Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015

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Boren’s tax proposal under fire OU donor, oil company CEO not listed on brief TANNER OSBORNE news reporter @tannerosbear

The Oklahoma Municipal League, Dewey Bartlett Jr., the mayor of Tulsa and Harold Hamm, Continental Resources CEO, signed an application for a joint amicus brief against OU President David Boren’s proposed sale tax plan Dec. 3. The brief, which was filed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court Dec. 7, sided with OCPA Impact, an Oklahoman advocacy group,

regarding the proposed tax. However, although Hamm’s name appeared on the application, it was absent from the actual brief. Only the Oklahoma Municipal League and Bartlett’s names were present. It is unclear if this means Hamm’s name is absent on the brief because of a switch in his position on Boren’s tax proposal. The brief contains grievances relating to the constitutionality of Boren’s proposed penny tax and states that it “threatens the ability of municipalities to provide basic public services.” Carolyn Stager, the executive director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, said Oklahoma has become

overly dependent on sales taxes, which affects why the groups are opposing the tax. “Our board supports the goal of teacher pay raises and competitive wages,” Stager said. However, Stager said the board does not believe the penny tax is the best way to achieve that. Hamm could not be reached for comment, and OU Press Secretary Corbin Wallace said in a statement on behalf of Boren Dec. 7 that he does not believe Hamm is opposed to more funding for education. A longtime donor to OU, Hamm said he and his wife have donated more than $30 million to the university, including $20 million for the

establishment of the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center at the Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Hamm’s relationship with the university goes deeper than cash, however. He also has a professional relationship with Boren, who serves on the Continental Resources Board of Directors. Boren received $349,720 for this position in 2014. Furthermore, according to an article by Bloomberg Business, Hamm wanted scientists who were studying connections between the oil and gas industry and earthquakes dismissed from the university. Boren also came to Hamm’s defense this summer after an article by Environment and Energy

Publishing said the university formulated its position on whether or not the oil industry causes earthquakes, while it was seeking a grant from him. “It is reprehensible to me that one or two people in the media have tried to attack a donor to the university for being so generous,” Boren said in a statement released this past summer. Stager said she could not speak for the other parties opposing Boren’s tax plan or say whether or not they hold the same grievances as the Oklahoma Municipal League, adding that the other parties may have a “different slant” on the matter.

Admins hope to simplify funding New system will give students list of eligible scholarships for ease TANNER OSBORNE

REWARDED WITH AWARDS

TYLER WOODWARD/THE DAILY

Fans fill the Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Nov. 21 for OU’s final home game against TCU. OU beat the Horned Frogs 30-29.

CHRISTOPHER MICHIE/THE DAILY

CHRISTOPHER MICHIE/THE DAILY

TY BAKER MAYFIELD DARLINGTON AWARDS Burlsworth Award winner: Nation’s top player who began career as a walkon USA Today second team All-American

AWARDS Wuerffel Trophy winner: Exemplary community service combined with academic and athletic achievement.

SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY

CHRISTOPHER MICHIE/THE DAILY

LINCOLN RILEY

STERLING SHEPARD

AWARDS Broyles Award winner: Nation’s top assistant coach

AWARDS USA Today second team All-American

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news reporter @tannerosbear

The OU Scholarship Office has released a new and potentially easier application process for students to apply for scholarships from various colleges on campus. The process is done through the Centralize d Academic Scholarship Hub, or CASH for short, and is open to all current OU students. However, incoming freshmen will still apply through the university’s admission process, according to the Scholarship Office press release. Alison Baker, director of the Scholarship Office, said that the system itself is more centralized, and it allows the students applying to fill out just one questionnaire that can then be applied to all the scholarships which that student is eligible for. “We wanted to make the process of applying for scholarships seamless and easy. College is hard enough as is. Applying for scholarships shouldn’t be,” Baker said. “The motivation behind moving to the new system was to benefit students,” Baker said. “Most colleges and departments already had an online scholarship application process. But they all had different deadlines and were housed in different programs. To save students the hassle of keeping track of different deadlines, different processes and from entering the same information over and over again, one comprehensive application system seemed like a natural next step.”

SEE CASH PAGE 3

Provost gives inaugural lecture for institute Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing to create better citizens

for the Study of Human Flourishing about virtue, community and higher education on Thursday. Harper spoke about how those three tenets are interrelated in a MARY SMITH university setting. He spoke about news reporter @marysmitty21 virtue and its origins, the importance of community and how they OU Provost Kyle Harper gave the relate to a college education. inaugural lecture for the Institute “It was sort of a kick-off lecture,

WEATHER Cloudy with a high of 81, low of 63.

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you might say,” institute director Nancy Snow said. Harper wants to make the argument that virtue, community and higher education are all related. He said the goal of OU and the new institute is to shape students into good, virtuous citizens who care about things larger than themselves.

“We don’t produce degrees; we produce citizens of the world,” Harper said. “How we should live is inherent and embedded in who we are.” Harper said it is up to OU to train students within the community to be better citizens and allow them to find things they are passionate about.

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Harper’s lecture was the first and last lecture of the semester, but the institute will hold more lectures next semester as well as in the next two years, Snow said. Mary Smith mcsooner19@gmail.com

OU YAK OF THE DAY “November: slayyyy December: sleighhhh”

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