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‘TOO BLACK TO BE BLUE AND TOO BLUE TO BE BLACK’ New OU Police Chief recalls decades of experience in law enforcement, outlines challenges facing Black police officers amid national unrest
BLAKE DOUGLAS @Blake_Doug918
When newly named OUPD Chief Nate Tarver graduated from OU with a broadcast journalism degree in the 1970s, his job prospects were bleak. Weeks without callbacks or interviews from Oklahoma City media outlets slowly led him to realize if he wanted to advance his career, a change was needed. “I actually ended up getting some interest from employers in Arkansas and in Nevada,” Tarver recalled. “(But) the lady I was married to, my wife at the time, she said, ‘Well, I’m not interested in moving.’” T h e c h a n g e Ta r v e r k n e w would come didn’t involve him trading Oklahoma’s wind-swept plains for the Ozark foothills or Mojave heat. It came inconspicuously printed on a faded flyer posted at the Moore City Hall as he walked to pay his water bill one day: “Hiring police officers.” “ I’d n e ve r t h ou g ht ab ou t being a police officer, and really hadn’t had any real interaction with police officers,” Tarver said. “I had a distant relative who actually was the first Black officer in Norman, his name was Booker Shackelford, I think he was actually a relative to my ex-wife.” Tarver would follow a strikingly similar path, becoming the first Black police officer Moore hired. After 41 years of law enforcement experience and several postings in central Oklahoma, Tarver said he retired from the Oklahoma City Police Department after 26 years to accept a position as the deputy chief of OU’s Health Sciences Center. After just over a year in the position, Tarver said, the HSC’s former chief vacated the position and he was promoted. The creation of Tarver’s new position as OUPD chief of all campuses and associate vice president is part of a “homogenization” of university operations, Tarver said. “The reason they decided on one chief is because the whole university has been moving towards a unified structure, being under one university as we should have been the whole time, in my opinion,” Tarver said. “ You know, obviously each campus started up for various reasons and had a method for why they were started up the way they are, but you know, for the cost benefit, unity … for buying power, if nothing else, and better pricing, it makes sense to be all under one big umbrella.” While there will be challenges ahead, Tarver said, his first goal will be facilitating the centralization of all three OU campus police departments. “There’s other things that need to be homogenized first, such as policies, you know, routes of buying vehicles, getting on the same type of radio system,” Tarver said. “There’s just a plethora of things that we need to merge — and there’ll be hiccups along the way, so we’ll have to overcome those.” As Tarver takes on the new role, however, police brutality has once again violently vaulted to the forefront of public discourse. Black officers like Tarver are again faced with reconciling their career path with
PHOTO PROVIDED VIA NORMAN POLICE DEPARTMENT
Nate Tarver was recently named OUPD chief of all three OU campuses.
the color of their skin, when many citizens feel police departments continue to disproportionately target and brutalize minority communities. ‘THEY WERE SURPRISED TO SEE A BLACK FACE’ Though Tarver said he’d had few interactions with police growing up “very poorly” in a Tulsa family of 10 children, he was well aware of one reality in the American South during the time — Black people were not law enforcement officers. When he started as the first Black officer in Moore, he was reminded of that regularly. “When I was in the police car for years, I got the police called on me several times because they thought I’d actually stolen the car,” Tarver said. “When I went to someone’s house, they would call the police station thinking that I was impersonating a police officer.” Among Black communities, Tarver said his reception was also far from warm. “Black officers have — I’m not going to say a more difficult time — but they have a difficult time because they get it from both sides,” Tarver said. “I’ve been called traitor, I’ve been called all those names.” According to an article from Reuters and 2016 statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Justice, Black officers make up 11.4 percent of police forces nationwide, with Black citizens accounting for roughly 13 percent of the national population. Despite the difficulties that accompanied being a Black officer, Tarver said he remained involved with the career due to the simple fact that he’d always striven to “do the right thing.”
In the decades since Tarver started his career, incidents of police brutality have continued to rock the U.S. These recurring incidents mean little has changed for Black officers since Tarver entered law enforcement in the 1970s. “I like to say — and what’s commonly said in the vernacular of Black officers in this countr y — is that we’re too Black to be blue and too blue to be Black,” said Norman Police Deputy Chief Ricky Jackson, who first met Tarver through organizations for Black officers. “As Blacks coming into law enforcement, there’s a certain perception that they have of us so we have to carry ourselves a little different … coming home on the Black side, they look at us in uniform, and they assume a certain way.” Tarver said despite the ongoing protests in the wake of high-profile police killings like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, this summer’s unrest has not been the worst instance o f u n re s t f o l l o w i n g p o l i c e brutality. “In my professional time, that would have to be the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles,” Tar ver said. “As w ith many things in society, there’s a pendulum swing of how things go. I think that law enforcement, and law and order, is still at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds, and they are very concerned with it.” ‘WERE WE THE BEST PEOPLE TO HANDLE THAT?’ Ta r v e r s a i d h e i s a c u t e l y aware of the issues plaguing law enforcement to this day, however. At an OUPD community panel after his appointment
a s c h i e f, h e n o t e d l aw e n forcement as a whole is “going through some dark times.” “We’ve had some people or some officers who were somewhat resistant to (diversity and inclusion) training, and it’s because I think the last term I heard (them describe it as) was ‘white-male bashing,’” Tarver said at the panel. “I think (the training) broke it down to a level that people can say, ‘Oh, I need to think a little bit differently about some of those things,’ so it was good training, and it’s also training that we will continue to do.” Tar ver acknowledged the ne e d for p olice to b e more transparent and communicative with the communities they serve. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding, I think, and that’s some of our officers’ faults, for not taking time to sit down and explain things better to citizens and how things are done,” Tarver said. “But as far as people that think that the police have too much power or have pushed too far, we need to listen to them and find out exactly where that disconnect is.” In Norman, a proposed increase to the police department’s budget was reduced and the funds set aside to be redistributed to other community resources, with one area of focus being mental health services. Some high-profile police shootings in the U.S. have also involved victims having a mental health or drug-related crisis. Tarver said while he agrees armed police officers are likely not the best responders to these situations, government cuts to social services and mental health resources have made alternatives scarce and difficult to
explore for many communities. “If you will recount government spending, they have cut money to mental health, social work, things of those natures, and it’s been a trend over years,” Tarver said. “That’s how we ended up with a lot more responsibility on those things than we probably should have had in the first place, in my opinion, and initially, we were not given any training on how to deal with it.” However, Tarver said the uncertainty of many situations involving mental health crises gives him reason to hesitate on whether sending only a social worker is the best option. “If you have someone who has expertise in mental health or social work, and that’s their main function, obviously that’s a better person for it,” Tarver said. “There’s actually been some accounts in the country where they have sent unarmed social workers or mental health professionals on these calls, and they’ve gotten hurt because that’s what they thought it was to begin with, (but) the truth of the matter is it probably should have been a police officer. Maybe some hybrid might work where they respond with police, depending on what it is.” As the national discussion around law enforcement has shifted to see communities considering reducing funding for their police departments to allocate to other areas — or, in Norman’s case, decreasing the amount of an overall increase — Tarver said he doesn’t necessarily see the decisions as ways to “punish” police departments. “The whole defunding the police (discussion), in my mind what they mean is to allocate resources into other areas that would better serve society in the public than to send a police officer out there,” Tarver said. “I’m certainly not telling people how to do it, because those city and government leaders have to decide based on their obligation to their constituents how things need to be done, and that’s for them to decide, not for me.” ‘GENTLEMAN NATE’ Tarver’s colleagues said they have no doubts that, despite the tumultuous climate around law enforcement nationally, he is the best fit for OU to see greater understanding between OUPD and its community. “What I’ve found out about my first impression is that it’s still my current impression — the first impression I had of (Tarver) was what a humble person he was,” Jackson said. “Over the years I have developed, again, that kind of an image of (Tarver) — and my nickname for him is ‘Gentleman Nate,’ because he’s always the consummate gentleman.” Jackson said his perception of Tarver has been reinforced by Tarver’s kindness and selflessness in treating his friends like family. “When my second child got married, (Tarver) drove all the way to Durant. He was on some vacation somewhere, but he cut it short, he made a special trip to Durant to be there at my son’s wedding,” Jackson said. “That’s Nate Tarver — what you see is what you get. He is a very see OUPD page 2
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NEWS
• Oct. 20-26, 2020
Oklahoma caseload strains ICUs Bratzler stresses mask wearing to slow virus’ spread GABRIELA TUMANI @GabrielaTumani
OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said intensive care unit capacity in Oklahoma City remains strained in an Oct. 15 update on the COVID-19 pandemic. The OU health expert provided recent data regarding COVID-19 cases, brought studies he deemed relevant for the community and addressed the state response and nursing shortages in hospitals. Bratzler said there were just under 104,000 total cases in Oklahoma since the beginning of the pandemic, and there’s still substantial community spread of the virus. “I think most notably to me is that we saw 1,200 new cases (per day) in the past seven days, which is one of the highest numbers I’ve seen, and we had more than 50 deaths again in the past week,” Bratzler said. Bratzler said it is important to recognize that, at this current pace, the state will be very close to 1,400 COVID-19 deaths by Thanksgiving. Bratzler also brought up concerns on hospitalization numbers. He said the hospitals in the Oklahoma City metroplex have been most strained at this time, and had limited ICU beds available. “I think many know that we’ve had restricted bed capacity for a long time. We’ve been at near 100 percent occupancy for several years now,” Bratzler said. “Trauma is a big part of the ICU population of patients that we admit, so now to have COVID-19 cases, on top of the typical patients that fill up our hospital — like trauma patients and patients with cancer — it has put a real strain.” In response to the capacity issues, Bratzler added, OU Medicine has opened up additional beds. How e ve r, re ga rd l e ss o f
TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY
OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler smiles under his mask in his office Oct. 12.
how many beds are available, medical personnel shortages can make bed availability a non-factor, Bratzler said. “There are still hospital beds available. One of the challenges has been staffing of hospital beds (given) Oklahoma’s nursi n g s h o r t a g e s t a t e. S o, having enough nurses to take care of and staff all of those hospital beds has been a bit of a challenge,” Bratzler said. “And I know that many, many of the Oklahoma hospitals are trying everything they can to recruit (anybody) they can in terms of nursing to help them staff the additional beds that are necessary for COVID-19.” Bratzler said if the number of cases in the state continue to go up, procedures such as elective operations and elective preventive care will have to be cut back. With the flu season
approaching, Bratzler also said hospitals can quickly get overwhelmed with patients if flu outbreaks are on the same line as COVID-19 cases. Bratzler shared a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity a n d M o r t a l i t y We e k l y Report. The report detailed the spread of COVID-19 at a Florida hockey game. “What it highlighted, again, was some of the concerns of contact (sports) or close sports,” Bratzler said. “Many of these players were very, very close to each other. Anybody t h a t ’s w a t c h e d h o c k e y knows this happens. They weren’t wearing masks. And of course, they were not doing routine testing.” Bratzler said although college and professional athletics are not safe from the virus, they are getting tested frequently. “ R e m e m b e r, t h o s e
players are tested ver y, very frequently, the NBA in the bubble tested the players every single day,” B rat z l e r sa i d . “ Th e Big 12 requires all of the student-athletes to be tested at least three times a week.” He said primary schools, s e condar y s cho ols and high schools don’t have the luxury of doing that much testing because there isn’t enough funding. Bratzler said the only way to slow hospitalizations is to slow the spread of the disease, and wearing masks is one of the fundamental ways of doing that. “This isn’t political. It’s not denominational, it’s not anybody trying to tell you what to do. It’s tr ying to make you safe, protect yourself and protect the people around you,” Bratzler said. Bratzler also shared an Associated Press article referencing former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
saying he was wrong to not wear a mask at the White House. He pointed out people must assume anybody they encounter could be infected. “I don’t care whether you’re going to school, the office, the clinic, to your workplace, to the grocery store, or even to the White House,” Bratzler said. “You may encounter somebody who is infected with COVID-19, because remember that almost half the people who get the infection have no symptoms, they look normal. Even if they got tested, the test could be a false negative. You cannot screen people out of your place of business (or) your work.” Bratzler also said while vaccine clinical trials are ongoing, the best way to stop the spreading of COVID-19 is by following the universal precautions such as wearing a mask,
hand-washing and practicing physical distancing. Bratzler said he’s been frustrated about the state’s lack of inter ventions to prevent the spread of the virus. “Part of it is personal responsibility, getting people to quit arguing about whether masks are safe, or the other things that simply have no bearing in science at all,” Bratzler said. “So, just because we have a mask mandate doesn’t mean that it’s easy to enforce (or) that everybody will do it. I understand that. But we know that in those places that have put the mandates into place, it seems to slow the spread of the disease. ... We’re not doing a good job right now slowing the spread of this virus.” Gabriela Tumani
gabrielatumani@ou.edu
COVID-19 cases continue community trend NEW OU, NORMAN AND COUNTY CASES
OUPD: continued from page 1
real and genuine person, and I count him as one of my best friends … and in law enforcement, we don’t count friends very easily.” Oklahoma City Police C h i e f Wa d e G ou r l e y — who attended police academy alongside Tarver when Tar ver first transfer red to Oklahoma City — said Tarver’s empathy makes him especially well-suited to lead a police department in the current social climate. “Sometimes you hear the saying that people act one way when they’re at work,
and one way when they’re at home and that’s really not the case with him. I’ve known Nate a long time, and he’s the same person of character, no matter what he’s doing,” Gourley said. “When you see protests and you (talk to) anybody in the crowd, they’ll talk about their frustrations and how they want to be heard. It’s so important to have someone that’s willing to sit down with all sides and listen.” Despite pressure from some of his peers in the police force during his career, Tarver said he has never regretted doing what his conscience felt was the right thing — even if it meant scorn from other officers. “I was involved with
a situation with the Oklahoma City Police Department where there was a police officer that was breaking the law — he was actually taking drugs off drug dealers and either using or selling (them) for (himself ). We did a sting o p e rat i o n o n h i m, a n d ended up arresting him,” Tarver said. “I was one of the lead agents on it. And I ended up having to testify against him in court.” Tarver was ridiculed by some other officers for his role in the arrest, he said. “At the time, some of the Black officers thought, ‘You should have given them a pass, you should have warned him that they were coming after him.’ What, was I supposed to tell him
OU COVID-19 TESTS AND POSITIVES
that what he was doing was against the law? He should have known that,” Tarver said. “With that, I bore the brunt. There was about a year where other Black officers shunned me, they wouldn’t talk to me.” Beyond race, Tarver said, he feels many incidents involving police brutality are motivated by the power d y na m i c b e t w e e n o f f i cers and residents of the community. “It has to do with empowerment and respect is what I think,” Tarver said. “I think it has to do with how you look at someone and don’t see them on the same level as you see yourself … sometimes people aren’t just bad p e ople. Sometimes people aren’t
necessarily criminals, per se, but they are victims of their circumstances in life.” Tarver said he tries to lead his officers by example in this regard and recalled his interactions with Johnny Lee Clary — a Ku Klux Klan leader who later became an anti-racism pastor — during his time as a police officer in Moore. “(Clary) was a Klansman, and we knew what his philosophy was — but at the end of the day, when he changed his opinion, he told me, ‘You know Nate, it was interesting,’” Tarver said. “‘You treated me with respect, you always treated me well but you knew how I felt about you as a Black man. You treated me better than the white officers did.’
I didn’t think that I was lesser than he was, but I didn’t treat him like he was lesser than me.” Though race and policing will continue to be one of the foremost topics discussed in incidents of police brutality, Tarver said he has never felt his race makes his job any different than what it is for others. “When I go into this job, I don’t go into it looking at it as though I’m a Black guy trying to succeed. I look at it as I’m a man, and I’m trying to do the best job I can,” Tarver said. Blake Douglas
bdoug99@ou.edu
NEWS
Oct. 20-26, 2020 •
OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler in his office Oct. 12. Bratzler examined circumstances behind recent COVID-19 reinfection cases.
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TREY YOUNG/THE DAILY
Should reinfection be a concern?
Health experts say life-long immunity not guaranteed GABRIELA TUMANI @GabrielaTumani
With a total of 7,894,768 cases and 216,025 deaths nationally at the time of publication, COVID-19 continues to linger in the United States. In the absence of a vaccine, many have done what they can to avoid infection altogether. For those who have been infected, there remains a vital question: Does contracting the virus and consequent antibodies once mean no reinfection? Is a potential second infection more or less severe? In interviews with OU health experts, The Daily gathered information about COVID-19 reinfection and whether it is a concern for the university community. Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU’s chief COVID officer and leading expert in infectious diseases and public health, said while people are concerned about reinfection, it’s too soon to know how often it occurs. ANTIBODIES, IMMUNE RESPONSES Bratzler said most people who have tested positive for COVID-19 will develop antibodies and have a period of immunity. “We don’t know how long, but we would expect most people would have some degree of immunity,” Bratzler said. “But, we also know the antibodies in (their) blood fall off very quickly. So, it’s well documented some people may have antibodies in their blood that are completely gone three months later.” Bratzler affirmed that even though antibodies may disappear, a person could still be immune. He explained that there are two different parts of the immune system that give
a person protection: B cells, which make antibodies and T cells, which account for the long-lasting immunity the body develops to infections that may be reactivated later. Dr. Mark Lang, professor of microbiology and immunology at OU Health Sciences Center, said the detection of antibodies in the blood that specifically recognize the SARS-CoV-2 virus Spike protein (a protein present in our body that can facilitate the entry of the new coronavirus) is currently the best approach to determine if someone was previously infected. “The antibodies test does seem to be quite accurate because the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein is sufficiently different from that of other coronaviruses to know the antibody is specific,” Lang said. “Perhaps the most striking finding is that the number of people who had had COVID-19 is much higher than the number of confirmed cases, suggesting there are many people who have the disease without knowing it.” Dr. Douglas Drevets, chief of infectious diseases at OU Health Sciences Center, said the accuracy of the test depends on the exact type of antibody test, as some tests also detect other coronaviruses that cause the common cold. Drevets said it seems people who had an asymptomatic infection are more likely to have a faster decline in the amount of antibodies in their blood than those who had a symptomatic infection. He also said that since at some point the amount of antibodies goes below the limits of detection, the antibodies test is not the best practice to diagnose COVID-19. “It is still more of a research tool,” Drevets said. Bratzler said different people develop different levels of antibodies depending on how sick they become due to the virus. He used the convalescent plasma study to explain COVID-19 antibodies. The
convalescent plasma study takes blood from a patient, gives them their red blood cells back and keeps their plasma, where antibodies are circulating. “You take the plasma from a person who’s recovered from COVID-19 and give it to somebody that’s sick and hope that their antibodies will attack the virus. Those studies are not completed by any means yet,” Bratzler said “But the preliminary data suggests that different people have more or less antibodies in their blood. And if you use plasma from somebody that has a lot of antibodies, it seems like it may be more beneficial.”
GENETIC CODING, VIRUS MUTATION Bratzler talked about genetic coding and virus mutation to explain two well-documented COVID-19 reinfection cases — one in Hong Kong and one in Nevada. He said genetic coding was used to prove there were mutations in the virus, making the second infection slightly different from the first. “In the case in Hong Kong, the person’s symptoms were very mild the second time they got an infection. (In the second case), the patient got much sicker the second time they were infected,” Bratzler said. “So in both of those circumstances, we know the patients were reinfected. But they were infected with a mutated strain or a genetically different strain of COVID-19.” Bratzler said the problem is most people’s bodies don’t save the genetic material from the first virus so scientists can check it against a second specimen. “I don’t know whether anybody in the state is routinely doing that level of genetic analysis to see, ‘Is this a mutated or slightly different virus?’” Bratzler said. “So, we don’t know how often that happens. But I’ve been hearing multiple
people talk about patients who have ... become negative and then tested positive.” Lang said it’s too soon to say if there is a risk of reinfection if the virus mutates to a different strain, but it is possible to make inferences from other viral infections. “For example, the influenza virus mutates rapidly enough that we need a new vaccine each year to limit the risk of reinfection. This is a possibility for SARS-CoV-2,” Lang said. “It is known that currently circulating SARS-CoV-2 has mutated when compared to viral isolates from earlier in the pandemic, but we do not know yet what this means for reinfection.” Drevets said the mutations in SARS-CoV-2 do not cause the virus to avoid antibodies elicited during viral infections that don’t have the same mutations. He said it is more likely that reinfection is due to natural reduction of antibodies in a person or possibly to alterations in their immune system. “Not all infections (or immunizations) elicit life-long immunity. Coronaviruses are among those that do not. Among the few individuals that have had proven repeat infection with the SARSCoV-2 virus, we do not yet know if they are ‘immunologically normal,’ or if they had a good antibody response to their first infection,” Drevets said. “It is possible that they have some underlying/yet unknown issue with their immune system that predisposes them to repeat infection.” IS REINFECTION WORSE THAN FIRST INFECTION? Lang used the flu virus as an example to explain whether reinfection is a worse or milder infection than the original. He said the flu changes in two ways: antigenic drift and antigenic shift. Drift is caused by regular mutations that result in an updated vaccine each year. Shift is when there
is a major change in the virus, like the “Swine Flu” or H1N1 in 2009. “Typically a reinfection following drift would be expected to be less serious than the original infection because immunity from the prior exposure should afford some protection,” Lang said. “Shift results in being infected by an essentially new virus, where we have no immunity to it, and this results in serious disease in some people. At this time we do not have enough information to know what will happen with COVID-19. This is because we do not know how common reinfection will be, and it is difficult to predict whether disease will be as severe the second time around.” Bratzler talked about the first reinfection case that happened in Tulsa a few weeks ago. Tisha Davis, a northeastern Oklahoma woman, tested positive for COVID-19 in April and tested positive again in September. Davis said her symptoms the second time were worse than they were in April, according to KOTV. “It’s just scary not to be able to breathe. The exhaustion — you honestly don’t know if you’re going to get another breath. So, you’re frightened,” Davis said. She said no one in her family has the virus, and she is not sure where she got it. SHOULD REINFECTION BE A CONCERN FOR THE OU COMMUNITY? The health experts also talked about whether COVID-19 reinfection should be a concern for the OU community and what precautions students and faculty must take to try to minimize the spread of the virus. Doctors said wearing masks, social distancing, regular hand-washing, avoiding touching faces, sanitizing surfaces and getting tested promptly if one is sick are precautions that should continue to be enforced on campus. Bratzler said OU has not
documented a single COVID19 transmission in classrooms. He said the classrooms are very safe because OU physically distances students and has mandated that people wear masks in all of the buildings. Some students, however, have reported not all classrooms are able to accommodate proper social distancing. According to Bratzler, when OU interviews students who become infected, two scenarios always come up: students being infected off campus rather than on campus or by getting involved in some activity in the community. He said OU does not want to close campus right now. “If we saw an outbreak, let’s say in a residence hall or something, we might have to close a residence hall (and) we might have to make some freshman classes online,” Bratzler said. “But our goal is to make sure upperclassmen that need laboratories or other things (can use those) so they complete their degrees.” Bratzler said OU tested every student before they moved into the dorms and only 1.8 percent of the tests were positive. Lang said he thinks it is prudent to follow all CDC guidelines and OUHSC rules even if a person has been previously exposed because it is still not known how common reinfection will be. “It is possible that a reinfection will cause a milder disease than a first exposure,” Lang said. “Given that so many young adults have mild symptoms or are asymptomatic on a first infection, my concern is that as the pandemic progresses, there will be significant numbers of reinfected individuals who are infectious but have no symptoms. Again, we just do not know at this time what reinfection means for us all.” Gabriela Tumani
gabrielatumani@ou.edu
Professor leads COVID-19 booster project Biotech company partners with OU lab to boost vaccine
develop a booster for a COVID-19 vaccine. According to a press release from the Gallogly College of Engineering, Wei R. Chen will lead reLAUREN GREEN s earchers in the study, @lauren_greenn which is a collaboration with Immunophotonics, An OU biomedical engi- Inc., a biotech company loneering professor is con- cated in St. Louis, Missouri. ducting a study to help I m m u n o p h o t o n i c s i s a
private biotechnology company that is developing a proprietary carbohydrate polymer (IP-001), a potential treatment for a wide variety of tumor indications, for use. Th e stu d y w i l l d e t e rmine the effectiveness of the drug IP-001 in producing immune responses as a booster for a COVID-19
vaccine. “I am thankful for the confidence Immunophotonics has placed in me to lead this timely and important project during the COVID-19 outbreak,” Chen said in the release. “Being part of the possible solution to strengthen vaccine outcomes is a rewarding
endeavor.” The Chen lab wants to prove IP-001 w ill make COVID-19 vaccines more e f f e c t i v e i n p ro t e c t i n g against potential infections by boosting the protection against the disease, both in relation to potential antibody generation and/or a memory T cell response, per the release.
Michael Detamore, founding director of the Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, said this partnership with Chen’s team is a beautiful example of translating research from the lab toward helping patients. Lauren Green
lauren.m.green-1@ou.edu
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NEWS
• Oct. 20-26, 2020
Pets provide students comfort Animals combat loneliness caused by quarantine JAZZ WOLFE jazzmwolfe
O n a w inter night in Oklahoma City, snow fell heavily. While kids and parents waited anxiously to find out who would get the next day off, Richard Thomas rushed outside with his roommate, his girlfriend and his new dog Beans. A snowball fight was quick to begin with missiles of ice flying through the air. While some landed solidly on their targets, others were caught midair by Beans as she opened her mouth wide for a tasty snack of snow. Even the snowman built by the humans wasn’t safe as she licked and pawed at the parts she could reach. The snow continued to fall, and Beans continued to play. College students, with newfound freedom and independence, often jump at the chance to adopt a furry friend. However, classes, housing and the unpredictable pandemic pose challenges to college pet owners. The companionship provided, particularly during the loneliness COVID-19 causes, can make it worthwhile. Thomas, a computer engineering sophomore, had dogs his whole life, so when he moved out of his parents’ home, he was sure he wanted one to join him. At the Moore Animal Shelter, Thomas walked past the kennels, and one energetic mutt caught Thomas’s eye. Over four years later, Thomas said Beans is still the excitable dog he picked up from the shelter. “S h e s t i l l a c t s l i k e a puppy,” Thomas said. At first, Thomas said it was difficult to make time for his new pup. He couldn’t play with her nearly as much as he wanted. He worked hard to set aside at least two days a week to take her on a walk and play with her to her heart’s content, even if it was the middle of the night during a snowstorm. Thomas, as part of OU’s Air Force ROTC program, has duties outside those of
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the average student. Still, he said his time is now easier to set aside for his pet. “[ROTC is] no different from any other class for me,” Thomas said. Madi Geiger, human relations junior, is another OU student with a pet in her life. After looking for an emotional support animal (ESA), a friend contacted her about a cat whose owner had recently passed away. What started as a temporary fostering situation as a favor turned into a new and powerful friendship. “When I got the opportunity to take her in, it was perfect timing,” Geiger said. Sweetie the 11-year-old Siamese cat had found a new home. Before classes moved online, Geiger struggled with spending enough time with
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her new companion. Soon, however, she found a new rhythm that worked for the both of them. Between classes, Sweetie would jump at the chance to play with both cat toys and phone chargers, Geiger said. “She’ll bat at toys to no end,” Geiger said. As an ESA, Sweetie is especially helpful. Geiger said it seems like she can sense the emotions of people around her. When Geiger is feeling particularly upset, Sweetie sits on her chest like a weighted blanket until they are both calm and comfortable. Not all college students have the typical house pet. Lizzie Wright, biology and psychology sophomore, grew up showing horses in competition and had a particular bond with a horse
named Money. When it was time for Wright to begin college, she attempted to sell Money, but due to a physical injury from his past, no one would buy him. Wright was not quick to give up on him, though. When a friend suggested living on an equestrian property, Wright said bringing Money just seemed like the right thing to do. A pet horse is not easy, Wright said. She gets up early every morning before her first class to feed him and take care of anything else he needs for the day. It’s been easier since classes moved online. But, there is no internet in the stables, so she has to visit him between Zoom sessions. No matter what, she finds the time to ensure that Money is happy and healthy.
“It’s not if I can fit Money in there, it’s when,” Wright said. Although he is not a typical pet, Wright said Money provides the same quirks people expect from a house pet. He can get upset when he’s not fed right on time but otherwise is incredibly friendly and well behaved. “He’s pushy for treats because he thinks he deserves them, which he does,” Wright said. While each pet owner and pet are unique, similarities arise in the logistics of being a college pet owner. One prime example of this comes through financial situations. “When you’re already a broke college student, you have to make it work,” Geiger said. Wright and Thomas had the same sentiment. The
three of them provide most of the funds for their pets, but one pet in particular presents extra challenges. “My parents love Money, but they don’t love the money,” Wright said. Still, Wright showed her commitment to taking care of him and providing as much as she could. It wasn’t long until her parents were on board for Money joining Wright on her college journey. Another logistical problem comes through housing. While Wright was able to move onto an equestrian property and house Money there, it was slightly different for Geiger and Thomas. Geiger first had to pay a pet deposit but had it see PETS page 5
CULTURE/SPORTS
Oct. 20-26, 2020 •
5
EDWARD REALI/THE DAILY
Then-freshman guard De’Vion Harmon during the game against Texas Tech at Chesapeake Energy Arena in OKC on Feb. 25.
Sooners plan to repeat success Reaves remains motivated to go hard in the paint AUSTIN CURTRIGHT @AustinCurtright
Back in March, then-junior guard Austin Reaves scored 41 points, leading the Sooners to an 18-point second-half comeback against TCU, essentially securing OU a spot in March Madness. Just a few days later, the N C A A c a n c e l e d i t s re maining winter and spring championships. Now in October, over 200 days after Reaves’ historic performance, OU held its first press conference prior
to the official start of practice on Oct. 14. Coach Lon Kruger and his players are finally able to see the floor again and are hoping for a complete season, despite the challenges of COVID-19. “It honestly sucked to get the season cut short last year,” Reaves said. “But it’s been a pandemic and there’s not much we could do to change that. So you just gotta find that motivation, and just keep pushing forward for the next year.” Reaves is hoping to build off his performance from last season, and his heightened leadership as a senior will be beneficial to helping the Sooners maneuver in a season with a pandemic. But college basketball
proves to be a different challenge from a sport like football. Basketball teams like OU only have 16 players on their entire roster, so COVID-19 contact tracing could virtually wipe out an entire team. Luckily for college basketball, schools around the country could possibly benefit from the successes and failures of playing sports during a pandemic. When asked about the primary challenges of the season, Kruger said, “Staying healthy is probably the most obvious one.” The Sooners have had zero positive tests so far this year. “From a roster standpoint, there’s going to be some games perhaps with different looking rosters from one
opponent to the next,” Kruger said. Kruger will likely give more minutes to a couple new faces to possibly help the depth for his team with potential players missing due to COVID-19 in the future. Kruger credited sophomore forwards Victor Iwuakor and Jalen Hill, senior Kur Kuath and redshirt freshman Rick Issanza, who he says has made “tons of progress.” The quartet of inexperienced forwards will be important to depth for the Sooners, and will hopefully replace some of All-Big 12 First-Teamer Kristian Doolittle’s production. Also, the Sooners have the potential for two transfer guards to gain eligibility in
juniors Umoja Gibson and Elijah Harkless. Kruger said he expects a ruling on their eligibility from the NCAA shortly. Their eligibility could help the Sooners depth a lot, especially during the uncertainty of a season and with a limited number of guards on the roster, after two-year starter Jamal Bienemy transferred to UTEP. Bienemy’s departure paves a path for De’Vion Harmon, a former blue-chip prospect who improved down the stretch last season, to handle the ball more and further his development. “He’s really improved physically,” Kruger said about Harmon this offseason. “He’s improved shooting the ball (and) he’s done a nice job.”
And for seniors Brady Manek and Reaves, they’re excited to just build on their play from last season, while also staying safe and getting a season in. “I get pretty worried every week whenever the (COVID19) tests come in,” Manek said. “At this point (in) time we don’t want any of that because we’re getting closer to games and real practices. It’s a lot of pressure for the players.” But despite the challenges, they’re staying optimistic. “I’m glad we’re back,” Manek said. “I’m glad we’re ready to start playing games and train for the season start.” Austin Curtright
austincurtright@ou.edu
PETS: continued from page 4
refunded when Sweetie was officially registered as an ESA . Her roommates all love Sweetie and help Geiger out with taking care of the cat when Geiger has to be away for extended periods. For Thomas, the ideal pet-friendly living space was a challenge he was ready to face. He wanted a home with a good backyard that was close to campus, which he found through online house-hunting, giving him comfort when it came to having to rush home to check on Beans. The yard had become one of his and Beans’ new favorite places to hang out, especially during the pandemic. “Being able to go outside and play with her is something relatively safe to do,” Thomas said. In Norman, college students can pick and choose where the y adopt their pet with relative ease. One shelter, Norman Animal Welfare, is located less than a mile away from the University of Oklahoma campus. Norman Animal Welfare Center was established in 2016 and has since facilitated thousands of adoptions for the Norman community. Mark Bechtel, shelter manager, said they still have a long way to go and will continue to learn, especially through the pandemic. When COVID-19 began to affect small businesses, animal shelters were not excluded. They had to work
EDWARD REALI/THE DAILY
Then-junior guard Ana Llanusa during the game against Texas Tech on March 7.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Human Relations junior Madi Geiger snuggles Sweetie, her emotional support cat.
quickly to adapt to a more virtual and contact-free world, said Bechtel. Bechtel said the changes they made have actually benefited the shelter as a whole. By making appointments to visit the shelter mandatory, it has given staff more time to focus on the individual potential adopters instead of working to control traffic within the facility. Bechtel noticed this led to not only a happier staff, but happier visitors. “I feel our customer service has greatly improved,” Bechtel said. Bechtel said the shelter still has room for more growth. One idea comes from a shelter manager in a different town. There, a group of students involved
in greek life arrived at the shelter and used their social media to advertise the pets up for adoption. Soon, every pet in the shelter was adopted. Bechtel encouraged all college students to look into adopting a pet or volunteering at the shelter. “It’s an un-utilized resource to college students,” Bechtel said. During the pandemic, pets could provide comfort to students. Geiger said holding her pet like a baby, even during Zoom classes, reminded her she wasn’t alone. Geiger said her classmates would also get excited when Sweetie would join the meeting. Thomas said Beans provided a great kind of
companionship that other college students couldn’t get. While some students would talk to themselves in their apartments, Thomas chatted with Beans and developed an almost comical personality for her. “ S h e ’s l i k e a b e s t friend,” Thomas said. Wright said Money provides her a great amount o f s u p p o r t, t o o, e v e n when he’s just out in the stables. She describes him as a coping mechanism for life. “He helps me immeasurably,” Wright said. “He helps me get through each day.” Jazz Wolfe
jazzwolfe@ou.edu
Llanusa to miss 2020-21 season due to injury Senior guard hopes for successful recovery, return JOE TOMLINSON
@JosephT_OU
OU senior guard Ana Llanusa announced via Twitter on Thursday that she will miss the 2020-21 season due to an undisclosed injury. “It is with great disappointment that I have to announce I will miss the 2020-21 season due to an injury requiring surgery,” Llanusa said in a statement. “I ask the Sooner Nation for their prayers for a successful surgery and recovery. I look forward to returning to play next season and
thank the Sooner Nation for their love and support during this difficult time. ... I’ll be having surgery tomorrow so all prayers are appreciated.” Previously, Llanusa was limited to 20 games as a sophomore due to a foot injury and only saw action in 23 games as a junior because of a back injury after playing in 30 games as a freshman. To date, Llanusa has shot 38 percent from the floor and averaged 15 points per game for the Sooners while tallying 1,096 career points, 293 rebounds and 99 assists. Joe Tomlinson
joseph.h.tomlinson-1@ou.edu
6
SPORTS
• Oct. 20-26, 2020
PHOTO BY MICHAEL DOWNS, FROM THE OU DAILY ARCHIVES
Then-sophomore running back Quentin Griffin scores his only touchdown in the first half against Kansas State Oct. 14,2000. The Sooners won 41-31.
‘We took pride in each other’ How 2000 Sooners’ Red October set stage for success MASON YOUNG @Mason_Young_0
Curtis Fagan had never seen anything like it. It was dark as No. 8 OU’s bus pulled back into Norman after the short flight from Manhattan, Kansas. Many of the sophomore receiver’s teammates were asleep after a long, tiring game day. But when the bus reached Owen Field via Lindsey Street, any slumbering Sooners were aroused by the ruckus outside. Upon their return to the stadium, they had expected to quietly slide out the door, grab their bags, hop in their cars and drive home. What awaited them instead was a sight greater than a warm bed. Exuberant fans, not caring about the late hour, were flamboyantly welcoming OU (6-0) home from a 41-31 victory over Kansas State (6-1) that sustained a legendary run still known 20 years later as “Red October.” The Sooners’ accomplishment on an overcast day in Manhattan with a sea of purple surrounding them did much more than bolster an undefeated record and shock an opposing fan base that had witnessed 25 straight home wins. It awoke a slumbering giant. As the Sooners celebrated with their supporters under the streetlights of Norman, they realized something for the first time. They were one of the best college football teams in the
country. “You know how you’ll see on TV those movies where celebrities first realize they’re famous (and) there’s all these people that are outside for them? It was like that moment,” Fagan said. “We’ve had people wait for us after our locker room, after the game, but never did you come home from a visiting game and people were in the streets, running down the streets with signs, honking horns. … We get off the bus to a crowd of people screaming and yelling, and that right there — that moment sticks in my memory. … We’re smiling and looking around like, ‘Yeah, you know what, we’re here.’” Fresh off a 63-14 rout o f t h e n - N o. 1 1 Te x a s , Oklahoma’s confidence was growing. A blowout win over a vaunted rival was great progress for a team that was chasing a title after a 7-5 season in 1999 and had lost no less than three games each season since 1988 — Barry Switzer’s last run as head coach. But the Sooners had yet to be given their first true test of the 2000 season. Before upending the Longhorns, they’d clobbered nonconference weaklings UTEP, Arkansas State and Rice and perennial Big 12 punching bag Kansas. Oklahoma found a shot to upgrade its championship resume on Oct. 14, facing No. 3 Kansas State in a game embroidered with old ties. Sooner head coach Bob Stoops had played for and coached alongside legendary Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder at Iowa from 1979– 87. From 1989–95 he was on
Snyder’s Wildcat staff — first as defensive backs coach, then as co-defensive coordinator. When Stoops departed Florida for Norman in 1999, he took with him several of Snyder’s young Kansas State staffers, including his brother Mike, co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables and offensive coordinator Mark Mangino. With four coaches on OU’s sideline who knew Snyder’s tendencies — and him knowing theirs — there was equilibrium and some tension between the squads as they prepared to face off for the first time since 1997. Kansas State was returning 17 starters, among them quarterback Jonathan Beasley, who entered the game having thrown 92 straight passes without an interception. He was the main focus for a relentless Sooner defense that had forced 10 turnovers in its past two outings. “I wouldn’t say the defense was the best defense at OU ever, but it was a good defense to where we took pride in being on that football field,” said then-senior safety J.T. Thatcher. “We took pride in each other. We took pride in making sure that we back each other up. We took pride in making sure that nobody was gonna score on us and nobody was gonna outscore our offense.” After kickoff in front of 53,011 fans, Oklahoma struck first with junior Tim Duncan’s field goal before Beasley ran 15 yards to put the Wildcats on top. Kansas State prepared to kickoff as Thatcher waited for
the ball. He’d been a pleasant surprise for OU’s special teams group as its kick returner. “I mean, (Thatcher) knew that it was his senior year ... so knowing that it was his senior year, he made the most of his opportunity,” said then-freshman running back Renaldo Works. “I mean, he ended up having an All-American year.” Thatcher swiftly swung the tide back in his team’s favor. His 93-yard return nearly resulted in a touchdown before senior running back Seth Littrell scored from two yards out on the next play. Minutes later, Fagan took senior quarterback Josh Heupel’s pass to the end zone for his first score of the season to give Oklahoma a 17-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter. “For me, personally, it felt great,” Fagan said. “I mean, we had a good team and when we looked around at each other, we saw the talent. I remember the receiver core: Josh Norman, Damian Mackey, Andre Woolfolk. Essentially, it was like, ‘Who’s gonna score?’” In the second quarter, Beasley ran for another touchdown, but OU answered with two more of its own. Heupel’s 1-yard dive and sophomore running back Quentin Griffin’s 17-yard dash swelled the Sooners’ lead to 31-14 at halftime. Oklahoma poured it on in the third quarter thanks to sophomore wideout Antwone Savage’s 74-yard catch, dodge and run, with Kansas State’s only answer being a field goal. OU held a 38-17 lead
entering the fourth quarter, but Kansas State wouldn’t quit easily. The Wildcats cut the deficit to 38-31 on a 69-yard pass from Beasley to senior receiver Quincy Morgan and redshirt sophomore defensive back Terence Newman’s punt block touchdown return. After Works threw an interception on a trick play, Kansas State threatened to knot the score before a defensive stand negated the Sooners’ offensive blunder. As the pressure continued to mount, the Sooners — and in particular their quarterback — were undeterred. Heupel, the junior college transfer, wasn’t ready to see a win fall from his grasp. “People tried to intimidate him with questionable late hits on him, and he was unfazed,” said then-sophomore safety Roy Williams. “He did not get rattled, and that was the perk of getting a guy from JUCO because he’s been there. … He had to rough it to get to where he was at, so he was unfazed by anything that was thrown at him because he didn’t go straight to a (Division I school). He had to go the long route, and you know what, he made the most of it. “He won over all the players on the team, and then in 2000 he was like, ‘Either get on the ship or get your ass left,’ and he led us.” Heupel drove the offense downfield, leading to a field goal with just over three minutes left. With a 10-point lead, the Sooner defense iced the game to secure the upset. O klahoma’s Heisman
contender finished with 29 completions on 37 attempts for 374 yards and zero turnovers. Meanwhile, Beasley saw his interception-free streak end on picks from Williams and senior Ontei Jones. In the locker room afterward, the Sooners felt something they hadn’t experienced before. Even with a matchup against No. 1 Nebraska looming after a bye, the national championship trophy was in OU’s sight. “I remember after that, we all were looking at each other ... (and) it felt like a light was shining on us from above,” Fagan said. “We knew, ‘OK, we have something special here.’” That self-confidence was reinforced when soon-to-be No. 3 Oklahoma’s bus pulled up at Owen Field. “It was just one of those things,” Fagan said. “We knew it was a big game, but when we got home and you saw that, and you saw the people there, that’s when you definitely knew. “OK, we’re the truth. Now let’s get ready for Nebraska.” Mason Young
mason.e.young-1@ou.edu
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Volleyball sweeps Jayhawks 3-0 in match 2 Diouf continues to bring heat in OU’s first sweep of 2020 JIMMY DANG @jimbodango1
Oklahoma entered Saturday’s match against Kansas with high morale from Friday night’s comeback victory over the Jayhawks for their first win of the season. Saturday, the Sooners rolled over Kansas (1-7) by scores of 28-26, 25-22, and 25-20 for a clean sweep. Oklahoma is now 2-4 after consecutive victories this week. “Winning can help you a
lot,” OU head coach Lindsey Gray-Walton said. “Even sets kind of are moral wins, but when you can finally get a ‘W’ in a match, you can feel accomplished like, ‘Yeah, we put all the pieces together and there’s the final puzzle.’” The Sooners did allow Kansas to lead in the first set with five consecutive points. That didn’t faze OU, as it came back to tie the game 18-18, then took the first set on a Kansas error. In the second set, Oklahoma once again fell behind Kansas with the score being 19-15 at one point. Oklahoma was still undeterred in the slightest as it went
on a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 21-19. Then freshman outside hitter Guewe Diouf smashed the ball into the ground to take the second set. In the final set, the Sooners were able to build a lead before Kansas tied the game at 10-10. Each team went back and forth, trading points until the score reached 16-16. However, the Sooners were able to go on a 9-4 run to close out the victory. Oklahoma out killed Kansas 38-31 in the contest. Diouf was able to score double digit kills, leading the Sooners with 14. Freshman middle blocker Tyler Alcorn and sophomore outside hitter Sanaa Dotson
followed suit and scored seven and six kills, respectively. Sophomore setter Grace Talpash set up 28 assists for the team and contributed five digs and a kill for the Sooners. OU also out-aced Kansas with seven aces to three by Kansas. Defensively, Oklahoma and Kansas were equally competitive as each team scored eight blocks. Alcorn led the team and was involved in six of them while Diouf was involved in three. Diouf and senior defensive specialist Keyton Kinley lead the Sooners with eight digs each, and sophomore outside hitter Olivia Curtis scored six for the team.
The team showed great resilience throughout the game, and even when the score was in favor of Kansas, Oklahoma always managed to come back and win each set. Gray-Walton has stressed before the value of teamwork and having the players depend on each other rather than an individual to be able to win. Saturday, that resonated with her players, and their resolve to keep fighting despite adversity helped them to a win. “So, tonight, to see the emotional and physical recovery we needed to do, because last night took a lot out of us … for this group to come out and
do that, was it pretty at times? Not always, but (there were) not as many strings of points (or) runs of points as we saw last night that got us into that five set situation. That was our focus today. Could we clean up a couple of defensive positional errors and be where we needed to be and make plays easier ... and we did that tonight. That’s a call to respond and that’s awesome.” Oklahoma’s next matches will be against Kansas State on Oct. 22 and 23 in Manhattan, Kansas. Jimmy Dang
jimmydang@ou.edu