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Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Issue 01

E D I T O R I A L L Y

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

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Vol. 112

N E W S P A P E R

O F

T H E

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

T E N N E S S E E

Fair allows students to connect over interests Katie Freeman News Editor Students looking for outlets to engage in campus organizations can find inspiration during the Student InVOLvement Fair Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Pedestrian Mall.

“UT has 279 registered student organizations,” Ashleigh Moyer, assistant director of the Office of Student Activities, said. About 50 organizations will have tables set up during the fair to provide informa-

tion on a sample of student academic and social organizations.

“There are organizations everywhere, from the Cardboard Club for students that enjoy board games, to the Lambda Student Union (a forum for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual issues) to the National Society of Black Engineers,” Moyer said.

Although many Welcome Week activities are a way to acclimate incoming freshmen to student life, Moyer saidthe InVOLvement Fair is a good way for all students, new and old, to find a social group, share

common interests or try something different.

“It’s a great way to get a ton of information at once from a bunch of organizations that you might not feel comfortable e-mailing or pursuing outside of a passing interest,” Zac Johnson, graduate assistant and co-director with TeamVOLS, said.

Johnson encouraged students to walk by the fair, even if they only have a minute. He said they may find something unique.

“Even just meeting people from different backgrounds, like the Asian American Association, for

Jenna Cross • The Daily Beacon

example,” Johnson said. “You might not be Asian. You might not think you’d join the student organization, but you might stop and talk to them.

It sounds cheesy to say ‘celebrate diversity,’ but that’s what it is.”

Organizations typically hand out pamphlets and sometimes free water bottles or small prizes, Moyer said. The Central Program Council is planning on serving snow cones to abate the mid-day heat, Johnson said.

“I’m sure there will be some other organizations giving out posters,” Johnson said. “The UT athletic

groups usually hand out football and sports schedules and there’s information on organizations’ upcoming events,” Johnson said.

Johnson said many student organizations get in gear during the first weeks of the fall semester if not before, so now is the time to get involved.

The Dean’s Office also has an application process for students with their own innovative student organization idea.

In the event of rain, Friday’s fair will move to the UC Ballroom and continue as planned.

‘Glass Castle’ author visits UT

Jeannette Walls, author of “The Glass Castle”, speaks to a packed audience during the Life of the Mind Convocation on Monday.

Brandon Pouncy Staff Writer Freshmen and faculty gathered Monday morning for a presentation by author Jeannette Walls on her book, “The Glass Castle.” Walls’ book was selected as the class of 2013’s Life of the Mind book for its characters’ struggles with this year’s Life of the Mind theme — poverty.

The Life of the Mind book review and discussion is a freshman’s first assignment on campus. The books are purchased at orientation and read throughout the summer.

Reading about diverse topics is an initiative of the Life of the Mind program, and many freshmen this year will utilize the book’s themes in their classes. The book is required and tested in English classes.

“I believe that reading this book enlightens your capability about issues that we know are there but never really think about,”

Monica Vesselles, freshman in special education, said.

Walls emphasized that when you are in a discouraging situation, it is your responsibility to make the best of things.

“If you have an opportunity, be the first to take it,” Walls said.

Freshman Tiphani Pinheiro said that writing the essay and attending Walls’ speech has started his academic year on the right track.

“As far as preparing for college-level work, I think that this is fulfilling and gives me a reason to do exceptionally well in school,” Pinheiro said. “I could be in a poverty-stricken situation. However, I am not, so I must make the best of my opportunity given.”

Anyone can view and enjoy the Life of the Mind festivities. For more information on the author, issues and the book, visit the University Libraries’ page. For any questions regarding the program, contact Light the Torch at http://torch.utk.edu/lifeofthemind.

Bleak economy leads to budget concerns, smaller freshmen class Ellen Larson Staff Writer UT is taking on 275 fewer freshmen this year than last, as a result of a down economy and a leaner budget.

“With budget matters a concern for the next few years, our intent was to have a smaller freshmen class, so that we could better prepare for serving this class two years from now, when they are juniors and require the upperlevel, major courses,” Provost and Vice Chancellor Susan Martin said in a UT press release.

Some students believe a smaller class size is a benefit rather than a drawback.

“I like having classes with a fewer number of students, but I also think the freshmen class size is good how it is this year,” Chiaki Otsuka, a freshman student from Nashville, said.

As a junior or a senior, Chiaki will experience those smaller class sizes and said she thinks it will work to her advantage.

Although there are fewer freshmen, they are starting out as a brighter bunch of students, according to a UT press release.

The grade-point average from high school for the entire freshmen class is 3.79. Also 40 percent of this year’s freshmen class have a grade-point average of 4.0 or higher, compared to 22.9 percent from the 2008 freshman class.

Furthermore, the press release stated that 99 percent of in-state students will receive the Tennessee

HOPE Scholarship, which gives in-state students $4,000 per year.

Many students in the entering freshmen class, like Otsuka, picked UT over other schools. She said that she also applied to Penn State University and Vanderbilt University but decided on UT. Students that might normally have chosen to attend universities with higher tuition rates are choosing UT because of its affordability.

Dylan Potter, a freshmen from Joelton, Tenn., said he also considered attending Vanderbilt University.

“I was looking at other schools, but I chose UT,” Potter said. “That’s why I went here — it’s cheaper.”

National publications are also recognizing the university. UT was recognized in The Princeton Review’s 2010 list of the top 371 colleges in the country for its affordability, citing “a vibrant academic and social atmosphere” and environmental friendliness.

Another initiative of UT is to be known for its diverse student body.

“Quality, access and diversity are our key goals,” Martin said. “This year’s class confirms that our progress is on the right track.”

This year 17 percent of the student body is a minority, as compared to 13 percent from last year.

The largest minority group is African-American at nine percent of the total student body.

See Freshmen on Page 3

Scott Martineau • The Daily Beacon

Alison Doane, a sophomore in history, records a testimonial to the WUOT radio station as part of their 60th anniversary Tuesday.

Researchers predict justice’s career Will Brewer Staff Writer Two UT researchers are predicting that, continuing the Democratic control of two of the three branches of federal government, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will tip the Supreme Court’s scales of justice toward the liberal side.

Hemant Sharma, political science lecturer, has done thorough research on the conditions surrounding Sotomayor’s appointment and confirmation. The research was directed by John Scheb, interim head of the Department of Political Science.

Sharma and Scheb found that Sotomayor could be what they term the “most liberal justice.”

The title is based on a prediction that Sotomayor will vote liberally in 67 percent of cases that appear before the United States Supreme Court.

Sharma began studying this topic as part of his doctoral dissertation. He has researched the voting patterns of every justice that has served in the

Supreme Court since 1946.

The prediction on Sotomayor is based on key factors surrounding her presidential appointment and Senate confirmation. These factors include the party beliefs of the current president and the president’s approval rating at the time of confirmation.

Sharma also considered the party majority in the Senate and the majority of party votes that the Supreme Court candidate receives during his or her confirmation hearing. Sharma said that Sotomayor should be a comparatively liberal candidate considering President Barack Obama’s approval rating was relatively high at the time of her confirmation and also considering that Democrats have a nearly filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

“It should be proof to voters that their votes matter in more ways than just electing senators and presidents,” Sharma said. “... That is why all elections are so important, including midterm elections.”

Sharma also wanted to caution that the confirmation process largely

took place before Obama’s present drop in approval ratings.

Although Sotomayor has the potential to be radically liberal, Sharma believes that she will be less radical in her first few years on the bench.

“It is my observation that justices tend to be more moderate for the first one or two years before they gradually gravitate to their party lines,” Sharma said.

According to Sharma’s analysis, Sotomayor should be voting in the 60-62 percent range during her first few years. However, Sotomayor’s voting records in her previous stint as a federal court judge should not be taken into consideration of her liberalism.

“Supreme Court justices tend to take more liberties because they have more freedom at that level,” Sharma said.

He also observed that Obama’s next Supreme Court appointment could be more liberal than Sotomayor.

See Sotomayor on Page 3

2 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

InSHORT

?

Kate Greer • The Daily Beacon

What’s HAPPENING

Former UT basketball player Chris Lofton signs the Rock at its new location on the corner of Volunteer Blvd. and Pat Summitt Drive on Tuesday.

AROUND CAMPUS

Aug. 19-Aug. 24, 2009 Wednesday, Aug. 19 — • Applications for Alternative Fall Break become available today and will be available until Sept. 4 at the TeamVOLS Web site at http://teamvols.utk.edu.

• 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. — Enjoy the climbing wall and free food during Prom Night at the Vol Wall in the HPER Gymnasium.

• 6 p.m. — Ignite Teams Kick-off in the UC Shiloh Room.

Thursday, Aug. 20 — • 1 p.m.— Beverly Watts, the executive director to the Tennessee Human Rights Commission, will lead the discussion for “Let’s talk about it” Poverty, which is hosted by the UT Libraries Diversity Committee in the Mary Greer Room in Hodges Library on the second floor.

Friday, Aug. 21 — • 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. — Free bowling, billiards, table tennis and Xbox 360 play in the UC Down Under with a UT ID.

Saturday, Aug. 22 • 6 p.m. until 11 pm. — During the Orange and White Sport Club Game Day, intra-squad games between club teams will take place on the RecSports Intramural Fields.

Monday, Aug. 24 • Last day to add, change grading options or drop a first-session class without a “W.”

NEWS IN BRIEF Hall Vols will educate UT amends guidelines students, raise recycling on academic standing Making Orange Green is launching a new program that will potentially raise awareness about living green in the residence halls.

The new program, Hall Vols, is launching for the first time this semester. Hall Vols will include volunteers that represent each residence hall on campus.

“These residents will educate other residents on energy and water conservation within the residence halls, as well as attempting to increase recycling,” Sara Malley, Hall Vols coordinator, said.

Malley explained that, while being a Hall Vol is currently on a volunteer basis, the volunteers will receive other incentives, including a T-shirt and a reusable water bottle. Students can send their request to join Hall Vols to hallvols@utk.edu

The registrar’s office has made changes to UT’s academic standing policy for the upcoming semester that will affect students. In order to be in good academic standing with the university, students will now have to maintain both a 2.00 or higher for both term and cumulative GPAs. If the student falls below the minimal acceptable GPA of 2.00 for one semester or if the semester GPA falls below 2.00 for two consecutive terms of enrollment, the student is subject to academic probation.

During probation, the student will be required to participate in a special directive advising program to help address concerns contributing to the poor academic performance and to create a plan for academic success.

THIS DAY IN

HISTORY

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote, is ratified by Tennessee, giving it the two-thirds majority of state ratification necessary to make it the law of the land. The amendment was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by women suffragists. Its two sections read simply: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” and “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

— Courtesy of History.com

THE CRIME Monday, Aug. 17 • 9:11 a.m. — Theft report at Earth and Planetary Science Building • 8:13 p.m. — Officer assisting Knoxville Police Department at Melrose Place Tuesday, Aug. 18 • 12:44 a.m. — Officer assisting KPD with large party at Highland Avenue • 2:17 a.m. — Suspicious persons at Lindsey Nelson Stadium

LOG

• 3:28 a.m. — Confiscated items at Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house • 4:04 a.m. — Suspicious person at Laurel Apartments Compiled from a media log provided to The Daily Beacon by the University of Tennessee Police Department. All persons arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

People with names similar or identical to those listed may not be those identified in reports.

STATE&LOCAL

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 dent.

Freshmen continued from Page 1 The 2009 freshman class also found other ways to finance their education.

The Tennessee Pledge Scholarship, awarded to 12 percent of incoming in-state freshmen, goes to lowincome students and covers the cost of tuition, fees, room and board and books.

Families of recipients typically have an average income of $19,400 compared to about $130,000 for the average in-state stu-

“We’ve tried to break down the barriers of income, race and culture to open our doors to the state’s best and brightest students,” Richard Bayer, assistant provost and director of Enrollment Services said in a UT press release.

“The Pledge is one of our success stories.”

While UT Undergraduate Admissions may value diversity, two entering freshmen have not noticed diversity at UT. “I guess it’s a good thing that UT is pretty diverse,”

Potter said. “I never knew that it was when I was looking at UT.” Otsuka has a similar view.

“I never noticed that UT was more or less diverse than my other college choices,” she said. “It did not matter to me when deciding.”

To entering freshmen like Potter and Otsuka, the key factor in their choice of college is still affordability — something that a student of any race or cultural background can appreciate in this down economy.

The lower the percentages, the more conservative the voting record. While Sharma’s research has received local media attention, UT College Democrats President Zak Kelley said these types of predictions have a difficult time becoming reality.

“We have had more conservative presidents in the past 25 years, and yet the Supreme Court’s decisions are still typically a close split of 5 to 4,” Kelley said.

Kelley also said that he does believe Sotomayor will be, comparatively, a “more liberal justice.”

Sharma said that he will maintain a close observation of Sotomayor’s voting record, and he intends to print off every decision that Sotomayor rules on.

“I think it will be interesting to see how closely my research correlates with Justice Sotomayor’s voting pattern,” Sharma said.

Sotomayor continued from Page 1 “The first appointment most always placates the opposing party and tends to be more moderate,” Sharma said.

“Appointments grow more radical the later they occur in the presidency.”

He guessed that Justice John Paul Stevens will be the next justice to vacate his position in the Supreme Court.

In terms of the other justices, Sharma also designated scores to their liberal tendencies as well. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stevens ranked at 61 percent, Stephen Breyer at 59 percent, Anthony Kennedy at 45 percent, Samuel Alito at 36 percent, John Roberts and Antonin Scalia at 36 percent and Clarence Thomas at 33 percent.

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The Daily Beacon • 3

4 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

OPINIONS

Tops

Rocky

&Bottoms

Rising — UT’s efforts to promote safety Eric Berry as the Heisman Trophy candidate.

“We’re doing more of a viral campaign for Eric, highlight videos and ads that we’ll be distributing to over 200,000 people, and we’ll be posting them on YouTube,” Tiffany Carpenter, director of public relations for the UT Athletics Department, said.

The Eric Berry Word of the Week calendar is also being sent to different media outlets. Each word signifies a Berry hit or the feeling after a Berry hit, Carpenter said.

As it was given free billboards across the state and is using existing social networking systems through its viral marketing campaign, the UT Athletics Department will devote less than $10,000 from the marketing budget to the Eric Berry for Heisman campaign. They’ve also created the official “Berry for Heisman” Web site at http://www.berry4heisman.com/.

In addition to all the Heisman publicity, Berry’s face now adorns the back of the new Jumbotron, along with General Neyland and a picture of a Tennessee tradition.

Rising — Pedestrian traffic jams due to the new sculpture in the middle of the Pedestrian Mall.

“The Whirlwind of Opportunity” resides in a very high-traffic portion of the Pedestrian Mall. We at the Beacon are legitimately concerned for the safety of pedestrians, as bicyclists attempt to steer around the monstrosity.

Youth should question authority, media

Rising — The aesthetic quality of the freshman experience.

With the newly upgraded Humes and Reese halls and the newly renovated Presidential Court Building, freshmen (and others dining on the west side of campus) are lucky to have a more visually pleasing dining experience than past years’ entering classes. Will the quality of food in the PCB Cafe rise along with the decor or simply stay the same?

Residents of nearby dorms will be particularly fortunate to have access to the 24-hour IHOP Express in the Presidential Court Building.

Also rising are the chances of consuming a deli sandwich while dining in UT eateries. The new Subway in the Presidential Court Building brings the total number of deli shops on campus to four, along with the three Quizno’s located in the Apartments Residence Hall, Rocky Top Cafe and Volunteer Hall.

Falling — Michael Jackson. Into his grave.

Even though Michael died on June 25, he will not be buried until Aug. 29 in a private family ceremony on the day that would have been his 51st birthday.

This two-month late burial has only prolonged the media storm following Jackson’s death. Hopefully after Aug. 29, Jackson and the ridiculous amount of media coverage given to him and his death will finally come to rest.

SUPER BROCCOLI • Sumter & Starnes

DOONESBURY • Garry Trudeau

C ommon S e n se by

Kel Thompson

I’m sure that all of you are excited this morning, waking up early to go to class, still kind of tired, sitting through a number of professors talking at you. At some point, you may be required to produce the answers to some simple autobiographical questions. You will answer them, shortly and succinctly. Soon enough, this will become routine. The work will become harder as the term wears on, but the simple-question/simple-answer format of our education system will persist.

This format is something that hasn’t changed since we entered our schooling careers all those years ago. The teacher holds the attention of the class and acts like he or she is the ultimate source of knowledge for his or her particular field. We’ve learned not to question teachers because either we’re wrong or they’re wrong, and we always just assume that they’re correct because they’re older than we are and have a particular piece of paper to prove their grasp of a particular subject. And, with this assumption, we end up believing that we really don’t know anything until we get our particular piece of paper as well. We sell ourselves short.

It seems to me that the people of our generation are afraid to stand out. We live our lives assuming that other people are right.

How often do we find ourselves citing or repeating things that other people have said?

All the time. “My parents said this. … My professor said this. … My God said this. … My friends told me this.”

It seems like all I ever hear are regurgitated ideas. When people talk about political issues, they spit out the latest media buzzwords in order to sound informed. For God’s sake, I remember people who quoted things that Joe

the Plumber said. When did Joe the Plumber become an intellectual beacon by which to steer our worldviews? What did he ever do to set himself apart from us? The answer is simple: the media chose to put him on TV. Joe became an intellectual beacon when he was allowed to speak his views on television.

Television, like teachers, is something to which we should always defer. We are conditioned to believe that the talking heads on TV are “experts” and know more than we do about this sort of thing. But do they really understand anything much better than we do?

I don’t think so. They dress up really nice, put on their big smiles and speak so vaguely that little or no sense can be made of what they’re saying. But, all in all, it’s really just a parlor trick.

There is a definite lack of substance to televised politics, and I have to imagine that most people notice this on at least some level.

Yet why do we, time and time again, flip on Fox News or CNN to acquire knowledge? We know they have agendas, and we realize that most of their news is simply fluff, but yet we tune in. It’s because we are either too afraid or too lazy to analyze the information ourselves.

We just defer our decision-making to the “experts.” Why do we listen to them? Because they act like they know what they’re talking about.

It is this very point that I’m trying to make: People will listen to someone who acts like he or she knows what’s up. If you want to make a difference in your world, you’re going to have to speak up. Speak loudly and proudly. Assert yourself and make your ideas heard to anyone and everyone who will listen. Your opinion is at least as valid as Anderson Cooper’s or Bill O’Reilly’s, probably more valid in fact. Maybe you can solve the health care crisis, put an end to all wars or otherwise improve the world.

Nobody will know it unless you speak your mind honestly and intelligently. As slam poet Taylor Mali (easily found on Youtube) puts it, “It is not enough these days to simply question authority. You’ve gotta speak with it too.”

— Kel Thompson is a junior in creative writing.

He can be reached at kthomp28@utk.edu.

Senior advises freshmen, transfers C ome On! S e r i o u s ly ? by

Gabe Johnson

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The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Friday during the summer semester. The offices are located at 1340 Circle Park Drive, 5 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/year, $100/semester or $70/summer only. It is also available online at: http://dailybeacon.utk.edu.

LETTERS POLICY: The Daily Beacon welcomes all letters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty and staff. Each submission is considered for publication by the editor on the basis of space, timeliness and clarity. Contributions must include the author’s name and phone number for verification. Students must include their year in school and major. Letters to the editor and guest columns may be e-mailed to letters@utk.edu or sent to Katie Freeman, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 5 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style.

Classes have begun once again and you know what that means: There is a flood of new freshmen (as well as some transfer students) who don’t know the basic workings and goings-on of the University of Tennessee.

Since I am writing the first column of the year (damn UT starting on a Wednesday), I get the pleasure of informing the fresh meat how to survive at UT. Although one could easily write a book dedicated to this, I will sum up everything you need to know in fourish tips.

To start with, never go to class on the first day. Unfortunately, if you’re reading this, you are probably in class. Don’t fret, though; just leave. If you already sat through your classes, remember there is still a chance to miss the first day of your Tuesday/Thursday classes. All you do anyway is show up, get a syllabus and get out early.

While getting out early might sound great, it’s not. It forces you to go to all your other classes early and sit there alone like a loser.

It’s a waste of time. Trust me.

People are still adding and dropping classes, so the professor will never know. Tell them you just got in the class on Friday (a.k.a. the day classes really start). Also you can always send out a mass e-mail to your classmates asking what you missed, which brings me to point two.

Learn to use the mass e-mail feature on Blackboard. Even if you intend to go to every class, this is still important. You never know when you will have “car trouble,” forcing you to miss class. I know a guy who had this happen at least five times one semester.

(Oddly it only happened on the days homework was assigned.)

If you think you are safe from “car trouble” by living on campus, you’re wrong. Somehow

it still keeps you from going to class even if you are a mere walk away. (That’s right carwreck guy, I’m onto you.)

Third, the Fort is a very friendly place to be wasted at 3 a.m. (Sometimes I call it “Happy Fun Land.”) Even though common sense (as well as the Crime Log) might tell you differently, the Fort is actually one of the best places for you to wander around alone in a drunken stupor. This is doubly true for girls and people with a copious amount of cash.

Basically if you like candy, bunnies and puppies, the Fort’s the place for you. It is easily the safest place on campus. After all, it is called the “Fort” for a reason, right?

Now that you know the Fort is the place to be when you’re drunk, the only remaining question is “how do you get there?” No, not to the Fort, to the “zone” (you know that state where you have no idea what’s going on).

Basically you need to know where to buy the liquids.

In short: as close to campus as possible.

You don’t want to drive because you’ll lose that sweet parking space you found by moving into your dorm at the ass-crack of dawn. Also you definitely don’t want to walk far.

Who cares that the prices are outrageous on the Strip? (Sometimes double what you’d pay elsewhere.) Think of it like this: You are helping to revitalize the Strip by investing in the local liquor store.

Most importantly, however, pay with your debit card. You need all your loose, excess cash for your adventure through the Fort. If you don’t have enough visible money, it could ruin the night.

And remember, kids, a lot of small bills is better than a few big ones. (It’ll give the illusion you have more money than you really do.) It also helps to shout things like: “I have so much cash on me right now” and “God, I’m so drunk! Good thing I have all these Benjamins here to protect me.” Trust me; these simple steps can turn your boring trip through the Fort into a rather exciting evening.

— Gabe Johnson is a senior in political science and history. He can be reached at gjohns13@utk.edu.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Daily Beacon • 5

NATION&WORLD

HIV-positive veteran sues gov’t Swine flu infects new video game The Associated Press A South Florida veteran who claims he contracted HIV during an endoscopic colonoscopy at a Miami Department of Veterans Affairs hospital said on Tuesday his attorney has filed a notice that he will sue the federal government.

Army veteran Juan Rivera, 55, claims he contracted during the procedure on or about May 19, 2008.

Rivera said he had been tested twice and both times he was positive for the disease.

Rivera is married with five grown children. He served in the Army from 1976 to 1989 and now works as postal office transportation specialist.

Ira Leesfield, an attorney for Rivera, said the notice filed July 20 is necessary under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Rivera has to give the federal government six months before he files a federal lawsuit. Leesfield said the claim states Rivera will sue for $20 million in damages.

The notice said the incident was caused by “the carelessness and negligence of the VA in cleaning and maintaining their equipment, as well as failing to

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Leave message 865-806-0305.

Audio Visual Tech. P/T. 5:30pm - 9:30pm. Mon Thurs. $10/hr. LMU Law School, 601 West Summit.

E-mail resume to employment@ISITN.com.

Breakthrough Corporation is hiring direct support staff.

Breakthrough staff assists people with Autism in community settings. We pay from $8.50 up to $10/hr. Experience working with individuals with developmental disabilities and Autism is preferred but full training is provided. Our most pressing needs are on weekday afternoon/evenings and at our Saturday recreation program. For more information visit www.breakthroughor call knoxville.com (865)247-0065.

Sports minded students wanted for non paid internship with national sports management agency. All majors welcome. Please send resume and cover letter to a3interns@a3athletics.com

adopt and implement proper policies, protocols and procedures.”

“I think what we are looking for is a change of attitude, a change of procedure, a change of commitment to the veterans,” Leesfield said.

Leesfield said the VA has responded by asking for Rivera’s medical records. A VA spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to telephone or e-mail messages seeking comment.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has said that there is no way to prove that the positive tests for infectious diseases stem from exposure to improperly cleaned or erroneously rigged equipment for colonoscopies at facilities in Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Miami or while getting treatment at the ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta, Ga. Rivera said shock and fear were his first reactions when hearing he was HIV-positive.

“I was scared. I was upset.

I was angry. The first thing that comes to my mind is how long am I going to be alive? he told The Associated Press. “I want to make sure this will never happen to any other person. It’s not fair.”

The VA began warning about 10,000 former patients

EMPLOYMENT CHILD CARE. 10 yr. old boy and 1 yr. old girl. Near Northshore & Pellisippi Park. 1 weekday 2:30 7:00 and 1 weekend shift that varies. $9/hr. At least 1 year commitment.

Must be outgoing, sporty, active and fun.

Non-smoker, good driver, swimmer. Resume and references required.

Leave message at (865)406-2690.

G. Carlton Salon is looking for an energetic, people loving salon coordinator on Wednesdays and Fridays answering phones, booking and greeting clients, and other duties to help the smooth flow of the salon.

Call Mary Alice at 865- 584-3432 or apply in person at 6718 Albunda Dr. Gynecology office seeks student for PT clerical work Monday through Saturday.

Fax resume to (865)637-7195.

in February that they may have been exposed to infections as far back as 2003.

Although the VA says the chance of infection was remote, the patients were advised to get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis.

Records show that among the patients who have heeded VA warnings to get follow-up blood checks, eight have tested positive for HIV. Twelve former patients have tested positive for hepatitis B and 37 have tested positive for hepatitis C. The VA has said the rate of infections is consistent with or less than what would normally be found among similar populations. But the agency is investigating the cases for connections.

The VA has said the errors were limited to the three states, but a report by the agency’s inspector general suggested more widespread problems.

Even after the well-publicized scare, investigators conducting surprise inspections in May found that only 43 percent of the agency’s medical centers had standard operating procedures in place for endoscopic equipment and could show they properly trained their staffs for using the devices.

The Associated Press

be a gross underestim at e o f t h e a c t u a l c a s e load, since hard-hit c o u n t r i e s n o l o n ge r t e s t a l l c a s e s w i t h f l u - l i ke symptoms.

As the virus has spread worldwide, countries have tried different methods to slow it down and pharmaceutical companies a re n o w ra c i n g t o p ro duce a swine f lu vaccine.

T h e ga m e b e g i n s w i t h i m a ge s o f b e d r i d d e n p at i e n t s a n d g rav e yards from the 1918 Spanish flu. As the head of the fictitious “ Wo r l d Pandemic C o n t ro l , ” p l a ye rs p i c k a f lu strain, and then m o n i t o r t h a t s t r a i n ’s spread around the wo rl d .

To f i g h t t h e e m e rg ing outbreak, players u s e m e a s u re s i n c l u d i n g s e tt i n g u p s u r v e i l l a n c e systems, stockpiling a n t i v i ra l s a n d va c c i n e s and closing schools and airports. Players also have a limited budget and are warned that “ yo u r a c t i o n s t o c o n t ro l t h e v i r u s c o s t m o n e y, s o ke e p a n e ye o n i t . ” A running tally of

S i n c e s w i n e f l u f i rs t e m e rge d i n A p r i l , i t h a s s p a rke d p a n i c , va c c i n e p ro d u c t i o n a n d n o w, a v i d e o ga m e .

I n a n e f f o r t t o ra i s e awareness, Dutch re s e a rc h e rs h av e c re at ed a game that chall e n ge s p l a ye rs t o c o n t ro l a n e w p a n d e m i c . “ I t i s a c t u a l l y w h at i s h a p p e n i n g n o w, w h at i s h a p p e n i n g i n t h e re a l world,” said Albert Osterhaus, head of v i ro l o g y at t h e E ra s m u s M e d i c a l C e n t e r, w h o designed “ The Great Flu” game with colleagues.

T h e ga m e c a n o n l y be played online at h t t p : / / w w w. t h e g r e a t f l u . c o m , a n d i t i s f re e .

A Wo r l d Health O r g a n i z a t i o n s p o ke s m a n s a i d M o n d a y the agency was not f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e ga m e and had not had time to play it.

W H O h a s re p o r t e d n e a rl y 1 7 8 , 0 0 0 c a s e s o f swine flu including 1,462 deaths worldwide, though those n u m b e rs a re b e l i e v e d t o

t h e n u m b e rs o f p e o p l e infected and those who h av e d i e d s i t a b o v e t h e b u d ge t . Ne w s p a p e r s t o ries about the deadly virus and the global re s p o n s e t o i t — l i ke riots breaking out wo rl d w i d e — p o p u p t o help players monitor t h e o u t b re a k .

M e s s a ge s f ro m go v ernments mirror the difficulties faced by international agencies l i ke W H O. Fo r i n s t a n c e , when players set up c o s t l y s u r v e i l l a n c e s ys tems, the game often re l a ys a m e s s a ge f ro m governments that “ we w i l l c o m p l y w i t h yo u r directions ... but we must inform you that the political support for this action is low in t h i s re g i o n . T h e re f o re , the effectiveness of the s ys t e m m a y d i f f e r f ro m yo u r e x p e c t at i o n s . ” O s t e rh a u s s a i d t h e v i d e o g a m e ’s a p p r o x i m at i o n o f c o m b at i n g a pandemic, choosing b e t we e n va r i o u s i n t e r v e n t i o n s ye t s t i l l wat c h ing the outbreak s p re a d , g i v e s p e o p l e a sense of how difficult it i s t o m a ke d e c i s i o n s i n t h e p u b l i c h e a l t h wo rl d .

EMPLOYMENT

FOR RENT

FOR RENT

FOR RENT

HOUSE FOR RENT

CONDOS FOR SALE

Steady part time office runner. Insurance firm owners personal assistant. $10/hr. Computer knowedge and phone personality a must. Call Soulby Insurance at (865)671-0709 or (865)719-2960. Hours flexible.

$199 Move in special. Limited time only. Convenient to downtown, UT area. 2BR apartments available now.

(865)573-1000.

FORT SANDERS James Agee 3BR/ 1.5BA with parking included. $1475/mo.

(865)363-3834.

HGTV renovated. North Hills 5 room, 2BR, 2 levels. W/D, Grad students and professionals only. Available ASAP. zmoede@tmail.com.

17th and Clinch. Studio apt.

Security system. Awesome view. Furnished or unfurnished. Free WiFi. Perfect location. Very nice and clean. $475/mo. (865)454-6045.

Headed Back to School?

Glad you never have to go back again? Either way, take advantage of Back to School Savings on your new Roomy 2 or 3 Bedroom! Great location. Only 3 minutes to West Town Mall and easy 12 minute commute to campus. Super nice updated interior with crown molding, exceptional closet space, french doors that open onto your private patio, and washer/dryer connections.

Large or small pets welcome! Lease before 8/20/09 and receive reduced move-in fees, save $600 in free rent, AND receiver a $100 VISA gift card for Back to School Shopping! Call Today! Limited time offer!

(888)703-1453.

RentUTK.COM CONDO RENTALS 1-4BR condos, Ag/ Vet/ Medical areas, Woodlands, Sullins Ridge from $500$1500/mo.

(800)915-1770, www.RentUTK.com.

CONDOS FOR SALE NEAR UT SullinsRidge #109/#208, CandyFactory #14, RiverTowne #309 plus all UT listings at www.RobertHolmesRealtor. com.

Robert Holmes, RE/MAX Real Estate Ten Commercial, (423) 586-1770.

Telephone Surveys University of Tennessee.

Conduct telephone surveys to collect environmental and recreational data. Pay is $8 per hour. Work in a relaxed environment conducting telephone interviews with other college students.

Night and weekend shifts available. Call April at 974-6864 USA Security your authorized ADT dealer. Expanding territories. Full and part time positions.

Make $500-$1500/week. No experience necessary.

Call 924-8111 ask for Greg.

WANTED: INTERN for Clarabelle & the Hen Children’s Apparel plus, custom, personalized goods. Appropriate studies include (but not limited to) art, marketing, fashion merchandising, business. Send resume to: kathryn@clarabelleandthehen.com.

Kids Place, Inc. is looking for enthusiastic, creative, hard working employees to work with children in our after-school programs in Knox Co. Schools. Many locations available.

Good pay & no weekends!!

If this is you or anyone you know- please call our main office at (865)933-7716 to schedule an appointment or pick up an application. You may also fax your resume to (865)933-9663.

Webb School of Knoxville Lower School After Care Program. 2-3 days a week from 2:50 pm - 6:00 pm. $7.25 an hour. Grades K-5.

Contact Deborah Gross (865)291-3864.

Looking for child care 3 days a week. Must have transportation.

Call Jennifer 865-223-2468.

WEST TOWNE MANOR 1BR and 2BR apartments.

(865)584-6271.

P/T employees wanted for media company. Set your own schedule.

Call (865)379-1002. Ask for Gabi.

4th AND GILL Houses and apartments now available. Please call Tim at (865)599-2235.

UNFURN APTS 1 and 2BR Apts. UT area. $450-$550.

(865)522-5815.

Ask about our special.

KEYSTONE CREEK 2BR apartment. Approx 4 miles west of UT on Middlebrook Pike. $485. Call (865)522-5815. Ask about our special.

FOR RENT

1BR, LR, kitchen, private parking and entrance.. Walking distance to campus. $400/mo.

Call (865)522-3325.

2BR condo. Cherokee at Westcliff. Pool, club house and tennis court. $800/mo.

West, close to campus.

(865)523-1198.

3BR 1BA apt. in larger house (will rent as 2BR at reduced price). C H/A, carpet, off street parking, W/D connections, updated kitchen. No pets.

1813 1/2 Forrest Ave. Price flexible. 389-6732.

Apartments in Victorian house located on Forest Ave. Private parking, water included, one year lease. Deposit and references required. 1BR $400/mo. 2BR with private deck $700/mo.

1BR house with WD $550/mo. 3BR house on 16th St. WD. $1100/mo. Armstrong Properties 525-6914.

HUNTINGTON PLACE UT students! Only 3 miles west of campus. We have eff. to 3BR. Hardwood floors. Central H/A. Pets allowed. Call (865)588-1087.

Ask about our special.

LUXURY 1BR CONDOS 3 min. walk to Law School. $480R, $300SD. No app. fee.

865 (4408-0006, 250-8136).

CAMBRIDGE ARMS Just 4 miles west of campus.

Small pets allowed. Pool and laundry rooms. 2BR at great price! Call (865)588-1087.

Cedar Ridge Apts.

1BR vacancies. Huge apts. close to campus. On site laundry and pool. 6 or 12 month lease. Move In Specials. Call 577-0680.

Downtown Living jfgflats.com 2 and 3BR. Why live in the Fort when you can live downtown? 971-3137.

Eastowne Village Apts.

1 and 2BR vacancies. On site laundry, W/D connections, firplace units, pool, jacuzzi, workout room. 6 or 12 month lease. Move In Specials. Call 522-2120.

Room for rent. Less than 10 min. from campus. Use of kitchen, W/D, etc.

Non-smoker. $300/mo.

579-2254.

West Gate Terrace Apts.

2BR vacancies. Newly renovated. Onside laundry and pool. 6 or 12 month lease.

Move in Specials. Call 584-9651.

HOUSE FOR RENT 1 BLOCK ACROSS RIVER FROM CAMPUS 4BR 2BA. Available Sep. 2.

Nice. Covered porch. Parking. $975/mo. Call 690-8606. or 680-8606.

3BR house, 2.5BA. Walking distance to campus. 2103 Highland. Central H/A, W/D connection, private parking, dishwasher, living/ dining room. Pets allowed. Avail. now. $1300/mo.

(865)522-3325.

3BR, 2BA very close to campus. H/A, W/D, stove and refrigerator provided. Ideal for 2. Large lot with fence.

Pets welcomed. $700/mo.

(865)523-2615.

Log houses 1-5BR on farm 15 minutes south. No pets. $350-$950/mo.

719-4596, 577-2316.

Looking for a campus condo visit www.knoxcondotours.com.

Dabney Hansard, Realty Executives Associates.

693-3232.

UT Fort area. Walking distance campus. 2BR, 1BA, 1628 1/2 Forest Ave. No pets.

Lease. $620/mo.

(865)938-1922.

ROOMMATES

FURNITURE

Female roommate wanted.

Grad student preferred.

New house in good subdivision. 3 min. from UT. $300/mo. Includes all utilities, cable TV, cable internet WiFi. Call after 5PM 566-3623.

MATTRESS SALE Student discounts, layaway available. Twin size starting at $79.99, Full $109.99, Queen $139.99, also carry Futons. Call (865)560-0242.

CONDOS FOR SALE

MERCH. FOR SALE

$133,400 new condos.

8 miles from campus.

Visit www.cherrybrookvillas.com Dabney Hansard Realty Executives Associates (865)693-3232 (865)300-3668

Good As New Appliances.

Reconditioned appliances as low as $75 with warranty, can deliver. 1726 East Magnolia Ave. (865)637-1060.

Condo 4/2 upscale townhouse. Set up to rent with separate entry to lower level. $155,000. 206-3222.

This could be YOUR classified ad.

Call 974-4931 NOW!

Read the Beacon Classifieds!

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz Across 1 It may be handpicked 6 Not express 11 “The word” 14 Deep blue 15 Earthy tone 16 Brian who produced or co-produced seven U2 albums 17 Feeling of nonfulfillment 19 “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” network 20 Went for, at an auction 21 Playing marbles 23 Case of bad spelling?

24 Frequent home acquisition 26 Fill in for 29 Big ___ 30 Friend of Falstaff 31 Szyslak of Springfield 32 “Come on, pack your stuff …!”

35 Signs 38 Statement about 17-, 24-, 49- and 59Across

41 “Baseball Tonight” network 42 Hall-of-Fame QB/kicker George 43 With 45-Down, “Trust No One” series 44 Fandango offerings, slangily 46 “___ Dalloway” 47 Arterial implant 49 Burgers and fries, often 52 Orch. section 53 Aggrieved person’s cry, maybe 54 Bill & ___ Gates Foundation 58 “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” actress Vardalos 59 Item that may have a date stamp 62 Comprehended 63 Like 36 piano keys 64 Original Thanksgiving fare 65 Cosine of 2π 66 Where Moses received the Law 67 Kingly title in Spanish

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE C H A R

R A T E

L W A A B R E L P F C S

T R O P

I M E G R E M O A L E O F Q R A R S I T E E T T H E L R U S I E S E Z A W A A M A R S P A T B O A T E N C H R A C H O R E E T

A R P C R A L H T W O C I E A R D O R A M E A T C E L K S S P Y S S H A T E I L L A S A G R E G A D E V O L U R E O S E N N T

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18 Kingly title in Latin

1 Big Broadway hit

22 Another time

2 It might be a lot

7 Mo. of Indigenous Peoples Day

24 Colonel suspected of murder 25 Hearts, e.g.

26 French girlfriend 27 Barracks lineup 28 Maybe takes one risk too many 29 Sailor’s patron 33 Recede

8 Christogram part

34 Rubber-stamped

9 Bellowing 10 Extent

36 Former baseball commissioner Bowie

11 Internal memo?

37 “Leave it in” mark

12 Let off the hook?

39 “Clear Light of Day” author Desai

3 Neither masc. nor fem.

4 Violinist Heifetz 5 Surreptitiously 6 Whites or darks, say

48

13 Robert who won a 40 Town near New Tony for “How to London, Conn.

Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” 45 See 43-Across

48 Like “Survivor” councils 49 Bat used for fielding practice 50 Chloride or carbonate 51 Graceful African antelope 52 Homily: Abbr.

54 Polite request for permission 55 Hard-boiled, in a way 56 Nod off 57 “The House Without ___” (first Charlie Chan mystery) 60 ___ mot 61 Uracil-containing macromolecule

6 • The Daily Beacon

NATION&WORLD

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kidney donor argues for compensation The Associated Press In 2005, a rebellious and sporadically employed Israeli man flew to New York to give up a kidney to save an American businessman. For that , he says he was paid $20,000, which appeared in a brown envelope on his hospital bed after the operation.

That payoff would be illegal.

But the kidney donor, 39-year- old Nick Rosen of Tel Aviv, says that doesn’t matter. “I smoke pot. That’s also against the law.”

Rosen believes he did a good deed and that organ donors like him should be compensated. Much of his story can be confirmed, and the case gives new resonance to claims that a black market for kidneys has thrived even in the United States.

Rosen made a video about his transplant experience, and near the end of it, he is seen reclining on a bed piled with cash. A subtitle says: “ This is what $20,000 looks like.” It’s hard to tell the amount , but the $100 face of Ben Franklin is visible on the bills.

His tale of organ trafficking might be incredible if he had not made the video — and if the issue of black market organs had not burst into public view with the recent arrest of a New Yorker accused of brokering a kidney s ale.

Rosen does not know that man, who as far as he knows, had nothing to do with his own transaction.

For years, kidneys have been available on a thriving international black market, but evidence of organ trafficking in the United States is harder to find. However, doctors and others in the transplant field have long suspected an illegal organ market exists here.

Nick Rosen’s story — which he says began when he answered a “Kidney Donor Wanted” ad in an Israeli newspaper — may open a window into that world.

Last year, 4,540 Americans died while on transplant lists, waiting for kidneys. The man who got Rosen’s kidney says he almost died too.

“I was on death’s doorstep,” says Brad Gursky, a 51-year- old balding, beefy man whose left arm vein is thick and hardened from years of intravenous dialysis treatments.

Gursky confirms much of Rosen’s story — except for the $20,000 payment. “It’s an embellishment,” he said in an interview on his front porch in Woodbury, a suburb on Long Island.

Is he happy Rosen made a video that essentially accuses him of participating

in illegal organ trafficking?

“I have to give the man a pass on the video. He saved my life, and he did a mitzvah,” a good deed.

A month before he got Rosen’s kidney, Gursky was in end-stage renal failure and had just endured a huge disappointment: One week before Father’s Day 2005, this father of three got the happy news that Mount Sinai Medical Center had a kidney for him, a perfect match. He and his whole family went to the hospital. But 24 hours later, all joy was snatched away. A mistake had been made by the donor network, and the kidney was going to someone else.

“Any hope he had of a healthy life was crushed,” reads a letter of complaint written by Gursky’s wife, Gwen, to the New York Organ Donor Network.

A reply from the national organ donation network acknowledges the “unfortunate situation” and mentions “corrective actions.”

A month later, in Rosen’s video, Gursky is smiling and happy. His hope of a healthy life had been restored by a stranger, Nick Rosen, who Gursky says he found through “a friend of a friend.”

In one scene, Gursky’s sister visits Rosen in the hospital. “It’s such a mitzvah,” Leslie Gursky tells him. She had donated a kidney to her brother years earlier but it soon failed. In the video, she tells Rosen the experience changed her life for the better.

Nick Rosen’s disjointed, fuzzy video of his transplant experience has been viewable online for several months, if you know where to look. The Associated Press tracked him down through Facebook, the social networking site where Rosen lists his religious views as “jubu,” slang for Jewish with an interest in Buddhism. He has 225 friends, including Brad Gursky.

Rosen says he was born in New York, and his family moved to Israel when he was a toddler. In adulthood, he became friends with a playwright who needed a kidney and was writing a play about dialysis. He says he translated the play for her into English and offered to donate his kidney, but she refused.

Rosen was nearing his 35th birthday.

So when he saw an ad in an Israeli newspaper seeking a kidney donor, it seemed an appropriate gesture. “I wanted to make a difference.” He says he called a phone number and was told he would be paid the equivalent of $20,000 for his kidney.

A man who called himself Moti, “an ugly guy ” whom Rosen believed to be in charge of brokering the sale, sent him

for medical tests in Israel.

“I told him I want to film my story because I’m a video producer- director, and I think this has value,” Rosen says.

Moti refused “so I don’t have him on film.”

Rosen says his U.S. passport and universal-donor Type O blood made him an appealing match to the kidney broker.

After months of medical tests in Tel Aviv, Rosen videotaped a meal with his family a few days before his trip to New York for surgery. His father scolds him loudly, shouting, according to subtitles, “You should stand on your own two feet and not ask others to support you! I told you, don’t film me about this thing or else.”

Ellen Simich, now of New York, was a friend of Rosen’s in Israel at the time.

She says she knew him to be “extremely intelligent, very open, very resourceful, very creative, a free spirit.”

She knew he intended to sell his kidney and “no matter how noble his idea ... it was a huge illegal kind of business behind this thing.”

At first, she tried to talk him out of it, she says, but eventually she accepted that he was not going to change his mind.

“I was very concerned about his safety,” she says. She happened to be visiting a friend in New York when Rosen arrived for the transplant. She made Rosen promise to call her after he met with his connection, an escort he knew only as Arik who took him for more medical tests. Arik is shown in the video.

Rosen says he met Brad Gursky for the first time a few weeks later in an outdoor parking lot in Queens.

The transplant was done at Mount Sinai Medical Center, and some of its doctors appear on Rosen’s video. One doctor says, “There are a lot of very important kind of life-or-death issues that we need to discuss.” The doctor pauses. “And honestly I don’t think we can have a really ...”

The doctor gestures with his hand until Rosen says, “You want me to put this down?” The camera goes off.

Mount Sinai officials refuse to discuss the case and details of their kidney donor screening process. Dr. Daniel Herron, a surgeon who appears to be on Rosen’s video, said he was aware of the video but that he could not talk without checking with the Mount Sinai press office. The next day, the press office said Herron was away and not available for an interview.

Hospital spokeswoman Brenda Perez

issued a statement describing Mount Sinai’s transplant screening process as “rigorous and comprehensive.” The process “assesses each donor’s motivation,” the statement says, and all donors are “clearly advised” that it’s illegal to receive money or gifts for being an organ donor.

“The pretransplant evaluation may not detect premeditated and skillful attempts to subvert and defraud the evaluation process,” the statement concludes.

On its Web site, Mount Sinai says people may not donate a kidney if they were solicited by advertising or if they have a financial incentive.

Transplant centers in the United States are mostly free to devise their own rules for screening donors to make sure they are not selling organs. Experts suggest that some hospitals do little to block black-market kidneys because transplant procedures bring in so much money.

Apart from detecting black-market organ transactions, donor screening is intended to make sure the donor understands the implications of the surgery, and is not being coerced by social pressure or other means.

Rosen says he and “the recipient” (he rarely mentions Gursky by name) made up a story to convince Mount Sinai doctors they were cousins and that no money was changing hands. Rosen says the screening process at Mount Sinai “seemed OK,” and he has no way of knowing whether the hospital or doctors suspected anything was amiss.

Rosen told his story in interviews with The Associated Press by phone, through messages on Facebook, and in a television interview in a park in Cologne, Germany, where he was traveling.

He says his video makes the case that organ donors should be “compensated,” the word he prefers over “paid.” Some doctors and kidney patients believe a legal system for compensating living donors should be created. They believe better incentives for donors could increase the supply of organs and save lives.

Rosen says he counts himself among those advocates and derides opponents as moralists who offer no alternative for kidney patients and potential donors like him who want to help but cannot afford to do so without payment.

“This is months of tests and recuperation. And you can’t work, and it makes a lot of sense to compensate,” Rosen says.

Pack of wild dogs kills animal loving couple The Associated Press A shredded piece of shirt, some strands of hair and bloodstained dirt are all that remain along the rural stretch of road where authorities believe a pack of wild dogs fatally mauled an elderly couple.

Sherry Schweder, a 65year-old animal lover, was taking an evening stroll when she was attacked. Her husband, Lothar Schweder, a retired professor, had gone out in search of her.

Paramedics who came to the grisly scene Saturday morning found the suspected attackers standing guard.

While it’s unclear exactly what happened because there were no witnesses, officials

have rounded up 16 dogs they believe were involved.

It was the same group of medium-sized, mixed-breed dogs Sherry Schweder worried about, wondering if anyone was taking care of them as she saw them wander around.

Experts say the attack is extremely rare — so rare “you are more likely to killed by a bolt of lightening than by a dog,” said Adam Goldfarb, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States.

The feral dogs didn’t belong to anyone, but a man who owns a house at the end of the road had been feeding them, said Oglethorpe County sheriff’s Capt. Shalon Huff. The man told authorities the dogs never behaved

aggressively toward him, and he did not believe the dogs had killed the couple.

“Sometimes the pack mentality can play a role. One dog gets aroused, and that revs up his buddies,” Goldfarb said.

The dogs were aggressive toward authorities who rounded them up using traps and tranquilizers, Huff said.

At one point, a group of them cornered two people against a vehicle. There were no signs the dogs were rabid, Huff said.

Authorities believe Sherry Schweder went for an evening walk near her home on Friday, perhaps looking for one of her own dogs that had been missing for about a month.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Daily Beacon • 7

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featuring authentic Tennessee sportswear and apparel, including

“Private Stock”

- School supplies, gifts, cards, health and beauty aids - 7 levels of parking in the UC garage

LOWER LEVEL

•Presidential Store

- Textbooks and general reading books

Variety of snacks, basic health and beauty aids, school supplies, apparel and gifts.

- Save 25% off the new book price when you buy used textbooks.

•Art & Architecture Store Art and school supplies, snacks, drinks and more.

•Hodges Library Store

•Hess Hall Store

Variety of snacks, basic health

Variety of snacks, basic health and

and beauty aids, and school

beauty aids, and school supplies.

supplies.

•Lobby Store

•Conference Center

Open early for a quick stop on the way to class; variety of snacks and

Store

drinks.

Located on Henley Street in the UT Conference Center. Large selection of apparel, gifts, and snack items.

S T O R E L O C AT I O N S

CONFERENCE CENTER STORE

HESS HALL STORE

Located on Henley St. in the UT Conference Center.

Carries a large selection of apparel, gift, and snack items.

Right in the middle of Hess Hall residence hall. Your complete convenience and gift store. Cold drinks and snacks, health and beauty aids, supplies, apparel, and gifts.

MAIN STORE

Located on the first floor of the UC, you can purchase all your school supplies, textbooks, and UT Volunteer Shoppe apparel.

PRESIDENTIAL STORE On the east side of the Presidential Court Complex, adjacent to the computer lab. Your complete convenience and gift store. Cold drinks and snack items, health and beauty aids, supplies, apparel and gifts.

TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Selling computer hardware and software to full-time students, faculty and staff of the university at the best prices in town. Trained technical staff on hand to assist in choosing the best products for your needs.

ART & ARCHITECTURE STORE A complete line of art and architecture supplies.

Everything you’ll need for your final project, plus extended hours at project deadline times.

HODGES LIBRARY STORE Just off the Study Lounge on the second floor of Hodges Library. Emergency school and office supplies along with food items to help you get through those extended study times.

Online at www.utbookstore.org

LOBBY STORE

Located off the UC Lobby next to the main bookstore. Plenty of munchies, magazines, newspapers, and school supplies in case you need something for an early class.

8 • The Daily Beacon

NATION&WORLD

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Liberals ask Conservatives for concessions The Associated Press Frustrated liberals have a question for President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers: Isn’t it time the other guys gave a little ground on health care? What’s the point of a bipartisan bill, they ask, if we’re making all the concessions?

A case in point: Sen. Charles Grassley, a key Republican negotiator on health care, was on a winning streak as Congress recessed for August, having wrung important concessions from Democrats, including an agreement not to tax employer-provided health insurance and a limit to demands on drug companies.

How did Grassley reciprocate? With an attack that struck Democrats as stunning and baseless. Grassley told an Iowa crowd he would not support a plan that “determines when you’re going to pull the plug on Grandma.” The remark echoed conservative activists who wrongly claim a House health care bill would require Medicare recipients to discuss their end-of-

life plans with doctors.

For liberals supporting far-reaching changes to the nation’s health care system, it was another sign that months of negotiations have been a one-way street. It’s time to move on without Republicans, they say.

On Tuesday, liberals were fuming over Obama’s recent remarks suggesting he might also yield on the federally run insurance option he’s been promoting. Many saw it as a huge concession that could leave them with nothing more than watered-down insurance cooperatives.

But the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, dismissed even such co-ops as a “Trojan horse” leading to government control of health care.

Many liberals are fed up.

“It is clear that Republicans have decided ‘no health care’ is a victory for them,” Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, said in an interview. “There is a point at which bipartisanship reaches a limit, and I would say it’s reaching that limit.”

The growing liberal unhappiness sets a difficult stage for Obama this fall. Political pragmatists want him to keep seeking a middle ground that will attract at least a few Republican lawmakers as well as moderate Democrats who could prove crucial to passage in the House and Senate. Even modest achievements, such as preventing insurers from refusing to cover pre-existing medical conditions, would allow Obama to claim a victory and perhaps try for more later, they say.

Liberal activists say there’s no point in the Democrats winning the House, Senate and White House unless they use their clout to enact the major measures that Obama campaigned for — with or without some Republican support.

For now, Obama seems on the defensive. He spent valuable time this month knocking down claims that Democratic plans could lead to euthanasia of the elderly. And his chief spokesmen spent much of Monday and Tuesday insisting that Obama still supports a government-run health insurance option despite mixed signals from the administration.

On Saturday, Obama told a Colorado crowd, “The public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it.”

While liberals are discouraged, the endgame remains unclear.

Some still hope that Obama and congressional Democratic leaders will use all their parliamentary powers — which could prove especially divisive in the Senate — to pass a far-reaching bill that would include a public option for health insurance and more palatable consumer costs for prescription drugs and other needs.

The pivotal decisions will be made this fall, with administration officials saying the debate cannot lapse into the midterm election year of 2010.

What seems clear is that the room for compromise between Republicans and Democrats is shriveling to almost nothing.

Some Democrats found Kyl’s remarks particularly galling. Even if Democrats manage to produce a health care bill that won’t increase the federal deficit over 10 years, Kyl said, “that doesn’t mean Republicans would support it.”

And Grassley has said he’s uninterested in a compromise that draws only three or so Senate Republicans’ votes.

The continued outreach to Republicans, meanwhile, is testing Democrats’ unity. This week, more than 50 House Democrats issued a letter saying: “Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, for a public option with reimbursement rates based on Medicare rates — not negotiated rates — is unacceptable.”

Some of them told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in a conference call Tuesday that discussions with Republicans are pointless.

White House spokeswoman Linda Douglass played down the intraparty fuss, noting that it’s far from clear how the final legislation will turn out. She said negotiations involving Obama have led drug manufacturers to agree to reduce costs for the nation’s health care system by $80 billion over 10 years, while hospitals have agreed to an additional $155 billion.

Those concessions will carry weight with lawmakers as they “look at enacting reform that will lower costs and increase stability and security,” Douglass said in an interview.

But such concessions cut several ways. Pharmaceutical industry leaders say the $80 billion agreement should end efforts to allow the government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs used in Medicare and other programs.

Liberals say such price reductions are precisely the type of change Obama called for in his presidential campaign. And now, they say, is the time to turn those promises into reality.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

NATION&WORLD

The Daily Beacon • 9

U.S. continues efforts in international talks The Associated Press President Barack Obama won lavish praise from his Egyptian counterpart on Tuesday and spoke of an “extraordinary opportunity� for making peace in the Middle East, saying he was encouraged

by U.S. efforts to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Seated next to President Hosni Mubarak, who was making his first visit to the U.S. capital in five years, Obama thanked his Egyptian counterpart for joining him in trying to construct a deal that has eluded world leaders for more than six decades.

Returning the compliment, Mubarak asserted that Obama’s speech to the Muslim world — delivered in Cairo earlier this summer — had convinced Arabs the United States truly was an honest broker.

The 81-year-old Egyptian leader, who was estranged from the Bush administration, said Obama had “removed all doubts about the United States and the Muslim world.�

Mubarak said, “The Islamic world had thought that the U.S. was against Islam, but his (Obama’s) great, fantastic address there has removed all those doubts.�

Obama’s positive assessment of the peace effort was issued in response to a question about reports that Israel had stopped granting permission for new settlements in the West Bank, even though building in progress was continuing.

Obama has made a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians one of his key foreign policy goals, hoping a breakthrough there would lead to wider agreements among the Jewish state and the Arab world.

To that end, Obama has demanded that the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu freeze construction of Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, land that the Palestinians want for a state. Netanyahu’s public refusal has opened a rare rift between the traditionally close allies.

Nevertheless, Obama said: “The Israeli government has taken discussions with us very seriously.� He said he was “encouraged by some of the things I am seeing on the ground.� “All parties,� Obama said, “have to take steps to restart serious negotiations,� including Palestinian efforts to end the incitement of violence against Israel.

Obama took pains to include references to needed steps not only from Israel but also the Palestinians and the larger Arab world.

“If all sides are willing to move off of the rut that we’re in currently, then I think there is an extraordinary opportunity to make real progress. But we’re not there yet,� Obama said.

Mubarak said an end to Jewish settlement activity was central to a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks and a wider improvement of ties among the Israelis and all of its Arab neighbors. Egypt made peace with Israel 30 years ago and Jordan, Israel’s eastern neighbor that formerly controlled the West Bank, followed suit, but not until 1994.

Mubarak took a traditionally tough stand about the thorny issues that still must be settled between Israel and the Palestinians, saying he had told the Israelis that they must “forget temporary solutions and forget about temporary borders.�

The Arabs, backing a long-standing peace offer from Saudi Arabia, have said they were willing to recognize Israel and make peace if the Jewish state returns to borders as they existed before the 1967 war. Israel annexed all of Jerusalem and captured the West Bank during that conflict.

Mubarak looked robust despite reports that he was growing increasingly frail and preparing his 46-year-old son, Gamal, as a successor.

Egypt has an exploding population, ravaged by widespread poverty and high unemployment. The Egyptian president, who has ruled the country for 28 years, has kept a lid on Egypt’s burgeoning social and fundamentalist Islamic religious pressures through heavy repression of much of the political opposition in Egypt. He has been particularly tough on the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, the most organized group challenging his rule.

Mubarak had been a regular visitor to Washington during the Clinton administration. Then he stayed away to protest the U.S. invasion of Iraq and President George W. Bush’s intensified pressure to open the Egyptian political system and moderate its human rights policies.

But that was in the past, Mubarak said. “Relations between us and the United States are very good rela-

tions and strategic relations. And despite some of the hoops that we had with previous administrations, this did not change the nature of our bilateral relations.�

Both leaders said they had talked about reforming Egypt’s political system, but Obama has been far less vocal publicly — an obvious bid to lower the temperature in relations with the Middle East’s most populous Arab country. Mubarak’s fulsome praise of Obama suggested the strategy was paying benefits.

U.S. critics, however, insist that Obama must not relent in pressuring Mubarak on reform.

On Iran, one of the largest and most complicated foreign challenges facing Obama, Mubarak said he and Obama talked at length about concerns that Tehran is trying to build a nuclear weapon.

Mubarak — like Obama, the Israeli leadership and many Arab countries — sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a “game-changing� possibility that could upend the power balance in the Middle East.

While noting they confronted the issue, neither leader indicated how they intend to move forward.

Obama has sought to establish a dialogue with the Iranians but has set a September deadline for Tehran’s Islamic leadership to respond.

A next U.S. step would center on efforts to enforce tougher U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing Iran economically and further isolating the Islamic regime, which claims it is developing the technology for nuclear generation of electricity, not a bomb.

Israel has spoken openly of a military attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities but is widely believed to have agreed to stand down to give the U.S. policy time to work.

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10 • The Daily Beacon

ENTERTAINMENT

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Film Committee plans diverse fall schedule Skip Lackey Staff Writer Think 1992.

Think comedy.

Think “weather permitting,” as the Central Program Council Film Committee unveiled its fall cinema schedule Wednesday, which was originally scheduled to begin with a festive night under the

stars but will now be moved indoors due to rain.

The debut film, “Wayne’s World,” was scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. at the Humanities Amphitheater on Pedestrian Mall but will now happen in the UC Auditorium.

“Wayne’s World” was handpicked to entice a diverse audience as the first of 15

films slated to run through late November. Admission is free.

Zachary Parker, the committee vice-chair, said that because 1991 and 1992 comprise the two years when more incoming freshmen were born, “Wayne’s World” falls within their cinematic repertoire.

“It also would be a good

way for upperclassmen to look back and say, ‘I remember this movie!’” he said.

A second night of Welcome Week movies comes Friday with the committee’s Dive-in Movie, “I Love You, Man,” at the Aquatic Center’s outdoor pool. Admission with a student ID is free. Guests are $5.

The ‘90s film series returns in September, October and November with “Clerks,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Jurassic Park.”

The Film Committee is also planning a “Zombie Fest” for later in the semester.

Parker said the notion to show “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” and “Shaun of the Dead” is to follow the zombie genre from scary to silly.

But “Zombie Fest” will not

stop there. Rolling around the “zombie idea” sparked the creative minds of Parker, Liz Newnam, Jonathan Brehm and Tyger Glauser to precede the festival with a “zombie walk” down Pedestrian Mall. “(It’s) sort of like a dead zombie dragging,” Parker said. “If any member of the faculty would like to do it, we’d love it.”

But even with a ‘90s film series and fright nights of zombie flicks, tradition would not be absolute without a midnight screening of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Parker said “call-backs” make viewing exciting, including when “Let’s propose a toast,” will echo throughout the UC Ballroom as audience participants throw slices of toast into the

air. The creative minds respectfully ask that audience members refrain from throwing their toast at the screen, Parker said.

But aside from call-backs, a “shadow cast” — a kind of mime troop of student actors — will mirror the roles of the “Rocky Horror” cast.

The Film Committee is funded with part of the student activity fees collected each semester.

Glauser, a graduate assistant for the Office of Student Activities and a Film Committee advisor, said that while many films shown each semester are a free form of campus entertainment, some movies must carry a small admission charge.

See Film Committee on Page 11

ENTERTAINMENT

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

?

What’s HAPPENING IN ENTERTAINMENT

Aug. 20 - Aug. 22, 2009

Thursday, Aug. 20 — Candlebox with Midnight to Twelve @ The Valarium 8 p.m. $20 The Natti Love Joys with Beelzebong, Inity Roots and DJ Souljah @ Club Catalyst 9 p.m. $7

The Daily Beacon • 11

WUTK offers financial relief for students Katharine Heriges Entertainment Editor For students feeling bogged down by the heavy cost of tuition, books and football games, UT’s 90.3 The Rock aims to provide a few things for free.

“We always do a series of live remotes,” Benny Smith, general manager of WUTK,

said. “It’s what we do to help distract from all the money students have to spend — by offering live music and giving away free tickets. We feel your pain.”

One of those live remotes will take place on the Pedestrian Mall from 10:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

“And we have tons of free posters to give away,” Smith

said. “We’ve got everything from the Zac Brown Band to the Flaming Lips.”

“At WUTK, we’re all about variety, and so is our free poster selection,” Smith added.

He noted that this is the time of year when most dismal dorm walls are decorated and visitors to the live remotes can outfit their rooms for free.

Smith also explained that

Friday, Aug. 21 — The Dynamites feat.Charles Walker @ Barley’s 10 p.m.

The Dirty Guv’nahs with Hightide Blues @ The Square Room 8 p.m. $12, $8 with UT ID

Saturday, Aug. 22 — The Hackensaw Boys @ The Shed 9 p.m. $15

• Photo Courtesy of WUTK

The WUTK The Rock radio station broadcasts live from Circle Park Tuesday.

Film Committee continued from Page 10 “We like to diversify the movies we show, so that if you don’t like blockbuster movies but like independent movies,” you can still benefit from the efforts of the Film Committee, Glauser said.

Blockbuster movies, for example, can cost the committee as much as $1,200 in royalties and licensing fees to screen.

But the Film Committee provides students with something more than entertain-

ment value: The opportunity to get involved in a leadership role.

“We usually have around 10 to 15 members on the committee,” she said, adding that, each semester, students can apply to be on the committee.

Students also can go online to request a particular film for screening.

For Glauser, the committee’s ability to appeal to a variety of cinematic genres, likes and dislikes is central to the committee’s mission.

“The variety of the movies we show is the best part of our committee,” she said.

students who come to the live remote will also be able to register to win a “super nice” Kona bicycle, courtesy of The Rock and Tennessee Valley Bicycles.

“We want to offer something that students can actually use,” he said.

This week the radio station is sponsoring a welcome week of concerts, with The Dynamites at Barley’s Taproom and Pizzeria on Friday as part of the station’s “Live Funhouse” program, Ben Sollee at the Knoxville Botanical Garden on Saturday and Cracker on Sunday at The Cider House.

Also ahead, The Rock has planned to set up in Presidential Courtyard on Sept. 4, where station representatives will give out other freebies and are expecting a visit from Telluride, the band performing the Big Orange Blast kickoff event.

And of course, The Rock always offers its speciality shows, which include favorites such as “The Funeral Directory” for metal and loud rock lovers, “Locals Only” for those interested in Knoxville natives and “The Mothership” for classic funk and old school rap fans.

Brian Coakley, music director and host of the electronic music show “The Midnight

Voyage,” was first attracted to 90.3 because of its eclectic speciality programming.

“When I first moved to Knoxville, I found 90.3 was the only station that played songs I thought were interesting,” Coakley said. “And I really, really appreciated the fact that they played so many different types of music. You’d hear acoustic music, followed by hip-hop, and you’ve got Americana and electronic music — all this kind of stuff going on. As soon as I realized what it was all about, I just felt like it was something I wanted to get involved with because I love music, and I love sharing it with others.”

The Rock is sponsoring many more upcoming events this semester, among them the 13th bi-annual Camp Reggae festival over Labor Day weekend and the band Bellfield at the Bijou Theatre in September (at which the station will announce the winner of the free Kona bicycle).

“We’ll be out and about, so please stop by,” Smith said of all of the upcoming Rock events. “Pick up your free stickers, your posters, meet the Rock crew. It’s just a lot of fun, and you can get to know a little more about your student radio station.”

12 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

STUDENT LIFE

Welcome Week

Jenny Bledsoe Editor-in-Chief

We l c o m e We e k p r o v i d e s o p p o r t u n i t i e s , encourages student involvement

Each year a new batch of freshmen must acclimate themselves to the UT campus. Welcome Week aids in improving student familiarity with resources on campus and provides new students a venue in which to meet people and make new friends.

Chock-full of fun events and free stuff, Welcome Week, a collaboration of about 20 campus organizations, aims to please the students.

“We definitely tried to get a wide variety for the students, and we were also excited to bring some new initiatives in, so the comedian (Vidur Kapur) and the hypnotist (Gabriel Holmes) and the CarniVOL were things that we’re excited were a little bit different,” Ashleigh Moyer, Welcome Week coordinator, said.

In addition to the new events, Welcome Week features long-established events as well.

“We have traditional events every year: the Caribbean Splash Jam, the Karibu Tena, the Beyond the Borders, the video game party and the picnic,” Moyer said. “The traditional events that we’ve done for years … are always pretty successful and popular.”

Ronald McClanahan, a freshman with an interest in medicine, said the Freshman Picnic was a good opportunity to meet other incoming students.

See Welcome Week on Page 13 Zach Reed • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday

Freshmen gather for food and conversation at the Freshman Picnic in Circle Park at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

CarniVOL 7-9 p.m.

UC Ballroom Join in the fun of inflatable games, music and free goodies from area businesses and campus

Monday VOLfest Caribbean Splash Jam

Sunday Freshman Picnic Video Dance Party

Karibu Tena Welcome Back Celebration 4-6 p.m. Black Cultural Center

Film Flashback 1992 Wayne’s World 9-11 p.m.

UC Auditorium Enjoy free popcorn courtesy of the CPC Film Committee. *See story on Film Commitee season preview on p. 10

Tuesday Rec Fest 5-8 p.m.

TRECS Plaza

Beyond the Borders Party 8-11 p.m.

International House *Look for a review in Thursday’s paper

Zach Reed • The Daily Beacon

Students dance en masse in front of two 30-foot video screens at the Video Dance Party from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday in Presidential Courtyard.

STUDENT LIFE

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Daily Beacon • 13

Welcome Week continued from Page 12

“I knew everyone would be here (at the Freshman Picnic),” McClanahan said. “All the freshmen were going. I could meet new faces, new friends.”

McClanahan said he planned to attend more Welcome Week events later in the week.

Moyer said she and other Welcome Week organizers are anticipating Wednesday night’s CarniVOL, a new event for this year.

“I just think, because it’s so different than anything we’ve done in the past, the CarniVOL is going to be one that will be pretty exciting,” Moyer said. “I’m excited to see how the students enjoy it and how much the vendors enjoy being able to come on campus as well.”

Moyer also said she hopes the Student InVOLvement Fair will provide students with essential information.

“Something else we’re excited about, we have a lot of student organizations signed up for the student involvement fair, a lot,” she said. “I think it’s between like 40 and 50, so that’s a lot of organizations that will be out there, especially for freshmen to come out and learn more about ways to get involved.”

— Editor’s note: All event information was obtained from the Welcome Week Web site. For more information about the events on the timeline and about additional Welcome Week events, visit http://welcomeweek.utk.edu/events.php.

Zach Reed • The Daily Beacon

Thursday Comedian Vidur Kapur 7:30-9 p.m.

UC Auditorium Live Leadershop!

Hosted by the CPC Campus 6 p.m.

Entertainment Board and the UC 223-224 Lambda Student Union, Vidur This workshop will Kapur is “an up-and-coming allow openly gay South Asian students to discover American comedian from their NYC,” according to the leadership styles.

Welcome Week Web site. *Look for a preview article in Thursday’s paper

Dadrien Barnes, sophomore in mathematics and political science and a member of the Black Cultural Programming Committee, serves food to attendees of the Caribbean Splash Jam, which was held from 8 to 11 p.m. Monday at the TRECS’ Outdoor Pool.

Saturday Hypnotist Gabriel Holmes 7 p.m.

Down Under UC Auditorium Tournament Night The Welcome Week Web site 8 p.m. - 12 a.m. boasts that “(Hypnotist) UC Down Under Gabriel’s high Challenge your energy and fabulous imagination friends in Texas creates an unforgettable show Hold’em, Halo 3 and that audience members will truly 9-ball tournaments. love.”

Friday Dive-In Movie - I Love You Man 9-11 p.m.

Student InVOLvement Fair Outdoor Pool (TRECS) 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Pedestrian Walkway: Students can discover the wide range Hosted by the CPC Film Committee, the film may be viewed poolside or in the water. of opportunities to get involved in the UT community

Zach Reed • The Daily Beacon

Students visit booths, chat with each other and tie-dye shirts at VOLfest, which was hosted by the United Residence Halls Council in Presidential Courtyard from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday.

14 • The Daily Beacon

SPORTS

Student ticket distribution moves online for fall semester Ryan Howard Staff Writer The 2009 football season will bring several changes to Knoxville.

Along with a new coaching staff, Tennessee will have a new ticket system for students.

Students will now be able to buy their tickets online and print them off their computers. Season tickets, however, will not be available to students on the new online system. All non-conference home games will cost $10, while all SEC home games will be $20. Student guest tickets will be sold at face value ($40 and up).

UT Associate Dean of Students J.J. Brown said he likes the new ticket system.

“This gives us the opportunity to have a variety of students come all year long, while at the same time rewarding those who come on a consistent basis, the die-hard fans,’’ Brown said. “Last year a lot of students bought season tickets, and then some didn’t come to all of the games, and we had some empty seats.’’

UT will reward fans through a loyalty points system. The more loyalty points a student has, the greater their probability of getting tickets and better seating. Since this is the first year of the loyalty points system, the university is giving an allotted number of points to students based on the number of hours completed.

Tiffany Carpenter, director of public relations for the athletic depart-

Gray focuses on return to court

ment, said the department wanted to use the system last year.

“Loyalty points are awarded to all sporting events, and students can get bonus points for coming early,” Carpenter said.

“It makes it more convenient for the students, and it rewards the true fans.”

Students will have the same allocation of tickets for home games — 13,500 — as last season, Brown said. Student seating at home games range from Section D-J and BB -FF, and students will still enter the stadium through Gates 4 and 23.

The process for purchasing away-game tickets is similar, only students will print a voucher and go to the student ticket office to redeem it for their ticket.

Away-game ticket prices vary. Alabama tickets are $60, and Mississippi, Kentucky and Florida tickets are $40.

The first step in obtaining a ticket starts with a request. Students have a two-day window to request tickets 10 days prior to game day, starting Wednesday of the week prior, with no advantages or disadvantages to being first or last. Students are given three opportunities to then purchase a ticket: Claim Period 1, Claim Period 2 (waitlist) and Open Sales. Once a student has purchased a ticket, they may print it off.

The ticket is non-transferable, but students may go online and get a refund until two hours prior to kickoff. The students will then get a credit for a ticket to a future game.

Hayley Debusk • The Daily Beacon

Amber Gray looks for an open pass against a Kentucky defender last season. Gray is currently undergoing rehabilitation after complications during surgery.

David Wells Staff Writer Amber Gray thought it would only be a shoulder operation.

But just hours after her operation, the Lady Vo l s o p h o m o re wa s i n the fight of her life as doctors worked to repair a b ra i n a n e u r i s m t h at had begun to hemmorage.

Doctors discovered on July 2 that Gray was suffering from a stroke during her post- op recovery.

Gray was f lown out of Knoxville to University Hospit al in Cincinnati,

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Contact: Jake Hatch jhatch2@utk.edu Phone: 865-974-8471 Check us out at: www.utladyvols.com

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

O h i o , w h e re n e u ro s u r ge o n M a r i o Zu c c a rel l o and his team worked for 1 2 - a n d - a - h a l f h o u rs t o clip the aneurism.

When Tonya Carter, Gray ’s mother, heard the news, all she could do was pray. “ There is no way I could ever explain how that felt ,” Carter said.

“Going from celebrating a n d go i n g t o t h e g i f t shop and buying balloons and cards to not k n ow i n g w h e t h e r m y d a u g h t e r wo u l d eve r wake up again was probably one of the most difficult things in my life.”

Gray i n j u re d h e r shoulder in a postseason p ra c t i c e a n d c h o s e t o have surgery combined w i t h p h ys i c a l t h e ra p y, expecting to be healthy in January.

Now Gray is counting her blessings.

“I do realize that I am lucky just to be sitting here next to my mom,”

Gray said. “As soon as I was able, the first thing that I did was thank God that I am still here.”

University Hospital released Gray on July 23 after she began physical therapy for her stroke at Drake Center in Ohio.

H e r t h e ra p y wa s scheduled to t ake five weeks, and, on August 11, Gray left Drake two weeks ahead of schedule.

“It’s been very inspirational to see the recovery she’s had,” Dr. Mark Goddard, medical director of physical medicine a n d reh a b i l i t at i o n at Drake, said. “I think she was applying her basketball training skills. She was like, ‘If you want me to go 15 feet , I’m going to go 25 feet .’”

While she is uncertain when she will return to the court , Gray said she does not want to sit on the sidelines during her rehabilitation.

Goddard s aid that Gray ’s recovery has also e n c o u ra ge d other p at i e n t s at D ra ke Center.

“For her to go through that and not to say ‘I’m giving up’ was an inspirat i o n t o o u r w h o l e team,” he said. “The whole floor has done very well based on the i n s p i rat i o n o f h e r a n d her family.”

In her freshman season, Gray averaged 7.6 minutes per game, scoring 74 points on the season by shooting .459 f ro m t h e f l o o r. Gray hopes to get more playing time when she returns.

Gray says she is ready to play again.

“I’m going to play b a s ke t b a l l , ” s h e s a i d . “ That’s happening.”

Gray will return to att e n d c l a s s e s at U T starting in the spring semester.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

The Daily Beacon • 15

16 • The Daily Beacon

?

What’s HAPPENING IN SPORTS

Aug. 19-Aug.22, 2009 Saturday, Aug. 22 — Women’s Soccer vs. ETSU Knoxville 7 p.m.

“

I’m

going to play basketball. That’s happening.”

”

— Lady Vol forward Amber Gray on her plans to bounce back from brain surgery.

THESPORTSPAGE

Crompton, Stephens compete in tight QB battle at practice Staff Reports Tennessee’s coaching staff keeps applying the game-like conditions to preseason practice, and Monday’s ending to a hot and dusty affair at Haslam Field was no exception.

“It was good to get back out on the field today,” head coach Lane Kiffin said. “It was a very long, hard practice in a pretty good amount of heat, so that’s exactly what we needed. I thought the offense ended great in the four-minute (drill) with three long runs.

Both scenarios were with more than three minutes on the clock, and the offense was able to run it out and score. The first offense scored; the second offense ran the clock out.”

It was not just another drill for Kiffin’s charges but a way to perhaps win or ice a game.

“It was good to see because that’s what ball is about,” Kiffin said.

“In a three-hour practice, just like a game comes to the end, you’ve got to do things right when you’re really tired in the fourth quarter.”

Monday was Tennessee’s first time on the practice field since the team’s second scrimmage two days earlier, and the Vols head coach offered a few amended thoughts after viewing the game tape.

“There’s an old lesson — ‘it’s never as bad as it seems; it’s never as good as it seems,’” he said. “I thought after the scrimmage, offensively. We really got beat physically and mentally. After watching the film, it was not really a physical issue. Guys were playing with very good effort. It was really mental. It was the first time we had gone out and had that many penalties and a bunch of missed assignments.”

He added that the quarterback play, while not as sharp as in the opening scrimmage, certainly was hurt by the entire unit’s inconsistency.

“Jonathan (Crompton) appeared better number-wise, but Nick (Stephens) was very unfortunate with a number of drops and some plays that would have been very big third-down conversions. It was a group thing of guys not doing right, which obviously affected the quarterbacks. “(The competition) is extremely close. If it was easy, that would mean one guy wasn’t playing well. And if that was the case, we wouldn’t be very good because you never know when you’re going to need your No. 2. I’m excited that they’re both playing well.”

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Favre unretires, joins Vikings The Associated Press Brett Favre’s latest retirement lasted all of three weeks.

The three-time MVP has done an about-face for the second time in as many years and will play for the Vikings this season.

If the wait for Favre’s decision seemed neverending, it was resolved Tuesday in a few short hours: the 39-year-old Favre jumped on a team plane in Mississippi and was picked up at the St. Paul airport by Coach Brad Childress himself. The two drove to the team’s practice facility, where Favre waved to hundreds of cheering fans.

No less than 90 minutes later, Favre was on the field in his familiar No. 4 jersey with purple shorts and a purple helmet, a vision that has had Packers fans cringing about for months. He shook hands with a few of his new teammates and quickly began throwing as fans peeked through the

security fence to catch a glimpse of the superstar.

Shortly after practice began, the Vikings confirmed the agreement that seemed so inevitable all summer, only to be held up on July 28 when the man who holds every major NFL career passing record told Childress he wasn’t ready to play, citing a lack of confidence in his beat-up body to hold up over an entire season.

Childress and Favre were expected to discuss the change of heart at a news conference later Tuesday. Childress a few weeks ago said he had not planned to pursue Favre after he said he was staying retired. And yet here comes Favre, once reviled by a Vikings fan base that hustled to welcome him to town.

Now the question becomes how Favre will fit in with a team that’s already done with the grind of training camp, not to mention how his health will hold up so soon after

he questioned it. Favre had arthroscopic surgery to fix his throwing shoulder in May. The Vikings got an encouraging performance in their preseason opener last week from quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who has been competing with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job, but neither of them have been consistently sharp in practice this month.

Favre has wrestled with retirement for most of this decade and the will-he-orwon’t-he saga became an annual offseason drama for the Packers, his longtime home. In Green Bay, the latest news elicted a few shrugs, little more. Favre spent the summer working out in Mississippi and led everyone to believe he was on his way back to the NFL until last month.

“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made,” Favre told ESPN then. “I didn’t feel like physically I could play at a level that was acceptable.”