Recent Belmont exercise science graduate Beau Kovach will trade his cap and gown for a new costume this summer as he transforms into an entertainment performer in the Disney College Program. Beginning later this summer, Kovach will join other college students and new graduates who share a similar passion, making people smile.

Growing up as a self-proclaimed “Disney child,” Kovach’s mother worked at a Disney store and gained traits and attributes that Kovach always admired. “The Walt Disney Company has the ability to elicit an unprovoked, natural happiness, and that is something that I would love to contribute to on a daily basis,” he said. “I cannot wait to be a reason why families, including my own, will have memories of a lifetime just from a small interaction.”

Kovach visited Disney World during his audition process and found a fraternity brother with similar dreams. The two, among many other applicants, have stayed in touch throughout their Disney journey and look forward to experiencing the program together. As a committed member of his brotherhood, Kovach said he is very grateful to continue to make connections with brothers from across the country while at Disney.

Though his time as a performer at the world renowned park will fulfill a lifelong dream, Kovach looks to other things for his ultimate career aspirations. He’d like to become a physical therapist, specializing in pediatric athletes, so the experience of working with families will provide opportunities to engage with children in a special way—the “Disney way,” Kovach said. “This happy place is a tangible location where people can come and forget about pettiness and let go of debilitating insignificant problems with work or silly arguments or all these tiny things that make our society so high strung and stressed out. Not everyone may believe in ‘Disney magic’ or ‘pixie dust,’ but you know the feeling when it hits you.”

For Kovach, spreading the “magic” is enough to move to Orlando, Florida and spend his first few months as a college graduate entertaining the world with the sights and sounds of Disney.

Rising junior exercise science and Spanish major Morgan Tweddle has spent the last two months shadowing three Ph.D. candidates for the School of Kinesiology at Texas A&M as a lab assistant, aiding in data collection and gaining experience in the field she hopes to join.

Tweddle’s main focus has been an infant intervention called “tummy time,” an intentional placing of an infant on their stomach during play time that has been proven to build core muscles, allowing infants to explore their surroundings sooner and begin their cognitive development. In the candidates’ study, the researchers looked specifically at the effects of tummy time on infants with Down Syndrome. Tweddle collected data and evaluated the babies’ developmental progress.

Post graduation, Tweddle plans to attend physical therapy school to obtain both a Doctor of Physical Therapy, allowing her to practice in a clinical setting, and a Ph.D., allowing her to conduct research and teach. Tweddle explained that this opportunity gave her new excitement for her future goals. “I am a planner, and this gave me a look at one of the possible roads I can take. God led me to this opportunity, and it is exciting to see His plan for me starting to unfold,” she said.

Dr. Nick Bacon, assistant professor in the department of sport science, presented at the Collaborative Learning and Unlimited Excellence (CLUE) conference on April 4 at Murray State University. Bacon presented a practical and applied research presentation on Optimizing Your Running Economy. He also served on a panel discussion with physical therapists, nutritionists, and other exercise physiologists with regard to Current Trends in Exercise Science and Rehabilitation.

The New Strength & Conditioning minor has met the
criteria to be accepted as a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) Educationally Recognized Strength and Conditioning Program.

The NSCA is the world leader in delivering scientific, peer-reviewed research about strength and conditioning. This acceptance allows students enrolled within the Strength & Conditioning Minor an exam registration discount on the Certified
Strength & Conditioning Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer Certifications (Tier-One Exercise Science / Strength & Conditioning Certifications).

Dr. Nick Bacon, assistant professor in the department of sport science,created and successfully applied for the Strength & Conditioning Minor to be recognized by the NSCA. The new minor begins in fall 2013 with itsinaugural course, Optimizing Human Performance (STR 4110). (image – NSCA Logo.jpg)

Holly Huddleston, instructor of sport science, had an article published, “Corporate Fitness Members’ Perceptions of the Environment and Their Intrinsic Motivation” in the journal Revista de Psicologia del Deporte, in 2012 (Volume 21).  The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship of employees’ perceptions of the motivational climate in their corporate fitness center to their intrinsic motivation toward exercise, and their perceptions of their employer’s concern for their health behaviors.  Coauthors were Dr. Mary Fry and Theresa Brown, of the University of Kansas.

A Belmont student will go to tracks, courts and fields in London this summer to study sport performance as it relates to the world’s best athletes as they compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Last week, Colleen Arends left Nashville for London where she is taking the class Olympic Games: Sport Performance, History and Administrations through the Cooperative Center for Study Abroad (CCSA). Northern Kentucky University clinical exercise scientist Renee Jeffreys is teaching the course, which focuses on training principles and conditioning for elite performance, as well as factors that affect performance in specific sports. Olympic history and what is required to conduct the Olympic Games will also be briefly discussed. The class will visit Olympic venues, various sport governing bodies and sport facilities in and around London.

“The way the course is set up, each of us have to choose a different sport within the Olympics; compile a presentation on anaerobic, vital oxygen intake max for most athletes, average BMI; focus on how athletes train and how their muscle tone and cardiovascular tone are different between sports; and how different sports require different physiological adaptions through the body,” said Arends, a junior from St. Louis, Mo., studying exercise science. She also is required to keep an exercise journal of studios and group exercise classes she visit in London as well as running and walking routes.

Field trips for the Olympic Games classes include touring Olympic venues, taking cricket lessons, watching the Olympic torch relay and volunteering at the Olympics marathon and a cycling event. The students must purchase tickets on their own to the actual Olympic events.

The class is offered through CCSA, a consortium of more than two dozen universities that do study abroad programs together, for which Belmont is the host institution. Seventeen of the 205 students in the CCSA London program are from Belmont and all are staying at Kings College, said CCSA Public Relations Specialist Joe Woolley. Other courses throughout the five-week program include art history, audio engineering, English, creative writing, theater, psychology, education and criminal justice, he said.

Click here to read Jeffreys’ blog on the Olympic Games class.

Belmont University students are working with a local nonprofit organization to create a national template for communities to improve their residents’ body, heart, mind and spirit using free resources.

In early October, Adjunct Instructor Dane Anthony’s freshman seminar “The Art of Paying Attention” classes worked with Neighborhoods InspireHealth to interview senior citizens in the Sunnyside and 12South neighborhoods. Together the students and nonprofit conducted the first focus group to determine the biggest healthcare challenges facing seniors. The focus group launches a 12-month project within the neighborhoods where students will meet with residents from various demographics.

“Interviewing this community of people widened my eyes to who I was as a part of the world. It was helpful to be a part of this process because it made me realize my role in the community and how important it is to become involved. This process taught me to pay attention to myself, others and the community as a whole,” said Sophie Martin, a freshman studying exercise science, who added that she learned more in casual conversations with the seniors than while asking the assigned questions.

“The amount of rich knowledge and wisdom with which they spoke about their personal experiences was heartwarming. Just in one simple hour I felt I had gained more from a conversation with strangers than I had in a semester of school. They were full of advice on how to avoid certain health issues as we aged, hints on where to go in town, and simply to live life to its fullest,” Martin said. “I left that morning feeling as if I had learned how to appreciate life more than ever before. I am forever grateful to have been presented with this amazing opportunity for self-growth and to have met such exquisite individuals.”

Student worked in groups to weave through the narratives they captured and to look for solutions for overarching themes, such as lack of transportation, access to healthy food options and financial constraints on a fixed income.

“A number of the things that we do in the course are to identify things that contribute to your world view and things that you take for granted. This was a great exercise for them to realize the things that they may take for granted, such as healthcare, insurance, means of income, access to transportation,” Anthony said.  “The students were excited that this is the initial project for something they hope will become a national model. We had an opportunity to participate on the ground floor.”

Students will present their findings and propose solutions to Neighborhoods InspireHealth on Oct. 20.

“Having worked on projects with Belmont in the past, the president of the Sunnyside Association first suggested working with the university, and then actually helped us out by setting up an introduction. We were very excited to work with Belmont because we knew how service oriented it is, and honestly we feel as if the University is simply an extension of the neighborhood so it seemed like a great match,” said Heather Dubuque, Neighborhoods InspireHealth’s vice president of marketing and communications. “One of our main goals is to bring all of the different parts of our community together, so bringing the students in to work with the seniors, growing families, teenagers, shut ins, artists is another step towards reaching that goal.”

Neighborhoods InspireHealth President Dana El Gammal said Belmont students’ participation in this initial focus group will drive the direction of the pilot program. The nonprofit launched its 7 Habits of Healthy Neighborhoods program in August with a plan to create a template that provides all of the tools necessary for others communities to execute it successfully. The pilot program will conclude next summer.

“We chose to launch the community initiative within the 12South/Sunnyside community not only because as an organization we are connected to it, but because of its diverse group of people, the active neighborhood associations, the compassionate business community that has been growing within it, and the resources we knew already existed,” Dubuque said. “The whole intent of the program is to learn, assess and create avenues that help the entire community reach their health goals and obtain the health tools necessary to becoming their healthiest self.”

Nick Bacon and Patrick Schneider of the Sport Science Department attended the annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Baltimore. Bacon presented a poster titled, “A cross-sectional survey of why shod runners do not run barefoot.” Dr. Bacon will begin his first semester in the Sport Science Department in August teaching in the Exercise Science discipline with Dr. Schneider.

Belmont University senior Justin Hare (Cleveland, Tenn.) received yet another prestigious national honor recently, as he was named 2008 Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association. This is the latest award in a long and distinguished career for Hare. Last week, the 6-2 guard was named Mid-Major Most Valuable Player by CollegeInsider.com. A month prior, Hare was named First Team Academic All-American – becoming the third Bruin to earn multiple Academic All-America honors.
Hare is a two-time Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament MVP, a two-time First Team All-Atlantic Sun Conference player and led Belmont to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Hare is one of just 12 student-athletes in NCAA Division-I men’s basketball to be recognized. Moreover, Hare is one of just two honorees to have played in this year’s NCAA Tournament, joining Travis Lay of American University. The Cleveland, Tenn. native sports a 3.87 GPA in his major of exercise science and health promotion. He plans to attend medical school upon graduation.

For the third consecutive year, Belmont University senior Justin Hare has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Men’s Basketball First Team. The 6-2 guard from Cleveland, Tennessee sports a 3.87 GPA in his chosen major of exercise science and health promotion. He plans to attend medical school upon graduation in May. Hare, who also earned Second Team Academic All-America honors last year, joins former Bruin greats Adam Mark and Wes Burtner as the only Belmont players ever to have received Academic All-District and Academic All-America distinction.
“Justin has displayed a consistent excellence on the floor and in the classroom since the day he arrived at Belmont,” Belmont head coach Rick Byrd said. “He is a great representative of our team and our university, and we are proud of this third straight selection to the Academic All-District First Team.”

Belmont University sophomore, Andrea Vickers, recently won the silver medal in the 2005 U.S. Collegiate Championships in Hawaii. Vickers won the bronze in last year’s competition.
Vickers, who began ice skating at 6 years old, recently told Nashville’s City Paper, “I would love to be an ice skating coach and be able to walk into a rink every day as my place of employment.”
Vickers trains at Southern Ice Arena in Cool Springs in Franklin, Tenn., and is majoring in exercise science at Belmont.