February 27, 2006
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• Lyon team takes top honors at Arkansas INBRE conference • Lyon College to host Regional Science Fair, Academic Day • Lyon to host District II History Day on March 16
• Harlequin
Theatre Spring Production announces cast members • Valle donates painting to church • Lyon alum's book recounts childhood experiences • Dr. Schnell presents program as part of Japan Lecture Series
Student recital
There will be a noontime recital at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, March 2, in the
Bevens Music Room. The performers include: Ashley Dorsey, Sarah Dunkerson,
Skye Hart, Josh Medeiros, Nathan Reinhardt, Jacob Severs and Cris Slaymaker.
You may bring your lunch if you like; everyone is invited. |
Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley addresses Lyon College President’s Council By Wil Shane LITTLE ROCK --One of the greatest challenges facing Americans today is finding a balance between acknowledging the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, and not letting that threat dictate how they live their lives, former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley said Wednesday. Speaking at the second annual Lyon College President’s Council winter meeting, the one-time presidential hopeful and NBA legend presented his speech, “America: The Path Ahead,” to a capacity crowd at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock. During his 18 years in the U.S. Senate, he and his colleague David Pryor, who was in attendance for the event, witnessed significant changes in the world’s political landscape, Bradley said. Those changes, including the end of apartheid, the fall of the Soviet Union and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 were impossible to predict, he added. “We can’t predict the future, but we can understand the forces that shape the world,” Bradley said. Globalization is one of those major forces, linking all nations of the world together in a type of symbiotic relationship. For example, if America lowers its emissions and air pollution levels and another nation such as China doesn’t, global warming will continue to exist. International terrorism is another effect of globalization, and ending it requires allies among the nations of the world, Bradley said. “The terror threat today is de-centralized,” he said. “It’s distributed all over the world. And no matter who the president is, we can’t assume there won’t be any more terrorist attacks on American soil.” Still, that uncertainty shouldn’t discourage us, and we “shouldn’t be dismayed.” “The challenge for us in today’s world is figuring out how to hold onto the prospect that (a terrorist attack) could happen, but still go on and live life fully,” Bradley said. “We must hold both possibilities in balance if we’re going to live a fulfilled life.” One way to “live life fully” is working to help make the world a better place.
Established in 2004, the President’s Council is a by-invitation-only group whose mission is to “engage leaders in their professions and communities who share Lyon College’s belief in the transforming value of a liberal arts education of highest quality.” The President’s Council now boasts nearly 200 members. All lives are ultimately connected, intertwined, and what happens to one eventually happens to all, Bradley said. “We all advance together or we fail separately,” he said. A three-time All-American basketball player at Princeton University who graduated with honors in 1965 with a degree in American history, Bradley won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he earned a graduate degree after studying politics, philosophy, and economics. He went on to be a star professional basketball player for the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1977. During that time the Knicks won two National Basketball Association championships (1970 and 1973). In recognition of his contribution to the sport, Bradley was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. (Photos from the President's Council event are posted on the What's Hot page) |
Lyon team takes win at Arkansas INBRE Undergraduate Research Conference
A
biomedical research team representing Lyon College recently earned top honors at
a prestigious conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
Three faculty members, three students and a recent graduate of Lyon College
attended the second annual Arkansas INBRE Undergraduate Research Conference on
Feb 24-25 at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and presented a total
of five posters describing their research work. And one of those entries won the
first-place prize in the Biological Sciences division.
INBRE, short for IDeA [Institutional Development Award] Networks for
Biomedical Research Excellence, is a program of the NIH aimed at expanding
research opportunities and increasing the number of competitive researchers in
states that have historically not received much NIH grant funding.
The three Lyon faculty members were Dr. Robert Gregerson, the Willie Dillard
Bryan Associate Professor of Biology, Dr. David Thomas, associate professor of
microbiology, and Dr. Barry D. Gehm, assistant professor of biochemistry. The
students were Katie McLean, J. C. Douglas and Carl Rector. The recent graduate
was Justin Holt, who is working as a technician for Dr. Gregerson and Dr. Gehm.
McLean (shown above with the winning poster) recently won an Ambassadorial
Scholarship from the Rotary Foundation. A biology major at Lyon with a 3.64 GPA,
McLean is a graduate of Lake Hamilton High School in Hot Springs.
The winning poster was entitled “Developing a C. elegans-based
bioassay for estrogenic activity,” by Barry Gehm, Katie McLean, Justin Holt,
Ashley Turensky and Tim Lindblom. McLean presented it at the meeting. A cash
prize of $150 was divided among the three student authors.
The other posters presented were:
• “Early Results of ecopoeisis experiments in the SHOT Mars environment
simulator” by Carl Rector, Paul Todd, Penelope J. Boston, John Boling, Kathy A.
Campbell, Tiffany McSpadden, Laura McWilliams and David J. Thomas.
• “Testing the oxygen paradox with antioxidant-deficient cyanobacteria” by David
J. Thomas, John Boling, Tiffany McSpadden, Carl Rector, Christy L. Schuchardt
and CaSandra Spurlock.
• “A mutation in estrogen receptor alpha that selectively attenuates activation
by phytoestrogens” by Barry Gehm, J. C. Douglas and Justin Holt.
• “Translational control in Xenopus oocytes” by Amon Holt, Justin Holt and
Robert Gregerson.
Lyon College
to host Science Fair, Academic Day events
Lyon College will soon host a fair to remember, and a series of
challenging tests of mathematical prowess will follow the next day
On Friday, March 10, the Northeast Arkansas Regional Science Fair is coming to
the Lyon campus, featuring a broad spectrum of exhibits throughout the day.
Judging runs from 1:30–3:30 p.m., at Becknell Gym, and an awards ceremony
follows at 6:30 p.m. in Brown Chapel.
And on Saturday, March 11, Lyon hosts the Regional Academic Day, with an awards
ceremony for the winners in Brown Chapel at 2:45 p.m.
Senior and junior high school students from 13 counties compete in the 2006 ACTM
Regional Math Contest, sponsored by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, and in the Regional Science Contest, sponsored by Lyon College.
More than 300 students from 11 Arkansas junior high and high schools came to
Lyon College last year to take 256 science exams and 205 mathematics exams at
the annual Regional Academic Day.
The event was originally the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Regional Mathematics Contest. Later, Lyon added exams in other sciences to round
out the event. First-, second- and third-place winners in the mathematics
categories will advance to the ACTM State Mathematics Contest, which will be
held in April at the University of Central Arkansas at Conway.
Lyon College looks forward to studying the past on History Day
event
In the near future, the past will come alive at Lyon College when the campus
presents this year’s District II History Day.
On March 16, the event will feature various types of history exhibits, and the
winners will be honored at an awards ceremony from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. in Nucor
Auditorium in the Lyon Building.
Each year Lyon College serves as host for Arkansas’s District II History Day ,
which is part of a yearlong education program that culminates in a national
contest every June. Lyon has been hosting History Day for teachers and students
around north central and northeastern Arkansas since 1982.
This year students from Oak Ridge High School, Batesville High, Riverview High,
Southside, and Izard County Consolidated Junior and Senior High will participate
in the event. The contest theme is “Taking a Stand in History,” and all entries
must pertain to this theme. The students are judged on how well they adhered to
this.
National History Day engages students in grades 6 – 12 in the process of
discovery and interpretation of historical topics. Students produce dramatic
performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, and research
papers based on research related to an annual theme. The exhibits will be in
Becknell Gym, the performances in the Lower Union and the documentaries will be
shown in the Citizens Bank Room.
These projects are then evaluated at local competitions, such as the one at
Lyon. The top three entries from each division and category then advance to the
state competition in Conway. The state’s top finishers continue on to the
National History Day competition in Washington, D.C.
History Day found its roots in 1974 when Dr. David Van Tassel, a history
professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, wanted to improve the
teaching of history in elementary and secondary schools. He and his colleagues
in the history department created a one-day contest for students to showcase
their historical research called National History Day.
Over the next few years, the contest grew across Ohio and into surrounding
Midwestern states. By 1980, it had grown into a national organization and in
1992 National History Day moved its headquarters from Cleveland to Washington
D.C.
Today, two million students, teachers, parents and volunteers from across the
nation participate in National History Day annually, offering, in addition to
the contest, workshops, seminars and curricular materials for teachers and
summer internships for students.
For more information on the District II History Day at Lyon College, please
contact Dr. Brooks Blevins, assistant professor of history, at 870-698-4210, or
bblevins@lyon.edu, or Adele Grilli at 870-698-4246, or agrilli@lyon.edu
For information on History Day, log onto www.nationalhistoryday.org.
Harlequin
Theatre Spring Production announces cast members
One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies will take center stage at Lyon College
for the Harlequin Theatre spring production of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona,” to
run April 6 – 9.
Directed by Michael L. Counts, professor of theatre, and designed by Gary M.
Harris, associate professor of theatre, the play details the entangled relations
between the two gentlemen of the play’s title, Valentine and Proteus.
On April 6 – 8, the show will begin at 8 p.m., and on Sunday, April 9, the curtain goes
up at 2 p.m. in the Holloway Theatre on the Lyon campus.
The Lyon College Theatre Department has announced the cast for the play. The
actors, and the roles they will perform, include:
Duke of Milan – Jason Bugeja of Fort Smith; Valentine – J.T. Tarpley of Gurdon;
Proteus – Jance Floyd of Houston, Texas; Antonio/Musician – Christopher James
Orr of Jonesboro; Thurio – Justin Edwards of Greers Ferry; Eglamour – Jarrett L.
Clark of Jonesboro; Speed – Emily Fleming of Nashville, Tenn.; Launce – Amanda
Pickett of Batesville; Panthino – David Smock of Jonesboro; Outlaw #1 – Jocelyn
Gantt of Jacksonville; Outlaw #2 – Alissa Walter of Walnut Ridge; Outlaw #3 –
Amy Hancock of Knobel, Ark.; Julia – Christina Cody of Dickinson, Texas; Silvia
– Alyssa Starkey of Sherwood; Lucetta/Hostess – Layla Phillips of Rector; and,
Crab the Dog – Ralph of Batesville.
Admission is $6 for adults, and $3 for students and seniors. To make
reservations, call 870-793-1749.
Lyon art professor chronicles wife’s cancer battle in upcoming exhibition
The
emotions experienced by an artist and his wife on their “journey through the
treatment of cancer” inspired a series of paintings that will soon go on display
at Lyon College.
“Nodular Sclerosis,” a painting exhibition by Chris Valle, assistant professor
of art, will run March 1-19 at Kresge Gallery on the Lyon campus, with an
opening reception slated for Thursday, March 2, from 6 – 8 p.m. Valle will address the
audience at 6:15 p.m. that evening.
The paintings are inspired by Valle’s wife, Athena, who has survived the
grueling treatment of cancer—something he said, “I could never do.” Nodular
Sclerosis is a type of Hodgkin’s disease that consumed her lymphatic system.
“These paintings are derived from our journey through the treatment of this
cancer,” Valle said. “In this work, I try to create an ambiguous space—there are
clues to elements of landscape, but they never quite become clear enough to
piece together where you are. It is a reference to that space where you go when
your body is physically and mentally drained, when you are on medication, when
you go in and out of consciousness right before sleep, pieces of reality fuse
with visions of your imagination.”
In the treatment of cancer, patients feel isolated, alone, like no one knows
what you are going through, Valle said.
“The ‘floating islands’ in this body of work are symbolic of this feeling,” he
said. “There are also forms that allude directly to the treatment process: IVs,
cells, nodules, etc. Through the process of chemotherapy and radiation your body
shuts down, you become in a state of coma. In these paintings, cocoons and
butterflies are symbolic of this metamorphosis of the body, from sick and
contaminated to the point of almost death to the rebirth into life, which is
cancer free.”
Valle’s paintings have been shown nationally in more than 60 exhibitions in 14
states. He received a B.F.A in art from Valdosta State University and his M.F.A.
in painting from the University of Florida.
Valle
donates painting to church in Cave City
Chris Valle, assistant professor of art, has created and donated a painting for First Baptist Missionary Church in Cave City. The painting will be unveiled during the 10 a.m. service Sunday, March 5. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Lyon graduate recounts ‘Moving Experiences’ of childhood in new book
By
Wil Shane
Lyon College News Bureau
Lyon College graduate Bill Rhodes wrote the book on Calico Rock.
After looking back on his years spent living in the picturesque town set atop
the brown, black and white lichen-covered bluff that gave the town its name,
Rhodes wrote his childhood memoirs, “Moving Experiences,” (PublishAmerica,
2006).
He spent his early boyhood in Benton County in Northwest Arkansas, but in 1958,
he moved to Calico Rock to stay with his Aunt Maude and Uncle Guy Majors to help
with the work on the farm and to go to school. He graduated from Calico Rock
High School in 1960, and in 1964, he graduated cum laude from Lyon (Arkansas)
College.
After 26 years as a professor of horticulture at Clemson University, Rhodes had
time to reflect on the experiences of his youth spent along the banks of the
White River and how they helped shape the man he became. Rhodes now resides in
Little Rock.
Rhodes, who majored in biology and chemistry at Lyon College, said he’ll
dedicate all royalties from books sold in Arkansas to the Emmett Whitten
Scholarship Fund, managed by the Bank of Calico Rock
| “I plan to donate all profits from this book in Arkansas to the scholarship because I’m convinced that there are many ‘diamonds in the rough’ in Calico Rock who never even consider going to college because of the cost,” he said. “And, also, of course, in honor of my dedicated former teacher, Emmett Whitten. | “I’m convinced that there are many ‘diamonds in the rough’ in Calico Rock who never even consider going to college because of the cost.” – Bill Rhodes |
Whitten was a longtime teacher at Calico Rock High School, and the scholarship
is dedicated for students there who have an interest in pursuing a college
degree, Rhodes said.
“I really want to see the scholarship continue, because I know there are a lot
of kids out there who’d like to go to college but who don’t have the money to
go,” he said. “It’s been languishing somewhat in recent years, but maybe this
book will help keep it going.”
“Moving Experiences” is Rhodes’ first book, and he’ll soon return to his boyhood
hometown to promote it.
“I intend to come out to Calico Rock to sign books and do a reading and some
other things,” he said. “I’ve been away a long time, but Calico Rock is always
home to me.”
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Schnell lectures on Japanese culture Dr. Scott Schnell, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Iowa, presented the program on "Ritual and Popular Protest - A Different Look at Japanese Festivals" Thursday, Feb. 23, as part of the Japan Lecture Series. The series is made possible by a grant from the Freeman Foundation. At right, Dr. Schnell talks to the audience gathered in the Derby Lecture Hall. Below right, Mieko Peek, who directs the Japan Studies Program at Lyon, introduces the guest lecturer.
Photos by Eric Stewart |
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