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INSIDE THE DAILY BEACON News Opinion Arts & Culture Sports
Page 2-3 Page 4 Page 5, 7-8 Page 9-12
Issue 27, Volume 124
Friday, September 27, 2013
Campus spider population creeps higher McCord Pagan Copy Editor
Dillon Canfield • The Daily Beacon
Big Orange, big… spiders? According to a WBIR video released on Sept. 13, both exterminators and spider experts have confirmed that Knoxville’s spider population is more vibrant than usual. Junior English major Julie Mrozinski said she has noticed more bugs and spiders around her Fort Sanders house; one spider web persisted in the corner of her room for several weeks of summer. “They’re just everywhere,” Mrozinski said. “On our front and back patios … we have at least a dozen spiders.” Mrozinski, who has lived in the Clinch Avenue house for more than a year, said she has spied many more spiders in her
junior year than she did in 2012, her first in Knoxville. “I didn’t even notice it last year … I never had any insects in my room whatsoever,” Mrozinski said. “And I’ve had three spiders in my room in the past two months.” Experts attribute the increase to an especially wet summer; according to the Powell/ Knoxville weather station, 2013 is set to be one of the wettest years on record, with 45.59 inches of rain already recorded. Knoxville’s yearly average of 40.78 inches has been surpassed by nearly half a foot with three full months still left in the year. Naturally, rain brings insects. “Spiders feed almost exclusively on insects, and insects are really abundant when it’s been raining a lot,” said Susan Riechert, distinguished service
professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. “And so we have huge spider populations, and this time of year is when most of the spiders are maturing, so they’re bigger, more visible.” Riechert has made a career of studying spiders, even serving as the president of the American Arachnological Society from 1983-1985. Through her research, she has realized that spiders pose no real threat to humans, but rather assist in the removal of insects around human populations. “They control insect numbers, that’s what they feed on,” she said. “There’s no spider that feeds on humans.” Riechert took The Daily Beacon on a tour through her lab in the Hesler Building, a room filled with more than
Janie Prathammavong • The Daily Beacon
Susan Riechert has spent more than 40 years researching spiders and keeps more than 3,000 inside plastic bins in her lab, including this tarantula. 3,000 spiders in plastic con- source of food for other, larger tains. She said she does not see species. “There is never going to be any sort of unbalance coming in the local ecosystem, as spi- too much of one species – they ders themselves are a common See SPIDERS on Page 2
College of Law hosts DOMA critique
Pumpkins transform fall flavors Kendall Thompson Contributor
Hayley Brundige Staff Writer
Legally, DOMA is dead, but in Tennessee, it lives on. On Wednesday evening, the UT College of Law hosted Abby Rubenfeld, a prominent marriage equality advocate and Nashville-based lawyer, to reflect on this year’s Supreme Court ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act. “Marriage equality is a really important thing for us to have in Tennessee,” Rubenfeld said. “Whether or not people want to get married, we should have the right. We too should get to suffer the pains of marriage.” DOMA, a legislation instituted in 1996 that defined marriage as strictly between a man and a woman, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in June. However, the antigay marriage amendment in Tennessee’s state constitution still stands. Also found in 35 other U.S. states, Rubenfeld called these amendments “miniDOMAs.” See DOMA on Page 3
Andrew Bruckse • Tennessee Athletics
Senior midfielder Caroline Brown chases after a cross in the Lady Vols match against Texas A&M at Regal Soccer Stadium on Sept. 20. The Lady Vols won 1-0 over the Aggies.
Lady Vols brace for SEC road trip Cody Gross Contributor
After an upset win against Texas A&M, the Tennessee Lady Vols soccer team hopes to continue its momentum on the road this weekend against SEC foes LSU and Alabama. The Vols (6-2-1, 1-0 SEC) began conference play with a 1-0 win last Friday against thenNo. 20 Texas A&M. The Aggies were chosen to win the confer-
ence in the preseason. Senior midfielder Carolina Brown said a win against a nationally respected team like Texas A&M gives the squad confidence going into the weekend. “We are just looking to build off of what we did Friday night and keep that edge that we played with,” Brown said. The edge that Brown mentioned will be important going into the Bayou tonight. Similar
to the LSU faithful that pack the football stadium on Saturdays, the Tigers’ soccer stadium brings a distinct home-field advantage. “I’ve never played at LSU, but I’ve heard from some of our older kids that it’s a very tough place to play,” said UT head coach Brian Pensky. “They send a pretty good crowd out there, and the crowd yells at us and gives us a hard time. It becomes a fun challenge.” The home-field advantage in
Baton Rouge, La., that UT veterans mention is no exaggeration. In four home matches in 2013, the Tigers have shutout their opponent three times. LSU (5-3-1, 1-0) comes into the 8 p.m. game with momentum similar to the Lady Vols. The Tigers defeated Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., last weekend to begin their SEC schedule with a win. See SOCCER on Page 12
WUTK holds fundraiser for faulty transmitter tower Beacon Staff Report TV did not kill the radio star, but a rapidly declining transmitter tower just might. On Tuesday, Oct. 1, WUTK, UT’s college radio station, will host their second annual College Radio Day
event, complete with special programming and live in-studio performances. This year, though, the event will double as a fundraiser, hopefully gathering enough money to make some much-needed improvements. The transmitter tower, spe-
cifically, needs to be replaced, an expense costing approximately $15,000. Garth Malone, a senior journalism and electronic media major currently doing a practicum at WUTK, has been working at the station since spring 2011.
“If we don’t raise the money to make the repairs, the station will loose its terrestrial signal, which would cripple it,” Malone said. “The antenna has been up there since the early 80s and isn’t going to last much longer. The station receives no money from
UT which makes the situation much more dire.” The audio production board, too, needs replacing eventually. This technology costs $10,000. See WUTK RADIO on Page 3
Leaves crunching, comfy sweaters, SEC football and apple cider all point to one undeniable fact. Autumn has fallen. What better way to usher in the season than eating pumpkin-flavored delights? Gigi’s Cupcakes in Turkey Creek has had an influx of pumpkin-related business recently. Their pumpkin white chocolate cupcakes have been extremely popular. “I just sold out of my last pumpkin flavored (cupcake) 10 minutes ago,” said Lindsay Boch, a worker at Gigi’s cupcakes in Turkey Creek. Gigi’s wasn’t the only place running low on supply. Rita’s shaved ice and ice cream shop in Market Square had a similar dilemma: all of their pumpkin cheesecake cream ice had been bought out before 4 p.m. However, some local spots were still in supply to meet the big demand. Orange Leaf, a new frozen yogurt venue that opened in Market Square, features pumpkin pie frozen yogurt. “It’s better (than pie),” said Natasha Wicker, freshman in the school of Arts and Sciences. “I like that it doesn’t have that awkward consistency that pumpkin pie has.” Pumpkin pie yogurt is not the only sweet in the fall spirit. The infamous pumpkin spice lattes have begun to appear in coffee shops across town. The Golden Roast, The Cup Café and Coffee and Chocolate proved no exception. Each took a unique take on the Starbucks-popularized drink. See PUMPKIN on Page 5