Issue 38, Volume 122
Monday, March 4, 2013
For a third consecutive year, Sigma Alpha Epsilon has finished atop the standings of the Ace Miller Memorial Boxing Tournament. But this time no other fraternity is joining it there. After tying for first place in the overall competitions of 2011 and 2012, the tournament hosts used a Saturday night comeback to win the team trophy in the 33rd rendition of the inter-fraternity fights this weekend at the Knoxville Expo Center. Bener Oguz captured the lightweight belt and was among four SAE’s to win one of the tournament’s 11 weight classes. The senior finance major became the first from his fraternity since 2006 to earn a spot in the event’s Hall of Fame. To earn the honor he had to outlast Will Morton of Lambda Chi Alpha, which entered Saturday two points ahead of SAE.
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After bumping up a weight class from his 2010 and 2011 junior middleweight titles, this year was his second as middleweight champion. “I keep telling my guys, there are two parts that are the best about this whole tournament,” Sheesly said. “One is eating after weigh-ins, and the second is getting your hand raised in that ring after you’ve gone to war.” The Ace Miller Memorial Boxing tournament was formerly known as the SAE Boxing Tournament, but after legendary Knoxville boxing trainer Ace Miller passed away in March, the men of SAE chose to rename the tournament in Miller’s honor. Prior to the first fight on each of the tournament’s three nights, officials ceremonially rang the bell to honor Miller, who was critical in the formation of the event. r ke
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Fo r Oguz, who started boxing his senior year in high school, his championship bout held the double weight of personal achievement and helping his team earn an outright title. “It feels good, man,” Oguz said. “It’s been a lot of hard work and I guess it just paid off. It’s a fun sport and I like doing it. So I mean it was easy because I love it.” Receiving the delegation as a Hall of Fame honoree requires winning three individual titles over two weight classes — a difficult task considering most fighters only have four years to compete. After securing the featherweight belts in 2011 and
David Cobb 2012, “During Assistant News Editor Oguz boxing bumped up season I don’t a class in 2013. go out as much He said his and I just kind of Saturday victory train, work and do classprobably signified the work, and don’t really have end of his boxing career, unless he stays in school for time for drinking. “So it really helps, helps me a fifth year. “To tell you the truth, do well in school. And it helps it really helps me with my me be a better person.” One boxer who did come grades,” Oguz said of the tournament, which most boxers back for a fifth year of school train months in advance for. was Phi Sigma Kappa’s Buck
Sheesley, a senior in accounting. His victory in the middleweight division was his fourth career belt. Sheesly earned his Hall of Fame berth in 2012, but with this year’s title he became one of three four-time champions since the tournament’s inception in 1980. “Man, it really means a lot,” Sheesly said just moments after he was crowned 2013’s Best Boxer. “One of three people in 33 years, that really means a lot. I have had so much support throughout this whole thing from friends, family, brothers, everything. It’s been incredible.”
See BOXING on Page 3
UT Trustees meet, approve bonuses Organization offers Justin Joo Staff Writer The full Board of Trustees met on Friday and discussed a variety of matters including appointing a new chancellor for UT Chattanooga, changing the names of several UT Knoxville’s buildings and approving potential bonuses for six UT executive officers. The Board approved the
finalized version of their “Performance and Retention Plan,” which is designed to motivate and reward several UT executive officers for completing a specific set of goals. Two of the six officers include Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and UT System President Joe DiPietro. Should the officers accomplish their goals, they will be
granted a bonus that could be up to but no more than 15 percent of their base salary. Cheek, whose base annual salary as of July 1, 2012, was $394,956, could receive a bonus of up to $59,243. DiPietro’s base annual salary as of July 1, 2012, was $445,567.50, leading to a potential bonus of up to $66,835.13.
One of the goals for DiPietro is demonstrating improvement in employee satisfaction on the Employee Engagement Survey in order to recruit and retain a diverse group of employees. Another goal is to bring the faculty and staff salaries closer to the median of their peer group. See TRUSTEES on Page 3
Around Rocky Top
Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon
The UT Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Men’s Chorale, and Women’s Chorale, conducted by James Fellenbaum, performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 in the Tennessee Theatre on Feb. 24. Soloists included Jenniger Sohl, Caitlin Bolden, Boris Van Druff, and Ian Richardson.
tips for scholastic advancement R.J. Vogt News Editor
With Spring Break just around the corner, many UT students are planning trips all over the country instead of focusing in the classroom. This week, the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships (ONSF) is offering information sessions, a faculty panel and a presentation about a more formative trip that goes far beyond spring break’s beaches and actually extends the classroom: the Fulbright Scholarship. The nationally competitive scholarship receives between 10,000 and 12,000 applicants each year, each hoping to earn 10 months of financial support to study abroad after graduating college. The 25 percent of applicants who receive the prestigious scholarships go on to complete personal research projects or teach English as a second language in countries all over the world. “The main emphasis of the Fulbright is cultural exchange,” Michael Handelsman, director of the ONSF, said. “All Fulbrighters are basically ambassadors for the United States. They’re committed to learning about the host culture, and in that process, are sharing their own cultural traditions and values.” Five members of the UT community earned Fulbright Scholarships in 2011-2012, leaving for the likes of Mexico
City and Paris. Handelsman hopes that “Fulbright Week at UT” sparks more of the same success. Today, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Baker Center Room 118, and Tuesday, from 12:30 to 1 p.m. in the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium, information sessions will be offered to all students and faculty interested in applying. Nichole Fazio-Veigel, the ONSF assistant director, said that the sessions will provide both a general overview and some specific tips. The session will also offer guidance on negotiating the program’s “hefty” website. Dr. Handelsman, a 6-time Fulbright scholar himself, has plenty of history with the Fulbright program. After spending time in Brazil and Ecuador as both a student and a faculty member, Handelsman called the rich experience “transformative.” “The opportunity to be engaged in another culture, not as just an observer but as one who can become part of a community … the whole relationships shifts from thinking about that other culture to thinking with them,” he said. “Something has happened to you that you’re going to think a bit differently, your priorities change a little bit. … That’s why people go, you’re not doing tourism.” See FULBRIGHT on Page 3