Partly Cloudy with a 20% chance of rain HIGH LOW 40 29
The Daily Beacon sits down with Lady Vols forward Alicia Manning
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Thursday, February 18, 2010 Issue 26
E D I T O R I A L L Y
I N D E P E N D E N T
PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 http://dailybeacon.utk.edu
Vol. 113 S T U D E N T
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Real life hardships inspire songs for Po’ Girl PAGE 5
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March protests weapon manufacturing Kate Greer Staff Writer
Murtha’s immediate successor to be decided May 18 HARRISBURG, Pa. — The special election to fill the term of the late U.S. Rep. John Murtha will be held on Pennsylvania’s primary election day, May 18. Gov. Ed Rendell made the announcement Wednesday. Rendell had 10 days after Murtha’s death to make the announcement and was required to set the date at least 60 days away. That means there will be two elections involving Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district on primary day. One will decide the Republican and Democratic nominees to run in the general election in November. The other will fill the remainder of Murtha’s term, which ends in January. Murtha died Feb. 8 following complications from gallbladder surgery. He was 77. He was first elected to the seat in 1974.
A group of 20 people, who expect to talk and walk with thousands before reaching the United Nations headquarters in New York City on May 1, will educate and raise awareness about nuclear proliferation in the U.S. The International Peace Walk Towards a Nuclear Free Future began at the Scarboro Road gate of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Ralph Hutchison, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, called the U.S. hypocrites for continuing to produce nuclear weapons after signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968. “It’s more than hypocritical, “ Hutchison said. “It’s stupid. It’s stupid to have a policy you know that is counterproductive because if we were serious about other countries not having nuclear weapons, we wouldn’t either.” Y-12 is a full-scale operating plant that manufactures nuclear weapons components and houses enriched uranium. “There are mixed feelings about what they do because obviously it is a big part of the economy, but as long as we build bombs in Oak Ridge, we are giv-
ing reason for Iraq and Iran to build their own bombs,” Hutchison said. Hutchison said he believes nuclear weapons in the U.S. make the country less safe because it encourages other nations to produce their own weapons for defense. It appears to Hutchison that the U.S. is not serious about ending their nuclear weapon arsenal because the nation is planning to rebuild the Y12 plant in a $3 billion dollar project to allow them to continue their work for another 100 or more years. “I think the billions that are going into building nuclear weapons should be spent on health care, education and things that will help build a more peaceful and just society,” Marcus Atkinson, an organizer with Footprints for Peace and a walker in the march, said. U.S. policy on nuclear weapons is M.A.D. — or mutually assured destruction — because the government understands if they were to use these weapons, everyone on the planet would be destroyed, Atkinson said. He describes U.S. actions as “completely and utterly mad” for continuing to produce nuclear weapons. “We are going to walk in rain, hail, snow because the issues that we are walking for are too big to be stopped by a bit of snow or rain,” Atkinson said. The
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Tia Patron • The Daily Beacon
UT student Sarah Cook practices a routine while auditioning for color guard earlier in the week. Tryouts take place all this week on campus.
Two die when small plane hits building in Texas AMARILLO, Texas — A twin-engine plane crashed into a concrete storage building in the Texas Panhandle city of Amarillo on Wednesday, killing the pilot and his passenger, authorities said. Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Gabriel Medrano said the two Amarillo men died when their plane went down in the southeast part of the city shortly after 7 a.m. Medrano said the plane left the Tradewind Airport, located less than a couple of miles from where it crashed, a few minutes before it went down. A witness at the scene told investigators it sounded as if the plane’s engine’s stalled, he said. The cause of the crash was being investigated, Medrano said. He identified those killed in the crash as pilot William Runyan Ellett, 59, and passenger Andrew Arnold Hanson, 57. Most of the wreckage was on the ground near the building, but part of the plane remained atop the 30foot-tall structure. — from the Associated Press
State gubernatorial candidate talks campaign issues in speech Donesha Aldridge Staff Writer
Suspect in reporter’s death in Mexico to be freed OAXACA, Mexico — The lone suspect in the slaying of an independent U.S. journalist more than three years ago will be released for lack of evidence, his lawyer said Wednesday. Juan Martinez Moreno has been cleared by a federal court and should be released Thursday, attorney Alba Cruz said. Many human rights groups have claimed Martinez was unfairly charged with the death of Bradley Will, 36, of New York. Will was shot and killed in October 2006 as he filmed a clash between protesters and government supporters during a five-month political uprising in the southern state of Oaxaca. He was covering the conflict for Indymedia.org.
walkers have been received well by the communities they pass and have already had almost 60 people join them since Feb. 12 to walk a few hours to an entire day with them. Families, churches and local organizations along their route will take them in each night and feed them as they trek for 82 days, almost three months, and about 700 miles. Hutchison said it is hard to gauge the success of a walk because the purpose of it is to build a movement, which will take a long time. The walkers will hold meetings and discussions with the local communities they walk through. “In this sense, it is impossible for the walk to fail,” Hutchison said. The greater purpose of the movement is to raise awareness and help educate people. “It’s a great cause, very noble,” Evan Baddour, senior in English, Spanish and political science, said, “but it’s not going to get anything done for their cause.” Like many students at UT, Baddour believes it is a cause worth protesting but says the problem is bigger than a march can fix. “I think most people choose not to get involve with it because it’s a bigger issue than one person, one country,” Baddour said.
Ron Ramsey, speaker of the Tennessee senate and lieutenant governor of Tennessee, spoke to political science students at UT Tuesday. Ramsey, one of the candidates running in the gubernatorial race this November, spoke to students about education and politics. Ramsey, who studied building and construction technology at East Tennessee State University, discussed the importance of politics and how he began his career. He said he has never taken a political science class. Ramsey said he went to Nashville in 1992 to attend the Realtors Day on the Hill and was able to meet a few state representatives and senators. He told the representative from his district that when his job was over, he would not mind running for his position in Bristol. “Two months later, I received a phone call saying that the seat was open,” Ramsey said. He said the representative had already submitted his name to the local newspaper as a candidate for the seat. When a reporter called from the newspaper and asked him if he was
RAMSEY
running in the race, he answered yes. “That's how my political career began right there,” he said. Eighteen years later, Ramsey is one of the candidates running for governor in the upcoming election and the first republican lieutenant governor in Tennessee in 140 years. “I'd like to think that I am the most qualified for this job (as governor),” he said. His job now is to make sure the budget gets balanced by the end of each session, assign bills and appoint committees, among other things. Ramsey said if he was elected governor, he would keep education, health care and the state's budget as his top priorities just as current Gov. Phil Bredesen has done. See RAMSEY on Page 3
Vols defeat Bulldogs, 69-60 Brad Merritt Sports Editor Early on, it looked like Groundhog Day for the Tennessee basketball team. The Vols’ offense looked inept, their effort questionable, and the SEC officiating was once again head scratching as they limped to a 24-29 deficit at the half. J.P. Prince had other ideas in the second half, leading the Tennessee on a 45-point second half explosion to knock off the Georgia Bulldogs 6960 Wednesday night. Wayne Chism, who led the Vols with 16 points and 11 rebounds, said the team feels the pressure of earning one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament. “You got a lot of pressure cause you are playing for the NCAA tournament and the seed you really want,” Chism said. “You don’t want to be the bottom seed playing the number one seed, so it’s kind of tough.” The Vols theme Wednesday was line-up changes. In the first half, Bobby Maze got the start at the two guard, Hopson shifted over to the three and Prince started the game at the four in place of forward Renaldo Woolridge. It didn’t produce any immediate results, as the offense struggled mightily in the first half. They managed just 24 points while shooting 36.7 percent from the floor. On the flip side, Tennessee held Georgia to 29 first half points and a 37.5 percent clip from the field. Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said their defense was the key to his team remaining in the
game during their first half offensive struggles. “In the first half we really struggled offensively,” Pearl said. “We were fortunate that early in the game we played a lot of zone and really disrupted Georgia. They had a hard time scoring in the first half.” In the second half Pearl inserted center Brian Williams into the starting line-up, freeing Prince up to return to the three, his usual position, and removed Goins from the starting five. However, they started slowly once again until Prince got things going with back-to-back baskets that seemed to take the lid off the rim. Prince finished the game with 15 points and seven rebounds. Scotty Hopson and Bobby Maze joined Chism and Prince in double figures with 10 and 13 points respectively. Pearl said overall he was pleased with the line-up changes and the way his team battled. “Very gutsy win, very adverse circumstances,” Pearl said. “We made some changes and I think some of them were good. Bobby and Melvin played well together, particularly late in the game. I thought that Brian Williams starting the second half was positive. I thought Brian and Wayne played well together.” Chism added that having another big man in the line-up opened things up for him, particularly on the glass. “It helped me rebound,” Chism said. “... and him scoring around the basket really helps too. It takes a lot of pressure off of me” With the win the Vols are now 19-6 overall and 7-4 in the SEC. Up next is a crucial road date with South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday.
Hayley DeBusk • The Daily Beacon
In Wednesday night’s game against the Georgia Bulldogs, Tennessee’s J.P. Prince dunks the ball right before landing on teammate Wayne Chism’s face. The Vols defeated the Bulldogs 69-60.