The Daily Beacon

Page 1

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Issue 55, Volume 121

Senator speaks on economy, state of nation RJ Vogt News Editor During the inaugural Baker Distinguished Lecture Series, Senator George Mitchell began with an explanation of his expertise as a speaker. He shared an anecdote of his first day in the Senate in 1980, when he was informed by his new assistant that he had been asked to give a keynote address on the tax codes at the National Association of Certified Public Accountants convention. The young Mitchell expressed surprise. “I said, ‘The tax code? You got 2,000 people in the audience and every one of them will know more than I do.’ The young man looked at me, and in a voice dripping with sarcasm and condescension, he said, ‘You’re now in the United States Senate. Every day, you’re going to be called upon to speak in public on things which you know nothing about, so you might as well get started.’ So I did, and I here I am to tell you what’s going on

in the world.” He shared thoughts With colorful stories on the economy, proand humorous one-linposing that the soluers, Mitchell set a comtion to the “fiscal cliff” fortable tone in the Cox is men and women like Auditorium. Alexandra Senator Howard Baker Chiasson, sophomore in and his wife, Senator English, attended the Nancy Kassebaum. lecture as a Baker “They demonstrated Ambassador, and espein their careers a capaccially enjoyed his canity to stand firm on didness. their principles, but “I thought that was also to be able to great, it’s really wonderunderstand that others ful when a politician can who disagree also have step down from their principles, and to be assumed pedestal … and able to find common talk to the people they ground,” he said. are serving,” she said. His comment was “He’s personable and greeted with a round of was willing to answer applause. After his lecour questions and talk ture, Mitchell was to students. I think it’s asked by WUOT • Photo courtesy of www.wacnh.org staffer Chrissy Keuper really great to see someone removed from what how he himself manFormer senator George Mitchell speaks at an event in New aged to find common we see on TV.” The former senator Hampshire. Mitchell spoke to students at UT on Tuesday. ground in his resoluspoke for an hour, tions in the Senate and addressing the current state of was a great nation from its decline’ … I strongly disagree. abroad. He negotiated the the nation’s government. He inception, long before it was a We do have challenges abroad, Good Friday Agreement specifically addressed the great economic or military but I think we can meet them between Northern Ireland and power,” Mitchell said. “Much and as always in the past, the Republic of Ireland, and strength of American ideals. “Because of our ideals, I has been written, recently, come out of them stronger and also wrote “The Mitchell believe that the United States about so-called ‘American better.” Report” on violence in the

‘Writers’ program ends for semester Melodi Erdogan Staff Writer Hodges Library hosted their last “Writers in the Library” event for the semester. The final reading on Monday featured Knoxville native and UT alumnus, author David Madden. Students and staff members gathered in the library auditorium to listen to a few excerpts from Madden’s tenth, newlyreleased novel, “London Bridge in Plague and Fire.” “For all my books I’ve always come to Knoxville to give a reading because I have such a love of Knoxville,” said Madden, who has participated in “Writers in the Library” events before. “I want to know that people in Knoxville know what is in my imagination and I want to be able to share it with them.” Charlie Sterchi, senior in English, attended Madden’s reading for extra credit in his fiction writing class. Sterchi said he was impressed by Madden’s resume and did not know he was such an experienced writer. “Usually the speakers that they have are only mostly just fiction writers, but since David Madden writes not only fiction but also poetry, the audience was much wider, and he’s a pretty prolific writer with 39 published works and all,” Sterchi said. Madden’s new novel is a historical story that focuses on the original London

Bridge created by Peter de Colechurch and how the poet in the story discovers more about the creator and the history behind the bridge. Madden said that the pieces he selected to read were chosen to connect back to each other so they can also complement each other. “(During the reading) we’re going back and forth between these sets of lives that are two or three centuries apart,” Madden said. “The similarities are actually created by the poet because he is writing the stuff in the past, and so what is happening with him and his mistress, he tries to mirror in some way with what is actually happening.” To begin the reading, Madden played instrumental English music from the 19th century throughout the auditorium. Sterchi, who frequents the “Writers in the Library” events, said that he enjoyed Madden’s original reading and special touch. “I came in knowing that he is an animated reader but I didn’t really know what to expect,” he said. “Usually the authors don’t have their own introduction music, but he definitely lived up to my expectations as an animated reader and he just really is an interesting guy.” Michael Knight, a professor of creative writing, said he is a big Madden fan and also appreciated Madden’s style during his reading. See WRITERS on Page 3

Middle East, and is renowned for his ability to resolve conflict. “It’s a responsibility of political leaders to lead. And one of the most important ways that political leaders can lead in conflicting societies is by making clear that there is a realistic way forward,” Mitchell said. “Not a foolish or unrealistic way, but pointing out that the problems that exist can be dealt with in non-violent ways.” Although Baker and Mitchell were on opposite sides of the aisle during the short time together in the Senate, Mitchell explained the special relationship they had. “In my early years in the Senate, which was precarious, I was appointed. I wasn’t supposed to be there long,” he said. “I had no conception that I might someday be Senate Majority Leader. I had the opportunity to learn from a man who had intelligence and common sense, and most of all, integrity.” See MITCHELL on Page 3

Transit system gets facelift David Cobb Assistant News Editor A few thousand students won’t be the only part of campus graduating this spring. UT’s current bus transit system, “The T,” will drive its final routes in May before a new bus system takes over in the summer. That new bus system doesn’t have a name — at least not yet — and until Thursday at midnight, UT students have an opportunity to suggest a title for the buses they’ll be riding for the rest of their academic tenure. An online suggestion box is open exclusively to students, and is accessible at the “Your Bus, Your Idea” tab of SGA’s website (sga.utk.edu). The decision to make the naming process open to student input stemmed from the opinion that SGA Vice President Terry Nowell and Student Services Director Taelor Olive voiced during recent meetings with UT administrators. “This is not a bus system for ‘Big Orange, Big Ideas,’ marketing,” Nowell

said. “This is not a bus system for the chancellors. This is not a bus system for the athletic department. This is a bus system for the students. And with that, we see it as paramount to make sure that the students like and have input into what it’s called.” As compared to the current buses, most of which are blandly colored and feature advertisements, the new system is set to be tailored specifically to UT. “It basically will be the university’s system,” said Mark Hairr, director of Parking and Transit Services. “The buses would be brand new, would be branded with our name and our logo for the campus transit system and (would) be dedicated solely to campus transit service.” Nowell said that meetings remained civil, but did get heated as he and Olive proposed greater student input in the naming process. “It will be a way to make sure that students are really voicing their opinions and really having their input made so that it’s not just a couple people in a boardroom put there to look like they

are student representatives,” Nowell said. “We’re really happy about it, and the survey so far, it has been going really well and we’re hoping that it kind of keeps its momentum going these next couple days. We really do need students to check it out.” The top five names for the system will be taken and presented to administrators after the survey closes Thursday at midnight. The final name will be announced in the spring as “The T” drives its final routes around campus. “The main thing that Taelor and I realized is that students, especially with a decision that’s as tangible as this, have to have input,” Nowell said. “‘Big Orange, Big Ideas’ did not have the student representation and public nature that we’re hoping this will. We’re hoping really that this makes students feel like they really are a part of this new bus system. “Because that’s ultimately what it is, it’s their bus system and we need them to have the most amount of impact in it as possible.”

File Photo • The Daily Beacon

A KAT bus makes a stop on Neyland Drive on July 29, 2010. The university announced that First Transit will be replacing the Knox Area Transit next summer.


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