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INJURY

Van, SUV hits cyclist Injury will likely require stitches Staff Reports

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Matt Cook, OU alumnus and night supervisor for Bizzell Memorial Library, looks down a stairwell Monday in the library to where his invention, the Sparq, will sit starting Sunday.

OU alumnus creates meditation labyrinth to be housed in library Blayklee Buchanan Managing Editor

A man looked down over the rail of the winding staircase of Bizzell Memorial Library where six chairs sat at the bottom of Lower Level Two. These stairs twisted down like a labyrinth, to the area where there will soon be another: a meditation labyrinth called Sparq. The man is Matt Cook, OU alumnus and night supervisor at Bizzell. The labyrinth, currently sitting in pieces in his house, was his idea. Sparq is comprised of a metal frame that stands 13 feet tall, stretching roughly 13 feet wide. It works via an iPad that connects to a

projector that beams light onto the ground into the shape of a labyrinth. From there, whoever enters the labyrinth can walk, do yoga or even dance on the projected pattern. Meditation labyrinths are meant to increase work productivity, and companies like Google have already implemented their use for stressed workers. But Sparq is a different kind of labyrinth. Unlike other labyrinths that are typically permanent instillations in the ground, Sparq uses the projector to allow the user to choose his or her own pattern for meditation. Sparq has six projections to choose from, all of which are based from different cultures.

The development of Sparq started when Cook was researching for his master’s thesis in philosophy. He researched with his professor, Jim Hawthorne, looking for ways to increase cognitive ability by modifying the environment. Cook wrote his dissertation in May 2012 on the extended mind or how the human mind extends into the environment. The brain is divided into two hemispheres, connected by a mass of neural fibers called the corpus callosum, which allows the left and right hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other. Cook read a study while

A bicyclist’s head was injured after he collided with a vehicle on Thursday at the intersection of Lindsey Street and Asp Avenue. Norman Police Capt. To m E a s l e y s a i d t h e male bic yclist ’s head injur y was reported around 3 p.m. and involved a collision Cox Communications van and a maroon Ford Explorer. The bicyclist collided with a vehicle making a left turn at the intersection, said Norman Police Sgt. Joel Formby, who responded to the incident. “(The vehicle) turned, and they collided as he was coming through the intersection,” Formby said. The first responders to the accident helped the bicyclist sit up and lean against the traffic control sign as they treated him. The victim was given a towel to hold against the left side of his face as he bled from several cuts. The bicyclist sat there for several minutes, visibly shaken from the incident, while responders took his blood pressure and asked him several questions about the accident. One EMS at the scene of the accident noted that the victim’s inquiries will likely require stitches.

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honoring africa

Speaker enlightens students on truth of ancient Egyptians Professor presents at OU symposium Caitlin Schachter Campus Reporter

A misunderstood notion in the Western world is that everything started with Greek civilization, an African American Studies professor from Temple University told OU students on Thursday. Molefi Kete Asante said by the time “The Illiad” was written by Homer in 800 B.C., Africa had already gone through four golden ages. “If you start with Greek history, you start too late,” Asante said. “You don’t have

most of the world’s history.” Asante gave the keynote speech for OU’s “Celebrating Sankofa; Honoring Africa” symposium. Kelly Damphousse, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, explained Sankofa means leaving a place but not forgetting where you’re from. In his lecture, Asante talked about tracing his roots back to Africa to find out where his ancestors came from. “Figuring out who you are is a fundamental issue for African Americans,” Asante said. “We come from one of the oldest societies on Earth.”

Asante dispelled some of common misconceptions about the history of Egypt, a nation he said is more monumental than Greece and Rome combined. “Europeans could not accept the fact that Egyptians were black people — they didn’t think they could build the pyramids,” Asante said. “Horatius said that ancient Egyptians weren’t black. He thought they were blackwhite people.” Nadine Pietzonka, a foreign exchange student and English and religious studies major, attended the lecture on Thursday. “I found it interesting that

L&A: This year, University Sing and Dad’s Day events are being united under a single theme (Page 6)

Europeans tried to find excuses that the pyramids weren’t built by black people,” Pietzonka said. Asante explained that Arab people did not come to Egypt until 639 A.D., and the first major Arab city, Cairo, was not built until 640 A.D. Micah McGee, English and Arabic senior, attended the lecture and said he had always been taught that Egypt began with Arabic culture. “Since I’m an Arabic major I’ve been taught that Egypt started with Arabic culture, Jacqueline Eby/The Daily not African,” McGee said. “I Molefi Kete Asante addresses the crowd and gives the keynote didn’t know that it was start- speech during Celebrating Sankofa; Honoring Africa celebration ed by the Africans.” Thursday afternoon in Zarrow Hall.

Campus: Blood donation for the Bedlam Blood Drive is low this fall, but Sooners can donate today. (online)

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