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Summitt, Lady Vols go for SEC Championship Thursday.
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Wednesday, March 4, 2009 Issue 38
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Program to suffer from professor’s departure Saxophone students to leave with professor; economic crisis prevents search for new teacher Bridgette Orten Staff Writer University-wide budget cuts have hit the School of Music. Connie Frigo, a saxophone professor at UT School of Music, is leaving UT to take a job at the University of Maryland, and she is taking the majority of the saxophone program with her. Although the normal response would be a national search, the money for such a search does not exist. “There are no concrete candidates at this point and unfortunately because of the budget crisis, there is not money enough to pursue a search,” Ben Robinette, senior in saxophone performance, said. Robinette said many of the students in the saxophone studio
solely based their decision to come to UT to study with Frigo. “Some of the people who were going to be remaining here solely for the reason of studying with Connie are now suddenly faced with the decision of following her to go somewhere else or take their chances and stay here,” Robinette said. There are currently less than 20 students in the UT saxophone studio. Only two students are remaining in the studio at this point as others are either graduating, transferring with Frigo or going to other schools. One of those two students, Frank Zimmerer, junior in music education and studio music and jazz, said he is worried about the saxophone program. “The biggest concern is where the saxophone students
will be next year,” Zimmerer said. “Are there going to be enough saxophonists to play in the ensembles, the quartets or to even be a studio?” Recruiting students for a program without a professor at this current time is highly unlikely. “Who would come here and not know who the teacher is? No serious student would do that,” Jane Marsilio, graduate student in the saxophone studio, said. Frigo has been the drawing factor for the program for the past four years, her students said, and without her, the program is expected to drop off sharply. “The band program is going to be really zealously recruiting for the saxophone, but without Connie here, I can assure you that efforts are going to be in
vain for the most part,” Robinette said. “The name of Connie Frigo is as widespread as it gets in the saxophone community largely because of her immense pedagogical abilities, and she is cited as one of the finest saxophone teachers worldwide.” Many of Frigo’s students were devastated to hear she was leaving. However, the University of Maryland will offer her the opportunities she deserves, Marsilio said. “It’s definitely a better deal for her,” Marsilio said. “She’s really pro-active, and Maryland is going to give her more opportunities for things she wants to do.” Frigo is known for having a strong work ethic and an incredible drive for accomplishment,
Robinette said. “Not only has she forged all of us into fine performers and fine rehearsers and fine technicians, but she has also provided us with entrepreneurship skills, the ability to market ourselves, the ability to get other people excited about the music that we are playing and the contributions that we are making in the artistic community,” Robinette said. Frigo’s influence extends beyond the walls of her studio at UT and into her students’ personal lives, Zimmerer said. “Dr. Frigo was not only a great saxophone teacher but a great life counselor, a great teacher in other aspects of music or just to talk to her and be inspired by her, her life and her career,” Zimmerer said.
Fire department claims arson in local elementary school fire Kate Greer Staff Writer Captain D.J. Corcoran from the Knoxville Fire Department confirms the fire at Thackston Branch Elementary School at 901 22nd St. was arson. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 21 and began dousing the flames. They found a “foreign substance” that was sent to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in Nashville for testing. TBI declared arson based on the evidence. Mike Sherrell, executive director of UT Facilities Services, said, “It’s pretty much gutted — a total loss. The worst damage is in the middle on the backside of the house.” That is where Sherrell thinks the fire started. “It’s a terrible loss,” Sherrell continued. “One of those things you never guess would happen.” Corcoran said he thinks that anyone could have started the fire for a number of reasons, from mentally disturbed people to pyromaniacs who enjoy watching things burn. He said, however, that Thackston Branch Elementary School is an unlikely candidate for a normal arsonist. Corcoran said the state regulates the fire safety codes in buildings. “Just from what I saw while I was over there … I’m assuming that they had all the codes met,” Corcoran said. Corcoran said the school lost everything inside the two houses that combined to form Thackston Branch Elementary School. Judy Wright, owner of the school, had sold the property to UT as of April 2008. Since then, she has leased the property with plans to move to another location, Sherrell said. Her original plan was to relocate by the end of July. “That is obviously out of the question now,” Sherrell said. The school has received an outpouring of donations since the fire, such as books, toys and other needed supplies. The students’ mascot, a bearded lizard named Elliot, died in the fire. He has been replaced by Elliot Jr., another bearded lizard donated by the Critter Barn pet store. If one would like to donate to Thackston School, the donation line is (865) 689-3016. Corcoran said this is an ongoing investigation and encourages anyone who may know of any leads in capturing the arsonist, please call Knoxville arson bureau at (865) 637-1386.
Michael Gratton • The Daily Beacon
Freshman softball pitcher Cat Hosfield from Murfreesboro threw against Boston College during the game on Tuesday, Mar 3. Hosfield was chosen as one of the top 19-under pitchers in the nation by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
OIT to offer Google blog training course Sarah Waldrip Staff Writer UT’s Office of Information Technology is adding a new class designed to teach students about Google blogging. OIT Technical Trainer Steve Chastain will be teaching this class, which is free to all students. He said the OIT Training Team hopes that more students will start participating so that even more classes can be offered, such as podcasting, which Chastain said OIT hopes to add soon. Chastain is also a professional photographer, and he said he understands the importance of students learning to use the Internet to their advantage in their careers. “Unfortunately, many students don’t discover the benefits of training classes until graduate school or just before graduation when they’re looking for jobs,” he said. The OIT training team offers a wide range of classes in six different categories: Quick Classes, Creative Design, Web Design,
Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite and Research Computing. This “Blog It” course is found in the Quick Classes category. According to the OIT Training Team Web site, this class can help students learn places to get free blog accounts, how to set up a blog, how to post blogs using different applications and more. Adam Deitz, a sophomore working for OIT Customer Technical Support, said, “Lots of people are blogging. It’s really popular, and there are also lots of classes that require you to learn to use programs like Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint for certain assignments.” Deitz added, “The problem is that the students aren’t learning how to use the programs for helpful, every day, common uses.” The OIT Customer Service Manager Bruce Delaney said he is excited about the new class. “All of our classes, including this one, are very hands-on,” Delaney said. “The students are going to receive excellent instruction with all the necessary tools provided.”
Deitz said the classes are usually relaxed and not too long, and that they always try to focus on what will help students the most. “Our instructors are fantastic,” Deitz said. “They are just so much fun to be around. And you don’t need any prior knowledge, because there are classes for both beginners and experienced users.” Delaney said students are a very large part of how and why these classes are created. “With all the classes we teach, there is a survey,” he said. “On the survey, one of the questions we ask is ‘What would you like to learn how to do?’ Our surveys have shown that we receive a 3.8 on a four-point scale of satisfaction from our customers after they have completed one of our courses.” Course registration is online, and the classes are staggered in order to accommodate students’ schedules, Delaney said. More information, including schedules, can be found on the OIT Technology Training Web site at http://web.utk.edu/~training.