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Today’s double-cover issue of The Daily Beacon is a mashup of content from Thursday and Friday’s newspapers, which were combined because of weather-related problems.

Volume 128 Issue 34

utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

Friday, February 27, 2015

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

‘Heartbeat of Campus’

Students at the University of Tennessee never cease to amaze with their demonstration of the true meaning of the Volunteer Spirit.

Stepping into the role of the Melissa Shivers Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Life & Dean of Students this academic year, I’ve committed myself to serve as an advocate and supporter for our Big Orange Family. My journey in Student Life began as an undergraduate student at Georgia Southern University, where my passion for student leadership developed.

It was there that I became aware of the Dean of Students Office and thought of it more like a high school principal’s office — and you never want to go to the principal’s office! From this perspective, I tasked myself and our staff to get out of our offices and meet students where they are on campus.

This is why the Office of the Dean of Students prides itself on creating an open space for students, and I encourage students to stop. I think it’s important that students to get to know the deans and staff members who are dedicated to advocating for and supporting them as members of our community. We want to share their successes and acknowledge their triumphs. The focus on students is ever-present.

I most enjoy the opportunities to interact with students, whether that is cheering on the Vols from the student section, attending student meetings, teaching in the graduate program, participating in student-sponsored programming, working alongside students as they serve the Knoxville community or having lunch with students.

I love the University of Tennessee. Students are the heartbeat of our campus, and there’s nothing like a Tennessee Volunteer. Thank you for allowing this (Georgia Southern) Eagle, (University of Georgia) Dawg, and (Clemson) Tiger to become a Vol for Life!

Melissa Shivers is the Associate Vice Chancellor & Dean of Students.

Editor-in-Chief: Claire Dodson Managing Editor: Hanna Lustig Chief Copy Editor: Emilee Lamb, Cortney Roark News Editor: Hayley Brundige Asst. News Editor: Bradi Musil Special Projects Editor: Liv McConnell Sports Editor: Jonathan Toye Asst. Sports Editor: Taylor White Arts & Culture Editor: Jenna Butz Online Editor: Kevin Ridder Asst. Online Editor: Cara Sanders Photo Editor: Hannah Cather, Esther Choo Design Editor: Katrina Roberts, Lauren Ratliff Social Media Editor: Alexandra Chiasson Copy Editors: Jordan Achs, Tanner Hancock, Alexis Lawrence, Hannah Moulton, Faith Schweikert Editorial Production: Reid Hartsell, Justin Keyes, Teron Nunley, Alexis Porten, Steven Woods Training Editor: R.J. Vogt

ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION

Advertising Manager: Shelby Dildine Media Sales Representatives: Carly Kirkpatrick, Taylor Rife, Connor Thompson Advertising Production: Brandon White, Steven Woods Classified Adviser: Jessica Hingtgen

CONTACTS To report a news item, please e-mail editor.news@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-2348 To submit a press release, please e-mail pressreleases@utdailybeacon.com To place an ad, please e-mail beaconads@utk.edu or call 865-974-5206 To place a classified ad, please e-mail orderad@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-4931 Advertising: (865) 974-5206 beaconads@utk.edu

BEN PARTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 3 CHRIS SMITH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 4 IAN DINGLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 6 JOSH DOBBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 7 KIRSTEN FOX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 8 ANNIE CARR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 9 ABDALLA HUSAIN, BRAYDEN PHILLIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 10 BRANDON RAY DARR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 11 SUMMER AWAD, ALYSSA POWLUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 12 TYLER BULLION, JULIA ROSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 13 RILWAN BALOGUN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 14 BLAKE ROLLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 15 SHAFER POWELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 16

THE DAILY BEACON STAFF

EDITORIAL

STUDENTAPPRECIATIONDAY

Classifieds: (865) 974-4931 orderad@utdailybeacon.com Editor-in-Chief: (865) 974-2348 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com Main Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 editorinchief@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. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style. 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 Editor, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314.

CORRECTIONS POLICY: It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or staff members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send as much information as possible about where and when the error occurred to Editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com, or call our newsroom at (865) 974-5206.

The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Wednesday 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

The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint containing recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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LEADERS

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

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Violinist epitomizes determination, individuality Katrina Roberts

Design Editor (@KatrinaRoberts_)

Before he could read chapter books, Benjamin Parton could play the violin.

Doing what most young children do, the y p of five-year-old followed in the footsteps his older brother, who also played the violin at the time. But for Parton, now a

freshman violin performance major, playing became more than just friendly competition. It became a passion.

That passion would drive him for nearly the next decade and a half to lead the Knoxville Symphony Youth Orchestra violin section, as well as spend two summers with the National Youth Orchestra, an organization which gathers young musi musicians from around the country to perform concerts across the United States and abroad. These experiences helped shape how Parton played with other musicians, especially his time with the national orchestra — a group he said was “unbelievable to play with.”

But then it was back to Tennessee where Parton auditioned for the UT Symphony Orchestra and received the highest position — concertmaster.

To be even a member of the 70-piece

“I don’t think there’s a way to describe it that anyone who isn’t a musician could really understand.”

-Ben Parton

Ben Parton Esther Choo • The Daily Beacon

orchestra requires a blind audition process and hours of weekly rehearsals. But the responsibilities of the concertmaster go beyond that. Before rehearsals start at the beginning of the semester, Parton has to know each piece of music backward and forward. And during rehearsals, different sections break off for individual rehearsals; Parton leads those as well.

“It’s a community,” he said. “You have to work together. But the leader thing never goes away; it’s a constant job.”

It’s one that he juggles with ease.

Miroslav Hristov, associate violin professor, said Parton “owes winning this chair to his very strong psychological and instrumental stability in his style of playing.” “(Parton) is a player with a lot of commitment and determination. His individuality and talent are clearly part of his overall image as a musician.”

Though the responsibilities of being concertmaster can be harrowing, for Parton it’s just another ball in the juggling act of his first semes-

ter of college.

“Balancing was really hard,” Parton said.

“I was going into the college environment for the first time and worrying about my grades and trying to be the perfect student all the time.”

But he didn’t drop a ball. Despite the added pressure of being concertmaster, Parton made it through the first semester unscathed with three more concerts under his belt. “(Parton) meets these challenges and high expectations in a very professional manner,” Hristov said, “while still preserving his integrity as a musician.

And this integrity and determination will serve him well in his future, where he plans to join larger orchestras and keep playing professionally. But no matter the number of performances he logs and the time he spends practicing or the places he plays, Parton said he plays for that one special moment.

“I don’t think there’s a way to describe it that anyone who isn’t a musician could really understand,” Parton said. “You just have to do it to understand. It’s one of those things.”

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LEADERS

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

SPREADING DIVERSITY

Multicultural Mentoring Program president started as mentee, now works for education to spread diversity awareness Hannah Moulton Copy Editor

UT was not Chris Smith’s first choice.

Smith wanted to go to MTSU or TSU — schools which he thought were more diverse than the University of Tennessee.

It wasn’t until a ME4UT tour, an organization that promotes diversity on campus, that Smith saw the diversity the university had to offer.

“They really showed me a good time, and I enjoyed my visit so much, and that’s when I realized that I wanted to come to the University of Tennessee,” Smith, senior in English, said.

Once Smith got to UT, he decided to major in English and minor in secondary education and Africana studies.

He also became a mentee at the Multicultural Mentoring Program as a freshman, which assigns students to an older student mentor who shares similarities with them — be it hobbies or similar majors. They assist the mentees with getting acclimated to the campus environment and connecting them to campus resources.

“I had such a great experience with my mentor that I decided to become a mentor myself,” Smith said.

The advisors and leaders who assisted Smith during his first few fears as a leader in the Multicultural Mentoring Program instilled more of a passion for diversity and leadership in Smith.

Just like his mentors, Smith has made a lasting impact on those he’s mentored.

“Chris has an amazing spirit about him,” said Keith McGee, sophomore in accounting and former mentee of Smith’s. “He’s passionate, driven and has a desire to help cultivate and change campus.”

Now Smith is president of the Multicultural Mentoring Program.

“It’s great to just see how it’s all come full circle,” Smith said. “I started as a mentee, and now I’m at the top of the program because of those people who invested in me, and now I have the chance to do the same thing for students who come to me.”

Once Smith took over, he began working on improving the program.

“The program when I came into it, from where it is now to where it started — it’s grown tremendously.

“And I would say that that’s one of my proudest moments to see how much we’ve grown,” Smith said.

With Smith and his fellow leaders orga-

nizing more events like talent shows, movie nights and socials, the Multicultural Mentoring Program was able to put its name out on campus.

The Multicultural Mentoring Program isn’t the only organization Smith is involved with. He is also the vice president of Black Educators of Tomorrow, a member of the Student Alumni Association, ME4UT and the Provost Student Advisory Council.

Smith also restarted a committee called UTK Lead Summer Institute, or UTLSI, which was once a component of the UT LEAD program which helped minority students adjust to college life, until it was disbanded by the university.

Smith and a group of friends got together and met with the university’s administrators to argue their case about why the committee should be reinstated. The committee was able to start up again, and now Smith and other members meet with administrators to discuss the success and progress of UTLSI. Through UTLSI, Smith was able to organize the protest on Cumberland Avenue after St. Louis County’s grand jury’s decision to not indict Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.

“So we’ve kind of expanded it past just reinstating the program and actually began to focus more on social justice issues,” Smith said. “We decided that we would make this a permanent thing.”

Smith’s main focus is on educating. With his degree he hopes to become a high school English teacher. Currently, however, he wants to educate other students on diversity.

Smith expressed that most of the time students only learn about certain aspects of diversity when they are required to take a class on black history or an Africana studies class.

“Sometimes we can think people are ignorant because of the things that they say, or we can think that they’re just really racist. But sometimes they just really don’t know,” Smith said.

For that reason, Smith said it’s important to give students the opportunity get educated on diverse issues.

This passion for diversity, Smith said, grew from little lessons his parents taught him as a child.

“My parents always taught me ‘treat others like how you would want to be treated,’” Smith said.

Smith said that ideology translates to respecting and being aware of people’s dif-

Christopher Smith Hayley Pennesi • The Daily Beacon ferences.

Smith will graduate in May, but will continue his education at UT in the Teacher Education Program. Once Smith receives his masters, he hopes to go on to become a high school English teacher. His final goal is to work in education policy.

Smith has made a lasting impression on

campus, his mentees and even his advisor.

Dametraus Jaggers has known Smith since 2012 when Jaggers became the advisor of the Multicultural Mentoring Program.

Jaggers said,”It has been a privilege to work with such a caring, passionate and visionary leader like (Smith).”

STUDENTAPPRECIATIONDAY

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

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The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

LEADERS

Army ROTC leader ‘exudes confidence’ Alexandra Chiasson

Social Media Editor Ian Dingle, sophomore from Chattanooga majoring in marketing, is an Energizer bunny of a person with a commanding presence. He brings to mind the dynamic “Recess” character T.J. Detweiler.

Appropriately, he wears a backwards baseball cap and even dressed up as T.J. for a recent date party. As social chair for Phi Kappa Psi, he picked the theme “The Malt Disney Date Party.”

“Ian Dingle starts out every morning by pissing excellence.”

-Austin Robinson Dingle’s incredible confidence is visceral, something he evidently requires in order to exist. Like an elephant in the corner or a strong odor, his mojo is uniquely detectable from the exact moment he enters the room.

Still, Ian doesn’t feel comfortable “tooting [his] own horn” much when it comes to his rather impressive accomplishments as an Army ROTC Cadet Sergeant Team Leader or his recent acceptance into the competitive Army Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency Program.

Instead, he shared the details of a Phi Kappa Psi event happening in April and time was spent chatting about the marijuana industry in his home state of Colorado.

With prodding, however, Dingle described the CULP summer program through which he will serve as an ambassador for the United States Army in Guyana, engaging in military to military operations and training in the Guyanese “jungle warrior

assault school.”

“I’m going to come back and be like ‘remember that one time I was just eatin’ bugs?” Dingle said of the impending opportunity.

Starting UT with the intention of joining the Army after graduation, ROTC seemed a logical choice to Dingle. His strong academic record and dedication to the program earned him a scholarship to cut the cost of tuition.

“I thought I might as well try to get them to pay for my school, which they did and I’m super grateful,” Dingle said.

A past squad leader, Chris Benakovich, confirmed suspicions that Dingle is well-liked among his fellow cadets.

“I would have to say that he is definitely one of the best entertainers I’ve ever been around, and his dancing is pretty much legendary,” he mused.

Interestingly, fellow Phi Kappa Psi brother, Austin Robinson, praised Ian’s dancing and vivaciousness as well.

“Ian Dingle starts out every morning by pissing excellence,” Robinson said. “He exudes confidence in everything he does whether he’s good at it (as in dancing) or not (as in basketball). He’s the most outgoing person I know.”

Dingle credits the source of his sense of humor and sociable nature to his mom.

“I get my personality from her,” Dingle said. “I am very much an extension of my mother.

“She’s dope. I love her. Shout out to Peg.” When presented with an old tweet of his from last summer that read “Walking 30 minutes to Walmart to poop” and asked if that was the longest he has ever walked for the sake of a bowel movement, Dingle was utterly unfazed and took the inquiry very seriously.

“Hmm that’s a good one,” Dingle remarked. “I’ve had to prairie dog in my day.”

He then described, in detail, an uncomfortable experience he once had during a field training exercise.

His final answer was “about six, seven miles,” or around an hour and a half of intense clenching.

“The shit you find on Twitter!

Literally, ha!”

Ian Dingle Hayley Pennesi • The Daily Beacon

LEADERS

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

7

Josh Dobbs Melissa Croft • The Daily Beacon

A conversation with a quarterback

Few faces on UT’s campus are more recognizable than Josh Dobbs’, sophomore in aerospace engineering and quarterback extraordinaire. The Daily Beacon had the chance to sit down with him and get to know the man behind the No. 11 jersey a bit better.

Melissa Croft

Photographer Daily Beacon: What made you choose football?

Josh Dobbs: It was a tough decision.

I grew up playing football, baseball and basketball. I never really got into football and baseball until I got into high school.

Football was my dominant sport, that’s what I was being recruited for. I kind of pictured myself playing football. Especially when I had the opportunity to play football at the University of Tennessee? And play quarterback here? I just couldn’t pass up that opportunity.

DB: How did you decide on Tennessee?

JD: Well, I had an interesting recruiting process. I was originally committed to another school, Arizona State, for eight months, and when Coach Jones got to Tennessee, he started recruiting me … I ended up visiting Tennessee as my last official visit, and once I visited I was like,

you can’t turn down Tennessee. It’s a great program. I can study what I want to study, play for Coach Jones and his staff, and play for an SEC university built around tradition.

DB: What’s your favorite place in Knoxville?

JD: I like going down to Market Square.

Stock and Barrel is a good burger place. I really love Rita’s Italian Ice, I go there all the time. They have Swedish Fish. I buy like the pint size and just pig out, so that’s fun. I see a lot of movies downtown.

DB: Are you going to see “50 Shades of Grey?”

JD: Uh, I’m not sure yet. We’ll see. We usually see all the new movies, but I don’t know about that one.

DB: What’s one of your favorite UT traditions?

JD: The Vol Walk, definitely. Seeing thousands of fans out there, not just for the game but for the walk, out there cheering us on is definitely very exciting. To get off the bus and hear everyone screaming and yelling, it’s definitely fun. The first time

you don’t really believe there are going to be that many people there, but it’s just a sea of orange … It never gets old.

DB: How does it feel to be a local celebrity?

JD: You don’t really notice it, you know?

I don’t notice it. I feel like I’ll always be myself. But it’s cool. It’s cool to think that people look up to you. I just have to make sure I’m holding myself accountable and putting myself in the right light.

DB: Speaking of having people look up to you, you recently met a hospitalized fan, AJ Cucksey. How was that for you?

JD: It was awesome. He came to practice, I think leading up to the Kentucky game, so he watched practice and he had shared that I was his favorite player. I got a chance to talk to him after practice, and before Christmas break I was able to take him a No. 11 jersey, sit down and talk with him and just hang out with him. He is definitely a ball of energy. He’s awesome, and when we got back from break I was able to go back over to his house and hang out with him again. You can see he is get-

ting better.

DB: Do you have a most memorable fan moment?

JD: I’d say that’s one, for sure. (Another time) I was in California training and I was in an airport, and people just walked up to me and said, “Oh yeah, you’re Tennessee’s quarterback. We live out here in California, we’ve seen you play, and you’re doing things. Just keep it up.” It just shows me that UT fans are everywhere.

DB: How do you feel when people refer to you as “the future of the Vols?”

JD: I just think of it as this team will depend on me in the future, so what I do now will impact this team down the road.

Whatever I can do now to improve myself and the team, I’ll do whatever it takes.

DB: If you could be remembered for one thing after leaving UT, what would it be?

JD: Mainly just that football wasn’t the only thing that I did. I did various things off the field, in the classroom, in the community. I wasn’t just a football player. I was an all-around good person to the community and a great student, as well.

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LEADERS

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

Social work student finds passion for Ugandan people Hannah Marley Staff Writer

In an age of constant communication, rapid advances in technology and an increasing wealth gap, Kirsten Fox, a junior in social work, has found happiness halfway across the world.

Ever since she traveled to Gulu, Uganda, last summer to participate in a service study abroad program focused on helping impoverished Ugandan communities build and maintain schools, Fox said that she has felt a strong desire to return.

When asked what aspects of the community continue to attract her to Uganda, Fox said she admires the strength of the people and their resolve to be content despite the economic inequality, lack of resources and warfare that have plagued the country.

“I liked the culture in that they’re all about helping each other and helping themselves,” Fox said. “Even though they didn’t have enough to build the schools, they took what they had and what time they had and they did it. They’ve been through a lot, but they’re a happy community. You don’t see the war, you see what they’re doing to rebuild.”

While Fox initially traveled to Gulu to teach and assist the Ugandan communities, driven by a desire to share her faith, Fox said that she has learned more from her experience with them than she could ever teach them herself.

“It’s more than just helping them. I want to learn from them,” Fox said. “They taught me how to be happy and how to live.”

This happiness, Fox said, stems from a healthier relationship with money and a more communityoriented social structure.

While the villages she visited were impoverished, Fox said they used the money they did have wisely.

Fox noted that after living with them, she can more clearly see how materialistic American society can be.

“I’m not a slave to money,” Fox said. “ Money is a tool for me to use, not to hoard. Being there taught me that.”

Fox said her desire to travel and work with non-governmental organizations in Uganda is a representation of her already deeply-held disdain for discrimination against disenfranchised populations.

Through her work, Fox said she hopes she can help provide some of the basic necessities Ugandans are denied by their government, including accessible schools and education supplies.

Colleen Ryan, a sophomore in global studies, said she thinks Fox’s love for the Ugandan people and social justice will help her be successful when she returns to Gulu in the future.

“Kirsten is so passionate about everything she does and is so committed to making meaningful change,” Ryan said. “I am really excited that she will be returning to Gulu to continue the work she was doing.”

For Fox, this change she is striving for in Uganda is a long-term commitment she is ready and willing to make.

“I’m not just going somewhere to help people,” Fox said. “I have the desire to live in a society like that.”

Kirsten Fox • Photo courtesy of Kirsten Fox

UNSUNGHEROES

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

Annie Carr Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

The star behind the scenes

TVC executive producer finds confidence in hands-on, campus work Jenna Butz

Art & Culture Editor

Annie Carr wanted to major in theater.

“In high school, I was very involved with theater, and so for the longest time, I was like, ‘I’m going to major in theater,’” Carr laughed. “Then, I was like, ‘You know, that’s a really poor life decision because that’s not a marketable skill really, and lets be real, I’m not going to Broadway.”

Now, the junior double majoring in journalism and electronic media and cinema studies realizes being a TV reporter isn’t exactly like being on stage. Instead, she’s more focused on the behind-the-scenes, especially in her roles as a video editor and producer in training at local news station WBIR and as executive producer for UT’s The Volunteer Channel.

Like many student journalists, Carr sought to supplement her classroom education with hands-on experience, starting with TVC the spring semester of her freshman year. Since then, she has jumped into roles in local media and UT School of Journalism & Electronic Media projects, like UT Today, a 30-minute segment about UT and its faculty on WBIR and The Medal of Honor Project.

It’s experience that Carr’s friend and roommate, Kelsey Keny, senior in journalism and electronic media, sees as an extension of her personality, propelling Carr forward.

“Annie will go wherever she wants to, because that’s just how she does things,” Keny said.

“She’s not afraid to take on things that aren’t easy, and she’s super goal-oriented.”

Working up to 35 hours a week at WBIR on top of classes and extracurricular activities isn’t without its struggles though. Her work schedule

has caused her to resign as SGA press secretary, and Carr admitted the pressures can be difficult at times.

“Sometimes it sucks, and I have to forego going to wine night at Sunspot on Wednesday in favor of doing all my Spanish homework or putting together the whole UT Today,” Carr said.

“So, there are times when it’s a lot to handle, but for the most part, I just make a lot of lists and very calmly tell myself that ‘you’re going to get it all done.’”

Though Keny sees her friend and TVC coworker’s dedication as her strongest trait, she said it can also be Carr’s greatest weakness when she seeks to do it all on her own.

“Because she gets caught up in wanting something to be her version of perfect, she doesn’t let others help her at times, which results in her getting stressed, even when there are people by her side who want to step up and assist,” Keny said. “She also avoids conflict and drinks a lot of Dr Pepper.”

This experience along with her own perseverance has helped Carr outline one main goal: wherever she goes and whatever she does, she wants to work in television.

“I do know that I want to produce something that comes on TV, probably of the news nature —which is very vague and broad, and you could fit about a thousand jobs in that category,” Carr said. “The awesome thing about the fact that I go to UT is that I’ve done everything. I’ve done live coverage. I’ve made a documentary.

I know how to produce 30-minute newscasts.

I can write, social media, whatever. I’ve done everything.

“I feel like no matter what happens when I graduate, as far as journalism goes, I’ve kind of tried it all out, so whatever I’m feeling a year from now, that’s where we’ll go.”

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UNSUNGHEROES

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

Phillips follows childhood dream with UT’s athletic department Taylor White

Assistant Sports Editor

Before he officially enrolled as a student, Brayden Phillips had managed to work his way into the UT’s athletic department.

As a sophomore at nearby Maryville High School, Phillips decided he wanted to be involved with UT athletics, and at age 14 he took the initiative to make that happen.

“I kept emailing Bud Ford at the sports information office,” Phillips said. “I actually got a gig with them, a volunteership, to home games as a sophomore, so I did that for a year ... I was just kind of running stats, doing anything a student worker would do now.”

Phillips is now a junior at UT working in the football operations department, helping with everything from coaches’ clinics in the off-season, to game day preparations in the fall, holding numerous responsibilities year-round.

His career didn’t start by working in the operations side of the athletic department, however.

Once he enrolled at Tennessee, he began his work in the recruiting office, and was assigned to breaking down film of prospective student athletes in February of his freshman year.

Phillips quickly realized, though, that recruiting wasn’t where he wanted to stay long term.

He began working both home and away football games in his sophomore year, where he became

interested in the operations side of the football program.

“Honestly, I just enjoyed the operations side more than the recruiting side,” Phillips said.

“I really enjoyed my time in recruiting, but I wanted to diversify my experience. I love the operations side. It’s different every day, and that’s why I love it.”

While most students roll out of bed and head to their favorite tailgate spot on football Saturday, Phillips’ game day experience goes far beyond that of the average student.

His day starts around 7 a.m., helping to run shuttles from the team hotel to the football complex on campus several times throughout the course of the morning. He then helps load all of the players’ bags into the team buses to make sure they get to Neyland Stadium.

He then gets to participate in the well-known Vol Walk, where the coaches and players walk down a tunnel of fans into the stadium to start their pregame warmups.

It’s back to the not-so-glamorous for Phillips afterwards, though, as he is usually given the task of transporting some of those players’ bags or even umbrellas into the stadium.

“A funny story happened this year,” Phillips said. “They said we needed umbrellas for all our players. So we had 35 or 40 umbrellas out at the Vol Walk and it never rained, so those had to get to the stadium somehow.

“Thanks to a Knoxville News Sentinel pho-

Brayden Phillips Hayley Pennesi • The Daily Beacon tographer who got a picture of me carrying 35 or 40 umbrellas, just sweating like no other. It was a fun moment.”

After Phillips’ sophomore year of high school, he moved with his family to Memphis, where he attended and played football for Memphis University School for two years. There he met and played with 2015 five-star offensive tackle signee Drew Richmond.

The two primarily played the same position, left tackle, with the senior Phillips responsible for mentoring Richmond in his freshman season.

“I actually played offensive line as well, so I never had to practice against him,” Phillips said.

“He kind of was my understudy, the 6-foot-6 310

pound ninth grader. It was kind of cool to see him grow and be recruited ... Maybe some of the grittiness (he got from me), but definitely not the size.”

With just a little over a year left in his undergraduate career, Phillips said he believes the experience he has gotten in the UT athletic department has been critical to his future, and may set him apart from other candidates when he begins look for jobs.

While he isn’t completely sure of what he wants to do when he leaves Tennessee, he does have an idea of where he would like to be after he graduates.

“I love Tennessee,” Phillips said. “I don’t want to go anywhere anytime soon.”

MSA provides safe haven for student organizer McCord Pagan

Staff Writer

Abdalla Husain • Photo courtesy of Abdalla Husain

It is just two days after a shooting near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that left three young Muslims dead, and undecided sophomore Abdalla Husain is visibly nervous. He sits with his hands hidden in his lap as he readily identifies himself as a proud Muslim and American.

The recent shooting and his concerns over Islamophobia in America dominates our exchange.

“One family over there realized my biggest fear, which is to lose my sisters or my brother to some ridiculous act,” Husain said.

Husain is a Palestinian-American who was in the West Bank during the war between Israel and Hamas this summer that left thousands dead. He wears a bracelet with the colors of the Palestinian flag on his wrist, a constant reminder of his family in the Middle East.

Though Husain is a born and raised American, he lives in a very different country than his peers.

In Husain’s America, fear and ignorance of Islam is prevalent, forcing him to constantly be on the defense about his faith and culture.

Aside from having a place to connect with many of his friends, Husain said his involvement in the Muslim Student Association is a reflection of his need to tell people what Islam is really about. Much of the media, he said, is biased against Muslims and gives a skewed picture of his religion.

“It’s unfortunate that I feel like if I fight back against somebody who attacks my sisters (for being Muslim) that I’ll be just perpetuating a stereotype,” Husain said.

A lot of young Muslims on campus like Husain use the MSA as a way to bond and establish an Islamic identity, said Ahmad Alshibi, senior in chemical engineering and long-time friend of Husain.

“It is nice to know that there are people like you who share the same culture, same

religion, and same identity as you, and that is really comforting,” Alshibi said via email.

While Husain has been spending more time this semester at the local mosque helping with an upcoming youth retreat, Alshibi said his friend still dedicates much of his time to the organization.

“MSA is a constant reminder to our religion,” Alshibi said. “Abdalla will volunteer and help out whenever there is an event like tailgates, cookouts and community service.”

Far from any extremism, the Muslim Student Association consists of regular college students going through typical college problems, Husain said, in addition to answering any questions people may have about what Islam is all about.

“One of our goals is to be an organization people can talk to if they have any questions about Islam,” Husain said. “I never see ignorance as something below me, I never look down on ignorance. I just see it as an opportunity to educate people. That’s what I’ve tried to do my whole life.”

UNSUNGHEROES

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

11

Brandon Ray Darr Esther Choo • The Daily Beacon

CAC’s chair dedicated to diversity Bradi Musil

Assistant News Editor

Brandon Ray Darr was born half-Vietnamese and despite his father’s fluency in the language, never learned to speak it.

Now an avid student of linguistics with experience speaking French, Spanish, Japanese and Finnish, Darr said he finds his own cultural background a bit amusing.

“It’s ironic because I study other languages,” Darr, junior in College Scholars, said, “but have never learned to speak one of my own parents’.”

Darr grew up in Sweetwater, Tennessee, a town he called the “epitome” of a small rural community where Sonic was the most popular hangout destination. Disappointed by the lack of resources in his hometown, Darr said attending UT was his chance to remedy his limited experience with diversity.

“Whenever I was looking for schools, I looked for a university that could offer me the antithesis of what I had grown up with for 18 years,” Darr said. “That was a big factor in choosing UT.” Darr immediately got involved in every campus group and organization that piqued his interested. The Cultural Attractions Committee was the first club he joined freshman year, and Darr said he was immediately hooked.

Now CAC’s chair, Darr’s attraction to the club grew from his interest in planning large events and providing people an opportunity to see large-scale performances.

“I really latched onto the Cultural Attractions Committee because I’d always been a huge fan of the arts,” Darr said, noting again that his lack of cultural diversity growing up in his hometown also contributed to his interest in the committee.

“A lot of the events we bring, the groups show their culture through performance.”

One of Darr’s favorite experiences with CAC happened last February when a group of exiled monks visited campus for a week-long series of programming. Spending a week with exiled Tibetan monks, he said, is an experience not many students can challenge.

“A week-long event like that to really get to know the monks, their culture and their history, it was something like we’d never experienced before,” Darr said.

Margaux Joe, executive member of CAC and Darr’s close friend, said having him serve as CAC’s chair means every event is masterfully planned and carefully executed.

“He’s a great chair — very thorough and always thinking of every single aspect of an event,” said Joe, junior in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology.

Darr’s College Scholars program combines applied linguistics, multicultural education and policy analysis to look specifically at social inequality and education. He is currently working on a research project with Professor Harriet Bowden in the modern foreign languages department using different methods of teaching to study how second language acquisition connects to late-learners.

Ulimately, Darr hopes to attend graduate school and continue his research of education.

He can see himself traveling in the future and teaching both elementary education and, one day, college education.

For now, however, Darr said he is just a normal college student trying to follow his dreams and impact change.

“I’m just doing what a lot of students at UT are already doing -- following their passion and when they see a need in the Knoxville community or at UT, they kind of do what they can do to fulfill that need,” Darr said. “If they have an interest they follow that interest. It’s just even better when both are combined.”

12

UNSUNGHEROES

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

Sex Week organizer prioritizes social activism, health education Tanner Hancock Copy Editor

SI leader finds joy in teaching others Savannah Gilman Copy Editor

Mention “Sex Week” and you’re bound to get a reaction.

Despite the hype and excitement surrounding the event series, it can be easy to forget the students who work tirelessly to make Sex Week a reality.

For Summer Awad, a junior in College Scholars and co-chair of Sex Week’s sponsoring organization Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, the path to activism began in the wake of 9/11. Raised in a Muslim family, Awad began to notice the prejudice her family endured, whether in the form of “random” checks at the airport or jokes about backpack bombs from other students.

Inspired by a desire to promote social awareness in all forms, Awad eventually took up sexual activism after seeing the lack of reliable information surrounding sex education.

“It seemed so taboo to talk about,” Awad said. “I felt like I needed more information, and I felt like I was kind of lost.”

Although she helped educate middle school students on sex education while she was in high school, it wasn’t until she came to UT and got involved with S.E.A.T. that she realized what positive sex education looked like. Her high school organization had treated sex as a shameful act, Awad said, but Sex Week openly embraced sex as natural while still providing reliable information on safe practices.

“I became really committed to the idea that it’s a human right to know about your own body,” Awad said.

To critics who view sex as a private matter, Awad maintains that sex, while controversial, can only be handled in the light of day.

“In the south, we have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy where you can do whatever you want in the bedroom but nobody wants to see it,” Awad said, noting that Tennessee is one of the highest ranked states for both sexually transmitted diseases and pornography consumption.

Lynn Sacco, an associate professor of history and co-faculty adviser for Sex Week, said Awad’s awareness of the program’s importance was evident from the start.

“She quickly realized what was at stake: an opportunity not only to move past inadequate sex education provided by the state, but also a forum in which she and other students could talk openly and together,” Sacco said.

To help remedy Tennessee’s lacking education, Awad has been active in transitioning Sex Week from a week-long phenomenon to the year-round organization S.E.A.T. Aside from Sex Week, S.E.A.T. has also organized drag shows, sponsored sexual education workshops and theatrical productions with sexual themes held year round.

Even in her personal hobbies, Awad finds time to weave her love of activism and social justice into her

Summer Awad Esther Choo • The Daily Beacon

interests. Guided by a passion for foreign languages, she has traveled to China, Oman and Jordan to expand her communication skills. During her time in Jordan, Awad found time to interview Palestinian refugees in an effort to create a theatrical production highlighting the injustices Palestinians face at the hands of Israel.

“Palestinians never get to tell their stories in the West, it’s always Western media slanting it a certain way,” Awad said. “I really just wanted to give a human voice to Palestine and show what these people’s lives are like living under occupation.”

Sacco observed that even after returning from the Middle East, Awad’s dedication to S.E.A.T. and Sex Week never waned.

“I would have come back from all that exhausted,” she said. “Summer returned on fire.”

Those who can, teach.

For students in the Supplemental Instruction program, they find themselves doing just that.

Supplemental Instruction has been around since 2009, targeting courses with more than 200 students that have less than an 80 percent success rate.

The goal is to give everyone the chance to succeed.

Alyssa Powlus, junior in chemistry with her sights on medical school, is entering her fourth semester as an SI leader.

“It’s been really cool. I went to SI when I was a sophomore here and that’s how I got into it,” Powlus said.

“I went every time, every session and the SI leader said if you’re interested in working at the Student Success Center you should apply, so I did and I got the position.”

Twice a week Powlus leads a full session where she goes over work sheets she has created and reiterates what a professor would say. She also has office hours for one-on-one questions.

“I make jokes— horrible jokes— but I make jokes,” she said. “I really try to hit on topics people struggle with, and as I’ve done it I’ve realized more and more certain concepts that people struggle with when they go through organic chemistry.”

Powlus attends the lectures of the course she tutors for on top of her own course load, which allows her to know exactly what students are dealing with each week.

“The best advertisement for SI is

word of mouth, because who wants to come sacrifice an extra hour and sit in another class?” Powlus said. “I try to make it fun, talk to them about their lives. People think I’m a TA, but I’m not.

I’m an undergrad, I want to get to know them, see them around campus, be their friend. That’s probably my favorite part, what keeps me coming back.”

For Brandon Jones, assistant director specializing in Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction, the leaders are the backbone of the program.

“We like to think of (the SI leaders) as the best and brightest,” Jones said.

“Since they are familiar with the instructors and materials of courses they’re giving more than just answers, they preparing the students for the success.

They have a huge impact on the students they serve.”

The student leaders come from a variety of fields and backgrounds, but they work together to create an environment of learning on many levels.

“We all help each other out. Your first semester as an SI leader is the hardest because you’re having to reteach yourself these concepts, which is harder than just understanding it on your own,” Powlus said. “Your first semester is definitely one to make stories, laugh at yourself and learn. It’s a cool group, everyone’s super smart and has their own thing.”

SI has been an experience and a community that many, including Powlus, are dedicated to.

“I love it, it just makes me feel good,” she said. “If I have a bad day, going in and knowing I helped someone — it kind of makes your day a little better. I really do like to do it and it helps me get better at chemistry.”

Alyssa Powlus Tiara Holt • The Daily Beacon

MAVERICKS

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

13

A passion for public service From campus to the White House, Julia Ross is here to help Liv McConnell

Special Projects Editor

Tyler Bullion Mark Bender • The Daily Beacon

Trombonist attributes success to others Michael Lipps

Contributor

For Tylar Bullion, being a musician comes with many perks. One in particular, though, stands above the rest.

“Probably the women,” Bullion joked.

Currently a trombonist, his first instrument was the piano in middle school. He found his way to the trombone by chance, when it was the only instrument left to play.

“I signed up and fell in love with it from there,” Bullion said.

Fast forward to the present, and his connection to the trombone has evolved into what will surely be a lifelong affair.

“When he plays, his eyes will sometimes close and you can just tell he’s putting everything he has into it,” friend Kevin Ridder said.

“He’s probably one of the best musicians at UT.” Possibly his greatest achievement thus far was winning the audition for principal trombone player in the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West in California. After learning of the vacancy, Bullion submitted an application along with roughly 70 other hopefuls nationwide and was one of the five selected to audition.

The competition was stiff; Bullion was the only undergraduate contestant. But, in the end, it was his diligence that helped him pull ahead, Ridder said.

“He has gotten there by having really hard work ethic,” he said. “He would get up at 5 or 6 a.m., go to the music building, practice an hour before an 8 a.m., then practice for another hour somewhere in-between, in addition to the afternoon and evening.”

He wasn’t always this industrious, how-

ever. Bullion can recall a time his mentor, Don Hough, gave him the reality check that made him so.

Early in his career, he went to a lesson unprepared. After playing through a piece, Hough asked if he had practiced and Bullion told him he had not. Hough put Bullion in his place, emphasizing the ‘X’ number of people in the country who were better than him and demanding to know what made him think he didn’t need to practice.

Bullion laughs about this now, as he now credits Hough to being one of the most influential people in his life.

“He helped me to be a successful person in general. It wasn’t so much about being a good trombonist, but being a well-rounded person , which is going to be useful no matter field you go into,” Bullion said.

He attributes his success to coming in contact with a number of influential mentors, including professors, Vance Thompson and Gregory Tardy, whose album, “Vance Thompson’s Five Plus Six: Such Sweet Thunder,” features Bullion among the other artists. His most notable collaborations include playing and recording with The Dirty Guv’nahs, and gigging with his cover band, The Big Pink.

“I feel like my success is one quarter me and three quarters everyone else I’ve come in contact with,” Bullion said.

Ultimately, Bullion said his passion for music resides in its ability to connect people, including those he wouldn’t ordinarily have the opportunity to interact with.

He said, “In a culture that seems so driven by small talk, it seems like with music it’s an exchange between two people that you can’t really fake your way through.”

Bullion performs April 17 at 10 p.m. at Barley’s Taproom & Pizzeria in the Old City.

For many students, landing an internship essentially means becoming the company’s new errand runner.

For Julia Ross, senior in economics, landing an internship meant stepping inside the Oval Office.

“Walking through the gates on Pennsylvania Avenue every morning was a special thrill,” Ross said of her internship at the White House last fall. “I felt so honored to contribute, in whatever small way, to the Obama administration’s work for the American people.”

During her time in Washington, D.C., Ross worked for the Office of Scheduling and Advance, which oversees preparation for presidential visits across America and to international destinations like Estonia, China and India.

“I learned so much about leadership and public service during my internship,” she said. “The importance of prioritizing goals, engaging in transparent communication and identifying mentors particularly stand out as leadership lessons.”

Ross admittedly knew a thing or two about leadership before accepting the internship, her adviser Marianne Wanamaker said.

“I have many times heard other students say, ‘Well, I talked to Julia about this and this is what she suggested,’ or, ‘This is the way Julia would have done it,’” Wanamaker said. “She is a role model and a leader, as well.”

Working under Obama’s administration is one of many accolades Ross has racked up during her time at UT. Beyond working for UT’s Center for Business and Economic Research, she is also the editor-in-chief of Pursuit: The Journal for Undergraduate Research and the founding chapter director of the Roosevelt Institute.

“I think

her well-roundedness impress me most,” Wanamaker said. “I think everyone recognizes that she is extremely gifted academically, but she is also skilled in many other areas. She very obviously has a social conscience and is astute politically.”

Her social sensibility is evident in the research she has conducted about American’s access to healthcare.

“I’m interested in the economic implications of trends in public health,” Ross said. “I conducted my thesis research on the children’s health insurance program in Louisiana. They made some changes to the way their program is administered, and I did a study to see if those changes resulted in more children receiving care.”

Although Ross has always been interested in public health, she originally planned to follow that interest through a vein different from public service.

“I started college as a pre-med major and was studying microbiology for two years, thinking that maybe if I do all of this medicine stuff, I can start to think about public health eventually,” she said. “That was silly because I knew somewhere in my gut, I was not going to have fun day-to-day as a surgeon. I didn’t know that not having fun in your job was a good enough reason to pick a different job.”

After taking Economics 201, Ross felt she had found the way she could further the public’s interest best.

“I changed my major and that’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in college,” she said.

When not working for the advancement of others, Ross betters herself by eating out with friends, doing yoga, training for her second half-marathon, and ultimately, choosing to find fulfillment in all she does.

“I’m not about feeling mopey because I have to work on some dumb project or something,” she said. “No matter what I’m doing, I try to find joy in that activity because we only have so many minutes in our lives.”

Julia Ross Esther Choo • The Daily Beacon

MAVERICK

14 The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

Rilwan Balogun Katie Truppo • The Daily Beacon

CCI ambassador has passion to lead Jonathan Toye

Sports Editor

Rilwan Balogun vividly recalls the moment he decided where to attend college.

The moment came during a campus trip to the University of Tennessee. The visit gave Balogun the chance to explore UT’s College of Communications and also view The Volunteer Channel’s studios.

When he saw what the TVC studios offered students, he knew Tennessee was the right fit for him.

“Once I went there and listened to the students that were there, which was great, they spoke about how hands-on everything was,” Balogun, senior in journalism and electronic media, said. “That was when I knew I needed to come to UT.” Now four years later, he serves as a land ambassador for CCI and leads tours of prospective CCI students. While guiding the tours, Balogun hopes to convince high school students that UT is the right college destination for them too.

He wants them to experience the same moment he had when he was in their place four years ago.

“As an ambassador, I am trying to do the same thing for someone else,” Balogun said. “I want to light that up for them and after they see this one thing or I say one thing, they are like, ‘UT is where I have to be.’”

According to fellow CCI ambassador and senior in journalism Melodi Erdogan, Balogun uses a straightforward tactic when persuading students to attend Tennessee.

“He tells you how it is,” Erdogan said. “He

doesn’t flower up UT for anyone, which is a good thing. Then he shows you around and he tells you about the program, about different opportunities that you can have, about what you can pursue when you are there, and he tells it very honestly and very sincerely” Balogun’s importance to the university doesn’t just reside in his role as an ambassador, however.

He also served time as a resident hall assistant in Hess Hall and helped co-found UT’s chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.

His resume signifies the quintessential college experience UT administrators want students to have, including having held multiple high-profile internships and studying abroad in England.

Yet Balogun claims he never becomes involved in an activity just to add to his resume.

“Everything I get involved in is because I am passionate about it,” Balogun said. “I don’t get into anything unless I love it and enjoy it. I don’t do anything just for resume fillers. Everything I am in, I truly care about it.”

While his passions have benefited his prospective career, Balogun has used his leadership role as an RA to forge relationships with younger students through initiated programs.

“We had a thing called fireside chats,” he said.

“I just would leave my door propped open and whoever wants to come in, comes in and talks.

And we had that almost every week, and one night we stayed there until 2 a.m. just talking.

That’s what I love — just being close with other people.”

Balogun has held many titles while at UT, but “role model” is perhaps the most befitting, Erdogan said.

“He provides a great example for students that want to pursue journalism and need someone to look up to.”

MAVERICK

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

15

A day in the life of an inquisitive, eclectic mind Hannah Cather

Photo Editor

Blake Roller will walk down the sidewalk five steps ahead of you, eyes wide, because he’s curious about the buildings. He’ll stop when something catches his attention and turn to you with a question on the tip of his tongue. You’ll give him the look of “I don’t know, but ask me anyway,” and he does.

“What’s that building for? It’s a hotel now, but why’d they build it? Do you think it was part of the World’s Fair?”

Roller realizes you don’t know, so he fishes his phone out of his pocket. A few moments and Google searches later, he’s spewing off a summary of historical information and you continue your walk. You try to internalize as much of the details as you know he has.

Whether he’s strolling through New Orleans on a weekend trip or sitting in class, Roller’s curiosity is never ending and his desire to share the answers is equally indefatigable.

“I’m the kid that’s always sharing random facts,” Roller said. “They call me ‘Blakapedia.’ These are all things everybody should know, and they don’t. It goes back to my major of political science and history: knowing someone’s past and knowing the history of something, knowing where it came from and what it used to be helps you figure out what it could be in the future.”

A quick look at Roller’s resume raises eyebrows.

The campus involvement category lists eight activities, including College 4-H and Student Government Association, both of which are present engagements.

It’s as if Roller has more hours in the day than anyone else.

“Some people see me as being very busy, this involved, outgoing person who has no time for themselves and is probably killing themselves,” Roller said. “It’s true sometimes. I’ve had relapses of mono and strep from lack of sleep.”

When Roller was a freshman, he spent a lot of time in his room, so much time in fact that he considered transferring. He couldn’t seem to find his place on campus.

He applied for this and that, but nothing came of it.

He took his frustration to one of his favorite high school teachers, Ginger Shackelford. Roller explained that she gave him the best advice: “You know, Blake, you didn’t like high school either. But you came here and made your own path and didn’t fit in that mold.”

Blake Roller Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon He knew she was right, so he started to think. When he recognized that there wasn’t a chapter of Circle K International at UT, Roller decided to start one. In 2011, he became the founder and president of the chapter.

“Within the first four months, I had over 100 members,” Roller said. “A club that’s brand new, and I had that many members paying dues.”

That’s the kind of thing Roller does: he inspires others around him. It’s his greatest aspiration in life.

“I just want a legacy – something that people can look back on and say, ‘He was a good person and he cared about people,’” Roller said. “I just want to create something in my life that will help people and allow them to further their own goals.”

Roller will graduate in May. He started with journalism, switched to business but finally settled on political science. He has no idea where he’s going or what he’ll do.

Working for a law office in Washington, D.C. or on a cruise line are both options.

“I consider myself the feather at the beginning of the ‘Forrest Gump’ movie that’s flying through the air, and I don’t really know where that feather is going to land, but it’s currently drifting.”

Wherever Roller lands, odds are he’ll forge his own path. He always has.

16

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

MAVERICK

Student comic, researcher lives life without inhibitions Hayley Brundige News Editor

Shafer Powell is utterly, unapologetically ottosh.

In his family’s secret language, ottosh (adj.), is a word used to express something that is “amusing by virtue of being strange.”

There are several things about Shafer that constitute his charming singularity. He uses a flip phone, has several recurring alter egos, eats lentils and rice for dinner nearly every night and has a favorite fanny pack.

And he’s genuinely not concerned about what anyone thinks of him.

“I think a lot of people let their self-consciousness and over-rationalization keep them from doing the ridiculous and outrageous things they want to do,” he said. “I believe that as long as you have sense, you don’t need to make it.”

By talking to Shafer, senior in soil science, one begins to uncover several unexpected layers. He has interned at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for two summers and three semesters, working on a database of root traits, which play a role in the carbon cycle. While he’s still figuring out what he wants to do after graduation, he said he finds satisfaction in researching.

“I think it’s fun to learn how things work and it’s fun to be able to apply that knowledge and hopefully help people, eventually, somehow, in the end,” he said.

He has a passion for music and said he buys a new CD “just about every week.” Among those albums are David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, FKA twigs, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

One of Shafer’s more visible layers is his daring style of dress. Whether you knew it was him or not, you’ve probably seen Shafer walking around campus in a turquoise frog vest, double-breasted red suit or any combination of a striped polo shirt and patterned tie imaginable.

“I like bright colors,” Shafer said. “And I don’t know why I dress like I dress. It was never really an intellectual decision. It’s just a thing that I wanted to do, and it doesn’t hurt anyone.”

At the insistence of his friend Joseph Beard, he recently started a fashion blog to chronicle his stylish looks. The blog is appropriately titled, “Joseph Told Me to Make a Fashion Blog” under the URL OkayJoseph.tumblr.com.

“It’s sort of a satirical fashion blog, but I’ve never really read a fashion blog so we don’t really know what we’re satiriz-

ing,” Shafer said.

Shafer’s world is one filled with ironic comedy. He has a fictional character, G-Dadi B1zne$$, who reviews movies from the perspective of a New England loud mouth, spewing such gems as, “Don’t watch it, I didn’t watch it, and I hated it.” He created a Facebook page called “UTK Five Digit Numbers” that serves to make fun of Facebook pages. And you won’t find Shafer Powell on Facebook or Twitter, unless you know he’s also Kedrick Furniture and Earwig Deluxe.

Tyrel Prentiss, senior in College Scholars and one of Shafer’s closest friends, said his fondest memories of Shafer are from the two of them improvising scenarios and creating outlandish characters. His favorite, by far, is the German duo “Hans” and “Jergen.”

“We were similar to the two wild and crazy guys from ‘SNL,’ but we were even more wild and crazy,” Prentiss said.

“We had fun at ze parties.”

When Shafer was 16-years-old, he found himself starting to doodle in his notebook more and more often. His parents noticed his habit and encouraged him to make a web comic.

Those doodles became “A Cannonade of Hogwash,” which was featured in the alternative weekly Metro Pulse for nearly two years.

“It’s sort of stream of consciousness at times,” Powell said of the comic. “If I have a thought that doesn’t really belong anywhere else, I’ll just sort of put it there.”

His brand of comedy, he admitted, isn’t for everyone. But that doesn’t bother him much.

“It was called ‘indecent,’ which I liked,” he said, laughing.

He has continued drawing and has amassed about 1,000 comics so far.

Growing up, Shafer was encouraged to be his authentic self. He said his mom, the executive director of the Oak Ridge Civic Music Association, and his dad, news director at WUOT 91.9, have had a tremendous influence on his life.

“If not for my family’s understanding and appreciating the things I do, I would probably be a lot more boring,” Shafer said.

His wide array of interests, from music to science to drawing, are not difficult to coalesce, he said. Rather, each medium allows him to express himself in a different and interesting way.

“To me, the entire physical universe is strange and magical and none of it makes sense,” Shafer said. “I think that the science stuff and the comedy art stuff are both means of indulging that bemusement and trying to make it into something productive.

Shafer Powell Esther Choo • The Daily Beacon “They’re not all that different to me.”

SPORTS

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Vols’ tailspin ends Tennessee’s hopes of Cinderella season

David Cobb Senior Sports Columnist (@DavidWCobb) The first eight minutes of Tennessee’s men’s basketball game against Vanderbilt seemed like a Buzz Peterson-era exhibition game.

A sparse crowd sat in silence while the Commodores built an early lead in a contest being played without any particularly noticeable skill or ambition on the part of either team.

By the end of Vanderbilt’s bizarre 73-65 win over the Vols, it felt like a Peterson-era season.

As Bruce Pearl’s predecessor from 2001-2005, Peterson led the Vols into college basketball’s wilderness to a pair of NIT appearances while compiling an underwhelming overall record of 61-59.

By coming up short to the deftshooting Commodores on Thursday, UT fell to 14-13 (6-9 SEC) and confirmed its demise from dark horse NCAA Tournament contender to something much closer to what preseason pundits expected from a team in a rebuilding phase with a first-year coach.

For a squad once discussed as a Big Dance bubble team, even the NIT now looks improbable.

Donnie Tyndall would not say outright that his team’s days as an overachiever are over, and, barring an unlikely shakeup at the bottom of the SEC standings down the stretch, UT will finish the season above the 13th place in which they were predicted.

But the late season drop-off for a team that once sat at 12-5 (4-1 SEC) is disappointing nevertheless, and losses that transpired like Thursday’s did only deepen the sense of frustration accompanying the reality that UT could not quite fulfill the role of Cinderella this season.

The Commodores (16-12, 6-9 SEC) executed a turnaround for the record books by following up a 19-point first half performance with an 84.2 percent second half shooting clip.

Combine the bizarre nature of Vanderbilt’s Jekyll and Hyde performance with the heightened emotions surrounding what is truly an intrastate rivalry, and you get a loss that should be hard to stomach for UT fans.

Tennessee’s season is far from a failure, the SEC Tournament still provides a glimmer of hope at the end and Tyndall has a done a fine job, but a season that once appeared heading for something improbably positive is now exactly what everyone thought it would be at the beginning: Peterson-esque.

Buzzer beater: After the Vols completed a 76-73 overtime victory against the Commodores in Nashville on Feb. 11, Vanderbilt guard Wade Baldwin took issue with harmless remarks made by UT senior guard Josh Richardson.

This time it was Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings who took issue with Baldwin. Stallings issued a firm reprimand for an apparent taunting instance that the freshman guard launched into once the game went final.

“We will not do that, not get by with that,” Stallings said in his postgame press conference. “We believe in sportsmanship, and that’s not a part of who we are, who we’re going to be. He better understand that’s his one and it better never happen again.”

David Cobb is a senior in journalism and electronic media. He may be reached at dcobb3@vols.utk.edu.

Oops, looks like you’ve reached the end of the regular issue. Flip me over for the Student Appreciation Issue!

17

18

SPORTS

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Vanderbilt’s hot shooting overcomes Tennessee’s effort

Jonathan Toye

Sports Editor

Hot Topic: If anyone doubted Tennessee’s effort in its 73-65 loss to Vanderbilt, they need only glance at Tennessee’s final game stats to be persuaded otherwise.

The Tennessee final stat sheet read 19 offensive rebounds, 24 second-chance points and 13 steals.

These stats lead to the question: how did Tennessee lose? It is uncommon for a team to dominate the offensive glass, out-rebounde its opponent to a tune of 37-19 and score 24 more second-chance points than its opponent and still lose.

It is also uncommon to allow an opponent to hit its final 13 field goals and go 9-of-11 from the perimeter in the second half.

The Vols’ effort gave them a 30-19 halftime lead; the Commodores’ second half 3-point shooting gave them the win.

“I thought our effort was good,” Tyndall said. “We had two great days of practice

prior to this game. I thought our team competed, we just didn’t guard the right way the second half, and give Vanderbilt credit.”

Tennessee has now lost four straight games, and the opportunity to participate in any postseason tournament looks bleaker with each loss.

Yet both Tyndall and his players admitted they can’t feel sorry for themselves as it’s the Vols’ effort that give them the chance to win games.

“Coach tells us every time after every game, ‘You got to pick yourself up and keep going,’” Derek Reese said. “Things are never going to go perfect in anything you do, you are going to go through adversity. The ones who keep fighting are the ones who become successful. The ones who give up are not going to be successful. So we just got to keep fighting.”

UTDAILYBEACON.COM See the full story online at utdailybeacon.com.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Vols lost their final home game to Vanderbilt on Thursday with a score of 73-65. Hayley Pennesi • The Daily Beacon

Vanderbilt rides 3-point shooting to run past Vols Troy Provost-Heron

Staff Writer (@Troy_Provost)

Wade Baldwin did not take kindly to Tennessee “out-toughing” Vanderbilt in its first matchup, but that did not stop the Volunteers from doing it again Thursday night.

Vanderbilt’s freshman guard, however, probably won’t mind as much this time around.

Tennessee out-rebounded the Commodores 37-19 — including a 19-1 advantage on the offensive glass — but allowed Vanderbilt to shoot 84.2 percent from the floor in the second half, which ultimately cost the Vols in a 73-65 defeat inside Thompson-Boling Arena.

“We gave up one offensive rebound and lost I don’t know if that has ever happened,” Tennessee head coach Donnie Tyndall said.

“I just think the biggest thing was their shooting percentage the second half, 84 percent is incredible.

“I don’t think it was for lack of effort. Our guys competed, we just didn’t do a good job of keeping the ball in front and again as we had to help over, they kept drawing kick threes and in the first half they didn’t make many and the second half they did.”

Sitting on its largest lead of the night at 39-26, Tennessee (14-13, 6-9 SEC) watched as Vanderbilt (16-12, 6-9) started to heat up from behind the arc.

Matthew Fisher-Davis drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the UT lead down to seven,

but the Vols quickly answered with a pair of long balls from Derek Reese and Josh Richardson to push the lead back up to 13 with 13:39 left to play.

Two possessions later, Luke Kornet sank a three — one of his season-high five on the night — and the downpour began. Over the final 12:40 of the contest, the Commodores failed to miss a 3-point attempt, going a perfect 6-of-6.

In the 5:20 following Kornet’s first three of the second half, the Commodores would turn a 10-point deficit into a 50-50 ballgame, and the Vols never saw the lead again.

From there, the Commodores grew their lead to as much as 10, and unlike the first contest in Nashville, weathered a late Tennessee push by making their free throws.

“They did a good job of driving the ball and finding open guys,” Richardson said. “We didn’t do good job of guarding the dribble, so they were just getting in the lane and doing whatever they wanted.”

After Vanderbilt backed up his comments about “going after Tennessee,” Baldwin celebrated by clapping in Armani Moore’s face and proceeded to share a few words with the junior guard.

The antics warranted a jawing from his head coach Kevin Stallings, but it did not seem to bother those in the UT camp.

“It’s a competitive sport,” Richardson said.

“It happens.”

The Vols will look to snap their four-game losing streak when they travel to Gainesville, Florida, to play the Gators on Saturday.

ARTS&CULTURE

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

19

Kid Rock takes more mellow approach to latest album Marina Waters Copy Editor

Kid Rock is officially a grandfather now (in case you were wondering, he wants to be called “grandrebel”).

So it looks like this rebellious grandpa rocker has officially traded in his rowdy, hip hop lyrics for a more country, Southern rock sound.

His new single and his newest album’s title track, “First Kiss,” kicks off with a classic Southern rock feel in this nostalgia based summer anthem. It’s an easygoing musical choice, especially for a guy who used to perform shirtless in those horrible, baggy sweat pants.

The country theme continues throughout the record with songs such as “Johnny Cash,” “Good Time Lookin’ For Me” and “Drinking Beer With Dad.” Complete with heavy acoustic guitar and violin sections, the album is a smoother listen than his previous rap-based records.

There’s a strong Southern rock pres-

ence strewn throughout most songs. Just when you think it’s a clear country tune, an Allman Brotherslike electric guitar riff followed by the Michigan n at i v e ’s gravelly rock ‘n’ roll vocals combine to create a heavy Southern rock sound.

In typical Kid Rock fashion, there is a fair share of up-tempo party anthems to go around. Similar to his 2007 single “All Summer Long,” new songs such as

“First Kiss,” “ G o o d T i m e s , C h e a p Wine” and “Good Time Lookin’ For Me” all embrace those same themes, with a touch more b l u e s y, Southern t h e m e s and sounds mixed in.

But Kid Rock hasn’t completely changed.

We all know the long-haired hillbilly is a huge redneck – and he’s proud of it with lyrics in the feel-good song “Good Times, Cheap Wine” like, “I ain’t never gonna fit into

skinny jeans/ And Cochella, honey, really ain’t my kinda scene.”

Not to worry though – Kid Rock will have some new, easy-going tunes to sing his grandson to sleep. The redneck rocker shows his softer side with “Best of Me,” an honest, imperfection-themed love song, and “Drinking Beer With Dad,” another slow childhood, nostalgiabased song.

Near the end of the album, Kid Rock threads his love for country music and the man upstairs with the nearly a cappella religion-meets-country music anthem, “Jesus and Bocephus.” With a fair amount of steel guitar and violin thrown in, the song is an honest testament to Kid Rock’s themes both musically and content wise. The sinner-meetsJesus themed tune is brilliantly crafted with simple lyrics and a church-like, “Amazing Grace” feel.

This bad boy rocker might have changed his sound and a bit of his rough demeanor, but somehow “First Kiss” is still a Kid Rock Rebel – with maybe just a touch more “grandrebel” thrown in.

20

ARTS&CULTURE

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

FRONT ROW REVIEW

Pokey LaFarge lights up Cox Auditorium Madeline Sams Contributor

Despite the snowy night Wednesday, people could be seen piling into Cox Auditorium en masse at 8 p.m., searching for a good seat to see Pokey LaFarge.

Age didn’t matter as the crowd was full of both the young and the old, and anywhere in between, all anticipating an amazing performance.

According to the pamphlet given out by the Cultural Attractions Committee, Pokey LaFarge’s music “incorporates elements of early jazz, ragtime, country blues, Western swing and more,� and it wasn’t lying.

His sound is more unique than anything out in the music world right now, but his music is an acquired taste. If jazz or swing music aren’t your thing, Pokey LaFarge and his band’s performance probably wouldn’t have been that appealing.

It was an extremely relaxed concert, which was the perfect way to end a busy Wednesday

full of school and work. Most people were dressed casually, creating a good “feel at home� mood.

LaFarge’s clothing did not seem to match his style of music, which made him even more unique. His blue sports coat and red bow tie seemed a bit more modern than his jazzy, swing music. The rest of the band wore more oldfashioned clothing which seemed to fit the genre of music better. This small detail made LaFarge stand out from his band.

LaFarge played some of his new songs including “Something in the Water,â€? “Barcelonaâ€? and “Wanna Be Your Manâ€? from his next album, which will be released April 7. He also played Frontman Pokey LaFarge, left, performs in Alumni Memorial Building on some of his current songs including “Let’s Get Wednesday night with members of his band. Kristen Bright • The Daily Beacon Lost.â€? auditorium’s fire alarms sounded while LaFarge over.

Though it was a relaxing concert, the audi- was performing his last song. Mesmerized, Pokey LaFarge’s UT performance was defience clearly enjoyed it; people were constantly everyone just figured it was part of the show. nitely one to remember. The Cultural Attractions clapping, cheering and whistling in praise of the Everyone, that is, except the Cultural Committee made the right decision when choosband’s performance.

Attractions Committee, who put on the event. ing LaFarge and his band to perform. Despite By the end of the show, LaFarge had the audi- They ran forward trying to stop the band from the fire alarms, everything ran very smoothly. ence involved, asking them to sing along.

Next time he is in town, you do not want to playing but the music was too loud for anyone The concert literally ended in a bang as the to notice. Evacuation began once the song was miss it.

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PUZZLES&GAMES

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

21

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz ACROSS

36 More than enough 38 Here, over there

1 Inuit companion

39 Click to send a return

10 Nothin’ 15 Knock out

46 Credit to a reliever

19 Appropriated inappropriately

30

49 Alternative to a head slap

49

63 Right in France

30 Same old story?

64 Phishing fodder

31 Runaway bride, e.g.

65 Retreats from the heat

33 E.U. member since ’07

66 Hip bands

A U R O R A E

T R E A S O N

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27

10

11

12

13

14

33

34

35

58

59

21 24

28 31 37 42

25 29

32 38

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P I E R C E B R O S N A N

P A S S A D O G A G R U L E

A U G E A N S T A B L E S

S E N S E

E L M S

W A F T A L O O C A R P N E R S P A H A T E W E A P M A G I B R U N E D S E R T R M A R A V O Y E R

50

51

F I F T H

55

60

61

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DOWN 1 Fun house outbursts

40 45

48 53

56

57 62

11 Hot potatoes and cold fish?

40 Shetland sweater style

12 Joe of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”

43 Donations for life?

44 Fetch

3 Measure of a radio 13 Good humor band 14 Huns by the hundreds, say 4 Beatles song with the line 23 Réponse négative “My tears are 25 Oozy stuff falling like rain from the sky” 26 Theater trailer?

5 Quiet parrots 27 Theater name

46 Many a Snapchat snap

6 ___ crusade

28 Something to watch in a library

50 Spartan hangout

32 It often has lab work: Abbr.

52 So-called “Capital of Latin America”

33 Shepherd of old movies

56 Filaments in wrought iron

34 Imperial bars?

58 Knight-time story

35 Sound like a baby

59 Triage pros

37 Kin of iambs

62 Bus schedule word

7 Clouded condition

C O L U M N S

52

54

2 Blind spot?

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

B O R O N

9

18

46

29 Ear pieces?

D E U T E R O N O M Y

8

20

41

57 Shabby state 24 ___ Hill, historic home of Theodore 60 Does nothing Roosevelt 61 Part admitting air to a tire 26 Not give up

A C M V E E R N E A D L I B N I A

7

16

22 26

36

55 Danger on der Autobahn

22 One of a satanic couple

S O L

6

54 Not at all wooden

21 Forecast

S T E E L E R

5

19

47 Tonic for “tired blood”

53 Polo of TV’s “The Fosters”

20 Former trade union, for short

O N E T I M E

4

45 Freshly

18 One likely to take an elevator to work

J U P I T E R

3

17

42 Uncovering, with “out”

17 Starting point of a train trip to Timbuktu, in song

Cartoons of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.

2

41 Run past the W?

16 Lewis-Clark State College locale

Get Fuzzy • Darby Conley

1 15

8 Onetime dwellers along the Big Blue River 9 Coordinated activity?

10 Country with the most official languages (16)

48 Crate and barrel wood 49 One of only three winners of consecutive Masters 51 Bye words?

22

CAMPUSNEWS

The Daily Beacon • Friday, February 27, 2015

Let’s get physical

Physics club brings science to Knoxville society Chris Salvemini Staff Writer

The UT Society of Physics Students wants you to know the world of physics is for everyone, and their group is for anyone with a vested interest in discovering more.

The society is an outreach group for students in the STEM fields, bringing them together for camaraderie and community events. Regularly gathering in Market Square, the organization showcases experiments and lessons that are free to the community and visits elementary schools in the region to teach children about concepts in physics like magnetism, gravity, light and electricity.

The UT chapter is one part of a society that spreads through 18 zones across the United States. In 2014, the group was awarded an outstanding chapter award, recognized out of 25 schools in zone eight.

Louis Varriano, president of the society and senior in physics, said the organization benefits the community, the department and the individuals who participate.

“When you have an undergraduate community that works together and learns together, then it’s really helpful for not only enhancing the department but also enhancing the individual student’s experiences,” Varriano said.

This year, the society was provided with a Science Outreach Catalyst Kit to perform demonstrations. Varriano said the group chose to use the kit to do demonstrations about light at Pond Gap Elementary school.

“Basically we can explain the simple properties of light to young children or to adults who may not have much of a background in physics,” Varriano said.

Society member David Bridges said the group will perform demonstrations and teach

lessons to anyone around when they have the opportunity.

“It’s always just the people who happen to be at Market Square see what we’re doing and we show them demos,” Bridges said.

The society was established in 1968 as part of a constitution that combined its two parent organizations: the Sigma Pi Sigma honor society and the American Institute of Physics.

Since its foundation, the organization has been building connections between university students and professions in the physics field.

Varriano said it is not uncommon for students in the society to work on high-level research projects during their time participating in the chapter. Varriano himself is working on a darkmatter experiment.

Although the group is primarily occupied with reaching out to the community, Varriano noted that building a community within the society is also a top priority.

Recently, the organization was given a room in the Nielsen Physics Building to establish an undergraduate lounge space for the group’s members. Varriano said the room is usually occupied with at least a couple students either helping each other with homework, hanging out or working on the society’s next big project.

“We do a lot of fun things together,” Varriano said. “We have an undergraduate lounge in the physics building and we just hang out mostly, eat pizza, things like that, the things that any social organization would do.”

Membership in the Society of Physic Students is open to anyone who wants to join, although the society does recommend potential members have a strong interest in the subject.

More information can be found at the Society of Physics Students website, http:// sps.phys.utk.edu/.

You’ve got a friend in me Best Buddies’ campus founder reveals passion, mission to eliminate “R-word” Heidi Hill

Copy Editor When most people look at Shannon, they see a girl with Down syndrome.

But for Megan Thomas, sophomore in special education, Shannon became more than an assigned buddy in high school as part the Best Buddies Program.

Though she spends most of her time away from her home in Brentwood, Tennessee, Thomas considers Shannon her best friend, sleepover companion and source of inspiration.

“Twenty-one was when she had her first sleepover because no one’s ever asked her,” Thomas said. “She comes over to my house when I’m not there, so she’s part of family. She actually inspired me to want to adopt a baby with Down Syndrome eventually.”

Now the founding president and secretary of the Best Buddies organization at UT, Thomas’s involvement with special needs communities started early. From a young age, Thomas volunteered in a special needs classroom, Special Olympics and Young Life Capernaum, a special needs branch from the nationwide ministry.

But it was at the insistence of the mother of a disabled child whom she babysat for that channeled Thomas’s growing passion to the Best Buddies program.

“She just explained it as a place where people with and without disabilities can be friends and she wanted me to be the president of it,” Thomas said. “A lot of people with disabilities might have friends in school, but a lot of the times they go home and they don’t get to do anything or they don’t get to see their friends from school outside of school.”

When the time came to apply for college, Thomas said a Best Buddies presence on a school’s campus was a non-negotiable item during her college search, emphasizing that

her chosen university needed a Best Buddies program in place or a willingness to let Thomas start one.

When UT expressed interest in starting a club, Thomas became the cause’s de facto recruiter.

“I would just literally tell everyone I knew about—people in my classes, in my dorm,” she said.

Erin McConnell, sophomore in English, who volunteers as a peer buddy, attributes her involvement with Best Buddies to Thomas and relatives with intellectual disabilities.

“I mostly just do it seeing [my buddy] Daniel and I go to meetings when I can, but people like Megan devote so much of their time to it and she has a lot going on besides that, so she really cares about the program,” McConnell said. “It’s just really great to see that dedication in somebody.”

In addition to attracting a more diverse membership in Best Buddies, Thomas said one of her aspirations for the special needs community is erasing the word ‘retard’ from campus and global vocabulary.

While she admits she used the phrase in middle school, Thomas explained she did not understand its full, dehumanizing meaning until a peer explained the word was “not synonymous with stupid.”

“A lot of people think ‘don’t say it around people with disabilities,’ but also you don’t know if you’re around somebody with disabilities because it’s not always visible,” Thomas observed.

Such sensitivity to pain is not lost on Shannon, who Thomas admires for her simple, optimistic view of life even in spite of her father’s death last December.

“She still cries about her dad, but she’s really strong,” Thomas said. “She’s there for me when I’m upset and I’m there for her she’s upset. And I think it’s just her friendship that has made me a better friend.”

INSHORT

Friday, February 27, 2015 • The Daily Beacon

No. 6 Lady Vols beat slumping Georgia 70-59 Associated Press ATHENS, Ga. — Cierra Burdick scored 18 points and No. 6 Tennessee bounced back from its only SEC loss of the season to beat Georgia 70-59 on Thursday night, giving the Lady Bulldogs their longest losing streak in 38 years.

Tennessee (24-4, 14-1 Southeastern Conference) recovered from Monday night’s 71-66 loss at No. 2 South Carolina.

Georgia (17-11, 5-10) has dropped eight straight, the longest losing streak in coach Andy Landers’ 36 seasons and the second longest in program history. Georgia’s longest skid was 15 games over two seasons in 1976 and ‘77.

The Lady Vols led by 12 points in the first half, but Georgia chipped away in the second half and pulled within 58-54. Ariel Massengale, who had 17 points, answered with a jumper for Tennessee. Jordan Reynolds sank a 3-pointer and the lead was back to eight.

Tennessee’s only SEC loss may be too much to overcome in the conference race.

South Carolina clinched a tie for its second straight SEC championship by beating No. 11 Mississippi State 69-50 on Thursday night.

The Lady Bulldogs’ slide began with a

59-51 loss at Tennessee on Jan. 25. One of the team’s top players, Shacobia Barbee, suffered a season-ending leg injury in the loss.

Tennessee also has had to adjust to the loss of a top player to a recent injury. Center Isabelle Harrison, the team’s top scorer, suffered a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 15.

Georgia led 16-11, prompting a Tennessee timeout. The Lady Vols responded with a 19-3 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers by Burdick and a steal and basket by Andraya Carter.

With Tennessee leading 30-19, the Lady Bulldogs finally answered with two straight 3s from Tiaria Griffin. Georgia couldn’t sustain the brief surge and the Lady Vols led 39-27 at halftime.

TIP-INS Tennessee: Burdick had a game-high 10 rebounds. ... The Lady Vols have seven straight wins in the series with Georgia. ...

Tennessee protected its lead by making seven free throws down the stretch, including four

by Massengale.

Georgia: Mackenzie Engram had a teamhigh 16 points. Griffin had 11. ... The longest losing streak in the program’s history included the last game of the 1975-76 season and the first 14 of the 1976-77 season. ... Forward Merritt Hempe missed her fourth straight game with mononucleosis.

23

THE DAILY BEACON STAFF

EDITORIAL DITOR

Editor-in-Chief: Claire Dodson Managing Editor: Hanna Lustig Chief Copy Editor: Emilee Lamb, Cortney Roark News Editor: Hayley Brundige Asst. News Editor: Bradi Musil Special Projects Editor: Liv McConnell Sports Editor: Jonathan Toye Asst. Sports Editor: Taylor White Arts & Culture Editor: Jenna Butz Online Editor: Kevin Ridder Asst. Online Editor: Cara Sanders Photo Editor: Hannah Cather, Esther Choo Design Editor: Katrina Roberts, Lauren Ratliff Social Media Editor: Alexandra Chiasson Copy Editors: Jordan Achs, Tanner Hancock, Alexis Lawrence, Hannah Moulton, Faith Schweikert Editorial Production: Steven Woods, Justin Keyes, Teron Nunley, Reid Hartsell Training Editor: R.J. Vogt

ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION

Advertising Manager: Shelby Dildine Media Sales Representatives: Carly Kirkpatrick, Taylor Rife, Connor Thompson Advertising Production: Brandon White, Steven Woods Classified Adviser: Jessica Hingtgen

CONTACTS To report a news item, please e-mail editor.news@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-2348 To submit a press release, please e-mail pressreleases@utdailybeacon.com To place an ad, please e-mail beaconads@utk.edu or call 865-974-5206 To place a classified ad, please e-mail orderad@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-4931

Advertising: (865) 974-5206 beaconads@utk.edu Classifieds: (865) 974-4931 orderad@utdailybeacon.com Editor-in-Chief: (865) 974-2348 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com Main Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 editorinchief@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. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style. 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 Editor, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314.

CORRECTIONS POLICY: It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or staff members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send as much information as possible about where and when the error occurred to Editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com, or call our newsroom at (865) 974-5206.

The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Wednesday 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

The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint containing recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.

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>>See page 18

Justin Keyes • The Daily Beacon

Today’s double-cover issue of The Daily Beacon is a mashup of content from Thursday and Friday’s newspapers, which were combined because of weather-related problems.

Volume 128 Issue 34

utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon

Friday, February 27, 2015