Former UT professor talks on TVA
Ewing Gallery hosts unique art exhibit
Staff grades UT on loss to Oregon
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Monday, September 16, 2013
Speaker addresses bleak health in Gaza Strip Zach Knott Contributor For many Americans, the Gaza Strip is a talking point or a catchphrase. For 1.7 million Palestinians, it is a prison. Mahmoud Daher, interim head of the World Health Organization office in occupied Palestinian territory, spoke to more than 40 UT students Friday night about the political and health issues the small stretch of land is confronting. “The fact that Gaza is facing, probably, one of the worst public health crises in the world, it sounded like an interesting subject,” Yusef Al-Wadei, a graduate student in public health, said. The Gaza Strip is a Palestinian territory that borders Egypt to the southwest and Israel to the north and to the west. Just months after the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, hundreds of rockets and mortars were fired at Israel. The Gaza Strip’s land borders are blockaded by Israel and Egypt, which prevents the import of supplies and the travel of Gazans. Less than 200 of the region’s 1.7 million residents are permitted to leave the territory daily, Daher said. A special pass must be applied for and approved by the Israeli government to leave for any reason. The blockade also serves to restrict imports to the area. Daher said these restrictions are causes of the growing crisis in the Gaza Strip. The blockades prevent construction materials from coming in to an area with little natural resources, which results in the loss of jobs and preventing the construction of housing and the manufacturing of important technology, such as water purification machines. Gazans are forced to drink potable water brought through the checkpoints by organizations like the WHO. See GAZA STRIP on Page 3
Issue 18, Volume 124
Music to students’ ears Officials cut ribbon on $40M Natalie L. Haslam Music Center Cortney Roark Assistant Arts & Culture Editor UT added another Haslam to the family as a ribbon was cut in commemoration of the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Friday, Sept. 13. The Natalie L. Haslam Music Center is a project worth more than $40 million, Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said at the ceremony. Natalie Haslam and husband Jim Haslam donated over $32.5 million to the school, $10
million of which specifically to the School, which is now the third piece of UT property to hold the Haslam name following the James A. Haslam II Business Building and Haslam Field. More than 200 people watched as Cheek, Gov. Bill Haslam, School of Music director Jeffrey Pappas, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Natalie Haslam and others cut the dedication ribbon. Cheek opened the ceremony followed by words from guests including Gov. Haslam, Pappas,
Alexander and Mrs. Haslam. “We are all amazed by this building,” Natalie Haslam said in a speech before the ribboncutting. “It is truly incredible. It is the answer to a long dream.” The building features the 400seat Sandra G. Powell Recital Hall, the George F. DeVine music library, 45 practice rooms, eight technology-enhanced classrooms, three computer labs, a recording and mixing lab, 40 performance studios, rehearsal rooms and offices.
“It is the most advanced state of the art music education building in the nation,” Cheek said. In addition, the School of Music is now an all-Steinway school – meaning over 90 percent of its pianos were made by the world-renowned company – Theresa Lee, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said. These pianos vary from upright pianos to multiple sizes of grand pianos. See MUSIC BUILDING on Page 2
• Photo courtesy ofAnjali Ramnandanlall
Jim, left, and Natalie Haslam prepare to cut the ribbon at the Natalie L. Haslam Music Center on Sept. 13. Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said the new center had an estimated cost of over $40 million.
Campus workers lobby for improved wages, conditions Hayley Brundige Staff Writer Posters, chanting and outrage. On Friday, 30 members of United Campus Workers and Progressive Student Alliance banded together in front of the Torchbearer in protest, stopping some students walking to class in their tracks. An expression of several goals related to worker’s rights, the rally espoused current UCW initiatives such as raising salaries to a livable wage. Pay raises can be denied by supervisors based on employee performance evaluations, a system criticized by workers and union leaders for its subjective nature. Furthermore, supervisors are not held accountable for the evaluations they write or their behavior toward staff.
“There’s no code of conduct for supervisors on how they treat the employees beneath them,” Thomas Walker, an employee of disability services and a member of UCW’s executive board, said. “So if you want to scream at an employee in front of a bunch of people, that can happen and you won’t get in trouble.” Employees can appeal their performance evaluations and file complaints against their supervisors to higher-ranked UT administration, but the protesters said this can be a time-consuming process that does not always produce results. Missy Murray, the woman who sparked the We Miss Missy campaign, underwent similar strife. After working for Facilities Services for five years, she was unexpectedly moved to the Athletics Department where she had worked for eight months. The athletics building has a repu-
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tation among maintenance workers for having harsh and undesirable working conditions. “Athletics runs 24/7, so that means you might be working Saturday and Sunday,” said Gary Thomas, who resigned from his job cleaning Dougherty Engineering Building due to a disability. “Athletics is where they send you when they want you to quit.” One of five facilities employees that raised their concerns at the “Justice for UT Custodians Speakout” in May of this year, Murray claimed harassment and bullying in the workplace. Despite a multitude of lingering issues, Murray was moved back to McClung Museum, where she “absolutely loved” working until her termination. She was fired on the grounds of “absenteeism,” which, Murray claims, was unfounded. See PROTEST on Page 3
Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon
Students and employees protest the status of maintenance workers’ conditions in front of the Torchbearer on Sept. 13.
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Volunteers crushed by Ducks, 59-14 Associated Press EUGENE, Ore. — All Tennessee coach Butch Jones could do was purse his lips when Oregon scored yet another touchdown on the Volunteers and the Ducks’ fans taunted the team with chants of “S-E-C! S-EC!” When it was over, No. 2 Oregon beat the Vols 59-14, their biggest varsity loss since 1910. “It’s going to take perseverance, it’s going to take resilience,” Jones said after the game. “We have to learn from this and move forward.” Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota threw for a career-high 456 yards with four touchdowns, becoming the first Oregon quarterback to throw for more than 400 yards in a game since Kellen Clemens in 2005. The sophomore quarterback’s yardage ties for the third-most in a game in school history. Justin Worley completed 13 of 25 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Volunteers, who opened the season with easy wins over Austin Peay and Western Kentucky. But Tennessee could not keep up with the speedy Ducks, who had 687 yards in total offense compared to 316 for the Vols. Oregon was the first of a tough stretch for the Volunteers: No. 18 Florida, No. 9 Georgia, No. 13 South Carolina and No. 1 Alabama are among Tennessee’s next five opponents. Running back Rajion Neal echoed Jones in saying that the Vols had to put this loss behind them. Quickly. “Take the criticism, take the coaching, watch the film, learn from it and move on,” Neal said. The Vols went up 7-0 early when Tennessee drove 80 yards in six plays and scored on Worley’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Jason Croom. After a 38-yard field goal by Matt Wogan, Oregon pulled in front 10-7 on Mariota’s 16-yard pass to freshman tight end Johnny Mundt. Mariota extended the lead with a 9-yard TD run before hitting Josh Huff with a 54-yard scoring pass. De’Anthony Thomas added a 28-yard scoring run for the Ducks before halftime. Tennessee defensive lineman Trevarris Saulsberry was helped from the field following the TD, but it was unclear how he was hurt. Mariota found Mundt again with a 17-yard scoring pass early in the second half, before Byron Marshall ran 11 yards for a touchdown to make it 52-7 and Oregon pulled most of its starters. Freshman Thomas Tyner ran for a 2-yard score to close out the third quarter. Alden Hill’s 8-yard touchdown run for Tennessee provided the final margin. “I think they are very deserving of where they’re ranked,” Jones said. “I think they’re very well deserving of all the accolades that they’ve received.”