The Lyon College Board of Trustees on Friday nominated two new members and approved a record number of faculty Sabbatical requests, prompting the board to consider a possible future revision of Sabbatical guidelines.

The board unanimously approved the nominations of Eddie Drilling of Little Rock and Mollie Grace Smith of Batesville as Synod trustees. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Synod of the Sun will be asked to formally elect the trustees to four-year terms.

Drilling was appointed President SBC Arkansas in July 2002; in November 2005 the company became AT&T Arkansas and his title was changed accordingly.

In the 26 years Drilling has been with the company, he’s spent 15 years in various operations positions including customer service and marketing, and eight years in the external affairs division before becoming president of the Arkansas operation.

Drilling is involved with a number of state and community organizations. He serves as a director on a wide variety of boards, including Arkansas Children’s Hospital, The Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute Board, UAMS Foundation Board, Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, Sam M. Walton College of Business Dean’s Executive Advisory Board, UAMS Arkansas BioVentures Advisory Board, and the Governor’s Information Technology Oversight Committee.

He also serves as a member of the University of Arkansas 2010 Commission, The Little Rock Public School Foundation Board, UALR College of Business Administration Advisory Council, and is on the Board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. In addition, Drilling served as the 2005 Chairman of the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.

A native of Morrilton, Drilling holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville and is a graduate of Emory’s Advanced Management Program.

Drilling and his wife, Cinde, owner of Landscape Architecture Inc., reside in Little Rock.

Mollie Grace Smith is a civic leader and a member of a Batesville family that has long been involved in business and community affairs. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Preston W. Grace Jr. (both Lyon alumni), and her brother, Rob Grace, are members of the college’s President’s Council.

She’s married to Kendall J. Smith and the couple has one son, Jacob, 8. They live in Batesville.

Mrs. Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and took education classes toward a teaching certificate at Lyon College in 1995.

Currently working as an enrollment specialist for Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Arkansas, she’s also served as substitute teacher for the Batesville School District, among other varied positions she’s held in business.

Some of her many community involvement roles include projects for the Batesville Area Arts Council, Chapter BQ of the P.E.O, Presbyterian Day School Board, Eagle Mountain Magnet Elementary PTO and the Batesville Kindergarten Center. She also is a member of First Presbyterian Church in Batesville.

Following their appointments, the Board of Trustees moved on the Sabbatical requests. Seven faculty members requested leave and Board Chairman Ray LaCroix said that was "unusual."

"This is an unusual number, and it puts a little crimp into covering for them," he said. "Next year, we’re expecting eight applications for sabbaticals."

The Board approved Sabbaticals for Fall 2007 for Dr. Paul Bube, Dr. Brad Gitz, Dr. Helen Robbins and Dr. Frank Winfrey. Sabbatical requests for Spring 2008 were approved for Professor Gary Harris, Dr. Alan McNamee and Dr. Russell Stinson.

The matter of how and when to approve future requests will come before the Board at a later time, LaCroix said.

Lyon College is now its 135th year of serving the people and the economy of Independence County and a new campaign launched Wednesday will help ensure that service continues in the future.

The Independence Fund will use all monies raised to support annual scholarships, construction of the Rogers Center for Health, Fitness and Recreation, and renovations to Becknell Gymnasium.

Lyon President Dr. Walter Roettger, speaking at the campaign launch, said about 70 students from Independence County currently attend Lyon College, and they are receiving more than $360,000 in scholarship assistance. Over the five years of the College’s Campaign for Distinction, area students who want a Lyon education will receive from $1.5 to $2 million in financial aid.

Lyon College is the only national liberal arts college in Arkansas, and one of only four in the South, to be included in U.S. News & World Report’s list of "Great Schools, Great Prices." Lyon is 23rd the list.

U.S. News & World Report’s determines its best value ranking by comparing a school’s academic quality to the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid.

Lyon has also been named to Washington Monthly’s list of the most socially beneficial universities and liberal arts colleges in the nation. Out of 202 listed, Lyon came in at No. 76. Washington Monthly came up with three indicators of how much a school is benefiting the country, including: how well it performs as an engine of social mobility; how well it does in fostering scientific and humanistic research; and how well it promotes an ethic of service to country.

"That just doesn’t happen, people make it happen," Dr. Roettger said. "That’s you."

Vice President for Institutional Advancement Tim Bruner detailed the three projects the Independence Fund will go toward.

As for scholarships, about 90 percent of all Lyon students receive some form of financial assistance, and he said supporting Independence Fund scholarships is an investment in Arkansas’ labor pool.

The Rogers Center for Health, Fitness and Recreation will feature an inviting lobby with a Hall of Honor, a cutting edge fitness center, complete with a women’s only exercise space and a Kinesiology laboratory, new competition tennis courts and pro shop, and centralized office space for the coaching staff and athletic director.

Renovations to Becknell Physical Education Center will include an effective climate control system, an indoor user-friendly aquatic center, ADA-compliant access to all facilities within the building and strength and conditioning center for varsity athletes.

Bruner said Lyon contributes over $41 million to the regional economy through social benefits, local governments, direct spending, secondary spending and increased alumni earnings. The college provides 178 full-time jobs and created 127 new jobs in north-central Arkansas.

One dollar out of $11 spent by the colleges goes to businesses in Batesville, and $1 out of every $15 goes to a business in Independence County.

"Businesses are willing to help us, because Lyon College being here helps them," Bruner said.

Objectives of the Independence Fund including gaining commitments from 500 businesses in the county to help support the program, he added.

David Brogdon, a local businessman employed by Bad Boy Mowers and who serves as chair of Lyon’s Regional Advisory Board, said his firm will support the project because of what Lyon College means to the county.

"Lyon is critical to our community," he said. "And what it gives us isn’t just the economics – it’s the people."

To help support the Independence Fund, contact Bruner at (870) 698-4208, or (870) 612-2644. Or e-mail him at tbruner@lyon.edu.

A couple that has built their life together on the foundation of service and education has taken advantage of a recently enacted tax law to create an endowed scholarship targeted for future teachers at Lyon College in Batesville.

And a student has already benefited from the new scholarship.

Charles and Anne Allen used the Pension Protection Act of 2006 to establish the Charles F. and V. Anne Allen Endowed Scholarship. The Act allows persons age 70 and a half and up to rollover up to $100,000 per year from IRA accounts to charitable donations. (At right, Dr. Allen signs the scholarship agreement with wife Anne and Tim Bruner, vice president for institutional advancement looking on.)

The funds are to be awarded annually to a student who is at least a sophomore and who is pursuing a career as a teacher. The inaugural recipient is Katherine McCord, a junior from Ash Flat who is majoring in psychology and early childhood/elementary education.

Charles, a native of Batesville and former Lyon student, currently serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Arkansas Corrections School System. Charles, who has served as classroom teacher in Southside, administrator in Cushman, and school district superintendent at Desha, Mansfield and Hamburg, said he and Anne felt compelled to create the scholarship because education "is where it all begins."

The College’s close bond with the Presbyterian Church (USA) was another reason Anne and Charles wanted to establish the scholarship at Lyon.

"I’ve been a member of the Presbyterian faith all my life," Anne said. "To help future teachers reach their goals while supporting a nationally acclaimed Presbyterian school – how can it get any better than that?"

The Allens are members of the Lyon College President's Council and the Board of Church Advocates.

Dr. Anne Allen, a native of Paris, Ark., has served as professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Arkansas Tech University and as adjunct instructor at Henderson State University and Arkansas State University. She served as elementary principal and assistant superintendent for the Hamburg School District, and has been a classroom teacher for the Springdale, Des Arc and Pulaski County school districts.

"We must do our best, our valiant best, to educate and inform everyone to the best of our abilities," she said. "That leads to people making informed decisions for their lives. Every fiber of my being points itself to educating and learning."

Charles said Lyon College gives students something many larger schools can’t.

"Lyon is a school where you’re not just a number, you’re not lost in a crowd," he said. "Students get involved and are known by everyone. It’s a family."

The passion the couple feels about the importance of quality education is more than a mere philosophy to them, Anne said.

"These are not just words," she said. "This is the constant focus of our lives. It’s what we believe."

Anne paraphrased a saying by Thomas Jefferson, "Any nation that expects to be both ignorant and free wants what never has been, and what never shall be."

For information on establishing an endowed scholarship at Lyon College, contact Tim Bruner, vice president of Institutional Advancement at (870) 698-4208 by e-mail at tbruner@lyon.edu or Claudia Marsh, church relations director, at (870) 793-1767, e-mail cmarsh@lyon.edu.

By Lyon College News Bureau

When nine black students were attempting to desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School in September 1957, 13-year-old Elizabeth Jacoway was more concerned with her cheerleader cousin’s popularity than the ramifications of the landmark moment in the Civil Rights movement.

Neither did she care that her popular cousin’s father, Virgil Blossom, was the Little Rock Superintendent of Schools during the crisis.

"I was a shielded, protected daughter and I wasn’t supposed to worry about that," she said. "I just went on my merry way."

But years later as a doctoral student, Jacoway began to realize the history she had lived through and questions about the issue began rising in her mind. That led to a 30-year quest for truth that has culminated in the release of her book, "Turn Away Thy Son," the definitive history of the Little Rock Central High crisis.

Published by the Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Jan. 9, 2007, will officially mark the release the book. 2007 also will mark the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock crisis.

Born and raised in Little Rock, Jacoway earned a bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Arkansas before her father gave her one of the greatest gifts of her life.

"He made me go to graduate school," she said.

While engaged in her graduate studies, she became aware of the importance of the event that she lived through as a sheltered and privileged young girl in Little Rock.

"I was stunned to learn what had happened to black people back then and I wanted to help close the gap," she said. "That’s when I realized I knew nothing about race relations in the South."

She earned both master’s and doctorate degrees in history from the University of North Carolina, and while searching for a topic for her doctoral dissertation, the idea of writing about the crisis first came to her.

However, her father intervened and prevailed upon her to choose another subject since the Jacoway family was connected socially and professionally to many of the key players in the drama.

In the ensuing years her father relented in his objections and gave Jacoway his blessing to pursue and seek the truth in the matter. The National Endowment for the Humanities supported the project with a grant, and her job was under way.

"It goes to the heart of what’s important in Southern life, and American life in general," she said.

She continued her search for that elusive truth throughout a career that saw her serving as assistant professor of history at the University of Florida, associate professor of history at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and visiting professor of history at Lyon College. Now, Jacoway is a member of the Lyon Board of Trustees from Newport.

She "cut her teeth" on writing history when she found an alternative subject for her doctoral dissertation, "Yankee Missionaries in the South."

"That one taught me the nuts and bolts about how history was, and how to write it," Jacoway said.

Since then, she’s written five other books, primarily intended for academic audiences. "Turn Away Thy Son" was different in that she wrote it for a mass, general readership.

"This is a true American story for everyone," Jacoway said. "Everyone should find it interesting. It’s written more like a novel than a standard history text, and it centers on 17 main 'larger than life' characters.

It’s taken her 30 years to fully complete the work, partially due to the fact that the controversial subject matter requires that she be meticulous in her research and documentation.

"Everything will be questioned," she said. "Everyone has a vested interest in seeing the story told from their perspective."

"Turn Away Thy Son" is a 352-page hardcover book that sells for $28 in the U.S., but a $2 discount is available for all purchases made through Amazon.com. It will be available in bookstores Jan. 9.

Bell brothers reunite for competition judging The four Bell brothers were photographed recently at the EUSPBA Pipe Band Championships in Anne Arundel, Md. All four were judges for the band competition. From left are Gordon, Duncan, Jimmy and Donald Bell. The two youngsters in front are Donald's sons, Cameron, 8, who won the novice fiddle; and Alasdair, 5, a future champion piper. Jimmy Bell is the director of Scottish Heritage and of the Pipe Band at Lyon College.

Teachers of Japanese from across the world are taking advantage of a learning tool created by Mieko Peek, Lyon College’s instructor of Japanese language and literature, and the college is getting some worldwide publicity because of it.

Since Peek established the site three years ago, which she created to serve as an aid in learning Japanese vocabulary, it’s received over 31,000 hits.

"Genki, the textbook I use, has a lot of online exercises, but no vocabulary exercises," she said. "I divided the vocabulary words in each lesson between three and six so that it is easy for me to assign each section for the students."

Peek said she used "Hot Potatoes" from the University of Victoria in Canada as a model for the site.

"The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web," she said. "Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but it is free of charge for those working for publicly-funded, non-profit educational institutions who make their pages available on the Web."

The exercise site is spreading the name of Lyon College across the globe, she added.

"A great number of Japanese teachers make free online exercises so that students can use them to improve their Japanese," Peek said. "Since I have a link to Lyon College from my home page, the name of Lyon College is known worldwide to those who study Japanese. The Web address to my exercises site also has Lyon in it."

The Freeman Foundation has supported her Japanese program since 1995, Peek said.

"I have just received the grant from them for the 2006-2007 academic year," she said. "This grant is the fourth at Lyon College. My previous institution was Louisiana State University in Shreveport."

Located at: www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/mpeek/japanwebpages/GenkiExercises.htm, the Web site is free of charge.

Lyon College is one of only four colleges in the state that offers Japanese studies.

For more information on Lyon Japanese programs, contact Mieko Peek at (870) 793-1790.

The Office of Residence Life and the Residence Life Staff will be sponsoring the second annual RLS Halloween Carnival from 6-8 p.m. Monday, October 31, in the Derby Center parking lot. 

Student organizations and campus departments will sponsor carnival booths with games and activities. Some of the groups and the booths they’ll sponsor include:

• Spragins House – Brain Bucket and Balloon Darts

• ACS – Hot Cider

• Lyon Campus Ministries – Bean Bag Toss

• Young House – Hay Ride

• Mortar Board – Washer Throw

• Student Activities Council – Mini Caramel Apples and Phineas Coloring Game

• Baptist Campus Ministries – Photo Booth

• International Student Association – Face Painting

• Phi Mu – Pick-up Ducks

The event is also open to the children, grandchildren and families of all Lyon faculty and staff. There will be candy, games and activities, including a hayride around campus for the participants.

Sue Johnston’s first grade class from Eagle Mountain has been invited to attend. In addition, the Youth Ranch kids have also been invited, as well as the Boy Scout troops sponsored by some of our faculty.

Barb Dyer, director of residence life, said they’re are asking each family to bring one canned good to donate to Help & Hope. Donations are voluntary and appreciated.

Even though rain fell during last year’s event, forcing the carnival to be moved to the Lower Union at the last minute, an ample supply of area children still had a good time, Dyer said.

"We had about 35 kids come though," she said. "We had anticipated 50-75 kids though."

Even off-campus businesses and individuals can sponsor a booth, Dyer said.

"I would be open to anyone who wanted to provide an activity for the carnival," she said.

Anyone who’s interested in sponsoring a booth should contact Nathan Reinhardt at 307-7182.

For more information about how to sponsor a carnival booth or about the event in general, contact Lana Fugett, 698-4314, or Barbara Dyer, 698-4310.

Questions about the evening’s activities should be directed to Mary-Margaret Nester at 307-7548 or Barbara Dyer at x4310.

Representatives of student organization on campus interested in sponsoring a booth at the carnival should contact Nathan Reinhardt at 307-7182.

Students perform at recital A student recital was held Oct. 9 in Brown Chapel. Shown are freshman Anelisa Wood accompanying junior Nathan Reinhardt. Other students who performed were: T.J. Guajardo, Robert Bailey, Haley Skinner,  Sarah Dunkerson and Allyn Dodd. They are all voice, piano or organ  students in the music department.

Sports

Volleyball

Lady RedHawks sweep Pipers

The Lyon College Pipers suffered their second straight defeat via sweep when the TranSouth Conference-leading Martin Methodist Lady RedHawks earned a 3-0 league victory Saturday afternoon in a volleyball match at Becknell Gymnasium. Martin Methodist had to weather a rally by Lyon to win 31-29 in the first game, blasted to a 30-11 win in the second and captured the sweep with a 30-21 triumph in the third set. Daria Paunovic was the Pipers’ kill leader with eight. Jessica Sylvester had 10 assists and Ann Sullivan of Jonesboro had 14 digs. Lyon sinks to 15-9 this season with a sixth-place conference mark of 7-6. Martin Methodist moves to 19-6 and remains on top of the TranSouth volleyball standings with an 11-1 record.

Soccer

Scots outlast Trojans, 1-0

Steve Banks scored the 18th goal of his career and his fourth of the season to lead the Lyon College Scots to a 1-0 victory over the Trevecca Nazarene Trojans in the Scots TranSouth Conference regular-season league finale Saturday at Huser Field. Banks, a senior from Frisco, Tex., became the school’s all-time points leader this season, totaling 12 points to give him 55 points for his career. He surpassed fellow senior Nick Jones, who currently is in second place with 49 career points. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Scots, who improve to 7-8-1 overall and 4-5 in the TranSouth. Lyon is currently tied for sixth place in the TranSouth Conference Tournament standings and are still alive for a conference tournament berth. But the Scots must rely on three other team's destinies (Cumberland, Lambuth and Martin Methodist) to find out where or if they will qualify. Trevecca falls to 6-10-1 and 0-7-1.

Lyon to host TranSouth Tournament game

The Lyon College Pipers have accomplished yet another historic first for the women's soccer program. Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 3 p.m. the Pipers will host a TranSouth Conference Tournament match for the first time in the program's history. No. 3 seed Lyon (12-4-0 overall and 5-2 in the TranSouth) takes on No. 6 seed Lambuth University (2-10-3, 2-5) in a first-round match at Lyon College Soccer Field. In the two school's previous meeting on Sept. 16, the Pipers came out a 6-1 winner over the Lady Eagles. Lyon junior forward Sarah Poncher scored two goals and Pipers' teammates Aurora Alba, Angelique Armenta, Kristen Grant and Katy Smith each scored and assisted on a goal.
In the other first-round conference tournament game, Union University will host Trevecca Nazarene.
Seeding for the tournament:
No. 1 Martin Methodist College
No. 2 Bethel College
No. 3 Lyon College
No. 4 Union University
No. 5 Trevecca Nazarene University
No. 6 Lambuth University

Pipers shuts out Trevecca, sews up third in TranSouth

Sarah Poncher’s 11th goal of the year and goal keeper Stephanie Henderson’s seventh shutout of the season were just about all the Lyon College Pipers needed in a 1-0 shutout of the Trevecca Nazarene Lady Trojans Saturday in a TranSouth Conference match at Lyon College Field. Poncher’s goal in the 53rd minute was assisted by junior Angelique Armenta in the Pipers' regular-season finale. Meanwhile, Henderson saved seven shots and recorded her 11th win of the season.

The regular-season home match was the final one for Piper seniors Allison Morrison of Little Rock, Martha Seilenga of Sierra Leone, Erica Alves of Sao Carlos, Brazil, and Maumelle's Amanda Fore, who served this year as the team’s student assistant coach while on a medical redshirt.

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