18 November 2019

a student newspaper of the University of Tulsa

November 18, 2019 issue 12 ~ volume 105

TU wins Mayor’s Cup p.2 Why Bloomberg might run p. 10 “Watchmen” sets Alan Moore’s comic story within Tulsa Race Massacre p.11

Faculty vote no confidence in Clancy, Levit p. 6

Sports

The Collegian: 2

18 November 2019

TU tops ORU, wins Mayor’s Cup

Basketball journalist Zach Short covers Tulsa’s victory, where outplaying the Eagles yielded the Golden Hurricane the honor of being city champions.

It is still too early to say whether or not the Tulsa Men’s basketball crew will be a dominant power this season.

What can be said, however, is that they played with an unmatched ferocity Tuesday night to beat their crosstown rival, the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles, in a captivating 74-67 victory.

The game started slow enough, with both teams struggling to score early.

This is not due to poor play though, but rather to a defensive battle as both teams tried to crush their opponents’ spirits as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, they ran into foul trouble a bit too quickly, earning their 10th foul with 6:42 left in the first half.

The Hurricane was quick to cash in on the fault, shooting 27 free throws, eight more than their opponent, by the time the game was over.

Yet, the Tulsa team had its own struggles in the first half to complement ORU’s foul problem and keep the game nice and tight. The Hurricane struggled with inside scoring, missing a handful of what could have been easy points.

And while both teams struggled with turnovers, Tulsa struggled more greatly there as well. ORU ended the game with 11 turnovers, while Tulsa ended with a whopping 16. Despite these struggles, Tulsa held on to the lead going into the half, being up 32-28.

The second half started with a little cause for concern for Tulsa fans, as the Eagles came out of the locker room and grabbed the lead quickly.

They even seemed to have a tighter grasp on their foul problem, not prompting a whistle for the first four minutes out of the gate.

Despite their adapted approach, the fouls did come back to haunt them, as their starting center earned his fourth with eight minutes left in the game.

That foul was the turning point for the Hurricane.

They scored a quick five points right after his cautionary exit and held on to a lead for the rest of the game.

If that quick little spurt was not enough to convince Tulsa fans that they were about to see their team win, Brandon Rachal made believers of them just a few minutes later with a demoralizing dunk followed by an icy triple to get the crowd excited.

After the viciousness exacted upon the Eagles from Rachal, the team just seem to fall apart.

They still played mostly well, but they only appeared to care about every other possession. It looked as though they had accepted defeat as inevitable.

The game spiraled out of control for the city’s other big university, and even while the score remained tight, faith in Eagles only waned as time trickled down.

Isaiah Hill goes up for a heavily defended shot.

The Golden Hurricane accepts their prize for winning the Mayor’s cup.

photo by Brayden McCoy

Brandon Rachal goes up to the hoop.

In the end, the Hurricane’s valiant effort paid off. They outrebounded the Eagles 43 to 35 and played with a bit more zeal than their rival.

Critics may chalk it up to a home court advantage, but it is

photo by Brayden McCoy

still difficult to deny that the Tulsa team seemed to care more about the outcome of the game and were willing to give it their all to secure the confidence-boosting win.

The two teams were about equally yoked in overall talent, the

Martins Igbanu throws down a killer dunk.

Tulsa team just wanted it more. If they can refine their style while still playing with an unmatched enthusiasm, they will be a scary team to face when conference play gets started.

photo by James Taylor

photo by James Taylor

18 November 2019

Sports

The Collegian: 3

Tulsa starts strong against OSU, fizzles Basketball journalist Brayden McCoy discusses the Golden Hurricane’s 78-48 loss to the Cowgirls despite a strong first half.

The Golden Hurricane had its momentum stolen Wednesday night by the Oklahoma State University Cowgirls with a final score of 78-48.

Tulsa started strong in the first half, pushing forward with fierce energy that produced to a lead up to 11 points.

The game started quickly, with Tulsa notching a five-point lead before the Cowgirls tied it up.

This pattern continued for the rest of the first quarter, with TU pulling ahead only to have OSU drag them down to tie up the score. The Cowgirls briefly took the lead with 0:57 in the first quarter, before Tulsa tied it up at the 0:38 mark.

The second quarter saw TU go on a fierce push that lead to a 28-12 lead by the 5:12 mark. OSU rose to this challenge and cut the Golden Hurricane’s lead down to five points with 2:02 left in the quarter.

With less than a minute on the clock, Tulsa’s Morgan Brady and Kendrian Elliot blitzed in three-pointers to bring Tulsa’s lead to 11 points until OSU scored a buzzer beating three-pointer to bring the second quarter to a close at 39-31.

The first half saw TU knock down seven out of nine treys and beat OSU in rebounds 26-24.

By halftime the lead Tulsa Women held over OSU was eight points and was the result of fierce shots and swift plays, but didn’t hold. With the start of the second half, Tulsa’s lead rapidly dissipated, and

Addison Richards keeps the ball just out of reach.

OSU became noticeably more physical during the second half.

Tulsa wasn’t responding in turn which led to the Cowgirls dominating the pace of the game, every point the Golden hurricane scored was returned by OSU in a crushing back and forth.

The Cowgirls were in the zone during this time, scoring the first 11 points of the third period and ending it with a 12-point lead.

Through this they had their first lead since late in the first period when they were up 14-12.

Addison Richard made a timely threepointer in an attempt to fight back and end the drought of points Tulsa was suffering.

However, OSU didn’t let up and continued attacking, scoring 26 points in the third period while the Golden Hurricane only managed six.

The Golden Hurricane was losing momentum rapidly, and only managed to score three points in the final period, while the Cowgirls fiercely took 21 points.

The final 30 minutes demonstrate the degree to which the Golden Hurricane’s strength was stripped away, with OSU outscoring the Hurricane 47-9.

Kendrian Elliot and Alexis Gaulden led the Hurricane, with 16 and 11 points respectively.

Vivian Gray led the game for OSU by scoring 24 points alongside Ja’Mee Asberry who had 21.

photo by James Taylor

Alexis Gaulden goes up for a layup.

photo by Brayden McCoy

Morgan Brady scans the court.

photo by Brayden McCoy

@TUCollegian

tucollegian@tucollegian.org editor-in-chief

Ethan Veenker managing editor

Emily Every news editor

Madison Connell sports editor

Brennen Gray variety editor

Piper Prolago commentary editor

Chris Lierly satire editor

Sara Serrano photo & graphics editor

Emma Palmer

business & advertising manager

Brian Kwiecinski

social media & web manager

Anna Johns

distribution managers

Alaina Nauman Mary Bergwell copy editor

Hana Saad Gaulden shoots a jumper.

photo by James Taylor

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 accomodation of disabilities may be addressed to the university’s 504 Coordinator, Dr. Tawny Rigsby, (918)631-3814. To ensure availability of an interpeter, five to seven days notice is needed; 48 hours is recommended for all other accomodations.

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The Collegian: 4

Sports

18 November 2019

‘Cane reigns over the Governers

Basketball journalist Hannah Robbins discusses key players in Tulsa’s 72-65 win over Austin Peay on Saturday, including newcomer Brandon Rachal’s 30 points.

As the pregame season starts to wind down, Tulsa basketball has started to heat up, and some of the new players on the team this season have started to get in the groove.

Brandon Rachal, a transfer student from LSU, scored a game-high 30 points, leading in points for the Golden Hurricane for the second game in a row.

Junior Darian Jackson seems to have grown from his two years on the team, scoring 16 points to help Tulsa defeat Austin Peay on Saturday.

From the start, Tulsa was bringing the game to Austin Peay. Rachal scored his first points of the game off a jumper in less than a minute.

It was all Rachal for the first three minutes of the game; after seven unanswered points, Austin Peay finally got on the board.

However, Austin Peay continued to struggle, lagging behind Tulsa as much as 10 points while Rachal continued to score all the points for Tulsa.

Six minutes into the game, Josh Earley became the next Tulsa player on the board.

Tulsa continued to dominate as the half continued on, but key shots by Austin Peay let Tulsa’s lead narrow.

Austin Peay seemed to be able to handle the ball better, stealing from Tulsa at opportune moments.

The game continued to be close as the final five minutes of the half approached, and Austin Peay saw their chance.

As Austin Peay players connected with the hoop, they also prevented Tulsa from

scoring, blocking a shot by Earley and forcing multiple turnovers.

Tulsa trailed the rest of the half, unable to put together plays to bring them back into the lead, getting up to a deficit of two before halftime.

Rachal seemed to back in the groove second half, scoring a layup to tie up the game within the first minute of the second half. After a quick battle for the lead, Tulsa started to gain ground thanks to layups by Jackson and Rachal.

Jackson started to connect with the hoop, scoring six points in two minutes to bring Tulsa to a lead of eight, but that did not last.

The game was close for the next several minutes, with Austin Peay tying the game several times, but rarely gaining the lead.

Martins Igbanu started the drive that finally gave Tulsa a lasting win with a jump shot, followed shortly by a dunk by Jackson.

Despite several attempts, Rachal and Jackson were able to keep the lead by hitting free throws and a final layup by Jackson with seconds left in the game to win 72-65.

Tulsa won this matchup, but only barely.

Austin Peay is not as difficult as most of the teams the Golden Hurricane will play this year, and since Tulsa could barely keep up with the steals and defense of the Governors, this does not bode well for some of the matchups coming down the line.

This is preseason basketball, and hopefully head coach Frank Haith will take some of the lessons from these games into the regular season.

Martins Igbanu aims one over a defender (top). Brandon Rachal throws down a dunk (left). Isaiah Hill lays it up with some jelly (right).

photos by Brayden McCoy

Deadspin media dead after censorship Sports journalist Hannah Robbins discusses the final days of Deadspin and the new management that led to the staff’s mass exodus After 14 years, Deadspin, a sports media website that also focused on commentary, is dead.

Every single reporter and writer for the company quit, one after another, culminating with Dave McKenna, the last writer, who named himself as “editor-in-chief” before he too left the company on Nov. 1.

How did Deadspin come to this mass exodus of its staff?

It started with new management in April, according to writer Laura Wagner in an article on Deadspin titled “This Is How Things Work Now at G/O Media.” After Deadspin switched hands from Gawker Media to G/O Media, the new CEO Jim Spanfeller failed to mesh with the current employees.

First, he overlooked high-ranking females for executive positions, instead hiring colleagues from past places he’d worked.

This continued, and led to a team that was once diverse becoming significantly more white and male, with the only additional women hired at a top ranking-positions coming from the one position that was actually released for open applications: deputy counsel, and one additional position: head of talent.

However, that alone was not what caused Deadspin to die. It was instead a difference in vision.

You see, Spanfeller and his new c-suite wanted the staff at Deadspin to write about one thing and one thing only: sports.

This is despite the fact that Deadspin’s non-sports section, The Concourse, brought in readers at more than double the pace.

So naturally, the staff at Deadspin fought back, purposefully making the homepage entirely sports free coverage. Needless to

say, management wasn’t happy, and an editor was fired on Oct. 29 for covering other news.

The next day, staff started leaving in droves.

Deadspin was not a place anyone wanted to work if half the content that the site is known for is not allowed by management.

And suddenly there was no staff.

The censorship by management led them all to quit. New management saw Deadspin only as a way to turn a profit and decided to “stick to sports.” But it was not management’s decision to make: the editorial staff was in charge of the direction of the website.

However, that did not stop them, and this overreaching ended the website.

Censorship in media limits the truth that is told. By trying to omit any article that is not specifically focused on sports is frankly

ridiculous, especially when some journalists in Deadspin write very little sports-centric content.

And firing an employee for keeping journalistic integrity is the reason that the website is no longer with us.

So here’s to Deadspin.

Whether you liked them or hated them, they had hot takes and coverage. Whether you were looking for commentary on the political climate or to learn about the Lakers game, they were one stop, and they had something for everyone.

To leave rather than be pushed into a narrow box that is not representative in their editorial vision is admirable, and their 14 years was not for nothing. Thank you Deadspin, and may all the writers find employment in jobs that allow them to cover sports and whatever else they want.

Sports

18 November 2019

The Collegian: 5

Crystal Ball: winter sports edition

The Collegian Sports staff collaborates to write everyone’s favorite sports-satire, this edition features a religous Antonio Brown, Simone Biles being immortalized in gymnastics and Boris Johnson bringing evil to Liverpool.

Antonio Brown Joins Religious Order Former NFL Star Athlete Antonio Brown has decided to join a religious order in Sierra Leone, sources close to Brown’s agent say.

He was last seen boarding a plane from Dulles Airport headed to Lungi Intl. Airport, in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

While boarding the plane Brown was clothed in nothing but a priestly robe, with

In hopes of forgetting all the Nassar stuff, the U.S. had a large part in choosing the new name to suit their national press. For that reason, artistic gymnastics has officially changed its name to ‘The Gymnastics Where Simone Biles Competes.’

While lengthy, everyone in TGWSBC is confident this new name will make it clear about how it is different than other variations of gymnastics.

suddenly accept real democracy as a way to govern their people.

How would the NBA fare? Not an easy question.

Lebron, being the superhuman he is, will see the error of his was in not taking a stand against China, and then run for president as a late candidate write-in in 2020.

After he is elected, President Lebron will set to healing the devastated relations be-

other leave campaign, except this one will just be plastered with #ThisMeansMore and #YNWA in the humble fashion Liverpool is renowned for. When Boris is walking out the door of Europe, Liverpool FC and the entire Merseyside region will leave England. Where will they go?

As Champions League rulers they will exist in an ethereal plane above all of Europe, as is their right.

“Hologram players will phase out existing athletes and eventually, as the logical next step, perform a coup d’etat and form their own oligarchy ...” numerous occult facial tattoos from a hipster LA tattoo parlor. The religious sect Brown joined is known as the Church of the Bearded Serpent, and is allegedly responsible for the mass smuggling of conflict diamonds during Sierra Leone’s Civil War. Brown is believed to have brought his collection of jewelry with him. He left only one goodbye text, to former teammate JuJu Smith Schuster: “I’ve found my calling in life. Goodbye.” When approached for comment by the media, former rival Vontaze Burfict had this to say: “... Wow. I mean, I did trash talk that to him, but I didn’t expect him to actually do it.”

Around the time Brown left, Burfict also received a large shipment in the mail of happy meal toys Brown had stockpiled for three years, which came with the note: “Thanks for the concussion!!”- A.C. Boyle Artistic Gymnastics Changes Name, Honors Simone Biles After the continued confusion with rhythmic gymnastics (seriously, it’s all turns anyways, are we sure there is rhythm?) and trampoline gymnastics (exactly what it seems like), artistic gymnastics, the one U.S. ladies continue to win all the gold medals in, has decided to change its name.

Hologram Athletes Become New Fad, Establish Military State Competing for fans, major sports leagues will start to develop hologram sports, in which legends are brought back to life via hologram to compete with active greats. It starts with bringing in the deceased greats, Gordie Howe appears in the NHL all-star game and an All-Time Yankees squad, with the likes of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, plays against the recent champions, the Washington Nationals.

Sports organizations, fueled by avaricious capitalism, begin strengthening holograms with more physical tangibility while also allowing for living greats, like Michael Jordan and Lawrence Taylor, to be reincarnated in their prime and even placed on active rosters.

Hologram players will phase out existing athletes and eventually, as the logical next step, perform a coup d’etat and form their own oligarchy with their superhuman strength.

China stops being mean, NBA, Lebron, Education system thrive Alright let’s pretend that the Chinese government is no longer doing some human rights violations. Let’s pretend that they

tween China and the U.S. that Trump left to us. Once the two superpowers becomes besties, NBA viewership in China will skyrocket better than ever before.

This will cause Lebron to grow in popularity in both the NBA as a current player, and the American political scene as a sitting President.

Next thing you know, he will use his nearly unlimited clout to build even more schools in areas were the public education system is actively failing.

And we will all live happily ever after!

Boris passes Brexit, Klopp leaves England Let’s face it. In December, Boris Johnson will pass Brexit by an overwhelming majority brought about by his rugged good looks and political prowess.

He’ll finalize what May never could and cement himself as the best Prime Minister of post-relevant Britain.

However, when he does, one fatal flaw in his plan will become blatantly apparent.

What the blundering British buffoon never saw coming was the great German general that is Jürgen Klopp.

The Liverpool manager will ignite the anti-Tory sentiment in Liverpool into an-

NFL cancels controversial rule Following the tumultuous rollout of reviewable pass-interference calls, the NFL has opted to discontinue one of the most controversial rules in sports.

According to the NFL rulebook, Rule 19, Article 1, section 1: “The game shall be played under the supervision of seven officials: the Referee, Umpire, Down Judge, Line Judge, Field Judge, Side Judge, and Back Judge. In the absence of seven officials, the crew is to be rearranged according to the remaining members of the crew.”

This rule has been deemed the root cause of a number of ongoing disputes in the NFL, and therefore the league is opting to eliminate officiating entirely.

In an official statement, an NFL spokesperson elaborated on the motives for this decision: “I mean, we keep trying to fix the rules and people still complain.

So we’re getting rid of officials completely. Let’s see people complain about the referees then.”

Although the NFL Player’s Association declined to comment on the matter, Browns defensive end Myles Garrett praised the move, simply tweeting “No referees? FINALLY.”

graphic by Emma Palmer

Antonio Brown, shortly after donning his religious atire, projects holographic Babe Ruth.

Nov. 18 - Nov. 24 Monday

Tuesday 18

No Events

Wednesday 19

M Basketball vs. Souteastern Louisana University 7 p.m.

20

Thursday 21

Saturday

Friday

23

22 Football vs. Houston 7 p.m.

No Events

W Basketball vs. ORU 7 p.m.

Sunday 24

Volleyball Volleyball American American Cross Country Athletic Athletic NCAA Conference Championships Conference Championship Championship Volleyball American Athletic Conference Championship

The Collegian: 6

News

18 November 2019

Faculty vote: confidence in Clancy, Levit

The faculty voted no confidence 157-44 against President Clancy and 161-41 against Provost Levit.

Chris Lierly Commentary Editor Lindsey Prather Student Writer

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, 202 out of approximately 344 eligible faculty at the University of Tulsa took part in a motion of no-confidence vote for both President Gerard Clancy and Provost Janet Levit. The vote was sponsored by the TU chapter of the American Association for University Professors (AAUP), and exhibited a voter turnout rate of nearly 60%, for context, this percentage is higher than most presidential elections. The results of this vote totaled 157-44 against President Clancy, as well as 161-41 against Provost Levit.

This vote was initially announced via email by TU-AUUP President, Dr. Brian Hosmer on Friday, Nov. 8. The vote and its subsequent results mark a continuation of the fallout from True Commitment and was most recently catalyzed by the Board of Trustees’ rejection of an alternative to that plan as well as a visit from the HLC liaison to the university Tom Bordenkircher.

The events preceding the vote have become the focal point of controversy for some members of TU’s faculty. In a letter to the national AAUP board, a group of five tenured professors at TU - Drs. Mailler, Cravens, Belmaker, Galoob and Stanton - questioned the legitimacy of the vote, even going so far as to challenge its legality under official AAUP rules and seek the suspension of the vote.

The basis for this request was reiterated in an email to all faculty at TU sent out on Nov. 11: “It is our view that the entire process is questionable… [it is] ill-conceived, illegitimate, and ill-advised”.

In a phone interview on Nov. 12, Dr. Belmaker contextualized the nature of their dissent, primarily challenging the animating factor of the vote: “we feel that all the [TU AAUP] officers represent a very narrow view. They don’t have people there that support True Commitment, for example.”

Although, when asked if pro-True Commitment faculty were unwelcome in the TU chapter, Belmaker continued: “They want us to [join]…and I know from the secretary Michele Dill, who told me personally that she would love to have a chapter that in-

cludes people that are opposed to her views for example...I don’t think that they’ve stopped anybody but they were not inclusive. It’s unclear to me what their aim is for the chapter. I was not given an invitation.”

Later, Belmaker described what she would consider an appropriate course of action in lieu of a full faculty no-confidence vote. “There’s two options...Option number one is in the [Faculty] Senate itself. If it’s a resolution of no confidence, it would probably pass in the Senate.” However, the most preferable option, according to Belmaker, is the ratification of specific no-confidence rules for the University of Tulsa.

Citing the procedures established by other colleges such as Wright University, Belmaker is seeking a standardized set of rules for no-confidence in order to minimize the potential for illegitimate votes to take place.

In this case, the relative rarity of no-confidence votes at TU directly led to an innate reliance on established AAUP democratic procedures.

In accordance to AAUP rules, non-TU affiliated AAUP members travelled to TU to observe and report any procedures that were inconsistent with their established bylaws.

Additionally, the vote-counting process and

The University of Tulsa is profound. Even where we have differences of opinion, we are each coming from a place of sincere love for TU.” In response to the same question, President Clancy gave no explicit answer, but Senior Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Mona Chamberlin directed us to an email that the president sent to faculty and staff on Friday wherein Clancy said that the “vote was driven, in part, by the difficult but necessary changes taking place across campus.”

When asked whether the margin of the vote would change the Board’s support for the President and Provost, the Chair of TU’s Board of Trustees Frederic Dorwart simply stated: “No.” On Nov. 14, the university’s Faculty Senate met for their monthly meeting, but the events of the past two weeks loomed large.

Both President Clancy and Provost Levit were in attendance, though the former through video chat only. Faculty Senate Vice President Dr. Jennifer Airey and many others who attended described the meeting as a “civil” and “robust” discussion about shared governance, but some decisions were made.

“‘The Faculty Senate is a legitimate University organization ... all Faculty Senate resolutions are recommendations to the President and the Board.’” the subsequent announcement of its results were both open to the campus community in Kendall Hall immediately after the polls closed. The Collegian attended these events and reported the results immediately following their release.

Shortly after the results were announced Hosmer stated that the vote was “not only clarifying but represents academic freedom and shared governance, core values of higher education embodied in AAUP’s founding documents.” Additionally, TU-AAUP vice president Dr. Matt Hindman stated that for weeks President Clancy “asserted that 20 percent of people will oppose change of any kind, and another 20 percent will instinctively support it” and that his job “was to convince the remaining 60 percent.” Hindman went on to say, “We now know where that 60 percent stands” and that Clancy “failed at his on metric of leadership.”

When asked for comment about whether the results of the vote would affect the state of shared governance at TU, Provost Levit stated that “My respect for the faculty of

Nov. 14 was scheduled to mark the last full Faculty Senate meeting before the end of the semester, but instead, an additional meeting has been announced for December, though a specific date has not been chosen.

Regarding that extra meeting, Faculty Senate President Dr. Scott Holmstrom stated that “we’ll be looking to take action as a Faculty Senate.” Though he did call the no-confidence vote earlier in the week “an overwhelming statement”, he would not specify further on what the specific action would be.

Another development in this month’s meeting was the decision to make an ad-hoc committee on shared governance. This committee’s official nomination will take place at next month’s meeting; the committee itself is intended to promote discussion between faculty, administration and the board relating to issues surrounding TU’s governance.

Although the formation of this committee will undoubtedly require a great deal of negotiation amongst those three parties, the

preliminary setup might give the Faculty Senate Steering Committee an idea of what to expect in December.

Regarding the need for such a committee, Holmstrom said “we’ve been doing this for months now, with some of us acting as intermediaries. That needs to stop” instead he said that “we need to find a way to get at and stay at the table to solve our problems.”

This committee signals a further step towards a more direct relationship between the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees. But what will take place at next month’s meeting will be wholly dependent on how administration and the Board respond to the role they would play in such a committee.

To that point, Holmstrom said “I really do think [the Board] will be receptive” but that “we need to make sure that due diligence” regarding shared governance “is followed.”

When asked whether he believed that the Faculty Senate was a legitimate governing body, Chairman Frederic Dorwart said “The Faculty Senate is a legitimate University organization” but that “all Faculty Senate resolutions are recommendations to the President and the Board.”

Additionally, the Board passed resolutions last week asserting that “True Commitment was adopted in full compliance with the University’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws..and the principles of shared governance” and that “The resolutions of the Faculty Senate…are inconsistent with the University’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws...and the principles of shared governance.”

The views put forth by the Faculty Senate and the Board are conflicted, and whether a consensus can be reached will likely drive the debate as True Commitment enters its eighth month.

Despite the pivotal role played by Student Association in the 1990s’ no-confidence vote against TU President Bob Donaldson, at present there is no vote scheduled for SA regarding this matter. However, on Nov. 12 TU Vice President Earl Johnson appeared as a surprise guest speaker; Johnson elected to read the previously-mentioned email sent

by Dr. Belmaker that dubbed the vote “illegitimate”.

It is unclear whether Student Association will be utilizing the previously-established precedent that held so much power several years ago. This uncertainty is mirrored in many aspects of shared governance at TU; however, despite this ambiguity Faculty Senate President Dr. Holmstrom appeared optimistic, stating: “I know we can emerge from our situation a better and stronger university.”

Women’s health data collaborative analyzes problems

Emma Swepston from Metriarch, a women’s health data collaborative, talks about the “uncomfortable” subject of women’s health.

Anna Johns Social Media/Web Manager

The George Kaiser Family Foundation founded Take Control Initiative (TCI) to improve access to contraception and reproductive health education. The group expands services to offer equitable access to contraceptive methods that are best for each individual and family. Through breaking down socioeconomic barriers, TCI hopes to enact a change for women in Tulsa: one where any woman can learn and control her health.

When it comes to the lack of knowledge in women’s health, TCI’s data and policy director Emma Swepston realizes how difficult it was to have a conversation on women’s wealth without spiraling into deeply controversial, unrelated topics.

“People get really uncomfortable when it comes to women’s health,” Swepston says.

“The reality is that there is nothing inherently bad about being a woman. Our health involves more than the lower half of our anatomy.”

While data is publicly available regarding women’s health and welfare, many nonprofits and research groups lack the infrastructure to provide information in a means that is both convenient and understandable.

If someone does not know how to “run the query” or go to the exact database, any available data can be incorrect or invalid.

According to Swepston, from an infrastructure viewpoint, when queries are sent, it is necessary to have insider knowledge.

Metriarch, a women’s health collaborative that works with TCI, originates from the pervasive problem of data illiteracy.

The group wants to generate conversations around women’s health, inherent dignity and essential security for women in their families. Through curated data reports, a forthcoming interactive web tool and inperson events, Metriarch hopes they can build positive dialogue in the community about women’s health.

In response to the need for convenient, understandable information, Metriarch released a Data Lookbook, which offers comprehensive summaries of data that is commonly referenced in discussions about women’s health and well-being. The information in the Lookbook has been conducted and overseen by experts in their fields, and it is designed for maximum accessibility. The overall goal of the project was to incorporate the lived experiences of all Oklahoma women, not simply those who are the easiest to measure.

“With rape and sexual violence statistics, I’ve analyzed some data that hasn’t been collected since 2012,” Swepston says.

“You’d think we care about women and sexual violence, but priorities exist in the things that we measure.”

As documented by the Lookbook, Oklahoma ranks highest in the nation for completed or attempted forced penetration.

Swepston believes this statistic coincides with an overall problem in education.

“For some reason, we are not comfortable with talking about sexual violence,” she says, “Oor maybe women don’t know what constitutes rape or sexual violence.”

Then, with marginalized groups, the statistics for sexual violence is much worse.

The Lookbook’s 2012 data on sexual violence did not include information regarding how indigenous, disabled, low-income or LGBTQ+ populations were affected.

Through supplemental data collection, research has found these groups “reported a higher than average incidence of sexual violence.”

There are troubling statistics that follow this: 47 percent of transgender people report an incident of sexual assault in their lifetime, and transgender people of color report higher rates; moreover, 67 percent of transgender indigenous people report being sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

“There’s a historic precedent of sexism that is layered into the structures and institutions of our world, especially when you layer racial and socioeconomic disparities in women’s health,” Swepston reports.

According to the Lookbook, black and indigenous women are three times more likely to experience maternal mortality, and black infants are “twice as likely to die than their

white counterparts.” A black woman with a PhHD is more likely to die from childbirth than a white woman who comes from a lower income background and has less educational attainment. And, ultimately, this disparity is preventable — it is the lack of consistent health care and access to treatment that perpetuates this issue.

Metriatch believes disparities still exist.

Structural racism hurts both the ability to collect data and the overall quality of health care. There are publicly available datasets for the majority of the population, but for people who “exist in the margins,” data falls short — there is no easy solution to find information that encompasses all aspects of a person’s identity.

Historical trauma may act as a factor in why women of color in Oklahoma bear inequity. The Lookbook explains that: Indigenous women still experience the impact of colonization, black women in Tulsa “still labor to repair the economic devastation” caused by the 1921 Race Massacre, black

Marginalized people are more likely to do inclusive data collection efforts, which can put pressure on the people who have the power to augment existing efforts to include a more comprehensive picture of the American populous.

Oklahoma may empirically struggle to keep up with other states in its education of women’s health and dignity, but things are improving. The Lookbook finds that the Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill in 2019 establishing a Maternal Mortality Review Committee (MMRC).

Beginning this month, the MMRC will “begin reviewing, identifying and providing recommendations to address the underlying, preventable causes contributing to the death of Oklahoma mothers.”

Moreover, there has been a 12 percent increase in voter participation in 2018. Oklahoma’s teen birth rate is the fastest falling in the country. Political representation in the state’s legislature has increased.

“Historical trauma may act as a factor in why women of color in Oklahoma bear inequity.” trans women are more likely to live below the poverty level “with 34 percent living in extreme poverty nationwide,” and one in every four Latinx women lives in poverty.

The consequences can be felt throughout the health outcomes of the population.

Historical trauma and implicit bias aside, there’s another reason why there is a huge gap in the data: public and private entities who work to collect, track and organize data are under-resourced. Swepston finds that while these workers are performing their due diligence to make sure the data they collect is valid, there are other complications that arise with overworked agencies.

“Maybe they’re unable to do broader collection,” she offers, “Oor they don’t have time to look at other attributes on a survey.

Maybe they don’t have the time to put information in a data system that is easily accessible to the public.”

Still, Swepston concedes that “our values are collected in the things we measure.”

“Much of this has to do with the work of non-profits, state entities and broader collaboratives that focus on specific domains,” Swepston says. “This is not happening by osmosis. This is intentional action.”

Groups like Metriarch and TCI work to overcome the gap in women’s health education by overall promoting security, raising awareness of socioeconomic struggles and providing a safe space to learn more about one’s body. Overall, Swepston believes that it is important for people to look at the data because an increased understanding provides educational movements over all of the different intersections of women’s health.

Information can be used for good, she believes, and it can help shape the cultural landscape of Tulsa.

Information on Metriarch and their Lookbook can be found on their website at https:// www.metriarchok.org/. TCI can be accessed at https://www.takecontrolinitiative.org/.

18 November 2019

News

The Collegian: 7

International Bazaar opportunity for cultural exchange The event centered around showcasing the people, foods and cultures from countries around the world.

Gabe Powell Student Writer Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. This is just one of many facts attendees learned at the International Bazaar on Friday night. Hosted by the Association of International Students in the Allen Chapman Student Union on Nov. 15, the International Bazaar featured 10 booths representing students from all over the world. There were clubs representing countries as far as Brazil, China, Russia, Nigeria and the Caribbean.

The event featured native foods and dress from the students’ country of origin. Early in the event, there was a parade where the international students’ clubs walked on stage in the clothing of their ethnic heritage and displayed props representing features of their respective countries. Awards were given to the best booth (Saudi Student Association), best in parade (China) and audience choice (Russia).

The Saudi booth featured a drapery hung on a wooden frame, a carafe serving traditional Arabic coffee and cushions for club members to sit on as they explained aspects

of Saudi culture. They served Vimto, a delicious beverage made of fruit juices.

Rami Alboqmi, the president of Saudi Student Association, gladly talked about his culture to any passerby, describing how his culture teaches “us how to respect others, how to help them and how to provide help and do not ask for [it back in] return. This is our world, all the time. [We] do not wait for someone to say, ‘thank you.’ This is part of our culture.”

Sarah Ahmed, a member of the Saudi Student Association, says the club is actively working to eliminate stereotypes that some Americans hold about Saudi Arabians.

She says some stereotypes that she’d like to eliminate include that everyone is very religious. She compared welcoming religion in Saudi Arabia to liking different colors.

“Like, it seems like everyone likes a color, and you like blue and I like, for example, pink, and I don’t force you to like pink.”

Some of the clubs present at the event were newly founded and were still in the process of being chartered. The Vietnam student club, VASA, was started this year by the sophomore President Duy Linh Nguyen.

Katelyn Hoang of VASA described the founding of the club, saying, “This is our first year being a club. We had a karaoke night in our president’s apartment where we had people sing their culture’s music. We did a presentation about Vietnamese culture in our first formal meeting.”

photo by Gabe Powell Members of the Saudi Student Association. Left to right: Sondos Alsaati, Dina Binmansour, Sarah Ahmed, Rami Alboqmi and Nasser Alqahtani.

Some of the cultural food at the event included the Brazilian club’s excellent pieces of chocolate and bite-sized pieces of cheese, the Indonesian club’s sweets like corn fritters and steamed tapioca, and the Nigerian Student Association’s tasty rice and a dough pastry called “puff puff.”

Njieno Anon, a member of the newly created Nigerian Student Association, de-

scribed his motivation for founding the club.

“This is my second year here. I remember in [my] Freshman year, I saw there was a lack of African student associations, so I thought I would start the Nigerian Student Association to expose people to my culture.”

Hong Kong violence escalates Bolivian election contested

Tensions rise between Hong Kong protestors and police.

Brayden McCoy Student Writer

Pro-Democracy protests in Hong Kong have been going on for months now, and have recently picked up to a fever pitch.

This past week Hong Kong has been effectively shut down due to protesters flooding roads and causing havoc on public transport. Universities across Hong Kong have also found themselves at the center of the protests, with students and activists taking control of and fortifying them.

According to Axios, more than a third of the over 4,000 protestors arrested are 20 years old or younger. The youngest of which is only a mere 11 years old. Beijing has released comments that show they hold the school systems accountable for failing to instill a “strong sense of Chinese national identity” in the students and people of Hong Kong.

The violence in Hong Kong really picked up on Monday, when a 21-year-old man was injured after police opened fire on protesters. One of the starting points for conflict in Hong Kong was an extradition bill that the people felt was stripping away the freedoms they had enjoyed since being returned to the country. Hong Kong was a British Colony until 1997.

The bill was withdrawn in October in hopes of ending protests but the flames were only fanned higher by the people’s concern over losing their autonomy. The protests have been rampant for this past week, and Friday marks the fifth consecutive day of protests. Tensions are reaching incredible levels, and the students holed up in the universities have begun turning them into fortresses.

Bricks have been stacked and lathered with mortar to make roadblocks and walls, and trash piled up to form what resemble makeshift strongholds. Some universities even have students creating weapons like makeshift catapults and petrol bombs while also arming themselves with bows and ar-

rows. Chunks of bricks and rubber hoses spiked with nails litter the ground outside of the barricades and petrol douses the floor.

All of these measures are directed at the police in order to protect the university, according to CNN. Paranoia is running rampant at the Universities and they have to go to measures like bag checks and separate entrances for each gender where they are searched. The press are told not to take pictures of the individuals faces as it could lead to arrest and no protesters will give their full name. The bag checks and cautiousness are actually being used as a method to identify police “spies” among the students.

The police claim that the recent conflict all stems from them trying to stop the protesters from blocking traffic, and that the protesters that have responded in tandem with violence, are criminals and rioters. The students and protesters, on the other hand, claim that the police and their operations have been unwarranted and unwanted encroachments and threats to academic freedom.

The protesters have been purposefully shutting down the highways and roads as they want the economy to stop so that the government will give in to their demands.

The government claims that such thoughts are wishful in nature, but the students claim that when faced with the government’s inaction, they have no other choice. Two of such demands extended by the protests are a greater scope of democracy and independent police inquiry.

The underlying fear that is driving the movement is that they fear the Chinese government is overstepping their bounds and will take away the freedoms that Hong Kong already has. A protester interviewed

by CNN stated, “I fear China greater than the Hong Kong police. China does not have democracy and freedom.”

The protesters claim that they have no leader, and while this is likely true to a degree, it is also a tactic used to protect the organizers that help keep the movement alive from legal action. With the protesters set on riding out this storm and remaining unyielding, no one knows when the protests will end or what will come about.

Former Bolivian president Evo Morales stepped down following military pressure.

Brady Patterson Student Writer Last month, on Oct. 20, Bolivia held presidential elections, electing Evo Morales to a fourth term. Questions were raised as to the constitutionality of him standing for a fourth election, but the country’s supreme court ruled term limits to be unconstitutional.

According to the official tally Morales’ party, MAS (Movement toward Socialism in English) won around 47 percent of the vote. The second runner up came in with around 37 percent. Under Bolivian election law there is a runoff election if the first place candidate does not win by more than 10 percent of the vote. The government decided to accept Morales as the winner.

Bolivia first elected Evo Morales to the Presidency of Bolivia in 2005, and he took the office in 2006. He was the first indigi-

victim of neoliberal austerity brought on by involvement of the world bank and the international monetary fund.

After the 2019 election, the supporters of the major opposition group started engaging in street protests against the reelection of MAS and Morales. Morales’s home was ransacked by protesters and MAS politicians were harrassed. On Nov. 9, the U.S. dominated Organization of American States claimed that there was evidence of vote tampering by the government.

In response, Morales announced that there would be a runoff election that would invite international elections observers from the U.N. to ensure its democratic legitimacy.

On the next day, the head of the armed forces asked Morales to step down in a video posted to the internet. Morales then resigned, citing fear of escalating violence and a forced military coup. Similar situations in neighboring countries had resulted in much more violence in previous political upheavals, notably the death of Salvador Allende in Chile and the subsequent military dictatorship that carried out disappearances and torture.

“... the head of the armed forces asked Morales to step down in a video posted to the internet.” nous president of a country in which 88 percent of the population identifies as indiginous or mixed. Morales is of the Aymara ethnicity, which is one of the two major native groups in Bolivia. His native tongue is Aymara, but he learned Spanish in school and learned Quechua while working as a coca farmer.

Also while working as a farmer, he received his political education. He became involved as a leader in the indiginous workers movement espousing relatively radical and self-described socialist politics.

His election marked a sharp contrast with the long-time right wing rule of the minority white and middle class groups, which had long excluded indiginous people from political power. Bolivia had been an early

Despite his resignation and the resignation of several other MAS leaders in prominent executive and legislative positions, protests of both pro- and anti-Morales groups have been escalating and violence against indiginious activists by protesters and police have been reported.

Videos showing right wing protestors burning the Whipala flag — which is one of the official flags of Bolivia used to represent indiginous groups — have made the rounds on social media, as have videos of police removing the Whipala from their uniforms and videos of indiginous people marching in the streets in counterprotest. Fearing for his own life, Morales was granted political asylum in Mexico where he remains and calls the occurrence a coup d’etat

Car accident on campus? Know your next move.

No one likes getting in a car accident, let alone on TU campus.

Here’s what do to if it happens to you.

Elizabeth Young Student Writer Car accidents seem to be a unifying aspect of community on campus, like tests or homework. Student Tyler Cotton said she was sitting in her car in commuter lot last year when somebody backed into her car.

Fortunately there was no damage, but it was disconcerting.

A former TU Student, Elizabeth Annavarapu, said she was driving on campus one time her senior year when somebody ran into the back of her car and then drove away. Her car was not damaged either, but if it was, she said she did not know what she would have done.

Since the beginning of 2019, Campus Security has already documented over 80 motor vehicle accidents on campus.

With the rate of accidents on campus so far this year, it is important for students to know what to do if they are involved in a car accident on campus.

First and foremost, if a student is involved in an accident on campus, they should call Campus Security to help because they are the first responders on campus. They can help drivers exchange insurance information in a peaceful manner like police would do on city streets.

If both drivers are present, then car insurance should be exchanged, which Campus Security can help with. Afterwards, when a student goes to report the accident to insurance, Campus Security can assist with an official report.

According to Campus Security, most insurance companies will accept their incident reports. However, if that is not the case, then the student can contact Campus Security again.

If the insurance company will only accept a police report, then Campus Security said to “inform the responding officer if their company will not accept the TU report. The officer will then contact the Tulsa Police Department if requested.”

What if the other driver has fled the scene and the student has been the victim of a hit and run? Again, a student should contact Campus Security who can assist in finding the other vehicle.

In this event, Campus Security can “investigate by searching campus for the suspected vehicle. If found, officers will then try to identify the owner through university records and involve the Tulsa Police if necessary.”

Just like in a hit and run on city streets, if the suspected driver is found, then Campus Security said, “Tulsa Police can also issue municipal citations or arrest individuals that leave the scene of an accident without reporting it or leaving contact information for the other driver.”

Car accidents are annoying, but there are ways students can help prevent the average of over 100 vehicle accidents reported by Campus Security a year.

Students can help lower the number of accidents on campus by paying attention, especially in parking lots. Campus Security added, “Most on campus accidents occur in parking lots while parking or backing out of parking spaces.”

Campus Security said driving defensively is the best way to prevent accidents and to “Be mindful of your own car’s dimensions and the proximity of other vehicles and pedestrians while maneuvering around campus.”

In addition, if a student is involved in a wreck on campus, they should do the responsible thing and report it. Getting into a car wreck is a headache, but knowing the steps to take after the accident can help alleviate some of the pain.

News

The Collegian: 8

18 November 2019

contact with the individual who advised they were waiting on a bus. Officers trespass warned them and told them panhandling is not allowed. A contact card has been created.

3:10 p.m.

Officers received information on possible from an employee of possible narcotic use in an Oliphant Hall bathroom . The employee found charred aluminum foil in a bathroom stall.

Nov. 7 10:55 a.m.

Officers escorted a student from their Mayo Village residence to Holmes Student Center.

2:10 p.m.

Officers received a report of an individual sleeping in the shuttle booth by the 4th & Harvard Lot. Officers made contact with the individual and determined they did not have any active warrants or previous contacts. The individual was trespass warned and a contact card has been created.

5 p.m.

A student reported their vehicle was damaged while parked either in Mayo Village Apartments between 6 NOV 2019, 7:00 p.m. and 7 NOV 2019,12:00 p.m or at an off campus site 07 NOV 2019, between 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Camera footage was being reviewed at the off campus site but no camera footage is available for Mayo Village Lot. 5 p.m.

Officers responded to two students and four adults having a disagreement over a chalk message written on the rear patio of Collins Hall and defused the situation. The students and affiliates parted ways without incident and the chalk was removed from the patio.

5:05 p.m.

Officers assisted the Tulsa Police Department in search of a suspect that fled on to campus. The suspect was located in the Westby Lot and arrested by the Tulsa Police Department.

Oct. 8 8:30 a.m.

Officers removed unauthorized signs at Skelly Mansion.

9:15 a.m.

Officers received a report of an individual panhandling by the shuttle booth at the 4th and Harvard Lot. Officers made

6:30 p.m.

A guest attending the football game stated they were having chest pain. The individual was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.

11:25 p.m.

Officers responded to a disorderly student at the Sigma Chi Fraternity during a registered party. The individual was not compliant and ran from officers who were able to identify the individual. The student was referred for Student Misconduct.

Nov. 10 11:20 a.m.

Officers responded to a domestic dispute in the 6th and Delaware Lot. Upon arrival, officers spoke to one of the individuals involved who had their phone taken. Tulsa Police were contacted and officers were able to retrieve the phone and get it back to the owner.

Nov. 11 12:30 a.m.

Officers responded to a non-injury single vehicle accident at 6th St. & Delaware Ave. There was minor damage to university property and Tulsa Police arrested the non-TU affiliate driver for driving under the influence.

2:45 a.m.

Officers responded to a report of an unwanted sexual solicitation. Officers determined the victim and suspect on scene.

The suspect was trespass warned and left campus without further incident.

3:05 p.m.

A student reported their bicycle stolen from Sigma Chi Fraternity between 7 NOV 2019, at approximately 9:00 p.m. and 8 NOV 2019, at approximately 9;45 a.m. A report was also filed with the Tulsa Police Department.

Nov. 12 12:10 p.m.

A student reported a being struck by a vehicle exiting the University Square West Lot as the student walked through

the driveway and the vehicle left the scene without stopping. The accident occurred on 11 NOV 2019 at approximately 5:30 p.m.

3:40 p.m.

Officers assisted with a temporary employee termination at the Bicycle Shop. The individual was compliant and advised they were not allowed back on campus without a security escort. The individual stated they understood and a contact card was created.

Nov. 13 8:10 a.m.

Officers responded to an injured employee at LaFortune Hall who fell and broke their ankle. The employee was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for further treatment.

Nov. 14 10:10 a.m.

A student reported some of their property was damaged after a dispute with their roommate. Officers spoke with both parties and were unable to determine a guilty party.

11:38 a.m.

Officers towed a vehicle off campus from the McFarlin Lot. A vehicle was found parked contrary to university policy and officers verified that the vehicle had been previously tow warned. Towing of the vehicle was authorized by the on-duty supervisor and the vehicle was towed off campus without incident.

4:30 p.m.

Officers investigated suspicious activity regarding a broken glass bottle at a University Square West apartment which occurred between 08 NOV 2019, 10:30 p.m. and 13 NOV 2019, 11:00 a.m. Officers were unable to determine who broke the bottle but it may have come from a nearby apartment hosting a party during the time frame. The broken glass was cleaned up by the residents.

11:30 p.m.

Officers were dispatched to Mayo Village on a noise complaint. Officers conducted a party shutdown due to the complaint occurring during quiet hours and all guests left the apartment promptly when told to leave. A housing contact card was issued.

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

Tuesday, Nov. 19 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Collins Hall, Board Room TU Shark Tank Pitch Presentation Research project ideas will be presented to the shark tank committee consisting of deans TU President Gerry Clancy and in front of live TU audience at Collins Hall in the 2nd-floor board room.

Chris Lierly Commentary Editor Lindsey Prather Student Writer Public hearings begin in Trump impeachment probe The House of Representatives voted to formally open an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, prompting a series of open-door testimonies from Bill Taylor, George Kent, and Marie Yovanovitch that took place last week. On Nov. 12, House Intelligence officials released the schedule for testimonies, officially announcing eight additional witnesses will be heard from publicly this week. In total, 11 witness testimonies have been officially scheduled and conducted, which will coincide with the release of transcripts from the preliminary depositions that took place in October.

Despite ongoing protests from the White House, House investigators are still seeking the testimony of over a dozen witnesses including names like Mike Pompeo, Rudy Giuliani, John Bolton and Mick Mulvaney. The White House has presently refused a number of subpoenas issued by the inquiry, therefore it is uncertain whether or not they will choose to cooperate with these requests.

Iran engulfed in protests after gas price hike and rationing On Saturday, Nov. 16, multiple protests erupted in Tehran and dozens of other cities in Iran after the government raised the price per liter of gasoline by a third of its original price and began to ration how much citizens can buy. Most of the protests turned violent, and in the city of Sirjan one protestor was killed while many others were injured.

As these protests have continued they have gotten more politically focused. In Sirjan, protestors attacked a fuel storage warehouse and attempted to set it on fire, and in a video circulating Twitter, protesters managed to set fire to a bank. These anti-government protests received lip-service from the United States when Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted, “The United States is with you.” This uprising in Tehran is merely one of the many different protests that have rocked several countries around the world, as protesters continue to clash with authorities in Hong Kong, Bolivia and Chile following political and economic unrest.

Venice flooding continues, water reaches dangerous levels Historic flooding has paralyzed Venice, Italy in recent weeks. It caused a combination of unusually high spring tides, as well as a severe storm surge. The city has recorded its highest water level in 50 years and declared a state of emergency. At present, two people have been reported dead in the flooding.

Officials in Venice have related these floods to climate change. This current flooding in Venice is the second-highest tide in its recorded history, and several record-breaking floods that have taken place in the last two decades. Floodwaters overwhelmed the Venice regional council hall for the first time in fifty years almost immediately after the body rejected a series of amendments seeking to combat climate change. Landmarks such as St. Mark’s Basilica, the Correr Museum and Venice’s Music Conservatory have been seriously affected by the flooding, prompting widespread response and attempts to prevent the conditions from worsening. Although measures have been taken to mitigate some of the damage, it is unclear how the flooding will affect some of Venice’s most notable landmarks.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Helmerich Hall Investment Portfolio Challenge Be an audience member for TU’s inaugural Investment Portfolio Challenge, sponsored by Council Oak Wealth Advisors! Watch as teams present an optimal weighting of Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS” ®) sectors and identify up to three stocks in each sector for a hypothetical $5 million investment portfolio.

Wednesday, Nov. 20 - Thursday, Nov. 21 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Allen Chapman Student Union Oklahoma Blood Institute Blood Drive The Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) continues to provide 90% of every drop of blood used in Oklahoma. That encompasses every children’s, veteran’s and tribal hospital in the state.

Blood is needed every two seconds and each donation saves three lives. Plus, all donors will receive a free t-shirt, Papa John’s pizza and a coupon!

To schedule an appointment, visit obi.org.

Thursday, Nov. 21 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

Harwell Hall, Upstairs Seminar Room Dr. J. David Kilby: Ice Age Artifact Caches and the Origins of the First Americans Please join the Anthropology Department for a guest lecture by Dr. J. David Kilby of Texas State University – sponsored by the George Odell Seminar Series. Lunch is provided.

Friday, Nov. 22 12:10 p.m. - 12:50 p.m.

Oxley Health Sciences Facilities, 411

Grand Rounds President Gerard Clancy will be speaking on “The High Road and its Tolls: Impact of Marijuana Legalization in Colorado and National Public Health Implications.”

Monday, Dec. 2 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Student Union

World AIDS Day In conjunction with our partners at the Alexander Health Center we will be handing out red ribbons and providing information on testing and prevention options.

Friday, Dec. 6 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Little Blue House

Day of Service Come down and help us pack up toiletry bags for our local houseless community and delivery to John 3:16 Mission. Donuts and coffee provided for volunteers!

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

Contact us at news@tucollegian.org with events.

18 November 2019

Commentary

The Collegian: 9

Thanksgiving’s history should be talked about

A panel discussion hosted by Philbrook put the whitewashing of the holiday into context.

Gabe Powell Student Writer What is the true history behind Thanksgiving, and are we really celebrating genocide and theft of land from native people every November? A panel discussion hosted

by Bracken Klar of the Tri City Collective and featuring commentary from Appollonia Piña and Trygve Jorgensen tackled this difficult subject.

Jorgensen is a member of the Choctaw tribe and historian who works as an administrator in the Tulsa Public Schools school district. He has plans to revise history textbooks nationwide to accurately reflect the experience of Native Americans throughout US history. Piña is Chicana and a member of the Muskogee tribe who graduated from OU with a degree in the STEM field. She has hosted talks of her own on indigenous technology and science.

It’s high time we recognize the true nature of the past relationship between white settlers and indigenous people, a relationship that still has ramifications today. As Piña put it, “Today native people have to quantify their ‘Indianness.’ Who else has to do that? It’s just like how dogs and horses have to certify their pedigree.”

That aspect of federal law seems really dehumanizing. Making Native Americans calculate their level of indigenous blood in their veins, for federal scholarships, could certainly feel like tracing the pedigree on show horse. Patriotic sentimentalism keeps us from recognizing the true nature of the

past relationship between white settlers and the native people of this land: a relationship that involved deceit, racism and outright warfare.

Native Americans before Columbus are sometimes depicted as uncivilized. In fact, a strong trade system existed between tribes and each clan adhered to strict rules of clan law. Jorgensen stated that in ancient tribal law it was forbidden to marry inside the tribe, as it was thought that intermarriage would lead to poor breeding. Keep in mind this was at the time when some noble families in Europe actively practiced incest to keep their bloddlines pure.

Jorgensen further stated that in Cherokee tribal law a man who was deemed guilty of raping a woman would be strung up on a tree and given 100 lashes with a whip.

Considering today’s sometimes unreliable court system, I can’t say that practice was less justified, maybe just less bureaucratic.

There are over 400 recognized tribes today, and each have separate languages, customs and heritage.

Maybe white settlers were the savages.

According to Jorgensen, South Carolina passed a law stipulating that the life of a single native slave was worth 200 deerskins in 1695. Historians state that before the turn of the 18th century, there were more native than African slaves in America. Slavery of any group is obviously wrong, but I had no idea Native Americans were subjugated to such an extent.

Their advice isn’t to stop celebrating Thanksgiving, but to keep in mind the true history behind the holiday. We white folks should do much better at recognizing the unjust role of our ancestors in American history, especially when it comes to a holiday like Thanksgiving. Piña says she sees the holiday as a genuine time to be grateful for friends and family and the good food being shared.

So next time your uncle makes a toast to “those generous indigenous tribes that taught early settlers in Jamestown how to farm,” just remember how white Americans treated those same tribes: they stole their land and forced many of them into slavery.

Ousting of Morales an anti-democratic coup

An allegation from a right-wing watchdog helped legitimize the overthrow of the socialist ruler.

Justin Klopfer Student Writer On Oct. 20, Bolivia held its general election. The key element of this election was selecting the country’s next president. Evo Morales, the incumbent, is a wildly popular indigenous man whose socialist policies have slashed poverty rates and supported Bolivia’s large indigenous population.

The election was declared finished when Morales had collected about 47 percent of the vote, just above 10 percent more than the runner-up. This was enough of the vote to allow the election to be over, but some

leader of Bolivia. Despite the fact that she hasn’t gone through any electoral process, this transfer of power has been crowned a triumph of democracy, and her authority has been recognized by the U.S. The White House went as far as to claim the coup is a step towards having “Bolivian people … have their voices heard.” Áñez herself is a right-wing christian who swore on a Bible while saying, “God has allowed the Bible to come back into the palace.” Several of her tweets have surfaced wherein she espouses anti-Indigenous viewpoints, saying, “Indians … should stay in the highlands.” She made these comments in the face of the 20 percent indigenous population of Bolivia while claiming to represent the will of her country’s people.

U.S. influence is certainly existant, the question is to what degree was the coup influenced by neo-imperial actors. Several of the key plotters of the coup were trained by the School of the Americas, an organization headquartered in Americas responsible for training many brutal regime-leaders. The plotters acknowledged the support their coup would receive from right-wing U.S. figures like Ted Cruz and eventually Trump.

There was also an influx of bot activity on Twitter supporting the coup with some location tags within the U.S.

Xianjiang’s distance from the coast has made integrating difficult.

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Chinese government has tried to destroy Uighur culture

By forcing the Uighurs into internment camps, the government has begun an ethnic cleansing.

Dominic Cingoranelli Student Writer If you thought Western neocolonialism was bad, wait ‘til you get a load of Chinese neocolonialism. In China’s western provinces, and especially in Tibet and Xinjiang, the Chinese Commmunist Party (CCP) is engaged in ethnic cleansing. As of May 2019, the government has held an estimated 1.5 million Uighurs — an Islamic ethnic minority — in internment camps in the Xinjiang province.

The CCP does not like ethnic or ideological diversity. That’s why Uighurs and other ethnic minorities are coerced into marrying Han Chinese by the CCP with the threat of internment. If someone does end up in an internment camp, they are “re-educated,” and their culture is belligerently whitewashed and replaced with the government-sanctioned Han culture.

In fact, the Chinese government has been actively trying to erase minority ethnic groups. This is why China extended its highspeed rail infrastructure to Urumqi, in Xinjiang, even though the ticket fares don’t even

people who would actually make this journey anyways.

I think that the primary reason why a highspeed rail line was built to Urumqi was to encourage members of the ethnic majority, the Han Chinese, to relocate to this province which has a Uighur majority and forcibly dilute their culture and gene pool. We can see this in practice, because Urumqi’s Han population increased by 764,000 from 2000 to 2010, accounting for almost 80 percent of the city’s growth in that time.

China’s actions toward their own citizens stand in violation of articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20 and 27 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Hold on, I hear you saying, what you’ve just described is a melting pot. The U.S. is a melting pot, as well. Isn’t the U.S. equally guilty, then?

No. I’m sure you’ve heard someone claim that “the ends justify the means.”

This is the logical fallacy of pious fraud, and, if we reverse-engineer said fallacy, we can apply it to the present situation and see that just because the end result is the same, doesn’t mean that the methods are morally equivalent.

You see, it all boils down to individual sovereignty. In the U.S., if an immigrant has children here, those children will have American accents, eat American food, et al. Although they may retain large aspects of their parents’ cultures, they are fundamentally American. After several generations, most of the original culture has been usurped by a vague American-ness.

Each culture that makes its way into this vast melting pot slightly alters the composition of the nation as a whole. What we typically consider “American” food is not na-

“Uighurs and other ethnic minorities are coerced into marrying Han Chinese by the CCP ...” pay for the electricity necessary to operate a train from Xining to Urumqi, let alone the operating cost as a whole. To compare this to U.S. cities, this is the equivalent of building a high-speed rail line from Tulsa, OK to Salt Lake City, UT. It doesn’t make sense to operate such a train service because of how few people would actually use it; in both cases these are medium-sized cities which are in the neighborhood of 1500 kilometers (932 miles) apart, and it is difficult to justify such a massive infrastructure investment when these two cities could more efficiently and more effectively be linked by air travel, which is more appropriate for the number of

tive to the U.S., but was brought here and iterated upon (consider the hamburger, an evolution of the German Hamburg steak).

This cultural assimilation is not necessarily intentional; rather, it is a by-product of the fact that the U.S. is a nation built on immigration. Compare this to the violent and hateful eradication of cultures which is being enacted in Xinjiang.

So, since most of you reading this are Americans, take solace in the fact that even if our foreign policy is the most destructive political force in the world today, at least our domestic policy is not as bad as China’s.

“It is impossible not to compare this coup with the many that have occured before it in Latin America.” people in Bolivia suspected election fraud.

This suspicion was mostly driven by an OAS report, an agency run by several rightwing governments in the Americas. Morales volunteered to allow a second election to guarantee legitimacy, but now the opposition called for his outright resignation.

This unrest culminated in the removal of Morales from the government by the Bolivian military. Many mainstream media outlets in America have refused to call this action a coup. Morales had faced many legitimate calls for his resignation after the events of the election without resigning. He decided to flee the country minutes after the military leaders “requested” his resignation. The only reason such a response would be justified is in the face of a threat of overwhelming force, otherwise known as a coup.

Now Jeanine Áñez, Bolivia’s Senate’s vice president, has declared herself the new

It is impossible to not compare this coup with the many that have occured before it in Latin America. In 1973, Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist, was removed by a U.S.-backed coup. The Reagan administration supported the Nicaraguan Contras, who fought against the Sandinista socialist government. Funds for supporting the Contras came from selling arms to Iran, which was under an embargo, and violated established laws.

This is not to say there isn’t legitimate opposition to Morales within Bolivia, but it is important to remember where the interests of the powerful lie. The U.S.’s interest lies with the continuation of the flow of global capital, whether or not democracy leads to it. To imply this takeover is in any way democratic or helpful to the people of Bolivia is a ridiculous misrepresentation of the facts.

Morales failed to prevent a coup following his reelection.

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Commentary

The Collegian: 10

18 November 2019

Bloomberg’s potential candidacy a result of leading progressives

Sanders’s and Warren’s tax plans have put many billionaires on edge about the Democratic primary.

Zach Short Student Writer If you haven’t heard yet, Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire and former mayor of New York City, is once again considering a presidential run. He has toyed with the idea before, but the general consensus appears that he may actually be serious this time. However, no one should fall for any sort of façade made about his potential bid: it is nothing more than a financial investment for him and his billionaire cohorts.

The wealthiest of Americans are starting to sweat as leading Democrats, such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, inch closer and closer toward socialist principles and a heavier tax burden on America’s wealthiest individuals.

Warren’s spat with Bill Gates. The Microsoft CEO openly criticized Warren for her plans on taxation, and reporting on the thoughts of billionaires toward candidates this election accelerated immensely as a consequence. It was in this excitement that the prospect of Bloomberg reached the national conscience.

All of this, of course, is nothing more than a national outcry from the country’s richest citizens. For socialism and a taxation on the wealthy, what once was a far-fetched dream is now slowly making its way much closer to reality. People like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, seen in more moderate circles as a left-wing zealot, are now seeing their rhetoric become much more normalized.

While some may say this is a dangerous way of ostracizing and demonizing billionaires, it could just as easily be said that it is about time they give back to the country that they built their fortune in.

Think about it this way. Michael Bloomberg, just himself, is worth over 50 billion dollars (an estimated 52.3 to be exact). If he, in an oversimplified example of taxation, were to give one billion dollars in taxes, he would still be worth over 50 billion dollars.

His quality of life would not change whatsoever, and it would not be enough to even make him worry.

But who would have their quality of life change? What could be done with that is an entirely different story. One billion dollars could cover meals for people who suffer to

“Don’t be fooled into the same misgivings about taxation as so many others already have.”

It surely is not a coincidence that the rumors of Bloomberg running for president, rising from an apparent effort to get on the Alabama ballot, come shortly after Senator

get enough food to eat, could help cover tuition for students and alleviate the student debt crisis, could even contribute to help provide healthcare to people who are bank-

Bloomberg’s wealth makes his claims ring hollow.

rupted by medical expenses, among other seemingly endless possibilities. Additionally, lest it be forgotten, all of this change could be wrought in the very same nation where Bloomberg amassed his incredible fortune.

Here’s the kicker though, there are 607 billionaires living in the United States right now. Better yet, there are 18.6 million millionaires in the U.S. today, which is 40 percent of all the millionaires in the world.

Imagine the great accomplishments that could be made if they simply paid taxes back

courtesy Gage Skidmore/Flickr

to the country that allowed them to achieve such great wealth. Bloomberg is running now without the intention to win, but solely with the idea that he can peg down Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who both are pushing an agenda that would cut into Bloomberg’s pocketbook. Don’t be fooled into the same misgivings about taxation as so many others already have. We should not have people bankrupted by medical expenses or over half a million homeless people in the richest country in the world.

Bevin drags feet before admitting he lost kentucky race

The governor conceded nine days later in a blow for the GOP and the president.

Hannah Robbins Student Writer On Nov. 14, incumbent Kentucky governor Matt Bevin finally conceded the Kentucky governor’s race. This is a full

nine days after his opponent Andy Beshear claimed victory on election night. Why the difference? Bevin was not willing to admit defeat after losing by 5,000 votes, which is kinda funny since he won the primary on his way to the governorship in 2015 by 83 votes.

Why the delay? Bevin wanted there to be a recanvass because of voting irregularities. This technique, which boils down to a different name for a recount, has never changed the election results, especially when it comes to 5,000 votes. The recanvass changed nothing, and he finally conceded, but let’s back up a bit.

Bevin’s delay of nine days was because he didn’t trust the system that got him elected in 2015. In an interview the day after the election, he stated that thousands of absentee ballots were illegally counted … without proof. His campaign never let any information about these allegations become

public, and nothing was ever found in the recanvass.

So why even stubbornly avoid conceding even after the press (and the country) knew the outcome? Because he didn’t believe it himself. Think about it. Bevin is governor in Kentucky, a state that Trump won by 30 points. It had two blue counties. The national swing Democrat is less than 10 points in the 2018 elections, so that leaves Bevin winning by around 20 points. You can’t blame this loss on the state environment either; Republicans won every other state office and have a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature. This is not an environment where a Republican incumbent would lose.

So he took a note out of Trump’s book and shouted election fraud in an attempt to stop the inevitable which worked for a full nine days. Bevin had to know he was not going to win (unless he really is that delud-

ed), so he was just buying time and praying. This is ridiculous. The outcome of the election was fair and valid, and just because he is the incumbent, he shouldn’t have the power to prevent the electoral process from going on as intended. Nine days is a long time to prevent the beginning of the transfer of power.

It’s an especially long period of time when the state legislature is telling you to just give it up, but since Bevin probably isn’t running for office again, it’s not like he really cares what other people think. Instead, he can waste people’s time when he lost by a not insignificant margin as he watches himself become a lame duck. Probably not how he thought he was going to spend his 2019, but then again, what do you expect from one of the most unpopular governors in the nation?

Election day is a chance to let the people speak, and they definitely weren’t screaming Bevin’s name on Nov. 5.

Televised impeachment hearings make for a spectacle

Making these hearings more accessible is the right thing to do despite the drawbacks.

Dominic Cingoranelli Student Writer I’m not going to bother devoting much time to the actual content of the impeachment hearings, because it’s basically just red politicians versus blue politicians, and the ultimate outcome is already set in stone if you ask me. (The House will impeach but the Senate will not convict, like what happened with Clinton but with the parties

flipped.) I would like to talk about the fact that the impeachment hearings were televised.

The hearings themselves were more bombastic theatricality than anything else, but regardless of this, I’m glad that they were televised. Americans are now more civically engaged than they have been since World War II; the 2018 midterms had a turnout of 50.1 percent. The fact that these hearings were televised on almost every major news outlet and that they were viewed by people indicates that Americans are beginning to recognize the impacts of political proceedings in D.C. and beginning to more closely scrutinize the people they elect.

seems that people are finally willing to set aside their prejudices and work to improve their state and country in a bipartisan way!

I think we will finally start getting things done again.

I’m laughing on the outside but crying on the inside because that last paragraph was entirely incorrect (except for the part where I say that I’m pessimistic and cynical, of course). We are more polarized than we have been for hundreds of years. The UCLA Social Sciences Division assigned each Congress throughout U.S. history an “ideology score” based on left-to-right leanings of each major party, and found that the Republican Party has a score of 0.51 on a scale

“Ultimately, whether or not the hearings are televised is irrelevant.”

My articles are usually pessimistic and cynical, but today I am refraining from discussing the actual content of these hearings so that I can instead discuss the fact that ticket-splitting, or the act of voting for some Republicans and some Democrats, is becoming more and more common; it

The first day of hearings showed how much controversy one hearing can cause.

from -1 to 1, with -1 being most liberal and 1 being most conservative. The Democratic Party had a score of -0.4, and the range of ideologies each party represents is constricting away from the mean and towards the party average.

Under different circumstances, I would be absolutely ecstatic that these hearings were televised, but the fact that they were televised at all was really just a political stunt. This didn’t happen because the general public is becoming more interested in engaging in constructive political discourse, it happened because politicians are getting better at manipulating uninformed people who obtain all of their news from a single source.

Ultimately, whether or not the hearings are televised is irrelevant. News agencies with obvious biases are still able and eager to cherry-pick the bits and pieces they need to reinforce the clickbait sensationalism designed to attract as many hate clicks as possible because the Google-Facebook duopoly ate up the entire online advertisement market and traditional media is dying, meaning that the only way for journalism to be profitable is to be controversial, which has only exacerbated the political polarization which has fatally poisoned any and all efforts to accomplish something meaningful on the federal level and where is my goddamn tylenol.

courtesy PBS

18 November 2019

Variety

The Collegian: 11

“Watchmen” reimagines Moore’s comic in Tulsa history Lindelof’s storytelling and King’s acting prowess shine amongst a show astounding critics only four episodes in.

Chris Lierly Commentary Editor When HBO announced it would be following up Alan Moore’s seminal work with a series created by Dameon Lindelof of “Lost” and “The Leftovers” fame, viewers had mixed reactions. “Watchmen” is considered one of the most impactful graphic novels ever written, and the concept of anyone tackling the project worried many of Moore’s fans. However, what has resulted from the first four episodes of the series has been nothing short of phenomenal, presenting Lindelof and lead actress Regina King at their strongest.

The series is set in present day Tulsa, but like its source material, depicts a United States of America drastically divergent from our own. In the show’s version of Tulsa, the Race Massacre of 1921 and the progressive administration of President Robert Redford have resulted in a form of racial reparations meant to reckon with the racial terror perpetrated in America’s history.

aptation of this thing that already exists.

How do you make it original?” and went on to say, “It only feels like ‘Watchmen’ if you’re taking huge risks.”

In the first four episodes, Lindelof and the entire writing team have posed two key questions: First, does anonymity remove legitimacy from law enforcement? And second, what effect would a reckoning with America’s racial history have on a country where denying the negatives of that past has been the foundation for understanding it?

Though the first was an important aspect of the original “Watchmen,” that second question sets the HBO series apart from anything else in the expanding umbrella that is the superhero genre.

By his own barometer, Lindelof is succeeding with flying colors. The show feels unlike anything other than the original graphic novel, but the incongruities between the two reflect what we’ve experienced as a country since 1986. For many, the existential fear of thermonuclear war with a communist superpower has been replaced by acts of terrorism, and the last five years have taught us all that white supremacy is the most likely motive for that kind of violence in America.

Lindelof writes that story onto the screen, but as this review ends it’s important to note the best weapon in Lindelof’s arsenal: Regina King.

the black residents of Tulsa, Abar is a descendant of those living in Tulsa during the race massacre, but unlike many of them she spent her much of her life in South Vietnam, the 51st state in the union. Additionally, Abar gains a pseudo-antagonist in Laurie Jupiter, one of the original “Watchmen,” who, by 2019, hunts masked vigilantes.

By throwing King’s Abar/Sister Night into this web of confusion and conflicted loyalty, Lindelof puts King in the best possible situation to succeed, and succeed she does. King makes Abar not only a compelling character, but often conveys the conflict that the vigilante mother must navigate with both grace and an over the top level of badassery. Despite how the last five episodes play out, King should be an early favorite for the lead actress Emmy as she further defines herself as one of the best in her era.

I recommend that anyone curious about the show to watch the show (after reading the graphic novel) for its intricately de-

signed world and the commentary it makes on current day America, but also for stellar performances from Regina King, Jeremy Irons and Tulsa natie Tim Blake Nelson.

Going forward, the show will have to answer dozens of questions that the first four episodes have posed. A few examples: other than the boy from the opening scene, who is the old man in the wheelchair? Where is Ozymandias and why can’t he leave that castle? And maybe most importantly, is Dr. Manhattan’s teased arrival going to upend any current arcs?

I have no doubt Lindelof will provide answers to these questions, the man has a knack for posing difficult questions and eventually answering them in his shows.

However, if we consider “Lost” as a bad example of him answering questions and “The Leftovers” a good one, it looks like “Watchmen” will be the tie-breaker for one of the deades most prolific showrunners.

“... [King] further defines herself as one of the best in her era.”

Those reparations, called “Redfordations” by their critics, prompted a racist terrorist group called the Seventh Kalvary to launch an attack on Tulsa police officers.

The show is set three years after that attack, and contrary to the rest of the country which has formally outlawed vigilantes, Tulsa allows all of its police officers to wear masks to protect their identities. The show’s premise makes it easily one of the most original projects on television, but for Lindelof that was always part of the allure and the fear surrounding the sequel series.

In a podcast with “Chernobyl” writer Craig Maizan, Lindelof spoke about the challenge of staying faithful to the source material while continuing the tradition that made “Watchmen” the graphic novel so groundbreaking. Lindelof said, “It’s an ad-

Regina King has starred in “American Crime,” “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “The Leftovers” among many other successful and award winning projects, but it was in the latter that she first began working with Lindelof. Unlike “The Leftovers,” where her acting ability shone through as she played a supporting role to Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon and Christopher Eccleston, in “Watchmen,” King is undoubtedly the lead amongst a stellar and numerous cast.

She plays former TPD officer, Angela Abar, who officially retired after she and her husband were targeted during the White Night attack, only to reemerge under a mask and the name Sister Night thanks to a law allowing Tulsa officers to hide their faces despite the national ban on masks that sets up the original graphic novel. Like many of

Regina King delivers a stunning performance as retired TPD officer, Angela Abar.

courtesy HBO

McFarlin exhibits occult and mystical materials Special Collections hosts books and objects, educating viewers about the history and practices of mysticism.

Stasha Cole Student Writer This semester, McFarlin Library is showcasing an exhibit called “Magic and Mystical: The Occult” in the Special Collections library. The display includes five cases of books and occult objects, both old and new.

The collection’s didactic texts explained that “the Latin ‘occultus’ … refers to [what is] secret, hidden and concealed.” It further describes how “many of the materials in Special Collections … have been hidden from the public’s awareness.” “Magic and Mystical: The Occult” exposes the public to both the library itself and to its mystical materials.

The exhibit illustrated the transformation of mystical and occult practices from their origin to today. It was interesting to draw comparisons between alchemy and modern

alternative medicine. Similarly, the exhibit drew connections between old occult traditions and modern religions like Wicca, as well as between ritual objects like the sword and modern equivalents like athames.

The materials presented include many texts from prominent mystical authors such as “Malleus Maleficarum” by Heinrich Institoris, two of Aleister Crowley’s works, an essay by William Butler Yeats, “Dæmonology” by King James I and many more. The display also had a compilation of tutorialstyle occult texts focusing on anything from talismans to alchemy to black magic and voodoo.

My favorite parts of the exhibit were the items shown alongside the books. The first display case held a full-size ritual sword made of brass and iron. The hilt depicted a mostly nude woman standing on the hilt guard, which showcased an intricate dragon.

In the third display case were four other items typically used in mystical rituals: an athame, a scourge (ceremonial whip), a censer (incense-holder) and a talisman. I learned that an athame is a black-handled knife typically used alongside a boline,

A case illustrates the influence of magic in popular culture through objects like Day of the Dead candles and crystals.

which is a white-handled knife. Specifically in the Wiccan tradition, the athame is used to physically cut materials such as herbs while the boline is used to metaphorically sever invisible bonds such as negative thoughts.

The final display case revealed modern mystical practices through another array of objects such as candles, voodoo dolls and crystals. The candles, according to the exhibit plaque, were varied and used for diverse and specific purposes.

The Day of the Dead candles are “often used to remember and honor the spirits of the dead” while Saints’ candles “are used to invoke the influence of the saints depicted.”

The display included a miniature statue of St. Anthony of Padua, who is the “patron saint of lost things,” according to the exhibit’s explanatory texts.

The case housed a love candle in the color red shaped into the form of a happy couple that could be used to “reunite parted lovers and mend broken relationships.” Also included were five candles for good luck and good fortune and one rabbit’s foot for the same purpose.

I personally related to the crystal section the most. You can find a crystal in my pocket almost every day of the week to help manifest the mindset I want for the day. My probable placebo-effect love for shiny rocks was shown alongside true mystical religious texts and objects; I loved it.

I appreciated the diversity of thought presented within the exhibit; the unifying theme of the “occult” materials in Special Collections encompasses many different religious and spiritual paths. The exhibit highlighted a wide array of mystical belief systems including neo-paganism, voodoo, Christian-saint worship and objects for the Day of the Dead.

Modern adaptations of these practices are present in many walks of life across many cultures, and the exhibit explores the evolution of mystical rituals and concepts. I am always fascinated by the mystical tradition, but I think people who do not consider themselves as participants in occult practices could be surprised to find themselves or their spiritual practices reflected in portions of the Special Collections exhibit as well.

photo by Stasha Cole

The Collegian: 12

Variety

18 November 2019

Circle Cinema screens “A Romance of the Redwoods” Cecille B. DeMille’s 1917 piece presents a classic silent film, enhanced by live organ music at the local theater.

Justin Klopfer Student Writer Local independent theatre Circle Cinema has a showing of a classic silent film every second Saturday of the month. The film is accompanied by a live organ performance on the fully acoustic 1928 pipe organ.

This month, the film shown was Cecille B. DeMille’s 1917 movie “A Romance of the Redwoods.” The film is a simple drama involving a criminal (Elliot Dexter) who takes the identity of a young woman’s (Mary Pickford) uncle. Predictably, they fall in love by the end of the film in a romantic twist ending.

A lot of the comedy of the film comes from the unlikely meeting between Pickford, a ladylike character, and Dexter, a rough-and-tumble bandit. A particularly hilarious scene involves Dexter eating a disgusting-looking dinner with his bare hands while Pickford looks on with wide eyes.

Typical of silent films, this comedy is done through body acting and visual gags as opposed to spoken punchlines.

Of course, the live organ music also helped to make this an incredibly enjoyable experience. It makes you almost nostalgic for a time you never lived in: the time when people would enjoy the latest film as a sort of live performance. The joyous energy and positive this kind of experience exudes is impossible to deny.

While the film itself may not be an incredibly notable work artistically, it is an incredibly interesting historical artifact.

Mary Pickford was one of the greatest Hollywood stars of the day. In 1919, she joined

Awards, a Golden Globe and the Palme d’Or. He continued making movies into the era of sound and color. His most well known film, 1956s “The Ten Commandments,” is now the eighth-highest grossing film of all time (when adjusting for inflation).

DeMille’s films have experienced mixed reception by critics and fellow directors.

However, they frequently received positive audience reviews and sold many tickets. In many ways, his films are an earlier version of modern action and superhero movies.

These types of movies may draw scorn from

stars Douglas Fairbanks, one of the founding members of the United Artists. The star performance combined with the authentic live organ music should make it an excellent show.

“... this comedy is done through body acting and visual gags ...”

Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith to form United Artists. This production company was created in response to other companies like Metro Pictures not allowing the artists much control over their movies. Pickford starred in her last film in 1933 with “Secrets.” However, she did continue to produce films into the 1940s.

DeMille was the first Hollywood director and is generally considered the father of American cinema. He won two Academy

more elitist filmgoers, but I think there is a special place for them in the history of film.

They serve as a representation of common culture and a grand spectacle for all people.

As long as a movie is the vision of a passionate director and invokes a similar passion in the audience, a film is always art.

Circle Cinema’s next silent film will be the 1922 movie “The Prisoner of Zenda,” which was originally distributed by United Artists. It will be shown on Dec. 14. It also

courtesy Paramount Pictures DeMille, one of the first Hollywood directors, released “A Romance of the Redwoods” in 1917.

“Love, Loss, and What I Wore” explores the female experience The Tulsa Performing Arts Center presented this touching performance of short pieces that look to the diverse lives of women.

Tori Gellman Student Writer The Tulsa Performing Arts Center’s Liddy Doegnes Theater has been home to the OK World Stage Theater Company’s production of “Love, Loss and What I Wore” for the past week. The play, based upon the book by Ilene Beckerman and adapted for the stage by Nora and Delia Ephron, takes audiences to a myriad of places, through the eyes of a multitude of women and a plethora of clothing items.

With similar likeness to Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues,” the play consists of a series of short group pieces and individual vignettes that expound upon common themes in women’s lives through the articles of clothing they acquire, donate, trash, love and hate.

The show had several little scenes set up around the stage, fitting with the short snip-

pet style pieces. The back of the stage had a clothesline with large illustrations of the different clothing items and outfits characters would describe in their monologues. It was really charming to hear one of the women discuss playing dress up in grandma’s closet — something I did often when I visited my grandmother in chicago — or their taffeta puffy sleeve prom dress that they wish they

two women were marrying each other, and it came together in this incredibly beautiful way at the front of the stage with the rest of the cast clapping and tearing up.

Another vignette towards the very end of the show involved a 21-year-old African American woman dealing with breast cancer. The scene took us through the initial diagnosis, the recommendation for a double

“... a very real representation of many diverse and unique life experiences ...” had kept, but knew their daughters would scoff at the notion of wearing.

More than just a physical diversity within the company was a very real representation of diverse and unique life experiences involving race, religion, sexual orientation and heritage. There was a really lovely segment where two of the women were alternating story lines about shopping for their wedding dresses and how their mothers were either overly invested or completely detached and uninterested. The big reveal was that the

mastectomy and the after effects of the surgery and chemotherapy. It was moving, to say the least.

My favorite piece had to be the one in the second act where a woman went on an extended tirade about how much she hates purses. I turned to the friend I went to the show with and she was pointing at me knowingly. I constantly complain about purses and I found myself nodding along in total agreement with the actress. The final touch to the vignette was the bag the woman

decided to carry around in lieu of an expensive dainty little handbag: a blue and yellow vinyl tote bag. It was riotous and beautiful all at once.

The wonderfully diverse group of women with the OK World Stage Theater Company really brought the room to life. There was laughter, tears and just a real sense of female camaraderie at work throughout the performance.

The way the play operated with a small cast of incredibly talented women who could shift tones and characters in seconds to accommodate various plot lines is rather ingenious. Much like I feel about “The Vagina Monologues,” I would encourage as many people as possible to see or read this magnificent piece of art as it tells universal and yet deeply unique individual stories, which is quite the feat.

I wish there had been at least a single man at the PAC performance last Sunday, as I think there is a lot to learn from this play while also much enjoyment to be had.

I’m very glad that I got to see this production and hear stories based on real women’s experiences and lives. To me, real lives are some of the greatest sources of art and creativity.

Tulsa Symphony brings guests to perform classics concert Visiting conductor Gerhardt Zimmermann led the orchestra in performing Mozart concerto with soloist Robin Sutherland.

Karelia Alexander Student Writer On Saturday, Nov. 16, the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra gave an intense performance from the works of Berlioz (1803-1869), W. A. Mozart (1756-1791) and Lutoslawski (1913-1994). From the moment the concert started until it ended, the audience was captivated by the waves of emotion that each piece offered. The eclectic program contrasted styles between movements, swelled together to form a powerful and passionate sound after each piece.

Unlike many of the concerts, the Tulsa Symphony brought in two guest artists instead of one. The first guest was Gerhardt Zimmermann, a well-respected music director for the Canton Symphony Orchestra. The other guest was Robin Sutherland, a highly acclaimed pianist from Colorado.

Throughout the performance, it was clear that although they had a different perspective on how to approach the music. It was also clear that together, along with the symphony, they had a few of the same ideas and respected each other’s artistry and brought life to the pieces.

The first piece to be performed was the Overture to “Beatrice and Benedict” from Hector Berlioz’s 1962 opera, based loosely on Shakespeare’s “Much Ado about Nothing.” The piece itself was consistent with the contrasting dynamics and raging, bright sounds. There was never a dull moment in the Overture. Toward the end of the piece, the audience applauded then fell silent, anticipating the main focus of the night, the Mozart “Concerto in C Minor, K. 491.”

The Mozart concerto is striking: invoking a deep and intense sound as it explores but never strays from the minor key. This concerto is one of two concertos that Mozart did not write in D minor. “Concerto in C Minor” also indicates a contrast in Mozart’s career: as the concert notes indicate, Mozart wrote this dramatic piece during the time that he was writing the “Marriage of Figaro” (1786), a comedy about lovers.

The orchestra performed “Concerto in C Minor” with high anticipation: as soon as Sutherland entered the stage, the music started. It didn’t start in the way that it was rushed, but in the sense that all the musicians on stage had full control of the piece, hinting that the music was about to burst out of them.

The solemnity of the piece was solidified in that moment. Throughout the three movements of the concerto, the audience seemed to hold their breath. The musicality of the piano, though dainty and delicate, soared over the orchestra, reaching its full dramatic potential. Each note was more powerful than

the last, creating strong phrases. The piano and the orchestra were never battling to be the loudest. Instead, it was a handoff from the piano playing with the rest of the orchestra and then as a featured solo instrument.

Both guest pianist and conductor understood the concerto and brought forth their ideas to make one sound. After the audience erupted in applause, Sutherland came back and gave an encore performance.

After intermission, instead of jumping straight into the final piece, Zimmerman took time to engage with the audience, joking about how Lutoslawski’s “Concerto for Orchestra” (1954) was perfect for Tulsa, with the mosquito sounds of the violins. On a serious note, the conductor spoke about how certain things can captivate a person, such as a book or a movie, to the point where they don’t want to put it down. Zimmerman spoke of the things that have moved him, “Concerto for Orchestra” being one of them.

Zimmerman had the orchestra demonstrate segments of the different movements.

The somber tone rang through the entire

piece: as it indicates in the concert notes, this piece shows Lutoslawski’s mature musicality and technique through his composition style. He shows his rage towards the destruction of war, that left Europe in destitute.

Though not immediately, Zimmerman took his time with the orchestra. After a moment of silence, the orchestra exploded with sound. The intensity moved between the sections of the orchestra, but never vanished.

The piece contrasted between movements (almost in a movement within a movement structure), flipping back and forth between being calm and electrifying. The conductor was right: this was a truly captivating composition.

At the end of the piece, the orchestra received a standing ovation. It’s moments like these where the barriers between the performers and audience are broken. Everyone is able to come together and appreciate and understand the composer’s (in this case, three composers’) ideas and inspirations.

courtesy Tulsa Symphony The Symphony Orchestra performed the overture to Berlioz’s “Beatrice and Benedict,” Mozart’s “Concerto in C Minor” and Lutoslawski’s “Concert for Orchestra.”

Variety

18 November 2019

The Collegian: 13

The Collegian’s best music of 2019

Luke De-Sciscio - “Good Bye Folk Boy”

courtesy Luke De-Sciscio

2019 has felt apocalyptic in more ways than I’d really like to get into for an album blurb on a college newspaper, but, to say the least, it’s been a year that’s loomed large

over the horizon of popular culture. We’re all philosophizing and deconstructing and screaming in all our art all the time. Nothing gets by without being a metaphor for, a reflection of or a diatribe against 2019, the last year of the decade, the last year of our lives, whatever. That’s fine, honestly. Deserved, even. Art is an outlet — I get it.

Sometimes, though, it’s nice to be in the quiet. As much as I enjoy the speed of opening of the new Rico Nasty, the incredible production of Tyler the Creator’s “IGOR” or the industrial gut punch that is SOPHIE’s 2019 remix album, the weight of so much of the music of the year of our Lord 2019 can be too much to carry. Once again, I get it, the noise and the discontentment: it all means something. It has a point. On the occasion, however, I want something without that sonically sharp edge. All this to say my album for 2019 is an acoustic singer-songwriter

album, which was sort of a surprise even for me. When I sat down and thought about it, though, I hadn’t listened to anything that came out this year more than Luke De-Sciscio’s “Good Bye Folk Boy,” a little meditative folk piece that came out this June.

Recording the majority of his music live, De-Sciscio creates his music in 24-hour sessions: songs are written and performed within the same day, giving them an organic tinge. “Winsome,” the record’s opener is a wonderful track, tilting between the nostalgic and melancholic (two laughably overused words in music criticism, I know, but trust me in saying that it’s an apt description). “Plumb Loco” and “R.O.B.Y.N.” follow; the former is slow and panic-stricken, the latter fluttery and featuring a stand-out, sort-of-circuitous-sounding guitar riff. The eleventh and final track, “New Skin,” reminds me a bit of “Either/Or”-era Elliot

Emily Every Managing Editor Smith, particularly in the way that the low vocals and raw guitar playing meld.

“Good Bye Folk Boy” is a record for the in-between, perfect for putting on in the background. That isn’t to say that it’s not worth a close listen or that’s it’s not exciting or interesting or anything else, but it doesn’t demand that sort of attention from you: you can listen to De-Sciscio’s music on your own terms. Any track off this album would be well worth your time on a slow Sunday, or whenever you like to do your acoustic introspecting.

Empath - “Active Listening: Night on Earth” Brennen Gray Sports Editor I had always despised noise music. The idea seemed inherently pretentious, and although I understood its importance, I usually chalked pieces of noise music up to the list of technically good things that I personally disliked but still appreciated, somewhere between Marvel movies and expensive Scotch. Then came Empath and this album.

The extra noise and ambience provides a transient experience that is truly active listening. I’m not in my dorm listening to Empath, but rather Empath and I are outside somewhere in the middle of the night listening to the sounds of the evening. The album starts out with nighttime cricket noises, and then immediately throws down a pulsing bass beat like any night club would have.

Then it rolls through all nine songs with a synth and guitar combination that takes the listener through all the sounds of what it means to be on earth in the dark. There is even a prominent singing saw in there, which has a hollow, sad and eerie sound that simply fits with the album’s concept.

It’s biggest accomplishment for me is making me love a piece of noise music with unbridled appreciation. But it accomplished something else for me. I also love this album because it incorporates noise music into an older concept: the garage band.

Many people think garage band-style is a thing of the past. Three or four friends moving in together and making a DIY album that incorporates their individual styles into an unclean low-budget set of bangers? The Stooges, The Descendents and a host of other bands did that decades ago. The earliest garage bands are from the mid 1960’s, and the most contemporary garage rock I listen

to is probably the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which has been around for about 20 years.

But the noise music style of Empath creates a chaos that is continuous with the discordance of the DIY ethos of low-budget garage band music. This album embodies this ideal: it’s beautiful without being pretty.

Take “Roses That Cry” for example. The unrelenting chaos and high-pitched frequencies that bounce off Catherine Elicson’s voice are so thrown together that they create a maelstrom of complexity that really makes no sense at all. And yet every last sound seems so intentional that it makes you feel like there is not one frequency, drum beat or guitar chord that could be excised without dangerously compromising the integrity of the song. It has a pop music style synth and a loud guitar. It has vocals and just plain noise. And it all mixes together well.

There are bands that struggle to mix pop with punk without creating pop punk. There

try music — through a fiddling of the genre, a morphing of what old country once was and what it could be — and offered a queer perspective in a genre that lacked marginalized voices.

Where to start? Peck is a mystery. He came to the scene under a fringe-mask, equipped with a rich drawl and brokenhearted ballads. Although he performs under a masked persona, he allows us insights to the tall tales he gathered. He is gay, a SouthAfrican born Canadian, he performed on the West End and recently transplanted from being a punk drummer to a country crooner.

And, even with these shallow, biographical details in mind, there is nothing compared to the emotion in his music. The mask is a means for him to find comfort in being vulnerable as he sings close-to-home lyrics and reframes his own past heartbreaks and collected identities. There’s “Big Sky,” where he sings of failed relationships and an inescapable loneliness, shattering his brava-

do with broken-glass candor when he goes, “Heartbreak is a warm sensation when the only feeling that you know is fear.”

There’s something truly remarkable about Peck; while he performs in a theatrical aesthetic and hides his identity behind a mask, his act is still parallel with his sincerity. He doesn’t need to tell his listener he’s genuine.

His lyrics speak for him.

“Pony” is experienced through carefully plucked banjos, rattlesnake percussion and dramatic vocals that sweep from a hollow baritone to a striking belt that suggests every sound heard — even the campy, winkto-the-audience “yeehaw” in “Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call” — is purposeful. His drawl evokes a road wariness, accented by gritty references to a western landscape: Malboro reds, Johnny Cash and the innate Lone Ranger quality to his words.

The standout track, “Dead of Night,” is a romantic ballad about two male hustlers on the run, and there is something aching in

courtesy Fat Possum Records

are bands that struggle to mix noise with melodic music without creating something that is too much one or the other. And then there’s Empath who just said “I don’t give a damn.”

Orville Peck - “Pony”

courtesy Sub Pop

After years of saying, “I’m into all genres but country,” I have officially been approved for my government-sanctioned clown nose, squirt flower and some funky, oversized shoes. Orville Peck’s debut album “Pony” has changed my entire perception of coun-

Emma Palmer Graphics Editor In a lot of ways, my college experience has been about reclaiming adolescent experiences I didn’t have access to before. That is to say, had I been in high school when this album came out, I a) would have known about it, and b) would have given it the time of day. In all honesty, I probably would have been a little scared of the teens that liked Eilish’s spooky aesthetic. In my old age, however, I can say with confidence Billie Eilish goes off.

After hearing the first track on Omar Apollo’s EP “Friends,” my friend told me he thought it sounded something that would play behind a scene of an ill-advised shopping spree. Since this revelation, I’ve found myself walking with an air of unwarranted arrogance whenever “Ashamed” plays.

The layers of sound are engaging. The beats make me want to step along with the rhythm. The drama of Omar Apollo is transformative.

his voice when he gets to the chorus, something entirely longing and delicate, a lament to lost love in the suffocating vastness of a desert.

As he reframes traditional country stereotypes with tales of drag queens and falling in love with men, Peck breaks down the gatekeeping of country music and revitalizes the space for his queer expression.

“Pony,” ultimately, is a country record of tearful melodies, cheeky, careful posturing and melodramatic vocals. He tears away songwriting tropes with his own saccharine romances and identity as an outsider, and there is something so refreshing about someone so unequivocally himself — even if he doesn’t know who he is.

Billie Eilish - “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” After releasing several singles and a hit EP, Billie Eilish finally released her first album “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” this year to staggering success, and I, now a connoisseur of more mainstream pop music, enjoy it immensely.

Sure, lyrically, there’s not much substance, but in terms of sound? The drums and synths and snaps and samples from the “The Office” all mesh into something lush and light and so quintessentially teen. Eilish is at the same time funny and weird and morbid and melodramatic, and all these traits come through in her music.

Eilish’s style of singing and the warping of it within the music turns her voice oftentimes into just another instrument. This means that “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” will probably end up on my most listened to on Spotify simply because it is easy study music.

Don’t get me started on listening to this album in the car, walking to class or in the reading rooms. There is something forever powerful to me about playing music loudly, while presenting oneself as being a paragon of normalcy. As I sit typing quietly, Eilish provides the attitude of “you should see me in a crowd.” I feel cool, but in a secret way. courtesy Darkroom/Interscope Records

Omar Apollo - “Friends”

courtesy Omar Apollo

Anna Johns Social Media/Web Manager

With his innovative melding of styles and tones, Omar Apollo’s “Friends” is an incredibly eclectic EP. Apollo is a self-made artist who burst onto the scene when he uploaded “Ugotme” in 2015, which immediately made it onto Spotify’s “Fresh Finds” playlist. Since then, Apollo has released about a dozen more singles and two EPs. Combining funk beats, acoustic ballads and smooth melodies, “Friends” showcases that Apollo is not just vocally talented, but also compellingly theatrical.

“Ashamed” jump-starts the EP with the almost effortless tonal shifts that make his body of work so compelling. Starting with a funk beat overlaid with Apollo’s (dare I say) Prince-esque vocals, he moves in and out of falsetto and a lower range in the rhythmic verses. He flawlessly transitions into a smoother, melodic melody that showcases his undeniable vocal talent. About two-thirds through the song, the track entirely changes character, transitioning into a slower, groovier beat that abruptly ends in Apollo’s haunting falsetto ringing in silence, “Can’t live without you by my side.”

The energy of the first track is revived in the next song, “Kickback.” While “Ashamed” jumped around in character,

“Kickback” seems to slow down throughout the course of three minutes. While this transitions into the acoustic “Friends,” the same groovy beats and compelling style later reappear in “So Good,” as Apollo experiments with synth effects, melodies and harmonies reminiscent of discoteque.

The titular track shifts the personality of the EP, revealing a more intimate side of the artist. Moving away from the funk beats, “Friends” starts with a haunting guitar melody. Apollo’s raw vocals move in and out of a chilling falsetto, singing a more emotionally vulnerable story, repeating “you just thought I just wanted to be friends.”

This acoustic sound is continued in through the interlude and into “Hearing your voice,” in which he sings about a troubled relationship. Describing various arguments in the verses, he concludes in the chorus, “You cut your hair / Change it all except for me,” illustrating the difficulty of change, but hoping to still hold onto the relationship.

Apollo ends on this same intimate acoustic sound in the angelic final track, “Trouble.” The airy background beats and simple guitar tune almost completely dissipate during the bridge and are dwarfed by Apollo’s delicate vocals. His singing falls away in

Piper Prolago Variety Editor a sound wall toward the end of the track, which suddenly stops, leaving the quiet guitar tune to close out the EP in a cathartic release.

While the EP is somewhat disappointingly comprised entirely of love songs — surprising for an EP titled “Friends” — they are removed from the doe-eyed naivety that I’ve come to expect. Instead, he seems to focus on the idea of change and transition within that stereotypical love story. More playful tracks like “So Good,” ask “So why you walk away? This love is like a dream.”

Alternately, “Trouble” explores a more vulnerable aspect of this idea of transition, singing, “It’s just nice to meet you anyway / Didn’t mean to scare you yesterday.”

Apollo seems to speak to his own growth in “Friends,” singing. “And I’m older now, but I’m still young.” This, for me, perfectly situates Apollo’s EP. He has grown as an artist, creating a more cohesive and exploratory set of songs than he had in the past.

Yet, at only 22 years old, Apollo represents a new generation of innovative artistry that experiments with genre, style and sound.

Continued on page 14

Variety

The Collegian: 14

18 November 2019

Continued from page 13 Weyes Blood - “Titanic Rising”

courtesy Sub Pop

If Joni Mitchell were making indie rock today, I imagine it’d sound a lot like Weyes Blood, which isn’t to discredit the musical stylings of Natalie Mering’s solo project.

I’m merely attempting to collect the feelings and sound of “Titanic Rising” in a single sentence. It is, of course, impossible — the record is as massive as the ship it’s named after. Mering, rather than flouting her supremacy at the ship’s helm, maybe

shouting that she’s “queen of the world” or something, celebrates the sinking. She gives us a soundtrack as the Atlantic bubbles up, as lives pinch out of existence and as a final resting place hurries toward us. “Titanic Rising” is a revelation.

Highlights include “A Lot’s Gonna Change,” a tone-setting track if there ever was one, beginning with a lone, waterlogged piano before a mellow string section enters the mix, a solid drum beat moves the track along and Mering, aided by backup singers, belts out a beautiful, pining chorus.

“Try to leave it all behind,” she sings, and for a moment the listener feels that maybe they can.

“Everyday,” meanwhile, sets in with a dark intro (again from a lone piano) of monstrous, deep chords, before immediately shifting into an easygoing ballad aided by simple, on-beat clapping. The formula complete, Mering just keeps adding to it. A synth tumbles in, dragging the song heavenward; a combination of wind instruments play a single note on every other beat; then, a refrain from the refrain, Mering cries, “I need a love everyday,” over a spiraling ar-

rangement of voices from the lowest registers of the human voice.

The inarguably best track of the record is “Movies” (honestly my favorite song of 2019). It’s easily split into two halves — two movements, if you will — opening with Mering’s echoey, lone voice. She’s backed by a simple, compressed arpeggio from a synthesizer and the occasional chord from a cello or viola, or maybe both. The music is impossible to separate from the imagery in the music video, in which Mering floats placidly underwater, drifting back and forth. Then, as if ascending (“rising”), Mering’s voice duplicates itself into monstrous self-harmony; the synth’s compressor fizzles away; the notes sound ouy with renewed vigor; the strings become more numerous.

The song would be sublime enough with just this, but it suddenly shifts into the second movement. Crisp, sharp violins.

A compressed drum beat. A backing track of women harmonizing that seems almost otherworldly. The deeper strings again take up the helm, rising ever upward like an inverted Shepard tone, and on top of it all:

Ethan Veenker Editor-in-Chief the most impressive vocals on the entire record. Mering’s voice soars. “I wanna be the star of my own movie,” she cries again and again, the superficiality of the request clashing with the utterly transcendent mode of its delivery. She finishes on a beautiful high note, then the song ends suddenly, like a film projector switched off.

This is a motif of “Titanic Rising” — Mering finds a groove early in each track, an easy and inoffensive pop melody that anyone could bob their head to. Ever unsatisfied, she tosses more into each track, filling it to the brim with vocal harmonies, strings and woodwinds. Just beneath the surface of nearly every song, her piano drives the music onward, seeming so distant that it would be nearly forgettable if it didn’t splash up at unexpected moments, grabbing the listener and yanking them back down. And, as we sink, Mering floats with us, serenading, reminding us that even colossal things die eventually. Even so, I can’t see this record disappearing any time soon.

Events next week in Tulsa Monday, Nov. 18

Circle Cinema screens “Warrior Women” for Native American Heritage Month. The film follows the life of Madonna Thunder Hawk, an American Indian Movement leader, and her daughter Marcy. Film will start at 7:30 p.m. and be followed by a Q&A session with the producer and co-director, Christina D. King.

Event is free and open to public.

Thursday, Nov. 21

Friday, Nov. 22

Circle Cinema screens “The Evil Dead” (1981) as part of the Graveyard Shift series. The movie will start at 10 p.m. and will also be screened at the same time on Saturday.

Living Arts hosts screening of Pixar’s “Coco.” Event is free and includes popcorn.

Thursday, Nov. 21

Magic City Books hosts Poetry Karaoke. Guests are welcome to bring original or classic poems to perform. Event will start at 6 p.m. in the Algonquin Room at Magic City Books, event will be free and open to the public.

TU English department and Womens and Gender Studies program cosponsor an evening devoted to Poetic Justice, an Oklahoma-based organization that offers restorative writing worshops to incarcerated women. There will be a screening of a short documentary about the Friday, Nov. 22 organization, as well as an interview Ellis Paul performs at Woody between a founder and participant of Guthrie Center Theater. The show the program. Event will be free and will start at 7 p.m., tickets are $25. start at 7 p.m. in Tyrell Hall.

courtesy Doubleday “Blade Runner” is based on Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?”

Circle Cinema celebrates “Blade Runner,” originally set in 2019 Ridley Scott’s 1982 film is a seminal work in the science fiction genre, drawing inspiration from Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel.

A. C. Boyle Student Writer Last weekend, on Nov. 15 and 16, Tulsa’s very own Circle Cinema hosted a late-night screening of the classic Science Fiction Movie “Blade Runner,” as part of a series of classic movie screenings this season called “Graveyard Shift.” Circle Cinema screened the film to celebrate the fact that the film is set in the year 2019, which has now officially come and passed.

“Blade Runner,” released in 1982 to moderate reviews, has since gone on to receive universal acclaim for being one of the best Science Fiction films of all time. The film stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who kills escaped androids before falling in love with one who thinks she is human. A sequel, titled “Blade Runner 2049,” was released in 2017, also receiving critical acclaim.

Ford is joined by a host of talented character actors in this film, as well as a host of talented technicians, in creating a profound and challenging story. Sean Young plays Rachel, Deckard’s love interest, who vividly remembers growing up and being human, only to realize that her childhood memories have been manufactured. Rugter Hauer plays Roy Batty, the leader of a gang of escaped android slave laborers, looking for a way to extend their limited lifespans.

Edward James Olmos plays Deckard’s mysterious police partner, who perhaps knows more about the situation than he lets on.

Many other fine actors populate this movie, making it feel dense without being too complicated.

The film was directed by Ridley Scott, best known for “Alien,” his other seminal

Science Fiction movie. Scott, aged 81, is still directing movies today, and even helped make the 2017 sequel. The film’s special effects were done by Douglas Trumbull, the man who helped Stanley Kubrick create the special effects for “2001: A Space Odyssey” – another giant in the field of sci-fi films.

The special effects in “Blade Runner” pop out at you and command your attention. And they still hold up well today, despite the film coming before the advent of modern CGI. “Blade Runner,” set in a technologically advanced future, depicts November 2019 – now – as a world with crowded buildings, futuristic neon advertisements, sentient robots and flying cars. Although the film was obviously not accurate as to what the year 2019 would look like, it was responsible for creating the genre now known as “Cyberpunk” – an aesthetic of futuristic neon cities overrun by corruption and technology.

This aesthetic style has gone on to influence countless films and video games (a came called “Cyberpunk 2077” comes out next year) in subsequent generations, giving us a feel for what a futuristic human society could end up looking like. With Elon Musk inventing new and exciting things every day, there can be no doubt that this exciting (and somewhat scary) future is around the corner somewhere.

But there is more to “Blade Runner” than meets the eye. The single greatest contributor to this film’s greatness didn’t even live to see the film completed.

“Blade Runner” is based off of a 1968 science fiction novel, titled “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” written by Philip K. Dick. The book, while still containing the same basic premise as the film, contains countless little differences and details that didn’t make the translation from the numbered pages to the silver screen. Because of this, people consider the book and the film to be unique enough from each other that both are their own unique experiences. I would recommend the book to anyone who loved the film, and vice versa.

Philip K. Dick wrote other successful novels and short stories in his lifetime. At least 10 of his stories have been adapted into movies or TV shows, and his body of literary work has endured and continued to grow in popularity in the decades since his passing.

Dick died in 1982, shortly before “Blade Runner” was released in theatres. He did not live to see the theatrical release of the film, though he did see a preview of the movie that wowed him. He called it “gritty and detailed and authentic and goddamn convincing,” and upon watching the film it is easy to see why.

“Blade Runner”’s popularity has impacted the world of Science Fiction in a crucial and significant way, paving the way at last for casual fans to think of sci-fi as a genre that can be used not just for cheap thrills and escapism, but for provocative and thoughtful storytelling.

Watching the film on DVD is great enough that the film is worth multiple viewings; it’s one of those films you can rewatch and notice a new little detail each time. But

the experience of watching it on a big screen instead of at home is one that was well worth it for me, and presumably so for any other movie lover as well.

The film has been restored multiple times over the years (five different versions of the movie exist. Five!), and so seeing this latest and best version of the film – known as “The Final Cut” – in a crowded theater, gives us a chance to experience it better than moviegoers could when the film first came out. Having the movie up on a big screen with immersive sound made it more awe-inspiring than it ever had appeared to me before, and it was simply a great time. I can only hope that theatres like Circle Cinema will continue to have screenings of this film – and others like it – for years to come.

Circle Cinema is located in Tulsa, on Admiral Boulevard and Lewis avenue. It is both a classic, nonprofit arthouse theater and a building on the national register of historic places. Their next events include a classic movie screening of the film “Evil Dead,” as well as a limited theatrical release of Martin Scorceese’s latest film, “The Irishman.”

“Blade Runner” is set in a post-apocalyptic world, inspiring future Cyberpunk works.

courtesy Warner Bros.

18 November 2019

The State-Run Media

The Collegian: 15

Christmas gift tips for all your relatives

For all those tricky family members you’ve never actually met.

Hannah Robbins Already done shopping As the semester winds down and the holiday music in malls ramps up, Christmas shopping lists (and prices) are starting to be tallied. Besides the normal gifts (socks for grandpa, gift card for Aunt Susan, etc.), your parents have probably started to dictate some additional relatives that have suddenly appeared on your list. Great Aunt Esther, Twice-Removed Cousin Fred and your Grandma’s third ex have all RSVPed for the family Christmas grip and grin, so now you have to buy a gift for them.

The first time this happened to me, I was stumped, but never fear! By this point I’m an old pro at shopping for shirttail relatives’ gifts, and I’ve compiled some of the biggest hits in cheap gifts for those people that were added to your list last minute.

First off, a classic: your second cousin. What is a second cousin? Man, I don’t know either, but it doesn’t matter. Second cousins are the type that really don’t know you and probably don’t plan to. For that reason, a simple $15 gift card to wherever usually does the trick. If you even know their first name, you probably can determine if they’re more Starbucks or Target, but when in doubt, always go Visa.

Next up: great uncle, twice removed.

Twice removed from what? No one cares.

What he does care about is your gift. With this, there are two options: alcohol or cologne. Why? It’s just the rules. Usually, you

can stick to a $20 or less bottle of alcohol (they’ll probably drink it at Christmas anyways), but taste may vary by family. Aren’t sure if they’re a fan of either? Visa gift card is usually a good idea, usually in the $15$20 price point.

Another awkward one to shop for: grandma’s first ex-husband. Why is he still at family gatherings? (Maybe they’re back together???) It’s kinda sad. Anyway. First ex-husbands have several gift options, but my personal favorite is the bottle of maple syrup and IHOP gift card. Why? It reminds him of earlier times when he had a chance.

Not a fan of fabulous pancakes? A Visa gift card is the way to go.

Next up: the new step-aunt. She just got married to your uncle and although you thought you knew her name (Jane?

Joanne?), she’s been added to the list. For new family members, you have to play it cool. You can’t show them the true mess they’ve walked into, and for that you have two options: tickets to a baseball game (they have those everywhere, right?) or a bottle of wine. Baseball tickets show you’re really an American, and wine will get her through all of Auntie Peg’s jokes. Or, you know, a Visa gift card.

Finally, we come to the most tricky weird relative: your sister’s godmother.

Why do you guys even have a godmother, you aren’t even Catholic??? Doesn’t matter though, she’s on the list. For this, I think some lovely pictures of your sister (so she knows what she signed up for) or a certificate to her goddaughter’s favorite restaurant (for when someone snaps and kills your parents) are applicable. But, if neither of those are your style, you could always go with the safe bet: the Visa gift card.

We know it’s only November: leave us alone.

graphic by Emma Palmer

TU student gives Oscarwinning performance

Stephens gave a moving performance.

graphic by Emma Palmer

Jane Stephens won our hearts in her obvious that he is not kind. The spotless desk and perfectly framed awards betray the Oscar-winning role.

Hannah Robbins Tried this strat in Physics II Amid unfavorable press coverage on its liberal arts cutbacks, a bright star has arisen from one of TU’s many sunsetted programs.

One of the University of Tulsa’s own, Jane Stephens, has won an Oscar for her recent performance at the university. However, her work was not with one of the theatre department’s lovely productions, but in Keplinger Hall.

For the first time in their history, the Academy has accepted work outside of the standard format ⁠— reels of film for the specific, uniquely formatted Academy-owned projector ⁠— and instead accepted a series of ten-second videos. These videos, known to the general public as a Snapchat stories, were presented to the Academy by TU lobbiers as “mini-scenes,” stating each clip was designated to capture a specific emotion.

When the Academy commented on the shaky nature of this submission, TU stated that, by working from the context of found footage, which is naturally shaky and a common feature of low budget tales like this, Jane’s struggle was hinted to be horrific, and (spoiler warning) pointless.

The film starts quite simply. Jane walks into an office. She seems nervous, hesitant.

Suddenly, the camera shows us the villain of the film: Professor Donningtonham. One look at his office through the cracked open door that frames the scene and it becomes

strictness we will soon see in our villain.

Then, Jane speaks, and it becomes obvious why she won the Oscar for Best Dramatic Performance in a Film. She is eloquent and dedicated to her cause: getting her grade raised. Jane has one central problem in this film and it is one that many TU students can relate to. She is teetering on the edge between a D and an A and needs her professor to be lenient and help her keep her scholarships.

In her charismatic performance, Jane uses all the persuasive appeals that a professor should like. Jane first tries logos: Donningtonham missed one of her emails about an assignment and she couldn’t turn it in without knowing what font the lab report had to be in. When this doesn’t work, she escalates: ethically, she knew of several students who had their grade rounded up one point, and honestly, what was 21 more? It’s only fair.

Then, when all these failed, Jane brought out pathos and opened up the floodgates.

As Jane sobbed at Donningtonham’s desk, it became abundantly clear just what this video was intended as: Oscar bait. Unfortunately for Jane, all of these tactics failed. At the very end of the film, Donningtonham’s often-quoted line appears: “Honey, you must think I’m 22 to believe I would ever raise your grade that much. Come to class if you want to pass.”

So there lay Jane, an Oscar winner (though she did not know yet) who had failed PreCalculus. At least now she can say she won an Oscar before she had to drop out of TU. That ought to have some weight, right? graphic by Sara Serrano

The State-Run Media

18 November 2019

the

State-Run media Rats, red tape and revolution.

Gerard Clancy and Rattus rattus Intrepid journalist Anna Johns and Adam Walsh (the other one) uncover the cheesy truth behind the no confidence vote last Thursday.

Upon last week’s discovery of Doctor Geronimo Clancy using hangman chalkings to steal his students’ souls, possessed by the Great Old One Azathoth, we, the intrepid duo of Anna Johns and the other one, have set out to solve the various capers carried out by the clancer and his cronies.

In our multitude of stakeouts in Clancy’s bathroom, we came to the conclusion that Clancy, armed with rambling sentences and a dangerous lack of self-control, had become feral.

His pheromones, which were previously kept in check by his baller cologne, had intensified. The smell of new car leather and old, shredded Mexican party blend cheese wafted behind him like a second shadow, casting all following him under a pallor of stench. Oddly enough, even with the relentless assault of pleather, the smell incited old memories of parents arguing in the Taco Bell drive-thru, then mysteriously quieting as they order. An odd combination that ruined several of our stakeouts as we uncontrollably started crying and depression napping. Those churros always did taste of marital problems and unrealized trauma.

On one of our stakeouts, Clancy went mobile. So there we were, Adam hunched over like a hunting dog, tracking the smell of cheese and a midlife crisis. We saw the Clanster gliding across campus, and although it was just shy of three in the morning, his stride beheld a dark purpose. While we weren’t privy to that night’s goal, we definitely recognized his firm gait for what it was: the Old One’s gift.

As the clock struck three, Clancy’s long legs made contact with the faintly painted tennis court, striking the clay surface with his fashionable leather moccasins. He took in his surroundings, almost like he was expecting someone.

A meeting on the tennis court was rather dangerous, anyway, because the frat houses had recently factionalized the land, attempting to recreate the conditions of the traditional Oklahoma land runs. It was a horrific failure, with frat boys rolling out of beer cooler wagons like the Sooner Schooner drivers and their antics upsetting the giant rat colonies living in the dumpsters. After a long settlement process, the rats gained control of the Greek life political arena by brutally arguing their lawsuit in a civil court, becoming the dominant force in frat alley.

Clancy, removing a light blue bag from his pocket, began to create a complex symbol on the court, laying cheese in precise lines and symbols as if it were a summoner’s salt. In a short few minutes, the previously faint smell of chedda grew into a heady miasma of cheap cheese as the solitary cheesemeister continued creating a grand diagram.

Clancy sought to stack the vote with his dark magic.

As we watched, something tingled in the back of Anna’s mind; the symbol looked familiar. Then, after consulting her Wicken 101 guide that had been, uh, borrowed from a local witch, she leaned in and whispered, “He’s drawing Solomon’s Seal … in cheese.”

Adam replied faintly, his head still in the nose-pressed-to-dirt position. “Sounds, well, it certainly smells about right.”

While Adam quipped from his Scoob-like spot, a white light began to erupt out of the cheese and the faint sounds of Clancy chanting in a foreign tongue permeated the very ground.

“Huh, I didn’t know Clancy spoke Latin,” Adam said.

“He is a doctor. Didn’t you know?”

The minutes dragged as we waited with short, anxious breaths until a faint scurrying sound announced the presence of new arrivals.

A Renaissance-like tableau vivant played before our eyes: rats curiously sniffing Clancy’s luminous offerings until he outstretched his finger, silently directing his rodent audience to feast. Still, the rats looked up at Clancy, a quiet impasse settling in the November air. An odd Mexican standoff, if you will, around the cheap not-actually-Mexican cheese.

graphic by Emma Palmer

The rats parted like the Red Sea, and a humongous figure — you know, for a rat — stalked its way toward Clancy. The king of the rats moved his gaze from the cheese to Clancy’s hopeful form, pondering him.

As if in response to an imperceptible question, Clancy released a firm grunt, gesturing at the outer circle of his occult cheese wheel.

The king sniffed, inspecting the bribe, and offered, in all of His Ratliness, a solid, triple-chinned nod.

We were at an impasse. As Clancy walked away, we had to decide whether to follow His Ratliness or continue to stalk the president of the university.

Odds were this strange rat-man negotiation was all on Clancy’s well-organized, very colorfully coded planner, and so we waited as the cheese was swiftly portioned out and eaten by the mischief — yes, that’s the actual term — of rats. Hiding felt prudent, as there were also cops on campus that night busting up a party and neither of us really wanted to get a good look at the inside of a prison. Middle school had been enough for the both of us.

It took a real long time for those ratlings to eat all of that cheese, and so we slept in shifts, probably freaking the hell out of some poor anthro prof, until the sun crept up.

The sun rose blood red on the morning of Nov. 13, the day of the no confidence

vote. We agreed that whatever Clancy had planned, it would occur after the votes were gathered. Well, that was part of the rational.

The other half was that Adam’s a big nerd and didn’t want to skip any of his classes.

Pussy.

After the conclusion of the day’s festivities, or classes, we reconvened in the upstairs loft of McFarlin, overlooking the atrium where the no confidence vote was taking place. While we got some weird looks from the library staff, there was little to no rat movement. We thought we saw His Ratliness, but it was just an actual tumbleweed rolling down the hallway.

“How?” Adam said.

“No clue,” replied Anna.

“Dude, this place is the twilight zone.”

“Was it the cafeteria food or the Lovecraftian horror that gotcha to that conclusion?”

We held our collective breath, but nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing. Adam made several dozen paper cranes, and that was pretty cool, even though we are trying to cut down on our paper waste.

So, after the voting period expired and multiple discussions about the Pepsi machines passed, we followed a courier, some coffee boy intern, as he retrieved the sealed votes and brought them to the Kendall Hall auditorium. With the importance of the vote, several couriers were used, each one given a third of the ballots in order to preserve their legitimacy.

Whether it was pure luck or a feint in Clancy’s plan, as we followed the oddly young-looking coffee dude (from a safe distance, of course, we aren’t stalkers), he ducked into a bush near Kendall, sliding underneath the foliage feet first.

“Well, that’s some shady shit,” Anna said eloquently. “Stick your head in there.”

And so Adam stupidly did as he was told, fulfilling his role as the lesser detective in this duo, immediately whipping back up and whispering, “Anna, he’s dead!”

Not only was the poor coffee carrier super toast, his box of no confidence ballots was gone. What remained was the faint odor of partially-digested Mexican shredded party blend cheese and the vibrant and rich smell of a mystery.

The rank dairy cut through us like a knife, leaving nothing but questions. Did Clancy conspire with the Rat Frat to sway the vote of no confidence? Did he conduct that dark rite to use them for his own bidding?

And furthermore, what poor fate befell this unfortunate soul? Will the Possessed President Clancy complete his nefarious scheme? Find out in the following editions of The Collegian!

One grande latte, hold the bureacracy

A simple question leaves me cutting through a jungle of red tape.

Sara Serrano Head Propagandist

I’m nearly there, dear reader.

Answers are hard to come by in this present climate. I never expected this journey to be easy, but I also never thought I’d change so much along the way.

Monday morning. The McFarlin cafe.

Two dollars and fifteen cents.

Coffee cup in hand, I took a tentative sip, ready for that sweet surge of caffeine through my central nervous system. And yet, something seemed off.

“Excuse me,” I asked the cashier, pointing at my drink. “Is this decaf?”

His tired eyes bored into mine. “I can’t really comment on that,” he spoke rather mechanically, picking up a business card and holding it up to my face. “You’ll have to take that up with my manager.”

“But you just made it,” I probed, peering around the card to meet his gaze. “Can’t you just tell me?”

“I can’t really comment on that,” he said, staring right past me, card still raised.

“You’ll have to take that up with my manager.”

Brow furrowed, I took the business card.

I could tell I wasn’t going to get anything out of this kid. This was TU after all.

I had a bit of time before I had to get to class, so I decided to call this manager up and see what she had to say about all this.

“Drink?” she asked, her voice strained.

“Coffee?”

“Uh, yes —” “Call dining services,” she croaked, hanging up.

Stunned, the phone slipped from my fingers. What the hell was going on here?

This was quickly becoming far more interesting than any of the classes I had today, let alone this week. It was clear to me that I needed to follow this thread wherever and whatever it wound itself around.

Even if it ended up around my own throat.

“The librarian will break soon.

He misses his family.”

“Hi!” I said, the manager picking up on the first ring. “I just had a quick question about a drink I got today at your cafe this morning.”

And so I come to you, dear reader, with the facts I have unearthed so far. Read closely, as I have suffered greatly to find them.

One: The McFarlin Library cafe gets their coffee from a secret well deep within the

bowels of the university. I have yet to find the exact location, but I am close. The librarian will break soon. He misses his family.

Two: After many interviews, I have discovered their brewing methods. For a standard latte, they blend their coffee with half a cup of whole milk, cream from a fivehorned goat, a puree of tuition payments and the tears of a heavily pregnant rat harvested from the halls of Collins. And yet they all refuse to reveal its caffeine content.

Three: Do not fear the red tape. It holds the foundation of this institution together.

Without its tight binds, TU would crumble under the weight of our sins. Do not fear the red tape.

And this is where I leave you, dear reader.

In looking to dismantle the bureaucracy, I have learned to embrace it.

Without pain, there is no joy in finding what you seek. Through my suffering, I have learned how to truly feel.

I will find my answer some day, but today I have found myself.