The Daily Beacon

Page 1

Issue 68, Volume 122

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Daily Beacon access to campus police reports stalled Beacon Staff Report UT Media Relations and UTPD delayed The Daily Beacon’s access to public record Monday, skirting Tennessee state law. Managing Editor Emily DeLanzo, a senior in environmental studies, requested a completed police report that she believed involved Yemi

Makanjuola, a sophomore center for the men’s basketball team who will transfer to a different school next year. DeLanzo was working on a lead developed by David Cobb, the Assistant News Editor and a sophomore in journalism and electornic media. At 8 p.m. Sunday, Cobb initially requested reports that he suspected involved Makanjuola.

DeLanzo followed up on his request Monday, and visited the station to pay a small fee and receive the report inperson. She was told to wait in the lobby. A few minutes later, Public Information Officer Lt. Mike Richardson came into the lobby to inform DeLanzo that she would need to obtain the report from the UT Media Relations office. Richardson

then refunded her money. Tennessee Code Annotated 10-7-503 section (2) (A) states: “All state, county and municipal records shall, at all times during business hours ... be open for personal inspection by any citizen of this state, and those in charge of the records shall not refuse such right of inspection to any citizen, unless otherwise provided by state law.”

In Bauer vs. Kincaid, a 1990 lawsuit filed in Missouri, a district court held that a public university newspaper may obtain and publish incident reports from a campus security department. DeLanzo acquired the report almost five hours after Cobb was assured of its prompt delivery. It detailed an incident that occurred on Feb. 15 in Volunteer Hall between

Makanjuola and a female student of the university. No charges were filed, but the victim invoked an order of protection against Makanjoula. A seperate police report was also requested on Monday afternoon. As The Daily Beacon was going to print, the additional report had still not been released.

Police report filed involving former UT basketball player Beacon Staff Report An 18-year-old UT student filed a police report and sought an order of protection against former UT basketball player Yemi Makanjuola after an alleged sexual assault that reportedly occurred in February during the heart of the team’s SEC schedule. Makanjuola was granted a release from the team on Saturday. With the addition of five scholarship newcomers and the loss of just three scholarship seniors, it was only a question of who, not if someone from the 2012-13 roster would part ways with the program due to NCAA regulations that limit basketball teams to 13 scholarship players. When it was announced by head coach Cuonzo Martin that Makanjuola was granted a release, no legal charges

were mentioned in the official UT statement. “Yemi and I came to a mutual agreement that it would be in his best interest for him to get a fresh start with a new program,” Martin said. “Yemi is leaving Tennessee on good terms. He’s respected by his teammates and coaches, we all appreciate the work he’s put in during his time here and I’m confident that he’ll be successful.” Makanjuola appeared in 28 games and averaged 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds a game as a sophomore in 201213. The 6-foot-9 center scored a season-high nine points and grabbed eight rebounds against Wichita State — an eventual Final Four team — in a game at ThompsonBoling Arena on Dec. 13. He is originally from Lagos, Nigeria, and majored in sports management during his time at UT.

The Daily Beacon • Tia Patron

Yemi Makanjuola attempts a free throw against the Savannah State Tigers in the NIT on March 13, 2012. A police report was filed in February of this year in regards to an alleged sexual assault involving Makanjuola, who was granted a release by the University on Saturday.

Campfield weighs in on ‘Sex Week’ Carnicus to bring laughs, creativity Preston Peeden

Associate Editor

‘Sex Week’ has come and gone, but the controversy surrounding the event still lingers. As the Tennessee state Senate session closed last Friday, Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield, who has been an outspoken opponent of ‘Sex Week,’ weighed in on the program’s performance and its future. “Is that the best place we can put our money?” Campfield asked. “Is that where the majority of students wanted their funds to go to? Is that what people who pay student activities fees are dying to have? Or were they saying, ‘Hey, is this what we have to have our student activities pay for? Is this what our state tax dollars should be paid for?’” For Campfield, the representative for Tennessee’s 7th District (which encompasses UT’s campus), the main issue with ‘Sex Week’ was the nearly $8,000 of funding from student programming fees devoted to scandalous event content. “For a long time, I’ve thought that the student programming fees were really just a boondoggle for a couple people to play and have their little fetish things with, or whatever,” Campfield said.

“… Look at the people who partake versus the number of people that have to pay for it, then what you really have is a small number of people spending the money for everybody on their own little personal things, whatever they may be.” Jacob Clark, who co-created Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee (SEAT), the student organization that put on ‘Sex Week,’ sees Campfield’s view as a bastardization of the student programming fees allocation process. “Student programming fees are available to any group that applies for them,” Clark, a junior in the College Scholars program, said. “Now, not every group gets to use them, it depends on how well put together their program is and what kind of success the program can see. The funds are there for students to decide what they’re used for, and I can’t think of a more appropriate way to spend program and services fees than allowing students to decide what it’s used for.” Not only do the coordinators of ‘Sex Week’ view the process of fee allocation as equitable, but, according to Brianna Rader, the other cocreator of SEAT, it’s just a fact of life on this campus. “I don’t think people who are making that argument

Hanna Lustig Staff Writer

• Photo courtesy of Stacey Campfield

understand the consequences of student programing fees, including the new University Center and the new Student Union use student programming fees,” Rader, who is also a junior in the College Scholars program, said. “Everyone pays a study abroad fee, but not nearly every student studies abroad, and yet every student pays that five dollars.”

“Unfortunately, not every fee in life will go to something that you agree with, but that’s the whole point of student programming fees.” Regardless of the fee’s allocation process, Campfield feels that the issue with ‘Sex Week’ begins and ends with the nature of the talks. See CAMPFIELD on Page 2

secure the legendary ACE Cup. For this year’s Carnicus Director Sean Neal, the event is about more than winning bragging rights. It’s an opportunity for students to work together and express themselves, establishing a strong dynamic among the group members. “It is always exciting to see people shine bright on the stage during their performances,” Neal, a senior in accounting said. “Also, I love how close it can bring participating organizations together. Before I joined ACE, I performed in Carnicus my freshman year. It was such a positive bonding experience.” Azaria Mccomsey, a sister of Kappa Kappa Gamma, echoed this sentiment, saying the time commitment for participants is not a burden but rather a chance to rehearse and spend time with close friends. “We practice every Tuesday and Sunday,” Mccomsey, a freshman in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology, said. “It’s fun though. I’m with my sisters.”

Few events at UT can lay claim to the recorded use of animal costumes by students to create a man-made “circus.” But Carnicus, the annual group skit competition held by All Campus Events, can. This Thursday, that tradition will continue in the Cox Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Over the last century, Carnicus has grown out of what was the June Jubilee, an end of year student celebration featuring the Glee Club, vaudeville and side shows. In 1929, Carnicus emerged as the entertaining spectacle we know today, primarily focusing on skits alone. After much preparation, organizations – such as paired fraternities and sororities – will sing, dance and act together in short, scripted performances. These skits will earn points for the most impressive groups, adding those already awarded at Volunteer Challenge, Homecoming and All-Sing. As the last event in this series of four, Carnicus is the final opportunity for participating teams to achieve the highest score and thus See CARNICUS on Page 2


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