May 25, 2012

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Posted in Photo of the Week   on May 25, 2012
Before winning the National Championship last night (see story below), members of Belmont’s SIFE Team met with the U.S. Navy last week to negotiate a contract that will bring 13,000 mattresses from two aircraft carriers to Nashville to be recycled by Spring Back Recycling, a nonprofit business the team conceived and developed.

Belmont beat Mercer 10-3 on Friday afternoon and advances to face Florida Gulf Coast at 6 tonight.

BELMONT NEWS

Posted in Belmont News   on May 25, 2012

 

Belmont SIFE Team Wins National Championship AGAIN!
Students will now represent United States at SIFE World Cup, hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Washington, D.C.
For the second time in three years, the Belmont University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won the national championship at the SIFE USA National Exposition, which was held this week in Kansas City. Belmont’s SIFE team will now represent the United States at the international SIFE World Cup competition Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Washington, D.C.—U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is already confirmed to host the event. Belmont’s SIFE Team previously took third place in the 2010 SIFE World Cup.

Belmont President Bob Fisher said, “This is a really, really big deal. The work our SIFE team does in the community and around the world fills me with pride as these students are using their talents and skills to make a positive difference for others. I am pleased, but certainly not surprised, that the work of these students and their faculty sponsors has earned this national prize.”

Thursday night’s top place finish places Belmont as the No. 1 team out of nearly 600 teams nationwide and the best of the 156 teams who competed in the National Exposition. Click here to view the team’s winning presentation and the question and answer session with the judges. Belmont SIFE was selected to go to nationals after a seventh consecutive year winning as regional champions. With the tagline “A head for business, a heart for the world,” SIFE is an international non-profit organization that mobilizes students around the world to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Read more….

Bruins Win A-Sun Regular Season Championship
The Belmont baseball team (35-21, 17-10) defeated Lipscomb (25-30, 14-13) by a score of 10-4 on May 19 to earn its first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season championship.  The Bruins scored all 10 runs over the course of the first three innings to coast to the victory.

All nine starters were a part of the scoring for Belmont, as each player drove in a run or scored a run in the win.  Junior Judah Akers (Cookeville, Tenn.) led the way with a three-for-five day, driving in two runs and scoring another.

“This is what you play for, to compete for a championship,” Akers said after the game.  “To do it in the style that we did, playing a cross-town rival in Lipscomb, it was very exciting.  We’re now looking forward to seeing what we can do in the tournament.” Read more.

Belmont Group Experiences ‘Nation in Transition’ in Japan
Belmont is once again conducting a travel-study program in Japan, with students being led this year by faculty members Dr. Cynthia Bisson (History) and Dr. Marieta Velikova (Business) during their May 8-29 visit. Last week the group had the pleasure of visiting with Japanese students at Ryukoku University in Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan.  The Belmont group was hosted by Tomomi Ohba, professor of English international education in the Department of Social Welfare at Ryukoku University.

The Belmont and Ryukoku students practiced English and Japanese language skills, shared lunch and a few laughs, and visited the local Miidera temple festival. With its roots dating from 1639, Ryukoku University is one of the oldest universities in Japan. It was founded on the principles of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.  The University today has a student population of approximately 20,000 spread over three campuses in the ancient capital of Kyoto and neighboring Shiga.

The travel-study in Japan is exploring a traditional and modern nation in transition. In addition to classroom lectures and reading, they are visiting the great cities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. In Tokyo, they visited famous sites such as the Meiji Shrine and Sensoji in Asakusa during the day, and they experienced the vibrant urban crossroads of Shinjuku in the evening. In Kyoto, they participated in an authentic Japanese tea ceremony, watched a geisha musical-dance performance, and experienced a moment of Zen by engaging in meditation with the monks of a well known temple. The Belmont travel-study group is also visiting places of great natural beauty such as Hakone and Mount Fuji, witnessing the gorgeous mountains and rural villages as well as the large cities of Japan.

ACHIEVERS

Posted in Achievers   on May 25, 2012

Click here for stories on the recent accomplishments of Belmont’s students, faculty, staff and alumni. This week highlights include Jeff Cornwall, Morgan Jones, Veronica L. Smith and Nick Bacon.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Posted in Important Announcements   on May 25, 2012

Construction Update: Water Shut Off and the Start of Blasting May 29
The Wedgewood Academic Center and Baskin Center construction projects are requiring that several underground utilities be moved and that water service be temporarily shut off to the Inman Center and McWhorter Hall. In addition to the brief shut off Thursday morning, contractors will also need to shut off the water supply to Inman and McWhorter from 5-10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 29. The buildings and the North Garage will remain accessible throughout this period, but restrooms and water fountains/faucets will not be functioning for the first couple of hours of the workday on Tuesday. Faculty and staff in the impacted buildings may use nearby restroom facilities in the Massey Business Center until the water supply is restored.

In addition, Belmont’s contractors are now ready to begin blasting at the corner of Wedgewood and 15th Avenues to provide space for the underground garage that will be built beneath the new Wedgewood Academic Center. The first blast is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 29. For the first few days there may only be two or three blasts per day, leading up to the scheduled four per day starting the week of June 4. The regular blast times will be 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Prior to each blast, there will be a series of horn notifications.  The first will come five minutes prior to the blast, the second will come three minutes prior to the blast, and the final one will come one minute prior to the blast.  Vehicular traffic will be stopped on 15th, Acklen, exiting the North garage, and Wedgewood at the 1 minute mark.  Pedestrian traffic will be stopped at the 3 minute mark.

For the first couple of weeks, traffic entering and exiting the North Garage will continue to use the alley from 15th Avenue.  In mid-June, the alley will be shut down, and traffic will be diverted to Acklen (between the construction site and the Baskin Center).  Advance notice will be provided prior to closing the alley, but the North Garage is expected to remain open throughout the summer.

We apologize for this inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience as the University undertakes these important construction projects.

RTA Begins Clarksville Bus Service June 1
The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) Board of Directors has approved new express bus service to Clarksville. Service will begin on Friday, June 1. The Relax & Ride tickets available in Belmont Central will cover it. The buses are equipped with restrooms and televisions and can accommodate up to 54 passengers.

Buses will depart weekdays from the Clarksville Rossview Road Park-n-Ride at 5:52 a.m. and 6:50 a.m. and arrive at Music City Central in downtown Nashville at 6:45 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.  The afternoon buses will depart Bay 13 at Music City Central (MCC) at 4:10 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. and arrive at the Clarksville Rossview Road Park-n-Ride at 5:05 p.m. and 5:55 p.m.

The Clarksville Transit System (CTS) will provide local bus service to and from the RTA park-n-ride serving the route. CTS fares will apply for connecting CTS service. For more information on CTS service, call CTS at (931) 553-2429.

COMING UP

Posted in Coming Up   on May 25, 2012

Monday, May 28
Memorial Day

Wednesday, May 30, 7 p.m.
An Evening with Colin Powell
Massey Concert Hall
Tickets for this event are no longer available. Please contact Aaron Jerome at x8062 if you are interested in being placed on a waiting list should any tickets be turned in next week.

Check the University calendar for other upcoming community and convocation events.
Visit the Belmont Athletics website for information about upcoming athletic events.

BIRTHDAYS

Posted in Birthdays   on May 25, 2012

If you notice an incorrect or missing birthday, please e-mail the update to communication@belmont.edu.

May 26
Rachel Franks, Pharmacy
Bo Thomas, Advancement

May 27
Angela Breedon, CEMB
Mark Grones, Plant Ops
Kelly Kane, Accounting

May 28
Gary Boling, Career Services
Ian Bourgoine, Law
Jim Cook, Math/Com.Sci.
Bonnie Riechert, Communication Studies

May 29
Patricia Jacobs, Career Services
Keith Moore, Music

May 31
Anthony Donovan, Residence Life

May 18, 2012

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Posted in Photo of the Week   on May 18, 2012

Concert Hall
Work continues on Belmont’s new Concert Hall as this week the organ pipes were re-installed in the new venue.

BELMONT NEWS

Posted in Belmont News   on May 18, 2012

Students Study Abroad on Holy Land Pilgrimage
Twenty Belmont University students and two professors left Nashville May 8 for a 19-day journey to Israel, Turkey and Greece, traveling to numerous sites along the way including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Istanbul and Athens. Students on this study abroad trip are taking either a Third Year Writing course or a general education religion class with the goal to see the lands in which Christianity was born.  

As School of Religion Dean Darrell Gwaltney writes, the trip is part pilgrimage as well. “It is moving to travel to Jerusalem and other places many of us have been reading about and learning about all our lives. One of the great benefits from such a trip like this is that we are forever changed. The people we meet and the people with whom we travel change us.”

Student Carter Abel recounted an experience from the first day of the trip: “I was about to fall asleep when we drove over the top of a moutain and before me lay the most magnificent sight I have ever seen–the Sea of Galilee. Spanning out before me, the incredible blue waters stood out like gemstone surrounded by bare mountains. I sat in absolute awe and wonder as I laid my eyes upon the place where Jesus walked on water, calmed the storm, fed thousands of people with a single basket of food and performed miracles. No matter how much cities and nations have changed over two thousand years, the Sea of Galilee remains a living altar of the power, compassion and love of God who walked its shores.”

Click here to read more from the Holy Land trip blog.

The Center for Executive Education, in partnership with the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, hosted Dan Heath this morning as the keynote speaker for the Spring Leadership Breakfast in the Curb Event Center arena. Heath is a noted speaker/author/business columnist and co-author of Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard and Made to Stick. He also serves as a senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE Center for Social Entrepreneurs.

Heath began his talk noting the difficulty of change but also pointing to times and occasions when change is welcomed because it brings joy–weddings, technology and fashion being among the examples he cited. He then offered “a three-part framework for thinking about beahvior change” based on an image of a man sitting atop an elephant. The man represents conscious, rational thought while the elephant is indicative of the emotional, unconscious self that is more impulsive in decision making.

As the first part of the three-point framework, Heath said, “You have to ‘Direct the Rider.’ You have to give crystal clear direction on where you are going and how to get there.” Read more.