Volume 138, Issue 23 Wednesday, February 19, 2020
utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon
2020 Voting and Census Guide
Letter from the Editor: Why voting and the census are important
Letter from the Editor
pg 1
Volunteer Voters
pg 2 Census Absentee voting State Data Center What does it mean to
GABRIELA SZYMANOWSKA Editor-in-Chief
pg 3 count? pg 4
Democratic Primary List
pg 5
Absentee Primary Voting
pg 6
Fairground Stadiums
pg 8
Understanding the Census
I have a distinct memory of when I was younger — no older than 10 or 11 years old at the time — of my grandparents taking my younger brother and I with them to go vote. I can still see my grandma stepping behind a blue curtain to fill out a ballot and then handing it to me, so I could toss it into the voting box. However, the circumstance was completely different at the time because my grandparents weren’t voting in America. They were voting in an election in Warsaw, Poland. Nonetheless, the impression of my grandparents voting and the importance that they instilled in me about voting would stick with me, even when I stood in line to vote for the first time in 2016. And it is important to vote, because it gives everyone a chance to share their voice on concerns and issues that matter to them. For decades, many groups of people have fought for the right to vote in the U.S., many finally gaining that right after overcoming one obstacle after another. This year marks the 100th year of the Women’s Suffrage movement achieving their goal of being able to vote with the 19th Amendment. That’s pretty impressive. But, America has been an independent county since 1776 and held its first Presidential election was from 1788 and 1789,
where only white, middle-class men voted. Today, there are a ton of voices who can be heard through voting. Yet, there are still voices around the globe who don’t have the same rights afforded to citizens like most citizens here in the U.S., and there are still plenty of issues that need to be addressed. And while one vote may not seem like a lot, every vote adds up to express the rights of citizens to be heard. This year is also a big year for the U.S. because not only will thousands of new voters be taking to the polls to vote in the 2020 Presidential Election, but the U.S. Census Bureau will also begin collecting data for the next national census. The updated information of the census will allow the U.S. to see a snapshot into who U.S. citizens are, help inform federal decisions and laws, provide more funding for cities that need it and show the growth of the country over the last 10 years. The staff here at the Daily Beacon thought that it would be helpful to create a special issue guide for both of these events to explain the importance of the census, explain how absentee ballots work for those college students living away from home who want to participate in voting, present a breakdown of the list of candidates currently running for the presidential seat and why it’s important to vote. Along with this special issue, the Daily Beacon has partnered with the UTK Commission for Women and Lumos in filming over 100 students, faculty, staff and members of the UT community about why they think it’s important to vote. The videos will be released over the course of the next year on the Beacon’s social media platforms leading up to the elections. Stay tuned to find out why voting is important to the Volunteer community and connect with us if you’d like to share why voting is important to you.
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VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, February 19, 2020
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‘A Volunteer should be the quintessential voter’: How VolsVote looks to increase voter participation, civic engagement GABRIELA SZYMANOWSKA Editor-in-Chief “Why is it important that you vote?” As the 2020 Presidential Election is underway this question will be asked a lot, especially of college voters. There are a myriad of reasons why people vote - to have their voice heard by politicians, because it’s their right as a citizen to vote, there’s a specific candidate they want as president -- the list goes on. However, for those who are just now reaching the age to vote it can be a difficult process of getting started. This year, VolsVote, a new organization and non-partisan student initiative through the Baker Center, is looking to increase civic engagement and voter participation through different events and partnerships. Senior studying biomedical engineering and member of VolsVote Lawand Yaseen explained that the VolsVote team’s goal is to bring students from different communities together to have their voices heard.
“As a team, we are hoping to expand our coalition. Data provided to us by Tufts University shows that men of color, as well as business and engineering students are lagging percentage points behind the rest of the student body,” Yaseen said. “Our aim in the next year is to build a broader base of engagement and lay the foundation of defeating political apathy by bringing students from different communities to table and making sure their voices are heard.” VolsVote has already partnered with UT Libraries in hosting the event “VolsVote in the Primaries” from Feb. 12-25. Every day at 3 p.m., students can gather at the main entrance of Hodges Library near the Starbucks and a librarian will take the group downtown on the free Orange Trolley line to the City County Building to vote. Donna Braquet, professor and librarian at Hodges library, said that it made sense for UT Libraries to work with VolsVote because she sees libraries as the cornerstone of democracy and civic engagement with there being a library in every town in the U.S. Braquet said that through the partnership of VolsVote she hopes students will be encouraged
to overcome obstacles with voter registration by setting up tabling in the library to directly help students register, get students excited about voting with their peers spreading the message with #VolsVote and have resources on hand on the VolsVote website to help them make informed choices. For Braquet, the goal is to continue getting students to participate in elections past this year’s election cycle into the future, especially since Braquet said that young people have the best ideas and have the most to gain from voting. “Young people usually see the world in a very different way than people my age or older,” Braquet said. “I think that, they’re the ones who are going to be sort of left with whatever consequences of this president or the next president.” “I think it’s important that if you have an idea of how you want the world to be, we’re lucky enough to live in a democracy where we can vote and shape how we want to see that,” Braquet added.
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Census, absentee voting protocol for non-local students CAROLINE JORDAN Managing Editor
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With it being a presidential election year and a census year, 2020 is an eventful year in terms of civic duty. Both events are important to participate in for Americans but have different dates, regulations and requirements as are indicated below. Voting in the presidential primaries For out-of-state students and those living significant distances from cities in Tennessee, requesting and submitting an absentee ballot still allows your vote to be cast in your home county. States vary in their deadlines to request an absentee ballot and to send the completed forms back, as well as have different primary election dates. With Tennessee bordering eight states with different dates, mark your calendars to ensure your vote does not arrive at your home election site late. Reporting in the 2020 Census: Starting in 1790, the United States surveys its residents every 10 years to officially update demographic information. Most college students had not graduated high
school when the 2010 Census was administered, so questions abound for college students who might not have permanent residence in Knoxville. Unlike voting in the primary or presidential elections, it is important to complete the census based on where you are currently living: for students, this means their “local” address at UT. For students living off campus (i.e. Fort Sanders, apartment complexes not owned by UT, etc.) residents will complete one Census form for the unit, meaning all roommates will be included on
one form. On-campus students can complete the census in various ways, depending on the university. Two common methods are to complete an individual form distributed by census representatives or for the university to complete one form per residence hall. That being said, the 2020 census will be the first to feature an online option, as well as reporting over the phone or by mail, as is most common.
VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 • The Daily Beacon
3
State data center preparing for challenges in 2020 census RYAN SCHUMPERT Sports Editor
The University of Tennessee will play a unique role in the decennial census this March. The Knoxville campus hosts the state data center. Working closely with the census, the state data center works to help people and business of all types analyze the data collected in the March census. “We work with the census bureau to help disseminate data, to help develop tools that people can use to access data, to help act as a resource when people have questions about how to use data and to provide training for analysts, researches or anyone who needs to get information about the state of Tennessee,” director of the Tennessee State Data Center Timothy Kuhn said. While the state data center plays a role in examining the big picture of the results from next month’s census, they also have a more hand on role in helping the census run and helping encourage participation. “We provide a lot of support for the decennial census,” Kuhn said. “We try to help promote the fact it’s going on. We encour-
age people to complete the forms and respond to the 2020 census.” “The main thing we’re trying to do in relation to the 2020 census is get people to fill out their census forms. The research shows that typically among people under 30 that the intention to respond is fairly low when compared to the population as a whole. Only two thirds of adults under the age 30 are very likely or somewhat likely to respond to the census.” With the lack of participation from those under 30 and with the location of the state data center being on UT’s campus, getting students to fill out the census is a major objective of the data center. The challenges presented in getting students to complete census’ forms is numerous, as it is on any college campus in America. “Young people are very mobile,” Kuhn said. “Let’s say you live off of a college campus, you live in an apartment or home in an area surrounding campus, forms go out in March if you don’t pay attention to those first reminders you get you may be gone or moved out for the summer. … There’s also an issue, this is the first time in many cases that they’ve had the opportunity to fill out the form and understand its significance.”
In addition to the traditional mailed out forms and the data center employees that go door-to-door to encourage participation, the census will be able to be completed electronically for the first time ever. “This time around when the census comes people will be able to use their phones (or computer) to respond for the first time,” Kuhn said. “You’ll get something in the mail at your house and you’ll be able to respond to it, but it doesn’t have to be a response on a paper form. You’ll be able to go on census2020.gov at any time and complete that form right there.” “It presents some new opportunities for people to respond easily and quickly. Hopefully that makes it easier and the response rate gets bigger,” Kuhn said. The state data center hopes that the ability to fill the census out electronically, eliminating small burdens like having to have a stamp or postal cards will be instrumental in leading to greater participation rates in 2020. The state census is important for all the classic reasons, to decide the apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives, the reason the census was created, and for even dividing up proportions of seats in both state and local government.
With the state data center, the census takes on a different importance, the foundation of the state’s data for the next decade will come from the results of the 2020 decennial census. “Here it’s used for all sorts of purposes related to planning, the development of services. It’s foundational data for a company that’s thinking to relocate. Where is their customer base? Where can an employer find employees? The data that’s collected in the 2020 census is the foundation for the next 10 years that’s put out in other forms.” Lastly, the census importance in economic. In Knoxville, for every person that completes the census the city receives $145 a year for the next 10 years. College campuses create a unique challenge with the census. While very few students are going to be living in the same place in 10 years and while many won’t even be in the same city, the funding provided by their participation will help create proportionate funding for the area over the next decade. It may not be as important to each individual student, but student’s participation in the census will help future students for the next decade.
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VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE // OPINIONS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, February 19, 2020
From Hill to Hill: Counting is about more than just numbers
EVAN NEWELL Opinions Editor
It’s the 2015 NBA Playoffs, and the Wizards find themselves trailing the Hawks 91-94 with just 6.4 seconds left. This is a crucial game six at home, with the Hawks leading the series 3-2. The Wiz need a miracle, or their season is over. Washington inbounds the ball to John Wall.
He gets trapped at the top of the key, struggles for a moment and somehow gets it to Paul Pierce. Pierce does one of those I-make-toomuch-money-for-you-to-call-this-a-travel moves and is able to put up a wild, fading three-point shot. Somehow, this improbable heave goes in. The home crowd goes crazy. The players run wild. The Hawks are stunned. PJ Carlesimo is speechless on the broadcast. The series is alive. It’s going to overtime. But it didn’t count. As it turns out, the clock expired just before the ball left Pierce’s hand. The refs reviewed it, took the points off the board and handed Atlanta the win. The Hawks were moving on. The Wizards were done. Paul Pierce was beside himself. The moment was beyond belief — an inconvenient truth for The Truth. This shot turned out to be pretty inconsequential. The Hawks went on to get swept by LeBron and the Cavaliers, and the Wizards would likely have done the same. But situations like this make me think about what we mean when we say the word “count.” I’ll spare you the Merriam-Webster definition, but we intuitively know that count usually means one of two things. The first is a literal, numerical interpretation of the word that tells us how many of
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something there is. This is the kind of thing accountants excel at, and the skill that the Count from Sesame Street likes to show off. Through this lens, when we say Paul Pierce’s shot didn’t count, we mean that his team’s score didn’t change. They missed out on one point, two points, three points (ah ah ah). The second meaning of count has nothing to do with numbers. Instead, it has more to do with whether something matters. To say that something counts means that it’s important, noteworthy, interesting. In this sense, Pierce’s shot didn’t count because it wasn’t significant. It happened after the buzzer sounded, and it
This leads us back to the second meaning of count, because when we tell someone they can’t vote, it implies that their opinion doesn’t matter. EVAN NEWELL OPINIONS EDITOR
didn’t contribute to the outcome of the game. Surprisingly enough, counting comes up in more than just sports. We bring it up a lot when we talk about elections and voting, and in that context, we can also think about counting in both senses of the term. In the numerical sense, we count for things like interest polls, approval ratings and voter tallies, but we also have people that we don’t count in these totals. We understandably leave out some people, like kids, whose votes maybe shouldn’t count, but America also has a long history of making sure others’ votes don’t count either. Perhaps the most infamous case of oppressive counting is the Three-Fifths Compromise, where we decided to count only three out of every five slaves as people. Beyond that, our country also believed for a long time that women’s votes shouldn’t count, and you can still find voter suppression laws in our state, aimed at lowering the number of people we count on election day. This leads us back to the second meaning of count, because when we tell someone they can’t vote, it implies that their opinion doesn’t matter. It’s a signal not only that their is voice not important, but that our society is better off without it. So maybe our election system doesn’t always do such a great job at counting, but what about the census? On its face, the census may seem like an operation only concerned with number-count-
ing. To be fair, that’s a big part of it. The census is a surveying effort with the ultimate goal of one big, beautiful spreadsheet full of data about our country. Because the Census Bureau wants good data, everyone counts. Kids count. Felons count. Your roommates count. Paul Pierce counts. Alabama fans (for whatever reason) count. Citizens, immigrants, international students — all of them count. We use all this counting to assign federal funding to cities across the country. Some estimates say cities like Knoxville receive around $145 each year for every person that’s counted in the census, which adds up quickly. For instance, if we ended up leaving out the freshman class in this year’s count, over the next 10 years, Knoxville would miss out on over $7.6 million. But let’s not get too caught up in the numbers, because counting in the census is about who matters, too. Since we try to include everybody, the census is a unique opportunity for us to look at ourselves as a country. It helps us see where we’ve changed, how we’ve grown and where we’re headed, and it gives us the once-a-decade chance to take a step back and put all of these changes into perspective. In short, the census is how we find out who we are, and when we’re painting this picture of our nation (that just happens to look like a spreadsheet), you count — you matter. All that is to say, I hope you’ll fill out the census. If not for the sake of the data, then for the fact that it’s your chance to tell the rest of the country that you are here, and you are worth counting. Don’t miss that opportunity — we’re all counting on it.
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images/TNS
Evan Newell is a senior majoring in chemical engineering. He can be reached at enewell2@vols.utk.edu.
Columns and letters 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.
VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 • The Daily Beacon
5
2020 Democratic Primary: Who’s running, what they believe JAKE YODER City News Editor
It’s almost been four years since Republican president Donald J. Trump was sworn into office. You know what that means: it’s primary time. Voting can be confusing. It seems like there’s a million candidates, and sometimes it can be hard to figure out which one you identify with. We at the Daily Beacon are here to help. This article contains short descriptions of all eight candidates currently running for president in the Democratic primary. We encourage you to do your own research before voting, however, to make sure that you pick that candidate that is right for you. Joe Biden
gun control and climate change. He supports a ban on assault weapons and is in favor of universal background checks. Another issue of import to Bloomberg are taxes, though his beliefs would put him closer to the conservative side than his contemporaries. Pete Buttigieg Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana and military veteran Pete Buttigieg represents a whole different generation than most of his contemporaries. Not only is he a millennial, but he is openly gay and would be the first homosexual president if elected. Buttigieg has been seen as more central than many democrats. He was the first to suggest increasing the number of seats on the supreme court and has stressed climate change and economic opportunity during his campaign.
Joe Biden is no stranger to the American government. Biden, 77, has served six terms as a senator from Delaware and two terms as Barack Obama’s vice president. Biden has run for president three times in his career, though he considers 2020 to be his last chance to become president. Biden’s top priority has remained the same over his career: health care. After losing his first wife and a baby daughter in 1972 and his son in 2015, heath care became a “personal” issue to him. While he wouldn’t enact free health care for all, he would expand Medicare’s coverage and make it more affordable for those that need it. Biden has also emphasized the importance of America’s role as a global leader and intends to restore the nation’s reputation.
stance on the global stage. Gabbard has drawn criticism for meeting with Syria’s controversial president Bashar al-Assad and for her history of anti-gay statements. If elected, Gabbard promises to pull troops out of the Middle East and oppose American military intervention in the future.
Michael Bloomberg
Amy Klobuchar
Three-term former New York City mayor and onetime Republican Mike Bloomberg joined the presidential race a little later than most. While he ran for mayor of New York as a republican, he switched to democrat back in October. Bloomberg is one of the wealthiest democratic candidates with a personal fortune of more than $50 billion. He has used much of this fortune to get his name into the public, being the only candidate other than Donald Trump to run an ad during this year’s Super Bowl. The biggest issues on Bloomberg’s docket are
Amy Klobuchar, a senator from Missouri, sprung into stardom during the confirmation hearing of Brett M. Kavanaugh. Since entering the presidential race, she has emphasized the importance of winning back Midwestern states that Democrats have neglected in the past. The main issue that Klobuchar has focused on during her campaign is combating the opioid crisis and drug addiction, as well as lowering the cost of prescription drugs. Klobuchar also supports universal heath care for all Americans, beginning with an expansion of Medicare or Medicaid.
Tulsi Gabbard Only slightly older than Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard is another representative of the millennial generation. A former congresswoman from Hawaii, Gabbard looks specifically to restore America’s
Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders first rose to public consciousness in 2016 as the runnerup in the Democratic primary. Many Americans thought he should have won instead of Hilary Clinton, making his return in 2020 no surprise. A self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Sanders believes in Medicare for all and the abolishment of college tuition; stances that have mad him controversial even on the left. Sanders strongly opposes the power of the 1% and would push to make America a more equal place for all, regardless of economic status.
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VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Advice for UT students registered to vote outside of Knox County ALEXANDRA DEMARCO Campus News Editor
As the primary and presidential elections are quickly approaching, citizens across the nation are preparing to vote. However, for politically involved young adults who may have recently moved for college, figuring out how and where to vote can be a challenge. For UT students who registered to vote in their home county and have since relocated to Knox County to attend UT, absentee ballots are one option. However, absentee ballots, which can be submitted via mail, can only be cast if you registered to vote in person or have previously voted in person. Essentially, this means that students who registered to vote online or via mail are not eligible to receive an absentee ballot if they have not yet voted in person. Page Forrest is a graduate of UT’s Master of Public Policy and Administration program who studied voting rights and access, intergovernmental relations and local and state government with the Baker Center during her time as a Vol. She explained that college students often face obstacles, such as those aforementioned, which may dissuade them from becoming politically active. “College students in Tennessee often face additional bureaucratic processes that make voting difficult, which when paired with a growing sense of distrust for government institutions, can dissuade younger generations from voting entirely,” Forrest said. Forrest explained that once students encounter obstacles the first time they attempt to vote, they often fall into the habit of failing to be civically engaged. “For most college students who aren’t legally able to vote for the first time until they’re in college, attending college away from home can make it difficult to vote in person. And once someone skips one election, it usually creates a pattern,” Forrest said. Aiming to help student voters by clearing up confusion on the subject of absentee ballots, Administrator of Elections for the Knox County Election Commission Cliff Rodgers broke down the law and its processes. Rodgers explained that these restrictions on absentee ballots exist due to a law that requires election commissions in Tennessee to view photo IDs for all voters in the county prior to casting their votes. When it comes to absentee ballots, the law helps prevent voter fraud by requiring extra authentication. “The whole purpose of the photo ID law is so that we see your photo ID before we send you a ballot in the mail,” Rodgers said. Rodgers greatly emphasized that in no way are these laws intended to be secretive.
File / Daily Beacon “We want to inform everybody of what’s going on. It’s not a secret operation down there. We’re open and transparent. People may disagree with the law, but we’re following it, and it shouldn’t be a secret what the law is,” Rodgers said. For UT students registered to vote outside of Knox County, there are several ways to accommodate the absentee ballot law. First, students can travel just a short 10 minutes from campus to the Knox County Election Commission, located at 300 Main St. SW #218, with their photo ID. A Tennessee driver’s license or federally-issued passport can be used, but student ID cards, such as VolCards, and out-of-state driver’s licenses cannot. The commission can then send a copy of this ID to the election commission where the student is registered, and the student will then be eligible to receive an absentee ballot from their home county. Students eligible to vote via absentee ballot may request an absentee ballot seven to 90 days prior to an election. However, the election commissioner also must process the request no later than seven days prior to the election, so it is preferable to request a ballot earlier rather than later. Furthermore, students can also switch their registration from their home county to Knox County by registering in person in Knoxville. Although the deadline to register before the spring Tennessee presidential primaries was Feb. 3, the deadline to register prior to the fall presidential election will be 30 days before the election. It is important to note, however, that a voter can only be registered in one county at a time. By switching your registration to Knox County,
you will no longer be registered in your home county. Rodgers emphasized that any students who registered in Knox County prior to Feb. 3 but have not received a Voter ID card or perhaps received a deficiency letter regarding their registration should come down to the election commission. If students forgot to fill out a portion of their application or made a mistake but registered before the Feb. 3 deadline, it is still possible to fix this discrepancy by visiting the office. Additionally, Rodgers highly encourages students to take advantage of early voting. For the presidential primary elections, early voting is currently taking place and will continue through Feb. 25. There are several benefits in choosing to vote early. For one, citizens are not required to vote in a particular location during early voting. They may vote at any voting location within the county they are registered in. On the actual Election Day, which is March 3 for the Tennessee primaries, citizens are assigned to a specific location. For UT students who live in and around campus, this location will vary. For example, on-campus students living south of Kingston Pike will likely be assigned to the Baker Center, while those who live in the adjacent Fort Sanders neighborhood may be assigned to vote at Fort Sanders School. Additionally, extensive lines of those waiting to vote often form in precincts on Election Day, so a longer wait can be avoided by voting early. Early voting can also be beneficial to those registered outside of Knox County. Every county in Tennessee is required to administer early voting on at least two Saturdays for at least three hours each day. Those Saturdays
provide the opportunity for students to travel to their home county to vote if necessary. As Rodgers blatantly stated, early voting simplifies the process for all involved. “The drama is avoided in early voting,” Rodgers said. This upcoming Saturday, Feb. 22, is the last Saturday for early voting. Ultimately, Rodgers emphasized that his department does want students to vote and hopes that they will consider which registration and voting options are best for them. “I want people to understand, we want students to vote. If they want to be residents of Knoxville while they’re here going to school, that’s fine with us. Nobody’s pushing back on it, but we just want to get it right, and we want them to think through the decision. Is it easier for the student, or does it make more sense for them to be registered here or somewhere else?” Although many college students must adapt to voting from afar and the aforementioned absentee ballot laws, Forrest encourages those who are registered locally but perhaps frustrated with America’s voting system to research more greatly the influence held by local elections. “For those [who] don’t face bureaucratic barriers to voting or obtaining an absentee ballot and are merely disillusioned with our political system, I’d urge them to look further into local and state-wide races,” Forrest said. “These elections can often have an even greater impact on day-to-day life, and lower voter turnout in these elections means that only a select few individuals are getting to handpick who runs our city councils and local boards.”
VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE // PUZZLES & GAMES
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 • The Daily Beacon
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STR8TS No. 1394
Medium
9 5
Previous solution - Easy
3
3 4 5
9 3 5 6 4 5
2
9 8 5
3
2 7 6
1 6 7
© 2020 Syndicated Puzzles
8
7
You can find more help, tips and hints at www.str8ts.com
4 3 2 1 7 8 6 9 5
2 5 3 1 4 2 4 7 5 6 8 9 7 6 5 9 8 6 8 4 3
8
6 7 5 5 6 7 6 2 2 4 3 3 5 4 7 4 3 2 1
7 6 3 1 2 4 5
How to beat Str8ts – Like Sudoku, no single number can repeat in any row or column. But... rows and columns are divided by black squares into compartments. These need to be filled in with numbers that complete a ‘straight’. A straight is a set of numbers with no gaps but can be in any order, eg [4,2,3,5]. Clues in black cells remove that number as an option in that row and column, and are not part of any straight. Glance at the solution to see how ‘straights’ are formed.
SUDOKU Very Hard
1 1 5 2 3 9 4 1 8 3 2 1
3
Previous solution - Tough
5
4 1 3 2 6 7 5 9 8
7 9
9 8 2 6 8 8 3 1 6 7
The solutions will be published here in the next issue.
2 7 9 4 8 5 3 6 1
6 5 8 3 9 1 4 7 2
9 4 5 6 2 8 7 1 3
3 6 1 5 7 9 2 8 4
8 2 7 1 3 4 6 5 9
5 9 6 8 4 3 1 2 7
7 3 2 9 1 6 8 4 5
1 8 4 7 5 2 9 3 6
To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely. © 2020 Syndicated Puzzles
No. 1394
For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts, Sudoku and other puzzles, check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store at www.str8ts.com
FOR RELEASE NOVEMBER 22, 2019
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle LOS ANGELES TIMESEdited CROSSWORD Edited byLewis Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis by Rich Norris• and Joyce ACROSS 1 New England’s only National Park 7 Eponymous explorer of Australia 13 Pressure sensors attached to buoys are parts of their warning systems 15 Recorded, in a way 16 Colbert et al.? 18 Useful thing 19 Additionally 20 Coastal raptor 21 Something to file 22 Frond source 23 With 53-Down, maxim 25 Ob-__ 26 Jacket fabric 27 First name in a 2010s first family 29 Part of a candlemaker’s design process? 31 Subarctic forest 33 Hawke of “Boyhood” 34 Outdoor wedding guests on a steamy day? 38 “Over the Rainbow” composer 39 Bowling venue 40 PD alert 43 Understand 44 Oil equipment 45 “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself” org. 46 Meditation goal 49 Keurig Dr Pepper brand 50 1954 Honorary Award for 35-Down 51 What a hiker might do after a nap on the trail? 54 December decor 55 Gift with tracks 56 Absinthe herb 57 Chocolates, e.g. DOWN 1 “You’ve heard this from me before ... ”
11/22/19
By Jeffrey Wechsler
2 Replaces a dancer 3 Adams with negatives 4 Bonkers 5 “Here’s a thought,” briefly 6 Reef diver’s need 7 Sock part 8 Prince Harry’s aunt 9 Ado 10 Early Mississippi flag symbol 11 Farthest-fromthe-sun orbital point 12 Monarch catcher 13 Country music sound 14 Unexcitable 17 Marseille man 22 Pie-topping nut 24 Newscaster Rather 26 Invitation to eat 27 Daydreaming Walter 28 Wan 29 Bic’s __-Out 30 First known asteroid
Thursday’s Puzzle Solved
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
31 Car manual topic 32 Like the seats in an SRO performance 34 Funny one 35 She never went to 50-Across ceremonies 36 Flexible 37 North African capital
11/22/19
40 Confront boldly 41 China pieces 42 Pop 45 Together 47 Corned beef order 48 Tiny insect 50 “Hamilton” award 51 Scrabble-like app, briefly 52 Puckish org.? 53 See 23-Across
puzzles Wednesday. NewNew puzzles every every Monday and Thursday.
THE DAILY BEACON
8
VOTING & CENSUS GUIDE
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Courtsey of Dreamstime/TNS
Understanding the 2020 decennial census, incentives to participate CALISTA BOYD Copy Chief Since 1790, a census is taken every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau in order to determine the population of each state and the portion of how many House of Representatives members each state gets. The census is a required government procedure sanctioned by Article 1, paragraph 2 of the Constitution. It consists of six questions: age,
race, sex, whether a person is hispanic or not, whether someone owns or rents housing and how you’re related to the house owner. Nicholas Nagle, an associate professor of geography, explained how this year, the decennial census will have a new format and is contracted with the National Academy of Sciences. The bureau has been working on ways to make the census process less expensive. “The census is the most expensive civilian undertaking that the federal government does. ... Every ten years they hire half a million people
to do the census,” Nagle said. “This will be the first census done on the internet.” The census being on the internet can help address some of the financial burdens of it. Although it is illegal for the census bureau to share individual data with the Department of Homeland Security or the IRS, there is still a concern about privacy. “The concern is that people like banks or Facebook, who may have all kinds of other information about us, but they might not have race or whether or not your part of a samesex couple,” Nagle said. “The concern is that maybe other people with a bunch of data could combine the census data with their own data to find out very specific information about individuals.” This year’s census is trying to address these privacy concerns by adding noise to different areas within the state, so they may be adding additional random numbers to different blocks in order to protect individuals’ and households’ information. The Bureau won’t be adding noise to the overall state population. “Places like the state of Tennessee use census data to allocate our sales tax back to cities, based on how big they are,” Nagle said. “We’ve seen small, rural towns with populations in the thousands, maybe it says they have 1500 people — so they might get a little more money than they’re supposed to.” With this new type of privacy-centered approach to storing the data, we see an experimental “privacy-accuracy trade-off” occurring. This year will be the first in exploring these protective efforts. University students renting are at risk of be-
ing undercounted, while those in on-campus housing are at risk of being over counted. The university automatically fills out the census for its residents, so students in dorms can be counted twice due to their parents counting them and the university counting them. Jake Watkins, a staff lecturer of geography, commented on how certain people run the risks of being undercounted more than others, and this can limit the benefits of the census. Communities with low-income populations, communities with many renters and communities with high populations that don’t speak English as a first language are especially at risk of being undercounted. “When it comes to renters, specifically, it is almost the same mentality as registering a permanent address, so if you don’t see yourself as a permanent resident, you are much less likely to fill that out even though it is fine,” Watkins said. “Wherever you fill it out is just a snapshot of where you were at this time.” If you are in a temporary housing situation, filling out the census does not mean you are giving inaccurate data. There are services that students provide that future students may not get if there is an undercount. “If students have a desire to stick around Knoxville, then it would be in their best interest to be counted right now if after they graduate, they want to get a job here and stick around,” Watkins said. “It would be in their best interest because then they will reap the benefits of those allocations.”
STORY CONTINUED ONLINE Read more at utdailybeacon.com
Barry, Cooper and the building of the Fairgrounds stadium RYAN CREWS Sports Editor
When the Fairgrounds stadium was first announced in Nashville, Tennessee, many were skeptical if the project would actually come to fruition. Nashville is not historically a soccer city, with the first professional soccer team based in the Music City was not founded until May 2016. Nashville SC did not start play at the second level of the American soccer pyramid in what was then called the United Soccer League, now called the USL Championship until early 2018. However, before the USL side could even take the field, it was announced that Nashville had awarded Major League Soccer’s 24th franchise, set to start play in 2020. For the duration of the time in the USL, Nashville SC played their home games at what was then called First Tennessee Park, now First Horizon Park, which is the permanent home of the Nashville Sounds, a Triple-A Minor League Baseball club with the occasional game played in Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. The MLS, also named Nashville
SC, will continue to play at Nissan Stadium until a stadium of their own can be built. As part of the push to be awarded an MLS franchise, majority owner John Ingram lead a to push to get a stadium built. Ultimately, a deal was reached between the city of Nashville and the ownership group to build a stadium on the then site of the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. As part of the deal, then Nashville Mayor Megan Barry agreed to give the team 10 acres of land at the site for a mixuse development next to the stadium. The agreement was not well received in Middle Tennessee, as the project would necessitate the movement of the Nashville Flea Market and possibly affect the adjacent Fairgrounds Speedway’s ability to host NASCAR events in the future. There were two lawsuits filed arguing the project would not leave sufficient space for the Tennessee State Fair, which is protected by the Metro Nashville charter, but neither lawsuits caused real worry for the stadium project. However, change in power affected the stadium project. The mayor Barry at the time of the original deal left office in disgrace. She was forced to resign after pleading guilty to felony theft,
when she had an affair with the head of her detail. Her vice mayor David Briley succeeded her and won the special election for the last year of Barry’s term in which he had no serious challengers. However, in the next regular election Nashvillians made it clear they wanted change when John Cooper, who talked about being fiscally conservative, defeated Briley in the runoff. Cooper defeated Briley by a whopping 69.1% to 30.2%. However, as the MLS team Nashville SC got ready to start play they faced pushback from Cooper. On Jan. 31, just under a month to opening day, Cooper sent a letter to Ingram demanding renegotiations and refused to give his approval to begin demolition at the stadium site. “Metro does face financial constraints.” Cooper wrote “We need to prioritize urgent investments in education … public safety and neighborhood infrastructure. Obviously, I could not in good faith commit to using additional taxpayer dollars on a private entertainment subsidy.” Things got very ugly as the two sides argued in private and in the media. At one point in the negotiations, Cooper traveled to MLS head-
quarters in New York City, but he did not back down from his position. Following the meeting the commissioner of the MLS threatened to possibly revoke or move the franchise in a statement released by the team. “During today’s meeting” the statement read “MLS commissioner Don Garber it clear to (Cooper) that Major League Soccer would not have awarded Nashville an expansion team without the commitment made by the city to build a soccer stadium at the Fairgrounds.” However, eventually the team and MLS were able to come to an equitable agreement and a deal was reached on Feb. 13 as Cooper announced in a statement. “I inherited an incomplete deal that was not fully funded” Cooper said. “I could not, in good faith, obligate taxpayers to more money. … This deal lives up to our comments to soccer, the Metro Charter, the other uses of the Fairgrounds and my commitment to put taxpayers first in negotiations.” Nashville SC starts its MLS history with its opening game against Atlanta United on Feb. 29 at Nissan Stadium.