With the meningitis out-break on the rise, students need to be aware of their sur-roundings to keep from ob-taining the infectious disease.

The current outbreak of fungal meningitis is said to be caused by a fungus found in steroid injections produced by the New Eng-land Compounding Center in Massachusetts. The injec-tion was a spinal epidural medication given to patients near the spine or back and an ophthalmic drug used with eye surgery, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The injec-tions were sent to 74 health facilities in Tennessee, in-cluding Cookeville Regional Medical Center and Perim-eter Surgery Center.

“Fungal meningitis is something I’ve never seen through all my years of prac-

Green Party candidate Jill Stein will deliver a presenta-tion over her running plat-form, the Green New Deal, in Derryberry Auditorium Nov. 1 at 11 a.m.

Katey Culver, co-chair of the Tennessee Green Party and the state coordinator for the Jill Stein campaign, con-tacted English instructor and Student Environmental Ac-tion Coalition faculty adviser Andrew Smith about Stein’s campaign tour stopping at Tech.

“We are specifi cally an environmental group,” Smith said. “We are not specifi cally a political group like, for exam-ple, your college democrats or your college republicans.”

The organization seeks to promote a more sustainable society in terms of reducing reliance on nonrenewable re-sources, exploring resources for alternative energy and promoting environmental awareness.

“What I would really like for [Stein] to focus on is the environmental and the clean energy part of her platform,” Carolyn Huppmann, presi-dent of SEAC, said.

Along with outliningplans for a transition towardan environmentally safe econ-omy, Stein’s Green New Dealcovers civil equality, includ-ing workers’ rights, healthcare and education, reformsfor a “functioning democra-cy” including military spend-ing and v o t e r r i g h t s and fi -n a n c i a l reform.

“The thing on people’s m i n d s r i g h t n o w seems to be the economy,” Culver said. “The Green Partyhas a lot of stances that wehave stood on for a long timethat don’t necessarily get inthe mainstream debates, andthat’s something she maytouch on, but I think thatmostly we really want to talkabout what’s on the minds of the people today.”

Huppmann said whileSEAC members may or maynot agree with all of Stein’splatform positions, they dosupport her position on envi-ronmental issues.

The offi cial welcoming and initiation ceremony of President Phil Oldham will take place Nov. 2 in the midst of Homecoming festivities.

Oldham will become the ninth president at Tech as the campus community bestows the offi ce of the president on him at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 2 at the Hooper Eblen Center. Quee-na Jones, director of News and Communications, said more than 1,100 people have RSVP’d to attend Friday’s ceremony.

“I’m excited to be presi-dent of Tennessee Tech,” Old-ham said. “I want to have an ‘open-door’ policy for every-body on campus.

“I’m on Twitter, I don’t al-ways have the opportunity to respond to every tweet I get, but I do read them. People can comment on my blog, catch me as I’m walking around campus or even goes as far as getting an appointment to see me in my offi ce. I want to be as accessible as possible.

“I love Tennessee Tech. It’s a great place. I hope that the investiture is a lot of fun for everybody.”

Classes have not beencanceled for the event, thoughoffi ces around campus will beclosed from 9 a.m. to noon sostudents and staff can attendthe ceremony. Students havebeen encouraged to ask theirp r o f e s -sors to e x c u s e t h e m f r o m c l a s s d u r i n g the cer-emony.

Old-ham said the ceremony isn’t about him,but about the entire Tech com-munity instead.

“I’m very honored tohave this position, and veryhumbled by the attention,”Oldham said. “But the cere-mony is more about the insti-tution, more about TennesseeTech than myself.”

Several businesses andorganizations in Cookevilledonated goods or services tokeep the cost of the ceremonylow, including the Appala-chian Center for Craft, Chart-wells and Johnson’s Nurseryand Garden Center.

A new plan to base a university’s state funding on graduation rates is go-ing to cause some major changes to Tech, including a reduction in state funding.

Previously, state funding was based on enrollment numbers. The goal of this program, called the Complete Col-lege Act, is to raise Tennessee’s overall graduation rates by directly linking the amount of state funding received with the amount of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.

Tech’s overall graduation rate de-clined between last year and this year.

“It really concerns me that our grad-uation rate has declined,” Claire Stinson, vice president for business and fi scal af-fairs, said. “If we continue to decline our average will continue to get smaller, and that is not a good thing. We have to re-verse that trend.”

According to a 2013-2014 Funding Formula data sheet released by the Ten-nessee Higher Education Commission and the Tennessee Board of Regents, the amount of bachelor’s degrees earned in-creased from 1,603 to 1,696 between last year and this year. However, Tech will lose some state funding due to a decrease in the amount of degrees earned overall. The amount of master degrees earned by Tech students dropped from 506 to 347 over the last year. This is what caused the decline in overall degrees earned.

“We’ve got several things in 2011-12 that we have to worry about,” Stinson said. “Our average will be less in our 2013-14 funding year.”

This drop in average will decrease the amount of state funding Tech re-ceives next year.

Tech has had problems with the Complete College Act even before its full implementation.

“There was a phase out period, so colleges and universities who had grown in enrollment did not get any additional funding,” Stinson said. “Tech lost, let’s just say to round the number, $2 million.”

Stinson said Tech went on to cover its

$2 million loss in state funding thanks to a $25 million “infusion of funding” into higher education from the state. This al-lowed Tech to come out of the phase out period $123,000 in the green.

“It [increasing the graduation rate] is a shared responsibility between the student, the faculty and the university,” Stinson said. “We have to be providing the support services students need.”

Tech is now planning on implement-ing programs designed to keep students enrolled and eventually have them get a degree. Programs like this will help stu-dents like junior Kane Pedigo, who had to miss last semester because of fi nancial aid issues. Pedigo is frustrated with the lack of support he has received from the university but also acknowledges that Tech wants him to graduate.

“Alumni make donations,” Pedigo said. “Dropouts don’t. I had professors encourage me to come back, but I don’t think the school itself showed any inter-est.”

Stinson hopes some of these new programs will change the way frustrat-

ed students view their relationship with Tech.

“Sometimes students have the mis-conception that we do not care and that they’re just a number, and that is just not true at this university,” Stinson said. “The problem is getting the communica-tion fl owing between students and staff. That is why we want to implement these programs.”

Some of the programs Tech plans on implementing in the future are software to allow students easier access to their educational history and an alert system that will email students who are missing class consistently.

Despite the optimism Stinson ex-pressed for these retention programs, she worries about the future impact of the Complete College Act if Tech is unable to reverse the trend of declining graduation rates.

“It really concerns me that our mas-ter’s program has declined signifi cantly while our bachelor’s degree rates have increased,” Stinson said. “That is not a good trend.”

THE OORACLEVolume 96 | Issue 5 | Free in single copy | October 26, 2012Tennessee Tech University | Cookeville, TN | 38505

More stories and exclusive content at tntechoracle.com

ROMNEY VERSUS OBAMA | PAGE 2 SOCCER SPLITS OVER WEEKEND | PAGE 3 ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4’ | PAGE 4

FRIDAY

CONTACT: news - 931.372.3285 - oracle@tntech.edu | advertising - 931.372.3031 - ttuoracleads@gmail.com

70/48 °FSATURDAY

48/35 °F

TNTECHORACLE.COM FACEBOOK.COM/TNTECHORACLE@TNTECHORACLE

SUNDAY50/28 °F

MONDAY46/25 °F

TUESDAY43/25 °F

WEDNESDAY35/25 °F

By JONATHAN KAULAYBeat Reporter

Funding formula threatens budget

Oldham

Campus to offi cially welcome Oldham during investitureBy WILL HOUSLEYEditor-in-Chief

Obama, Romney challengerto visit campus next weekBy JESSICA SMITHBeat Reporter

By BRANDI CAMPBELL Beat Reporter

Cookeville meningitis death sparks concern

This story continues online...

Stein

Degrees Conferred By Level

2500

0

1000

1500

2000

2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012

Index:

179

1,528

2,188

506

138

1,603

2,291

347 97

1,696

2,166

454

1 2

3

4

12

3

4

1

3

4

1. Master’s Degree | 2. Educ. Spec. | 3. Bachelor’s Degree | 4. Overall

YEAR

NU

MBE

R O

F D

EGRE

ES

Mica Bilbrey

tice,” Dr. Donald Tansil, uni-versity physician, said. “It’s a complete contamination is-sue.”

As of Oct. 23, there have been two laboratory-con-fi rmed fungal meningitis cas-es and one in the process of being confi rmed at Cookev-ille Regional Medical Center. One of those three patients died Oct. 19. Another 25 people who had the tainted injections have been seen at CRMC.

Fungal meningitis is not contagious and is very rare. It is the spread of a fungus through the bloodstream to the spinal cord. The most common type is Cryptococ-cus, which is thought to be acquired by inhaling soil con-taminated with bird drop-pings. The symptoms of fungal meningitis are fever, headache, stiff neck, nausea and vomiting, photophobia or the sensitivity to light, and altered mental state. Fungal meningitis is treated with

long courses of antifungal medication administered through an IV.

According to the Tennes-see Department of Health, there have been 69 reported cases of meningitis as a result of the epidural steroid injec-tions. Out of those 69 cases, nine deaths have been con-fi rmed. This makes Tennes-see the highest in the coun-try in both cases and deaths. More cases of fungal menin-gitis are expected to appear in the coming days.

Two other types of men-ingitis affect more people an-nually.

Bacterial meningitis is usually severe. It can cause permanent damage to the brain, loss of hearing or learn-ing disabilities after recovery.

The most common pathogens or germs that cause bacterial meningitis are Haemophilus infl uenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, group B Streptococcus, Liste-ria monocytogenes and Neis-

seria meningitidis. The symptoms of bacte-

rial meningitis mirror those of fungal meningitis, so it is important to get tested to see which type of meningitis you may have.

According to the CDC, during the years of 2003-2007, 4,100 cases of bacterial men-ingitis, including 500 deaths, were reported each year.

The third type is viral meningitis. It is usually less severe than the previous two. Most of these cases oc-cur during the summer and fall months, according to the CDC. The most common way viral meningitis is spread is person to person through fe-cal contamination. The symp-toms are the same as the oth-er types of meningitis. There is no treatment for viral men-ingitis.

There is a vaccination for some types of meningitis. The vaccine is given in two doses.

This story continues online...

This story continues online...

There are some questions lingering about the course of events that led up to the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, in Libya.

The Obama Administration has reported the details from the full investigation will not be available for several months. This has left many wondering why.

Why did we not send assets in to help when Stevens repeatedly sent messages to the State Department informing of the wors-ening situation and threat to security?

Maybe the better question would be, why were we there in the fi rst place? Both the British and the Red Cross had left because of deteriorating security environment, but we stayed to help build our relationship with a new government.

Stevens asked for reinforcements, but his requests were denied. The consulate was attacked for more than seven hours, and no one was sent in to help! A U.S. Embassy is

sovereign soil. This was no differ-ent than the attacks that took place exactly eleven years ago to the day. The president said the failure of this instance falls on him at the end of the day, and I couldn’t agree more.

The Obama Administration fi rst blamed the attacks on a spontaneous video. Of course they did because if they acknowledged that it was, in fact, a terrorist attack carried out by al-Qaeda and Islamic extremists, Obama’s campaign glory would have been pulled right out from under him.

Over and over I have heard the President talk about how he brought Osama bin Laden to justice, how al-Qaeda has been dismantled and how he has single-handedly made the world a safer place for Americans. Well, I would have to argue all of the above!

Osama bin Laden’s death was a success. However, Obama wants to take full credit. I am sorry, but I do not give it to him. That success was more than 20 years in the mak-ing. It was a decision most Americans would agree with, and the credit goes to our intel-ligence and our military, the same military Obama wants to downsize.

Al-Qaeda has not been dismantled. In fact, it is stronger than ever. They have in-

fi ltrated into power the Muslim Brotherhood and other dangerous Islam extremist groups in several Arab countries, and they continue to be a threat to not only our security, but also Israel’s.

There are also new speculations fl oating around that Christopher Stevens was run-ning arms from Libya to Syria. And because they were so deeply embedded with these terrorists that when things went wrong, they let him die. The weapons are reportedly from a stockpile that belonged to Muammar Gaddafi before his administration was overthrown.

According to numerous reports, the group led by Abdelhakim Belhadj, the leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group that was dismantled and then turned into the Soldiers of Sharia, was the group who over-threw Gaddafi and is also reported to be re-sponsible for Steven’s death. Belhadj was not an enemy of Stevens, not initially any-way, and also served as his main contact for diplomatic communication in the country.

In November 2011, The Telegraph report-ed that Belhadj, acting as head of the Tripoli Military Council, met with Free Syrian Army leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey in an effort by the new Libyan gov-ernment to provide money and weapons

to the growing insurgency in Syria. These weapons were brought in by a massive ship-ment to be put in the hands of Syrian Islamic rebels. It gets worse. The ship’s captain was a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support. This was ap-parently all put together by Libya’s new gov-ernment. This is the government we just so happen to support and work with.

So what does all this have to do with Stevens and his connection to Belhadj?

Let’s just say this. The exact role of the U.S. Government and Stevens still seems to be unclear. However, we do know this to be a fact: Libya was sending seasoned jihadist fi ghters and weapons to Syria in massive amounts though a port in Turkey, who also happens to be a U.S. ally, and this was all done through the main contact Stevens had in the new Libyan Government, Belhadj.

Things of this caliber do not go down without the knowledge of the CIA, Secretary of State and the president. It is also known that Stevens had met with Belhadj the night he was murdered.

We can only hope we will ever know the real truth about what happened in Libya, but there is one thing I know for sure: this fi sh stinks!

I noticed something after watching the fi nal presiden-tial debate Monday night and then fl ipping between CNN, Fox News and MSNBC.

It was clear Barack Obama had won the debate. He outtalked, outwitted and all around outdone Mitt Romney. Romney looked sweaty and nervous while the president was surprising-ly specifi c and concise. It got to the point to where Romney was simply agreeing with Obama on most of the for-eign policy issues brought up by moderator Bob Schieffer.

Few republicans would admit Romney lost the de-bate. Instead they would say things like he was “stay-

ing above the fray,” he “fell prey to Obama’s fast talking” or he “did not stoop to per-sonal attacks.” The latter is my favorite, as Romney had no problem using personal attacks during the fi rst two debates.

This is a very predict-able response from the Republican Party because there are two things that they will never admit: being wrong and losing.

When Obama lost the fi rst debate democrats admit-ted it. I proudly wrote about how disappointing the presi-dent’s performance was the day after that debate.

Jon Stewart mocked the president to his face about

his lackluster fi rst debate performance when Obama appeared on his show last week.

We saw how the repub-licans lose when Obama was

fi rst elected president. Obama had the majority at fi rst and he used to pass health care reform, a huge achievement that every president since Dwight Eisenhower tried to

accomplish. The republicans re-

sponded to their loss by vot-ing in a bunch of fringe can-didates into the House who believe government’s only role is to protect property ownership and limit wom-en’s reproductive rights.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell even said, “Our top political prior-ity over the next two years will be to deprive President Obama of a second term.”

They have attempted to do this by outright refusing to work with the president on any issues that will actu-ally help the country. This is how most republicans re-spond to losing; they overre-act and throw fi ts.

The other thing republi-cans never admit to is being wrong. This is best exempli-fi ed in Romney.

Romney has said that he can “take some credit” for the bailout of the auto in-

dustry, which Obama fully supported. Economists from both sides of the aisle agree that the auto industry bailout worked. It saved the compa-nies and jobs.

Romney cannot take credit for the bailout, howev-er, because he was against it.

Romney wrote an op-ed for the New York Times titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” In the article Romney ar-gued the federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy car com-panies instead of a bailout. He wrote if we bailed out the auto industry we could “kiss the American automotive in-dustry goodbye.”

But that is what Romney does. He says one thing, and then when he is wrong he re-vises it after the fact. There are no consequences for being wrong in Romney’s world. People just fall in line.

Page 2 | October 26, 2012 tntechoracle.com

OPINION

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

TTU Box 5072TTU Box 5072Cookeville, TN 38505Cookeville, TN 38505

WILL HOUSLEYWILL HOUSLEYEditor-in-ChiefEditor-in-ChiefDRAKE FENLONDRAKE FENLONManaging EditorManaging EditorBRIDGETTE BUCHANANBRIDGETTE BUCHANANBusiness ManagerBusiness ManagerKRISTINA DYESSKRISTINA DYESSSales AssistantSales AssistantEMILY HAILEEMILY HAILECopy EditorCopy EditorJONATHAN KAULAYJONATHAN KAULAYOpinion EditorOpinion EditorHALEY MULLINSHALEY MULLINSAsst. Opinion EditorAsst. Opinion EditorROSS HARVEYROSS HARVEYSports EditorSports Editor

JAMAL FERGUSONJAMAL FERGUSONAsst. Sports EditorAsst. Sports EditorJACOB THREETJACOB THREETEntertainment EditorEntertainment EditorLINDSEY GORELINDSEY GOREEntertainment CriticEntertainment CriticHANNAH BENJAMINHANNAH BENJAMINEntertainment CriticEntertainment CriticMELISSA EDWARDSMELISSA EDWARDSWeb EditorWeb EditorWILL SHECKLERWILL SHECKLERCirculation ManagerCirculation ManagerHOLLY COWARTHOLLY COWARTFaculty AdviserFaculty Adviser

BEAT REPORTERS:BEAT REPORTERS: Jared Anderson, Ashley Ayub, Mica Bilbrey, Brandi Campbell, Andrew Chaney, Kayla Clouse, Candace

Cutlip, Danielle Davis, Justin Duke, Brittany Franklin, Chayce Gaw, Ryan Gibbons, Lindsey Gore, Hayley Greenhouse,

Callen Harrell, Drew Haston, Matthew Hill, Emily Homan, Dillon James, Travis Johnson, Jonathan Kaulay, Jordan Kerley,

John Lamb, Jodi Lawrence, Gerilyn Lemons, Lauren Luckhart, Kyle Martin, Shelby McDonald, Chandler Pecora, Ariel

Perry, Matthew Phillips, Will Sheckler, Jessica Smith, Karen Smith, Brittany Stovall, Kelsey Tack, Katie Vaughn, Suzi Vaughn

THE OORACLE

tntechoracle.comtntechoracle.com

CONTACT USCONTACT US

Advertising 931.372.3031

NewsroomNewsroom 931.372.3285931.372.3285oracle@tntech.eduoracle@tntech.edu

REPORT AN ERRORREPORT AN ERROR

Editor 931.372.3285wahousley21@students.tntech.edu

VOICE YOUR OPINIONVOICE YOUR OPINION

Opinion 931.372.3285jpkau lay42@students .tntech.edu

The Oracle encourages The Oracle encourages readers to write letters readers to write letters and commentaries on and commentaries on topics of interest. A few topics of interest. A few guidelines:guidelines:

1. Letters should not 1. Letters should not exceed 300 words. exceed 300 words. Commentaries should Commentaries should

be around 500 words and be around 500 words and include a picture.include a picture.

2. Originality is required. 2. Originality is required. Plagiarized works will not Plagiarized works will not be considered.be considered.

3. For verifi cation, letters 3. For verifi cation, letters and commentaries MUST and commentaries MUST include your name, e-mail include your name, e-mail address, home town and address, home town and classifi cation or title.classifi cation or title.

4. Letters may not run 4. Letters may not run in every edition due to in every edition due to space.space.

5. The Oracle reserves 5. The Oracle reserves the right to edit for style, the right to edit for style, grammar, length and grammar, length and clarity.clarity.

6. Submissions must be 6. Submissions must be received by 4 p.m. on received by 4 p.m. on Tuesday.Tuesday.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this newspaper DO NOT necessarily refl ect those of Tennessee Tech University’s employees or of its administration.

JONATHAN KAULAY

Opinion Editor

HALEY MULLINS

Assistant Opinion Editor

Two things republicans will never admit

Election

2012

ttuoracleads@gmail.com

Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney at the third presidential debate.Time

Unanswered questions in Libya leave room for speculationGlobal Post QuickMeme.com

The Tennessee Tech football team suffered another Ohio Valley Conference loss to No. 23 Eastern Kentucky University last Saturday 42-28.

“We were sharp,” Watson Brown, head coach, said on “The Watson Brown Show.” “We played a good game. Both sides of the ball played a very good game, but the last seven minutes just got us.”

The Golden Eagles jumped out of the gate quickly as they scored via a 77-yard pass from Tre Lamb to Adam Urbano on the second play of the game. Because of injuries, Urbano, who usually plays halfback, was moved to a receiver position.

After an EKU fi eld goal, Tech extended its lead to 11 by adding another touchdown pass, this time a ten yarder to Da’Rick Rogers.

Eastern Kentucky was able to rally and take the lead with two straight unanswered touch-downs, one coming through the air on a 20 yard touchdown pass, and the other punched in with a six yard run from Matt Denham. That put the score at 17-14.

Tech was able to take a lead into the half with a quick two play, 37-yard drive that took 56 seconds and ended with another Lamb to Rogers touchdown pass. Rogers would tie the school’s single game touchdown record later in the game with his third touchdown reception. He has eight on the season and just needs three more to set the single-season record.

The Colonels answered back with a 14 play,

77-yard drive. They then converted their at-tempt at a two point conversion by a Denham rush.

The turnover bug bit the Golden Eagles for the next two drives. Lamb tossed up an inter-ception inside Tech territory, setting up great fi eld position for the Colonels. Eastern Ken-tucky took advantage and scored the go-ahead touchdown, putting the score at 35-28.

On the next Tech drive, Darian Stone re-placed Lamb and threw an interception on hisfi rst pass of the game and gave EKU the ball onTech’s 38 yard line.

Eastern Kentucky scored again on the turn-over opportunity by way of an EKU quarterback T.J. Pryor 38 yard touchdown pass to Cameron Bailey. After the extra point, EKU took a 42-28 lead.

Tech punted on the next drive, and the Colonels chewed the clock, handing the Golden Eagles its fourth loss in OVC play.

“Give Eastern Kentucky credit, but I just feel for my kids,” Brown said. “They are really play-ing hard and practicing hard. I’m just so disap-pointed they’re not able to smile and enjoy it, butthat’s football. You have to get up and go at it again.”

Tech fi nished the game with 281 yards of passing but only 15 yards of rushing. Eastern Kentucky was able to run the ball very effective-ly, rushing for 210 yards. Coincidently, the Colo-nels were also able to control the clock, holding the football for nearly a quarter longer than theGolden Eagles.

“We made seven critical mistakes in the last seven minutes, but the execution in the fi rstthree and half quarters excites me,” Brown said.

The Tech men’s tennis team competed over the weekend in the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional Tournament at the Univer-sity of Memphis.

The tournament took place over a four-day span, including players from 21 differ-ent schools throughout the region.

“They’ve all been working hard since the spring season, and these events give them a chance to weigh-in on their play at the re-gional and possibly national level,” Kenny Doyle, head coach, said.

Top ranked Tennessee Tech tennis play-ers senior Syrym Abdukhalikov and sophomore Alejandro Augusto each com-peted in both singles and doubles matches in the tournament. Both claimed victo-ries in their singles play in Flight “A“ ac-tion.

A b d u k h a l i k o v earned a fi rst-round bye in his singles bracket and then defeated Zach Mueck of Xavier University in two straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, to advance to the next round. He then went up against the Univer-sity of Kentucky’s Tom Jomby, where he was defeated by the exact same scores, 6-3, 6-4. Abduhkalikov is seeded 17th in the singles draw for the fall season.

Augusto was unseeded but quickly ad-vanced in the tournament with a 6-0, 7-6 victory over Austin Smith of Ball State Uni-versity. He then advanced to face top-seeded

Mikelis Libietis of the University of Tennes-see at Knoxville. The games were very close in competition but ended with a 6-2, 6-4 win for Augusto. This leaves him with an im-pressive 10-4 record in singles action for this year’s fall season.

The pair has claimed many wins over top ranked oppo-nents in both singles and doubles matches this fall. In doubles play the duo had earned the No. 9 seed for the tournament. This gave Abdukhalikov and Augusto a bye in their fi rst round. For their fi rst match they faced Michal Lyzwa and Lauri Makikalli of Wright State University. The match was close, going to a tiebreaker before the Tech combo was dealt a 9-7 loss.

In Flight “B” singles action, Vasily Ere-meev dropped his fi rst match Friday but fought all the way back to earn victories over players from Austin Peay, Kentucky and Youngstown State University in the consolation bracket to reach the fi nals. He suffered a 6-2 loss Sunday in the fi rst set to Youngstown’s Max Schmerin but worked his way back to tie the contest with a 6-2 win in the second. In the third, Eremeev took a 10-8 cliffhanger to win the championship.

Tech will close the fall portion of the 2012-2013 season in two weeks with play-ers competing in two different tournaments Nov. 2-4. Some will play in the Alabama Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, and some will play at the Carolinas Invitational at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C.

By KATIE VAUGHNBeat Reporter

Tech football begins battle for Sgt. York Trophy this weekend at Tennessee State University

The Tech Football team is travelling to Nashville to-morrow to take on longtime instate Ohio Valley Confer-ence rival Tennessee State University.

Both teams will be looking for a win as fi rst place TSU is coming off its fi rst loss of the season during Oct. 20’s game against Jacksonville State University, while Tech is coming off its sixth straight loss against Eastern Kentucky University.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Justin Matheney, student assis-tant coach, said. “The Sgt. York trophy is on the line, and this team is hungry for a win.”

Tech is still in the running for the Sgt. York trophy, an annual honor handed out to whichever OVC team from Tennessee wins the most games against the other instate teams. Tech and TSU tied for trophy last year, but TSU won the tiebreaker.

TSU is not only an instate rival, but also one of the only two OVC teams to beat Tech in last year’s 42-40 heartbreaker at home. They handed Tech one of only two regular season losses.

“TSU’s quarterback is a big kid who can hang tough in the pocket, kind of like Roethlisberger.” Matheney said. “They also have a very shifty and sneaky running back.”

Fans may get the chance to see backup quarterback Darien Stone start against TSU as Lamb left the EKU game because of a shoulder injury.

The short distance to TSU from Tech makes it pos-sible for students to travel to Nashville for the game.

“I am excited to go watch a game with my friends while I am still supporting Tech,” sophomore Chayla Sinclair Bell said.

Page 3 | October 26, 2012tntechoracle.com

SPORTS

The Tech soccer team split last weekend’s conference games with a loss Oct. 19 to Austin Peay State University and a win Oct. 21 over Murray State University.

The split brings the Golden Eagles’ confer-ence record to 3-5 with two Ohio Valley Con-ference games left before the tournament starts Nov. 1.

“In our conference, there are no easy games,” said freshman goal keeper Jordan Brown.

Austin Peay’s Tatiana Ariza scored the two goals for Austin Peay in last Friday’s match. Her fi rst goal came at 49:02 and the second at 54:58.

Ariza is the OVC’s leader in goals and as-sists, and the two she scored on Tech’s Brown were enough to seal the win for the Governors.

“Tatiana Ariza was a force to reckon with, but it is important to treat each game with the same mentality,” Brown said.

Despite giving up the two goals to Ariza in the 2-0 loss to Austin Peay, Brown saved 12 shots on goal in that game and fi ve more in Sunday’s game against Murray State University, bringing her season total to 114. That puts her in second

place among OVC net-minders.“She has been a major reason we have been

close in all our games this season,” Daniel Briz-ard, head coach, said.

During Sunday’s game, Julie Mooneyscored the Racers’ only goal at 22:01 to giveMurray State an early 1-0 lead over the GoldenEagles.

However, the Racers’ lead did not last long.Senior forward Andrea Meloff scored the

tying goal on a quick cross from senior EllieIaciofano at 24:42.

But Iaciofano did not stop there. She recorded her second assist of the game

on a pass to senior midfi elder Sarah Gawthropfor her third goal of the season at 44:07.

Gawthrop’s goal gave Tech a 2-1 lead whichproved to be enough to hold off the Racers andsend the Golden Eagles home with a victory.

“If we can continue to play for the name onthe front of our jersey and have the same inten-sity throughout the whole game I believe thatwe can come away with two conference winsand an OVC appearance,” Brown said.

Southeast Missouri State University comesto Cookeville Oct. 26, and the Golden Eaglestravel to the University of Tennessee at MartinOct. 28 to close out the season and the rest ofOVC play.

By DREW HASTONBeat Reporter

Tech tennis trio fi nd singles success in OVC regionals

Soccer splits weekend, improves to 3-5 in OVC

Scan this QR Code to go to

TTUSports.com

Weekly Roundup This week’s sports stories at a glance

This week’s Weekly Roundup featured story is from Beat Reporter Ariel Perry.

Tech’s Vasily Eremeev takes a shot in tennis action. Eremeev won the Flight “B” singles tournament at the OVC Regional Tournament hosted by the University of Memphis after rebounding from a fi rst-round loss.

Sports Information

By CALLEN HARRELLBeat Reporter

Racquet MasterFitness Center

TTU Students: Workout 24/7 No Contract $25 Per Month

Never ClosedNo Lines Waiting on Equipment

4 Weight Rooms

2019 North Willow Ave 931-526-1646

1 Mile North of TTU

15%OFF

any one regular priced item(excludes Boy Scout products)

*cannot be combined with any other offers

Cumberland Mountain Outdoor Sports

Courthouse Square, Cookeville (931) 526-6239Expires: Dec. 31, 2012

PLATEAUECO-SPORTS

Augusto

Abdukhalikov

Tech football falls short to EKU in fi nal minutes

tntechoracle.comPage 4 | October 26, 2012

ENTERTAINMENT

By BRITTANY FRANKLINBeat Reporter

ABC’s ‘Nashville’ brings country music, drama to tvBy JAKE THREETEntertainment Editor

Just Jared“Nashville” stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere make an appearance on the red carpet in New York City.

Haunted things are happening in Cookeville

‘Paranormal Activity 4’ a scary boring catastropheBy LINDSEY GOREEntertainment Critic

Being labeled as the most critically praised new drama on television this year, “Nashville” is spicing up primetime on Wednesday nights.

Callie Khouri, The Academy Award-winning creator of “Thelma and Louise,” created the show.

The show stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere as two characters who begin a budding rivalry for the throne of Queen of Country Music. With help from a lot of supporting and secondary characters, the mix is just right for a perfect soapy classic.

Britton’s character, Rayna James, has been on top of the country music world for years and is a legend. Her career is beginning to fade as more females and young girls are listening to the county-pop sound being put out by Panettiere’s character, Juliette Barnes. The two characters draw similar comparisons to Faith Hill and Taylor Swift because of their looks and sound.

To go along with her fading demographic, James has to deal with a damaged marriage and a conspiring and conniving father. Her management team and record label have fears of continuing with her upcoming tour, for her new CD, as ticket sales have plummeted. In the end, they come to the conclusion to ask her to open for Barnes on her new tour. When asked on her decision, James tells the men they can “kiss her decision as it’s walking out the door.”

We learn that her lead guitar player, Deacon, was her former love and current best friend. The sexual tension between the pair is undeniable. Barnes and her scheming ways know the talent of Deacon’s songwriting, and she will do anything in her power to get him on her band and to join her tour.

After many luxury gifts and ambushes, Deacon continues to tell Barnes he is committed to James’ tour and that he’s not going anywhere. Barnes takes his

response in stride, but she is not done with him yet. There is also undeniable chemistry between the two of them as well, and it helps that Barnes can write extremely well. This bond over writing soon leads to a physical attraction, which then leads to many sexual escapades.

James is not only a country music superstar, she is the rebellious daughter of Nashville’s former mayor Lamar Wyatt. He is a man who has to control all his surroundings. He is unforgiving, grudge holding and quite frankly a regular ass. He conspires with James’ depressed and lazy husband Teddy to run for mayor against James’ close friend and brother fi gure Coleman, who Wyatt practically raised as his own.

Wyatt’s right hand man, or in this case, right hand woman, is his daughter Judith. She is James’ sister and is poised to take over the family company. She often plays both sides in her father’s and sister’s fi ghts and tries to help them settle their differences.

In the shadows of all this drama and love triangles is a young

group of kids working their way up through the business. They work at the famous Bluebird Cafe in downtown Nashville. The trio consists of Deacon’s niece Scarlett who is a waitress at the café. She is also an incredibly gifted songwriter whose songs are promising hit-makers. She works there with her boyfriend Avery, who is an aspiring musician and has bad boy side to him. Third is Gunnar, a kind-hearted and aspiring music singer who has secret feelings for Scarlett that begin to show after the pair begin to write songs and sing on stage at the Bluebird together.

“Nashville” is full of drama, love triangles and great music. The show’s fi rst episode of the season was a ratings smash. The second episode did drop a bit, but there is still time for the show to fi nd its home audience. The writing is as strong as any drama on TV, network or cable, and the acting is pure country perfection.

“Paranormal Activity 4” is a pitiful excuse for the end of a franchise that has too much dead time and not enough scares.

The fi lm begins fi ve years after Katie (Katie Featherston), a previous character of the franchise, disappears with her sister’s child, Robbie, after killing her boyfriend. Katie and Robbie move in next to teenager Alex’s (Kathryn Newton) family, and the terror begins after Alex’s family takes

Robbie in after Katie is hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. With Robbie comes more than just bumps in the night, and Alex’s family and her friend Ben fi nd themselves being terrorized by an evil force.

“Paranormal Activity 4” uses the same tired scares from the previous fi lms.

Like all the other fi lms in the franchise, the fourth and fi nal installment uses cheap scares in every attempt at a

scary scene. Most scary moments are

a loud noise or a character being thrown around the room by a demon’s invisible hand. The fi lm also abuses the creepiness of little Robbie to try and produce some scares, but even Robbie’s disturbing dialogue and actions cannot save this fi lm from falling far from being remotely scary.

The acting also follows suit with the previous installments. Each actor’s performance is lackluster and unnatural. Even the most basic situations appear to be diffi cult for the cast to portray.

Scenes such as Alex and Ben’s Skype conversations

come across as awkward andforced.

The fi lm takes its timegetting spooky. The fi rst halfof the installment is mostlyawkward fl irtation betweenAlex and Ben, with Robbiebeing a creepy little kid.

The climax does notpromise much by means ofaction and scares either withincredibly brief moments of intensity and an ending that comes way too suddenly.

“Paranormal Activity 4”falls far from even slightlyscary with a lot of dead timeand a little originality.

“Paranormal Activity 4”is rated R for language andsome violence/terror.

Students who want to get spooked for Halloween can enjoy activities in Cookeville and the surrounding counties this weekend.

One event is the Maze of Terror.

“The Maze of Terror is a 2-3 acre cornfi eld with a multi-room haunted house in the middle,” Derek Woolbright, volunteer fi refi ghter and EMT-IV for the Dodson Branch fi re department and Tech student said. “It is mostly people from the fi re department who put it on, but we give youth and adults in the community the opportunity to volunteer and help with it.”

The maze is located in the Dodson Branch community about 20 minutes outside of Cookeville near Jackson County, at 985 Zion Road. The maze costs $6 per person.

“The money benefi ts the fi re department, which is solely volunteer and operates

only on money raised from fundraisers like the maze, as well as donations from the public,” Woolbright said.

The maze is open tonight, tomorrow night and Oct. 30-31. The fi rst run starts at dark, and ticket sales end at 11 p.m.

Another activity interesting to students is Spooky Hollow in Jackson County.

Spooky Hollow is a hayride with three stops before arriving at a haunted house. One stop is from the anti-drug coalition in Gainesboro, and is an educational scene about a car accident involving three vehicles. Another is a small house with characters coming out into the crowd. The last is a doctor scene with a patient on an operating table.

“As a fi rst-timer, I thought it was a great Halloween experience,” Tech student Jessica Sarten said. “The spookers did a great job, and it benefi ts a great cause in the Jackson County community.

The last stop is the optional haunted house.Sarten advises everyone that attends to go in the hauntedhouse.

Spooky Hollow is locatedat 2804 Granville Highway, at the Flynn’s Lick Community Center, about 25 minutesfrom Tech. This is the lastweekend for Spooky Hollow.Tickets are $8 per person, andthe fi rst run starts at dark.Ticket sales end at 10 p.m.

The last Halloween activity is the Haunted Hollow hayride at Hidden Hollow Park on the outskirts of Cookeville. According tothe Hidden Hollow website,it has been voted a No. 1attraction in Cookeville.

According to another website called Eventful, Haunted Hollow is notonly a hayride but a walkthrough the “haunted” park.It is located at 1901 Mount Pleasant Road. The event will be held Oct. 26-28 and30-31. Tickets are $8 perperson, it starts at 7 p.m. andticket sales end at 10 p.m.

You’re invited...

to the Monday, October 29th’s Midnight

Gamestop

Saturday, Oct. 27

10 AM BOOM

Friday afternoon

Packet-pickup @

Prescott Hall

Register online with

$5 off!

TTU STUDENT

DISCOUNT CODE:

6.02EE23875 Brown Ave. Cookeville, TN

(931) 528-7825www.charlesbrownphotography.com

We offer a wide range of photography services at affordable rates.

Sports, social events, portraits & wedding packages are available that’s right for your special moment!

Welcome to John’s PlaceAlumni, Students & Friends

BBQ, Pork Ribs, Boston Butts

We’re A Tech Tradition

“Where Everybody is Somebody”

New: Liquor and Spirits by the Drink

11 Gibson Avenue Cookeville

Mary Alice McClellan, Owner/Operator

@ t nt e c h o ra c l e : For the latest news, follow The Oracle on Twitter! #TTU #CampusNews

to