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E D I T O R I A L L Y

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 Issue 20

Vol. 119

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

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The depraved bloodletting continues in “Bloodied Truths” PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

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BCPC hosts drama about social issues

Whitney Carter and Justin Huseman • The Daily Beacon

Caroline Snapp Staff Writer The Black Cultural Programming Committee (BCPC) hosted “Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care” on Monday at the UC Auditorium. Christopher Dillard, sophomore in political science and team leader and treasurer of BCPC, worked on planning. “What we do is basically the behind the scenes stuff like contacting people, getting vehicles reserved, and getting speakers here and that sort of thing,” Dillard said. “Our Young Black Men are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care” was Dillard’s first event as a team leader, and he was pleased with the result. “We’ve had a good turnout,” Dillard said. Kellie Wilson, sophomore communications pre-major, was also on the BCPC team that hosted the event.

“The Black Cultural Programming Committee’s mission is to bring cultural awareness to campus through events such as plays, orchestra and that sort of thing,” Wilson said. The event was performed by the Flow Theater, an act based out of New York. “They tour throughout the country and they perform scenes that depict black men in America,” Dillard said. According to the BCPC website, “The play is a series of vignettes addressing issues facing young black men in America. The topics are as relevant as today’s headlines and as real as walking through any inner-city neighborhood.” The Off-Broadway show aimed to be humorous, but still highlighted some important issues facing black men. “It’s based around the social issues of the black male and making it a little funny, but not too much where you can’t notice it’s a problem,” Wilson said.

Gay marriage ban unconstitutional The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO — Supporters and opponents of California’s ban on same-sex marriage were anxiously awaiting a federal appeals court decision Tuesday on whether the voter-approved measure violates the civil rights of gay men and lesbians. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that considered the question plans to issue its long-awaited opinion 18 months after a trial judge struck down the ban following the first federal trial to examine if same-sex couples have a constitutional right to get married. The 9th Circuit does not typically give notice of its forthcoming rulings, and its decision to do so Monday reflects the intense interest in the case. Even if the panel upholds the lower court ruling, it could be a while before same-sex couples can resume marrying in the state. Proposition 8 backers plan to appeal to a larger 9th Circuit panel and then to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose in the intermediate court. Marriages would likely stay on hold while that process plays out. The three-judge panel, consisting of judges appointed by presi-

dents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, heard arguments on the ban’s constitutional implications more than a year ago. But it put off a decision so it could seek guidance from the California Supreme Court on whether Proposition 8 sponsors had legal authority to challenge the trial court ruling after California’s attorney general and governor decided not to appeal it. The California court ruled in November that the state’s vigorous citizens’ initiative process grants official proponents of ballot measures the right to defend their measures in court if state officials refuse to do so. Further complicating the case was a move in April by lawyers for the coalition of conservative religious groups that put Proposition 8 on the ballot to have the trial court ruling struck down because the now-retired judge who issued it was in a long-term relationship with another man. Former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker disclosed he was gay and had a partner of 10 years after he retired from the bench last year. Proposition 8 backers have argued that Walker’s relationship posed a potential conflict-of-interest and that he should have revealed it before he declared the measure unconstitutional in August 2010. See PROP 8 on Page 3

Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon

Members of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, nicknamed the Trocks, fight over roses as a part of their act after performing a portion of Swan Lake on Jan. 26. The all-male troupe creates the comedic style of dance by messing up on purpose and showing off their masculine side for roles traditionally reserved for women.

“This Off-Broadway hit is full of history, passion, and sheer drama that established the prominence of Chapmyn Spoken Word,” the BCPC stated. “This classic choreopoem is redesigned with music and staged in simple elegance. The content is as current as the evening and as disturbing as the issues it addresses.” The free event aimed to be a non-confrontational look at many current issues that face black men in America. Wilson was also very pleased with the result of the event. “We’re happy with the turnout because we didn’t know if we’d get that big of a turnout with a name like ‘people are dying,’” Wilson said. She also mentioned that the BCPC will be hosting more events in the future. “We have the Frederick Douglas Museum which is going on beginning the first of February and it’s an exhibit at the Black Cultural Center.”

Troops encouraged to support super PACs The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Reversing an earlier stand, President Barack Obama is now encouraging donors to give generously to the kind of political fundraising groups he once assailed as a “threat to democracy.” He had little choice, his campaign says, if he was to compete with bigmoney conservative groups that are sure to attack him this fall. Obama’s campaign is urging its top donors to support Priorities USA, a “super PAC” led by two former Obama aides that has struggled to compete with the tens of millions of dollars collected by Republican-backed outside groups. Campaign officials said Tuesday the president had signed off on the decision. The president is already facing criticism that he is compromising on principle and succumbing to Washington political rules he pledged to change. Yet in a plea to supporters, campaign manager Jim Messina said it would be unfair and unwise for the president’s re-election effort to live under one set of rules while the Republican presidential nominee benefits from a new supercharged campaign finance landscape. “We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads,” Messina said. The Supreme Court opened the door to the “super” political action committees, stripping away some limits on campaign contributions in its 2010 decision in the Citizens United case, a ruling that Obama has spoken against. The new super PACs can’t coordinate directly with candidates or

their campaigns, but they have played a major role in the Republican primary contests by raising millions of dollars for negative advertising in early contests in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida. Messina said senior campaign officials, along with some White House officials and members of Obama’s Cabinet, would attend and speak at fundraising events for Priorities USA but would not directly ask for money. He said Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama would not be part of the effort and would remain focused on Obama's own reelection campaign. Republicans jeered Obama’s decision, and they weren’t alone. Supporters of more openness in government said the president had capitulated on his past calls to rein in the role of money in politics. Former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., a longtime advocate for campaign finance limits, said the decision to support the super PAC would “gut a winning, progressive strategy. When Democrats play by Republican rules, people see our party as weak, and a false alternative to the power of rich individual and corporate interests that are increasingly dominating our government.” Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, said the notion that White House officials “are not soliciting money is laughable.” Republicans criticized the Obama campaign’s embrace of the outside groups, calling it a hypocritical shift by Obama after he criticized the influence of secret, special-interest money. Obama has previously referred to the money as a “threat to our democracy.” “Just another broken promise,” House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said of Obama’s decision. See SUPER PACS on Page 3

2 • The Daily Beacon

InSHORT

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

ment.) Japan emerged from the conflict as the first modern non-Western world power and set its sights on greater imperial expansion. However, for Russia, its military's disastrous performance in the war was one of the immediate causes of the Russian Revolution of 1905. 1903 — The Russo-Japanese War begins Following the Russian rejection of a Japanese plan to divide Manchuria and Korea into spheres of influence, Japan launches a surprise naval attack against Port Arthur, a Russian naval base in China. The Russian fleet was decimated. During the subsequent Russo-Japanese War, Japan won a series of decisive victories over the Russians, who underestimated the military potential of its non-Western opponent. In January 1905, the strategic naval base of Port Arthur fell to Japanese naval forces under Admiral Heihachiro Togo; in March, Russian troops were defeated at Shenyang, China, by Japanese Field Marshal Iwao Oyama; and in May, the Russian Baltic fleet under Admiral Zinovi Rozhdestvenski was destroyed by Togo near the Tsushima Islands. These three major defeats convinced Russia that further resistance against Japan's imperial designs for East Asia was hopeless, and in August 1905 U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt mediated a peace treaty at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. (He was later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for this achieve-

1943 — Americans secure Guadalcanal On this day in 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900. — This Day in History is courtesy of History.com.

George Richardson• The Daily Beacon

Cadet James Macyauski, junior in logistics, and cadet Carrison Boone, senior in political science, lead a discussion on the AFROTC History Run on Feb. 7. The run provides history around UT’s ROTC and military involvement.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

SUPER PACS

PROP 8

continued from Page 1

Not facing any primary opposition, Obama’s campaign has socked away tens of millions of dollars. But his team took notice as recent fundraising reports revealed a large disparity with Republican super PACs. American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, two groups tied to Republican strategist Karl Rove, raised $51 million last year, while major Democratic groups, including Priorities USA Action, collected $19 million. Obama’s campaign and its supporters at Priorities USA and the Democratic National Committee actually have outspent their Republican counterparts by nearly two to one, records show. Financial reports as of late 2011 show Obama’s re-election effort garnered nearly $253 million in contributions and had $95.9 million still on hand. But the fundraising gap may be starting to narrow. While Obama-supporting groups have largely out-raised Republicans, including Mitt Romney’s campaign, GOPleaning groups such as Restore Our Future, as well as the Republican National Committee, have brought the GOP total to $226 million. That includes the $51 million raised from both American Crossroads and its non-profit arm, Crossroads GPS. Some other major Republican donors have yet to get behind Romney fully. Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his family, for instance, have pledged $11 million to help Newt Gingrich, although operatives say he’ll likely support Romney as the best chance to beat Obama in the fall. That, combined with yet-tobe-spent cash from other major fundraisers, could tip the money balance in Romney’s favor. Democrats have raised concerns about the potential impact of the super PACs on the general election. Obama campaign senior strategist David Axelrod said last month that the “prospect of hundreds of millions of dollars of negative ads raining down on us is not a prospect that I relish.” But he said then that Obama was “thoroughly known to the American people” and would be less vulnerable to such ads. Underscoring their concerns, the first ad aired by the Obama campaign defended the president’s record on energy and ethics. It came in response to a hard-hitting ad aired by Americans for Prosperity, a group connected to billionaires Charles and David Koch, that accused the president of using taxpayer money to benefit political donors at bankrupt energy company Solyndra. In a weekend interview, Obama bemoaned the influence of big money in presidential campaigns and said he expected many of the 2012 campaign ads funded by super PACs to be negative. But he also said the Supreme Court’s decision had made outside money an unavoidable part of the political process. “It is very hard to be able to get your message out without having some resources,” Obama told NBC News.

The super PACs have played a major role in the Republican primaries so far this year. Groups working for or against presidential candidates have spent roughly $25 million on TV ads — about half the nearly $53 million spent on advertising in all to influence voters in the early weeks of the race. Though super PACs can’t coordinate directly with campaigns, many that are active this election season are staffed by longtime supporters or former aides of the candidates. In a separate campaignfinance matter, Obama’s campaign said it was returning about $200,000 in contributions collected by family members of a Mexican casino owner who fled the U.S. after facing drug and fraud charges. Obama’s campaign said it had decided to return the donations arranged by Chicago brothers Carlos Cardona and Alberto Rojas Cardona, who had begun raising money for the campaign and the Democratic National Committee last year. The New York Times reported late Monday that the fundraisers are the brothers of casino owner Juan Jose Rojas Cardona, who skipped bail in Iowa in 1994 and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico.

The Daily Beacon • 3

NEWS

It was the first instance of an American jurist’s sexual orientation being cited as grounds for overturning a court decision. Walker's successor as the chief federal judge in Northern California, James Ware, rejected claims that Walker was unqualified to preside over the 13day trial. The 9th Circuit held a hearing on that question in December. Some legal observers believe the written heads-up the court gave Monday indicates it concluded there is no reason Walker should have disclosed his relationship status while he had the case.

California voters passed Proposition 8 with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage by striking down a pair of laws that had limited marriage to a man and a woman. The ballot measure inserted the one man-one woman provision into the state Constitution, thereby overruling the court’s decision. It was the first such ban to take away marriage rights from same-sex couples after they had already secured them. The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and the Law, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that 18,000 couples tied the knot during the four-month window before Proposition 8 took effect. The California Supreme Court upheld those marriages but ruled that voters had properly enacted the law.

Two accused in killings on trial The Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jury selection opened Monday in the West Tennessee case of two men charged with serving as contract killers for a violent organization accused of moving cocaine from Mexico into several U.S. states. Clinton Lewis and Martin Lewis are charged with committing murders as members of a drug gang led by Craig Petties, who fled to Mexico and was placed on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 most wanted list after his 2002 indictment. Petties was accused of ordering from Mexico the killings of rivals and suspected informants in Memphis and Mississippi. He was captured in January 2008 and extradited to Memphis. Petties pleaded guilty in December 2009 to federal charges of racketeering, money laundering and ordering four murders as part of his role as leader of the wide-ranging drug organization. Petties has not been sentenced, and is expected to testify during the trial.

The Lewises, who are cousins, face life in prison without parole if convicted on charges including racketeering-murder, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and money laundering. They have pleaded not guilty. Several other drug ring members have already pleaded guilty to drug and racketeering charges and also are expected to testify. One gang member on the witness list pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder for hire in two killings. U.S. Attorney Edward Stanton has described the trial as one of the largest of its kind in West Tennessee. Petties’ organization is accused of working with a cartel in Mexico to bring hundreds of pounds of marijuana and cocaine into the United States for sale in Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina starting in 1995. Proceeds from the sales then were distributed among more than one dozen gang members and sent to Mexico as payment for drugs, the indictment said. U.S. District Judge Samuel Mays said Monday that 18 jurors will be selected from

a panel of about 100 people. Twelve jurors will be asked to decide on a verdict, with the six others being dismissed before deliberations. The jury will be brought to the courthouse from a secret location every day. To protect the jurors' safety, only the four defense attorneys and the two federal prosecutors will be permitted to know their identities. Mays also ordered that the defendants be allowed to sit with their lawyers without handcuffs or other restraints, in efforts to avoid jury bias. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks. Clinton Lewis, also known as “Goldie,” is charged with the kidnapping and murder of Marcus Turner in September 2006, under orders from Petties. Turner’s nude body was found in Olive Branch, Miss. Martin Lewis, also known as “M,” is charged with killing Mario McNeal in March 2007, also at the behest of Petties. Before jury selection began Monday, Mays asked how the defendants were doing. Both said they were doing fine. Jury selection continues Tuesday.

4 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

OPINIONS

Editor’sNote Recovery dawns, many left in shadow Blair Kuykendall Editor-in-Chief Ladies and gentlemen, sunny days are here again. At least for some of us. Last week the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 12862.23, a level no one’s seen since Lehman Brothers hit the skids. Unemployment is now the lowest it’s been in three years, and the market seems to finally be taking notice. Investors seem to be willing to look at the market as a viable option once more. The NASDAQ is enjoying a nice bump, with hopes that rising employment will spark orders for new technology. Europe may be in shambles, but that’s good news for old Uncle Sam. The rest of the world seems to be turning its attention back to the U.S., where capital seeks safe shelter. Reliability is key, and past precedent makes America a safe bet. Corporate profit margins have been making a quiet rise for months, and now international finance is starting to remember the good times. Not to dampen the mood, but the economy still posses one glaring problem: 8.3 percent unemployment. This is undoubtedly an improved figure, but still well above benchmark. Behind that percentage are 12.8 million Americans seeking work, most still unable to support themselves and their families. It’s scary to think this situation could be permanent. Corporations have changed; they’re better at doing more with less. Those facts have some economists wondering if structural unemployment has been forever altered. Instead of the traditional five percent rate, businesses may be driving the economy toward a new normal. In many cases, available workers simply do not possess specialized skills corporations desire. Some more traditional jobs may have completely disappeared. Many economists do not expect the labor market to continue such rapid improvement. Recent gains have been pegged on inventory accumulation through the end of last year. Manufacturing productivity fell in the fourth quarter, but that speaks more to the direction of the economy rather than its weakness. Health care and educational services are becoming

increasingly important parts of American commerce. Educational services were resistant to the downturn, and are continuing to grow as the economy expands. Expansion in these sectors is certainly welcome, but workers without specialized skills are at a marked disadvantage for entrance. The president in correct in stressing facilitation of certificate programs to reshape America’s labor force, before we lose our position as a global leader in these services. While the recovery is in process, the Fed has resigned itself to keep short-term interest rates down around zero until 2014. The board may also choose to push down mortgage rates by adding even more mortgage-backed securities to its holdings. Manipulating the housing market, however, is not an economic cure-all. Banks are hindering progress by refusing to make loans. Money might be cheap right now, but low interest rates mean nothing if citizens can’t access the cash. No matter what actions the Fed chooses to take, economists are predicting a very slow decline for unemployment rates. This entire situation is only adding to the already widening income disparities within American society. The middle class in America will likely continue to shrink, hampered by the recession and unaided by this type of recovery. While unemployment is rampant through all sectors in society, established members of corporate America have weathered what could have been a devastating financial collapse. Income inequalities are nearing record highs, even as the nation seems to be making progress again. The saddest feature of this recovery is that some Americans are being left behind. Since corporate profits are pushing the economy forward, most of the surplus is heading right back to the upper tiers of American society. The financial markets may propel our country out of this recession, but wealth is being funneled to the top at an even faster rate. The banks have run for cover with de-leveraging. Actually, most American banking institutions are performing much better on the liquidity side. That’s a nice insurance policy against any shock from Europe, but bad news for the American people. Without a large chunk of gains from corporate earnings, most Americans are still worried about the future. A shell-shocked corporate America has retrenched nicely, but the unemployed can’t seem to find the bunker. — Blair Kuykendall is a junior in the College Scholars Program. She can be reached at bkuykend@utk.edu.

SCRAMBLED EGGS • Alex Cline

THE GREAT MASH-UP • Liz Newnam

Columns of The Daily Beacon are reflections of the individual columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or its editorial staff.

Cryonics challenges human capability Ac orns and Other Seeds by

Anna-Lise Burnette It’s almost spring, and if you look around you can see that the world outside is beginning to thaw. Most of the trees still seem pretty barren, and most of the grass is still an unhealthy shade of murk, but the birds have been chirping and a few brave co-eds have even been wearing shorts. Yes, it’s almost come back to us. I don’t care to make a prediction about when, though, because there’s no guarantee that we will get to spring blossom again. Though for many of us the thought of dying seems untimely, the truth of the matter is, that no matter how far off it may seem, the day of our death could be any day of our lives. Except, of course, any of the days that we’ve already lived. That may seem an obvious thing to say, but perhaps not if you’re one of thousands of Americans who believe that one day the fruits of cryonics will be made manifest. Even if you don’t recognize the word, you’ve probably heard about human preservation. Cryogenics is the science of extremely low temperatures, and the people who study how various materials handle being kept at temperatures lower than negative-240 degrees Fahrenheit are usually pretty recognizable by their crazy shocks of white hair, white lab coats and thick glasses. The preservation of deceased human beings is what we call cryonics, and that’s where the field of cryogenics has gotten it’s reputation for being a little, well, crazy. You may ask why anyone would even want to have his or her body preserved after death. For the average person (not some cult or political figure like Mao Zedong, for instance), the thought of having your body on permanent display might seem a bit grotesque. But being cryogenically frozen isn’t really about being put in a tube for people to gawk at. In fact, cryonics laboratories where preserved bodies are housed are entirely unlike museums — I would imagine that for both safety and confidentiality these labs are loathe to give nickel tours to any interested

person off the street. So what’s it all for? It’s to live again. Those of you who are up on your science already know that at this point we are unable to reanimate even the most meticulously preserved human. There are different theories about how one day we may be able to do it, but none of them are, to date, feasible. Most of the men and women who are currently being held in tanks of liquid nitrogen (just around 200 individuals in the United States) are suspended there because they believed that human technology will one day be advanced enough to revive their preserved bodies. Cryonics is not without its detractors, of course. Many opponents of the practice say that the expense and the risks of failure are too great, and that the ethics behind it are questionable at best. The question of what death, as we know it, actually is has been a stumbling block for many scientists — is there something else that happens when our biological systems shut down? Is a “dead” person really dead, or are they just awaiting an as-yet-undiscovered treatment? Because we don’t have the ability to test these questions, we still don’t have any answers. And that is what, to me, makes this whole business of cryonics so fascinating. Sure, you have to wonder what kind of person wants to live “forever,” and you’ve got to wonder who assured them that the people of the future even want to be subjected to their presence. But petty concerns of “would I get along with this person if he or she weren’t dead?” are largely irrelevant. What really sticks out about these indefinitely frozen people’s personalities is this: They all must have had an incredible faith in the human mind. Not in their own (though of course that’s an assumption that you’ve got to make when you’re banking on memory preservation), but in the minds of countless people who haven’t even been born yet. Something obviously gave them hope that at some unknown point in time some scientist, somewhere, will figure out how to restore them to their former glory. Whether you agree with them or not, you have to admit that it’s a confidence booster. After all, aren’t we all of that same stock? — Anna-Lise Burnette is a senior in interdisciplinary studies. She can be reached at kburnet7@utk.edu.

Gingrich ‘lunar’ plan represents future S mel l This by

Sam Ellis

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The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Friday during the summer semester.The offices are located at 1340 Circle Park Drive,11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/year, $100/semester or $70/summer only. It is also available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com. LETTERS POLICY: The Daily Beacon welcomes all letters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty and staff. Each submission is considered for publication by the editor on the basis of space, timeliness and clarity. Contributions must include the author’s name and phone number for verification. Students must include their year in school and major. Letters to the editor and guest columns may be e-mailed to letters@utdailybeacon.com or sent to Blair Kuykendall, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style. Any and all submissions to the above recipients are subject to publication.

This article isn’t timely at all, so forgive me. In fact, public discourse surrounding Newt Gingrich’s highly ridiculed extra-terrestrial aspirations has been threading itself through the media for nearly two weeks now, ever since his Jan. 25 announcement that he aimed to build a permanent lunar base by the end of his second term as president. But I thought the issue deserved some post-reaction focus, if only because it’s really sort of strange that everyone’s favorite reactionary hot rod, who would otherwise be expected to pursue federally minimalist initiatives, advocates a big budget government program in space. The announcement came, at least to me, as a SarahPalin-running-mate-hail-Mary kind of ploy. It had little to do with partisan policy, had no real element of immediacy, and though central Floridians and NASA employees and maybe some fringe conspiracy theorists couldn’t be happier about Newt’s declaration, scientific pragmatists, Gingrich’s fellow Republican nominee seekers, and really the public at large have all expressed doubt regarding the program. Opponents hold the cost-benefit model to be not feasible and generally consider there to be no real reason for us to go back to space. Most politicos dismiss Newt’s idea for its impracticality, and a lot of people just think he’s being downright silly. Granted, the former Speaker of the House is notorious for ideas that are pretty … alien. He co-sponsored several space exploration bills during his time in the House, authored a book expressing his ideas for the next steps in Martian pioneerism (1984’s “Window of Opportunity”), currently serves on the National Space Society Board of Governors and in 1981, introduced legislation providing for residential colonization of the moon. You heard me right. Per the bill’s provisions, the proposed colony, upon reaching a population equal to that of the least populous state (currently Wyoming with 568,158, for those who actually care), would become eligible for United States statehood. It was called the National Space and Aeronautics Policy Act of 1981 and in addition to allowing for a 51st state beyond the

mesosphere, it included provisions seeking construction and deployment of a dozen new shuttles, a complex of space stations, and an earth-to-space power source. To be fair, his most recent commitment doesn’t include all this rigmarole. But even devoid of the atmospheric debris cluttering Newt’s ’81 lift-off, the idea still sounds stupid. I mean, let’s not kid around. Why concern ourselves with some lifeless rock when there are clearly far more pressing issues to address on this celestial body, like education and guns and Iran and social progressivism? And at such an outrageous cost! Sam Seaborn said it best: “Because it’s next. Because we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what’s next” (read: season 2, episode 9 of The West Wing). The only way we are where we are, doing what we’re doing is the efforts of a precious few who ignored the discouraging throngs and trekked into the black anyway. People who recognized the value of getting there first, of happening on something entirely new, and of the life-changing potential of those somethings, even when fixed on a mere off-chance. Not many make this recognition nowadays. But for all his feigned “everyman” hypocrisy and extra-marital affairs, Newt does. And what’s more, he actually has a plan. Gingrich wants to bail on the strictly government-funded NASA model and instead allocate 10 percent of NASA’s budget to create incentives for private sector innovation. The Republican nominee hopeful believes modern science and technology are to a point that individuals can make the difference between here and the next thermospheric milestone. In response to Romney deriding his incentive idea, Newt likened his plan to Eisenhower’s interstate system in that it, too, was big, expensive and uncertain. “But we all drive on it now,” Gingrich said. “I suspect if I had proposed that, Mitt Romney would have said, ‘Oh, that’s way too expensive. Let me study carefully two-lane highways.’” Look, I’m going to vote for Romney when the RNC announces his all-but-secured-at-this-point nomination in August. But this isn’t a column about partisanship or voting behavior. It’s about an idea. And not to wax poetic, but this country wasn’t founded on baby steps and extreme caution. We think something big and then we do it. And this is what’s next.

— Sam Ellis is a senior in political science. He can be reached at sellis11@utk.edu.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

The Daily Beacon • 5

ARTS&CULTURE

Fiction: Bloodied Truths Logan N.Murphy They drew their shadows across sun basins scorched by failing day, steam hanging in halos about their heads from the sweat, and the mountains that bisected the country sketched in the far distance, Promethean lines unbound by wind or tide or rain or cloud, horses staggering with tongues lolled and eyes swollen, green foam rasping from between teeth and drying in crusts on the iron bits of their bridles. They rode in twos, Kitty and Miles ahead with Charlie and Doc behind and lost in drink. There had been a dust storm previously and the grit high in the atmosphere curved the light like a lens so no matter where they turned their eyes the sun was there like a specter from fever dreams wielding tendrils, shouts, unbearable heat. The border was fraught with rattlers and scorpions and screaming red savages that carried children off in the small midnight hours, men who wore the skins of slain enemies and tatters of clothing pulled from corpses, paint mixed from the dust of the ground and the powder of bone. All around was a lip on the horizon of plateaus like a giant bowl to hold in the wind and sun, and the gods here had no names. Miles was the first to notice the shape in the haze, too distant to make out but too mobile to be cactus or stone, and the heat played with its outline like staring through running water. The four of them reined in and stopped atop a hard-packed knoll and Doc stared from beneath the brim of his hat and narrowed his eyes, and he saw the rider in the distance dragging a bundle behind his horse, thin twine cord pulling a canvas sack across the dust. They waited and Kitty took a spyglass from Doc's kitbag and trained the brass on that stretched outrider coming down a caldera, and she noted the sleek lines of his horse, a white Arabian with pale mane and dark eye, and the man mounted on it wore silks and a stovepipe hat, and the sack dragging behind him was thrashing side to side. Charlie spat. That figure grew from the distance like a sauntering figment, tugging at the rope that lashed the bundle to his saddle horn and made the sack scream and whimper and beg in a savage voice for freedom or death - Kitty knew not which. The man saw they four and rode up

Violence is the axis of civilization, Katherine, and I merely want to do my part to further the greatness of the truest race of humanity. Doc's rifle was back on Skagg, hammer poised at halfcock. Just tell us where the Randals are like you said you would, he said. Ah, yes, said Skagg. Those vagabonds riding ever sunward with their dusty colleagues, now strewn about the wastes and beleaguered. My old friends, they were. Kitty drew steel and cracked the grip of her pistol across Skagg's cheekbone and the older man reeled backward and tripped over the cowering Yuma. She wiped the blood from her weapon and returned it to her belt, squatted beside him. Give us the Randals, she said. Skagg pulled back his head and bellowed jovially, hat falling onto the dust behind him where his blood had splattered in a pattern reminiscent of a butterfly. Why else would I have brought you this fine native specimen all burning with aboriginal blood? He stood and drew his own piece, pointed down beside him and executed the Indian, never taking his eyes from Kitty's. The jester hat fell from the corpse's head and beneath it there was a folded bit of paper browned from the sun and dirt, and Miles dehorsed to pick it up. He scanned it and nodded to his sister. This is it, he said. By the time Kitty was holding the map, Nathaniel Skagg was already riding off the way he'd come, leaving them squatting around the steaming body of some unfortunate man whom they would not bury. Doc said the Yumas ate their dead, to which Charlie agreed. Kitty wasn't sure how true that was, but she was positive she wouldn't eat anything Skagg brought her, human or otherwise, even if that meant starving out here on the hellscape of the Sonoran wilds.

to them wearing a logsplit smirk amidst the stubble of his chin, and his eyes were so blue as to be lost against the sky should he turn his head at the proper alignment, and his hands were powdered and smelled of lilac and summer satin. The canvas sack shrieked again and the man dismounted to kick at it. Doc had a rifle beaded on the stranger but Kitty reached out and pushed the barrel down and away. This man was a revenant from her past. Skagg, she said, I don't aim to kill you, but you'd best let us pass on. Nathaniel Skagg was a wiry man of middling age all eyebrows and jagged teeth and the breath of a corpse, but his demeanor held a deeper pretense toward the sinister. He threw open the sack that had dragged for so long across the flats and out popped the head of a native and soon the rest of him, a savage dressed in motley like a fool for slaving, faded red and blue plastered to his skin by blood from old festering wounds newly reopened by the grating earth beneath, Skagg's foot upon the soft of his neck and he grinning down dominant. The sharp point of his boot digging into the Yuma's trachea. I've brought you this boon, Katherine, Skagg said. He threw his arms wide and laughed a hollow din that did not echo nor carry, but was stifled by the void of the flats. The Yuma was coughing bits of congealed blood from stomach or lung, hands bound behind him and ridiculous tripartite jester's cap jingling with the breeze and seated lopsided upon his sniveling head. Skagg put his eyes on Kitty then, said: The Queen's own gift. A true white man's joy if ever I've seen one. I found him trying to mount a female, though whether she was Yuma or horse I could not tell. These types all hold a burdensome likeness to beasts. Miles had looked away from the scene, disgusted and embarrassed. Not even a savage deserved this. It was Kitty who voiced objection first: Just kill the poor creature and be gone back to your whores and cards. Is it not the natural order for man to dominate lesser men?

Cash’s 80th to be celebrated The Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Johnny Cash is still cool. Like Elvis or Hank Williams, Cash retains a certain cachet in current popular culture even in death. More proof of his enduring legend is on the way as plans to celebrate what would have been the American icon’s 80th birthday unfold later this month and year. There will be a groundbreaking on the project to preserve Cash’s childhood home in Dyess, Ark., on Feb. 26, his birthday. A new Cash museum will open in Nashville later this year and several music releases are expected to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. There are three documentaries in the works as well. Interest remains as high as ever more than eight years after his death in 2003 at 71 of complications from diabetes.

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EMPLOYMENT First Baptist Concord After School Care is looking for childcare workers, must be at least 18 years of age to work in a Christian childcare environment. 15-20 hours per week during school years. Possible 40 hours per week during summer. Apply online at fbconcord.org or call (865)671-5559.

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“He appealed to people and still appeals to people who have a small CD collection and live in middle America just as much as the punk on the streets of Germany,” Cash’s son, John Carter Cash, said. “And that’s sort of magical the way he’s been able to do that still, that his image still draws people from all walks of life.” The Cash family is most excited about the project in Dyess. Many of Cash’s children and grandchildren will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Project, an undertaking led by Arkansas State University. Fundraising for the project began last summer and the family and university hope to restore the house Cash grew up in and its outbuildings. ASU also has taken over other buildings of historic importance that remain from the New Deal era Dyess Colony and want to reflect not only Cash’s life, but the reality of The Great Depression.

EMPLOYMENT HirSalFun Call

Seeking temporary afterschool babysitter for toddler, 3-5:30. 2 weeks in February, 2 weeks in March. Possibility for longer-term work if desired. Please call 456-0851. Staying in Knoxville This Summer? Need a Fun Summer Job? Camp Webb day camp, in West Knoxville, is now accepting applications for full-time summer camp counselor jobs! Positions: general camp counselors, lifeguards, and instructors for Archery, Arts & Crafts, Drama, Swimming, Ropes Course, Nature, Sports, & some leadership positions. Part-time available. www.campwebb.comto apply.

University Swim Club now accepting applications for assistant coaches for summer season. Contact Wendy at uswimclub@yahoo.com

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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz 1 4 9 14

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ACROSS Baby docs Replay view, often Plays, as records Org. whose logo features the letter pi with an arrow through it Like wickerwork Comic Cheech Pipe joint Start of a quip by 44-Across 1980s Salvadoran president Parliament, e.g., in brief “That’s all ___ wrote” Courtier who invites Hamlet to duel with Laertes Key in the middle of the top row “Oh, c’mon!” Quip, part 2 Overly assertive Nietzsche’s “never” Wood used in making some dartboards $$$ for later years

34 Quip, part 3 39 “___ This, Not That! The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution!” 40 “Breaking Bad” network 41 Bagel accompaniment 44 Writer Brendan 47 Quip, part 4 50 ___-retentive 51 London jazz duo? 52 Greenskeeper’s tool 53 Rejections 54 Campaign freebie 55 One of the Beverly Hillbillies 56 End of the quip 60 Awards ceremony rental 61 Watches like a wolf 62 Holder for a toilet paper roll 63 Pittsburgh-toBaltimore dir. 64 Word with cookie or rap 65 Flip over 66 Chemin ___ Dames (W.W. I battle locale)

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DOWN You are here Only person to have the #1 movie, #1 album and #1-rated late-night TV show all in the same week On the payroll Feature of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab Come up short Fertility clinic stock Cry over spilled milk, perhaps? Tripping Urban woe Bit of butter Van Gogh masterpiece Recesses

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13 Bashful companion 19 Invalidate 21 Detroit rapper ___A-Che 25 Peter who played Columbo 26 Data holder on a cellphone 27 “The Ghost of Tom ___” (1995 Bruce Springsteen album) 29 Shipped 30 It’s held up with a hook 33 Resident of the ancient city Choquequirao 35 True 36 Actor McKellen 37 ___ Kitchen (organic frozen food company) 38 Came down

42 Make a cliché 43 Some duplicates 44 Relatives of ukuleles 45 “All right already!” 46 Give a hard time 47 “Gracias” reply 48 Thing watched while driving through a speed trap 49 Subj. of the 1948 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine 51 Small blemish, in slang 54 “Hey!” 55 Razz 57 Pipe joint 58 62-Across, e.g. 59 Duo

6 • The Daily Beacon

THESPORTSPAGE

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Projected Starters Tennessee 11-12 (3-5 SEC)

South Carolina 9-13 (1-7 SEC)

G Skylar McBee G Josh Richardson G Cameron Tatum F Jeronne Maymon F Jarnell Stokes

G Bruce Ellington G Damien Leonard F Malik Cooke F Anthony Gill F Damontre Harris

6.2 2.8 8.2 11.9 8.9

How They Match-up UT 68.6 Scoring Offense 65.9 Scoring Defense 43.8 Field Goals % 35.3 Three Point % 69.2 Free Throw % +3.3 Rebound Margin 4.5 Blocks per game 12.8 Assists per game 5.7 Steals per game -1.68 Turnover Margin

SC 62.5 64.3 41.3 33.2 69.5 -0.6 5.1 10.1 6.9 +1.29

Last year Feb. 16, 2011 in Knoxville - Tennessee 73-67 Matthew DeMaria • The Daily Beacon

Junior guard Skylar McBee shoots the ball against Auburn on Jan. 28. The junior has the best 3-point percentage on the team, making 39-of-98 attempts.

March 3, 2011 in Columbia, S.C. - Tennessee 73-69

10.5 6.6 12.3 8.5 6.9

Why the Vols will win: Skylar McBee scored 10 points in his first career start at Tennessee, and he’s projected to start once again tonight. Whether that actually happens is yet to be seen. McBee took over point guard duties for Trae Golden, who came off the bench for the first time this season against Georgia for a team-high 16 points. If McBee actually starts, it might be coach Cuonzo Martin’s attempt to light a fire under Golden, which would help the Vols pull away in a game that they should win handily. UT has won nine straight games over the Gamecocks, and USC’s last win in Knoxville was in 2002.

Why the Huskies will win: South Carolina hasn’t had a fun time in the SEC this season. The Gamecocks are ranked last in the conference, with a 56-54 home upset over Alabama as their only conference win. They haven’t had a road win since Dec. 4, a 58-55 victory at Clemson. While South Carolina scores a point more per game than Tennessee in conference play, they also allow 11 points more. Bruce Ellington is getting back into form after playing his first season of football with Steve Spurrier and Co. Ellington was the Cocks’ leading scorer last season. Their best hope to win will be to improve their negative-four rebound margin, because Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon underneath help UT to a plusfour margin.