On Tuesday, November 30, the Fall ’04 edition of BeanSwitch was released. For most of the students here on the UTM campus, it was nothing really that spectacular, but for some students, it was one of the biggest events of the year.

What exactly is BeanSwitch? Simple. It’s the literary magazine that is produced by the students for the students. In the past, it has been issued once a year. This year, however, there will be both a fall edition and a spring edition.

The occasion was celebrated in style with the BeanSwitch release party, held Tuesday night in the UC Gameroom. It had something to offer for everyone. There was an Open Mic, which gave anyone in the audience a chance to get up and read poetry, or even song lyrics. A live band was there to spice up the night with music, and a poetry slam was the highlight of the evening.

“I think this edition is really good,” says Heather Peterson, a Sophomore Communications major from Martin, Tenn. “I’m really impressed with the talent in this school and I will write more.”

The night was opened by Open Mic. Several students got up to read pieces that they had written. One of them was Christian Ashlar, who read his work A Hundred Pennies, which is featured in this edition of BeanSwitch.

“My inspiration came from everyone who has ever put pen to paper,” says Ashlar, a Junior English and Theatre major from Martin. “More specifically, it came from Robert Frost. I find it interesting that he created such beautiful pictures with such simple words. That was my intention.”

There were plenty of people who came to check out the event. Some were there to hear the band, the open mic, or to check out the poetry slam. Some came simply out of curiosity.

“I had heard about it and wanted to come check it out,” said Connie Cochran, s Sophomore English major from Rives, Tenn.

Another highlight of the night was the performance by On the Scene, a local band.

“We’ve been playing together for about three months now,” explains Eric Brewer, a Senior English major from Sharon, Tenn. “We’ve played at a festival in Dover. Just mostly local stuff. I think it’s an honor getting to play tonight.”

The band, composed of Brewer on vocals and guitar, Adam Sledder on vocals and guitar and Michael Mclemore on vocals and bass, have known each other for about a year, but they began to write their own material and play live about three months ago. Their music, described best as ‘folk’, drew a large crowd into the UC gameroom. You can check them out at The Stables on Friday, December 10.

When asked what she thought of this edition of BeanSwitch, Crystal Zanders, a Senior Spanish major from Clarksville, Tenn. said that it was “better than any before.”

To top the night off, the BeanSwitch staff hosted a Poetry Slam. When asked what exactly a poetry slam was, Dr. Leslie LaChance, the advisor for BeanSwitch, said that it is “language as a contact sport.”

According to www.poetryslam.com, a poetry slam is when poets are able to perform their work and be judged by members of the audience. Or, better said, it’s a duel of words. The rules are simple. Each poem must be the author’s original work. Each poet gets a three-minute tine limit to read their poem. A one minute grace period is allowed, but if the poet goes over, points will be deducted. No props, costumes or musical instruments are allowed. The scoring is done on a 0-10 scale, much like the Olympics. Once the scores from the five judges---which are usually picked randomly from the audience---are in, the high and low scores are dropped. The middle three are added together, giving the poet a score of 0-30.

Just how does something like a poetry slam get started? The tradition dates back to 1986, when construction worker and poet Marc Smith started a weekly poetry competition on Sunday nights at the Green Mill, a Chicago jazz club. That year, on July 25, the Uptown Poetry Slam was born. Different slams have opened up all over the world, and the Uptown Poetry Slam still happens every night.

The winners of Tuesday night’s slam were Hamilton Ellis in first place, Jonathan Riley in second place and Eric Brewer in third place. Prizes included candy, little toys, and silly DVDs and bragging rights.

BeanSwitch is now on sale for $3 in the English Department, and at certain locations around campus. Keep a sharp eye out for the time to submit for next semester’s BeanSwitch. Who knows? Maybe next spring, you’ll be the one getting slammed.