The Daily Beacon

Page 1

Friday, April 19, 2013

Issue 65, Volume 122

Professor pries into clutches of guilt Blair Kuykendall Editor-in-Chief In the late 1980s, Gordon Gekko, Michael Douglas’ character in “Wall Street,” told Americans that “Greed is good.” Gekko’s assessment of the American economy examined a cause, “greed,” that would bring about a profit, “good.” He ignored the inevitable product of such behavior: guilt. Dr. Wilfred McClay, who serves as the SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in Humanities and professor of history at UT Chattanooga, tackled that issue in his lecture, “The Mirage of Innocence and the Mirror of Guilt: Confronting the Dilemmas of a Postwar Moral Economy,” yesterday in the UC Crest Room. He asserted that the emotion, while complex, is essential to the human condition. “To abolish guilt would be both

futile and horrible,” McClay said. “It is the outworking of a healthy psyche. By and large guilt is part of what makes us who we are as humans. I would say that this is a characteristic of the West — that the West is so constituted as to criticize, even in a foundational way—its own institutions.” McClay referenced this predisposition of the Western world in relation to Sigmund Freud’s belief that guilt follows societal progress. Beyond the nation-state, McClay examined the tenuous hold that guilt tightens around the individual and the victimhood some seek as a freeing release. “Our achievements in the realm of science and technology have allowed us to exert an even greater influence on our existence,” he said. “It is impossible to exaggerate how often the deeds of men and women ... can be traced to the need of human beings to feel morally justified ... A victim is

by definition a blameless person, whose condition is the fault of others.” In dealing with the empirical emotion itself, he stressed the limitations of quantitative research. “If I could summarize my book: guilt is becoming an evermore powerful and pervasive presence in everyday life ... guilt is not a phenonmeon that lends itself to being properly measured … this is the nature of the beast.” The Crest Room setting was intimate, but the group of professors and students in attendance fostered a lively debate about victimization, martyrdom and other phenomenon used to assuage guilt after the lecture. In response to various queries, McClay touched on the boundaries some individuals develop to cope with guilt in • Photo courtesy of magazine.pepperdine.edu/ an increasingly atheistic global society. Dr. Wilfred McClay speaks about confronting the dilemmas of a post war moral economy at the University Center on April 18. See MCCLAY on Page 3

Flea market delights with bargains Brooke Turner Staff Writer If looking for a good time, great stuff and cheap prices, the Knoxville Flea Market located off Clinton Highway in the Knoxville Expo Center may be worth visiting this weekend. The Knoxville Flea Market offers students a chance to find old items and spruce them up to make them their own. The market offers more than 300 booths of antiques, crafts, jewelry, surplus, bath and body products, candles, etc. John Stewart, the co-owner of Stewart Promotions and head of the Knoxville Flea Market, encouraged students to come out this weekend and get in on the fun. “I know a lot of people bring their families out there every month to have a good

time, and even friends will go together just to have a good time,” he said in a phone interview with The Daily Beacon. “The good thing about flea markets is there is something for everyone and at an affordable price.” Nadia Valdez, a sophomore in logistics, said that she loves flea markets because of the atmosphere and, “of course, the bargain prices.” Valdez, who is from Morristown, Tenn., said that coming from a smaller town probably had a lot to do with the fact that she likes flea market shopping. She said going to one gives her a sense of community because it brings together people from all walks of life that just want to enjoy the simpler things of life as well as giving her time to bond with her own family. “Every time I go home, I

make sure to wake up early on Saturday just so I can go to the flea market with my family,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, poor, middle class, man or woman. “Everyone can go to the flea market and find something that sparks their interest.” Stewart shared stories of that kind of discovery, saying that the flea market is a great place to find hidden treasures one might not find anywhere else. “I have heard of stories of people going to the flea market and buying something for a couple of bucks and then come to find out it is worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars,” he said. “So there is something to be said about flea markets. They give you the chance to find something special and unique that you’re not going to be able to find in

your everyday big department stores.” For a generation of Pinterest lovers, Valdez said that flea markets are a great source of materials if one is into refurbishing items. “The flea market is a good place to go if you are into DIYs or Pinterest projects,” she said. “You can buy something that maybe costs $6 and give it a transformation that makes it look like its (worth) $600.” Whether one is looking for a good do-it-yourself, a revamped wardrobe or just a good time, the KFM encourages everyone to “come on out” this weekend, starting at 3 p.m. today. For a detailed list of weekend times and directions to the location, visit www.stewartpromotions. com and follow the links to the map.

Around Rocky Top

• Photo courtesy of Nate Pattonw

Students in Professor Rob Heller’s JEM 490 Advanced Photojournalism class took their annual trip to LaFollette to photograph the area and its inhabitants over the weekend. See page seven for more photos.

Weir speaks on Palestine Hanna Lustig

Staff Writer Imagine that a bomb exploded on Cumberland Avenue. Imagine the noise, the flash and the fear. Now, imagine if such destruction was considered commonplace, a part of daily life. For modern- day Palestinians and Israelis alike, no imagination is necessary. Former journalist and political advocate Allison Weir conveyed that message in her lecture, “What the Media Leaves Out,” on Wednesday night in the UC. Though she is now a seasoned veteran of the field, Weir admitted she was not always so informed. She, like many, felt no responsibility to involve herself in foreign affairs. “Thirteen years ago, I knew very little,” Weir said, “The Middle East seemed confusing, distant and irrelevant to my daily life. But in fall 2000, after seeing these images from the Second Uprising, I began to ask questions and that changed my life and brought me here tonight.” On behalf of the Students for Justice in Palestine, UT Middle Eastern Student Association, Amnesty International UT and the Department of Political Science, Weir discussed the prevalent misguiding news coverage of the IsraelPalestine struggle and how that affects our ability to make informed economical and political decisions. To begin her presentation, Weir asked two guests to share their individual experiences with the conflict, emphasizing the importance of visceral, personal accounts. Amira Sakalla, president of Students for Justice in Palestine and a half-Palestinian freshmen student, recalled visiting relatives in the Gaza Strip last summer. “You can hear drones buzzing during the day and at night from wherever you are,”

Sakalla said. “This past summer, the airplanes you can see flying over head were doing surveillance. “Other times, they’re dropping small bombs.” One night, Sakalla was outside when a bomb was dropped a mile away, sending her to the ground. Amjed Dweik, UT alumnus from the class of 2007, encountered similar danger after moving back to his childhood home to “rediscover” his heritage. While attempting to visit a holy site, the Dome of the Rock, Dweik was asked to prove he was Muslim by reciting the Quran. Dweik engaged the Israeli guard, asking him, “Why don’t you recite for me to check if you’re Muslim?” and was nearly shot as a result. Despite bloodshed beginning in the late 19th century, Weir has found the majority of newscast reports to be not only “one-sided,” but also inaccurate and lacking crucial historical and contextual facts. Weir displayed line graphs comparing yearly death tolls in Israel and Palestine to those distributed by reputable sources such as the New York Times. She also presented a San Jose Mercury headline that reversed the number of Israelis and Palestinians killed. The statistics were artificially skewed toward Israel as the greater victim. “What if the news had reversed the numbers from the World Series?” Weir asked, gesturing toward the inflated curves. “They would have been made fun of on late night talk shows. And yet here … no one notices it.” One of her timelines revealed a three-month delay before a single Palestinian child was reported dead in 2000. Later analysis showed Palestinian children were, in fact, killed first and in much larger quantities throughout the conflict. See PALESTINE on Page 2


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