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THEFT
CANCER
CORNER
Bike thefts continue to be issue on campus
Bikes can be registered at OUPD to help in recovery in the event of theft JOEY STIPEK
Special Projects Reporter
CHRIS JAMES/ THE DAILY
CESL student Abdulwaheed Almuhaisen takes a drag of his cigarette Monday on the corner of Maple Street and Elmwood Street.
University to acquire new property Tobacco ban will be extended to corner mall BENNETT HALL Campus Reporter
The corner of Maple Street and Elmwood Street, informally known as “Cancer Corner,” will soon become the property of OU, extending the campus-wide tobacco ban to this popular area for smoke breaks. The OU Board of Regents approved a decision to purchase the property rights to Stubbeman Village on the west side of Adams Center during its September meeting. The decision to purchase the property was prompted by its location near the campus, with the displacement of
Cancer Corner being a byproduct of that decision, university spokesman Michael Nash said. “The purchase was not at all related to any outside factor, such as the statewide or campus tobacco protocols,” Nash said. This acquisition will inadvertently displace dozens of students who visit the space on a daily basis to get their nicotine fix, as well as to simply socialize. University College freshman Allie Zuniga never expected to find a place like Cancer Corner to frequent when she came to OU, but she said she’s glad that she did. “All my best friends, I’ve met here,” Zuniga said. “Even if I’m not smoking, I come here anyway.”
For some of the corner’s visitors, it’s simply a community gathering spot. For others, it’s also a forum for free action, and one that is being trampled on. “OU likes to give us space, but they should also give us space to smoke. We have a right to smoke as students and as citizens,” said Faris Almahamidh petroleum engineering freshman. The businesses located at Stubbeman Village will continue to maintain their current leases once the university acquires the property. That date is undecided, Nash said. After that point, the Stubbeman Village property will fall under the OU Police Department’s jurisdiction of tobacco ban enforcement like all other areas on campus, Nash said.
There have been three arrests related to 109 reported bicycle thefts on OU’s campus in the past year, according to OU Police Department reports. From Aug. 1, 2012 to Aug. 31, 2013, $40,492.35 worth of bikes was stolen, according to reports. OUPD spokesman Major Bruce Chan said the department investigates all thefts reported, and in those cases in which there are leads, police try to identify the offenders. With regard to only three arrests being made concerning the bicycle thefts, Chan said bike theft investigations generally involve checki n g p aw n s h o p s a n d AT A GLANCE seeking other leads. “When applicable, inWhere to register formation is presented your bike to prosecutors,” Chan said in an email. OUPD Office in Cate Bike thefts fall under Center: Daily, Noon to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. the category of larceny, to 8 p.m. according to Oklahoma law. Grand larceny is a OU Police Department felony punishable by Headquarters (2775 jail time not exceeding Monitor Avenue): five years if the value of Monday through Friday, the property is $500 or 10 a.m to Noon and 1 more, according to the p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oklahoma State Court Online: http://www. Network. If the value of ou.edu/content/police/ the property is less than contact_oupd1/online$500, the theft is punbike-registration-form. ishable by less than one html year of jail time in the county jail. Of the three people arrested for thefts, Sean Said, 22, was arrested and dismissed with costs of $151.50 and Nathan Kitson, 19, pled guilty and received a one-year deferred sentence, 75 hours of community service and $50 for victims’ compensations. Jesse Beaty, 24, was arrested May 20, and charges are pending. None of those arrested are current OU students. Wrestling was all that was on energy management and accounting senior David Broussard’s mind the night of Monday, Aug. 26, 2013. He left his bike unlocked and unattended on the porch of his friend’s house on Debarr SEE THEFT PAGE 2
SAUDI DAY
Student Association serves refreshments on South Oval Saudi Student Association shares Arabian customs and traditions on oval KATRINA WARD Campus Reporter
Members of a student organization embodied Saudi Arabian traditions and culture, providing freshly-brewed Arabic beverages and traditional desserts to passing students near the north end of the South Oval Wednesday. A handful of students from the Saudi Student Association celebrated Saudi National Day, a commemoration of the day King Abdul Aziz reunited the country on Sept. 23, 1932, and the improvements unity has brought to the nation, said Eyad Al Ali, petroleum engineering junior.
The student event recognizing the national holiday is an invitation to celebrate and learn about Saudi culture in the United States, “So that you can see how we live over there,” Al Ali said. Male students wore the customary ankle-length shirt, known as a thawb, and head coverings while serving Arabic tea, coffee and other sweets from a traditional tent on the South Oval. Coca-Cola provided enough refreshments for 144 people at the event, said Farah Al Saif, the association’s president. Members of the student association also brought some Arabic desserts — baklava for 180 people and dates for 200 people. “We were supposed to be serving food until 2:30 p.m., but we ran out of food and refreshments real quick, so we stopped SEE SAUDI DAY PAGE 2
MICHELLE NEHRENZ/THE DAILY
Students are offered tea, coffee and baklava at the Saudi Student Association booth on Tuesday.
L&A: A columnist makes a confession about a News: Read how OU’s Vietnamese Student Association celebrated the secret Internet friend relationship (Page 5) Lunar Moon Festival on Tuesday (Online)
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