|lf; . I"
A tale of two bikes
I The running backs
Y ^ A look at a couple of unique rides
Samford’s offense looks to its running game
|[v speeding across campus
for help to take the team to the next level
l\j/\ See page 4
See pege 6
|S8r
Speak out
Emily Mullins discusses censorship in light
of the recent Tasering incident
See page 3
Samford Crimson
Serving Samford University Since 1915
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
www.samfordcrimson.com
Volume 93 I Number 5
Oxford scholar Former SU athlete shot
defends the
Christian faith
;
Lydia Hignite
The Samford Crimson
The Socratic Cub held its inaugural event Sunday night when it host¬
ed Oxford professor John Lennox in the Rag Colonnade for a question
and answer session.
The event served as a precursor to The God Delusion Debate, which
will occur tonight at 7 p.m. at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Cen¬
ter in Birmingham.
The debate will feature Lennox and his Oxford colleague Richard
Dawkins, a well-known atheist and author of The New York Times Best
Seller “The God Delusion.”
Lennox visited Samford last Feb. and spoke to a packed house in Reid
Chapel on the topic of intelligent design.
On Sunday, co-presidents sophomore English major Alan Halbrooks
and sophomore classics major Michael Taunton introduced the Socratic
Club and presented Lennox with pre-prepared questions.
Lennox’s evening lecture sought to answer the question, “Can faith
be rational?” Lennox, an Irishman, spoke about growing up in the reli¬
gious turmoil of a country where, he said, the hardest thing to be was
a moderate.
Lennox answered questions on how faith and science come together.
He related the question to Samford, saying the issue is relevant, even
though most students are already Christians.
“You may be the last generation to have the luxury of not facing these
questions,” Lennox said.
He encouraged the audience to articulate their faith rather than priva¬
tize it and to ask questions, like those asked by the philosopher Socrates.
“If you spend your life as I’ve done, asking questions, you’ll find it’s
a very rich and fulfilling life,” Lennox said.
He pointed out that Dawkins equates faith with blind faith but that
science requires just as much faith since scientists have to believe they
are working toward understanding the way things work.
“It’s no insult to science to say it has limits,” Lennox said.
When addressing the difficulty of faith, Lennox said, “I wouldn't
call it blind, but sometimes the light gets a bit dim... Even if I haven’t
got all the solutions to pain and evil, at least I know Christ has become
a part of it.”
Above all, in regard to the comparison of God and science, Lennox
said, “The important thing to realize is that God is not a set of formal
propositions. He’s a person.”
He went on to say that, like a person, one’s relationship with God
should be multi-dimensional.
Questions from the audience followed the original question and
answer session, and audience members had the opportunity to pur¬
chase Lennox’s new book “God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried
God?” afterwards.
“At first I thought he might be a little imposing or intimidating, but
he wasn’t at all. He was very sincere and came across as genuine and
open,” freshman English major Katie Ormsbee said.
The debate was sponsored by SGA because the Socratic Club has yet
to obtain official university recognition in its first year on campus.
Samford students established the Socratic Club to host debates that
present various sides of an issue.
“We are trying to encourage rational discussion because very often
discussion becomes shrill. We think the best way to grow is to be chal¬
lenged,” Taunton said. “We’re an organization of Christians and skeptics
See LENNOX, page 2
Ashley Shelsby
The Samford Crimson
Former Samford defensive lineman Taylor
Bradford was shot and killed at the University
of Memphis Sunday night around 10 p.m.
Bradford was shot just outside of the athlet¬
ic dorms of the University of Memphis, and
investigators said they believe it was an inten¬
tional attack.
According to the Associated Press, Bradford
got into his car after being shot and drove into
a tree.
“We found him with a bullet wound to the
body and the ambulance took him to the hospi¬
tal where he was pronounced (dead),” Roger
Prewitt, a Memphis Police inspector said.
The University of Memphis Daily Helms¬
man reported that many football players stood
along the scene with blank faces watching
Bradford’s car being towed away. The battered
tree was all that remained as a reminder of the
tragedy. Many students have left flowers and
other items in memory of Taylor.
Brandon Berry, a junior business finance
major at the University of Memphis, met Brad¬
ford for the first time last Thursday.
“He was real sharp, he really impressed me,”
Berry said.
Berry said that the students were informed of
the incident via campus wide text messaging
and an email that was received early Monday
morning informing the students that classes
were cancelled for the day.
The University of Memphis held a
candlelight service Monday evening, and
the school plans to hold a memorial serv¬
ice later this week.
“Everyone is really coming together to
remember the tragic loss of Taylor,”
Berry said.
Memphis had scheduled a home
conference game yesterday against
Marshall. The team ultimately decid¬
ed to play the game, which was aired
on ESPN2.
Bradford entered Samford in the fall of
2004 and transferred to the University of
Memphis after his sophomore year.
Bradford finished his career at Sam¬
ford with 16 tackles including two for a
loss, seeing action in 12 games between
2004 and 2005.
In 2005, Bradford was named in the
Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner’s
Honor Roll.
Samford faculty and students are
grieving the loss of Taylor Bradford.
Clyde Triplett, a recent business graduate
and former Samford teammate of Brad¬
ford said that faculty members have
called him inquiring about the incident
and offering their prayers and concerns.
“(Bradford) had a good attitude,
always made us laugh and he loved to
joke. He always made good grades and
teachers loved him. (It’s) definitely shock¬
ing to hear,” Triplett said.
Former Samford student-athlete Taylor
Bradford was shot and killed in Memphis Sunday.
See FOOTBALL , page 2
Sig Ep awaits fraternity house
SHANNON DlLLE
The Samford Crimson *
The' Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is the only
fraternity at Samford without a house, but that
could change soon.
There has been much talk about the Sig Eps
obtaining a brand new house this year in west
campus; however, this is misleading, according
to Dean of Students Richard Franklin.
“We can’t say that we have a house yet,”
Sigma Phi Epsilon President and junior reli¬
gion major Caleb Foust said. “But we do have
a house off campus, and we’re hoping to
someday soon get a house on campus.”
The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity currently
has a house three miles off campus where six
brothers and their Doberman pincer puppy live.
However, fraternity members are taking active
steps in order to obtain an official establish¬
ment among the other Greek houses on cam¬
pus. For some time now, the Sig Eps have had
their eyes on the athletic annex in which the
University’s athletic coaches keep their offices.
“We have been looking and talking with peo¬
ple about what it would take to get that build¬
ing for our own campus fraternity house and
rent it from Samford,” Foust said.
With the opening of the new Pete Hanna
arena on the horizon, the fraternity hopes
to make the athletic office building their
new home.
“(It is) not a new building. It’s just a big
rumor, and I’m glad that The Crimson is here to
help squash it,” Franklin said. “It’s an old
building and it won’t be like your typical west
campus fraternity house. It’s more like a hang¬
out place with a big chapter room.”
Plans are being made to make the building
appealing to future pledges. Foust hopes that
having a house will increase their membership,
which is currently at 25.
“We will probably have six brothers living
in the house at a time,” Foust said. “We’ll have
a library and a computer lab, too. The national
fraternity will buy us our own computers to put
in there because Samford’s computer labs get
so crowded around exam time.”
Franklin has played a significant role in
helping the fraternity obtain their goal.
“We’re in the negotiation part of the process
right now,” Franklin said. “We haven’t formal¬
ized anything yet, but we’ve been in touch a lot
with their folks working out some details.”
•г.Л
\
The Sig Eps wait to make the campus
athletic annex their new fraternity house.
The dedication for the new Pete Hannah
arena is Oct. 19.
“If things work out with the Sig Eps like we
hope they will, they will probably be in there
by the first of the year,” Franklin said.
:
Renovations in the works for
Samford’s University Center
Jena Hippensteel
The Samford Crimson
Samford’s University Center
building will undergo significant
renovations within the next few
years. Plans for the new center are
still in the early stages.
So far, only a feasibility study
has been completed for the new
area. This type of study is used to
determine the situation and decide
what commitments, such as time
and money, are involved.
The only sketch available is in
a block diagram, which shows the
potential layout of the building
and individual room layouts.
The construction will occur in
multiple phases depending on
funding. Phase one qff
occurred in 2001 when die new
kitchen was installed in the Caf,
according to Dean of Students
Richard Franklin.
“We’ve been talking about it for
several years. Shortly after West¬
moreland arrived, he wanted to
begin. The project is very high on
his priority list,” Franklin said.
The entryway from Montague
Drive, the circle in front of Pit¬
man, will become a pedestrian
mall and will be the main entrance
into the building
“We will get rid of the narrow,
ugly stairwells and make a new cor¬
ridor mall from east to west to give
it a more open, spacious field,”
rently located.
“It will act as a living area, if
you will,” Don Mott, vice presi¬
dent of facilities, said.
The bookstore’s current loca¬
tion has been temporary since
2001 when an old stairwell was
removed and the store took the
spot. It is to be relocated to the
new expansion.
“It will have two levels. One is
a mezzanine and the other is for
books, more like a Barnes and
Noble concept,” Mott said.
The Post Office area will be
opened up so human traffic flow
will not be so congested, but the
food court will not undergo any
major changes.
A print shop might be con¬
structed next to the Post Office
to act as a Kinkos for students to
make mailing easier, according
to Franklin.
The area outside of Harry’s is to
have an open core between the
first and second levels, so students
will pass through the lobby, up a
flight of stairs and into the Caf.
The second level has the possi¬
bility of including student friend- .
ly offices that are currently locat¬
ed in Samford Hall, such as
Financial Aid and the Bursars
Office. Mott said this alteration is
not definite.
Rough diagrams were created
with the public in mind.
“We asked for input from
diverse and broad users, includ¬
ing staff and faculty, because it is
the university’s living room,”
Mott said.
See RENOVATIONS , page 2
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