Art students at Lyon College are creating works that are "filled with excitement and energy," and an upcoming exhibition in Kresge Gallery will put a spotlight on that work.

The fourth annual juried student art exhibition will run from Jan. 8 – Jan 30, with an Opening Reception and Award Presentation on Thursday, Jan. 11, at 6 p.m. Awards will be presented at 6:15 p.m.

Lyon College students can enter up to five artworks each. The juror, Harry Ally, selects the most successful work from those entries. The selected work is then displayed in the Kresge Gallery, meaning this exhibition will feature only the best work of Lyon students. Awards will be given for First, Second, Third, and President Walter Roettger will present the 3rd Presidential Purchase Award for the "Best of Show."

"I remember reading last year’s jurors statement—the juror seemed totally surprised by the high quality and experimental nature of the work being produced at Lyon College," Ally said. "Well, I wasn’t surprised one bit. I knew what to expect and I certainly wasn’t disappointed."

Ally said Lyon’s assistant professor of art Chris Valle is a former student of his.

"I know all about Chris’s excitement for art, I know all about his unbelievable work ethic, and I know that his enthusiasm for art is contagious," he said. "It all shows in the work of the students. The art being produced in the studios at Lyon College is filled with excitement and energy, boundaries are being pushed, and there is an obvious sense of spirit and camaraderie in the department."

Ally said the scale of the work and the materials being used by the students impresses him and he’s eager to see how the intimate and dignified setting of the Kresge Gallery will feel trying to contain such powerful work.

"I loved meeting and talking with the students, they’re all so amazing," Ally said. "I hope they got something from my visit because I certainly learned a tremendous amount from them. To Chris, Merritt Johnson, and to the students, a job well done. Keep up the good work."

Ally has been teaching art for over 30 years, and this is the 24th exhibition that he has juried. Since 1986, he has been a professor of art at Valdosta State University in Georgia. His award winning paintings have been in over 100 exhibitions throughout the United States. The Lowe Galleries in Atlanta, Ga., and Los Angeles, Calif., currently represent his work.

Understanding and embracing diversity is a vital component of a well-rounded education, and an upcoming event at Lyon College designed to "promote peace, harmony, and diversity within our community" will fill bellies as well as minds.

On Jan. 20, the 9th annual Community International Night opens its doors at 5 p.m. in Edwards Commons on the Lyon campus. This year’s theme is "Harmony: A Melody of Our World."

Co-hosted by Lyon and UACCB, the event will be an evening of food and entertainment from around the world, and is part of Diversity Week at Lyon College, which runs from Jan. 14 – 20

Joni Bube, international student adviser, is the chairperson of the Community International Night committee. The chairperson position alternates between UACCB staff and Lyon College based on which institution is hosting the event, which is held at UACCB and Lyon in alternating years.

Dana Davidson, administrative and tracking coordinator for the APPLE Project, said Community International Night was created to celebrate the area’s international population.

"The event started to celebrate our international friends, including international students, who live in Batesville and the surrounding areas and to promote peace, harmony, and diversity within our community," she said.

The types of cultures represented and dishes served varies from year to year, Davidson added.

"Countries represented in the past include Albania, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Poland, Scotland, Vietnam and more," she said. "There’s usually anywhere from 250 to 300 people who come."

The evening will also include entertainment with an international flare. Entertainers for this year include groups from Eagle Mountain Magnet School, Batesville Sixth Grade Magnet School, UACCB Ensemble, and a short film presentation from the Ozark Foothills FilmFest.

The Japanese language class at Lyon College will perform as well, and also host a craft/activity table for attendees. Students from the International Studies Academy at the Batesville Middle School will also be face painting international flags as an activity.

Culminating the evening will be the awarding of scholarships to international students at Lyon College and UACCB. Scholarships are supported by area organizations and businesses.

The event is free and open to the public. Dinner will be a potluck, and attendees are asked to bring a dish that will serve 10-12 people. For more information, call 698-4277.
 

When nine black students were attempting to desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School in September 1957, 13-year-old "Betsy" 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, Elizabeth 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 latest book, a work that is being hailed as "the definitive history of the Little Rock Central High crisis."

On Thursday, Jan. 11, the Old Independence Regional Museum will host a publication week book signing for Dr. Elizabeth Jacoway’s "Turn Away Thy Son" at 3 p.m. The official publication date for the book is Jan. 9.

The author, a Lyon College trustee and nationally known scholar of race relations and Southern history, spent 30 years researching and writing a history of the Little Rock school crisis that one reviewer describes as "an absorbing and surprising" and "scrupulously fair" account. This event is free and open to the general public.

Based in part on extensive original interviews with participants from all aspects of the crisis, Jacoway’s study offers a nuanced view through revealing vignettes and inquiries that probe beyond familiar images of the Little Rock crisis that were transmitted around the world. In part, "Turn Away Thy Son" documents the attitudes that supported ideas of white superiority and racial caste and change in those attitudes over time.

The author examines her experiences as the niece of Little Rock’s superintendent of schools with the same scrupulousness that she brings to other figures. Advance reviews have praised the book as [a] "rich reconstruction," "an essential read," "highly recommended" and a "lucid and revealing key to events of half a century ago."

A native of Little Rock, Jacoway lives in Newport with her family. She received her doctorate in American History from the University of North Carolina, and is the author of five books and 17 articles. A frequent speaker at community events and professional meetings, Jacoway has served with many regional and national professional organizations, including the Little Rock Central High Museum Visitors Center, the Arkansas Women’s History Institute, and the Southern Historical Association. She has also taught at Lyon College and UALR.

In addition to Jacoway’s book signing event, other offerings at Old Independence include the exhibits Region on the Move and Where the Delta Meets the Ozarks. The temporary exhibit George Fisher: The Clinton Years will be on view Jan. 9 – Feb. 20.

Old Independence serves a 12-county area: Baxter, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Marion, Poinsett, Sharp, Stone, White, and Woodruff. Parts of all these present-day counties comprised the original Independence County in 1820s Arkansas territory.

Continuing exhibits at the museum showcase native American life and the National Register building housing the museum, built as an armory in the 1930s.

The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission in $3 for adults, $2 for seniors and $1 for children. The museum is located at 380 South Ninth, between Boswell and Vine in Batesville.

For more information, call 870-793-2121.

Lyon College is going on S.A.F.A.R.I., hunting for students who are interested in enriching, challenging and enjoyable learning experiences in a variety of educational areas.

The College’s S.A.F.A.R.I. (Summer Academics: Fun And Recreation Included) summer enrichment program, now in its seventh year, is offering its Children’s Camp for K–6 students.

The first session of the Children’s Camp will be June 4-15, and the second will be June 18-29. Each session will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. Students who have completed grades K-2 may elect to attend half-day sessions.

Students who have completed grades 3-6 attend for a full day unless they wish to attend a sports camp on the same day.

Children’s Camp students will sign up for three academic and one recreational course per session. Lunch will be provided, as will morning and afternoon snacks.

The S.A.F.A.R.I. program began in 2000 when Peggy Roettger, wife of Lyon President Dr. Walter Roettger, suggested creating a "kid’s college" to help the community get involved in what Lyon had to offer.

Local businesses and organizations such as the Kiwanis Club provide donations to the program as well as small scholarships to some youngsters who enroll in the program.

Program director Melissia Cooper wants to see participants "broaden their educational horizons." She’s been the program director of S.A.F.A.R.I. since its inception. She holds a B.A. in office administration from Lyon with teacher certification in business education, and a master’s degree in Science in Library-Media from the University of Central Arkansas.

"The S.A.F.A.R.I. experience helps to enrich a child’s education and expand their horizons," she said.

For more information or an application or brochure, e-mail: mcooper@lyon.edu, or call (870) 612-6490.

The application deadline is May 12. More information also can be found on the Lyon S.A.F.A.R.I. Web page at www.lyon.edu/webdata/groups/safari/. Click on program description.

Lyon College students and alumni now have a powerful new tool available to help them land the job of their dreams.

The College’s offices of Career Development and Alumni Services have joined forces to sponsor LYONConnect, an online job search and placement tool to help pair students and alumni with the right job.

This free service enables employers to post unlimited employment and internship opportunities. It also allows students and alumni to search for specific career and internship opportunities; post their resumes and control who reviews their resumes; review and sign up for on-campus career-related events on their individual home pages; utilize mentors; and, access many other services.

According to Greg Maloney, director of Career Development, LYONConnect represents a significant step forward.

"Over time, as more and more employers enroll, this system will provide students and alumni much greater access to job and internship opportunities within their fields of interest, as well as opportunities to improve their job search skills," he said.

Maloney cautions, however, that the system will only work if students use it.

"The main problem schools have is getting people to use the system," he said. "So, we are going to make sure all students and alumni are aware of the system and the benefits it can produce. After that, it’s up to them."

To access the system, students and alumni simply go to www.lyonconnect.org and register. For more information, please contact Debra Dickey at ddickey@lyon.edu, or by phone at (870) 698-4264.

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation has awarded a major grant to the T Tauri Film Festival, the youth division of Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc. The four-year grant is specifically focused on developing and expanding the festival’s filmmaking workshops: Digital Video Basics, Community Documentary Filmmaking, Acting on Camera, and Camera Fundamentals. The grant will allow the organization to develop a writing component for aspiring film critics, refine the peer judging process, and phase in after school and weekend filmmaking workshops for teens.  Students in the Lyon College APPLE Upward Bound program and residents of the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch will continue to be a major focus of the organization’s efforts, and a Mentoring Program for summer workshop alumni that will involve some of them as workshop teaching assistants will be initiated.

The 3rd annual T Tauri Film Festival takes place July 16 - 28, 2007, on the campus of the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville and at the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranch in nearby Bethesda.  The festival gets its name from the astronomer’s word for a new star.  In addition to a competitive element for young filmmakers judged by peer juries and a wide variety of public screenings, the workshops mentioned above will be offered. Workshops are open to students through high school. Faculty members include working media professionals from Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, and Los Angeles.  Workshop tuition ranges from $35 to $100 per course, far below the regional average, and scholarships are available to qualified students. Complete details will be available by March 1 on the festival website, www.ttauri.org. 

The Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation whose mission is to improve the lives of Arkansans by funding programs and projects that improve education; economic development; and economic, racial and social justice. During the past 32 years, the Foundation has awarded over $101 million in grants. Additional information about the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation can be found on its website, www.wrfoundation.org.

Ozark Foothills FilmFest, Inc. is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 2001 that presents the annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest every spring in Batesville and Little Rock, the T Tauri Film Festival and youth filmmaking workshops, special screenings and guests, and statewide touring programs. The organization also publishes a free monthly e-newsletter, Foothills Film Gazette, available by sending an e-mail to filmfest@hughes.net.    

Sports

The No. 8 team in NAIA Division I Men's Basketball, the Lambuth Eagles, stormed in and out of Becknell Gymnasium with an 89-62 victory over the Lyon College Scots Saturday evening in a TranSouth Conference contest.

The loss was Lyon's first at home this season against four victories. Coach Kevin Jenkins' Scots fall to 8-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference. Lambuth runs its record to 12-2 and 2-0 in the TranSouth.

Lyon College was within three points of the lead, 39-36, at the half but looked on helplessly in the second half as Lambuth turned on the afterburners and outscored the Scots 50-26 after the break. The game was Lyon's second straight loss against a ranked opponent, including an 81-59 loss to No. 25 Crichton College on Wednesday.

Five Lambuth players scored in double figures, led by Kierren Lovick with 19 points. Lovick also had seven rebounds to pace the Eagles to a 40-25 edge on the glass. Jeremy Weddle pitched in 18 points, Tobin Foulke earned 15 and Ivan Jenkins added 14 points. Michael Woodson rounded out the group of double-digit scorers with 13 points paired with seven rebounds.

Junior guard Jonathan Donaldson paced the Scots with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. Forward Charles Black scored 10 points and teammates Levi Taylor and Chad Glover had eight each.

Lambuth University's Lady Eagles forced 28 turnovers on defense and canned nine 3-pointers -- including six from guard Dee Pryor -- in a 76-55 rout of the Lyon College Pipers Saturday evening in TranSouth Conference play at Becknell Gymnasium.

Pryor was the game's top scorer, notching 19 points while shooting 6-of-9 from the 3-point arc. Lady Eagle Reggie Pryor added 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Julie Schmidt pitched in 11 and Megan Fuqua had 10.

Sophomore forward Maribeth Waters earned nine points for Lyon. Snezana Jovanovic and Alison Wilkins scored six each.

Lyon shot just 17 percent from the 3-point line, hitting on two of 12 chances. The Pipers won the battle of the boards, 43-36.

The Pipers fall to 7-6 overall and even their conference record at 1-1. Lambuth improves to 10-3 overall and a perfect 2-0 in the league.