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Friday, August 27, 2010 Issue 08

T H E

E D I T O R I A L L Y

http://dailybeacon.utk.edu

Vol. 115

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

PAGE 7

PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 N E W S P A P E R

O F

T H E

U N I V E R S I T Y

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T E N N E S S E E

Program to engage students in Election Day Robby O’Daniel Recruitment Editor Poll working is a seasonal profession that sees its average age, as well as a general lack of willing participants, growing. A new program on campus attempts to recruit UT students to the process.

The College Student Poll Worker training program offers students $150 and a free T-shirt for coming out and working the polls on Nov. 2.

In order to qualify for the program, students must be registered to vote in the county, submit an application, watch three online videos, pass a test and attend on-site training.

A grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission made the program possible. UT was among 14 higher education institutions and one non-profit corporation to receive funding.

Amy Gibson, director of communications and public programming for the Baker Center, said the program used the $61,000 of grant money to pay for promotional items and T-shirts, a brand new website for the initiative at http://www.workthepolls.com and training videos. Part of the grant money, along with aid from the Knox County Election Commission, will go to paying the $150 each to student poll workers.

“It’s possible to stretch $61,000 really far in order to accomplish the goals of the grant,” Gibson said.

Laurin Riggins, junior in psychology and political science and student coordinator for the program, said material from three instructional online videos makes up the test would-be pollsters need to pass.

The three training videos delve into an overview of elections in Tennessee, what poll workers do, what they cannot do based on state law, what they should do in case of Election Day problems and machine operation on Election Day. The on-site training on Oct. 16 will familiarize poll workers with the process and serve as a rehearsal of Election Day. “It’s different seeing it on a video and actually going through it and setting it up yourself,” Riggins explained.

Come Election Day on Nov. 2, poll workers will come in at 7:30 a.m. to set up and prepare for polls opening at 8 a.m. They will stay until the polls close at 8 p.m.

Riggins, who interned with the Knox County Election Commission and was also a poll worker during the Tennessee primaries on Aug. 5, said her work in the UC went relatively smoothly on primary day except for one problem: people come to the wrong polling place. “(They were) thinking they could just vote here because it was in the UC,” she said. “Professors would come in, staff, faculty.”

But where you vote depends on where you live. The Knox County Election Commission’s website, at http://www.knoxcounty.org/election/index.php, tells citizens their designated voting location. Just click on the “Where do I vote?” tab.

Voters can also check their voter registration status at the Work the Polls website.

Other duties student poll workers will engage in, she said, include assisting those with disabilities, protecting ballot secrecy and preventing voting intimidation.

She said a program like the College Student Poll Worker training program is crucial, especially with the shortfall of poll workers in the country.

“Administering fair and accurate elections, you can’t do that without the correct number of poll workers,” she said.

In addition, specifically having new poll workers that are young can come in handy.

“Young people do tend to pick up the technology a little more quickly,” she said.

But also the program introduces young people to Election Day, she said.

“We want this next generation of young people to be working at the polls and being engaged in the political process and being active voters and active participants in democracy,” she said. “And this is a way to energize young people about voting and elections and the democratic process.”

College women at higher risk for rape Robbie Hargett Staff Writer As the new academic year approaches full swing, it is important that students keep in mind the potential danger of domestic violence and sexual victimization on campus.

“The National Institute of Justice, in an exhaustive study of sexual assault on college campuses, determined that college women are at higher risk for sexual assault than their non-college-bound peers,” Joseph Jarret, Knox County law director and adjunct lecturer for UT’s Department of Political Science, said.

According to the report, “the national-level survey of 4,446 college women suggests that many students will encounter sexist and harassing comments, will likely receive an obscene phone call, and will have a good chance of being stalked or of enduring some form of coerced sexual contact.”

The report, “The Sexual Victimization of College Women,” suggests that over the course of their college careers as many as one-fourth of female students will experience sexual assault.

The study measured verbal, visual and physical types of sexual victimization ranging from sexist statements to completed rape, as well as stalking, “a form of victimization often ignored by college officials,” but which is, in fact, relatively prevalent, according to the report.

The report also states that some college women are more susceptible to sexual victimization than others. Common factors that contribute to this increase include “living on campus, being unmarried, getting drunk frequently and experiencing prior sexual victimization.”

Most sexual victimizations occur when college women are alone with a man they know, at night and in the privacy of a residence.

For completed rapes on campus, nearly 60 percent occurred in the victim’s residence, 31 percent occurred in other living quarters and 10 percent occurred at a fraternity.

“There exist federal mandates, such as the Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act of 1990 and the Campus Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights of 1992, relative to the reporting of such crimes,” Jarret said.

Jarret notes, however, that there is much discrepancy in the effectiveness of college policies concerning incidents of sexual victimization, as well as “availability and effectiveness of confidential, social and mental health counseling services available to victims of sexual assault.”

Following the incidents, these women often did not report sexual victimization to the police, the cause stemming initially from the fact that nearly 90 percent of completed or attempted rape victims knew the offender personally — a classmate, friend, current or former boyfriend or girlfriend.

In an article by the Mayo Clinic, experts suggest that “the only way to break the cycle of domestic violence is to take action — and the sooner the better.”

“One step in the right direction is the use of protocols for coordinating the responses of local law enforcement agencies when investigating incidents of sexual assault,” Jarret said.

Jarret also suggests that colleges should distribute easily comprehensible and accessible sexual assault policies, which clearly define the various types of sexual victimization, while addressing the common situations in which sexual victimization and domestic violence occur.

“Cleary, the aforementioned is by no means an exhaustive list,” Jarret said.

Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon

Max Mueller, Xavier Jones, Andrew Burks and Chris Shapiro, seniors in computer engineering, and Jonathan Coplon, senior in electrical engineering, help each other with engineering homework in the Commons. The library has implemented a card swipe system to allow students in, between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m., Sunday through Thursday.

Tia Patron• The Daily Beacon

Moe’s on the Strip offered free burritos to customers from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. The line of burrito-seeking students was out the door before 5 p.m.

Spring break trip offers students chance to help, break from class Rob Davis Staff Writer Each year during UT’s fall break, the Office of Student Activities offers students an opportunity for service.

Through a program called TeamVOLS, the university sponsors Fall Break service trip to help those that are less fortunate. The university has been sponsoring such trips for the last 15 years.

“Instead of taking off, students apply for a trip to do community service in another area of the country,” Matt Moore, group leader and junior in finance, said. “Last year, the trip destinations included Louisville, Ky., Winston-Salem, N.C., and Boone, N.C.” To be able to participate in Alternative Fall Break, students must fill out an application, which must be filled out by Sept. 3rd.

Applications may be filled out on the TeamVOLS website, and students must go by suite 315A in the UC to sign up for an interview time.

Although students apply early for the trip, they apply without knowing where they will end up during their fall break.

“Applicants apply and are selected without knowing the location of the trip, which is top secret until a few days before the trip departure,” Alicia White, senior in biological sciences and team leader for Alternative Fall Break, said. “TeamVOLS

wants the students applying for serving others rather than applying for a location. In years past, Alternative Break Programs have traveled to New Orleans, Charleston, (S.C.), Appalachia, WinstonSalem, Cincinnati, and Roanoke, Va., just to name a few.”

About 24 students are selected after the interview process. Subsequently, the students are broken into two groups, each with two team leaders.

The group works alongside many different organizations, such as Goodwill, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and the Salvation Army.

The trip is an opportunity for students who want to be involved on campus as well as in the community.

Moore said the trip gives students a chance to help less fortunate areas of the country, as well as to get a different perspective on the ways some people live.

“I went on an Alternative Spring Break trip in 2009, where we went to Cincinnati,” Moore said.

“Although I took the trip my freshmen year, I still talk to the 24 members of my team and some who are my best friends to this day. This has been one of the best experiences I have been a part of since I have been at UT, and I get the privilege to lead an alternative break trip this year with one of my best friends from my Alternative Spring Break Cincinnati trip. Take the opportunity to apply for a trip of a lifetime.”

2 • The Daily Beacon

InSHORT

Friday, August 27, 2010

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon

UT students gather at the Photography Club meeting. The club is open to any students who are interested in photography.

This Day in

History

Aug. 27, 1883 -Krakat au explodes The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history occurs on Krakat au (also called Krakatoa), a small, uninhabited volcanic island located west of S umatra in Indonesia, on this day in 1883.

Heard 3,000 miles away, the explosions threw five cubic miles of earth 50 miles into the air, created 120-foot tsunamis and killed 36,000 people.

Krakat au exhibited its first stirrings in more than 200 years on May 20, 1883. A German warship passing by reported a seven-mile high cloud of ash and dust over Krakat au.

For the next two months, similar explosions would be witnessed by commercial liners and natives on nearby Java and S umatra. With little to no idea of the impending cat astrophe, the local inhabit ants greeted the volcanic activity with festive excitement .

On Aug. 26 and 27, excitement turned to horror as Krakat au literally blew itself apart , setting off a chain of natural dis asters that would be felt around the world for years to come.

An enormous blast on the afternoon of August 26 destroyed the northern

t wo - t h i rd s o f t h e i s l a n d ; a s i t p l u n ge d i n t o t h e S u n d a S t ra i t , between the Java S ea and Indian Ocean, the gushing mount ain generated a series of pyroclastic f lows (fast-moving f luid bodies of molten gas, ash and rock) and monstrous tsunamis that swept over nearby coastlines.

Four more eruptions beginning at 5:30 a.m. the following day proved cat aclysmic. The explosions could be heard as far as 3,000 miles away, and ash was propelled to a height of 50 miles. Fine dust from the explosion drifted around the earth, causing spect acular sunsets and forming an atmospheric veil that lowered temperatures worldwide by several degrees.

Of the estimated 36,000 deaths resulting from the eruption, at least 31,000 were caused by the tsunamis created when much of the island fell into the water.

The greatest of these waves measured 120 feet high, and washed over nearby islands, stripping away veget ation and carrying people out to sea.

Another 4,500 people were scorched to death from the pyroclastic f lows that rolled over the sea, stretching as far as 40 miles, according to some sources.

In addition to Krakat au, which is still active, Indonesia has another 130 active volcanoes, the most of any country in the world.

— “This Day in History” is courtesy of History.com

Friday, August 27, 2010

NATION&WORLD UT students to work with Remote Area Medical in Louisiana

UT College of Law named a Best Value Law School The UT College of Law has been selected as a 2010 Top 20 Best Value Law School by preLaw magazine, run by the National Jurist, a leading news source in the legal industry.

To be named a “best value,” a program needed a bar passage rate higher than the state average, an employment rate of 85 percent or higher nine months after graduation, an average indebtedness less than $100,000 and tuition costs less than $35,000 a year for in-state residents.

UT’s 2009 bar passage rate for first-time takers was 92 percent compared to a state average of 77 percent. In-state tuition for the law program is $12,540, and the college’s graduate employment is 96 percent.

The 2009-10 average indebtedness for graduates was $65,082.

The magazine identified 60 schools meeting the criteria of carrying a low price tag and being able to prepare their students perfectly well for today’s competitive job market.

In the fall issue of preLaw, due out in October, the top 20 best value schools will be ranked.

UT’s law program is a tier-one program and was ranked 29th among public universities in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Graduate Schools” list, released in April. The program also was named one of Princeton Review’s “Best 172 Law Schools” last year.

Fifteen UT freshmen will travel to St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, just outside New Orleans, to assist Remote Area Medical this weekend.

All first-year students were eligible to apply for this trip, and these students were selected because of their written explanation of why they wanted to participate.

This trip is an extension of the Life of the Mind program for incoming freshmen. Life of the Mind is a component of Ready for the World, the university’s international and intercultural initiative, and asks all freshmen to read a common book during the summer, submit a creative response to the text and participate in discussion sessions during the first week of classes.

This year’s book is “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” Tracy Kidder’s best-selling story of Dr. Paul Farmer, who founded Partners in Health and has done extensive work to fight tuberculosis, AIDS and other illnesses in Haiti, Peru and Russia.

This is the first of many planned service projects relating to the themes in “Mountains Beyond Mountains”.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Susan Martin will be accompanying the students.

The students and Provost Martin will work from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the RAM clinic, directing traffic, registering patients and making eyeglasses. Thousands of patients are expected to visit the clinic during their stay.

RAM is a nonprofit, volunteer, airborne relief corps that provides free health, dental and eye care; veterinary services; and technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the world.

UT supercomputers to gain power The UT-managed National Institute for Computational Sciences is

Gang violence increases in Mexico Associated Press ACAPULCO, Mexico— The dismembered bodies of two men were hung from a bridge Tuesday on a highway leading to Acapulco, the second such discovery in three days in a region where two drug lords are fighting for control of their divided cartel.

The men were hung from their feet at the entrance of Chilpancingo, the city nearest to Acapulco along the highway connecting the Pacific coast resort to Mexico’s capital, according to police in the state of Guerrero, where Acapulco is located.

Their arms had been cut off, and a message was left threatening extortionists, kidnappers, police and the Mexican army, according to the police report, which had no information on the identity of the two men.

Mexican authorities say the region southeast of Mexico City has been besieged by fighting between two factions of the Beltran Leyva gang, whose leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a December shootout with marines in the city of Cuernavaca.

On Sunday, four decapitated bodies were found hanging by their feet from a bridge in Cuernavaca, a popular weekend getaway just south of Mexico City. The faction led by Hector Beltran Leyva, brother of Arturo, claimed responsibility in a message left with the four bodies. It threatened allies of its rival — U.S.-born kingpin Edgar Valdez Villarreal.

No gang took responsibility in the message left Tuesday with the two bodies in Chilpancingo. The corpses were taken down before dawn.

Meanwhile, in northern Mexico, Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza told reporters that an attack on guards from the FEMSA bottling company was a case of mistaken identity.

The U.S. consulate in Monterrey said in a statement Monday that the attack, which occurred outside a private school attended by many Americans, may have been an attempted kidnapping. The consulate said that it appeared no U.S. families were targeted but that it was temporarily pulling diplomats’ children out the school as a precaution.

Garza y Garza said the guards were attacked by members of the Zetas drug gang who thought they belonged to a rival cartel. Two FEMSA security guards were killed, three were wounded and four were taken hostage and later released unharmed.

Garza y Garza said the four kidnapped guards told police their captors apologized before releasing them.

FEMSA has said the guards were on standard patrols in the area when the gunmen attacked. The company has said the shooting did not appear related to any attempt to kidnap a relative of one of the company’s executives.

Companies based in Monterrey, a business hub that is Mexico’s most prosperous city, have tried to protect areas where their employees work, live or go to school amid a rising tide of drug-fueled violence.

The Daily Beacon • 3

adding 300 teraflops to the TeraGrid’s total computational capability thanks to two awards from the National Science Foundation, which total $3.4 million.

Researchers will also have access to more than 200 million additional service units, or CPU hours, per year, bringing the total available from NICS to more than 800 million and benefitting the organization’s entire user community.

The first part of the award will increase the size of Kraken, the first academic petaflop computer and currently the world’s fourth-fastest machine, by 12 cabinets, adding 144 teraflops of computing power. A petaflop is equal to a quadrillion floating point operations per second.

Although Kraken is the only resource in the NSF’s computing portfolio capable of running simulations at its full potential of 8,256 nodes, it also is a massive capacity resource.

The second part of the award will fund the operation of Athena, a 166-teraflop Cray XT4 that is currently ranked as the TeraGrid’s third largest computational resource.

Athena features 18,048 cores and 18 terabytes of memory and is an extremely reliable system, most recently used as a dedicated platform for climate, weather and quantum chromodynamics research.

Athena will be available through the TeraGrid allocations process beginning Oct. 1 and will be allocated in conjunction with Kraken.

This will allow NICS to maximize the usefulness of both of these leading resources, each of which are running at more than 90 percent utilization, by apportioning researchers to the most appropriate machine.

NICS is a joint effort of UT and ORNL. NICS was founded in 2007 and is supported by NSF and the state of Tennessee. It is a resource provider in the NSF’s TeraGrid program and is located at ORNL, home to the world’s most powerful computing complex.

Through coordinated policy, grid software and high-performance network connections, the TeraGrid integrates a distributed set of highcapability computational, data-management and visualization resources to make research more productive.

4 • The Daily Beacon

Friday, August 27, 2010

OPINIONS

The Hot Spot Precaution necessary for all sexual activity Brandi Panter Managing Editor Oral sex, by its very definition, is the stimulation of the genitals with the mouth or tongue. It’s pretty self-explanatory on the surface — or so it would seem. As it turns out, oral sex is actually a fairly tricky subject that often leads to confusion.

Why is oral sex so popular?

Oral sex is often a source of pleasure for young people who are experimenting with sexual activity for the first time. For many, it is considered lower risk than penetrative sexual intercourse (even though there are a slew of risks, which will be covered below).

No. 1: Oral sex is, in fact, sex.

A lot of people assume that because there is no genital penetration that oral sex is not sexual activity, therefore making it somehow safer than intercourse. This is where they are wrong.

All sexually transmitted diseases can be transmitted through oral sex, be it genitals to mouth or mouth to genitals.

If you are engaging with a partner who has contracted an STD in the throat from another partner, you are just as at risk as if you were having sex without a condom. Scary, right?

No. 2: Protect yourself.

No one has ever gone through life and regretted protecting themselves sexually. Communication, for starters, is key.

Always be sure to completely communicate with your partner what you are comfortable doing sexually, explicitly discuss the act at hand, and always make sure you are being properly protected and engaging in safe, responsible behavior that is mutually understood and for which mutual consent has been given.

If you are concerned about STDs, as you should be, using a condom is always a safe bet when performing oral sex on a male. Condoms should be applied with an inch left at the tip to collect semen, or simply use a reservoirtip condom. Always apply a condom to the erect penis and roll up the entire shaft slowly to prevent air bubbles and to guarantee comfort. Always keep a spare condom handy in case of emergencies.

No. 3: It’s okay to be nervous.

Oral sex carries a lot of taboo connotations because of the nature of the act at hand. Many partners report ambivalence to oral sex, which is completely understandable.

Luckily, there are a few ways to make this a bit more convenient for both parties. For starters, if hygiene is a concern, talk to your partner about cleanliness and methods of protection and comfort beforehand.

No. 4: It’s okay to say no.

No partner should ever be pushed or pressured into something that makes him or her feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

Before engaging in oral sex, talk to your partner about your intentions, expectations, etc. If you are confused, odds are on he or she is confused as well.

Make sure that you are both sober, with no drugs or alcohol inhibiting proper judgment. If you are worried about something or feel uncomfortable, you have the right to say no; only you can control your body and willpower.

It is best to describe this as the Three C’s: comfort, clarity and communication.

As always, we at the Beacon would like to stress that this column is rooted in medical advice and not opinion.

This column is in no way a reflection of our personal lives or endorsements.

We would, however, like to encourage our readership, above all else, to be responsible and considerate, not only for their own health but for the health of others.

—Brandi Panter is a junior in history and philosophy. She can be reached at bpanter1@utk.edu.

THE DAILY BACON • Blake Tredway

DOONESBURY • Garry Trudeau

Columns of The Daily Beacon are reflections of the individual columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or its editorial staff.

True ‘beach towns’ rare, but still exist “On the R o ad...

A n d t h e Ta b l e ” by

Jonathan Grayson

Nowadays, most beach communities in the U.S. look very similar; there are oversized stucco condominium buildings lining the oceanfront, an abundance of “surf” shops (none of which actually sell surfing gear), chain restaurants, putt-putt courses and water parks.

This has become the mold for America’s beach towns — a mold that, over decades of over-development, has ripped the soul out of the American beach experience.

Most people forget that the beach is not supposed to come with the same comforts as home, especially not outlet malls and waterslides. To many people, these modern-day gimmicks are what define the beach experience. On the other hand, I was raised to believe that beach time was to be lived simply.

I am slightly bitter because, over 21 years of visiting the same beach with my family, I have watched the streets of Seaside, Fla., fill with visitors, from as far away as California, who have heard about a “perfect beach town” that must be visited.

However, they are soon thoroughly disappointed to find out that there are no water parks or movie theaters in Seaside.

Seaside is about simplicity.

I have grown to love the way people live and act in Seaside. Days there are slow, but in a good way. No one is in a hurry, and everyone walks or rides a bike to wherever they are heading.

White picket fences line the red-brick streets. All houses are painted in pastel shades, and none stands out any more than others. Every aesthetic aspect of Seaside is tailored to fit the definition of what makes a true beach “town.”

The people who visit Seaside make up a small, fraternal group of vacationers with the same vested interest in its beloved beach town. The people understand what it means to vacation and live the simple, relaxed life. And no developer or commercial realtor can take that from them.

It seems as though every time I attempt to visit any beach other than Seaside, I end up disappointed. I have watched Destin turn from the quiet and familiar vacation

spot that my dad visited as a child into the sprawling and unwelcoming fortress that it is today.

Panama City Beach is … well, Panama City Beach.

And the coastal pride of my home state — Gulf Shores, Ala.— is a ghostly resemblance of its former self. After multiple hurricanes and this summer’s oil spill fiasco, it will be a real miracle to see Gulf Shores back the way it was 10 years ago.

These visits to beaches all over the country have confirmed to me what the ideal beach shouldn’t look like.

My concept of what the ideal beach town should be was cemented at the end of this summer. However, it wasn’t another trip to Seaside, but rather a trip to the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, that convinced me.

I was lucky enough to go to Chesapeake Beach with some of my family’s good friends. They bought a new house on Chesapeake Bay in December and wanted me to be the first and last guest of the summer.

Chicks Beach — short for Chesapeake Beach — is a small town, about 20 minutes away from downtown Norfolk and Virginia Beach. It is as flat as the bottom of a frying pan, with a community as diverse as New York City.

Surrounded by larger, more developed beaches, Chicks Beach has remained untouched for decades. When walking the crushed oyster shell streets of Chicks Beach, one finds families, college kids and snowbirds interacting in a seamless collaboration of clambakes, dune parties, sailing and crabbing.

The people of Chicks Beach care about one another almost as much as they care about their beloved twomile stretch of beach at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. It is not uncommon to see a 70-year-old war veteran partaking in a game of ladder golf with a group of college students on summer vacation, or to see a 30-year-old woman building sandcastles with her next-doorneighbor’s kids.

There are only two rules at Chicks Beach: Slow down, and live simply.

With so many “beach cities” like Panama City Beach, Destin and Gulf Shores, we as a society have lost touch with why we vacation. Slowing down is essential. Living simply is the most essential.

For someone who has visited the same beach for 21 years, I was hesitant about what my trip to Chicks Beach would be like.

After four days of some of the best beach time of my life, I am happy to see that Seaside is not the only perfect beach town left.

—Jonathan Grayson is a senior in advertising. He can be reached at jgrayso3@utk.edu.

Readers avoid thought, accept words as fact “Ac orns and Other Seeds” by

Anna-Lise Burnette

Zac Ellis

Ally Callahan

To report a news item, please e-mail the newsroom@utk.edu or call the managing editor at 974-2348.

MANAGING EDITOR

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To place an ad, please call retail advertising at 974-5206.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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Classified Advisor

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XiaoXiao Ma

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To place a classified, please call the classified manager at 974-4931.

If you think something has been reported incorrectly, please contact the managing editor at 974-2348.

Advertising: (865) 974-5206 Classifieds: (865) 974-4931 Editor: (865) 974-2348 Main office: (865) 974-3231 Managing Editor: (865) 974-2348 Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 Newsroom fax: (865) 974-5569 Photo: (865) 974-5212 E-mail: newsroom@utk.edu letters@utk.edu

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 Zac Ellis, 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.

We are truly lucky to live in a place that allows us to fuss over the perfect watermelon. I thought of this, because a link to a video explaining the basics of picking a ripe melon was on the front page of the New York Times online this week, and the summer is quickly drawing to a close. That may seem hard to believe considering the muggy weather we continue to enjoy, but September is just a few days away, and with it will go the watermelons.

That would be the case, anyway, if it wasn’t for our incredible system of highways and interstates, physical and figurative, that make it possible for us to enjoy watermelons year-round.

Large watermelons usually need high temperatures and at least a couple of months to fully develop, so for regions with less-than-ideal growing conditions, the easy option is to import.

This means that watermelons will cost more in January, but they aren't impossible to find.

Still, I don’t really want to talk about watermelons, and this should come as no surprise.

You might have thought that the first line of this article was a reference to the United States’ obsessive consumerism, neo-colonialism or general apathy for the backstory that doesn’t make it into a New York Times video. Though I was thinking of our supply chains (and exploitation therein) briefly, that’s not what I was really getting at, either.

That’s too depressing a subject for such a nice, pretty day.

So let’s dissect what I really meant, starting with the word “place.” The word could mean just about anywhere, or it could mean somewhere very particular in space and time. Instead of saying “on a planet called Earth,” I said “place,” because it is more concise. Unfortunately, conciseness does not equal preciseness, and you inevitably lose a large chunk of flavorful meaning when you choose to lop off words.

The same goes for my brief description of growing watermelons. Although what I wrote is arguably true, it isn’t accurate in the sense that any of you could take a bunch of seeds and this copy of the Beacon and plant yourself a watermelon patch. It takes more than an overview, more than a neat and concise explanation of something, to make it meaningful. Or it ought to, anyway.

The problems begin to sprout up when we take these boiled-down, sound bite-esque definitions as truisms, or worse, truth, and make them an authority. By giving a sentence the weight of a paragraph we assume that it states the obvious reality; meaning that, though perhaps shallow, it works. And by placing our faith in such a tiny snippet of perception we fall victim to our craving for “encyclopediazation.”

Have you begun to notice that everything I’ve mentioned in this article is just the same? Each explanation or half-developed notion (intellectual name-dropping, you could call it) is equally a monster, in that it makes thinking too easy. We recognize certain phrases and, instead of inciting a real thought process, we glaze over the sticky bits and keep reading to see what happens next. Only later will you think over the terms “neocolonialism” and “apathy” and wonder what I was hinting toward. More than likely, though, you won’t.

This begs the question of whether or not this is a natural human reaction to compressed information. Of course, there’s no way now to create a control group; everyone reading this has picked up a newspaper. But my guess is: If it wasn’t before, it is now.

So before we progress into the semester any farther, and lest we all get too comfortable, we should make sure that everyone has been told outright, at least once: Read actively. Editorial columns aren’t designed to be authorities on anything; they express opinions and they reduce large quantities of information into smaller quantities. (One hopes that no one catches on that it is often the other way around.) They also are always trying to sell you something. In this case, it happens to be watermelons and hope.

—Anna-Lise Burnette is a junior in global and asian studies. She can be reached kburnet7@utk.edu.

NATION&WORLD

Friday, August 27, 2010

The Daily Beacon • 5

Buses to aid with long commute Trial for four accused of temple bomb Donesha Aldridge Staff Writer UT students who call West Tennessee home now have a different way to make that six-hour trip.

Launched this fall, UT to West Tennessee is a new program that provides charter bus trips to Jackson, Tenn., and Memphis, Tenn., before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break.

The program is provided through the Office of the Dean of Students and will cost $25 per trip.

Students can go to the Dean of Students website and register for a seat. The deadline for signing up for the Thanksgiving trip is Nov. 1. The deadline to reserve a seat for the Christmas trip is Nov. 8.

Jeff Cathey, associate dean in the office of the Dean of Students, said he hopes that students see this as an easy, affordable option.

“The Dean of Students got involved to make it easy and affordable for students to go home to West Tennessee,” Cathey said.

Cathey said the Office of the Dean of Students wanted to make sure the long commute from West Tennessee was no longer a factor in a student’s choice to come to UT. “This is an experiment in truth,” he said.

“We have had charter buses used for students in recruitment programs but never for students already at UT.” Cathey said the program was prompted by students and parents from West Tennessee who worried about the long commute.

Jasmine Green, a junior in journalism from Memphis, said this is a program she is looking forward to taking advantage of

while she’s at UT. Green said she has been having car trouble and does not have transportation home for the upcoming fall breaks.

She said she is thinking about registering for a seat to go home for Thanksgiving break.

“When my car was working it took about $60 for me to go home and come back to school,” she said. “$25 is a breeze. You can’t beat that.”

Green said the price surprised her. She thinks the program is worth the money because Memphis is such a long way from home. She said with her car not working, this is the most affordable way for her to go home for the holidays.

“Since I’ve been having problems with my car, the program came right on time,” Green said.

The departure for the Thanksgiving trip will be at 4:00 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in front of Hess Hall.

Cathey said Hess seems to be a central location on campus that everyone can access easily, and the office is prepared to use two buses, depending on how many students register online.

The drop-off location in Jackson will be at the Walmart on Emporium Drive.

Students will need to arrive at the same location on Sunday morning to head back to UT. The drop-off location in Memphis will be at the Walmart on US Highway 64.

The charter bus(es) will depart from Memphis on Sunday at 2 p.m. The same stops and times will be designated for the Christmas and Spring Break trips.

For additional information, visit the Dean of Students website and click on the UT to West Tennessee link.

plot, military violence begins Associated Press

NEW YORK— Four men charged with trying to blow up New York synagogues and shoot down military planes were caught on videotape plotting and praying together before setting out to launch the attack, a prosecutor said Tuesday in opening statements at their trial.

“You will see them pray for success,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Hickey told jurors in federal court in Manhattan.

The prosecutor said that alleged mastermind James Cromitie also was taped complaining that “the best target has been hit” — a reference to the World Trade Center. But the defendant also suggested the George Washington Bridge, a military transport plane and especially a synagogue were worthy targets for jihad.

“I hate those Jewish bastards,” the prosecutor quoted Cromitie as saying. “I would like to get a synagogue for me personally.”

Cromitie’s lawyer countered by calling the 100 hours of videotape from the sting operation a “movie” produced and directed by a paid FBI informant assigned to root out radicals at a mosque in Newburgh, a small town north of New York City.

“The movie is not a documentary,” said the attorney, Vincent Briccetti. “It's actually a work of fiction.”

Cromitie, 44, and three men recruited as lookouts — Onta Williams, 34, David Williams, 29, and Laguerre Payen, 28 — have pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and conspiracy to acquire and use anti-aircraft missiles to kill U.S. officers and employees.

The men were arrested on May 20, 2009, after they went to the synagogues in the Riverdale section of the Bronx to plant bombs and prepare to launch missiles at planes coming from the nearby Air National Guard base in Newburgh, unaware that weapons were inert devices supplied by the FBI. Authorities say the informant, Shaheed Hussain, met Cromitie at the mosque in June 2008.

Hussain was posing as a wealthy representative of a Pakistani terrorist organization.

The informant worked for months on the investigation, testing the defendants repeatedly to see if they were willing to go through with acts of terrorism, Hickey said Tuesday.

“Every one of these defendants jumped at those opportunities without hesitation,” he said.

“They were prepared to go all the way through with their destructive and murderous plans.”

The prosecutor warned jurors to reject defense arguments that Hussain entrapped the defendants, but he conceded that the informant “was no wallflower. He acted like a facilitator for a terrorist group, planning, supplying, supporting.”

Briccetti labeled Hussain “a master manipulator” who offered the defendant large sums of money and even a BMW to men who were uneducated and mostly unmotivated. He did so to entrap Cromitie in “a phony plot that he certainly would not have joined otherwise,” the prosecutor said.

The lawyer added: “But for his lies, his tricks, his financial inducements and relentless pressure, James Cromitie and the other defendants could not and would not have been involved in any activity.”

Onta Williams was exposed to Islam in jail but never became a radical, said his attorney, Susanne Body. She argued the government lured him into the scheme as a “bit player” so they could bring a conspiracy case.

“He is not a terrorist,” she said. “He does not hate Jews. He does not hate America.”

SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT

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FOR RENT

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HOUSE FOR RENT

CONDOS FOR RENT

CONDOS FOR SALE

Bartending. 40 hour program. Must be 18 years old.

Day, evening and Saturday classes. knoxvillebartendingschool.com 1-800-BARTEND.

Fort Sanders Health & Fitness Center Fitness Instructor - Willing to work early mornings, nights and weekends. Personal Training and/ or Program Design experience with various populations a plus.

Must have CPR and AED Certification. Candidate must have degree or working toward a degree in Exercise or Health related field. Please send resume to sdisse@covhlth.com or fax to (865)531-5218.

North Knoxville Health and Fitness Center seeking motivated, energetic individuals for the following positions: Fitness Staff, Water Aerobics Instructor, and Licensed Massage Therapist. Exercise Science/Physiology majors encouraged to apply. Associated Therapeutics, Inc. 2704 Mineral Springs Rd, Knoxville, TN 37917. Phone: (865)687-4537; Fax: (865)687-5367: e-mail: jumpstart@associatedtherapeutics.com.

1803 White Ave. Apartments. 2BR apt. 2 blocks from campus. Ready for immediate occupancy. Hardwood/ tile floors; private entrance. 12 month lease.

Margaret@tvp1.com or call (865)607-5395.

River Towne Condo. Luxury lake front living. Boat slip available. Contact Rick @ (865)805-9730. firstknoxrealty.com

3BR 2BA house Chapman Hwy. 1 mile to UT. Nice yard.

CH/A. Tile, hardwood. $900/mo. 1 month deposit.

982-5227

Special at The Woodlands Move in ready 4BR, 4BA. $425/mo. each. Rent free in August.

Call Linda (865)599-8133.

Rooms for rent in beautiful area. 1BR with bath and kitchenette with laundry. $500/mo. 2BR with bath included, kitchenette and laundry $300/mo. Both only 5 minutes from UT. Call (865)450-4299 for viewing.

6BR 2BA + study, huge remodeled home in Fort, 3 blocks to campus, W/D, Central H/A, porch, parking, wifi. $1995/mo moves in today.

Hurry call/text 865-964-4669.

The Woodlands. 3BR, 3BA townhouse. Ideal for 3 students. $400/mo. each. Near campus behind UT Hospital.

All amenities included. Howard Grower Realty Executive Associates. 588-3232 or 705-0969.

A quaint Condo in West Hills. 2BR 1320 sq. ft. townhouse. Lg. living room, separate dining, galley kitchen.

Patio, community pool. $84,900. Ina Painter, Re/Max Preferred Properties, (865)218-1132.

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.

Summer Camp Experience?

Now hiring for after school childcare center in West Knoxville. PT positions available 2-6PM. Call Robert 454-1091.

TUTORING Graduate school in your future?

Testing Solutions offers 1-on-1 LSAT, GMAT and GRE tutoring. Why pay big tutoring companies more money for the same information?

For information or registration, call: 307-0635 or visit www.helpmytestscore.com.

EMPLOYMENT Babysitters Needed Now hiring experienced, energetic and dependable babysitters. Flexible hours.

Must work most football games. Email resume to employment@tnbabysitterexpress.com.

Downtown law firm needs runner/ clerk. Vehicle required. Position is for TR. Please email or fax resume to (865)546-6637 or lawfirm902@gmail.com.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Now hiring shift leaders and crew. Wanted: Outgoing, fun, reliable people with a passion for service and a high energy level.

Competitive salary, flexible hours, incentive programs, employee meals, advancement opportunities. To join the Five Guys Team contact the Knoxville Career Center to schedule an interview 594-5330.

THE TOMATO HEAD KNOXVILLE Now hiring dish and food running positions. Full and part-time available, no experience necessary. Apply in person at 12 Market Square or apply online at thetomatohead.com.

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

Good pay & no weekends!!

If this is you or anyone you know, please call our office at (865)933-7716 to schedule an appointment or pick up an application.

You may also fax your resume to (865)933-9663.

Kidtime After School Program seeking caring counselor $7.50/hr. Dogwood Elementary School M - F 123PM. Please call Carolyn at (865)300-6102.

This space could be yours. Call 974-4931

Veterinary Assistant- Animal Caretaker. PT and weekends.

Experience helpful but not necessary. $9.00/hr. Apply at Norwood Veterinary Hospital, 2828 Merchants Rd. between 3-5:30PM only.

Want to complete missions in Knoxville? Make a difference as an AmeriCorps member by raising up urban youth to be leaders. Serve part-time in support of an afterschool program. Engage in relational activities as well. Receive a living allowance and money for school!

Contact rbenway@emeraldyouthfoundation.org as soon as possible if interested.

UNFURN APTS 1 and 2BR Apts. UT area.

(865)522-5815. Ask about our special.

1BR aptartment in English Tudor Bldg. next to Fort Sanders Hospital. $400/mo. plus utilities. 522-4964, 9AM-5PM. KEYSTONE CREEK 2BR apartment. Approx 4 miles west of UT on Middlebrook Pike. $500. Call (865)522-5815. Ask about our special.

2BR 2BA. Small pets okay.

2749 Sullins St. #309. Unfurished $890/mo. Call John (423)646-9133.

2BR apartment, 2.5 blocks from campus. $500/mo.

Utilities paid, plenty of free parking. No smoking, no drinking.

1723 Laurel.

(865)524-1106 or (803)256-3426.

2BR, 1BA duplex apartment.

1mi. from campus. $650/mo.

Water included. No pets.

(865)862-6402.

3BR 2BA Laurel Villas, across from The Hill. W/D, 2 gated parking spots, ground floor. $1200/mo. Andy 851-4261.

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

CAMBRIDGE ARMS Just 4 miles west of campus.

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

Franklin Station Condo for rent. 2 roommates seeking third for 3BR condo. $450/mo. includes utilities and wireless internet. Lease required. (865)414-9619.

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 Pool/elevator/security.

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Monday Plaza 1BR and studios available on The Strip.

Starting at $340/mo. Call (865)219-9000 for information.

Special 1 month FREE. Convenient to downtown, UT area. 2BR apartments available now. $475/mo (865)573-1000.

HOUSE FOR RENT 2 story spacious house. 3BR, 1BA, 7 miles from campus.

Front and back yard. Beautiful interior with H/W flooring. $750/mo. (865)522-6853 2BR house. 2 full baths. LR, kitchen, fenced yard. W/D, dishwasher. Pet allowed. Private parking. 2018 Forest.

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3 to 7BR houses in Ft. Sanders. WalK to campus. Please call 577-7111 and leave message.

Sequoyah. Beautiful 4BR, 2BA, w/ rec room, large decks, wood floors, private. $1900/mo. 556-8963.

WEST- Bearden Location, nice small home, big yard, bus line, stove, refrig, no pets, lease, $500.00, O/ A 588-7416

CONDOS FOR RENT Available now. 3BR, 3BA 1800 sq. ft. West Knoxville Condo. Quiet neighborhood.

All appliances including W/D. Plenty of parking. Perfect for graduate students. $1200/mo. Water included.

Small pets OK. (865)242-0632.

Read the Beacon Classifieds!

ROOMMATES Female roommate wanted.

Grad student preferred.

New house in good subdivision. 3 min. from UT. $250/mo. Includes all utilities, cable TV, cable internet WiFi. Call after 5PM 566-3623.

Second roommate needed to share 3BR house. 10 minutes from campus. $400/m.

Call (301)266-2656.

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FURNITURE BEDS FOR LESS Student discounts, lay-away available. Twin size starting at $99.99, Full $129.99, Queen $159.99. Also carry Futons. Call (865)560-0242.

MERCH. FOR SALE BED BUGS? Waking up itchy? Red Bumps? Bed Bugs are rapidly becoming the biggest pest in college towns. Get Harris Bed Bugs Killer.

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AUTOS FOR SALE 100+ vehicles $5,995 or less. Specializing in imports. www.DOUGJUSTUS.com

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz Across 1 Fearsome Foursome teammate of Jones, Olsen and Lundy 6 Alternative 11 Jean ___, 1969 Oscar-winning title role for Maggie Smith 12 “That’s ni-i-ice!”

14 Gilded Age tycoon with a legendary appetite 17 Actor Auberjonois 18 Chaney Sr. or Jr. 19 One of about 14,500 in Manhattan 20 Fort named for a Civil War major general 21 Dulcify 25 ___ Motors 26 Grade sch. class 27 Shop-at-home method?

28 Wasn’t off one’s rocker?

29 Eye, ear and nose

31 Whom the Romans defeated at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae, 102 B.C. 33 Sporcle.com feature 34 Nub 35 Hint 38 Visits 41 Scuba tank meas.

42 2002 Emmy winner for lead actress in a comedy 44 First to come?

45 Exchanges that may come with emoticons, briefly 46 People born on February 29, colloquially 47 Barack Obama’s mother 48 58-Across leaders 50 Interregnum 51 Pother 52 In a precarious position 57 Mulligan, e.g.

58 See 48-Across 59 Ranch in the 1956 film “Giant” 60 Growing area of commerce

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

Down 1 Christ’s visitor in a tale from “The Brothers Karamazov” 2 Home of the Arch of Constantine 3 When repeated, cry often made with a hand up 4 Brahms’s “___ Deutsches Requiem” 5 Ted Kluszewski’s team when he won the 1954 N.L. home run title 6 Indicate 7 Actor Herbert of the “Pink Panther” films 8 Mass apparel 9 First capital of Japan

10 Subject of “Eight Men Out” 11 Writer of “Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another” 13 N.F.L. rushing star Peterson 14 What’s discarded 15 Frank Zappa rock opera “___ Garage” 16 “Easter, 1916” poet 21 Unmoved 22 Dangerous place to be 23 12th Amendment concern 24 Cell transmitters 30 “___, bro?”

32 Male sheep

35 Two-time running mate of Richard 36 Onetime teen idol who later hosted “Pyramid” 37 Metaphor for a flood of tears 38 It’s a start 39 Harmless 40 Matchmaker for Tevye’s daughters 43 “I’m such a ___!” (klutz’s comment) 49 Brogue, e.g.

51 Part of a convoy 53 ___ Air (carrier to Taiwan) 54 Not working: Abbr.

55 Tripe 56 Dama’s title: Abbr.

6 • The Daily Beacon

ENTERTAINMENT

Friday, August 27, 2010

Nashville gem showcases classic punk Will Abrams Staff Writer The city of Nashville is known as one of the biggest spots in the country for cultivating musical talent. Hundreds of acts, from country singers to garage bands, head out of Davidson County to make a name for themselves.

Heavy Cream, a group that came onto the scene just under two years ago, is one such band.

Comprised of singer Jessica McFarland, guitarist Mimi Galbierz, bassist Daniel Severs and drummer Melissa Burnett, the band has gradually begun a following wherever their music has been taken.

“We’ve all been friends for a long time and Jessica … was in a really great band called Meemaw before she moved into Heavy Cream,” Burnett said. “When they broke up, she decided to start a new group … with herself as the lead vocal.”

After signing up with recording group Infinity Cat, the group started playing its first shows with other Nashville acts like Jeff the Brotherhood and the New Jersey-bred Screaming Females. “(Playing with those bands) was terrifying, but it was awesome,” Burnett said.

“At that point, we were all pretty new to this.”

Since then, the band has been able to work on its sound and turn it into something that the group can really enjoy being a part of. “(Our music) is sort of a classic punk kind of sound … straightforward, energetic, and meant to be really fun,” Burnett said.

Up until this point, the band has been without a full-length LP to share with fans. Therefore, the only way to make its music heard has been to tour constantly.

“It’s great,” Burnett said. “We just try to stay on the road as much as possible and meet people in every city.”

Because of the band’s intensity and garage sound, concerts have the ability to become a unique experience. “(The show) is very energetic and engaging,” Burnett said. “Jessica is an incredible frontwoman and … she’s in the audience, running around back there.”

Because the band is always on the road, it shouldn’t come as much of a shock that one of the group’s favorite pastimes is hanging out in the nearest gas station.

“When you’re driving all day, the only distraction you have is to go inside of a gas station and … not really buy anything,” Burnett joked.

As of Aug. 24, the band has solved their problem with the release of “Danny.”

The album, produced by Jake Orrall of Jeff the Brotherhood, can be purchased through the band’s website or MySpace page.

When it came to putting each track together, the band just got together and played until a song felt right. “ The songwriting is completely collaborative,” Burnett said. “We all just kind of play together, and then it eventually becomes something.”

Although she may be biased in the matter, Burnett’s favorite track on “Danny ” is “Run Free” because of its quick beat.

“It’s probably the fastest track on the album,” Burnett said.

Just because the group finally has an album out, don’t expect to see them sleeping on the job any time soon. The band plans to keep touring through the year and hopes to start working on a new album soon.

“I don’t ever want to get stuck with one sound or one idea,” Burnett said. “I want things to be continually changing and for us … to grow from just that sound.”

Heavy Cream will be at Pilot Light on Aug. 27 at 10 p.m.

Matthew DeMaria • The Daily Beacon

UT hosted a part-time job fair allowing students to see job opportunities on and off campus. Michael Steffens, a senior in logistics, talks to a Target employee about potential jobs.

Friday, August 27, 2010

ENTERTAINMENT

The Daily Beacon • 7

Exhibit features artists’ views of human David Barnett Staff Writer Continuare is the new exhibit in the Ewing Gallery. Featuring works from seven southern artists, the show highlights the re-emergence of figurative representation in contemporary art.

The gallery’s explanatory note helped clarify that Continuare is a Latin term meaning “to persist or continue,” implying the figurative tradition has survived the storm of abstract expressionism, minimalism and constructivism, to name a few art movements that emerged in the 20th century.

The explanatory note jumps directly to the most polarizing questions in art, namely, is painting dead? Has the human form waned from human interest? The pieces in the Ewing Gallery, though visually striking and individually interesting, certainly do not answer any of these extremely broad questions.

The paintings and sculptures are more interesting when they can be considered individually, distinct from the supposed theme that unites them all.

The first piece visitors see when entering the gallery is Judy Condon’s bust, entitled “She’s one-hundred and wearing something tight.”

Like Condon’s four other busts, this 100-year-old lady is wrinkled, expressionless and looking off somewhere in the distance.

The busts have a strange allure. They are neither monochromatic nor bold. They have their own endearing subtleties, like striking blue eye-shadow, self-referential images patterned on the shirts or wasps crawling all over a woman’s blouse. They are humorous, visceral and worthy of their placement at the gallery’s entrance.

Virginia Derryberry’s paintings from her series, Rebis, depict modern reinterpretations of Greek and Roman mythologies. The figures, highly realistic, prove Derryberry’s technical proficiency. They are strikingly beautiful and well-executed, but they do not inspire deep thought.

Set in paradise-like contexts, laden with alchemical imagery, the figures are expressionless and do not intimate a sense of motion or interpersonal interaction.

They are static and cold, even though the colors radiate.

On the other hand, Denise StewartSanabria’s life-size drawings on wood cutouts are dynamic. The figures seem to be in the midst of a crowd. They are interacting, albeit indirectly, and exude a sense of life.

Stewart-Sanabria’s pieces are intriguing. They blur the distinction between two- and three-dimensional representations. Cut out from any context the artist could have created, the gallery space becomes the cutouts’ context.

It is difficult to understand the relationship between the wall and the figures, some of whom disappear into the wall.

Also, what is the significance of the yellow pencil and math homework?

The installation is enticing, perplexing and perhaps the most interesting piece featured in the gallery.

Hyper-realistic paintings sandwich Stewart-Sanabria’s cutouts.

Bain Butcher’s series is of women draped in lemon-yellow sheets in a flat, cornerless, lemon-yellow room. The women are stoic and frigid. The paintings beg the viewers to question the necessity of a hyper-realistic technique in the face of high-quality photographs.

Carl Gombert’s portraits are on the other side of the cutouts. There are two old men, a teary-eyed girl and profile of a 30-something-year-old man, and a black woman, whose canvas happens to be embossed with Louis Vuitton-like symbols.

Gombert’s colors are bold and exciting.

His brush strokes are tight. They reveal that he used a relatively small brush.

Judging from the size of the canvases in relation to the size of the brush strokes, these portraits must have been horrendously time consuming.

Likewise, Lynda Evans has used a hyper-realistic technique in her charcoal drawings of female bodies in water. The black water provides a stunning and convincing contrast that illuminates the figures’ beauty, serenity and grace.

These drawings prove that beauty can be an end in itself. Sometimes, paintings, drawings or sculptures do not require any other concept or reason.

In the backroom, Thaddeus Erdahl’s sculptures exude the same hilarity and grotesqueness present in the works of George Grosz and Fernando Botero.

Erdahl’s two salesmen are portly men with countless chins, small hands and small eyes. They are macabre figures that appear tired but resigned to their endless plight.

Erdahl’s pieces undoubtedly feature human figures, as do the other paintings, drawings and sculptures feature in Continuare. Erdahl’s work, however, derives distinctiveness from its abstractions. His darkly comedic pieces evoke thought and reflection.

The works in Continuare are individually interesting and worthy of contemplation. They are united under a superficial theme: the persistence of the human form in contemporary art.

This theme forces viewers to ask the wrong questions, such as “Is painting dead?” A question like that does not allow viewers to appreciate or analyze the art.

On many occasions, it is important to question an artist’s reasons for including a human figure. Many of these pieces, though, are speaking to themes more specific than the “figurative tradition.”

To appreciate and analyze these paintings, drawings and sculptures, one needs only to ignore the explanatory note pasted to the left of the entrance.

Wade Rackley • The Daily Beacon

Samantha Economos, senior in nursing, Kelly Ferowich, senior in nutrition, and Laurie Tabachnick, senior in art history, do homework while lounging in the amphitheatre on a hot day.

Wade Rackley • The Daily Beacon

Workers install the new letters on the Neyland Stadium facade Thursday afternoon in preparation for the first football game on Saturday, Sept. 4 against UT-Martin.

HEY!

SPORTS CALENDAR

8 • The Daily Beacon

?

What’s HAPPENING

THESPORTSPAGE

Friday, August 27, 2010

Secondary still searching for next star Associated Press

IN SPORTS

Aug. 27 - Aug. 28

Friday, Aug. 27 — Women’s Volleyball Xavier @ Knoxville 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 27 — Soccer Maryland @ Knoxville 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28 — Women’s Volleyball Chattanooga @ Knoxville 12 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28 — Women’s Volleyball Virginia Tech @ Knoxville 7 p.m.

Daily

Quote

“I talked about the Volunteer, what traditions mean, the importance of them.

Listen, they believe me now.”

–UT football coach Derek Dooley commenting on an educational meeting with his team during Wednesday’s “Mock Game” in Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee doesn’t have Eric Berry anymore. The Volunteers do have redshirt freshman cornerback Eric Gordon, and he’s ready to prove he’s just as aggressive as the two-time AllAmerican safety.

“Honestly, I’m trying to take their heads off every play. On the field, you’ve got to be pretty mean. You’ve got to be aggressive. I love it. That’s my style,” Gordon said.

Gordon and fellow defensive backs Janzen Jackson, Art Evans and Marsalis Teague may not be as celebrated as Berry, who’s now playing for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Their presence on the field still makes coach Derek Dooley feel much more comfortable about the Vols’ secondary heading into the Sept. 4 season opener against UT-Martin than he felt a month ago.

Dooley certainly had every reason to be concerned.

Berry, a three-year starter, and two-year starting cornerback Dennis Rogan both skipped their senior seasons to enter the NFL draft in April. Evans, a junior who started 12 games at cornerback last year, missed spring practice recovering from shoulder surgery.

Things became more uncertain over the summer. Sophomore Darren Myles Jr., who was expected to replace Berry at strong safety, was dismissed in July following a bar brawl. Jackson, a sophomore who started nine games last year at free safety, hurt his hamstring and missed the first half of fall camp.

“Compared to where we were (before camp), we’re light years ahead,” Dooley said.

Part of that improvement comes simply from Evans and Jackson being back on the field.

Though the two were a little rusty after returning, they both feel comfortable with their roles again.

“I’m a hundred percent now, and I’m ready to hit some people,” Jackson said. “I’ve been waiting too long.”

Perhaps even more comforting is the development of young players like Gordon and Teague, a sophomore who’s trying out cornerback after spending last season as a wide receiver and his Matthew DeMaria• The Daily Beacon high school career as a quarterback.

Matt Simms throws a ball at practice before the Teague has only been playing as a defensive back since the beginning of August but has been “Mock Game” UT held on Wednesday. The team will a natural fit, quickly learning the playbook and adapting. His teammates say he’s a big threat in play UT-Martin in its season opener in eight days.

Tennessee’s nickel package.

Gordon earned the Vols’ 2010 “Big Lick Award” during the team’s spring practice for consistently playing with the most physical toughness on the team. Fall has given him a chance to improve his knowledge of the cornerback position, making him more dangerous than ever.

Quarterback Matt Simms has seen enough of Gordon to know not to throw in his direction.

Wide receiver Gerald Jones has been hit by him enough to want to stay out of his way.

“Nobody I’ve ever played against is like Eric Gordon. He's the most physical guy I’ve ever faced,” Jones said. “Now he’s being smart with it and still being physical. Now he’s picking and choosing ... and that’s made him a much better player.”

Though things are looking up, the Tennessee secondary still isn’t in as good of shape as it needs to be. Sophomore Prentiss Wagner and freshman Brent Brewer — who’s spent the last four years playing minor league baseball — are now competing for Berry’s old spot.

If anyone gets hurt during the season, the secondary could be back where it started with a big depth problem.

But for now, Jackson isn’t too concerned.

“It’s a factory here,” he said. “Players come in and players leave, and we’re just looking for the next big player, the next person to step up. That’s where we’re at now. We’re real young, but we’ve got a lot of talent.”

Wade Rackley • The Daily Beacon

Huge letters lean against a wall awaiting installation on the new Neyland Stadium facade.