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Tuesday, March 8, 2011

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Dorm thefts prompt police warning Items taken from unlocked rooms in residence halls, police warn HILLARY MCLAIN The Oklahoma Daily

The OU Police Department recently posted a theft warning on security doors at Walker Center and Honors College housing urging student residents to report any suspicious activity to the department.

— Kathleen Evans/The Daily

Three of the four reports said items were taken from the rooms while the victims were not in the dorms, while the fourth stated the thief may have entered her room while she was away.

The items taken from the dorm rooms were not specified in the police reports.

Items typically stolen may be a wide array

To report a theft  Call and OUPD will send an officer  Go to OUPD and make the report  Report it at the Cate Center Housing Police Office between noon and 8 p.m. — Source: OUPD Lt. Bruce Chan

SEE THEFT PAGE 2

Medieval Fair seeking volunteers

Yale speaker to discuss campaign funding case A political science lecturer will speak today regarding the decision that the First Amendment cannot limit corporate funding of political campaign advertisements.

Yale University lecturer Jim Wilson’s talk will cover the Citizens United case.

The non-profit organization Citizens United was involved in a lawsuit regarding a documentary they created about Hillary Clinton, according to Wilson’s articles.

The case sparked a debate about corporate funding in political campaigns, and the Supreme Court ruled five to four that the First Amendment cannot limit corporate funding of political advertisements.

This decision was largely ignored by the public and the media amidst discussion of health care, and has dangerous implications for the U.S. political system, according to Wilson’s writings.

Wilson has written many articles on the Citizens United case for The Boston Globe, The New Yorker and Talking Points Memo Cafe, according to a press release. He also is the author of two books about politics.

David Chappell, history professor and co-sponsor of the event, said a panel of faculty members will be asking questions. “[Students] will learn more background and hear good questions from others on the faculty here who are well informed on the case, its background history and its implications,� Chappell said.

Faculty members on the panel are Justin Wert with the Department of Political Science and Kevin Butterfield with the Institute for American Constitutional Heritage.

The event will take place at 12:30 p.m. in the Gaylord Hall of Fame Room.

“On Thursday, Feb. 24, an unknown person entered four unlocked rooms in the residence halls and stole money and other personal property,� the notice read. “All community members are reminded that they should keep their residences locked at all times.�

Three separate OUPD reports were filed within minutes of each other Feb. 24 on Walker Center’s 8th floor, while an identical report was made two hours prior.

Upcoming event is flooded with vendors but still needs workers for the weekend, coordinator says CHRIS LUSK The Oklahoma Daily

S S

tudents interested in transporting Norman to the Middle Ages can volunteer at a local fair April 1 to 3, an event spokeswoman said.

The 35th annual Medieval Fair is in need of more volunteers to help organize and prepare its activities, said Ann Marie Eckart, Medieval Fair coordinator.

Eckart said she is the only person working on the fair in an official capacity, so she depends on volunteers to make the event happen. “We live and die by volunteers,� Eckart said. “I am a “There was a one-woman department, so point in time we our volunteers are really like were begging the glue that keeps the fair vendors to come; together.�There is a group of 20 direct volunteers working now we’re turning with Eckart, but 50 people them away.� would be ideal, she said. “If we had that many, — ANN MARIE then we would not have to ECKART, MEDIEVAL rely so heavily on the curFAIR COORDINATOR rent volunteers we have,�

Eckart said. “It would be nice for them to not have to work such long hours and be able to go out and enjoy the fair, too.�

Business junior Ethan Henderson of Oklahoma City said he volunteered with the fair in 2008, and while it was an enjoyable experience, he would have appreciated additional help. “I ended up running around working the whole time,�

Henderson said. “I had a great time, but I was helping out so much that I didn’t get to really experience much

ISSAC BLAXTON/THE DAILY

Medieval Fair Coordinator Ann Marie Eckart unwraps a banner Monday afternoon from the Medieval Fair’s storage shed in Noble. Eckart said she is still recruiting volunteers to assist with the fair April 1, 2 and 3 at Reaves Park.

SEE FAIR PAGE 2

Candidates want to reach out to all students Making office approachable top goal for UOSA presidential ticket

accomplished in their one-year term.

They have met with several campus departments to ensure their platform issues are feasible.

RACHAEL CERVENKA The Oklahoma Daily Morris and Bock’s campaign slogan is, “Putting You First.�

UOSA spring election presidential They said the slogan is indicative of ticket Hannah Morris and Laura Bock their wish to create a home at OU for said, if elected, their all students.

READ MORE AT OUDAILY.COM over-arching focus “If you have the would be to engage the ability to make a difeveryday Sooner on ference then you campus. should,� Morris said.

Presidential candiMorris and Bock date Morris, political said they want to edscience and public reucate students and lations junior, and vice faculty on the daypresidential candidate to-day activities of Laura Bock, zoology junior, said they UOSA, which they hope to accomare excited and prepared for the up- plish through a daily blog or weekly coming election.

Morris and Bock have compiled 27 platform issues they believe can be SEE UOSA PAGE 3

A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON Visit the multimedia section to watch a video of Bob Barry Sr.’s final game broadcasting OU men’s basketball

THE OKLAHOMA DAILY VOL. 96, NO. 110 Š 2011 OU Publications Board www.OUDaily.com www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily

Laura Bock and Hannah Morris

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2 • Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

CAMPUS

Chase Cook, managing editor dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666

THEFT: Early reporting vital, OU police say Continued from page 1 of goods, OUPD Lieutenant Bruce Chan said. “Sometimes it is items for resale — or valuables — and sometimes it is food or hygiene products,� Chan said.

The best way to protect against theft is to keep dorm doors locked, Chan said.

Today around campus Âť Graduation Gear-Up will occur 9 a.m. to noon in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Beaird Lounge. Âť Immigration in the Heartland, a conference exploring the affects of immigration in Oklahoma and other Heartland states, will be held through Friday at Gaylord Hall. Âť Professor Bill Neill will present “Voice Studio,â€? part of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Tuesday Noon Concert Series, from noon to 12:30 p.m. in the museum’s Sandy Bell Gallery. Admission is free for students. Âť Animal Volunteers Alliance will host Pet Food Drive from noon to 7 p.m. in the Union in front of WIRE. Âť Rodger Randle, professor of human relations, presents “Brazilian Culture, Brazilian Businessâ€? from noon to 1 p.m. in Carson Engineering Center, Room 119. Âť Librarian Jeffrey Wilhite will give a workshop on “Government Document Basicsâ€? from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in Bizzell Memorial Library, Room 149D.

 Sutton Concert Series: OU Jazz Bands will play from 8 to 10 p.m. in Catlett Music Center’s Sharp Concert Hall. Tickets are $8 for adults; $5 for students, OU faculty/ staff and senior adults.  Friends of Music reception will be held 9:45 to 10:15 p.m. in Catlett Music Center’s Gothic Hall. The event is a fundraiser for OU School of Music students and faculty.

Wednesday, March 9  AAPG/SEG Spring Break Student Expo will give students interested in the petroleum industry the opportunity to meet with industry representatives to make employment and internship matches. The event will take place in Sarkeys Energy Center through Friday.  Immigration in the Heartland, a conference exploring the affects of immigration in Oklahoma and other Heartland states, will be held through Friday at Gaylord Hall.  Graduation Gear-Up will occur 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Union’s Beaird Lounge.  Animal Volunteers Alliance will host Pet Food Drive from noon to 7 p.m. in the Union in front of WIRE.  School of International and Area Studies will host How to Land an Internship as part of its Career Workshop Series from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Hester Hall, Room 170.  Henry Kissinger will participate in a dinner and fireside chat at 6 p.m. in the Union’s Molly Shi Boren Ballroom.

Âť This day in OU history

March 8, 2001 Arsenic in OU wells above EPA standard OU’s six active water wells were tested and didn’t meet an Environmental Protection Agency standard for arsenic levels. The new EPA standard was lowered to 10 parts per billion, and OU’s active wells measured 27 to 29 ppb. The wells were tested by Accurate Environmental and Laboratory Services, Inc. Four inactive OU wells tested 43 to 90 ppb for arsenic.

Governor recognizes honorary consul of Japan Yoshi Sasaki was recognized as honorary consul general of Japan by then Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin and Masami Takemoto, the consul general of Japan. Sasaki was recognized for his work in building a relationship and creating communication development programs between Oklahoma and Japan. — Source: The Oklahoma Daily archives

the dorms three years ago.

If a student is a victim of robbery, it is important to give a detailed report of the theft to the police as soon as possible, Chan said. “Report it as soon as [you] discover it,� Chan said.

He said the OUPD’s ability to investigate and find out who did it is greater the sooner the crime is reported.

Commonly stolen items  Valuables, such as laptops  Food products  Hygiene products — Source: OUPD Lt. Bruce Chan

FAIR: State’s largest weekend event April 1 to 3 Continued from page 1

Medieval Fair entertainment, eating options Performers include:  New Riders of the Golden Age  Jester Rejects  Redland Rogues  Arabesque New food vendors include:  Bread Bowls  Jerusalem Cafe  Scimeca’s Italian Sausage Other activities include:  Axe throwing

Âť Connie Divine of University College will present Time Management as part of the Student Success Series from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Wagner Hall, Room 245.

Lydia Sexton, Housing Center Student Association p re s i d e nt, ha d s i m i l a r advice. “I think it is important to have your door open while you are in the room, but to also keep it closed and locked when you are not there,� Sexton said.

These incidents were the first Sexton said she had heard of since she lived in

 Hand-cranked swings  Elephant and camel rides — Source: Medieval Fair press release

selected based on criteria such as their items’ quality and connection to the Middle Ages.

Eckart said she fielded requests from of the fair that year.�

Henderson said he regularly attended the people across the country, which was a nice fair with his family when he was a child, and change from the fair’s earlier years. “We have grown so much; we are now the environment encouraged him to bethe fair vendors want to be in,� Eckart said. come more involved. “There was a point in time we were beg“It’s an awesome thing that we have ging vendors to come; now we’re here,� he said. “They need a lot of turning them away. It’s a great help, so if people have time, they predicament to be in.� should volunteer so the fair can In 2010, Norman police estikeep growing.� mated 175,000 people attendThe Medieval Fair is a free ed the fair — but the numbers WHAT: 35th annual history fair featuring crafts, were likely low due to inclemeducational exhibits and enMedieval Fair ent weather that hit during tertainment with a medieval the weekend, Eckart said. The twist, Eckart said.

WHEN: April 1 to 3 fair had an estimated 350,000 The fair is Oklahoma’s attendees in 2008, which was largest weekend event and WHERE: Reaves Park a record high, she said. was named one of the top 100 This year’s event will host events in the nation by Events more than 200 arts and craft venMedia Network, according to the dors, 40 food vendors and seven stagfair’s website.

Since beginning in 1977, the Medieval es filled with performances, Eckart said.

The fair is funded by booth fees the venFair has grown from a one-day event on the South Oval to a three-day fair at Reaves dors are required to pay and through a grant from the Norman Arts Council Hotel Tax Park, Eckart said.

OU’s English department created the Grant Program, Eckart said. The university event as a way to celebrate English poet does not provide any money for the event, William Shakespeare, she said. Now, the she said.

The city of Norman supports the fair by fair has grown into a way to educate people about the Middle Ages as a whole, Eckart offering police, firefighters and trash pickup services, Eckart said. said. “Norman has been absolutely great to us,�

More than 60 arts and craft vendors submitted applications for the fair’s 20 open- she said. “They just do a little bit of everyings, Eckart said. The applicants were thing to help us out.�

If you go

Health Sciences Center provost to retire in June, become professor An OU vice president announced Sunday he will retire from the Health Sciences Center after 16 years of service to serve as a professor, according to a press release.

Joseph Ferretti, senior vice president and provost, will retire from the center in June, but will work as a professor in the Department of Botany and Microbiology in George Lynn Cross Hall. “Now, I look forward to being able to spend more time focused on research,� Ferretti said in the press release.

Ferretti’s accomplishments include increasing the Health Sciences Center funding by 375 percent and the completion of 35 construction projects. The completion of the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Oklahoma Cancer Center is a dream come true, Ferretti said in the press release. “The leadership of Joe Ferretti has literally transformed the OU Health Sciences Center and raised it to a top level nationally,� said OU President David Boren in a press release.

Ferretti has received multiple recognitions, including induction into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 1983 and an honorary doctorate from the Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in 1997.

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NEWS

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 • 3

Resident adviser vies for CAC chair Junior hopes to make organization more environmentally friendly

READ MORE AT OUDAILY.COM

SARA GROOVER Oklahoma Daily

Bridgitte Castorino, candidate for Campus Activities C o u n c i l c h a i r, a i m s t o strengthen the inner workings of CAC and build connections and excitement on campus for the organization.

Developing new ideas in CAC is crucial, Castorino said. She said CAC Crew has been successful since its start in the fall semester. CAC Crew is a volunteer group that students can sign up with to receive updates on volunteer opportunities for all CAC events.

“There are things that I want to continue to build on, like CAC Crew and the possibility of a new event,” Castorino said.

Her current role as CAC secretary allows her to see the inner workings of the organization, Castorino said. Her two years of experience as a resident adviser have promoted her personal growth and ability to connect with

Bridgitte Castorino students, Castorino said.

If elected C AC chair, Castorino plans to step down from her other positions and appointments on campus and only work as a resident adviser and CAC chair.

If elected, Castorino plans to make CAC a more environmentally conscious organization by making its

application processes completely paperless by the end of her term.

“The Sooner Scandals application was completely paperless, and it worked out great,” Castorino said.

Only two copy pages were used for Scandals as a signup sheet, Castorino said.

Ca s t o r i n o, a p u b l i c

relations junior, said she would work as CAC chair to incorporate every campus group including transfer, international student and multicultural organizations. She also said she would like to expand CAC’s public relations campaign to build excitement for the organization.

Castorino, a resident adviser in Walker Center, plans to build a family within CAC by planning more executive and general council bonding activities.

“It is important to build connections between our CAC executive staff and our event executives,” Castorino said. “A few events have had retreats for their executive committees, and they built a real sense of family because it allowed the executive committee to get to know each other.”

Castorino has the passion and drive for CAC, Lauren Haynie, biomedical engineering sophomore and Castorino’s close friend said. “ The first time I met Bridgitte, [she] was as a resident adviser in Walker,” Haynie said. “A girl in my hall had a bad day. Bridgitte brought her a bubble wand and ice cream and just talked with her.”

C a s t o r i n o’s s t re n g t h comes from her personality, zoology sophomore Rebekah Martin said.

“She has an amazing ability to make friends, and she is very organized and personable,” Martin said. “She can do anything she sets her mind to.”

Castorino met with her campaign team Sunday night to plan and work out the fine details of her campaign schedule.

Editor’s Note: This is part one of a three-part series profiling the candidates for CAC chair. Read Wednesday’s and Thursday’s Daily for profiles on Greg Emde and Melissa Mock.

UOSA: Candidates encourage students to become involved Continued from page 1

the Governors Council for Workforce and Economic Development and the State Superintendents Council for Education.

Vice presidential candidate Laura Bock said she has been involved in publication. Student and faculty feedback is very important to them, CAC since she came to OU. Bock has served as an executive officer for five CAC events and was chair of this year’s Dance Marathon. they said.

“I am a big advocate for if you’re in something you’re in it all the way,” Morris and Bock said they are extremely passionate about encouragBock said. ing communication between different student organizations.

Bock served as vice president of the Panhellenic sorority Kappa Kappa “The biggest resource that OU students miss out on is each other,” Gamma from 2009 to 2010 and now is on the chapter council. She is also Morris said.

If elected, they said they want constant interaction between student a mentor of President’s Leadership Class.

Both candidates are members of Crimson Club, which provide amgovernment and the 400 registered student organizations on campus. bassadors for the university.

Morris and Bock said they hope to make UOSA less Morris said she chose Bock as her running mate with intimidating for students hoping to approach the the idea of bringing in another perspective due to her organization.

I am a big advocate numerous roles in CAC. “In order to understand a student and where they for if you’re in “If I can find someone who shares my vision and my come from, you have to have been there in some sense. something you’re in it passion, then we have to go for it,” Morris said.

I’ve been a commuter student, a non-greek student, a Morris said she thought Bock would bring a good student who had academic probation and a student who all the way.” balance to the ticket. has been on the Dean’s Honor Roll,” Morris said.

“Having my perspective on the ticket will make sure Morris and Bock also plan to establish more recycling — LAURA BOCK, UOSA VICE we are continuing to branch out to all areas of campus,” locations on campus. They said smaller initiatives stem PRESIDENT CANDIDATE Bock said. from this point, but this is their No. 1 environmental Bock and Morris said they are both on track to gradpriority.

In order to eliminate confusion in the financial aid office, Morris and uate on time. Each will have light course loads next year, which means Bock said they want to implement a system where students can be ad- they will be completely invested in UOSA, Bock said.

“We would like to invite students to utilize UOSA to their greatest advised by older, experienced students regarding financial aid.

When Morris began to get involved in UOSA, she quickly developed a vantage to maximize their experience at the University of Oklahoma,” strong passion for the organization. Morris has served on the UOSA leg- Morris said.

UOSA campaigns are underway and elections will take place March islative branch, the executive branch and also as a chief of staff.

“Seeing the overall perspective as chief of staff has really given me an 29 and 30. insight into what it takes in the office of the president,” Morris said.

Morris is currently a member of the Panhellenic sorority Alpha Editor’s Note: This is part two of a two part series profiling the candidates Omicron Pi. for UOSA president and vice president. Visit OUDaily.com for Monday’s profile on She also is a member of several community organizations including Forrest Bennett and Katherine Borgerding.

Safe Break offers fun, information The OU Panhellenic Association is hosting Safe Break from 6 to 8 p.m. today in the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center.

Safe Break is an annual event in honor of Lisa Wieder, a former OU student and Alpha Omicron Pi sister who died during spring break of 2004.

The event is designed to raise awareness about the possible risks associated with spring break vacations and tips to avoid those risks. Food will be provided as well as music by a DJ. — Russell Taylor/The Daily

Italian writer to attend reading An Italian playwright, poet and novelist will visit OU on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for a performance of one of her plays and a Q&A session.

Dacia Maraini is an Italian writer who mostly deals with women’s issues, according to a press release.

Students will perform a reading of her play “Mary Stuart” 8 p.m. Wednesday in Old Science Hall, Room 200. Seating is on a firstcome, first-served basis.

Maraini will give a talk Thursday before another performance of the show in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Reservations are required for this event.

The play, “Mary Stuart,” is about Mary, Queen of Scots, the ruler of Scotland from 1542 to 1587, according to World Literature Today magazine.

Maraini will end her visit with a Q&A session with students 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Fine Arts Center, Room 119.

Sponsors of the events include World Literature Today, the College of International Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Drama.

— Kathleen Evans/The Daily

4 • Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

THUMBS UP ›› OUPD posted in response to the recent string of thefts in Walker Center (see page 1)

OPINION

Tim French, opinion editor dailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666

OUR VIEW

COLUMN

Campaign needs length

Cynicism doesn’t help communities

As Daily columnist Matt Bruenig and UOSA presidential candidate Forrest Bennett have noted, students do not care about what is going on in UOSA. Only 5,645 students voted in last spring’s presidential election and only 1,357 students voted in the fall general elections.

To increase awareness of the campaigns and rectify student apathy, we believe candidates should be given more time to campaign.

Currently, the campaign schedule is far too compact for candidates to create their platforms and for students to gain a proper understanding of the topics being discussed.

This year the campaign schedule begins on March 7 and ends on the last day for voting, March 30. This only allows for 23 days of campaigning, nine of which students will be off campus for spring break. That leaves candidates only 14 days, including weekends, to convince students to vote for them.

This is not enough time for students to gain an appropriate understanding of the issues candidates are discussing.

Because of the short time frame, campaigns are reduced to who has the better slogan or who has more friends.

Not only is this not enough time for campaigning, but also spring break and midterms happen to be right in the middle of the campaign while students are preoccupied with midterms and planning for the beach.

During presidential elections, America is oversaturated with information regarding candidates because the campaign cycle lasts so long.

To give candidates enough time to get used to their class schedule, flush out their platform issues, gather their needed

signatures and plan out their campaign strategies before asking for student votes, UOSA candidates should begin campaigning in early February.

With an earlier start date candidates can participate in multiple debates before elections start and give students multiple chances to hear their candidates speak about the topics affecting our campus.

As it stands now, UOSA candidates are only planning to participate in one public forum on March 21. Because this is the day students return from spring break, we’re worried turnout may be low and students will not hear important messages the candidates have.

Candidates should have multiple opportunities to discuss topics that affect students, not just one session.

Not only would a longer campaign season benefit candidates, but also students would be given enough time to form their own opinions about the candidates. Currently, students don’t have enough time to question candidates and multiple public debates would give students this opportunity.

Citizens gain a personal attachment to their candidates during national presidential campaigns and students should feel the same attachment to student body president candidates. By having elections take place during an already hectic time in student’s semester, students are cheated out of a vital part of the Democratic process.

Before you vote ask yourself, do you want candidates that tout a “better way forward,” “putting you forward” or one that you personally believe in and agree with their policies?

Comment on this column at OUDaily.com

COLUMN

Employees fight for equilibrium When you graduate college, you will likely find yourself in proving the rich have gotten the precarious predicament of being a professional. You’ll richer and the middle class STAFF COLUMN UMN go to work, you’ll earn a living and you’ll spend more than have gotten poorer over the you make. Such is the way of modern life. past 30 years.

Tom Taylor or As a professional, you’ll probably find yourself in an Remember, with few exemployer/employee relationship and, as you are the one ceptions, your employer just starting out in your profession, you’ll probably be the will not have your best inemployee. terests in mind. Every dollar you make is one dollar less in It falls within the general theories of economics that profits for the business. You are a tool of the company to be whatever your profession, your job will be to ensure that you exploited until you no longer serve a purpose. The compamake as much money for the least amount of work as pos- ny may seem like it cares, but every benefit your profession sible. Likewise, your employer’s job is to pay you the least will offer you was gained through the labor movements of amount of money for the maximum amount of work pos- yesteryear. sible. When you and your employer find a point in which The unions of Wisconsin should be applauded for standyou can agree, it’s called the equilibrium point. ing up and fighting back. They have conceded all of the fiWith available workers outnumbering available jobs, em- nancial requests of the governor, and are only holding out ployers have the upper hand. With this advantage, your em- for the ability to retain the right to bargain in the future. ployer essentially gives you the choice to eiWithout this right, they will see their benther work more for less or find other work. efits and wages diminish each and every This was an underlying theme in John year.

Tactically, the Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath” and still apWisconsin isn’t about budgetary matters.

Wisconsin struggle plies today. Your employer has the ability It is about destroying the public unions in is about destroying to pay you less than your talent, experience America. Unions and lawyers are the finanthe unions, but and education is worth. As hard as it may cial backers of the Democratic Party. If the strategically it is be to believe, you’ll graciously take the job Republicans can succeed in pushing a nabecause you need the money to support a about destroying the tional agenda of right to work, the eliminafamily, pay your mortgage or pay off student tion of public unions and the implementaDemocratic Party.” loans. tion of tort reform then they will succeed in If you want to fight the system, you’ll be assuring there is no one to stand up to the fired because you are replaceable. However, there is a way corporate financial backers of the GOP. to get what you deserve. As you are not the only person getTactically, the Wisconsin struggle is about destroyting wronged in your place of employment, you will likely ing the unions, but strategically it is about destroying the find individuals who are tired of learning to live with less. Democratic Party.

If you worked together in concert, you could form an emRights should never be taken way, and the right to adployee’s group and use your collective value to the company dress your employer as equals is fundamental for America to demand that the employees benefit more from the fruits to become a middle-class society again. of their labor.

The word “Union” has become a four-letter word in mod- — Tom Taylor, ern America, and it is sad to see it. Yes, labor unions can political science graduate sometimes be corrupt. So can corporations and unlike corporations, unions actually are responsive to employees. Comment on this The death of unions in America is one of the major factors column at OUDaily.com

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Financial crisis was foreseen Thank you for Andrew Cook’s article, “Financial crisis needs a solution.” I’m so glad to see the occasional mention of how the lenders and homebuilders engaged in predatory and outright illegal lending during the housing bubble.

I used to be a volunteer for a consumer organization and I did a lot of research for them. By the very earliest 2000s I knew we were in a bubble and that the economy could tank because of it. I knew a lot of fraud was going on, and I saw nothing being done. Consumers were complaining but they were told to get a lawyer and sue. Stupid advice, since lawyers don’t want such low paying cases, and arbitration clauses in some contracts outright forbid suing and send disputes to an industry friendly, private system, where the consumer almost always loses.

It was not until banks got hurt, (usually from their own lack of due diligence which is what any consumer would’ve been told), that the government really started going after the crooks.

Meredith Moriak Chase Cook Chris Miller Tim French James Corley

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Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Opinion Editor Sports Editor

By the early 2000s I was seeing documents such as the FBI’s reports on white collar crime and mortgage fraud.

These reports warned mortgage fraud could take out the economy and that it was being done 80% of the time by the industry itself. We saw these crimes escalate and saw home buyers blamed for frauds that they could not possibly have created and carried out; that took industry insiders and their knowledge to accomplish. Eventually some small time players such as builders, real estate and title agents, lenders, etc, did go to trial, but most of them did not, and so far I don’t recall hearing of any of the big company CEOs who paid the consequences.

Now these companies are reaping benefits of big tax breaks and bailouts at our expense, all the while repeating the unbelievable mantra, “No one could’ve seen this coming.” Yeah, right.

Autumn Huffman Ashley West Chris Lusk Michael Lloyd Judy Gibbs Robinson

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Life & Arts Editor Photo Editor Online Editor Multimedia Editor Editorial Adviser

e-mail: dailynews@ou.edu

We are a society horribly cynical about our own STAFF COLUMN MN government. Every day Buck you can open the paper to Roberson find exposes about which new politician has had another affair, turn on the TV to find new reports about the latest corruption scandal or walk into your favorite coffee shop to hear another round of political bashing.

We complain about the current president, the past president, the crazy Tea party and the radical Leftists. We act like the world is falling to pieces around us and there’s nothing we can do.

Even here on campus, we are cynical about the powers that be. They don’t listen to us, or don’t have any power.

They do nothing we say and what they do achieve is meaningless. So, we keep complaining and nothing gets done.

Most of us won’t vote in the UOSA elections and most of us didn’t vote last November in the state elections either. We just sit and complain about the way things are, as if we have no possibility of improving anything. I’m ashamed of what we have become.

There was a time when idealism permeated American society, when we thought we could change the world. It seemed that we had turned the page and the world might become even a little bit brighter in the near future. For a time, we had hope.

I’ll be upfront with you—I’m referring to early 2008, when President Barack Obama was a fresh face in the White House, still fresh off his campaign advertising change, idealism and great things young voters ate right up.

This wasn’t the first time when a sense of idealism Most of us seemed to permeate society in won’t vote in the general. We go through cycles of this on a regular basis: hope, UOSA elections cynicism, hope, cynicism, ad and most of us infinitum. didn’t vote last Right now we seem to be November in the slumped into a general sense of depression about the postate elections litical realm—excepting the either. We just sit and complain Tea Partiers and their recent rise to stardom —and we’ve about the way been this way since Obama things are, hit the one-year mark and we as if we have realized he isn’t the superstar master of change we thought no possibility he was going to be. He’s just a of improving man and has had troubles and anything.” obstacles to deal with, just like any other president.

I think this reflects a common problem with how we view our representatives in government, both in the national arena and in our university. We don’t vote for the man or woman; we vote for the idea of them.

How often do we boil candidates down to a couple of stances? Or worse yet, by party lines? Obama ran on a platform of radical change, and when he turned out to not be change incarnate, we ripped him to shreds.

The same can be said for UOSA. We want to think of them as out to make everything right about our campus and when they fall short of our expectations we say they do nothing and are a pointless organization. We thrive on their ideals early in our voting careers only to be disappointed, leaving us cynical about representation.

We need to look at whom we are voting for not as an entity, but as a person applying for a job. We need to be realistic about our votes, understanding the nature of the job and the great likelihood we have of being disappointed.

At the same time, we also must never let our frustrations prevent us from keeping a sense of hope and idealism.

Since when did cynicism ever achieve anything? We cannot expect any form of self-government to achieve anything if the people themselves are apathetic to their cause. It is their support that gives them validity and the capability to change.

For the average student, UOSA may not seem to do much. But this is no reason not to vote. There is more at stake than just individual positions. As long as it gets low voter turnouts, UOSA will continue to be relatively impotent organization. But with each additional vote cast, they gain increased credibility as a representative body, giving it both significance in the eyes of the administration and a sense of purpose to its members.

Were you in their position, would you feel more duty-bound having received the vote of 15% or 50% of the students you represent? Turnout really does mean something.

In this upcoming election, don’t fall into the pit of cynicism and establishment bashing. You sabotage the whole system by doing this. Get out and vote — it’s the least we can do to improve this campus. Let’s stop grumbling in our respective corners and let our voices be heard!

— Buck Roberson, University College freshman

Comment on this column at OUDaily.com

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WORLD

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WORLD NEWS BRIEFS 1. Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Rebels take over 30-mile strip Ivory Coast’s government confirmed Monday that rebels allied with their leader had seized control of a nearly 30-mile corridor along the country’s border with Liberia following an intense weekend battle.

The seizure of Toulepleu on Sunday afternoon extends the gains made by the rebel army, which earlier had seized another town called Zouan-Hounien.

Both towns have historically been controlled by Laurent Gbagbo, the country’s strongman who is refusing to cede power even though the country’s election commission declared opposition leader Alassane Ouattara the winner of the Nov. 28 vote. ___

2. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Jury convicts senator of bribery A jury in Puerto Rico has convicted a senator in the legislature and a prominent island businessman of bribery in a public corruption trial.

Jurors found Sen. Hector Martinez and businessman Juan Bravo Fernandez guilty of one count each of bribery. The verdicts came at the end of the first full day of deliberations Monday in the U.S. federal court trial.

Martinez was found not guilty of obstruction of justice and the judge dismissed a count of conspiracy against him.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 7.

Prosecutors alleged Bravo bribed Martinez with a trip to Las Vegas to see a championship boxing match in exchange for his help with legislation that would have aided Bravo’s private security company. ___

3. Paris

Ex-President faces corruption trial A long-awaited French corruption case is expected to go to trial Monday with an unusually influential defendant: former President Jacques Chirac.

A last-minute protest by one of Chirac’s nine co-defendants has come up over procedural issues, but the court isn’t expected to rule on that motion until at least Tuesday.

Chirac, 78, is accused of embezzlement, breach of trust and conflict of interest, based on allegations linked to his tenure as Paris mayor. ___

4. Jakarta, Indonesia

Landslide slows access to mine A landslide has shut a tunnel that links Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.’s mine with the nearby village in Indonesia’s province of Papua. No one was injured in the landslide, which happened Saturday.

PT. Freeport Indonesia spokesman Ramdani Sirait said Monday that production at the world’s largest gold and copper mine continues normally despite the landslide. Some miners were brought to work by helicopter, until bad weather grounded the choppers.

Sirait said the landslide would not affect shipments to buyers since materials travel to the port by pipeline. ___

Former Libyan prime minister calls for dialogue with rebels Unlikely rebel leader speaks about the reasons for rebellion TRIPOLI, Libya — Mohamad Soueid is an unlikely revolutionary against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi. Until a few weeks ago he was a high-ranking government official in the city of Misurata, the man in charge of overseeing the affairs of the foreigners who lived there.

But in the midst of the uprising that has torn Libya in half and established Misurata as one of two rebel strongholds in the country’s western half, Soueid has become a leader of an armed rebellion.

“We want democracy,” he said Monday. “We want the end of Gadhafi. We want the fall of the regime. We want justice. We want the end of corruption. Gadhafi has left us no choice. Only war.”

Soueid’s comments came after former Libyan Prime Minister Jadallah Azzuz Talhi appealed for dialogue with government opponents during an appearance on statecontrolled television. Talhi, who served as Libya’s prime minister in the 1980s, hails from the eastern provinces, which include the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The appeal came as security forces pounded rebel forces in the east and continued to lay siege to Misurata and Zawiya, two cities controlled by forces opposed to Gadhafi.

Soueid and other rebels quickly dismissed the appeals for any dialogue while Gadhafi remained in power.

“It’s too late to make a dialogue,” he said. “Dialogue is dead. At the beginning our movement was peaceful. Now they’ve killed our

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Officials in a violent Mexican border town have fired a 20-year-old police chief for leaving her post after reportedly receiving death threats.

A statement from the city government of Praxedis G. Guerrero says Marisol Valles Garcia was given permission to travel to the United States for personal matters.

It says she failed to return to her post Monday as agreed, leading the mayor to dismiss her.

Valles Garcia made international headlines when she accepted the job in October.

Local news media have reported that Valles Garcia is seeking asylum in the United States after getting threats against her life, but there has been no confirmation of that.

Her whereabouts are unknown. ___

6. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

DomRep: Exports to Haiti up 35 percent since quake Officials in the Dominican Republic say the nation’s exports to Haiti increased 35 percent last year due to the earthquake that hit the neighboring country.

The Dominican Republic’s investment promotion agency says official business with Haiti reached $869.6 million in 2010. That was nearly $225 million more than in 2009.

Agency spokesperson Eddy Martinez said Monday that new statistics show formal sales to Haiti represented nearly 16 percent of all Dominican exports in 2010. He says food exports shot up 94 percent and industrial exports, including construction equipment, increased 26 percent.

The January 2010 earthquake killed an estimated 300,000 people and left much of impoverished Haiti’s capital in ruins.

— AP

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 • 5

lungcanceralliance.org

KEVIN FRAYER/AP

Libyan rebels who are part of the forces against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ride on an armed truck Monday near Ras Lanuf, eastern Libya.

At the beginning our movement was peaceful.

Now they’ve killed our children. Now the only solution is violence. We are going to fight until the last man.”

— MOHAMAD SOUEID, REVOLUTIONARY children. Now the only solution is violence. We are going to fight until the last man.”

Many rebels doubt the sincerity of the Libyan regime’s offer of dialogue. Gadhafi and his deputies have described his opponents as drug-addled terrorists in league with al-Qaida and the CIA and refuse to allow the possibility that they may be driven by the same clamors for democratic rule that have already unseated governments in Tunisia and Egypt

and are roiling the region.

Foreign Minister Musa Kusa on Monday took on a combative tone against the rebels, labeling them Islamic extremists supported by the West in a colonialist plot to divide and conquer Libya.

“Some militias, armed militia outlaws — whether people believe it or not — they are affiliated to al-Qaida,” he said. “I wonder why so many people don’t focus on this issue. Al-Qaida is a fact. An Algerian man was arrested

in Zawiya. Where do they come from? They come from al-Qaida.”

Soueid, like others contacted in rebel strongholds, painted a starkly different picture of the movement. He said youths initially led the movement in town against the Gadhafi regime, but eventually it came to encompass all segments of the society.

World powers and U.S. politicians are considering whether to provide rebels opposed to Gadhafi’s rule with support and, if so, to what extent.

“We don’t want foreign intervention,” Soueid said, adding, “We would consider being given weapons.”

— AP

6 • Tuesday, March 8, 2011

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

LIFE&ARTS Dropkick, Avril Lavigne, Nicki Minaj albums reviewed DROPKICK MURPHYS

REVIEWS, PREVIEWS AND MORE

Going Out In Style (Born and Bred Records)

THE DAILY’S

Rating:

Boston band Dropkick Murphys is inexorably associated with their hometown’s Irish community, notably for their support of the Red Sox and their version of “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” featured in The Departed. The band’s back again, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, with a strong, meaningful album in “Going Out In Style.”

A concept album following the fictional life of Irish immigrant Cornelius Larkin, the album doesn’t stray far from the band’s roots and style, although there’s a strong mix of loud pub anthems and more introspective songs. “Going Out In Style,” the title track, is Larkin’s first-person account of his own wake, which he sees as a party, while “1953” is a slower ode to his beloved wife.

The album closes strong with a cover of “Peg o’ My Heart,” featuring a surprisingly appropriate cameo

by Bruce Springsteen, and a rendition of “The Irish Rover,” an Irish folk song.

The Boss isn’t the only guest to get in on the action, either. NOFX vocalist Fat Mike and The Living End’s Chris Cheney come into play on “Going Out In Style.”

“G o i n g Ou t In St y l e” doesn’t have any particularly weak or dull moments, and it shines as a stand-alone album. On St. Patrick’s Day, get your friends and family together, play this album, grab a pint of Guinness or Murphy’s, toast the people closest to you and embrace your inner Irishman.

— AJ Lansdale/The Daily NICKI MINAJ Pink Friday (Cash Money) Rating:

Read more at OUDaily.com

raps.

Part of the appeal of Minaj is that she is eccentric, to say the least. In an interview with New York magazine, she said that due to family problems when she was young she would create alter egos and live her life through these characters. Her multiple personalities are often manifested in her music, and in “Pink Friday” Minaj reveals two: Roman Zolanski, who she uses when she is angry, and Martha Zolanski, Roman’s mother who raps in a British accent.

Listening to Minaj infuse an otherwise bland hip-hop song with her weirdness is really fun, but a whole album full of her schizophrenic rhymes is a little like spending too much time at the fair. The novelty of it is fun, but too much of it just gets creepy.

— Janna Gentry/The Daily AVRIL LAVIGNE Goodbye Lullaby (RCA) Rating:

Canadian signer Avril Lavigne is back with her new album “Goodbye Lullaby,” after a two-year hiatus. With her previous, catchy songs like “Girlfriend,” “Sk8er Boi” and “Complicated”, Lavigne fans may very well see this as one of her best works yet.

“Goodbye Lullaby” still possesses the pop/rock edge that Lavigne is famous for, but she adds a personable side as her lyrics all derive from her life experiences.

Songs like “What the Hell” and “Smile” are two songs that particularly stick out on the album as they deliver the same energy that initially built her loyal fan base.

“Everybody Hurts” and “Goodbye” are songs that are more emotion-heavy tracks on the album, revealing the pain that comes in relationships, especially in her high profile relationship with Deryck Whibley of Sum 41.

All in all, the album maintains a healthy balance with fast rock-out songs and reflective songs, which will maintain her track record as high-selling across genres.

Fans will be pleased to know Lavigne still keeps the upbeat vibe she is known for, while trying to innovate and explore her sound in this album, too.

— Huma Khan/The Daily

Join the conversation at

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Nicki Minaj’s first fulllength album, “Pink Friday,” is an indicator that perhaps Minaj should stick to guest appearances.

Minaj has drawn comparisons to Lil’ Kim due to her over-sexed image, and though they both share a rough background, Minaj’s attempt at explicit anger does not succeed. The two tracks on Pink Friday that come close to Lil’ Kim’s angry style, “Roman’s Revenge” and “Did it On ‘Em,” almost sound like Saturday Night Live rap parodies; they have too many expletives and terrible rhymes.

Minaj is at her best on the album with light songs such as “Moment 4 Life” and “Super Bass.” They are catchy and have a great Have any music news? An beat, and unlike “Roman’s Revenge,” they both have album suggestion for our choruses which serve as a writers? Questions? E-mail nice interruption to Minaj’s us at dailyent@ou.edu.

help is just a phone call away

Autumn Huffman, life & arts editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-5189

PHOTO PROVIDED

The highest rated EA Sports title thus far shows a few improvements. The better graphics, including smoother animation and better detail, make the game a good play, if not ground breaking. It also added a story mode, which accounts for the high rating.

Fight Night 1st EA Sports game with ‘Mature’ rating Mechanically, the EA has been king of the ring when it comes to boxing sim games, dating back to 1998 and the Knockout Kings game benefits from the STAFF COLUMN N series. The latest installment in the series, “Fight Night increased detail and deChampion,” is darker, grittier and more graphically pol- piction of the violence A.J. Lansdalee present in boxing, includished, but is it better?

Champion has the distinction of being the first game ing splattering blood that released under the EA Sports brand to earn a “Mature” can be seen falling off a rating from the ESRB. This stems in part from the game’s fighter’s face after a blow. The game’s graphics are a step new story mode, appropriately titled “Champion Mode,” up from the previous game, with smoother animations which puts you in the shoes of Andre Bishop, a middle- and the extra attention to detail; repeated shots to one weight contender framed and sent to prison by a greedy side of the head will make the eye visibly swell shut.

One common criticism of the previous games’ control promoter. After completing his sentence, Andre comes schemes is the reliance on Full Spectrum back as a heavyweight and fights his way Punch Control. This has mostly been simup the ranks, eventually getting a title shot plified; just a flick of the right stick in a given against undefeated champion Issac Frost.

It’s entertaining, direction will throw a given type of punch, The story is rife with boxing clichés, vibut it does get but the controller’s face buttons can also be olence and strong language (on a couple old quick, even used to throw basic punches. of occasions, Andre’s trainer tells him to Online play works well in “Fight Night “knock this motherf***** on his ass”), but once you’re Champion.”

Like every other EA game in the six-hour story is entertaining and wellcontending for recent months, any online activity requires written, and adds to the game’s depth. belts.”

EA’s Online Pass, which comes with new Something that is both entertaining and copies of the game, or a 7-day trial for rentfrustrating about Champion Mode is that al copies. There is an online career mode, most fights have specific conditions added in to contribute to the story: in one fight, Andre breaks called Online World Championship, which offers more his right hand in the first round, and has to win the fight of a challenge. There’s satisfaction from being in trouwhile avoiding that hand, or risk damaging it. Another ble in a fight and coming back to knock a real opponent fight requires you to only throw punches to the head, out.

Outside of Champion Mode, “Fight Night Champion” since a bribed referee will call any punch to the body a “low blow” and dock you points. There’s some novelty doesn’t bring anything really ground breaking to the to this, but it gets old when you can only win by fighting table, but outside of the story, you’ve got a capable fight sim. If they can tweak Legacy Mode and make it more that particular style.

Legacy Mode is the other single player mode, and it’s interesting, they may have a pound-for-pound king in a mostly unchanged from Fight Night Round 4. You create future game. a boxer or pick one of the game’s legends, and guide the fighter through the ranks of his weight class. Each fight Rating: 4 out of 5 earns you money, which you can invest into training at a better gym and every successful fight earns experience points, as well. It’s entertaining, but it does get old quick, — AJ Lansdale, even once you’re contending for belts. professional writing senior

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

LIFE & ARTS

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 • 7

Charlie Sheen fired from TV show Actor removed due to personal troubles, conflicts with studio, show producer LOS ANGELES — Charlie Sheen was fired Monday from “Two and a Half Men� by Warner Bros. Television following the actor’s bouts of wild partying, repeated hospitalizations and a bitter media campaign against his studio bosses.

The action was taken after “careful consideration� and is effective immediately, the studio said in a statement. No decision has been made on the show’s future without its star, Warner spokesman Paul McGuire said.

Sheen, 45, who has used TV, radio and social media to create a big megaphone for himself, was not silent for long.

In a text to The Associated Press, he responded with the F-word and, “They lose,� followed by the word “Trolls.� Asked if he planned to sue, Sheen texted back, “Big.� As for his next move, Sheen texted, “A big one.�

A call to his attorney, Marty Singer, seeking comment was not immediately returned Monday. CBS declined to comment.

The firing capped a rare, raging public battle between a Hollywood star and those who employ him, with Sheen claiming the right to live as he pleased — including the acknowledged use of illegal drugs, although he’s said he is currently clean — as long as he showed up sober and ready to work. “Two and a Half Men,� which debuted in 2003, starred Sheen as womanizing bachelor Charlie Harper, who creates an ad hoc family with his brother, the divorced Alan (Jon Cryer) and Alan’s son, Jake (Angus T. Jones).

Warner and CBS had long faced a balancing act with Sheen as he underwent rehab and two ugly splits from two wives.

Last month, Warner canceled the remaining eight episodes of what was intended to be a 24-episode season of “Men,� citing Sheen’s public behavior and rants against executive producer Chuck Lorre.

In a series of interviews, including with ABC’s “Good Morning America� and NBC’s “Today� show, Sheen boasted about his “epic� partying, said he’s fueled by “violent hatred� of his bosses and claimed to have kicked drugs at home in his “Sober Valley Lodge.�

He glorified himself as a “rock star from Mars� with “fire breathing fists� and “Adonis DNA� and talked about his home life with two women he nicknamed his “goddesses.�

The actor, who was among TV’s highestpaid at a reported $1.8 million per episode for “Men,� brashly said at one point that he would ask for $3 million if he signed a new contract for future seasons.

BRIEFS

‘Last Comic Standing’ hopeful dies Sunday

ED ANDRIESKI/AP

Charlie Sheen waves as he arrives at the Pitkin County Courthouse on Aug. 2 in Aspen, Colo., for a hearing in his domestic abuse case. Warner Bros. Television says it has fired Sheen from the hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men.�The studio said the decision was made after “careful consideration.�

There was public fascination with the gloves-off battle. When Sheen added Twitter to the arsenal, he gained 1 million followers in an unprecedentedly brief 25 hours, leading Guinness World Records to establish a new category and crown him the champion.

He now has well over 2 million followers.

But Sheen’s professional conflict devolved into a custody battle over his 23-monthold twin sons with estranged wife Mueller Sheen. She used his public remarks, as well as conduct she claimed was threatening and violent, to seek a court order removing the children from his home last week.

Despite his troubled personal life, or perhaps because of it, Sheen found an onscreen niche as the bad boy audiences loved, especially in “Two and a Half Men.�

But he had an ugly history, with allegations of violence against women, including Mueller Sheen. On Christmas Day 2009 in Aspen, Colo., she told police that Sheen

threatened to kill her and brandished a knife after she asked for a divorce. Sheen said they argued but denied threatening her.

In a plea deal, Sheen pleaded guilty to misdemeanor third-degree assault in exchange for the prosecution dropping two more serious charges, and was sentenced to 30 days in a rehabilitation center and 30 days of probation.

CBS is a unit of CBS Corp., whose shares were up 6 cents at $23.68 in after-hours trading Monday after closing down 34 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $23.62 in the regular session.

Shares of Warner Bros. parent Time Warner Inc. were down a penny at $36.77 in the extended session after losing 47 cents, or 1.3 percent, to close at $36.78.

The market had closed before the statement about Sheen’s firing was released by Warner. — AP

NEW YORK — Comedian Mike DeStefano, who finished among the top five finalists last season in NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,� has died.

Mike His DeStefano representative at 3 Arts Entertainment confirmed DeStefano died Sunday in New York City. The representative wouldn’t disclose DeStefano’s age or the cause of death.

Born in the Bronx, DeStefano was a former drug addict who became a drug counselor and then started a career in stand-up.

He played at clubs, made television appearances and performed at festivals. He came in fourth place on “Last Comic Standing.�

DeStefano’s death came just days before he was scheduled to perform his one-man show, “A Cherry Tree In The Bronx,� in New York.

‘Rango’ has best opening of the year LOS ANGELES — “Rango� has roped in the biggest opening weekend gross of the year thus far with a final total of $38.1 million in 3,900 theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

The Paramount film, featuring Johnny Depp as the voice of a Wild West chameleon sheriff, is the first animated feature from Industrial Light and Magic, the special effects studio founded by George Lucas in 1975.

Universal’s mind-bending thriller “The Adjustment Bureau,� starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, earned $21.2 in 2,800 domestic locations.

It had a worldwide opening of $31.4 million. — AP

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Best apartment value in Norman!!!

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2010, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

w/d hook ups, westside

w/d hook ups, westside

1 bd 1 ba 748 SF $430 2 bd 1 ba 832 SF $465 2 bd 2 ba 880 SF $475 2 bd 2 ba 968 SF $505 2 bd 2.5 ba 1150 SF - TH $595 3 bd 3.5 ba 1350 SF - TH $695 364-3603 No Pets

Georgian Townhomes 1 bd 1 ba 675 SF $425 2 bd 1 ba 875 SF $485 Apartments 1 bd 1 ba 748 SF $420 2 bd 1 ba 900 SF $485 3 bd 1 ba ABP 1000 SF $670

Monday- Friday 8:30-5:30 Saturday 1-5 p.m.

2072 W. Lindsey BISHOP’S LANDING

Monday- Friday 8:30-6 p.m.

Saturday 1-5 p.m.

1932 W. Lindsey

360-7744

M-F 8:30-5:30, Sat 1-5p.m.

Near Campus Across from Duck Pond

Eff, 1 & 2 Bed Apartments

From $263/mo

*Effective rent allows for comp. with apts. that are not all bills paid

Previous Solution 4 1 3 8 2 6 9 7 5

8 6 7 1 9 5 2 4 3

5 9 2 7 4 3 6 1 8

6 7 8 3 5 1 4 9 2

2 3 4 9 8 7 5 6 1

1 5 9 4 6 2 8 3 7

9 4 1 2 3 8 7 5 6

3 8 6 5 7 4 1 2 9

7 2 5 6 1 9 3 8 4

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.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - This could be the day that you’ve been waiting for, to negotiate a few points with the boss that you hope would improve circumstances at work. Speak up if you get the chance.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) - Don’t be surprised if friends look to you for advice and direction in all the shared involvements you have with them. When asked, take the helm and lead the way.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) - It behooves you not to be too reticent about revealing your feelings to someone you recently met and whom you find appealing. Don’t be too pushy, but remember, romance eludes the faint of heart.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - If you sense the odds are tilted in your favor when it comes to competitive, career situations, rejoice, as long as you don’t make the mistake of underestimating the competition.

333 E. Brooks (one block east of OU.) ** No pets

2 5 7 5 1 2 4 8 9 7 5 3 2 1 7 7 1 6 8 9 7 8 3 1 3 8 2 4 9 7 1 8

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) - Companions are likely to respond to your requests if you appeal more to their emotions than to their logic. This will be especially true with people whom you’ve helped in the past.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - Be optimistic regarding the outcome of an important career situation that has looked rather bleak. You’d be right in thinking that your ship is coming in at last.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) - You have the ability to mastermind important work-related situations that have stymied others, when you run across certain factors they have overlooked. Be alert and on your toes.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) - The best way to win brownie points with your friends is to be sensitive to their needs. There is little you can do wrong in their eyes if thoughtfulness is your first consideration.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) - Even if the methods you use appear to confound observers, if they work for you in achieving your goals, go ahead and apply them. Like Woody Allen and Larry David, use whatever works.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) - Get out and pound the pavement, because your sales skills are likely to be honed to a razor’s edge at this point in time. Promote anything you truly believe in.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Your keen mind could award you with certain advantages concerning your financial affairs. All that is required of you is a good challenge that spurs you to action.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Something a bit mysterious will add an appealing dimension to your personality. Don’t think you have to play a role, just relax and be yourself, and things will take care of themselves.

Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy E. Parker March 8, 2011

ACROSS 1 Ersatz silk 6 ___ cotta 11 “The ___ Who Loved Me” 14 Take part in a secret joint venture?

15 Sign of April Fool’s Day? 16 Color subtlety 17 Formula of a classic dessert?

19 A little bit of history 20 Alternative to a bare floor 21 Recipe phrase 22 Teacher’s favorite 23 Wrecked beyond repair 27 Gate locks 29 Kicking bird 30 Chalky 32 Cairo’s river 33 Links number 34 Sober and sedate 36 Some weightlifting moves 39 ___ a deal 41 Zillions 43 Revise 44 Girth control methods?

46 Bridge coups 48 Avail oneself of Vail 49 Shrill cry 51 Faucet

3/8

annoyance 52 Porker’s pad 53 Topographers 56 Pre-hanging activity 58 Swelled head 59 Water under le pont 60 Vin source 61 Tat counterpart 62 Formula for a slapstick feature?

68 Bavarian peak 69 “Poly” attachment 70 Not be picky with a guitar?

71 Tropical souvenir 72 Full of cattails 73 X, mathwise DOWN 1 Soldier under Gen. Lee 2 The most you can get 3 Secondperson person 4 “Don Giovanni,” for example 5 Supernova remnants 6 Coal or pine product 7 Go astray 8 Qatari money 9 Draw up a new course of action

10 Type of black bear 11 English dish’s formula?

12 Whip up 13 “The Second Coming” poet 18 Disgorges 23 Warmish 24 Muscat citizen 25 Formula for a hearty dinner?

26 Indian vegetable dishes 28 Crossword hint 31 Word on a three-sided sign 35 Star on the small side 37 Compare 38 Yellow jacket’s defense

40 Escalator segment 42 Discredit 45 1973 Woody Allen movie 47 Least ornamented 50 Heap kudos on 53 Silver or platinum 54 Like a contortionist 55 Posh hotel accommodation 57 Civilian clothes, for a soldier 63 Actor Beatty 64 Make an attempt 65 Tentacle 66 Theatrical signal 67 Type measures

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

3/7

© 2011 Universal Uclick www.upuzzles.com

3.14159265 By Kenneth Holt

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

SPORTS

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 • 9

OUDAILY.COM ›› Watch highlights of Senior Day, honoring Cade Davis (shown right), and OU’s 64-61 Bedlam win

James Corley, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666

MEN’S GY GYMNASTICS

Fighting for dreams Putting other ambitions on hold, freshman puts all into gymnastics GREG FEWELL The Oklahoma Daily

F

or most athletes lucky enough to play their sport at the collegiate level, choosing a college comes down to which school makes the best scholarship offer or has the best facilities.

Not all athletes get full-ride scholarship offers to make their dreams come true, though. For some, the choice becomes whether to give up the sport they love or fight even harder to keep their dreams alive.

BIRTH OF A DREAM Freshman gymnast Raymond White has loved gymnastics since he watched the 2000 Summer Olympics in the second grade.

“He was just glued to the TV,” Anita White, Raymond’s mother, said. “A commercial came on and he ran down the hall to his room. It dawned on me that he had an extension that hung down in his closet. So I went to his room, and he was standing there looking in his closet with all of the clothes moved off to the side trying to figure out how to do high bar in his closet.”

After he broke a couch doing cartwheels, Anita said it was time to get him into a class so he could learn to fall without breaking something.

His passion proved to be more than just a phase, but something he’d stick with.

gymnastics, he first had to abandon the chance to attend the respected drama schools he was considering — one in New York, the other in Los Angeles.

On top of that, as a walk-on hopeful, he was not even guaranteed a spot on the team once he arrived.

In the end, though, he simply was not ready to give up the sport he loved just before he entered his prime.

“It was a really difficult choice, but gymnastics was the first sport I ever did, and I’d come so far with it to just stop, so I decided to keep going with it,” White said. “Plus, I can only do it in my prime, so theater can always come afterwards.”

Finally, White knew what he wanted to do with his life, or at least the next few years. However, his journey to make the team was far from over.

MAKING THE TEAM He may have been a star gymnast in high school, but at OU he was simply one of several walk-ons vying for a spot on one of the top squads in the country.

It was a long try-out process, one that White’s mother followed from Austin through phone calls with her son.

“He went through a lot just to make the team,” Anita said.

For the freshman walk-on hopeful, the process was nervewracking to say the least. Not only did he have to adjust to living in a new state and keeping up with a sport and college course load, he also had the pressure of constantly competing to keep his dream alive.

“It was pretty intense,” White said. “We found out in midDecember, so I was here for a few months just training and hoping I would make the team.”

Initially, 12 gymnasts were competing for two spots. White survived the first cut, and when an additional spot opened, he was one of three chosen.

CHASING A TITLE CHOOSING BETWEEN PASSIONS Gymnastics played a major part in his life growing up; however, it was not the only thing in his life.

In high school, White was very involved in theater. He had so much talent and passion for it that he almost gave up gymnastics to pursue theater as a career.

Just before heading off to college, when most students were finalizing schedules or ordering books, White was still trying to decide what to do with his next four years.

Choosing between his passions was far from easy. In fact, White said even after making the decision, he was still not sure he had done the right thing.

In order to pursue

So far, he has made the most of his opportunity.

White has already competed for the team this season on the floor, pommel horse and vault. Now that he has made it this far, he continues to broaden his goals.

“I really want to help the team get to NCAAs and win this year,” White said. “That would be an awesome accomplishment, not just for me but for the team as well.”

White and his teammates still have a few more meets to go before they can claim the program’s ninth national title.

However, they are certainly well on their way after claiming — and defending — the No. 1 spot in the country last month.

The Sooners have a legitimate shot at a championship this season, but if they don’t win it all, the freshman will have three more years to chase a national title.

Judging by his track record thus far, that could be plenty of time.

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY

Graduating?

Free

grad portrait sitting today!

Beaird Lounge, Union

walk in or call to schedule yours:

(405) 325-3668

Walk in 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Sooner yearbook is a publication of OU Student Media, a department in the division of Student Affairs. Call (405) 325-3668 for accomodations on the basis of disability.

sooner 201 1

your year. your book.

SPORTS

10 • Tuesday, March 8, 2011

RUGBY

Sooner club team vying for championship status OU rugby accepts invite to premier league, will play against top-tier programs RJ YOUNG The Oklahoma Daily

Club sports at OU go largely unnoticed.

There are 17 Division-1A programs at Oklahoma, several of which annually compete for national championships.

But because of the success of those programs — most notably football and wrestling — club sports, like OU rugby, benefit from the excess of athletically inclined students who attend OU. In fact, the club was invited to join the College Premier Division this season.

OU coach Tyson Meek said being included in the division was humbling for his team, especially because the club’s admittance to the division is based on the reputation OU rugby has built over the past two decades.

“It’s a great honor, but now it’s about making sure we get it done on the field and that we compete at this level,” Meek said.

There are more than 30 players currently participating in practices and playing in matches on the Sooner rugby club team, only a handful of whom actually played the sport in high school.

The team includes players like Meaad Muse, a two-time All-State selection (2007-08) out of Middleton High School

RJ YOUNG/THE DAILY

Meaad Muse, architecture sophomore, deflects the ball in a line-out at an OU rugby home scrimmage Jan. 29.

in Delaware, and Rich Immel, a former OU wrestling walkon (2008) and freestyle/ greco state champion from Midwest City.

“Both players are fresh but are major contributors to our team,” senior captain Taylor Mokate said. “Meaad has become an aerial threat in our line-outs, filling in for the injured senior Blake Hodges, and Rich is a menace to other teams with his aggression and tackling.”

Though surrounded with great tradition and bolstered

by Mokate, a USA Rugby international and All-American captain, the OU rugby club team is still just that — a club

team. Players pay their way to away games and tournaments around the country, even pitching in for their own equipment.

The club gathers money through player dues, fundraisers and sponsorships from local businesses.

But having to pay their way doesn’t bother the players, Hodges said — it only motivates them to play hard, compete and win.

“It always feels good to beat a team who has their gear paid for and didn’t have to sacrifice like this team has to sacrifice,” Hodges said.

“Every time we step off that bus we expect to win.”

The Oklahoma Daily | OUDaily.com

BRIEFS

Senior pitcher collects Salaam named Midwest weekly conference honors Region Athlete of the Year For the third time in as many weeks, OU claimed a Big 12 Baseball Conference Player of the Week award.

Senior Michael Rocha (3-0) was named Pitcher of the Week after OU’s win over San Diego State Michael Rocha on Thursday in which he pitched a completegame shutout.

Rocha has been nearly unhittable this season. In 23 innings pitched, the righthander has posted 19 strikeouts and a 0.78 ERA while allowing just two walks and two runs.

He and freshman teammate Dillon Overton are tied atop the Big 12 for most wins by a pitcher thus far. The duo has propelled the Sooners to the 14th-best team ERA in the nation (3.76).

The Sooners have earned four of the nine 2011 Big 12 weekly awards handed out this season. Junior third baseman Garrett Buechele has earned Player of the Week twice, and freshman southpaw Jordan John was named Newcomer of the Week.

OU junior sprinter Mookie Salaam has added yet another accolade to his recordbreaking performance this season.

Salaam was named the Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Mookie Salaam Year, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Monday.

Salaam was recognized as the Big 12 Track and Field Outstanding Performer of the Year after last week’s championships.

The indoor and outdoor All-American broke OU records with his nation-leading 60-meter dash (6.54 seconds) and 200-meter dash (20.76 seconds) performances at the Big 12 vs. SEC Challenge on Jan. 28.

Salaam also won the Big 12 individual titles in both events, leading all male competitors in points earned.

The Edmond native will head to College Station, Texas, this weekend as the favorite to win the NCAA Indoor Championship title in the 60-meter dash and will compete in the 200-meter event.

— Alex Hilton/The Daily

— Alex Hilton/The Daily

More about the College Rugby Premier Division » Includes 31 men’s college rugby teams » Under the direction of USA Rugby » Divided into four conferences: East, Mid-South, Western and Pacific (OU competes in the MidSouth) » Top two seeds from each conference qualify for the playoffs (May 7 to 21 in Sandy, Utah)

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