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Williams’ 18 points spark Vols past Ole Miss

Monday, January 31, 2011

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Issue 13

E D I T O R I A L L Y

Vol. 116

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

UT men’s tennis defeats Clemson 7-0 over weekend PUBLISHED SINCE 1906

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U N I V E R S I T Y

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Legendary north campus cafeteria shuts down Zac Ellis Editor-in-Chief Sophie’s Place, one of the most iconic venues on UT’s campus, permanently closed its doors on Friday as a part of ongoing renovations to Strong Hall dormitories. “Basically, a lot of the campus has moved away from here now,” Charles Brakebill, UT vice president for development emeritus, said. “And with the resident halls closed, (Strong) is going to be offices.”

It was more

than a cafeteria; it

was the social hall.

You came to see and be seen.

– Charles Brakebill, UT vice president for development emeritus on the history of Sophie’s Place

Sophie’s remained in the basement of Strong even after the residence hall closed as student living in 2008 with proposed plans of becoming administrative offices. UT opted to leave Sophie’s open until a replacement dining hall could be completed, and with the Jan. 10 opening of Southern Kitchen in Vol Hall, administrators decided the time was now to close Sophie’s doors. Named after the famed ghost said to haunt the halls

of Strong, Sophie’s first opened in 1925 and is arguably Though Sophie’s was best known for its food selecthe most famous dining hall on UT’s campus. Before the tion, it was the service many students found most memopening of Southern Kitchen in Vol Hall, Sophie’s served orable. as the only dining option for students on the north end “The people at Sophie’s were really nice there,” of campus for many years. Hannah Rust, sophomore in art and psychology, said. Brakebill said Sophie’s was even the premiere dining “But I’ll miss the food, too.” location for students decades ago, when he first stepped Southern Kitchen on the bottom floor of Vol Hall will on campus after World War II. “A lot of students came right through where we’re sitting,” Brakebill said of the cafeteria. “It was more than a cafeteria; it was the social hall. You came to see and be seen. “If you wanted to eat on campus, it was here or Ellis & Ernest Drug store, right in front of where the UC is now.” On Sundays, Sophie’s was once even open to the public, catering to those not affiliated with the UT campus. “The Knoxville church crowds used to line up all the way out the front door,” Brakebill said. “It was the cafeteria,” he said. “I don’t know a better place for food service around these parts back then. There was nowhere else to eat. Clement Hall wasn’t here, but these daormitories were all here. This whole hillside was full of students, big houses all the way up Volunteer Boulevard.” The popularity of Sophie’s has transcended generations, with students today sharing the Zac Ellis• The Daily Beacon same memories of the dining hall as Brakebill’s Students enjoy lunch at Sophie’s Place on Friday, Jan. 28. generation. Even with new options like an updatFriday marked the end of more than 80 years of serving stued Rocky Top Cafe in the UC, several students dents in the Strong Hall cafeteria. admit the down-home feel of Sophie’s cannot be easily replaced. “I’m shocked that it’s closing,” Ryan McGranaghan, now be the primary on-campus dining that is technically senior in aerospace engineering, said. “That was my go- “off-campus,” on the north end of Cumberland Avenue, to place since my freshman year. with the exception of Clement Hall’s Pilot Express store. “I thought it was the best cafeteria food on campus, The dining hall will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and it was very convenient when you had class on the and will accept Dining Dollars, as well as All-Star, for north side of the Hill.” students without meal plans.

Students create UT blogging site Undergrads found, maintain blog site about Tennessee experiences he has recently been researching copyright laws and has begun to handle many legal aspects of the system. Staff Writer Christopher Ruppelt is the graphic Many UT students have seen the flyers designer for the entire Volblogs system and on the billboards, doors, walkways and car is responsible for many aesthetic elements windows on campus advertising Volblogs: a of the website, including the iconic header, new website for student opinions, which which welcomes every visitor who logs on. “Karl came to me in December and said, focuses on general interest, local information and artistic output. However, students ‘I need a logo that has orange in it. The rest may not know the entire blog was created is your choice,’” Ruppelt said. He also aids local businesses in creating and is currently operated by five underads for Volblogs. graduates enrolled at UT. “I had fun applying what I have studied The five students have not only created and learned,” Ruppelt said. a collective place for Clayton Kast, students’ ideas, but advertising sales they are constantly manager, and Kelsey designing and Nuttal, marketing employing a busicoordinator, work in ness plan they hope the public relations to adopt at every uniareas of the system. versity in the country. Kast sells advertiseKarl L. Hughes, a ment spaces to local senior in mechanical companies for the engineering, is the website. creator and system “These are preferadministrator for able over InternetVolblogs and the based ads, because MyUblogs system students have more currently under develinterest in local busiopment. nesses,” Hughes “I had the idea the said. middle of last semesThe students also ter — a group blog of have their own students who give a advertising strategy. snap shot of the uni– Karl L. Hughes, on the “I aim at businessversity in every recently launched Volblogs es that do not nortopic,” Hughes said. mally advertise on “It began in the Internet, and we December, and I have been amazed by the progress we have got- help them integrate to a new market,” Kast said. ten done.” Nuttal, on the other end, aims for the Shortly after the success of the initial blog, Hughes decided the idea was some- students and promotes the website using thing that could be tried nationally, and he viral marketing techniques including chalk, began to work on a business model using a posters and the Internet. The website is currently seeking consystem of “trials and errors through the tributors, creative writers for the art secVolblogs.” Joe Heaton, senior in biology, serves as tions, photographers and marketing content manager and assists Hughes by interns. “We are selective,” Hughes said. “All working with the writers and articles for Volblogs. Heaton said he mostly handles applicants should have some experience and need to send an example of their George Richardson • The Daily Beacon grammatical and proper organization of the work.” blog. Ian Cato, freshman in studio art, jams out on a Wurlitzer organ in the Art and Students can find more information “I feel like my 11th-grade English teachArchitecture Building on Friday, Jan. 21. The organ was just one of several pieces of about Volblogs at volblogs.com. ers sometimes,” Heaton said. He also said art throughout the building that was part of the Charrette.

Christopher Thomas

I had the idea

the middle of last

semester—a group blog of students who give a snap shot of the university.


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