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WEDNESDAY, OCT. 15, 2008 © 2008 OU Publications Board

VOL. 93, NO. 39 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

Latin American journalists, students exchange experiences WHITNEY ORTEGA Daily Staff Writer

Photo provided

A group of Latin American journalists visited OU this past week to meet with students, professors and faculty members. The visit was arranged by the U.S. State Department.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Quotes from the delegates were translated from Spanish into English by the reporter.

Latin American journalists from 11 different countries visited OU this week to visit with their northern neighbors and broaden their borders as journalists.

Out of the 18 visiting journalists, most agreed that the trip was not only a success but a pleasure.

“The visit has gone really well. We’ve been shown hospitality and everyone is very friendly,” said Eduardo Galindo, a journalist from Venezuela.

The group of journalists came to OU as

part of the Edward R. Murrow program for journalists. The program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department and invites almost 200 leading journalists representing television, radio and print media from around the world to the U.S. It is meant to help visiting journalists examine different journalistic principles and practices from the U.S. and around the world. They are also examining media coverage of state politics and government, as well as current and future trends and challenges within journalism in the U.S. and around the world.

The group of nearly 200 journalists was broken up into smaller groups and sent to visit different universities across the country.

OU was picked not only because of its journalism program but also because of its location, said Charles Self, Director of the Edward R. Murrow Program at OU and a professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communications.

“The State Department really wants them to see the heartland area of the country,” Self said.

Even though a few of the visiting delegates call the same country home, none had ever met before.

“No one knew each other before coming here,” said Ruth Del Salto, a journalist from Ecuador. “But we’ve all got along really well and we’ve become like a fam-

JOURNALISTS Continues on page 2

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Students had the opportunity to try out “Gears of War 2” and other video game titles Tuesday evening in the Union. Also, Batman might be dead for good. Page 10.

SOONER SPORTS It wasn’t difficult to see that the running game was the weakest part of OU’s offense against Texas. The Sooners will be looking for ways to fix that problem this week. Page 5.

Photo provided by Pedro Gonzales

Students walk with Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Rice during the 4th of July parade in Bethany this summer in support of the Rice campaign.

CAMPUS BRIEFS Cat food drive In honor of National Feral Cat Day, Norman nonprofit group Fix A Cat will hold its first annual food drive. The drive will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the PetSmart store on Ed Noble Parkway.

They are asking for unopened dry cat and kitten food.

Alley Cat Allies started National Feral Cat Day in 2001 to raise awareness of the overwhelming number of feral cats that are killed in animal shelters. For more information about Thursday’s event, visit fixacat.net.

For students, it’s not politics as usual • Turnout tripled among young voters in 2008 Oklahoma primary RYAN BRYANT Daily Staff Writer am Ikard is racking up miles on his car to garner support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in hopes that the Illinois Senator can change the lives of Americans.

Ikard, political science junior, has worked for Obama’s campaign since its inception 20 months ago. He took a road trip to Springfield, Ill., in February 2007, where he watched Obama announce his candidacy. In August Ikard attended the Democratic National Convention in

S

Denver. is working as an intern for Republican Sen. Jim He has traveled the country to Inhofe’s re-election campaign. see Obama speak, and has worked “Being involved with a campaign is a real throughout Oklahoma and Texas to adrenaline rush,” she said. spread the word about the campaign Maricelli said she is drawn to Inhofe and to register new voters. because his stances are more in line with “I’m more enthusiastic about candiher own, including the issue of global dates, not political parties,” Ikard said. warming.

“One of [Inhofe’s] more controversial “I’m definitely not a party loyalist.” views is that he doesn’t believe in global Ikard said he supports candidates warming,” she said. “I don’t believe in who will use their strengths and abiliglobal warming, either.” ties to make life better for the American Maricelli said that Inhofe has more difpeople. ficulty attracting youth involvement in his “I’m interested in the ability of the governcampaign because of universities tend to be a more ment to influence and better people’s lives,” he liberal atmosphere. said.

“Younger people tend to hold more Democratic views, Ikard is one of many students who aren’t just voting this year but are investing time in a campaign they sup- and there are usually more intellectuals around a college port.

Petroleum engineering sophomore Katie Maricelli POLITICS Continues on page 2

TODAY’S INDEX A&E Campus Notes Classifieds Crossword Horoscope

10 9 8 8 9

News 7 Opinion 4 Police Reports 7 Sports 5, 6 Sudoku 9

STUDENT FINANCE

Professor: Bailout will save student loans, job market

WEATHER FORECAST

LOW 64° HIGH 66°

50%

THURSDAY LOW 49° HIGH 63° 20% Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab

President George W. Bush signed the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which went into effect Oct. 3. The bill calls for the government to purchase troubled assets from financial institutes.

“I’m sure everyone’s really nervous about this,” said James Benson, senior finance and energy major and Finance Student Association JAMIE HUGHES President. “It’s kind of like swallowing a bad Daily Staff Writer pill.”

If the bailout plan works, the effects will be Wall Street’s financial crisis has gained positive. The economy will slow in the beginnational attention, but business professors say ning and jobs will decrease for a time, but then the latest financial woes won’t affect students along Lindsey Street.

• Employment in banking industry should remain steady

TODAY

AP Photo

Specialists look at their screens as they work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. Employment in the banking and finance industries should not be affected by the current economic turmoil, professors said.

BAILOUT Continues on page 2

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News

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Bailout

Politics

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

pick back up, said James Uskert, finance assistant professor.

Benjamin Keen, economics assistant professor, said if the bill hadn’t passed, students could have been in more trouble because private student loans would be harder to locate.

Despite a heavy tax price, the bill won’t have a negative effect on students, Uskert said. “[If it] thaws up the frozen credit market, banks can loan and it will have a positive affect on students, making loans [more accessible],” Uskert said.

The bailout won’t affect students differently than other individuals, Keen said.

“It affects everybody [in that it will] improve the economy, which affects the job market, [which] provides more opportunities for students after graduation,” he said.

The rocky job market is another gray area for some students. Uskert said with the exception of jobs at bigger banks in the future, the banking industry should remain relatively steady.

“Right now they’re currently recruiting on campus. Jobs remain available,” he said. “Most of the community banks will thrive because most aren’t responsible for making the bad loans.”

Benson said effects of the bailout on the job market are hard to predict for current students, especially with the election. But he said companies are downsizing to accommodate the declining economy.

Benson said he is optimistic that the economic market will improve in the future.

“I anticipate it stabilizing a little. A few years down the road we’ll see some effects,” he said.

Journalists Continued from page 1 ily. This whole experience has been really neat.”

The group of journalists spent the past week in Oklahoma, visiting museums and attending discussions on the presidential, state and local elections, the economic situation and freedom of the press. They also visited the state capitol and local media offices like Telemundo and the Spanish newspapers El Nacional and El Voz. They also went to KFOR, a Spanish radio station, and the OU Nightly set in Gaylord.

The delegates took time to visit with students throughout their trip.

Students like journalism senior Bianca Lopez helped the group during its visit.

“They’re so friendly,” Lopez said. “It’s been a lot of fun driving them around and getting to talk to them.”

Despite the delegation’s packed schedule of luncheons, meetings and tours, they agreed

that one of the most important parts of their trip was visiting with OU students.

“The exchange of information between us and the students is very important,” said Claudia Fajardo, a journalist from Guatemala. “We talk about how the [journalistic] system works.”

Students attended the luncheon at Gaylord in order to visit with the delegation, an opportunity that Self considered very important.

“One of the most wonderful things that OU offers is the chance to learn about different countries and cultures,” Self said.

“President Boren has worked very hard to internationalize the campus and unless you take advantage of those opportunities it’s difficult to have that cultural experience because we’re in the middle of the country.”

Galindo said he and his counterparts enjoy learning about American culture, government and economics.

The program is also a chance for the journalists to learn more and renew their love for journalism, according to Greg Garcia, one of the groups interpreters.

Journalistic practices in the delegates’ countries are different than those in the U.S., but there are still fundamental similarities between the delegates and U.S. journalists, Garcia said.

OU has hosted the program for four years and has had a Latin American delegation for the past three. OU plans to continue welcoming the visiting journalists because it’s equally helpful to students and the delegates, according to Self.

“We learn from the Latin American journalists and they learn from us. They’re our closest neighbors so it’s important to get to know them,” Self said.

“The journalists get to learn first hand what U.S. citizens are like and give us a chance to learn first hand what Latin American citizens are like.”

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campus,” she said. “OU is a pretty liberal school.”

Stephanie Bates, public administration graduate student, said she thinks young voters are crucial in the upcoming election. She has worked for Sen. Howard Dean, D-Va., chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who ran for president in 2004.

Bates is now the Cleveland County coordinator for Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Bates’ duties include putting up signs for Rice and registering voters.

“I feel really compelled to be a part of a youth movement for the change of the political climate in this country,” she said.

“There’s been a lot of laziness and apathy on behalf of young people in the past, so now it’s especially exciting for me to see young people want to get involved.”

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonprofit organization that conducts research the political involvement of young adults, Oklahoma’s voter turnout tripled among voters age 18 to 29 in this year’s presidential primary election. On a national level, the overall youth turnout in the primaries and caucuses nearly doubled, rising from nine percent in 2000 to 17 percent in 2008.

Bates said she supports Rice

because he puts party loyalty aside and works across the aisle to pass legislation. Bates said she quit her job to work as an unpaid intern for the Rice campaign.

“I really like being behind the scenes,” she said. “I really just like everything that goes into a grass roots political effort.”

Geology senior Chris Applegate also works for the Rice campaign and is involved with OUr Earth, a student organization focusing on educating the university community about environmental issues.

He said that the key to developing an interest in politics is finding a passion and working to further a cause.

“Become part of an organization or make one yourself,” he said. “Go to your state offices. Start small, and you change your local government.

It just takes a loud voice, and if you’re passionate enough, you can create change.”

Melody Hollifield, international and area studies junior, is working for Rice’s campaign as an intern. She has previously worked as a legislative assistant in Oklahoma’s Capitol.

Hollifield said knowing and understanding representatives’ issues is a key aspect of an effective democracy.

“A lot of people don’t actually know who’s representing them,” she said. “They can’t represent you correctly if they

don’t know what you think.”

She said understanding an elected official’s voting record is vital to creating a government that works toward its constituents’ wants and needs.

“See how they vote and see what they’re supporting. If you find out the person’s not listening, then you make yourself louder or find somebody else to be elected in their place,” she said.

CORRECTION Due to an editor’s error, Tuesday’s story about former South African President F.W. de Klerk incorrectly identified the location of his formal address.

He participated in a discussion with students in the Fred Jones Museum of Art and gave a speech in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of Oklahoma Memorial Union. It was the speech that was quoted in Tuesday’s story.

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

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

On the Issues

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

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Education falls behind hot-button topics in campaign • Professors analyze each candidate’s educational plans Caitlin Harrison Daily Staff Writer Education has not been a top priority in either presidential candidate’s campaign. The issue lags behind others like the economy, energy and the war in Iraq.

Neil Houser, social studies and art education professor, said education may be important to many voters, but other concerns, like the latest financial woe on Wall Street, the economy and the war take precedence. But Houser said improving education could stabilize other problems.

“Everything is related to education,” he said. “If we don’t focus on education, we’re not focusing on things that could prevent internal conflicts.”

Both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have addressed education, but Obama has spent more time discussing some of the issues, Houser said.

According to Obama’s campaign Web site, he plans to improve education through addressing the dropout crisis, reforming the No Child Left Behind Act, improving teacher retention rates and supporting college outreach programs.

Obama will also invest in public education, which will help put the economy back on track, Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, said in an e-mail.

According to McCain’s Web site, his education plan includes increasing children’s access to tutoring programs, providing more incentives for highly motivated teachers to enter the field, giving parents more control and focusing more on the individual student as opposed to group averages.

He also plans to eliminate geographical boundaries in school districts so students can choose the school they attend.

Both candidates have discussed ways to increase teacher’s salaries.

Obama’s plan would create programs to pay teachers more based on performance and would dedicate higher pay to those who teach in inner city and rural areas.

McCain would receive funds for high-performing teachers from Title II funding. He plans to devote 25 percent of the funding to teachers who graduate in the top 25 percent of their class or participate in alternative teacher recruitment programs like Teach for America.

Obama will help with the cost of college through a new American Opportunity Tax Credit, which would make the first $4,000 of college education free for most Americans.

This would cover two-thirds of tuition at the average public college or university in exchange for 100 hours of community service.

McCain plans to address the rising cost of college through simplifying higher education tax benefits so more families could send kids to college. According to his site, McCain would simplify student lending programs and make more financial aid information available to students and their families.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. on No Child left behind

“We shouldn’t reauthorize [No Child Left Behind] without changing it fundamentally. There are school districts all across the state and all across the country that are having a difficult time implementing No Child Left Behind.”

“Is it perfect? No. Does it need to be fixed? Yes. But I say improve it, don’t discard it. There are individuals and even states that want to abandon No Child Left Behind. Did anybody think the state of education was fine before we passed it? I don’t think so.”

on K-12 Education “I’m going to put billions of dollars into early childhood education that makes sure that our African-American youth, Latino youth, poor youth of every race, are getting the kind of help that they need so that they know their numbers, their colors, their letters.”

“We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice. Let’s remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.”

on Higher Education “I’ll also simplify the financial aid application process so that we don’t have a million students who aren’t applying for aid because it’s too difficult. I will start by eliminating the current student aid form altogether. We’ll use tax data instead.”

“We need more student loan programs. We also need to reduce the interest rate. We have to think about incentives for math, science and engineering students because that is the need for the future economy and for this country, and we have a shortage of them.”

on Teachers “We’ll recruit teachers in math and science, and deploy them to under-staffed school districts in our inner cities and rural America. And when our teachers succeed, I won’t just talk about how great they are, I’ll reward their greatness with better pay and more support.”

“We will pay bonuses to teachers who take on the challenge of working in our most troubled schools--because we need their fine minds and good hearts to help turn those schools around. We will award bonuses as well to our highest-achieving teachers.”

Source: Ontheissue.org, McCain’s Aug. 10,2007 speech in Wolfeboro, N.H. and Obama’s Web site

University of Oklahoma Libraries

BOOK SALE Friday, October 17 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM OU Community Only

1:00 PM to 4:00 PM Open to the Public

South Side Bizzell Memorial Library 401 West Brooks For more information contact: http://libraries.ou.edu or call 325-2141

4

Opinion

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Mark Potts — Broadcast and electronic media graduate student

STAFF CARTOON

OUR VIEW

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

Education is an issue but the average Joes of America contributed to the credit crisis, too. Could it be that Americans made the poor decisions they did because they simply didn’t understand the financial decisions they were making?

A recent New York Times story reported that the state of financial knowledge among the nation’s young people is woefully inadequate. Most American teenagers know little about how credit works, what their financial responsibilities will be like when they’re on their own or how much money it takes to stay afloat.

This is the result of inadequate education about the basic financial principles that people need to know to survive.

The war in Iraq has been attributed, at least in part, to poor intelligence. In order to collect the most accurate, up-to-date information on areas of interest throughout the world, the U.S. must maintain a large, well-trained corps of diplomats and intelligence agents who are well-versed in a region’s history, politics, culture and native language.

But right now, it’s possible for American students to graduate from high school and even college programs (including several at OU) without ever having taken a foreign language class.

We know that taking a tough stance on education policy isn’t going to get anyone elected. But we hope whoever wins Nov. 4 will demonstrate real leadership not just by responding to the most politically popular issues of the moment but by guiding his administration to make education a priority.

STAFF COLUMN

Two-party system hurts U.S. voters

T H E

weed out potential candidates they don’t like?”

They are. But most Americans don’t vote in primaries.

Primary electoral voter turnout in 2008 was only around 25 percent. It is even lower during midterm elections.

Most of the people who vote in primaries are the party hardliners who won’t give a candidate a chance if he or she fails the litmus test.

The voting public has allowed two-party politics to get to this point.

The average Democrat or Republican is going to vote for his or her party’s candidate because, to them, the only qualification is party identification.

Elections, unfortunately, are won by winning over undecided and fringe voters. Undecided votersare most likely to vote the same way they did in the past.

The fringe voters — those who are either extremely conservative or extremely liberal — really enhance the problem.

Their commitment to their party is so die-hard that they might refuse to vote for a candidate if they differ from the party platform or even the small issues.

As a result, a candidate must pander to these extremist voters to secure their votes, and, in the process, the candidate must sacrifice their middle of the road beliefs.

Because of all this, we only get two candidates to choose from who are complete opposites from each other on nearly every issue.

In a more perfect America, we would have an electorate that really cares about government and politics and takes the time to vote in primaries and make their voices heard.

Graphic novels perfect for nonreaders For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed stories.

When I was young, I read a lot. I was a connoisseur of The Hardy Boys and Goosebumps, and I went through a big Kurt Vonnegut phase as a teenager.

At some point, though, I became incapable of reading fiction. Now my mind wanders so frequently when staring at the text that I tend to lose the story completely.

I always realize I haven’t retained anything from the last several pages and then start over.

Incidentally, for JORDAN several years, I’ve only been able to read ROGERS biographies and other types of non-fiction.

I in no way intend for this column to be a cry for help, but the void of fiction in my heart that was once only satisfied through “lame” (awesome) video games and science fiction movies has now been filled beyond its capacity.

To fill this void, I have adopted the graphic novel.

The art is interesting enough to keep me into the story without losing my attention and often substitutes the bland narratives that can take several pages to explain how a character looks or dresses, and the pacing is excellent.

While many people think graphic novels operate solely within the superhero realm, that is entirely untrue.

The list of non-superhero graphic novels goes on and on. You’ve got Sandman, Jimmy Corrigan, V for Vendetta - even

Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven has been turned into a graphic novel.

Graphic novels are capable of taking on the same plot and tone of any other book out there. They don’t even have to be fiction.

A good example of this is the graphic novel Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi.

The book is an autobiography depicting Satrapi’s life during the war between Iran and Iraq during the 1980s.

But even though graphic novels are capable of telling the same stories that any novel can, the art in each frame can operate as a storyteller in itself, giving the graphic novel many unique possibilities.

A great example of this is the non-fiction Maus, by Art Speigelman. Maus tells the tale of Speigelman’s father, a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust.

The interesting part of this novel is that Speigelman, who also drew the art, depicted the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats.

This wonderfully ambitious decision creates an exceptional tone within the story.

It is amazing that someone is gifted enough to write an awesome novel and illustrate it as well.

But don’t forget my favorite genre: superhero graphic novels.

Most who know me well know I’m a

Batman fan, and I won’t hide that here.

I have found so many great Batman graphic novels that the only trouble I have is picking out which one to read next.

That doesn’t mean, however, that there aren’t good graphic novels featuring other superheroes.

Anyone partial to the Flash, Spiderman, X-Men, Green Lantern, Superman, Wonder Woman or any hero who is well-known can find several solid novels about their personal favorite.

Still, some graphic novel super heroes are original.

This includes Watchmen.

There really isn’t anything new I can say about this incredible story that hasn’t already been said.

If you are at all intrigued by the novel, read it before the movie comes out in March.

Graphic novels turned me from a non-reader into someone who reads frequently and enjoys it a lot.

If you have given up reading, don’t hesitate to look into graphic novels.

It worked for me, and there are so many different genres that I’m convinced anyone could find something they like.

JORDAN ROGERS IS AN INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERHIS COLUMN APPEARS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY.

ING SENIOR.

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Opinion readers can also submit letters to the editor electronically by e-mailing dailyopinion@ou.edu.

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MICHAEL AMAN IS A PETROLEUM HIS COLUMN APPEARS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY ENGINEERING SENIOR.

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V O I C E

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

It worked for me, and there are so many different generes that I’m convinced everyone can find something they like.

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T H E The Fine Print:

If there is one thing I don’t like about the American political system, it’s that we have a two-party system.

Any candidate who wants to have a serious chance of being elected has to either a Republican or Democrat.

Most people don’t take thirdparty candidates seriously, and running for most offices requires a lot of money — which a major party can provide.

But it is the two-party system that has polarized politics in our country. Democrats and Republicans have become so distinct that there is no middle ground between the two, and our electoral choices suffer.

To be a Democrat, one has to be prochoice, pro gaymarriage and anti-guns.

A MICAHEL Republican has to be the exact AMAN opposite.

We no longer have candidates who have varying opinions on issues because a potential office holder has to be either completely conservative or completely liberal, or he or she doesn’t have a chance of getting elected.

Most Americans, however, don’t take a consistantly conservative or liberal stance on all the issues.

I, for example, am pro-gay marriage, pro-life and progun and think the government should provide more social programs for people in need.

So, who am I supposed to vote for? Of the four issues that are most important to me, two of my positions would make me a Democrat, and two would make me a Republican. Unfortunately, all I have to choose from are two polar opposites. I can’t vote for someone who truly represents my political beliefs.

Some of you might be saying “What about primaries? Aren’t they designed so that voters can

STAFF COLUMN

Contact Us:

Energy. The economy. The war in Iraq. Education.

In a list of the most talked about campaign issues, which one doesn’t belong? If you guessed “education,” congratulations, you’re right!

(See page 3 for details.)

Unfortunately, the United States will end up being a loser if its leaders don’t put more emphasis on making education both excellent and accessible.

Yes, it’s tempting in the midst of plummeting stock indices and an interminable war to focus exclusively on the most pressing crisis of the day.

But good OUR VIEW leaders don’t just respond is an editorial selected and debated to problems, by the editorial board they analyze and written after a them. majority opinion is Every one formed and approved by the editor. Our View of the headis The Daily’s official line-grabbing opinion. issues of the day can be addressed, at least in part, by improving the quality of education.

The energy issues that the nation is facing aren’t going to be solved by simply modifying the way people live. The worldwide increase in demand for energy, coupled with the dwindling supply of oil, makes innovative energy solutions a necessity.

If the United States wants to be on the forefront of the next energy revolution, the government needs to invest not only in renewable energy research and development but also in the students who will fill tomorrow’s green collar jobs.

The economic meltdown is blamed on bad financial policy,

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Sports

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

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

5

FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK No nightmares about fake punt Head coach Bob Stoops said he hasn’t lost any sleep over the decision to fake a punt in the third quarter against Texas.

Punter Mike Knall ran and fell just shy of the first-down marker, and it was a huge momentum swing in favor of the Longhorns.

“When I watched it when I got home and watched how clean it was, it was there,” Stoops said. “We just don’t execute. One of our guys stops [blocking] instead of continuing to go get the last guy.”

He said he would feel worse had he not gambled and the Sooners still lost when they could have stolen a possession.

“I’d rather go down swinging than not calling it just because of fear [the media] might get on me about it,” Stoops said.

Stoops agrees with decision on questionable call

Zach Butler/The Daily

OU running back DeMarco Murray is rackled along the sidelines during the Sooners’ 45-35 loss to Texas Saturday. Murray was held to just six yards on seven carries, and OU as a team registered 48 yards on 26 carries.

Sooners address rushing woes • Coaches hope to make running game more consistent KYLE BURNETT Daily Sports Writer The lack of a running game in OU’s offense has been obvious in games against TCU and Texas. Against their other four opponents, the Sooners averaged 217.5 rushing yards per game, while TCU and Texas held the Sooners to only 36.5 yards per game.

This disparity has not been overlooked by the coaching staff and players. This week, the team is looking to practice hard and fix the problems in establishing a running attack.

“It’s an issue,” head coach Bob Stoops said.

“Some games we’ve been able to run it and run it well. And others — being just two games — we haven’t, so we’re going to have to look for more ways to run it.”

According to Stoops, the rushing attack hasn’t become a critical problem yet.

He said that in both games the team didn’t run well, the opponents’ defenses were making an effort to stop the duo of junior Chris Brown and sophomore DeMarco Murray.

But that defensive focus on the running game allowed sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford to thrive in the passing game. “[Against] the teams that game plan against the run game, we’re going to have more success with the pass,” Cooper said. “When Sam [Bradford] gets hot, we’re going to keep letting him throw the ball. They still respect our run game, so we throw in a run or a play action pass to take that as a threat. We just take what they give us.”

Against Texas, Murray and Chris Brown carried the ball seven times each for 35 yards combined.

The performance was the second time this year that OU was held to less than 100 yards rushing. Against TCU, Brown and Murray combined for 50 yards.

“You know it’s kind of hard to get a rhythm when it’s only one run play every so many plays,” Cooper said. “It’s tough to get a rhythm, but we do need to be more successful with that.”

Stoops believes a lot of the problems may be due to match-up issues when defenders outnumber the blockers.

“You know when you have six blockers — five linemen and a tight end — and they have seven guys, and if you’re in the shotgun or under center, you’re outnumbered,” Stoops said. “In the old game that has been going on for decades, if you’re outnumbered you throw the ball, and we’ve been highly effective throwing the football.”

Brown — who only ran for 29 yards on seven carries against Texas — is ready to come out strong against Kansas and get the running game back on track.

“It’s a tad off,” Brown said. “We’ve watched film, and it’s just a little thing here, a little thing there and then it’s just stopping and holding us up.”

Brown added that the running game’s struggles can’t be attributed to just one person.

“The run game hasn’t been as good as it has,” Brown said. “But we have to step up and take responsibility for what is going on in the run game. It’s just not the O-Line, it’s [the running backs]; it’s the whole offense, it’s the running game.”

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Another key play took place late in the third quarter when junior linebacker Lamont Robinson, who came in on a short down situation inside the red zone for junior Keenan Clayton, apparently intercepted Colt McCoy’s pass in the end zone.

Robinson cut in front of the intended receiver and appeared to maintain posession of the ball until hitting the ground, when the ball popped out of his arms.

Officials huddled and determined that Robinson did not come down clean with the ball, resulting in an incompletion.

Instead of a one-point lead, the Sooners gave up a field goal and trailed 30-28 at the time.

While the media questioned the call in the Tuesday press conference, Stoops believes the officials made the correct call.

“The ground cannot cause a fumble, so if you fall on the ground, and the ball pops out, it’s not a fumble,” Stoops said. “But to complete a reception, the ground can cause an incompletion, or it can make an interception not an interception if the ground causes it to pop out. You have to complete the roll [to the ground] with the ball. The possession isn’t complete until the roll is over.”

OU-Texas players of the game In the Tuesday media press conference, Stoops announced the offensive and defensive players of the game in last weekend’s contest against Texas.

Offensively, sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford and senior wide receivers Manuel Johnson and Juaquin Iglesias earned the honors.

Bradford passed for 387 yards and five touchdowns, while Johnson had 85 yards and three touchdowns and Iglesias led the team with 92 reception yards.

Defensively, redshirt freshman linebacker Travis Lewis and sophomore defensive tackle Gerald McCoy were players of the game.

Lewis recorded 19 tackles, tying Brian Bosworth’s 1984 record for the most freshman single-game tackles, and McCoy had two sacks in the contest.

— JOEY HELMER/THE DAILY

6

Sports

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

STAFF COLUMN

OU’s national title chances look bleak don’t want to be a negative Nancy, but the loss to Texas this weekend proved one thing to me: OU can almost throw in the national championship towel.

It seems as if just a few measly days ago, everyone on campus was getting their flights and hotels planned out, preparing for a trip to Miami in January.

Now, everyone has a “there’s always next year” attitude.

I haven’t seen this big of a disappointment since the 2008 version of DeMarco Murray.

It’s very simple. In order to go to the national championship, the Sooners have to go to the Big 12 Championship, which means they have to win the South division, which currently has four teams ranked in the MJ nation’s top eight.

Most importantly, OU will have to win CASIANO the rest of its games and hope that UT loses twice.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the other teams that have an edge on OU right now.

The big surprise of the year is obviously Oklahoma State, which is currently tied for first in the Big 12 South standings, alongside Texas and Texas Tech.

In order for the Sooners to pass OSU, they’ll have to win the last game of the season when they travel to Stillwater. I think OSU has the best chance of slowing down out of the group, but only because they play at UT and Texas Tech.

Then everything needs to fall in place with Texas Tech, whose toughest games come at OU and a home game against Texas.

The most unlikely part of the formula is Texas losing twice.

This is doubtful, especially since UT has already played their toughest game. The Longhorns still have a good chance of losing at Texas Tech, but the tiebreaker is the biggest difference maker.

You see, five of OU’s final six games are either against top16 competition, on the road, or both. They have the toughest road to the Big 12 Championship and they need help along the way.

Now I understand that LSU went to the national championship losing two games last year. This is a totally different situation. LSU didn’t have three other teams battling for the first place spot like OU does.

Finally, don’t even think about the argument that UT beat OU in 2006 and then somehow lost two late season games to hand OU the South title.

This year’s Texas team is much better.

The chances of things falling into place are unlikely, about as likely as Santa Claus actually eating the cookies you bake for him this year.

I

— MJ CASIANO IS A BROADCAST AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA SOPHOMORE.

Volleyball prepared for Colorado • Sooners trying to break four-match skid MATT WELCH Daily Staff Writer After coming within one point of upsetting No. 16 Kansas State last Saturday, the Sooner volleyball squad will attempt to secure its first win of October tonight when it hosts the University of Colorado.

The Sooners (7-10, 3-6 Big 12) will ride a four-match losing streak into this evening’s match and, with a week-long reprieve from facing ranked competition, OU head coach Santiago Restrepo said the time is now to right the ship.

“There is definitely a sense of urgency,” Restrepo said. “We were looking at Kansas State being the match that we would turn the corner on. Now we have to look at Colorado as our chance to turn things around.”

In Colorado (9-7, 3-4 Big 12), OU meets a seasoned squad returning seven starters — including six upperclassmen — from last season.

After spending years in the upper echelon of Big 12 volleyball, an injury-riddled 2007 campaign saw Colorado secure only one victory in conference play and finish 6-22 overall.

The Buffaloes have easily surpassed that mark in 2008, landing conference victories over the likes of Texas Tech, Kansas and Texas A&M. On paper, the Buffaloes find themselves in the lower half of the Big 12 in virtually every statistical category, but the squad’s chemistry and experience will make for a competitive outing in a match that has gone to five sets in four of the last six meetings. “[Colorado] is a team that digs a lot of balls and relies a lot on their defense,” Restrepo said. They always play us tough, have a lot of seniors on their team and play very well together.”

The Sooners have dropped their last four matches — three against teams in the nation’s top 25 — but freshman setter Brianne Barker said the experience has served well for the squad’s younger players.

“It’s crazy because last year, I’d watch [No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Texas] play on TV and now I’m out there playing,” Barker said. “I was a bit nervous at first, but now I know what to do on the court at certain times. Being with three freshman, it’s kind of tough but it has helped us out in the long run.”

The Sooners are coming off a hotly contested 3-2 defeat to No. 16 Kansas State last Saturday. After taking the first two sets of action, OU was unable to close the deal,

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

OU VS. KANSAS TICKET DISTRIBUTION MONDAY/TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY

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

OPPONENT

DISTRIBUTION DATES

OFFICE HOURS

10/18

Kansas

October 13-15

Mon.-Wed. 8am-5pm

11/1

Nebraska

October 27-29

Mon.-Wed. 8am-5pm

11/22

Texas Tech

November 17-19

Mon.-Wed. 8am-5pm

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

Amy Frost/The Daily

OU middle blocker Chrissy Disarro (12) spikes the ball during the Sooners’ Oct. 1 match against Texas. That match was the first of four consecutive losses for the Sooners, a streak they will try to break tonight. which has become a focus for Restrepo heading into tonight’s match.

“We have to find a way to find three sets and put them all together,” Restrepo said.

“We’re almost there and I felt we played three sets that were very good against Kansas State, but unfortunately, the third set didn’t go our way in the end.”

Freshman outside hitter Caitlin Higgins and sophomore middle blocker Chrissy Disarro both finished the match in double figures on offense, recording 15 and 11 kills, respectively.

Defensively, four players finished with dou-

ble-digit digs with senior libero Lacy Barnes leading the way with 22. Barker said that same kind of effort will be vital if the team plans on landing its first victory since Sept. 27.

“Our defense will need to step up and the offense has to put the ball down in tight situations,” Barker said. “We need to have that go-to hitter and if we can play like we did against Kansas State — together as a team — we’ll be fine.”

The Colorado match will begin at 7 p.m. at the McCasland Field House, and the first 250 fans in attendance will receive OU volleyball pennants.

News

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

7

STATE BRIEFLY Edmond to use public funds for Jesus statue OKLAHOMA CITY — A decade ago, the city of Edmond was forced to pay more than $200,000 in legal fees after losing a court battle to keep a cross on its city seal.

Just last year, a city art commission backed down from a decision to use public funds on a statue of Moses.

Now, the same commission is moving full speed ahead with plans to use public funds to erect a statue of Jesus Christ on a city sidewalk in time for Christmas.

“This is the third major unconstitutional effort they’ve engaged in recent years,” said Barry Lynn, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“It’s a little surprising, because normally people pause to take a breath before they violate the constitution again.”

The Edmond Visual Arts Commission last month approved spending $3,900 in city funds to help pay for the 26-inch-tall bronze statue of Jesus surrounded by three children.

Lynn said using public funds on the project is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.

“You cannot promote what is obviously a very specific religious image using tax dollars,” Lynn said. “The city lawyers should have stopped this. This isn’t even close to the line. This is way over it.”

“I think there are differences of opinions regarding that issue,” City attorney Stephen Murdock said.

Michael Salem, the Norman attorney who successfully challenged Edmond on its use of a cross on the city seal, said the issue is more one of fairness than being anti-religion.

“It’s a slippery slope that the city wanders into when it does this,” Salem said. “Once they have set down that path, this means that if an application is made by some other group that wants to put some kind of religious object up in front of their business, then the city could be obligated or required to pay for it also.”

Rice calls for more debates with Inhofe TULSA — Democrat Andrew Rice on Tuesday stepped up calls for another debate against incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, saying he would travel to meet his opponent wherever he chose, even to “the most Republican county in the state” if required to.

“My opinion is he’s scared to debate me,” Rice, a first-term state senator from Oklahoma City, said before speaking to The State Chamber here. “It’s a very difficult time. There’s a lot of anxiety in Oklahoma, and someone who’s been in Washington for this many years is essentially refusing to go out into public and stand next to me.”

Inhofe suggested another debate wouldn’t “really matter much.”

“One’s a liberal and one’s a conservative,” Inhofe said. “There’s not too much to be resolved in a debate.”

The Rice campaign contends that it had previously accepted several debates — in Norman in September, in Lawton and in Oklahoma City on Oct. 30 — but the Inhofe campaign turned them all down, citing scheduling conflicts.

Tax revenues still strong in Oklahoma OKLAHOMA CITY — The national economic downturn has yet to take a toll on tax collections in Oklahoma, unlike the experience in many states.

A report issued Tuesday by state Treasurer Scott Meacham shows the state has almost $170 million more than the amount needed to fund state government for the first three months of the fiscal year.

Meacham said the cushion can be used in the months ahead should shortfalls develop because of economic problems facing the nation.

When the legislative session begins in February, a rainy day fund of almost $600 million is available for use during a funding emergency.

— AP

AP Photo

Steve Baker, director of the Federal Trade Commission's Midwest Region announces that the FTC has shut down one of the largest spam operations in the world Tuesday at a news conference in Chicago.

AP Photo

FTC shuts down spam ring CHICAGO — E-mail inboxes may be clogged with a little less spam — at least for a while.

Authorities said Tuesday they have shut down one of the largest spam operations in the world, a vast network involving countries like New Zealand, China and the United States.

The spammers sent out billions of e-mails in recent years encouraging people to click through to Web sites that allegedly used false claims to peddle prescription drugs, as well as “male enhancement” and weightloss pills.

The Federal Trade Commission received more than 3 million complaints about the spam and related Web sites, illustrating the

scale of the operation, officials said.

The sites, including one called “Canadian Healthcare,” were difficult to distinguish from legitimate online pharmacies — making the pitches more persuasive, said Steve Baker, the FTC’s Midwest Region director.

“These sites are really professionally constructed,” he said.

“Some years ago you used to be able to tell the bogus things because they looked cheesy and had misspellings. Anymore, I don’t think that’s true.”

The operation violated the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, meant to restrict commercial spam, by using false header information to hide the origin

of messages, not offering an optout link and failing to list a postal address, the FTC said.

As part of their inquiry, FTC staff made undercover purchases from the sites. No one asked the clandestine buyers to provide verification of a prescription and the shipped drugs did not include doctors’ instructions or dosage information, officials said.

A federal judge in Chicago issued a temporary injunction to halt the operation and also froze its assets. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating and those involved could also face criminal charges, Baker said.

— AP

Syria formally recognizes Lebanon DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria formally recognized Lebanon for the first time Tuesday by establishing diplomatic relations with its neighbor — meeting a U.S. demand to do more for regional stability even as Damascus pursues indirect peace talks with Israel.

Lebanon and Syria have not had formal diplomatic ties since both gained independence from France in the 1940s. The move by President Bashar Assad ended six decades of non-recognition. Both countries announced plans to open embassies by the end of the year.

Lebanon’s Western-backed prime minister, Fuad Saniora, praised the development as a “historic step on the road to confirming Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty and its free decision-making.”

“It is the situation which Lebanon and the Lebanese have long hoped for,” he said.

Relations between the Arab nations have been lopsided since the 1970s, when Syria sent its army

into Lebanon and retained control there for nearly 30 years. Ties unraveled when former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a 2005 car bombing that many Lebanese blame on Syria — a charge Syria denies.

Hariri’s assassination triggered huge anti-Syrian street protests and Damascus caved to U.S.-led international pressure and withdrew its tens of thousands of troops from Lebanon a few months after the bombing.

But establishing diplomatic relations remained a pressing demand of the anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon’s parliament, which saw it as an important symbol of recognition of Lebanese sovereignty.

The West is slowly moving away from a policy in recent years of isolating Syria — an ally of Iran and Hezbollah which has also provided a home for some radical Palestinian groups. Instead the West has tried to engage Syria more in Mideast issues.

— AP

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

Wall Street fluctuates as profit-taking sets in NEW YORK — Wall Street fluctuated Tuesday as investors reacted enthusiastically to the U.S. government’s plans to spend $250 billion to buy stock in private banks but also collected profits from the previous day’s massive advance. The Dow Jones industrial average shifted between modest losses and gains a day after its record 936-point jump.

Profit-taking started creeping into the market after the Dow surged more than 400 points at the opening, and it was expected that some investors would take some money out of the market after such a massive gain. Moreover, it was anticipated that Wall Street would continue to see jittery trading in the weeks and perhaps months ahead because of worries about the weak economy.

“We don’t know if the bottom is in,” said Lincoln Anderson, chief investment officer and chief economist at LPL Financial in Boston, referring to the market’s advance Monday after huge losses last week.

“We certainly expect heightened volatility for a fair amount of time while we sort out just exactly what’s going on.”

Investors had snapped up stocks Monday in anticipation of the government’s plan. President Bush said Tuesday the government will use a portion of the $700 billion bailout to inject capital into the nation’s major banks, which have been slammed by souring mortgage investments.

The move follows a similar one announced Monday by European

governments to invest about $2 trillion in their own troubled banks.

Investors are hoping extraordinary steps by government officials will help resuscitate stagnant credit markets.

“The tone is cautious,” Anderson said. “I don’t think anybody is pile driving into the market and doubling up.”

The revised bailout plan differs from the original in that it aims to recapitalize banks, not just buy the troubled assets off their books at prices that could leave the banks with losses.

“This begins to penetrate the core of the problem,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc. But, he said, “there will be a point in time where the euphoria of the bailout plan begins to wear off and the market begins to face reality. And that reality is likely to be a sour earnings season and that the economy is in recession.”

In mid-afternoon trading, the Dow rose 12.67, or 0.13 percent, to 9,400.28.

Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research, said investors pleased about the government’s bank plan gravitated toward industrial companies, seeing them as more likely to benefit from a revived credit market than technology companies. That helped send the Nasdaq lower.

— AP

8

Classifieds

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

PLACE AN AD Phone 405.325.2521

E-Mail classifieds@ou.edu

Fax 405.325.7517

Office

Employment

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

C Transportation

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DEADLINES

AUTO INSURANCE

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

Employment HELP WANTED

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

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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.

RATES 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.

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 Traditions Spirits is hiring COCKTAIL SERVERS for Riverwind Casino. Must be 21 and have open availability. Apply in person at 2815 SE 44TH, Norman. 2 miles West of Riverwind Casino on Highway 9-north service road. 405-392-4550.

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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.

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(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.

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

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

First Bank & Trust Co. has an immediate opening for Part Time Tellers. Previous banking experience is preferred or background in retail. Strong customer service skills required. Apply in person at First Bank & Trust Co., 2330 36th Ave NW Norman or send resume’ to Human Resources, P.O. Box 580, Duncan, OK 73534. EOE, M/F/D/V Looking to make a difference? Positions available PT/FT, paid training, needed male/female, starting at $7.50 and up. Working with individuals with developmental disabilities. Must be 18+. Call Panhandle Opportunities at 942-4822.

APTS. UNFURNISHED VERY NICE!!!, 800 sf, 1 bdrm, living room, kitchen, bth, wood floors, 1 block OU, 1018 S College, $275/mo. Call 306-1970 or 360-2873.

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HOUSES UNFURNISHED Near OU 1111 Louise Ln, 3/2/2, $750/mo; 826 Jona Kay, 3/2/2/2 living, $950/mo; 1301 Keystone 3/1/1, $625/mo; 910 Quanah Parker 2/1/1 $600/mo.360-2873 or 306-1970.

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ROOMMATES WANTED 1 bdrm of 3 bdrm house for rent, female only to join other 2 female students. No pets/smokers, very close to OU, all bills paid, but elec has 1/3 cap., $325/mo. Call 909-238-2941.

oudaily.com

9

4 5 6 9 3

1 6 6 7 8

3 2 8 4

2 6 8 7 4 5

7

Yesterday’s Solution

1

4 3

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7 3 6 1 9 8 5 4 2

5 1 4 2 6 7 9 8 3

9 8 3 5 1 4 2 7 6

2 5 1 8 7 6 4 3 9

6 4 7 3 2 9 1 5 8

3 6 8 9 4 1 7 2 5

4 7 2 6 3 5 8 9 1

1 9 5 7 8 2 3 6 4

Difficulty Schedule: M - Very Easy T - Easy W- Easy R - Medium F - Hard

9

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ACROSS 1 Private student 6 Tunnel of love vehicle 10 Dover fish 14 “My love ___ fever’’ (Shakespeare) 15 “On top of that” 16 Has a mortgage, e.g.

17 Wield one’s influence in a puppet show?

20 Its fruit is an acorn 21 Horn of plenty?

22 Start of the Lord’s Prayer 23 Exit quickly 25 Secret Chinese society, in the U.S. 27 Conical quarters 31 Procrastinate 34 Relative of the zebra 36 Genesis construction 37 Tizzy 38 Don’s followers 39 Black-andwhite driver 41 1/1000 of an inch 43 Scottish refusal 44 “Famous’’ cookie brand 46 “Kilroy ___ here’’ 48 Fluffy dessert 50 Do more

than threaten to sue 53 Bit of buffoonery 54 East European native 55 Fuzzy textures 58 Guinea pig, often 60 Nautical affirmatives 62 ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) 63 One way to prepare for bed 68 Big source of corn 69 Mars’ Greek counterpart 70 “A Lesson From ___’’ 71 Refute 72 Get one’s feet wet 73 Songwriter Newman DOWN 1 “That’s just the ___ the iceberg’’ 2 Typical 3 Discussed 4 Course for non-English speakers, briefly 5 Toward the rising sun 6 Type of shoot 7 David Mamet play 8 Sure-footed work animal 9 Oz canine 10 Social gatherings 11 Have control of 12 Journey

segment 13 Slalom section 18 Gotten too big for 19 Babe’s name 24 Work measure 26 Disinfectant’s target 28 Madison Square Garden neighbor 29 Walt Disney’s middle name 30 First name in mascara 32 NRC forerunner 33 Read through quickly 34 City near Boys Town, Neb. 35 “___ is an island’’ 40 Butter squares 42 Crooner Rawls 45 Sloping

47 49 51 52 56 57 59 61 63 64 65 66 67

structure for ship-building Comforted Still-life subject “Law & Order: SVU’’ co-star Roan on the range Yearned deeply Mouthy Winter-tospring transition Critic’s unit Accomplished Landmark case name Botanical beard Historical timeline section Chicken-king connection

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2008 Universal Press Syndicate www.upuzzles.com

“SOLVING THE YANKEES” by Andrew Collins

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

TODAY PRE-VETERINARY CLUB There will be a meeting at 7:30 a.m. in Richards Hall and then a carpool to the new animal emergency center on State Highway 9.

WOMEN’S OUTREACH There will be a panel discussion on body image at 3 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Traditions room.

STUDENT ASSOCIATION OF BANGLADESH There will be a food festival from noon to 2 p.m. in the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center.

UPB There will be a seminar on financial aid at 3 p.m. in Carnegie Building, room 200, and one on research writing at 5 p.m. at Bizzell Memorial Library, LL227.

ACKYWAY EWSNAY Woman changes name to a URL to protest dissections ASHEVILLE, N.C. — You can call her CutoutDissection.com, Cutout for short, but just don’t call her Jennifer.

The former Jennifer Thornburg — whose driver’s license now reads Dissection.com, Cutout — wanted to do something to protest animal dissections in schools.

The 19-year-old’s new name is also the Web address for an anti-dissection page of the site for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, where she is interning.

“I normally do have to repeat my name several times when I am introducing myself to someone new,” she told the Asheville Citizen-Times. “Once they find out what my name is, they want to know more about what the Web site is about.”

Despite legally changing her name, she said most of her family members still call her Jennifer.

“It will take me a while,” said her dad, Duane Thornburg, who lives in Daytona Beach, Fla. “She’s still Jennifer to me. I understand why she’s done it. Believe it or not, I totally respect it.”

Polar bear slips into moat playing with toy at zoo MILWAUKEE — A playful polar bear pawing at a toy lost his balance and

slipped into a moat at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Zoo spokeswoman Laura Pedriani says a net caught Zero when he fell Monday so he wasn’t hurt. Zoo workers cut the netting and the 19-year-old polar bear was walking around later in the day.

The polar bear is now closer to visitors but his only exit from the moat goes into his regular enclosure. A fence still separates visitors from the bear and the moat.

Zero fell into the same moat 15 years ago and stayed there for nine days.

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

POLICE REPORTS

BURGLARY-FIRST DEGREE

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

Glen Jones, 19, 1400 block 24th Avenue, Monday Charles Pette Milligan, 24, 1400 block 24th Avenue, Monday

PETTY LARCENY Sarah Ann Bonner, 20, 600 block 12th Avenue Northeast, Monday, also interference with official process

9

MUNICIPAL WARRANT Patrick Gary Lamascus, 19, 1700 block Charles Street, Monday Aaron Joe Moshier, 19, 2800 block Dewey Avenue, Monday Satina Leann Taylor, 20, 200 block West Gray Street, Monday

DISCH/FIREARMS PUBLIC INTOXICATION Johnny Dale Campbell, 29, 100 block 12th Avenue, October 1, 2008

INTERFERENCE WITH OFFICIAL PROCESS

Rodney Lee Shobert, 24, 2800 block Dewey Avenue, Monday

ASSAULT AND BATTERY Wendi Dawn Viravong, 30, 1100 block East Alameda Street, August 3, 2008

Jesse Ray Holt, 26, 200 block Vicksburg Avenue, Monday, also municipal warrant and county warrant

Pampered pumpkin picked as plumpest of them all HALF MOON BAY, Calif. — Thad Starr’s giant pumpkin really began putting on weight in August — a lot of weight.

The pumpkin gained about 30 pounds a day on its way to victory Monday at the Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay. Starr’s pumpkin finished at a record 1,528 pounds. Starr won last year with a pumpkin that that was four pounds lighter and also set a record.

Starr, of Pleasant Hill, Ore., bought a trailer to transport the pumpkin. It has a circumference of 15 feet.

He says his secret to growing big pumpkins is good soil: “We really pamper them.”

— AP

HONORS STUDENT ASSOCIATION There will be a meeting at 7 p.m. in David L. Boren Hall, room 182.

CRIMINOLOGY/ SOCIOLOGY CLUB The group will host a meeting with Patricia Presley, Oklahoma County Court Clerk, at 7 p.m. in Dale Hall, room 206.

OU VOTES: 2008 IN 2008 There will be a presidential debate watch party at 7:30 p.m. in the Union’s Beaird Lounge.

THURSDAY FRENCH CLUB Movie night will be at 6:30 p.m. in Dale Hall, room 112.

WOMEN’S OUTREACH There will be a film showing about breast cancer screenings at 7 p.m. at the Women’s Outreach Center.

DELTA SIGMA THETA Auditions for the KAleidoscope talent show will be at 7 p.m. in the Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center.

SCHOOL OF ART AND ART HISTORY Richard Vine, managing editor for Art in America, will speak about art criticism at 7 p.m. at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. SCHOOL OF MUSIC The Sutton Faculty Concert Series will present the wind symphony and symphony band at 8 p.m. in Sharp Concert Hall.

True Sooners Don’t Haze.

Report Hazing.

325-5000 All calls are anonymous.

The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Arts & Entertainment

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

Comics: The death of Batman?

• Will “Batman R.I.P.” mean the end of Bruce Wayne’s stint as the caped crusader? ver since Grant Morrison (“Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth,” “New X-Men”) took over DC Comics’ “Batman,” he’s had us wondering, “How crazy is Batman?”

Morrison’s plots, which are as dark as a bat cape and as twisted as the hairs of Batman’s new girlfriend, Jezebel Jet, have played to the tune of this growing insanity.

As the series progressed, especially since “Batman #672,” in which Batman was killed and remained dead for four minutes, Batman stories have become increasingly chaotic and deranged.

Since then, our favorite bat has not been the same — and he may never be.

This is the theme in Morrison’s “Batman: R.I.P.” The next to last issue of this series, released this month, left another Photo provided question unanswered: “What will become of “Batman R.I.P.” is a six-part comic series written by Grant Morrison and Batman?” illustrated by Tony Daniel. The sixth issue is due in November.

Since Batman died, he has not only been Illusion or not, I’m hard-pressed to keep from he has BEKAH hallucinating, watching this fantasy play out. also completely changed his As I paged through Tony Daniel’s sinister artwork, TERRY identity.

He traded his traditional black which manages to make the Joker look even more and gray suit for a colorful pur- evil, and read the crazed words Morrison penned ple, yellow and red ensemble even the Joker for Batman, I wondered if this is how it all ends.

Will the twist that coiled at the end of issue 680 would appreciate. be the event that finally pushes Batman over the Everyone close to him — his girlfriend, Robin edge? and Alfred — are questioning his sanity.

No matter how crazy I believe Batman or Extreme events have already been introduced Morrison to be, I can’t stop reading. I have to know within the first five issues of the six-part series, what happens. such as the fact that Batman’s father may not I have to know if Bruce Wayne’s run as the be dead, but a caped villain, that Alfred may Batman is over. be Batman’s real father and that Batman has an Has he finally lost it? alternate identity named Zur-en-arrh. However, And more importantly, will we lose Batman?

I’m left wondering if even these things are real.

Are they mere mirages in the mind of Morrison, — BEKAH TERRY IS AN ENGLISH LITERATURE AND JOURNALsent to deter his readers from realizing what is ISM JUNIOR. real?

E

Michelle Gray/The Daily

Ryan Boyce, finance sophomore, plays a new Wii video game, “Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party,” while Charlotte Griffin, nursing senior, tries to explain how to play the game at the Game U College Tour Tuesday afternoon in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Game U hits Union TIFFANY HAENDEL Daily Staff Writer Students dining in the Oklahoma Memorial Union last night were likely surprised to find fellow classmates trying out a new video game they could play with their bottom.

The game, “Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party,” was developed by Ubisoft and was designed for the Nintendo Wii. It was brought to the Will Rogers Room behind the Union food court through Best Buy’s Game U College Tour. The game will be released Nov. 18.

Although many students were wary of the unusual game, those brave enough to give it a shot admitted it was addicting.

“I love it. It’s really interactive; you’re not just sitting on the couch playing a game.

You’re moving your body and

getting into it,” Charlotte Griffin, nursing senior, said.

In the game, you sit on a balance board and use your weight distribution to control a toboggan on screen. The board is a Wii accessory designed to get players moving.

“It’s the first game you can play with your butt — that’s the tagline. Wherever you put your weight determines how you turn, and if you lean back, it goes faster,” said Mike Cavi, Game U coordinator.

A large crowd was also drawn to the Xbox 360 game “Gears of War 2,” which will see a Nov. 7 release. Students packed around the televisions to get a taste of what the sequel would be like.

Jacob Ryan, history freshman, saw the group gathered and came over specifically to see if “Gears of War 2” was

available to play. After playing it for a while, he concluded that it was better than the original.

“It’s amazing,” he said. “A lot of the lag issues from the last game were fixed. It’s more fluid.”

Although “Gears” was intended to be the main draw of the event, several other popular video games were set up for students to try, including “Rock Band 2” and “Saints Row 2.”

The Game U tour aims to “showcase new games and technologies,” Cavi said.

OU was the ninth stop on the campus tour. The tour has never set up on the OU campus before, said Teara Flagg, graduate assistant to the Union Programming Board.

“It’s a new place for them to go, and it’s something new that we can bring to the campus,” Flagg said.

You Are Invited!

Class of 2009 Ring Ceremony

Honorees Regent Jon Stuart and Dee Dee Stuart Donors of the challenge grant to restore the campus after the 2007 ice storm

4 p.m.

Friday, October 17, 2008 Class of 1950 Plaza and Oklahoma Memorial Union Courtyard In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved to Beaird Lounge.

For additional information or for accommodations on the basis of disability, please call (405) 325-3784.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

- THE IMPACT OF EXCELLENCE