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OUDAILY
For 100 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma
ALL EYES ON OHIO STATE • 7
Long-awaited hotline debuts
Bias reporting system implemented Friday ANDREW CLARK @Clarky_Tweets
OU has implemented a 24/7 “Reporting Hotline” for users to report incidents of racial discrimination, misconduct and harassment. The hotline—developed in conjunction with a company called EthicsPoint—can be accessed by users by calling 844-428-6531 or
going online to www.ou.ethicspoint.com. It was implemented Sept. 9, five days after students began using the Twitter hashtag #yOUrbad to highlight incidents of bias, prejudice, harassment and discrimination on campus. Jabar Shumate, the OU vice president for the university community, originally told The Daily in March that the hotline would be installed at the end of that month. The hotline also was previously being created with a company named Greenwood Hall. However, Shumate told The Daily Sept. 9 the university decided to
switch to EthicsPoint because of its experience in working on college campuses. Shumate also said Sept. 9 that EthicsPoint’s employees underwent extensive training to learn where to send calls at the University. When using the hotline via telephone, hotline users will make initial contact with the third party vendor, whose employees will then forward the user’s call to the correct university department to handle the user’s specific issue. Online users will click on the type of incident they wish to
report after selecting the location of the incident’s occurrence. “If you’re going to have a good system, it really does take some time to develop,” Shumate said. “I probably erred in thinking that OU could just get something and put it up.” A press release from OU says the hotline was created “in light of incidents on other campuses and to further enhance responsiveness.”
HOW TO USE THE HOTLINE: OU implemented a 24/7 bias reporting system Friday for students to report incidents of harassment and discrimination — here’s how to use the system by phone or online. CALL: 844-428-6531
Andrew Clark
andrewclark@ou.edu
GO ONLINE: www.ou.ethicspoint.com
PAXSON HAWS/THE DAILY
A student studies with tutor Steve Findeiss in the Oklahoma Memorial Union on Thursday. Findeiss spent 10 years in the U.S. Air Force beginning in 1968. He began tutoring at OU 31 years ago.
HE KNOWS IT ALL Former Air Force pilot finds satisfaction in tutoring students
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teve Findeiss has a face that many at OU would recognize, but a name that most have never heard. For 31 years, the former pilot has been a fixture on campus, often clad in Hawaiian shirts and surrounded by students gleaning the STEM guru’s wisdom. “He’s definitely one of the most brilliant tutors I’ve had,” pre-med junior Catherine Lewis said. “He’s even completed a problem with me over the phone, like, a physics problem, while he was driving, in his head. The whole thing.” Health and exercise science junior Olivia Canida discovered Findeiss the way most of his students do: Through a personal recommendation from a friend. “Ever since then, I’ve kept going to him,” Canida said. “I’m going to keep going to him as long as he teaches the courses that I’m going through.” Even though thousands of students have undergone Findeiss’ tutelage over the years, he has never had an interest in becoming a part of the institution itself — of having an office or classroom of his own.
MITCHELL WILLETTS • @MITCHBWILLETTS “I’m a sort of non-conformist, and as a result I don’t work well under supervision,” Findeiss said. “I’m an independent kind of person. Always have been.” Findeiss’ independent streak may not be much of an issue as a tutor, but during his 10 years in the U.S. Air Force — beginning in 1968 — it did not do him any favors. “They decided for me (to retire),” Findeiss said. “After the Vietnam War, they were long on pilots. I was still 10 years from retirement, and I wasn’t going to be much of a military officer.” Findeiss traded in a jet for a bicycle, came to Norman and began his career in tutoring, an occupation he said he fell into by accident. “It was a woman who ran a tutoring service that I met at a party,” Findeiss said. “She said, ‘Could you tutor algebra?’ I came and went to work for her for two years and decided high school students aren’t very interesting, so I branched out on my own and came to OU.” These days, Findeiss works 10-hour shifts Monday through Friday, operating out of the
Oklahoma Memorial Union. His pupils come to him. However, in his younger years, he made house calls for fraternities and sororities, eager to establish his clientele and driven by the promise of free food.
“I love the personal interaction of tutoring, no question about it. From a personal standpoint, the tutoring is much more satisfying.” STEVE FINDEISS, TUTOR
“The house mothers thought I was darling, and would not only feed me, they gave me what they call ‘kitchen privileges,’ which means even if it’s not meal time, they would let me walk into the kitchen,” Findeiss said. “For a bachelor, this is a great deal. I could eat all day.” Over time, even Findeiss’ hunger was eventually eclipsed by his desire to educate and t o c o a c h s t u d e n t s t h ro u g h their most difficult academic
demands. “(It’s satisfying) watching the lights go on in somebody’s eyes,” Findeiss said. “They widen a little bit, and you can see before they say anything that they got it. The lights went on.” Findeiss has lived two different careers, one very deliberate, the other somewhat unintentional. When thinking about life within the cockpit and another before a desk, he cannot help but draw comparisons. “I got to admit, there’s nothing more exciting than being a 22-year-old pilot, and they give you this supersonic jet and say, ‘Have a good time for an hour and 20 minutes; try and bring it back in one piece,’” Findeiss said. “It does not get any better than that.” However, Findeiss knows that excitement does not equate satisfaction. Sometimes fulfillment can be attained from a quiet table in the student union, crowded with college kids and cluttered with paper. “I love the personal interaction of tutoring, no question about it. From a personal standpoint, the tutoring is much more
satisfying,” Findeiss said. Lewis can see her tutor’s dedication in his actions, his enthusiasm shining through a veil of cordial professionalism. “He cares a lot,” Lewis said. “He’ll stay extra hours. He’ll come early. He’s dedicated and genuine and cares about everyone who comes to see him.” Findeiss said he believes his time in the military equipped him well for a future in teaching. The U.S. Air Force Academy gave him textbook knowledge, and piloting provided him a crash course in psychology. “Sixty percent of what I do is psychology,” Findeiss said. “It’s not just telling people they can do it, it’s making them believe they can do it. The cliché is: In order to walk on water, you’ve got to believe you can do it. If you’re going to solo a supersonic jet at age 22, you’ve got to believe you can do it.” Mitchell Willetts
mitchell.b.willetts-1@ou.edu