The Daily Beacon

Page 1

Follow us: @DailyBeacon

Bray practicing again, not clear for game Saturday

PAGE 6 T H E

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Issue 63

E D I T O R I A L L Y

S T U D E N T

Thailand floods leave country in state of emergency PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

PAGE 5

http://utdailybeacon.com

Vol. 118

I N D E P E N D E N T

Mostly Cloudy 70% chance of rain HIGH LOW 64 43

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

SGA encourages students to get involved Upgrades in academic advising, summer courses part of race to being in top 25 Deborah Ince Staff Writer “The spirit of being a Volunteer is figuring out how we remain true to who we are while encouraging students to engage academically and have faculty and staff continue to challenge them,” said Melissa S. Shivers, assistant vice chancellor for Student Life. On Thursday night, Shivers served as guest speaker at SGA Government Affairs’ Top 25 Forum, speaking about ways UT is striving to become a top 25 collegiate institution. Shivers spoke to forum attendees at the Baker Center on ways UT is working on improving overall experience for its students. The top 25 strategic goals, she stated, first began as Vol Vision — a process trying to engage students, faculty, staff, alumni, and other constituent groups through interviews and other processes to learn what UT can do to improve its campus. “We look at our top 25 peers, and we aspire to be like them, but not them,” Shivers said. Shivers listed that the five goals UT is attempting to achieve are strengthening the focus on undergraduate study, increasing research and scholarship capacity, recruiting increased numbers of diverse graduate students, retaining a higher number of faculty and staff, and extending the school’s overall resource base. “The top 25 institutions have high research and scholarship base,” Shivers said. “They’re constantly challenging students to think outside the box.” With $200,000 already invested in improving research, Shivers applauded UT’s academics and efforts to improve the school thus far, stating, “We continue to attract the highest academic students.” She believes that UT can compete with the toprated U.S. institutions in the country if it continues to listen to and address student and faculty concerns. One major goal of UT is to improve the undergraduate graduation time to four years. “Being in the top 25 for something is a good thing; it’s the same thing for school,” said Taelor Olive, a sophomore in biological sciences and Cochair of Government Affairs. “We need funding, better facilities, and money to make the university

better.” UT is currently engaging in projects that aim to uplift students in their social and academic lives, including tutoring, advising, and counseling. “We’re trying to expand tutoring here in UT in order to accommodate students who want to participate in tutoring,” Shivers said, also adding that UT has already hired a new tutoring director. This summer will also be the first time that tutors will be offered for students enrolled in summer semester courses. UT is also working to improve its academic advising. Since January, nine academic advisors have been added to staff, and a new online advising schedule is also under construction. In terms of counseling, Shivers encouraged attendees to take advantage of the on-campus resources UT offers, stating that the university is seeking more funding to support additional counselors at the Student Counseling Center. Other areas UT is working to improve are its summer school course selections, improving the Chancellor’s Honors Program, continuing the Life of the Mind program, maintaining the LeaderShape program, and expanding the Ignite program which is an opportunity for incoming freshmen to learn more about opportunities outside the classroom setting. “We want students to participate in more than just learning,” Shivers said. UT is also working on adopting a “one-stop shop” modeled after the University of Minnesota. This “one-stop shop” allows students to go to a single place on campus to get various questions and concerns answered about advising, financial aid, scholarships and other areas. At the conclusion of the forum, Shivers addressed student concerns about what they would like to see improve on-campus, including implementing more scholarships for transfer students and seeking additional funding for study abroad programs. “That’s pretty exceptional and exciting that you all have been engaging in discussions to reach the top 25,” Shivers told attendees. “We need to ask ourselves: what is it going to take for us to become a top 25 institution?”

Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon

Melissa S. Shivers, assistant vice chancellor for Student Life, spoke to the audience about how UT is working towards the goal of being a top 25 school. There are several goals the university wants to accomplish, including improving academic advising and summer courses.

Lady Vols excel in first big win Economic climate calls for change Patrick MacCoon Staff Writer For the first time this season the third-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols were put to a tough test, as they hosted the seventh-ranked Miami Hurricanes Tuesday night in the State Farm Tip-off Classic. The Lady Vols’ depth was too much for the Hurricanes in the end, as five players finished in double figures in UT’s 92-76 victory, extending their home win streak to 38. One of the storylines on the night was the match-up between the Lady Vols senior forward Shekinna Stricklen and the Hurricanes’ senior guard Shenise Johnson, who were both selected as preseason first-team All-Americans. Stricklen finished with 15 points (12 in second half) on 6-of-13 shooting and had seven rebounds, while Johnson scored 17 points on 8-of-19 and gathered nine rebounds. “We’ve got to have Shekinna put up big numbers to win, and that’s the bottom line,” said UT associate head coach Holly Warlick. “She didn’t get the job done in the first half but she responded and came out and had some big buckets in the second half. Your big time players have to step up for you to win.” With the national spotlight locked in on “The Summitt,” both teams came out strong on the offensive side of the ball, especially from three-

point land. Miami took an early 8-2 lead and were hot from downtown, as senior guard Riquna Willams sunk her third threepointer at the 16:03 mark to put the Canes’ up 16-10. However, the Lady Vols answered back without hesitation. Highlighted by an Ariel Massengale 3-pointer, the Lady Vols went on an 8-0 run to take back the lead 18-16 with 13:33 before the half. In the first seven minutes the two teams had combined for eight successful 3-pointers. The battle between the two carried on into the half with the score tied at 42 at intermission. Leading scorers at halftime were UT’s Taber Spani with 13 points and UM’s Williams with 17. Massengale at the half had six points and eight assists. “At the beginning of the game, everyone was talking about, ‘stay confident,’”Massengale said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing against. We came out ready to play.” Massengale’s presence on the floor continued to be a major asset early in the second period, as the 5-foot-6 point guard led UT on an 184 run to take a 60-46 lead with 16:10 left in the game. The Canes fought their way back again with a 20-13 run, cutting the lead down to five. However, Spani and the Lady Vols quickly extinguished their opponent’s

momentum, as she hit her fourth three-pointer as the shot clock expired, giving UT a 76-68 lead with 6:31 left to play. The Lady Vols sealed the deal, outscoring the Canes 16-8 on their way to the impressive early-season victory over a team that many believe have the best guards in the country in Johnson and Williams. “It certainly felt like a March game in November,” said UT coach Pat Summitt. “I’m proud of how our team responded tonight against a really good Miami team.” For the second straight game the Lady Vols had five players finished in double figures scoring: Spani (20), Simmons (18), Glory Johnson (16), Stricklen (15) and Massengale (11). Massengale finished one assist away from a doubledouble. Williams led Miami in scoring with a game-high 24 points. UT shot 47.8 percent from the field, while the Canes’ shot 40.8 percent. The Lady Vols were outrebounded 4439, just the third time that has happened in the past two seasons. Miami turned the ball over 21 times on the night while UT only had 13 turnovers. The next opponent on the schedule for the No. 3 Lady Vols (2-0) will be an away square-off with the ACC’s Virginia Lady Cavaliers (2-0) on Monday at 2 p.m. EST.

Morgan McConnell Staff Writer The American dream, a shining ideal that has served as a beacon of hope for so many for so long, is floundering. 25 million Americans cannot find full-time employment. One out of six people are living in poverty, people’s rights are being threatened, and corporate influence has pervaded our most basic institutions. Yet all this can be changed if Americans fight now. This idea was keenly expressed Wednesday night during Rosalyn Woodward Pelles’ lecture, “Fighting for the American Dream.” Pelles, who is the director of the Civil, Human and Women’s Right Department at the national AFL-CIO as well as chair of the board of the Highlander Research and Education Center, spoke to UT students, faculty members and activists about current issues that threaten the ideals which have become synonymous with the American spirit. “I believe that what America saw in the 1930s is once again the reality we face today — the erosion of America’s promise, and therefore the denial of the American dream,” Pelles said. Pelles, who has bent her life’s work around the organizing of workers’ and civil rights, sees the current treatment of America’s working class as one such eroding factor. “Today we are experiencing a great economic crisis that is stacked on the backs of working people while the rich continue to make profits,” Pelles said. “Right now in this crisis, millions are out of work and the official unemployment hovers just above 9 percent. The national rate is probably closer to 16 percent, which includes those who have given up and are no longer looking for work.” This is in stark contrast to the current financial state of America’s elite. “CEOs are making 343 times what the average worker makes,” Pelles said. “We’ve also watched as the folks who created this crisis got a bailout — we cannot even get a handout.” Pelles added that these bailouts have “left the rich and created hardships for the rest of us.” “Those who received bailouts did not put the profits back into our economy,” Pelles said. “They did not create jobs. Instead they sit on their money and seek ways to make more money, even in this climate. They’re happy being the one percent while the rest of us suffer.”

Still more factors that presently threaten the livelihood of the American dream include new laws that promise to make voting more difficult, the unfair treatment and elimination of public sector workers, and a tremendous rise in hate speech and violence across the country. Pelles stated that if we are to see these negative influences eradicated from our country, America’s youth must immerse themselves in the fight for their rights. Elandria Williams, Pelles’ colleague at the Highlander Research and Education Center and one-time UT student, found herself agreeing with Pelles’ points. “I think there’s so much that we, especially as young people, have to think about as we move forward,” Williams said. “We have to ask what direction do we want our country to go in and how can we get there?” Pelles pointed to participation in the Occupy movement as an excellent example of how students can get involved in moving America in the right direction. “I am so encouraged by the Occupy movement,” Pelles said. “It has raised the level of consciousness and zeroed in on what the issues are so that people are no longer being fooled. It’s really causing people to go back, rethink things and look at our system in a very different way.” Jayanni Webster, a senior in the College Scholars program and attendee of the lecture, seconded Pelles’ praise of the movement. Webster encourages students to get involved with the Occupy crusade on campus. “Students can come to our general assemblies which take place every Wednesday night at 6 p.m.,” Webster said. “We meet at the HSS Amphitheater and then move to an apartment space from there. The meetings are very participatory with the dialogue and formation of ideas.” Students and faculty can also join Occupy UT’s Facebook group or email occupyut@gmail.com for more information. “This is really a chance for people’s voices to be heard,” Webster added. In Pelles’ opinion, chances and movements like these are absolutely imperative to the preservation of the American dream. “We must close ranks and fight together across movements, across lines of race and gender, because no one can do it alone these days,” Pelles said. “Together we have to make sure that America keeps its promise. Then we can once again talk about the American dream.”


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Daily Beacon by UT Media Center - Issuu