Students explore Study Abroad Fair
Long’s Drug Store: Tennessee tradition
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Lady Vol keeps it in the family
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Thursday, September 26, 2013
Issue 26, Volume 124
Prosecutor calls Anthony case ‘immense undertaking’ Hannah Davis Contributor
Samantha Smoak Online Editor A middle class home in a normal Orlando, Fla., neighborhood holds a dark past. Jeff Ashton, prosecutor in the trial of Casey Anthony, spoke to more than 60 students in the UC auditorium Tuesday evening about his experiences with the trial and the uniqueness of the case. “It was a six-week trial and it was an immense undertaking,” Ashton said. Ashton characterized Anthony, who was accused of murdering her then-2-year-old daughter in 2008, as a master of lies. “The hardest thing to do is to consistently maintain a lie over time, because it’s hard to remember things you made up … but not for Casey,” Ashton said. “She’s amazing that way. She can tell these stories and they always come so true because they’re so detailed and … complex.” In Ashton’s opinion, Anthony’s behavior was atypical for a truly distraught mother whose daughter had not been seen for 31 days. During the initial 911 call placed – while the victim’s grandmother can be heard panicking – the victim’s mother remained unemotional. “The … voice you hear (on the 911 call) is a very calm, cool and collected Casey Anthony,” Ashton said. On flyers posted to find her missing child, Anthony is depicted with a big smile, and during the 31 days before
Destinee Dowdy Contributor
Anjali Ramnandanlall • The Daily Beacon
Prosecutor Jeff Ashton shows off the marker-board of witnesses his team called in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Ashton spoke Sept. 24 at the UC and later signed copies of his book, “Imperfect Justice: Prosecuting Casey Anthony.” Caylee – Anthony’s daughter – was reported missing, the mother was photographed participating in a “hottest body” competition at a club that she and her boyfriend frequented. Over the course of a few
months, evidence was compiled to refute Anthony’s allegations, which claimed a babysitter abducted her daughter. Eventually, Anthony accused her father of sexual molestation during her childhood and
the disposal of the body after he found the child drowned in the pool. Ashton claims Anthony consistently lied to investigators and hid the truth. “Typically when you catch
people in a lie, most people will show the evidence of that,” Ashton said. “They’ll start to stutter, they’ll change their facts and eventually they’ll break.” See CASEY ANTHONY on Page 2
Jones welcomes Fulmer back to football practice Garrett Ahmad Contributor Phillip Fulmer has not been to Haslam Field since 2008, his last year as head coach of the Tennessee football team. However, Fulmer returned to the practice field Tuesday, this time as a spectator wearing a dress shirt and tie alongside some of his former players. Head coach Butch Jones allowed Fulmer to speak to his UT squad, where he talked about the history of the program and what it means to play for Tennessee. Jones was thrilled to have the former national championship coach at practice preaching to his team. “It was great to have coach Fulmer at practice today,” Jones said. “He also spoke with the team and had a great message for them. It’s a pride of who we are. We are one Tennessee,
800-plus program wins. So to have him back, I think meant a lot to everyone.” Jones has formed a pleasant relationship with Fulmer, which he uses to improve his knowledge of the game. “Any time you have a resource like Coach Fulmer, we talk football,” Jones said. “We talk a lot of football, just like with Coach Majors, as well. I want to get as much information as I can, on football, on the University of Tennessee (and) their great teams.” Jones emphasizes unity among the past Tennessee players and coaches, and values what they can provide for the program. “It is those relationships with these type of individuals (that) really mean everything to me,” Jones said. “Because people make a place and we have great people here.” See FOOTBALL on Page 5
INSIDE THE DAILY BEACON News Arts & Culture Opinions Sports
City Year mentors help to curb rising dropout rates
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Hudson Forrister • The Daily Beacon
Freshman Maurice Ash sings “I Believe I Can Fly” at Mahogany Soul Cafe in the Black Cultural Center on Sept. 24.
Open mic night highlights talented students, calms fears Victoria Brown Contributor For many, an open mic night is a terrifying situation they hope to avoid at all costs. For Corey Hodge, coordinator of the Mahogany Soul Cafe, it is an opportunity to bring a welcoming community of talented people to the university. “Mahogany Soul is a great event because it’s open for everybody,” Hodge, junior in interdisciplinary programming with a focus in Africana studies, said. “You had blacks, whites, you had males and females, all classes of individuals and people who were older. We definitely had
a great outcome and different mentality.” Mahogany Soul is held once a month on Tuesday nights throughout the semester. It is sponsored by the Office of Minority Student Affairs, and began the series in 2002 to give students a chance to display their talents locally to a group of students and friends. Performers usually sing, rap, read original poetry or perform an instrumental piece. John Ransom, senior in economics, uses the performances to gain exposure for his rapping talents. “I have a mixtape coming out soon,” Ransom said. “And I was
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spreading the word.” Mahogany Soul provides an environment for people to express and grow personally as well. For some, the night gives each a chance to overcome their jitters and nerves. Maya Johnson, freshman in food science and technology with a concentration in predental, said she loves to sing and hopes that with repeated performances she can eventually get over her nerves. “I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be and to have people welcome you to the stage makes you feel even more welcome,” Johnson said. See OPEN MIC NIGHT on Page 3
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Each year, approximately one million kids drop out of school in the United States. City Year, a paid mentorship program, seeks to combat this problem with a unique approach: stationing volunteers as teaching assistants and personal tutors in innercity classrooms to encourage and support struggling students. Currently, four UT graduates are members of the City Year corps of volunteers. On Monday, City Year National Recruitment Manager Tim McGee made a visit to campus to talk about this opportunity, as well as the recruitment process. Focusing primarily on grades 3-9, City Year pools volunteers from universities around the country. “That’s where we recruit; that’s where we find our talent,” McGee said. “We have about 2,700 corps members this year who are all in the classrooms as we speak working, and about 80 percent of them are college graduates.” As one of the UT graduates working for City Year, Gabrielle Clark is working at a high school in south Philadelphia. “I was really interested in nonprofit organizations, and as I researched them, I came across City Year,” Clark said. “I think UT students should definitely apply for City Year because, while we are earning our four-year degree, it is beneficial to give a year to the younger generation and help to change the world. We are the volunteers, so giving a year would be the right thing to do.” Over the course of a year, City Year members work in conjunction with inner-city public schools where students are dropping out at the highest rates in the country. Some of these schools have dropout rates of 50 percent. At the end of their service each City Year member receives a $5,550 Segal Education Award to be used for student loans or graduate school tuition, and is also eligible for scholarships available only to City Year alumni. Currently, there are 25 U.S. locations and two international institutions where students can find tutoring in math and English, hopefully helping them proceed to the next grade level. “We are there before the kids arrive, meeting them as they get of the bus and getting them fired up for a day of learning,” McGee said. “Sometimes we play music and dance, and you’ll find that the students really do respond to it.” See CITY YEAR on Page 2