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Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505

O

RACLE

Volume 95 | Issue 12 | Free in single copy | February 17, 2012

University finalizes deal to outsource custodians

By NICK ROLLINS Asst. Managing Editor

“

“

Tech signed a contract with SSC Service Solutions Feb. 10, outsourcing its custodial services in an attempt to cut spending.

“There was an administrative committee that reviewed proposals and evaluated all of the vendors, and the university accepted the contract,” Karen Lykins, Communications and Marketing associate vice president, said.

According to Lykins, the Tennessee Board of Regents also approved the buyout and reduction-in-force packages offered to the custodians.

Service Solutions will take over all custodial responsibilities May 1, and custodians can take a severance package from Tech.

Lykins said that the custodians can choose from three different packages depending on how long they have worked at Tech.

“If you have 15 or more years with the University as of April 30, you can remain a Tech employee or you can take the voluntary buyout package,” Lykins said.

The other two packages are reduction-inforce packages. These are for custodians who have worked up to five years, and for those who have worked from five to 10 years.

They will not remain as Tech employees, but will have packages “appropriate” to them, according to Lykins.

“It will affect, over all, 60 custodians,” Lykins said. “There are 15 employees with 15 or more years of experience.”

Tech’s budget has a $2.4 million deficit, leaving the University to look for ways to cut costs.

“This year we lost about $939,000 of pro-

Nick Rollins

Supporters for the custodians bow their heads while Pastor Gene Skipworth, of United Church of Cookeville, said a prayer.

jected tuition revenue,” Lykins said. “We dropped in graduate enrollment programs, so that was money that we expected but we didn’t get.”

Also contributing to the deficit is $825,900 of permanent reduction, as well as $623,000

Students to pick up tickets for Murray State game

By JUSTIN DUKE Beat Reporter

Attendance for the Tech vs. No. 16 Murray State basketball game is expected to be high.

The game on Feb.25 is also Senior Night for athletes, starting 10 minutes before the men’s and women’s games.

“You can pick up your ticket at the ticket office located at the Eblen Center,” said Leveda Birdwell, director of Corporate Sales and Marketing. “We’re open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and have a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m.”

In the first two days, Tech Athletic officials have handed out close to 700 tickets of the 1,200 allotted lower bowl student tickets.

Once these are gone, Tech Athletics will begin giving out tickets for the upper bowl.

Each student is limited to one ticket per

Tech ID. Next Tuesday and Thursday, Athletics officials will also be in the RUC during dead hour giving out tickets.

“Students are very important to Tennessee Tech athletics,” Birdwell said. “They bring a really great atmosphere and the student athletes feed off of that really well.

“We want to give the general student population an opportunity to come out and help cheer on the sports teams. They have a lot of liveliness and can get the entire crowd in to the game.”

Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with tipoff for the women’s game starting at 5:30 p.m. The men’s game will follow at about 7:30 p.m.

Students or groups wishing to sit together during the game should arrive at the gates as early as possible.

of non-recurring transition funds. The transition funds were provided by the state for the Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010.

“We’re not paid for enrolling as many students as we can anymore; we are paid for however many students we graduate and

See “Custodial Outsourcing,” page 6

Gym Class Heroes set to perform at April SOLO concert

By JODI LAWERENCE Beat Reporter Gym Class Heroes will perform at 6 p.m. April 24 in the Hooper Eblen Center.

Opening acts are Dev, artist behind “Bass Down Low,” and Outasight, recognized by popular song “Tonight Is The Night.”

While Gym Class Heroes was not the first choice in the Fall 2011 vote, the band will perform popular songs like “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Stereo Hearts.”

LMFAO, winner of the fall voting, declined the invitation.

“We got a call from our booking agency saying that SkyBlu, which is one of the main guys in LMFAO, had two herniated discs in his back and was going to be having those repaired in January,” said Lees Gatts, SGA president. “They were pushing their shows in January to February and so on, pushing our show to May. We’re not here in May. So that obviously wouldn’t work with us. They weren’t going to be able to fit us in.”

The SOLO concert series is also undergoing a major change.

In recent years, the first 300

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retain,” Lykins said. “They gave us a little cushion money to transition. We had that this year, but we won’t next year; the transition goes away.”

Since the contract is signed, the custodians will have 45 days to consider the offered packages, and will also have a chance to work for Service Solutions once the How could this takes not reflect against company over.

[Bell]? It happened “Unless I am just forced under his watch. into working It’s going to be a for this outpart of his legacy side company, I have no desire as far as I’m concerned. He left to,” Terri Stidham, custodian us packing. at Johnson Hall, said. “I feel very betrayed by the — Terri Stidham, University, and Custodian I feel certain that they could have found another alternative.

“I don’t want to hear it called the Tech family anymore; I don’t see how you can put that type of burden on a member of your so-called family.”

Stidham said she has worked at the University since 1983 and that she was “really hurt to see the turn it has taken.”

“They have found their cost savings on the backs of the lowest-paid people on campus,” Stidham said.

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Gym Class Hero members Eric Roberts, Travie McCoy, Matt McGinley and Disashi Lumumba–Kasongo will perform with Outasight and Dev at the April 24 SOLO concert. students in line would be given floor tickets, failing to fill the floor the way the SGA had expected.

“The main problem in the previous concerts that I have noticed is that we weren’t packing the floor,” said Gatts. “That’s going to be the biggest change in the SOLO concert this semes-

@TNTECHORACLE SUNDAY 36/24 °F

ter. If you are going to want to be on the floor then you are going to have to be one of the first 600 people in line before the concert.”

Students can expect tickets to be released two to three weeks before the concert.

Gatts could not specify a suggested time to be at the ven-

ue for floor access, but did say that past lines for entry have reached down 12th Street and around the block.

“I am willing to campout outside of the Hoop and wait all day long to be right there in front of Travis McCoy,” said Thomas Cooper, sophomore pre-physical therapy major.

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NEWS Page 2 | February 17, 2012

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Bell to lobby for expansion of Hyder-Burks

By KAYLA GULLEY Beat Reporter

President Bob Bell is preparing to go to Washington, D.C. in early March to lobby for programs on campus and an expansion of the Hyder-Burks Agricultural Pavilion.

“We view it as an economic incentive plan,” Pat Bagley, Agriculture and Human Sciences dean, said.

“It’s an investment in the future and brings wholesome fun to Cookeville.”

The expansion of the Hyder-Burks horse barn will cost about $1 million.

The barn currently holds 75 stalls. Facility additions include 200 stalls along with more restrooms, showers and an arena.

The stalls will be removable and used as extra covered space for bigger, non-animal related events.

According to Bell, this will allow Tech to host much larger equestrian events.

Bell will arrive in D.C. to

help petition congressmen to give Tech more grants. He said he plans to work with an agency to prepare for the proposal presentations.

“It is a big economic impact on Cookeville when we can bring those kinds of events here,” Bell said.

Bagley said he agrees that the expansion will help the community by boosting restaurant and hotel revenue, while also bringing more students to Tech.

“Hopefully a pretty significant number of those kids will like what they see and end up coming to Tech, which will increase our student population, and have all those economic benefits that you will run into,” Bagley said.

Bagley said he predicts that pavilion will pay for itself in five years if it hosts one event per month, along with increasing tax revenue from hotels and restaurants catering to event-goers. If the arena becomes popular and Tech hosts two events a

ENGINEERING WEEK

2012

Schedule of Events WHEN Feb. 20: 4 p.m.

6 p.m.

8 p.m.

Feb. 21: 11 a.m.

8 p.m.

Feb. 22: 4:30 p.m.

7 p.m.

Feb. 23: 10 a.m.

7 p.m.

WHAT

WHERE

Egg Launch Dodgeball Poker and Catered Chili Supper

(Sherlock Park) (Memorial Gym)

Tug of War Cardboard Canoe

(Sherlock Park) (Fitness Center Pool)

SAME Leadership Mind Obstacle Course Engineering Bowl

Career Fair Engineering Banquet

(Multipurpose Rm.)

(Tech Pride Rm.) (Derryberry Hall)

(Multipurpose Rm.) (Multipurpose Rm.) Nick Rollins

events @ tech February

17 8:00 a.m.

State 4-H Horse and Speech Contest Hyder Burks Pavilion 6:30 p.m.

Clean Commission Presents National Geographic’s Human Footprint STEM Center 7:30 p.m.

TTU Symphony Band Concert Wattenbarger Auditorium Brandi Campbell

Rusty Chilcutt, manager at Hyder-Burks Pavilion, and Pat Bagley, Agriculture and Human Sciences dean, talk about the new horse barn.

month, it could pay for itself in three years.

The rough draft plans for the new structures include have solar panels and machines that can recycle and reuse bedding for the stalls.

Bagley also mentioned adding water lagoons to recycle water for cleaning the facil-

The University’s campus building abbreviations are changing, with the first being Derryberry Hall’s sign by Feb. 21.

Tech has used a two-letter abbreviation system for building names for several years. The new building abbreviations will use three and four letter codes to prevent potential confusion caused by the two-letter system.

The changes follow Tennessee Board of Regents’ implementation of a new physical facilities inventory system, which began in Summer 2011.

“I think people will find that the three and four character abbreviations are a lot easier to understand than the old system we had,” Jim Cobb, Campus Safety & Environmental Services director and interim director of Projects, said.

The Admissions Office was the first to receive printed maps with the new codes. These maps will be handed out to prospective students visiting campus.

“One of the things I looked at when I came around campus was

port is being sought.

The second activity is for Bell to meet with several agency heads, with the third being to maintain alumni relations.

Other department grant proposals include engineering and health and human services.

Annual Engineering Week to offer fun, food, leadership training

By EMILY HAILE Beat Reporter Tech athletes aren’t the only students getting ready for a major competition.

Engineers Week starts Monday, Feb. 20 and engineers across campus are preparing for the annual events. Students from every engineering department compete against each other.

“It’s a fun competition between all the different majors,” Robert Griffin, Engineering Joint Council representative, said. “Engineering students do a lot of work, and it’s a way to vent and compete and show pride in your major.”

The weeklong competition puts engineering students head-to-head in various contests.

“Each event has different point values,” Griffin said. “Whenever a major wins or places, points go toward them to win the Best Darn Major award at the end of the week.”

The first event is the egg launch, where each team makes its own catapult to launch the eggs. The teams choose to launch for either distance or accuracy.

“You’ll launch your egg once, and that’ll

Tech to revamp building letter code system

By JESSICA SMITH Beat Reporter

ity and arena.

“It’s a win-win,” Bagley said.

Bell said there are three objectives for going to D.C. on this trip, with the first being to ensure that Congress members understand the University’s priorities and the areas where federal sup-

that, as an outsider, I had trouble determining where to go,” Jack Butler, Facilities and Business Services associate vice president, said.

“I didn’t have any directional signs. In a car, when I was driving by, T-signs were nice; but it’s hard to see that going by at 20 miles an hour. So I’m trying to get us to refocus on the customer’s side of the viewpoint.

“It’s for visitors, family, parents and prospective students who are coming here just visiting. That’s what we’re gearing up toward. It’s all about the external visitors on campus and how we can make it easier on them to get around campus.”

Changes are being made to the building codes on printed and online maps, records, student schedules and on other printed materials.

The signs posted in front of campus buildings will be refurbished and the new four-letter abbreviations will replace the twoletter codes in the bottom right corners.

The rest of the signs on campus should be completed by fall.

be the mark you’re going for,” Shabir Bhegani, Engineering Joint Council president, said. “And with the next two, you’ll see what gets closest to your original egg.”

Accuracy is based on how closely together the two eggs land, with teams getting three eggs apiece.

One of Tuesday’s events is the cardboard canoe, where teams are given industrial-sized cardboard boxes, box cutters and duct tape.

“They just have those three items,” Bhegani said. “They’re allowed to make whatever, but they have to be able to canoe across the pool.”

An Engineering Bowl takes place Wednesday, featuring many Tech-related questions.

Griffin, a mechanical engineering major, said, “We stand a good chance of winning because myself and another competitor are both tour guides.”

The Best Darn Major award is given out Thursday night at the annual Engineering Banquet.

The mechanical engineering department won the 2011 competition.

The competition is open to engineers only, but anyone can attend.

18 8:00 a.m.

TN State Horse Bowl and Hippology Contest Hyder Burks Pavilion 1:00 p.m.

STEM Safari Saturday STEM Center 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball v.

Eastern Kentucky Hooper Eblen Center

19 2:30 p.m.

Black History Month: Gospel Extravaganza,

by TTU United Voices of Praise Trinity Baptist Church 3:00 p.m.

Bryan Symphony Orchestra Wattenbarger Auditorium

21 11:00 a.m.

TAB Giveaway: Sunscreen Roaden University Center 3:00 p.m.

Black History Month: Racism forum Black Cultural Center 7:30 p.m.

The University Orchestra in Concert Wattenbarger Auditorium

Residential Life Office to host second annual Cardboard Boat Race 22

By SHELBY McDONALD Beat Reporter Tech’s Residential Life Office plans to set sail for the second annual Cardboard Boat Race at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 in the Fitness Center pool.

Residence halls will compete against one another by making and racing cardboard boats. A panel of judges will score the boats on different categories like best looking, titanic and fastest.

“This is a fun and friendly competition,” said Allen Nichols, assistant coordinator. “We want to influence hall pride and people taking pride in their halls. That’s what these events are for is to get students to know other residence in their halls and get them to participate together.”

Loren Meledandri, Crawford Hall

resident assistant, explained that the hall has been working daily on its cardboard boat and its strategy is not about how fast it can be but to not sink.

“Crawford has been in the lead since last semester, and were going to win, it’s the best hall and girls are going to win,” Meledandri said.

The winner of the boat races will receive points towards the Tech Cup, a competition between the residence halls, made up of multiple events throughout the year. The residence hall that wins the Tech cup will receive an award, still undecided.

Nichols said, “I would love for anyone to come out and support. All of the halls will be participating and last year we had a big turn out and that’s what we are anticipating this year. We hope it will be even bigger than last year.”

THE ORACLE •News •Sports •Opinion •Entertainment

@TNTECHORACLE FACEBOOK.COM/ TNTECHORACLE

12:00 p.m.

Black History Month: Midday Matinee Black Cultural Center 7:30 p.m.

Second Instrument Night, Student Recital Wattenbarger Auditorium

23 10:00 a.m.

Engineering & Technical Majors Career Fair RUC Multipurpose Room 7:00 p.m.

UNCLE Battle of the Bands Backdoor Playhouse 7:30 p.m.

TTU Jazz Band In Concert Wattenbarger Auditorium

tntech.edu/calendar

OPINION

Send letters to the editor to oracle@tntech.edu. Include your name, e-mail address and limit letters to 300 words. Anonymous letters are not accepted. Deadline for letters is 4 p.m. Tuesday.

We reserve the right to edit grammar, length and clarity. tntechoracle.com

Page 3 | February 17, 2012

Liberal cartoonist offers more of the same JONATHAN FRANK Asst. Editorial Editor

Morgan Harper buys textbooks from the bookstore.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Reeves

That diploma is one expensive piece of paper CASSIE TESAURO Editorial Editor

Whoever said that money can’t buy you happiness obviously never had to pay for college.

If you’re a student, you have a few options of how to deal with money issues.

If you’re very lucky, you can find someone to foot the bill. Maybe you had a relative that was able to save up enough money to cover your expenses.

Or maybe you managed to impress a scholarship committee with a story about growing up on the wrong side of town but still being able to get As in high school.

Either way, congratulations are in order. You don’t have to be dirt poor until after you graduate and can’t find a decent job.

Some people opt for student loans. That’s fine for now, but when you graduate and start interviewing for jobs and they all tell you, “you can’t get a job in this field without experience,” you have to thank them for their time, then go home and write another loan repayment check.

Then there’s the group of students balancing part-

time jobs with school work.

Do you all even remember what eight hours of sleep feels like? And how awful is it working yourself to death at a minimum wage job, then coming to campus and finding out Printing Services wants your lunch money?

Speaking of food, I think we can all agree that food on campus is outrageously expensive. Please bear in mind that I’m talking about Chartwells itself, not our food services people. I love our people.

But when I buy a meal on campus, I just know that somewhere the top dog running Chartwells is sitting back in an over-stuffed office chair petting a cat and saying, “excellent…”

Now it’s your turn, bookstore.

Sophomore year I bought a textbook from you for too much money (obviously) because I was desperate.

When I tried to sell it back at the end of the semester, you wouldn’t take it because it was supposed to come with a workbook.

You can imagine my surprise when I found out I had

paid for an attached workbook that I never was told about and never received. And you can imagine where I wanted to shove that missing workbook when they said they couldn’t buy back a textbook with missing components.

Come on, bookstore!

I know that you’ll gladly charge me $175 for a textbook worth $100 and then buy the book back for $25, but at least have the decency to give me the stupid $25.

Consider yourself warned: that bookstore turns a better profit than a pyramid scheme.

The bottom line is that if you’re in college then you’re broke or about to be broke.

You get to pay for a piece of paper that proves you took a lot of classes.

I think education is important. There are a lot of important jobs out there that require skills that you can learn in college and that’s worth investing money in; but not this much money.

My freshman year, the U.S. average annual costs at a fouryear, public university was $14,262. My sophomore year it jumped to $15,014. That’s over $29,000 in two years.

And the annual costs have kept on jumping since then.

Let’s stop pretending that this is a good deal.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Support our athletes

I am making an appeal to the Tech students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Next Saturday evening, Feb. 25, our basketball teams face off against the Murray State Racers in what is building up to be one of the most anticipated double headers in the history of the Hooper Eblen Center.

For those unaware, the Murray State men’s basketball team is ranked in the top 15 nationally and only recently ended its reign as the lone undefeated in Division I. Ticket sales for this double header have significantly outpaced the previous

THE

games for both teams this season. Unfortunately, many of those tickets are going to the obnoxious, uncouth rabble that supports the Racers.

We, as a university, cannot permit their boorish hoard to claim a majority of the seating for the games. Instead, we need to rally to our teams and give them the type of support only the vigilant and upstanding members of Tech can bestow. Both of our teams are in the hunt for the post-season and we need to stand with them.

Students, I know the game is on a Saturday and a lot of you want to go home. However, I beseech you to stay and help your student-athlete colleagues. This

ORACLE

Weekly. Student Operated.

Tennessee Tech University TTU Box 5072 Cookeville, TN 38505 WILL HOUSLEY Managing Editor NICHOLAS ROLLINS Asst. Managing Editor BRIDGETTE BUCHANAN Ad Manager JENDA WILSON Copy Editor CASSIE TESAURO Editorial Editor JONATHAN FRANK Asst. Editorial Editor ROSS HARVEY Sports Editor

ANDY RUTHERFORD Asst. Sports Editor CHRISTINA RIDDLE Entertainment Editor WILL SHECKLER Asst. Entertainment Editor LOGAN NICKLESON Web Editor GABRIEL SEALS Circulation Manager HOLLY COWART Faculty Adviser

double header promises to be a unique experience and one you should not miss.

If you choose to your rightful duty and attend, you need to get your tickets now. The box office is starting to run low on free students tickets, so get yours as soon as possible. To get your student ticket, take your Eagle Card to the box office in the lobby of the Hoop.

The women tipoff at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game will follow after the conclusion of the women’s game. I hope to see you there donned in purple and gold.

Chuck Acheson

Last Friday, I and several Oracle staff members traveled to Nashville for the annual Tennessee Press Association conference.

We attended workshops on libel and privacy laws, social media, event planning, and had an opportunity to learn from other successful campus newspapers across the state. During our lunch, we heard a presentation from Times Free Press editorial cartoonist, Clay Bennett.

While we heard various presentations and seminars all day long, his was the only one that day of a political nature. He had the floor all to himself for the entire hour while we sat eating our lunch.

Bennet used his time to lambast every prominent Republican politician in the same old way that much more talented satirists and pundits have done thousands of times before (Sarah Palin, really? Can we try for a little originality?), while also mocking the “backwards” state of Tennessee where he chose to live, and his own daily readers who pay his salary.

Bennett sure has a great job. Whereas I lay out a case for my convictions each week, explaining why I believe the way that I do on a given issue, and am answerable to everything I write (Did you read the letter to the editor about Ron Paul?), Bennett, as an editorial cartoonist, can place an incendiary or outright false suggestion out there for the

public consumption in the form of an innocent cartoon and not have to qualify it.

If anyone makes an effort to hold him accountable for his work, the answer is “it is satire,” “it’s up to your own interpretation”, etc. And while humorists on the national scene like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert at least make an effort to operate under some guise of objectivity—giving just about equally harsh treatment to Democratic opinion leaders and public figures as they do Republicans—Bennett is a predictable parrot for his party’s talking points.

If you read Bennett’s cartoons, some of which were shown to us during his lecture, you would see that they operate on very worn, third-grade schoolyard premises: Republicans are mentally handicapped, George W. Bush hates the constitution, proponents of intelligent design are backwoods bible-thumpers who can’t put a coherent sentence together, and so forth.

Bennett did not pull punches during his presentation either. On the topic of creationism, Bennett denounced this school of thought and added, “All creationism has shown us is that some people are less evolved than others;” the context there implying that “some people” were the supporters of that doctrine—you know, uneducated hicks like myself.

Bennett then went on to default to the standard,

boring Sarah Palin jabs that we’ve all heard before. In what must have been an off-script moment for him, he also informed us that he would like to throw a rock at her. I’m trying to think of a way to make that remark sound more intelligent, but there just isn’t one.

Clay Bennett, a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, said he wants to throw a rock at Sarah Palin. The comment struck me as interesting, though, given the fact that Bennett showed us cartoons during his presentation slamming Tea Party candidates in the 2010 election cycle for their over-the-top rhetoric.

He was likely among those on the far left calling for CNN pundit Roland Martin’s resignation after he sent out an off-the-cuff tweet about the Super Bowl which was misinterpreted to advocate anti-gay violence, or those who sought to score political points off of the unspeakable tragedy in Arizona last year against Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords by ludicrously suggesting that Sarah Palin’s now famous “crosshairs” map targeting 20 Congressional seats to win in 2010 may have played a role in that massacre.

Bennett’s caustic style of rhetorical bomb dropping and name calling offer nothing to solve our sharply divided, hyperpartisan political environment today. He isn’t offering solutions, or even truth.

I’ll always defend his right to speak his mind, but perhaps some of his thoughts would be better shared with a therapist than with a reading public.

Poll of the Week What’s the most annoying Facebook profile picture?

12% - Liquor bottles and hand signs 4% - Planking 30% - The duck face

54% - Shirtless reflection in bathroom mirror

This poll is not scientific and only reflects the opinions of those who chose to participate.

It does not reflect the public as a whole. Voting for this poll took place online between Feb. 10 and Feb. 17, 2012 at www.tntechoracle.com.

This week: What’s the craziest comment you’ve overheard on campus?

Go to tntechoracle.com/overheard to enter the poll!

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BEAT REPORTERS: Rosemary Apple, Ashley Ayub, Mica Bilbrey, Krystal Blouin, Allison Boshears, Heather

Chapelle, Morgan Collins, Cassie Conley, Jacob Cook, Ben Craven, Harley Davidson, Justin Duke, Melissa Edwards,

Drew Eller, Jamal Fergueson, Shane Foley, Lindsey Gore, Kayla Gulley, Emily Haile, Callen Harrell, Tyler Jackson,

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Ariel Perry, Megan Severe, Jessica Smith, Shanna Thompson, Zack Traylor, Aaron Vick, and Jacob Walker.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this newspaper DO NOT necessarily reflect those of Tennessee Tech University’s employees or of its administration.

SPORTS Page 4 | February 17, 2012

tntechoracle.com

Reuters

Jeremy Lin reads the defense in a game last week. Lin’s out-of-nowhere success has propelled him into the national spotlight.

Allie Sampson

Junior Outfielder/Infielder Michael Morris makes contact with a pitch during an inner-team scrimmage. Tech’s schedule opens today in Lubbock, Texas, at the Red Raider Classic.

BASES LOADED

with ANDY RUTHERFORD Asst. Sports Editor

Tech baseball expects talented “Lin-Sanity”: pitching staff to be team strength

By AARON VICK Beat Reporter

The Golden Eagle’s baseball team expects a quality year thanks to a strong and experienced pitching staff.

Like last year, Tech baseball was selected as third in the Ohio Valley Conference’s pre-season rankings. The two teams ranked above the Golden Eagles are Austin Peay and Jacksonville State University.

“We truly believe that any time we step on the field against anybody that we have a chance to win,” said Matt Bragga, Tech’s baseball head coach. “We have a very talented team, and as long as we play baseball like it should be played and do things fundamentally correctly, we’ll have a chance to be where we want to be at the end of the year.”

According to Bragga, the team has eight guys who can throw in the low 90’s and also pitch well.

Senior Matthew Shepherd and junior Tristan Archer will return as starters this year. These two pitchers combined for 10 wins and two complete games last year.

Shepherd was also named the OVC’s No. 5 prospect for the MLB draft by Baseball America this year.

Also returning as starting pitchers are junior Nick Price and sophomore Jake McWhirter, a duo that combined for eight starts and 34 appearances last year.

Freshman David Hess, who posted an 8-1 record with a 1.41 ERA in his senior year at Tullahoma High School, is expected to be a weekend starting pitcher.

He was recognized this year by Baseball America as the OVC’s No. 3 newcomer.

The bullpen is anything but lacking for the Golden Eagles, with senior Cullen Park and sophomores Garrett Baugh, Justin Alexander and Andy Williams returning this season.

Last year, Park had a team-high 27 appearances with 64 strikeouts, which tied for team-best. Baugh was also a big contributor with a team-low 4.05 ERA with three wins.

Tech also acquired eight new arms this year including lefties Tanner Williams and Josh Bryant and righties Seth Lucio, Zane Morton, Robert Roach, Byron Skinner and Tyler Wilson.

Announced Conference Divisions for OVC Basketball in 2012-2013

East Belmont Eastern Kentucky Jacksonville State Morehead State Tennessee State

West Austin Peay Eastern Illinois Murray State SE Missouri State SIU-E UT Martin

Tennessee Tech

Weekly Roundup

How unknown, undrafted Jeremy Lin made his meteoric rise to stardom, and whether or not he can stay there

Only those who have been living under a rock for the past two weeks have not heard of the current NBA phenomenon that is Jeremy Lin. The second-year guard out of Harvard has caught fire, leading the New York Knicks to their first seven game win streak of the season and a .500 record.

Lin has 171 points, including 38 against the Lakers, in those seven games and 64 assists. Those numbers are without Carmelo Anthony in the lineup, and only having Amare Stoudemire for the last two.

Lin’s story is quite the underdog story.

He led his high school team, Palo Alto High School, to a California Division II state championship and was named first-team All-State and Northern California Division II Player of the Year, yet he wasn’t offered a single NCAA Division I scholarship.

Pac-10 schools Cal, UCLA, and Stanford wanted him to walk on while Ivy League schools Harvard and Brown wanted him, but couldn’t offer him an athletic scholarship under Ivy League rules.

Lin chose to attend Harvard.

While at Harvard, Lin was named to the All-Ivy League second team as only a sophomore and the All-Ivy League first team his junior and senior years. He finished his career there as the only Ivy League in history to have 1,450+ points, 450+ rebounds, 400+ assists and 200+ steals.

He also drew some national attention when he scored 30 points and pulled down nine boards on the road at nationally ranked UConn.

After graduation, Lin worked out with eight different NBA teams, but he went undrafted on draft day.

After playing in the Summer League with the Dallas Mavericks, Lin signed a two-

This week’s sports stories at a glance

Tech women’s basketball comes home for three after road win streak

starters returning next year.

The team was chosen as the pre-season favorite going into this year.

Tech’s women’s basketball prepares to finish out the last three home games of the season with a three-game win streak on the road.

The team moved into third place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings this week, having recently beat in-state rivals Austin Peay State University and Tennessee State University on the road.

“I’m really happy that we’re getting back in the groove,” said Brittany Darling, senior guard. “I think we’re going to win the next five straight.”

The season began with major success in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament, including a trip to UCLA and challenging games against Louisiana Tech, Marshall and Samford.

Senior Tacarra Hayes and sophomore Jala Harris have combined for the most points, leading a young team that has most of its

OVC releases conference divisions for basketball beginning next season The Tech women’s and men’s basketball teams will compete in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division beginning next season, under a plan for divisional play that was announced Thursday by the league office. The new plan begins with the 2012-13 academic year.

The addition of Belmont University on July 1, 2012 will give the OVC 12 member institutions, the largest the Conference has been since it was formed in 1948 (the OVC is currently the nation’s eighth-oldest Division I conference).

The sports of softball and volleyball will also use schedules based on a divisional format. The

sports of baseball, women’s soccer and men’s and women’s tennis will not use divisional play because those sports currently have less than 12 participating teams.

The East Division will include Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Tennessee State and Tennessee Tech.

The West Division will include Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Southeast Missouri State, SIUE and UT Martin.

Finalized 2012-13 men’s and women’s Conference basketball schedules will be released in the coming weeks.

Men’s basketball handles EKU Double-double efforts from Jud Dillard and Zac Swansey and season-best scoring performances

by Zach Bailey and Bassey Inameti helped Tennessee Tech claim a 7467 Ohio Valley Conference victory over visiting Eastern Kentucky Wednesday night in the Eblen Center.

year deal with his hometown Golden State Warriors only to be cut after the first year. He was picked up by the Houston Rockets and played two preseason games but was cut for cap reasons before the start of this season.

He was picked up by the Knicks, sent down to the D-League, recalled because of injuries and almost cut because of cap issues. With so much moving around, Lin was sleeping on his brother’s couch because he didn’t have a place of his own.

On Feb. 4, Lin was given a chance by coach Mike D’Antoni and seven games later, “Lin-sanity” is upon us.

“Lin-sanity”, “Super Lin-tendo” and “Mr. Lin-credible” are just a sampling of the nicknames being used to describe this outof-nowhere sensation.

After only six NBA starts, he has been added to the Haier Shooting Stars competition and will “assist” his teammate Iman Shumpert during the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during All-Star Weekend on Feb. 25.

So is Jeremy Lin and “Lin-sanity” just a flash in the pan or here to stay?

Obviously, Lin can’t be expected to drop 20 points every night for the rest of his career, especially when Anthony rejoins the team; but you can expect the assists to go up more and more.

He averaged 8.5 assists without Anthony or Stoudemire, and had 11 and 13 upon Stoudemire’s return.

The reason Lin will not just fade away is simple: he’s a true point guard.

In today’s NBA, the elite point guards are Derrick Rose, Chris Paul and Deron Williams. All great athletes and scorers, but not true point guards.

Lin looks for the open guy before shooting.

Case in point, when the Knicks hosted the Sacramento Kings in Stoudemire’s second game back, Lin had 13 assists compared to only six shot attempts.

A combination of Lin’s pass-first mentality and his proven ability to score when necessary is the reason that Lin-sanity will be upon us for a very long time.

Dillard led the way with 20 points and 10 rebounds, his eighth double-double of the season. Swansey, meanwhile, posted his first of the year with 10 points and 10 assists.

Bailey matched his season-high with 17 points while Inameti came up one short of his career-high and scored his season-best with 13.

The balanced effort allowed Tech (17-11/9-6) to hold on to fourth place in the OVC standings, and pull within a half-game of third-place Southeast Missouri.

Tech controlled the first half, including a 19-9 rebound edge, but never could shake the pesky Colonels. EKU took a one-point lead in the opening minute but the Golden Eagles quickly moved on top with a 3-pointer by Swansey and held the lead the rest of the way.

Tech’s margin bulged to nine midway in the half when Terrell Barnes’ layup made it 18-9. The Colonels crept to within three on two occasions before halftime, the last coming at 31-28, on a Mike DiNunno layup with 50 seconds left.

Bailey hit another 3-pointer for a six-point bulge before Joshua Jones got a steal under the basket and scored at the buzzer to make it 3430 at halftime.

Tech opened the second frame on a 10-3 run, including both of Kevin Murphy’s baskets in the contest, and opened an 11-point lead, 44-33, with 15:07 to play.

The Colonels pulled within two, 54-52, when a Jaron Jones converted a three-point play with 8:50 remaining to cap a 19-10 stretch for EKU. Tech came back with a 3-pointer by Swansey, two free throws from Inameti and five straight from Dillard to reclaim a double-digit advantage, 64-52, with 6:32 remaining.

Tech was able to hold onto its edge at the free throw line down the stretch. The win snapped a twogame losing skid by the Golden Eagles.

The Golden Eagles step outside the conference for their next game Saturday at Coastal Carolina in a Sears Bracket Buster game.

Following that, Tech has a week to prepare for the regular season finale against league-leading Murray State Feb. 25, at home.

This week’s Weekly Roundup features stories from Beat Reporter Ariel Perry and from TTU Sports Information.

ENTERTAINMENT tntechoracle.com

Page 5 | February 17, 2012

Rolling in the...Grammys Adele continues on path of stardum with six Grammy wins Tuesday, but will it continue?

By LOGAN NICKLESON Web Editor English singer/songwriter Adele maintains her path of musical world-domination after winning six Grammy awards on Tuesday, leaving some listeners questioning her worthiness.

The 23-year-old added album of the year, best pop vocal album, record of the year, song of the year, best short form music video and best pop solo performance to her list of numerous noteworthy achievements, like spending 50 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

Her album “21” has been at the top for 19 non-consecutive weeks.

Adele’s recent success at the Grammys align her with iconic musical giants like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra, James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel and The Eagles.

Against a backdrop of revolutionary artists like these, Adele’s popularity and praise seems accidental and undeserved.

Adele possesses an undeniably high dose of vocal talent for her age, with some critics already deeming her the best voice of her generation.

However, her surprising vocal ability appears to be hindering a large population of music critics and

Turner

Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum play a married couple who struggle from the effects amnesia has on their relationship.

“The Vow” promises nothing but boredom

By LINDSEY GORE Beat Reporter

Billboard

Adele wins six Grammy awards this year including: album of the year, best pop vocal album, record of the year, song of the year, best short form music video and best pop solo performance.

enthusiasts alike from acknowledging the obvious and significant shortcomings in what is simply another uninspired breakup album.

Although Adele may have a voice that implies age and experience, the songs that comprise “21” could have been written by a teenage girl engulfed in the drama of high school and consumed by heartbreak, betrayal, desperation and regret, all of which are primary recurring themes in the 11 tracks.

The album’s subject matter lacks variety and originality and begins to sound

Jillian Boreing

A fish and chips dinner with Smithwicks Irish Ale. Hooligan’s has several Irish beers and ales on its menu.

like nothing more than the bitter and confused confessions of a woman scorned.

To a degree, Adele compensates for her deficiency in lyrical maturity with a diverse collection of pianodriven, Motown-influenced musical arrangements. She creatively combines various cultural flavors like the sultry grit of southern soul and blues in “Rolling in the Deep” and the romantic undertones of Latin jazz in her cover of The Cure’s “Lovesong.”

But sound alone does not determine an album’s quality. If lyrical content did not play a vi-

tal role in music, no one would listen to Bob Dylan.

Current recognition of Adele’s talent is completely one-sided. Critics laud her voice, not her words. But great words have the power to outlive a voice in fame, regardless of how incredible the voice.

If Adele is able to expand her repertoire to include more than resentful songs about bad boyfriends, her future releases may be worthy of the hype surrounding her presently. If she is unable to, however, her fame will be short-lived and her career eventually forgotten.

Jillian Boreing

Dart boards are available for guests at Hooligan’s Half/Irish Pub.

New Hooligan’s Half/Irish Pub’s food, atmosphere fails to impress

By WILL SHECKLER Asst. Entertainment Editor Hooligan’s Half/Irish Pub comes off as a friendly spot to have a drink, eat a meal and meet with friends.

The 21-and-up-only pub opened about three weeks ago and keeps bringing people back with its parking lot full almost every night, especially weekends.

Hooligan’s is more along the lines of a sports bar rather than a traditional Irish Pub. It has an open table seating policy, if you can find a

place to sit. It may be easier to find a seat on a week night than on the weekends.

It didn’t take long to decide what to order, but I believe my table was forgotten for a while. I’m not sure if it was due to the large crowd and unorganized mess of tables, or if the abundance of tall tables overwhelmed the short tables, like mine.

I came to Hooligan’s with a friend who has traveled abroad to Ireland and I have been to Scotland, we both decided to order the Fish and Chips from

the pub’s entrée menu for reminiscing. We knew the food wouldn’t come close to our abroad experiences, but being a fish lover, I thought its fish would have more taste to it.

Besides the fried part of the fish, the rest wasn’t worth the attempt to eat it or the money it cost. The small cup of coleslaw and the tartar sauce both tasted the same. The chicken tenders, however, are a good choice.

On the beer menu, try the green-labeled drinks, which are the imported Irish

beers. I ordered the Harp Lager and believe there were only three choices.

Other entertainment at Hooligan’s, besides the basketball on the TVs, includes dart throwing, picking music to play on the jukebox and socializing with fellow patrons.

Hooligan’s isn’t that cheap, the music is played almost too loud, and isn’t the place for someone who hates being around cigarette smoke. It may be best to visit during lunch.

Listen online at tntech.edu/wttu

“The Vow” is a forgettable film with a longwinded plot and unimpressive acting that seriously lacks chemistry.

Leo and Paige, played

by Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams, are happily married when a snowy car crash leaves Paige in the hospital under a medically induced coma.

Paige wakes up with no memory of the past five years of her life. She does not know who the president is, that she is a rather successful sculptor or who her husband is.

To make matters worse, she believes she is still engaged to ex-fiancé Jeremy.

Jeremy, played by Scott Speedman, is a cocky businessman who is the polar opposite of record producer Leo. Leo patiently waits for his wife to regain her memory while she struggles to remember why she is no longer attending law school or talking to her parents, played by Jessica Lange and Sam Neill. Leo holds on as Paige takes him on an emotional roller coaster as she fights to make sense of her life.

“The Vow” is a typical chick flick that relies on tear-jerking moments to cover up the lack of an engaging plot. The film

turns what should have been a 10-minute story into an hour-and -a-halflong movie that is more of a chore than entertainment.

Casting Tatum to play the cool, hipster record producer did not fit his athletic, macho-man persona. His performance is unimpressive and far from convincing; watching him don a fedora and struggle through his role is difficult to watch and seriously dampens any potential the film has.

McAdams’s ability to come across as hip is slightly better than Tatum’s, but Lange proves to have the strongest performance of all. She accurately portrays her role of the uptight mother and easily outshines the other actors.

The soundtrack is one, if not the only, positive aspect of “The Vow.” Bands like The National, OK Go and Still Life Still make the film fun to at least listen to.

The credits roll with The Cure’s “Picture’s Of You,” which almost entirely makes up for Tatum’s struggle to portray a hipster.

“The Vow” is doomed to be forgotten as it is uninspiring with awkward acting and a plot that is entirely too long.

“The Vow” is rated PG13 for an accident scene, sexual content, partial nudity and some language.

Lindsey’s Star Value

Jenni Merritt

Fashion Forward How to: Break the Fashion ‘Rules’

By CHRISTINA RIDDLE Entertainment Editor There are certain fashion rules you should break.

Learn how to rock trends that are considered taboo.

Most fashion rules are completely outdated or false. It’s time to put these fashion lies and myths to death and find a way to appropriately wear for instance: white after Labor Day. Here are three fashion rules you should break and the ways to properly break them.

No white after Labor Day. You can absolutely wear white after Labor Day! There is a massive difference between stark white and winter white. Winter white is very similar to an off-white color and is beautiful paired with other postsummer season colors like

emerald or crimson.

Never wear black with brown or navy.

There are no rules to pairing colors. The key is to strategically coordinate the colors so you don’t look frumpy. The pairing of black and brown is one of the easiest combinations to successfully execute.

Try pairing black skinny jeans with a brown belt and shoes. Navy and black can be a bit trickier, but still, very attainable. A black flowing dress with a navy blazer would be a perfect combination.

Never mix colors.

This is one of the best rules to break because without this limitation you can throw on many different pieces to jive an outfit up.

Try breaking these fashion rules and see how much it frees up your choices!

NEWS Page 6 | February 17, 2012

tntechoracle.com

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO

Melissa Edwards

Kimberly Ainsworth and Nicole Blurton bow their heads in prayer during a prayer vigil held on Feb. 13 for custodians that could be outsourced.

Custodial Outsourcing CONTINUED from page 1 The contract approval comes less than six months prior to the retirement of President Bob Bell, who, along with the TBR, made the final decision to outsource custodial services.

Stidham said, “How could this not reflect against [Bell]? It happened under his watch. It’s going to be a part of his legacy as far as I’m concerned. He left us packing.”

The United Campus Workers organization held a prayer vigil Feb. 13 at Tech,

which brought a crowd of over 80 people.

Faith leaders within the community came together to pray for the custodians, with custodians, students and faculty in the crowd also given the opportunity to speak.

Curriculum and Instruction professor, Suellen Alfred, said that she loves having Renee, the custodian in Bartoo Hall.

“She is a member of our family and I want to keep her,” said Alfred.

Corinne Johnson, Minority Affairs secretary, also said, “Our custodians are a part of the Tech family and a part of our family. I want to keep each and every one of them.”

Hector Black, a member of Cookeville’s Quaker community, said, “I felt that when we put profit before people, we were making a major mistake. It’s a danger to run an institution like Tech, who is dedicated to education, but is cutting corners.

“I feel as though corporations are built for profit, Tech and other institutions are here to teach, and by doing this Tech is not teaching justice.”

Melissa Edwards

Runners cross the starting line during the Cupid’s Chase 5k held on campus on Feb. 11. This annual run supports housing and employment development for people with developmental disabilities.

CRIME BRIEFS: - Feb. 1 - 9:30 Classification: Destruction/ Damage/Vandalism Location: Cooper Hall Parking Lot - Feb. 1 - Not Available Classification: Stalking Location: New Hall North - Feb. 1 - Not Available Classification: Burglary/ Breaking & Entering Location: Prescott Middle School

Emily Haile

- Feb. 3 - 3:00 Classification: Attempted Breaking & Entering Location: Roaden University Center Mini-Mart

- Feb. 6 - 4:00 Classification: Theft from Motor Vehicle Location: Volpe Library & Media Center - Parking Lot

- Feb. 4 - 1:04 Classification: Open Theft Location: Jobe Hall Bicycle Rack

- Feb. 8 - 12:00 Classification: Burglary/ Breaking & Entering Location: Warf Hall

- Feb. 5 - Not Available Classification: Intimidation Location: Other Cellphone

- Feb. 14 -3:02 Classification: Drug/ Narcotic Violation Location: Browning Hall

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The SGA Allocations Committee (left) unanimously voted that UNCLE’s application for SOLO funding be recommended to the Senate.

Battle of the Bands to rock campus

By EMILY HAILE Beat Reporter One of Tech’s newest student groups is hosting a battle of the bands at 7 p.m. on Feb. 23, bringing the Nashville and Cookeville music scenes closer together.

Underrepresented, New, and Creative Live Experiences, formed last semester to give people a better local opportunity to listen to and perform live music.

“We were jealous of the Nashville scene,” Amy Rauch, UNCLE vice president said. “We wanted to show the Cookeville artists some love.”

UNCLE has been sponsoring open mic nights at the Backdoor Playhouse, but the battle of the bands is the group’s first big event.

“The open mics have been really solid for singer/ songwriters, but we wanted to have a place for bands with a drum kit to come and play,” Rauch said.

President Austin Phy said, “We wanted something between open mic and hav-

ing a large band here. It’s multiple artists that are a little smaller, like open micsize artists, but they’re able to play for more than 5 minutes.”

Local bands had an opportunity to submit their music for the chance to compete.

Eight bands showed initial interest.

“We were looking for some solid rock and hopefully living in the Cookeville area so we could enforce our Cookeville scene,” Rauch said. “That’s the heart of this show.”

The bands chosen to compete in the battle are Her Inspired Virus, Brie and the BAD Tempos, Color the Lifeline, Otherwize and Reach.

The winning band gets the opportunity to open up for Wax Fang, a Nashvillebased band that recently toured with My Morning Jacket, at the Backdoor Playhouse in March. UNCLE is also hosting the Wax Fang show.

There will be a panel of judges picking the winning band, and will be judging

stage presence, audience participation and overall musical talent.

“We’d like to have one or more of Wax Fang’s members to take part in the judging, but we’re not set on that,” Phy said.

According to Phy, the bands are not the only ones who will benefit from the Battle.

“It’ll be great for Tech and kind of making us known as a place committed to art and promoting underrepresented groups,” Phy said. “Nashville has a ton of quality acts that aren’t country, which is what a lot of people think of when they think of Nashville.

“Those bands aren’t really known outside of Nashville. They could really benefit from being promoted here, and we could benefit from them playing here. This is the first step toward hosting great events that couldn’t happen otherwise.”

The first band will take the stage at 8 p.m., and the free admission show is expected to last about two hours.

ORDER YOUR JUST YEARBOOK TODAY! $25 DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MARCH 2 visit tntech.edu/eagleyearbook