“There was no smooth way of [enforcing] it. In terms of ten feet or twenty feet away from the building, people still complain about it.”

THE OORACLEVolume 93 | Issue 1 | February 5, 2010Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505

Smoke free, tobacco free TechSmoke free, tobacco free Tech

-- Ed Boucher, Dean of Studentsreferring to the old tobacco policy

Campus bus service to arrive at Tech mid-monthPRESS RELEASE

As of Jan. 1, students, fac-ulty, staff and all visitors will no longer be allowed to smoke or use any tobacco products in university buildings and grounds, TTU affi liated off-campus locations and facili-ties, and all state vehicles.

Previously, smoking was restricted to outdoor areas at least 25 feet beyond exterior doors. But now smoking out-doors on campus will not be allowed. Tobacco usage will be permitted only in private vehicles.

Douglas Airhart, a mem-ber of TTU’s building and grounds committee, said the new policy resulted from a grassroots effort from TTU community members who had visited other college campuses with no-smoking, no-tobacco policies.

“The university made the decision to promote a healthy, sanitary environment free from all smoke and tobacco-related debris,” Airhart said.

Sean Ochsenbein, TTU’s SGA president and a student TBR member, said many stu-dents he’s talked to support the new policy. All 36 SGA senators voted to support the initiative.

“This is the right move at the right time for Tennessee Tech,” said Ochsenbein. “We

IN THIS EDITIONBooker, Townsendface off on tobacco

policy - Page 2

EDITORIAL & OPINION

>> More content on tntechoracle.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Movie Talk: Edge of Darkness

- Page 8ONLINE @

TNTECHORACLE.COM

SPORTSRifl e team heads to OVCchampionship - Page 5

>> Career Services starts semester with resume workshop>> Tech students turn to armed forces for employment>> Outstanding Tech Alumni to be recognized

Students will soon be able to hop on a bus to get to class, go to the movie theater and go shopping when the city’s new bus service begins in February.

The best part? Rides are free with a TTU student I.D.

The service—called CATS or the Cookeville Area Tran-sit System—is part of a new city bus service offered by the Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency.

The Purple Route, dedi-cated to campus, the Cookev-ille Regional Medical Center area and Tech Village, will wind its way around campus and offer seven stops, plus fl ag down areas, for Tennes-see Tech students.

During the day, students can transfer to the Green Route, the main city route, to go to restaurants, shopping centers, grocery stores and other popular locations. The transfer point will be located on the Purple Route stop at CRMC on Cedar Avenue.

On evenings and week-ends, Green Route adds stops at the movie theater, TTU’s

Clement Hall and hotels lo-cated near Bunker Hill Road.

Purple Route stops are marked with CATS signs; the bus also will stop in ar-eas where the speed limit is less than 20 mph if a student waves for service.

Look for the bus with cat ears and whiskers on the front. The colorfully wrapped buses will also sport a TTU logo.

Buses will run from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. on Friday. Saturday service will be from 3 p.m. until 11 p.m. Buses will not run on Sunday.

Students must show a TTU I.D. in order to ride at no charge. Without an I.D., the ride is $1. This service is provided to current TTU students as a part of their on-campus housing and campus access benefi ts.

In addition, faculty and staff can ride for free.

CATS will begin opera-tion in mid-February. For more information and regu-larly updated bus routes, visit www.uchra.com/cats.

PRESS RELEASEArt by BRANIMIR RAKIC

are leading the way in creat-ing a healthy environment for students. Government and private agencies have docu-mented second-hand smoke as a cancer-causing agent, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be a tobacco-free campus.”

Other Tennessee Board of Regents universities have similar policies. East Tennes-see State University and TTU are the only two “no-smok-ing, no-tobacco” campuses.

TTU Human Resources, Health Services and Counsel-ing Center offer information to those who may wish to stop using tobacco.

By JENDA WILSONStaff Writer

New TBR plan will reshape core curricula

Tech will soon be imple-menting several changes across campus—some oc-curring as early as next se-mester—as part of a massive overhaul of Tennessee’s high-er education.

This fall, students at Tech—or any other four-year college—will not be able to take any developmental class-es taught by the University. Instead, students will be able to take them at local commu-nity colleges while still being enrolled at Tech.

“We would like for stu-dents who must enroll in remedial or developmental classes to be able to take these classes on campus, they will just be taught by a professor from a local community col-lege,” President Bob Bell said. “They would still be consid-ered a student at Tech and would still be able to live and participate on campus. They would also be students at a local community college, sim-ilar to a dual enrollment.”

Bell hopes that this pro-posal for students to attend both types of higher educa-tion will foster partnerships between the University and local community colleges like Volunteer State in Livingston or Nashville State in Cookev-ille.

If a student at a two-year school decided to enroll at

Tech, they would tell their ad-viser, who would then contact the University. Depending on that student’s area of study, Tech would then assign them an adviser who would edu-cate them on what core class-es to take, which credits will transfer, and what their class schedule would be like once they transferred as a junior.

This partnered system is designed to make transferring between a community college and Tech more seamless and cohesive.

Transferring from anoth-er four-year school to Tech is predicted to be easier because of the implementation of a statewide master plan. This plan, currently in the forma-tion process, will help each school emphasize its aca-demic strengths while reduc-ing overlapping or competing degree offerings.

It will also create a stan-dardized general education core of 41 hours, which all universities in the University of Tennessee and TBR sys-tems must agree upon.

“It will help make all of us in the University of Ten-nessee and Tennessee Board of Regents systems clear on what will be allowed to trans-fer,” Bell said. “This should help clear up a lot of the con-fusion that can arise when a student tries to transfer across systems.”

Bell went on to speculate

See “TBR“, page 6

See page 6 for a map of the Purple Route

By CHRISTINE SEIBERManaging Editor

“There should be smoking areas.”

-- Courtney Clifford, senior public relations major

“I like the ban because I’m sick of smoke being blown in my face when I walk out of a building. But an all-out ban seems a little extreme.”

-- Scott Lucas, junior computer science information technology major

“The ban has made the stigma surrounding smokers worse.

I’m conscious about how I smell like smoke.”

-- Joy Buongiono, junior biology major

“It’s nice to walk into a building without having to hold my breath anymore.”

-- Will Housley, Assistant Managing Editor

“I don’t like it. It reduces workplace productivity because

I have to walk to my vehicle just for a smoke.”

-- Tech employee who wished to remain anonymous

“If you’re over 18, the United States deems it legal to smoke. How can Tech say you can’t?”

-- Erik Petersen,sophomore business major

“I’m a smoker, but I think [the ban] is a good thing...just so

I don’t have to smell it.”

-- Crystal Jackson,sophomore education major

Students, staff sound off about new tobacco policy

The consensus among surveyed students is that there should be designated smoking areas, such as parking lots and North Patio.

There have been many unanswered questions about the new tobacco-free policy that came into effect here at Tech on Jan. 1 of the New Year. A number of students I know smoke, therefore I have heard a lot of complaints fi rst hand. No tobacco use is al-lowed on campus, except in a personal vehicle.

Tech isn’t the only school prohibiting tobacco, accord-ing to the tobacco informa-tion page on the university web-site. Tech is sim-ply following other Board of Regents universities, as well many private and public universities across the nation.

Most of which do not provide students with a designated smoking area.

Firstly, how can this rule really be enforced campus wide? Tech police can’t be everywhere at once, and I’d hope they’d be more con-cerned about the safety of the students and staff than catch-ing people with cigarettes.

Secondly, many students do not own a personal vehi-cle, which means they need to walk to a public place to smoke. It is fair to move away from doors to prevent second-hand smoke exposure to non-smokers, asthmatic people, and pregnant women.

However, smoking out-side in the open air away from passerby on campus should not be a privilege. It’s a social liberty says Alyssa Stanford, a freshman who states, “I com-pletely understand the health hazards that correlate with it [tobacco use] however Tech didn’t provide me or other smokers with a shelter or des-ignated area.”

This policy is prohibit-ing students from making their own personal choices.

ing that any individual PEL would be exceeded.”

If you still don’t buy the idea that under certain levels secondhand smoke is relative-ly safe for non-smokers, think about the fact that emissions from the cars on campus pose much more of a health risk than second-hand smoke.

The risk of cancer from secondhand smoke is sig-nifi cantly lower than that of exposure to pollutants from our gas tanks. Benzene is a highly toxic pollutant present in fuel emissions. In fact, 90% of air pollution’s cancer risks come from motor vehicles

according to the Alternative Fuels Institute.

As for pas-sive tobacco use, such as chewing tobacco or “dip”,

it is really u n k n o w n why this is not per-mitted on

campus. Of course smok-ing causes offense due to the health risks of second-hand smoke. However, chewing tobacco has zero effect on the air quality and produces no health risks to anyone other than the person partaking actively.

Using tobacco is a person-al choice not the decision of the University which we pay to attend and live within the facilities. It is a requirement to live on campus until junior year unless you are a com-muter who lives at home.

If you are legally an adult, it is outrageous to be told to smoke elsewhere when you must live on campus.

We aren’t in middle school. We are college stu-dents capable of making our own decisions and taking re-sponsibility for the health con-sequences that may result.

It is widely believed that this rule is to make students quit smoking. In fact, the web site provides an 800 number for people having trouble quitting.

Yes, people should be outside, and of course no one should be subjected to second-hand smoke. I un-derstand that smoking is a dangerous habit and causes serious health problems. Personally, I am not condon-ing tobacco use. However, a designated smoking area on campus where students can smoke outside is a very rea-sonable suggestion.

Why is it such a diffi cult task to have smoking areas? Because it is commonly be-lieved that secondhand smoke at any level on campus will affect the health of students. Though anyone can cross the street and smoke legally, it wouldn’t be any different to smoke on campus in a desig-nated section except it would be much more convenient.

I did a little research on secondhand smoke to deter-mine at what distance some-one could smoke without negatively affecting the health of non-smokers in the area.

In a letter to Leroy J. Pletten, Greg Watchman from OSHA states, “Field stud-ies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the com-ponents in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing Permissible Exposure Levels (PELS.) as referenced in the Air Contaminant Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000)...It would be very rare to fi nd a work-place with so much smok-

Page 2 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

SARAH TOWNSEND

Asst. Editorial Editor

EMILY BOOKER

Editorial Editor

Walking across South Patio the other day, I took a deep breath, glad my nose and lungs were full of crisp winter air instead of burning tobacco. As a non-smoker, the tobacco ban on campus means no more holding my breath as I dash through a cluster of smokers on my way to class.

But the ban was not cre-ated just for my breathing pleasure. It was implemented because tobacco is a substance that is a health hazard and has no place on campus (except of course, personal vehicles, and I would suggest keeping the windows rolled up).

People over the age of 18 have every right to purchase, chew, and smoke tobacco. But the university also has a right to limit where on cam-pus tobacco is allowed. Many colleges have banned tobacco on their campuses in the past few years. According to USA Today, the number of schools with a total smoking ban has tripled since 2007.

Tech has made this move in efforts to make the campus and its students healthier. Aren’t people always com-plaining that the university doesn’t care about student? Well here is proof that it does.

An activity such as smok-ing does not affect the user alone. Secondhand smoke af-fects all of those close by, not to mention leaves a smoky smell lingering in the air and on personal items. If a smoker doesn’t mind the un-healthy habit, it can pursue it where it doesn’t interfere with everyone else’s learning atmosphere.

Earlier rules already banned smoking around buildings, specifi cally 25 feet away from doorways so oth-ers could come and go with-out unwillingly inhaling sec-

Read more editorial content

online

www.tntechoracle.com

Atmosphere is better with tobacco ban

“

”

We are college students capable of making our own decisions and taking responsibility for the health

consequences that may result.

-- Sarah TownsendAsst. Editorial Editor

OPINION

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Tennessee Technological University--nondiscrimina-tory on the basis of sex in its educational programs and activities including employ-ment and admission of students to the University as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and regulations based therein and published in CFR, part 86. Tennessee Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Affi rmative Action Employer.

CHRISTINE SEIBERCHRISTINE SEIBERManaging EditorManaging Editor

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BEAT REPORTERS:BEAT REPORTERS: Erica Betschart, Ellie Boles, Courtney Clifford, Matt Davis, Erica Betschart, Ellie Boles, Courtney Clifford, Matt Davis, Justin Duke, Casey Elrod, Jordan Farrell, Darrel Ferris, Christina Gillim, Kayla Justin Duke, Casey Elrod, Jordan Farrell, Darrel Ferris, Christina Gillim, Kayla Gulley, Karla Hammac, Hannah Harris, Ross Harvey, Lauren Huxford, Brandon Gulley, Karla Hammac, Hannah Harris, Ross Harvey, Lauren Huxford, Brandon Jelson, Christopher Jones, Dhir Joshi, Jonathan Kaulay, Samantha Kendall, Jelson, Christopher Jones, Dhir Joshi, Jonathan Kaulay, Samantha Kendall, David Lane, Gerilyn Lemons, Leasa McCall, Amber McCarty, Amanda Miller, David Lane, Gerilyn Lemons, Leasa McCall, Amber McCarty, Amanda Miller, Bailey Morgan, Aleksandr Peterson, Jonathan Pierce, Ashlee Polk, Brittney Bailey Morgan, Aleksandr Peterson, Jonathan Pierce, Ashlee Polk, Brittney Robinson, Nicholas Rollins, Jessica Smith, Brandon Stephenson, Evan Taylor, Robinson, Nicholas Rollins, Jessica Smith, Brandon Stephenson, Evan Taylor, Laura Vaught, Dakota Weatherford, Geri Anna Wilson, Jenda WilsonLaura Vaught, Dakota Weatherford, Geri Anna Wilson, Jenda Wilson

ondhand smoke. This rule was not always followed by some, which is perhaps why there is now a stricter ban.

It will also be effective in reducing a particular type of litter on campus. I know there are plenty of smokers who are courteous enough to not toss their cigarette butts on the ground, but a lot do.

What is it that makes a discarded butt less of a crime than a candy wrapper or paper cup? Nothing. And the ban will reduce cigarette butts littered on the steps of dorms and across South Patio.

I know I have been fo-cusing more on smokers than chewers, and that’s because it’s the smoke that sticks to my clothes and irritates my nose. But both are unhealthy habits, and the university does not have to accommo-date for it.

I can only hope the ban will help some smokers and chewers break their habits before their health suffers further. In case you haven’t heard, tobacco use is hazard-ous to your health.

A 2004 Study by the CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion found that cigarette smoke contains at least 69 chemicals which are known to cause cancer.

Approximately 440,000 Americans die each year

from smoking-related prob-lems, many of them long, painful respiratory illness.

Chewers face different but just as serious problems. Oral and throat cancer af-fects 30,000 Americans a year, and only have survived more than fi ve years after being diagnosed.

For those lucky enough to escape cancer, there is tooth and gum decay and damage to the bone structure of the jaw.

Polonium 210, formal-dehyde, nicotine, cadmium, cyanide, arsenic, benzene, and lead are found in tobacco products.

Remember the ruckus about lead found in children’s toys from China? Imagine eating that lead with about 100 different toxins daily. Why should the university condone such self-distructive behavior?

People over the age of 21 can purchase and consume alcohol, but alcohol is also banned on campus. Weapons are also banned, whether they even if they are pur-chased legally. The tobacco ban is no different. It’s not to punish smokers and chewers. It’s to make campus a cleaner, healthier place to learn.

So take a deep, fresh breath and enjoy a tobacco-free campus.

Signs posted on doors remind everyone on campus that all tobacco products are banned.

The offi cial No Smoking and Tobacco-Free Campus Policy may be read in its entirety on the Tech Web site.O

O

By WILL HOUSLEYAsst. Managing Editor

Tech police are search-ing for suspects and looking for ways to prevent future vandalism after responding to two incidents in one morn-ing.

According to a Tech po-lice report fi led on Jan. 26, a faculty member found graffi ti in the east stairwell of Foster Hall, between the second and third fl oors at approximately 7:35 a.m.. A similar incident was reported at Memorial Gym at 7:03 a.m..

Vandalism incidents rise on campus

online edition

www.tntechoracle.com

Page 3 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

NEWS

techtech@eventseventsFebruary

-- tntech.edu/calendar

0911 a.mFree photo key chains,Valentine cookiesRUC, fi rst fl oor

115:30 p.m.Women’s Basketball v. Murray State

7 - 9 p.m.Eyes on the Prize:America at the RacialCrossroads, 1965-1985Volpe Library, rm. 110

7:30 p.m.Men’s Basketball v.Murray State

10Last day to participatein Resume E.R.Prescott Hall, secondfl oor conference room

135:30 p.m.Women’s Basketball v.UT Martin

7:30 p.m.Men’s Basketball v. UT Martin

142 p.m.Holly Sanders: Bassoon RecitalBFA, WattenbargerAuditorium

Upon further investiga-tion, Lt. Donald Frazier found a portrait of a face on a hall-way wall on the third fl oor and another on the door of a residence hall room on the fi rst fl oor.

“We believe they are tied together,” he said. “They were all the same color paint and same type of graffi ti.”

Since the beginning of the semester, four reports of van-dalism have been fi led. Fra-zier stated that it is among the top reported crimes on cam-pus. He said he is adamant about fi nding the responsible party because clean up of the

damages is paid for out of student fees.

“Vandalism is a grow-ing problem on campus, a few months ago [Sept. 19] we found gang signs on gen-erators near the old nursing building and Cookeville po-lice found the same signs at the Regional Health Center,” Frazier said.

Several students fi led re-ports last semester that their vehicles had foul words and pictures painted on them.

Yet another complainant reported that a larger group of cars and some campus property had been defaced.

At least six more vehicles had been vandalized with the same type of paint on North Whitney Avenue. Cookeville police then reported that The Regional Health building, along with brick enclosures, sidewalks, and electrical box-es, was painted on as well.

To report evidence, con-tact Tech police at (931) 372-3234, or stop by the police department at 845 N. Dixie Ave.

The Putnam County Crime Stoppers offi ce is offer-ing a reward for any informa-tion leading to the arrest of the responsible party. It can be reached at (931) 520 - STOP (7867).

As of press time, the graffi ti in Foster Hall has not been removed. For offi cial campus crime updates, visit www.tntech.edu/police/police-crimelogs.

Courtesy of University Police

O

By JAMES SCHIERMEYER

Assistant Sports Editor

Tech’s Bragga named Coach of the Year

Track team opens season

Page 4 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

SPORTS

The Tech track team will open its season Saturday in Nashville at the Tennessee State University Indoor Invite. The start time has yet to be determined, but the match will take place at the Wilma Rudolph Indoor Track at the Gentry Center.

Golden Eagles stay close to home; only one match out of stateBy ERIKA BETSCHARTStaff Writer

The Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association named Tennessee Tech baseball coach Matt Bragga the Coach of the Year at their annual awards luncheon last month.

“I am absolutely honored by this award,” Bragga said. “It can’t happen without the guys on the fi eld. You have to have the right pieces in place and a great team effort in order to win an individual award.”

The Golden Eagles won the Ohio Val-ley Conference Tournament and eliminated #14 Alabama in the Clemson Regional last season, before fi nishing 31-24-1. It was the fi fth time in history a Golden Eagles’ baseball team fi nished with more than 30 wins and the second consecutive season, a Tech fi rst. Tech had two players named to the all-OVC team, and six on the all-tournament team includ-ing tourney MVP A.J. Kirby-

Tech’s athletic depart-ment recently offered a cash prize for students to attend university sporting events. The most supportive group display at the remaining home basketball games would win $250 to use at their discretion. While I ap-plaud the efforts of adminis-trators and staff members to increase athletic event atten-dance, I found myself won-dering why Tech’s students needed help supporting their fellow student-athletes in the fi rst place.

My fi rst semester on campus, I was amazed at the support provided to our athletes. Opponents knew

they were in hostile terri-tory when it would blizzard toilet paper across the fl oor. Cheers, chants and taunts were started by the student section, and they didn’t quit the entire contest. You had to scream in order to hear the person next to you because the noise was so deafening.

The Eblen Center should be packed for every home game, men and women. Tucker Stadium should shake with the amount of noise coming from the student section. The Averitt Express Baseball Complex should be heard for miles during each home game. We need to make every

other Ohio Valley Confer-ence school tremble in fear when they see @ Tech on the schedule.

We have the opportunity to start something great. Together we can make Tech the most hostile venue in the OVC. Neyland Stadium was not built with 100,000 plus fans already inside. The Cameron Crazies didn’t just happen overnight. There was a conscience effort made by the students and alumni to create the best atmosphere possible for their athletes to succeed. We can bring an at-mosphere to Cookeville that will make every other OVC school jealous of our fans.

We need to begin a new tradition of overwhelming athletic support, and not just for a half either. It’s a hollow victory when an entire student body leaves after halftime like last year’s football homecoming game. There were as many if not more Tennessee State fans in our stadium, IN OUR STA-DIUM, because most of the student section left after half-time and homecoming court announcements. We should have all been ashamed for abandoning our fellow class-mates, our student-athletes that represent us.

There are three more doubleheaders left for stu-dent groups to come support their Golden Eagles this bas-ketball season. Three more chances to win money. More importantly, three opportu-nities to alert the OVC that the Eblen Center is back and ready to rock.

Just a Bit Outside

Jones.“You have to have team

success to have individual achievements,” Bragga said. “I’m very fortunate to be sur-rounded by a great coaching staff that deserves a lot of credit also.”

Known for their solid fundamental play, the Gold-en Eagles increased their win total each season from 2005 to 2008 before captur-

ing the OVC title in 2009. Their success on the fi eld has also carried over to the classroom as 19 play-ers were named to last year’s Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and fi ve to the OVC Commission-er’s Honor Roll.

The college base-ball season starts later this month and

Tech will embrace a new role, the hunted.

“It’s one of those things that shows our program is continuing to make huge strides,” Bragga said.

The fi rst home stand is Feb. 26-28 against Cleveland State and admission is free to every home game through-out the season.

Bragga

By JAMES SCHIERMEYER

Assistant Sports Editor

A “perfect storm” could be brewing for basketball fans Thursday night which would rock Eblen Center. It could mean huge, deafening waves of noise that threaten to sink mighty Murray State.

And, Tech students can be the big winners in the stands in addition to the bas-ketball teams on the fl oor.

“We have many, many things planned for Thursday night, and everything is be-ing especially geared toward Tech’s students,” said Misty Pearson, TTU Director of Corporate Sales. “It should make for a really fun night and two great basketball games.”

Tech’s attendance num-bers have been growing in the past few weeks, espe-cially the support of students who have been turning out with high levels of spirit in a quest of cash prizes while supporting the Golden Eagle teams.

The Golden Eagles have responded with some of their best play of the season, including a four-game win streak for the men’s team and a 7-3 home record for the young women’s team.

Murray State, mean-while, comes to town as the hottest men’s team in the OVC – one of the hottest in the nation. The Racers are currently the only 20-game winner in the league and have won 17 OVC games in a row.

Like the movie that told the tragic tale of several Maine fi shermen, those three ingredients could combine to form a “perfect storm” of

lots of noise in the seating sections just above the Tech Pep Band. At the Austin Peay game, the students’ many stomachs spelled out “Tennessee Tech Univer-sity: We’re going to beat the Peay out of you” and at another game, al of them were painted with a “30” and facial hair in tribute to senior Frank Davis as he broke a school record.

Other groups have been just as visible and just as loud in claiming the prize, which is awarded in the fi nal minutes of the men’s contest.

The doors of Eblen Cen-ter will be open at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, with the women’s game scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Both games will also be taped by WCTE TV with delayed telecast later that night.

Tech students are admitted free to all regular season home games with a valid TTU ID. For questions regarding Pack The House Night or Think Pink, or for ticket information, contact the Athletics Department at 372-3940.

Pack The House and Think Pink Thursday night

Golden Eagle support to sub-due both Murray State teams when they visit for an OVC doubleheader.

“Our student fans have been sensational the past few weeks,” said men’s head coach Mike Sutton. “There’s no question that they have been the “sixth man” for our team. They have been enthu-siastic and noisy, and they’ve really helped create an atmo-sphere of excitement. Seeing and hearing fans get into the game is one of the best things about college basketball.”

To help add to the excite-ment, the Athletics Depart-ment is hosting two special events that night. Both are national initiatives by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, and are sup-ported by the Tech women’s staff and team.

It will be “Pack The House” Night as each wom-en’s team attempts to break its own school attendance record. The largest crowd to watch a Tech women’s game is 6,113 (vs. Middle Tennes-see in 1990), so it will take a massive effort from the student body, the Tech com-munity, and the Cookeville area fans to top that mark.

Women’s basketball fi rst-year head coach Sytia Messer has also selected the game against Murray State on Thursday to be Tech’s “Think Pink” Night, an effort to help increase awareness of breast cancer in order to save lives.

“These are all important games for our team right now,” Messer said. “The ‘Pack The House’ promotion

is important for our team, and we’re looking forward to a great turnout.

“The other event - ‘Think Pink’ – is so important because raising awareness for the latest developments in breast cancer research and treatment, that’s obviously more important than the game itself,” she said. “The larger the crowd that night, the greater the number of people who will have the op-portunity to learn something that could save lives.

“Every one of our play-ers and coaches is excited about the opportunity to play a role in ‘Think Pink’,” Messer said.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game in increase visibility of the color associated with fi nding a cure for the disease. The Golden Eagle players will be wearing pink pregame warm-ups and pink shoe-laces.

Every fan into the arena will receive a gift from Chick-fi l-A, ranging from free food items to stuffed

cows. A special promotion during the game will also allow one TTU student a chance to win free Chick-fi l-A meals for a year.

Another Athletics spon-sor, US Cellular will pass out free rally towels to fans and also have an on-court promo-tion for a Tech student.

All promotions through-out the game will be geared toward Tech students, rang-ing from the Wendy’s Meal or No Meal to Pepsi’s Are You A Rock Star.

There will also be the customary cash drop into the stands plus the popu-lar $250 cash prize for the student group exhibiting the most spirit. Student groups are asked to bring a sign or banner identifying them as a group, and to be in the stands no later than halftime of the women’s game.

At the most recent home games, student groups have made a huge difference in the atmosphere.

One group of male students has come shirtless and painted up, making

PRESS RELEASE

Sophomore Emily Weinzetl said, “The team has been working out since the second day of school in Au-gust. We pretty much use the entire year to prepare for the season.”

This year, Tech will be hosting the Ohio Valley Conference cham-pionship at the end of April. The Golden Eagles rarely get the opportu-nity to compete on their home track. “I think it’s really great, especially for the teammates that are graduating this year,” said Weinzetl. “I’m hoping that it will bring in more money for the program and let people know

what we are actually doing. We’re just kind of there to everyone else, so now that we will be competing on campus I’m hoping that it will help the team a lot,” said Weinzetl.

Tech placed the bar high at last season’s OVC Championships and looks to continue to shatter school records. Last year Weinzetl, along with Keri Light, Tiffany Palmer and Stephanie Place, set a new school record for distance medley with a mark of 12:21.09. “My main goal is to be able to score at the conference meet; that’s what makes scholarships go up. It’s better for the team and of course it makes coach happy,” said Weinzetl.

Photo by Tony MarableStudents cheering for Frank Davis, who recently scored his 1,000th career point.

Students, do you know we have a wom-en’s basketball team? Do you know that they are currently in the hunt for the Ohio Valley Conference championship? Do you know they play right before the men’s team?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, please answer this one: Why do you refuse to attend the women’s games?

At the last women’s home game, there were around fi ve students in attendance for tip-off. Pathetic.

At the Eastern Illinois men’s game last month, a group of students came out with the number ‘30’ painted on their chests to honor Frank Davis as he went for 1,000 ca-reer points.

Why can’t you show this kind of support for the women’s team?

I want to see students with the number ‘21’ painted on them for Tacarra Hayes who has been on a tear (see below).

I want to see students painted up to spell out something to the effect of ‘You’ve been COOKED’ to support Kellie and Kylie Cook and Katy Cooke.

Last Saturday, during the men’s game, women’s coach Sytia Messer came into the student section asking the students to come to the women’s game. I heard numerous students saying ‘Oh coach, I was here for the women’s game’. Liars.

What are your excuses? Are you too busy? No. I don’t even want to hear that. I’m taking 20 hours of classes and working three jobs. I am at every game, yet you say you

can’t even make it to one?I know several seniors who have never

attended any Tech sporting event. It’s under-standable if you don’t like sports, but what about those of you who will drive to Knox-ville to watch some convicts play basketball?

Why won’t you come watch a fi rst-class group of young ladies (your classmates) give everything they’ve got on the court?

Lastly, be loud. I don’t understand why the students who are there just sit there in silence.

Thursday night, February 11th, is Think Pink and Pack the House night. Tech hosts ri-val Murray State. I challenge each and every one of you to come out for both - not just one - games.

Tip-off for the women’s game is at 5:30. Yes, you can come after the game starts, but come.

Don’t come for the money, come for these athletes who deserve your respect.

Have something to say about this? Visit tntechoracle.com to leave me some feedback. I leave you with my quote of the week:

Spring Intramurals underway By BRITTNEY ROBINSON

Page 5 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

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4th and LongBY BRANDON GOODWINSports Editorbagoodwin21@tntech.edu

Christmas break is over and it’s time to start another semester of Intramurals. With basketball already in play, it’s not too late to sign up for the remainder of the spring sports. This semester’s lineup includes basketball, ul-timate frisbee, softball, table tennis, dodge ball, wrestling, Professional Fraternities Religious Groups bowling and golf.

“We have more teams this semester than they did in the fall,” Intramural coordinator Darren Gregory said. “Especially in basket-ball.”

Arena football and indoor soccer, two of the most popular sports are being taken out of Intramurals due to liability issues.

Spring Intramurals Deadlineto register

Season begins

Feb. 10 Feb. 15March 1 March 2 March 3 March 15March 24 March 29April 6 April 8April 14 April 17

DodgeballWrestlingSoftballUltimate FrisbeeBowlingGolf

Tennessee Tech looks to break the streak of fi ve con-secutive Ohio Valley Con-ference rifl e championships by the Jacksonville State Gamecocks this weekend at the 2010 OVC Rifl e Cham-pionship competition. The two-day event, which takes place tomorrow and Sunday, will be held on the campus of Murray State University in Murray, KY. Along with the Golden Eagles, teams from Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, and UT- Martin will compete for the Championship.

The roster contains seven members under head coach Steve Law. The Rifl e team has participated in three

invitationals this season and six regular competitions. A tournament was also played at Jacksonville State Univer-sity in late November. Tech also hosted the 19th annual James Newkirk Invitational, where it placed fourth over-all.

In November 2009, Aus-tin Litherland was named OVC Rifl e Athlete of the Month. Litherland is a junior from St. Francisville, La. and shot, 578, 581, 585, 589, and 576 in Tennessee Tech’s competitions this year. He improved on his high scores three consecutive weeks to lead the Golden Eagles. His 589 in air rifl e is a career high.

During the competition on January 30-31 against Ole

Miss and West Virginia, se-nior Curtis Gagne fi red a sea-son-high 578, just fi ve points off his career best. Austin Litherland was next for the Golden Eagles with a 576 air rifl e total, followed by Jessica McCauley with a 569 and Jonathan Zimmerer at 563. The score for McCauley and Zimmerer was a season-high, and Zimmerer’s established a new career-best.

In the 2009-2010 Colle-giate Rifl e Coaches Associa-tion poll, Tech was ranked 27th out of a total 29 teams. UT Martin ranks 24th, More-head Sate 25th, and Jackson-ville State 26th. Murray State leads the ranking in 10th place.

The competition is set to begin tomorrow at 8 a.m. CT.

By LEAH MEFFERT

Rifle team shoots for fourth OVC Championship in past ten years

Courtesy of OVCSports.com

Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?

Tacarra Hayes. The sophomore guard has averaged 23.5 points and seven re-bounds over the last four games.

-AND-Kappa Kappa Psi. The KKY fraternity

won the ‘Most Spirited Student Group’ con-test, taking home $250. The classy members of the fraternity then donated their entire prize to the American Cancer Society for Relay for Life.

The brothers of Kappa Sig. At the basketball game against Southeast Mis-souri, Kappa Sig got second-place in the ‘Most Spirited Student Group’ contest.

As soon as they received their money, these guys left, with fi ve minutes remaining in the game. It’s bad enough they’re paying you to come to the game, the least you could do is stay for all of it.

ΚΣΚΚΨ&

Tech’s women deserve much more respect than students give them

*Indoor soccer and arena football will not be played this year

“It was so quiet you could hear a rat pee on cotton.” - Reggie Miller, describing his game-winning shot against the Suns

“The railings in memorial gym are very dangerous when you throw the ball over and the students try and retrieve the ball,” Gregory said.

Gregory said that Intramurals will have a three game season and every team will go to the playoffs.

Dodge ball sign ups will be on Feb. 10. Wrestling will be a weekend tournament

and will be held at the fi tness center. The deadline to be signed up and weighed in will is March 1.

The deadline for softball sign up is March 3 and the deadline for Ultimate Fris-bee is March 24.

Students have until April 6 to sign up for bowling.

Staff Writer

Contributor

PROPOSAL HIGHLIGHTS

TBR

ContactSara Bohannon,

Advertising Manager

931-372-3031

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ORACLETHE

By DHIR JOSHIStaff Writer

Tech’s chemistry de-partment recently received $50,000 from the National Science Foundation for new instruments in the laboratory and new tech-nology in the classroom.

The chemistry depart-ment has experienced rap-id growth throughout the last 10 years.

“The faculties treat stu-dents like family and are

Grant awarded to chemistry department

Page 6 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

NEWS

Textbooks bought and sold, new & used, online buybacks. Buy, sell, rent

at cheapbooks.com (260) 399-6111, espanol (212) 380-1763, urdu/hindi/punjabi (713) 429-4981, see site for

other support lines.

Award nominations solicited - Mail nominations to the Outstanding Faculty Awards Committee at Box 5136 no later than Feb. 19.

Outstanding Faculty Awards in Teaching and Professional Service. Nominations for our faculty awards in outstanding teaching and professional service

are being solicited by the Outstanding Faculty Awards Committee.

Any faculty member with three or more years of teaching and service to the University is eligible (although faculty members who have won one of the awards in the past three years are not).

Any faculty member, student or alumnus may submit nominations, which should be in letter form describing why nominee merits consideration; only one letter per nominee is needed. Nominations for teaching awards should be based on instruc-tional competence and effectiveness. Nominations for the service award should be based on service to the University in non-teaching and non-research capacities and on service to the community, state, region and nation.

Winners of the teaching award over the past fi ve years were Shirley Laird, Thomas Timmer-man, Daniel Swartling, Bonita Barger, Donald Visco, David Smith, Joseph Biernacki, Richard Le Borne, Shannon Collins and Susan Gore. Winners of the service award were Barbara Jackson, Eugene Kline, Paula Hinton, Joseph Hermann and Jessica Matson.

2010 Golden Eagle Prose Writing Competition

Short Story & Narrative Essay

First prize: $100Second prize: $50

Deadline:March 7

Visit the EnglishDepartment

for more details

FROM PAGE 1: The dark line denotes the Purple Route, which encompasses Tech’s campus, Cookeville Regional Medical Center and Tech Village. The route starts at the eastern side of the RUC and makes additional stops at the RUC’s western entrance on North Peachtree, the corner of 4th Street and Whitney Avenue, the commuter parking lot on 12th Street, and the School of Nursing on 7th Street.

www.uchra.com/cats/routes.html

CONTINUED from page 1

that schools across the state may fear losing their individual specializa-tions once the master plan goes into effect. This could mean that schools like Middle Tennessee State Univer-sity—which is reputed to be a “com-munications focused school”—or Tech—also known as a “technologi-cally focused school”—could lose their reputations.

“We still need to maintain our distinctiveness as a university that specializes in many technical fi elds,” Bell said. “But we should have a more cohesive freshman and sopho-more transfer system.”

Despite being generally well-re-ceived across campus, Bell says that some controversy has arisen. Sev-eral professors feel they may lose their personalized curricula because of the

standardization of core classes, preventing them from teaching the topics they are more interested or knowledgeable in.

“Right now they [the fac-ulty] are concerned, which is why I will be meeting mul-tiple times with the Faculty Senate,” Bell said. “We will work on improving their ac-ceptance of this new program while ensuring Tech meets these new standards.”

Bell will be meeting with the Faculty Senate over the next few months to discuss the possible im-pact of the act on their personalized curricula.

All of these changes are part of

Tech’s compliance with the Com-plete College Tennessee Act of 2010. The act was passed on Jan. 21 by the Tennessee General Assembly, and is the result of more than a year of bipartisan discussion regarding the future of Tennessee’s colleges and universities.

The act was strongly infl uenced by Complete College America—a nonprofi t organization funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foun-dation and dedicated to improving states’ graduation rates—and was developed with the recommenda-tions of Stan Jones, president of CCA. Its aim is to increase the num-ber of Tennesseans with college de-grees.

The University of Tennessee and Tennessee Board of Regents systems will both fall under this act. The Uni-versity of Tennessee system, how-ever, will be allowed to maintain some of its current practices, like its competitive application policy at the Knoxville campus.

Since the act is in its initial stag-es, it could be a while before offi cial rules and regulations are established and enacted. Time will tell how drastically Tech will be affected.

planning to manage growth of the department in the fu-ture with potentially less resources,” said Jeff Boles, chemistry department chairperson.

They are incessantly working on receiving grants from the NSF for both re-search and teaching. They are expecting more than $3 million from the state.

“We will know in three weeks,” Boles said. “Two million will be used for re-search space and 1.6 million will be used for the remod-

eling of Foster Hall,”Tech helped more stu-

dents graduate from the department from 1997 to 2007 Boles said. With Tech’s chemistry depart-ment producing 235 grad-uates during that time, the only Tennessee university with more during the same period was Vanderbilt.

“

”

60 percent of students entering community

colleges in Tennessee start in remedial courses.

- Complete College America

• GOALThe Tennessee Higher Edu-cation Commission wants to develop a strategic plan that emphasizes each school’s academic strengths and reduces overlapping or competing degree offerings.

• FUNDINGA new funding formula will be developed that is based on student retention and gradua-tion rates instead of the number of students enrolled.

• COLLEGE TRANSFERSAny student who earns an associate’s degree from a community college will meet transfer requirements to any public-four year school as a junior.

• COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEMMerges the state’s 13 indepen-dently managed community colleges into a statewide system of two-year schools. Develops a common course numbering system at community colleges and makes clear which courses do not qualify for transferring credits to another school.

• REMEDIAL INSTRUCTIONShifts all remedial instruction from four-year schools to com-munity colleges and changes current law to allow students to be enrolled at a community college and a four-year school at the same time.

-- The Associated Press

Craft Center presentsthree new exhibits

Page 7 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Bryan SymphonyOrchestra ready for another semester

By LEASA MCCALLStaff Writer

The Bryan Symphony Orchestra will perform on Feb. 21 and March 21 at 3 p.m. Concerts performed by the University music depart-ment are free and take place in Wattenbarger Auditorium in the Bryan Fine Arts Build-ing.

With dozens of perfor-mances taking place this se-mester, the music department provides more entertainment than any other department at Tech. performances include student and faculty recitals and concerts performed by the BSO, TTU concert band, jazz band, and many guest artists.

“Music is a vital part of our University that enables students to escape from the everyday pressures of classes

and responsibility,” said At-thur Labar, chairman of the music and art department. “I believe that Tech students ap-preciate the musical perfor-mances we offer and take ad-vantage of the opportunity.”

All this entertainment takes time and effort. Faculty and staff work year round to plan, practice and deliver performances to the campus audiences. The BSO does an average of fi ve performances that are open to the public. These performances are not free. Tickets can be bought in the Bryan Fine Arts Build-ing before performances or in advance.

For a complete list of per-formances, you can go to the Tech website. For more infor-mation or to purchase tickets, call Gail Luna (931)372-6088 or send an email to bryan-symph@tntech.edu.

By LAUREN HUXFORDStaff Writer

The Appalachian Center for Craft hosts three gallery exhibits, ranging from mood-altering mixed media to up-scale culinary and comfort items.

Gallery One houses a Meg Roberts collection titled “Mood Alteration” until Thursday. If focuses on per-sonal, interactive and envi-ronments.

Gallery Two is showing a Brian Ferrell household items collection until Thursday Feb. 18.

Gallery Three holds a collection that artist Nathan Dube titled “Boys Toys,” which is ment to examine the ideas of childhood and how male adulthood is shaped by contemporary culture. Dube’s collection is shown until March 10.

The galleries host be-tween 20 and 25 exhibits each year, ranging from traditional to contemporaty art. They are open to visitors seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information or directions, go to http://www.tntech.edu/craftcen-ter/home/ or call (931)372-3051.

By CHUCK ACHESONEntertainment Editor

Very rarely does a game come along that challenges our preconceived notions of mo-rality and forces the player to look inward at who they are and who they think they are. “Mass Effect 2” takes on this challenge and soars with success.

Recently, a plethora of games attempted this same feat, letting the player decide to be a “good” or “evil” person, with varying degrees of success. The greatest fl aw in the majority of these titles was that the decisions a player made had clear implications, that is to say, the difference between good and evil was clearly delineated. “Mass Effect 2” bucked this trend by successfully implement-ing a gray area of morality.

Is worth it to remain good even if costs an ally his life? Not all the decisions in the game are this earth shattering, but they all come back in the end.

For the fi rst time playing a game of this nature, the player really does get the sense that every decision will have a consequence later in the game. This goes beyond whether or not the characters in the party will like the player. By not knowing the strengths and weaknesses of some characters, the player may consign them to their untimely death.

Another weakness from the fi rst game that has been addressed was the communica-tion wheel. The player has much more con-trol over what Commander Shepard actually says and implies in the narrative.

Adding to the player’s control of the nar-rative, Bioware added the interrupt system. During certain cut scenes, the player has the opportunity to interrupt conversations for either good or evil. This intuitive addition to the game adds new depth to the already astounding story.

Throughout the game the player is treat-ed to a compelling narrative. From the open-ing sequence when Shepard is fl oating life-less through space, until the fi nal battle, the player is on a wild rollercoaster of intrigue and danger. The storytelling in “Mass Ef-fect 2” is far beyond any of its competitors or predecessors. Rich and well-developed char-acters help pull the player into the story and form bonds with the player.

Not to mention, the player can radically alter the story in various ways. Depending on his actions in the fi rst game, major ele-ments of the game can change. This feature beckons the player for more than one, two or even three plays of the game.

Despite all the other improvements over the fi rst “Mass Effect,” the single greatest im-provement was in the combat system. In the fi rst installment, an element of luck was in-volved with shooting at enemies. Even if the enemy was within the player’s scope, there was a chance the round may fl y off target.

No more. A shot aimed at an enemy will hit the enemy. If the round kills the enemy depends on the player’s talent point decisions and weapon upgrades. The new weapon and armor upgrade system is a bit odd at fi rst, es-pecially for veterans of the fi rst game, but still makes sense and works well.

The only problematic portion of the game involves the mining system. Now, when the player fi nds an unexplored planet, they can scan it for raw materials. However, to do this, the player must engage in a convoluted system. But, thankfully, this is not a major portion of the game.

Regardless, Bioware once again delivers a triumph. “Mass Effect 2” raises the stan-dard for multi-genre games. If you enjoy fun, pick-up this game, you won’t regret it. Hopefully, the fi nal installment of the trilogy comes out soon, I for one, can’t wait.

Mass Effect 2: Bioware delivers space epic sequel and triumphs over original

With several shows already planned,the Bryan Symphony Orchestra is set for another musical semester.

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The music you might have missed in 2009By KYLE BUCKNERSpecial to the Oracle

1. Grizzly Bear - Ve-katimest – Brooklyn quartet Grizzly Bear put their heads together in the follow-up to their 2006 masterpiece Yellow House, which received rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Vekatimest, more pop and more melodic than Yel-low House, portrayed an even more mature, well-rounded, and imaginative Grizzly Bear.

Vocalists Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen alternate vo-cals on the album’s songs, each with his own haunting and morose delivery. Lilt-ing harmonies are scattered throughout every track, each band member contributing to the almost cosmic sound. Heavily distorted, garbled guitars accompany punching keyboards to make this sonic masterpiece a hard one to for-get.

“Two Weeks,” the al-bum’s most successful single is sure to have the listener pogo-ing toward the ceiling, while the eerie “While You Wait for the Others” almost sends you right back into your seat and into a daydream. Ve-katimest tells us that Grizzly Bear is capable of orchestrat-ing complex, obscure songs along with poppy ones; a goal many bands cannot achieve.

2. Dave Rawlings Ma-chine - A Friend of a Friend – Alt/ folk duo Dave Rawlings

and Gillian Welch have done it again. A Friend of a Friend is like a trip back in time; back when music’s subject matter was simple and complex at the same time.

Dave and Gillian have a talent that not many musi-cians have today: the ability to combine new and old lyri-cism with traditional music. This album’s songs could’ve been released in the ‘40s and no one would’ve been the wiser, but the songs can still be related to our own time. Dave’s voice, southern gentle-man fused with backwoods moonshiner, and Gillian’s warm, honey-soaked vocals couldn’t better complement each other. It’s no wonder that a host of recording artists have sought the help of these two folkies.

Dave, co-writer and pro-ducer of Ryan Adams’ 2000 release Heartbreaker, covers “To be young,” one of the tracks that epitomized the album’s success. Rawlings also accompanied Welch on all of her critically acclaimed studio albums. It’s about time Dave had his chance to belt one out.

3. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine - Writer, producer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Jason Molina blew alternative country lis-teners away with 2009s Jose-phine.

Molina, whose career spans more than two decades made the switch from his pre-

vious alias, Songs: Ohia, to Magnolia Electric Company in 2003. If you’re a listener who enjoys poignant, poetic lyrics and fl awless delivery you’ll love Josephine. An ode to the South, Josephine, cov-ers such subject matter as whip-poor-wills, country ho-tels, card games, Knoxville, love lost, and a plethora of other cryptic subjects.

Sometimes simple, some-times unidentifi able, the al-bum’s lyrics paint a picture and tell a story that could be transposed into an old-time Western, and the mu-sic would serve as a perfect background score. It’s nice to see musicians like Molina looking inwardly and com-ing back with poetry that can almost stop you dead in your tracks, and music that’ll send you fl ying like you’ve been hit by a freight train.

4. Girls - Album - Musi-cian Christopher Owens of Girls exploded onto the scene last year almost out of no-

where. Owens, raised in the cult “Children of God,” was only allowed to listen to doo-wop and rockabilly tapes from the ‘50’s until his teen years. It was then that he was exposed to bands like Guns n’ Roses and Queen and these encoun-ters sent him on a journey to fi nd his own unique sound.

He became an avid mem-ber of the Southern California punk rock scene, and he ab-sorbed almost every genre of music he could get his hands on. Album, surprisingly, shows that he revisited the infl uences that he grew up with, but with his own raw, unadulterated energy. Owens fuses rockabilly and surf rock with the punk and grunge that he later would come to adore. Owens’ lyrics are ad-mittedly simple and straight-forward.

For the rest of Kyle’s list, go to the Oracle’s Web site: TNTechOracle.com

1. Grizzly Bear - Vekatimest2. Dave Rawlings Machine - A Friend of a Friend

3. Magnolia Electric Company - Josephine4. Girls - Album

5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix6. M. Ward - Hold Time

7. St. Vincent - Actor8. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

9. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Fast Lane Fun Park opens its doors

By CHUCK ACHESON Entertainment Editor

Above: Highlighted by roaring waterfall and a creek fl owing through the course, the miniature golf course at Fast Lane offers fun and challenge for beginners and old hats alike. Right: Fast Lane’s current paintball fi eld, “The Pit,” gives players the chance to storm the trench-es and features a large, fallen tree that players can use for cover.

Page 8 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

ENTERTAINMENTMovie Talk

Edge of Darkness

Final Grade: C-

Go inside the booth: Kyle “Radar” Prince

From miniature golf to paintball, Cookeville’s newest entertainment venue offers something for the whole family.

The rock climbing wall is one of the features in the Fun Zone. For $10, guests can spend time on the wall or on other attractions in the Fun Zone.

next week: From Paris with Love

By CHUCK ACHESONEntertainment Editor

Fast Lane Fun Park might be on the outskirts of town, but it is one place worth the drive.

The park currently has several attractions available for everyone to enjoy. And, with a large prop-erty, the park has big plans for the future.

The most striking feature of the park is the waterfall that is a staple of the miniature golf course. The course itself offers a good challenge for experienced players while offer-ing fun for players of any level.

The course is well constructed, expertly maintained and of the highest quality, a rarity in a town not dominated by the tourism in-dustry. The course has lights for round of miniature golf at night, once the weather improves and the park stays open later.

After walking past the minia-ture golf course, a large rock climb-ing wall comes into view. The wall is part of the Fun Zone, a collection of attractions. In addition to the wall, guests can enjoy the Monkey Jump, playground, swings, and car train ride.

If guests are looking for some-

thing more competitive, Fast Lane offers an impressive paintball fi eld, known as “The Pit.”

Hallmarked by a large fallen tree in the center of the fi eld, play-ers can move up and down the fi eld behind a wide variety of bunkers and other obstacles.

In addition to single guests, the park caters to parties, groups and team building activities. With the Party Pavilion ready to serve just about any size group, and a full concession bar, Fast Lane wants to host your next party.

Guests can ride to their party in style in the park’s stretch Hummer limousine.

With these open attractions, the park is already worth checking out, but ambitious expansion plans will set Fast Lane apart from other en-tertainment venues in town.

Plans are in the works for a Go-Kart track to be completed in mid-April and it will be open to all ages.

In addition to the current paintball fi eld, a second fi eld will be built. Unlike “The Pit,” the new fi eld will be tournament-style with infl atable bunkers.

Two other attractions in the works are an air-soft fi eld and Wa-

ter Wars. Water Wars is a water bal-loon competition where guests can soak each other when the weather improves.

Until then, the winter hours for the park are from noon until dusk on Friday through Sunday.

Once the weather turns a bit warmer, the park will have ex-panded hours.

If local temperatures drop be-low 45 degrees Fahrenheit, the park will close. Guests can call 931-526-FAST (3278) for updates on the park’s status.

Parties can request special res-ervations with all guidelines found on the park’s Web site: http://www.fastlanefunpark.com.

Prices for attractions can be found on the Web site and Tech students get a 10 percent discount with an I.D.

Fast Lane Fun Park is off to a great start with ambitious plans for growth. In a town desperate for this type of entertainment venue, the sky is the limit for Fast Lane.

Fast Lane Fun Park is located at 1969 East Spring Street, just off exit 290 on Interstate 40. In addition, a Facebook page is available for in-terested parties with which to stay up-to-date on park happenings.

In Edge of Darkness, Mel Gib-son takes on the role of a Boston cop. When what appeared to be a failed murder attempt on him leaves his daughter dead, Gibson is pushed to the edge to fi nd out what really happened.

Although the movie raises valid questions about politicians and their ties to campaign donors, the movie undercuts itself with overacting, a poor plot and ques-tionable visual sequences.

Throughout the fi lm, Gibson forces a Boston accent that comes and goes at times. And, rather than looking like a human feeling hatred, rage and sorrow, he looks like a mannequin with emotions tacked on his face. He never gave the audience a chance to believe he really just lost his daughter.

The plot is riddled with holes and leaves numerous loose ends, but not in the sense, ‘here comes a sequel.’ The fi nal action of the movie will leave the viewer ask-ing, ‘wait... what?’ without an ex-planation as the movie attempts to stick with the theme of political intrigue.

While the action unfolds, the viewer is treated to awkward cam-era shots and canned dramatic se-quences. The sequence in which Gibson releases his daughter’s ashes on a wind-swept beach is as original as the Boston cop drama genre at this point.

With these short-comings, however, the fi lm did manage to keep me in my seat with a few witty twists and shocks. At least once, the action made me jump out of my seat.

But, the movie can’t overcome its faults and remains a forget-table, below-average fi lm. Check it out if you aren’t tired of movies trying to be The Departed. Every-one else can pass on this one.

Kyle Prince has been a WTTU DJ since fall 2005 and began his show, “Radar’s Hit List,” in December of that same year.

In addition to hosting his show, Prince is the current program director for the station. The Or-acle sat down with Prince to ask him a few ques-tions about his show and his role in the operation of WTTU 88.5 FM.

Q: Can you tell us about your show, “Radar’s Hit List?”

KP: “Radar’s Hit List” is basically a really eclectic mix tape, the tone of which changes week-ly, depending on my mood.

I stick mostly to music that could conceivably fall within the “rock” genre, such as punk, metal and oldies, but I’m not afraid to venture beyond that.

I also do occasional “tribute” shows to bands I admire, such as the Ramones, Devo and Pink Floyd. Listening to my show, you’ll probably hear a few familiar artists, but I try tostick to their lesser-known material.

Q: Where did you get the DJ name, “Radar?”

KP: I have always been a fan of the show “M*A*S*H.” I have always empathized with the character Corporal Radar O’Reilly. Radar was not necessarily always the highest ranking or most important person on the show, but he was always involved in what was happening.

Also, the word radar, when referring to ra-dar waves, means something omnipotent and far reaching, yet invisible. I chose the name because I was comfortable with those connotations.

Q: When did you become program director for WTTU?

KP: I was elected program director in Decem-ber 2007 after a year and a half as station staff li-aison.

Q: What additional jobs or work is entailed with being the program director?

KP: The program director is in charge of a number of things, the most important of which is creating and maintaining the WTTU schedule.

In addition, I oversee the biannual DJ training class. There are a large number of smaller duties, but those two are among the most important and consume the largest amount of time.

Above: Prince talks with his listeners through-out the WTTU 88.5 FM listening area. Below: Prince shows off a vinyl copy of a Ramones album, which gets much air time during his show, “Radar’s Hit List.”

Radar’s Hit List airs on WTTU 88.5 FM on Wednesdays at 10 p.m.

WTTU 88.5 FMWTTU 88.5 FMSpring Show ScheduleSpring Show Schedule

Thursday

Uncle John’s Band(7 - 8 PM)

Marat’s Bathhouse(9 - 10 PM)

Friday

Boogie on the Bayou(6 - 8 PM)

Monday

KISS and Tell (5 - 7 PM)

Something Weird (7 - 8 PM)

Teacher on the Radio

(9 - 11 PM)

Titus Electronicus! (11 PM - 1 AM)

Tuesday

The T.J. Withers Show(5 - 6 PM)

Moonage Daydream(6 - 7 PM)

Pure Volume(8 - 9 PM)

Horseback Harmonies(9 - 10 PM)

The Glass Cage(10 - 11 PM)

Wednesday

Harvest Hoedown(4:30 - 6 PM)

Refractions

Radio Francophone,

Cookeville(8 - 10 PM)

Radar’s Hit List(10 PM - 12 AM)

WTTU 88.5 FMWTTU 88.5 FMYour only Your only

alternativealternative

By SAMANTHA KENDALLStaff Writer

Tech Village residents on the east side will be forced to fi nd a new place to live starting June 1 due to renovations. Many of the students living in Tech Village are interna-tional students, here on a stipend from their country. The renova-tion will occur in three phases: east, middle and west. Each will take a year to complete.

The renovation was brought about by the Tennessee Safety De-partment determining the apart-ments were not safe. This renova-tion is also allowing Tech to make Tech Village more energy effi cient, which will raise the price of Tech Village.

“The rumor that I heard is that they are going to double the price of Tech Village,” said Charlie Wilker-son, International Students Affairs director, “which I think is just crazy. You know, who can afford to pay $600 for [Tech Village].”

“I don’t know all the details yet. A lot of it is just hear-say,” said Wilkerson.

Lazarus Uzoechi, president of the African Student Union and doc-toral student of electrical engineer-

Impending Tech Village renovation speculated to displace students

By DAKOTA WEATHERFORDStaff Writer

Tech’s $8 million budget for ren-ovations of Tech Village begins this summer and is expected to last into summer 2013. According to Charles Macke, director of residential life, the state law is requiring new sprin-kler systems throughout all residen-tial housing by 2012.

Starting on Tech Village West, buildings A through M, workers will gut the inside of all the build-ings, forming more energy effi cient housing. The 560- square- foot apart-ments will consist of new plumbing, electric wiring, and fi xtures. Macke plans on surveying current residents for their input on what they would like for the new rooms. Bigger clos-ets and changing the 1 ½ bedrooms into 2 bedroom are some of the ex-isting ideas.

“We are trying to have the best possible housing at the best possible price we can,” Macke said.

However, residents of Tech Vil-lage are bound by a 12 month prop-erty lease. These residents will have to relocate during the renovation. Macke said that a survey would be sent out soon to the tenants on where they would like to stay dur-

Page 9 | February 5, 2010 www.tntechoracle.com

NEWS

ing that time. One option Macke mentioned was for the tenants to live in the apartments previously used to house over fl ow freshmen.

Ashley Smith, 20, said she was recently told that she would have to move out.

Smith believes that the housing is in need of renovation, but wishes someone would have let her know about the renovation before she signed her lease back in August. Smith is attending school on soccer scholarship, which currently covers the price of housing in Tech Village. Smith said that she is waiting on someone to tell her where to move.

“It’s not the fact we have to move out,” Smith, one of the many athletes living in her building said. “It’s about our scholarship.”

Tech Village, built in the 1960’s, is the only apartment housing on campus. Residents are students who are married, single parents, 26 years of age, graduate students, have disabilities or are of a junior standing. Some faculty and staff also live in Tech Village.

ing said, “If it’s doubled, I don’t think I could afford it. I don’t think any of the international students could afford it.”

“If things are looked at just in-creasing rentage without looking at what the international students have, it’s likely to compel some of the international students to leave these environments. So, I think, rightfully, that is supposed to be a concern of their offi ce. So it’s a general prob-lem. Whether international student or citizens, everybody is concerned about what will be the outcome,” Uzeochi said.

In December Uzoechi received a memo clarifying a lot of the confu-sion; it let students know they have the choice to stay in Tech Village or move elsewhere.

We have four categories of in-ternational students at Tech: ex-change students and research schol-ars, graduate students, permanent residents and refugees, and interna-tional students that came to the U.S. on a student visa.

Tech students who are on stu-dent visas are not allowed to work, so they cannot make extra money to cover the rising cost of Tech Village. Out of the 575 international students at Tech four-fi fths stay year-round.

There have been meetings to keep Tech Village residents in-

formed. Some of the residents have been showing apprehension and concern about the renovation and being displaced.

“Initially, there was a misunder-standing of what it was all about,” Uzoechi said. “I believe the effort made by, especially by Richard Barns, the assistant director of Resi-dential Life made the effort to be sure that everybody was informed about what was going on.

Wilkerson stated, “It’ll be a speed bump in the road, and then they’ll [the students] just go right on.”

Service Learning Center organizes relief project for Haiti earthquake victimsBy CHRISTINA GILLIMStaff Writer and TALLULAH GILLIAMCopy Editor

The Service Learning Center’s big project this se-mester is going to be Haiti relief. In partnership with The Gathering from the River Community Church, the Ser-vice Center will be collecting items to send to the victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

There are drop centers set up around campus for items such as water, wipes, canned food, wash cloths, pasta, pea-nut butter, batteries, fl ash-lights, hygiene products, medical supplies, sheets, thin blankets, diapers, and for-mula.

“The opportunity to serve —to help and volunteer lo-

cally or globally — is a privi-lege,” News Bureau director, Karen Lykins said. “As a part of the Tech family, we are for-tunate to have ways to mar-shal resources and volunteers in a big way.”

Jeremy Cook, represent-ing The Gathering, coordi-nated Push Week, setting up collection boxes on South Patio. They will work with Safe Water Nexus to get the supplies to Haiti. The centers will be set up all semester, the main one in Service Learning Coordinator Michelle Hud-dleston’s offi ce in RUC 108 across from the Cafeteria.

This and other campus relief projects descriptions are available on the Tech web site. It is accessible by click-ing the Haiti relief slide on the Tech homepage. This was organized by Lykins.

“I thought it was impor-tant to gather information in one place on how and when people could donate money or supplies,” Lykins said. “We used the student and faculty/staff versions of Tech Times to ask for information about any and all efforts on campus focused on Haiti re-lief.”

The Service Center works with around 50 agencies and organizations in the Upper Cumberland. There are many opportunities for nursing ma-jors working with the Service Learning Center at the hospi-tal.

For more information, call Huddleston at (931) 372-6120. To add your campus organization’s efforts to the list, email Lykins at klykins@tntech.edu.

- There are large concentrations of people in a small area.

H a i t i d e v a s t a t i o n f a c t s- Toussaint Louverture International, Haiti’s only airpot, is under U.S. Air Force control.

- Getting collected material to Haitians is nearly impossible.

- Lack of water supply can bring diarrheal diseasesthat could plague the country.

By JORDAN FARRELLStaff Writer

Exhibit A: ResLife anticipates the renovations will bring much-needed changes and a better living experience.

Exhibit B: International sudents fear that speculated price increases will leave them homeless.

Sound OffWhat are your

thoughts on the Tech Village situation?

Write a Letter to the Editor and e-mail it to

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