Vince Staten entered UT’s new master’s program in communications in fall 1969, having completed a baccalaureate degree in mathematics from Duke University. For almost three years, he wrote a humorous column for the Daily Beacon. In 1970 he declared himself a candidate for Homecoming Queen. He received the most votes (60 percent of the votes cast), but his election was declared invalid upon his appeal to the Student Tribunal about the decision of the Homecoming Advisory Board. He has written more than a dozen humor books (e.g., Can You Trust a Tomato in January?, Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench?, Do Pharmacists Sell Farms?) and serves as a metro columnist for the Kingsport Times-News.