Monday, April 21, 2014
Issue 67, Volume 125
UT lacks paid maternity leave policy Of 185 countries surveyed by the UN, only two nations lacked mandatory paid parental leave for employees: the United States, and Papua New Guinea. Guaranteed just 12 unpaid weeks of leave by The Family and Medical Leave Act, American mothers must rely on their state or private employers to enact supplemental polices, perhaps granting full or partial pay, or additional time off. But at UT, such a policy does not exist, leaving employees with the only the federal minimum. “It’s tricky here because there is not a specific maternity leave policy,” David Golden, Faculty Senate president said. The law, established in 1993, requires employers to offer regular or
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term university employees, employed for at least 12 months and having accumulated at least 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12-month period, up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month time span. FML applies to about 58 percent of the American workforce, excluding employees of small companies with 50 or fewer employees, as well as workers who started their job less than a year before the birth of a child. “FML does not grant paid time,” Julie Monday, coordinator of Family and Medical Leave, said. “The university does not currently have a parental leave policy – paid time for maternity/paternity leave – for employees. FML is unpaid time, as is the leave from the state, and is essentially a form of job protection.” See MATERNITY on Page 3
University of Tennessee
University of Alabama
Vanderbilt University
University of Kentucky
Availability of paid maternity leave policy at SEC schools
Vols salvage weekend with 10-9 walkoff over Alabama
Local Natives turn Knoxville wild The setlist for the concert consisted of songs from both of the band’s albums, 2011’s “Gorilla Manor” and 2012’s “Hummingbird.” As the band played fan favorites The sold-out crowd at the Bijou Theatre Friday night forgave Los like “Airplanes,” and “You and I,” Angeles-based Local Natives for tak- audience members crowded the ing so long to come to Knoxville stage, jumping and stomping their – in fact, they forgot all about their feet to the beats of the indie rock music. absence once they started playing. Moses Sumney was the opener “We’re definitely coming back here,” guitarist and singer Taylor Rice and has toured with the band since January. Although he played a short said on stage. set comprised of only a few songs,
Melodi Erdogan
Managing Editor
the Los Angeles native proved his musical talents, using his voice as an instrument and looping his vocals live to great effect. Managing Editor Melodi Erdogan talked to Kelcey Ayer of Local Natives before the show about collaboration, production on their two albums and details about their upcoming album. The full interview can be found at utdailybeacon.com.
Dargan Southard Assistant Sports Editor
See LOCAL NATIVES on Page 6 Hayley Brundige • The Daily Beacon
Bradi Musil Staff Writer
IN SHORT >>pg. 2
Get to know your new student services director NEWS >>pg. 3
Softball: Lady Vols drop two of three against SEC rival Georgia
Local Natives’ Kelcey Ayer (vocalist and keyboardist) bellows to the audience in the Bijou Theatre on Friday.
SPORTS >>pg. 5
Environmental music comes to Ijams Jenna Butz Staff Writer
John Legend lives up to his name in the Tennessee Theatre ARTS & CULTURE>>pg. 6
Alaskan native and Pulitzer Prize for Music award recipient John Luther Adams will conduct his piece “Inuksuit” Tuesday in the Ijams Nature Center to honor Earth Day. The piece will be conducted by Adams with the UT Percussion Ensemble and Nief-Norf, a contemporary music organization, among a range of guests from across the southeast performing the all-percussion piece. Andy Bliss, director of percus-
sion studies, has worked in conjunction with the event’s sponsor to bring Adams and “Inuksuit” to Knoxville. Bliss first became aware of the piece in the summer of 2009. During that time, he took up a summer residency at the Banff Centre in Canada. Adams was there as the composer-in-residence, and Bliss performed as one of 18 musicians who premiered “Inuksuit.” Later, Bliss had the opportunity to participate in the U.S. premier at Furman University in 2010. From there, he had started contemplating the idea of bring-
ing “Inuksuit” to Knoxville, but it was a faculty workshop at UT that eventually led to the idea’s fruition. Last academic year, Bliss attended a faculty workshop that encouraged environmentallydriven service learning projects. Headed by John Nolt, the twoday seminar prompted Bliss to take the percussion ensemble’s performance outside of the concert hall. Taking advantage of what he calls the “firepower” created by the ensemble, Bliss wanted to use performance to support a larger cause, thus forming the
idea to perform “Inuksuit” as a fundraiser for Ijams Nature Center. “With John’s background as an environmental activist, this was an opportunity for us to engage my students,” Bliss said. “It also brings the community into a sort of environmental awareness through live performance, which is maybe a more impactful way to reach a community as opposed to someone handing out flyers.” See EARTH DAY on Page 6
He certainly wasn’t the first selection. He wasn’t even option number two. But after sophomore outfielder Vincent Jackson’s late game heroics helped cap off a tough weekend series, it hardly seemed to matter that the McDonough, Ga., native spent nearly eight innings roaming the Volunteer dugout after being passed over twice to play right field. “He was the third choice,” head coach Dave Serrano said. “First (Pierce) Bily starts out there — he struggled out there a little bit defensively. We make a change, go to Derek Lance, and they go to a right-handed pitcher. And we go to Vincent.” The last of those transactions proved to be the most crucial as Jackson solidified a furious late-game rally with a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth, giving the Volunteers a 10-9 victory over Alabama Sunday afternoon at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. Jackson, who started the first 24 of the year but had been absent from the lineup lately thanks in large part to offensive struggles, entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and produced a base hit in each of his two at-bats. “People are doing good right now, so when your time comes you have to take advantage of it,” Jackson said, whose multihit performance was his first since March 15. “I was staying warm the whole game, watching pitchers, just kind of visualizing at-bats the whole time so I could get extra at-bats in my head. “And it all came together in the end.” The base knock gave the Vols (25-13, 7-11 SEC) their fifth walk-off victory of the season and allowed UT to salvage the series finale — momentarily erasing the utter disappointment generated by dropping the first two games to the Crimson Tide (28-12, 12-6). But after 7 1/2 innings, is appeared Sunday’s finale was more the weekend rule rather than the exception as UT trailed 8-2 entering the bottom of the eighth. See BASEBALL on Page 5
INSIDE THE DAILY BEACON
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“The campus environment is about to change on Tuesday, and the message we are sending is clear.”
OPINIONS >>pg. 4
In Short News Opinions Sports Arts & Culture
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