March 1-7, 2022 by OU Daily

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Norman CareA-Vans aids unhoused Normanites · pg 2

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A “No War” sign on the bridge over the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg, Russia.

‘A horrendous truth’

OU Ukranian, Russian community members denounce Putin’s invasion KALY PHAN

kaly.n.phan-1@ou.edu

It is 9 p.m., Feb. 23 in Norman. The sky is littered with stars, ice glazes the ground and students at the University of Oklahoma are safe at home after a wintry mix closed campus earlier in the day. The night is eerily still under the hazy glow of the sky, leaving those inside with a premonition of calamity. At the same moment, across the Atlantic Ocean, it is 5 a.m., Feb. 24 in Kyiv, Ukraine. A tense atmosphere — grounded in a historic conflict that intensified almost eight years ago following the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation — is shattered with the sound of sirens. Explosions echo across the country as Russian troops close in on Ukraine’s northern, eastern and southern borders. Normanites woke on Feb. 24 to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and later that day, the United States, United Kingdom and members of the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia. Despite Kyiv being about 5,700 miles away, connections of heritage and family make the events there feel incredibly close, leading some to call for local action against this “real war.” On Feb. 24, a group of OU staff and faculty sent a letter to The OU Daily condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The letter included OU history professor Melissa Stockdale, associate professor of Russian Emily Johnson, associate professor of international and area studies Rebecca Cruise, assistant professor of Russian Dustin Condren, assistant professor of journalism and mass communication Katerina Tsetsura, College of International Studies adjunct instructor Robert Andrew and Russian instructor Rachick Virabyan. The letter read that, as s c h o l a r s o f Ru s s i a a n d Ukraine and admirers of Russian and Ukrainian achievements, they agree

with the Board of Directors of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, which “condemns Russia’s military assault on Ukraine.” They wrote it was a “shocking turn of events.” “We condemn the invasion and President Putin’s use of historical distortions and lies to justify his aggression,” the letter read. “We mourn the casualties resulting from this senseless attack and wish to express our support for all the people of Ukraine and Russia who oppose this war.” Tsetsura, whose professional research focuses on Ukrainian and Russian media and strategic communication, told The Daily that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a global issue and concerns everyone. Tsetsura said the world is “very hyperconnected,” and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will “be your business” before you even know it. This is the time to understand the scale of globalization, she said, citing Pastor Martin Niemöller ’s “First They Came” poem as a warning. In the poem, the speaker references how Nazi forces came for different demographics of people, and because it did not affect them directly, some groups remained silent. Yet, once the Nazis came for their group, there was no one left to defend them. “(People) don’t understand the scale of what’s happening,” Tsetsura said. “We are living this history, and what’s happening in front of our eyes right now is a really big historical event that will dominate the narrative of the world order and world history for many years.” As an ethnic Russian from Ukraine, Tsetsura said she has a personal stake in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She lived and studied in Russia in 1998 and resided in other former Soviet Union states, including Ukraine, where she still has family. Tsetsura wrote in a follow-up email to The Daily that her relatives in Kyiv and Kharkiv, where fighting broke out Feb. 27, are hiding in basements and bomb shelters. She wrote that her relatives and their families, including children who range from three to 12 years old, can hear sirens and bombs

and see fires in Kyiv. They are scared, Tsetsura wrote, and are asking people in the U.S. to close the airspace over Ukraine and help get Russian soldiers off of Ukrainian land. While Tsetsura sat in her home, her child safely playing on an iPad in the other room, she said she could only “watch in disbelief ” at the news unfolding in Ukraine. This made it difficult to focus on getting work done while OU’s campus was closed. “I do feel I’m Ukrainian more than ever today,” Tsetsura said. “What’s happening today, (Feb. 24), is really an attack on everybody who wants to be a free person, regardless of where you live. The ability to decide for yourself, what your life should be, what your fate should be, is essential.” Andrew, who also contributed to the faculty letter, focuses on U.S.-Russian relations and is a former diplomat assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow from 2005-07 through U.S. Foreign Service. He said, since the USSR fell in 1991, this has been a thirty-year reckoning from Russia by Putin to “reclaim its glory” from the Cold War as a respected adversary of the U.S. and China. “ T h i s i s Ru s s i a’s w a r against Ukraine, (and) this is Russian aggression,” Andrew said. “This is where we find ourselves. In this new Cold War. It’s going to potentially be another long slot (of time) to deal with this issue.” Andrew, like Tsetsura, has connections to Ukraine, as he has friends who are currently in Ukraine in danger zones. “I couldn’t sleep. I was worried sick,” Andrew said. “These are my friends. For me, it’s not a concept of, ‘Oh, well that’s someone else’s problem.’ No, it’s all of a sudden my problem in a sense where it’s affecting me because I know these people, and I keep my fingers crossed that they’ll be okay.” In following news regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Andrew said it is important not to trust what Putin says, but what he does. OU adjunct professor Max Kovalov said Russia has falsified humanitarian efforts to justify its occupation of and military action against Ukraine.

Kovalov was born and raised in Ukraine and received a scholarship to attend university in the U.S. in 2002, where he received his master’s in international studies at Oklahoma State University and his Ph.D. in political science at OU. He is also the Bennett director of the John Edwin Mroz Global Leadership Institute and focuses his academia on democracy, specifically in Eastern European and post-communist regions. Kovalov said Russia’s media is state-controlled and can be “manipulated easily,” which he feels is present in the country’s justification of its actions against Ukraine. “Russia describes it as an attempt to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine,” Kovalov said. “It was supposedly uncovering mass graves (and) uncovering violations against the rights of ethnically Russian citizens. Nobody is threatening the rights of Russian citizens, and it’s absurd to call Ukraine a neo-Nazi state.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who refused the U.S.’s offer to evacuate him to stay and fight, is Jewish and lost three great uncles during the Holocaust. To this, Kovalov asked, “How can someone who grew up in a Jewish family be described as a neo-Nazi?” Tsetsura said Eastern European journalism has a history of non-transparent practices which have encouraged distrust toward the media. “It would not be an overstatement to say that, in many ways, (non-transparency) started in Eastern Europe,” Tsetsura said. “It has started with the very basic ideas of how to not be transparent and still survive in journalism, or how to try to bend things a little bit here and there, and now we see the result of that as a ripple effect.” For example, on Feb. 18, Putin said he had no plans to invade Ukraine but dispatched troops to conduct “peacekeeping functions” on Feb. 21 in two pro-Russian separatist areas — the Donetsk People’s Republic a n d L u h a n s k P e o p l e ’s Republic — on Ukraine’s eastern border, which he recognized as independent.

Three days later, he announced Russia would be authorizing military operations in Ukraine, and missile strikes and military barrages immediately followed. Kovalov said the invasion is a fight between democracy and autocracy at its core. He said that, if people subscribe to Putin’s narrative that Russia and Ukraine are the same people and that Ukrainians are successful at building democratic reforms, it begs the question of why Russians can’t do the same. “Democratic reforms in Ukraine are a threat to an autocratic leadership of the Russian Federation,” Kovalov said. “That was the reason why the Russian government has been cracking down on protesters, on independent media of any kind, (and) of expressions of civil society or mobilization by civil society, because the Russian government truly believes that the threat is not necessarily coming from the outside.” Current protests in Moscow against the invasion of Ukraine are being suppressed by authorities. Tsetsura said it is a “positive sign” that people are still protesting the invasion despite some being grabbed from the streets and detained. Some protesters escaped imprisonment, including the parents of Russian graduate student Daniil Solovev, who wrote in an email to The Daily that they participated in city protests on Feb. 25. Solovev wrote his family is frightened, stunned and stressed about Russian economics shrinking due to “an unwanted war.” He wrote he feels similarly shocked and helpless and couldn’t sleep when Russia invaded Ukraine because he was scrolling through his news feed. He wrote he is currently avoiding social media and the news, as he hopes it will “all finish soon.” “It all appeared unreal to me, like I was in a very wicked nightmare,” Solovev wrote. “If someone said 10 years ago that there is going to be a war between Russia and Ukraine, this person would be called crazy, but now, it is a horrendous truth.” Solovev wrote that, in his opinion, the invasion occured most likely because Putin is pursuing

the reestablishment of the Russian Empire. Ukraine is the last piece of the big puzzle, he wrote, which is why he “acts so ruthless.” “He wants to put Ukraine back under Russian influence, as he did with other ex-Soviet countries,” Solovev wrote. “He must be stopped. Russian people and other nations do not deserve to live another century under the Iron Curtain.” Based on reports Andrew has seen, he said Russia seeks to take Kyiv and control the border, which would make it difficult for “insurgents” to remain supplied with weapons and support. He said Ukraine is a proud country with a history of partisans, like those who fought against occupying German forces during World War II. He said, based on this history, the Russians know Ukraine won’t go down without a fight. In Vietnam and Afghanistan, he said insurgents had safe havens across borders where they could regroup and, in the case of Americans in Vietnam, pick their battles, making it difficult to fight. Andrew said Russia is most likely trying to prevent this from happening in Ukraine. “I think it’s a race to see how quickly Russia can subdue the population and convince them not to do that,” Andrew said. “At this point, I think the Ukrainians have shown some resilience, so let’s see where that’s going to go. (However,) it certainly could be a quagmire.” Unlike Tsetsura, Andrew, Kovalov and Solovev, journalism junior Ben Dackiw’s connection to Ukraine is muddled by several generations, as his great grandfather is from Ukraine. He said he has always taken pride in his heritage, meaning he has a heightened awareness of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and dislikes the “World War III” jokes he sees on social media. “It takes no effort to show compassion to the people who are not going to be sleeping, they’re not going to be eating, (and) their able-bodied men are getting conscripted to fight off the Russians,” Dackiw said. “They didn’t ask for this.” see UKRAINE page 2

NEWS

• March 1-8, 2022

Care-A-Vans drives for change Volunteers provide transportation for homeless Normanites ARI FIFE

A silver Honda minivan filled with volunteers meandered through still-icy Norman roads, pushing the limits of two-wheel drive in the aftermath of a winter storm at the beginning of February. To an observer, a minivan with over 200,000 miles on its odometer might not seem like the best choice for the weather. Yet, Norman Care-A-Vans co-founder Russell Rice said he’s lucky to have found it for $4,000 despite a struggling used-car market exacerbated by the pandemic. It’s perfect for picking up his kids from school and providing free transportation to Rice’s homeless neighbors. For many Norman residents, getting across town can make the difference between having a steady shelter and becoming homeless. Care-AVans co-founder Alan Hatcher said many of the people he comes in contact with are unhoused because they haven’t given the right paperwork to institutions like the Norman Housing Authority and local tag agencies. Numerous Norman organizations are doing valuable work, Hatcher said, but accessing their resources can present another hurdle for people working to transition out of homelessness. Rice said if homeless people can’t find transportation, they can be especially vulnerable to loitering or public nuisance charges. In Norman, funding was originally allocated to a local mobile crisis response team that would take the place of the police in some situations, or Norman CREW. Support for this group — which would have responded to all calls indicating an overdose or potential overdose, and all domestic calls indicating a mental health crisis — grew amid conversations reconsidering local policing. City Attorney Kathryn Walker wrote in an email that, as the presence of state mobile crisis response teams will soon be expanded in conjunction with the July launch of the federal Suicide Prevention Hotline, the money will likely be reallocated to other efforts that don’t duplicate services. During this transition period, Care-A-Vans volunteers are working independently to fill needs highlighted

UKRAINE: continued from page 1

Like Dackiw, Solovev wrote he has started to notice jokes and statements directed at Russia from people at OU, and he wants to stress that these statements “blindly damage” the entire Russian community, including himself. Starting the war was the sole decision of President Putin, he wrote, and all the protests and alternative points of view are brutally suppressed by police forces. “I want to underline that me, my family, friends, colleagues, and the other vast majority of Russians do not want war,” Solovev wrote. “War brings only death and despair, and no Ukrainian or Russian deserves it. No one wins in war. Everyone loses.” Tsetsura said the situation in Ukraine should remain at the top of people’s social media feeds, and they should continue accessing information from media outlets that have journalists on the ground, such as from the Kyiv Independent and the Ukrainian Pravda. The Nieman Lab at Harvard also put together a list of journalists and media to follow information from Ukraine. In a follow-up email, she

ABIGAIL AMISH/THE DAILY

in a proposal for CREW and a Cleveland County and Norman homelessness gap analysis, which indicated that 73 percent of homeless individuals surveyed said more transportation options would be the most helpful resource to them. Rice said his involvement with community organizations began after he injured his knee at the beginning of 2020 and had to take time off from his job as an electrician. Stuck at home for months, and with more free time than expected, Rice said he searched for involvement outside of work. Rice saw the Social Injustice League of Norman delivering free home-cooked meals to residents without homes and said he was impressed by their group’s base of community connections. He said he joined the group and became familiar with founder Brandi Studley, who is now the Ward 1 Norman city councilmember. Care-A-Vans began in October 2021 as an offshoot of the Social Injustice League with a focus on transportation, Rice said. He said the group’s ultimate goal is finding people permanent housing by driving them to needed offices, but they also focus on encampment support and transportation. “Once we get them there and get them rolling on that, that changes their lives,” Rice said. Similar programs exist across the U.S., including in Las Vegas, which recently launched a free service shuttling homeless individuals to various locations in its city limits. Cities like Olympia, Washington, and Kansas City, Missouri, offer free bus fares

to all travelers, and Embark Norman fares are paid for by the city of Norman. Michael Carter*, a homeless person who requested anonymity due to privacy concerns, said he’s been homeless for about five years and has lived out of a van in Ardmore for the past three. He’s lived in Norman since July 2021 and said, although the town has effective homelessness resources, it lacks available housing and shelter options. He said he tries to learn as much as possible about available resources so he can tell other individuals without homes about them. He found out about Care-A-Vans through his search. Before Care-A-Vans was created, Carter said one of the only transportation options he had was traveling to a bus stop on one of the city’s five daily routes between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., Mondays through Fridays, or between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturdays. The city and county gap analysis identified transportation as a significant county issue, adding that, while routes exist to access most downtown services and shelters, transit to other areas of town is lacking. To Carter, the most meaningful part of the program has been the relationships he has built with its staff. “They’re just wonderful people,” Carter said. “They’re happy to help. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them cross or angry. They’re always just smiling and friendly.” Hatcher said during an ice storm in February 2021 that led to record-setting freezing weather and blackouts in the area, the Social Injustice League was looking for volunteers to help unhoused people

wrote that she was in contact with Dariya Orlova, a senior lecturer at the Mohyla School of Journalism at the National University of KyivMohyla Academy in Ukraine. Orlova agreed with Tsetsura, writing that Ukrainians have been working hard to provide coverage in English, like EuroMaidan Public Responsibility and the New Voice of Ukraine. Orlova, who is currently near Kyiv, wrote that regular Ukrainians, like her colleague Mychailo Wynnyckyj, also deserve voices, as they’ve been active on Facebook and Twitter. She wrote that she and her family are relatively okay and that the initial shock is over, but the first day was scary. She wrote that she can remember when her family read the news about Putin’s decision to attack Ukraine and the distant strikes in the sky which were immediately heard. They went to pick up Orlova’s mom in Bucha, she wrote, but had to hide in the bathroom when they got there because they heard explosions overhead, which later were confirmed to be from the nearby Gostomel Military Airport. The situation in Bucha is tense, she wrote, and she is not sure about the situation there currently. “There were reports that Russians took it, then reports

that our Army resumed their control over the airport, (and) I’m actually still not sure who controls it now,” Orlova wrote. “My mom is connected to their local Viber group — like a WhatsApp group — and her neighbors post their observations there. There were Russian tanks there already.” Orlova is currently in a small village outside of Kyiv with her mother and other relatives. She’s in a private home, which she wrote feels safer than an apartment, and there’s a basement where they hope to hide if there is shelling or bombing. On Feb. 25, the Inte r nat i o na l Ad v i s o r y Committee — an executive student body representing international students — released a statement via Instagram saying this is the time to support one another, especially those who are “deeply and directly affected” by the events in Ukraine. “The most important thing to understand is, this is the time to act and find a way to help Ukraine any way we can (and) help those who are in dire need,” Tsetsura said. “From reading and following the news, the Ukrainians are very strong in their position right now. They do see this attack as (one) on their country. They do see it as an attack on their freedom, and they will fight and they are fighting. This is a real war.”

out of the snow and into shelters. Hatcher had a truck at the time and decided to help out, which is where he met Rice and Studley. F ro m t h e b e g i n n i n g , Hatcher said he knew he wanted to work with Rice. While Hatcher, Rice and third co-founder Hannah Smith filled a significant need through Care-A-Vans, Hatcher said the trio didn’t have to reinvent the wheel of public service. “At least for me, I was kind of like, ‘All right, well, this isn’t going to happen unless we do it ourselves in whatever capacity we can in the moment and then grow instead of waiting for the city to hire people and launch this program,’” Hatcher said. Smith said they and Rice were both involved with the proposal for Norman CREW in some capacity, and CareA-Vans is the first local program stepping in to alleviate crisis response pressure from the police. According to the CREW proposal, almost 10 percent of the Norman Police

Department’s yearly reports are categorized as mental health cases. Vagrancy, drunkenness and public disturbances could also be responded to by professionals with social work and substance use disorder training. While 988, the federal suicide prevention hotline, is similar to CREW, the visions for the two are slightly different, Smith said. “Nine eight eight is good. It’s a step forward,” Smith said. “It includes mental health professionals. It has an emphasis on the safety of the person. It’s working to not criminalize people who are having mental health crises, and these things are great, but kind of as a city, we still have a responsibility to make sure the way that it’s handled is aligning with our values.” Sarah Warmker, a former Spanish professor at OU, said she helped Care-A-Vans get its start as an organization and also helped author the CREW proposal. Though Warmker said the city government is worried

about duplicating local services with the federal crisis response program, the federal suicide hotline doesn’t exist yet, meaning a gap in resources still stands. To fill holes in Norman’s Continuum of Care, the city needs a variety of programs — like CREW, Care-AVans and other groups that haven’t been created yet — to address a multitude of needs, Warmker said. Warmker said she first learned Care-A-Vans might become an independent group in conversations where she and others involved in CREW discussed what parts of the proposal they could carry out separately from the city. She said she felt Rice, Hatcher and Smith were the right people to head the group because they were already committed to the work and had long-term connections in the community. Rice said the services CareA-Vans provide are reliant on relationships with both local businesses and other organizations, including Food and Shelter, the Continuum of Care and the Oklahoma D e p a r t m e n t o f Me n t a l Health and Substance Abuse Services. Community members can also donate to @normancareavans on PayPal. As one of the group’s main drivers, he said he spends much of each day taking calls from unhoused people on the dispatch phone and checking on callers, if necessary. Staffers also help people keep track of appointments and transport them to the necessary locations. Offering homeless people a free meal is a good way to build trust, Rice said. To do this, he said Care-AVans works with the Social Injustice League to feed about 40 people Mondays through Thursdays. Congregations like the Alameda Church of VANS

NEWS

March 1-8, 2022 •

VANS:

COMING UP AT OU

continued from page 2

Tuesday Men’s basketball vs. West Virginia, 6 p.m. The Sooners will take on the West Virginia Mountaineers at home. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. in the Lloyd Noble Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soonersports.com. Don’t forget, students get in free with an OU ID. For game day coverage, visit oudaily.com and follow us on Twitter @OUDaily or @ OUDailySports.

Wednesday Soccer vs. Central Oklahoma, 7 p.m. OU will take on the Central Oklahoma Bronchos at 7 p.m. on John Crain Field. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soonersports.com. Don’t forget, students get in free with an OU ID. For game day coverage, visit oudaily.com and follow us on Twitter @ OUDaily or @OUDailySports.

Thursday University Theatre: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” 8 p.m. University Theatre and the Helmerich School of Drama present “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” This production contains light-hearted adult content. Video on demand will be available. The production will be on stage from Feb. 25 through March 6. universitytheatre.

Friday Women’s gymnastics vs. Michigan, 7:45 p.m. The Sooners will take on the Michigan Wolverines at 7:45 p.m. in Lloyd Noble Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soonersports.com. Don’t forget, students get in free with an OU ID. For game day coverage, visit oudaily.com and follow us on Twitter @OUDaily or @OUDailySports.

Saturday Women’s basketball vs. Kansas, 2 p.m. OU will take on the Kansas Jayhawks at home. Tipoff is at 2 p.m. in Lloyd Noble Center. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit soonersports.com. Don’t forget, students get in free with an OU ID. For game day coverage, visit oudaily.com and follow us on Twitter @OUDaily or @OUDailySports.

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Christ and the Saint Anselm Canterbury Association Church, as well as the Red Dirt Collective, a social justice and mutual aid organization, also often volunteer to cook meals. Care-A-Vans aims to help chronically homeless people in Norman, meaning unexpected issues pop up every day, Rice said. Growing up in a household with addiction and alcoholism has helped inform the decisions he makes when de-escalating situations, he said. “I understand the craziness of it,” Rice said. “Sometimes you can’t argue with people, so you just have to agree with them. And that’s usually the best thing I have found to resolve this (because) a lot of the time, what they’re saying is true.” In the aftermath of the February snowstorm, Rice and Hatcher visited several homeless people who were given various shelter options across Norman. Rice explained that many people without homes struggle with being inside for long periods, as they often haven’t had a steady indoor shelter for years. As a result, they sometimes have mental crises that require a response from Care-A-Vans. Living inside for about a week can also sometimes have positive long-term effects, he said, adding that staying in a shelter during last year’s snowstorm pushed two or three people to work harder for permanent housing afterward. The Norman Housing Authority and other agencies are working as hard as possible to get people approved for housing, Rice said, though the city homeless coordinator Michelle Evans and two housing support employees quit at the beginning of February. Norman Chief Communications Officer Tiffany Vrska wrote in an email to The Daily that, though this is a transitional period for the city’s homeless program, all services — including the emergency shelter — will continue. Even with housing vouchers, people without homes are still struggling to find landlords willing to rent to them, Rice said. He said, while there are some risks to having a formerly homeless person as a tenant, as some haven’t had a house in years and don’t

ABIGAIL AMISH/THE DAILY

A Care-A-Vans vehicle used to transport homeless Normanites on Feb. 18.

know how to properly care for it, there has to be a middle ground. Hatcher said, as a CareA-Vans staff member, he’s learned that food assistance, housing and criminal justice systems are even more complex than he imagined. He added he’s doing the work of a case manager as a volunteer, which can be overwhelming, but the progress he’s seen pushes him to invest more in the organization. The Care-A-Vans staff applied for nonprofit status with the IRS in late January, putting itself in the running for more grants and funding in the future. This meant volunteers had to familiarize themselves with yet another new set of rules. Smith, who has a master’s in public administration from OU, helped Red Dirt Collective apply for nonprofit status, and said they were asked by Rice to help with the application process one more time. Smith said the biggest challenges were deciding on a vision and structure for the group, and they also worked for over 100 hours drafting organization bylaws. Care-AVans workers asked the community for donations for the first time to cover the $600 IRS application fee. Smith said they remember posting a request for the money while at a Halloween party, and by the time they left the event, the group had reached its goal. “This is a difficult situation for anyone to be in,” Smith said. “They want to respond with empathy and kindness, as well as they want to respond in a way that keeps everyone

HOROSCOPE By Eugenia Last

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2022 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) It’s OK to change your mind. When in doubt, don’t worry about taking a step back and assessing the situation. Draw on your resources and the people you trust, and you’ll find the best path.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) You have plenty to look forward to, so don’t waste time worrying about something you cannot change. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and work to make a difference. Follow your heart.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Have patience; if you act quickly, mistakes will happen. Keep your plans secret until you can confidently present what you have to offer. Don’t expect to win over someone who prefers to run the show.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Mental stimulation will help you stay out of trouble. Seek the facts. Once you have evidence to substantiate your beliefs, you can move forward. Don’t trust hearsay.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) A clear head is required when dealing with others. Be a good listener, and you’ll come across information that can help you make positive suggestions. An act of kindness will pay off.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) How you go about putting changes in play will affect the outcome. Don’t make guesses when your success depends on accuracy, know-how and skill. Romance is in the stars.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Live and learn. Listen carefully and GEMINI (May 21-June 20) refuse to let your emotions get in the Concentrate on what’s important to way of a good decision. Don’t believe you and refuse to let anyone lure you everything you hear. An exaggerated off course. An adamant approach will statement will prove costly. deter interference and encourage you to do the best job possible. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Reorganize how you handle money CANCER (June 21-July 22) matters and how you approach work Stick to what you know and do and living conditions. A positive best. Look on the bright side and use change will make a massive your skills innovatively, and you’ll difference to your mood and conduct. come out on top. A partnership will Romance is on the rise. be a learning experience. Romance is favored. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Don’t feel obligated to respond or LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) change because of what someone Don’t let an outsider mess with your decides to do; focus on what’s plans. Stick close to those who have important to you and move along. your back, and you will outmaneuver Trust your instincts, not what others anyone who gets in your way. Don’t try to lead you to believe. feel pressured by changes made by others. V. EASY #2

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safe and is productive for the community. … So, whenever a solution is offered, they’ve been just absolutely incredible at showing up for whatever we need.” While Care-A-Vans waits for nonprofit approval, Smith said it’s preparing to assemble a board of directors and can now subsidize most costs with donations. Still, its staff continues to work without salaries. Creating a healthy organizational structure can be difficult when all of the workers are volunteers, Warmker said, adding that she hopes becoming a nonprofit will help Care-A-Vans become more sustainable. “People still have bills to pay, and they have limited hours in the day,” Warmker said. “Not everyone can afford to be able to do volunteer work, especially of something of that scale. … It’s work that should be funded.” Extended free labor has strained the bank accounts of everyone involved, including the Care-A-Vans founders. Smith said they’re taking a step back to find a paying job in the nonprofit sector until the group can pay its workers, but no matter their day job, they’ll continue to work with Care-A-Vans. Hatcher said he previously worked at local music venue Opolis full time but has scaled down to a part-time job due to the pandemic, allowing him to lean more into his work with

Care-A-Vans. As a 37-year-old, he said he’s had experience with mundane jobs in the past, and though he’s losing money with Care-A-Vans, he emphasized that when work feels right, sometimes sacrifice is necessary. “With this, you never get that feeling of ‘Is this even doing anything? Is it worth anything? Or is this accomplishing anything?’ because you spend all day doing stuff that is valuable,” Hatcher said. Rice said though he’s still on leave from his work as an electrician, he plans to return to work soon and earn his electrical journeyman’s license to build more affordable housing in Norman. He said working with Care-A-Vans continues to be a respite from his career, though. Paying staffers will revolutionize the group’s work, making it so they can have regular schedules instead of working spontaneous hours, Rice said. As Care-A-Vans expands and adds more vehicles to its fleet, he said his minivan — and the work he’s done in it — will serve as a vision for the group. “Whenever I got into becoming an electrician, I didn’t have this in mind,” Rice said. “However … I kind of just fell in love with helping these people. Nobody else is doing it at all in the capacity that we’re doing it.”

Universal Crossword Edited by David Steinberg March 1, 2022 ACROSS 1 Witness’s spot 6 Great songs, informally 10 “If the shoe ___ ...” 14 Detoxifying organ 15 Up to the task 16 It fills un lago 17 Inaccurate signoff on a walkie-talkie 19 Accurate response to 17-Across 20 Scrabble and Boggle 21 Encrypted URL start 22 Hush-hush grp. 23 Freetown, Sierra ___ 24 Trickery 31 Unexpressed 32 Sleep and shelter 33 Only even prime number 34 Domain 35 Is flexible 36 “From hell’s heart I stab at thee” speaker in “Moby-Dick” 37 Apt name for a mamma? 38 “Thanks,” in Toulouse 39 Church topper 40 It goes in circles but gets to the point 43 Painter whose name appears backward in “oat milk” 44 “I disapprove!” 45 Express aloud 46 Fruit sphere in

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a cocktail 52 It becomes another name when H’s are added to its ends 53 Eclair seller 54 Examined the license of, e.g. 55 Treasure ___ 56 “44” 57 Director Ephron 58 Cameron of “Shrek” 59 Concrete support DOWN 1 ___ as molasses 2 DVR brand 3 Declare 4 Pi Day celebrant, maybe 5 Sergeant Friday’s classic show 6 What interrupting demonstrates 7 Instrument with a three-vowel name 8 It shares a key with equals 9 Play backdrop 10 1, 3 or 9, to 9 11 “Couldn’t tell ya!” 12 Containers that “burp” when sealed 13 Verbalizes 18 High-minded org.? 21 Possessive for Batwoman 23 Skid ___ (helmets,

slangily) 24 Word after “food” or “forever” 25 She only keeps things that spark joy 26 Carnival property? 27 Sportage automaker 28 Judi in “Skyfall” 29 Hype campaign 30 Far from hammered 35 Karate wear 36 Human, for one 38 Performer who may pretend to be in a box 39 Back with cash 41 Insect whose buzz can reach 106.7 decibels 42 They jump up

Down Under 45 Egotistical 46 “Moana” character or Hawaiian island 47 Sicilian mount 48 Pop singer Rexha 49 Part of UAE 50 Peru’s capital 51 Shakespearean king 53 A great degree?

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

2/22

Universal Freestyle 5 by Jared Goudsmit

SPORTS

March 1-8, 2022 •

OU snaps Bedlam losing streak

RAY BAHNER/THE DAILY

Redshirt senior guard Marvin Johnson during the game against Oklahoma State on Feb. 26.

Sooners’ NCAA tournament odds boosted ahead of March Madness COLTON SULLEY colton.m.sulley-1@ou.edu

The Oklahoma player few expected to hit a game-winning shot sprinted toward his teammates, whom many had given up on, leapt into the air with excitement and embraced his head coach as he proceeded through the handshake line. Seconds earlier, Marvin Johnson, a redshirt senior guard playing in his first and last game against Oklahoma State in Norman on Saturday, stole an inbound pass and raced up the court to finish with a decisive overtime layup. On the other end, Johnson came up with a final rebound after OSU guard Avery Anderson III heaved an off-balance 3-point attempt. Prior to overtime, several Sooners fans flooded toward the Lloyd Noble Center’s exit doors, apparently frustrated

by the letdown basketball they’ve commonly seen throughout this season. OU had led by as much as 14 in the second half but once again blew a sizable lead. With even their own supporters counting the Sooners out, Johnson, who anyone least expected to be an X-factor, sparked an OU team that came into the contest having lost nine of its last 11 games. Behind Johnson, Oklahoma (15-14, 5-11 Big 12) snapped a four-game Bedlam losing streak with a 66-62 overtime victory, defeating its in-state rival Cowboys (13-15, 6-10) for the first time since Feb. 1, 2020. The hometown hero from Ardmore, who until Feb. 26 had only played more than 20 minutes in a game once this season, logged a season-high 30 minutes and finished with 10 points and a season-high five rebounds. Johnson’s emergence was pivotal in OU proving its doubters wrong and securing a crucial win, keeping its NCAA Tournament hopes alive. “It means everything to me,” said

Johnson, so unassuming of stardom that he tried to exit his postgame press conference early, not knowing there were multiple questions in store. “Growing up in Oklahoma, I always watched the Bedlam game, and you either want to go to OU or OSU. Playing in that game and helping my team win is big, and I’ll be able to talk about that forever.” Previously, Johnson appeared in only eight games and averaged just four and a half minutes during the early parts of the season. Eventually, he fought his way into the rotation and helped the Sooners defeat West Virginia on Jan. 26, scoring six points off the bench. Three days later, he suffered a high ankle sprain at Auburn and missed the Sooners’ next seven games. Yet, OU coach Porter Moser said Johnson was itching to get back on the floor throughout his rehabilitation process, even with his ankle still swollen. Similarly, Johnson said he wanted to dunk his game-winning layup on Feb. 26 but decided to play it safe and protect his ankle.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys battle back from injuries but (Johnson) was dedicated,” senior forward Tanner Groves said. “He was in the training room every single day getting his treatment. He was running on the sidelines making sure his ankle was good, checking with the trainer at all times because he wanted to play that bad.” Johnson remained poised on Feb. 26 amid an Oklahoma State 7-0 run in the last one minute and 32 seconds of regulation and a game-tying alley-oop dunk by OSU center Moussa Cisse led to overtime. The Cowboys outscored Oklahoma 35-25 and also forced eight turnovers in the second half. With senior guard Elijah Harkless out for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury and freshman guard C.J. Noland out of the lineup with a knee injury suffered in practice earlier last week, Johnson got his opportunity and made it count in the state’s biggest rivalry, scoring four points in overtime. “He made some big plays,”

Moser said. “None bigger than the one on the steal on the out of bounds play and then bringing it up full court.” Alongside Johnson, senior guard Umoja Gibson added four overtime points of his own and recorded 13 total points while Tanner Groves finished the game with a team-high 14 points on 4-for10 shooting and 10 rebounds. Redshirt senior guard Jordan Goldwire added 13 points on 4-for-10 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds, while junior forward Jacob Groves, who fouled out with seven minutes and 28 seconds left in regulation, contributed 10 points. “A number of guys have to play well for us to win,” Moser said. “We had different moments from a lot of different guys. I thought Tanner got us going in the second half, I thought he really made some good baskets, he had a key drive. Tanner had some toughness plays today.” W h i l e Fe b. 2 6 ’s w i n , thanks to Johnson, is a boost for Oklahoma’s NCAA Tournament chances, it still

has a significant hill to climb. The Sooners were not included in ESPN’s latest bracketology update on Feb. 25, but they still have two regular season games and a conference tournament left to prove themselves. “We needed this, the fans needed this, the student body needed this,” Moser said in a postgame interview on CBS. “You never know, man, that’s why it’s March Madness. You never know what’s going to go on here in the next couple weeks.” Oklahoma’s trek toward the tournament continues against West Virginia (14-14, 3-12 Big 12) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1. Similar to how Johnson has gritted through challenges this season, OU is looking to fight its way back into tournament contention. “A dangerous thing in life, always remember, is when people have heart and passion,” Moser told the OU BoomSquad after the game. “When they count you out, that’s a dangerous thing.”

OU appoints new vice provost for faculty Sarah Ellis to fill position, succeed interim appointee BLAKE DOUGLAS bdoug99@ou.edu

OU announced the appointment of its new vice provost for faculty on Feb. 23 morning, pending Board of Regents approval. Sarah Ellis, currently the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts associate director and the Kenneth and Bernadine Russell professor chair in music theory, has also served in several other administrative positions and committees during her 19-year tenure at OU. The search process considered 12 “highly-qualified applicants,” according to an email from OU Senior Vice President and Provost

André-Denis Wright, before the search committee narrowed the field to six semifinalists and interviewed three finalists. The vice provost for faculty’s responsibilities include serving as the senior vice president and provost’s liaison for faculty performance evaluation, managing faculty career development initiatives and overseeing community engagement initiatives, according to OU’s website. According to the email, Ellis was the OU Faculty Senate chair in 2017-18, when OU conducted the controversial presidential search resulting in the hiring of former OU President Jim Gallogly. Ellis was also a member of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for three years before becoming chair of the committee. Ellis has taught several different undergraduate courses

and graduate seminars in music, and conducts research focused on “critical theory and its applications to understanding music,” according to the email. Her published academic literature consists of numerous articles, reviews and book chapters, according to the email, as well as her book, “Composing the Modern Subject: Four String Quartets by Dmitri Shostakovich.” Ellis earned a bachelor of arts degree in music and mathematics from the University of ColoradoBoulder before earning her doctoral degree from the University of Texas-Austin, according to the email. Ellis will succeed interim Vice Provost for Faculty Lori Snyder, who was appointed in June 2020. The next Board of Regents meeting is scheduled for March 8-9.

PHOTO PROVIDED

Sarah Ellis will serve as OU’s new vice provost for faculty, pending Board of Regents approval.