Service Day at Lyon College

Getting ready at Brown Chapel

More than 400 members of the Lyon College community turned out to participate in Service Day on Wednesday, Sept. 26. The College released faculty, staff, students and administrators from their regular responsibilities to work with members of the local community in the college’s annual event, which involves most of the campus. Last year the students, faculty and staff contributed a combined total of more than 1,000 volunteer hours. Lyon has sponsored the event for several years as part of the college’s mission to develop responsible citizens and leaders committed to continued personal growth and service. Since 1992, the Lyon campus has given more than 15,000 volunteer hours in Batesville and the surrounding area.

Annette Castleberry and Mentor Group 3A worked on Main Street in downtown Batesville.

Below, the children at Nanny's Childcare on Newport Road prepared a "thank-you" poster for the Lyon mentor group that worked the day care on Service Day last week. Led by Dr. Nikki Yonts, the mentor group included Gavin Walker, Jessica Koon, Michelle Henley, Kirk D. King II, Robert Gray Hemfelt, Brandy Manuel, Kaelli Broomfield, Katherine Kelley, Layken Sheets, Mikael Summers, Alex Moeller and Wren Camp.

Lyon biology professor part of international research team

Dr. Tim Lindblom, an associate professor of biology at Lyon College, was part of an international team of researchers that has revealed the genetic secrets of one of the world’s most debilitating human parasites.

The parasite is Brugia malayi (B. malayi), which the World Health Organization estimates has incapacitated and disfigured more than 40 million people around the globe.

The study, which appears in the September 21 issue of the journal Science, reveals dozens of potential new targets for drugs or vaccines and should provide new opportunities for understanding, treating and preventing elephantiasis, the disfiguring disease caused by the B. malayi parasite. In addition, understanding how this particular parasite has adapted to humans may help organ transplant researchers, according to the authors.

More than 150 million people worldwide are infected with filarial parasites—long, thread-like microscopic worms that can live for years inside the human body and cause severe, debilitating diseases. The female B. malayi worms can live up to eight years in the human body, eventually leading to a ghastly, disfiguring disease known as elephantiasis, which is characterized by excessive buildup of lymphatic fluid in the body and extreme swelling in limbs, trunk or head. People can be affected when bitten by infected mosquitoes.

The longevity of this parasite complicates treatment because existing drugs target the larvae and, thus, do not completely kill the worms. The drugs often must be taken periodically for years, and worms killed by the drugs often collect in the lymphatic system causing circulation problems leading to elephantiasis

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health funded this study.

Other researchers in this project were scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Imperial College London, England; University of Dundee, Scotland; New England Biolabs, Boston; Divergence Inc., St. Louis; University of Edinburgh, Scotland; Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; University of Toledo, Ohio; University of California-Davis; Smith College, Northampton, Mass.; Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; New York Blood Center, New York; Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario, Canada; Cambria Biosciences, Woburn, Mass.; University of Göttingen, Germany; University of Alabama at Birmingham; and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Lyon College’s chapter of the Alpha Chi National Collegiate Scholarship Honor Society held its 47^th induction ceremony on Friday, Sept. 21. Alpha Chi is a national honor society with over 300 college and university chapters. The society admits juniors and seniors of good character who are in the top 10 percent of their classes. At the ceremony, Lyon’s Alpha Chi chapter inducted ten new members.

Area residents joining the honor society include Katee Castleman, daughter of Rusty and Cathy Castleman of Batesville; Megan Foll, daughter of Deanna and Barton Foll of Pleasant Grove; Steven Goacher, son of Wayne and Tonya Goacher of Bald Knob; Katie Howell, daughter of Danny and Debbie Howell of Cave City; and Jennifer Shaw, daughter of Roger and Donna Shaw of Hardy. Castleman, Foll and Goacher are juniors majoring in biology. Howell is a junior majoring in psychology, and Jennifer is a junior majoring in accounting and economics.

Left to right, back row: Jennifer Shaw, Aaron Baldridge, Leah Byers, Steven Goacher and Chris Middaugh. Front row: Katee Castleman, Jessica Brents, Megan Foll and Katie Howell

Others include Aaron Baldridge, son of Kevin and Kathy Baldridge of Lake City, a junior biology major; Jessica Brents, daughter of Brigitte Brents of Cleveland, a junior psychology and Spanish major; Leah Byers, daughter of Marty and Debbie Byers of Lexa, a junior psychology major; Chris Middaugh, son of Randy and Riley Middaugh of Little Rock, a junior biology major; and Ann Sullivan, daughter of Dan and Maria Sullivan of Jonesboro, a junior chemistry major.

The induction ceremony was followed by a banquet in the Bevens Music Room with almost 50 attending, including inductees and their families, current members, and faculty advisers. Highlights of the evening included a keynote address by the 2006-2007 Lyon College Professor of the Year, Dr. John Weinzierl, assistant professor of history, who spoke about the development of modern terrorism throughout history in his talk The Evolution and Effectiveness of Terrorism.

The chapter meets every Monday for programs by both students and faculty. Members also travel to regional and national conventions to present research and creative work and to compete for scholarships and fellowships. Lyon’s award-winning chapter was named the outstanding chapter in the nation for 2005-2007 when it was awarded the President’s Cup last March.

Lyon members have won $13,000 in scholarships in the last 11 years and have published their award-winning work in Alpha Chi’s nationally circulated journal, The Recorder. Officers for 2007-2008 are Rob Frank as president, and Drew Dunham as secretary.

Studio chiefs, famous directors and high-powered producers once wielded the power in Hollywood, but Lyon College’s theatre professor recently learned how that power has largely shifted into the hands of the casting directors who ultimately decide which actors appear on the silver screen.

Dr. Michael Counts spent about seven months from mid-December to mid-July in Los Angeles to learn the latest developments and trends in film, episodic television and commercials.

"I had long suspected that TV and film were experiencing changes, and I went out there to see what’s going on," Counts said.

As a member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Counts was able to attend meetings and symposiums and to hear the industry’s top experts – directors, producers, actors and writers – give an inside look at the business.

"It quickly became obvious that there’s a shift in the power structure going on," Counts said. "The real power lies in the hands of casting directors."

While in Los Angeles, Counts attended workshops hosted by the industry’s top three casting directors for film, television and commercials. They ran the workshops like actual auditions and gave the participants feedback on why an actor would – or wouldn’t – get a particular role for which they had auditioned.

In addition to their acting ability, auditioners were judged on such criteria as professional conduct and the way they handled themselves.

"They also spoke about the things that irritate casting directors," Counts said. "I learned right off that there are a lot of young actors out there who don’t know beans about the business."

One of the things that irritate casting directors is an actor who shows up without a picture or resume.

"Always, always have a headshot and resume with you," Counts said. "Even on a callback where the casting directors have already gotten them from you, bring them again. No exceptions."

When auditioning for episodic television, it is vital that an actor watches and becomes familiar with the show’s unique style and format. A style that works for one show won’t necessarily work for another, Counts said.

The casting directors who hosted that workshop worked for the series "Shark," with James Woods, and "Bones," two shows with vastly different styles of action and storytelling.

Counts said the best and most informative workshop he attended was hosted by the industry’s top casting director for television commercials. He told of how when a director asks an actors to "do it again," they should never do the same thing over and over. They’re looking for something different or they wouldn’t be asking.

"He said to ‘bring a menu’," Counts recalled. "Have options, variations on the way to play a scene."

The main way screen acting has evolved over the years is in the way an actor plays to the camera.

"Film and television acting today is very subtle, without as much emoting as was once used," Counts said. "Let the camera do the work."

While in Los Angeles, Counts also attended numerous film and film shorts screening, and even went on a few auditions.

"I was back in Batesville for less than a week when I got a call for a commercial," he said. "But I couldn’t get back out there in time and had to pass on it."

His "most cherished moment" while in California was visiting the grave of screen legend Marilyn Monroe and laying a single red rose upon her tomb. A young Michael Counts met the star while they both attended an acting class led by Lee Strasberg shortly before Monroe died at the age of 36.

"She was sitting in a corner by herself dressed in black and wearing dark glasses," he said. "She smiled at me and it was obvious then who she was."

An inadvertent "major faux pas" got Counts booted from the class.

"Strasberg and Marilyn rode an elevator alone together after the class and I got on with them," Counts said. "She smiled at me again, but Strasberg gave me a look that could kill. After that, I got thrown out. In person, standing next to her, you could really see why she was a star. She was bigger than life."

His favorite film role of Monroe’s was in The Misfits, co-starring Clark Gable.

Counts has written and submitted a proposal for a new class at Lyon on film and television acting.

"It’ll be good for not only actors, but also students who want to become lawyers, business executives or any profession that requires a command of the stage or an audience."

The class will also teach how to put together video resumes for jobs and graduate schools.

Another big change in the world of casting involves the use of the Internet, Counts said.

"To submit for a role, most casting agencies are using online resumes, headshots and video resumes," he aid. "Sometimes they’ll ask for a demo reel too, a sample collection of the work an actor has already done."

At least one group in Los Angeles was hoping Counts would decide to stay in California.

"I got an offer to join a theatre company out there, but I passed," he said. "It wasn’t enough to keep me from coming back here."

Counts joined the Lyon faculty in 1992, and serves as Director of Harlequin Theatre and adviser for the student Hyde Park Players and the Lyon chapter of Alpha Psi Omega. During the summers of 1997-2001, he directed AEGIS "Shakespeare Page to Stage," a residential program for gifted high school students.

He has acted in and directed more than 50 productions and was a professional actor in New York City before attending college, where he acted in film, television and theatre. His recent acting credits include a leading role in the New Play Development Workshop, for he American Theatre in Higher Education in August 2003, and several staged readings at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference.

In 2003, he was a judge in the preliminary rounds of the Irene Ryan acting competitions, and in 2002, he won a Service Medallion from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

The rhythmic cadence of banging hammers will soon pound out melodies that will be music to the ears of area families in need of affordable homes.

Following months of work and preparation by members of Lyon College’s Wesley Fellowship and key faculty members, the Batesville area now has its own local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Dr. Barry Gehm, assistant professor of biochemistry, serves as faculty advisor to the Lyon students involved in the project. Dr. Paul Bube, Lyon’s W. Lewis McColgan Professor of Religion, currently on sabbatical, serves as the board president of the chapter, officially designated Habitat for Humanity of Independence County.

The genesis of the idea to form a local affiliate sprang from a casual comment Bube made during a meeting of the Wesley Fellowship, a Methodist student organization, in the fall of 2004. He had worked with Habitat for Humanity in the Salina, Kan., area in years past.

Haley Skinner ’07, a Lyon graduate from Jonesboro, and other students helped compile a promotional kit and sent out interest forms to potential supporters, and "about 300" area residents returned the paperwork, vowing to help with the project.

She also visited Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, the Rotary Club and the Board of Realtors, and all told her they’re interested in getting involved. Skinner also contacted Home Depot, and the store has committed to providing some work crews and gift cards to be used to purchase building materials for future construction projects.

Gehm said it’s important to note that the project has evolved beyond the boundary of the Lyon campus and now includes members of the community at large.

"This chapter would never have been formed without the work and passion of our students, but if only students were involved, it would lack the continuity it needs to be truly successful," he said. "Students graduate and move away."

Those involved with the new chapter have formed a board of directors, and two of the board members are Lyon students Jonathan Garver and Megan Bates. The rest of the board is made up of members of the community.

The materials to build the homes and purchase the lots for them will come from donations from individuals and businesses. The candidate chosen to receive the home will pay for it with a no interest loan. All homeowners must put in 200 hours of "sweat equity," meaning they must work on the home that will become theirs and/or other Habitat for Humanity projects.

"Habitat for Humanity likes to point out that we don’t build homes for people, we build homes with them. It’s all about partnership," Bube said. "I think it’s been more challenging to form an affiliate than it will be to actually build a house."

Bill Olsen, a Realtor for the Property Shoppe and a member of the Board of Realtors, has been a supporter of the project, and the board may even be able to find donors for some properties for future building projects.

Gehm said two families have been selected for the first and second Habitat homes, but their names have not yet been formally announced. However, site work could begin as early as October.

"We have the chapter established, the families selected and some building sites under review," he said.

To help raise funds for the projects, Gehm found that money may not grow on trees, but it does sometimes grow on vines.

"I grow gourds and I thought we could make birdhouses out of them to sell at the Scottish Festival. We made 18 in our first batch and sold them out in just a couple of hours. Some of the other gourds were too small to actually use, but they made good prototypes to work with. Homes for birds helping us build homes for people sounded like a good plan."

He intends to have more for sale at the next Scottish Festival as well. Dr. David Thomas, associate professor of biology, has also built and contributed wooden birdhouses for the organization to sell. Either kind will attract cavity-nesting birds such as bluebirds, chickadees and wrens, Gehm said.

"The students have accomplished a real achievement in getting the chapter formed," Gehm said. "Now the work really starts."

Contributions or inquiries for Habitat for Humanity of Independence County can be sent to its office at 750 17^th St., Batesville. The phone number is (870) 793-1999.

A Lyon College emeritus professor’s newly released book explores the ways ancient North Americans used the stars to create and inspire their stories and traditions. And On Oct. 16 at 11 a.m., he’ll be at the Mabee-Simpson Library to discuss the book.

Folklorist Dr. George Lankford’s most recent book, "Reachable Stars" (University of Alabama Press 2007), compares the stories Indian groups told about the constellations and which told the same stories – and which did not.

Subtitled "Patterns in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America," Lankford’s book contends that modern Westerners say the lights in the sky are stars, but culturally they are whatever humans say they are.

Many Native American tribes saw them as reminders of a gloried past by which elders can teach and guide the young. Lankford’s volume focuses on the ancient North Americans and the ways they identified, patterned, ordered and used the stars to light their culture, illuminate their traditions and inspire their stories. "Reachable Stars" is the story of their stories.

Lankford is an emeritus professor of folklore at Lyon College and was the Pauline M. and Brooks Bradley Professor in the Social Sciences and Chair of the Social Sciences Division when he served as a full-time faculty member.

He’s written numerous books and articles including "Looking for Lost Lore: Studies in Folklore, Ethnology, and Iconology" and edited "Bearing Witness: Memories of Arkansas Slavery, Narratives from the 1930s WPA Collections."

Eight students from the Lyon College APPLE/Upward Bound Project on Oct. 6 will begin work with instructor Nicki Newburger to create a documentary film about a local issue, institution, resource, or challenge.

T Tauri Festival co-founder Bob Pest will assist Newburger, whom many T Tauri fans know for her work creating impressive music videos with students in Memphis and West Memphis. She was also an instructor in the Digital Video Basics course this summer.

The workshop will meet for a total of ten all-day Saturday sessions between October and April. Between sessions students will research, plan, write, and watch other youth-produced documentaries.

"It's a unique model but one we have confidence in because we have such a good relationship with so many of the APPLE students," Pest said.

The group includes Tiffany Markum of Evening Shade, Whitney Ann Hembrey of Newark, Gage Davidson of Alicia, Rachel Braim of Marcella, Ryan Kopitsky and Whitney Staik, both of Batesville, Hannah McCough of Floral and Brianna Combs of Tuckerman.

Several of these students have experience as festival judges and in our summer T Tauri workshops. The group will choose and develop its own topic.

This is part of the T Tauri expansion being funded in part by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.

For more information, contact APPLE Project Director Kim Boehm at (870) 698-4263, or by e-mail at: kboehm@lyon.edu.

The 2008 presidential election will be the first since 1928 without a sitting president or vice president on the ballot, and a man with a deep reservoir of political savvy and experience will soon visit the campus to preview the election.

Skip Rutherford, a member of the Lyon College Board of Trustees and Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, has taught courses at Lyon on the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.

On Wednesday, Nov. 7, he’ll present his program, "An Early Look at the 2008 Election," at 7 p.m. in the Mabee-Simpson Library.

With Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), a former Arkansas first lady, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) both running for the office of U.S. President, Arkansas is once again in the national political limelight.

Skip Rutherford of Little Rock is Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School (UACS). UACS, which opened in 2005, located on the grounds of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock. It is the only school in the country offering a Master’s degree in public service.

Prior to joining the Clinton School, Rutherford served as executive vice president of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods (CJRW), one of the region’s largest communications firms. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Board of the William J. Clinton Foundation from 1997-2006, stepping down from the chairmanship when he accepted the UACS position in May 2006. He remains a Clinton Foundation board member. From 1997 until it opened in 2004, Rutherford also supervised the planning for the Clinton Presidential Library.

He is a former administrative assistant to Sen. David Pryor, (D-AR), past president of the Little Rock School Board and has been active in numerous campaigns and initiatives at the local, state and federal levels.

He is the founder and organizer of the Political Animals Club, a non-partisan grassroots organization of community leaders and activists who meet regularly to discuss politics and issues.

He and his wife, Billie, are the parents of three children. They are members of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock where Rutherford is a past chairman of the Board of Stewards.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Camille Beary, assistant director of the library at (870) 698-4267 or by e-mail at: beary@lyon.edu.

Upcoming Alumni-Admissions Receptions

Join Wallie and Peggy Roettger along with Admission and Institutional Advancement staff at the upcoming Admission-Alumni Receptions to hear about all of the great things happening at Lyon. Call Peggy in the Alumni Office at 870-698-4238 or connect via e-mail at: proettger@lyon.edu. We hope you will be able to join us!

Tuesday October 2     Embassy Suites Hotel     Rogers, Arkansas
Hosts:   Rev. Woody Brown, Trustee
            Adam Long '06, Trustee
            Denise “Nese” Nemec '76

Thursday October 11     Mattito's     Dallas, Texas
3011 Routh Street
Hosts:   Frank '75 and Karen '77 Ehman
            Aimee Dunavant Martin '01
            Dave '00 and Julia '00 Shelton

Thursday November 1     Cajun's Wharf     Little Rock, Arkansas
2400 Cantrell Avenue
Hosts:   Matt '05 and Melanie '05 Buchanan
            John '95 and Caroline '95 Peiserich
            Donald Rogers '88
            Wayne Southwell '95
            J. Eric Wilson '06

Thursday November 8     Jonesboro Country Club     Jonesboro, Arkansas
Host:     Bill Bristow '72

Newport church to observe 175th anniversary Sunday

Lyon College President Dr. Walter Roettger will serve as liturgist when Newport's First Presbyterian Church celebrates its 175th anniversary Sunday.

On Oct. 7, the church will open its doors to the public for worship services at 11 a.m., and afterward a reception at the church Fellowship Hall from 2-4 p.m. Appearing with Dr. Roettger will be Jimmy Bell, Lyon's pipe major and director of Scottish Heritage, members of the pipe band and representatives of the Synod of the Sun, the regional body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Synod of the Sun serves Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas and is comprised of eleven presbyteries with 900 congregations containing 200,000 Presbyterians.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Branch, general presbyter of the Presbytery of Arkansas, will also be on-hand. The Rev. Dr. Alan Ford, pastor of First Presbyterian Church and member of the Lyon College Board of Trustees, will lead the services. Ford has been the pastor of the Newport congregation since 1977. Born in England, he emigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s and earned his Divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 1975. In 1999, he served as moderator of Arkansas Presbytery

For more information on the anniversary celebration, contact the church at (870) 523-3733, by e-mail at lrowley@suddenlink.net.


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