Strategic planning necessary for success

The job of a college student and arguably, of a human, is to learn. Learning is partly about absorbing others' knowledge. It is also partly about creating new knowledge. Creating something new might come from destroying an old barrier or finding a completely new way around a problem.

This process ...

Brunch offers best weekend noshing

If you missed a chance to enjoy a moment outside last weekend, I feel truly sorry for you. If you had a moment to spend some time in Market Square for the Dogwood Arts Festival, I'm rather jealous. Because we can reasonably expect to have more than a few ...

Student senators need to connect

In this year's Student Government Association elections, nearly a quarter of the student population voted. This is a second year of increased voter turnout and an affirmation that a cultural shift within SGA, from a résumé filler and social group toward a sophisticated and democratic body, is occurring ...

Coming week offers great programming

There are few legitimate excuses for a student to miss an event on campus, especially this week. This week is Campaign Week for SGA, "Sex Week," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's visit, and the 2013 Government By and For Conference. Get up, get dressed, speak properly, and listen closely ...

Chancellor's leadership analogous to pope

If you tuned in to any major news source last week, you must have heard something about the transfer of leadership in the Roman Catholic Church. As a practicing Catholic myself, I was delighted with the coverage. I think that when the spiritual father of one billion people changes, everyone ...

Dangers lie in overcommitment

This column is written by a busy student for all the other busy students across campus and the administration that seeks to serve them. Though I write about changes and developments across campus, it is clear that my opinions have been informed by my own experiences as one of those ...

Preparation, action needed on job future

After all of this talk about becoming more engaged students, who complain less and advocate more, and even more talk about developing a more rigorous curriculum, which demands our time and energy and inspires our imaginations, I think it is time to break these goals into clear and actionable steps ...

Every student needs global exposure

Are you “Ready for the World”? This slogan, like “Big Orange, Big Ideas,” is one way that our university is attempting to empower its students to reach our full potential. Ready for the World, according to its website, is “an ambitious plan to help students gain the international and intercultural ...

'Big Ideas' farce fault of administration

I think by now it is clear that the "Big Orange, Big Ideas," no matter how beautifully branded, has not won over the student body. Surely, this isn't news. Derogatory Twitter accounts like @TheBigOrangeScrew and @TheJimmyCheek together have more than 1,600 followers. "Big Orange, Bad Ideas," is, if ...

Rely on email to stay engaged

To all of you who have scheduled, but more importantly, prepared for advising meetings since last Monday, I offer my sincere congratulations. Pulling the collective attitude of our student body across the spectrum from apathetic to engaged is a task in which each of us must participate. Of course, since ...

Stop 'big orange screw' yourself

UT has a big problem. Believe it or not, it is neither the snow/ice/rain nor the syllabus adjustments all MWF professors have had to make recently. No, this problem is not the common inconveniences of campus life. If a fire drill happens at an inconvenient time, we assume ...

Important CHP director decision forthcoming

Ask anyone around UT and he or she will tell you that it is an exciting time here on Rocky Top.

Across campus, students complain about the nonstop construction, and across UT's new websites the university touts the increasingly impressive statistics of incoming classes, important research projects and exciting ...

TED talks inspire hope in Yemen

January is like spring in the middle of winter. We have proclaimed it a month of renewal and new beginnings. Most of us welcome the fresh start offered by new, empty grade books, and are relieved that with the end of exams groans of "I'm so burnt out" have ...

Survive exam season with ease

Here we are! Today is the last day you will struggle through this semester's Monday schedule, walk the same path between your 9 and 10 a.m. classes, dread seeing the same professor or peer, etc.

Time to celebrate? Not so much. Below is the final installment of "Go ...

Plan productive summer activites

Last week, I offered my opinion on the value of foreign language study. I was very pleased with the many responses which that column garnered. Some of those who responded suggested that though studying a foreign language and culture in a university setting is certainly valuable, an immersive experience is ...