02 07 14

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Mayor Madeline Rogero spent last week in Turkey pushing a message of political gender equality

SGA campaigns begin to form

Busted: Check out this week’s crime log NEWS >>pg. 2

NEWS >>pg. 2

NCAA Tourney bubble talk returns for Vols as they brace for last-place Gamecocks NEWS >>pg. 2

SPORTS >>pg. 6

Friday, February 7, 2014

Issue 22, Volume 125

Divestment campaign responds to UT rejection letter Jenna Butz Staff Writer Thursday afternoon, more than 20 members of the divestment campaign gathered at the Torchbearer to march to Chief Financial Officer Charles Peccolo’s office in Andy Holt Tower. Together, they presented their response to the rejection letter the group received in December.

In addition, the group carried a banner emblazoned with “Fossil Free UT,” covered with signatures. Upon arrival, campaign members hosted a “study-in” in the office’s lobby. David Hayes, a junior in supply chain management, introduced the action to Tammie Cole, Peccolo’s assistant, saying the group was not there to do anything “crazy.” However, Cole announced

that Peccolo was out of town until Wednesday. Yet, the students still delivered their letter and banner with Cole’s promise to pass it along, even scanning it within minutes to send to Peccolo. The group then began their “studyin,” similar to a “sit-in,” where they scattered throughout the office’s lobby to study quietly and occupy the area, much to the confusion of administra-

tors walking in and out. Through a hand-out given to participants to assist in talking points with members of the administration, Hayes explained the demonstration was meant to peacefully “protest the Office of the Treasurer and Investment Advisory Committee’s decision to reject divestment.” “The dangers of fossil fuels are not debatable!” the hand-out read. “UT

needs to become a true leader in sustainability and divest!” Undeterred by Peccolo’s absence, Jake Rainey, a senior in journalism and electronic media, said he believes the action remained powerful nonetheless. Giving of the letter to Peccolo, he said, is a more ceremonial element of the protest than a critical component of their mission. See DIVESTMENT on Page 2

Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon

Student groups prepare for 82nd annual All-Sing Hannah Moulton Contributor

See ALL-SING on Page 3

Amber Moore, senior in microbiology, eagerly poses with the giant puppets of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, a colleague of Darwin, outside of Walters Life Sciences on Thursday.

Campus readies for annual Darwin Day Kevin Ridder Copy Editor To commemorate the scientist and educate the local community about evolution, UT will host its annual Darwin Day event series on Wednesday, Feb. 12, marking the English naturalist and geologist’s birthday. Although Darwin Day’s events officially kicked off on Jan. 24 with giant puppets of Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, a col-

league of Darwin, roaming about campus, the main event will feature keynote speaker Andrew Berry, a lecturer from Harvard. Berry will discuss Darwin and human evolution at 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 in Hodges Library Room 213 and will lecture about Wallace at 7 p.m. on Feb. 11 in the UC auditorium. Other events will include various movies in Hodges library, a workshop for teachers, art contests for students, information

and merchandise booths on the pedestrian walkway and a lunchtime talk by former National Center for Science Education staff member Nick Matzke on the intelligent design debate. The theme of this year’s Darwin Day will center on Wallace, who independently conceived the theory of evolution through natural selection. Wallace’s papers on the subject were jointly published with some of Darwin’s ideas in 1858. Largely

forgotten by the general populace in lieu of better-known Charles Darwin, Wallace is known as the “father of biogeography.” A student-run and organized event, Darwin Day was founded in 1997 by Massimo Pigliucci to promote the teaching of evolution in schools. Brian O’Meara, faculty adviser for Darwin Day, said the goal of Darwin Day is to make science more accessible. “We try to educate the local

community about evolution,” O’Meara said. “What it is, what the evidence is for it, how the theory has developed. We have workshops for teachers every year to answer their questions about evolution and to give them an overview of current science. “Darwin Day’s outreach should help them teach evolution more effectively and to deal with concerns from others in their community.” See DARWIN DAY on Page 2

Stephen K. Lee • Tennessee Athletics

When All-Sing was first created under the moniker “Song-Fest” in 1932, competing students had to learn and perform UT’s alma mater, along with another musical piece of their choice. The event also included a band and fiddle competition. Although the name was changed to All-Sing in the 1940s and the musical selection might be different from its beginning years, the original concept of the competition remains the same: support the university while showing off musical talent. This year’s All-Sing is comprised of 21 organizations on 12 teams. These organizations can choose to form a team with another organization or participate as a single group, and the mixed and solo groups compete separately for the title of All-Sing champ. The event’s five judges make their decision based on basic musicality as well as overall performance aesthetic, according to Kerri Moore, a member of the All Campus Events committee sponsoring the event. “This is a huge campus tradition,” Moore, senior in supply chain management, said. “It’s been going on in some form or another since 1932.” The groups, who have been practicing for months in anticipation of the event, will perform an eight-minute choral routine with a musical theme. Previous themes have ranged from “Wicked” to “Little Shop of Horrors” and everything in between. “They get all done up in costumes, and they learn the parts,” Moore said. “Most of them have live music, so they sing along to that. They get really involved.”

Lady Vols eager to ‘get things rolling’ Taylor White Contributor After more than a month of practice, the Lady Vols softball team is ready to kick off the 2014 season and hopefully earn a trip back to the Women’s College World Series. For the first time in program history, UT will open the season ranked No. 1 in the nation; an honor UT senior shortshop said is nice to have, but not necessarily meaningful to the team. “Really the only number that matters is at the end of the season,” Shipman said. “So we try not to think about that too much, and just go out and play our game.” Co-head coach Karen Weekly was quick to credit her former players for getting Tennessee to the ranking. “We have talked a lot about how this is more of statement about our finish last year,” Weekly said. “We just need to put that

behind us and move forward.” Tennessee is replacing four key starters on offense, including 2013 SEC Player of the Year Lauren Gibson and four-time AllAmerican Raven Chavanne, and will have a few question marks on offense going into the season. This Tennessee team is very young, and if they want to duplicate last year’s success, a few highly-touted freshmen will have to step up on the field, Weekly said. “We’re excited about our freshmen,” Weekly said. “We’ve got some great talent in that class, but they’re still freshmen, and they’re gonna be nervous. It’s their first time in a Tennessee uniform.” Freshman Taylor Koenig will open the season at third base, while fellow freshman and former high school teammate Megan Geer will start at second base, following a fall practice that saw Geer hit .520 with five home runs. The veteran leader of this Tennessee offense will be preseason All-American Madison

Shipman, who hit .367 and finished second on the team in both home runs (11) and RBIs (63) last season. The senior shortstop from California is coming off her best season as a Lady Vol and is ready to get her final season at UT underway. “January is always the longest month for us,” Shipman said. “We’re just sitting around waiting to play, and so I’m just excited to finally be traveling and getting things rolling.” One area the Lady Vols coaching staff feels very comfortable with is their pitching. Senior Ellen Renfroe is coming off her best year at Tennessee, where she earned several postseason honors, including being named to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament team. Renfroe posted a 19-5 record in 2013 with an 1.85 ERA in 38 games. See SOFTBALL on Page 5

Senior shortstop Madison Shipman tosses the ball with her teammates during the Lady Vols softball team’s first practice inside the NeylandThompson Sports Complex on Jan. 8.

INSIDE THE DAILY BEACON

@utkDailyBeacon www.utdailybeacon.com

“Even more baffling, people who watch only Fox News know less about domestic current events than people who watch no news at all.” OPINIONS >>pg. 4

News Arts & Culture Opinions Sports

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02 07 14 by UT Media Center - Issuu