January 31- February 3, 2019

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OUDAILY

For 101 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma

SURRATT• 3

CONTRACTS • 5

Clay Bennett resigns from Board of Regents Citing health concerns, former chair will leave board after seven years NICK HAZELRIGG @nickhazelrigg

After seven years on OU’s Board of Regents, businessman Clay Bennett resigned his position amid a continuing battle with cancer.

Bennett’s final year in office was defined by his close relationship with OU President James Gallogly. Bennett will be succeeded as chair by fellow regent Leslie Rainbolt-Forbes, a member of a prominent OU donor family.

“He’s been a confidant and friend through this process,” Gallogly said. “The board has been learning new things that they didn’t know about the university because there wasn’t always clarity. He and I have

partnered on all this.”

Bennett has called the search for OU’s next president, which ended with Gallogly’s selection, the greatest civic duty of his life. Documents obtained by The Daily showed Gallogly and Bennett maintained frequent correspondence throughout the presidential transition.

Bennett was appointed to the board in 2011 by former Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin.

Current regent Frank Keating said

Bennett was able to accomplish a lot before his resignation.

“During his time we got a new president — all’s moving along as it should,” Keating said.

“Research, academics, things he wants to accomplish have been set in motion.”

However, Keating also said Bennett’s health concerns continued to grow throughout his term in office. “(Bennett) has been very seriously ill with cancer,” Keating

said. “I think he looks good, but he’s been exhausted and didn’t want to fill the full two-year term as chairman. He was always concerned for his health.”

Rainbolt-Forbes, who was serving in the position of vice-chair before Bennett’s resignation, was first appointed to the board by former Gov. Brad Henry in 2006.

Rainbolt-Forbes said she became aware she would be moving up See BENNETT page 2

PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY

NATURAL TALENT

OU women’s gymnastics coach K.J. Kindler congratulates senior Nicole Lerhmann after her beam routine Jan. 11.

OU women’s gymnastics coach K.J. Kindler reflects on unexpected path to three national championships

T

he coach who never intended to be one watched as her team narrowly missed becoming back-to-backto-back national champions.

Oklahoma gymnasts had finished their rotation and were ahead by 0.175 points last April in St. Louis. In the final rotation, UCLA’s Christine Peng-Peng Lee scored a perfect 10, bringing the Bruins from fourth to national champions with a final score of 198.0750. Oklahoma finished 0.0375 behind.

“It was a tough moment. It was a learning moment for our whole team,” said coach K.J. Kindler. “They certainly did everything they could. Just like the overwhelming feeling of, ‘Wow we did it’ — we had that same feeling in reverse. That overwhelming feeling of, ‘We thought we had it. We thought we did it.’”

Kindler, an eight-time regional coach of the year and threetime national champion, did not consider coaching until graduating from Iowa State in 1992.

Despite her love for the sport, Kindler envisioned a career in the arts or journalism.

When Iowa State University coach Mark Sharples suddenly resigned as Kindler graduated, an opportunity arose. Amy Pyle was promoted to head coach and offered Kindler a position as an assistant.

Twenty-six years later, Kindler is considered one of the best college women’s gymnastic coaches in the nation. This season, she hopes to bring a fourth national championship to Norman.

PAXSON HAWS • @HAWSPAXSON Three weeks into the season, the Sooners are ranked No. 1 and have placed the highest score in college gymnastics every week.

After their first meet on Jan. 7, the Sooners had the best opening weekend score in NC AA history with a 198.050 and posted the highest scores on beam, vault and bars.

This Friday, Kindler and the No. 1 Sooners face No. 2 Florida in a clash of titans. But for Kindler, it’s just another day at the office.

“I 100 percent trusted her, believed in her,” Pyle said. “(I) wanted to give her that space to grow, and obviously she grew into an amazing young woman and … is the No. 1 coach in the NCAA.” ••• Kindler has been coaching for 26 years — first at Iowa State, then at OU — but her athletic career did not start on the beam. It started on the dance floor.

Kindler ’s parents put her into dance and baton at age 4. There was tumbling directly after Kindler’s dance class.

After noticing that Kindler always watched, her dance teacher suggested switching classes, and Kindler’s gymnastics career began.

She gained her love and understanding of gymnastics from training at Hamlin University, 30 minutes from her hometown, Lake Elmo, Minnesota, with her club coach.

“My coach in Minnesota that I grew up with really instilled

in me that love for the sport,” Kindler said. “I was what you would call a gym rat — I was always in there, always wanted to hang around after practice, never left on time, got there early and would have been perfectly happy sleeping there.”

Kindler was not the only person in her family who participated in gymnastics. Her two sisters and brother did as well, though her brother only recreationally. Kindler’s children, nieces and nephews have all tried gymnastics.

"I didn’t really think about being a coach. I was just trying to be the best gymnast I could be."

K.J. KINDLER , OU WOMENS GYMNASTICS COACH

“We were together a lot because we were at the gym all the time together,” said Lori, Kindler’s sister.

Lori competed in club and college and now owns her own gym, Flips Gymnastics, in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Lori and Kindler never competed against each other during club but did meet up when Kindler was an assistant coach.

Moving to Connecticut and joining a new club during high s c h o o l d i d n ’ t s l ow Ki n d l e r down. Her new club helped her improve her technique, but it was her performances at camp

in Wisconsin that would vault her to collegiate mats.

She joined the Iowa State women’s gymnastics team as a walk-on in 1988. To make ends meet, she coached young girls at a nearby club, something she continued through her time in Ames.

“I didn’t really think about being a coach. I was just trying to be the best gymnast I could be,” Kindler said.

Kindler was a three-time MVP, 1992 Big Eight all-around runner up, three-time NCAA regional qualifier and the first individual regional qualifier in Iowa State history. Mike Sharples, head coach from 1985-92, remembers her individual appearance at regionals, when she was put into rotation with another team and performed without her teammates there.

“She handled the pressure well, and being the only one to go out there and compete as an individual — it’s harder than being there with your teammates. But she did a good job and represented Iowa State extremely well,” said Sharples, who now works as a financial planner at MKS Wealth Management in Durham, North Carolina.

Kindler’s performance as a athlete is similar to her coaching style. As an athlete, she was determined, creative and had a positive attitude, all characteristics that came across in her floor exercises, which she choreographed herself.

“I mean, that is a God-given talent,” Pyle said. “You don’t learn to be a choreographer, so

to speak. You just have that artistic ability, and it’s really rare.”

••• Sharples’ resignation in the winter of 1992 led to assistant coach Amy Pyle’s promotion.

A recent graduate, Kindler was faced with a career decision. She considered working in journalism or doing something in the arts. Instead, she was offered an assistant coaching position.

Looking to make ends meet, and a believer in timing, Kindler took the opportunity.

“If that hadn’t happened at that time for me, I’m not positive I would have gone into coaching,” Kindler said. “I always loved to do it and was always super passionate about it, but there was no plan. The plan just fell into place.”

Kindler stayed as an assistant until being hired as Iowa State’s head coach in 2001. As head coach, she coached six AllAmericans, twelve Big 12 champions and took Iowa State to its first Super Six appearance in 2006.

“In Iowa, she was head coach, plus they had a gym on the side and coached a lot of young girls in Iowa,” said Tom Kindler, K.J.’s father, said. “But that wasn’t where she really enjoyed what she was doing. She enjoyed coaching them, and some of those girls ended up being on the Iowa State team with her. So she enjoyed that a great deal, but she was really driven — the thing See KINDLER page 6

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• January 31- February 3, 2019

NEWS

Nick Hazelrigg, news managing editor dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com • Twitter: @OUDaily

OU President James Gallogly speaks at the Rally to Stop Racism Jan. 22. Gallogly has received criticism following recent events involving racism on campus.

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Some doubt Gallogly’s ability Budgetary cuts, racist events have campus on edge JORDAN MILLER @jordanrmillerr

When hundreds of students marched to OU President James Gallogly’s office to speak to him about race issues on campus, Gallogly was not there.

The president’s absence followed a week of controversy over racism and budget cuts, and left many questioning Gallogly’s leadership at the university as a result.

Former dean of the College of International Studies Suzette Grillot publicly called for Gallogly’s resignation at the Rally to Stop Racism Jan. 22, and Gallogly struggled to regain control of the rally after the crowd applauded her. On Jan. 23, an unidentified individual walked on the OU campus in blackface and prompted a Better Together March the following day, where students delivered a list of demands regarding racial justice to Evans Hall, only to find Gallogly absent.

Amid the criticism of his administration over the past week, Gallogly told the Chronicle of Higher Education he needed more time to adjust in his position, since he has only been in office for a little more than seven months.

“I’ve been a CEO in the past and haven’t been in the academy,” Gallogly said.

BENNETT: Continued from page 1

to chair on the afternoon of Jan. 30.

“I think the institution is larger than one individual,” Rainbolt-Forbes said. “I think it’s larger than all of us, and it stands and lives beyond any one of us.”

Rainbolt-Forbes said she feels prepared to take on Bennett’s responsibilities.

“I hope I can do an adequate job,” Rainbolt-Forbes said. “It deserves everything that anybody can do.”

Regent C. Renzi Stone said Bennett’s shoes would be difficult to fill and expressed his admiration for Bennett’s work as chair.

“You can’t fill that spot,” Stone said. “Someone with such high character and somebody who is so

“And so I have much to learn.

I’ll be the first to say that.”

Gallogly told The Daily he believes the university is having the right conversations and planning the right actions after the incidents, but there is more to do.

“There is no doubt, we have all been challenged by the events of the past week,” Gallogly said. “That makes my resolve greater on behalf of our students, faculty and staff.”

President of the Student Government Association Adran Gibbs said he wants to give Gallogly and the administration a chance to make needed campus changes, and agreed the administration’s efforts should be reevaluated a year from now — something many called for at the Rally to Stop Racism.

“At the end of the day, the buck stops with President Gallogly — just to be really frank about it — but we have to give the administration a chance to work,” Gibbs said.

“I think before we start calling for people to resign … we should at least give people who are in positions of authority a chance to correct the culture we have here.”

Eddie R. Cole, assistant professor at the William & Mary School of Education and an expert on college presidents and race, said that questioning a university president’s leadership is not uncommon when they have a failed response to racist incidents.

Although influential donors and alumni may be

concerned with the president’s leadership in terms of university growth, other campus stakeholders — like students — may measure leadership by campus racial climate, which is what leads to some at college campuses to lose faith in the administration, Cole said.

Paul Bell, dean emeritus of OU’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been at OU since 1979 and said the only time he could remember people calling for a president’s resignation was when former interim president David Swank pushed out football head coach Barry Switzer in 1989.

“I have much to learn.

I’ll be the first to say that.”

JAMES GALLOGLY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA

“That was the only time I remember any real public unhappiness with the president, to the point that people might want them to go,” Bell said. “Most of the objection came from football fans, people who liked Barry Switzer … within the university there was overwhelming support for Swank, but that was people outside the university (who disapproved), not inside.”

Professor Emeritus of English Alan Velie has been at OU since 1967 and has seen eight OU presidents during his 52-year tenure,

but said he did not rememb e r “a n y b o d y p u b l i c l y speaking, even with an edge in his voice, to any president” and “certainly nothing so dramatic” as Grillot’s call for Gallogly’s resignation.

Velie said the recent racist incidents are similar to what former president David Boren had to deal with during the Sigma Alpha Epsilon incident, but that to Velie’s knowledge, none of the faculty blamed Boren in 2015. Velie said he thought the difference between the unity Boren inspired and the criticism Gallogly is now receiving is that Boren did many popular things in the eyes of students, like increasing National Merit scholars and study abroad programs. “(Boren) had good rapport with students to start with, and he told them he was on their side and they believed him — that’s the way I recall it,” Velie said.

Gallogly did not meet the students when they marched like Boren did with student protestors in 2015, something Cole said is very uncommon for university presidents to do when responding to racist incidents.

“Even if completely unaware of how to handle student protests over racial incidents, being present is the most central move of a good president,” Cole said.

“It signals that, at the minimum, students’ grievances are worth your time … I can’t imagine many things more pressing unless there was a personal issue that would

pull you away from your campus.”

When Gallogly came to office, Velie said faculty were taken aback by Boren’s departure and became suspicious of Gallogly following his firing of vice presidents who were well-known to the faculty, such as former vice president of university development Tripp Hall and former vice president for administration and finance Nick Hathaway.

“I mean, nobody wanted to rush their judgment, but there was a good deal of dismay as of the way (Hall and Hathaway) were fired, so Gallogly didn’t have the goodwill that Boren did,” Velie said.

There are not any specific patterns on how early-term university presidents handle racist incidents, since college presidents actually largely fail in addressing racism at traditionally white campuses regardless of the length of their administration, Cole said.

However, non-traditional presidents like Gallogly who do not come from a background in academics often have narrow views on financial health at a university and are more focused on bottom-lines, Cole said.

“So (Gallogly) was hired for his financial experience in the corporate world, but in higher education, campus racial climate also impacts your budget,” Cole said. “Racism also impacts your bottom line … so failure to truly address institutional racism is asking for a

long-term negative impact no university can afford.”

Bell said he would encourage any leader to involve more people in the decision-making process, so that even if people disagree with decisions, they will not necessarily disagree with the process. Right now that process at OU is opaque, which makes people anxious about their jobs and constantly on edge, Bell said.

“OU has a number of other issues … that it ends up becoming this sort of perfect storm,” Cole said.

“A d m i n i s t ra t i v e i s s u e s around your deans and racist incidents and budgetary issues, all of those things add up ... when you start looking at things from all fronts, yeah, those are the sorts of things that lead to a president resigning, if not outright being fired by the board.”

Although corporations are not like universities, Gallogly’s industry experience in leading people should help him maintain effective leadership amid the recent criticism of his administration, Velie said.

“Speaking for myself and I’m assuming a lot of others, I hope that President Gallogly can bring the campus together,” Velie said. “It’s in nobody’s interest for these public spats to go on … but I think everyone wants to see harmony restored.”

Jordan Miller

jordan.r.miller-1@ou.edu

committed to what we were doing — we’ll have somebody different, but we won’t be able to replace him.”

Bennett’s resignation comes at a rocky time on OU’s campus, with Gallogly facing backlash for his responses to racist incidents on campus and the promise that more layoffs would come this semester. With B e n n e t t ’s r e s i g n a t i o n , Gallogly will have to face these issues without one of his closest confidants leading the board of regents.

“I’ve been a close friend to him as he’s fought a very difficult battle,” Gallogly said.

“In fact, I helped get him find the best doctors to help him.

I think he’s ready for a new chapter in his life, and he’s been through an awful lot.”

Nick Hazelrigg

hazelriggn@gmail.com

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Clay Bennett, former chair of the Oklahoma Board of Regents, speaks to reporters March 5, 2018. Bennett has resigned from his position as chair because of health problems.

NEWS

January 31-February 3, 2019 •

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OU Dean of Students David Surratt waits before the OU Board of Regents meeting Jan. 30.

Regents confirm new dean David Surratt will also serve as VP of Student Affairs

ARCHIEBALD BROWNE @archiebaldmoses

David Surratt has been confirmed by the OU Board of Regents as the new dean of students and vice president of Student Affairs.

Surratt, who formerly worked at the University of California, Berkeley, as the associate dean of students, is an alumnus of the University of Oklahoma and graduated with a

doctorate in higher education administration from George Washington University.

“It’s exciting, it’s overwhelming, it’s frightening and all those things simultaneously. When you think about coming back to your alma mater — ­ coming back home — you have sense of duty and responsibility,” Surratt said.

Surratt will be the first person of color to take the position as dean of students. Coming into this position at this time of campus climate concerns and issues will shed a spotlight on him, Surratt said.

“I hope I can step up to the challenge, but I know I can’t do it without the support of the students and of faculty and staff, and that was why it was so important of me to talk to students,” Surratt said.

What interested OU President James Gallogly the most about Surratt was his ability to be able to listen first and talk second, Gallogly said. Gallogly also said he is very experienced and knows the university.

“When it comes to making a professional decision, the idea of working at a place like Oklahoma, in terms of the size of the

institution that is measured around certain aspects of public education is something that really spoke to me,” Surratt said.

Surratt said he met with students earlier in the week before he met with Gallogly, and said it was exciting for him to be able to get to know students and listen to their stories and their hopes.

Even though Surratt’s nomination was announced before the recent racist incidents, he will be the head of a new committee called the Student Code of Conduct Review Committee put in place

by Gallogly to address the possibility of a zero-tolerance racism policy for the university.

“I think he is going to be a wonderful addition as we start to solve this problem,” Gallogly said.

Surratt will be given an annual salary of $225,000 f o r 1 2 m o nt h s a n d w i l l begin his position at OU on Feb. 11, according to the OU regents agenda.

Archiebald Browne

archiebaldbrowne@gmail.com

Vets in jail lack mental health care County looks to offer more health services to veterans SIERRA RAINS-MOAD @sierramrains

Around 27,500 veterans reside in Cleveland County, many of whom go unidentified day-to-day but often face mental health issues.

When these issues go unaddressed, veterans sometimes find themselves within the walls of the Cleveland County Jail, where they currently have no way to access mental health services, said Cleveland County commissioner Rod Cleveland.

In August 2018, Cleveland was invited to the White House to discuss prominent issues within the Norman community and said his main focus was finding a way to provide mental health services for incarcerated veterans. However, limited progress has been made on the issue so far due to ongoing mental health funding issues within the state.

“I was just looking for a way to help these guys out if they can’t bail out and they’re still sitting in our jail and they have medical issues,” Cleveland said.

“If a veteran is arrested, they pretty much lose all their veteran benefits while they’re in jail.”

Bonnie Peruttzi, executive director of Transition House, a nonprofit organization that helps provide mental health care services in Norman, said the effects the Norman community is currently seeing are what she feared a year ago when the state was facing a $75 million deficit and considering cuts to services.

Although not as drastic as originally feared, several organizations like Transition

KATHRYN STACY/THE DAILY

The Cleveland County Jail. Incarcerated veterans have no access to mental health services.

House have had their state funds slashed within the last year, landing several mental health patients in prison rather than treatment facilities, Peruttzi said.

“Imagine if you had diabetes and you had a problem, so you go to the hospital, but instead of going to the hospital, they take you to jail,” Peruttzi said. “I mean how is diabetes going to get better if every time you get a symptom of it, you go to jail?

The same is true with mental illness and addiction, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

Some veterans return from war and are very vocal about the post-traumatic stress they face. However, it’s the people who say they’re fine that Cleveland County veterans coordinator Mark Braley worries about.

These veterans will say things like, “I just killed a 3-year-old kid, but I’m fine,” Braley said.

“You’re not fine,” said Braley, who is a veteran himself. “Those are the guys who are going to have to work through it, hopefully not

resulting in self-destructive behavior like drinking and drug abuse, things like that.”

However, this is often the case. Peruttzi said unaddressed underlying trauma and mental illness associated with being a veteran often leads to substance abuse.

“For these folks that are vets, or just anybody across the board, what we’ve seen is a trend and a pattern that in society, it’s very unacceptable to be experiencing symptoms of mental illness,” Peruttzi said. “But to be drunk, to be high, to be impaired is a more acceptable societal norm, sadly.”

With the use of illegal substances, legal issues follow.

On record, 81 percent of veterans who are in trouble with the law in Oklahoma have a substance abuse issue prior to incarceration.

At the Cleveland County Jail, as with most jails across the nation, there is no record kept of how many veterans are within the facility, Braley said. Unless the individual self-reports their veteran status, they are no different from the other prisoners.

Unidentified veterans within the Cleveland County facility face the consequences of an abrupt stop to their medication, Peruttzi said.

“If somebody goes into jail — and we’ve had this happen with our clients — they suddenly have to stop medication because a jail is not a hospital,” Peruttzi said. “It’s not the jail’s fault, but they don’t have sufficient staffing to be able to provide medication for those folks in jail.”

Things go from bad to worse in these situations, Braley said. Incarceration only exacerbates the post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety veterans often face.

“They feel like they can’t talk to anybody because they’re not going to get it. I could tell you all about war, but you are not going to get it. You didn’t experience it,” Braley said. “These guys are in there, and no one shares their experiences. It can cause some behavior problems or depression.”

Even upon their release back into society, individuals are still haunted by the

consequences of incarceration, Peruttzi said. One of her clients has had trouble finding a job due to his arrest records, she said.

“A lot of people when they see this assume ‘hardened criminal, dangerous person,’ and this is one of the kindest guys you’ll ever meet,” Peruttzi said. “Because of his mental health condition and the way he chose to manage it at that point — or he wasn’t able to get the treatment so he wasn’t managing it well — he ended up now with legal issues he can’t just make go away.”

Cleveland said the county is hoping to develop a veterans court, which would work as an alternative to imprisonment by offering those convicted of felonies treatment programs in which their progress is monitored and they eventually reintegrate into society, similar to a drug court.

Several counties within Oklahoma and other states already have veterans courts. However, Cleveland County does not.

Peruttzi said members of the Cleveland County Mental Health Task Force has been looking for remedies to the problem, but it is not going to be a simple fix, and until then veterans and others with unaddressed mental health issues will continue to face the consequences.

“Once folks get into prison and they’ve been there too long, they establish that prison mentality of survivalism, and it goes from bad to worse,” Peruttzi said. “The system has been damaged for so many years that it’s going to take a lot more than a couple of Band-Aids to fix this.”

Sierra Rains-Moad

sierra.m.rains@gmail.com

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• January 31-February 3, 2019

CULTURE

Siandhara Bonnet, culture editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/culture • Twitter: @OUDailyCulture

Students react to town’s portrayal Ada natives voice concerns on Netflix’s ‘The Innocent Man’

ALMA CIENSKI @almacienski

When Hunter Frazier turned on Netflix to watch something new, he found a recognizable place: his hometown of Ada, Oklahoma.

He noticed some of his mother ’s friends in the background of scenes and streets he drove on every day — places that made Ada feel like home. What he did not recognize was the dark portrait Netflix painted of the town he spent his life in, he said. “The Innocent Man,� a true crime novel by John Grisham released in 2006, depicts the stories of two heinous crimes that occurred in Ada in the 1980s a n d t h e m e n w h o w e re wrongfully imprisoned for those crimes.

In 2018, the story transferred to the Netflix screen in a six-episode docu-series, with interviews from current Ada residents, including family members of those affected.

The show s ets up the story of Debra Sue Carter and Denice Haraway, who were raped and murdered in Ada in 1982 and 1984.

SCREENSHOT VIA NETFLIX

A poster for Netflix’s “The Innocent Man.� The show includes portrayals of the city of Ada, Oklahoma.

Netflix follows their families’ attempts to find justice and the four men who were misplaced on death row as a result of alleged false confessions and improper investigations.

Frazier, a supply chain management junior, said he felt the docu-series created a caricature of Ada, playing too much on the small-town culture and not featuring its great successes. “(The show) became such a meme around Ada with my friends and family,� Frazier said. “Ada has a fairly successful university, the home of the Chickasaw nation, our infrastructure has been increasing more in the last 10 years probably than the last 50. I think they probably portrayed Ada in the 80s accurately, but not present-day Ada.�

Public relations sophomore Luke Holton was born and raised in Ada. He said he read “The Innocent Man� as assigned reading

in middle school and heard the stories growing up from his parents and others in town who had grown up with the people affected by the crimes. “It’s really kind of strange for my family to see this and then have it brought up again,� Holton said. “My parents won’t talk about the case. The only way I knew they watched it is because I could hear it from their room. They’re trying to let things live in the past that probably should live in the past.�

The show portrays Ada as a close-knit town where all the town members sing gospel songs and attend high school football games.

For the most part, this is true, said Kishan Bhula, a marketing sophomore who grew up in Ada and enjoyed the tight-knit community there. “I think they were really trying to focus on making the show so good that they would add a little fluff in

there,� Bhula said. “They made it seem like these stories ruined the town.�

Other students from Ada agree with Bhula, such as Mackenzie Crosby, who left OU after her freshman year to move back to Ada and attend East Central University. “C i n e m a t i c a l l y , ( t h e show) is great, but I think they got a lot of it wrong,�

Crosby said. “They made our government look a lot worse than it is. It made Ada look really wicked.�

Crosby said her opinions of the Ada Police Department may be biased because her father was an Ada police officer when she was growing up, and she has only ever had good experiences with the department. “I think that you’re either going to have an amazing relationship with the police or you’re going to hate them, if you live in a small town just depending on who your friends and

family are,� Frazier said. “It’s weird how your social status in such a small place can affect how people treat you.�

The stor y featured in the docu-series showcases the work of the Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization founded in 1992 that exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing, according to its website. The organization also helps reform the criminal justice system through a policy department that works with Congress to pass laws and policies to prevent future injustices. “All over the state, our prisons are private, and because they are private they have to make money off of them, and the only way to make money off of them is to get the most prisoners they can,� Holton said. “That’s why people are incarcerated who could be considered innocent.�

Holton said despite

being a “clean-cut kid� in high school, he and his friends were often scared of driving late at night or going out because they feared the police. “ I re a l l y d i d n o t l i k e being in Ada. I felt ver y constrained,� Holton said. “(My friends and I) always had this joke that Ada PD is corrupt. This is not to say that Ada is a bad place.

I just think the police system all across the country is so corrupt. There is no accountability. They hold all the power, and that’s scary.� “The Innocent Man� is available on Netflix and features six episodes, each around an hour long. The novel is available online and in bookstores.

Alma Cienski

aacienski@ou.edu

Oklahoma theaters to show ‘Black Panther’ Cinemas to screen free film for Black History Month GEORGIA METZGER @yagirlgeo

In honor of Black History Month, AMC theaters will b r i ng t h e b oxo f f i c e h i t “Black Panther� back to the big screen in 250 theaters nationwide.

The film will be shown at four theaters across the state, two of which are in Oklahoma City: AMC Penn Square 10, AMC Quail Springs 24, AMC Patriot 13 and AMC

Southroads 20. Penn Square and Quail Springs are both located in Oklahoma City.

Patriot is in Lawton, and Southroads is in Tulsa. “Black Panther� is one of the more recent additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Upon release in 2018, the film’s popularity spread like wildfire.

It was highly prais ed for its predominantly African-American cast. It has received seven Oscar n o m i n a t i o n s, h a s w o n Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a

Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and has many other nominations and awards. “I think it’s awesome that they’re bringing this movie back even though it came out a year ago,� said Vikki Dwira, interim assistant director of African American Programs and Services at OU. “Black Panther� will be screened twice a day at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. from Feb. 1-7. The showings will be free but require reservations.

Georgia Metzger

georgia.r.metzger-1@

SCREENSHOT VIA MARVEL

The poster for the movie “Black Panther.� Oklahoma movie theaters will be showing the movie for free during Black History Month in February.

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg January 31, 2019

my friend’s got mental illness

To a friend with mental illness, your caring and understanding greatly increases their chance of recovery. Visit whatadifference.samhsa.gov for more information.

Mental Illness – What a difference a friend makes.

Previous Solution

Monday - Very Easy Tuesday - Easy Wednesday - Easy Thursday - Medium Friday - Hard

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.

ACROSS 1 Savory jelly 6 Deep divide 11 Talk like a lover 14 Canonized one 15 Valium producer 16 Put two and two together?

17 One fine hat?

19 Free (of) 20 Got a perfect score on 21 Supposedly wise bird 22 Acts without speaking 24 Make plans?

26 Yoga posture 28 Decal on a witch’s transport?

33 Energy unit 36 Competed at Indy 37 Mercuryregulating org.

38 If not 39 2018 Marvel alien movie 40 Worry 41 June honoree 42 One of nine in an SSN 43 Offers, as a question 44 Item at a swanky bar?

47 Kind of closet for sheets 1/31

48 Some early Mexicans 52 Europe’s longest river 54 Pollen holder 56 Syrup brand 57 ___ moment (epiphany) 58 Dog that’s no longer relevant?

62 Sergeant’s address 63 Admit (to) 64 Corvette or Miata 65 Dawn goddess 66 Birdfeeder contents 67 Not just suspend DOWN 1 Syrian strongman 2 Deep-dish pizza filler 3 Organ tubes 4 Like poisonous mushrooms 5 Midpoint: Abbr.

6 Corn-eating bird 7 Roaring wind sound 8 NBA knee tear site 9 “___ sells seashells�

10 Woman/fish hybrid 11 Honda and Hyundai 12 Garfield’s prank victim 13 They can be long or even

18 One-named Irish rocker 23 Magazine for CEOs 25 M.A. hopeful’s test 26 Wide neckties 27 Arise (from) 29 Willamette Valley’s state 30 Craze 31 Olympics sword 32 “Darn!�

33 Luke Skywalker, e.g.

34 Royal Norwegian name 35 They’re worth less when inflated 39 The “V� in VP 40 Climactic “Goldfinger� setting

42 Spirited sorts 43 Candy in dispensers 45 Tractor trailer 46 Folded Mexican food 49 Really enjoy 50 Folded French food 51 Cartoonist Edward 52 Bouquet holder 53 The Buckeye State 54 Small earring 55 Photos and iTunes 59 Have creditors 60 Eighthundred preceder?

61 Finish a cupcake

PREVIOUS PREVIOUSPUZZLE PUZZLEANSWER ANSWER

1/30 1/28

Š 2019 Andrews McMeel Universal Š 2019 Andrews McMeel Universal www.upuzzles.com www.upuzzles.com

“Backers� by Mike McHugh

HOROSCOPE

By Eugenia Last

Copyright 2015, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last What you put out you will get back. If you offer help and ask for assistance when you need it, much will be accomplished this year. Your intelligence and go-getter attitude will make you the go-to person, giving you greater control over your life.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- What someone says will change your perspective regarding how you do your job or take care of your responsibilities. Take note of what others do, but follow your heart and do your own thing.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- If you don’t like your current situation, do something about it. A change will do you good. Open up a conversation that will clarify what exactly AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Make a positive change. Working you want. for or volunteering to help a cause you believe in will bring favorable VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- A results and forge valuable connec- problem at home needs to be tions. Make your move and follow addressed quickly to avoid a scene or unwanted change. Offer alternathrough with your plans. tives, along with common sense and incentives.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- If you get together with someone you respect, you’ll be offered sound ad- LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- You’ll vice regarding a personal situation. come up with a good idea, but not Walk away from indulgent matters. everyone will support what you want to do. Have confidence and Take better care of your health. move forward with your plans. A personal change looks promising.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- If you make suggestions, you’ll SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Takgain support that will lead to positive change. Attending business ing a short trip or attending a trade show, seminar or business meeting meetings, getting together with will lead to new beginnings. Take old friends or planning something special for a loved one is favored. your time and do things your way.

A creative outlet will ease stress.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- FolSAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) low through with your plans. Talk -- You’ll come up with a plan that less and do more. Determination shouldn’t be ignored. Put some and discipline will help you finish thought, muscle and initiative into what you start. If you can’t say getting your scheme up and runsomething nice, be quiet. ning. Celebrate with a loved one.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -Consider what you want, and then CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) take action. A relationship will take -- Make a change for the right reasons. Discuss your plans with a positive turn if you share your someone you respect. Much can be thoughts and feelings and listen accomplished if you do your own attentively. thing. Walk away from anyone using pressure tactics.

Janurary 31 - February 3, 2019 •

SPORTS

5

George Stoia, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/sports • Twitter: @OUDailySports

OU coaches get contract updates Riley, assistant coaches receive pay raises for 2019 GEORGE STOIA @georgestoia

Lincoln Riley and all 11 assistant football coaches’ salaries were elevated at Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting, resulting in new contract details for every coach.

Riley signed a contract extension Jan. 1 — three d a y s a f t e r O k l a h o m a’s 45-34 loss to Alabama in the Orange Bowl — that is worth $6 million in 2019 and will go through 2024.

He could make up to $7.6 million in his final year of the contract. In Riley’s first season as head coach (2017) he made $3.1 million compared to the $4.8 million he made in 2018.

He has also now passed former Oklahoma coach B ob Sto ops in his final season (2016) in which he made $5.5 million. Based off 2018 contracts, Riley is now the ninth highest paid head coach in college football, according to USA Today.

Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione knows the importance of keeping a coach like Riley, who has gained increasing attention from NFL teams. “ We w a n t e d t o m o v e with the appropriate speed — we certainly wanted to put coach Riley in the best position,” Castiglione said.

“We have an extraordinary head coach in Lincoln Riley, and what he’s done with our program in two years, in a lot of ways, is unprecedented.”

Oklahoma has one of the youngest staffs in the country, with five coaches

under the age of 40 and an average age of 42.5. Riley, 35, added three new coaches this offseason all on the defensive side. Newly hired defensive coordinator Alex Grinch, along with Brian Odom (inside linebackers) and Roy Manning (cornerbacks), are expected to restore Oklahoma’s defense i n 2 0 1 9 a n d w e re p a i d accordingly.

Grinch is set to make $1.4 million in 2019, which ma ke s h i m t h e h ig h e s t paid assistant in OU history. Riley was supposed to make $1.3 million in 2017 as the offensive coordinator before he took over as head coach. Gr inch, by 2018 standards, makes him the 10th highest paid college football assistant, according to USA Today.

Grinch made $800,000 last season at Ohio State.

Manning will make $425,000, while Odom will make $375,000.

“I think we can create something here on defense that’s just as attractive to prospected defensive players at the collegiate level to come here — to be excited to be a part of a defensive identity as we’ve created on the offensive side of the ball,” Castiglione said.

“That’s the way we have to think.”

The most noticeable pay raises came on the offensive side of the ball, with offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh now making $750,000 ($125,000 raise) and wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons now making $460,000 ($60,000 raise).

Every other coaching contract was also evaluated.

George Stoia

georgestoia@ou.edu

JACKSON STEWART/THE DAILY

OU football coach Lincoln Riley at the OU men’s basketball game Jan. 26. Riley received a contract update from the Board of Regents Jan. 30.

HERE’S HOW MUCH THE 2019 COACHES ARE MAKING: LINCOLN RILEY, HEAD COACH: $6,000,000 ALEX GRINCH, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR: $1,400,000 BILL BEDENBAUGH, OFFENSIVE LINE: $750,000 CALE GUNDY, INSIDE RECEIVERS: $535,000

JAY BOULWARE, RUNNING BACKS AND SPECIAL TEAMS: $470,000 CALVIN THIBODEAUX, DEFENSIVE LINE: $375,000 ROY MANNING, CORNERBACKS: $425,000 BRIAN ODOM, INSIDE LINEBACKERS: $375,000

DENNIS SIMMONS: OUTSIDE RECEIVERS: $460,000

RUFFIN MCNEILL, OUTSIDE LINEBACKERS: $575,000

SHANE BEAMER, TIGHT ENDS AND SPECIAL TEAMS: $470,000

BENNIE WYLIE, STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING: $380,000

No. 1 Sooners prepare to say, ‘Later, Gators’ Oklahoma ready for redemption against Florida STEVEN PLAISANCE @splaisance00

One year ago, the No. 1 Sooners landed on the losing end of an absolute thriller against the No. 5 Fl o r i da Gato rs, 198.125-198.150. There, in Gainesville, Florida, the Sooners sat and watched as the Gators edged out a last-minute victory. For the Sooners, every single emotion, every ounce of despair from that meet is still intact one year later.

And now they’ll have a chance at redemption against No. 2 Florida Friday night in Norman.

Last week, Florida recorded a season-best 197.675 score to defeat Kentucky and inch ahead of UCL A to earn the No. 2 ranking in the country, setting the stage for their showdown on Friday with the top-ranked Sooners.

This Oklahoma squad has seen no shortage of s u c c e s s — t w o nat i o n al championships and a second-place finish in the last three years — but this is more than just another meet. Besides fighting to protect their No. 1 ranking, the Sooners are looking to redeem themselves.

This team may be loaded with championship experience, but when it comes time to avenge a heartbreaking loss, even these Sooners are susceptible to nerves.

“Yeah, of course we’re gonna have some nerves, but I think nerves are good,”

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Freshman Olivia Trautman performs her beam routine in the meet against Georgia Jan. 11.

said sophomore Anastasia We b b. “A s s o m e o f o u r coaches say, ‘If you’re not nervous or you don’t have those butterflies, then you don’t really care.’ So I think it’s really important to get those nerves.”

Webb was the star for the Sooners last week in the Metroplex Challenge, earning her first career allaround title with a score of 39.550. Earlier this week, she was also named Big 12 Gymnast of the Week for her show-stopping performance. Even as a sophomore, Webb is clearly displaying all the poise and passion that coach

K.J. Kindler’s Sooners are known for.

“I feel like a lot of the girls have more determination and a lot more fight to perfect all our skills and stick all our dismounts and be more efficient,” Webb said.

“If we just do what we normally do, I think we have a good shot.”

We b b i s n o t t h e o n l y Sooner who is coming off a big week. Junior Maggie Nichols received the NCAA Inspiration Award at the NCAA Honors Celebration in Orlando last week for her role in speaking out against former USA gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar.

“Receiving the award was such an honor,” Nichols said. “Getting that call and being told I won that award was just so exciting.”

Taking no time to celebrate, Nichols also played a big role in the Sooners’ first-place finish at the Metroplex Challenge on Saturday. She posted teamhighs of 9.925 on bars and 9.975 on beam en route to being named Big 12 Event Sp e cialist of the We ek.

Much like Webb, Nichols can sense a certain intensity from her teammates right now.

“It’s really exciting because it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2

here at home. We’ve all been really focused on efficiency and hitting every routine as perfectly as we can, hitting every handstand, sticking every landing. We’re just making everything a little bit better than it was the week before,” Nichols said. “I think we’re all just super motivated for this weekend. It shows in the gym. Everyone is excited to get better and make each turn more perfect. There’s definitely intensity in a good way.”

Motivation may not always come easy for a dominant team like Oklahoma, but this week is the

exception. It should be easy for the Sooners to look ahead to UCLA in March or the NCAA Championships in April, but this week, none of that matters. For this team, there is a different tension in the air right now. These players are laser-focused on just one thing: beating Florida.

Oklahoma will get its chance to take down the Gators at 6:45 p.m. Friday night at the Lloyd Noble.

Steven Plaisance

srplaisance@ou.edu

6

SPORTS

• January 31-February 3, 2019

KINDLER: Continued from page 1

she wanted to do was have some national championships.”

Still, when OU athletic director Joe Castiglione called, Kindler didn’t exactly come running to Norman.

“You could say the cards were stacked against him,” Kindler said.

Kindler had been at Iowa State for 18 years and was seven months pregnant with her first child when Castiglione called. A move would mean she would be nearly 12 hours from her family instead of three and a half hours.

“One, she had experience in building a program,” Castiglione said. “I watched what she had done at Iowa State. Two, I evaluated the success that she was having recruiting elite gymnasts. And three, we ultimately believed that she was the strong leader we needed to building a championship program.”

Kindler would inherit the program from Steve Nunno, w h o c o a c h e d Sha n n o n

Miller in the 1992 Olympics.

Nunno coached four NCAA All-Americans and brought the school its first regional championship in 2006. OU’s program had made six NCAA Championship appearances before Kindler arrived.

“For a program like Oklahoma,” Kindler said, “I thought, ‘Gosh, I could make a really big difference,’ and that’s what I wanted to do, so I went for it.”

••• When Kindler arrived in Norman in 2006, she recalls being “shell-shocked.”

Facilities were out of date and changes needed to be made. But coming off a Super Six appearance at Iowa State, Kindler had one thing on her mind: a national championship.

“Back then, the idea that this could become the center of the gymnastic universe, at least collegiately, had a certain amount of appeal,” Castiglione said. “And certainly, it has become that.”

Taking Oklahoma to the level Kindler aspired to reach would not be easy, and she knew it.

“It took a lot of hard work,”

Kindler said. “It takes a change in culture. A change in how we approach the sport, our responsibilities, our preparation for our season.

There’s just so many things that had to change.”

Kindler’s changes to the program were immediately noticeable. The 2007 season ended with an eighth place finish at the national championship, the highest place OU had received at that point. Her teams have made an NCAA appearance every year since.

In 2014, Kindler’s goal became a reality. She coached the Sooners to their first NCAA national championship with a record-breaking score of 198.175. She coached Taylor Spears to an individual national championship on the balance beam — OU’s first individual nation champion in 26 years. Kindler won championships again in 2016 and 2017.

“It’s so overwhelming. You work for it. You plan for it. You train for it,” Kindler said. “But when it actually happens, it’s mesmerizing. An out-of-body experience.”

Through it all, Kindler attributes OU’s success to her staff and athletes. Both assistant coaches also came to OU

in 2006. Lou Ball, Kindler’s husband, coaches vault, Tom Haley coaches floor and they both coach bars. Kindler is the primary coach for beam.

“I have an amazing staff and we have been together for 13 years,” Kindler said. “And I think that continuity is super important to the success of this program. Lou is super calm. Tom is very creative and adds humor to every situation and helps the team relax. I’m more of the intensity of the program. The person who keeps the ship running right.

We all add something that so important to the dynamic of the program.”

Former coaches credit OU’s success to Kindler’s ability both as a coach and as an athlete. She’s demanding, creative, competitive and compassionate.

“She’s improved the quality of NCAA gymnastics,” Pyle said. “People are chasing Oklahoma now.”

Gymnasts are chasing Oklahoma because of Kindler.

“She’s a rare package,” Castiglione said. “We’re grateful that she’s our head coach.”

Paxson Haws

hawspax16@ou.edu

PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY

OU women’s gymnastics coach K.J. Kindler hugs senior Nicole Lerhmann after her beam routine Jan. 11.

OU strives for win at Virginia After loss to Baylor, Sooners look to turn season around CALEB MCCOURRY @CalebMac21

After its worst home loss since 1963, a 77-47 disaster against Baylor, OU’s men’s basketball team (15-6, 3-5 Big 12) is now looking to turn its season around in Morgantown against the West Virginia Mountaineers (9-11, 1-6 Big 12).

Since being 11-1 at the b e g i n n i n g o f Ja n u a r y , Oklahoma has dropped five of its last nine games, proving that there is struggle in conference play, and the Sooners shouldn’t assume the struggle will stop going against a foe that’s 1-6 in the Big 12.

The Mountaineers’ one win is a 65-64 home win against No. 11 Kansas (165, 5-3), which just goes to show how much of a warzone the Big 12 is. Going into Saturday, Oklahoma stands at No. 8 in the conference

while West Virginia sits in last.

We s t Vi rg i n i a — a l s o known as “Press Virginia” — will bring its full-court pressure as always. It’s a staple of Big 12 basketball that usually gives teams their worst offensive performances of the year, especially when in Morgantown. But this year’s West Virginia team is an outlier.

The Mountaineers sit in last place among the Big 12 in scoring defense (74.4 points allowed per game) and field goal percentage

defense (43.5 percent).

Oklahoma allows a shooting percentage of 39.4 — ranked No. 2 — from the field this season. The stats are on the Sooners’ side, but it still might not be enough.

Of the 55 shots taken in its loss to Baylor, Oklahoma made only 15 of them. Teams can’t slip up that badly at home, and the Sooners are heading east to an environment known for bringing the noise.

What can the Sooners do to turn things around?

They can get key players

going on offense. Senior guard Christian James is averaging 16.3 points per game. He scored just eight points on 2-9 shooting.

Baylor is No. 3 in Big 12 scoring defense. West Virginia is last. James can be a difference maker come Saturday.

As for the Crimson and Cream’s defense? It looked like the Sooners forgot who they were. Baylor made more than half of its shots Monday night. Baylor head coach Scott Drew thought the Sooners were off.

“Fran (Fraschilla) always

says there are four games a year where you don’t play like yourself,” Drew said. “I think this was one of theirs.”

The Sooners are most likely hoping Saturday isn’t one of those four games. They’re hoping Saturday can be a turning point in their season and get them back on track toward the tournament.

Oklahoma will take on West Virginia at 11 a.m.

Saturday on ESPN2.

Caleb McCourry

caleb.a.mccourry@ou.edu

GIVE HATE NOTHING:

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