Enjoy high points of college life

This is it. It's over after this. One more week of classes and a handful of days separate us from graduation. How do I summarize my experience at UT in 600 words or less? I can't, but I will try. Here's what I've done and what ...

Take Volunteer pride as responsibility

As a generation, we don't like to talk about things, at least not on the scale that our parents did. This past week, only one student protest took place over the "Sex Week" defunding, and turnout was under 50. Once again our university took on national shame, and student ...

Harder times require harder work

This past week, I read an article on LinkedIn written by a Yale senior, Bijan Stephen, who believes that those of us the world considers "millennials" are going to have a knock-out, drag-out time out in the real world. Part of me believes him, but the eternal optimist in me ...

Prejudice against gay marriage destructive

If I could only write one single line for my column this week and get away with it, I would. The shortest story ever told is believed to be written by Ernest Hemingway, who wrote, "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." That short, six word sentence was capable of explaining ...

UT plagued by putrid Third Creek

Hey, Knoxville, I know this is going to shock you, but we have a huge ecological issue we keep brushing under the table. No, ironically, I'm not talking about the fracking that UT just approved. That's a completely separate national smear of our image to speak about at ...

Spring job search brings anxiety

I'm really going to miss college. It finally hit me this past weekend. Graduation is a few very short, very stressful, very time-consuming and very terrifying eight weeks away. I've got a lot of thinking, planning and life-sorting-out to get done between now and then, and I need ...

Sequestration raises generational concerns

This whole "sequester" thing scares me. I'll be brutally honest: I'm terrible with numbers unless I can see how they work. I can't understand the economics behind all of these tax cuts. I just know the average American should probably care a little more than they do ...

College prepares for real world

What are you getting out of college? Are you learning cool stuff in class? Are you one of the lucky ones who are going to graduate and have some solid “job title” to conduct job searches for? That’s awesome. I have a question for you: what are you really ...

Sports inspire UT campus life

One of the most beautiful parts of life has to be when an absolutely unexpected but awesome thing happens. After a ridiculously long, major assignment-laden week, I wasn't expecting much out of this weekend. I hoped for the UT versus Kentucky game to pass quietly. I had hopes for ...

Campfield's ideas sidestep true problem

When I choose to vote for someone, I hope that they will be a bigger voice for me and my opinions. In that regard, I am having a lot of trouble understanding why or how we could have ever elected Stacey Campfield to office. As a resident of Knoxville, I ...

Verify 'facts' found on internet

The internet is a funny thing; it's a place to find facts and it's also a place to find information that may seem to be very close to fact.

The difference between the two can be blurry, but a simple Google search can easily lead you to the ...

Personal experience supports gun control

Much of the rhetoric found in the opinion columns of the Beacon since you returned from break has been heavily focused on the need for gun control or regulation of some sort and how we need to take a much closer look at the future we are confronted with as ...

Prepare 2013 resolutions methodically

Today officially begins the second week of the new year. How many of you have already slacked off and lost track of a resolution you set for this year? I'm not going to doubt that the number is higher than just a few. If you are one of these ...

Practicing networking while in school

"Not having a profile on (LinkedIn) is, for some employers, not only a major liability, but a sign that the candidate is horribly out of touch," (NPR, 2009).

College teaches you how to study for a test the night before and how not to have your car towed. Internships, conferences ...

Driving etiquette essential to safety

Let's talk about proper driving etiquette for a moment, why don't we? Winter break is just around the corner and many of us will be traveling home for the holidays. It has come to my attention that many people apparently don't know how to drive, even though ...