Eyes on Knoxville: The Parlor strikes unique chord with vintage instruments, clothes
Busted: Check out this week’s Crime Log
Knoxville musicians set to honor late son at fourth annual ‘Waynestock’ festival
NEWS >>pg. 2
ARTS & CULTURE >>pg. 3
Vols hope to roll over Tide after last season’s SEC tourney loss
ARTS & CULTURE>>pg. 5
SPORTS >>pg. 8
Friday, January 31, 2014
Issue 17, Volume 125
Decreased TN funding spells worry for UT system Copy Editor The University of Tennessee school system, including its branches in Memphis, Chattanooga, Martin, Tullahoma and Knoxville, have suffered from the sharp cut in funding from the state government brought on by the 2008 financial crisis and its subsequently slow recovery. Nashville politicians have decided to provide UT schools with only 55 percent of the
necessary funds for a mandated wage increase. Other state-funded institutions, such as the Tennessee Department of Transportation and Tennessee Department of Education, receive full funds from the state government and have since the financial crisis. “Fifty-five percent of the budget for the Knoxville campus at one point was state-appropriated dollars,” said Charles Peccolo, chief financial officer for the UT system. “Forty-five percent was student fees, so
their theory was, ‘Why do we give them the full 100 percent? Why don’t we give them the 55 percent, and they need to raise the other 45 percent of the mandated increase.’” The 108th General Assembly will hear UT, among other things, advocate for the full cost of mandatory wage increases. The recession of 2008-09 has left the U.S. – and Tennessee – in a slow recovery. Due to the nature of Tennessee’s collection of revenue, a system made mostly of sales and franchise
and excise tax, which makes up 53 percent and 15 percent of revenue respectively, the economy suffered and left the state government with considerably less revenue, which then affected students. According to the budget for the UT system, the amount of funds available for higher education dropped from $509 million in 2008 to $410.7 million in 2012. While more recent years saw the gap narrow to about $50 million, Peccolo noted that
if Nashville does not provide enough money, funds must be found elsewhere. “If you have a pie and one part of it goes down, the other part has to go up,” he said. “If state support goes down, tuition and fees go up just to maintain the same ratio.” At the Oct. 28, 2013 meeting of the Board of Trustees, Bill Fox, Ph.D in UT’s College of Business, presented his overall economic outlook for the state, while placing a focus on making available the funds for higher
education. While Fox noted that Mr. Haslam has expressed support for higher education in speeches, he expects less focus to be given to four-year universities. According to Fox, any renewed education dollars would likely go first towards Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 initiative, a program put in place to increase the percentage of Tennesseans with some form of higher education. See UT SYSTEM on Page 2
Matthew DeMaria • The Daily Beacon
McCord Pagan
Sex Week helps answer questions over student, state funding Samantha Smoak Online Editor
See FUNDING on Page 2
Junior forward Cierra Burdick settles in defensively against Arkansas forward Keira Peak during the Lady Vols’ 70-60 win Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena. Burdick poured in a career-high of 16 points.
Lady Vols win in ‘shootout’ over Arkansas, 70-60 Troy Provost-Heron Sports Editor It had all the makings of a shootout. The Lady Vols went into halftime boasting a blistering 64 percent shooting percentage, priming the team for a hefty first-half lead. But it wasn’t the case as Arkansas answered with a 57.1 percent performance of its own before the break.
The second half, though, was a different story for the Razorbacks as the Lady Vols cranked up the pressure defensively while continuing their hot shooting en route to a 70-60 victory at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday night. The Lady Vol defense held the Razorbacks to just 31 percent from the field after the break. UT then pulled away due to a second half that saw the Lady Vols shoot 60 percent from the
floor, including 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from beyond the arc. “We had a totally different mindset from the first half to the second half,” head coach Holly Warlick said. “We weren’t pretty effective on what we were doing in the first half, so we changed it up a little bit in the second half. I was fine with the game. I got pretty upset at one timeout because of our effort, and we weren’t defending anyone and it was a shootout.
“It was going to come down to who was going to get stops and who wasn’t, so that was my concern. But I thought (at) halftime that we made some adjustments, and they came out and they were pretty focused.” Forward Cierra Burdick highlighted UT’s stellar offensive production, tying a careerhigh with 16 points. The junior did a little bit of everything for UT as she shot 7-of-9 from the field – including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, just
her second and third 3-pointers of the season – gathered seven rebounds and dished out four assists, all while playing a teamhigh 39 minutes. “I’ll tell you this, she played pretty hard,” Warlick said. “She stayed pretty focused in the leadership role she was in tonight, so I’m proud of her. I thought she hit big (shots). It seemed like every shot she took was a big shot for us. See GAME RECAP on Page 8
UT students help usher in Chinese New Year Victoria Brown Staff Writer Today marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year – a time for family gatherings and togetherness in Chinese culture. CSSA, UT’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association, will host a Chinese New Year Party tonight from 5:30-9:30 p.m. in the University Center. Another celebratory event, the East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival, will take place this Sunday, Feb. 2. Both events are being put on to honor the traditional Chinese holiday of the New Year. Bilin Chen, a fourth year Ph.D. student studying material science and engineering, is the president
of UT’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association. Chen said he is excited about the New Year celebration events. “Christmas is biggest in America, but in Chinese culture, Spring Festival is the time for families to come together,” Chen said. “In China, family is a big thing. Reunion dinner is usually held on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Thursday is the last day of the year, and a reunion dinner is held on that night. Friday is similar to New Year’s Day, here in America.” The festival held Sunday in the Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building and the party Friday are both open for all to attend. According to the event’s website, the East Tennessee Chinese
New Year Festival “will feature local talent in dancing, singing, martial arts, music and some special surprises.” A special performance from professional acrobat Jui Wei, who has performed in more than 15 countries, will also be on display. Wei will demonstrate his talents in juggling and acrobatics. “The festival is important to celebrate because it is a special time in the Chinese culture,” Chen said. “It is a time of relaxation for many people who work hard throughout the year. After a certain age, some parents expect Professional Acrobat Jui Wei, this year’s special you to bring your spouse or sig- guest performer for the East Tennessee Chinese nificant other with you to dinner.” New Year Festival, performs acrobatics on a tower of chairs in a prior show. This year’s festival will be held in the Alumni Memorial See CHINESE NEW YEAR on Page 3 Building auditorium on Sunday, Feb. 2.
• Photo Courtesy of Corey Brooks
When UT made national headlines last year over Sex Week, the university’s distribution of funding was called into question by legislators in Nashville. The 2013 Sex Week, an event organized by Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, had two-thirds of its funding rescinded after backlash from state legislators. SEAT then partnered with the Central Programming Council and received University Programs and Services Fee funding. Additional funding allocated to the organization by a university grant and academic departments was eventually revoked. Any student organization can approach the University Programs and Services Fee board, whose funds are paid, requested and allocated by students under the advisement of staff and faculty, while the SGA president chairs the committee. Jeff Cathey, associate dean of students, said there are three points the UPSF board looks for when reviewing funding requests, though meeting all three is not mandatory. Those points include: the program should be open to all students, it should demonstrate a broad campus appeal, and the money must fund intellectually stimulating programs. In addition, the money cannot support a program with inherent bias. “It’s a delicate thing to describe,” Cathey said. “We can’t support legally somebody’s campaign or somebody’s direct say religious outreach. “That said though, there could be somebody who’s a politician or past politician that could be invited to come to campus to talk about a specific topic, because they’re an expert on that topic.”
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OPINIONS >>pg. 4
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