Why We're Fat by Oklahoma Gazette

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Eating habits in Oklahoma are no game By Greg Elwell p.19

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CONTENTS 48

ON THE COVER

NEWS

We’re constantly bombarded by fad diets and weight loss advice from celebrities and professionals, we’re told that sitting and standing all day isn’t doing us any favors and some say that there’s nothing we can really do about our weight because it’s all genetics. But some Oklahoma experts insist that it’s the type and amount of food we’re eating, not exercise, that’s the real culprit. Story by Greg Elwell P.19.

Education: higher costs City: Lantana Apartments Education: John Rex anniversary Chicken-Fried News

Commentary

Letters

6 8

LIFE 14

OKG picks

Cover: why we’re fat

MISSION STATEMENT Oklahoma Gazette’s mission is to stimulate, examine and inform the public on local quality of life issues and social needs, to recognize community accomplishments, and to provide a forum for inspiration, participation and interaction across all media.

LIFE

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Health: seniors driving

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OklahOma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 3

NEWS EDUCATION

College costs Oklahoma’s universities are still some of the least expensive in the nation, but the cost continues to increase for students and parents.

Sen. Kay Floyd, D-Oklahoma City, recalls the photo of a friend’s son smiling in his new residence at Ada’s East Central University in August. The image marked the young man’s start seeking higher education; however, it also initiated a financial journey estimated to cost $7,364 in tuition for a single year. “I can absolutely guarantee the last thing on this young man’s mind was student loan debt,” said Floyd. “I can also guarantee it was not the last thing on his parents’ mind. He is not their first child. Their first child graduated from college in May, and she finished with student loan debt. These parents, like thousands of Oklahoma parents, are thinking and worrying about the cost of their child’s education every single day.” Despite Oklahoma colleges and universities consistently earning high marks for affordability, after the start of the 2008 recession, many college students began turning to student loans to pay for college. According to the Institute for College Access & Success, 53 percent of all graduates of four-year Oklahoma colleges and universities (public and private) took out loans. That percentage could get higher. In June, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education authorized an average 4.8 percent tuition hike for Oklahoma’s 25 public college and universities for the current academic year. The state’s $611 million budget shortfall ate into state higher education funding and resulted in the tuition increase. Recent reports suggest next year’s deficit could balloon to $1 billion. The state regent’s priority is to keep tuition affordable. “In stark contrast to double-digit increases in many other states, tuition increases at our public colleges and universities have averaged only 4.5 percent since 2009,” said Chancellor Glen D. Johnson in an email to Oklahoma Gazette. “The National Center for Education Statistics reports that the average student cost at a four-year public institution in Oklahoma is the third lowest in the nation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation ranks Oklahoma’s state system of higher education as the fifth most affordable system in the nation.” Oklahoma’s student debt situation also differs significantly from most other

mArK H ANCOCK

BY LAURA EASTES

Jeanie Webb chats with a group of students on the Rose State College campus. states and is a much better story, said Johnson. Oklahoma has the fifth lowest student loan debt level in the nation. Loan debt for students at public colleges and universities is 33 percent below the national average, and nearly half of all Oklahoma students leave college with no loan debt.

I can absolutely guarantee the last thing on this young man’s mind was student loan debt.

Student perspective

That wouldn’t be the case for an Oklahoma law student. Russell selected an Oklahoma law school to minimize his debt load. Russell estimates incurring about $90,000 in his time at law school. In contrast to other three-year law programs, he is saving money, as some Midwestern law schools cost upwards of $200,000. Russell enters law school with prior student loan debt, despite working fulltime or near full-time in college. “I didn’t come from a family that was fiscally privileged,” said Russell, who lived with family to save money and requested that his full name not be used in this article. “I had to either pay my way or borrow. I designed a budget, and I am sticking to it. I will still come out with quite a bit of student loan debt. It is a fair

4 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

—Kay Floyd trade-off. I don’t mind paying it back. I don’t have a family, so I can focus my first few years of law school working to pay back what I’ve borrowed.” If there is a bright spot to racking up nearly $100,000 in student loan debt, it is student loan forgiveness programs. As an attorney for a federal agency, the government could pay part of the loan, which is an option Russell is considering.

Debt crisis

Nationally, outstanding student loan debt is around $1.3 trillion, surpassing credit card and auto loan debt totals. Student debt rises at a rate of about $2,853.88 per second, according to FinAid, a financial aid website. Such soaring statistics do not surprise

finance professor Dr. Randall Ice, who studied loans and personal finance for 30 years. Student loans are “easy to get,” advancing students with far in excess of what they need to pay tuition. The extra money is intended to go towards living expenses, but not necessarily spring break trips, a vehicle or a new wardrobe. Those are foolish mistakes made by college students, said Ice, who is a professor at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). “You can’t imagine how hard it is to make those payments on top of everything else,” said Ice, who notes recent grads with student loan debt struggle to finance a home or start a business. Ice believes some student loan debt is avoidable. He advises potential students to do their homework before attending for-profit universities, which include many online and technical schools. Often, forprofit institutions are unaccredited and, therefore, class credit doesn’t transfer to public or private colleges or universities, a problem that arises at UCO as well. “They come to us with credits from an online program, not accredited and with no academic credibility,” said Ice. “They are $10,000 in debt, and they have nothing to show for it. It is no wonder they default on their loan.” A staggering rise in for-profit college enrollment is linked to spike in student loan debt, along with rising instances of defaults. Based on the recently released Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, borrowers at for-profit institutions and community colleges represented half of all federal loans borrowers leaving school and starting to repay their loans in 2011. That group also accounted for 70 percent of defaults.

National conversation

Student loan debt has captured the attention of Washington and those contending for the White House. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama unveiled America’s College Promise, a plan to make the first two years of community college tuition-free for students, as long as they carry a 2.5 grade point average. In August, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton introduced her plan for tuition-free community colleges. Clinton

also intends to lower tuition for public colleges and universities and allow debtors to refinance student loan debt. Other Democratic candidates, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, support reforming college costs. Sanders promises free tuition at all public colleges and universities under his College for All Act. On the Republican side, Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio voice concerns over the high cost of education. Rubio, of Florida, proposed the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, which would require universities to give critical cost information, including expected salaries, to potential students. Bush echoes a call for tuition-free community college but hasn’t addressed the notion in his platform. Tuition-free community colleges would strip away the financial burden many experience when looking at college. For Obama’s plan to become law, it would take an act by the GOP-controlled Congress, which is unlikely. Rose State College President Dr. Jeanie Webb is wary of the Obama plan because states are required to foot 25 percent of the bill, with the federal government picking up the other 75. She stresses that existing programs help students pay for their education but supports expanding higher

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education to more potential students. “We want college accessible, and we want it affordable,” said Webb. “A college degree is the best path for a job with decent pay.” Obama’s plan isn’t the only one requiring a financial commitment by states. Clinton’s New College Compact calls for a similar partnership. Sen. Floyd is a supporter of Clinton’s plan. “If we relieve the burden of student debt, families will be able to send their children to college,” said Floyd. “Graduates will be able to start businesses without being held back by loans.”

Financial aid

While federal reform efforts continue, state higher education leaders caution that parents and prospective students should start planning early. It is never too early to check out scholarship opportunities, Pell grants, programs and tuition costs. Parents can visit the state regent’s website for information and tips on programs such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), Oklahoma Promise (OHLAP) and Oklahoma College Assistance Program (OCAP). “The state regents, our public colleges and universities have long recognized the critical importance of family financial aid planning and debt management

education,” Johnson said. “Helping students and their parents navigate the financial aid process is a key initiative of our Oklahoma College Assistance Program, which provides extensive educational services and materials.” At Rose State College, more than 70 percent of students receive financial assistance. The tuition relief comes from scholarships, financial aid or Ticket to Rose, a tuition assistance program for graduates of Carl Albert, Choctaw, Del City, Midwest City and Star Spencer school districts. Webb contends that financial aid for students could increase. She encounters many parents and students who don’t know the tuition assistance options or the application deadlines. “The parents don’t know where to start, where to go to look for scholarships and apply for financial aid,” Webb said. “We’ve got to do a better job letting parents know those are available and helping students. If they don’t apply, it is because they don’t know.” Staggering statistics warrant reform, but wise borrowing, after pursuing available tuition assistance programs, would help ensure that Oklahoma students continue to invest in their future.

Where Oklahoma falls in student debt • $22,174: The average debt an Oklahoma college student accumulates after attending a four-year public or private institution. • 46: Oklahoma is ranked No. 46 in the nation in student debt. • 53 percent: The proportion of Oklahoma students with debt. *Figures from the Institute for College Access & Success

Undergraduate tuition rates for public Oklahoma City metro institutions for one semester: • University of Oklahoma, Norman: $4,032.45 • University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond: $3,048 • Oklahoma City Community College: $1,695 • Rose State College, Midwest City: $1,694.55 *Based on a student enrolled in 15 credit hours

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 5 9/21/15 12:48 PM

NEWS CITY

Neighborhood eyesore City leaders push to demolish a well-known abandoned apartment complex while an investment group contends it’s working to refurbish it.

It’s easy to see that Lantana Apartments doesn’t fit in its western Oklahoma City neighborhood. The towering 12-building apartment complex stands in stark contest to the sprawling Oak Wood townhomes, where lawn furniture and grills accompany front door entrances with adorning welcome wreaths. Across the street from Oak Wood, construction crews work on a safe-room addition to an expanding Western Heights elementary school building. Alongside the school is Oklahoma City’s Lytle Park, which features colorful playground equipment and covered picnic tables, an inviting spot for neighbors to come with their families. Beyond the park are streets and cul-de-sacs complete with singlefamily homes. It is no wonder Oklahoma City staff has labeled the derelict Lantana Apartments as public enemy No. 1. The buildings were boarded and the wrought iron perimeter fence was locked when the last tenant moved out in 2008. However, the term “abandoned” doesn’t adequately describe the apartment complex built on nine acres of land in 1970. The sight drivers spot along NW 10th Street, Embark passengers notice when waiting at the bus stop and neighbors meet daily is described as haunting. Aluminum cans, cigarette butts and fast food and candy wrappers litter the grass area of the complex’s fence. Rusted signs warn of trespassing, but those with an interest in the unrepressed apartments can find easy entrance. The two-story buildings are beatup, rickety and show signs of graffiti. Seven of the buildings have caught fire. This summer, the Oklahoma City Fire Department battled through two fires costing $14,447.92. The city will recover that amount or bill the apartment complex’s California-based owner. Thanks to the abandoned building ordinance passed by the Oklahoma City Council in 2014, the city invoices property owners when police officers or firefighters are called to an abandoned property. City staff and council members want to do more than recover funds spent on fire calls and abatement actions, such as tall grass, graffiti and

GArett FI s beC K

BY LAURA EASTES

Lantana Apartments

property maintenance. They want to put a stop to the troubling issues arising at Lantana Apartments. Firefighters and city code enforcement officers aren’t the only ones called to the Lantana. The complex was the scene of a murder investigation by Oklahoma City Police in 2008, when a pizza deliveryman was robbed and shot. Last week, the city paved the way for improvements at Lantana Apartments. It has received four bids for demolition, which could cost $1.5 to $2 million, according to staff reports. The fire-damaged buildings alone could set the city back $250,000 to $500,000. The city’s development services department intends to share bid results along with a recommendation for action at a city council meeting in October. In August, the department previously endorsed an option of demolishing the fire-damaged buildings as funds become available and placing liens on the property for the demolition costs. The movement by the city could force the owners to take action or surrender the property to a county foreclosure sale. City council member James Greiner supports that option. Representing Ward 1, where Lantana Apartments is located, he consistently hears calls for the buildings being torn down. While Greiner typically doesn’t support a situation calling for the city to take

6 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

over property and begin leveling buildings, in this instance, he agrees. “In this case, because it is such a nuisance to the neighborhood and it does pose a public safety threat … It is certainly a property that government has a role in stepping into and forcing some change,” he said.

Rehab

Southern California’s Regatta Investment Group, which represents the apartment property owners, AMG Riverton, LLC, professes it wants to bring change to the Lantana Apartments. The group maintains it is working with developer Hartford Rentals, based in Colorado. Russell Mohlberg of Regatta Investment Group said discussions with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) resulted in an “approval of a concept agreement we presented to HUD a few weeks ago.” “It is a complete rehab to rebuild all the units,” Mohlberg told Oklahoma Gazette of the concept. An official at the Fort Worth, Texas, HUD office was unaware of an agreement. “We have no knowledge of any agreement, contract or anything they were talking about,” said Patricia Campbell, spokesperson for HUD Region VI, which oversees HUD programs and services in Oklahoma. Regatta Investment Group did not respond to the Gazette’s request for

confirmation of the agreement document. Calls to Hartford Rentals supervisor for comment were not returned.

Further deterioration

Seven years have passed since the last tenant resided in Lantana Apartments. Over that period, the abandoned complex has racked up more than 100 complaints at the city’s Action Center. As of Sept. 24, the Oklahoma County Treasurer’s office lists $80,897.93 in delinquent taxes owed on the property. The amount total represents weed, nuisance and cleaning liens placed as far back as 2012, in addition to property taxes due to the county. About $21,000 of the total owed is in interest. In its final year with tenants, the market value was listed at $2.89 million. That value plummeted to $648,824 in 2014, according to records from the Oklahoma County Assessor’s office. With the council’s nod, city staff sought the demolition bids. Greiner believes the aggressive approach will lead to residents seeing progress on the complex — perhaps even the removal of one building at a time. He is optimistic the land can once again fit in its western Oklahoma City neighborhood with a plan for redevelopment bringing housing or mixed-used space. “Over the last couple of months, we’ve seen a speed in what the city is doing,” said Greiner. “I think this is a good thing. I think this situation will be good in the end.”

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Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 7 9/23/15 2:17 PM

NEWS EDUCATION

Expanded learning A downtown charter school encourages teachers to get creative with lessons for students.

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When kindergarten teacher Wes Dicken asked his students what they wanted to learn, one student suggested making pancakes. As other students expressed a similar desire to learn how to make the popular breakfast dish, Dicken wondered how to incorporate pancakes into his lesson plans at John Rex Charter Elementary School. During a school year, kindergarten students typically learn letters and sounds, practice writing their names and encounter basic math-related skills. Dicken plans for his students to grasp the fundamentals, but he seeks to deliver them in a unique fashion. The pancake lesson could be a counting or shape-recognizing exercise or incorporate new vocabulary words in English or in Spanish. Dicken previously taught in Newcastle, Indiana, and moved with his wife, who is also a teacher, for open positions at John Rex. The pair said that most school districts push teachers to “follow the steps” found in curriculum books. Luckily for the Dickens and their students, that is not the message delivered to teachers at the downtown charter school. “Teachers are given the opportunity to teach some really neat things outside of literacy, math and social studies,” he said. “Teachers can dive into what the kids are interested in … You have the freedom to teach how you want to teach and in a way that kids are going to want to learn.”

Teaching flexibility

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John Rex Charter Elementary School, located at the corner of Sheridan and Walker Avenues, opened its doors to students in August 2014. The school is one of 34 charter schools in the state and the only school situated in downtown Oklahoma City. One of the MAPS for Kids projects built the school, and Oklahoma City Public Schools holds its charter. Year two of the tuition-free school began on Aug. 3 with 380 students. As a public charter school, John Rex depends on state and federal funds, which come through the Oklahoma State Department of Education, as well as private funding.

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LAUrA eAstes

BY LAURA EASTES

Kindergarten students Aidan Maza and Lola Pever trace their names in cardboard as practice for writing names with a capital letter first, followed by lowercase letters in Wes Dicken’s classroom at John Rex Charter Elementary School. Joe Pierce, head of John Rex, said the school is preparing students for academic achievement with a unique edge. Like public schools across the state, teachers follow Department of Education standards. John Rex students also take state-mandated standardized tests. Mastery of learning takes time, and students learn at different speeds and means. John Rex teachers understand the school is not a “widget factory” in which one-size learning fits all students. That’s why teachers enjoy more instruction time and are encouraged to get creative, said Pierce. “We still have a huge focus on the foundations of literacy and math,” he said. “There is no doubt those are extremely important, but that is not all we feel we should do. We have a responsibility to bring in science and the arts.” The school launched a Spanish language program this August, and this year’s kindergarteners are the first to begin Spanish language learning. Another new program came through a partnership with Oklahoma Arts Council. Professional artists visit the school to teach specific curricula. The program expands an alreadyexisting art program that features an art and music teacher.

‘Higher expectations’

Like all public schools, John Rex

is evaluated annually by the State Department of Education, which grades the school on a scale from A through F. John Rex will not receive a grade until fall of 2016, after its first third-grade class completes state testing this spring. Teachers and administrators are not concerned about “teaching to a test.” Instead, teachers stick to unique teaching styles to achieve higher educational outcomes. “It is a culture of higher expectations and quality education,” said Pierce, who notes that he is proud of the rich educational environment. It encourages parents’ involvement and participation in their child’s education. Parents can share lunch with their student, volunteer as chaperones for the walking field trips and attend special PTA events such as Donuts with Dads, a program that brings fathers, students and teachers together to interact before school. Earlier this month, Dicken taught a lesson on shapes using Wassily Kandinsky’s watercolor “Squares with Concentric Circles.” Students identified shapes in the original piece and painted shapes with watercolors. The result was “KINDERcentric Circles,” a piece showcasing the students’ new knowledge. “This school encourages you to step out,” said Dicken, “and do things a little differently.”

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Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 9 7/28/15 2:14 PM

CHiCKEN CKEN Welcome back

There’s a reason the phrase “back to square one” is popular and the 1970s television show Welcome Back, Kotter was such a success. Everyone believes, at one time or another, returning back to your roots is the best idea. Like Gabe Kotter returning to teach at his alma mater, The Festival of the Arts will return to Bicentennial Park for its 2016 event. Begin humming the television show’s opening song, “Welcome back, to that same old place that you laughed about.” That’s right, the first Festival of the Arts took place in 1967 in the present location of Bicentennial Park. Falling just a tad shy of reaching 50 successful years, Arts Council Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Council are relocating the event back to where it all got started in lieu of future developments.

FRiED NEWS Since 1985, the event has taken place at Hudson Avenue, near Myriad Botanical Gardens. Construction of the new downtown park is calling for the festival to shift into the original spot. At Chicken Fried News, we couldn’t be happier to see Festival of the Arts return home. Where else would the festival have gone? The exhibit buildings at the Oklahoma State Fair grounds or Chesapeake Energy Arena? Not ideal for an outdoor event that thrives downtown. Bicentennial Park is a good choice. To all the naysayers, we repeat the famous line from Vinnie Barbarino: “Up your nose with a rubber hose!” Welcome back, Festival of the Arts! We look forward to April 2016! Begin humming again, “Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.”

No. 17!

BetterDoctor.com recently released its examination of data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Behavior Risk Survey, and, well, it shows that our teens probably need better, honest sex education. According to the report, 36.2 percent of the state’s high school teens say they are sexually active. (Mississippi teens clock in at 40.5 percent, West Virginia at 40.2 percent and Arkansas shows 36.8 percent.) When asked if they were “ever sexually active,” those numbers jump: 50 percent of Oklahoma’s high school teens claimed they were. That’s less than Mississippi (54.2 percent) and West Virginia (53.7 percent) but higher than every other state. So much for that “abstinence” nonsense! BetterDoctor crunched those stats with teen pregnancy and use of birth control numbers to come up with our state’s overall ranking: No. 17. For

comparison, No. 16, New Mexico, had the words “no data” in the answer field for “ever sexually active.” No data! Unfortunately, 13.5 percent of Oklahoma students surveyed said they used no form of birth control. (That’s better than 17 other states could muster, including Mississippi and West Virginia.) Oklahoma’s birth rate for high school teens age 15-19 is 42.9 percent, the highest in the nation, the report shows. Parents, schools, communities, we’re looking at you.

Reasonable reprimand

Football season has barely started, and that means players are dealing with a bit of fame, even if it isn’t always nice. It seems two Sooners players have already found it a little difficult to keep their cool. University of Oklahoma players Hatari Byrd and defensive captain Eric Striker faced reprimands by Coach Bob Stoops after the team’s Sept. 12 win over the University of Tennessee Volunteers.

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Austin American-Statesman reported that both players were caught on camera heckling Volunteers fans after the game. Hatari Byrd was seen “making an obscene hand gesture” — flipping the Byrd — “at fans as he walked off the field” and Striker was filmed “walking toward the stands and yelling at fans,” though “it was unclear what he said.” NewsOK.com reported that Striker said Tennessee coach Butch Jones approached him after the game and said, “You’re a hell of a player, but have some damn class.” Not everyone thinks Striker was in the wrong though. Bleacher Report posted a tweet by ESPN Central Texas’ Craig Smoak: “Eric Striker is in the heart of SEC territory running his mouth after an epic comeback win by the Sooners. I love it.” Bleacher Report also said that Striker wasn’t the one to worry about and found Byrd’s actions troubling, citing legal problems relating to drugs and alcohol in January. However, Stoops was only concerned with the players’ conduct at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium. “Their actions in the heat of

Bridal R i ng s

the moment and all emotional are absolutely inappropriate, and they’ll be dealt with in an educational manner. We’ll handle it internally,” he said.

Trump dump

Visitors to the Oklahoma State Fair are used to a lot of hot air, but they were treated to a new gust on Friday when GOP presidential front-runner and combover ambassador Donald Trump stopped in Oklahoma City. Fairgoers were able to enjoy Disney’s princesses on ice, a turkey leg wrapped in a pound of bacon, pig races, a variety of rides and the semi-coherent political ramblings of a man most famous for firing people on TV. Trump continued his habit of making incredibly specific and detailed political plans by telling the crowd of thousands that America is “going to start winning so much that you’re going to get sick and tired of winning. You’re going to get bored of winning.” Thankfully, the candidate who

promises voters a “topof-the-line national security team,” an alternative to Obamacare with “really great coverage,” a military that is “so strong and so powerful and so incredible” and to “make America great again” already delivered a win that helped make Oklahoma great again — by leaving it quickly.

Delinquent paymentz

Oklahoma City attorney Kent Bridge is suing rapping enthusiast 2 Chainz for more than $10,000 for legal work that Bridge said might have saved the Atlanta-based artist’s life. You might remember

Mr. Chainz was arrested (along with others on his tour bus) back in August 2013 when an Oklahoma City officer pulled over the tour bus because of a defective taillight and then smelled an “overwhelming odor of marijuana” coming from the vehicle. Bridge said 2 Chainz (real name Tauheed Epps, Spanish name Dos Chainz) called him from the bus to help negotiate the peaceful surrender of those onboard the vehicle. He said the police were considering a “tactical entry” that might have led to a loss of life. In addition to the 11 people arrested, police recovered a shotgun, a pair of pistols and ammunition after searching the bus. Despite that, Epps only pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer in the performance of his official duties. What about the $10,000 bill from Bridge? Maybe the rapper can sell one of his two chainz.

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OKLAHOMA GAZETTE | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | 11

COMMENTARY

P ROVI DE D

The right to choose BY NATHANIEL BATCHELDER

For thousands of years, women have passed along secrets of how to end a pregnancy or how to prevent one. Until birth control, there was no sure defense against pregnancy; and until legalized abortion, there was no safe way to end a pregnancy. Currently, in America, 99 percent of women in their fertile years will use some form of birth control, regardless of the roadblocks. An average of one in three women will have an abortion during their reproductive years, according to data from Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for reproductive health. About half of pregnancies in America are unplanned, and of these, almost half are terminated. Specifically, Guttmacher Institute data reveals that out of roughly 4 million pregnancies each year, some 2 million

are unplanned, and of these, about 800,000 to 900,000 are terminated. Planned pregnancies, of course, are happily awaited and received. Before legalization, millions of women risked infection or even death seeking illegal, “back-alley” procedures. Women who could afford them have always been able to obtain safer care and often traveled to other countries. The Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision still seems wise and fair. During the first three months, the justices ruled, it’s her business. During the second trimester, the state may regulate in the medical interest of the woman. During the third trimester, the state may regulate “for the potentiality of human life” or may prohibit pregnancy termination procedures, with the exception of preserving the life or health of the woman.

Guttmacher Institute data also reveals that 90 percent of abortions take place in the first trimester. Third trimester abortions, though troubling, comprise just 1 percent of all procedures. World population is above 7 billion and is expected to reach 9 or 11 billion this century. As human numbers threaten nature itself, it is paramount that adults have access to family planning services. A full 97 percent of Planned Parenthood’s budget supports health care and contraceptive services, serving millions of women. Only 3 percent of its budget supports abortion services. Additionally, by federal statute, Title X of the Public Health Service Act, enacted in 1970, prohibits federal funds from being used for abortion services. Regardless, some conservatives in Congress want to eliminate Planned

Opinions expressed on the commentary page, in letters to the editor and elsewhere in this newspaper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ownership or management.

Parenthood’s annual subsidy, which amounts to a third of its budget. As an advocate for a broad spectrum of justice and peace issues, I have critically examined my support of the right of women to access family planning services, including abortion. I oppose torture, the death penalty and avoidable military action. With a bachelor’s degree in biology, I am completely aware of the entire nine months of development from a fertilized egg to a whole person, the miracle of procreation. My conviction persists that because women are the only ones who can become pregnant, women should have the authority to decide when to become pregnant and whether to remain pregnant. Nathaniel Batchelder is director of The Peace House in Oklahoma City.

LETTERS Oklahoma Gazette provides an open forum for the discussion of all points of view in its Letters to the Editor section. The Gazette reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. Letters can be mailed, faxed, emailed to jchancellor@ okgazette.com or sent online at okgazette. com. Include a city of residence and contact number for verification. Red light

Where do I start with Jeff Bezdek’s essay (Commentary, “A green light for public transit,” Sept. 16, Oklahoma Gazette)? It is too late to talk about the rigidity of trolley lines compared to EMBARK, which can change routes. It is too late to talk about subsidizing the trolley to nowhere forever. Let’s just talk about green lights. I understand the city has 18 timed automobile routes. He mentioned Classen Boulevard and Northwest Expressway. I know those are two of them. How is fuel saved by letting a trolley or bus sail through a green light while dozens or hundreds of cars sit idle, wasting gas? Why should Bus Rapid Transit System vehicles save on repairs while thousands of cars must stop? Bezdek talks like we already have the technology in place and it will cost nothing to turn it on. I guarantee it will

have a price tag. There are many good reasons to not have this amusement park ride at all, and disrupting 99 percent of the traffic is certainly at the top. — John Harris Oklahoma City Thank you

Thanks for saying all the things I wanted to say about Planned Parenthood, with the statistics to prove your points (Commentary, “The truth about Planned Parenthood,” Jennifer Chancellor, Aug. 26, Gazette). Good job. — Jody Harlan Oklahoma City Moral protection

Mr. Batchelder (Commentary, Letters, “Supreme authority,” Nathaniel Batchelder, Sept. 2, Gazette), you are correct in saying my “meager understanding” of the Constitution and its founders is not your twisted and perverted interpretation of their vision for a nation with basic human rights. Our citizens and courts — more than ever — need a moral code to influence and protect us from cultural revolutions and suicide. The Ten Commandments is that moral code that our wise founders recognized.

12 | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | OKLAHOMA GAZETTE

It is not a religion, but the basis for many religions, and a culture that has displayed more fair judgment and kindness in coexisting with aberrant and ungodly values. You are correct and fortunate that these things have not been left to majority rule in the past, but we also have seen how the corrupted and weak elected representatives of our republic have violated established laws, the morality of the Ten Commandments and the will of the majority. By the time the majority of moral and reasonable people wake up to the destructive and enslaving consequences of our brave, new, ungodly, non-moral and immoral imaginary code, there will not be a majority of any one viewpoint left to change our culture back to the “American dream” or a God

willing to help and protect us. But we (Christians) pray for our country every day. — Michael Moberly Mustang Whither women?

I read your article about singles this week (Life, “(Un)complicated,” Sept. 9, Gazette). One thing I (and other men) need to know is where single women go to meet men! I tried the websites; they don’t work. Also libraries, health food stores, gyms and have even taken up ballroom dancing. How about you ask them and publish the results? I would really like to know. — Randall Myster Oklahoma City

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BOOKS Chauntelle Tibbals Book Signing, Tibbals’s book explores and examines the porn industry through the eyes of a sociologist in this look at sex and the people who sell it; Exposure: A Sociologist Explores Sex, Society and Adult Entertainment takes a look at one of the most lucrative yet stigmatized businesses in the world, 5:30 p.m., Oct. 2. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. FRI Story Time with Julie, kid friendly story time with the latest children’s books, 10:15 -11 a.m., Oct. 3. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SAT Holly Goldberg Sloan Meet & Greet, the bestselling author of Counting by 7s is making a stop in Edmond to promote her new book, Appleblossom the Possum; Appleblossom is the youngest and shyest in her family but has a special talent for playing dead, which will come in handy on the adventure she’s about to have, 4:30 p.m., Oct. 5. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond, 340-9202, bestofbooksedmond.com. MON p rovi ded

An opportunity to meet Gabriel Pardo, MD, learn about prescription GILENYA, and connect with people in your community.

FILM Listen to Me Marlon, (2015, UK, dir. Stevan Riley) this documentary samples hundreds of hours of footage taken from legendary actor Marlon Brando’s personal life, and explores his troubled existence on the path to stardom; fans of his works, most memorably The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and the film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire, will not want to miss this unique insight into Brando’s life and mind, 5:30 & 8 p.m., Oct. 1; 8 p.m. Oct. 3 & 4. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. THU-SAT Inside Out, (2015, US, dir. Pete Docter) emotions are running wild- literally- for young Riley as her family uproots her life and moves to San Francisco; through her physical and emotional journey, her thoughts are narrated by a chorus of hilarious characters in the form of, you guessed it, her emotions, 6 p.m., 9 p.m., & midnight, Oct. 2. Meacham Auditorium, 660 Parrington Oval, Norman. FRI The Godfather, (1972, US, dir. Francis Ford Coppola) the showing of this 70’s mob movie classic is definitely an offer you can’t refuse; holding second place in the Internet Movie Database’s rankings for best movies of all time and holding the title of highest grossing film of all time at its release, The Godfather is not only a great film on its own, but also represents a piece of cinematic history, 8 p.m., Oct. 3. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. SAT Big Hero 6, when young robotics prodigy Hiro loses his older brother Tadashi in a mysterious fire, Hiro forms a bond with a giant inflatable medical robot of Tadashi’s

Rent Oklahoma City University’s Bass School of Music presents its version of Rent, the 10th-longest running musical in Broadway history, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. Seven artists traverse New York City’s AIDS-wrecked East Village in this adaptation of Giacomo Puccini’s romantic opera La Bohème. Tickets are $12-$25. Visit okcu.edu/tickets or call 208-5227.

Friday-Sunday own creation; with the help of the robot, Hiro sets off on a journey to solve the mystery of his brother’s death and missing nanobots, and uncovers a robotics conspiracy committed by a strange supervillain in the process, 7 p.m., Oct. 3. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 218-1000. SAT Guys and Dolls, (1955, US, dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz) rounding out a weekend of Brando, the film adaptation of upbeat Broadway musical Guys and Dolls is one of Brando’s more family friendly roles to be sure; a hustler named Nathan Detroit needs a quick grand to finance a craps game and decides to get it by betting a buddy he

WWW.TBJE.COM • MON-SAT 10-6 14 | september 30, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Timbuktu, (2014, France, dir. Abderrahmane Sissako) members of a family on a small farm outside of Timbuktu have their normally quiet lives turned upside down when the chaos created by Jihadists in the nearby town finally reaches them, 2 p.m., Oct. 4. Meinders School of Business, NW 27th St & McKinley Ave. SUN

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can’t get a tight-laced mission worker to go to dinner with him in Havana, Cuba, 2 p.m., Oct. 4. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. SUN

Former Miss Oklahoma Kelli Masters and KOCO 5’s Morgan Chesky emcee this youth shopping and fall fashion show presented by retailers at The Plaza in Nichols Hills and Classen Curve tenants 6 p.m. Thursday in a tented outdoor event at the plaza, at the intersection of Northwest 63rd Street and Western Avenue. Television personalities Ali Meyer and Sarah Geiger are among the volunteers modeling wares. Admission is free. Ramp seating is $100-$250 per person. Visit nicholshillsplaza.com or call 271-2260.

Thursday

JA MES SUR L ES / PROVIDED

Distinguished Visiting Artist: James Surls This contemporary artist’s sculptures and drawings investigate a microcosmic natural world filled with evocative forms of the human body, rock formations and flowers. The collection debuts Friday in the Nancy Johnston Records Gallery at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., in Norman and runs through Jan. 3. Admission is free. Visit ou.edu/fjjma.html.

Friday, ongoing

HAPPENINGS 6th Annual Scrabble Showdown, if you came to butt at Scrabble and chew bubblegum but you’re out of bubblegum, then you should join the OKC Metro Literacy Coalition at their 6th Annual Scrabble Showdown where you can kick butt at Scrabble and help fight illiteracy at the same time; spectator tickets are also available, and include food and drinks, 5:30 p.m., Oct. 1. Castle Falls Event Center, 820 N. MacArthur Blvd. THU Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival, if you prefer your vocals lonesome, your grass blue, and your guitars to actually be banjos, then this may just be the event for you; featuring a youth tent full of craft tables, spacious campgrounds, and bluegrass bands from all over the world, this event is a can’t miss for the diehard bluegrass fan, Oct. 1-3. Cottonwood Creek Campgrounds, 8025 S. Sooner Road, Guthrie. THU-SAT Yukon Czech Festival, enjoy a full day of fun, family, and culture at the 50th Annual Czech Festival, where you can enjoy polka music, folk dancing, a carnival, petting zoo, and craft show with more than 150 booths, and a huge parade to kick off the whole day, all day, Oct. 3. Czech Hall, 205 N. Czech Hall Road, Yukon. SAT Drop-In Art, no, it isn’t just covering your face in Scotch tape the way you did in kindergarten; masking tape self-portraits take just a little more work than that, and can be made using a grid with shape guidelines or by simply layering small tape strips in the shape of your face from sight; come by and tape yourself today, 1 p.m., Oct. 3. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT Fiestas de las Americas, join Calle Dos Cinco for the 10th Annual Fiestas de las Americas, where you will be transported into a world of Hispanic arts, music, and culture; there will be a parade, a talent show, and endless food and fun for the whole family, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Oct. 3. Calle Dos Cinco, 319 SW 25th St. historiccapitolhill.com. SAT

We’re on top of it.

& Construction

Free Zen Meditation Class, find the zenith of zen in this free meditation and Buddhist teachings class offered every week until the end of November; the monastery is supported entirely by the generous donations of its students, 10 a.m.noon & 7-9 p.m., Oct. 6. Buddha Mind Monastery, 5800 S Anderson Rd. TUE Through the Eyes of the Lynx: Galileo, Natural continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 15

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continued

terror on 10th Street haunted house Back for its 11th year, Terror on 10th Street features a guided tour of this otherworldly domicile located at 2005 NW 10th Street, just two miles west of Bricktown. It opens its doors 7-11 p.m. Friday-Sunday for the launch of another frightful season that might just make you wet your pants. (Disclaimer: Venue management not responsible for wet pants.) Admission is $10. Call 232-1816.

Friday-Sunday, ongoing History and the Americas, The Academy of the Lynx was one of the world’s earliest scientific societies, whose star pupil happened to be Renaissance artist and scientist (among other vocations) Galileo Galilei; this exhibit celebrates the contributions of Galileo and the Academy of the Lynx in the areas of natural science and history, Aug. 1-Jan. 18. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, 2401 Chautauqua Ave., Norman, 325-4712, snomnh.ou.edu.

FOOD Cheese & Beer Pairing, the next time someone tells you beer can’t be classy, laugh loudly in their face, scoff, and roll your eyes no fewer than four times; after taking a class on fancy pairings of beer and cheese, you know better than them, and you might actually BE better than them, 6:45 p.m., Oct. 2. Forward Foods-Norman, 2001 West Main St., Norman, 321-1007, forwardfoods.com. FRI Weekly Farmers Market, shop goods from local produce, bakers and artisans, 9 a.m.- 2 p.m., Jan. 3. Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., 232-6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT National Taco Day, tacos are glorious meat and vegetable-filled foldable, edible plates bursting with flavor, and Uptown Grocery is celebrating by putting hot, delicious tacos on their hot bar; don’t forget to swing by and grab one for lunch, all day, Oct. 4. Uptown Grocery Co., 1230 W. Covell Road, Edmond, 509-2700, uptowngroceryco.com. SUN

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The Tortoise and the Hare, if your immediate response to this classic fable with a humorous twist is “I like turtles,” then you will receive a firm slap on the wrist, because tortoises live exclusively on land while turtles spend most or all of their time in the water, 11 a.m., Oct. 2; 2 p.m., Oct. 3 & 4. Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 606-7003, oklahomachildrenstheatre.org. FRI-SUN Carson and Barnes Circus, hey kids, here’s your chance to join the circus- for an elephant wash, that is; the Carson and Barnes Circus is on its way, and they want you to come to their special pre-show elephant wash for free, where you can also check out dozens of exotic animals; tights, giant shoes, and face paint optional, 4:30 & 7:30 p.m., Oct. 2; 1:30, 4:30, & 7:30 p.m., Oct. 3; 1:30 & 4:30 p.m., Oct. 4. Plaza Mayor at the Crossroads, 7000 Crossroads Blvd. FRI Crafts for Kids, firefighters are real life heroes, what with all their building dampening and cat rescuing; even if you are not brave enough to be a firefighter yet, you can still look like one with a paper firefighter hat, so come down and make one of your very own; children also welcome, 11 a.m., Oct. 3. Lakeshore Learning Store, 6300 N. May Ave., 858-8778, lakeshorelearning.com. SAT

PERFORMING ARTS Mark Poolos, specializing in musical comedy numbers and one-liners, Poolos’s comedy, much like a manic personal trainer all hopped up on B12 and Herbalife, both cannot and will not stop; he has performed in 45 states and two countries, and this week he is performing in ours, 8 p.m., Sept. 30 & Oct. 1; 8& 10:30 p.m., Oct. 2 & 3. Loony Bin Comedy Club, 8503 N. Rockwell Ave., 239-4242, loonybincomedy.com. WED-SAT Girls Night Out The Show, all you ladies, leave your fellas at home because it’s 8 in the evening and these dudes are bumpin’ bumpin’; featuring gentlemen from all over the world with extensive performance backgrounds and even more extensive abs (they make 12 packs!?), this show is guaranteed to delight, 8 p.m., Sept. 30. Beacon Bar, 2525 NW 10th Street. WED Belshazzar’s Feast, this 10 movement cantata, composed by English composer William Walton in the 1930s, tells the dramatic tale of the Babylonian King Belshazzar committing sacrilege, followed by his miraculous death and the fall of his kingdom; presented by the Canterbury Choral Society, 8 p.m., Oct. 2. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. FRI Chicago Tap Theatre, it’s percussion in motion that tells a story; come see some of the most talented tap dancers in the world click, clack, move, and shake, all before your very eyes and just for your entertainment, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 5. UCO Mitchell Hall Theater, 100 N. University Drive, Edmond, 974-2000, uco.edu. MON

ACTIVE Adult Bubble Soccer, if you haven’t always wanted to play soccer but wearing a giant inflatable bubble then you clearly haven’t been using your imagination; OKC Parks and Recreation invited you to do just that every Wednesday this fall, 6 p.m., Sept. 30 & Oct. 7. Foster Recreation Center, 614 NE 4th St. WED Dodgeball Tournament, never forget the 5 D’s of dodgeball: dodge, dip, dive, duck, and dodge, and we said “dodge” twice because it is obviously doubly important; join the OKC Dodgers for the dodgeball tournament of a lifetime where 16 teams will compete for glory; no wrenches will be admitted on the premises, 5:30 p.m., Oct. 1. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, 218-1000. THU Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers, we’ve written a new Sooner fight song specifically for the occasion of this game: climb every mountain/ score all the points/touchdown every touchdown/til you can’t move your joints; what we’re saying is that cheering for your Sooners this Saturday and borrowing melodies from The Sound Of Music are always appropriate, 11 a.m., Oct. 3. Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, 180 W. Brooks Drive, Norman, 3258200, soonersports.com. SAT

Fiestas 5K, join Calle Dos Cinco and get your blood pumping for a pre-Fiestas 5K; go ahead and burn the calories you are about to consume at the festival and enjoy all that food guilt-free, and at the same time help raise money for the Roosevelt Middle School Leadership Academy to go to Washington, D.C. and New York City, 7 a.m., Oct. 3. Calle Dos Cinco, 319 SW 25th St. historiccapitolhill.com. SAT Runtoberfest 5K, brought to you by Red Coyote and COOP Aleworks, this 5K features food trucks, live music, and of course, the COOP Aleworks Beer Garden, where all race finishers will win a limited edition beer stein and a free beer; runners are advised to begin celebrating AFTER completion of the race, 3 p.m., Oct. 4. Red Coyote Running/Classen Curve, 5720 N. Classen Blvd. SUN OKC Thunder Blue & White Scrimmage, jump back into basketball season with this annual scrimmage, featuring game night regulars the Thunder Girls, Rumble the Bison, Thunder Drummers, and the Storm Chasers, 3 p.m., Oct. 4. Newcastle High School, 101 N. Main St., Newcastle. SUN

VISUAL ARTS America the Beautiful, Freda de Odis Flatt has spent her life documenting in paint the beauty of the American wilderness, often en plein air, the French term for painting out in the open air; in this way Flatt is able to capture most truly not only the sight of the landscape but also the energy present in nature not immediately perceivable to the naked eye. Oklahoma State Capitol, 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd., 521-3356, ok.gov. Bert Seabourn: American Expressionist, a full-time painter since 1978, Seabourn brings a unique approach to color and line in his postmodern expressionist works which are on display all over the world; of Cherokee descent himself, Seabourn often uses Native subjects and imagery. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com. Cale Chadwick, exhibit of artwork by artist Cale Chadwick who creates pieces of art using her drawing, painting and photography skills; the natural, organic elements found throughout the original Chickasaw allotment that her family still resides on, plays a role in her artwork. Exhibit C, 1 E. Sheridan Ave., Ste. 100, 767-8900, exhibitcgallery.com. Dylan Bradway, dreamy and surreal, Bradway’s unique Oklahoma sunset-inspired dripping bright pastel look is achieved through a variety of water-based media; his works often feature abstract characters of his own creation, who range from the curious to the unsettling. DNA Galleries, 1709 NW 16th St., 525-3499, dnagalleries.com. Enter the Matrix: Indigenous Printmakers, exhibition exploring how printmaking has become a matrix for cultural and key figures of artistic exchange. Fred Jones

Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. FAC Talent 2015 Exhibition, the second annual exhibition of art by students of the Firehouse Art Center, this showcase highlights the work of talented pupils from all walks of life. Firehouse Art Center, 444 S. Flood Ave., Norman, 329-4523, normanfirehouse. com. Immortales: The Hall of Emperors of the Capitoline Museums, people may not live forever, but their fame certainly can; this is best exhibited in this selection of 20 busts from the Capitoline in Rome which offers busts of emperors, empresses, and patricians from the 1st century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman, 325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. Interpreting Clouds, cloud painter David Holland’s oil works can be described in much the same way one might describe the rolling skies during an Oklahoma thunderstorm or the breathtaking view of a manycolored southern sunset: simply awesome. Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory, 301 W. Reno Ave., 2973995, myriadgardens.com. Landscapes, merging the avant garde with the abstract to create a cacophony of crazed and confusing images that speak at once of everything and nothing- just kidding, this exhibit is essentially exactly what it sounds like: landscapes in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Jann Jeffrey Gallery, 3018 Paseo St., 607-0406.

V A P O R

News from the Woods, Debby Kaspari’s plein air drawings and acrylic paintings portray how time and nature transformed the abandoned places she found during a residency in Massachusetts Harvard Forest. The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., Norman, 307-9320, pasnorman.org. Playground of Curiosity, imagine falling down a rabbit hole and into a magical world where everything is weird and wonderful and looks like the abstract offspring of microbes and paisley and you’ll have a decent idea of what it’s like to stroll through the works of Kerri Shadid, poet and paper marbler extraordinaire. The Project Box, 3003 Paseo St., 609-3969, theprojectboxokc.com. Robert Peterson Exhibit, all at once realist and surrealist, Oklahoma painter Robert Peterson immortalizes figures of media, sports, and music in gorgeous brighter-than-life portraits; in his short time as an artist, Peterson has already garnered worldwide fandom and recognition with his supernatural and highly detailed depictions of pop culture icons. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, Suite 113-R , 848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com. Terra, New York artist, Orly Gender’s work inspired by Oklahoma’s wide open spaces and red dirt. Campbell Park, NW 11th and Broadway Ave.

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18 | september 30, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Cover food & Drink

Growth industry Diet, not lack of exercise, is behind Oklahoma’s ballooning waistlines. By Greg Elwell

Chairs are killing you. And so is fast food. Plus, you’re not exercising enough. Your body is full of toxins that need to be flushed out. Put down that soda. Cut the carbs. Go vegan. Eat whole foods. Go paleo. Try CrossFit. Is that salad dressing low-fat? Actually, it’s all genetics. If that last one is true, then Oklahoma is in trouble, because a full 33 percent of the state’s adult population is obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Not overweight. Obese. Not a little chubby around the belly, but an excessive amount of body fat compared to lean mass. As if that statistic wasn’t sad enough, Oklahoma isn’t even the most obese state in the union. Five states weigh in ahead of us. How did it get so bad? “This probably isn’t the smartest thing for a personal trainer to say, but exercise isn’t our biggest problem,” said OKC Mobile Fitness owner Rick Thomas. “Diet is more important than exercise on the whole.” Thomas doesn’t discount the importance of working out, but when it comes to obesity, what we eat has more impact than how we exercise. “Fitness level can change things for the better, but fixing the diet is the No. 1 thing that has to change,” he said. Simply put, said Oklahoma State University professor and registered dietitian Deana Hildebrand, we eat too much. Calories matter. “If I eat 3,000 calories of carrots and broccoli every day, I’m going to gain weight,” she said. Of course, to get that many calories from those two foods, you’d need to eat a combined 18 pounds of them. But the principle is the same. Not that any of us need to worry about a sudden shortage of those vegetables or any others. The 2014 State of the State’s Health Report said one in four Oklahomans eat less than a vegetable per day: It bottoms out at No. 44 in the nation. Oklahoma ranked No. 6 in obesity and No. 44 in vegetable consumption. Maybe there’s a link? Nourished Food Co. owners Lindsey Riddle and Jamie Conway think so.

Garett fisbeck

We eat crap

“There are so many experts out there saying different things,” Conway said. “It can be confusing for anyone.” But there’s one type of food that everyone agrees should be eaten, and it is one Nourished Food Co. specializes in: dark, leafy greens. “They’re full of micronutrients and fiber and protein,” Riddle said. “They fight obesity.” Why isn’t everybody eating this stuff?

Too lazy

Cooking is more work than not cooking, Thomas said. And that’s our downfall. “When people want me to design a meal plan for them, that’s a specific process,” he said. “But if you want to make one change that will have an immediate impact, stop eating out so much.” When you prepare your own meals, using fresh ingredients, not just processed food from a box, Thomas said, you can control what you’re eating. Restaurants make things easy, but they also use a lot of ingredients people wouldn’t normally cook with.

Lindsey Riddle and Jamie Conway prep kale at Nourished Food Co. in Oklahoma City. “If someone is looking to increase the amount of time in a day, food is one of the first things to go. ‘Order something quick!’” he said. “And if they are looking to cut costs, they’ll bargain shop for food.” Eating well isn’t just an investment in future health; Thomas said it also requires an investment of time and money. And the fruits and vegetables we do get don’t always taste like they’re worth it, Hildebrand said. “A lot of fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in California or Mexico and they’re picked before they’re ripe,” she said. “When you don’t get foods picked at the optimal time, they’re not full of flavor.” To get vegetables that taste better, consumers often need to visit farmers markets, but that produce costs more. For the state’s economically challenged residents, the time and expense that often requires also means shopping local often isn’t an option. We could grow our own,

Hildebrand said, but in addition to the space and time needed, Oklahoma’s seasonal growing periods are tough for novice gardeners to master. Besides that, extreme temperatures in the summer and winter keep people inside. (That might also contribute to that lack of exercise thing.)

Health food sucks

There’s a problem of perception when it comes to eating better, Conway said. People start working more vegetables into their diets, eating whole foods, and then it gets old. “Eating the same thing over and over again gets boring after a while,” he said. “We update our menu on a weekly basis, but big changes happen seasonally.” He and Riddle are firm believers in experimentation, especially with different spices and foreign cuisines. “If it doesn’t taste good, we don’t want to eat it,” Riddle said. Thomas said most people assume continued on next page

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 19

Garett f i s bec k

Cover food & drink

Rick Thomas trains Ben and Ashley Sellers at their home in Oklahoma City. that healthy eating and enjoying food are mutually exclusive. “If someone tells you that they’re eating healthy, it’s almost like, ‘I’m sorry,’” he said. “Eating healthy doesn’t mean eating things that don’t taste good. Unhealthy doesn’t equal tasty.” Neither Thomas, Hildebrand, Riddle nor Conway advocate for a vegan lifestyle — just a more balanced diet. Nourished sells kale chips and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, but the proprietors still enjoy indulging in a cheeseburger now and again. (Though they opt for grass-fed beef and gluten-free buns.) Thomas encourages the consumption of “real” foods: fewer fake fats, artificial sweeteners and premade foods and more of the good-for-you dishes that also taste good. “When I think about how I am now and how I was before, the difference is the awareness level,” he said. “I just didn’t think about it a whole lot. I shoveled it into my mouth and didn’t equate what I was eating to my physical condition. Increasing awareness about what you’re doing in your diet goes a long way.” Hildebrand subscribes to the advice of noted food writer Michael

20 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

If someone tells you that they’re eating healthy, it’s almost like, “I’m sorry.” — Rick Thomas

Pollan who said, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” But she also said it’s naive to expect everyone to be on the same footing when it comes to making food choices. “I once talked to a low-income mother who was buying a tray of vegetables for her family once a week,” she said. When others criticized her for being wasteful or not thrifty enough, she told them her home had no running water, no cabinets and no refrigeration. She was doing the best she could with what she had, Hildebrand said. “We all have different situations. It’s easy to say, ‘You should do A, B, C, D and E,’” she said. “But that’s not going to work for everyone.” Hildebrand said people who want

We won’t change

Incremental changes at the school level can also work at home, Hildebrand said. “Drink one less sugar-sweetened beverage per day. Eat out one meal less per week. Skip one dessert,” she said. “Hopefully, when people start to see positive changes, they’ll be like, ‘Yeah, this works!’ and figure out their next step.” That next step might be taking more steps, Thomas said. Though diet has more impact on obesity than exercise, it definitely has its place in a healthy lifestyle. But people have to get out of the “no pain, no gain” mentality. “People seem to think with exercise, if you suffer, you’ll be rewarded for it. Or that if you’re resting, you’re dying,” he said. “That’s the negative mythology of our society.” The key is finding an exercise that’s enjoyable, Thomas said. If you hate running, you’re not going to run every day. The best exercise is the one you don’t realize is work because you’re having too much fun.

bi GstOc k.cOm

to shrink Oklahoma’s obese population must make their own changes at home and work as a community to give others the same opportunities. “Are we making the healthy choice the easy choice?” she asked. One project she’s working on is a program to bring scratch cooking back to schools by bringing chefs into cafeterias for one-on-one consultations. Much like nutrition at home, she said there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. “Our goal is to increase basic food preparation skills with regional trainings. We did 15 across the state last summer,” she said. “The next step is to work with the schools individually by putting a chef in the school to look at their menus, facilities, equipment and staffing.”

Great (big) state

Oklahoma obesity rate by age 18-25: 21.6 percent 26-44: 32.9 percent 45-64: 40 percent 65+: 28.9 percent

By county percent of adults that report a body mass index of 30 or higher Pottawatomie: 37 percent logan: 34 percent lincoln: 34 percent Canadian: 33 percent kingfisher: 32 percent mcClain: 31 percent Oklahoma: 30 percent Cleveland: 29 percent National average: 34.9 percent Highest obesity rates 1. arkansas: 35.9 percent 2. West Virginia: 35.7 percent 3. mississippi: 35.5 percent 4. louisiana: 34.9 percent 5. alabama: 33.5 percent 6. Oklahoma: 33 percent Lowest obesity rates 1. Colorado: 21.3 percent 2. District of Columbia: 21.7 percent 3. hawaii: 22.1 percent 4. massachusetts: 23.3 percent 5. California: 24.7 percent

Sources: The State of Obesity, a project of the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, countyrankings.org and cdc.gov

We don’t sleep enough

Even more important than diet and exercise, Thomas said, is sleep. That’s the bedrock of health. “Think about it. If you don’t sleep, you’re definitely not going to exercise,” he said. “If you don’t sleep, you’re going to make bad diet choices.” So before you get off your butt to exercise, make sure you’re on your back enough the night before.

Does it matter?

Obesity is killing us, Hildebrand said. Worse, people think they don’t have a choice. “People feel hopeless,” she said. “They say, ‘I don’t have time to take care of myself because I’m too busy

taking care of my family.’ But you can’t take care of your family if you don’t take care of yourself first.” It takes a toll on families, but our excessive weight is also weighing down society. Hildebrand said unhealthy workers take more sick days, require more expensive medical care and die younger. They’re also unhappy, Riddle said. “Health affects everything,” she said. “Before I changed the way I ate, I wasn’t a good human. I wasn’t nice. I’m really nice now.”

OklahOma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 21

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22 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

Laos is a land of mystery. Specifically, I’m not entirely sure where Laos is. Can we get a map dropped in here?

Okay then. That’s Laos. It’s wedged between Vietnam and Thailand and Cambodia. Congratulations! We learned something new today. Do you want to learn something else new? There is great Laotian food in Oklahoma City, down among the taquerias and auto parts stores, at 2920 S. Agnew Ave. Four J’s Diner is a tidy little shop with a handful of tables and a menu that’s chock-ablock full of fresh, spicy dishes for your newly educated tongue. You: Wait a second. I just learned Laos was a country, and now I’m supposed to eat the food? What does it offer? Me: I was getting to that. Jeez. Laotian and Thai food share

similarities — enough, at least, that you can get things like pad thai and green curry at Four J’s. But what you should get, even if only for the name, is Seua Rong Hai, or Weeping Tiger. Yes, for just $10.50, you get to eat a grilled, marinated steak over salad with a hot chili sauce and tell people that you had something called Weeping Tiger. The steak is tasty, and that chili sauce is for real. Drizzle a little over your rice and take a bite. It’s citrusy and has a sting that will make your eyes bug out. Pad-Sa-Ew ($8.50 for chicken, $9.50 for beef or pork, $12.95 for shrimp or seafood combo) is a thick, rice noodle stir-fry with broccoli, carrot, pepper, egg, garlic and sweet sauce. I had it with chicken at a three on the five-star heat scale, and it was like a satisfaction bomb went off in my stomach. The noodles are big enough to have a slight chew to them, and the chicken, cut against the grain, was juicy and tender. How do you feel about egg rolls? You: I love egg rolls. Wait. Are these frozen? That kind always has a weird taste. Me: No. These are made by the folks at Four J’s, and they’re kind of famous for them. People order them by the dozen to take home, and I can see why. That papery, crisp skin retains the glisten of frying without being oily. Inside, everything is tender with a little crunch. They’re four for $5 or a dozen for $10 if you get them to-go. Thumbs up all around. But wait! Four J’s also serves a heck of a spring roll (four for $7.50)

Four J’s Diner 2920 s. agnew ave. | 512-3944 What WORkS: Pad-Se-Ew and egg rolls are musts. What NeeDS WORk: advertising, because there was nobody in the dining room. tIP: closed mondays. thanks a lot, Garfield.

p HOtOs bY Ga re tt fi s be c k

life food & drink

S A V E the LAST D A N C E us

Pad thai

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Pad-See-Ew with chicken

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4-WHEEL DRIVE with shrimp and thin rice noodles with fresh salad greens and veggies inside. As an appetizer, these are lovely and light and leave room for more substantial dishes to come. I highly recommend you go for lunch, when you will find great combo deals, but I also heartily endorse full portions of the fried rice and pad thai ($8.50 for chicken, $9.50 for beef or pork, $12.95 for shrimp or seafood combo). The fried rice wasn’t heavy, with a nice mix of vegetables inside and a hint of sweetness. Careful how hot you order it, though; when you start

chowing down, the background burn can catch up to you quickly. Before going to Four J’s, all I knew about Laos was that Kahn Souphanousinphone from King of the Hill was Laotian. I can’t claim to know that much more about it now, but I can tell you that Laotian food is a treat I think everybody should enjoy.

October 21

AMARILLO JUNCTION October 28

Spring rolls

2701 W. Memorial 405.751.1547 bakerstreetpub.com OklahOma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 23

b i GstOc k.cOm

food BriefS By GreG elwell

Pork pleasures

m a rk Ha n cOc k

The annual sow-lebration of all things bacon returns to Oklahoma City as Oklahoma Pork Council presents 6 Degrees of Bacon 7-9 p.m. Oct. 8 at 1114 N. Harvey Ave. An annual fundraiser for Midtown Association, 6 Degrees includes bacon-inspired foods from 19 local restaurants, beer, music and games. Each $35 ticket includes a bacon fanny pack with tasting tickets for each restaurant and two tickets for COOP Ale Works beer. A cash bar also will be available. Attendees can sample bacon-wrapped chipotle-stuffed shrimp, bacon scones, drunken pork belly pintos with poblano cheddar cornbread and chocolate chip bacon blondies, among others. VIP tickets, $45 each, include early access at 6:30 p.m. Visit downtownokc. com/6-degrees-bacon.

Birthday boys

Sad that OKC doesn’t have a Filipino restaurant? Dry those tears with a ticket to Taste of the Philippines 2015. The fundraiser is 6-9 p.m. Saturday at Mayfair Church of Christ, 2340 NW 50th St., and proceeds will help the nonprofit Philippine-American Civic Organization (PACO) of Oklahoma aid members, provide scholarships and send pageant contestants to the Asia Society of Oklahoma event. Tickets are $15 for ages 11 and up, $7.50 for children ages 4-10 and free for those age 3 and younger. Some dishes served at the event — including chicken adobo, pancit noodles and cassava cake — aren’t available from any local restaurants, said PACO president Esther Moore. Moore, who has been with PACO since it was founded in 1978, said OKC’s culture has become increasingly global and she’s eager to share Filipino food and traditions with more people. For tickets, call Moore at 525-2882.

24 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

biGstOck.cOm

Filipino flavor

Put some glasses over your beer goggles at the Warby Parker Patio Party 6-9 p.m. Thursday at Hillbilly Po’Boys & Oysters, 1 NW Ninth St. The event celebrates Warby Parker’s fall eyewear collection along with Hillbilly’s updated menu. Entry is free. In addition to food and fashion, guests can hear DJ Tom Hudson perform and enjoy free mini cupcakes from neighboring Sara Sara Cupcakes. The Hall’s Pizza Kitchen will be serving, and there will be free, select COOP Ale Works beers available, as well as music inside from Cody + Jess from 7 to 9 p.m. Ladies and gentlemen can also enjoy rides on a 6-foot-long mustache teetertotter in front of the restaurant.

mark H ancOck

Hyper-fresh, hyper-local, hyper-gourmet eatery Ludivine celebrates five years in business with a party on Saturday. Owners and chefs Russ Johnson and Jonathon Stranger opened the restaurant at 805 N. Hudson Ave. in 2010 with a menu that changed daily, weekly and seasonally. In five short years, it has gained national attention and serves as an example of Oklahoma City’s “big league” status. For one night, the restaurant expands seating to the sidewalk and patio, with live music and DJs. In the kitchen, where the real show has always been, chefs will rotate throughout the evening to create daring courses in a “round robin” format, Stranger said. The restaurant also will debut a fall seasonal drink menu and raise a champagne toast at 9 p.m. Stranger said the event runs 7 p.m.-2 a.m. “or until we burn the place down.” It has been a heady half-decade that felt like a few days, he said. Granted, that time also included the opening of a second restaurant, The R&J Lounge and Supper Club; his marriage; his first-born child; and traveling the world. “All of a sudden, you look up and it’s been five years,” he said. Tickets are $50 and are available in advance at eventbrite.com or at the venue on Saturday.

Full hillbilly

Italian festival

Not everyone can afford a week in Italy, so the Buthion brothers bring The Boot to Oklahoma with an Italian Fall Festival Oct. 4-10 at Bellini’s Ristorante, 6305 Waterford Boulevard. The restaurant will have drink specials and events throughout the week, said Michel Buthion, who owns the eatery with his brother Alain. A $35 painting class is 7 p.m. Monday on the patio. Artists can also enjoy food and drinks from Bellini’s. Noon-7 p.m. Oct. 9, the restaurant hosts an Italian market with food vendors, clothing and other goods available for purchase. There is a complimentary wine tasting 2-7 p.m. that day and a four-course Italian dinner ($40 with reservations) followed by Opera Night 8-11 p.m., featuring live opera singers. The week wraps up with a Venetian masked ball 8 p.m. to close Oct. 10. The venue will be transformed into a disco, masked revelers can dance the night away and prizes will be awarded for best costume. Learn more by calling 848-1065 or visiting bellinisokc.com.

life food & Drink

New attitude

Coogreens freshens its menu and its ingredients as it focuses on locally sourced, flavorful fare.

PHOTOS BY m a rk ha n coc k

By Greg Elwell

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” To that, Coolgreens CEO Scooter Aselton said, “Ha,” and, “Watch me.” Perhaps the casual diner did not think Coolgreens was broken, but Aselton said it was going broke. That’s what brought Aselton and his investment group to Oklahoma City. They saw a concept that needed help to stay alive and change to make it thrive again. “Coolgreens has all the things you look for in a restaurant,” he said. “The color, the concept, new and fresh flavors, a bustling lunch crowd, millennials and women.” But it was also stagnating. The dressings were made in Texas. The cookies were inedible. The chicken was dry, the pizza was flavorless and the sandwich bread had no give. Coolgreens grew so quickly that it couldn’t keep up with its supply chain, and a dip in product and service quality meant customers who might come in more often didn’t consider the eatery a go-to option for lunch or dinner. So, when Aselton and company took over, they had their work cut out for them.

Coolgreens’ Scooter Aselton with new menu items

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— Scooter Aselton

Sweet treats

Less, more

First, he went about preserving what made the restaurant so desirable to begin with: freshness. “We pay top dollar to make sure we’re getting produce at peak freshness,” he said. “When we talk to customers, they can tell the difference. They appreciate what we’re doing.” A perfectionist at heart, Aselton went about tasting and testing everything and asking difficult questions. It’s not enough to say, “That’s how it’s been done,” he said. Every flavor on the menu was reformulated, even those that sold well. Salad dressings and sauces are now made in-house from local, fresh ingredients. Pecans come from Mason’s Pecans & Peanuts in Norman. The honey comes from Edmond. Aselton said they amped up flavors while keeping calorie counts low — no easy feat. He also taught employees to ask customers how much they want. It was easy to dump more dressing on just about everything, but that’s not always what people want, especially when they

CHECK OUT OUR NEW MENU ITEMS!

Sriracha chicken sandwich

order fresh produce. Now, they ask diners if they want light, medium or heavy dressing. And because the flavors are so vibrant, Aselton said, less dressing is required. He calls Coolgreens sandwiches the company’s best-kept secret. “Sandwiches are really all about the filling,” he said. “We were using a ciabatta, which is what everybody uses. The flavor is tired, and it’s just not a good sandwich bread. You take the first bite and it all squirts out the other end.” The whole-wheat buns used now are softer and have a richer, more earthy base flavor, he said, which readies the palate for great fillings and flavors. “Not everybody wants a salad for lunch,” he said. “Now you can decide on a sandwich and be happy with your choice.”

Aselton’s biggest breakthrough is one he wants to use as a reward for everyone. “I’m a cookie connoisseur,” he said. “We took four months developing these cookies.” What used to be an afterthought is now a big seller. Stores go through 800 cookies daily, and they’re going so fast, they bring in chocolate 25 pounds at a time. The flavor is sweet, salty and rich. But this surprise perhaps tastes best: Each cookie is only 200 calories and made without butter. Watching customers take their first bites of the new Coolgreens confection brings a look of satisfaction to Aselton’s face. Creating a dessert so delicious you don’t have to eat it to feel good is quite an accomplishment. Changes will soon reach a wider audience, too. After re-opening its downtown location at 204 N. Robinson Ave., the chain is set to open a store on Campus Corner in Norman, and Aselton and company are looking to expand into Tulsa. As the once-struggling company regains its footing and its target demographics, the only thing Aselton has to save is room for one more cookie.

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 25

Dip ahead In the immortal words of Freak Nasty, “When I dip, you dip, we dip.” These visionary lyrics predicted a future in which all people, regardless of gender, age, skin color or sexual orientation, could come together to put a chip into a bowl, get some sour cream and onion dip on it and aim it at our collective national mouth. America, land of the free, we dip for thee. — by Greg Elwell, photos by Mark Hancock and Garett Fisbeck

Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant 1701 S. Broadway, Edmond 348-2504

Some people are allergic to avocados, and that is how you can tell when God doesn’t love someone. Because to eat guacamole is to experience happiness, and only those who are damned by a higher power could be cursed to spend their lives unable to eat a big pile of green bliss. Show off to your friends how you’re still on the creator’s good side by heading to Pepe’s and ordering guacamole for everyone.

Iguana Grill

Hefner Grill

9 NW Ninth St. iguanamexicangrill.com | 606-7172

9201 Lake Hefner Parkway hefnergrill.ehsrg.com | 748-6113

Queso Fundido is named for its originator, British singer-songwriter Dido, who thought it would be “fun” to make a delicious cheese (aka queso) dip. Much as she shared her voice with the world, she also shared her creation with fancy Mexican restaurants like Iguana Grill, where you can enjoy a strong beverage, a seat on the patio and several tortilla chips plunged into the very heart of cheesy satisfaction.

Little known crab fact: They hate shells. It’s true. Shells are like tiny prison cells for their sweet, sweet crabmeat. So, in a way, aren’t the good folks at Hefner Grill liberators? No longer will crabs suffer the confinement of their cramped accommodations. In the Baltimore crab dip, a creamy oasis of crabtacular flavors, they are free. Also dead. It turns out they need those shells to live. Ironic, really.

New locatioN NOW OPEN! 6317 N. Meridian

7950 Nw 39th eXPwY | 405.495.5105 MON – FRI | 6AM – 10PM

26 | september 30, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

LIKE US ON

Empire Slice House

The Melting Pot

1734 NW 16th St. empireslicehouse.com | 557-1760

4 E. Sheridan Ave. | 235-1000 meltingpot.com/oklahomacity

What do you get when you mix roasted artichokes, marinated spinach, red pepper and bacon? I’ll tell you what you don’t get: a switchblade. So please do not order Empire Slice House’s “When I Dip” and take it to a back-alley knife fight. How many people have suffered needless injuries when they could have grabbed a table and just eaten this intoxicating blend of meat and veggies that tastes so delicious?

The name “fondue” doesn’t begin to cover the way most of us feel about this bubbling hot crock of cheese. More like “adoreue” or “wanttodevourue.” Because there’s just something about sticking a long, skinny fork into a piece of toasted bread and dipping it in cheese that makes the best of us cry out for mercy, knowing that each bite brings us ever closer to the end. Farewell, cheese fondue from The Melting Pot.

The Shack Seafood & Oyster Bar

Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company

13801 Quail Pointe Drive theshackok.com | 286-5959

1900 Northwest Expressway belleislerestaurant.com | 840-1911

Please, do not look at the shrimp. The forces of natural selection weeded out the pretty ones long ago, leaving only ugly sea bugs behind. That’s why The Shack should be commended. It faces down those unattractive-but-delicious creatures and cooks them with crab in a lovely fondue so you can happily munch on that tasty mélange without ever facing the animal voted Most Likely to be Thrown Back by the other ocean life.

Think about how happy Popeye would have been if, before every fight with Bluto, he could swap out those cold, slimy cans of spinach for a creamy, sumptuous bowl of spinach dip from Belle Isle Restaurant & Brewing Company. And just imagine what it could have done for Olive Oyl’s figure! Heck, maybe Bluto wouldn’t have needed such a trouncing if he could have met up with Popeye on neutral ground and shared this delicacy.

OklahOma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 27

28 | September 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette MLS-50th Ad-Gazette.indd 1

9/22/2015 2:42:54 PM

LIFE HEALTH Cindy Cornelsen

Wellness fee

The stigma and cost of mental health treatment is holding back many in the state from getting the help they need.

Oklahoma ranks third in the nation for the number of adults with mental illness. Mental Health America, a nonprofit group dedicated to tracking mental health in the United States, ranks Oklahoma 49th in its overall management of mental illness. It also states that six out of 10 Oklahomans with mental health conditions or substance abuse problems aren’t receiving treatment. The No. 1 barrier to treating mental illness is the stigma it carries, said Michael Brose, executive director of Mental Health Association Oklahoma. “We’re dealing with ... people’s fear and embarrassment,” he said.

Stumbling blocks

That feeling of shame was a stumbling block for Jill Hartwood, who asked that a pseudonym be used to protect her privacy. A divorced mother of two, the 38-year-old Oklahoma City resident struggles with major depressive disorder, a battle she has fought since she was a teenager. She said it was the stigma surrounding mental illness that stopped her for seeking help for years. “It was kind of like a family code, unspoken, that you just don’t talk about it,” Hartwood said. “It wasn’t … showing your faith if you were sad. Not so much from my parents, but the church community we were a part of. You didn’t talk about being sad or depressed.” Hartwood stumbled through life struggling with the ebb and flow characteristics of major depression. When it hit, she might spend months in

a sea of pain, despair and hopelessness. But the disgrace surrounding depression was so ingrained in her that she resisted reaching out for help. She managed to get married and start a family, but while self-medicating with alcohol to numb the pain, she snapped in 2007. “I played doctor with my own body when I felt out of whack. I went on a binge that ended up with some really suicidal thinking,” Hartwood said. “I didn’t feel like there was a way to be honest or ask for help. I thought the only way out was to not live anymore.” She called a friend who listened to her problems, which enabled Hartwood to admit she had a problem for the first time. Cindy Cornelsen also wrestled with the stigma before seeking help for major depression. The bookseller and parttime comedian attempted suicide earlier this year. The fear of being labeled mentally ill kept her from seeking help until it was almost too late. “It was a thing for me, especially before I started getting treatment. I worried about what people might think of me and what that meant about myself,” Cornelsen said. “Was I just a blossoming, nappy-haired cat lady?” Cornelsen still struggles with the label and what it means. She said many people do not understand anything about mental health conditions and they are rarely willing to ask questions.

Price tag

The resistance to seeking medical care came with a high price tag for both women. After Cornelsen cut both her

Cindy Cornelsen shows scars on her wrist from a suicide attempt.

pHOtOS bY GA rett FI S beC K

BY PAUL FAIRCHILD

I worried about what people might think of me and what that meant about myself. — Cindy Cornelsen

wrists and thigh, her husband rushed her to the emergency room at St. Anthony. After waiting 26 hours to see a doctor, she was stitched up and sent to the Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center. The price of admission to the mental health system was a $10,000 hospital bill. She was uninsured at the time. Hartwood suffered serious sticker shock, too. After finally seeking help, a friend took her to an assessment center. Seeing the severity of her need, the center recommended an inpatient stay at a mental health hospital. “I was so desperate I didn’t think twice about it. It was either that or not live,” she said. Although it wasn’t easy, Hartwood followed the recommendation to stay at a hospital and was there for 30 days. It changed her life. “I realized what mental illness is. I realized what addiction is. I realized I wasn’t a complete screw-up, that it wasn’t a morality tale,” Hartwood said. “It was a brain chemistry story that had

been unraveling at the seams.” Unlike Cornelsen, Hartwood had health insurance. Believing she had the appropriate coverage, she entered treatment immediately. However, a week into her stay, her health insurance dropped a bombshell: The mental health portion of her plan, the insurance company claimed, didn’t cover inpatient care. The price tag for her stay was $6,000, something she couldn’t afford. Family members, finally understanding her dire need for help, pooled money to cover her stay.

Fading fog

Today, both women are seeing mental health professionals — psychiatrists and therapists — and are on the road to recovery. Both wish they had sought preventive treatment earlier instead of waiting until the issues got as bad as they did. Traci Cook, executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, wants to see a larger, public discussion about mental health. It is, she believes, the only way to get the facts out and scrub the stigma from mental illness. “Just like all other diseases, mental health conditions need to be talked about out loud,” she said. “Each Oklahoman who is personally affected must tell their story of recovery, including the ‘dark days.’ When we do that, stigma goes away and more people will get the treatment they need.”

OklahOma Gazette | September 30, 2015 | 29

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Giving up the freedom of the road comes at a cost for elderly drivers, according to a recent study from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and Columbia University. The report sparked a conversation among drivers and industry specialists about how to preserve mobility and keep older adults safe.

Driving and depression

As baby boomers age, more than 39 million people have joined the 65-andolder age group, and nearly 81 percent of them continue to drive, according to the AAA report. When older drivers hand over keys due to physical or mental limitations, their likelihood of depression doubles and they are five times more likely to enter long-term care facilities. The number of drivers age 70 and older involved in fatal crashes peaked in 1997 and has been declining since then, said Jessica Cicchino, lead researcher at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In general, seniors struggle with unprotected left turns, merging, changing lanes and night driving, Cicchino said. “Older drivers actually, when they’re involved in crashes, tend most often to either kill themselves or kill their passengers,” she said. “Older people tend to be more fragile.” While the new research shows a very strong statistical correlation between age, safety and overall health, Peter Kissinger, president and CEO of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said it doesn’t positively show a causal relationship. “Some of that is because people are healthier today, and some of it is related to other factors — better cars, better roads. Driving is a privilege, but mobility is a right,” Kissinger said. “The fortunate news is that seniors tend to be very responsible drivers. … They often recognize the limitations that come with aging, and in most cases, those limitations are trumped by experience.”

Driving and dementia

“When you boil it down, there are two issues that an older adult faces that potentially could impede their ability to drive,” said Lance Robertson, director of the Aging Services Division

30 | September 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

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at the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). “One is the cognitive side of all of this just because of dementia. The second and probably more prominent one remains those physical conditions: response time and visual acuity.” There are 61,000 diagnosed cases of Alzheimer’s disease in Oklahoma and 5.3 million cases nationwide, according to Germaine Odenheimer, neurologist and geriatrician at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Additionally, Cicchino said that in 2013, in fatal crashes that involved a driver 70 and older, 61 percent of deaths were the older driver and 15 percent were the passenger in the elderly driver’s car.

Aging concerns

The AAA study also found that older adults who permanently give up driving experience diminished productivity, low participation in daily life activities outside the home, a 51 percent reduction in the size of social networks over a 13-year period and accelerated decline in cognitive ability over a 10-year period. “When it comes to these cognitive diseases, we are all potential victims if we don’t take care of ourselves,” Robertson said. “To the extent we can, we’ve got to exercise our brains and keep our bodies in better shape.” For people worried about the ability of older friends and family to safely operate a vehicle, DHS’s Aging Services Division recommends riding along with them to assess their driving and better understand their abilities and situation

before talking to them about driving limitations or cessation, Robertson said. “I would certainly encourage family, while to move quickly, to be very patient and to understand that first and foremost, what’s at stake is that independence and dignity of the older adult,” he said. He recommends reading through suggested steps and talking points at elderweb.com to prepare an action plan, as well as including the elderly driver in the conversation from the beginning.

Providing mobility A national nonprofit committed to preserving the independence and mobility of older adults recently opened for business in Central Oklahoma. the Independent transportation Network of Central Oklahoma offers rides 24/7 with no limitations on the reason for the ride for people 60 years and older in central Oklahoma. the drivers are volunteers, and riders become members and pay the affordable fare for rides through a personal, prepaid account, according to the INt website. “the volunteers come out of the community so there is a different feel to the service,” said Germaine Odenheimer, neurologist and geriatrician at the University of Oklahoma College of medicine. “they’re doing this because they believe in the service, and there is a communitybuilding aspect to the service.”

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LIFE COMMUNITY

Rise above A grant helps ReMerge get prison-bound mothers back on the right track. BY LOUIS FOWLER

Rehabilitation versus Incarceration in Oklahoma

The Sooner State has the highest incarceration rates for women in the country, and many are locked up for nonviolent offenses, according to the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women. It is the women behind those statistics that create a need for programs like ReMerge, which is designed to help pregnant women and mothers facing incarceration become productive members of society. “There is a great need in the state of Oklahoma, especially in Oklahoma County, where we have a large population of individuals, to have some kind of alternative to keep these women in the community with their children,” said Terri Woodland, the program’s executive director. “[Oklahoma] incarcerates at twice the national average. That has not changed for the past 15 years. We remain pretty consistent in that statistic, unfortunately.” ReMerge identifies mothers before they are sentenced and, instead of going to prison, those women are allowed to join the program for a minimum of one year. Through intensive work, they begin to remove the “barriers that women face in trying to raise children alone,” Woodland said. Since its inception in 2011, ReMerge has successfully transitioned numerous mothers from poverty and drug use to sobriety through its threepronged approach of having the women commit to the program long-term and pushing away obstacles that would stop them from healing. The third approach is through the program’s partnership with the community, specifically with the district attorney and the public defender’s office, as well as the

mArK H ANCOCK

Panel discussion 7 p.m. Oct. 28 Pegasus Theatre Liberal Arts Building University of Central Oklahoma 199 N. Baumann Ave., Edmond uco.edu Free

From left Kamber Caulkins, Terri Woodland and Ashley Hall at the ReMerge facilities

The goal is to make an impact with the families that we work with who live in poverty.

— Terri Woodland

Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. ReMerge requires the women to work hard, but it offers them a lot in return, Woodland said. For example, the organization provides a rent-free shelter for the first half of the program. “We provide transportation to and from the program every day. We provide housing for the first half of the program so they don’t have to worry about paying rent and they can really focus on treatment, on themselves, on their GED,” Woodland said. “We really give them the time to make major changes in their life.”

Programs like this cost money, however, and ReMerge, through a mixture of private and public dollars, has managed to continue. However, a recent award from the Ken and Gae Rees Family Fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation Grant, will finally allow the program to institute new ideas designed to end generational poverty in the metro. “That sounds like a huge task, and it is, but the goal is to make an impact with the families that we work with who live in poverty to help them move out of it into middle class or a more comfortable socioeconomic level of being,” Woodland said. With the help of the $500,000 grant, ReMerge plans to hire a homebased therapist who will go to clients’ houses and work with their schedules. They also intend to implement Celebrating Families, a 16-week course dedicated to strengthening the family unit, helping kids learn about substance abuse and addiction and addressing the family as a unit. ReMerge also hopes to utilize poverty specialist Ruby Payne’s Getting

Ahead in a Just Getting By World course, which is designed to bring people together and give them the tools to figure out what they need to move out of poverty. Woodland said one of the goals is to make these programs self-sustainable so when the three-year grant ends, ReMerge can continue these services. Woodland will join former Oklahoma Speaker of the House Kris Steele, Chief Operating Officer for NorthCare Sarah Rahal and fellow ReMerge employee Lauren Mullins at the University of Central Oklahoma’s (UCO) Institute of Hope panel discussion, Rehabilitation versus Incarceration in Oklahoma. The discussion will cover incarceration in Oklahoma and how alternative programs have been implemented to provide rehabilitation rather than incarceration, according to a media statement. The event is 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in Pegasus Theatre in the Liberal Arts Building on UCO’s campus, 199 N. Bauman Ave., in Edmond.

OklahOma Gazette | September 30, 2015 | 35

life ViSUAl ARTS

Base instincts Kelly Brinkmeyer and Lindsey Michelle Webb press the issue of breast health — literally — with their Save Second Base Project.

By cHRiSTine eDDinGTon

Save Second Base Project Private class 3-6 p.m. oct. 17 1219 creative 1219 n. classen Blvd. savesecondbaseproject.eventzilla.net $30-$45

Pop-up exhibit opening reception

Local artists Kelly Brinkmeyer and Lindsey Michelle Webb have joined minds and mammaries to create the Save Second Base Project to raise awareness and funds during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Their project includes an Oct. 17 class in which guests can create their own breast paintings (we’ll explain that one in a minute) and a pop-up art show and sale that opens with an Oct. 30 reception and runs through Nov. 8. Both happen at 1219 Creative, 1219 N. Classen Blvd. Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Central & Western Oklahoma, an arm of the largest breast cancer education, care, treatment and research nonprofit in the nation.

Breast impression

Brinkmeyer said she experienced her artistic awakening at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. She traveled to the event, which she called an “adolescent hipster’s paradise,” and was mesmerized by women who wore psychedelic paint instead of clothing. Flash forward to her pregnancy. She wanted to document the event but didn’t want to use traditional photography. That’s when she flashed back to Bonnaroo. She removed her clothes, covered her chest in paint and then did pushups onto a canvas, leaving prints of her torso and chest. Her unique art form was born. That year, she launched Pineapple Rag Multimedia Artwork. Like Brinkmeyer, Webb also was pregnant when she began making her

36 | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

MaRk hancock

6-8 p.m. oct. 30 Through nov. 8 1219 creative 1219 n. classen Blvd. 1219creative.com free

Lindsey Michelle Webb and Kelly Brinkmeyer show off their mammary-centric artwork. breast prints, and she continues her craft today. The women see the art as a way to own their femininity in a fun, beautiful, colorful way. “I’ve been an artist for 10 years; I started my own label, Pineapple Rag, when I was 18,” Brinkmeyer said. “We do landscapes, pop art and other things, but our breast prints have really taken off. We’ve sold about 300 in the last two or three years. Sometimes people see them and don’t know what they are.” She has been setting up at festivals, art events and even hip-hop battles and decided to use her skill to help others. She chose a cause with personal meaning to her. “My grandmother had breast cancer and died in 2006. Her name was Shirley Leslie, and she fought breast cancer three times,” she said. “This project is my creative nod to her.” The Save Second Base Project art class is 3-6 p.m. Oct. 17 and is understandably held in a private setting. “The class is similar to a paint and palette-type class,” Brinkmeyer said. “We will make breast prints in a

private setting, and women will have the option to put their art in the show if they want to.” Unlike the drink-and-create courses, however, participants slather layers of paint onto their bare breasts then do push-ups onto a canvas to create the art. The buy-in is the cost of a canvas: $30 for one or $45 for two. Other supplies are included. The Save Second Base Project pop-up art show and sale launches almost two weeks later and will feature 18-20 paintings by Brinkmeyer and Webb as well as entries from the class. Admission is free, and the opening reception is 6-8 p.m. Oct. 30. The show runs through Nov. 8. Pieces will cost $60-$100, Brinkmeyer said. The pair of friends encourages all women, including breast cancer survivors and women who have undergone mastectomies, to participate in their project. To register for the class and learn more about the Save Second Base Project, visit savesecondbaseproject. eventzilla.net.

s U w o Ll o F

carlos Tello

Heritage hijinks

M a Rk ha n coc k

facebOok ...all the COOL KIDS are doing it! facebOok.com/okgazeTte

Oklahoma Gazette

The 10th Annual Fiestas de las Americas sweeps through Capitol Hill this weekend. By kiMBeRly BASTiAn

10th Annual fiestas de las Americas 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday SW 25th Street between Harvey and Robinson Avenues historiccapitolhill.com 632-0133 free

fiestas 5k and family fun Run 7 a.m. Saturday SW 25th Street and Robinson Avenue signmeup.com 209-9844 $10-$20

A celebration of Oklahoma and Hispanic heritage takes over Capitol Hill 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. The 10th Annual Fiestas de las Americas converges on SW 25th Street between Harvey and Robinson Avenues and will feature Hispanic art, a children’s arts and crafts tent, a parade and a full day of food, dance and live entertainment. Carlos Tello, originally from Mexico City, is one of 12 artists who will showcase artwork during the festival. He said his participation in this event reinforces his artistic mission to promote the arts in the Hispanic community. Once a week, Tello’s community in Mexico opens museums and galleries for free to the public and people wait in long lines to enjoy fine art. Similarly, Tello feels the local OKC Hispanic population is also interested in art, and this event provides a broader avenue to it that the residents might not have otherwise. However, Tello said it isn’t about just the Hispanic community. “We don’t just want involvement with Hispanic communities; the point is to be more involved and have more impact with other communities, he said. “The next step is to invite everybody. They will feel like a tourist in their own town.” Renzo Mazzini, another artist whose work will be featured at Fiestas de las Americas, primarily does wedding and portrait photography, though his true

talent shines through in his shots of the night sky. Mazzini believes art is a powerful tool that helps keep kids away from negative elements such as drugs and gangs, and he hopes his art and the festival inspire younger generations to choose a positive path. He said his work, as with all photography, crosses the boundaries of race and transcends language barriers. “Everyone sees things differently,” he said. “I see the world in a completely different view. We are so focused on our everyday problems that we forget that it is amazing to just be here on earth.” Other artists with work at the festival include Colombian painter Jaime Macias, Peruvian painter Rocio Pérez del Solar, Mexican painter Cristina Rivera, Venezuelan sculpture artist Beatriz Alicia Mayorca, children’s author Mariana Llanos, César Velez and Rosibel Reyes. Saturday’s event kicks off with the first-ever OKCPS Fiestas 5K Family Fun Run. The idea to add the run to the roster of activities came from Felix Linden with Roosevelt Middle School Leadership Academy, an enrichment program at the school. “He was looking for a good fundraiser and service project for his students and approached me about adding the race,” said Donna Cervantes, Historic Capitol Hill director. “The idea is to promote health and fitness for kids and families … and to promote community pride.” Also new to the event this year is the Calle Dos Cinco Got Talent competition, a take on America’s Got Talent. Singers, instrumentalists, dancers and performers of all kinds submitted videos of their skill online. Voters then chose their favorite performers, and the finalists will compete in an onstage performance with prizes awarded by celebrity judges.

OklahOma Gazette | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | 37

38 | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

ma rk ha n coc k

life VISUAL ARTS

Inspiring imagination All Access Arts teaches community members of all ages how to better communicate through creation. By Brett Dickerson

Arts Council of Oklahoma City opens hearts, minds and communication channels with its All Access Arts program, which teaches visual, performing and music skills to underserved residents throughout the metro.

Elementary fun

The after-school program at Lee Elementary School gives third-, fourth- and fifth-graders opportunities to explore their deeper emotions and talents. “The kids eat up having a way of expressing themselves,” said Kathleen Blake, the site’s lead teacher and a retired public school art teacher. She and assistant Kristina Haden lead a group of 15 students. Fourth-grade Lee student Emili Carrion said she likes to stay after school to learn art because “it’s like science and all of that because you discover something.” Indeed, Blake said the program’s purpose goes beyond teaching technique and terminology. “I would rather them express themselves than learn the tints and shades,” Blake said. “And that has to do with taking it back to who they are and their environment and their world.” Haden also emphasized the value of enabling expression, a common theme that ran through all conversations about the citywide program. “I think they are becoming explorers of their identity as youngsters,” Haden said. “They get to express how they feel with different colors and how they can relate that to their emotions.” Some students experience their first art projects through the program

from left Teachers Kathleen Blake and Kristina Haden teach youth about art during the All Access Arts after-school program at Lee Elementary School. with the help of supplies provided by All Access Arts, the teachers said. The program also allows them to explore how materials work together as they create. “There is no bad art,” Haden said. Third-grader Salim Gonzalez proudly shows off his painting of a shoe, produced as a part of a recent “best foot forward” lesson in which he outlined the object without looking at his drawing. The technique is called blind contour drawing and helps youth develop eye, brain and hand coordination.

New tricks

At Brookdale Village assisted living center in The Village, Sheila Guffey and Laura Kent lead an All Access Arts program for senior adults of varying physical and cognitive abilities. Guffey talked to Oklahoma Gazette as she prepared for a class on how to make clay jewelry and as the center’s staff helped students get comfortable at tables. “With this program, I can see such a difference. Every week, someone thanks me and tells me how they look forward to it more than anything,” she said. “This age group only thinks of Rembrandt or the big artist.” Guffey said students transform and open up as they overcome the initial assumption that they cannot create art. “[They become] excited, and it actually helps them bond with each other,” she said. Student Lulu Stephens pointed out the value of interacting with her peers. “I’m learning to be artistic. The challenges really are good, and the companionship,” she said. “These people

are just dolls when you get it out of them and they open up.”

Project support

All Access Art fits into Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s mission to “bring the arts and the community together,” said Peter Dolese, council executive director. All Access director Sharon Astrin explained that the program runs yearround so it can reach as many people as possible and often utilizes community partnerships. “There are just a lot of barriers,” Astrin said. “So it can be economic barriers. It can be geographical barriers.” For example, to help overcome geographic barriers, Dolese and Astrin collaborated on a summer program that’s available through 18 libraries across Oklahoma County, which reduces travel and transportation conflicts. Dolese said the program has another important benefit: jobs. “We hire about 50 different teaching artists to work in the program,” he said. “We’re putting artists to work, and we pay a good wage, a competitive wage.” In addition, community donors also provide vital teaching, acting and mentoring services to participants. University of Central Oklahoma adjunct musical theater instructor Billie Thrash said she donates to the program because of what she has seen it do for those it touches. “I just consider it to be one of my better investments,” she said. “Any time that you can engage and involve other people who might be shut out [that’s a plus].”

Oklahoma Gazette | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | 39

SuDOku/CROSSWORD SuDOku Puzzle HARD

WWW.s UDOKU-p UZZLes .N et

Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9.

NeW YORk TimeS CROSSWORD Puzzle ANSWeRS Puzzle No. 0920, which appeared in the September 23 issue.

I F F Y

T R I E D

P F E G R S I L

S O N A R

T W I S T A N A N K L E

I M A N I D U P I M O O I P E T R O S T U N I R S F O R M T U D O S T A C

40 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

I M E N A T S S H A H E T O R M A N I G E B E F E T A R L E T D O P E N R O T U Y E S T A R S W A Y B E N G A D I P R I N E A F T G U N R E S T F O L L O R S I N Y P E

K I D S A R O R U I N N D D T H I A G Z E E R S M W I P L A K P A B L O

U D U N E S O F S C T R O L E B E A M I T S A N T G S A L E L P G A A O I S N D T H E S M U A N O T L A T E A G I N G F U A Y S B

O H Y O U S E A T E N T H S N I L

C L A R U T B O E D U L T E A D S O T Y T A S E E N O R S F A T A T S C A D T R U T I M E O V O T T E R S E R O P T A S O N C T I O L E N T U R T E

A X E L F R A N E S E

E N I D

ACROSS 1 Just 5 Many lines of code 8 Legitimate 13 Demolish 17 You can learn something by this 18 Portrait overlooking Tiananmen Square 19 23-Across topper 20 One getting a tax write-off, maybe 21 Filer’s concern 23 Fictional archaeologist 25 28-Across topper 26 Indigo plants 27 Kramer’s first name on Seinfeld 28 Famed frontierswoman 30 Hip-hop name modifier 31 Publishing mogul, for short 32 Toughens, as metal 33 Gain 34 40-Across topper 39 Post-boomer group 40 Subject of “Guerrillero Heroico” 42 Three-time Nobel Prize-winning organization 47 Al Bundy or Phil Dunphy 49 Nixing phrase on movie night 50 Arctic jackets 51 Shoplift, in slang 52 Site of a miracle in Daniel 3 53 They pop up in the morning 54 58-Across topper 55 ____ breve 57 Shipmate 58 Leader of the Free French 64 Quick shot? 67 Jack who ran for vice president in 1996 68 Chits 69 Modern-day hieroglyph 73 South American rodents 76 Bugs, e.g. 78 Contents of a spreadsheet 80 83-Across topper 81 Arctic masses 82 Starts of some one-twos 83 He helped move a piano in The Music Box 85 Violinist Leopold 86 Like Mandarin or Cantonese 87 Pinch 88 95-Across topper

91 Loan source for a mom-and-pop store: Abbr. 94 Finish on a canvas? 95 Star of 97 102-Across topper 100 Giving goose bumps, say 101 City about which Gertrude Stein said “There is no there there” 102 Italian pitchman of note 105 Something cooks put stock in 106 Catches a wave 107 More indie, say 108 Absorbed 109 Queen of Jordan 110 Ancient hieroglyph 111 Sends to oblivion 112 Co. that originated Dungeons & Dragons 113 Ballpark amts. DOWN 1 Otto who worked on the Manhattan Project 2 Powerful bloodlines? 3 Word after in and of 4 Bit of cowboy gear 5 “Been better, been worse” 6 Quality of voices in the distance 7 Swillbelly 8 Poison compounds produced by snakes 9 Confuse 10 Mom on Family Guy 11 Journalist Flatow 12 Getting down, so to speak 13 Leeway 14 ____ Christi 15 Actress Kravitz of Mad Max: Fury Road 16 Triage locales, for short 19 Like answers on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire 20 Some club hires 22 West Point inits. 24 Verizon purchase of 2015 26 Title character in a Sophocles play 29 Desires 30 Perjured oneself 33 “Isn’t he great!” 34 Drink that’s the subject of several rules in the Code of Hammurabi 35 Still

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36 Approached quickly 37 Author Jong 38 “Long ball” 40 Investment instruments, for short 41 Routine 42 Pioneering Arctic explorer John 43 Like the 13 Colonies: Abbr. 44 Barker 45 Pursuer of Capt. Hook 46 Spate 47 Twirlers 48 Invalidating 51 “Out of my way!” 52 ____ bug 54 Continental carrier 56 Velázquez’s 59 Director Kurosawa 60 Like some tel. nos.

61 Eternities 62 Baltic native 63 Key with four sharps: Abbr. 64 Coors competitor 65 Billy Joel’s 66 Wes of PBS’s History Detectives 70 Spanish she-bear 71 One of the Bushes 72 Post-____ 74 It parallels a radius 75 Opposite of a poker face 77 Website necessity 78 A long-established history 79 Literature Nobelist J. M. Coetzee, by birth 81 Gusto 82 Bo’s cousin on The Dukes of Hazzard 84 Discordant, to some

0927

New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle PUT A LID ON IT! By Jason Mueller and Jeff Chen / Edited by Will Shortz

85 Museo contents 88 Mashes into a pulp 89 Basketry material 90 Cartoon cries 91 Actor John of Full House 92 Bit of wit 93 Angstrom or Celsius 94 Your, in Siena 95 Darken 96 Solo 97 Hatcher who was a Bond girl 98 Slays, informally 99 Ones going for hikes, for short? 100 As a result 102 CBS show with a 15-year run ending in 2015 103 Nucleus 104 Kerfuffle 105 Cool dude

Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute). The answers to the New York Times Magazine Crossword Puzzle that appeared in the September 23 issue of Oklahoma Gazette are shown at left.

Oklahoma Gazette VOL. XXXVII No. 39

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Okl ahoma Gaz ette | september 30, 2015 | 41

liFe ACtiVe

Jesus plays Jesus House hosts its inaugural volleyball tournament fundraiser to address increasing homelessness, addiction and mental health issues.

p rovi de d

By BrendAn hooVer

Jesus house 1st Annual 4 on 4 sand Volleyball tournament 6 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. saturday lighthouse sports, health & Fitness 3333 W. hefner road jesushouseokc.org 232-7164 Free

For many clients at Jesus House — an inner-city, nondenominational Christian outreach serving those battling homelessness, addiction and mental illness — playing volleyball is part of their recovery. The long-term residential facility at 1335 W. Sheridan Ave. features a backyard volleyball court where clients play each weekend. “It’s really therapeutic for them,” said Grace Luna, Jesus House executive assistant and volunteer coordinator. “They get intense with the competition. It’s awesome.” Building on that idea, Jesus House hosts its inaugural sand volleyball tournament Friday-Saturday at Lighthouse Sports, Health & Fitness, 3333 W. Hefner Road. The four-onfour, double-elimination tournament starts 6 p.m. Friday and resumes 8 a.m. Saturday. Medals and prizes will go to the top three teams. “This is more than a volleyball tournament. This is making people aware of what’s going on in our community,” said Michael Bateman, Jesus House executive director. Luna said a team of Jesus House clients will compete in the tournament and entertainment features booths, food trucks, Thunder Bounce and a DJ.

Helping homeless

Its Transitional Goals Program typically lasts seven to 10 months. To enter, clients must be homeless, have an addiction to drugs or alcohol and have a mental illness diagnosis, Bateman said. The recovery program incorporates a 12-step approach and works with community mental health partners such as NorthCare, Red Rock Behavioral Health Services and Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center. The residential facility has 88 beds, 70 for men and 18 for women. A new GED lab is expected to open next month. Bateman said some clients come from as

42 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

Jesus house volunteers

far away as California and New York. Statistics show that people are becoming addicts at a younger age, he said, and most families are affected by addiction or mental illness. Founded in 1973, Jesus House also serves about 100,000 meals per year from its soup kitchen and distributes grocery items, clothing and used furniture to those in need. It delivers breakfasts and fellowship to unsheltered homeless and performs community outreach in surrounding low-income neighborhoods.

Grace’s story

Luna, 27, remembers being homeless. She moved to Oklahoma City from Florida with her family when she was 15. She had trouble making friends and started using drugs. After school, she tried college but ended up moving back home. She lied and stole to support her drug habit, and in a show of tough love, her parents asked her to leave the house. After bouncing from couches to shelters, Luna entered the Jesus House residential program in July 2012 and, after a relapse, completed the program in March 2013. Former Executive Director Rick Denny gave her a job. Today, she is married, has a 10-month-old daughter and lives in south OKC. “I thank God every day for where I am, and I’m so thankful that I get to help people,” she said. Visit jesushouseokc.org or call 2327164 for more information.

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Speed racers Rebuilding Together’s Construction Derby raises funds to help with home repairs. Rebuilding Together OKC’s Construction Derby

By Christine Eddington

12th Annual Construction Derby 11:30 a.m. Sunday NW Fifth Street between Walker and Shartel Avenues rebuildingtogetherokc.org 607-0464 Free

painting, clowns, a petting zoo and crafts. All activities are free. Winona Simmons is a Rebuilding Together volunteer and an 11-year veteran derby racer. When her racing career began, she was a staff member at Tinker Air Force Base. “[My first team] was all women,” she said. “It wasn’t a great car, but we had a great time.” Simmons later incorporated men, including her son-in-law, into her team. “[He] likes to tell people that he’s going to push his mother-in-law down a hill this weekend,” she said. Cars can reach speeds of 27 miles per hour and come in all shapes, some with outrageous and inventive modifications. The vehicles must be constructed of materials commonly used in home repairs.

There will be two heats starting at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., and hundreds of people are expected to line the course. “The derby is our biggest fundraising event of the year,” Edmison said. “Race teams come from surrounding states, and lots of the teams take racing pretty seriously. It’s very competitive.” Rebuilding Together OKC generates its revenue from the race through entry fees and sponsorships, which enables the organization to keep the derby free to the public. Visit rebuildingtogetherokc.org or call 607-0464 to apply for home repairs or to become a volunteer. Those inquiring about home improvements must meet certain geographic and economic criteria and must be unable to complete the repairs themselves. provided

Rebuilding Together OKC’s Construction Derby slated for Sunday is a soapbox derby on steroids supporting a great cause, and it’s free to attend. It’s the 12th annual derby, and proceeds benefit Rebuilding Together OKC, a charity that works to ensure that the homes of low-income homeowners age 55 and older are warm, safe and dry. The eight-person staff oversees the

refurbishment of more than 300 homes each year, and volunteers do most of the work. This year’s derby will raise more than $150,000 and will enable the organization to renovate approximately 500 homes. “We install a lot of new roofs, repair plumbing, achieve accessibility, install grab bars and replace bathtubs with walk-in showers,” said Executive Director Mike Edmison. “For every dollar we receive, we are able to do three dollars worth of work … because repairs are done almost entirely by volunteers.” The Construction Derby will be held in downtown OKC on NW Fifth Street between Walker and Shartel Avenues. Inside that zone will be amateur and professional soapbox derby-style races, games, food trucks, a beer garden, face

Why Y?

The newest location of the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City has a strong membership and community outreach. Main Street YMCA ribbon cutting ceremony

By Alissa Lindsey

Since opening March 30, Main Street YMCA has garnered 601 new members. “We are exactly where we expected to be at this point,” said Brenda Bennett, vice president of communications at YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City. “We’re real busy at lunchtime; all of the classes are full at lunchtime, and all things are going as planned.” Main Street Y offers new, stateof-the-art workout equipment, locker rooms, showers and two group exercise rooms, which accommodate classes in yoga, Pilates and cycling. Tailored to the commuting business community, this branch is open 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday. “With the influx of people moving to the downtown area, we decided that we needed to be able to better serve the community in the downtown area. Our

main location, our downtown YMCA, and our midtown YMCA were reaching capacity. So the opportunity came up, and we decided it was a perfect time to expand our footprint,” Bennett said. The Y ran membership promotions for several months leading up to the opening, and many of the almost 500 people who toured the facility after its ribboncutting celebration March 30 signed up. Several dozen community leaders, along with YMCA board members and staff, attended the ceremony. During its Annual Campaign, YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City raised $1.3 million through contributions from 3,586 local residents and businesses. These gifts remain in the metro area and benefit 58,000 youth and teens by providing them with sports activities, family nights and community service projects

as well as giving hundreds of students the opportunity to attend one of the Y’s summer camps. “The Y is a cause-driven organization for all. Our financial assistance program ensures that anyone can participate in Y programs, despite the inability to pay the full program fee,” Bennett said. “At the Y, no child, family or adult is turned away. We recognize that for communities to succeed, everyone must be given the opportunity to be healthy, confident, connected and secure.” An individual adult membership costs $38.75 per month with a one-time $70 joining fee. A household membership allows entry for two adults and all children living in the home up to age 23. Household memberships are $58.25 per month with a one-time $105 joining fee. The Y also offers youth and teen

memberships. As a part of YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City’s commitment to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility, it provided $3 million in financial assistance to individuals and families to help bring them into the YMCA facilities last year. “We’re more than a gym, and when people come in to the facility to use our gym, they find out that the Y serves the community in so many ways,” Bennett said. The 14,000-square-foot building took approximately five months to build and cost $1.1 million in construction and $400,000 in equipment and furnishings. Main Street Y is located at 100 W. Main St., Suite 125. Visit ymcaokc.org to learn more or to apply for financial assistance.

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 43

p Hotos bY m A r K HA N CoC K

Life muSiC

Jabee

Ruthless people Friends, comedians and other local celebrities gather ’round local rapper Jabee for a Friday roast. By JAmeS BenJAmin

the roast of Jabee 8:30 p.m. friday Bistro 46 restaurant & Grille 2501 ne 23rd St., Suite C ticketstorm.com $10

Well-known locally for delivering powerful lyrical punches, rap artist Jabee opens himself up to verbal blows as he’s roasted by friends and comedy leaders Friday at Bistro 46, 2501 NE 23rd St., Suite C. The concept started as a Twitter joke of sorts in August and quickly grew into a full-fledged show. Even though — or perhaps because — his friends are involved, he admitted that he’s a bit anxious about opening himself up to ridicule and parody. After all, his mother will be in the crowd. “I’m nervous because some people who are roasting me know me pretty well and are close to me,” he said. Guests include Rachel Calderon from Channel 9; Cisco from Wild 104.9 FM; comedians Spencer Hicks, Catasha, Brandon Patrick and Ryan Drake; and musicians Ronnie Harris, LTZ and Ray Westbrook (brother to Oklahoma City Thunder baller Russell). Cisco will host. Event proceeds will help finance Jabee’s first European tour. The Oklahoma City rapper said he’s most nervous about what longtime friends Harris and Patrick might sock him with. “I’m probably the most worried about [Patrick] because I know, like, he’s pretty hard-core,” Jabee said. “He knows how to offend people.”

The night will almost certainly be a stark change of pace for the respected Emmy Award-winning hip-hop and rap artist. Jabee said he views the roast as a sort of twisted compliment. “People who get roasted, they’re people who people know who they are,” he said. “So, for people to feel like I’m somebody like that … I don’t know, man.” Even so, acquaintances outside a local hip-hop event interjected themselves into Jabee’s recent Oklahoma Gazette interview to wish him well and congratulate him on his upcoming show.

Touring Europe

Though not Jabee’s original intent for the roast, it also will function as a fundraiser for his seven-stop tour through Germany and Sweden later this month, where he opens for Swedish rap group Looptroop Rockers. And though he’s set to leave Oct. 24, he admitted he lacks the ticket and the funds needed to make the trek. The gigs came about recently after Jabee emailed Looptroop frontman Promoe to introduce himself and said he would love to be added to a European tour if it could be arranged. “I said, ‘I don’t care what it is; just let me know and I’ll find a way to get there,’” he said. “I’ve got to tour Europe.” He happened to wake up at 4 a.m. one morning to find a response waiting in his inbox. Promoe wanted Jabee on the tour, in which he will perform in front of sold-out crowds topping 1,000 people. While there, he said, he hopes to make

44 | september 30, 2015 | OklahOma Gazette

ryan Drake

enough connections to ensure this trip won’t be his last. “I’m just going to use it as an opportunity to build and network,” he said. “It not only helps you there (in Europe), but it means a lot when you come back.” Aside from the professional benefits, Jabee said he’s also excited to explore and relish the unique opportunity. “I’m from the east side of Oklahoma City. You know what I’m saying?” he asked; he said he and most of his friends could only travel to places much closer to home. “I’m going to Europe for rap music. If you had met me when I was like 15, 16, 17, you wouldn’t have thought that … It’s a whole new continent.”

Black Future

The emcee said he hoped people would support the event leading into one of his most significant career milestones. He said he has not held a significant moneymaking

event in a while. His birthday event in August was free, and his last album release was in 2013. Jabee is also embarking on a new album project, Black Future, which he hopes to release in early 2016. Its name and inspiration came from an eponymous poem written by a friend. He summarized its message in one line: “Either our future will be black or we will have a black future.” Jabee, who also will tour later this year with former Little Brother rapper Big Pooh, said he plans to record most of the album while in Arizona, along with some other work in Germany. “I want it to not only mean something, but I want it to educate and build,” he said of Black Future. “I want to be able to go to schools and colleges and campuses and talk about it and share my story and share what it means to have a future.”

A L I SA LEVY / Pr ovide d

Religious casualties

Seryn

Seryn brings its brand of Americana music to Guthrie. By Greg Horton

Seryn 8 p.m. Tuesday Trill Tavern 208 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie ticketstorm.com 657-7878 $12-$14

Nashville, Tennesee’s Seryn started making music while in college in Denton, Texas, so it makes sense that it has visited Oklahoma several times. Its upcoming show at Trill Tavern will be the Americana act’s first appearance in Guthrie, though. Nathan James Allen, guitarist, said the group has gone through dramatic changes since the release of its February 2015 album Shadow Shows. For that, Seryn was six members, including two female vocalists, one of whom played violin. They moved on, and the band decided to press on as a quartet with Trenton Wheeler on guitar and lead vocals, Aaron Stoner on bass and Jordan Rochefort on drums. “We were a little concerned about where the band was headed when Jenny [Moscoso] and Scarlett [Deering] left,” Allen said, “but I was talking to a singer-songwriter friend who offered some perspective: ‘If you can’t do a good show with four guys, you should quit music.’” That friend plays as a solo act, which gave his words even more force. The loss of the two female members meant interesting changes for the band, not the least of which was Allen was tasked with singing the high harmonies. “We don’t call them girl harmonies anymore,” he said. “They’re high harmonies, and I can do 80 to 85 percent of them.” Allen also has to fill the old violin parts with guitar solos, something that works well for him. The band has gelled around the new size, and it’s on the road in support of Shadow Shows. Touring was one of the primary

reasons the group of musicians from Dallas/Fort Worth — all four grew up in the DFW metro — chose Nashville over Austin. “Country and Western grew up in Nashville because the radio signals could reach all the way down to Miami and all the way north to New York,” Allen said. “For us, we are a day’s drive away from most of the U.S.” That means less unbroken touring and more time at home. But their city suits them for a different reason, too. “Nashville is bigger and smaller than where we come from,” Allen explained. “Dallas is huge, and Denton is pretty small, so Nashville is kind of the perfect size.” Allen said the band was not worried about the wealth of talent in Nashville. “We’re no strangers to intimidation,” he said. “The music scene in Texas is full of talent.” It also helps that Seryn does not make Nashville country. Its popinfluenced American folk music is characterized by bright notes, harmonies and multiple instruments beyond the standard four-piece format, including ukulele, banjo and accordion. The band stands out with smart writing as well, a task shared by Allen and Wheeler. Allusions to spiritual themes abound, and Allen said they are a byproduct of the members’ religious upbringing, the words and phrases of childhood and youth, and they do not leave lexicons easily. “I was talking to (folk singersongwriter) Father John Misty before he was Father John Misty,” Allen said. “He said, ‘I’m just a religious casualty.’” The phrase stuck with Allen, and he applies it to himself while acknowledging some spiritual impulses in the music — most notably in “On My Knees” from the band’s first album This is Where We Are.

Oklahoma Gazette | september 30, 2015 | 45

p r ovide d

life music

Shiny objects Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist for The Strokes, swaggers into Norman for a solo show. Albert Hammond Jr.

By Anthony Lalli

Albert Hammond Jr. 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7 Opolis 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman opolis.org $12 21+

Albert Hammond Jr., the three-piece-suitwearing guitarist for The Strokes, returns to Oklahoma for a solo performance Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave., in Norman. His third full-length solo album, Momentary Masters, is available now on Vagrant Records. Having been to Oklahoma before, a decade earlier with The Strokes, Hammond admits that it feels like a

“different lifetime ago.” “It’s pretty fun to be going on the road this time and not only be playing all those new songs, which is exciting, but to have a set list that feels very new and shows fans a new direction,” Hammond said. Hammond is currently playing eight of his new songs and mixing in older tracks off of his first two albums, Yours to Keep and ¿Cómo Te Llama? Gus Oberg, Hammond’s longtime friend and collaborator, produced Momentary Masters. The title is from the book Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by astronomer Carl Sagan. The book is an exploration of the universe and the human race’s place in it. The phrase stuck with Hammond, who thought it at first was a bit egotistical and funny. However, Hammond feels that it is a truism that accompanies every

endeavor; every triumph is fleeting. Every time one finds complete happiness, there is also a new low that inevitably follows it, Hammond said. The formation of the new lineup of Hammond’s band helped ignite the creation of Momentary Masters. Although the writing process wasn’t easy, it came naturally. “You’re always thinking of stuff. It’s not always sitting and writing; it’s practicing, and you start working on stuff. You’re just dabbling for days, you hate the instrument and sometimes something comes,” he said. “There’s no set way [to write songs]. It just comes from little moments of excitement that kind of push you through to different places.” Those moments of excitement radiate from each of the 10 tracks on Momentary Masters, which bounces along with call-

and-response guitars and vocal hooks carried by a rhythm section that enables the songs to breathe effortlessly. The songs sound complex in their simplicity. Even the high-hat work sounds as though it was created in a laboratory, and there are mountains of information buried in each track that makes it something you can listen to indefinitely. Nothing short of a momentary triumph, the album title is fitting, as the songs play like shards of mirrors reflecting light in a black vacuum or possibly planets bathed in starlight seen through a telescope light-years away. Opolis is one of Hammond’s midtour stops during a 28-city U.S. trek. Hammond heads overseas to begin his European tour in November. The show starts at 9 p.m. Doors open at 8 p.m., and tickets are available at opolis.org.

October 3 • Firelake Arena Listen to Me Marlon

And House of Pain Featuring Everlast

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1 | 5:30 & 8 P.M. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 | 5:30 P.M. SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 | 5:30 P.M.

The Godfather ONE NIGHT ONLY! SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3 | 8 P.M.

405.273.1637 • 18145 Rangeline Rd • Shawnee, Ok

Get tickets at firelakeboxoffice.com 46 | september 30, 2015 | Oklahoma Gazette

Guys and Dolls DIGITALLY RESTORED! ONE DAY ONLY! SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4 | 2 P.M.

FOR MOVIE DESCRIPTIONS AND TICKET SALES VISIT

WWW.OKCMOA.COM

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LIVE MUSIC WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30 Edgar Cruz/Jeff Nokes, Avanti Bar & Grill. ACOUSTIC Grant Wells, Skirvin Hilton Hotel. JAZZ Jake Gill, Baker Street Pub & Grill. COUNTRY Lucky Date, Kamps 1310 Lounge. ELECTRONIC Maurice Johnson, R&J Lounge and Supper Club. Shannon and the Clams, Opolis Norman. ROCK

THURSDAY, OCT. 1 Bobby Bridger/John Inmon, The Blue Door. SINGER/ SONGWRITER Brent Saulsbury/Will Galbraith/Wayne Duncan, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK Dan Haerle Quartet, UCO Jazz Lab. JAZZ DJ Rodney Ladd, Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. VARIOUS Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, ACM@UCO Performance Lab. ROCK Lucky Duo, Colcord Hotel. COVER

Dead to a Dying World

Ryan Dorman, Wormy Dog Saloon. SINGER/ SONGWRITER The Broke Brothers, Oklahoma City Museum of Art. REGGAE

FRIDAY, OCT. 2 Bart Crow, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY Brandon Jackson, Fuze Buffet & Bar. COUNTRY

Dead to a Dying World

OKG

music

friday

pick

J.D. Souther

Dallas, Texas, seven-piece doom rocker Dead to a Dying World performs an all-ages show with Idre and Convert 8 p.m. Friday at 89th Street Collective, 8911 N. Western Ave. Admission is $12. Visit 89thstreetokc.com or deadtoadyingworld.com.

DJ R&R, Colcord Hotel. HIP-HOP DJ Six, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. VARIOUS

Jason Savory, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. COUNTRY

SATURDAY, OCT. 3

Kristen Stehr, Remington Park. COUNTRY

1 Stone, Sliders. VARIOUS

Lauren Anderson, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

2AM, Tapwerks Ale House & Cafe. ROCK

LUCKY, Mickey Mantleís Steakhouse. COVER

Electric Church/Wildings/White Mule, Blue Note Lounge. ROCK

Shortt Dogg, UCO Jazz Lab. BLUES

Jonny Burke, Wormy Dog Saloon. COUNTRY

TUESDAY, OCT. 6

Lucky Duo, Colcord Hotel. COVER

Hozier, Zoo Amphitheatre. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Michael Kleid, Fuze Buffet & Bar. JAZZ

Mayday, OKC Farmerís Market. ROCK

Midas 13, Remington Park. ROCK

Tigers Jaw/Petal/Ultra City, 89th Street Collective. ROCK

Janice “Coffy” Smith, Back Alley Gallery. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Prettyboy/Sports, Opolis. POP proVId ed

Glass Animals, Cain’s Ballroom. ROCK

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7

Replay, Russell’s, Tower Hotel. COVER Smilin’ Vic, UCO Jazz Lab. BLUES

Albert Hammond Jr., Opolis Norman. ROCK

SUNDAY, OCT. 4

Casey & Minna, Saints. FOLK Edgar Cruz/Jeff Nokes, Avanti Bar & Grill. ACOUSTIC

Michael Kleid, Colcord Hotel. JAZZ Tallows/Hikes/Chipper Jones, Opolis Norman. INDIE

MONDAY, OCT. 5 Crushed Out/Feral Foster, Red Brick Bar. ROCK Parasites/Lotta Tuff/Your Mom, Blue Note Lounge. PUNK

Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

Rick Toops, Friends Restaurant & Club. ROCK

lucky Date, kamps 1310 lounge, Wednesday, Sept. 30

Okl ahOma Ga z et te | se pte m b e r 30, 2015 | 47

M A R K HA N COC K

LIFE FILM

Frightful fun This holiday season, the best way to celebrate horror cinema might just be huddling around the screen at this local film festival.

BY BRETT FIELDCAMP

Midwest Horror Shorts Film Festival 7:30 p.m. Oct. 30 OKC Farmers Public Market 311 S. Klein Ave. okcfarmersmarket.com midwesthorrorshorts.com $15-$300 18+

Oklahoma City creatives Chris Forest and Victoria Michaels designed and organized Midwest Horror Shorts Film Festival because they believe friends that scream together don’t get their heads severed or eaten by zombies together. The event, Oct. 30 at OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein Ave., showcases works from around the world that run 10 minutes or less. “We decided to set up the festival because, in addition to connecting great films with the general public, we saw an opportunity for Oklahoma film buffs and filmmakers to come together for sort of a fall retreat,” Forest said. “There’s no better bonding experience than getting the crap scared out of you.” He said the filmmaker submission window closes Oct. 10, and he expects to select at least 20 films, many of them made in Oklahoma. The start-up fest also will feature panel discussions with filmmakers, a costume contest, a DJ and other entertainment. “The local scene is booming,” Forest said of the filmmaking industry. “I think the locals are bringing a level of

48 | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | OKLAHOMA GAZETTE

Midwest Horror Shorts Film Festival organizers Victoria Michaels and Chris Forest in their Midtown studio dedication and talent that is outmatched by no one — not Los Angeles, not New York, not New Orleans. OKC is its own brand.” Forest writes and directs, and Michaels’ feature-length screenplay Two Birds with One Stoner is a finalist in the 2015 Oaxaca International Film Festival in Mexico. She also is the daughter of iconic local late-night horror movie host John Ferguson, aka Count Gregore, who she said will appear at the event. Both are self-proclaimed horror fans. “I think what makes a horror movie good is whether or not it has the ability to, even momentarily, cause me to question my senses,” Forest said. “It’s not blood, gore or monsters, per se. All can play a part, but a good horror movie has me asking, ‘What was that? Did you hear that? Was that a ghost I just saw?’ There’s a level of mystery and that ominous, calculated suppression of information is part of what scares us.” That’s not to say he’s immune to a good scare. “I personally can’t watch horror films by myself; my imagination is too vivid,” he said. “I’m the guy who has to keep all the lights on for the rest of the night if I watch alone.” Learn more about the event and submit a short film at midwesthorrorshorts.com.

GA R E T T FI S B E C K

Movie magic A film about the world’s “most successful serial killer” is now shooting in the state.

BY GREG HORTON

Filming has already begun in Guthrie for a new movie produced by a team of experienced documentary filmmakers. Gosnell is a true crime drama that tells the story of the investigation, arrest and trial of Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia doctor convicted of murder in 2013 for charges related to his abortion center practice. Hat Tip Films, which is husbandand-wife team Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney and Magda Segieda, was in Philadelphia during Gosnell’s trial because its documentary FrackNation was being screened at a festival. “Phelim had a day off, and because he’s a journalist, he couldn’t just relax,” McElhinney said. “He went to the trial and was astounded and shocked by what he saw. We knew pretty quickly that we wanted to do something about this story.” Gosnell, who has been called America’s most prolific serial killer by commentators — including Terry Moran of ABC’s Nightline, who called Gosnell the world’s most “successful serial killer” — was ultimately convicted on three counts of murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors and police suspected he was guilty of many more killings, some of which were related to Pennsylvania’s ban on abortions after 24 weeks. The film will focus not so much on the more gruesome aspects of the case but on the men and women who worked to charge and convict Gosnell. “The investigation took a lot out of the people who conducted it and finally convicted him,” McAleer said. “The story is about them and the impact on their families.” McAleer said the decision to film in Oklahoma was related to several factors, including the availability of locations that made it possible to mimic parts of Philadelphia.

Producer Ann McElhinney and Director Nick Searcy on the set of Gosnell “The financials were important, too,” he said. “But what really stands out is the talent here. Oklahoma is full of talented people who take their jobs seriously.” McElhinney said the team, including Segieda (a native of Poland), has been “gobsmacked” by its treatment here. “You should be very proud of the people in your state,” she said. “We have been treated wonderfully.” Gosnell is being made with the help of the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program, an initiative that offers companies a 35-37 percent rebate for qualifying expenditures while production occurs in the state. Funding for the movie started awkwardly when Kickstarter would not allow a crowdfunding campaign on its platform. The company informed McElhinney that some of the language in the proposal was not acceptable. “We did not want to be part of a community that found truth a difficult standard,” McElhinney said, “so we used Indiegogo.” After switching to Indiegogo, Hat Tip was able to raise $2.3 million from 28,000 donors. According to the Oklahoma Film & Music Office, that makes Gosnell the most successful film ever on the platform. McAleer said casting was still being negotiated and should be wrapped up before press time. Film veteran Nick Searcy (Castaway, Moneyball) is directing. The “vast majority” of the crew is composed of Oklahomans, according to McAleer, so the production will be adding economic benefits to the state for businesses, families and individuals.

OKLAHOMA GAZETTE | SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 | 49

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Homework: Send testimonies about how you’ve redeemed the dark side to: Sex Laugh, uaregod@comcast.net. ARIES (March 21-April 19) The next seven weeks will NOT be a favorable time to fool around with psychic vampires and charismatic jerks. I recommend you avoid the following mistakes, as well: failing to protect the wounded areas of your psyche; demanding perfection from those you care about; and trying to fulfill questionable desires that have led you astray in the past. Now I’ll name some positive actions you’d be wise to consider: hunting for skillful healers who can relieve your angst and aches; favoring the companionship of people who are empathetic and emotionally intelligent; and getting educated about how to build the kind of intimacy you can thrive on.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) You may have seen websites that offer practical tips on how to improve your mastery of life’s little details. They tell you how to de-clutter your home, or how to keep baked goods from going stale, or why you should shop for shoes at night to get the best fit. I recently come across a humorous site that provides the opposite: bad life tips. For instance, it suggests that you make job interviews less stressful by only applying for jobs you don’t want. Put your laptop in cold water to prevent overheating. To save time, brush your teeth while you eat. In the two sets of examples I’ve just given, it’s easy to tell the difference between which tips are trustworthy and which aren’t. But in the coming days, you might find it more challenging to distinguish between the good advice and bad advice you’ll receive. Be very discerning. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) On a windy afternoon last spring I was walking through a quiet neighborhood in Berkeley. In one yard there was a garden plot filled with the young green stems of as-yet unidentifiable plants. Anchored in their midst was a small handwritten sign. Its message seemed to be directed not at passers-by like me but at the sprouts themselves. “Grow faster, you little bastards!” the sign said — as if the blooming things

might be bullied into ripening. I hope you’re smart enough not to make similar demands on yourself and those you care about, Gemini. It’s not even necessary. I suspect that everything in your life will just naturally grow with vigor in the coming weeks.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) “I am rooted, but I flow,” wrote Virginia Woolf in her novel The Waves. That paradoxical image reminds me of you right now. You are as grounded as a tree and as fluid as a river. Your foundation is deep and strong, even as you are resilient in your ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This is your birthright as a Cancerian! Enjoy and use the blessings it confers. (P.S. If for some strange reason you’re not experiencing an exquisite version of what I’ve described, there must be some obstacle you are mistakenly tolerating. Get rid of it.) LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Should I offer my congratulations? You have corralled a gorgeous mess of problems that are more interesting and provocative than everyone else’s. It’s unclear how long this odd good fortune will last, however. So I suggest you act decisively to take maximum advantage of the opportunities that your dilemmas have cracked open. If anyone can turn the heartache of misplaced energy into practical wisdom, you can. If anyone can harness chaos to drum up new assets, it’s you. Is it possible to be both cunning and conscientious, both strategic and ethical? For you right now, I think it is. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Let’s say you have walked along the same path or driven down the same road a thousand times. Then, one day, as you repeat your familiar route, a certain object or scene snags your attention for the first time. Maybe it’s a small fountain or a statue of the Buddhist goddess Guanyin or a wall with graffiti that says “Crap happens, but so does magic.” It has always been there. You’ve been subconsciously aware of it. But at this moment, for unknown reasons, it finally arrives in your conscious mind. I believe this is an apt metaphor for your life in the next week. More than once, you will suddenly tune in to facts, situations, or influences that had previously been invisible to you. That’s a

good thing! But it might initially bring a jolt.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) The 20th century’s most influential artist may have been Pablo Picasso. He created thousands of paintings, and was still churning them out when he was 91 years old. A journalist asked him which one was his favorite. “The next one,” he said. I suggest you adopt a similar attitude in the coming weeks, Libra. What you did in the past is irrelevant. You should neither depend on nor be weighed down by anything that has come before. For now, all that matters are the accomplishments and adventures that lie ahead of you. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) A windbreak is a line of stout trees or thick bushes that provides shelter from the wind. I think you need a metaphorical version: someone or something to shield you from a relentless force that has been putting pressure on you; a buffer zone or protected haven where you can take refuge from a stressful barrage that has been hampering your ability to act with clarity and grace. Do you know what you will have to do to get it? Here’s your battle cry: “I need sanctuary! I deserve sanctuary!” SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Your fellow Sagittarian Walt Disney accomplished a lot. He was a pioneer in the art of animation and made movies that won numerous Academy Awards. He built theme parks, created an entertainment empire, and amassed fantastic wealth. Why was he so successful? In part because he had high standards, worked hard, and harbored an obsessive devotion to his quirky vision. If you aspire to cultivate any of those qualities, now is a favorable time to raise your mastery to the next level. Disney had one other trait you might consider working on: He liked to play the game of life by his own rules. For example, his favorite breakfast was doughnuts dipped in Scotch whisky. What would be your equivalent? CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) October is Fix the Fundamentals Month. It will be a favorable time to substitute good habits for bad habits. You will attract lucky breaks and practical blessings

as you work to transform overwrought compulsions into rigorous passions. You will thrive as you seek to discover the holy yearning that’s hidden at the root of devitalizing addictions. To get started, instigate freewheeling experiments that will propel you out of your sticky rut and in the direction of a percolating groove.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Have you made your travel plans yet? Have you plotted your escape? I hope you will hightail it to a festive playground where some of your inhibitions will shrink, or else journey to a holy spot where your spiritual yearnings will ripen. What would be even better is if you made a pilgrimage to a place that satisfied both of those agendas — filled up your senses with novel enticements and fed your hunger for transcendent insights. Off you go, Aquarius! Why aren’t you already on your way? If you can’t manage a real getaway in the near future, please at least stage a jailbreak for your imagination. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) Pablo Neruda’s Book of Questions consists entirely of 316 questions. It’s one of those rare texts that makes no assertions and draws no conclusions. In this spirit, and in honor of the sphinx-like phase you’re now passing through, I offer you six pertinent riddles: 1. What is the most important thing you have never done? 2. How could you play a joke on your fears? 3. Identify the people in your life who have made you real to yourself. 4. Name a good old thing you would have to give up in order to get a great new thing. 5. What’s the one feeling you want to feel more than any other in the next three years?. 6. What inspires you to love?

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

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