Happy Veterans Day THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S I NDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICEE
VOL. 93, NO. 57 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢
TUESDAY, NOV. 11, 2008 © 2008 OU Publications Board
US recession impacting global economy • Professor: Other countries may rethink the US capitalist model CAITLIN HARRISON Daily Staff Writer
Saul Martinez/The Daily
Professors Robin Grier, Mark Frazier and Mitchell Smith lead a panel discussion, “The Global Financial Crisis: Perspectives from China, Latin America and Europe” on Monday in the Heritage Room at the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
The economic recession is not confined just to the U.S. anymore — its impact is reaching across the globe. There is no longer a question of whether the U.S. is in a recession, said Mitchell Smith, associate professor of political science and international and area studies. The question now is how other countries are responding to the U.S. crisis, he said. “Everybody’s affected by it in one way or another. In some sense, nobody’s immune,” Smith said in a panel discussion Monday afternoon.
The panel, titled “The Global Financial Crisis: Perspectives from China, Latin America and Europe,” was hosted by the School of International and Area Studies in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Heritage Room. Although other countries have long tried to model the U.S. form of capitalism, that trend could change in the near future, Smith said. He said the U.S. economic model is struggling because of substantial under-regulation by the U.S. government. “There’s a question in the future of the American model of capitalism,” he said. “How willing is the U.S. to examine its own model of capitalism?” Smith said Europe has seen its forms of government as distinctly different from that of the U.S., so European nations did not initially think America’s recession would affect them. “There was a growing recognition that, in fact, European markets were vulnerable to what was going
CAMPUS CORNER
CAMPUS BRIEFS
90TH VETERANS DAY
Army ROTC wins challenge
Harold’s files for bankruptcy
OU Army ROTC placed first in the annual Brigade Ranger Challenge, held Friday and Saturday in Muskogee. More than 120 cadets from five universities participated in the challenge, which included timed weapon disassembly and assembly, marksmanship, physical fitness tests and a 10-kilometer road march. Log on to OUDaily.com for more about the ROTC’s victory.
• High-end retail store blames economy
— CLINT SLOAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Student suicide shocks friends Funeral services for chemistry sophomore Jayson Carlile Williamson were held Monday in his hometown of Tulsa. Norman Police Capt. Leonard Judy confirmed Monday that Williamson’s death Thursday was selfinflicted. “I do want everybody to know it was an JAYSON impulsive act,” zoology sophomore Lea MontWILLIAMSON gomery said. Montgomery said she had known Williamson since birth. “Our mothers were pregnant together, and we were born about four months apart,” Montgomery said. “We’ve gone to church together since we were in diapers.” Accounting junior Chris Thompson knew Williamson from their time spent together on the Holland Hall rowing team. He described Williamson as warm, passionate, funny and a loyal friend. “He’s the last person you’d ever expect to do this,” University College freshman Alli Huskey said. Williamson is the second OU student to commit suicide in the last four weeks, following the death of microbiology senior Noah Brandherm on Oct. 13. — WILL HOLLAND/THE DAILY
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WEATHER FORECAST
TODAY LOW 44° HIGH 68°
WEDNESDAY LOW 40° HIGH 59° Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab
TIFFANY HAENDEL Daily Staff Writer
Photo provided by Christina Hoggatt
Christina Hoggatt, now a strategic communication graduate student, takes her Air Force captain’s oath of office under commanding officer Col. Jerry Renne in June 2005 in the Courtyard of Heroes at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The Courtyard of Heroes is a memorial dedicated to those who died in that building during the 1943 bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Veteran Student Services honors Sooner soldiers TIFFANY HAENDEL Daily Staff Writer number of OU students serving overseas will receive care packages today as part of the 90th Veterans Day. Veterans Students Services coordinator Patricia Ingram said OU mails the packages to its service men and women every Nov. 11 to celebrate the holiday. Veterans Day was established on Nov. 11, 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson, one year after the end of World War I. Veterans Day honors all members of the Armed Forces, whether they were active during a time of war or peace. Although some OU students were not aware of when the holiday is each year, Adam Carlson, U.S. Marines veteran and political science senior, said that he believes more people know about the holiday now than in the past. “I’d say it’s kind of like an out of sight out of mind thing … It’s kind of like with cancer,” he said. “You’re not that aware of cancer until you know somebody with it, so once you know somebody that’s a veteran or somebody down the street is a veteran or your friend is dating a veteran, [your awareness changes]. More people become aware of it as more people become veterans.” University College freshman Ryne Smith fits Carlson’s description. Smith does not know anybody in the military, and did not know the exact date of Veterans Day, but he said he holds respect for those who have served in the armed forces. “[Veterans Day] gives respect to the people that actually go to war and the people that we have lost,” Smith said. “It’s not a major holiday, but it’s still good to know that you can respect the people who fought for you.” To honor fellow veterans, Daniel Deering, U.S. Army veteran and advertising senior, said he tries to visit the 45th Infantry Museum in
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“...I’ve lost friends that have been at war, so there’s definitely a deeper found respect.” Christina Hoggatt, Air Force veteran and graduate student Oklahoma City every Veterans Day. Deering has experienced Veterans Day overseas as a soldier, and he said soldiers were given only a special meal to recognize the holiday. Now that he’s home, he said he looks at the day differently. “It’s just to honor the people that come before me and the people that are still there,” he said. “I think that me, as somebody that was in, and everybody that has always been a civilian need to honor those people that have sacrificed time with their family and their lives [to serve].” Christina Hoggatt, U.S. Air Force veteran and strategic communication graduate student, said she does not think it is disrespectful to forget the holiday. She said the difference in recognition seems to be the depth of the appreciation. “I have friends that are at war right now, and I’ve lost friends that have been at war, so there’s definitely a deeper found respect,” she said. “I’m sure, when your life overlaps with those that serve and continue to serve, you have a deeper understanding for what it means to put on a uniform and stand up for our right to be free,” she said.
Campus Corner clothing store Harold’s has filed for bankruptcy after six decades in business. The store first opened its doors on Boyd Street in 1948, and other stores subsequently spread across 18 other states. All of these locations will be closing within the next three to four months. Harold’s Chief Executive Officer Ron Staffieri said the store has instituted a major sale since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday. “Our intent is to sell as much of our inventory as possible, but we are still exploring other alternatives,” Staffieri said. One possible alternative, he said, is to sell the company. “[That] would allow us to save the Harold name, which we certainly would like to do,” he said. Amanda Clark, owner of Blush on Campus Corner, said she doesn’t expect her store to be influenced by Harold’s closing. She said she targets college students who are already on campus, and her business has grown since it opened. “I don’t think that it will necessarily hurt my business, however, it may hurt Campus Corner more as a nostalgic kind of thing,” she said. Harold’s is connected from the inside to Cafe Plaid, whose July expansion took over part of Harold’s space. Cafe Plaid manager Jason Skeel said Harold’s closing will affect the cafe’s business, but not drastically. “We share customers and we share business all the time. In a minor sense, I think that we do get shared customers, but I think that we might send more people over there than they send over here,” Skeel said. During Harold’s 60 years of business in Norman, it has developed a strong loyal customer base. Many said they are sad to see the store go. University College freshman Kelcie McCall said she has been shopping at Harold’s for several years and is familiar with the family who owns the store. “It’s kind of sad just because I grew up in Norman, and it’s always been here. My parents shopped there since I was little,” McCall said.
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