INSIDE
“The Dark Knight Rises” will be the end of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy — and that’s how it should be. (See page 5)
TODAY
The Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, 615 E. Robinson St. There will be a selection of vegetables, fruits and flowers.
Joe Cocker and Huey Lewis and the News will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. at the OKC Zoo Amphitheater, 2011 NE 50th St., Oklahoma City. Tickets range from $42 to $125.
FRIDAY
The 1952 film, “Moulin Rouge,” will be screened at 6 and 9 p.m. in Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art’s Sandy Bell Gallery. The movie is based on the artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.
SATURDAY
Early Beat, Brother Gruesome and Pilgrim and Pine will play a show at 9 p.m. at The Opolis, 113 N. Crawford Ave. Tickets will be $5 day-of-show.
SUNDAY
Camille Harp and John Calvin will perform as part of the Summer Breeze Concert Series from 7 to 10 p.m. at Lions Park, 450 S. Flood Ave. Harp is described as folk/ country pop, and Calvin as blues and jazz-based.
MONDAY
There is a Raja Yoga Meditation course for beginners at 7 p.m. at the Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Meditation Center, 4340 N.W. 23rd St., Oklahoma City. Admission is free.
TUESDAY
Richard Love, Bryan English and Nate Laughlin will be playing as part of the Summer Acoustic series from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Othellos, 434 Buchanan Ave. Admission is free. For a full calendar of events, visit oudaily.com
BATMAN V OL . 9 7, I S S U E 16 3
THURSDAY
1940s
1966
1989
1990s
1997
2005
The evolution of the Caped Crusader From campy to classic and goofy to gritty, portrayals of Batman have seen it all SHAWN STAFFORD Life & Arts Reporter
The Dark Knight has seen many faces since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27, published in May 1939. Since his debut, Batman has become one of DC comics’ flagship heroes — spawning movies, TV shows, animated series and a handful of games. “Starting from With what will be the final chapter in 1989, Batman Christopher Nolan’s movie series coming could be seen in out this week, it seems like a perfect time numerous movies, to look back at Batman’s past. an animated Soon after he first appeared in Detective series and a Comics, Batman received a comic of spinoff series.” his own in 1940. This early Batman follows the same motivation of the current Batman: His parents are murdered in a senseless crime, so he decides to bring justice to an apparently lawless Gotham City. The main difference between the current Batman and the original is the degree of violence. The contemporary Bruce Wayne will beat people to a pulp, but he would never kill them because that’s against his moral code. The original Batman didn’t have such hang ups and would stop criminals at any cost. Everything was going great for Batman until his sales started to decline near the beginning of the 1960s. Most comic book characters SEE BATMAN PAGE 5
AT A GLANCE Batman logo changes Between the various comic book, TV and movie adaptations of Batman, the Dark Night’s logo has been redesigned many times. Here are a few of the looks over the years.
“Batman with Robin, The Boy Wonder” (1941)
“Batman” TV series with Adam West (1966)
“Batman, The Dark Knight Returns” (1989)
“Batman Knightfall” (1993)
“Batman Beyond” (1999)
“The New Adventures of Batman” (1977)
“Batman, Gotham Knights” (2003)
“Batman” (1989)
“Batman Begins” (2005)
“Bringing you Tomorrow’s News” A S PE C I A L P U BL IC AT ION F ROM
J U LY 182 4 , 2 01 2
WILL THE FILM RISE TO SUCCESS?
CAPED CRUSADER TO HIT THEATERS AGAIN THIS WEEK “The Dark Knight Rises” — the final in film in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy — comes out Friday in theaters nationwide. The film’s release comes four years after “The Dark Knight” and seven years after “Batman Begins.” In the movie, Bane (Tom Hardy) forces Batman (Christian Bale) to come out of retirement after an eight-year hiatus. Bane poses a new kind of threat to Gotham City and Batman himself. Bane is the character famous for “the breaking of the bat” in Batman #497 and is widely regarded as one of the Dark Knight’s most dastardly villains. “The Dark Knight” made $158.4 million during its opening weekend, according to IMDb. com, and theaters expect the series’ final installment to eclipse that number. Warren Theatres in Moore has five screens showing the movie at midnight Friday, but the theater will continue to open more screens as demand dictates, said Kody Grubbs, box office representative for the theater. — Daily staff reports
PHOTO PROVIDED
THIS WEEK
2 • July 18-24, 2012
Photo of the Week 160 Copeland Hall, 860 Van Vleet Oval Norman, OK 73019-2052 phone: 405-325-3666 email: dailynews@ou.edu
Chris Lusk
Editor in Chief
James Corley
Managing Editor
Hillary McLain Campus Editor
Kedric Kitchens Sports Editor
Kyle Margerum
Life & Arts Editor
Kayley Gillespie Opinion Editor
Melodie Lettkeman Visual Editor
COLLEGE OF LAW
OU names new legal assistant director Associate Law Dean Michael Scaperlanda will direct the Legal Assistant Education department, according to a press release. The program was founded in 1968 and leads OU Law Center’s paralegal course offerings and certification program. Scaperlanda joined OU Law faculty in 1989 after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law with High Honors in 1984 and practicing law in Washington, D.C., and Austin. His work history includes having served as special assistant to the university president, faculty fellow in the Norman campus provost’s office and serving as chair on several committees. For more information, visit law.ou.edu. Kendra Whitman, Campus Reporter
Ricardo Patino/The Daily
Incoming freshman Kyle Catchings (center) is greeted by Camp Crimson staff, cheerleading camp participants and others during check-in for the Boomer Session of Camp Crimson on Thursday, July 12. Visit OUDaily.com for more coverage of Camp Crimson including videos, slideshows, stories and more.
Tobacco ban
No citations issued yet for smoking on campus OUPD still working to raise awareness about new policy Tory Smith
Campus Reporter
After two weeks as a smokefree campus, OUPD has given zero citations and a handful of verbal warnings, a police spokesman said. Since the tobacco ban went into effect July 1, officers have seen people smoking on campus but are only reminding violators about the new ban, OUPD Lt. Bruce Chan said. “We’ve made a few contacts
but have not issued any citations,” he said. “This is a new thing, so we’re going to take each case as they come up.” Chan said he hopes voluntary compliance and the university’s efforts to publicize the ban will be more prevalent than citations to enforce the tobacco-free policy. During the spring semester, OU began using email notifications, outdoor signs, newspaper advertisements, posters and on-campus advertising to try to raise awareness of the policy, university spokesman Michael Nash said. Nearly 60 signs
WHERE
YOU LIVE!
have been posted across campus to remind everyone that the university is now smoke-free, he said. People also may be alerted to the policy change once they notice there are no longer any cigarette disposals. Officials are in the process of removing about 300 cigarette disposal receptacles, Nash said. Brett Burkland, undergraduate academic adviser for the English department, said he wonders how much
time groundskeepers actually spend cleaning up cigarette litter. “People smoke all the time out there — or used to — and I never noticed a huge mess or anything,” Burkland said. Burkland said he has mixed feelings about the tobacco ban. “On the one hand, it seems to create a cleaner campus, but on the other hand, it seems maybe to be seriously denying people some freedoms,” he said. “It must be
very difficult for people who smoke, [like] employees because they’re stuck at work. I don’t know where they would go.” The university has no records of citations given to those smoking within 25 feet of a door, and Chan said he can’t recall any time when OUPD wrote a citation for violators of this rule. “I don’t think it’s been a very big issue,” he said. “I’m not aware of it being a big issue.”
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July 18-24, 2012 • 3
COLUMN » Football
How Paterno let the castle he built consume him SPORTS COLUMNIST
open the door, let someone in, point to Sandusky and say, “This is wrong. We don’t condone this. This isn’t what Penn State is about.” But he couldn’t do it. Although Paterno’s pristine reputation would have Dillon Phillips been marred slightly, he dphillips85l@ou.edu could’ve saved his legacy, his job and, most imporoe Paterno was once tantly, innocent children from unspeakable trauma. one of the most reIf he just would have done spected and revered a little damage control. If coaches in college foothe just would have done ball, and his program was the right thing. one of the most reputable These are the things of in collegiate athletics. Oedipus and Thyestes, and For nearly half a century, JoePa fits the role of the Happy Valley housed an tragic hero to a T. institution that reflected Here was a man so obthe beauty and innocence sessed with how his legacy of Mount Nittany and the would define him that he green, foliaged hills that allowed the most heinous surrounded it. of crimes to be commitOr so we thought. ted under his watch and When Paterno built the sheltered the man who Penn State football procommitted them to avoid gram — his football protarnishing his own name. A gram — from the ground man thought to be morally up, he built a castle. upright and of high charHigh walls and a deep acter swept one of the bigmoat kept intruders out, gest scandals in the history and Paterno sat atop his of college athletics under throne, tucked away in the rug to protect that what he led us to believe reputation. was some sort of utopia Irony of the most ex— a place where student treme degree. took precedence over So now, in retrospect, we athlete and character have to ask ourselves: How was preached as often as did this happen? How can fundamentals. we keep it from happening He had created a foragain? Who is responsible tress. But brick and morfor holding wrongdoers actar are impenetrable from countable when the poweither side. And when ers that be refuse to do so? Jerry Sandusky lit a fire Penn State is a perfect from within that would example of why the castle consume a program and a model is unacceptable university, the flame was trapped within those walls for athletic programs or until everything inside had institutions of any kind. Transparency is of paraburned. mount importance, and A legacy reduced when it is concealed, justo smoldering ash. Incinerated from the inside tice follows suit. People rise to their feet out. All Paterno had to do was to applaud the efforts of the
J
Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press
A statue of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno stands outside Beaver Stadium on Thursday, July 12, in State College, Pa.
“Penn State is a perfect example of why the castle model is unacceptable for athletic programs or institutions of any kind. Transparency is of paramount importance, and when it is concealed, justice follows suit.” watchdog journalist when he or she uncovers a political scandal or a government conspiracy, but in the world of sports, whenever journalists pry for information, it’s called intrusive or inconvenient. We’re digging up dirt, trying to cast
someone in a bad light just to get a story. We’re too cynical. This way of thinking has to change. The paradigm Penn State set is fatally flawed. It gave a coaching legend tyrannical power to limit access and filter
information, allowing for abuse to continue for at least a decade longer than it should have. Yet, athletic departments around the nation are structured similarly to Penn State and present the same set of obstacles that prevented Sandusky’s atrocities from being discovered earlier. If there’s anything we’ve learned from this ordeal, it’s that the current model for athletic departments needs to be reformed. Transparency and accountability go hand-in-
OUDaily.com Hear a breakdown of Joe Paterno’s broken legacy and what it means for the future of Penn State. oudaily.com/sports
hand, and justice can’t be served when partiality is protected. Dillon Phillips is a journalism junior and assistant sports editor at The Daily. You can follow him on Twitter at @DillonPhillips_.
4 • July 18-24, 2012
Phone: 405-325-2521 E-mail: classifieds@ou.edu
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Life’s a little easier with
July 18-24, 2012 • 5
BATMAN: Has undergone multiple makeovers Continued from page 1 face quite the S ophie’s Choice when they aren’t bringing home the bacon for the publisher. One, they can be killed off in a fantastic fashion never to be heard from again. Or two, they’re reinvented in hopes to grow with the changing times, only the strongest will survive here and most will try, but end up being killed. Reinvention was the past of the Caped Crusader and he moved into the 1960s with a fresh coat of paint and a TV show. A lot of Batman’s newfound success can be credited to Adam West. He played the Dark Knight in the 1960s television series, which gave a much campier atmosphere, moving away from the gritty pulp style revenge stories Batman was known for. Batman was back on top, a new bat-mobile, new suit and a television series, things were looking up. Moving through the 1970s, people started to want their dark Batman stories back. By the 1980s, Frank Miller and Alan Moore brought the gritty Batman back with a bang in their respective series, “The Dark Knight Returns� and “Batman: The Killing Joke.� These are highly influential and have helped create the Batman many people today have grown up with. Starting from 1989, Batman could be seen in numerous movies, an animated series and a spinoff series. Tim Burton’s 1989 film “Batman� perpetuated the dark, albeit zany, mood that fans have come to love. Michael Keaton plays a raspy voiced caped crusader that clearly influenced Christian Bale’s performance 16 years later. Michael Keaton goes on to
COLUMN Âť MOVIE PREVIEW
Nolan’s Batman is taking curtain call at just the right time
T
PHOTO PROVIDED
Bruce Wayne, played by Christian Bale, in a scene from “The Dark Knight Rises.� Bale’s portrayal of Batman is based off of darker stories written by Frank Miller and Alan Moore in the 1980s.
play the Bat again in Batman returns. The early 90s was a time of Batmania. The animated series was released in 1992, with it a whole new generation of Bat-head. This show was indoctrinated into the Caped Crusader’s quest. It was dark enough to keep the young ones awake at night, but not so much that parents would keep their children from watching it. Then came the George Clooney version in “Batman
& Robin� — which wasn’t the best in the series. What it does have, though, makes it worth a watch: rocket boots and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Who can beat that? With the recent reboot of the series, Nolan took the darker story line from Miller’s Batman and put Bale in as Bruce Wayne. Starting from the beginning in his aptly titled “Batman Begins,� Nolan’s gritty retelling has garnered mass acclaim and led to a sequel, “The Dark
Knight.� This retelling of the classic Batman vs. Joker is a classic in itself. And all of this has led us to now — “The Dark Knight Rises.� All signs point to this being the end to an amazing era of Batman, with him taking on one of his strongest foes, Bane. It should be interesting to see who will try and top this Batman and to see what the future has in store for the Caped Crusader. Either way, I’m excited to see the outcome of this thrilling trilogy.
his week was LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST always going to be about one thing and one thing only: Batman. I’ve measured time as “days away from July 20â€? ever since the release date for “The Dark Knight James Corley Risesâ€? was announced. I jcorley@ou.edu fully expect I’ll have seen the film no fewer than five times before it leaves theaters. Like any good ’90s kid, I watched the animated series (and “Batman Beyondâ€?). Like any kid with good ’60s parents, I watched the classic Adam West series. Like any good nerd, I have a stack of Batman comics at home under a few of Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Universeâ€? releases. And like any sane person, I’ve been looking forward to “The Dark Knight Risesâ€? ever since the credits rolled at the end of “The Dark Knightâ€? premiere four years ago today. We all know director Christopher Nolan is a genius. We all know he resurrected Batman on the silver screen from the depths of George Clooney’s nipple suit. Nolan’s creation is the antithesis of Joel Schumacher’s atrocity, the opposite of Tim Burton’s cartoony imagining, the inevitable adaptation of Miller’s masterpieces. Batman films will probably never be as great as Nolan’s trilogy, which makes his final installment all the more tantalizing. As I write this just more than two days until the premiere, I don’t want Nolan’s series to be over. But I know it needs to be. I could watch more of Batman films until the end of time. So could most of us. Nolan knows that, but he’s doing the right thing: ending it before it goes bad. (And not filming it in cheesy 3-D.) Even the best things in life can grow sour if they’re drawn out long enough, and the American entertainment industry is notorious for squeezing every last dollar out of a possible cash cow — remember how “Lion King 1 ½â€? is a real movie that was made? Nolan wants no part of it. Sure, he could make billions if he extended the series by three or four movies, but he wants to preserve what he’s created. Why add to what’s already perfect and risk tarnishing it? Yeah, there might be a Catwoman spin-off, but for Batman, Nolan has scripted a picturesque beginning, middle and end. And that end is “The Dark Knight Rises.â€? So go see it. If you have already, see it again. Because this week is about Batman. James Corley is a journalism senior.
COLUMN Âť TELEVISION
FILM
Charlie Sheen’s return to TV has shortfalls but not insolvable
UPB to host screening of ‘Ruby Sparks’
LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST
the episodes began to bore Sheen, and he started disliking the direction the show was going. During his tenure with “Two and a Half Men,� Sheen made $1.25 million per show. This figure easily made Sheen the highest-paid Brent Stenstrom television actor in history. b33d5@live.com Why would you throw away a seven-figure paycheck per episode? he man, the myth, The highly controversial the legend Charlie actor was dropped from the Sheen is back at it again on network television. show after 178 episodes due No longer being constrained to his rising “I don’t care� attitude. Cocaine use, refusal by CBS, Sheen has started to go to rehab treatments and a new stint in his colored an overall lackluster perforacting career with his new mance led CBS and Warner television show “Anger Bros. to fire Sheen from the Management.� hit show in March 2011. Sheen began his acting After his dismissal, Sheen career with movie roles, said he was going to sue CBS starring in “Wall Street� and “Major League 2,� but Sheen and Warner Bros. for wrongdid not become a household ful termination and that his name until he began with the return to television would be television show, “Two and a a big one. Sheen’s “big� return to Half Men.� television came in late June, The show premiered with the long-awaited prein 2003 on CBS. The pilot miere of his new television episode caught fire, and the show, “Anger Management.� show set America on fire It is a sitcom loosely based with Sheen playing Charlie on the feature length movie, Harper, Jon Cryer playing “Anger Management (2003),� Charlie’s younger brother starring Jack Nicholson and Allen Harper and Angus T. Adam Sandler. Jones playing Allen’s son, In the spin-off sitcom, Jake. Sheen plays Charlie Gibson, Nearly every show fola failed major league baselowed the same basic plot, ball player who has fallen with Charlie sleeping with back on his psychology some random girl in the beginning of the episode. Then degree. Sheen is accompaas the episode went on, Allen nied by Selma Blair (“Cruel Intentions,� “Hell Boy�), who would interject with some plays Sheen’s therapist, Kate. clever one-liners and Jake Shawnee Smith (“Becker,� would add his naive, child“Saw�) plays Charlie’s exlike opinion. Most episodes ended with wife, Jennifer Gibson. The show follows Gibson Charlie fleeing from his “reas he tries to council his lationship� with the girl he anger management group had met in the beginning of while trying to balance his the episode, and there was relationship with Kate and an “I told you so� moment from Allen. The monotony of his therapist with benefits, as
T
The Union Programming Board and Fox Searchlight will host a premiere of “Ruby Sparks� on Wednesday. “Ruby Sparks� stars Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine�), Zoe Kazan (“It’s Complicated�) and Annette Bening (“The Kids Are All Right�). The screening will begin at 8 p.m. at the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Meacham Auditorium and is free to the public. The directors of “Little Miss Sunshine� (2006), Jonathan Dayton and Valarie Faris, came together to direct the film. The movie opens in theaters this August. Mary Rogers, Life & Arts Reporter
PHOTO PROVIDED
Charlie Sheen is back with a new television series, “Anger Management.�
well as helping raise his teenage daughter, Sam (played by Daniela Bodadilla). When “Anger Management� premiered its first episode June 28, it shattered the record for ratings with 5.74 million viewers tuning in — the mostwatched sitcom premiere in television history. Even with all the success “Anger Management� had
on its premiere, ratings have continually dropped, and the lack of funny lines really is a disappointment for those die-hard Sheen fans. What made “Two and a Have Men� special was its ability to keep adding to the storyline and be original in content and character development. “Anger Management� is almost the opposite. It gives the
audience little versatility and almost no back story. However, “Anger Management� is in its first season, and these shortfalls can be fixed. I hope so because it has the cast and talent to make a great sitcom. Brent Stenstrom is a broadcasting and electronic media junior.
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6 • July 18-24, 2012
SafeRide
Students influenced change, official says Change to voucher system came from student suggestion
AT A GLANCE New vouchers Students can pick up vouchers Monday through Friday in Oklahoma Memorial Union, Room 181. Students will need to present a current student ID to receive up to three vouchers per week.
Tory Smith
Campus Reporter
The decision to change SafeRide was made after students, campus leaders and staff offered suggestions to help shorten long wait times — which included a voucher program, a university official said. Beginning this week, students will be allotted three vouchers per week that will allow them to use the SafeRide program as long as they present a voucher to the cab driver, OU student programs director Brynn Daves said. Daves said the need to revise the SafeRide system came from two main issues: the program’s growing popularity and the “middleman” role the SafeRide dispatchers played in the call process. SafeR ide dispatchers told Daves the call process was often backlogged due to the sheer number of students calling each weekend night, she said. In addition, any mistake made when a student’s information was taken left the SafeRide and cab company dispatchers “going in circles” as they retraced each step of the process, she said. Daves said she believed the system needed to be more efficient to help shorten wait times and keep students from leaving before a cab picked them up. Modern dance and human relations junior Lauren Lundeen said she likes the new system. “One of the main reasons is it took about 20 minutes for SafeRide to get to students, and students had to go through multiple people,” she said. “Now you can immediately call taxis and get them there in half the time.” Clyda Teegerstrom, owner of Yellow Cab of Norman, said that between 8 to 10 percent of the approximately 70 calls her company receives each night are “dead calls” — calls in which students don’t need the ride after all but don’t call to cancel. She said her company receives very few canceled calls per weekend night, but her cab drivers appreciate when students inform them that they no longer need the ride they requested. When students don’t call to cancel, cab drivers waste gas and miss the chance to give rides to people who actually need them, she said.
Source: OU Student Affairs
by making it more difficult for students to get a safe ride back home. “It almost promotes more drinking and driving because students without vouchers can no longer get a free ride,” he said. Braxton said he uses the current SafeRide system about once every weekend.
Other changes Ricardo Patino/The Daily
Dandre Fisher, adult higher education graduate student, works as he waits for students to pick up their SafeRide vouchers Tuesday, July 17, in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Students are allowed three SafeRide vouchers each week.
smoothly as possible, Vice President Rainey Sewell said in an email. The vouchers have two features to alert drivers if a voucher has been copied, Daves said. Vouchers will be made of special paper distinguishable by touch, and a hidden design will become visible on copied vouchers, she said. SafeRide will determine how many vouchers to print each week based on the Kyven Zhao/The Daily number of vouchers picked SafeRide is a taxi service that will give students a free ride home up the week before, she from the bar on the weekends. said.
“I truly hope it works out. We want it to work. We’re OU alums, and we’ll work with [SafeRide] in every way possible, as long as it’s economically feasible.” Clyda Teegerstrom, Yellow Cab of Norman owner
During the weekend of April 26, 77 dead calls were reported out of 1,034 total people transported, Daves said. Lary Love, office manager of Airport Express of Oklahoma City, also said his company keeps track of canceled calls. The company doesn’t bill for canceled calls, but they are not a big loss of income, he said.
In addition to campuswide surveys, SafeRide held several focus groups, Daves said. Daves said she invited students who had expressed concerns or submitted feedback to participate in the focus groups to help determine what changes needed to be made to reduce wait times. “It’s not often that students want to come talk about SafeRide, so I thought, ‘This is my opportunity to get feedback from someone who is actually using the program,’” she said. SafeRide dispatchers and student leaders from some of the university’s larger organizations — such as the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council and UOSA — participated in this process, she said. UOSA leaders support the new system and want to help students transition as
Rapid growth Since SafeRide began in 2004, the number of passengers picked up each year has gone from 3,425 to 35,544, according to ridership reports. And although the number of students using the free service has grown every year, the biggest jump came in 2011-12, when SafeRide was used 14,066 times more than the previous year. There are typically 18 to 20 cabs participating in the program each weekend, Daves said. Daves said she doesn’t think more cabs will be needed since wait times should drop dramatically with the new system. However, SafeRide can negotiate its contract with the cab companies if more cabs are needed in the future, she said. The cab companies inform SafeRide of how many more cabs they can afford to
insure and provide, she said. Daves also said SafeRide is open to allowing a third cab company to provide the service if the need arises but doesn’t think the program will need one yet. Yellow Cab has worked with SafeRide since it began in 2004, and the company puts out 10 cabs each weekend. That number could increase if the need arose, Teegerstrom said. “I truly hope it works out,” she said. “We want it to work. We’re OU alums, and we’ll work with [SafeRide] in every way possible, as long as it’s economically feasible.” Teegerstrom said she hopes the voucher program will prevent students from using SafeRide for a free ride from one bar to another, as some have in the past. Daves said she thinks the limited number of vouchers will keep students from using SafeRide as a “chauffeur” from one stop to the next. She said the goal of the program is to make sure students get home safely, not to give them five free rides a night. The cab company dispatchers will verify that students have a voucher when they call, Daves said. They can still use the cab if they do not have a voucher, but they will have to pay for the ride, she said. Public relations senior Braxton Banning said he wonders if the new voucher system will create problems
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In addition to adding vouchers, officials restructured the program’s logistics in an effort to streamline the process. Previously, when students called 405-325-RIDE, they spoke to a student dispatcher who verified the caller’s name, pickup location, drop-off location and phone number. A different dispatcher would then call the cab company with the information, Daves said. Now, students looking for a ride home will call one of the cab companies directly — either Yellow Cab or Airport Express — using the phone numbers listed on the voucher, she said. Students who call 405-325RIDE will hear a recorded message explaining the new system. Officials hope cutting out one of the phone calls will help reduce opportunities for mistakes to happen. “We’ve had situations when things have gotten miscommunicated, especially when it’s very busy at certain times of the night,” Daves said. Teegerstrom said she thinks it would help if student dispatchers continued to take down the initial information from students requesting a SafeRide cab. In particular, she said she worries drivers will no longer have a record of how long it takes them to pick up each student if there isn’t a student dispatcher writing down the time the cab is requested. “I think that student dispatchers that were more involved in each individual call would certainly be good,” she said.
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