The Daily Beacon

Sunny with a 0% chance of rain HIGH LOW 84 56

Tiffany Huff leads softball team on and off field

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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Issue 60

E D I T O R I A L L Y

PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 http://dailybeacon.utk.edu

Vol. 113

I N D E P E N D E N T

Steve Carrell and Tina Fey paint the town red in their film “Date Night”

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Discussion to center on female orgasm Flora Theden Managing Editor

News sites funded by think tanks take root BOISE — A growing number of conservative groups are bankrolling startup news organizations around the country, aggressively covering government and politics at a time when newspapers are cutting back their statehouse bureaus.

The phenomenon troubles some longtime journalists and media watchdogs, who worry about political biases and hidden agendas.

The news outlets have sprouted in larger numbers in recent months to fill a void created by the downsizing of traditional statehouse coverage and to win over readers, including those from the tea party movement who don’t trust the local paper or the TV news.

The Women’s Coordinating Council will present “The Female Orgasm: Are You Coming?” on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the UC Auditorium.

The main goal of the event is to educate students about sexuality through an open discussion about all things involving the female orgasm, WCC member Leigh Schlactus said. The event provides a creative approach to sex education that emphasizes respecting your partner and respecting women. “‘The Female Orgasm’ is different from anything we’ve done before,” Schlactus said. “We thought it would be a great way to communicate the important message of female empowerment and making the right choices for yourself in a relationship.”

Emily Curtis Wrinn, Vice Chair of the Women’s Coordinating Council, said the program discusses body image, personal decisions, sexual education and tips for partners. Wrinn said one way to describe the event is that it will encompass “the things your mother didn’t tell you.”

FAC T S A B O U T T H E B I G “ O ” — Average length of time it takes a woman to have an orgasm: 20 minutes.

— Average length of time it takes a man: 2-5 minutes.

— Half of all girls have had an orgasm by the time they’re 16 years old.

— 44 percent of men say their female partners always have orgasms when they have sex. 22 percent of women say they always have orgasms when they have sex.

— Courtesy of http://www.sexualityeducation.com/.

“The Female Orgasm” was started by sex educators Marshall Miller and Dorian Solot, who have toured colleges and universities for years to educate young people on orgasms and sexuality.

Wrinn said she feels that since the program was started by both a man and woman, it brings an important male perspective to the conversation.

Schlactus said men are strongly encouraged to attend.

“Guys should absolutely come,” Schlactus said.

“It is very much meant to be a co-ed event. We definitely want guys to come out as well because everyone could use more knowledge.”

Schlactus, who has seen the program at another university, said the WCC anticipated a small amount of students and faculty to be concerned about the message but that she has received almost no negative responses from students or administrators.

Although the WCC is often associated with the Take Back the Night program, which encompasses a candlelight vigil for victims of sexual violence, Schlactus said the council also looks to bring fresh ideas and fresh perspectives to further their mission on campus.

“It’s the tips you want and the tips you need all rolled into one,” Schlactus said. “We’re excited to see UT getting excited.”

Due to the popularity of the event, Miller and Solot travel separately to present the program.

Miller will present “The Female Orgasm” alongside Jocelyn Benson.

For more information about “The Female Orgasm,” visit http://www.sexualityeducation.com.

Rio’s Christ the Redeemer closed after rains RIO DE JANEIRO— Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue will be closed indefinitely because of damage to access roads from heavy rains last week, authorities said Tuesday.

Workers are laboring to remove dirt, trees, rocks and other debris obstructing roads after flooding and mudslides last week in Tijuca National Park, where the statue stands on a mountaintop.

The city said the work could take as long as six months, though access could be restored much sooner.

Petition drive urges Russia not to halt adoptions NEW YORK— Worried over a threatened freeze of adoptions from Russia, thousands of American adoption advocates are petitioning leaders of the two nations to prevent such a step even as they decry a Tennessee woman’s abandonment of her adopted Russian son.

Poignant pleas from would-be adoptive parents were included in the petition to President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev, that was being coordinated Tuesday by the Joint Council on International Children’s Services. The council, which represents many U.S. agencies engaged in international adoption, estimates there are about 3,000 pending U.S. applications for adoptions from Russia.

— The Associated Press

Hayley DeBusk • The Daily Beacon

Two Knoxvillians peruse various types of folk art at this year’s Dogwood Arts Festival. The festival, which lasts the entire month of April, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The festival gets its name from the various dogwood trees growing downtown, which were planted in response to a visitor who commented on Knoxville’s lack of aesthetic appeal. This year’s festival will be commemorated with a mix of flowers and trees, fine art, crafts, theater, dance, Americana music, film and literary arts.

Prof. receives award for design Staff Reports Hansjörg Göritz, associate professor in the College of Architecture and Design, has been recognized internationally as designing one of the most creative brick structures in the world.

Göritz is the prime laureate recipient of the 2010 Wienerberger AG Brick Award. Wienerberger AG, the largest producer of bricks in the world and Europe’s largest roof tile manufacturer, holds a biannual award competition to recognize unique brick structures and their architects. The award is given to five projects worldwide, with one prime laureate winner.

Göritz was recognized for Liechtenstein’s new state capitol forum and parliament, which was designed by his Germany-based firm, HansjörgGöritzArchitekturstu

dio. The structure was selected from among 45 state-ofthe-art brick structures worldwide, out of 260 nominees from 32 countries.

An international jury, including world renowned architects Maurizo Masi, Vladimir Plotkin, Radu

Mihailescu and former Brick Award winners Andrea Deplazes and Thomas Rau, selected the winning projects.

The award was presented to Göritz on April 8 at the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna.

“Hansjörg brings outstanding credentials of international practice to his role as a fac-

ulty member,” John McRae, dean of the College of Architecture and Design, said.

“His recognition as a designer is superb, including this most recent international Brick Award, which is yet another demonstration of his knowledge of materials and construction in design. Hansjörg brings this knowledge and expertise into the studio and classroom in a meaningful way, giving the students insights into practice at the highest level.”

Göritz, born in Hannover, Germany, founded HansjörgGöritzArchitekturstu dio in 1986 when he was only 27 years old. He has lectured across Europe and first visited UT Knoxville in 2006 as a guest presenter and visiting critic. Both Göritz and his firm have received numerous awards.

See ARCHITECTURE on Page 3

Visiting dean lectures on state of media, journalism in Romania Ellen Larson Staff Writer Mihai Coman, dean of journalism and mass communications at the University of Bucharest in Romania, attacked the present state of Romanian mass media in a lecture at UT Monday night.

“People identify journalists as entertainers,” Coman said.

Coman said the perception of journalism has evolved over the years. Through surveying, he found that television stars, entertainers and talk show hosts are viewed as journalists by Romanian citizens.

Coman blamed journalists for causing the phenomenon.

He said that there are no rules in the journalism system and that over 20,000 people identify as journalists in the country.

“This title refers to people working in media institutions,” Coman said. “If you

are hired, you call yourself a journalist.”

There is no method to hiring and firing, Coman said.

Leaders in the field hire a journalist because they like them, not because they have been trained in the field. He said it is not a very structured system.

The downfall of traditional journalism in Romania happened gradually. In the beginning of 1989, all journalists were fighting together for revolution, Coman said. But slowly, small groups not interested in politics and economics took power. These small groups believed journalists were born as journalists and did not need to be trained.

Coman said eventually the leaders of these small groups controlled the field and refused the institutionalization of journalism, instead having no rules or media law.

See JOURNALIST on Page 3

CAMPUS CALENDAR

2 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

InSHORT

?

What’s HAPPENING AROUND CAMPUS

April 14 - Apil 15, 2010

Wednesday, April 14 —

• 9 p.m. untill 6 p.m. — The UT Potters Club hosts its semi-annual sale in the Art and Architecture Building.The spring sale features handmade functional and sculptural work created by UT faculty, students and alumni.

Proceeds from the sale support scholarships and visiting artists.

The pottery sale continues Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. — Career Services hosts a session on Graduate School Admissions 101 during which students can learn the basics of the graduate school admissions process, including timelines, application materials, testing information and more.The session takes place in Career Services, which is located at 915 Volunteer Blvd

Thursday, April 15 — • 9:40 a.m. until 10:50 a.m. — K.D. Kreuer of the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany, speaks on “Exploring the Limits of ‘Wet’ and ‘Dry’ Proton Conducting Ionomers for PEM Fuel Cell Applications” in room M311 of the Walters Life Sciences building.

The STAIR seminar is free and open to the public.

• 3:40 p.m. — Two UT graduate students lead a chemistry seminar in room 415 of Buehler Hall. Julia Abbott speaks on “Probing the Formation of the Archetypical Schrock-Carbene Complex: Kinetic, Mechanistic and Structural Studies,” and Adam Pippin speaks on “HBC12: An Efficient Dehydroxylation Reagent.” The seminar is free and open to the public.

Hayley DeBusk • The Daily Beacon

The UT Air Force ROTC conducts field exercises at Circle Park on Tuesday afternoon. The cadets were broken up into different groups, each having to perform drills that simulated possible defenses against warfare tactics.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY • 1865 — John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate sympathizer, fatally shoots President Abraham Lincoln at a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. The attack came only five days after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army at Appomattox Court House, Va., effectively ending the American Civil War. Booth, a Maryland native born in 1838, who remained in the North during the war despite his Confederate sympathies, initially plotted to capture President Lincoln and take him to Richmond, the Confederate capital.

However, on March 20, 1865, the day of the planned kidnapping, the president failed to appear at the spot where Booth and his six fellow conspirators lay in wait. Two weeks later, Richmond fell to Union forces. In April, with Confederate armies near collapse across the South, Booth hatched a desperate plan to save the Confederacy. Learning that Lincoln was to attend a performance of “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theater on April 14, Booth masterminded the simultaneous assassination of Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William H. Seward. By murdering the president and two of his possible successors, Booth and his conspirators hoped to throw the U.S. government into disarray. On the evening of April 14, conspirator Lewis T. Powell burst into Secretary of State Seward’s home, seriously wounding him and three others, while George A. Atzerodt, assigned to Vice President Johnson, lost his nerve and fled. Meanwhile, just after 10 p.m., Booth entered Lincoln’s private theater box unnoticed and shot the president with a single bullet in the back of his head. Slashing an army officer who rushed at him, Booth leapt to the stage and shouted “Sic semper tyrannis! (Thus always to tyrants) — the South is avenged!”

Although Booth broke his leg jumping from Lincoln’s box, he managed to escape Washington on horseback. The president, mortally wounded, was carried to a lodging house opposite Ford’s Theater. About 7:22 a.m. the next morning, Lincoln,

age 56, died — the first U.S. president to be assassinated. Booth, pursued by the army and other secret forces, was finally cornered in a barn near Bowling Green, Va., and died from a possibly self-inflicted bullet wound as the barn was burned to the ground. Of the eight other people eventually charged with the conspiracy, four were hanged and four were jailed. Lincoln, the 16th U.S. president, was buried on May 4, 1865, in Springfield, Ill. • 1912 — Just before midnight in the North Atlantic, the RMS Titanic fails to divert its course from an iceberg, ruptures its hull and begins to sink. Four days earlier, the Titanic, one of the largest and most luxurious ocean liners ever built, departed Southampton, England, on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

While leaving port, the massive ship came within a couple of feet of the steamer New York but passed safely by, causing a general sigh of relief from the passengers massed on the ship’s decks. The Titanic was designed by the Irish shipbuilder William Pirrie and spanned 883 feet from stern to bow. Its hull was divided into 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight. Because four of these compartments could be flooded without causing a critical loss of buoyancy, the Titanic was considered unsinkable. On its first journey across the highly competitive Atlantic ferry route, the ship carried some 2,200 passengers and crew.

After stopping at Cherbourg, France, and Queenstown, Ireland, to pick up some final passengers, the massive vessel set out at full speed for New York City.

However, just before midnight on April 14, the ship hit an iceberg, and five of the Titanic’s compartments were ruptured along its starboard side. At about 2:20 a.m. on the morning of April 15, the massive vessel sank into the North Atlantic.

— Courtesy of History.com

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

STATE&LOCAL

Amended Tenn. equal custody bill advancing

beverages are served “unless it’s posted” that they cannot.

NASHVILLE — The amended version of a proposal to grant equal custody to divorced parents is once again advancing in the House.

The measure, sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Bell of Riceville, was approved 7-3 in the House Children and Family Affairs Committee on Tuesday.

Bell had pulled the measure after an amendment was added that sought to give divorcees the “maximum time” possible with a child, instead of dividing the time equally.

But Bell said he changed his mind at the urging of the amendment’s sponsor and other committee members.

The companion bill is awaiting a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Former adviser pleads guilty to Ponzi scheme

Guns in bars legislation advancing in Tenn. Senate NASHVILLE — Legislation is advancing in the Senate that would allow handgun permit holders in Tennessee to carry weapons where alcoholic beverages are served unless posted otherwise.

The measure, co-sponsored by Democratic Sen. Doug Jackson of Dickson, was approved 7-2 by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday and will now be scheduled for a vote on the House floor.

A judge ruled last year that the guns in bars law is unconstitutionally vague.

Critics said it’s unclear where patrons can carry their weapons. But proponents said the new legislation solves the problem by allowing individuals to carry guns where alcoholic

ROMANIAN continued from Page 1 Another aspect to the crisis in journalism is audience support of tabloid journalism rather than hard news.

Coman said that the lack of faith in hard news is linked to the distrust of politicians and that people think politics do not affect their lives.

Also, the media cannot convince people to vote in elections.

Coman said he is hopeful academic institutions will continue to train journalists in the future.

“In 20 years, I would say my school will change a lot.

If you are branded as a faculty of journalism in science and communication, you will be the right person to hire,” Coman said of the growing subfield in journalism.

He said he believes newspapers in the future will make discriminations in hiring journalists, in favor of those who are trained in academic institutions.

Coman will be in Knoxville for the next ten days, visiting journalism and electronic media classes and a political science class.

NASHVILLE — A Franklin financial adviser has pleaded guilty for his role in a Ponzi scheme that bilked clients out of more than $11 million.

Barron A. Mathis is the latest of a string of Franklin businessmen charged with stealing money from clients. He pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to charges of wire fraud.

Mathis, 29, the former vice president and portfolio manager of failed financial services firm J.C. Reed & Co., admitted his role in a scheme that defrauded investors, many of them elderly, from January 2006 to October 2008.

The government accused the company of selling more than $11 million in unregistered stock that had no value.

U.S. District Judge Robert Echols will sentence Mathis at a later date. Mathis faces up to eight years in prison.

Democrat McWherter’s fundraising lags his GOP foes NASHVILLE — Jackson businessman Mike McWherter has cleared the Democratic gubernatorial field. The fundraising front has proven more problematic.

Aside from a $1 million contribution from himself, McWherter reported raising only about $103,000 in the first quarter. That contrasts with the Republican field, where Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam has amassed nearly $1.3 million and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Chattanooga reported about $510,500 in contributions.

A third GOP candidate, state Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey However, he is also here on a personal visit to spend time with his daughter, who is a graduate student in journalism and electronic media.

“He came not only to be with us but also to see his daughter, and I think that is very nice,” Peter Gross, director of UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media, said.

Gross said Coman is well known in circles that go beyond the journalism academic circles and that he is privileged to host the visiting professor, who he considers a friend as well as colleague.

RECYCLE YOUR BEACON

ARCHITECTURE continued from Page 1 HansjörgGöritzArchitekt urstudio was part of an international European competition in 2000 to design and implement a Liechtenstein state capitol forum and parliament, the first home for parliament in the bicentennial history of the country since its sovereignty in 1806. After seven years of planning, the grand opening ceremony was held in early 2008.

The Daily Beacon • 3

of Blountville, didn’t raise any money in the quarter because of a state law that bans contributions to sitting lawmakers while the Legislature is in session.

McWherter’s last remaining rivals for the Democratic nomination, state Sen. Jim Kyle of Memphis and former state Rep. Kim McMillan of Clarksville, dropped out during the quarter.

Campaign manager Kim Sasser Hayden said McWherter’s main goal during the quarter was to consolidate his position in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen.

“Mike spent a significant about of time meeting with Democratic leaders, local business and civic leaders, and local elected officials,” Hayden said. “As the Democratic nominee, Mike can now focus more time on fundraising for the general election.”

TVA head says ‘no forewarning’ of ash dike failing KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee Valley Authority’s top executive said in a sworn court filing that before the December 2008 coal ash spill, he had no forewarning a dike failure at the Kingston Plant was “likely or imminent.”

Responding to federal lawsuits against TVA related to the huge spill, Tom Kilgore is battling requests for a deposition.

Kilgore’s affidavit, filed electronically Sunday in Knoxville, says he “never had any hands-on involvement” in personnel decisions about who inspected the Kingston ash facilities.

Kilgore said he could not recall discussing or deciding any capital improvement item for the dike.

Plaintiff attorney Elizabeth Alexander of Nashville said Tuesday that a response will be filed and that “we are going to continue to seek his deposition.”

4 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

OPINIONS

LettersEditor to the

Suggested laptop ban based on unrealistic view of education Amien Essif’s column in the April 7 issue of The Beacon proposes that the university issue a blanket ban of laptops for all students in classrooms. He claimed that he is not someone ranting against technology, but that laptops serve no purpose conducive to education and that “innovations do not hold any special place in society unless they make it better.” However, with his statement, he also said that laptops can be used to write notes and to follow an online outline that a student cannot see otherwise, two examples that I would claim make the educational experience better.

The larger problem with Essif’s proposal is that it relies on a model of the college classroom that oftentimes is not the case. He said that an unwritten rule of education is that “every student is in a conversation with the professor,” but there is no two-way conversation in a lecture with 150 students. Most of my 300- and 400-level history classes do involve a dialogue with the professor, and my western civilization seminar in Alumni’s cavernous auditorium certainly did not. If a class is set up so that a student will have no communication with the professor during the class, then I do not see how using a laptop and not making eye contact with the professor insults them.

Essif’s idealized notion of education is also seen in his opinion on notes, where he claimed that the parts of a lecture a student is able to write down in a notebook are better than the transcript they can write with a laptop. While it is true that digesting information might help me on an essay test, professors with large classes rely on multiple-choice and true and false questions out of necessity.

When the test is based on remembering minutiae and definitions more than digesting the information, I believe the transcript is much more useful.

I think that professors should be able to ban laptops when necessary, but I do not think that the university should issue a blanket ban. To do so would only further an image of education that does not exist in many cases and would reflect that the university policy should expect the worst in student behavior rather than the best.

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.

Students do not need ‘fatherly advice’ No tes fr om t h e U n d e rg ra d by

Amien Essif

Dennis Vann Junior in history

Student government fails to follow own legislation I am a bit surprised no one has commented on this from last week’s Beacon SGA coverage blitz.

Last Tuesday, April 6, the Student Government Association passed legislation (which, ironically, cannot currently be found online) requiring that senate activity be accessible digitally through their (usually out-of-date) Web site.

Fine. Great. Except this has been the job of the webmaster for some time. Directly from the student government’s own constitution: “The webmaster shall be responsible for updating and maintaining the SGA Web site, including posting meeting minutes and legislation.”

I just can’t get over how terribly ironic this is. The organization can’t update their own Web site, so what’s the solution? They pass legislation requiring that they update it. Oh, and the best part: It’s all in the name of increasing credibility and transparency.

The senate may have passed it, but realistically this falls in the executive board’s lap. The student government will never be taken seriously, given any real power or respect or invested in by this student body until they can live up to their own bylaws. And that kind of oversight starts from the top.

Samuel Mortimer Fifth-year in architecture

THE DAILY BACON • Blake Tredway

DOONESBURY • Garry Trudeau

The College Fishing National Championships, sponsored by the National Guard, were here on Saturday, and I went — not because I thought I would meet like-minded people or even because I wanted to observe another variation on popular American culture. I went because my friends’ band was part of the background entertainment, alongside the National Guard recruiting table and a raffle for a pick-up truck the size of my apartment.

I showed up right before the national anthem kicked off the official bass fish weigh-in but too late to see the band play. From what I heard, though, a dozen people clapped for the first song, and that was it. More people said “bless you” to an old man with allergies. It was a terrible culture clash: progressive T-shirt, intellectual, Bob Dylan enthusiasts playing college rock to patriotic Biblebelt, motor-sports, Kenny Chesney fans.

But enough with the half-baked hyphenated stereotypes.

This story has some drama in it. While the band was packing up, an aging man leaning against a silver pick-up asked us where we were from. “Right here,” we told him. “UT.” “Well, let me give you some fatherly advice,” he said. “Next time you’re at a military function, don’t insult the military.”

We kind of just stared at him.

“I’ve got friends dying over there right now, and you’ve got no right to joke about it.”

Of course, I knew where “over there” was (one of those Middle Eastern nations we are occupying), but I had no idea what insult he was talking about.

After we thanked him for the fatherly advice, we started back toward the car. Out of earshot, I asked the two bandmates for some context.

“Maybe he’s talking about our lyrics, but how could he have made that out?”

“Made what out?” I asked. “’What can I or any man — any American — really say about Afghanistan...’”

I thought this whole thing was kind of funny. But

a few hours later when I was alone again, I got to thinking: Why did I thank this guy for challenging our First Amendment rights? Of course, my relationship to this event was a little awkward since I didn’t know what “insult” was in question, and the band’s relationship to the event was awkward because they didn’t want to make too much of a scene at an event that had invited them with good intentions to entertain their crowd.

But I think that there was a deeper force keeping us polite: the power of the Democratic Party in national politics. Well, not that exactly, but the cultural inertia that comes with whitewashed politics. With President Obama in office, people are too willing to “see all sides of an issue,” as if he knows something we don’t know. That sounds like a recipe for sour democracy: Someone slipped on the fascism.

We’re open-minded, critical people here at UT, and we don’t want to be too quick to judge an issue.

But, as the late Howard Zinn once said, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” If it really is true that neither I nor any man can know anything about Afghanistan, then we ought to end our military occupation of the country.

While I think the Taliban and al-Qaida deserve much less respect than Ho Chi Mihn and the Viet Cong, I think this war will have about the same result. The Taliban want their country back, and they aren’t really in a hurry. They’re on Biblical time. We could continue our strategy of “clear, hold and build” for 10 years or until the American Empire sees its last century, but the counterinsurgence will just “evaporate” when things get heavy (in the words of George Will, Washington Post columnist) and return when we’re gone.

And in the meantime, military occupation is not a good way to teach a country about civil rights.

Of course, I’m not one of those “Out Now!” whackos. I’m open to timetables.

How about Thursday? “U.S. out of Afghanistan Thursday!”

So here’s a little bit of fatherly advice to our aging “patriots.” The suburbs is a good place to practice your American exceptionalism, but don’t try to come onto campus and abridge our First Amendment rights — even if the National Guard is loitering on our territory, trying to hook some poor young fish.

— Amien Essif is a junior in English literature.

He can be reached at aessif@utk.edu.

Freedom an illusion in modern America C ommon S e n se by

Kel Thompson

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Want proof that we do not live in a free society? Read on.

From a very early age, our lives are shaped for us — not by our parents, but by our government.

At the age of five or six years old, we are legally mandated to attend school for about seven hours a day, five days per week, for the next 12 or 13 years. In school, we are force-fed simplified, misleading and often inaccurate information that will later serve as the basic framework of knowledge we use to navigate and perceive our world. The school tells us what we can wear, what we can eat, when we can use the bathroom, etc., and no questioning of the status quo goes unpunished.

Of course, children will be defiant; defiance is a pretty natural human reaction when confronted with highly irrational circumstances. A child is told to sit still and concentrate on boring, repetitive material for hours on end. What will the child eventually do? Talk, play, run around the classroom. But when he does these things, he is scolded, humiliated, spanked or sent to detention.

Learning that active play is bad, the child may then attempt to doodle their way through the monotony. But this, too, is “bad behavior” and will be met by the same punishments. Finally, the child may attempt to read a book or magazine of his choosing. To many, it may seem a fair compromise that if the child absolutely must be quiet and study, he should at least be able to study something of his own choosing. But this is not the case either. It’s really sad how many times I’ve witnessed teachers pluck books, newspapers and artwork from their students’ hands.

School is a place to learn, but kids may only learn the government-approved curriculum. By my estimate, the primary thing kids learn in school is not knowledge, but rather the ability to blindly accept what authority figures preach.

When faced with instances of questionable authority, children are taught to speak up, but

only in a polite, dispassionate manner and only while under strict supervision by other authorities. We starve, whip and reward our children like dogs to prepare them for a monotonous job they must do until they are old and crippled. When they are older, we will not let them choose to die. Instead, we will plug them into expensive machines in white rooms, separated from their loved ones ... until they die.

But before they die, you can rest assured that the funeral industry will squeeze every last dollar out of Grandma.

Still think we’re free? Consider this: My dream is to someday live a self-sufficient life within either a hunter-gatherer tribe or small farming community. I want to live independent of a larger social structure that seeks to destroy my individuality and makes me a slave to the machine, feeding it both by producing and consuming unnecessary products/services.

Having been born into a middle-class family with a fair amount of land in Tennessee, one might assume that my dream is relatively achievable. However, the logical assumption is once again incorrect. If nothing else, I would have to pay property tax on the land. (I think we pay around $2,000 per year.) Even this one simple complication completely derails my plans. I want to be self-sustaining, not a producer/consumer.

In order to pay this one tax, I would (at the least) have to produce an exponentially greater amount of food than I needed, transport/sell that food (requiring a truck, gas, insurance and a driver’s license) and fill out paperwork for a governing entity that seeks to dominate my life and whose services (i.e. roads, schools) I would like to avoid. Essentially, one relatively small tax — only one of many potential obstacles — keeps me from being free to pursue what I feel is a rather modest dream.

I want to live in a world in which I can do what I please so long as it is within my means and denies no other individual their rights to life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. Anything other than this ideal is not true freedom. It is slavery; only the method of control has changed.

Slavery was once enforced with chains and whips; it is now enforced by debt, taxes and the American Dream.

— Kel Thompson is a junior in creative writing.

He can be reached at kthomp28@utk.edu.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Daily Beacon • 5

ENTERTAINMENT

Film provides lighthearted comedy Williams receives posthumous Pulitzer Eric Carlson Staff Writer Steve Carell and Tina Fey, two of today’s most popular comedians, team up for the action comedy “Date Night,” playing a married couple thrust into the dangerous underworld of New York City. The movie is short, fun and full of laughs — not a bad way to spend an evening.

The film follows the concept of what it would be like to abandon the hum-drum crawl of suburban life and live an exciting, action-packed existence, at least for one night. Well, that’s exactly what happens to Phil and Claire Foster, two unsuspecting suburbanites who just wanted to have a nice dinner in the city.

The movie places the normal, boring couple from New Jersey, played by Carell and Fey, in a wacky adventure after taking another couple’s dinner reservation at a hip Manhattan restaurant named “Claw,” where they answer the phones “Claw, you’re welcome.” This act, of course, leads them to be mistaken for the couple whose reservation they stole — a couple that is apparently in big trouble with a local mob boss.

Hijinks ensue as the Fosters try to evade their pursuers and clear their name. As a result, they get themselves into all kinds of ridiculous situations, including a high-speed car chase with two cars stuck together by the front bumpers. The supporting cast, which includes names such as James Franco, Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, is there to help out and provide plenty of laughs along the way.

The subplot of the story attempts to add depth to the characters, who are struggling to find excitement in their boring marriage.

Although cliché, it contrasts well with the ridiculous situation they now find themselves in, which seems to be just what their marriage needs.

Fey and Carell play “fishes out of water” well, drawing many comparisons to the famous married duo in “The Out of Towners.” At one point, after being chased by goons through Central Park, Fey suggests that they “should have done more cardio.”

Fey and Carell work well off each other, often seeming like an actual married couple who need a spark to reignite their a marriage. The best scenes in the movie, though, are when they break out of the awkward, lost phases of the adventure and become almost different characters. In one of these scenes, Fey and Carell dress up like hip Manhattanites who intimidate the hostess at “Claw” with incessant snootiness so that they can get an important phone number.

These moments of comedic brilliance are few and far between, though.

Despite the distinguished supporting cast, Fey and Carell are the ones that save the movie. Despite some dragged out scenes and flat jokes, the movie kept me amused throughout, although I could have done with less instances of Fey and Carell spouting out words like “penis,” “vagina” and “whore” to the obvious delight of teenage boys in the audience.

The movie was by no means spectacular, leaving more to be expected from the comedic duo of Fey and Carell. Despite this and some flat spots, “Date Night” provides an hour and a half of amusing fun and plenty of a laughs.

country music.

Orr noted that musicians as diverse as George Jones, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett and Beck have plumbed the rich vein of Williams’ music over the years. Williams’ descendants — children, Hank Jr. and Jett, and grandchildren, Hank III, Holly and Hilary — continue to add to his legacy.

Born in Alabama, he grew up during the Great Depression, dreaming of playing country music. His first big break came when music publisher Fred Rose offered him the chance to record his own songs. His first release for MGM Records, “Move It on Over,” was a hit in 1947, and he went on to record 11 No. 1 songs.

Orr said Williams took his “honky tonk confessionals” to working-class people who identified with Williams’ honesty.

“He really helped to legitimize that confessional mode with songs like ‘Cold Cold Heart’ — ‘Why can’t I free your doubtful mind / and melt your cold cold heart?’” Orr said. “That’s something we’ve all wondered about a woman at one time or another.”

Holly Williams said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that she just finished a tour in Europe and that Williams’ legacy is appreciated there as well, showing his universal appeal.

“Who else has been covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Tony Bennett to Coldplay to Buddy Guy?” she wrote. “He deserves this honor on every level, and the family is really happy about this. His genius will always live on, and it’s nice to know that people are still remembering him with accolades more than 50 years after his death.”

The Associated Press NASHVILLE— Hank Williams, the country pioneer who is among the most influential singer-songwriters in music, was given a special Pulitzer Prize citation.

The Pulitzer board awarded the late singer for his lifetime achievement, based on a confidential survey of experts in popular music.

“I don’t think any country artist cast a longer shadow than he does, both as a songwriter and a performer,” Jay Orr, vice president of museum programs at the Country Music Hall of Fame, said Monday. (A Williams family exhibit runs at the Hall of Fame through 2011.)

“His songs are master works,” Orr said.

“But there’s a mystique about his character that still fascinates the people who have come after him. ... He was the romantic ideal of the hillbilly Shakespeare, and his cultural legacy continues to grow.”

The citation notes Williams’ “craftsmanship as a songwriter” and his “pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life.”

He joins other recent special citation recipients Bob Dylan, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane on a short list of American masters.

Williams died Jan. 1, 1953, at the age of 29, cutting short a career that forever changed American popular music. Hits such as “Your Cheatin’ Heart,” “Cold Cold Heart” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” have been covered by hundreds of musicians across several genres. More than 55 years after his death, he remains a central figure in

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Condo for rent 3BR 2BA near campus. W/D included. $375/mo each. 2833 Jersey Avenue 37919. (865)310-6977.

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Hardwood floors, W/D, security system provided. Less than 5 min. to UT. Available June 1. (865)776-4281.

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1 deluxe BR available in 2BR apartment with common areas. Available May 12August 1. University Heights.

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THE TOMATO HEAD KNOXVILLE Now hiring dish and food running positions. Full and part-time available, no experience necessary. Apply in person at 12 Market Square or apply online at thetomatohead.com.

FURN APTS Very Nice 1BR Apartment with pool, security, and free parking, 3 minute walk to law school, perfect location. $450/mo. $300 dep. Move in today! Ryan (865)454-6045.

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Eff., 1BR and 2BR apartments in updated Victorians with great architectural features available now or summer or Fall. $325 - $695/mo. Within 5 min. drive to UT. (865)455-0488.

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FOR RENT 10 MO. LEASES AVAILABLE Walk to campus! Student Apts. Cable, and internet included. From $330/BR. , 1, 2 and 3 BR. Prime Campus Housing (865)637-3444. www.primecampushousing.c om/tn.

4th AND GILL Houses and apartments now available. Please call Tim at (865)599-2235.

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Also have 3 and 4 BRs. APT. FOR RENT. 10 minutes from UT. Studio- $405 or 1BR- $505, 2BR $635.

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Attention all College Students. Prelease NOW for Fall! All Size Apartments Available. Call 525-3369.

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Franklin Station, Laurel Station, Lake Plaza, Laurel Villas, St. Christopher, River Towne. Units starting at $400/BR. Units include cable/ internet, water/ sewage, parking, and W/D. University Real Estate. (865)673-6600. urehousing.com.

Franklin Station Condo for rent. 2 roommates seeking third for 3BR condo. Third BR has private bath. $450/mo. includes utilities and wireless internet. Lease required. (865)414-9619.

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2, 3, 4 or 5BR Charming Victorian houses. Within 5 minute drive to UT. Some fenced yards, most with W/D, Dishwasher. $545-$2,000 per house.

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Read the Beacon Classifieds!

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD • Will Shortz Across 40 15-/23-Across location Telltale sign Stick in one’s ___ 46 “England hath long Paid no attention to been mad, and scarr’d ___”: Protection Richmond in “King 15 With 23-Across, Richard III” famous “opening” 1 7 11 13

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19 Rapper ___ Rida

51 “Dear” columnist

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52 Creator of 30-/35Across

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30 With 35-Across, source of 15-/23Across 32 Support for an ear of corn 34 “Olympia” artist

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35 See 30-Across

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28 “Given the situation 56 Family name in …” early violin-making 29 Alberto VO5 product

1 11

5 ___ dog (Chinese breed) 6 Playfulness 7 Not so stormy 8 Go over and over, as arguments 9 Spellbound 10 Cinematic scenechanger 11 Chewy confection 12 Captain Cook landfall of April 1769 14 His or her: Fr. 16 Comes up short, say 20 Suggest

59

21 Restraint 22 Amount of money that can be raised?

24 “What will you ___?”

25 “Zounds!”

26 Depend (on) 27 Yellowstone roamer 30 — 31 “I didn’t know I had it ___!”

32 Knucklehead ___, Paul Winchell dummy of old TV 33 Lab ___ 34 Alex Doonesbury’s school, for short 35 Lawyer’s assignment 36 Silver coin of ancient Greece 38 Open-air lobbies

39 Fix, as a boot 41 ___ blaster 42 Classic tale in dactylic hexameter 43 Some Iraq war reporters 44 Cuba ___ (rum highballs) 45 Store, as supplies 48 Org. that promotes sugarless gum 49 Blue-skinned deity 50 Jacket fastener 51 Suffix with Frigid53 Hosp. hookups 54 Acquire 55 Raucous laugh syllable

6 • The Daily Beacon

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

THESPORTSPAGE

Personal stats not enough for Huff Kevin Huebschman Staff Writer

• File Photo

Lady Vol senior Tiffany Huff slaps a dinger during a recent softball game. Huff currently has 33 RBIs and bats a .364 clip.

Her coaches said Tiffany Huff has been a great softball player and leader for the last four years.

Huff, however, expects more from herself.

A Saugus, Calif., native, Huff’s goal is to get better each year, and while that may seem simple enough, it is anything but easy.

In her 2007 freshman season, Huff set the bar for herself by earning 58 RBIs, the most by any Tennessee freshman since the team began SEC play in 1997, as the team advanced to the College World Series.

“I came into this amazing freshman year where we did everything,” the senior catcher said. “We had the player of the year and had four All-Americans to look up to. And that was an amazing experience, so we wanted to build on that.”

The Lady Vols haven’t returned to that point since, losing in the regionals each of the last two years, which Huff said is a sign that it may be time to kick it up a notch.

“There’s more of a sense of urgency now, because I got to feel that freshman year,” she said. “I got to feel the best, so now I want to kind of finish that off.”

From this perspective, a six-RBI performance in a March weekend series against South Carolina isn’t good enough.

She expects to be able to perform at that level regularly.

“She is always striving to do more,” co-head coach Ralph Weekly said. “No matter what, she’s trying to achieve even more.”

Although Huff, who has driven in 33 runs on a .364 average this season, is the first to say she expects a solid performance from herself in every game, she understands the team doesn’t just need her bat.

“I’m real big on not paying attention to stats,” she said.

“It’s all about how you feel. It really is. I try to stay far away from numbers and things, because it just gets in your head … That’s something my parents instilled. My dad always said, if you go 0-for and you win, that’s a great day.”

Weekly said Huff’s approach to the game is just one of the areas in which he and his wife, co-head coach Karen Weekly, have watched Huff develop during her career.

“She’s grown as a student,” he said. “She’s grown as a softball player. But I think most importantly, she has grown as a leader. She is the leader of our team, no question, and the girls follow her and respect her and understand that she’s worked hard to gain that level.”

Huff has embraced the leadership role, extending her goal of constant improvement to the rest of the team.

“I want the team to be better after I left than after I started,” she said. “I want to have an impact that kind of ripples through the next few years, not just like ‘Oh, she’s gone, forgotten.’”

Huff’s leadership extends to other areas, as well, where she said she tries to work as a medium for both the coaches and the rest of the players on the team.

“I guess I feel like I’m sort of the middleman between them and some of the other team,” she said. “You get so caught up in your role as a coach and so caught up in your role as a player that it’s kind of hard to understand each other.”

Her ability to work as a middleman for the team comes from the bond she and the Weeklys have formed in the last four years.

“It’s definitely grown from just any other player and coach,” she said. “They’ve treated me amazing.”

Ralph Weekly spoke similarly of the relationship, calling Huff a unique individual.

“I’ve been blessed to be able to coach her,” he said. “She’s one of those kids that doesn’t come along all the time, and when you get a chance to coach and spend four to five years with her, she does not leave a light impression.”

Put simply, Weekly said, the team wouldn’t be the same without her.

“I don’t think we’d be having the success we’re having now without Tiffany Huff,” he said.

Start here

Live off campus?

The Census needs to return your .

There are special programs in place to count students on campus. But if you live off campus, you have to complete your own 2010 Census form that arrived in the mail. By participating, you’re helping future students enjoy some of the same benefits and services that you have today. It’s just 10 questions and takes about 10 minutes. So fill it out and mail it back.

2010census.gov

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