Thursday, March 21, 2013
Issue 51, Volume 122
UT drops funding for ‘Sex Week’ RJ Vogt News Editor
said he backed the decision. “Some activities planned as part of sex week are not an appropriate use of state tax dollars,” DiPietro said. “Sex Week” was planned for the second week after Spring Break, and Rader said the last minute withdrawal
Chancellor Jimmy Cheek announced Wednesday that UT would pull funding from its first ever “Sex Week,” citing some of the week’s activities as an inappropriate allocation of state tax dollars. Brianna Rader, the creator of the event, he university said the loss of $11,145 took a hard-line stance cut nearly two-thirds of supporting our week. So the event’s budget. today, when we found out “I’m shocked by how big of a deal this is,” for the first time that we said Rader, a junior in are having funds pulled College Scholars. “It’s from us... we were just ‘Sex Week;’ it’s just blindsided.” sex education.” After an urgent sumJacob Clark mons to his office from Junior in College Scholars Dean of Students Jeff Cathey, Rader said she and fellow “Sex Week” creator Jacob Clark were informed that “Sex Week” — has put the program in debt. “I mean, it’s two weeks recent fodder of Fox News and Cosmopolitan web arti- before the events,” she said. cles — would no longer be “I don’t know who would’ve funded by Tennessee taxpay- thought that we haven’t spent the money, it’s not like the ers. UT President Joe DiPietro money was just sitting in the bank account... We’ve
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invoiced the t-shirts that people are wearing; now those aren’t paid for.” The decision comes two days after Knoxville’s Rep. Bill Dunn and Sen. Stacey Campfield raised concerns over approving UT’s budget based on a Fox News article. Tuesday, the official response from the university on the topic of “Sex Week” outlined a defensive argument against the article, including the fact that the students “have worked hundreds of hours on this program” and followed approval processes. “The university took a hard-line stance supporting our week. So today, when we found out for the first time that we are having funds pulled from us,” Clark, a junior in College Scholars, said in a phone interview late Wednesday night. “ … We were blindsided.” UT students have exhibited some outrage via social media engines Twitter and Facebook. The #iwantsex-
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• Photo courtesy of UT Sex Week
week was gaining popularity on Twitter late last night. UT sophomore in computer science, Joseph Beard, started a Kickstarter fundraiser online, and more information can be
a lo lott off concern abo boutt mon oney. eyy. Peop Pe ople op le can’tt aff ffor ord d itt and nd peoopl pe dip di p ou outt ooff it . Itt’’s ve veryy im mp por orta tant antt tto o haavve Sp Spri rn ri ng g Breeakk pla lann nned nn ed ahead aan ahea nd loookk at th thee we weatthe her. her r.” S he s ai aid sh she he is worrri ried ed abo b ut ut friieend fr en nd ds goin go oin i g ou ut of of the cou o nt ntry ryy and an d to to oth her er des esti tina nati tiioon ns du duri ring ri ngg th the he br breaak. k. “II t ca can n get prettty t y s ca carry r y,”” ry,” Yarb Ya bro r s aid aid d.. “I think you you sh yo hou o ld d alwa wayys ys haavve a friend d orr a budd budd bu dy so you u caan n swi w tch back and nd for orth if you nee eed d it.” Yar arrbr broo is going h ome ome to
Mem mphiis fo for th the br brea eakk aan nd saaid id s e will be caatc sh tch hing ng up on n hom ome-wo w orkk, haang ngin ingg wi in with h fri riends een nds and d f mi fa m llyy, an nd ex exp ploorrin pl ng new neew spot sp pots/ s// p ac pl aces e in th es thee ci cityy. Eveeen Ev n if st stud ud ude den ents ts can an n’tt mak ake i to th it he be beaac ach, h, Yar a bro ad dvised d anyo an y ne goiing yo g hoom me or staying ng in K oxviill Kn lle le for for tth h hee holiday on new ew parts off tow wn. “(Fi F n d ) ssoo me m e thing that Knoxvi viilllle orr wheere re you’re going home haass eit ih heer known n fo f r orr liikee qui u rk r y ssttuf ufff,” f,” Yarbro said. f, “It’s al a waays ys fu un n to come back
Exonerated man, activist speaks to students Samantha Smoak Copy Editor He was sentenced to death because the judge saw him as a cold-blooded killer with no remorse. How could he show remorse for something he did not do? Ray Krone was shocked when he became the prime suspect in the murder of a woman he had only known for two months and was arrested for her murder on Dec. 31, 1991. He did not think he would be in jail for long. “I actually believed that the police … out there … (doing) the investigation would find out everything I told them was the truth and I’ll be out of (there)
any minute,” Krone said while addressing students and faculty at the Hodges Library auditorium Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Krone spent 10 years, three months and eight days behind bars — the first three on death row. Krone was convicted after a supposed expert witness testified that Krone’s dental impressions matched bite marks on the body. After the decade-long legal battle that included two trials, reanalysis evidence and the discovery that the expert witness that matched his dental impressions to the marks on the body was not certified, Krone was released from prison in Arizona on April 8, 2002.
Instead of letting the anger at the injustice consume him, Krone now travels as an activist, working to improve the U.S. criminal justice system. He is the 100th individual in the U.S. to be released from death row. “He’s been all over the world,” Stacy Rector, the executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said. “He speaks to students, he speaks to legislators, he’s spoken to world leaders … (He’s) helping people understand how broken the system is.” Rector, an ordained Presbyterian minister, served as a spiritual advisor to a Tennessee death row inmate before his exe-
cution in 2009. She emphasized many of the failings of the death penalty. “It’s unfairly applied … it continues to be racially biased … (roughly) 40 percent of the row is made up of people of color,” she said. “… People with mental disabilities are disproportionately affected (and) unable to assist their defense, sometimes confessing to things they didn’t do as a result of their mental illness. …” Where someone lives also contributes to being sentenced to death. Thirtyfive percent of Tennessee death row sentences come from Shelby County. See DEATH ROW on Page 2
found at sexweekut.org “I think it’s messed up that they said they were going to pay for it and now they’re not,” Ryan Williams, sophomore in business, said. “I get
why they don’t want to, but you shouldn’t back out at the last minute, especially when they came out and said they supported it.”
aan nd ha havvee eve ven n more kno nowl wled edge gee than th n yoou u did bef efore..” Allliie Ar Al Arn neett tte, soop pho homor moore re in nu urrssiin ng, ng g, willl ssp pen end he her Sp Spri ring ri ng Brreeaak sk s ii in ngg in Nort rth Ca rt Caro roli ro liina na with h h er e f am amil ilyy. A rn il r et ette tte h as g nee to th go the he be beaacch fo beac forr pr prev evio ious us brea eakks but opt p ed for a mor oree me melll ow w lo waay to o spe pend nd her tim imee of off. f. Arn net ette t s ai te aid d reegard gardle ga less ss of where sttu ud den den nttss are re goi o ng ng,, th ther eree are stil illl ggu uidel id d lin iness the heyy ssh hou o ld d ffo ollow. See SPRING BREAK on Page 2
Technology fair offers ‘hook up’ with OIT Emily DeLanzo Managing Editor Between Blackboard, Google and Microsoft products, the UT community heavily relies on technological services. To make life easier, the SGA Technology Services Committee will be hosting a Tech Services Fair on the Pedestrian Walkway today between noon and 3 p.m. The goal of this fair is to give SGA and the Office of Information Technology direct feedback about its effectiveness and services. Some services provided by OIT and SGA include Blackboard, Microsoft
Outlook and specialty programs like Matlab geared toward specific classes. Jonathan Jackson, a senior in computer science and an SGA senator for the College of Engineering, sees the event as a great way for students to connect with the OIT. “Students will be getting free stuff to give input on making their UT technology lives much more enjoyable,” Jackson said. This year’s free goodies are from technological providers like Cisco Systems and CDW-G. See TECH FAIR on Page 2