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Friday, August 16, 2013

Welcome Back

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Tuition increases once again Victoria Wright Editor-in-Chief The University Board of Trustees approved a 6 percent undergraduate tuition increase for the UT Knoxville, UT Chattanooga and UT Martin campuses beginning in the fall, leaving some board members questioning if the raise would assist in reaching a Top 25 ranking in U.S. News and World Report.

The decision was made at the full board meeting June 20, and is a part of the overall University budget for the 2014 fiscal year, which is included in the overall revenue increases.

In-state tuition for the Knoxville campus is set to increase by $468 annually, changing the $7,802 in-state cost to $8,270.

New freshmen and transfer students entering fall 2013 will pay an in-state tuition of $9,780. These students will also be charged for 15 credit hours instead of 12 hours,

WHAT’S INSIDE:

and board members said these students can expect tuition increases of no more than 3 percent annually for the next three years. Along with the tuition increase, the “Take 15, Graduate in 4” plan, an initiative that takes effect in fall and will require incoming freshmen and transfer students to be charged for 15 hours of classes regardless of how many hours they take per semester, will go into effect as well for freshmen. The plan was started in hopes of encouraging students to graduate within four years.

System President Joe DiPietro said other options were researched to avoid tuition raises and garner funds.

“We’re always looking at that,” DiPietro said. “Knoxville is way behind its peers. We receive about $6,000 or $7,000 per student and some of the schools, such as North Carolina where the tuition is lower than here, receives around $20,000. So we’ll always look at the state and say, ‘can you help replace the money that we’ve lost?’”

See TUITION on Page 2A

Section A: NEWS Section B: ARTS & CULTURE

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

In-state tuition for UT Knoxville has been raised from $7,802 to $8,270.

Section C: STUDENT LIFE Section D: SPORTS

utdailybeacon.com

2A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

RJ Vogt • The Daily Beacon

Chancellor Jimmy Cheek discusses tuition increases with The Daily Beacon Editor-in-Chief, Victoria Wright.

TUITION continued from Page 1A Rising senior in journalism and electronic media Tia Shack said she is familiar with the steadily rising cost of tuition and that she is still unclear what the extra money goes towards. She said the university should become more proactive with the communications regarding why prices are being raised.

“I do feel that they’re not thinking about the students because some of us have to continuously take out loans and things in order to pay for college, and it’s only adding to a massive gap of having to repay for debt, so I feel they need to be more considerate when they talk about increasing prices,” Shack said. “I know that coming to college isn’t cheap, but you also want to consider our students.

By tuition increasing every year, it causes some issues for certain

students.”

Board member Douglas A. Horne of Knoxville disagreed with raising tuition in the meeting and said more action is needed to avoid raising the tuition cost.

“I personally feel we should show more initiative here and not raise the tuition,” Horne said. “I’d personally not like to raise it.”

Horne said that the University should model other schools by cutting from other areas for funds instead of raising how much students pay. Other members argued that the raise was necessary in order to keep in line with the Top 25 initiative.

Board members also approved university administrators’ pay. DiPietro’s annual salary will increase from $445,567.56 to $465,618.12 and Chancellor Jimmy Cheek will experience a pay increase of 10 percent, increasing his base salary to $434,451.60.

Both changes became effective July 1.

Cheek said the hikes in pay raises are made to make UT an attractive choice for prospective employees, specifically appointing a new Vice Chancellor of Student Life.

“If you look at the pay structure of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, you will find that regardless of where you are in the pay structure, if you compare yourself to peers, we don’t have a pay structure that is competitive to other peers,” Cheek said.

Chancellor Cheek said the tuition increase is necessary to make improvements to the campus overall student life.

“We have to have a tuition large enough to keep our campus moving in the right direction,” Cheek said. “That is keeping the best faculty and hiring the best faculty and making sure we’re offering the courses students need, all those kinds of things that need to be done.

“If we don’t have those resources, than we can’t compete with other universities.”

Student fee increases were approved as well, including a UT Knoxville transportation increase fee from $52 to $120.

This is not the first time tuition raises were enacted. In 2010-2011, the board approved a 9 percent tuition increase, raising the then $5,918 tuition to $6,452 per year for in-state undergraduates.

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 3A

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

UTIA seeks Board approval on fracking research proposal

• Photo courtesy of Wikimedia

The Cumberland Forest, which stretches across 8,600 acres in Morgan and Scott Counties, is the largest field research unit in the UT Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center.

Students, faculty question potential conflict of interest McCord Pagan Staff Writer The UT Institute of Agriculture has garnered recent criticism for plans to lease all the land in the 8,600-acre Cumberland Forest to an oil and gas company, but UTIA stands firm on claims that the project has important research implications.

In 2001, an energy company named New River Energy, LLC, a partner of CONSOL Energy, reached out to UT for the purpose of leasing the Cumberland Forest from the school for the drilling of oil and gas.

The University was interested, as the royalties would have provided a new source of revenue for the school. However, when the state moved to open the plan for public debate in 2009, UT quickly removed the proposal and shelved the project.

This year, the issue of leasing out the Cumberland Forest for hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, once again came under scrutiny. The proposal remains the same, but a short, fourpage statement that claims a to-be-determined research initiative is the justification for the drilling.

In a letter sent to the State Building Commission in March 2013, the Southern Environmental Law Center claimed that the promised research proposal is an attempt to mask UT’s financial incentive to begin the project.

By relying on internal UT documents,

the SELC pointed out that the Institute of Agriculture has a significant financial stake in the project; according to 2009 notes that the SELC discovered, the land could yield anywhere from $3 million to $5 million dollars a year.

“There will be a stream of millions of dollars of income that will continue if the University’s study finds no problem with hydraulic fracturing,” the letter states. “No amount of disclosure or other safeguards can eliminate the bias inherent in the proposed lease agreement.”

Kevin Hoyt, the director of the Forest Resources Research & Education Center within the UT Institute of Agriculture, said that the reason UT does not have any actual research proposals going into the project is that they are waiting to get the approval from the state.

UT has already gained approval from the State Building Commission, and the Board of Trustees is expected to make a final vote on the proposal in October.

Many individuals have raised alarm, claiming that the proposed fracking is nothing more than an attempt to raise money for the university at the expense of the home of Tennessee’s last redwoods.

One of the environmental groups on campus, Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville, is particularly concerned.

“So far, students at the University of Tennessee have been working with environmentalists across the state to … try and get UT to stop this issue of fracking,” said David Hayes, a SPEAK member and junior in supply chain management and sustainability. “At first this was just from an environmental point of view… but then we started learning about other issues, started realizing that UT has been trying to do this since 2001 [or] 2003 and now they’re trying to tag on research.

“They’ve been… kinda sneaky.”

See FRACKING on Page 15A

4A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

‘Greenwood Mural’ undergoes removal process Controversial mural is removed from University Center before construction Victoria Wright Editor-in-Chief While construction continues on campus in preparation for the new Student Union, a different kind of construction is underway within the UC. Workers began preparing the “Greenwood Mural”—one of UT’s largest pieces of art originally known as “The History of Tennessee”—late July for its planned move to a storage facility.

The 29-foot by-6-foot painting has been hidden behind the maroon curtains in the UC Ballroom since 2006.

Due to the impending destruction of the UC, contractors from EverGreene Architectural Arts in New York arrived Friday and began the tedious “facing” process of removing the piece by placing a protective adhesion over the painting.

The conservators are scheduled to be on site for three weeks before it will be taken to the Ewing Gallery storage facility, where it will rest until next summer, where the piece will be placed on display at the UT Downtown Gallery on Gay Street.

The mural spurred an air of controversy on campus in the 1960s when some expressed concern over the portrayal of African-Americans in the painting.

Plexiglass was placed over the mural to protect the painting, and curtains were drawn over the piece because of its controversial nature in 2006.

That same year, the Issues Committee along with the Visual Arts Committee held a forum titled, “The Greenwood Mural” to discuss the race issues and censorship associated with the painting.

Bruce Wheeler, professor emertitus in education, has taught at UT since 1970. He said exactly who defaced the piece remains a mystery.

However, the decision to move the piece to a different area was unanimous.

“By that time (the mural was removed), most people understood that the mural, as artistic as it may have been, contained some unfortunate stereotypes,” Wheeler said. “It was generally agreed that the mural should be removed from the UC Ballroom and placed in some place like the McClung Museum.”

Since then, some art and first studies classes have used the painting for education purposes.

Aside from that use, conversation regarding the

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Marion Greenwood’s infamous 1954 mural, which depicts the three regions of Tennessee across nearly 30 feet of the UC Ballroom, is being removed in preparation for the building’s demolition in Fall 2014 or early 2015. mural has been almost non-existent until plans to build the New Student Union occurred.

“Because this was a multipurpose facility, it was seen as as not the most appropriate place for a painting of this type,” said Jim Dittrich, director of the UC and a member of the UC Art Collection committee.

Created in 1954 by Marion Greenwood, the mural depicts the Grand Divisions of Tennessee using descriptive portraits. In the east, people are painted holding hymnals to express religion-based Appalachian influences. In the center, men and women dance to a fiddler’s tune in an expression of the country and folk influences of middle Tennessee. And on the left side of the painting,

African-Americans are painted playing jazz instruments and sharing slave spirituals to represent the Negro spirituals that occurred in that time.

“You have the beautiful intimacy between each of these portraits,” said conservator Jim Elias. “It’s kind of rare almost that you find these types of portraits in a mural. For there to be controversy over the painting too, to me is a great frustration because Marion Greenwood worked very hard to be apolitical in her painting career. Controversy equals politics. She would be stunned to learn that people thought that.”

Once the painting has been properly removed, it will be taken to the Ewing Gallery storage facility, where it will rest until next summer before being

displayed at the UT Downtown Gallery on Gay Street. Habel hopes to display the painting during one of the First Fridays, a monthly event held on South Gay Street where the UT galleries showcase collections.

Placing the mural back at the university has been discussed, but Habel said the wall space to host that large of a piece is sparse, especially in the new Student Union.

“We’re proud of it and think it’s a part of the university’s art collection and we’d love to retain it,” Habel said. ‘“Ultimately we hope there will be a campus site for it. In my mind, that would be ideal.”

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 5A

6A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

Music building opens doors for Fall semester Sound-conscious design strikes a chord with student musicians, professors McCord Pagan Staff Writer

Students of the School of Music will finally have a new building to call home.

After three years of being scattered across campus, the Natalie Haslam Music Center will open its doors to the university this fall, becoming the newest addition to campus, and giving music students a place to call their own.

While the old music building was torn down and replaced, the music students of UT have been scattered between five separate facilities: HPER, Dunford, Melrose, AMB and HSS. “It will be great to finally bring everyone back together in one building,”said Jake Lane, junior in music with a minor in music business, and member of the Pride in the Southland marching band.

Lane said he is excited about the new building, noting the prolonged time the music school has been without a home.

“All of the students are ecstatic about the new building,” he said. “It will be nice to leave the asbestos filled, un-airconditioned rooms of Melrose and move to a state of the art facility.”

In the past, students who wished to practice their instruments or singing would go to Melrose Hall. The new facility will feature over 50 practice rooms designed to keep sound to a minimum, in addition to eight specially designed percussion rooms.

“One of the most amazing things to me is that the practice rooms are geared with the acoustics… to the needs of each particular instrument,” Natalie Haslam said in an interview with Lee Robinson of “Noteworthy.”

Haslam, a graduate of UT, realized the requirement for newer music facilities along with her husband, James Haslam.

In 2007, the Haslams gave a gift of $32.5 million to the school, $10 million of which went to the School of Music.

“The need was pretty obvious,” she said in the “Noteworthy” interview. “It was very appealing, that was some way in which we could help the university.”

Unlike previous designs, the music rooms in the Natalie L. Halsam Music Center will not have common walls.

Instead, the practice rooms are designed to be facing away from one another to avoid distracting their fellow musicians, among other sound conscious design features.

“All of the venting goes out to the hallway, so you cannot get any acoustics going through the rooms themselves,” Jeffrey Pappas, director of the School of Music, said.“The walls right here have either two or three layers of gypsum board, then an air pocket, then two or three more layers of gypsum board, so there’s no sound transfer that’s going to go out of these rooms.”

The new building expands the capacity for the school to over 400 students, an improvement since the original buildings’ 150 student capacity. Pappas said it would never have been possible without the College of Arts & Sciences, UT, and of course, the Haslams.

“To say we are grateful would be an understatement. There really aren’t words to express how thankful we are that the university and College of Arts and Sciences understands the importance of music and the arts on this campus and giving us the wonderful space in which we can do it,” Pappas said.

The building’s first floor will feature the Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, a concert stage that seats over 400 people, along with the choral and orchestra practice rooms and administrative offices.

The ground floor has student practice rooms along with the newly relocated George F. DeVine Music Library and more than 500 lockers for students to store their instruments.

To Sarah Baetty, a choral director, the recital hall is the school’s pride and joy.

The room is designed with retractable curtains behind the walls to properly adjust the acoustics in the room, which can be used for both classes and performances.

“This is a Neyland Stadium for us,” Baetty said. “When a prospective student walks into that atrium its as impressive as when a football recruits walk into

Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon

Above: The Natalie L. Haslam Music Building faces Volunteer Boulevard and features an expansive front lawn to separate street noise from the practice rooms.

Below: The Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall offers an intimate setting with more than 400 seats.

the stadium for the first time.”

The school has also taken the opportunity to complete its Steinway Initiative, which involves over 90 percent of its pianos being made by the world-renowned company.

“We have 116 pianos in this school, 106 of which are Steinway,” Pappas said.

The building has also been made with more efficient material and designs, with an eye on being given the Leeds Silver Certification for energy efficiency.

Pappas said the building and its top-

of-the-line features are attracting attention from all around, having been contacted about holding conferences in the structure.

“We don’t even know the impact this school will have on us yet…This is going to be able to give us so many new opportunities that we have not had in the past,” Pappas said.

He said he is ecstatic about the School of Music, and wants all students to know that they have a place in the new building if they so desire.

“We have an ensemble at every level of talent and level of interest,” Pappas said. “If someone wanted to come over and play in a choir or band or play in an orchestra, we can find a place for them.”

When classes start on Aug. 21, the building opens to student and staff.

The official ribbon cutting for the new Center will take place on Sept. 13, with a small invitation only concert the day before.

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

THE DAILY BEACON • 7A News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

8A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

‘The T’ upgrades to ‘Big Orange Big Ideas’ standards

R.J. Vogt • The Daily Beacon

UT unveiled additional buses to the campus transportation system June 4.

R.J. Vogt Managing Editor Big Orange Big Ideas has brought big orange buses to campus, replacing the system with Knoxville Area Transit for a new partnership with First Transit.

Twenty new buses, including 14 large buses and six vans, rolled in from California and began operating limited routes on June 1 to the Hill, along Volunteer Boulevard and in front of residence halls on Andy Holt Avenue. Each bus is equipped with GPS locators, complete disability accessibility, USB charging stations and trademark UT design elements.

Jake Baker, student body president and a senior in political science and history, said the change is a long time coming and much needed on the 560acre campus.

“I think it’s going to have a big impact on student life at UT,” Baker said. “For a campus this size, having an efficient bus system is one of the most important things for the student body.”

Funding for the project came primarily out of the student transportation fee, a value of $2 per credit hour per person.

The traffic and parking authority proposed an increase of that fee from $52 to $120 annually in order to fund the new system; the proposal was approved by the Board of Trustees during their meeting on June 19-20.

The App TransLoc, a GPS-based app used by other universities such as North Carolina State and Yale, offers students a way to see where each bus is on campus. Selecting a bus brings up the bus number, the route and that particular bus’s next stop. Each stop is represented by an interactive dot, color coded to match the route, that tells students when a bus is expected arrive and also includes a second estimate for the next bus.

“This is something that students have been asking for for years, and we are so excited to be able to finally provide this to students,” Mark Hairr, director of parking and transit services, said during The T’s unveiling.

The app enables First Transit to monitor the routes around the clock, creating notifications when delays are expected and when delays are expected to end.

The administration is working on integrating TransLoc with the preexisting UT app, but until then students can download TransLoc on any smartphone device for free.

Sustainability The new fleet runs on B20, a biodiesel that blends 20 percent biodiesel with conventional diesel and reduces emissions of hydrocarbons by 20 percent. Hairr recalled the black soot that used to pour out of the old 1988 model buses and called on Scott Conroy, director of operations for First

Transit, to explain the new look of the T’s exhaust fumes.

“The exhaust coming out of a stack at the back of this bus, if you see it, it’s clear. It’s heat,” Conroy said. “It’s actually cleaner than the intake air. So much is going on at the back of the bus to scrub the exhaust before it leaves the vehicle, there’s less particulate matter coming out than there is going in. It would take 50 of these buses – basically an entire city fleet – to equal the emissions of one of those 1988 buses.”

The buses also feature bike racks to accommodate three bikes per bus. Hairr said the decision to include the racks was based on UT’s commitment to sustainability and alternative transportation.

“We thought it was important to really focus on bicycling in connection with the transit system,” he said.

Student Focus The T was built with student input, including the name, which was selected in order to preserve a campus tradition of referring to the KAT buses as “the T.” Hairr said students also requested USB charging stations during committee meetings and demonstrated the stations during the unveiling.

“We actually added this after we started the process, so I think that shows how we reacted to student input to be able to add these on, that’s a really unique feature that you don’t see on many

buses,” he said. “Maybe one other set of buses has that feature.”

The four charging stations are located under the seats in the back of the bus. Baker predicted high popularity for the charging feature.

“During some of the busier times those will probably get occupied pretty quickly, students always charging their phone in between classes, but it will be a nice resource for students to have on the bus either way,” he said.

Each bus is also equipped with a wheelchair accessibility ramp and auditory stop notation system for those who are visually impaired, rendering the entire fleet compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Look The iconic Tennessee checkerboard adorns both sides of the T, and a window decal shows Smokey waving while hanging out a side window.

We wanted it to be UT specific, to be branded with the UT identity,” Hairr said, “and we certainly accomplished that. “ For Baker, who works as a campus tour guide, the UT-specific branding impresses potential Vols.

“One of the most popular questions we get is ‘is there a bus on campus?’ It’s so great to be able to tell them that we have a brand new bus system that is completely branded to the University of Tennessee and that so much student input was received when they were designing the buses.”

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 9A

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

‘One Stop’ bundles student financial services Library addition promises to limit waiting lines, student stress R.J. Vogt Managing Editor

UT opened One Stop Express Student Services in May, bringing orange pillars of glowing light into Hodges Library to efficiently guide students on common campus problems.

Located on the ground floor of Hodges, the newest addition to campus consolidates the Financial Aid Office, Bursar’s Office and Registrar into one central and especially well-lit location.

Amidst four self-service kiosks, six modern chic desk locations and two flat screen televisions, cross-trained counselors like Taylor Shields hope to eradicate the infamous “Big Orange Screw.”

“Instead of calling the bursar’s office and

R.J. Vogt • The Daily Beacon

The high-tech express center on the ground floor of John C. Hodges Library is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

having to be transferred to the registrar’s office and finding out you were originally supposed to be in the financial aid office, you can just come here and we’ll take care of you,” Shields said.

The program has been in planning stages since the beginning of Chancellor Cheek’s Top 25 initiative and is modeled on similar

R.J. Vogt • The Daily Beacon

One Stop provides customer service for your enrollment, registration, financial aid, and payment needs.

stations that have been spreading across the nation.

There are currently One Stop centers at Texas A&M University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Cincinnati and Abilene Christian University, among others.

UT’s One Stop director, Darren Curry, came from ACU after seeing the job listed in January 2012. He said one of the priorities of One Stop is to head off problems before they start.

“If we can identify those students who will need our services on payment due date, we can ... begin helping them and encouraging them to complete some steps,” Curry said.

“Whatever happens can happen more efficiently and quickly, and they don’t have to be stressed out on due date.”

When campus activity ramps up near the start of the fall semester, both Shields and Curry predict a busy August for One Stop.

But thanks to a technologically savvy queue system, Shields said students will barely have to wait.

“You can actually check online on the One Stop website before you even come to the library to see how long the queue is,” Shields said. “Then, when you check in, you can go print a paper or do some edits and we’ll send you an email when it’s getting close to your turn so you don’t have to stand and wait.

We’re trying to make it not such a burden; all UT students know that the lines at the bursar and financial aid office when school starts are insane.”

10 • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

As the world

turned...

Staff Reports

was granted asylum.

The crux of this debacle is how it has forever transformed the attitudes As the summer comes to a close and of how the American public views classes begin, The Daily Beacon chose Internet privacy. Suddenly, a generato recount some of the top news events tion dependent on digital mediums of the summer. We strive to bring rele- began to question those communicavant UT news to students, however, we tion avenues. cannot forget that pertinent news still exists off campus. Despite the distance, Royal baby is born its effects still hit close to home.

When Kate Middleton and Prince NSA leaking debacle Edward Snowden became a household name after the ex-NSA official leaked information to The Guardian newspaper, revealing that the organization used top-secret programs— PRISM, XKeyscore, and Tempora—for Internet surveillance.

Snowden’s actions garnered a multitude of public criticism and praise.

Some called him a hero, and others claimed him to be a traitor. Federal prosecutors charged Snowden with espionage and theft of government property, but the former CIA and NSA computer scientist fled the U.S. shortly before the report was published. He first took refuge in Hong Kong before moving to Russia, where he recently

William departed St. Mary’s Hospital in Cambridge on July 23 with their newborn son, social media exploded.

Prince George Alexander Louis was the subject of many publications before and after his birth.

Advertising/content discovery platform Outbrain found that the U.S. passed the UK’s coverage ratings of the George Alexander Louis’ birth by 0.4 percent. The overall coverage in the states and across the pond totaled about 13,060 pieces of content. The numbers only solidifie American’s perpetual, and unusual, obsession for British royalty.

borhood watch resident in a Florida suburb culminated on July 16.

George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the case of killing Trayvon Martin. The jury, which was comprised of six women, had two other options in charging Zimmerman: second-degree murder, which is defined as a killing carried out with hatred, ill will or spite but is not premeditated manslaughter, which means intentional commitment of an act or acts that caused the death of Martin.

The case led to outrage across the nation as many argued that verdict was unjustified. Racial issues surrounded the case from the inciting incident, as many said that Martin was profiled for being African-American and wearing a hoodie.

Discussion regarding the case ensued. Protestors crowded in “Justice for Trayvon” marches across the country, in cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The verdict even sparked a statement from President Obama.

struck down the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional. The 1996 law, which restricted same-sex couples from receiving the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples was marked as violating the Fifth Amendment’s protection of equal liberty.

The 5-4 decision sparked joy on various social platforms.

But the fight isn’t over yet for activists. Though states now must recognize federal benefits of same-sex couples, such as Social Security, it only affects states that permit same-sex marriages.

Currently 13 states recognize the union: California, New York, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Connecticut, and Iowa, as well as Washington DC.

Transportation failures Since the Asiana Airlines plane crash landed on a San Francisco runway early July, a domino effect of transportation disasters have occurred all over the world. Last week, a high speed train derailed in Spain, killing 74 and injuring many more. In the U.S., a Southwest Trayvon Martin case DOMA struck down The racially charged story of a LGBTQ rights made a monumental Airlines plane’s nose gear collapsed 17-year-old Floridian shot by a neigh- leap June 26 when the Supreme Court while landing at New York’s La Guardia

Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the crash of the Boeing 737-700 and concluded that the nose gear punched into the jet’s electronics bay. The incidents, excluding the Southwest Airlines plane, were caused by the human operators, leaving one to ask if stronger safety precautions will be instilled by officials.

Transportation breakdowns are still being reported. In Wenzhou, China,, one passenger was killed and many injured after a bus was struck by a truck on a highway Aug. 8. The tourist bus was backing up on the Jihnhua-Lishui Wenzhou Expressway when the accident occurred.

‘Glee’ star dies Cory Monteith, 31, died July 16 at the Fairmont Pacific Trim hotel in downtown Vancouver, counting as possibly the largest entertainment tragedy of the summer.

The Glee star overdosed on a mix of alcohol and heroin, according to the coroner. Monteith, who was on the show since 2009, was treated for drug addiction in April.

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 11A

12A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS Wheel locks implemented

Campus streets may change ownership to UT R.J. Vogt Managing Editor

Wheel locks, the newest cost-cutting big idea, will replace towing for students who disregard parking regulations, effective immediately.

The switch from towing vehicles to leaving them stuck in place comes out of a concern for the time and expense of UT officers, according to Mark Hairr, the director of parking and transit services.

“It saves a lot of time and effort is the primary reason,” he said.

Wheel locks also remove the potential damage that towing a vehicle can cause and eliminates the stress on drivers of fleeting panic when their car has disappeared. The new measure saves money for the university, as towing costs continue to rise.

Drivers who return to locked vehicles will be able to pay the outstanding fines at the Parking and Transit Services office during its business hours, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday or online after hours. Once the fee is paid, a wheel lock technician will remove the impediment from the wheel.

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

“We can remove the wheel-lock whether it’s in the evening or weekends or whatever the case may be,” Hairr said. “It’s 24/7.”

Towable offenses now become wheel-lockable ones; if a student acquires three outstanding citations and/ or a $250 outstanding balance, he or she may find the vehicle locked in place.

The newest deterrent to illegal campus parking, wheel locks will be used only on vehicles parked on UT property. City streets, like Volunteer Boulevard and Fraternity Park Drive, are immune, for now.

At last week’s Board of Trustees meeting, however, the board approved a measure to assume ownership of 4.3 miles of campus streets that currently fall under the City of Knoxville’s jurisdiction. Though technically owned and maintained by the City, the following streets could be under UT’s watch as early as January: Twentieth Street, Andy Holt Avenue, Chamique Holdsclaw Drive, Fraternity Park Drive, Johnny Majors Drive, Lake Loudoun Boulevard and Pat Head Summitt Street.

Chris Cimino, vice chancellor for finance and administration, said the university has budgeted about $147,000 annually for maintaining the new streets and asserted that the cost is worth it.

According to a UT press release, Cimino said that construction projects will be expedited and the campus beautification master plan will be augmented. He also pointed out another obvious benefit: the right to control and monitor on-street parking.

Students typically enjoy relaxed parking meter regulations and use the city’s spaces for free, as evidenced by the parallel-parked vehicles lining streets like Volunteer Boulevard. With the looming shift in owner-

ship, however, the free ride to convenient parking may be coming to an end.

Marianela D’Aprile, rising senior in architecture, received a ticket in Spring 2013 after parking in a 30-minute loading zone for only 23 minutes but did not contest it because of the inherent hassle. She indicated that if UT gains ownership of city streets, she may change her parking habits.

“I try to never park in UT-enforced spots (and so I walk everywhere) because of negative past experiences with UT Parking,” she said. “I probably will stop parking on Volunteer, which I do occasionally when using TRECS late at night.”

Officer Zack Mathews of the University of Tennessee Police Department pointed out during a ride-along with The Daily Beacon that the change will increase the number of UT parking spots per parking pass, a figure that measures the relational probability of finding a spot you’ve paid for.

“If you look at it, too, that’s more parking spots added to the fray for UT students to park in,” he said, “and it won’t be a metered parking spot.”

Mathews recalled a similar transition for Phillip Fulmer Way, when the meters by the G10 parking garage were removed and UT took control of the street.

“It’s as much UT trying to take it as it is the City trying to give it away,” Mathews said. “We take care of the sidewalks and everything anyway.”

A non-commuter parking pass to cover Fall and Spring semesters will cost $285 for the 2013-2014 school year; commuter passes cost a little less at $182.

Renting a bicycle from the UT Outdoor Program for a semester costs $20.

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Yellow paint faintly marks the curb where many drivers park their cars.

Bookstore changes name to Gabrielle O’Neal

“I don’t think I was ever formally told about the name change,” picked by the Chancellor’s Cabinet.

The change was initiated when construction on the new recalled Shu. “I noticed that the managers would answer the phone as Vol Shop.”

Student Union began in spring of 2012.

This name change, however, is not the only time the bookstore The UT Bookstore, a place where many students go to buy has undergone changes. textbooks or supplies and fans find their Volunteer apparel, is “I think in the past it has been known as the University of essential to campus life at UT. Tennessee Book and Supply Store,” Jamison said. would definitely keep it as the But recently, something is different. Due to the seemingly According to the bookstore’s website, from 1892 to 1893 it was never ending construction on campus, what students, faculty UT bookstore,” Shu said. “I see known as College Bookstore. At the urging of Professor Charles and Volunteer fans have come to know as the Bookstore is going Ferris, a former UT football player, the store was moved from the name as a part of our school’s under a few changes. a room in the Y.M.C.A. building downtown to East College to legacy.”

The bookstore has changed its name to Vol Shop. become better established. The UT bookstore became incorpo-Caitlin Shu, The name change came in preparation to move into the new rated and then moved to South College in 1901. former Bookstore employee Student Union, set to be completed in late 2016.

For more than 50 years, The UT Bookstore has been a part of “All of our resources, such as the technology shop and the UT community and tradition. other entities, will be under one roof,” Tommi Jamison, market“I would definitely keep it as the UT bookstore,” Shu said. “I ing manager at the Vol Shop, said. see the name as a part of our school’s legacy.”

Places such as the Sweet Shop and Bookstore Technology It is university-owned and operated, meaning staff answer “We were told by the directors that things would be changing Center will be combined with the former Bookstore and to con- when construction in the UC started,” said Caitlin Shu, a senior directly to UT administration. The bookstore supports Vision solidate anything a shopper needs into one center. in English who used to work at the UT Bookstore. Shu worked 2015: Pursuit of the Top 25. All profit goes back to the school “There were a couple of ideas communications worked with,” at the store for a year and nine months from roughly fall 2010 to and helps provide scholarships, student activities and campus Jamison said, adding that the name Vol Shop was eventually spring 2012. activities.

Staff Writer

“I

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 13A

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

College of Law ranked highly efficient Kevin McNelis Contributor

• File Photo

Vice Chancellor of Student Life Timothy Rogers enjoys an Aramark meal during a luncheon in 2010.

Vice chancellor post unfilled Victoria Wright Editor-in-Chief

UT is one the search for a new Vice Chancellor of Student Life.

The position will work closely with the Chancellor Cheek and his cabinet in assisting with student affairs.

The slot was left vacant after the retirement of former Vice Chancellor of Student Life Tim Rodgers, who left UT June 30.

The reason for his decision to leave was never confirmed, however Rodgers retired shortly after former judicial affairs director Jenny Wright was fired amid an investigation of her having inappropriate relations with student athletes. "(The new vice chancellor) will need to look at the whole judicial affairs arm of student life and make sure they're doing things they need to do and adhering to the best practices," Cheek said.

Linda Hendrichs, Vce Chancellor of Human Resources, is heading the search. The 15-member committee, including Student Government President Jake Baker, are hoping to fill the position by Jan. 14, 2014.

"There has been a lot of progress this summer in the search for the new Vice Chancellor for Student Life,” Baker said. “The job listing was posted earlier this summer, and UT has been looking at a wide variety of candidates. They are not ready to announce any potential candidates just yet, but hope to do so in the near future."

Baker said the committee is looking to fill the position with someone who can focus on issues outside of academics.

"We have worked to make sure that the student per-

spective is considered when hiring someone for a position like this," Baker said.

"For a Vice Chancellor of Student Life, we want someone that is going to champion the experience of a UT student. College life is about much more than what happens inside of the classroom.

I hope to see someone who is approachable that truly enjoys interacting with students."

Jimmy Cheek said the new Vice Chancellor will have big shoes to fill.

"We want to find the best person we can to come to the University of Tennessee," Cheek said. "That's always our objective. We want the person, first of all, to be very student-oriented and understands the importantance of student life and making the experience at the university a very good experience."

Cheek said the committee is searching for a candidate who has past administrative experience and can handle the responsibility.

"Underneath student life, there's a whole host of activities such as residential halls and what happens with the buildings, learning committees, how students are involved in the orientation process, and what the administration can do to build student success," Cheek said. "(We need someone) to look at how to get students involved on the campus and get students more involved internationally—all the things under student life. We need someone to come here and understand the importance of student life and what a vision of the future will look like."

Cheek has promoted Provost Susan Martin as interim Vice Chancellor of Student Life until the position.

In a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report, the UT College of Law is among the top ten as the nation’s eighth most efficient law school.

The ranking is not based solely on common figures such as the schools’ average LSAT scores, acceptance rates, and placement success after graduation, but rather how well the schools deliver quality educations with less money in order to do so.

As the years have progressed, students and their parents have been faced with the unfortunate reality of the rapidly rising price of a higher education.

“You have to look at the rising cost of education,” said Russell Marty, 2008 UT graduate and current lobbyist for the Department of Finance and Administration in Nashville. “UT [College of Law] is a great school for the money, especially for any Tennessean who wants to stay in-state.”

In accordance with the efficiency ranking, Marty referred to the benefits UT’s

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Artwork within the College of Law depicts the scales of justice on the wall.

College of Law offers, which differ from those of a private institution such as Vanderbilt or Harvard.

“An education from UT’s law school prepares you for passing the Tennessee bar exam, a feat very beneficial if you want to practice law in state,” Marty said.

Derek Paul, a 2011 graduate of Tennessee and a former member of the swim team, offered a similar response regarding his decision to attend UT College of Law and the benefits of the program.

“I spoke with a number of the faculty and a few other

local professionals whose opinions I respected greatly,” said Paul.

From their aid and guidance, Paul said it was easy to decide that UT College of Law could provide him with the best education for the skills he wanted to employ and the career he wanted to seek in the future.

But UT’s College of Law does not pride itself only on the education and atmosphere that its faculty provides. Paul said there are two components that make the UT law school experience valuable and worthwhile, the faculty being one of them, along with classmates.

“Law school is very different from any other type of education in that the other students in your class really do make the experience more beneficial," Paul said. "I think that UT does an excellent job of bringing in many intelligent students from varying backgrounds to truly give all the students a well-rounded outlook on our legal system.

“We are a great school and have just as much to offer students as even some of the highest ranked school in the nation.”

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

14A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS House directors join the row amidst reform News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

R.J. Vogt Managing Editor

Frat Row may have once been the site of outrageous parties, but in at least three houses this fall, the previously minimal supervision will be expanded and more closely regulated.

That’s right, gents: fraternity house directors have been implemented at UT. In lieu of a 2012-2013 school year that sent two chapters packing, a Greek Life Task Force’s recommendations are resulting in mandatory house directors in every house by Fall 2014. The advisers and housing corporations plan to hire extra weekend security in Fraternity Park in the meantime.

This fall, Associate Dean of Students Jeff Cathey said that a house director has already been selected for Phi Sigma Kappa and will be joined on the Row by another house director for Beta Upsilon Chi, the new brotherhood moving into the old Pi Kappa Alpha House.

Additionally, the sisterhood of Delta Gamma, which is living in the Phi Gamma Delta house until its new house in Sorority Village is completed, will also have a house director.

“We’re looking for the fraternities to give us more in writing the detail of what they’re looking to do this fall,” Cathey said in an interview Thursday afternoon.

“And then at a later date, [we’re] looking for them to start giving us

proposals for how they plan to provide supervision and house directors for the next fall.”

He acknowledged some logistical issues, such as houses that lack the facilities for a house director or have the complications of budgetary concerns and preexisting student housing contracts.

To supply supervision in the interim, each chapter’s housing corporation is working with the other advisers on the Row to secure off-duty police officers on the weekends.

Word has slowly spread throughout the Greek community that houses will be under a closer watch this football season, and Phi Sig’s president Ryan Vernich, a senior in biosystems engineering, said the response has been mixed.

“There are a lot of guys who aren’t too happy about it,” he said in a phone interview Thursday. “The cool thing is, the more I’ve learned about it, the more I’m supportive of it.

It’s actually kind of opened us up to have a little bit more freedom. When you follow some of UT’s regulations, that gives us more freedom to do what we want.”

Vernich said the decision was made by their chapter’s alumni in hopes to get out in front of the trend.

“Our chapter wants to be the face of the change,” he said.

Other fraternity members have weighed in on the issue, and at Sigma Nu, the changes don’t seem so radical. Brian Isham, a resident of the Sigma Nu house for two years and rising senior in

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Residents of Sorority Village are familiar with live-in house directors, but the concept is new at Phi Sig. engineering said that their chapter had a live-in graduate student a few semesters ago.

“He was a grad student that was originally a Kappa Sig at Georgia Tech,” Isham said. “He was awesome.”

Isham indicated that the Sigma Nu experience was nothing but positive, adding that the “house dad” had a lot of good advice for the brotherhood. Though not technically a house director, the resident, like Phi Sig’s, was implanted by the alumni board.

The exact role of these university-sanctioned directors, however, is yet to be determined.

Cathey admitted that the notion of house directors has not been met with universal acceptance; some advisers think there are better ways to provide supervision.

“That’s why I’m saying is it an absolute that every house going to have a stereotypical house director?” he said. “I don’t know.”

The University of Florida experienced similar issues by mandating house directors on

their fraternity row. The policy, which was most recently revised in June of 2008 but dates back to the mid-90s, calls for a House Director that can “provide oversight and supervision for all activities occurring at the chapter house in collaboration with the Chapter Advisor.”

Despite the precedent set in Gainesville, Cathey was cautious to commit to emulating the Gators.

“One thing that’s different is that it’s a wet campus,” he said.

“Because it’s a wet campus, students can be a little more open about having some alcohol in the house after a football game.

“And one of the things we’ve learned is that some of their house directors clear out on a Saturday night after a football game... That’s not necessarily the only model.”

Whether the directors follow the model set by Florida remains to be seen, but for now, there will be three adults living on Frat Row this August.

Photos by Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

The Beta Upsilon Chi fraternity, which is moving into the old Pi Kappa Alpha house, will have a live-in house director, as will the sisters of Delta Gamma.

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 15A

CAMPUS NEWS FRACKING continued from Page 3A

rvogt@utk.edu

Fracking: what’s the big deal?

McCord Pagan Staff Writer

While the land being leased will only gain the University funds estimated at six figures, the real money is in the royalties of the natural gas and other resources that will be sold from the land UT owns. The royalties will change according to the market, but UT will receive somewhere between 12 and 17 percent of the proceeds from the wells.

Gary McCracken, a professor and the head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said the concern lies in the lack of transparency.

“It is very clear from everything that they’ve said leading into it that it’s a revenue-generating project,” McCracken said.

Members within the UTIA, however, defend the process.

As director of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, Bill Brown said that UT and its research areas – such as the Cumberland Forest – work to provide information and products for the state and citizens of Tennessee. Brown also said that UTIA’s financial stake will be around $900,000 a year, which will go back into the project, contrary to what the SELC has found in other UT documents.

Noting the efforts at other research stations involving better crops and livestock, Brown sees no difference between the proposed fracking and other agriculturally related projects.

“We are very mission-oriented… we react to the needs of the clientele,” he said. “So based on what we have been hearing relative to public concerns over gas and oil extraction in the state … we began hearing more and more input, desire [for] the need for additional research in this area.

“In this project, we’re really looking at the research side of this…So the difference is that with this RFP we are articulating a research program to address the questions and concerns we are hearing.”

The request for proposal he referenced for the Cumberland Forest project contains the aforementioned four-page letter detailing which areas will be studied.

Despite being approved by the State Building Commission, the RFP does not articulate a single scientific study for the land.

“This has been a decision that I have made, and I will take full responsibility, full criticism,” Brown said. “I believe it is the right approach. It would be irresponsible for me to ask the faculty to develop detailed research plans, to put together detailed grant proposals to federal agencies…to articulate specific research plans…without the knowledge we can move forward.”

Dr. McCracken disagrees and believes other motives are at play in the process.

“They started the project under the pretense this will be an experimental research based project… they are going forward with this under the pretense of it being a research project, without having a research program, and that’s not the way we do research,” McCracken said.

McCracken also added that a Freedom of Information Act request by the SELC made it clear that there are ulterior motives for this project.

He said that there is a series of emails between administrators and other high-ranking officials at the UTIA about how clever it was to reconfigure this as a research project. The emails also contain economic estimates about how much money the University might yield from fracking, a fact that the UTIA has publicly downplayed.

“There are now public statements that are underestimating these findings,” McCracken said.

The proposal awaits Board approval in October, and if passed, could lead to drilling as early as 2015.

“The Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation – who has established the regulations for oil and gas drilling in Tennessee – has set standards that are far lower than the industry standards,” McCracken said.

News Editor R.J. Vogt

Fracking is an energy industry technology that shoots water mixed with many different chemicals – several of which are toxic – into the ground to release natural gas.

The vertical method has been around since the 1940s, but recent innovations have allowed for horizontal wells that, while more prolific in their natural gas production, can cause drastic environmental damage.

Although the technology has contributed to reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil, the procedure has been linked to groundwater contamination, and the Environmental Protection Agency has been slow to issue new guidelines.

In February 2013, the Society for Conservation Biology sent a letter to the heads of the Department of Interior, Department of Energy and the acting director of the Environmental Protection Agency. The letter states that the minimally regulated fracking technology should require

more federal oversight.

The environmental concerns are many, especially regarding the issue of wastewater. According to the SCB, the average well requires 5 million gallons of water, water that is difficult to decontaminate once used.

“Contaminated fracking fluid either remains belowground, with entirely unknown long-term effects on biodiversity … or returns to the surface as contaminated ‘produced’ or ‘flowback’ water,” the letter states.

The SCB letter also raises questions about the chemicals used, citing previous research that suggests the added compounds create serious concern for human life.

“Of the 353 known chemicals used by the natural gas industry for which health-related information is available, a recent review found 25 percent to cause cancer or genetic mutations, 40-50 percent to negatively affect internal organs, and 75 percent to disrupt sensory organs,” the letter states.

The letter also notes that many other chemicals are not disclosed by the companies, as they are protected as proprietary business information.

Efforts to contain the millions of gallons of contaminated water produced by fracking have proved ineffective. Even efforts to contain the water in ponds have problems. The concrete or rubber linings that are supposed to prevent leakage into the environment are subject to fail, and do not prevent wildlife from accessing it.

Another form of disposal is to spread the wastewater directly onto landscape. This practice is used in several states, including the neighboring state of West Virginia.

In a study conducted in 2011 by Mary Beth Adams and published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, land application of wastewater in West Virginia resulted in the death of all undergrowth within several days, and the death of over half the trees in the area within two years.

In addition to the water contamination issues fracking presents, the process itself is only aggravating to the problem of global warming. While reliance on natural gas instead of oil results in less carbon emissions, it emits damaging quantities of methane.

“Methane emissions, which represent a contribution to climate change 20 times greater than that of carbon dioxide on a per unit basis, are 30-50 percent higher in fracking compared to other forms of natural gas extraction,” the SCB letter states.

16A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

Quotes from the Badge Officer Zach Mathews

Law enforced

On escort rides: “We don’t do a lot of the escorts. I know that’s one of the myths about us – ‘Oh, call UTPD, they’ll give you a ride if you’re drunk.’ We’ll give you a ride somewhere but it may not be where you wanna go.”

R.J. Vogt • The Daily Beacon

Officer Zach Mathews checks his patrol lights before returning to the field.

Riding along for a night shift with UTPD These pages hold a first-person account of the behind-the-scenes information I learned during a ride-along on the night shift patrol with Officer Zach Mathews on June 20, 2013. - R.J. Vogt, Managing Editor

Lifestyle The men and women in blue patrol from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., a 12-hour commitment.

“If I’m asleep by 8 [a.m.], I try to get up by 3 [p.m.] so I have a couple hours to do stuff,” said Officer Mathews, my assigned patrol-mate. “I’m normally here about 6:15, 6:30 [p.m.] to get ready for shift.

That’s me leaving my house about 5:45. So I get up at 3 so I can have a little bit of a day.”

The conversation above took place at Oscar’s Taco Shop before the shift began. Mathews said one of his favorite, preshift meals is their chicken fries, which he classified as “really good, but really bad.”

After the snack, we headed for one of UTPD’s new patrol cars, ready to begin Mathews’ last shift before the weekend.

Mathews’ explained the 2-2-3 schedule; each patrol officer works two days on, then two days off, then three days on, repeating the numbers throughout the week. Sometimes, like this week for Mathews, the off days fall on the weekend.

“I’ll stay up all day Friday, hang out by the pool ... sometimes I like to go hiking,” Mathews explained. “Or I’ll try to catch an hour nap midday when there’s nothing else going out.”

On his long week, however, when he only has Wednesday and Thursday off, Mathews said he maintains his nocturnal schedule.

“Like I’ll go work out, come home and do laundry, get stuff done around the house, just stuff I can do without waking any of my roommates up,” he explained. “Play videogames, use my computer, and hit the bed.”

Perhaps a result of the nocturnal lifestyle they share, Mathews said he is pretty good friends with his shift mates.

“Part of it is that we have the same days off,” he said.

“It’s easy to just call each other up and see what’s going on.

Whether it’s going to Hooters to grab a drink or going hiking... just doing something.”

Training Mathews explained to me that the training process was extensive.

Each hopeful cop-to-be must submit a background check and a physical; if the department feels you are a qualified candidate, then the testing process begins.

“It’s essentially like a mental capacity test,” Mathews said.

“They’ll give you the definition of burglary vs. robbery, and the next five or six questions will be like, ‘This is what happened: what is it, a burglary or a robbery?’”

The testing extends to a typing evaluation to ensure the potential officer can type at least 26 words per minute.

Mathews said that, because all of the reports are computer based, the department wants to ensure that the officer does not spend all day typing reports.

The physical test is perhaps the most rigorous obstacle, requiring each applicant to perform as many situps and pushups as they could in 60 seconds.

They also have to run 1.5 miles

and sprint 300 meters within a certain time, adjusted by age brackets.

“For the most part, it’s at least a couple months long,” Mathews said. “This last group we hired six or seven, and we had 114 applications for seven positions.”

The job requires at least a high school diploma or GED, although Mathews has his bachelor’s degree from UT in sociology focused on criminal justice.

After graduating from UT in 2011, Mathews said he saw the job opening and applied.

Despite the intense application process, he said the job just fell in his lap.

“When I was a student at UT, I didn’t think much of UTPD,” Mathews said. “Actually getting in the job and seeing everything that’s done is eye-opening, really.”

I asked him if he had always wanted to be a university police officer.

“I’ve always been really meticulous, pay-attention-todetails type,” Mathews said.

On fraternities: “After the incident that we had at PIKE, everything died down pretty heavily. As a mid-20s guy, I understand completely where they’re coming from; when I get with my friends, we do some stupid stuff sometimes. It’s just a matter of when and where you do your stupid stuff. If you’re somewhere where you’re not supposed to have alcohol, well if you get in trouble for having alcohol who’s fault is it? It’s nothing personal against fraternity guys, I’m just doing my job.”

On biking: “You’re not supposed to jump from sidewalk to street. If you’re on a bike, if you roll up to a red light, all you have to do is stop and make sure nothing is coming.

You can treat a red light like a stop sign.

You don’t have enough weight to trigger the sensor.”

On parties: “Noise ordinance is anything that can be heard in excess of 50 feet. So you’ve got probable cause to go up and talk to them. Reasonable suspicion would be, there’s a lot of people going in and out of the house. There might not be a lot of music, you might not see a lot of people outside of the house, but you see people freely going in and out of the house. It’s not illegal to party, it’s just that a lot of times those things tend to get out of hand. That’s the whole purpose of the reasonable suspicion thing, just that you watch it so it doesn’t get out of hand.”

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 17A

CAMPUS NEWS The Night’s Events

rvogt@utk.edu

Note: Because this ride-along ocurred during a weekday in June, there were few stops.

June 20: 6:49 p.m.

Our first stop at Oscar’s Taco Shop.

Officer Mathews orders the chicken fries. This will be his last meal for the next 12 hours.

After dinner, we return to the patrol vehicle, one of the new purchases for UTPD. The entire car is packed with electronics.

June 20: 7:55 p.m.

Officer Mathews picks up chatter about suspicious persons entering the Art and Architecture building.

We race over to the scene, and I wait outside the car while Mathews talks with two homeless people and a few other officers. Because UT recycles, the practice of “canning” is technically stealing from potential university funds.

Mathews: “We get a lot of transient people who come in and they’re usually looking for cans and sometimes they check office doors…. Most of the time, they’re canning, just looking to make some money. But just to kind of circumvent any future thefts we make sure we run them off.”

June 20: 10:05 p.m.

Officer Mathews is notified about an open door at the empty Pi Kappa Alpha house.

Upon a brief sweep, Mathews determines that the door must have been left and then blown open.

June 20: 11:58 p.m.

Officer Mathews joins another officer in a routine traffic stop at Krystal. After the driver passes a standardized field sobriety test, he is permitted to leave.

June 21: 2:15 a.m.

After seven hours on shift, I am dropped off back at my vehicle in the UTPD parking garage. Officer Mathews still has five hours left on patrol.

News Editor R.J. Vogt

Officer Mathews walks back to his car after signing guest books in the residence halls.

all photos by R.J. Vogt • The Daily Beacon

June 20: 7:45 p.m.

Officer Mathews visits every residence hall to sign a guest book.

During the summer, none of the R.A.s have anything of interest to say.

Mathews: “... How likely is a child to act up if their parents are right there within view? As opposed to, ‘hey Mom and Dad are gone, let’s try something.’ As much as a I hate to say it, it’s essentially the same concept. If an authority figure is there, people are less likely to do something that’s going to get them in trouble.”

June 20: 9:38 p.m.

While headed west on Cumberland Avenue, Officer Mathews spots a vehicle with no headlights on headed the opposite direction.

After turning around in the Pilot parking lot, we zoom down The Strip, catching

every green light but one, which we run.

He gives the driver a moment to notice us, but after the driver fails to turn on his lights, Officer Mathews carries out a routine traffic stop. No ticket issued.

18A • THE DAILY BEACON

CAMPUS NEWS

Friday, August 16, 2013 News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

Around Rocky Top - BACKPACK EDITION

Name: Dillon Canfield Major: Architecture Year: Junior Backpack contents: A laptop and a mouse for rendering, a sketchbook and a set of pens for drawing, and steel manual for structures

Name: Tori Caplenor Major: Communication Disorders and Speech/Language Pathology Year: Junior Backpack contents: Folder, planner, textbook, notepad, international phonetic alphabet flashcards, pens and pencils, Post-It notes, and a book

“My backpack is great because it has a lot of space and a super special pin my girlfriend gave me.”

“My backpack is special because my mother gave it to me.”

Name: Nathan Sulfaro Major: Art and Art History Year: Junior Backpack contents: wallet, blue tape, deodorant, a book, sketchbook, markers and pens, a lighter, cigarettes, car keys, and a spare pair of socks “My backpack is special because it hasn’t broken in four years. Most of my backpacks get holes in them, but this one is pretty durable.”

Photos by Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 19A

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

ORNL, UT at forefront of 3D printing technology McCord Pagan Staff Writer

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

Career Services offers advice to undecided students and helps make plans for the future.

Young adults struggle in post-grad job market Gabrielle O’Neal Staff Writer

With rising student loan debt, dwindling job positions and the steady threat of unemployment constantly in the news, it can be unnerving to college students on the verge of graduation.

“It absolutely terrifies me,” Rachel Downs, senior in journalism and electronic media, said.

“Ideally, a year from now I should be graduating with a degree and have a job and that is not promised at all.”

In a recent press release, a national, nonpartisan youth advocacy organization known as Generation Opportunity announced its Millennial Jobs Report for June 2013. The release stated that the effective unemployment rate for 18 to 29-year-olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 16.1 percent.

After graduating, students will have to go out in the real world or continue on to higher education. Those who choose not to continue schooling will have to face obstacles such as finding a job, paying back student loans, rent, bills, etc.

As if those things were not hard enough on their own, an uncertain job market makes them more daunting.

“I know a lot of people who are young and graduated and they’re still at Target,” Andrea Marquina, senior in special education, said.

“And they have to pay for their loans. When I think about that, it does freak me out a little bit.”

“Young people are finding fewer opportunities and are being saddled with the costs of our country’s unsustainable deficits,” said Evan

Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity.

The lack of job prospects causes some to give up on the search. According to the press release, the declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force.

Marquina said she plans to attend graduate school and to pursue a master’s degree in speech pathology.

“I feel like I don’t worry about it too much,” said Marquina, who hopes the job market will improve between now and the two and a half years she will be in grad school. “I don’t think it will be as bad but I don’t think there will be a significant improvement.”

The struggle to get a job is not just a post-graduation problem. College students are finding it difficult to find employment, such as part-time jobs, while they are pursuing a degree.

Downs said that after working at the post office in Andy Holt for three years, she applied for jobs in the mall.

“No one called me back and I was jobless,” she said.

Some students manage to find jobs through networking.

“My first actual job was when I was 19,” said Marquina, who worked at Target thanks to a friend. Downs said she also found work by talking to her friends.

Those looking for work can visit UT Career Services at 100 Dunford Hall or online at career. utk.edu.

At the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility of Oak Ridge National Labs, men such as Suresh Babu, James Earle and Philip Keller are creating the future with small plastic beads and a giant hot glue gun.

Additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing, has taken off in popularity in recent years as a cheaper, more efficient method of creating everyday items. While this technology has only reached the mainstream market in the past few years, UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have played significant roles behind the scenes.

While the first 3D printer was made in 1984 by Chuck Hall, it has only recently become commercially available. The technique involves first creating a computer design for an object, such as a ball, and then telling a computer to then slowly add layers of plastic from the bottom up until the product is completed. This technology shows immense promise, not only because of the dramatic drop in time required for a part (a model of a car door can be made in as much as a day with a printer, while the same part made of metal would take as much as six months or a year using traditional methods) but also because of the sharp decrease in price.

Here on campus, students Andrew Cousins, Eddy Kiombe and Kyoungho Cho have created their own startup company, Volan Technologies, which is built around 3D printing, and are looking to grow.

“It almost started as a joke, but now we suddenly had all this interest,” Cousins, senior in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, said.

Since putting up fliers at 11 p.m. on that Thursday night, Volan Technologies had 11 people apply for a job by 9 a.m. Friday. Volan created their own printer, modifying some of the designs they found online for their own purposes.

Cousins remains positive for his company’s future, and said additive manufacturing has large potential for architectural and engineering students and firms, and that quickly creating a 3D model of a design would streamline much of the process.

“For example an architecture firm might be designing a house for somebody, and they could show somebody a computer generated model, but it would be really expensive for them to hire somebody to make a model of the house,” he said.

“But all we have to do is upload the CAD file and print it off.”

More traditional methods of manufacturing

involve creating a mold of an object, and slowly taking away material until one has the desired shape, resulting in much excess material, and more time required.

The metal side of additive manufacturing is much more complex, as it involves the melting of metal powder with an electron beam, while the polymer side involves melting beads before the addition to the material, and then waiting for it to cool on its own.

The development of material made of polymers is more straightforward and rapidly increasing in popularity, but the manufacture of material with metals is farther away. And according to Babu, the mainstream availability for that portion of the technology will likely not be available for another 20 years.

Babu, a recent hire by UT, has been working on 3D printing for the past several years and was selected as the UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Advanced Manufacturing in July.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which earned international recognition after housing the Manhattan Project that ended World War II, is now involved in a myriad of projects, and is one of the top science labs in the country, as well as a leader in scientific research worldwide.

“There are a lot of applications (large scale 3D printing) that we don’t know about yet because it’s fairly new,” James Earle, a senior in mechanical engineering at UT, said. “It probably has the biggest future applications of anything we are working on here at the moment... because it can easily be scaled up for applications to hundreds of companies around the world.”

As a federally funded workplace, ORNL does not strive to create profits, but rather meaningful technology that serves the public good.

“This is the time when other organizations will work with ORNL to take it (additive manufacturing) to the marketplace,” Babu said. “Our main idea about ORNL is not patenting everything... but a matter of generating more economic activity based on the technology developed here.”

In March 2012, President Obama founded the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation to help spur growth in the field. Since that time, its headquarters has been established at Youngstown, Ohio, with three more in planning stages around the country.

In addition, there is now the potential to include circuitry in products, meaning that a battery can be built into the machine, and then completely covered over. More traditional methods require circuitry to be installed afterwards, but that may no longer be the case.

20A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

RecSports Fields Complex opens on Sutherland Ave.

Anthony Elias Staff Writer

Football wasn’t the only department picking up momentum at UT this summer.

The RecSports Fields Complex on Sutherland Avenue will hold its grand opening Friday, Aug. 30.

“Our goal is to be able to allow some of our programs in the form of recreation prior to that as they need to be,” assistant director Becky Dahl said. “Construction was ongoing throughout the spring. The original date that they wanted to have open was January 2013, but that was delayed for a variety of reasons, so we have kind of taken over the daily maintenance.”

The 3.8-acre complex began development during fall of the 2011 semester. Estimated at $14 million, the fields feature four natural grass multipurpose fields, two natural softball fields, four artificial turf multipurpose fields and two sand volleyball courts.

The project adds to an already-established partnership between UT sports and local businesses. Neal Kelly, general manager of Dead

End BBQ, outlined some of the business ventures he has had with UT. “Obviously we’re two miles from campus and we’re supportive,” he said. “Whether it’s ‘Wing Night’ or we do a lot of stuff with the sports teams like catering to just a comfortable place for students and faculty.

“With (the RecSports fields) going in across the street, I mean that’s icing on the cake, right?”

Kelly is preparing to take advantage of Dead End’s convenient location.

“We’re also considering expanding our hours to accommodate the field,” the restaurant manager said “If they’re open until 11 p.m. on a Friday night or something going on over there, we may extend our hours. We’re going to put in place a means to deliver food across the street so if somebody says, ‘Hey we’re on field No. 2 and we need 54 sandwiches, we’ll deliver them across the street. Obviously, we can just walk.”

Photos by Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon Kelly won’t have to extend hours too far. UT The new complex is located approximately three miles from the current intramural sport club and intramural field expansion to fields.

‘The T’ will run routes to and from the fields.

Sutherland Avenue has helped cut down on late night games. Close to many suburban homes, it’ll be a work in progress to balance student schedules and residences. sports will be different numbers, but (we will “Part of that is to be mindful of the fact that have) a minimum of four, (and) up to six fields we’re relocating to a neighborhood where there for different sports, which will greatly increase are local residences in the community so that the number of offerings available,” Dahl said. we’re not very disruptive,” Dahl said. “We’ve “I’m confident to say that anybody or any team been trying to be very aware of that, but also that wants to play will be able to play provided to accommodate the students’ schedules at the they have a little flexibility in their schedule.” same time. I think there’ll be some adjusting as However, even with the location convenient this whole year goes on and we see what’s work- to many other Knoxvillians, the complex will ing and what’s not working and try to evaluate remain closed to the public due to student as we go.” funds.

Field expansion has also provided more “If they are not associated with the univerfuture participation. Dahl said new tourna- sity,” Dahl said, “then they would not be eligible ments will be implemented, ranging from ulti- because it is funded by the student fees. We mate frisbee to softball. want to make sure that the people who are pay“We’re able to expand that and different ing the fees are the only ones benefitting.”

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 21A

CAMPUS NEWS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

White Avenue plots to fulfill need for more science labs McCord Pagan Staff Writer

UT acquired state approval to alter its master plan to include the possibility of purchasing three homes on 13th Street and White Avenue.

By law, any changes to the campus master plan must be approved by the state legislature. The area between Jessie Harris and Hoskins Library currently has three homes and a universityowned parking lot, which UT hopes to transform into a state of the art science building complete with new laboratories, classrooms and offices to accommodate the science departments’ need for more space.

Currently the building plans to add 200,000 square feet of space, less than half of the 560,000 currently listed as needed for the campus’ growing needs. If the state legislature approves funding, the building could be finished in early 2017.

“There are also labs being laid out for a much more interactive style of teaching, so there will be a lot more group study, much more collaborative learning,” Dave Irvin, associate vice chancellor for facilities services, said. “We did look at lots of other sites, but this is the only one that we can make work both functionally and economically and works with all the other departments that need to use it.”

According to Irvin, the decision to select the properties was not an easy one, but rather was made out of necessity. The new build-

Hannah Cather • The Daily Beacon

One of the three houses on White Avenue that UT hopes to purchase with the plan of buidling a new classroom facility is located at between 13th and 14th Street.

ing is set to house parts of the chemistry, BCMB and nutrition departments, and as a results, be near that part of campus. While there are other pieces of property UT owns that could become available, none exist that could be realistically used for those departments, Irvin said.

While Irvin has left open the possibility that the homes may not be needed at all as the project goes into the design phase, he did indicate that, if pur-

chased, the homes may not face demolition. The houses could be incorporated into the future building for use as a study area or lounge for future students. He said they are looking to challenge the planners to try and save as much of the properties as possible.

“We anticipate having a very creative architectural team that has done a lot of these kinds of projects, so we’re going to challenge them and say, ‘see what you can do creatively,’” Irvin

said. “The (White Avenue) homes in the Fort have huge historical significance to both Knoxville and UT.” Students such as Hunter Todd, junior in architecture, hope that the houses can be preserved.

“It is a shame to see them go, especially those that have been well maintained and add to the character of the Fort,” Todd said.

“Any possible way to save the houses as a whole or incorporate them into a new building would be ben-

eficial to both students and Knoxville residents.”

The currently unnamed building is expected to house parts of several different science departments while buildings such as Dougherty and DabneyBuehler undergo renovations.

“The places where those class labs are now would then be renovated into research labs, because we don’t have nearly enough research space,” Irvin said.

“We have faculty who could

get research grants, could have more undergraduates helping them with research, but we just don’t have places for them.”

While much of the construction on campus is funded with the student facilities services fee, Irvin said more finances are needed to move forward with the rest of the campus master plan.

However, there has been no discussion about increasing student fees to pay for the construction. Instead, the university’s approach to construction aims to take advantage of the historically low interest rates the country is experiencing, allowing UT to save money over the long term by taking out loans now.

Planned construction on White Avenue also includes the old Strong Hall building, which is scheduled to be demolished and replaced with another science and research facility. That building has been financed by the state and is expected to be completed sometime in 2016.

Residents of Clement Hall are not expected to be affected by the construction, other than the noise.

Throughout all the ambitious plans, Irvin remains optimistic about UT’s goals.

“This campus, more than any I know of, has been very forward thinking, very aggressive in meeting the goals of that master plan, but it’s a long-range plan... it has buildings out there for twenty or thirty years.

We’ve been very aggressive, so we’re probably at about our 10-year time frame at two and a half, three years of that master plan.”

22A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013

SUMMER OPINIONS

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

Redesign may make Big Orange bigger Fear and Hoping in Knoxvegas by

R.J. Vogt Sometimes it takes getting your hair cut to find inspiration.

Just a few days ago, I dropped into the chair at one of my favorite barbershops and began to indulge in a staple of barber- shop etiquette: the inevitable small talk.

While clipping away my unkempt hair, Sara asked me what I thought about the swiftlyapproaching Cumberland Avenue redesign, which is set to begin in earnest after the upcoming 2013 football season.

For those unfamiliar: the City of Knoxville plans to reconfigure the Strip from a “through location” to a “to location,” attracting pedestrians with wider sidewalks and encouraging business with more parking options and amended city ordinances.

I saw her brow furrow as she described her own conspiracy theory about the changes.

According to Sara, the construction will starve the small business owners out of the Strip and open the door for University control of the area.

Her theory is not unfounded, but rather based almost entirely on the precedent set by the Henley Street Bridge project. As construction has dragged on, more and more South Knoxville shops and restaurants have struggled along Chapman Highway, emaciated by the road diet that has eliminated traffic flow to and from the city.

In a story published in April by the Tennessee Watchdog organization, one local businessman said he knew of 37 businesses that have closed since the Henley Street project started.

A construction project starts that forces motorists away from a specific area for a few years; businesses board up the windows.

See the connection?

According to Sara, the proposed construction and land- scaping on the Strip’s sidewalks and turning lanes will force the businesses

On Having Nothing to Hide Guest Column by

Evan Ford How many bombings is your right to privacy worth? When we hear about this “privacy-security tradeoff” related to government surveillance, this is the question implicitly nagging us—which would you like, safety or confidentiality?

On the one hand, consider the Boston bombers.

When we had pictures, identities, and custody of the two brothers within three days, I heard few complaints. TSA is praised when they catch shoe explosives and plotting hijackers. Here, the government was the hero, together with the surveillance cameras and wiretaps helping to keep us safe.

We had nothing to fear from big brother; he was protecting us from the even bigger bully down the street.

Now we have a very different perspective. Several pundits on both sides of the party line have thrown the word “tyranny” around, saying that the NSA is giving government totalitarian power. The ACLU is suing the NSA for “snatching every American’s address book.” Sales of George Orwell’s 1984 surged 7,000 percent on Amazon (which is, ironically, one of the companies allegedly implicated in the NSA leak).

My point in highlighting this swing in public opinion is not to criticize its hypocrisy. In fact, I don’t think that this is hypocrisy at all. Rather, it’s a desire to be protected. In the first case, we praise government because of their protection from terrorists or outside invaders. In the second, we plead to be protected from the government itself.

Personally, I like being able to walk around my neighborhood, fly on planes, and go to football games without worrying too much about getting blown up or shot. However, looking around my life, I don’t see guards with shotguns or electric fences. Rather, I see cameras and ADT stickers. Instead of “we’ll stop you,” it’s “we’ll catch you.”

Where, then, is our “right to privacy?” It certainly isn’t inalienable—we give it up every time we walk into a department store, or get on a plane. Our right to privacy doesn’t hold when we use it to get away with shoplifting or terrorism. One problem with

prosecuting crimes like murder and rape is that they are done in private places where there is no actual data, and things often end up in “he-said; she-said” battles. Here, it seems that transparency is a way to protect us, not a violation of our individual rights.

The problem, though, is not that violating privacy is inherently wrong. I’ve yet to hear an argument that can say privacy is a right except that it protects you from wrongful persecution. If someone on the other side of the world suddenly knew everything about me, that wouldn’t be that big a deal because there’s nothing she could do with that information.

The government, though, can do something with that information.

They can protect us from terrorists, and spies, and maniacs, sure. But they can also harass and audit us, blacklist us, and generally ruin our lives.

They can create a new Red Scare, where googling “Al-Qaida” means we can no longer fly on a plane, or buy a house.

Here’s the thing—the government probably won’t do this. Given the secrecy of FISA and the NSA, though, we now know that they can. The IRS is currently under fire for allegedly auditing political opponents more fiercely than allies. A few journalists are under criminal investigation for peeking into classified information. This sort of secrecy endangers us to the whims of an organization that is meant to be checked and balanced. How can we protect ourselves against something that we aren’t even allowed to know about?

The bottom line is that the government should not be able to watch us, collect data on us, and track us in secret.

Secrecy, while a little more effective at catching bad guys, also terrorizes the people the government should be trying to protect. We no longer know when we’re being watched, or why, or how. We don’t know what behavior is allowed, and what will be seen as criminal. This undermines our sense of safety and trust in our government, and is not worth the tradeoff for a little bit of extra security.

We’re not asking to know every little classified detail, just to know the way we should act to be safe, and this should be pretty straightforward.

Unless, that is, the government has something to hide.

Evan Ford is a junior in philosophy. He can be reached at ekford@utk.edu.

there to close up shop as well. She thinks that construction will drag on, as it always does, and the real estate prices will subsequently dive.

Enter the Big Orange Idea; ten to fifteen years from now, who’s to say that UT won’t own half the strip, having bought up the former lots of fast food and head shops and replaced it all with more student and faculty amenities?

The motive is hard to dispute. Battling to the Top 25 has proven difficult without growing in size, and at a landlocked institution like UT, growth can be hard to facilitate.

As a result, the school has begun desperately grabbing up any real estate in the surrounding neighborhood.

Just a few weeks ago, this very paper reported on UT’s maneuvering to acquire three historic homes on 13th Street and White Avenue.

Over on Alcoa Highway, a new, artsy sign calls attention to Cherokee Farms, another UT outpost that will house a state of the art microscope and hopes to attract a few more businesses.

Even the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center, which

has stood proudly on the east end of the Cumberland Avenue for the last five years, may be a sign of the bigger, nicer Strip-to-Be. Imagine pulling off I-40 and onto a Market Square-esque main drag, complete with bike lanes and idyllic foliage. To your right and left, delicious restaurants and outdoor patios beckon; above you, student apartments add to a decidedly city feel. The streets could be practically paved in orange and white. Student life could be city-fed.

This vision may be imagined, but the City of Knoxville’s urban design plan for Cumberland Avenue already refers to the blocks between 17th Street and 11th Street as the university’s “front porch.”

Before we make this dream a reality, however, it will be a different orange dominating Cumberland Avenue for the next few years.

Construction cone orange.

And if this barbershop banter proves true, maybe a hint of black will color the streets as the Strip’s small businesses have their funeral.

R.J. Vogt is a rising junior in College Scholars. He can be reached at rvogt@utk.edu.

Fashion protests anti-secular Turkish government Whispering Sweet

Somethings by

Melodi Erdogan Umit Benan is a menswear designer who was born and bred in Istanbul, Turkey. Like many Turkish citizens, Benan is advocating against Prime Minister Erdogan and his dictatorial regime that is slowly but surely leading to what may be a civil war for the once-hopeful European Union member.

“I started designing this collection six months ago, but I decided to do it two years ago because it made me think about who we are and where we are going with Turkey,” Benan said in an interview with Style.com after his spring 2014 menswear presentation June 24. “This has been going on for 10 years, I feel like we are loosing our identity.”

The fashion industry is not directly correlated with politics. One is a creative, business-driven trade while the other manages government, policy, plus internal and external affairs. Benan’s collection not only criticizes the current Turkish state but also alludes to the country’s Ottoman antiquity. This inspired his collection but also provided for a fresh, eye-opening approach to fashion, which sometimes is extremely shallow.

Benan’s models walked down the runway in long tunics, three-piece suits and identical paper masks over their faces all with the show of the classic fez hats that were in style during the Ottoman rule. Despite the collection being shown for the spring season, the palette was dominated by dark colors such as navy, brown and a dark, blood red.

“The way I am presenting is pretty serious, pretty important volume,” Benan said after his show. “I don’t want to take the subject lightly, because if I presented it lightly it would not be taken seriously.”

It is interesting to observe how fashion suddenly became a part of something bigger. What is stereotyped as materialistic nonsense,

with a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes costing upwards of a thousand bucks, suddenly opened the door for political evaluation.

The context is everything. While police were using threats and tear gas on protestors as Prime Minister Erdogan stood aside, Benan debuted his exquisite collection in Milan, Italy, only a few countries away. Had Benan been presenting his collection in his own country, he would have been jailed, just as so many journalists have been for speaking negatively of the Prime Minister and his anti-secular policy.

There’s no doubt that Benan’s collection will receive mixed reviews for creating a collection based off a very strong critique. The state of the government in Turkey inspired Benan just as prohibition inspired Gatsby and corruption inspired Kanye. The ideas these artists base their work off involves the understanding of complex, detailed events lying beneath the surface of what they created but still lending themselves to individual creative expression.

For many people, international conflict does not affect daily life. Coffee will still be offered with cream and the grocery store will always be stocked with crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jelly. Maybe it is because American media focuses too much on gossip and fluff to fully inform their citizens, but with the knowledge of global affairs and news outside of the domestic borders comes the ability to understand conflict and explain culture, fashion and much more within the correct context.

It is very easy to be ignorant of world affairs and disregard global news, especially since it won’t negatively affect your sandwich making.

The world will still turn if the television mysteriously changes channels to Bravo at the sight or mention of Afghanistan. Although, with Benan’s collection, it is obvious that current affairs happening across the globe shape the rest of the world in a subtle yet effective way, easily flying under many radars that don’t know better.

Ultimately, by staying in tune with the rest of the world, life becomes a little more interesting, and who wouldn’t want that?

Melodi Erdogan is a sophomore in journalism and electronic media. She can be reached at merdogan@utk.edu.

Friday, August 16, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 23A

SUMMER OPINONS

Editor’s Note Paula Deen’s big mistake comes as no surprise Victoria Wright Editor-in-Chief The news of Food Network Southern cooking personality Paula Deen being a racist has been the one of the most popular topics for news to cover, next to Trayvon Martin case and the Snowden NSA leak.

And like any popular news topic, there will be a slew of stories and columnists jumping on the chance to cover the subject. One such column that covered the topic said that our society is fixated on watching the demise of of people in power, like children building a beautiful block tower, only to enjoy their creation more when they can finally crash it down.

To the author of that column, condemning a person who admitted to being a racist and using the n-word to describe African Americans despite her status as a family figure is not the same as a child finding enjoyment because they destroyed their toy set.

The argument of a society-finding-fulfillment drama is something I do agree with, and at times, the public has been harsh on those who faults are spotlighted because of their status.

For example, public infidelities are one of the most common issues to tackle when a public figure commits one, particularly in politics.

It’s not so much that the rest of the world is committing one (or has done so in the past), it’s the principle of watching someone who represents a certain esteem perform something in secret thus raising a question of character.

Take the impeachment of President Bill Clinton after the public discovered that he lied about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. His removal from office was not stemmed from his extramarital affair specifically, but from the fact that he lied under oath.

If the president was unable to tell the truth about his affair, the House of Representatives thought, what else was he lying about?

Deen publicly admitted that she did use the racial slur, but said she no longer uses those derogatory terms and no longer condones

racist epithets. Her apology, which aired on The Today Show after she refused a first interview Matt Lauer, featured a teary-eyed Deen expressing that despite the use of the word, that she was not a racist.

Despite her emotional interview, Food Network won’t be renewing her contract, and her endorsement deals are dropping out from underneath her. In essence, her career is over.

And like any public figure undergoing a career meltdown, the media covered the story from every possible angle. Social media sites were rampant with Deen bashing and memes addressing the issue, encapsulating her downfall for years to come. The backfire of Deen’s controversy is not stemmed from a superficial issue of people wanting to watch someone fail.

The author argues that the public is being too hard on Deen and that society has an issue of seeing redemption of public figures, but this notion is not a universal one. There are some issues that public figures commit that are, career-wise, unforgivable. Perhaps Deen has undergone a personal redemption and no longer condones using racial slurs. However, despite how Deen may repent her sins, she can no longer stand as a viable public figure that represents unity.

If the media forgave Deen and ultimately returned her business contracts, including her show, what message does that send about the race issues in the country? It would perpetuate a society that accepts racial slurs and, and essentially lead back to an America where the condoning of such attitudes was the norm.

While a society based on the enjoyment of people ‘s demise is certainly not something to strive for, the public should not accept an attitude of leniency to racism.

Victoria Wright is a Senior in journalism and electronic media and can be reached at vwright@utk.edu

News Editor R.J. Vogt

rvogt@utk.edu

Popular networks need to reshift focus to legitimate news Committee of Infractions by

Greg Bearringer We are living in a time (hopefully brief) when conspiracy theorists seem credible, when headlines written by The Onion seem preferable to real life, and when the reaction to a story matters more than the actual story.

You see, for all the ink spilled and air vibrated over how biased Fox News and MSNBC are, 70 percent of what they do isn’t particularly interesting. It’s not that it isn’t biased, it’s just benign.

Their viewers simply want to feel comfortable, and people watching them don’t necessarily want to sound bombastic all the time; most of the time, news is relatively bland.

I also think that whatever their biases, most people at either network believe they are telling the truth and communicating it effectively.

However gut-wrenching it can be to watch either network, their importance is unquestioned—having opposition is kind of the point of freedom of the press, even if it is poorly executed and assumed from the start.

The ABC politics page had three headlines this week, two of which were bizarre. One read, “NSA poll reverses Bush-era decision”. This is not only poorly written—a “poll” doesn’t reverse a decision so much as it reveals a reverse in opinion that has already occurred—but it also has little to do with what was an interesting article.

The actual story was about how liberals seem okay with surveillance in the name of national security while conservatives do not—which was the opposite of how things were during the Bush administration. The second headline, however, was a real doosie: “The White House that never was: A behind-the-scenes tour of the would-be Romney administration.” This article actually describes a video (I don’t understand how professionally run websites operate on principals antithetical to the Internet. Just show the freaking video.) in which Utah Governor Mike Leavitt fantasizes about what the first few months of a Romney presidency If, as many have predicted, civilization disintegrates into a post-apocalyptic nightmare, please remember

that news media was the first domino to fall.

How could a website, ostensibly about the current state of Politics in the United States, waste precious internet space—first by obfuscating something interesting, then by producing something not only useless but also uninteresting?

Please don’t confuse this with my accusing ABC of bias. I don’t give too hoots if ABC’s crack political division starts producing leaflets urging a communist revolution or if they are replaced by weird conservative survivalists living in the Smokey Mountains. They have the right to do so. However, actively making the interesting uninteresting while trying to pass off banal pieces as, well, anything else makes you both uninteresting and uninformative.

Sports journalism has experienced something similar. Deadspin, which is very often crude and offensive keeps its self semi-respectable by doing real investigative journalism from time to time.

Its one thing if, I don’t know, Jerry Springer or something starts to eat into the audience of legitimate news; while that would say something about whether or not legitimate news is connecting to its audience, legitimate news would still serve a purpose.

However, if Jerry Springer started to break away from “I slept with my cousin’s ex” to start breaking stories about government corruption, legitimate news would be in real trouble. Of course, that is an exaggeration of what has happened to legitimate news—but only slightly.

Following UT’s own Instapundit on twitter is a much better way to access real news than being forced to listen to or read overly dramatic drivel. If you’d like, you can easily find 20 people to follow who lean more to the right or left of Professor Reynolds; mix them up, and you can have a pretty good sense of what both the right and left is thinking at any moment. You see, the real problem formerly legitimate sites have isn’t blatant bias; it’s that they are just not very good at doing the news. For all their supposed clout, Fox News and MSNBC combine for less than 3 Million viewers a day, which is less than one percent of our population. If you didn’t realize it, that might be the best news you’ll hear for a while.

Greg Bearringer is a Senior in history and can be reached at gbearrin@utk.edu

24A • THE DAILY BEACON

Friday, August 16, 2013