Opinion: “Being a part of Sex Week has been a radical political act.” >>See page 6
Film festival showcases natural beauty >>See page 8
Star player to miss spring practice >>See page 11
People react outside Brussels airport after explosions rocked the facility in Brussels, Belgium Tuesday, March 22, 2016. • Photo Courtesy of AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert
Islamic State claims deadly bombings in Brussels Associated Press BRUSSELS — Islamic extremists struck Tuesday in the heart of Europe, killing at least 34 people and wounding scores of others in back-to-back bombings of the Brussels airport and subway that again laid bare the continent’s vulnerability to suicide squads. Bloodied and dazed travelers staggered from the airport after two explosions — at least one blamed on a suicide attacker and another apparently on a suitcase bomb — tore through crowds checking in for morning flights. About 40 minutes later, another rush-hour blast ripped through a subway car in central Brussels as it left the Maelbeek station, in the heart of the European Union’s capital city. Authorities released a photo taken from closedcircuit TV footage of three men pushing luggage carts in the airport, saying two of them apparently were suicide bombers and that the third — dressed in a light-colored coat, black hat and
Volume 131 Issue 42
glasses — was at large. They urged the public to reach out to police if they recognized him. The two men believed to be the suicide attackers apparently were wearing dark gloves on their left hands, possibly to hide detonators. In police raids Tuesday across Belgium, authorities later found a nail-filled bomb, chemical products and an Islamic State flag in a house in the Schaerbeek neighborhood, the state prosecutors’ office said in a statement. In its claim of responsibility, the Islamic State group said its members detonated suicide vests both at the airport and in the subway, where many passengers fled to safety down dark tunnels filled with hazy smoke from the explosion. A small child wailed, and commuters used cell phones to light their way out. European security officials have been bracing for a major attack for weeks and warned that IS was actively preparing to strike. The arrest Friday of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, heightened those fears, as inves-
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tigators said many more people were involved than originally thought and that some are still on the loose. “In this time of tragedy, this black moment for our country, I appeal to everyone to remain calm but also to show solidarity,” said Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who announced three days of mourning in his country’s deadliest terror strike. “Last year it was Paris. Today it is Brussels. It’s the same attacks,” said French President Francois Hollande. Shockwaves from the attacks crossed Europe and the Atlantic, prompting heightened security at airports and other sites. Belgium raised its terror alert to the highest level, shut the airport through Wednesday and ordered a city-wide lockdown, deploying about 500 soldiers onto Brussels’ largely empty streets to bolster police checkpoints. France and Belgium both reinforced border security. See BRUSSELS on Page 2
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
THE DAILY BEACON STAFF
BRUSSELS
EDITORIAL
continued from Page 1
Editor-in-Chief: Jenna Butz
Justice ministers and interior ministers from across the 28-nation EU planned an emergency meeting, possibly Thursday morning, to assess the fallout. The subway blast hit beneath buildings that normally host EU meetings and house the union’s top leadership. Medical officials treating the wounded said some victims lost limbs, while others suffered burns or deep gashes from shattered glass or suspected nails packed in with the explosives. Among the most seriously wounded were several children. A high-level Belgian judicial official said a connection by Abdeslam to Tuesday’s attacks is “a lead to pursue.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. Abdeslam has told investigators he was planning to “restart something” from Brussels, said Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders. He said Sunday that authorities took the claim seriously because “we found a lot of weapons, heavy weapons in the first investigations and we have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels.” While Belgian authorities knew that some kind of extremist act was being prepared in Europe, “we never could have imagined something of this scale,” Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon said. Officials at the airport in the Brussels suburb of Zaventem said police had discovered a Kalashnikov assault rifle and an explosivespacked vest abandoned at the facility, offering one potential lead for forensic evidence. Bomb disposal experts safely dismantled that explosive device. A U.S. administration official said American intelligence officers were working with their European counterparts to try to identify the apparently skilled bomb-maker or makers involved in the Brussels attacks and to identify any links to the bombs used in Paris. The official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the investigations and demanded anonymity, told The Associated Press that at least one of the bombs at the airport was suspected to have been packed into a suitcase left in the departures hall. Several Americans were among the wounded, including an Air Force lieutenant colonel stationed in the Netherlands, his wife and four children who were at the airport. Mormon church officials, meanwhile, said three of its missionaries from Utah were seriously injured in the blasts and were hospitalized. Three intelligence officials in Iraq told the AP that they had warned European colleagues last month of IS plans to attack airports and trains, although Belgium wasn’t specified as a likely target. The officials, who monitor activities in the IS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria, said Brussels may have become a target because of the arrest of Abdeslam. One of the officials — all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk about their knowledge of IS
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Two injured women were dazed in the aftermath of an attack in Brussels Airport in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, March 22. All flights were canceled, arriving planes were being diverted and Belgium’s terror alert level was raised to maximum, officials said. • Photo Courtesy of Ketevan Kardava/ Georgian Public Broadcaster via AP operations — said Iraqi intelligence officials believe that three other IS activists remain at large in Brussels and are plotting other suicidebomb attacks. Leaders of the 28-nation EU said in a joint statement that Tuesday’s assault on Brussels “only strengthens our resolve to defend European values and tolerance from the attacks of the intolerant.” The U.N. lead official for Middle East refugees, Amin Awad, warned that Europe faced an increasing risk of racist retaliation against Muslim immigrant communities. “Any sort of hostilities because of the Brussels attack or Paris attack is misplaced,” Awad said. The government said at least 11 people were killed at the airport and 20 on the subway, where the bomb hit an enclosed train car. Later, a security official said the overall death toll had risen to 34, without providing a breakdown of where. In the airport, video posted on social media showed people cowering on the ground in the wake of the blasts, the air acrid with smoke, windows of shops and the terminal entrance shattered, and fallen ceiling tiles littering the blood-streaked floor. Some witnesses described hearing two distinct blasts, with shouts apparently in Arabic from at least one attacker before the second, bigger explosion. Zach Mouzoun, who arrived on a flight from Geneva about 10 minutes before the airport blasts, told France’s BFM television that pipes ruptured, sending a cascade of water mixing with victims’ blood. Marc Noel was about to board a Delta flight to Atlanta. The Belgian native, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, said the first blast
happened about 50 yards (meters) from him. “People were crying, shouting, children. ... It was a horrible experience,” he said. Anthony Deloos, an airport worker for Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage services, said the first blast took place near the Swissport counters where customers pay for overweight bags. He and a colleague said the second blast struck near a Starbucks cafe. Deloos said a colleague shouted at him to run as the blast sent clouds of shredded paper billowing through the air, and “I jumped into a luggage chute to be safe.” Passengers on other trains said many commuters were reading about the airport attacks on their smartphones when they heard the subway blast. Hundreds fled from stopped trains down tunnel tracks to adjacent stations. Many told stories of having missed the bomb by minutes or seconds. Brussels Mayor Yvan Mayeur said more than 100 were wounded in the subway blast. Rescue workers set up makeshift first aid centers in a nearby pub and hotel. “It was panic everywhere. There were a lot of people in the metro,” said commuter Alexandre Brans, wiping blood from his face. Belgium’s king and queen said they were “devastated” by the violence, describing the attacks as “odious and cowardly.” After nightfall, Europe’s best-known monuments — the Eiffel Tower, the Brandenburg Gate and the Trevi Fountain — were illuminated with Belgium’s national colors in a show of solidarity. UT students studying abroad in Belgium and the surrounding EU have been reported as safe. No students were studying in Brussels at this time.
CAMPUSNEWS
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • The Daily Beacon
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Student Senate discusses tobacco, sexual assault policy Tanner Hancock News Editor UT’s Student Government Senate held a meeting Tuesday night to address resolutions ranging from smoking on campus to the school’s sexual assault campus. President Joe DiPietro UT President Joe Dipietro began the meeting by addressing the issues surrounding the university, most notably the Title IX lawsuit currently pending against the university. DiPietro emphasized the changes UT has made over the past several years aiming to address the issue of sexual assault on campus, including changes to the student code of conduct. “You’ve read the papers, you’ve heard largely from the plaintiffs side of the debate,” DiPietro said. “It’s going to take a while to hear the other side.” DiPietro also addressed the recent budget cut proposals in the State House education subcommittee that would
effectively take $8 million out of the UT Knoxville budget and reroute it to rural outreach programs through the UT campuses in Chattanooga and Martin. DiPietro expressed dissatisfaction with the move which was aimed at defunding the Office of Diversity, though maintained that the battle is far from over as it pertains to the final budget. At large member Louis Varriano later delivered a speech to the senate body, describing state legislator’s actions towards the Office of Diversity as harmful to the “smallest communities” on campus, including the veterans center and Office of Disabilities which receive their funding from the Diversity Office. “Goliath makes legislation that hurts the least among us,” Varriano said, comparing state lawmakers to biblical Philistine that fought King David. “We can win this fight, because we fight for what is right ... And we will not fail.” Tobacco Free Campus Arts and Sciences Senator Morgan Hartgrove next proposed a resolution calling a tobacco and smoke free cam-
pus. The bill, by and large the most contested of the night, passed 28-19 with one abstention. Hartgrove pointed out that of the 14 schools in the SEC, Tennessee is just one of two that not instituted smoking bans on campus and just one of six that have not instituted bans on tobacco products. “Some freedoms end where some begin, and the desire to smoke on campus should never overpower the desire to breath clean air,” said Hartgrove, noting that UT administration had reviewed and favored its possible implementation. While some senators called into the question the bill’s ability to reflect the student body’s diverse opinion of smoking, senator Yasin Kanakrieh argued that the bill would represent the image of campus poorly if the student senate failed to condemn tobacco outright. “It’s an all or nothing. Either you’re for it (tobacco) or against it,” Kanakrieh said. Sexual assault policy
The Student Senate next considered a resolution addressing the issues of sexual assault on campus, which was later passed unanimously. Kanakrieh, one of the bills sponsors, described what he believes is a backwards process the university employs towards victims of sexual assault. Rather than being first read their rights, Kanakrieh said the psychological well being of victims of sexual assault should be prioritized more than anything else. “The Title IX lawsuit has encompassed the encompassed the entire conversation of sexual assault, as it should because it’s true it’s a horrendous thing the university allowed to happen,” said Kanakrieh. “But even if it’s not true, the fact that we have on a weekly basis emails coming in about sexual assault, its shows that there’s a problem and it shows we have to do something to fix it.” An amendment to an amendment was also approved for the bill calling for a separate, males only class for the Rape Aggression Defense course currently offered only to women through the university.
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The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Humans of Knoxville
“We live on the same floor in Brown. We just got close this semester, and we’ve hung out a lot in the past month or so.” - Chris Biller and Taylor Bowlers, freshmen Mary Geiser • The Daily Beacon
Howard Baker Center introduces data management minor Alahnah Ligon Asst. News Editor As the world of big data keeps getting bigger, the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy has developed a new minor to provide datamanaging skills to students from all majors. “Public policy analytics is about learning how to use the tools needed to analyze massive amounts of data to inform public policy creation, development, implementation and evaluation,” explained Nissa Dahlin-Brown, associate director of the Baker Center. Dahlin-Brown conceptualized initial plans for the minor that were approved by UT’s Undergraduate Council with the help of Director of the Baker Center Matthew Murray, Undergraduate Advisor Bill Park and a faculty planning group. The “Public Policy Analytics” minor will be housed in the Baker Center and offered to all students not graduating before spring 2017 with a GPA of 3.25 or higher. “The policy analytics minor would benefit students majoring in numerous fields and would enhance job prospects and preparation for graduate and professional school,” DahlinBrown said. Dahlin-Brown said the minor will provide skills ranging from examining budgets to recognizing and identifying solutions to today’s issues, while applying the skills to the context of a particular field of interest. “A student in nursing who intends to pursue a masters’ degree in public health would benefit
immensely from the minor,” Murray said. “So too would a political science student who is interested in working for the public sector or a nonprofit. “It will help prepare students for engagement in the public policy process or simply increase awareness of how public policy decisions are made.” Students must take four courses in the areas of public policy, communications, statistics and economics as prerequisites to enroll in the minor. Once enrolled, there are four core classes and two elective courses a public policy analytics minor student must take to fulfill their requirements, a total of 18 hours. The two elective courses can be chosen from the following tracks: Environmental & Natural Resources Policy, Global Security Policy, Fiscal and Regulatory Policy, Health and Social Justice Policy and Foreign Policy. Applications open in April 2016 for admission in Fall 2016. No more than 30 students, or 15 students per semester, will be admitted as a cohort. Dahlin-Brown said this is to provide focused support for its students. “We know from our students and job listings that these skills are critical in landing jobs in public policy and will enhance student employability and thus the ranking of the University of Tennessee,” Dahlin-Brown said. An information session on the minor will be held on March 30. The deadline to apply for the minor is April 11. More information can be found at bakercenter.utk.edu.
CAMPUSNEWS
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • The Daily Beacon
New Kansas law lets campus religious groups restrict members Associated Press
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ conservative Republican governor signed legislation Tuesday allowing faith-based groups at college campuses to restrict membership to like-minded people, likely putting the state on a collision course with civil liberties groups. The GOP-dominated Legislature approved the legislation earlier this month, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled nearly six years ago that universities can require membership in such groups to be open to all. Supporters have said the bill was a victory for the freedom to exercise religious beliefs, but opponents called it a veiled attempt to legalize discrimination. Kansas already has a religious objections law that prevents state or local governments from limiting people’s freedom to express their religion, though that law doesn’t touch on organizations at universities. With Gov. Sam Brownback’s signature, Kansas becomes the second state after Oklahoma to have a college-specific law. “This is very good, narrow, targeted piece of legislation that will serve the betterment of our college campuses,” Brownback said. The new law, which will take effect July 1, will prevent public colleges and universities from denying religious groups funds or campus resources for limiting their memberships. Critics argue that the bill is far broader than its supporters acknowledge and will in effect force minority students and their parents to support groups that would actively discriminate against them. They said the new law will sanction discrimination not only against gays and lesbians, but based on race, gender or disabilities.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas is considering a legal challenge “very seriously,” said Micah Kubic, its executive director. “It’s a step backward to a time when government was actively enabling discrimination against people based on who they are,” Kubic said. The new law stems from a handful of on-campus incidents in Kansas and other states, including a lawsuit filed by a Christian group after Washburn University said the group couldn’t require student members to recognize the Bible, not the Book of Mormon, as the word of God. The issue emerged after a Mormon student at the Topeka school was forbidden from leading the group’s Bible study. Opponents of the new law have said it could risk the loss of federal grant money and the state would waste money defending it in court. Brownback said the legislation was “worked pretty extensively” and “pretty well balanced.” The U.S. Supreme Court ruling originated from a California incident. The Christian Legal Society at the University of California-Hastings College of Law was refused recognition and funding after it required all members to sign a form saying they would abstain from premarital or same-sex sexual conduct. In a 5-4 decision, the high court backed the university’s right to do so. The debate in Kansas follows an uproar last year over a religious objections law in Indiana, and to a lesser extent a measure in Arkansas. Critics in those cases said the laws would allow discrimination against gays and lesbians by allowing service providers, such as florists, to deny their services for same-sex weddings. Both states revised their laws, though they still allow certain religious objections.
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Neuroscientist tackles addiction in lecture Maria Amalla Contributor UT’s Brain Awareness week kicked off its second day on Tuesday with a lecture on the Neuroscience of Addiction held by Paul Ragan, M.D. The room was packed with neuroscience students and intellectuals alike, who gathered to hear about some of the stigmas facing addiction treatment. To make these stigmas clear, Ragan began the talk with an anecdotal statement by Benjamin Rush, providing an image of a person with an addiction to alcohol. “The phenomenon of the village drunkard was easily understood,” Ragan said. “He was simply the person in town of the lowest moral fiber.” Ragan was consistent in driving home the point that the disease of addiction plagues America, but that the public has in the past viewed it as something that can be controlled. “Addiction is no different than any other disorder,” Ragan said. “I don’t want to go soft on addicts, but let’s use the same treatment rigor as other diseases.” Ragan elaborated by estimating that if one takes 1 million dollars and invests it in treatment then they’ll have reduced street cocaine
by 100 kilos. However, the issue of addiction is not a oneproblem disease that deals with just treatment, but a disease that is a convoluted web of issues. “Sixty percent of people with bipolar disorder are addicted to something,” Ragan said. “The point is always to think of addiction and ask what else?” Ally Glover, sophomore in neuroscience, described how it is crucial for the University of Tennessee science students to connect with addiction. “I think taking neuroscience research and implementing it into treatment is ultimately what (Ragan) wants us as a society to do,” Glover said. “(UT students) are the next generation of neuroscientists.” Even if a student’s major is not science related, Mohan Muvvala, senior in BCMB and neuroscience, described that addiction has a connection with all students because of the “college environment.” “It is really important because (UT students) are in a hub where just the social setting in itself makes students prone to addiction because of certain activities,” Muvvala said. Muvvala elaborated that the overall lecture provided good information about the safety issues regarding drugs that students might be more likely to take.
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VIEWPOINTS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Lessons I learned from three years of Sex Week Summer Awad Quite Contrary
Spring has sprung, and that means it’s almost time for my favorite holiday. No, I’m not talking about Easter. I’m actually most excited for UT’s favorite controversy and the only 100 percent effective way to learn about both abstinence and anal beads in the same week of college: Sex Week at UT. When I was a freshman, I joined Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, the student organization that hosts Sex Week every year. I had always been interested in sex education and curious about sexuality in general, but I had no idea how much my participation in Sex Week would impact my life and overall well-being. During Sex Week’s first year, after the executive board scrambled to recover funding that the administration took from us at the last minute, I was able to attend almost all of the 30-something events that SEAT had put together. I attended lectures by Megan Andelloux, Aida Manduley and a number of brilliant UT professors on the topics of sex, sexuality, relationships and gender. That fateful week in 2013, I felt like Jasmine — I was in a whole new world. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what Sex Week entails. Among those who have never attended a Sex Week event, it has gained quite the (incorrect) reputation for being a big orgy fest that pressures abstinent students into having sex and engaging in lesbian bondage. But in fact, Sex Week teaches practical information about physical,
emotional and mental health in relation to sex. Sex Week answers questions we’ve all looked up on Yahoo! Answers: how can you use sex toys correctly and safely, how do you recognize when you’re in an abusive relationship, how can you learn to love your body and improve your self-esteem? Sex Week events don’t assume that everyone is having or should be having sex, but they acknowledge that sex is normal and natural and that most people will deal with sex at some point in their lives. So if you’re waiting for marriage, rush to a Sex Week event, get out that notebook and start saving up sex tips for your honeymoon. Speaking of sex tips, here are just a few of the things I have learned (and utilized extensively) over the past three years of organizing and attending Sex Week: 1. Popular lubes like KY Jelly and Astroglide are bad for you. Glycerin-free lubes are much better, especially for vagina owners. 2. Don’t use oil-based lube with condoms, because it will disintegrate the condom. 3. Don’t use silicone-based lube with silicone sex toys. It can ruin the material. 4. Basically use water-based lube for everything, specifically Sliquid. (More specifically cherry vanilla flavor, but to each their own.) And did you know you can reactivate water based lube by adding water? 5. How to put a condom on with your mouth. 6. Reading on the toilet is one of the main causes
of anal prolapse. 7. Mojoupgrade.com is the best website you and your sex partner(s) will ever use. Just try it. Trust me. 8. Two words: clitoral legs. Sound fun and informative? That’s because it is. If you look at this year’s schedule, it gets even better, with events like “How to Drive a Vulva,” “Butt Stuff” and “Tinder Lovin’ Care.” It can feel uncomfortable at first, but that’s the beauty of it: everyone is uncomfortable, because almost everyone in Tennessee has had no real sex education. Getting uncomfortable is the first step to changing our culture of sexual shame. Given the attitudes of our state legislators, being a part of Sex Week has been a radical political act. But it is more than that. For me, my participation in SEAT and Sex Week has also been radical act of selfcare and self-love. I have the tools to have a healthy and active sex life and to be unashamed of it. I have a network of friends and professional resources I can go to in the event of an unplanned pregnancy, an STI or a sexual assault. I am in control of my reproductive health, and I have an improved body image. And yes, in case you were wondering, I can put on a condom with my mouth. Sex Week UT will take place April 4-8, 2016. See sexweekut.org for the full schedule of events. Summer Awad is a senior in College Scholars. She can be reached at sawad@vols.utk.edu
How my education made me who I am today Elle Johnson I Learned Something Today
In elementary school, I would beam with pride every time I had the opportunity to proclaim that I would become the very first female president of the United States. Granted, those dreams shifted a tad towards other interests as I grew. And who could blame me, especially given our current political election climate. For Spring Break, I took a much-needed R&R in my hometown, catching up with family, friends and of course, sleep. In the afternoon, as my dad would flip through the television networks looking for anything tolerable to watch, the leading news networks would pass, each showing snippets of familiar faces. Images of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and Ted Cruz, among others, scurried across the screen, sputtering words of varying emotions from joy to disappointment and from empathy to hate. As I listened to their carefully calibrated political discourses, I couldn’t help but chuckle a little, wondering how I could have ever desired to go through such a scrutiny to obtain the highest office in the land. No shame to anyone still holding this dream though. I commend you wholeheartedly, but politics just aren’t my thing. However, settling more into the memory, I came across a much more striking thought. When I was little, I didn’t just want to be president of the United States. The aspiration wasn’t another dress-up or make-believe game to me. As long as I desired it, there was no other option; I was going to be the first
female president of the United States, come hell or high water. With such a profound ambition at such a young age, I can’t help but wonder, where did this confidence come from? This past week, I have taken a good deal of time to reflect on my past, particularly looking at the various pieces that have somehow stitched together to form the woman I am today. I had an upbringing that I believe to be relatively unique, coming from a small, rural community and growing up on a farm and any combination of a multitude of factors present in that environment could have led to this youthful confidence. However, I want to focus on my teachers, who took my dreams at all stages, no matter how large or how small, and rather than scoffing, laughing or pointing me in the direction of a dream more suited to my role and status, told me not only that I could achieve all these things, but with just the right amount of determination and drive, I would. I want to recognize and thank these teachers, but most importantly, I want to point out the need for the presence of this kind of support in every young girl’s education. Going back to the current presidential election, while I prefer not to promote my political preferences, I must admit that I will be sad to see the Obamas leave the White House, for more reasons than one. However, the most pertinent in this moment is First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” initiative.
Through their efforts, “Let Girls Learn” strives to provide education to the 62 million girls worldwide not in school, with over half being adolescents. The initiative recognizes that a fruitful and supportive education should not be a luxury but a right to all, and by empowering young women through education, we are providing them the tools to shape their own destinies, lift up their families and transform their communities in such positive ways. Imagining my education without the overwhelming support from my teachers is daunting, but thinking about my formal education stopping after middle school and where I would be today is simply inconceivable. Michelle Obama put it best as she explained, “we wouldn’t dream of accepting this fate for ourselves, so why would we accept it for any girl on this planet?” Today more than ever, I recognize the extreme blessings I have received throughout my education thus far and am sure most at this collegiate level can say the same. While I encourage all to identify these defining aspects of their education that have shaped the person they are today and give respective thanks, I strongly urge us all to take this support we have received and pay it forward to those not so fortunate, spreading the message to girls worldwide that not only can they achieve their dreams but that they will. Elle Johnson is a sophomore in College Scholars. She can be reached at ejohn100@vols.utk.edu.
ARTS&CULTURE
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • The Daily Beacon
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Amateur radio club explores communications at UT Megan Patterson Arts & Culture Editor
At a meeting early in February, Mikhail Kravchenko, senior in electrical engineering, showed his dongle to the other members of the Amateur Radio Club. For those who do not know, a dongle is defined as “a small device able to be connected to and used with a computer, especially to allow access to wireless broadband or use of protected software.” Technically, a flash drive is a dongle, but Kravchenko’s was a chip that contained all software and hardware to interface with a wide range of communication channels, broadcast and television. Students involved in the Amateur Radio Club work with devices like this weekly at club meetings to explore the growing field of communications technologies. David Icove, professor in electrical engineering and computer science and faculty advisor to the group, has seen the club’s participation fluctuate over the years, from over 20 members to the current six. As a result, the focus of the club varies widely with the students who populate it. Currently, club members are paired with an engineering senior design project involving software-defined radio. “I went to England last year and saw Bletchley Park, where all the (WWII) code-breaking was being done on the enigma machine. They spent a lot of time doing code breaking, and one of the things they spent a lot of time on was Morse code,” Icove said. “We thought to automate this and allow them (students) to use a software, computer-controlled radio that understood Morse code and transmitted and received it.” Software-defined radio is meant to be a very portable, accessible means of communication. Icove said many devices come with a strap to carry the radio across your back, so amateurs can carry their device to the mountains as a self-contained unit. However, the portability and small size of the technology does not diminish its power. “With software-defined radio, you can take signals that you can hardly even hear, but you can see using some computer analysis, and you can code and decode it,” Icove said. “They’re on the cutting edge of technologies.” Aside from tech hobbyists, many professionals may also find use for amateur radios, including many emergency services. “A lot of interconnected fields are in
this,” Icove said. “A lot of nurses are cross trained as amateur radio operators, because in cases of emergency, they need to be able to get in and interact with the communication centers.” Icove and club trustee Bobbie Williams are certified by UT’s ELC office to provide emergency radio service for the university in case of a communications shutdown. Although no current students in the club are certified, a former graduate student in 2015 had undergone courses for ELC qualifications. While amateur radio may seem like a solitary pastime, national events make sure to form an extensive community for clubs across the country. Williams described the American Radio Relay League School Club Round Up, which took place on Feb. 8 this year, as one such event. He said that the contest requires participants from an elementary to university level to make as many “contacts” with other receivers as they can within a week. The three categories of contacts are “individual, which is just regular hams (amateur radios), clubs with club call signs and schools.” For each category contact, participants earn a different amount of points, and at the end of the week, winners are announced. The ability to make contacts depends on the device’s signal, weather conditions and the strength of the instrument in general. For the past three years, Williams said UT’s Amateur Radio Club has excelled at the university level with over 100 contacts. Outside of the contest, club members have the opportunity to connect with a worldwide audience via their satellite stationed on East Stadium Hall. “From that room, we’ve probably talked to about every country and earned a DXCC award (an ARRL premier award for contact with over 100 countries),” Williams said. As each member becomes a part of the amateur radio community, they earn a callsign. For example, over the air waves, Icove is known by the sequence WA8NQE. Although Kravchenko and Adam Rosenbaum, senior in computer engineering, are relatively new to the club, they already have call signs of their own — KM40QG and KM4RBR, respectively. Rosenbaum joined the club after he got his technician’s license and heard of what the members were working on. “Before I got involved, I thought ‘Oh talking on the radio. Whatever, it’s not that big a deal,’ because I had done
(Top) Students Ben Johnson and Mikhail Kravchenko demonstrate how a short-wave radio is operated. (Bottom) Members of UT’s Amateur Radio Club demonstrate how a short wave radio program works. All photos by Will Clifft • The Daily Beacon that before when I was in the military,” Rosenbaum said. “There’s a lot more things to do than meets the eye … It’s a lot more involved than just sitting around scanning bands.” In addition to national contests and reaching out to find contact, Rosenbaum mentioned foxhunts — “guys going out with their radios and trying to find something in the woods.” As a computer engineer, Rosenbaum is primarily interested in the different ways of sending digital information through radio, versus traditional analog waves. Williams planned to discuss one of these methods of sending digitized infor-
mation, JT65, in an upcoming meeting. JT65 was originally developed to bounce signals off of the moon, so as a result, it uses a low signal to noise ratio. This is just one of the examples of how radio communication means can be customized to fit the need. For Icove, the relevance of amateur radio will only continue to grow with improvements in technology. “The technology is such a moving target that if the students stayed in the group form their freshman year to their senior year, the technology being introduced would be completely changed,” Icove said. “There are a lot of things that we think we have the edge on, but we really don’t.”
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ARTS&CULTURE
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Film festival reiterates importance of nature Taylor Gash Photographer Knoxville cinephiles indulged their audiovisual senses Monday evening when the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour served patrons of the Bijou Theatre a buffet of short and feature length outdoor-themed flicks. The Knoxville showing came as an extension of the nine-day Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival that takes place each August. The Canada-based festival showcases an array of works that display the wonder of our natural environment and the adventures that mankind has sought out in it. I arrived at the theatre just a few minutes after 7 p.m. as an offstage speaker was presenting the first film. The house was packed so finding a seat was a challenge. I managed to find one in the very back row of the balcony and was disappointed to find that the upper third of the projector screen was out of view due to a low-hanging ceiling at that altitude. In truth, the Bijou is more suited for stage performances. To see the entire screen, I had to crane my head down for the remainder of 55 Hours In Mexico: a nine minute film chronicling the spontaneous weekend voyage of a group of friends who flew to Veracruz with the goal
of climbing and skiing Pico de Orizaba, the third-highest peak in North America. After enduring the first film, my neck muscles were already beginning to strain, and I decided my seat simply would not do for the remainder. I spied a single seat three rows down from me and snatched it up as the next film was being prepared. To my relief, at my new spot I could see the whole screen. Now I could thoroughly enjoy the cinematic spectacle provided by the following three films: “Curiosity� (13 mins), “The Last Dragons� (10 mins) and winner of Best Climbing Film award “Reel Rock 10: A Line Across the Sky� (40 mins). The films featured eye-pleasing cinematography and euphonious sound. The stories were gripping and peppered with wry humor that drew laughter from the audience. The atmosphere was light and people were not shushed at a mere whisper as sometimes happens at a movie theatre, yet there remained an overwhelming sense of venerability towards the films. The unmistakable sound of tearing aluminum sporadically pierced the air as viewers opened their PBR tall boys, and a baby’s squeals came at inopportune moments. But nobody really seemed to mind these interruptions either. One scene during “The Last Dragons� hit close to East Tennessee hearts when it
The Banff Film Festival took place on Monday, March 21 at the Bijou Theatre. Taylor Gash • The Daily Beacon showed the devastating consequences that sedimentation due to construction has had on Appalachian stream-dwelling Hellbender Salamanders. A 15-minute intermission wedged itself between the first and second sets and provided the audience with time to stretch their legs and refill their beverages. The second set consisted of five films: “Denaliâ€? (8 mins), “The Important Placesâ€? (9 mins), “Eclipseâ€? (31 mins), “Builderâ€? (8 mins) and “Nature RXâ€? (2 mins). A round of applause wrapped up the show, and everyone began slowly filing out of the theatre.
Overhearing conversations during this procession, it seems as though the crowd favorite must have been “Denali,� the touching tale of cancer survivor Ben Moon and his shelter-rescued dog told from the perspective of man’s best friend. However, my personal favorite was “Reel Rock 10,� with its intense alpine rock climbing sequences and shots of the awe-inspiring Patagonia landscape. All in all, the tour showing far exceeded my first-time film festival expectations and was a humbling reminder of the important role nature plays in our human experience.
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PUZZLES&GAMES
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • The Daily Beacon
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Get Fuzzy • Darby Conley
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Derby sound Evidence of injury Some football linemen Golfer Palmer, to fans ___ Romeo HBO hit starring Julia LouisDreyfus Cuddly-looking “bear” One of 100 on a football field Not home Informant trapped after an icy storm? Twisted Sister frontman Snider “Who doesn’t know that?!” Ones with a lot of pull in the agricultural world? Actress with an icy stare? Repeated musical themes Mary Lincoln’s maiden name Treasure on the Spanish Main
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SPORTS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
TRACK & FIELD
Program resurgence can be seen in its athletes Shane Switzer Staff Writer
On Feb. 15, the Tennessee track and field program achieved something it had not done since 2008: both the men and women’s teams ranked in the top-10 national poll. While coach Beth Alford-Sullivan and her coaching staff deserve massive amounts of credit for the turn around, the athletes are the true catalysts. Four seniors played a big role in the track and field program’s renaissnace: Felicia Brown, Jake Blankenship, Cameron Brown and Austin Whitelaw. Each has a different discipline — a different event he or she competes in — but each has seen improvement in themselves, each other and the program. Whitelaw sounds a lot like a coach when discussing his time at Tennessee. He talks about the mental aspects of competing at the college level as the biggest hurdle to overcome, understanding how to compete and perform when your best is demanded. As a red-shirt senior, Whitelaw has a lot to offer to his younger teammates. Tennessee’s track program is bottom heavy; there are 38 freshmen who have to learn how to compete before they can win. “It’s hard to come in your first year and just be good right off the bat,” Whitelaw said. “Not necessarily just physically where you’re at but mentally just being able to go against 21 and 22 year olds who have done it for a while. I think that’s a huge advantage.” The understanding of what it takes to compete is not just talk from Whitelaw, it is something he had to learn himself. Whitelaw said he had an OK cross country season his freshman year and then red-shirted track. The breakthrough came during his second year when he set two freshman records and several personal bests as a red-shirt freshman. Whitelaw gives credit to his coaches for helping him in his breakthrough and strengthening his mental aspect of distance running. Whitelaw’s close relationship with the coaching staff seems to have given him clarity that a lot of athletes might not have, especially younger athletes. Whitelaw knows there are lessons in every event and every practice. For the track program to continue to progress and build off of the success it had this past season, it needs to learn from Whitelaw and find mental strength as well as physical. Whitelaw’s demeanor and way of looking at things does not surprise Alford-Sullivan. She has said Whitelaw has reached another level mentally and is someone she could not be more proud of. While Alford-Sullivan has only been Whitelaw’s coach for his last two seasons, she wishes she could have had him all five years and
sees a bright future for him in any endeavor he chooses. “I think Austin would be a great coach,” Alford-Sullivan said. “He has a very global perspective. He cares about others more than he does himself.” Alford-Sullivan said there are three components to coaching, “heart, art and science.” Coaches must have a passion and a love for the sport. They also need to understand how to make everything work together and why it works and how to make it work better, which is the art and science. She believes that Whitelaw possesses all of those attributes and will continue to hone those skills should he choose to go into coaching. Every athlete has a tendency to tune coaches out sometimes but having a fellow teammate with a coach’s mind is extremely valuable. It is something that can only help and propel Tennessee’s track team into the future. A part of the heart and science aspect is getting athletes to trust the coach and the process. That can be the hardest aspect of building a program. Felicia Brown was the nation’s No. 1 ranked sprinter in the 200 meters and was No. 5 in the 60 meters. But she had to learn to trust the process before she achieved those rankings. Like the other three seniors, Felicia experienced a coaching change right in the middle of her careers and could have made one of two choices: stay at the same level and not trust the new coaches or get to know them and continue to improve. Felicia and the others made the same decision: get to know the new coaching staff and trust them. “For me the big thing was to trust coach (Tim) Hall,” Felicia said. “This year has been really good for us, because I finally learned how to trust his training and trust everything he does. Everything he says to do, I do.” That trust paid off as Felicia went on to win a National Championship this year in the 200 meters. The feeling of a family is just as important for all four members with this track team. Felicia said that everyone has pulled together, male and female, to push forward, reach higher and achieve the success they all hoped for as freshmen. She said everyone gets excited watching each other compete and that gets them going for their own event. “Christian Coleman just does it,” Felicia said. “You can just look at him, and he does it so effortlessly … If he can do, you know we all can do it.” The closeness and trust described by Felicia is important, because when you care about teammates and they perform well, it can give you added motivation to go out and equal what they have done. The team feeds off success and
Austin Whitelaw Men’s 4x1500 Meter Relay during the in the 47th annual Sea Ray Relays at LaPorte Stadium and the Tom Black Track in Knoxville, Tenn. on April 13, 2013. • File Photo that was never more apparent than this season. While overcoming the mental challenges and learning to trust coaches are two major factors in finding success, another major factor is putting in the time and effort it takes to become a champion. During the 2015 indoor season, Cameron Brown won an SEC title in the weight throw and then again defended his title in 2016. Meanwhile Blankenship, who roomed with Cameron during their freshman year, was among the very best pole vaulters in the nation and earned a spot on the USA National Team for the Pan American games in Toronto, Canada and competed at the World Championships in Beijing, China. Blankenship has seen highs at the collegiate level as well. He became the 2015 Outdoor SEC Champion and earning silver medals at the 2015 Indoor SEC Championships and NCAA Indoor National Championships. While Blankenship came to Tennessee highly touted and recruited, it was not the same for Cameron. He came to Tennessee at 210 pounds, not the ideal for a championship level weight thrower. The Brentwood, Tennessee native was overlooked but had a “me against the world” attitude and transformed himself into one of the nation’s best weight throwers. “My goal was to prove people wrong and the chip on the shoulder, or whatever you want to call it, got me to that point,” Cameron said. “But I always knew that I had the ability … There has never been a doubt in my mind that
I could be one of the best if not the best.” To overcome, Cameron worked on his technique while building up his body and physical strength. When he arrived, his technique was off, said he was doing some “funky things” and knew that it would take time and watching videos to improve and figure out the proper way for himself to throw. The chip on his shoulder drove Cameron in the weight room, film room and in the throwing circle. “A lot of people think that you can just come in and be great, but that’s just not the case,” Cameron said. “You have to put in a lot of extra time and extra effort.” Blankenship said Cameron was always going to be better, faster and stronger, and when you room with someone like that, you just feed off that. While Cameron and the track program can be seen as mirrors to each other, both overlooked but putting in great effort and having that effort pay off with great success, Blankenship could be seen as what the track program aspires to be in the future. The perennial favorite and national contender. Blankenship competed in the 2011 World Youth Championships winning a bronze medal, and when he arrived in Knoxville, Blankenship showed why he was in the World Youth championships. Blankenship placed second as a freshman in the SEC Indoor Championships and fourth at the NCAA National Championships. See TRACK & FIELD on Page 11
SPORTS
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 • The Daily Beacon
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FOOTBALL
Jalen Reeves-Maybin out for the rest spring practice Jonathan Toye Sports Editor
Tennessee coach Butch Jones suggested he might have to alter the format of the annual “Orange and White Game.” He is afraid the Vols might not have enough healthy players to play an intrasquad scrimmage. Star senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin became the latest player to miss spring practice with an injury, Jones said Tuesday after practice. Jones declined to provide any details about the injury, but said he expects Reeves-Maybin to return by June. Jones also said reserve linebacker Dillon Bates will miss the remainder of spring practices. But Jones expects him to be back around the first week of June as well. “They shouldn’t miss any reps for the season,” Jones said. “But it is other opportunities for other players to really assert themselves and put their identity on video ... Quart’e Sapp, he is going to gain valuable experience, also Gavin Bryant. A lot of these individuals — Colton Jumper — it’s a great opportunity for them and not only in terms of just playing defense, but also special teams as well.” Tennessee hasn’t been a stranger to injuries this spring. Running back Alvin Kamara missed a couple practices with a knee injury. Jalen Hurd has been battling tendinitis. But the defense has suffered the heaviest losses. Five defensive line-
TRACK & FIELD continued from Page 10 Blankenship knows that he had a very exceptional freshman campaign but says since that first year pole vaulting has improved and continues to become tougher. “It was very exceptional,” Blankenship said. “It’s been an incredible four years for myself and our team.” Team. That is what makes Blankenship special. Blankenship is always quick to mention others and point to his teammates and the success they are having. In his freshman year, he was the only male to represent the Vols at the NCAA National Championships, but this season, he was not alone. The Vols sent six other men with him. Blankenship said the turn around the team had made is phenomenal, and it makes him very excited for the future. “The biggest change is the team environ-
men have missed spring football due to various injuries. It’s this attrition up front that has had the biggest impact on practices. “Right now, we have 12 individuals that are out for the spring,” Jones said. “Where it really limits you is up front, kind of like last spring. So we are not able to do as much — we cut practice short a little bit today. It also hurts your development a little bit offensively too because you can’t play as much football because you need to get through the entire spring. “The Spring game may end up being a spring practice. We may have to call it an orange and white festival or something just because of a lack of running backs and defensive linemen.” Diversity matters: Kamara admitted athletes have a tendency to live in their own world. That’s why he decided to participate in the diversity matters protest that was held at Thompson-Boling Arena on March 5 during the Tennessee-Ole Miss basketball game. The protest came in response to a motion from the Tennessee legislature to strip funding from the university’s diversity office. ReevesMaybin and Jakob Johnson also attended the proposal. “(It was important) to let that branch of the university know that the athletes are there,” Kamara said. “I mean a lot of times we athletes stay in our own little world. You know what I am saying? From practice to class, we just disappear. But that was something that was important to me, just that diversity matters on campus. I made it known I was there for that. I mean a lot of people that were involved in that were thankful that we were there, like me and
ment is that we’re more of a team now,” Blankenship said. “Everyone comes together and is great friends. Everyone works together and cheers each other on.” Strong leadership from the athletes themselves is extremely important when trying to build up a program, and that is something both Blankenship and Cameron exhibit. Each one leads in much the same way, showing a good workmanlike attitude, even when things are not going well. For Blankenship, those hard times came this year. He began the season slow but keep pushing, showing that workmanlike style and earned a No. 1 ranking and posted a mark that gets him a spot in the USA Olympic trials. “I’ve never had a period of my vault career that’s been like,” Blankenship said. “It happens and it happens to the best of us; it happens to everybody. That’s what I reminded myself of. It’s gonna happen, and that’s how things go. “I knew that wasn’t going to be the end of
Jalen Reeves-Maybin prepares for the next play against Arkansas on Oct. 3, 2015.• File Photo Jalen and some other guys on the team. “It’s not a publicity stunt or anything to go out there. It was really something I was genuinely interested in. So I made it a point to be there.” Kamara didn’t just attend the protest. He made sure he knew all the details of the motion
and is still paying close attention to the battle to cut diversity funding. “I did my research,” Kamara said. “A lot of the guys, when there were picture on twitter of us (attending the protest), we got a lot of backlash. If I wasn’t educated on the matter, I wouldn’t have been there.”
me, end of my season.” Blankenship showed his leadership qualities that made him a captain during those struggles early in the season by persevering and figuring out what he needed to fix to get back on the path to nationals. Blankenship said once he did understand what needed to change, it was like flipping a switch, and he had the best practice in eight months. The freshman and sophomores can take a lesson from their captain, even if they are not pole vaulters. It is difficult to stay on top and be the best all the time. No matter who you are, struggles will come, and it takes work and dedication to persevere and get back on top. Spring of 2015 has the chance to be viewed as the point in time where the Tennessee track and field program turned around and began its ascent back to national prominence. The names of Whitelaw, Blankenship, Felicia Brown and Cameron Brown could be remembered as the people who helped get the program back on track. Each senior provides a unique lesson for
the 38 freshmen watching them to pick up on. Whitelaw, the player coach who became mentally strong. Felicia Brown, who learned to trust her new coach and then broke through and became a National Champion. Cameron Brown, the overlooked, underrated athlete who used that as motivation and became a two-time SEC Champion and one of the nation’s best weight throwers. Blankenship, the national contender and team first leader with a target on his back who had to balance the high expectations and figure out how to get out of a slump to return to top form. With the amount of youth on the Tennessee team this season, the immediate future looks bright for Alford-Sullivan’s squad. Right now, though, she is not worried about that future. “The one thing I like about Tennessee athletes is we compete well,” Alford-Sullivan said. “We don’t just perform, we compete, and that was proven over and over … When you have a group of young people who know how to compete and not just perform, that’s when you got something special.”
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SPORTS
The Daily Beacon • Wednesday, March 23, 2016
MEN’S BASKETBALL
UC Berkeley to review head coach’s role in harassment case Associated Press BERKELEY, Calif. — Officials at the University of California, Berkeley, are reviewing whether the men’s head basketball coach correctly handled sexual harassment allegations against one of his assistants. The review aims “to dispel any doubts” about Coach Cuonzo Martin’s role in the case that led to the firing of assistant coach Yann Hufnagel, athletic director Mike Williams said in a statement late Tuesday. “We firmly believe the results will support our confidence in Coach Martin,” Williams said. Supervisors and managers are required to promptly forward any sexual misconduct complaints, and those who fail to do so may face discipline, campus policy says. That includes head coaches, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Wednesday. A report shows the university launched the inquiry into Hufnagel in early July after a female journalist sent Martin a long email describing in graphic detail the unwelcome advances she received from his assistant. The journalist wrote the email six weeks after
she first told Martin by phone about her concern Hufnagel was sexually harassing her. Her name and news organization were redacted from the report released Tuesday. Hufnagel, 33, is at least the fourth campus employee in the last year to face sexual harassment allegations that were substantiated during campus investigations. He said in a Tweet Wednesday that he has hired an attorney to fight UC Berkeley’s decision to fire him. “These last days have been gut-wrenching,” Hufnagel said. “Being ripped away from the team that I love deeply has been, in a word, unbearable.” The university has faced criticism for what some saw as its light-handed discipline in the three earlier cases, involving the campus’ vice chancellor for research, a prominent astronomer and the dean of the law school. All three men initially were allowed to keep their jobs, but they ended up resigning under pressure. Hufnagel’s attorney, Mary McNamara, said the university is making an example of her client because of the recent string of UC Berkeley’s faculty and employees who faced sexual harassment allegations. “This was a flirtation that never went any-
where,” McNamara said. “Yann expressed interest in someone who was not a Berkeley student or employee. He never touched her.” In the Hufnagel case, the woman told investigators that Martin was livid when she initially voiced her concerns by phone in late May, telling her, “I take this very seriously,” and that he planned to speak with Hufnagel right away. Martin also told her to get back in touch with him in a few days, but they never connected, she said. Instead, the journalist said she heard from Hufnagel via a Twitter message that read, “I need to call you. What is your phone number?” When she told Martin about the contact, she said Martin told her it was her choice whether or not to respond. The redacted report does not make clear how Martin responded to the woman’s follow-up email in July. But two days after she sent it, an associate athletic director contacted the university office that investigates sexual harassment. Martin was traveling with his team to a NCAA Tournament game in Spokane, Washington, on Wednesday and was not available to comment, Mogulof said. Martin’s name was not in the report, but the context made it clear that he was interviewed as
a witness. He told campus investigators he did not get a sense from his initial phone conversation with the journalist that she felt she had been mistreated and “denied that she provided any details or described anything as constituting sexual harassment.” The woman also did not object when Martin said he would tell Hufnagel to call her, the head coach said. The campus’ Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination would be looking at the actions of other employees besides Martin during the review into the handling of the Hufnagel allegations, the university spokesman said. “He is one of the people involved, but not the only one,” Mogulof said. “We are not doing it because we suspect anything wrong. We are doing it because we want to make sure there wasn’t anything wrong.” Mogulof said Hufnagel would be paid until the termination proceedings initiated Monday are completed. Hufnagel’s contract gives him eight days to respond to the move, and the firing will not be final if he chooses to contest it, Mogulof said.