College Republicans president speaks out on local state legislator
Senior swimmers give Florida a run for their money
Dum Dum Girls make smart combination in new album
OPINIONS >>pg. 4
ARTS & CULTURE >>pg. 5
Opinion: “You are young. You are free. Go and make your mistakes and earn your success.” SPORTS >>pg. 6
ARTS & CULTURE >>pg. 5
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Issue 19, Volume 125
UT campaign organizes national debt discussion It is our responsibility to repair the national debt. The group behind UT’s Up to Us campaign is partnering with the Economics Honors Society to host a discussion panel tonight beginning at 5:15 p.m. in the Haslam Business Building room 201. The panel aims to educate attendees on the national debt and what it means for current and future generations of
Americans. Free food will be provided for the first 50 students to arrive. As part of the national competition Up to Us, students from UT’s economics club are organizing events spanning approximately five weeks. Tuesday night’s panel is one of many events designed to inform the campus population of its responsibilities concerning the nation’s financial troubles. Kayla McMurry, a senior in
Vols add new wrinkle with 1-3-1 defense Steven Cook Copy Editor Change isn’t something Tennessee basketball head coach Cuonzo Martin typically welcomes with open arms. But he proved just how necessary it can be during the Vols’ 76-59 win at Alabama on Saturday. After the Crimson Tide trimmed UT’s seven-point halftime lead to two, Martin switched his signature man-toman defense for a 1-3-1 zone. It was a look the Vols have never shown this season. Alabama would only make one field goal over the next four minutes after the defensive switch, looking confused and unable to generate its offense that had previously been gaining momentum. As the Vols began to pull away with an important SEC road win, one thing was apparent: Martin implemented change, and it worked wonders. “I’m a guy that, I don’t mind change but only if it’s right,” Martin said Monday during his
weekly press conference. “I’m not going to just change something to be changed.” The 1-3-1 the Vols defensively rode to victory features one guard handling the initial ball carrier and the other two guards out on the perimeter. The center joins them at the top of the key to complete the ‘3’ in the middle, and the power forward covers the rim and baseline. It sharply contrasted Tennessee’s typical man defense to the naked eye, but to Martin it was nothing more than a small tweak. “We will tweak certain things, but I don’t think you can just change,” Martin said. “For example, the 1-3-1 wasn’t just put in the day of the game. That’s been put in for a while, and that’s been studied as a staff before the season even started.” While spectators saw a new tactical side to Martin as a coach on Saturday night, all indications are that such changes won’t become permanent. See LUNCHEON on Page 6
economics and the Economics Club event manager, has headed up the effort to organize the discussion. “We took this idea of speaking with faculty that had extensive knowledge on the subject and changed it into a panel discussion where more students would be able to attend,” McMurry said. The featured panelists will be Don Bruce, a research professor in the Center for Business and Economic Research, and Scott Gilpatric,
an associate professor in the Department of Economics. Bruce and Gilpatric are expected to discuss questions concerning what UT students and their peers across the nation can do to affect the national debt. According to the Up to Us website, the national program “is an opportunity for students to build a movement to address America’s long-term fiscal and economic challenges.” Participating teams are
responsible for using a $2,000 budget to educate their campus on their role in raising awareness of the national debt. Jessica TenBroeck, a senior in economics and president of the Economics Leadership Team, said she believes the panel is a vital tool for UT’s team to achieve this goal. “The panel discussion fits perfectly into the larger goals of the Up to Us campaign,” TenBroeck said. Beyond simply informing
fellow students of the facts of the national debt, TenBroeck expressed a desire to inspire panel attendees to investigate what the nation’s climbing fiscal deficits mean for their futures. “We hope that through this panel discussion we are able to bring to light the huge impacts the national debt has and give students a greater understanding of how it impacts them,” TenBroeck said. See UP TO US on Page 3
Lady Vols rely on newcomers for 2014 Garrett Ahmad
Stephen K. Lee • Tennessee Athletics
Emilee Lamb Assistant News Editor
Contributor The Lady Vols softball team may have a No. 1 ranking partly due to last season’s runner-up finish in the Women’s College World series, but this year’s team will look a little different whey it takes the field Friday against Northern Coloradio in Statesboro, Ga. Tennessee has been tasked with replacing its top three hitters from last year’s lineup: Raven Chavanne, Kat Dotson and Lauren Gibson, all of whom garnered All-American honors during their time in Knoxville. However, co-head coach Ralph Weekly said he believes his team has the ability to replace the talented trio with three highly-rated freshmen from California: Megan Geer, Taylor Koenig and Annie Aldrete. Geer and Koenig were both team captains of their club team, the So Cal Athletics, who won the national championship each of the last three years. Geer was also Tennessee’s leading hitter in the fall with five home runs. Weekly had high praise for both players, referring to Geer as “special,” while comparing
Senior pitcher Ellen Renfroe tosses with a teammates during UT’s first softball practice on Jan. 8 at the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center. Koenig to former All-American Tonya Callahan. Aldrete, the niece of St. Louis Cardinals bench coach Mike Aldrete, is “a catcher and a hitter,” according to Weekly and is “a great addition to our team.” All three players are expected to play major roles this season. The batting lineup, however, is not the only place that was forced to make changes in the offseason. The pitching staff will be
forced to replace Ivy Renfroe, who appeared in 41 games last season. Sophomore Erin Gabriel, who was third in the rotation last season before getting injured after only nine appearances, will take the responsibility of replacing her. Senior All-American pitcher Ellen Renfroe is optimistic about what Gabriel can bring to the team. “I’m really excited to see what she can do for us this year,” Ellen Renfroe said dur-
ing Saturday’s softball Meet and Greet. “She has thrown a lot of innings for us in January. She was able to throw a little bit in the fall, but she was still recovering. I think she is going to be able to come out really strong for us.” Weekly also made the decision to add sophomore outfielder Rainey Gaffin to the pitching staff as a reliever in order to provide some cover for the starters. See SOFTBALL on Page 6
Staff Report When the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, open Feb. 7, UT alumna Stephanie Garant-Jones will be backstage, helping the extravaganza unfold before the world. Garant-Jones, who earned a master’s degree in sport management in 2007, is part of the crew orchestrating the opening and closing ceremonies. Her job is to ensure that the 3,000 cast members have the technology needed to communicate with producers throughout the show. “When the cauldron is lit, I will be backstage somewhere with goose bumps due to the sheer uniqueness of the moment,” she said in a university release. This is Garant-Jones’ third Olympics. She worked in the Olympic Village at the 2010
Winter Games in Vancouver. She managed the competition venues for road cycling, the marathon, race walking and the Paralympic marathon at the 2012 Summer Games in London. “When I was offered the chance to be involved in the opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi, I jumped at the opportunity,” she said. Garant-Jones has been in Sochi since November, and the experience has exceeded her highest expectations. “It is truly mesmerizing to see the ceremonies evolve to production,” she said. “My coworkers include people who have worked on the Super Bowl, the Oscars, the biggest rock tours in the world and Cirque du Soleil. Some of them come from the world’s top dance and ballet schools and theaters.” Garant-Jones is also assisted
• Photo Courtesy of UT Media Relations
UT Alumna in Sochi, behind the scenes at Olympics
UT alumna Stephanie Garant-Jones will be backstage helping the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, when it opens on Feb. 7. by young Russian volunteers from a Sochi university. The road to Sochi Garant-Jones was born in Chandler, Quebec, Canada.
As a junior at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, she came to UT through an exchange program. She loved UT so much she stayed for
graduate school. “I come from a family who loved the great outdoors, loved sports and lived passionately,” Garant-Jones said. “My family has always been incredibly supportive of my decisions, including moving to Tennessee to attend an American university with an incredible athletic program.” During her final year of graduate school she traveled to Beijing, China, with a group of UT faculty, staff and students to teach in the Summer English Camp at Tsinghua University. There, she got to know several people who were going to be working at the 2008 Summer Games and was able to visit Olympic venues in Beijing. “My dream of working at the 2010 Winter Games had been alive well before my experience in Beijing,” she said. “When I got home, I started knocking
on doors. After a lot of emails, networking and after taking many chances, I was hired to help manage the Olympic Village at the Vancouver games. “My job was to help ensure the athletes had a home away from home and to make sure they didn’t have to worry about where to eat or how to travel to training so they could focus strictly on the competition.” Once the 2010 Winter Games were complete, GarantJones set her sights on London. “This time, I wanted to work in a sports venue,” she said. “I wanted to experience the Olympics from central London. I love the city. I love road cycling, big crowds and gutwrenching finish-line photos.” Thanks to the contacts she’d made in Vancouver, she was hired as venue operations manager for road events. See OLYMPICS on Page 3