W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | M A R C H 15 -18 , 2 0 18 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M
OU’s Virtual Reality Association vice president Alex Hopper dives into VR gameplay in the VisLab on Feb 28. The VisLab is part of the Tom Love Innovation Hub.
AUSTIN CARRIERE/THE DAILY
EXPLORE THE FUTURE OU Virtual Reality Association provides students with opportunity to increase technological skills, job prospects
O
HEATH KUYKENDALL • @HEATHKUYKENDAL1
U ’s To m L o v e Innovation Hub contains a lot of interesting technology, and the visual lab, filled with headsets and monitors, is no exception. Tucked away near the coding lab, the Tom Love Innovation Hub’s virtual reality room contains several monitors and chairs all linked into headsets and handheld items used during a virtual reality experience. Looking around the room, most screens contain 3-D landscapes with drifting clouds and vibrant colors. It’s hard to resist the call to put on a headset and dive into a virtual world. For the students of OU’s Virtual Reality Association, these virtual panoramas represent far more than just enjoyable games and experiences. These panoramas represent a future in a world that is growing more and more reliant on VR technology. In December 2016, computer science juniors Bryson Reece, Ryan Dobyns and Joseph Allen teamed up with fifth-year art, technology and culture majors Jacob Young and Alex Hopper to create an organization that would focus on enhancing students knowledge of VR while giving them an outlet through which they could work on VR projects.
Reece, the group’s current president, said that while “Innovation @ the Edge,” the Bizzell Memorial Library’s sponsored workshop for innovative projects, has VR technology, the group felt there still wasn’t a place on campus where interested students could practice their skills with VR to prepare for a future in technology. “We noticed that at OU there wasn’t really a place to hone those skills or market them to employers,” Reece said. “We began to realize this was something quite a few students were interested in. So it’s our goal at OU VR to help build students’ portfolios and introduce them to career options they might not have had before.” Reece said he thinks VR is the future of the tech industry. He believes preparing students to work in this growing field is the first step toward making sure students can find jobs after graduation. To do so, the group works with several different VR systems, including Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Microsoft HoloLens. The group also uses a variety of programs for designing and coding projects, including Unity 3-D for a game engine, Adobe Photoshop to texture game objects and Autodesk Maya for modeling and animating. Carl Grant, associate dean of knowledge services and chief
technology officer for university libraries, agrees with Reece. Serving as the group’s faculty sponsor and adviser, Grant has worked with technology at libraries and universities for more than 40 years and believes knowing how to code for VR will be an invaluable skill in the coming future. “These are jobs that are really growing — virtual reality has taken off,” Grant said. “The entrepreneurs are saying, ‘Hey, this is ready to go!’ So they’re all looking for help. For people who are willing to dig into this, it’s almost an assured ticket that there will be a job waiting for them.” Grant also said the application of VR at the university will reshape how classes are taught. Grant said he envisions a future where astronomy students fly through space and hold planets in the palms of their hands, while budding architects walk through life-sized models of their buildings and biologists study the inside of an atom close-up. “Once we show the faculty what’s possible with the technology, it clicks,” Grant said. “Almost every single dean that experienced VR (at the Edge in Bizzell) uniformly said they want this in their college — they want their students to experience this and
know how to use it.” That’s where, according to Reece, OU VR comes in. The organization is open to any student who is interested, and as Reece said, the more diverse the backgrounds and majors, the better. Currently, the group is working on a VR colorblind experience. According to Young, one of the group’s co-founders who specializes in 3-D art, the experience will allow users to walk through an open meadow to an apple tree, where they can interact with the environment while listening to a narrative about the difficulties of colorblindness. “The whole point of the experience is to show people what it’s like to be colorblind,” Young said. “You’re going to have a switch that will allow you to change the color scheme from what normal humans perceive to a scheme that fits red-green colorblind people.” Young said the group is also excited about getting to work with the Microsoft HoloLens, a $3,000 piece of technology that focuses on augmented rather than virtual reality. The device constructs virtual constructs in the room around the user, augmenting what can be seen and interacted with. The HoloLens was given to OU VR by the OU IT store as a gift for the group’s dedication to
working with VR technology. People outside of the university have begun taking note of OU VR’s success. The group applied for a donation from Oculus, the company that builds the Oculus Rift VR headsets, and ended up receiving 10 headsets from the company, a gift worth more than $4,000. In the coming months, Oculus will host a next-gen workshop, where students from across the country will be brought to California to show off their work and discuss the future of VR. OU VR is competing for sponsorship from Oculus to send a few members to the workshop. In the future, Reece hopes the club will continue to grow and further the goals of students who want to work in the VR industry. “We’re now reaching widespread attention, and students know about us,” Reece said. “Students can come and get help with projects they want to create. We’re really looking to grow our scale to support as many students as possible.” The group meets at 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Friday in the visual lab at the Tom Love Innovation Hub. Heath Kuykendall
kuykendallheath@ou.edu
Presidential selection differs from Boren’s Faculty remember less secrecy in 1994 search timeline NICK HAZELRIGG @nickhazelrigg
In a private Norman home one spring day, thenSen. David Boren sat down with roughly 15 OU faculty and staff members before the 1994 announcement that he would serve as OU’s president.
While there, Boren answered questions from faculty members and shared his vision for what the university could become, according to Paul Bell, dean emeritus
of OU’s College of Arts and Sciences, who helped arrange the gathering. Now, 24 years later, OU faculty members can do little but wait to meet the new leader of their institution as the search for Boren’s successor is conducted behind closed doors. Bell was at the university in 1994, and he painted a starkly different picture of the selection of an OU president then from the one unfolding now in 2018. “ Faculty memb ers thought he would be a good president, and they looked forward to the possibility of the coming year. Of course, no one was sworn to secrecy,” Bell said. “Everybody
was free to tell everybody that they knew, that they had met with Sen. Boren and that he was coming here. So if it was a secret, it was a very poorly kept secret.” With members of the presidential search committee sworn to a lifetime of secrecy regarding the search, as well as the Board of Regents vowing to uphold the same level of secrecy, most OU faculty members will likely not know the name of their new boss until he or she has the job. In a statement sent to The Daily from university press secretary Matt Epting, Boren said there wasn’t any sort of formal meeting, but he did meet with faculty members
at a “social occasion.” “There was no organized meeting with the university community,” Boren said in the statement. “A personal friend invited me to a social occasion at his house, which included some faculty and staff members.” B e l l s a i d t h e c u r re nt search process for OU’s next president does not at all parallel the search that brought Boren to the university, and said a university president taking over without meeting with the faculty first is “dangerous.” “The candidate will have zero exposure by the time he or she is announced. Boren had a lot of exposure. By the time Boren’s candidacy was
announced, half the people in Norman knew about it. It wasn’t a secret,” Bell said. “Lord knows, as a public servant, his life was pretty much open to everybody’s scrutiny. There wasn’t a whole lot out there that people didn’t know about David Boren.” Despite the 1994 search’s circumstances, one of the most fervent supporters of a confidential search is Boren himself, who argued in an op-ed sent to The Daily in February that a confidential search is the best way to bring qualified candidates to the table. He pointed to himself as an example, saying his career in the Senate would have been “severely damaged” if he had participated
in a public contest. Alan Velie, David Ross Boyd professor of English and OU’s longest-serving faculty member, said he remembers some were worried about Boren’s lack of experience in higher education, but those worries were quickly extinguished. Velie was not present at the private gathering. “Well, initially there was some concern that he hadn’t had a lot of experience in the university. But he did such a good job right from the start that the concerns disappeared pretty rapidly,” Velie said. “The thing that made him an exceptional see SEARCH on Page 3
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• March 15-18, 2018
ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT
Allison Weintraub, A&E editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/a_and_e • Twitter: @OUDailyArts
Local lands Nickelodeon role Norman teen will star in magical ‘Knight Squad’ SAM TONKINS
@samanthatonkins
Nickelodeon’s new show “Knight Squad” is filled with knights, princesses, sword fights, daring adventures and a familiar face: Norman’s own Owen Joyner. Joyner, a 17-year-old actor who was raised in Norman, plays Arc in “Knight Squad,” one of the show’s main characters. The show follows the adventures of two students, Arc and Ciara, at a magical school for knights-in-training. Before his time in Hollywood, Joyner began acting at the Sooner Theatre in roles like Curly in “Oklahoma!” and Glen in “The Wedding Singer.” D i n a h Joy n e r- G a n t z , Owen Joyner’s mother, said her son fell in love with acting the first time she took him to the theater to see a musical his best friend was in. Joyner was only 9 years old, but the trip sparked something inside of him. “When he entered the theater, he became a different child,” Joyner-Gantz said. “He bloomed, and his personality opened up.” Joyner-Gantz said her son was encouraged by the staff at the Sooner Theatre
to audition, even though he was still more interested in playing baseball at the time. He landed the role and fell in love with acting. Brandon Adams, a teacher at the Sooner Theatre, described Joyner as a hard worker and someone who is always willing to help. Adams said he was not all that surprised when he heard about Joyner’s success in Hollywood. “It was a ‘when’ this was going to happen, not an ‘if.’ You just knew with his talent,” Adams said. “There are certain things you can teach, then there are other things you either have or you don’t. Owen has that.” Joyner-Gantz said the Sooner Theatre gave Joyner the foundation he needed for his current acting career. “I think the Sooner Theatre really helped with the hard work,” Joyner-Gantz said. “People don’t realize how hard it is to rehearse, repeat, remember notes and make sure you remember certain scenes. It’s a pretty exact skill, and I think people forget that.” Joyner did face challenges, though. Joyner-Gantz said, in Oklahoma, a lot of boys do not act. When Joyner would go to baseball games while still wearing stage makeup, Joyner-Gantz said he would get picked on by other children, and even the coach would comment. Nonetheless, Joyner never
let it get him down. “He was so passionate about acting that there was nothing that would have made him change his mind, regardless of what people said,” Joyner-Gantz said. Owen Joyner said from the beginning the Sooner Theatre has been his home away from home. The people he met there helped him discover who he really was, he said. “I really found my best friends there,” Joyner said. “I found the people that loved me for who I was. I could always be myself around them, and they would never judge me. I never had to pretend to be some guy who loves football and wants to come over on Saturdays with the guys. That was never who I was. Instead, I could go and watch the Tonys, which we were all super excited for.” But, most impor tantly, Joyner said the Sooner Theatre helped foster his love for acting. “I wouldn’t know acting without the Sooner Theatre,” Joyner said. “I definitely wouldn’t have gone into film. I’d probably be at OU right now majoring in engineering or something. I’d be far away from acting, so I definitely owe that to (the theater).” Sam Tonkins
samantha.tonkins@ou.edu
PHOTO BY LEE DAVENPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Norman resident Owen Joyner performs on stage during “Into the Woods.” Joyner has landed a role on a new show on Nickelodeon.
‘Steel Magnolias’ to open as summer play All-female show begins auditions in Norman this April SAM TONKINS
@samanthatonkins
The Sooner Theatre will run the play “Steel Magnolias” this summer, and auditions will be held in early April. The play takes place in a small hair salon in a Southern town and showcases the relationships between six women who frequent the salon. From overprotective mothers to shy hairdressers, the women rely on each other as they experience different struggles in their lives. Auditions for “Steel Magnolias” will take place on April 2 by appointment, and callbacks will be April 3. Anyone can audition, but, for this play, the roles are all women. Nancy Coggins, public relations and development director at the Sooner Theatre, said “Steel Magnolias” will be the first play to be performed at “The Studio,” the Sooner Theatre’s event center, which is across the street from the
theater. She said the event center’s small setting will enable the audience to experience the play in a different way. “We saw it as an incredible opportunity to do a beautiful work with an amazing director with such an intimate space that I think our audiences are just going to fall in love,” Coggins said. Coggins said the play allows the audience to connect with the characters and experience a range of emotions. “I think it is going to bring a lot of laughter and tears, and it helps us see in ourselves what we are experiencing on the stage,” Coggins said. “It gives everyone an opportunity to take a look at their friendships and their relationships and really just appreciate them that much more.” “Steel Magnolias” will run from June 7 through June 10. Tickets are on sale now for $20 and can be purchased through the Sooner Theatre’s website. The Studio of the Sooner Theatre is located at 110 E. Main St. in downtown Norman. Sam Tonkins
samantha.tonkins@ou.edu
PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
The Sooner Theatre on Sept. 19, 2017. Auditions for the theater’s production of “Steel Magnolias” will begin in April.
Original musical to premiere in Norman
University Chorale to hold acapella concert
Theater production will include local musicians, actors
Event will feature pieces from several famous composers
TIM HATTON @nottahmit
An original musical about prejudice and reconciliation, “Spots and Stripes,” will premiere this month in Norman. A local theater organization, the Namron Players, is producing the show. “Spots and Stripes” is the story of two rival cities divided by their choice of emblem. One chooses spots — the other, stripes. As their conflict intensifies, each city produces a champion who must
overcome some differences to prevent imminent war between the cities. Local musicians Gregg Standridge and Brian Eads collaborated on the show’s music and script, based on an idea for a children’s book Standridge had with his wife, Becky. Their goal with the story is to show that prejudice is a learned trait. OU communications professor Pat Meirick, who plays King Zutan in the musical, said the show is valuable because of its themes and its local connections. “It’s a world premiere of a new musical work by folks right here in Norman, written right here in Norman, so that’s exciting,” Meirick said.
“I think there’s some beautiful music and a beautiful message. There’s plenty to like.” “Spots and Stripes” will be performed at 7 p.m. March 29 through 31, with an additional matinee performance at 2 p.m. March 31. All performances will be held at Longfellow Middle School, located on 215 N. Ponca Ave. in Norman. Tickets for the show are $10 for all ages and will be available for cash at the door or in advance by emailing spotsandstripesmusical@gmail.com. Tim Hatton
hamlin@ou.edu
HEATH KUYKENDALL @HeathKuykendal1
T h e O U U n i v e r s i t y Chorale will host the “Rest and Light” concert at Catlett Music Center. The concert will feature John Schwandt, an organist and OU professor of music, playing a piece by Johannes Brahms and graduate music student Sujeung Yoo directing an acapella choir performance composed by Josef Rheinberger. The evening will
culminate in Maurice Duruflé’s “Requiem, Op. 9” featuring both the choir and cellist Jonathan Ruck, who is also a professor of music at the university. Jessica Paine, a doctoral student of choral studies performing in the concert, said the pieces, while unrelated, all follow a common theme. “(The concert) focuses on the transition from death into the afterlife,” Paine said. “For instance, the Rheinberger piece is very light, and it opens with ‘Stay with us, for quickly falls the evening,’ with evening being a metaphor for death.” Pa i n e s a i d s h e f i n d s
t h e p i e c e s m ov i ng a n d beautiful. The concert will be held from 8–9:30 p.m. on March 15 in the Gothic Hall at Catlett. Tickets are $5 for students, $9 for faculty and staff and $10 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in person at the OU fine arts box office or by calling 405-325-4101. Heath Kuykendall
kuykendallheath@ou.edu
March 15-18, 2016 •
NEWS SEARCH: Continued from Page 1
president was that he had a vision for the university that was very ambitious, and he was highly successful in bringing it about.” Velie, who has worked under seven presidents, said for most faculty members at OU, Boren is the only president they’ve ever served under. Many of those faculty members, now witnessing their first presidential transition, have lobbied for a larger involvement in the process. OU’s Faculty Senate sent an open letter to the Board of Regents arguing in favor of a more open process. Before that, more than 300 members of the university community signed a petition drafted by Suzette Grillot, dean of the College of International Studies, for an opportunity to meet with candidates just as members of OU’s faculty met with Boren two decades ago. Although she wasn’t at
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Emma Keith, news managing editor dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com • Twitter: @OUDaily
OU in 1994, Grillot said it was clear to those who were at the university then that Boren was a candidate, despite Boren’s argument that confidentiality is what allowed him to seek the job. “I think somebody even said that his candidac y was as ‘secret as a sunrise,’ somebody wrote that on my Facebook page. It really was as secret as a sunrise in the sense that he came to campus, he did a tour, he spoke with different stakeholders — so as far as timing, I’ve been led to believe it was before he was formally announced,” Grillot said. “People basically knew he was possibly going to be named president. That being the case, why would we not expect that these new candidates would come to campus?” Velie has watched numerous presidents come and go at the university, and said he understands the need for candidate privacy — but he, too, said he would like to see the process be more open, for the good of the faculty. “I think, most of all, they’re
going to be interested in what (the next president) does. Boren had a lot of functions in which he had a lot of faculty and a lot of students. Those help, but what the faculty is more interested in is the stability of the university and how it’s doing,” Velie said. “This is a big university — the president can’t have everyone over for tea. Faculty are going to be waiting to see how the university progresses.” In the meantime, Grillot said the next president will face an uphill battle in gaining the trust of the faculty, a problem that could have been avoided with more initial transparency. “A president does things that affect the value of the University of Oklahoma, for those who earn degrees here and in the future,” Grillot said. “Everyone who has an interest in OU, everyone who works here is affected by the president.” As the man whom Bell watched answer questions from faculty that day nearly 25 years ago prepares to leave office, Bell can only
PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
OU President David Boren stands at the podium during his press conference Sept. 20.
wonder who will replace him — and what the community won’t know about them. “David Boren was not an unknown commodity,” Bell said. “Right now, we have no idea who (the regents) are
going to pick, and we have no Anna Bauman contributed idea the degree to which that to this report. person’s history and past have been thoroughly vetted, especially if they’re from the Nick Hazelrigg outside.” hazelriggn@gmail.com
SGA increases stipends, allocates funding Congress requests re-evaluation of IB credits at meeting GRACE MITCHELL @Graceem__
The Undergraduate Student Congress met March 13 to discuss salary increases for SGA leadership as well as review International Baccalaureate credit assessments, among other things. C o n g re s s p a s s e d t h e SGA Stipends and Salaries
Increase and Accountability Act of 2018, a bill that would increase the stipends and salaries of SGA members in leadership positions. This would include congress chair Kaylee Rains-Saucedo and the executive committee. Unlike a similar bill proposed in 2017, this bill passed with a vote of 24-2, with five abstaining, changing the wage for SGA members to $10 an hour from minimum wage. Sanah Lalani, vice chair of congress, co-authored the bill and will receive a stipend increase from its passage.
Lalani said part of the purpose of the bill was to encourage students to apply for SGA positions, as well as setting a precedent for the rest of campus employers. “For us to move up our payment we set an example for those other campus jobs to move up to $10,” Lalani said. Hennessey Chism, co-author of the bill, said the bill will serve as an example to student governments at other universities about the importance of a $10 wage. “ By doing this, w e’re
setting a standard,” Chism said. “When we go to a university, we want to say that we have logic and reasoning behind the request. We are standing up and saying that we’re going to do it first and set an example.” Among other legislation passed was a resolution requesting that core departments re-evaluate the way college credits are distributed to International Baccalaureate students. Taylor Crossley, an associate member of congress and author of the bill, said she
had contacted various university departments multiple times and that she hoped the resolution would actually result in some progress being made. “I’m hoping that we’ll hear the departments actually listen to our concerns as students and take into consideration that we have a lot of students here who take IB credit, and it should be treated the same as advanced placement credit,” Crossley said. Congress also unanimously passed a bill that would
appoint Camille Schlemme, Br ian O w ings, Ani TerMkrtchyan, Karley Knight, Jordan Holt, Kevin Duong, Natalie Cook and Salman Hamid to the Student Parking Appeals Court. In addition to the stipend increase, Chism also authored a bill allocating funding for various groups. The total funding allocated was $2,800. The bill passed unanimously. Grace Mitchell
GraceMitchell222@ou.edu
YOU ARE INVITED! Public Master Classes
Marilyn Horne Former Star of the Metropolitan Opera, praised by critics as having “the greatest voice of the 20th Century”
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The SGA Undergraduate Student Congress meets Feb. 27. Congress voted to increase the stipends and salaries of SGA members in leadership positions in a March 13 meeting.
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Way to go! Keep up the good work!
7-9 p.m. Friday, March 16 Pitman Recital Hall Catlett Music Center OU Fine Arts Free and Open to the Public For more information, go to www.ou.edu/finearts. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo
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March 15-18, 2018 •
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Freshman guard Trae Young dribbles down the court during the game against Iowa State on March 2. The Sooners were selected as the No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Sooners seize opportunity
OU heads to NCAA Tournament ready to prove itself GEORGE STOIA @GeorgeStoia
Oklahoma’s Trae Young sat with his head in his hands, waiting patiently with his teammates to hear their name called for the NCAA Tournament. “I was nervous, very anxious,” Young said. “I’ve been comfortable throughout this whole week, this whole process, until the last minute and a half.” As TNT’s Ernie Johnson called the Sooners’ name, Young stayed seated with his head down, flexing his
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one game in February and losing in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament. Now, thanks to the selection committee, the Sooners will have a chance at redemption. “I’m glad we got to the tournament, but we’re not satisfied,” senior forward Khadeem Lattin said. H o w e v e r, O k l a h o m a won’t have an easy road to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, having to play a scrappy Rhode Island team in the first round and potentially No. 2 seed Duke in the round of 32. But the Sooners aren’t worried about that, they’re just happy they’re in and know anything can happen in the tournament. “Everybody’s zero and zero now,” Young said. “The
first team to win six will be champion.” Oklahoma has faced a lot of scrutiny lately, with analysts and fans from around the country saying it has no business being in the tournament. The Sooners’ neighbor and rival, Oklahoma State, was especially upset, thinking it deserved an invite over the Sooners. But none of that matters, Oklahoma is in. Come Thursday morning the Sooners will be dancing, hoping to shock the world while they’re at it. After the Sooners found out who they would play, they sat and listened to the analysts discuss their chances at advancing. “I do not think they deserved to be in, and they’re
g o i ng t o l o s e t o R h o d e Island,” TNT analyst Charles Barkley said. Fans booed while the Sooner players sat and listened. Sitting in the front, Young and junior guard Christian James just smiled, as if to say, “All right ,then.” “I know our team has a big chip on their shoulder, and me personally, I have a tremendous chip on my shoulder,” Young said. “Not a lot of people think we should be in, which is fine, the people that made the right decisions thought we should be.” George Stoia
georgestoia@ou.edu
OU earns NCAA Tournament bid Women’s team selected as No. 12 seed, will face No. 5 GEORGE STOIA @ GeorgeStoia
Oklahoma is going dancing in the NCAA Tournament for the 19th straight time, despite finishing the season with a 16-14 record. The Sooners were unsure of their fate going into the selection show Monday
night after being chosen as one of the eight teams on the edge of making the tournament. But Oklahoma is in, and it believes it should be. “Having these last 24 hours, the way everything kind of shook out with the committee and being in this predicament has reminded us of what a difficult thing it is to get into t h e N C A A To u r na m e nt and what a special thing it is to be in that field. There is a lot of gratitude,” coach Sherri Coale said in a press
release. “There is also a lot of fight in that room tonight because we feel like we earned a position in the NCAA Tournament. Now it is up to us to play that way.” The Sooners were selected as a No. 12 seed and will face No. 5 Depaul at 11 a.m. CT Friday in College Station, Texas. The game can viewed on ESPN2. George Stoia
georgestoia@ou.edu
CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY
Graduate guard Maddie Manning celebrates during the women’s Big 12 Championship on March 3. The Sooners were selected as the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Leaders graduate, juniors step up Football senior class leaves open leadership spots
@theoudaily oudaily
biceps as his teammates jumped up celebrating. Oklahoma was off the bubble. They were given a second chance — they were given life. “I was a little scared, I’m not going to lie,” junior center Jamuni McNeace joked as he sat back down after the announcement. McNeace was most likely speaking for all of Sooner Nation on the afternoon of Sunday, March 11, as they watched the selection show in anticipation. But the Sooners can breathe a sigh of relief. They’re going dancing despite losing eight of their last 10. Once on top of the college basketball world in January, Oklahoma has recently hit rock bottom, winning only
ABBY BITTERMAN @ Abby_Bitterman
Every year the Sooners lose seniors, but, with the class that is gone now, Oklahoma lost several vocal leaders it will have to replace. The team will now be w ithout senior safeties Steven Parker and Will Johnson, senior defensive end Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and others who were leaders for the defense, and new voices will have to emerge to
fill that leadership void. “I think right now guys want to say things, so you hear them every now and then say it,” defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks said. “It’s just a matter of being confident and going ahead and take the reins, not waiting and seeing if it’s okay.” It is difficult to replace guys like Parker and Johnson, Cooks said, both athletically and vocally. One guy Cooks has seen start to emerge as a leader for the defensive backs is junior corner Parnell Motley. Motley — who has always been known as a trash talker — has done more talking to the guys on his side of the ball so far this spring, Cooks
said. “I’m one of the returning vets,” Motley said. “We don’t (have many) veterans on our secondary, and the young guys look up to us because we’re experienced on the field and been playing a lot of ball games.” While Motley is working on being a leader on the field, junior linebacker Caleb Kelly, who is also looking to fill in some of that void, has had to work on it from the sidelines. Kelly had surgery on his shoulder during the offseason, so he isn’t available for the Sooners this spring, but he is at practice working out as much as he can. Still, not being able to participate hasn’t stopped
Kelly from trying to be more of a leader for his team and his defense. “We had a lot of those guys leave that were leaders ... so me, I have to step it up a little bit and be more of a vocal guy,” junior linebacker Caleb Kelly said. “Make sure that those young guys coming in, they know what it’s like. They can’t just mess around ... You can’t waste your time. I’m already on year three, so just telling them how fast it goes. You really want to handle your business and maximize your time here.” He’s helping coach his younger teammates on the plays while learning himself, he said, and he’s tried to make sure practice is still fun
while they work hard. There are a number of players on the defense who could emerge in leadership roles for Oklahoma. It will be a growing process, though, Cooks said, as players learn how to say things in the right way. That’s something sophomore linebacker Kenneth Murray has been working on with his coaches. “Last year I was a leader, but I just didn’t know how to lead,” Murray said. “Just learning when to say certain things, how to motivate my guys, stuff like that is really what I’m learning this year.” Abby Bitterman abbybitt@ou.edu
4•
NEWS
March 15-18, 2018
OU increases gender diversity Department hires more women as faculty members JANA ALLEN
@ janaabananaax
When Kirsten de Beurs joined her academic department in 2010, she was one of two female faculty members. Today, she is one of seven. The increase in diversity in her department was kick-started by a grant given to the OU Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability from Oklahoma’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, which focuses on increasing institutions’ capacities to do competitive research and increase hiring diversity. De Beurs became chair of the department in 2015 after several new female faculty members were hired. In 2012, Renee McPherson, associate professor and university co-director of the South Central Climate Science Center, joined them and soon she and a team of others received the EPSCoR grant that included funding for three new hires.
All of these hires ended up being women, bringing more of a gender balance to the department. “Even though we’re not completely balanced just yet, it’s a lot better,” de Beurs said. “I think this is a collegial department that was very interested in kind of diversifying to begin with, but with help from EPSCoR ... I think we started paying extra attention to hiring minorities in our other searches.” One of the main focuses the EPSCoR grant placed on the department was to try to hire a more diverse group of faculty members, de Beurs said. McPherson said that, throughout the process, the department members stopped and asked themselves if the pool of candidates was diverse enough before they moved on to the interview stage. McPherson said there was one pool that they felt was not diverse enough, and they started over. The department applied this tactic to its other searches, even those not related to EPSCoR, making sure that everyone was treated in the same way. The department hired two female assistant professors in 2014 through the grant and
CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY
Kirsten de Beurs, chair and associate professor of geography and environmental sustainability, talks to a reporter during an interview on March 8.
also made three hires not related to EPSCoR. One of those hires was a woman, assistant professor Rebecca Loraamm. The department most recently hired Mary Lawhon, assistant professor, through EPSCoR in 2017. Lawhon is the seventh woman to join the department’s faculty. De Beurs said since she’s been on faculty, the department has increased the number of degree programs from around 50 to about 200. De Beurs said that, at the same time, the department has seen an increase in the number of female students, which rose from about 35 to 40 percent to about 50 to 55 percent. “So is that because we have hired more women?” de
Beurs said. “I don’t know — or is it because maybe women are more attracted to some of the degrees that we’re offering now, or is it a little bit of both? I suspect it’s all kind of tangled up in a way.” Both de Beurs and McPherson said that they believe having more females on the faculty is good for female students. Female leaders can be someone they can look up to and have conversations they may not be comfortable having with a male, McPherson said. “I remember back when I was a graduate student here at OU in the school of meteorology, and there were no female faculty members,” McPherson said. “So there
was really not anybody that you felt like you could talk to, who you felt like understood, kind of, your psyche.” McPherson said that when she was in the early stages of her career, she asked her boss if he thought her having children would hurt her career. “He basically said, ‘Yes, you should wait for five or ten years, get your career established and then think about having a family,’” McPherson said. “Well, that’s not the type of advice that I think most women would give.” McPherson said that she makes every effort to tell young women that if they want and are in the position to start families, they should not have to wait because of their jobs. “My hope is that male and female faculty members are seeing that, because there are women role models out there like Dr. de Beurs, who has a family, and Dr. (Laurel) Smith, who has a child, they’re successful and have a family — that people don’t have to put that off, to choose their career or their family,” McPherson said. Monica Mustain, a graduate research assistant who is working toward her master’s of science in geography at
OU, was previously a student at Illinois State University and New Mexico State University. Mustain said that being part of the OU Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability has been a different experience because her previous departments were much more male-dominated. “Personally, I’ve been applying for jobs a lot recently, and it has been important that — if companies post their top people in their company — it’s been important that there’s been a mix of male and female,” Mustain said. Mustain said she has enjoyed working with all of the recent hires, male and female. She said they have brought a lot of energy to the department and work hard to make it the best it can be by doing good research and bringing in the best people. “The evidence shows that a more diverse group of people working together ends up with better solutions to problems,” McPherson said. “If we’re good academicians, then we should follow what peer-reviewed research shows us.” Jana Allen
jana.r.allen-1@ou.edu
Boren receives monument CLASSIFIEDS Statue to honor OU president’s legacy, contributions KATE PERKINS @Kate_perkins6
A statue depicting OU President David Boren will be unveiled next month during a weekend honoring his leadership and birthday. The statue will be unveiled at 11 a.m. April 21 in the garden west of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, and the OU community is invited to attend. The event coincides with Boren’s 77th birthday, said OU press secretary Matt Epting in an email. Although the statue was commissioned over a decade ago, Boren requested that it be placed in storage until his retirement. It was privately funded by a group of supporters who wanted to
north of Monnet Hall, where he attended law school in the 1960s. The bottom of the statue features a relief of Molly Shi Boren, honoring her dedication to the university as well, Epting said. All 13 presidents of the university are represented in small statues outside Evans Hall, aside from larger statues of George Lynn Cross, William Bennett Bizzell and David Ross Boyd, Epting said. The unveiling is surrounded by a weekend of events to celebrate the leadership of David Boren and Molly Shi CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY Boren, including a celebraOU President David Boren stands on the field before the Red tion dinner and reception River Rivalry game Oct. 14. A statue of Boren will be unveiled on April 20 and a president’s next month. concert in Sharp Hall on honor Boren’s service to the OU’s first president David April 20, according to an inuniversity, Epting said. Ross Boyd, on the South vitation for the weekend. The statue was sculpted Oval, as well as the sculpture by Paul Moore, an OU pro- of George Lynn Cross on the fessor in figurative sculp- North Oval, Epting said. Kate Perkins ture. Moore also sculpted Boren’s statue will be inmperkins5@ou.edu the Seed Sower, inspired by stalled in the garden just Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy Parker March 15, 2018
Previous Solution
ACROSS 1 Screen component 5 Sprays 10 Some lethal slitherers 14 Sandwich cookie brand 15 Remove a cravat 16 Spelling or Amos 17 Lay ___ (chastise) 18 Agenda 19 Pre-cal math course 20 Wish of patriotic Netherlanders? 23 It comes full circle 24 Dawning 25 Bus stations 28 Show concern 30 Admit bluntly 31 Medina resident 33 Chinese leader Zedong 36 Motto of eager bloodhounds? 40 Stressful hospital sections 41 “The Tempest” character 42 Matinee hero
3/15
Monday- Very Easy Tuesday-Easy Wednesday- Easy Thursday- Medium Friday - Hard
Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.
43 Top-billed actor 44 Premolar’s neighbor 46 Old Toyota 49 Throw for a loss 51 Words from a lazy lead guitarist? 57 Far offshore 58 Lion noises 59 Sneaking suspicion, e.g. 60 Par for the course 61 Low-voiced singer 62 Eggy drinks 63 Olympic sword 64 Handle the wheel 65 Poetic cave DOWN 1 Do drudge work 2 Shore eagle 3 Stone paving block 4 Cooler relatives 5 Deep contemplaters 6 Small bay 7 Infection type 8 Reddish monkey 9 Glimpsed 10 Make harmonious 11 Puts in like piles 12 Monetary value
13 Aiming aid 21 Craft shop buy 22 Like some Greek columns 25 Broad hollow 26 Even a single time 27 Stew holders 28 Barbell exercise 29 Toothpaste tube org. 31 Recipe instruction 32 Banqueted 33 Modest skirt style 34 Shortly, to Shakespeare 35 Get an eyeful 37 Bigmouthed snapper
38 Elizabethan or Victorian 39 Fire starter 43 Street for kids 44 Insert bleeps 45 Hit - run play link 46 Splinterremoving tool 47 Moral teller 48 Cordwood measure 49 Imperial edict 50 Deconstruct a sentence 52 Spheres for astronomers 53 Paint unit 54 Hydrogen’s lack 55 Brand of toy blocks 56 Have legs?
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HOROSCOPE By Eugenia Last
Copyright 2017, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2018 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- You’ll feel passionate about life, your responsibilities and doing what you can to get ahead. A disciplined approach and an energetic and positive attitude will lead to success and greater opportunities. ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Don’t share personal information, passwords or possessions. Being secretive will keep you safe and ward off any attempt by someone looking to make some fast cash or take advantage of you. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Put your energy into something you enjoy doing. A creative outlet will do you a world of good and help you realize that you do have something unique to offer.
3/14 2018 Andrews McMeel Syndication 3/12 ©©2018 Andrews McMeel Syndication www.upuzzles.com www.upuzzles.com
HELP WANTED
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Don’t be too eager to share with someone digging into your past or trying to be overly friendly. Protect your reputation and question other people’s motives. CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Your strength will come from your insight and ability to express your feelings and what means the most to you. Don’t hold back if you want to gain ground when dealing with important relationships. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Overspending on things you don’t need will be your downfall. Consider being more of a minimalist when it comes to lifestyle, love and entertainment. Look for cheaper ways to have fun. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- You’ll be drawn into someone else’s dream. Before you promise to take
part, consider what’s entailed. You should consider taking a pass and focusing more on something you want to do. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Do whatever is required to take care of the responsibilities concerning the younger or older people in your life. It’s the little things you do that will make the biggest difference. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- You can make headway at home and with important relationships if you take responsibility for your chores or the changes you want to make and get things done. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Getting together with friends, relatives or someone you’d like to do business with will be productive. The decisions you make will lead to positive results. Love and romance are highlighted. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You may want change, but that’s no reason to make an unnecessary move. Don’t feel deprived just because someone is bragging about how much he or she has. Live life your way. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Think it, feel it and do it. The changes you bring about will reflect exactly what you want to see happen. Embrace change. Love is featured.
6
• March 15-18, 2018
SPORTS
George Stoia, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/sports • Twitter: @OUDailySports
Orlando Brown redeems himself
OU Pro Day proves beneficial for exSooner left tackle GEORGE STOIA @GeorgeStoia
O k la h o ma l e f t t a ck l e Orlando Brown redeemed himself Wednesday at the Sooners’ Pro Day after having a historically poor day at the NFL Combine. During his time at Oklahoma Brown was a standout offensive lineman, widely considered as one of the best in the country. Brown left the Sooners a year early for the draft with hopes of being a top pick. But Brown’s poor performance at the NFL Combine in early March is a thing of the past. “I felt good, my mind was right,” Brown said. “At the combine, it just snowballed for me after the bench.” At the combine, Brown was one of the most talkedabout participants, running a dismal 5.85 40-yard dash and getting only 14 reps on the bench. Wednesday, Brown ran a 5.63 and got 18 reps. His former quarterback, Baker Mayfield, wasn’t surprised. “We knew what he was capable of, we also know that his combine testing and stuff like that doesn’t really matter when you give up zero sacks all season,” Mayfield. “He did well today, saved some face, put himself in a better spot.” Former Sooners tight end Mark Andrews, who has also been training with Brown, knew Brown’s performance didn’t reflect his ability. “I think everyone has that
Emmanuel Beal
Oklahoma had its annual Pro Day on Wednesday. Here are some of the notable results:
Broad jump: 9 feet 8 inches Vertical jump: 35 inches 40-yard dash: 4.45 seconds Bench press: 12 reps
Du’Vonta Lampkin
Orlando Brown
Broad jump: 8 feet 4 inches Vertical jump: 28.5 inches 40-yard dash: 5.08 inches Bench press: 31 reps
Broad jump: 7 feet 5 inches Vertical jump: 25.5 inches 40-yard dash: 5.63 seconds Bench press: 18 reps
Jordan Smallwood
Steven Parker
Broad jump: 10 feet 6 inches Vertical jump: 36.5 inches 40-yard dash: 4.55 seconds Bench press: 9 reps
Broad jump: 10 feet 10 inches Vertical jump: 39 inches 40-yard dash: 4.52 seconds Bench press: 21 reps
Jordan Thomas
Jeff Badet
40-yard dash: 4.55 seconds
Broad jump: 10 feet 11 inches Vertical jump: 39.5 inches 40-yard dash: 4.27 seconds Bench press: 16 reps
Ogbonnia Okoronkwo PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
Junior offensive lineman Orlando Brown (left) performs at OU Pro Day on March 14.
one bad day, that one bad time, unfortunately it came on one of the biggest stages,” Andrews said. “But he comes out here and shows everybody what he’s been doing, and I think that shows organizations that it was just a bad day.” Brown is an exceptional talent on tape, but even Brown himself knows his performance at the combine hurt his status. “Measurables are measurables, and that’s what the
general managers and head coaches and scouts use, and it’s understood,” Brown said. “You can’t knock it. You’ve got all these guys that have run 4.9s and been successful. But then you’ve got these guys that have run 4.9s and have been bad.” Before the combine, Brown was projected as a first to second round pick, but he has recently dropped to the fourth or fifth round. While Brown’s stock may not be as good as he had
Vertical jump: 10 feet 5 inches 40-yard dash: 4.74
originally thought, he’s staying positive and hopes teams realize how good he can be. “I think I’m an unusual prospect with the way my film is and my unusual testing — a pretty big deficiency,” Brown said. “Hopefully these coaches recognize who I am as a person, that I’m going to continue to work.”
George Stoia
PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
george.s.stoia-1@ou.edu
Senior quarterback Baker Mayfield throws at OU Pro Day on March 14.
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