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70% chance of snow showers HIGH LOW 38 33

Diamond Vols drop two of three against Oregon State

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010 Issue 34

E D I T O R I A L L Y

Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis team up in “Cop Out” PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

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Vol. 113

N E W S P A P E R

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U N I V E R S I T Y

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Image Awards recognize students, staff Donesha Aldridge Staff Writer

Power restored in storm-battered Northeast ONCORD, N.H. — Many of the more than 1 million Northeastern homes and businesses plunged into the dark by a storm were running on electricity Monday, three days after the hard-hitting combination of snow, rain and hurricane-force winds.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch called restoration efforts “the most rapid” he’s ever seen after a storm.

On Friday, at the height of the storm, 360,000 residential and business customers were without electricity — more than half the state. By Monday afternoon, the number was about 40,000.

The number of power outages in New Hampshire was second only to more than 400,000 reported in a massive ice storm in December 2008. Officials said better communication among utilities themselves and with local and state government officials was an important lesson from that storm.

The Fourth Annual AfricanAmerican Image Awards honored outstanding African-American UT students and faculty Thursday.

This event was sponsored by Diva Opals, Phi Beta Sigma and the Student African-American Brotherhood.

The hosts for the event were Alexis Tidwell, senior in music; Georgette Robinson, sophomore in food sciences and technology; Raphael Onwuzurui, junior in biomedical engineering; and Anderson Olds, junior in business.

Winners for the student and organization awards included Patrick Morris, senior in finance, for Outstanding Male Leadership, Chanelle Price for Best Female Athlete, Brittney Reives, senior in food science and technology, for Outstanding Female Resident

Assistant and the Mahogany Soul Café for Best Cultural Program.

Stanley McGrady, member of Phi Beta Sigma and senior in electrical engineering, was one of the main event planners for the awards show.

At the end of the event, his fellow students awarded him the Outstanding Contribution and Support for the African-American Image Awards. McGrady said the award was a complete surprise for him, and he was honored to receive the award.

Onwuzurui, Courageous, Clazz Mates, Neka Moten and Jessica Sessions performed in the awards show.

Dawo Rogers, senior in electrical engineering and member of Phi Beta Sigma, said the exciting part of planning this event was rehearsing with the hosts.

“Every year there are special personalities that come out of the group as a whole,” he said. “This year they

all happened to all be exceptionally talented.”

Onwuzurui said he was extremely nervous before hosting the show and was glad that the show turned out to be a success.

Rogers said the event should be looked at as more than just as an award show.

“This is a celebration of our achievements,” he said.

Other students echoed this sentiment.

“It’s important because this event highlights those in the AfricanAmerican community that go above and beyond the average student,” Ashley Scott, senior in psychology, said. “They should be recognized for the hard work.”

Demetrius Richmond, assistant director of Minority Student Affairs, received the Jocelyn Milton Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award.

This award gives special tribute to the late Jocelyn Milton, former associate

director of Minority Student Affairs.

Another prominent award given to a faculty member was the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Maxine Thompson Davis, dean of students, received a standing ovation when she went on stage to accept this award.

Davis encouraged students to excel and do their best.

“You must seek academic excellence when you are at the university,” she said. “Continue to lift each other up.”

J.J. Brown, assistant dean of students, presented her with the award.

Both Quiteka Moten, senior, and Jamil Price, senior in journalism and electronic media, received the Collegiate Achievement Award.

Rogers said he would consider the event more successful if more students participated in the program.

“I want students to strive to be a part of the program,” Rogers said.

“This is a celebration of what we do well.”

Ex-Bosnian leader arrested at London airport LONDON — British police arrested a former senior Bosnian leader in London Monday on a Serbian warrant alleging he committed war crimes, to the outrage of Bosnian leaders who said the move undermined Bosnian sovereignty.

Ejup Ganic, 63, was arrested at London’s Heathrow airport following an extradition request from Serbia that alleges he conspired to murder wounded soldiers, in breach of the Geneva Convention, police said. The former Bosnian vice president was trying to leave the U.K. when he was detained.

In Serbia, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said Ganic had first been detained in London on Feb. 26 upon his arrival in Britain, but he was almost immediately released. He said Serbia had asked officials to explain why Ganic was released from custody.

Lost snowboarders spend night in Maine woods CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine — Officials say four teenage snowboarders have been found alive and well after spending the night in the woods at the Sugarloaf ski area in Maine.

Officials say a group of four snowboarders went out of bounds on the back side of the mountain late Sunday afternoon.

Eighteen-year-old Luke Poisson, of Lewiston, was found around 9:30 a.m.

Monday. Three others — 18-year-old Cory Koop of North Pole, Alaska; 19-yearold Malachi Belluscio of Keene, N.H.; and 15-yearold Aaron Nadeau of New Portland — were located a short time later.

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon

The University of Tennessee Rugby football club took out Indiana 13-5 on Saturday at the Tennessee Rugby Park. UTRFC travels to Nashville on March 4 to take on Vanderbilt.

Week’s events to encourage BlueCross loses diversity within community money on TennCare Staff Reports SGA is in the midst of its annual Diversity Week, which started on Sunday and lasts through Thursday.

This year’s theme is “I am not my stereotype.” Each day will have a different theme, focusing on different aspects of diversity on campus.

Tuesday’s theme will be “Gender & Politics.” An event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the University Center room 226 and will cover sexuality, gender and political issues. The event will feature an interactive game modeled after “The Game of Life” and students will be assigned a specific role. A forum for discussion will follow. Free food, refreshments and giveaways

will be provided.

Wednesday will focus on “World Religions.” A discussion on the stereotypes of the world’s most popular religions will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Hodges Library Auditorium.

Stephen Prothero’s book “Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know — And Doesn’t” will be discussed. There will also be a screening of a short film based on the book. Free copies of the book will be given away in a drawing at the end of the event.

Thursday will focus on different cultures. Student cultural organizations will provide presentations and native foods for “Culture Clash” from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the International House. A free

international dinner will be provided.

The week kicked off with “TruExpressions: Not Your Average Poetry Slam,” an event where poets read their original pieces, on Sunday.

Monday focused on “Reflections of the Disability Perspective,” an event that featured a former UT student with visible and hidden disabilities. Almost 10 percent of UT’s student body has some type of disability, and disabled students spoke about the experiences at UT. Monday’s Diversity Job Fair was also a part of this week.

Diversity Week is sponsored by SGA’s Diversity Affairs Committee. All events are free and open to the public.

The Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA — BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee lost $96 million managing health care for TennCare enrollees in 2009 — more than double what the insurer expected to lose.

A records review by the Chattanooga Times Free Press shows the BlueCross loss from managing TennCare in East Tennessee and West Tennessee is expected to grow to $135 million this year.

A report to legislators said to offset the projected loss, BlueCross is cutting reimbursements to thousands of specialty physicians and to some hospitals by 14 percent and is counting on an emergency room diversion program.

The report said while BlueCross has been able to operate at a loss “for a short period of time due to our financial strength, we cannot sustain significant operating losses.”

TennCare is Tennessee’s Medicaid program and provides coverage to 1.25 million poor and disabled people. Some physicians already complain about losing money on TennCare and are threatening to leave BlueCross’ TennCare networks.

The briefing document for lawmakers, titled “VSHP Rate Reductions Q&As,” shows physician cuts will save BlueCross about $25 million.

See BLUE CROSS on Page 3

InSHORT

CAMPUS CALENDAR

2 • The Daily Beacon

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

?

What’s HAPPENING AROUND CAMPUS

March 2 - March 4, 2010 Tuesday, March 2 —

• 7 p.m. untill 9 p.m. — UT’s Management Society meeting features an appearance by William F. Baker, well-known expert in the fields of leadership and public television and the co-author of a recent book, “Leading With Kindness: How Good People Consistently Get Superior Results,” in rooms 223-224 of the University Center.

• 7 p.m. untill 9 p.m. — SPEAK (Students Promoting Environmental Actions in Knoxville) screens “Food, Inc.,” a documentarystyle movie that exposes the highly mechanized food industry and what goes into the food we eat, in room 213 of Hodges Library.

Wednesday, March 3 — • 7 p.m. untill 9 p.m. — Based on the book “Religious Literacy:What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn’t” by Stephen Prothero, this event features a short film based on the book and a discussion following the film.The Department of Religious Studies hosts the discussion, which will cover myths about the world’s top religions, in the Hodges Library Auditorium.

Thursday, March 4 — • 2 p.m. — The Women’s Leadership Program, sponsored by the Student Orientation and Leadership Development office, present a fourpart series titled “Women at Work” in the Baker Center room 204-205.The first topic presentation is titled “Through the Labyrinth” — beyond the glass ceiling. Presenters include Margaret Sallee and Nissa DahlinBrown.Auditorium.

Jessica Yonker • The Daily Beacon

Alpha Phi Alpha held their Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant Saturday night in the UC Auditorium. The crowning winner, Bianca King, won a $1200 scholarship and is shown here with other contestants. The Pageant included four sections: Dance, Talent, Swimsuit, and Evening wear with questions.

THE CRIME

LOG

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Monday, Feb. 21

• 1776 — In advance of the Continental Army’s occupation of Dorchester Heights, Mass., Gen. George Washington orders American artillery forces to begin bombarding Boston • 12:58 a.m. — An officer spoke with a resident at North Carrick Hall from their positions at Lechmere Point, northwest of the city center, on this day in 1776. regarding a theft. The complainant reported his Xbox and four games After two straight days of bombardment, American Brigadier Gen. John Thomas slipped had been stolen. He visited a friend from 10:35 p.m. to 12:15 a.m., and when he returned to his room, the items were gone. The serial number 2,000 troops, cannons and artillery into position just south of Boston at Dorchester Heights. The 56 cannons involved in the move were those taken at Ticonderoga, N.Y., by for the Xbox was registered online.

Lt. Col. Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen with his Green Mountain Boys, which had • 2:31 p.m. — Officer spoke with a complainant in the UTPD lobby then been transported to Boston by Col. of Artillery Henry Knox the previous winter. regarding a theft. She stated that, while in class at McClung Museum on Feb. 18, she had put her miniature Vera Bradley purse next to her • 1904 — Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss, the author and illusseat. Upon returning to her dorm, she noticed it was missing. trator of such beloved children’s books as “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and • 9:25 p.m. — Officer observed a white Ford Taurus disregard a stop Ham,” is born in Springfield, Mass. Geisel, who used his middle name (which was also sign at Melrose Place and Andy Holt Avenue. Upon initiating a traffic his mother’s maiden name) as his pen name, wrote 48 books — including some for adults stop, the officer made contact with the driver. He noticed a strong odor — that have sold well over 200 million copies and been translated into multiple lanof marijuana emanating from the vehicle. The driver admitted to smokguages. Dr. Seuss books are known for their whimsical rhymes and quirky characters, ing in the car the day before. When asked if he had any items the officer should know about, the driver produced a small bag of marijuana. which have names like the Lorax and the Sneetches and live in places like Hooterville.

He was then detained and told the officer there was another bag under Geisel, who was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Mass., graduated from a seat but nothing else relevant. At this time another officer arrived to Dartmouth College, where he was editor of the school’s humor magazine, and studied at provide backup. The car was searched, and a backpack containing a Oxford University. There he met Helen Palmer, his first wife and the person who encoursmaller bag was brought out. The officer found a large black box, which aged him to become a professional illustrator. Back in America, Geisel worked as a carcontained a large bag containing a quantity of marijuana, a black digital scale with marijuana residue on it, a metal grinder, 12 plastic bags toonist for a variety of magazines and in advertising. and a pack of Swisher Sweets with four cigars. There was also a pack of Eclipse gum with two roaches inside. The driver said the quantity of • 1966 — In Dearborn, Mich., the Ford Motor Company celebrates the production of its marijuana was for personal use, and that “he smoked A LOT.” The mar- one-millionth Mustang, a white convertible. The sporty, affordable vehicle was officially ijuana was weighed on scene at 124 grams or about 4.35 ounces. launched two years earlier, on April 17, 1964, at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, N.Y. That same day, the new car debuted in Ford showrooms across America; almost immediately, buyers snapped up nearly 22,000 of them. More than 400,000 Mustangs were sold within that first year, exceeding sales expectations.

— Courtesy of History.com

YOUR BEACON WANTS TO BE RECYCLED

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

STATE&LOCAL

The Daily Beacon • 3

Former UT forward to play basketball in Turkey Former Tennessee forward Tyler Smith has signed a two-month contract to play in Turkey.

Smith was dismissed from the Volunteers on Jan. 8, a week after his arrest on gun charges.

He pleaded guilty Feb. 12 to possession of a firearm and possession of firearm with altered serial number and was sentenced to two years of judicial diversion.

Smith will play for Bornova in the Turkish Basketball League, filling in for an injured Kedrick Brown.

The two-month contract will allow Smith to be available for the June 24 NBA draft.

The senior from Pulaski, Tenn., averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 12 games this season.

Knoxville trolley kills pedestrian Police in Knoxville say a pedestrian has died after being struck by a trolley in Knoxville.

The Knoxville Area Transit vehicle was making a turn onto a downtown street Monday morning when it happened.

The Knoxville News Sentinel quoted police spokesman Darrell DeBusk who said a “very preliminary investigation” revealed the victim stepped from a median into the path of the trolly.

DeBusk said the person later died at a hospital. Police were trying to determine the victim’s identity and said there were no identification items on the person.

State experiences colder weather than usual NASHVILLE — The winter of 2009-2010 was colder than usual in Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service.

The December through February period that makes up the winter season brought chilly temperatures, snow and ice across the state.

In Nashville, NWS forecaster Bobby Boyd said the season just ended was the first winter since 1977-78 in which all three months brought below-normal average temperatures for all three months. The average temperature for the winter was 4 degrees below normal and put the season into the records as the 11th coldest on record.

In Memphis, meteorologist Z.E. Ingram said February’s 37.3 average was 7.5 degrees below normal — the largest departure for the winter in the city.

In Morristown, NWS forecaster Gregg Cole said February’s average high temperature of 41.9 degrees in Knoxville was 9.8 below the 30-year norm for the month.

Two crashes claim four lives JELLICO, Tenn. — Two children and one of their mothers have been killed in separate weekend traffic crashes in East Tennessee.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Tricia Reece of Bradford, Ohio, reached for a water bottle and lost control of her sport utility vehicle on icy Interstate 75 near the Kentucky border Sunday. The SUV struck an embankment, throwing out 5-year-old Kylee Reece and killing her. A trooper’s report said four other children in the vehicle were injured.

An Alcoa Police report cited by The Daily Times stated a car drifted into the median of Alcoa Highway on Saturday, went airborne and crashed into a vehicle driven by 21-year-old Brittany N. Thomas of Rockford. She and her 10-month-old son were killed in the crash, and the other driver was critically injured.

Politician won’t press charges against pot-smoking couple NASHVILLE — State Rep. Mike Bell says he has decided not to press charges against a couple who broke into his minivan and smoked marijuana on reclined seats in the vehicle.

The Riceville Republican told The Knoxville News Sentinel on Monday that nothing was stolen from the van parked at his motel in Nashville last week.

Bell described the interior as “trashed,” with bumper stickers for his state Senate campaign scattered around and ashes left in a box of Tennessee Blue Books.

Security footage identified the intruders as a couple who were also staying at the motel.

When confronted by a manager, the couple apologized profusely and wrote to Bell that said they were “sorry for smoking pot in your van.”

Bell said the 2002 minivan has 170,000 miles on it and is probably worth less than $1,000.

Tenn. prosecutor charged with DUI OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — A Tennessee prosecutor has bonded out of jail after being arrested and charged with driving drunk and failing to take a Breathalyzer test.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel reports that Knox County Assistant District Attorney Kevin Allen posted $5,000 bond and was released from the Anderson County Jail.

Oak Ridge Police Department Lt. Brad Jenkins said officers arrested Allen at 1:19 a.m.

Saturday.

Knox County District Attorney special counsel John Gill says the office was contacted by authorities in Anderson County after the arrest. Gill said no decision has been made about Allen’s employment status.

Allen could not be located for comment Sunday afternoon.

Please Recycle Your Beacon

UT focuses on safety, health through Wellness Week Wellness Week begins with a residence hall wellness walk at 1 p.m. Tuesday, followed by “Sleep Like You Mean It” seminar at 3 p.m. in UC room 220.

There will also be a Tie Dye Spring Break cookout in Presidential Courtyard at 6 p.m. and a “Sex in the City” seminar at 7 p.m. in UC room 217.

On Wednesday, there will be bike tune-ups and other safety tips at the Safety Fair on the Pedestrian Mall from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. A “Bystander Intervention” workshop will teach a model of violence prevention at 3:15 p.m. in UC room 226.

On Thursday, UT Federal Credit Union will give a financial presentation at 11 a.m. in

UC room 221, and a Workout Challenge will take place at the TRECS at 7 p.m. through Vol Fit Club. Friday has been designated as Random Acts of Kindness Day, beginning at 11 a.m. on the Pedestrian Mall.

brown butter and capers (600 mg or less of sodium per serving); herb-marinated pork tenderloins (15 grams or less of carbohydrates per serving); and sour cream and chive mashed potatoes.

Ready for the World Cafe counts calories for Wellness Week

Council begins history month with lecture

The Ready for the World Cafe’s menu is nutrition-conscious in honor of Wellness Week. The menu includes coconut-crusted mahi mahi with pan-roasted garlic, rosemary and tomato sauce (source of omega-3 fatty acids); vegetarian pad Thai; broccolini with lemon and shallots (100 calorie or less per serving); roasted pepper, cucumber and tomato salad (a full serving of vegetables); fennel-dusted chicken with

BLUE CROSS continued from Page 1 There are concerns about BlueCross’ TennCare provider network if specialists leave.

The insurer covers about 450,000 people in East and West Tennessee.

“They claim they still have an adequate network, which I doubt very seriously because their network now is not really adequate,” said state Rep. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, a doctor who is chairman of the General Assembly’s TennCare Oversight Committee.

State TennCare Bureau Director Darin Gordon told the panel last week that the BlueCross provider network has been about 40 percent larger than other TennCare-managed care organizations.

“At this point, they continue to meet network adequacy,” Gordon said.

BlueCross spokeswoman Mary Thompson

The UT Women’s Coordinating Council celebrates Women’s HERstory Month, now through April 1.

This year’s theme is “Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History.” The WCC will host numerous events, musical performances, discussions, and film viewings to highlight the many contributions of women. All events are free and open to the public. E-mail questions to ecurtisw@utk.edu or ejones31@utk.edu.

said in an e-mail to the newspaper that cutting physician specialty reimbursement “is not something we want to do but is something we have to do in order to position us so that we aren’t operating at a loss and can ensure our continued participation in the program.”

So far, according to the report, specialty physicians’ acceptance of the reductions is running at 90 percent to 95 percent.

“Even with a 5 percent rejection rate, our network still remains 30 to 40 percent larger than our competitors,” Thompson said.

Rae Bond, executive director of the Chattanooga and Hamilton County Medical Society, said the BlueCross cuts, outlined in a Dec. 31 letter to physicians, are only part of the challenge for doctors.

Bond said of BlueCross’ 14 percent reductions that “we just don’t think it’s a reasonable expectation to balance the needs of everybody’s budgets on the backs of those who ultimately are on the front line of taking care of sick folks.”

4 • The Daily Beacon

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

OPINIONS

StaffColumn Zac Ellis Assistant Sports Editor

Vols’ road upsets make visitors weary Is anyone afraid yet? If not, it’s about time somebody was.

Because Thompson-Boling Arena has become a place no team should want to visit anymore.

With Saturday’s 74-65 upset of No. 2 Kentucky, Tennessee became the first team to knock off both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country within the same year since the 2001-2002 season. The Vols accomplished this feat within a two-month stretch, and they did it within the rowdy confines of Thompson-Boling Arena.

Remember when Neyland Stadium was the scariest place on campus for visiting programs?

In the fall of 2008, UT men’s athletic director Mike Hamilton unveiled the first completed phase of renovations to Thompson-Boling Arena since its opening in 1987. The building that traditionally housed the outcast of the top three athletic programs at UT (football, women’s basketball, and men’s basketball) was getting an overdue facelift to coincide with the program’s surprising resurgence under Bruce Pearl.

Before Pearl, men’s basketball was but a yearly occurance not worth attending. As a lifetime Knoxvillian, I have few memories of ever attending games before the Pearl era. Fairweather fan? Perhaps but games were sparsely attended for years before Pearl made basketball relevant in Knoxville, and accordingly, Thompson-Boling Arena was hardly a visiting team’s worst nightmare.

Pearl has changed all that, yet at the same time, Tennessee fans’ dedicated loyalty to UT basketball has made Thompson-Boling Arena one of the most dangerous places in college basketball.

“There is not necessarily a better environment in college basketball than ThompsonBoling Arena, as good as any,” Pearl said after Saturday’s win over Kentucky. “We do not beat Kentucky or Kansas without 22,000 here. It just does not happen.”

Since Pearl reached Knoxville, four top-five teams have ventured onto Tennessee’s hardwood, and each team has fallen victim to the pit that has become Thompson-Boling.

To appreciate the arena’s threatening nature, one must understand the fragile state of Tennessee basketball during this season’s marquee victories over Kansas and Kentucky.

On Jan. 10, Tennessee dethroned Kansas only days after a routine traffic stop resulted in four suspended players for drug and weapons charges. Tyler Smith, arguably the Vols’ best player, was booted out the door. Three others remained suspended, and the Volunteer rotation was seemingly running on fumes in the form of walk-ons and role players.

But in front of 21,936, Thompson-Boling’s second-largest crowd since renovations, Tennessee was able to do the unthinkable and upend the unbeaten Jayhawks on national television. Visiting Kansas fans, expecting a smackdown, instead experienced a letdown.

The Kentucky victory, while hardly as dramatic of a storyline, still featured a Tennessee team unsure of its identity. The Vols had been outgunned in Lexington by the Wildcats, who had only lost one game all season, and Pearl was implementing his ninth different starting lineup of the year.

But again, by the grace of over 20,000 loyal fans, Kentucky become another visitor to Knoxville unable to grasp the magnitude of Thompson-Boling’s dangerous atmosphere.

College basketball venues such as Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, Kansas’ Phog Allen Fieldhouse, and UCLA’s McArthur Court have long been arenas cemented in basketball lore. But just ask the Jayhawks and the Wildcats: UT’s opponents should collectively gulp when a road matchup with Tennessee appears on their schedules.

Columns of The Daily Beacon are reflections of the individual columnist, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or its editorial staff.

Campus needs tasty, unsweet drink Ac orns and Other Seeds by

Anna-Lise Burnette The proliferation of soft drinks in our daily lives is something I find truly fascinating and at the same time mildly disturbing. I’ve never been the kind of person to drink soda on a daily basis, so it isn’t really that tempting when I walk into the various campus snack and supply shops, only to be bombarded by the rainbow of carbonated beverages that fill case upon refrigerated case. Often I wonder if these drinks really sell — but then I remind myself that often demand leads to supply, and anyway the guy in front of me has a root beer in his hand. And I’ll admit, sometimes, like today at lunch, a Sprite just sounded nice.

But more often than not, it doesn’t.

Overly sweet drinks don’t usually feel like thirst quenchers to me; they almost feel like snacks. And considering the nutritional facts, they really ought to be thought of as mealtime accessories. The once nickel treat has gone from occasional indulgence to ubiquitous hydration. Diet sodas might be plentiful, but let’s face it, they’re simply there to help people kick the habit, and no one actually likes them, precisely because they don’t provide the sugar people crave.

Mulling this over in my mind, I started to think that maybe UT Dining wasn’t doing us such a disservice. Just a quick glance through the displays, and you’re likely to see a wide array of juices, juice blends, sports drinks and vitamin-

enhanced flavored water. Indeed there are countless ways to get your fix of sugary drinks that are naturally flavored and sweetened, fortified with minerals and antioxidants, a far cry from soda pop. But then it occurred to me: I just want something unsweetened.

And before you start crying “water,” let me make it clear that I know water is a simple solution. But water … well, water just doesn’t taste that great. In fact, it doesn’t really taste like much of anything.

Water is the best go-to beverage around for your everyday sipping, certainly, but it just doesn’t “hit the spot.” What I’m looking for is a flavored beverage without the sugary rush, like unsweetened tea or water with “fruit essence,” something that won’t leave me alternately wired and then comatose.

Where then are my desired elixirs?

Not on the shelves in the campus bookstores. Not for sale at the Sweet Tooth in Presidential Courtyard, either. It seems that, in a quest to fill in the market of healthier alternatives to colas, the university has decided to endorse only bottled drinks that either assume we don’t have taste buds or that really do cater to a person’s sweet tooth. It seems a little ridiculous to assume that convenience can only be satisfied by 27 grams of sugar per serving, but somehow the product purchasers for our “convenience” stops seem to think this is the case. Though the university has health initiatives in place, gaps like this one leave me wondering just how far they’ve thought it all through. They’re going to have to do a little better than chocolate milk to persuade me.

— Anna-Lise Burnette is a junior in global studies. She can be reached at kburnet7@utk.edu

COFFEY & INK • Kelsey Roy

Balance between friends, grades difficult An A l ternate R o u te by

Leigh Dickey

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Blake Treadway The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Tuesday and Friday during the summer semester. The offices are located at 1340 Circle Park Drive, 5 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/year, $100/semester or $70/summer only. It is also available online at: http://dailybeacon.utk.edu.

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Four days until Spring Break.

Quite frankly I think that thought trumps any 600 words I could write, but I’m not sure my editor would let me get away with writing only that, so why don’t we waste a little time while you wait for your class to start?

We both know there’s no point in trying to cram frantically for the midterm you have in five minutes: You (and I) should have studied this weekend, but you (and I) went to the SAE Boxing Tournament instead. Or maybe you didn’t, and you’re completely prepared for your test today. Or maybe you went to the tournament and still managed to be on top of all (or some) of your work. At this point I’m midway between the two extremes of being completely prepared for a week of midterms and having done nothing this weekend except hang out with friends in bars and in a boxing arena.

Even if Boxing Weekend isn’t your favorite weekend of the year, or if you have no idea what I’m talking about, odds are you’ve been in a similar situation: walking the line between fulfilling responsibilities and building relationships.

Because, despite what my brother may say about me, I am not a very violent person and don’t enjoy watching others in pain. I do like watching the boxing matches themselves, but the reason I love Boxing Weekend is because I get to spend three days and nights hanging out with friends I don’t see as much as I would like.

I think it’s normal to have trouble balancing between work and friends. On the one hand, society (and your parents) tend to reward you when you do well in school or at your job and views goofing off with friends as wasting time. On the other hand, while time spent building relationships is important, it’s also a lot

more fun and easier to do than reading 130 pages of history; I bet I’m not alone in saying that there has been a time or two this semester I was hanging out with friends when I should have been doing some homework.

For me a large part of growing up the past few years has been learning how to balance these two demands on my time. In the past I tended to put my schoolwork ahead of my relationships, which gets you good grades, but it costs you, too, just as putting friends before school has the potential to strengthen ties but can also cost you when it’s time to take your midterm.

I like being able to quantify things, having at least some idea of what’s going on. Time spent building relationships with friends and family isn’t easily measured, can’t be measured at all, really, so I tended to err on the side of getting good grades, where I would have some sense of control.

But I don’t want my life to be quantifiable, able to fit in tidy columns, as if someone can look at it on a sheet and then pass on by. In college we are responsible for completing the requirements of our classes, and when you have a duty to perform, you should do it well, to the best of your ability. I ought to do as well as I can in all my classes, but I also need to remember to live and not just work, to enjoy good times with good friends. Sometimes nights spent wandering the Strip and talking about Shakespeare and Davy Crockett and Mitt Romney until the wee hours of the morning are just as valuable as those spent doing homework.

The trick, which I have yet to master, is to navigate successfully the tension between the two.

Good luck with midterms this week, everyone. Have a lovely Spring Break with your friends and loved ones. I will be lying on a sunny beach for a week with some very dear friends. See you in two weeks!

— Leigh Dickey is a junior in global studies. She can be reached at ldickey2@utk.edu.

NATION&WORLD

5 • The Daily Beacon

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Sex offender declines assisting investigation of teen’s murder

Mexican drug gangs invade parks The Associated Press SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. — Not far from Yosemite’s waterfalls and in the middle of California’s redwood forests, Mexican drug gangs are quietly commandeering U.S. public land to grow millions of marijuana plants and using smuggled immigrants to cultivate them.

Pot has been grown on public lands for decades, but Mexican traffickers have taken it to a whole new level: using armed guards and trip wires to safeguard sprawling plots that in some cases contain tens of thousands of plants offering a potential yield of more than 30 tons of pot a year.

“Just like the Mexicans took over the methamphetamine trade, they’ve gone to mega, monster gardens,” said Brent Wood, a supervisor for the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. He said Mexican traffickers have “supersized” the marijuana trade.

Interviews conducted by The Associated Press with law enforcement officials across the country showed that Mexican gangs are largely responsible for a spike in large-scale marijuana farms over the last several years.

Local, state and federal agents found about a million more pot plants each year between 2004 and 2008, and authorities say an estimated 75 percent to 90 percent of the new marijuana farms can be linked to Mexican gangs.

In 2008 alone, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, police across the country confiscated or destroyed 7.6 million plants from about 20,000 outdoor plots.

Growing marijuana in the U.S. saves traffickers the risk and expense of smuggling their product across the border and

allows gangs to produce their crops closer to local markets.

Distribution also becomes less risky.

Once the marijuana is harvested and dried on the hidden farms, drug gangs can drive it to major cities, where it is distributed to street dealers and sold along with pot that was grown in Mexico.

About the only risk to the Mexican growers, experts say, is that a stray hiker or hunter could stumble onto a hidden field.

The remote plots are nestled under the cover of thick forest canopies in places such as Sequoia National Park or hidden high in the rugged-yet-fertile Sierra Nevada Mountains. Others are secretly planted on remote stretches of Texas ranch land.

All of the sites are far from the eyes of law enforcement, where growers can take the time needed to grow far more potent marijuana. Farmers of these fields use illegal fertilizers to help the plants along and use cloned female plants to reduce the amount of seed in the bud that is dried and eventually sold.

Mexican gang plots can often be distinguished from those of domestic-based growers, who usually cultivate much smaller fields with perhaps 100 plants and no security measures.

Some of the fields tied to the drug gangs have as many as 75,000 plants, each of which can yield at least a pound of pot annually, according to federal data reviewed by the AP. The Sequoia National Forest in central California is covered in a patchwork of pot fields, most of which are hidden along mountain creeks and streams, far from hiking trails. It’s the same situation in the nearby Yosemite, Sequoia and Redwood national parks.

Even if they had the manpower to police the vast wilderness, authorities

The Associated Press

say terrain and weather conditions often keep them from finding the farms, except accidentally.

Many of the plots are encircled with crude explosives and are patrolled by guards armed with AK-47s who survey the perimeter from the ground and from perches high in the trees.

The farms are growing in sophistication and are increasingly cultivated by illegal immigrants, many of whom have been brought to the U.S. from Michoacan.

Growers once slept among their plants, but many of them now have campsites up to a mile away equipped with separate living and cooking areas.

“It’s amazing how they have changed the way they do business,” Wood said.

“It’s their domain.”

Drug gangs have also imported marijuana experts and unskilled labor to help find the best land or build irrigation systems, Wood said.

Moyses Mesa Barajas had just arrived in eastern Washington state from the Mexican state of Michoacan when he was approached to work in a pot field. He was taken almost immediately to a massive crop hidden in the Wenatchee National Forest, where he managed the watering of the plants.

He was arrested in 2008 in a raid and sentenced to more than six years in federal prison. Several other men wearing camouflage fled before police could stop them.

“I thought it would be easy,” he told the AP in a jailhouse interview. “I didn’t think it would be a big crime.”

Scott Stewart, vice president for tactical intelligence at Stratfor, a global intelligence company in Austin, Texas, said recruiters look for people who still have family in Mexico, so they can use them as leverage to keep the farmers working — and to keep them quiet.

SAN DIEGO — A registered sex offender arrested for investigation of murdering a missing 17-year-old San Diego County girl is refusing to cooperate with authorities who renewed their search Monday at the park where she vanished Thursday.

John Gardner III, 30, remained in custody without bail after his arrest Sunday for investigation of murder and rape.

It was not immediately clear whether he had hired an attorney.

No criminal charges had been filed, but district attorney’s spokesman Steve Walker said a decision would be made by Wednesday.

Chelsea King of Poway disappeared after going for a run near Lake Hodges at Rancho Bernardo Community Park in San Diego, a popular regional park full of trails. Her BMW, with her cell phone and iPod inside, were found later that night.

Some 1,500 law enforcement personnel, dogs and volunteers failed to find the teen on Sunday.

Investigators searched a townhouse Monday about a mile from the park where neighbors say Gardner’s mother and stepfather lived, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Susan Plese said she could not confirm that report.

Sheriff William Gore, appearing with the girl’s parents on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” said Gardner was arrested after investigators discovered a piece of physical evidence linking him to the case. He did not elaborate.

Gardner, who gave his residence as Lake Elsinore, about 75 miles north of the park, was arrested at a restaurant in Escondido.

His interrogation had not been productive, Gore said.

“We questioned Mr. Gardner into the evening and so far we still don’t know where Chelsea is,” Gore said. “We’re confident that we have the right man in custody. Now we’ve just got to find Chelsea.”

Investigators also suspect Gardner could be tied to a Dec. 27 assault on a female jogger in the same park, Gore said.

He was required to register as a sex offender because of a conviction for lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, the Megan’s Law Web site said.

The search for King, a straight-A senior at Poway High School, also took to the Internet, where a Web site was created at findchelsea.com.

At the high school Monday, students and staff wore blue shirts to represent the color of the teen’s eyes and tied blue ribbons around campus light poles.

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NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz Across 1 This plus that 5 Breath freshener 9 In the style of: Suffix 14 First razor with a pivoting head 15 Child of invention?

16 Boast of 17 *Mark the transition from an old year to the new, maybe 19 Restaurant owner in an Arlo Guthrie song 20 Mercenary in the American Revolution 21 ___ Hawkins Day 23 “Enough already!”

24 Like a post-fenderbender fender 27 Common paper size: Abbr.

28 Concept in Confucianism 30 ___ extra cost 31 Burping in public, e.g.

34 Place for a hot pie to cool 35 Billboard

36 Roth ___ 37 *Measure with strides 40 Fellows 41 Backgammon pair 43 Pub projectile 44 An Astaire 46 Questions 47 Stat for Babe Ruth: Abbr.

48 Uno + due 49 “Come on!”

51 Neighbor of Macedonia and Montenegro 54 Get in touch with 56 Slob’s opposite 58 Factory 60 *New neighbors event 62 Italian bowling game 63 “___ and the Real Girl” (2007 film) 64 Irritate 65 Some are practical 66 Chichi 67 Interval on a scale Down

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1 “Brandenburg Concertos” composer 2 Oklahoma Indians 3 Object of Teddy Roosevelt’s “busting” 4 Millennium Falcon pilot in “Star Wars” 5 Where trapeze artists meet 6 Runaway bride’s response?

7 Partner of improved 8 What bronzers simulate 9 Circumvent 10 California’s ___ Valley, known as “America’s salad bowl” 11 *Period of contemplation 12 Dad’s bro

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13 Summer in Montréal 18 First-rate 22 Name widely avoided in Germany 25 Georgia of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” 26 “Death Be Not Proud” poet 28 Wedding cake layers 29 Oodles and oodles 31 ___ basin 32 Pop up 33 *Reverse a position 34 Permanent reminder 38 Like single-purpose committees 39 Jill’s portrayer on “Charlie’s Angels”

42 Heart and soul 45 Ones who owe 48 Itty-bitty 50 Entrances to exclusive communities 51 “Hägar the Horrible” dog 52 Arctic native 53 Airplane seating request 55 “Hi, José!”

57 Hang on to … or a word that can precede either half of the answer to each starred clue 58 Common sandwich for a brown-bagger 59 W.C. 61 3, 4 or 5, usually, for a golf hole

6 • The Daily Beacon

TuesdayTAKES

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Chemistry, strong acting power ‘Station’ Will Abrams Staff Writer As the Academy Awards edge increasingly closer, it is time to celebrate the year’s best performances in film. One film that has received many accolades through the awards season is little-known “The Last Station.”

The film chronicles the final days of Russian Count Leo Tolstoy, who penned the literary classic “War and Peace.” After writing such a novel and others like it, Tolstoy’s feelings of love and pacifism had developed into an actual religion in his homeland.

As Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) comes closer to the end of his life, it is time to consider what he wants his legacy to be. His wife Sofya (Helen Mirren) wishes for his wealth to be left among the family, whereas many of the author’s advisers feel he should give everything to the poor in his final saintly act.

Tolstoy’s religious followers, Tolstoyans as they refer to themselves, feel so strongly about this that Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) is hired to keep tabs on Sofya. He is encouraged

by Tolstoyan leader Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) to keep a diary and report back on any peculiar activity.

The film is a period piece that is part historical account and part commentary on love.

Bulgakov comes into the Tolstoys’ lives thinking that he knows exactly how to define broad concepts such as love, but he quickly learns there is a fine line between a man’s ideals and the happenings of reality.

The easiest way to describe the film is much like Tolstoy’s own philosophy: Keep it simple.

There are no groundbreaking effects or tricky camera shots. It is just simple storytelling.

One may not stoop so low as to call the

• Photo courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com

story generic, but it is nothing the audience hasn’t seen before. Other films exist which show a gentle character like Bulgakov as they explore the innocence of love and other tender subject matter.

The performances by the actors are what make the film work. In particular, the chemistry between Plummer and Mirren is perfect.

Their characters seem exactly how one would picture a married couple after 50 years.

McAvoy plays the straight man as well as he usually does, while Giamatti and Kerry Condon both shine in their limited screen time.

Many people are debating whether the Oscar for Best Actress this year will go to Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep. It is a tragedy that Mirren is not in this same discussion, though. While she did receive a nomination, it would be quite a stretch to say that the Vegas

money is on Mirren taking home the award.

In Hollywood, there are films that are great because of their aesthetic ingenuity, and there are great films that owe everything to its characters and the actors which portray them.

“The Last Station” may be more of the latter, but there is nothing wrong with that.

Smith’s latest film ‘Cop Out’ aims low Drew Lambert Staff Writer “Happy Anniversary, Sweetie” reads the card NYPD cop Paul Hodges bought for his nine-year partner on the force Jimmy Monroe, whose name he hastily scribbled over the word “Sweetie.”

Such is the deranged, offkilter humor of the actioncomedy film “Cop Out,” which riffs on classic buddycop scenarios found in the “Lethal Weapon” and “Rush Hour” movies.

Early on, the dysfunctional duo faces 30 days’ suspension after ruining years of undercover work in a gun battle with local drug runners, controlled by homicidal (if not stereotypical) gang boss Poh Boy (Guillermo Diaz). As they ruefully turn in their badges and guns, a familiar device of the buddycop story arises in a hackneyed “this is a case we can’t walk away from” shtick that falls into place, courtesy of untested screenwriter brothers Robb and Mark Cullen.

Playing the part of Paul, venerable stand-up comic Tracy Morgan, of “Saturday Night Live” and “30 Rock” fame, carries a lot of the comedic weight on his shoulders, occasionally struggling through some heavy-handed scriptwriting. Fortunately Morgan’s presence and offthe-wall delivery allows him to take near-tyrannical control of the screen.

During a highlight of the film, Paul’s interrogation of an unlucky drug trafficker becomes his own good-cop, bad-cop routine, ripping off lines from his favorite movies — “Heat,” “The Color Purple” and “Jaws” — in a frenzy of close-ups and quick cuts to Jim’s (Bruce Willis) own contained laughter behind a two-way mirror.

See COP OUT on Page 7

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Daily Beacon • 7

TuesdayTAKES

‘Crazies’ overcomes horror film conventions Will Abrams Staff Writer At the beginning of every year, Hollywood dumps what it feels to be its least-bankable films into the local cinema.

This usually leads to a string of worthless romantic comedies and the latest “Halloween”-wannabe.

Fortunately “The Crazies” is a film that stands out from the rest.

In Ogden Marsh, Iowa, things start to get a little crazy after Sheriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant) is forced to shoot an armed man at a high school baseball game. It is the first of hundreds of deaths in the film.

One by one, the townspeople begin to act strangely. As things start to get out of hand, Dutton and his wife (Radha Mitchell) team up with Deputy Russell Clank (Joe Anderson) to survive an infectious outbreak and government quarantines.

COP OUT continued from Page 6 Willis brings the wry, incredulous attitude he practiced in the “Die Hard” movies to the role of Jim, a cop whose calm and collected personality is the yin to Paul’s wildly eccentric yang. Fueled by a competition with his daughter’s wealthy, pontificating stepfather to foot the bill for her $48,000 wedding, Jim conspires to sell his rare, mint-condition baseball card of legend Andy Pafko, worth near $100,000.

A run-in with a notorious New York serial robber played

by Seann William Scott, who is well versed in the French martial art of Parkour for some unexplained reason (no chase scenes here), helps take the comedic pressure off the considerably overworked

• Photo courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com

Of course, everyone has seen this film in some shape or form. However, director Breck Eisner (”Sahara”) does a pretty good job of mixing together different elements to create a film that is worth-

while. There are no fake-out moments when a character mopes for about five minutes, as eerie music plays, only to have a cat jump out of the closet. In this film, the thing in the closet really is going to

Morgan. Scott’s performance adds a great deal of life to the film, as his character can’t resist irritating everyone around him, especially a gullible and defenseless Paul.

A saving grace of the film lies in the quirky, one-off characters that take some of the focus off the interaction between Willis and Morgan, giving it a bit more mileage as the plot wears thin around the experienced cast members. In lieu of a sturdy plot, an amalgamation of gruff, R-rated comedic dialogue between the two actors carries the movie along.

However, director Kevin Smith’s inexperience with action flicks speaks loudest during the film’s lackluster gunfights and car chases. The character development also seems strangely deep for a genre that routinely puts that aspect on the backburner to

one liners and situational slapstick. Smith shows a meticulous attention to detail as he devotes a lot of screen time to the tying up of even the most miniscule aspects.

A rival duo on the force, played by Kevin Pollak and Adam Brody, gets a large amount of face time, considering they don’t add more opportunities for laughs as much as fulfill the role of bumbling, unthreatening adversaries that deliver the film’s most uninspired lines.

While this film has its fair share of flaws, it also doesn’t make the case of taking itself too seriously. It’s clear Smith is trying his hand as a director-for-hire, this being the first movie he didn’t write the screenplay for. If audiences don’t let the low-brow humor and generic plot get in the way of a good time, plenty of laughs can be had.

Be a good sport.

Recycle your Beacon

eat your face.

The film does make the occasional mistake of looking too much like a horror movie, but the barren environment of Iowa farmland provides an interesting setting for view-

ers.

While the script was definitely written for a horror movie, it adds just enough character development for the film to get by. Anderson plays a fleshed-out character,

but the “chemistry” between Olyphant and Mitchell seems a little too distant for husband and wife.

The best part of the film is its creativity with death sequences. An entire town is filled with crazy people and trigger-happy military personnel, so there is bound to be a lot of death. After a while, it could become a little overkill (pun intended), but the use of pitchforks, rubber hoses and spike strips make things interesting.

Another mistake made in most horror films is an overabundant amount of gore. As mentioned, there are a lot of bad things happening to people in the film, but it never becomes Mel Gibson axing a redcoat ala “The Patriot.”

Although it may succumb to the conventions of a horror film at times, “The Crazies” is the right kind of scary movie.

• Photo courtesy of Rottentomatoes.com

THESPORTSPAGE

SPORTS CALENDAR

8 • The Daily Beacon

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

What’s HAPPENING IN SPORTS

March 2 - 5, 2010

Tuesday, March 2 —

Men’s Golf John Hayt Collegiate Invitational Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. All Day Women’s Golf Kinderlou Forest Challenge Valdosta, Ga. All Day

Wednesday, March 3 — Baseball Eastern Kentucky Knoxville 4 p.m.

Men’s Basketball Arkansas Knoxville 7 p.m.

Friday, March 5 — Women’s Basketball SEC Tournament Duluth, Ga. 12 p.m.

Men’s Tennis Auburn Auburn, Ala. 3 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Auburn Knoxville 4 p.m.

Baseball Binghamton Knoxville 5 p.m.

Softball Ohio Knoxville 6 p.m.

George Richardson • The Daily Beacon

The Diamond Vols dropped two games out of three in a road series to Oregon State over the weekend. UT welcomes Eastern Kentucky to Knoxville on Wednesday.

Vols lose series after 1-0 Sunday defeat Jason Hall Staff Writer In a series that included 29 runs scored by both teams going into Sunday’s game, who could have predicted that the final score of the rubber match between the Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 10 Oregon State Beavers would end in a 1-0 score? The Vols played in their first road series this weekend and came in with a perfect 3-0 record.

However the Oregon State team proved to be a true test for the boys from Knoxville, taking two of three games from the Vols.

In the first game, the Vols sent junior pitcher Bryan Morgado to the mound to face the Beavers’ junior pitcher Tyler Waldron. Morgado lasted just 3.2 innings and gave up eight earned runs in the Vols’ 17-1 loss, their first of the season.

“It was just one of those nights,” UT head coach Todd Raleigh said. “It just got away from us. We were hitting the ball hard, just right at people. We got two quick outs in both of their big innings and just couldn’t find a way to get the third one.”

In the second game, the outcome was much more favorable for the Vols as UT won 9-2. Sophomore Steven Gruver got the start for UT and faced junior

pitcher Tanner Robles. Gruver, who saw a majority of bullpen duty last season, got his first win of the season on Saturday after throwing seven scoreless innings, while only allowing three hits and striking out nine batters.

“My goal today was just to throw strikes and make them beat me rather than beat myself,” Gruver said. “I just tried to pound the zone and make them do something with it. Teams as good as Oregon State really punish you if you fall behind, so I just tried to get ahead as much as possible and make them hit my pitches.”

The Volunteer offense also played a major role in Saturday’s victory by scoring nine runs, including a seven-run eighth inning.

“I thought (Friday) was an aberration,” Raleigh said. “We’re a much better team than we showed yesterday (Friday), and I thought we turned around and played probably our most complete game of the year today. Obviously, (Steven) Gruver was unbelievable. To do what he did really set the tone, and we played outstanding defense and got some timely hits. We just battled. It was a lot closer than what the final score might indicate, but I was really pleased with how we played today.”

The rubber match of the three-game series would

prove to be a true pitchers duel between the Vols’ senior Stephen McCray and the Beavers’ junior Greg Peavey. McCray pitched six scoreless innings before giving up one run in the seventh. He would end his day after the seventh, giving up three hits, one earned run and four strikeouts, while throwing 85 pitches.

“I felt like I could throw any pitch anywhere I wanted in any count,” McCray said. “I had good movement on all of my pitches. I was able to locate, keep the ball down and keep them off balance a little bit.”

Raleigh praised McCray’s effort after the game.

“He certainly pitched unbelievable,” Raleigh said.

“He throws ground balls, and the defense is good enough to handle it for them, and it keeps them in the game. They like playing behind him.”

Peavey earned the complete-game shutout and the win over UT while only giving up three hits and striking out nine.

But Saturday’s win wasn’t the only positive outcome of the series against Oregon State. UT’s Cody Hawn played in his first game since injuring his shoulder during the team’s Opening Day win against Xavier. Hawn saw a total of 12 at-bats and went 4-of9 with three walks and a double.

Upsets help Syracuse reach top of AP rankings The Associated Press

Daily

Quote

“I thought this was a regional-type atmosphere and a regional-type game in terms of the high level of play.”

— UT baseball coach Todd Raleigh on the Vols’ weekend series with Oregon State

Syracuse took quite a route to its first No. 1 ranking in 20 years.

The Orange weren’t in the preseason Top 25 and, just days after it was released with them in “Others Receiving Votes,” they were beaten by Division II LeMoyne in an exhibition game.

But they were back in the poll — at No. 10, in fact — just two weeks into the season after impressive wins over California and North Carolina in the 2K Sports Classic.

The Orange haven’t been out of the top 10 since and on Monday moved from fourth into the No. 1 spot, taking advantage of a weekend that saw the top three teams lose.

“It’s a great honor, a great

testament for these players, these kids, to be number one,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “We all know it doesn’t matter that much in the big picture, it’s where you are at the end of the year. These kids have worked hard, been unselfish. They deserve it.

They really do.”

This is the third time the Hall of Fame coach has had the Orange at No. 1. There was the preseason poll in 1987-88 and a six-week stint in 1989-90.

“It’s been a long time, and we’re happy to be there,” said Boeheim, who has 826 wins in his 34th season at his alma mater.

Syracuse (27-2), which received 59 first-place votes from the national media panel, moved to the top off its 95-77 victory over then-No. 7

Villanova in front of an oncampus record crowd at the Carrier Dome.

As always, it’s Syracuse’s 23 zone defense, which it didn’t use in the loss to LeMoyne, that is drawing all the attention in the rise up the polls.

“The biggest thing is that we’ve been the biggest we’ve been inside in a long time, and we just cover better. These guys have worked a little harder at it,” Boeheim said. “We’re also still leading the nation in field goal percentage (52.2), so we’ve also been a very good offensive team. They really move the ball and pass the ball

extremely well. We’ve been good on both ends of the court. It’s not one thing really.”

Syracuse is the sixth team to go from unranked in the opening poll to No. 1. Kansas was the last, reaching No. 1 on Jan. 9, 1990.

“We made an unbelievable move this year, and we have really played pretty consistently all year. Based on the whole year, we deserve it,” Boeheim said. “We may not be the best team in the country, but I’m not sure who else is.”

Kansas, which had been No. 1 for the last four weeks

and 13 polls overall this season, had the other six firstplace votes and dropped to second. The Jayhawks (27-2) lost at Oklahoma State on Saturday, the same day Kentucky (27-2) lost at Tennessee.

The Wildcats, who were No. 1 for one week in January, fell one spot to third.

Texas, the fourth team to hold the No. 1 position this season, fell out of the rankings from 21st. The Longhorns became No. 1 for the first time in school history in January but have dropped seven of 12 after their 17-0 start.

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