Overcoming hurdles UT’s track and field coach Beth Alford-Sullivan rebuilds programs throughout career. Now she’s working on UT. See the full story on page 10. Students concerened by failure in UT Alert system >>See page 4
#BlackOut: teaching girls that black is beautiful >>See page 7
Is Madonna trying too hard to be relevant? >>See page 8 • Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
Volume 128 Issue 42
utdailybeacon.com @utkdailybeacon
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
2
INSHORT
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
DISPATCHES Unarmed black man shot Monday in Atlanta A Metro Atlanta police officer shot and killed an unarmed man who was running naked around an apartment complex Monday afternoon. After responding to reports of a suspicious person who was “acting deranged, knocking on doors and crawling around naked,” the officer fired two shots at the naked man after the suspect began charging at him, said Cedric Alexander, the public safety director of DeKalb County. The officer is a white male and the man shot was an African American who police later learned lived at the apartment complex. Since the man shot was unarmed when the officer fired, the police department immediately turned the case over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for an independent investigation.
Clinton speaks out about email controversy In her first public remarks on the matter, Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she should have used a government email account when she was the U.S. Secretary of State. She clarified, though, that she did not violate any rules by using a private email account. Clinton, a frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential candidacy, came under fire when it was discovered that she corresponded using a private email for official business. Critics pointed out that Clinton could have hidden pertinent information about her time in office and created a safety risk by not using an official government email. In her address, Clinton said she used a private email out of “convenience,” Reuters reports. She also stated that she provided the State Department with her emails for archiving.
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Fleetwood Mac, a British-American band formed in 1967, plays at ThompsonBoling Arena on Saturday as a part of their “On With the Show” world tour. Melissa Croft • The Daily Beacon
Around Rocky Top
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Professor Liang Zhilong of the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication: School of Art & Design shows architecture students calligraphy techniques on Tuesday. Justin Keyes • The Daily Beacon
CAMPUSNEWS
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • The Daily Beacon
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International students exchange culture, ideals Tanner Hancock
Copy Editor (@tannerhancock26) With Chinese university systems struggling to accommodate the growing number of college applicants, more than 400,000 Chinese youths study abroad every year, according to a Forbes article by Doug Bandow. Right now at UT, there are more than 400 Chinese international students. Looking around campus, you’ll see Chinese international students blending in with the daily routines of the university, eager to pursue an education increasingly more valuable in their home country. Ruiyang Chen, a sophomore in journalism and Shanghai native, said Chinese culture is evolving. It is the second largest economy in the world and quickly becoming one of the planet’s fastest growing consumer markets. In many ways, Chen epitomizes the new face of the Chinese population. Rather than pursuing a career in business, Chen said he hopes to one day become a soccer commentator, a sport that has just recently grown popular in his home country. “(The Chinese population) just got enough money to feed ourselves,” Chen said, explaining that sports and recreation have just recently become an option for employment. “Now we have enough money, now we’re starting to care about life quality.” For Andrew Yu, a freshman in supply chain management and Hong Kong native, the need for an education and a degree are increasingly pressing. Unlike mainland China, Hong Kong has a peculiarly westernized history, functioning as a British Dependent Territory from 1841 to 1997. As a part of the first generation to grow up under mainland Chinese rule, Yu said he and others like him are having to adjust to the changing market and atmosphere of their Chinese home city. “I think you can’t even get a job at McDonald’s if you don’t know Mandarin,” said Yu, who takes Chinese classes at UT in anticipation of his return home. “That’s how important it is.” Acknowledging the presence of UT’s Chinese student population, Yu said he feels the need to differentiate himself from the standard perception of a Chinese student. “For me, my values are different than (the Chinese),” Yu said. “I’m more westernized. Don’t be surprised if you see a person from Hong Kong that’s different from your normal perception of a Chinese person.” For those interested in Chinese culture, the Confucius Institute serves a gateway between
Eastern knowledge and the campus at large. Brought to UT in 2013, the institute exists partially thanks to support from Southeast University in Nanjing. A former teacher of English writing at Southeast University, XueMei Sheng teaches a non-credit Chinese beginner course every Monday in the International House. Teaching students ranging from undergraduates to people well past their 70s, Sheng said she hopes the growth of her career will reflect the growth of her country in recent years. “In the past, Chinese people were poor, they were not so rich. But nowadays, society has developed quickly,” Sheng said of China. “Based on our history … there must be a prosperous future for us.” For most students and tourists from China, to experience culture shock in American society is standard. For Sheng, the religious atmosphere in Knoxville is very unlike that of her home province of Jiangsu.
“Based on our history … there must be a prosperous future.” -XueMei Sheng “Chinese people believe in something, but maybe not in religion,” Sheng explained, noting that many of her countrymen follow the ethical and largely secular philosophy of Confucianism. “It deals with some issues in life, in the real society, not about death.” Accustomed to the rushed atmosphere of a cosmopolitan area of China, students like Ze Chong Huang, a sophomore in accounting and Wenzhou native, view the city’s simple quirks, like the fact that strangers open doors for other strangers, as a part of a larger culture shock that makes the Knoxville experience unique. Growing up in a country that routinely censors free speech, both on the internet and within its news agencies, the shock of the American ideals and government can be astounding. “(When) we think about government, we think of the government as our parents,” said Ruiyan of the average Chinese person’s outlook. “They will take care of us. We don’t have to ask them to do something. You think of your government as a waiter … your government has to follow your ideas.”
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CAMPUSNEWS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Students doubt UT alert system Michael Lipps
Contributor “Person With a Firearm reported last seen headed east on Highland. Get to a safe location and barricade while police investigate.” At 6:55 p.m. Saturday night, followers of University of Tennessee Police Department’s Twitter account read this announcement. Those who live in the area had already heard the gunshots, others had no idea they might be in danger. With no UT Alert sent out, meant to inform students when there is a threatening situation on campus, many students were left doubting UTPD’s competency. “If UT and UTPD can’t get this right for one isolated incident on an otherwise tame Saturday evening, how are we supposed to expect them to keep us safe and informed when a much larger, more dangerous incident occurs?” said Alex Klibisz, a junior studying computer science. UTPD acknowledged students’ concerns and promptly apologized for the oversight in a note on their Facebook page, stating a systems error
prevented the alert. Chief of UT Police Troy Lane explained that an alert was created and sent out, however, the employee who sent out the alert chose the wrong distribution method. This resulted in the message only being sent out to an internal group, rather than to the entire campus. “The system worked, the user simply made an error,” Lane said. “We are ensuring that we don’t make that error again.” Lane further explained that there is no legal requirement under the Clery Act to send notifications for incidents that take place off campus. Alerting students to off-campus incidents like in Fort Sanders, Lane said is more of a courtesy for students in the area and one that Lane said he regrets not being able to provide. “We understand that a great deal of our students live in the Fort Sanders neighborhood,” Lane said. “Whenever possible we do out best to get emergency information from this area out to our community, but this time a mistake was made.” Klibisz himself lives in Fort Sanders, approximately 50 yards away from the crime scene. He said he had no idea there was a shooter so close to home until he heard the police arriving in his
neighborhood. “What if you’ve got friends on their way over?” Klibisz asked. “What if I was on my way home and walked straight into the incident or crime scene?” Saturday night wasn’t the first time UTPD has experienced a glitch in their system. Twice in February, two false UTPD alerts were sent out to students and university staff and faculty. Lane maintained that the issue with the missing alert on Saturday was simply an operator error and that there is no connection to the false alerts last month. He attributed the false alerts to an error on the system vendor and said the department is working to improve that software. “We are currently looking at new vendors for this service,” Lane said. “It is my hope that a new system can be found that would limit both the possibility of user error, and the errors we saw recently with the vendor.” Despite these recent mistakes, Lane said UTPD is working to learn from them and improve the alerting system. “We will learn from it and do our best to keep it from happening again,” Lane said.
Campus workers find opportunities, provision Hannah Marley Staff Writer
They might be whipping you up an omelette or serving you pizza, but how well do you really know the Aramark workers you pass on a daily basis? To Venace Ndayiragije, a dining custodial worker from Burundi, working for Aramark and living in Knoxville is the best way for African refugees to provide for their families once they make it to the U.S. A father of eight, Ndayiragije is one of 32,689 African immigrants currently living in the state of Tennessee, according to a study by the Migration Policy Institute. He said that he decided to come to Knoxville after hearing about the low cost of living and high availability of jobs in the area from other refugees living here, including people from the Congo, Tanzania and Sudan. “Many people from different states ask me how is life in Tennessee, and working for Aramark, and many other people come here from other states,” Ndayiragije said. “It is very easy to find a job here.” Ndayiragije said that many of his coworkers and fellow refugees come to the U.S. to find a better life away from the wars and conflicts that dominate their regions. These refugees wait three to five years for the U.S. immigration officials to respond to their immigration applications, he explained.
“The life in Burundi is much harder than here,” Ndayiragije said. “We decided to come because of war. They fought, and they killed my father and my grandfather, because of war.” After making the move, Ndayiragije and his family were aided by the local Bridges Refugee Program, which helps provide temporary hous-
“The life in Burundi is much harder than here,” Ndayiragije said. “We decided to come because of war. They fought, and they killed my father and my grandfather.” because of war.” - Venace Ndayiragije ing and assistance for new refugee arrivals. He was able to get a job with Aramark and has now been working there for a year and four months. Mary Patterson, marketing manager for Aramark, said that while many refugees apply with poor English skills and no job experience,
they are often highly motivated workers who are recommended by current refugee workers. “Most of the employees that we get that are international are through a friend of a friend,” Patterson said. “If they don’t have any skills, we can teach them skills like cooking. A lot of them have no skills.” Brian Sims, Ndayiragije’s manager, said management tries to be flexible with hours to accommodate the workers and their families, allowing them to attend English classes while also working. “We’re very flexible with scheduling,” Sims said. “Venace came to me, but he told me his availability and worked with him.” Many refugees, Ndayiragije said, must work longer hours to provide for their families, preventing them from being able to attend church or English classes on the weekends. Currently, Ndayiragije and many other refugee workers work close to 40 hours a week, making about $550 every two weeks. While Ndayiragije maintains that living in Knoxville is much better compared to his previous custodial jobs in Georgia and fishing jobs in Burundi, he said it is still difficult for him and many other workers with families to make ends meet. “Sometimes it is not enough, it depends on my kids,”he said. “If they need shoes, clothing, different stuff. “That is why I work so hard — to raise my kids.”
Many people living in the vicinity were in the dark about a shooting in the Fort after the UTPD alert system failed to notify students about the incident. Rachel Burks
@Burks_Rachel6
Thanks UTPD for the nonexistent alert of a shooting... good thing my fellow yik yakers are lookin out.. #volshelpvols
Kay Walker
@Tat2Kay
@UTPolice I live RIGHT next to where this incident occurred and NEVER got a UTalert. Please fix :(
Jenn Kyles
@Jen_Kyles
Multiple person shooting in the fort almost a half hour ago with no suspect caught, and still not a single UT alert. Good call, UT.
Cory
@cory_wilhite93
3 people shot directly behind my apartment and I still haven’t gotten a UT Alert. Smh UT
Fern Carpenter @ASVPFern Where’s my UT alert damn it I need to be protected and served
ARTS&CULTURE
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • The Daily Beacon
5
Knoxville eatery puts the love in barbeque Will Warren
Staff Writer Some people like to call themselves “fashionistas.” By that standard, am I allowed to call myself a “barbecueista?” No, I’m not a barista that likes barbecue – I’m pretty “hip to the jive,” as young people say. I’m up to date with barbecue lingo. Brisket, pulled pork, dry rubs, wet rubs, smokers – you name it, I know it. In a related note, I don’t recommend being up to date on this if you like the current size of your jeans. Always do barbecue in moderation. All of this goes to say I’m always looking for places to visit in Knoxville on life’s barbecue tour, where I’ll go anywhere and everywhere that promises good ‘cue. Now, finding brisket (a cut of beef from the breast) can be difficult around here, barring a sudden move to Texas. However, I remember being quite happy when I stumbled onto a site with a funny name that promised I’d “love that BBQ.” You guessed it. It’s called “Love” That BBQ. I walked in pretty excited, hoping that my thirst for brisket would finally be quenched. I’ve had more than a few slices at places in and around Knoxville, and they’ve all disappointed, minus the great job done at Full Service BBQ in Maryville. However, the nice lady at the counter promised me “it’s all good here,” and if you had seen her smile, you’d believe her, too. So yes, I tried it. I’m sad to report that the brisket on first visit was a large disappointment – rubbery and dry, needing to be drowned in approximately five inches of their homemade barbecue sauce (delicious).
However, other items were pretty solid – I really enjoyed their baked beans, although a bit sweet, and the hushpuppies were a bit undercooked but tasty enough. I went back a while later, simply because their menu is so extensive. I also went back because their menu is listed on their site under “Boss Hog’s List of Vittles,” and there was no way I could turn that down. On the whole, the menu is hit or miss – I’ve had many better smoked bologna sandwiches, and if you struggle with heat levels, their Smokin’ Hot sauce will clear your sinuses out at Usain Bolt speeds. Something kept me around, though. I don’t know if it’s the pulled pork, which simply tastes very good or the aforementioned baked beans or their awesome barbecue chili. No, it’s more than food – this is a family business in an old gas station, and it’s worth checking out simply for the sights. However, after researching more, I learned it meant more than the sights too. Walter and Bonny Love owned this starting in 2012, according to the website. They were married, and it seems like this was their dream outcome. Bonny passed away in January 2014, and her obituary lists her as a “proud owner” of Love That BBQ with Walter. If you visit her guestbook, you see that she loved others just as much as they loved her. Sometimes, food reviews mean more than the quality of the food. They mean the quality of the people running the restaurant you’re at, and for that, Walter Love and the rest of his staff at Love That BBQ are passing with flying colors.
Walter Love, owner of Love That BBQ, places sausage on the grill to smoke before they get deep fried on Tuesday. Taylor Gash • The Daily Beacon
The old gas station where Walter Love smokes meat for “Love” That BBQ. Taylor Gash • The Daily Beacon
Opinion: Your guide to preparing for the perfect spring break Emily Moore
Contributor It’s finally that time of the year again. You have (almost) survived midterms accompanied with all night study sessions in Hodges, and your brain is fried and in desperate need of some vacation. So gather your bags, young college students. It is time to migrate south for a week of warmth and scandalous beach fun. According to a Time Magazine article published March 21, 2014, Facebook made a list of the top 10 cities attracting college students for break. The top three were Panama City Beach, Fla., Santa Monica Beach, Calif. and South Beach, Fla. Here’s a packing list for those of you headed to the beach to make sure you don’t forget the necessities. 1. Two swimsuits. Sure you can bring one, but
what is worse than climbing into a still wet and sandy swimsuit from the day before? Bring two so they both have time to dry. 2. A nice change of clothes. Spring break is all about relaxing and recovering from midterms but getting dressed up and hitting the town one night is a good way to mix it up and an excuse to show off your new spring wardrobe. 3. Disposable camera. Digital cameras ruin easily, especially with the humidity and all the sand. Disposables are cheap, and your mom won’t kill you if it gets ruined. 4. A towel. Sand tends to get in every crack and crevice of everything whether you bring it onto the beach or not, so a towel is your greatest defense from its ruthless attacks. 5. Sunglasses. For when you are driving or tanning or taking a walk on the beach. Sunglasses are just a necessity of spring break. 6. Sunscreen. According to The Skin Cancer Foundation’s report “Sunscreen Explained,” if you’re out in the sun for more than a few min-
utes, you should use a waterproof broad spectrum sunscreen to protect against both UVA and UBA rays. Reapply every two hours. 7. A cooler and some of mom’s groceries. Packing a small cooler that’s big enough to carry some sandwiches and drinks is perfect to bring with you to the beach. Slyly sneaking some of mom’s groceries saves you money instead buying your own and eating out every night. Thanks, mom! 8. Budget. This isn’t a packing item so much as something to figure out before you leave on your trip. Sit down and plan out a budget of how much money you are going to spend and on what. After figuring this out, be sure to factor in emergency money. You never know what is going to happen, and it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. 9. Small speakers and a playlist. Music makes the world go ‘round. Make traveling more enjoyable by compiling an awesome playlist for the long car ride with your friends and even while
you’re kicking it on the beach. Set your speakers on a towel, crank up the music and enjoy the fun. 10. UT apparel. Come on. No matter where we go, we can never forget to wear our orange and obnoxiously scream, “Go Big Orange!” 11. Beach Bag. Something cheap but sturdy to carry all of your towels, sunscreen and sandals and is easy to tote back and forth from your room to the beach. It’s also great for carrying Frisbees and other items for fun beach games. 12. Workout clothes. Spring break is all about relaxing, but maybe you let loose a little too much last night and your love handles are telling you to go for a run on the seashore. (In all reality, you probably will not use workout clothing on your trip because you will be so busy having fun, but packing them and telling yourself you will never fails to make you feel a little better about yourself.) These 12 items are key to having a safe and fun trip this spring break, so don’t forget them. Have a safe spring break, and go Vols!
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VIEWPOINTS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Sorry, Mom Adam Weatherall
Dreaming of Dolly
I stared into the fluid film of pollution spread across the Knoxville night sky, soggy Chik-fil-A clutched in one hand and early onset lung cancer in the other. The charcoal tendrils of my and my friend’s cigarettes sifted slowly into the breeze - carrying with it an innate sense of inebriated calm and a myriad of nicotine infused possibilities. The night was young, our drinks were drunk, and the whole world laid spread before us, eager for a precipitous taking. Seduced by the stars, the Maglites of UTPD were upon us before we could even stand. Keenly aware of my contemporary state and its underage consequences, I apprehensively stretched what little UT basketball knowledge I had while the cadre of justice searched the area for any lingering nothing of substance, the police officer turned to me and my friend and bid us a curt good night and urged us back to our respective dorms. “It seems to me that you’ve seen enough tonight, best go ahead and call it young man.” There’s nothing like the might of the U.S. justice system to prompt instant sobriety and a tail shoved so far up my butt that I’m finding hairs in my mouth. That night was to be the first, and hopefully last, run-in I have ever had with the police outside of fifth grade D.A.R.E., but it has since prompted the question, “What is a criminal?” All it takes is twenty minutes in the Friday night Cook-Out line to spot a couple of under age drunkards fresh out of high school/Squires Liquor and their ostensibly law-breaking compatriots to understand the ubiquitous nature of criminality and the seemingly arbitrary nature of enforcement. Without delving into the arcane repetition that has been constantly pumping out of the media since Michael Brown’s death at the hands of Officer Darren Wilson, I think it is important to note a couple of disparities in the criminal justice system that paint a pretty abysmal portrait of 21st century American justice. First and foremost, more than 1 million black men are in prison - more than were slaves in 1850, and according to a recent report by the Sentencing Project, 1 in 3 black
“Unfortunately, the aggregate arrested criminal is a person of color, while the average person who commits a crime is not necessarily so.”
men have a chance of imprisonment in their lifetime. Most notably, as the recent events sadly support, black teens are 21 times more likely to be shot by police than their white counterparts. All in all, blacks, while representing less than 15 percent of our population as a whole, constitute more than 38 percent of our nation’s inmates. Of these 38 percent of blacks, of course, these statistics only depict who is getting arrested and locked up for crimes, not who is committing them. Unfortunately, the aggregate arrested criminal is a person of color, while the average person who commits a crime is not necessarily so. Although objective statistics can be egregiously challenging to compile, an unexpected consequence of Colorado and Washington’s decriminalization of marijuana has allowed empirical research to finally puncture the archaically taboo research area surrounding drug use. A 2013 study by the National Institute of Health of 41,675 eighth, 10th and 12th-graders in the U.S. from 389 public and private schools, indicated that 6.5percent of high school seniors smoke marijuana daily, 23 percent reported to have smoked marijuana in the last month before taking the survey, while 36 percent of seniors said they smoked marijuana in the last year. The fact of the matter is that a large portion of our nation’s youth are partaking in illicit activities, and that is not represented in how our nation convicts those criminals. I’ll be the first to tell you that I, along with many, if not most, of my peers have knowingly and continuously broken the law. I haven’t come to a complete stop at a stop sign since Bush was president. Yellow lights have always signified less “yield” and more “CHALLENGE!” and as if I cross at crosswalks. The funny part is that were I to actually receive any sort of legal reprimand, I would cry foul and within a fortnight, a team of legal scholars paid for in part by my WASP-y parents would quickly swoop in and relieve me of any lingering legalities. I’d probs have to do some community service and spend a summer paying my parents back, but rarely, if ever, would I selfdescribe as a criminal. I am not saying that I have ever driven drunk, nor that we should absolve those who have caused and committed violent acts, but more so that whom our nation labels as criminal is inherently arbitrary in its employment but has lasting impacts on those it deems criminals. The United States has come a long way since its initial inception of inalienable rights and in that time historically marginalized populations have come to surpass all scholarly expectations, but a nation of liberty and justice for all remains nothing more than melancholic farce for most, and just a phone call to mom for some. Adam Weatherall is a sophomore in Political Science and Africana Studies. He can be reached at aweath10@vols.utk.edu.
Just a couple more midterms, and you’re there --spring break. Dream of freedom with the Daily Beacon’s spring break playlist. “Are You Leaving With Him”
“We Can’t Stop”
Luke Bryan
Miley Cyrus
“Wild fot the Night” A$AP Rocky
“Global Concepts”
Robert Delong
“Island in the Sun”
Weezer
“And We Danced”
Macklemore
“Young,Wild, and Free”
Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa
“My Body”
Young the Giant
“Let’s Go”
Matt and Kim
“No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem” Kenny Chesney
Columns 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.
VIEWPOINTS
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • The Daily Beacon
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Students deserve to choose our representation Dear Editor, As a member of the student body who votes in Student Government Association elections, I believe the selection process for Student Trustee leaves much to be desired. Furthermore, news outlets that students rely on fail to publish information critical to an informed democracy. Take for example the selection of the new Student Trustee, Jalen Blue. While the Beacon did an excellent job of publishing the three names submitted by the SGA to fill the recently vacated post, Mr. Blue’s positions on important issues like the use of student fees or how to deal with the increasing budget gap are difficult to find. Given that the student trustee is traditionally the voice of the students, it would be helpful to know what our voice is saying. Additionally, students need to lobby the legislature to change the selection process for student trustee. Right now, the Chairman of the Board (in this case, Governor Haslam) selects one of three candidates submitted by the student body. This allows for the selection of the candidate who is the least likely to oppose whatever Governor Haslam would
like the Board to do, even if another student receives an overwhelming majority of the vote. After the April 2014 SGA election, Governor Haslam did not defer to students’
“This is why the student body - and only the student body - should decide who represents us in Nashville.” preferences - the person he selected had the second most votes. Although this student eventually resigned from his post, the implications were concerning. I fear the erosion of student rights because the selection of the
trustee will often lead the Governor down the path of least resistance. I believe in the student body. We are informed and shrewd decision-makers when it comes to things of importance. This is why the student body - and only the student body - should decide who represents us in Nashville. Giving the Chairman of the Board of Trustees the authority to pick a candidate who didn’t receive the most votes in a popular election undermines our capacity to represent ourselves. Therefore, the student trustee from a campus should be the person who receives the most votes in that campus’s SGA election. Anything else threatens the interests and autonomy of the student body. This is not a widely discussed issue, but it is an important one. Even if we can’t change the process immediately, we owe it to future Vols to at least try. Sincerely, James Scott White Responses to this letter can be emailed to The Daily Beacon’s Editor-in-Chief Claire Dodson at pdodson@vols.utk.edu.
Melanin Poppin’
Hawa Henderson Real Reflections
March 6, 2014 was the first ever Blackout Day. The idea was first introduced by Tumblr user “expect-the-greatest,” about a week prior to the actual event. You might be wondering what Blackout Day actually is. This was a day designated for the exclusive showcasing of black beauty and black-related content. This included anything from selfies, to gifs, to videos. All you had to do to be a part of the event was to share this content online with the hashtag #BlackOutDay, as long as it highlighted black people. The response was amazing. Thousands of people were blogging, tweeting and sharing black excellence and proclaiming their pride of the melanin they were blessed with. It even spread to some celebrities such as Zendaya Coleman and Gabrielle Union who shared their own selfies with the hashtag. So now we come to the question of why this event was necessary. It has been shown time and time again that black lives and black beauty in America are under appreciated and exploited. The reason #BlackOutDay was so important, is directly related to the reason we need the #BlackLivesMatter movement. For over a century, anti-blackness has been rooted in this country, and other coun-
tries across the world. Here in the United States it was taught that black people were like animals, maybe even lower than animals. Obviously they don’t teach us that in school anymore, but the effects are definitely still around. Young black girls are sexualized and discriminated against for their natural hair and features while white women who pay for butt implants, lip injections and edgy new hairdos are praised for their “natural beauty.” We have been conditioned to believe that European standards of beauty are the epitome of what a woman should strive to be. Although white feminism is attempting to eradicate the status quo, for black people it isn’t doing very much. All you have to do is go into Google images and type the words “beauty.” Watch TV or better yet go watch a movie and pay attention to what you are being told to regard as beautiful. On Friday, March 6 as I scrolled down my dashboard, my timeline, or whatever it might have been, I wondered if this was how it felt to be white. I wondered if this was how it felt to get constant validation about your looks without even being aware that you were. Growing up, I remember coloring in my Disney princess coloring book. I would color all the princesses brown. It didn’t mat-
“I believed that I was beautiful in my brown skin, but as I grew up, the world taught me to believe the opposite. ” ter if it was Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. I believed that I was beautiful in my brown skin, but as I grew up, the world taught me to believe the opposite. That’s why Blackout Day was so important and necessary. Maybe one day black children won’t need a hashtag to believe they are special. Hawa Henderson is a senior in microbiology. She can be reached at hhender7@vols. utk.edu.
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ARTS&CULTURE
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
‘Rebel Heart’ doesn’t live up to Madonna’s legacy Will Warren
Staff Writer As an introvert and the Beacon’s resident awkward person, I’ve witnessed several very uncomfortable events in my time. Some of those even involved me. However, few recent events rival the awkwardness of Miley Cyrus introducing Madonna at the Grammys as “our bitch, Madonna.� Noting the horrendous introduction, Cyrus followed that up with “she made me say that.� At that moment, I realized Madonna was trying to appeal to a younger crowd on “Rebel Heart�, and trying to be younger was a terrible idea.
It doesn’t work any better when one looks at theses track titles – “Unapologetic Bitch,� “Illuminati,� “Bitch, I’m Madonna� (but why?), etc. She may have a rebel heart, but some of these songs feel half-hearted. Even worse is her main producer on the record, Diplo. Diplo represents the bizarrely popular (and blatantly vapid) world of electronic dance music, also known as EDM. Now, not all EDM artists are terrible – remember my profile of UT’s own Jonathan Edwards, aka Boss Awesome? He’s a great guy with good music. Unfortunately, Diplo is not his own boss or awesome. None of his beats match up particularly well with Madonna’s typical style.
What I was most surprised about by this record was other than those previous complaints, there are vague hints of Madonna’s competence that resides inside somewhere. It runs too long even for a 55-minute album; of course, that’s what happens when a record has two worthwhile tracks out of 14. For the record, those songs are “Living for Love� and “Heartbreak City,� the first and tenth songs on the album, respectively. That’s more than 30 minutes of average or worse music that feels like dead air at times in between, and for that, I refuse to recommend this. One last shot, by the way – Ariel Pink was right, in that she still hasn’t made anything good since 1998’s “Ray of Light.�
Madonna’s newest album “Rebel Heart�
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PUZZLES&GAMES
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • The Daily Beacon
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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz ACROSS
1 2 3 4 39 Letters on some kits 14 41 “The Prague 5 Hilton competitor Cemetery” author, 17 18 10 Overlord’s domain 2010 42 Happily, old-style 14 Green card issuer, 20 informally 44 Many Ph.D. candidates 15 Specks 23 46 Capital about 60 16 Word repeated in 26 27 28 miles from the ___ City, ___ Caspian Sea 17 Eye an election 30 48 Warning shouted official? to a lacrosse 20 Bulgaria’s capital 36 37 defenseman? 21 “Fie!” 51 Heavenly ring 42 43 bearer? 22 They may be paddled 54 High-and-mighty 48 49 sort 23 Laid-back 51 52 53 55 Unique 25 Tennis champion with the 2009 56 ___ sauce 55 memoir “Open” 57 Let’s say, informally 26 Decimate a 61 61 Develop one’s monastery’s comedy acts? occupants? 64 64 ___ Modern 30 “Ready when you (London museum) are!” 67 65 Report card report 31 Formal vote 66 Tidal term 69 Musical Perry 32 Desk jockey’s 67 Glutted (on), briefly happy yell 68 Afflictions 36 Prevarication DOWN sometimes caused by sleep 37 Letters on some 1 Safari vehicles? deprivation kits 2 “If you ask me,” in textspeak ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE 3 Good snorkeling locale G L O B A L P O S T A L 4 Fires up R E V E N U E D I P L O M A 5 Grp. with a co-pay I N I T I A L O N T A R I O 6 “For sure!” G O D N I T R O K I S S 7 “Good going, kid!” T R A D E T H E 8 Corporate C A R E E A R A D D E D department P A R E N T R O O M R A Y that offers support A N T E O R D E R S A V E 9 Chinese menu I T S O V E R B A T T E D general R O Y A L F O R M A S S 10 Pricey pieces C A R P A R T Y W I D E I S S U E N E W 11 Bitsy pieces A C A D E M Y L E T T U C E 12 Some still-life subjects R E T I R E D S C I E N C E S T A T E S E A R N E D 13 46-Across tongue
1 Muck
Timtation Creation • Timothy Brunson
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.
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18 Flattened 19 It might be sexual 24 “Here, try wearing this” 25 Accept after a while 26 With one’s head in the clouds? 27 Et ___ (and others: Lat.) 28 “Der Goldfisch” painter 29 Parks’ partner, familiarly 33 Spice Girl Halliwell 34 Statement of confidence 35 Word choice? 38 Talk incessantly 40 Share, as a blog entry 43 Didn’t make the grade?
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SPORTS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
TRACK & FIELD
Alford-Sullivan crushes barriers as track and field coach Shane Switzer Contributor
Breaking and rebuilding barriers is never easy, but for Tennessee’s first-year director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan, overcoming hurdles has defined her career. The first hurdle? Becoming the first woman to coach an FBS men’s track and field program. The second hurdle? Facing rebuilding projects at nearly every coaching destination. Alford-Sullivan graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1989 with a degree in social work. While at Minnesota, she competed in cross country and track and field for the Golden Gophers under then head coach Gary Wilson, who was a coach of a program in the midst of a rebuilding phase. Wilson’s rebuilding efforts at Minnesota foreshadowed Alford-Sullivan’s own coaching career. Yet, how did her own coaching career begin? It started after some encouragement from her friend and her coaches Entering her last semester of college, she had never thought of becoming a track coach until a friend told her to think about it. At the time, Alford-Sullivan realized she had never seen a woman coach except at the Division III level and even then wasn’t sure if the woman was a coach or not. After a discussion with her coach and a stint coaching spring track at her high school, Alford-Sullivan knew she wanted to be a coach. “That got me started finding a GA-ship (Graduate Assistantship),” Alford-Sullivan said. “It was really the shoe that fit.” Alford-Sullivan landed a Graduate Assistantship at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale where she spent the next two years. During her time at SIU she met her now husband Jim. Following Southern Illinois, she landed her first job at Southeast Missouri State. “I had my first paid job,” Alford-Sullivan said. “As the men’s and women’s cross country coach and assistant track coach. It was outstanding.” Then NCAA Division II school Mankato State came calling. “It was just the women,” Alford-Sullivan stated. “I debated that but I took the chance on it and became a head coach, I was probably 27 or 28 years old. Took over that program and had a good stretch for two years there, got me back closer to my family.” Alford-Sullivan left Mankato to go to Stanford. She spent the next five years at Stanford and had her first taste of a rebuilding job. Hired by Vin Lananna, Alford-Sullivan helped establish the Cardinal as a powerhouse in track and field/ cross country. She coached more than 30 All-Americans and one NCAA individual champion as the women’s coordinator at Stanford. “Vin Lananna out at Stanford had a vision for what that place can be,” Alford-Sullivan said.
“They had some success in the 80s but we were in the mid and late 90s and early 2000s. It was a great revolution of bringing back American distance running, bringing back the Stanford program to the level that it was. “I was there at the highlights of their time in terms of their athletic department being successful and being outstanding, it was almost a Camelot-feeling of time out there.” Taking what she had learned at Stanford, Alford-Sullivan returned to the Big Ten to become the women’s head coach at Penn State, where she encountered yet another rebuilding project. Alford-Sullivan coached 158 All-Americans and claimed nine Big Ten team titles in 15 seasons at Penn State - also, 88 Big Ten individual championships, 19 Big Ten Champion relays, and four individual NCAA champions. AlfordSullivan, using her experience at building track programs, rebuilt Penn State and turned it into a contender on the nation level year after year. In the summer of 2006, Alford-Sullivan broke down barriers for women coaches. She became the director of track and field/cross country at Penn State. In reaching that position, she became the first woman to be the head coach of a men’s program in the FBS. “The uniqueness for me, in this position that I hold,” Alford-Sullivan said. “I was the first director of track and field in a BCS, when it used to be the BCS I should say, program for men. That was a big step that Penn State took and opened the door for a lot of my colleagues. Then Tennessee hired me as the first women in the SEC to coach men of any sport. Kind of breaking down some barriers and trying to do some unique things and have had some great opportunities and mentors along the way that have helped facilitate the opportunities that I’ve had.” Since Alford-Sullivan became director of track and field, seven other women have also reached the same position. “One of my best colleagues is the director of track and field at Sacramento State,” Alford-Sullivan stated. “We actually started at Carbondale together in graduate school. We both have made it through the ranks and she and I rely heavily on each other in terms of process and support and perception, understanding everything that is going on. Over the years we have definitely had an opportunity to mentor a lot of young women in coaching.” Alford-Sullivan takes pride in her former women athletes who have pursued coaching careers. She has watched eight to ten female student athletes in her program become coaches. The track and field coaching association has taken major strides to aid women in the sport. At the annual convention, a women’s summit is held with great support from the coaches association. The summit, Alford-Sullivan opined, has done a great job of opening the sport up even more for women and given them a chance to
Beth Alford-Sullivan, Tennessee’s first-year director of track and field and cross country was the first woman in the country to coach an FBS men’s Track and Field program. • Photo courtesy of Tennessee Athletics network and get to know each other. While women have difficulties in breaking through glass ceilings in other careers and in sports, Alford-Sullivan is proud that the sport of track and field doesn’t have some of the gender stereotypes that other occupations have. She said that schools look for coaches who can get the job done and who are resourceful to hire, regardless of gender. Also, the structure of track and field breeds inclusion. “We are combined in our sport from pee wees through the Olympics,” Alford-Sullivan said. “We are truly the only sport that is. When you start at the grass roots level of track and field it’s the boys and girls together and the teams are combined at most places all the way through high school and now in college, I know at the D-1 level, it’s probably 85-90 percent of the D-1 schools are in a combined setting.” “We have the opportunity to be exposed to both the men and women as you go through the coaching ranks and be together in the colleague sense of things. I’m really proud that I haven’t faced some of the stereotyping that other sports have to face. Yet at the same time at the end of the day out of the 320-some division one track programs there is, I think, eight of us that have this position. “You can still see we are in a very male dominant field and with that you are always exposed to some of the issues that come up but it pretty much just rolls off our back.” In the summer of 2014, Alford-Sullivan was hired by UT Athletic Director Dave Hart to become the new track and field and cross country director at Tennessee. The challenge of the SEC and the chance to once again rebuild a proud track program attracted her to Tennessee. “The resources are here, the history is truly here,” Alford-Sullivan said. “It is a phenomenal group of alumni that have embraced the change
that has happened. The leadership is truly on board with wanting to bring track back and get it rockin’ again.” Her current student athletes have bought in as well. “With the new people coming in and the foundation she is building,” captain Jake Blankenship said. “She is doing a really good job and we’re really excited to see what happens the next few years.” Captain and junior Cassie Wertman said the biggest difference she has seen from her first two years to this year is that the team has a goal. “She has made it very clear what her intentions are here,” Wertman said. “Everyone is kind of ramped up and alright we are going for that too.” Junior Cameron Brown mentioned passion several times in describing what Alford-Sullivan has brought to the Tennessee track and field team. Brown also said she has brought a belief that they can compete and win every weekend. All three, Blankenship, Wertman and Brown believe Alford-Sullivan will rebuild the Tennessee track and field will return to championship winning program. “Every job I’ve been fortunate to have I’ve come into a rebuilding faze of it,” Alford-Sullivan said. “You look at my career and I’ve pretty much taken over when it needed a rebuilding phase and I think that stems back to the fact that my coach took over at the University of Minnesota when I was in college and it was a rebuilding phase at that point. I think that’s my nature off of what I experienced as a student athlete and I really feel the reward of taking something from where it is to where you want it to be at the top of the ranks. Luckily I’ve had a great stretch of doing that everywhere I’ve gone and we’re in the midst of doing that here at Tennessee.”
SPORTS
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 • The Daily Beacon
11
INTRAMURAL
Passion, camaraderie lead to intramural championship Lucas Hunter
Contributor
Top: Members of Alpha Gamma Rho (green jerseys) and Sigma Phi Epsilon (red jerseys) play a game of intramural football on Saturday. Justin Keyes • The Daily Beacon Bottom: Members of Alpha Gamma Rho (green jerseys) and Sigma Phi Epsilon (red jerseys) play a game of intramural football on Saturday. Justin Keyes • The Daily Beacon
The Lights Out intramural basketball team had one goal. “It was a championship-or-bust kind of season, we’re not here to mess around.” said Kashan Pirwani, point guard of Lights Out. Not only would Lights Out go undefeated in the regular season, but they would go on to win an overtime thriller to seal the recreational league championship. The season for the team went according to the team’s expectations, full of blowouts and mercy-rule victories resulting in games called with five or seven minutes to go. “We had to work on our team chemistry at first, to see who was gonna be the heart and soul of the team and that driving force,” O’Neil Brown said. “After we established that, it was easy and everything else was flowing from there.” After storming through the opening rounds of the playoffs, the team says they faced their first challenges in the last three rounds of the playoffs, but eventually found themselves in the championship game. Balls Deep, who also worked their way through the playoffs, squared off with Lights Out in the championship game, where a 32-20 lead for Lights Out turned into a 34-34 overtime period. “It was good up until they started coming back, because we have a lot of big personalities on our team and we started to clash, so they picked up the pace” said Maurice Call, a junior who plays for Lights Out. Pirwani and Brown, who won the competitive league two years ago and play in private tournaments across the south, knew how to handle big moments, such as the game-sealing free throws in overtime of the champion game. “I knew even though we had the lead going into the second half, we have 18 more minutes to play, just because we’re up 11 doesn’t mean anything.” said Brown. However, the championship was not the important part of intramurals. The camaraderie of the unit that formed over time is the pride of the team. “One of my more exciting moments was when the team started to gel,” said Pirwani “Early on when we didn’t really know each other and weren’t playing with each other it was hard to get going, but when everybody started meshing, the ball was moving, and everyone was shooting, it was awesome.” The team formed from point guard
Pirwani’s initiative, who formed the team from friends across campus and fellow competitors from the TRECS. When asked about the driving force behind the team’s creation, Brown referenced Pirwani’s passion for tournaments and constant drive to play. After the season is over and the team disbands until the next intramurals season, one constant remains: the friendships formed through intramurals. “I’ve definitely grown a lot closer and formed good relationships with my teammates,” said Brown. “Now when I see them in the ‘Rec I say ‘what’s up man’ and we have a conversation.” Another important factor for the members of Lights Out is the get-away aspect of playing basketball. When asked about the significance of intramurals to his life, Pirwani referenced taking that break once or twice a week to stop doing homework and get on the court with some friends as one of his motivations. Lights Out were going to get a championship or bust, and they didn’t mess around.
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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
BASEBALL
SOFTBALL
SPORTS
Vols walk past Bucs, 5-2 Jonathan Toye
Sports Editor (@JonathanToye1)
Erin Gabriel pitches during the Lady Vols’ game against Illinois State on Tuesday night. Taylor Gash • The Daily Beacon
Gabriel throws no-hitter in Lady Vols 6-0 victory over Redbirds
Trenton Duffer Staff Writer
With one out in the top of the second inning of the Lady Vols’ second game against Illinois State, Lexi Overstreet, who was subbing in for Annie Aldrete at catcher, picked up a blooper and gunned it over to first to record the second out of the inning to help starting pitcher Erin Gabriel keep her no-hitter intact. Now, Gabriel and the entire team are celebrating the junior pitcher’s accomplishment after recording a 6-0 shutout over Illinois State. Overstreet discussed the play after celebrating Gabriel’s amazing feat after the game. “It was an honor catching her on her first no-hitter,” Overstreet stated. “Erin is happy she did that, but she’s gonna put it on somebody else first…It was really great that I could help her.” Gabriel’s no-hitter was the 46th in Tennessee softball history—the first seven-inning nohitter since Tennessee legend Monica Abbott accomplished the feat in 2007. Gabriel’s 16 strikeouts was also the most for a no-hitter since the same 2007 game when Abbott also fanned 16 batters. “Tonight, I had a goal before the game to just be efficient with my pitches, and to just hold my team because we only had one run entering the sixth inning,” Gabriel said. The junior didn’t even realize that she was throwing a no-hitter until later in the game. “We were only up by one for so long that I didn’t think about anything else but keeping my team in the game,” Gabriel stated. After the Lady Vols crushed the Redbirds 19-3 in the first game of the night, their first five innings of game two started off dry. Tennessee had only four hits with one run through five
innings. It wasn’t until an Overstreet double to left field that helped Megan Geer score that the offensive floodgates opened for the Lady Vols. Tennessee would score five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to help give themselves a 6-0 cushion heading into the top of the seventh. That’s where Gabriel worked her magic. The Poland, OH native forced two batters to strike out swinging before facing her final victim. After getting up in the count 1-2, Gabriel threw a smoking fastball straight down the middle that Redbird designated player Payton Billups watched fly past her. The game was over, and all that was left to do was celebrate. “Obviously, it’s a huge milestone for any pitcher to throw a no-hitter,” co-head coach Karen Weekly said after the game. “Erin’s goal before the game was to be efficient tonight. (She threw) under 100 pitches, and to have 16 strikeouts and not that many pitches, that’s pretty phenomenal.” With a victory in both games, the Lady Vols improve to 18-3 on the season while dropping the Redbirds’ record to 9-15. Up next for the Lady Vols is SEC East rival South Carolina—a team that Tennessee hasn’t lost to since 2003. Weekly welcomes the challenge that the Gamecocks bring and is excited to finally start SEC play this season. “I like where we are right now coming off the seven-game swing,” Weekly proclaimed. “We just need to continue to work on being ourselves and getting better and better at plate discipline…making the pitchers get you out instead of getting yourself out.” South Carolina will host the Lady Vols on Thursday at 6 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Each game of the threegame series will be broadcast on the SEC Network +.
Nick Senzel had just evened the score at 2-2 with a sacrifice fly to center field in the sixth inning when ETSU head coach Tony Skole decided to replace starting pitcher Ryan Simpler with Jamin McCann. The decision proved to be a costly one. Skole quickly recognized his mistake, replacing McCann on the mound three at-bats later. But by then, the damage had been done. McCann had walked three straight batters, advancing AJ Simcox from second to home for the go-ahead run. The Vols only needed that one run to clinch the win, but scored several insurance runs in the eighth inning to defeat ETSU Buccaneers 5-2 on Tuesday Night at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. “It’s part of our offense,” Tennessee head coach Dave Serrano said. “Taking advantage of what the other team is giving you: whether it’s a miscue on the field, or whether it’s a hit by pitch, or whether it’s a walk. I thought our guys showed really good discipline in that time. We had runners in scoring position and if they get a little selfish and want to swing to be the hero, that (sixth) inning may not have come out the way it did. “We were able to get it going later in the game and come away with a 5-2 victory. And I am proud of our guys for doing that.” Righty reliever Steven Kane (2-1) earned the win for Tennessee (7-5). ETSU (7-7) starting pitcher Ryan Simpler (1-2) recorded the loss. Andrew Lee got his second save of the year, throwing four strikeouts in the final two innings. Lee also contributed on offense. Batting in the sixth spot, Lee had two RBI, including the walk with the bases loaded that brought Simcox home in the sixth inning. “In that situation with the bases loaded with only one out, you’re looking for something up
that you can drive to outfield and get a sac fly and maybe score two runs,” Lee said. “I was just looking for something up in the zone, something I could handle. I didn’t get anything great so I just let them go.” Right-hander Hunter Martin didn’t get the win in his start on the mound, but he quieted ETSU’s bats for most of the night, allowing three hits and posting a 1.69 ERA in five innings. After a slow start in the first inning, Hunter retired nine straight batters from the second inning through the fifth inning. “I thought the fourth and fifth innings for him were as crisp as he was all night,” Serrano said. The Knoxville natives led ETSU offensively, with Bearden alum Trey York recording two hits and Powell alum Hagen Owenby getting one hit and two RBI. Owenby was responsible for ETSU’s only runs, platting York with a single up the middle in the first inning, and bringing home York again with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Nathaniel Maggio was Tennessee’s offensive force, recording a hit in all of three of his at-bats. Trailing 1-0 in the fifth inning, Maggio got Tennessee’s offense going with a leadoff single through the left side. Three batters later, Langhorne platted Lee with a sacrifice bunt. Christian Stewart blasted his third homerun of his season to give the Vols a 4-2 lead in the eighth. Maggio followed Stewart’s homerun with a double down right field. His pinch runner Chance Hall would score off a single from Lee to give the game its final score. “Maggio is playing pretty well,” Stewart said. “I mean when a 6-5, 230 guy is swinging with authority behind you, that gives you confidence at the plate and puts a little fear in the pitchers. Maggio needs to keep on doing what he is doing: staying inside the ball, driving it to all gaps. He will do great.” The Vols host another midweek game Wednesday at 5 p.m. against Morehead State. Lefty Zach Warren will start on the mound.