08 15 14 wb campus news

CAMPUS NEWS SECTION A

Claire Dodson• The Daily Beacon

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Letter

from the

Hanna Lustig Editor-in-Chief Hey there, Volunteers.

Long time, no see. It’s been, what, a few months?

Unless you’ve been following the Beacon’s weekly summer paper (shameless plug), you’re probably not up to speed on what’s been happening here in Knoxvegas. Chances are, you’ve been hiking the AT or eating pizza in Rome or playing Yahtzee with your parents all summer. Maybe even all three.

And that’s okay (well, depending on how you feel about Yahtzee). We Beaconites have your back. We’re here for you as you struggle to transition back to life on campus, which is notably devoid of lush green forestry as well as authentic Italian fare.

It’s going to be tough, prodigal Vols, but The Daily Beacon’s Welcome Back edition is bound to help. In fact, this paper could be the antidote to your backto-school malaise. That’s right.

The Daily Beacon is known to have curative and restorative

powers. It is also a useful substitute for gift wrap and pet cage liner, or so the Internet tells me. So even if you don’t want to read this paper, why assume your hamster won’t?

Oh, and just imagine the papier-mâché possibilities this paper offers. Fifty-six pages, my friend. Think of all the volcanoes you could make, each dripping with baking soda and vinegar lava.

But for those of you who don’t own a hamster/don’t give presents/hate crafts, here’s my argument for picking up the Beacon everyday from now on.

If you’re already reading this letter, you’re at least considering it. Admittedly, I’m biased. I’ve essentially sacrificed my life on the altar of student journalism.

I’m currently contemplating a tattoo, just to make things official. But hear me out.

Pray tell, when is the last time The New York Times (hallowed be her name) took a picture of you and your friends at Vol Night Long? When is the last time The New York Times published a story about Boxing Weekend or crime in the Fort?

When was the last time The New York Times reviewed a coffee shop down the street from your apartment? Or profiled your football team’s mascot?

When has The New York Times ever cared to know about your time here? Wanted to tell your story, as a UT student?

If you sheepishly answered “never” to one or more of those

questions, you should be reading The Daily Beacon. That is not to say you shouldn’t read the Times. But there isn’t a newspaper that cares more about you and your thoughts than the Beacon. We’d love to hear about your unreasonable landlord, your beer-brewing best friend, your vampire literature class, your assessment of Burger-Fi, your unhappiness with tuition hikes, your hopes, your fears. We want to hear from you. We want to report on topics relevant to your life as a Volunteer.

I lied about the Beacon’s healing properties. But there is a certain catharsis in reading about the struggles and triumphs of fellow Hill-climbers, rather than faceless individuals who probably live hundreds of miles away. And let us not forget that while President Obama’s actions certainly affect you, so do the actions of Chancellor Cheek and SGA President Kelsey Keny.

For these reasons and so many more, I encourage you to read this beloved little newspaper. Don’t miss out. Share in the Volunteer experience and explore the small universe that is Knoxville, Tennessee.

Or, as I like to call it, Rocky Top – my second home-sweethome.

Hanna Lustig is a junior in College Scholars. She can be reached at hlustig1@vols. utk.edu.

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Student Body President

Editor

The Daily Beacon: Cage-liner or resource? You decide

Liz Wood

Kelsey Keny Senior

Journalism & Electronic Media

Meet your SGA president Hanna Lustig

Editor-in-Chief

A transfer student, a writer, a Gatsby fan, a “Wall-E” devotee and a Lewisburg, Tennessee native, home of the “Goats, Music and More Festival.”

Senior journalism and electronic media major Kelsey Keny is many things. But she’s also SGA President. The Daily Beacon caught up with Keny on Aug. 3 to discuss upcoming events and big plans for the school year, free hotdogs included.

Hail to the chief.

Daily Beacon: How was running for your position?

Kelsey Keny: I’m not a political person. In fact, asking people to vote for me was an awkward thing for me...

It had its highs and its lows, but I think we stayed true to ourselves the whole time…

We were going to be ourselves the whole way through and that’s what we always wanted people to see… I like to think that’s what lead us to win, and I’m certainly glad that process is behind us. It’s amazing to reflect on… It was an experience I will never ever forget, but we’re even more excited for the work.

DB: The election turn-out this past year was record low.

What would you say to apathetic students? What would you say to students about voting?

KK: Voter turnout this year wasn’t ideal. There’s no denying that. I can’t pretend it was…

We will try to do way more promotion for elections next year.

But the best way we can get a better voter turnout is by doing a good job this year… I’m hoping the hard work we’re going to put in this year will yield a better turnout next year. I want people to realize it does make a difference. And I want them to hold us accountable for that.

DB: What projects/issues are you focusing on?

KK: Opt-in are the two words of summer 2014 I will never forget. We’re ready to make that final push as classes are getting ready to start…

Right as the school year is starting, I think the biggest thing on our mind is the All Vol Tailgate. We’ve got it planned and reserved for the first home game…That’s something new, and it’s never been done before.

We want it to be a really cool place that anyone can go to… A gathering point where we can all get together and get excited to cheer on the Vols.

I think we also want to reach out to students more, do more credible work than we ever have and keep as many students engaged as we can… We want to create more campus partnerships with other organizations this year. We met with some representatives from the Baker Center last week, and we want to do some voter registration drives, since we have elections coming up in November.

Photo and info courtesy of sga.utk.edu

2 • THE DAILY BEACON

We’ll be around with welcome week and we’ll be helping with move-in day and whatnot… We’re also wanting to make some internal changes to Senate to make it more credible and effective. We want to see the best legislation come through Senate this year and we want to make sure we’re tracking where it goes.

DB: Why do you love UT? KK: My favorite part of UT – kinda sappy – was being here with my brother… He just graduated in May. He’s still going to be here for law school, but I loved being in Knoxville with him.

But I also think about the amazing people I’ve met here. I don’t even want to think about my life without the people I’ve met here. And that ranges from people who are my best friends to people I’ve just worked with in class. It’s so many diverse perspectives in one place. I learn so much about the world just by being with so many unique individuals.

DB: Who is your role model?

KK: I’m really involved with the Volunteer Girls state program. It’s a citizenship program for high school junior girls. I went when I finished my junior year in high school, and I’ve gone back every year as a counselor. It’s made up of 100 staff women who change my life every time I get to work with them... They’re all my role models. I leave with so much inspiration every year.

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 3 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Liz Wood News Editor

Connor Dugosh loves to read and write.

Specifically, he likes to write screenplays. But in his spare time, he said he likes to help UT. After starting as a senator for Reese Hall his freshman year, Dugosh has been involved in SGA ever since. Now SGA’s vice president, the Murfreesboro native told The Daily Beacon more about himself, as well as the projects and plans SGA says they will address this school year.

Daily Beacon: How was running for your position?

Connor Dugosh: Running was pretty stressful. There were a lot of things to consider. Kelsey (Keny, SGA president) and I didn’t really have a lot of time on our hands, because it was a last minute decision to go through. It was difficult to balance campaigning and getting people to support us. We knew what we were doing as far as our ideas. It was stressful, but it was also a lot of fun.

DB: The election turn-out this past year was record low. What would you say to students about voting?

CD: I don’t blame people for not voting. SGA hasn’t done a great job being very visible on cam-

pus with what they do. The student government might not be the most visible organization. We don’t host programs; we’re not a programming council, but we do a lot of the behind the scenes work that makes things easier with classes, easier on game days. It’s really important to vote for these people, because they’re the people in these meetings who represent all students on campus.

Hopefully we’ll have better turnout next spring, because we’re taking steps internally to see where we can solve that issue.

DB: What projects and issues are you focusing on?

CD: We are looking to re-brand SGA. One of the biggest things we’re focusing on more than ever is outreach and campus partnerships. We’re being more actively engaged in student organizations and seeing what they’re up to, working with different campus departments and programs to see where they need support from us. I think in the past we’ve been reached out to several times, and haven’t really been able to get our stuff together to make things happen. Hopefully through that we can make more of a visible, tangible impact on campus that more students will notice, and more students will vote for in the end.

We’ve been working since June with different administrators to plan projects, and we’ve had great reception.

DB: When you were a kid, what did you want

Phoro and info courtesy of sga.utk.edu

Meet your SGA Vice President

Connor Dugosh

Student Body VP

to be when you grew up?

CD: I wanted to be a Dalmatian. It was a thing until I was in fifth grade. It’s not still the plan.

DB: Why do you love UT? CD: It’s pretty unique. I love a lot of our traditions. Not every university can say that. For me personally, I’ve always felt at home here. I’ve grown most here. It has a special place in my heart.

Senior

English

DB: Who is your role model?

CD: My dad is my top role model. He has had multiple sclerosis for years, so he’s not really able to walk, and he’s had a full time job since I was born and has provided for our family. He’s always been there for me in that sense. It brings motivation to my life.

Emilee Lamb Design Editor (@emilee_lamb)

Katelyn Hadder, the elected student services director from SGA campaign We Are UT for the upcoming academic year, is a renaissance woman.

A native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Hadder is a sophomore in special education with hopes of specializing in deaf education. One of the youngest candidates on this year’s ballot, Hadder expressed that her passion for being a strong supporter of those around her is at the heart of her offer as one of the student body’s executive leaders.

DB: Why did you decide to run for this position?

KH: Both students and service, as cliché as it sounds, are just really

important to me. I’ve prided myself on really being involved in service organizations because it’s just something that’s so close to my heart. It’s something that I want to do, it’s something I care a lot about. Having the ability to be able to really spearhead student services programs at the university is just something that I really feel called to do, it’s something that I have a passion (for) and (am) going to be able to do and do it well.

DB: What major issues do you plan to address?

KH: The biggest thing we’re going to have to address, just because their term is coming to an end, is the student fees issue. That’s actually something our current student services director, Grant Davis, has been working very closely with. So, probably continuing in his footsteps to ensure that the goals of SGA, in regards to

letting student fees be in the hands of students, is continuing to progress and move forward, and that’s something we can actually accomplish.

DB: What aspects of past student services directors’ terms do you think went well and what could have been done better?

KH: Grant (Davis) has focused a lot on school spirit, which I think is great... What I would like to do is definitely continue that with school involvement and school spirit and rallying people together, but I think my biggest thing is making sure that everybody that wants to be involved can be... SGA, and student services in particular, have had a cliché of being cliquey and political... Lots of times, I feel like it keeps us divided, it keeps us from getting everything done that we could get accomplished.

Phoro and info courtesy of sga.utk.edu

Meet your SGA Student Services Director

Student Services Director Katelyn Hadder Junior

Special Education

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Chief of Staff

Executive Secretary

Executive Treasurer

Daniel Richter

Amy Prosise

Madison Kahl

Senior

Business Analytics

Senior

Human Resource Management

Junior

BCMB

Meet your 2014-15 SGA Executive Board

City of Knoxville Liason Thomas Carpenter Junior

Classics, Political Science

Press Secretary

Webmaster

Annie Carr

Jonathan Jackson

Junior

Journalism & Electronic Media

Senior

Computer Science

Graduate Student Senate President Jessica Welch Graduate Student

Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

All photos and info courtesy of sga.utk.edu

4 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 5 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

VOLUNTEER

101 Get involved.

Study abroad.

Paint the rock.

Go to class.

Have Big Ideas.

Join a club.

Call your parents.

Find your niche.

Wear orange every Friday.

Give back.

Sing Rocky Top!

6 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Student programs potential casualties of ‘opt-in’ decision McCord Pagan

During the Finance and Administration Committee hearing on June 18, Trustee Karl Schledwitz expressed his opposition to the new process, despite ultimately voting for Students now have a choice about the change himself. While Schledwitz how the money from their student said he disapproved of the process activity fee will be used. the Assembly took, he admitted the Students can’t avoid paying the $20 Board was left with few options when fee, but they will be able to “opt-in” threatened with budget cuts by the with their fees to support the pro- state. grams they most enjoy.

While he said he was not concerned The student activity fee partially with issues of censorship, Schledwitz funds many student facilities, organizations and events each year, such as the new Student Health Center, TRECS and The Daily Beacon.

The change exempts the Health Science Center and Martin campuses as no student fees there go toward student programming.

For all other campuses in the UT System, the new process for student fee allocation will consist of a board with only 40 percent student representation with the other 60 percent employees appointed by the Chancellor.

The Board also added a “sunlight” provision that will allow the new process to expire after four years so long as no other action is taken by the Board.

The change was requested by UT added that the new procedure is akin President Joe DiPietro after Senate to “putting handcuffs on a process Joint Resolution 626 ordered the uni- that didn’t need them.” versity to change the fee allocation “I just don’t like the notion of peoprocess and report back within a year. ple controlling the purse strings,” he The University was threatened with said, “(and) making attachments that reduced funding by the Tennessee border on controlling the freedoms General Assembly after the second that come with expressing opinions annual “Sex Week” – a yearly event and bringing in diverse groups.” organized to educate students on sexAs a student majority on the board ual health and empowerment - on the is now impossible, it is possible that Knoxville campus. certain programs may no longer be State sen. Stacey Campfield, funded.

R-Knoxville, introduced two bills that Chattanooga SGA president Robert would have severely limited how stu- Fisher – the only student who providdent activity fees at all post-second- ed feedback to the Board during the ary schools could be allocated, but meeting – identified his three major withdrew them after administrators concerns with the change: the opt-in agreed to work with the Assembly measure itself, the lack of student and revamp the process themselves. representation in allocation of fees Copy Editor (@McCordPagan)

and the now unclear amount of funding for student organizations.

Students have through the first day of fall classes to indicate whether or not they will opt-in, meaning that the amount of money available for student programming will remain unclear for some time.

“The funding model now is a bit tenuous,” he said. “We don’t know exactly how much money we’re going to have to spend on student programs and that continues to be a challenge.”

“ I

just don’t like the notion of people controlling the purse strings (and) making attachments that border on controlling the freedoms that come with expressing opinions and bringing in diverse groups.”

- Karl Schledwitz As for Sex Week in 2015, Nickie Hackenbrack, senior in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and organizer of Sex Week, said that her organization is still planning to apply for money, though they are also looking for outside funds.

With less money to draw from, Hackenbrack said she is worried that even organizations with a “wide range of perspectives” may be hurt.

“Our events facilitate discussion and make way for the diversity of viewpoints on this campus,” Hackenbrack said, “And we’ll have a difficult time creating quality programming or bringing in qualified outside speakers with a shortage of funding.”

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Vote: It’s your civic duty

Kesley Keny Guest Column

To those who feel confused and left out, I’m writing to say that we’re only as left out as we want – and choose – to be. These candidates may become the officials that represent us. Voting isn’t just about picking the name that gets a fancy title for a few years. It’s about choosing the person you believe will stand up for your interests.

Today, voting is guaranteed to all citizens. But so many people have fought in so many ways to earn that right. I go to a program called Volunteer Girls State every year, and when we discuss voting, we’re always asked this question: “Are we living up to the sacrifices they made?”

So stop viewing your vote as simply a right. View it as a civic responsibility. The absolute least we can do to honor those sacrifices is carry out this one responsibility with care. Even if that means making some adjustments, like requesting an absentee ballot (call your local election commission in the next weekand-a-half) or taking the time to early vote.

You can choose to keep voting for your hometown representatives or you can register to vote in Knoxville.

Either way, our votes count if we make informed decisions. The current election has everything from local to state government official positions up for grabs—positions that affect our university and our dayto-day lives in small and large ways.

Vote early, vote Aug. 7, vote absentee, vote in person. Vote however you want to, just vote intentionally. No one said having the right to shape our democracy meant we could be lazy about it. It’s always easier to sit back and be apathetic. But this is worth your effort.

If we don’t vote, we certainly don’t have the right to complain.

There’s a five-year span in our lives when each year seems to bring a new “rite of passage.”

You turn 16, you can hit the road.

You turn 21, you can buy yourself a drink. And right in the middle, there’s the big 18th birthday. Welcome to official adulthood. Sure, we can play the lottery, serve on a jury, enlist in the military and get a tattoo. But, suddenly, we also have a political voice. At 18, we are granted a say in who runs our government. We gain the right to vote.

But here’s the catch: you probably celebrated your birthday and excitedly registered to vote in your home district. But when election season rolls around in Knoxville, you can’t simply go to your local high school and make your selection. Instead, you have to consider absentee voting, early voting, making a trip home and other logistical factors.

But for me, the more confusing element of being at school during elections isn’t mailing the ballot – it’s knowing who I’m voting for. I’m registered to vote back at home, but I don’t know much about the candidates. I keep up with Knoxville candidate platforms and issues. Yet, I’m unable to vote here. We’re granted this meaningful privilege, but where should we go to exercise it?

Kelsey Keny is a senior in journalNow, the enthusiasm we use to feel about voting can easily turn into ism and electronic media and SGA confusion and exclusion from the president. She can be reached at kkeny@vols.utk.edu. democratic process.

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 7

8 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

McCord Pagan Copy Editor (@McCordPagan)

When the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy was created, its goal was archival research into the papers of the late senator and other prominent former Tennessee politicians. Since then, the Center transformed into one of civic engagement and outreach, along with academic research, and four years ago, it changed once again.

In 2008, the Center won a federal grant to help its goal of civic engagement and outreach, and expanded in that mission.

In spring 2011 though, a report recommending significant changes to the structure of the Center was issued in the Baker Center Task Force final report.

The report outlined the changes it deemed necessary for the long-term survival of the Center, including an altered mission statement and goals that students at the time feared would give less prominence to student programs and civic engagement.

The Center faced a budget problem, as once the federal grant expired in the next few years, there would be little to no money to continue its activity at the same level.

Seeing this problem, the Task Force recommended to change the Center to have a renewed focus on academic research and encouraged outside donations to ensure the building could sustain itself without drawing from the main university budget. The report also recommended focusing its outside engagement and research around topics like global security, energy and the environment.

This report also recommended the removal of all but three positions from the building and the replacement of the Howard Baker Museum with classrooms. Students involved in the Center were surprised at the lack of student representation on the report, causing many of them to feel left out of the process.

Matthew Murray, who arrived as director of the Baker Center after many of the changes were implemented, said he was glad he did not

have to make those types of tough decisions regarding staff and the museum.

However, Murray said the Center’s main goal today should be conducting grant and contract research as a means of sustaining the building and its programs, and its obligation to serve as a source of public policy.

Despite the new focus though, he said the Center still maintains its obligations to local civic engagement, though not as its primary objective.

“I am trying to put a greater emphasis on the Baker Center establishing a national reputation than a local or regional reputation,” he said.

“For the Baker Center to really be an impactful public policy center, we can’t do that by focusing solely on problems in the local community.”

The Center has still maintained a solid level of public outreach, bringing in important guest lecturers such as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw. Last year, the Center organized the first Policy Challenge, where students asked local businesses how to improve the Strip.

“We have moved somewhat away from (civic engagement), but we haven’t given up on it,” Murray said.

While Murray said that research is what any policy center should be doing, the Center’s focus on academic research also aligns it with the rest of the university, which is concentrated on academic research as part of its Top 25 goals.

That doesn’t mean though, that all were happy to see changes. Eric Dixon, a 2013 graduate in philosophy, was a co-author on a student rebuttal to the Task Force’s report, one that asked the university to retain its focus on student engagement.

Dixon said the one of the main reasons for the creation of a rebuttal was the lack of students on the Task Force report.

“For all their merits, the members of the task force weren’t students and so they couldn’t fully understand or represent the Baker Center’s roles in students’ lives at that moment,” Dixon said.

Dixon said he enjoyed giving tours of the museum to local schoolchildren, giving him a unique opportu-

All photos courtesy of Emilee Lamb • The Daily Beacon

Baker Center aligns with university’s Top 25 goals

The Baker Center Museum was dissolved and its content distributed throughout the building after a Task Force found the space was “underutilized.” nity to educate young people about the role of government.

The museum, described in the report as “underutilized space,” with few visitors, was ultimately replaced with offices for the Chancellor’s Honors Program, who had for years been in the run-down Melrose Hall, a former dormitory no longer open to residents. Many of the exhibits were distributed throughout the building and the Modern Political Archives were sent to the UT Libraries Special Collections.

While the student rebuttal claimed some of the proposals were contrary to the original mission of the Center, Margie Nichols, vice-chancellor of communications and one of the coauthors of the Task Force, said the university had the support of the late senator and that of his staff.

“This was his legacy, and we wanted him to be involved,” she said. “He was informed the whole time and approved.”

While Lisa Dicker, a 2014 graduate in political science, had a staff member coordinate the syllabus and outside activities for the Baker Center Living and Learning community her freshman year, the implementation of the task force report eliminated the position. Her junior and senior year, that job fell to her.

“While I’m really grateful for that opportunity as a student, I think that it may be more beneficial for the students that are in the learning community to have full-time staff,” Dicker said.

Nichols said that the decision to cut staff and refocus the Center was ultimately a financial one.

“Those aren’t always easy decisions, and that’s not always your preference,” Nichols said, “but you have to manage according to the resources you have.”

Despite the changes, Dicker said she is glad to still see the Center’s commitment to public outreach including that of Director Murray and Associate Director Nissa DahlinBrown - and is glad to have seen student programs grow during her time involved.

“I think the Baker Center has done a really great job on strapped resources, continuing all the student programs,” she said. “The Baker Ambassadors is about three times the size of when I started.”

However, Dicker added that she and other students were surprised that an “outside group” did not conSince being established in 2003, the Baker sult with students before making decisions, and said she wished to see Center has undergone more than a few greater cooperation between students changes in location and program direction. and administration in the future.

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 9 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

State budget cuts raise in-state tuition McCord Pagan Copy Editor (@McCordPagan)

The Board of Trustees approved a tuition rate increase of 6 percent, nearly $500, for in-state students admitted before fall 2013 at their annual meeting in June.

Students admitted in fall 2013 and after are under the “15 in 4” tuition model and saw only a 3 percent increase; tuition for out-ofstate students was unchanged.

In his annual report to the Board, UT President Joe DiPietro attributed the rise in tuition to decreasing state funds, the result of this year’s $200 million state budget shortfall and consequent cuts to higher education.

In years past, state support has accounted for most of the UT System’s revenue.

Since 2012, student tuition and fees have made up the bulk of revenue, accounting for 49 percent this year compared to 25 percent in 2001.

State funds delivered only 39 percent of funds this year, down from 2001’s 53 percent.

“This year was really pretty bad,” DiPietro said.

Acknowledging that the reduction in state funds has forced UT to become “a privatedriven enterprise,” DiPietro called for statewide lobbying efforts to reverse the down-

ward trend in state funding.

DiPietro said having strong funding for education at every level is “right for Tennessee, and ... right for our children’s children.”

“We have to move forward with developing a coalition for investment in the state,” he said.

State appropriations for the UT System remained relatively flat for the 2015 fiscal year, increasing only $7.4 million, a 1.7 percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

The state failed to fully fund the Complete College Tennessee Act – a performance based model to allocate new funding, which would have brought $8.6 million in new funds.

Additional money to the System was also not provided in areas such as advising services, a cost of living adjustment and nonformula units, which includes the Health Science Center and Institute of Agriculture.

While the state did provide for a $39 million capital maintenance request, the money was only a reallocation of funds from the Board of Regents.

The Board of Trustees also approved controversial changes to the student activities fee, which will allow students at certain campuses to opt-in to allow their fee to be used for student events. The change also allows the creation of an employee-majority board to determine allocation of funds.

Butch Peccolo, treasurer for UT, said following the Board meeting that it was unfor-

tunate the tuition increase could not have been smaller.

“There is no doubt in my mind that if state revenues had held up, (Haslam) would’ve provided the full $8.6 million ... in additional money,” he said.

So long as the state does not fix loopholes in the state tax code or increase the sales tax rate, Peccolo said he does not expect any new funding from the state government.

Despite the tuition increase, Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said he does not believe the Knoxville campus will lose its best-value ranking or its affordability.

Cheek said he hopes the state will return to a funding model more favorable for higher education that would not necessitate further increases in tuition.

“We would really like the state to think about the importance of education and the Drive to 55 and try to come up with a strategy to try and fund higher education better,” Cheek said.

Administrators previously assured students under the “15 in 4” tuition model, which bills students for 15 credit hours rather than 12 to encourage four-year graduation, that they would try to hold the annual tuition increase to 3 percent.

However, the 3 percent increase is nonbinding and may rise should state appropriations continue to dwindle.

Public SEC Annual Tuition Rates School

In-State

Out-of-State

Florida Miss State* Arkansas Ole Miss LSU Texas A&M Alabama Auburn Mizzou Kentucky Georgia Tennessee

$6,310 $6,772 $6,822 $6,996 $8,758 $9,180 $9,826 $10,200 $10,286 $10,464 $10,836 $11,876

$28,588 $16,960 $18,912 $19,044 $26,476 $26,356 $24,950 $27,384 $24,312 $22,734 $29,046 $30,326

All figures taken from the Financial Office website of each school. *Miss State tuition figures represent the 2013-14 academic year

Tennessee Promise to make higher education more affordable McCord Pagan Copy Editor (@McCordPagan)

Legislation passed in April prepares to drastically reshape higher education and the HOPE scholarship in Tennessee.

Gov. Bill Haslam signed the Tennessee Promise Scholarship Act into law this May. Unveiled by Haslam during his State of the State address Feb. 3, the law will provide two-and-a-half years of free tuition at any qualifying post-secondary institution for the purpose of attaining an associate’s degree or two-year technical certificate.

The law also provides a more cost-effective way for students to gain credits before transferring to a four-year school.

In a May statement for the law’s signing, Haslam reiterated his commitment to his Drive to 55 initiative, which aims to have 55 percent of

Tennesseans hold some form of post-secondary educational certificate by 2025. At the bill’s announcement in February, Haslam said only 32 percent of Tennesseans currently meet this standard.

“Through the Tennessee Promise, we are fighting the rising cost of higher education, and we are raising our expectations as a state,” Haslam said in the statement. “We are committed to making a clear statement to families that education beyond high school is a priority in the state of Tennessee.”

The law provides for a last-dollar scholarship, and it will only cover tuition after other financial aid, such as need-based scholarships and Pell grants, have been applied.

Only students that attend an institution offering two-year programs will be eligible.

Though the HOPE will still guarantee qualifying students at four-year institutions a $16,000 cumulative scholarship, students won’t be receiving the money evenly across four years. Rather, students will receive $3,500 during their freshman and sophomore years, then $4,500 a year as upperclassmen.

Eligibility for HOPE recipients will also change, expiring at either 120 attempted hours or eight semesters, whichever occurs last.

These changes will only affect students who start in fall 2015 and after.

The Promise was designed for students who may not otherwise pursue a post-secondary education, and schools like Pellissippi State Community College are already expecting an increase in enrollment.

Based on numbers from the Tennessee Achieves program, the last-dollar scholarship the Promise is modeled after, Ted Lewis, vice-president of academic affairs for PSCC, said he expects about 2,000 new enrollees from the Promise for fall 2015. Currently, PSCC offers classes to about 11,000 students each semester.

The college has seen a 72 percent increase in enrollment from the tnAchieves program alone since fall 2012, and Lewis said he used those numbers to try and expect what enrollment may look like in the future.

“We look forward to serving our community by providing additional students an opportunity to attend college and earn a degree,” Lewis said by email.

However, an unfortunate business climate has caused a fiscal headache for public schools this year.

In response to an unexpected budget shortfall, Haslam cut certain higher education items from his 2015 budget. The cuts hit all public post-secondary institutions, removing new funding, even for improving schools. Schools like PSCC received $840,000 less than originally expected, and UT-Knoxville $6 million less from the CCTA. The Promise is estimated to cost $34 million a year, and will be funded primarily through a onetime transfer of $300 million in excess lottery fund reserves — in addition to a $47 million endowment created by the General Assembly in 2013.

The remaining $100 million in lottery funds will still go toward fulfillment of the HOPE scholarship, to be assisted by a $10 million cushion.

10 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Lauren Robinson Staff Writer For motorists and pedestrians alike, ongoing construction has been nothing short of a nuisance in recent years.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, said Dave Irvin, associate vice chancellor for facilities services.

“The amount of improvements underway is unprecedented,” Irvin said. “Almost $1 billion in projects are in planning, in design or under construction in a coordinated plan that will remake our university.”

Some of the construction will also see the University becoming more green.

The steam plant conversion, a three-year project that began March 2014 and will see the replacement of all the plants’ coal boilers with natural gas, is estimated to reduce the University’s carbon emissions by 43 percent.

Brooke Stevenson, communications and public relations coordinator for facilities services, praised the University’s tremendous

efforts toward environmental consciousness, redevelopment and beautification.

“It’s an exciting time to be on campus,” Stevenson said. “We’re always looking into the future, and this year’s improvements will ensure the University’s continued contribution to the Volunteer State.”

By December 2017, UT will boast two new residence halls, several new dining facilities, an additional parking garage and more visually appealing landscaping.

The new Student Union is one of the larger, high-profile projects. The first phase of the $167 million project that started March 2012 is approaching completion.

In addition to many of the shops and services currently in the University Center, the new six-story facility will house the VolShop and VolTech stores, Career Services and an expanded dining area by late spring. Once the new building is open, the UC will be torn down to make way for an additional 248,000 square feet of modern dining, meeting and recreational spaces.

Blueberry Falls, the landscaped greenway adjacent to the Claxton Educational

Building and Staff Lot 9, will be repurposed to provide visitor parking.

Slated to open in the fall is the renovated retail space at the corner of 17th Street and Cumberland Avenue which will include three new food vendors, public restrooms and seating and another branch of the VolShop. The Fred D. Brown Jr. Residence Hall and a pedestrian bridge connecting Volunteer Boulevard to the Hill are both expected to open in August.

Demolition of the historic Sophronia Strong Hall is complete, save for a small portion that will be restored. Crews have preserved the five stone archways dedicated to UT’s first female students for reuse in what will be the new home of the Department of Anthropology and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in addition to new chemistry and biology labs.

The demolition of the Stokely Athletics Center and the former Gibbs Residence Hall is also coming to a close. In its place will be a 1,000-space parking garage, a single-occupancy residence hall and an expansion of Haslam Field.

All photos courtesy of Samantha Smoak • The Daily Beacon

Campus construction builds headache, promises bright future

High winds blew off a panel on the Neyland Stadium Located near the freshman dorms and sorority village, the new University Commons retail center features a jumbotron in the spring, and a temporary panel has Wal-Mart, Publix grocery store and other boutiques and restaurants in a prime location for students on campus. been in place since then.

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 11 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

The Fred D. Brown Jr. Residence Hall is the first UT building to be named for an African-American. Come fall, Brown will be home to 700 students the first new residence hall in 43 years.

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Almost two-and-a-half years later, the Pedestrian Bridge is back. The former bridge was destroyed in spring 2012 to make room for the new Student Union, which is still under construction.

Strong Hall is reduced to a small corner after demolition. This section, along with stone slabs commemorating the first women at UT and a former’s gardener’s cottage, are all that will be preserved from the former women’s dormitory.

12 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

ETSU ‘Sex Week’: Coming soon?

SEX WEEK Liz Wood

News Editor

BROWN UNIVERSITY EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY HARVARD UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY YALE UNIVERSITY

After last year’s battle for Sex Week at UT, ETSU begins a fight for its own.

Much like UT’s sex week, ETSU Sex Week will strive to create open communication with three main components: health, communication and pleasure, ETSU student and Sex Week advocate Max Carwile said.

The name ‘Sex Week’ is unofficial, and Carwile said programming at ETSU’s ‘Sex Week’ may be quite different from programming by UT students.

Sex Week offers workshops, STI and HIV testing and speakers on topics such as health, orientation, gender identity, consent and sexual assault.

At this point, programming for ETSU’s proposed ‘Sex Week’ has yet to be established.

The group of students in support of ‘Sex Week’ will convene again in August to discuss more details. Carwile hopes to have ‘Sex Week’ in action this February.

Last school year, UT Sex Week organizers encountered friction when trying to achieve similar goals.

In February, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a resolution condemn-

ing Sex Week at UT. This past session, the Tennessee General Assembly attempted to pass legislation to dismantle Sex Week and even threatened to cut funding for UT unless the event was addressed. Ultimately, the school worked with legislators to reach a compromise.

ETSU SGA President Doretha Benn said the name ‘Sex Week’ may not be fitting for what ETSU students want to implement, and hopes a different name would result in less negative feedback.

“The UT situation is very concerning,” Benn said. “We’re focusing on health, communication and education. I don’t think ‘Sex Week’ would be the appropriate title, because it doesn’t necessarily grasp the whole concept we are trying to go for.”

Nickie Hackenbrack, senior in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology and cochair of Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee (SEAT) said she supports movements for a Sex Week at ETSU, pointing out that many private universities and colleges already have similar events.

“Max has a fantastic group of people already at ETSU that I know will put together a Sex Week that is tailored to ETSU’s needs and interests,” Hackenbrack said. “People see the word ‘sex’ and make assumptions

about what we are trying to accomplish. In reality, we do not presume that anyone is or is not having sex, and talking about sex is not emphatically encouraging sexual activities.

I suspect that ETSU’s biggest challenge will be similar.”

Elizabeth Stanfield, a junior in geography, said that Sex Week is especially important in a culture of sex negativity where sex is often talked about as dirty and bad, and discussion is closed.

“Schools should have Sex Week, because it fills a gap where most students haven’t had an adequate education,” Stanfield said.

“Especially in Tennessee, we get to college and find ourselves having to make decisions about sex, sexual health and sexuality without the tools to do so. The sex education most people have had in school is based on fear and isn’t conducive to anyone making a balanced and informed decisions that are probably really important to them in the future.

“Sex and sexuality are a part of all people’s lives in some way, whether they be straight, part of the LGBT community, sexual, asexual or anything else. For a lot of people sexuality is a very important part of their lives, and that’s why it’s important that people are able to make their own decisions about their healthy, identity and pleasure.”

Tennessee takes action against underage sex trafficking Liz Wood News Editor

For victims of human trafficking, slavery in the U.S. is alive and well, and, despite improvements, Tennessee is no exception.

The Protected Innocence Challenge, a comprehensive study which grades states on its laws to respond to domestic minors forced to engage in sex trafficking, graded Tennessee with a 93.5, or A, in 2013, up from its score of 79.5 in 2012 and 73 in 2011.

Two notable changes behind the state’s improved score are the amendment of the patronizing prostitution law, which significantly increased the penalty for buying sex with a minor and a new law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to update its website upon a missing child’s recovery.

However, incidents of reported sex trafficking still surface to the tune of 94 each month in the state, according to the latest statistical report from the TBI. Most female victims average between the ages of 12 and 14 while boys are even younger, averaging between just 11 and 13 years of age.

On an average day, a sex-trafficking victim will sleep with 7 to 15 men with quotas range from $200 to $1,000, all being kept by the trafficker or pimp.

Knox County is among four counties in Tennessee that have experienced more than 100 incidents of sextrafficking, along with Shelby County, Davidson County and Coffee County.

Karen Karpinski, director of education for End Slavery Tennessee, a Nashville-based organization committed to a slave-free Tennessee and the restoration of survivors of human trafficking, said any place with a large number of people passing through

regularly is bound to experience human trafficking.

“I think all of our major cities – Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis – have a large number of trafficking issues,” Karpinski said. “Most are located on main interstate systems, and any time you have a situation with a lot of people coming into your city, you’re going to have trafficking.

“We know that it is a growing problem. Worldwide it is the fastest growing criminal activity in the world, and the US is certainly not exempt from that.

We are one of the larger countries in the world for trafficking, and the numbers only continue to grow. The only statistic we see going down is the age of the victim that is involved.”

Ryan Dalton, policy counsel at Shared Hope International, said extreme responsiveness in Tennessee legislature to data revealed by the Protected Innocence Challenge has resulted in an

improved score for the state.

“Human trafficking is a hidden crime,” Dalton said. “It happens in places where people can’t see it. It’s cloaked from law enforcement. Putting numbers on it allows us to develop policy and make an aggressive criminal justice response to human trafficking.

The last three years we’ve been able to drill down on our anti-trafficking law and make some serious improvements.”

Dalton said that addressing the issue at a legislative level is central to decreasing its incidence.

In Tennessee, trafficking a person for a commercial sex act and promoting prostitution can send an offender to jail for eight to 30 years or 15-60 years if the minor is under 15 or if the offense occurs near a school, library or park.

Fines can be as high as $50,000.

Apart from organizations in the state aiming to combat sex-trafficking, citizens have also taken on the issue.

The Freedom Cyclers, a group comprised of four UT students, chose sex-trafficking as the focus of their 2,400 mile bike ride from California to Georgia this summer, and rose about $10,000 while spreading awareness on the issue.

Jeff Maier, a senior in accounting who was one of the Freedom Cyclers, recalled spreading awareness of human trafficking and discussing the issue with people the group encountered as the most rewarding aspect of the trip.

Resolving such an important issue, Maier said, can begin with awareness.

“If no one knows about it, then it’s never going to get stopped,” Maier said. “I can’t imagine being one of these people that is being forced to have sex several times a day. That’s one of the worst things I can imagine going through. It’s just important to end the problem.”

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 13 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Alcohol policies vary across SEC schools Samantha Smoak Managing Editor (@SamanthaKSmoak)

Take a walk around campus the morning after a football game and count the beer cans on your way.

Despite being a “dry” (alcohol free) campus, drinking is still a staple of gameday and weekends.

Currently, UT has no medical amnesty policy that would protect students from punishment when seeking medical help for themselves or a friend.

UT’s policies on sanctions and parental notification are basically consistent with the other 13 schools in the Southeastern Conference, but drinking and medical amnesty policies vary some across the SEC. Drinking policies Hilltopics states that, in regards to alcohol, students can be disciplined for “consuming, manufacturing, possessing, distributing, dispensing, selling or being under the influence of alcoholic beverages on University-controlled property or in connection with a Universityaffiliated activity.”

Students can also face disciplinary action for violating state and local laws for underage drinking.

Five of the 14 SEC are considered dry campuses. One of those schools, the University of Kentucky, is now making plans to allow alcohol in select places on campus under certain circumstances according to Jay Blanton, executive director of public relations and marketing.

When UK President Eli Capilouto arrived on campus in 2011, he spoke with numerous groups on and off campus on how to review university policies and formulate recommendations related to health and safety, one of which was allowing alcohol in certain settings.

“How to implement that change and others that were recommended is what is being reviewed and formulated now,” Blanton said.

The remaining eight SEC schools are considered “wet”

School

Dry? Medical Amnesty

School

Dry? Medical Amnesty

Alabama

No

Yes

Miss State

Yes

No official policy

Arkansas

No

Yes

Mizzou

Yes

Yes

Auburn

Yes

No

Ole Miss

Yes

Yes

Florida

No

Yes

S. Carolina

No

No official policy

Georgia

No

Yes

Tennessee

Yes

No

Kentucky

Yes

Creating one

Texas A&M

No

No

LSU

No

Vanderbilt

No

Yes

No

Sources: Alabama - Student Conduct Office; Arkansas - Student Standards and Conduct Office; Auburn - Office of Student Conduct; Florida - Dean of Students Office; Georgia - Student Affairs Communications and Marketing Initiatives: Kentucky - Office of Public Relations; Mizzou - Wellness Resource Center; LSU - Student Advocacy and Accountability Office; Ole Miss - Alcohol.Olemiss. edu; Miss State - Dean of Students Office; USC - Department of Student Life; UT - Hilltopics/Student Conduct Office; Texas A&M Student Conduct Office; Vanderbilt - Student Handbook

campuses, as long as the students are of legal drinking age. Most have specific locations alcohol is and is not allowed.

At the University of Florida, training or registration with the university regarding alcohol usage and safety is required.

All first year students at UF are required to participate in an online alcohol education program before they can enroll for their second semester, Florida’s Associate Dean of Students Chris Loschiavo said.

Despite being a dry campus, Director of Health Education and Wellness Center Ashely Blamey said UT also provides similar alcohol training during the first year studies course.

“At orientation, new students attend ‘Be Smart, Be Safe, Be a VOL’ which continues the conversation started by the module and provides additional information and real life scenarios on the choices related to alcohol,” Blamey said. “This session focuses on safety training that includes when to involve campus resources…”

Medical amnesty UT does not currently have a medical amnesty or good Samaritan policy, though one was it has been discussed in

the administration, and been apart of SGA platforms.

“The Division of Student Life has recently undergone a transition and will likely take another look at this issue was we revamp our student conduct processes,” Amy Blakely, assistant director for UT Media and Internal Relations.

SGA President Kelsey Keny said that though the creation of a medical amnesty policy goes beyond SGA and UT administrators, the creation of such a policy would require a great deal of research and in-depth conversations.

“I believe this type of policy keeps students’ safety as the top priority and potentially saves lives,” Keny said. “If a policy like this helps a student make a decision that keeps (them) or a friend safe, then I think it’s valuable to campus life. Again, it would take a great deal of extensive development, but SGA would love to be a part of any conversation and process to promote and create an amnesty policy.”

Schools that do have some type of official medical amnesty or good Samaritan policy include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Arkansas and Kentucky are working to have

medical amnesty policies starting this fall.

Mississippi State University Dean of Students Thomas Bourgeois said his university does not have an official written policy, but uses “common sense” when handling the cases of students who violated university alcohol policy.

“Our office... does not want the threat of punishment to prevent students from reporting individuals in danger or crisis,” Bourgeis said. “We cover this in the residence hall floor meetings and with our Greek students about helping students in need.”

At the University of Missouri, Kim Dude, director of the Wellness Resource Center, said though there is no official medical or good Samaritan policy, the student conduct office would not get involved if students called for help.

“Both our campus police and city police have said it is not their practice to arrest anybody for doing the right thing,” Dude said.

University of South Carolina Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Academic Support Jerry Brewer said USC doesn’t have a policy in place, and first responders wouldn’t cite anyone for calling for help, but

students would be contacted for a follow up counseling session about alcohol usage.

“The general feeling was if you put a good Samaritan policy (in place) it basically is giving people permission to do things they shouldn’t do to start with.”

Repercussions and parental notification Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, if a student under 21 violates alcohol policy, their parents will be notified. Some schools only notify parents after a second offense. Other sanctions the student will face varies on a case by case basis, but Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards Timothy Burkhalter said the university values a learning-centered approach to violations.

In regards to alcohol education, the Health Education and Wellness Center encourages parental involvement to prevent alcohol related incidents and evaluate family expectations, family history of substance use and possible family

consequences of use, Blamey said.

The University of Alabama cites parental involvement as key to success after a student is found in violation of the school alcohol policy.

The students can sign a release giving the university permission to contact their parents.

“This is often helpful when students are facing the possibility of suspension from the University,” Executive Director of Student Conduct Todd Borst said. “Most often it is the student who shares this information with their parents. This is a position we actively encourage. Parental support is a key ingredient in a student’s long term success, no matter what the judicial outcome.”

Though violations are usually dealt with according to the situation, most of the SEC schools include an educational component to sanctions after a student has been found in violation of the respective school’s alcohol policy.

Other sanctions included suspension and possible expulsion, as well as legal consequences.

14 • THE DAILY BEACON

CAMPUS NEWS

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 15 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby

Hobby Lobby is owned by the Green family, individuals that religiously object to paying for four forms of contraception for their employees. Under the Affordable Care Act, certain employers were required to provide its workers with health care, including contraception. Seeking an exemption from this mandate, the Greens appealed their case up to the Supreme Court using the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 as justification. The RFRA is meant to protect persons from laws that “substantially burden” their practice of religious liberty. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that Hobby Lobby was protected beneath the RFRA due to the “sincerity” of the Green family’s beliefs and are not required to cover certain forms of contraception.

Supreme Court correctly sides with freedom This is a Column

by Katrina Roberts

Let’s talk about sex – and the Supreme Court.

Reader’s Digest version of the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby case: because the owners of Hobby Lobby do not agree with paying for certain contraception (four kinds out of 20 total) as part of insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, they fought against it and won.

And no one should be surprised.

As a young woman, I feel that I am expected to be more upset by this court decision than I actually am. But there is no reason to be. Hobby Lobby did not fire women for taking the morningafter pill, and it does not say that you will get fired if you do; that would be illegal. It is also illegal for a government policy to force a private company to pay for something that goes against the moral standards set by the owners.

The idea of having everything covered by insurance sounds great, but I know as an individual, I would struggle to pay for something that goes directly against my religious beliefs.

But this is not an argument about specific religious beliefs. Rather, it is about all beliefs under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. If an individual objects to a government mandated policy for religious reasons, he or she should not have to adhere to it.

Moral values and the ability to uphold them for individuals and their property is part of what makes America the nation it is. When our forefathers left England many moons ago, a large reason was because they were being forced to adhere to a religion they did not believe in.

Much in the same way we have achieved religious freedom, we have also achieved commercial freedom. We have the opportunity to decide how

we conduct business and the standards on which a private company is founded.

In the Hobby Lobby case, this religious right was the major deciding factor. The owners of the company are devoutly religious, and choose to run their company according to those standards.

Despite being a corporation with many branches and several chains, U.S. Code defines a person as “an individual, a trust, estate, partnership, association, company or corporation,” meaning personal rights apply.

The owners of a company get to choose how to run their business in the same way I get to choose the standards I set for my own life. If I disagree with something for religious reasons, I do not have to adhere to said action. Therein, lies my choice.

I am free to believe in whatever I choose because of the principle of ‘separation of church and state.’ This phrase has been used several times throughout this case, but with a skewed definition. There is no separation. There is no way for our government to function without directly influencing one religious group or another. The battle comes for the government when it must choose a side. (Consequently, decisions take a long time to make.)

But neither my employer nor the government should be responsible for my choices. As a company is beholden to its principles, so am I. And I choose religious freedom.

Katrina Roberts is a rising junior in English.

She can be reached at krober56@utk.edu or followed on Twitter at @KatrinaRoberts__.

Supreme Court rules against women Untitled

by Grayson Hawkins

Buzzwords, political jargon and hot air.

This is primarily what you will find in the media when you research the Supreme Court’s most recent landmark decision. I’ll admit, with Glenn Beck and the gang screaming about “religious freedom,” it was difficult to discern what actually happened in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.

The only tangible outcome of the ruling is that corporations (or, as the Supreme Court deemed them, “people”) now have more rights. Ironic, considering Republicans (Hobby Lobby’s primary political advocates) are typically opposed to granting more power to big businesses.

But there are many intangible consequences of this case, too. The Supreme Court’s decision, as Justice Ginsberg noted in her dissent, was a “radical overhaul of corporate rights” that “could apply to all corporations and to countless laws.” Simply put, this case effectively blurs all lines between religion, human rights, legislature, medicine and the economy. CEOs and other business owners can now request exemptions to federal law on the basis of “corporate religious freedom.”

Possibly the most surprising (and frightening) aspect of the case, though, was the Supreme Court’s reason for ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby. While I’m sure the five male Justices that supported Hobby Lobby could go on for hours about the “burden” placed on the billionaire Green family that owns the company, it seems as though they forgot about the only people being physically affected by their decision: women. Specifically, the female employees of corporations that have owners

and stockholders that claim religious objection.

Before you immediately dismiss my argument, I dare you to argue against my logic.

Would you rather the female employees who require specific forms of contraception (for medical or moral reasons of their own) be denied what is widely considered a basic human right? Or would you rather the billionaire Green family sleep peacefully at night, knowing their money will not provide for certain kinds of contraception? I find it worthwhile to now mention that the Green family owns stock in companies that manufacture the same forms of contraception they are fighting so hard against.

The ruling, as I said, was split 5-4. The five justices in support of Hobby Lobby were all men, while the three female Justices all sharply opposed the decision. In the 94 page decision by the five male justices, women are only mentioned 13 times. What kind of sick joke is this?

This ruling is the latest in a long line of obvious mistakes, all of which pay homage to the instability and incompetence of the federal government on virtually all levels. The Court ensured that the decision can be overturned on the state level, but let’s be real here - an appeal will likely be made.

It’s hard to believe that in 2014, we still live in a country that values the “beliefs” of the rich over the necessities and basic rights of the poor.

Grayson Hawkins is a rising sophomore in English and biology. He can be reached at ghawkin4@vols.utk.edu.

16 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

Emilee Lamb • The Daily Beacon

CAMPUS NEWS

The UTPD is a fully accredited police force on campus, capable of handling most situations they should encounter.

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Emergency Contact Info UTPD

1101 Cumberland Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-1940 Main Phone: 865-974-3114 Campus Emergency: 865-974-3111 Email: utpolice.utk.edu

Emergency

Call 911

Tips

Text 847411 (tip411)

UTPD officers share insights into rigorous schedule Savannah Gilman Staff Writer

Professionalism. Respect. Integrity. Dedication.

Excellence.

The UTPD squad was all of the above during its 12-hour shift on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 2.

After a patrol around campus and a traffic stop, Officer Kelley Spencer joined Officer Chip Kain, Sergeant Travis Johnson and a recruit around a table at Panera. The squad is a bit smaller than their typical 5-7 officers tonight.

“I like to eat at the beginning of the shift so I can go until the end with no needs,” Spencer said. “I try to never be cold, wet or hungry during a shift because you don’t know how a night is going to go.”

Spencer was a stay at home mom for 15 years until she realized her childhood dream in the employment of the UT Police Department after she, her husband and their three daughters settled in Knoxville.

“Since I was a little girl I wanted to be Wonder Woman or on ‘CHiPs.’ I remember riding around on my bike with my ‘CHiPs’ helmet. It’s what I always wanted.”

Spencer works the East patrol, which is a portion of campus including the Hill and Neyland Stadium as well as off campus properties such as Cherokee

Farms.

“When you’re assigned a patrol, that area is your responsibility,” Spencer said. “You don’t have to stay right in that area, but you respond to every call made there. We’re here to protect the interest of the University and the state.”

Spencer said students typically are respectful of her and her position.

“As we are certified by the state, though the University employs me, I’m not limited to campus,” Spencer said. “Some people seem surprised that I can arrest them, but I feel like students get that I have that authority.”

Spencer reveals her zeal for a challenge when recounting her days at police academy.

“I trained at the Knox County Sheriff’s academy and it was the greatest and worst experience of my life,” Spencer said. “I got my Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) certification at the academy and it’s mandated throughout the state. I was vice president of my class, and I’d do it again. I’m really motivated by someone telling me you can’t, because then I want to do it even more.”

Spencer said a rigorous application process is required for entrance to the policy academy.

“It’s a tough standard to meet,” Spencer said, “but if you want it you’re going to figure out how to do it. When I turned 35 I set a two-year goal to get into the force. I got the job at UT the Saturday

before my deadline ended. It was hard as a 37-yearold against 24-year-old guys who had just been out of the Marines.

“For your initial physical fitness test you have to do a 1.5-mile run and a minute of non-stop pushups and sit-ups. If your form is wrong or you stop, you’re done. Physical fitness is a changing trend; a lot of people are real active. As a 5-foot-2-inch female, I need to defend myself against someone stronger, taller, faster and I win every time. It’s important that we keep up our physical fitness.”

Graduating from the academy doesn’t mean the hard work is over, said Kain, a field-training officer.

“You have 31 categories you’re evaluated on every day during the four levels of training, and some categories have sub-categories,” Kain said. “A one or two is unacceptable and a seven is excelling at your task. We don’t average the category’s score. If you do one thing perfect several times but then if even one time you do something unacceptable, you get a one for the day in that category.

“It’s strict, but it’s for the officer’s safety because mistakes can get you killed. Each level of training lasts around two weeks. The first level is observations, the second is observation combined with doing stuff. The third week you’re doing more, and the fourth week the FTO and recruit are working like partners.”

Kain, a UT graduate in 2002 in sports man-

agement, had worked as a sports editor and in radio news. Kain’s grandfather worked at the metro Nashville department, and four years ago Kain continued his family legacy by joining the UTPD. “It took me 27 years to become an officer,” Kain said. “I applied everywhere from California to North Carolina. While UTPD is one of the larger campus departments in the state with over 50 sworn officers, it still has a family feel to it.”

When Spencer leaves the department for the night, she returns to the needs of her actual family, and her day is far from over.

“When I go home at 7 a.m. I make my kids breakfast and get them situated with an activity or at a friend’s house... During the school year though, when I get home they’re already at school and I have a more consistent sleep schedule and can run errands and get housework done. I like working nights, it works best with my family’s schedule.”

Working 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., Spencer explained how her schedule rotates between a long week, five 12-hour shifts, and a short week that has two 12-hour shifts.

“But during football season that all changes because we work the games,” Spencer said. “You’re assigned wherever you’re needed then at the end you clear the stadium and call it a day.

“It’s fun, but it’s always a long day at the stadium.”

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 17 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS

Nicholas Rhodes • The Daily Beacon

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

New stores provide students with on-campus convenience Liz Wood News Editor

Controversial mural seen in new light Liv McConnell Staff Writer

After more than 40 years of being shielded from the public eye, UT is displaying a notoriously controversial work of art painted by a woman whose time in Knoxville is as shrouded in intrigue as her infamous painting itself.

“The Singing Mural,” as it has come to be known, was painted by New York artist Marion Greenwood and first unveiled in the University Center Ballroom in 1955. Years of civil rights-motivated debate, and later vandalism at the hands of Vietnam War-protesting students, led to the work being paneled over. Now, it is unveiled once again at the UT Downtown Gallery until Aug. 9.

“The committee that made the decision to panel over it to save it in 1972 said, ‘You know, one day it will be uncovered and we’ll show it to a new generation that can see it in a more historical context,’” Mike Berry, manager of the UT Downtown Gallery and curator of the exhibit, said. “I think that time is now.”

Greenwood painted the mural with

the intent of representing the history of music in Tennessee after she was brought to UT as an artist-in-residence in 1954. The fabled controversy over the piece, which arose nearly 15 years after the mural’s installation, stemmed from a debate over what some believed to be potentially racist qualities—one of the mural’s 28 figures, in particular, was argued to depict a cotton-picking slave.

“The fact of the matter is, when she painted this in 1954, Knoxville was still segregated; UT was an all-white campus,” Berry said. “So for her to come and have a third of the mural feature African Americans ... when you put that in context, that’s pretty progressive.”

“To most modern-day viewers, the cause of former controversy is lost,” Berry said.

“We’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback on this,” he said. “And ever since the mural was unpanelled, I’ve been wanting to curate a show about Greenwood to show some of her other work and show viewers more about her as an artist.”

Beyond the visually dominating “The Singing Mural” and a second mural

painted for the Federal Arts Project in 1940, smaller paintings and sketches by Greenwood adorn the gallery walls. They give testimony to the life of an exceptional woman dedicated to representing other cultures and, especially, the reality of the downtrodden, researcher Joanne Mulcahy said.

Mulcahy, who is currently writing a biography on Greenwood, traveled to Knoxville from Oregon for the exhibit’s official opening on June 6, an event she described as a “moving experience.”

“I think her broad feeling for the world was both for women and children, but also just for people who had suffered or been oppressed,” Mulcahy said. “She was essentially very humanistic.”

This humanitarian drive, as well as her interest in other cultures, led Greenwood to exotic locales to study and interpret life there. Mulcahy first encountered one of Greenwood’s murals in Mexico, where the artist had been living and working alongside Diego Rivera in the 1930s.

“She was way ahead of her time in terms of her independence and her willingness to make her way in the world alone,” Mulcahy said. “She went to

Mexico and took on this government commission (to paint murals) when she was 24-years-old ... she spent three months going out to villages by canoe or horseback by herself.”

After spending time similarly in Haiti and China, it is still unclear why Greenwood accepted the invitation to come to Knoxville in 1954. While here, however, she became a favorite amongst the students, some of whom posed as models while she painted “The Singing Mural” into the wee hours of the morning.

“All the students thought she was really hip, that she was really cool, because she was from New York and had lived all over the world,” Berry said. “She was very sophisticated, but while some artists like to be reclusive and remote, she was exactly the contrary and very personable.”

The memory of her persona, as well as of her artistic work, will be celebrated at the UT Downtown Gallery along with special events during the next two First Fridays. The gallery is also open every Wednesday through Saturday and is free to the public.

For UT students, the threemile trek to the nearest traditional grocery store will become much shorter.

The new University Commons will include a WalMart and Publix within walking distance for UT students, Knoxville’s first urban retail center adjacent to campus.

Wal-Mart opened its doors Aug. 6, and Publix is scheduled to open later this August.

A Volshop which will sell UT apparel, graduation supplies and technology goods is also set to open alongside WalMart which Mike McGuffin, partner with CHM, LLC, the Knoxville-based real estate development firm behind University Commons, said has been a long-term goal to “complement campus life and the college experience.”

Though the University Commons will be located closest to freshman dorms and Sorority Village, both of which require residents to purchase a meal plan, university officials consider the retail center’s position advantageous.

“The area in which the retail center is located will attract a large volume of pedestrian traffic from the university community,” said Jeff Maples, senior associate vice chancellor.

Before, area surrounding UT’s campus was considered a food desert, lacking access to fresh foods.

See COMMONS on Page 19

18 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

CAMPUS NEWS

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu

Electric bike-sharing ends with denial of funds Contributor

The commute to class may have just become more difficult.

CycleUshare, the nation’s first electric bicycle sharing system, has been shut down at UT indefinitely due to a lack of university funding, Christopher Cherry, associate professor and founder of the cycleUshare research project, said. The system, made up of two stations located in Presidential Court and on the Institute of Agriculture campus, made use of bicycles equipped with rechargeable, electric motors designed to aid participating users in pedaling and going uphill.

Originally launched as a research project, the system was free to participating users while in service and provided an alternate means of trans-

portation across Knoxville’s expansive campus.

“There came a point when we proposed to the University what it would take to continue the program,” Cherry said of his proposal to continue CycleUshare. “They’re interested in having it, but not interested in funding it.”

While Cherry acknowledges the lack of a “significant future” for electric bike-sharing at UT, he hopes that a current research proposal with Knoxville Area Transit could help to “integrate bike share and electric bike share with the bus system,” and thus continue the city’s trend towards alternative means of transportation.

Though Cherry may find hope in an immediate expansion of e-bikes across the city, his optimism is not shared by all.

Kelley Segars, principal planner of the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization, described cycle-

Emilee Lamb • The Daily Beacon

Tanner Hancock

The electric bike-sharing system at UT was discontinued after one year due to lack of supporting funds from the University.

Ushare as “a great program for UT,” but recognized the difficulties associated with its expansion to the city at large.

Citing a potentially large “initial cost” for the system, as well as a lack of a “cohesive network” of bike lanes necessary for the success of any bike sharing system, Segars expressed doubt in an immediate future for e-bikes in Knoxville.

For the former participants of cycleUshare, the benefits

of electric bicycles extended beyond just convenient transportation. In his doctoral dissertation covering the research findings of the electric bike sharing system, Casey Langford, graduate research assistant for cycleUshare, maintained that electric bike sharing could, “reduce costs such as congestion, parking costs, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions.”

Despite the myriad of ben-

efits to be had from the former e-bike system, it’s unclear whether students will even take note.

For Kelly Nicholas, senior in civil engineering, the loss of cycleUshare to the campus is one met with mixed emotions.

“I’m a commuter student so I’m never on the side of campus that has the stations,” Nicholas said. “I never use them.”

Despite this, Nicholas recognizes the necessity for a campus-wide bike-sharing pro-

gram, admitting that she was “sad to see it go.”

Even in the face of cycleUshare’s demise, Cherry remains an advocate, noting the positive change e-bike sharing could potentially bring to campus.

“It provided low-cost, low emission, low impact transportation,” Cherry said. “Bikeshare is one of the most costeffective ways to move people around.”

Know your campus issues Samantha Smoak Managing Editor, Online Editor (@SamanthaKSmoak) Fracking Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves sending pressurize water, sand and other chemicals tens of thousands of feet below ground to release oil and gas that is otherwise unreachable. Fracking has caused a domestic oil boom and natural gas production, but not without cost. Companies participating in fracking are under fire for the chemicals used in the process, and improper disposal of contaminated water. Fracking has also been connected to an increase in earthquakes in states such as Oklahoma. Last summer, a failed proposal was made for UT to lease its land in the Cumberland Forest for fracking research in exchange for revenue and discounted prices on natural gas for the university.

Fragile 15 Every year, Knox Heritage compiles a list of the 15 most endangered historic building in Knox County. Knox Heritage aims to help preserve the buildings on the “Fragile 15” list

through restoration and sustainability. This years’ list included sites such as the Fort Sanders neighborhood and The University of Tennessee. See pages 4-5 in section B for a complete list.

Meal Plans With new dining halls and upgraded facilities planned for the next five years, students will be required to purchase $300 dining dollars a semester beginning in the fall of 2015. At the end of the semester, the dining dollars will roll to students’ all star accounts, at which point they may request a refund or use at participating all star locations. As a part of this plan, UT is working with restaurants on the strip to begin accepting money from students’ all star accounts. Dining dollars will remain specific to Aramark facilities only.

Meet “Donnie Knoxville” After leading the Tennessee Volunteer’s basketball team to a 24-13 season and a Sweet Sixteen run during the NCAA’s March Madness, Cuonzo Martin left the Vols to be the head coach at the Univeristy of California on April 16. A week later on April 23, Southern Mississippi’s Donnie Tyndall was announced as the new men’s basketball coach.

Nicknamed “Donnie Knoxville,” Tyndall scrambled to assemble the 2014-15 recruiting class and build trust with the current squad.

“Opt-in” Student Fees After UT’s Sex Week made waves in the Tennessee legislature, the UT administration added a “opt-in” feature. Students still have to pay the $20 student activities fee but will be able to choose to “opt-in” to student programming. Students who choose not to “opt-in” will have to pay standard admissions prices to campus activities such as the Clarence Brown Theatre plays and Central Programming Council events as opposed to the student price– which is sometimes free.

Quarterback Battle After three consecutive seasons finishing 5-7, the Vols are looking for a leader on the offensive line. This year’s contenders for the signal caller position are last year’s starter senior Justin Worley, and sophomores Joshua Dobbs and Nathan Peterman.

After the third fall camp practice, there was still no standout leader and UT offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian said he was looking for much more consistency from the quarterbacks.

Friday, August 15, 2014

THE DAILY BEACON • 19 News Editor Liz Wood

CAMPUS NEWS • Photo courtesy of John Huotari at Oak Ridge Today

ewood13@vols.utk.edu

The city council of Rocky Top, Tenn., formerly known as Lake City, voted to adopt the iconic name on June 26, 2014, in hopes of attracting tourism revenue to the town.

Tennessee town renamed Rocky Top to boost tourism, revitalize local economy Savannah Gilman

Staff Writer (@SavannahGilman) About 30 miles northwest of Knoxville, Rocky Top, Tennessee is officially on the map.

The former town of Lake City–home to only 1,800, seized the opportunity to change its name in hopes of stimulating its lagging economy.

The song “Rocky Top,” written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant in 1967 has been made famous by UT since the 1970s and is one of Tennessee’s eight state songs.

Now, Rocky Top, serves as a tourist attraction.

With its new title, Rocky Top is to begin a multimillion-dollar project to construct a water park, amusement park, up-scale hotel, country music theater, pirate-themed restaurant, athletic complex and a UT athletics museum.

Developers hope to pull tourism into the town, which currently hosts only a few businesses.

Chris Phillips, the city recorder for Rocky

Top, has been an integral part of promoting the name change and has worked with media outlets on the process as well as with the Tennessee Secretary of State to ensure the name change was approved and then ratified by the town’s city council.

The idea began last fall when the idea was first proposed after Townsend turned down developers.

“Lake City was presented with idea last August by investors who believed the community would benefit from the name change,” Phillips said. “With two interstate exits we are a prime location for development.”

With the official name change, Phillips said the city is hoping that interested investors will follow though with the plans.

“We’ve been requested to obtain traffic counts, and land is being looked at,” Phillips said, “The city is finished with what it was going to do. We need to make changes and hope investors follow through.

“The hope of what this may do for the future generation to attract and keep our youth here.”

However, this isn’t the first time the town

has changed its name.

Until 1936, the small mining town was called Coal Creek, but changed its name to Lake City when the Tennessee Valley Authority constructed a dam a few miles away.

Still, the city hopes to capitalize on the name familiar and dear to Tennessee football fans.

County Commissioner Tim Isbel, a member of the project’s Board of Developers, took the proposal to the city council and city chamber, and notes the job opportunities that new tourism could bring to the town. “(Local students) never asked about the rides; they asked about the level (of) education they needed and the job opportunities they would have, and that really shocked me,” Isbel said. “They have a pride in the new name. I saw a police car that had been relabeled to say Rocky Top, Tennessee and it had a daunting effect with a different wrapper.

“It’s the same with the city, it’s the same place and the same people, but a different wrapper.”

COMMONS continued from Page 17 The new Wal-Mart and Publix will absolve this as the Wal-Mart will have a limited grocery, and the Publix will be fully outfitted. “(Wal-Mart) will have a wide variety of merchandise,” said Katelyn Fish, account executive for Lovell Communications.

“College-oriented things, a pharmacy, limited grocery items and anything and everything back to school.”

Janet Bayles, store manager of the new Wal-Mart, graduated from UT in 2002 with a B.A. in retail and consumer sciences, and, as a former UT student, said the new shopping center will be a great resource for students.

“I know students buy a lot of things like Ramen noodles and mac and cheese and things like that,” Bayles said. “I think it will be really great for the students. I was a UT student, and I went to the Wal-Mart on Chapman. It will be really convenient for students to have something so much closer.”

The new shopping center will be composed of two stories. On the first floor, parking will be available, and on the second, Publix, Wal-Mart and four additional shops will be available including Great Clips, Blush Boutique, Fresh to Order and Jersey Mike’s Subs.

20 • THE DAILY BEACON

CAMPUS NEWS

Friday, August 15, 2014 News Editor

Liz Wood ewood13@vols.utk.edu