26 September 2016

september 26, 2016 issue 5 ~ volume 102

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

TU Interfaith Tour brings religious awareness to students

TU Interfaith Tour brought together students and officials of many different faiths to understand each other’s religions and advocate for coexistence.

James Whisenhunt Commentary Editor

Last Saturday, Student Association and Malaysian Student Association hosted the TU Interfaith Tour. A group of around 45 students and representatives from various organizations went to different religious buildings on campus, learning about the ideologies practiced there and the importance of tolerance.

The event started in Sharp Chapel, with SA Chair of Multiculturalism and Diversity Kyla Sloan and TU Vice President for Diversity and Engagement Jacqueline Caldwell giving opening statements. They took time to thank students for attending, and reminded them to be respectful of others and that they need not participate in practices they feel uncomfortable in.

After the introductions, the event began with a presentation on Judaism. Andrew Spector, with Hillel of Northeastern Oklahoma, and Lilly Kopita, TU student and President of University of Tulsa Hillel, gave an explanation of the Shabbat (their weekly day of rest) and the importance of the idea of selflessness in Judaism. Kopita and Spector then presented their personal stories of their lives with Judaism, the latter giving an impassioned spoken word poem he wrote in Israel.

After the personal stories were accounted, Kopita and Spector gave the audience what they called a “mini-Shabbat experience.”

They walked students through the process of lighting candles and partaking of wine (or grape juice, in this case) and bread on the evening of Shabbat. After the presentation ended, Sloan awarded the Hillel group with a plaque thanking them for their commitment to bridging cultures and promoting religious understanding.

After learning about Judaism, there was a short presentation on Hinduism. It began with listening to a section of “Ekadantaya Vakratundaya,” an example of carnatic

music by Shankar Mahadevan. This genre originated in India and is known for its elaborate scales and rhythms. Afterwards, the presenters discussed the major tenets of Hinduism and showed a video detailing the 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the religion’s major texts. This section of the tour felt a bit rushed, as it didn’t go into nearly as much depth as other sections, or have a Q&A session. It felt much more like a rushed lecture than a conversation.

After the presentation on Hinduism, students walked to the University United Methodist Church to speak with a variety of members and staff, including TU student and Director of Youth Ministries Josie Worthington. The presentation featured a description of the four sides of “the Methodist quadrilateral” (scripture, tradition, experience, and reason), as well as a video slideshow of the UUMC’s annual and recent events.

The Methodist group seemed to have the longest timeslot for their session, as they went into a fairly lengthy Q&A session.

This included a full runthrough of a standard Sunday service and a description of the building’s beautiful stained-glass windows.

The event concluded with UUMC staff, as well as Sloan and Malaysian Student Association President Reeza Rosnan, leading the students in singing “Let There Be Peace On Earth.” This hymn was particularly fitting, they noted, as last Wednesday, September 21, was the International Day of Peace.

After the conclusion of the Methodist segment of the tour, students walked to the TU Catholic Newman Center. This demonstration was the most literal of the tour, with the Chaplain, Father Brian Ketterer, taking students through a shortened and explained version of what they would experience at a typical Sunday mass. This included many students participating in prayers and songs, with an accompanying piano performance from TU student Jacob Schwartz.

After the condensed runthrough, Father Ketterer broke down his typical mass and emphasized how many points were centered around peace for all, expressing a desire for the love and safety of the church to go out into the rest of the world. Afterwards, there was a fairly lengthy Q&A session where Father Ketterer addressed topics like sainthood, the significance of praying five times a day and exorcism.

After the Newman Center finished their portion of the tour, students went to their final stop at the University Mosque. Women were offered hijabs before entering, and students were asked to remove their shoes in the first room before going any further.

When entering the room, the men were asked to sit in front of the women (the reason given was that worship involves a lot of movement and seeing women bending over may distract men from focusing on their worship).

The session began with a reading of a section of the Quran in Arabic, with English translations projected on a wall beside the reader. Afterwards, a presentation was given on the major ideological concepts of Islam and debunking misconceptions about the religion, such as all Muslims residing in the Middle-East.

After the presentation was an example of prayer sung by TU student Danish Zuhaidi. The session ended with a Q&A, that was tragically short due to time constraints. This was especially disappointing because, at least for me and I assume for others, Islam was the religion I knew the least about. Thankfully, the Q&A session was allowed to go a few minutes over and a couple more questions were answered during the lunch held at the Newman Center. I still felt the section was unfortunately short, given how important Islam is in current political rhetoric and how much disagreement there is on whether it is an inherently violent belief.

Despite some issues with timing, I learned a lot from the TU Interfaith Tour.

As someone whose religious experiences included an incredibly biased Bible History class in high school and becoming an ordained minister online, there were beliefs presented in this tour that I had never come in contact with before coming to TU. One of the questions on the evaluation sheet for

the event was “Should this become an annual event?” and I definitely think it should.

This tour allows students to gain precious religious perspective, encourages questions and conversation, and focuses on an overall ability for all to coexist.

a twice-elected prime minister at that. Rabin in His Own Words is the story of a politician trying to lead his country toward peace, only to instead become the target of violence. As the title impl, it is a documentary that uses almost no narration outside of Yitzhak’s voice, taken from interviews and other media recorded prior to his death in 1995.

If anyone can assess the accuracy of the film, it might be Yuval Rabin, the Prime Minister’s only son. Yuval himself came to Tulsa’s nonprofit theater Circle Cinema as part of the 3rd Annual Oklahoma Jewish Film Festival. In addition to a Q&A after a

showing of the film last Friday, Circle Cinema was generous enough to offer me a brief interview the morning of the premiere.

My first question addressed how trueto-life the film was. Despite its unique approach, the film could still distort Yitzhak Rabin’s image, simply by including contextless recordings, or perhaps leaving out a few key events in the Prime Minister’s career.

According to Yuval, this was not the case.

Speaking for himself, in fact, Yuval praised the methodology behind the film, calling it the most “hi-fi biography (he’d) ever seen.”

It is something unique to watch a man’s

life as he himself might summarize it. In the documentary, Yitzhak Rabin speaks humbly of accomplishments which have gained him high praise. He elaborates little on his military accomplishments, and of his time as both a prime minister and as a diplomat to the United States, he seems to have a clear perception of both his successes and his failings. “My father was not an idealist, romanticist; he was pragmatic.” According to Yuval his career was one characterized by, “A very hardline pursuit of security and stability for the country. He knew its limitations.

SEE YUVAL RABIN PG 2

Despite changes, female incarceration rates have continued to rise since 2012, and are now double the national average.

its annual report that the state has continued to rank highest in female incarceration. In 2014, the US female incarceration rate was 65 out of every 100,000. In Oklahoma, at the same time, it was 142 out of every 100,000 women, the highest in the nation.

Between counties, female incarceration rates did differ. Tulsa county sent 24 percent fewer women, and 15 percent fewer men, to prison than in 2015. In Oklahoma county, 33 percent more women and 5 percent more men were sent to prison over 2016 than in 2015. Other counties sent 10 percent more women to prison comparing 2016 to 2015.

According to data from the 2013 final report, women in Oklahoma tend to be incarcerated for drug related charges. 52.6 percent were in for drug trafficking or possession. This trend repeats itself across the years. Furthermore, 76.7 percent of women were incarcerated for “non-violent charges.”

SEE WOMEN IN PRISON PG 4

photo by James Whisenhunt

New film captures life and career of Israeli PM With the release of a revolutionary new documentary on his father’s life and career, Yuval Rabin reflects on the nature of leadership and politics around the world.

Trenton Gibbons Variety Editor “I think that life in Israel is sometimes bigger than the movies,” Yitzhak Rabin says, and the irony is that a documentary was able to breathe life into an Israeli, and

Unarmed black man Female incarceration rate shot by TPD officer continues to increase 40-year old Terence Crutcher was shot by Officer Betty Shelby, prompting protest and outrage.

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer

Last Friday, the nation was rocked with another fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man, as 40-year-old Terence Crutcher was shot in front of his stalled car in the middle of 36th Street North and Lewis Avenue in Tulsa, OK. He died of the gunshot wound the next day. Graphic footage from both the dashboard camera of a police officer’s patrol car and a helicopter above the scene show Crutcher walking towards his car and away from the officers with his hands in the air. As he approached the driver’s side window, he appeared to lower his hands and reach towards the window, when he was fatally fired upon by one of the officers at the scene (another employed a taser).

Though many of the facts are still forthcoming as the incident is being investigated by federal, state, and local authorities, outrage over the seemingly unjustified slaying has been nearly universal, with thousands across the country using the BlackLivesMatter hashtag on social media to demand justice for Crutcher and an end to alleged racism in law enforcement.

In Tulsa, the past week has been marked by protests, demonstrations and vigils in Crutcher’s honor. We The People Oklahoma, a social activism group focused chiefly on ending racial discrimination, held a peaceful rally on Tuesday outside the Tulsa Police Department where speakers implored the several hundred attendees to take action in order to achieve justice. Particular emphasis was placed on community policing and the forming of a police force more representative of the demographics of its constituents.

SEE TERENCE CRUTCHER PG 4

Michaela Flonard News Editor

In the 2016 fiscal year, Oklahoma sent more women to prison than in 2015. According to the recently released annual report by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections obtained by Oklahoma Watch Foundation, the number of women sent to prison increased by 9.5 percent, from 1,593, to 1,744 in 2016. In contrast, the number of men sent to prison decreased from 2015 by about 1 percent.

This trend is nothing new for the state.

Since 2012, incarceration rates for women have continued to increase, causing the Department of Corrections to acknowledge in

the Collegian: 2

Variety

26 September 2016

TU alum Rilla Askew elaborates on her writing career

TU alum and author Rilla Askew discusses the inspiration of and processes behind her writings.

Mason Whitehorn Powell Student Writer Rilla Askew was born in southeastern Oklahoma, a fifth generation descendant of southerners who settled in the Choctaw Nation in the late 1800’s. After graduating from the University of Tulsa with a BFA in a theater performance in 1980, she moved to New York where she received a creative writing MFA from Brooklyn College. She is the author of four novels and a collection of stories.

It was apparent from her first novel, The Mercy Seat, that her fiction combine social consciousness with historical realism, depictive setting, and strong characters. Her second novel, Fire in Beulah, centers around the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, and shed light on an American tragedy largely ignored for 77 years. In 2009, Askew received an Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her latest novel, Kind of Kin, is about the family-fracturing consequences of Oklahoma immigration laws.

Our interview was conducted for the Creative Writing Major launch, where Askew was invited to give a reading and speak on September 24, alongside Tulsa authors Bunjamin Lytal, Trudy Lewis, Katie Rain Hill, Vu Tran, and Eilis O’Neal. Interviews with Lytal, Lewis, and Tran can be found on the University of Tulsa English department webpage.

Mason Whitehorn Powell: Some of your novels are connected to very specific places and issues. Do you have a process of settling on a specific topic or set of characters for a book?

Rilla Askew: I’m passionate about a lot of things—human rights issues, social justice issues, the power of place, Oklahoma itself, race in America, its woundedness and complexities and pain—and there’s no dearth of ways to write or talk about these subjects: blog posts, social media, short stories and essays. But how such elements present themselves with sufficient force as to become the subject for a novel, well, for me it happens organically and, really, a bit mysteriously. The issue more or less jumps into my head and says, Okay, this is going From Yuval Rabin on front page One of many conflicts within the film that remains relevant today is that of Israel’s settlements in occupied territory, which the international community today considers illegal. Only a day before our interview, President Obama voiced his concern that the settlements were an obstruction to peace between Israel and Palestine. Like his father, Yuval agreed, emphasizing also Israel’s own inability to maintain the settlements. “What price are you willing to pay to sustain the settlements? Are you willing to give up education, healthcare, security? We were neglecting our internal issues in favor of sustaining these settlements that the world does not accept. No US administration will ever support these settlements. In that way, it is a bipartisan issue here.”

Rabin recently made national news when he related America’s current political climate, in which he sees hateful speech on the rise, to the environment that killed his father.

In our interview, he clarified that he was not trying to make a political statement. “I just wanted to raise a flag from personal experience.” Yuval Rabin’s father was assassinated by an Israeli extremist who opposed his push for peace with Palestine. The man might have acted alone but he came “from an environment that encouraged demonization.” The film does not waver in depicting this demonizing of Yitzhak Rabin. Footage shows mobs of Israeli citizens chant for his death, proclaiming him a traitor to Zionism and his people as a whole. “Self restraint is the key,” Yuval Rabin says. “Circumstances are controlled by the leadership. Its up to the leadership to restrain itself.” With regards to the 2016 election, Yuval says that, “Winning is important but there may be unintended consequences to your words. All it takes is one individual to misunderstand a message or envision an imaginary perception of the world that justifies taking extreme action.”

When asked how extremism had become so prevalent in the middle east, Rabin said that “signing of Oslo continues to express itself in terrorism… 26 years from that signing, how much has Palestine and the PLO achieved through negotiation and how much have they achieved through violence?” He cited the Gilad Shalit Prisoner Exchange, in which 1 Israeli soldier was freed from captivity from the fundamentalist organization Hamas, who in turn received 1,027 of

to be your next novel. It’s always the issue first, long before story or character, that inspires the work: racial violence in early day Oklahoma in Fire in Beulah, the homeless and dispossessed during the Great Depression in Harpsong, Oklahoma’s anti-illegal immigration laws in Kind of Kin. Even The Mercy Seat began with my desire to write about the Tulsa Race Riot, though the book took its own turning and became a different novel than the one I’d set out to write, as sometimes happens. Once I know the subject and the place, I have to wait for a voice, a rhythm, a character to tell me the story— or rather I should say, to begin the story, because, for me, the voices and points of view will change throughout the novel. I’ve never yet written a novel in a single point of view, one voice, though I hope to manage that one of these days. But, with each of my novels, I’d already been passionate about the subject matter long before the notion to write a novel about it jumped into my mind.

MWP: Your writing seems to deal partly with your observations of Oklahoma, and Americans, while also being highly imaginative and historically realistic. How do you balance the historic research and imagination that goes into your writing?

RA: Once I know the subject and the era, I start the research, because I have to know enough about how people lived then—what they ate, how they dressed, what they saw on the horizon—before I can begin to dream the story awake. Even after the voices and the characters have begun to talk to me, I read and read and read and read, and then I write and read and write and read, alternating between the two on a day by day basis.

Once the writing process is launched, it’s a simultaneous endeavor. I can’t do all the research ahead of time, because I’d likely forget all I know, and I’d know too much, in any case—thousands of things that would never go into the book—and I’d know it from too many conflicting sources. I can’t know what I need to know until I get to a place in the novel where the story demands that I have knowledge of, for instance, the brand names of automobiles that would have been driven in 1921 Tulsa or how a family in a covered wagon would cross the Mississippi River in 1887. In short: I research just enough to know the basics of what happened and to be able to see and hear and smell the time and place, and then I write enough to know what else I need to know, and then I research that, and then write some more, back and forth, back and forth. their own members from prison. “They have achieved quite a bit through violence.” This, Yuval argued, revived Hamas and jihadism, creating chaos in much of the Middle East.

But “chaos creates opportunities, sometimes good. Risks are targeting not just the Middle East but the West as well. This means possible joint opportunities with US support to conduct the war on terror.” Ultimately, Yuval said, “The responsibility of leadership is to secure a safe environment for citizens.

Peace in the Middle East is the responsibility of Middle Eastern leaders.” After this statement earned applause at the Q&A, he chuckled. “Of course, help is accepted if it comes in the form of billions of dollars.”

One of my questions asked in what ways Yuval Rabin might’ve tried to emulate his father in his own life. “Ooph,” he laughed, “that is a tough one… When I was growing up, there was not a set of expectations that were drawn for me to be what he was or wasn’t. The expectations were quite simple: be happy with yourself. That was pretty much the message. For the first 40 years of my life I didn’t get involved in any of the things he was doing, whether that be politics or military. I had to take on a new attitude and focus in my life after the November 4th 1995 assassination. I never looked at it as emulating.” Today, Yuval splits his time between profit and nonprofit, investing in the software industry and supporting the Israeli peace initiative.

As for the film, Rabin in His Own Words is an excellent documentary. It benefits from following the life of a practical man struggling with impractical forces, but really sets itself apart from other documentaries in the way it tells its story. By allowing Yitzhak Rabin to describe himself, the film establishes itself as one of the most sincere biographies I’ve ever witnessed. It’s one thing to hear others describe the plight of an icon. Its another to hear him recount the frustration he felt when labeled as a traitor, the exhaustion after days of negotiation, or the happiness that overtook him when an audience of Israeli citizens welcomed him with thunderous applause.

“I think that life in Israel is sometimes bigger than the movies,” Yitzhak tells an audience of filmmakers. “I’ve served many roles, but I’ve never been an actor.” It is for precisely this reason that “Rabin in His Own Words” succeeds.

MWP: Today, there’s plenty of practical advice available for aspiring writers; that sort of question is like beating a dead horse.

Was there a single moment in your own life when you fully committed to writing fiction?

RA: I was sitting at the bar in a Manhattan restaurant called JR’s one night talking with my husband about whether or not to quit acting. This would have been sometime in the mid-1980’s I’d moved to New York to become an actress, but within a couple of years I began also writing—first plays and then fiction. I had continued to study acting, but increasingly my time and inner energy went into writing fiction. Still, I couldn’t let go of that other dream—in part because of pride (that’s what I set out to do!) and in part because of fear of failure (what if I can’t really do it?). I went back and forth I don’t know how many times that night, debating the pros and cons, pondering the what-ifs.

Throughout, my husband listened, nodded encouragement, said, “Whatever you need to do. But you know, you really can write.”

Along about last call I made that wrenching decision. I announced to him, to myself, and, metaphorically, to the world, that I would no longer act but would concentrate all my creative energies on becoming a writer. I’ve never regretted that moment, never looked back. I think in my heart I knew I was a writer, but it took the affirmation of an external voice, saying, “You know, you really can write,” to allow me to make the leap.

MWP: The Mercy Seat and Fire in Beulah—about westward expansion, and the Tulsa Race Riots, respectively—each explore romanticized or overlooked historic events. What draws you to issues such as these, and why is it important to tell these kinds of stories?

RA: As I mentioned earlier, I’m passionate about a lot of things, and one of those is telling the truth of our history. The truth of our nation’s past is violent, ugly, and harsh—and so is the truth of our present. As a writer I strive to be clear-eyed and forthright about the past and to bear witness to the truth about the present as it has been foreordained by that unacknowledged past.

One is not separate from the other. We tell ourselves a lot of lies in this country about who we are and who we have been, and we don’t acknowledge—or, to be more specific, I should say too many of us in the dominant culture don’t acknowledge—the truth that this country was founded in genocide and

slavery. We’re educated to a sanitized, mythologized version of who we are and who we have been. But without telling the truth about that, we’ll never mature as a people, never heal the wounds that are at the very core of who we are. I think one of the best ways to do that is to render it in fiction— the beautiful lie that tells the truth. For me the biggest challenge is not just how to desanitize our sanitized history but how to see it through the eyes of characters born and bred of that age, without the overlay of political correctness born of our current age.

Using the common language of the era is tough, but enough research and imaginative projection and courage have to go into the work for me to be able to try to speak as the people of that age would speak, think as they would think, just as I have to put the characters in authentic clothes and offer them the actual technologies and conveyances of their own era. I have to avoid being squeamish about the past, just as I mustn’t blink at the present.

MWP: Your narratives have a spiritual component, sometimes symbolical, other times up-front. How does spirituality find its way among your words?

RA: I grew up strongly Southern Baptist here in Oklahoma. The understanding that the invisible world—the realm of the spirit—underlies all visible reality is so deeply embedded in me that I can’t separate it from my work, any more than I can separate it from my understanding of the world. Spiritual principles fascinate me in just the way that the social justice issues I mentioned earlier concern me on a deep level. They drive my understanding of what it means to be human, and so naturally such elements are laced all through my work. Even when I’m striving for a kind of gritty realism, that invisible realm is going to show up.

By spiritual principles, I don’t mean only within Christianity but such principles in other religious and cultural worldviews as well. But I was raised on the King James Bible, and so the lyricism of that great Jacobean language, and the sense that stories are what carry the meanings of spiritual truths, are also encoded in me, so that I can’t not write about the spirit—not as a polemic, not to offer any answers, and certainly not to promulgate any particular spiritual worldview, but to explore the mystery, to ask the questions that are, to me, the most important questions to be asked.

courtesy Gilcrease Museum

Gilcrease’s Jazz Night a casual, comfortable affair At the center of the performance was the band Western Swingabilly Jazz Tribe.

Gilcrease Museum’s monthly Jazz Night proves a pleasant meetup for both experienced and budding jazz enthusiatsts.

Claudia Conaway Student Writer

On Tuesday, September 20th, Gilcrease Museum was home to a night of live jazz and good food. The Jazz Night was centered on a performance by the Western Swingabilly Jazz Tribe, who can usually be found playing at various venues around Tulsa.

The players introduced themselves as Mike Cameron on clarinet and tenor sax, Shelby Eicher on violin, Scott McQuade on accordion, Sean Al-Jibouri on guitar and Dean Demerritt on upright bass. After introductions were made and listeners had gotten their drinks from the cash bar in the room, the group played a series of “gypsy jazz” songs. The setlist included songs by Jimmy Giuffre, Hank Williams and other beloved songwriters. I wasn’t sure what was being played most of the time, being a newbie to “swingabilly” music, but I enjoyed the passion and the talent possessed by the players nevertheless. There was never a moment where the band didn’t look like they were doing what they loved to do most.

The audience seemed to be equally enthralled with the performance as they were with the casual conversations held at every table. I learned from a regular of these jazz nights that Gilcrease holds performances such as this one about once a month and professional swing dancers sometimes stop by to give a performance. This night, there were no professional dancers to be seen, but one particularly bold couple stood up about 5 songs in to give us an amateur taste of swing. They danced as if they were in their own living room, and the jazz players grinned and played with even more energy.

To the regulars, Jazz Night seemed to be not only a concert but a gathering place for likeminded folks.

The jazz show was performed in the Vista Room and was free to get into with museum entrance. The optional buffet was hosted by the Gilcrease’s own restaurant and cost $8.

I tried a little bit of everything from the buffet and enjoyed it all, but I especially recommend trying the bourbon bread pudding.

The show lasted from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and the art rooms in the museum stayed open until 8 for those wanting to do a little meandering before going home. Whether you’re an experienced jazz fan or you’re not sure what “swingabilly” even means, these jazz nights at Gilcrease seem to be a place where anyone can come and unwind.

26 September 2016

Variety

the Collegian: 3

Gypsy hosts open mic night “Best of Enemies” not quite historical edu-tainment

Gypsy Coffeehouse’s weekly open mic night gives local musicians the chance to play original work for a live audience.

Hannah Kloppenburg Editor-in-Chief

The Gypsy Coffee House, nestled comfortably in between Guthrie Green and the Drillers Stadium, is definitely haunted. Or at least that’s what the photos on their website insinuate — along with standard images of the coffee house’s decor and drink offerings are a couple photos in which hazy white figures can be seen.

I didn’t see any ghosts when I visited last Tuesday night, but I did get the idea that I might if the hustle and bustle of the Gypsy’s weekly Open Mic Night died down and I were left alone in the darkened restaurant.

As it was, the Gypsy was poppin’ at 7PM last Tuesday. The diverse assortment of people filling nearly every seat in the house seemed to coordinate nicely with the Gypsy’s eclectic decor. It consisted of exposed brick walls, black lights, a cosmicthemed mural on one ceiling, curtains in a side room that appeared to be made out of an old green parachute, hanging tapestries, an assortment of mismatched sofas, stained glass windows, purple Christmas lights, and oddly shaped mirrors dotting the walls. A lot of the decor had a vintage look, adding to the venue’s slightly spooky vibe.

I asked if they had tea and the friendly barista presented me with a menu card of about 50 different tea options (and I’m only exaggerating a little bit when I say that). I finally settled on jasmine tea and was given a small mug and a personal teapot, which I precariously balanced on a tiny ceramic table as I settled into a sofa facing the “stage.”

There was a seemingly complete band set up on the left side of the room, including a drum set and amps ready for the performers to use.

The performers were required to arrive at 6:30 to sign up, with performances beginning at 7:00. There appeared to be a ten minute time limit for performers. The Gypsy has a strict “no covers” rule — original content reigns at Tuesday Open Mic Night.

First up was singer/guitarist Ethan “The Hawk” Smith of The Casual Six Band.

Some other members of the band appeared to be performing alongside him — apparently they play at a lot of local venues.

Smith started off the show with a bang, playing energetic rock n’ roll with a lot of fast, aggressive guitar solos, wailing vocals, and the occasional alt-rock-esque spoken word bit. He spoke pretty fast and it was hard to discern, but at one point I picked up the line “That’s why I’m always 20 minutes fashionably fucking late” before he dove back into a riff.

Margaret Kenyon was the only woman I saw perform, and looked to be in her late teens or early 20s. She appeared onstage with nothing but an acoustic-electric guitar and a lovely, rich voice. As far as I could discern, her first song was sung in Spanish — it was haunting and slow, with quite a few minor chords. The second song was a more upbeat indie-acoustic number.

Also notable was the band Death Mountain Trip, which was composed of two guys and had a very distinct alt-rock sound reminiscent of Muse or Radiohead. It involved a lot of power chords and the liberal use of chimes.

Before leaving about an hour into the open mic, I had the pleasure of also hearing singer/guitarist James Wesley, who presented us with a type of indie-acoustic music that could have easily worked as a soundtrack for driving through the mountains. He introduced one of his unnamed songs as “I don’t know what it’s called yet… Maybe ‘Summer in Kansas,’” which seemed pretty fitting to me.

As I left the building, I caught the beginnings of a vocal/guitar performance by a man named Greg — I unfortunately didn’t catch his last name and didn’t get a chance to ask him what it was. However, he sounded exactly like Hozier. Like, to a tee. Had I not had somewhere to be, I would have absolutely stuck around to hear more.

All of the performers I saw on Tuesday were either singer/guitarists or part of a full band. The Gypsy’s open mic night differs from the stereotypical event in it’s more of a hub for musicians than for aspiring poets or short story writers. This was evident in that many of the musicians seemed to know each other and contributed to each other’s acts in a very fluid, natural way. The fact that the Gypsy also offers a monthly music series featuring a local musician every Friday and Saturday night alludes to this trend.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at the Gypsy. I will say that I felt super out of place because I was one of the youngest attendees, and also because there seemed to be a fair amount of regulars who were pretty familiar with the musicians and baristas.

However, every musician I saw was genuinely talented and could have just as easily been playing a show at the Vanguard as a coffee house. I loved that I was able to listen to some quality music while also enjoying the ambiance and the delicious jasmine tea that the Gypsy had to offer.

In summary, the Gypsy Coffee House’s Tuesday Open Mic Nights are absolutely worth the visit. I would recommend bringing a friend — the whole event had a very social quality to it, with people hovering around or playing board games in groups of twos or threes, that I sort of missed out on by showing up alone with my notebook.

That said, I found it to be a great weeknight event, and the talent didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

“Best of Enemies” is a highly enjoyable film, but still leaves the viewer uninformed on the political topics being debated.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer “Best of Enemies,” which was shown at last Wednesday’s Pizza and Politics session, is a 2015 documentary about the 1968 debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, Jr. Vidal was a prominent novelist with many left-leaning views. Buckley was the founder and editor of National Review and a prominent conservative intellectual.

The documentary focuses on the relationship between the two men. That relationship can be described with a single word: hatred. Every interaction the two men have is marked with utter contempt for one another.

It starts early in the film. Their early interactions had apparently been either brief or indirect, but were consistently hostile. For instance, while Vidal was a guest on a television program, he mocked Buckley’s mannerisms and trans-Atlantic accent.

However, it was with their debates in 1968 that the hatred apparently really developed. The film relates how Vidal studied Buckley and tested zingers on journalists in preparation for the debates because he saw Buckley and conservatives more generally as dangerous. In contrast, Buckley went on a cruise and did no special preparation.

The debates quickly degenerated into ad hominems. Vidal rhetorically asked whether the Republican Party, supposedly devoted to the concept of human greed, would be able to win a national election. Buckley remarked that the author of “Myra Breckinridge” would know something about human greed. “Myra Breckinridge” is a satirical novel about a man who became a woman who becomes a man again. Buckley repeatedly called the novel pornographic throughout the film, which might not have been much of an exaggeration based on the clips from the book’s movie shown in the documentary.

By the time of the debates for the Democratic convention, Buckley had caught up on research. He presented his opponent with a writing from Robert Kennedy, who also hated Vidal. The move was meant to distract Vidal, but Vidal remained unphazed.

The climax of the film focuses on an argument during the ninth of ten debates.

Vidal had been arguing that Chicago was like a Soviet police state. That complaint came after response by the Chicago police after protesters had raised the Viet Cong flag. Buckley defended the police, noting that some of the protesters were advocating the killing of marines. After the moderator asked how people raising a Nazi flag during WWII would have been treated, and after Vidal and Buckley argued for a brief time, Vidal told Buckley that “the only sort of proor crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.” To that, Buckley responded, “Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in your goddamn face.”

The film only touches on their last debate, and they had little direct contact for the rest of their lives. However, for years they were involved in a defamation by Buckley against Vidal and Esquire, which had published some dubious claims by Vidal against Buckley. The hatred between the two never ended; when Buckley died, Vidal said that “hell is bound to be a livelier place, as he joins, forever, those whom he served in life, applauding their prejudices and fanning their hatred.”

The film’s focus on the relationship between the two men had a few advantages.

For one thing, watching the sparring between them was thoroughly entertaining, though perhaps in some sort of sick way.

Also, the film refrained from treating either Vidal or Buckley as the antagonist. Doing so would have been easy. Vidal seemed to have started the feud, deliberately provoked Buckley and had no sense of grace. Buckley did not at all refrain from ad hominems, reacted completely inappropriately with a slur and the threat of violence and came off as petty with the lawsuit. Rather, instead of blaming either side, the film interviewed people close to both individuals and told a story.

However, in focusing so much on their relationship, the viewer is left wondering what exactly to take away from the film. The film tries to connect the debates between the two to the rise of partisan and combative media today, but the evolution is not strong enough to be compelling. The film spends basically no time explaining the ideological differences between the two, other than in the most general terms. It isn’t at all clear if they ever had substantive debates or if that footage was just edited out. So, “Best of Enemies” was very enjoyable to watch, but viewers wishing to have a broader context will be disappointed.

“After Vidal and Buckley argued for a brief time, Vidal told Buckley that ‘the only sort of pro- or crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.’”

Creative writing major kicks off to readings, workshops

To commemorate the launch of the creative writing major, TU’s English department hosted several literary events on and off-campus.

Claudia Conaway Student Writer

The English department held a celebration of TU’s new Creative Writing major this past weekend. The celebration included panel discussions, workshops and readings by acclaimed writers and literary scholars.

Among these writers were novelist Rilla Askew, autobiographer and transgender activist Katie Rain Hill, author and US Marine Phil Klay, author and professor Trudy Lewis, novelist and book reviewer Benjamin Lytal, fantasy writer and editor-in-chief of Nimrod International Journal Eilis O’Neal, young adult novelist Lindsay Smith, and fiction writer Vu Tran.

The celebration kicked off Friday night at Mainline Art Bar. Students, teachers, professional writers and even casual writers from Tulsa read aloud their original creative pieces. There were 16 total speakers, with a diversity of writing forms represented, ranging from short story to free verse poem to spoken word. Dr. Grant Jenkins of the TU English Department acted as the host of the event, announcing the names of the speakers and intermittently promoting the creative writing classes available at the university.

First up was Alan Culpepper, a professor at Tulsa Community College. He read two pieces, “The Death Dance of the Fig Wasps” and “Rain Against Glass.” The first piece was inspired by the actual “dance” that Culpepper has watched fig wasps perform, and he invoked the imagery of that scene with his words. With “Rain Against Glass” he described a different kind of scene, one with a contemplative speaker looking out beyond a rain-covered window.

Clay Cantrell was next, a PhD student

at TU who holds a MFA in poetry from the University of Memphis. He read a blank verse poem with no punctuation entitled “Final Cutoff Notice.” The piece read as both social and familial commentary. There was a harkening back to the beat poets with the fast-paced and unrelenting wording.

Adam Lux, a physics and creative writing student at TU, read a piece on relativity. The piece’s religious inspiration blended with the philosophical tone to invoke an enlightening journey for the listener. He also performed a piece called “For Tulsa.” It was an ode that connected well with the celebration of arts within the city.

After Lux, Savanna Deweese performed a spoken word piece, “World War 3” and her intimate evocation connected the cosmos with her own body. In the tradition of most spoken word performances, she directed the piece first towards herself and then towards the audience, inviting them to feel the “planets” in their own skin.

Playwright and writer of fiction and non-

ing message within the words.

Eilis O’Neal, author of the YA novel “The False Princess,” closed the night by reading aloud part of a chapter from her new fantasy book about a young girl with empathic powers. The chapter read much like a traditional young adult novel, with a quirky and misunderstood main character interacting with a new world around her.

The inherent talent and the mastery of skills that the night’s readers possessed invoked admiration from the audience. It started the celebration of creative writing in Tulsa in an intimate and affecting way.

Tulsa’s creative juices continued to flow into Saturday, with a “Tulsa in the Literary Imagination” panel being held by Tulsan writers Rilla Askew, Benjamin Lytal, Katie Rain Hill, and Eilis O’Neal. When the panel’s emcee, Dr. Jenkins, asked questions about Tulsa’s influence over the writers, O’Neal and Askew admitted to being strongly influenced by the history and culture of Tulsa.

“The inherent talent and the mastery of skills that the night’s readers possessed brought awe and admiration from the audience” fiction Kelley Friedman read a short passage about the discovery of her Multiple Sclerosis. More of a diary entry than a poem or story, the piece was told in first person with a very casual and familiar tone. It was both touching and humorous, a light-hearted invitation into a painful part of her life.

Danielle Medaris, a senior at TU, read aloud three poems regarding the same subject but written at different times. The intense changes of emotion between each poem could be seen through both her physical voice and the voice she put into the writing itself. The poems were quite straightforward, which allowed her voice to be the point of interest more so than any underly-

O’Neal recounted going to the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers’ Literature ceremony at a Tulsa library when she was a child, regarding it as the first time she had seen “real writers” in person. She attributes this experience as the moment of realization that she could be a professional writer.

Askew also had a life changing experience as a young writer when she was sent by her high school newspaper to interview James Brown before his concert in Tulsa.

This was the first time she had been truly exposed to the city’s race relations, and led her to study the Tulsa Race Riots heavily.

Her 2001 novel Fire in Beulah was directly

influenced by these studies and she says now that she “cannot separate the wound of race relations from Tulsa.”

Lytal and Hill have less palpable inspirations from Tulsa, but inspirations nonetheless. In regards to his book, A Map of Tulsa, Lytal admitted that it was difficult to write about the city when he lived in it because it was “right under [his] nose” but that Tulsa has a unique combination of modern culture and antiquity.

Hill came to Tulsa when she was 12, and it was here that she opened herself up to releasing her feelings through writing.

She was asked to write her memoir while she was a student at TU, a daunting task for someone who had never publicly shared her writing before.

When people ask her why she remains in Tulsa rather than a city more supportive of transgender activism, Hill explains that she feels “Tulsa needs [her].” Hill, along with the other writers on the panel, spoke of the major literary and cultural changes Tulsa has seen in the past 10 to 20 years, saying that “things have gotten so much better.”

Askew encouraged writers to research into the history of “where you come from” in order to understand how to write about the city Tulsa is now.

Later that day, five creative writing workshops were held in Tyrell Hall. I took the workshop on writing poetry held by Dr. Jenkins, which was fun and enlightening.

We practiced giving into our subconscious, finding random phrases in different politically or socially charged books rather than actually reading them front to back. We then created modernist poems out of these phrases. Some of us read our poems aloud, and most of the workshop’s students seemed to be amazed at the work they had created.

It was an inspiring introduction to what the creative writing program promises to bring to TU.

News

The Collegian: 4 From Women in Prison on cover

Drug trafficking in the state is broadly defined and may include possessing, distributing, transporting or manufacturing a certain quantity of a drug. Often, the amount of drugs found is the sole reason for a trafficking charge. Until House Bill 1574 in 2015, those convicted of trafficking with at least two prior felony drug convictions received mandatory life without parole, one of the harshest laws in the country. Now, if a person has two previous drug convictions, the minimum sentence is 20 years, so long as the previous convictions were not for trafficking. The bill was not retroactive, however.

Kris Steele, the chair of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, told the Oklahoma Watch that the female incarceration rates are worrisome because of the large percentage of prisoners that are mothers. Their absence helps perpetuate a cycle of incarceration. In 2013, the state’s Department of Corrections estimated that about 85 percent of incarcerated females had at least one child and that about 6,340 children were affected. About 65 percent of these children were estimated to be under the age of 18. According to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 77 percent of mothers in state prisons who lived with their children prior to incarceration provided most of their daily care.

The state’s Department of Corrections demonstrated an increase in “problem behaviors,” such as expulsion, dropping out of school, running away, arrests or drug problems, in children since the mother’s incarceration. Research into the effects of parental incarceration can be difficult because “detangling the effects of the parental incarceration from the effects of other factors that could have existed long before incarceration,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. These other factors include child maltreatment, parental mental illness and use of alcohol or drugs and domestic violence.

Several state programs are trying to lower these incarceration rates. In Tulsa, Women in Recovery is one of the more prominent organizations, while ReMerge works with Oklahoma County.

Caitlin Taylor, deputy director of ReMerge, believes part of the cause of the high female incarceration rates is the state’s criminal justice system. “Our state is also hard on crime — we have very strict laws that lead to much more harsh repercussions than other states’,” she says.

ReMerge works with the correctional agencies and government to identify women who are pregnant or have children and are facing a nonviolent felony conviction. The program offers 12 to 24-month treatment programs that include job training, domestic violence intervention, and other components. Upon successful completion of the program, the felony charges are dropped from the participant’s record, which helps to prevent discrimination in jobs or housing.

The upcoming state ballot questions 780 and 781 may provide some changes in the incarceration rates. State Question 780, “Oklahoma Smart Justice Reform Act” would raise the monetary limit under which property offenses are considered misdemeanors, as well as lower drug possession to a misdemeanor. Question 781 would use the money that would’ve been used for imprisonment without the implementation of State Question 780 for rehabilitation programs.

Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, the group which proposed the ballot measures, hopes the changes will lead to savings that can then be put into dealing with the root causes of these crimes: mental health issues, substance abuse and lack of job training and education. According to Danielle Ezelle, executive director of Oklahoma Women’s Coalition, which works to better the lives of the state’s female population, “two important state questions can change the trajectory of our criminal justice system and therefore Oklahoma faster than almost any other way.”

26 September 2016

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Two State Questions in this upcoming election may reduce female incarceration rates, supporters say, by changing classification of some crimes and providing for more rehabilitation programs.

Given that 26.2 percent of females incarcerated in 2013 were charged with possession of controlled dangerous substances, these questions may greatly affect the incoming prison population. State Question 781 would also provide much needed rehabilitation programs. Of those received in 2013, the Department of Corrections deemed 61.1 percent of women had a moderate to high need for substance abuse treatment, 74.6 percent needed education, which included literacy, adult basic education, or GED needs, and 78.3 percent had a history of treatment for mental disorders.

One solution to the high incarceration rates is creating more rehabilitation programs. By offering more alternative programs or treatment, Taylor believes “we could see a quick decline in our incarceration rates. Also [we could see a decrease] by providing more treatment options to those in the community — so they don’t find them-

selves facing incarceration later.”

Mental Health in America, a non-profit that works to help those with mental illness and promote better mental health of all Americans, rated the state 45th out of the 50 states and District of Columbia in overall mental health. This ranking means the state has a high prevalence of mental illness but lower rates of access to care.

With or without these ballot questions, Taylor says there are ways for everyone to get involved in lowering incarceration rates.

Citizens can work to “advocate for treatment and criminal justice reform, volunteer their time for alternative programs (which are often nonprofits), make a financial donation to alternative program, and educate themselves on substance abuse and mental health disorders.”

“As a state,” Ezelle says, “we must take a smarter, long-term approach” to deal with these issues.

Food and Power explains influence of large food companies

A visiting professor recently gave a lecture on how food companies exercise power over consumers, emphasizing the beer, bagged salad and soy milk industries.

Sam Chott Satire Editor

Last Thursday, Philip Howard, an associate professor in community sustainability at Michigan State University, gave a lecture on food and power, concentrating on how manufacturers and sellers of packaged foods exercise power over consumers.

Howard focused on ways that food firms convince consumers to buy their products and, in doing so, change the way our society operates, ultimately taking power from consumers.

One form of this is deskilling, in which firms provide a conveniently pre-processed product, such as bagged salad mix or frozen oatmeal. If consumers rely on the processed food too much, eventually they lose the skills to process the food themselves, relying on the firm to do it for them.

Howard also brought up spatial colonization as a way that consumers were losing power. The way that things are physically laid out affects what consumers can buy.

He brought up the placement of vending machines, which affects where we can buy food, and the layout of store shelves, which affects what consumers buy.

Howard focused on three product categories – beer, bagged salad and soy milk.

Howard explained that nearly 70% of the beer market in the United States was controlled by two firms – AB InBev, and SABMiller.

They control not only which beers are produced and where they are distributed, but many supermarkets and liquor stores also allow them to control how all beers are displayed on store shelves, allowing them to control what products consumers see.

He also said that a merger between the two firms was in the works, and looked as though it would be completed. Though in the US, the companies would be forced to sell off some of their brands before merging due to antitrust regulations, in other parts of the world, nearly all beer sales would be

photo by Michaela Flonard

The Dreamer’s Initative hosted an event Friday and invited several speakers to discuss collaborative solutions to police brutality in Tulsa.

controlled by a single conglomerate.

Bagged salad mix, Howard explained, not only depended on consumers being less skilled at cooking, but also reduced their skills by allowing them to rely on food manufacturers.

He also discussed the way that many leafy green producers were causing environmental and economic problems by using scarce California groundwater below market rates, and the way that the production chain increases risks of bacterial outbreaks.

When talking about soy milk, Howard focused on the history of the Silk brand. Its founder, Steve Demos, made a marketing coup when he realized that his organic soy milk should be next to regular milk in the refrigerator section of supermarkets, despite being shelf stable. This decision made consumers more comfortable buying it, since it seemed closer to what they were used to.

After Silk was acquired by a larger firm, Dean Foods, it began to use non-organic ingredients, while keeping the price of the soy milk the same. Demos disagreed, and left the company, later founding a probiotic juice brand.

Howard also explained that there were ways to resist firms controlling our spending habits. He used craft beers and homebrewing as ways that beer firms could be resisted. He also said that consumers can combat deskilling by processing foods themselves, noting that every time there’s a bacteria outbreak from bagged leafy greens, sales at farmer’s markets go up.

Howard also took audience questions.

When asked if anyone had ever tried to keep him from publishing his work, he responded that he was worried that someone would for a few years.

Later, though, he began getting compliments from different food manufacturers, and even had Monsanto employees tell him that they used his work to keep track of their competitors.

The lecture was put on by the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, whose theme this year is “Food.” Information on upcoming events can be found at humanities.utulsa.edu.

Information on Philip Howard’s work can be found at msu.edu/~howardp.

From Terence Crutcher on cover

applauded the “small steps” being taken the rectify the situation while We The People Oklahoma leader Marq Lewis said that “without a shadow of a doubt...the system today has worked for black lives.”

Others characterized the DA’s decision as trivial pacification. Pastor Mareo Johnson, who organized a memorial service for Crutcher earlier in the week, said that he and others would not be happy until Shelby is charged with first-degree murder. Protester Tammy Liggins agreed, saying that the manslaughter charge was like “throwing mud in our faces.”

Protests and demonstrations are expected to continue in the coming days as more information is revealed through the police and justice department investigations. Funeral services for Crutcher occurred on Saturday, September 24, at Antioch Baptist Church.

Speakers also repeatedly called for unity over divisiveness, noting that the problems facing the black community could only be solved with changes to policy and not violence.

Officer Betty Shelby, who fired the fatal shot, was charged with first-degree manslaughter on Thursday and turned herself into authorities the following day. The court filing detailing the charge cites fear as the cause behind her ”unreasonable actions,” a defense reiterated in a statement from Shelby’s attorney, which describes Crutcher as hostile, possibly inebriated and uncooperative with the officers. Shelby was booked and released on $50,000 bond about 20 minutes after turning herself in.

Reaction to the manslaughter charge was mixed. Some, including Crutcher’s family,

University announces several cost-saving measures A recent letter by President Upham informed of campus budget cuts and other changes.

Michaela Flonard News Editor Last Wednesday, the University of Tulsa announced several university-wide cuts and changes to save money. Some will go into effect immediately, while others will occur after examination of the school’s budget.

43 non-faculty positions will be cut, and a hiring freeze will be in effect for all open, non-endowed university positions, meaning that 19 currently vacant positions will not be filled. The university’s highest paid em-

ployees may volunteer for salary reductions ranging from 6 percent to 20 percent.

Employee benefits will also be affected by the cuts. Beginning in October, the university will temporarily suspend retirement contributions for all current employees. As of next year, TU will no longer pay for longterm disability insurance coverage.

Other changes to operations are being discussed in hopes of making the university more efficient. Changes to environmental controls in buildings, alternative energy sources and deliveries of services to offcampus sites are all being examined. Various departments may also engage in nonpersonnel cost saving measures.

President Upham Steadman blamed sev-

eral factors for the cuts in a letter to faculty. Competing for a “shrinking number of highly qualified students” has been difficult for the university. The “lingering effects of the 2009 economic downturn and a slumping energy sector are putting greater pressure on U.S. family income,” he said. He cited students needing increasing amounts of financial aid, which the university cannot keep up with. The university, however, has raised tuition annually since 1998.

Students were surprised by the news, as the university did not notify them directly about these issues. Sean Townsend wondered “if there was anything else you could cut besides employes,” but believed, like others interviewed, that the university had

tried other solutions first. “Personally, I feel like it’s wrong,” he said, “but maybe they had to.” As an engineer, Katie Killen worries it may affect her senior project, as her professor noted they do not have a big budget for the project. “The projects might be at a disadvantage because there’s not enough money to pay for certain amounts of the project,” she said.

According to Upham, TU is not the only school undergoing these changes. “It appears that most of the trends we are seeing now will become a permanent part of our operating environment,” he said, leaving students to wonder how the changes will affect them in the future.

News

26 September 2016

LETTER Dear Editors (and Sam Chott, in particular), I am writing in response to a story in the Collegian (#TUhonors911 misuses victims to advertise of Sep 19, 2016). While I appreciate your passion regarding tasteless and shameless marketing of 9/11 victims, I do not agree this was outcome of the tribute that took place at TU last week. Yes, there are horrible and self-serving public memorials around 9/11 and I appreciate you shedding light on them.

While you, Sam, see the sharing the stories of the victims as crass, I found it to be a touching remembrance of people whose lives were silenced that tragic day. Though their information may not be relevant to you, or of public interest in your opinion, they matter to me. It helps me remember the loss, and keeps their senseless deaths from becoming a mere footnote in history. For me, the purpose of sharing the stories and my gratitude to those who shared them was not to humanize them; that infers they were not human to begin with. Perhaps the rest of the world has forgotten the names and faces of the victims and simply refer to them generically as “the victims”, “those who died on 9/11”, or “one of the 2,996”. Every year, I honor them and a couple in particular, William T Dean and Cesar R. Garcia. Billy was a sweet and thoughtful man with bright red hair. Cesar was funny and charming, and had a smile that made you wonder what he was thinking. They both worked for Marsh

to the editor McLennan, they were my classmates and my friends.

While you feel SA created an ill-conceived and irreverent marketing campaign, I see a connection to very real people were anonymous to you until now. Their lives and their deaths matter, and the fact that it was done by students who were not old enough to remember the details of that fateful day in a school over 1300 miles away from the events means something.

Does that mean that you shouldn’t make an effort and engage in community service?

No. It’s not mutually exclusive. I think it would be great for you to organize something and I would be happy to help. There are many first responders who are still suffering. My friend Steve’s wife, Judy, a veteran of the NYPD just died (Sep 13th, 2016) of anaplastic thyroid cancer, a very rare form of cancer which developed as a result of her exposure to toxins during 9/11 rescue efforts. If you want to voice frustration at organizations and people who shamelessly ‘honored’ them and repeatedly turned their backs, you can point to our elected officials who finally passed the Zadroga Act last year, unfortunately not in time to help Judy and countless others.

I appreciate your vigilance in not simply jumping on a feckless bandwagon, but in this case it matters.

Sincerely, Cecilia Wessinger TU Parent

Students react to Oklahoma’s newest abortion clinic After 42 years, a new abortion clinic opened in Oklahoma despite the state’s restrictive laws.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz Managing Editor The homepage of the website reads, “Trust Women South Wind Women’s Center is proud to re-establish access to reproductive health care in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.”

They opened their doors on September 10 in what they claimed was the largest metropolitan area in the US without access to reproductive health care. It was the first clinic of its kind to open since 1974 and one of only three in the state. ` One of the primary reasons for the small number of abortion clinics in the state is Oklahoma’s restrictive abortion laws in comparison to other states. The restrictions include a requirement for licensed professionals to perform the

procedure, penalties for post-viability abortions, a requirement for state-directed counseling 24 hours before the procedure can be performed and the parents of minors seeking the procedure are notified by the state and most give consent.

Students had a variety of reactions to the clinic and about abortion in general.

Senior Dani Rosales believes abortions “should be safely accessible to everyone both physically and emotionally.”

“It should be accessible to rape victims, but there is a religious aspect that should be considered too,” shared Quinton Duncan.

“In my mind it’s nothing religious it’s about life,” said recent alum Brendan Phillips, “If a person shoots a pregnant woman he is charged with two counts of murder, in that case it is looked at as human life, so I think the same principle applies.”

Another student, Sean Townsend said, “we’re in the bible belt so it’s surprising that they actually opened one up, I thinks it’s awesome the we’re showing progress.”

tucollegian@tucollegian.org editor-in-chief

Hannah Kloppenburg managing editor

Kayleigh Thesenvitz news editor

Michaela Flonard sports editor

Matt Rechtien variety editor

Trenton Gibbons commentary editor

James Whisenhunt satire editor

Sam Chott photo & graphics editor

Elias Brinkman

business & advertising manager

Paul Moses web manager

Sam Chott

distribution managers

Nathan Gibbons, Adam Lux and Trenton Gibbons

The Collegian is the student newspaper of the University of Tulsa. It is distributed Mondays during the fall and spring semesters, except during holidays and final exam weeks. The University of Tulsa does not discriminate on the basis of personal status or group characteristics including but not limited to the classes protected under federal and state law. Inquiries regarding implementation of this policy may be addressed to the Office of Human Resources, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-9700, 918-631-2616.

Requests for accommodation of disabilities may be addressed to the University’s 504 Coordinator, Dr. Tawny Taylor, 918-631-3814. To ensure availability of an interpreter, five to seven days notice is needed; 48 hours is recommended for all other accommodations. Advertising Policy: Advertising appearing in this publication does not imply approval or endorsement by the University of Tulsa or The Collegian for the products or services advertised.

For advertising information, email the Collegian at advertising@tucollegian.org. The deadline for advertising is 12 pm on the Friday prior to publication. Letter Policy: Letters to the editor must be less than 500 words and can be sent to tucollegian@tucollegian, or dropped off at Oliphant Room 110. Under no circumstances will anonymous letters be published. The name of the person submitting the letter must be published with the letter.

We reserve the right to edit or reject all letters. The deadline for letters is 5 pm on the Friday prior to publication. Editing Policy: The Collegian reserves the right to edit all copy submitted by all writers. This editing may take place in many forms, including grammar corrections, changes in paragraph structure or even the addition or removal of sections of content. Editorial Policy: Columnists are solely responsible for the content of their columns.

Opinions expressed in columns may not represent the opinions of the entire Collegian staff, the administrative policies of the University of Tulsa, the views of the student body or our advertisers.

The Collegian: 5

Students elect new SA Senate officers

Despite an issue with the College of Health Sciences election, senators took the oath of office last week during the Senate meeting.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer

SA’s Senate is divided into different constituencies, each of which receives a certain number of seats. Five senators are at-large.

Every academic college at TU receives two senators. Every residential community receives five senators except for Greek housing, which only receives two due to fewer people living in Greek housing.

Each semester, half of the seats are open for election. In the case of there being an odd number of seats, the fall semester has the extra.

Below are the results of the senate election. People who won their election are in bold. Incumbents are italicized.

At-large (3 available seats)

Austin Carr, 301 Austin Raney, 212 Luke Lau, 209 Kate Tillotson, 207

College of Arts and Sciences (1 available seat)

Courtney Spivey, 67 Cody Watson, 43

College of Business (1 available seat)

Muneeb Yousufi, 48 Grant Scheppler, 36

College of Engineering and Natural Sciences (1 available seat)

Jeremy Eavey, 95 Andrew Hanson, 75 Michael Blackshear, 65

College of Health Sciences (1 available seat)

Madison Pickett, 5 Savannah Phelps, 4 Katie Burgy, 0

College of Law (1 available seat)

Graduate school (1 available seat)

Michael Mancini, 9

Residence Halls (3 available seats)

Michaela Perez, 103 Sam Trizza, 98 Brent Shafer, 82 John Lake, 58 Kyle Barker, 23

Apartments (3 available seats)

Saswat Das, 92

Commuters (3 available seats)

Dana Thomas, 63 Joanna George, 33 Eric Ko, 28 Joey Zitzman, 27

Greek Housing (1 available seat)

Taylor Birkes, 41 Kimberly Bartlett, 11

For those constituencies that do not have all of the seats filled, SA Vice President Whitney Cipolla has the authority to appoint people to fill them.

There was a problem in the election for the College of Health Sciences. For an unknown reason, students could not vote for all of the eligible candidates on Harvey.

Therefore, another election was held on the 19th and 20th in both ACAC and the College of Health Sciences building.

The decision to hold another election was reached collectively by President Haley Anderson, Vice President Cipolla, Executive Director of Elections and Policy Joshua Garland and Executive Director of Technological Development Tali Harris.

There is no provision in SA’s governing documents that allows an election to be rescheduled. However, Garland believes that the governing documents are broad enough so that those four officers can declare another election in these circumstances.

News

The Collegian: 6

Sept. 14 11:05 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers observed a larceny of a university-owned yellow TU bicycle in-progress on Delaware Avenue. Officers found the individual attempting to hide near the bushes of US South Apartments.

The suspect had an active warrant in Tulsa County so Tulsa Police were contacted and they transported the suspect to David L. Moss correction center. The suspect was trespass banned from University of Tulsa property and a contact card was completed.

Sept. 15 9:00 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to LaFortune Hall regarding possible cyber fraud and harassment. Officers took a report of an unidentified individual threatening to leak nude videos of the victim to their professors, friends, and family if they did not pay money to the unidentified individual. Tulsa Police Department was contacted, and a statement was filled out.

Sept. 16 5:45 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers observed a individual that was sitting on the west side of Mabee Gym in a jewel covered mini van.

Officers made contact with the individual and discovered that security has made contact with this individual before. Officers informed the individual that they are trespass warned and that they can not be on the property. The individual understood and left the property without further incident. A contact card was issued.

10;00 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to Hardesty Hall for a fire alarm. The fire panel showed which room was the source of the alarm. Officers made contact with the individuals of that room and discovered that the 2 individuals were vaping. Tulsa Fire Department was canceled and no sign of smoke or fire was present.

Sept. 17 4:10 a.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers observed a suspicious individual near the College North parking lot. Upon making contact, it was determined that the individual was not TU affiliated. Officers noticed weapons, and proceeded to detain the individual. They were carrying burglary tools and other suspicious items. A warrant search returned positive and Tulsa Police Department (TPD) was contacted. TPD officers interviewed the individual. TU officers issued a trespass

Nathan Gibbons Distribution Manager Suspected bomber arrested in New York City

Last Tuesday, New York and New Jersey officials brought charges against suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami. Among them are intent to use weapons of mass destruction and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. After an All Points Bulletin was put out for his arrest based on security footage of the bombings, officers recognized Rahami sleeping in a bar doorway and a firefight ensued. Two officers were injured non-critically and Ahmad Rahami was shot before being arrested.

Rahami is suspected of planting multiple explosives, including at least two pressure cookers and a pipe bomb, in New York and New Jersey, one of which injured 29 people when it exploded on an active street on September 17. One was found blocks away before it detonated, while another detonated next to a public race in New Jersey. Rahami wrote enthusiastically about past terror attacks, such as the Boston Marathon and San Bernardino incidents, in a journal found by investigators.

US attorney for the southern district of Manhattan, Preet Bhahara, said there is no evidence of a terrorist cell in Manhattan.

Man shot by police in Charlotte

On Saturday, September 24th, Charlotte police released footage and photo evidence of the police shooting of Keith Scott that took place September 20th. The police department’s dash cam footage shows Keith Scott exiting his car walking backwards and the moment he is shot by police. What it does not reveal is whether or not Scott was holding a handgun which was photographed as evidence at the scene. Police claim he was armed and lifted the gun, while family members of Scott argue it was only a book.

Police Chief Kerr Putney had originally refused to release police footage of the shooting until a full report could be written, as he argued it would be misleading and incomplete. Putney said he has no plans to charge any of the officers involved but is open to charges from the state investigation. Protests and riots have continued as citizens argue that there should be more transparency throughout the department’s investigation.

Afghanistan signs peace accords with militant group Thursday, September 22, Afghanistan officials signed a peace agreement with Hezbi-Islami, the second largest militant group in the country. The government will now work towards reinstating the militants into society and moving some of the group’s more prominent leaders into government politics. “I hope that this is the beginning of a permanent peace in our country,” said Sayed Ahmad Gilani, head of the government’s High Peace Council.

Critics have been less enthused, as they argue that it forgives too grievous of crimes committed by the group. The treaty also grants Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the general of the militant group, amnesty for alleged war crimes in the 1990s and allows him the potential for a political comeback in an already divisive time in Afghanistan politics, critics say. The so-called “Butcher of Kabul” was a anti-soviet commander who is allegedly responsible for thousands of deaths after he allowed his soldiers to fire on civilians.

Military strikes continue in Aleppo At least 27 civilians, some of them children, have died as Bashar al-Assad has continued his military offensive on the rebel-held town of Aleppo. In what one rescue worker described as “annihilation”, dozens of airstrikes struck the city last Friday morning. A Syrian military source told the Agence France Presse news agency that a ground offensive is planned, but that the bombardment “could go on for hours or days before the ground operation starts.” Syria officials claim there are key exits for any in Aleppo who want to flee, including rebels.

The strikes come after a failed ceasefire and as UN talks between the US and Russia fall apart. Russia has been accused of being part of the air strikes, but has yet to comment. The United States backs the rebel opposition while Russia stands with the Syrian government and Assad, and both groups seek for the other to reign in their allies.

US air strikes target ISIS boats in Iraq

In September alone, allied and United States warplanes have destroyed sixty five ISIS boats in Iraq. Although Iraq is almost completely landlocked, ISIS has been using the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for transportation and river based attacks. A retired US Navy commander, Chris Harmer, told CNN that ISIS boats are an “easy target in terms of avoiding civilian casualties” for US troops.

River attack attempts by ISIS drastically increased earlier this September near the towns of Qayyara and Sultan Abdallah. Experts argue that ISIS is trying to move troops around that area, which is south of the ISIS-controlled town of Mosul, and weaken defenses before it’s too late. Iraq and US troops are planning a joint effort to retake Mosul, a plan which could be executed as early as October.

26 September 2016

warning and then escorted the individual off campus.

5:15 p.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security Officers made contact with 4 individuals that were on the north side of Mabee Gym. The individuals were advertising a service called “T RIDE”. Officers explained that they cannot be soliciting on campus. The individuals started to state that they were not soliciting. Officers stated that the sign strapped to their back is soliciting.

The individuals refused to give their IDs. Officers escorted them off campus and issued a trespass warning to all of them.

5:30 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to investigate a disabled vehicle on the northbound lane at 600 S. Delaware Avenue. Further investigation founded that it was a non-injury motor vehicle accident. Both parties declined EMSA. The second driver, who rear-ended the other party, officers could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from their person.

Tulsa Police Department were contacted.

The suspect driver did not pass a field sobriety test. Tulsa Police arrested the driver and removed their vehicle from the scene by tow service.

7:10 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to investigate a possible assault at Lorton Village Parking Lot. Upon arrival officers met with a food delivery driver who stated they were assaulted by a former student in the Lorton Village park-

ing lot. Investigation revealed there was a verbal altercation which escalated to physical. The victim refused medical and showed no signs of injury. The Tulsa Police Department (TPD) was notified and the victim elected to go back to work and file a TPD report online at a later time. The former student was trespass warned and left campus without incident.

10:30 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to the Mayo Village Apartments for a noise complaint. Officers made contact with the residents and informed them that they needed to turn their music down, and stop jumping around. A contact card was issued and the residents complied without further incident.

Sept. 18 1:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security Officers were dispatched to investigate a possible vandalism at Mayo Village. Upon arrival officers met a student who discovered a shoe box placed in front of their apartment door with a dead squirrel inside. The student kicked the shoe box away from their door and left. When the student returned home the shoe box was placed in front of the apartment door again. The student contacted campus security and informed them of the situation.

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

Wednesday, September 28 at 7:00pm to 10:00pm Lorton Performance Center From Watchdog to Spotlight: Journalists Exposing Systemic Abuse The University of Tulsa kicks off a two-day commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize.

The event will feature Boston Globe Editor-at-Large Walter V. “Robby” Robinson, who led the “Spotlight” investigative team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage about the widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests, and an ongoing cover-up of pedophilia by the Boston Archdiocese.

Robinson will be interviewed in a wide-ranging conversation about investigating trauma, reporting about sexual abuse, what it is like to be interviewed in a movie and other topics. Robinson then will be featured on a panel with Susan Ellerbach, executive editor of the Tulsa World; Ziva Branstetter, editor in chief of The Frontier in Tulsa; and Joe Hight, endowed chair of journalism ethics at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Elana Newman, TU’s McFarlin professor of psychology and research director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, will also participate along with Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor for the Nation and executive director of the Dart Center.

Thursday, September 29 at 7:30pm to 9:00pm Reynolds Center Presidential Lecture Series: Dennis Lehane Since his first novel, A Drink Before the War, won the Shamus Award, Dennis Lehane has published 12 more novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and become international bestsellers: Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone Baby Gone; Prayers for Rain; Mystic River; Shutter Island; The Given Day; Moonlight Mile; and Live by Night. His newest novel, World Gone By, was published in March 2015.

Lehane’s novel The Drop was inspired by his earlier short story titled Animal Rescue. The Drop has also been released as a movie featuring James Gandolfini in his last role alongside actors Noomi Rapace and Tom Hardy. Three of his novels – Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island – have been adapted into award-winning films.

A book signing will follow the talk.

Thursday, September 29 at 7:30pm to 9:30pm Lorton Performance Center, Meinig Recital Hall Cellist Peter Stumpf Performs Johann Sebastian Bach The University of Tulsa School of Music is proud to present the award-winning cellist Peter Stumpf in a two-concert series of the Six Suites for Solo Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach. The concerts will be part of a four-day residency of classes and interaction with music students in the School of Music.

Stumpf is a professor at the world-renowned Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and former principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has performed on some of the most prestigious chamber music series in the world and has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stumpf will perform the Six Solo Suites by Bach, numbers 1-3.

Friday, September 30 at 7:00pm to 9:00pm Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease After Hours: Liquor of the American One of the most ubiquitous features of the Old West was the saloon, an icon of American popular culture that has come to symbolize the lawless and wild nature of the American frontier. Gilcrease After Hours invites you to experience the Golden Age of the Western saloon by exploring various historic beverages from the different regions of the West. Learn how to make specialty cocktails, purchase the featured drinks at the cash bar, sample western-themed food and enjoy live music.

Featured speaker will be Tony Collins, Beverage Director at McNellie’s Group.

Space is limited. Arrive early to participate in the first session at 7:00 p.m., or visit the Gilcrease Museum galleries first and then join us for the second session at 8:00 p.m.

Gilcrease After Hours will take place on the last Friday of each month, offering a new exciting, interactive after-hours engagement. Explore the museum, grab a drink, network with other young professionals, and support your local art community. FREE! Sunday, October 2 at 2:00pm to 4:00pm Gilcrease Museum, Tom Gilcrease Jr. Auditorium West Mexico Symposium 3: CSI West Mexico Discover how new technologies are changing how archaeologists explore the past with field experts Bob Pickering, Kong Cheong and Jason Byrd. Exploratory tools such as CT scanners and endoscopes reveal how objects were constructed and sometimes repaired. Organic residues from inside ancient ceramic vessels tell what people ate and drank. Today, scientists from many backgrounds collaborate to create a new vision of the past based on innovative technologies and research.

The Collegian does not produce all event descriptions in the Community Calendar.

Contact us at news@tucollegian.org with events.

26 September 2016

Commentary

The Collegian: 7

Fraternal Order of Police endorsement of Trump is no surprise

The FOP’s endorsement of Donald Trump isn’t an endorsement of systemic racism, but of a candidate they see taking their side on important issues.

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer One of Donald Trump’s favorite catchphrases this election has been that he is the “law and order candidate,” an assertion that establishes his authority and credibility over the likes of the “crooked” — and allegedly criminal, according to Trump’s camp — Hillary Clinton. Up until now, one’s opinion of the veracity of such a claim has been left entirely up to personal judgment of the candidates’ respective political stances.

But while, to some extent, this subjectivity will always remain true, a recent development has certainly lended some credence to Trump’s boasting: the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest law enforcement union in the world consisting of over 330,000 members, officially endorsed The Donald as its candidate of choice in the 2016 election.

Jim Pasco, the executive director of the FOP, told the press that he had sent a 12 page questionnaire to each of the candidates, to which Clinton did not respond until weeks after the deadline had passed. Trump, on the other hand, impressed members of the FOP enough through his questionnaire and public statements regarding police to earn their “full support” come November. In its press release detailing the reasoning behind the endorsement, the FOP said that Trump “understands and supports our priorities” and is a “proven leader,” qualities that more than make up for his lack of political experience.

In our present racially-charged, hyper-

tense political climate, there are many who will probably assume that a police union’s endorsement of Trump is yet more proof of so-called systemic racism. The pieces are certainly there for those already looking to put them together; of course Trump, that close-minded harbinger of racism and bigotry, would appeal to the institution that spends its days killing innocent young black men! Or so goes the narrative, anyway. In reality, the FOP’s endorsement was not given in support of racism and divisiveness but rather to further the cause of the man they believe is fighting those things.

Do not believe any right-leaning political commentator when they say that the country has never been more divided amongst itself than it is now. It’s nothing more than a fear mongering, sensationalist talking point that ignores the Civil Rights era and the struggle to end legally-enforced segregation, not to mention that one time when we spent four years fighting a massive-scale civil war.

Still, there must exist a reason why so many people find comfort in such an obviously false claim, and that reason is that cultural division, regardless of its relative value to

and armchair social media political commentators that you’ve taken it as fact, but if it were true, you have to answer one question: why has this sort of racial tension been on the rise since before The Donald ever announced his candidacy?

Obviously, it is tough to pinpoint a specific moment when race relations began to regress after what was perhaps their most unified point in American history, the election of Barack Obama as president, but a good place to start might be with the death of Trayvon Martin and the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement. It was that fatal shooting that really kickstarted the conversation concerning the higher rates of police victimization and criminality within the Black community, a discussion that began with valid points on both sides but quickly devolved into senseless race-baiting and baseless accusations of racism.

In reality there is little that is clear regarding the reasoning behind such high crime rates, incarcerations, and police-related fatalities in the African-American community. What should be obvious from a look at the FBI’s crime statistics though is that

“Cultural division, regardless of its relative value to the lowest points in American history, is once more on the rise in 2016.” the lowest points of American history, is once more on the rise in 2016. Every day in the news we are fed the fallacious story of a race war brewing in America with the police’s supposed targeting of AfricanAmericans and the Black community’s indignation at such an action. These tensions in and of themselves are certainly real, but their genesis and rationale just do not seem to stack up with the facts.

How many times have you heard it said that Donald Trump is the source of the poisonous strain of balkanization that is sweeping the country, that it’s his boisterous attitude and refusal to self-censor that has unearthed such a powerful wave of hatred and bigotry? There’s a good chance you’ve had this telling of things drilled into your head so many times by liberal news sources

racial discrimination cannot be conclusively shown or even hinted at, unless you believe that it is wrong for the Black community to be punished disproportionately even after committing crimes like homicide and rape at rates more than 9 and 3 times the rates of Whites respectively, or that Whites are actually discriminated against in favor of Asian-Americans, who have the lowest incarceration, crime, and poverty rates across the board. Discrepancies remain that should be open to healthy dialogue (“since we know that no arbitrarily defined racial group is necessarily more inclined to be violent or disobedient, what is it about culture and social class that creates such a disparity?”) but instead of such a debate in the public forum, we are treated on the left to cries of racism that is perpetuated by a system rigged for

White people. It’s an easy explanation that doesn’t require a whole lot of critical thinking, perfect for 21st century attention spans.

It is in that ill-informed milieu that antiwhite and anti-cop mentalities have festered in the Black Lives Matter community, feelings that may not be shared by a majority of people seeking social justice but exist in large enough numbers to make them heard above the rest. Listen to chants of “pigs in a blanket, fry’em like bacon” in reference to police officers at BLM rallies, see the chaotic and violent rioting in cities like Milwaukee and Charlotte, observe how the court of public opinion is instantly turned against every officer who had to take a black man’s life, and it becomes easy to see why so many cops feel threatened or uneasy with the current state of the country. And when they feel that they are being unfairly targeted (what beautiful irony), of course they will push back against the negative force.

As far as it manifests itself in a presidential candidate, that negative force is Hillary Clinton. She and the rest of the moderate Democrats like her find themselves at the whims of the militant far left, who have managed so far to push their divisive narrative to ever greater limits with impunity.

Trump, meanwhile, though he could probably show some more empathy towards the social condition of people who have been led to believe in the worldview constructed

by Black Lives Matter, has at least so far been willing to call out the falsity while still recognizing the imperfections within law enforcement; despite a common strawman argument that insists in the right’s unequivocal support of police, Trump has come out and said, as he did in his statement after the attacks on Dallas police officers, that the shootings of unarmed black men “make clear how much more work we have to do to make every American feel that their safety is protected.” So of course the FOP will support the man who condemns the group that divides and demonizes police officers and not the candidate that stands behind said group! They, like every voter, just want to feel as though their voices are being heard.

And whether you agree with that stance or not, please do better than to just blindly call them racists for having it.

Oklahoma IDs inconvenient for workers, travelers

If Oklahoma doesn’t update their state IDs soon, it will inconvenience workers and travelers attempting to get into military bases and airports.

Nathan Hinkle Student Writer A major problem that has grown in Oklahoma and will continue to grow if nothing is fixed is the problem of Oklahoma IDs. A new law called the Real ID law was passed May 11, 2005 that requires states to update their state IDs such as driving licenses to a new standard. This new standard involves a set of features that every ID must have, these features have old ones such as full legal name and a signature but also now have a unique identifying number which prevents things like tampering or counterfeiting. This legislation was a slow incremental change that will now affect Oklahoma because the

act has not been followed. This will cause several problems for both workers and the general public. Previously, in 2007, Oklahoma legislature passed a law against the act because they felt it was a security risk.

The lawmakers felt that the new electronic features put into these cards to prevent fraud and enhance security would give the federal government too much overreach in what was a state matter before the Real ID act. However, it is becoming too late to take away the bill after the legislature failed to do so in June. This bill will soon cause huge problems if not hastily gotten rid of.

The first problem is the issue of military bases. On October 10 originally, people will no longer be able to use Oklahoma driver’s licenses to get into military bases. However, the Department of Homeland Security just recently put forward a 90 day break for military bases. Instead of using these, workers from businesses such as HGL Construction and their subcontractors will instead have to acquire passports to get inside of these military bases. Workers and people who want to visit military bases will have to go out and get passports to continue doing their jobs.

While the issue of useless IDs is bad for the workers, it will also be bad for the general public. The military bases near Oklahoma will have to help provide these passports which costs time and money. This use of funds will eventually have to be pushed onto the common taxpayer. In the end, the

average citizen will have to foot the bill for this delayed action on Oklahoma IDs. However, the biggest issue affecting Oklahomans will be problems at the airport if this issue is not fixed in the near future. If Oklahoma doesn’t start working to fix their old driver’s licenses, Oklahoma IDs will not be usable at airports by 2018. Instead of these IDs, Oklahomans trying to fly using their driver’s license will not be allowed and must instead use something like a passport.

It costs around 135 dollars to get a passport after requiring photo identification, proof of citizenship, a passport photo and a set of forms known as DS-11. This process while

being moderately expensive is also a long process as well.

Oklahoma needs to hurry up and fix this problem by getting rid of the older law from 2007 and with a sense of urgency, get the state ready to start being able to update drivers’ licenses to the new national standard.

The process of fixing IDs will be a long process, as well, so the faster we get ready to start updating the drivers’ licenses, the faster we can get them out there ready to be used in airports and military bases. If we do not go forward with urgency, it will be a huge detriment on the average worker and citizen trying to fly or work.

in the form of hunger strikes and other disobedient actions, but eventually culminated into the taking of 40 guards as hostages. The government was willing to fulfill many of the prisoners’ demands, but refused the protesters’ amnesty, resulting in military action that left 30 prisoners and nine guards dead.

For over a week now, prisoners have acted upon this important anniversary. Across 21 states, prisoners are refusing to fulfill their mandatory work, in protest of what they deem a form of modern-day slavery. It is not the first protest of its kind, but it is the first to be nationally organized. An official announcement from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee reads as follows: “In one voice, rising from the cells of long term solitary confinement, echoed in the dormitories and cell blocks from Virginia to Oregon, we prisoners across the United States vow to finally end slavery in 2016.”

The slavery to which they are referring is the critically underpaid tasks, such as landscaping, custodial work and cooking, that prisoners are forced to fulfill. In federal

prisons, prisoners can expect compensation ranging from 12 to 40 cents an hour; in Texas, Georgia and Arkansas, prisoners won’t be compensated at all. Refusing to work often results in severe punishments, most notably isolation or extended sentences. As the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee notes, none of this is illegal. According to the 13th amendment, the US would no longer allow slavery or involuntary servitude “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.” Slavery, then, is legal in America in this case.

Of course, it’s not the legality in question here. Prisoners across the country are demanding basic human rights and there’s a good chance you haven’t heard of it.

Many mainstream media outlets have neglected to cover the strike, instead devoting their time to everything from political conspiracy theories like Clinton’s body double to advertising in the form of “exclusive” movie trailers. In an interview with AlterNet, a media co-chair of the Incarcerated

Workers Organizing Committee accused mainstream media of favoring ‘spectacle over substance’. In this way outlets might be incidentally encouraging an end to the peaceful methods of protest currently being utilized in favor of more ‘newsworthy’ tactics. Many members of the protest believe that prison faculty are neglecting to report the protests. This is negligence is only possible because of the protest’s pacifistic nature. If prisoners do resort to violence, their voices might be heard. Heard, however, by an increasingly unsympathetic public.

Attica should be proof that anyone — even the criminalized — can be heard, not that violence is necessary in order to grab the media’s attention. To ensure that this issue becomes public knowledge, and perhaps to some level that the movement remain pacifistic, the media needs to rethink its priorities. Human rights issues, such as a modern day slavery that is allowed in and by the United States, should maybe take precedent over baseless scandals or shameless marketing.

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Oklahoma’s IDs will hinder people who want to fly and go to work on military bases.

National prison strike deserves media attention

The 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising marks new prisoner protests that you probably haven’t seen much about.

Trenton Gibbons Variety Editor September 13th marks the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, in which prisoners discontent with their poor living conditions rebelled against the guards, a few of which were outspoken racists, in a multitude of ways. Protest began peacefully

Sports

The Collegian: 8

Guglielmetti is…

Football rallies past Justin the Fresno State in 2OT bleacher creature In their final non-conference road game, Tulsa came from 31 points behind to move to 3–1 before opening up AAC play.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

Cross Country In their first event of the season at the Cowboy Jamboree at Oklahoma State on Saturday, the women’s team took home first and the men’s team took home second. Senior Clara Langley won the women’s 5K with a time of 17:59.2 while Stacie Taylor (3 - 18:10.3), Olivia Lopez (5 - 18:31.2), Nicole Lee (6 - 18:33.2) and Andrea Mazzei (9 - 18:39.6) rounded out the top five for the Golden Hurricane. On the men’s side Luke Traynor led the Golden Hurricane in the 8K with a fourth place finish and a time of 25:25.3. Henry Pearce (7 - 25:53.2), Isaac Dobos (8 - 26:13.4), Dallas Elmore (10 26:24.9) and Adam Roderique (15 - 26:44.3) rounded out the top five on the men’s side. The men’s team — ranked No. 28 in the country — lost to No. 9 ranked Oklahoma State, but beat out six other teams.

The next event for the Golden Hurricane is the Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 14.

Bechard to Finals Sophomore Dominic Bechard reached the finals of the Napa Valley Classic last week, winning four matches in a row after dropping his first of the tournament. On his way to the finals he defeated Blaine Boyden of North Carolina, Heller from UTSA, Andre Goransson from California and Christian Sigsgaard of Texas. In the finals he was beat 8–10 by Jimmy Bendeck from Baylor finishing in second place. The men’s team will be in action when Tulsa hosts the Saint Francis ITA All-American tournament on Oct. 1-9.

Women’s Golf After two days of play the women’s golf team sits at 14 in the Lady Paladin Invitational. Senior Nadia Majidizadeh leads the Golden Hurricane currently sitting at 8th place followed closely by Greta Bruner who sits just one stroke behind Majidizadeh. Taylor Dobson, Johanna Samuelsson and Olivia Jackson round out the rest of the team for the Golden Hurricane.

The final 18 holes were played late on Sunday.

Monday

No Events

26 September 2016

After trailing by 31 points, the Golden Hurricane rallied to beat the Fresno State Bulldogs 48–41 in double overtime on the road to finish off their non-conference schedule 3–1. The 31-point comeback was the biggest comeback in school history, beating out the second biggest (20 points against Oklahoma State) by 11 points.

The game started out pretty ugly as the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in the first quarter alone. The offense looked to be sleeping in the first quarter, as they only amassed 37 yards in the first 15 minutes while the defense gave up 125 at the same time. It only took the Bulldogs 16 plays to put up 21 points.

Dane Evans was sacked three times and Keevan Lucas lost a fumble as Tulsa could not seem to gain any traction like they did last week.

The second quarter initially seemed to be the same for the Golden Hurricane as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 31 points with 10 minutes left in the half. At this point the probability of the Bulldogs winning reached 95%, and it didn’t look good for the Golden Hurricane.

At that point, though, the Golden Hurricane’s offense found their stride once again as Evans hit Justin Hobbs on the very next drive for a 23-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to just 24 points. On both of the next two drives Evans hit Lucas for 40-yard touchdowns to bring the Golden Hurricane within ten going into halftime.

After their miserable start, the Golden Hurricane still led the yardage game at half thanks to 247 second-quarter yards. They outgained the Bulldogs 284–277.

Fresno State opened up the second half with a field goal, pushing their lead up to 13, but Tulsa answered by scoring the next two touchdowns to take a one point lead at

the start of the third quarter. Evans hit Atkinson for the first touchdown and Flanders ran the ball in from two yards out to give the Golden Hurricane the lead.

Redford Jones kicked a field goal to give TU a four-point lead, but the Bulldogs scored another touchdown with five minutes left in the game to take a 41–38 lead. On their last offensive drive of regulation Jones hit another field goal from 28 yards and the defense held to send the game to overtime.

Neither team scored in the first overtime, Tulsa forced Fresno State to fumble on their first possession, but Jones missed the field goal for the win. In the second overtime Evans hit Hobbs for a 12-yard pass before scrambling for the 18-yard score to go up 48–41.

The defense held strong and Tulsa, heavy favorites going into the game, escaped with the win. After only 37 yards in the first quarter, Tulsa finished with 617 yards of total offense, the fourth time that the offense has done so in Montgomery’s tenure at TU. It was also the second game this season that the Golden Hurricane ran for more than 300 yards.

The game was intense all around, and Head Coach Montgomery addressed it afterwards.

“What a game! We spot them 31 points, and come back and win in overtime. There was never quit in this team, and we had enough left in the tank to finish it off. At halftime, we felt like we were in a good spot, only down by 10 points. The game was there for us to take it.”

He also talked about the team’s mentality and toughness when facing such a big deficit.

“I think it talks to the character of our football team. This team is gritty, relentless about what they do. They really believe that any time they step foot on the field they’re going to win. Don’t matter what the score is; don’t matter how much time is left, our guys are going to continue to fight and we’re going to find a way to win.”

The Golden Hurricane have an off week and will continue with conference play when they host SMU in the “Boomtown Showdown” on Oct 7.

Men’s soccer wins two back-to-back

After a tough loss last week to Akron, the men’s team beat Santa Clara in OT before dismantling SMU to open conference play.

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer

The Golden Hurricane men’s soccer team picked up a pair of wins this week, including a victory in their first conference game of the season.

On Monday, Santa Clara came to Tulsa.

The game started out well for the Golden Hurricane. They did a good job of putting pressure on the Broncos, and Rollie Rocha put Tulsa on the board within fifteen minutes. He beat two defenders with a nice dribble move before getting a shot past the goalkeeper.

Later in the half, the Broncos scored a goal of their own, making the score level at 1–1 heading into halftime.

In the second half, neither team was able

Tuesday

Men’s Soccer vs. Missouri State 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday

No Events

to pull away from the other. The even play ended with a scoreless half, and the teams headed into overtime.

The overtime period didn’t last long. After just five minutes, Ray Saari chipped a pass over to Matt Puig, who scored to win the game, 2–1.

Tulsa played their first American Athletic Conference game of the season on Saturday against the SMU Mustangs.

The Golden Hurricane quickly took the lead, as Ray Saari scored just three minutes into the game. Tulsa kept up the pressure in the first half, as Rollie Rocha and Kay Duit both scored goals in the first half as well, leading to a 3–0 halftime lead.

The Mustangs couldn’t come back from that, and Tulsa took the game by the same 3-0 score.

After the two wins, the Golden Hurricane now are 4–4–2 (1–0 American Athletic Conference) on the season. Next up is a matchup with Missouri State. The game is at home on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Thursday

Women’s Soccer @ UConn 6:00 p.m.

Was #EvenYear a Lie? It’s easy to forget now, but at the midway point of the 2016 MLB season, the most dominant team and prospective World Series favorite was not the Chicago Cubs (whose incredible early- and late-season records obscure a long stretch of mediocre baseball in between) but the San Francisco Giants.

Led by its Cy Young-contending pair of aces Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto, perennial MVP candidate Buster Posey, and a stifling defense headlined by underappreciated shortstop Brandon Crawford, the Giants surged to a 57-33 record at the half. Since then, the entire lineup has hit like pitchers and the team has limped to a mere 24-40 record, the worst in MLB over that span.

Once firmly in control of the NL West, the Giants now sit tied with the St. Louis Cardinals in the second wild card spot and may very well miss the postseason entirely. If that happens, the infamous #EvenYear magic, in which the Giants have won a World Series title in every even numbered year dating back to 2010, will finally be proven false.

Of course now that I’ve written this I almost definitely just jinxed it and the Giants won’t lose a single game between now and the end of the year. Better start preparing the victory parade in San Francisco come November. Goddamnit.

Yah ooooookay KD Appearing on Bill Simmons’ HBO talk show “Any Given Wednesday,” Kevin Durant called his relationship with former teammate Russell Westbrook amicable off the court, saying that he doesn’t harbor grudges or animosity towards any players when he’s sitting at home on his couch.

Mhm. Yup. Sure. You’re going to sit there in the worst ripped jeans I’ve seen outside of the 2008-chic-middle-school-girls’ section of American Eagle and tell me that you didn’t resent Westbrook’s Robin becoming a bigger superstar than your Batman? That you’re not going to be thinking ahead of time about absolutely dismantling Russ and the Thunder next year when you play them?

Come on KD, you did enough to discredit yourself as a professional athlete with any competitive self-respect when you jumped ship to the Golden State Bandwagoners.

It’s time to be the villain, to tell the rest of the league that you don’t care what they say, you’re coming straight for their neck.

Seriously dude, if you’re going to drag the league to hell, at least be the devil.

photo courtesy microphonebully

The assumption is that they simply don’t make jeans long enough for Kevin Durant, so he has to rip them in order to wear them. However, the bigger debate in the sports world is whether or not the rip in his jeans serves as a metaphor for what he did to Oklahoma City.

Sept. 26 - Oct. 2 Friday

Softball vs. Rogers State 5:00 p.m.

Volleyball @ Houston 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis @ OU Invite

Saturday

Softball vs. Labette CC 5:00 p.m.

Rowing @ Head of Oklahoma Men’s Tennis @Saint Francis All-American (through Oct. 9) Men’s Soccer vs. UConn 7:00 p.m.

Sunday

Women’s Soccer @ Temple 12:00 p.m.

Volleyball @ Tulane 1:00 p.m.

Rowing @ Head of Oklahoma

26 September 2016

Sports

The Collegian: 9

Volleyball opens conference with a split

photos by Adam Lux

Clockwise from top left: senior outside hitter Erica Bohannon jumps for a kill in the Thursday loss to Cincinnati. Bohannon led the Golden Hurricane with 22 kills in the match. Senior libero Brooke Berryhill serves the ball against the Bearcats. Berryhill led TU defensively with 20 digs, which made her only the second Tulsa player to ever have more than 2,000 digs in their collegiate career. Senior outside hitter Trinity Aluala jumps for the spike against Cincinnati. Aluala had 11 kills and a team-high 5 blocks in the close loss.

After an 11–1 out of conference schedule, the volleyball team split their conference home openers.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor The Golden Hurricane volleyball team opened up conference play hosting Cincinnati and East Carolina, splitting the two games. Tulsa came into Thursday’s game riding a nine-game winning streak, but fell to the Bearcats in a match that went the distance. But even as their winning streak came to an end, the Golden Hurricane bounced back with a win over East Carolina on Saturday.

The Bearcats, favored to win the American Athletic Conference in the preseason

polls, came into town with a 5–6 overall record in nonconference play.

Cincinnati took the early lead in the first set, but Erica Bohannon and Jaime Rahilly helped the Golden Hurricane keep it close throughout the set before a 5–0 Bearcat run gave Cincinnati the 1–0 set lead.

Cincinnati took the lead again in the second set, but Tulsa rallied back in the second half of the set rattling off six straight points in large part due to Trinity Alualu and Rebecca Reeve. They outscored the Bearcats 14–5 in the second half of the set to tie the match at one set-apiece.

Tulsa committed 10 attacking errors in the third set, giving Cincinnati a big lead, and couldn’t rebound from the deficit. Going into the break Tulsa trailed Cincinnati 1–2. The fourth set was close throughout, but Tulsa pulled through and took the 25–23

win for to force a fifth set.

In the fifth set the score was tied up seven times (which is almost half the duration, since the fifth set is only played to 15 points). But Cincinnati scored two kills at the very end to squeak out a 15–13 win and take the match.

Brooke Berryhill’s 20 digs in the match made her the second layer in Tulsa history to have more than 2,000 digs in her career.

After dropping the first set to East Carolina on Saturday, the Golden Hurricane recovered to win the next three straight. Reeve played a huge part in the win with 16 kills, seven of which came in the second set to tie the match.

“She [Reeve] played unbelievable, especially offensively today. She takes a huge load for us. She passes, she digs, she’s our only full six rotation player out there. She

has a lot of responsibility for us and it was a huge match for her offensively, she was just rolling. She did a good job knowing what the defense was doing to her, taking advantage of it, and had some really good swings because of it,” Head Coach Ryan Wills said post-match.

Tulsa ran away with the second, third and fourth sets winning by eight, seven and eight respectively.

“I think we just executed in the serve pass-game [after the first set]. We were a little bit more efficient offensively in the second set, doubling our kills with about the same amount of errors. Our serving came along and our passing allowed us to get in a rhythm when some other things weren’t working well.”

Next up for TU is a road trip to take on Houston and Tulane next weekend.

for the team’s new stadium himself, despite its estimated cost of nearly $3 billion.

If you don’t follow professional sports and think that such an act is the norm when it comes to financing playing fields, you are in for a rude awakening. Nearly every team in major American sports relies at least partially on taxpayer dollars for construction and upkeep, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars that each league makes in profits. Considering the ridiculous flow of cash in professional sports, and keeping in mind that nearly every one of these teams is owned by a millionaire or billionaire that could front maintenance costs out of their own net worth, it’s a fair question to ask how they can get away with convincing cities and states to allot precious taxpayer money to support them in a sort of twisted welfare system.

The answer is a simple yet sinister one: extortion. Obtaining money through a threat is a crime in the United States and yet every year another story emerges of a team using the specter of a potential move to gain leverage over its host city. No organization has a worse record of this than the NFL, the most popular and profitable sports league in the country. According to a report done by Fox Sports earlier this year, over $7 billion has

been spent in public funding of NFL stadiums over the past 20 years, almost 46% of the total infrastructural expenditure going into construction and maintenance over that span. The problem isn’t going away either, nor is it making any effort to disguise itself as anything other than a shakedown.

Back in March, the ownership group of the San Diego Chargers asked the city for $350 million to help finance the construction of a proposed $1 billion stadium. It was an offer that has “take-it-or-leave-it” written all over it, as the Chargers are openly flirting with the idea of moving to Los Angeles, where they would have the possibility of sharing the Rams’ proposed venue. The choice of whether to approve the Chargers’ plan will be left up to public, as it will appear on the ballot for San Diego voters in November. Similar outrageous deals have been made in recent years with the cities of Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Dallas, Cincinnati and Atlanta all shelling out exorbitant amounts of money towards the construction of their respective teams’ stadiums.

Admittedly, it cannot be an entirely raw deal for cities and taxpayers to finance these stadiums, elsewise more cities would be comfortable letting their teams leave and eliminating the league’s leverage. Many

policy makers believe that the economic advantages of having a professional sports team — revenue from the team and alternative uses of the stadiums that feed back into the city’s economy, more tourism and national attention, the creation or maintenance of a profitable social scene — more than outweigh the hit to taxpayers’ pockets in the end. Still, considering that all these advantages could still be had if the NFL and other leagues just paid for everything itself (or even just paid a higher percentage), this doesn’t seem to be a situation where having your cake and eating it too should be impossible.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much can really be done about the extortionary practices of professional sports teams at this current time, as I imagine that it would take some Congressional legislation to put an end to it. And seeing that this issue is probably about as far removed from voters’ concerns at the national level as is humanly possible, it doesn’t figure to be up for much serious debate any time soon. But who knows? Perhaps at some point in the next four years when they are taking a break between trying to repeal Obamacare and build more aircraft carriers, Congress will find time to stick up for the tax-paying American sports fan.

Stadium financing: totally legal extortion

Sports stadiums are very expensive infrastructure projects, and yet owners expect the public to foot the bill. Why is this practice acceptable?

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer

Even though their team will almost certainly miss the playoffs in 2016 and the sight of Todd Gurley getting stuffed behind the line of scrimmage will be a more familiar one than him dancing into the endzone, fans of the LA Rams sure do have a lot to be happy about this year. Why? Oh yeah that’s right, they’re the Los Angeles Rams again, returning to the franchise’s longtime home after a largely unsuccessful 20 year run in St. Louis. Having a football team back in the country’s second largest media market should be a sight for sore eyes for NFL fans based purely on the principle of the thing, but there’s something else happening that’s accompanying the team’s move that should be music to everyone’s ears, whether you’re a football fan or not. Stan Kroenke, the Ram’s billionaire owner, plans on paying

26 September 2016

The State-Run Media

the

State-Run media Unaffected by university cutbacks and ink shortage

Which Clinton scandal are you?

Everyone knows about the various Clinton scandals, but have you ever wondered which one fits your personality? Take on the identity of Hillary Clinton and respond to these completely relevant scandals to find out!

Sam Chott With Her

1) Your hair is trending well with moderate voters, but the altright thinks it’s too masculine and fringe groups on the left are concerned that you’re using too much product. Meanwhile, there were 13,471 shooting deaths in 2015, but this hair thing is clearly more important.

A) Screw this! Get an undercut and dye it rainbow. At least they won’t be talking about your pantsuit anymore.

B) Stay the course. If you keep it the same, eventually they’ll forget it’s there, and they’ll have to start listening to you.

C) Grow it longer. Sure, you’ll have to take care of it more, and Saturday Night Live will do a bit on it, but at least Tim Kaine will stop accidentally calling you “sir.”

2) You wore your lime green pantsuit. Trump is accusing you of wearing gang colors, and the Bernie camp is upset that you’re using synthetic dye.

A) Start wearing a burqa. They won’t be talking about your pantsuit anymore, that’s for sure. As a bonus, you’ll appeal to the Muslim and too-lazy-to-wash-their-hair demographics.

B) Why do Jared Leto and Queen Elizabeth get to rock lime green, and you’re stuck with red, white, and beige? Ignore the haters, and keep trying to talk about tariffs.

C) Switch to navy blue pantsuits, and make sure none of them

have shiny buttons. If you look like a very boring middle manager with a flag lapel pin, the media might forget that you have a body.

mostly ramen, burgers, and martinis, but at least they might start listening to your policy ideas.

3) You said in a speech that online commenters are terrible people, forgetting that they’re also very loud and vengeful. Comments on articles about you around the internet are so much worse now, except for Youtube comments, which are about the same.

A) Start replying to comments.

Arguing with people on the internet always works, and you literally went to Yale Law, which means you’ll totally be able to convince people.

B) Just ignore them. Responding to terrible people on the internet never works, and this way, you’ll have time to refine your policy proposals.

C) Publically apologize. If you give them what they want, they’ll probably stop. That’s how it works, right?

Mostly A: You are THE EMAIL SERVER Ok, even you have to admit that this one is pretty bad.

You kept classified emails on a private server which may or may not have been compromised, and some of the emails were deleted before federal investigators could see what they were.

This is incompetent at best, and a lot of people have alleged that you were trying to hide something by deleting those emails, rather than just trying to free some disk space.

Like actual Hillary Clinton, you really don’t give a shit. Sure, some people make a lot of noise about this, but what are they gonna do?

Not vote for you? Anybody who wears a, “Lock the bitch up” tshirt was never going to vote for a woman anyway.

4) Pictures were taken of you at a Minnesota state fair eating a piece of candy corn. Due to your hyper-efficient metabolism, it provided all of the nutrition you needed for the day, but apparently most people have strong negative opinions towards candy corn.

A) Even though you only set aside several seconds per day towards eating, make a point to eat white chocolate and black licorice in public. Even if you eat only universally reviled food, you’re still better than Trump.

B) Keep eating whatever calorie-dense food you see nearby.

Eventually, the public will forget about this, and they’ll move on to talking about something like your shoes or your handshake.

C) Ask your twitter followers to tell you what you SHOULD be eating, in five emojis or less.

Ignoring all of the eggplants that Trump tweets you, you’ll eat

Mostly B: You are BENGHAZI A US Embassy in Libya was attacked in 2012, with several Americans, including a US Ambassador, being killed. You were accused by some of not adequately preparing for attacks as Secretary of State, or even of knowing about the attack and not doing anything. Of course, the public knows about it mostly as a buzzword, and now that Michael Bay made a movie about it, it will live on forever in the public imagination as Jim from “The Office” shouting, “Are we expecting friendlies?” for two hours straight.

Similar to Michael Bay, people keep making fun of you, and insisting that you’re incompe-

Occupy Gun Street fails to protest gun inequality

Due to the fact that 3% of Americans own half of the guns, a movement has emerged to protest gun inequality.

Mostly C: You are YOUR COOKIES When you refused to quit your job while your husband ran for president, you made an offhand remark about not staying home and baking cookies. We not only interpreted that as a slight against all stay-at-home moms, but, as a nation, forced you to submit a cookie recipe to a cookie contest, which you went on to win. Twice.

Similar to your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, people see you and at first they’re like, “Ew, oatmeal raisin?” But then you’re like, “Of course not oatmeal raisin. You keep telling me not to be oatmeal raisin, so I’m not oatmeal raisin,” to which they respond, “Seems

Adam Lux Too impatient to cook spaghetti

Occupy Gun Street is a vocal but unarmed movement.

of gun owners live either on Gun Street or on an offshoot of Gun Street such as Pistol Avenue or Assault Drive.

The Occupy Gun Street spokesperson told us that they were tired of this extreme inequality and informed us that they were planning a physical protest on Gun Street all across America. When asked how they could possibly coordinated such an expansive protest, they replied through social media and then spouted off numerous obscure and vowel-deficient app names.

The protest, which occurred last Saturday, ran into some difficul-

graphic by Elias Brinkman

ties. The demonstration, which was supposed to last well over 12 hours, was concluded after about 15 minutes. Apparently protesters were frightened away when the residents of Gun Street, and offshoots of Gun Street, approached the protesters wielding guns and demanded that the protesters leave. The State Run reached out to Occupy Gun Street asking about the oversight but received no response.

It appears that gun inequality will continue to be a problem in America despite many individual’s apparent best efforts.

pretty inauthentic.”

Mixed Answers: You are YOUR STANCE ON GAY MARRIAGE Remember back in 1999, when liberals were all like, “Eww, gay marriage, gross!” Well, apparently nobody else does, but they really like to bring up the fact that you said that marriage was a sacred bond between a man and a woman.

25% of the country changed their mind on gay marriage in the last 20 years, but apparently you’re not allowed to do the same. It’s like the time that Michelle threw a party, but nobody told you that it was BYOB, so you had to mooch off of Barack.

Like a grandparent at a gay wedding, who thinks it’s great that Stephen and Brandon are “such good friends,” you’re a little behind the times. Sure, 2013 was a little late to get behind the gay agenda, but you just wish that somebody would have told you sooner that your party was pivoting.

Student at $50,000 a year school can’t afford anything but ramen

Despite having enough money to attend TU, one student doesn’t have enough money to buy fruit, vegetables or anything that isn’t ramen.

Adam Lux Gun 97 percenter An unusual protest has been going unnoticed by most media sources. Formed in response to the fact that 50% of all guns in America are owned by 3% of the people, the group has gathered on Gun Street to protest gun inequality.

The movement known as Occupy Gun Street has been rocking America to its very foundation from Alaska to Florida. A spokesperson said that the group was a “synergetic, grassroots, social collaboration” and cited their main complaint as gun wealth inequality.

One of the more peculiar oddities of this story is that the “Gun street” which the collaboration is attempting to occupy is, in fact, a physical street. Gun Street is an actual residential road which stretches entirely across the continental United States. There are similarly named streets in Alaska and Hawaii, but those obviously do not connect to the continental Gun Street. Gun Street is, in fact, the second largest continuously named road, beaten only by Vodka Street, Russia. Even more curiously, over 96% of that 3% subgroup

tent, but whenever you do something, it always makes bank. House Republicans spent $7 million investigating Benghazi and couldn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing, kind of like how we spent billions of dollars paying to watch “Transformers” movies, even though we know that they’re all the same.

A recent survey conducted on the student population revealed that over 57% of meals consumed during the school year cost no more than $1.58. These meals are usually a low-cost, low nutrition microwave noodle-based meal.

The State-Run Media tracked down a student who admits to eating a large number of these noodle meals.

“I buy them mostly because they’re cheap and require no skill to make. Also if you put a little sriracha on them they actually taste pretty good,” he said while forking noodles out of a styrofoam bowl. A quick look in his kitchen cabinets revealed a month’s supply of the noodle cups. “There was a really good sale,” he explained.

The student, who prefers to stay nameless, lives in a single-bedroom, on-campus apartment. He’s a junior computer science and philosophy double major. In his free time he enjoys semi-professional ballroom dancing and polo.

In response to questions about difficulties paying for tuition or housing the student said “Oh no I’ve never had trouble with that [slurping noise]. Every semester the balance just seems to somehow pay itself.” He responded similarly to questions about expensive textbooks. “They just appear on my doorstep, [slurp] a few days before school starts.”

Inquiries into the possibility that the student could manage to spend more on food, perhaps buying vegetables, fruit and meat to round out his diet, were met with a negative response. “Dude, I’m in college. I’m barely scraping by. There’s no way I could spend any more on food,” he said as he sat down on his leather reclining chair across from his sixty inch flat screen television.

It appears that this ecosystem has given rise to a new type of financial species, one that has a necessity to be thrifty, but only for a specific category of commodity: food. The State-run brought this information to Economics professor Dr. Jamie Tarter. Dr. Tarter stated that “this type of economic niche has never been observed before.” A group of graduate students have started studying the student in question and promised the State-run updates if any discoveries are made.