois and was brought to Lipscomb mainly through the influence of a 5th grade teacher who had also attended here. His visit in July of 1957 sealed his decision to attend school here rather than at Harding. “There’s hardly anything for me that is pre-Lipscomb,” Howard said. “[My teacher] was always so happy about my decision to go here.” Howard graduated in 1961 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in German. He then left Nashville for a little over a year to take classes back home in Southern Illinois University’s sociology graduate program. During the summer of 1962, Dr. Mack Craig convinced Howard to return to Nashville and Lipscomb as a German professor while also taking graduate classes at Vanderbilt. In 1972, after obtaining a library science graduate degree from Peabody and again at the request of Dr. Craig, Howard began his 39 years as the periodicals librarian. However, for the first three years he was also still teaching German fulltime until Dr. Charles McVey took over. Over the course of his 49 years in the library, Howard has witnessed the evolution of the library as well as the campus as a whole. “[The Library]...

Students like Lipscomb food, but offer suggestions for next year

  As the school year comes to a close, Lipscomb students hope that their return in the fall will also bring about better food options. “Eating healthy makes me more focused and less jittery,” explains Claire Hooper, a junior psychology major from Franklin, Tenn., who tries to pick healthy choices on campus, such as salads, fresh fruit, and grilled chicken. However, she finds her selection limited, expressing that although believes the food has improved, particularly in the cafeteria, she also believes it to be primarily processed. Freshman Travis Guerra, a political science major from Chicago, says that for a college campus, the food Lipscomb provides is decent enough. A self-professed health-conscious individual, Guerra tries to avoid most of the fast food options in the Student Center, but occasionally has Blue Coast, saying that it is often fresher than what the cafeteria has to offer. For meals upstairs, he usually has grilled chicken and the occasional salad, but is frustrated that the lettuce is dry and tasteless. Guerra believes that better quality food gives him more energy and makes him a more productive student. Students who focus on health for their major offer good suggestions. Jennifer Cislo, freshman, nutrition major from Chicago says she believes that campus food is not stored properly, which she says makes oranges, bananas, and apples bruised and the lettuce brown or shriveled. “They’re bland,” she explains. “They’ve lost their flavor. It’s gross.” Next year, Cislo would love to see soy milk offered, as well as new, better quality meat options at the grill. Also, she feels that the cafeteria should not have any products that...

Lipscomb students train to run Country Music Marathon

Many Lipscomb students will compete in the 12th annual Country Music Marathon this Saturday. Lumination Network spoke with three of them. Katie Connell, Julia Shrewsbury and Jordan Lewis will all be running the half marathon– some as first-timers and others as veterans. Shrewsbury, a sophomore in organizational communication and public relations, said this is her first time to participate in a marathon event. “I’m very nervous,” Shrewsbury said. “I’ve never actually run the full 13 [miles] yet. The most I’ve run is 10, and at 10, I’m hurting.” Connell, a senior psychology major from Knoxville, Tenn., thinks that the training is the hardest part of running the marathon. “[Training] is definitely the hardest part, and making sure you stick to it,” Connell said. “If you don’t [train], then you won’t perform well at all in the marathon and you will be miserable.” Connell and Lewis ran the half marathon last year and are hoping to finish with a faster time this year. “I enjoy setting a goal and accomplishing it,” Lewis said. “I really just love being outside and exercising.” The two said they hope to finish the race in two hours. Shrewsbury, from Lake Placid, Fla., has a different goal in mind being a first-time half marathon runner. “I just want to be able to say that I did one,” Shrewsbury said. “I don’t have a set goal, I just don’t want to walk.” The race boasts more than 20,000 participants each year, and Lewis, a junior in nursing from Chattanooga, Tenn., said that’s one aspect she really enjoys. “It was just really beautiful to watch that many...

California man predicts the world’s end… again

Worrying about finals? While they’re fast approaching, a religious group from California doesn’t think you should lose sleep over the end-of-semester tests, because the world is ending in less than a month. What’s that? You thought the world was supposed to end in 2012 like the History Channel and Nostradamus claimed? Well, there is a new group of people telling us that we are all wrong. The group WeCanKnow based out of California claims that “He will close the door on salvation on May 21, 2011, when He returns to take his elect children to heaven.” Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio Inc., made the prediction, and fans of the radio station paid for billboards that can be seen around Nashville and other cities. Their goal is simple– with the message “He is coming again!” nonbelievers are to change their ways and follow. According to Camping’s prediction, the second coming will occur exactly 7000 years between Noah’s flood and the rapture. Camping claims Noah’s flood happened in 4990 B.C., on May 21 in the modern calendar. God supposedly gave Noah one week of warning before the flood. And, stretching the made-up calculations even further, Camping says that one day equals a thousand years for God. So this obviously means that 7,000 years needed to pass between the flood and the rapture. And so, through the magic of improvable dates, algorithms and calculations, Jesus will come again on May 21, 2011, according to Camping. “We hope that anyone would get a Bible out and try and prove that this is wrong,” Camping said. Before I do that, I’ll tell you this. Camping predicted...