the oracle - feb. 22, 2013
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The Oracle - Feb. 22, 2013TRANSCRIPT
Information Technol-ogy Services has increased students printing allow-ance from $25 to $30 per page due to the amount of money that has been saved since the Pharos printing system has been imple-mented.
This semester, students have an increase in the amount of papers they can print and a decrease in the cost per page to print.
“In 2010 ITS was sup-plying 71 cases of paper and 28 toners per month to the labs around campus,” Annette Littrell, director of academic and client tech-nologies, said. “Now there has been a decrease in use for paper and toner and for the fall semester only 38
cases of paper and 13 toners per month were supplied which means consumption has been cut almost in half.”
Last semester students were paying 10 cents per one-sided copy, and 15 cents per double-sided copy but with the new printing al-lowance, students will pay 8 cents for one sided-copy and 13 cents for double-sided copy.
“If students take advan-tage of double-sided print-ing, they will see a signifi -cant increase in the number of sheets they can print,” Littrell said. “Last semester students could print about 330 pages before exceeding the quota, and this semester students should be able to roughly double the amount of pages they can print.”
Tech students Michael Cox of Sigma Chi and SGA President, Lee Gatts of Phi Delta Theta, were kicked out of an intramu-ral basketball game Jan. 30 for fi ghting.
The intra-mural basket-ball game be-tween Sigma Chi and Phi Delta fraterni-ties got heated and a punch was thrown by Gatts during play.
The scoreboard was 38-11 with Sigma Chi. Cox, Sigma Chi for-ward, brought the ball down the court, releasing the ball to a team-mate.
“I was dribbling down the sideline and I turned my back up to the top of the key,” Cox said.
“The guy came up and bumped me out of bounds continuously. I guess that’s his form of defense.”
Lee Gatts, Phi Delta The-ta defensive player said, “Both teams were playing competitively and realized the referees weren’t calling very much for ei-ther side. I really didn’t think there was much of a situation.”
Spectator Justin Handley said, “Cox threw his hands up after he released the ball motioning for the foul to be called by the ref, but nothing ever got called.”
Cox said both referees were inexperienced and had not been making calls the entire game.
“Gatts gave me a nudge in the back so I turned around and shoved him back. He pushed me
again and I stumbled into the Phi Delta sideline,” Cox said. “While I was turned around trying to get out of the Phi Delta circle it was said that he threw a punch at me, but I didn’t see it.”
Handley said, “After Cox got out of the Phi Delta sideline, Gatts threw a punch right at him and missed.”
“Cox tensed up but didn’t go after him because by that time they were already breaking everything up.”
Both Cox and Gatts were eject-ed from the game and Phi Delta was given a technical foul for the push and thrown punch.
Intramural employee Jake Reel offi ciated the game.
“It was a situation that esca-lated due to competitiveness. The intramural staff and student em-ployees handled the situation in-credibly well,” he said.
Gatts said that he believed the situation to have been dealt with.
“I believe this may be an ex-ample of an ant hill trying to be a mountain but there really wasn’t any kind of situation,” Gatts said. “All players from both teams have been cleared to play all intramural sports.”
The fi ght received social media attention from several members of the student body. Blake Allison, student, tweeted “@TNTechSGA president Gatts throws punches while playing intramural basket-ball game” after hearing of the “al-
most fi ght.” Allison said that he was blocked
by the SGA’s Twitter account after the tweet was published.
“I wasn’t the only one to get blocked,” said Allison. “Half of in-tramural got blocked by the SGA account for tweeting about the in-cident.”
Sigma Chi ended the game with a 30-point victory and bothplayers are considered in good standing with Tech’s Intramural at this time.
Residence halls M.S. Cooper and Pinkerton are undergoing extensive renovations to upgrade mechanical and plumbing systems in order to house students August 2013.
Built in the late 1960s, the halls house 180 people and have never had renovations.
“We’re really excited about the changes taking place. Students will get to enjoy the renovated facilities, but they still get to interact with each other in the halls and common areas,” De-Layne Miller, project manager of Facili-ties and Building Services said.
The renovations include but are not limited to include: removing asbestos materials, replacing the Heat Vent Air Conditioning system, renovating the bathrooms, replacing interior doors, as well as updating fl ooring and furniture in offi ces, common areas and resident rooms.
In addition to these renovations, space in the residence hall will be reno-vated to accommodate a new learning area, Global Village.
“The plan is to rename M.S. Coo-per and Pinkerton Global Hall,” said Charles Macke, president of Residential Life.
Global Hall will house internation-al students and American students who want to live with international students.
“Roughly one-third of the space will be for returning international stu-
dents. The other two-thirds will be for new international students and Ameri-can students who are interested in be-ing involved with the Global Village and international students,” Macke said.
Tennessee Board of Regents ap-proved the renovations in advance to allow the University time to appropri-ate funding and commission the proj-ect.
Commissioning is done by third party design to ensure that the new building systems meet the owner’s needs, and the safety guidelines for a lower cost.
Within the next seven years, the campus’s master plan includes renovat-ing all seven residence halls. Each reno-vation costs approximately $3.5 million and will take one to two semesters for completion.
THE OORACLEVolume 96 | Issue 13 | Free in single copy | February 22, 2013Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505 | Est. 1924
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See “Allowance,” page 6
Twitter/@blakeaallison
Word of the incident traveled by social media. Tech student Blake Allison’stweet was retweeted by four people.Cox
SGA President, student ejected from game following altercationBy MEREDITH PAINTERBeat Reporter
By BISKIE HOLMANBeat Reporter
$3.5 million renovation makes way for Global Hall
A Tech student was the victim of a drive-by shooting with a BB gun near New Hall South Feb. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
According to the police report, the student noticed an older model, four-door, small car with four college-aged
students in it crossing in front of New Hall South.
The occupant of the vehicle then stuck a toy pistol with an orange bar-rel tip out of the window and began fi ring at the student. The occupant starting laughing and drove off, the report said.
Donna White, administrative as-sociate for the Tech police, said the case is considered aggravated assault.
“Simple assault is just when you use your hands. If you have to go to
the hospital it becomes aggravated. And because they used a weapon, it’s an aggravated assault,” White said.
She also said the victim would have to press charges since the police were not present at the time of the in-cident.
Offi cers are still looking for the car.
According to the report, the car is a small, four-door, older model car with a bike rack on the top and a Ten-nessee license plate.
Student reports BB gun drive-by shooting attemptBy APRIL GILBERTBeat Reporter
Brittany Stovall
Student Jennifer Nordhoff collects her printed papers at the library. Student printing allowance have been increased from $25 to $30 per semester.
ITS increases print allowancesBy JORDAN KERLEYBeat Reporter
Jake ThreetChad Zinchini walks past the fenced off M. S. Cooper Hall while it undergoes renovations slated at $3.5 million.
Gatts
Two new bills were presented and voted on at the SGA meeting Feb. 12 including an act to open the entrances of New Hall South and another to inform students about events via text message.
SGA senator, Jordan Meador presented the idea to remove the blocks at the New Hall South entrances.
“The removal of the blocks would mean easier access for student drop off and unloading along with better fi re safety,” Meador said.
Students that park in front of the building would have a time limit of one hour. Former Presi-dent Bell initially blocked the two entrances because students were using the area as parking for extend-ed periods of time.
SGA senator, Nathan
Cole proposed the second bill to involve a text mes-sage system similar to the current Rave alert system. The new system would in-form students of all events taking place every day including athletic events, fraternity and sorority ac-tivities, cultural events, etc.
“Students would sign
up on their own and pay on their own. A possibil-ity for this system might be giving students a way to customize what kind of events they receive infor-mation about,” SGA Presi-dent, Lee Gatts said.
Both bills were voted on and passed by a major-ity vote.
Page 2 | February 22, 2013 tntechoracle.com
NEWS
techtech@eventsevents
February
tntech.edu/calendar
“Everybody Knows Somebody” is the theme for this year’s National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, NEDA.
According to a 2004 survey con-ducted by Princeton University Health Services, 30 percent of college students have or will experience with eating disorder symptoms during their college years.
Eating disorders are a growing prob-lem for college students, and raising awareness is important to the Univer-sity. The Counseling Center will set up an interactive display on the fi rst fl oor of the RUC and the fi tness center Feb. 25- 29.
The Counseling Center teamed up with the School of Human Ecology to present a workshop for NEDA week Feb. 28 at 11a.m. in the Tech Pride Room. The workshop will be lead by senior nu-trition students who will explore weight loss and eating disorder issues.
“The media sets a standard that normal, real people will never achieve,” Christina Mick, assistant director of clinical services, said.
There are a number of various fac-tors that may lead to eating disorders, however, the growing prominence of
the media and their narrow defi nitions of beauty remain among the most likely causes.
It is important to recognize the pos-sible warning signs of someone suffer-ing from an eating disorder. Some typi-cal warning signs are dramatic weight loss, preoccupation with weight and food, excessive diuretic or laxative use, withdrawal from usual friends or ac-tivities, digestion problems, and throat issues or complications.
“Eating disorders are real, and they come in all shapes and sizes. I think it’s important for friends to recognize the is-sue and seek professional help for their loved one,” Candice Allen, counseling center graduate assistant said.
Those suffering from an eating disor-der can benefi t from having supportive friends who are willing to provide them with resources, encouragement and avoid being judgmental.
The Counseling Center is always available to assist students with any concerns. Please visit room 307 in the RUC or the Counseling Center’s website to schedule an appointment.
If you have any questions regarding NEDA week, visit the National Eating Disorder Awareness website for more information.
Counseling Center gears up to combat eating disordersBy ELISSA LONGFELLOWBeat Reporter
CRIME BRIEFS:
For up-to-date crime information, visit tntechoracle.com
Alyssa AdkissonMembers of the Student Government Association meet during a general assembly on February 12.
SGA moves to improve communication
24
26
3 p.m. Baseball vs. Niagara Uni-versity
3 p.m. TTU Mastersingers Con-certWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building
11 a.m.TAB drawstring bag give-awayRUC Lobby
3 p.m. Baseball vs. Middle Ten-nessee State University
7:30 p.m. Joshua Hauser, Faculty Trombone RecitalWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building
28
- Feb. 7- 7:00 Classifi cation: Drug/Narcotic Violation Location: New Hall North (Sidewalk) Disposition: Closed. No Suspects or witnesses Notes: Small bag of marijuana was found and turned into Tech Police. Evidence sentenced to destruction.
- Feb. 10 - 4:46 Classifi cation: Drug/Narcotic Violation Location: New Hall North (Dorm room) Disposition: Closed. Reffered to Dean of Students Notes: None.
- Feb. 11 - 5:00 Classifi cation: Theft from motor vehcile Location: University Services Building (USVC) (Parking Lot) Disposition: Open Case. Notes: Vehicle left unlocked.
- Feb. 11 - 4:00 Classifi cation: Theft from building Location: Fittness Center (Locker Room) Disposition: Open Case. Notes: Locker left unlocked.
- Feb. 14 - 4:30 Classifi cation: Burglary/Breaking & Entering Location: Browning (Dorm room) Disposition: Open Case. Notes: Resident left room unlocked.
- Feb. 17 - 2:27 Classifi cation: Liquor Law Violation Location: New Hall South (Lobby) Disposition: Closed. Subject arrested. Notes: None.
- Feb. 18 - Not Available Classifi cation: Theft from building Location: Dunn (Laundry room) Disposition: Open Case. Notes: Theft of chairs.
- Feb. 18 - 9:45 Classifi cation: Intimidation Location: Crawford (Parking lot) Disposition: Closed. Refferred to Dean of Students Notes: None.
- Feb. 15 - Not Available Classifi cation: Destruction/Damage/ Vandalism Location: Jobe (Parking Lot) Disposition: Open Case. Notes: 2 TTU Department vans- Driver’s side rear ire fl at-tended.
By CASEY WOODARDBeat Reporter
22
23
All DayTennessee Collegiate Hon-ors ConferenceNursing Building
3 p.m. Baseball vs. Niagara Uni-versity
7:30 p.m.Trombones at Tech: Pops Night for Trombones Stu-dent RecitalsWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building
All DayTennessee Collegiate Hon-ors ConferenceNursing Building
3 p.m. Baseball vs. Niagara University
6 p.m.International Banquet RUC Multipurpose Room
7 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. Uni-versity of Missouri- Kan-sas City and BLIZZARD
256 p.m. Women’s Basketball at Southeast Missouri State University
7:30 p.m. The Tech Concert Band in ConcertWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building
5:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.Men and Women’s Basket-ball vs. Eastern Kentucky University
7:30 p.m. Jeremy Hansen Faculty Horn RecitalWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building
277 p.m.Aplpha Psi Omega $2 Coffee House Showcase of TalentBackdoor Playhouse
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A NICE DAY FOR UNICYCLING
Tech student Zachery Medina enjoys warm weather on South Patio while riding and per-forming on his unicycle.
Adam Webb
With the semester in full swing and midterms less than a month away, the im-portance of studying is really hitting home.
Most of us can agree that studying oc-curs outside the classroom, in the form of papers, projects, and worksheets. For some, studying and learning occur inside the class-room, as well.
Today’s society has taught us that we have rights, and the rights of an individual are paramount to anything else on earth. While I can certainly identify with this phi-losophy, when it comes to my education, I’m forced to disagree.
Yes, spending thousands of dollars on tuition money entitles people to any educa-tion they want. Yes, ultimately and in the long term, the only person you hurt if you do not learn is you. But when those texting distracts those of us who appreciate the fi -nancial sacrifi ces it took to get us here–when it disrespects the teachers who are dedicated to educating in order to provide a better to-morrow, then we’ve got a problem.
Some students may only be here be-cause it’s an escape from mommy and dad-dy’s rules. They may only be here because it allows them to stay out all night party-ing with no real consequences. That’s their
prerogative.Do you want to know why I’m here?
I’m here because no one in my family has ever gone beyond a four-year college, and I’m one of only two who has completed that. I’m here because I want to not only provide for my family and myself. I want to help oth-ers in the process. I cannnot accomplish that without having a master’s degree.
The glaring screen and clicking keys, can’t stop me from getting a degree and the most quality education my tuition can af-ford. As a hearing- and currently vision-im-paired student, my teachers and classmates who are speaking need my undivided focus in order for me to understand concepts and discussions. When my peripherals, vision or hearing, pick up on something aside from normal classroom behavior, it causes me to have a “squirrel moment” to identify it and recognize if it’s something worth paying at-tention to. When I see that it’s just some in-considerate oaf on a cell phone, not only am I distracted, I’m “ticked off” that I lost those precious seconds of information from my professor, information that could have been valuable for personal growth and academic tests.
Students want to keep using their phones
in class, that’s fi ne. If posting on Facebook, playing Words with Friends or texting your boyfriend/girlfriend, so important do us both a favor and just stay home. By bring-ing it to class, my time, the professor’s, and also your own is wasted, and Heaven forbid class distracts from what’s really important, right?
Now, I know the argument can be made that cell phones can access the internet,
thereby allowing students to do more in-depth research as quickly as Tech’s internetconnection will allow. You can also tell methat having the calculator on your phone al-lows you to complete simple computationswithout dragging around a bulky TI-85. Butlike a popular sign addressed from a teacheraimed at texting students, “I know whenyou’re texting in class. Seriously, no onelooks down at their crotch and smiles.”
“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent -- the Lord detests them both.” Proverbs 17:15 (New International Verson)
Under Tennessee schools’ current zero-tolerance policies, any student involved in a fi ght at school faces disciplinary action.
This means that the student being abused, even if they don’t fi ght back receives the same or worse disciplinary action as the abuser or attacker.
Students in Tennessee schools are not allowed to physically de-fend themselves when other stu-dents start to physically abuse them, but I as an adult, can defend myself when another adult starts to abuse me. I believe this is a dou-ble standard.
How is it wisdom to punish the innocent? Punishing a stu-dent who did nothing to provoke a fi ght is not fair. It is not biblical either.
State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, and State Sen. Regi-nald Tate, D-Memphis, are spon-soring the student self-defense bill, which would eliminate the notion of zero-tolerance and allow
students to fi ght back in defense of themselves or to step in and fi ght in defense of a fellow class-mate without fear of punishment, according to WSMV.com.
“A quick-tempered person does a foolish thing,” Proverbs 14:17 (NIV)
Sometimes a fi ght will break out and it is because one student is just looking to start trouble. Teachers know these students be-cause they see them roaming the halls with that look about them that says “try me.” As soon as the teacher turns around that student picks the kid right in front of them and starts a fi ght that will land him in out-of-school suspension along with the other kid who did nothing but be in the right place at the wrong time.
“It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.” Proverbs 20:3 (NIV)
If soldiers do what it takes to avoid a fi ght but have to defend themselves by fi ghting back, or they stand up to the bully who started the fi ght, they are called a hero. Is it not the same thing when one student stands up to another
in defense of another classmate? I propose that we need to start
empowering students to stand up to the bullies who just want to fi ght and drag more people down with them, for misery loves com-pany. We need to encourage them to take a stand without fear of dis-ciplinary action.
I am not saying we should allow them to start fi ghts or pro-mote fi ghting in schools, but I am saying that we need to empower
the good students to fi nd peace-able solutions. Just like with the military, they do try to seek peace-able solutions to avoid confl ict.
“The way of the guilty is devi-ous, but the conduct of the inno-cent is upright.” Proverbs 21:8
We are innocent until proven guilty and I truly believe we all have a right to protect ourselves. Instead of looking to just lay the blame at the feet of both parties in a fi ght, I suggest teachers, admin-
istrators and students, take intoconsideration all possible avenuesfor why the fi ght started in thefi rst place.
Who knows, the one who started the fi ght could have beenthe original victim because theywere the one being bullied.
Bullying is the real problemhere. Are we even paying atten-tion to the signs?
I was a victim of bullying inhigh school and if I could have Iwould have fought back with allthat was in me. But I was the pas-sive student who tried to handleit on my own and, when it wentto far, I fi nally went to the peoplein charge who should have been paying attention, but weren’t.
Not everyone is brave enoughto fi ght back on his or her own andstudents shouldn’t have too. ButI will stand and applaud the onewho stands up to the bully andfi ghts for the ones who cannot.
I want this problem fi xed now.In the future, I will encouragemy children to fi ght back. Walk-ing away from a problem doesn’tmake it go away, it only makesit worse. The situations in ourschools will not get better untillegislation is passed to get rid of the “zero tolerance” bill.
If I can defend myself as anadult, why can’t students to dothe same? Turning the other cheekdoesn’t and can’t apply whendealing with bullies.
Page 3 | February 22, 2013tntechoracle.com
OPINION
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Ask yourself this: ‘Why am I really here?’
Zero-tolerance policy leaves students wondering who’s bullying whom
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No matter who instigates it, all parties in a fi ght are guilty, according to current zero-policy statutes in Tennessee.
Womens basketball tied for second in division with three games left in regular season
Tech women’s basketball team returns from their weekend road trip with a big win and close lose in Ohio Valley play.
The Golden Eagles started the weekend on a strong note with an 84-70 win at Morehead State University Saturday Feb.16. Tech fi nished the game shooting 50 percent from the fi eld and out re-bounding their opponents 43 to 25.
Leading the way for Tech was junior guard Diamond Hen-derson, who fi nished with 26 points. Strong contributions from senior guards Jala Harris and LaShay Davis, who fi nished with 13 and 10 respectively, helped Tech on their way to victory.
Another strong point for the Golden Eagles was sophomore forward T’Keyah Williams, who fi nished with her second straight double-double on the season. Her 11 points and 13 rebounds ef-fort helped Tech keep defi cit large all game.
The second contest took place Monday night against Eastern Kentucky University. Despite strong performances again from Henderson and Williams, who both fi nished with double digits, the women’s team was never able to get ahead after falling behind early. Tech struggled from the fi eld, in comparison to other games, shoot only 37.9 percent.
The loss leaves Tech tied for second place in the Ohio Valley
Conference’s eastern Division with the Belmont Bruins. In orderfor the team to capture the number one seed for the conferencetournament, they must win their last three remaining games ofthe season.
“The last three games are very important,” reserve juniorguard Christina Caddy said. “Playing SEMO and Eastern Ken-tucky back to back will be tough on us. This is a critical part of theseason and these games should put us in the position we need to be in come the OVC Tournament.”
The women’s Golden Eagles go back on the road next Mon-day to take on Southeast Missouri State before wrapping up theseason with two home games against Easter Kentucky and More-head State.
Golden Eagle softball at .500 headed into third weekendtournament
The Golden Eagle softball team went even on the weekend,going 2-2 at the Kennesaw State Classic
Tech capitalized on their chances Saturday, beating both Lib-erty and Mercer. The Golden Eagle offense was strong, fi nishingthe day with 13 runs on 20 hits.
“Saturday we did a good job of not letting the conditions ef-fect us,” said sophomore pitcher Taylor Ketchum.
“We are working on staying in the game and not letting out-side factors take us out of the game.”
The game went back and forth between Tech and Libertyforcing the game into extra innings. The Golden Eagles were ableto exploit Liberty’s defense, scoring seven runs to win the gamein the eighth inning.
“We kept the momentum going into the next game on Satur-day,” said freshman Madison Taylor. “We were working togetherand everything was falling into place.”
The tides turned for Tech on Sunday however, falling to bothBall State in fi ve innings and host Kennesaw State.
“We got down the fi rst game on Sunday,” said fi rst year coachBonnie Bynum. “In the second game even though we didn’t win I thought we played hard and focused. We just didn’t get the hitswhen we needed it.”
The team was unable to come back against Kennesaw Stateand suffered a tough loss with a score 3-0.
“The biggest thing was that we weren’t ready to play, sohopefully they will come out this weekend and be ready.”
The Golden Eagles return to Tennessee this upcoming week-end at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga. They will play in fi vegames against Northern Kentucky, Niagra, Miami (Ohio), Mis-souri State, and Ohio.
The Golden Eagle base-ball team split their fi rst four games of the season with two wins and one loss against Illi-nois over the weekend, and a 12-1 loss to Lipscomb Tuesday afternoon.
The game against Lip-scomb (4-1) was highlighted by a ten-run fi fth inning for the Bisons.
“Big innings kill you,” head coach Matt Bragga said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re playing the best team in the country, the worst team in the country or somebody in be-tween, you have to make them earn their runs. We didn’t do that in the fi fth.”
In the inning, the Golden Eagles gave up three walks, a hit batsman and an error.
Lipscomb was able to send 14 batters to the plate.
“Beyond the fi fth, Nick Price pitched well the fi rst four innings,” Bragga said. “Baugh (Garrett) kind of fell on hard luck. He had a couple of ground ball base hits that rolled through, and as a coach, I can’t be upset with that. Its just part of the game.”
Bragga said that the of-fense needed to do a better job of “working their plan” say-ing that the hitters needed to be more patient and work the counts more.
The Golden Eagles did take the series against Illinois (2-1) last weekend, with one of their two wins coming off of a walk-off home run from junior Brandon Thomasson.
Tech battled back for their two wins in the series after dropping the fi rst one, 13-2.
The two wins were both one run wins for the Golden Ea-gles with a 6-5 win Saturday and a 7-6 win on Sunday.
“Last Friday’s game re-minded me of Tuesday’s,” Bragga said. “What our guys were able to do on Saturday and Sunday was understand that we need to throw more strikes, we need to play bet-ter defense, we need to have more patient at-bats.”
“I believe in our guys,” Bragga said. “I believe with all my heart that we’ll rec-tify those issues that we’ve shown in two of our fi rst four games.”
The Golden Eagles will look to bounce back in the win column as they open a three game series against Ni-agra University (0-4) Friday at the Averitt Baseball Complex at 3 pm.
Tech’s men’s basketball team looks to bounce back with a “Blizzard” Saturday after back-to-back OVC losses against Eastern Kentucky University and More-
head State University last week.“When you play good offensive
teams, they’re going to score no matter how good your defense is,” head coach
Steve Payne said. “If we don’t take care of the basketball our chances of winning go way down.”
Page 4 | February 22, 2013 tntechoracle.com
SPORTS
Weekly
RoundupThis week’s sports stories at a glance
By DREW HASTONAssistant Sports Editor
Matthew Hill
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Forecast calls for ‘Blizzard’ on Saturday
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Baseball opens season with two wins and two losses
Feb. 22Baseball
Niagara 3 PM
Averitt Express Baseball Complex
Feb. 23Baseball
Niagara 2 PM
Averitt Express Baseball Complex
Men’s BasketballUMKC
*Blizzard*7 PM
Eblen Center
Feb. 24Baseball
Niagara 1 PM
Averitt Express Baseball Complex
This Weekend’s Sports Lineup
Tech senior Judd Dillard posterizes an opponent in a recent game at the Eblen Center. Dillard and the Golden Eagles will take on the Kangaroos of UMKC Feb. 23 in the Ramada World-wide BracketBuster and it is also long time Tech tradition “Blizzard” game.
Both games went into halftime with just a three-point difference in the score.
EKU outplayed the Golden Eagles in the sec-ond half and took advan-tage of a late fl agrant foul call against junior guard Dennis Ogbe. The fi nal score was 80-69.
The Morehead State game was a low-scoring affair that came down to the wire with Tech falling short 65-63.
The Golden Eagles will look to avenge these losses at home this week-end against the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the Ramada Worldwide Bracket-Buster game.
“The bracket-buster game allows us to play on national television which we don’t get to do very of-ten so that’s always fun,” senior forward, Terrell Barnes, said.
UMKC is coming to Tech looking for a win to solidify their trip to the NCAA basketball tour-nament. However, The Hoop’s forecast is fea-turing some “inclement weather” that may hinder
the Kangaroos’ chances.The “Blizzard” is a
tradition, which startedin 1984 when studentscelebrated the fi rst suc-cessful shot made by theGolden Eagles in a basket-ball game against MiddleTennessee State Univer-sity by throwing showersof “Tech Squares” [toiletpaper] into the air. SinceMTSU has moved to theSun Belt Conference, the“Blizzard” is now per-formed against AustinPeay State University andgames of big signifi cance,such as a bracket-buster.
“The ‘Blizzard’ is afun way for the fans to getinvolved with the game,”said Senior Forward Ter-rell Barnes. “It also givesus a little psychologicaladvantage for the nextcouple of possessionswhich is always good.”
The game starts at 7p.m. Saturday with the“Blizzard” occurringshortly after tip-off.
The Golden Eagleswill remain at home forthe rest of the seasonwith games against East-ern Kentucky, MoreheadState.
Senior Austin Wulf drills pitch for a double in the Golden Eagles fi rst win of the season on Feb. 16 over Illinois. Tech took the series 2-1.
@tntechoracle: For the latest news, entertainment, opinion and sports, follow The Oracle on Twitter and Facebook.
tntechoracle.com Page 5 | February 22, 2013
ENTERTAINMENT
Awards season recap, Academy Awards predictionsBy JAKE THREETEntertainment Editor
By HANNAHBENJAMINEntertainment Critic
By LINDSEY GOREEntertainment Critic
Hannah’s must-see movies of the spring‘Beautiful Creatures’ lacks any magic
‘Beautiful Creatures’ opened in sixth place at the box offi ce with over 7.5 million dollars at the domestic box offi ce.
Teaser Trailer
ScreenRantThe 85th Academy Aawrds ceremony will take place this Sunday on ABC with presenters including: Jennifer Aniston, San-dra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, John Travolta, Jamie Foxx, and the casts of “The Avengers” and “Chicago”.
Sunday, Feb. 23 is the 85th Annual Academy Awards and the outcome is anybody’s guess.
The last two months actors have dressed up and got prepared for award show after award show. Sunday, Feb 24 is the granddaddy of them all and the biggest achievement an actor can reach in his or her career.
Top fi lms nominated in this year’s slew of awards include: “Silver Linings Playbook”, “Django Unchained”, “Lincoln”, “Les Misérables”, “Zero Dark Thirty”, and “Argo”.
The Critic’s Choice Movie Awards was the fi rst to begin the awards season followed by the Peoples Choice Awards. It is not a big predictor of the upper echelon of Awards Shows, but it is always a fun way to start the awards season. Next were the 70th Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the British Academy Film Awards.
Some of the top awards were swept at every show, while others were not so predictable. Every award show has given us something new and predicting the Oscars is harder than usual this year. Now for the predictions, here we go.
Best Picture Nominees:“Amour”“Argo”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Django Unchained” “Les Misérables”
“Life of Pi” “Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty” Should win: “Lincoln”
and “Silver Linings Playbook” both deserve the award because both fi lms are incredible. If it were up to me, the latter would
win because it was such an amazing fi lm. I really loved it and of all the movies I could have sat in the theater and watched it right over again.
Will win: While deep in my heart I have hope for a silver lining upset, “Argo,” will probably claim the top prize. It has won the exact same award at every award show it has been nominated. It is not undeserving at all, but it just is not as good as others. Politics may play a part in its win as well. I am crossing my fi ngers for an upset, but we shall see.
Best Actor Nominees:Bradley Cooper in
“Silver Linings Playbook” Daniel Day-Lewis in
“Lincoln”Hugh Jackman in “Les
Misérables”Joaquin Phoenix in “The
Master”Denzel Washington in
“Flight”Should win: Daniel
Day-Lewis’ portrayal as Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest performances
by an actor of all time and his performance deserves this award. His acting in this movie is far and away from the rest of the competition. I will say this, however, Bradley Cooper deserves a runner-up Oscar because his performance in “Silver Linings Playbook” was excellent. Cooper had to work extremely hard to craft his performance in the fi lm and his hard work paid off because peopel now consider him a serious actor. Although he has not received any mainstream awards for his role, there is no doubt that he is runner up for the lead actor statue.
Will Win: Daniel Day-Lewis has swept the rest of the award shows in this category and his Academy Award collection will only get bigger Sunday.
Best Actress Nominees:Jessica Chastain in “Zero
Dark Thirty”Jennifer Lawrence in
“Silver Linings Playbook”Emmanuelle Riva in
“Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis in “Beasts of the Southern
Wild”Naomi Watts in “The
Impossible”Should win: Jennifer
Lawrence gave a dazzling and stunning performance in “Silver Linings Playbook” and it was her best performance to date. Previously being nominated for Winter’s Bone, Lawrence is not a stranger at the awards. At twenty-two years old, she is only beginning what looks to be one impeccable career, but her time has come and deservingly so.
Will win: Throughout the awards season, Lawrence and fellow nominee Jessica Chastain have been dueling it out for the top prize. Each won a Lead Actress Golden Globe for her respected fi lm’s category, but when drama and comedy categories are combined the outcomes have been different. Chastain took home the Critic’s Choice Award, while Lawrence won the Screen Actors Guild Award. Also at the BAFTA’s,
which is the British version of the Academy awards, Emmanuelle Riva took home the top prize. Sunday only one will walk away with the statue and all my bets are in for Jennifer Lawrence.
Best Supporting Actor Nominees:
Alan Arkin in “Argo” Robert De Niro in “Silver
Linings Playbook”Philip Seymour Hoffman
in “The Master”Tommy Lee Jones in
“Lincoln”Christoph Waltz in “Django Unchained”Should win: In what
is the tightest race, and has been all awards season, any of these actors deserve an award for their performances in each of his esteemed fi lms.
Will win: It is very hard to make a decision in this category because all these men have won an award for his performance. Hoffman took home the Critic’s Choice Award, Waltz won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA, and Jones won the Screen Actors
Guild Award. Arkin and DeNiro have not won at thesebigger awards, but haveplenty other accolades fromtheir portrayals in each of their movies. I would notplace odds too highly on one nominee over the other,but I am going with Waltzon this one because winninga Golden Globe and aBAFTA are a good omen forsomething.
Best Supporting ActressNominees:
Amy Adams in “The Master”
Sally Field in “Lincoln”Anne Hathaway in “Les
Misérables”Helen Hunt in “The
Sessions”Jacki Weaver in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Should win: Again, likethe best supporting actornominees, this group ofnominees is a hard win topredict. Each has proven theirworth for the nominationand all have earned it.
Will win: Unlike best supporting male actor, onelady has only won this race.Anne Hathaway has sweptthe awards season and hasnot lost. It is inevitable thatshe will win Sunday and Iwould take that bet all theway to the bank. We can onlyhope for a better speech thanwhat she has given the lasttwo months.
No mater the outcomeson Sunday, winners willwalk away with the mostprestigious award an actorcan receive. Those on theloosing end should notbeupset, as most will be backfor another shot. As for anyother predictions, whatever“Silver Linings Playbook” isnominated for I am behindit a hundred percent. I lovedthe movie and have seen itthree times. It simply can do wrong in my mind.
The Academy Awards,hosted by the hilarious SethMacFarlane, airs this Sundayat 8/7 central on ABC.
“Beautiful Creatures” tries to be a Romeo and Juliet romance fi lm with a supernatural twist, with the key word being “tries.”
Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) spends his time reading banned books and counting down the days until he can run away to college and escape his small, Bible belt town in South Carolina. Lena (Alice Englert), the niece of a wealth hermit whose family founded the town, moves to town and Ethan’s life is suddenly exciting.
Everyone but Ethan is weary of Lena because her family is rumored to be a bunch of devil worshippers. Ethan is unfazed by these rumors and quickly befriends and just as quickly sweeps Lena off her feet. Lena admits to Ethan that her family has magical powers and that when she turns 16 she will either be claimed by dark or light magic. Ethan takes the news with a shockingly cavalier attitude, but the situation quickly takes a turn for the worst.
‘Beautiful Creatures’ tries too hard to be Romeo and Juliet and Gothic without any type of balance. The sap of the romantic scenes paired with Lena’s magic comes across as tacky.
There is this almost fascinating gawky gaudiness reminiscent of “Twilight” about the fi lm’s entire feel
that makes it diffi cult to take seriously.
The fi lm’s dialogue struggles to steer clear of cheesy lines that are awkward and unbelievable even in the world of magic. There is an awkward mesh of romantic and quirky with lines exchanged between Ethan and Lena, and any other lines are boring and lack any creative fl are.
Ehrenreich and Englert perform marginally better than mediocre, but supporting actors do nothing but add to the fi lm’s already gleaming tackiness. Emma Thompson’s performance
is especially disappointing. Having starred in several highly rated fi lms such as the “Harry Potter” series, Thompson tarnishes her career a little with mediocre acting. Emmy Rossum overacts and puts too much sass into her already overwhelmingly sassy character.
‘Beautiful Creatures’ is a sad attempt at putting a magic twist on two star-crossed lovers that is fi t for teenybopper eyes only.
‘Beautiful Creatures’ is rated PG-13 for violence, scary images and some sexual material.
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Spring can be an awkward time for the movie industry anticipating the big summer blockbusters. Here is a guide to assist you in fi nding some quality fi lms for the rest of the semester. “Oz the Great and Powerful”
The fi lm is rated PG, shows in theaters March 8. The fi lm stars James Franco, Michelle Williams, and Mila Kunis, this prequel to the time honored classic The Wizard of Oz tells the story of how a small time magician with questionable ethics becomes the greatest wizard Oz has ever seen. “Olympus Has Fallen”
This fi lm has an R-rating, shows March 22. Ex-Secret Service man (Gerard Butler) fi nds himself stuck in the White House in the midst of a large-scale terrorist attack. Using his previous experience, he works with national security to save the president. The trailer features every cliché action phrase known to man, but looks like it will feature enough explosions and stunts to entertain moviegoers thoroughly. “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor”
The fi lm is PG13-rated, showing March 29. It is the newest Tyler Perry creation about a marriage counselor
who begins an obsessive relationship with a new client behind her husband’s back. Kim Kardashian and Brandy Norwood also star in the movie. “Evil Dead”
This fi lm has an R rating and shows April 5. This is the remake of the classic horror movie where fi ve friends in a remote cabin accidentally stumble across a “Book of the Dead” and conjure up demons in the woods. All are possessed except one, which must fi ght for survival.
“42” This fi lm is rated PG 13
showing April 12 in theaters.This biopic set to release thisApril documents the life of Jackie Robinson, the fi rstAfrican American man to play major league baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers.The movie fi lmed sectionsin Chattanooga, Tenn. wherelocals were invited to beextras in the fi lm. Cookevillenative Dan Fenlon landed arole as the team’s clubhousemanager Babe Hamburger.He is on the IMDB page.
Page 6 | February 22, 2013tntechoracle.com
NEWS
Two Black Hawk military helicopters descended from the sky Feb. 16 for Reserve Offi cers’ Training Corps avia-tion training exercises.
The purpose of the ex-ercise was to familiarize Tech cadets with aviation by boarding, fl ying and dis-mounting a UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopters piloted by the Tennessee Army National Guard.
“It was an exciting and great experience,” cadet Sam Dixson said. “It was a very fast vehicle. It’s going about 125 mph. You feel a lot of force on you because it moves more than a plane. Some were scared.”
Dixson signed a contract with the United States Army and plans on being an offi cer in the infantry.
The cadets were in full camoufl age uniform with helmets for protection. They met up at President’s lawn, devised a mission and dis-persed into the massive, ear-splitting helicopters.
“Most have never ridden in a helicopter, much less a military helicopter,” Major Mark Tyndall, assistant pro-fessor of military science, said. “They get to plan the air mission, execute the plan, and fi nish it out.”
When the Black Hawk military helicopter took off the wind from the blades cre-ated enough wind to blow people backward.
Tyndall said that ROTC
plans the helicopter exercise at least once a year and it is a lengthy process to get the helicopters approved for ar-rival.
He said ROTC has to meet the requirements of and get approval from Tech, the University Police and the Tennessee Army National Guard.
He also said there are other aspects considered such as mechanical malfunc-tions and weather issues. One helicopter had a me-chanical malfunction with the starter before takeoff and did not complete the planned fl ight. The National Guard fl ew a crew out to fi x the is-sue. This event has been re-scheduled once due to fog this year. Tyndall said that it is all about visibility.
ROTC students practice aviation with Black HawksBY ALLISON MILLSBeat Reporter
>> ALLOWANCECONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
THE HARLEM SHAKE, TTU STYLE
President Phil Oldham and hundreds of students gather at the Hoop for the “Harlem Shake” video shoot Feb. 15. The meme has taken YouTube by storm.
Adam Webb
Jacqueline Atkielski
Tech ROTC students participate in an aviation training exercise Feb. 16.
Up to date campus crime information at:
tntechoracle.com
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According to the ITS page on Tech’s website, last semester 750,000 pages were printed by students using the Pharos Printing, and the average amount printed by all students was 86 pages.
Also according to the ITS page, about 259 stu-dents had gone over quota and of those 259, half of the students prints were less
than 100 pages more.“It’s good that students
have been given more money towards printing,” Tiffany O’Connor, senior, said. “Many teachers post their PowerPoints online and with the extra mon-ey it makes it easier to be able to print all the notes. It’s good that Tech is sav-ing paper and ink from the Pharos system in hopes that students will be able to gain more money each semester for printing.”