28 March 2016

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

march 28, 2015 issue 21 ~ volume 101

Deserted in North Tulsa How Highway 244 demarcates differences in access to a basic necessity — food.

Thanks to decades of redlining and systemic inequality, residents of many North Tulsa neighborhoods live in food deserts: places with limited access to healthy food. These “deserts” exacerbate problems correlated with poverty such as obesity and disability. Managing Editor Fraser Kastner and News Editor Kayleigh Thesenvitz report.

According to the USDA, large swaths of North Tulsa are considered food deserts.

Food deserts are officially defined by the USDA as “parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers’ markets, and healthy food providers.” In an urban area, anywhere more than one mile from a grocery store is considered a food desert.

In food deserts, people tend to be unable to access healthy food for a variety of reasons.

Grocery stores are few and far between. In a city like Tulsa, which was built around cars and doesn’t have dependable public transportation, this is made even more difficult for those who cannot afford a car.

The sprawl of Tulsa also affects the tendency toward food deserts. Sprawl increases the chances that a grocery store will be farther away because stores need to cover a larger area of residential zones. In comparison to other cities with similar population sizes to Tulsa, we have a much smaller population density. This is good for people who don’t like their neighbors, but not so good for poor residents who do not have access to reliable transportation.

North Tulsa is defined by the city as everything above highway 244 within city limits. The city zoning for this area is primarily residential and industrial with a few small commercial zones. Many of the residential and industrial zones correspond to regions of North Tulsa that the USDA defines as food deserts.

In response to how city zoning could affect access to food, Lara Weber, Commu-

nications Officer for the City of Tulsa said that “There are commercially-zoned sites available in north Tulsa and there are many new zoning tools available that could make development even easier.”

In these areas, people are more likely to rely on things like fast food or convenience stores, which offer less healthy food at marked-up prices. Studies have suggested that those of lower socioeconomic status have 250 percent more exposure to fast food. Paradoxically, poor people in these areas spend more of their money on worse food. This leads to higher levels of obesity and other nutritionally-linked negative health outcomes in lower-income areas where people have hindered access to food, as well as a continuation of the cycle of poverty. On average, people living in North Tulsa die fourteen years earlier than those living in South Tulsa.

Food deserts disproportionately affect mixed-race and nonwhite neighborhoods, with African American and Hispanic neighborhoods, like those in North Tulsa, being the worst affected. This is believed to be the result of redlining.

Redlining is the practice of corralling minority groups into undesirable parts of town by doing things such as manipulating prices and denying insurance or banking. The name is derived from the way banks drew red lines on city maps delineating areas where they would not invest. This practice was widespread in the postwar years, resulting in heavily racially segregated cities even in areas where segregation was illegal.

While this is no longer practiced so widely or transparently, the effects still linger in

TU engages in recycling efforts, p 3

places like Tulsa.

Dr. Travis Lowe, a TU sociology professor specializing in urban areas, said that “Tulsa is a particularly interesting example because this is a city that has organized itself around the automobile. In doing so it has basically made it so that people require a vehicle to go places. If you live in a food desert, your options for going somewhere besides a convenience store are very limited.” Many of the problems facing food deserts apply to North Tulsa. Convenience stores are common in lieu of grocery stores, and many who live there do not have access to a car.

Additionally, disability rates are high among North Tulsans who live in poverty.

According to city-data.com, the disability rates of male and female residents of North Tulsa in poverty were 25.9 and 29.2 percent of the population, respectively. These numbers are disproportionately high compared to the rates throughout the state of Oklahoma at 17.1 and 21.5, respectively. When access to healthy food is difficult for residents without disabilities, it is even more difficult for those who do have disabilities.

One of the hurdles facing food deserts is free enterprise. It is simply not profitable to build a grocery store in a food desert due to low population density and the relative poverty of the area. “There has been a systemic disinvestment of that area based on a racial history,” Lowe commented. “It has been considered a very poor area where grocery stores wouldn’t make very much money.”

Furthermore, “When these things get put in the hands of private business, they are making decisions about where they are going to make money, and with no mitigating forces to encourage investment in these neighborhoods, then that history is just going to continue.”

Incentivizing businesses to come to Tulsa can be difficult. “One of the only tools that local government has is property tax breaks,

Oklahoma budget all out of whack, p 12

but they need that money for the communities that are already afflicted with revenue problems,” said Lowe. Communities like North Tulsa are often reliant on improvements paid for by the city. However, the city needs tax revenue in order to pay for them.

Some of the other reasons that a business might avoid development in North Tulsa could be crime, access to utilities and road conditions. However, according to Weber, utilities and road conditions in North Tulsa are comparable to the rest of the city. A NewsOn6 report from July 2015 also stated that North Tulsa had the lowest crime rates in the city.

Announcing improvements in the works, Weber states that “the Vision Tulsa proposal does include projects in north Tulsa. These can be found on the City of Tulsa website under Our City, and Vision. The projects include Mohawk Sports Complex; Peoria Connection – N. Peoria Avenue, 56th Street to Mohawk Boulevard; Peoria-Mohawk Business Park; OSU-Tulsa; Langston University; Tulsa Zoo; and Gilcrease Museum.”

There are nonprofit organizations that help, but many of them are underfunded.

Patronage from wealthy philanthropists helps as well, but as Lowe pointed out, this isn’t going to fix the problem for good. “Often in Tulsa we rely on the same wealthy families donating to stuff. At a certain point we need to do more collectively as a city to solve these sorts of problems.”

Currently, there are mobile grocery stores being operated in the area by the Healthy Community Store Initiative. However, this is a temporary solution to a very old problem.

In order to see the maps of USDA defined food deserts you can go to http://www.ers. usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/go-to-the-atlas.aspx

Golf team gets shut down, p 15

News

The Collegian: 2

28 March 2016

匀吀唀䐀夀⸀ 䔀䄀吀⸀ 刀䔀倀䔀䄀吀⸀ ㄀ ─ 匀吀唀䐀䔀一吀 䐀䤀匀䌀伀唀一吀 吀伀 唀一䤀嘀䔀刀匀䤀吀夀 伀䘀 吀唀䰀匀䄀 匀吀唀䐀䔀一吀匀 圀䤀吀䠀 匀吀唀䐀䔀一吀 䤀䐀

琀栀

㌀㄀㄀㠀 䔀䄀匀吀 ㄀㄀ 匀吀刀䔀䔀吀Ⰰ 吀唀䰀匀䄀

刀漀挀欀猀琀愀爀 倀甀渀挀栀攀搀 䘀爀攀攀稀攀 琀漀琀愀氀 挀愀û攀椀渀攀 㤀㈀洀最 瀀攀爀 ㄀㘀漀稀 挀甀瀀⸀ 倀爀漀搀甀挀攀搀 唀渀搀攀爀 琀栀攀 䄀甀琀栀漀爀椀琀礀 漀昀 刀漀挀欀猀琀愀爀Ⰰ 䤀渀挀 ⴀ 䰀愀猀 嘀攀最愀猀Ⰰ 一嘀 㠀㤀㄀ 㤀⸀ 䄀琀 瀀愀爀琀椀挀椀瀀愀琀椀渀最 氀漀挀愀琀椀漀渀猀 昀漀爀 愀 氀椀洀椀琀攀搀 琀椀洀攀 漀渀氀礀⸀ ꤀㈀ ㄀㘀 吀愀挀漀 䈀攀氀氀 䌀漀爀瀀⸀

2016 TULSA ROUGHNECKS FC

APRIL

MATCHES SAT 4 / 02

SAT 4 / 09

7:00PM

SWOPE PARK RANGERS SPORTING KC 2 *FIREWORKS

7:00PM

REAL MONARCHS SLC *TRFC FLAG GIVEAWAY

SAT 4/ 23

7:00PM

PORTLAND TIMBERS 2 *ST BRADY JERSEY GIVEAWAY

GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY

News

28 March 2016

The Met organization collects recyclable waste. Pictured, a Met volunteer greets participants.

TU six weeks into Recyclomania contest

The University of Tulsa is in terms of recycling.” He also pointed out that the competition currently competing with took place during March Madness, 256 other schools around when many students are already the country to see who can feeling competitive. recycle the most over an The competition has been running in some form since 2001, and eight-week period.

Sam Chott Web Manager

The University of Tulsa is six weeks into Recyclemania, an eight-week recycling competition, involving colleges from around the country.

In Recyclemania, schools are tasked with weighing their recycled and composted waste each week for eight weeks. The results from different schools are compared in various categories, including pounds of recycling per person, total weight of recyclables, and most improved school.

Jason Grunin, President of the Sustainability Committee, thinks that the program works because it takes advantage of existing rivalries with other schools. “Students want to be competitive,” he said. “[Recyclemania] was formed to allow colleges and universities to compete against each other

the University of Tulsa has been participating since 2006.

TU’s Sustainability Committee has been doing outreach to students over the course of Recyclemania. “We try to do something each week, something focused on recycling that we don’t do throughout the rest of the year, just to get people to be a part of it,” said Bobi Deere, the Graduate Assistant for Sustainability on the Sustainability Committee.

Among other things, the Committee has set up tables in Allen Chapman to allow students to pledge to recycle more, gave out information about their Terracycling program, and set up an e-waste and medication disposal event.

As of week six, in terms of recycling per person, TU is currently in the 168th place, out of 257 schools. It most recently reported 5.04 pounds of recycling per person, well above the 0.69 pounds per person from the first week of the competition.

President Obama formally announcing Merrick Garland’s nomination to SCOTUS.

Despite TU being in the middle of the pack in terms of ranking, it’s still significantly below the top universities in terms of recycling per capita. The top school, Loyola Marymount University, reports 48.995 pounds of recycling per person, and the median amount for week six is 6.942 pounds per person. TU would need to produce over 10,000 pounds of recycling to hit this median.

Grunin thinks that TU’s relatively low performance is largely because students aren’t getting involved in sustainability efforts.

“If you look at other schools, you have student groups that really want to take over and do videos and do class challenges.” he said. ”We frankly haven’t had the student interest.”

Deere sees that lack of involvement impacting other sustainability efforts. “[The Terracyling program] is not widely known, even though we put out the information as much as we can,” she said.

“If the students don’t want it, it’s not going to happen,” said Grunin. “The student voice is the most powerful voice.”

Information on Recyclemania, as well as TU’s ranking, can be found at http://recyclemaniacs. org.

photo courtesy Wiki Commons

The Collegian: 3

TU promotes recycling through e-waste event

photos courtesy Met organization

E-waste and medications, if not properly disposed of, can end up harmful to the environment or humans.

Last week, TU hosted a recycling event to let students safely and easily recycle these materials.

Michaela Flonard Student Writer The University of Tulsa is six weeks into Recyclemania, an eight-week recycling competition, involving colleges from around the country.

In Recyclemania, schools are tasked with weighing their recycled and composted waste each week for eight weeks. The results from different schools are compared in various categories, including pounds of recycling per person, total weight of recyclables, and most improved school.

Jason Grunin, President of the Sustainability Committee, thinks that the program works because it takes advantage of existing rivalries with other schools. “Students want to be competitive,” he said. “[Recyclemania] was formed to allow colleges and universities to compete against each other in terms of recycling.” He also pointed out that the competition took place during March Madness, when many students are already feeling competitive.

The competition has been running in some form since 2001, and the University of Tulsa has been participating since 2006.

TU’s Sustainability Committee has been doing outreach to students over the course of Recyclemania. “We try to do something each week, something focused on recycling that we don’t do throughout the rest of the year, just to get people to be a part of

it,” said Bobi Deere, the Graduate Assistant for Sustainability on the Sustainability Committee.

Among other things, the Committee has set up tables in Allen Chapman to allow students to pledge to recycle more, gave out information about their Terracycling program, and set up an e-waste and medication disposal event.

As of week six, in terms of recycling per person, TU is currently in the 168th place, out of 257 schools. It most recently reported 5.04 pounds of recycling per person, well above the 0.69 pounds per person from the first week of the competition.

Despite TU being in the middle of the pack in terms of ranking, it’s still significantly below the top universities in terms of recycling per capita. The top school, Loyola Marymount University, reports 48.995 pounds of recycling per person, and the median amount for week six is 6.942 pounds per person. TU would need to produce over 10,000 pounds of recycling to hit this median.

Grunin thinks that TU’s relatively low performance is largely because students aren’t getting involved in sustainability efforts.

“If you look at other schools, you have student groups that really want to take over and do videos and do class challenges.” he said. ”We frankly haven’t had the student interest.”

Deere sees that lack of involvement impacting other sustainability efforts. “[The Terracyling program] is not widely known, even though we put out the information as much as we can,” she said.

“If the students don’t want it, it’s not going to happen,” said Grunin. “The student voice is the most powerful voice.”

Information on Recyclemania, as well as TU’s ranking, can be found at http://recyclemaniacs. org.

President Obama nominates Merrick Garland for SCOTUS

potentially “alter the presidential race dramatically as well.” Meanwhile Srinivasan was considered an extremely likely nomination, thanks to his status as a moderate conservative candidate, which many believed would be necessary for a contender to earn approval into the Supreme Court. The nomiTrenton Gibbons nation of Garland was received as

Apprentice Editor a bit of an upset, especially within

the Predictit market.

On March 16 President Obama Born in 1952, Merrick was announced his Supreme Court raised in a Jewish family in ChiNomination of Merrick Garland, cago, Illinois before graduating currently serving as the chief as class valedictorian from Niles judge of the United States Court West High School, where he parof Appeals for the District of Co- ticipated in the debate team. From lumbia Circuit. If confirmed into there he would go on to attend SCOTUS, Garland will be fill- and earn further titles of achieveing the position left absent by the ment, such as magna cum laude, death of Antonin Scalia, whose and once again valedictorian, from decease triggered an unusual situ- Harvard College and subsequentation, in which a Democratic pres- ly, Harvard Law School. ident with a Republican congress Following his education he had the opportunity to appoint a served as a law clerk for three Supreme Court nominee — the years under two separate judges. first time since Grover Cleveland’s After a brief excursion into private presidency in the late 19th century. practice in which he served corpoAmong president Obama’s oth- rate litigation and counsel to insurer potential nominees were Ket- ance companies, Garland became anji Brown Jackson, Jane L. Kelly, an Assistant US Attorney in the Sri Srinivasan and Paul J. Watford. District of Columbia, representJackson was considered likely be- ing the government in cases varycause of her efficiency at encour- ing from drug smuggling to public aging black women to vote and corruption.

Garland, commended for his work in criminal justice, has been praised as having the most judicial experience of any supreme court nominee.

Eventually, Garland would serve as deputy assistant attorney in the Criminal Division of the Department for Justice under the Clinton administration. Among his cases are some of the most infamous occurrences of domestic terrorism in the United States.

Garland personally participated in the investigations surrounding the Oklahoma City bombings, the Unabomber and the Atlanta Olympics bombings. He was particularly involved in the OKC case, insisting that he be sent to the location of the crimes to observe the aftermath of the crime scenes.

This way he was able to better manage the investigation and ultimately prepare a stronger prosecution. Though he requested that he be allowed to lead the trial team against the defendants, he was only able to represent the government in the preliminary hearings before having to return to the Department of Justice Headquarters.

Overseeing the case from Washington, it was he that picked the team and influenced the court to seek the death penalty for the bombers. Frank Keating, the governor of Oklahoma at the time, applauded Merrick for his service to the city. “During the investigation, Merrick distinguished himself in

a situation where he had to lead a highly complicated investigation and make quick decisions during critical times. Merrick Garland is an intelligent, experienced and evenhanded individual.”

After being appointed by Bill Clinton to the D.C. Circuit seat left vacant by Abner Mikva, Garland received from the Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary the highest possible rating of “unanimously well-qualified.”

Confirmed in a 76-23 vote, Garland received his judicial commission in March of 1997. Here he would earn a reputation as a centrist, a “moderate liberal, with a definite pro-prosecution bent in criminal cases.”

Tom Goldstein, who publishes the SCOTUSblog, hailed him as “essentially the model, neutral judge,” adding that his opinions “avoid unnecessary, sweeping pronouncements.” Still, Garland continued his campaign against political corruption, authoring his dissent when his colleagues reversed the conviction of a local police officer who the FBI had recorded accepting bribes in a sting operation, and another when the D.C. Circuit ruled that ‘sovereign immunity’ excused the private military contractors who

had conducted the illegal torture in Abu Ghrab. Concerning the first amendment, Garland’s “rulings reflect a preference for open government.” In 2013, Garland was confirmed as the chief judge of D.C. Circuit.

If confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice, Garland will be the oldest justice since 1971’s Lewis Powell, Jr. In a video promoting Garland, produced by the White House, he describes his personal life, hailing his wife as “the most honest, straightforward person you have ever met” and joking that his daughters, both Yale graduates, are “better at virtually all sports than (him).”

Calling the Supreme Court the “highest position someone who believes in the rule of law and wants to make sure the rule of law is applied fairly,” he goes on to claim that the “rule of law is what distinguishes our country from most other countries and many other countries. The people’s willingness to trust that they don’t have to take justice in their own hands, that law will treat people fairly and impartially without regard to politics or race or religion or anything else. If people trust that, we have a decent society.”

News

The Collegian: 4

28 March 2016

New Voices promotes free speech of students

A local grassroots movement hopes to oppose institutional censorship of students and promote journalists’ freedoms through legislation.

Abigail Labounty Variety Editor New Voices, a project of the Student Press Law Center, is a grassroots movement aimed at providing protections for high school and college students to, as they say, “give young people the legally protected right to gather information and share ideas about issues of public concern.” This includes free speech protections and freedom of the press for school affiliated news sources.

Freedom of the press is not always a guarantee for high-school and college journalists. In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier that a school has the right to censor sensitive information in school sponsored mediums as long as they can prove that the content is “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”

New Voices argues that “the only effective way of teaching civics in schools is for students to discuss contemporary political issues” and that school censorship prevents this type of discourse and that “students who work in newsrooms supportive of press freedom report higher levels of civic effectiveness.” They are working to provide

school journalists more freedom of expression by introducing legislation to reach three different goals.

First, New Voices aims to restore the “Tinker Standard” in high school journalism. This standard ensures protection from censorship unless content is “libelous, an invasion of privacy or creates a ‘clear and present danger’ or a ‘material and substantial disruption’ of the school.”

Second, New Voices intends to protect public college papers from being censored under the Hazelwood decision. New Voices claims that, as college journalists are mostly adults, as opposed to high school where most journalists are minors, the Hazelwood decision is not generalizable to higher education, and there should be protections in place to ensure that that doesn’t happen.

Third, New Voices wants to extend the protections that public colleges experience to private colleges. As public colleges are government run, their students are protected under the constitution and, most importantly, the first amendment. Private college students, on the other hand, are granted only those rights granted to them by their college or university.

Currently, New Voices has launched a federal campaign to pass their legislation, as well as 19 state campaigns. Oklahoma’s campaign is led by Judy Robinson, assistant director of student media at Oklahoma University. To get involved or learn more about Oklahoma’s campaign, contact jgrobinson@ou.edu.

Sammie Hottel Student Writer

Suicide bombings strike Brussels, Belgium On the morning of Tuesday, March 22, three suicide bombings occurred in Brussels, Belgium.

The first two occurred at the Brussels airport around 8:00 a.m., killing eleven people.

The third occurred an hour later at the Maelbeek Metro Station, claiming another twenty victims.

Including the three suicide bombers, a total of thirty-four people were killed, and at least 270 more were injured.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Investigators believe the attacks were carried out by the same Islamic State cell that was responsible for the Paris attacks in November.

In the ongoing investigation, Belgium police have arrested seven people, and German authorities have arrested two. The incident has been described as the worst terror attack in Belgium’s history.

North Korean-American man spied for South Korea Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, was arrested in North Korea in October.

According to North Korea’s official news agency and foreign media, he recently confessed “unpardonable espionage” under the direction of both the US and South Korea.

Chul claimed that he was paid to pass along military secrets and images defaming the North Korean state.

He described the acts as aimed at overthrowing the North Korean regime.

He stated “The extraordinary crime I committed was defaming and insulting the republic’s highest dignity and its system and spreading false propaganda aimed at breaking down its solidarity.”

The US Department of State has acknowledged the incident, but made no further comments, citing privacy concerns.

Putin endorses Chechnya leader

Monday, March 28 at 7:00pm McFarlin Library, Faculty Study Visiting Artist Public Reading: Mary Helen Specht oin writer Mary Helen Specht, author of Migratory Animals, for a reading and Q&A. Specht’s debut novel is a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice, an IndieNext Selection and an Apple iBook selection.

Tuesday, March 29 Reynolds Center

Tulsa Collegiate Job Fair The University of Tulsa offers job fairs to help connect employers with our highly qualified graduates.

Employers who would like to attend one of our job fairs should visit our Golden OpporTUnities Website to register or call 918-631-2896.

Registration now open via Golden OpporTUnities Wednesday, March 30 at 12:00pm to 1:00pm Chapman Hall, Dean’s Conference Room Law, Politics, Nonprofits, and Community Leadership: Is Your Major the Key to Career Versatility?

Lecture by Suzanne Schreiber, BA ’95, JD ’99 Schreiber will answer questions regarding her multifaceted career in law, political campaigning, nonprofit work, local politics and community service. She will also speak to the matter of preparing for career versatility.

The Distinguished Alumni Lectureship in Law and Politics is sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Social Science Interest Group.

A light lunch will be provided.

Thursday, March 31 at 8:00pm Lorton Performance Center

Sondheim on Sondheim Sondheim On Sondheim is a tour de force through the life and work of theatre’s greatest living artist and father of the modern musical, Stephen Sondheim.

Through live performance, archival footage and interactive video, the audience will feel as if they are having an intimate conversation and a greatest-hits concert with the legend himself.

Variety magazine calls Sondheim on Sondheim “an enchanting, warm and provocative opportunity to hear not only Sondheim’s songs, but, literally, the master’s voice.”

A high school matinee will be held at 10 a.m.

Thursday, March 31 at 6:00pm John Rogers Center Oklahoma Criminal Justice Panel on Sentencing Reform The TU Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and the Federalist Society present the “Oklahoma Criminal Justice Panel on Sentencing Reform.”

A live video feed will be available on this page March 31.

Panelists: William G. Otis, Former Special Council for President George W. Bush, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center Danny Williams (JD ‘91), United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma Trent Shores, Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma...

Friday, April 1 at 7:00pm Campbell Hotel - Renaissance Square Event Center Lottie Jane Semi-Formal Event Come join in on Lottie Jane Mabee’s annual semi-formal SYR! There will be light appetizers and refreshments, a photobooth, and a DJ so you can dance the night away.

Shuttles will run between Bayless Plaza and the Campbell Hotel-Renaissance Square Event Center.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Friday his endorsement of Ramzan Kadyrov to continue on as head of Chechnya. Kadyrov, a former Islamist rebel, was once known as an unpredictable warlord.

Putin’s endorsement came with a warning that the primarily Muslim region of Chechnya would be held to strict Russian laws.

In a meeting at the Kremlin, Putin told Kadyrov “You must do everything to ensure that Russian law in all spheres of life is observed.

I want to underline in all spheres of life.”

Kadyrov has ruled Chechnya since 2007, and his current term expires next month.

Putin said he would appoint Kadyrov as acting leader until formal elections in September.

In recent history, regional candidates endorsed by the Kremlin have won by large margins.

China makes censorship arrests over online criticism Chinese officers have made several arrests in the ongoing investigation of a mysterious online letter circulating the web.

The letter, which was signed by “Loyal Communist Party Members,” strongly criticizes President Xi Jinping and demands his resignation.

Four of the detainees work for Wujie News, the state-run website that first posted the letter on March 4.

They include two editors and two technicians.

Additionally, Wen Yunchao, an activist living in New York, claimed that his parents were questioned by police about his involvement with the letter.

Shortly after, Mr. Wen claimed that both his parents and his younger brother were missing.

Jiajia, a freelance writer and friend of Mr. Wen, was also detained on March 15.

Both Mr. Wen and Mr. Jia deny any involvement with the letter.

Suicide bomber kills 24 at stadium near Baghdad An Islamic State suicide bomber killed twenty-four people during a soccer game at a stadium just south of Baghdad on Friday.

According to Iraq’s Interior Ministry, at least another eighty people were injured.

In a statement, the Islamic State claimed that the attack targeted a gathering of Shiite militias known as Hashd Shabi.

The victims, however, were primarily ordinary citizens.

The statement read, “Our knight immersed into their crowds until he detonated his belt, turning them into scattered parts.”

The bomber was known by the fake name Saifullah al-Ansari, and an accompanying photograph suggests that he was in his late teens.

TU to start creative writing major Adam Lux Student Writer Next year, TU will have a new major in the College of Arts and Sciences. Creative writing will be offered as a degree program. The major requires 33 hours consisting of 18 workshop classes and 15 literature classes. There will also be a required senior project. Those 18 workshop hours must cover at least 2 disciplines (poetry, fiction, screenwriting, etc.)

There will be a celebration for the new major next September and the creative writing faculty are planning on bringing in a multitude of writers and poets, especially TU alumni, to give readings and lead workshops during the celebration. The major will establish a reading series and look to bring visiting writers to TU to give read-

ings and lead workshops.

The creative writing faculty will include Dr. Randall Fuller, Dr. Grant Jenkins and Professor Keija Parssinen of the English department, and Professor Michael Wright of the film studies department. There are also plans of hiring new faculty for the program.

At the information meeting about the new program the faculty talked about some of their ideas and dreams for the degree.

They spoke about providing new classes in specific genres of writing and hosting week long writers retreats. More long term goals included having a space dedicated to creative writing majors and possibly hosting a literary festival on TU’s campus.

For more information about the major please contact Dr. Fuller at randall.fuller@ utulsa.edu

28 March 2016

Springfest goes super

News

The Collegian: 5

The Student Association recently announced its ‘Super’ theme for Springfest 2016, with specific events planned for each day of the week.

Lauren Rogers Student Writer After the post-Spring Break haze began to clear, the University of Tulsa welcomed one of the most highly anticipated weeks of the semester. Springfest 2016 kicks off this week with the heroic promise of keeping finals stress at bay for a few more days.

Last Monday, the Student Association held a theme reveal party that “unmasked” the theme: superheroes.

“I thought of the superheroes theme in April of last year,” said the Student Association’s Executive Director of Springfest, Haley Anderson. “Once the idea popped Student Association members pose in costume. into my head everything seemed to fall into place. I think that the best thing about day” involves games and food on Chap- event, with Part One: Be Someone’s Hero at the theme is that everyone can relate to it. man Commons from 5-8 p.m. “The Dark Kendall Whittier, and Part Two: Saving the I would say that most people have seen at Knight” on Chapman Commons, Tuesday World Service Fair 6-8 p.m. on Chapman least one superhero movie, or have heard from 7-10 p.m., will be a screening of the Commons. This day will involve a multiof them. I think that a broad theme such as film “The Dark Knight,” accompanied tude of service-oriented activities.

The Springfest concert will be Tuesday, this is the best direction to go in because it’s by blanket giveaways and food. “Up, Up and a Wednesday” will feature activities April 4. Anderson and her team put a lot of something everyone can get excited about.” including a zip line and food from Josh’s effort into finding bands that students would Anderson stated that the theme allowed a lot of room for creativity in planning in“A broad theme such as this is the best direction to go in teresting and engaging events for each day of the week. because it’s something anyone can get excited about.”

“From the beginning, I knew I wanted to focus each day on a specific theme within the overarching theme of ‘Super Springfest.’ So when we started to break down Sno Shack, Wing Stop, and others from 5-8 want to see, and creating a lineup with muleach day, we came up the theme days: Mar- p.m. on Chapman Commons. Thursday will tiple artists, something which hasn’t been vel Monday, the Dark Knight, Up up and a have a “Comic-Carnival” from 5-8 p.m. done in several years.

“One thing that I wanted to ensure with Wednesday, Comic Carnival, and Fantastic on Chapman Commons, featuring carnival games and even a costume contest for the this year’s band selection was that all of Friday.” chance to meet the Springfest concert artthe options listed on the survey were availEach day of Springfest brings a different ists.

“Fantastic Friday” will be a two-part able and affordable,” Anderson stated. “In set of activities. Monday’s “Marvel Mon-

photos by Luke Lau

the past, students have been disappointed because their first choice was an unrealistic option to bring to campus. Early in the fall semester my committee compiled a huge list of potential artists from various genres for our booking agent to look into. After narrowing the list, we sent out an all school email with a survey link, and after one week of voting the results showed Misterwives as the clear favorite.”

With Springfest kicking off, Anderson stated that she hopes it proves to be an enjoyable event for the campus.

“I know how much everyone looks forward to Springfest, and my committee is working hard to deliver a week that lives up to everyone’s expectations. It will be a great way to end the year and give everyone a fun break before the stress of finals hits.”

Costumed participants promote Springfest.

Local man founds elephant rescue Tulsa native Stephen Mauldin is raising money to go to his new charity, meant to protect both wild and domestic elephants.

Lauren Rogers Student Writer Tulsa conservationist John Stephen Mauldin, who goes by the pen name Phillip Hathaway, recently founded his own public charity, Elephant Rescue, in an attempt to help elephants worldwide.

“100 percent of all donations belong to the elephants,” the website states. “And so, to avoid overhead expenses, we do not have offices; we work from home. Indeed, we presently are working without salaries or any other form of compensation and without expense accounts.”

As the sole staff member of his charity’s website elephantrescue. net, Hathaway has managed to raise $2,000 so far.

“It’s been said the divine gifts are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. Anyone who has spent time with elephants know [sic] they possess more of these qualities

than humans,” Hathaway states on the website. “This is why I was so terribly troubled when I discovered that 30,000 to 50,000 of them were being literally butchered alive in the most heinous fashion for their tusks each year.”

Hathaway, a self-described pacifist, served in the military after studying at Oklahoma City University and the University of Kent in Canterbury, England; holding Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in social sciences. He was shocked to discover the treatment of elephants by poachers.

“In one well documented case, several families of elephants sought safety in a herd which grew to over 300,” Hathaway wrote on his website. “But they were ambushed by poachers on horseback

An African Eliphant in its native habitat.

“As long as elephants are hunted, poached, exploited for money, used for entertainment, enslaved in circuses or held prisoners in zoos,

“He was shocked to discover the treatment of elephants by poachers.” wielding machine guns and hand grenades. All of them — even the little babies — were unmercifully slaughtered. After learning of this, I was unable to sleep at night.”

Hathaway is determined not only to help elephants in the wild, but also domesticated elephants.

we will work to protect them,” the website states.

In an interview with Tulsa People earlier this month, Hathaway explained that he feels China has contributed to the plight of the elephant.

“China has 20 percent of the world’s population but only 7 per-

cent of the arable land. So, they must import raw material, and they’ve quite literally colonized Africa for this purpose (they barter mining, oil drilling and highway and infrastructure work in Africa for raw material). This gives them a feeling that they can take what they want, including elephant tusks,” he said. “To stop the killing, it is essential to destroy all stockpiles of ivory immediately for they always go to market, which in turn, drives demand and more killing.”

Part of Hathaway’s plan to save elephants involves working with the government in Botswana.“We will support Botswana through

courtesy Wiki Commons

reforestation, water conservation, herd management and other ways” he explained to Tulsa People.

“From Botswana, our work will spread to elephant ranges in other countries. We also hope to manage and purchase land bordering elephant ranges to control unprecedented human encroachment.”

Anyone looking to contribute to Hathaway’s cause can visit elephantrescue.net, where Hathaway explains how to make a taxdeductible donation. Visitors can also purchase Elephant Rescue t-shirts. Hathaway hopes to sell at least 50 of each design, however, he has not sold any so far.

News

The Collegian: 6

28 March 2016

Four Oklahoma colleges go to SCOTUS over birth control The four colleges have a religious objection to being involved in providing birth control to their employees.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer Southern Nazarene University, Oklahoma Baptist University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University and Mid-America Christian University are all involved in a lawsuit over the birth control mandate through the Affordable Care Act. The lawsuit’s name is Southern Nazarene University v. Burwell.

The case has been consolidated with several others, including the more prominent Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Aged v. Burwell. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments for these cases on Wednesday, March 23.

The Affordable Care Act mandates that certain employers provide “preventive care” at no charge to employees in their group healthcare plans. The Department of Health and Human Services defined FDA approved contra-

ceptives as preventive care. The four colleges object to a few of the contraceptives covered: Plan B, ella, certain IUDs and “related counseling.” These contraceptives may prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg, which the petitioners believe is killing a human life.

They believe that the Ten Commandments, with its prohibition on murder, prevents them from “facilitating, assisting in, or enabling” the use of those contraceptives.

graphic by Josiah Grange

a third party to pay for the contraceptives. The department believes that this absolves religious non-

“The four colleges do not believe that the exemption is enough to absolve them from involvement” The Department of Health and Human Services does offer a partial exemption from the mandate for religious non-profit organizations (of which all four colleges are). HHS allows religious nonprofit organizations to submit a form detailing a religious exemption. That form would then cause

profits because they would not have to pay for the contraceptives themselves.

However, the four colleges do not believe that the exemption is enough to absolve them from involvement with what they see as murder. They argue that they are still required to change their

healthcare plans in order to provide contraceptives they find objectionable, to notify the government of the objection so that another party can offer the contraceptives, to authorize the provision of the contraceptives and to contract with a third party that will provide the contraceptives.

The four colleges’ suit primarily uses the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). It requires courts to use strict scrutiny whenever there is a conflict between religion and an otherwise neutral law. That means, first of all, that whenever a law interferes with religion, that it does so only under a compelling government

interest and by using the least restrictive means of achieving that interest. Basically, that means courts will expect the government to have a very good reason for a given policy and that there isn’t a less harmful way of achieving that end. Strict scrutiny puts the burden on the government to prove those assertions.

With the death of Antonin Scalia, it is much more likely that the Supreme Court will be equally split. If that happens, the resolution of the case will probably be based on the lower court rulings, which have sided with the government.

Students engage in ‘muggle’ Quidditch Before Spring Break, Senate approved a charter for a Quidditch club.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer TU now has a club dedicated to Quidditch, the popular sport of the wizarding world from the Harry Potter franchise. For muggles perhaps not familiar with the wizarding world’s most popular sport, the Collegian interviewed Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts from 1990–1994 and a professional Quidditch player. He said the sport is “easy enough to understand.

Each team has seven players: three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper, and a Seeker.” All of the players ride flying broomsticks during the game.

Besides the players, there are also “three kinds of balls,” but

four total. The largest is the Quaffle. The Chasers try to throw the Quaffle through one of three hoops on the opposing team’s side of the field. Doing so awards their team ten points. The Keeper is basically a goalie, defending the hoops.

The second type of ball are the Bludgers, of which there are two.

Wood described them as “nasty little buggers.” The Bludgers are bewitched to fly by themselves and to hit players, which can knock players from their brooms and even result in injury. The two Beaters wield bats in order to keep the Bludgers away from their fellow team mates.

The final ball is the Golden Snitch. It is a metallic, gold-colored ball about the size of a golf ball. It also has wings that enable it to fly. Each team’s Seeker tries to catch the Golden Snitch. The game ends when one of the Seekers succeeds in catching it. That team is then awarded 150 points.

College students playing competitive quidditch.

The team with the highest number of points wins.

However, since most of TU’s student body is composed of muggles who are unable to fly on a broom, Tulsa Quidditch has made a few adaptations. Co-captain Haley Anderson described the changes to the Collegian. Players will still have to play with something between their legs. This can range from a broomstick to a pool noodle. A volleyball will be used in the place of an actual Quaffle.

The Chasers will still be throwing

it through custom-made hoops, though.

The other positions have more modifications. The Beaters will use dodgeballs in the place of Bludgers. However, they will not use bats; they’ll just throw them at other players. If a player is hit by a “Bludger,” he’ll have to run around a part of the field. The Golden Snitch will be a tennis ball in pantyhose that will be attached to someone’s waist. The Seekers will have to chase that person and take the ball.

March 15 6:35 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to John Mabee Hall for smoke coming out of trash bags that were sitting next to the trash can. When officers arrived they witnessed smoke coming out of 2 black trash cans that were smoldering..

The officers looked inside the bags and saw that paper was burning and poured water on the pieces of paper and it put it out. Officers saw some a piece of paper with a student’s name on it and went to investigate to why their trash would be smoldering. When officers went into the students dorm they discovered the smoke detector was covered with plastic.

March 9 8: 20 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Case Athletic Center regarding a student being bit by a pit bull. Upon arrival, officers found two pit bulls and removed them from campus. An officer contacted the victim, and a witness statement was filled out. The officer escorted the victim to Alexander Health Center for further treatment and evaluation of the injury.

March 11 5:00 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers received a report of a sexual assault that had occurred at a fraternity house on January 1, 2016. Officers made contact with the victim who stated that the suspect was a TU affiliate. The victim has filed a Tulsa Police Department report as well. This investigation is ongoing.

9:05 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority due to a fire alarm. Upon arrival Officers determined burnt popcorn was the cause of the fire alarm. TFD (Tulsa Fire Department) was canceled and all Officers wee clear from scene at approximately 0910.

March 13 4:50 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible suspicious person at Lafortune Hall.

Upon arrival officers met with an individual who said they were hiding for some gang members, and that they had called the police. University officers requested Tulsa Police come and assist, and verified the individual had called 911. The Tulsa Police officers determined the individual needed to meet with the gangs detectives and left with them in their protection.

courtesy Wiki Commons

March 15 2:30 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security noticed an individual walking and yelling on the East side of Lafortune Hall . Upon making contact with the individual they identified as a non TU affiliate.

The individual stated that the university had been stealing from them and owed them.

Officers informed the individual they were trespass banned and was explained what being trespass banned meant. They stated that they understood and left university property without incident.

March 16 10:50 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible stolen University property in Brown Village Apartments. Upon arrival officers keyed in the apartment due to both residents not present, with a professional staff member and saw the SHUTTLE flag hanging above the windows in the living room.

Officers searched the apartment for the flag pole but was unsuccessful. The SHUTTLE flag was impounded in Security in property locker for safekeeping.

Anderson also said that the club is hoping to have more regional scrimmages against teams from other colleges. It is also possible to have international competitions if the team is good enough.

Besides playing Quidditch, the new club is also hoping to have other Harry Potter related events, particularly during the winter. Any student who is interested in taking part in Tulsa Quidditch should contact Haley Anderson at haleyanderson@utulsa.edu.

7:30 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible ill student in Norman Village Apartments. Upon arrival officers made contact with a University of Tulsa student fell ill which reached the point of incapacitation, causing the student to be unable to move.

Along with officers housing and EMSA responded to the students residence at Norman Village Apartments. The student was transported to St. Johns medical center for further treatment.

March 20th 7:30 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security officers observed 4 individuals walking on the North side of Sharp Chapel in the Sharp Plaza. Officers conducted a pedestrian check and found the individuals to be non-university affiliated.

The individuals refused to give their names or identification. The 4 individuals did volunteer to leave. Officers took photos of the individuals as well as trespass warned them.

The individuals left North on Delaware without further incident.

11:45 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security officers observed an individuals in the dumpster at the Westpark Apartments. Upon making contact with the individual they did not have any identification and stated they did not know they were on private property. The individual was previously trespass warned from TU main campus but was trespass warned again this time from the Westpark Apartments and escorted off the property.

The Collegian does not edit the Campus Crime Watch except for content and brevity.

News

28 March 2016

The Collegian: 7

Charity scammers exploit students on TU campus A group of people operating under the pretense of a children’s charity has been spotted exploiting students on campus.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz News Editor

“One day last year I was approached by a Filipino man. He asked if I could donate to this organization to help clothe and feed children, and he stuck a pamphlet in my hand. He showed me where other people had signed and the money they had supposedly given. I donated $2. Right after this, I decided to Google “Children’s Joy Foundation,” and I found out it was a scam.”

A student who wishes to remain anonymous explained his experience with Children’s Joy Foundation.

“A few weeks later, a Filipino lady approached me and stuck the pamphlet in my hand. I am not sure if she could not speak English or just refused to speak English, but she did not say anything. When I saw a student about to give $100+ to the lady, I told him it was a scam, and he pulled his money back. A friend of mine called campus police,

and that was the last time I personally have seen them on campus.”

We verified this story with Campus Security, and made an attempt to reach out to the charity. Campus Security Director Joe Timmons gave a statement, “officials are aware of three instances of women soliciting money on campus for an organization they call Children’s Joy Foundation USA. The dates are Sept. 19, 2014; Nov. 21, 2014; and Dec. 5, 2014. During each encounter, Campus Security has explained to the women that the university is private property and they

Father bless his ministry, he would help feed, clothe, and send to school three million children in the country.”

Additionally their website displays an accreditation from Global Giving, the largest global crowdfunding community in the world, for being a top-ranked organization.

We attempted to contact Global Giving to get a statement about the legitimacy of Children’s Joy Foundation, but did not receive a response.

A controversy still exists over the legitimacy of this organization. Several people

“It is possible that the people soliciting money were not just exploiting students but also defaming a nonprofit organization.” are not allowed to ask for donations without permission.”

According to their website, “The Children’s Joy Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization born out of the vision of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, the Executive Pastor of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, to reach out to the destitute Filipino children whose miserable plight he could not ignore as he toured around the Philippines as an evangelist. He promised himself that should the Almighty

posting in an online forum about nonprofit organizations have made statements like, “Approached at Wal-Mart at 10:00 at night. The girl couldn’t answer any questions about the ‘programs’ this organization is trying to fund. The website is one of the fakest I’ve seen out of a charity and almost all search results are noting it’s a scam.”

“What kind of reputable charity walks around bugging people, flashing a sketchy ID around, and begs for your credit card

info??? You don’t need to be a genius to figure out that this is a TOTAL SCAM.” However, other contributors offered alternative insights which could explain the confusion. One contributor wrote, “I think it is someone impersonating this organization.”

He wrote that he went to the url cjfusa.org and all that was on the page was a donate button. Yet the url of the organization with accreditation by Global Giving is childrensjoyfoundation.org. Another contributor wrote that he was in the Philippines recently and actually witnessed with his own eyes the work this organization has done.

It is important to note that forum contributors are relatively anonymous and so none of the claims made by any of them can be considered accurate. However, it is possible that the people soliciting money from TU students were not just exploiting students, but also defaming a nonprofit organization trying to do good things in the world.

Despite the lack of answers currently available, Campus Security would like to remind students and employees that if they are approached by individuals asking for money, they should call 918-631-5555 and report the incident to security officers who can make contact and verify whether the solicitation is permitted.

TU economics professor analyzes Bernie Sanders Oklahoma victory Economics professor Scott Carter diagrams the Democratic victory

by Bernie Sanders in the Oklahoma primary.

Wade Crawford Student Writer

After Bernie Sanders won the Oklahoma primary, one TU professor set out to analyze the victory of the Democratic presidential hopeful. Scott Carter, an economics professor at TU, set out to diagram the county-bycounty results for each candidate..

Using 27 columns and just under 1,850 rows, Carter’s document outlines the full election results per county. The results show both Democrat and Republican results, and show any candidate that got multiple votes.

Carter broke down the results by party and candidate, then condensed them to cut out those who only garnered a miniscule portion

of the vote (labeling them as “residuals”).

Finally, parties are joined to show how each candidate performed against one another.

Looking at the county results, a general trend is easy to see. While the Republican victors vary from one county to the next, Sanders won the Democratic vote in nearly every county. “The significant thing is that, head-to-head, Bernie beat everyone in Oklahoma,” Carter commented.

He recalled, “The stats are...1.5 Bernie votes for every Cruz [vote], 1.6 for every Clinton, and 1.7 for every Trump.” He continued, “What Sanders is doing in the heartland and the west is amazing and definitely shows that the white working class (in coalition with others including workers and people of color) are NOT flocking wholesale to Trump.”

Sanders defeated Clinton 22 delegates to 18 in the Oklahoma primary. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz won with 15 delegates, while Donald Trump and Marco Rubio finished with 13 and 12 delegates, respectively.

“We The People” brings greater transparency to Sooner State

A Tulsa-based activist group is working to keep politicians transparent and give the people the voice they deserve.

Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. The TCSO audit began after the shooting of Eric Harris and states that “the agency has been in a perceptible decline for over a decade.”

The group is biding their time until the newly elected Sheriff takes over to bring change to an organization that has, “deJames Whisenhunt veloped a systematic and institutionalized Student Writer

practice of disregarding organizational poli cies and procedures.”

Lewis and the group prefer to work on “We The People Oklahoma” is a state these local issues instead of participating in advocacy group. Though the group is based national campaigns because “we immediin Tulsa, they have a network of people in ately see and feel the effect of local issues.” different towns and cities across the state. Lewis does note, though, that national isTheir primary focuses are on the account- sues often “echo what’s happening locally,” ability and transparency of elected officials, such as prison overpopulation. as well as on informing Oklahoma residents Another aspect to consider is that naabout their rights and responsibilities. tional issues are garnering attention from Marq Lewis, Community Organizer and all across the country. Local issues don’t get founder of the group, has helped create a the same type of media or political attenstrong volunteer network to work on differ- tion. This leaves the task of remedying local ent campaigns and projects. issues up to the people in that community.

Recently, the group sent a press release “[Oklahomans’] tax dollars matter and their to Mary Fallin calling for the removal of lives matter,” Lewis notes “...and somebody Oklahoma Secretary of Finance and Reve- needs to speak up for them.” nue Preston Doerflinger. The group believes Lewis mentions that, though the group Doerflinger is “more concerned that the De- does occasionally have rallies to bring pubpartment of Corrections was taken care of lic attention to an issue, the communication than that education was taken care of.” method the organization uses most is social To date, a change.org petition started by media. Anybody interested in working with We The People has 284 of 500 signatures the group can reach out by contacting them required to be sent to Governer Fallin. We on their “We The People Oklahoma” FaceThe People is also reviewing the 238 page book page or at wethepeopleoklahoma.com.

Community Safety Institute’s report on the

“(We the People) prefers to work on these local issues... because “‘we immediately see and feel the effect of local issues.’”

Professor Scott Carter is interested in voting trends in Oklahoma.

photo courtesy University of Tulsa

FRESH.

FAST. TASTY. SERIOUS DELIVERY!

TM

★ JIMMYJOHNS.COM ★

TO FIND THE LOCATION NEAREST YOU VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM ©2016 JIMMY JOHN’S FRANCHISE, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Variety

the Collegian: 8

28 March 2016

Tulsa Pagan Society: Keeping the faith(s)

Managing Editor Fraser Kastner, in his never-ending quest for personal growth through discomfort and awkwardness, got to know the Tulsa pagan community through immersion and lots of Italian food.

Many people would be surprised to learn that Tulsa has a vibrant pagan community. In fact, it came as a shock to me when, after reading a book about neo-paganism for a class, I googled “Tulsa Pagans” on a lark and discovered that not only are they around, there are quite a few of them. So many, in fact, that they hold monthly social events at Spaghetti Warehouse. Smelling a story, I contacted the Tulsa Pagan Pride Facebook page and secured myself an invitation.

The entire point of this column is personal growth through uncomfortable situations, and I can assure you, reader, that walking into a room full of complete strangers with plans to ask them deeply personal questions like “so when did you come to Odin?” and “how long have you been doing magic?” is an uncomfortable experience like no other.

I had been warned that some of the people there might be wary of a reporter being present, as they were not yet out of the “broom closet,” and for that reason I did not take a camera or a recorder to the event at Spaghetti Warehouse or to the ritual to which I was invited later. But I wish I had, if only to convince myself that the entire experience had been real. Not that it was a bad experience, but it was pretty overwhelming.

The back room of Spaghetti Warehouse was entirely packed with attendees, and I found myself at a table with three other men, all in their twenties. The guy sitting next to me was a “Heathen,” someone who follows the old Norse deities. He showed me three amulets he wore, one representing Thor for strength, and another representing Baldur, for light. A third, representing Odin, rounded out the trio. He explained that, for him, it

was all about balance.

Both he and his husband, who was also at the table, practice magic. He explained to me that magic was about intention. When they perform magic rituals, they believe that they are projecting their will into the universe, influencing the web of causality.

The night went on much like that; me asking carefully worded questions about my tablemates’ faith and listening in on conversation.

At the end of the night, there was a raffle, with the winners walking away with several prizes, including a wand, handcrafted by my heathen tablemate.

It was then announced that some members of the community were sick, and, in what I was told was a first, the group performed a healing circle right there in Spaghetti Warehouse. We held hands in a circle, and Greg Barnes, who practices spiritual healing, placed hands on the ill. It felt very similar to Christian prayer circles I’ve seen, but everyone seemed to pointedly avoid any overlap in terminology.

I learned a lot from my first exposure to paganism. They’re

Michaela Flonard Student Writer Thursday, March 10, the Concerts with Commentary series performed Winterreise, a song cycle

by Franz Schubert based off Wilhelm Müller’s poems. Kim Childs sang tenor while Stuart Deaver played the piano accompaniment.

While the songs were in German, the language difference could not hide the overwrought emotion felt by the writer.

The song cycle is based off of 24 poems by Müller, which narrate a lover’s journey after discovering his beloved has found another.

Each song flows into the next, showing the man’s journey from his beloved’s house through the cold and forbidding winter.

Overall, the narrative was immensely emotional, edging into overdramatic territory. The subjects of the song include the linden tree, which symbolizes his former love, a village, which reveals to him how separated he is from the rest of the world, and a graveyard, which is too full to accommodate him.

As the cycle progresses, the speaker becomes more desolate about his lost love. This slow change became almost unbearably over-dramatic at times. In “Der greise Kopf,” the lover mistakes the snow for graying hair, and then is disappointed when he realizes the truth. Gray hair would’ve taken him closer to death, and away from his heartbreak. “Das Wirtshaus” narrates his attempt to find a vacancy in the “inn,” a graveyard he passes by. But as all the rooms are full, he decides to go on his way.

The saving grace of these songs was the voice and piano behind

Renee’s house. Renee is a kitchen witch, meaning that her magical practice is focused on food and its preparation. Also present were Wiccans, a green witch (one who focuses on gardening and growing), and a Celtic pagan among others. Our facilitator, the one who led the ritual, was a “Follower of Dragons.” She would later explain to me that she was spiritually connected to other animals. “I follow the dragons, but the others follow me,” as she said.

We made our way into the back yard, where we lined up to enter

“Everyone had different beliefs, but there seemed to be a sense that everyone was tapping into some common spiritual wellspring.” a friendly bunch, and very accepting. Everyone had different beliefs, but there seemed to be a sense that everyone was tapping into some common spiritual wellspring through their respective deities and practices. I also met a gnome. Or at least a rather short man whom everyone called a gnome. He carried a didgeridoo as part of his spiritual path as a bard.

Nice guy.

“Winterreise” evokes emotions of love and loss

Despite German lyrics of “Winterreise,” vocals and accompaniment by Kim Childs and Stuart Deaver expertly communicate the emotions of the piece.

At the end of the evening I was told by Renee, one of the facilitators (the pagans in Tulsa avoid using words like ‘leader’ and tend to deny authority over each other) that a major pagan holiday, Ostara, was coming up and that I was welcome to join if I wished.

I should probably take this opportunity to do a little explaining.

According to wikipedia, there are eight neopagan sabbats, one every six weeks. Ostara, the one I attended, celebrates the germanic goddess of the same name and is meant to usher in the spring. My

them. When the subject matter grew increasingly dark, the tone of both followed. The piano added to the narrative by immersing listeners in the scene. In “Einsamkeit,” when the lover drifts like a cloud through the bright life, the piano was reminiscent of a storm, clashing and loud. In other parts, branches breaking beneath boots could be clearly heard.

Schubert’s pieces elevated the importance of the pianist in retelling the story. Deaver led the audience from one scene to the next smoothly, introducing the mood and setting of each piece before Childs sang.

Since the songs were sung in German, listeners were provided with a brief translation of each piece. While this translation did give non-German listeners insight into the particular subject of the piece, the nature of each was made clear through the work of Childs and Deaver.

During “Frulingstraum,” when the lover recounts his dreams of happiness, the bright vocals of Childs and frolicking, staccato piano of Deaver showed how much those fantasies meant to the lover.

The change of tone from previous songs, which emphasized a more somber, depressing tone, showed something had broken through the lover’s despair. Suddenly, however, the piece slowed, and Child’s vocals lost the bright, loud nature they previously had.

It did, however, seem like some of the beauty of each piece was lost to any who couldn’t understand German. The translation seemed bare-bones, compared to what Childs sang, as the piece continued long past the length the translation suggested.

Whether the message was fully understood, Childs and Deaver showed one man’s journey through heartbreak. While the cycle became more melancholy as it progressed, the combination of strong vocals and the scene setting of the piano made the audience sympathetic to the speaker’s plight.

hosts informed me that many of Ostara’s symbols overlap with those of Easter, such as rabbits and eggs. In fact, many believe that the name Easter was derived from her name. Additionally, a friend of the pagans had died recently, and this Ostara they were going to commemorate him with a lasagna dinner, his favorite food.

The night of the ritual was uncharacteristically cold for a holiday welcoming spring. We gathered at

the circle. When entering the circle, you are asked “how do you enter?” and are supposed to reply “in perfect love and perfect understanding.” I was the new guy, though, so I got a free pass.

We formed a circle around a table, and a few volunteers called on the spirits of the four directions before beginning the ritual. We were supposed to light candles and read litany, but it was cold and the candles kept going out, so we skipped

Political cartoons offer insight into how politics has changed through the decades.

to the part where we commemorated the pagans’ fallen friend by eating cookies and drinking pink lemonade while his friends shared their favorite memories. After that, a basket of painted Easter Ostara eggs filled with confetti was brought out and we broke the eggs, scattering the confetti to the night.

Finally, we passed around papers, pens and envelopes. We were instructed to write something we wanted to accomplish in the coming year, something we wanted to leave behind or overcome. We then sealed the paper in the envelopes, to be opened one year from today. After that, lasagna.

In summation, I would say that this was a positive experience. I myself am not a pagan, nor do I have plans to become one, but it was interesting to see how a community like that functions. The people were kind and accepting, and did their best to explain their various beliefs and practices. I may not understand paganism or the web of belief that covers it, but I do know that the Tulsa pagan community can be counted upon for good conversation and Italian food.

photo by Kayleigh Thesenvitz

Zarrow display highlights historical relevance of political cartoons

Currently on display at Zarrow, “The art of politics” takes a closer look at the development of political cartoons in America.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz News Editor On display at Zarrow these days is a small artform usually never seen as more than a clipping from a newspaper. Political cartoons are seen by most as good for a giggle, but it is rare that they are taken as artfully, historically or even politically relevant. However, the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities had another take.

Their display insured that we left with this knowledge: there are enduring questions, conflicts and imaginings of the perfect America and many stereotypes we still must challenge, all of which can be looked at through “the Art of Politics.”

The display contained pieces from as early as 1869 to 2015 and contained historical greats like Thomas Nast, Charles Bush,

Thomas Worth and J.J. Enright as well as the Tulsa World’s Bruce Plante.

A variety of issues were covered in just the small space that is Zarrow’s display area. One cartoon by Bruce Plante depicts two football helmets. The first is the Washington Redskins captioned, “unnecessarily offensive,” juxtaposed with a helmet with a Saltine on it for a team called the Washington Crackers simply captioned, “ditto.” This was the kind of simple yet thought-provoking humour that ran throughout the building.

Unlike that piece, not all of them challenged stereotypes. One called, “Who Can Longer Doubt That Woman Rules the World?”

by Thomas Worth in 1869 wields stereotypes as a weapon to make a satirical claim about the changing roles of women. It shows a woman helping her husband out of a carriage and expressing indignation with the driver for taking off before both of his feet were on the ground.

Another cartoon called “Sorosis,” by Charles Bush also poked fun at women by imagining a government being run only by them as

mostly bickering and gossiping, with a few women nursing babies, painting or having tea.

The range of issues and opinions was impressive, and the display made an effort to explain the claims it made.

“If nothing else, history reminds us that many of the questions we debate so fiercely today are not ours alone, but instead make up part of a common past,” read one of the plaques.

A precursor to the artwork expressed the evolution of the debate about how democracy should balance the interests of the rich and poor alike.

Another plaque explained, “The deceptively simple format of the cartoon can often clarify the complexity of politics by starkly exaggerating our disagreements … the simplicity of the cartoon can speak eloquently to the sense of loss or terror that conflict evokes.”

A wounded teddy bear and a field of gravestones marked with the reasons a black person was shot by the police mark the painful and elegant way that political cartoons have been able to speak about tragedies when words fail.

Variety

28 March 2016

the Collegian: 9

College Anxiety A spooky tour of Oklahoma’s haunted sites

Tara Grigson Student Writer

Over spring break, two of my friends and I embarked on a haunted tour of Oklahoma. Our journey took us all over the state, from Norman to Lawton to Bartlesville, and involved stops at many spooky sites, and also some not so spooky sites.

We spent our first night in Duncan at the Tucker Cemetery. Tucker Cemetery includes gravestones from as far back as the 1800s and is said to be all kinds of haunted. Reports include everything from bright lights and ghosts to bigfoot. We had to park outside and hop the fence and, after a few minutes of walking, we arrived at a sparse field. There were probably no more than 30 tombstones total. While it was pretty spooky, we did not encounter any bigfeetses, which was a little disappointing.

From Tucker Cemetery, our next stop was a pet cemetery on our way to Fort Sill. The pet cemetery was not particularly spooky. Partly because it was like 12 p.m. and partly because it was a pet cemetery.

When we arrived at Ft. Sill, we stopped at the Parallel Forest. It is not said to be haunted, but it is a pretty weird, creepy backdrop.

It was planted in the mid-twentieth century, so instead of being a random collection of trees and grass and whatnot, it is rows and columns of trees.

A couple miles down the road, we hiked up to the watchtower at Lake Jed Johnson.

We went both during the day and at night.

The tower is said to be haunted by the ghosts of all the people who jumped off of it to their deaths. One park ranger said that he noticed that animals would gather around the tower with owls perching on the top, around midnight every night. Now, the tower is locked down and the entrance is bolted shut.

As we parked at the beginning of the trail, our headlights shone on a longhorn grazing. The longhorn stared at us, we stared at the longhorn. Eventually the longhorn wandered off. We were really hoping to catch a gathering of animals, but that did not happen. Our primary theory regarding the lack of animal meeting is that the longhorn told the other animals we were coming. There is no other logical explanation.

Moving on from there, we went to Wall’s Bargain Center in Shawnee.

Wall’s is said to be haunted by a man wearing gray. We saw a number of men wearing gray, so one of them was almost definitely a ghost. We also got some scary good bargains. It was an all-around win.

We drove from Shawnee to Bartlesville (which took a minute).

Bartlesville is home to Labadie Mansion, a now decrepit mansion that was once owned by the La-

badie family. Legend says that Mr. and Mrs. Labadie could not have children, and that Mr. Labadie was pretty upset about it. They had a slave named Enos (it was the late 1880s, and they claim that he stuck around because he just loved being a slave so much, which I think is a pretty suspicious claim, but I was not there, what do I know?). Anyway, eventually Mrs. Labadie got pregnant and gave birth to a baby, who was black. Mr. Labadie got angry, shot Enos and dragged his body to the river.

This story is pretty suspect in a number of ways. The first being that the descendants of the Labadies say that they did have children, and that all of the children were white. Second, I did not see any rivers around.

The mansion is relatively small by modern house-size standards. It likely burned at one point, because all that is left is the brick walls. Inside, it is full of beer cans and broken glass. There are the remnants of an old piano, with a tree growing through it, but it was taken apart by local youth. Porcelain and metal fixtures are scattered on the grounds outside the house. The interior has no floor or stairs — you stand on grass and dirt, below where the floor of the house would have been. There are four fireplaces, but two are on the second floor, so you cannot get close to them. We did not experience any paranormal activity, but it was a creepy place.

Our next stop was Picher, once prominent mining town, now a ghost town, surrounded by white hills and mountains made of leadand-zinc-mining-waste. In the 1980s, testing showed that around one third of Picher’s children had lead poisoning. It was a site in the Tar Creek buyout, so the government literally bought people’s houses so that they would not continue to live there. Picher used to be part of Oklahoma, but it is so toxic and ghostly that Oklahoma disincorporated it. In 2008, Picher was the site of a massive F4 tornado, which tore down a lot of structures and sped up people’s departures.

There are only a tiny handful of people still living there, data suggests roughly 20 people in 2010. What remains of Picher is a handful of intact houses, a decrepit church, a school and a water tower. We drove around, but it was hard to see a lot of things because a) there weren’t very many things and b) there were lots of “keep out” roadblocks.

There is what used to be a neighborhood, but now the houses have no doors or windows and “keep out” is spray painted on the brick. There was one house that was clearly still occupied, with doors and windows, and a truck parked out on the garage.

We found a road that was not blocked, and followed it into the wooded center of Picher. It was clear the tornado had taken out all of the structures. It was full of concrete slabs from where homes and businesses had been just totally demolished.

Chances are, you’re dealing with some level of anxiety, but you might not realize how common it is. Here’s a list of ten different sources of anxiety college students like you deal with every day.

Sam Chott Student Writer

10. Late work. It’s already past the deadline,

At one point, we and you know you have to turn it in, but you just came across the remains of what don’t have the time! was clearly either a daycare or 9. Skipped classes. It feels so good to sleep a school. There late, but you def need to get up in time for that were baby clothes and stuffed ani8:00. mals hanging from trees. It 8. Ghosts. The vengeful ghosts of the proswas pretty weird, but probably not pectors that swore vengeance on your family haunted. line make college really hard to deal with.

We drove out of the wooded area 7. Social gatherings. It’s scary, but someand back down a main road, which times you just need to get over your fears and was full of smoke. meet some new people.

We parked right before the smoke and saw that there was 6. Upcoming tests. Not only are your tests a field that was on way too hard, but it seems like they’re always fire. Just like, caon the same day. Do the professors plan it out sually burning. Pior something? cher is not officially part of the state of Oklahoma, so there 5. Ghosts. I’m not kidding about that ghost are no firefighters thing. They’ve been slamming doors, possessor other public sering people, and just doing general spooks all vices. Two guys in a truck appeared, preover the place. sumably to fight the fire. We drove a little 4. Not making time for yourself. Sometimes ways down another road, and encountered all of your responsibilities seem to build up, three rusted-out cars, and it’s ok to feel overwhelmed. Just make one of which was also sure to take some you time! on fire. It was actually Silent Hill.

Our final stop was the 3. College debt. Even though you’re tri-state spook light, so spending a lot on college now, you’ll earn called because it can, in more later! It’ll all work out in the long theory, be seen in three states (Oklahoma, Kansas, run.

Missouri). The spook light appears at night and varies 2. Drama. It always happens, you just in color and size (from volneed to do your best to get through it, leyball sized to five feet in diameter). There are a number and make up afterwards. of places you can park to look at it. But sometimes it does not 1. Ghosts. Look, even though appear. Like the time that we were there. It is apparently a legit thing, they’re teaching your roombecause it has been studied by actual mate how to make pottery, real scientists. Their best guess is that they’ve still gotta go. Call it is probably due to some environmental an exorcist. factor and not a spooky light ghost. Which is why I am not a scientist.

Although we did not encounter any spooky scary specters, it was an interesting trip. 10/10 would recommend. I give it 10 spooky ghosts out of 10 spooky ghosts.

Vote Void for President

The Void is the best choice for President, because the Void doesn’t really care, and neither should you.

Adam Lux Student Writer

graphic by Elias Brinkman

This coming year will be my first chance to vote in a presidential election and I’ve been paying furious attention to all of the candidates. Ultimately my vote was secured from the beginning. I’m going to vote for the darkest darkness, the unthinkable nothingness.

I’m voting for the Void, and so should you.

Are you tired of people talking to you about their political ideas, especially your friends and family? Do friends or family often ar-

gue about their ideological differences? Well one mention of your support of the Void and those people will most probably never talk to you again! Furthermore, if the Void is elected president, or failing that if it decides to take power anyway, all those who opposed it will be swallowed into eternal oblivion.

The Void is not interested in helping the rich, white, upper class… or the lower class… or really anyone for that matter. The Void does not care for human currency so it cannot be bought out by large corporations. It also lacks human empathy so it does not care about minorities or the impoverished.

The Void is not looking out for you, or the country, or anyone. It has no opinions and has made no

promises about what will happen if it is elected president. And everyone knows you can’t break your promises if you don’t make any. Frankly the Void doesn’t give a damn about politics or America or the people or democracy. Nor does it actually care if you vote for it. The Void doesn’t even notice we exist; it simply will continue to eat away at the universe until all is encompassed by its vast nothingness.

So this election season remember to support the candidate that stands for nothing, cares about nothing, strives for nothing and is nothing. Why not put your faith in the candidate that is going to win anyway because its power is indescribable with human words. Vote Void because your opinion doesn’t matter.

Variety

the Collegian: 10

28 March 2016

“Last Man on the Moon:” a tired retelling of an otherwise inspiring tale

Despite its informative nature, “Last Man on the Moon” fails as a biography to make any noteworthy statement about its subject.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor “The Last Man on the Moon” documents the impressive life of Eugene Cernan, one of only a dozen men to ever make a lunar landing. The film is aware of the audience’s probable ignorance regarding Cernan’s accomplishments, not unlike comedian Norm Macdonald, who in a commentary on the Kardashians’ fame couldn’t help but voice his astonishment that of the twelve men to walk the moon, only Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong seemed to be household names. Thankfully, the filmmakers — and the aged Cernan himself — seem neither oblivious to this nor spiteful of its harsh truth.

As a documentary, the film does not aim so much to thrust Cernan back into the public’s eye nor, as I had suspected, does it devote itself entirely to advocating for the revival of the lunar program. Instead, for better and for worse, “The Last Man on the Moon” seems content in being a celebratory tribute to an impressive man caught up in an amazing point of history, when the American space program was spurred by president JFK to land a man on the moon. It’s unfortunate that, for all the grandeur the movie convokes, paired with its fittingly reverent tone, it seems such a tired topic to me.

“The Last Man on the Moon” feels unabashedly similar to something I might’ve watched in a science museum’s theater, or flipped

by on the Discovery channel. Expect plenty of footage from the shuttles and pictures of space command, complete with celebratory cigars. Expect elderly people to reflect on their younger selves as wild, invincible spirits with whom their current beings could not compete. Expect Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” quote, JFK’s inspiring speeches and anti-war rallies spliced with Vietnam-era music. Chances are you expected these things anyway, and that’s my point. The story of space exploration is, today, not an especially untold one; so what makes Gene Cernan’s unique? Nothing but Gene Cernan himself, and this is an element of reality the documentary only teases at revealing to us.

The movie, from its summaries, was intended to display Gene’s passion, regret, success and failure in the space program. So why did I leave with only as much information regarding these topics as I entered with? Gene was overworked and thus devoted little time to his wife and daughter.

The movie itself does not begin to scrape the surface of this turmoil, instead settling on a few choice words between him and his exwife, in which they very neatly describe their separation as a kind of inevitability due to his career.

When he discusses this regret with his daughter, their conversation is brief and all too polite. Gene seems to attempt to bait some sort of reaction from his daughter, but she silently forgives him and the movie pulls away before we can get any sort of genuine emotion from the pair.

Honestly my greatest hope, and thus the most crushing disappointment, came from a scene in which Cernan silently strolled through the dilapidated, rustic ruins of a command center. After standing

“twenty-one plus” Custom cocktail creations and accompanying critiques presented by TU’s own hobbyist mixologist.

Sara Douglas Student Writer

Mint Cosmo 1 oz. vodka 1 oz. crème de menthe 1 oz. pomegranate or raspberry liqueur 1 oz. citrus liqueur (e.g., limoncello, cointreau, Tuaca) ½ oz. lemon juice 1 dash bitters grenadine cocktail cherry Coat rim of cocktail glass with grenadine and chill. Shake all other ingredients over ice until some of the ice has melted.

Strain into glass and drop a cherry into the bottom.

Drink this if: Spring has you longing for brighter, stronger flavors. This cocktail hits your tastebuds full of fruity sweetness but quickly gives way to the astringent zing of mint and the tartness of lemon.

A very stiff, albeit smooth drink that goes down more easily with each sip, this is one that well deserves the Prohibition-era nickname “giggle water.” The bitters provide a bite that gives this concoction the depth it needs to be more than just palatable; it is elevated to a recipe I’ll be sure to revisit by the cherry at its conclusion.

courtesy Mark Stewart Productions

Eugene Cernan’s relationships with his wife and his daughter, Tracy, were strained by the time and commitment he dedicated to the space program.

silently for a few short moments, Cernan scowls and, with a quivering lip, announces, “I don’t want to remember it this way. I almost wish I didn’t come here today.”

Alas, the scene ends there, before any real unfiltered emotion is revealed. It seems the movie refuses to display to the audience any bit

of humanity within Cernan that doesn’t fit its sanitized narrative of an American man who was too hard-working to sustain a family life.

Ultimately, “The Last Man on the Moon” is technically impressive: edited seamlessly and shot beautifully, and the movie de-

served to be made, if for no other reason than as tribute to Gene Cernan. Beyond that, however, I can’t strongly recommend the film, especially to those already familiar with the history and accomplishments of America’s space exploration programs.

Crispin Glover’s “What Is It” uses troubling imagery to challenge the status quo of corporate censorship in filmmaking.

exist in the protagonist’s mind.

Naked women in monkey masks climb out of dirt holes while a woman in an elephant mask pulls a giant clam shell behind her.

Crispin Glover asks for a puppet show and loses his temper when the puppets begin to fight. Shirley Temple’s voice rings menacingly as a lewd illustration, with its fair share of swastikas and nazi imagery, is displayed. A doll very much resembling Shirley sits on a cloud and coldly brings its arm down to command unseemly deeds. A man wearing what I thought was blackface turns out to be turning into a snail, and injects himself in his cheek multiple times throughout the film to accomplish this.

Afterwards, Glover explained that the film was meant to spur a reaction of discomfort in the audience. The film makes the audience wonder, “why am I watching this?

Should I be watching this? What is it about these images that makes it so appalling?”

The success of this film at this goal is indescribable. There was a tangible discomfort in the theater, and I think many began to feel trapped in the cramped seats.

Glover explained that corporate interests would rather adult-only films like this never made their way to theaters, as they can’t appeal to larger audiences like R-

rated or PG-13 films can.

The film, aside from one man with cerebral palsy, the nude women and Crispin Glover himself, is completely made up of actors with down syndrome. The characters don’t necessarily have down syndrome, Glover explained. This is admirable, but many would be forgiven for making the same presumptions I did.

This movie got its point across about disturbing imagery, but its actual quality is extremely questionable. One man, only there to see George Mcfly in person, told Glover the film was boring and disgusting. Another made his way to the back of the theater before yelling that the movie sucked.

Glover’s not easily offended, he explained, and is proud of the movie. It is a great argument against corporate interests and censorship in film.

You will probably never see this movie. Glover has destroyed all but his own personal copies of the film. If you do get the chance to see his presentation of this film, and you have the slightest interest to see it, do so. The movie’s only an hour and ten minutes long, but I couldn’t help but value the exclusivity and uniqueness of the production. It’s not a good film, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

“What Is It” disturbs for the sake of disturbing Nathan Gibbons Student Writer

Crispin Glover’s experimental “What Is It?” will probably be the strangest film I ever see. Ten minutes into this fever dream of a movie, I realized the film had some sort of a plot. I believe it was about a boy trying to return a snail to a room he had accidentally locked himself out of. I’m almost certain it also involved an inner psyche, played by Crispin Glover himself, trying to kill him. Perhaps “what was the plot?” should have graced the Q+A. It opens with a man playing with a pet snail and musing that perfection is in the eye of the beholder.

He then slams the pleading, talking snail into its snail pen until its shell cracks and it dies. There’s a lot of things in this movie that are unstimulated, and snail death is one of them. A second snail rolls into view and witnesses its gluedtogether corpse of a friend before giving a bone-chilling scream.

The surrealism of the film peaks in a hellish landscape that might

Home for sale by owner

photo by Sara Douglas

3178 E. 1 Street -near TU, 4 bedroom 2344 sf newly remodel detached garage with ¾ bath 918-231-1697 for showing

Variety

28 March 2016

the Collegian: 11

Spring bReak, Springfest, Spring Performances

photo by Emily Steward

Christian Theriot, the guitarist for Sports, plays at the Vanguard during Tulsa Overground.

TU students visit Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, Missouri.

photo by Trenton Gibbons

photo by Fraser Kastner

Headgear sits on a shelf in the costume shop for Cirque De Soleil’s “Toruk: The First Flight.”

photo by Fraser Kastner

Acrobats practice for Cirque Du Soleil’s show “Toruk: The First Flight,” premiering in Tulsa on March 24.

photo by Luke Lau

TU students enjoying dinner during the Springfest theme reveal.

photo by Kayleigh Thesenvitz

Captain Cane caught up on the news.

photo by Mark Rieke

TU members of Lambda Chi Alpha enjoyed Spring Break on the beach.

photo by Greg Diskin

TU students participate in Relay For Life on Friday March 25.

Left: Guitarist Zach Mobley started the Bourgeois. The band played at the Vanguard during Tulsa Overground.

Bottom: Relay For Life on the Old U.

photo by Emily Steward

photo by Luke Lau

Haley Anderson announced the Springfest theme. photo by Greg Diskin

Commentary

The Collegian: 12

28 March 2016

Okla.’s budget shortfalls are self-perpetuating

For the fiscal year 2017, Oklahoma faces a budget shortfall upwards of a billion dollars. This shortfall is likely to be repeated in the future.

Michaela Flonard

Student Writer

At a press conference last December, Senate Appropriations Chairman Clark Jolley suggested a war in the Middle East would fix Oklahoma’s budget crisis. “We’re one war in the Middle East away from high gas prices and high oil prices,” he noted. This is the level to which Oklahoma has fallen to fix its budget issues.

The Oklahoma budget crisis has slowly grown deeper. In December, when the press conference occurred, the expected shortfall for the 2017 fiscal year was $900 million.

Recently, the shortfall has grown to $1.3 billion. Originally, various state agencies were expected to undergo a three percent cut, but now, schools, prisons and other agencies will face an additional 4 percent cut.

The total cut from the 2017 year’s budget now totals near $413 million. Public schools face almost a $110 million cut because of this shortfall. The prison system, $27.5 million; Health Care Authority system (which administers Medicaid), $63.8 million. The Department of Health will lose $4.2 million, while the Department of Human Services will lose $43.7 million. The Department of Mental Health will lose $22.7 million.

Recently, the Rainy Day Fund has been tapped to offset losses of this fiscal year by providing the Departments of Corrections and Education with $27.6 million and $51 million, respectively. This will be the second consecutive year the fund has been tapped, leaving it with $307 million. Since money is only allocated to the fund when general revenue collections exceed 100 percent of the estimate for that year, it is unlikely the fund will be refilled soon.

Cutting the various departments will have a variety of ill effects on each agency.

Several rural school districts had to immediately go to four-day school weeks, to save money, according to State Superintendent of Public Education Joy Hofmeister.

And while school enrollment has increased

since 2008 by about 40,000 students, state aid funding has decreased by $182 million.

Corrections is already 10 percent above inmate capacity but with 30 percent less staff.

Others face decisions like closing offices in more rural areas or offering fewer preventative services.

Falling oil prices have generally been the focus of blame for the 2017 shortfall. Other oil reliant states, like Alaska, are also facing similar crises. Most officials have blamed the oil industry’s cyclical nature for Oklahoma’s issues. Not including sales and income taxes, the state’s biggest revenue source is the gross production tax on oil and gas.

From the fiscal year 2011 to 2013, the revenue stream from this industry fluctuated from a high of $724 in 2012 to $373 in 2013.

Other sources of revenue, such as the ciga-

last five years, four have seen total job and personal income growth below national averages. Before the onset of the Great Recession, Oklahoma saw job growth, but the Center concluded it was due to high energy prices and a boom in hydraulic fracturing.

While politicians continue to preach the doctrine of low taxes, by most estimates, these low taxes haven’t brought the state more success than its peers. Instead, low taxes have contributed to low revenue streams.

Taxes have been cut across the board, from industry to personal income. Raising taxes could prove difficult, so whatever part of the shortfall was caused by low tax revenue will not be remedied by raised oil prices.

What agencies are forced to do due to the cuts will also create further issues for Oklahoma. Hofmeister noted this, saying “ef-

“Low income taxes, low taxes in general and effects of these budget cuts will continue to haunt the state.” rette tax and gasoline excise tax, remained relatively consistent during this time. Having such a volatile tax base will surely continue to affect Oklahoma’s success.

But in 2014, when the oil industry was doing well, Oklahoma also faced budget issues. Tax cuts helped drive down the revenue stream for the state, as well as the growth of online commerce and earmarks.

Even if oil prices recover in the near future — and they aren’t expected to until the middle of this year or by 2018, depending on which economic school of thought one listens to — the other issues causing the crisis will continue to haunt Oklahoma.

Because of the passage of State Question 640 in 1992, any future revenue increases need approval by three-quarters of both legislative chambers, or a majority vote of the people at the general election. Oklahoma legislatures have continued to cut taxes since the mid-2000s, favoring the idea that lower taxes would bring more revenue.

Cutting taxes has heavily favored the top 20 percent of citizens. In January, another tax cut lowering the top rate from 5.25 to 5 percent is estimated to cost the state $57 million in fiscal year 2016 and $147 million in 2017, according to the OK Policy Institute. Overall, the lowering of the top rate from 6.65 percent since 2004 has lost an estimated $1.022 billion of revenue.

Further research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank, suggests that tax cuts have not brought the state more success. Of the five states that have enacted large personal income tax cuts within the

forts that districts are making to cope with these cuts today will further impact the next school year, as they are forced to significantly deplete their cash fund balances.”

Some schools lack such savings, however. Bartlesville Public Schools recently announced that due to cuts, the district would have larger class sizes, changed bus schedules, and layoffs next year. “This year,” the district announced, denying the existence of rainy day funds or bloated balances, “we were less than one month’s payroll away from running our general fund into the red.”

The effects of school cuts may not all be seen right away. Increasing class sizes, shortening the school week, or cutting advanced placement or international baccalaureate programs affect the quality of students’ educations. Effects of these changes could be seen in the number of high school graduates or competency rates on standardized tests. Cutting AP or IB courses could detract from the attractiveness of Oklahoma students to colleges.

Schools aren’t the only ones facing a crisis. Nico Gomez, CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, believes that if deep budgets continue, the state’s Medicaid program could end. While he thinks it will survive for the next two years, cuts this year

are forcing the program to contract its covered services, as well as debating rate cuts for providers, which may cause providers to leave the program.

Cuts to Medicaid and health services reduces the amount of preventative care individuals receive. Removing preventative care can result in increased disease, avoidable treatment costs, and an increased risk of death. As issues go untreated, costs and difficulty to treat the issue increase. This will further affect any budget issues.

The budget crisis is forcing other agencies to weigh difficult options that will ultimately lead to lasting consequences. One smaller program, the Rural Economic Action Plan grant program, helps smaller, cash-strapped towns deal with important issues.

McCurtain is one such small town. With a population of 500 people, the town has encountered a $100,000 water quality improvement project. While the mayor insists the water is safe for the time being, some people are drinking bottled water. Small towns like McCurtain often can’t complete costly projects because the cost would be reflected in higher rates, which could force emigration, and then even higher rates. If they aren’t able to get the necessary money, “You might see us going up there digging a hole in the tower and pouring chlorine into it,” said Mayor Harvey Way. If small towns like McCurtain can’t rely on programs meant to assist them with larger projects, they may result to shortcuts, or suffer the ill effects of not fixing the problem. And not fixing the problem now could just lead to bigger problems later, like many other towns with water-quality issues that are now seeing citizens suffer health effects due to toxic drinking water.

Effects of budget cuts will likely be seen in the coming year, but the lasting effects of changes to schools, healthcare and other agencies could continue to be seen for years.

And these lasting effects could add to budget issues.

The budget issues of Oklahoma are not likely to be fixed when oil prices rebound.

Instead, the combination of low income taxes, low taxes in general, and effects of these budget cuts will continue to haunt the state.

Low taxes will bring the state decreasing revenue amounts, while the effects of the budget cuts will lessen education, and cost the state an untold amount over the years.

Education funds show officials don’t care

Budget cuts and cursory solutions are symptoms of a larger problem with Okla.’s elected officials.

Kirby Hockensmith

Student Writer

Earlier this year, the Oklahoma State House of Representatives proposed a bill that would provide state-funded scholarships to Oklahoma students so they could attend private high, middle, and elementary schools. This is a good proposition in theory, especially for underprivileged students who are forced to attend public schools that are underfunded and understaffed.

But that’s just it. Many Oklahoma public school districts are grossly underfunded and understaffed. Trying to pass a bill that would divert money from already struggling public school districts shows either the complete ignorance of a pressing issue related to the people of Oklahoma or the blatant disregard for said issue.

Both of these are unacceptable on the part of the state government. The state should work on providing adequate funding to its public school districts before it even begins to think about providing scholarships allowing students to attend private schools.

For as long as I can remember there has been a lack of funding for public schools in Oklahoma. This is reflected in the state’s #48 ranking out of fifty states in quality of public education. Despite this abysmal

ranking, in past years school districts have at least been able to keep enough staff employed to adequately operate. This is not the case anymore for some districts. The lack of funding has gotten to the point where some schools are having to fire custodial staff, cafeteria workers and even teachers in an attempt to cut costs.

A school having to fire its teachers, or even cut their pay, solely due to a lack of state funding is inexcusable. Teachers are already horribly undervalued, and this type of treatment only serves to propagate the gross misrepresentation of the value of teachers to our society.

Even these drastic measures aren’t enough for some schools. In the Inola Public School District there is such an extreme lack of funding that the school is being forced to switch from a five-day school week to a four-day week. This is due to utility expenses being too high to operate for five days a week on the school’s current budget for the entirety of the academic calendar. Inola Public Schools isn’t even receiving enough state funding to keep the lights on for five days, let alone pay for other educational necessities like new textbooks and computers.

The adverse educational impact that missing out on an entire day of school per week will have on the students of the Inola Public School District is sickening, and there is nothing that the district can do about it. This comes down to an apparent lack of concern on the part of the state government for the education of the students of Oklahoma. This lack of care is appalling. It not only endangers the futures of the students by providing them with a less-than-adequate education in comparison to students from other states, but it endangers the future of our state by perpetuating the idea that education is not worth the money it takes to keep a school’s lights on.

“Inola Public Schools isn’t even receiving enough state funding to keep the lights on for five days.”

Lawton High School, one of many public schools to suffer from budget cuts.

Hannah Kloppenburg

Commentary Editor

In the last issue of The Collegian, I wrote an article for the “Improve TU” feature proposing that TU provide basic legal resources, such as notary services, to students on campus.

Shortly after the issue was released, I was contacted by Stephanie Boulden, Assistant to the Dean and Web Administrator of the College of Arts and Sciences. She informed me that in reality, there are several notaries on campus, herself included.

The on-campus notaries can provide services to students, staff and faculty free of charge.

Ms. Boulden also told me that in the past, staff members who were notaries were indicated in the campus directory.

However, the last campus directory was released for the 2010-2011 academic year, and there seems to be no listing of notaries to replace it.

I stand by my proposal for other basic legal resources for students, such as legal representation and information about legal rights. However, I’d like to revise my statement about notaries and propose that a list of the on-campus notaries be readily available on TU’s website.

Beside, student writer Andrew Hansen gets things started with a brief profile of some of the notaries on campus.

courtesy Wiki Commons

Meet the notaries

Andrew Hansen

Student Writer

Meet Lynn Miller, a notary at TU who works in the Boesche Legal Clinic. She’s worked at the clinic for 3 and a half years, and the university helped her get authorized to be a notary. She likes to read in her free time, and her favorite book is Jane Eyre.

When she’s not notarizing things, Lynn also enjoys traveling to visit her family. Her ideal Tuesday night includes dinner at Mary’s Italian Trattoria followed by Netflix with chocolate covered raisins.

Meet Stephanie Boulden, a member of the TU community for 15 years and a notary for 20. She works in the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office in Suite 111 of Chapman Hall. She has a miniature schnauzer and loves the month of July because there is no school. That frees up Stephanie’s time to notarize all of her favorite things such as wills and Do Not Resuscitate forms.

Stephanie is also skilled at wood work, having made a rocking horse and toy box for her family.

Other notable notaries include Gary Brown in the Student Affairs Offices and Dottie Smith who works in Keplinger Hall room L115a. There are also notaries in the Registrar’s Office as well as the Student Advising Office in Helmerich Hall.

To use the notary services at TU, please bring your student ID and another form of identification. You’ll also need to be able to provide some basic information about yourself for their notarizing records.

Commentary

28 March 2016

The Collegian: 13

Afrofuturism: The final frontier of equality

The Afrofuturism movement envisions a future through the lens of black people, which corrects the white homogeneity present in most sci-fi/futuristic media.

Kyle Crutchfield Michaela Flonard Student Writers Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk, Jake Sully, Alan Grant, and Katniss Everdeen. These protagonists from famous sci-fi movies all have one thing in common, other than their corn-fed look: they’re all white.

Out of the 100 top-grossing sci-fi movies of all time, only eight of them feature a protagonist of color. Even more damning, out of these eight protagonists, four of them are portrayed by Will Smith.

The lack of minority figures has no grounding in prediction, either. The Pew Research Center predicts that by 2050, way before many futuristic sci-fi movies are set, whites will be something of a minority group in America, making up 47 percent of the population. This change sets America apart from many of its populous peers, which won’t see such diversity of people. In no way are people of color going to disappear from America as the lack of diversity in sci-fi movies suggests.

This trend in film reflects a similar trend in many aspects of the entertainment industry. In 2011, people of color made up only 10 percent of lead characters in all genres of movies. The census of 2010 indicated 36.6 percent of Americans identified as notwhite, either as Black, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or two or more races. In addition, only 12 percent of directors during that year were minorities.

And let’s not even get into the Oscar nominees this year.

This is not just the case for movie industry, either. Last year’s VMAs reeked of racist undertones, from Rebel Wilson’s joke about the “injustice” black people face from the police just before presenting the Best Hip-Hop Video award, to Miley Cyrus touting dreads and using the word “mammy,” an old term that denotes black women as “the help.”

Sci-fi does not have the luxury of falling back on the defense many use in historical films, which claim people of color just didn’t exist in prominent roles in that

area before a certain time. If a director can imagine space ships exploring the galaxy, or robots overtaking the planet, then surely he or she can imagine a person of color being integral to the story. But in the casting of popular movies, adding diversity rarely crosses the minds of those in charge.

Some of this whitewashing is even intentional. In the case of the Hunger Games series, the casting call for Katniss was specifically for Caucasians. The books never specified Katniss’s ethnicity, although they describe her in an ambiguous way such that she could be Native American or otherwise non-white. Suzanne Collins, the author of the series, said the book was set so far into the future that ethnic intermixing occurred, and the characters could no longer be considered biracial.

But of course, the actors picked were

Union racing against America to get to the moon, it’s Zambia. “Afronauts” embodies Afrofuturism in its portrayal of an alternate reality, where people of color are thriving.

It highlights the powerlessness of colored people, in general, during the 1960s while simultaneously giving them a technologically enriched future.

Traces of Afrofuturism can even be found in Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech, wherein King expresses his lament for the problems him, his family, and the black community at large have faced in America, while offering a hope for a better future for his community. Although it doesn’t blend science-fiction themes within it, the ultimate goal of Afrofuturism — of elucidating colored peoples’ struggles and offering an unmaterialized solution to those struggles — is present.

“By continuing to represent the future as a white homogeneity, sanitized of any and all diversity, sci-fi is doing the audience a disservice.” white. The director limited himself, right from the start, to characters of that skin tone.

What does this say about the sci-fi genre?

Afrofuturism is the antidote to such thinking — the kind that believes the only stories people will watch are those with a white face attached.

Long before these cultural atrocities, critic Mark Dery recognized the lack of black stories and black perspective in popular culture, specifically in the realm of sci-fi.

Along with this, he began to notice a rebellion forming amid the black population in the US. In his work “Black to the Future,” Dery coined the term “Afrofuturism” to refer to the intertwinement of futuristic themes and black historical references in pop culture forms. Through this entangling of future with past, Afrofuturists seek to elucidate the issues people of color have faced and continue to face today, while simultaneously offering a brighter future.

An early example of Afrofuturism comes from musician George Clinton. In 1975, his band Parliament produced the song “Mothership Connection,” which connects the struggles of people of color during the civil rights with an affirmation that their struggle will not be in vain. The lyrics (which reference the underground railroad) tell of a spaceship that has come to Earth to pick up the woe-struck and “let them ride” to a brighter future in space.

Although it may seem like an odd blending of themes on the surface, it perfectly encapsulates the Black experience: from struggle, to hope, to far-off success.

A more recent example of Afrofuturism comes from Cristina de Middel’s 2014 film, “Afronauts,” which recreates the 1960s space race where instead of the Soviet

Science fiction, in presenting the future, has the opportunity to redefine the direction we take. The original Star Trek series realized this power, often dealing with themes of sexism and racism. David Gerrold, one of the scriptwriters for the series, realized this, saying, “the ship had to be interracial because it represented all of mankind. How can the human race ever hope to achieve friendship with alien races if it can’t even

make friends with itself?”

By continuing to represent the future as a white homogeneity, sanitized of any and all diversity, sci-fi is doing the audience a disservice. It perpetuates the notion that only white stories deserve to be told. This notion harms the self-esteem of children who aren’t white. A study done by a pair at the University of Michigan suggested that not being represented in the media that children consume, or being only represented in a negative light, can harm self-esteem.

Showing no people of color in the future insinuates either that people of color don’t matter story-wise or that they don’t exist in the future. Neither option is appealing. The way some movies are cast, it is possible that some sort of large-scale ethnic cleansing has taken place. Otherwise, different skin tones statistically have to appear at some point.

Afrofuturism adds a breath of fresh air to the sci-fi genre. It returns power to the black community, as it gives them a license to explore and reinvent themselves. We need more stories about diverse groups of people, because our future is going to be diverse.

The genre of afrofuturism allows little black children to see themselves as little white children have for decades now: powerful, and in control.

Afrofuturism is a reminder that their struggle has been, and will continue to be, a long one. So it’s more than acceptable for them to sit back sometimes and imagine a better world, where space really is the final frontier of peace and equality.

Still from “Afronauts,” a rare instance of black prominence in sci-fi.

photo courtesy Youtube

Congratulations to the following students who have been elected to membership in

Phi Beta Kappa

America’s Oldest and Most Prestigious Academic Honor Society Founded in 1776 Sidney Loring Aldridge Kelly Theresa Cosgrove Katherine Rose Feist Hunter S. Gibbon Samuel Patrick Herbig Joshua Daniel Hinchie Daniel James Howard Kerry Leigh Hudnall Ellen Eisenhour Hunter Chauncy L. Johnson Megan Grace Jones Moujtaba Yunus Kasmani Taylor Renee Moore

Kelsey Parks Hayley E. Poindexter Jolee Grace Potts Timothy Joseph Rackers Matthew Lawrence Rechtien Glenn Ethan Rex Natalie J. Santa-Pinter Jillian Grace Schlecht Megan Claire Smith Elizabeth Eloise Soper Emma Galen Stewart Amanda L. Vestal Giselle Thalia Willis Cuauhtle

Phi Beta Kappa’s initiation ceremony will take place on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sharp Chapel.

Commentary

The Collegian: 14

Zika should be taken seriously as a threat

The fear surrounding the Zika virus is not unwarranted, given its potential effects on people’s lives.

Nathan Gibbons

Student Writer

In 2014, the spread of the Ebola virus became a leading headline. Horrifying pictures of corpses and the living lying in bodily fluids covering hospital floors circulated the news networks, and the number of related deaths just kept climbing. West Africa was overwhelmed by the disease, and a lack of proper medical services left many to fate. Some feared Ebola would make its way past American safeguards, and that a similar epidemic would occur here. However, the United States almost completely avoided the virus, and Ebola slowed to a halt on headline news.

The Zika virus has become the next household name. Though it does not kill its host, pregnancies by infected parents have largely resulted in a condition called microcephaly, in which the babies are born with abnormally small heads and a large chance of brain damage. The hosts’ symptoms, which involve headaches, joint pain and vomiting are mild and not terribly discernible from lesser viruses.

The Zika virus is carried by mosquitoes and is sexually transmittable. Pregnant women are advised to completely avoid Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela and surrounding territories. In affected territories, women have been advised to delay any plans for pregnancy until a solution is found.

If carriers aren’t at risk unless they’re plan-

ning a pregnancy, can the Zika virus truly be ranked among the list of virus scares?

Whether or not a virus is ‘scary’ in the first place greatly depends on what moves you. I remember many shaking their head at any mention of Ebola. They’d explain that it would never make it to the States and that people were worrying too much. Although the possibility of a United States outbreak was largely debated, the idea that a virus wouldn’t bother someone unless they specifically were afflicted by it was disheartening. You’d hope the purpose of the news was to spread awareness of the disease and to promote aid. Only a cynic could look at the tragic images from West Africa and interpret them as “warning, this could be your town next!”

What’s important to remember about classifying a ‘doomsday’ virus is that doomsday scenarios are different for everyone. When a son loses their parents to Ebola, or a lover loses their partner to AIDS, that’s their endof-world moment. When a mother is told their child will grow up with microcephaly, and not healthy like they had always wanted and dreamed of, it doesn’t necessarily matter to them whether or not the disease will affect anyone else.

One could argue that the virus only keeps people from having children and that it’s not truly worthy of a scare. However, Zika negates many people’s freedoms to have children, in the same way AIDS denied many their freedoms. Though it may not wipe out the planet, any virus that forces someone to be cautious and greatly limits their choices should be considered “life threatening.”

Although these mosquitoes live on both sides of the border, a difference of nations’ lifestyles leaves the United States much less vulnerable than Mexico. Thanks to air conditioning and screens, there is little chance that mosquitoes will infect many north of the border. That is comforting, but shouldn’t be the end of the States’ interests in stopping the epidemic elsewhere.

Oklahoma State Capitol Building, where legislators are debating Oklahoma’s future.

courtesy Wiki Commons

HB 2797 shows Okla.’s priorities

Due to the budget shortfall of 2017, anti-abortion bill HB 2797 may be stopped. This could be both good and bad for pro-choice activists.

Michaela Flonard

Student Writer

For pro-choice supporters, the current state budget crisis has somewhat of a silver lining. Due to worries over school funding, HB 2797, or the “Humanity of the Unborn Child Act,” may not get passed. The possible failure of this bill further highlights the misguided priorities of Oklahoma legislature, and the ultimately self-defeating nature of Oklahoma politics.

HB 2797 begins by declaring the public policy of the state to “make a value judgment favoring childbirth over abortion and to implement that judgment by the allocation of public funds.” With this in mind, the act would create a fund for the State Board of Education to use in the creation of a program to educate citizens about the “humanity of a child in utero.”

Abortions in Oklahoma are already occurring at a rate of 6.9 abortions for every 1000 women from 15-44 because of several other restrictive laws. The teen birth rate is second highest in the nation, at 38.5 per 1000 girls 15-19.

Ninth through twelfth graders would experience a program that would describe the “probable anatomical and physiological

characteristics” of a fetus at regular intervals. All materials “shall clearly and consistently teach that abortion kills a living human being and is against public policy,” according to this policy, with the goal of creating an abortion-free society. Entertainment figures and community leaders, among others, would be educated and expected to promote this. No part of the fund could be used to teach about human sexuality.

However, the bill has only passed the House, and has not made it into the Senate. The issue is cost. According to the state Department of Education, implementing the bill would cost about $4.78 million, with $160,000 to develop the program and $10,000 per high school. Currently, Oklahoma spends about $8,767 per pupil, and with drastic cuts from the $1.3 billion shortfall of the fiscal year 2017, the bill is being questioned by legislative members. Senate GOP sponsor AJ Griffin said changes are being considered that would “alleviate any fiscal impacts to our school district.”

The focus on this bill, when Oklahoma City schools just announced over 200 teacher layoffs, shows the priorities that led Oklahoma to the brink. Instead of arguing over how to raise money, legislators are arguing over how lower the cost of an antiabortion bill.

Lowering taxes, a movement spearheaded by the same conservatives that supported this bill, has led to an inability to fund the programs that align with their views. Instead legislators are attempting to fix the revenue issue now, while still spending time on bills such as these, which enforce a social agenda Oklahoma simply does not have the money for. So while the possible defeat of this bill might hearten pro-choice supporters, it might be frightening that politicians choose to still argue over this issue while the state’s education system is getting cut millions of dollars in next year’s budget.

28 March 2016

GMO-aversion is unjustified CDC map of Zika distribution as of January 15.

As the Zika virus spreads, GMOs become once again the topic of debate and public misconception.

Trenton Gibbons

Student Writer

The Zika virus, having become the most recent mosquito-borne illness to ravage the third world, is inspiring fear due to its potential link to birth defects. It has since likewise arisen as a hot topic for speculative articles running their rounds through social media websites, sensationalist news and crackpot health advocates. From these come a wealth of outrageous claims concerning the disease, one such being the claim that the source of this outbreak can be traced to genetically-modified mosquitoes in Brazil.

This statement itself may originate from the ‘Conspiracy’ subreddit, only gaining momentum after the website Health Nut News published an article in agreement.

Upon further investigation, the statement is largely unproven, preying on people’s habitual fears rather than providing any real sound evidence of causation. The genetically modified mosquitoes, whose first large scale farm in Brazil was established in 2012, were actually intended to help diminish the incidence of dengue fever. This was achieved by significantly lowering the mosquitoes’ chances of being a vector to the disease. In July of 2015, after the mosquitoes were released into the wild, a representative from Oxitec, who headed the program, celebrated them as a success. Through the genetically modified mosquitoes, Oxitec had “successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika virus, by reducing the target

䨀漀猀椀愀栀 䴀漀猀攀爀

courtesy Wiki Commons

population by more than 90%.” The World Health Organization has not challenged this information, meaning i is more than likely that the mosquitoes have in fact deterred the spread of the disease so many people fear it helped to propagate.

So how do we explain people’s aversion to these insects, and genetically modified organisms in general? Jayson Lusk, an agricultural economist at OSU, has made GMOs and the paranoia surrounding them his topic of expertise for decades. Firstly, mankind is genetically wired to be wary of anything we perceive as unnatural. On our most primal level as a species, we possess the instinctual fear of unknown or foreign things, especially for the purpose of consumption. To test this, he and a few like-minded associates applied to apples labels reading, “This apple is ripened using ethylene.” This is a standard, safe practice, and yet these apples were largely avoided. In this case, customers aren’t differentiating between goods; they’re just evading whatever’s unfamiliar to them.

The benefits of GMOs are significant and irrefutable. Biotechnology is capable of lessening the environmental damage we wreak on the planet, allowing farmers to use less land, water, and fewer pesticides.

Between 1996 and 2011 this led to a 9% decrease in pesticide usage globally. This increased efficiency also means means that GMOs are often sold at lower prices, essentially making food more affordable. GMOs are currently being used to help fight hunger both domestically and abroad, reportedly benefitting over 300 million Americans and a global population of 7 billion.

Like the ‘debate’ over climate change, there exists no actual debate within the scientific community. While 60 percent of the American population is likely to avoid products labeled as containing GMOs, the FDA and the WHO have certified GMOs as being perfectly safe for human consumption.

The public needs to be informed on GMOs, especially when, like vaccinations, public aversion to it can lead to a greater risk of disease and illness in large populations, as is the case in Brazil.

Sports

The Collegian: 15

Tulsa eliminates men’s golf program 28 March 2016

On Thursday morning the University of Tulsa announced that due to budget reductions they would be eliminating the men’s golf program, effective July 1, which will affect six current student athletes involved in the program.

Mason Morgan Sports Writer

The University of Tulsa announced on Thursday that as of July 1, 2016, there would no longer be a men’s golf program.

The school is still honoring scholarships to the six student athletes affected for the remainder of their years of study should they choose to remain at TU. Those athletes affected include: Preston Crawford, Sam Humphreys, Marc Kepka, Jack Knoesel, Matthew Marquez and Francisco Yanez.

“During budget reduction times, obviously, the athletic department is not held harmless. It must reduce its budget, along with the other units on campus, so that’s what we were asked to do.”

University Athletic Director Derrick Gragg said along with the quote above that his department, like every other department

at the school, has to evaluate all aspects of the program. It was clearly a monetary issue and nothing personal, but has still left current and former TU golfers upset. Only six current students are affected, but generations of golf alumni will miss the opportunity to support their program in the future.

Tour Pro and TU golf alum Michael Boyd said, “It’s sad for Coach Brogden and for the current players. It’s a disrespect to his legacy and to the former players. I feel disrespected. They just opened a new lettermen’s lounge with my picture on the wall in a TU uniform. That would need to come down.

been distributed among all the different athletic programs? The answer seems to be yes, especially after multimillion-dollar renovations to both the football and basketball facilities in recent years.

There appear to be other reasons for this move as well, a main one being the retirement of head coach Bill Brogden after 30 years with the program. Brogden had already announced his intention to retire before this decision was made.

The move is surprising in many ways, largely because Tulsa (and Oklahoma in general) is a hot bed for golfing. Both OSU

“It was clearly a monetary issue and nothing personal, but still left current and former TU golfers upset.”

We don’t have a program.”

Golf Oklahoma’s Ken MacLeod reports that Gragg had to cut around $500,000 yearly and eventually decided on the men’s golf program. The funding for this program annually is split between operating costs ($280,000) and scholarships ($230,000).

The team is allotted 4.5 scholarships per year, which are split amongst the six golfers on the team. This means that all of the team members still contribute to the university on some level. Could this budget cut have

and OU have top tier golf programs with elite facilities, Oklahoma State is one of the founding promoters for Ping Golf Clubs, and Tulsa is the home to at least one professional golf course in Southern Hills and even two if you count the Patriot, which hosts professionals every year for a charity event.

It’s true that basketball and football are king at every university, as they bring in the most revenue. Where the program misses a profitable opportunity is with their inability

you get from television rights been something that could have saved the program or money from donors or something of that nature?

DG: Well now, is because this is the time that the budget cycles runs so the decision was to be made at this time.

MQ: Is the budget cycle tied into the economy in general? When you say that you have reductions is this because of oil and gas or what’s causing the budget shortage?

DG: Well, I can’t be very specific about that, I just know that as far as our institution the amount we were asked to cut back was $500,000.

MQ: Could you be little specific about if it tied into the cost of attendance going forward?

DG: Oh no, it’s not tied into that.

MQ: Were other sports considered for this?

DG: When you have a situation like this you look at everything, so we looked at the entire department and had some discussions, and fortunately if there’s any positive out of this is that some other schools, in particular at least one in our conference had to make multiple sport cuts, I think up to seven, and so when you make a decision like this you want to minimize the damage, and from a personal standpoint you can’t minimize it when you look at who you’re affecting directly, but I’m just glad we didn’t have to have additional cuts.

MQ: Many members or former members of the golf team seem surprised by this move, were there other avenues taken to try and save the program from the private sector or something of that nature?

DG: I’ll answer for people asking how much it would cost to endow the program like, and if you add in future costs you’re looking at six to seven million dollars and so that wasn’t an avenue that we discussed at great length.

MQ: Can you give us a ballpark of how much money it will save you per year?

DG: It’s about a $520,000 program, about $280,000 in operating costs, $232,000 in scholarship costs.

MQ: What has been the immediate reaction from TU alumni about the move that’s just been made?

DG: Well that’s to be expected, there’s a lot of concern about it, from former TU athletes especially, and me being a former student athlete, if it was my program I would feel the same way. Obviously everybody’s concerned and wants answers and to know what went into a decision like this and I understand that fully.

MQ: You said that is the first time you’ve ever been through a cut like this, do you feel like maybe this could be for the conference going forward in the future, where you might see more cuts like this, or this is just a unique situation?

DG: I can’t speak for everybody, I just think when you’re dealing with difficult economic times you have to look at everything in particular again if you are in an athletic department that isn’t fully funded or doesn’t fund itself, then you have to be prepared for things like this, but again, this is the last thing that ever want to do. You never want to affect the student athletes directly with a sport elimination.

MQ: Were other sports asked to reduce their budgets and trim back?

DG: We’re trimming back in some other areas.

MQ: How do you think this reflects on the TU athletic department overall when you make a cut like this?

DG: Well again, I think looking at it overall we’ve had one of the best years we’ve ever had this year. We’ve never been to a bowl game and the NCAA Men’s Tournament in the same year and we’ve won several championships already. We’ve had a good two-year entrance into the American Athletic Conference as far as our competition. So I think we’re strong overall, but obviously this is a negative. But it’s not something that

to host their own events. With some of the best courses in the country already mentioned, and OU and OSU hosting almost yearly events of their own, you would think that the program’s fairly new facilities at the Patriot in Owasso could contribute to some revenue for the program with a tournament of their own.

Perhaps the most verbally upset person was one of the six TU golfers affected, Francisco Yanez, a sophomore from Chile.

Yanez submitted a letter to multiple media outlets, including the Collegian, that criticized the decision making process by the athletic department.

“This administration loses credibility by taking the easiest way out of the problem without looking for alternatives. Great institutions defend their values, fight for their students’ dreams, and fulfill their commitments to become even greater in the future.”

Yanez goes on to explain the suddenness of the decision. He said Coach Brogden was only informed shortly before the announcement was made and no one else throughout the program was given an opportunity to find a solution before the decision was made.

Gragg was hopeful that the program could be revived in the future, but based on the current status of the TU baseball team, that promise could be hard to believe.

AD Gragg talks about golf decision, says they needed to make $500,000 dollar budget cut

After the announcement that the University was cutting the men’s golf program effective July 1, Athletic Director Derrick Gragg held a press conference with members of the media. Here is a transcript of that press conference.

Derrick Gragg: Obviously a very difficult thing today, I’ve been an athletic director for, this is my tenth year, and I’ve never had to go through a sport cut elimination. So dealing with the students athletes and, obviously we want to thank Coach Brogden—over thirty years of service to the institution—what he’s done for this program and university, and the student athletes in particular, there’s six of them that have been directly affected, are a main concern of mine. So we want to make sure they are given the opportunity to stay here if they wish to finish their education, and help facilitate their transfer to another institution. NCAA rules allow when a sport is eliminated that student athletes can transfer and be immediately eligible at another institution. As far as the reduction, for an athletic department, in particular in a situation where you aren’t completely funded by yourself and you rely on university subsidy, during budget reduction times the athletic department is not held harmless, it must reduce its budget along with the other units on campus, and that’s what we were asked to do.

Media Question: What other avenues were taken to try to save the program as opposed to just cutting it?

DG: Well, obviously you don’t make these types of decisions in a vacuum, so we looked at a lot of different things and there were a lot of different discussions, and on different levels, and so our full reduction is about half a million dollars.

MQ: Why now and why couldn’t that have been something that conference money

can’t be overcome.

MQ: Was this something that you decided, or was it something that the administration decided, Dr. Upham, how did this all culminate.

DG: Right, on several levels you have these discussions, between myself, the president, the president’s cabinet, and the executive committee of the board, who were all involved in the decision making process.

MQ: You mentioned the success of the revenue sports, how much did that success have an impact on some of the non-revenue ones and having to make this decision.

DG: There’s no direct correlation.

MQ: Do you know the last sport to be dropped here, if there was one.

DG: I’m not sure, but I hear about baseball a lot. So again I’ve been in athletics for 23 years and I haven’t had to deal with this in any of the five other institutions that I’ve worked at, but I’ve relied heavily on people who’ve gone through this.

MQ: Did coach Brogden make any last minute pleas to try and save it?

DG: I don’t want to talk about the discussions that Coach Brogden and I had.

MQ: What school announced that they were cutting seven?

DG: DT do you know which ones?

Don Tomkalski: Maryland, Temple, Robert Morris in the last five years, Temple was reduced by five.

MQ: As an athletic administrator, does this scare you to a certain degree about the direction that you’ve had to take here?

DG: Well, you just have to be prepared for any and all circumstances. I wouldn’t say that I’m scared, I don’t anticipate an future sport cuts.

MQ: Do you anticipate this being reevaluated if someone stepped up and would like to fund this program, or if the economic circumstances change?

DG: Absolutely, I would love to reevaluate the situation at the appropriate time.

March 28 – April 3 Monday

Tuesday

Men’s Golf @ UALR First Tee Classic

Men’s Golf @ UALR First Tee Classic Women’s Tennis @ Oklahoma State 5:00 p.m.

Wednesday

Softball @ Wichita State 6:00 p.m.

Thursday

No Events

Friday

Saturday

Softball vs. East Carolina 5:00 p.m.

Football Spring Game 11:00 a.m.

Women’s Men’s Tennis Tennis vs. Oklahoma vs. Tulane State 12:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

Softball Women’s Golf vs. East Carolina @ Ole Miss 2:00 p.m.

Rebel

Sunday Softball vs. East Carolina 12:00 p.m.

Men’s Tennis @ Tulane 12:00 p.m.

Women’s Golf @ Ole Miss Intercollegiate Rebel Women’s Golf Intercollegiate Outdoor Track @ Ole Miss @ Stanford Rebel Invitational Intercollegiate

The Collegian: 16

Sports

28 March 2016

Men’s season ends in NCAA tournament I got to travel to March Madness for the first time in my life and had a blast watching the Golden Hurricane compete on the national stage. Here’s a summary of my two-day experience into the heart of Ohio to watch the “Big Dance.”

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

After a tough loss to Memphis in their opening game of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, where they lost by 22 points, most people counted the Golden Hurricane out as far as making March Madness; in fact, as much as it pains me to say, I was one of those people. However, on selection Sunday, the committee surprised almost everybody when they selected Tulsa as the final of 68 teams to play in the tournament, one of the four eleven-seeds playing in the “First Four” games against Michigan, a team that the Golden Hurricane had never faced before.

The initial reaction from the media was that there was no reason that the Golden Hurricane should even be in the tournament.

Most people were saying that the mere presence of the Tulsa in the tournament was stealing a spot from better qualified teams, or better “Cinderella” teams like Monmouth for example.

When he was asked, the chairman of the committee, Joe Castiglione, the Athletic Director at the University of Oklahoma, said in an interview on ESPN that Tulsa was selected over the other bubble teams like Monmouth and Saint Mary’s because of their three top-50 RPI wins and the lack of big losses that the other two had, such as Monmouth’s three losses to teams under 200 RPI. The last time Tulsa was in the tournament, in San Diego all the way back in 2014, I was not able to see them in person because I had neither the means (I was only a freshman at the time and could not in any way afford a flight to California), nor was I working for the Collegian at the time. This time, since I was only a six hour drive away from Dayton — I was in home in St. Louis — I knew that there was no way that I could miss the tournament.

On Wednesday morning, I hopped in the back seat of my close friend’s mom’s car — we are still college kids after all — and we road tripped up to Dayton getting in just in time for the early game, about three hours before TU’s late game. After waiting in traffic for what seemed like an hour, but realistically was only fifteen minutes, we made it

to the stadium to pick up tickets/press pass, and then the hotel. I arrived for the Holy Cross vs. Southern game to scope out where to go, and got to see some extra basketball while I was at it.

While the first game was between two teams fighting for a sixteen-seed and the right to play Oregon, at least it was a competitive game to watch. The whole atmosphere at these kinds of games is just so exciting, everyone is just pumped to be watching basketball, and not everyone even has a horse in the race. There were people wearing apparel from colleges around the country who just wanted to be a part of the madness that the NCAA Tournament has to offer.

Once it was close to game time for Tulsa, I meandered to the floor to find my seat and settled in to watch the game. One of the hardest things about sitting with and being a part of the press is that you aren’t really supposed to visibly react or cheer during the game. That’s easy for people who are just reporters, but since I’m doubling as a diehard Golden Hurricane fan, let me tell you that it is not easy to not get excited when Rashad Ray passes the ball to Shaquille Harrison who slams it home.

Anyway, I had a great time watching Tulsa play even though parts were frustrating.

We started the first half strong, stumbled a bit going into the half which had me a little worried, but came sprinting back after the break to take the game to the final minute before Michigan squeaked out the win by five points.

I’m convinced that even with the loss, Tulsa proved that they still belonged in the tournament. People were predicting the Golden Hurricane to get blown out by the Wolverines, and instead they just about stole the game.

Making the tournament was the best way for the nine seniors to finish their careers at Tulsa, and I would encourage anyone reading, if you are really passionate about Golden Hurricane basketball — and you should be — to make sure that you make a trip to watch them play in the tournament down the road, the experience is truly incredible and you just feel like a big part in the college basketball world. I know that I’ll be there.

After a tough loss to the Memphis Tigers in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament, the Golden Hurricane still earned an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. This was the second trip to the tournament for the seniors, where they fell to Michigan.

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer

The Golden Hurricane men’s basketball team’s season came to an end after their play in the American Athletic Conference tournament and the First Four of the NCAA tournament.

In the AAC tournament quarterfinal round, Tulsa faced a Memphis team that had bested them in Memphis just a few weeks prior. The Golden Hurricane had earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament, while Memphis was the No. 6 seed.

Tulsa came out strong in the first five minutes, and pulled out to a small lead. The Tigers rallied quickly, though, and had tied the game just a few minutes later. Tulsa couldn’t retake the lead, and the Tigers didn’t look back from there. Memphis started to assert their dominance in the paint in the final eight minutes of the half. From there, they took a one point lead, and extended it to a 46–32 advantage at the halftime break.

As the second half began, Memphis picked up where they left off. WIth some hot shooting, they continued to increase their lead. At its largest point, the Tigers lead was an insurmountable 31 points with six minutes remaining in the game.

The Golden Hurricane’s main difficulties in the game came on the defensive end, as Memphis scored over 40 points in each half on their way to a 89–67 victory. Memphis would go on to be defeated by UConn in the AAC tournament championship game.

After their loss in the AAC tournament, Tulsa was left to wait to hear their postseason fate on Selection Sunday. Many analysts predicted them to be close to making the NCAA tournament field, but not in.

During the selection show, though, Tulsa was announced to have made the field, a decision which ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi called “indefensible by every known standard”. Poor Joe has been wrong about many things in this year’s tournament, though.

Tulsa was scheduled to play Michigan in the First Four round in Dayton.

The game turned out to be a struggle for both teams offensively. Michigan was able to stifle Tulsa’s offense in the first half, as the Golden Hurricane scored a mere 20 points before the break, their lowest first half total of the season. Michigan held a 28–20 lead at halftime.

Tulsa came out strong in the second half, opening with a 12–4 run to knot the score at 40. From that point on, neither team could pull away. Shaquille Harrison’s athletic plays kept the Golden Hurricane in the game when Michigan started to gain momentum, but the Wolverines had clutch shots of their own when Tulsa started to get on a roll. Ultimately, Zach Irvin hit a three-pointer for Michigan with a minute remaining, giving them a one point lead. Tulsa only made one basket in the final minute, and the Wolverines shot their free throws well to close out the game.

In their second trip to the NCAA tournament in three years and the final game for the nine seniors on the Golden Hurricane roster, they fell to Michigan 67–62.

Michigan Head Coach John Beilein praised Tulsa’s seniors after the game saying, “First of all, we watched in two days a ton of Tulsa film. We have so much respect for that team. Those seniors on that team, they deserve to be in the NCAA tournament.

They proved it today. They’re really a difficult matchup for us. They drove me crazy with trying to figure out how to guard their quickness, how to guard those three lefthanded guards at one time, and they were terrific today.”

A few Golden Hurricane players received honors for their play this season. Harrison and James Woodard were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches District 25 First Team. Harrison was also invited to participate in the College Slam Dunk competition.

“Those seniors on that team deserve to be in the NCAA tournament.”

Halfway through season, softball is MLB plays still blowing through competition exhibition

The Tulsa softball team has been on a roll in the last few weeks, compiling a 8–2 record in the past three weeks of play.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

In the past three weeks since our last issue, the softball team has continued their successful season, playing ten games against seven teams and winning eight of them.

That put their overall record at 23–6 with just under half of the season left to play.

At the start of Spring Break the team travelled to Stanford to compete in the Louisville Slugger Classic against Florida State and Stanford. Their scheduled match against Cal Poly was cancelled due to inclement weather.

The 0–8 loss against Florida State, who are ranked No. 11 in the country, was the first of their two losses in the ten-game stretch and only the second time this season that the Golden Hurricane have been held scoreless—the other time a 0–1 loss to Florida Atlantic University. The Seminoles starter, Meghan King who was 18—3 at the time, pitched a perfect game against TU as the Golden Hurricane could do nothing on offense.

They bounced back from their worst loss of the season with one of their most dominant wins of the season, an 11–0 thrashing of host Stanford. Catcher Catherine Horner and left-fielder Maddie Withee each knocked in three runs and Caitlin Sill tossed a two-hit shutout in six innings of work. The win was Sill’s 8th of the season.

Later on during Spring Break the Tulsa hosted the No. 17 ranked Minnesota Gophers and then traveled to Arkansas to take on the Razorbacks the following day.

The game against Minnesota was just the fifth home game for the Golden Hurricane.

According to Head Coach John Bargfeldt this was a game of big plays.

“We gave up a couple of big plays, and we made a couple of big plays ourselves.

I think that making the big plays is what kept us in the ball game, and it ultimately allowed to get to a point where we could come out with the victory,” Bargfeldt said

after the win over the Big-10 team.

Horner and shortstop Shelby Estocado led the way for Tulsa putting up two RBIs apiece, Estocado’s a two-run homerun, her sixth of the season.

Sill pitched in her second straight game and once again went the distance, as Tulsa finished off the game with a strong defensive inning in the top of the 7th, to get her ninth win of the season, a 6–4 win for the Golden Hurricane.

The game against Arkansas started off as a pitching duel between Razorback pitcher Grace Moll and Emily Watson. There were only two hits between the teams in the first two innings before the Golden Hurricane took advantage of two errors in the top of the third to take a 2–0 lead. Arkansas came back to take a 3–2 lead in the fifth, but TU scored a run in the sixth and seventh inning to take a 4–3 win on the road.

The next trip for the Golden Hurricane was a trip to Kansas to compete in the Rock Chalk Challenge against Minnesota, University of Missouri-Kansas City and St. Louis.

In their rematch with the Gophers, the Golden Hurricane left no doubt they were the better team, winning 10–1 before shutting out UMKC later in the day 10–0. Watson struck out eight in the win against Minnesota, which was more than half the outs in the run-rule, five inning victory for Tulsa.

Sill pitched another shut-out, striking out seven, and only allowing three hits in the late game against UMKC. That game also ended after only five innings.

Bargfeldt talked about the games and the conditions after the wins. He said “We played well in very tough, cold conditions.

I was very proud of the way they came out and took on the conditions and the teams that we played, and really excelled in all phases of the game. Our pitcher really didn’t get into a whole lot of trouble. It was a combination of missing bats and giving up very few hits. The thing that doesn’t get lost, is in very cold weather, we didn’t walk very many.”

Tulsa finished off that weekend with another strong performance, a 9–2 victory over St. Louis University. Bargfeldt talked about not letting what happened in Texas, when they lost the last game of the tourna-

ment after winning the first three, happen this time.

“One of the things that we talked about was not letting what happened to us at Texas, when after some big wins during the week, it ended on a sour note. I felt like this could be a trap game, and our players responded really well. Getting that first run in the second inning and scoring early was important. The first couple of innings we hit a lot of balls right at people, so we needed to generate baserunners, and we were able to knock them in. We played in pretty tough conditions, so I’m proud of them for being able to go out and handle the cold.”

Finally TU opened up American Athletic Conference play this past weekend when they traveled to Houston to take on the Cougars. The Golden Hurricane continued their dominant stretch with an 11–2 win in the conference opener. Harner led the way going 4-for-4 with three RBIs. After jumping out to a five-run lead in the second inning, Tulsa got their foot on the gas, adding six more runs over the final four innings to put it out of reach for Houston.

“We had some good pitching and some good offense tonight. Houston has the ability to be very tough at home, with our past experience. Scoring those runs early maybe helps take the pressure off a little bit,” Bargfeldt said after the big opening win.

The second game of the series was a battle of defense, as Houston scored two early runs in the second inning and held on to win the game 2–1. Watson had a complete game for the Golden Hurricane, giving up only two runs, but the offense couldn’t muster more than one run to help her.

Bargfeldt after the game said, “We made several little mistakes that in a tight ball game just proved to be the difference in the game. We we started hitting the ball on the ground, we started getting base hits or errors. We just took too long to make adjustments to the type of pitcher that she was.”

Tulsa took the series finale 8–3, with Sill picking up the win after pitching four innings. With the series win, the Golden Hurricane sit at 23–6 on the season, and are receiving votes in multiple polls. They will finish up the road trip with a game against Wichita State on Wednesday before hosting the East Carolina Pirates next weekend.

in Cuba

Wade Crawford Sports Writer

Ever since the United States and Cuba began to improve relations with one another, the concept of baseball in the formerly closed-off nation was brought up.

On Tuesday, that concept became reality, as the Tampa Bay Rays traveled to Havana to play the Cuban national team.

Before talks began between the two nations, the only Cuban exposure to American baseball was the defection of players.

When the Cuban national team went overseas, players sometimes defected from the team, and set residency in the foreign nation so they could become a MLB free agent. Superstars such as Jose Fernandez and Yasiel Puig both defected, as well as many other solid MLB players.

The exhibition drew a record crowd to “Estadio Latinoamericano.” Among those in attendance were Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, Derek Jeter, Dave Winfield, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, Secretary of State John Kerry, and several other Cuban officials.

As for the game itself, the Rays earned a 4–1 victory behind solid performances

by Matt Moore and James Loney. Loney hit a three-run home run, while Moore had shut out the national team until a home run by Rudy Reyes in the ninth inning.

However, the game was little about the final score, and more about the repairing of relations that have been sour for over 50 years. After the game, both teams swapped jerseys, and the Rays Twitter account noted that “Everybody won today.”

“We won’t experience anything like this again,” said Kevin Cash, the Rays manager. “A lot, this game meant a lot, because of the brotherhood there will be from now on,” said Reyes.

There is still a lot of work to be done between the United States and Cuba.

Decades of hostile feelings are just now being repaired. The exhibition game in Havana on Tuesday represented a big step in the restoration of relations between the two nations.

Sports

March Madness First Four

28 March 2016

The Collegian: 17

courtesy University of Tulsa - Athletic Department

Left: Shaquille Harrison dunks in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines in their NCAA tournament game on March 16. Shaq led the Golden Hurricane with 23 points for the game. Right: Brandon Swannegan blocks a Michigan shot in the first half, one of three in the game.

ďƒ&#x;Learn more

courtesy University of Tulsa - Athletc Department

Left: The team huddles during a timeout. For most of the players in the photo this was the final game of their career at Tulsa. Right: Rashad Smith tosses the ball to the hoop mid-way through the second half. Swannegan and Smith were tied for second in scoring for the Golden Hurricane with nine points apiece.

A Clinical Experience Like No Other The on-campus Lobeck Taylor Family Advocacy Clinic offers student attorneys unparalleled community-driven experiential learning opportunities.

Every incoming first-year JD student who holds an undergraduate degree from The University of Tulsa receives an automatic renewable $18,000 scholarship to TU Law. Additional merit-based scholarships are available for students who qualify.

Learn more and apply for an application fee waiver at law.utulsa.edu/ales.

3L Cybil Rajan, 2L Bethany Jackson, and 3L Joe Lang, under the direction of Professor Anna Carpenter (standing), Director of the Family Advocacy Clinic, complete a semester project report, A Roadmap for Reform: Addressing the Oklahoma Access to Justice Problems Through a Continuum of Interventions, for their client, the Oklahoma Access to Justice Commission. See the report at law.utulsa.edu/fac.

TU is an EEO/AA institution.

The State-Run Media

28 March 2016

the

State-Run media One man, one lord, one faith, one baptism. Two nunchucks.

Spring Breakers murdered in horror cabin

Over spring break, a group of TU students were killed while staying at an allegedly haunted cabin. We know; we’re sick of this trope, too.

Sam Chott Final girl

In an event that is honestly not even that shocking or newsworthy anymore, a group of TU students who were camping in a deserted cabin over spring break were found dead, again.

The cabin, located several hours west of TU, has been the site of several grisly murders over the past few years. All of the victims have been TU students, who often dare each other to spend several nights there because of the rumors of the cabin’s haunting.

Lena Rollins, a history professor at TU, offered to elaborate. “The locals often talk about an oil prospector who was killed there in the 1920s,” she said. “They say that his ghost stalks the cabin and surrounding woods, looking for revenge. Which,” she added, “is honestly so trite I have a hard time believing it.”

“We’ve investigated, and as far as we can tell, there’s very little evidence to suggest that this story is true,” she told us. “At least, there’s much less proof than there is for the recent murders.”

The massacres haven’t put students off of visiting the cabin.

Recent posts on Yik Yak indicate that several seniors are planning to visit the cabin immediately after graduation. “Gonna see if the oil man is real,” reads the post. “What a crazy legend from so long ago.”

The univerity staff is stumped.

The unfortunate toll that comes with staying in an abandoned cabin.

We sat down with Kris Mueller, who heads the newly formed Department of Stopping Students from Dying at That Cabin. “I can’t get students to stop visiting that cabin,” said a visibly flustered Mueller. “We’ve tried a social marketing campaign to convince students that the oil man isn’t cool, but so far we haven’t seen results.”

The university has tried thinking outside the box. “We’ve tried to hire someone to exorcise the ghost,” he said, “but apparently the ghostbusting community is so divided by the upcoming reboot that they don’t have much

time for anything but arguing on ghostbusting forums.”

As we left, he encouraged us to tweet with #JustSayNoToGhosts.

As most of the attacks are suspected to take place at night, State-Run writers visited the cabin in the daytime, where we asked locals if there were any experts on the cabin’s history. They directed us to an older man known as “Knife-Hand Man,” though he asked us to call him Edwin.

“I don’t know anything about any kids,” he said, while sharpening the knives that he used as prosthetics. “I’ve lived

graphic by Caitlin Woods

near here ever since the terrible accident that took my hands, and I’ve never heard a peep out of that old cabin.”

“You looking to stay there?” He asked us, gesturing excitedly with his knife hands. “Tell your friends about it, it’s a great abandoned cabin to sleep in.” He hesitated, then added, “Don’t bring anybody who’s like, really strong, or boxes, or carries a gun or something.

They wouldn’t like it.”

This conversation with Edwin raised some pretty big flags for the writers, and we made sure to take a convoluted drive back to TU to

make sure he didn’t follow us, with 911 pulled up on our phones the whole time just to be extra safe.

With no leads, the police have closed their investigation, while university officials have labelled it a “terrible tragedy,” though honestly not surprising given that a man nicknamed “Knife-Hand Man” apparently lurks around the cabin, saying that they have a “robust policy” to prevent similar murders in the future.

Springfest theme revealed at six-year-old’s birthday party

Will Super Springfest bring joy to a local Tulsa child?

Or will a new theme bring new troubles? Find out in this week’s issue of StateRun Media!

James Whisenhunt Perpetually awkward sidekick

Last Monday, the theme for Student Association’s Springfest was revealed. There was a typical reveal party with free food and a teaser video for the week’s events and concert.

However, there was one important aspect that SA overlooked.

The entire reveal party for SA’s hero-packed “Super Springfest” was held at a 6-year-old’s birthday party.

Local child Alexis Lehen had reserved the Student Union’s Great Hall for her Marvel-themed birthday party weeks before SA had looked at the venue. SA’s Springfest Committee, with no other place to go and feeling awkward about the whole affair, changed to their superhero theme last-minute to avoid conflict with the child.

At the reveal party, there were Avengers centerpieces on red and blue tables, streamers and balloons on the doors, and a general air of childlike simplicity about the event.

Lehen was ecstatic to welcome TU students to her party, telling the crowd before the Springfest events video that “everyone will

Alexis Lehen’s birthday party was the talk of her class after SA announced the theme for Springfest.

really like it and we’re all gonna have a lot of fun!”

Lehen was seen running around the venue in her Black Widow costume helping students decide what type of burrito they should eat.

She was also seen fighting against members of SA, who all dressed up as comic book villains to appease Lehen’s bloodlust.

Some members of SA’s Springfest Committee were happy with the unexpected change. Commit-

tee chair Andrea Akats mentions that the process “was a bit hectic up until today, but it definitely feels worth it to make Alexis’ birthday SUPER memorable.”

Akats even asked for Lehen’s input on renaming the alreadyplanned events, such as renaming the traditional piano drop “Hulk Smash” and renaming concert headliner Misterwives “Wonder Woman and the Batmans.”

Other committee members

were not happy to accommodate Lehen’s party. Willian Inis expressed dissatisfaction with the changes, feeling that they “undermine all the hard work that we adults have put into these events.”

Inis, a tall, thin business major with a shaved head, was seen angstily throwing away trash and drawing medieval torture devices on tablecloths after the event. Other committee members refused to comment on Inis’ behavior, only

photo courtesy Wiki Commons

mentioning his powerful father and hinting at his presumably tragic backstory.

Lehen has been invited to all Springfest events this week as a special guest. She was thrilled by the news, saying she was “most excited to see people fly around on the zipline and meet Batman,” the bassist of Wonder Woman and the Batmans.