Lyon reports fall enrollment growth

Funeral services for Matt Richard ’04 will be Monday in Fort Smith

The Lyon College community was saddened this week to learn that Matt Richard, who graduated magna cum laude in the class of 2004, died in Arlington, Texas, where he was attending graduate school. Matt was a Lyon Fellow, an outstanding student in business, served as a residence director his senior year, played baseball for the Scots, and was active in campus life. This fall he enrolled at UT-Arlington in a master's program in urban planning. His funeral will be in Fort Smith. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that contributions be made to the Matt Richard Scholarship Fund through the Institutional Advancement Office at Lyon.

The rosary and the funeral service will be held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Fort Smith. The rosary will be held Sunday evening at 7 p.m., and the funeral will be held noon Monday.

Student Life has made arrangements for transportation to either service. If you would like to attend one or both of the services, you must come by the Student Life office no later than noon today to let them know of your interest. If you have questions, feel free to contact Barb Dyer, director of residence life, at Ext. 4310.

The following is a report published in the University of Texas-Arlington Shorthorn newspaper’s online edition:

ARLINGTON, Texas – Matthew Richard, a first-year city and regional planning graduate student from Conway, Ark., was found dead Monday evening in his Arbor Oaks apartment.

Around 6 p.m. Monday, Richard’s mother, Elizabeth, called campus police asking someone to check on him because she had not heard from her son in about five days. He was found in his bed about 7 p.m. after a check of his apartment.

Lt. Jay Tillerson said it looked as though Richard died of natural causes, but an autopsy will take four to six weeks to complete.

In May, Richard graduated magna cum laude with a degree in accounting from Lyon College in Batesville, Ark. He played baseball and was voted the top business student there. He was also on the Dean’s Advisory Staff, which advised on faculty hiring decisions.

“He was a hard working boy,” Richard’s father, David, said. “He was very, very smart and busy with his studies. We were extremely proud of him.” Richard’s father said he did not know what could have caused his son’s death. “He wasn’t a druggie or anything like that,” he said. “He did not hang out with a bad crowd. He kept to himself a lot.”

Since 2002, Richard has traveled extensively to the Mediterranean, Japan and the Baltic regions of Europe to study the lifestyles and cultures.  “He was interested in how other people lived and worked,” his father said.

This semester was Richard’s first at UTA.  Richard came to the School of Urban and Public Affairs after receiving the Dr. Clarence Adams Endowed Scholarship for graduate studies. SUPA associate professor Enid Arvidson said she was shocked to hear the news of his death.  “He was one of our more promising students. His comments were very responsive, which showed he had pondered the questions,” she said. “They were also very well written.” Arvidson said she was just getting to know him. “This semester, when it was his first time to present, I could tell he was very well-prepared and bright. I was proud to have him as a student.”

Richard is survived by his parents Elizabeth and David Richard, two brothers and a sister. 

	Visiting writers series begins on campus Beth Ann Fennelly, poet, and Tom Franklin, fictionist, gave a public reading Friday in the Bevens Music Room. Pictured above are (from left) Fennelly, Franklin and Andrea Budy, Lyon’s writer in residence. Photo by Eric Stewart

Arkansas Symphony Orchestra to perform

In a departure due to a Classical Series Concert conflict in Little Rock, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will not appear as a finale to the LyonFest activities this year. Instead, the Batesville Symphony League, Lyon College and First Community Bank will host the annual event the following weekend on Sunday, October 31, in Brown Chapel.

Featuring David Itkin, music director and conductor, and principal cellist Melita Hunsinger, the Arkansas Symphony tour orchestra will perform Mozart’s Overture from Cosi fan tutte, the Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 “Italian,” and the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor.

Tickets for the 1:15 p.m.lecture by Maestro Itkin in Bevens Music Room and the 2 p.m. concert in Brown Chapel are available from the following locations: Batesville Daily Guard, Elizabeth’s Restaurant, First Community Bank (Main), Massey Music and The Citizens Bank (Main).  Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students under 18. Lyon College students, faculty and staff are admitted free with ID.

Lyon students reach out on Service Day

By Garrard Conley ’07
Photo by Larrah Pote '06

A total of 389 Lyon College students, faculty and staff branched out in the Batesville community on Wednesday, Sept. 22, for Service Day.

The 2004 planning team, chaired by faculty representative Dr. Nikki Yonts, added 15 new worksites to accommodate the large freshmen class, making a total of 40 sites. In addition, around 50 upperclassmen served as site leaders.

“Almost everyone who participated in Service Day 2004 reported positive experiences,” said Nancy McSpadden, Lyon College chaplain. These experiences ranged from reading to preschoolers to planting flowers for Batesville residents.

One group, led by senior Melanie Morrison, painted a "Spongebob Squarepants" mural in the Health Department waiting room. The theme, suggested by the nursing staff, will give patients a more cheerful environment than the plain blue wall that faced the waiting room chairs. According to Sonia Nix, head nurse, most of the patients that visit are sick children, and they need to feel comfortable while they wait.

“The girls have done a fantastic job,” Nix said after the mural was completed. She had expected 10 to 15 college students, but there were only three painters. “They made it look so easy,” she added.

Most site groups contain at least 15 members, but this group was able to get its job nearly finished in less than three hours. The painters all agreed that a smaller group worked much better than the larger groups they worked in last year. Melanie Morrison went on to say, “Mentor groups should be split in half. Probably around four or five people per group would get the job done.”

Several other students on campus complained about the size of the site groups. Ben Thielemier, Service Day student chairperson, said last year there were 24 people assigned to paint one room, and students had to watch as only three people painted. Lowering the workforce for each group, he suggested, would result in higher productivity.

The problem with adding more service groups is the limited number of available service sites. “In order to split students up into smaller groups, we’d need around sixty sites,” Thielemier said.

Batesville is a small community, and the planning team had a difficult time finding even 40 locations this year, he said. Some students have suggested that more worksites could be located at residents’ homes since there may not be enough businesses or organizations.

The Service Day Planning Team is already discussing these issues.

“We will be looking for people who would like to help plan 2005 to make it the best ever,” Rev. McSpadden said. “Encouraging sophomores, juniors and seniors to participate will be a top priority. New ideas are welcome.”

A Service Day slide show and additional photos are currently available on the public drive.

Phi Mu dance marathon begins Saturday

Phi Mu will host its annual Dance Marathon this weekend in Becknell Gymnasium from 1 p.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday to raise money for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. This year’s theme is “The Fifties.” There will be music, games, contests and movie clips from that decade. Dance Marathon is a celebration of all the funds that Phi Mu has raised for Arkansas Children’s Hospital from soliciting businesses, sending out letters and doing fundraisers.
 

Noontime student recital is Tuesday

You are invited to attend a noontime student recital at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday  in the Bevens Music Room. Performances will be by: Robert Bailey (organ), Cecilia Bogowith (organ), Skye Hart (organ), Joel Plaag (baritone), Rachel Stinson (flute) and Russell Stinson (piano).

Make plans to attend ‘Lyon Night at the Races’ Oct. 8

Then join us for Lyon Night at the Races at 7 p.m. Friday, October 8, at the Batesville Speedway.

Lyon students, alumni, faculty and staff, and their immediate families, are invited to this special night at the speedway, located at Locust Grove, approximately seven miles west of Batesville on Highway 25.

Tickets are free for the Lyon community and may be reserved by calling Kay Rush at (870) 698-4242 or by e-mailing krush@lyon.edu. Tickets should be ordered by October 6 and they may be picked up at the gate or at the Lyon College office of alumni and parent services.

The Batesville Speedway is a 3/8-mile red clay oval stock car racing track. The track opened in the early 1970s and was rebuilt in 1991.

Lyon grad receives teaching honor

Ashley Brown, a 1994 Lyon College graduate, recently received the “American Stars of Teaching Award" from the U.S. Department of Education.

A 1989 Batesville High School honor graduate, Brown now teaches English at Douglas MacArthur Junior High School in Jonesboro.

The Department of Education focuses attention on exemplary classroom teachers who are successful in raising student academic achievement for students – often through the use of innovative classroom strategies – and recognizes them as “American Stars of Teaching.”

Brown, along with Iris Stevens, another MacArthur English teacher, are the only educators in Arkansas to receive this national award. Both made a difference last year to increase Benchmark Exam scores in literacy, according to an article in the Jonesboro Sun.

Brown and Stevens were presented their awards by Donna Muldrew of the U.S. Department of Education. Teachers in each state, including the District of Columbia, who represent all grade levels, have been recognized.

The “American Stars of Teaching” is part of the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, which includes teacher and principal roundtables, summer and fall teacher workshops, a Research-to-Practice Teacher Summit in July, toolkits for teachers and resource materials, the weekly e-mail update “Teacher E-Bytes” and a free online professional development tool.

Brown is the daughter of Lavon and Nina Womack of Batesville.

Sports

Soccer

Ozarks and Lyon split nonconference soccer matches in Clarksville on Tuesday. The Pipers won 3-2 when Kristina Anderson scored in the 86th minute. The Bobcats, however, defeated the Scots 3-1.

Claire Wetzel assisted on Anderson’s winning goal. The Pipers battled back to improve their record to 3-6. Lady Bobcat Lindy Swatzell scored in the eighth minute. Early in the second half, Wetzel tied the score with a free kick. Swatzell struck again in the 70th minute. Nine minutes later, Anderson tied the score with an assist from Tasha Sanders.

“We played really well,” Lyon Coach Derek Nichols said. “This was the first time we’ve been able to come back and beat somebody. I think it’s a huge thing for our confidence.”

Lyon took nine shots on goal to Ozarks’ six. Amanda Fore recorded four saves for Lyon.

The Scots avoided a shutout when Nick Jones scored with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. For Ozarks, Will Brahik scored two goals and Justin Goodman notched one.

Ozarks outshot Lyon 11-4. Lyon’s Brent Hugg recorded eight saves.

Lyon fell to 7-4.

Volleyball

Lyon College libero Susie Harper won her third TranSouth Conference Libero of the Week award recently, the league announced. She was also named Lyon College’s Athlete of the Week.

Harper, a 5-foot-7 junior from Pocahontas, posted 43 digs in last Friday’s 4-game victory over Cumberland (Tenn.) at home. She also led the Pipers to wins over Williams Baptist and Trevecca Nazarene last week.

On Tuesday night, Union ended Lyon’s five-match win streak in Jackson, Tenn., with a 30-9, 30-21, 30-28 victory in TranSouth Conference action.

The Pipers will play Cumberland University on Friday and Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday. Both games are in Tennessee. They will host the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Becknell Gym.