The Feast and Ceilidh will be at 7 p.m. Saturday in Becknell Gymnasium and will include an authentic Scottish feast and entertainment. Beaton, The Boatrights, the Lyon Pipe Band and the piper and dancer of the day will perform. Tickets to the Feast and Ceilidh are $25. Tickets to a cocktail reception before the feast are $10.

The festival offers visitors an opportunity to reflect on Scottish religious roots Sunday morning with the traditional Iona Worship Service at 9:30 a.m.

Sunday has its own unique competition. Once again men in kilts will take the festival stage to compete for the honor of having the “bonniest knees” of the Arkansas Scottish Festival. Blindfolded judges will determine the winner.

As with the traditional country fair of the homeland, the Arkansas Scottish Festival will go on rain or shine.

For ticket information, call (870) 698-4382 or visit www.lyon.edu/scotfest/.

Commencement will be Saturday, May 3

Lyon College will hold its 131^st commencement at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 3, in Couch Garden. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Becknell Gymnasium.

U.S. Rep. Marion Berry of the First Congressional District will be the commencement speaker. The Class of 2003 consists of 128 seniors scheduled to receive diplomas at commencement.

Wilson Powell of Batesville, historian and business manager of the Batesville Guard, and George Kell of Swifton, retired Hall of Fame baseball player and broadcaster, will be awarded honorary degrees at Lyon College’s commencement exercises May 3.

The Lyon College baccalaureate service will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 2, in Brown Chapel. The Rev. Steve Hancock, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, will be the speaker. Shannon Schoeller ’03 and the Rev. Nancy McSpadden, the College chaplain, will be the liturgists. The baccalaureate service will be followed by the traditional Scots Walk, in which the graduates walk to Bryan Lake for a torch-lighting ceremony.

Students recognized at Athletic Awards Night Lyon College held its annual Athletic Awards Night Wednesday (April 16) where student athletes and college athletic boosters were recognized for their achievements and contributions to the athletic program. The Winnie Marable Award for the outstanding female student athlete was presented to Holly Elliott (right) of Conway, a senior member of the Pipers volleyball team. The Dick Winningham Award for the outstanding male student athlete went to Marlon Banks of Wynne (left), a senior on the Scots basketball team. Joining the two is Dr. Walter Roettger, president of Lyon.

Davis presents project at Arkansas Undergraduate Research Conference

		(Editor’s Note: Photographer Ed McClusky is a talented guy with an eye for beautiful imagery. Look for more of his work in upcoming editions of the GreenSheet Online!)

Tony Davis, a Lyon College senior from Judsonia, presented a project at the annual Arkansas Undergraduate Research Conference which was held at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia April 19 and 20.

A double major in history and computer science, Davis has combined his disciplines in his spare time to create what he calls a “Geographic Information System.”  The system uses a computer program to compile and digitize maps and show them all as a single map.

For his project, Davis digitized original hand-drawn surveys of White County that were made between 1819 and 1855.  The resulting map’s detail was limited only by what the original surveyors had documented, so the final product shows streams, roads, springs, houses, farms, and even cane thickets.  A feature of the program allows the user to see one aspect of the maps infrastructure, such as roads or rivers, without cluttering the map with other symbols that are not relevant to the investigation at hand.

But Davis’s hobby isn’t just an academic exercise.  He included modern aerial photos and Arkansas Highway Department maps that can be displayed on top of the old maps.  With these, museum’s can use the software to see topographical features over time, displaying changes in the flow of rivers, population centers, and roads.  “You can definitely see rivers move, islands that aren’t there any more, one that had a farm on it that isn’t an island anymore,” Davis said.

White County, of course, isn’t the end of the line for GIS; many parts of Arkansas are known for their rich histories.  “I’ve only done one of 75 counties,” Davis said. “The whole state could be done in two years.”

Davis first became aware of the digitizing software in high school, where a teacher brought it to his attention. He first used the technology during an internship with Pulaski County Information Systems.

Davis’ interest in maps is even older.  “I’ve always loved maps,” he said.  It may run in the family; Davis’ brother is a professional cartographer. That interest also come through in the fact that Davis’ project didn’t start out to be a project at all. “I did this in my free time,” he said. “It’s kind of a hobby of mine.”

Dr. David Stricklin, associate professor of history and chair of the Humanities Division at Lyon College, suggested that Davis present his project at the AURC.  “It’s a nice project because it fulfills a lot of what we hope liberal arts students can do by breaking down the lines between disciplines,” Stricklin said.

Sports

Baseball

Harding rallied in the sixth inning to beat the Scots 12-9 Tuesday in Searcy. Nathan Elliott got three hits, including a home run and a three-run double, for the Scots.

The Scots defeated Ozarks 10-8 Monday in Beebe. Shaun Edwards picked up the win and Jimmy Shields and Jason Livernois hit home runs for Lyon.

The Scots played their last home games last weekend and avoided a sweep by Cumberland University by winning the final game of the three-game series, 6-5. Cumberland won the Friday game 3-2 and the first game Saturday 11-0. It was the final home game for 11 seniors on the team, which has won more than 30 games the last two seasons. 

The Scots will play the first game of the TranSouth Conference Tournament at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. They will take on No. 2 seed Cumberland in Jackson, Tennessee.

Golf

The Scots finished last among eight teams in the TranSouth Conference Tournament April 14-15, but freshman Tyler Burrow qualified for the Region XI Tournament.

Burrow shot rounds of 76 and 79 for a 155 total, putting him in 20^th place in the meet, held in Nashville, Tennessee.

Other Scot golfers were James Davenport, David Baker, Patrick McCarty and Aaron Worthen.

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