The Pellissippi Press

by Joe Thomas

March 2 and 3 brought about the annual faculty book sale, which raised $5500 for the school and new scholarships.

Tony Crossland, coordinator of the faculty book sale, said “I attribute the success of the sale to all of the people who gave their time and efforts to help prepare and administer the sale. People were calling from Georgia and Pennsylvania wanting details about sale dates.”

Les Fout, Director of Gift Development, said that two to four scholarships will be going to students. The requirements for the scholarship are as follows:

1. Full-time student
2. 3.0 Grade Point Average
3. Second year student
4. University Parallel Program
5. Written recommendation by faculty member

Fout said that the scholarships are spilt up into three different areas. One scholarship is going to both business technology and engineering. Two scholarships are given to students with any other college major.

The deadline for the scholarships was on March 15, but students are allowed to fill out applications all year.

Students interested can contact Les Fout at 694-6526 or by E-mail at lgfout@pstcc.edu. Students can also contact Peggy Wilson, Vice President of College Advancement and Executive Director of the Pellissippi Foundation, at 694-6525.

by Joslynn Heath

For those who are eligible, Tennessee Lottery Scholarship covers the majority of their tuition; however, most students aren’t able to hold onto it.

According to Pat Peace, Director of Financial Aid at Pellissippi, approximately 750 students from Pellissippi received a Tennessee Lottery Scholarship for the 2004-2005 academic year. Dr. Allen Edwards, President of Pellissippi says that about 50 percent of the students who received a scholarship are going to lose it if they are not able to raise their grade point average by next semester. According to Edwards, once you lose the scholarship, you cannot get it back.

In order to continue the scholarship or to be eligible to re-apply for it the following year, you must maintain a 3.0 GPA. It is this rigid policy that may cost many students.

If you are a full-time student, and eligible for the scholarship, 67 percent of your tuition is covered. If you are taking six credit hours at Pellissippi, this amounts to $350. If you are taking nine, 10 or 11 credit hours you will receive $563 towards your tuition.

Peace says that she would not recommend the scholarship to part-time students because the scholarship cuts off once you have received it for five years, and if you plan to attend a four year college after Pellissippi, you may run out of eligibility before you are finished with school.

“One thing they [students] need to remember,” says Peace, “is that students must re-apply each year; it’s not automatic, and they need to apply by May 1,” in order to receive the scholarship for next school year. To determine eligibility, contact Financial Aid.

by Ty Mathews

Have you ever met someone who brightens up your day simply by the smile on their face?

If you have seen 20-year-old Stevin Amonett around campus, he has probably been that sort of encouragement to you. Amonett has been hearing impaired since birth having no hearing out of either ear. Amonett said his hearing disability is a mystery as he is the only person in his family who is deaf.

Despite his disability, Amonett decided to go to Farragut High School where he was on the swim team for three years and graduated in 2002. Not only did he go to public high school, but he also has dated several girls with full hearing capabilities. Judging by the activities and hobbies of Amonett’s life, you would never know that he is hearing impaired.

Stevin Amonett is an accounting major and desires to find a job in the accounting field after he receives his bachelor’s degree. He contributes much of his common activities in life to his form of communication called “Cued Speech.” Cued Speech in Amonett’s words is,

“Another deaf language, but it’s much more advanced than sign language because CS has greater reading levels, greater levels of lip-reading, and is used with the hands and mouth instead of just the hands.”

Cued Speech allows Amonett to read lips better, and as a result, he does a wonderful job of hanging out in a room full of individuals who are not hearing impaired. He prefers to hang out with friends rather than studying, and he enjoys playing sports, watching movies, and chatting online with friends.

Amonett says he does not let his disability get him down because he does not judge people, and as a result, people should not judge him either. The smile on his face is an encouragement to everyone, and he said to be sure to let everyone know that he is easy going and fun to be around.

by Jordan Dawson

Dr. William Bass, forensic anthropologist and founder of the Body Farm, came to Pellissippi before the break to speak on his career.

The Performing Arts Center was filled to capacity with many people standing in the aisles just to listen to him speak. Bass told his audience of the process of a forensic case, using slides and examples from many of his own experiences.

“We’ll start with a dog bringing a skull into the yard,” said Bass, using this as an example of why a search for a body would be started. The search is the first step in a forensic case. Bass said that after the search on this particular case, they found the body of a brick mason. “We found a tree with a bullet hole in it near the body, giving us an idea of how he died.”

If a body has been out for a while, it is hard to reconstruct physically, because “Dogs and coyotes tend to chew off the ends of the bones to get to the marrow,” Bass explained.

Also, Bass told his listeners that you cannot forget other things you have learned, as you may have to apply them at a later date. He spoke of a time when he found a skull in March with a wasp nest inside. Wasps only build their nests in May or June in dry places, telling him this person had been dead for at least two years.

“You have to document and photograph the crime scene before the body is moved in order to properly reconstruct the scene in the lab,” said Bass, “and you should search the body for signs of brutality such as broken bones, gunshot wounds, and signs of strangulation.” In the case of broken bones, Bass said that “you can tell from the way a bone is fractured which direction the blow came from.”

“In the case of a fire, a search for accelerants must be made,” Bass explained. Typically, specially trained dogs are used for this search. “In the case of a death by fire, the arms and legs burn off first, then the head, then the chest area. The last thing to burn is the pelvis.”

Bass also said that technology has changed the face of forensics. One particular method he spoke of was video superimposition. Bass gave the example of the skeleton of a young man he had found in a field. “You put the skull on one camera and a picture of the person on another, than superimpose one picture over the other.” This is used to compare the structures of the two. Bass ended his session with a brief question and answer period.