Partly Cloudy with a 30% chance of rain HIGH LOW 90 69
Will Abrams sums up Oscar contenders
Vols look for win against experienced Blazers
Friday, September 24, 2010
PAGE 8 T H E
E D I T O R I A L L Y
Issue 27 I N D E P E N D E N T
PUBLISHED SINCE 1906
S T U D E N T
PAGE 6
http://utdailybeacon.com
Vol. 115
N E W S P A P E R
O F
T H E
U N I V E R S I T Y
O F
T E N N E S S E E
New Norris House to model green designs Doug Johnson Staff Writer After two years of preparation, construction on the sustainable New Norris House in Norris, Tenn., has begun. The New Norris House, designed by a team from UT, is intended to be a modern take on the original house built in Norris as an aspect of the 1933 TVA Norris Dam Project. The town of Norris was originally built in 1933 as a model-planned community aimed at affordable housing for workers from the dam project. Norris is located in Anderson County, slightly northwest of Knoxville. Norris has historically been a trendsetter — some of the first all-electric homes were in Norris; the town was the first in Tennessee to have a complete dial telephone system; and Norris Creamery was the first milk-producing plant in the world to be powered exclusively by electricity. The trendsetting of Norris continues now with the New Norris House. Speaking on behalf of the team working on the New Norris House, Temporary Research Specialist from the College of Architecture and Design Levi Hooten said that the project began as a proposal for a competition. “(The New Norris House) springs from the original vision of the Norris Cottage,” he said. “Phase One of the New Norris House project began as a proposal for the national EPA P3 competition on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Our proposal recognized the town of Norris’ incredible history as a progressive urban plan that results in a definite spirit of community. “We were also interested in the changes our society and the town has seen during the past 75 years, including the effects of
globalization, the rise in automobile use, the desire for larger residences and the impact of digital technology on work, information and goods.” Much of the funding for the New Norris House comes from the EPA grant the team won at the EPA P3 competition, with supplementary funding provided by the UT Alliance of Women Philanthropists, the Clayton Homes Foundation and General Shale. The project is led by the UT College of Architecture and Design and includes participants from the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment, the College of Engineering and the Department of Environmental Studies. The New Norris House, once completed, will feature many amenities foreign to the town of Norris. “(The house) will use generous openings for natural light and natural ventilation to create expansive spaces of greater environmental quality that also become very intentional in the framing of the local Appalachian landscape,” Hooten said. “The emphasis on natural light and shading, natural ventilation and heat-recovery systems, and improvements to the thermal envelope and insulation are a direct response to the shortcomings of the original Norris cottage … The water system that will be installed will be both more efficient for the residents, while also benefitting the aging infrastructure of the town. “A solar hot-water collector, a rainwater collection cistern and a gray-water filtration system are elements new to the town of Norris, reducing the load needed from public infrastructure while returning water back to the water table in a more responsible manner … In general, elements within the house are being chosen for their efficiency, requiring less energy and operational costs to the resident.”
• Photo courtesy of College of Architecture and Design
The New Norris House was one of six winners of the Environmental Protection Agency’s People Prosperity and the Planet in 2009. Here students work on priming the siding and furring strips outside the Art and Architecture building.
See NORRIS HOUSE on Page 2
Speaker criticizes beauty stereotypes UT works to increase student success cerning beauty are a problem on UT’s campus and everywhere,” she said. “We are going to try to bring in more speeches about body image to Staff Writer raise awareness and help the students at the uniA few years ago, Dove launched a “Real versity.” Nadeau explained that one of the main goals Women” campaign to showcase women of all of the “Real Women” campaign was “to encourshapes, sizes and backgrounds. UT’s Women’s Coordinating Council brought age women to take great care of themselves and one of these women, 25-year-old Stacy Nadeau, encourage women to be their own very best self.” Nadeau explains that a mere 10 percent of the to speak to UT students Wednesday on issues population makes up surrounding the models seen on billthe percepboards and runways, tions of and on top of that, they male and are manipulated, airf e m a l e brushed and changed. beauty. “They are not even Her good enough,” Nadeau speech, said. ”How the heck are “Embracing we ever going to be?” R e a l She then went on to B e a u t y, ” explain how being a p re s e n t e d friend, removing negaproblems tive self-images and with the Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon stopping “fat talk” can fashion i n d u s t r y Stacy Nadeau, a Dove Real Woman, came to UT help improve selfand the neg- Wednesday night via the Women’s Coordinating esteem. Her speech also covative images Council. Nadeau was featured in a 2005 Dove instilled in Campaign for Real Beauty. She talked about ered the problems with men and how to make women feel beautiful in everyday passing judgment on men and women, both w o m e n life. overweight and underworldwide. weight. She explained Nadeau explained that Dove conducted a global survey that just as many negative judgments and stereoasking the question, “Do you feel comfortable types are placed upon underweight men and calling yourself beautiful?” and only 2 percent women, and it is equally hard for people in this category to cope with ideas of beauty. responded “yes.” Jones said she liked the fact that Nadeau “There was a moral obligation to do somefocused on women of all shapes and sizes. thing about this at this time,” she said. “I like how she discussed both aspects of The fact that 98 percent of women had a negative self-image would certainly raise a lot of things, and I am glad she brought up the point questions, but Dove took a step in an attempt to about smaller women,” she said. “I know that whether women are small or large, they have a change these perceptions. Many students were also concerned about problem with placing themselves within the ideas of beauty.” these statistics. Dove’s “Real Women” campaign was the first “The statistics she (Nadeau) provided about how only 2 percent of women consider them- of its kind. Its goal was to change advertising and selves beautiful was interesting and surprising,” make great strides in changing the way in which Jessica Simmons, sophomore in journalism and people consider beauty. As a professional speaker and author, Nadeau electronic media, said. Ebony Jones, chair of the WCC and senior in offered a message for the world: These falsified advertising, found the same statistics trouble- images of men and women are defining the ideas of beauty, and it is creating negative self images some. “The WCC knows that the ideas about con- and, in turn, negative mental health.
Chris Bratta
Task force to utilize VOLVision, SophoMORE programs Alyce Howell Staff Writer UT’s Academic Efficiency and Effectiveness Task Force has taken on the task of enhancing academic policies and resource allocation on campus with the hopes of increasing the students’ success. The first thing the university is doing is coming up with new specific initiatives and strategies that will work to make the most efficient use of our most scarce resources — the faculty and the courses they teach. A retention task force was charged to develop recommendations on increasing student retention in 2007. The task force consists of faculty, staff and students, all working to streamline academic progression. “We want to make sure that we are offering the appropriate number of courses, working to prevent bottlenecks from developing as students progress through their degrees and implementing policies and procedures that promote student retention and progress to graduation,” Susan Martin, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said. Student retention from the first to the second year is a national benchmark for measuring student success. After the first year, many students leave colleges for various reasons. However, if a university can increase student success in the first year, graduation rates usually increase. “The retention and graduation of students is one of the highest priorities for the university, as outlined in our draft strategic plan, VOLVision, and in the chancellor’s metrics on the Top 25 initiative,” Martin said. In 2007, the retention rate was 78 percent, and it has now risen to 83 percent. The rise is linked to a number of initiatives and practices that have been put into place, including more intrusive intervention with students experiencing academic difficulty in the first year. Other measures include supplemental instruction in first-year courses, as well as an enhanced academic welcome to the university during Welcome Week. Along with the programs designed for first years in mind, the task force has also started the SophoMORE program, focusing on success initiatives for second-year students. This initiative is designed to enhance student retention and success beyond freshman year. The plan neccesitates further investment in academic advising, development of the UTrack system to assist students in making progress towards degrees, and developing a more robust summer-school program, which will offer students the courses they need to graduate. Students think these programs show initiative by the university. “I think it’s a good thing, because (it) shows that the university cares about students and their future,” Felicia White, undecided freshman, said. The task force also encourages students to take 15 hours per semester to graduate on time. “We know what a big investment it is to work on a university degree both in terms of time, money and lost opportunity to enter the workforce,” Martin said. “We want to help you make the most efficient use of your resources in obtaining your degree.”