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Shea Haile l The Oracle OPENING WEEKEND - The baseball team began their season on Feb. 19 and swept Western Illinois University in a three game series at Busch Stadium Feb. 19 and 20. Sophomore Ryan Flick takes a swing at a pitch during Tech’s first game against the Leathernecks Friday. The team will play the University of Central Arkansas on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Tech adds three graduate programs for non-tradtional students

‘‘

By LAUREN BRABSTON Beat Reporter

The School of Professional Studies at Tennessee Tech University has added three new graduate programs for non-traditional students.

These programs are online and designed to cater to the needs of working adults.

Roberts Interdisciplinary Studies’ program director, Joe Roberts, along with Melissa Geist, Ph.D., and Thad Perry, Ph.D., founded these programs. The newest program is in its final stages of ap-

We also want to broaden the variety of students who attend.

— Joe Roberts Interdisciplinary Studies program director

proval. The second program, teaching English as a second language, is in its first month, and health care informatics is in its first year.

Teaching English as a second language, is a program designed for international students who want to advance their careers by teaching English to other internationals with whom they do business. Being one of the newer programs, no curriculum has been set yet, but the process of creating a curriculum has started.

The fastest growing of the three programs is the health care informatics. It is a

,,

combination of Tech’s School of Nursing, School of Professional Studies and the College of Business.

The main reason for adding not just one but three new programs was that there became a demand for it. “The purpose for adding more graduate programs to the School of Professional Studies is to aim more light on Tennessee Tech and the unique programs we offer,” said Roberts. “ We also want to broaden the variety of students who attend.”

Students in the programs are from a variety of places and have a variety of jobs.

Ranging from Georgia to Japan, from a

bachelor’s degree in business to a doctorate in medicine, the new programs provided fit multiple students’ academic needs.

There are over 100 students enrolled in these programs. Each program’s curriculum consists of 11 classes totaling 33 hours.

Focusing on the students needs, each student has up to six years to complete his or her degree online.

These new programs stand out from the others because of their admissions requirements. If the students have worked five or more years, they can substitute their portfolio for the graduate records examination.

Each program’s professors are Tech professors of professor of one of the other five Tennessee Board of Regents universities.

This upcoming May, the School of Professional Studies will be having their first graduation; 25 students will be earning their master’s degree in health care informatics.

Tech receives $300,000 grant to train researchers in Innovation Corps program

By ELISSA LONGFELLOW Beat Reporter Tennessee Tech is now a member of the National Science Foundation’s National Innovation Network. The University received a NSF grant for nearly $300,000 to establish Tech as a training site for part of the Innovation Corps program. The grant will be awarded over three years.

The I-Corps program was established to help researchers transition their ideas from technological developments to the marketplace and learn how to evaluate their discoveries for commercial potential.

“At Tennessee Tech, we are really good at being technical, but this program will help students think about the social impact of what they are doing and how they can help people,” said Stephen Canfield, mechanical engineering

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professor and lead investigator for Tech’s I-Corps program. “Our goal in pursing this program is the benefits that it will bring to our students.”

NSF’s network consists of two types of establishments to help academics think more like businessmen: nodes and sites. A node is a formal, intensive training facility, where the sites are more localized.

They offer similar training, but on a more manageable scale.

The principle focus of the program will be training students to determine if mass markets could use the technologies the students are developing. During training, participants are required to identify and communicate with customers to gather data to make their technologies better.

“If the whole point is to help a customer, why wouldn’t you talk to them while you’re doing your

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work?” said Canfield.

In addition to developing specialized technologies, the program also allows students to reach larger audiences with their developments.

With Tech joining the National Innovation Network, faculty and students will be presented with more academic opportunities.

“If I had to summarize the benefits of this program, they would be money, access and credibility,” said Canfield. “We will have access to all the information at the nodes, meet more NSF benchmarks for funding, and get more recognition.”

Program participants are trained in teams usually consisting of a researcher or professor, graduate students, and a business mentor. These teams will work toward developments in one of four areas: research and technical projects, STEM learning initiatives, Oak Ridge technologies and regional

industry.

Canfield said he wants to make the program available to both graduate and undergraduate students.

“We are reaching out to a broader audience,” said Canfield.

“The idea is to get a lot more students and faculty in the training.”

Canfield After completing the program, a student should be able to tell if their scientific and technological developments, or products, have business potential. If they do, the program has supports in place to help students take their product to the next level.

Some supports include NSF aid for follow-up developments and connections to potential investors.

The goal for the program at Tech is to have 30 trained teams and 5-10 product launches at the end of each year.

“At Tech, there is a lot of push to build an innovation ecosystem.

This program adds a big piece to the puzzle,” said Canfield. “The key is to have greater social impact from the research that we are currently doing.”

In addition to Canfield, the core team of investigators for the I-Corps project at Tech includes Curtis Armstrong, chairperson of decision sciences and management; Sally Pardue, STEM Center director; Ismail Fidan, professor of manufacturing and engineering technology; Michael Aikens, RODP marketing director; Jeff Brown, executive director of the Biz Foundry; and Harry Ingle, director of the College of Engineering Student Success Center.

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NEWS

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

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>> Campus

University Orchestra begins season with first Spring concert events

By LAUREN BRABSTON Beat Reporter Thursday, Feb. 18, the department of music and art’s University Orchestra performed.

The performance was held in the Bryan Fine Arts building located on Tech’s campus at 7:30 p.m.

Dan Allcott, professor of music, was the orchestra’s conductor.

This performance was the orchestra’s first performance of the spring semester.

The performance was composed of three pieces that included Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s “Battalia,” Frederick Delius’ “Air and Dance” and Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 5 in B flat major.

Biber’s piece “Battalia” was comprised of eight short movements.

Most of these movements contained different keys and rhythms, which made each movement individual and unique.

The second piece that was played, “Air and Dance,” had one medium long movement that was a

slower piece than the first one played.

T h e last piece, Symphony No. 5 in B flat major, was the longest of the Allcott three pieces.

Having four medium long movements each, this piece was a combination of the other two and seemed to be the most popular.

“One of the reasons for choosing the piece “Battalia” is because it is a good piece to explore the way composers followed the basic mu-

sic rules of their time, and how they brought in new and sometimes controversial ideas,” said Allcott.

Katie White, senior violinist who is majoring in music performance, along with Jeff Gantt, freshman bassist majoring in music education, presented the solos at this performance.

The University Orchestra is comprised of mostly music majors, however the orchestra is open to any student in any major who attends Tech.

The orchestra has two types of musical instruments being played, string instru-

ments and wind instruments.

Musicians who play the string instruments do not have to try out to be in the orchestra, but musicians who play the wind instruments have a tryout.

Samantha Hood, clarinet player for The Golden Eagle Marching Band, attended the event Thursday.

Hood said, “I thought that the orchestra did a great job. My favorite part of the performance was Symphony No. 5 in B flat major.” The University Orchestra performs multiple times a semester so be on the lookout for their next performance.

@ tech February

23 All Day

Order The Centennial Eagle Yearbook RUC 372

11 a.m. - 11:55 a.m.

Beginners French Conversation Hour Oakley Hall 214

5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

E-Week: Egg Drop Tucker Stadium

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Spam messages bombard Tech email accounts posing as IT Help ITS asks students, faculty and staff to report suspicious emails to decrease and prevent spam messages and malicious malware attacks.

By BRYAN BOWEN Beat Reporter This past week, Tech students’ email accounts received emails from spam accounts posing as Tech’s IT Help Desk.

Emails from a person posing to be “Frances O. Thomas” from the IT Help Desk are sent to students telling them that their account needs to have a security update within 24 hours or they risk losing access to their email box.

Another email sent to students is from Technical Support stating that their “mailbox exceeds its space” and that they need to click a link to reset the space in the email database.

Deb Zsigalov, chief information security officer, said, “The minute a student clicks the link, it establishes a link to your email and hits your address book or phone contacts, depending if

you used your phone; it then broadcasts on behalf of you then it propagates. If you have 20 contacts it sends it to all 20 then if your friends have 20 contacts it spreads like wildfire.”

“I have received many emails about this all from different people,” said Jason Swafford, a senior Mechanical Engineering Technology major.

“I still haven’t followed the instructions (in the emails), and I’m still receiving emails regularly.”

Emails from the real Information Technology Services have a clear message about security usually found at the bottom of the email. Included states, “TTU ITS will never ask you for account credentials, personal information, etc. In the future, please treat any emails that ask for such information as malicious phishing attempts.”

Some ways to identify spam are looking at the email address. If there is a long string of numbers in front of the @ sign or the name of a free email service before the .com, the validity of the email should be questioned.

Another way to identify spam is looking at the content of the email.

Look out for emails that say to do something right at that second or within a certain number of hours; also, if it gives an unexplained link, this can be a red flag.

The best way to prevent these types of emails is to change passwords frequently. If you haven’t changed your email password since starting Tech you are more at risk for spam.

If you do start to get spam emails, change your password as soon as you see it, and it should help combat the spam.

ITS relies on students, faculty and staff to report the emails so they can help limit the spam emails and help prevent students’ computers from becoming infected with malware.

Those who experience these issues need to contact ITS by forwarding the spam email to Zsigalov or Shawn Albro, IT Security Analyst, and briefly explain why you believe it is spam.

E-Week: Poker and Chili Night Johnson Hall Auditorium

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

TTU Concert Band Concert Wattenbarger Auditorium

24

All Day

Order The Centennial Eagle Yearbook RUC 372

5 p.m. - 6 p.m.

E-Week: SAME Obstacle Course Memorial Gym

6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

ADTRAN Information Session Brown Hall 320

7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Spring Trumpet Festival Recital Wattenbarger Auditorium

8 p.m. - 9 p.m.

E-Week: Engineering Bowl Clement Hall 212

25

10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Engineering Career Fair Roaden University Center

5:15 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Additively Innovative Virtual Lecture Series with Ed Tacket iMakerSpace, Volpe Library

6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

TTU Men’s Basketball vs.

Morehead State Hooper Eblen Center

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Engineers Week Banquet Leslie Town Center

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

TTU Jazz Ensembles in Concert Wattenbarger Auditorium

26 Christie Jenkins Joann Long Owners

410 E. Spring Street, Suite M1, Cookeville, TN 38501

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TECH DISCOUNT Monday Tech nights for all Tech students

Bring valid Tech ID

9 a.m. - 10 a.m.

Missouri Science and Technology Graduate Program Information Session Clement Hall 211

7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Pops Night for Trombones Wattenbarger Auditorium

27

3 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Sarah DelBene and Katheryn Hoffecker Recital Wattenbarger Auditorium

3 p.m. - 4 p.m.

TTU Women’s Basketball vs. Eastern Kentucky Hooper Eblen Center

6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

International Friends Banquet Multipurpose Room

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Guest Recital: Premru Quartet Wattenbarger Auditorium

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Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Page 3 || COOKEVILLE, TN || THE ORACLE

Inside the Game >>

SPORTS

Track team breaks school and personal best records

By OLIVIA HOFFMAN Beat Reporter

Dave Winder | Murray State Sports Information SPRING SWING - Freshman Hollee Sadler completes her swing during Tech’s appearance in the Murray State University Invitational. Tech will begin their Spring season Feb. 28 when they travel to the Edwin Watts- Kiawah Island Classic.

Women’s golf eager to begin Spring season

By GABRIELLA FARLEY Beat Reporter The Tech’s women’s golf team is predicted to finish fourth in the OVC this spring season. Golf coach Polk Brown explained that all the OVC coaches vote on where they think the teams are going to finish, and they are not allowed to vote for themselves.

Tech’s predicted ranking follows Eastern Kentucky, Morehead State and Murray State.

Each year, Tech’s teams are predicted to finish the season with a high and higher rank. Brown said, “I feel like we have a chance to make a run at conference. Being predicted at fourth, we have the opportunity to prove to them

that we are better than they think we are. We have to take it a step at a time before we get to April.�

Freshman golf team member Hollee Sadler said, “I definitely think we should win the OVC, and I would like to compete in all seasons and tournaments.� Sadler played in every tournament last semester.

Being a freshman, Sadler’s learned from past experiences. “I failed over and over last semester,� said Sadler, “but this one will go by much smoother because I know what I need to do and what needs done of me.�

Junior Haley Davidson said, “I think that our team is very driven and cares for one another, which allows us to push each other to be the best that

we can be as a team.�

The women’s team has had a better opportunity to prepare for this spring season versus last year because of the decent weather. Brown noted that the weather last year didn’t allow them to get outside practice at all.

Sadler and Davidson both commented that the inconvenient weather has forced the team to work on their short game and maintenance practice indoors that they will take with them for good use on the course.

The Tech women’s golf team will start off the spring season Sunday, Feb. 28, when they travel to the Edwin Watts - Kiawah Island Classic. The tournament is hosted by the College of Charleston with 40 teams expected to participate.

Tennis wins home debut against UTC

By DANIEL FORTE Beat Reporter The Tennessee Tech tennis team opened up at home with a win against Chattanooga Thursday, Feb. 28. They won in convincing fashion 6-1 bringing them to a 2-2 record. “It’s nice to get the first home win,� said Kenny Doyle coach of the Golden Eagles. “We always have a competitive match with Chattanooga.�

The match started with doubles, where the Golden Eagles’ top two positions took care of business. The No. 1 team, senior Alex Arovin and junior

With women’s track season underway, many personal and school records have already been broken which will give the team further motivation for upcoming championships.

Junior athlete Sarah Brandt said, “When you look at that record book, it’s like your mouth starts watering. We all think ‘I want this one.’ So when we’re all thinking about records, races are a chance to show that off. “ The Golden Eagle track team’s season started with the breaking of four school records at the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener Dec. 5, 2015. School records were broken in the 200m, 400m and 800m individually, and four career best marks were set at Vanderbilt.

The relay team of Na’Asha Robinson, Jaydean Joseph, Tiara Hymon and D’Airrien Jackson also crushed the previous school record for the 4x400m relay by more than 13 seconds.

With that momentum from the Vanderbilt Indoor Opener, the Golden Eagles continued to prove themselves as a fierce competitor. head coach Wayne Angel contributes part of the season’s success to that first meet. “After that first meet, the momentum started going and the morale was high.

We hadn’t done this before. I mean we are breaking records left and right,� said Angel.

With that momentum in tow, the second standout meet was the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame Feb. 5 and 6.

Not only was this the first time that Tech had competed in distance medley relay this year, but the combination of Brandt, Crystal Liebenberg, D’Airrien Jackson and Jenna Storms proved to be unstoppable as they shattered Tech’s previous record with a time of

Alberto Esteban, beat Chattanooga senior John Peacey and junior Lucas Plesky 6-2. The No. 2’s, sophomore Eduardo Mena and freshman Guillermo Nicolas, clinched the second point, 6-4 for the Golden Eagles against UTC senior Luke Saunders and junior Nic Wilson.

The Golden Eagles continued their success in singles play taking five of six matches from UTC (3-4). The OVC Preseason No. 1 ranked player, Mena, stayed hot and won his match 6-3, 6-3 against Peacey. The win gives him a perfect 4-0 record this year.

No. 2 Arovin had a tough match against UTC’s Plesky. Arovin won the first game but lost the match 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Esteban won his match 6-2, 6-4 against Nick Wingord from the three spot, while Tech’s Carlos Tajes clinched the team match with his win over Pablo Llebeili from the No. 6 spot claiming his first vic-

12:07.21.

Brandt said, “It’s really fun being a part of a relay because it’s something bigger than yourself. It’s not just you out there; it’s your teammates that you’re handing that baton to.�

Coach Angel stated, “Notre Dame has been our best meet so far. Every athlete that was there did great.�

The Ohio Valley Conference Championship at Tennessee State University are this upcoming weekend, Feb. 26 and 27. The team is preparing for the meet by thought out practice times, explained Brandt. Last week was a down week, and the team will practice heavily this week before easing up the day before the meet. “Right now we are at a point where we’re slowing things down. We are sharpening them, and getting them prepared both mentally and physically. It’s a matter of putting them at the starting line and going for it.� said Angel.

Not only has the team proven themselves on the track, but also in the classroom. “The group of athletes we have this year is very young, but they are very talented and bright. We were recently named All Academic by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association with a team GPA of 3.1,� said Angel.

Brandt said another key to the success of the team is the bond that the athletes share. “We are always trying to pull together as a team and improve our team dynamic.

When you have a group of girls that you can lean on, it makes it that much easier on the track. I think that is part of our success. We do that type of maintenance, and that makes for a supportive environment where we can push each other to get better,�

Brandt said.

tory of the young season in singles play.

Jorge Alfonzo won his battle with UTC’s Derrick Brown 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 from the No. 5 position.

The longest match of the day came from Tech’s Guillermo Nicolas and Saunders. Nicolas prevailed with a 7-5, 7-5 victory putting the finishing touches on the day. “The whole team played well, everybody contributed to the win in both singles and doubles,� said Doyle. “If we treat each match as a championship match, no matter who we’re playing, prepare and have fun we will be successful.�

The Golden Eagles travel to the University of Tennessee Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. “We look forward to traveling to there,� said Doyle. “It’s always a good environment and a good test.�

Tech to host local high school basketball tournaments

By AUSTIN CLAY Beat Reporter

" # ! " " #

The Hooper Eblen Center is hosting the 2016 district 8AA and region 4AA tournaments. This is the first year since 2010 that Tennessee Tech has held postseason high school basketball tournaments.

District 8AA consists of the following high schools: Upperman, Smith County, DeKalb County, Cannon County, Macon County, Livingston Academy, York Institute and Central Magnet.

Region 4AA contains these same schools plus schools around the Chattanooga area.

Diane Smith, assistant to the vice president for finance and planning, said, “Just this year Dana McWilliams has taken the reigns and contacted Tech about coming back.� McWilliams is the woman’s basketball coach at Upperman High School.

Smith says that the only thing Tech charges the district for is custodial costs and two facility managers. The University, however, doesn’t get any money from hosting these tournaments. “Any K-12 schools or state agencies don’t have to pay rent to use the facilities,� Smith said. “They just have to pay custodial costs and facility managers. Tech isn’t out for any money from

other schools, but also Tech doesn’t lose any money.�

Smith says Chartwell’s might make a little money.

The agreement between McWilliams and Tech states all concessions will be provided by Chartwell’s.

Logan Vance, a freshman at Tech from one of the 8AA schools, expresses his happiness that Tech is finally hosting the tournaments again. “I love watching basketball, and what else is better than watching your old friends play on your campus,� said Vance.

Eric Arnold, a senior business major, loved playing at Tech during his high school time. “You felt somewhat cool coming to Tech to

play and being that you’re still in high school,� said Arnold.

Tech is also using this opportunity to recruit. Just like Tech hosting the football state championships, any high school student that comes to support their school will get the name of Tennessee Tech in their head for their college decision.

Smith said the plans are for Tech to keep hosting these tournaments every year. “It’s great for the University, for students being on campus,� said Smith. “It’s a win, win.�

The district tournament will continue through Feb. 23. Region tournament play will begin Feb. 29 with the top seeds hosting.

Page 4 || THE ORACLE || COOKEVILLE, TN

ENTERTAINMENT

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

>> Reviews

‘Painting With’ is another confused album in Animal Collective’s recent disappointing history

By CAMERON FOWLER Entertainment Editor Like most artists, Animal Collective is only human.

Although they grant themselves faux names like Panda Bear or The Geologist, the group is still guys utilizing a skill that is very human: the skill of singing. Their music is almost exclusively tuned toward their omnipresent vocal delivery, which sounds like The Beach Boys mixed with some kind of computer error which warps the exactness of one’s voice.

Their layered and melodic sound used to be so refreshing to listen to, but after several years of rampant experimentation with their voices and odd, electronic sonic detours, Animal Collective has finally circled back around to a devotion of their trademark style.

This style gives way to a wobbly yet achingly straightforward album entitled ‘Painting With,’ the band’s 10th album in 16 years. While each member has been dispersed for about four years releasing their own projects or just taking a break, they came together to record ‘Painting With,’ which

adopts some lessons they each learned in their time away, mostly taking cues from founder Panda Bear’s last studio album, ‘Panda Bear vs. The Grim Reaper,’ a rote exercise in electronica and psychedelia that did not expand upon its core sound in any way. ‘Painting With’ sounds like it took the worst parts of that album and tried to implement other ideas from the band, leading to a mixed bag consisting of some of the most questionable and downright boring tracks recorded by the band.

The album starts off with the single ‘FloriDada.’ This track is obviously put first because of its infectious aura and delightful vocals. This track is a hoppy opener, but one that most fans have already heard and responded to well. It all fits together perfectly, but once the song ends it’s easy to see that it was adequate, but not a crowning example of the band’s sound.

In many ways, this describes ‘Painting With’ perfectly, as the listener desperately wants the band to evolve somehow even though their footing has been off for several years now.

This point is only amplified by the middle run of ‘Painting With.’ Labeled by several short, halfway-realized versions of songs, the band cannot find a happy

Photo Courtesy: flavorwire.com GOOD VIBRATIONS - ‘Painting With’ was recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, and Animal Collective used the same studio as Brian Wilson did for ‘Smile’ and ‘Pet Sounds.’ medium within the sound they try to muse on with this entire chunk of songs. Tracks such as ‘The Burglars’ are a sonic mess, with a loudly overbearing synth line running through the entirety of the song. The instrumental is intrusive in the worst way possible. Vocally, this track is also a mess, with the lyrics being negligently spattered out by the band through an alternatively scattershot attempt at throwing some harmonies in the fray.

Most of the problems arising in ‘Painting With’ are from the conflict between the simplistic beats and rhythms relying heavily on synths and drums machines and the misfires at creating memorable vocal melodies. ‘On Delay,’

the eighth track, tries to tie the vocals to the music’s mission, which is to create a delay between members singing and also the beat. Ideas like this don’t work for the band, and unfortunately there are quite a few of these on the album.

‘Summing The Wrench’ is another practice in overplay between the instrumentals and vocals. It includes one of the trademarks of Animal Collective by switching between different vocal pitches extremely fast, which makes the entire song a queasy affair coupled with the tinny synths that also plague this entire album.

There are some examples of this sound decently working, such as track 9, ‘Spilling Guts,’ a two-minute song

that allows the band to sing normally for the most part other than submit each verse to harmonies that don’t gel with the beat. Although it’s short, this track is the right length for what it is, and doesn’t bleed over into other songs like several others on the album. Sometimes a beat is strong enough to elevate a song, such as track 4, ‘Lying in the Grass.’ With both the beat and harmonies, this song really works and overcomes the struggle that other songs on ‘Painting With’ have with maintaining the balance between the two.

As the album ends, another standout track appears in ‘Golden Gal,’ which samples a clip from ‘The Golden Girls’ as an attempt

to make the track thematic.

The song isn’t actually about The Golden Girls, but rather about a nondescript ‘golden gal’ who brings everyone strength. ‘Golden Gal’ was a single from the album and is the other great track from the album next to ‘FloriDada.’

This song uses a narrative structure rather than a wall of sound employed by other, more exhausting songs on the album. The harmonies are varied enough to make each chorus feel flighty and communal as the band sings the words ‘golden gal’ all together. Whereas other songs are a firing of vocals and sound, this track takes its time to let the song play out, leading to a stronger, steadier sound that overshadows most tracks on ‘Painting With.’

Animal Collective leave ‘Painting With’ out there with a sound that is not confident in itself and often falters. When the songs work, though, they are a merry return to what Animal Collective knows best: psychedelia which feels audibly correct, a mural of noise and keys that paint a picture rather than just stick out there like colors thrown on a canvas. The majority of the album is unfortunately a laborious excursion in the mundane, with songs that sound alive, but are internally dry and grasping at cohesion.

‘Hamilton’ breaks records, defies expectations Judd Apatow’s ‘Love’ is uninspired yet charming

By HANNAH BARGER Entertainment Critic

By BETH BILES Guest Critic

“How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?” That’s the question answered by Grammy-winning musical Hamilton, the show that is currently taking the Broadway world by storm.

From the show’s recent performance and win on the Grammys to the numerous praise it’s received by celebrities and other public figures, Hamilton seems to be on the tip of practically everyone’s tongue. Not to mention, infiltrating everyone’s Facebook feed. So how is a musical about our first Secretary of the Treasury and the guy on the $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton, quickly becoming a national sensation?

It’s revolutionizing Broadway as we know it.

The cast in dominated by minorities.

From creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, as a Latino Alexander Hamilton to a black George Washington, Hamilton is made up a largely Latino and AfricanAmerican cast.

This is groundbreaking for Broadway as it is often criticized for not having enough diversity in its performers. It’s the story of America then, told by America now. The beauty of Hamilton, is that it’s the tale of an outsider becoming an insider; of immigrants being accepted into a nation of immigrants. An issue that is still a problem today. “Hey

Photo Courtesy: newyorker.com YOU’LL BE BACK - ‘Hamilton’ made $30 million in ticket sales before opening on Broadway. yo, I’m just like my country. I’m young, scrappy, and hungry. I am not throwing away my shot!” Miranda’s Hamilton repeats throughout the show.

It makes the founding fathers accessible. Forget about the old, dead, white guys we all learned in school; Miranda manages to make them interesting and entertaining.

The biographical musical focuses of the rise and fall of Alexander Hamilton: a poor immigrant born in the West Indies and orphaned at a young age, who made his way to America on the brink of the Revolutionary war and ended up as our “tendollar founding father.” But this isn’t a story you’d find in a history textbook; Hamilton was involved in one our nation’s first political sex scandals. He was also involved in ten near-duels, until he got himself killed in a duel with Aaron Burr.

It’s breaking boundaries.

When you think Broadway you don’t normally associate it with hip-hop, but this show is changing that; Hamilton tells its story through

hip-hop and R&B music. It may sound strange, but it just works. Who wouldn’t want to listen to a rap battle between Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson about the newly founded America’s debt plan? The soundtrack debuted at #200 on the Billboard 200 Chart; making it the highest charting cast album since The Book of Mormon in 2011, and it’s only the sixth cast album to reach the Top 20 in the last fifty years.

The album even landed in the #1 spot on the Billboard Rap Album Chart.

The show is currently playing the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York City, and is currently sold out until early next year. However, a run in Chicago is planned for 2017 along with a national tour.

Even though the chances of seeing the show are slim, Miranda frequently encourages people through his social media to listen to the cast album anyway. To him, the music and the story are what really matters. The full cast album is available to stream for free on Spotify.

My relationship with Judd Apatow’s work is a complicated one. On one hand, Freaks and Geeks got me through high school and The 40 Year Old Virgin was hilarious. On the other, Girls and Knocked Up both made me want to swear off TV and film forever and live in a cave. Basically, I either love him or hate him.

When it comes to Love, his new Netflix series, I went in totally blind. What you’re about to read is a live account of my first viewing. Strap in.

The first thing I noticed about Episode 1, “It Begins,” was that the characters look and dress like actual people.

In a world of series where even the prisoners have perfect makeup (don’t worry, Orange is the New Black, I still love you), this was incredibly refreshing. I let my guard down a little, feeling less bad about being unbathed and

still wearing my pajamas at 1:07 p.m. And it makes sense.

The show’s whole premise is about realistic characters tackling the dating world in semi-realistic ways.

The following three or so minutes live up to my expectations: one couple cheerfully discusses what area rugs to buy when they move in together while another has hate sex at what looks to be about 3 a.m. Once again, this could go either way.

A jump forward in the timeline reveals that Mr. and Ms. Hate Sex are still, regrettably, together, which I can’t say I didn’t expect. It’s always the worst couples that last the longest. Mr. Hate Sex, whose name is actually Eric, lives with his mom and has a cocaine habit, which further alienates his girlfriend, who Wikipedia has informed me is named Mickey.

Gus, the male half of the area rug couple who now completely owns my heart, is having problems of his own.

In one of the most realistic breakup scenes I’ve seen in a long time, he and his girl-

friend call it quits. He moves out on his own soon after and tried to convince himself the bachelor life is going to be just fine. What follows is a fourperson train wreck involving pants, disc golf, and a whole lot of crying alone. Overall, Love gets off to a promising start. The performances are thoroughly entertaining, a worthy successor to Freaks and Geeks. The show is introspective without patting itself on the back too much, which is a trap that some of the current “look how realistic we are” shows tend to fall into. It’s not the best Netflix original I’ve ever seen, but that might just be due to its simple premise. It’s entertaining and fun, but a little uninspired- personally, I’ve seen a few shows and movies that promised to “change the way you think about love!”

But I still pretty much think about love in the same way I always have. Then again, the show is still young, and a lot can happen over another season. I suggest you stay tuned in to Love, even if you’re only using it as background noise.

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OPINIONS

America's favorite pastime is still going strong RYAN GIBBONS Guest Critic It's everyone's favorite time of the year again: the middle of February. Football just came to an end; college basketball is heating up with the end of the regular season near, and the weather is beginning to rise quicker than Johnny Manziel's BAC (blood alcohol concentration) on a Saturday night. However, the most important event in the middle of February is the beginning of baseball season.

For the professionals, the players begin to report for Spring Training to get ready for the long season ahead.

For the Cubs fans, they hope 'Next Year' is finally this year. Now, I'm sure many of you might be thinking that baseball isn't America's favorite pastime anymore, but is that really true?

While it is true that

NAM Y. HUH: Associated Press WRIGLEY FIELD - Devoted Chicago Cubs fans were ecstatic to see their team win the playoff series last October. nationally the viewership has taken a hit, baseball has become a big time regional success. Part of the reason for the hit nationally is the fact games are broadcast too often and two of the teams with the largest fan bases, the New

York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, haven't been their typical powerhouse selves.

Due to the ever-evolving technology and services, so many more channels are widely available to people that make it easier to watch a

majority of their local teams' 162 games.

"There was an average of 148 games, or over 90 percent, aired during the regular season on regional sports networks," said Maury Brown in Forbes.

Epidemics induce panic into American society KATE TREBING Opinions Editor Life is a perilous adventure.

Every second of every day, we are exposed to numerous risks, both from nature and man. As technological advancements make travel more accessible, our world becomes ever smaller. We have the ability to keep in touch with events happening on the other side of the globe, but with this greater freedom comes the knowledge of innumerable threats.

Take the Zika virus, for example. The virus was first identified in 1952 as a rare mosquito-borne disease from Uganda. Its characteristics include flu-like symptoms, rash, conjunctivitis and arthralgia, or pain in the joints. The virus had never taken anyone’s life, and in fact many did not consider its appearance worthy of a hospital visit. It made an occasional appearance in Africa and Southeast Asia, but its influence was confined.

Then in April 2015, the Zika virus made its debut in international headlines.

A case was confirmed in Brazil, the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The disease likely traveled with spectators who had come to watch the big game, and these carriers began to share the virus with a worldwide audience.

This may have been a

THE

cause for concern, but no true threat to life. However, new mothers had begun to report cases of microcephaly to Brazilian health authorities.

This condition, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and hinders brain development, was linked to the Zika virus when scientists discovered traces of Zika in the amniotic fluid surrounding fetuses with microcephaly.

The number of reported cases of microcephaly in Brazil for 2014 was 147. This number rose to 3,500 reported cases between October 2015 and January 2016.

We the public had a choice.

We could shut ourselves into our houses and feed our fear of the next Black Plague. Or we could carry on with life as usual, plus a little more bug spray.

Worldwide epidemics are the least of South Korea’s concerns. On a regular basis, South Korea is bombarded with threats of attack by its Northern counterpart. Just over the borders, North Korea lurks in mystery, communicating only to boast of its possible hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction. Do the Koreans cower in fear and dig bomb shelters in their backyards? They do quite the opposite: they display the ultimate act of true courage.

They carry on with their lives as usual in an act of civilized defiance against this enigmatic foe.

Even Anne Frank refused to surrender to her fear when she was hidden away

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from the Nazis for over two years. When struggling with her panic, she turned to her studies. She made the conscious decision to prepare for her future, despite the grim odds against her life ever returning to normalcy.

Compare these feats of courage to the acts of cowardice that are broadcast, even encouraged, every day by our society. Reality television highlights the hoarders and apocalyptic doomsayers.

Facebook friends huddle together on cyberspace to wring their hands and discuss the fate of our doomed world.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining. People are aging, dayby-day, hour-by-hour. While we fret over circumstances that we cannot change, our worlds are moving without us. We could close ourselves up in a closet to worry, but the truth is that our worst fears may come to pass no matter how far we run.

Many Americans dread that the next president will be unable to lead our country through the innumerable looming crises we face.

We work ourselves into a frenzy imagining our nation spearheaded by an incompetent or power-hungry ruler. We have forgotten the secret to overcoming fear: taking life one step at a time and trusting in a picture greater than ourselves. . We cannot control our circumstances. We can go vote for our favorite presidential candidate. We can avoid traveling to Brazil and wear extra bug repellent. We can

even hoard canned goods in our basement and wait for the zombie apocalypse. But in the end, our lives are not entirely within our control. In what do you put your trust?

I have a friend who is constantly worrying about the state of our world. He is always telling me about a new threat or rumored conspiracy in our government. Every day, he seems to be consumed by anxiety regarding the volatility of the world he sees.

While his fears are not entirely unfounded, I refuse to allow myself to succumb to the fear of the unknown.

We are spooking at shadows, seeing crises that have not yet arisen and making threats out to be catastrophic. The Zika virus, for example, has most recently been definitively linked to microcephaly in only 270 reported cases. North Korea has yet to make good on its threats to the world. And as for Ann Frank, while we know that all of her worst fears came to be truth, we also know that she faced them bravely. She had a choice to either waste her last days spiraling into a pit of despair and fear, or to laugh at her fear and make the most of every day she woke up to.

We can control how we react to life. We can sit out the game. Or we can decide to live every day fully and enjoy the ride, come what may.

Kate Trebing is a junior in communication with a concentration in public relations.

She can be reached at kdtrebing42@students.tntech.edu.

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Another reason people believe that baseball is a dying sport is because "young people just don't play it much anymore." This is just wrong. According to the head offices of Little League, approximately 2 million children play youth baseball, and that number has held steady for the last five years. (Maury Brown, Forbes) Whereas the "king" of sports, football, has seen a large decline in youth participation. Outside The Lines reports a loss of 23,612 in two years.

Lastly, people believe that baseball is dying out as a popular sport because there is no revenue from fans or other sources coming in. This is the easiest claim to refute. Baseball players have the largest contracts for sports players, and they have only been growing larger. According to Cots, 13

of the 30 largest contracts in baseball history have been contracted in the last three years. This due in large part to the increasing revenue teams are bringing in from TV contracts. But people don't watch baseball anymore, right? Of course, the largest TV contract went to the New York Yankees for $7.7 billion, or an annual income of $385 million.

In conclusion, baseball isn't dying; it is merely evolving with the world and new generation of technology and people. Baseball is just as big, and maybe bigger than ever before, but it may take the Cubs breaking the curse for the world to finally see it.

Ryan Gibbons is a senior in communication. He can be reached at rngibbons42@students.tntech.edu.

Reminder to voters reclaim our voices in the 2016 election STEVEN STOIK Guest Critic A disengaged electorate can never truly embody democracy. Yes, ours is an aging federal republic, embattled with questions of money in speech and protecting our futures, but it’s a part of our heritage to own our constitutionally-granted civic responsibilities. Regardless of the past 40 years of voting hurdles, Tennessee is no exception. Put honestly, we’re phenomenally pathetic at turnout. This isn’t to beat the proverbial dead horse appearing for a ritual flogging every election season, but it bears repeating until we finally get it right.

Solution: GET…OUT…AND…VOTE in Tennessee’s Super Tuesday primary March 1, whether you're a tea partier, a Sanderista, a Clintonite, a live-and-let-live libertarian or even someone who simply hates politics.

Early voting is currently taking place every weekday until at least 5:30 p.m. at the Putnam County Election Commission at 705 County Services Drive until Feb. 23. At least be registered for the general election by Oct. 8. This year is a crux for our state and country’s future. If we reengage the electorate in the primaries, we can do so for the Nov. 8 general election. Then perhaps later, we won't suffer tepid turnouts like the turnout of only 29.1 percent of eligible voters in Tennessee’s 2014 midterm.

Only 36.5 percent of registered American voters cast votes on crucial congressional positions and ballot measures in 2014—the lowest turnout in 70 years. The laws haven’t made it easy, and elections are arguably being bought like cinnamon churros on the street corner, but we’ll get the government we overwhelmingly select to change things. Lastly, I encourage everyone to vote for his or her choice in both elections—not just for whomever seems the most likely or “popular” choice. John Quincy Adams once said: “Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.”

Steven Stoik is a senior in communication. He can be reached at sastoik42@students.tntech.edu.

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