4 • The Daily Beacon
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
OPINIONS
LettersEditor to the
Gore unqualified to receive honorary degree in science The College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2010 should applaud the University of Tennessee for procuring former Vice President Al Gore as the featured speaker for spring commencement. Gore will give a tremendous speech, aided by his wealth of knowledge and experience as a journalist, public servant and businessman. Similarly, all students should applaud the university’s decision to confer an honorary doctorate upon Gore for his service to Tennessee and the United States as a public servant. However, students should be disappointed in the Board of Trustees’ decision to award Gore an Honorary Doctor of Laws and Humane Letters in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. While Gore’s accomplishments may merit an Honorary Doctorate of Laws and Humane Letters, he does not deserve an honorary doctorate in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology. In science, Gore has not conducted original research, nor has he demonstrated distinguished achievement. In fact, he has not even demonstrated achievement in his only contribution to the field, raising awareness of the “climate crisis.” In 2008, he replied that he felt that he had “failed so far” when asked about how Americans were responding to his message. Additionally, graduates should be disappointed in the Board of Trustees’ decision to award Gore this doctorate that is specified to his politically controversial work. Surely board members did not intend to endorse Gore politically, which the Board of Trustees’ Vice Chairman Jim Murphy confirmed, adding, “One of the things universities are for is encouraging disagreement and dialogue.” I agree that our university should encourage discussion, but it should do so without cheapening the degrees of thousands of students. Our degrees are awarded because of hard work and contributions to our studies. Our degrees are not awarded as political talking points. For these reasons, Al Gore should be awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Laws and Humane Letters, just not in the field of ecology and evolutionary biology.
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.
Blog expresses hyper-modern self No tes fr om t h e U n d e rg ra d by
Karl Herrmann Senior in political science and economics
Amien Essif
Banning student-athletes from owning firearms unjustifiable I am appalled at the vastly over-reaching response of the University of Tennessee to the criminal behavior of a few student-athletes. While the criminal behavior is not to be condoned and should be dealt with in a proper and unbiased way by the courts, the university is totally wrong to ban the possession of firearms by student-athletes or any other subgroup of students. Every citizen has the Second Amendment right to bear arms, even though it is often infringed by state laws and local ordinances. To ban the possession of firearms by any group of students immediately denies them the means of self-defense, even in their own homes, as well as the ability to engage in completely legal recreational shooting and hunting. It is a gross mistake to impose such diabolical restrictions on the entire group of studentathletes in response to the criminal behavior of one or a few, or even more. Such behavior never justifies the abolition of fundamental rights by the university or the Athletic Department administration. This horrid attempt to restrict a fundamental American right must be reversed. I suspect that the courts will reverse this policy if the university demonstrates the poor judgment to fail to reverse it on its own as soon as any individual with legal standing challenges this policy. It is hard to comprehend anyone of authority within the Athletic Department or the university administration exercising such horribly poor judgment on this issue. Ronald D. Weddle, MD Bardstown, Ky. THE DAILY BACON • Blake Tredway
DOONESBURY • Garry Trudeau
Experiencing Gala Darling’s blog “The Playgirl’s Guide to Radical Self-Love” is like peaking on some new lab drug at a 22nd century cyber-carnival, if that even means anything. It is still the 21st century, no doubt, but not everyone lives in the same era. I say this because I know that I do not have the same sense of place, time, being or self as someone steeped in trendy blog culture. I must disclaim: There is something like a female hyper-modern culture present in “The Play Girl’s Guide” that speaks a feminine language, uses a feminine color-scheme and employs uniquely feminine affirmations to “love yourself,” which is new to the female realm and not to the traditional egoist masculine realm. But this is a 21st-century egoism — a whole new concept. So I clarify now that this column is not a criticism of the feminine, but specifically a critical analysis of a particular blog culture (no doubt with a male equivalent) that I have chosen to view through Gala Darling. “The Playgirl’s Guide to Radical Self-Love” is, in Gala’s own words, “a seamless & fabulous mix of fashion, lifestyle advice & tips on how to live magically.” Seamlessness applies also to the inability to distinguish between content and advertising, as much of the content links to sales on bracelets and shoes and is created in the same voice and with the same style as the marginal advertisements: logoed, softened, bubbly, packaged. The language floats around in some kind of void and is mostly meaningless, linked only to other Web sites and not to reality as a natural phenomenon. This detachment of words is intentional, for it is only the feeling of the words, rather than their referents, that counts. There’s an ad for a body-weight scale with “affirmations” instead of numbers; Thus, the words “perfect” and “beautiful” arise meaninglessly on the scale’s display with no correlation to weight — like a Magic Eight Ball with only good luck in it. The words “Cherry on Top” stand by themselves and do not correspond to any photograph or article. The phrase only retrieves the sensation and mental image of a dish of whipped cream in a void and a bright cherry in crisp focus leaning toward the camera like the
red lips of a girl kissing her reflection in the mirror, for what is this site but a mirror of selfcreation? Gala posts the anonymous quote, “If your life does not feel right, create something better.” This is not traditional self-invention. One does not create oneself through patience and perseverance over a lifetime. This is an instantaneous transformation, like following an endless chain of cyber links to happiness. Gala provides us with a long list of her lovesof-the-moment: “This Thursday I am loving” (only “loving” is written with three pink hearts) “Miniature Cadbury Creme Eggs,” “Victoria’s Secret,” “postcards of Native American Chiefs (all over my room, keeping the watch).” Keeping watch as Gala creates the new American dream. Geronimo’s face becomes another accessory, the theme of the week to be wallpapered over on Monday, the new Manifest Destiny of the everchanging, perpetually consuming self. A strange turn at mid-scroll on the blog site: A link to an interview with “Angie Jackson, the woman who live-tweeted her abortion.” A brave new world, indeed. Is this a dystopia? No, of course not. Jackson had good reasons for what she did: to be open about the process for the sake of women at the mercy of sensationalist anti-abortion propaganda and to make war on a privacy that oppresses women. And so we climb the ladder away from earth, and who can say when we’ve gone too far? We just get used to the weird things as long as they make sense in an economy of commodities. This interview with the abortion tweeter fits snugly in between two columns of advertisements and Web site accessories. If one is not endowed with a discriminating eye one might not be able to distinguish (seamlessness again) between the interview and a marginal Web site poll. One might read it as, “If I can’t talk about my first trimester abortion, which was / So are wedge platforms on your shopping list this spring? ... Vote Now!” Vote against abortion or against platform shoes? Who can tell when it all fits so nicely together and changes so often. The article will be replaced next week with something about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; the poll becomes an ad for lipstick. I’ve tried, but I can’t figure this thing out. Whose world is this? How did this spring up from the earth? An unabashed glorification of consumerism and egoism — where does the critic grab a hold? I’ll let Gala Darling have the last word: “To the haters, I say ‘WHATEVER!’” — Amien Essif is a junior in English literature. He can be reached at aessif@utk.edu.
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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. LETTERS POLICY: The Daily Beacon welcomes all letters to the editor and guest columns from students, faculty and staff. Each submission is considered for publication by the editor on the basis of space, timeliness and clarity. Contributions must include the author’s name and phone number for verification. Students must include their year in school and major. Letters to the editor and guest columns may be e-mailed to letters@utk.edu or sent to Nash Armstrong, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 5 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The Beacon reserves the right to reject any submissions or edit all copy in compliance with available space, editorial policy and style.
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Kel Thompson I’m sure many of y’all saw the big rally on the Pedestrian Walkway a couple Fridays ago. The United Campus Workers union initiated the gathering to protest the impending layoffs of wage-earning University of Tennessee employees due during 2011’s budget cuts, but the event seemed to me more like a general hodgepodge of students pissed off at how their university is being run. By my estimate, there were probably around 400 to 500 students gathered together at any one time. To me, this was pretty impressive (considering other large rallies I’ve seen here in my time at UT), but it falls far short of being a truly meaningful showing. There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 26,000 students on this campus, and to the naked eye it appears that only about two percent of them care at all about where their money is going and what they’re getting out of it. In 2011, the university faces between six and nine percent cuts to its revenue — roughly $60 million to $100 million. Tuition is going up, class size is going up, enrollment is going down. In today’s economy, do we really need to be cutting jobs and keeping young Tennesseans out of college? I’ve been searching and cannot find an exact figure, but I believe that since 2000, there has been an increase in the total salary of top-level University of Tennessee
administrators of at least $15 million. I don’t know where the money for that came from, but let’s just assume that all of it came from increases to the tuition of 25,000 students (this figure is a little bit skewed in my favor, but illustrates a point). That equates to a $600 increase in the tuition of every student at UTK. That $15 million would go a long way to reduce the impact of the statewide budget cuts. I think that the general theme amongst the students gathered to protest was that they do not agree with how the university is spending their money. The funding cuts cannot be helped, but the way the administration handles it can. I think that most of us would much rather see the presidents, provosts and chancellors give up some of their bonuses than the university give up its professors and support staff. I suppose my major question is this: Why don’t the students seem to care that much? I know that most of us are tired, stressed, overworked and underpaid, but how much effort does it take to stand in a circle, commiserate with your peers and cheer? Why weren’t 5,000 students out there protesting? I know at least that many would agree with the message of the rally. In the next few years, the University of Tennessee is going to be facing some tough times. In the past, it has been very easy for us, as students, to just sit back, go to class and not care too much about university politics. It’s time for us as students to let our voice be heard. It’s pretty easy to ignore 500 protestors, but it is much harder to ignore 20,000 angry students. — Kel Thompson is a junior in creative writing. He can be reached at kthomp28@utk.edu.