Wednesday, September 25, 2019

MORE THAN JUST A STADIUM

Boone Pickens’ generosity extended much further than just Oklahoma State Athletics.

wednesday, september 25, 2019

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B OON E PICKEN S

cover s t o ry

T. Boone Pickens: A lover of geology and people J o se ph Faz io S ports Ed itor @ Jo s ephFa z io

In the shadow of a 60,000-seat football stadium lies the only other place on the Oklahoma State University campus that features the name of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

The Boone Pickens School of Geology, located inside the Noble Research Center, was once simply known as the School of Geology.

It had the same name when Pickens was a student at OSU and graduated with a degree in geology in 1951.

Fifty-seven years after Boone’s graduation, the businessman donated $9.4 million to the program that prepared him for his career.

OSU will celebrate the life of its most famous Cowboy on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Pickens died Sept. 11 in Dallas. The event, “Celebrating The Ultimate Cowboy,” is open to the general public. Doors open at 2:30 p.m.

Already recognized as a difference-maker for OSU athletics, Pickens’ generosity to the geology department began long before people knew him for his donations to the football team.

Dr. Jim Puckette, OSU’s longest-tenured faculty member in the geology department,

said Pickens wanted to interact with students directly.

“Boone liked to meet the students and visit them,” Puckette said.

“When he was able to, he liked to visit those students on campus, especially those students who were recipients of his scholarship.”

Pickens would also invite students to travel from Stillwater to his offices in Dallas to meet and talk with them.

Puckette added that many students relayed to him that the highlight of their time at OSU was such a trip to Dallas to meet Pickens.

“He really enjoyed being around young people,” Puckette said.

“He was always willing to offer advice and he was a tremendous mentor in that respect.”

In the late ’90s, the late-benefactor started the Boone Pickens Scholarship. At the time, Pickens gave five full-ride scholarships per year to undergraduate geology freshmen.

Each year for the next eight years, five freshmen would have their whole college paid for

by Pickens.

Today, the Boone Pickens Scholarship is available for freshmen or transfers to the geology department. Students are awarded up to $5,000 and the aid can be renewed up to four years.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

logan biggins/O’COLLY

T. Boone Pickens’ childhood home was moved to his ranch about ten years ago. After the ranch was sold, the childhood home moved again, this time to Karsten Creek.

Puckette said Pickens specifically wanted the scholarship to go to undergraduates because that’s the degree he earned at Oklahoma State. “(Pickens) was a champion for undergraduate education,” Puckette said. “He had a geology degree, a bachelor’s degree of science and we all know how successful he turned out.”

Not many people know the school of geology bares Pickens’ name. Puckette said when he has talked with many people, they only knew Pickens from either television or through OSU athletics.

Dr. Camelia Knapp has had a short run so far as the school of

geology’s department head. In her time at OSU, she’s been thankful for all that Pickens has done.

“I’ve seen tremendous support from (Pickens) in my one year here,” Knapp said.

While she is grateful for the financial support Pickens gave to the school, she believes the mentorship he brought was important as well.

“He was very generous with his time and energy,” Knapp said.

“He was actively engaged in meetings that I was engaging in as well.”

Pickens was a businessman all his life, from the time of him delivering newspapers as a young boy in Holdenville to the head of

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BP Capital Management and up to his death.

Pickens promoted a business plan throughout his years to the geology department to keep it successful. The plan helped divide resources throughout the school and keep it afloat for new students.

He would always make time to attend geology banquets or special events in the school. Pickens enjoyed talking and interacting with professors and people who were once students like him. Pickens would also invite the geology faculty and advisory board to Mesa Vista Ranch for their annual retreat.

Mesa Vista, a 65,000acre ranch, was purchased by Pickens in

1973 when he was the head of Mesa Petroleum. The ranch, located in Pampa, Texas, features 20 man-made lakes, two golf fairways and an airport for his Gulfstream 550 jet, which he used to fly to Stillwater for OSU home football games.

“He loved to invite people to Mesa Vista,” Puckette said, “We would have breakfast with him. We would always have dinner with him. And he loved people. He liked to visit with people and it was his priority to see the geology department at Oklahoma State be successful.”

Pickens is gone, but his legacy will continue to live on at OSU. The people who have crossed paths with him throughout his 91 years commend him for his go-getter attitude as well as his love for molding the minds of future workers in the field that once made him a billionaire.

Even when he was the head of billion-dollar companies or writing checks to OSU’s athletic programs, Pickens never forgot about the school that gave him his start. “(Pickens) wanted to see the undergraduate program be successful because it was the undergraduate and geology program that gave him his start,” Puckette said.

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MCKN IGHT CEN TER

E N T E RTAINMEN T

A look inside the new McKnight Center Sad ie Gron igan S taf f Wr it er @ O c olly

On a warm September morning, I walked inside of the clean, sleek McKnight Center for the Performing Arts for the first time.

It has been surreal to watch this building be built from the ground up since the beginning of its construction, so a tour was essential. What an incredible event to occur at Oklahoma State: a brand new performing arts center being built right on campus. We as music students here ZACH HAKE/O’COLLY at OSU are incredibly The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University is scheduled lucky to have people to open in October 2019. like the Greenwoods waves crashing over Usually they’re double surfaces. From the and the McKnights to one another.

The panin size.” winding grand stairexpedite our needs as els on the ceilingless This was a shock case on the eastern musicians by donathall were thin, billowy to me, as the room side of the building, to ing the world class expansions of wood seemed cavernous the tiles in the hallfacilities that are that gently cradled with its vaulted ceiling ways designed with being built right here the cat walk above the and rows upon rows tiny waves. It seemed in Stillwater. These seats. In the midst of of chairs. It was hard as though every crevbuildings will pioneer the delicate pieces of for me to imagine a ice of the building was a new age of culture wood were lights hung larger hall. The room meticulously planned and music in Stillwaby string, cascadwas equipped with box to exhibit the same ter for years to come. ing down at different seats on either side, theme. Each room was McKnight Center heights. It was remiand several handicap clearly well thought intern and senior in niscent of the floating accessible areas on the out when it comes to Music Industry, Ali candles the illuminate main floor and balthe architecture and Lewis, appeared from the fictional Great cony. interior design. around the curved box Hall Hogwarts, a la After we returned “The designers were office dressed in her Harry Potter. to the mezzanine, we inspired by the idea of best tour guide attire.

“This is the perforwere joined by the people on stage putThe tour began with mance hall,” Lewis McKnight Center’s ting sound waves out, the performance hall. said as we stepped Director of Marketing, and having what they The first stop was into the echoing hall.

Jessica Novak. do on stage ripple out a large, curvy room “It has 1,098 seats, As the tour continto other communities,” with cedar paneling around the sides. The which is small and ued, there was a noNovak explained. panels were smooth intimate for a perticeable design theme “They also wanted to and arched like ocean forming arts center. of waves and curved encourage curiosity WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

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and the idea of propelling people forward.

With the curves, you’re always thinking, ‘what’s around that corner?’”

We walked up the swirling staircase, which wrapped up to the Donor’s Lounge and the box seat entrance to the Performance Hall. The box and balcony seats are only 100 feet away from the stage, a reasonable distance considering the size of the hall. From the balcony, there was a great view of the floating lights that twinkled softly over the theater.

“The designer’s idea behind that was to blend the boundary between inside and outside, which is why there is that glass curtain in the lobby,” said Novak about the fixture. “They wanted this chandelier to look like stars in the prairie sky.” Another subtly beautiful recurring theme throughout the center. Even in the dressing rooms, the wallpaper is a white, glittery shade to resemble the stars glowing in the Oklahoma sky.

We ventured downstairs and explored the basement, which was a maze of dressing rooms, long hallways, offices, and

the loading dock. The backstage had plenty of space for performers to move freely throughout with their instruments.

The tour concluded by circling back to the lobby, adjacent to the outdoor seating area. This part of the McKnight Center is a multi-functional space for outdoor concerts, and for viewing sold out shows.

“Any time we have a sold out performance, the big 32-foot LED screen out there will be simulcasting the performance here, so if you couldn’t get a ticket, you can just sit for free on the plaza,” Novak said.

Not only is there the fresh, green lawn to watch a concert or festival, but there is a unique sculpture dedicated to the center.

DNA IVwas donated to the McKnight Center by artist Bill Barrett, and the official sculpture dedication is on Friday September 27that 1:30pm, including performances and the ribbon cutting at 2 pm the following day.

This refreshing building is unlike any other space on campus or in Stillwater. From its overarching themes of twinkling lights and curving lines, to the diverse music culture it brings to our town.

PAGE 3

LGBTQ

N EW S

LGBTQ Christian faith in Oklahoma J e t T ur n er, Haley Carr, Bai ley Battel l e, J ov i an Ost er h ou t & Wad e Hender s on gue st r epo rt er s @ oco lly

Members of the congregation fill the worship area as luminous sounds of the church choir fill the room. A new pastor steps to the podium to give her first worship service in front of a new congregation, a congregation who, for the most part, grew up in Oklahoma.

Right in the middle of the Bible belt.

Jennifer Hardin takes a shaky breath and begins to speak.

Hardin is like any other pastor, except for one thing not typically seen in the Bible belt: she identifies as a queer woman.

Hardin knew she wanted to be a pastor from a very young age, wanting to be a “pastor like papa.”

“I thought when I was really little that I was going to be a pastor, like I felt called from a very young age,” Hardin said.

“Part of that had to do with my grandfather being a pastor. I saw him doing work in his congregation, in his community as a pastor.

I also have an uncle who is a Presbyterian pastor.”

However, her sexual

photo courtest of Bailey Battelle

First Presbyterian Church is located at the corner of Duck and 6th in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

orientation never interfered in her calling to become a pastor.

“I grew up in a congregation where the pastor was conservative, but the congregation and the people of the faith community were a lot more moderate and liberal,” Hardin said. “I was never out when I was in high school. I didn’t come out until I went to college. So, growing up I never felt like that was something I couldn’t do.”

Even throughout the ordination process, Hardin experienced almost no discrimination.

“So while I was in seminary I wasn’t the

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

only LGBTQ identified person and so it’s not like we all had to be like the closet or anything,” Hardin said.

“I did not personally experience discrimination from the seminary community.”

This is not the case with everyone, though.

Junior Gabriel Mejia said it was “very difficult” for him growing up Christian and a member of the LGBTQ community.

“It is difficult being a member of the LGBTQ community and being Christian because you feel misunderstood form both parties in a way,” Mejia said. “Some gay people reject faith

all together because of the hatred they’ve experienced, and some people in the faith just dont express love to everyone as they should.”

Co-leader of the LGBTQ Christian Fellowship Ben Watson’s view of the church has changed since coming out. Beginning as feelings of frustration, but support from friends and church members helped him reconcile with his faith.

“I was very much like not a fan of the church, did not want to go,” Watson said.

“It was not the environment for me. In hindsight I can see I’ve never not believed

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in scripture or in the Gospel and the life and death of Jesus Christ.

I’ve only like not manifested that faith because I’ve been frustrated by those who also believe the same thing. So I didn’t necessarily come out to the church just because I didn’t really have a church to come out to and I came to college and I made a lot of different friends and kind of engage in communities where some are religious some weren’t.

I found a lot more LGBTQ plus identifying friends. I kind of cast my net very different than how it was in high school because my surround-

ings was different. But in hindsight I have since come out and I have since reconciled my own self with the church. Something interesting is I still hang out with my youth pastor from my church and she’s like super affirming, super supportive, supports what I believe in my actions and what not. So I don’t think I felt like I had to come out to the church because everyone I would have come out to was already so supportive.”

Not only do Christian LGBTQ members struggle with outside conflict, an internal conflict also exists, driving some away from their faith.

“I felt so conflicted I didn’t attend mass during my freshman year of college,” Mejia said. “I felt like God didn’t love me at all. I felt like I was in a place of intense struggle. Why did everyone else get to date and why couldn’t I have that? I would always ask myself those questions I felt it was a battle between my religion and desolation, or my sexuality and damnation. I feel less conflicted now simply because I am more aware of what my religion actually stands on.”

This conflict is not PAGE 4

LGBTQ

NE WS

FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

courtesy of Bailey Battelle

Jennifer Hardin is an Associate Pastor at Frist Presbyterian Church in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

uncommon, with some Christian LGBTQ members having to “fight” for their faith. Junior Logan Wood is one who has endured this fight.

“I think that because I’ve had to fight for my faith actively it wasn’t really [anything positive only an LGBTQ person experiencing faith could experience],” Wood said. “There is no proven path to being an LGBT Christian … I feel like it means more to us. I find myself more convicted by things because I am here and I am choosing to do this.”

Even though the

lives of Christian LGBTQ members can be full of internal and external conflict, all who seek faith find it through the support of their friends, family and church members.

“God loves you just the way you are,” Hardin said. “There is nothing wrong with you that needs to be fixed. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and to seek out people with perspectives that are different than the ones that maybe you grew up with ... The main thing is to seek out the resources. Don’t try to figure it out on your own. I’m lucky enough that I didn’t have to do

that. I didn’t have to go looking for somebody to help me with all the questions that I had because those people were in my life already. I never once was told that I couldn’t be queer and Christian. But for those people who have grown up with that theology, or with being told those things, that’s the main thing that I would say. Find someone who can help you work through it and someone who’s not going to shame you for who you are or who you love.”

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Zach Goshorn’s weekly mix

@zachxgosh

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

ACROSS 1 “I’m so stupid!”

4 Lobbying orgs.

8 Dr. Oz’s faith 13 Craft beer initials 14 Material for tatami mats 15 Disney princess from Motunui 16 FedEx alternative 17 Former “CBS Evening News” anchor 19 “I’ll take it from here” 21 Twistable cookie 22 Like a thick, green lawn 23 “School’s Out” rocker 26 Go out with 27 Papier-mâché fiesta item 28 Magnified atlas image 30 Give a little 31 Item in a folder 35 Garden tool 36 “You Are So Beautiful” singer 39 Biblical hymn 42 Breakfast brand in the freezer aisle 43 Grounded jet 46 Hayride invitation 47 Allergic reaction 50 Capp and Gore 51 Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” partner 56 __ puppet 58 Cowhand’s chow 59 Objects of adulation 60 Based on a common feature of their names, what 17-, 23-, 36and 51-Across are well-suited to be?

63 Little kid 64 In the country 65 Cruise stopover 66 Find a place for 67 Dead tired 68 Half-moon tide 69 Each DOWN 1 Hit the pool 2 “Hamlet” character who drowns

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Hor osc ope

Daily Horoscope

By Nancy Black Tribune Content Agency

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9/25/19

Solution to Tuesday’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

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Today’s Birthday (09/25/19). Share and network to grow this year. Tend your home and garden faithfully for flowering results. Your domestic creativity produces beautiful results this winter, before adapting to professional changes.

Resolve miscommunications next summer, before a lovely career highlight develops. Infuse heart into your message.

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

Aries (March 21-April 19) -- Today is a 7 -- Restrictions may get imposed. Charm someone out of an argument.

Stay patient with a skeptic. Resolve urgent matters, and then relax when done.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) -- Today is a 6 -- Make a necessary change at home. Bring fantasies back to earth. Don’t make assumptions or step on anyone’s sensitivities.

Provide a practical, short-term upgrade.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) -- Today is an 8 -- Diplomacy with a communications breakdown saves time, heartache and money. Keep your opinions private, and help others find a compromise. Listen, and address concerns directly.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Bring home your daily bread. Maintain conservative spending. The best things in life are free; enjoy them freely. Simple tricks can cut waste.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Focus your attention wider than personal concerns. Consider others who may have different needs. Accommodate the needs of the youngest participant. Take charge.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Slow to consider what’s ahead. Avoid travel or noise, and find a peaceful spot to review your route. Check reservations and reserves. Recharge batteries.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Charm your way to a short-term team solution. Don’t give up if one method doesn’t work. Listen to suggestions, and consider immediate needs first.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- A professional challenge requires attention. Work with the highest quality materials you can afford. Temporary fixes buy you some time. Find solutions that conserve resources.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Go explore, even if you don’t go far. Discover new flavors in your own neighborhood. Local diversions satisfy. You can get what you need.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Today is a 7 -- Wait until stressful moments have passed before having financial discussions. Support your partner with pressing matters, and then review the numbers for ways to save.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- Today is an 8 -- Have patience with your partner. Consider consequences before speaking harshly. Resolve a disagreement over priorities before advancing. Get farther by working together.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Today is an 8 -- Take care of short-term physical needs. Avoid overindulging in toxins or junk food. Nurture your health with home remedies, and get support when required. Rest.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2019

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