Volleyball trains
military style
page 7: The volleyball team
began training with a drill
sergeant during their off season.
The program includes full military
fatigues.
WEDNESDAY, April 7, 2010
I www.samfordcrimson.com
VOLUME 95 I ISSUE 20
ogy major receives
$35,000 scholarship
David Petty
News Reporter
Brittney Harrison| Photographer
Junior biology major Ashley Spann recently
received the $35,000 United Negro College Fund-
Merck Undergraduate Research Scholarship Award.
Junior biology major Ashley Spann was one
of 15 students selected to receive the United
Negro College Fund (UNCF)-Merck Under¬
graduate Research Scholarship Award — a pres¬
tigious scholarship that aims to help select Af¬
rican American students pursue science related
education and careers in the sciences.
According to the foundations website, stu¬
dents are selected based on their “GPA, their
demonstrated interest in their own scientific
education and a career in scientific research,
and their ability to perform in a laboratory en¬
vironment.”
Originally, Spann, who is from Douglasville,
Ga., was encouraged to apply for the award
after speaking with Betsy Dobbins, an associ¬
ate professor in the biology department. The
large number of students applying, as well as
the scholarship’s notoriety, was a deterrent to
Spann to submitting an application.
“I have to admit, at first I wasn’t going to
even attempt applying, but after some words of
encouragement, I figured there was no harm in
trying,” Spann said.
The application process was a rigorous one,
consisting of a lengthy online application, three
letters of recommendation, a resume, a person¬
al statement describing the applicant’s career
goals, employment history, volunteer work and
awards and honors received throughout the
student’s collegiate career.
Spann submitted the application a few days
after Thanksgiving and waited for almost three
months before she was notified.
“I received an email on my phone and I was
so shocked by the heading,” Spann said. “This
was big news.”
The scholarship totals $35,000 and includes
up to $25,000 towards tuition, room and
board and miscellaneous fees. Also, Spann will
receive two 10-12 week summer internships at
a Merck research facility in Rahway, N.J., West
Point, Pa. or Boston, Mass. Both internships
consist of stipends totaling at least $10,000.
“With this fellowship, I think I have opened
a lot of doors for myself,” Spann said. “The two
internships at a Merck research facility are ex¬
cellent opportunities, and the undergraduate
stipend for my senior year will be very help-
fiiT
As a UNCF-Merck Fellow; Spann has been
invited to attend “Fellows Day” June 19-23 in
Blue Bell, Pa. While there, she will be able to
See Biology, page 2
Samford celebrates Library Week
Molly Braswell
News Reporter
The American Library Association estab¬
lished National Library Week in 1958 to cel¬
ebrate all that libraries do for their patrons. Na¬
tional Library Week is next week, April 11-17,
and Samford is doing its best to celebrate every
day. The national rheme this year is “Commu¬
nities Thrive at Your Library.”
Samford Reference Librarian and Library
Week Committee Chair Naomi Gold said she
really believes in this theme.
“I think libraries are such an important part
of not only public communities, but of uni¬
versity communities,” Gold said. “People, es¬
pecially here at Samford, say that the library is
the heart of our campus. It’s really true.”
Gold and her committee: Davis Library Di¬
rector Kim Herndon, Reference Department
Chair Lori Northrup and Cataloging and Mu¬
sic Librarian Jaro Szurek are planning some
great events that she hopes students will come
and enjoy.
“There are two things I’m really excited
about,” Gold said. “One thing is our ‘Food for
Fines’ Drive.”
Gold said Circulation Department Chair
Cheryl Cecil came up with the idea.
“Cheryl said, ‘Let’s do it, and let’s have it all
week,”’ Gold said. “So, all week were having a
‘Food for Fines’ Drive.”
Throughout Library Week, if a patron has li¬
brary fines, up to $10 can be erased from their
record just by bringing in an unexpired canned
food item to donate to charity. Each can do¬
nated will remove $ 1 from a patron’s fines, and
this year, the cans will be donated to the Broth-
Senior psychology major Ben Harding reviews
Library Week events.
er Bryan Mission in downtown Birmingham.
Visit the Circulation Desk on the 1st floor
of the library to determine your fine amount.
Unfortunately, this forgiveness does not apply
to books placed in the book drop, lost books
that have been billed or processing fees.
Also at the Circulation Desk every day of Li¬
brary Week, patrons can enter their name for a
prize drawing. A drawing will be held every day,
and prizes include anything from a jump drive
to food court gift certificates. Winners will be
notified via their Samford e-mail address.
On Tuesday, which is National Liorary
See Library, page 2
"Survivor" star speaks at Sam
Riley Westmoreland
News Reporter
Samford has managed to grab the attention
of a few national celebrities and bring them
to campus for a day or two over the past few
years. Vince Vaughn, Shane Claiborne and
Bill Cosby have all come to share some wis¬
dom or crack a joke, and last week another
person of celebrity status joined the club.
Chad Crittenden shared his message with
Samford students in the Wright Center Tues¬
day night, March 30. Some may recognize
Crittenden as the man who gained national
renown during his time on the hit show “Sur¬
vivor” in 2004. However, now he is known
for traveling the nation and sharing his inspi¬
rational story.
While the reality show “Survivor” is now
in its 20th season, Crittenden appeared on
the show still fairly early in its success, during
the 9th season. During his time on the show,
he was not the typical contestant, because he
was the first amputee to be transported to the
Survivor island.
Crittenden used to be an avid athlete who
loved the outdoors, but he was stricken with
a rare form of cancer in his foot. In order to
stop the spread of the disease, he had to have
his leg amputated just below the knee.
Courtesy ofchadcrittenden.com
"Survivor" contestant Chad Crittenden shared his story with
students last week. 5„ Survivor, pay 2
Student Affairs division undergoes change
Tully Taylor
News Reporter
Samford University students will see changes within
the Student Affairs division this coming fall semester
as the Student Involvement office undergoes a major
overhaul.
The reconstruction will cause the termination of a
majority of Student Involvement staffers and a revamp¬
ing of the whole division, vice president for student af¬
fairs and enrollment management Phil Kimrey said.
“At this point we have tried to determine how we
could best move forward with an organizational re¬
structuring,” he said. “In the process of looking at that,
we are looking at all the functions of Student Affairs,
and as part of that there are certain staff changes that
are taking place.”
The staffers who are leaving: Jennifer Dunn Hall,
Sherrelle Hudson and Tyler Sellers, are maintaining a
sense of normalcy during the tumulus time, sophomore
pre-business major Aundrea Olszewski said. Olszewski
serves as advisor for Freshman Forum and is a member
of the Student Activities Council.
“They have done a good job of handling the changes
like nothing has happened,” Olszewski said. “Their loy¬
alty to the students has really shone through lately.”
Sophomore journalism and mass communications
and English double major Virginia Harris agreed with
Olszewski’s sentiments regarding the staffers. Harris
serves as the Panhellenic Council vice president of ad¬
ministration.
“I, along with all of the other students who have
worked with the staff, will definitely miss them,” Har¬
ris said. “J.D. (Jennifer Dunn Hall), Tyler and Sher¬
relle each care about Samford students so much. The
dynamics that exist in the Office of Student Involve¬
ment are one of a kind.”
The changes with the Student Involvement office are
part of moving into the future as a university, Kimrey
said.
“I felt we needed to begin to make some changes so
that we could provide better servicing to the students
and to the campus,” he said.
While Student Involvement is in the midst of
changes, valued student organizations will remain the
same. Organizations like student government, Greek
life, and general activities and programs will remain in
place, Kimrey said.
“We are taking the functions (of Student Involve-
See Student Affairs, page 2
Website provides members
with business assistance
Ben Johnson
News Reporter
The Internet is full of social net¬
working sites, yet few of these sites
actually accomplish what the In¬
ternet was intended to do - share
valuable information. However, the
continued expansion of the internet
has led to a growth of globalized
networking sites where paid mem¬
bers can share specific information
to help each other succeed in busi¬
ness and life ventures. One of the
fastest-growing, multi-level infor¬
mation sites is the Global Informa¬
tion Network. GIN represents the
changing atmosphere in this new
digital age. Social networking sites
are evolving from sites of leisure to
sites where people make business
connections and give advice.
These sites arc multi-level infor¬
mation sites where members can
share information that can help
them make money, develop global
wealth and create connections with
people all around the world.
GIN was created in 1999 with
the purpose of allowing profcs-
Junlor nutrition major Tyler Matews joined the Global Information Network site
earlier this year and has found the website to be extremely beneficial.
See Marketing, page 2
Who are the Sons of Light? I “The Doctor” is in I Upcoming weather..
Page 5
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Wednesday Thursday Friday
partly cloudy thunderstorms sunny
hi: 80 hi: 62 hi: 65
low: 61 low: 45 low: 42
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