Saturday gameday preview - Page 8
THE
Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505
O
RACLE
Volume 94 | Issue 8 | Free in single copy | November 12, 2010
Tech looks to end three game skid versus EKU By BRANDON GOODWIN Sports Editor
The Tennessee Tech football team looks to win its first Homecoming game over Eastern Kentucky since 1955 as the Colonels come to Tucker Stadium on Saturday. The Golden Eagles (4-5, 33 OVC) are looking to recover from injuries that forced nine starters to miss last week’s game at Murray State. Tech dropped that contest 44-13. “We could still be in trouble [this week],” head coach Watson Brown said. “We’re frustrated to have this many injuries.” Five offensive playmakers are listed as either out or doubtful for this week’s game. Among those is sophomore quarterback Tre Lamb who was forced to sit out last week with a knee injury. According to Brown, Lamb is “nip and tuck” this week, leaving senior Cass Barnes with the starting job. Barnes threw for 203 yards and an interception last week against Murray State and rushed for 37 yards on 15 carries and one fumble. On Homecoming, Tech is 43-35-1 all-time since 1930. The only time the Golden Eagles did not hold a homecoming game was in 1944, when they played just three games due to World War II. Tech is
Tech is 5-5 in Homecoming games over the past decade. 5-5 in its last 10 Homecoming games. EKU (4-5, 3-3 OVC) is coming off of one of the biggest upsets of the year, topping number two Jacksonville State 49-37 last week in Richmond, Ky. “Eastern [Kentucky] is a good football team,” Brown
SOLO Fund benefits to begin next semester By CASSIE TESAURO Staff Writer
The Student Organization Life Opportunity Fund launches Spring 2011, carrying the weight of a hopeful SGA and an impatient student body. The SOLO Fund attempts to help increase student retention by sponsoring a major concert each semester and helping student organizations finance campus activities. A $20 tuition hike per semester for full-time students, collected for the first time this fall, sustains the fund. SGA is using this semester to form a base for the SOLO Fund. “We didn’t want to jump right into it,” SGA president Sean Ochsenbein said. “We wanted to make sure it was organized and secure because officers change every year. If these officers ran everything without building a base, it wouldn’t be as sturdy for the following years.” The need for financial stability also concerns SGA. Extra money in the SOLO accounts lessens the likelihood of future issues due to overspending, such as those experienced at East Tennessee State University. “There are only two universities in the Tennessee Board of Regents system with funds like SOLO,” Ochsenbein said. “ETSU has a program called the Better University Community Fund. They spent too much money last semester and went minus. I want to make sure there’s enough money in there for us to have a little wiggle room.” Two separate funds make up SOLO. A super fund to finance a concert each semester holds 75 percent of the money collected. The other 25 percent goes into a mini-fund for student organizations. Committees overseen by executive officers are developing the technical details for the SOLO Fund.
TTU Sports Information
said, “but when their offense gets going, they’re really good.” The Golden Eagles are 26 all-time against EKU during Homecoming in Cookeville with Tech’s two wins coming in 1953 and 1955. “We’re pretty thin,” junior Joc Crawford said, “but
hopefully we’ll pull together and pull off a victory this weekend.” A 238-pound running back, Crawford has rushed for a team-high 443 yards and six touchdowns on 93 carries since transferring from Kansas. “I’ve only got two games
left,” he said, “so I’m going to make the best of them” EKU has lost its last eight road games extending back to last season. The Colonels lead the league in rushing defense, allowing less than 80 yards per game, but are last in pass defense, giving up more than 310 yards/game.
Tech custodians reassigned to third shift By CHRISTINE SEIBER Managing Editor
Rainy days on campus are typically met by rain boot-clad, umbrella-wielding students. Days like that also result in slick floors and a custodian tasked to mop the buildings’ entryways. This is no longer the case for several buildings on campus. On Oct. 29, Facilities and Business Services announced the reassignment of custodians to third shift (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.). According to Mark Greenwood, Custodial and Grounds Services director for Facilities, the shift change was to allow students the benefit of entering a clean building in the morning. “We’re doing it so that we can clean the buildings more quickly and more efficiently,” Greenwood said. “Many classrooms and labs are almost impossible to clean on first and second shift due to high usage, so moving to third will allow us a better opportunity to get to those.” Residence halls, Tech Village, the RUC and Derryberry Hall are some of the areas not affected by this change and will retain custodians throughout the day to accommodate the constant upkeep required of the buildings’
high-traffic nature. However, custodians assigned to academic buildings were told to make the change to third shift. “We have put all academic buildings on third shift, meaning buildings where classes and labs are the vast majority of each building’s function,” Greenwood said. “Due to the nature of their usage, some—but not all—athletic buildings remain on first shift.” The new Some faculty and staff custodial members think shift that custodians schedule affected by the shift change page 2 may not have been properly represented in the decisionmaking process. Additionally, some think the custodians were given too short a notice and are not properly compensated to make the shift change. Greenwood confirmed that third shift custodians received a 50 cent raise to their hourly pay rate. “There was no consideration whatsoever,” said a departmental secretary who wished to remain anonymous. “[Custodians] are the people who don’t have a voice. Where’s the Tech community spirit that we’re advertised for having?” Members of the Faculty Senate expressed that very
INSIDE
concern. “We take great pride in a campus tradition that encourages administrators, staff and faculty to voice concerns so that we may develop policies that promote the common well being,” Faculty Senate members said in a letter to President Bob Bell. “For these reasons, the decision to alter the working hours of our custodial staff came as a shock. Why were faculty [members], who routinely interact with the custodians, not consulted? Why were many highranking administrators left uninformed?” Greenwood, however, said the opposite. “[The change] was announced by upper management about two weeks prior to the official start date,” Greenwood said. “However, [custodians] were made aware that the change was being orchestrated some months in advance. As I recall, we first mentioned it to the supervisors in June, and I started receiving inquiries from custodians and other campus personnel shortly thereafter.”
Student reactions Although the shift change was put into effect to benefit the students, some agree with the concerns raised by the Faculty Senate. “It was basically a ‘Guess what, you’re going to third
See “Fund,” page 2
Page 5
FEATURES
[shift], no questions, no negotiations, get ready’ deal,” Brittany Godsey, senior sociology-criminal justice major, said. “I have heard that it was supposedly for the students’ benefit, so we could walk into a clean building every morning. “To be honest, I’ve been here for five years and couldn’t care less about how spotless the floors and windows are. The bathrooms are another story. In Henderson, when the custodians were working normal day shift, those bathrooms were spotless. Now, at mid-afternoon they look like a toilet paper tornado swept through them.” However, senior professional communications major Ruthe Wood sees the shift change from another angle. “I am not exactly sure why the administration has chosen to do this. I have heard this is one of two phases: move them to third shift in hopes that most of the workers would quit, so that in the summer the school could outsource the custodian workers. I personally do not see any positive coming from this change—at least not in the student or custodian perspective.”
More concerns The new policy requires faculty and staff to contact Facilities and Business Services if something needs to be See “Custodians,” page 2
IN THIS EDITION Guns and grenades: A day in ROTC
“We’re playing one of the better teams in the league,” Brown said. “Our players know Eastern Kentucky is good. “They could be the best team in our league on any given day.” Despite all his team’s injuries, Brown remains optimistic. “We’ve got a chance to win the game,” he said. Saturday’s contest marks the first time the Golden Eagles will host EKU for Homecoming since 1989. The Colonels took the win in that game 21-20. Kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m. at Tucker Stadium. Admission is free for all Tech students with a valid ID. To reserve a space in the Magic 98.5 Tailgate Park, contact Misty Pearson, director of Corporate Sales and Marketing for Tech Athletics by calling 931-372-3937. The game will also be broadcast live on the Golden Eagle Sports Network via Magic 98.5 and Free TeamLine. For more information, visit www.TTUSports.com. Tech will end its season at home next week against Jacksonville State. “We still have a chance to win games,” Brown said. “It’ll be a dogfight,” he added. “Every game has been a dogfight.”
WEATHER
W-TLN airs on ResLife channel
ONLINE @ TNTECHORACLE.COM
SUNNY
MOSTLY SUNNY
HIGH 75, LOW 40
HIGH 72, LOW 45
FRIDAY
SATURDAY