THE OORACLEVolume 97 | Issue 7 | Free in single copy | November 8, 2013Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505 | Est. 1924

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Tech is one of 13 schools nationwide that will contin-ue its ROTC program after being informed of program closures last month.

Tech’s ROTC program was one of 13 programs across the nation that was identifi ed for closure which appeared to be linked to a budget decision and the Army’s desire to have more diverse ROTC participants, according to last month’s press release.

Tech offi cials received word from Washington Wednesday evening in a re-port stating that it would continue its ROTC program through a 24-month proba-tionary program for schools failing to meet the evaluation criteria.

The Army has suspend-ed the closure of the 13 pro-grams, plus their partner-ships and affi liated schools, and directed their immediate placement in a probationary status, according to a report by the offi ce of the assistant secretary of the Army.

The Army’s decision to close the 13 programs raised many questions last month as University and State lead-ers pushed hard in search of answers.

“The president of the University lead the charge,” said Mark Ochsenbein, di-rector of student activities. “He put together a great task force to work this issue. There were political leaders, senate and congressional leaders and even the gover-nor who went out there and fought the fi ght big time.”

Ochsenbein said 40 per-cent of soldiers that are in the Army are out of the Southeast and nine out of last month’s 13 ROTC program closings were in the same region.

“When a preponder-ance of your forces is out of the Southeast, the deci-sion to close nine programs

doesn’t make sense,” said Ochsenbein.

The Army will develop a formal 24-month proba-tionary program for schools failing to meet the evalua-tion criteria, according to the report.

Programs that do not demonstrate improve-ment by the end of the fi rst year will receive one year’s notice of intent to close the unit.

However, programs that do show improvement in meeting evaluation criteria will be retained on proba-tionary program for a second year, according to the report.

Ochsenbein said he’s not going to launch into this probation period expecting to fail.

“We are looking to win and continue this program so we are absolutely going to continue to go out and recruit to get new men and women into the program,” said Ochsenbein.

At the end of the 24-month period, schools retained for a second year will be re-evaluated. At that time, programs will either receive one year’s notice of intent to close the program or be retained, according to the report.

Senior Battalion Cadet Commander Nick White said the University’s pro-gram is important to the school and to the community of Cookeville.

“Tech’s program is im-portant in continuing the stride to increase military awareness and growth throughout the city of Cookeville,” said White. “By reinstating the program, the Army will receive very well trained engineers and nurs-es, as well as many other degrees.

“This school has one of the longest running pro-grams in the country and has a history of producing several Army generals,” said White.

ROTC is back in actionBy MATTHEW HILLBeat Reporter

John McGlone and his team of open-air preachers made their second appear-ance of the semester on South Patio Wednesday.

This is the third time Pinpoint Evangelism has visited Tech’s campus in less than a year.

For some students, it was the fi rst time they had acknowledged the preachers

and stopped to listen to what they had to say. While most students ignored the speak-ers, several said that they did not appreciate the way that the preachers spoke to them about their beliefs.

“Some of the stuff he says is true and I agree with very little of it,” said Caleb Anderson. “But I don’t agree with how he goes about it. I’m also really surprised that there aren’t as many people around today. Usually a lot of people are out here.

“I’m only out here be-cause I have class in thirty minutes and have nothing

better to do,” Anderson said.This is a change of pace

for students compared to the two most recent visits from the evangelists. In the past, students have gathered around in hoards on South Patio to hear the preaching.

However, most students tended to continue walking by Wednesday.

“I generally haven’t stopped to listen to them,” said Allison Geer, a sopho-more student. “I heard them talk last time and was offend-ed when one preacher told me I would be condemned. While they were talking to-

day, I just kept walking with my headphones in.”

Other students seemed intrigued by them and what they had to say, but still said they believed the preachers to be slightly eccentric.

“I think these guys are crazy, but he’s kind of inter-esting to listen to,” said se-nior Seth McDonald.

“It just isn’t worth it to give them the attention they want,” said sophomore Cecilia Monroe. “They aren’t preaching the truth. I feel like they stereotype [young adults] and judge us all as a whole.”

Guess who’s back? By MEGAN WILLIAMSONBeat Reporter

DRAKE FENLONManaging Editor

Pinpoint Evangelism returns to campus, open-air preaching receives limited student reaction.

It was hard for those who came late to fi nd a chair at the Rocky Horror Show. With lines out the door, excited playgoers scrambled to fi nd a seat at the sold out show.

The show kicked off on Halloween night with ushers in fi shnets, heals, and makeup escorting individuals as they walked through the entrance of the Backdoor Playhouse. Some students who had no background about the production said they were in awe after attending the show.

“I had absolutely no idea,” said junior Holly Smith. “I knew it was going

to be weird, but I didn’t know exactly how weird.”

Junior Kaitlin Spink said she felt like the performance aspect was really incredible. She said the singing, costumes, makeup, and actors impressed her.

Members of the production said they have also been surprised with the turnout of this year’s fall production.

“In the 21 years that I have been here, it’s the fi rst time that we have sold out every performance,” said Mark Creter, artistic director of The Backdoor Playhouse. “So far we have done fi ve performances and everyone has been sold out.”

The show has received many standing ovations and people have lined up after the play to take pictures with

the cast. “It has just been

phenomenal to have this amount of people, not only sold out, but that we have been turning away an average of 50 people a night because we just don’t have room for them, which is very hard to do,” said Creter. “I hate to tell people but we only have 200 seats and when they are full, they are full.”

The Rocky Horror Show has been one of the most popular productions in Tech history by connecting the current generation to previous ones.

“I think that so many people have heard of the movie and many people have seen it,” said Creter. “It has that kind of generational appeal. People love the show

either because they have seen it and they dig it or they have heard about it and always wanted to see it.

“Every night you look at the mix of people,” Creter said. “At the midnight show, 70 or 80 people were high school kids that were so excited to see the show.”

Aside from its tradition, some believe the production’s features are what have attracted so many individuals.

“We are raunchy, we are in drag on stage, and [the audience] gets to cuss at us, so it’s perfect for the collegiate crowd because they get to interact with us that way,” said Houston Fehrman, a junior student. “They get to be as degenerate that they can be, that college kids are seen and stereotyped as.”

RockyHorror

By HAYDEN MCMILLENBeat Reporter

sells out Backdoor Playhouse James Dillon

Dr. Frank-N-Furter may not be “much of a man by the light of day,” but at night he’s portrayed by senior busi-ness management major Buster Shadwick in the Back-door Playhouse’s production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Photos courtesy of Sarah DingwallJohn McGlone (left) and Kerrigan Skelly (right), of Pinpoint Evangelism, preach on South Patio Wednesday. McGlone and Skelly drew smaller crowds than their past two visits to Tech’s campus.

Page 2 | November 8, 2013 tntechoracle.com

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Up to date campus crimeUp to date campus crime information at: information at:

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techtech@eventsevents

14147:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. TTU Fall Trumpet Festival Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

12127:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Frederick Kennedy, piano, Faculty recital Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

1111All DayRegistration begins

7 p.m. - 10 p.m. The Stache Bash Tech Pride Room

7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. TTU Trombone Choir Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

10103 p.m. - 5 p.m. Bryan Symphony Orchestra Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

November

13137:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. TTU Fall Trumpet Festival Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

CRIME BRIEFS:- Nov. 1- 3:00 Classifi cation: Open theft Location: Foster Hall Disposition: Open case. Notes: Theft of banner.

- Nov. 1 - 7:15 Classifi cation: Destruction/Damage/Vandalism Location: Evins Disposition: Open case. Notes: Pellet gun shot through the small window above the emergency door. No known subjects or witnesses.

- Nov. 1 - 8:40 Classifi cation: Disorderly conduct Location: West stadium Disposition: Closed. No further action. Notes: Altercations on fi eld and in stands during high school game.

- Oct. 31 - 10:55 Classifi cation: Liquor law violation Location: New Hall North parking lot Disposition: Closed. Closed subject arrested. Notes: None.

- Oct. 29 - 5:00 Classifi cation: Theft from motor vehicle Location: Frisbee golf course Disposition: Open case. Notes: None.

Several students have run into trouble this semester when dealing with their cam-pus mailboxes.

Freshman Gabriella Farley said she had trouble opening her campus mailbox at the beginning of the school year. She said at fi rst she was confused about which box was hers and then there was a problem with her key code.

“My code wasn’t work-ing,” said Farley.

Unable to gain entrance to her mailbox, Farley in-formed the post offi ce staff and they opened her box for her from the back. Farley said the staff then gave her the contents of the box.

However, she said once she got back to her residence hall, the contents of the box

surprised her. “I thought it was a little

weird when I got a card that said ‘Happy birthday from the math department’ be-cause I’m not in the math department,” Farley said. “I had all this mail addressed to Kyle Carter. I still need to get that back to him.”

Additionally, there have been rumors around campus that claim multiple students are assigned to the same box.

Don Davis, Director of Printing Services and the Post Offi ce said that this a se-curity issue and is untrue of the campus post offi ce.

He did say that there are more students than there are mailboxes.

“We haven’t had enough mailboxes,” said Davis. “Over 300 students went without boxes this year.”

Davis said because of this, 300 students received refunds of their $16 post of-fi ce fee.

Some students said they have found additional prob-lems with the campus post offi ce system.

“I’ve been told that the lock on my box would be fi xed since day one and it’s not happened yet. I am now a sophomore,” said student Chase Hamblen. “They are very helpful, otherwise.”

“The boxes are older and students have a hard time opening [them],” said Davis.

Davis hopes that in-creased funding and future campus improvements will make the post offi ce a more usable resource for students as time progresses.

“Our goal is to serve the students,” Davis said.

Post office poses problemsBy DRAKE FENLON Managing Editor

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Every semester, stu-dents in various classes are required to attend concerts as a course requirement. However, Jennifer Shank, chair of the music depart-ment, said most students do not practice proper concert etiquette.

“We love having an au-dience of students from all around campus, but being respectful to others attending and to the musicians is im-portant,” said Shank.

Shank said this problem isn’t something new and that it is a problem that the music department faces every se-mester. Students that attend these events for other class-es usually do not present proper concert etiquette and cause distractions to others attending and the musicians performing by texting, tak-ing pictures, talking, or leav-ing in the middle of shows.

“Music halls are created to carry sound,” Shank said. “That’s why there aren’t any microphones or sound sys-tems. Not only does it carry sound to you, but it also car-ries your sound back to the musicians, which can distract them from reading and play-ing music.

“Even whispering the time to someone can be a distraction to those perform-ing,” Shank said.

There are a few ways that students can exhibit good concert etiquette while at-tending these performances.

“It’s not that people need to sit there rigid,” said Alex Davenport, a sophomore mu-

sic education major. “It’s just the little things they can do to help reduce distractions.”

One way to help decrease distractions is by arriving be-fore the concert starts.

“When people come in late all attention is drawn to them automatically,” said Davenport.

Another key to concert etiquette is to turn off all electronics while attending a concert because the bright lights can be distracting to other viewers. Also, use of electronics for taking pic-tures can be illegal at certain concert events because of copyright laws.

Members of the audience should not talk or whisper be-cause the sound carries easily in music halls. Do not get up and leave during a perfor-mance, because it draws the attention away for the artists performing and can creates a distraction for the musicians. Lastly, save clapping for the end of complete pieces.

“When the audience talks, especially in quieter pieces portraying a specifi c feeling, it can change the whole feeling or mood,” said Davenport. “They are trying to tell you something with their music and little dis-tractions can take away the meaning from the musician and everyone else.”

Davenport said this isn’t only a problem at Tech; it happens anywhere music is performed.

“There is a fi ne line, be-tween accidentally causing a distraction and just being dis-respectful,” said Davenport. “And all we ask is that stu-dents just be respectful.”

By RICHARD MOSLEYBeat Reporter

Student conduct distracts performers

Tech’s community had a taste of what life is like with a visually impaired dis-ability last week at “A New Perspective,” a residential life program created by the new Able Bodies Community club to raise awareness about visually disabilities.

Participants began the night by being blindfolded. Next, they were handed a white cane to help fi nd their way through a maze of chairs and tables outside at Capital Quad.

A question and answer session was held with Butch Price and Hannah Willis, club members with vision

disabilities. Most participants engaged in talking with them about what their lives are like living with a disability.

“I think this was a real eye-opener for every-one here,” said Stephanie Tanksley, a communications major.

The second half of the program included eating din-ner in the dark. The partici-pants were blindfolded and served pizza, corn, grapes, and a Capri-Sun. Most partic-ipants said the corn was the most diffi cult portion of the dinner to eat.

The club’s president Josh Hunter and vice president Price said it was important to them and club members that everyone came together at

this event to help their cause.Brandon Patterson, a

residential hall director at Capital Quad, said, “The program’s turnout was awe-some. We had 151 people at-tend, which is huge for an educational program.”

The ABC club’s member-ship drastically increased af-ter “A New Perspective.” At the beginning, of the fall 2013 semester, the club included 12 people. On Nov. 4, the membership had risen to 103 people, according to the Able Bodies Community Facebook page.

“We hope our member-ship continues to grow,” said Price. “We want as many people within the commu-nity that we can get.”

Blindfolded dinner teaches “A New Perspective”By PAIGE STANAGEBeat Reporter

SGA passed two bills Tuesday night that will affect both student parking and din-ing services.

SGA passed the “Parking Lot Maintenance Act of Fall 2013” in order to better distin-guish parking areas from non-parking zones for students and faculty.

S e n a t o r M a t t h e w Simpson proposed the bill in response to receiving a ticket a month ago for parking in a non-designated spot.

“Some students cannot distinguish a parking space from a no parking zone due to poor line paint in the park-ing lots,” Simpson said. “This would allow the campus police to be able to determine if a stu-dent is committing a parking violation more accurately.”

Simpson said Chief of Police Gay Shepherd expressed her concerns with ticketing students parked in poorly

lined parking spots and would like to see clearer lines painted.

The bill passed with a ma-jority vote to begin implement-ing the project.

“As long as we get the building grounds committee onboard, it should be done in a weekend,” Simpson said.

After brief discussion, SGA also passed the “Cafe Fast-Pass Act of 2013” regarding lengthy lines during high traffi c hours in the cafeteria.

The bill aims to implement self-service scanning by stu-dents with their Eagle Cards. Meal exchanges, credit cards, and cash transactions will re-main under the current system.

Junior Senator Scott Hill proposed the bill.

“It’s always very diffi cult to get into the cafeteria dur-ing peak hours,” Hill said. “I think the problem with it is the cashier line. It would be a lot easier if people could scan themselves rather than having to wait on someone doing a food exchange transaction.”

Scott proposed that after

sliding their cards, students would enter through a set of turnstiles, very similar to how one would gain access to the Fitness Center.

During the discussion, se-nior senator Elissa McLerran expressed her support of the bill and mentioned a similar system currently being used on UT-Knoxville’s campus, where her brother attended.

“They have fast pass lanes. He was an engineering student and he didn’t have much time to eat and so it worked out re-ally well for him to be able to breeze through in there,” McLerran said.

Other senators questioned how the lanes would affect guests. Hill specifi ed that guests would continue to use a separate line for entry.

After further discussion, the bill passed unanimously 35-0.

Implementation will take effect after further discussion between campus administra-tion and student advocates of the bill.

By MELISSA EDWARDS &CAITLIN JARED Beat Reporters

SGA passes bills for students

Music department disappointed in students’ behavior at performance events

tntechoracle.com Page 3 | November 8, 2013

ENTERTAINMENT

YouTube Music Awards a hot mess

By JAKE THREETEntertainment Editor

By HANNAH BENJAMINEntertainment Critic

By KIMMY MANNINGEntertainment Critic

‘Ender’s Game’ is thought-provoking funABC scores with new comedies

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F i n a l l y , ABC has a Tuesday night comedy hour that works. I am in love with its new comedies ‘The

Goldbergs’ and ‘Trophy Wife’. These two shows fi t and fl ow together wonderfully. Tuesday nights on ABC, beginning at 9/8 central, is an hour of television fi lled with laugh out loud fun and awesome writing and acting that provides audiences with constant laughter.

The fi rst half of the hour begins with ‘The Goldbergs’. Based on the life of creator Adam Goldberg and set in the 80s, it has been exactly what I had hoped for - freaking hilarious. The family comedy is nonstop fun and connects easily with viewers. Casting for the show is right on the money. Jeff Garlin and Wendi McLendon-Covey play Murray and Beverly Goldberg, Adam’s parents. Garlin is perfection in the role of Murray, and I appreciate his shouting. McLendon-Covey is my sprit animal in this show and she’s got my vote for best new TV mother of the year. She brings a certain controlling, loveable nature to the character that shines through the screen and one cannot help but love her. Her antics to mothering her children are fl at out hilarious. She slays in every way and I want her to hug me.

One reason I love this show is because of the 80s

nostalgia that it brings to life. With that being said, I was not alive in the 80s, nor was I even a thought, but I have always enjoyed learning and looking back at that era. The music, fi lms, and overall way of life from that decade is enthralling to me. The show has a special way of bringing that all together in 30 minutes to invite the audience into a past time that truly makes them feel as if they are back in 1980 something.

The rest of the cast includes: Troy Gentile and Hayley Orrantia as Adam’s siblings Barry and Erica, Sean Giambrone, who portrays Adam, and George Segal as Albert ‘Pops’ Solomon, Beverly’s dad. They, and the aforementioned cast, all contribute to make 30 minutes of great television. ‘The Goldbergs’ airs Tuesday nights on ABC at 9/8 Central.

Coming on right after is the surprise hit, ‘Trophy Wife’. Now, to start off, I have to apologize to everyone involved with the show as I wrote it off before it even aired. I did not include it in my “TV shows to keep an eye on” articles back in September. It fl ew completely under my radar. Looking back now, I was an idiot.

After the pilot of ‘The Goldbergs’ aired, I decided to watch it because my next show did not come on until 9 p.m. Not only did I fi nd myself laughing at almost every scene, I completely fell for this show. It is one of those shows that maybe does not have the best title necessarily, but is a solid show. ‘Cougar Town’ for instance fi ts in the same boat,

with having a bad title, but I have loved that show since episode one and have never missed a scene. This show is luring me in just the same way.

Kate (Malin Akerman) fi nds herself as an instant stepmom after falling in love with a Pete (Bradley Whitford) with 3 diverse children (Bailee Madison, Ryan Lee, and Albert Tsai) and two crazy ex-wives (Marcia Gay Harden and Michaela Watkins).

This show is packed with hysterical moments episode after episode, scene after scene. It has grown week to week into a more complete show, with a talented cast. I cannot even begin to describe how good their chemistry is and how well they complement one another. From top to bottom, each cast member brings a fun, new characteristic to the series that makes for excellent television. Harden’s character, Diane, is my sprit animal as well. The tactics she employs as a parent are some of the same things I could foresee myself doing one day. I applaud all of her schemes.

Ackerman and Whitford make for a hilarious couple who are head over heels in love with one another. The two scene stealers of the show are Watkins and Tsai. This mother - son duo is so good together and so good in scenes without each other.

The show also stars Natalie Morales who brings her comedic talent to the show as the witty, fun loving best friend of Kate. “Trophy Wife” airs at 9:30/8:30 central time on ABC.

“ E n d e r ’ s Game” is a fi lm based on the popular book series by Orson Scott Card. The fi lm about a near future

Earth invaded by a hostile alien race, which narrowly escapes annihilation with the heroics of Mazer Rackam (Ben Kingsley). Under the command of Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military, the brightest young minds are trained to combat in preparation of a future attack. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfi eld) is pulled out of his school to join the elite soldiers, advances through his training quickly, and is chosen as the next great commander of the International Military to save the human race. The fi lm was number one at the box offi ce last weekend and also stars

Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, and Abigail Breslin.

The fi lm features strong performances from young Asa Butterfi eld and much older Harrison Ford. The fi lm is heavy in sci-fi , futuristic action and effects, especially in the intense battle scenes. The underlying themes of protecting the greater good and the necessity of war are apparent to audiences along with raised ethical questions about drones, child soldiers, and preemptive strikes. While incredibly gifted, Ender is isolated and picked on by the other soldiers, so the audience identifi es with him and roots for his talents as he advances through the ranks and completes his battle simulations with ease. Without reading the book, the audience is impacted by a slightly predictable, yet still powerful ending.

Unfortunately, like most book to movie adaptations, “Ender’s Game” is not

immune from being diffi cultto follow. Some aspects, likeEnder’s communication with the alien species, are so briefl ymentioned that an audiencewithout an understanding of the novel will not comprehendthe signifi cance. The intricaciesof the politics back on Earth,along with the true isolationof Ender during his training, are left out, which leaveslittle room for characterdevelopment or the motivationbehind Ender’s actions in thefi nal scenes.

Overall, the fi lm maintains much of theemotional substance that mostadaptations seem to lose. It has action, but still manages to bea mildly thought-provokingfi lm for audiences about whatis right and wrong in a warsetting. The story is well-written and the effects are spoton, making “Ender’s Game”deserving of its number onebox offi ce spot.

The fi lm is rated PG-13 forsome violence, sci-fi action andthematic material.

History was made on Sunday night, Nov. 3 as our beloved i n t e r n e t s e n s a t i o n s crossed over

to the real world as the fi rst ever YouTube Music Awards streamed live worldwide.

The winners of all categories were based off the website’s viewer opinions, their commentary, as well as

dislikes and likes on certain videos. With such diverse groups of voters that also reign in as the audience, we were also left with a miscellaneous amount of acts that performed that night. Eminem, Lady Gaga, and M.I.A. were among the top musicians present. Jason Schwartzman and Reggie Watts hosted and were more than ready to handle their unscripted roles in the award show.

This show had such a great opportunity to push boundaries on how music awards could be and to promote fan interaction. However, this was not the case. After watching the award show, I was a bit frazzled as to how they pulled this one off. According to USA TODAY, “The YouTube Music Awards sought to redefi ne expectations for a celebration of popular music, and instead fell short of revolutionizing them.” Not only were they negatively

backing up this event, but Entertainment Weekly thoughtthe show’s artists “performednot one but two improvised songs and [the hosts] in theshow’s most awkward momentcarried babies through thecrowd and tried to interviewMacklemore and Lewis as theycried.” But you’ve got to giveit to YouTube considering thatthis was their fi rst go around.

Lady Gaga came out andperformed in almost nothingbut fl annel and a trucker cap,Vanessa Hudgens returnedto “act,” and the hoss wereleft demolishing fi ve cakes inorder to fi nd the category’spick. Ultimately, what couldhave been tasteful and by any means interesting, was only just as good as what you fi ndthese days on YouTube.

Though the crowd got fullparticipation and the audienceworldwide could poll in on thevotes, all of the innovation andexcitement built around thisevent ultimately failed.

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DRAKE FENLONDRAKE FENLONManaging EditorManaging EditorKIM BIGGSKIM BIGGSAssistant Managing EditorAssistant Managing EditorKATE SHELTONKATE SHELTONBusiness ManagerBusiness ManagerJACQUELINE ATKIELSKIJACQUELINE ATKIELSKISales AssistantSales AssistantSARAH REESESARAH REESECopy EditorCopy EditorSARAH DINGWALLSARAH DINGWALLOpinion EditorOpinion EditorLYDIA BROWNLYDIA BROWNAsst. Opinion EditorAsst. Opinion EditorJAMAL FERGUSONJAMAL FERGUSONSports EditorSports Editor

SHEA HAILESHEA HAILEAsst. Sports EditorAsst. Sports EditorJACOB THREETJACOB THREETEntertainment EditorEntertainment EditorKIMMY MANNINGKIMMY MANNINGEntertainment CriticEntertainment CriticHANNAH BENJAMINHANNAH BENJAMINEntertainment CriticEntertainment CriticDAVE MCMINNDAVE MCMINNWeb EditorWeb EditorWILLIAM SHECKLERWILLIAM SHECKLERCirculation ManagerCirculation ManagerJON EZELLJON EZELLFaculty AdviserFaculty Adviser

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Dailykos.comTexas Senator Wendy Davis presents a heroic wave as she stands through an 11 hour fi libuster in June.

CORRECTION NOV. 1

The photo accompanying the story “New spot for bikes raises concern for bike rack continu-

ity,” was printed with an incorrect photo credit. The photo was actually taken by James Dillon. The Oracle regrets the error.

In response to the ar-ticle titled “Standing Room Only” from the November 1, 2013 edition of The Oracle, I would like to com-mend English Department Secretary Linda Fisk for her diligence in providing a safe environment.

Teaching two fi rst-year composition classes, in ad-dition taking courses in Henderson Hall, I often must navigate the building quick-ly from the basement to the top fl oor. In years past, the resting bodies of students burdened with the arduous toil of marching from their distant car or even more dis-tant dormitory forced feats of deft agility from me and oth-er inhabitants of Henderson Hall. I’ve witnessed twists, turns, jukes, jives, and even one jump over the quivering mass of an enervated stu-dent sprawled precariously on the fl oor.

I thank God every day for retaining all my physi-cal and mental faculties. Without them, I would have tumbled down staircases more than once, as I have nu-

merous times stumbled over two students, sitting side-by-side, regaining their strength on the stairs following their long sojourn from far off lands, such as South Hall.

I cannot imagine the ex-periences of impaired stu-dents, faculty, and staff in the same situations. Nor can these poor, struggling able-bodied students languishing like Pheidippides following his run from Marathon to Athens.

As such, I thank Mrs. Fisk for taking this initiative by promoting a safe envi-ronment and her diligence in doing so despite bom-bastic, boorish, and churl-ish remarks comparing her to fascist war criminals by some of our enlightened stu-dents and endorsed by The Oracle through news page publication. I implore any-one who enjoys the ability to easily, and safely, navigate Henderson Hall to thank Mrs. Fisk, as well.

Letter to the Editor

Chuck AchesonGraduate Student

cpacheson21@students.tntech.edu

A tale of two opinionsDear readers, This week’s opin-

ion piece is being split down the middle be-cause two important events happened this week. If you haven’t already guessed by the front page, one is the R.O.T.C. ex-tension! The other is another attack of the “South Patio preacher.”

I feel the need to cover them both because of the im-pact they both have had on this campus. Both stories aff ect us as students, fac-ulty, staff , and even in some capacity, alumni.

-Sarah Dingwall

LYDIA-CLAIRE BROWN

Assistant Opinion Editor

Once upon a time, in a land that’s the second lone star to the right and straight on ‘til Mexico, a group of Lost Girls rallied around their new lead-er, Wendy. It sounds like a gen-der-swapped Peter Pan, but its not – it’s the emergence of a new Democratic force in the Texas state capitol. Regardless of political leaning, I think ev-erybody has to acknowledge Wendy Davis as a superhero. She stood and spoke on one subject, without going to the bathroom, without leaning against anything, for 11 hours. I can’t do anything for 11 hours, not even sleep!

She made her now famous stand back in July, and by do-ing so struck a blow for not only the reproductive rights of Texas women, but also for their democratic rights. Did you know that during the grandi-ose and operatic abortion law debate male members of the Texas State Senate tried to lit-erally out-shout their female colleagues? As Sen. Leticia Van de Putte put it, “At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?”

The struggle for Wendy Davis and her fellow Texas Amazonians to fully partici-pate in the government the same as their male colleagues shares a cultural problem with the debate over abortion. The Supreme Court ruling of Roe v. Wade made the right to ob-tain an abortion fundamental, both for the protection of the mother’s health and her bodily sovereignty. It also protected the physician’s ability to free-ly practice medicine without the undue intervention of the government.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court decided that the decision to have an abortion should be a private affair between patient and physician. They complete-ly rejected the idea of the fetus’ right to life. What does this have to do with Wendy Davis and her compatriots speak-ing in the Texas State Senate? It matters because the law preserves a woman’s bodily sovereignty. That includes her voice.

The people who try to take away women’s right to bodily sovereignty will fi rst take away her opportunity to voice her opinion. I hate to tell you, but freedom of speech

Wendy and the Lost Girls

doesn’t mean squat when oth-ers actively and literally drown it out.

Why are the right to my own body and the right to my own beliefs and opinions less because of my sex? Is it be-cause I’m physically weaker than a man of my height and weight? Perhaps because I, and other women, are essentially Other to the current dominant power structure. What does it say, though, about male legis-lators that they feel the need to silence an “uppity” woman? Not strong enough to take a challenge?

Female voters will not be cowed and quieted with mean-ingless platitudes anymore. If members of state or federal legislature propose group-specifi c laws and then refuse to let members of those groups speak, is that not extremely suspicious? Women cannot, and should not, permit men to make decisions on their behalf, uninvolved in the process, not

even allowed to sit at the table. If we do, we will only continue to live in a world where dis-crimination and sexual hege-mony rule.

I’m not a Lost Girl in the Never-Never-Land. I’m not isolated without direction, searching for a parent to tell me what to do. I am a free-thinking, independent person with my own opinions; to tell me my intellectual legitimacy is compromised by my sex is bewildering at best and misog-ynistic and primeval at worst. Stop asking to get punched.

Wendy Davis is Wonder Woman, not because she re-fused to let an unfair anti-woman law be passed, but be-cause she refused to be shouted down, bullied into silence, or give in to the physical exhaus-tion expected of her sex. Now, on the eve of the Texas guber-natorial election, we’ll see if she can pull of the great magic trick of turning Texas from red to a deep, dark blue.

As I am sure everyone knows by now, the South Patio screaming preacher returned to campus this week.

All I can say to this is how poorly timed this visit was. It is one thing for them to ap-pear at the beginning of the semester when classes haven’t really gotten underway, but it is totally another when they disrupt us with fi ve weeks to fi nals.

However, I will make my comment on this subject anyway. First, the preachers need to stop yelling at us. We are pretty much in-nocent bystanders.

Next, they need to stop yelling “Jesus will take your sins away.” It is only true when you fi rst become a believer. His blood that was shed at Calvary washed us white as snow, but that is only for our past sins, not the ones to come. Once a person accepts Jesus into his or her heart, it is his or her job

to make the decision not to sin any more. And trust me, it isn’t easy, but it gets easier ifyou rely on Jesus.

Finally, thank you, students. Thank you for not fueling this overzealous group of “Christians.” They are nothing but trouble because they go seeking trouble. You all were the bigger people for not engaging their stupidity.

The last thing I wish to say on this mat-ter is this - maybe Tech should consider mak-ing a rule for groups coming onto campus from outside of the Upper Cumberland Area.Maybe it should say something like “they can only come once a semester and only atthe beginning.”

This is a place of education. We don’t need stupid distractions like these guys any more.

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 marks one of the most amazing days for this school.

After the shocking revelation from the Army at the beginning of October about our R.O.T.C. program being one of 13 schools slat-ed for shutdown, our school went into over-drive to help these students out.

The students in the R.O.T.C. have be-haved admirably during this time of stress and even a little duress. But, all of the hard work by the University and all of the news coverage has paid off.

All 13 of the programs slated for shut-down have been given two years to make improvements and show the Army they are worth every dime.

In my opinion and the Tech’s R.O.T.C.’s

impeccable history, I believe they can do it! The group of students in the program now isdedicated and I am sure they will help makethe program grow.

Honestly, this proposal by the Army is an answer to many prayers. Thank you to every one who believed in this program and worked to get the decision overturned.

Dr. Oldham, a special thanks to you forfi ghting for these students and this long-standing tradition of excellence.

Now, to the students, actually cadets, get to work. The decision will be based on you. You all do a wonderful job, but now is whenpush comes to shove and I know you all can do it.

SARAH DINGWALLOpinion Editor South Patio preacher returns too soon

R.O.T.C. is in the clear........... for now

A word from the PresidentA word from the Presidentin response. I am confi dent and fully committed to en-suring that ROTC remains at TTU for many years to come. I have come to know and appreciate our tremendous cadet corps even more in the past few weeks. I have no doubt they will continue to make us all proud and serve our country with honor. I ap-plaud the Army’s change of position and commend them for doubling back and ulti-mately doing the right thing.

Thanks again for all your support.

Go Eagles!

-President Oldham

In case you have not heard the news, the proud 63-year-tradition of ROTC at Tennessee Tech continues! Thanks to tremendous sup-port from Senators Alexander and Corker, Congressman Black, Governor Haslam and countless alumni and friends, the Army has recon-sidered its plans to imme-diately close 13 ROTC units around the country includ-ing TTU. We offi cially will be placed on a two-year proba-tion and be given the oppor-tunity to prove once again that Tech is where we need to be.

This is all we have been asking—to have the chance to review the Army’s criteria, understand the expectations and strengthen our program

This piece is courtesy of President Oldham’s blog.

More information and more blog posts from the President can be found at

http://blogs.tntech.edu/president/

After tallying another set of losses last weekend, the Golden Eagles volleyball team will con-tinue to look for its second OVC win this weekend against SIUE and Eastern Illinois.

The Golden Eagles fell to 1-11 in OVC play last week-end as they dropped matches against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, but not with-out a fi ght.

The Golden Eagles were knocked off 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 in three sets by Morehead State Friday. However, their efforts did not go unnoticed as they were met with a post-match standing ovation from the crowd at the Hooper Eblen Center.

Senior Elise Robertson and junior Ellen Conti lead the Golden Eagles offensively as both landed seven kills Friday evening. Senior Ashleigh Hancock aided the offense, tal-lying 22 assists, four digs, one

block and one kill. “We stepped up as a team

and were competitive with the number one team in the OVC,” said Conti. “We only lost by fi ve but we still lost and that’s frustrating. We have to get over the hump and start closing out matches and I think we are get-ting close.”

Sophomore Cody Dodd took hold of the Golden Eagles defense as she led her team with six blocks.

Tech lost in three sets by an average of only fi ve points, a much-improved margin from October’s outing, when an average 8.3 points difference through three sets swept the team.

Morehead State sits atop the OVC with a record of 12-0.

Tech took Friday’s offen-

sive improvements and ran with them as they came out hot Saturday afternoon against Eastern Kentucky. Tallying 17 kills in the opening set, the Golden Eagles looked to domi-nate the Colonels.

While Eastern Kentucky put down two less kills in the opening set, the team’s .351 hit-ting percentage fl attened the Golden Eagles .267 percentage, leading to a go ahead 25-23 vic-tory to start the match.

Tech was led again by ju-nior Ellen Conti who put away 11 kills and seven digs while junior Courtney Smith led the team defensively with 20 digs.

Unable to play ahead, the Golden Eagles fell to the Colonels 25-23, 25-21, 25-17 in a three set sweep that put Eastern Kentucky 8-5 in OVC play.

The Golden Eagles travel to SIU-Edwardsville Nov. 8 for a 7 p.m. match. Then face EIU on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. in the last away match of the season.

The Golden Eagles return home to fi nish the season with

tntechoracle.com Page 5 | November 8, 2013

SPORTS

Football struggles with EIU, heads to SEMO this week

Exhibition or not, the Tennessee Tech women’s basketball team hung up 93 points in its fi rst ac-tion at home against Truett-McConnell.

“An exhibition game is a learning experience, whether you win it or lose it,” said head coach Jim Davis. “You come into it knowing it doesn’t count on your record so you’re trying to get some experience and learn some lessons that’ll help you down the road.”

The Golden Eagles cer-tainly learned that they could score on Nov. 5.

Head coach Jim Davis talked about facing an op-ponent from somewhere else, fi nally saying that they were tired of “beating up on each other.”

The Golden Eagles were a bit cold from the fi eld to start the game, even trailing the Lady Bears at a point ear-ly in the fi rst half. However, Tech would warm up behind guard Diamond Henderson’s 11 fi rst half points and take a 40-26 lead into the break.

Every player in a Tech uniform saw double-digit minutes in the exhibition. Sophomore Maria Dean led the way with 14 points. Meanwhile Henderson, pre-season All-OVC, would fi nish with 13. Freshman Catherine Taylor had the third highest total with 12. The Golden Eagles also score 42 of it’s 93 points in the paint.

Dean came off the bench and went 4-6 from the fi eld and 100 percent from the free throw line.

“She came in and shot the ball well,” said Davis.

Taylor also came off the bench and put up 12 in her fi rst action in the Hoop.

Dean and graduate stu-dent Kayla Brewer, also com-ing off the bench, would tie for rebounds on the night, each with 8.

“We don’t lose a whole lot when we go to our bench,” said Davis during a post game interview. “We’re going to be able to play a lot of people.“

In fact, Tech scored 57 bench points on the night.

“It’s a good prob-lem to have,” said Davis. “Everybody works hard in practice and everybody de-serves a chance.”

Davis also said that the game plan was more focused on feeding the ball down low to make outside shots easier.

“That was the game plan to start with and we weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be and started jacking them up,” said Davis. “Once we got in down there, it was a whole lot easier to those shots on the kick out.”

The Golden Eagles did struggle keeping Truett-McConnell off the free throw stripe. The Lady Bears capi-talized on this and earned 33 of their 54 from the charity stripe.

Coach Davis cited the new hand checking foul call as the cause for some many free throws.

The women’s team opens its regular season at home Nov. 9 against Tennessee Wesleyan at 7 p.m.

Baseball closes fall with Purple and Gold series

Junior guard Diamond Henderson blows by a defender on her way to the basket during the Golden Eagles’ 93-54 rout of Truett-McConnell on Nov. 5.

Jamal Ferguson

The number two nation-ally ranked EIU Panthers continued their run through conference play on Saturday, handing the Golden Eagles their fi fth straight conference loss, 56 – 21, in Charleston, Ill.

“That’s the best team I’ve played,” head coach Watson Brown said. “They don’t have a weakness.”

The defense forced two fumbles during the game on Saturday to go along with an

interception. The fi rst fumble was

caused on the opening drive of the game by junior safety Austin Tallant. Tallant hit EIU quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo as he released a pass in the fi rst quarter. The ball went fl ying backwards behind the line of scrimmage. Tech’s Jimmy Laughlin was the only player on the fi eld who immediately reacted to the play as a fumble. Laughlin scooped the ball and returned it to the EIU 35-yard line.

Tech’s offense was un-

able to capitalize on the opportunity.

Tech dug themselves a 28 – 0 hole before putting any points on the board. Krys Cates caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from red-shirt freshman backup quar-terback Jared Davis in the second quarter. The one play 15-yard drive was set up off of an interception by sopho-more safety Patrick Prewitt.

The third turnover of the day was created by Tech linebacker and OVC leading tackler Tra’Darius Goff. Goff stuffed EIU’s runningback

as he broke the line of scrim-mage. Goff punched the ball out, causing a dog pile at the EIU 21-yard line. Prewitt was credited with the fumble re-covery, giving the ball back to the Golden Eagles. This time the Tech offense turned the turnover into seven points. Davis hooked up with receiv-er Eric Belew for a seven yard touchdown.

Tech’s special teams struggled throughout the game on Saturday missing a fi eld goal right before half and giving up two long punt returns for touchdowns.

Each of the past fi ve teams Tech has played, at one time or another throughout the season, have been ranked in the top 25. The team’s fi nal games of the year are against two of the bottom three teams in the league.

Tech will travel to South East Missouri Nov. 9 to take on the Redhawks.

Tech will reach their much needed bye week af-ter the SEMO game. Tech has played 11 straight games this season. After the bye week, the Golden Eagles will host in-state rival Austin Peay.

The Golden Eagles men’s golf team fi nished up its fall season with a fourth place fi nish at the Hummingbird Invitational.

Headed into the third round, the Golden Eagles were in position to make a run at fi rst place but strug-gled early and would fi nish fourth.

“The front nine, we re-ally struggled and that put us in a bad position,” said head coach Polk Brown. “That’s really where we put ourselves behind the 8-ball. To win tournaments, you have to get off to a good start.”

Sophomore Mitch Thomas fi nished inside the top 10 with a fi nal score of 215. Thomas is currently sitting inside the confer-ence top three.

Junior Lee Whitehead fi nished with a 214 and made the podium in third place. His third place fi n-ish was the lowest fi nish of his career and earned him all-tournament honors. He would later grab a co-Ohio Valley Conference male golfer of the week award.

The men’s team does not have any more tourna-ments this fall but hope to continue to improve dur-ing the break.

“Each tournament, they’ve gotten better and better,” said Brown. “That’s

encouraging because these next three months are go-ing to be just practicing, not playing in tournaments.”

The team has some ar-eas of the game that Brown said need work in order to give them a better chance to win.

“Inside 100 yards is where the guys need to im-prove,” said Brown. “And they can’t beat themselves.”

Brown also said the team needs to continue with improving on consis-tency and putting together three good rounds.

“We still have a long way to go but we’re com-peting,” said Brown. “Sooner or later, we’re go-ing to get a win.”

Golf finishes fourth at Hummingbird Invitational

Davis

By JUSTIN MATHENEYBeat Reporter

Conti

Volleyball still searching for second OVC win

By JAMAL FERGUSON Sports Editor

Golden Eaglescruise in exhibition

While its season does notstart until spring, the Tech baseball team is already pre-paring for next season.

The Golden Eagles fea-tured a series of intrasquadscrimmages this fall andhosted the annual Purple andGold series. The Purple andGold series is a best three outof four series that feature two teams, a purple team and agold team.

Senior players draft the remaining players to bothteams. The baseball team en-couraged fans to come out towatch their scrimmages.

“We had our familyday on Saturday,” said headcoach Matt Bragga. “We hadabout 200 to 250 fans comethat day. It was great for usand our guys.”

One of the main goals of fall prac-tice is to get an idea of where the team is in its prep-a r a t i o n for the upcoming s e a s o n . C o a c h B r a g g a said he is already notic-ing some positives from his squad.

“When I look at ourteam this fall, I see reallygood pitching depth,” saidBragga. “We also have reallygood player leaders. We havepassed the baton from lastyear’s seniors to this year’s seniors.”

With the fall coming to aclose, Bragga said he felt that the team had accomplished what they needed.

“I am happy with our progress,” said Bragga.

Tech’s baseball team hadone of the best seasons in the program’s history during its2013 campaign. The GoldenEagles fi nished the seasonwith a 40-17 record, whichincluded a huge upset of thesecond ranked Vanderbilt, in Nashville. The team also won the OVC regular seasonchampionship.

Tech baseball has wonthree OVC titles in the pastfi ve years. Coach Braggawants to keep his team fo-cused on continuing its suc-cess in 2014.

“We do not want to reston last year’s success,” saidBragga. “Last year is over. Weare preparing for this year.The chase is on.”

By MATTHEW HILLBeat Reporter

By JAMAL FERGUSON Sports Editor

Bragga

By SHEA HAILEAssistant Sports Editor

Golden Helix races for funding

Page 6 | November 8, 2013 tntechoracle.com

NEWS

By WILLIAM WEBBBeat Reporter

Members of the Cookeville community raced to benefit scholar-ship funding Saturday at this year ’s Golden Helix 5K on Tech’s campus.

Janet Coonce, this year ’s race director, said Saturday morning was chilly, but that didn’t stop the runners of Cookeville from lining up in front of Prescott Hall to await the explosion that kicked off the 3.1-mile race.

The Golden Helix 5K is a run put on by student members of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tech. Coonce said the event had a small start sev-eral years ago, but has real-ly taken off in recent years.

“ASBMB actually started the event four years ago with only a handful of runners that participated,” said Coonce. “However,

since then, we have seen the event grow more and more each year.”

Coonce said that the annual event is put on not only with the goal of gaining scholarship fund-ing for students in the de-partment of chemistry at Tech, but also with the goal of gaining funding for var-ious student activities in the department such as at-tending national chemistry meetings in different cities every year.

Coonce said the event takes a lot of plan-ning and preparation to pull off every year.

“We started plan-ning and preparing for this event over a year ago,” said Coonce. “The biggest issue with planning this year ’s event was coming up with a date that didn’t conflict with Homecoming, the Ryan Burnett race, the Haunted Half race, or just any of the other races around the area.”

Coonce said that there is a lot that has to be done in order to make an event like this one successful.

“There are a ton of steps that go into set-ting up the event,” said Coonce. “We have to get a city permit, a police escort, and a certified race route to even think about having the event.”

Medals were given out at the event for the top three male and female runners overall, as well as the top three male and fe-male runners in each of the nine different age groups, according to the event’s website.

There were also medals given out for the top three male and female runners in a stroller division. A tro-phy is presented every year to the fastest registered group of runners, and that trophy went to the Society for Women Engineers on Saturday.

The Fitness Center at TTU will be offering personal training sessions starting Nov. 11.

“Personal training is something that has been offered in the past but hasn’t been done in quite some time,” said TTU Health Promotions Program Coordinator Abbey Jaffe. “We have had a lot of interest from members and students, so I think there will be a lot of people actually participating in the program. We are very excited about it and it’s going to be great.”

Participants will have the option to train one-on-one with a solo trainer, alongside a partner or with a group of three or more.

“We have realized that people can be less self-motivated without a coach there,” Jaffe said. “The idea is to get people in the gym and to have a coach with them so they are pushing themselves

a little bit harder than they would if they were working out by themselves.”

Sessions will last no longer than one hour but can be split into 30 minute halves if so desired by the participants.

“Everybody’s sessions and routines are going to be different with their specifi c trainers,” Jaffe said. “No one person is going to be doing the same thing as someone else because everybody is different and everybody deserves to have an individualized program. If there is any piece of equipment in this fi tness center that can be utilized by an individual, it will be used in personal training; anything from dumbbells to cardiovascular equipment to the pool. If people want to incorporate things like basketball or racquetball into their sessions, we can defi nitely make that happen, too.”

Freshman Kayla Dean is

looking forward to havingthe option of a personaltrainer at the Fitness Center.

“I am really excitedthat Tech is offering theopportunity to have personal trainers,” Dean said. “I havealways found that I pushmyself harder in a work out ifI have someone there keepingme focused and on track. It’sawesome that you can tell The Fit ‘these are the resultsI want to see’ and then theydesign a program for you tobe successful.”

Rates start at $35 fora single session. Partnersessions cost $20 per participant and the grouprate is $15 per person. Punchcards will also be available for single session participants at a discounted price of fourpunches for $120.

All transactions and scheduling will bedone through the Health Promotions Programs offi ceand staff in the Fitness Center.

Get Fit with trainersBy ALLISON MILLSBeat Reporter

By COURTNEY DODDBeat Reporter

Starting in the month of October, Tennessee residents began to notice an abundance of ladybugs on their property.

These red, yellow and orange dotted insects came in swarms and covered people’s cars, houses and gardens, causing annoyance among residents.

Many people question where the ladybugs came from and why there seems to be an overabundance.

“They have no natural enemies so their survival rate is high,” said professor of animal science Bruce Greene.

Assistant professor of agricultural engineering James Baier said the ladybugs

have been most commonly seen on buildings and houses.

“The swarms have congregated around buildings to get in from the winter weather,” said Greene.

Although the ladybug surplus seems unusual, it has happened before.

“This isn’t the fi rst time it has happened either,” Baier said. “I would say ten or twelve years ago we had the same problem.”

Baier said the pesky insects have been reported in surrounding counties as well as surrounding states.

“They seem to be increasing every year,” said Greene.

The original location or explanation of the abundance of ladybugs is unsure, but

Baier said he has a theory on why the bugs suddenly appeared.

“My speculation is because of the mild winter we had followed by the rainy summer,” said Baier.

Although they are a nuisance to residents, ladybugs are harmless and help protect surrounding plant life.

“They eat aphids, which are pests to the plants and trees around here,” said Greene.

Until the bugs relocate, Tennessee citizens must learn to live with them.

“This is a prolifi c problem all over but it won’t last forever,” said Baier.

Ladybugs invade Tennessee

Savannah Nolen runs the 5K Golden Helix race on Saturday to raise money for the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Society of Chemistry. Stu-dents, faculty, staff, and others participated in the race.

Janet Coonce

1. L i s t e n t o WTT U.2 . B e H a pp i e r.

St e p s f o r S u c c e s s