Happy Birthday, Baylor AFROTC!
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Student life, Honors
Baylor’s branch of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) celebrates its 60th birthday today as one of the oldest and best programs in the nation.
Detachment 810 was formed at Baylor in 1948, just 10 months after the creation of the Air Force as a separate military branch. And it’s only gotten better with age; Baylor’s bunch was recently named the No. 1 large detachment in the Southwest Region for the second time in five years, beating out 34 other detachments. Baylor will now compete against the top detachments from the nation’s other three regions for the right to be called the top large AFROTC detachment in the country.
Sic ’em, BU AFROTC!
Baylor pitcher anchors USA National Team pitching staff in perfect summer
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics, Honors
Junior Kendal Volz carried on a proud Baylor tradition, representing the United States in style as a member of this summer’s USA Baseball National Team that won two championships and finished the summer a perfect 24-0.
A starting pitcher for Baylor, Volz served as Team USA’s closer, racking up eight saves in eight opportunities and finishing with a perfect 0.00 ERA in 14 innings pitched. Besides the U.S., the top competitors in international baseball are Japan and Cuba; Volz closed out wins over each of those teams twice, including a pair of tournament championship games. The Cuba team even ran out its Olympic team roster against the U.S., and Volz held them to just one hit in 2.1 innings, striking out three. Even amidst all that, Volz still found time to keep a blog on BaylorBears.com and do an Internet chat with Baseball America.
Volz is the latest in a line of Bears to have played on the U.S. National Team, dating back 20 years to Pat Combs in the 1988 Olympics. More recently, Baylor legends such as Jason Jennings, Zane Carlson, and coach Steve Smith to have represented Baylor on the world baseball scene. The Bears have even gotten into the action behind the scenes, with Baylor athletic media relations staffer Larry Little serving a second tour of duty as the National Team’s press officer this summer.
Volz’s National Team teammates won’t be representing the U.S. at this summer’s Olympics; USA Baseball has elected to instead send a squad of primarily minor leaguers to Beijing, as they have for the past several Olympics. But I think the record compiled by this team of collegiate players speaks for itself as to their abilities.
Sic ’em, Kendal and USA Baseball!
Alive Campaign reaches Anchorage!
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Student life
After 73 days and 4,500 miles, the Alive Campaign riders crossed the finish line Sunday, biking into Anchorage, Alaska — right on schedule! (For background on the Alive Campaign for suicide prevention and awareness, click here.)
The remaining four riders — Justin Brown of El Paso, Texas; Alyson Erikson of San Antonio; Nathan Lloyd of Itasca, Texas; and Andi Nakasone of Okinawa, Japan (Kyle Ferguson of Schertz, Texas, was unable to complete the ride due to an injury) — will remain in Anchorage for several more days, doing some sightseeing with their families and meeting with various groups about suicide prevention, including a Tuesday event with Alaska Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell.
I doubt they knew it when they made their plans, but it just so happens that Alaska has one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S., with the most deaths occurring in college-age men. They did know this much: nationwide, suicide is the third leading cause of death among college-aged young adults, claiming more than 32,000 lives each year.
So now what? After they finish their time in Anchorage, the team will being the long drive back to Waco. Upon their return, Erikson and Nakasone — Baylor film and digital media majors — will begin editing the hours upon hours of footage they’ve compiled during the trip into a documentary about the power of friendship, adventure and the stories of those who have battled depression and suicide.
The Alive Campaign team hopes to establish a university chapter system under a central parent organization in Waco, Texas. Each chapter’s mission would be to foster a peer support community and to continue spreading awareness and education locally, especially on high school and college campuses. Amazing, amazing work from “just a bunch of college kids.” To get involved, visit their website at alivecampaign.org.
Sic ’em, Alive Campaign!
Men’s basketball to play on ESPN 7 times this winter
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Athletics
While living in Pennsylvania a couple of years ago, my wife and I rearranged our schedules any time we found out that a Baylor game would be televised there. We didn’t care what sport it was — football, basketball, baseball, softball, we watched them all.
Fans who can’t make it to the Ferrell Center this winter will have plenty of opportunities to catch the Baylor men’s basketball team on television. Thanks in large part to last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance, head coach Scott Drew’s team is already slated for seven nationally televised games on ESPN’s family of networks, including two “Big Monday” games. The Bears’ last “Big Monday” appearance came back in 2001, when the team upset No. 6 Kansas in the Ferrell Center. In all, 15 of the men’s 16 conference games have already been picked up for regional or national television. (The non-conference schedule has not yet been released.)
Sic ’em, Baylor men’s basketball!
Truett Seminary, School of Social Work share a family bond
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics
A growing number of Baylor graduate students are pursuing a pair of master’s degrees that work uncommonly well together. In addition to earning their master of divinity degree from Truett Seminary, they also are earning a master’s degree from the School of Social Work, combining both the theoretical and the practical sides of ministry.
“What does the Gospel look like?” recent graduate Tihara Vargas asked rhetorically in a Baylor Magazine article last year. ” That’s where social work comes in. Truett is one of the only (seminaries) I’m aware of that integrates the two.”
After seeing how well the two programs work together, it probably wouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the deans of Truett and the School of Social Work are a husband-wife team. Drs. David and Diana Garland, respectively, head up those two schools. Their teamwork paid off in a different way recently when the pair jointly received a $300,000 grant to equip local church leaders across the world for effective ministry in their home cultures. International students will enter the new program and come away with the joint M.Div/M.S.W. degrees that they can then use to build the church in their homeland.
Sic ’em, Garland family, Truett Seminary, and the School of Social Work!
New book profiles alum’s 35 years as a medical missionary
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni
I’ve got almost an entire shelf of books at home that I’ve bought or received as gifts that I haven’t yet found time to read, but I may have to skip over those and get this one first. Rebekah Ann Naylor, M.D.: Missionary Surgeon in Changing Times is a biography of Naylor, a Baylor graduate who spent 35 years as a medical missionary in India.
From reading reviews, the book covers not only what Naylor has done (helping develop Bangalore Baptist Hospital and then serving as both administrator and surgeon, for starters), but also why she did it (her faith and her sense of calling). Such stories often serve as inspiration for me, even as I live and work in the not-so-exotic locale of Waco, Texas — and all the moreso when it’s a fellow Bear’s story!
Incidentally, the book was written by another Baylor alum, Camille Lee Hornbeck, who also taught English at Baylor.
Sic ’em, Dr. Naylor!
Baylor Lariat named best student paper in Texas
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Student life, Honors
As a student, I spent one semester writing for The Baylor Lariat. I certainly didn’t write anything worthy of an award — but this year’s Lariat students did, and they’ve been rewarded for it.
The Lariat was named the best student newspaper in Texas by the Houston Press Club and was ranked second in the state by the Associated Press Managing Editors Association of Texas. Lariat writers Claire St. Amant and Melissa Limmer were also national finalists in the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2007 Mark of Excellence Awards, placing in the top three in the country for “Breaking News Reporting.”
Sic ’em, Lariat staffers!
Triple-A All-Star one of 22 Bears in pro baseball
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Alumni, Athletics, Honors
Former Baylor all-Big 12 infielder Mark Saccomanno drove in the winning run in Wednesday night’s Triple-A All-Star Game (video available here), capping off a big first half for the former letterwinner. Through July 20, Saccomanno was hitting .294 and ranked among the league’s top 10 with 27 doubles (tied for ninth), 22 home runs (third) and 68 RBI (seventh).
Saccomanno is one of 22 former Baylor baseball players active in professional baseball. (Click on any player’s name to see his stats and more.) He is joined by Michael Griffin (Reds) and Steven White (Yankees) at the AAA level, one step away from the big leagues. Former first-round pick Mark McCormick (Cardinals) leads a host of Bears at AA that also includes Kyle Reynolds (Cubs), Kevin Russo (Yankees), Drew Sutton (Astros), Cory VanAllen (Nationals), Sean Walker (Astros) and Abe Woody (Diamondbacks).
Four more Baylor alums are active in A-ball: Zach Dillon (Orioles), Seth Fortenberry (Yankees), Jeff Mandel (Nationals) and Tim Matthews (Rockies). Last but not least, four Bears drafted just last month are playing at lower levels: Nick Cassavechia (Tigers), Randall Linebaugh (Reds), Mace Thurman (Reds), and just-signed Beamer Weems (Padres).
Of course, there are also the four Bears in the Major Leagues right now — American League Rookie of the Year candidate David Murphy (Rangers), catcher Kelly Shoppach (Indians), and veteran pitchers Jason Jennings (Rangers) and Kip Wells (Rockies).
Sic ’em, baseball Bears!
J.P. Stapp: ‘fastest man on Earth’ — and quotable alum
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Just for Fun, Alumni
I’m a sucker for strange stories, but stay with me on this one…
I stumbled across this story just the other day, about “the fastest man on Earth,” John Paul Stapp — who just happens to be a Baylor grad (BA ‘31, MA ‘32). In the 1940s and ’50s, Stapp was an Air Force colonel working at a research facility studying the effects of rapid deceleration, testing both the strength of seats and harnesses and the human tolerance to the G forces encountered in simulated plane crashes. Unwilling to risk injury to any of his own men, Stapp repeatedly served as his own test dummy over a period of several years (like in the test pictured at right).
In 1955, Stapp was featured on the cover of Time magazine after he (and the rocket he rode) broke the land speed record. Later in life, he used his research to emphasize the need for seatbelts in cars; when President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation in 1966 that made seatbelts mandatory, Stapp was in the room.
All of that would be enough for most men, and it was indeed enough of a career that the Baylor Alumni Association included a profile of Stapp in its ongoing “Alumni 150” series in the Baylor Line. But it’s an almost completely unrelated happenstance that makes Stapp — and Baylor by connection — the answer to a trivia question: “Who coined the term ‘Murphy’s Law‘?”
The exact evolution of the phrase is murky, but most signs point to Stapp as the person who first used the term. (This long feature is an excellent read, and details both Stapp’s experiments and how the term came to be.) A captain by the name of Ed Murphy had come to check out Stapp’s experiments. Something went wrong, and Murphy commented on the occurrence. Later at a press conference, Stapp reportedly mentioned that “we do all of our work in consideration of Murphy’s Law.” When questioned, Stapp explained that it was the idea that you had to think through all possibilities before doing a test so as to avoid disaster.
In the years since then, the term has become quite commonplace — even earning a spot in Webster’s Dictionary. All thanks to a Baylor Bear!
Sic ’em, Colonel Stapp - for your life-saving research, and your way with words!
Top high school students get to sample college life and research at Baylor
Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in : Academics, Student life, Research
It’s unusual enough at most schools for undergraduate students to get the opportunity to be involved in university-level research (though not so unusual for Baylor undergrads). But high school students? Forget about it. That is, unless you’re a part of one of Baylor’s summer programs.
Students entering their senior year of high school are eligible for Baylor’s High School Summer Science Research Program. Participants work with Baylor professors, analyzing research groups, data, techniques, instruments and interpretations. Tuition, a technology fee and on-campus housing are covered by scholarships, and the students earn one semester hour of college credit for their month of work.
The Renaissance Scholar Program, meanwhile, covers everything from engineering and technology to history, art, literature, philosophy and theology. In effect, it’s a one-week sampling of a college liberal-arts experience, as high school students study and then get hands-on project experience while at the same time enjoying University social activities like bowling, working out at the SLC and movie nights. Students in the program also earn one college credit hour while working on projects like the miniature trebuchets (catapults) pictured here.
Both programs are highly competitive, drawing some of the top students from across the nation to Baylor at the same time as they are making their college decisions. I certainly look forward to seeing some of these same students returning to campus in the near future as Baylor Bears!
Sic ’em, high school scholar programs!
