Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Issue 29, Volume 125
Haslam’s initiatives ‘Promise’ change in lottery scholarships McCord Pagan Copy Editor Starting in fall of 2015, students will begin cashing in on Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam’s “Promise.” In tandem with Haslam’s proposed “ Tennessee Promise” program, an initiative slated to grant Tennessee high school graduates two free years of community college or technical school, the HOPE scholarship will also undergo transformation. Once implemented, the proposal will guarantee all
qualifying students $3,000 a year during their freshmen and sophomore years, regardless of in-state academic institution attended. Upon reaching their junior year, students will receive $5,000 a year, guaranteeing students who attend traditional universities a $16,000 cumulative scholarship. Moreover, HOPE will provide funding until the student has taken eight full-time semesters, or attempted 120 hours, whichever occurs last. Currently, students receive a yearly $4,000 in
HOPE aid capped at 120 credit hours, a limit frequently met prematurely. Community college and technical school students receive just $2,000 per year in HOPE dollars. According to Tim Phelps, associate executive for grant and scholarship programs with the Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation, the adjustment isn’t solely meant to keep the “Promise” affordable and fiscally stable. It will serve as an appealing economic alternative for students not academically
prepared for a four-year university. “By providing the same award amount for all entering freshmen, the less academically prepared student may be incentivized to attend the community college because of a lower cost,” Phelps said. Announced at Haslam’s annual State of the State address on Feb. 3, Haslam proposed financing his “Promise” with roughly $300 million in excess Tennessee Lottery Fund money. Designed as a last dollar scholarship,
“Promise” will fund only the remaining balance after other financial aid has been applied, excluding Pell grants and loans. In his address, Haslam called the remaining $110 million in lottery funds a “healthy” amount to continue support for traditional university students. According to the “Tennessee Promise” website, the $300 million transfer will be supplemented by a $47 million authorized by the state legislature in 2013. See PROMISE on Page 3
SEE Stokes, Barton help Vols breeze past UGA, 67-48 Steven Cook Copy Editor
Up to Us campaign to illustrate national debt through giant cardboard box fort NEWS >>pg. 3
Olympic art exhibit brings slice of Sochi to McClung Museum
ARTS & CULTURE >>pg. 5
After a weekend of chaotic cancellations, Vols set to host Mountaineers
One Tennessee Volunteer had his coming out party about four months late. Another went on with his regularly scheduled parade. Backup point guard Antonio Barton drilled four 3-pointers, Jarnell Stokes scored a predictable, game-high 20 points and Tennessee sprinted past Georgia, 67-48, on Tuesday night in Thompson-Boling Arena. Barton has come off the bench in the Vols’ last seven games after freshman Darius Thompson took his starting job, but the senior proved to be UT’s hot hand from the outside Tuesday. He buried four of the Vols’ six shots from beyond the arc to finish with 12 points and three assists. The Memphis transfer has underperformed one too many times this season, leaving a gaping hole in the Vols’ lineup that head coach Cuonzo Martin was ecstatic to see filled — at least for a night. “It takes us to another level,” Martin said, “because now you have five guys out there. Jeronne (Maymon) and Jarnell do what they do around the rim, you have three perimeter guys that can make shots and also have the ability to drive the basketball. “It just takes you to another level.” The Vols (16-10, 7-6 SEC) shot 47.2 percent on the night and were eventually able to distance themselves in a back-andforth first half thanks to Stokes’ early emergence. The junior forward hit his first four shots from the field en route to 13 first-half points. Stokes finished nearly as hot
as he started, going 9-for-13 from the field with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and a steal. The SEC’s leading rebounder made it clear how he wants to be recognized in the wake of one of his most balanced performances as a Vol. “I don’t want anyone saying I did a good job scoring the ball,” Stokes said of his stuffed stat sheet. “I want you to say I did a good job creating offense for the rest of my team.” After the Vols’ loss at Missouri on Saturday in which Stokes went 6-for-7 but failed to see the ball down the stretch, it was all but understood the talented junior would see an added number of looks. But according to Martin, that’s always the plan. “The key is always to get him the ball,” Martin said. “It’s no different than any other game. It’s just a combination of having better opportunities to feed him the ball but also him posting aggressively.” Stokes received a resounding ovation from the crowd of 13,852 after subbing out with just more than a minute left after logging his 33rd career double-double. The lead changed six times in the first 12 minutes of a back-andforth first half that UT eventually ended with a six-point lead. The Bulldogs (14-11, 8-5) quickly cut it to three early on in the second. Then, a spread-it-out offense pointed the momentum in UT’s favor for the rest of the way. Five different Vols scored the team’s next five field goals throughout a 12-3 run that transformed a Tennessee junior forward Jarnell Stokes fights past 38-35 game into a 50-38 lead that defenders in the lane while putting up a layup in the looked to be impenetrable. Vols’ 67-48 win over Georgia at Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday. Stokes finished with 20 points, 11 See BASKETBALL on Page 6 rebounds, three blocks and three assists.
Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon
INSIDE
Unusual classes allow students to dance, drink, be merry Melodi Erdogan Managing Editor Next to the Mary Cox Auditorium in Alumni Memorial Building is a large, empty room unlike the adjacent lecture halls and classrooms filled with seats. This room boasts mirrored walls, a wooden floor and a surround sound system blaring Madonna’s “Like A Virgin.” Here, social dance meets twice a week. A physical education class offered within the department of kinesiology, recreation and sport studies, the objective of social dance (PYED 235) is to “have fun with dance and show respect to your partner,” according to Hope Parks, social dance teacher and professor in kinesiology. “A lot of times it starts out with logistics, like steps and footwork, and then from there we build on the attitude of the dance,” Parks said after one of her classes. “At that point, that’s where it becomes fun; when you become confident and have fun with the attitude of things.” While Parks calls out dance steps like “roll, pivot, step” to roughly 40 students in the Alumni Dancer’s Studio, neighboring professors discuss the importance of Greek philosophy during the Medieval Renaissance or the use of percentages in statistics. Amid a catalog of typical courses, social dance and other classes like it are conspicuous. Even next to tennis and soccer, Parks admits the class is unusual. “Putting dance in that category makes it stand out as unconventional when you’re looking at the undergraduate catalog,” Parks said. Usually weighted at one or two credit hours, bowling (PYED 206), ice skating (PYED 213) and scuba diving (PYED 261) are just a sampling of the eccentric courses offered. Others include history of opera (MUCO 420) in musicology and history and culture of food (FDST 150) in world civilization, each counting as three credit hours. See DANCE on Page 5
SGA launches two petitions responding to activity fee bills SPORTS >>pg. 6
Hayley Brundige Assistant Photo Editor
Effortless love in ‘Labor Day’ redeems otherwise anticlimactic storyline
ARTS & CULTURE >>pg. 5
The Student Government Association launched two online petitions on Feb. 9 in response to Senate Bills 1608 and 2493. Both bills, written by State Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, would alter the way student activity fees are allocated at all public institutions of higher education in Tennessee on the basis that the current process is biased and unequal. SB 1608 would divide and distribute student fees among student organizations based on the membership of the groups requesting funding for speakers and other programming.
On the other hand, SB 2493 would completely prohibit the use of institutional revenues for visiting or guest speakers. The SGA petitions advocate for the retention of the current student fee distribution process, which allows students on the University Programs and Services Fee funding board to determine which groups and events recieve money from student fees; currently, 5 percent of student fees are used for programming. One petition is open to all students and faculty at Tennessee Board of Regents schools, including state universities and community colleges and can be found on the SGA website. An additional petition open to the general public was created on change.org.
Community
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20
115
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INSIDE THE DAILY BEACON
“... Our last truly significant age matters because we get to pretend we don’t matter for the night. We do not have to prove our worth and gain respect from our society -- just lose it.” @DailyBeacon www.utdailybeacon.com
OPINIONS >>pg. 4
In Short News Opinions Arts & Culture Sports
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