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ELECTION DAY: TUESDAY, NOV. 4, 2008 © 2008 OU Publications Board

Early voters break turnout records • Excitement, enthusiasm drive early voters to polls WHITNEY ORTEGA Daily Staff Writer

Laura Loyola/The Daily

Justin Kelley, first-year law student, prepares to vote Monday at the Cleveland County Elections Board building. A record turnout of voters who cast their ballots early this year.

A line nearly a mile long wrapped around the Oklahoma County Election Board building Saturday as voters waited three hours to cast their early votes for the 2008 election.

“I think it’s important because this is a historical event. We need to vote because our country is in trouble. We need to vote for a new change in this country,” said Howard Hodge of Oklahoma City, who said he voted for Barack Obama on Friday

SPORTS The injury bug bit the football team again this weekend. Now defensive end Auston English will be out up to three weeks with a sprained knee. Page 5.

After being forced to sit out last year, UCLA transfer Ryan Wright is ready to contribute to the men’s basketball team. Page 6.

CAMPUS BRIEFS Boren not interested in Cabinet position OU President David L. Boren said he expects to remain in Norman regardless of the results of today’s presidential election.

Speculation that Boren could be appointed to a Cabinet-level post if Barack Obama were to win has been circulating for months. The chatter intensified Friday when DAVID L. Politico reporter Mike BOREN Allen listed Boren as a potential Secretary of Education pick for an Obama administration.

But former senator Boren said Monday he isn’t heading back to Washington.

“I have absolutely no plans to leave the University of Oklahoma,” he said in an e-mail statement. “When I left the senate to come to OU, I made a lifelong decision to commit myself to serve here. Being a member of the OU family has been the most rewarding experience of my life.”

Election watch parties OU Votes will host a bipartisan watch party in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of the Oklahoma Memorial Union from 5:30 p.m. to midnight.

The watch party for Cleveland County’s Democratic candidates and Barack Obama will be from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Holiday Inn off of Interstate-35 and Robinson Street.

The county watch party for most Republican candidates and John McCain will be at Coach’s, 102 W. Main St.

at the Oklahoma County Election Board.

While some were driven to the polls early to cast ballots in the name of change, others voted early for scheduling reasons.

“I wasn’t sure I would have time [on Election Day],” Spanish junior Ashley Tompkins said. “I’ve known for a long time who I was going to vote for. It wasn’t a big question. I think more people [voted early] because they want to be involved. They know what’s at stake.”

More than 8,000 voters waited Friday and Saturday at the Oklahoma County Election Board in Oklahoma City, said Joy Harris, data entry supervisor. 2008 has seen the highest early voter turnout ever, Harris said.

“I think there’s just excitement and enthusiasm over this campaign and people want to get out there and vote,” said Michael Clingman, Oklahoma State Election Board secretary.

Cast your ballot To fInd your polling place, log on to vote411.org

election has received.

Clingman said this election has received more media attention than previous elections, but the candidates also have encouraged early voting.

“It feels like there’s been non-stop election coverage for a year,” said Clingman.

In addition to promoting early voting, Tompkins said candidates have targeted younger voters and encouraged them to head to the polls.

“I think a lot of young voters have been really motivated to help create change,” Tompkins said. “I think there’s going to be a larger amount of young voters [than in years past], which is great.”

ELECTION DAY 2008

Obama, US may make history • Sen. Obama leads national polls going into Election Day RAY MARTIN D AILY S TAFF W RITER

I

f the polls and the pundits are right and Barack Obama strides to the podium tonight to deliver an acceptance speech, the Hawaiianborn child of a Kenyan father and

Kansan mother will become the first black U.S. president.

Students say such an outcome could help destroy existing racial barriers.

The Democratic Senator is already the first minority candidate to be selected as a presidential candidate by either the Republican or Democratic party.

“I think there has been a barrier, and [Obama] would help that tre-

mendously if he wins,” said UOSA Vice President Vince Winston. “He will, and already has, inspired people to do great things. I think Americans will believe, and most do already, that African-Americans can achieve.”

Obama squares off against Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. in today’s election, and if victorious, will take office in January.

BLACK Continues on page 2 AP Photo

TODAY’S INDEX A&E 7, 10 Campus Notes 9 Classifieds 8 8 Crossword Horoscope 9

Some voters think the surge in early voting is linked to the amount of media coverage this

News 9 Opinion 4 Police Reports 9 Sports 5, 6 Sudoku 8

First-time voters embrace ’08 election opportunity

WEATHER FORECAST

• Youth vote is on the rise in state, US

TODAY LOW 60° HIGH 76°

JAMIE HUGHES Daily Staff Writer

WEDNESDAY LOW 60° HIGH 75°

30%

Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab

The excitement will be high, the lines are likely to be long and the atmosphere will be tense.

This is no Red River Rivalry, but the 2008 election is a highly-anticipated contest that has seen its share of strategizing, politicizing and trash talking.

“I think it’s rather crazy,” University College freshman Madelyn Russell said.

Many students will cast their votes today for the first time, choosing candidates for multiple local seats, state and national Houses of Representatives, state and national Senates and the next U.S. president.

No matter the outcome, the results will be historic. Americans will see either their first black president or first female vice president. Either way, students will get to play their part in the new chapter of history that will unfold before them tonight.

Dr. Robert Hamm, a professor in the family and preventative medicine department at the OU Health Sciences Center said most

FIRST Continues on page 2

Election fallout: What if your candidate loses?

MEREDITH MORIAK Daily Staff Writer It’s a democratic inevitability: For every winner, there will be a loser.

Regardless of which presidential candidate clinches the most votes in the Electoral College, many voters said they will feel disappointed if their candidate loses.

“I think [things] will get worse if [John] McCain doesn’t win, which he probably won’t,” said Andrew McCollum, energy management and economics senior. “It’s kind of scary to me.”

Nadia Albahadily, political science junior, said she will be shocked and

cry if Barack Obama loses the election.

“I have a lot of faith in Obama and haven’t considered what will happen if he doesn’t win,” Albahadily said. “I probably won’t come to class though.

I am a sore loser and if Obama loses, then I lose.”

Kyle Williams, history and letters sophomore, said he is not voting for either presidential candidate. He said both have stances on issues he disagrees with.

“I don’t dislike them so much that I wouldn’t listen to them as my president or go against their administra-

LOSES Continues on page 2

2

News

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

Black Continued from page 1

AP Photo

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shakes hands Saturday at Parkview High School in Springfield, Mo. Obama leads nationwide electoral polls headed into today’s election, and if elected will be the first black U.S. president.

According to polls from both Fox News and CNN, voter turnout has increased this year in early voting, and the trend is expected to continue today, especially among black voters.

“I think that will be true of Oklahoma,” Winston said. “I think you are seeing more AfricanAmericans realizing that their votes matter.”

David A. Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, told The New York Times on Sunday that states with the largest increases in early voting were those where the black population is proportionally the highest.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported last week, for example,

First

Loses

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

people know they will vote Republican or Democrat, despite any media attention.

However, Hamm, a specialist in judgment and decision making, said sometimes people change their political affiliations in college.

When students move away from home, they meet different people, make different friends and confront changes on all fronts. How a student votes may be the way he or she changes, Hamm said. Yet, he thinks peer pressure will not play a large role in shaping decisions. “[People] know how [they] lean and choose to spend time with like-minded people,” Hamm said.

Caitlin Lawson, English literature junior, said she went home to Yukon Friday to cast her first ballot.

Lawson said she waited nearly an hour to vote early because she thinks “the country is headed in the wrong direction.”

Lawson said she voted for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., because he represents change. She may be leaning left now, but she said she was not always a liberal.

She said her parents were conservative, but once she got to college a Democratic professor changed her mind. “[The professor] opened my eyes a lot and changed my view on the world,” she said.

For other students their own research guided their decision. Russell said she had to write a research paper detailing the two presidential candidates’ campaigns which helped her decide to vote for Sen. John McCain, R–Ariz.

She said the candidates’ stance on the War in Iraq is the issue most important to her.

“I feel like if we pull out now with Obama’s plan, all we are fighting for would come to an end,” she

the

said. “With McCain we might as well finish what we started.”

Youth voters in primaries Youth voting might seem like it has swept the nation this election season, but it has been on the rise since 2000.

The youth voter turnout rate rose from 9 percent in the 2000 primaries to 17 percent in the 2008 primaries. A “youth” voter is defined as someone between the ages of 18 and 29, according to The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

In the 2008 primaries, Oklahoma quadrupled its youth voting turnout from 2000. The state jumped 10 percent. There was a youth voter turnout of 14 percent, or 83,000 voters in 2008, compared to 4 percent, or 18,000 voters in 2000.

Oklahoma was also ranked tenth in states with the highest percentage point increase within the past eight years.

In the 2008 Republican primaries, 38 percent of young Oklahomans showed support for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, 28 percent showed support for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 26 percent showed support for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and three percent showed support for Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

Data was not available for the 2008 Democratic primaries in Oklahoma, but 60 percent of the national youth vote in 2008 primaries and caucuses supported Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with 38 percent supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and one percent supporting Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.

that there are 25 percent more registered black voters in Georgia this year than when George W. Bush won his second presidential term in 2004.

“I think our country is ready for a black president,” said Mike Cromwell, criminology senior.

“I’m not going to vote for [Obama], but it shows how our country has taken strides in race relations.

Forty years ago, there is no way he could have won.”

Cromwell, who is black, said he refuses to vote based on race alone, despite the potential improvement he thinks an Obama administration could produce in the U.S. Both Cromwell and Winston said racism is still a problem in some areas of the U.S., and if Obama is elected, it might cause tension

tion,” Williams said. “I just can’t vote for either of them in good conscience.”

Williams said he will vote for U.S. senators and in the local races.

Most people tend to support the winner eventually, whether or not they voted for them, said Glen Krutz, political science professor.

“The honeymoon period will happen regardless of who wins,” Krutz said. “The country will get behind the newly-elected president. They might not be happy, but it will happen.”

Most students agreed that they will listen to and respect the new president, regardless of party affiliation.

“Whether or not I voted for him, he is my president and the democracy of our nation speaks,” said Kaitlin Kruse, religious studies sophomore.

Kruse said if Obama wins the election, she will respect him as her president even though she voted for McCain.

“I don’t believe Barack Obama is evil,” Kruse said. “The way he wants to do things is not what I feel is best, but I’m not going to move to some other country and change my citizenship.”

Tonya Bryant, international and area studies and French senior, said she thinks the U.S. will remain stagnant if the Republican Party remains in office.

“If McCain wins, I will be upset. But I feel

early in his administration.

“The only difference is that today it’s hidden,” Cromwell said.

In October, federal agents disrupted a plot to assassinate Obama planned by two white supremacists in Tennessee.

Winston said the tension will eventually fade if Obama wins.

“It’s obviously not as big of a deal as it was, but it’s an issue in some places. I think OU is a unique place as far as that goes. It has its small spouts of racial issues, but I think most people really appreciate different cultures,” Winston said.

Several professors in the African-American studies and sociology departments either declined to comment or were unavailable for an interview.

like I am obligated to listen to what McCain has to say,” Bryant said. “I can’t just ignore something I don’t like.”

McCollum said he doesn’t agree with Obama’s economic plan to apply the Social Security payroll tax to all annual incomes over $250,000 but doesn’t think he will be affected, since he doesn’t anticipate earning more than $200,000 in the next four years.

“On a micro scale, I don’t think that I’ll be affected that much by Obama’s presidency,” McCollum said. “On a macro scale, I don’t have a lot of hope for change in the country.”

Kruse said she believes the country will be divided regardless of the outcome and neither candidate will have an easy road.

“The only person that can run the country exactly how you want to is you. You have to take the good with the bad,” McCollum said.

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.

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Campus News

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

3

Graphic abortion images spark debate on South Oval • Anti-abortion group brings display back to OU NATASHA GOODELL Daily Staff Writer A national anti-abortion group set up graphic posters that aggravated some, intrigued others and sparked conversation among many students Monday on the South Oval.

Students debated the controversial abortion issue in front of the display that showed pictures of aborted fetuses and provided abortion statistics.

Pursuit College Ministry, a Christian student organization at OU, invited the exhibit, produced by anti-abortion group Justice for All. “Abortion is a huge issue right now and a lot of people just don’t know a lot about it,” said Maureen Barr, an intern with Justice for All. “If 3,300 unborn children are going to die from abortion today alone in the U.S., then I just think it’s something people need to be aware of.”

With the help of Christian Heritage Academy and Trinity Baptist Church, the pro-life advocates’ graphic display spawned debate among students who walked by.

The exhibit evoked mixed reactions throughout the day. The morning remained calm, but as the sun rose in the sky protestors who were not happy about the exhibit

showed up to voice their opinion.

“I just think it’s incredibly graphic and unfair to present this information in such a villainizing way,” anthropology sophomore Sarah Garrett said.

Garrett, who joined the pro-choice protest on her own, said she does not believe that a fetus is a human being.

“I don’t think these graphic images are the way to prevent abortion,” Garrett said.

“Sex education, contraceptive information and making contraceptives available to women and men who want them is the best way to prevent abortion.”

Pro-life advocates think that from the time of conception a fetus is a human being, and if a mother does not want a child it should be put up for adoption, not aborted.

“We definitely regret the need for graphic images but some injustices need to be seen if they are going to be fully understood,” Barr said. “In our opinion, it’s worth upsetting thousands just to save the life of one child.”

Some students saw the graphics as a good way to spread awareness while others felt it was grotesque.

Kolt Atchley, broadcast and electronic media junior, observed the event and said he supports freedom of speech, but does not think the pro-life advocates have found a message that would resonate with their audience.

“I wish they would handle it better,” Atchley said of the pro-life advocates. “I’m all about freedom of speech, but I think if you don’t do it in a civilized manner then nothing will get done.”

Amy Frost/The Daily

Students look at the exhibition of graphic photos displayed Monday on the South Oval by the anti-abortion group Justice for All. While many were concerned with Monday’s graphic display, the fact remains that we live in an image driven world and the majority of people have never seen the real effects of abortion, said Chris Haynes, college minister at Trinity Baptist Church in Norman and anti-abortion volunteer at the rally.

“I think it’s pretty graphic, but it’s a good representation,” zoology junior Ryan Carter said.

In the afternoon, Pro-choice advocates continuously shouted about the how antiabortion laws strip the rights of women to choose whether or not they want an abortion.

“We clearly believe that women are more capable to make informed decisions about their reproductive health than our politicians,” history senior Sarah McGuffee said.

Haynes said they are not trying to take

away women’s rights; rather, they are trying to help pregnant women who are in need and inform them of alternatives to abortion.

He said it is important for women to know that there are people willing to talk to them, if they have had an abortion, who will not condemn them for it.

Justice for All will return with its display Wednesday and Thursday on the South Oval.

$9.5M Collings Hall renovation to last 18 months • New classroom, common area planned CAITLIN HARRISON Daily Staff Writer University donors and administrators broke ground in front of Collings Hall Monday afternoon, signifying the official beginning of the building’s renovation.

The building, which houses the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, will be under construction for about 18 months, adding 15,000 square feet of classroom and office space.

“With the generosity of so many people, it is done,”

OU President David L. Boren said. “With our new addition, we will have more spaces where [students] can gather. The building is a catalyst for bringing together people with different ideas.”

The $9.5 million project, approved by the OU Board of Regents last month, includes six classrooms, a science education center, a curriculum library and two conference rooms, said Bill Moakley, director of communications for the college. Common areas will also be renovated.

Moakley said this is the first time the building has been renovated or added to since its construction in 1958.

“We just ran out of space,” he said. “Our hope is the new classrooms will bring a lot of classes back to our current building.”

Boren said gifts from the college’s donors were crucial for construction to begin. The majority of the funding came from the Rainbolt and O’Brien families, who are both long-time supporters of the college, he said.

State bond money, which includes public and private funds, will also help finance the project, in addition to gifts from numerous other donors, Moakley said.

Sandra O’Brien, donor and OU alumna, said it has been hard seeing many other buildings on campus renovated, while the College of Education has remained mostly unchanged.

“Finally, it is our time,” she said. “We are very proud and excited for all those who’ve supported the project.”

Renovations began in October, and will require faculty members and students to vacate the building in May for up to a year. Classes will take place in various buildings on campus during that time, he said.

Even though they could be inconvenienced, education students think the new facilities will help better instruct tomorrow’s teachers. The building’s renovation signifies the importance of investing in education, said Katie Stone, early childhood education senior.

“If we are to invest in anything in this country, we need to invest in education,” she said.

Boren said the future of the U.S. depends on teachers and education.

“Education is the frontline of the establishment for America’s future,” he said. “When the potential of any one child is not realized, we are all diminished.”

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4

Opinion

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

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

OUR VIEW

STAFF COLUMN

It’ll be OK

Abortion most important issue today

Please don’t freak out today. getting American citizens to work together for bipartisan No, really.

America will not be com- solutions to the country’s most ing to an end soon, no mat- pressing issues.

Call us cynical, but we don’t ter who is elected president tonight. (See election results foresee resolutions to issues Republicans and Democrats for details.)

This has been a particularly will always disagree about, including gay marlong, vicious election cycle, but, despite OUR VIEW riage and abortion.

While we believe both sides’ claims is an editorial Americans should that their opponent selected and debated by the editorial board take a stance on would do an inferior and written after a these issues, we job as president, we majority opinion is don’t think disagreeare certain America formed and approved will be fine whether by the editor. Our View ments about them is The Daily’s official should lead to a we have a President opinion. fractured citizenry.

John McCain or Americans must President Barack work together to find soluObama.

Though we have endorsed tions for the economic crisis, one candidate, we believe both America’s diminished world Obama and McCain are quali- status, problems with education and the wars in the Middle fied to be president.

After all, we did endorse East.

We know there will be disapboth during primary season.

We have faith that both men pointment tonight, as this elecsincerely have the country’s tion has been close.

But we hope disappointment best interests at heart.

And surely we can all agree does not turn into unwavering that either would do a better hatred of the president and his government without giving him job than George W. Bush.

But even under Bush’s mis- a chance to lead. Four years is guided leadership, America — a long time to be angry.

Even though people will disthough strained — did not fall apart, and there was no great agree with whichever man is in charge, they should be thankexodus to Canada.

If citizens are united and ful they live in a country that resolved to make America allows them the right to disgreat, nothing can hold this agree. They should be thankful they have multiple entities to country back.

However, America is more keep the president in check.

They should remember that divided than it has been in the country will be just fine. decades.

And hopefully better than The most important task for the new president will be ever.

YOUR VIEWS School should be out today Monday, the Oklahoma Daily reported on the long lines that faced even early voters in this year’s general election.

The University of Oklahoma would have best been served by cancelling classes today to ensure that all students and faculty had the opportunity to cast ballots.

Newly registered voters may not be aware of options like early and absentee voting, and it is the university’s responsibility, as an institution devoted (according to its mission statement) “to provide the best possible educational experience for our students through … service to the state and society.”

The university has already decided that classes should be cancelled the day prior to a football game between OU and Texas.

A right that people have fought and died for rises at least to the level of importance given to a football game, doesn’t it?

The administration of OU should be embarrassed and ashamed.

Matthew Dugas Zoology graduate student

T H E

After today, the election is over.

Let’s breathe in and breathe out.

Ah, didn’t that feel nice?

Who did/are you going to vote for? Wait, stop, I really don’t want to know, and I’m not going to tell you who I voted for either.

All that matters now is that, starting tomorrow, we will finally be in the home stretch of President George W. Bush’s term and welcome all this change we’ve been hearing so much about.

What exactly will change — no matter who wins today — is hard to say at this point. Change for our generation will come in forms different from any other generation.

What exactly is that direction?

It’s hard to say what the future holds for young people. Our lives — more than we realize — are

directly affected by powers greater than us.

Our power to determine our own destiny is limited.

Sure, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, we sat in front of the television and watched Nickelodeon.

Our minds were KATIE J. infiltrated with commercials PARKER about how we are all individuals and the sky is the limit. Perhaps, you called in for Nickelodeon’s “The Big Help,” with the burgeoning idea that you, as a child, could implement real change by yourself.

Self-reliance is a good thing, but

it comes with a cost.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Jean M. Twenge’s book “Generation Me,” which discusses the generational traits of anyone born in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s.

Our generation, in contrast to our parent’s generation, has been pushed to believe in ourselves as individuals. On the other hand, our parent’s generation did everything in groups, like protesting, and did not discover “self” until young adulthood.

Our individuality isn’t a bad thing. We are, after all, an extremely confident generation. The concept of self-importance is an interesting point to consider.

Twenge notes that people our age “have been raised to aim for the stars at a time when it is more

difficult than ever to get into college, find a good job and afford a house.” As a result, there is a great amount of anxiety among our age group and reasonably so.

So, what are we to do?

We can start by learning about ourselves and how we can fix the problems previous generations have laid out for us to solve.

Upcoming years will hold problems that no single individual can solve, but if we work together we can we can. The U.S. has over a more than $10 trillion trade deficit, the state of our environment is deteriorating at an alarming rate, and it is becoming harder and harder for Americans to earn enough money to support their families.

These are problems that neither Sen. John McCain nor Sen. Barack

Obama can solve entirely by themselves. It will take us to make sure appropriate solutions are found.

Young people, we may have to give up the Hollywood hills idealistic version of our lives in order to correct the problems that plague our nation, but, let’s face it, that was never reality to begin with.

This isn’t the time to focus on ourselves, despite our generation’s tendency to do so. It’s time to focus on what we as a nation united can do together.

There are not — and should not be – two Americas. We are all facing these problems together and we can only solve them if we work together.

Katie J. Parker is a journalism senior.

STAFF COLUMN

Medical malpractice suits dangerous for doctors, patients During the last decade, there has been a terrifying proliferation of unwarranted lawsuits.

Some are merely ludicrous.

McDonalds made me fat. Video games caused Columbine.

My favorite: I’m suing myself for violating my own civil liberties. That is an actual case.

Fortunately, most such suits are thrown out by judges on grounds of their absurdity. However, other cases that have grown increasingly common are ones unjustly harmful to the people sued and to society as a whole.

The most injurious of these are medical malpractice suits.

Not only can these cases be emotionally devastating to excellent doctors and cause physician shortages, but they rarely — if ever — do anything to improve patient care or eliminate errors.

When an individual is sued for a mistake, or what a patient thinks was a mistake, the caregiver can face a multitude of legal battles.

In states with laws that do not favor physicians, the cost of malpractice insurance premiums often leads the caregiver to leave the state. This can cause shortages of physicians and nurses in those areas.

Generally, though, patients or the survivors of patients who feel they’ve been wronged go after hospitals in their suits, even if their claims only involve one doctor or nurse.

“Hospitals are the deep pockets,” said one Wichita physician I interviewed, who wished to remain anonymous because malpractice is a sensitive issue for physicians.

“Lawyers will throw a wide net trying to catch everyone involved, hoping someone testifies against someone else.”

This illustrates greed, not care for the protection of future patients. If these suits were legitimate, they would go after

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U 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

the caregivers in question and sue for the amount the “mistake” has cost the patient (actually, not emotionally).

In reality, most cases go after hospitals for millions of dollars, the majority of which goes to lawyers instead of the patients. This get-rich scheme makes the lawyers multimillionaires while taking money out of the pockets of every patient through increased care costs.

With the increase of malpractice suits has come the necessary increase in expensive malpractice insurance required from those in need of care. With the threat of one malcontented patient or one greed-ingrief family member toppling a hospital, the institutions have been forced to purchase insurance to protect themselves.

This is a cost that has to be passed on to patients.

SARAH These costs prevent the growth of better DORN patient care methods.

“These cases don’t change patient safety,” the physician told me. “We could institute technologies to prevent human error, but they’re incredibly expensive. The money that could be spent there goes to [malpractice] insurance.”

In addition to the financial consequences of malpractice suits, there are less quantifiable but equally concerning consequences in terms of doctors’ time. In the case of a suit against a hospital, a doctor targeted in the case will spend anywhere from eight to 14 hours in out-of-court case time dealing with lawyers, chart review and depositions, plus several days in court, if subpoenaed. This time could be much better spent taking care of patients.

Additionally, the threat of malpractice suits takes a good

V O I C E

NEWSROOM DIRECTORY Meredith Simons Ellis Goodwin Nanette Light Amanda Turner Nijim Dabbour Hailey Branson Amy Frost

Sarah Rosencrans is a zoology and biomedical science junior. Her column appears every other Tuesday.

Unprecedented, unknown change due after election

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T H E The Fine Print:

Owing to an error, the last few lines of Jelani Sims’ pointcounterpoint column titled “Can the Bible justify opposition to homosexuality?” were not printed Monday.

The last full lines are as follows: “An understanding of what the Bible says about homosexuality makes it clear that its claims are morally justifiable.

There are sanctions against it so people can fulfill the purpose for which we were created: glorifying God.” The full column and counterpoint can be viewed at www.oudaily.com.

Institute.

These statistics show us that every act, especially a horrifying act like abortion, has an impact on the greater community.

This is why the pro-life movement has been so insistent on placing barriers to abortion like parental consent and required ultrasound bills like Oklahoma’s Senate bill 1878.

That bill, which was set to go into effect this month, unfortunately has had a temporary injunction set against it due to a lawsuit. This is unfortunate because the bill provides for more informed consent, healthcare workers’ freedom of conscience and prevention of wrongful life lawsuits.

It is horrible to claim that anyone, even someone with serious physical handicaps, should have been aborted.

It is not that the right-to-life movement has no concern for the poor or personal autonomy. Rather, they believe true compassion for the poor is allowing them to live and that the freedom to choose to kill is not a truly free choice.Those who say abortion can be reduced by an increases in anti-poverty measures and access to contraception,are contradicted by the facts.

Women with family incomes of less than $15,000 obtain only 28.7 percent of abortions. The rate of abortions is almost equal between women with incomes of SARAH less than $30,000 and greater than $30,000.

Contraception was made legal before abortion was ROSENCRANS unrestricted by Roe v. Wade in 1973, and an increase in contraceptive use preceded the acceptance of abortion.

The issue has been exploited by both political parties.

The Republicans convince people that they are pro-life and are committed to ending abortion, yet they have little to show for it.

The Democrats have failed to support the smallest persons among the people by being pro-choice. Their reluctance is cowardly but also reflective of the American people.

So many hearts have been hardened into accepting that abortion is normal that it is easy to be in denial about thousands of deaths.

What we need is a conversion of hearts.

Only after people planning abortions can see that ultrasound and know that child is alive, and only after we value human life more than the young of endangered animal species, can we legitimately debate ways to end the war, to provide aid to the impoverished, to protect the environment, to improve education and to stabilize the economy.

STAFF COLUMN

Contact Us:

CORRECTION

Today is Election Day, and you should know that, unless the hype of the past year has driven you into hiding.

Based on a slew of polls, many will be voting for the man they think will have the best response to the current economic crisis.

That concern is certainly understandable, but it is not the most important issue of this election.

Abortion is the Photos.com fundamental issue, and it is not going to go away because people pretend it is unimportant or far down on a list of concerns.

There is a reason why life issues arise every elections cycle.

There is a reason why some U.S. Catholic bishops have been insisting that one cannot vote for a pro-choice, which I read as pro-abortion, candidate.

Some insist that voting based on that issue makes a person a singleissue voter.

But the abortion issue is not a single issue. It is the fundamental issue from which we can build all other issues.

Before we can bring aid to the poor, justice to criminals, jobs to workers and health care to everyone, we have to ensure respect for life from its conception to natural death and every stage in between.

Without having a fundamental right to life, all other issues are meaningless.

Our Declaration of Independence says we have a right to life, but unless we apply that right even to the unborn, we are being hypocritical.

Yes, abortions have existed in human history for a long time because people have wanted to avoid having children for many reasons.

However, the fact that the United States allows 3,700 abortions per day is unhealthy, especially if more than one third of women in the U.S. have at least one abortion before age 45, according to the Guttmacher

deal of humanity out of patient care.

Doctors in most states are not allowed any form of apology to patients or families when mistakes are made, or even when the unfortunate outcome of a case was unpreventable.

Doctors and nurses are often told to keep quiet for fear of suits, which is highly damaging to caregiver/patient relationship and communication.

All legal action against caregivers should not be banned.

There are times when the protection of patients might demand action.

But such cases should be limited to criminal action by caregivers, such as when there is malice and ill-intent by a doctor or nurse or when there is extreme negligence resulting in preventable injury to a patient.

Most suits raised against doctors do not fall into these catagories, though. Even if they did, there are already laws in place to deal with malicious malpractice and recompensate patients.

Because of this, medical malpractice suits should be obsolete, but the money to be made by greedy lawyers and grieving individuals prevents their necessary dissolution.

Though 98 percent of cases rule in favor of the caregiver or caregiving organization, the threat of malpractice suits perpetuates the higher costs of patient care and the loss of qualified doctors and nurses.

The suits that are raised steal the doctors’ time and do grave injury to the relationship between patient and caregiver.

In order to actually improve patient care, malpractice suits should be eliminated from the system.

Sarah Dorn is an English junior. Her column usually appears every other Monday.

U N I V E R S I T Y

The Oklahoma Daily is a public forum and OU’s independent student voice.

Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and should be fewer than 250 words, typed, double spaced and signed by the author(s).

Letters will be cut to fit. Students must list their major and classification. OU staff and faculty must list their title. All letters must include a daytime phone number. Authors submitting letters in person must present photo identification. Submit letters Sunday

O F

O K L A H O M A

through Thursday, in 160 Copeland Hall. Letters can also be submitted via e-mail to dailyopinion@ou.edu.

Guest columns are accepted at editor’s discretion. ’Our View’ is the voice of The Oklahoma Daily.

Editorial Board members are The Daily’s editorial staff.

The board meets 1 p.m. Sundays in 160 Copeland Hall.

Columnists’ and cartoonists’ opinions are not necessarily the opinions of The Daily Editorial Board.

Sports

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

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

5

Auston English becomes latest injury victim • Lineman out up to three weeks; Alexander becomes starter

“We’re disappointed for Auston, of course. He’s been a great leader for us, an excellent player. He had an excellent game the other night.”

— Head coach Bob Stoops

JOEY HELMER Daily Staff Writer Halloween has now passed, but something is still haunting the Sooners: the injury bug.

This isn’t new. Injuries have plagued OU all year. Before the season began, redshirt freshman defensive end Frank Alexander was the unfortunate victim of a late-night stabbing outside a local nightclub.

Then, junior defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger tore a ligament in his foot after he was gang blocked in a game at Washington.

Granger could have missed the entire season, but elected against surgery and has been able to play the last four weeks.

But the injuries didn’t stop there.

Junior middle linebacker and defensive catalyst Ryan Reynolds suffered a seasonending ACL tear in his right leg, which added to the wound during a devastating loss to rival Texas.

In the next game, on just the fifth play from scrimmage, senior wide receiver Manuel Johnson dislocated his shoulder. He still has not fully recovered.

And now the latest victim — junior defensive end Auston English — sprained his left knee in the third quarter Saturday against Nebraska.

It is yet another setback for a team trying to make a lateseason surge back into the Big 12 and national championship races.

English could be out three weeks, head coach Bob Stoops said Monday.

If he remains out of the lineup for that amount of time, he would miss two games, including a vital showdown with Texas Tech Nov. 22.

Stoops said it is very unlikely English will be back for the Tech game.

“We’re disappointed for Auston, of course,” Stoops said.

“He’s been a great leader for us, an excellent player. He had an excellent game the other night.”

Before his injury, English recorded four tackles, including one for a loss of two yards.

In addition, he recovered a fumble forced by junior linebacker Keenan Clayton that was one of three turnovers OU forced in the first six minutes of the game.

Through the first nine games of the 2008 season, English has 27 tackles, is second on the team with 4.5 sacks and is tied for first on the team with nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

He was chosen as the Big 12’s preseason defensive player of the year after leading the conference with 9.5 sacks a year ago.

But despite his loss for at least a couple weeks, Stoops is optimistic about the situation.

“You have to go on,” Stoops said. “And I’ll say this: Frank Alexander, who will get those snaps, actually this past week

was one of our players of the game on defense.”

Alexander has finally healed from his stabbing injuries, and the coaches have said he has had three good weeks in a row.

“Frank has had a great three games here,” Stoops said. “He’s consistently made good plays and gotten pressure [on the quarterback] and has come up with big plays. You know, the sacks, the tipped balls.”

Alexander’s improvement was evident against Nebraska when he shoved quarterback Joe Ganz into the ground for an eight-yard sack in the fourth quarter.

He finished the game with two tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

Alexander, who redshirted last year, brings athleticism to the defensive end position.

He led his high school team in Louisiana with 13 sacks as a senior, recording 76 total tackles and was ranked by Rivals. com as the No. 8 weak side defensive end of 2007.

Alexander said he is ready to step up to the bigger role with English — whom Alexander calls A-Town — out of the lineup.

“A-Town went down, and I just have to step up this year,” Alexander said. “I just have to fill his shoes and be there with my team and make plays.

Zach Butler/The Daily I know it’s a big step up, and I Defensive end Auston English (33) hits TCU quarterback Andy Dalton (14) during OU’s Sept.

27 win over TCU. English just hope A-Town gets better and comes back and helps us sustained a left knee sprain this weekend against Nebraska, and could miss up to three weeks. He will be replaced in the win.” starting lineup by redshirt freshman Frank Alexander.

STAFF COLUMN

Take a note from Kentucky fans, and don’t rush the field Editor’s note: The following column was written in the form of a letter from the perspective of Kentucky fans. reetings from the University of Kentucky’s class of 2002. First, we should take the opportunity to congratulate OU on its most recent victory, Saturday’s 62-28 massacre of Nebraska.

We have to admit history had us feeling a little squeamish, but for reasons unrelated to the quality of either team.

We’ll talk more about that later. Right now you’re probably wondering what this letter is about.

It is not an invitation of any sort, nor is it a congratulatory note. Rather it is a warning — a word of caution — to the fans who normally find themselves inside Oklahoma Memorial Stadium during OU’s games.

Watching the final minutes of the game between Texas and Texas Tech, and witnessing the utter disregard exhibited by Tech fans as they stormed the field, the haunting memories of our nowinfamous game against LSU six years ago came flooding back, so much so that we felt compelled to pen this letter.

Please do not storm the field, Sooners fans.

Despite the obvious safety hazards, rushing the turf early can result in potentially detrimental penalties against your team or, in our case, your school being on the wrong side of the 2002 ESPY award for “Best Play.”

In the event you don’t remember what we’re talking about, let us refresh your memory. It’s worth a reminder.

Our Kentucky Wildcats, in front of a packed home crowd, were leading then-No. 14 LSU, 30-27, in the closing minutes of the game. With two seconds left on the clock, and LSU at its own 26-yard

G

line, a Wildcat victory seemed imminent.

Kentucky players gave head coach Guy Morriss a Gatorade bath before the play even started, and Kentucky fans stormed the field as soon as the LSU quarterback released the ball.

It was deflected off the hands of one LSU wide receiver and into the arms of another around the Kentucky 20-yard line. The receiver broke one tackle and scampered into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Talk about embarrassing. Some Kentucky fans were already on the goal posts.

We understand OU has virtually no history of rushing the field, and that’s a good thing. In fact, the first time Sooners fans ever rushed the field was in 2000 against ERIC Nebraska. Some schools have rushed the field more times this year than OU fans DAMA ever have.

But if that itch to jump the walls ever starts becoming more than just an itch, remember the potential repercussions.

Tech fans ran out onto the field like headless chickens twice Saturday night; first after the goahead touchdown, and then again following the extra point.

The Red Raiders were assessed two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and were forced to kick off inside the ten-yard line. Texas fielded the kick at its own 45.

With all the trouble OU has had on special teams this year, there’s no telling what could have happened had the Sooners been in that position.

So again, just stay in the stands. You’ll help avoid any potential penalties that could end up biting OU in the backside.

Most importantly, though: Make sure the game is over. We’re still living that one down.

men’s basketball

2008-2009

a reminder for men’s basketball student season ticket holders, The first pick up for men’s basketball will begin online at on

Sunday, November 2 at 5 p.m.

Games available during this pick up will be American University, the two Preseason NIT games, Gardner Webb, USC, Maine, and Utah.

The Men’s Basketball Student Season Ticket distribution for these games will end on Wednesday at 3 p.m. online and 5 p.m. at the Athletic Ticket Office.

Please visit

— ERIC DAMA IS JOURNALISM SOPHOMORE.

for more information.

A limited number of student season tickets are still available!

6

Sports

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

Wright ready to hit the floor with OU • UCLA transfer gets chance to prove his talent ERIC DAMA Daily Staff Writer Ryan Wright has been patiently waiting for the past 19 months.

Waiting to put on his No. 1 OU game jersey. Waiting to hear his name announced over Lloyd Noble Center’s PA system.

Waiting to finally, once again, play in a real college basketball game.

His wait will end tomorrow when the OU men’s basketball team opens preseason play against Panhandle State at 7 p.m. and nobody will have to remind the junior forward of this game’s significance.

No force on earth could keep him from stepping out onto the court. “I’m so excited it’s crazy,� Wright said. “Just looking back, it’s crazy that I’ve been sitting out this long.�

Wright’s year-and-a-half-long hiatus isn’t the result of any injury or suspension. In fact, it’s a regular occurrence throughout the world of collegiate athletics.

Two summers ago, following head coach Jeff Capel’s first year at OU, Wright transferred from UCLA, one of the most successful college basketball programs in history.

He left to come to Norman, where a bunch of young players were teaming up with a fresh, charismatic coach to give the OU basketball program the makeover it desperately needed.

NCAA rules dictate that a student who transfers from one Division I school to another must sit out one year before being eligible to compete in games.

Reduced to the role of a glorified member of the practice squad, the Torontoborn forward saw this as just another of the many adjustments he made on his journey to Sooner Nation.

Getting used to the states Wright’s first adjustment came after his high school career north of the border, when he received offers from UCLA, Stanford and Michigan State, and realized he would have to elevate his game. “I had a lot to learn,� Wright said. “The speed and athleticism overall is at a higher level in the states. It’s just not the

same level of detail and intensity that you have to bring every day in practice. That was a huge adjustment for me.�

At ULCA, Wright saw limited playing time on a Bruins squad that featured three eventual first-round draft picks.

Coming off the bench both his freshman and sophomore seasons, he averaged 9.8 and 5.4 minutes per game, respectively.

It wasn’t enough for a guy who was recruited by many of college basketball’s traditional powers. For the dissatisfied forward, greener pastures lay in Norman.

Wright wanted more playing time, but he had also grown fond of the winning flavor he so often tasted playing under the rafters of historic Pauley Pavilion. “I could have very easily gone to a lower Division I school,� Wright said, “and been playing a heck of a lot. But I wanted to go somewhere and win as much as I did at UCLA. I felt like I got the best combination of both [at OU].�

Wright’s wait Wright arrived in Norman last summer, greeted by an ironic reality: In order to continue his pursuit of increased playing time, he first had to fulfill his obligation of sitting out an entire season. “We would see him, and he would be wishing he was out there,� said junior guard Tony Crocker, who was Wright’s roommate last season. “I know it was tough, even if he didn’t say anything.�

Instead of sitting around and complaining, Wright took advantage of the opportunity to learn Capel’s system and improve himself individually.

Even though he couldn’t play in games, no one could have guessed it by watching Wright during practice. “He worked his butt off last year,� senior forward Taylor Griffin said. “He was getting in the gym and doing extra work with coaches. It had to be discouraging because he wasn’t getting any minutes, so you have to respect him for the amount of time he put in.�

Wright was reminded on a daily basis, from the start of practice in October until the Sooners were knocked out of the second round of the NCAA tournament in March, that none of his effort during practice would be justified.

Wright’s only escape was to look to the future, and to understand that all his hard work would pay off in a year, even if that seemed like an eternity. Naturally, the hardest person to convince was himself. “It was really tough,� Wright said.

Michelle Gray/The Daily

Junior forward Ryan Wright prepares for a shot during OU’s practice Monday. Wright was forced to sit out last year after transferring from UCLA, but has been working hard for the chance to earn playing time on this year’s team. “Having that in the back of my mind that I’m putting in all this hard work, but I’m not playing this year. And at the same time, I have to also tell myself that all this hard work I’m putting in is going to carry over to next year, and it’s going to make me a better player for when I’m finally able to play.�

Wright’s work This summer, the transfer further proved his willingness to do whatever it takes when he spent seven weeks training in San Francisco with forwards Blake and Taylor Griffin.

The trio trained for about seven hours every day, running on the beach, carrying bags of sand and climbing hills.

Wright worked on executing the fundamentals, like setting screens. At UCLA,

he learned the importance of doing “the little things.� “He really got a chance to work on the things he needed to work on,� Blake Griffin said. “He can rebound, especially now on the offensive glass. When he catches it low and deep in the post it will be hard to stop him.�

Wright has also arrived with stories about his experience at UCLA. He talks about his former teammate, current Oklahoma City Thunder player and No. 4 overall draft pick Russell Westbrook, revealing another source of his motivation. “He talks about Westbrook,� Crocker said. “How freshman year neither of them really played that much, and then the next year [Westbrook is] a starter, and the next year he’s in the NBA.�

Sitting on the sidelines last year, Wright

had plenty of time to watch the former Bruin emerge seemingly overnight as one of the top guards in college basketball.

Wright has the potential for similar success, but he’s the first to say it won’t happen overnight.

In fact, it’s been happening for 19 months now — in the practice gym, in the film room, in San Francisco. “It’s put something inside of him that makes him want to be even better,� said Capel. “Sometimes when something you love is taken away from you, you realize how much you appreciate it when it’s gone.�

Now, gone is Ryan Wright’s anxiety.

Gone is the frustration over requirements and transfer rules. And gone is the confusion about what exactly it is he’s worked so hard for the past 19 months.

Basketball is back.

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Arts & Entertainment

Adam Kohut, A&E editor dailyent@ou.edu phone: 325-5189, fax: 325-6051 For more, go to oudaily.com.

7

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

Running a company for class BLAINE MCGAFFIGAN Daily Staff Writer

AP photo

Tina Fey portrays Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, left, and Amy Poehler portrays CBS news correspondent Katie Couric in this Sept. 27 image of a scene from NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”

The comedy effect: parody and politics fter John McCain’s Nov. 1 appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” I began thinking about the impact that pop culture humor has had on candidates and voters alike.

By now, we have all seen Tina Fey’s spot-on impression of Sarah Palin. Maybe you even STEPHEN remember Will Ferrel’s Bush or PYLE Phil Hartman’s Clinton.

However, do these impersonations, along with actual appearances by the candidates themselves on cynical news shows, help or hurt candidates?

I think it depends.

In 1968, a stern and rigid Richard Nixon appeared on a sketch comedy show called “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” allowing viewers to see a more personal side of the candidate.

This ultimately helped Nixon win the presidency over Hubert Humphrey, who declined an invitation to appear on the show. Humphrey later admitted this decision could have cost him the presidency.

Or what about Chevy Chase personifying Gerald Ford, probably our country’s most athletic president, as a bumbling boob who couldn’t walk without falling down?

While “SNL” has had a hand in the destruction major political campaigns, history shows us that

A

politicians cannot ignore pop culture.

However, other candidates have found success by appearing on comedy shows.

During Clinton’s 1992 campaign, he appeared on the “Arsenio Hall Show,” showcasing his saxophone skills and winning over the American youth.

Interviews with Jay Leno and David Letterman always seem to go well for politicians — maybe with the exception of Senator John McCain’s latest Letterman appearance.

“Going on these shows allows them to let their hair down a bit and show a sense of humor, while answering softball questions,” Shad Satterthwaite, political science professor, said.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that these shows have an agenda partial to a certain candidate, but it is undeniable that these shows shape the way the public views candidates.

And in an election where the undecided voters will play a huge role, image is everything.

So maybe “SNL” and the array of comedy shows whose demographic aims at college-aged voters, will have a greater effect on undecided youths than ever before.

“If somebody is undecided, then it could come down to who they like the best. Who is the funniest? Who is the most down to earth?”

Satterthwaite said. “We can see them on something besides a news clip or CNN.” Though it is too early to tell what effect “SNL” and other comedy-based shows will have on the presidential election, they will certainly impact the Nov. 4 vote.

— STEPHEN P YLE IS A PSYCHOLOGY AND JOURNALISM SENIOR.

Save a Life.

Call the Hotline at

325-5000

to report hazing, illegal or unsafe drinking.

All calls are anonymous.

The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

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With the hustle and bustle of gameday in full swing, OU business students capitalize on the rush of fans to promote and sell their company’s products.

Students in marketing, management and other business classes put their knowledge into practice as they create their own student run non-profit companies in the Integrated Business Core, or IBC, program.

In the class, students are divided into four groups of 20. Those groups create and manage a startup company.

“We work all semester for our company,” accounting and finance junior Sean Gragert said.

“After electing officers and doing various research we decided on our product in week three of classes.”

Gragert is a member of Sooner Cooler Co., a group whose product is an Oklahoma cooler and koozie.

Students conduct various research and run focus groups to decide on the product they wish to sell. After finding a supplier and securing a bank loan, the groups focus on marketing to start selling their products. All of the profits earned from products go to Oklahoma charities. The students invest their time as well, volunteering at various community service organizations.

Michael Linville, entrepreneurship junior, said he was “confident in the IB Blanket Co.’s product, because the people have shown what they wanted through the focus groups.”

“Game days are a great day to sell our products.” Linville said.

“We sold over 200 blankets alone in the first game day.”

Over $700,000 has been donated to charities since the IBC program began in 1985, and the current companies are doing their best to keep up the trend. “”We’ve created a whole company from scratch,” Katie Davis, a marketing junior who is a member of Crimson Canteen Company, said. “This experience will give me a head start in the business field. It’s really busy, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

For more information on IBC, and to view or purchase company’s products, visit ou.edu/ibc.

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8

Classifieds

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

PLACE AN AD Phone 405.325.2521

E-Mail classifieds@ou.edu

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Mail The Oklahoma Daily 860 Van Vleet Oval, 149A Norman OK 73019-2052

For Sale

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Credit Accounts Businesses may be eligible for credit in a limited, local billing area. Please inquire with Business Office at 405.325.2521.

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Qualified participants will be compensated for their time. Call 456-4303 to learn more about the study and to see if you qualify. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

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ACROSS 1 Fill one’s tank 6 Weak spot 10 Nickname of Gabrielle Chanel 14 Present itself as a need 15 Bananas, nuts or crackers 16 Diamond Head site 17 Well-balanced individual?

20 Not bananas, nuts or crackers 21 Mineral rocks 22 More than craves (with “after”) 23 Hindu hero 25 Rotating machine part 26 Circus employee 32 Butchery selection 33 Tanker’s cargo 34 Lose one’s cool 36 It’s south of Eur. 37 “Frasier,” to “Cheers” 41 9mm weapon named for its designer 42 Way up or way down 44 Canton bordering the Lake of Lucerne

45 TV legend Spelling 47 One sans saddle sores?

51 Some conjuctions 52 Standard 53 Ray Bradbury’s forte 56 Part of DIY 58 Castro’s Cuba, e.g.

62 Where the theme entries may be found 65 Edible tubers 66 Eyebrow shape 67 IRA relative 68 Cockpit guesses, for short 69 Place to see dashes 70 Lauder of cosmetics DOWN 1 Gangland guns 2 What the “fat lady” sings 3 Horoscope datum 4 Be a forerunner of 5 Cat, often 6 Type of arrangement 7 Move along easily 8 A foursome for poker?

9 Impress 10 Newspaper features 11 Twelve ___ (Tara neighbor)

12 Guitarist Atkins 13 Duo’s word 18 Italia’s capital 19 Asia’s Trans___ mountain range 24 Home of Iowa State 25 Young mammal 26 Hit BBC comedy, briefly 27 Oscar winner “___ Rae” 28 Restorative medicine 29 City known for Carnival 30 Harden (Var.) 31 Hair remover 32 Black goo 35 Immobilize on the mat 38 Places for pints 39 A Gershwin 40 Kind of

shake 43 Affirm openly 46 Thinks highly of 48 Canal of song 49 Dub 50 Drilling grp.?

53 Eye-opening problem 54 Chew the fat 55 “___ la Douce” 56 Fraught with danger 57 First word of “The Raven” 59 Aberdeen fellow 60 Winter Olympics vehicle 61 Immortal name in tennis 63 Butter, at times 64 Candidate to like

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

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World News & Details NATIONAL NEWS BRIEF Obama’s grandmother dies just before Election Day HONOLULU — Barack Obama’s grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.

Obama announced the news from the campaign trail in Charlotte, N.C. The joint statement with his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng said Dunham died late Sunday night at her Honolulu apartment after a battle with cancer.

“She’s gone home,” Obama said as tens of thousands of rowdy supporters at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte grew silent in an evening drizzle.

“And she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears. I’m not going to talk about it too long because it is hard for me to talk about.”

States to watch when polls close WASHINGTON — Election watchers won’t have to wait for polls to close in the West to know how things are going. The first clues will come early, when voting ends in Georgia, Indiana and Virginia.

If Democrat Barack Obama wins any of the three, he could be on his way to a big victory, maybe even a landslide. If Republican John McCain sweeps them, he could be headed for a comeback. And if any of these three are too close to call quickly, that could indicate a long night ahead — and, perhaps, a squeaker of a result.

President Bush comfortably won the trio four years ago. But Obama has used his financial muscle and his draw as the youthful first black Democratic nominee to put them, and other historically reliable Republican states, into play.

Thus, the Democrat has several routes he can take to reach the 270 Electoral College votes needed for victory. McCain’s strategy has no room for error; he must win nearly all the states that went to Bush in 2004, and possibly even one or two that voted for Democrat John Kerry that year.

9

Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2008

For a deeply divided America, decision time arrives TED ANTHONY Associated Press NEW YORK — Finally.

Rarely has a U.S. election been so anticipated.

Rarely has a campaign gone on for so long and offered so many plot twists. And never in a generation have Americans and their talking heads expressed such certainty, such passion that the next president can change the national game so fundamentally and so entirely.

After months of the momentous and too much of the trivial, a day has arrived that will be extraordinary no matter what the political outcome. On Tuesday, as they select their next leader, this is what the deeply divided citizens of the American republic face: • an economy that is sagging, perhaps even in free fall, and is setting off a chain reaction of fiscal ugliness around the globalized world even as it devours jobs and capital at home.

• a 5 1/2-year war in Iraq that has killed nearly 4,200 Americans and divided the two candidates, one of them a war hero, about how and when it should end.

• in a country that once took up arms against itself in the 19th-century civil war over slavery, an opportunity to install the first black president — a prospect that Democrats chose over nominating the first woman, and one that has reduced many Americans to tears of anticipation and

brought others to new heights of suspicion.

• post-Sept. 11 attacks trepidations about terrorism at home and America’s image in the world: What should its global role be — collaborative or imperious?

• an ocean of distaste, much of it bipartisan, at how the George W. Bush presidency has played out and what it has done to the country and the world.

All this and two candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, who offer strikingly different portraits of what America means, how it should act and how to fix what ails it.

On Nov. 4 2008, election day, the state of the American union is ... highly confusing.

“Something has to change,” says Aaron Crider, 35, a restaurant worker in Columbus, Ohio, in one of the race’s most hotly contested states.

“Something’s gotta give.”

Confidence, long a defining force and even a leading export in America, is flagging, and so is its capitalist counterpart, consumer confidence. The news is brimming with tips on how to spend less, stretch resources, keep your job.

People are grumpy. When probed about their grumpiness, they retort with variations of the same answer: How, they grump, could you not be grumpy?

“We’re kind of at a standstill,” says Caitin Patch, a hairdresser in Denver.

And so the candidates have spent uncounted hours and dollars on what Bush’s father, former

President George H.W. Bush, once disparagingly called “the vision thing.”

Americans have always loved to tell stories about their society, the pieces of a grand narrative that has helped shape the identity of a nation founded upon ideas. So the road to the ballot box — the ballot touch screen, at least — has been dotted with cultural signposts used by the candidates to show us back to ourselves in the ways that flatter their candidacies. No matter if the stories are real, as long as they feel authentic.

McCain and Sarah Palin painted themselves as mavericks and protectors of traditional America. In their small-town “real America,” people like Joe the Plumber — small businesses rather than corporations — form the backbone of a new kind of pastoral society that is, if not agrarian, at least deeply suspicious of the smelly doings of Washington insiderism. And they have invoked, in ways subtle and sledgehammer-like, the role of religion in guiding, and dictating, the conscience of the nation.

Obama and Joe Biden built a grand vision around reclaiming the gentler side of American exceptionalism — sometimes so grand that it started to sound grandiose, even messianic. Far more overtly than McCain-Palin, they blamed the country’s wrong direction on Bush administration policies and linked McCain, fairly or not, to a president whose popularity has been tanking for years.

LOST CHILDHOOD

After election, new president has to wait 77 days WASHINGTON — The world is anxiously awaiting new ideas and fresh leadership from America’s new president to deal with the economic crisis that has encircled the globe with sickening speed. Unemployment is climbing, the stock market has plummeted and businesses are teetering.

But for 77 days after the election, the problems will be George Bush’s — and both Barack Obama and John McCain have signaled they will defer to him.

Both Obama and McCain understand the enormous pressure that the Election Day victor will be under to begin taking aggressive action virtually as soon as the votes are counted. But reality likely will prevent much of that from happening.

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.

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA Randy Dale Cram, 38, E. Lindsey Street, Saturday, also possession of drug paraphernalia and fireworks violation Brigit Nicole Holland, 19, 1500 block Asp Avenue, Friday, also possession or sale of drug related paraphernalia

PUBLIC INTOXICATION Robert Cross Daniel, 61, 100 block E. Rich Street, Sunday Myron Lime, 42, 800 block S. Ponca Avenue, Sunday Jordan Boyd Phillips, 21, 200 block W. Boyd Street, Sunday Brent Allen Rosdahl, 23, Buchanan Avenue, Saturday Opal Karen Boyer, 42, 800 block Van Vleet Oval, Saturday Darren Roy Cook, 37, 1200 block Jenkins Avenue, Saturday Greggory Mikel Philip Cannon, 20, 200 block E. Constitution Street, Friday

KIDNAPPING Micah Jesse Johnson, 34, 400 block N. Crawford Avenue, Sunday, also domestic abuse by strangulation

DRIVING WITH NO DRIVER’S LICENSE Daniel Leonard Bennett, 23, Asp Avenue,

Saturday, also no insurance

AGGRAVATED DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE/ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL Noel Joseph Ladd, 37, 24th Avenue N.E., Sunday

PERSONAL INJURY WHILE DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

AP Photo

6-year-old Gervais Semutaga (left) and 8-year-old Samuel Semivumba (center) 12-year-old Martine Kanyange (right) lay in Rutshuru’s hopsital Monday, some 80 kms north of Goma, eastern Congo, after being wounded during exchange of fire between rebel troops loyal to Laurent Nkunda’s rebel movement and the Congolese forces in October. More than 100 civilians have been treated in the hospital.

David B. Mahaffey, 32, Chautauqua Avenue, Saturday, also resisting executive officer and failure to carry security verification/no insurance

HOROSCOPE

TRANSPORTING OPEN BOTTLE Nicholas Marsh Nelson, 21, 200 block W. Boyd Street, Sunday, also aggravated driving under the influence/actual physical control

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

the SOONER the better. ®

Harry Edward Forren, 45, 300 block E. Lindsey Street, Sunday Nolan Samuels Moskowitz, 21, Boyd Street, Friday

RESISTING/OBSTRUCTING AND OFFICER Michael Chad Dawkins, 22, 100 block W. Brooks Street, Sunday, also public intoxication, malicious injury to property and knowingly concealing stolen property

LARCENY FROM MOTOR VEHICLE Daniel Mark Holst, 18, 2400 block S. Chautauqua Avenue, Saturday, also pubic intoxication

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

TODAY CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS There will be a Bible study at noon in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Frontier Room.

OU VOTES: 2008 IN 2008 ELECTION WATCH PARTY There will be an election night watch party at 5 p.m. in the Union’s Molly Shi Boren Ballroom.

PRE-NURSING CLUB There will be a meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Physical Sciences Center, room 122.

OUR EARTH There will be a meeting on campus sustainability issues at 9 p.m. in the Union’s Presidents Room.

WEDNESDAY CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS There will be a Bible study at 12:30 p.m. in the Union’s Sooner Room.

UPB A seminar on preparing for and taking essay exams at 5 p.m. in Bizzell Memorial Library, room LL227.

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Housing and Food Services is a department in OU’s division of Student Affairs. The University of Okahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008 SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Don’t allow emotions to make you too thick-skinned when it comes to the troubles of someone you don’t like who could use your help. It’ll only hurt your reputation.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- You aren’t likely to have the patience to put up with the rudeness of people who are pushy and impose their ideas or will upon others; rather than react badly, avoid them.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Don’t rely on Lady Luck to bail you out of trouble with something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Follow the rules, don’t rush anything, and go for safety first at all times.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Occasionally, your agile mind tempts you to exaggerate or embellish the facts when you want to make things more colorful, but doing so might cause problems you never anticipated.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Someone you like socially could be out of sorts and react badly, so turn the other cheek and don’t change your opinion of this individual based only on this one day.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Be extremely careful in all your business or work-related affairs, because making mistakes can carry a bigger price tag than usual. Most important, don’t pretend to know something you don’t.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- If you know you are a bit edgy and are involved in a tough negotiation of some sort, better bring along someone who can function as a buffer so that you don’t lose the deal.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You are a wise person who usually appreciates the value of making compromises or concessions when the occasion calls for it. However, a stubborn streak might not let you be that smart.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -Should responsibilities or assignments at work be reissued and you don’t like the new structure, be extra careful how you react -- it could damage what others think of you.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -Extend a helping hand to others, but don’t let yourself become a patsy for a selfish manipulator who is trying to get you to do his or her work. You’ll hate yourself for being used in that manner.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- If you can, avoid a group or clique whose members make you feel quite uncomfortable, because mingling with them will only refuel these feelings and cause greater discomfort.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -Recognize when your perceptions aren’t as crystal clear as they usually are, or you might end up treating serious matters recklessly and giving trivial matters more weight than they deserve.

10

Arts & Entertainment

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008

FINNISH ROCK, HOLIDAY CHEER AND MORE • Reviews of the Clash live, Snow Patrol’s latest, Finnish rockers Lordi, local act Hundredsomethings and a look at The Daily’s obscure Christmas album of the week: Kenny Rogers’ ‘Christmas.’

HUNDREDSOMETHINGS “Get Well” Self-released

Photo provided

LORDI “Deadache” The End Records Coming off of the 2008 Ozzfest 2008 tour, the Finnish heavy metal band makes their way back to rock scene with its fifth album, “Deadache”.

Those rockers out there who love KISS will be in for a treat.

Lordi brings the theater back to the music scene by outfitting themselves in demonic costumes. These elaborately detailed costumes revolve around the band’s gimmick, which has been very popular around Europe — its fanbase set a world record of “most people to sing karaoke simultaneously” with 80,000 singing along to “Hard Rock Hallelujah”.

The album starts off with kicking riffs and ends the exact same way. The lyrics aren’t exactly stellar, but the band has a great sound that you will find yourself humming in class. For those of you wary of the heavy metal connotation, the album features many songs that don’t involve ear-bleeding shredding.

Just like the old saying goes, be sure not to judge this album by its cover. The band delivers an interesting aural experience that most will enjoy.

— LUKE ATKINSON /THE DAILY

Getting handed a homemade copy of a smalltime local band’s foray into music is like drawing all vowels when you’re playing Scrabble. You immediately think to yourself, “What am I going to do with this?”

Usually.

Midwest City-based Hundredsomethings isn’t that kind of local band.

“Get Well,” the debut album from the group, is a strong first effort, combining plenty of healthy power-pop guitar licks with a surprising level of consistency. The album does run into a common problem — many of the songs sound the same, but standout tracks “All Here” and “Waitin’ On Me” break up the potential monotony.

Hundredsomethings have a sound akin to fellow

Photo provided

Oklahoma rockers The Uglysuit, and they could be next in line for the explosion of popularity that The Uglysuit has experienced.

— DUSTY SOMERS/THE DAILY Photo provided

KENNY ROGERS Cheese factor: “Christmas” Capitol Records

THE CLASH “Live at Shea Stadium” Epic/Sony BMG This live recording comes from a transitional time for The Clash. The band’s album, “Combat Rock,” was still on top of the charts, but the band had just let go of drummer Topper Headon due to a heroin problem. The set comes from a 1982 New York City concert at Shea Stadium. The band supported The Who in front of a rainsoaked crowd of over 50,000. Photos in the CD sleeve reveal an intimate backstage hangout with the band, David Bowie and Andy Warhol.

The setlist doesn’t play like a greatest hits record, but some of the band’s more popular songs are well-represented. “I Fought the Law,” “Rock the Casbah” and “London Calling,” are among the more recognizable songs. The set also includes a quality version of the reggae-influenced “Armagideon Time,” as well as an enthusiastic performance of “Train in Vain.”

Photo provided

The recording itself is extremely well-mastered. The audio quality is remarkable, considering it was taped on a rainy night over 25 years ago. But in a strange way, the clean sound takes away from the rawness associated with The Clash. Overall, the album is a good pickup for fans of the band as well as people who admire a good live album.

— JAMES LOVETT/THE DAILY

The Christmas album is a rare glimpse into the realities of corporate consumerism. It combines sub-par originality with an exploitive agenda to capitalize and profit from holiday cheer. But I’d like to celebrate this in all its cheesy glory, because after all, while representing all that is wrong with America, it also makes a great addition to your Christmas party this year.

Today we celebrate Kenny Rogers’ “Christmas,” which I found in a thrift store for $1, is the perfect LP to throw in the record player whenever you feel bad about your career: Your Christmas sweater isn’t as washed up as him.

And as the bone-shivering winds begin to blow, you can take comfort that with “Christmas,” Kenny’s gravelly voice and grizzly beard will be able to keep you warm during the holidays. “Kentucky Homemade Christmas” reminds you of the “real America,” and traditional carols like “O’ Holy Night” and “White Christmas” are at least familiar enough to calm old people when they are confused about where they are. What makes this album so eerie is that Kenny can be so patronizing and exclusory, yet warm and fuzzy at the same time.

It’s traditional, country and about as gut-wrenching as Grandma’s mystery pound cake. But just like her cake, it’d oddly comforting. I recommend putting this on at your Christmas party without telling anyone, so that eventually somebody will walk up, tugging uncomfortably at their Christmas sweater and say, “Um, is this Kenny Rogers?”

Yes it is. And it’s bad, it’s offensive and it’s our obscure Christmas album of the week.

— TYLER BRANSON/THE DAILY

the SOONER the better for campus living. ®

Photo provided

SNOW PATROL “A Hundred Million Suns” A&M Records If you’re going to listen to an arena-leaning rock band that spreads the anthems on thick, you really should be listening to Snow Patrol.

After years of laboring in obscurity, they’ve settled in comfortably to a familiar formula – expansive, heavily layered rockers mingling with hushed, intimate ballads. To that end, “A Hundred Million Suns” doesn’t sound much different than Snow Patrol’s last album “Eyes Open.”

And yet, there are not many bands achieving the blended sound the group has developed – Coldplay is its only serious competition here.

Despite its obvious lack of risks, “A Hundred Million Suns” lives up to the rest of the material in the Snow Patrol canon – it’s neither standout nor stinker, but for the crowd that listens to Snow Patrol, it’s perfect.

— D USTY S OMERS /THE DAILY

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