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Thursday, February 23, 2012
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Issue 31
E D I T O R I A L L Y
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Bench play key in Vols victory Lauren Kittrell News Editor Trailing 14-2 midway through the first half, Tennessee needed a spark. It came in the form of Jordan McRae and Dwight Miller. The duo combined for 26 points, helping the Volunteers (15-13, 7-6 SEC) overcome a slow start to defeat Ole Miss 73-60 Wednesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena. “Jordan McRae and Dwight did a great job coming off the bench and giving us energy and enthusiasm,” UT coach Cuonzo Martin said. “I thought that was great. The one thing I told Dwight and we talk about it all the time is to just stick with it and continue to work and this is the result of him consistently working and not giving up. It paid off for him, and I’m happy to see that for him.” Miller reached double-figures with 10 points after totaling just four points in the last eight games. His inspiring performance was just what the Vols needed to get the team back on their feet. “He gave us a huge lift,” sophomore guard Trae Golden said. “He played really well. I think that’s what Dwight does every time he comes into the game. He’s fearless and he’s not scared to shoot the ball. That’s what we definitely needed. He was a big spark for us.” Junior forward Jeronne Maymon scored 18 points, reaching
double-figures for the ninth straight game, and added 11 rebounds. McRae brought UT fans to their feet with a dunk that gave UT at 10-point lead midway through the second half. Martin said McRae brought the team together and put them into the right gear. “Jordan set the tone for us and really got us into an offensive flow,” Martin said. “He made plays and made shots.” Golden said he thought McRae’s performance really made the difference between a win and a loss. “I don’t think we would’ve come back if it wasn’t for him,” Golden said. “He played a great game.” The team’s win came to fundamental basketball and the difference was found in turnovers, rebounds and free throws. UT was 17-of-21 from the free-throw line in the second half, and committed just one turnover on offense over the last 20 minutes. “We did a good job in the second half of not turning the ball over,” Martin said. “I think we had 10 in the first half and 11 for the game. We just settled down and made plays. It’s just one of those things we consistently work at and continue to get better every day. I thought we did a good job in the second half of defending as a team with them passing, cutting and moving.” With the win, UT moves into fourth place in the SEC standings. The top four teams at the end of the regular season get a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. The Vols return to action Saturday night at South Carolina. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
George Richardson • The Daily Beacon
Dwight Miller goes up hard between two Ole Miss defenders during a game on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Miller helped the Vols with 10 points from the bench as the Volunteers went on to a 73-60 win over the Rebel Black Bears.
UT offers cultural experience Liv McConnell Staff Writer
George Richardson • The Daily Beacon
Smokey dances with the UT Dance Team during a timeout in a game against Ole Miss on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
For UT students who dream of an authentic Italian experience without the costly plane ticket, the Italian Club’s Immersion Weekend promises to be a lively and affordable alternative. The annual trip, which begins March 9, will allow students to delve further into Italian culture and language in a less confined setting than the typical classroom. For a rate of $50 covering food and lodging, students will stay the weekend at Buffalo Mountain, a lakefront retreat center near Jonesborough, Tenn. “The Immersion Weekend helps many of our young undergraduates to get a taste of what functioning in an Italian environment would be like,” Renee D’Elia-Zunino said. D’Elia-Zunino, an Italian professor at UT, initiated Immersion Weekend in 2005 with the help of her colleague, Anna Chiara Mariani. She is excited by the unique opportunity the trip presents her students with. “They will experience an all-Italian lifestyle for three days,” D’Elia-Zunino said. This lifestyle includes cooking authentic
dishes from scratch, listening to traditional music and watching Italian films. In a whimsical, camp-like spirit, group activities such as treasure hunts, campfires and storytelling will even be incorporated. This, according to D’Elia-Zunino, allows for students to get a feeling of “true Italian life”, stirring their interest in the culture as well as the language. “Engaging students in what is typically class work within an immersion context forces them into a mental activity that functions as a targeted strategy, rather than as a general ‘stay afloat.’ Furthermore, the students get a chance to verify their progress,” D’Elia-Zunino said. Paisleigh Kelley, a junior in communication studies and English literature who attended the trip last year, found this practical, instructive aspect of the trip beneficial. “I viewed the Immersion Weekend as a way to learn about Italian culture from real Italians in the presence of my classmates,” Kelley said. “I wanted a platform to practice my Italian that was not as rigid as school and I found that a weekend getaway was a good facilitator in that regard.” See ITALIAN CLUB on Page 2
SGA passes TVC funding bill Justin Joo Staff Writer The Student Government Association passed a bill Tuesday evening that could help the Volunteer Channel get funding for its operations. Brooke Fraser, a worker for TVC, pled their case to SGA. “At this point in time we’re struggling,” Fraser, junior in journalism and electronic media, said. TVC does not receive any funding from the university. Anything they need comes out-of-pocket. Fraser and about a dozen other TVC members were at the SGA meeting. During their presentation of Bill 10-12, they played a brief video that featured several former and current TVC students. They all explained how working for TVC has helped them prepare for their future in journalism by giving them an opportunity to work with state-of-the-art equipment, news gathering and production experience, as well as being a gateway into internships or actual jobs. TVC claims that among the Top 25 universities, many of them fund a student-run television channel like TVC. The difference, Fraser said, is that those Top 25 T.V. channels usually only produce one weekly-news show, while TVC produces several different programs daily and without an actual budget. “I feel like this could really help our whole Top 25 initiative that we trying to put forth,” Fraser said. “And in the
2010 Chancellor’s Report, [Chancellor Jimmy Cheek] said ‘to learn to do by doing,’ and that’s what we do at TVC.” TVC’s bill is open to several different means of getting funding. The two primary options are either getting funding from the RES Board or from student service fees.TVC will apply for the funding at a RES Board meeting in April. The student service fee route is another option TVC could alternatively take by receiving a portion of that fee money. While doing so could potentially raise the fee for students, the increase would only be about $1.50 per student, Fraser estimates. SGA questioned why TVC wasn’t trying to get money from the College of Communication. TVC said they approached the administration about it, but the College said no. However, the College of Communication doesn’t provide funding for other student publications, so this was not out of the ordinary. With the funding, TVC hopes to accomplish a number of things. First, it would allow them to continue their normal production. Secondly, they hope to hire an advertising director. This director’s main purpose would be to acquire and manage advertisements, something TVC has been lacking. With the potential for much more advertising, Fraser said that TVC hopes to be more self-sufficient and not need as much funding from the university in the future. TVC would also be able to purchase new or replacement equipment (TVC said a new video camera could cost thousands of dollars and one of their editing computers was damaged after the recent blackout). But with the funding, TVC could also produce new programs that they would
otherwise be unable to do. Two amendments were passed for the bill. One was to clarify that language on the bill that funding could come from a variety of sources and not necessarily from student services. The second amendment stated that if the university administration started to provide some funding for TVC, any additional funding from outside resources, like student services, would be augmented to only cover the remaining balance. After further debate, the bill was put to a roll call vote and was passed with only four-against. According to Terry Nowell, senate chair and senior in biological science, the bill has to be signed by the Student Senate president, Courtney Sharp, and SGA president, Ross Rowland. Then it will go before Maxine Davis, the dean of students. “In a lot of ways it’s in the hands of the dean of students … and the leadership of the bill,” Nowell said. “And given the nature of the bill, the majority of what’s going to happen is with the RES Board.” Although the bill was passed in SGA, it does not immediately guarantee funding for TVC. If anything, it is a symbolic gesture that will show the RES Board and university administration that TVC has the support of the students, which could be a powerful argument for getting funding. “The point of us presenting this to SGA is not to get SGA to give us money,” Fraser said. “We know that the university isn’t going to give us money tomorrow. SGA is the biggest organization on campus. [It’s about] the fact that they’re backing us, and the fact that they represent the students, and the students are backing us also.”