The Oklahoma Daily

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S I NDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

VOL. 93, NO. 62 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

TUESDAY, NOV. 18, 2008 © 2008 OU Publications Board

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

University presidents’ salaries rising with tuition

INAUGURAL GAYLORD PRIZE

What makes a good commercial? Students and professors tell The Daily. Page 9.

CAMPUS BRIEFS Business students win $4,200 Three students from the Michael F. Price College of Business took away $4,200 after placing first in the Bruzzy Westheimer Presentation Competition.

Rick Loeffler, accounting senior; Luke McCarley, energy management senior and Daniel Sposito, entrepreneurship senior, won for their presentation on Jim Collins’ book, “Good to Great,” about how companies can transform from average to great.

In the seventh annual competition, students delivered team presentations before a panel of judges. According to the college’s Web site, students are scored on their presentation skills.

The event is open to undergraduate and graduate business students and is sponsored

by Bruzzy Westheimer, president of Valbel West Corporation.

• Boren’s compensation package worth $550,544 CAITLIN HARRISON Daily Staff Writer

STATE BRIEFS New Oklahoma lawmakers to be sworn in today OKLAHOMA CITY — Officials are making preparation for swearing-in ceremonies today in both legislative chambers. Seventeen new House members and six new senators are among those who will be taking their oaths of office.

Five of the six new senators are Republicans.

Since the Nov. 4 general election, Republicans have become the majority party in the Senate for the first time in state history. The GOP has controlled the House since 2004.

The Legislature will hold an organizational meeting on Jan. 6, then will reconvene in February to take up legislation.

OUDAILY.COM Men’s basketball defeats Mississippi Valley State The OU men’s basketball team defeated Mississippi Valley State Monday 94 to 53 in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off Norman Regional. Sooner big man Blake Griffin led the way with 20 points and 19 rebounds. For the full story, visit OUDaily.com.

Log on to track down Texas Tech tickets Looking for tickets to Saturday’s OU vs. Texas Tech game? Visit OUDaily.CampusAve.com to purchase tickets from fellow students for the showdown in Norman. You can also purchase textbooks, electronics, furniture and more.

Lehrer receives Gaylord Prize • Television news icon tells aspiring journalists to remain loyal to reporting ethics MEREDITH MORIAK Daily Staff Writer Emmy award-winning journalist Jim Lehrer received the inaugural Gaylord Prize Monday afternoon during a luncheon at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City.

In an age of Internet bloggers, 24-hour news networks and news parodies, Lehrer told journalism students to stay true to unbiased news and reporting.

“Don’t lose sight of our purpose: We the journalists are there to report the news in a professional way,” Lehrer said.

Lehrer is a world-renowned journalist and executive editor and anchor for PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.” He also has moderated 11 presidential and vice presidential debates.

The prize, which includes $25,000 and a glass eagle trophy, is part of the Edward L. Gaylord family’s $22 million endowment to the university and the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The prize was established to recognize professionals in the journalism field who have distinguished themselves and who model ethical journalism, said John Hockett, Gaylord College assistant dean.

“Jim Lehrer is truly an icon within the profession, and we are very fortunate to have him as our recipient,” Hockett said.

In his acceptance speech, Lehrer touched on journalists’ fears about a news revolution that has the news cycle becoming more fast-paced and traditional jobs disappearing. He said Internet pundits, comedians and talk show hosts would have nothing to talk about without news stories reported by the mainstream media.

“It has to start with one of us boring reporters — who did whatever it took to make it news in the first place,” Lehrer said.

The most important thing in reporting is to tell the news in an unbiased manner, he said.

“I never want anyone to confuse news with entertainment or confuse me with a clown,” Lehrer said. “I am not in the entertainment business.”

A committee consisting of students, faculty, alumni, President David L. Boren and members of the Gaylord family selected Lehrer as the inaugural recipient of the prize.

Boren called Lehrer a trusted journalist who is fair and said

LEHRER Continues on page 2 SALARIES Continues on page 2

Professor turns book profits into scholarships

TODAY’S INDEX A&E 9, 10 Campus Notes 5 Classifieds 8 8 Crossword Horoscope 9

Saul Martinez/The Daily

Jim Lehrer receives the inaugural Gaylord Prize at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City. He is the executive editor and anchor of PBS’s “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

During an economic downturn, tuition is on the rise, but so are the salaries of presidents at public universities, according to a new report released Monday by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The report found executive compensation at OU and 183 other universities increased an average of 7.6 percent over the last fiscal year.

Presidents’ salaries and benefits average close to $470,000, but OU President David L. Boren’s package totals $550,544 annually, the thirdhighest in the Big 12. University of Texas President William Powers Jr. topped the Big 12 list with benefits and salary worth $676,912, and Texas A&M President Elsa A. Murano ranked second with a package worth $561,125.

Private university presidents’ salaries stayed relatively stable.

Boren’s total compensation increased 33.6 percent between the 2006-07 and the 2007-08 fiscal years.

His salary increased only slightly, to $370,230 from $361,553, in line with a university-wide cost of living salary increase announced in April.

But his other benefits, including deferred compensation and retirement pay, more than tripled.

Jay Doyle, press secretary and special assistant to the president, said in an e-mail that Boren’s salary increases or decreases at the same rate as that of the university faculty and staff.

“President Boren has rejected raises greater than those of the faculty and staff, and has also donated the proceeds of the raises given to him back to the university,” he said.

“He and Mrs. Boren are members of the Seed Sower’s Society, which means that they have donated more than $1 million to the university during his tenure.”

News 5, 6 Opinion 4 Police Reports 5 Sports 7 Sudoku 8

WEATHER FORECAST

TODAY LOW 35° HIGH 60°

WEDNESDAY LOW 43° HIGH 66° Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab

• Textbook author says e-books help students, publishing industry TIFFANY HAENDEL Daily Staff Writer Botany and microbiology professor Mariëlle Hoefnagels isn’t raking in money from the biology textbook she wrote. She is putting the royalties instead into a textbook scholarship fund for next year.

“I really don’t want to make money off my students,” said Hoefnagels, who wrote “Biology” as a sequel to the “Life” textbook she coauthored with her husband, University College Dean Doug Gaffin, and two others.

The textbook is used by her Biology 1005 class and was chosen by the textbook committee for the Zoology 1114 class.

“She understood that using her book on campus might be a conflict of interest,” Gaffin said. “Further, she knew how important books were to her as a student so she felt

a book scholarship could make a the book might get sold six or big difference in students’ lives.” seven more times, but the bookThe details about the scholstore is the only one getting any arship’s criteria are still being money on it.” decided, but the money will be Hoefnagels said if people use used to help students pay for their e-books, publishers could spread textbooks. their investments over more stuHoefnagels said a trend toward dents and books so each book e-books in the textbook industry would cost less. Currently, inveswould significantly lower book tors recover the entire investment costs for students. during the first year before the Her “Biology” book includes a market is flooded with used copcode to download a free e-book ies of the book. was included. She said her pubSome said this is a good idea lishers did this to see which option because of the interactive features students would use when given an included in an e-book, like videos, equal choice between the two. audio clips and hypertext.

Hoefnagels said publishUniversity College freshman ers want people to begin using Brandy Siegmund said it would be e-books and that the e-books will convenient for her to buy e-books be much cheaper than printed textfor her classes. books.

“It’d be so much easier if all I needed for class was my “Publishers don’t make any money on a used book,” laptop or to print a page or two,” she said.

Hoefnagels said. “The only time they make any money on Hoefnagels said any new book she is commissioned to it is the first time it gets sold to a bookstore. After that, write will be solely an e-book.

2

News

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

DC trip enlightens students on politics of policy making • Energy lobbyists, alumni meet with nine students on trip to capital LEIGHANNE MANWARREN Daily Staff Writer With the demand for less dependence on foreign oil, energy management policy has come to the forefront of U.S. politics.

Nine OU energy management and finance students got the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. last weekend to discuss the policy-making behind energy management.

“We chose that week because it was an off week [for football] and it was right after the election that way we could learn about what types of issues the new presidential administration would face,” Energy Management Director Steve Long said. “We got to meet with some of [Okla. Sen. Jim] Inhofe’s staff, national lobbyists and had a big reception with a group of OU alumni.”

Long said more than 40 students applied to go on the trip, but he had to narrow it down to nine students.

“It was an honor to be picked,” said Michael Hammond, energy management and finance senior.

“I want to go into public policy and lobbying so this was a great learning experience.”

Among the lobbyists students met with were representatives from Halliburton, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, the Federal Regulation and Oversight of Energy, the Center

CORRECTION Due to an editor’s error, English sophomore Michelle Borror was misidentified as a victim of rape on page 2 of Monday’s Daily. Borror was a volunteer at “Take Back the Night” and read another woman’s story, not her own, about the night this woman was raped.

OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCURACY The Daily has a long-standing commitment to serve readers by providing accurate coverage and analysis. Errors are corrected as they are identified. Readers should bring errors to the attention of the editorial board for further investigation.

ERROR SUBMISSIONS e-mail: dailynews@ou.edu phone: 325-3666

Photo Provided

Energy management students Mike Hammond, Allie Turman, Matt Mullins, Samantha Penner, Chris Jackson, Julia Allen, Chase Beasley, Whitney Reid and Claire Peterson pose in front of the U.S. Capitol building on a recent trip to Washington. for Strategic and International Studies and the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

The students took part in multiple informal roundtable discussions, Long said.

“Everyone was pretty much on the same page about domestic security,” said Christopher Jackson, energy management and finance junior. “The standard approaches varied. Inhofe’s legislative assistant was not as aggressive and was more subtle compared to the lobbyists, but it was all pretty universal.”

Students also met with the D.C. Sooners, a group of alumni who live and work in the capital.

“A really neat experience was spending time with the D.C. Sooners,” said Allie Turman, energy management and finance junior. “They took us out to eat and even introduced us to the nightlife of D.C. They were quite informative and interesting. It was wonderful to see that no matter where I end up in the country, there will be OU alumni to connect with.”

Hammond said the experience had enhanced his knowledge.

“It was an enriching experience,” Hammond said.

“We got to see how policies are made. Lobbyists get a bad rap, but they are the people who know both sides of the argument and without them, nothing would get done in Washington.”

September 2008 Student Employees of the Month Greg Gustafson Walker Center Resident Adviser

Jenna Wright Couch Center Resident Adviser

Traditions West Resident Director

Kenny Hindenburg Cate Center Resident Adviser

Andrew Ryan Burger King

Traci Coffman Adams Cener Resident Adviser

Alex (Bheki) Xulu Couch Express Jeremy Ryan Couch Restaurants

Marlon Robin Cate a la carte

Thanks for all of your hard work! housing&food

Continued from page 1 Boren will become the longest-serving president in the Big 12 this year, which is why his salary is higher than salaries of presidents of most other Big 12 universities, Doyle said.

The highest-paid public president is Gordon Gee of Ohio State University, who currently collects $1,346,225 annually.

Sen. Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has said that national pay increases are cause for concern during a time when tuition is on the rise, according to the Chronicle’s report.

“The Chronicle’s study shows that the

executive suite seems insulated from budget crunches,” Grassley wrote in a statement. “In these hard economic times, apparently belt-tightening is for families and students, not university presidents.”

The salary increases at many schools occurred before the worst of the economic times, according to the report.

Doyle said Boren is not currently collecting any retirement benefits from his contract, but the numbers in the report reflect the yearly amount going toward his retirement.

He said Boren has no plans to retire anytime soon.

WHO MAKES HOW MUCH AT BIG 12 PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES?

Congratulations to our

Nick DeBolt

Salaries

Housing and Food Services is a department in OU’s division of Student Affairs.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

University of Texas President William Powers Jr. Texas A&M University President Elsa A. Murano Oklahoma President David L. Boren Iowa State President Gregory L. Geoffroy Texas Tech University President Guy Bailey Oklahoma State University President Burns Hargis University of Colorado President Bruce D. Benson University of Missouri President Michael T. Nietzel University of Kansas Chancellor Robert Hemenway Kansas State University President Jon Wefald University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken

$676,912 $561,125 $550,544 $496,066 $476,166 $443,465 $411,278 $355, 080 $351,601 $340,848 $323,701

Lehrer Continued from page 1 that the glass eagle awarded to him represents “the value of freedom in our society.” David Dary, former director of the school of journalism, said he has been dreaming about OU offering such a prize since 1992.

“I am delighted to see that it has become a reality,” Dary said. “It gives the institution the opportunity to literally select outstanding journalists and recognize them for their work.”

Dary said he felt Lehrer has done a good job upholding unbiased integrity during the recent elections. Lehrer served as a moderator during the Sept. 26 presidential debate between Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain.

“It’s good to select someone who has upheld journalistic standards,” Dary said.

Lehrer thanked the Gaylord College for the honor.

“Winning the Gaylord Prize means everything to me because of the specialness of it and how it relates to me,” Lehrer said. “In all humility, I have the best job, and I can’t imagine making my living any other way.”

Win $10,000 to help spread peace!

The Davis United World College Scholars is offering $10,000 awards to 100 undergraduate students or groups of students, at participating colleges and universities, to design and implement a project to promote peace.

Projects must be done during the summer of 2009. They can be anywhere in the world, as long as they promote peace.

The possibilities are endless. Judging is based on projects that are most promising and can be completed.

All undergraduates at OU are eligible to apply.

Deadline for applications is Jan. 19, 2009.

For more information email: davispeaceprojects@ou.edu

Ellis Goodwin, managing editor dailynews@ou.edu phone: 325-3666 fax: 325-6051 For more, go to oudaily.com.

Campus News

Growing up abroad offers students unique global perspective • Living in a different culture affords new opportunities WHITNEY ORTEGA Daily Staff Writer One’s world view at age 6 is typically limited, but University College freshman Bri Hair was afforded a more significant scope.

Hair’s parents worked as missionaries, and when she was 6 years old, her family packed up its things and went to China. Hair spent most of her life in Shenyang and Beijing.

“It was thoroughly exciting. I traveled all over Asia, got to experience so many rich cultures while maintaining my American heritage by coming back to the states every summer,” she said.

Despite the contrast of OU’s campus to the busy streets of Beijing, Hair finds some similarities, but misses the busy life of China.

“I think the biggest thing that I miss are the little old women saying ‘Are you cold today?’ as you walk down the street. There was such community,” Hair said. “You would just walk down the street and people would start a conversation with you. I miss the thrilling night markets, warm chestnuts on freezing winter evenings and talking to the old men playing Mahjong on the sidewalks. There were always swarms of people everywhere. Walking down the streets here it just seems so empty.”

She said she enjoyed all the people, but the language barrier was sometimes a challenge for her.

“It is incredibly diverse. Growing up in Beijing, you see people from Europe, Africa, America, even sometimes Latin America. At least here at OU they all speak English,” Hair said.

Hair also attended a Chinese school while abroad. She said it was an odd experience because she was the only white girl who spoke English at the school of 800.

Hair said that despite her knowledge of the English language, she failed English at her school.

“There was a Chinese woman teaching English. She had gone to Oxford,” Hair said. “But she taught British English — the grammar was different.”

Even though Hair struggled with her English classes, she did manage to learn Mandarin Chinese while in China. At OU she is working on a minor in Chinese, and

is trying to become fluent.

“I wanted to choose something that incorporated both my love of language and my desire to study in many different areas,” Hair said.

She said her time in China helped her learn how to make friends quickly.

“When you don’t know how long you will be staying, friendships are extremely valuable and necessary,” Hair said. “I don’t even think about the fact that some of my friends are from different cultures, but I do tend to make friends more easily with people who have lived all over, or maybe came from a military family. We all think alike.”

Preston Kunz, architecture sophomore, lived most of his life in Argentina. He speaks Spanish fluently and is familiar with many other romance languages. Kunz also has found it easy to build friendships because many of his friends are international students.

“You start to find that you have a lot in common with a wider range of people,” Kunz said. “I definitely tend to move towards the international students everywhere I go. You look for people that have been through what you have been through and that understand how you feel about situations.”

Even though he has many friends in the U.S., his different cultural background sometimes shows.

“There are things that I do that I get made fun of for,” Kunz said. “Flipping words around in a sentence and then there is the occasional hand motion that might mean something in one country but means the worst possible thing in another.”

Kunz’ parents also were missionaries. While Hair’s parents have moved back to Norman, Kunz’ parents and younger siblings are still in South America.

“I miss it so much. If anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas, how about a plane ticket,” Kunz said.

Kunz misses simple things about where he grew up, like the casual pace of the everyday life.

“Everything is so close to each other, you can ride your bike across the city and no one thinks you’re weird,” he said. “I miss the food, the drinks, the music and of course all of the hundreds and hundreds of friends I had to leave behind.”

While both Hair and Kunz are enjoying life at OU, they carry even fonder memories of their homes in other countries.

“It was the best experience anyone could ask for. It has made me what I am today and has given me the most amazing stories to tell,” Kunz said.

FOOTBALL STUDENT SEASON TICKET HOLDERS: DON’T FORGET TO PICK UP YOUR FOOTBALL TICKETS!

OU VS. TEXAS TECH TICKET DISTRIBUTION MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

8 A.M. - 5 P.M. STUDENTS WHO PURCHASED A FOOTBALL STUDENT SEASON TICKET MUST PICK UP THEIR TICKET TO EACH HOME GAME THE WEEK OF THE GAME. STUDENTS MUST PRESENT THEIR VALID OU STUDENT ID TO PICK UP TICKETS. A NEW OPTION THIS YEAR WILL BE THE PRINT-AT-HOME OPTION. INSTEAD OF HAVING TO COME TO THE ATHLETICS TICKET OFFICE TO PICK UP TICKETS, YOU WILL HAVE THE OPTION OF LOGGING ON TO SOONERSPORTS.COM AND PRINTING YOUR TICKETS FROM ANY COMPUTER DURING THE PICKUP PERIOD. THE PRINT-AT-HOME OPTION WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM SUNDAY AT 5:00 P.M. THROUGH WEDNESDAY AT 3:00 P.M. TICKETS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AT THE OU ATHLETICS TICKET OFFICE. THE TICKET PICK UP DATES AND TIMES FOR EACH GAME ARE LISTED BELOW. GAME DATE

OPPONENT

DISTRIBUTION DATES

OFFICE HOURS

11/22

Texas Tech

November 17-19

Mon.-Wed. 8am-5pm

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

3

New candidates, incumbents preparing for 2010 campaigns • State senate races can “Senators start raising money right after the cost up to $300K CAITLIN HARRISON Daily Staff Writer The presidential election may be over, but the fundraising cycle for Oklahoma candidates running in 2010 has just begun.

Fundraising starts the day after the last election, said political science professor Keith Gaddie. He said not all candidates begin this early, but some do in an attempt to scare off opposition.

“It’s a continuous process,” he said. “They try and get money built up early so they can clear up the field as much as possible to have as much money to spend.”

Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma attorney general, said campaigns are too DREW expensive for a candidate EDMONDSON to wait until the election year to begin fundraising.

Edmondson began raising money for 2010 right after his 2006 campaign ended.

“I think not having raised much money might be a sign of weakness or a sign that you’re not thinking about running,” he said.

“The principle of raising money applies to challengers as well as incumbents.”

Gaddie said state candidates can accept donations only from individuals or committees, and funding tends to come from groups that share common political interests.

“Your money confirms relationships,” he said. “It doesn’t buy public policy, but reenforces relationships so you have access to the process.”

Politicians running for two-year offices, like congressmen or state representatives, have the least time to raise funds, Gaddie said.

“Especially starting 18 months out, that’s when it intensifies,” he said.

Edmondson already has raised more than $350,000, in addition to money left over from his 2006 campaign. His fundraising events have included a golf tournament and birthday party.

“You really want your fundraising to be as diverse as possible,” he said. “If your funding is overweighed by a particular group, it can be a source of attack by your opponents.”

election and have to keep doing it.”

— Keith Gaddie, political science professor Although Edmondson is currently slated to run for re-election as attorney general, he is considering running for governor which would require him to raise $3 to $5 million, he said.

Scott Meacham, Oklahoma state treasurer, said he has raised close to $100,000 since last fall.

“For my last race we probably spent a $1.2 million, so I figured I need to get started,” he said.

Meacham said the amount needed often depends on a candidate’s opponent.

“Obviously the more well-funded the opponent, the more you have to raise,” he said.

“Last time I had an opponent that was very well-funded. It’s easier to do if you start early than if you wait till the end to do that.”

Political campaigns have become more expensive in recent years, Gaddie said. State legislature races cost between $100,000 and $200,000, while state Senate campaigns can add up to $300,000.

“It used to be if you were a U.S. senator, you could wait about four years to raise money,” he said. “What’s been happening for the last 20 years is senators start raising money right after the election and have to keep doing it.”

Although fundraising is necessary, it is usually the part of the campaign politicians like the least, Edmondson said.

“It’s fun to go to festivals and eat fried fish and be in parades, but it’s hard to make yourself sit down at a desk and make phone calls,” he said. “That’s the hard part.”

Most money from political campaigns is used in many ways to help the candidate receive favor from the public, Gaddie said.

“This isn’t just money that goes to a politician or disappears,” he said. “Increasingly this money is going into buying expertise, quality advertising time, research. This money is all part of an industry that provides jobs.”

4

Opinion

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

OUR VIEW

Hailey Branson, opinion editor dailyopinion@ou.edu phone: 325-7630, fax: 325-6051 For more, go to oudaily.com.

STAFF COLUMN

Reading rip-off Space exploration yields few results

Leisure important “Man cannot live without pleasure,” St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote.

Since he was a saint who spent most of his life writing the Summa Theologiae, this statement might have seemed somewhat out of character.

But, as a Catholic, he knew the proper balance between feasting and fasting.

Our modern world has no sense of that balance of feast and fast or work and leisure. Being so imbalanced, we spend our lives in selfish pursuit of our own economic security and success.

A typical day for me includes waking up at least an hour and half before my first class, going to school, trying to learn without becoming bored, eating lunch, going to work at the library, and finally coming back to my apartment at night to finish my remaining homework.

When I have no homework or decide to SARAH procrastinate, I spend my free time surfing the ROSENCRANS Internet or flicking channels on TV. If I am really bored, I do both.

This is not true leisure. This is vegging out, emptying my mind so I don’t have to think.

On the rare occasions I am not mind-numbed with information overload and boredom, I do find time for true leisure.

True leisure consists of doing fun things that involve the mind without requiring the memorization and absolute logic of work.

Leisure time should be spent productively, but it should not be related to work or school.

Take the time to read that novel outside of class. Not some cheesy romance or chick-flick novel, but something intelligent like John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill” or Jane Austen’s “Emma.”

Or go out and commune with nature. Too much of our work and school is done inside.

Even if you are not a tree hugger, go take a walk in the park, have a picnic or go trekking along the banks of the Canadian River without being afraid of getting muddy and wet.

Or maybe pursue that hobby you have wanted to perfect.

I would love more time to work on my cross-stitch Santa Claus Christmas cards or to sharpen my musical skills on the piano.

Perhaps you want to really be able to play the guitar and not just fake it on Guitar Hero, or perhaps you love to draw, even though you are not an art major. This is how you should spend your leisure time.

Leisure time should be spent with friends.

We spend too little time enjoying people these days.

This is a sad result of the contraceptive and abortive mindset of modern culture; we find every life disposable and unequal in value.

Have intelligent and silly conversations, play that board or card game if it breaks the ice.

I never consider time spent with friends wasted, even if I should have been studying or running errands.

Yes, education is important, and perhaps the statistics of the financial advantage of a college degree will hold in spite of the depressing economic outlook.

But it is what we do with our leisure time that makes life meaningful. Work and school do create some meaning in life, but they are more directed to survival and self-promotion.

As much as I am fascinated and educated by sticking a probe into the inside of formaldehyde-soaked sharks and cats, I am more fascinated and educated by settling down on my couch with my copy of G.K. Chesterton’s “The Everlasting Man” or Gregory Maguire’s “A Lion Among Men,” a hot cup of green tea and a plate of freshly sliced pears.

I learn more sitting with friends at church after our Sunday supper, talking about everything from having a NERF Gun fight in the weather center to comparing professors and classes.

My schoolwork does have the capacity to intrigue me, or else I would not be pursuing my degree.

But I do know it is only a stepping stone to a hopefully interesting job that will allow me plenty of time to pursue what I find most meaningful in life.

At the end of your life, it will not matter what grades you made or how much money you made. What will matter is how you spent your free time.

Sarah Rosencrans is a zoology and biomedical science junior.

Her column appears every other Tuesday.

T H E

I N D E P E N D E N T Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Assistant Managing Editor Night Editor Assistant Night Editor Opinion Editor Photo Editor

Dane Beavers Kevin Hahn Corey DeMoss Adam Kohut Judy Gibbs Robinson R.T. Conwell

Even factoring out the costs associated with maintaining useful satellites, ending space exploration would save billions of dollars that could be used to improve life on Earth. little bearing on earth because the experiments are conducted in environments that are nothing like earth.

Some defend space experiments as being necessary precursors to man’s eventual colonization of other planets. I don’t buy it.

We have yet to find a planet remotely capable of sustaining humanity. Even the vaunted efforts to find evidence of life and water on Mars have come up short.

The best evidence of life put forth thus far were fossilized remains of what could be bacteria. Most scientists, particularly bacterial microbiologists, describe this evidence as shaky at best.

Mars has no magnetic field.

This means that Martian atmosphere is unable to stop solar wind and radiation from interacting directly with surface soil. This would make life as we know it on Earth impossible.

NASA’s earliest projections put a manned Mars mission no earlier than 2037. Because of Martian conditions, the mission would essentially be akin to an extended stay on a space station, but with

gravity. A fully contained inside and outside on any structure on Mars would be absolutely necessary. That would be true of any attempts to live on Mars, as well.

So, in 40 years, astronauts may set foot on another planet.

But they’ll have to wear spacesuits wherever they go. Their base will have to be artificially maintained to simulate Earth because the planet they’ll be on is by most estimates incapable of supporting life.

And any attempt to build civilization there will have to start from the ground up. There is nothing there. Imagine the most desolate desert on Earth, make it very cold, take away all the oxygen, and make it impossible to leave without rockets. That’s what Mars is like right now.

Even with all of Earth’s problems, who would seriously want to go to Mars? You can’t live there, you can’t make a living there, and if something goes wrong, you probably wouldn’t be able to leave there in time.

Thus, justifying space experiments as leading the way to Martian colonization does not sway me because the entire premise of Martian colonization

is flawed.

Aside from satellites that actually have some benefit to Earth and humans, what good is space exploration really doing? It’s eating up money in the billions while not really yielding anything of solid value.

We’re in the middle of global recession right now. There are millions of people starving to death on Earth.

Millions more barely make a living due to abject poverty.

People die of curable diseases every day.

Even factoring out the costs associated with maintaining useful satellites, ending space exploration would save billions of dollars that could be used to improve life on Earth. What good was a man taking a step on the moon when millions of malnourished children die before taking their first step on Earth?

Instead of throwing money at outer space, let’s make use of it on Earth, where it can actually do good for the people who live here.

Munim Deen is a microbiology senior. His column appears every other Tuesday.

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T H E The Fine Print:

STAFF COLUMN

The so-called space race first started in the 1950s as a pitched competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. As in all things during the Cold War, each superpower tried to outdo the other.

By the 1960s, the United States was a bona fide space power, along with Russia.

The space race instilled and embodied immense national pride in both nations and wsometimes even global pride among mankind. The 1969 lunar landing was indeed a giant leap for humanity.

But what good did it really do?

Not that much, honestly.

The six NASA moon landings between 1969 and 1972 didn’t directly improve anything tangibly.

No magic source of perpetual energy was found. The lunar rocks did not yield the cure for the common cold or for any other earthly ailment. There was no breakthrough of any kind on earth that came from the moon landings.

To be fair, some of the research and developmental work that went into making the moon landings happen did have some benefit in the real world.

However, the most lasting and most recognized example of this has been a pen that can write upside down and under water.

Infomercials and magazine ads still tout them as having flown into space .

Can you think of anything else useful that we use regularly that came from the moon missions? I can’t. The very fact that the moon missions were stopped after 1972 shows that there were little longterm benefits to be had from these missions.

After the moon was conquered, attention turned to living in space.

With this came the concept of the space station, in which astronauts could live for extended periods of time. Astronauts generally conducted scientific studies during their time up there. Scientific study is always good as long as it produces valid results, positive or negative.

However, because of the particular environment of the space station, studies conducted in space are valid only in space.

An experiment conducted in zero-gravity conditions produces results that are only applicable in zero-gravity conditions and therefore not valid on Earth.

Considering that’s pretty much the only place humans can live, the experiments, and therefore the missions, and the space stations themselves, are really of no direct benefit to earthlings.

In today’s world, there are not just two space powers.

Several countries have conducted missions MUNIM into space. The DEEN European Space Agency, Japan, India and China all have built up a long record of space missions.

In addition, almost a dozen other smaller national agencies conduct minor space-related operations.

Combined, the world’s space agencies have approved budgets of about $50 billion. NASA alone spends about $17 billion annually.

While some of these missions involve launching or repairing useful technology such as communications and weather satellites or pertinent atmospheric and weather conditions, the majority of the missions involve scientific experiments whose results have

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National News & Details

5

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

Residents return to devastated LA mobile home park AMY TAXIN Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Stacks of charred bricks, blackened shells of cars and burned tree trunks were all that remained Monday in much of the community some residents once called the “Beverly Hills of mobile home parks.”

The mostly retired residents returned to see what was left of their homes at Oakridge Mobile Home Park, where winds with hurricane intensity blew a wall of fire through nearly 500 manufactured homes and set them ablaze so quickly that even firefighters had to drop their hoses and run.

“It looks like a war zone — no trees, no buildings,” said Michele Warneck, 54, who burst into tears after returning from the park. She had watched her two-bedroom house burn on the television news.

“Everything that was porcelain just blew up.”

Once considered a paradise with swimming pools and tennis courts, the park was is roamed by cadaversniffing dogs in search of anyone who didn’t escape.

The inferno destroyed 484 homes in the park Saturday. Firefighters were able to save about 120 homes, but many were badly damaged.

The fire was one of three that have destroyed about 1,000 homes and apartments and burned 41,000 acres, or 64 square miles, forcing thousands to flee.

Most evacuation orders were lifted by Monday, when clear skies and calm winds allowed firefighters to make some gains, but officials warned of another bad air day and classes were canceled at dozens of schools near fire zones in Orange County.

In Sylmar, scores of residents stood in line outside a high school gymnasium for tours of the charred mobile home park.

Those whose homes were destroyed were shuttled through the neighborhood in a black van. Police were still investigating the fire, so people weren’t allowed

to get out and sift through the ashes for scraps of their belongings.

“It’s gone,” said Ed Hurdle, 82, after taking one of the first park tours. “The car is gone. The house is gone. It’s twisted metal. It’s totally charred there.

There’s no hope at all. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.”

A separate set of white police vans ferried residents whose homes were still standing so they could gather medication and other essentials.

“My house was in great shape. All it was was dirty,” said Betty Glassman, 78. “I feel like I’m in a dream. Pinch me.”

Cadaver dogs have been searching the burned units, but so far have only found the cremated remains of a man who died several years ago.

Animal control recovered several dead animals and three live cats. Los Angeles County Assistant Coroner Chief Ed Winter said the cats could have been hiding under one of the units that wasn’t damaged.

Neighbors huddled together inside the gymnasium, which has been turned into a Red Cross shelter for evacuees, hugging each other and comparing notes about what they saw and what they were able to salvage.

“It’s a disaster. It looks like Hiroshima,” said Joan Costa, carrying plastic bags filled with makeup and medicines she had pulled from her home.

The fire left a local hospital in darkness, and nurses used hand-cranked ventilators to keep patients alive when the fire knocked out power to Olive ViewUCLA Medical Center in Sylmar. Authorities are investigating why the emergency generator failed.

No patients were harmed during the 3½-hour outage early Saturday.

Elsewhere, the largest of the fires has burned more than 28,000 acres in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties and has destroyed more than 250 homes and apartment

Economic aid prospects darken for desperate US auto companies JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS Associated Press WASHINGTON — Prospects dimmed on Monday for the $25 billion bailout that U.S. automakers say they desperately need to get through a bleak and dangerous December.

Though all sides agree that Detroit’s Big Three carmakers are in peril, battered by the economic meltdown that has choked their sales and frozen loans, the White House and congressional Democrats are headed for stalemate over how much government money should go toward helping them.

Behind the logjam is a troubling reality for the car companies: Bailout fatigue has set in at the White House and on Capitol Hill, where many in both parties have spent the past few weeks being berated by constituents for agreeing to the $700 billion Wall Street rescue.

The new debate comes as the financial situation for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC grows more precarious. GM has said it could run out of cash by year’s end without government aid.

A Senate auto bailout bill unveiled Monday noted that 355,000 U.S. workers are directly employed by the auto industry, and an additional 4.5 million work in related industries. That doesn’t count the 1 million retirees, spouses and dependents who rely on the companies for retirement and health care benefits.

Still, not only has President George W. Bush made it clear he doesn’t want to dole out any new aid for the automakers, congressional officials say his administration has privately informed top Democrats it won’t even use at least half of that huge rescue fund approved last month to aid the financial industry.

The Senate Democrats’ measure would carve out a portion of the Wall Street bailout money to pay for loans to U.S. automakers and their domestic suppliers, but aides in both parties and lobbyists tracking the plan privately acknowledge they are far short of the votes to pass it.

The White House and congressional Republicans insist that any automaker bailout money instead come from redirecting a $25 billion loan program approved

by Congress in September to help the industry develop more fuel-efficient vehicles. The GOP would lift restrictions on that money to speed it to the carmakers.

Democrats want to leave that money alone and give the industry an additional $25 billion from the financial bailout funds — for a total of $50 billion.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he

CAMPUS NOTES The Daily draws all entries for Campus Notes from OUDaily.com’s comprehensive, campus-wide calendar. To get your event noticed, visit OUDaily.com and fill out our user-friendly form under the calendar link.

AP Photo

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev., center, flanked

by Sen.-elect Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., left, and Sen.-elect Kay Hagen, D-N.C., makes a statement with newly elected Democratic Senators, Monday, on Capitol Hill in Washington. would hold a vote this week on a bill that pairs the auto industry bailout with an extension of jobless aid.

But in an acknowledgment of the long odds facing such a plan, Reid also laid the groundwork for a straight up-or-down vote on the more widely supported unemployment measure, which is probably all that can pass this week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has held off scheduling a vote on an auto bailout bill until it becomes clear whether such a measure can pass the Senate, where it would need a 60-vote supermajority to advance.

The Senate’s proposed auto aid bill would provide loans with initial interest rates of 5 percent in exchange for a stake in the companies or warrants that would let the government profit from future gains. Loan applicants would have to give the government a plan for “long-term financial viability.”

But the measure stops short of giving the government a say over the companies’ operations through an oversight board or hard limits on executive compensation. While taking advantage of the program, the companies could not pay dividends or award bonuses to executives making more than $250,000 a year or give large “golden parachute” payments to top people.

A vote on the measure could come as early as Thursday.

There will be a flute ensemble concert at noon at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. A concert featuring New Century Ensemble will be at 8 p.m. in Sharp Concert Hall.

CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS

PRE-NURSING CLUB

A seminar on final exams for science courses will be at 3 p.m. in Carnegie Building, room 200.

A meeting will be at 6:30 in the Physical Science Center, room 122.

TODAY STUDENT MEDIA Free portraits will be available at 9 a.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

POLICE REPORTS Names are compiled from the Norman Police Department or the OU Department of Public Safety. The report serves as a public record of arrests or citations, not convictions. The people here are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

PUBLIC INTOXICATION Brian Michael Armstrong, 24, 1000 block 12th Avenue N.E., Sunday, also interference with official process Charles Phillip Baer, 42, Cottonwood Road, Sunday Jason Codey Bowling, 22, 1000 block 12th Avenue N.E., Sunday James Bradley Atkinson, 22, 800 block Jenkins Avenue, Sunday

MUNICIPAL WARRANT Eric Wayne Baker, 24, 4100 block W. Main Street, Sunday

WEDNESDAY DANCE MARATHON The Dance Marathon fashion show will be in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom. The time will be announced.

Sean Taylor Wynn, 18, 100 block W. 4th Street, Sunday

CLAS An archeology lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. in Adams Hall, room 255.

Felicia Dawn Power, 20, 300 block N. Interstate Drive E., Sunday

BURGLARY-SECOND DEGREE Gary D. Rex, 45, 1500 block E. Lindsey Street, Sunday

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA

JOCELYN NOVECK Associated Press NEW YORK — Bonnie Rabin is fond of saying that divorce lawyers are a bit like liquor stores.

They’re busiest in the really good times, and the really bad.

These, of course, would be the bad times.

After all, “Money is THE great source of stress in relationships,” says Rabin, one of five partners in a Manhattan matrimonial firm, who speaks with the quiet authority of someone who’s spent two decades speaking to troubled spouses. “You think it might be sex, or the kids. But no, it really comes down to money.”

And so it stands to reason

that in such a dire time — when “virtually every day, I hear from a client who’s lost their job,” Rabin says — troubled relationships become more troubled.

And once seemingly solid unions begin to fray.

But that doesn’t mean everyone’s rushing to divorce court. It just means that every step of the process is more fraught, more complicated, more difficult.

Breaking up in this economy, it seems, can be a lot harder to do.

So while some of Rabin’s clients are taking the plunge, others are hesitating, figuring they’ll ride out the worst of the economic storm, hoping their homes will regain value, their stock portfolios rise again, their 401(k)’s recoup before the pie

needs to be cut.

“These days, a lot of people can’t afford to even maintain one home, let alone two homes with two mortgages or rents, cable, electricity, phone, two health insurance policies,” Rabin says.

And there’s a whole other group that’s taking up Rabin’s time these days: Clients who are already divorced or separated, and finding they simply can’t live up to obligations they made in flusher times.

Says Rabin: “They’re saying, ‘I just can’t pay for that private school anymore, that sleepaway camp, the piano lessons and the art classes. I know the judge ordered this, but I can’t do it anymore.’ And so we need to go back to court.”

YOU ARE INVITED! To a book signing for the biography of David Boren by Bob Burke and Von Creel

The team will play Texas A&M at 7 p.m. at the McCasland Field House.

PETTY LARCENY

Jason Del Gibson, 33, 1800 block Twisted Oak Drive, Sunday

In bad economy, divorces are even harder

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Tammy S. Butts, 42, Sunday Jeremy David Kier, 33, 400 block W. Eufaula Street, Sunday Johnny Parrish Warren, 39, Lindsey Street, Sunday

MOLESTING PROPERTY

saving their homes, others snapped photos of the scorched community.

Lindey Lindholm sifted through the rubble of his home, searching for family heirlooms. It’s all gone,” Lindholm said.

UPB

COUNTY WARRANT

John Edwin Easterbrook, 46, 2400 block Classen Boulevard, Sunday, also public intoxication

units. San Bernadino became the fourth county declared a state of emergency.

In the Orange County suburb of Yorba Linda, residents returned to find more than 100 homes destroyed. Some hung signs thanking firefighters for

A bible study will be at 12:30 p.m. in the Union’s Sooner Room.

Teddy Joe Potts, 22, 200 block Vicksburg Avenue, Saturday Ethan Daniel Wheat, 18, W. Lindsey Street, Saturday, also possession of drug paraphernalia Turner Emerson Ewing, 18, 100 block W. 4th Street, Sunday

DOMESTIC ABUSE

AP Photo

The devastation of Oakridge Mobile Home Park is seen Monday after a wildfire swept through in Sylmar, Calif.

AGGRAVATED DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE/ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 3 to 5 p.m.

Beaird Lounge Oklahoma Memorial Union The authors and President Boren will be present to sign books. Books will be available at the door to be purchased.

Proceeds benefit the University of Oklahoma Scholarship Fund and the Oklahoma Heritage Association.

Karla R. Standridge, 46, E. State Highway 9, Sunday

Advertisement not paid with public funds.

6

World News

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

US-Iraq pact will test Iraqi security forces HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press BAGHDAD — The U.S.-Iraqi security pact now before parliament calls for U.S. forces to leave Iraq’s cities by June 30 in recognition of an improved security climate, but the deadline poses a key test for Iraqi forces in places like Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul where attacks still occur daily.

It is a gamble that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, emboldened by recent military successes, is willing to take — partly because of growing confidence in the capabilities of Iraqi forces.

U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker described the security gains as “superlative” at a Monday signing ceremony of the agreement with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

The pact, overwhelmingly approved by the Cabinet, was read to lawmakers in the first stage of parliament’s procedure for approving the bill.

A vote on the pact, which allows U.S. forces to remain in Iraq through 2011, is scheduled for Nov. 24. It has a good chance of passing since al-Maliki’s Cabinet is made up of the same parties that dominate the 275seat legislature.

If approved, it goes to President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and his two deputies for ratification.

Talabani and Adel Abdul-Mahdi, his Shiite vice president, support the deal. The second deputy, Sunni Arab Tariq al-Hashemi, has said he wanted it put to a vote in a national referendum. He is unlikely to veto it if his longtime demands for more political clout for the Sunni Arab minority are met.

Under the agreement, U.S. forces must also grant Iraqi authorities extensive power over the operations and movements of American forces. The deal would replace a U.N. mandate governing their presence in Iraq that expires Dec. 31.

White House press secretary Dana Perino defended the deal even though it includes a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals — a point that President George W. Bush had long opposed as a sign of defeat in the war that began in 2003.

“We just keep getting success after success on the security front in Iraq,” Perino said. “And when you work with a partner on a negotiation, you have to concede some points.”

Adm. Mike Mullen told a Pentagon news conference that he has consulted the top U.S. commanders in Iraq and that they all believe the agreement allows enough time for the Iraqis to be ready to defend themselves.

Neighboring Syria, a longtime U.S. adversary, blasted the pact, saying it rewarded the Americans. But Iran, a sworn U.S. enemy that had been a bitter critic of the pact, took a surprisingly positive stand.

Iran’s judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, said the Iraqi Cabinet acted “very well” in approving the pact. The Web site of Iran’s state television quoted him as saying he hoped the U.S. will withdraw its troops within the time specified in the deal.

Although there has been no word from the pact’s harshest Iranian critic, hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the shift in Iran’s position may be a reflection of Iran’s hopes of improved relations with the United States after President-elect Barack Obama

AP Photo

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, left, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, right, shake hands after a signing ceremony for a security pact between the United States and Iraq Monday in Baghdad. The U.S. ambassador called the Iraqi Cabinet’s approval of a security pact historic. The deal still needs parliamentary approval. takes office Jan. 20.

“Iran is now looking for talks with the U.S. and is trying to reduce tensions ... and Iraq and the security deal are the most visible example of change in Iran’s attitude toward America,” said Vali Nasr, a prominent

U.S.-based expert on Shiite affairs.

Iran sees the continued U.S. presence in Iraq as a threat to its security and is sure to draw satisfaction from Obama’s pledge to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq when he takes office.

Somali pirates overcome hightened security, hijack Saudi supertanker DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In a dramatic escalation of high seas crime, Somali pirates hijacked a Saudi supertanker loaded with crude hundreds of miles off the coast of East Africa — defeating the security web of warships trying to protect vital shipping lanes.

The takeover demonstrates the bandits’ heightened ambitions and capabilities: Never before have they seized such a giant ship so far out to sea. Maritime experts warned the broad daylight attack, reported by the U.S. Navy on Monday, was an alarming sign of the difficulty of patrolling a vast stretch of ocean

key to oil and other cargo traffic.

The MV Sirius Star, a brand new tanker with a 25-member crew, was seized at about 10 a.m. Saturday more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya, the Navy said. The area lies far south of the zone where warships have increased their patrols this year in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest channels in the world, leading to and from the Suez Canal, and the scene of most past attacks.

The massive supertanker would seem to present a daunting target for the pirates, who usually operate in small speedboats. At 1,080 feet,

WORLD NEWS BRIEFS Foreign adoptions by Americans drop NEW YORK — The number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell 12 percent in the past year, reaching the lowest level since 1999 as some countries clamped down on the process and others battled with allegations of adoption fraud.

China, which for a decade was the leading source for international adoptions, accounted for the biggest decline and dropped out of the top spot. It was replaced by Guatemala, which almost certainly will lose that status in 2009 because of a corruption-related moratorium on new adoptions imposed by U.S. officials.

Figures for the 2008 fiscal year, released by the State Department on Monday, showed 17,438 adoptions from abroad, down from 19,613 in 2007. The all-time peak was 22,884 in 2004.

Reasons for the decline vary from country to country.

China and Russia — the two largest sources of adoptees over the past 15 years — have sought to care for more of their abandoned and orphaned children at home, and China has imposed tighter restrictions on foreign applicants.

it is the length of an aircraft carrier and can carry about 2 million barrels of oil.

But experts said its crew may have felt a false sense of security so far from shore, even though pirates have repeatedly demonstrated their skill in taking down big prizes.

Details of Saturday’s attack were not known, but in past seizures, pirates have used ropes and ladders to climb the hull — and on large ships, the crew often doesn’t notice them until it’s too late. On the Sirius Star, the attackers likely would have had to scale about 30 feet from the water to the deck.

“We’re here to work,” the space station’s skipper, Mike Fincke, called down. “This is the can-do crew.”

More than 14,000 pounds of gear was stuffed into the 21-foot container that flew up on Endeavour and was hoisted onto the space station. It held an extra toilet, refrigerator and kitchenette, exercise machine and sleeping compartments and a new recycling system for converting urine into drinking water.

It was not clear if the Sirius Star had any armed security on board.

In past attacks, alert crews have fended off pirates trying to climb the sides, using water hoses to knock them away. But the pirates have struck back: In April, they fired a rocket-propelled grenade that punched a hole in the side of a Japanese oil tanker, spewing oil into the sea, in an unsuccessful attempt to capture it.

Pirates have been spreading their attacks southward into a vast area of the Indian Ocean that is extremely difficult and costly to patrol, maritime security experts said.

“It had been slightly easier to get it under control in the Gulf of Aden because it is a comparatively smaller area of water which has to be patrolled, But this is huge,” said Cyrus Mody, manager of the International Maritime Bureau.

The pirates were taking the captured tanker and crew to anchor off the Somali port of Eyl, said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman

Congo rebels advance despite cease-fire

KANYABAYONGA, Congo — On one side of this mountaintop ghost town, a line of black-booted rebels approaches on foot with rockets and tin boxes of ammunition, seizing new territory with each footstep despite promises of a cease-fire.

On the other side, government soldiers in flip-flops balancing portable generators and luggage on their heads have begun to flee.

In between, the vast Central African nation’s deepening humanitarian crisis is laid bare: Thousands of desperate civilians who used to live in this eastern Congo town huddle against coils of concertina wire surrounding a base for U.N. peacekeepers, waiting nervously for the rebels.

“We are hungry and thirsty, but we don’t want any aid.

We want security,” said 30-year-old Jeff Machozi, who built Astronauts take supplies to Intl. station a makeshift tent three days ago with tree branches and bamboo he ripped out of the earth. “We want this war to CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Astronauts hitched a giant stop.” shipping crate full of home improvement “goodies” to the Clashes between fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent international space station on Monday, a critical step for Nkunda and the army and its allied spear-wielding militias boosting the population in orbit. exploded in August and has displaced at least 250,000 It was the first major job for the crews of the linked space people. station and space shuttle Endeavour, and highlighted their first full day together.

— AP

AP Photo

This undated picture made at an unknown location shows the Sirius Star tanker conducting a trial run in South Korea. Somali pirates have hijacked the Saudiowned oil tanker the Sirius Star off the Kenyan coast, the U.S. Navy said Monday. for the Navy’s 5th Fleet. The port on Somalia’s northeastern coast has become a pirate haven and a number of ships are already being held there as pirates negotiate ransoms.

Christensen said the Sirius Star was carrying crude, but he could

not say how much. Fully loaded, the ship’s cargo would be worth about $100 million. But the pirates would have no way of selling crude and no way to refine it in Somalia.

Instead, they were likely to demand a ransom, as they have in the past.

— AP

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Corey DeMoss, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu phone: 325-7630, fax: 325-6051 For more, go to oudaily.com.

STAFF COLUMN

Las Vegas likes the Sooners W

hen you think of Las Vegas, there are probably only a few things that come to mind.

Gambling. Elvis. Boxing. Gambling. Lights. Buffets.

Gambling.

People go there to celebrate their 21st birthday, host bachelor parties or just tour the sights of the so-called entertainment capital of the world.

Aside from the millions of people across America who place bets on the Vegas sports books, it’s not often that any rare insight into the world of sports comes out of “Sin City.”

But recently, some intriguing, and at the very least conversation-starting, information was released from inside The Strip — information that sheds a light on the hottest question in Oklahoma.

If OU wins its final two games, will that be ERIC enough to catapult the Sooners past Texas and DAMA Texas Tech in the BCS rankings and into the Big 12 championship game?

Everybody wants to know, but since nobody really does, it gives the pundits, analysts, writers and bloggers the opportunity to do the one thing they love the most: speculate.

Some say simply winning the two games will punch the Sooners’ ticket to Kansas City.

Others, like my colleague Steven Jones, who discussed this in his column yesterday, believe OU needs style points.

And still, there are those who say they wouldn’t put OU ahead of Texas or Tech no matter what it did in its remaining games.

But back to Vegas.

In an article on ESPN.com, it was recently reported that the “experts” who make the spreads for college football games decided to create the lines for all potential BCS championship matchups.

Alabama would be the underdog against any Big 12 team. Texas and Texas Tech would be favored by a touchdown and OU would be an 8 ½-point favorite.

USC would be favored over all potential BCS opponents. The Trojans would be favored by 1 ½ against Florida, 2 ½ against OU, four against Tech and 5 ½ against Texas.

Florida would be favored against all teams except USC, with OU-Florida being a virtual coin-flip.

The reason this is relatively significant is because Vegas uses its own computer-ranking systems to come up with its spread.

That means Vegas, and its computers, has OU ranked ahead of both Texas and Tech, which is good news for the people trying to convince themselves OU would make the jump.

The Sooners still have to play against the No. 2 and No. 12 teams in the country, and a win against either is not guaranteed.

But if you feel like your world is a little darker because of the uncertainty, then take solace in the fact that Vegas is on your side.

And you can’t say that very often.

— ERIC DAMA IS A JOURNALISM SOPHOMORE.

Sports

7

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

Tech brings potent offense • OU defense prepares for Harrell and Crabtree JOEY HELMER Daily Staff Writer As this weekend approaches, the OU football team is preparing for its biggest game of the season.

When No. 2 Texas Tech comes to Norman, it will bring one of the nation’s most dangerous offenses and a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy in quarterback Graham Harrell.

The Red Raiders rank second in the nation in yards with 571.2 per game and third in scoring with just less than 48 points per game.

Harrell leads the nation with more than 4,000 passing yards and 36 touchdowns, and boasts a 169.18 quarterback rating, still with two games left on the schedule.

“He looks as efficient as any [recent Tech quarterback] or actually more efficient than any of them,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “[Tech coach Mike Leach] has had a lot of really good guys, but I’m sure he would probably say Graham is one of the better ones, and I would agree.”

Harrell has torched opposing defenses all season, throwing for more than 400 yards in six of the Red Raiders’ 10 games, including a 447-yard and two-touchdown performance on a national stage against Texas.

He has thrown for five or more touchdowns on four occasions, including six against Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

The Tech offensive attack primarily uses short and intermediate passes — like slants and screens — which results in massive amounts of passing plays every game.

Harrell averages 46.3 passes per game, and has attempted more than 50 throws five times.

By comparison, OU quarterback Sam Bradford averages 33 passes per game and has attempted more than 50 throws once.

Harrell and Crabtree — who is also a Heisman Trophy candidate — have become a deadly combination, and their chemistry figures to be a major factor against the Sooners.

Crabtree leads the nation with 18 receiving touchdowns, and is third in the nation with 108 points scored.

Crabtree ranks 11th in the nation in receiving yards, with more than 1,000 yards. That puts him at fourth in the conference, behind Oklahoma State’s Dez Bryant, Kansas’ Dezmon Briscoe and Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin.

Amy Frost/The Daily

Safety Nic Harris (5) makes a tackle during OU’s Nov. 8 game against Texas A&M. Harris and the Sooner defense will have their hands full this weekend when they take on the dangerous Texas Tech offense.

“I think they’re pretty much the best quarterback-wide receiver tandem in college football,” said senior strong safety Nic Harris.

The Harrell-Crabtree combo is particularly dangerous because of how well they know each other, giving them uncanny timing ability.

“They know each other,” said sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. “They know where this one’s going to be, he knows where he’s going to be. Whatever makes them good, we just have to stop it.”

In addition, this year Texas Tech has a solid rushing attack, which has been missing from previous offenses.

“They’ve improved their run game; they do a lot more runs,” McCoy said. “People aren’t used to seeing Tech run the ball. That’s a lot of the reason they’re doing so good on offense.

They have established a steady run game which keeps people on their heels.”

Running backs Baron Batch and Shannon Woods have combined for more than 1,200

yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.

Harris said the Sooners must form a plan to defend the Red Raiders’ balanced attack.

“For the most part, what we’re going to do to stop them is we’re going to make sure they’re one-dimensional,” Harris said. “Take away the run, make them live and die by the pass and go from there.”

The Sooners will also need to force turnovers, something they have done well over the past few weeks. However, Tech takes care of the ball very well.

Harrell threw 48 passes against Kansas, 53 against Texas and 55 against Oklahoma State and didn’t throw an interception. In 463 pass attemptes this season, Harrell has thrown only five interceptions.

“Their efficiency on offense is second to none,” said defensive coordinator Brent Venables. “They are very explosive, very protective of the football and make great decisions and make very few busted plays that would put them behind the chains.”

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PETS Adorable French bull dogs, Yorkshire terriers, and English bulldogs, male and females available for sale, full breed, AKC reg. Health guarantee, 8 wks old, $700.00. Contact Jessica for more info at jessy_jefferson@hotmail.com.

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Employment HELP WANTED Wanted: Enthusiastic, Motivated Individuals.

As a leader in community banking, Republic Bank & Trust is committed to providing a unique quality experience to our customers, community, and bankers. We currently have the following positions available: PT Teller: Mon-Fri 3-7pm, Sat 8am-1pm FT Teller Applicants are encouraged to apply in person at 401 W. Main, Norman, OK. Republic is an EOE.

Employment HELP WANTED MERCURY POST & PARCEL needs p/t customer assistant. Apply at 121 24th Ave NW. HOB NOB ROB’S hiring sales staff. Must be available evenings and weekends. Must be 21.

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Coppermark Bank hiring PT TELLERS! 6 mo. retail experience preferred, exceptional customer service skills a must! 2 positions: 1:30-6:45p M-F, most Sat or 3:00-6:45p, most Sat. Please stop by to complete an application and receive a brief interview, Wed. Nov. 19th, 1:30-4:30p. Coppermark Bank 3501 W. Robinson, Norman OK EOE.

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America’s FAST LANE is now hiring lube techs, car wash attendants, service advisors, cashiers, and management trainees. Full and part-time positions are available with no experience necessary. Fast Lanes offers competitive pay, flexible schedules, and opportunity for advancement. Apply in person at 1235 West Main Street, Norman OK or call 321-5260.

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Traditions Spirits is seeking motivated, energetic, and professional FOH managers, kitchen manager, and dishwashers for Autograph’s Sports Bar at Riverwind Casino. Manager applicants must have experience. Apply in person at 2815 SE 44th, 3 miles west of Riverwind on Highway 9. 392-4550.

Attention Student Work $15 Base/Appt Flex sched, scholarships possible, customer sales/service, no exp nec, all ages 17+, conditions apply. Norman/OKC/Moore Call Now, 405-307-0979 Traditions Spirits is hiring cocktail servers at Riverwind Casino in Norman. Must be 21, apply in person at 2815 SE 44th, 3 miles west of Riverwind on Highway 9. 392-4550.

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NOW LEASING FOR MAY 2009, nice 3 bed brick houses 1 & 2 blks west of OU on College or Chautauqua Ave. call BOB Mister Robert Furniture 109 E. Main 321-1818, or stop by to apply for other sizes.

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Mental Illness – What a difference a friend makes.

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38 Three-tiered treat 39 Brine-cured salmon 41 Mars’ thing 44 Joe the Bartender player 47 Date for Daisy 48 50 Cent, e.g.

49 Grades 1-12, for short 52 MTM word 53 MetLife competitor 54 Disinfectant brand 55 Ocular irritation 56 Relative of 47-Down 57 Arab garments 58 Surfer’s sobriquet 60 Automobile pioneer R.E. 63 “Deadwood� network

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We’ll be back after these messages hand, just as his date opens the door. It looks like he was caught murdering the cat, but what no one seems to remember is that the commercial is for Ameriquest Mortgage Company. “[I like] commercials that have a little mystery that you don’t know what the hell they’re talking about and you watch it to see what it’s for,” said Noah Swanson, human relations senior.

CALLIE KAVOURGIAS Swanson also said he will often remember a commercial that Daily Staff Writer had a mystery or surprise, but he won’t remember the product it You’re watching your favorite show and suddenly your favorite advertises. “[To get my attention] a commercial has to be funny I would character’s been shot. You gasp. You groan. Another commercial think — kind of funny and fast paced,” Travis Thomsen, sociolbreak. Usually, commercials are the bane of our existence — ogy and criminology senior said. “Not just some old guy just sitthey make football games last longer, they’re loud, obnoxious ting there talking.” and often ridiculously boring. The only Swanson said he was recently sent a day of the year when commercials are cel“Guitar Hero: World Tour” commercial, in ebrated is Super Bowl Sunday – when the which sports superstars Alex Rodriguez, commercials are good.

To watch the commercials mentioned in Kobe Brant, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk Those fancy and expensive Super Bowl are dressed as Tom Cruise from “Risky this article, visit oudaily.com. commercials shouldn’t get all of the attenBusiness,” rocking out to “Old Time Rock tion though, because there are some fanand Roll” in white socks and boxers. tastic commercials that play during regular The TV spot for “Guitar Hero: World programming. Every once in a while a Tour” is an example of a funny commercial commercial will be funny or entertaining that is also good for the advertiser, because enough that people will search for it on the you come away with the name of the prodInternet and send the link to their friends. uct, Beard said.

But advertising executives don’t set out Beard said his favorite ad campaign is to create commercials that will get people the “Holiday Inn Express Stay Smart” camtalking or create an Internet sensation, said paign. In commercials, a person says someadvertising professor Fred Beard and author of “Humor in the thing or does something out of character or shows extreme intelAdvertising Business: Theory, Practice, and Wit.” ligence. At the end of the ad they admit, “I stayed at a Holiday “Talking about it or sharing it isn’t necessarily always good Inn Express last night.” for the advertiser,” he said. “[The audience] will recognize the “The punchline to the joke is the name of the advertiser,” actor but won’t remember what the commercial’s for. ‘Buzz’ is Beard said. “It’s one of the few companies that can document an industry term for pass along value. It’s good if the advertiser’s that their sales have risen after the campaign.” message is included in the buzz.”

Beard said that advertising is both a business and a form of Beard pointed out a commercial from a few years ago in art. which a man is chopping up something for dinner when a white “The best advertising creative geniuses never forget what the cat knocks over a pot of spaghetti sauce, covering itself and the goal of the advertising should be,” Beard said. “The goal of an ad floor with the red sauce. The man goes to pick up the cat, knife in is never to entertain; that’s just a tactic.”

• What makes a good commercial?

Students and professors sound off.

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Michael Jackson sued by Arab sheikh in UK court RAPHAEL G. SATTER Associated Press Writer LONDON — The son of an Arab monarch took the King of Pop to court Monday, charging that Michael Jackson took $7 million as an advance on an album and an autobiography that he never produced.

Lawyers for Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa say their client paid Jackson expenses as an advance on the book and joint recording project with the sheikh, who is an amateur songwriter.

Jackson claims the money was a gift.

Al Khalifa, 33, was due to testify at London’s Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday. Jackson’s lawyer Robert Englehart said he was seeking permission to have

Jackson testify by video link from Los Angeles.

A lawyer for Al Khalifa said the royal first spoke to Jackson, 50, by telephone while the singer was on trial in California following his 2003 arrest on child molestation charges.

Attorney Bankim Thanki said that Al Khalifa wanted to work with Jackson on rebuilding his career.

Jackson’s finances fell apart after his arrest and he was desperately short of cash.

Al Khalifa’s first payment, for $35,000, went toward paying the utility bills at Neverland, Jackson’s 2,500-acre (1,000 hectare) ranch and miniature amusement park in California, Thanki said. When Jackson was found innocent of the molestation charges in June 2005, Al Khalifa footed $2.2 million in legal bills, the lawyer said.

Al Khalifa said he believed the money would be repaid once Jackson’s career recovered from the damaging trial.

“I saw the payment as an investment in Michael’s potential,” the sheikh said in a statement read out by his lawyer in court. “He said he would pay me back ... through our work together.”

Al Khalifa moved Jackson and his entourage to Bahrain almost immediately after the trial, setting up a recording studio for him in Manama, the Gulf state’s capital.

The sheikh, who is the governor of Bahrain’s Southern Province, supplied Jackson with $500,000 in cash to subsidize his lifestyle and splashed out on a $350,000 European vacation for Jackson and his associates in February of 2006, Thanki said.

“The costs even included the expenses of bringing out Mr. Jackson’s hairdresser,” he said.

The lawyer said Jackson and the sheikh became close friends and at one time both lived in a palace in Abu Dhabi owned by Al Khalifa’s father, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s king. The singer stayed nearly a year in Bahrain as a guest of the son, but the relationship soured when Jackson repudiated a business deal Thanki said they had agreed to.

Jackson’s lawyers say the pair never entered a valid agreement and that Al Khalifa’s money was given freely.

Thanki acknowledged that Al Khalifa gave some gifts to Jackson but said that most of what the singer received was part of a business deal.

A&E BRIEFLY NY judge tentatively OKs Google copyright deal NEW YORK — A judge has tentatively approved a settlement of lawsuits between Google and book authors and publishers that may put millions of out-of-print texts online.

The settlement was announced by Google and the publishing industry in October. Final court approval is still needed.

Federal Judge John Sprizzo in Manhattan gave initial approval Friday. His order was put in the public record on Monday.

Sprizzo set a June hearing date for a final settlement and hearing to decide if the deal is fair, reasonable and adequate.

The settlement calls for Google to pay $125 million to settle two copyright lawsuits contesting its book scanning plans. Google would get 37 percent of future revenue and publishers and authors would share the rest.

New Springsteen disc set for January NEW YORK — Five days before he takes the stage at the Super Bowl, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will release a new album written and recorded during breaks in their concert tour.

The release of “Working on a Dream” on Jan. 27, only 15 months after “Magic,” is unusually quick for an artist with a reputation as a perfectionist.

Springsteen said he was juiced by the return to a more pop sound on “Magic” and kept writing after its release. Producer Brendan O’Brien, when he heard the new songs, suggested “let’s keep going,” Springsteen said in a statement.

As with “Magic,” the new album was recorded with the E Street Band and O’Brien primarily in Atlanta.

“I hope ‘Working on a Dream’ has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we’ve ever done,” Springsteen said. “All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end.”

The album has 12 tracks listed, with two more — “The Wrestler” and “A Night With the Jersey Devil” — considered bonus tracks.

Song titles include “My Lucky Day”; “Queen of the Supermarket”; “What Love Can Do”; “Tomorrow Never Knows”; “Surprise, Surprise” and “The Last Carnival.”

Political strategist Carville to teach at Tulane NEW ORLEANS — James Carville has joined the faculty of Tulane University and his first course will be on the 2008 presidential election.

In a Tulane news release, the university says the political strategist who led Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign will bring in nationally recognized journalists, politicians and pollsters to speak to students.

Carville is a Louisiana native who is well known not only for his Democratic political campaigns but also as a commentator on CNN. Carville and his wife, Republican campaign strategist Mary Matalin, recently relocated their family to New Orleans from Washington. His course on the 2008 race will be offered during the spring 2009 semester.

— AP

HOROSCOPE

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Doing something constructive that puts you in front of your peers has a strong appeal. Your desire to achieve admirable accomplishments can earn you accolades.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- You’ll respond to the slightest amount of rivalry because competitive developments will provide the impetus to become a bit bolder -- and to try a lot harder.

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Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Trade on know-how from well-informed associates, and you can accomplish a heck of lot more than you would otherwise.

You’re smart enough to let others lead the way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- There will always be people around who are willing to call the shots if they see you are reluctant to make decisions. If you view this as a disadvantage, speak up.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Instead of wasting your hours doing nothing of importance, engage yourself in something productive, even if you have to push yourself to get started.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Socially, it’s in your nature to be more of a participant than an observer, and this gregariousness is likely to help make new friends at this time.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Because you’ll want to extend yourself in ways that can be of service to your family, give domestic matters top priority. It’ll be greatly appreciated.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -Should circumstances warrant, try to focus more on mental activities than on physical ones. You are apt to be far better at brainwork than in situations where brawn is required.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- If you’ve been thinking about changing your budget, put your thoughts into action to see what happens. Your clever ideas might end up saving money.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- There is a good chance that an endeavor needs a stronger leader than it presently has. If you are tagged as the person to fulfill that requirement, don’t hesitate to take it on.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Even if you have to deal with a tough horse-trader, you won’t permit anything but fairness to prevail. It will be this persistency that ends up winning him or her over in the process.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -Bright lights and happy people will have a special appeal, so don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a dull activity. Go where the action is -- or be the catalyst that gets things rocking.

10

Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008

THE CURE AND A MEXICANSTYLE CHRISTMAS •This week, The Daily reviews The Cure’s latest release, ‘4:13 Dream’ and another obscure Christmas album.

THE CURE ‘4:13 Dream’ Geffen Records

Photo provided

More than 30 years after the band’s inception, The Cure has released its 13th studio album.

The oft-delayed “4:13 Dream” is the product of close to three years of recording, but you wouldn’t know that listening to it. The album is a hit-or-miss record that sounds like it was thrown together at the last minute.

“4:13 Dream” succeeds at generating some decent The Cure atmosphere, but the combination of swirling, reverb-heavy guitars and frontman Robert Smith’s caterwauls grows a bit tiresome.

Standout tracks “The Hungry Ghost” and “This. Here and Now. With You” are good reminders of The Cure’s obvious talent, but there’s much better work to be found in the band’s previous 12 albums.

— DUSTY SOMERS/THE DAILY

Law professor fires back at song-swapping lawsuits RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press BOSTON — The music industry’s courtroom campaign against people who share songs online is coming under counterattack.

A Harvard Law School professor has launched a constitutional assault against a federal copyright law at the heart of the industry’s aggressive strategy, which has wrung payments from thousands of song-swappers since 2003.

The professor, Charles Nesson, has come to the defense of a Boston University graduate student targeted in one of the music industry’s lawsuits. By taking on the case, Nesson hopes to challenge the basis for the suit, and all others like it.

Nesson argues that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional because it effectively lets a private group — the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA — carry out civil enforcement of a criminal law. He also says the music industry group abused the legal process by brandishing the prospects of lengthy and costly lawsuits in an effort to intimidate people into settling cases out of court.

Nesson, the founder of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said in an interview that his goal is to “turn the courts away from allowing themselves to be used like a low-grade collection agency.”

Nesson is best known for defending the man who leaked the Pentagon Papers and for consulting on the case against chemical companies that was depicted in the film “A Civil Action.” His challenge against the music labels, made in U.S. District Court in Boston, is one of the most determined attempts to derail the industry’s flurry of litigation.

The initiative has generated more than 30,000 complaints against people accused of sharing songs online. Only one case has gone to trial; nearly everyone else settled out of court to avoid damages and limit the attorney fees and legal costs that escalate over time.

Nesson intervened after a federal judge in Boston asked his office to represent Joel Tenenbaum, who was among dozens of people who appeared in court in RIAA cases without legal help.

The 24-year-old Tenenbaum is a graduate student accused by the RIAA of downloading at least seven songs and making 816 music files available for dis-

tribution on the Kazaa file-sharing network in 2004.

He offered to settle the case for $500, but music companies rejected that, demanding $12,000.

The Digital Theft Deterrence Act, the law at issue in the case, sets damages of $750 to $30,000 for each infringement, and as much as $150,000 for a willful violation. That means Tenenbaum could be forced to pay $1 million if it is determined that his alleged actions were willful.

The music industry group isn’t conceding any ground to Nesson and Tenenbaum. The RIAA has said in court documents that its efforts to enforce the copyright law is protected under the First Amendment right to petition the courts for redress of grievances. Tenenbaum also failed, the music group noted, to notify the U.S. Attorney General that he wanted to contest the law’s constitutional status.

Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the RIAA, said her group’s pursuit of people suspected of music piracy is a fair response to the industry’s multibillion-dollar losses since peer-to-peer networks began making it easy for people to share massive numbers of songs online.

“What should be clear is that illegally downloading and distributing music comes with many risks and is not an anonymous activity,” Duckworth said.

Still, wider questions persist on whether the underlying copyright law is constitutional, said Ray Beckerman, a Forest Hills, N.Y.-based attorney who has represented other downloading defendants and runs a blog tracking the most prominent cases.

One federal judge has held that the constitutional question is “a serious argument,” Beckerman said.

“There are two law review articles that have said that it is unconstitutional, and there are three cases that said that it might be unconstitutional.”

In September, a federal judge granted a new trial to a Minnesota woman who had been ordered to pay $220,000 for pirating 24 songs. In that ruling, U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis called on Congress to change copyright laws to prevent excessive awards in similar cases. He wrote that he didn’t discount the industry’s claim that illegal downloading has hurt the recording business, but called the award “wholly disproportionate” to the industry’s losses.

In the Boston case, Nesson is due to meet attorneys for the music industry for a pretrial conference on Tuesday, ahead of a trial set for Dec. 1.

Photo provided

‘CHRISTMAS WITH THE MEXICALI BRASS’ Crown Records Cheese factor: This week’s obscure Christmas album is the 1965 release, “Christmas with the Mexicali Brass.” To be completely honest, I bought this album only because of the cover. Who is this lovely young lady? Why are we mixing sexual messages with the sacred ritual of Christmas carol celebration?

The musical content of the LP yields no sufficient answer to my questions. Nowhere does the album even mention the model’s name. But, I can say that The Mexicali Brass bring a new level of excitement to our traditionally bland and vapid understanding of Christmas music. Believe it or not, this album is pretty spectacular. It definitely beats Kenny Rogers’ “Christmas” under the table (but, then again, so does a bottle of whiskey).

Certain songs like “Jingle Bells” and “Come All Ye Faithful” are instantly recognizable, highlighted with only a slight twinge of Mexican swing. However, “Deck the Halls,” and “Joy to the World,” are notably

harder to pick up on. The chords are stretched, the beat is sped up and the brass dances around the melody almost to the point of obscurity, then promptly catches back up with it. All of the songs have a very ‘60s swing appeal with Mexican brass overtones; it makes the music — forgive me — sound sexy.

Yeah, sexy Christmas music. This sexual appeal into traditional Christmas carols no doubt upset our grandparents, but this type of perversion is everything I want to celebrate by reviewing obscure Christmas albums. I can’t help but be reminded of Stephen Colbert’s Mexican counterpart, Esteban Colberto, who has made a few appearances on “The Colbert Report.” He would, I assume, absolutely love this. It’s funky, swingy and sexy, and it makes me want to grow a mustache.

I don’t know how to salsa by any means, but I think it’s safe to say that there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be attempting just that toward the end of my eggnog laced Christmas party this year. The songs are readily available online, so if you’re in the mood to listen to some Christmas music this season that isn’t sung by the Rat Pack or Trans-Siberan Orchestra (I just dry heaved a little), then I urge you to find a copy of “Christmas with the Mexicali Brass.”

— TYLER BRANSON/THE DAILY

George Hamilton tells all in autobiography BOB THOMAS Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The recent spate of male movie stars writing their life stories — including Tony Curtis, Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner — offers something that would have been verboten in their studio years: sex, sex and more sex.

Now, George Hamilton joins the tell-all trend with his memoir, “Don’t Mind If I Do,” in which he writes about losing his virginity to his stepmother when he was 12.

And that’s just for starters. Other exploits described in the book involve such notables as Marilyn Monroe, Mamie Van Doren, Judy Garland and Danielle Steel.

The autobiography, which was written with celebrity author William Stadiem, begins with Hamilton’s adventures on “Dancing With the Stars.”

“When I heard it was a ballroom dancing show, I wasn’t very interested,” Hamilton said in an interview at his pied-a-terre high above Westwood. “But my agent said it was an important show, so

I agreed.”

During a yachting trip to the Bahamas, Hamilton fell down a flight of stairs and broke four ribs and damaged a knee. He was warned by a doctor that if he fell again while dancing on the show, he would puncture a lung. He tried to back out of the gig but was persuaded to try one appearance.

“I decided to make the dance a little movie, with myself as Fred Astaire,” he said. “The audience loved it, and the judges couldn’t get rid of me.”