The Daily Beacon

Issue 1, Volume 122

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Gender neutral housing, equal for all?

UT housing has always been gender-specific, divided by sex. One recent SGA bill offers another option.

R.J. Vogt News Editor

Introducing gender neutrality into UT housing’s vocabulary would make UT the first SEC school to abandon the typical “male” and “female” dormitories.

The bill’s implementation would allow those students who identify as transgender or genderqueer to sign up for housing that allowed them to live more comfortably. This

would not promote housing arrangements with romantic intentions; it aims to accommodate those that do not fit into the typical boxes of “male” or “female.” Terry Nowell, vice president of SGA, said that the gender neutral housing bill was passed just before Thanksgiving. It was a hotly debated topic.

See GENDER NEUTRAL on Page 3

2 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Associate Editor Preston Peeden

IN SHORT Around RockyTop

ppeeden@utk.edu

Managing Editor Emily DeLanzo edelanzo@utk.edu

THIS DAY IN

HISTORY

1493 — Columbus mistakes manatees for merOriginally published anonymously, “Common maids Sense” advocated independence for the American colonies from Britain and is considered one of On this day in 1493, Italian explorer Christopher the most influential pamphlets in American Columbus, sailing near the Dominican Republic, history. Credited with uniting average citizens sees three “mermaids”--in reality manatees--and and political leaders behind the idea of independescribes them as “not half as beautiful as they dence, “Common Sense” played a remarkable are painted.” Six months earlier, Columbus (1451- role in transforming a colonial squabble into the 1506) set off from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean American Revolution.

At the time Paine wrote “Common Sense,” most with the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, hoping to find a western trade route to Asia. Instead, his colonists considered themselves to be aggrieved voyage, the first of four he would make, led him to Britons. Paine fundamentally changed the tenor of colonists’ argument with the crown when he the Americas, or “New World.”

Mermaids, mythical half-female, half-fish crea- wrote the following: “Europe, and not England, tures, have existed in seafaring cultures at least is the parent country of America. This new world since the time of the ancient Greeks. Typically hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers depicted as having a woman’s head and torso, a of civil and religious liberty from every part of fishtail instead of legs and holding a mirror and Europe. Hither they have fled, not from the tender comb, mermaids live in the ocean and, according embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the to some legends, can take on a human shape and monster; and it is so far true of England, that the marry mortal men. Mermaids are closely linked to same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from sirens, another folkloric figure, part-woman, part- home, pursues their descendants still.”

Paine was born in England in 1737 and worked bird, who live on islands and sing seductive songs as a corset maker in his teens and, later, as to lure sailors to their deaths.

Mermaid sightings by sailors, when they weren’t a sailor and schoolteacher before becoming a made up, were most likely manatees, dugongs or prominent pamphleteer. In 1774, Paine arrived in Steller’s sea cows (which became extinct by the Philadelphia and soon came to support American 1760s due to over-hunting). Manatees are slow- independence. Two years later, his 47-page pammoving aquatic mammals with human-like eyes, phlet sold some 500,000 copies, powerfully influbulbous faces and paddle-like tails. It is likely that encing American opinion. Paine went on to serve manatees evolved from an ancestor they share in the U.S. Army and to work for the Committee with the elephant. The three species of manatee of Foreign Affairs before returning to Europe in (West Indian, West African and Amazonian) and 1787. Back in England, he continued writing pamone species of dugong belong to the Sirenia order. phlets in support of revolution. He released “The As adults, they’re typically 10 to 12 feet long and Rights of Man,” supporting the French Revolution weigh 800 to 1,200 pounds. They’re plant-eaters, in 1791-92, in answer to Edmund Burke’s famous have a slow metabolism and can only survive in “Reflections on the Revolution in France” (1790).

His sentiments were highly unpopular with the warm water.

Manatees live an average of 50 to 60 years in still-monarchal British government, so he fled to the wild and have no natural predators. However, France, where he was later arrested for his political they are an endangered species. In the U.S., the opinions. He returned to the United States in 1802 majority of manatees are found in Florida, where and died in New York in 1809. scores of them die or are injured each year due to 1965 — Bond movie features Aston Martin collisions with boats.

On this day in 1965, the James Bond movie 1776 — Thomas Paine publishes Common “Goldfinger,” which features the suave British Sense super-spy driving an Aston Martin Silver Birch On this day in 1776, writer Thomas Paine DB5 sports car, opens in theaters across the U.S. publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense,” setting Aston Martins would go on to appear in a number Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon forth his arguments in favor of American indepen- of other Bond films.

— This Day in History is courtesy of History. dence. Although little used today, pamphlets were Sarah Cantrell, undecided freshman, returns to Hess Hall from winter break on an important medium for the spread of ideas in com.

Tuesday. the 16th through 19th centuries.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Wednesday, January 9, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 3 THE DAILY BEACON • 3 News EditorNews RJ VogtPreston News Editor Editor RJ Vogt Peeden ppeeden@utk.edu rvogt@utk.edu rvogt@utk.edu Assistant Assistant News EditorNews Editor David Cobb Emily Cobb Assistant News Editor David DeLanzo dcobb3@utk.edu edelanzo@utk.edu dcobb3@utk.edu

CAMPUS NEWS GENDER NEUTRAL continued from Page 1 “A lot of dissension was because of the public perception, the ideas that could be associated with its passing,” he said. “With all the parents and outsiders looking in, the concern is that if it’s not explained well, it could lead to those outsiders thinking poorly of the university, that we are immoral and doing things we should not be doing.”

Although the debate was fierce and the margin of passage slimmer than most other SGA senate bills, Nowell supports the message.

“I think it would be great, it would be something that UT doesn’t often do. We would be at the forefront of a national movement.”

According to genderblind. org, that national movement has hit 60 colleges and universities across the U.S., most recently passing through the Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Jacob Clark, a junior and the writer of UT’s senate bill, worked with the other schools as he researched the topic. He spoke with representatives at the universities of Connecticut and Oregon, as well as a small school in Vermont, and also gathered data from the University of Delaware. He found that the schools that have passed it are not much like UT. “I mean, Connecticut is a totally different set of people, also in Oregon and Washington. These are very different places,” Clark said, though he noted that UNC’s recent approval of similar legislation will provide a comparable picture of how it would go over at UT. Because UT

would be the first Southeastern Conference member to implement gender-neutral housing, Nowell predicts an especially careful public relations surge to the a highly conservative state atmosphere.

“I do think that we need to do it well, as the first SEC school. It’s not wrong in any way to do this, but people might look into the university and not understand,” he said.

“It will require a big PR push, a well-run PR push.”

Clark also recognizes the controversial nature of the bill, but for him, being the first SEC school is a good thing.

“It will put us in a leadership position to be … I don’t like to use the word progressive because it can have a negative connotation but … progressive,” he said. “Especially when lately we’ve been noted as a school that’s been lagging compared to even other SEC schools. … When you make a policy change that makes students more comfortable and gives them more choices you open yourself to get in better students, to retain more students. Everything can stem from that. It can make a lot of big differences.”

He referenced a recent study by the Princeton Review that listed UT as one of the least LGBT-friendly schools in the nation. As president of UT’s LGBT student group, the Lambda Student Union, Caitlin Miller can relate.

Miller, who prefers gender neutral pronouns, identifies as transgender/genderqueer, a fact that made Miller’s freshman year in the university dormitories tough to negotiate.

“I probably would’ve been into neutral housing. It was really awkward for me, because on the halls they’d have all the decorations and

be like ‘ladies, come over here’ and it puts me in a really awkward position because I prefer genderneutral pronouns,” Miller said.

Miller always wondered why UT did not have any housing option for transgender people.

The change would, in their mind, improve the existing climate.

“It would attract a greater diversity of people and would promote equality of all people because that’s important,” Miller said. “There are a lot of transgender students at UT who aren’t recognized.”

The bills passed by SGA are not always implemented. The process is intended to be a democratic way of telling the administration of student concerns. Clark admitted to initial doubts of his bill’s immediate implementation.

“When I first started the bill, I thought, ‘we’ll pass it, we’ll make some noise and then hopefully someone else will keep it going a few years later and it’ll eventually get there,’” he said.

A conversation with Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Tim Rogers and Executive Director of Housing Frank Cuevas changed Clark’s mind.

“Vice Chancellor Rogers was very warm to the idea, he didn’t see why it couldn’t be done, especially when they’re already building new halls. Building new halls makes it easier because they can design the new hall for (genderneutral housing),” Clark said. “I feel like sometimes, on issues where they might get push back, it’s easier for them to go forward on things they might want to do if they have a student-led initiative.

They can go ‘students have said they wanted this. Two representative bodies for the student body have said they want this.’”

Whether or not the bill becomes policy for UT remains to be seen. But it seems that the students, at least, are ready to bring gender-neutral housing to the SEC.

SGA president hopeful, ambitious for last semester David Cobb Assistant News Editor UT’s Student Government Association president Adam Roddy is among the group of seniors beginning their final go-around on Rocky Top with the first day of classes on Wednesday.

Although he said it’s bittersweet knowing his tenure is coming to an end, Roddy expressed his ambition to tackle several projects during the spring semester when he spoke with The Daily Beacon on Monday.

He listed a handful of projects that his administration plans to work on over the coming months, including a handful of new ventures designed to help students.

“One of the things we’re working on with a group of students right now is establishing a kind of joint food pantry on campus — a campus kitchen,” Roddy said.

“They kind of sound like the same thing, but the food pantry will be a place on campus where organizations can have canned food drives. But it’s also for students who you would classify as ‘food insecure.’ It doesn’t mean you’re starving or anything like that, but maybe on the weekends or some other time, (when) you’re unsure when your next meal might be coming.”

He added, “And the campus kitchen side will take food left over from events or anything like that and work with local Knoxville leaders to bring that food out to our homeless population and to needy families.”

Plans are also in the works that would allow for SGA to assist needy student organizations through controlling the disbursement of a $10,000 fund.

Past criticisms of SGA have cited its lack of financial influence.

“Our treasurer will have a

lot of lead on this,” Roddy said. “It doesn’t have a name yet, but the gist of it is that this $10,000 fund is for organizations on a need basis, solely for events. It’s event funding. A lot of organizations get their funding through the Recreation Entertainment and Social Board, but usually that’ll be a lump sum at the beginning or end of the year. So if you find out halfway through the year that one of your events that you’ve been working hard on needs a hundred extra dollars, you can come to us and you can receive up to a maximum of $500 … we’ll be able to get you that money quickly, hopefully … I’m really excited about that.”

Another program that Roddy has been researching would allow students to access free legal help on campus.

See SGA on Page 5

Checklist for the semester Emily DeLanzo Managing Editor This ain’t your first pony ride. For the majority of students, mid-August was the time for fear and uncertainty.

Is this the right classroom?

Should I have read the introduction to the assigned book?

Why is it 40 degrees in this Humanities classroom?

For both new and returning students, the first few days of classes can be mildly daunting with new professors and far-away buildings. We at The Daily Beacon want to do our best to prepare you for the worst during your first week of classes this semester. We have decided on the utter essentials from our trial and error over the years.

To those who are new, welcome. To those graduating, godspeed. To those who forgot to set their confirmation to “yes” and lost their schedule, our hearts break.

1. School Supplies Don’t be the loser who has to borrow a pen or pencil on the first day of class. You’re not in elementary school anymore, and you pay to be here. Your time and effort in class is more valuable than your tuition.

Forgetting your notebook is always embarrassing, whether you’re in a lecture class of 200 or a discussion class of 20.

2. Your Happy Pants Leave the party pants at home. Winter break is over.

Stumbling from class to class

slightly hungover and smelling like whiskey and shame is a great way to make the worst first impression ever.

In the same sense, no one likes a grumpy gills either.

Leave the pouty pants at home, too. Don’t moan and groan because of small class introductions or gripe about actually having lecture on the first day of class.

You’re setting yourself up for a sad semester if you enter a classroom with anything less than a good attitude and an open mind ready to be filled.

3. Syllabus If your instructor has already posted the course syllabus, come prepared. Use the money your grand aunt gave you for Christmas to buy a nice new ink cartridge for your printer and print off all required documents before you step foot in a classroom.

Not only does having your syllabus show initiative, you will have a grasp at what to expect of the professor and whether or not you should change your schedule.

4. Thinking Cap Your brain may have turned into mush after eating millions of calories over Christmas break and drinking your weight in eggnog, but it’s time to break out the thinking cap again. It probably hasn’t seen the light of day since finals week.

Griping about a professor that actually holds class during the first week of classes won’t help you. If anything,

you’re setting yourself up to fail. Enter a classroom with an open mind ready to learn. Take whatever means necessary to remain alert and at best be excited to learn.

5. Building Locator Map Sure. You’ve been around the block. You know every building on the Hill and around the corner. This isn’t your first semester or even your first year. But never be unprepared.

You may only have 15 minutes to scurry from the Haslam Business Building to Morgan Hall on the Agriculture Campus. Don’t waste time wandering the gardens looking for your building. Familiarize yourself with the letters on your schedule and the associated buildings.

Optional: Cardboard and a Sharpie Whether you’re lost, beaten or broken, a “Will Work for Food” sign always helps. If you’re one of the poor unfortunate souls who forgot to change their confirmation to “yes” and lost their entire schedule, giving up seems like a viable option.

Plop down on any of the streets that run through campus with your backup and set up shop. Your backup will make a nice pillow, and that Starbucks cup is a great place for change. Whatever you do though, don’t lose faith. We will make it through this. The Daily Beacon is here to help (and at the very minimum, provide a blanket.)

4 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Editor-in-Chief Blair Kuykendall

OPINIONS

bkuykend@utk.edu

Contact us letters@utk.edu

Editor’sNote Daily Beacon: back in black, white Blair Kuykendall Editor-in-Chief Life is a manic, rapid tide that often sweeps us along in the most unusual of directions.

Last semester was an excellent example.

The Daily Beacon staff faced some of our greatest challenges to date, fielding instances of crime, scandal, and triumph across UT’s campus. While one never anticipates the chaotic winds that rolled over the student body last semester, the best defense to such surges is a strong offense. That’s what we’ve got lined up this spring.

Several large-scale changes have occurred in our newsroom as of late, and I think on the order of transparency, it would be beneficial to share those with you.

Chiefly, we are working toward a greater level of cooperation with other student media outlets on campus. In past years, the coverage of The Volunteer Channel, WUTK, TNJN and The Daily Beacon has been divergent, but I am very excited to see more interaction and communication between all of these outlets.

Starting this spring, we will be working with TVC to provide you with more video content on The Daily Beacon’s website, and this is likely only the beginning. Better working relationships will ensure that you get the best information possible at the quickest speed.

I am also ecstatic to announce that we have completely overhauled our production process and operating systems at The Daily Beacon.

For the first time in many years we have brand new computers and a new editorial server that exists in the cloud. That means that our reporters can upload stories into our editing

workflow from any computer with internet access. That will dramatically reduce difficulties associated with breaking news coverage, and allow for a more efficient editorial process overall.

Aside from the technicalities of editing, we have also changed our design formatting from Quark to InDesign. This change brings our production software up to industry standards, and will provide a better and more useful experience for our design staff. Not to mention, in the long run, that should provide a more aesthetically pleasing newspaper for yourself.

What hasn’t changed, though, is our dedication to working with the administration, faculty members, UTPD and SGA, to guarantee that you have the greatest access to information that you possibly can. You can’t be at every meeting, event, or activity that takes place on campus, but we are going to make a solid effort to have someone from our staff there.

Spring semester brings a great deal of interesting activity on campus. All-Sing, Vol Night Long, Volapalooza, and numerous other interesting programming events are all scheduled to keep you entertained. We will be bringing you previews and reviews of all the major goings-on.

Our Twitter account is updated regularly with breaking campus news, along with links to some of our most popular daily content.

Updates can also be found on our Facebook page, and of course you can view the full print issue on our website each day.

Please turn to us for all information on pressing campus news. Or just start your day with our crossword.

— Blair Kuykendall is a senior in College Scholars and economics. She can be reached at bkuykend@utk.edu.

SCRAMBLED EGGS • Alex Cline

THE GREAT MASH-UP • Liz Newnam

Columns of The Daily Beacon are reflections of the individual columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or its editorial staff.

Cimorelli offers innovative sound The Maple Kind by

Hunter Tipton Everyone has some sort of guilty pleasure in his or her life. Something that they absolutely love, but would be somewhere between mildly upset and horrified if people figured out. Well folks, I’m about to reveal one of mine to you.

Over the last several months, I have been listening to a band called Cimorelli that I accidentally discovered while viewing music videos on YouTube. The first video I saw was their cover of “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, and they blew it out of the water.

I then went to their YouTube channel and couldn’t control myself. By the end of the day I had watched all of their videos.

To give you a background, Cimorelli consists of six sisters of ages ranging from (the best I can figure) 12 to 22 who started out performing covers of songs and posting them on YouTube. Their names, from oldest to youngest, are Christina, Katherine, Lisa, Amy, Lauren, and Dani, and they hail from Sacramento, California but currently live in Los Angeles. They were signed by Universal Music’s Island label in 2011, and now write original songs. They have five brothers, are homeschooled, and are devout Catholics.

Each sister has her own distinct personality that is displayed in their blooper and fan-relation videos, but they all seem humorous and bubbly at heart.

That is essentially the extent of my knowledge on the sisters, but for whatever reason I feel as if they are people that I might see on a day-to-day basis. I think their humanity and, for lack of a better word, innocence, is part of the appeal. They seem like normal teenagers and young adults who are simply doing what

they love, from humble roots to a promising future. In all of their music videos, at least one is wearing a cross necklace and they change the lyrics of any cover they perform in order to exclude foul language. They also exude a sense of love and friendship for one another.

As a Christian, I find this outward display of faith and compassion refreshing. No, a cross necklace does not necessarily mean you hold Christian values, but a consistent effort to display God’s love is appreciated. In a world where artists such as Katy Perry sell out their faith for fame, I take joy in the fact that these sisters stick to their moral values and remain a close-knit family.

My favorite of the bunch is Lisa. She is a fantastic singer who organizes most of the vocals for their music. I don’t use the term “fantastic” here lightly. She can really belt out some notes. I can only describe her voice as warm chocolate syrup being drizzled over your ear drums. Really, she’s that good. It also probably doesn’t hurt that she is also very attractive, but that’s not my focus. She is the lead in most of their videos, so check them out to get an idea of how talented she really is.

Lisa isn’t the only one I am impressed with, though. They are all extremely talented, and together they’re even better. I would give up my left arm to meet any of them. If any of my readers are involved with selecting artists for Volapalooza, take the time to check out Cimorelli before they get ultra-famous and we can no longer afford to invite them. I promise you won’t regret it. If there is a time for their first performance in Tennessee, let it be in April at UT. Shameless Plug of the Week: Seriously, Volapalooza people, get on this. Once you book them, make sure I get to meet them.

For any readers who want to hear one of their original songs, search YouTube for their hit, “You Got Me Good.”

— Hunter Tipton is a senior in microbiology. He can be reached at jtipto10@utk.edu.

UT’s investments draw concern The Fourth Branch by

Eric Dixon

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Blair Kuykendall

editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com

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The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Friday during the summer semester. The offices are located at 1340 Circle Park Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/year, $100/semester or $70/summer only.

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LETTERS POLICY: The Daily Beacon welcomes all letters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty and staff. Each submission is considered for publication by the editor on the basis of space, timeliness and clarity. Contributions must include the author’s name and phone number for verification. Students must include their year in school and major. Letters to the editor and guest columns may be e-mailed to letters@utdailybeacon.com or sent to Blair Kuykendall, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style. Any and all submissions to the above recipients are subject to publication.

Your UT tuition is used to finance necessities like the construction and maintenance of facilities, programming activities vital to a budding academic institution, and the salaries of administration, faculty and staff, et cetera. Few students realize, though, that UT also uses a portion of its funds, annually, to invest in domestic and foreign companies.

UT invests for the same reason that any other person or entity invests: return on investment.

Administrative officials take a pool of UT dollars, invest it in a new or established company, and wait for the company to grow and profit.

As a company does well, the value of UT’s shares in that company increase and, presumably, UT uses this increase in value somewhere down the road to finance the university’s necessities listed above. If done tactfully, the financial results for our university can be great.

But it’s also important to remember that by investing in companies and corporations UT is affecting the livelihood of these companies.

Businesses need investments to get off the ground and to continue to grow throughout their lifespan in the market. By holding shares in a company, UT is supporting that company.

And supporting a company indirectly means supporting the practices of that company.

In the past few months there has been a movement among college environmentalists to push institutions of higher education to divest from fossil fuel energy companies. As recently as mid-November, 72 percent of Harvard students voted to divest Harvard University’s $30.7 billion endowment from fossil fuel companies. Many other schools have followed suit and the spring will likely see more college campuses voting to divest from fossil fuels.

All this buzz about higher education divestment enhanced my curiosity: in what sorts of companies does UT invest? Unfortunately, a quick look at UT’s FY2010 investment portfolio yields cautionary results, and not just

because UT has shares in more than a handful of fossil fuel companies.

As of FY2010, UT had shares in almost half of Business Insider’s “15 Worst Companies for the Planet”: Allegheny Energy Incorporated, ConAgra Foods, American Electric Power, Bunge Limited, Southern Company, and Archer-Daniels-Midland. We also had holdings in Tyson Foods Incorporated and KeyCorp, both of which made the ranks of Newsweek’s 2011 “Least Green Companies in America.”

Most of the companies on these lists were ranked so highly not simply because they produce or utilize fossil fuels, but because most of them have terrible water and air pollution records. Many of these companies have even contributed to toxic and hazardous pollution, dealing serious harm to the health and safety of local residents.

Perhaps the worst companies, from a social and environmental perspective, in which UT holds shares are some of the most infamous in the entire country: Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Dow Chemical and Pfizer. In addition to their well-known and horrendous pollution records, which have resulted in some of the most historic habitat destruction ever, Exxon Mobil and Chevron both have pending lawsuits for human rights abuses abroad. Chevron has been accused of killing, torturing and enslaving locals in Burma and Nigeria, and Exxon Mobil has been accused of dealing similar human rights violations in Indonesia. International intellectual property law has enabled Pfizer to charge unreasonably high prices for HIV/AIDS drugs in sub-Saharan Africa, and controversy has continued to surround the company ever since.

Clearly, UT’s investment portfolio is condemnable on ethical, and not just environmental, grounds, and solving the issue will take more than a simple “divest from fossil fuels” approach. As a UT student, you have a stake in the investments of our institution. Like over 40 universities that have already done so, UT needs to establish some sort of committee on investor responsibility, which would need robust student representation, to address these issues.

— Eric Dixon is a senior in philosophy. He can be reached at edixon4@utk.edu.

Wednesday, Wednesday, January January 9, 9, 2013 2013

THE THE DAILY DAILY BEACON BEACON •• 55 News News Editor Editor Preston RJ Vogt Peeden

CAMPUS NEWS SGA continued from Page 3 “I spoke with the dean of the law school and the vice chancellor about this,� Roddy said. “And it’s going to be an expensive program, or could be, which is a hurdle. But the goal is to have a free legal consultation clinic on campus for students to use that’s a safe place. So if something happens at home, in Knoxville, at all you can go there and get free advice and some help as a student.�

Roddy expressed his desire to not be a “lame duck� president during his final semester and said that he hopes to hand the reigns to the new SGA administration at the end of the semester with all of his ideas in motion. “I’d definitely describe it as bittersweet,� Roddy said. “Obviously it’s been a great experience, and with it being my senior year that’s

bittersweet as well because I’ve made a lot of friends and had a lot of great experiences. But there’s a lot projects that are in the works right now ... and I’m really excited to get those happening.

I’m definitely excited to see what all that I and SGA in particular can accomplish for the rest of the semester.�

SGA vice president Terry Nowell agreed with Roddy’s sentiment. Both have served the university in various roles within SGA and other leadership organizations during their tenure at UT. “It’s kind of sad because in a lot of ways people will be looking towards the future of student government with the elections this semester,� Nowell said. “And because of that it’ll be a lot different of an atmosphere for student government.�

Nowell added, “But it’s also exciting for us getting to see a lot of the things we worked on first semester come to fruition and get to see the fruits of our labor.�

ppeeden@utk.edu rvogt@utk.edu

David DeLanzo Cobb Assistant Assistant News News Editor Editor Emily edelanzo@utk.edu dcobb3@utk.edu

UT wins green competition Staff Reports Greenhouse gases, meet your match.

From September through November, UT competed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Game Day Recycling Challenge, finishing first in the greenhouse gas reduction category, and two other categories.

The Game Day Recycling Challenge is a friendly nationwide contest to determine which university can reduce the most waste during football game days.

In total, 79 universities and 5.4 million fans diverted 1.09 million pounds of waste from football games,

preventing 1,732 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released.

The schools competed in five categories: recycling per capita, diversion rate (recycling percentage), greenhouse gas reduction per capita, organics reduction per capita, and waste minimization.

UT proved a strong competitor in the Southeastern Conference division. The university won the greenhouse gas reduction, organics reduction and diversion rate categories. It finished second in recycling per capita and fifth in waste minimization.

Before, during and after each game, UT Recycling and dozens of volunteers canvassed campus tailgating areas collecting glass bottles, plastics, and aluminum cans as well as food waste from Volunteer Village, Circle Park, Neyland Stadium skyboxes and parking areas. They collected more than 13.3 tons of garbage for recycling from the Florida game.

Although UT’s performance continues to improve each year, Jay Price, UT environmental coordinator, still sees room for improvement. “We continue to see people throw garbage in the

trash instead of the recycling bins, so we will look for more ways to change behavior,� Price said.

UT’s game day food waste is composted at UT’s onsite composting facility, located across from the UT Medical Center. Glass, aluminum, plastics, paper, and cardboard collected by UT Recycling are taken to the Rock Tenn recycling facility in Knoxville. Leftover concession food is donated to local charities through Second Harvest Food Bank.

For more information about recycling on campus, visit the UT Recycling website at www.pp.utk.edu/ recycle.

UT researchers predict poor weather in coming years Staff Reports

From extreme drought to super storms, many wonder what the future holds for the climate of the eastern U.S. A study conducted by researchers at UT does away with the guessing.

Results show the region will be hotter and wetter.

Joshua Fu, a civil and environmental engineering professor, and Yang Gao, a graduate research assistant, developed precise scales of cities which act as a climate crystal ball seeing high resolution climate changes almost 50 years into the future.

The study found that heat waves will become more severe in most regions of the eastern U.S. and both the Northeast and Southeast will see a drastic increase in precipitation.

The findings are published in the Nov. 6 edition of Environmental Research Letters.

Harnessing the supercomputing power of UT’s Kraken and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Jaguar (now Titan, the fastest in the world), the researchers combined high-resolution topography, land use information and climate modeling. Then, they used dynamical downscaling to develop their climate model results. Dynamical downscaling allowed the researchers to develop climate scales as small as four square kilometers. “Instead of studying regions, which is not useful when examining extreme weather, dynamical downscaling allows us to study small areas such as cities with a fine resolution,� said Fu,

who is also a professor within the UT-ORNL Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education (CIRE).

The researchers evaluated extreme events along with daily maximum and minimum temperatures and daily precipitation. For the 23 states east of the Mississippi River, they analyzed the present-day climate from 2001 to 2004 and predicted the future climate from 2057 to 2059. This is the first study to predict heat waves for the top 20 cities in the eastern U.S. For example, Nashville will see a temperature rise of 3.21 degrees Celsius and Memphis will see a rise of 2.18 degrees Celsius.

In comparing present climate to future, the researchers found that heat waves will become more severe throughout the eastern part of the nation. The Northeast and eastern Midwest will experience a greater increase in heat waves than the Southeast, which will almost equalize the temperatures between the future North and current South.

In addition, the Northeast and eastern Midwest are likely to suffer from steeper increases in the severity of heat waves. “While the Southeast has the highest intensity in heat waves, the Northeast is likely to experience the highest increase,� said Fu. “We are looking at temperature increases of 3 to 5 degrees Celsius, with New York experiencing the highest hike.�

Both the Northeast and Southeast will experience an increase of precipitation of 35 percent or more. Most coast-

• Photo courtesy of UT Recycle

Students from Sonoma State University participate in Alternative Spring Break with UT Recycling in April 2012. al states will see the greatest increase, of about 150 millimeters a year. Taking into consideration heat waves and extreme precipitation, the Northeast shows the largest increases in precipitation. This suggests a greater risk of flooding.

Fu and Gao collaborated with researchers at Emory University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. They received assistance from the National Center for Computational Sciences, the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Computational Sciences, and UT’s National Institute for Computational Sciences.

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14 Time for eggnog 15 Challenge for movers 16 Rock’s MĂśtley ___ 17 Deice, in a way 18 Chinese appetizer 20 Henry VIII’s house 22 Did some modeling 23 Opposite of raises 24 Line of symmetry 26 R and R all by oneself 28 Slop trough locale 30 F.D.I.C. part 32 “America’s Got Talentâ€? network 35 Grade option that doesn’t affect one’s grade point average 37 Worldwide 39 Big work

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S P A M

H E R A

B O O R W A

R A N O N P E A C H P I E S

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1

2

3

4

5

14

15

17

18

20

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28

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32

33

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57

7

19

25

29

35

6

59

60

56 61

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

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11 Treat on a 69-Across 12 Act the crybaby

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38 Start of a longdistance call 41 Junkyard dog 44 Near miss, perhaps 45 Bottom line 47 Penpoint

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62 Sharpie tip material 63 Celestial beast 65 Iran-contra org.

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6 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Wright

ARTS & CULTURE

vwright6@utk.edu

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Melodie Erdogan merdogan@utk.edu

What to watch on TV Victoria Wright

Arts and Culture Editor

• Photo courtesy of boxofficebuzz.com

• Photo courtesy of buzzsugar.com

It’s a new year, and along with hopes to improve a descending GPA and actually keep that get back in shape before spring break resolution, many students will be reassessing their priorities in the entertainment department. There are some returning series that are worth catching up on and some new ones to look out for.

Whether you prefer reality television or a good scripted series, here’s a short list of the top shows to tune in to in 2013. It’s time to change the channel and see what else the airwaves have to offer.

“Buckwild” Thursdays at 10 p.m. on MTV Now that “Jersey Shore” is gone, we need a new brood of young, wayward 20-somethings to follow on television.

“Buckwild” focuses on a group of young people living in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia. Some of the characters require subtitles, and sometimes viewers may wish the producers included subtitles as well when certain other characters speak.

Despite the occasional inability to understand what half of the people are saying, their actions speak louder than words. From riding dump trucks or lap dancing on each other at the one bar in town, this show is actually funny.

If you watch it for what it is and not for these kids’ lost potential, it’s a nice brain-break from your 400-level class schedule.

“Black Ink” Mondays at 9 p.m. on VH1 Centered around a Harlem tattoo parlor, “Black Ink” is VH1’s latest attempt of making itself a hipper, younger channel. The pilot episode isn’t the most entertaining, despite the constant fighting between the cast members over petty behavior. It’s the aesthetics of the actual show that make it stand out. The camera shots and the beauty of the tattoos make this show a good watch not because of its content but because of the way it

looks. I predict most of the entertainment stems from the shops’ publicist, Puma.

“Scandal” Thursday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. on ABC After a brief hibernation, crisis-management superhero and the president’s cuddle buddy Olivia Pope is back to fix the recent shooting of the commanderin-chief. For those who need to catch up on past episodes it’s well worth it.

Washington plays a fantastic role, and each episode just gets more suspenseful and a little bizarre. It’s also a show that tears at the heart strings, as it tells a story of love that just doesn’t quite work out too well. It’s a show that can be enjoyed by everyone and is worth an hour of procrastination.

“The Following” Premieres Monday, Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. on Fox I’ve been seeing previews for this show for a while, but I could never decipher what it was about. Then I saw Kevin Bacon’s face, and I was hooked. Bacon plays a former FBI agent who consults a deranged serial killer who has created a cult of murderers (think Jim Jones and his People’s Temple followers if they didn’t drink the Kool-Aid). Apparently the show can get a little graphic, as many of the murders are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. This show should become a favorite for mystery lovers.

“1600 Penn” Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC Not all scripted shows need to be serious and comedy shouldn’t be derived only from watching reality television, which is proven by NBC’s comedy series “1600 Penn.” The show, which premiered Dec. 17, revolves around a dysfunctional White House family, including a pregnant teen first daughter (I wonder where they got that idea) and a hilarious, Jonah Hill doppelgänger named Ski (Josh Gad).

Gad seems to dominate the episodes, and that’s okay. Some shows just need a person to take center stage.

Plus, the president (Bill Pullman) is the same president from the movie “Independence Day.” Hooray for entertainment character re-elections.

• Photo courtesy of NBC

• Photo courtesy of VH1

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 7

8 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Wright

ARTS & CULTURE

vwright6@utk.edu

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Rob Davis rdavis60@utk.edu

• Photo courtesy of studiobriefing.net

Film version of ‘Les Misèrables’ not so miserable Melodi Erdogan Assistant Arts and Culture Editor

• Photo courtesy of rottentomatoes.com

Anne Hathaway stars as Fantine, a desperate young mother, in Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s famous novel “Les Misèrables.”

“Les Misèrables,” when translated from French, means “the miserable,” although the film was anything but.

Victor Hugo wrote the novel “Les Misèrables” in 1862, and more than 100 years later the musical was created for the stage. The story that is all about poverty, politics and the hardships of living in 19th century France quickly became one of the most famous adaptations ever, and on Dec. 25 the story was adapted once again for the silver screen.

The story revolves around an ex-prisoner named Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) who was convicted to 19 years of jail for stealing a loaf of bread for his dying sister and her child. Valjean breaks parole but then reinvents himself to become a new man who is less threatening for society. Unfortunately, Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), who let him out of jail but always had suspicion, is never too far behind.

The story then follows Valjean’s constant running from Javert and his quest to take care of Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), the daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway) who

became a woman who sold herself to prostitution to pay for her daughter’s care under innkeepers. “Les Misèrables” comes to life with the excellent casting for the film, in which every character plays their respective part above and beyond how they are written in Hugo’s original novel.

From beginning to end the film emulated the original play form, making it a true musical rather than a movie. Almost all of the dialogue was spoken through song, and only rarely would the actors speak normally, while in the 1998 version of the film, the majority of the music was left out.

The direction also mimicked a musical form using single, continuous shots rather than short shots, and it focused on details in the set and clothing design.

Director Tom Hooper took an original approach concerning the music. Instead of having the actors record their singing in a music studio, he recorded them singing during filming and had a full orchestral record the background music to the songs later, which was added to the film during the editing stage. This peculiar approach to filming a musical really made a difference in the final product. One notable example of this is dur-

ing Fantine’s solo, “I Dreamed a Dream.” Hathaway’s voice felt raw, which in turn made the scene all that more emotional and elevated the feel of the music and the characters’ dilemmas.

Costume design was impeccable throughout the film, from Fantine’s soiled dress to Javert’s post-revolutionera French uniform. Costume designer Paco Delgado perfected the 19th century French fashions and draped the actors in clothes that not only epitomized their classes in society but also their character’s qualities. The set design was also flawlessly done in the film.

From the minute the movie started the screen was transformed into France during the revolution through architecture and the construction of the sets. In the second part of the film, details like the cobblestone streets and the make and design of furniture made it clear that without the costume and set design, the film would not have been the same.

The release date of “Les Misèrables,” being Christmas Day, marked its first contending spot in upcoming awards shows. The film will without a doubt be a contender at the Academy Awards come next month, and it has reason to be.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

ARTS & CULTURE

THE DAILY BEACON • 9 Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Wright

vwright6@utk.edu

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Melodie Erdogan

merdogan@utk.edu

Film takes artsy, realistic look at 2004 tsunami Preston Peeden Associate Editor During the holiday season, movies generally follow one of two archetypes: they can either be big budget epics (such as “The Hobbit” or “Les Misèrables”) or kitschy family films overplaying a holiday theme. Refreshingly, however, “The Impossible” steps outside of these usual constraints and tries to create a deeper and more genuine experience.

• Photo courtesy of Jose Haro Set during the Dec. 26, Naomi Watts and Tom Holland star in “The Impossible,” where a family is separated from a devastating tsunami in Thailand.

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which took the lives of more than 250,000 people, the film follows the improbable true story of the Belon family as they try to survive in the aftermath of the storm.

Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, who made a splash five years ago with the horror film “The Orphanage,” the story of the film itself is nothing original. At its bare bones, “The Impossible” is a family drama, centered on the strength of each member, as they battle adversity and nearly impossible odds. But it’s not the story that stands out, rather it is the movie’s acting and visuals that make it worth watching.

The leads are helmed by Ewan McGregor, who plays Henry, an affable yet distracted father, and the ever beautiful and talented Naomi Watts, who as Maria is a doctor turned stay-at-home mother of three boys. McGregor is merely passable in his role, but it is Watts and the young Tom Holland (who plays their 12-year-old son Lucas) who truly shine. Watts’ turn as Maria is nothing short of Oscar-worthy, as she combines a Herculean sense of motherly devotion with a healthy dose of grit and perseverance, keeping all eyes glued on her for the first half of the film (it also helps that Watts, like the US Postal Service, can work through sleet, rain and 40-foot waves while looking stunning in every scene). And as for Holland, his transformation from stereotypical angstridden preteen into a layered and maturing young adult is so believable and genuine that it almost doesn’t look like he’s acting.

Visually, “The Impossible” is easily the best looking movie of the year and its recreation of the tsunami makes the film the handsdown most realistic looking disaster film in a long time.

Cinematographer Oscar Faura and Bayona did a magnificent job creating beauty out of chaos. Their finished product not only accurately portrayed what happened during the tsunami, but also managed to turn destruction into art.

With all that said, however, “The Impossible” is not without its problems. The script itself is weak, with the dialogue at times feeling forced and trite. Instead of taking the opportunity to try and use the uniqueness of the Belon’s situation to create a meaningful facsimile of what a real family would be forced to encounter in a life-anddeath situation, screenwriter Sergio Sanchez drops the ball by sticking with clichés. Also, Bayona’s focus on the victims of the tsunami is too narrow at times. The only victims shown in detail are either Europeans or Australians, while the sufferings of the native Thai aren’t necessarily downplayed, but are merely absent from the story.

Ultimately, the film stands out in the crowded holiday movie season because it is a genuine film that stands to try and tell a truly impossible yet true story. Led by fine acting and stunning visuals and effects, “The Impossible” is a breath of fresh air among movies today.

10 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Sports Editor Lauren Kittrell

SPORTS Football not performing

Lauren Kittrell Sports Editor

former Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones stepped in at the 24th head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers.

I’ve had several friends, relatives and coworkers ask my opinion on Jones as a coach.

I’m not sure why, but I haven’t answered them.

I don’t know enough about him to say much.

He has a good history, I’ve heard he’s a nice guy and the players seem to like and respect him. His Twitter is quite successful as well.

That said, I would still wonder if he isn’t another Louisiana Tech hire that will fan out in a few years and sink the program even lower.

As I’ve said in previous columns, it’s going to take time and patience before anyone will really know.

Watching the 2013 National Championship opened my eyes a little bit more.

Tennessee is in the SEC. Tennessee plays teams like Alabama. It’s a whole other level. Maybe everyone knows this, but maybe they don’t put together what that means.

Right now, Tennessee isn’t competing like an SEC team.

The football program can succeed, it can improve and compete, but that progress may not be as evident in a conference that has won the National Championship seven years running.

Growing up in Tennessee meant the SEC. It meant orange and white, Rocky Top and football time.

Neyland Stadium, checkered turf, “Power T”s and blue tick coonhounds were symbols of family, parties and cheese dip.

I remember watching the 1998 National Championship with my brothers. I remember them going out on the deck and yelling at the top of their lungs.

They weren’t the only ones.

The rest of the neighborhood was outside screaming as well: yelling and cheering, unable to contain their excitement.

Since my arrival at UT in 2009, Tennessee football has gone through many changes.

Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley, Mike Hamilton and Dave Hart have all played a part in the team you see today.

Vol fans have been demanding, impatient and eager to see a more successful team emerge from the million-dollar program. Students have lost interest in their home team. Ticket sales have dwindled.

— Lauren Kittrell is a senior Losses to conference “rivals” in journalism and electronic Vanderbilt and Kentucky were media. She can be reached at the last straw. That’s when lkittre1@utk.edu.

lkittre1@utk.edu

Assistant Sports Editor Austin Bornheim abornhei@utk.edu

Vols host streaking Rebels Austin Bornheim

Assistant Sports Editor After a tough loss to Memphis and tough news regarding Jeronne Maymon, the Volunteers will try and start conference play on a positive note against Ole Miss Wednesday evening.

Ole Miss (11-2) comes to Knoxville riding a three-game win streak heading to SEC play. Leading the way for the Rebels are junior-transfer Marshall Henderson, whose 18.2 points per game lead the SEC, and Murphy Holloway.

“He can really shoot the ball,” Martin said. “They have the pieces. It will be a great challenge for us and we will see.”

Henderson, who has had stints at Utah and Texas Tech during his career, has made 52 3-pointers on the season.

“They have Marshall Henderson who is really shooting the ball well and I think he might be averaging 10-11, maybe 12 threes a game, averaging 18 points a game,” Martin said.

Holloway is averaging a double-double (15.8 points per game and an SEC-best 10.9 rebounds per game) on the year.

The Volunteers (8-4) will have to be active on the glass in order to succeed against Ole Miss.

“They attack the glass. You have to be aggressive and boxing out, but more importantly our guards have to do a better job of chasing rebounds.”

Tennessee looks to reassert themselves on the defensive end after allowing over 70 points for the first time this season against Memphis.

“I don’t think we did a good enough job with our transition defense and that is where it starts,” Martin said about the Memphis loss. “Our half court, I think we did a good job, but with the transition we had breakdowns and that is where it starts.

In the second half we did a better job.”

On the offensive end the Vols have struggled putting the ball in the hoop, shooting below 45 percent from the field the last four contests. The Vols will look to get 3-point specialist Skylar McBee back

on track.

“I talked to Skylar yesterday, Skylar’s technique is good,” Martin said. “There is nothing wrong with his shot, nothing wrong with the flow of his shot, his follow through is good, but he is probably about 15 inches off the 3-point line when you are shooting the basketball as opposed to getting up on the line and knocking the shot down. If you aren’t used to shooting 15-20 inches off the line, that is a deep shot as opposed to the normal shot you are taking in practice.”

Jordan McRae has risen for the Volunteers and helped carry the offensive load for Tennessee during the slump.

“I just had to learn what shots to take, to attack more and not just throw up threes,” McRae said.

The Vols hold the edge against the Rebels in the all-time series 63-39 and have won 11 straight games at home against Ole Miss. This is the final game of the Vols’ six-game home stand. Tennessee currently stands at 4-1 during the run.

Parker Eidson • The Daily Beacon

Junior guard Jordan McRae slams the ball against Oakland on Nov. 26.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 11 Sports Editor Lauren Kittrell

SPORTS

lkittre1@utk.edu

Assistant Sports Editor Austin Bornheim abornhei@utk.edu

Projected Starters Tennessee

Ole Miss

G Trae Golden G Josh Richardson G Jordan McRae F Kenny Hall F Jarnell Stokes

G Jarvis Summers G Marshall Henderson G Nick Williams F Murphy Holloway F Reginald Buckner

How They Match -up UT

Parker Eidson • The Daily Beacon

Jarnell Stokes attempts a fade away jumper against Oakland on Nov. 26, 2012.

Ole Miss

68.8

Scoring Offense

83.1

65.2

Scoring Defense

64.0

43.8

Field Goals %

45.0

35.3

Three Point %

32.2

+2.9

Rebound Margin

+3.8

4.4

Blocks per game

6.1

12.8

Assist per game

13.9

5.6

Steals per game

9.9

-1.7

Turnover Margin

+6.2

Last Meeting March 9, 2012 in New Orleans, LA

Why the Vols will win: Even though Tennessee lost to Memphis at home last week, the Volunteers are a tough team to beat on their home court (21-5 at ThompsonBoling Arena under head coach Cuonzo Martin).

Skylar McBee is struggling to make shots, but in his absence Josh Richardson and Jordan McRae have begun to elevate their level of play and become a more consistent threat to score nightin and night-out. Ole Miss has a very good record, but the competition that the Rebels have faced so far this season hasn’t been the best and the Volunteers have been tested against a handful of tournament-caliber teams. The question is, can Tennessee’s defense contain the Ole Miss shooters?

Why Ole Miss will win: With the current SEC scoring leader (Marshall Henderson) and a host of other scoring threats who have accounted for 52 3-pointers so far this season, the Rebels will look to spread out the Volunteers defensively. Tennessee is a physical team in the paint, but so are the Rebels. Ole Miss blocks shots, gets steals, and most importantly rebounds better than the competition.

Murphy Holloway will have his work cut out for him against the bigs of Tennessee and will face his biggest test of the season so far Wednesday night. As long as the Rebels continue their hot shooting they should be able to escape Knoxville with a win in their conference opener.

12 • THE DAILY BEACON

Wednesday, January 9, 2013 Sports Editor Lauren Kittrell

SPORTS

lkittre1@utk.edu

Assistant Sports Editor Austin Bornheim abornhei@utk.edu

Vol sports: spring update Lauren Kittrell Sports Editor

Men’s Basketball The men’s basketball team will face Ole Miss (11-2) tonight in Thompson-Boling Arena in their first SEC matchup of the season. Tip off is 8 p.m.

The Vols are currently 8-4 for the season (6-1 at home) after a recent loss to in-state rival Memphis. Head coach Cuonzo Martin announced recently that senior forward Jeronne Maymon would be redshirting for the 2013 season due to a prolonged knee injury. He will return next year as a fifth-year senior.

Women’s Basketball In Holly Warlick’s first season as head coach, the Lady Vols have played like a team with a lot to prove. The team is 11-3 (2-0 SEC) for the season and it has only just begun.

“When you look at our schedule, before we started, I think every game concerned me,” Warlick said. “Opening up, our first three out of four games were on the road. Then when you go into the SEC, you go on the road to South Carolina, which has been a very difficult place for us to play, then come home and play a Georgia team that has been ranked above you all year, you get a little nervous. But you have to keep your kids focused, they don’t feel what the coaches feel. We get them to play a game and we just want them to compete.”

Baseball Tennessee’s Dave Serrano once again signed a strong recruiting class in his second season as head coach. The young team will host their first home game Feb. 22.

Track and Field Men and women’s indoor track and field begins with the semester and the team will be headed to the Kentucky Invitational on Friday.

For the complete schedule, see utsports.com.

Softball While the Lady Vols will kick off preseason play a little earlier than the baseball team, the team won’t be gracing Sherri Parker Lee Stadium until early March. For more information and updates on the Lady Vols, go to utsports.com

Men’s Tennis Tennessee’s men’s tennis team open the 2013 dual match season ranked 19th in the ITA national coaches’ poll.

The Vols finished 20th nationally and reached the second round of the NCAA Championships in 2012. The team holds six returning singles starters, including All-SEC performers Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese. Head coach Sam Winterbotham has led the Vols to three combined SEC championships, four top-10 finishes and an NCAA team final appearance in his seven years with the team.

The Vols open the team season on Jan. 17 against Tennessee Tech at 3 p.m. at Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Women’s Tennis

UT’s women’s tennis team is ranked No. 23 in the country for the 2013 spring season.

The Lady Vols were ranked 24th at the end of the 2011 season, but advanced a spot after an excellent fall season. They are currently one of five SEC teams ranked in the top-25, but cohead coach Mike Patrick isn’t satisfied.

“We have to start somewhere,” Patrick said.

“We are starting about where we finished last year so now we have to do the work, improve each week and get better.”

The Lady Vols will begin their season in just a couple of weeks when they take part in the UVA Winter Invitational from January 19-21 in Charlottesville, Va.

Soccer

The team finished 14-5-3 overall (9-3-1 SEC) for the 2012-2013 season. The Lady Vols made it to the NCAA tournament, but suffered a 3-2 loss to Miami in the first round. Head coach Brian Pensky will continue to lead the team as they head into the 2013-2014 season.

Matthew DeMaria • The Daily Beacon

Kate McNeilis swims in the 100-yard backstroke during a dual meet against Florida on Jan. 28, 2012.

Swimming and Diving Volleyball The swimming and diving team began their season in Knoxville with the Tennessee Diving Invitational on Jan. 4. The Vols head to Virginia on Saturday, but will return to Knoxville to compete against Georgia on Jan. 26.

Football Their season ended dramatically with the loss of former head coach Derek Dooley and an SEC win with former Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney at the helm.

On Dec. 7, Butch Jones was introduced to Rocky Top as the 24th head football coach of UT. During the offseason, the Vols will be focused on recruiting and having a fresh start.

Lady Vol volleyball is over for the season, after posting a 22-8 (15-5 SEC) record for 2012. After falling to Michigan 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the team is focused on the 2013 season and their new incoming freshmen. Sixteen-year head coach Rob Patrick said he’s looking forward to having all the girls together and practicing.

“We’re really excited about our 2013 recruiting class, a class that we pretty much spanned the entire United States to put together,” Patrick said. “One of the big items you would see if you look at this class as a whole is its athleticism. We have young ladies who are very athletic that can be very physical — not just in the front row with blocking and hitting — but also very physical in the back row. They’re long athletes who can move so we’re excited about bringing this class in to help bolster our graduating seniors, who did a fantastic job for us.”