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Daily Beacon kicks off series of UT football opponent previews
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Alumnus shares experience of volunteer medical work in Africa
Monday, August 31, 2009 Issue 09
T H E
E D I T O R I A L L Y
I N D E P E N D E N T
PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 http://dailybeacon.utk.edu
Vol. 112 S T U D E N T
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Pedestrian Mall sculptur e evokes r esponse
Photo by
Katie Hogin Robby O’Daniel Chief Copy Editor
T
he new sculpture, “A Startling Whirlwind of Opportunity,” by New York-based artist Alice Aycock sits smack dab in the center of the Pedestrian Mall with countless numbers of students passing by it daily, taking slightly different trajectories in their walks than they did last year. For many, it was hard not to take notice of the spiraling piece, and to say students have an opinion on the structure is an understatement. A Facebook group titled “The Pedestrian Mall Sculpture is Hideous!” sprung up quickly, and it has 921 members as of press time. The group’s description calls the sculpture an “eyesore” and “of poor artistic quality.” Aycock, who was in Knoxville for the installation of the sculpture during the summer, said she heard some student reaction but little because of the decreased student population during the summer sessions. But dealing with public criticism of art is not new to Aycock, a veteran artist whose work dates back to the 1970s and whose art has displayed in museums throughout America, Europe and Japan, according to her Web site. “I think there’s a misconception that art is something one doesn’t have to be educated about a little bit, just like you have to be educated about any other subject,” she said. Some students complained that the structure was wasting students' university dollars, but the sculpture was funded by private donation from UT alumnus Wilton D. “Chick” Hill.
Aycock also said that a lot of time and effort went into the piece. “This isn’t just something that was just thrown out there,” she said. “It really was a complicated piece to build and design, and I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was totally cutting edge, but it’s certainly using the available technology that we use today to do something, to push it.” The man Aycock said spearheaded the project, Jason Brown, associate professor in sculpture, said he's heard a wide variety of opinions on the sculpture. Many students, he said, enjoy the whirlwind part of the sculpture but not the lighting. Brown said art opinion comes from experience, and, while Brown has heard “lessthan-educated passing comments” from students on the sculpture, he’s also had conversations about it taking an entirely different tone with some in his public art seminar class and one student from Chattanooga who talked with Brown about the sculptures on the waterfront. Ultimately, Brown said the discourse about the piece adds to it. “I think good art, whether it’s outdoor sculpture in public or it’s in a gallery in a museum, is not something everyone's going to agree on,” he said. “And if there’s some discussion, debate, controversy, it means that the artwork, in my opinion, is more meaningful, has more value.” One of the major concerns of many students is the placement of the piece in the middle of the Pedestrian Mall. Brown said the placement was specifically stated in the UT Master Plan as being to the right of the center location of the piece, but, due to fire code restrictions, it had to be moved to the center. See S c u l p t u r e on Page 5
UT prepares on brink of new season Matt Dixon Staff Writer The Tennessee football team concluded fall camp Saturday after its fourth and final preseason scrimmage. The Vols went through many game -like situations and focused more on mental preparations after a very physical week of practice. Special teams was the focus in the non-contact scrimmage. Head coach Lane Kiffin expressed his confidence in the improvement of kicker Daniel Lincoln and punter Chad Cunningham. “Both had a great (fall) camp and summer,” Kiffin said. “(I) feel very good, would not have said that after spring (practice).” Lincoln, the Vols placekicker, hopes to regain the form that helped him become a second team All-SEC selection as a freshman in 2007. After the scrimmage he said his confidence was as good as it had ever been after
his work this offseason. “I’ve been pretty close to 100 percent kicking in the stadium,” Lincoln said. “Scrimmages have been really realistic and game-like.” Lincoln referred to special teams coach Eddie Gran as being “in the next level” as far as coaching, saying he knows how to relate to the kickers and he knows what it takes to succeed in the SEC. Kiffin also said that Gran has done a great job working with Lincoln and with Bram Cannon who is doing a good job as holder, he said. The punting duties belong to Cunningham, who punted in five games last season and said he feels like his punting has improved. “I’ve definitely had the best camp I’ve ever had,” Cunningham said after the scrimmage. When asked what he worked on the most in the offseason, Cunningham quickly noted leg strength to get longer hangtimes. “My leg is a totally different leg than it was during the spring,” he
said. In addition to punting, Cunningham will also handle the kickoff duties for the Vols. Junior safety Dennis Rogan and freshman tailback David Oku will return kickoffs for the Vols. Oku said he tries to pattern his return game after Chicago Bears wide receiver Devin Hester. Freshman wide receiver Nu’Keese Richardson will return punts for the Vols. Richardson has had some fumbling problems in practice, so Rogan might get a chance to return punts as well. Lincoln noted that he had been crossing off goals throughout the offseason, and he is hoping the special team can help to do the same during the year. “The team goals are to beat Florida, beat Alabama, win the big games here at home and on the road and help (the team) get back to where we belong, which is in Atlanta in December and into a BCS bowl game,” he said.
Katie Hogin • The Daily Beacon
Freshman wide receiver Marsalis Teague runs down field in order to receive the ball from quarterback Jonathan Crompton.
Study abroad offers chances to explore studies, countries Ellen Larson Staff Writer Last year 811 UT students studied abroad. Noah Rost, senior coordinator for the Center for International Education, said students study abroad for many reasons: to experience another culture, to bring their studies to life and to meet new people. “Some (students) have never left the U.S. and want to experience a different country,” Rost said. “Some choose to study abroad because of their specific academic interests. For example, if a student is particularly interested in Latin American history, then he or she will spend some time studying at a university in Argentina or Chile.” Will Ladnier, junior in classics, history and global science, studied in Ghana during the mini-term summer semester and said he was looking to experience a new culture. “I had never previously been out of the country,” Ladnier said. “This being my first experience really helped me to grasp what another culture is like. I think that learning about how other people halfway across the world live really taught me something about how I live.” Study abroad brings textbook knowledge to life for other UT students. “We studied cultural psychology,” Amanda Loy, senior in psychology, who participated in a faculty-led summer program in Greece, said. “It was a neat way to get out of the classroom and see what we were learning. It was cool to see the Parthenon, which is something you always learn about in history books.” Some students study abroad just to have a good time. “I studied abroad in London during the summer, and it gave me one of the most fun summers of my life,” John
Whittingham, senior in mathematics, said. “I got to see lots of cool places in England and make some good friends too.” Another aspect to studying abroad is having the advantage in job or graduate school applications. “Increasingly, students are recognizing that studying abroad (particularly for a full semester or longer) will make them more competitive on the job market and in their graduate school applications,” Rost said. “Shortly after graduation (if not before), students will have the experience of sitting across from a human resources officer who will ask them a question along the lines of ‘Why should I hire you over the 150 equally qualified applicants for this position?,’ and we want to be sure that when UT graduates are asked that question, they can respond, ‘You should hire me because I will bring an international perspective to your company.’” While most students choose to study abroad in Western Europe, UT is focusing efforts towards studying in non-traditional regions, such as Asia and the Middle East. “Italy is the most popular destination, followed closely by Spain,” Rost said. “Out of the 811 students, UT Knoxville sent abroad during the 20082009 academic year, 106 studied in Asia, Russia or the Middle East.” Adena Lane, programs abroad peer advisor, said she would like to see more students study outside of Western Europe. “Most students study abroad in Western Europe,” Lane said. “Many people that go to Asia teach English. Not as many people as we would like are studying in the non-traditional places like Asia, but we are working on changing that.” The Study Abroad Fair will take place Sept. 30 in the UC Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.