The O'Colly, Monday, August 7, 2023

Monday, August 7, 2023

Town & Gown Theatre’s Troupe d’ Jour presents the 11th Annual Stillwater Short Play Festival

Town & Gown’s Stillwater Short Play Festival is celebrating its 11th year of exciting productions and yet another opportunity to give back to the Stillwater community. The festival consists of eight short plays of approximately 10-15 minutes in length and runs for one weekend of two performances – Saturday, Aug.12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 13 at 2:30 p.m. This year’s lineup includes the following plays:

The Yanks are Coming, written by Hank Kimmel of Atlanta, Georgia Choices, written by James McLindon of Northampton, Massachusetts Moon Rabbit, written by Mark A. Fisher of Tehachapi, California

The Naughty List, written by Robert J. LeBlanc of Newburyport, Massachusetts

Bad Idea, written by Brian Cox of Detroit, Michigan

L’art est Pour Tout le Monde, written by Matthew Hanf of Elk Grove, California

Family by Numbers, written by Arianna Rose of Delray Beach, Florida

The New Me, written by Richard Pauli of Annapolis, Maryland

Tickets are $10 each and will

be available at the door for each performance. As an extra bit of fun, the festival’s “Stuff the Shorts” campaign will give audience members the oppor-

tunity to “vote” for their favorite play(s) by dropping cash or checks into a pair of boxer shorts designated for each play. This will determine the People’s Choice

Award, which will be announced at the close of the Sunday performance.

See Festival on 7

Students at Oklahoma State University have spent countless hours in labs conducting research projects this summer. Numerous projects showcased knowledge and findings within student research at the annual Undergraduate Summer Research Expo, held in the Nancy Randolph Davis building on Aug. 2. A majority of research is done during graduate school, but undergraduate students at OSU are offered the ability to spend hours working in labs on campus during the summer with this

program. Students play a major role in research across universities.

Dr. Christine Johnson, OSU associate vice president for research expressed how the work students put in this summer is displayed for recognition at the expo.

“We are so pleased that we have had some undergraduate students who have been on campus for many weeks this summer in the labs. You’ve been in the lab and you’ve been working away and today is the culmination to share and disseminate some of your discoveries,” Johnson said.

The summer research program helps prepare undergraduates with connections and skills to pursue graduate school as they continue researching.

Brittanie Cannon, a McNair Scholar studying psychology, was hesitant to join the program.

See Showcase on 6

‘There’s

Gundy,

security in numbers’

that the latest round of conference shuffling would conclude anywhere in the next week to a month.

It might still not be over, but the Big 12 seemingly wrapped up its shopping Friday night when it approved the memberships of Arizona State and Utah after the admittance of Arizona on Thursday night.

Texas to the SEC, and OSU was scrambling to find security, whether that be in a revamped Big 12 or in another conference.

Just two years later, the Big 12 is in a favorable spot. In the grand scheme of things, two years is a short amount of time to go from a destitute conference to a league in a position for longevity.

In the past year, Mike Gundy predicted that the Big 12 would “rise up and be just fine” during conference realignment and that OSU would be in good shape because of it. He also said conference realignment wasn’t finished. Check.

“I’m almost like Nostradamus,” Gundy joked on Wednesday before practice.

The Big 12 landed on its feet with the additions of four new teams and a renegotiated TV contract last year, then stole back its Big 8 bride in Colorado last week. Gundy made a new prediction Wednesday, saying

At OSU’s Football Media Day on Saturday afternoon, Gundy and athletic director Chad Weiberg weighed in on the realignment. “I think it’s all good. There’s security in numbers… numbers is strength,” Gundy said. “How they’re gonna break it up, who is gonna play who, I think that’s a challenge – but it’s a good challenge to have when you look back from where we were a year and a half ago.”

That situation in 2021 was a rough one, and Weiberg likened the times to “dog days” full of uncomfortableness. The Big 12 had just lost OU and

How did it happen so quickly?

“Leadership,” said Weiberg, who was AD for two weeks before OU and Texas made their move. “I think these things happen not by accident, right? I mean, you have to give a lot of people – again, commissioners, our presidents and chancellors, our athletic directors – you have to give them credit for stacking a series of good decisions on top of each other to get to where we are to survive and grow and position ourselves in the place that we’re in now.”

Courtesy of Jacob Boyd

Town & Gown actors rehearse for upcoming Short Play Festival.

Annual summer research expo showcase undergraduate projects

Ethan Scott

There are logistical issues in having a 16-team conference, but after the Big 12’s near miss with a collapse in 2021, Mike Gundy said that’s a good problem to have. See

Jacob Boyd O’Colly Contributor

Weiberg weigh in on Big 12’s realignment

Braden Bush Sports Editor

Jaycee Hampton News and Lifestyle Assistant Editor

Mike Gundy talks conference scheduling, OSU’s historic season tickets sales

games.

Ashton Slaughter Assistant Sports Editor

Notebook

A clean-shaven, freshoff-watching-film Mike Gundy met with reporters on Saturday for OSU’s Football Media Day to discuss conference realignment and updates on fall practices.

Amid his humor toward a reporter about the comedy TV series “Ted Lasso” and the 55-year-old Gundy showing his age when it comes to Wi-Fi problems at his house, some interesting tidbits came from his time at the podium.

Gundy’s thoughts on scheduling moving forward

Gundy doesn’t get called upon to make any decisions; no coach does.

Heck, even if he did get the call, maybe he wouldn’t want to be the end-all, be-all voice.

Despite the NCAA taking little to no coaches’ thoughts into consideration about on the field and off the field questions, comments, or concerns, Gundy still has his beliefs about what may be the best way to schedule college football games moving forward in the era of realignment.

Excluding the Pac-12, which is being held together at its seems by four not-soattractive schools, Gundy believes the other four perennial conferences should come to an agreement to play the same number of conference

“If you could get a bipartisan agreement amongst the conferences (Big 12, Big 10, ACC, SEC) that said, ‘We’re gonna play 10 conference games, we all are,’ it would benefit everybody,”

Gundy said.

His reasoning is rather simple, too. Say Oklahoma State played eight conference games in 2025, but Oregon played 10. If OSU went 8-0 in Big 12-play and Oregon went 9-1 against the Big Ten, how should those resumes stack up? Like all other college football resume dialogue, it gets really murky, as it always does some College Football Playoff selection time.

So, to help eliminate some of this confusion and murkiness, just have every “Power Four” conference play the same amount of conference games.

This will also put more fans in seats, because who doesn’t love conference matchups? And it will make more TV money for the same reason.

“That’s something we should do... it would create some parity and it would help at the end of the season, in my opinion,” Gundy said.

Physicality ramping up in practice

Now, yes, maybe the five NFL scouts had something to do with it. Maybe even the rare Oklahoma early-August breeze helped.

Either way, the Cowboys had a physical, smashmouth practice Saturday.

“Today we had a very good practice,” Gundy said. “Very physical.”

OSU’s offense is going to run a lot more concepts with the quarterback (who’s yet to be determined) under center this season, meaning the rushing attack will be pivotal for the Cowboys’ success in this new-look offense.

On the other side of the

ball, led by newcomer Bryan Nardo, he’s instilled a new 3-3-5 scheme, another thing OSU fans won’t be used to seeing in the Big 12.

Both of these things are beginning to take shape in the early fall after being introduced and tweaked throughout the spring. Now, helmets are cracking in practices, as this new era of Cowboy football will begin in early September.

“(Saturday’s practice was) a lot like what it needs to be in order for us to be a better run football team.”

Fans are buying in (literally) on the Cowboys

Despite the Cowboys’ lackluster follow-up to a Fiesta Bowl Championship, their fans’ commitment isn’t wavering.

OSU season tickets this year have all been swept up; there are none (or little, depending on who you ask) remaining.

“We’re selling out luxury seating, we’re selling out suites, and I think we’re gonna sell out our seats this year, our season tickets,” Gundy said. “We’re going to be close, which is a tribute to our fans.”

An OSU communications representative later informed Gundy that they were sold out, so it sounds like the tickets are gone.

Place this on fans becoming more passionate, growing enrollment enticing students’ parents to purchase tickets, or anything, for that matter. The bottom line is that the Cowboys, coming off a 7-6 season, are set to play in front of a sold-out Boone Pickens Stadium several times this season.

“I think the fans want to help,” Gundy said. “I think they wanted to say, ‘Football’s important; we’re buying our season tickets,’ and this is proof by them getting out and buying their tickets.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

The Big 12’s four new schools offer widespread athletic success

you would really not want to play, because it’s hard enough to play and beat them and you might not get the credibility that you think you’re going to get from the exposure based on history. Utah is one of those teams.”

Arizona: Men’s Basketball

Four schools are joining the ever-changing Big 12 and bringing some firepower to some of the conference’s best sports.

The Big 12 Conference officially added Arizona, Arizona State and Utah from the Pac 12 on Friday to make the conference a 16-team league in 2024. The conference added Colorado in late-July, starting this recent wave of conference realignment.

Football is the most talked about sport in all the realignment, and the Big 12 got a boost there, but what about other sports? Wrestling, basketball, others? The Big 12’s new additions have much to offer.

Utah: Football Utah has had recent success in its women’s basketball team and a historic gymnastics program, but the biggest impact is on the gridiron.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham took over the job for Urban Meyer in 2005 and has since built the program into a staple in college football.

Utah has seven nine-win seasons in the past 10 years and won the past two Pac-12 Conference championships. Utah is picked to finish third this season behind USC and Oregon – who are headed to the Big Ten next year.

OSU coach Mike Gundy said he believes there are some similarities between Utah and OSU. Whittingham and Gundy were hired within three weeks of each other almost 20 years ago, and Gundy said the Utes are underrated, like the Cowboys.

“Lately they’ve been very successful,” Gundy said. “So, they’re bringing in a really good team and they’re one of those teams that - and I think Oklahoma State is this way - if you polled coaches anonymously across the country teams that

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The Big 12 already had arguably the toughest basketball conference in the country. With the addition of Arizona, it only gets better.

In the last two NCAA Tournaments, the Wildcats have been a 1-seed and a 2-seed with a Sweet 16 appearance. Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd is thought of as one of the best coaches in the conference and is one of the best international recruiters.

The program is a historic one as well. The Wildcats won the NCAA title in 1997 and have appeared in four Final Four’s.

Arizona State: Wrestling

A highly touted wrestling program is being added to one of the best conferences in wrestling.

Arizona State’s wrestling team witnessed an off year in 2023 but has recently, and historically, been successful.

The Sun Devils have won five of the last seven Pac 12 championships and have claimed 21 in total. The Sun Devils also won the 1988 national championship.

Colorado: Cross Country

Coach Prime may be the face of Colorado athletics right now, but Colorado’s cross-country program is the most impactful sport.

The cross-country program dominated the Pac 12 in its short-lived tenure in the conference. Between the men’s and women’s teams, 14 conference championships have been claimed since 2011.

Prior to Colorado’s move from the Big 12 to the Pac 12 in 2010, Colorado had 23 conference championships – which is still more than any school.

In the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships (which were held in Stillwater), the men’s team placed eighth while the women’s team finished 11th.

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Jaiden Daughty Arizona State’s wrestling program has won five of the last seven PAC-12 conference championships.

Ethan Scott

Mike Gundy believes every team in the new mega conferences should play the same number of conference games. That way, more fans would come to the games, TV ratings would go up and parity would be created at the end of the season.

Davis Cordova Staff Reporter

Realignment...

Continued from 1

Weiberg was quick to thank former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who announced the addition of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF to the league just two months after losing the Red River schools. That gave the rest of the conference reassurance that the league would survive. It also showed Weiberg that the Big 12 was becoming forward-thinking, which set up the conference for the revelations of the last week.

“I think we wouldn’t be where we are able to make this move if we hadn’t made that move and those moves,” Weiberg said. “So, I think that was the beginning of the stabilization, and then this is just kinda the next round of positioning our conference to move forward.”

The next round of positioning happened abruptly. The Pac 12’s 108 years of history and tradition came crashing down within nine days. With Oregon and Washington heading to the Big Ten in the shakeup, only Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State remain. The Big 12 went from 12 to 16 teams because of it. Between all the movement was TV contract talk and negotiations, board of regents meetings, conference meetings, conversations between presidents and universities. Even for an athletic director in the know, it was a whirlwind scenario.

“I’m seeing a lot of the same things everybody else is seeing, right?” Weiberg said. “So, you know that there’s things happening in real time.”

But Weiberg was happy with how it shook out, and

the result, he said, was that progressive Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark accomplished his goal of being a national conference. From the outskirts of the Everglades to Great Salt Lake, and from the Sonoran Desert to the Appalachians – Big 12 territory. That creates some issues logistically, but that’s a small price to pay for peace of mind. Gundy brought up travel and distance as issues, which he said could result in more localization down the road, and the loss of tradition is off-putting, but he said he’s thrilled with where OSU is at.

“All of this is somewhat unsettling. There’s a lot of history and tradition that’s being crumbled, but it is what it is,” Gundy said. “Now you just move forward and try to make the best out of it.”

The problems OSU faces now aren’t handwringers like two years ago. Same for the Big 12. There’s solid ground on which to build now. But realignment never goes completely silent today. The Pac 12 has four schools unsure of their future, and the ACC still must re-up its TV contracts.

Gundy set the over/under for more major realignment at 3 1/2 years on Saturday. And Yormark famously said the Big 12 is open for business. After all this, is it still open on the expansion front?

“We felt like 16 was probably the right number,” Weiberg said. “So again, we’ll see. Now this is changing all the time. So, I’m not going to sit here and say never, but I think we feel good about the position we’re in right now.”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Carson Toulouse

OSU athletic director Chad Weiberg said the Big 12’s leadership and decision-making over the past two years put the conference in a position to capitalize on realignment.

Newfound four

A breakdown of the four new Big 12 teams

In-person undergraduate enrollment: 29,583 (2022)

Known for: Science, engineering and business programs

Famous alumni: Robert Redford, Chauncey Billups and Chris Fowler

National titles: 29

Football history: Joined the Pac-12 in 2011 after being in the Big 12 from 1996–2010; 1990 National Champions; 26 conference titles

in 2011 after being in the MWC from 1999–2010; zero national titles; 26 conference titles

Last season’s football results: 10-4 (7-2), Pac-12 Champions

Rival: BYU

What Utah brings to the Big 12: The Holy War rivalry with BYU will be pivotal moving forward, especially considering the loss of the Red River Rivalry and Bedlam.

Rival: Arizona State

What Arizona brings to the Big 12: Like Utah-BYU, Arizona-Arizona State is yet another rivalry that can become a conference staple

Arizona State

Mascot: Sun Devils

Location: Tempe, Arizona

In-person undergraduate enrollment: 80,065 (2022)

For the second time in two years, the Big 12 is adding four new schools to the conference.

Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State will officially join the conference in the 2024–25 season, adding three more states to the ever-growing market that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark has created.

Each school has a decorated history in collegiate athletics and brings something to the Big 12 that can help grow its brand.

Colorado

Mascot: Buffaloes

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Last football season’s results: 1-11 (1-8)

Rival: Nebraska

What Colorado brings to the Big 12: Deion Sanders and a ginormous hype train behind him.

Utah

Mascot: Utes

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

In-person undergraduate enrollment: 26,355 (2022)

Known for: Being a premier research institution

Famous alumni: Bill Marriot, Alex Smith and Steve Smith Sr.

National titles: 33

Football history: Joined the Pac-12

Arizona Mascot: Wildcats

Location: Tuscon, Arizona

In-person undergraduate enrollment: 40,407 (2022)

Known for: High-caliber academic and research programs

Famous alumni: Steve Kerr, Kourtney Kardashian and Rob Gronkowski

National titles:19

Football history: Joined the Pac-10 in 1978, became a member of the Pac-12 in 2011, zero national titles, six conference titles Last season’s football results: 5-7 (3-6)

Known for: Research programs and being a party school

Famous alumni: Jimmy Kimmel, Barry Bonds and Phil Mickelson

National titles: 24

Football history: Joined the Pac-10 in 1978, became a member of the Pac-12 in 2011, zero national titles, 17 conference titles

Last season’s football results: 3-9 (2-7)

Rival: Arizona

What Arizona State brings to the Big 12: See above: “What Arizona brings to the Big 12”

sports.ed@ocolly.com

Davis Cordova

Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Arizona State will join the Big 12 in 2024, and each school has a decorated history in collegiate athletics and brings something to its new conference.

Ashton Slaughter Assistant Sports Editor

Why are North Texas churches being targeted by violence? Experts weigh in

Joy Ashford

The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — Nelson

Smith cares for his church and its people as much as he cares for his own home and family, he said. So when he got the call last August that it was vandalized for the second time in two months, he drove there straightaway.

Someone had graffitied Nazi swastikas on Stonebridge United Methodist Church in McKinney alongside the words “skin king,” a reference to the white supremacist skinhead movement, and the threat “not my best work yet...”

Smith, Stonebridge’s facility coordinator and a church member for over 24 years, worked with several other parishioners to clean the building as fast as possible before the Sunday morning service.

“It’s tough sitting there with a pressure washer, trying to get rid of hateful messages so other people can’t see it, and knowing this is your house. This is your home,” Smith recalled. While working, he said, the group “prayed together for the person who did this, as well as just the hate in the world.” Smith’s church isn’t the only one in North Texas that has recently suffered violence or vandalism. On July 23, Plano’s Community Unitarian Universalist Church was attacked by a firebomb that left the building’s front doors and foyer damaged. A few weeks earlier, the LGBTQ-affirming church had been trolled by anti-LGBTQ YouTubers who pretended to be gay and mocked the church’s beliefs.

Plano police were investigating the case.

On July 15, Fort Worth police arrested a man who allegedly threatened to “shoot up” First Pilgrim Valley Baptist Church. At least two other churches in Fort Worth reported acts of vandalism over the past few years.

Nationally, leaders of several Christian denominations have been raising the alarm about rising violence and vandalism against churches.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops warned of a “disturbing trend” of vandalism against Catholic churches in 2022 and has reported 270 acts of vandalism and destruction since May 2020. Black churches around the country have been victims of arson, “suspicious” fires and tens of thousands of dollars in property damage in recent years.

A rise in hate crimes

The FBI releases national hate crime statistics annually and its most recent data from 2021 reported 10,840 hate crimes, the highest number in more than two decades, according to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that fights antisemitism and hate crimes. Of those 10,840 crimes, 1,590 were related to religion, the FBI said.

Jake Kurz, director of communications for the central division of the Anti-Defamation League, said the spike in crimes against religious groups in the U.S. is linked to a rise in polarization.

“If we’re more polarized, then we are more extreme in our views, and we are acting out in a way that is detrimental to people who are outside of our group,” he said. ”People are reacting to communities that are different than their own… Places of worship are just one way that people express themselves.”

Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director for research, reporting and analysis at the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center, pointed out that the U.S. has a long history of churches involved with the Civil Rights movement being targeted.

Racist violence against churches “is something people of the younger generation aren’t used to, but it is not new,” she said.

Carroll Rivas cited the recent court case that found far-right extremist group the

Proud Boys liable for $1 million for destruction of property including a Black Lives Matter sign at the predominantly Black Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.

Unlike in the ‘50s and ‘60s, when Black churches were more often targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, Carroll Rivas says in recent years her organization is seeing white supremacist groups pivot to lone wolf violence in an attempt to avoid institutional accountability

“Let’s have a bunch of lone wolves do the work for us,” she said, summarizing the strategy. Terms like “skin king,” which was graffitied on the McKinney church, signal that a person is part of white supremacist communities and listening to their messaging, she said, even if a formal tie isn’t established. Carroll Rivas said her organization is also seeing a spike in violence toward churches that support the LGBTQ community, including this year’s firebombing of an Ohio church that planned to host a drag queen story hour.

“These particular churches who have been open and affirming churches for LGBTQ people, particularly Unitarian Universalist churches, have really been targeted for their openness.”

‘Lack of respect for religion’ The Family Research Council, a conservative evangelical group, published a report last December on what it called “acts of hostility” against churches with data from 2018-2022 and updated its findings with a supplemental report in April. The group

concluded that “acts of hostility,” which ranged from arson to graffiti to protests during services, had increased significantly from January 2018 to September 2022, totaling 420 incidents.

Study author Arielle Del Turco said “it’s more thinkable now than it used to be a few decades ago for people to lash out at churches.”

Even if not every act of vandalism is motivated by “a specifically anti-religious intent… the fact that they’re targeting churches in the first place shows an underlying lack of respect for religion overall,” she added.

Del Turco cited “increasing secularization” and the growth of “nones,” or those who do not identify with a religion, as reasons for the increase in violence.

David Campbell, a Notre Dame professor who studies secularization and secular people, questioned Del Turco’s conclusion.

“The vast majority of Americans who are secularists are not hostile to religion. In fact, we find that they score very high on measures of what we might call religious tolerance,” Campbell said, citing large studies of secular people he conducted for a book he coauthored called Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics. “They are very accepting of the free exercise of religion.”

Instead, conflicts among believers may be contributing to anti-church violence, Campbell said. “There has been violence directed against places of worship over the long arc of American history, and often it’s people of one faith who are at-

tacking those of another faith.” Disputes within Christianity could be part of the problem, Carroll Rivas said.

“There is a current movement by a very small, narrow faction of the Christian community to define who is Christian and who’s not… Some people are talking about this as a white Christian nationalist movement.”

‘Don’t back down’ Violence against a house of worship can have a profound impact on the congregation, said Mark Pitcavage, a senior research fellow with the AntiDefamation League Center on Extremism.

“When you target a religious institution — be it a church, a synagogue, or a mosque — you’re not simply affecting the people who may run that institution, and you’re not just affecting the congregation, either. You’re going to be affecting anybody of that faith who learns about this and then becomes afraid.”

The Rev. John Allen, lead pastor of the McKinney church that was vandalized last year, said he isn’t afraid. He joined the church in July.

“They can come after me all day,” he said. “I’m not going to let anybody threaten me or intimidate me from the work that we’re called to do.”

He shared words of advice for churches that may be worried they could be next. “Take the steps to keep people safe,” he said, emphasizing security cameras and other safety measures. “But don’t back down.”

“Somebody has to be the voice of love and peace in our society.”

news.ed@ocolly.com

Courtesy of Tribune

Nelson Smith, facility coordinator at Stonebridge United Methodist Church, at the church on Aug. 3, 2023, in McKinney, Texas. Smith, who has been attending the church for more than 24 years, was called in to clean up the damage after it was targeted twice last year by vandalism.

Showcase...

make it to graduate school and beyond.”

After pursuing her research project through the summer program, Cannon had a different outlook from her initial hesitation. She was worried she would not be good at it, but she proved herself wrong. Her project consisted of research on relationships, stress and how they impact well-being.

fish swimming in really big waves, but with all the guidance I’ve had, it has made the transition and the experience seamless.”

“I want to go to graduate school and honestly, it didn’t seem feasible to me,” Cannon said. “I didn’t know the process of how to get where I wanted to get to. As I talked with leaders of [the OSU Undergraduate research program] they assured me that this would equip me with what I needed to be able to

“Research is not as scary as I thought it was,” Cannon said. “In my head, I was thinking about it without guidance. I was imagining I was like a

Multiple schools and majors are showcased with research in various areas, from computer science to pharmaceuticals. OSU works to help students develop skills, intellect and creativity by creating these kinds of programs to prepare students for real-world challenges.

in this hall right now,” said Dr. Kenneth Sewell, vice president for research. “I mean that in every sense of the word, the diversity of topics, the diversity of thought, the diversity of people. This is about enriching their lives and enriching the lives of our state.”

Continued from 1 news.ed@ocolly.com

“If you want to know what diversity should look like at a university, it’s

To learn more about OSU’s undergraduate research opportunities, visit https://universitycollege.okstate. edu/scholars/undergraduate_research_ primary/undergraduate_research.html.

Courtesy of OSU

Brittanie Cannon presenting her summer research on relationships, stress and well-being.

The Stillwater Short Play Festival is a labor of love for its organizers and performers. The festival’s producer, Deborah Sutton, sends out a call for scripts each year, and after the submission period is closed, Town & Gown readers begin the task of selecting eight plays for performance. This year saw well over 200 plays submitted from a long list of distinguished playwrights from all over the United States and as far away as Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

The festival functions each year as both a showcase for a wonderful storytelling medium and an outreach to the Stillwater community. As in all previous years, a local nonprofit charity will receive 100% of the proceeds from each performance as well as all the proceeds from the “Stuff the Shorts” voting. The Early Childhood Coalition of Stillwater was chosen as this year’s recipient. The ECC is dedicated to the support of children in the critical years from birth to age 5. As Laura Shellhammer, Child Development Specialist with the ECC, explains, “The Early Childhood Coalition is honored to be the recipient of the proceeds from the Town and Gown 2023 Short Play Festival. ECC is a local non-profit whose mission is to foster communities’ efforts in promoting healthy growth and development in young children.”

Its primary program, HealthySteps, serves over 2,000 families each year and provides funding for staff, children’s books, and more.

The ECC also collaborates with other community organizations, including partnering with the Stillwater library on their Storywalks and parent education programs and bringing the Babymobile to Stillwater, which provides formula

and diapers for families. The Coalition works to unite the community by bringing together area agencies, physicians, schools, non-profits, businesses, and individuals to make Stillwater a truly familyfriendly community.

HealthySteps is based in a pediatrician’s office and works with doctors and staff to help families identify, understand, and manage parenting challenges related to feeding, behavior, sleep, development, and adapting to life with a

young child. The HealthySteps Specialist joins the family in the exam room to discuss typical development and behaviors and common stressors, and to explore strategies to address the family’s and child’s needs. This team approach empowers parents to use the most helpful information, tools, and services during this crucial time in their child’s brain development.

In addition, the ECC administers its Better Brain Campaign, specifically designed to improve developmental out-

HIMALAYAN GROCERY STORE

comes for babies and toddlers. It aims to improve the lives of Stillwater’s families by ensuring that all parents and caregivers can learn simple ways to make the most of the time they spend with children from birth to 3 years old.

Anyone interested in finding out more information about the ECC and its programs can visit www.eccstillwater.org or e-mail eccstillwater@gmail.com. Additional information about the Stillwater Shorts Festival is available

on the Town & Gown Web site at www.townandgown.org or the theater’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ townandgowntheatre.

For more information on this and other fantastic events happening around the Stillwater community, check out our marketing partner, Visit Stillwater, at https://www.visitstillwater.org/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ VisitStillwater.

news.ed@ocolly.com

Courtesy of Jacob Boyd

The festival functions each year as both a showcase for a wonderful storytelling medium and an outreach to the Stillwater community.

‘The Meg 2: The Trench’

A few years ago, when I found that 2018’s summer blockbuster “The Meg” was getting a sequel, I staunchly told myself that I couldn’t even be paid to watch it. Today, I was paid to watch “The Meg 2: The Trench.” Isn’t it funny how things work out sometimes? While the film’s predecessor was a dense, yet fun killer shark adventure, “The Meg 2” doubles down on the original in all the wrong ways, putting the “bust” in blockbuster.

While the plot of this film should be as simple as a comically large killer shark wreaking havoc, it seems that we’re not allowed that luxury. For some reason, well over an hour of this movie’s runtime is dedicated not to the shark, but to a bizarre subplot about terrorists that goes nowhere. Their motives are somewhat unclear, presumably greed, but the film wastes as much time as it can dropping exposition and padding out the runtime with these characters who ultimately serve no purpose to the greater picture.

I’m quite convinced they could be completely photoshopped out of the film. If DC fans can beg for the Snyder Cut of “Justice League,” I can beg for the Shark Cut of “The Meg 2.”

However, when the movie actually deals with the shark, it has some fun moments that you’ve likely already

seen. If you’re still interested in seeing “The Meg 2,” go take a look at the trailer for the film. Seems fun, right?

Unfortunately, the most exciting moments of the movie take place solely within the confines of this trailer. Like a siren’s song, the fun-filled montage coerced me back into a second round with this franchise, only to find that trailer was the best thing the film could bring me, every twist and turn the movie had been ruined! As Radiohead once sang, there’s no alarms and no surprises in this film.

While the tone fluctuates between a self-aware romp through the ocean and taking itself way too seriously, even the actors seem bored. When the actors can’t even bring themselves to pretend to be interested in the same plot beats playing out in an ouroboros-esque cycle of pain, you know you have a problem

on your hands.

Undoubtedly “The Meg 2: The Trench” is a massive step down from the original, which was already low enough. The acting was bland, the scarce moments of fun are all shown in promotional material, and the plot is so convoluted I frequently forgot it was a shark film. While I’d love to call it a B-movie, I’m afraid that it’s far below C-level.

If you’d like to support “The O’Colly,” there are plenty of ways to do so. However, if you’d like to support the author of this article specifically, please do not see “The Meg 2” so I can finally be free of this blasted franchise and the sequel tease for “The Meg 3” never comes to fruition.

entertainment.ed@ocolly.com

Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures

A scene from Warner Bros. Pictures and CMC Pictures sci-fi action thriller Meg 2: The Trench.”

Michael Clark Staff Reporter Review

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Lewis

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Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black

Tribune Content Agency

Linda Black Horoscopes

Today’s Birthday (08/07/23). Professional blossoming bestows wonderful fruit this year. Faithful practices generate lucrative profits. You’re especially brilliant and creative this autumn, supporting adaptation around winter challenges at work. Main tain patience with blocked or delayed communications this spring, before summer research reveals an exciting discovery. Career developments motivate passion. 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 — The next phase is ripe with lucrative potential. Communication generates profits. Wheel and deal. Quick action can net an extra prize. Maintain positive balances.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 9 — An opportunity requires quick action. Invent and pursue an exciting project. Set goals high. Tap into personal inspiration, motivation and passion. Write it down.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) — Today is a 6 — Discover solutions and insights in pri vate reflection. Notice your dreams. Get imaginative with plans curiosities. Write and develop ideas. Create beauty.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Today is a 9 — Connect with friends. Previously blocked communication channels open up. Strengthen networks with participation. Discuss shared dreams, possibilities and options. Envision shared objectives and fun.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is an 8 — Career matters have your attention. Discuss the potential with trusted friends and allies. Direct action toward options stirring the most passion. Follow your heart.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is a 7 — Outline statements, presentations and reports. Your investigation’s getting interesting. Connect with an inspiring teacher. Investigate possibilities. Dreamy adventures beckon. Expand explorations for bold discoveries.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is a 9 — Dig into an interesting subject, together. Collaborate and share dreams, desires and wishes. Luck follows initiative. Realize financial goals one step at a time.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is an 8 — Collaborate for common cause or community benefit. Romantic connections develop naturally. Support each other to snag unexpected opportunities. Talk about dreams, passions and possibilities.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is a 9 — Savor time for exercise, relaxation and nature. Physical labor gets satisfying results. Build to fulfill a long-term dream. Envision the beautiful results of your efforts.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 7 — Practice your artistry. Your greatest strength is love. Express it. Share with the object of your affection. Weave a romantic spell. Have fun together.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is a 6 — Apply talents and creativity to home improvements. Clean and clear clutter. Small changes can make a big difference. Share delicious flavors. Discover new recipes.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is a 9 — Creative muses harmonize to inspire you. Notice good news and talented artists. Develop wild ideas and dreams. Edit and publish. Broaden the conversation.

Laura Dershewitz