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Little Big Town releases fourth album

Monday, August 30, 2010 Issue 09 I N D E P E N D E N T

Vol. 115 S T U D E N T

PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

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UT ranks high among public universities Robby O’Daniel Recruitment Editor The U.S. News and World Report rankings saw UT crack the top 50 public schools in the country this year.

Up five spots from last year, UT placed No. 47 among public institutions in the publication’s 2011 undergraduate rankings and 104th among all national universities.

In particular, the College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering received praise. The College of Business Administration’s logistics program, continually critically acclaimed in academic rankings, checked in at No. 7 among public institutions and No. 9 overall. The college’s overall undergraduate business program ranked No. 34 publicly, and the College of Engineering’s undergraduate program ranked No. 37.

Jan Williams, dean of the College of Business Administration, said the logistics program has a history of this type of ranking, and he thinks the reasons for the critical acclaim begin with faculty.

“The faculty here in that area is particularly strong,” Williams said. “They develop really good curricula in consultation with people in business. It’s not just a bunch of faculty members sitting around, designing curricula. They work closely with people in business to determine what they want our graduates to have when they leave, what they want them to be able to do when they leave, and we listen to those people. That has helped us, I think, stay real current.”

This philosophy also applies to other programs within the College of Business Administration, contributing to the undergraduate business program’s overall ranking. Faculty emphasis in programs like finance, accounting, marketing and logistics, keep curricula current for students, Williams said.

In addition, he said, new curricula in international business and entrepreneurship has helped raise the college’s relevancy while also gaining the college visibility.

He said the Venture Living Learning Community for freshman business students has helped improve retention rates, keeping freshmen at UT for their sophomore year. Students live on the same floor in the same hall as other business students and take the same first-year classes as their neighbors.

“The biggest criticism of the Venture program that I’ve heard is that students do not want it to end after the freshman year,” he said. “They would like for it to continue and be a sophomore program and maybe even a junior program. Right now, it’s freshmen-only.”

The college’s five-year graduate rate sits at a robust 85 percent, he said, and student demand for business continues to be high, which led in part to the implementation of differential tuition.

Students were outnumbering faculty by a larger and larger margin, but thanks to the extra funds, Williams said this ratio would be remedied.

“We added some faculty this fall,” he said. “We’ll add more in the fall of ‘11 and even more in the fall of ‘12.”

Williams said it’s important to focus on simply improving and not target specifically improving in rankings.

“I think we (need to) just keep doing what we’re doing,” he said. “I really think it’s not a good idea to say we’re going to take steps solely to improve rankings. I think we do what we do well, and that will be reflected in the rankings.”

Wayne T. Davis, dean of the College of Engineering, said undergraduate program rankings were based solely on perception, while graduate program rankings were 40 percent perception and 60 percent qualitative data, such as number of graduate students, number of doctoral students and research funding.

It’s because of this perception-heavy evaluation that Davis thinks it’s particularly beneficial that the College of Engineering has 23,000 alumni, among them graduates that work in all 50 states and 64 countries. “(It) makes for a lot of visibility,” he said.

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon No doubt the fact that the Chancellor’s Honors Program students are required to have international experience contributes to the graduates in 64 countries. Currently, the College of Perkins Hall is one of several engineering buildings on campus. The engineering Engineering has about 28 percent needing that international experience, which can be work in program recently ranked No. 37 among public institutions. study abroad, service projects and field trips.

“It’s a great requirement,” Davis said. “... It’s really important that we expose to students and faculty the global nature of engineering and the fact that we are really now a global society.”

The College of Engineering’s individual programs were ranked at least in the top 70 each individually, with the nuclear engineering program ranked ninth out of a pool of what Davis estimated Alyce Howell was about 45 programs. The other programs were ranked out of about 200 other programs, he said.

Staff Writer “We’re just very pleased that we are a nationally ranked program, both in graduate and undergraduate, and all of our programs have a program within them that is nationally ranked,” he said.

The university held a part-time job fair in the UC Ballroom Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students had to sign in at the front desk before receiving their name tag with major listed, a school planner and a map of the fair.

Joann Jeter, assistant director of UT Career Services, said that the benefits of the job fair were that it helped both students and employers and that booths were simply alphabetized to make it easier for everyone involved.

The part-time job fair had about 639 students in attendance this year, more than in years past.

“I learned about the job fair from the flyers all over campus, so I wanted to stop by,” Gisela Cruz, sophomore in interdisciplinary interest, said.

Cruz went to the fair to gain more information on the organizations that interested her.

“My favorite organizations were Target, because it is a national chain and the representatives were friendly, and Food City,” Cruz said.

By having the students’ majors on their nametags, it is easier for the employers to see what the students can bring to the company. However, some students added other qualifications that might make them stand out from the crowd.

Jonathan Miller, freshman in finance and Spanish, learned about the job fair from the advertisements through e-mail and around campus. Miller said that the job fair had a limited amount and that he wanted more job options that had more potential for advancement for his career.

“I liked H & R Block the best,” said Miller. “They had the opportunities for my field, but there was a $200 advanced fee for a course to take to get qualified for the job, and then the job’s not guaranteed.”

Sophomore Caitlyn Little learned about the job fair from the advisements as well. She brought her resumes to the fair to help potential employers remember her, but she did not care for the part-time job fair at all.

“There was nothing there that I was looking for,” Little said. “The (College Student Poll Worker) job was good, but that was not long-term, and I came for a part-time job. The health center was interesting, but I did not have enough requirements to work there either.”

The students had a mixed reaction to the part-time job fair. Students like Cruz were satisGeorge Richardson• The Daily Beacon The James A. Haslam II Business Building, shown here on Sunday, Aug. 29, is home fied after the job fair, while other students like Miller and Little wanted more options that to the No. 9 logistics program in the country. The new rankings from U.S. News and would represent themselves more and what they wanted to do.

Though these students had different reactions to the part-time job fair, they all said that they World Report show the undergraduate business program at No. 34 among other would attend another one if they heard about it. -public universities.

Job fair earns mixed reviews

2 • The Daily Beacon

InSHORT

Monday, August 30, 2010

Wade Rackley • The Daily Beacon

Students walk around “A Startling Whirlwind of Opportunity” on Monday, Aug. 23. The scuplture has been the subject of controversy since it was installed last year.

This Dayin History 1967: Thurgood Marshall confirmed as Supreme Court justice On this day in 1967, Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American to be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. He would remain on the Supreme Court for 24 years before retiring for health reasons, leaving a legacy of upholding the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

From a young age, Marshall seemed destined for a place in the American justice system. His parents instilled in him an appreciation for the Constitution, a feeling that was reinforced by his schoolteachers, who forced him to read the document as punishment for his misbehavior.

After graduating from Lincoln University in 1930, Marshall sought admission to the University of Maryland School of Law, but was turned away because of the school’s segregation policy, which effectively forbade blacks from studying with whites.

Instead, Marshall attended Howard University Law School, from which he graduated magna

cum laude in 1933. (Marshall later successfully sued Maryland School of Law for their unfair admissions policy.)

Setting up a private practice in his home state of Maryland, Marshall quickly established a reputation as a lawyer for the “little man.” In a year’s time, he began working with the Baltimore NAACP, and went on to become the organization’s chief counsel by the time he was 32, in 1940.

Over the next two decades, Marshall distinguished himself as one of the country’s leading advocates for individual rights, winning 29 of the 32 cases he argued in front of the Supreme Court, all of which challenged in some way the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine that had been established by the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).

The high-water mark of Marshall’s career as a litigator came in 1954 with his victory in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In that case, Marshall argued that the ‘separate but equal’ principle was unconstitutional, and designed to keep blacks “as near (slavery) as possible.”

In 1961, Marshall was appointed by then-President John F. Kennedy to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a position he held until 1965, when Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, named him solicitor general. Following the retirement of Justice Tom Clark in 1967, President Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court, a decision confirmed by the Senate with a 69-11 vote.

Over the next 24 years, Justice Marshall came out in favor of abortion rights and against the death penalty, as he continued his tireless commitment to ensuring equitable treatment of individuals--particularly minorities--by state and federal governments.

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

Monday, August 30, 2010

NATION&WORLD

The Daily Beacon • 3

Autodesk Inventor tutorial Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.

The tutorial is open to all engineering majors. Autodesk Inventor is required in several engineering majors, including mechaniAssociated Press cal, electrical and industrial. Space is limited, so arrive early or bring your own laptop (with MOSCOW— Scores of bare-chested skinheads attacked a crowd of about 3,000 people at a Inventor installed) to ensure a spot. rock concert in central Russia on Sunday, beating them with clubs, media reports said.

Theta Tau is the only professional engineerDozens of people were left bloodied and dazed in the attack, television and news agencies ing fraternity on campus, and UT’s chapter reported, and state news channel Rossiya-24 said a 14-year-old girl was killed at the concert in won the award for most service hours by any Miass, 900 miles east of Moscow. chapter.

Fourteen ambulances were called to the scene, the channel said, citing witness accounts. The motive for the attack was not known, and authorities couldn’t be reached for comment. The Space Institute Sets Record ITAR-Tass agency said local police had refused comment.

Many of Russia’s top rock acts were attending the “Tornado” rock festival, the agency said.

Students and faculty members at the Russia has an ingrained neo-Nazi skinhead movement. Attacks on dark-skinned foreigners in University of Tennessee Space Institute set a Moscow and St. Petersburg have been relatively common in recent years. record for participation at a single internationThe January 2009 murder of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasiya Baburova al conference for the institute. UTSI present- prompted a Kremlin crackdown on ultranationalists, who were blamed for the killings. ed a total of 20 papers at the 46th Joint In April, a Moscow court banned the far-right Slavic Union, whose Russian acronym SS intenPropulsion Conference held in Nashville this tionally mimicked that used by the Nazis’ infamous paramilitary. The group was declared summer. extremist and shut down. Then the group’s leader, Dmitry Demushkin, told The Associated Professor Joe Majdalani’s group con- Press it tried to promote its far-right agenda legally and warned that the ban would enrage and tributed 16 papers, Assistant Professor Trevor embolden Russia’s most radical ultranationalists.

Moeller’s group contributed three papers, and Russia’s ultranationalist movement is so deeply embedded in the country’s culture that miliProfessor Emeritus Gary Flandro’s group con- tant groups have sprouted up around Russia to fight it. Anti-racist groups regularly spearhead tributed one paper. attacks on ultranationalists, sparking revenge assaults in an intensifying clash of ideologies.

The conference was a venue for UTSI to Neo-Nazi and other ultranationalist groups mushroomed in Russia after the 1991 Soviet colpresent research endeavors in several propul- lapse. The influx of immigrant workers and two wars with Chechen separatists triggered xenosion-related areas, such as modeling mach phobia and a surge in hate crimes. number and temperature distributions in Racially motivated attacks, often targeting people from Caucasus and Central Asia, peaked in supersonic nozzle flow and pressure blow- 2008, when 110 were killed and 487 wounded, an independent watchdog, Sova, said. The down and sideloads in rockets.

Moscow Bureau for Human Rights estimated that some 70,000 neo-Nazis were active in Russia Presenters included the professors along — compared with a just few thousand in the early 1990s. with graduate research assistants Georges and Michel Akiki, Josh Batterson, Brian Maicke, Tina Rice and Richard Joel Thompson.

Majdalani delivered five presentations and an oral report to the Hybrid Rocket Technical Committee. Moeller presented the development of a unique electric propulsion thrust stand for high-power thrusters.

Akiki presented a semi-analytical formulation of the compressible flowfield in solid rocket motors. Batterson focused on the core and sidewall boundary layers of both linear and nonlinear cyclonic flowfields in vortexfired liquid rocket engines and the behavior of cyclonic motions in the presence of multiple flow reversals.

Maicke’s work encompassed high-speed propulsion topics such as nozzle flow modeling, internal compressible flow and hypersonic flow analysis. Rice presented the initial results of her research into the interaction between combustion chemical kinetics and acoustic fields, as it relates to liquid rocket combustion instability.

Tara Sripunvoruskul • The Daily Beacon Thompson presented two papers detailing Members of the Lady Vols soccer team celebrate after defeating the laser-materials interactions in two micro-laser Richmond Spiders, 2-1, in the final game of the weekend’s Lady Vol Classic on ablation thruster configurations, along with Sunday, Aug. 29. The Lady Vols went 1-1 on the weekend with Sunday’s win predicted improvements in thruster performand a loss on Saturday to Maryland. ance over a conventional design.

Neo-Nazis disrupt Russian concert

Campaign Distributes Free Water Bottles As a part of the B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bottle) campaign to increase environmental sustainability on campus, SGA, UT Athletics, Volunteer Dining/ARAMARK and SPEAK have joined together to provide free water bottles to UT students.

Ten thousand aluminum reusable water bottles will be distributed to any student with a UT ID on the UC Plaza today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the bottles will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis.

The POWER TEE shirt program’s “All Your Might” shirts provided the funding to purchase the aluminum bottles that will be distributed.

The program is a collaboration between UT and Adidas and proceeds from the sales go towards funding students projects focusing on campus initiatives. With reusable water bottles, student organizers are hoping to see a decrease in disposable plastic containers and reduce waste produced on campus.

Club Baseball Kicks Off League Wednesday, Sept. 1, marks the start of Tennessee Club Baseball's fall league. All interested students are encouraged to come out and play.

Those in attendance will divide up into teams and scrimmage each other every Wednesday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Dues for the fall league will be $50, which include field rental, balls, bats and club baseball shirts. Last year, club baseball came in third in its division but is looking to do even better this season by adding new faces and talent to the team.

Anyone interested in playing or who needs more information can visit the club’s website at tennesseeclubbaseball.com.

Engineering Fraternity to Host Info Session Theta Tau, UT’s professional engineering fraternity, will host a Rush Info Session Monday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the SERF auditorium.

The information session is open to all engineering majors, and free food will be provided.

The organization is also hosting a free

4 • The Daily Beacon

Monday, August 30, 2010

OPINIONS

Tops

Rocky

&Bottoms

Rising — Anticipation for kickoff Football. That’s right, it’s almost here. This Saturday, Tennessee kicks off its 2010 season against UT-Martin, a bloodthirsty in-state rivalry whose roots mirror that of a heated battle between siblings.

Okay, not really. But it’s still a football game.

In what should come as no surprise to anyone on campus, the Vols are breaking in their third coach in as many years, Derek Dooley. Son of legendary Georgia coach Vince, Dooley possesses wit and charm all wrapped up in a Southern drawl that sounds perfectly tailored for the SEC. This season will serve as a slight measuring stick in that regard. With a daunting schedule ahead, Dooley’s first season could be a doozy. His record as head coach at Louisiana Tech hardly raised any eyebrows, but still, Vol Nation appears to be embracing UT’s newest sideline prowler.

For Vol fans, it’s been a long offseason. First, Lane Kiffin jumped ship amid crazed fans and burning mattresses.

Then, Dooley arrived in Knoxville to salvage a recruiting class all but in shambles as a result of Kiffin’s defection.

Then came July’s Bar Knox brawl, yet another notch on the Vols’ belt of legal transgressions. Whatever happened to actual football, again?

At last, it’s here. At 6 p.m. on Saturday, the Pride of the Southland Band will form that glorious “T” on ShieldsWatkins Field, and the Dooley era will begin. Get your popcorn ready, folks. It’s football time in Tennessee.

a coincidence, even going as far as reminding America that he would be delivering his speech two steps down from Dr. King’s famous lecture decades ago, rendering the comparison null and void.

But in an era where individuals who represent farright and far-left ends of the political spectrum are often subjects of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s punch lines, Beck’s ultra-conservative political rally in the historical shadows of Dr. King’s famous speech provides Comedy Central’s dynamic duo with plenty of material for the time being.

Rising — Comedic value of Glenn Beck

Rising — Number of heiresses in jail In news that should come as a shock to absolutely no one, Paris Hilton was arrested for cocaine possession over the weekend in Las Vegas. Wait, a famous, spoiled heiress arrested for drugs?

Miss Hilton was pulled over in Vegas in her boyfriend Cy Waits’ car on suspicion of driving under the influence, after police noticed smoke emitting from the car in a volume that indicated marijuana was being consumed.

Hilton was discovered to have cocaine on her person, and Waits was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

This is not Hilton’s first run-in with the law. She was arrested previously for DUI, for which she served 23 days in jail. She has also twice violated the terms of her probation.

Congratulations on being a morally upstanding citizen and great role model, Paris!

Miss Hilton, we at the Beacon have but only one suggestion to offer you, and readership, in times of extreme intoxication: take a taxi.

You’ve got to hand it to Glenn Beck: He’s always good for some entertainment.

In what has become a constant parody on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Beck, the host of his own conservative talk show on Fox News, hosted a revival-style rally in Washington, D.C., this weekend aimed at reclaiming America from politics and restoring the U.S. civil rights movement to a foundation of faith. Beck publicized the event, which he called “Restoring Honor,” as a turning point for America, which is a nation, Beck theorized, on the cusp of socialism.

But the stitch in the side of Democrats, and even some Republicans, was the timing and location of Beck’s rally: the Lincoln Memorial, the exact place where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech took place, on the same weekend, in 1963.

Beck claimed the timing of the event was nothing but

Staying the same — Public desire to see Spencer Pratt naked When you have no discernible skills or talents to offer society, only your creepy, flesh-colored beard and D-list level fame and Hollywood weight, you sometimes have to rely on sex tapes and fading fame from a pseudo-reality show to give you credibility. Unfortunately, Spencer Pratt is this person.

Pratt, who you may know for his significant lack of contributions to positive society, is currently marketing a sex tape starring his estranged wife, Heidi Montag, formerly of “The Hills,” both prior to and after her 10 plastic surgery procedures that dramatically altered her appearance.

Spencer, we at the Beacon are asking nicely, please do not release this tape. No one, and we do mean no one, wants to see you naked.

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.

Society avoids questioning new technology No tes on Art a n d L i te ra t u re by

Amien Essif

Some historians divide the 20th century into modern and post-modern society, rifting somewhere in the 1960s when information technology threatened a radical shift in the way humans would interact with the world, the real world — the way we would communicate with other humans and with our real environment. It seems that this rift, which, throughout the ’70s, the golden age of science fiction, and the ’80s began to be perceived by the general populace, shocked and frightened us.

But would it be unfair to say that the panic has dissipated — that we may have simply acclimated to the new artificial schema for understanding our reality?

Most people are content with this acceptance as long as the suicide rate has not drastically increased since the invention of, say, the text message. Others are not content, but only passive. That’s the way things are headed, so what’s to be done?

But what about the artists and academics who are supposed to care about humanity? It seems that they are just as eager as the next guy to download a new iPhone app that will scan a person’s face and tell you if you should be friends or not. Contemporary fiction writing is swollen with short stories about abusive fathers or homosexual vampires. And while a college student can major in race or gender studies, which is a good thing, he or she would be hard-pressed to find a class on media technology, unless it instructs the students how to exploit it for personal gain.

Much of this occurred to me last weekend. There is probably a better time to watch “Videodrome,” the 1983 film about a viral television emission, than on a Saturday afternoon. I probably should have folded up into an easy chair to listen to “A Prairie Home Companion,” but instead I blew my mind, and my Saturday, on a genius, yet disturbing, dystopian thriller.

“Videodrome” is about a video, Videodrome, that uses a technology so psychologically powerful that the emission sparks the growth of a tumor in the viewer’s

brain, leading to hallucinations and mental slavery to the technology’s creator. The original creator of the emissions was not a typical evil scientist planning to control society. In fact, he had infected himself with Videodrome because he believed modern reality had become too soft and dull and that his technology could create a reality better than the real thing.

Then the creator dies, Videodrome falls into the wrong hands, one strange thing leads to another, and by the end the film, the plot becomes so complex that no one should expect you to explain it to them.

The film raises some intelligent questions, though.

Does media technology have the power to transform the way we see reality, and is it possible to create a reality which could transcend our unplugged reality?

I am interested in the answers to these questions, but more so, I am interested in the strange fact that these questions sound 20 years old.

Unfortunately, my frustration with modern dialogue, or lack thereof, concerning the implications of technology is based on a hunch rather than sound statistics.

But what I do know is this: The Internet is what defines our age, and yet very few people seem interested in discussing it at the theoretical level. Every time I turn on NPR, there is another story about how text messaging stunts neuron growth or is bad for the longevity of the eye’s retina, but we’re avoiding the big questions that ought to be the responsibility of the university. There is no academic discipline, to my knowledge, that attempts a serious analysis of modern media on the scale of race and gender studies.

One final story: My father, a professor at UT, prepared a seminar last year that carried the title “Down With the Internet.” Somehow, the Knoxville News Sentinel picked up on it and contacted him, saying they were interested in his story. When he explained to the journalist that he was not a psychology professor interested in attention spans, but rather a humanities professor interested in the changing shape of society, the political complacency of a generation of consumers, the replacing of reality with the virtual pleasure of immediacy and the illusion of omniscience, the journalist didn’t call back. In the end, the course was never taught because of a lack of conscription.

—Amien Essif is a senior in English. He can be reached at aessif@utk.edu.

Smartphones change how brain works A Vie w Fro m t h e B o t to m by

Wiley Robinson

Zac Ellis

Ally Callahan

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I envision a holographic future. One day, everything will be accessible from a holographic interface that materializes before us at will. Every intangible thing about our lives will reside before us in the ether — every form of organization, communication, recreation.

Being creatures naturally motivated by intangible forces, forcing the abstract into the concrete shouldn’t be a difficult transition. Powered by a never-ceasing source of global wireless Internet, such a constant in our lives that merely saying the word would seem annoyingly analytic, like a poet musing about the air, we tap at the two-dimensional interface. 3-D is almost on the market. We drag an icon with our finger. Go through a list with a lazy wave of the hand.

However whimsically written, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that the technology in the passage above is already reality. Smartphones are what link the present to what a few years ago would still be scifi: the totally wireless, always connected, all-purpose interface.

But it’s a game-changer. The singular event that was the release of the first iPhone was not without its zeitgeist of change, but the gradual evolution of computers, digital music players, cellphones and every other specialized media device that’s been assimilated into these small screens has deprived us of the disorienting and awe-inspiring experience Apple's release should have been. A receptive energy worthy of how much the device and the enormous digital infrastructure behind it are changing things. How, exactly, is hard to tell.

We are familiar with the stereotypes that have been the subject of earlier studies, aimed more at popular social phenomena, like texting teens and Facebook fiends. Yet the subject of these current studies is both more general and more focused, because only now has enough time passed so that people are doing the same thing, with the same level of access at a similar and consistent rate. The industry stage, the major players and what they’re pushing is, for now, more or less constant: wireless access for all your information and communication needs at ever-increasing speeds.

It is critical to point out that the unprecedented potency of the smartphone comes from the fact that we

are already dependent on the services it offers: It merely puts them in our pockets — in a cellphone, if it can even be called that. The history of the world hasn’t remotely prepared language to accurately describe what iPhone and Droid actually do.

Basically, the phones compete with the physical world for your brain’s attention. It may seem benign enough to check your various inboxes and/or surf the web and/or explore a new app whenever you’re not preoccupied with something concrete like opening doors or making breakfast. It may even seem constructive and responsible to constantly be on top of your life. But the constant stream of centralized, low-level stimuli, however “relevant,” is extremely habit-forming. The most casual Facebooker has felt the pull of notifications, and anyone who texts feels the pull of text messages.

But a smartphone’s centralization of your information takes this anticipation to distracting new levels. The brain learns to anticipate incoming information, regardless of actual relevance to one’s life, as early man anticipated predators on the savanna.

Neuroeconomically speaking, the brain can’t tell the difference. More difficulty focusing and blocking out distractions were consistent results in users tested.

Understanding the consequences of the smartphone’s strong competition with the concrete involves the most rudimentary human learning processes. Human beings did not evolve with a constant stream of information potentially coming at them. The brain has evolved to process and remember new information most efficiently with little to no peripheral traffic happening in the background. Therefore, the constant stimulation that comes with obsessive use of smart phones (Is there any other way?) diverts processing capacity needed to remember and recall at full potential. Unnervingly, the most passive stimulus interrupts the process: It is easier to learn and remember walking through wilderness than through urban areas, with their distracting artificial constructs, like signs, words and flashes. The same principle applies.

Smartphones make us masters of information mediums the world has begun to value most. But we evolved to be hunter-gatherers, not digital data micromanagers. We’ve come so far in such a short time that such knowledge gaps are hardly surprising, but it’s hardly in the interest of industry prime movers preoccupied with possibilities to apply findings of our neurological limitations for our theoretical long-term well-being. Independent research of these studies is recommended.

—Wiley Robinson is an undecided sophomore. He can be reached at rrobin23@utk.edu.

Monday, August 30, 2010

The Daily Beacon • 5

NATION&WORLD

World muslims unite to aid Pakistan

Hurricane Earl threatens Carribbean

pendent organizations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani criticized donations made to foreign NGOs rather than the Pakistani government Sunday, saying much of the money would be wasted.

“Eighty percent of the aid will not come to you directly,” said Gilani, referring to Pakistani citizens.

“It will come through their NGOs, and they will eat half of it,” he said during a press conference in his hometown of Multan.

The floods began in the mountainous northwest about a month ago and have moved slowly down the country toward the coast in the south, inundating vast swaths of prime agricultural land and damaging or destroying more than 1 million homes.

Floodwaters surged into the southern town of Sujawal on Sunday after breaking through a levee on the Indus River two days earlier, said Hadi Baksh, a disaster management official in southern Sindh province. Most of the town's 250,000 residents had already fled, but the damage to homes, clinics and schools added to the widespread devastation the floods have caused across Pakistan.

Authorities in Sujawal were trying to limit the flood damage, but the water level has already risen up to 5 feet in the center of town and 10 feet in the surrounding villages, said Anwarul Haq, the top official in Sujawal.

The floodwaters also threatened Thatta, a historic city of some 350,000 people who have mostly fled to higher ground. Thatta is the base of operations for local authorities trying to cope with a disaster that has overwhelmed the Pakistani government

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico— Islanders set up emergency shelters and canceled flights on Sunday as newly born Hurricane Earl churned toward the northern Caribbean. Cruise lines diverted ships to avoid the storm’s path.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that Earl, with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, could hit the northern Leeward Islands as soon as Sunday night. It could become a major hurricane by Tuesday — probably while north of Puerto Rico.

People on several islands stuffed shopping carts with bottled water, canned food, milk, candles and batteries, while some tourists scrambled to board flights home. Others enjoyed the beach while they could.

“I’m just trying get a good suntan in while the weather is still cooperating,” said Linda Curren of New York City, sunbathing on San Juan’s Ocean Park beach as a few surfers paddled into pounding waves.

In Antigua, the V.C. Bird International Airport was set to close Sunday, while regional airline LIAT suspended several flights.

Cruise ships diverted to other ports in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Hardware stores were doing a brisk business in plywood and boards as jittery residents and employees of gleaming tourist hotels prepared to safeguard windows and doors.

“We haven’t been hit for quite a few years, but you may never know — this might be the time,” said Ashley Benta, from the Antiguan town of Gray’s Farm.

Fishermen and yacht owners tied down vessels in harbors scattered the northern Caribbean.

“We’re watching and waiting at this point,” said June Otway, a manager of Puerto Del Rey, a 1,100-slip marina in northeastern Puerto Rico.

Earl could bring battering waves and storm surge of up to three feet above normal tide levels in some areas, according to forecasters. Heavy rains could cause flash floods and mudslides.

Forecasters said Earl had several bands of thunderstorms wrapped around its center.

Early Sunday afternoon, Earl was about 190 miles east of Antigua, where the storm’s outer bands were starting to bring rain. Hurricane force winds extended outward up to 30 miles from its center.

Forecasters said there is a chance the hurricane could brush the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region toward the end of the week, with its closest approach to North Carolina on Thursday.

In any case, the U.S. East Coast is likely to see pounding surf from Earl.

Meanwhile, the Category 1 Hurricane Danielle was bringing dangerous rip currents to the U.S. East Coast. It was gradually weakening as it headed over the open Atlantic northeast of the British territory of Bermuda.

Associated Press ISLAMABAD— Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation’s history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday.

The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area’s biggest cities from suffering the same fate.

Foreign countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars to help Pakistan cope with the floods, which first hit the country about a month ago after extremely heavy monsoon rains. But some officials had criticized the Muslim world for not contributing enough.

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, head of the 57-member Organization of The Islamic Conference, likely sought to counter that criticism by announcing that Muslims have pledged nearly $1 billion. The pledges came from Muslim states, NGOs, OIC institutions and telethons held in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, he said.

“They have shown that they are one of the largest contributors of assistance both in kind and cash,” said Ihsanoglu of the various donors. He spoke during a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad.

Ihsanoglu did not provide a breakdown of the pledges or say how much of the money would flow through the Pakistani government versus inde-

Associated Press

and international partners who have stepped in to help.

Authorities rushed to build makeshift levees across the road connecting Sujawal and Thatta, parts of which were already flooded, Baksh said.

“We are trying to plug the bridges at three different points to stop the water flow toward Thatta,” said Baksh. “We are trying all our best efforts.”

Thatta is located about 75 miles southeast of the major coastal city of Karachi and 15 miles northwest of Sujawal.

Many of the people who fled Sujawal and Thatta headed to Makli, a hill just south of Thatta that contains a vast Muslim graveyard.

About half a million flood victims are camped out on the hill, Baksh said. Most lack any form of shelter and are desperate for food and water.

“We don’t have water to drink, not to mention food, tents or any other facility,” said Mohammed Usman, a laborer who fled Sujawal several days ago and needed water to help cope with a painful kidney stone.

The United Nations, the Pakistani army and a host of local and international relief groups have rushed aid workers, medicine, food and water to the affected regions, but are unable to reach many of the 8 million people who are in need of emergency assistance.

The U.S. said Saturday it would deploy an additional 18 helicopters to help with the relief effort. The U.S. military is already operating 15 helicopters and three C-130 aircraft in the country, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

UNFURN APTS

FOR RENT

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.

1 and 2BR Apts. UT area.

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

LUXURY 1BR CONDOS Pool/elevator/security.

3 min. walk to Law School. $480R. $300SD. No app. fee.

865 (4408-0006, 250-8136).

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

Monday Plaza 1BR and studios available on The Strip.

Starting at $365/mo. Call (865)219-9000 for information.

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

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.

Renaissance III and IV units for sale starting at $224k 3BR and 3BA condos. Also 2BR condos from $78k. Marty Hartsell (865)237-7914 www.utknoxcondo.com.

ROOMMATES

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

We need strong, athletic and conscienctious associates to help in our store. This job requires a lot of lifting and moving of furniture both in our store and to our customer’s homes. Skip a work out and get paid at the same time. Hours are 9-5 Monday thru Saturday, we can work around school schedules as needed. Please come by the store to drop off a resume or fill out an application at 5308 Kingston Pike or email a resume to roberts@bennettgalleries. com

Read the Beacon Classifieds!

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.

FOR RENT 2BR 2BA. Small pets okay.

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

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.

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

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

Close to UT. 2BR, 1BA, Kingston Place. Partially furnished. Light, bright and lots of parking. $600/mo. Call Cheryl (865)806-6029.

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.

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.

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This could be YOUR classified ad.

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CAMBRIDGE ARMS Just 4 miles west of campus.

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

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

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

982-5227

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.

CONDOS FOR SALE 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.

FURNITURE

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

38 “No ___!” (“Uncle!,” in Spanish)

1 Musical pace

6 Tractor maker John 39 Evenings in Paris 40 Coup d’___

11 Do (up), as a fly

41 Lowest-priced gas grade: Abbr.

14 Bird-related 15 Opposite of exit

42 Japanese religion

16 ___ Today (newspaper)

43 Monica player on “Friends”

17 County ENE of San Francisco

46 Language in Lahore

19 Was ahead

47 Broadcast

20 ___ & Tina Turner Revue

48 China’s Three Gorges project

21 Greek H’s

51 Alternative to a Quarter Pounder

22 Debate topics 24 Hall-of-Famer Williams

54 Photographed 55 “Yes, madame” 56 Palindromic girl’s name 57 Winter afflictions 60 Observer of Yom Kippur 61 Eating pork, to an observant 60Across 62 Dark, as a room 63 Pose a question 64 Does’ companions

25 End of many U.R.L.’s 26 ___ Easton Ellis, author of “American Psycho” 27 What a programmer writes 32 They get an eyeful 35 Take to court 36 Nutritionists’ nos.

37 Hit with a hammer

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

D R O S S S P I R O

B I E R C E O S M O N D

G R A N D I N Q U I S I T O R

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

J O E S

S P A Z

P O I N T A T S T E P O N E

L A N B O L A L M B R A A C E N K L E S E U T O C R U X T O P S O N C R S A S N R S E D O R M A T A I L

A D R I A N B E N I G N

Y E A T S Y E N T E

65 Irascible Down 1 Implied 2 Draw forth 3 Extracted ore 4 Butter serving 5 Publicly known 6 Leave suddenly 7 Grandson of Adam 8 Org. that produces college entrance exams 9 Pensioner 10 Blackboard accessory 11 Native of eastern South Africa 12 “Oh, right” 13 Goalie protectors 18 Elementary units 23 Largest of the Virgin Islands

26 A/C measures 27 Vitamin brand promoted as “Complete from A to Zinc” 28 Custom 29 Chief Norse god 30 Missile that might be tipped with curare 31 Old U.S. gas brand 32 Source of some of the oil for 31-Down 33 Attend 34 Hawaiian feast 38 It might start with “Starters” 39 Clever travel suggestion 41 British soldier in the American Revolution 42 Offspring

44 Political pamphlets 45 Brutes in “Gulliver’s Travels” 48 Ken and Barbie 49 Cheating bookkeeper’s fear 50 “Play ___ for Me” 51 Lower California, for short 52 Burl who won an Oscar for “The Big Country” 53 Get an eyeful 54 Pollution that may sting the eyes 58 Deg. from Wharton 59 Last number in a countdown

6 • The Daily Beacon

NEWS

Monday, August 30, 2010

Panel to demystify national health care reform islative maneuvering and political posturing that surrounded the consideration and passage of the bill. Since the bill became law, the debate has continued and is intensiBlair Kuykendall fying as we head into the mid-term elections. I truly think people yearn for information Staff Writer that is not politicized. I think they truly want to know what the bill means for them and For those who are unsure about how health care reform may affect them or aren’t the country.”

Providing faculty, students and the Knoxville community with this information will aware of the new health care reform, the Baker Center will host a panel answering be a difficult task. questions on the health care reform law on Aug. 31.

“The health care bill is over a thousand pages long. People are still digesting what Discussion will begin with a brief synopsis of the recent national health care overis included,” Myers said. “More important is the fact that the law only provides a haul, followed by more specific details on the provisions in the package pertaining to individuals without insurance, those relying on Medicare or Medicaid, and persons framework. The devil is in the details. These details are still being determined, and then they must be implemented. The translation of the law’s intent to programs and with employer-based coverage.

Both Carole Myers, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing, and Beth plan provisions we will see as end-users of health care is the most critical phase, and Uselton, a key leader of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, will share their perspec- this has not occurred for most of the terms of the new law.”

Students have already demonstrated their desire to partake in the historic decisions tives on the changes to the health care system. involved in restructuring health “The goal of Beth care.

Uselton, who is my partner “I especially appreciated how for the presentation, and I earnest and engaged the student is to do three things: proplanners and attendees were,” vide factual, non-partisan Myers said. “The students were information about key proconcerned about bills then visions of the health reform being discussed and how they law that passed earlier this would affect them personally, year, describe the impact of but they were also interested the law of key constituenand articulate about health care cies and respond to quesreform in a more general sense, tions from attendees at the because of its significant impact forum,” Myers said. on the well-being of the country.

While the health care Students were also concerned reform package may be a lot about the plight of others who of information to cover in are less fortunate than them.” one session, the panelists Attendees were concerned recognized the importance not only for the future of their of adapting the information health care, but expressed a ferto the individuals that will vent concern for the welfare of be attending. others.

“We have planned as “Many of the students much time for questions seemed genuinely motivated to and answers as we have for address the needs of the uninour presentations,” Myers sured and reorder our priorities said. “It is a priority of ours regarding health care,” Myers to be responsive to those said. “The students got it about who attend the forum and the value of preventative care, Carole R. Myers, right, and Beth Uselton, left, will be hosting a discussion entitled “What the Health Care answer appropriate quesscreening and primary care. I Reform Law Means to You” this Tuesday, Aug. 31, in the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. tions.” walked away from the presentaThe event has been taition impressed with the intellilored to be an interactive discussion rather than a traditional lecture. gence and compassion of the students in the attendance.”

“The Tuesday health care forum is an excellent opportunity for the public to better The evening should satisfy the congregation of curious citizens who will make it a understand the new health care law,” Dr. Michael R. Caudle, director of the health polpoint to attend. icy program at the Baker Center, said. “The focus is on explaining the legislation, not “There are so many reasons why there is confusion about the new health care plan,” debating the merits of its passage. We plan on devoting more than an hour to answerMyers said. “Some are attributable to the nature of the beast. Health care is inherenting questions.”

Organizers have designed this event as an opportunity to look into the future of the ly complex. Health care is big, representing almost 18 percent of our country’s GDP. “Health care is also highly personal. Each of us has different cultural and other America’s health care system, unencumbered by political bias.

“The forum on Aug. 31 is a public one,” Myers said. “I hope to see attendees of all meanings associated with what health is and what health care should entail. Humans ages and circumstances. ... As citizens, we must be engaged in policy-making, and we are extraordinarily complicated. We all experience illness and define wellness differentneed to transcend the partisanship and promotion of self-interests that is causing so ly. We don’t all respond to treatment the same.” much division and rancor in our country. I think this is a great opportunity for students to learn about how health care reform affects them and participate in policy-making.”

Both of the participating panelists will draw upon lots of experience in order to clarify the complexities of health care reform.

“Last November, one of my colleagues, Paul Erwin from the Department of Public Health, and I were asked by the University of Tennessee chapters of the American Medical Student Association and Amnesty International to do a program on health care reform especially tailored to students,” Myers said.

Myers is anxious to sort through the health care plan in a neutral setting, addressing fact instead of opinion.

“Beyond the complexity of health and health care, people are confused by all the partisan rhetoric and intentional or unintentional representations of what the law includes and what is does not include,” Myers said. “Some of the confusion is related to the leg-

Monday, August 30, 2010

ENTERTAINMENT

The Daily Beacon • 7

Country group celebrates future with ‘Reason’ Associated Press NASHVILLE — If ever there was a group with plenty of reason to pitch it in and give up, it’s Little Big Town.

The quartet with the sweet harmonies, uncommon versatility and Job-like bad luck released its fourth album, “The Reason Why,” this week. Its members have been rocked by personal difficulties and unfortunate business twists and turns that always seemed to come just as the group appeared to be gaining momentum on its move to the loftier reaches of country music.

Yet as Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet approach their 12th year together, they’ve never felt more positive that all their troubles are behind them and the best times are near. They’ve been opening for Sugarland in front of big crowds and they hope their fourth record on their fourth label, “The Reason Why,” will push them to their own headliner status.

“As we wrote and we recorded, that was our goal. Definitely. We pushed ourselves harder than we ever have,” Schlapman said. “If there was even a slight question — ‘Should this go on the record?’ — no way. It was put aside. When it came time to write new songs, it had to blow everybody away or it was shipped out.”

Capitol Nashville executives feel “The Reason Why” is special and could help the band join its ranks of recent million-sellers like Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” and Darius Rucker’s “Learn To Live.”

“I know that everybody in town wanted this band and we were over the top when we got them because we felt like we had just won the lottery,” said Cindy Mabe, the Capitol Nashville’s senior vice president of marketing.

“The Reason Why” shows off Little Big Town’s best asset — its versatility. Each member contributed songs and took turns on lead vocals, and the album ebbs and flows as each bandmate’s personality moves to the forefront.

Little Big Town moves with ease from opener “The Reason Why,” built on the band’s sig-

nature four-part harmony, to Westbrook’s rock ‘n’ roll-flavored “Runaway Train” to the sassy single “Little White Chapel.” The song, which sprouted from an inspirational moment in the shower for Fairchild and has become a top 15 hit on Billboard’s country music chart, is an unintentional response to Beyonce’s “All The Single Ladies.”

“It’s the redneck version,” Westbrook joked.

It took a team effort to write those songs and that team concept is what has carried the band through all those stressful times. Each member has an equal say and plays specific roles.

Fairchild, for instance, loves the business end of their life together. Sweet is the guy they turn to when it’s time to arrange the music.

“We’re out for each other’s interests and we’re also really keenly aware of what each of us wants,” said Fairchild, who recently had her first child with husband Westbrook. “I could probably define for you what each of them wants in the music or what they’re looking for in a song. And they could about me, so there’s that kind of collective intuition about music and business decisions. And then we live and die about it. If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work and we go, well we did it.”

Little Big Town hopes to return to the status it attained in 2005 with the million-selling “The Road To Here,” which produced two top 10 hits. Everything they did on the new album was geared toward that next level and Mabe said Capitol believes the band is headed that way.

“We intend to take them back there, whether it takes one album or two albums, or whatever it takes to get there,” Mabe said. “But we intend for this band to be a platinum act.”

Whatever happens, the members of Little Big Town expect it to be fun. They’ve drawn a line between the problems of the past and the promise of the future, and they’re not looking back.

“We’re just enjoying this moment,” Fairchild said. “We hope that great things come from this record and we’re so happy to be a part of country music. We do enjoy the music the same way we did 11 years ago in a van in front of 50 people at a little club where no one knew us.

There’s still that same joy in hearing the harmonies back on something you wrote, only it’s a lot more fun to sing in front of 14,000 people.”

Smokey says RECYCLE

YOUR BEACON!

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon )

Graduate art student Alicia Faciane’s “Trash Talkin’ Morning, Noon & Night” in the Fresh Pickin’s Incoming Graduate Student Art Show. The exhibition, shown Aug. 21 through 28, featured works from incoming graduate art students in UT’s Downtown Art Gallery.

8 • The Daily Beacon

THESPORTSPAGE

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lady Vols take Comcast Lady Vol Classic title Anthony Elias Staff Writer The 19th-ranked Lady Vols volleyball team (3-0, 0-0 SEC) swept its way to a second-consecutive Comcast Lady Vol Classic championship at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Senior Nikki Fowler was awarded the tournament MVP for the second straight year, while teammates DeeDee Harrison and Leah Hinkey received All-Tournament honors.

Xavier Freshman Kelsey Robinson proved to be an “X”-factor in her debut in the Lady Vols sweep of the Xavier Musketeers, 25-17, 25-15, 25-23, on Friday night.

The Bartlett, Ill., native had nine kills and 16 digs in a match where the Lady Vols were trying to shake off some of their pregame jitters.

“It was really exciting, because we’d been playing against ourselves for awhile now,” Robinson said. “So it’s good to get out there and see how we compare against all these other teams.”

The outside hitter’s performance paved the way for her teammates, including Fowler, who added 13 kills and 11 digs to snag her 36th career doubledouble.

Xavier’s Shannon Voors made sure UT paid for it’s early mistakes, though, scoring 14 kills and nine digs.

On the other side, junior Amanda Friday, who replaced the defensive record-breaker Chloe Goldman at libero, dominated the court for UT. The Springfield, Va., native had 13 digs and four assists.

The second set remained a 33 tie, but it would be the closest

Xavier would get to the Lady Vols.

Robinson and 2009 All-SEC Second Team-honoree Kayla Jeter unleashed a combined offensive strike during a 14-7 run, before Xavier head coach called a time out. Jeter and Robinson finished the set with four kills each and 8.5 points combined.

The Lady Vols may have been picked as the favorites to win the SEC, but last year’s Atlantic-10 runner-up didn’t let the accolades intimidate them, as the Lady Musketeers jumped on the Lady Vols 11-9. The Lady Vols bounced back with a 12-5 run before Fowler closed the first set with consecutive kills, 25-17, to finish off Xavier. DeeDee Harrison’s presence in front of the net, along with five kills, boosted the Lady Vols.

Xavier’s strongest effort of the match came in the third set; UT’s four attack errors put led to a 7-3 hole before a timeout was called to allow the Lady Vols to regroup. Off of seven kills, three from Fowler, Tennessee responded and took the lead, 1311, thanks to a 10-4 run before another Xavier timeout.

Chattanooga The Lady Vols swept their second straight opponent in the first match of a double-header Saturday afternoon, cruising past Chattanooga, 25-21, 25-11, 25-13.

For the second straight night, a Bartlett, Ill., native played solid in her debut with the Lady Vols in their first match of a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

Freshman Carly Sahagian scored seven kills and scooped a team-high 12 digs.

“That is encouraging to see, especially out of a freshman,” Lady Vols coach Rob Patrick said. “And the best part was that she was able to do it without

making many errors. She didn’t allow the magnitude of playing in a collegiate match to interfere with her performance. That is a very mature attitude for a freshman to have.”

Fowler quietly added her 18th-straight double-double and 37th career double with 12 kills and 10 digs, while collecting three aces and two blocks. The Lady Vols are 18-2 when the outside hitter scores double digits in two categories.

Harrison continued her allaround play with career highs in kills (11) and digs (3) while adding three blocks, and Leslie Cikra added seven kills to go along with a .333 attack percentage.

The Lady Mocs only managed one lead throughout the entire match, a 1-0 lead in the opening set of the match, but had no answers for the Lady Vols throughout the match.

“I told the team in the locker room that I was actually very happy with the match in its entirety,” Patrick said. “Another positive from this match was that we were able to stay organized on the court despite playing a lot of different people. Even when we brought in a few new players, the team continued to play disciplined volleyball at a very high level.”

Virginia Tech Playing in front of the fifthlargest crowd in school history (1,307), the Lady Vols clinched the Comcast Lady Vols Classic championship with a sweep of the Virginia Tech Hokies, 25-18, 25-17, 25-21.

Patrick couldn’t help but express the impact that the home crowd made on the Orange and White, saying the arena’s support helped energize the team off of a three-game-intwo-days span.

“When you’re playing at

Former UT star Watson joins Bulls Staff Reports The Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that former Tennessee point guard C.J. Watson (2003-06) has joined the Chicago Bulls following a sign-and-trade agreement with the Golden State Warriors.

Watson, 26, spent the last three years with Golden State, averaging 8.7 points, 2.4 assists and 2.3 rebounds in 23.2 minutes per game. Last season, Watson averaged 10.3 points on 46.8 percent shooting with 2.8 assists per game. He averaged 27.5 minutes and started 15 games.

“We are so proud of C.J.,” UT coach Bruce Pearl said. “He’s a great role model. This summer he was here in Knoxville working toward his degree, knowing full well he was getting ready to sign a big contract. That speaks volumes about his character and his commitment to finish something he started.”

A native of Las Vegas, Nev., Watson scored a career-high 40 points this past season while leading the Warriors to a win over Sacramento Feb. 17. He also scored 38 points in a victory over Utah in April 2009.

The Warriors reportedly received a 2011 second-round draft pick in return for Watson, who was a restricted free agent. Full terms of Watson’s contract with Chicago have not been disclosed.

“It’s been kind of a whirlwind,” Watson told ESPNChicago.com’s Nick Friedell. “Especially (Monday) since everybody found out. I got a lot of phone calls and a lot of things from friends and family. It’s been a great time and everyone’s excited for me, and I’m excited to get out there.”

“Everyone’s told me great things about Chicago, the city. Especially since it’s the place where (Michael) Jordan played. And going in there with so much tradition and history, it’s going to be fun to go out there and play every night and play in front of those fans.”

Watson was a second-team All-SEC selection as a UT senior in 2006. He ranks second in Tennessee history in career assists (577) and career steals (198) while ranking third in career steals per game (1.7) and fourth in career assists per game (4.85).

With 1,424 career points as a Vol, Watson ranks 17th on Tennessee’s all-time scoring list.

Pat Summitt says, “Recycle your Beacon!”

home, and even if you are tired, with this fantastic crowd we had, today I think we had over 1,300, you're going to keep that energy going, you’re not even going to feel tired,” Patrick said.

“I think it was more mentally draining than physically draining for them.”

The Lady Vols experienced power hitters Fowler, Jeter and Hinkey led the offensive show.

UT’s big three combined for 27 kills on 53 total attacks, while only committing five errors, and their presence on the outside gave Harrison gaps in the center of the court to attack, as the UT sophomore middle blocker snagged eight kills on 14 total attempts for a .457 percentage.

Harrison said the offense’s success comes from “being on the same page” with Patrick and knowing what he wants the team to do.

“When we have that mindset on the court, it’s like you don’t even have to look at him to know what he wants us to do,” the Nashville native said. “It’s kind of like we’re on the same page.”

Despite a 3-3 tie in the opening set, the Lady Vols stopped the Hokies from gaining any momentum. Harrison’s .714 attack percentage, along with five kills, gave UT the offense it needed to take the set lead.

Virginia Tech managed a short-lived lead in the second set, at 10-7, in part because of an offensive charge from junior Jennifer Wiker's five-kill, twodig effort. The Hokies outside hitter finished with a team-high 13 kills on 31 total attacks with 13.5 points and managed to get help from teammate Cara Baarendse, who had eight kills and four digs.

UT, the preseason SEC favorites for only the fourth time in the last 20 years, is now 27-5 at home since 2008.

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon

The volleyball team huddles before a game last season. The Lady Vols won the Lady Vol Classic this past weekend in dramatic fashion, sweeping the tournament and finishing with a victory over Virginia Tech amid the fifth-largest crowd in school history.