The Daily Helmsman

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Daily Helmsman The

Friday, February 10, 2012

Tigers practice, improve

UM looks to win 13thstraight over Univesity of Alabama Birmingham

Vol. 79 No. 71

see page 8

Independent Student Newspaper of The University of Memphis

Student protests preachers on campus

www.dailyhelmsman.com

Survey: one -fifth of TN residents under 26 uninsured

BY Timberly Moore News Reporter

BY DANA PORTER News Reporter

by Kathryn Hicks

The University of Memphis has entered a new era of religion — Science Fiction. Michael Melton, junior earth science major, will dress in costume today and preach from a fiction novel next to a Christian preacher outside the University Center as a form of protest against others openly teaching religion on campus. Melton said he first noticed Chad Muller preaching from the Bible every Friday at the beginning of last semester and approached him and other students affiliated with the Baptist Collegiate Ministry to discuss their worldviews and why they believe in their religion. He said he was left unconvinced, so he took matters into his own hands. Melton stages impromptu public lectures every Friday, drawing from his favorite SciFi novels to make a statement about those who stand in the University Center courtyard and preach their religion openly for all to hear.

Michael Melton(left) reads from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe: “In the beginning the universe was created and this has made a lot of people angry and has been regarded as a bad move.” Chad Muller (right center) talks to UM students about the Bible after being interrupted by Melton. “I want to find proof of the truth,” he said. “I don’t care what it is, I just want to know what it is, but the only way I can know is through evidence. I don’t know what the truth is, but just because somebody stands on a chair and reads from a book doesn’t make

it real. It needs to be something that is proven through observation and evidence that everyone can experience.” Sam Norville, senior marketing management major and Christian, said he does not agree with Melton’s actions.

“God isn’t something you feel or see with your eyes, but there are hundreds of eyewitness accounts that all line up,” he said. “It’s evidence that supports itself and doesn’t contradict itself.” Norville said he wants those

see

Preacher, page 5

Domestic violence on campus

photo illustration by Brian Wilson

BY MICHELLE CORBET News Reporter

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Intimate Partner Violence in the U.S., women ages 20-24 are at the greatest risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.

Four acts of domestic violence have occurred on The University of Memphis campus in the past two months, one ending in a misdemeanor arrest. There are somewhere between 30 and 40 simple assaults each year, said Derek Myers, deputy director of police services. In 2011 there were 34 incidents of simple assault reported. Of those, 14 were classified as domestic violence. Brittney Taylor, 22-year-old senior criminal justice major, walked into police services Dec. 3 at 11:30 p.m. with evidence of several threatening text messages sent from her 25-year-old ex-boyfriend. “It was more of a threat,” Taylor said upon hearing the words domestic violence. “He was talking about coming up to my dorm and shooting it up. It was a mess. They put him on a no trespassing list, but he’s still around.” No arrest was made in the case. Police classified the situation as assault intimidation, but domesticviolence.org defines domestic violence as behaviors used by one partner to con-

trol the other. Behaviors can be physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse. Teresa Diener, project coordinator for The University of Memphis’ Center for Research on Women, said she grew up in a violent home and experienced a violent relationship in her teens. When CROW received a grant from The University, Diener went to training sessions to become qualified in raising educational awareness about what she prefers to call “intimate partner violence.” “It varies from assault to controlling behavior. I don’t have to lay a hand on you for it to be abusive. Intimidating you or going through your Twitter account or Facebook is considered abuse,” Diener said. In addition to the simple assaults reported in the 2011 crime report summary for The U of M, seven of 15 assault intimidation charges consisted of verbal threats, two were stalking complaints and two of five aggravated assaults were classified as domestic violence. “I think it goes unreported a lot. They don’t report it for all

see

Violence, page 7

After President Barack Obama’s signing of the health care reform act in March 2010, The University of Memphis conducted statewide research on the number of uninsured Tennessee citizens without healthcare. The number of uninsured adults under the age of 26 in Tennessee was 20.1 percent, according to a 2009 American Community Survey. Presented in a database analysis, the research is conveyed by U of M’s Methodist Le Bonheur Center for Health Care Economics and The Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Cyril Chang, director of Methodist Le Bonheur Center for Healthcare Economics, said the study was completed in four parts: the impact of changes in eligibility, changes in health care utilization that result from expanded insurance coverage, impact of expanded coverage and uncompensated care and the impact of the expanded coverage on health care manpower in the state. The research indicated the significance of the health care reform to policy makers and how Tennesseans can better prepare for coverage in the future. The research showed 65.1 percent of Tennesseans under the age of 65 had private insurance, 18.2 percent had public insurance and 16.7 percent of citizens were uninsured. “The policy will reduce the number of uninsured Tennessee citizens by 50 percent,” Chang said. When Obama enacted the health care reform act, college students under 26 years old were mostly insured through their parents. Obama’s health care

see Insurance, page 4


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