Sept. 15-21, 2020

W E E K LY E D I T I O N | S E P T E M B E R 15 - 2 1, 2 0 2 0 | O U D A I LY. C O M

OUDAILY OU’s independent student voice since the last pandemic

Professors losing faith in contact tracing system· pg2

‘LACK OF CONCERN OR CARE’ INSIDE UNIVERSITY’S ISOLATION HOUSING

EDWARD REALI/THE DAILY

OU Traditions Square West on Sept. 11.

Resident describes experience inside Traditions West after being exposed to COVID-19 and forced to isolate for 14 days BLAINE TEAGUE @teague_blaine

Editor’s note: Blaine Teague is a reporter for The OU Daily Culture Desk who was required to self-isolate on campus after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. This is his account of his 14 days inside Traditions West.

“You have an hour to pack up everything you’ll need for the next 14 days,” the man on the other end of the phone told me on August 26th, just four days into the official school year. I was to gather my belongings for the next two weeks and report to an apartment in Traditions West where I would be quarantined due to my exposure to COVID-19 from a friend in the Couch residential hall. I was told that we would be provided food, but I would need to bring bedding, toiletries, and shower supplies. I began to frantically pack clothes, books, my laptop and things to keep me occupied for the next two weeks of confinement. I was instructed to drive myself down once they had sent me the address to the apartment via text. I said my goodbyes to my roommate and suitemate and was on my way.

I arrived at the apartment complex where I found further instructions for how to survive my two weeks of quarantine. I was going to have food delivered to me each day, I was to stay in quarantine for a full 14 days regardless of how many negative test results I got (which happened to be four negative tests in my entire quarantine period), I was to have no visitors, a nurse would be in contact with me each day in order to check on me and I was to fill out a maintenance form if I needed any assistance with technical matters.

Unfortunately for me, I arrived at 5:45 p.m., just too late to order dinner from the university delivery service. I decided to email the person placed in charge of our food delivery and asked if I could still make an order. Luckily, she said yes and was able to help me.

The next day, after I woke up to check my phone, I was informed that the university had changed its policy regarding our meals. We were to go to the Couch Restaurants or any of the other restaurants on campus to get food because the University was unable to deliver food to each exposed student.

This was problematic for me, because as I mentioned earlier, I had not brought any food or snacks to my temporary housing. This meant that I then had to go to the grocery store after being exposed to COVID-19 because otherwise I would have no groceries for the entire two weeks. For my entire quarantine period, I ended up going to Couch Restaurants or the Oklahoma Memorial Union nearly every day.

Food was not the only problem for me during quarantine. It was a day after getting groceries that I met my first unwelcome visitor. A cockroach, the size of two of my fingers, had decided to spend the last moments of his life sunbathing in the windowsill next to my bed. For context, I am not a bug person. I was absolutely mortified that this behemoth of a cockroach had invaded my bedroom of all places. However it was the only one I had seen, so I disposed of it and began blocking the space under my door so there’d be no more. I figured that maybe this was the only one because surely if there were more, then I would’ve seen them by now. I was wrong.

After this, I began finding these cockroaches and other bugs all over the place. Every night when I came into the kitchen, there would be anywhere between 4-8 cockroaches climbing on my drawers, counters, and under the fridge. Killing them proved to be a difficult task as they were remarkably quick and knew their escape route well. As scared of bugs as I am, my only option was to launch my shoe at them and hope I could kill a couple before they would flee. I began finding dead crickets in different nooks and crannies, several dead spiders in the shower as well as live ones crawling about in my different articles of clothing, some mysterious beetles I’d find dead on the linoleum floor and my personal favorite, the strange grey bugs that woke me up by crawling on my neck and face one night.

By this point, just two weeks into my freshman year, I desperately wanted to go home. However, my mother is immunocompromised and wasn’t comfortable with me living there due to her high risk if she were to catch the virus. My only option at this point was to move to the other bedroom in my apartment, seal off any potential entrances for bugs, and hope for the best.

My quarantine experience for the past two weeks

has been quite miserable to put it frankly. The confusion with food, the guilt from potentially exposing countless people, sharing my apartment with who knows how many bugs, and the lack of human contact has been anything but fun. I’ve even developed a fun sense of paranoia about a Gregor Samsa-sized cockroach appearing behind me at any given moment.

It’s also worth noting that by “COVID-19 response team members checking on you,” while in isolation, they mean that you will be sent a link to a health form once every 4-5 days. If you don’t fill the form out, nothing happens and they just send it again four days later. This entire time, not a single person aside from my friends in quarantine with me have come to check on me for anything. If I had developed a high grade fever and was unable to get up to my phone, there’s no telling what could’ve ended up happening. I can’t speak for every student who has had to quarantine, but the lack of concern or care from the university has been infuriating. Even while writing this, on what should’ve been my last day of quarantine, I sat there waiting for housing to respond to one of my countless emails and calls so that I could finally get out.

Several of my friends who have had to go through a similar experience are dropping out of OU in fear that they may have to go through this process again, and I cannot blame them a single bit. This has been my entire college experience, and I don’t even have immunity to the virus so it’s highly likely I’ll be made to quarantine again. We were told in advance that this would be safe and that we were going to be taken care of, and after reflecting on this past week, I can’t say that either of those things were true.

If anyone who has COVID or has been exposed is reading this and debating between going home and letting the university take care of you, I would advise you to go home. If students or faculty are at a higher risk of dying from COVID-19, then I would advise you to go home. After what I’ve experienced for the past two weeks, this entire situation is anything but safe for the people here.v Blaine Teague

blaineteague@ou.edu

2

NEWS

• Sept. 15-21, 2020

Contact tracing efforts fall short Professors say they will inform classes of positive cases BLAKE DOUGLAS @Blake_Doug918

OU interim Provost and Senior Vice President Jill Irvine released an email Aug. 28 to faculty explaining COVID-19 protocols in the classroom. In the email, Irvine said faculty should not inform their classes if a student in the class tests positive.

Several university faculty, however, have said if a student tests positive in one of their in-person sections, they would inform their class of the potential exposure if they were able to do so in a way that did not identify the affected student.

Misha Klein, an associate professor of anthropology, is teaching all of her classes online this semester. However, Klein said if faced with the decision as many of her colleagues have been, she would share the information in the interest of public health.

Klein said the university’s contact-tracing procedure does not act quickly enough to minimize the virus’s spread.

“When someone’s been exposed, you need to move quickly to minimize exposure of other people and to make sure that people who have been exposed know that they’ve been exposed so they can act,” Klein said. “If we wait for the wheels of bureaucracy to grind along until people are contacted, then there are a whole bunch of other people who are going to be exposed in that interval.”

Prior to Irvine’s Aug. 28 email, Klein said she had informed her online class one student had tested positive without identifying the student. She did so to highlight the benefits of having their class completely virtual during the pandemic.

“I told the students, and of course because my class is online, there was no risk to any of the students and that class had not been exposed. And I told them in order to say, ‘Hey, isn’t it great that we’re online and none of you need to worry,’” Klein said. “‘And by the way, even though one of you got a positive test, you don’t have to miss class and we don’t have to go through this whole rigmarole.’”

Klein said even if her classes were in person this semester, she would have made her class aware of any potential exposures.

“If it had been in-person, I would have said something as

Classroom in Cate Center One Sept. 11. Chairs sit at marked spots to maintain distance between students.

well. It was absolutely shocking to me when the provost wrote to say that we weren’t supposed to share that information,” Klein said. “And in the message that the provost sent, there was no real discussion of the rationale, it was simply a command. This has been what has characterized the administration — they don’t see faculty as partners.

They don’t talk with us as a dialogue.”

Michael Givel, a professor of political science, said there are several instances in which a professor could share information on a potential classroom exposure with their students without violating privacy laws like HIPAA and FERPA. “There’s nothing in HIPAA requirements that prohibits one from talking about (a possible infection) generally,” Givel said. “What it does prohibit an instructor or the university to do is identify an individual or provide information that would reasonably lead to the identity of an individual.”

Documents on frequently asked COVID-19 questions from the U.S. Department of Education also state as long as the information being shared cannot lead to the student being identified, it is legal under FERPA to release information on a positive COVID19 test.

“It depends, but generally

yes — but only if that information is in a non-personally identifiable form,” the documents read. “If an educational agency or institution discloses information about students in non-personally identifiable form, then consent by the parents or eligible students is not needed under FERPA.” In an interview with T h e Wa s h i n g t o n P o s t , Frank LoMonte, director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, said FERPA does not apply to university faculty regardless.

According to the Department of Education documents, if an institution released information that a student was absent due to COVID-19, this would not be considered personally identifiable “as long as there are other individuals at the educational agency or institution who are absent for other reasons.”

In the same documents, the Department of Education states the “HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to education records that are protected by FERPA.” Several legal experts and Department of Education officials also told The Washington Post universities cannot rely on HIPAA and FERPA to restrict information about COVID-19 on their campuses.

Steve Ellis, an associate

professor of philosophy and graduate liaison who is teaching an in-person section this semester, also said he has little faith in the university’s contact-tracing procedure, particularly its heavy reliance on students’ accounts of where they may have been.

“They just don’t catch everybody who needs to be contact-traced, especially because of what incentives a student has to not admit they were doing things of which the university disapproves,” Ellis said. “Partying without masks or whatever else.”

Ellis added he feels the university’s contact-tracing staff is simply not large enough to effectively address every COVID-19 case on campus in enough time to keep the virus from spreading further.

“But also the university is busy,” Ellis said. “I’ve been in contact with tons of people, just through the faculty and staff, who have actually tested positive for COVID, and I’ve never been contacted by anybody.”

Sandie Holguín, a professor of history who is teaching online and in person, also said she has never been contact-traced despite exposure to individuals who tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’ve had contact from students who tested positive, and I have not received any notice (from) any official sources,”

Holguín said. “I know that the official tracers have not been particularly good about doing this.”

In July, OU Director of Media Relations Kesha Keith said OU’s contract tracing is conducted in partnership with the Cleveland County Health Department.

“Goddard Health Center is working with the Cleveland County Health Department to trace contacts of positive cases who are affiliated with the University. Goddard contact-tracers will notify individuals who are considered a direct contact of a positive case,” Keith wrote in a July 24 email.

“Currently, Goddard has appropriate staffing to manage the caseload on campus.”

The university used data from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the American College Health Association to estimate the needed number of tracers, Keith wrote.

Holguín also said she disagreed with the university’s guidance not to inform classes if a classmate tested positive.

“It’s a public health issue.

People have a right to know that there are people who are infected, and this certainly does not go against HIPAA, because we’re not a medical establishment,” Holguín said.

“It doesn’t go against FERPA, because we’re not naming names. … I think transparency

EDWARD REALI/THE DAILY

is absolutely necessary when you’re dealing with a public health crisis like this — it’s insane not to do it.”

Givel said he feels the university’s request to faculty to not inform their classes of a possible infection is an attempt to control information.

“The university has a blanket prohibition on this, and that’s inaccurate. But moreover, the question is, why are they doing this?” Givel said.

“The answer seems pretty straightforward — they obviously don’t want information about this, as much as possible, spread further than it needs to be spread.”

Ellis said while no one in his class has yet tested positive, he would also inform his students if they had been exposed — and echoed Givel’s sentiments on the university’s procedures.

“I think I would say something, because the university’s contact tracing depends upon just (students) describing what’s going on,” Ellis said.

“The university has an incentive to keep the numbers low, and I don’t think they look where they need to be looking.”

Blake Douglas

bdoug99@ou.edu

COVID-19 screening relies on honor system OU administration leaves screening tool up to community BAILEY LEWIS @BaileyLewis75

Administrators won’t enforce completion of OU’s COVID-19 self-screening tool and appropriate use of the tool is based solely on the honor code.

Kesha Keith, OU director of media relations, said OU “urges” anyone who plans to be on campus “to take personal responsibility” in following the university’s COVID-19 protocols, including the screening tool, which determines whether or not an OU student, staff or faculty member can be on campus based on possible or confirmed exposure to the virus.

“The screening tool is voluntary for those who are not directed to fill it out as a condition for campus access, clearance or some other action requested by the university,” Keith said.

W h i l e Ke i t h s a i d t h e u n i v e r s i t y “c a n k e e p

ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN FOISY/THE DAILY

individuals from returning to campus who are infected, or may be infected” until they have been cleared by Goddard Health Services through the screening tool, enforcement relies on an employer or professor to report to the university if a student or employee has returned to campus and not been cleared.

“When the university is notified of noncompliance through the reporting process, each situation is addressed, and an outcome is given individually,” Keith said.

But Minnesota State University in Mankato, which has a comparable COVID-19 screening tool, requires its students, faculty and staff to fill out the

tool every day in order to be allowed on campus, according to its website, and people can be faced with disciplinary action for lying about passing the screening or refusing to do so. All seven universities and 30 colleges in the Minnesota St a t e s y s t e m a re u s i n g the screening, said Dan Benson, director of media re l at i o n s at Mi n n e s o t a

State University, Mankato.

According to the website, employees who do not complete the tool daily “will not be admitted to the workplace, will be considered absent from work without approved leave during their regular assigned work time and may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including discharge.” Any student

who refuses will not be allowed to enter campus buildings, and if they enter anyway, they “may be subject to student code of conduct and may be removed from campus.”

Similarly to OU, Minnesota State University, Mankato, is offering classes in person, online or in a hybrid format. Benson said 30.4 percent of classes offered for fall 2020 are online, 33.9 percent are in-person and 35.7 percent are in a hybrid format.

At OU, all class sections with 40 or fewer students ca n b e h e l d i n p e r s o n , which is 86 percent of all course sections. Those with enrollments over 40 moved online, which is 14 percent of all sections, according to OU’s Safe and Resilient Plan.

OU’s screening tool must be filled out before returning to campus only if a student, faculty or staff member falls under any of six categories, which include a b s e n c e f ro m c a m p u s, traveling, close contact see TOOL page 3

NEWS

Sept. 15-21, 2020 •

3

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OKLAHOMA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

“Ada Sipuel Fisher signing the register of attorneys, 1952. Fisher’s legacy will be honored through the new position created in her name”

Law chair honors Sipuel Fisher New position honors first Black law student at OU KRISTIN RIPLEY @HalloRealest96

A gift to the OU College of Law will establish a distinguished chair position in the college’s faculty, named in honor of civil rights pioneer and OU Law alumna Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher.

Fisher became the first Black student admitted to OU Law in 1949, according to a press release. However, due to the Oklahoma statu t e s p ro h i b i t i n g w h i t e

TOOL: continued from page 2

with a positive COVID-19 case, experiencing symptoms, testing positive for the virus or living with someone who has tested positive, according to OU’s Phase III COVID-19 return plan.

However, there used to be a seventh category, which required individuals who attended an event or group gathering with more than 10 people without social distancing or wearing a mask to fill out the screening, according to OU’s original screening tool guidelines. As of Aug. 25, 5,131 OU community members had filled out the screening tool form over the last 30 days, Keith said.

Absences that require filling out the screening are: Being away from campus for “any reason” and for seven or more consecutive calendar days.

Traveling consists of leaving Oklahoma, according to the return plan.

However, if a student or employee who travels qualifies for the “commuter process,” they can be exempt from filling out the screening unless they meet any of the other screening criteria. Those who qualify are students or employees who are required to travel on a daily or regular basis back and forth across Oklahoma state lines in a car alone or with household members, but they must be approved by their supervisor

and Black people from attending class together, it took a three-year battle stretching up to the U.S. Supreme Court to keep her in school. Her landmark case laid the groundwork for the elimination of segregation in public education nationwide.

After law school, Fisher practiced law in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and later joined the faculty at Langston University — a historically Black university in Langston, Oklahoma, according to the release. In 1992, she was appointed to the OU Board of Regents.

Fisher died in 1995, leaving a legacy impacting not only Oklahoma, but the nation.

or dean, who must then report any approved exe m p t i o n s t o G o d d a rd Health Center, according to the return plan.

“For example: A student who lives 10 miles over the Oklahoma border and travels daily in his/her personal vehicle may not have to complete the Tool with each commute,” the return plan read.

A person who has had close contact — which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines as being within 6 feet of an infected person for at least a 15-minute period up to 48 hours before symptom onset or a positive test result in the past 14 days must fill out the screening tool, along with anyone who lives with someone who has tested positive or starts experiencing their own symptoms, according to the return plan.

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 has to fill out the tool and “may not return to campus until they have been cleared”

by Goddard Health Center or Student and Employee Health, according to the return plan. Scheduled vendors and visitors who will be on campus more than 15 minutes are also required to fill out a separate screening tool before coming on campus.

The screening tool asks OU students and employees for their basic information, including their phone number, email address, college, campus, expected date of return to campus and the most recent date they were on campus.

According to the release, less than a year ago — on the 70th anniversar y of Fisher’s law school admission — OU Law launched an effor t to establish a chair in her honor and to recruit outstanding faculty in civil rights, race and justice in law. Since its establishment in September 2019, almost 80 donors of all different ages, races a n d b a c k g ro u n d s h av e come together to contribute close to $100,000 to the fund. “ B y r e c o g n i z i n g D r.

Sipuel Fisher and the meaning of her battle, this endowment recognizes the power that love, conviction and action hold,” OU Law

The rest of the screening tool asks questions t hat d e t e r m i n e p o s s i ble exposure, such as if the individual has traveled or lived outside of Oklahoma, has attended a gathering of more than 10 people, experienced s y mp t o m s, ha d d i re c t contact with a confirmed case, had direct contact w ith someone waiting for test results, lives with someone who has had COVID-19 symptoms and/or lives with someone who has been told to self-isolate — all within the past 14 days.

How e ver, t w o of the questions on the screening tool — whether an individual has attended a gathering of more than 10 people or if they live with someone who has been told to self-isolate — are not under the six categories required for filling out the screening. “ T h e s c re e n i n g t o o l uses a holistic approach in which this information is paired with additional screening questions to allow for a more comprehensive review,” Keith said in response to why the questions are on the screening but not a requirement for filling it out.

The screening also asks if the individual has lived with anyone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the last 30 days, or has tested positive themself in the past 20 days.

OU students, faculty and staff will be notified of their screening results via email. For employees, the email “must be forwarded” to their “direct supervisor,” according to

interim Dean Katheleen Guzman said in the release. “It could not come at a more opportune time and will help further OU Law’s mission to provide a well-rounded education and experience for the next generation of lawyers and leaders.”

An anonymous donor completed the fund in September by donating $910,000, making the Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Chair in Civil Rights, Race and Justice in Law a reality, the release read, and to further support the cause, the donor has pledged to match up to $90,000 of continuing donations to the fund.

the return plan.

M i n n e s o t a S t a t e ’s screening tool, in comparison, must be completed by anyone coming onto campus for over 15 minutes — regardless of whether or not they have been at risk of exposure to COVID-19, according to the university’s website.

Those who pass the screening, according to Minnesota State’s website, will get an email of approval to go on campus, and “anyone may be asked to show” the email when arriving on campus or work. Those who do not pass will get an email that they should not return to campus or work.

If an employee or student comes to work or campus after failing the screening, they “will be addressed through the appropriate discipline process,” according to the website.

However, Benson said professors and employers have not been assigned to check whether a student or employee has completed the screening when they arrive on campus, and professors and employers do not have access to the screening data system to ensure a student or employee has filled it out because the data is considered “confidential” and “highly restricted.”

“We expect students, faculty, staff and visitors to complete the tool as requested,” Benson said.

Bailey Lewis

bailey.n.lewis-1@ou.edu

“We are so grateful to our generous alumni and to the particular efforts of the OU Black Law Students Association and professor Melissa Mortazavi for her vision in creating and supporting the fund,” Guzman said in the release. “Without their support, our effort to recruit a national expert in this field would have been del ay e d g i v e n o u r p u b l i c health crisis and budgetary constraints.”

O U P re s i d e n t Jo s e p h Harroz expressed his recognition of the impact of this gift to the university’s law students. “ This exceptional gift to establish an endowed

chair in Dr. Fisher’s honor ensures that her legacy will live on for generations,” Harroz said in the release.

“As future lawyers, our law students will be obligated to uphold justice and protect the rights of all. Having a leading faculty expert in civil rights law will further instill the importance of this undertaking.”

More information and a link to donate can be found on the OU College of Law website.

Kristin Ripley

kristin.b.ripley-1@ou.edu

EDWARD REALI/THE DAILY

A vending machine designed to dispense COVID-19 personal protective equipment located inside the Union Sept. 3.

OU installs PPE vending machines Masks, gloves, more for sale at 33 campus locations LAUREN GREEN @lauren_greenn

OU will offer an easy way to get personal protective equipment for purchase through pre-existing and newly installed vending machines around campus.

This equipment will help ensure the safety of OU’s students throughout this semester by mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

Throughout campus, five PPE-specific vending machines were installed by Gilly Vending, which will also add PPE to 28 pre-existing vending machines.

The five PPE-specific vending machines have been provided at no cost by the company.

These new machines will

work like any other automated vending machines on campus. They will include a PPE kit for $4.66, a KN95 mask for $7.99, gloves for $.75, cloth masks for $5.48 and alcohol wipes for $.75. These prices are subject to change.

The addition of the five PPE-specific vending machines, along with adding PPE to the 28 pre-existing machines, are part of the Clean and Green Initiative.

There is no cost to the university with any of these, “meaning it doesn’t ref l e c t a n y b u d g e t ,” s a i d Kesha Keith, OU director of media relations in an email to The Daily.

OU created a virtual map of the new PPE vending machine, available on the Public Health & Safety website.

Lauren Green

Lauren.M.Green-1@ou.edu

4

CULTURE

• Sept. 15-21, 2020

Creatures invade Sam Noble ‘Permian Monsters’ features lifelike animatronics

ABBY TOW @abby_tow

The statue of a buffalo outside the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History sports a face mask over its mouth. Until recently, the museum’s collections of dinosaur skeletons and ancient specimens hadn’t seen visitors since March.

In the wake of a disruptive and inconvenient closure, the museum has reopened its doors to the general public with modified ticket reservation policies and safety precautions — and a new traveling exhibit.

Head Curator and Associate Director Richard Lupia said closing during the spring and summer due to COVID-19 complicated far more than patrons visiting the museum.

Spring break and summ e r va cat i o n a re bu s y times for the museum, so losing those patrons was disheartening, Lupia said.

Behind the scenes, plans for various research efforts by museum staff across departments were largely halted. “Summertime is a big field season time for us.

When we’re not teaching, we’re able to go into the field,� Lupia said. “Some of our curators were planning to go to Alaska, planning to go to Saudi Arabia, to the Philippines. And that all just stopped.�

The museum is now open to guests in reserved 90-minute time slots on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and Sundays with 2-hour time slots. The first reservation of the day on Thursdays and Saturdays is set aside for higher-risk guests, according to the museum’s website.

All guests must reserve the tickets ahead of time online or over the phone, and guests ages 3 and up must wear masks in the museum, according to the website.

Despite the setbacks

from COVID-19, the mus e u m’s n e w e s t t r av e l ing exhibit — “Permian Monsters� — opened along with the museum in August. The exhibit will run through Nov. 8, according to the museum’s website.

The exhibit features fossils and moving animatronic recreations of these “monsters� which originate from the Permian period, which began 290 million years ago, according to the exhibit.

Vertebrate paleontology curator Rich Cifelli said the fossil vertebrates featured in the exhibit predate dinosaurs and fulfill a “different niche for fossils.� “I think (visitors) are gonna learn about a whole new world of ancient life ... and all these really far-out looking animals,� Cifelli said.

Most of the fossils that come from the later Permian featured in the e x h i b i t o r i g i nat e f ro m

Russia and South Africa, Cifelli said. But some fossils from the early Permian originate from Oklahoma, said vertebrate paleontology museum preparator Kyle Davies. “One of the neat things with the Permian is with the exception of the few animals out of it, most people are not familiar with the animals that occur in that time period,� Davies said. “It’s sort of a thing that doesn’t get covered very well in the books on prehistoric animals.�

The exhibit features a variety of unique animals, such as the gorgonopsid — a predator with large canines similar to the sabre-toothed tiger, Davies said. “It’s a wonderful example of how much more diversity to life there is than you might exp e ct at first glance,� Davies said. “There’s really a lot going on in the histor y of life. And it may sound

funny, but it pays to know your history — even if it’s ancient.�

During the museum’s closure in the spring, undergraduate and graduate students who utilized the museum for classes and research were unable to use the space when classes were moved online, Lupia said. “ We hav e a t e a c h i n g lab in the museum. ... We bring down specimens and (students) interact physically with specimens from the museum itself,� Lupia said. “Transitioning back to virtual spaces is obviously very different.�

Lupia said the lack of students in the museum was a loss because of the energy and questions they bring to the work. “All of that just sort of disappeared,� Lupia said. “And so it was a tremendous interruption to the normal cycle of things.�

Lupia said that despite many research

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Animatronic creatures inside of the Sam Noble Museum Aug. 31. The exhibit is on display until Nov. 8.

Previous Solution

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.

By Eugenia Last

Copyright 2020, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- As information unfolds, you will have second and third thoughts. Listen, assess and think things through before you change directions or commit to something uncertain.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Listen to your inner voice and make your move. Let your emotions take charge and the world know how you feel. Saying what’s on your mind will help you discover the best path to take. Don’t fold under pressure.

your resources with a loved one.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -Speak the truth and clear the air.

Focus on building strong unions with the people who are most likely to have your back. Someone from your past will offer insight into a confusing situation.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Do something that will boost your morale or help you bring about positive physical change. Start a new fitness routine or diet that will help you build strength and ward off illness.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Aim to please, but not at your own SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Pro- expense. Offer kindness and tect your reputation. Think innova- compassion, not your cash. If the tively, and make adjustments that advice you offer comes from the will protect your safety, well-being heart, it will be well-received. Hard and important relationships. You work will pay off. can get things done today.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Inconsistency is apparent. Ask -- Keep moving forward. Refuse questions, and be precise to avoid to let anyone come between you a misunderstanding. Emotions will and your goal. Stay on top of new flare if someone doesn’t give you technology and any economic accurate information. Proceed with changes that might jeopardize caution, and stick to the truth. your financial standing. Avoid impulsive moves.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You’ll stumble across valuable informaCAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) tion through conversations with -- It’s time to make a move. Look friends, relatives or colleagues. Be over your finances, and you’ll find open to suggestions, but keep an a way to improve your current situ- eye on your wallet. ation. Let your gut feeling lead you to security and long-term success. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You must get things right the first time if AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Sit you wish to avoid criticism or comtight, be an observer and plan plaints. A change someone makes how best to move forward when will leave you in an awkward the time is right. You can make position. Be prepared to proceed personal improvements if you pool on your own. Romance is featured.

projects being uprooted by COVID-19, efforts to continue digitizing the museum’s physical collections had already been in the works. Initiatives from the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Museums and Library Services have supported these efforts at the museum for several years.

One of these National Science Foundation initiatives — the Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections — has pushed for publishing photos and data of museum specimens long before COVID19, Lupia said. “Information is rarely bad. Having information, more information, the best information, most accurate information ... there’s a responsibility in that,�

Lupia said.

Much of the staff’s usual curation work was shifted to mostly at-home, Lupia said. But progress was still made in getting the

museum collections accurately digitized. “The hope is for many of those things to then transition to a public side, either through a phone interface or a tablet interface, so people can go through and interact with objects online,� Lupia said.

The museum’s mission to educate and create accessibility to its collections hasn’t changed since COVID-19 entered the picture, Lupia said. But the pandemic has prompted the museum to alter how they accomplish this mission and explore possibilities that hadn’t been considered before. “A lot of things that we wanted to do ... we didn’t have the time or the impetus,� Lupia said. “Now we have certainly a lot of time and a lot of impetus to make these things successful in new ways.�

Abby Tow

abby.tow1@ou.edu

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg September 15, 2020 ACROSS 1 Creative field 4 Certain parents, in Liverpool 8 Cinderella’s sweepings 13 “Hamilton� showdown 15 Bhutan locale 16 Facebook upload 17 “Tickle Me� doll 18 Word that can precede or follow “wishing�

19 Wee bits 20 Assignment for a Tex-Mex chef-intraining?

23 Arborist’s specialties 24 Used to be 28 Future fry 31 Calm and composed 32 Withdrawal device, briefly 35 Watts of “The Impossible�

38 Celestial bear 39 One who regularly buys and sells fixer-upper houses?

43 Hawaiian island where Nicole Kidman was born 44 Moved slowly (into) 45 Sweden’s flagship carrier

9/15

46 Loosened, like laces 49 Porridge ingredients, perhaps 51 Ten lords’ activity 53 Ancient fabulist 57 Aquarium mensch?

61 “Pride ___ before ...�

64 2012 film set in Tehran 65 Potted plant’s base 66 Baby food’s consistency 67 Yarn 68 Obstetrician’s prefix for “gram�

69 Ringo of The Beatles 70 Do a school activity?

71 Boggy place DOWN 1 Quite skilled 2 Stick with many marks 3 Where Arizona’s Sun Devil Stadium is 4 Bryn ___ College 5 Computer owner 6 About eight furlongs 7 Burst of artillery 8 Per item 9 Made an appearance 10 ___ under the collar 11 It’s within three other Greek letters

12 Sailor’s emergency signal 14 Bounds along 21 College sports channel 22 “Walk-___ welcome�

25 Gets bent out of shape?

26 Flummoxed 27 Largest U.S. retailer of the 1980s 29 Persian Gulf nation: Abbr.

30 Ready to serve 32 In violation (of) 33 A/C brand whose name sounds like a vehicle 34 Maestro Zubin 36 NYC transit org.

37 “Should that be true ...�

40 Person who makes clever remarks 41 “Glee� star Michele 42 Luggage attachment 47 “No preference�

48 “CSI� molecule 50 Creator of the Whos 52 Tiny flying pests 54 Light parody 55 Share a stance 56 Traffic cone 58 Take from a deck 59 Wrinkly fruit 60 Limerick, for one 61 Map app alternative 62 Softball umpire’s cry 63 Washday brand

PREVIOUS PREVIOUSPUZZLE PUZZLEANSWER ANSWER

9/14 9/7

Š 2020 Andrews McMeel Universal Š 2020 Andrews McMeel Universal www.upuzzles.com www.upuzzles.com

Add Peas by Mark McClain

SPORTS

Sept. 15-21, 2020 •

Head coach Lincoln Riley talks with redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler during the Sooners' season opener against Missouri State on Sept. 12.

5

TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY

Game 1 clouded by uncertainty

COVID-19 brings obstacles to season opener despite win CALEB MCCOURRY @CalebMac21

Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley had an eventful Saturday night.

His redshirt freshman quarterback, Spencer Rattler, threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns in his debut as starter in the Sooners’ 48-0 win over Missouri State, and his defense held the Bears to just 135 yards of total offense.

But his Friday leading up to the game sounded much more dramatic.

That’s when, according to a report from the Springfield, Missouri, News-Leader, Missouri State President Clif Smart thought the game was in “jeopardy” after finding out about the Sooners’ COVID-19 test results. Before the kickoff, The Daily learned from a source inside the program that 29 players would miss Saturday’s game, with 17 players being in quarantine

and 11 others in isolation. “(Being able to play) hung in the balance for a bit,” Riley acknowledged afterward, “but we were able to do it. Thankful we were able to.”

Big 12 rules say teams have to have at least 53 players, one quarterback and seven offensive linemen test negative during game week.

Despite so many of his players testing positive, Riley saw it as an opportunity to get more players game action in the first OU sporting event to be held since campus reopened for fall.

“It’s maybe not exactly how you draw it up,” Riley said, “but it’s either one of two things: You either see it as a hindrance and say ‘poor me’ ... or you look at it as an opportunity.

An opportunity to see some new players that maybe we wouldn't have seen. An opportunity as coaches to test yourselves and to be able to adjust when things come up.

We had a lot of opportunities tonight, and it was fun to see the guys that stepped up and played in those places.”

But through the

uncertainty, OU’s season opener answered an important question: What is OU football going to look like on a week-by-week basis in the COVID-19 era?

From a team standpoint, it showcased depth. Junior running back T.J. Pledger was named OU’s starter on Thursday’s first depth chart of the season. By Saturday, Pledger was in quarantine, so redshirt freshman Marcus Major and, more notably, freshman Seth McGowan stepped up.

On the depth chart for left tackle, freshman Anton Ha r r i s o n a n d r e d s h i r t freshman Stacey Wilkins were out due to quarantine or isolation. So redshirt junior Adrian Ealy moved from right tackle to left tackle, allowing redshirt senior Erik Swenson to fill in the right tackle spot.

“A l o t o f t h o s e g u y s, especially in the start group, have played a lot of ball,” Riley said. “And so I thought we had to move some guys around to make the night work, and those guys with their experience in the system and

game experience were able to do that. So that was a luxury that our experience afforded us tonight for sure.”

Sure, Missouri State is an FCS opponent, but OU still resembled a well-oiled machine able to battle through adversity. Players are tested three times on game week, and the healthy guys are more than capable of filling the gaps.

The fan experience was a different story. While there w ere many gaps — p er COVID-19 requirements — in most of the stadium, fans in the student section often ignored OU’s mask mandate, and on a plethora of seats in the student section, there were stickers that read, “Please leave this seat vacant.” Spectators ripped those off and sat where they pleased. Per an email from a spectator to The Daily, security personnel who tried to enforce mask-wearing and socially distanced seating were ignored and sometimes berated.

Saturday night’s attendance of 22,700 — in a venue that

seats 86,112 — experienced a new era of college football.

In a sellout game, over 63,000 seats remained empty while cardboard cutouts lined the lower rows behind the team sidelines.

In an interview recorded Friday and played on the radio broadcast at halftime, OU’s Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler listed the necessary safety measures for ensuring the safety of fans watching the game in person.

"The stadium has been laid out with seating that will keep everybody physically distanced," Bratzler said. "We know that your risk of getting this infection is greatest when you’re in close proximity to somebody and you don’t hav e a ma s k o n . W h e n somebody else is speaking or even breathing, droplets are coming out of your mouth, so that’s why we’re so strongly encouraging the wearing of masks.”

That interview aired as those very precautions were being ignored in multiple areas in the stadium, especially the student section.

OU athletics director Joe Castiglione said in an interview with Chris Plank at halftime that “game day has gone as good as we could have hoped.”

Only time — and test results, for both those on the field and in the stands — will tell what is ahead for the rest of the season.

While on the field it was a success, there’s still at least nine more games scheduled.

The Sooners host Kansas State on Sept. 26, a two-week gap the athletic department built into the schedule to gauge the aftermath of game one.

Next, Sooners face Iowa State for their first road game in the COVID-19 era.

Saturday night was both exciting and flawed, with highlights and worrisome moments. In short, perhaps a glimpse of what to expect the rest of the way.

Caleb McCourry

caleb.a.mccourry-1@ou.edu

Rattler shows out in Sooners' debut OU QB fuels Heisman rumors with strong performance MASON YOUNG @Mason_Young_0

It took only two quarters for fans and opposing defenders to get their fill of redshirt f re s h ma n q u a r t e r b a c k Spencer Rattler.

Before OU’s 48-0 win over Missouri State Saturday evening, expectations were high for the former five-star prospect out of Phoenix, Arizona, after he was named Oklahoma’s starter on Sept. 1 following his redshirt season in 2019.

Despite the mounting pressure to live up to the accomplishments of Heisman contending and winning predecessors — Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield — Rattler came humbly to a Sept. 8 press conference to address the aura surrounding him.

Though he’s known as a fiery personality, that day he vowed to the media he was a man of actions, not just words.

In a Saturday night drubbing of the FCS opponent Bears, Rattler was just that — tearing through Missouri State’s defense with 14 completions for 290 yards and four touchdowns before exiting at halftime.

He executed with precision and moxie, living up to the Heisman hype. His

final quarterback rating of 97.9 stacked up admirably alongside the first OU start totals of 97.6, 99.6 and 69.7 put up by Hurts, Murray and Mayfield, respectively.

“Knowing how my teammates have my back, (and) I’ve got their back, you know we all trust each other, we trust the system, we trust the coaches and everything we’re doing,” Rattler said of what he thought he’d accomplished in his stellar performance after the game.

“So you know, we practice what we try to do in the game every day, and it was good to get out against a different team and show what we’ve got.”

Among Rattler’s highlights were a pair of effortless, pinpoint touchdown passes to redshirt junior wide receiver Charleston Rambo and additional scoring tosses to freshman wide receiver Marvin Mims and freshman running back Seth McGowan.

R a t t l e r ’s d o m i n a n c e helped build a significant portion of OU’s 41-0 halftime lead before he gave way to redshirt sophomore backup Tanner Mordecai.

With the performance, Rattler became the first freshman quarterback in program history to toss four touchdown passes in a first career start. Aside from just three incompletions he was flawless and, as he said it would, his play spoke volumes on its own.

No. 3 in AP Poll Sooners move up after impressive opening shutout MASON YOUNG @Mason_Young_0

TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY

Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler looks to the replay board during the Sooners' season opener against Missouri State on Sept. 12.

“He certainly had energy and juice but he didn't let that consume him and he didn't try to do too much,” OU head coach Lincoln Riley said after the game of the player he offered as a freshman in high school. “That’s always some of your chief concerns (as a coach). I’m proud of the way he handled the situation. Your first start is always an experience and an emotion that you can't really duplicate or predict until you actually just go in there and truly experience it. His calmness and poise allowed him, though, to have a clear mind and make a lot of good decisions.”

Rattler's teammates echoed that, noting poise

beyond his years. “(He) didn’t really panic or freak out too much, and he did a really good job of leading the team today,” redshirt senior wide receiver Theo Howard said. “He made a lot of good throws. He just took a lot of command and really controlled the offense well today.”

Rattler already has the second best Heisman odds in the nation, which will likely skyrocket upon next release thanks to his efforts and the absence of one contender in Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, who resides in the dormant Big Ten. Those who bet on Rattler chose wisely, as he backed up his promises Saturday

night. But though Rattler had a first start for the ages, the quarterback whisperer inside Riley wants more next time.

“He wasn't too high or too low for this one so I thought that was important,” Riley said. “And I thought our line did a really good job early of taking care of him and letting him settle in — which he did pretty quickly — and guys made a couple plays down the field for him. So you know, he did some good things, made a few mistakes like he was gonna make, so you know, all in all, a positive start but a long way to go.”

Mason Young

mason.e.young-1@ou.edu

The Sooners moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press poll released Sunday after defeating Missouri State, 48-0, on Saturday.

Oklahoma remains the top nationally ranked team in the Big 12 Conference and trails only Clemson and Alabama in the poll.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Rattler threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of a convincing OU victory on Saturday, while defensive coordinator Alex Grinch's u n i t p i t c h e d a s hu t ou t for the first time since his arrival in Norman.

The Sooners' next game w i l l b e a ga i n s t Ka n s a s State at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 in Norman.

Mason Young

mason.e.young-1@ou.edu

SPORTS • Sept. 15-21, 2020

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BAKER KYLER JALEN

UNRATTLED

PHOTO BY TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY