The Whitson-Hester School of Nursing has expanded the size of the program and accepted 60 new upper-division nursing students this fall.

Previously, the department ac-cepted anywhere between 45 and 48 students into the program. This year’s class saw a 20 percent increase in the number of students that were accept-ed. Melissa Geist, associate profes-sor of nursing and interim dean of the

College of Interdisciplinary, said, “It is very, very hard to get into the nursing program at TTU.”

Geist said potential employers have a high demand for Tech nursing graduates in offi ces and hospitals across the Upper Cumberland. By increasing the size of the nursing program, TTU is responding to the needs of the public.

Some concerns have been raised about the size of the incoming class af-fecting the one-on-one time between teachers and students. However, Geist said the program is unwilling to sacri-

fi ce the quality of the clinical experience for an increased number of students.

“We want high quality clinical sites for our students,” said Geist.

The newest issue for the depart-ment’s faculty is fi nding more profes-sors to maintain a reasonable student-to-professor ratio. Geist said there is one teacher for every fi ve to six students.

Megan Randolph, a sophomore-level nursing student, said she is not worried about the incoming class’ size.

“I don’t think the increase was large enough to make a drastic differ-

ence in student-teacher relationships. Most teachers are very approachable and helpful no matter the class size,” Randolph said.

“I was nervous about being accept-ed into the program. I think it’s a good thing [the nursing program is increas-ing], because we have so many more [students] applying than in the past,” said Randolph.

Geist says there is still room for expansion, although most of it is yet to come.

THE OORACLEVolume 97 | Issue 3 | Free in single copy | September 27, 2013Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505 | Est. 1924

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School of Nursing expands program By KIM BIGGSAssistant Managing Editor

Tech is in the process of renovating the RUC by con-verting the information desk on the fi rst fl oor into an area called “Campus Compass.”

Campus Compass will be a place that students can go to receive assistance on a variety of topics, academic or non-academic. The major goal of Campus Compass is to solve students’ prob-lems, no matter what they

may be. This includes help-ing students fi nd classes and buying tickets for campus events.

“We’re not trying to have students lean on us all the time,” said Matt Nisbet, ad-viser of Campus Compass. “We also want to teach them where things are that way they can relay that informa-tion to their friends.”

Campus Compass is also going to take on a com-plete new look after renova-tions, which are being made over the holidays. Some

ideas for renovations in-clude a heightened ceiling and a rounded desk to make the area feel more open and friendly to students.

“The mounted eagle above is going to be relocat-ed to add even more open space, and we are lowering the front desk so it is ADA compliant for people with disabilities,” said Nisbet.

Campus Compass is also in the process of creat-ing an online program with advisors and staff that will also be able to help stu-

dents. This online program will be an asset to students, although a time for comple-tion has not been set.

“I love the idea of Tech trying to improve on help-ing out students,” said soph-omore Jake Minga. “I wish I would have had something like Campus Compass when I was a freshman.”

For more information on the development of Campus Compass, visit the informa-tion desk in the RUC .

By LEE WHITEHEADBeat Reporter

Augustana to open for The Fray at the Oct. 8 Fall S.O.L.O. concert

Augustana will replace Andy Grammer as the opening act for the upcom-ing S.O.L.O. concert.

Grammer’s booking agent informed the Tech Activities Board of the can-cellation on Friday, Sept. 20.

“’He’s got some per-sonal issues’ is what we’re told,” said student activities coordinator Katie Williams.

According to Williams, Grammer confi rmed with Tech to perform but did not go through with a con-tract due to his personal problems.

“We don’t know the nature of those and can’t really ask what the nature of those are, but that’s the issue,” said Williams.

Augustana will now open for headliner, The Fray. The rock band is from San Diego, California and is best known for its songs “Boston” and “Sweet and Low.” The band rose to stardom in 2005 and the members continue to be recognized faces in the mu-sic industry.

There was a possibility Grammer could have per-formed a solo act if his band members were unavailable.

“There’s an option—we could do a solo acoustic with him if it were a mem-ber of his band that was having an issue,” Williams said.

However, Grammer’s booking agent informed TAB that is was Grammer himself who was unable to perform.

There were mixed emo-tions regarding the replace-

ment of the opening act.“I don’t know him that

well but I feel it would have been really awesome to have him,” said sophomore Sean Murphy.

Other students were up-set to hear that Grammer will no longer be performing.

“It makes me sad that Andy Grammer cancelled because I love [him],” said junior Hayley Brown.

“I wanted Andy Grammer,” said sopho-more Allison Barlow. “He’s so cute and beautiful.”

Some students were ex-cited about the change.

“I won’t sell my ticket to a high schooler any-more,” said sophomore Jordan Pace. “I’ll go to the opener and then leave.”

Williams said SGA has a committee that determines the opening acts based on what students want and

what the student provided S.O.L.O. budget will allow.

“I hope it’s representa-tive of the students since SGA is the governing body,” said Williams.

“I am extremely excited about Augustana open-ing for The Fray,” said ju-nior SGA secretary Daniel Tribble. “They are a band with a classic rock sound and have had several hit songs. I am confi dent that this concert is going to be another great show, just like Dierks Bently and Aziz Ansari were last year. We haven’t had a rock band come since the Goo Goo Dolls in 2011 and I think that Tech students are excit-ed to see that genre return to the Hoop.”

The S.O.L.O. concert will be Oct. 8 at 8 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m.

By COURTNEY DODD, DRAKE FENLON, AND KIM BIGGSBeat Reporters

Out with Grammer, in with Augustana

Photo courtesty of andygrammer.com

Photo courtesty of ourstage.com

Campus Compass to lead students forward

Page 2 | September 27, 2013 tntechoracle.com

NEWS

CRIME BRIEFS:- Sept. 22 - 11:50 Classifi cation: Drunkeness Location: Railroad track east of New Hall North Disposition: Closed. Subject was arrested. Notes: None.

- Sept. 21 - 10:20 Classifi cation: Open theft Location: Tucker Stadium Disposition: Pending further investigation Notes: Victims were playing football in the north zone area with others. Victims left their phones in view but unattended.

- Sept. 16 - Not available Classifi cation: Stolen property Location: Tech Village east Disposition: Closed. Victim has the option to prosecute. Notes: A report was also sent to the Dean of Students.

TKE car wash saved by the sunPhoto courtsey of Drake Fenlon

By RICHARD MOSLEYBeat Reporter

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

Tech’s Tau Kappa Ep-silon chapter held a car wash fundraising event Saturday in hopes of rais-ing money for improve-ments to their house. Ju-nior and fundraising chair Jacob Alea said he came up with the idea of hosting a car wash to raise money to fund new additions to the TKE house.

“The house wasn’t in need of anything to be re-paired. However, we just wanted to raise money so we could add a few things to help make the house look all around nicer,” said Alea.

“The money was not a necessity, but it will go to smaller details like new carpet, a new lawnmower and other touch-up items around the house that

will enhance the appeal to newcomers that already enjoy the atmosphere of the house,” said Alea.

Things did not go exactly as planned for the brothers of TKE. The brothers said they had heard about the inclem-ent weather a few days in advance but felt obligated to fulfi ll their promise and host a car wash.

When the sun fi nally came out halfway through the day, 10 to 15 cars ar-rived to show their sup-port for the brothers of TKE.

Among those were fi ve faculty members includ-ing Mark Groundland, di-rector of foreign language and Chuck Craig, educa-tion adviser.

“The idea came from teachers who said they would be willing to pay

good money for a car-wash, and that they would be willing to support us as long the money went to-wards benefi cial additions for the house.” said Alea.

TKE is still happy with the turnout for the fund-raiser. The brothers man-aged to raise $150 from supporters who showed and hope to raise more the next time they host an event. There is not a set date for their next fund-raising event. However, Alea said they more than likely won’t host one again this fall due to weather, but the fraternity is look-ing forward to having an-other car wash event in the Spring.

techtech@eventsevents

September

tntech.edu/calendar

04047:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. Student Voice Recital Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

030310 a.m.- 3 p.m. University Wide Career Day RUC 1st and 2nd fl oors

11 a.m.- 12 p.m. Student Affairs Committee Meeting RUC 224

7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m. Taksim Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

30 30 7:30 p.m.- 10:30 p.m. Los ValientesWattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

2929All Day Family Weekend

3 p.m.TTU Quidditch vs. Middle Tennessee State UniversitySherlock Park

2828All Day Family weekend

7 p.m.Football vs Indiana State Uni-versityTucker Stadium

10 p.m. Judah and the Lion in ConcertTucker Stadium

01017:30 p.m.- 9 p.m. The Brass Arts Quintet Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

02027:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. The Afro-Latin Project Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Building

2727All Day Family Weekend

6p.m.- 8 p.m. FAB Friday for Kids & Families: Go with the Flow Millard Oakley STEM Center

7:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m. Allison Graham, percussion, Senior Student Recital Wattenbarger Auditorium, Bryan Fine Arts Center

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

tntechoracle.com tntechoracle.com

11..22

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

October

Tech Wars held its fi rst battle of the semester Monday night when resi-dents raced to the fi nish line in The Cardboard Boat Race.

Over 300 students came to the Fitness Center swim-ming pool to watch mem-bers of the residence halls race their cardboard boats across the water. All the boats were designed and built by residents.

These students, how-ever, weren’t the only ones getting involved. President Phil Oldham, Residential

Life Director Charlie Macke, and Director of Student Services Mark Oschernbein judged the boats in various categories such as “Best Hall Pride”, “Best Sink”, and “Best Named Boat.”

Oldham said the idea of being a judge sounded like fun and that an event like this is benefi cial for Residential Life.

“I think any time you get together and have some fun together it helps build com-munity, a sense of together-ness,” said Oldham. “You get to know each other in a different way than just walk-

ing down the hall and see-ing each other. It’s a shared experience.”

The New Halls dominat-ed the “Fastest Time” cate-gory. New Hall South placed fi rst and New Hall North had placements with two of their boats, fi nishing second and third. All other results in the other categories will be placed on the Tech Wars board on the second fl oor of the RUC.

To fi nd out more infor-mation on upcoming events in Tech Wars, talk to an as-sistant coordinator from any residence hall.

By AARON VICKBeat Reporter

Shiver me cardboard

ART EXHIBIT IS DA BOMB

Festival of Voices ends on good noteBy HAYDEN MCMILLENBeat Reporter

Tennessee Tech’s fi fth annual Festival of Voices, held last Friday evening, consisted of four Tennessee high schools and the Tech Chorale performing choir songs.

Friday morning stu-dents from each individual high school performed for Kevin Fenton, Ph.D., for ap-proximately thirty minutes.

Fenton, who directed the last performance, is a professor of choral con-ducting and ensembles. He also directs the University Singers and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Fenton has con-ducted over twenty pre-miere performances, in-cluding Eric Barnum’s “In Paradisum” and Clifton Challender’s “Reasons to Learne to Sing”. He was the director of choral ac-tivities at James Madison University and Virginia Tech. Fenton has conducted choirs in thirty-six states, including twenty all-state honor choirs. He has pub-lished a textbook entitled “Foundations of Choral Conducting,” which is used by the students in the US. Currently, Fenton serves the American Choral Director’s Association as the president of the Southern Division.

After the individual per-formances, Fenton worked with each choir for twenty minutes. Lunch was pro-vided and Tech Chorale per-formed for the high schools followed by a three hour practice directed by Fenton.

“We had some members of the TTU concert choir, all of the Tech Chorale, and all fi ve high school choirs come together and rehearse for approximately three hours with Fenton to learn two pieces of music that they had never seen before,” said Craig Zamer, Ph.D.

The evening began at 7 p.m., in the Wattenbarger Auditorium, where the White County chorus per-formed “Laetatus Sum” and “Into the West.” Wilson Central’s choir sang “Old Time Religion” and “Saints Bound for Heaven.” The summit chorus performed “That Lonesome Road” and “All My Trials.” The Mount Juliet choir concluded the high school performanc-es by singing “Laudate Dominum” and “God Bless America.” After these per-formances, the Tech Chorale sang two songs, “Down in the River to Pray” and “Cells Planets.” All fi ve groups sang “Invictus” followed by “Saints Go Marchin,’ ” which ended the Festival.

Delaware artist George Lorio describes his art to a captive audience at the closing reception for his exhibit in the Joan Derryberry Art Gallery in the RUC on Thursday.

Lorio’s sculpture exhibit dealt with issues of violence and oppression in America and around the world with sculptures made from chil-dren’s toys.

A quilt exhibit by Naomi Adams will be on display for the month of October in the gallery beginning Sept. 30.

Admission is free for the gallery, and students are en-couraged to attend.

Page 3 | September 27, 2013tntechoracle.com

NEWS

Disc golf courses up to par with studentsBy WILLIAM WEBBBeat Reporter

The sport of disc golf is becoming more and more popular, and many student disc golfers at Tech say they are okay with that.

Disc golf is a sport in which players throw weighted discs at targets known as DISCatchers. The object is to get the disc in the DISCatcher in the fewest number of throws of the disc. Ac-cording to the Profession-al Disc Golf Association’s website, the origins of the pastime date back to the mid-1920s.

Several groups of stu-dents at Tech have taken to creating their own disc golf course on campus in recent years, and now that course has gotten much more popular, ac-cording to campus disc golfers. They said this secret course spans all the way from South Patio to the outskirts of Sherlock Park. Many of the signs in front of the buildings on campus serve as the DIS-

Catchers. Additionally, some trees and light poles also serve as DISCatchers for a couple holes.

Not all students that play disc golf think an on-campus course is as good of an idea as others. Junior Christa Cody said playing a disc golf course on Tech’s campus is a senseless concept when there are other courses around the area.

“I think that play-ing a course on campus would just be a really stupid idea,” said Cody. “No matter what time you play, there are al-ways going to be some cars around that you can hit if you have a bad throw. I don’t understand why anyone would want to take that risk since we have a course in town at Cane Creek.”

While Cookeville is home to one real disc golf course at Cane Creek Park, Cookeville also has another course near Tech, according to the Profes-sional Disc Golf Associa-

tion’s website.On Aug. 26, a grand

opening was held for anew disc golf course lo-cated near the AverittExpress Baseball Com-plex, according to Tech’swebsite. However, thecourse is not a full discgolf course. The courseis only made up of nineholes, which is only halfof a regular eighteen-holecourse. The IntramuralDisc Golf tournamentwas held at Cane CreekPark this year and not atTech’s new course.

“I had no clue thatTech had a real disc golfcourse near campus,”said Cody. “If it’s a small-er course, then that couldbe why they don’t use itfor the tournaments.”

Cody said the sportwill continue to growamong students.

“It’s a sport that’srelatively cheap and nothard to learn,” Cody said.“It’s just something fun todo in a town where therereally isn’t much to do, inthe fi rst place.”

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5It’s a party . . . you’re invited!

10 a.m. to 6 p.m.Cedar Ave. between 1st & Broad

Local Artists & Local BandsDrumming - bring your drum

The Plateau EnsembleCarissia & Company

The LeaveThe Mocking Birds

Photo courtesy of Drake Fenlon

A student talks A student talks about a friend’s about a friend’s

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Freshman Faban Torres of Cookeville tees off at one of the holes on the “se-cret” on-campus disc golf course. Freshmen Olivia Hoffman of Knoxville and Ryan Carlson of Gallatin participate in the game, as well, as opposed to using the newly constructed disc golf course on the west side of campus.

SLACKING OFF

Austin Oliver of Cleveland exhibits his skill in slacklin-ing on the Main Quad.

Drake Fenlon

By CAYCEE MCDONALDBeat Reporter

“Color me Rich! A 5k in remembrance of Rich-ard Roberts”

Elissa McLerran, a senior agribusiness management major from Hermitage Springs, Tenn., must never have heard the proverb that says “two wrongs don’t make a right.” McLerran dedicated herself to pro-ducing a positive out-come from two adverse events: the death of a close friend and budget cuts in her home county. “Color Me Rich” is a 5k charity run organized by McLerran, which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 9 a.m. in Celina, Tenn. Proceeds will go to the Richard Roberts schol-arship fund and drug awareness classes in the Clay County school sys-tem.

Richard Roberts was a junior sociology major at Tech when he passed away in Dec. 2012. Originally from Celina, Roberts gradu-

ated from Clay County High School in 2010 as co-salutatorian with a 4.0 grade point average.

“Richard was the type to bloom where he was planted. But he loved Celina, he loved his community and he loved Dale Hollow Lake. He would always talk about going off to do big things, but I always thought he would come back and do environ-mental law. He always said he just wanted to make a change,” said fel-low Celina native and senior nursing major Courtney Key.

Prior to his death, Roberts was committed to helping those in need, especially individuals who were suffering from drug-related problems. While in high school, Roberts and McLerran helped form an anony-mous drug hotline for Clay County that worked in conjunction with the sheriff’s offi ce. Since that time, funding has been cut for substance abuse prevention education

programs, such as Drug Abuse Resistance Educa-tion (D.A.R.E).

Roberts’ commit-ment to combating the prevalent drug issues in his community and the budget cuts affect-ing Clay County schools are the primary reasons McLerran chose to shed light on the issue. McLer-ran plans to give the Col-or Me Rich run proceeds to the school system to reestablish funding for drug awareness classes.

“The bottom line is in Clay County, drugs are such a huge problem in the school system now and fi nding out that they don’t have any programs against it is why I picked this need,” said McLer-ran.

Roberts’ friends are looking forward to the run because they know he was passionate about stopping the widespread drug use that plagues his home county.

“I am really excited to see our fellow class-mates and community in general come togeth-

er to do something that celebrates Richard’s life and raises money for the school system,” said Kayla Kimes, a senior animal science and agri-business management major from Celina.

“I hate what hap-pened [Roberts’ death], and I hate that for his family,” said McLer-ran. “But if good things can come from this and if more people can be helped in the future, then that’s what I want. So that’s why the money is going to go towards his scholarship fund and towards anti-drug pro-grams in Clay County High School.”

The loss of a lively, passionate soul and the loss of funding for es-sential drug prevention programs are the two wrongs that McLerran is striving to make right by starting the Color Me Rich run.

For more details, go to www.active.com and search “color me rich.”

C o l o r M e R i c h : C o l o r M e R i c h :

Page 4 | September 27, 2013 tntechoracle.com

OPINION

Est. 1924. Weekly. Student Operated. Award-winning.Est. 1924. Weekly. Student Operated. Award-winning.Tennessee Tech UniversityTennessee Tech University

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JAMAL FERGUSONJAMAL FERGUSONSports EditorSports EditorSHEA 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

BEAT REPORTERS:BEAT REPORTERS: KIM BIGGS, LINDSAY BLAKELY, WHYTNIE CLEMMER, COURTNEY DODD, MELISSA EDWARDS, DRAKE FENLON ,

JAMAL FERGUSON, APRIL GILBERT, KYLE GOSSETT, MATTHEW HILL, BISKIE HOLMAN, EMILY HOMAN, ARTHUR JACKSON, CAITLIN JARED,

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SHECKLER, PAIGE STANAGE, SARAH TATE, SARAH TOWNSEND, AARON VICK, CASEY WOODARD, WILL WEBB, REANNA YOUNG.

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Assistant Opinion Editor

When will there not be an issue with parking?

Commute r pa rk ing l o t s a re fu l l a lmos t any t ime o f t he day, even on a F r iday morn ing .Drake Fenlon

When it takes close to 45 minutes to fi nd a park-ing spot at a small town university, you know you have problems.

When I started think-ing about what I would write this week, I strug-gled with what the topic should be. I have covered Syria and the South Patio

preacher, but the one thing I really need to do is have a go at parking issues.

I am probably one of the few who get here by 7:30 a.m. everyday just to get a parking spot. But this means, I never get a day to snooze. I am up early and stuck on campus until I go to work after my afternoon classes.

I am not actually sav-ing money by bringing my lunch to school or staying on campus. I still end up leaving something at home and then I have to go buy something from overpriced Starbucks, the Grill, the Cafe, or any oth-er place on campus.

What makes the situ-ation even worse is that not even the faculty and staff have enough parking spaces. We have too many people on campus with so few parking spaces.

I know other major campuses have similar if not worse parking issues than Tech’s but nothing has even started com-ing to pass to correct the situation.

Let’s pile on some more guilt for the admin-istration. The talk from “Flight Plan” is that the area between the RUC and Clement Hall is even-tually going to be turned into “green space.” What good is green space when

we don’t have enough parking?

No one seems to be thinking about how many books most students have to carry in backpacks on a daily basis. Think about how the load is worse when students have back to back to back tests in one day or even one week.

Normally, by this time in the semester the drop ratio is to a normal point that it might take 10 to 15 minutes to fi nd a parking space. But oh no, people are more stubborn and they don’t quit as easily as they used to. Don’t get me wrong - this is a good thing.

So with all the issues and too many students, the worst part still is get-ting tickets. A student who tries to get to cam-pus early enough to fi nd a spot before their class around midmorning is stuck having to make up a parking spot because they couldn’t fi nd a place to park in the 30 minutes they allowed to fi nd a space.

The next thing they know, they walk out of class and guess what is tucked under their wind-shield wipers? A pretty little ticket that fl aps in the breeze that telling you your car is parked illegal-ly and you now owe the school $30 or more.

Yes, students can goand appeal the ticket butwhy did they really de-serve it?

The old saying “it isn’tfair” is running throughmy head. No, this isn’tfair.

One student wasbrave enough to protestby parking his truck onthe sidewalk in front ofthe Volpe Library duringthe fi rst week of classes.It sadly didn’t do a wholelot of good, but he at leasthad the guts to let hisvoice be heard.

So students, I put itto you. Are you braveenough to really start let-ting your voices be heard?If you are, I urge you towrite in to the Oracle.Don’t sit back and thinkthings will never change.Things will change ifyou start standing up foryourself.

We pay for park-ing tags, so let’s get ourmoney’s worth. The samephrase that fi ts voting alsofi ts this: “You don’t vote,you don’t have a right tocomplain.”

Here is ours: “We payfor parking. We have aright to complain whenwe don’t have a place topark.”

Speak up, write in,post on Facebook in TechConfessions. Do what youhave to do to make yourvoice heard.

Recently on my Facebook feed, a friend posted a link to the blog post “FYI (if you’re a teenage girl),” writ-ten by Kimberly Hall, a Presbyterian women’s minister from Texas. In this particular blog post, she advises young girls - in an irritatingly friendly tone of voice - to be more cautious about which pic-tures of themselves they put online. Otherwise, they would be blocked from being friends with Hall’s three sons.

Apparently, the Hall family routinely moni-tors their sons’ Facebook friends to determine whom their sons can befriend.

I had an immedi-ate and visceral reaction to this blog, because it

echoes a sentiment I hear almost everywhere, ev-eryday -- “Why are girls (teenaged or college-aged) so slutty?” In the blog, one of the pictures in question features a girl in her bedroom, striking a sexy pose with no bra un-derneath her pajamas.

Hall comments that the young woman in particular is above that, worth more than that, and doesn’t deserve to be thought of in only a sex-ual way by the Hall sons.

“You are beautiful. You are valuable. You are your physical body and you are so very much more.” This is a wonder-ful sentiment, but it’s not enough to dispel the rest of our society’s rampant misogyny evidenced by the blog post.

I’m sorry, but what? Misogyny, did I say? Yes. The problem with this blog post is that teen-agers of both sexes are constantly barraged with how they SHOULD be-have as well as how they are perceived to behave. It’s really disconcerting for me as an individual to hear what I’m suppos-edly doing, as a young woman, as a Millennial, yada yada yada.

Mrs. Hall and people writing similar articles don’t know me from Adam or Eve, and they don’t know these girls. Why, then, do we act like the decision to do some-thing as simple as not wear a bra under our pa-jamas or wear leggings as pants, is inherently tied to sexuality and the desire for a male gaze?

Personally, I get more compliments on my looks when I wear makeup or wear a pretty dress (par-ticularly if it doesn’t in-clude my usual black clothes, black eyeliner, and boots -- a different

rant for a different time); they may not be as deep or meaningful as a com-pliment on a well-done exam or when I killed it in a discussion -- but there are simply MORE of them. On the fl ip side, my signifi cant other is always surprised when I tell him how cute he is, but not how brilliant I fi nd him to be.

Is it wrong that he is trained to respond to compliments on his strength and intellect while I’m conditioned to respond to compliments on my appearance or my nurturing personal-ity? (Just kidding, I don’t have one.)

Yes! It’s wrong! And it’s even more wrong to be lectured on being a good girl when I endeavor for one of those compliments toward my looks. That’s really the problem with Mrs. Hall’s article -- in essence, she shames girls for behaving the way so-ciety has taught women to garner attention -- by be-ing slutty. In all its forms,

slut-shaming is a repres-sive and ineffi cient form of social reconditioning, and it ignores the role that men and the male gaze play in the creation of so-called “slutty girls.” Why do girls dress that way? Because they know that’s what gets them at-tention from men -- and even more importantly -- from other women. Even negative attention is bet-ter than no attention. The good girl doesn’t always get the respect from the outside community that she deserves. But a bad girl who reforms gets lots of praise, on more than

just her looks and her po-tential future as a goodmother.

This isn’t to say thatall girls are bad girls whoneed to reform. But ifpeople like Mrs. Hall re-ally want to improve the“plight of the slutty teen-age girl,” then she shouldstart by disregarding theoutward. Praise the teen-age girl for her intellect,her generosity, or her in-terests. The only way tostop girls from acting toattract the male gaze (themost important part ofpatriarchal society) is tostop rewarding it or pun-ishing it.

Kimberly Hall poses with her son while on vacation in Florida.Kimberly Hall Blog Post

Punishing the Conditioning of Gender

any t ime o f t he da

The Golden Eagle soccer team suffered a tough loss Friday to UT-Chattanooga, but turned the tables and brought home a win on Sunday against East Tennessee State University.

Tech (2-7-0) scored early in the game from se-nior Jessica Wilson, going into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Chattanooga answered in the second half scoring twice, giving the Mocs the edge to win 2-1.

Fourth year head coach Daniel Brizard said, “It was rather disappointing, I thought we were the better team on the day but in the end they just worked a little harder than we did.”

Tech outshot Chattanooga 23-9, many of those scoring opportunities coming from the fi rst half. Wilson scored in the 36th minute, burying the ball in the back of the net off one of Tech’s chances.

The Mocs were able to tie the game up in the 54th minute due to a well-timed free kick, and again in the 78th minute throughout the run of play.

Senior Ellie Iaciofano tallied nine shots on the match, with one hitting the left post in the fi rst half. “The scoring opportu-nities were a positive,” Iaciofano said. “It’s getting much better. We just have to fi nish- that’s our next step in our success.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss on Friday, the team was able to come back and shutout ETSU, 1-0.

“We wanted a win but we had to think in small increments

to make the game simple,” Iaciofano said. Senior Shannon Rountree scored just three

minutes into the game, rebounding a shot from Iaciofano. The Golden Eagles were able to fend off the Buc’s offense for the remainder of the game, with 19 shots from both teams.

Tech had been knocking on the door for an-other win after suffering six losses this season that were decided by just one goal.

“Individually as well as a team it’s their job to change the culture,” said Coach Brizard. “We can talk about it all we want but unless the play-ers want to change and be the difference, it’s not going to happen and I think that’s probably what the difference was.”

The game wrapped up the team’s fi nal non-conference match of the season. The team will kickoff its fi rst Ohio Valley Conference series this weekend at Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville and at Eastern Illinois.

“I think it’s a great boost going into confer-ence off of a win, but it is conference and anything goes,” Brizard said.

The Golden Eagles will play under the lights Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at noon.

tntechoracle.com Page 5 | September 27, 2013

SPORTS

Senior Natalie Penrod rises to spike the ball in the Purple and Gold Scrimmage during the preseason. Penrod and the Golden Eagles play their fi rst home matches of the year at 7 p.m. Friday against Mur-ray State and Satrurday at 2 p.m. against Austin Peay.

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Coaching change pays off

Soccer finishes non-conference play with win

Already fl ying high above last year’s 12th place OVC fi nish, the Golden Eagle volleyball team prepares for takeoff as it begins conference play against Murray State and Austin Peay this weekend.

With an entirely new coaching staff this year, head coach Dave Zelenock has plans to take Tech to the top.

“We are winning with returners,” said Zelenock. “Minus a few players, we have the same lineup out there as last year and we’re winning. We train completely op-posite of the way it was done before and we are seeing results.”

The Golden Eagles are set to host Murray State at 7 p.m. Friday in the Hooper Eblen Center, followed by in-state rival Austin Peay at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

This will be Tech’s fi rst big test at home after tallying a 4-6 start on the road to begin the 2013 season.

“Friday night is coming up quick,” said senior Natalie Penrod. “It being our home opener is what is getting us pumped. We’ve been on the road for the past few weekends and are ready to show the Golden Eagle fans what we can do.”

Coach Zelenock served as assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator at Central Michigan before joining Tech’s staff. He was successful in turning out multiple top ranked recruiting classes for the Chippewas.

“This year’s recruits are the right people,” said Zelenock. “They work hard and they push but it’s going to be grad-ual. We’re looking for long term success in the program and I have been given the recruiting resources here at Tech that will allow us to be successful.”

Zelenock said seniors Ellise Robertson, Natalie Penrod and Ashleigh Hancock have overcome a dramatic change in coaching styles since he took over the program.

“They have all fallen into their roles nicely,” said Zelenock. “Elise is leading us in kills and has done very well with adapting to the system we play. She is a green light kid who’s supposed to go for it on every single swing and this system allows her to do that.”

Zelenock said Hancock has had to learn a completely new offense after switching from last year’s 6-2 formation.

“Ashleigh [Hancock] is learning how to run an offense in a 5-1, which is new to her, but she’s been in the fi lm room watching fi lm and asking questions,” said Zelenock. “We don’t micromanage during game play. We do most of our coaching during practice. Once the game starts, it’s her game and she’s done a re-ally good job.”

Penrod has been battling a double knee injury since her sophomore year, but Zelenock said she has recovered and resumed her role on the court.

“Natalie [Penrod] is coming back from an injury and is leading the team in

The Tech football team (2-2, 0-1) suffered its fi rst OVC loss of the season Saturday night against in-state rival Tennessee State University (3-1,1-0). The Golden Eagles fell to the Tigers 41 to 21 in a game that was plagued by turn-overs and penalties.

“We just got out-played,” head coach Watson Brown said. “They beat us in all phases of the game.”

After winning the coin toss and electing to re-ceive, the Tech offense put together a 12 play 79-yard drive that ended with a touchdown. Senior cen-ter James Normand was credited with the touch-down when he recovered a Darian Stone fumble in the endzone.

TSU answered with its own 79-yard touch-down drive on eight plays. Backup quarter-back Ronald Butler con-nected with Ryan Mitchell on a 47-yard touchdown pass. Tech’s starting cor-nerback Demario Donnell jumped an out route ran by Mitchell.

Had the ball been thrown accurately, Donnell could have potentially picked off the pass and been off to the races for a Tech touchdown. The pass was thrown well behind Mitchell, which allowed him to shield off Donnell

to make the reception. Mitchell turned up the TSU sideline and outran the rest of the Tech defense to the end zone. The point after tied things up at sev-en in the fi rst quarter.

Later in the fi rst quar-ter, Tech was backed up on the 1-yard line. Sophomore Ladarius Vanlier fumbled, turning the ball over to TSU. The Tigers made quick work of the Tech turnover and scored on their fi rst play from the line of scrim-mage. This gave TSU a 14 to 7 lead heading into the second quarter.

Neither offense could muster much of anything in the second quarter as both defenses really cranked up their play. TSU tacked on a fi eld goal and went into halftime with a 17 to 7 advantage over Tech.

Tech was unable to turn things around in the second half. The Golden Eagles were outscored 10 to 0 in the third quar-ter. Tech held serve in the fourth quarter matching TSU’s 14 points with 14 points of their own.

Tech inserted redshirt freshman quarterback Jared Davis at the start of the fourth quarter. Davis drove Tech on a nine play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Davis connected with sophomore wide receiver Steve Wilson on a 6-yard touchdown pass, closing the gap on TSU 34 to 14.

Tech’s defense would come up with a big fumble recovery on the next series. Davis lead the team down to the goal line where he would eventually punch the ball into the endzone on a QB sneak. Tech trailed 34 to 21 with 2:49 to play in the fi nal quarter.

The Golden Eagles were unsuccessful with their onsides attempt to get the ball back for the of-fense. TSU would tack on a late touchdown to push the fi nal margin back to 20.

“We controlled the run well and that’s about it,” Brown said. “There were a lot of mistakes.”

The Golden Eagles step back out of confer-ence play for the last time this weekend when they host the Indiana State Sycamores (1-2) at Tucker Stadium Saturday at 7 p.m.

Indiana State presents a tough challenge for the Tech this weekend. The Sycamores lost to Big Ten in-state foe Indiana 73 to 35. They also fell to Big Ten opponent, Purdue, 20 to 14 early in the season. Indiana State defeated Quincy two weeks ago 70 to 7 before their bye week this past weekend.

This game will be the Family, Faith and Night at Tucker Stadium. For more information on the events of the night, Tech Football and all Tech Althletics, vis-it TTUSports.com.

By MATTHEW HILLBeat Reporter

Tigers “outplay” Golden EaglesLate loss against UT-Chattanooga and quick strike win at ETSU close out non-conference play

By EMILY HOMANBeat Reporter

attempts. Emotionally, she is the leader of this team,” said Zelenock.

Tech’s last matchup was split with a 3-2 win over Stony Brook and a 3-0 loss to Samford on Sept. 14.

The team has not played a match in nearly two weeks, but Zelenock said he does not believe that will be a negative factor in this weekend’s success.

“For me, motivation

does not come from coach-es. It’s inside you,” said Zelenock. “I’ll give you a kick in the butt every once in a while and remind you what we are going for, but if you don’t have it inside of you, I don’t usually have you in the program.”

Junior Ellen Conti said the team’s success this year has come from changes both on and off the court and the players are excited for this week-end’s matchups.

“We have all bonded off the court so great that it is showing on the court as well,” said Conti.

Penrod looks to lead the Golden Eagle volley-ball team to its fi rst OVC championship since 2008. “We’ve jumped on Coach Z’s train and are ready and willing to do what-ever it takes to get an OVC ring. We are hungry,” said Penrod.

Tech center James Normand gets set for the fi rst snap of the TSU game. Normand would be credited with a fumble recovery for a touchdown at the end of the drive.

Jamal Ferguson

Senior Shannon Rountree takes a shot in a recent home game. Rountree would score her season’s fi rstgoal in the win over ETSU last weekend.

Will Schenk

tntechoracle.comPage 6 | September 27, 2013

ENTERTAINMENT

Britney’s back, ready to deliver By JAKE THREETEntertainment Editor

By HANNAH BENJAMINEntertainment Critic

By KIMMY MANNINGEntertainment Critic

Britney Spears will kick off her new Vegas residency, ‘Piece of Me’, on Dec. 27 at Planet Hollywood.

Courtesy of Pop Justice

Courtesy of NY Post

Cristin Milioti, above, has received rave reviews for her por-tayal of the mother on ‘How I Met Your Mother’.

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‘Prisoners’ captivates audiences

B r i t n e y Spears is back with a new song, a new album, and a new concert residency in Las Vegas. After almost

two years away to focus on her two young sons and be a judge on ‘The X Factor’, Spears is ready to deliver new tunes.

The fi rst single off of her untitled Dec. 3 release is called ‘Work Bitch’. I was hoping and counting on getting another typical, but catchy, fun Britney song. This however, I just cannot get into. It’s almost completely spoken word, sounds very similar to ‘Scream and Shout’ a song she collaborated with will.i.am on last year and is okay at best.

I’m not sure why this was chosen to be the lead single from the album, but I’m assuming her team was banking on it becoming an anthem for people everywhere. It is the perfect song if one is strutting down a runway, shimmying down a supermarket aisle, or twirling down the street. I’m not a Britney hater in the least bit because she has turned out some songs in her day that I still sing obnoxiously. This song has yet to grow on me. Maybe it will or maybe or it won’t.

I have high hopes that the new album, and the next single for that matter, will provide us with some of that old Britney magic that we’ve come to appreciate. Her last

album, ‘Femme Fatale’ was decent, but defi nitely not my favorite. It was nothing like ‘In the Zone’, ‘Blackout’, and ‘Circus’, my favorite Britney albums. Now those three albums are some damn good Britney Spears music. From top to bottom they each were fi lled with great songs, much more than what was released to radio. I’m staying positive that this new album will deliver just as those did. Fingers crossed.

Last week Spears also announced her residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas starting Dec. 27. The two-year residency will include 50 shows each year with each one lasting 90 to 100 minutes. Ticket prices will range from $59 to $179 for the 4,500-seat theater. With any luck, she will keep the lip-syncing to a minimum and really go for it in the show. Her concert would not be my fi rst choice to catch while in Vegas, as Shania Twain holds that position, but it would be fun to see nonetheless.

With Spears making all

of these new announcements, the best take away from it all is that she seems to be in a great state of mind and self. After her hot mess of a break down in 2007, she has been under the conservatorship of her father, Jamie. With the releases of her last two albums, tours, and media appearances Spears was not the once bubbly, sweet talking Louisiana girl we all knew. She was almost robotic in a sense that she was probably being fed all of her lines to say and she really looked uncomfortable. Last week though, Britney looked healthy, happy, bubbly and was generally engaged with interviewers and fans alike. It was very exciting and sort of touching to see.

Britney Spears has come a long way in her career, and I’m talking a long way. It has been fi lled with the highest highs an artist could receive and lowest of lows any person on Earth could face. It has taken time, but Spears is in a good place and one can only hope her music is in the same location.

We laughed, smiled and felt a gap fi lled as we sat in front of our televisions Monday night. This week was the beginning of the end for

devoted followers of “How I Met Your Mother” as the ninth and fi nal season aired.

As the episode set the stage for Robin and Barney’s wedding, a bigger event was at hand.

The end of last season revealed Ted’s future wife, cliff-hanging us on a summer of Googling her name to fi gure out what made her different from the rest. Well, it’s safe to say that we have jumped on board and calmed down a bit.

With the premiere airing two new episodes, we fi nally got a glimpse of who this “mother” is. The mystery role has fi nally been fi lled by Cristin Milioti.

“It was a pretty big

umbrella to fi ll, casting the title role in a series that’s been on the air for eight years,” co-creator Carter Bays said. “And yet Milioti is, against all odds, exactly what we were looking for.”

As the revelation of Milioti’s character unraveled in this episode, we embraced the laughter that Barney and Robin are getting cold feet about their wedding when

they fi nd out they may sharea distant cousin. At the sametime, we are clenching ourfi sts and hoping Marshall cancorrect his mother’s mistake topublicize his new career path.

Throughout the episodewe witnessed many fl ash-forwards and fl ashbacks tohelp establish main points inthe storyline.

This story continues online...

N u m b e r one at the box offi ce last w e e k e n d , “ P r i s o n e r s ” is a dark and twisted human commentary

on just how far a father will go to protect his family. The star studded cast of Hugh

Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Maria Bello and Terrence Howard set the audience for high expectations and delivered a fi lm full of suspense, thrills and anticipation.

The fi lm begins on Thanksgiving Day, where the Dovers and the Birches (Jackman and Howard’s families) are convening to celebrate the occasion. The two youngest daughters go out to play and don’t return,

prompting a wild search effortfor a creepy RV seen loiteringaround the neighborhood. Detective Loki(Gyllenhaal) is assigned to thecase and quickly fi nds the RVwith Alex Jones (Paul Dano), ashrimpy man with an IQ of a10-year-old, inside. The policelet Jones go due to insuffi cientgrounds to detain him andKeller Dover (Jackman) takesmatters into his own hands.

This story coninues online...