publications
Second chances: Dismas House
Nov. 2, 2010—Gathered around a long dining table in an unassuming turn-of-the-century foursquare on Nashville’s Music Row, Vanderbilt students and former inmates join hands before sitting down to share the evening meal. One by one, each is given the opportunity to say a brief word of prayer or gratitude before a hearty “amen” is uttered, and chairs...
Get to know the Vanderbilt deans: Dean of the College of Arts and Science Carolyn Dever
Sep. 30, 2010—The Hustler staff sat down with Carolyn Dever to learn more about her role as dean of the College of Arts and Science. Vanderbilt Hustler: Why did you choose this profession? Carolyn Dever: Because of a commitment to the excellence of the university and a desire to serve.
Spotlight on graduate medical education
Sep. 30, 2010—There’s an old joke that gets passed around teaching hospitals: don’t get sick in July. Why? July 1 is when the new residents arrive on the floors of the hospital, fresh from medical school and with limited patient care experience under their belts. Television medical dramas like to portray residents as bumbling indentured servants at...
Big dreams for tiny babies
Sep. 30, 2010—Wearing clothing made to fit a 6- to 9-month-old baby, Becca Hill’s tiny size is deceptive of her real age. The bubbly 2-year-old smiles and laughs as she poses for a photograph. Becca was born nearly three months early with the astoundingly low birth weight of 13 ounces (slightly heavier than a can of soda)...
A major renovation transforms Central Library into a “livable” learning destination
Sep. 30, 2010—The first thing you notice when stepping into Central Library’s new fourth-floor lobby is a sense of light and space. Gone is the dark, cluttered entryway that more than one student described as “cave-like” on user surveys last year, replaced by more room, new flooring and natural light. “I’ve been asked by several people how...
Paired kidney exchange links donors, recipients
Sep. 30, 2010—Amy Ragsdale and Brenda Copeland have a lot in common. Both suffered from polycystic kidney disease, an inherited kidney disorder. Both relied on dialysis for survival, needed kidney transplants and had several folks willing to donate. But neither of them had a compatible match among their donor pool. Luckily the pair had another thing in...
Today’s alumni continue a storied Vanderbilt tradition in sports journalism
Aug. 31, 2010—For a university that claims just one national championship to its name, Vanderbilt certainly has a national stage when it comes to alumni sports writers. ESPN, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, and the sports website FanHouse all feature writers who honed their craft at Vanderbilt. Buster Olney, BA’88, is a senior...
Students get an enhanced college experience through Vanderbilt ROTC
Aug. 31, 2010—It’s 6 a.m. in late August, and the sun is rising over the Vanderbilt track. The newest recruits to Vanderbilt’s Army ROTC program, clad in matching shorts and T-shirts, are assembled at one end of the track, flanked by upperclassmen holding clipboards and wearing fatigues tucked into high-laced boots. The new students, alert with anticipation,...
VUmazing Race: First-year students play games and compete against each other
Aug. 24, 2010—First-year students play games and compete against each other within their Vandy Visions teams to test their knowledge of Vanderbilt trivia and campus navigation.
An accident took his arms, but Jason Koger is determined it won’t take his joy of living
Aug. 15, 2010—Jason Koger awoke in the Burn Center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in early March 2008, and through the unfamiliar surroundings and the anesthetic haze he understood what he was being told: below the elbow, his arms were gone. His father, Mike Koger, stood at his bedside and as Jason focused on his father’s voice,...
Spotlight on Graduate Medical Education
Jul. 15, 2010—There’s an old joke that gets passed around teaching hospitals: don’t get sick in July. Why? July 1 is when the new residents arrive on the floors of the hospital, fresh from medical school and with limited patient care experience under their belts. Television medical dramas like to portray residents as bumbling indentured servants at...
Giving kids with heart defects a better life
Jul. 15, 2010—One of Joey Barnett’s earliest memories is sitting on his grandfather’s lap as he read aloud from his grandchildren’s textbooks and science magazines, such as National Geographic. “Grandpa Barnett would say, ‘Joey, this is the sun. The sun is a star. This is a planet. Planets go around the sun. This is a moon. Moons...