The Daily Beacon

Issue 44, Volume 122

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Students compete in ‘Recyclympics’ event Samantha Smoak Copy Editor UT will once again take on the Florida Gators — but this time off the basketball court.

The 4th annual “Recyclympics” will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. today in the Humanities amphitheater, as a part of “RecycleMania.”

Jay Price, an environmental coordinator with UT Recycling, hopes the “Recyclympics” will raise awareness about the UT Recycling program.

“It’s primarily an awareness event,” Price said. “…

We usually give students the opportunity to volunteer with

(the ‘Recyclympics’) and learn more about (the UT Recycling) program.”

The “Recyclympics” will include six different recycling themed Olympic-style games: the phone book shot put, plastic bottle free throw, bottlecap-in-a-haystack, plastic bottle hammer throw, mouse ball throw and inflatable obstacle course.

Students can compete individually or as a team. If they make it through all the events, they receive a free recycling T-shirt and are entered into a random drawing for other prizes.

The “Recyclympics” will also help raise awareness of “RecycleMania,” an eight-week intercollegiate recycling tournament among more than 500 colleges and universities. “‘RecycleMania’ is a competition ... to see who can come out on top in a group of categories,” Nick Alderson, a student worker for UT Recycling, said. “(The categories include) waste minimization, paper recycling, plastic and cans recycling and corrugated cardboard recycling.”

Price emphasized the rivalry with Florida to encourage the Volunteer community to par-

ticipate.

“I try and target one specific university that will resonate with … campus,” he said. “The last three or four years, I’ve picked Florida. We’ve beaten them most years … right now it’s pretty close.”

Alderson, a senior in environmental studies and sustainability, hopes the fun and games will encourage students to make recycling a bigger priority in their lives.

“By participating, the campus community can learn the benefits of recycling their bottles and cans instead of throwing them away,” he said.

“Especially in (places like) the library where there are recycling bins on every corner.”

“I hope that increased awareness will lead to higher recycling rates here on campus,” Alderson added. “We definitely have a great recycling program here at UT but students are unaware or just don’t care.”

Price echoed Alderson’s sentiments, focusing on the recruitment aspect as well.

“Recycling can be fun and we’re (UT recycling) an important part of campus,” Price said “… (I hope people) come out and learn a little bit about UT Recycling as an organi-

zation and hopefully find an opportunity to get involved with us on campus … (and) to have fun and raise awareness.”

Prince said he thinks that the biggest reason people do not recycle on campus is they just do not think about it.

The event is geared specifically towards students, but anyone is welcome to participate. More information about UT Recycling, recycling programming and events can be found at environment.utk.edu/ recycling. UT Recycling can also be liked on Facebook and followed on Twitter at @utkrecycling.

Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon

A student prepares for the mouse toss during last year’s ‘Recyclemania.’

City officials plan changes for Cherokee Trail Flooding hazards make road ‘extremely unsafe,’ ‘dangerous’ for students David Cobb Assistant News Editor A recurring flooding problem, plans for a new apartment complex and a slew of e-mails from concerned parents of UT students have City of Knoxville officials planning improvements for Cherokee Trail.

The South Knoxville road that provides access to the four residential complexes that are primarily inhabited by UT students and UT Medical Center is often forced to close after rainfall, which requires drivers to take lengthy detours.

As part of a larger agenda packet for the area that includes a proposal for a new 344-bed student housing development, a tentative schedule slates for “drainage improvements to stop street flooding” to occur in September or October.

“It isn’t a big safety issue so much as it’s an inconvenience,” said James Hagerman, the City of Knoxville’s engineering director. “But it’s something that we’ve got to fix.”

Hagerman said that the cause of the problem is a damaged pipe that runs under the road.

“It gets clogged easier as time goes by,” he said, “so we’ll have to replace that pipe and put in a bigger one, and that should solve the problem.”

In an e-mail to Knoxville officials dated March 6, Edi Rust, a mother of a UT student, detailed her experience traveling on Cherokee Trail after rainfall. She said drivers proceeded slowly through “raging waters” with barriers indicating the road to be closed pushed aside.

“There is no excuse for this extremely unsafe situation,” Rust said. “I was shocked at the danger this presented to young lives, not to mention the great inconvenience.”

The flooding, however, isn’t the only issue some parents and area condominium owners have with the road.

The general safety of the curvy two-lane path was the focal point of other recent complaints addressed to Knoxville

officials.

“If you have any doubt of how dangerous that road is now, I invite you to take a tour of that road at midnight on a rainy Saturday night as hundreds of college kids are driving home from a night on the Strip,” wrote Woodlands condo owner Richard Stevens.

“It’s amazing there are not more deaths on that road.”

The Knoxville/Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission is currently reviewing an application by “Cottage Landing Knoxville” for the construction of an 86-unit student housing complex on the South side of Cherokee Trail slightly west of The Orchard.

Stevens’ e-mail made no mention of the flooding problem but simply argued that the road is overcrowded already and that an additional neighborhood should not be allowed on the street.

“So for the sake of basic citizen safety, please do not allow the lure of a few more tax dollars to blur your good

judgment,” he said. “Please do not make a terrible, unsafe situation worse.”

Hagerman said he didn’t know the effect that a new complex would have on the traffic flow of the road, partly because his department has no direct control over whether the development is allowed to build.

Regardless, he said improving safety on the road is important. Hagerman also mentioned that, to his knowledge, no UT student has complained to his department, but that it has primarily been parents stating their concerns.

“It’s a mixture of everything,” Hagerman said.

“There’s a lot more traffic on there then there used to be because of the number of units.

It only went into the city a few years ago. The street is our responsibility, but it hasn’t been our responsibility for a real long time.

“And combined with the fact that there is more traffic, it’s pretty important to do what we can to make it safer.”

Program offers students opportunities abroad R.J. Vogt News Editor The Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships hosted Ms. Sabeen Altaf, the senior program officer of the Whitaker International Program for biomedical research, on Friday afternoon to conclude its Fulbright Week.

The Whitaker Program is administered by the Institute of International Education, a non-profit organization that specializes in international education. In her presentation, Altaf said that they administer the U.S. State Department’s flagship program, the Fulbright.

She said the Whitaker is similar to the Fulbright, as they both offer funding for study abroad opportunities.

The Whitaker, however, specifically caters to those studying in the biomedical field.

Kristen Morgan, a UT graduate student, participated in the Whitaker summer fellowship in Australia after meeting Altaf at a biomedical engineering conference in 2012.

“I was working on a project, I do a lot of ACL injuries,” Morgan explained. “We specifically do a lot of computational work, so it’s hard to get data.

That’s what was great about the Whitaker program; with the people we have in Australia we could go collect data and then use it for our research.”

Her time at the University of Western Australia was so influential that Morgan felt moved to encourage the undergraduate students that work in her lab to consider applying.

“I told them I don’t know what their schedules are, but you need to look into it, it’s just a really great experience,” she said.

See WHITAKER on Page 3

2 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Associate Editor Preston Peeden

IN SHORT

ppeeden@utk.edu

Managing Editor Emily DeLanzo edelanzo@utk.edu

Around Rocky Top

Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon

Buck Sheesley celebrates after winning his fight on March 1.

THIS DAY IN 1933 — FDR gives first fireside chat

HISTORY

On this day in 1933, eight days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first national radio address or “fireside chat,” broadcast directly from the White House.

Roosevelt began that first address simply: “I Parker Eidson • The Daily Beacon want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” He went Buck Sheesley, senior in accounting, sports all four of his Ace Miller Memorial Boxing on to explain his recent decision to close the Tournament belts on Saturday, March 2. Sheesley earned a berth in the SAE Boxing nation’s banks in order to stop a surge in mass Hall of Fame in 2012 after his third win across two weight classes but returned to withdrawals by panicked investors worried the ring in 2013 to become one of the only four-year champions in the tournament’s about possible bank failures. The banks would 33-year history. be reopening the next day, Roosevelt said, and he thanked the public for their “fortitude and good temper” during the “banking holiday.”

At the time, the U.S. was at the lowest point of the Great Depression, with between 25 and 33 percent of the work force unemployed. The nation was worried, and Roosevelt’s address was designed to ease fears and to inspire confidence in his leadership. Roosevelt went on to deliver 30 more of these broadcasts between March 1933 and June 1944. They reached an astonishing number of American households, 90 percent of which owned a radio at the time.

Journalist Robert Trout coined the phrase “fireside chat” to describe Roosevelt’s radio addresses, invoking an image of the president sitting by a fire in a living room, speaking earnestly to the American people about his hopes and dreams for the nation. In fact, Roosevelt took great care to make sure each address was accessible and understandable to ordinary Americans, regardless of their level of education. He used simple vocabulary and relied on folksy anecdotes or analogies to explain the often complex issues facing the country.

Over the course of his historic 12-year presidency, Roosevelt used the chats to build popular support for his groundbreaking New Deal policies, in the face of stiff opposition from big business and other groups. After World War II began, he used them to explain his administration’s wartime policies to the American people. The success of Roosevelt’s chats was evident not only in his three re-elections, but also in the millions of letters that flooded the

White House. Farmers, business owners, men, women, rich, poor--most of them expressed the feeling that the president had entered their home and spoken directly to them. In an era when presidents had previously communicated with their citizens almost exclusively through spokespeople and journalists, it was an unprecedented step.

1968 — McCarthy does well in the Democratic primary Senator Eugene McCarthy (D-Minnesota), an outspoken critic of the Johnson administration’s policies in Vietnam, polls 42 percent of the vote in New Hampshire’s Democratic presidential primary. President Lyndon B. Johnson got 48 percent. A Harris poll later showed that anti-Johnson, rather than antiwar, sentiment provided the basis for McCarthy’s surprisingly strong performance.

McCarthy had been a contender to be President Lyndon B. Johnson’s running mate in the 1964 election, but since then he had become increasingly disenchanted with Johnson’s policies in Vietnam and the escalation of the war. In 1967, he published The Limits of Power, an assessment of U.S. foreign policy that was very critical of the Johnson administration. McCarthy announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in January 1968, saying that he hoped to harness the growing antiwar sentiment in the country, particularly among the young. His showing in the New Hampshire primary astonished most of the political pundits. Johnson, frustrated with his inability to reach a solution in Vietnam and stunned by his narrow victory in New Hampshire, announced on March 31, 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of his party for re-election.

Humphrey was defeated in the general election by Republican Richard Nixon. McCarthy retired from the Senate in 1971, but his surprising showing in the primary was evidence of the strong antiwar sentiment in the country.

— This Day in History is courtesy of History. com.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 3 News Editor RJ Vogt

CAMPUS NEWS

rvogt@utk.edu

Assistant News Editor David Cobb dcobb3@utk.edu

Around Rocky Top

Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon

Gregory Partain performs during a guest recital on March 6.

WHITAKER continued from Page 1 Altaf discussed her own publicity efforts for the highly field-specific Whitaker program. In her travels to conferences and universities, she has noted that the most successful applicants often come from institutions connected to Whitaker.

“A lot of times, the universities that are successful in recruiting are the big universities where the name ‘Whitaker’ means something,” Altaf said.

“They already have biomedical engineering departments, buildings that are named after the Whitaker, they already have professors that have received a Whitaker foundation grant years ago … it’s where we’re going to see a good turnaround in applications.”

She cited the University of Michigan, which has a widely respected biomedical engineering department. In 2012, U.S. News and World Report declared their undergraduate and graduate biomedical engineering programs the 6th and 7th best in undergraduate and

graduate education.

A similar trend occurs at schools that boast former Whitaker participants among their faculty.

“If we have grantees and people that are on our board that went to Johns Hopkins, even though it may be a smaller program, we’ll see more applications,” Altaf said.

Altaf mentioned that, as far as engineers go, biomedical graduate students are often more interested in collaborative work than their peers, calling them the “low-hanging fruit” for this type of foreign study opportunity.

She added that the biomedical engineering field has a high ratio of women to men.

Coupled with the fact that women are more open to going abroad than men, Altaf said that Whitaker recipients tend to be female.

“My grantee ration is 60/40, which is really high,” she said.

For more information on the Whitaker Program, visit the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships at their offices in the Howard H. Baker Center for Public Policy or the program’s website at www.whitaker.org

Dialogue to be held on sports, religion Lauren Kittrell Sports Editor The worlds of sports and spirituality hold a unique relationship in the hearts of athletes and coaches across the globe.

Mind, body and spirit must be equally addressed and balanced to create a whole, steadfast and capable person or athlete, but sports and religion don’t stop with one individual. At the Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Sport, a panel of capable religious scholars in and around Knoxville will come together to address the matter of religion and spirituality in a world consumed by sports.

“The presentation will provide insight into how different faith traditions view the role of sport within their faith,” Dr. Robin Hardin, associate professor of the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation and Sport Studies, said. “It will provide the campus community an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the differences and similarities in these faith traditions. It will also enable people to see just how intertwined religion and sport — and how important — both are in this region of the country.”

The panel, some of whom met for a similar discussion only one year ago, will be comprised of Father Charlie Donahue, pastor at Blessed John XXIII Parish;

Rabbi Alon C. Ferency of Heska Amuna Synagogue; Chaplain Abdel Rahman Murphy, director of the Roots Program at Muslim Community of Knoxville; and UT’s own Chaplain Roger Woods of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and UTK Athletics. While Ashleigh M. Huffman, assistant director of the Center for Sport, Peace and Society at UT, was invited to join the panel, there was a last minute change to her schedule and she will be be unable to participate.

The panel will address everything from the holistic care of athletes to the effect sports can have in worldwide peacemaking.

“When we think about athletes and keeping them fit, we take care of the cognitive side, everybody’s in a degree program. We take care of the physical side, we keep them well; we take care of the dietary side ... but there’s a hole inside the individual that often goes untended to and that’s the spiritual side,” Dr. Waller, associate professor of sports management said.

As a part of the Center for Sports, Peace and Society, Dr. Waller said they have been looking at trends in athletic departments and across the globe to help in their study of religion in the world of sports. While the panel addresses religion from several different perspectives, Waller

said they will address how religion and sports work together in society and how to care for an individual athlete from a Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Islamic, and so on, point of view.

“They’re going to sit down and talk about the interface between religion and sport from an interfaith perspective,” Waller said.

Dr. Waller said this is a great event for students to join in by coming, listening to and engaging in the discussion, but he is highly invested in the topic as well. He said the topic is something that should speak to a wide range of people, as so many have a vested interest in sports and are heavily influenced and invested in religion and spirituality.

“I think for me the fascination will be (the panelists’) unique perspectives on sport through the lens of faith,” he said.

“We take it pretty seriously here in the Western world and it is a serious thing, but also I think when you look at how faith can drive sports or buttresses sports, it makes for a pretty interesting conversation. I think the faith perspectives are going to be very interesting to hear and to process.”

The event will be held in Room 235 of the Health and Physical Education building at 12:40 p.m. today.

4 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Editor-in-Chief Blair Kuykendall

OPINIONS

bkuykend@utk.edu

Contact us letters@utk.edu

Views

Volunteered

Feminism movement embraces different body types The body positive movement often encourages women to accept and love the curves and roundness of their bodies. It praises this body shape as beautiful and womanly. Just as important to remember, however, is that women of all body shapes and sizes can feel insecure in their appearance and can feel unhealthy pressure to conform — whether the standard they feel they must follow is one of thinness or one of curviness. Yes, curvy bodies are beautiful, womanly and desirable. However, the implication that the thin, curveless female is not a real woman is incredibly damaging as well.

Last week in this column we discussed the ways women are expected to put more effort into their appearance than men are. In direct response to this centuries-old phenomenon, a “body positive” movement has emerged in recent years. This movement emphasizes that women can and should accept their bodies as they are, without feeling pressured to change the way they look. The media’s portrayal of the stick-thin woman without an ounce of cellulose is unrealistic, this movement emphasizes, and is unattainable. Instead, this movement focuses on the bodies of real women whose thighs touch when they stand with their feet together and boobs do need that extra bit of support.

One particular example of the body positive movement in action is Dove commercials, an instance of advertisements fighting harmful norms instead of perpetuating them. In these commercials promoting a positive body image for young girls, the girls are pre-adolescent, curve-less and thin. Women in the advertisements that target post-adolescent women, generally ages twenty to thirty, however, have large bosoms, round thighs and curved stomachs. The overall message conveys to women that they should be thin when they are young.

The instant they hit puberty, however, they should be fertile-looking women with lovely curves all over. The problem is, just as most

of our bodies do not look like Keira Knightley, most of us don’t develop in that manner either.

Women grow and develop at different rates and in many shapes.

Most important is the fact that women of all shapes and sizes can have body image problems. The body positive movement generally depicts a type-casted rounded body, but not a thin or obese body. This can cause a fixation of girls on certain aspects of their body, just like seeing those thin models in magazines does. If large breasts, thick thighs and a rounded rear is the desirable body for a woman to love, what happens to the round all over or stick straight women?

The problem that the body positive movement needs to address isn’t the particular content of our narrow beauty standards (thinness versus curves), but the fact that our standards are so narrow in the first place. Most critically, feminism emphasizes that women should feel no pressure to conform to these standards at all. We cannot just turn this societal pressure to a slightly different, slightly curvier goal: we have to do away with it altogether.

The movement seems to focus on some middle ground full of womanly curves and portrays this to be the natural woman’s body: everything else is unattainable, fake, and not womanly. However, women come in all sizes, and no shape of their body, whether curvey or pudgy or rail-thin, makes them no less of a woman. The body positive movement should show images of women of all shapes and sizes and instead say “Love your curves, you lumps, your bumps — or your lack thereof.”

— Kathleen Connely is a senior in philosophy.

Lisa Dicker is a junior in political science.

They can be reached at kconnel3@utk.edu and ldicker@utk.edu.

SCRAMBLED EGGS • Alex Cline

SOUTHERN GLAMOUR • Jacob Hobson

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.

Take time away from technology Lost in Communication by

Jan Urbano Society has come a long way from the use of stone tools and wooden huts. Thanks to technology, we’ve been able to control our own fates, instead of finding ourselves at the whim of nature and its harsh nature. We’ve created global communication networks that can relay information from one part of the world to the opposite side in seconds, and push the boundaries of our scientific understanding and applications.

Our lives today are centered around the use of technology, which provides us the tools for our work and the basis for our pleasure. For many subjects, technology has been an essential tool in solving problems and unlocking the mysteries hidden in this world, spanning from the atomic level up to the galactic. There is no doubt that technology is one of the major factors for the accumulation of knowledge present in all scientific disciplines today. As beneficial as technology has been, however, it also has its detrimental effects.

At any moment, we have the ability to find almost anything – the Internet has been a major player in providing us with on-thespot information for anyone wanting to solve a problem or satisfy his or her curiosity. The amount of technology that we utilize to help us solve, for example, modeling and mathematical problems has dulled our motivation to fervently pursue our respective topics. In regards to communication, people in past times found themselves in more isolation, separated to a higher degree than in our present society. We can ask for help at any time, simply by typing words into our computer and clicking the mouse a few times. In the past, though, people did not have the ability to instantly communi-

cate, and more or less had to solve problems out in detached groups. There was no global database, only parts of facts and observations.

If you had a problem, you had no choice but to solve it with the general tools you had in the area. It forced people to think efficiently and effectively and work together with limited resources. In today’s world, with the amount of collected knowledge and communication we have now, one could argue that we no longer need to think as critically. Although we have so much knowledge, it does not mean we immediately know how to use it. It is one thing to have the information at our fingertips, but it’s another to know when and how to apply it.

No one can doubt how much technology has given us comfort and pleasure. From the air conditioners and heaters that are at our control to keep us comfortable to the video games that occupy literally millions of hours of our time, technology has proved itself to be an excellent companion in many ways. However, this has made us complacent, preventing us from pursuing and exploring scientific fields.

With the technology we have today, one can feel as if she or he does not need to do anything else – why do anything else when we can relish in the pleasure that technology can provide to us? Technology, in a sense, can make us less receptive to the real-world, and dull our desire to continually improve and add to our collective knowledge.

Technology has helped us in countless ways, but it is only a tool. It also has unfortunate and relatively hidden consequences. By becoming overly reliant on it, we put ourselves in a position where it acts like an addictive drug – we rely more and on it with each day, in exchange for health and mental ability.

Although it is inevitable that we must use technology for our day to day lives, it helps to disconnect from it every once in a while.

— Jan Urbano is a junior in biochemistry and molecular biology. He can be reached at jurbano@utk.edu.

‘Trickle-down’ economics betrays equality (Un) Common Sense by

Ron Walters

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Blair Kuykendall

editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com

MANAGING EDITOR Emily DeLanzo ASSOCIATE EDITOR Preston Peeden CHIEF COPY EDITOR Eric Nalley DESIGN EDITORS Alex Cline Caroline Gompers PHOTO EDITORS Tia Patron Tara Sripunvoraskul NEWS EDITOR RJ Vogt ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR David Cobb ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Victoria Wright ASSISTANT ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Melodi Erdogan SPORTS EDITOR Lauren Kittrell ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Austin Bornheim COPY EDITORS Hannah Bloomfield Claire Dodson Jacob Hobson Justin Joo Troy Provost-Heron Samantha Smoak

ADVERTISING MANAGER Alison Embry beaconads@utdailybeacon.com

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES Casey Lawrence Andi Overby Sookie Park ADVERTISING PRODUCTION ARTISTS Will Jellicorse Ryan McPherson EDITORIAL PRODUCTION ARTISTS Brittany Coggins Kristi Frazier Taylor Presley Katrina Roberts CLASSIFIED ADVISER Savannah Pickard orderad@utdailybeacon.com

To report a news item, please e-mail editor.news@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-2348 To submit a press release, please e-mail pressreleases@utdailybeacon.com To place an ad, please e-mail beaconads@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-5206 To place a classified ad, please e-mail orderad@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-4931 To submit a Letter to the Editor, please e-mail letters@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-4931 If you think something has been reported incorrectly, please contact the managing editor at 974-2348.

Advertising: (865) 974-5206 Classifieds: (865) 974-4931 Editor-in-Chief: (865) 974-2348 Managing Editor: (865) 974-2348 Main Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 Fax: (865) 974-5569

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, 11 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: www.utdailybeacon.com.

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@utdailybeacon.com or sent to Blair Kuykendall, 1340 Circle Park Dr., 11 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. Any and all submissions to the above recipients are subject to publication.

The word “oligarchy” is unpleasant, often used to describe a much darker time in Western civilization’s history. However, surely in 21st century American we have escaped this pattern of economic exploitation and domination, haven’t we?

After all, our country was founded on equal opportunity and the belief that all citizens are to be treated with the same respect under the law. Actions of our political and financial elite, however, indicate that this equal respect no longer exists.

Surely I’m just a confused liberal arts major though; it can’t be that bad! Sadly, this belief is the greatest trick that the wealthiest members of society have pulled on the rest of us. In May 2011, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz pointed out that one percent of the American population owned 40 percent of the wealth present in the United States. How much wealth could the bottom 80 percent claim? Seven percent.

These numbers are shocking, but hard to comprehend when dealing with numbers as vast as the American population and the wealth present in the country. In other words, of a population of 313 million citizens, little more than 3.1 million of those citizens claim 40 percent of the entirety of the wealth owned in the United States.

Perhaps even more importantly for the operation of a family’s daily finances is the fact that the top one percent only own 5 percent of the nation’s personal debt. The bottom 90 percent, the ones that possess a little more than seven percent of the wealth, possess 73 percent of the nation’s personal debt. The average CEO pay in 2012 was $12.9 million, or more than 380 times more than the average worker’s salary. The median net worth of members of Congress is around

$900,000, while the median worth of the average American family is $120,000.

All these statistics are troublesome individually, let alone collectively, but they do not tell the whole story. We are approaching a wholesale and blatant preference for the wealthiest members of society, those who do not need the protection of a generous tax code or better access to superior legal protection, healthcare and education.

However, it makes sense that if those in the wealthiest ranks of society are the same individuals who make the economic and political decisions that this preference would exist.

The problem is not that of wealth in general.

Rather, the problem, and the vile trick that has been played on the remaining 90 percent of the population, is that the financial benefit of the elite somehow benefits everyone, and that “trickle-down wealth” will naturally occur when the top one percent of the country becomes obscenely wealthy. The current wealth gap exposes this claim for what it is: a fantasy and a lie.

When Attorney General Eric Holder stated as recently as this month that the size and importance to the economy of the largest banks in the nation has made it difficult for us to prosecute those institutions, he is not saying that these institutions will still be held responsible to the same laws as other citizens despite the difficulty. He is saying that the men who run these institutions, the one percent, are more important than the average citizen, and that they do not have to abide by the same laws because of their financial heft.

When this becomes acceptable, then, we have lost the principals and moral authority that allowed the United States to reach such great heights in the middle of the 20th century, and have, in effect, created a new aristocracy, completely betraying the equality we all deem so important.

— Ron Walters is a senior in English literature, French, and global studies. He can be reached at rwalter5@utk.edu.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON • 5 Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Wright

ARTS & CULTURE

vwright6@utk.edu

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Melodi Erdogan

merdogan@utk.edu

Psychedelic prankster talks politics, American mythology Matt Reed Staff Writer Last week, I experienced the strange fortune of conversing with the mythical Merry Prankster, Ken Babbs. A living pioneer of counterculture, the “Intrepid Traveler’s� improvisational spirit is, indeed, alive and well.

His new novel, “Who Shot the Water Buffalo?� reflects on his service as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, chronicling two fictional characters in a story of initiation into adulthood.

So, who is Ken Babbs, and why is he, along with the Pranksters’ legacy, relevant today? The answer to this question is a complex and intertwined story, meshing reality with literature as perhaps never before in America.

In the late 1950s, Babbs met the aspiring writer Ken Kesey in Stanford’s graduate creative writing program. Jack Kerouac had just published “On the Road,� and the air brimmed with change. After Babbs left to serve in Vietnam, Kesey published the literary bombshell, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest�. Once he returned from Vietnam, Babbs and Kesey reunited and helped spark what would become the fabled cultural explosion of the 1960s. As their activities at Kesey’s residence in La Honda, Calif., gained attention, cultural icons like Neal Cassady began appearing to observe and take part.

Immortalized as Dean Moriarity in Kerouac’s “On the Road,â€? Cassady was a living legend at the time. “(He) was the avatar. We were so lucky to have him as our guru ... Everything we were doing ‌ was all being made up on the spot, and this is why Kerouac was such a huge influence on us when ‘On the Road’ came out in 1957. It affected all of us tremendously. It was like ‘Oh boy‌ Let’s go!’â€? Babbs explained.

And indeed they went.

In 1964, the Merry Pranksters set out in their bus, dubbed “Furthur,� with Cassady at the helm.

This was no ordinary trip, in any sense of the word.

The cross-country journey took them to the World’s Fair in New York City, and has now reached legendary status. The events that took place have been mythologized in various literary works, and are the subject of an entirely different discussion: pressing on.

Perhaps one of the most admirable facets of Babbs’ legacy will be his devotion to helping others, spreading compassion and a genuine willingness to talk with young people. “It’s fascinating and exciting, and challenging,�

Babbs said â€œâ€Ś We’re really depending on all you young folks to rise to the front and take charge.â€?

In true Prankster fashion, our conversation sped wildly from one topic to another — and back again — throughout some two hours of dialogue. Covering everything from space to mountaintop removal, I felt the vibratory pulse of what must have driven these individuals half a century ago. Quickly realizing that my succinct flow-chart of questions wouldn’t cut it, I was pleased to have a recorder at my service. Thus, I’ll jump right in.

In light of the recent cosmic activity — including asteroid fly-bys, the meteor explosion over Russia, the comet dubbed “Lemmon,� and the end of the Mayan calendrical cycle I asked Ken to reflect on the state of our society. “The bombastic, materialistic type of thinking, with everyone being ‘out for themselves’, is winding down,� Babbs said. “We have a chance for a new start, in which we become more cooperative and more considerate of our fellow people, and willing to admit that this total dependency on the earth to make us rich — and full of cars, houses, and all that stuff — is winding down.�

Meanwhile our conversation drifted toward modern culture and the population explosion seen over the recent century. “The way the media portrays America is that everybody has to have health insurance, a car, a house. But that isn’t true. Everybody doesn’t have to have that. In fact we can’t afford — the world can’t afford, can’t supply – all of that ‌ There has to be, and there is, a new model forming,â€? Ken explained. He mused that, as times may seem tough right now, they’ll likely grow tougher. “More people will be unable to live what the media calls the ‘American Dream.’ The American Dream is not a dream of materialism, it’s a dream of freedom, a dream of a happy life ... Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Everybody has to keep that in mind that these are the main things.

That’s my sermon for the day,� Babbs chuckled.

Thankfully he wasn’t finished. Rather, he went on to share a myriad of thought-provoking ideas for over an hour.With global climate change breathing down the neck of Earth’s biodiversity, political issues — too numerous to mention here — impede any progress that might otherwise reverse this startling trend. And, for some reason, attention of the masses gets diverted toward relatively trifling matters of the “immediateâ€? realm. At present, rampant global debt and mass extinctions are the result. “It’s gotta get worse before it can get better ‌ it’s all based on debt,â€? he responded. “Up here, we’re on a cash and barter basis, buddy.â€?

EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

FOR RENT

*5( 35(3 &/$66 +DOI WKH SULFH RI .DSODQ &ODVVURRP 6HWWLQJ ([SHUL HQFHG 3URIHVVRU &ODVVHV I R U P L Q J Q R Z JUHSUHSFODVV#JPDLO FRP

)LUVW %DSWLVW &RQFRUG :HVW /DNH )7 37 SRVLWLRQV DYDLO DEOH 7HDFKHU 7HDFKHU DV VLVWDQW IORDWHU 3URIHVVLRQ DO &KULVWLDQ ZRUNLQJ HQYLURQ PHQW )OH[LEOH VFKHGXOH &DOO

RU HPDLO ZHVW ODNHZHH#IEFRQFRUG RUJ

:HVW .QR[ DIWHUVFKRRO FDUH ORRNLQJ IRU HQHUJHWLF SHU VRQ WR ZRUN ZLWK FKLOGUHQ 0 ) 0867 EH DYDLODEOH 7XHV GD\ DQG 7KXUVGD\ DIWHU QRRQV &DOO 5REHUW

3DUW WLPH )XOO WLPH -RE 2S SRUWXQLW\ ZLWK ORFDO ODQG VFDSH FRPSDQ\ 0XVW KDYH YDOLG 7HQQHVVHH 'ULYHUpV /L FHQVH ([SHULHQFH KHOSIXO EXW QRW QHFHVVDU\ &DOO IRU ,QWHUYLHZ

DQG %5 $SWV 87 DUHD DQG :HVW .QR[ DUHD &DOO IRU DS SRLQWPHQW

5HQW87. FRP %5 &21'26 :DON WR FODVV UHQWDOV LQ WKH )RUW (YLDQ7RZHU )RXQWDLQ 3ODFH 5HQDLVVDQFH 8QL YHUVLW\7RZHU SOXV 6XOOLQ V5LGJH .LQJVWRQ3ODFH :RRGODQGV DQG 5LYHU7RZQH 5REHUW +ROPHV 2 Z Q H U $ J H Q W 5HQW87. FRP

5HFHSWLRQLVW QHHGHG DW ,GHDO 9HWHULQDU\ +RVSLWDO ORFDWHG LQ 2DN 5LGJH 71 :H DUH D IDVW SDFHG IXOO FKDUJH KRV SLWDO 0RQGD\ )ULGD\ KRXUV ZLWK VRPH 6DWXUGD\V UH TXLUHG 5HVXPHV SUHIHUUHG &DOO IRU PRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ

FOR RENT

EMPLOYMENT $GYHUWLVLQJ 35 6RFLDO 0H GLD LQWHUQVKLS 6XPPHU DQG IROORZLQJ VFKRRO \HDU 3DLG )OH[LEOH KRXUV 'LUHFW DGYHUWLVLQJ EXGJHW FRRUGLQ DWH SXEOLF UHODWLRQV DQG GULYH VRFLDO PHGLD UHVXOWV 0RUH LQIRUPDWLRQ DW WKHFXPEHUODQGFRPSDQLHV F RP -LPP\ -RKQ V QRZ KLULQJ GULYHUV DQG LQ VWRUH KHOS IRU DOO VKLIWV RQ WKH VWULS DQG 7XUNH\ &UHHN ORFDWLRQ &DOO

6WD\LQJ LQ .QR[YLOOH 7KLV 6XPPHU" 1HHG D )XQ 6XPPHU -RE" &DPS :HEE GD\ FDPS LQ :HVW .QR[YLOOH LV QRZ DFFHSW LQJ DSSOLFDWLRQV IRU IXOO WLPH VXPPHU FDPS FRXQ VHORU MREV 3RVLWLRQV JHQ HUDO FDPS FRXQVHORUV OLIHJXDUGV DQG LQVWUXFW RUV IRU $UFKHU\ $UWV &UDIWV 'UDPD 6ZLPPLQJ 5RSHV &RXUVH 1DWXUH 6SRUWV DQG VRPH OHDGHU VKLS SRVLWLRQV 3DUW WLPH DYDLODEOH ZZZ FDPS ZHEE FRP WR DSSO\

Justin Daugherty Staff Writer Since their last concert in 2007, the likelihood of a Led Zeppelin reunion is highly unlikely. If one’s thirst to see a live Zeppelin show was never quenched, there was luck after all this past weekend.

Get The Led Out, a Led Zeppelin tribute band, performed at the Bijou Theatre on Sunday night. Lead singer Paul Sinclair has a voice strikingly similar to that of Robert Plant. Sinclair made the comment at one point in the show, “I know you’re all thinking: what’s Howard Stern doing singing lead vocals?�

All joking aside (as well as any resemblance to Stern), Sinclair is spot on.

A few songs into the band’s set he let loose a rendition of “Babe (I’m Gonna Leave You)� that sent chills across the crowd. For the first few songs his levels were down and it was hard to tell how good he really was, but as soon as “Babe� started everyone in the audience was floored. People would call anyone crazy for trying to recreate Plant’s voice and charismatic nature, but Sinclair steps up to the challenge.

It takes serious guts to attempt to portray any of the members of Led Zeppelin, but perhaps the most intimidating is John Bonham, Rolling Stone readers’ choice for greatest drummer of all time. Adam Ferraioli picked up his sticks and wailed away with a passion that shows an immense amount of respect.

Bonham’s famous drum solo on “Moby Dick� is every

See PRANKSTER on Page6

TUTORING

7(6735(3 (;3(576 *5( *0$7 /6$7 )RU RYHU \HDUV 0L FKDHO . 6PLWK 3K ' DQG KLV WHDFKHUV KDYH KHOSHG 87 VWXGHQWV SUHSDUH IRU WKH *5( *0$7 /6$7 2XU SURJUDPV RIIHU LQGL YLGXDO WXWRULQJ SUDFWLFH WHVWV DQG FRPSXWHU DG DSWLYH VWUDWHJLHV DW D UHDVRQDEOH SULFH 3UR JUDPV FDQ EH GHVLJQHG DURXQG \RXU VFKHGXOH ZHHNGD\V ZHHNQLJKWV RU ZHHNHQGV &RQYHQLHQWO\ ORFDWHG DW 6RXWK 3HWHUV 5G &DOO

IRU PRUH LQIRUPD WLRQ

Zeppelin tribute band shows respect, talent

UNFURN APTS

6RXWK .QR[YLOOH 87 GRZQ WRZQ %5 DSWV 0RYH LQ VSH FLDO IRU WKLV PRQWK

WK 3/$&( $3$570(176 EORFNV IURP 87 /DZ 6FKRRO +LJKODQG $YH %5 DQG %5 DSWV RQO\ %ULFN H[WHULRU FDUSHW ODXQ GU\ IDFLOLW\ RQ ILUVW IORRU *XDUDQWHHG DQG VHFXUHG SDUNLQJ KRXU PDLQWHQ DQFH 1R GRJV RU FDWV UG \HDU LQ )RUW 6DQGHUV ZZZ VL[WHHQWKSODFH FRP EULW KRZDUG#VL[WHHQWKSODFH FRP

%5 DQG VWXGLR DSDUWPHQWV DQG %5 KRXVHV :DONLQJ GLV WDQFH WR 87 /HDVH UHTXLUHG &DOO :$/. 72 &$0386 *UHDW 6SHFLDOV %5 $SDUW PHQWV $YDLODEOH 1R VHFXU LW\ GHSRVLWV 3ULPH &DPSXV +RXVLQJ

SULPHFDPSXVKRXVLQJWQ FRP

9,&725,$1 +286( $376 (VWDEOLVKHG EORFNV EHKLQG 87 /DZ 6FKRRO DQG %5 DSDUW PHQWV 9(5< /$5*( $1' 1(:/< 5(129$7(' 723 72 %27720 +DUGZRRG IORRUV KLJK FHLOLQJV SRUFKHV %5 V KDYH : ' FRQQHF WLRQV IXOO EDWKV GLVKZDVK HUV *XDUDQWHHG DQG VH FXUHG SDUNLQJ KU PDLQ WHQDQFH 1R GRJV RU FDWV ZZZ VL[WHHQWKSODFH FRP EULW KRZDUG#VL[WHHQWKSODFH FRP

HOUSES FOR RENT %5 KRXVHV LQ )RUW 6DQGHUV VKRZLQJ QRZ IRU $XJXVW 1HZO\ UH PRGHOHG : ' +9$& SDUN LQJ ODUJH EHGURRPV ZDON WR FDPSXV %HVW KRXVHV JR TXLFNO\ RU 9ROUHQWDOV FRP

7+,6 63$&( &28/' %( <285 $' &$//

HOUSES FOR RENT

+RXVHV LQ WKH )RUW $YDLO DEOH IRU )DOO DQG %5 LQFOXGHV DSSOLDQFHV DQG LQWHUQHW 6RPH ZLWK IURQW \DUG DQG SDUNLQJ &DOO 7RS RI WK 6W DW /DXUHO /DUJH %5 EULFN KRXVH %$ 5HQW QHJRWLDEOH +DUG ZRRG IORRULQJ FHQWUDO KHDW DYDLODEOH QRZ DQG RU -XQH $OVR DYDLODEOH DQG %5 KRXVHV 1R SHWV 'HWDLOV

they would hear on any of the groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s albums, the presence of three guitarists worked.

The guitarists were true to Page fashion, sporting Les Pauls, breaking out the signature double-neck SG, a type of electric guitar, and even raking a LED encrusted violin bow across their guitars just as Page famously did (minus the LEDs).

Hammond dawned the signature double-neck SG that Page used for the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest hit â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stairway to Heavenâ&#x20AC;? during the much applauded encore; however, instead of playing through while switching necks as Page was known for doing, he let Marchiano take one of the most famous solos ever recorded.

Jacob Mullican, undecided freshman, asked a question that was likely on many minds during the performance. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t people make music like this anymore?â&#x20AC;?

Mullican said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hear any bands doing this these days.â&#x20AC;?

The audience mostly consisted of hardcore â&#x20AC;&#x153;Led Headsâ&#x20AC;? from an older demographic, but it was a surprise to see one small child covering his ears from his perch on his fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoulders.

Sinclair could easily be mistaken for Plant if one closed oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes, Ferraioli pays a respectable homage to Bonham, and the collection of guitarists make it sound like Page himself is on stage. The band played a collection of songs from all of Zeppelinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s albums, including several crowd favorites, but it was when they came back out on stage to play â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stairwayâ&#x20AC;? that there seemed to be a chill over the audience for the next eight minutes.

drummerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream to play, and Ferraioli broke it out in its epic nature shortly after the intermission, tearing through the nearly five minute long drum solo without missing a beat.

A seemingly odd choice for a tribute band is including extra members, and GTLO had three guitarists playing, with Paul Hammond, Jimmy Marchiano and Andrew

â&#x20AC;˘ Photo courtesy of gtlorocks.com

Lipke trading out solos and riffs attempting to accurately represent Rolling Stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ninth greatest guitarist of all time, Jimmy Page. Sinclair directly called out most peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major critique of the band, that they need three guitarists to recreate Page. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We want to bring you everything that you hear on the album,â&#x20AC;? Sinclair said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;All the extra guitars and stuff.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we do it like this.â&#x20AC;?

The extra guitarists seemed like an unwise choice at first, but after they played through the first half of the set it began to make sense.

The three mesh together, and to give the audience an accurate Zeppelin experience like

CONDOS FOR RENT CONDOS FOR RENT CONDOS FOR SALE &RQGR IRU UHQW *RUJHRXV %5 0LQXWHV IURP FDPSXV 6ZLPPLQJ SRRO ZRUNRXW ID FLOLW\ LQ VDIH %HDUGHQ DUHD : ' DQG DOO QHZ PDMRU DS SOLDQFHV VPDOO GRJ ZLWK VH FXULW\ WLOH EDWK DQG SULYDWH SDWLR 'HDQH +LOO 'ULYH PR

6SDFLRXV %5 FDU JDUDJH ODXQGU\ URRP SULYDWH QHLJK ERUKRRG SRRO SHU %5 &DOO 6HH SLFV VLWHV JRRJOH FRP VLWH FRO OHJH UHQW 5($' 7+( '$,/< %($&21 &/$66,),('6

&21'26 )25 /($6( 21 87 &$0386 1RZ OHDVLQJ IRU IDOO DW /DXUHO 6WDWLRQ 6W &KULVWRSK HU DQG )UDQNOLQ 6WDWLRQ ,Q FOXGHV ZDWHU FDEOH DQG LQ WHUQHW 8QLYHUVLW\ 5HDO (V WDWH DQG 3URSHUW\ 0DQDJH PHQW //& WK 6WUHHW .QR[YLOOH ZZZ XUHKRXVLQJ FRP RU UHQWDOV#XUHKRXVLQJ FRP

CONDOS FOR SALE 5REHUW+ROPHV5HDOWRU FRP /DNH 3OD]D %5 SUHPL XP FRQGR IRU 6DOH N 6XOOLQV 5LGJH N 5REHUW +ROPHV 5( 0$; 5HDO (VWDWH 7HQ &RPPHUFLDO

5HQDLVVDQFH ,, %5 %$ )RU 6DOH %\ 2ZQHU &DOO RU WH[W &/ 6WUHHW OHYHO DQG VHFXUH JDWHG DFFHVV SDUNLQJ )URQW SRUFK ZLWK VPDOO \DUG 3HW )ULHQGO\

HOMES FOR SALE /LYH IRU )5(( ,QFRPH IURP UHQWLQJ URRPV SD\V PRUW JDJH DQG ELOOV ZLWK VRPH OHIW RYHU ,GHDO WR VKDUH Z IULHQGV %5 IXOO %$ /5 .LWFKHQV FDU JDUDJH ILUHSODFHV GLQLQJ URRP DQG SDUW\ GHFN PLQV IURP FDPSXV 6RXWK &LUFOH RII $OFRD +Z\ &DOO +HUE +HOWRQ

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD â&#x20AC;˘ Will Shortz ACROSS 1 Moorehead of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bewitchedâ&#x20AC;?

6 Do a Bernie Madoff job on 10 Hyperbola part 13 Pants part 14 The â&#x20AC;&#x153;kidâ&#x20AC;? of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s looking at you, kidâ&#x20AC;?

15 Time-lapse photography phenomenon 16 Hefty honcho?

19 Want ad letters 20 Trade barrier 21 In the thick of 24 Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Third 28 â&#x20AC;&#x153;___, the Tattooed Ladyâ&#x20AC;? (old tune) 29 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let them hear us!â&#x20AC;?

32 Actresses Stone and Watson 33 Criticize cattily 36 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Pay ye attention!â&#x20AC;?

37 Add just a dash of pepper?

40 ___ noire

41 1964 #1 Four Seasons hit 42 Hee-haws 44 Former M&Mâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s color 45 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Honey catches more flies than vinegar,â&#x20AC;? e.g.

49 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cautionary Tales for Childrenâ&#x20AC;? writer 51 Entrapped 52 Per routine 56 Legal matter 57 Successful dieterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s award?

62 Marmalade ingredient 63 The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eâ&#x20AC;? in Q.E.D. 64 Bottle feature 65 What a nod may mean 66 Richard Henry ___, author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two 67-Across Before the Mastâ&#x20AC;?

67 See 66-Across DOWN 1 Recourse after a guilty verdict

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE S L E E P T H A T S

L I B Y A H E N R I

A M B E R R A N I N

B R O A O R M O S

P A S S I M S P E E D I A N I M N O O K T A S Y

C O N N O R N O D E S

A N O T E S T R A T E G I C

L E A H J I H A D I L S A

C A M E R A M E N K N U T E

R O C S K O N N E I C L O P A A T T H T O N

E C U R B A M A A R A T Y C B S E Y R E B R I E O U D S N S E T Y Z A P E A I R W I D E O R E S K E D S

1

2

3

4

5

6

13

8

9

14

16

17

19

20

21

22

33

11

12

25

26

27

46

47

48

18

24 29

37

10 15

23

28

30

31

34

32 35

38

36 39

40

41

42

43

49

44

45

50 52

57

7

58

51 53

54

55

59

56 60

62

63

64

65

66

67

2 Dark and depressed 3 Sea nymph 4 Exhortation after saying grace 5 Letters on a Cardinals cap 6 Thailand, once 7 Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ___ 8 â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Thin Manâ&#x20AC;? dog 9 Skier Phil 10 Frazier foe 11 Same old same old 12 Shout 15 Russell Myers comic strip 17 Even so 18 Villain 22 Home of the California Screaminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; roller coaster

23 25 26 27 29 30 31 34 35 37 38 39 40 43

Spilled the beans Apple product â&#x20AC;&#x153;See if I ___!â&#x20AC;?

Make a request Jack who ate no fat Hägar the Horribleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife â&#x20AC;&#x153;Surprise Symphonyâ&#x20AC;? composer Suffix with cash General on a Chinese menu Richard of â&#x20AC;&#x153;American Gigoloâ&#x20AC;?

Emphatic type: Abbr.

Course of action Consumer protection org.

Middling

61

46 Spanish shout of joy 47 White-whiskered sort 48 Ford flops 50 Like 125, to 5 51 Cunning 53 Blood fluids 54 ___ Bator 55 Resort near Snowbird 57 Encouraging word 58 Go in haste 59 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Star Trekâ&#x20AC;? extra: Abbr.

60 Bath tissue feature 61 Arctic explorer John

6 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Arts & Culture Editor Victoria Wright

ARTS & CULTURE

vwright6@utk.edu

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor Melodi Erdogan

merdogan@utk.edu

PRANKSTER continued from Page 5

• Photo courtesy of Ken Babbs and Ken Kesey

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is pleased to sponsor the fourth annual Research Week from March 16 to 23. This event highlights undergraduate research and creative activities that take place across campus. Inevitably, some activities fall outside the official week, but we include them so students can experience the wide variety of discovery at UT. For more information, visit www.utk.edu/researchweek.

Schedule of Events March 16

4th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium – This symposium, formerly known as the Honors Symposium, offers students an opportunity to give oral presentations of their research to their peers and professors. Presentations of civic engagement projects and public policy research will also be given by members of the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network. Held in the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy as a kick-off to Research Week, the lunch keynote speaker will be Dr. Taylor Eighmy, UT’s Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement. Students are welcome to come and go, and are especially encouraged to attend the lunch.

March 18 & March 19

(85ď&$ – The Exhibition of Undergraduate Research & Creative Achievement – In its 17th year, the exhibition in the University Center Ballroom will feature poster displays of research projects and creative activities done by UT graduates who are working with faculty mentors. Setup of exhibits is scheduled for noon to 4:00 p.m. on March 18, with judging to begin at 5:30 p.m. All participants must be present for the judging. The exhibit is open to public viewing from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on March 19.

March 19

(85ď&$ Awards Ceremony – Dozens of awards will be presented in the University Center Auditorium. In addition to various department awards, UT’s Office of Sustainability will award a $200 UT Bookstore gift certificate at the 2013 (85Ɲ&$ event to a project involving environmental sustainability. For details, visit research.utk.edu/eureca.

March 19

Finding Funding for Graduate School – Various opportunities for financial assistance to attend graduate school will be presented by Dr. Ernest Brothers, Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, in the University Center Crest Room.

Topics include graduate research assistantships, graduate teaching assistants, and various fellowships and scholarships.

March 20

National Scholarship Opportunities – Nichole Vazio-Viegel, Assistant Director of the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships, will share funding opportunities like the Goldwater, Udall, Whitaker, Fulbright and others specifically for students actively pursuing undergraduate research at the Howard H. Baker Center.

March 20

Graduate School Admission 101 – Stephanie Kit Associate Director of Career Services will present an informative overview in the University Center’s Room 221. Topics include the graduate school admission process, types of degrees, timelines, finding programs, and much more.

April 2

21st Alfred & Julia Hill Lecture on Science, Society, and the Mass Media– “Science As Civilizer,” will be presented by Jeffrey Kluger, senior science writer for Time magazine and author of eight books, in the McClung Museum Auditorium. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.

April 8

STTI Gamma Chi Interprofessional Healthcare Research Day – The local chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, nursing’s honor society, will feature keynote speaker Dr. Martin Whiteside, Director of the Tennessee Department of Health’s Office of Cancer Surveillance. In addition, students and faculty will showcase their healthcare research through poster presentations at the event on the UT Agriculture campus.

April 12

Baker Scholars Research Symposium – Undergraduates will present their research projects related to public policy in the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium. In addition to hosting guest lectures and conferences, Baker Scholars conduct research in the fields of political science, energy and environment, global security, historical/archival studies, and the media.

April 16

Gamma Sigma Delta Spring Awards – This luncheon awards ceremony by the Honors Society of Agriculture takes place in the Plant Biotechnology Building and celebrates the accomplishments of outstanding students.

April 19

Third Annual Marco Undergraduate Conference – Showcasing research by students from UT and other institutions, this year’s conference, “Corpus: The Body in the Middle Ages and Renaissance,” addresses the numerous and changing depictions of bodies during the early periods from a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Held in UT’s University Center, the event features keynote speaker Elina Gertsman, Assistant Professor of Art History at Case Western Reserve University.

April 26

College of Architecture & Design Final Reviews of Fifth-Year Projects – Fifth-year architecture students and fourth-year interior design students present their final projects at the Art and Architecture Building, a prelude to the annual Tau Sigma Delta architecture competition.

9am-5pm

6pm

4pm

3:30pm

4pm

8pm

1-5pm

1pm

11:30am

8:30am

9am-5pm

For more information, please visit http://research.utk.edu/researchweek

Of course, this model isn’t practical for some people, but its driving concepts have crept across the continent. The push to “buy local” has permeated its way into virtually every urban city in the United States. Likewise, many urban groups across the continent have established urban farms and co-ops. Knoxville’s own Beardsley Community Farm is a great example.

Naturally, the job market found its way into the conversation next. At one point or another, all college and high school students experience the pungent pressures of finding a job, and ultimately carving a slice for themselves out of society’s pie.

Babbs hesitated.

“But that’s all legitimate. I think that it has to happen, and people should continue to go on and try for it,” he said. “But you’ve got to be ready and have a fallback if you don’t get it. And to also realize you are not a failure … realize you can exercise your creative genius in a way you maybe didn’t previously know existed. This is part of the challenge.”

College certainly isn’t for everyone, and there’s plenty of jobs out there where folks can work with their hands.

“But on the other hand, we don’t wanna work in the mines! Forget that coal!” he added.

“Eventually, governments will be paying people to restore the soil,” he predicted. “This is sort of the underground movement now, where people go to places where you can see needing work done. It’s maybe not happy work, but it’s about cleaning it up, it’s about restoration.”

Coincidentally, the Tennessee Scenic Vistas Protection Act, a bill to ban surface mining on ridges above 2,000 feet, was recently reintroduced in the state legislature. Opponents of the mining ban argue it would diminish jobs and block an easy way to extract energy.

“This has been the story of the world,” Babbs explained. “The ‘shysters’ come in and convince the ‘rubes’ that it’s a good deal. Once they’ve cleaned them out, they move on and leave the rubes scratching their heads, wondering what happened. Out here in Oregon, I like being a rube! We call ourselves God’s own rubes … and when the shysters come through, we just cackle and wait for the next band (of shysters) to come along.”

The world’s problems became humorous for a moment, but he quickly brought it back down to Earth. “All this stuff that happens, it’s like watching a sitcom … The realistic thing about it though, to me, is when you run into people suffering because of the way things are.” With soaring poverty rates throughout our country, many do have it rough, creating vast expanses of imbalance and, in many cases, inequality. After a pause, he switched back to the positive outlook.

“I’ll tell you where true equality lives: time,” Babbs responded, seemingly out of the blue.

“Every single person in this world is given 24 hours a day, and it’s their 24 hours to do what they want with. You can sell your time or what have you, but still it’s your time.”

Furthermore, he offered, “I always say, ‘Hey man, it’s my time. You can pay me all the money you want, but I’m going to waste my time, on my time. I’m the one that owns my time. So, I go off and waste my time (cackles). People should be aware of this, it’s all we have.”

As the conversation winded down, Babbs continued to spew positive energy through inspiring words. We ended with some thoughts on America, its origins, and the opposing struggles between European and Native American mindsets during the new settlements. Arguably, at the core of any issue, these polar views of the world are still present today. After a moment of considering these implications, I could sense his enthusiasm creeping to the surface, as it had numerous times throughout our talk.

“The only true value in one’s life, Kesey used to say, is the value of the spirit. If your spirit is good, the money can come and go, you can be poor, but as long as the spirit is rising and high, you will be strong. Your life will be good. This basically goes against the traditional European mindset that came into this country and took over.” This land, he explained, “being here all those millions of years,” was compromised as they “put their mindset on the whole place.”

He continued, “The beautiful thing about America is that the actual land, the actual place, exerts its influence on the people that live here.

And if you live here long enough, and you let the land come in to your spirit, then you become stronger; you become a better person, (and eventually) the nation becomes a better place.”

Babbs is currently working on another book, titled “Cronies,” which will remember his and Kesey’s adventures throughout the 1960s.

Relying on his memory of the events, Babbs explained that he’s taking a burlesque approach to explaining those real-life ‘happenings.’

Sean McCollough, UT history of rock professor, summed up the significance of the forthcoming work.

“So many of our media images of the hippie generation are based on one-dimensional outsider perspectives – whether they be negative, romantic, commercial, whatever. I’m looking forward to this first-hand account from someone who was at the center of the making of the counterculture,” McCollough said.

And, as Babbs explained to me, “This is from the horse’s mouth; even though the horse is a little dingey.”

Those interested in reading “Who Shot The Water Buffalo?” should check with Tsunami Books out of Eugene, Oregon. For $14, the novel, signed by Babbs himself, is shipped free of charge. For order details, email tsunami1@opusnet.com or phone their shop at 541-345-8986.

To follow Babbs’ antics on YouTube, check out http://www.youtube.com/therealkapnken. And of course, watch out for the release of “Cronies.”

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

THE DAILY BEACON â&#x20AC;˘ 7

SPORTS

Sports Editor Lauren Kittrell lkittre1@utk.edu

Assistant Sports Editor Austin Bornheim abornhei@utk.edu

Softball hosts Winthrop in midweek matchup Austin Bornheim

Assistant Sports Editor

Matthew DeMaria â&#x20AC;˘ The Daily Beacon

Lauren Gibson makes contact with the ball against Lipscomb on Feb. 26.

Gibson world-class athlete on, off field Matthew Keylon Staff Writer Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to watch a softball game at UT without noticing a certain star player at second base.

Lauren Gibson not only started every game for the Lady Vols last year, but she also batted .314 and had only two fielding errors all year.

Her fielding percentage was an incredible .989. This year she has done more of the same with a batting average at .413 and a fielding percentage of .971.

However, Gibsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impact goes far beyond the diamond.

Raven Chavanne, Gibsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s roommate and senior third baseman, said Gibsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s natural, somewhat freakish talent is what makes her so special. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mean she is so tiny, but she can hit the snot out of the ball, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fast and she has a great glove,â&#x20AC;? Chavanne said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think she had like one error last year as a middle infielder and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of unheard of.

I think she just has that unique presence about her and I feel like that carries onto the field and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what makes her special.â&#x20AC;?

Co-head coach Ralph Weekly values the unique drive Gibson adds to the team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She is just competing 24/7,â&#x20AC;?

Weekly said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No question about it. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s got great softball instincts, great speed, big bat.

Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just Lauren. Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very humble. She never is cocky or arrogant or anything like that.

She just comes to play every game.â&#x20AC;?

Gibsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s drive is found in practicing and competing in a sport she loves. While she always dreamed of playing softball at a high level, she never realized that dream would become a reality until high school. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I ended playing for a team out of New Jersey, a team in Jersey, and then when the coaches started coming up, my parents started to realize â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;actually, she could go to college,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Gibson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I guess that was probably ninth grade or tenth grade. So I guess by then I realized that I really could go to a school that I wanted to.â&#x20AC;?

Weekly said the day Gibson committed to the Lady Vols was a special memory. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was one of the best recruiting moments I ever had,â&#x20AC;? Weekly said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;(Co-head coach) Karen (Weekly) and I took her into Neyland Indoor Stadium and we walked up to where the big mural was on the wall after a full day of visiting places and I said â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You know, Lauren, if you come to Tennessee, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be able to see this every Saturday night.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; She said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;What do you mean? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m coming!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And I said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;You got to be kidding me.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; She said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m coming! Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m committing to you right now!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And I said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gosh, that is amazing,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; because she was a great summer ball player.â&#x20AC;?

The decision to come to Tennessee was an easy one for Gibson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was my first visit and I went to a camp here actually for an unofficial visit kind of and I saw the campus,â&#x20AC;? Gibson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a real big football girl so I love the football and then I just loved the campus, the coaches and everything. It really made my decision really easy.â&#x20AC;?

While she enjoyed what the university had to offer, Gibson contributed her own talent to the program. Throughout her career at UT, Gibson has received numerous achievements, including All-SEC, AllSEC defensive team and AllAmerica honors. Her greatest achievement through all this has been being named to Team USA. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Actually, I was at the airport and it was right after camp and Ralph called me right before I got on my plane because I had like a six hour flight home,â&#x20AC;?

Gibson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So the release was going to be released before I got home. He called me and said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I just wanted to let you know before you got on your flight that you made Team USA,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and I just started crying in the middle of the airport. It was kind of embarrassing. It was just so exciting to know that I what I worked so hard for, I finally made my dreams come true.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hitting number three for the U.S. national team,

+H\ VWXGHQWV :H $UH <RXU ´1(:¾ /RFDO 6RXUFH )RU &XVWRP *UHHN *HDU

3VW`^QTTMÂź[ ;PWX ?Q\P )V -KTMK\QK -LOM

7 VKLUWV *UHHN -HUVH\V +RRGLHV $SSDUHO 3DGGOHV 3LFWXUH )UDPHV &XVWRP 'HFDOV /LFHQVH 3ODWHV

&XVWRP +HPS -HZHOU\ %HDGLQJ 6XSSOLHV 6RDSV /RWLRQV &DQGOHV ,QFHQVH +HPS %DPERR &ORWKLQJ %HDQLHV %HOWV :DOOHWV +LPDOD\DQ 6DOW /DPSV 025( RU ZZZ IDFHERRN FRP +HPS0RQNH\V71 +RPEHUJ &RXUW Â&#x2021; +RPEHUJ 'ULYH 6XLWH $

Tues - Fri 11-7 Sat 10-4 Closed Sunday & Monday

thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty special,â&#x20AC;? Ralph Weekly said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I mean most people in the world would like to be on the U.S. national team, when you figure they only pick 17 players from every softball player in the country and sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hitting in the prime spot, I think that definitely makes her special.â&#x20AC;?

Not only will Gibson go down in the record books as one of the all-time best Lady Vols on the field, she will also be one of the greats off the field.

Gibson shows her true unselfishness by what her favorite accomplishment in her illustrious softball career is. Even though she has played with the best players in the world on Team USA, the moment she cherishes the most is not a home run she hit or an honor she received, but a team achievement that she will always remember. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was the SEC tournament when Shelby Burchell hit a home run,â&#x20AC;? Gibson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Just to be there and we won the SEC tournament and it was an amazing experience.â&#x20AC;?

If Gibson has one weakness, it is her slight obsession with her favorite soft drink, Dr. Pepper. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The girl drinks Dr. Pepper like itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water,â&#x20AC;? Chavanne said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been a day that she hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had Dr. Pepper.

Freshman year, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like my second day sleeping in the dorm, my mom had just left and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m all sad, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m like â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I miss my mom,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like three in the morning and our beds are lofted. All of a sudden I hear her climbing down from her bed. All of a sudden I hear this crumbling sound and I look and she is opening a bag of cookies and then she is drinking a Dr. Pepper. ... The next day I called my mom and said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mom my roommate is so weird.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;?

Gibson can certainly see herself being in a Dr. Pepper commercial one day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my next dream,â&#x20AC;?

Gibson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Team USA was one and now I got this one.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always been a really big fan of Dr. Pepper and I obviously tweet about it all the time. All my fans know about it. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to (do a commercial).â&#x20AC;?

In the heart of softball season there is little time to dwell on wins and losses. After a marquee series that ended Sunday against Southeastern Conference foe and the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s No. 1 team, Alabama, Tennessee is back on the diamond Tuesday. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dwell over this loss for very long,â&#x20AC;? Madison Shipman said after Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game against Alabama. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how it is during the season: you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dwell over the wins too long and same with the losses. You have to put it behind you, learn from it, grow from it and then go out there and play again.â&#x20AC;?

Tennessee (21-4, 2-1 SEC) took the series, 2-1, from the Crimson Tide over the weekend by winning the first two games but were bested

by Alabama, 7-1, in Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contest. The loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Lady Vols who look to get back on track against

Winthrop University (11-11, 1-2 Big South) on Tuesday night. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am disappointed in today, but I expect them to recoup, regroup and come back strong against Winthrop on Tuesday,â&#x20AC;? co-head coach Ralph Weekly said.

The Eagles are riding a threegame winning streak and have taken five of their last seven.

Winthrop is led by senior Chelsey Schoenfeldt and junior McKenzi Corn at the plate.

Schoenfeldt is hitting at a .323 clip and has driven in 25 runs with a team-leading six home runs. For Corn, she holds a team-leading .431 batting average, with seven doubles and 11 RBIs. In the pitchers circle, the Eagles pitch by committee, much like the Lady Vols.

Five ladies have toed the rubber for Winthrop on the year, but the go-to arm is sophomore Sutton Watson from Sumnter, S.C. Watson has appeared in 17 games with 13 starts, and boast an 8-6 record with

a 3.36 ERA. For the Lady Vols, they will look to continue their strong play and notch another victory before traveling to Gainesville, Fla., to play another top 10 team in the Florida Gators.

Shipman, who had a hot bat against the Crimson Tide hitting .300 for the series with a gamewinning RBI, a home run and two runs scored, wants to keep her momentum going at the plate. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I was able to get some good hits this weekend,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We just need to keep it going moving forward.â&#x20AC;?

Other than freshman Erin Gabriel, who was nicked by Alabama to the tune of five hits and five runs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; three earned, the Tennessee pitching staff was very strong over the weekend. Senior Ivy Renfroe threw 9 and 1/3 innings over the weekend, surrendering just one run on eight hits.

Game time between the Lady Vols and Eagles is set for 5 p.m.

Diamond Vols look to continue recent success Lauren Kittrell Sports Editor The Tennessee Volunteers baseball team sealed up their first series sweep of the season last weekend, but the games have only just begun.

The Diamond Vols (7-7) return to Lindsey Nelson Stadium yet again for a two-game series against Western Kentucky (7-7). The Hilltoppers are coming off a 7-6 loss against Austin Peay, while the Vols return to their home field confident after securing the sweep over Alcorn State.

Head coach Dave Serrano said his team was feeling pretty good, which he liked to see in light of the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rather tough schedule this season. While he was happy with the pitching staff over the weekend, there is always room for improvement.

Serrano said he would like to see the team tighten up defensively until the teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s young pitching staff is able to grow up and mature on the mound. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have that dominant pitching staff to be able to give up that many free bases,â&#x20AC;? he said of Sundayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game.

Freshman pitcher Aaron Quillen, who pitched six innings Sunday night, allowing four runs on five hits and striking out seven, said part of maturing for him will be keeping his mind on the game.

He said it is easy for him to lose focus if he feels the team has a solid enough lead. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one thing I need to work on is staying focused for a full nine innings and if I can do that then I should be good,â&#x20AC;? Quillen said.

Serrano said he has enjoyed having Quillen on the team and looks forward to continue putting him in as a weekend starter. His talent has

been a major factor on the team since day one and Serrano looks at the freshman right-hander as a great recruiting win on his part. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very happy with the way heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s throwing the ball and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continuing to get better each and every start,â&#x20AC;? Serrano said.

Offensively, the head coach wants to see the team working as a team and thinking more strategically on the offensive side of the ball. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of been our M.O. a lot through this year so far. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had a lot of two-out RBI and the thing that we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t had â&#x20AC;Ś is a lot of sacrifice flies of runners in a scoring position,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Both games are set to begin at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Serrano said he plans to start freshman right-handed pitcher Trevor Bettencourt on Tuesday and freshman left-handed pitcher Andy Cox on Wednesday.

8 • THE DAILY BEACON

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 Sports Editor Lauren Kittrell

SPORTS

lkittre1@utk.edu

Assistant Sports Editor Austin Bornheim abornhei@utk.edu

Vols try to redeem past disappointments Troy Provost-Heron Staff Writer For the Tennessee Volunteers, it’s been a year of changing opinions on the team’s postseason destination.

Midway through the year, many doubted the team’s ability to make the National Invitation Tournament, much less the NCAA Tournament.

After wins against SEC rivals

Kentucky and Florida, they were a lock for the NCAA Tournament, but after a second loss to Georgia the team was on the outside looking in.

Following their win against Missouri on Saturday, however, public opinion seems to be in the Vols’ favor for an NCAA Tournament bid, but the same was said about last year’s team before they lost to

Christopher Elizer • The Daily Beacon

Jarnell Stokes goes for a contested layup against a Missouri defender on March 9.

Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC Tournament.

“It’s definitely weird,” sophomore forward Jarnell Stokes said about the postseason opinions. “That’s why I’m trying my best not to talk about the NCAA. I’m just trying to win this SEC Tournament.

A lot of people said if we beat Missouri we were in, and some said when we lost to Georgia we were out, so I’m just trying to focus on winning.”

Even with Selection Sunday less than a week away, the team’s sole focus is on the SEC Tournament because they remember what happened to them last year after they fell in the first round. “(Last year) definitely motivates us,” Stokes said.

“Watching Selection Sunday last year as a team and not making it, and then waking up the next morning and finding out you’re in the NIT is probably one of the worst feelings as a player, so that’s still in the back of our minds.”

The hardest part of the conference tournament is the fact that it is on a neutral site. The Vols are 13-3 at home this year, and part of this current hot streak is due to the momentum that the fans inside Thompson-Boling Arena have provided.

Junior guard Trae Golden said that playing on a neutral site is a difficult task and added that the environment forces you to play differently.

“It’s different because true

talent takes over,” Golden said. “You don’t really have 20,000 people behind you, rooting you on, you’re kind of just playing within yourself so you have to really execute and you got to really play the game smart because you’re not really going to have a lot of momentum shifts from the standpoint of the crowd.”

While the Vols have won eight of their last nine games and have beaten some of the best teams in the SEC during their hot streak, the team knows that in the tournament anything can happen. Stokes believes that there is no favorite for the title.

“I think it’s wide open,” Stokes said. “I think Florida was definitely the favorite but they’ve lost a couple of games to teams they weren’t supposed to lose to, and I think Missouri was probably the best team but they somehow lost six or seven games in the SEC, so I think it’s wide open.

It’s about match-ups.”

Aside from the team preparing for the SEC Tournament, tomorrow the honor of SEC Player of the Year is announced and junior guard Jordan McRae is figured to be one of the few players that has a chance to come away with the award, even though he doesn’t seem focused on the honor at all.

“Is that tomorrow?” McRae said when asked about the award. “I guess it would be cool. Our team is winning right now so we’re good.”

Tara Sripunvoraskul • The Daily Beacon

Brynn Boren returns a volley against Ole Miss on March 10.

Lady Vols tennis defeats Ole Miss Cristina Hodge Contributor The Tennessee Lady Volunteers tennis team earned its second SEC victory of the season with a 4-3 triumph over the Ole Miss Rebels on Sunday afternoon.

It was the Lady Vols’ first outdoor match at Barksdale Stadium in 2013 and the team started fast, securing the doubles point.

Fifth-ranked junior Brynn Boren and senior Kata Szekely clinched a sweep over Ole Miss with a quick 8-0 victory.

Doubles teams Mimi Fotopoulos and Sarah Toti, and Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams also triumphed with 8-2 and 8-6 victories, respectively, earning the first point of the match to start the day off.

Ole Miss pulled the first victory during the singles matches when Julia Jones triumphed over Williams with a 6-0, 6-3 win to tie up the match 1-1.

Shortly afterward, Szekely earned the Lady Vols another point with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Mai El Kamash.

Things were looking good for the Lady Vols until both Tiffany Tavares and Fotopoulos took hard hits making the score (2-3) in favor of Ole Miss.

The match came down to both Henderson and Boren as they both fought to bring home victories for Tennessee. Henderson tied the score with her 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 victory over Erin Stephens.

Though Stephens clinched a sweep over Henderson in the second set, Henderson jumped back into the game and earned the win

to tie the score at 3-3.

“This is a good team, but we need to work on execution under pressure,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said.

Boren took on the Lady Rebels’ Caroline Rohde-Moe in the No. 1 singles’ spot to determine the overall score for both Tennessee and Ole Miss.

The match stayed steady throughout the first set, but Boren trailed behind Rohde-Moe. Boren stepped it up and sent RohdeMoe into a tie-breaker to determine the first set. Boren barely grabbed the win and was ready for the next set.

Boren struggled during the first half of the second set and Rohde-Moe led with a 3-1 score, offering hope for a possible victory for Ole Miss. However, Boren bounced back and won four straight games, making the score 5-3. This was the turning point for Boren and the Lady Vols, who finished the match off with a 6-4 victory.

“I was down in both sets,” Boren said. “I told myself to keep working and keeping fighting.”

Boren finally earned the winning point in a close match against Rohde-Moe. Boren’s 7-6, 6-4 victory made the score 4-3 against Ole Miss, bringing home the Tennessee win.

“We’re a good team and I hope we can carry this on to next weekend,” Boren said.

The Lady Vols look to continue this winning streak when they travel to Columbia, S.C. and Gainesville, Fla. to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks and the Florida Gators next weekend.