A SPECI A L PROJECT FROM
W E D N E S DA Y, AU G U S T 2 8 , 2 013
CARMEN FORMAN • SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
The Freshman Experience Jessica Graro
Christina Hamilton
From: Edmond, OK Living in: Adams Hall Major: Secondary Education: Mathematics Involvement: Gamma Phi Beta
From: Glencoe, Trinidad and Tobago Living in: Adams Hall Major: Geophysics Interests: Leadership, tennis and community service
Sorority life has always been a must for Graro, and after going through Panhellenic rush, she found a home in Gamma Phi Beta.
Hamilton is struggling to meet people and make new friends since her roommate got a housing exemption for the year.
“We were asked by our sororities, if you pledged, to wear your bid day shirt. So we all wore our shirts and it was so fun seeing who was in my class that I would have never known.”
“I’ve never been this far away from home for so long, so it’s kind of permanent and new, so it’s taking its toll on me. Every morning when I wake up, I just feel like if someone handed me a ticket, I would literally just fly home, and I just wouldn’t come back.”
Audra Brulc From: Tulsa, OK Living: Cate Center Major: International Studies Interests: Speech and debate, GLBTQ Brulc came to OU in high school to compete in the state speech competition and fell in love with the campus. “I always thought it was really cliché that people would say you would just know when you were at the right school, but I pretty much just knew.”
T
oday, The Oklahoma Daily is launching The Freshman Experience, a yearlong project to document freshman life by letting new students tell their own stories. We selected six freshmen from among several dozen applicants, gave them digital recorders and asked them to start talking about their lives as new Sooners. In today’s paper, we introduce them to you. You can also go to OUDaily.com to hear audio clips about their first week. Further stories will run in the print edition and online throughout the semester. The project is modeled from a National Public Radio series called “Radio Diaries” and was made possible by a $500 grant from the Sooner Parents Mini-Grant Program.
Melanie Purdy From: Carrollton, TX Living in: Walker Tower Major: Biology, Pre-med Involvement: Choir, service organizations In February, she found out her dad had stage four liver cancer, and it was hard for her to leave home for college. “I don’t like to think about the things he won’t see, but he was really really proud of me for getting this opportunity to come to OU and this scholarship.”
Spencer Smith From: Brandon, SD Living in: Adams Hall Major: Constitutional Studies, Pre-law Involvement: Pride of Oklahoma drumline Smith tried out to be on the Pride of Oklahoma’s drumline in the spring. After being accepted to the Pride, he spends nearly every day preparing his snare drum skills for the first football game. “The thing I’m looking forward to the most is probably the first football game when I can march onto the field and hear 85,000 people screaming. God, that’ll be sweet.”
Tiaja Summerville From: McAlester, OK Living in: Couch Center Major: Psychology Involvement: community service Coming to OU is a big change for her because there are more people on campus than there are in her hometown. “I was a tomboy when I was little, but I grew out of that, but sports has always been a part of my life always, and I love football, especially OU.”
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
DREAM COURSE
College of Ed. policy changes
Experts lecture on War on Terror
Background checks now required
International Studies College provides new dream course for public, students
PAIGHTEN HARKINS
Assistant Campus Editor
A semester after a College of Education student was charged with committing lewd acts against a child, the college has implemented a policy requiring students to undergo background checks before admittance. Before this semester, the college relied on a university-wide safeguard to prevent incidences like that from occurring, College of Education Dean Gregg Garn said. This includes students notifying the university if there is anything in their backgrounds that would cause an issue for them or others, like felony charges. The only safeguard specific to the College of Education
ARIANNA PICKARD Campus Editor
began working to ensure a situation like that never happened again. In months after ward, Garn talked with students and officials from local school districts to come up with a plan and decided to require a background check
Five of the nation’s top experts on international relations will offer lectures free and open to the public throughout this semester for OU’s College of “Not to say any side International Studies is better, but to say dream course “9/11 and the War on Terror.” there are two sides The class is designed to provide an to every story, and we objective view on the need to look at both War on Ter ror from sides to understand.” the perspectives of the Pakistani and Afghani MARIAM MUFTI, governments as well as SOUTH ASIAN POLITICS PROFESSOR the U.S. government, said South Asian politics professor Mariam Mufti who teaches the course. “Not to say any side is better, but to say there are two sides to every story, and we need to look at both sides to
SEE CHECKS PAGE 2
SEE DREAM COURSE PAGE 2
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HEATHER BROWN
required students to sign a form stating they meet the same standards as any professional teacher before going into the teaching field and made them get background checks before beginning their student teaching, he said. Now, students must undergo background checks to
Sports: Trevor Knight didn’t win the quarterback battle, Blake Bell lost it. (Page 5)
get into the college. While these procedures are something officials within the college are always working to improve, when former education senior Christopher Flores was charged with committing lewd acts against a child while teaching in the field, Garn said he and others
L&A: Teaching assistants gain knowledge in their fields and enhance teaching skills. (Page 6)
Opinion: President Barack Obama announces federal college rating system to help college students find an affordable education. (Page 3)