24 October 2016

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

october 24, 2016 issue 9 ~ volume 102

TU wins homecoming game against Tulane, p 3

Student Association passes bills for apparel and bystander intervention, p 7

Students at homecoming events, p 10-11

Photos by Dalton Stewart

The Collegian: 2

Sports

24 October 2016

Golden Hurricane surge over Green Wave

photos by Dalton Stewart

Photos clockwise from top: James Flanders runs down the field followed by Tulane’s defense. Flanders ran for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Quarterback Dane Evans throws the ball into the end zone during the first quarter of Tulsa’s win over Tulane in Saturday’s Homecoming game. The defensive line gets ready to put on the pressure during Tulsa’s rout of Tulane. Flanders celebrates a touchdown with the rest of the offense. Reggie Robinson II blocks a field goal at the end of the first half.

Sports

24 October 2016

The Collegian: 3

Tulsa defeats Tulane 50–27 in Homecoming game, snapping three year losing streak The Golden Hurricane hosted the Tulane Green Wave for the annual Homecoming game. With alumni, students and parents filling the seats, Tulsa ran all over the Green Wave and won 50–27.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor The Golden Hurricane bounced back from a heartbreaking loss to Houston last week with a thrashing of Tulane in the Homecoming game, snapping their three-year Homecoming losing streak (UTSA, USF and Memphis). The 50–27 win moved Tulsa to 2–1 in the American Athletic Conference and one win away from bowl contention, which didn’t happen until the final game of the regular season last year — which happened to be Tulane.

Tulsa was firing in all phases of the game, putting up 566 total yards of offense, — the second highest total this season, behind only the Fresno State game when Tulsa’s 31-point comeback led to 617 total yards of offense — blocking a field goal to end the first half and only allowing 37 yards of passing and fewer than 400 yards total on defense.

For only the second time this season the offense opened up their first drive with a touchdown — an 11-yard pass from senior quarterback Dane Evans to fellow senior wide receiver Keevan Lucas. Lucas made a spectacular catch in the back of the end zone, diving to catch the ball but still had the awareness to put his foot down before sliding out of bounds to give the Golden Hurricane the 7–0 lead.

The defense set the tone on their first chance giving up four total yards and forcing the Green Wave to punt it deep into Golden Hurricane territory. After three rushes Tulsa was forced to punt it back, and Tulane started their next drive on their own 44 yard line.

Tulane drove down the field on the strength of their running game, and, after a Tulsa offside penalty allowed them to continue their drive, scored on a 6-yard rush to tie the game 7–7.

The Golden Hurricane responded imme-

diately with a two-minute, 75-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the game.

Evans hit senior wide receiver Josh Atkinson deep for a 49-yard touchdown. Atkinson was roughly a foot taller than the corner covering him, and this was the second time in the game that Evans had taken advantage.

The teams traded punts, neither getting any offensive traction for the remainder of the first quarter. To start off the second quarter the Golden Hurricane put together a 40-yard drive that stalled just after they got across midfield. Tulane fumbled the ensuing punt on their own six yard line and sophomore special teams player Samuel Gottsch recovered the ball to give the Golden Hurricane great field position.

Two plays later, Evans found running back D’Angelo Brewer for a five-yard touchdown to push Tulsa’s lead to 14 early on in the second quarter. The offense tacked on another 10 points thanks to a field goal and a touchdown run by James Flanders to take a 31–7 lead late in the first half.

Throughout the second quarter, the defense shut down every drive that the Green Wave had, giving up zero points and only 63 yards of offense. Tulane’s best drive came at the end of the first half, but they settled for a field goal attempt which was blocked by Reggie Robinson to end the half.

teams traded field position before Tulane started to rally back with two touchdowns on their own.

After the second touchdown Tulane decided to go for two, but the pass was picked off and returned 100 yards by McKinley Whitfield, a play that very rarely happens at any level of football. This put Tulsa up 40–20 at the end of the third quarter.

Tulsa opened up the final quarter with a big drive, almost all of which was done

by Flanders. He ran for 62 of the total 72 yards in the drive, including the 30-yard touchdown run to put Tulsa up 47–20.

Tulsa tacked on another field goal to end their scoring, while Tulane ran for one more touchdown before the end of the game.

Tulsa took Evans out of the game for the final drive of the game, but current secondstring quarterback Ryan Rubley just came in to let the clock run down and end the game 50–27.

The trio of D’Angelo Brewer, Rowdy Simon and James Flanders combined for over 300 yards of rushing, the fourth time Tulsa has done that this season.

Head Coach Philip Montgomery discussed how his team responded after the loss to Houston last week.

“I’m just now looking at the sheet, but overall really proud of the way our football team played. Got a lot of questions last

“I think we’re still trying to grow and build as a team. I think we’re growing in confidence in all three phases of the game and we made plays in all three phases of the game.”

Tulane got two chances to score to start the half. After their first drive ended up going nowhere, Tulsa muffed the punt and Tulane recovered the ball just before it went out of bounds, giving them field position at Tulsa’s 17 yard line. The defense again shut them down (with a little bit of help from Tulane’s offensive penalties) and Tulane was forced to kick a field goal. This time the kick was bad and went wide right, giving Tulsa the ball back.

Flanders ran for 50 yards on the next play to set up a big run for running back Rowdy Simon who ran the ball in form 16 yards out to put the Golden Hurricane up 38–7. Both

FRESH.

FAST. TASTY.

week about how our football team was going to respond. So, really proud of the way our guys came out, especially in the first half and really played well. Proud of offensively, going down first possession right there, getting points, kinds of mixed run and a pass really well. Defense went out and shut them down. And i think that kind of set the tone for the entire first half.”

“We came out and really set the tone in the second half and we made some little mistakes in there that you just can’t do.”

He talked more specifically on the team’s ability to bounce back and dominate a team like they did during the homecoming game.

“I think it’s the tone that we set for our football team. That goes on in the course of the game, that goes on in the course of a half, what we do in our offseason program. And we have really preached over the past year about finishing.”

“Going back to last week, last week was last week. Our guys have got to be focused on the next week and we got to bring that same intensity each and every week. I thought we played with a lot of fervor last week. I think that’s just carrying over.”

Finally, he talked about going forward the rest of this season, “I think we’re still trying to grow and

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Other notes Remembering Dennis Byrd After former Golden Hurricane and New York Jets great Dennis Byrd was killed in an automobile accident last weekend in rural Oklahoma, the football program and Tulsa athletics department honored his memory at the Homecoming game.

The team wore stickers on their helmets, a moment of silence was observed before the national anthem, the TU flag and hurricane flag were flown at half mast and the captains brought Dennis Byrd’s original #48 jersey with them to the coin toss.

Montgomery addressed Dennis Byrd in his press conference, saying “he was a man that stood for everything that we want our program to stand for. A guy that was relentless in his fight to overcome odds, he did everything right, tried to make the people around him better.”

Tulsa in the driver’s seat With Houston’s second loss in the conference against SMU last night, the Golden Hurricane can once again control their destiny in the conference. If Tulsa wins out in the regular season including a win against the current West division leader Navy, the Golden Hurricane could see themselves playing in their first conference championship game since 2012 when they won the Conference-USA title and beat Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl.

The remaining schedule for the Golden Hurricane is the following: on the road against Memphis, a home game against East Carolina, and road games at Navy and Central Florida before finishing their season at home against Cincinnati.

Dane Evans closes in on record Dane Evans became just the third player in Tulsa history to surpass 10,000 total yards of offense. With 10,068 career passing yards, Evans needs just 868 yards to become the school’s all-time passing leader.

With 9,170 yards of passing in American Athletic Conference play, Evans became the first quarterback in the conference to surpass 9,000 yards of passing. With a combined 75 rushing and passing touchdowns in his career at Tulsa, Evans passed T.J. Rubley for number three on the all-time list for the Golden Hurricane. Evans is the third player to reach 75 total touchdowns.

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build as a team. I think we’re growing in confidence in all three phases of the game and we made plays in all three phases. Now we made mistakes also, but those are things we got to back in and correct. Memphis is a really tough football team. Going there, that’s a tough environment to play in. We’ll have our hands full with them, but we’re going to enjoy this win and then we’re going to get prepared for Memphis.”

The Golden Hurricane travel to Memphis to take on the Tigers on Saturday night.

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Sports

The Collegian: 4

Justin Guglielmetti is…

the

bleacher creature Taking a Stand Now that Colin Kaepernick is officially starting for the San Francisco 49ers again, perhaps we can dispense with the single stupidest discussion point to come out of the National Anthem kneeling controversy (and that’s saying a lot): the notion that, as a backup quarterback, Kaepernick owed it to his team to shut up, keep his head down and go about his business.

ESPN NFL analyst Trent Dilfer actually had the audacity to suggest on live television that Kaepernick was being “selfish” with his protest and criticized him for “disrupting the organization.” Now, agree with the issues Kaepernick is protesting on or not, we should all be able to see that he has a right to make a public stand for something he believes in.

And correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t remember the Founding Fathers putting a provision in the First Amendment that exempted backup quarterbacks from being able to speak their minds. I wouldn’t care if Kaepernick was the 49ers waterboy, I would respect his decision to protest peacefully for something he perceives as injustice, and quite frankly so should anybody who claims to be supportive of free speech.

But at least now that he’s a starting QB, the nincompoops who think otherwise will have nothing to complain over! Your move, Trent.

Congrats...North Korea?

So apparently North Korea just won the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup, beating Japan in penalties for the team’s second championship.

There’s so much going on here that I’m not even sure which bit is the most shocking. Is it that North Korea, that stuck-in-atechnological-dark-age-dictator-controlledhuman-rights-abusing dump of a country has a sports team competitive enough to actually win an international competition?

Or is it that this probably isn’t some insane fluke because they’ve already won once before?

No, I’ve got it! It’s the fact that North Korea is even allowed to field a team in this tour...oh wait. You’re right, you’re right, it’s FIFA, of course they are okay with North Korea, human rights abuses and corruption are their middle name! Carry on, ladies.

Yankee v. Yankee I’ve been on the Cubs bandwagon ever since my Yankees missed the playoffs, and I fully support you Dodgers lifers or petulant Cardinals fans out there who don’t want to see the greatest championship celebration in the history of American sports (because you know that’s what we’re getting if the Cubbies win).

But just as a baseball fan, if you can honestly tell me that you’re not jacked up over the prospect of an Aroldis ChapmanAndrew Miller showdown in the World Series, I’m going to check you into an insane asylum.

The two profile similarly: tall, lanky lefthanders who throw overpowering fastballs and knee-buckling sliders and have thrown together some of the best stat lines of any relievers in history. Oh, and earlier this year they were both on the New York Yankees.

Don’t mind that sound, it’s just me crying my eyes out because we couldn’t leverage the potential best bullpen in history into a postseason berth.

Anyway, a duel between these two in the later innings would be freaking incredible even if you had no rooting interest.

An unstoppable force going up against an unhittable object. The two could combine for something like 10 strikeouts and no baserunners in four total innings, and it wouldn’t even seem that unrealistic! Get hype!

Monday

24 October 2016

Life after KD: what’s in store for OKC With the loss of franchise player Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder enter a new era of basketball, starring Westbrook.

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer It’s the start of a new era in OKC, year 1 AD: After Durant. The loss of their franchise cornerstone, arguably the best scorer in the league and the greatest player in franchise history, will loom over the Thunder like a stormcloud this season, as will the specter of their humiliating loss in last year’s Western Conference Finals. So what can the Oklahoma faithful expect out of their boys over the next 82 games?

Let’s start by managing expectations.

This will be the first season in a while where the Thunder will begin play squarely out of championship contention. It’s not so much an indictment of their own talent as it is a recognition of the expected dominance of a few other teams; it will likely take an injury to LeBron or a radioactive spider bite to Isaiah Thomas to stop the Cavs from steamrolling the East, and the Warriors just added Durant to a 73-win roster without losing a single star of their own. Nobody can say for certain, but Cleveland and Golden State are as much sure things to square off in the Finals as any pair has ever been entering the season. That means 28 teams are left out of the shuffle, including Oklahoma City.

But don’t worry, losses of Durant and star power forward Serge Ibaka aside, the playoffs should still be in the future for the Thunder. For that you can thank the team’s one remaining transcendent superstar, Russell Westbrook. Last year, after a career to the point of playing in the shadow of Durant, Westbrook seized control of the Thunder’s offense and averaged career highs in assists, rebounding, and Win Shares.

He once and for all silenced all doubters who questioned whether he could ever play the role of a “true point guard,” proving as effective a facilitator as he had always been a slasher, finishing fourth in MVP voting, and making his first appearance on the AllNBA first team. And Westbrook managed to do all that despite a ball-dominant playing style which clashed more often than not with Durant’s.

Now, without another star to demand the ball and with a whole lot to prove as pundits cast doubt on the Thunder’s season, it feels like just about anything could be in play for Russ. He could lead the league in points and assists! He might average a triple-double!

His body might be consumed by a fireball as he leads a break at speeds approaching the speed of light! Of all the storylines surrounding the team, the effectiveness of an unchained, pissed-off Westbrook fascinates me the most.

Let’s be clear though, even if the music created on the court between Durant and Westbrook was more grunge rock than smooth jazz, it was still worthy of a Grammy. As in all team sports, raw talent can go a long way in making up for cohesiveness in basketball, and the Thunder were almost always better when Westbrook and Durant shared the floor. At their peak together, achieved sometime during the Spurs-Thunder series in the Western Conference semifinals when OKC actually looked like the favorites to win the title, the duo actually managed to look complementary to extraordinary effect.

Durant finally seemed content to spot up around the three-point arc and save his drives for overeager closeouts from defenders, using more energy as a multi-positional defensive octopus who could shut down half the court with his length alone. Westbrook, meanwhile, didn’t have to worry so much about standing around in space, attacking the rim with almost reckless abandon while whipping kick-out passes and dump-offs to his big men for easy scores. It was terrifying to see the two work together in such a way, and it will be hard to see the Thunder recreating any such magic this year.

Durant’s departure will be felt most in the spacing of the Thunder’s lineup. They were never an elite shooting team even at their best, and losing one of the greatest shooters of all time isn’t exactly a conducive remedy.

Replacing Durant and Ibaka (a highly underrated shooter and the team’s best option in the pick-and-pop) in the starting lineup will be Enes Kanter, bench big extraordinaire, and dynamic shooting guard Victor Oladipo, an arrival from the Ibaka trade with Orlando.

Neither player is an awful shooter, but they play at their best when focusing on other aspects of their games. Kanter, one of

the worst defensive big men in the league, is also one of its few remaining elite post scorers. Last year he feasted on limited minutes against opposing teams’ second units, and it’s unclear how effective he will be handling more minutes and a faster-paced role.

Oladipo, on the other hand, is no stranger to playing run-and-gun basketball, but he was most effective running the Magic’s offense two years ago as a sort of Westbrook-light.

As his former team ceded more control over to point guard Elfrid Payton, Oladipo’s mediocre off-ball movement and shooting were exposed, stunting the development of the former number 2 pick and moving him to the bench. I see chemistry issues and miscommunication in the future for the Thunder’s backcourt.

One pair for whom chemistry should not be an issue at least is Westbrook and center Steven Adams. If there was a single silver lining from the disastrous 2016 playoffs, it’s that Adams emerged as a star, cementing himself as one of the most well-respected and fun to play with centers in the league.

Despite a completely unpolished offensive game and propensity to get into foul trouble, the big New Zealander emerged as perhaps the best rim-runner in the league, an excellent rebounder, and a forceful defensive presence in the paint.

He developed a near telepathic connection with Westbrook on the pick and roll, setting well disguised yet bone-crushing picks, then broadjumping into the lane to receive the laser pass with a signature savage intensity. If Adams makes even a minor leap this year and develops a hook shot or workable midrange jumper, he could be the piece that actually makes Oklahoma City dangerous again.

With that said, Adams would have to transform into the second coming of Wilt Chamberlain for the Thunder to have any realistic title shot this year. The Cavaliers and Warriors are just too damn good, and their own roster makeup too uncertain, to survive four rounds of the playoffs. Luckily for fans, this team will still put on an exciting show every night and be competitive relative to most other teams. If nothing else, make sure to tune in to when the Thunder play the Warriors on November 3 (they play three more times subsequently). I promise, it’s going to feel so great when Westbrook posterizes KD.

their own. Junior Rollie Rocha beat multiple defenders and earned a free kick on the side of the box. Sophomore Vincent Pedace took the free kick, sending it to the other side of the goal box, where freshman Koray Easterling was waiting to shoot it home.

With five minutes remaining in the game, ORU earned another free kick. The free kick was taken as a shot.

Tulsa senior goalkeeper Jake McGuire caught the ball, but was questionably ruled to have stepped back into the goal with the ball in his hands, giving the lead back to ORU. Quickly trying to even the score again, Tulsa pushed forward and drew a penalty kick. Freshman Matt Puig converted the opportunity, knotting the score again, this time at 3–3.

The two overtime periods passed scoreless. It was clear in those periods that ORU was ready to accept a draw and Tulsa was pushing for victory, as the ball was in the ORU half for most of the overtime. Tulsa couldn’t get a goal, though, and the game ended in a tie.

The Golden Hurricane returned to conference opponents with their game on Saturday, when they travelled to face Temple.

Junior Kay Duit scored five minutes into the game to give Tulsa the early lead.

To continue the theme of the week, Temple came back. They scored a goal with just five minutes remaining in the game, leading to a 1–1 draw.

Tulsa is now 7–4–4 (2–2–1 American Athletic Conference) on the season. They

face Cincinnati on the road on Saturday night.

Men’s, women’s soccer share a tough week The men’s team battled for two draws this week, while the women’s team split their road games against Houston and SMU. Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer Men’s soccer This week, the Golden Hurricane men’s soccer team played their annual derby match against local rival Oral Roberts University.

Tulsa controlled the pace of the game in the first half. Twenty minutes in, Munashe Raranje took a beautiful arching shot with his left foot that beat the goalkeeper, giving Tulsa the 1–0 lead. The Golden Hurricane defense kept the Golden Eagles’ offense from taking a single shot on goal for the entire half.

As the second half wore it, it appeared as though Tulsa still had control of the game.

This quickly proved false, as Oral Roberts were able to tie the game. A shot bounced off of the crossbar, and no defender followed the next Oral Roberts player, who was able to put in the easy rebound goal.

In the last twelve minutes of the game, each team scored two goals. ORU struck first off of a free kick. Some defensive confusion in the box led to the scorer having an easy touch past the goalkeeper to give the Golden Eagles the 2–1 lead. Just two minutes later, Tulsa responded with a goal of

Tuesday

Wednesday

No Events No Events No Events

Thursday Women’s Basketball vs. Rogers State 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer vs. USF 7:00 p.m.

Women’s soccer Tulsa used a strong second half to take control of their road game against Houston.

The first half was fairly balanced. Tulsa took the lead in the 25th minute on a good individual effort by midfielder Rachel Thun.

A few minutes after the goal, the game was delayed because of lightning. When play resumed, Houston scored an equalizing goal to head into halftime at 1-1.

In the second half, the Golden Hurricane took over. Goals by Anna Williams, Christina Holmes, and another by Thun gave them a comfortable lead that they saw through until the end.

For the final game of their road trip, Tulsa faced SMU. The Mustangs came out fast, opening the scoring with two goals in the first five minutes, and never let up. They scored another one before Rachel Thun was able to get Tulsa on the board. The scoring calmed down after that, and the teams headed into the break at 3-1.

The Golden Hurricane were not able to mount a comeback in the second half, and SMU added one more goal for extra security, claiming the 4-1 win.

After the loss, Tulsa is 8-8-1 (4-3 American Athletic Conference) for the year. Their next game is a home game against UCF. Start time is 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 24 - 30 Friday

Volleyball vs. Tulane 7:00 p.m.

Saturday

Sunday

Men’s Soccer @ Cincinnati 6:00 p.m.

Volleyball vs. Houston 1:00 p.m.

Football @ Memphis 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer @ USF 1:00 p.m.

24 October 2016

News

The Collegian: 5

Advocacy Alliance starts conversations with Clothesline Project

The Clothesline Project gives a welcome voice to students affected by interpersonal violence and rape culture.

Michaela Flonard News Editor

Since 2014, TU’s Advocacy Alliance has been hosting the Clothesline Project during Homecoming week. The Clothesline Project, a project started in 1990 in Cape Cod, MA, displays shirts decorated to bear witness to sexual violence. Participants decorate a shirt to tell their story or the story of someone close to them, or to comment on the issue of interpersonal violence.

The project was displayed on Dietler Commons from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a few days during homecoming week. The choice of week is deliberate, according to Alyson Garrison, head of Advocacy Alliance, because the number of visitors skyrockets during homecoming. With the project, TU can show that “these are our students and this is what we’re doing to protect them...it’s a way to show this is where our students are in their minds.” Such a visual display lets visiting parents know that while TU is not immune to sexual violence, they are trying to protect their children.

Garrison said parents have generally been supportive and thankful of the project, because it shows the university addressing

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

TU’s Clothesline Project started in 2014 with 47 t-shirts. This year, the Advocacy Alliance hung 111 t-shirts collected over the past three years.

sexual violence and not hiding such an uncomfortable issue. Students also expressed appreciation; but this year, some have been concerned that the tactic is not necessarily the right approach. Garrison plans to bring the comments to the next Advocacy Alliance meeting to see if they could affect or create future programming, but also acknowledges this project is done in schools across the country.

The Clothesline Project is “just a piece of a much larger conversation and program

[the university has] going on with the Advocacy Alliance and Student Alliance for Violence Education (SAVE).” Being so public but not necessarily confrontational, the project, Garrison believed, will “stop the silence of sexual violence by bringing it to the forefront, so we have to give voice to the survivors and hopefully drown out the perpetrators.”

“If [this discussion] goes underground, that’s the scariest part,” she said.

The upcoming presidential election has

affected the Clothesline Project. The video featuring Donald Trump and Billy Bush, in which Trump discusses groping and kissing women without their consent, was published the same week shirt decorating occurred.

Consequently, there were many shirts with the p-word (derogatory term for a woman’s vulva) and “locker room talk” as topics.

The released video, Garrison said, demonstrates rape culture, which is the umbrella topic of the Alliance. “[The Clothesline Project] is the horrific end of [rape culture],” she said, but “rape culture is an everyday thing we can stop.”

This year, the number of shirts has seen a jump. In 2014, 47 shirts were decorated.

In 2015, 7 were added, and this year, the collected shirts total 111. The large increase is mostly due to the shirt-decorating being held in each residence hall by an RA. Previously, Garrison said, the shirt-decorating was often SAVE students or the students of those involved with the Alliance. “If we’re there, with them in the halls, it was more visible,” she said, which aligned with their goal of creating a discussion around the issue.

While the number of shirts has been increasing over the past three years, Garrison said the goal is to actually have less shirts, “because then it’s become a part of everyday conversation and we don’t have to make it such a spectacle.” Until then, Garrison said the Alliance will be ready with more shirts and supplies.

TU’s Capture the Flag headed to cybersecurity competition in New York Capture the Flag, TU’s competitive cybersecurity team, is looking forward to a successful year and an upcoming finals competition in New York.

Hannah Kloppenburg

Editor-in-Chief

Capture the Flag (CTF), a TU club which competes in cybersecurity events, is looking forward to participating in a finals competition in November.

The team recently competed in a remote event called CSAW, where they placed in the top 15 teams during an open qualifying round and earned themselves a trip to New

York to compete in the closed finals at NYU Poly.

CTF President Gavin Bauer has high hopes for the team this November. “[It’s] probably gonna be our hardest competition for the year, so we’re a bit nervous. It was tough last year. Last year we got 11th out of 15 teams,” he said. “So hopefully this year we’ll do better. Our goal is to get top three.”

Bauer explained that CTF is an offensive competition in which teams will all attack servers in a series of challenges. The challenges are split into various categories.

“There’s a web category, it’s usually ‘become the admin of this website,’” Bauer explained. “There’s cryptography, which is ‘here’s a cypher, break it and tell me what the code is.’ There is exploitation, which is

‘here is a program, make it do something it wasn’t supposed to do.’ And then there’s reverse engineering, which is ‘here’s a program, figure out what it does and then make it do what you want it to do.’ So that’s the competition, and there’s usually a miscellaneous category.”

The first team to complete every event in the competition wins. If no one completes all of the events, the team that completed the most events first wins. Teams of four typically participate in CTF competitions that last 48 hours at a time.

“If you work the full 48 hours, you’re probably gonna be dead at the end of it and not very productive,” Bauer explained with a grin. “So sleeping is a commodity which you have to schedule wisely.”

photo courtesy Gavin Bauer

The Capture the Flag team participating in cyberSEED, a cybersecurity competition between dozens of universities and colleges hosted by the Comcast Center of Excellence for Security Innovation at the University of Connecticut.

Oct. 9 1:00 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers conducted a party shutdown at the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity house due to an underage drinking incident. Officers made contact with the acting fraternity president and informed them of the situation before asking that all guests not affiliated with the fraternity to leave the house. Officers searched the house to ensure that all guests were gone and that no other university violations were present before leaving the scene.

12:15 a.m.

While on patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers witnessed University of Tulsa Students assisting an individual across the front lawn of Collins Hall. Officers observed the individual fall to the ground. Of-

ficers determined that the individual, who was a guest of TU students, was severely intoxicated. EMSA was called to the scene to evaluate the individual. The individual was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

hicle that was reversing from the west side of the Pi Kappa Alpha house. A former TU student was operating the vehicle, no one was seriously injured, and there was minor damage to the car and bicycle. Both parties denied medical attention.

2:15 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were called to the Brown Village parking lot for a non-injury motor vehicle accident. Two vehicles had collided while trying to park in the lot. Officers facilitated in the exchange of insurance information and took pictures of the scene.

Oct. 10 2:00 a.m.

While on patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers stopped an individual at 300 S. Delaware Avenue with a stolen TU bicycle in his possession. After making contact, the suspect admitted that they were not a TU student and had taken the bicycle and a broken phone found on campus property.

A warrant search returned negative. Officers confiscated all stolen property, issued a trespass warning and released the suspect.

4:20 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were called to the Collins Fitness Center for a report that students were smoking cigarettes too close to the building. Officers arrived and advised the students not smoke on or near the patio of the fitness center in the future.

5:50 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity house for a vehicle accident. A University of Tulsa faculty member was riding a TU yellow bicycle and was hit by a ve-

7:40 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to check on a person sleeping next to the Henneke building. The individual was identified by responding officers and a warrants check was initiated.

The individual did not have any outstanding warrants or previous contact cards. The individual was trespass warned and escorted off the property. A contact card was created.

Bauer said that CTFs are “very loosely organized,” and often remote, meaning that they’re easy to set up and participate in. “A lot of them are pretty lowkey, which is one of the reasons we like them,” he continued.

This also means that TU’s team, despite having formed just two years ago, has been able to hold its own worldwide CTF events.

The local competition is called TU CTF and is scheduled to happen in May, the week after graduation.

Despite the competition’s flexible nature, Bauer contended that managing the event can be difficult. “Running it’s kind of a challenge. Not gonna lie. Because you have to prepare while doing finals. That’s why we gave ourselves a week after finals, because you get through finals and then have a week of just madhouse trying to get everything ready.”

Last May, a team from Ukraine won the first TU CTF. Bauer reflected on having to ship prizes worldwide. “I had to figure out U.S. export laws to Ukraine...that was a fun conversation to have,” he chuckled.

Besides hosting their own events and preparing for the CSAW finals, the team also recently won 1st place in CyberSEED at the University of Connecticut in Hartford.

To prepare for competitions, the team goes over past challenges and makes sure they’re up-to-date with the latest programs during their weekly meetings.

Bauer said that familiarity with past challenges is very beneficial to their progress and concluded that “knowing what tools to use, when, and how to use them really well is a big part of competing.” He feels good about the team’s standing this year.

“Last year was our first year of going to these competitions and kind of figuring things out and now we have a solid foundation to actually do well with” he said.

Anyone interested in joining or learning more about CTF is welcomed to attend their weekly meetings in Rayzor Hall at 6:30 on Thursdays.

Oct. 11 9:45 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers met with a student who stated they are being harassed by a another student. The victim reports that the student has made repeated attempts to contact them on campus after being told not to do so.

Oct. 12 3:15 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to Mcfarlin lot in reference to a TU student losing their cellphone earlier in the day and later finding it via GPS. The officer searched the area where the GPS placed the phone but was unable to locate it.

10:00 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to Mcfarlin lot in reference to a TU student losing their cellphone earlier in the day and later finding it via GPS. The officer searched the area where the GPS placed the phone but was unable to locate it.

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

The Collegian: 6

News

24 October 2016

Final presidential debate showcased two futures for America The final presidential debate for 2016 was held Wednesday night, spanning topics from the Supreme Court to the national debt.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer

The final presidential debate was held on Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It was hosted by Chris Wallace of Fox News, who received a lot of praise afterwards for his handling of the debate.

It began as the second one had, without a handshake. It was divided up into several segments, each beginning with two minutes for each candidate and then ten minutes of general discussion.

The first segment covered the Supreme Court. Both candidates seemed support the idea of the Court being a tool for advancing a particular type of public policy. Clinton opened with how she wanted the Supreme Court to “stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of the powerful, corporations and the wealthy.” Trump talked about the importance of nominating pro-life judges who “have a conservative bent.”

He also stressed the need to protect the Second Amendment. The candidates discussed two issues in particular: guns and abortion. Clinton stressed the need for some gun control measures but stressed that she supports the Second Amendment. Her discussion of District of Columbia v. Heller was criticized after the debate in conservative media for mischaracterizing the decision.

Specifically, she claimed that the decision was about protecting toddlers, but the decision and the legislation it struck down were much broader in scope. The case was about whether or not the District of Columbia could essentially ban the ownership of handguns for self defense.

The next topic was immigration. Trump discussed the need for strong border security. He repeated his false claim that ICE endorsed him; it was actually a union of some border patrol agents that endorsed him. It was also during this segment that Trump said America has some “bad hombres,” for which he received some criticism for being racially insensitive.

Clinton opposed Trump’s policies for being too harsh and for separating families.

She announced that she would propose comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship within the first hundred days of her administration.

The immigration topic became a debate on America-Russia relations after Wallace cited a a WikiLeaks story in order to ques-

courtesy Wikimedia Commons The debate between the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees discussed both policy and personal issues, from immigration plans to the accusations of sexual assault against Donald Trump.

tion Clinton on “open borders.” Clinton brought up WikiLeaks being an arm of the Russian state and challenged Trump for being too friendly with Putin. Trump said he condemns any attempt by a foreign power to interfere in the American election, but he continued to say it would be desirable to have a good relationship with Russia.

The third topic was the economy. The exchange was fairly typical of what one would expect from a debate between Republican and Democratic presidential candidates.

Clinton criticized Trump for having tax breaks that she thought were too large and too helpful for the wealthy. Trump criticized Clinton as a continuation of the Obama presidency which has seen relatively low economic growth.

Trump also discussed free trade, saying he was for it but wanted to renegotiate current trade deals (or leave them entirely if he could not renegotiate).

Clinton also took a slightly protectionist bent, affirming her opposition to the TransPacific Partnership and complaining about dumping of raw materials by other countries.

The fourth topic was on fitness to be president. The questioning started with Trump’s alleged groping of women and Bill Clinton’s treatment of women. Trump incorrectly stated that his accusers have been debunked. He

Fatal police shootings rise in Tulsa, decline in Okla.

Though rates across Oklahoma are down from 2015, rates in the city of Tulsa are substantially higher.

James Whisenhunt Commentary Editor

According to a database compiled by the Washington Post, there have been 776 fatal shootings by police in the United States in 2016. In most months, the number of shootings has been down from 2015, which ended with 991 shootings. However, the overall number is only down by 19 when counting both years from January to the end of September (745 in 2015 vs 726 in 2016).

According to the Tulsa World, Oklahoma had the highest rate of police shootings per million people in June of 2015, with 4.9 shootings per million people in the state. By the end of 2015, according to the Washington Post, Oklahoma had dropped down to third place with 8.3 shootings per million, behind New Mexico and Wyoming. The state has dropped even further down the rankings in 2016, currently the 6th highest rate, at 4.38 fatal police shootings per mil-

lion people (behind NM, AK, AZ, CO and SD).

The overall number of police shootings has dropped in Oklahoma as well. In June 2015, the Tulsa World notes that Oklahoma had 19 shootings. Oklahoma has had 17 shootings as of October 23rd, 2016, lower than 2015’s number and four months later in the year. The numbers vary slightly between different databases depending on their methodology, but the Washington Post says Oklahoma ended 2015 with at least 32 total police shootings. Tulsa World reports 34.

Looking at data compiled by the Tulsa World since 2007, there was a large increase in fatal shootings from 2013 to 2015 (from 17 in 2013 to 25 in 2014 and 34 in 2015).

2016 will likely not reach those numbers.

Despite the number of police shootings lowering in Oklahoma overall, Tulsa’s number has risen substantially. According to the Tulsa World’s breakdown of data by county, Tulsa Police Department was involved in no fatal shootings in 2015. However, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office was involved in one shooting, the infamous case of Robert Bates shooting Eric Harris. So far in 2016, there have been 5 fatal shootings involving the Tulsa Police Department.

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

The recent shooting of Terence Crutcher brought Tulsa back into the conversation about police shootings.

also said that he did not apologize to his wife for allegedly groping women because the allegations are false. Some people on Twitter took this line and contrasted it with an interview with Melania Trump in which she said he apologized. However, her statement was in relation to the lewd tape, while his statement was about accusations themselves.

Trump said that he believed the women were accusing him either for fame or as a part of Clinton’s campaign. When Clinton brought up Trump’s implication that he would not have committed sexual assault because the accusers are unattractive, Trump incorrectly claimed that he did not make that implication.

Trump then brought up Clinton’s emails.

Chris Wallace also brought up allegations of misconduct by the Clinton Foundation.

However, what generated the most headlines from this segment, and the debate as a whole, was Trump’s contention that he would not necessarily concede the results of the election if he loses.

Specifically, he said he’d “look at it at the time.” He was widely criticized in the media for undermining the democratic legitimacy of our system. Trump and his campaign have since walked back the statement to a limited degree.

The fifth topic was about foreign policy.

In particular, it focused on Iraq and Syria.

Trump criticized Clinton for what he sees as leaving Iraq too early and allowing it to become a haven for ISIS. Clinton pressed Trump on his claim that he was against the Iraq War before it started.

Wallace also asked Clinton about imposing a no-fly zone in Syria and risk hostilities with Russia. She responded by saying that the no-fly zone would not take effect immediately and would have to follow negotiations.

The sixth and final topic was the national debt. Wallace cited the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in stating that under Clinton the debt would rise to 86 percent of GDP over the next ten years, while Trump’s plan would raise it to 105 percent. The current debt to GDP ratio is 77 percent. Both Trump and Clinton disputed those findings.

Trump said he would grow the economy enough to cover the debt while Clinton simply claimed that her plan does balance, contrary to the numbers cited.Wallace also asked about how they would pay for entitlements.

Trump went back to how he would grow the economy, while Clinton brought up taxing the wealthy more. It was also during this segment that Trump labelled Clinton as “a nasty woman,” which has attracted significant criticism.

Mock trial team members will work as either lawyers or witnesses to become familiar with different levels of the court system.

and prepare to be direct examined by their own teammate, and cross examined by the opposing team.”

The association was founded by students Austin Cotner and Cymber St. Gemme, who are the Vice President and President of the organization, respectively. The association’s faculty advisor is Daman Cantrel, who is both an adjunct professor at TU and a Tulsa district judge. Other officers include secretary Kristen Sorenson and Treasurer Joe Reichold. The organization intends to meet on a weekly basis as a team and once more every week so that partners that coordinate together.

Currently, the Mock Trial association is waiting on funding before they can obtain the resources necessary to replicate case materials. Anyone interested in joining can contact the student president of the organization at cymber-stgemme@utulsa.edu.

SA charters TU Mock Trial Team

Trenton Gibbons Variety Editor TU’s newest competitive team comes in the form of the Mock Trial Association.

Those pursuing a degree in TU’s College of Law might be especially interested in the association’s competitions, where teams compete in a courtroom setting.

The teams are organized into two categories: the “lawyers” and the “witnesses.”

Teammates in either category must work together; the lawyers “draft all of their examinations and opening and closing statements for court” while the witness counterparts “become familiar their witness statement,

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

A mock trial organization will give students the chance to experience working on a trial.

News

24 October 2016

The Collegian: 7

SA’s GOC passes bills for apparel, outreach and student governance Senate recently passed three bills, one allowing competitive organizations to have funding for apparel, one for a bystander intervention award and one fixing a minor discrepancy in SA’s governing documents.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer SA’s GOC (Government Operations Committee) is one of four committees in Senate and is charged in part with writing and rewriting rules for SA. On October 11, they presented three to Senate, all of which passed.

The first bill, titled “Bring on the SwAg,” allows competitive organizations to be eligible for funding from SA for apparel.

Before the bill passed, organizations were not allowed to use SA funding for anything other than consumable items such as food. This bill amended the Financial Appropriations Guidelines to allow SA to fund apparel.

In order to receive funding for apparel, an organization must a) be competitive, b) have competition on an “ongoing, public platform” and c) reach beyond the TU community. Additionally, the funding may not be used for apparel that a) is not

graphic by Michaela Flonard

Competitive organizations can now receive funding for apparel from SA. Pictured above is The Collegian’s mock-up, made on Custom Ink.

worn while competing, b) is only worn on TU’s campus unless it is proven to reach beyond TU’s campus, c) is inappropriate or misrepresentative of TU or d) does not include the TU and SA logos.

In order to have apparel funded, an organization must file an application with Senate. Organizations are also limited to $1,000 in total apparel costs and $20 per person receiving apparel.

The second bill establishes a Bystander

Nathan Gibbons Distribution Manager Britain keeps eye on Russian warships United Kingdom officials surveilled Russian warships as the Russian convoy passed through the English Channel last Friday, October 21st. The convoy included the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the Pyotr Velikiy Battlecruiser, the Severomorsk antisubmarine ship and the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer among other support ships.

“The Russian fleet that is now sailing from the North, presumably down into the Mediterranean, is clearly designed to test the alliance,” said Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon. “It’s being marked every step of the way by the Royal Navy and ships and planes of other NATO members as well.” The warships were likely on their way to Aleppo, where Russia and Syria are bombarding the rebel-controlled Aleppo in a joint effort. The U.K. and the U.S. said they were considering economic sanctions against Syria and Russia if the bombardments continue.

Europe pushes to unblock Canadian trade deal The European Union hopes to sign a free trade agreement with Canada despite objections from a Belgian region. Those who made the objection want to see clarity on environmental and consumer standards, and want safeguards to protect labor. President of the European Union Parliament, Martin Schulz, said that the objections “are for us Europeans to solve”.

The trade agreement fell apart last Friday, October 21st, after seven years of negotiations. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement would eliminate 98 percent of tariffs between the EU and Canada, and analysts say it could increase trade between the nations by 20 percent. Wallonia, the region which opposed the deal, argued it was a threat to farmers and welfare standards.

Hostages freed in Somalia After nearly five years of being held captive, 26 hostages were released Saturday, October 22nd, by Somali pirates. John Steed, a worker at the Hostage Support Partnership, told the BBC that the hostages appeared malnourished from photos taken to prove they were alive, the only evidence he had of their status. “We won’t know until I actually pick them up inside Somalia tomorrow,” he said.

Steed said he could not comment on whether or not any payments were made in the negotiations but did say local chiefs were involved. “These are poor fishermen. The ship had no value, they had no insurance, and of course governments don’t want to be involved in these sort of negotiations either,” he said. The ship and its crewmembers, who came from many East Asian countries, were seized in March 2012 near Seychelles.

Piracy in Somalia has reportedly fallen in recent years.

US Destroyer sails through South China Sea The USS Decatur sparked outrage from China government officials after sailing through the South China Sea last Friday, October 21st. The Chinese Defense Ministry called the trip an intentional provocation and a serious breach of law. The Pentagon argued that the trip was routine and occurred “without incident” in a statement. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the point of the mission was to remind China that it can’t “unlawfully restrict the navigation rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea that the United States and all states are entitled to exercise under international law.”

Tension has risen between the United States and China as China has continued to claim land in contested waters as far as 800 miles away from their borders. In a July tribunal, most of the territorial claims were deemed to have no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Two Americans killed in Afghanistan

An Army civilian employee and a decorated U.S. soldier were killed in an attack last Wednesday, October 19th, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The two victims, Army Sgt. Douglas J. Riney, 26, of Illinois, and Michael G. Sauro, 40, from Oklahoma, received fatal wounds in an armed conflict in Afghanistan’s capital. NATO stated that a man in an Afghan uniform shot five people early Wednesday.

Two civilians from the Defense Ammunition center who were also wounded, Richard “Rick” Alford and Rodney Henderson, are planned to return to the United States.

Alford was in stable condition and Henderson suffered minor injuries. After the announcement of the attack, NATO confirmed that the attacker had been killed. The victims were working as part of NATO’s larger plan to train Afghanistan security forces.

Intervention Award for the top three organizations that “actively promote bystander intervention awareness.” The process to determine which organizations fit the criteria for the award has two steps. First, Student Organization Committee (SOC) is tasked with reviewing applications for the award and selecting the top ten contenders.

The applications are due no later than March 31, though SOC can set an earlier deadline. The applications are supposed to

be available at least two weeks before the application deadline.

In order to review applications, SOC will use a grading rubric. The rubric awards 70 out of 100 points for completing the Bringing in the Bystander program. Organizations can receive another 20 points for participating in other programming. There is also 10 points of “extra credit” available for other efforts an organization might take.

The second level of review is done by a committee panel whose members are to be determined by SOC. However, the committee will include the SOC chairperson; the SA president, vice president and advisor and at least one member of the Advocacy Alliance.

The committee is to conduct an interview with a student representative from each of the ten organizations. It is supposed to pick the top three organizations as winners. The prizes are to be selected by the SA president. $3,000 from Organization Allocations has been selected for the implementation of this Award system.

The final bill fixes a discrepancy between the Judicial Code and the SA Constitution.

Previously, the Judicial Code required justices to be confirmed no later than the first Senate meeting in October. In contrast, the Constitution required them to be confirmed no later than the sixth week of the fall semester. This bill just changed the Judicial Code to follow the Constitution.

Monday, October 24 at 7:00pm Chapman Lecture Hall Exploring Food: Dinner and Drinks Booksmart Tulsa and the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities at The University of Tulsa are delighted to present a two-night program exploring food and cocktails.

On Oct. 24, please join us for a talk by Alex Prud’homme about his newly published biography of Julia Child, The French Chef in America. A book signing and special film screening will follow.

We’ll follow this heavy French experience the next night with a nightcap at Chimera with Robert Simonson, writer for the New York Times and author of The Old Fashioned: The Story of the World’s First Classic Cocktail.

Tuesday, October 25 at 7:00pm to 8:30pm Tyrrell Hall, Ellen G. Adelson Auditorium Feagin Guest Lecture: Laleh Mehran The University of Tulsa Feagin Guest Artist Lecture Series will present multi-disciplinary artist Laleh Mehran, Associate Professor of Emergent Media at the University of Denver.

Mehran’s research areas include the intersections of art and science, media politics, and emerging forms of time-based media. Her work has been shown individually and as part of art collectives at the Next 5 Minutes 4 Tactical Media Festival in Amsterdam, Holland; the European Media Arts Festival in Osnabruck, Germany; Ponte Futura in Cortona Italy; Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, MA; the Orlo Video Festival in Portland, Oregon; the Carnegie Museum of Art; The Georgia Museum of Art; The Andy Warhol Museum; the Pittsburgh Biennial at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in Pittsburgh, PA; Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Denver Art Museum.

Thursday, October 27 at 7:30pm to 9:30pm Lorton Performance Center, Gussman Concert Hall Big Band & Jazz Combo: Chris Brubeck The University of Tulsa School of Music presents the TU Jazz Band I and TU Jazz Combo in concert on October 27.

Featured guest artist for the evening will be composer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Brubeck.

During the 1970’s, Chris Brubeck began touring and recording with his father, Dave Brubeck. Chris plays bass, trombone, piano, guitar and sings and has earned international acclaim as composer, performer, and leader of his own groups: The Brubeck Brothers Quartet and Chris Brubeck’s Triple Play. He is accomplished composing and performing in jazz, blues, folk, funk, pop and classical music styles.

Chris Brubeck is a currently a J. Donald Feagin Visiting Artist and will be in residence at the School of Music from October 23-27.

Friday, October 28 at 2:00pm to 3:30pm College of Law, Court Room Becky with the Bad Grades: Fisher v. University of Texas Last summer, the Supreme Court chose not to strike down affirmative action; instead, by a 7-1 vote, it returned in favor of the policy. Proponents argue these practices, although imperfect, are the best way to address diversity in higher education.

This panel will discuss the history and underlying principles of the policy and what this decision means for the future of affirmative action.

Join us to hear legal and institutional perspectives on this timely and critical topic.

Friday, October 28 at 7:00pm to 9:00pm Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease After Hours: When Chocolate Meets Coffee Ever wondered how coconut-infused dark chocolate pairs with pecan-maple coffee from El Salvador? How about Ugandan milk chocolate with a Kenyan black currant and pomegranate blend? Gilcrease After Hours invites you to discover KYYA’s beanto-bar chocolate and Topeca’s seed-to-cup coffee at this elegant event. Sample varieties of chocolates and coffee from these local vendors, enjoy live music, and explore the relationship between human culture and chocolate with an after-hours tour of the exhibition Chocolate. Free and open to the public. Reservations recommended.

Local musical group, Desi and Cody, will perform.

Gilcrease After Hours takes place on the last Friday of the month. Explore the museum, grab a drink, network with other young professionals, and support your local art community. FREE! The Collegian does not produce all event descriptions in the Community Calendar.

Contact us at news@tucollegian.org with events.

The Collegian: 8

Commentary

24 October 2016

Know how to vote for Okla.’s Justices

One aspect of Oklahoma’s local elections that hasn’t received much attention is its various Court Justices who need to be voted on.

Make sure you’re informed!

Raven Fawcett Student Writer

This November, you can vote to keep or remove seven Oklahoma Justices from their positions, what the ballot refers to as “available for retention.” Retained Justices keep the jobs they have. Removed Justices no longer serve in their position, and the Governor of Oklahoma will appoint a new Justice to fill their vacant spot. The process is fairly quick, so the courts continue to function in the absence of a Justice, and the spot is filled within a couple months. Justices function much like judges, but are nominated to their positions and work in the higher courts — courts that review cases that have already been tried, for the most part. So what does that mean and who should you, shining example of civic virtue that you are, vote for?

Appellate Oklahoma Justices are split into three specializations: Supreme Court, Court of Civil Appeals, and the Court of Criminal Appeals. All three Courts try cases that have already been tried in court and the decisions have been contested. The Supreme Court is the highest court in Oklahoma. It’s where the big cases go once they’ve been squabbled over in the lower courts. The Court of Civil Appeals handles cases between people. This covers cases where someone is suing another person or damages were incurred and the problem has gone to court.

The Court of Criminal Appeals is for crimi-

nal cases that have already been sentenced.

Judges at all levels of government make decisions that will change countless people’s lives every day. Their decisions on cases affect the current defendant and plaintiff, and the cases that will eventually be brought to trial, where other justices and judges might reference similar rulings that have come before the current one. Justices help to shape the future.

Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma. Voters can vote to keep the Justice for the next six years. Every six years after that, voters can vote to retain or remove a justice. This election, seven Justices are up for retention: two in the Supreme Court, Two in the Court of Criminal Appeals, and three in the Court of Civil Appeals. As there can never be another Justice running for office, Justices do not campaign.

You might not hear much about them at all, as a matter of fact, which is why it is extremely rare for a Justice to not be retained.

Here are some things to think about: Democratic Governors are more likely to nominate liberal judges, and Republican Governors are more likely to nominate conservative judges. The current Governor of Oklahoma, Mary Fallin, is a Republican. If you are looking to vote for a more liberal court system, voting to oust the current conservatives on the bench would likely bring in different people with the same ideologies.

If you are looking to get rid of a couple liberal Justices, now might be your chance.

Notable, too, is the time spent on the bench. Each of these Justices is highly decorated. They have all served in other positions in the judicial system and come highly recommended. Their time spent on the job, in my opinion, lends itself to a better understanding of the law and the ways in which the law can be interpreted and applied. A long service does not necessarily mean that a Justice no longer cares about his or her job, only that they have performed their duty satisfactorily enough that they have not yet been removed from their seat.

Additionally, Justices — these Justices in particular — are fairly sedate. There are no scandals or skeletons in plain sight. Instead,

“Their time spent on the job... lends itself to a better understanding of the law and the ways in which the law can be interpreted.”

they do their jobs and hear their cases.

If you have the burning need to look at recent court cases. Law.justicia.com and caselaw.findlaw.com provide summaries of recent court cases. In any case, the best advice I can give you is to examine what you want out of a Justice. Presumably, you want someone who leans more in favor of your

political party. So pay attention to the governors who nominated these Justices, because that’s where you can find out the most about the political leanings of the Justices themselves. Here’s a quick look at each of Oklahoma’s Justices, and why you might vote to retain or release them from duty.

Supreme Court: James R. Winchester: He has held this position since 2000, when he was appointed by Republican Governor Keating. Founded the second in-state Children Coping with Divorce program, classes that teach parents tools to help their children. During several rulings pertaining to sex offender registration, Justice Winchester dissented with the Supreme Court’s ruling to not enforce new sex offender registration policies on sex offenders who had been sentenced before the new policies were put in place. He believes that the registry serves the public good, and that people have a right to information about people’s criminal history.

His stances skew toward a general favoring of the people as a whole. If you’d like a rigidly legalistic Justice, he tends to not fit that bill. Justice Winchester is not a complete wildcard either. A retention vote keeps the Supreme Court’s debate among the Justices lively and the decisions well-informed.

Douglas L. Combs: Appointed by Democratic Governor Henry, he has served in the Supreme Court since 2010. This man is the textbook definition of qualified. With his extensive history as a judge in his district and state, he has served as a judge since 1995. Before that, he started his own law office. The breadth of knowledge and experience he contributes to the court is hard to overestimate.

Criminal Court of Appeals: Rob Hudson: was appointed by Republican Governor Fallin in 2012. Carlene Clancy Smith was appointed by Justice Edmondson in the absence of a nominee by the Governor in 2010. In a 2015 case involving minors, both ruled that intoxicated people forced to give oral sex were not raped or sodomized according to the law. Hudson wrote in the decisions that “we will not, in order to justify prosecution of a person for an offense, enlarge a statute beyond the fair meaning of its language.” While the emotional reaction to that is shock and horror, there is something to be said for the fact that these judges are faithful to the letter of the law. If you believe in creative interpretations of the law, you probably shouldn’t vote to retain these two. If you do, a retention vote is the vote for you.

Court of Civil Appeals: John Fischer: was appointed in 2006 by Democratic Governor Henry. He remains largely nonpartisan, arguing against ruling on cases according to political party. This is, perhaps, the most we can ask for of any judge or Justice in our judicial system. Justice Fischer works to prioritize children, a member of Oklahoma Lawyers for Children, and believes in transparency in the courts.

Larry Joplin: was appointed by Democratic Governor Walters in 1994. He taught for a decade at the University of Oklahoma’s law school and tends towards following the letter and not the spirit of the law.

P. Thomas Thornbrugh: was appointed by Republican Governor Fallin in 2011. The Oklahoma Association for Justice, which works with legislation to do with the judicial system, named him the 2011 Trial Judge of the Year. Justice Thornbrugh, an Army veteran, leans more to the left, slightly more liberal than many of the Civil Appeals Justices. Nonetheless, he is dedicated to upholding the law as closely as can be interpreted.

The Nobel Prize for Literature doesn’t help Bob Dylan

Regardless of whether or not Bob Dylan’s writing is considered literature, it’s more important that he didn’t really need another award.

Trenton Gibbons Variety Editor

Alfred Nobel’s will states that the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature must be one who has produced “in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” Bob Dylan, most famous for his work as a singer/songwriter, has recently become a reluctant recipient of this prize.

He has not explicitly voiced this reluctance; instead, it’s evident in his silence.

The Nobel Committee’s Permanent Secretary has claimed that Dylan is ignoring all of their attempts to reach him, including not only emails but phone calls and an invitation to the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in December. Even Dylan’s website made the most minute mention of the prize, only to have it removed hours later.

Setting aside Dylan’s strange behavior, his winning the award for literature has ignited a debate between scholars of both literature and music. Critics in both fields argue that Dylan’s work does not fit the qualifications to win the prize. This argument extends to the quality of Dylan’s writing, including a

resurfaced quote from author Kurt Vonnegut Jr. calling Dylan the “worst poet ever.” It’s worth pointing out that it’s often Dylan’s delivery of his lyrics which give them power, not the words themselves, prompting many to question how Dylan’s work constituted literature.

Meanwhile, proponents of Dylan’s winning the medal cite his influence on not just music, but culture as a whole. Personally, I’m not going to argue whether or not Dylan deserved the prize, or even the semantics of his work qualifying as literature. I suspect I agree with Dylan himself when I ask, “Did Bob Dylan really need another prize?”

Among a myriad of other honors, Dylan has won Academy Awards, Grammys, Golden Globes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and his songs make up a literal percentage of the Hall’s ‘500 songs that shaped rock and roll’. It’s inarguable that Dylan has, as the committee claims, “created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Whether or not Dylan deserved the award, he didn’t need it. His name is already a household item, even to those who can’t name a single one of his songs, or correctly place his genre. The prize is intended to shed light upon underappreciated artists, especially those who need the money that comes with it to further their own work. The prize itself will be lost in Dylan’s shadow, the considerable amount of money that comes with it is dwarfed by his accumulated wealth. “Nobel Prize Winner” will be far from the first thing on most people’s minds when they consider his musical legacy. For now, Bob Dylan is silent, the Nobel Committee is frustrated, and critics from all sides voice the contention of his winning the prize.

“The prize itself will be lost in Dylan’s shadow, the considerable amount of money that comes with it is dwarfed by his accumulated wealth.”

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Despite Dylan’s massive influence on popular culture, another award doesn’t bring him any recognition he didn’t already have.

24 October 2016

Commentary

The Collegian: 9

John Oliver a comedian before a newscaster

The “Last Week Tonight” segment on third parties had some glaring omissions and some bias based on his political stance.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer John Oliver is the host of Last Week Tonight, a satirical news program that airs on HBO and is also uploaded onto YouTube.

Oliver’s show is often funny and wellresearched. Sometimes, I do think he goes too far in sacrificing accuracy for the sake of humor. Also, his progressivism is obvious and clearly impacts the message of the show. Now, that really is not much of a problem. There’s nothing wrong with a program advocating for a particular point of view, and in any case, Oliver is a comedian, not a journalist, as he himself will tell you.

However, sometimes he goes so far for the sake of humor, or is so one-sided, that he diminishes significantly Last Week Tonight’s utility as a source of information.

His segment last week on third parties was one of those occasions.

That segment focused on what he rightfully refers to as the most well-known third party candidates, Jill Stein of the Green Party and Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. Also, it’s worth noting that these are the only two candidates who would not have to rely on write-ins in order to win through the electoral college.

He focuses on Jill Stein first. He did a good job of explaining how it isn’t clear that Jill Stein has a clear idea of how government works, citing her contention that the President can cancel student debt through quantitative easing. As Oliver points out, that is pure nonsense. The president does not implement quantitative easing, which is a monetary policy tool used by the Federal Reserve. Secondly, it has nothing to do with student debt. He also points out how Stein, at least, tolerates fringe ideas like 9/11 trutherism and anti-vaccination theories.

However, his segment began with the contention that “she has a broadly appealing pitch,” and he lists environmental issues as one aspect of that. If he meant this in only the most open ended way, that environmental issues are popular, he is certainly correct, but Jill Stein goes well beyond advocating for them. Her solutions are quite extreme.

As only one example, her website calls climate change “the greatest threat to humanity in our history” and calls for a transition to 100 percent renewable fuel use by 2030. According to the Energy Information Administration, about 67 percent of American electricity production came from fossil fuels in 2015. If you’re thinking that means we’d only need to increase clean energy from 33 percent, think again. First of all 20

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

John Oliver’s latest skit is a reminder that his primary job isn’t to educate the public.

percent of electricity comes from nuclear, which Stein wants to ban. Also, these figures are for electricity production, not total energy production. In order to eliminate the need for fossil fuels entirely, we’d have to get rid of gas powered cars. This is not a broadly appealing pitch. This is lunacy. Oliver’s segment leaves the viewer with the impression that Stein just does not understand how government works, but it ignores the larger problem of how outside of the mainstream her ideas are in the first place.

Still, a bigger omission is him not mentioning Evan McMullin in the entire 18 minute segment. For those who don’t know, McMullin is an independent conservative candidate. Now, there are many third party candidates, and like all but Stein and Johnson, McMullin is not on the ballot in enough places to win the presidency through the electoral college. So, why is Oliver’s nonmention of him a problem? It’s

a state. In the extremely unlikely scenario that neither Trump nor Clinton win a majority in the electoral college, the House would choose between them and McMullin. Him winning in the House is also unlikely. However, he is the only person besides Trump and Clinton who even has a plausible shot at the presidency.

I’m not sure exactly why Oliver did not mention McMullin. I suspect it is primarily that McMullin does not have any of the wackiness of Stein or Johnson, so using him for a comedy segment is not as easy to do as with the others. However, considering he at least mentioned the Prohibition Party nominee, the Legal Marijuana Now Party nominee, and that he spent over a minute for independent Joe Exotic, his omission of McMullin is quite glaring.

Another omission is near the end of the segment in which he describes the race as choosing between the lesser of four evils.

“These omissions leave Oliver’s segment on third parties less informative and more one-sided than it could have been.” in part because McMullin actually has the best chance of winning anything out of all of the third party candidates.

He is polling extremely well in Utah for candidate not from one of the two major parties. He’s been above twenty percent in more than one poll. He’s been within the margin of error of Trump and Clinton. His chances of winning Utah should not be overstated. Trump is still the most likely person to win the state. However, with Utah, McMullin is the only plausible candidate besides Trump and Clinton who could win

He describes Hillary Clinton as “a hawkish, Wall Street friendly embodiment of everything that some people can’t stand about politics.” Really? That’s the way he describes Clinton?

First of all, I completely understand why some on the left describe Clinton has hawkish and Wall Street friendly. For a show hosted by a progressive and with a mostly progressive audience, that criticism is not unreasonable. However, I do hope that people keep in mind that that characterization is relative to a progressive worldview. Prior

to Donald Trump’s isolationism, I think it would be fair to say that most criticism of Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy from the right would have been for not being hawkish enough. Conservatives generally saw her as an extension of Obama’s foreign policy which they saw as too weak.

If we take Wall Street to mean favoritism for the big banks, I think many Republicans would agree that she is too Wall Street friendly. However, if one means that she’s too lax on business regulation, calling her “Wall Street friendly” is laughable from a conservative perspective. Many readers on the left are probably thinking that these labels are still accurate and that conservatives are just even crazier. I won’t try and dissuade anyone of that here. My only point is that calling her hawkish and Wall Street friendly is relative to a progressive worldview, not necessarily to the political center.

Secondly, Oliver only says that she embodies what some people hate about politics? No mention of her own lies and scandals? For reference, on September 25 he compared the scandals between the two major party nominees, and came to the conclusion that Clinton’s scandals might be larger than typical politicians’, but that they are still miniscule in comparison to Trump’s.

Fair enough, but his segment on scandals mischaracterizes some of the criticism she has received.

For instance, he mentions Benghazi and how Clinton had not been found “evidence of wrongdoing by Clinton” in regards to the attack. However, the “scandal” part of Benghazi are the allegations that Clinton (and the Obama administration more generally) framed the attack as spontaneous and blamed it on an Internet video all while knowing it was pre-planned.

He spends most of the scandal segment analyzing the email scandal, though. He makes it seem as though Clinton’s most dishonest remark was that the server was allowed. However, when he discusses how there was some classified information found on her emails, he does not mention that this information came out after Clinton had long maintained that there was no classified information. Clinton has also claimed that there was no information that was marked as classified, which is also untrue.

Furthermore, she has said that she gave all of the work related emails to the government, which is untrue as well. Her personal aids deleted thousands of emails that they deemed personal. The controversy about her emails is not just that she had it in the first place; it’s also about how she has repeatedly lied about her email server. Using the words “lying” or “scandal-plagued” would have been a far more appropriate negative description of Clinton than as being the “embodiment of what some people can’t stand about politics.”

These omissions leave Oliver’s segment on third parties less informative and more one-sided than it could have been. Of course, Oliver is a comedian and does not have a journalistic responsibility for neutrality. However, viewers should always keep in mind that when they watch Last Week Tonight, it’s a comedy show first and foremost, and a source for information second.

Robots aren’t ready to determine the news

Facebook’s formula for determining trending news will need more time and users’ help to be able to discern real news from fake in the future.

Nathan Hinkle Student Writer After Facebook’s scandal in May over their lack of conservative news in their trending section, the team of editors that previously checked stories for accuracy and helped determine its popularity were kicked out to allow a hopefully unbiased group of bots to find the most popular news stories and bring them to the public’s eye. Instead of the previous team of editors, there is now a team of engineers who work on the bots rather than the stories. However, this act has lead to a series of problems for the social media site. The trending news tab has begun to collect and show off hoax stories as real stories. The algorithm works by looking through several news stories on a specific subject and uses a sentence from one of the stories as the main headline. This main

headline shows up when people click on the word or hashtag that shows up on the trending tab. The problem is that it sometimes picks central stories that are not true but still connected to the central idea. This is a serious problem because while hoaxes and satirical stories are not inherently evil, if people believe them because of their trust in Facebook, it can cause serious issues.

An example of this is a story about Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly. In this story, it tells that Megyn Kelly has been called a “traitor” and kicked from Fox News for supporting the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. While this story was false and riddled with typos, it held the spot as one of the highest trending stories of the day for several hours. Facebook eventually got around to getting rid of this false story, but the damage had already been done. This has not been the only story to break through Facebook’s trending area, either. There was another fake story that trended on Facebook about how 9/11 being a conspiracy and how the World Trade Center was actually blown up with bombs.

The use of less than perfect bots is a problem throughout the internet. This includes websites like Youtube where video creators get their videos taken down because of fake copyright strikes that are moderated by ineffective bots. At this moment in time, it is not a good idea to rely almost entirely on bots to do the delicate work required in this very strong areas. Instead of getting rid of bias, it is creating falsehoods.

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Facebook’s algorithms aren’t yet sophisticated enough to be trusted as the sole determinant of what is newsworthy for the website’s “trending” section.

Facebook’s attempt to get rid of human bias is a noble effort but it is not effective at the moment. If the algorithm of Facebook evolves to a point where it is mostly safe from false stories, it would be a great idea to use it in place of potential bias. However at this moment in time, it is not effective

and Facebook needs to bring back humans into the mix until the technology is ready to work properly. In an attempt to help Facebook weed out these fake or satirical stories, Facebook users need to stop sharing or promoting stories that are not true.

the Collegian: 10

Variety

24 October 2016

“Hair” brings atypical production and sound to TU

TU Theatre’s recent production of “Hair” gave audiences a unique and interactive experience drenched in 1960s counterculture.

James Whisenhunt Commentary Editor

For the last two weekends, TU’s theater program has been presenting a production of “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical.” The play, set in 1968, focuses on a group of young hippies and their experiences in the heyday of their counterculture.

Saying “Hair” doesn’t have a plot would be misguided, but the lack of a concrete sequence of event progression throughout the story definitely made the play feel initially confusing. The play was instead focused on the stories of individual characters and how they’re influenced by each other and the larger culture and politics of the 1960s.

Some events, like the Vietnam War, do end up affecting the whole group of characters in some way, but the event zeroes in on character interactions.

Speaking of characters, almost every character was on stage for the entirety of the show. When a character addresses the group, everyone will listen and react with with varying levels of intensity corresponding to their character. When some characters are having more intimate conversations at the front of the stage, other characters are interacting casually further back on the stage.

This helps the stage feel dynamic and drives home the “tribe” aspect of the play. When larger events involve the whole cast, it feels more powerful because they’ve spent the whole play interacting and living together.

The tribal aspect of the play also expresses itself in the music and costumes. Because the whole cast is on stage at most times,

The performance, like its protagonists, strayed from convention in a variety of interesting ways.

they also participate in the songs, helping the music feel grandiose. Often, one person or a small group of people will lead, but the rest of the cast provides strong backing for the soloist. The music also manages to feel very reminiscent of popular music styles in the 1960s. Everything from rock to soul to funk is represented, making the play feel like a representation of the full musical span of the decade.

The costumes for the cast ranged from free flowing dresses and unbuttoned buttonup shirts to one character wearing little other than a leather thong. These atypical designs emphasize the importance of freedom to the characters, who are happy to point out their clothes, as well as their hair. Each character wears long or large natural hair, often a focal point for the play. There are major songs

dedicated to hair and the freedom from society it brings, and hair being cut represents a complete loss of individuality for characters.

When a character does leave the stage, they often come back in a costume representing some authority figure, like a teacher or parent, and pretend to criticize the members of the tribe for their choices. This helped establish the ideologies of the tribe members without awkwardly having them explain their beliefs to each other. These new outsider characters would often enter from behind the audience or a high platform on stage left, drawing the audience’s attention to many different areas of the stage and keeping them on their toes.

The cast also interacted with the audience directly at many points. During the first

photo by John Lew

song, singers quickly rattle off questions to audience members in the front row, and the whole cast exited at the end of the first act by giving the audience flyers to the characters’ “be-in” protest staged in the second act.

During songs, the walls above and around the stage were covered in projections, which were sometimes complementary and sometimes distracting. They were mostly used as a background element, but occasionally the emphasis on shifting color and some simple graphics (such as a series of music notes or a peace sign on the back wall) felt unnecessary.

This didn’t largely retract from the immersiveness of the play, or it’s excellent level of audience engagement. “Hair” felt intelligently staged, unique and fun for its viewers and its cast.

Oktoberfest drunkenly totters through Tulsa once again Tulsa’s most recent Oktoberfest sticks to its annual promise of blending German culture and drunken revelry.

Mason Whitehorn Powell Student Writer Having kicked off with “corporate night” on Wednesday, this year’s Oktoberfest opened to the general public on Thursday and ran through Sunday night. Just east of downtown, the bierfest takes place in tents near the Arkansas River, where women in dirndls and men in lederhosen wander among Tulsa’s young and old. For those who haven’t been, it works like this: you purchase a ticket and optional stein (liter or ½ liter) at the gate, and inside you buy food

and drink tickets to exchange with vendors.

It’s an expensive outing, but for any lover of beer, sausage, music, Germany, crowds or dancing on tables, the price is worth it.

After making it through the gate and filling our steins, my friend and I happened upon a performance of Das Glockenspiel.

Four men in blue cloaks and sunglasses

wound with rubber around each leg, and over each man’s groin a frying pan dangled.

As they dipped from left to right, the ladles would swing up and audibly strike the pans.

In turn, they stoically retreated into their cloaks. People cheered; it was comical and weird.

In almost every tend a band was perform-

“For any lover of beer, sausage, music, Germany, crowds or dancing on tables, the price is worth it” were standing on a platform above the Jägermeister bar, swaying back and forth to a German song I wish I knew the name of.

At the song’s chorus the men would open their robes, scantily clad underneath, and in succession dip and spread their legs. Between their knees dangled a wooden ladle

ing. It was mainly Bavarian-sounding music that the bold and intoxicated danced to, but I also heard eurotechno, bluegrass and local bands, among other performances. Food trucks and tents lined the main causeway, offering bratwurst, Reubens, pretzels, pizza, potatoes, cheesecake and other German —

Homecoming week continued with the street painting contest on Tuesday (left) and a Casino Night in ACAC on Thursday (right).

or fair — like foods. I went with the sausage plate and my friend with the Rueben.

Something I didn’t take part in, though I secretly wanted to, were the rides. I wanted to ride the Ferris wheel; how often do you get a bird’s eye view of the river and downtown at night with a beer in hand? I couldn’t see myself climbing into the closed looptyloop thing, or any ride that spun, after having two liters of beer and a sausage plate.

Alas, we were out of tickets and it was closing time, so we wandered towards the gate among merchants selling gemstones, jewelry, clothes and other ephemera. We ran into some friends along the way and safely carpooled back home with our novelty steins in hand.

You’ll have to wait another year for the merriment to return, but you could hold over as the year winds down with a visit to Fassler Hall, or a viewing of “The Sound of Music,” I guess.

photos by Dalton Stewart

Variety

24 October 2016

the Collegian: 11

TU’s 2016 Homecoming: ReignCane reminisces

photo by Dalton Stewart

Students, parents and alumni alike gather around the annual bonfire held on the Old U in front of McFarlin Library.

The Color Run returns to campus in vibrant hues

TU Color Run, a throwback event for this year’s homecoming week, proved its worth in entertainment and school spirit.

Hannah Kloppenburg Editor-In-Chief

Last Monday’s homecoming event was the TU Color Run, a repeat event from 2014. I attended the original TU Color Run as a freshman and really enjoyed it, so I was pleased to see that the event would be returning as part of the #ReignCane throwback theme this year. Besides a slight delay in the start of the race and a shortage of homecoming t-shirts, I wasn’t disappointed.

When I arrived at 6:30 pm, the check-in starting time, the line of students stretched across Harwell

and was beginning to sprawl towards sorority row. Unfortunately, the line took much longer than expected to get through. My friends and I stood in line for about half an hour before we were anywhere close to the front. Around 7:05 pm, the process was greatly sped up by SA members making their way down the line to scan people in (rather than trying to scan students in at the front table).

This resulted in the race, already scheduled close to sunset, beginning 15 or 20 minutes after the intended starting time. While this wasn’t a huge deal in terms of time commitment, it did mean that we finished the race in the dark. A lot of the fun of Color Run is getting to take cute, colorful pictures with friends after the event, and this was hindered by the fact that the ending point, Harwell Field, had its usual dim lighting. If the Color

Run returns in the future (and I hope it does), I think it would be more effective to hold it a little earlier in the evening during daylight hours, as it was in 2014.

Speaking of which, here’s a quick #ReignCane throwback to my freshman year: Although the color portion of the race was a lot of fun, I decided to run despite having not participated in cross country or worked out in nearly a year, and the result was that I nearly choked to death on colored powder as I gasped my way through the short course. This year I was lucky enough to participate with some like-minded friends who wanted to turn the Color Run into a nice Color Stroll. This greatly improved the experience for me.

However, throughout the course of the race we were lapped by many Color Runners who were obviously more invested in the competi-

tive outcome of the race than we were. I liked that the race was accessible to everyone regardless of athletic ability, seeing these more competitive runners alongside those who were happy to walk the race with friends.

Though I was one of the first 200 students to register, meaning that I received a TU Color Run tshirt, I heard some people express disappointment that they weren’t able to get a t-shirt despite having registered fairly early. With the popularity of the Color Run and the amount of students that ultimately showed up, I can understand that it would be difficult to hand them out to more than a couple hundred students. The shirts (which mimicked the design of official Color Run shirts) were well designed and I was excited to have gotten one. Less exciting was the fact that I waited in the

homecoming shirt line for quite a while only to find that there were no smalls, mediums or larges left (an issue which repeated itself at a few other homecoming events I attended).

Despite minor issues with execution, TU Color Run was one of my favorite homecoming events this year, as it was when I was a freshman. It’s a classic, fun event — everyone can get behind walking or running through rainbow clouds and then getting to pelt their friends with colors at the end of the race. As I mentioned before, I hope the Color Run is repeated at future homecomings. If not homecoming, I feel as though it could fit well with other campus events and festivals like Springfest. It’s universally fun, uplifting and allaround a great way to let loose for an hourboost school spirit.

photos by Dalton Stewart

While some students chose to compete in the Color Run and others walked, all finished the run at Harwell Field, where despite its dim lighting, the vibrant colors made for some spectacular images.

24 October 2016

The State-Run Media

the

State-Run media Candy corn apologists since 1952

Students take politics purity pledge

Students have begun to make pledges to never talk politics with future spouses in order to cut down on interpartisan strife.

Sam Beckmann Wishes he had someone to take the pledge with The latest craze among college students around the nation is to take a “politics purity pledge” with their significant other. The pledge is a commitment between the lovers to not bring up politics until after they are married or have broken up.

The pledge, which is usually accompanied with an exchange of sapphire and rubyencrusted rings, marks a significant point in the young couple’s lives.

It goes down among memorable moments in the relationship such as a first kiss, a marriage proposal, and the first time the couple

handcuffs each other to bed and loses the key, resulting in an awkward three hours of waiting for a roommate to get home.

We talked to Alex, a sophomore psychology major who recently took the pledge. “It’s really exciting,” he told the State-Run Media, “For the entire dating, engagement and wedding-planning process I don’t need to think once about whether or not my girlfriend has radically different values than me. I mean, sure, the rest of our lives might be wrought with huge arguments about political issues, resulting in neither of us ever achieving true happiness, but isn’t that worth it for a little peace and quiet this election cycle?”

Not everyone is a fan of the pledge, however. Many political leaders have gone on the record with their distaste for the pledge, saying how important it is for young people to get involved with politics. “We haven’t even been seeing relationships holding together after these pledges,” said sociology professor Alton Ulrich. “It’s almost like keeping young people in the dark about something won’t protect them from it.”

This fire is OK, but think how much better it would be if it spread across the field.

photo by Dalton Stewart

Homecoming bonfire good, not great, says local arsonist

Feeling that none of our own staff had the experience to properly review the Homecoming Bonfire, the State-Run Media sought out a local arsonist for his educated opinion on the blaze.

Sam Beckmann Fire enthusiast

TU’s bonfire had all the basics down — the fuel source was stable, it had proper ventilation, and it generated plenty of heat, but it fell short of creating a truly memorable experience for those present.

Most great arsons — you know, the ones they make documentaries about years later — have a schtick that sets them apart. Maybe it’s a unique starter, such as using the arsonist’s own clothes as a wick, or a twist in the investigation, where the arson investigator was actually the one who started the fire!

It doesn’t matter exactly what the schtick is, but to make a fire for the ages, you need to do something more than just throwing some gasoline and a lighter down. With the number of people gathered around the homecoming blaze, I think a well-timed fireball to end the night could have significantly improved

the experience.

The bonfire was not without its highlights, however. Rarely does an arson get as many attendees as this one, and there truly was a special moment when the fire first came ablaze, and all the bystanders had to take several steps back.

TU’s bonfire certainly wasn’t perfect, and if they want to become a household name among arsonists they have a lot of work to do, but the performance Friday night showed a strong understanding of what people want out of a fire and a dedication to spending necessary resources to make truly inspiring acts of arson.

Top 5 couples costumes, according to exes Students have found themselves unable to speak their minds–but relationship stability is worth it.

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Scientists discover immortality, but Trump tweeted something

When scientists recently made a major breakthrough that will change medicine forever, the only thing that got headlines was Trump’s latest tweet.

Sam Beckmann Gets push notifications from @realdonaldtrump In a momentous discovery earlier this week, a group of scientists at CERN have cracked the puzzle of immortality. The shocking research indicates a simple chemical compound can be used to stop the aging process in humans. The report of this discovery was displayed on the front page of the CNN website for 4 minutes and 27 seconds before Donald Trump tweeted the following:

away from them,” an anonymous CNN staffer named Rick Yellman told the State-Run Media, “but they have to realize this is an election season. If they wanted more press attention, they should have considered discovering immortality some other time. We’ll be really hurting for stories for a couple weeks in late November.”

According to our sources, some higher-ups at CNN felt less remorse. After over 4 consecutive minutes without a political story, the situation was getting desperate. For them, Trump’s tweet came just in time, before they had to throw together a quick panel and electoral map, or maybe even a data visualization to cover the front page.

A press spokesperson told us the scientists “may get an extra minute or two up there, depending on how the rest of the day plays out.” At

When you break up the day before Halloween, it’s hard to find new costumes in time.

Get ready to put off breaking up with your significant other to pull off one of these couples costumes, and then continue that trend for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, until eventually you marry them unhappily.

Sarah Odom Waiting until marriage to date

graphic by Sam Chott

Although there was nothing of particular note in this tweet, as it was just standard post-rally social media, CNN executives were in unanimous agreement that this tweet was more important to put on the front page than the scientists’ discovery.

“You know, I really felt bad for the scientists, taking the front page

press time, however, Hillary Clinton has replied to the tweet, which likely has taken away any shot immortality had of reaching the front page. The spokesperson also said they plan to make immortality “a nice feature, maybe with a pointcounterpoint” buried in the bunch of links on the side that nobody ever clicks on.

the horse’s head, and the back one is Putin. It was suggested by Joann James, who broke up with her girlfriend because “She wanted me to be the horse head. I practiced for hours to be Putin! Oh, and I guess because we never went on dates and both liked other people but the Putin thing was like, reason number one!”

Couples costume: they’re sometimes cute, sometimes embarrassing and sometimes a bit of a bummer if you just broke up. If you’re not single, you might be looking for a couples costume for yourself. Here are the five best couples costumes we found by surveying people who had recently had a break up.

4. Romeo and Juliet: This costume reminds everyone of that classic love story, and ensures your relationship will last forever, or until one of you moves away.

Marcus Crenshaw suggested this, saying “I was dedicated to this one, ok Maria?! If you’re reading this, I want you to know I’m already doing great! I’m not too dedicated to acting to make a relationship work, I’m not ignoring the underlying themes! They’re meant to be!

5. Vladimir Putin and a horse: This costume features a two-piece horse costume with legs dangling off the sides. The front person is

3. Spock and Kirk: A classic among nerds, this costume came from Simon Smith, who complained that, “I broke up with my

graphic by Elias Brinkman

boyfriend last week but then earlier today I thought that I should be Spock for Halloween, but then I remembered that I had no one to be Kirk. If I had thought about it earlier I would have waited till November 1st.”

2. Han and Leia (but in the new movies, where they’re old): This cute costume idea is perfect for couples who can imagine growing old together. It came from Charlie King, who said, “Yeah, we broke up like two weeks ago, but I think I’m going to ask if we can pretend to get together to do the costume.

Going alone would just make me third act Leia and that’s too sad.”

1. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich: This is a cute, harmless costume that’s sure to show you’ll stick together. Sadly, Erinn Aaron broke up with her boyfriend. She told us, “Yeah, I suggested that, but he insisted we be Raggedy Ann and Andy because he liked them growing up. They’re brother and sister.”