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Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?

Our skeptical friends in the Rationalists of East Tennessee ended up with a strange assignment last weekend: testing the water-finding powers of a self-proclaimed dowser. Rationalist Jerry Sillman says the group got a call from James Randi, a leading national skeptic (www.randi.org), who said Jack Lett of Greenback wanted to take a shot at Randi's standing offer of $1 million to anyone who can scientifically demonstrate paranormal powers. The good-natured judging took place during most of the day Saturday. Unfortunately, the complex test—involving several underground pipes attached to faucets turned on or off by the experimenters—didn't settle the issue. It was hard to completely drain the pipes between trials, and Lett—who used a forked pear tree branch to do the dowsing—said the remaining water droplets were throwing him off. "The final result was he was wrong 10 times and he was right 10 times," Sillman says. "It was inconclusive." The Rationalists are devising a more finely tuned test, and Lett—a 72-year-old retired fireman and businessman—has agreed to another attempt.

Orange Becomes the Indigo Girl

It is standard practice at Lady Vols basketball games to have a handful of well-heeled donors tagging along behind Coach Pat Summitt. Generally decked out in the orangest possible gear, they sit in designated seats behind the bench, hang out in the locker room during half-time, and attend the press conference afterward (frequently irritating the press corps by applauding Summitt's remarks). Generally no one pays much attention when the guest "coaches'" names are announced at the beginning of the game, but last Saturday's UConn game was an exception. When they heard the name Emily Saliers, fans all over the arena picked up their binoculars to have a look. Was it really? Could it be? Yup. It was. Indigo Girl Saliers decked out in orange, sitting behind the Tennessee bench. Maybe she'll write a song about Summitt's half-time pep talk.

What Do You Want?

So you're sick of not having a say in the way things run around here? Things would be so much better if only those in charge would listen to you? Well, now's your chance to be heard. The kick-off for the Nine Counties. One Vision brainstorming project is next Tuesday, Jan. 18, with a television program simulcast by local stations from 7 to 8 p.m. The idea is to figure out what residents in the nine-county 865 area code (yeah, we're still getting used to it too) want the region to be, then figure out how to accomplish it. The first step is a series of 20 public brainstorming sessions.

All the meetings (except where noted) will be from 7 to 9 p.m. at: Roane State, Feb. 1; Central High School and the old Catholic High School, Feb. 3; Seymour High School, Feb. 7; Heritage Middle School in Blount County, Feb. 8; Lenoir City High School, Feb. 10; Rutledge Middle School in Grainger County and Gibbs High School, Feb. 15; Union County High School, Feb. 17; Roane State and Jefferson County High School, Feb. 21; Anderson County High School, Feb. 22; West High School and Pellissippi State in Blount County, Feb. 24; Holston and South Doyle middle schools, Feb. 28; Pigeon Forge High School, Feb. 29; Pellissippi State main campus, March 2.

On Feb. 1 there will be a youth meeting at Pellissippi State and on Feb. 14 there will be a 1 p.m. meeting at the O'Connor Center.