The Oklahoma Daily

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S I NDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 4, 2009 © 2009 OU Publications Board

VOL. 94, NO. 88 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

Professors debate Israeli-Palestinian conflict • Panelists hopeful for amicable future JAMIE BIRDWELL The Oklahoma Daily A divided panel of Middle East experts on Tuesday discussed the future of the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

The panel that gathered in Meacham Auditorium included Norman Stillman, professor of Judaic studies; Maurice Roumani, visiting professor from Israel; Joshua Landis, political science professor; and Housam Mohammed, political science professor from University of Central Oklahoma.

The discussion was organized by the Muslim Student Association, Jewish student organization Hillel and Sooners for Peace in Palestine.

Israel launched a three-week assault against Gaza in late December, aimed at stopping years of Hamas rocket fire

into southern Israel. Hamas, which based on the academic opinions.” seized control of the Gaza Strip in The panelists discussed many 2007, is the militant, Palestinian rul- aspects of the conflict including the ers of the Gaza Strip. The fighting Israeli embargo on Gaza, the Hamas killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians and missile attacks on Israel and the 13 Israelis. debate on whether Hamas should be A cease-fire went into effect two considered a terrorist organization weeks ago but has or a credible governsince been tested by ment. sporadic Palestinian “The situation is shelling and retaliatory far more complicated Israeli airstrikes. than presented in the Panelists answered media,” Stillman said. a series of questions The panelists disLog onto OUDaily.com compiled by modagreed on Hamas’ staerators Bekah Stone, for video of Tuesday’s tus in the world. president of Sooners Landis said Hamas for Peace in Palestine debate at Meacham. is supported strongly and Shayna Daitch, by the people, and vice president of Hillel needs to be negotiated and international security studies and with because without strong leaderJudaic studies sophomore. Stone and ship on both sides, negotiations with Daitch are former Daily employees.

Israel cannot succeed.

“We don’t have any kind of hidden Roumani said the Hamas regime Michelle Gray/The Daily agenda,” said Stone, international and was not elected, but seized power by A panel discussing the conflict in Gaza Tuesday in the Meacham Auditorium included (from right to left) Josh area studies junior. “We’re coming a bloody coup.

Landis, political science professor; Maurice Raimani, visiting professor from Israel; Housam Mohammed, UCO in to get some questions answered.

Students can form their own opinions CONFLICT Continues on page 2A political science professor and Norman Stillman, Judaic studies professor.

WHAT’S INSIDE Looking for a good job? Check out page 3A for a look at popular Web-based job searches that are connecting employers with tech-savvy job seekers.

Normanites are a divided by issues like race, gender, language, economic status, age and disabilities. But some residents are looking for ways to make Norman more inclusive to all people. Page 3A.

LIFE & ARTS Inside the ring, cage fighting is an intense experience, but what is it like outside? Who are these people stepping into the steel ring? The Daily’s Adam Kohut finds out on page 3B. The Greek House has been a staple of the OU student diet for 30 years now. The Daily’s Kyle West visits with the owners to talk about their time in Norman. Page 1B.

SPORTS Photo by Zach Butler/Illustration by Julianne Rice /The Daily

Today, top high school football recruits from all over the country are deciding where they will spend their next four years. Check out who’s becoming a Sooner today. Page 5B. Bishop McGuinness tight end Gabe Ikard started for four years and won two state championships in high school before deciding to head to OU. Find out more about his recruiting experience. Page 6B. The men’s basketball team is ranked No. 2 in the country and has been cruising through conference play. The Sooners continue tonight against Texas A&M in Norman. Page 6B.

OUDAILY.COM Want to know more about National Signing Day 2009? Go to OUDaily.com/signingday to see videos of OU’s prospects, along with a map of where all the Sooner recruits are coming from.

TODAY’S INDEX L&A Boggle Classifieds Crossword Horoscope

1B, 3B 4B 4B 4B 3B

News 3A,6A Opinion 4A Police Reports 6A Sports 5B, 6B Sudoku 4B

WEATHER FORECAST

THE

NEXT

STEP S THREEPART SERIES

The Daily asked experts in academic and career advising to distill the most valuable advice for students as they approach the biggest decisions of their college careers.

TODAY Picking a major

TODAY LOW 19° HIGH 53°

THURSDAY LOW 31° HIGH 68° Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab

ASHLEY BODY AND RENEÉ SELANDERS The Oklahoma Daily

THURSDAY Setting a post-graduation plan

FRIDAY Getting into grad school

ome students struggle for years picking their majors, but the decision should boil down to two basic formulas: OU Career Services recommends students choose a career first, then choose the right major, or choose a major and find a career that fits the area of study.

Career Services Director Bette Scott said this is the simplest way to approach picking a major. But, if picking one major out of more than 150 seems like an impossible choice, OU offers resources to ease the stress and help students finally figure out what they want to be when they grow up.

Introduction junction Students should explore a variety of majors early in their academic career, Scott said.

Whether it is the major they always wanted to pursue or something new that peaks their interest, looking into different majors allows students to understand what material will be taught and which careers one could pursue in that field.

Scott advises student to take advantage of elective classes and enrolling in multiple introductory courses. These classes, like Intro to African American Studies or Intro to Philosophy, give students a taste of what different programs entail.

To narrow down which introductory courses you want to enroll in, students should familiarize yourself with the OU’s course description catalog, she said.

A-major a-fair With a booth for every department and college on campus, the annual Major and Minor Fair will provide any undecided student with a wealth of information to help make the major decision. This year’s event takes place 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m on Feb. 18 at The Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Molly Shi Boren Ballroom Donald Asher will open the event with the presentation, “How to Choose a Major.” Asher is a job-search expert who specializes in career development and higher education, according to his Web site.

Returning to OU after previous campus visits, Asher will offer step-bystep instructions on how to choose a major. His presentation will be broad enough to help any students who are struggling to find the major that suits them, Scott said.

Career apt Though relatively simplistic, career aptitude tests can generate results that can help students learn about themselves and think about careers they otherwise might not consider, Scott said. These programs process students’ interests and goals, then suggest a career path to fit. For students who don’t know where to begin the process, career aptitude tests may steer students in the right direction.

• University College in Wagner Hall offers two tests: Discover and Sigi.

Students may take these tests any time from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the college’s office hours.

• Goddard Health Center’s Counseling and Testing Department offers six self-interest tests. Career counselors also provide guidance for undecided students.

• Career Services in the Oklahoma Memorial Union also offers career aptitude tests called Focus and Keirsey.

Both tests are administered online.

2A

News

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

SON OF A PREACHER MAN

Esteban Pulido/The Daily

Casey Morgan, accounting sophomore, Teea Rogers, public relations sophomore, and senior Danny O’Donnell volunteer at the Relay For Life table Monday afternoon on the South Oval to raise awareness for April 25’s Relay For Life event.

Race impacts lives one step at a time • OU relay set fund-raising record in 2008 KATE CUNNINGHAM The Oklahoma Daily The American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life fund-raiser is celebrating its 25th anniversary this week with “Paint the Campus Purple Week,” a recruitment drive sponsored by OU’s Relay for Life group.

The money raised at the event saves lives by funding cutting-edge cancer research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts and life-affirming patient services, according to the Relay for Life Web site. At OU, Relay for Life is affiliated with UOSA. This year’s relay will take place April 25.

“We are not only raising money, but showing our support for survivors and those still fighting cancer,” said Elizabeth O’Connor, OU Relay for Life’s public relations chairwoman and zoology junior.

Last year’s relay raised $105,000, making OU the first college in

Oklahoma to exceed the $100,000 mark, said Jennifer Wallace, the event’s chairwoman and zoology and Spanish senior. Wallace is a leukemia survivor.

Organizers plan to celebrate the program’s anniversary with a “Boomer Sooner Birthday Bash” theme, aiming to get more student involvement and to raise more money than ever before.

“We are well on our way to our goal of having 125 teams, 125 [cancer] survivors and $125,000,” she said.

During the relay, team members take turns walking.

“The point [at OU] is for one member of the team to always be walking around the North Oval,” O’Connor said.

The setting sun at the beginning of the relay represents the diagnosis of cancer and the rising sun at the end represents the hope of a cure, she said in an e-mail. The activities that occur during the 12 hours in between symbolize cancer patients’ struggles.

“The reason that we walk all night long is that cancer never sleeps,” she said. “Also, staying up all night walking is physically and emotionally exhausting, much like the struggle for cancer.”

An information table will be

set up in front of Bizzell Memorial Library from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Friday. Students may sign up any time before March 23 by visiting the group’s Web site at relayforlife.org/ouok.

Anyone can sign up, but O’Connor said there are some requirements.

Each participant must register with a group of eight to 15 members. She said this could be organized through an existing campus organization like a fraternity or sorority, or students can start groups of their own. Each participant must raise at least $100 and sign a waiver of liability form.

Walking around the North Oval isn’t the only thing people can do to raise money. Several relay groups have organized events this week to help raise funds. Students can eat at Pita Pit today and Jimmy John’s on Campus Corner Thursday to benefit some relay participants, O’Connor said.

One group has organized a concert for 9 p.m. Thursday at Brother’s Eatery with Arlis Moon and the Stars, Chasing Serenity and Jamie Bramble.

“People come for the activities and realize that the hard work is worth it because they have a blast,” Wallace said.

5 OFF

$

100TH EDITION OF TRADITION: DON’T MISS YOURS Haven’t purchased your yearbook yet? Do so now and save $5.

Bring this coupon to Copeland Hall Room 122 or call 405-325-3668 and mention this ad to receive $5 off your order.

From student life to athletics and academics, Sooner, one of the nation’s top yearbooks, has got you covered.

Don’t miss your opportunity to own the special 100th edition.

Offer expires Feb. 16.

100

THH

SOONER yearbook

Sooner is a publication of OU Student Media, a department in the Division of Student Affairs.

sooner .com Struggling to write your resume?

HIRE

We can help. Visit us online at:

sooner.com

HIRE

Zach Butler/The Daily

Bryce Murphy preaches on the South Oval as son Bryce Murphy, Jr., 10, and family friend Eliasha Kuhn, 7, watch on. The Kuhn family and Murphy family have traveled from Minnesota to preach on college campuses across the nation.

Conflict Continued from page 1A

“They want to raise the banner of Allah on every inch of Palestine,” Roumani said.

Mohammed said Hamas has united the Palestinians, but won the election because of the corrupt administration of Fatah, Hamas’ rival party.

Although the panelists differed in their opinions, they pleased some students by not interrupting each another, Some students said they liked the panel’s peaceful approach.

“The panel was very even-sided,” said Saira Ali, international area studies senior. “The general media has a one-sided approach.”

Other students said the panel discussion could have been more balanced.

“Overall, the questions were balanced and good questions, but some of the answers were very disrespectful towards Arabs,” Renee Moorad, firstyear law student, said.

Every panelist except one said they were hopeful about the future of the region, especially due to President Barack Obama’s new administration.

“It’s hard to get the central governments of both to compromise,” Landis said. “Who wants to make the deal?”

Israelis and Palestinians want peace, but they are held hostage by right wing parties, Landis said.

Stillman said he hopes the Obama administration will handle things differently. The United States has a chance to bring both sides together with the right diplomatic initiatives, he said.

Peace isn’t out of the picture, but playing the blame game won’t help the situation either, he said.

“I’m someone who would very much like to see peace,” Stillman said. “I love the culture of both.

I do believe that peace is possible. But I don’t believe it’s easy and I don’t believe it’s simply finger pointing and emotions.”

—THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.

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

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

News

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

3A

Former NASA astronaut advocates careers in math and science • Unequal representation of women still persists MATTHEW MONTGOMERY The Oklahoma Daily

Michelle Gray/The Daily

Shannon Lucid, former astronaut, first non-Russia female in space and record-holder for most flight hours in orbit.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Record-holding, former NASA astronaut and Oklahoma native Shannon Lucid spoke to more than 500 middle and high school students Tuesday in Oklahoma City to encourage careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Lucid holds the record for longest time in space.

She has spent 5,324 hours and more than 223 days outside this world since 1979.

Lucid spoke about the importance of women in science and math professions.

Lucid said the purpose of her speech was to encourage students to pursue more active subjects than ones they might already be studying.

“There is so much more out there for students,” she said. “I encourage the students to study more

Web sites offer seniors competitive edge • Students look online to find job search assistance HANNAH RIEGER The Oklahoma Daily Landing that first post-college job during an economic downturn can be a sensitive subject for some seniors as graduation nears.

Tough economic times mean a more aggressive market, but new Web sites have been giving students a competitive edge.

Online search engines and organizational programs help students manage their job searches and give them a place to post resumes. These sites are being used more frequently as a base for job searches, said Bette Scott, director of career services.

“Students are now competing with experienced profes-

sionals who have been downsized and let go,” said Laurie Kahn, founder and president of MediaStaffingNetwork.com and AllAboutCareers.com.

“Most employers prefer to hire someone with work experience versus someone without business knowledge.”

Students need to start applying for internships during their freshman and sophomore years in college to gain the experience needed to get a job when they graduate, Kahn said.

OU has its own Web sites to help students connect with companies and professions that interest them, Scott said.

The OU Web site Hiresooner. com has links for companies seeking student resumes, she said.

There are also Web sites designed specifically to help students get internships before graduating, Scott said.

All career services offices encourage students to use a variety of methods, including online searches, but caution students to

make sure the sites they are using are credible and reputable sources, Scott said. OU Career Services is leery about start-up Web sites and is hesitatant to advise using them, she said.

Students can also get a jump start on careers by networking directly with companies in their field of study, Scott said.

Web sites devoted to matching potential employers and students are available for students who are busy or less outgoing.

Myworkster.com is a Web site that matches students’ and companies’ profiles based on location, said Jeff Saliture, MyWorkster. com marketing director.

“It’s like e-harmony, but for jobs,” he said.

Myworkster has been online for over three years but has recently initiated services to work directly with colleges, he said.

Newspaper classified advertisements, trade association publications and Web sites also have information helpful to student job-seekers.

NEED MORE HOURS? 3 hours credit, 5 days in class Darwin’s Ideas Class meets February 11-15, 2009

The Mounting Competition for Fresh Water Class meets February 25-March 1

The Impact of International Politics & Economics on Latin America Class meets March 11-15 Special permission & application required 3 hours upper division/graduate credit

For additional information: www.oslep.org 325-4309.

active subjects because the future is rapidly changing.” Lucid also said reading programs are important.

Donna Nelson, OU chemistry professor, said young women should study math and science if they’re interested in the fields. “[We] need a balance,” she said. “[We] still don’t have an equal number of men and women. [There are] ideas out there that we can’t do science and math. There are still people out there who think that way.”

Programs like the one held at Science Museum Oklahoma are important for young women’s success in the field, Nelson said.

She said if a young woman walks into a classroom or science lab, she shouldn’t be discouraged because of a lack of women. “[She will] still have the persistence to stay with it and succeed,” Nelson said.

It is also a waste of society’s resources to not utilize women in the fields, she said.

Lucid said she told her students and children to pursue math because the future cannot be predicted, but strong math skills will be the foundation

for most future professions.

Even though it was uncommon for women to work while she attended OU, Lucid said she decided to work. She is astounded by the changes that have taken place since then, she said.

“There was no program like that when she was here for women,” Nelson said. Nelson was the first 10-year-track professor hired in the chemistry department, she said.

Lucid said she knew at an early age she wanted to get involved in science.

“Here in Oklahoma we talk about pioneers and settling the west,” she said. “I used to play pioneer when I was a little girl and I always wanted to grow up to be an explorer and explore the universe, because surely the entire universe will never be explored in my lifetime.”

Lucid is an OU graduate and said she is thankful to have had the opportunities she did because they helped her succeed.

“I hope the students of OU realize what a wonderful opportunity they have and take the fullest advantage of their opportunities,” Lucid said.

—JAMIE HUGHES CONTRIBUTED REPORTING

Forum aims to make city more inclusive • Meeting aimed to generate more public involvement LEIGHANNE MANWARREN The Oklahoma Daily The Norman Human Rights Commission hosted its second Inclusive Community Forum at the Oklahoma Memorial Union Tuesday to discuss the city’s level of inclusiveness.

Norman officials held the meetings to discuss ways to include more people in community affairs and explored different areas in which Norman could become a more inclusive community.

Norman Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said the meeting was held at OU this year to increase student participation. The first meeting was held November 2007 at Norman Regional Hospital.

“I wanted to see that the groups I am involved in are being fully represented,” Lindsay Baugh, public relations junior, said.

Chris Howard, vice president of Strategic and Leadership Initiatives, emphasized the

importance of gathering feedback from everyone in the community.

“I believe [having the meeting at the university] is a powerful symbol, it shows we are a pillar inside the community, not outside it.”

Participants broke up into six groups to discuss one of the following topics: public safety, employment, education, economic opportunity, housing and human services.

“During last year’s discussions, we got some unusual feedback,” Mayor’s assistant Carol Coles said. “A specific area of Norman felt like they were not included in the Norman community because they lived on the far east side.”

Because of the meeting, Norman officials added more bus routes, including a twice-daily route to 156 Street, she said.

Participants said they came to help Norman become a better community.

“It is great to see that the city, the university and the council cares to know what the public, the community thinks,” said Norman resident and letters graduate Claire Mallony. “This helps shape the community in a positive way.”

After the first discussion, a report was written and a resolution for council was passed with the goals for the community, Rosenthal said.

“We plan on having more inclusive discussions every couple of years ... because the issues would change over time,” Coles said.

4

Opinion

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

OUR VIEW

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

COMMENTS OF THE DAY

Castiglione deserves credit for recent athletic success In the midst of what is shaping up to be a sports national titles since Castiglione took his post. year for the ages at OU, we think it’s appropri- Football has claimed one, as has the softball proate to pause and acknowledge the man who is gram. Women’s basketball finished runner-up in 2002, largely responsible for much athletic success: Joe the same year the men’s basketball team qualified for the Final Four. There have been 26 OU sports teams Castiglione.

Joe C. has revolutionized Sooner sports since he that have finished in the top 10 in postseason polls was hired as athletic director in 1998. As part of a under Castiglione’s reign.

Don’t think sports are the extent of his one-man hiring committee, he selected Bob Stoops and Jeff Capel. Both were relOUR VIEW success. Castiglione has also helped produce a school-record and Big 12-best 74 atively unknown at the time. Both are now is an editorial percent graduation rate among athletes. big-time success stories that have sparked selected and debated by the editorial board In June of 2007, Castiglione received considerable interest in OU football and and written after a a salary increase and contract extension basketball among the Sooner community majority opinion is that lasts through 2014. We hope, for OU’s and beyond. formed and approved by the editor. Our View sake, he stays longer.

Castiglione effectively did away with is The Daily’s official Stoops, Capel, Sherri Coale and others the Taco Bell philosophy that put John opinion. receive the bulk of the praise for athletic Blake at the reins of the football team in success at OU. And to some extent, they the 1990s. No longer does OU hire unqualishould. Castiglione is a humble guy and defers most fied coaches and make them “managers” overnight.

This year alone, OU could have national players of the praise to the ones he hired.

But he deserves a lot of the credit, too. He made of the year in both men’s and women’s hoops to go along with a Heisman Trophy winner in football. A the initial decisions that paved the way for national national championship football appearance – the athletic prominence.

Today, a new class of recruits will sign to play footfourth in nine years – could be followed by a pair of ball at OU. When praising the signing of successful Final Four berths.

The men’s gymnastics team has produced eight new players, don’t forget Joe Castiglione.

In response to a Feb. 3 story about controversy over the slate of Darwinrelated events at OU: “Intelligent Design” is the obvious first alternative when attempting to explain patterns that cannot be physically duplicated or mathematically explained by undirected natural forces alone.”

To ignore or arbitrarily reject this alternative on a philosophical basis is anti-science bordering on religion.

- POSTED BY WORDSMITH AT OUDAILY.COM

When these so-called “researchers” actually perform an experiment, provide some empirical evidence for ID, or even explain how it could be scientifically tested, they’d have a lot more credibility.

Until then their best authority is some blogger?

- POSTED BY RBROUGHTON AT OUDAILY.COM

light up the capitol switchboards sufficiently to put the fear of God into most legislators.

— POSTED BY BRANDONDUTCHER AT OUDAILY.COM

In response to a Feb. 3 editorial encouraging students to attend Tuesday’s panel discussion on Gaza: Don’t call it boring and then tell people they should attend. It’s oxymoronic. Well... really, it’s just moronic in general.

— POSTED BY BSCHMIDT AT OUDAILY.COM

The editorial board seems composed entirely of aliens.

That is the only logical explanation for the repetitive suggestion that Americans can’t comprehend what other countries think of them and that Americans don’t understand what is going on in the world.

— POSTED BY JOSEPHUSF AT OUDAILY.COM

In response to a Feb. 3 story about Oklahoma legislators who want to tighten restrictions on home schoolers: Even though your headline says “Oklahoma legislation could transform home schooling,” the reality is “Oklahoma legislation is deader than Che Guevara.” Home schoolers are vigorous defenders of their educational freedom, and they

POINT-COUNTERPOINT

What’s gone wrong in Gaza?

Religion is not to blame

Religion is cause of conflict

I N D E P E N D E N T

S T U D E N T

V O I C E

NEWSROOM DIRECTORY Meredith Simons Nijim Dabbour Jamie Hughes Mack Burke Ray Martin Zach Butler Dane Beavers

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Assistant Managing Editor Night Editor Opinion Editor Photo Editor Senior Online Editor

Whitney Bryen Steven Jones Luke Atkinson Judy Gibbs Robinson R.T. Conwell

Multimedia Editor Sports Editor L&A Editor Editorial Adviser Advertising Manager

O F

160 Copeland Hall 860 Van Vleet Oval Norman, Okla.

73019-0270 phone: (405) 325-3666 e-mail: dailynews@ou.edu

T H E The Fine Print:

T H E

easy to tell that this movement is dedicated to War is pure brutality, whether in the name peace with their Jewish neighbors upon examof nation, race, freedom or beliefs. But this one is special. It captures the world’s attention ining their charter. like no other, historically and currently. It’s an Article 13 in particular illustrates how simple easy out to blame the religions involved and a peace settlement will be: “the so-called peacemove on. But it’s not fundamentally caused by ful solutions, and the international conferences religion. to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all conThe month of January saw another increase trary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance in hostilities between Jewish Israeli and Arab Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine Palestinian forces. Rocket fire from the Islamic means renouncing part of the religion.” extremist group Hamas prompted a strong I definitely understand how easy peace negoIsraeli response in which a tiations will be. Why wouldn’t either group two-week-long offensive into concede their land simply because it would the Gaza Strip in Palestine make the invisible, all-powerful man that lives brought death and carnage to in the sky angry? the Palestinian area.

Is it sad that thousands are being starved and Many thousands still live killed? Yes. Are the measures Israel is taking to displaced from their homes, protect its citizens a bit extreme? Probably. Yet and many families are wrought somehow I doubt if these were American lives with the pain of losing a loved being lost as a result of the imaginary friend one. In the midst of such an JON of our enemies just beyond our border, issuing outbreak on both sides, the MALONE orders to kill us all, that our government would usefulness both of the rocket exercise a good deal of restraint either. attacks and invasions is openly If Hamas could exercise the brutality that under the microscope. What would motivate Israel is capable of, they would – and to a worse such anger and violence? degree.

The history of the region could provide us I hate to break it to the “every life is sacred” with a clue. From the days of Abraham’s two crowd, but there is no such thing as “the right sons, Isaac and Ishmael, there have been difto life” between nations. In a state of nature, ferences between the Jewish and Arab peoples. there is no inherent ethical obligation that Biblical and non-biblical history recounts the requires anyone to preserve the life of another. battles back and forth between Jewish and The “right to life” comes from the laws of the Philistine forces, primarily on the basis of land occupation and ideological difference. The two societies we occupy. I trade my right to kill, groups and the region itself have been utterly so I am afforded protections against being destabilized for mulkilled. Ask the peotiple thousands of ple at Hiroshima and years.

Nagasaki what they Political and think about the “right social Zionism grew to life” between counintensely through the tries. early 20th century, People always have, and the atrocities of and always will, kill World War II against each other. The idea the Jews pushed that “violence never political leaders over solves anything” is the brink in creating one of the most absurd a Jewish national utterances to ever roll state. off a human tongue.

The wars of 1948 Violence solves matand 1967 largely ters of all shapes and determined the sizes every single boundaries of such day. When it comes a state, which was to defending its citigreatly to the ecozenry, a government nomic and geois obligated to resort graphic advantage of to violence.

Israel. A land squeeze We all trade many of trying to cram freedoms for the tens of thousands Ariana Cubillos/The Associated Press of immigrant Jews power of our collective violent capability. People protest anti-Semitism outside a UN’s office Tuesday. into an area already My only hope is that I inhabited by Arabs brought the social and logistical nightmare to live long enough to see a world where violence a boil, one which simmers today in complaints is only used to preserve the freedoms, propover oppression and unfair practices on the erty, and lives of the citizens of a state rather part of the ruling Israeli government. than for the ambiguous, contradictory, and So what are we to do with the situation? utterly stupid whims of a fictional character in Both groups vie for power and political advana book. tage, seeking local or international help for funding and weaponry. Both either use or have Travis Grogan is a political science junior. used religious rhetoric to advance their cause.

His column appears every other Wednesday.

In examining the situation one needs to closely

Contact Us:

Two militant religious groups are attacking each other. Informal cease-fires are issued and disregarded. Thousands of people, including combatants and those unfortunate enough to earn the label of “collateral damage,” are being killed in the streets. And both sides are accusing the other of “terrorism.”

Why do I seem to be the only one that is not surprised? Am I the only one who thinks that these two just might have irreconcilable differences?

One of the first acts of the United Nations in 1947 was to attempt to divide the British created Palestine into two separate states, with the idea of both appeasing the large Jewish and Arab populations.

While the Jews accepted it, the Arab League rejected TRAVIS it, and subsequently civil war GROGAN broke out forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to become refugees and vacate their land of the One True God. Not an auspicious start to creating an environment where two groups of religious zealots could peacefully coexist on holy land. But maybe the people who believe an omnipotent being telling them to expel the infidels from sacred ground will accept an eternity in an unfathomably excruciating state of torture rather than continuing to fight.

Then again, maybe they won’t.

A year later in 1948, just before the British mandate that created Palestine expired, the Jewish Agency declared Israel to be an independent state.

The very next day, five predominately Islamic Arab countries – Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan – all attacked Israel, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War commenced. At the war’s end Jordan had taken control of the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem, while Egypt possessed the Gaza strip.

Everyone lived happily ever after. Except that an infallible almighty voice was still chattering away in the ears of many who were delusional.

After numerous smaller conflicts, the Six Day War began in 1967 between God’s chosen people and Syria, Egypt and Jordan. During the conflict Israel took control of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

Surely, Allah and his followers would now accept that the Jews actually had a right to exist. Yeah right.

In a rather gracious maneuver, the Israeli’s agreed to withdraw their settlers and military from the Gaza strip by 2005, after which the Palestinian’s took control. In the 2006 elections, Hamas assumed power in a plurality vote. In retrospect, relinquishing the Gaza Strip may have been a poor decision on the part of the Israeli government, especially since Hamas is now in power.

Hamas has very interesting origins. The word Hamas is actually an acronym that translates roughly as “Islamic Resistance Movement.” It is

look at the political and spiritual ideology of each respective group and their interests.

But to assert that religious difference is the primary cause of war is to be rather ignorant of history. Countless battles and atrocious wars were and are started by motivations other than religion. In fact, the war which brought more death than any other was based upon atheistic presuppositions.

Nazi Germany began its conquest with the chilling philosophy of “life unworthy of life,” an assertion based in “godless” evolutionary assumptions of the Aryan race as the victor of “survival of the fittest.”

They saw themselves as ultimate, with no external authority. This allowed them to systematically and without conscience destroy the weak and different.

Such a philosophy flies in the face of established monotheistic religion, in which such authority resides ultimately outside of the individual. As such, the premise that religion only causes war and problems seems to be sorely lacking.

I agree that in many ways Israel was and is repeating the history done to its people. But this is nothing new, even in today’s world. Do we ascribe the struggles for a free Tibet, a nonviolent Somalia and Sudan, or even Russian aggression in Georgia as anything but powerand-economy-mongering greed?

The sad Palestinian dilemma cannot be ultimately explained by religious or political difference. Reversing the situation has and will only bring similar oppression and opposition.

Diplomatic efforts, which are highly worthwhile and can bring some alleviation, are not ultimate. Jimmy Carter can’t solve the problem because the problem isn’t a lack of talking. The problem is one of greed and sin.

No matter the high hopes for humanity throughout history, we’ve only devolved into wars and rumors of wars. Technology hasn’t saved us from ourselves; pluralistic relativism only gives me the opportunity to say that oppressing you is right because it’s right and good for me.

The world is not craving more external conversation. It is craving redemption and change from the inside out. Usurping the authority of the God of the Bible and establishing man as ultimate, the foundational expression of idolatry, is the cause of these struggles.

Power and money go to the strongest and smartest. Violence and murder become justifiable in the name of national or individual “progress.” So the only change that is lasting will be an internal one, a unification of the heart and life under the One who calls Himself “the way, the truth, and the life,” Jesus Christ.

Such an assertion is neither ethnocentric nor political, because Jesus was a Jew and was executed by his kinsmen.

I encourage all who encounter these words to think about the realities of death, war and violence. The only solution is a spiritual one, and I exhort myself and any other seeking meaning and hope to find it in Jesus as revealed in the Bible.

Jon Malone is an English education graduate student. His column appears every other Wednesday.

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.

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

5A

Reminder!

Feb. 18 is the Deadline to Nominate an OU Professor, Staff Member or Student for a $20,000 prize!

All undergraduate, graduate and professional students as well as full-time faculty and staff members on OU’s Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa campuses are eligible to be nominated for the $20,000 Otis Sullivant Award. Only members of the OU community are eligible to be considered for the prize.

The award is funded by a $500,000 endowment established by Edith Kinney Gaylord of Oklahoma City shortly before her death in 2001. It is named in honor of the late Otis Sullivant, the chief political writer for the Daily Oklahoman who for 40 years was one of the state’s most influential journalists.

Nominees should exhibit intuitiveness, instant comprehension and empathy, be observant and interpret from their experience. The benefit to society and the broader community, which comes from the nominee’s insight, also will be considered.

Nominations for the Sullivant Award may be made by calling Sherry Evans at the President’s Office at 325-3916, writing to Evans at the Office of the President, 660 Parrington Oval, Room 110, Norman, OK 73019-0390, or by picking up forms at the President’s Office. Applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

- THE IMPACT OF EXCELLENCE

6A

News

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

Man arrested in powder mailings case JEFF CARLTON Associated Press Writer DALLAS — A man apparently upset about losing more than $60,000 in a bank failure has been arrested on charges of mailing threatening letters containing suspicious powder to banks and federal offices, authorities said Tuesday.

Richard Leon Goyette, 47, was arrested at the Albuquerque, N.M. airport Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Dallas said. He is charged with a single count of knowingly and intentionally conveying false and misleading information.

“Mr. Goyette’s alleged criminal actions caused emergency responders and hazardous response teams immense unnecessary labor and expense ... and caused untold emotional distress to those who received letters,” said James T. Jacks, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Goyette is accused of mailing 65 threatening letters in October to financial institutions and federal regulatory offices in 11 states, including Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia. Sixty-four letters contained an unidentified white powder that proved harmless.

Officials said Tuesday the powder was calcium carbonate, a major component of blackboard chalk.

The 65th letter, sent to the banking giant JPMorgan Chase, contained no powder but included a threat of the “McVeighing of your corporate headquarters within six months.” Timothy McVeigh was the domestic terrorist executed for bombing a federal building and killing 168 people in Oklahoma City in 1995.

The other letters, postmarked Amarillo, included the message “it’s payback time” and promised death within 10 days, according to the FBI. Goyette waived his rights to detention and identification hearings Tuesday during an initial appearance in Albuquerque and will be returned to Texas to face the charges. He did not have an attorney present at the initial appearance, and attempts to find a telephone number for him were unsuccessful. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

“We have our man,” said Robert E. Casey Jr., special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI office. “Even though, in this case, the substance presented no harm to the

public, they caused tremendous alarm and panic.”

Casey said Goyette had a plane ticket to a domestic destination when federal agents arrested him.

The agent said Goyette has a criminal background but declined to say where and when he had been arrested.

In late September, officials said, Goyette sent e-mails to the Office of Thrift Supervision, a federal agency that a day earlier had taken over Washington Mutual Inc. Goyette wrote that he lost $63,525 in stock because of the bank’s failure.

Three days later, Goyette sent another e-mail to the same agency and this time provided his name and his post office box in Tijeras, N.M., a small community near Albuquerque, officials said. Goyette wrote: “This seizure was the final straw and I will now pursue any path to get the return of my investment. Since legal means are apparently useless, I will have to consider any viable method applicable to rightfully reclaim my stolen funds.”

Investigators found that someone used computers on college campuses in Albuquerque in late September and early October to look up the addresses of JPMorgan Chase branches and federal agencies that later received threatening letters. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought Washington Mutual’s deposits, branches and loan portfolio from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in September for $1.9 billion.

About three weeks after the e-mails, threatening letters began showing up at the FDIC, the Office of Thrift Supervision and JPMorgan Chase branches, officials said.

“You may lose money in financial markets ... but you don’t take your personal agendas to the U.S. mail and create havoc,” said Randall C. Till, an inspector with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in Fort Worth. “We will track you down. We will put you in jail.”

The day before the letters were postmarked from Amarillo, Goyette used a credit card to rent a car in Albuquerque and obtained permission to drive the car in Texas. He returned the car a day later, having put 630 miles on it, or a little more than twice the distance from Albuquerque to Amarillo, officials said.

“Clearly, there was some thought and some planning here,” Jacks said. “He attempted to cover his tracks and avoid detection.”

NEWS BRIEFS

POLICE REPORTS

Senate votes to give new car buyers a tax break WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Tuesday to give a tax break to new car buyers, setting aside bipartisan concerns over the size of an economic stimulus bill with a price tag approaching $900 billion.

The 71-26 vote came as President Barack Obama said he lies awake nights worrying about the economy, and signaled opposition to congressional attempts to insert “buy American” provisions into the legislation for fear it would spark a trade war.

Names are compiled from the Norman Police Department and the OUPD. The reports serve as a record of arrests, not convictions. Those listed are innocent until proven guilty.

PUBLIC INTOXICATION Alan Michael Gilstrap, 19, 2900 Woodview Drive, Monday

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE Tifarah Layton, 36, East Boyd Street, Monday

Iran claims launch of its first domestic satellite TEHRAN, Iran — Iran sent its first domestically made satellite into orbit, the president announced Tuesday, a key step for an ambitious space program that worries the U.S. and other world powers because the same rocket technology used to launch satellites can also deliver warheads.

For nearly a decade, Iran has sought to develop a national space program, creating unease among international leaders already concerned about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

US auto sales plunge 37 percent, reach 26-year low DETROIT — Consumers frightened by the prospect of losing their jobs stayed away from auto showrooms again in January and sent U.S. car and truck sales falling 37 percent, a familiar refrain for the struggling industry but an unwelcome start to a critical year for U.S. carmakers.

Devastated by an economy in which few people have the spare cash to buy a car or can obtain the financing to do it, Chrysler’s domestic sales for January were less than half what they were a year earlier.

Sales fell 49 percent at General Motors and 40 percent at Ford. Toyota and Nissan’s sales each fell at least 30 percent.

— AP

DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED Tyler Louis Soblaskey, 22, 1400 E Boyd St., Monday, also eluding a police officer

ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL OF A VEHICLE Jerald Leon Johnson, 57, 2932 W Tecumseh Rd., Monday

MUNICIPAL WARRANT Jordan Nicholas Bates, 21, 923 Beaumont Square, Monday Deborah Lynn Clark, 41, 300 36th Ave., Monday Matthew Edward Godwin, 29, 201 W Gray St., Monday Pablo Mejia Hernandez, 22, 201 W Gray St., Monday Miranda Leigh Norman, 27, Heritage Place Drive, Sunday

COUNTY WARRANT Shannon L. Ingram, 40, Classen Boulevard, Monday

Adopt - An - Area Area Ratings For This Week ALFA Flight

Delta Tau Delta

Phi Beta Sigma

Air Force R.O.T.C.

Delta Upsilon

Phi Delta Theta

Alpha Chi Omega

Gamma Phi Beta

Phi Gamma Delta

Alpha Gamma Delta

Engineers Without Borders

Phi Kappa Psi

Alpha Kappa Alpha

Phi Kappa Sigma

Alpha Kappa Delta Phi

Hispanic American Student Association

Alpha Omicron Pi

Iota Phi Theta

Alpha Phi Alpha

Kappa Alpha

Alpha Phi Omega

Kappa Alpha Psi

Alpha Tau Omega

Kappa Alpha Theta

Beta Theta Pi

Kappa Delta Chi

Catholic Student Assoc.

Kappa Kappa Gamma

Chi Omega

Kappa Kappa Psi

Delta Chi

Kappa Sigma

Delta Delta Delta

Lambda Chi Alpha

Delta Epsilon Psi

Non-Traditional Student Assoc.

Delta Gamma

Okla. Student Volunteers

Delta Phi Omega

Omega Delta Phi

Delta Sigma Theta

Omega Psi Phi Our Earth

Way To Go!

Phi Mu Pi Beta Phi Pi Kappa Alpha RUF/NEK Lil Sis Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Lambda Gamma Sigma Nu Sigma Phi Epsilon Zeta Phi Beta Adams Cate Couch Sooner Walker

Keep Up the Good Work!

Volunteer u Programs leadandvolunteer.ou.edu Strengthening Our Traditions through Service to State and Society The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution. For accommodations on the basis of disability, call 325-2340

INDIA HINDU RITUAL

AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh

During the annual month long Hindu religious fair of Magh Mela in Allahabad, India, Tuesday, Hindu devotees dry their clothes after taking a dip at Sangam, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati. Magh Mela involves bathing on auspicious dates spread over a period of 45 days.

Inhofe bill to prohibit Guantanamo transfers SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe introduced a bill Tuesday to prohibit the transfer of detainees at Guantanamo Bay to any facility in the United States, joining a growing chorus of lawmakers opposed to inheriting the prisoners.

The Oklahoma Republican visited the Cuba-based detention center, commonly called Gitmo, on Monday with two fellow GOP senators and said he believes the facility should remain open and that military tribunals for detainees there should continue.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order last month to close the detention center within a year. He also created a special task force to review detainee policy and look at options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer or release of detainees and report to the president within 180 days.

Inhofe’s bill would prohibit the use of federal funds to transfer Guantanamo-based detainees to any facility in the U.S. or to construct any such facility. He said Fort Sill in southwest Oklahoma is one of more than a dozen locations that has been mentioned as a possible holding facility for the Gitmo detainees.

“President Obama’s decision to shut down Guantanamo Bay could have a devastating impact on our national security and is simply unacceptable,” Inhofe said. “I am working hand in hand with the Oklahoma delegation and through my position on the Senate Armed Services Committee, to prevent these terrorists from coming to my state or any state on American soil. My constituents in Oklahoma deserve to feel safe, and we will not feel safe with some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world — men who would kill thousands for an extremist ideology — on our soil.”

U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Okla., introduced a similar bill in the House last week.

Inhofe visited the facility with Republican U.S. Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana and Richard Burr of North Carolina, the newest members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Inhofe said the prisoners are well cared for and that the facility plays a critically important role in protecting Americans from terrorism.

He said Gitmo will be even more important as Americans ramp up military efforts in Afghanistan and the number of detained military combatants from other countries grows.

“There’s nowhere else to put them,” Inhofe said. “(Gitmo) is a resource we’ve had since 1903, and we cannot do without it.”

But OU law professor Randall Coyne, who has helped work on cases for several Gitmo detainees, discounted Inhofe’s bill and praised Obama’s decision to shut down the facility.

“Let’s bring them to trial,” Coyne said. “Let’s see what the evidence is and bring them to trial.”

Coyne said exactly how the prisoners should be tried is a complicated issue, but he said the current military tribunal system has the appearance of a conflict of interest.

“They’re being prosecuted, represented and judged by the military,” Coyne said. “The military counsel is outstanding, but certainly the perception is not good.”

Coyne added that shutting down Gitmo is symbolic of an attempt by the U.S. to improve its standing in the international community.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washingtonbased think tank, issued a report last summer recommending the closure of Guantanamo as a way to “help restore our reputation as a country that is built on and embraces the rule of law.”

Luke Atkinson, L&A editor dailyent@ou.edu phone: 325-5189, fax: 325-6051 For more, go to oudaily.com.

Life & Arts

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

1B

Eli Hull/The Daily

Angelo Dimas (above) serves customers gyro plate dinners at the Greek House. Helen Dimas (below) prepares the plates by adding French fries and salads. The Dimas have been running the Greek House since February of 1979.

A different kind of Greek house KYLE WEST The Oklahoma Daily It doesn’t have the fluted columns or balconies of most of the “Greek houses” in Norman, but the no-frills restaurant known as the Greek House has been keeping patrons happy for three decades.

Since February 1979, Bill, Angelo and Helen Dimas have been serving gyros – that’s pronounced yee-rows by the way – stuffed full of lamb and beef, along with their unique tjatjiki yogurt sauce, fries cooked in boiling gyro grease, and Greek salad with feta cheese.

The restaurant is almost always crammed. It’s difficult to find a seat during the lunch rush, despite the heat of the spits and the tendency of the scent of Greek House grease to cling to clothes and hair.

On the occasion of the restaurant’s 30th anniversary, Bill Dimas, son of owners Angelo and Helen Dimas and the Greek House’s unofficial spokesman, said that after thirty years in the business, one of his family’s greatest pleasures is serving regular customers who have become part of the landscape at the Greek House.

“Sometimes, if they don’t come, we worry why they didn’t come this week,” Dimas said. “We wonder if they’re OK, if they’re sick.”

According to Dimas, those who a while, he came to appreciate it. became regulars when the restauDimas’ parents, who work in the rant was opened won’t find much restaurant alongside him, wanted different today. him and his sister Sofia to attend He said the Greek House has OU. had the same menu, the same Dimas graduated from OU with building, and the same philosophy a master’s degree in aerospace since opening in 1979. engineering in 1989.

“Nothing has changed... Good He said his math skills come in food, lots of food, handy when runat a low price,” ning numbers for Dimas said, as if the restaurant. repeating a recipe Despite the as successful as intense pace of the restaurant’s running a popugyro meat. lar restaurant Greek House It’s a recipe just across Boyd that’s been in use Street from cam768 Jenkins Ave for a long time. pus, the Dimas 405-364-6300 The Dimas family family still makes Closed Sunday moved to Norman time to travel to in December of Greece at least 1978 from the once a year, small village of usually around Prosimni, outside Argos, Greece, Christmastime. when Bill was 16.

Although 30 years have passed, Angelo and Helen Dimas opened Dimas said it is still sometimes the Greek House in 1979 to take difficult to tell where home is, but advantage of their knowledge of he considers Oklahoma his second Mediterranean food and the large home and Greece his first.

Iranian and Middle Eastern popuDimas said his family misses lation on campus. Dimas said over home – the family, the friendships the years word-of-mouth advertis- and the landscape. ing brought more Americans to the “You can go on an island,” he restaurant. said. “In front of you is the seawa“At first, I didn’t like it,” Dimas ter, behind you is a mountain, with said of the United States. But after olive trees and orange trees.”

CHECK OUT THE GYROS

But even better than the postcard-perfect views is the opportunity to see his family when visiting Greece.

“All live in the same village,” Dimas said. “Nobody complains that you spend time with one brother but not enough time with another brother.”

Dimas said he misses Greece’s

traditional holidays and the fact that Greeks get more days off than Americas. He said it is common for businesses to take two weeks off in the summer, something almost unheard of in America.

“Over here, it’s a routine. You work, go home, come to work,” Dimas said.

He misses the tight-knit commu-

nity that develops when people live in small towns. But he appreciates many things about the U.S. “I like the neatness, the order, the big highways,” he said. “I like the system and how everything works. And over the years, the people to socialize with.”

Though he loves America, Dimas and the family plan on moving back to Greece as soon as they can sell their restaurant and teach the new owners how to run it.

He said his parents are ready to retire. His father is 70 and his mother is 65.

Dimas said they would teach anyone who buys the restaurant exactly how to run it as the family does now, including their philosophy of good food and large portions at reasonable prices.

He is convinced the new owners will succeed if they keep to the philosophy and put the customers first.

For 30 years, the Greek House has had time to see many awards and many happy and full customers. In the future, Dimas hopes the Greek House will remain an icon for years to come.

“We’d like for the people who buy the restaurant to succeed and run it for 30 more years,” said Dimas. “Because it’s a legend for Norman, and I think customers would be sad if it closes.”

2B

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

MLK

‘09

MULTICULTURAL CAREER FAIR Monday, February 9 12:30 - 4 p.m.

Lloyd Noble Center

all majors welcome University of Oklahoma

presented by:

these companies want you Aldi Inc Amegy Bank ARGO AT&T Baker Hughes Inc BMI Systems Corp BNSF Railway Company Cameron Cerner Corporation CH Robinson Worldwide Inc Cintas Corp CIT City National Bank City of Tulsa Consolidated Electrical Distributors Cox Communications Dallas Police Department Deloitte Consulting Department of Environmental Quality Drug Enforcement Administration E&J Gallo Winery EnCana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. Enterprise Rent A Car Ernst & Young LLP Exterran Farmers Insurance Group Federal Aviation Administration Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Federated Insurance

FlightSafety International Simulation Systems Division GEICO Insurance Glazer's Distributors Greater Oklahoma City Chamber Halliburton Helmerich & Payne INTEGRIS Health Internal Revenue Service JCPenney KBA Group LLP Kimberly Clark Corporation Koch Industries, Inc Labatt Food Service Mercy Health Center (OK) MidFirst Bank NORDAM Northrop Grumman Corp Northwestern Mutual Financial Network Office of Personnel Management Oklahoma City Police Department Oklahoma City University Oklahoma Community Health Services Oklahoma Department of Corrections Oklahoma Highway Patrol OMRF OSU Graduate College OU Information Technology Paycom Peace Corps Plains All American

Raytheon Ross University School of Medicine (Ross) School of Veterinary Medicine Ryan, Inc. Schlumberger Technology Corporation Sewell Automotive Companies Sherwin-Williams Southwest Research Institute Stanley Associates, Inc. State Farm Insurance Target Stores The Boeing Company The University of Tulsa College of Law Thrivent Financial Tinker Federal Credit Union Tulsa Police Training Center U.S. Department of State Union Pacific Railroad United States Border Patrol United States Navy United States Secret Service University of Arkansas Graduate University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy University of Oklahoma Graduate College US Cellular Walgreens Wells Fargo Financial Williams Companies Wolseley's North American Division (Ferguson, Stock & Wolseley Canada)

Life & Arts

3B

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

Unlocked: Life outside the cage • Diversity, challenge drive cage fighters

martial arts freestyle cage fights most anything goes, so long as a fighter stays within the few rules that govern the three, three-minute rounds which make up a match on the professional circuit.

“Everybody’s got a game plan until you get punched in the face,” ADAM KOHUT he said. “Then your game plan goes The Oklahoma Daily out the window. But obviously if you get punched in the face — you Jeremiajah Sanders has just lose your game plan — that means that person’s imposing his game punched a man in the face.

Now he is pacing a hallway in a plan. So you’ve got to do everysecluded area of FireLake Grand thing you can to break his game Casino in Shawnee, overlook- plan like he broke yours. Suddenly ing the octagonal ring where the it becomes an anatomical chess 26-year-old Oklahoma City native match, and honestly, man, that’s defeated Bill Albrecht Friday in the what it’s all about.”

When Sanders fights, he knows 185-pound division of a Freestyle Cage Fighting match — a cage better than to do so out of anger. fighting league based in Tulsa. The Famed martial artist Bruce Lee area is reserved for the 24 men said so.

“Lee said anger clouds your and women — and their managers, trainers and friends — who mind and prevents true vision,” will fight over the course of the Sanders said. “I think if you fight angry, you’re going to lose 70 perevening.

Sanders is giddy, out of breath, cent of the time. It’s not anger; it’s his skin reddened. Leftover adrena- hunger. I gotta get fed, and that line courses through his veins. He dude’s holding a hotdog on the might have just returned from a other side of the ring.”

Elsewhere in the fighter’s area, brisk run, but a fresh cut above the 39-year-old Tom Jones snoozes on bridge of his nose gives him away.

Despite the fact that Sanders is a couch. Jones fights for Absolute happy because he body slammed Combat Alliance, a Tulsa-based Albrecht with rib-breaking force fighting team he found with his girlwhile hundreds of bloodthirsty friend of 18 years, Dorothy Foss.

Jones is mentally readying himspectators screamed their approval, he is not a violent person. Sanders self for his fight, which will take is not even an angry person. Cage place in an hour or so. But unlike Sanders, Jones fighting centers is angry. him. Cage fightThis is ing, not tending unusual, Jones to kidney dialysaid. He does sis machines — not usually take Sanders works fights personalas a nurse who ly — at least not floats to differcompletely. ent hospitals to “To a certain tend to those Tom Jones, 39, extent, you’ve suffering acute to take it all kidney failure — cage fighter got personal,” Jones is what he was said. “[But] if born to do, he anyone trash said.

“I used to do the whole thing talks or rematches — rematches — street fighting and selling drugs are often times personal — there’s and going to jail and stuff — and a bit of anger involved.”

Tonight, Jones faces Prince [cage fighting] is really the only thing that kind of brought every- McLean for the second time in thing into perspective for me,” he the 185-pound SuperFight division said. “It’s never necessarily a sense — Jones lost the first by technical knockout in June 2006 after being of violence.”

To Sanders, cage fighting dropped by McLean’s knee in the is human chess; it is a sport of second round.

To the outsider, Jones is placid, attacks and counterattacks, of having a plan and adapting it on the remarkably calm for a man who is fly, of keeping alert and focused about to step into an octagonal ring while the fists — or feet, or elbows and face another human being in a or knees — are flying. In mixed gladiator-style, unarmed battle. He

“[I’ll fight for] as long as my body lets me.”

Esteban Pulido/The Daily

Cage fighter Tom Jones sleeps before his match Friday at FireLake Casino in Shawnee. looks as though he is waiting for the arrival of a bus, comfortably clothed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, stocking cap pulled low over his head, listening to sports psychology and Henry Rollins spoken word through his earphones.

But this is the calm before the storm.

“I am nervous,” he said.

“Everybody’s nervous — you’re going to get into a fight. I like to try and stay calm. You burn so much energy in a fight, the last thing you want to do is burn it [beforehand].”

Jones may be nervous, but he is no stranger to fight-related injuries. His slightly crooked nose and several scars on his mug prove it.

Jones suffered multiple fractures to his face last July, resulting in the internal placement of two metal plates.

“The first punch of the fight broke my face, basically,” he said. “I kept fighting for a while. I knew something was wrong, and I knew I probably shouldn’t get hit

again because it wouldn’t be good because I couldn’t see.”

He is proud of the plates in his face, Jones said. He is also fond of his scars and crooked nose. “[Injuries are] a badge of honor,” he said. “I’ve got a good chin; I can take a lot of strikes. I don’t have much quit in me. Some people don’t like to look beat up after fights. I don’t mind it. It just shows I stayed in there and didn’t quit.”

Jones quit his job as a systems analyst for a millwork company after cage fighting became a viable career. He now fights full-time. And he will keep at it for as long as he can, he said. “[I’ll fight for] as long as my body lets me,” Jones said. “I’ll probably fight two or three more times after I should quit. To be honest, someone’s going to have to make me quit. It’s great doing something you love for a living.”

Liz Carriero, however, calls cage fighting her “not-very-well paying part-time job.”

As a single mom with a career

— she’s a medical technologist at St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa — the 30-year-old Carriero began boxing to lose weight after the birth of her son. Boxing progressed to cage fighting. She now fights for Absolute Combat Alliance alongside Jones and nine other fighters.

Carriero is one of four females in the FireLake bout, but does not look like a fighter. She is thin and soft-spoken, obviously nervous, and fingers an iPod shuffle as though it is a lucky talisman — a lucky charm that plays Britney Spears, Eminem and Five Finger Death Punch.

But she is ready to bring the pain to Melissa Vasquez, her opponent in the 135-pound women’s division.

“You’re here to step in the cage and hurt someone,” she said. “But not in a vengeful way. You’re just doing your job.”

It isn’t the violence that draws her to cage fighting, she said. It’s the skill set required to succeed.

“It’s the diversity and the challenge,” she said. “There’s so many more skills that you have to learn and try.”

Carriero loves to fight. She said she fiends for the gym on days when she misses training.

But she cannot fight forever. “[Fighting] is hard on your body, so I know I’m limited in time. I would like to have at least five more years, ideally,” she said. “And then, you know, after that, I’ll do what I can.”

HOROSCOPE

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

Remembering the great John Updike O

n Jan. 27, the great American writer, poet, literary and art critic John Updike lost his battle to lung cancer.

Born March 18, 1932, Updike was raised in Reading, Pa., until the age of 13 when he and his family relocated to Plowville. It was his early life in these small Pennsylvania towns that would inspire many of his better-known novels. Updike began writing after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in English from the prestigious Harvard University and later studied graphic arts at the University of Oxford.

Updike’s works, including the “Rabbit” tetralogy, “The Witches of Eastwick”, and “Brazil” are today hailed as canonical American classics.

JOHN John Updike’s life accomplishments are not, UPDIKE however, without personal significance to students at this university.

Specifically, one student.

His beautifully visual and provocative short story “A & P” was my personal inspiration for becoming an English major at OU. I was originally an English major at Texas A&M University and never had the courage to leave and follow my dreams.

In the story, a young market worker witnesses the ill treatment of three scandalously dressed young girls by a store manager inside an A&P grocery story. After seeing this event, the young boy walks away, quitting his job in sacrifice for the young girls. Although this straight-forward story may sound too simple to be very influential, it is Updike’s particular appeal to the imagery of the scene he creates that I find quite moving.

The bravery of the young man inspired me to leave my home state and go where I’d always wanted. Not to mention, the determination

the protagonist showed by quitting his job moved me so much that I henceforth discontinued my education at A&M and transferred to OU. Essentially, John Updike made me into a Sooner.

So thank you, John. Your ability to use small words and give them big meanings helped me follow my path to OU. If you need some inspiration, read “A&P,” and hopefully you will find yourself equally moved.

– BRITTANY BURDEN IS AN ENGLISH SENIOR.

CHINESE RESTAURANT 364-2100 • 722 Asp Ave. CAMPUS CORNER

Daily Lunch Buffet

All You Can Eat

$4.88 • 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. • Sunday-Friday

Men’s Soccer Club Tryouts Thursday, February 5th and Friday, February 6th Tryout fees will be $5.

Contact: Michael Kubala michael.e.kubala@ou.edu

4:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M. Intramural Fields -Off Stinson

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Because you instinctively know what to say to make everyone feel good, don’t be surprised if you suddenly are the center of attention. Making a few new friends may be a bonus.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You’re entering a new cycle where your popularity will be on the rise.

Old pals will be seeking out your company, and those you know only casually will begin thinking of you as a special friend.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- You tend to maintain a low profile by keeping in the background; surprisingly, though, this is what makes you so effective. Guiding things from behind the scenes provides an edge others don’t have.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Now is the time to raise your sights a bit higher with regard to your ambitious objectives -- you’ll be more fortunate in this realm than usual. The more meaningful your targets, the luckier you are.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Seek out places where all the action is and get in the middle of it firsthand. You’re an outgoing individual, and the more people around you, the happier you will be.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Challenges are extremely stimulating and can bring out some of your finer qualities. If it’s only a game, your popularity will soar; if it’s business-related, real success can occur.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -Dame Fortune could be especially attentive to you, particularly in matters that involve your finances and/or career. Lucky breaks could occur in both areas.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -Focus your efforts and attention on your family because it will greatly enhance your feelings of belonging. Simultaneously, this will contribute to your sense of well-being.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Everything should eventually work to your advantage. This is because your own hopeful attitude accepts life on its own terms, allowing good things to happen.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Considerable pleasure can be derived from catching up on your correspondence with favorite friends. Contact that pal who always has the latest news on everyone.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- The faculty you possess that enables you to make the most of the least will prove to be extremely fortunate. Onlookers will witness your good luck and try to hop on your bandwagon.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- If your goals are to produce, you picked an outstanding day.

You’re in a brief period where anything you do to enhance your earnings will be more successful than usual.

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

PLACE AN AD Phone 405.325.2521

E-Mail classifieds@ou.edu

Fax 405.325.7517

Classifieds

Announcements ENTERTAINMENT

FEMALE SINGER NEEDED Local Recording/Publishing/Production Company seeking fresh, sound to develop into possible solo/collaborative projects. Song writing and live performance skills important. Please call 405945-1959 or e-mail us studio115norman@yahoo. com.

Office Copeland Hall 149A

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

DEADLINES Line Ad. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 a.m.

Place your classified line ad by 9 a.m., Monday-Friday to run in the next issue.

Display Ad. . . . .3 days prior Classified Display or Classified Card Ad are due 3 days prior to publication date.

PAYMENT s r

r

C Transportation AUTO FOR SALE $500! Hondas from $500!

Honda/Toyota/Chevy Police impounds!

For listings, 800-628-5707, ext 4568.

AUTO INSURANCE

Auto Insurance Quotations Anytime Foreign Students Welcomed Jim Holmes Insurance, 321-4664

Services MISC. SERVICES FREE DIVORCE RECOVERY SEMINAR at Alameda Church of Christ, classes begin Feb 18, 6:15 pm, led by Arlene McGlone, LCSW. Free childcare. To register call Arlene, 231-8738.

TM

Payment Payment is required at the time the ad is placed. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express; cash, money orders or local checks accepted.

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

Employment HELP WANTED Survey Takers Needed Make $5-$25 per survey GetPaidToThink.com STUDENTPAYOUTS.COM Paid survey takers needed in Norman 100% FREE to join. Click on Surveys.

Line Ads Rates are determined by the price per line, per day. There is a two line minimum charge; approximately 40 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation.

Classified Display Ads Rates are $16.00 per column inch, per day with a minimum of 2 column inches.

HELP WANTED

J Housing Rentals

J

HELP WANTED

ROOMMATES WANTED

HOUSES

Employment

HELP WANTED Cricket Wireless is now hiring for full and part-time sales, $8-10/hr.

Apply in person 1000 Alameda.

University College is seeking current students to work with the Summer Enrollment Program for entering freshman. Positions are FT temporary, May 18-July 31, $8/hr with weekends and holidays off. Apply online at uc.ou.edu, for questions contact Brian Nossaman at bnoss@ou.edu or 325-3521.

Autographs Sports Bar has openings for host/ hostess, cooks, and servers. Servers must be at least 21. Apply in person at Autographs inside Riverwind Casino, 405-392-4550. All positions must pass a background check and present right to work documentation, some positions require an Oklahoma liquor license.

$5,000-$45,000 PAID. EGG DONORS for up to 9 donations, + Exps, non-smokers, Ages 19-29, SAT>1100/ACT>24/GPA>3.00 Contact: info@eggdonorcenter.com TUTORS WANTED!!!

Available positions in the OU Athletics Department!! Junior, Senior, Graduate, Post Graduate applicants only!! LATIN (upper division), ARABIC, KIOWA, CREEK, CHEROKEE, CHOCTAW!! Hiring for spring 2009. Call 3250117 for more info!

ENGLISH TUTORS/ WRITING CONSULTANTS WANTED!!!

Available positions in the OU Athletics Department! Junior, Senior, Graduate,and Post Graduate applicants only!! Hiring for Spring 2009. Call 325-8376, for more info!

Make up to $75 per online survey, student opinions needed www.cashtospend.com.

TUTORS WANTED!!!

Available positions in the OU Athletics Department!!! Junior, Senior, Graduate, and Post Graduate applicants only!! All Subjects! Hiring for Spring 2009. Call 325-8453, for more info!!

Gymnastics Instructors for pre-school girls and boys classes, tumbling and cheerleading, P/T, flex sched. Bart Conner Gymnastics, 447-7500.

Now hiring lifeguard, swim instructors, and AM pool managers. Apply at the Cleveland County Family YMCA, 1350 Lexington Ave. EOE.

CLASS MONITORS WANTED!!!!

Available positions in the OU Athletic Department!! Junior, Senior, Graduate,and Post Graduate applicants only! Hiring for Spring 2009. Call 325-8453.

Bartending! Up to $250/day. No exp nec. Training provided. 1-800-965-6520, x133.

J Housing Rentals APTS. FURNISHED 1 bedroom near campus, $340/mo plus all utilities, $200/dep, no pets, Call 886-6709.

APTS. UNFURNISHED

Game Sponsorships Classified Display Ads located directly above the following games/puzzles. Limited spaces available – only one space per game.

2 col (3.792 in) x 2 inches Sudoku ...........$760/month Boggle............$760/month Jumble ...........$760/month Horoscope .....$760/month

J

Housing Sales

HOUSES

Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.

6 BDRM, 3 BATH ONLY $277/mo Foreclosure! Save Money!

HOUSES UNFURNISHED AVAILABLE IN MAY A short walk to OU, 1-5 blks west of OU, nice brick homes, wood floors, CH/A, w/d, disposal, good parking.

3 Bdrm $1200-1800 2 Bdrm $700-$900 1 Bdrm $420-$460 MISTER ROBERT FURNITURE 9-4 pm, Mon-Sat, 321-1818

3 room efficiency, 413 Elm,$395/mo, bills paid, one year lease, smoke-free no pets. Call 3603850.

Clean 3bd/1bth near campus, big yard, fireplace, basement, $800/mo. 447-8313.

NOW HIRING SERVERS & BARTENDERS • Apply M-F 2-5pm

asian cuisine - sushi - steaks - cocktails 105 SE 12th Avenue, Norman • 12th & Alameda

1 4

Previous Solution

3 7

9 5 7 8 9 2 3 7 4 9 8 1 6 6 1 3 9 7 2 7 6 8 7 4 5 8

8 2 7 3 4 6 9 5 1

9 6 5 2 8 1 3 7 4

1 3 4 9 5 7 2 6 8

2 5 6 4 7 8 1 9 3

3 4 9 1 2 5 7 8 6

7 1 8 6 3 9 4 2 5

5 8 2 7 1 3 6 4 9

6 7 3 8 9 4 5 1 2

4 9 1 5 6 2 8 3 7

Monday- Very Easy Tuesday-Easy Wednesday- Easy Thursday- Medium Friday - Hard

Instructions: Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

Universal Crossword

¥r]p6 ]NG]Hã3 3H36J ]H6v H63 º p66H6r P #ã3 ]#º ]¥º

Edited by Timothy E. Parker February 04, 2009

ACROSS 1 Unengaged 5 Kind of witness 9 Wade noisily 14 By word of mouth 15 A lap a minute, e.g.

16 ___ Arenas, Chile 17 Arboreal critter of South America 18 Dungeons & Dragons beasts 19 German industrial hub 20 You may give it to your great aunt reluctantly 23 Charged-up atom 24 Kimono belt 25 Have a go at 26 Where some dogs sleep 32 Baby sitter’s nightmare 33 What a siren does 34 Deep, unnatural sleep 38 Meander 40 Cleo or Frankie 43 Southwestern monster 44 All muscle 46 Depletes 48 Tennyson’s dusk 49 Conductor of a kind

Æ]¥ PpN Pº 6r ¡* ãHr] º M H63 º p66H6r Gp6 H6Gº¥pN¥ 0 #º ºHNv M¥ãp6 Mp ]¥ 3¥p3ãH¥N ºM NvH6 Gp6G¥º Á#ºº¥6 ¥N HMp ¥N N] P ]p 9 H6 ± M¥ºHGp6N PHãã 3¥j¥ã NvH6 Gp6G¥º T 0 # Pp6 [¥ ]¥ 6¥F ãHv¥ ¥r]p6x Â63 º p66H6r HN #

1 col (1.833 in) x 2.25 inches Crossword .....$515/month (located just below the puzzle)

POLICY The Oklahoma Daily is responsible for one day’s incorrect advertising. If your ad appears incorrectly, or if you wish to cancel your ad, call 405.325.2521 before the deadline for cancellation in the next issue. Refunds will not be issued for early cancellation.

Errors not the fault of the advertiser will be adjusted.

The Oklahoma Daily will not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religious preference, national origin or sexual orientation. Violations of this policy should be reported to The Oklahoma Daily Business Office.

Help Wanted ads in The Oklahoma Daily are not classified as to gender.

Advertisers understand that they may not discriminate in employment on the basis of race, color, religion or gender unless such qualifying factors are essential to a given position.

All ads are subject to acceptance by The Oklahoma Daily. Ad acceptance may be re-evaluated at any time.

NEAR OU, privacy, $260, bills paid includes cable, neat, clean, parking. Prefer male student.

Call 329-0143.

A drunk driver ruined something precious. Amber Apodaca.

1 BLK FROM OU, very nice 4 room apt. 800 sf, wood floors, 1016 S College, Apt 1, $300/mo.

Call 360-2873 or 306-1970.

Classified Card Ads Classified Card Ads are $170 per column inch with a minimum of 2 column inchs and run 20 consecutive issues. Ad copy may change every five issues.

5% down, 20 years at 8%!

For listings, 800-613-7782, Ext S828.

Two roommate wanted for 3 bdrm, 2 bath house, hot tub, internet, $350/mo, all bills included!

12th & Rock Creek area, 290-8815.

ROOMS FURNISHED

Housing Sales

1/2 OFF 1st MONTHS RENT* Immediate Move-Ins Only / Prices Reduced! $99 DEPOSIT! PETS WELCOME! Models open 8a-8p Everyday!

1 & 2 Bedrooms Available!

Elite Properties 360-6624 or www.elite2900.com

NOW OPEN!

RATES

1 day ............. $4.25/line 2 days ........... $2.50/line 3-4 days........ $2.00/line 5-9 days........ $1.50/line 10-14 days.... $1.15/line 15-19 days.... $1.00/line 20-29 days.... $ .90/line 30+ days ..... $ .85/line

Employment

Photo by Michael Mazzeo

4B

R.T. Conwell, advertising manager classifieds@ou.edu phone: 325-2521, fax: 325-7517 For more, go to oudaily.com.

- º¥p3 ¥r]p6JN NvH6 Gp6G¥º N º0 r PPP pp3 ºrKM¥3HpK Np

53 Network with an eye-con 56 Baseball’s Durocher 57 Indecisive end 58 Treaty of Versailles creation 65 Revolutionary path?

66 Hatchling utterance 67 Mt. Rushmore locale 68 Investigate (with “into”) 69 Whip end 70 Apiary feature 71 Prancing horse 72 Foundations may support them 73 From the top DOWN 1 Tiniest bit 2 Cause of an icicle 3 Recently deceased 4 Bring forth 5 Common dosage 6 Alpine pond 7 No. on a utility bill 8 Emulate a farrier 9 Homo sapiens, for one 10 Luxuriant 11 Initial assault 12 Drove member 13 Sneeze need 21 Singer with a gang

22 Tidal reflux 26 Certain evergreens 27 1847 Melville work 28 Australia’s gemstone 29 Singsong syllable 30 It could set off alarms 31 Follow relentlessly 35 Boardwalk abutter 36 Morning spread 37 Money in Johannesburg 39 .001 inches 41 Palindromic fictional twin 42 Tombstone inscriptions 45 Not at full strength 47 Trivial tizzy 50 “I hadn’t thought of that”

51 Commotion 52 Oriental entertainer 53 Dunderheads 54 Montmartre headwear 55 Weasel family member 59 Collapse under pressure 60 Phobia 61 Spider’s home 62 God who gave up an eye to gain wisdom 63 Church midsection 64 Place at an angle

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate www.upuzzles.com

“SOLVING FOR HOW LONG?” by Carla Azure

Previous Answers

Sports

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

5B

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

Signing Day 2009 Sooners by state: OU to snag recruits from seven states TEXAS 10 McFarland is a four-star defensive line recruit from Lufkin. He’s one of OU’s biggest name recruits and chose the Sooners over Texas.

JAMARKUS MCFARLAND Wort is a four-star linebacker out of New Braunfels. He’s one of the many big-name defensive recruits OU grabbed out of the state.

TOM WORT Brent is another four-star recruit, a defensive back that the Sooners hope can help them in the secondary in the future. He’s from Dallas.

KEVIN BRENT

OKLAHOMA 5

Graphic by Zach Butler/ The Daily All mugs courtesy of Rivals.com

STILL CONSIDERING OU Terry Hawthorne: four-star receiver Tyrece Gaines: four-star receiver Demontre Hurst: four-star defensive back Rueben Randle: five-star receiver

KANSAS 3 Kenney is a junior-college transfer from Garden City. He’s a four-star wide receiver who runs a 4.4 second CAMERON 40-yard-dash.

NEVADA, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, PENNSYLVANIA 1 EACH Chaisson is a fourstar defensive end from Las Vegas. He’s 6-4, 242 lb. recruit who runs a 4.72 40yard dash

Evans is a three-star offensive lineman from Strafford, Mo. He is listed at 6-6, 299 lbs.

KENNEY

Marshall Musil Athlete, 6-2, 220 lbs., from LaCrosse.

TYLER EVANS

JUSTIN CHAISSON Tavaris Jeffries Offensive line, 6-5, 320 lbs., from Clarksdale, Miss.

Jeff Vinson Offensive line, 6-6, 348 lbs., from Scranton Penn.

Jaydan Bird Linebacker, 6-2, 215 lbs., from Conway Springs.

MORE ONLINE For more information on all of OU’s recruits including highlight videos and updates throughout the day, head to OUDaily.com.

SOONERS

Drink Responsibly.

Call the Hotline at

325-5000

to report illegal or unsafe drinking.

All calls are anonymous.

The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

Harris is a defensive back from Lawton, the home of former Sooner starter D.J. Wolfe. Harris is a four-star recruit.

Miller is a four-star running back out of Garland. He’s one of the few offensive players that the Sooners went after in Texas.

JAVON HARRIS

JONATHON MILLER

Terry Franklin Defensive end, 6 - 3, 199 lbs. from Mansfield.

Lynn is another defensive back from the state, hailing from Jenks. Lynn is a four-star player.

Josh Aladenoye Offensive line, 6-5, 347 lbs. from Mesquite.

GABE LYNN

Marcus Trice Defensive back, 5-8, 167 lbs. from Mesquite

Gabe Ikard Tight end, 6-4, 246 lbs. from Oklahoma City

Drew Allen Quarterback, 6-5, 209 lbs., from San Antonio.

Gus Jones Linebacker, 6-2, 211 lbs. from Wagoner

Jarrett Brown Defensive end, 6-4, 242 lbs., from Arlington.

Ronnell Lewis Linebacker 6-3, 220 lbs., from Dewar

Jaz Reynolds Wide receiver, 6-2, 182 lbs. from Aldine.

6B

Sports

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009

Signing Day 2009 Bishop McGuinness tight end chooses OU after recruitment experience STEVEN JONES The Oklahoma Daily Bishop McGuinness tight end Gabe Ikard was born and raised in Oklahoma. His parents are OU graduates and football season ticket holders. His grandparents had the tickets before that. He went to his first OU football game when he was six, with half of his face painted red and the other half white.

But for the 6 – 4 1/2, 255 lb. tight end, for much of the recruiting process it didn’t look like he would have the chance to play in Norman, starting with his unofficial visit to OU as a junior.

“No one talked to me,” Ikard, the state’s top tight end recruit said.

“I took the tour but I’d been there 100 times. … It wasn wasn’tt discouraging, it was just like, I know I’m maybe like a back up plan to some of the guys.” ard is the only tight end But that eventually changed. Ikard in the Sooners’ 2009 signing class, expected to commit m being a kid with a to OU today. But the process from painted face in the stands to being months away from running on the OU field was a longg one.

Making a choice Ikard has been playing footballl since he was 10, but he was a multi-sport athlete. ete. He played AAU basketball growing up, and said aid he didn’t get involved heavily in football until junior high, and then almost gave it up.

“Once I got to high school I wasn’t asn’t going to play football, originally, just because I really liked baseball and I really liked basketball,” Ikard d said. “I ended up giving up baseball and then playing football ootball [because] I got kind of bored in baseball.”

That choice turned out to be a good one. When Ikard began high school he was about 6 – 3 and 215 lbs., and even though he decided to play football basketball, otball and basketba ball ll,, football still wasn’t his main focus.

“I was a basketball player,” Ikard said. “I mean, I really liked basketball, but I was one of those guys that figured out there’s not that many 6 – 4 ½ white guys playing college basketball that are playing forward.”

So Ikard’s focus shifted and he started on the varsity football team as a freshman.

McGuinness finished the year 8-3, and Ikard immediately began receiving attention from different colleges.

The recruitment process begins Letters came from OU, Oklahoma State and other schools as early as the end of Ikard’s freshman season.

“I got some ‘hey, we’re looking at you,’ that kind of powder puff stuff that they send any-

body that’s worth anything,” Ikard said. “‘I got some stuff from Buffalo, and Big 12 schools, just like those, ‘hey we play on TV tomorrow [letters].’ And I was like, ‘Well I know that.’”

But as Ikard’s career went on, he began to receive more attention.

Letters and phone calls became more frequent. He was asked to fill out questionnaires for schools that were interested. It’s a process that overwhelms many high school athletes, but not Ikard.

“It’s definitely an exciting experience,” he said. “You get a lot of attention which most people say they don’t like ... but they really do. You get to meet a bunch of coaches, you get to take free trips to places, so it was a lot of fun for me.”

But while Ikard was enjoying the attention, he had to begin thinking future. His first official offers came more seriously about his fu early during his junior yyear from Tulsa and Buffalo. Once those offers came iin, it began a domino effect and started rolling in. Still though, nothother offers sta ing from OU. 17, 2007, Ikard attended OU’s junior On Sept. 17 Potential recruits from all over the counday. Potenti try were invited to attend OU’s game vs.

Utah State and then tour the campus and some current players. But Ikard’s talk to so experience didn’t go too well.

“When I went to OU the first time I was completely ignored,” Ikard said. “So I didn’t offer or anything; it was an afterhave an of thought for a while.”

Without an offer from OU, Ikard’s thoughts shifted more toward heavy academic schools like Stanford aand Vanderbilt. Then offers from known for football like Texas Tech schools more kn and Kansas began arriving. Jim Ikard, Gabe’s dad, began sending nearly three hand-writsaid that OSU bega ten letters a day, and they even received several notes written on his personal stationary. from Mike Gundy wri OU was virtually out of the picture, so Gabe said he began trying to decide which school would be best for him and allow his wo family to come see his games.

Still, OU was in Ikard’s head.

“Always in the back of my mind I was like ‘why haven’t I been offered by OU yet?’ Ikard said. “But that’s how it works.

I wasn’t bitter. It might have driven me more to play better or do something. So it was actually probably more helpful than anything.”

By this time, Ikard had started at tight end and defensive end on two state championship teams and bigger offers started coming in. An offer from Notre Dame came in, and Gabe said he was seriously considering the Fighting Irish and Stanford until around May of 2008. “(Then) OU got thrown in there and that just screwed everything up,” Gabe said.

Leaving: There are 18 players that will not be returning to the 2009 football team. The most notables are Nic Harris, Lendy Holmes, Juaquin Iglesias, Manuel Johnson, Phil Loadholt and Duke Robinson.

QB: (1) Joey Halzle RB: (1) Derek Gove FB: (0) WR: (3) Quentin Chaney, Juaquin Iglesias, Manuel Johnson TE: (1) Kolby Smith OL: (6) Branndon Braxton, Jon Cooper, Kyle Johnson, Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson, Brandon Walker DL: (2) Cory Bennett, Alan Davis LB: (0) DB: (3) Cortney Carter, Nic Harris, Lendy Holmes P: (1) Mike Knall K: (0) The Sooners are going to need another wide receiver to step up with Ryan Broyles to try to replace Iglesias and Johnson. Also, the secondary is taking a hit by losing Holmes and Harris – especially at safety. Lastly, the offensive line will have one returning starter; this will obviously be a rebuilding year at these positions.

Incoming: There are 22 players that will be incoming to the 2009 football team. The most notable is Ronnell Lewis, Gabe Lynn and Jamarkus McFarland.

QB: (1) Drew Allen RB: (1) Jonathan Miller FB: (1) Marshall Musil WR: (2) Cameron Kenney, Jaz Reynolds TE: (1) Gabe Ikard OL: (4) Josh Aladenoye, Tyler Evans, Tavaris Jeffries, Jeff Vinson DL: (4) Jarrett Brown, Justin Chaisson, Terry Franklin, Jamarkus McFarland LB: (4) Jaydan Bird, Gus Jones, Ronnell Lewis, Tom Wort DB: (4) Kevin Brent, Javon Harris, Gabe Lynn, Marcus Trice P: (0) K: (0) The Sooners were only able to recruit two wide receiv-

“The OU thing just came out of the clear blue,” Jim said. “I remember Gabe sitting on the porch. We said, ‘what’s wrong?’ he said, ‘OU offered.’

I was like, ‘What?’”

OU offered Gabe much later than other schools. When offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson made visited Gabe, he apologized for jumping in the race so late. He said he wanted to see Gabe in person before he offered, and had just gotten his chance to do that.

Gabe wasn’t offended by the timing of the Sooners’ offer.

“I was like, ‘don’t sweat it, man,’” Gabe said. “You can’t be prideful about something that small. You can’t just say, ‘oh yeah, they offered me five months later than everyone else.’ It’s like who cares when it comes; it came.’”

Suddenly, Gabe had to consider OU, the school he had grown up a fan of, along with schools with rich history and academics like Notre Dame and Stanford.

When Wilson sat down with Gabe, though, the decision became clearer.

“I really liked Coach Wilson,” Gabe said. “Just meeting him and seeing him around his family and just hanging out with the guys. I thought it would be fun to play for an offensive coordinator that is your position coach. He’ll dial up some stuff for you.

“Other coaches show you tape and were like ‘okay well here you can watch our defensive ends and see what we do.’ Coach Wilson sat me down and said ‘see, right here is where I’d put you. Right here.’”

Gabe said they want to use him like junior tight end Brody Eldridge, where he would play some as a fullback, play in a three-point stance, and get the opportunity to catch a few passes.

Jim said Wilson brought a highlight tape of Eldridge’s biggest hits, to show Gabe what guys in his position get to do at OU. He was sold.

Heading to OU Gabe verbally committed to OU on Nov. 2. The recruitment process started nearly four earlier when Gabe began receiving letters of interest from various schools.

During the past four years he received countless amounts of mail, fielded phone calls from all sorts of coaches, visited various schools, received about 12 official offers and it ends today when he signs his commitment to OU. During his high school career he went 47-6 and won two state championships. He was an All-State defensive end and his high school coach, Kenny Young, said he’s simply a “winner.”

“He’s the kind of guy you want to have in your program that you can really build around,” Young said. “He’s a nice kid, he’s a leader at our school, he’s tremendous academically, [and] he’s a great student. He really is the total package.”

A week after McGuinness’s state championship game Gabe broke his foot in a basketball game. While recovering, he’s been working out trying to build his body for college. He won’t be in contact with OU coaches until the summer when he enrolls in summer school. Even then, he will only work with strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmit.

Then, the ride will be over. While the recruitment process can be overwhelming for some, Gabe said he’s enjoyed it.

“People are always like, ‘it’s such a tough decision,’” Gabe said. “Well yeah, it’s a tough decision that not many people get to make. You need to know that you’re lucky and you’re getting an opportunity that a lot of high school football players don’t get. … It was fun, wish I could do it again.”

Zach Butler/The Daily

Recruitment by the numbers Recruiting for need

OU’s recruitment

ers – a position of need – thus far. The best aspect of this recruiting class was signing defense, especially by getting a player that could see playing time at DL, LB and DB in the players mentioned above in the incoming introduction.

— MJ CASIANO

Who will they become?

It’s not just the five-star recruits that becomes stars. Sam Bradford was a middle-of-the-pack guy. Receiver Juaquin Iglesias was the same way. The Daily’s Jarrod Yost takes a shot at predicting where this year’s recruits will end up.

Jamarkus McFarland resembles sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy The head of his high school’s student council and the nation’s top defensive prospect, according to Rivals.com, McFarland is a stellar run-stopper and an outstanding human being.

Gabe Lynn resembles former OU cornerback Marcus Walker Similar size and speed. Lynn does not quite have the strength of Walker, but playing in the Jenks system could help him make up any difference.

Jaz Reynolds resembles former OU receiver Malcolm Kelly Although not as highly touted as Kelly, Reynolds’ stock has been on the rise as of late. Reynolds is a taller wide out that may need to fill out his 6’3” frame in order to make plays over the middle

Men’s basketball to face A&M tonight in Norman ERIC DAMA The Oklahoma Daily Home sweet home.

That’s what the men’s basketball team is surely thinking as it takes the court at Lloyd Noble Center tonight for the first time since beating OSU on Jan. 24.

The Sooners, who tip-off against Texas A&M at 8 p.m., enter tonight’s contest with their highest ranking since they finished the 1989-90 season ranked No. 1.

Head coach Jeff Capel said that puts a target on his squad’s back, but is also good for his team.

“What we’ve gone through this year, with all the publicity we’ve had from the start,” Capel said, “we’ve always been somewhere around the top ten, so we’re used to it. The numbers just change.

We’ve gotten used to taking everyone’s best shot, and that’s what you should want.”

A&M will be looking to give OU its best shot, especially since the Sooners have already beaten the Aggies this year—a 69-63 victory in College Station on Jan. 17.

Since that game, the Aggies are 2-2, with two straight losses to Kansas and Texas followed by wins over Texas Tech and OSU. “It helps that we played them shortly ago,” Capel said. “I think they’re better than since we [last] played them. They had a brutal early schedule and I think it shows the character of their guys to have survived that.”

OU’s focus will be on senior forward Josh Carter, the leader of the Aggies offensive attack. In the teams’ Jan. 24 matchup, Carter scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

He is just one of several players the Aggies have that can play both guard and forward. OU Junior Juan Patillo could subsequently be a big

Jonathon Miller resembles junior running back Chris Brown In a summer interview, Miller likened himself to Adrian Peterson. If he can be something like Chris Brown, the Sooners will be ecstatic.

Tom Wort resembles former OU linebacker Curtis Lofton Both were highly recruited players play fast, and neither is afraid to lay the lumber.

— JARROD YOST Amy Frost/ The Daily

Sophomore forward Blake Griffin drives past Baylor’s Quincy Acy (4) on Jan. 24.

factor tonight because of his versatility on defense.

“He’s been really good for us the last three games,” Capel said.

“We feel like we can put him on different guys and he can be effective. He’s also a guy, because of his athleticism, when he’s flying around and being active, he can erase some of those mistakes we make defensively.”

Another player who’s been key for the Sooners is sophomore forward Blake Griffin. With his 23 points and 15 rebounds in OU’s victory over Iowa State Saturday, Griffin has recorded at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in each of his past four games.

But Griffin said that those stats can be attributed to his teammates more than anything.

“Really I think it’s a credit to how everyone else is playing,” Griffin said. “It makes it easy on me. I just go get rebounds and my teammates will find me.”

Senior forward Taylor Griffin contributed across the board in the two teams’ previous meeting. He recorded 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Griffin said that although it gives him confidence, it also means that the Sooners have to play that much better.

“We know we have to be even more focused this time around,” Taylor said. “We have to play our game and continue to be doing what we’ve been doing all year. At the same time we have to make sure we play harder than them and with more intensity than them. We have to outwork them and everything else will happen.”