by Hunter Patterson | May 5, 2010 | News Slider
While the flood waters are receding downtown and across middle Tennessee, families and businesses alike are in the cleanup process. This story has come at a time when the national media are concentrated elsewhere, given the attempted terrorist attack in New York and an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that is now reaching the shores of Louisiana. This has not stopped some members of the national media, though. Keith Olbermann had this to say about the flooding of Nashville in a recent segment of his show, “Countdown.” Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Nashville has also been featured on the front page of USA Today with an incredible story about how not only citizens got involved in the relief effort, but also inmates. Homemade videos were posted on YouTube within hours of the flooding. This video in particular has received the most attention, and for good reason. One of the most inspiring posts came from an unlikely source, though. The following story came from a Nashville Predators hockey team blogging site. Patton Fuqua is one of writers for Section303.com, one of the main news outlets for Predators fans. During hockey season fans visit the site to read game recaps, signing news, rumors and anything else Nashville Predators. However, on Wednesday morning, hockey took a back seat. Allow me a moment to step away from the usual voice of this website. What I am about to write has absolutely nothing to do with hockey. If you live outside of Nashville, you may not be aware, but our city was hit by a...
by Aaron Schmelzer | May 3, 2010 | News Slider
Click to expand the video player. Record rainfalls and major flooding in Nashville left over 20,000 buildings without power and hundreds of families unable to leave or get to their homes. Lipscomb’s campus escaped major damage from the flooding and opened its facilities to the Red Cross as a shelter for displaced families and their pets. Tom Wood, director of campus enhancement, said that the campus fared very well compared to other places in Middle Tennessee. “I’m proud of the old girl,” Wood said of Lipscomb’s campus. “I’d say we have about a week’s worth of restoration to do, maybe two weeks at the most. There was minor damage done to the first levels of McFarland, the Bennett Campus Center and Burton, and the basements of Sewell and Elam were flooded as well.” While Lipscomb’s campus survived the flood of May 2010, other cities in the Middle Tennessee area suffered from severe flooding and lost cars, homes and businesses. Nashville’s one-day rainfall record set in 1979 was replaced with 7.25 inches this weekend, and the two-day record is now 13.53 inches. The record was broken for the wettest May in recorded history just two days into the month, and May 2010 is already the fifth wettest month in recorded history as well. Before the weekend of rain and overflowing tributaries, the Cumberland River was at 19 feet deep. As of Monday, May 3, the water level was at 52.5 feet, more than 11 feet over the flood level. While the minor damage at Lipscomb is going to cost in excess of $100,000 in repairs, Wood said that he is...
by Allison Woods | 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...
by Jameson Roper | 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...
by Kelsey Neumann | 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...
