The Black Sheep
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• a college newspaper that’s actually about college •
Volume 1, Issue 1 9/5/12 - 9/12/12
theblacksheeponline.com @blacksheepUTK
Social Groups on Campus as UTK Landmarks emily hagenburger wrote this
There are several markers that are easily recognizable to any student on the University of Tennessee’s campus. These noteworthy structures include such landmarks as Ayers Hall, The Hill, The Rock, Hodges Library, Neyland Stadium, The Torchbearer Statue, and also that weird statue on Pedestrian Walkway that nobody really knows the name of. Similarly, there’s easily-identifiable social groups at this school. From GDIs to stoners to the Greek community, the mere mention of these student subcultures elicits a generic mental picture—a paintby-numbers idea of who is what here at UTK. Interestingly enough, there’s some overlap between the two, as well. For example, take The Hill – a beacon of honor, prestige, academia, and scholarly development. The Hill represents Tennessee’s science majors. They hold court on the highest point on campus and look down on the lowly subjects (hello, communications students) littering the land. We’ve all had a BCMB, Engineering, or Biology friend tell us “you have no idea how hard my major is.” Despite the apparent hardships that come with going down this particular academic route, science majors love to flaunt their knowledge. Word to the wise: don’t watch science fiction movies with your science friends. Hey Bill, no one cares that the lasers in Star Wars wouldn’t make that cool “pew!” noise because the vacuum of space doesn’t allow sound to travel, okay? The Rock, meanwhile, represents the social side of the university. Namely, sorority girls. Splashed with messages about gatherings, local news, or just “Jenny loves Chad,” The Rock knows the gossip. And, like sorots, it is emblazoned with bright colors and well-known symbols. Just, instead of a Ralph Lauren Horse, it’s a Power T. The Rock, like sorority girls, wants people to look at it. While traveling in groups wearing long t-shirts that display messages of “ZTA loves Sigma Chi” they’re basically a walking, talking Rock. Hodges Library is both the manifestation and the lodging of the pill poppers. These students rely on Adderall to get them through anything from a two-paragraph response to a full-out midterm. Just like the iconic building-block structure of Hodges, with Adderall users, there are different levels of intensity. Both the library and these drugs are really good at simultaneously keeping you on task and distracted. You may get a solid 20 minutes of quality work done, but once your “study buddy” starts talking sleeping with their TA, all hope of productivity is lost. Like the weird statue on Pedestrian, some groups on campus are equally hard to define. Whether you call them “hipster,” “indie,”
What Your First College Facebook Album Title Says About You The pictures say 1,000 words, but the title is only four. Choose wisely, little Vol.
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or just “artsy,” these students relate to the statue in that no matter how weird it may be, you can’t help but look at it. These students justify their look as “modern” or “indicative of an anti-consumerist and mainstream era,” and the statue, with its silver twirls and yellow flower, may be likewise defended. Also, some claim that the yellow object at the top of the sculpture looks like a marijuana leaf. Coincidence? We think not. Last but not least, the great UTK symbol of Neyland Stadium is football. Most of all, it’s the super fans. You know the ones; just like the stadium itself they play “Rocky Top” way too much and put
what’s inside
orange EVERYWHERE. Both the stadium and the fans that worship it are loud, proud, and full of beer. This encompasses both the football lovers and those that get drunk, show up at halftime, and leave early to get a party going…Go Vols! UTK landmarks represent the school as what it is now and what it will always be diverse groups of students with the same goal in mind: get drunk on the weekends while trying to get a diploma to land a job. (No Jimmy Cheek, no matter how hard you try we’re not going to stop being one of the top party schools in the nation). And you can’t fault us for that.
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bartender of the week
No, South Carolina isn’t all ten.
if you like whiskey, then you and tom from cool beans will be best friends!
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