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Track teams prepare for Sea Ray Relays
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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Issue 55
E D I T O R I A L L Y
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PUBLISHED SINCE 1906
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UT alum to chair autism awareness run Donesha Aldridge Staff Writer
3 plead not guilty in Mass. school bullying case NORTHAMPTON, Mass.— Three Massachusetts teenagers pleaded not guilty through their lawyers Tuesday in the bullying of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after what prosecutors call months of threats and harassment. The teens were not required to appear at the hearing in Hampshire Superior Court. Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey, both 17 and from South Hadley, and 18-yearold Austin Renaud, of Springfield, will remain free on personal recognizance on the condition that they stay away from the family of Phoebe Prince, the girl who died. Mulveyhill and Renaud are charged with statutory rape. Mulveyhill and Narey are also charged with violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury, criminal harassment and disturbance of a school assembly. They are among nine teens charged in what prosecutors said was the “unrelenting” bullying of Prince, who hanged herself Jan. 14. Prince, who had emigrated from Ireland last summer, was a freshman at South Hadley High School.
UT students and Knoxville locals are planning to participate in the 4th Annual Breakthrough Run for Autism on April 17. UT alumnus Stewart Ellington, an All-American athlete and father to two young children with autism, will serve as the honorary chair for the event. “With a lot of races, I didn’t have a direct connection,” Ellington said in a Breakthrough Corporation press release. “But I certainly had a direct connection with this one.” Ellington was fourth in the 1995 NCAA Indoor 5K and had the fastest time for a domestic collegiate runner at the 10K in Los Angeles. He has also competed in several races and runs in Knoxville since he graduated from UT. “Breakthrough’s mission is to improve the life of adults with autism,” Judi Brookshire, co-director of the 4th Annual Breakthrough Race for Autism, said. The agency was founded 11 years ago by parents of children that suffer with the disorder. Brookshire said she sees the race as a way for the community to get involved.
“We are looking at the event to be a fundraiser and to aid in awareness,” Brookshire said. “The community at large doesn’t recognize the Breakthrough and that it deals with autism. We want them to know what we are all about.” Brookshire said she hopes the race continues to grow in participants this year. “Last year’s race was great,” she said. “Some did walk, and last year was the first time we did a category for Breakthrough Buddies.” Breakthough Buddies is a course where those who want to accompany someone during the race can do so. “Last year, we had about 325 participants in the race,” she said. “We also assigned volunteers to help out. Those with other disabilities can join the walk as well.” Brookshire said planning for the event started in the fall, and Breakthrough receives significant community support from a host of donors. Kelsey Wilson, senior in the Global Leadership Scholars Program, chose Breakthrough as the place to do her service learning project. She is assisting in the efforts to organize the event and said she would like more students to participate. “I hope to have more of the UT students involved in the race this year,” she said. “In the past, the stu-
Newly-funded education program to benefit math, science students Donesha Aldridge Staff Writer
Blasts rip through Baghdad, killing 50 BAGHDAD— At least seven bombs ripped through apartment buildings across Baghdad Tuesday and another struck a market, killing at least 50 people and wounding more than 180, authorities said. The explosions were the latest in a five-day spree of attacks in and around the capital that have killed at least 119 people. Several bombs were planted inside empty apartments, the government said. The violence, which has largely targeted families and homes, is reminiscent of the sectarian bloodshed that tore Iraq apart from 2005 to 2007 and prompted the United States to send tens of thousands more troops to the front lines. Since that time, however, sectarian violence and attacks on civilians have flared in cycles, especially surrounding important events such as last month’s still-disputed election. Iraqi and U.S. officials both blamed the latest spike in attacks on al-Qaida insurgents seizing on gaping security lapses in the wake of political deadlock that has gripped the country since its March 7 parliamentary election failed to produce a clear winner. “This is blamed on the power vacuum of course and on how democracy is being raped in Iraq,” former prime minister Ayad Allawi told The Associated Press in an interview.
dents have not participated very much. It is a great way for students to give back to the wonderful Knoxville community and support a great cause.” Students Clarice Hawkins, junior in audiology, and Andrew Randle, freshman in enterprise management, both said they wanted to participate in the run. “I enjoy running because it is a part of me,” Hawkins said. “Anything that benefits others with disabilities is very important. Anytime you are doing something good for someone else is a great cause.” Randle said autism hits close to home for him. “I know someone with autism, and this seems like a perfect thing (to do),” he said. “I like volunteering, and I would like to run for a good cause.” Both Randle and Hawkins said they were glad that Ellington will be participating as an honorary chair for the event because he serves as a reminder of the reality of the disease. “Ellington is showing how real the disease is and how it can happen to anyone,” Hawkins said. Brookshire said anyone can register online at the Breakthrough Web site at http://www.breakthroughknoxville.com or send the application in by mail. Processing fees are required for an online registration. The last day to register is April 15.
Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon
Junior Tyler Deiterich, majoring in Music Education stands by his creation of flash pages for a Music Theory 100 online course. Deitherich, participating in EURECA, won in the Humanities division for his project.
Equal custody bill dies in House The Associated Press NASHVILLE — A proposal to grant equal custody to divorced parents in Tennessee is likely dead this session after the sponsor withdrew it from a House panel on Tuesday. Lawmakers hotly debated the measure sponsored by Rep. Mike Bell for weeks. But the Riceville Republican decided to withdraw the proposal from the House Children and Family Affairs Committee after an amendment was added that sought to give divorcees the “maximum time” possible with a child, instead of dividing the time equally. “This amendment ... doesn’t do anything to change the current law,” Bell said. “And in fact, it might even give some people false hope that we’ve done something productive with this amendment.” The amendment’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Donna Rowland of Murfreesboro, said she was hoping to bring some closure to an issue she said has been discussed for 10 years. “We’re trying to come up with the best solution to fix these problems,” she said.
Parent William Fain said the legislation is needed to take discretion away from judges who are dealing with such a sensitive issue. He said he didn’t see his little girl for the first eight months of her life, and he considers he and his ex-wife to be responsible parents. “We’re talking about fit parents here,” he said. “We’re not talking about domestic violence. Why does a judge have the right to say you don’t have any visitation rights? It should be 50/50.” As has been the case in recent weeks, the legislation again drew passionate comments from lawmakers. Following the withdrawal, Rep. John Deberry, the chairman of the committee and a minister in Memphis, said he’s done four weddings in recent weeks and that they all “made vows ... that they were going to stay together.” “But it’s not a perfect world, and folks are unable to keep those vows,” Deberry, who supported the amended legislation, said. “Either one or the other does something that destroys that union.”
VolsTeach, a new program at UT, will aid students in becoming future teachers of math and science in Tennessee. “This will be a very student-friendly program,” Susan Riechert, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, said. The greatest benefit for students in the program is a secondary education teaching certificate for the state of Tennessee, Riechert said. “Usually students had to go an additional year and receive their master’s degree to become certified, but this new program changes that,” she said. “Students that are enrolled can receive this certificate in the initial four years of undergraduate school.” Riechert said this program will be designed to mimic the program UTeach at the University of Texas at Austin. According to the UTeach Web site, “UTeach started at The University of Texas at Austin in 1997 as a new way to prepare secondary science, math and computer science teachers.” “This was something that Obama listed as in a real need for,” Riechert said. “He listed UTeach at Texas as the model program for accomplishing this program. It was very successful.” Riechert said there are now 13 programs like this one nationwide, including a similar program at Middle Tennessee State University and three other Tennessee locations. VolsTeach has already been outlined to make this a smooth process for the students and instructors. The program will accommodate incoming freshmen, sophomores or juniors. The students will be supplied with advisers to help them, and internships will be available for the summer and during the school year for students in need of funds. Funds will also be given
by the state to aid the program. “We receive a 1.8 million grant from the state of Tennessee to replicate the program at Texas,” Riechert said. She said the money was distributed after a specific need was noticed. “They saw the need for a program like that in this area,” she said. “One year we had only five physics teachers statewide to graduate. Tennessee recognized this problem, and the state came up with the money for the initial grant.” Although the program will be an added incentive to produce more teachers, some current students in the education program hope that the new program will not take away from what the current teacher’s master program has to offer. Cassandra Reed, junior in mathematics, wants to be a math teacher. “I think it is important for young people to have good teachers,” she said. “I want to make a difference and to influence them in a positive way.” Reed thinks it is especially important to have qualified math teachers. “Math is one of those subjects that is hard to sometimes grasp,” she said. “I want to be a good math teacher so I can help students get the most out of their math classes. Reed said she is worried about the new curriculum that the program will offer. She said students who want to be teachers must major in a subject first and then minor in education. Reed said she hopes that those involved in this program do not take it lightly but see it as a chance to gain further experience in teaching rather than a faster route to graduating with a teacher’s certification. “An incentive is not always the right way to make changes,” she said. “It requires so much, and there is a high need of teachers. The whole point is to produce quality teachers.”
T GH I E N E! T LA TTL W U NE SH