This summer, Harding Public Safety achieved its goal of having an armed officer on campus 24/7, according to Director of Public Safety Craig Russell.

Russell said Public Safety made the decision to add an armed component to campus security five years ago after the Virginia Tech shooting when a student entered a university classroom and killed 27 students and five faculty members.

The author of “It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust” spoke on Aug. 30 as a part of the L.C. Sears Collegiate Seminar Series. While researching the book, Elizabeth Bettina made five trips to Italy with survivors, bringing them back to the villages where they were interred.

Harding University in Florence Director Robbie Shackelford said his father read Bettina’s book and shared it with him. After reading “It Happened in Italy,” Shackelford decided to add Campagna to HUF’s southern Italy trip in the fall of 2011. The following spring, he invited Bettina to accompany the group to Campagna and guide the tour.

Harding University International Programs brought changes to both Harding University in England and Harding University in Australia by adding side-trips to Iceland and Hong Kong for the first time respectively. According to dean of International Programs Jeffrey Hopper, the 10-day trip to Iceland will complete the circle back to the origins of the United Kingdom in the areas of world exploration, literature, folklore and history.

“Most important is the class work that the students will do before they go,” Hopper said. “They will study all these areas in addition to an added subject that is normally not part of the HUE program: geology.”

After 32 years working at KATV Channel 7 in Little Rock, Harding alumnus Tim Hamilton has returned to the university this fall to take on a newly created position in the department of communication as multimedia producer.

Hamilton will focus on Harding sports production — overseeing the coverage of games, staffing and helping expand sports programming for TV16.

“I think [TV16’s] vision is just a matter of taking the programming of Harding sports kind of to a new level, just doing more games, using more cameras at a game, working in graphics, ... more instant replay capability during the games,” Hamilton said. “It’s like taking it up a notch.”

After the countless debates, the neighborly strife over yard signs and both dramatic and harsh TV campaign advertisements, the 2012 election will all come down to a vote.

The youth vote will be of much importance in the coming election. Unfortunately, many young people are not well informed or ready to intelligently cast votes for choices that will affect them nationally and locally.

It is vital for students to know how to vote as well as who and what they are voting for.

An adventure that lasts three months is hard to tell in a matter of minutes. A common question during the first week of school is, “How was your summer?” The response is usually, “It was great,” and then both parties move on with their lives. But once stories are told and Facebook pictures are shown, the interaction lasts longer than a walk-by greeting in the cafeteria.

In order to tell a story few have experienced, the never-before-seen HULA documentary will follow a dinner reception Friday, Sept. 7, at 9 p.m., at the Carmichael Community Center. The documentary will play on a large theater screen from a projector to incorporate the outdoors aspect of the Latin America program. In the case of rain, the premiere will take place in the Administration Auditorium.