Friday, Dec. 2, 2022

‘Just in time for the holidays’ OSU announces a merit-based raise

Luisa Clausen Staff Reporter

OSU President Kayse Shrum is keeping her word.

The OSU A&M Board of Re gents approved, for the second year in a row, a 3% average merit-based raise program for the Stillwater campus. This merit increase program started Thursday. All faculty, staff and admin istration members hired before July 1, will be eligible for consideration.

When Shrum took office as OSU’s 19th president July 1, 2021, she committed to working toward increasing faculty and staff salary and said it is part of her long-term plan to

continue to recognize and support the employees at OSU.

“To retain our world-class facul ty and staff and recruit new candidates of the highest caliber, we must be as competitive as possible with what we can offer,” Shrum said. “In the end, this is not just a matter of taking care of our staff and faculty. It filters down to the education and experience we offer our students.”

This is the first merit program the university has financed in five years. Colleges within the university financed last year’s merit-based raise program.

Heather Yates, a professor for construction professional development classes and a Faculty Council member, has worked for the university since

Friendly fire on farmlands Local ranchers, farmers, combat drought

The grass crackles and breaks beneath the farmer’s knee. He digs his fingers into the dust below before letting it fall through his fingers.

It hasn’t rained for months. His cattle don’t have any water left in the ponds and he’s already sold all he can afford to.

What would his father say? After all, this is family land. If the farmer sells anymore, he won’t have a herd left, but the grass is dead.

He didn’t make enough hay for the winter. Even if it did rain, it wouldn’t be enough.

This is not the story of one farmer or even two. This is the story of Okla homa’s farmers. The rangeland in Okla homa is not new. It has been passed down through generations and is part of a heritage of farmers and ranchers. Most farmers and ranchers find their passion and dedication following in their family’s footsteps and cultivating this heritage.

“My family has been in oil produc tion, mineral and royalty management, acquisition and so on since the early ‘80s,” Paul Whitmire, CEO of Whitmire Land and Cattle, said. “We actually got into the ranching business in Ottawa County around ‘91 and since then, we’ve

just bought more land.”

Whitmire Ranch now owns more than 20,000 acres of land. Maintaining such a large amount of land in Oklahoma has many challenges, but Whitmire is prepared for almost anything Oklahoma offers.

“Our biggest problem right now is ground conditions,” Whitmire said. “Our ponds are getting dangerously low, and of course, with winter coming, we kind of have to do an assessment of the risk versus the reward, it’s just kind of day by day right now.”

2006 and said she does not remember back-to-back years of announced 3% merit raises. Yates said OSU needs to recruit faculty for the Stillwater campus because for a university to be competitive it has to at least keep up with the cost of living.

“We need good staff, and we need to retain faculty,” Yates said. “This is one way we can try to im prove conditions. I am glad we’re getting a merit raise as the cost of living is increasing. I do appreciate the thought of a merit raise because it does reward people for working hard.”

Yates said it is understandable to think an average raise can put faculty against each other. However, she said she is hopeful everyone gets a raise and is confident the money will be

shared fairly.

“I don’t feel like it puts us in competition because if they didn’t have the money to support these rais es, it wouldn’t be announced like this,” Yates said. “I personally don’t feel like it’s competitive. The more we are clear about who is eligible and who is not the less competitive it gets.”

Each year, all faculty and staff go through an evaluation program based on criteria related to the expec tations of their particular role. These evaluations are used to assign the raise employees will get based on their performance.

See Merrit on 5A

Renovated Reboot Center helps OSU students de-stress

Isaac Terry Staff Reporter

A free place to relax, study, or sleep is nestled right in the Student Union.

The Reboot Center is located on the third floor of the Student Union in room 320W, right beside the University Counseling Services. The service is available to all students, staff and fac ulty to visit and spend time de-stressing

from their day. Students are even offered weighted blankets and allowed to take naps on couches or special pods, and the room is kept quiet and dark.

The center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the weekdays. There are no appointments needed, and you can visit as many times as you like. Once you check in, you get access to a wide range of relaxing toys, books and resources, many of which you are able to take home with you.

Graphic by Bridget Marrara

Isaac Terry

The Reboot Center in OSU’s University Counseling Services offices, offers an opportunity for students and faculty to take a break and de-stress.

Courtesy of Adam Gourley

Controlled fires are one of many practices that farmers and ranchers can use to minimize the ef fects of droughts.

Lilly Smith, Katy Leard, Lauren Suarez O’Colly Contributors

World Cup Bracket as of Thursday

The O’Comic

By Kendall McGhee

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Photo of

week by Carson Toulouse OSU music professors performed a selection of holiday songs during Christmas at 1600 Penn sylvania Ave. on Tuesday night.

Lifestyle

Recently released content on Disney+

“Disenchanted”: A sequel to 2007’s “Enchanted”

“Dancing with the Stars”: This fanfavorite competition show hits streaming with uploads of the latest episodes.

“Elton John Live Farewell from Dodger Stadium”: Relieve this music leg end’s final show from his North Ameri can tour in a full 2-hour and 54 minute concert.

“Witness to Disaster”: Learn the stories behind witness accounts of inter national disasters in this National Geo graphic show.

Content coming soon to Disney+

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid Rodrick Rules”: The second installment of the popular chapter book comes to the big screen in an animated format. The movie releases Friday.

“Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?”: Follow the tour behind Menzel, a popular actress and singer, in this documentary. This premieres Dec. 9.

“National Treasure: Edge of His tory”: This two-episode spinoff of the popular action film starring Nicholas Cage, premieres Dec. 14.

Reboot...

Continued from 1

‘Andor’ review: The best Disney+ has to offer

Clark Staff Reporter

To put it lightly, writing this review might be the most cathar tic experience of my life. I grew up with “Star Wars,” as did most people in the past 50 or so years. While I love the franchise, I can’t say I love what it’s become. The sequel trilogy was a mixed bag. “Kenobi” was wasted potential. “The Book of Boba Fett” ruined my week. It seemed with each install ment we were moving further away from what I loved about Star Wars. The stories began to feel less mean ingful, the themes got weaker, and some shows began to feel as if I was watching someone play with action figures rather than tell a cohesive story.

To cut to the chase, I am no longer worried about the future of this franchise if they maintain this level of quality. There are at least five episodes of “Andor” that left me breathless. It’s an enthralling, thoughtful and moving series that exceeded my every expectation. It’s not just a legendary “Star Wars”

series. “Andor” has the potential to become one of the all-time greats.

Tony Gilroy, who is known best for his contribution to the Jason Bourne franchise, wrote “Andor.” This Disney+ original is a prequel to the 2016 film “Rogue One” and follows Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in his adventures through the galaxy.

Admittedly, the first two epi sodes of “Andor” are considerably slower than your usual “Star Wars” outing. I felt bored during a few scenes in the early episodes before I was sold. Now that the series has concluded, rest assured that every scene is building to something great and culminates in some of the most beautiful storytelling the franchise has ever seen. Visually and themati cally, “Andor” is beautiful.

The simple recipe to success is that it leans back into the spirit of “Star Wars” through a beauti ful story, analyzing why we fight against oppression. This show dives deep into the motives of every char acter. It’s complemented with stellar cinematography and a brilliant score which enhances the spectacu lar writing and acting. Andy Serkis

and Stellan Skarsgård deliver mono logues in the series that define and redefine how viewers may perceive the essence of rebellion.

That said, “Andor” is a sur prisingly dark show for its TV-14 rating. The show somehow remains one of the most hopeful in the franchise despite its dark tone. This is because Gilroy understands that darkness is necessary for there to be light. Despite the cripplingly oppressive atmosphere this show can have, it all builds to a message of hope and perseverance through some of the darkest nights. To some, this message is extremely relevant in our current climate.

Ultimately, if “Andor” was not perceived as a “Star Wars” series it may be held in even higher regard. What holds it back the most is the expectations of what this franchise can be. “Andor” is a dark, reflec tive character study with incredible action and well written characters. While it may be a slow burn at times, it truly is one of the best shows in recent memories.

There are fidget toys such as fidget spinners, poppers, aroma putty and stress balls. Etch-a-Sketch es, oil drip hourglasses and mini sand rakes are available to check out. There are also journals and mood trackers available to try out and keep, as well as adult coloring books. The room also has head phones available, and the ability to test out a “Rock etbook” device that lets you scan handwritten notes and save them digitally.

The Reboot Center aims to help students and staff relax, but also to help teach them how to deal with their own stresses every day. Many journals in the center focus on emotional venting and self-reflec tion. Pete’s Pet Posse stops from 2 to 3 p.m. every Monday to play and hangout with Reboot Center visitors.

The Reboot Center originally opened in 2012 but shut its doors in 2019 to undergo renovations. These renovations took two years, but the center finally reopened at the start of 2022 with new furni ture, decorations and activities for its visitors.

OSU’s Stillwater campus is not the only cam pus to have a Reboot Center. The OSU-CHS campus in Tulsa also hosts one. A majority of students and staff at the OSU-CHS campus feel that they are over whelmed with stress, according to news.okstate.edu. Its newly renovated Reboot Center offers most of the things that the Stillwater campus offers, as well as some extra relaxing items such as massage chairs, puzzles and mazes.

You can visit the Reboot Center page on the University Counseling Services’ website to see more about the Reboot Center, and to see what other relax ation services OSU offers such as the Botanical Gar dens or the Oklahoma State University Labyrinths.

entertainment.ed@ocolly.com

Michael

Courtesy of Tribune News Service

As “Andor” begins, Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is grinding out an existence on the planet Ferrix.

Fanfare of Lights begins the Cowboy holiday season

Michael Clark Staff Reporter

Holiday cheer is in the air and all over campus.

On Tuesday night, the OSU male acapella choir, Pokeapella, de livered a short holiday concert to commence the setup of holiday lights around campus. Pokea pella sang a few beloved holiday songs such as “White Christmas” and “Silent Night” before finishing off with their rendition of the OSU alma mater.

Around the set, the beloved mini horse BB and Pete’s Pet Posse gath ered to greet any students or alumni who came to enjoy the show. Free hot chocolate and apple cider was given out to warm anyone on the cold eve ning. The venue had a de cent turnout, with plenty of people sitting back and enjoying the music and company.

Afterward, Vice President of Student Af

fairs Doug Hallenbeck delivered a short speech to commemorate the holi day season.

“This is a special tradition we have, being able to come together as a community to celebrate the holiday season,” Hal lenback said. “It’s good to remember the goodwill and magic in the eyes of children as they anticipate presents.”

Hallenback then spoke of the various holi day traditions he enjoyed with his family, such as going to get peppermint milkshakes at Braum’s and driving around at night, enjoying the lights on houses that must have taken hours to set up. Hal lenback then encouraged everyone to do the same.

With a “Happy Holi days” and a “Go Pokes,” he closed off the speech thanking OSU students for being a light in the dark.

To the surprise and delight of many, a special guest came to help turn on the Christmas lights around Edmond Low

Library and the Student Union—Santa Claus. A few people in the crowd were dressed as elves and greeted everyone. After a brief countdown, orange Christmas lights lit up campus.

Shortly after, the festivities moved to the Student Union for holiday crafts, free gift wrapping, a 25% off coupon for any University Bookstore items and plenty more.

Pete’s Pet Posse and BB remained outside to the delight of anyone leaving the Student Union.

Students and alumni attending said they had a great time enjoying the music and refreshments, alongside the beautiful sight of the campus being lit up by lights. Fanfare of Lights is a beloved, annual tradition for the Cowboy community and it’s safe to say that it will continue for many more years to come.

December holidays and traditions to celebrate besides Christmas

Kennedy Thomason Staff Reporter

Christmas spirit is in the air, but only for those who celebrate it.

The month of De cember is famed for its red and green jolly, but there is a plethora of other holidays that occur. Some of the major ones include Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

Hanukkah is cel ebrated Dec. 18 through Dec. 26 this year. The Jewish holiday is also known as the Festival of Lights. It celebrates the Jewish ancestors that rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean Revolt. They lit a menorah with enough oil to last one day, but it miraculously burned for eight. This is symbol ized by the eight candles of a menorah.

Kwanzaa is an Af rican holiday celebrated Dec. 26 through Jan. 1. The celebrations of Kwan zaa can vary from family to family, but it is based on seven principles, also known as Nguzo Saba. These principles include unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, coopera tive economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Dr. Maulana Karen ga created the holiday in 1966 in an effort to bring the African American community together.

While there are plenty of holidays, there are other events happen ing in December.

Dressember is an event that raises aware ness around human traf ficking. Participants wear dresses every day during the month of December

to show their solidarity in efforts against human trafficking.

Blythe Hill started the event in 2009. She wanted to create change with her skills as a blog ger and fashion lover. Her idea behind the movement was to create awareness, and it stands on the pillars of prevention, advocacy, intervention and survivor empowerment.

There are also plenty of national days that happen in December.

Rosa Parks Day, National Women Support Women Day and National Peppermint Bark day all fall on Dec. 1.

International Day of

Hanukkah.

People with Disabilities is on Dec. 3 and is a United Nations sanctioned event. The National Pearl Harbor Day of Remem brance is on Dec. 7, hon oring those who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor 81 years ago.

December is also recognized as Universal Human Rights Month and World AIDS/HIV Aware ness Month.

National Bouilla baisse Day is on Dec. 14, honoring the French fish stew.

Dec. 18 is Answer the Phone Like Buddy the Elf Day, and Dec. 27 is National Fruitcake Day. All of the events wrap up on Dec. 31 with New Year’s Eve. Plenty of other fun national days are recognized throughout the month.

For more infor mation on the holidays and events happening in December, you can visit today.com/life/holidays.

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Native American Heritage Month impacts OSU

Isaac Terry Staff Reporter

OSU celebrated National Native Ameri can Heritage Month with meetings, social media campaigns, hot choco late and a tipi set-up on campus.

During November, different Native Ameri can tribes, such as the Cherokee Nation, cel ebrate its traditions, as well as its cultures and native festivities across the country.

According to Indian Country Today, the Cherokee Nation has hosted meetings, walks, summits, job fairs, health screenings and artist exhibits throughout the month.

George H.W. Bush first signed the Na tive American Heritage Month into law in 1990. Nov. 28 specifically marked the 32nd anniver sary of the law’s passing.

The National Archives hosted many stories online and in per son. One such was from H.W. Brands, the author of “The Last Campaign: Sherman, Geronimo and

the War for America,” where he explained the premise of his book and an important military campaign in the history of America. You can find the video of this on YouTube, which the U.S. National Archives pub lished.

The National Museum of the Ameri can Indian also hosted a month-long cinema showcase, showing off Native American and other global indigenous tribes’ films. According to the Smithsonian, more than 35 films, both short and feature length, were shown which represented 30 indigenous nations around the world.

The celebrations won’t end once November is over. Many tribes plan to continue them into December and later. The Cherokee Nation will display art exhibits all the way into 2023, such as the exhibit named “Thel ma Forrest: A Weaver’s Wisdom,” an exhibit focusing on Thelma For rest, a tradition Chero kee basket weaver and teacher, or “Sovereignty on Trial: The Tragedy at Goingsnake” exhibit,

which features the mur der trial of Mary “Polly” Hildebrand and the Go ingsnake Massacre. Both events are free to attend, and you can visit Vis itCherokeeNation.com for more information regard ing these and other future Cherokee Nation events.

OSU men’s and women’s basketball teams also wore Nike N7 Na tive American heritage jerseys for select games in November.

OSU has its own Native American Student Association, or NASA, that those interested in Native American customs and traditions can be a part of. You can visit the association on the Oklahoma State Cam pusLink. Weekly meet ings and monthly events are held, and it is not a requirement to be a Na tive American in order to join.

Courtesy of OSU Media

Kent Smith gives a presentation over Native American

cultural medicine at the OSU-COM on the Cherokee

Nation campus.

Jaiden Daughty

Fanfare of Lights officially started the Cowboy holiday season and put everyone in a festive mood for the upcoming finals week.

Courtesy of Tribune News Service

Graphic explaining the 8-day festival of

Courtesy of Billboard New Years Eve in Times Square is one of the most popular and classic ways to celebrate the new year.

Ken Eastman, dean of the Spears School of Business, has the last word when it’s time to decide what percentage each eli gible employee gets.

“With faculty, we look at publication records and teaching excellence; we look for people that have excelled in those areas,” Eastman said. “For staff, we look at performance and at tendance.”

Supervisors put in their ratings and recommendations for all their employees so the deans from all nine colleges can see whether the increase was correlated to the evaluation the employee received.

There are two instances in which an employee would not be eligible for a merit raise.

Employees hired after July 1 are not eligible for a raise.

Employees who did not meet their department’s expectations in any way are not getting a raise. Eastman said a small percentage of employees are under that cat egory this year and should receive letters explaining why they did not get anything. That will help them know what the department heads will look for if there is another merit-based raise program. East man said merit programs can have drawbacks, but the way OSU handles it, with transparency and fairness, makes the program suc cessful.

“We are checking for consis

tency,” Eastman said. “If people don’t understand why some people got a raise and they didn’t, that’s when there’s a problem. We want to make sure everyone knows their performance level and that they see consistency between their evaluation and the raise they got. It’s great that for two years now we have been able

right or wrong to anything. Any raise is good but it’s extremely important for employees to know how it’s distributed.”

James Knapp, a geology pro fessor and Faculty Council mem ber, said giving everyone a raise no matter what they are doing can sound promising, but the reality is not everyone is performing at the same level. Knapp said faculty raises are a systemic problem in academia, especially in a public university. In his experience, the state’s budget has been shrinking and that plays into the student loan crisis.

Life is a lot of hard choices and questions and at the end of the day, there is not really right or wrong to anything. Any raise is good but it’s extremely important for employees to know how it’s distributed.

Kris Hiney

to do something to reward their staff for their hard work. Just in time for the holidays. ”

Kris Hiney, a faculty council member and the equine extension specialist, said it was not clear to her and her department how the raise was going to be distributed when it was announced. Hiney said, based on her experience in the academic world for the last 20 years, salary issues within uni versities are common nationwide, and faculty members leave the academic world often looking for more rewards.

“If there is no transparency and if you don’t know what’s the bar and how you are judged against others, especially within a department, there can be stress,” Hiney said. “ Life is a lot of hard choices and questions and at the end of the day, there is not really

“Universi ties start to raise their tuition, students start taking big loans and there you have it,” Knapp said. “Now you have all these people who are carrying stu dent debt and are tied into all of that dynamic of how universities’ budgets are being cut at that state level. I truly think the leadership at OSU has made a huge effort trying to keep tuition low and that is good.”

Another argument Knapp made was that people choosing who gets how much should feel compelled to be as fair as they can since they chose to be in that job position.

“They may reward some fac ulty more than others but that is the fair way to do it,” Knapp said. “I think that is a better system than saying everyone will get the same reward whenever there is a raise. Where is the incentive to do better?”

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Fire...

Sustainable ranch management, which is where experts assist farmers and ranchers with managing their land in a sustainable manner based on their needs. It has become popular among ranchers, like Whitmire, to keep up with Oklahoma’s changing weather. However, even the most experienced farmers and ranchers struggle to keep up with the severe drought. Precipitation has become harder and harder to predict, and this lack of water affects everything from drink ing pond water levels to the quality of their fields.

Whitmire isn’t the only Oklahoma rancher who has had to accom modate their ranching practices to meet the need of the ever-chang ing climate.

“We normally bale about 4,000 bales [of hay], and this year we did all the same fields and only got 1,600,” said Fred Hinkle, owner of Hinkle Cattle.

Hinkle has resort ed to buying cornstalks and a custom mixer to mix rations as winter feed for his cattle to salvage as much hay as possible and save the most money.

“That was cheaper than buying grass, that was pretty much our only option, other than selling all of our cows, and obviously, we can’t do that,” Hinkle said.

This lack of pre cipitation is not a small problem, though, and has the potential to be a long-term issue.

“We have two droughts going on right now,” said Gary McMa nus, state climatologist for Oklahoma. “We have the long-term drought that started in August of 2021, and then we have the flash drought that started in the second week of June.”

OSU wins Bedlam Blood Battle

Isaac Terry Staff Reporter

OSU won the Bedlam Blood Battle against OU again this year with 551 donors, compared to OU’s 548.

The three-donor lead won it for the Cowboys, and it means that OSU will have the pleasure of host ing the Blood Bedlam trophy at the next home football game. For the week before Thanksgiving break, the Oklahoma Blood Institute held donation spots at both the Student Union and the Kerr-Drummond mezzanine.

Jessy Dershem, the executive director of the Oklahoma Blood Institute in Enid, was one of the people helping draw in donors on campus. She stood out in the cold to

persuade every student and staff to donate if they could.

“We’ve had a lot of local community members come out and donate,” Dershem said. “But we’ve seen young people donating less around the country, especially since COVID-19. Only about 5% of those eligible to give blood actually do.”

This lack of youth donations is a worrying trend for Dershem and many others in the blood donation scene. OBI offered many incentives to help draw in campus donors on the OSU and OU campuses. They teamed up with Field’s Pies, an Oklahoma-based pie corporation famous for their pecan pies.

Each blood donor got a Field’s pecan pie, as well as a Blood Bed lam shirt. Other offerings included an entry for a $250 raffle and volun teer hours for those who wished to

help out.

If you missed out on donating or want to donate again, OBI will be hosting another blood drive on cam pus during the last week of January. The blood drive will have various rewards as well for those who wish to give blood. If you want to stay in touch and be notified when a blood drive is coming near you in the future, you can text “OBI4OSU” to 999-777, follow the OBI Facebook page or visit www.obi.org.

The total donations for the Bedlam Blood Battle came out to 1,099, according to the Oklahoma Blood Institute Facebook page. That many donations reported saved 3,297 lives.

The combination of those two droughts have devastated sev eral regions of the state. Farm ponds dried up. The season’s wheat crop was destroyed. The state even saw a dramatic jump in uncontrolled wildfires.

This is where sus tainable land practices come in. Ranches need to maintain sustainable land practices in Okla homa because whatever they do to the land will seriously affect future growing seasons. Farm ers and ranchers such as Hinkle and Whitmire can’t always do this alone, though.

Adam Gourley, the owner of Open Ranch Management, works with ranchers to manage their land. With more than 16 years of experience, Gourley is an expert in handling different land.

“We do a whole variety of things. All things range manage ment related,” Gourley said. “Just trying to help landowners use the tools and sciences that today offers to accomplish their goals on their land property.”

Range and land management is a sustain able way for farmers and ranchers to keep their land healthy for years, including practices like brush clearing, con trolled fires and grazing plans. Practices such as these help to maintain the quality of the soil’s water storage which can help minimize the effects of climate change and droughts.

Oklahoma’s ecore gions are diverse. From heavily forested regions in the southeastern region of the state with high amounts of rainfall, to the geographically flatter panhandle that gets about 15 inches of rain annually.

“The drier it gets, the more challenging it gets to grow crops,” said Richard Coffey, depart ment head of animal and food sciences at Okla homa State University.

“If you think about graz ing livestock that relies on pastures and ranges, it’s challenging forage production.”

With 12 ecoregions across Oklahoma, proper land management varies across the state. The techniques that are used depend on both the loca tion of the ranch as well as the rancher’s goals.

“There’s not a silver bullet to land man agement at all,” Gourley said. “The same piece of land that can be man aged strictly for grazing can be… manage[ed] for just recreational pur poses, the land manage ment strategies can be completely different.”

Oklahoma farm ing and ranching is a demanding job with a lot of variables, but with generations of experi ence in this position, they are prepared to face anything. Companies like Open Range Man agement offer farmers and ranchers a way out of their current narra tive.

“It just can be discouraging at times because you don’t think that you’re ever going to win,” Gourley said. “If you drive across Okla homa, you realize just how unhealthy some of our rangelands are.”

Battles such as droughts and climate change aren’t going to disappear, but sustain able practices are a way to minimize those effects, offering relief to both the farmers and the land.

“Nobody really plans for this hard of a drought,” Gourley said. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t ever get into the business.”

Courtesy of Lilly Smith, Katy Leard and Lauren Suarez Four conditions that allow for controlled burns.

Courtesy of Oklahoma Blood Institute

OSU may not have beat OU in Bedlam football this year, but it did win the annual Bedlam Blood Battle.

Lifestyle

Review: Cast shines in ‘Wednesday’

Hampton Staff Reporter

She is creepy and she’s kooky, mysterious and spooky. Wednesday Addams has returned to our screens in Tim Bur ton’s new Netflix series “Wednesday.”

Starring Jenna Ortega, this hit eightepisode series follows Wednesday (Ortega) as she attends Nevermore Academy, the school where her parents fell in love. Attending Nev ermore has never been ideal for Wednesday, but when expelled from her last school, she has to go against her own wishes and follow in her par ents’ footsteps.

Starting off the show with an intense scene, the reason behind Wednesday’s expulsion, set up amazing anticipa tion for the rest of the series. Ortega was able to convey a variety of emotion with her facial expression. Her aura was creepy and downright sociopathic at times. Her sidekick, Thing, and roommate Enid (Emma Myers) made for an ex ceptional trio.

Although this show is focused mainly on Wednesday’s adventures

as she tries to solve a mystery she’s at the center of, the rest of the Addams family made a few appearances. Luiz Guzmán played the role of Gomez Addams. His lighthearted humor and fatherly chemistry made for a great performance. The love of his life, Mor ticia Addams (Catherine Zeta-Jones) was a great pairing. Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) was able to assist Wednesday in a time of need, and Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) showed unconditional love for his sister. The acting from every char acter was exquisite, it felt like experiencing the Addams family for the first time.

Christina Ricci portrayed Wednesday in “The Addams Family” (1991) and “The Addams Family Values” (1993), but she joined the cast as an entirely different character, Wednesday and Enid’s dorm mom, Marilyn Thornhill. Ricci is known for her natural sinisterness, so it was interesting to see her play a character outside of her forte.

Recently, a specific scene from the show has gone viral. Wednesday attends a school dance despite that not being appealing to her. You

see Wednesday step out of her comfort zone and dance with her date. Ortega choreographed the dance scene and it was perfect. The gothic dance moves screamed Wednesday Addams, and many people continue to praise Ortega for her talents and passion for getting the character right.

There were count less twists and turns that all tied together nicely, and every character will have you questioning who is behind the mis fortune at Nevermore. More episodes could have been useful. There was a lot of informa tion to put into a short season. Although it was executed greatly, nobody would complain if there were a couple of more episodes added to a pos sible season two.

There were a couple of swear words and gory images and scenes, but overall it is a great family show that kids will also love. Every person who had a play in this production went above and beyond to make an exceptional series. You see Wednes day in a new light and pleasantly full of woe.

Crafty ideas Student Arts Alliance hosts

Adam Engel Co-Editor-in-Chief

Jake Williams

pinched his fingers and shoveled artificial snow flakes into his left hand. He said he was in a hurry. Headed to class in a few minutes. But first, he stopped to make a homemade snowglobe.

Williams, a sopho more computer science major, along with a hand ful of others, attended OSU’s Student Arts Al liances’ DIY Wednesday holiday crafts activity in the Student Union.

The event moved from the Student Union plaza to an extra confer ence room in the build ing’s fourth floor. Holiday music from a Bluetooth speaker serenaded the students as they worked on various crafts.

Korbin Hamner, SAA graduate assistant, said the event was the organization’s last of the semester. SAA’s events are one of the organiza tions’ main components.

“One of our main goals is to kinda just show students a lot of different art medium so they can see what’s all out there,” he said. “All of our events are for people who are good at art or bad at art. It’s just to come out, have fun and enjoy meeting other people and destressing from school. It’s just fun little activities to get your mind off of schoolwork and destress.”

With finals ap proaching, SAA’s event provided an opportunity for students to stop and take a breather. A re laxed activity for anyone.

Hamner said the organi zation decided to make holiday crafts instead of Christmas. At a public university like OSU, stu dents from all countries and regions and several religions flock to town.

craft event

“That’s what we always try to do is be as inclusive as we can,” Hamner said. “There’s always a possibility that you miss something even when it’s not your inten tion. That’s why we try to always make our stuff as broad as possible to in clude anybody that wants to come out and enjoy it.”

Amy Wu, a senior studying hotel and tour ism management, also participated in the event. She talked as she tied colored paper-like fabric around a wire wreath frame. She used teal and white. A quick project that she said she’ll hang on her front door. SAA’s events provide an op portunity for students to work on something new and make friends in the process.

The next SAA event will be a cross stitching activity Jan. 26.

entertainment.ed@ocolly.com

Wild art

Jaycee

Courtesy of Tribune News Service

Jenna Ortega stars in Tim Burton’s “Wednesday,” an Addams Family spinoff series on Netflix. The eight-episode show is streaming now.

Christmas lights people must see in Oklahoma

Jaycee Hampton Staff Reporter

As the semester wraps up, many students are looking for fun activities they can do during winter break.

The festive spirit of the holiday season takes hold of people worldwide, and with Christmas in the middle of winter break, it seems appropriate to look for Christmas lights.

Taking place through December, towns across Oklahoma have been pre paring for this holiday season. Kicking off the first of the month in Stillwater was the Stillwater Holiday Parade of Lights. At 7 p.m. Thursday, the holiday parade took place off 6th Avenue and South Husband Street.

If you won’t be in the Stillwater

area for winter break, there are various places to check out Christmas lights later in the month. In Broken Arrow, Rhema Lights will be open until Jan. 1. With more than 1.5 million lights and more than 100,000 shimmering bulbs synchronized to Christmas tunes and carols, Rhema Church goes above and beyond to assure people have a safe, peaceful place to get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, take a nice carriage ride and spend time with your loved ones. Admission is free.

If you are traveling south of the Oklahoma City area, Chickasha will be hosting its annual Festival of Light. With 3.5 million shimmering lights, this is a Christmas tradition everybody loves. Stretched for more than 4 miles across Shannon Springs Park, you can view the lights from the comfort of your

own vehicle, on foot, or on a horsedrawn carriage. For a small cost, you can also go ice skating, take pictures with Santa Claus, go on camel rides and ride the ferris wheel. Open until Dec. 31, admission is free.

Located in northwest Okla homa, Crystal Beach Park has 2 mil lion holiday lights and 40 animated light displays that are brought to life with the Christmas spirit. Woodward’s Crystal Christmas is open until Dec. 31. Admission is free but donations will be accepted. On Saturday evenings throughout the season, it will have fam ily-oriented activities such as lighted train and wagon rides, food trucks and pictures with Santa Claus.

Midwest City Holiday Lights Spectacular is one of Oklahoma’s larg est animated drive-thru light displays.

Just 10 minutes east of Oklahoma City, admission is free for anyone who would like to awe at more than 1 million lights. Located in Joe B. Barnes Re gional Park, see the 118-foot Christmas tree lit with 9,000 bulbs and topped with an 8-foot star as you take a roman tic carriage ride, walk or drive through the 1.5-mile drive. These holiday lights will be open to the public until Dec. 25 at 11 p.m.

Christmas light-looking is a great way to get into the holiday spirit, spend time with family and friends, go on a date or spend some festive time to yourself. There are many places all over Oklahoma doing events just like these.

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File Photo

Stillwater’s Christmas Parade of Lights is one of many opportunities to see Christmas lights across Oklahoma.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ review: A heartwarming gift

Clark Staff Reporter

Sometimes the best gifts we get for Christmas are the ones we didn’t ask for.

“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” is no exception. From director James Gunn, this 40-minute special capstones the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is the penultimate installation in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise. Unsurprisingly, it is one of the highlights of phase four simply because it’s a small scale, lighthearted and genuinely sweet gift for Marvel fans.

The special follows two of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), attempting to cheer up fellow member Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) by finding him a Christmas present. The quest spi rals into an attempt to kidnap the popular “Footloose” actor Kevin Bacon. The story is relatively pre dictable from the very first scene, but this isn’t here to surprise you or tell a complex story. The biggest strength in this holiday special is the simple humor and heart it contains.

This special knows ex actly what it is and doesn’t try to force any unnecessary cameos or connections to other mov ies. This really is a “Guardians of the Galaxy” themed holiday special. Nothing more. Nothing less. While some jokes fall flat, it remains entertaining throughout.

The special never overstays its welcome and the short runtime ensures tight pacing. Gunn con tinued his track record of writing ridiculous stories that still some how tug at your heart strings.

The two biggest flaws of this special are mostly nitpicks. First ly, a few jokes simply don’t land. There’s nothing wrong with this, but the writing in some of these scenes feels like an old Disney Channel special that used to air

on TV. Perhaps the cheesy writing was intentional. Gunn admitted he wrote the screenplay to this in just a few hours. In some places, the rushed writing process shows just a little bit with stiff dialogue. There are also two animated seg ments in the special that seem to use a rotoscope animation method, and it looks absolutely uncanny. It somewhat took me out of the mo ment, but only haunts my dreams a little bit.

These flaws, however, are

'Guardians

'Guardians

'Avengers: Infinity War' (2018)

'Avengers: Endgame' (2019)

'Thor: Love and Thunder' (2022)

made up for with the debut of Cosmo the Spacedog. Cosmo is one of my favorite characters in comic book history, because who couldn’t love an adorable talk ing dog with a Russian accent?

Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova lived up to the hype and made me smile like an idiot.

“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” may be a completely unnecessary gift underneath the tree. This is an in credibly charming and lovable, but short watch. Perfect for any MCU fan to celebrate the holidays.

entertainment.ed@ocolly.com

Michael

Photos Courtesy of Tribune News Service

The Guardians of the Galaxy are on the hunt for the perfect gift for one of their teammates in the new holiday special.

Ben Hutchens Assistant Sports Editor

Chris Harris Jr. sharply clapped his hands, doing his best to explain what he felt in his left knee on Feb. 5, 2020.

The popping sound echoed off concrete walls in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

He still remembers the exact day a TCU opponent dove for a loose ball and crashed into his left leg, sending his knee one direction and his body the other. He remem bers it happened six minutes into the game and how surprised he was.

“Worst day of my life, so far,” Harris Jr. said.

Then, less than a year later, it happened again.

After two season-ending knee injuries that limited him to play only six minutes of basket ball in a 1,002-day span, Harris Jr. returned to playing every day for the Cowboys. Harris Jr. came into OSU as part of coach Mike Boynton’s top-25 2019 recruiting

Comeback take two feat. Chris Harris Jr.

Anderson ‘hasn’t taken enough’ shots amid 3-point slump

Braden Bush Staff Reporter

point guard Avery An derson, who led the team in 3-point shooting a year ago, to step up. And not just in percentage, where Anderson is shooting a sluggish 15.8% through the first seven games, but also in quantity.

“I’ve told him he hasn’t taken enough,” Boynton said. “… If you don’t make 3s, you really put yourself at a disadvan tage.”

Grinding out low-scoring games with strong defense has been Boynton’s forte, but the tempo and athleticism in the Big 12, along with the direction of the game, forced his hand. There are too many shooters and possessions to not emphasize keeping up with the 3-pointer.

That’s where the Cowboys are calling on

Anderson has at tempted just 19 3-pointers through Sunday’s game against Prairie View A&M, ranking fourth on the team. He shot only one in a loss to Southern Il linois, and in no game has Anderson attempted more than four.

class. Midway through his fresh man campaign, Harris Jr. earned his first Big 12 start. And just six minutes into the game, it was over.

Chris Harris Sr. was watch ing the game on TV and saw enough to know it was bad.

“I seen Chris fall, his face, I knew it was bad because he was going against it, he didn’t go with the fall, he was going against it because he went inside his leg,” Harris Sr. said.

More than two years after he watched his son tear his ACL, LCL and meniscus, Harris Sr. gets a stomach-ache even talking about it.

“It’s hard because you know all the work he put in when he was four since I put the ball in his hand, and just to see all that be taken away from him and not know if could ever get it back, that hurt,” Harris Sr. said. “That hurt a lot.”

Harris Jr. went from starting a conference game as a freshman to cheerleading.

A vast support system checked in on Harris Jr. with calls and gifts including a brindle pit bull puppy. Harris Jr. gave the dog to a friend after his RA discovered he kept it in his dorm room.

The physical recovery from his injury was hard, but Harris ac cepted the challenge.

Why Smith called out the Big Ten

there.”

Co-Editor-in-Chief

He spoke bluntly, as he always does, about his team and matters in college wrestling.

He discussed scheduling Big Ten teams. Three appear on this year’s schedule. The usuals, Minnesota and Iowa and one outlier — Michigan. The outliers don’t come to Stillwater often anymore.

“But getting anyone else to do that in the Big Ten, it’s been real dif ficult,” he said. “Been a big challenge for us. It’s really bulls*** to tell you the truth that they don’t look at it as being impor tant to get their selves out

That was a few weeks ago, in a Zoom conference about the Bout at the Ballpark in February. No. 10 OSU will clash with No. 5 Michigan at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Wednesday, ahead of No. 10 OSU’s weekend dual with No. 13 Minne sota, Smith reiterated his thoughts regarding the struggles to schedule Big Ten teams.

The conference executed a stranglehold on college wrestling’s best for years. That’s nothing new. Only Big Ten schools have won national championships since 2006. That’s the last time OSU won.

The nation’s teams spent decades catching up to the Cowboys. Now the Cowboys are doing the catch up.

The Big Ten won’t get easier. The confer ence evolved into

5 bowl game destinations for the Cowboys

the Cowboys in bowl selections.

Gabriel Trevino Sports Editor

It won’t be the grand stage of the Fiesta Bowl, but OSU will appear in another postseason game.

Despite a disappointing 7-5 sea son, only six wins were necessary to send the Cowboys to a bowl game for the 17th consecutive season.

“We’re gonna line back up and get ready to play one more game,” said OSU defensive coordinator Derek Ma son. “Because that’s what we’ve earned. There’s a lot of teams in college football that didn’t earn one more game. So we’ll take that one last game. Let’s go.”

OSU finished 5th in the Big 12. TCU and Kansas State, the two teams still competing for the conference crown, are both likely to attend the premier New Year’s Six bowls, which leaves Texas and Texas Tech ahead of

But bowl games with Big 12 tie-ins are not required to pick the best available team in the conference. For many, the possibility of having Okla homa or Texas play in its Big 12 tied-in bowl game for the last time could be appealing.

Even though Oklahoma finished 6-6 overall and in 8th place in the conference, the bowl games that get to select first may be economically inclined to have the Sooners and their fans at the bowl.

With this in mind, here are five bowl games OSU could attend.

Texas Bowl

No matter the outcome of the Big 12 championship game, OSU does not have a legitimate shot of making the Sugar Bowl. The two bowls which pick after Sugar, Cheez-It and Alamo, are also unlikely to select the Cowboys. Af ter that is the Texas Bowl, held in NRG Stadium in Houston.

The Big 12 vs SEC bowl game will take place on Dec. 28, and would give OSU a spot in Texas to recruit and an opportunity for fans and alumni to travel and watch the game in a city not too far from Oklahoma. The Cowboys

Liberty

This

Former OSU guard Dee Mitchell and Harris decided in the offseason to do a minute on a climbing machine after every lift. They worked their way up to doing 5-10 three-minute cardio sessions each day.

The two worst days of Harris Jr.’s life are when he suffered two seasonending injuries. They tested Harris Jr. physically and mentally more than anything has before.

Mackenzie Janish

Two season-ending injuries limited OSU guard Chris Harris Jr. to only six minutes of basketball in a 1,002 day span.

Mackenzie Janish

See Harris on 3B

Coach Mike Boynton’s philosophy on 3-point shooting has evolved over the past six seasons.

John Smith glanced at a computer screen and didn’t hold back.

played in this game not long ago, losing to Texas A&M in 2019.

CBS Sports predicted OSU to the Texas Bowl to play Kentucky, coached by Mark Stoops, and ESPN said OSU would face Mississippi State in the game.

Bowl Picking after the Texas Bowl is the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. If a more

prominent bowl game wanted to select another team that is lower in the Big 12 standings instead of OSU, then the Cowboys could spend time in Tennessee on Dec. 28

is another Big 12-SEC showdown, and a similar distance from Stillwater as the Texas Bowl. OSU

Adam Engel

‘He lives right, does everything right’ Voinovich’s development in second season

individual. Strict with his diet, religiously in the weight room and is viewed by many as a student of the sport.

Allen Staff Reporter

Last season, OSU’s Victor Voinovich was in an opposite position.

The Ohio na tive was participating in open tournaments, finding a way to stay involved while sitting behind then 149-pound starter Kaden Gfeller.

Now, Gfeller starts at the 157 pounds and Voinovich finds himself starting at 149 pounds with a 3-0 start this year.

A lot changed from his freshman year to now. Particular wres tling techniques, eating habits and other intrica cies that go into making a wrestler successful at the college level. One thing that hasn’t changed since then — his persona.

“Victor has lived a lot like Victor since last year,” said junior wrestler Dustin Plott. “He’s still very business professional. He does what he knows he needs to do to be successful. Even last year when he was redshirting and not the guy at (149) he still had the same attitude as he does this year.”

His teammates describe him as a wrestling-only type

Through his time sitting behind Gfeller, Voinovich saw him as a mentor. He admired his 149-pound predecessor’s style and would discuss why and how Gfeller uti lized his moves. Voinov ich took mental notes on Gfeller’s opponents, keeping tabs on their own style, strengths and weaknesses. One thing that Gfeller most notably did do well was escape the bottom position.

“It kind of showed me what it was like to wrestle college guys versus being in high school,” Voinovich said. “Just the grind that col lege wrestling can be and just making weight and going through it all I guess is (what I learned my first year).”

Voinovich said his willingness to learn and improve both as an indi vidual and a wrestler has paid major dividends to his drastic progression since his freshman year.

He believes spending a year under Gfeller, be ing able to analyze what worked for him at 149 pounds and what didn’t work, allowed him to formulate a feasible plan heading into his redshirt freshman season.

“Me a month ago, I feel like I’d destroy me a month ago,” Voinovich said. “I feel like I’m im proving so much every day and I’m just super

excited to keep improv ing and show everyone who I am.”

The inconsisten cies still pop up occa sionally, and his coach, John Smith, acknowl edges it. It’s something Voinovich himself isn’t particularly fond of either. While sitting with a perfect record to start the year, he had a shaky season-opening match against Lehigh’s Manzona Bryant. The redshirt freshman is trying to eliminate the minor faults that made him fall behind early in the match where he ultimately came out victorious.

Even Plott says it’s a bit much, and Voi novich agrees. Yet, the willingness to eliminate the occasional flaws and stay strict to his dedication to wrestling is not only what makes him stand out from other wrestlers, but it’s what his teammates and coaches believe is going to potentially shape him into one of the bet ter wrestlers in recent memory at OSU.

“Victor is gonna be great,” Plott said. “He’s one of those guys that I don’t think you’re going to see have very many regrets because as I have said, he lives right, does everything right. If he has a bad match it was probably a fluke.”

Alnatas emerges in Cancun following mistake in loss

ished in a different role, but in a familiar offense.

For three seasons, Alnatas played for Hoyt at UMKC and for the last two, she ran the offense.

As a Roo, Alnatas aver aged 14 points per game and earned multiple allconference honors.

Alnatas averaged 20 points per contest and led OSU to a 2-1 record in Mexico, with wins over Florida State and Harvard.

Leading 56-55 with 27 seconds remain ing, OSU guard Naomie Alnatas dribbled up the court, seeming to do what many do when leading in a close game; dribble the clock out and get fouled.

But Alnatas, who at the time shot 83% from the free throw line, passed the ball to for ward Taylen Collins who got fouled as a 52% free throw shooter.

Collins missed both shots and Kent State scored the gamewinning bucket with four seconds left.

After the loss, OSU coach Jacie Hoyt said “That was not supposed to happen.”

Since Alnatas’ mistake, she has flour

The offensive system run at UMKC is almost identical to the one operated now at OSU, that’s part of how Alnatas is thriving early this season. Another part is, Alnatas is playing off the ball more.

With guard Terryn Milton running point guard, Alnatas is being asked to just score.

“I think Terryn is such a natural point guard and to be honest, Mimie (Alnatas) really isn’t, she just had to be at UMKC,” Hoyt said.

“It’s been fun watching Terryn get to operate in her strengths and posi tion Mimie to get to play more off the ball, which creates more scoring op portunities for her.”

In OSU’s threegame trip to Cancun,

With all of this in mind, Alnatas has played in this new role since the start of the season, so what changed? A meet ing with Hoyt.

Following the Kent State game, where Al natas went 2-10 from the field and 0-6 from three, Alnatas spoke with Hoyt about her play.

“She told me that I have to step up in a way that doesn’t have to change who I am,” Al natas said. “She’s just a truth teller, she tells me the truth even if it’s com fortable or not. She told me that we have better players here, obviously, and we have so many threats. So I just kind of focused on that and really, I don’t have the tournament I did without my teammates.”

Daniel

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Mackenzie Janish

Victor Voinovich, OSU’s starting 149-pounder, spent his redshirt freshman season as a backup. Now, with several middlweight changes, Voinovich takes over.

Carson Toulouse

Naomie Alnatas is a sixth-year senior and spent the last three seasons at UMKC under Jacie Hoyt.

Davis Cordova Staff Reporter

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Continued from 1B

Then he took a wrong step.

The ACL he had nursed back to healthy tore again.

“It was hell,” Harris Sr. said. “It was hell on earth. Cause you know how hard he worked to get back. You never question God, but you wonder ‘Why me?’ as a kid. As a kid, what did I do? But just unfortunate luck.”

Two days after the game, Harris discovered he contracted COVID-19. He went straight from the Cowboys’ prac tice gym to go pack his things and move into an isolated quarantine room.

“I was just in there for two weeks, limping on a hurt knee, icing it, doing whatever I could for two weeks,” Harris Jr. said. “Just chilling on a torn ACL.”

Harris Jr’s. situation had gone from bad to worse. This time around, his recovery tested his mind more than his body.

“Started going into dark places, started doing stuff that I’d never really done before, getting out of the way of what I know was right,” Harris Jr. said. “So, I feel like it was more mentally than physically.”

OSU point guard Avery Anderson has roomed with Harris Jr. for all four

years of school and even in high school at elite prospect camps. He said he saw Harris Jr. down and contin ued to encourage him knowing if the roles were reversed Harris would do the same to him.

Harris Jr. wasn’t as motivated to lift or train with playing time out of sight. Harris Jr. started showing up late to places, not going to events he usually did and hang ing with non-like-minded people.

Chris Harris Jr., known for being loud, bringing high-energy and a posi tive outlook wasn’t behaving like Chris Harris Jr.

Boynton noticed it.

“In fact, told him that (he wasn’t himself),” Boynton said. “The good thing, I think, about the way we recruit is we’re very honest about it. And be cause we’re honest on the front end we can be honest throughout. We don’t lie, we don’t make false promises, we don’t tell kids that things are always going to be sunshine and rainbows. There are

overcome a slump,” Boynton said. “You’ve got to be OK going 1-for-6 sometimes.

Chris

Sr.

going to be dark moments and hard challenges and, if handled right, we can all get through this thing together. But if we decide to take the other path, then it becomes dif ficult to stay around here and be part of what we’re doing.”

ally have nothing to show for it because I’ve been hurt all my time here,” Har ris Jr. said. “So, I’m trying to make the most of this year so at least I can have something to talk about you know me playing basketball here instead of be ing like, ‘yeah I was hurt so I was just cheering.’”

ʼʼ

Harris Jr. said being a leader, helping the Cowboys back to the NCAA Tournament, hitting a game-winning shot, dishing a game-winning assist or taking a game-winning charge that people can point to and say “He did that” will satisfy that scary thought. Harris Sr. said his son back on the “Harris Way,” showing up early, maintaining a posi tive attitude and not letting his past define his future.

Boynton said Harris Jr. took the path of feeling sorry for himself. He explained that path doesn’t lead to an opportunity to grow and make it out the other side better. He had an honest con versation about Harris Jr. taking owner ship of his life, body and career in order to finish on the right note.

Boynton’s message resonated with Harris Jr., who had a scary thought. What have I accomplished here that I will be remembered for?

“This is my senior year and I re

“Just seeing him back is great,” Harris Sr. said. “Seeing him out there smiling, having fun doing what he loves to do because I know he’s been working hard to get back to that spot. And a lot of people in his situation would have turned it in by now, they would go head and left school probably without even finishing. He’s going to graduate in the spring. A lot of kids after those inju ries they just pack it up and high tail it back home but he persevered the Harris way.”

Anderson started similar last season. He made three of five 3s in the opener, but he cut back and attempted no more than two in each of the following six games, making only one of his next 10. The more he missed, the less he shot.

Boynton compared Anderson to former players such as Thomas Dziagwa and Cameron McGriff –what he said are some of the hardest working athletes he’s coached – and said he has many of the same abilities but is missing one charac teristic.

“(Avery) doesn’t give himself the

Trusting that all that work you put, there’s gonna be a four-for-six day out there for you.”

But that’s been dif ficult for Anderson. As point guard, he feels responsible for making sure the offense gets the best shot possible.

He’s made just three of his 19 attempts from distance and had a pair of 0-for-4 games, which has stunted his eagerness to take those shots Boynton asks for more of.

“That’s part of grow ing on my end because I know I put the work in and I’ve just got to trust my work,” Anderson said.

For the Cowboys to keep up in yet another dominant edition of the Big 12, Boynton needs Ander son to have a short memory and keep putting up shots. Boynton blamed some of the poor 3-point percentage on Anderson’s lack of attempts.

He needs more chances to settle into his long-range shot, regardless of if they’re falling.

“We can’t have 2-for20s (from 3) a lot, but we need to take 20 more than we take five,” Boynton said. “It’s the game. You got to make 3s today. We need to be a team that makes eight, nine, 10 3s on average, which means you got to take sometimes 30.

Boynton said his team needs to make around 10 3s a game, which he added could mean shooting upward of 30. But it’s important to keep shooting them, and Boynton is sending that mes sage to his point guard.

“You may go 5-for8, you may go 1-for-6, but you’ve got to keep shooting,” Anderson said. “So that’s what I’ve got to do; keep shooting and trusting the work I’m putting in.”

Wrighting the ship

fect on free throws as well.

“It’s not a surprise,” coach Mike Boynton said. “I expect them to make all their free throws. We practice them. They’re good shooters.”

Sam Hutchens Staff Reporter

With five seconds left on the clock in the Baha Mar Con vention Center in the Bahamas, a relative unknown on the OSU men’s basketball team stepped to the free throw line in a piv otal moment.

Kind of a weird situation.

John-Michael Wright, OSU’s senior guard, toed the line for two shots with the goal of expanding OSU’s two-point lead on DePaul.

The result was not weird.

Wright, a transfer from High Point, knocked down both shots to secure a win.

OSU’s key transfer ad ditions have been great at free throws. In fact, better than great. As of Wednesday Wright has yet to miss one. Senior guard Caleb Asberry, a senior from Texas State, has been per

Wright is 13-for-13. Asber ry is 10-for-10. While it is not a huge sample size, and their per fect streaks are bound to end, both were solid free shooters at their previous schools. Wright is a career 78% free throw shooter. Asberry comes in at 83.5%.

OSU struggled at the stripe in 2021. As a team, the Cowboys shot 67% on free throws last season. It ranked last in the Big 12.

Boynton said Wright and Asberry’s solid free throw shooting is important; especial ly in late-game situations such as the one Wright found himself in against DePaul.

“A lot of times it’s just fo cus and concentration,” Boynton said. “So it’s good. Those guys are guys that will get fouled. We’ll want to have them in the game late.”

Boynton said free throw shooting was not a huge priority when evaluating transfer candi

dates in the offseason. He was emphasizing other things when recruiting Wright and Asberry. He said free throw shooting is usually on the radar only if transfers are poor at it. Even then, like when 7-footer Moussa Cisse transferred in from Mem phis sporting a 32% free throw percentage, it did not outweigh his obvious strengths.

“It’s maybe something that we need to think about more,” Boynton said. “I don’t know if we think about it enough. Not that it doesn’t matter. It’s just not usually something that is a big conversation piece.”

In OSU’s upset loss against Southern Illinois, the Cowboys made just eight of 16 free throw attempts. If the trans fers keep up their hot starts, it leaves OSU less vulnerable to close losses.

“It gives you a sense of comfort that you can fin ish games the right way and not have what happened to us against Southern Illinois hap pen,” Boynton said.

230 S. Knoblock St. Stillwater, OK 74074

It was hell. It was hell on earth. Cause you know how hard he worked to get back. You never question God, but you wonder ‘Why me?’ as a kid. As a kid, what did I do? But just unfortunate luck.

Harris

Mackenzie Janish

Mackenzie Janish

John-Michael Wright has made an impact in the Big 12 since transferring to OSU from High Point.

sports

a monster equivalent to the SEC’s football domi nance. Five of the country’s top 10 squads compete in the Big Ten.

“Listen, if you’re gonna say you’re the best conference in wrestling and they may be for now, then there’s some responsibility that needs to come with that a little bit,” he said. “You’d like to see ‘em stretch out and wrestle a lot of teams early on.”

Smith said he hopes the Big Ten can figure it out to be on par with its basket ball scheduling.

Why is it becoming so difficult? There’s a need for success in conference duals that you could lose in non conference duals. Injuries can happen and young guys need to step up in the most critical times.

Kids deliver joy for football dads

Allen Staff Reporter

When Brock Martin exits the field at Boone Pickens Stadium, a flow of relief always greets him.

Martin is one of three on OSU’s football team with a child. It is a struggle balancing being a student-athlete and a parent. Defensive end Martin, offensive lineman Caleb Eti enne and defensive lineman Sione Asi are open about.

After every game follow ing a long, stressful day, Martin sees his girlfriend, Gracie, and his son, Maverick, in the stands. He finds time pre-game to hold his son and talk to Gracie.

“Just having them there means the world to me,” Martin said. “They’re both what gets me up in the morning and gets me going. Maverick especially, he really gets me going every morning. They’re just a joy to be around. Both of them are.”

Martin recalls OSU’s 48-0 shutout loss to Kansas State earlier this season. The locker room was silent. Depart ing the stadium was similar. Si lent and awkward, with nobody acknowledging the loss.

It remained that way for a while. Until he came across his son and girlfriend.

“That kind of gave me a reality check,” Martin said. “It’s not all about football. Family is what really matters. Life isn’t just based on foot ball. We got our asses kicked at Kansas State. I was dead silent until I went outside and saw Maverick and it was like it never even happened.”

Martin spends most of his days at the football facili ties, from roughly 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. He fits in visits after early morning workouts, but from noon to the end of practice, his time with his family is sparse.

He worries about Gracie and the heavy workload she has to balance out with her school work, personal and social life, and being a mother.

“It’s all about communi cation,” Martin said. “It was tough at first but we eventually got the hang of it. I worry about her. I worry about (Maverick), too.”

The same goes for the other two parent-athletes on the roster.

“Caleb Jr., he means the world to me man,” Etienne said. “It’s hard diverting my full attention to him some times, cause I mean he wants all of it. He can be selfish. He wants all of my attention. Plus my school work and film time, it takes a toll on me for sure. But he’s all worth it.”

Such a schedule requires a lot of focus and diverted attention — something most student athletes lack due to the logistics that go into balancing the workload.

Asi acknowledges this. He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters; Tapenisi and Mariaela. No matter how long the days are, he makes time for his family in the evening. He credits his wife for assisting him in finding a commonality in balancing the surplus of ob stacles that are often recurring for student athletes.

“I’ve said this since day one, I would not be able to do this without (Brenda),” Asi said. “Shoutout to her, she makes it a lot easier on me. She’s taken a lot off of my plate and a lot of the weight off of my shoulders. She’s really been the one that has helped me bal

Rate Bowl.

Armed Forces Bowl

ance all of the work that comes with being a dad and a football player, because it is tough.”

It took a while for Asi and his wife to find a rhythm and establish a consistent routine. He said it took him realizing his wife was carrying the ma jority of the load to decided he needed to be more involved.

While Asi is doing schoolwork or practicing, Brenda takes care of their kids. When he gets home, he takes over for the majority of the time. Brenda does the major ity of it, Asi makes time to be present for his wife and daugh ters.

“It’s hard for us at times but we make it work,” Asi said.

“The biggest advice I ever got was, when I’m at work, I’m at work. When I’m at home, I’m at home. Basically to focus on the task at hand. Sometimes when we lose, everyone is upset, and I’m upset and it’s hard to talk to anyone after a game. But it doesn’t matter in the end. When I go home and see them, it’s like I’m all good.”

Finding a balance with the schedule that ensues with being a student-athlete and adding the role of being a par ent is another. Yet, amid the uncertainty that comes with both, Martin, Etienne and Asi have all found a way to make it work.

“Ultimately we all have our own choices to make but if you choose to be a parent that should be your number one concern,” said OSU coach Mike Gundy. “We should have unconditional love and we should parent or we shouldn’t have them. The most difficult thing for me would just be saying, ‘OK, I’m a parent at 20 years old’.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

If OSU were selected to go to the Armed Forces Bowl, the Cowboys would have to return to the site of its 43-40 overtime loss to TCU in Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth.

Minnesota coach Brandon Eggum noted that but continues the series with Oklahoma State. It started more than 30 years ago when former OSU wrestler Jay Robinson coached the Golden Gophers.

“You get into January and February, you could be wrestling one, two, three and four,” Eggum said. “Four straight weeks, you have the top four ranked guys in the country. That could go on for nine weeks. You can wrestle a majority of seven of top-10 ranked guys in the country at different times.”

Eggum also hypoth esized that the need for at-large bids in the NCAA Championship could impact other Big Ten teams’ reluc tancy with OSU. In many cases, the Cowboys could be favored at some weights.

“Maybe there’s some thought of ‘Boy, if you get the top guys or some young guys whose winning per centage is one of them,’ it can be difficult when you’re competing in the Big Ten in January and February to pick up,” he said. “Wins aren’t easy to come by.”

Big Ten teams not named Minnesota and Iowa have tried to wrestle in Still water. That hasn’t happened since 2017 with Penn State.

Since then? Just couldn’t make it work. It’s not like football where an

open date would mean a possible opponent. Smith must accommodate to the Cowboys’ and Cowgirls’ home basketball schedule. He noticed some differences against other nonconference teams.

“It’s been a struggle,” he said. “We had Michigan State for a lot of years. I’ve just seen some things hap pen that have been a little bit disturbing. One of the things that we always did when we wrestled West Virginia, we would go up and hit Pitts burgh on the weekend. Well, all of a sudden, we’re strug gling getting them back on the schedule when he had them.”

Iowa would’ve wres tled in Stillwater last season, but the two programs chose the Bout at the Ballpark. That was OSU’s home meet to lose.

Coach Sean Bormet and his Wolverines were set to wrestle in Stillwater in 2020. COVID-19 wiped those plans.

“We both have very tough schedules every year,” Bormet said. Scheduling is usually the challenge, espe cially when we get into our Big Ten season in January and February. Week in, week out, it gets really tough.”

There have been op portunities where Big 12 teams compete against Big Ten squads in a neutral site dual tournament. Iowa State clashed with Wisconsin at the Battle in the River City in Jacksonville, Florida.

Northern Iowa will battle Ohio State at the Collegiate Duals.

Not OSU.

“They’re not at home,” Smith said. “I don’t really care for it.”... I think some of that is nice but having too many of them I just think it takes away from your oppor tunity to have home meets against quality meets. It’s not normal.”

The Bout at the Ball park isn’t normal either. But that’s the one non-home meet Smith said he’s willing to make an exception for.

So, what’s the solution?

“I don’t know that answer,” Smith said. “I just know that there are a lot of teams out there that struggle getting some of the bet ter dual meets. We need to always recognize that the great dual meets is always what grows the sport.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

played in the Liberty Bowl in 2018, when the then 6-6 Cowboys de feated No. 24 Missouri.

USA TODAY projected OSU will play in this game, and would face 6-6 Arkansas.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl

There is a chance OSU could return to Phoenix for a second straight bowl game, this time for the Guaran teed Rate Bowl.

Held on Dec. 27 in Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks of the MLB play, the Guaranteed Rate Bowl is one OSU has never played in. It would also be an opportunity for the Cowboys to face a Big 10 opponent, something that hasn’t happened since the Cowboys defeated Purdue in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after the 2012 season.

Yahoo Sports predicted OSU would face Wisconsin and newly hired coach Luke Fickel in the Guaranteed

Unlike the aforementioned bowls, this one is played before Christmas, taking place on Dec. 22. OSU has never played in the Armed Forces Bowl, and if this is the year, it would face any team from a number of different confer ences.

The Athletic projected OSU to play Air Force in 2022’s Armed Forces Bowl.

Frisco Bowl

The last bowl game in the realm of possibility for OSU is the Frisco Bowl. Played in Toyota Stadium, where FC Dallas plays its matches, on Dec. 17, students could flock to the DFW the day after the school semester con cludes.

This is another bowl the Cowboys have yet to appear in, but The Ath letic previously predicted OSU to play Fresno State.

The bowl game OSU attends this season won’t be a New Year’s Six bowl, but the Cowboys will still play

an important postseason game.

Mackenzie Janish

Brock Martin finds his son, Maverick, before home football games.

Daniel

Molly Jolliff

OSU wrestling coach John Smith explained his frustration with a lack of Big Ten teams consistently scheduling the Cowboys.

Come check out the wide variety of elegant clothing at Formal Fantasy!

Located on 121 E. 9th Ave, Downtown Stillwater

Business Squares Business Squares

Company Coming?

Check out “Cowboy Cabin” 550 steps east of Boone Pickens Stadium

“If all __ fails ... ”

Preference for the center of the road?

Neruda’s “__ to Salt”

“Pumicepowered” soap

Where a Met singer reclines between arias?

Hang out in a hammock

“Odds __ ... ”

__ cit.: footnote notation

2010 health law, for short

Pests treated with Nix Ultra shampoo

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815 S Main, Downtown Open 10-6 Monday thru Saturday

Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black Tribune Content Agency Linda Black Horoscopes

Today’s Birthday (12/02/22). Fortune blesses your house this year. Steady prac tices build powerful networks and creative connections. Making a healthy change this winter energizes springtime creative and romantic projects. Private reflection processes summer transitions, before an exciting social public autumn phase. Domestic bliss provides sweet rewards.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most chal lenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is a 9 — Confidence fills your sails again. Your actions and words can get results, especially when directed for what you love. Advance a passion project.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 6 — Pay attention to the undertones. Enjoy contemplation time. Love is abundant; soak it up. Travel far without going anywhere. Tap into imagination. Invent dreamy possibilities.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) — Today is an 8 — Advance team projects with pas sion, words and action. Coordinate and organize roles, responsibilities and sched ules. Tackle heavy lifting with collaboration. You’ve got this.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Today is an 8 — Experience pays. Disciplined efforts and communications can realize dreamy outcomes. Keep all the balls in play. Focus on the big picture. Professional opportunities unfold.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is a 9 — Widen your exploration. Coordinate and plan logistics carefully. Travels, studies and investigations lead to satisfying rewards. Stick to reliable connections, routes and options. Discipline pays. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is a 9 — Make lucrative connections with fo cused efforts. Collaborate for shared gain. Advance financial, sales and marketing goals. Generate incoming resources by working together. Discuss possibilities. Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is an 8 — Collaboration is your superpower. Coordinate for shared reward. Check tasks off the list in a productive dance. Strength grows with practice. Share your mutual admiration.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is an 8 — Practice your moves. Disciplined routines build physical health, strength and results. Score extra points by connect ing with nature. Savor birdsong. Animal friends feed your heart.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is an 8 — Write poetry. Practice your creative arts. Invent delightful possibilities with someone charming. Collaboration grows naturally. Savor beauty. Share the fun. Make a heart connection. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 7 — Plan and research the domestic improvements you envision. Coordinate with family and housemates. Find new purpose for old objects. New paint brightens everything. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is a 9 — Communication channels are wide open. Get the word out. Participate in a bigger conversation. Follow words with action for powerful results. Connect and coordinate. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is a 9 — Tap into a lucrative groove. Keep doing what’s working. Ask for more and get it. Provide reliable, excellent results. Wheel and deal. Sign contracts.

Cereal that has amazing health benefits?

Carved symbol

Wall calendar span

First woman Speaker of the House

Hotel choice leading up

Solution to Thursday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk

The best selection of beer, wine and li quor that Stillwater has to offer! Perfect for all your game day needs, come to Brown’s Bottle Shop located on 128 N. Main

Predictions and superstitions

An inside look at Cowboy football uniforms

that much into trying to predict what we’re going to wear, it’s been an interesting few years to see that develop.”

Payton Little Staff Reporter

Predicting OSU’s uni forms can often feel like spinning a roulette wheel at a casino.

And that is exactly what Justin Williams is aiming for.

Who helps these OSU football players look and feel their best before even stepping out of the tunnel?

Williams has been the director of football equipment operations since 2017, but his experience at Oklahoma State goes back much further thanks to the late Brian Luinstra, one of the 10 who died in the 2001 plane crash.

“He covered a class called ‘Care and Prevention of Athletic Injuries,’ and he had recruited the equipment guys at the time to come down and speak to the class about protec tive equipment,” Williams said. “I just walked up and asked them if they had a job and they did.”

Since then, Williams has been working around football equipment. Getting gear prepped for practices and games, ensuring the laundry is washed and ready to be made available or even unloading a truck after road games in the early hours of the morning, Williams has seemingly done it all.

Once a position that flew well under the radar, the profes sion has grown in popularity as the equipment has grown more and more advanced.

“Back in the day, the only times people would recognize the equipment guys is if some thing went wrong,” Williams said. “The helmet breaks or a shoe comes off, but now there is just so much more attention drawn to it.”

The Cowboy football uniforms have garnered atten tion. With four different colors of jerseys and pants, three different colors of helmets and a plethora of logos to choose from, it is always a mystery as to what combination the Cow boys will take the field in next.

As for Williams, he likes being able to keep things fresh and keep people on their toes. The less people that are able to hone in on what the final set turns out to be, the better he feels he is doing his job.

“It’s good to keep every body guessing,” Williams said. “I think that keeps the interest and attention there. It’s been a unique way to add a fun week for the game. Everybody looks forward to gameday. Everybody enjoys gameday, but to be able to be a topic throughout the week and keep people guessing or talking and see people invest

OSU is unique in the fact the uniforms the team wears is not announced until the gates open for the attendees.

It acts as a live reveal for fans, as the Cowboy foot ball social media team will release the look on social media as soon as fans flood through the gates of Boone Pickens Stadium.

“It’s for the players,” Williams said. “This whole thing was struc tured and designed to take care of our student athletes. We didn’t want to be like everybody else. I think that draws attention from who that is for. The players need to be the first ones to see it, and it does a good job of getting them hyped up on game day.”

Many factors go into selecting which colors and logo will be seen each week. It’s a collaborative process to ensure the Cowboys look their best on gameday. Williams collaborates with a majority of the equipment staff to hone in on the spe cific look for the week to come, but that does not mean that they’re the only ones throwing ideas into the mix.

“It’s a collaboration,” Williams said. “We listen to players. Coach (Gundy) doesn’t get involved a whole lot, but sometimes he’ll pitch in an opinion. Early on, I tried to handle more of that, but as time went on, I like to get our staff a little bit more involved with that side of it to help them take some ownership in it. It’s kind of a family affair. Everybody has a little bit of say.”

Most people have seen or dealt with superstitions at some point in time. Division I college athletes are no different when it comes to uniforms.

“If we’re winning, they like it, if for some reason it didn’t work out our way, maybe they push back on that a little bit more,” Williams said. “It’s just funny how superstitious they get over the look. Last year, we had some players come to us about wearing certain looks for certain games and we

accommodated and it worked out, so maybe there is some truth to that.”

While the Cowboys have mixed up their uniforms throughout the years, there has never been a more dynamic display of colors, logos and de signs than the present uniform era, and Williams is thankful for just how far the appreciation has come for the look of the Cowboys.

“It’s really flattering to see how many people have embraced this side of it,” Wil liams said. “When this thing first started, no one could have predicted that this would have garnered that much popularity. I’ll get some messages on social media trying to ask and I’ve got buddies across the country that hit me up and text me that want to know what we’re wearing. To see that side of college football get that popular has really been kind of flattering. It’s been a fun ride.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Courtesy of OSU Athletics

Justin Williams (left), OSU’s director of football equipment operations, organizes the Cowboys’ weekly uniform combinations.

Chase Davis

The cursive football helmets are a popular choice among fans.

sports

Recruiting in a global sport

Jax Thompson Staff Reporter

Sports is a connector, it brings together participants from around the world.

In recruiting, it means the talent pool is vast and spread out, making it hard for coaches to sort through it all.

The challenge is amplified in sports like tennis — where there are only two coaches on staff for each team.

Dustin Taylor, coach of Cowboy tennis, has spent most of his career before this in professional tennis at multiple levels. Chris Young, coach of Cowgirl tennis, has been in the college tennis world for decades. He’s been the Cowgirls’ coach for 13 years.

The two have had different career paths and have gotten to know people

in different parts of the tennis commu nity, but both coaches have found ways to tackle the challenge of recruiting in such a broad talent pool, and it starts with using the relationships they’ve built over their careers.

“The tennis world is a pretty small world,” Taylor said. “You have friends, you have former players, you have cur rent players playing professional events throughout the world. You got a lot of people out there who can give you proper feedback on what kind of player (the recruits) are, what type of person they are.”

Young also added that form ing relationships with academies and federations around the world is crucial to good recruiting. He echoed the senti ment of how important a good network of people is.

“I think every coach should have

a few people in their network where if I really need a recruit this is the person I’m gonna go to first,” Young said.

Even after their network of con tacts find the potential players — they still need to learn about the kids and get to know them. It can be just as impor tant for the recruits to mesh with OSU tennis on a personal level as it is for them to be talented.

While trying to connect with players around the world would have once been an unreasonable expectation, social media and apps have made it pos sible.

“I find nowadays with technology it’s just as easy to recruit an internation al kid as it is an American kid, as far as connecting with them and messaging them and communicating,” Young said.

After the coaches have determined whether the player is the right fit for

their program, the next step is persuad ing the recruits that OSU is the right school for them.

Taylor, while new to the program, has already had success in recruiting, especially through the transfer portal.

Young, on the other hand, has a strong history built up with the Cow girls. He has overseen nine All-Amer icans, two Big 12 regular-season titles and a national runner-up finish in 2016.

“I think for us we focus on the tennis development quite a bit with the facility that we have, with the resources we have and the success we’ve had with our program with developing players, players that have gone on to play profes sionally,” Young said.

sports.ed@ocolly.com

HIMALAYAN GROCERY STORE

File Photo

Recruiting international tennis recruits is easier with modern technology and different communication methods.

Picking winners (and losers)

Guest Picker leader board

TCU (14-12)

USC (36-19)

UCF (35-34)

Kansas State (33-24) TCU (34-21) TCU (34-30)

USC (41-34)

Tulane (30-27)

USC (48-37)

Tulane (27-24)

USC (38-36)

UNC (31-17)

Clemson (36-27)

Clemson (34-28)

Tulane (20-17)

Clemson (24-23)

TCU (31-23)

USC (30-28)

UCF (27-20)

Clemson (29-24)

TCU (45-34)

USC (27-21)

Tulane (31-19)

Clemson (35-26)

Georgia (28-21) Georgia (34-18) Georgia (41-20) Georgia (37-28) Georgia (a lot-not a lot)

Georgia (30-10)

About the guest picker: The women editors of The O’Colly battled it out this week in the pick grid. Design ed Sam Beebe (top left), Photo ed Mackenzie Janish (top right), Co-EIC Abby Cage (bottom left) and News ed Mallory Pool (bottom right). These women do not know much about football, but have fun with this grid each week.

Connor Burgan

O’Colly Girl Bosses