THE ORACLEVolume 99 | Issue 3 | Free in single copy 1000 N. Dixie Ave. | Cookeville, TN | 38505

‘‘ ,,I was right in the front, so I was feeding off their energy. They all performed

really well. They interacted well with the audience and made it a lot of fun.

—Chyna Patterson, Mathematics Major

Tennessee Tech haslaunched a new sustain-ability initiative for Tech waste and recycling. TheTTU Sustainability Initiative (TTUSI) went into effect at the beginning of this semester.

According to Kevin Tucker, director ofHorticulture and Grounds,the change to Tech’s previ-ous initiative began at theend of last spring when Sustainability was con-sidering hiring an outside source to handle all waste management.

“I heard about that andI said ‘We don’t need to dothat. Why hire an outside en-tity to whom it is just another job, as opposed to keepingit within our family wherestewardship is important?’” Tucker said. “All the tech-nology is here. We have theresources. Why not be recog-nized as one of the nation’sleaders in sustainability?”

TTUSI’s fi rst project was to renovate the waycardboard waste was being recycled.

“We purchased 22 dumpsters for cardboardthat have small slots whichforce people to break downboxes before putting them into the container. All of the cardboard from each dump-ster is picked up and taken to the Tech farm (located in Overton County) to be made into compost,” said Tucker.

The fi rst cardboard pick-up was executed Sept. 18.Cardboard pickups will takeplace every Thursday.

According to Tucker,cardboard is just a small part of TTUSI. Aluminum and plastic waste will be collectedand ultimately processed andmanufactured into a usefulproduct.

“We will come upwith, through collabora-tion between Engineering, Agriculture, Chemistry,Biology and the School ofBusiness, products that wecan patent and eventually manufacture to make mon-ey for the University,” said Tucker.

Examples of possible products are plastic wheelstops, aluminum street signs and aluminum-reinforced planters.

“Ultimately, I am look-ing for something that istruly patentable that theUniversity can reap benefi tsfrom,” said Tucker.

The initiative doesn’tend there. A shredder willbe purchased by the end ofthis semester to be used forshredding food bi-products,cardboard, leaves and woodchips for compost as well asplastic and aluminum waste, according to Tucker.

Once the shredder is pur-chased, Tech will also han-dle all of its own documentshredding.

“Presently, Cintas shreds our documents. But once our shredder is in opera-tion, we will begin doing ourown document shredding,” Tucker said.

University rolls out newsustainability initiative, dumpsters purchased

>Adam guns for legal change.

>>Page 6

> What is going on with South Patio?Centennial Plaza project explained

>>Page 3

> More pictures

from Neon Trees

>>Page 8

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>Coach Brown in hot seat.

>>Page 5

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By CHARLI BRAY Beat Reporter

Drake Fenlon | The OracleON POINT- Neon Trees lead singer, Tyler Glenn, and bass player, Brandon Campbell, add their own extra pizzazz to the S.O.L.O. concert performance Tuesday night.

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'Everybody Talks'about Neon Trees

Fall 2014 S.O.L.O.Concert

Neon Trees give students high energy show

Neon Trees and opening artist Slow Hands performed for excited Tennessee Tech University students Tuesday night.

The Student Government Association hosted another successful S.O.L.O. concert headlined by Neon Trees. On Sept. 23, stu-dents and members of the community fi lled the Hooper Eblen Center to watch Neon Trees and Slow Hands perform for the crowd.

Tyler Glenn, lead singer of Neon Trees, took the stage with a purple Tech foam fi nger in hand, and fi lled the arena with his upbeat and energetic stage presence. Glenn and the band displayed their fun-loving personalities in their performance throughout the night.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” said Glenn. “But, at the same time, we’re not a joke band.”

Neon Trees’ energy was refl ected in the reaction from the students. Chyna Patterson, mathematics major, could feel the energy from the band.

“I was right in the front, so I was feed-ing off their energy,” said Patterson. “They all performed really well. They interacted well with the audience and made it a lot of fun.”

The band performed crowd favorites and their most popular hits, such as “Animal,” “Everybody Talks” and their newest single, “Sleeping With A Friend” for the crowd. They performed other songs including “I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends)” and “Lessons in Love.”

Toward the end of the concert, Glenn crowd-surfed over the 400 students that had fl oor access.

Glenn continued to connect with the audience on a personal level by sharing his thoughts on being unique, living life as a ho-mosexual and his life experiences that led to his songwriting. During the concert, he explained challenges he faced through high school and fi nding himself through music.

Their newest album, “Pop Psychology,” displays Glenn’s personal metamorphosis.

“This was the most thought out one (album),” Glenn said. “I think the record is supposed to be a lot darker, but then when it came time to actually make it, I was the hap-piest I’d been in a long time.”

Before producing the album, Glenn

struggled with his anxiety and fears, which led to meeting his therapist. While writing the songs on “Pop Psychology,” Glenn was learning how to deal with these issues.

“I wanted the record to sound like a cel-ebration more than a depressing thing,” said Glenn. “I think a lot of the tones and themes on the record are still similar. There is a lot about identity, fi nding love, moderation, things like that, but it’s a lot more energetic than maybe we intended.”

“Pop Psychology” was their most suc-cessful album since forming in 2005. It peaked at the number one spot on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart and Alternative Albums chart.

Recently, the band’s bassist, Branden Campbell, underwent open-heart surgery for a valve replacement according to fameisdead.com. Neon Trees originally wanted to cancel the tour. However, Campbell wouldn’t allow it. On Tuesday night, Campbell was perform-ing on the stage in the Hooper Eblen Center. Some of the tour’s dates have been postponed due to the recent band member’s surgery.

Glenn said the band was happy to give him some time to recover and take care of his health issues, but the band is really “bummed” it happened.

To get the crowd excited for Neon Trees, Slow Hands took the stage and performed a 30-minute set preceding the headlin-ing act. Known to his friends and family as Ryan Cavanagh, he performed varying disc jockey skills continuously throughout the performance.

“I’m not used to people looking at you. I’m used to people with hands in the air, danc-ing and strong kick drums,” said Cavanagh. “If you watch me cry and sweat, you prob-ably won’t be able to tell the difference.”

Despite the technical malfunction at the beginning of the set, Cavanaugh got the crowd excited for Neon Trees’ performance after he was fi nished.

The SGA constitution article states the S.O.L.O. fund is designed to, “enrich and ad-vance the quality of a complete college expe-rience at Tennessee Tech University.” Every semester, SGA chooses a list of bands for the students to vote on as a collective body. Once the vote is complete, the decision will deter-mine the performance.

“I’m really impressed by the perfor-mance,” said Patterson. “I’m glad I went.”

By KIM BIGGS Asst. Managing Editor

& DILLON JAMESBeat Reporter

Katherine Smith | Guest Contributor

POP PSYCHOLOGY- Lead singer of Neon Trees, Tyler Glenn (above), belts out a song during Tuesday’s S.O.L.O. concert in the Hooper Eblen Center.

CROWD SURFING SAFARI- In the midst of singing a song during the concert, Tyler Glenn (above), takes a ride across the hands of the listening audience in front of the stage.

See “Green Initiative,”>>Page 3

oach Brow

>>

Adam guns for

>>Page 6

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1All DayJim Graham Painting Exhi-bitionJoan Derryberry Art Gallery

6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Information Session and Meeting with Recruiters from Tate & LylePrescott Auditorium

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Jason Bergman, Trumpet, Guest Artist RecitalBryan Fine Arts Building, Wattenbarger Auditorium

2

All DayJim Graham Painting Exhi-bitionJoan Derryberry Art Gallery

5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Information Session with Kirby Building Systems Prescott Hall 330

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Cumberland Quintet in ConcertBryan Fine Arts Building, Wattenbarger Auditorium

2727All Day Event Middle Tennessee Antique Engine and Tractor AssociationHyder Burks Ag Pavilion

4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Volleyball vs. Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville Hooper Eblen Center

2929

All DayJim Graham Painting Exhi-bitionJoan Derryberry Art Gallery

10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Career Day 2014 RUC Multipurpose Room and Tech Pride Room

7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. Joshua Hauser, Trombone, Faculty Recital Bryan Fine Arts Building, Wattenbarger Auditorium

September

2626All Day Event Middle Tennessee Antique Engine and Tractor AssociationHyder Burks Ag Pavilion

5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Upper Cumberland Manufacturing Summit Kick-offSTEM Center

7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Volleyball vs. Eastern Illinois University Hooper Eblen Center

3030All DayJim Graham Painting Exhi-bitionJoan Derryberry Art Gallery

All DayUT Extension Master Beef Class RUC Multipurpose room

4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Internship Information Session- The Washington CenterRUC Room 370

7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Amy Roloff Derryberry Hall Auditorium

New parking lots added campus wide

Tennessee Tech University has added more parking over the summer and implemented a free new shuttle system around campus.

Students, faculty and staff have all complained about the lack of parking on campus. However, the new parking additions spread throughout campus this se-mester have created 180 extra spots. The free shuttle runs a route throughout campus, al-lowing students to be picked up at any of the given stops along the way. Jack Butler, associate vice president of Facilities and Business Services, is eager for students to embrace the new change.

“Over time, the frus-tration levels will be lower because we will have more parking. We will be running shuttles, and people will be able to fi nd somewhere to park,” said Butler. “Every year it will get better and better.”

The biggest addition made to parking was behind Foundation Hall. The new spots behind Foundation Hall make up 125 of the 180 spots on campus. Another location behind Matthews Daniel Hall added 21 spots for additional parking.

However, some still re-main skeptical about the parking situation on cam-pus. Psychology major Kayla Taylor said the current issue with parking affects many of her decisions when it comes to transportation on campus.

“I avoided leaving cam-pus at all costs during the week because the chances of me fi nding a parking spot close to my dorm were slim to none,” said Taylor. She even admitted to receiving $150 in parking tickets in one semester from parking in spots that were not allo-cated for her tag. Taylor said she now lives off campus, but proximity was a huge factor in her decision due to the parking issue.

“When it comes to driv-ing to campus now, I don’t even try anymore,” said Taylor. “I actually refuse to drive to campus unless it’s later in the day when the commuter lots are starting to get empty.”

However, Taylor isn’t the only one receiving tickets for parking in the wrong spaces. Tony Nelson, interim direc-tor of the University Police Department, agreed there are a lot of students struggling to fi nd parking.

“We write more tickets at the beginning of each semes-ter,” said Nelson. “However, as it goes along, people get settled in and realize where they need to park.”

Over the course of the next 20 years, Tech’s cam-pus will change dramatically. According to Tech’s campus master plan, renovations will be made to add up to 900 spots for parking on the cur-rent Foundation Hall proper-ty. The commuter parking lot will be replaced with an inte-grated science building, and those spots will be relocated to the western edge of the campus, past the intramural fi elds, which could add over 700 spots.

To accommodate for the remote parking, shuttle sys-tems have been implemented around campus. Currently, there is one shuttle running a route through the center of and around the outskirts of campus. As parking shifts to the perimeter of the campus, the number of shuttles will be increased, according to the campus master plan.

Although changes are slow, students are beginning to see alterations being made to assist with the growing need.

“Be patient with us,” said Butler. “We are putting money toward it (parking). It’s just a drawn out process.”

Charles Yarbrough, a general curriculum student at Tennessee Tech, got an email from a business owner about a prospective job at the beginning of the semester, and the student received a check last week. But if he cashed the check, there would have been serious consequences.

On Sept. 17, Yarbrough, 26, got a check in the mail for nearly $3,000. This would have come as a surprise for him, if not for the events that preceded the coming of the check.

When Yarbrough got his student email working during the fi rst week of school, he said “generic newsletters” and “campus emails” fl ooded his account.

“Amongst all of them was an ad that seemed like an employment ad, which I’ve seen some around on the bulletin board in the University Center,” Yarbrough said. The name of the person promoting the ad was Thomas Cook.

“So it didn’t really catch me off guard. Specifi cally, the reason why it didn’t catch me off guard was because it was on the school email,” said Yarbrough. “So I read it, and it didn’t wind itself right off to being a scam. It was very thorough. This fellow didn’t dis-close a name of a business.”

Yarbrough said Cook’s email offered a job as a supply currier for a business.

“So I responded just because I was look-ing for work. I didn’t even think I had a chance because I thought I had responded late,” Yarbrough said. He quickly got a reply.

Yarbrough said the second email wanted general information such as address, email, age, gender and phone number.

He said there was also a brief question-naire to be fi lled out. Yarbrough responded and received a fi nal email.

“It was a little more detailed about what the job would entail, and how I would re-ceive money from them,” Yarbrough said. The email said he was to extract his salary of $300 a week from a check and take the rest of the money “to a supplier to purchase offi ce supplies.”

Yarbrough said in the second email, there was a name for a fi rm, Christodoulos G. Vassiliades & Co. LLC, a law fi rm in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Bank information was also requested.“A red fl ag went up in my mind at that

point,” Yarbrough said, deciding then to stop

communicating with Cook.“Even though he got no more than my

phone number and address that’s all he need-ed,” he said.

The next day, Yarbrough got a UPS Express package from a Kevin Turner in Benicia, Calif.

“I wouldn’t have even opened it if it hadn’t have been for the fact that I got mar-ried just a few months ago and we’re still get-ting belated gifts,” said Yarbrough.

In the package was the check without a stub from Top Rock Reality based out of Mesa, Ariz., Yarbrough said.

“I contacted my father, who happens to be an attorney, and once we hashed it all-out, we notifi ed campus police who may have dealt with this before,” he said.

He then took the check to campus po-lice. Yarbrough said Lt. Mike Lambert, Tech offi cer, didn’t want to keep the check, but Yarbrough insisted.

If Yarbrough would have cashed this check, Cook could have drained the money from Yarbrough’s bank account.

“It becomes extortion, and you’re pretty much at their mercy,” Yarbrough said.

Yarbrough said most cases like this are impossible to catch the perpetrator, and large-ly the people who run these schemes are do so out of the United States.

Yarbrough admitted that he should have been “more discerning and a little less gull-ible” toward the whole experience.

Lambert said this is a very common oc-currence and it often works on the elderly.

“There have been more incidents since the Yarbrough case,” Lambert said. “It seems to me these people are targeting the Tennessee Tech student body by using a blanket email.”

“I’m told that apparently it happens very often in the city of Cookeville,” Yarbrough said.

The Tech police department strongly suggests all students to approach emails like these with extreme caution, and if a student happens to answer any of these emails and receives a check, please contact them.

“One student came in yesterday and fi led a report with Offi cer Chris Russell. He cashed the check he received and now he’s out $3,000,” Lambert said.

“Who knows how they get into campus email?” Yarbrough said. “Who knows if they have a source here? I guess you could specu-late as far as you want.”

>> Campustntechoracle.com

Contact us: oracle@tntech.eduNEWSPage 2 || THE ORACLE || COOKEVILLE, TN Friday, September 26, 2014

www.tntech.edu/calendar

By LUCAS McCOYBeat Reporter

Please recycle your copy of The Oracle

once finished.

TThank youhank you

October

Tech police warn students of potential fraud attempts

Tech student Charles Yarbrough was involved in an attempted fraudulent scam. Yarbrough received numerous deceiving emails in his Tech email address from scammers.

By KIM BIGGS Asst.Managing Editor

The Oracle staff thanks you for reading. Have a great weekend!

According to Tucker, the goal of TTUSI is that Tech will be a leader in sustain-ability with recycling being just one element.

“The initiative is commit-ted to reducing our carbon footprint and putting Tech on the cutting edge of even newer and more technologi-cal sustainability, producing a lot of our own energy that we use,” Tucker said. “After all, we are a premiere engi-neering school; we have all of the ingredients. All the mind power is here. What we’ve got to do is harness that talent.”

According to Tucker, the initiative has been a success, with positive feedback this far in the semester.

“As a recycling advo-cate, I am in favor of the idea of Tech being a progressive University that supports sustainability,” said Emilee Gettys, senior nursing stu-dent at Tech.

“I am excited that Tech is being proactive and self suf-

fi cient and that we are taking our own stride to be green,” said senior nursing student Danielle Miller.

There are recycling con-tainers in the lobby of all aca-demic buildings and dorms. Students can contribute to the initiative by placing their recyclable waste in said con-tainers, according to Tucker.

For large-scale recycling, there is a drop off station at Capitol Quad, Pennebaker Quad and behind Lewis

Hall. There is also a drop offat Tech Village that is stillowned by the city. However, there are plans to ultimatelytake that station over as well,according to Tucker.

“It’s the food chain; ev-erybody plays a role in this when you get right down to it,” Tucker said.

According to Tucker, this will be a semester of transi-tion from the old way of han-dling waste to the new way.

Campus << NEWSCOOKEVILLE, TN || THE ORACLE || Page 3Friday, September 26, 2014

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>> “Green Initiative” Continued from Page 1

THE SECOND COMING

Drake Fenlon | The OracleWAVE TO THE CAMERA- Evangelist preacher John McGlone returned to Tech’s campus Tuesday, Sept. 23. McGlone preached on South Patio the previous Tuesday, Sept. 16, as well. McGlone spoke to students about his beliefs regarding Christianity.

WELCOME ABOARD- Nursing major Braxton Douglas puts pieces of cardboard into the new cardboard recycling bins across campus.

Adam Webb | The Oracle

Trees were relocated to Sherlock Park from South Patio this week to prepare for construction of Centennial Plaza as part of the Master Plan to refine Tech’s campus. The project will block off a portion of South Patio, making it only accessible from inside the RUC as well as the doors next to Which Wich. These barriers will be moved in cases of emergency.

The trees were moved to make room for construction equipment being put in place Monday to work on the new plaza. Director of Horticulture and Grounds, Kevin Tucker, said the trees would be cut down or demolished if they were not moved to the park.

“Why cut a perfectly good tree when you’ve got a beautiful park area?” said Tucker.

Some students were not pleased with the change of scenery, however.

“I loved the magnolia trees and being in the southern United States, it brought southern charm to our campus,” senior English major Effie Savage said.

“When I heard South Patio was going to be closed for awhile, it was kind of disappointing. Of anywhere on Tech’s campus I enjoy being,

South Patio is one of my favorites. Hopefully it won’t take too long to finish up,” sophomore chemical engineering major Zac Gulledge said.

According to the Master Plan, the RUC has issues on the western facing side of the building and adjacent areas. Up to 60 percent could be added to the building if the parking lot on the west side is eliminated.

According to Tucker, the new plaza will be large enough for multiple activities like weddings, outdoor lectures and small concerts.

“It’s going to be a fantastic facility,” said Tucker.

Tucker went on to say some of the trees that were moved could come back as well as new trees being planted for the new Centennial Plaza.

“Once the hardscape is completed, we’ll landscape the plaza area,” Tucker said.

“There will be plenty of shade, large trees remaining and (they) will become focal points.”

Construction is expected to last from now until late January.

Renovations to South Patio begin with tree relocation area blocked off until project completion

Drake Fenlon | The Oracle

RELOCATED ROOTS- Fences were placed on South Patio on Thursday, Sept. 25 for upcoming construction. Renovations will continue through late January until construction is complete.

By ADAM WEBBStaff Writer

>> FeaturesLIVINGPage 4 || THE ORACLE || COOKEVILLE, TN Friday, September 26, 2014

Step 1- Listen to WTTU.Step 2- Win the lottery.Step 3- Buy a Boat.Step 4- Listen to WTTU on your Boat.Step 5- Marry a Mermaid.

A Guide to a Better Semester

88.5 FM- WTTU - The NestStreaming 24 Hours a day on the TuneIn App

A Guide to a Better Semester

Beta Alpha Psi, the ac-counting honor society at TTU, will host the Eat.Glow.Run. 5K at 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at Johnson Hall.

Eat.Glow.Run. is a 5K-glow run/walk and food drive combined to promote education and assisting the TTU Food Pantry in fi ghting campus hunger.

The registration fee is $30 plus two canned goods, or $35 without canned goods. All canned goods and half of the money raised is given to the TTU Food Pantry.

“Our goal this year is to double to amount from last year to donate to the pantry,” said Cassie Marshall, MBA student at Tech and co-cre-ator of Eat.Glow.Run. “Many students on campus go hun-gry and The Food Pantry’s efforts are irreplaceable.”

Last year there were more than 250 runners. They were able to donate more than $1,200 and 300 canned goods to the TTU Food Pantry.

Eat.Glow.Run. is open to all who wish to participate. The race will be chip-timed, but everyone is welcome to complete the course at their own pace.

“The event is for every-one. It’s parent’s weekend at Tech, so bring your family,” said Marshall.

Registration is available up until the event begins, but registering by Sept. 27 will guarantee you receive a glow-in-the-dark T-shirt.

Runners will be given two glow-in-the-dark brace-lets and refreshments after the race. Anyone can pur-chase two glow bracelets for $1 and a glow necklace for $1.

Trophies will be awarded to the top three male and fe-male fi nishers. Gold medals will go to the top male and female in each age category: 15 and under, 16-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55 and up. There will also be a best-dressed competition, and the winner will receive two tickets to Dollywood.

GLOW SHOW- Jordynn Holm, Hilary Barker and Kimmy Manning warm up before the 2013 Eat. Glow. Run. race.

Ben Hay | Guest Contributor

Eat.Glow.Run. 5K to help food pantry

Ben Hay | Guest Contributor BIRD ON THE RUN- Awesome Eagle (above) made an appearance at 2013’s Glow Run in full neon attire.

By ALYSSA ADKISSONBeat Reporter

Accounting honor society to host on campus race to gather food, donations for campus food pantry.

The TTU Food Pantry opened for food distributions to all Tech students and faculty this semester in Foundation Hall Cafeteria to combat hunger on campus.

The distributions of food take place on Thursdays and Fridays, however there are volunteers at the pantry every day of the week so you can donate non-perishable food items anytime.

“From the beginning, we have never listed any criteria for recipients of food other than they must be affi liated with Tech as a

student or employee,” said Kaitlin Salyer, as-sistant Service Learning coordinator.

The idea of the food pantry came about after some of the administration on campus noticed more and more students were con-tacting them about hunger-related issues on Tech’s campus. Michelle Huddleston, service coordinator for Tech, along with other mem-bers of the administration decided to host an AmeriCorps VISTA in the Service Learning Center who would work to establish a food pantry on campus.

Research was done on how to run a food pantry, and it was found there was a nation-wide trend among college campuses called

“hidden hunger.” The campus community volunteered to help with the food pantry and collecting donations.

“I researched how to run a food bank and reached out to our campus community,” said Salyer. “They have been nothing but support-ive since day one.”

TTU Food Pantry fi rst began distributing food on Sept. 5, 2013. There were approxi-mately 50 students signed up to receive food when it opened. After the fi rst semester of distributions, the TTU Food Pantry was able to open up to Tech employees. To date, TTU Food Pantry has served approximately 300 students and employees on Tech’s campus.

Psi Chi, the psychology honor society and service organization on Tech’s campus, host-ed “The Hungry Games” on Sept. 25. Therewas corn hole, Frisbee and other games onMain Quad. Participants were asked to bring two non-perishable food items to donate to the TTU Food Pantry.

Beta Alpha Psi, the accounting honor society at Tech, is hosting Eat.Glow.Run. 5Kon Oct. 3 to raise awareness of campus hun-ger and collect donations for the TTU Food Pantry again this fall.

“We are super excited to be a part of therun again this year,” said Salyer.

Campus food pantry open for all students battling hunger problemsBy ALYSSA ADKISSONBeat Reporter

Television star Amy Roloff will be at Tennessee Tech University Tuesday to speak to the campus about diversity.

As one of the stars from the TLC television show “Little People, Big World,” Roloff has traveled na-tionally to im-part her expe-riences living with achon-droplasia, which is a form of short-limbed dwarfi sm, as well as being a wife, mother, businesswoman, farm owner and author.

“We wanted to drive the message that disability is di-versity,” said Chester Goad, director of Disability Services at Tech. “It’s one thing to bring a lecturer to speak about an academic topic, but we wanted to bring someone

who could generate an inter-est in diversity.”

Her lecture, entitled “It’s Me, It’s You, and Diversity is a Good Thing,” will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Derryberry Hall Auditorium. The event, sponsored by dis-ability services, is free and open to the public.

Roloff has proved throughout the show and her life that she can do the same things as any other person but in a different way.

“We hope that people remember the importance of not stereotyping. We must learn to think past stigmas. Our perspectives are often limited when the possibilities are unlimited,” said Goad.

“When I think of di-versity, I don’t really think about disability, but I guess if you think about it, it’s as much a part of diversity as anything else,” said Hayden McMillen, junior journalism student. “Everyone needs di-versity. Where we are in the

U.S., we can sometimes be a little strict and judgmental, so it’s nice to have someone come and speak to us about diversity so we can be more aware.”

Roloff graduated from Central Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree before working in a family-owned business’ personnel department.

In 2009 she founded the Amy Roloff Charity Foundation, which is de-signed to help children facing various life challenges. She has also served on the board of Little People of America, the national organization for people with dwarfi sm.

In addition to her lecture, Roloff will be visiting some University classes and have a lunch with the SGA, ABC (Able Bodies Community) and the ADA committee.

The event is a part of the Center Stage Series, which is made possible by Tech’s gen-eral education fund.

By ELISSA LONGFELLOWBeat Reporter

GAME FACES

DUTY CALLS- Anthony Emiren (left) watches on as Marcquis Hogue (middle) and Haasan Miller (right) compete in Thursday night’s video game tournament at the semester’s fi rst Late Night Tech Night. The two separate tournament brackets consisted of organized teams of four playing Mario Kart 8 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. The bracket ran in fi ve rounds with video game themed prizes being given out throughout the night. The tournament was sponsored by the TTU Counseling Center, the Tech Activities Board and ResLife.

Roloff

TLC’s Amy Roloff to speak Tuesday in Derryberry Hall

Amy Roloff to speak in Derrberry Hall Auditorium Tuesday night about living as a little person and how that has affected her life.

Register at eatglowrun.weebly.com

Inside the Game << SPORTSCOOKEVILLE, TN || THE ORACLE || Page 5Friday, September 26, 2014

The Tennessee Tech soft-ball team begins their fall schedule Sept. 28 in a double-header against the Kennesaw State Owls and the Motlow State Lady Bucks. The ac-tion takes place at the Tech Softball Field. The Golden Eagles’ contest with the Owls starts at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a game with the Lady Bucks at 2 p.m. The only other home contest will be on Oct. 3 against Roane State.

Tech wants to build from last year’s conference success. The Golden Eagles ended the season with a 15-12 record in the Ohio Valley Conference and have won 13 of their last 16 regular season games. The team also made a deep run in the conference tournament, which was high-

lighted by a dramatic win over Jacksonville State. The team was only elimi-nated after rain delays canceled the consolation round.

“We fi n-ished on a bittersweet note last year because we did awesome,” said sophomore pitcher Danielle Liberatore. “I think this year we are out to get it (OVC title).”

This year’s fall schedule includes some tough compe-tition for the Golden Eagles. Tech will travel to Ole Miss to take on the Rebels and the Jones Community College Lady Bobcats on Oct. 11.

A week later, the team will be in Knoxville, Tenn. to face the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, which will be the closing weekend for Tech’s fall schedule. For senior Erica Tuck, going back to Knoxville will be like a homecoming.

“I am from Knoxville,” said Tuck. “It is always a

fun time to go and play over there.”

Head coach Bonnie Bynum believes the tough schedule will be a way to see where the program is.

“I think it is a great thing. I think we have set ourselves up to really see what we are going to need to work on for the spring,” said Bynum. “Obviously they are the kind of opponents we are going to be facing day in and day out once we get to our spring schedule.”

Tech will have some fa-miliar faces returning this fall. The team had only three players graduate after last season.

“We do have a lot of ex-perience. We only lost three players last year. They con-tributed quite a bit, but we have the bulk of our team returning,” said Bynum. “We have got some new people who I expect to step in and fi ll those roles and do a good job.”

A combination of new-comers, a drive to improve and a competitive schedule should make the fall season interesting for the Golden Eagles.

Liberatore

SOFTBALL

VOLLEYBALL

Softball begins challenging fall with double header at home

The Tennessee Tech Football team (1-2) will wrap up their three-game road stand with this week-end’s game as they face the Northern Iowa Panthers (1-2) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Saturday.

The Panthers are ranked 10th overall in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches’ poll and are com-ing off a 46-7 win against Northern Colorado.

“There’s no weakness-es at all, they look like an Indiana State offense, which we struggled with, and their defense is similar to TSU’s. They’re ranked for a reason,” said head coach Watson Brown on the Watson Brown Show.

Tech lost last week’s con-test to rival Tennessee State 10-7 in Nashville, Tenn. For the second week in a row, Tech’s offense has failed to score any points.

Even though Tech didn’t pull out the win, Brown seems confi dent in his team’s ability to turn around their struggles.

“We were better Saturday. There were some offensive things better Saturday, they might not have shown, but there were. We’re getting close,” said Brown.

The Golden Eagles’ de-fense scored the lone touch-down against the Tigers when senior safety Austin Tallant returned an intercep-tion in the fi rst quarter.

Tech’s defense only al-lowed three points off a 26-yard fi eld goal, as the Tigers also scored their only touch-down off an interception return at the end of the fi rst quarter.

They were led defen-sively by senior safety Marty Jones who had eight total tackles and a forced fumble.

Jones is working extra hard this week to prepare for the Panthers and their high-powered offense that is aver-aging 31 points per game this season.

“There really isn’t any time off this week, it all starts with a really physical prac-tice Tuesday because they’re a team that will try to come out and run the ball all over you,” said Jones.

The Panthers have a strong running back in David Johnson. Johnson rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown in their game against Northern Colorado last week.

“Defensively, he’s the fo-cus of this weekend’s game plan, and we need to stop him to have a chance to win the game,” said Jones.

The atmosphere will be very unfamiliar to the Tech

team, as they will be playing inside a dome.

“Talking to other people who have played them in there, you can’t hear yourself speak,” said Brown about the conditions inside the UNI Dome.

Although the stadium presents a challenge, the Golden Eagles are excited about the experience.

“I don’t know how many

of our guys have played in a dome before, but this one in particular is smaller and built to be really loud. I don’t think getting excited will be a problem whatsoever,” said Jones.

After their game against the Panthers, the Golden Eagles will return to Tucker Stadium to face the Murray State Racers Saturday, Oct. 4.

Drake Fenlon | The OracleIN THE TRENCHES- Safety Marty Jones battles a Tennes-see State blocker during the recent installment of the Tech-TSU rivalry on Sept.20.

Football enters unfamiliar territory against UNI FOOTBALL

After being on the road for several weeks, Tennessee Tech women’s volleyball team will fi nally get a chance to play on their home court. The Golden Eagles will take on Eastern Illinois Friday, fol-lowed by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Saturday.

The match against Eastern Illinois will be held at 7 p.m. in the Hooper Eblen Center. The Eastern Illinois Panthers are 6-7 overall on their season, while the Golden Eagles have a record of 15-11. This will be the fi rst Ohio Valley Conference matchup of the season for both teams. The Panthers are currently ranked fi fth in the OVC standings, fi ve spots ahead of the Golden Eagles who sit at 10th.

“We’ve had a rough pre-conference,” said head coach David Zelenock. ”But as I just

told the girls we are 0-0 now. It’s nice to be able to have a fresh start.”

Tech lost a nonconference match up against Western Kentucky in three sets Sept. 23. The Golden Eagles played tough in the fi rst set, losing 18-25. The Hilltoppers domi-nated the next two sets, out-scoring Tech 20-50.

“Going into confer-ence play, we are going to take what worked and learn from what didn’t,” said Ellen Conti, senior outside hitter for the team. “We can only go up and we are ready for that challenge!”

The match against the SIUE Cougars, which will take place at 4 p.m. in the Hooper Eblen Center, will be the Golden Eagle’s second conference matchup of the season. The Cougars’ aver-age 11.86 kills per set, which is slightly higher than the Golden Eagles who aver-age 10.62 kills. The Golden Eagles, not to be outdone, av-erage 2.14 blocks per set com-pared to the Cougars’ stat of 1.68 blocks.

“We’re going up against, in our opinion, the best two

teams in the conference,” said Zelenock. “We’ve got two seniors still at the bench for injuries, so as it stands we will have a lot of freshmen out there, and probably be a little jittery.”

The two seniors out for injury are Conti and defen-sive specialist Allison May.

“We’re used to playing on the road and we’re used to having fans yell at us, so playing at home will take some getting used to, hon-estly,” said Zelenock.

The Golden Eagles will play 8 of the next 17 confer-ence games at home, with the conference tournament loca-tion to be decided.

“I love volleyball, and now that conference games have started I will get a chance to watch and cheer on some of my friends at home games,” said Maddi Everts, a junior on the women’s golf team.

“We’re all excited to play back on a familiar court,” said Conti. “Now that it’s conference play, it makes ev-eryone more competitive and ready to prove ourselves in the OVC.”

SOCCER

Tennessee Tech wom-en’s soccer team is trying to shake off a couple of tough loses from this past week-end as they prepare to start conference play this week-end against Murray State University and University of Tennessee at Martin.

After battling through fi ve weeks of non-conference opponents, the Golden Eagles will begin their Ohio Valley Conference campaign with the fi rst OVC matchup of the season Sept. 26 at Murray State. This is also new head coach Steven Springthorpe’s fi rst time see-ing an OVC opponent since he took over the position in January.

“The conference is now coming upon us, and from all of our perspectives, it’s all about the conference. It’s about trying to win a confer-ence championship,” said Springthorpe. “It’s about making the conference tour-nament, and we’re all on the same page right now. We’re all zero and zero.”

Springthorpe sounded confi dent despite the two tough losses suffered at the hands of Wright State and Evansville.

“We shouldn’t feel great about what happened. We need to learn from that and prepare for this up-coming weekend,” said

Springthorpe. He also talked a little bit about focusing on defense as a focal point going forward.

Another big key to the Golden Eagles squad has been Taylor Blazei. She al-ready has one goal, two as-sists and seven shots on goal so far this season and shows no signs of slowing down.

“Taylor Blazei is some-body that other teams are key-ing on,” said Springthorpe. It is clear that she is an integral part of the offense and will be a huge asset as the Eagles move into conference play.

Although the Eagles

have struggled throughoutthe beginning of this sea-son, spirits still remain high among the players. As hetries to make the most out ofhis fi rst season with the team,Springthorpe weighs in onwhat he believes is one of theteam’s biggest assets.

“From the start of thepreseason, the team has hadan overall good work ethic. We may not do everythingcorrectly, but it’s not from alack of going out and trying,”said Springthorpe. “Rightnow, we’re still trying to fi nd out who we really are, and what our style of play is.”

Soccer begins OVC play after difficult start to season

BATTLE FOR THE BALL- Senior Kate Phillips races a Georgia State player for possesion of the ball during the Sept. 5 match.

Rob Schabert | Asst. AD of Sports Info

Volleyball hosts EIU and SIUE

By CHAYCE GAWBeat Reporter

By SHEA HAILESports Editor

By BEN CRAVENBeat Reporter

By LEE WHITEHEADBeat Reporter

Brown prepares team for historic gameHead coach Watson

Brown watches over the Golden Eagles as they practice for their next contest against Northern Iowa Brown could make history with a loss in Iowa. If Tech loses, Brown will gain the title of the losingest head coach in the history of col-lege football with a record of 128-200-1.

Shea Haile |The Oracle

TENNIS

Tennessee Tech fresh-men Eduardo Mena and Carlos Tejas each grabbed fl ight championships while away with the tennis team at the Purdue Fall Invitational last weekend in West Lafayette, Ind.

Mena, a native of Madrid, Spain, won his fi rst three matches before tak-ing the Flight D title back to Cookeville. The fi nal match win Sunday, a 7-5, 6-1 vic-tory against the University of Chicago’s Sven Kraz, was Mena’s fi rst championship win as a Golden Eagle since moving to the United States in August.

While his principal goal remains winning the OVC title as a team, Mena has a few personal goals of his own.

“My motivation was that if I won the Flight D, maybe next tournament I will get to play against better op-ponents,” said Mena.

Playing in Flight E, Tejas also took home his fi rst championship since join-ing the team in August. He took the crown in the fi nal match with a win over Butler

University’s Tommy Marx with a fi nal score of 6-0, 5-7,6-2.

Tejas said his motiva-tion was maintained by keep-ing his eye on the prize.

“Normally theydon’t have trophies, so whenI was walking (to the court)and saw them I was like, ‘Man, I gotta get that tro-phy!” said Tejas.

The Murcia, Spainnative said the trophy stays in his dorm room to help feed any additional motivation.

Kenny Doyle, headcoach for the men’s tennis team, said he was proud of the two freshmen in theirperformance last weekend.

“(They) played welland competed well, and it was a good fi rst tournament for Carlos,” said Doyle.

Although fi nishing the weekend 0-3 in the FlightA division, team captain andjunior Alex Arovin says he is happy to be on a team that supports each other during both wins and losses.

“Of course I amproud of my teammates,”Arovin said of Mena andTejas. “They are my broth-ers, and everybody is proud of their brothers.”

The Golden Eagleswill be in tournament play Sept. 27-Oct. 2 inthe Intercollegiate TennisAssociation Men’s All-American Championships.

By JORDAN PACEAsst. Sports Editor

Mena and Tejas earn titles at Purdue

“I can only afford the genetically modifi ed, barely natural and completely cheap

produce.”

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REAL DEAL - The certifi ed organic produce section at the local grocery store, Kroger, in Cookeville, Tenn.

FURRY FURY - Pusheen the cat is a popular kids cartoon that has started to become violent in the media.

>> Think FreeOPINIONPage 6 || THE ORACLE || COOKEVILLE, TN Friday, September 26, 2014

Kimmy Manning | The Oracle

Courtesy of Pusheen Corp.

When can we afford to be healthy? KIMMY MANNINGOpinion Editor

ADAM WEBBStaff Writer

Kimmy Manning is a senior in Journalism/Public Relations. She can be reached at kemanning42@students.tntech.edu.

Adam Webb is a senior in Journalism/Public Relations. He can be reached at abwebb@tntech.edu

It’s full of neatly stacked recy-clable boxes, plant based n u t r i e n t s , and gluten

free ingredients – it’s the or-ganic aisle. It's the aisle that also screams the lovely re-minder that I am a poor col-lege student living on ramen.

Is anyone else tired of skipping the organic aisle, because I’m pretty sure that until I have a 6-fi gure salary I will not be worthy of walk-ing that ground.

Constantly, magazines, television, my friends, my parents all want me to pro-mote a healthy life style. Not just for me, but as a whole.

Let’s face it – we’ve all tried dieting. Unfortunately, dieting nowadays just means eating right. It’s crazy to think that it is more normal to eat “wrong.” Boy do I eat wrong.

The reason why?Because I cannot afford

to eat “right.”Just a couple weeks ago

I was nitpicking through the avocados at Kroger when I fi nally eyed the right one, I mean an angel would have picked this avocado for guacamole at its next din-ner party. It was pristine. As I reached for a bag to place it in, I glanced at the label – organic. Agh, it was too good to be true. As I placed the beauty of a vegetable (or fruit?) back down, I said to my fi ancé, “Hey, we can't af-ford these, let’s get the non-organic ones.” Yeah, the fake ones.

Why are we punished for eating healthy? I can only afford the genetically modifi ed, barely natural, and completely cheap produce. Is it just me or do you feel trapped into fake eating?

Not to mention, a lot of our food intake is from pro-cessed machines. Most of my meals weren’t created from scratch before me. What I consider to be scratch is my

peanut butter and jelly sand-wich, and even that doesn't cut it.

Since farming, produce and agriculture are not my areas of expertise, I out-sourced to those who know their stuff.

The fi rst person I inter-viewed was Tech graduate, Kaila Raulston, with a degree in Agricultural Science.

“Organic food costs more because it is harder to pro-duce,” she said, “and supply and demand doesn't match up for it.”

She then began to repeat the familiar thoughts that arise as I’m standing empty handed in the produce sec-tion of Kroger.

“When I go into the store and I have the option to buy ‘organic’ grapes for $4.99 dollars a pound or grapes for $1.99 dollars a pound, then I'm gonna get the ones for 1.99 a pound,” said Raulston. “Especially when the ‘regu-lar’ grapes look better or just

as good as the organic ones.” Preach. Is it crazy to think

that the cheaper items in fact look more desirable and delicious than the produce that’s organically grown by the soil of the earth? Does it really look better or are we

just tailored to think geneti-cally modifi ed and pesticide covered food is the standard visual?

In our talk, Raulston had mentioned that we always want our produce to look, “pretty,” and to have an ex-tended shelf life. Whereas, organic produce can only last so long – making its demand even smaller.

It seems as though we are in a vicious rut. We are in a cycle in which it would take a whole army of people to convert to eating organic and locally for the supply and de-mand to change. Even then, the margin of change would just apply to locals.

Tech Graduate, Kayla Staelens, with a degree in Agricultural sciences inter-jected a similar truth, “You are better off buying from a local farmer or farmer’s market.”

However, even at local farmer’s markets, prices are still substantially more than what is generally offered at a grocery store. There are a few good perks says a Tech Agricultural student, Kelly Bonin,

“By supporting your local people you are in re-turn supporting yourself,” she said. True, you are supporting your local econ-omy, well-being, and most certainly not your wallet. It

seems to almost be a perfect circumstance minus the non-existent cash it requires from me.

So where does this whole ordeal have a place on cam-pus? Well, that’s where the journalist in me wanted to seek answers. As far as the dining options on campus go, I can only think of three places that serve “healthy” food, and even then – that’ s just my perception, which I’m realizing now is way off.

The cafeteria offers fruits and vegetables, probably mass-produced and geneti-cally modifi ed, seeing as the, “hey look at me,” organic sticker is not on them. The other option is Which Wich that offers a limited variety of vegetables that can be placed on a sandwich. Lastly, Au Bon Pain, which gives the illusion that healthy food is available, but by looking at the nutri-tional facts, I was deceived. Besides those three “nutri-

tious” options, I’m stuck withfried food, fake sugars, and who knows what.

To see what Chartwell’shad to say on the matter, I spoke with Sam Holm, theDirector of Dining Services at Tennessee Tech.

“We don’t do a lot withcertifi ed organic. A lot of that decision is based off our vol-ume,” said Holm, “Obviouslywe look very closely at howwe want quality but at a fairprice on down the road.”

Okay, so maybe we don’thave organic as an option, but Chartwell’s is still mak-ing efforts to provide healthyfood. According to Holm, we have a dietician in the cafete-ria who will fi gure out foodarrangements and diet plansfor students.

When discussing the se-lection of products, Holmsaid, “When you think werepulling bananas from SouthAmerica, and tomatoes from the west coast – and they are coming all the way toTennessee, and still in goodshape. It’s a pretty incredible situation.”

So apparently theUniversity’s food is healthy,but we are not supporting the local market, and as of now—organic is not an option.

Where does this put uspoor college students whocan’t afford to be healthy?

This puts us in a box, anation-wide, and nation-ranbox where we can only es-cape if we all decide to leave it. If we all decide to stand against our circumstances and demand real food. Let’smake real food the popular choice. Let’s restore the foods of the earth to those who live on it.

Today let’s make the con-scious decision to ask what we deserve – real food at anaffordable price. Mankinddeserves to eat “right,” notramen.

On Tuesday, there was a shooting at a UPS location in Alabama. It always upsets me whenever there’s a shoot-ing or any sort of violent act like this. My heart always goes out to the victim and their families, but it seems like those sentiments fade all too quickly for most media outlets.

The debate always be-gins the same way, “What should the United States do about gun control?” Is it too overbearing? Is it too lenient? Does everyone need a gun at

all times? Should all guns be reserved for armed forces?

To me, there is a simple answer: do nothing. Gun control, at its core, isn’t the reason shootings like Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine High School or Aurora, Colorado happen. In all three of these instances, the perpetrators had a history or signs of mental illness. It seems to me the media likes to blow these events out of proportion and make a circus of the ordeal by blaming ev-erything from video games to television to music. Basically, everything that isn’t the real source of this problem.

I consider myself to be open-minded. I think peo-

ple are entitled to their reac-tions to games like “Grand Theft Auto V,” artists like Eminem or television shows like “Game of Thrones.” But I think the same people that fi nd these entertainment

sources to be the cause of in-dividuals shooting people to be outrageous.

I’ve logged countless hours in “GTA V,” listened to Eminem since middle school

and watched all of “Game of Thrones” in a week. Not once did I have to urge to steal a car, beat up women or tor-ture someone for my own entertainment. The reason-ing behind this is that I am a rational and responsible per-son. I can tell the difference between a fi ctional universe where the lines of the law are blurred and the real world where everything matters. There is no reset button.

Putting a gun in my hand isn’t going to magically spark feelings inside me to start shooting people. I’ve never had any urge to cause major physical harm to anyone out-side of self-defense. Violent entertainment never made

“Putting a gun inside my hand isn’t going to

magically spark feelings inside me to start shooting people.”

anyone go out and commit major crimes. It may cause inspiration, but again, if the type of people who use vid-eo games and television as inspiration for committing murder, they probably aren’t the people who need to be playing or watching those things.

To sum everything up, putting more guns on the street won’t make anything better or worse in the long run. If we want to see shoot-ings like the one in Alabama or Aurora, we should look into solving the issues of mental illness and how to identify the warning signs before incidents like these occur.

Suffering mental illness or gun control?

How you doin’? Twenty years after debut of “Friends”

Reviews << ENTERTAINMENTCOOKEVILLE, TN || THE ORACLE || Page 7Friday, September 26, 2014

By JAKE THREETEntertainment Editor

WE WERE ON A BREAK- In the fi rst season, each of the main six cast members received $22 thousand per episode. By the fi nal season, they each were earning $1 million per episode after they banded together during contract negotiations.

Courtesy of Hello-Berlin

Album Review: “Tyranny”

By HANNAH BENJAMEntertainment Critic

T w e n t y years. That’s how long it’s been since the fi rst episode of “Friends” aired. On Sept. 22, 1994,

the blockbuster televi-sion show made its debut on NBC, and this past Monday was the offi -cial 20th anniversary for the show. It was a show that captivated audi-ences around the globe and became an instant phenomenon.

“Friends” is my favor-ite show of all time, com-edy or drama. Anytime it is on television, I’m more likely than not to leave it on that channel. With that being said, I was on the cusp of 2 years old when the show premiered 20 years ago. I wish I had been able to follow the show from its premiere all the way through its run, but that obviously did not happen. I really got into it right before the fi nal sea-son, having become famil-iar with it, as I got older.

At that time, the DVD sets were just beginning to come out, so I didn’t have time to watch the entire se-ries before the fi nal season. Nonetheless, I watched the fi nal season from be-ginning to end as it aired. I know that does sounds like a terrible time to be-

gin watching a show, but it was actually what made me so enthralled with the series. It was the best deci-sion I have made pertain-ing to TV.

The remaining sea-sons came out on DVD after the fi nal episode of the series concluded. I quickly snatched them up and watched the entire series and by the time I was done, the fi nal season

had made its way to DVD as well. I re-watched it to conclude my binge watch-ing and from then on I was hooked. I have never looked back. Well, I have looked back as I will prob-ably watch it until the end of the time. However, I have only watched the se-ries fi nale twice. I have yet to make it through the fi na-le since then because, well, I get a little emotional.

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One of the most im-portant things a television show can do is connect with the audience. For me, this show was extremely relatable. I like to think I connect with each char-acter on some level. I’m the same level obsessive-compulsive, competitive as Monica, and I have the high maintenance intuition of Rachel. Like Phoebe, I can be kooky as hell, not

to mention I sing “Smelly Cat” really well. I’m as awkward as Chandler, love food as much as Joey and will probably marry three times like Ross.

I almost blame this show for the abundance of coffee I drank as a young kid. Central Perk, the cen-terpiece for a lot of the show’s great moments, felt real to me. Drinking coffee felt like a way of life

I was missing out on, soI joined. It wasn’t for me,turns out. I need a real-lifeCentral Perk in my world. I wouldn’t drink any cof-fee, but I would sure go fora good scone. Someone geton that.

The show’s insanely catchy theme song, “I’ll BeThere for You,” still getsstuck in my head to this day. I’ve also been knownto dance around my livingroom when the song comeson, but that’s a different story. It’s ironic that the show title theme was “I’llBe There for You” becausein times when I needed alaugh, it was there for me.

For 10 years, six people made television audiences laugh, cry and sometimes scream. The series attract-ed over 20 million viewerseach season it aired, which is unheard of for a seriesnowadays. It’s still popu-lar today and can probablybe seen at almost any hourin syndication somewhere.

“Friends” was more than a show for me. It was something more spe-cial. Granted, people whowatched the show frombeginning till end prob-ably appreciate it muchmore than me. I’m just glad that I was introduced to it because if it were not for that show, I would notappreciate and follow tele-vision like I do today.

Thank you to the castof “Friends” who havebeen there in the worsttimes, the best times andanytime in between.

By ADAM WEBBStaff Writer

T h e Strokes front-man Julian Casablancas has returned to the sound of his 2009 a l b u m , “Phrazes for

the Young,” this time with backup band The Voidz.

“Tyranny” is the name of the new album and like Casablancas’ “Phrazes for the Young,” this is a dras-tic departure from garage rock of the Strokes.

The album opens with “Take Me in Your Army,” a slow, melancholy opening and something rarely heard from the Strokes or even Casablancas himself. The track serves as a sign of what the listener can expect from the rest of the album: the unexpected.

Where the opener of the album is slow and has Casablancas practically mumbling into the mic, the next track, “Crunch Punch,” is more upbeat and has more drive than the previous track. It also features more traditional instruments than “Take Me in Your Army,” which could almost pass as a Smashing Pumpkins song.

The fi rst single from the album, “Human Sadness,” clocks in at almost 11 minutes and has a mellow bass line and more of Casablancas’ mumbling. The song even-tually does pick up the pace around the halfway point but suffers once Casablancas starts screaming indiscern-ible words over heavily dis-torted synths and crash cym-bals. For an 11-minute song, however, it does a decent job of using its time wisely.

The following track, “”Where No Eagles Fly,” is the closest Casablancas and The Voidz come to sounding like The Strokes. The groovy bass line sounds a lot like the line from the Strokes’ 2005 song, “Juicebox.” Casablancas’ vocals sound similar as he reverts back to the crooning style he uses with The Strokes. It’s a solid throwback to what made Casablancas the musician he is today and will most likely be a favorite among fans of The Strokes’ early work.

Later in the album, the track, “Nintendo Blood,” blends everything from earli-er in the album. On this track we hear Casablancas’ croon-ing style as well as him shout-ing into the microphone. The track has synths and key-boards paired with a drum machine, making it sound like a traditional synth-pop track. Later on, however, it starts to sound more like

Daft Punk with Casablancas’ voice sounding more like the French robotic band.

Overall, “Tyranny” shows what Casablancas wants to do with his solo career and other side proj-ects. While it’s nice that he has more creative input here, the album is diffi cult to put into one category. Some songs sound more synth-punk. Others could come straight from a 1980s movie soundtrack, while another fl irts with the metal genre.

If you enjoyed “Phrazes for the Young” and were hop-ing for an album with more of that sound, you should enjoy most of what you get here. If you were hoping for more of a “Strokes Two” from Casablancas and The Voidz, you may be disappointed. The best solution is to listen to this various blend of tracks and decide for yourself.

CHECK THE VOIDZ- Band members Jeff Kite and Alex Carapetis were previously involved with Casablancas’ fi rst venture into solo material, forming two of his “Sick Six” band.

Courtesy of JulianCasablancas.com

“The Maze Runner” full of actionBy HANNAH BENJAMINEntertainment Critic

In per-haps one of the most pop-ular releases of the month, “The Maze R u n n e r ” slammed into

the number one position in the box offi ce at $32.5 million. Based on the novel by James Dashner, and starring Dylan O’Brien and Kaya Scodelario, the movie keeps the plot fresh and audiences on their toes.

“The Maze Runner” opens with a mysterious ascending box containing Thomas (O’Brien). He is lifted up to an area called “The Glade,” the heart of a giant maze fi lled with boys who don’t remember any-thing about their past lives. Thomas has nothing but strange dreams and the clues he fi nds in the maze to piece together his former life and fi nd a way out. The impend-ing threat of the mysterious maze creatures combined with a “Lord of the Flies” dynamic among the boys heightens the drama and makes “The Maze Runner” an intense sci-fi action fl ick.

The fi lm does an excel-lent job of keeping things a mystery. The audience is just as confused as Thomas as he maneuvers his way through life in the maze. The drama intensifi es with each attack on the boys and pressure builds as they appear to run out of time. O’Brien, original-ly of “Teen Wolf” TV series fame, displays complex emo-tions and captivates audi-ences right off the bat. The in-tricate relationships between the boys that want to leave and the ones who don’t want change are well developed.

WHICH WAY- The sequel in the book series, “The Scorch Trials” is scheduled to be released on September 18th, 2015.

Courtesy of MoviePilot.com

Though individual character development is kind of weak, the group dynamics are pow-erful and well thought out.

The biggest issues with “The Maze Runner” stem from the original plot, which has more to do with the au-thor of the series than the actual movie. Dystopian fu-tures are hot right now and everyone involved is cashing in. The fi lm has all the ele-ments of a sick future society including a young hero who must face adversity to uncov-er the real truth. Just because it fi ts in with a certain genre doesn’t mean that “The Maze Runner” isn’t a good fi lm, but it certainly makes it harder to distinguish itself.

Coupled with the ris-ing popularity of these fi lms, “The Maze Runner” leaves

many questions unanswered.Depending on the audience, this can be a good or a badthing. Plans for a sequel have already been announced and the ending deliberately (and rather annoyingly) points to another fi lm. However, thereis a lot of buildup to a hugereveal and is ultimately dis-appointing to audiences whohaven’t read the books.

Overall, “The MazeRunner” is an action packedpick-me-up for the month ofSeptember. The fi lm’s prem-ise is unique enough to giveaudiences something newand wanting more.

“The Maze Runner” israted PG-13 for thematic vio-lence and intense sequencesof sci-fi violence and action,including some disturbingimages.

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1. Sophomore education major Jacklyn Zim-mermann hugs Awesome Eagle during the S.O.L.O. concert.

2. Lead singer of Neon Trees, Tyler Glenn, sings for Tech students and members of the community Tuesday night.

3. Neon Trees lead singer walks out on stage to perform their opening song, while donning a TTU foam fi nger.

4. Slow Hands, also known as Ryan Cavana-gh, warms the crowd up with his disc jockey skills before Neon Trees took the stage.

Neon Trees light the night for Tech students and members of the community

Dillon James | The Oracle

Drake Fenlon | The Oracle

Drake Fenlon | The Oracle

Drake Fenlon | The Oracle

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