Cloudy with a 60% chance of T-Storms HIGH LOW 75 68
Freshman running back Bryce Brown is ruled eligible for the 2009 season
Caribbean Week at the International House
Friday, August 28, 2009
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Vol. 112
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TVC provides news, entertainment to UT Blair Kuykendall Staff Writer With around 26,000 students, it is almost impossible to keep track of everything that’s going on from one moment to the next at UT. Fortunately The Volunteer Channel, channel 64 on a UT student’s television lineup, provides the student body with entertainment programming, news and information all geared directly to the needs of the UT student. Not only is TVC designed for UT students, but UT students operate this channel. TVC club
president Daren Stoltzfus, senior in journalism, believes that the channel plays a critical role for students on campus. “The channel provides access to student-created content and also functions as an outlet for students to get their views across,” Stoltzfus said. TVC serves UT by giving students the opportunity to work behind the scenes in the field of television production, taking learning outside the classroom. The station itself provides a variety of programming, with different shows appealing to every interest.
Sports Mecca is a weekly broadcast detailing highlights from both UT athletics as well as national sports, and Hot Topix features discussions on popular subjects on campus and around the world. Orange Juice gives all UT students their daily serving of current student activity, detailing activities with clubs as well as events on campus,. For the more serious-minded, TVC News keep students current on campus and international affairs. Other offerings include UT Cribs, a venue for students to show off their various residences, and Greek Corner, a weekly snap-
shot of fraternity and sorority philanthropy and other activities. “The Volunteer Channel is entertaining and informative,” said Josh Queener, TVC director. “Plus you can see what all your classmates are doing.” Affiliates of TVC see the first year TVC has been broadcasted in high definition. The channel is currently the only HD channel broadcasted out of East Tennessee. For members of the surrounding Knoxville community, TVC is available on digital channel 194. It reaches an audience of 250,000 and 700 students on campus.
This year is the 10th anniversary of the Volunteer Channel. Those involved with the station are looking forward to a future of continuing service to the student body and the Knoxville area, as well as to new advances in the future of the channel itself. Initiatives include a method for students to vote on programming they would like to see. Since a movie channel is currently unavailable to campus residents, the station hopes to feature some movie offerings in the near future. Movies would be targeted to the interests of the college audience.
Electric cars generate transportation options Emma Macmillan Staff Writer In keeping with energy efficiency consciousness, the state of Tennessee will take part in a Department of Energy project that introduces a new fleet of electrical cars. However, at this point the grant will not be providing UT with new, environmentally friendly vehicles. According to a press release from Gov. Phil Bredesen’s office, the first fleet of cars will be released in late 2010 and early 2011. Tennessee, along with Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington are receiving $99.8 million in energy department grant money. Gordie Bennett, UT sustainability manager, discusses UT’s inclusion in this multistate project. “To my knowledge, UT has not been awarded grant funding to purchase the Nissan leaf electric vehicles mentioned in the press release,” Bennett said. “The vast majority of the EVs in use on campus are made by General Electric Motorcars.” Global Electric Motorcars can travel at a top speed of 26 miles per hour and for approximately 50 miles on a full charge. Mike Moneymaker, director of UT Transportation Services, said that he is uncertain about the university’s involvement in the project. “There’s not a market price for the Nissan leaf yet. I know the Chevrolet Volt cost around $40,000. If the Nissan costs that much, we most likely will not be buying any,” Moneymaker said. Despite uncertainty about UT’s involvement with the energy department’s electrical car project, Bennett explained the benefits of the GEM cars currently used on campus and how they are reducing emissions. “Unlike vehicles with combustion engines, the university’s electric vehicles produce zero emissions at the tailpipe and have very little noise pollution,” Bennett said. “By replacing gas-powered vehicles with EVs, the university is helping to improve the local environment.” Both Bennett and Moneymaker agree that the GEM cars have been utilized very well so far. In addition to the GEM cars, Moneymaker said that almost all the vehicles that UT purchases have E85 capability, which significantly cuts down on petroleum use by burning 85-percent ethanol rather than burning gasoline. UT currently carries about 150 E85 vehicles in its fleet. As for energy efficiency on campus with the GEM and E85 cars, one student is pleased to see the university taking productive steps toward environmental awareness. “It’s assuring to know that Tennessee would even be one of the five states chosen to be a part of this project,” said Meaghan Sledge, senior in exercise science. “Everyone looks at California and thinks ‘environmentally conscious,’ but not so much Tennessee, so I think this project will allow other states in the South to model themselves after what we’re trying to do.” Tennessee will focus initial investments on Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, said the press release from the governor’s office. Across the state, approximately 2,500 charging stations will be constructed to support the energy needs of 1,000 cars.
Katie Hogin • The Daily Beacon
The new Jumbotron is tested for the rapidly approaching football season, which starts next Saturday against Western Kentucky University.
Universities face spread of swine flu The Associated Press ATLANTA — Colleges across the country are seeing spikes in the number of students with suspected cases of swine flu as dorms fill up and classes begin for the fall semester. While the increases were expected and colleges say they were ready for the coughing, sneezing and feverish students before move-in day, health experts say hundreds more could get sick as the virus winds its way through college campuses. At Georgia Tech in Atlanta, classes are in full swing for the university’s 20,000 students and so is the highly contagious H1N1 virus, commonly known as swine flu. The university has had 150 suspected cases of the virus in the two weeks since students moved back to campus. Georgia Tech freshman Elise Woodall, 18, was met with a message scrawled on the bathroom mirror of her dorm when she moved in two weeks ago: “Wash your hands. Swine is not fine.” “Nobody wants to get sick because missing classes is a pain,” said Woodall, a biomedical engineering major from Marietta. At the University of Kansas, almost 200 students have reported having flu-like symptoms in the last week or so, spokesman Todd Cohen said. University of Tennessee administrators are estimating about 100 suspected swine flu cases on campus, spokesman Jay Mayfield said. The University of Alabama had more than 50 cases of flu reported on the first day of classes last week. At Texas Christian University, 10 students were diagnosed with swine flu on the first day of class Monday. “We’re finding out for the first time in a long time how quickly a contagious disease can move,” said Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs at Texas Christian. To get ready for the expected outbreak, colleges stocked up on hand-
sanitizing gel and Tamiflu — an anti-viral pill — while others have designated empty dorms where sick students can be isolated. Some campuses have developed “flu kits” with items like tissues, thermometers and box lunches for students in isolation. Students have been getting regular e-mails from administrators reminding them to wash their hands frequently, stay away from sick friends and isolate themselves if they develop flu-like symptoms. “We all knew this was going to happen,” said Liz Rachun, spokeswoman for the University of Georgia health clinic, which has seen nearly 50 suspected swine flu cases in the last two weeks. “We stocked up on masks, and we have doctors in place.” Health experts predicted swine flu cases would spike once the school year began and that colleges and elementary and secondary schools would see an increase in cases. Most campuses won’t know for certain how many confirmed swine flu cases they have this year because many states are no longer routinely running tests on every suspected case. Still, many administrators say they’re treating every case as if it’s swine flu to help stem the spread of the disease. Health officials say the concern is that swine flu is very contagious and spreads quickly once it is introduced to a population. That means hundreds more could get sick in the next few weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta recommends students with flu symptoms — fever, cough, sneezing, chills, aches, sometimes diarrhea or vomiting — stay home from class. “The mere fact you have lots of people in close proximity with each other results in the virus being transmitted from person to person,” said CDC spokesman Tom Skinner. “I don’t think we’re surprised by the fact influenza is returning to these campuses. What is concerning to us is people becoming complacent about this and not taking the steps we know can protect them.”