8 February 2016

University of

Tulsa named fifteenth-best small school in the world, p 4

B.O.B and Neil deGrasse Tyson are not feeling the love this February, pp 5 & 10 The first World Hijab Day at TU promotes understanding of Islam, p 9

Graphic by Elias Brinkman

News

The Collegian: 2

8 February 2016

Valentine’s Day: Hot or Not Students respond with mixed emotions about the holiday of love.

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer “Whether you enjoy Valentine’s Day or not is entirely dependent on your current relationship status. That’s just a fact.”

- John

“If you’re lucky enough to find someone, it’s one of the best holidays. If you’re not lucky enough to find someone, then it’s the exact opposite.”

- Fabio

“Valentine’s Day is the worst holiday because my roommate is going to kick me out of the room.”

- Chris

“I feel like Valentine’s Day is neither the best nor the worst, it’s what you make it. So either have fun or just do nothing!”

- Abby

“It’s the best. Even if you aren’t in a relationship or have a Valentine. You can stock up on all the candy and flowers the day after.”

- Allison

“Personally I think it’s the worst, all the single people feel really left out and you should love every day and you should show your affections every day instead.”

- Deana

be broken. The owner was unable to be determined so it was placed into the property locker for safe keeping.

Jan. 29 12:40 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to a report of an ill student with possible alcohol poisoning at the Delta Gamma Sorority house.

EMSA, TFD and the PSM on duty responded. EMSA transported the student to St. John Medical Center for further evaluation and treatment.

11:10 a.m.

While on routine patrol University of Tulsa campus Security found a necklace. The necklace was found unclasped and doesn’t appear to

12:55 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Allen Chapman Student Union in regards to escorting a terminated employee off of University of Tulsa property. Officer were able to escort the ex employee off of campus and advised them that they were trespass band from campus and was not allowed back on property.

Jan. 30 9:55 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to a residence in the Norman Village Apartments in reference to a residence that had been flooded with

water due to a washing machine malfunction. Further investigation revealed the flooding impacted the adjoining apartment. Facility engineers were notified and began procedures and notifications to have the water removed.

Jan. 31 6:55 p.m.

A student from a Mayo Village apartment called the Communications Center to report a small fire in the oven while cooking. The Communications Center advised what to do and dispatched officers to assist. Upon arrival the student had already put out the flame. There was noticeable grease build up in bottom of the oven, which the student said had been there previously. The student was advised to contact housing and ask for the oven to be checked and cleaned.

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

Wednesday, February 10 at 8:00pm to 9:30am Student Union, Chouteau Room Drop The Mic Drop The Mic is an open mic night.

Interested in performing? E-mail SMB081@utulsa.edu to sign up.

Performances are limited to five minutes.

Accepting donations for the Oklahoma Literary Art Alliance. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, February 11 at 7:00pm to 9:00pm Tyrrell Hall, Ellen G. Adelson Auditorium Children of the Civil Rights: Film Screening & Panel For six years, a group of kids went into Oklahoma City restaurants and peacefully asked for service. Together they turned around every restaurant except one before the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This documentary film shares their six-year odyssey to freedom.

Director Julia Clifford and the original participants will conclude the film screening with a panel discussion.

The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, February 11 at 7:30pm Lorton Performance Center, Gussman Concert Hall Concerts with Commentary: The Sacred Harp The University of Tulsa School of Music continues its Concerts with Commentary series with “The Sacred Harp” featuring performances by TU music students led by Dana Maher and John Powell.

Sacred Harp singing is a tradition of sacred choral music that originated in the southern United States. The name is derived from The Sacred Harp, an historically important tunebook printed in shape notes with its origins in 18th- and 19th-century American music. The event is free and open the the public.

Learn more

Results from July 2015 Bar Exam

Friday, February 12 at 3:00pm to 8:00pm Hoops for Hope Hoops for Hope is a 3-on-3 basketball tournament hosted by Delta Delta Delta to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Faculty, students, staff and alumni are invited to attend and compete.

8 February 2016

News

The Collegian: 3

Governor Fallin gives State of the State address

Governor Fallin presented her annual State of the State Address amid budget problems.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer On February 1, Governor Fallin gave her State of the State Address to the state legislature. Her speech largely focused on the budget deficit this year and potential solutions to it.

Partly because of low oil prices, Oklahoma is about $900 million short for its bud-

Fallin said that “if structured properly,” expanding the amount of things the sales tax covers could ultimately lead to a cut in the sales tax rate. She also called on Congress to create a system for online sales taxes.

Under her budget, most agencies would receive a six percent cut, but some would only have a three percent cut, while others would actually see their budget increase.

She says that the six percent cut is preferable to needing to cut 13.5 percent next year or cutting ten percent now along with tapping into the “rainy day” fund.

The Department of Human Services, the Health Department, the Health Care Au-

trict attorneys to file a first-time drug offender with a misdemeanor and lowering the mandatory sentence of first offenders from two to ten years to zero to five.

Second felony offences would go from two years to life to zero to ten. Third felony offenses would go from six years to life with no probation to zero to 15 years.

Also, Fallin wanted to raise the value of a felony crime from $500 to $1000.

She said that if these proposals were fully implemented, they “could prevent thousands of people annually from being a felon for life, which makes it harder for them to get a job and many times leads to the break-

“Oklahoma’s drug possession sentences haven’t deterred substance abuse” get this year. For perspective, in FY 2015 (which lasted from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015), Fallin proposed spending about $7 billion.

To deal with the shortfall, Fallin proposed several solutions. One of her proposals is a tax on cigarettes that is expected to raise $181.6 million. Fallin proposed an additional roughly $309.7 million in various budgetary changes.

Fallin also called for review of the state’s sales tax exemptions to raise an additional $200 million. She said that currently $8 billion is exempted every year from sales taxes. Some changes could be “eliminating outdated exemptions.”

Others could be to apply the sales tax to new categories. Currently Texas’s sales tax covers 60 more categories, and New Mexico’s covers 130 more categories, than Oklahoma’s does.

thority, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, the Department of Public Safety, Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics and the Office of Juvenile Affairs would all receive a three percent cut.

These budgets are all related to reducing incarceration rates, improving health or improving education.

Under her budget, the Department of Corrections would receive an additional $20 million this year and $30 next year. She also proposed reforming sentencing.

She said “Oklahoma’s drug possession sentences haven’t deterred substance abuse…. These sentences, while wellintentioned, tend to send some nonviolent offenders into prison for years and years, where they live alongside violent offenders whose bad influences can make nonviolent offenders worse.”

Specifically, she proposed allowing dis-

PRIDE hosts conversion therapy panel

Panelists discussed the history and practice of conversion therapy in Chapman Lecture Hall.

Michaela Flonard Student Writer

Last Thursday, Headstrong and PRIDE held a panel on conversion therapy. Several panelists discussed the history and practice of the therapy, the spiritual and legalistic approach and one student’s experience with conversion therapy.

The panelists in attendance were Dr. Jan Wilson, an associate professor of history at TU, Reverend Freeman, minister at College Hill Presbyterian, Dr. Joanne Davis, codirector of the University of Tulsa Institute for Trauma Adversity and Injustice, Alyssa Bryant, a lawyer, and Roman Ross, a student who underwent conversion therapy. It was moderated by Jim Scholls, a graduate student at TU. While PRIDE and Headstrong are both supported by United Campus Ministries at TU, Tara Grigson, president of PRIDE, said they hosted the event to highlight that “not all [Christians] support bigotry or conversion.” The event was also necessary, she added, as a number of bills in the Oklahoma State legislature this session would potentially harm LGBT+, especially the youth.

In Oklahoma, there is no law specifically banning conversion therapy, although Bryant says that the practice has an extreme amount of liability associated with it. In New Jersey, some practices have been sued for fraud.

Currently, conversion therapy is not supported by most professional mental health organizations, such as the American Psychiatric Association.

These organizations do not see scientific justification for the therapy. The therapy also fails to achieve its desired results, and “shows a basic disregard and lack of respect for normal human differences,” according to Dr. Davis. Not a lot of research has been done around conversion therapy because of ethical issues.

Dr. Davis said that the evidence in existence shows very rare instances where very short term decreases in same sex attraction and very short term increases in opposite sex attraction occurred. More typical is an overall loss of sexual attraction, and depression and increase in suicidal tendencies are common.

To stop conversion therapy, Dr. Davis

believes educating parents on the potential harm is essential, as “many don’t realize it is harmful.” Rev. Freeman added, “[conversion therapy] is not what God wants, that’s what the church has told them.”

“If you need dental work, you don’t go to a plumber,” Ross said, yet most conversion therapy is done not by mental health professionals, but clergy or others not trained in these sensitive issues.

Ross was taken to a clergy member by his parents, who wanted to “get him help” for his sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ross differentiated between conversion and reparative therapy, saying conversion therapy was something that happened to you, while reparative therapy was you seeking help for what you perceive to be wrong.

While he initially welcomed the counseling provided by the clergy, he quickly grew to dislike it.

“I was asked a lot of invasive personal questions,” he said of one experience, “in detail about what I was attracted to and disgusted by.” One of his most vivid experiences was when a woman told him, “you know we can’t use pictures but I almost wish we could,” in reference to discovering his likes and dislikes.

From a religious perspective, Rev. Freeman said “there is nothing to revert or repair.” He questioned what type of god would force sexuality on someone, which they could not change, and then deem the sexuality a sin.

According to Rev. Freeman, “organized religion has always been obsessed with power and control over people,” and deeming homosexuality a sin has given them continuing control over people.

“If God is love, and two people love each other, then God is there,” he added.

Dr. Wilson briefly explored views on homosexuality and the history of conversion therapy.

Over the years, various “treatments” were tried on homosexuals, from electroshock to aversion therapy.

In the 1970s, groups like Exodus began to emerge, which promised a spiritual solution, through support groups, arranged dates, and other methods. Some of these groups, like Exodus, have since closed or been forced to move.

For those interested in further exploring the bible and its views on homosexuality, Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison, of the Phillips Theological Seminary, will be speaking on this topic later this month.

up of their family. State prisons are at 119 percent capacity. We just can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing. It’s not working.”

The Department of Human Services would also receive additional funding under Fallin’s budget. Fallin talked briefly about

Oklahoma’s foster care system.

Fallin talked about several aspects of education. She mentioned how her budget appropriates $178 million for a $3,000 pay increase for all Oklahoma teachers. She also talked about consolidating school districts.

This would not close actual schools, but would rather combine administrative positions from different areas together.

She also wanted to give schools more flexibility in using their funds, specifically by allowing them “to use their building funds for teacher pay and benefits if local officials determine it is prudent and meets their most pressing needs.”

She also praised the Oklahoma Works initiative, which creates a partnership between schools and local businesses.

Finally, she called for the passage of a bill for Education Savings Accounts, which are essentially a type of voucher system.

She concluded with calling for continued construction on the State capitol and praise for what she sees as accomplishments, including reducing Oklahoma’s unfunded pension liability by nearly a half, tort reform, fixing bridges, an A-to-F grading system for schools and more funding for mental health.

Sammie Hottel Student Writer

Italian student killed in Egypt Giulio Regeni, a twenty-eight year old Italian graduate student, was found dead by a roadside in Cairo. Prior to his disappearance on January 25, Regeni had written several articles that criticized the Egyptian government. One of his articles stated, “President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi presides over the Egyptian parliament with the highest number of police and military personnel in the history of the country, and Egypt ranks among the worst offenders with respect to press freedom.” According to Ill Manifesto, the Italian newspaper that published the articles, Regeni feared for his safety and insisted on using a pseudonym.

Regeni’s body was found covered with cigarette burns and other signs of torture.

Italian special police forces are en route to Egypt, and Regeni’s body will be shipped back to Italy for a full autopsy. In response to the murder, a spokesman at Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Facebook that both countries had “a mutual desire to uncover the reasons behind this incident.”

Seven men in Spain arrested for arming ISIS Spanish police arrested seven people who allegedly sent guns and bomb materials to terrorists in Syria and Iraq. According to Spanish authorities, the weapons were disguised as humanitarian aid and shipped from Spanish ports. Three of the suspects are Spanish citizens with Syrian, Jordanian, and Moroccan origins. The other two men are Syrian and Moroccan nationals. Spanish authorities said that the leader of the group was also in contact with an ISIS member, “who asked him on numerous occasions to recruit women to travel to Syria for marriage to ISIS fighters.”

According to the Interior Ministry, this is the second anti-terror operation in Spain this year, and since the beginning of 2015, eighty-three people have been arrested in Spain for involvement with terrorist organizations.

Disguised gunmen attack Dublin hotel, 1 dead Gunmen disguised as police officers opened fire on Friday in the Regency Hotel lobby, where fans had gathered for a Dublin boxing event. One man was killed and two others wounded. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny stated that the shooting was, “the work of rival criminal gangs in the Dublin area,” primarily cocaine smuggling gangs.

Both the deceased victim and the two men hospitalized for gunshot wounds were men in their 20s and 30s who had criminal connections.

The lobby was filled with over two hundred fans, as the boxers were being weighed in. Heavy metal music drowned out the initial gunfire. One gunman, disguised as a woman, fled the premises while two others, disguised as policemen, opened fire. Police have yet to detain any suspects but agree that the attack was meant to target only involved individuals.

6.4 magnitude earthquake hits Taiwan A 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan’s southeast coast, just 19 miles from the city of Tainan. The quake began at 3:57 a.m. local time, and viral videos and pictures of its effects circulated social media. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 6.2 miles. Several buildings, including a residential tower, collapsed, and at least twentysix people have been killed. Authorities in the affected cities have formed emergency response centers, as experts caution that secondary shockwaves can occur after an earthquake. Several major earthquakes have struck Asian and Pacific countries this year, with Japan experiencing two in the last month.

Pope and Russian Orthodox Church plan meeting In a groundbreaking attempt to bridge a thousand-year-old church schism, Pope Francis will meet with the Patriarch Krill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, in Cuba on February 12. It will mark the first meeting between the leader of the Catholic Church and the leader of an Eastern Orthodox Church. According to the Vatican, the two Church leaders plan to meet privately for two hours and then sign a joint declaration. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi stated that “This event has extraordinary importance in the path of ecumenical relations and dialogue among Christian confessions.”

News

The Collegian: 4

8 February 2016

Senate passes bills to improve SA professionalism

The latest SA bills were aimed at making SA a more professional organization.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer For the first time in a long time, during its last meeting, Senate had bills or resolutions from every committee.

While FAC (Financial Appropriations Committee) has bills funding various clubs almost every week, and SOC (Student Organization Committee) has bills chartering new clubs often enough, the other two committees present bills less often.

GOC (Government Operations Committee) had several bills as part of an effort to make SA more professional. One of those bills came from Michael Mancini. It

for the measure by stating that “Senators have recently begun to express a desire for more professionalism at our meetings.

Last week we took the first step by requiring organization representatives to deliver their reports from the front of the room rather than their seats. I thought that if we were raising standards for others that we should seek to improve our own conduct as well.”

Enforcement would be up to the sergeant-at-arms and the vice president. The resolution passed with some opposition.

One of the other bills that passed had to do with that requirement for organization representatives to speak from the front of the room.

The rule, as it stood before last week, specifically exempted senators. However, SA officers and SA’s advisor are not members of Senate. As such, there was no clear exemption for them.

Justices failing to attend those meetings (assuming no exemption) could be removed from office.

Chief Justice Brittany Johnston said that she favors the measure because she thinks that “attending Senate and Cabinet at least once will give Justices a good opportunity to be a more active part of the SA body.”

While the official reason for the bill (as cited within it) seems to be “that members of the Judicial Council are leaders in the Student Association, who should therefore be involved in and aware of Student Association activities,” senators also seemed to believe that requiring justices to attend meetings would help them know about how SA actually operates.

During the meeting, there was some discussion of shortening the amount of time it covers. For instance, President Whitney House

and passed without objection.

Another bill was titled “Justice for Justices” and it placed additional duties on members of the Judicial Council. It was written by Emma Stewart.

It requires all justices to attend at least one Cabinet meeting and one Senate meeting per semester.

However, it allows SA’s secretary to exempt students since some of them apparently switched from Cabinet or Senate in part because of a conflicting schedule.

Another GOC bill has to do with record keeping. It gives new organizations a certificate and also requires SA, or more specifically SOC, to keep a physical (as well as digital) copy of a charter.

The bill was meant to help SA keep track of student organizations. The measure was written by Miranda Dabney and passed without objection.

There was also a resolution from SIC (Student Investigative Committee). It was written by

John Talmage, who is also SIC chair.

If enacted, it would request that lights be installed along the west side of Delaware Avenue. The resolution was tabled so that senators could hear more from the Physical Plant.

Talmage said “We just don’t

want to seem to be going around them before we’ve gotten fully on the same page with them about what we’re asking for. We’re still fairly convinced that some action will be necessary.”

New SA Bills

• Resolution for higher standards of senator behavior during Senate meetings.

• Requirement that organization representatives speak “Attending Senate and Cabinet at least once will from the front of the room. give Justices a good opportunity to be a more active part of the SA body.”

• Members of the Judicial Council must now attend at was a resolution calling for higher The new rule states that “Stu- suggested restricting the bill to standards for senators during Sen- dent Association Officers and Ad- first semester. least one Cabinet or Senate ate meetings. visors” would also be exempt. The However, the bill passed as it It states that senators should bill was written by Nicole Coppola was written without objection. meeting per semester. refrain from using computers for anything other than “Student Association” business while organization representatives are present in a meeting.

It goes further when organization representatives are giving a report or being questioned.

During that time senators wouldn’t be supposed to use computers at all. As a resolution, the measure does not change any documents but rather expresses the will of Senate.

Mancini explained his rationale

• Requirement for better record keeping between the Student Organization Council and individual organizations.

TU achieves worldwide small university ranking

The University of Tulsa ranked 15th of the best small universities in the world.

Lauren Rogers Student Writer

At the end of last month, wellknown magazine, Times Higher Education, ranked the University of Tulsa in the top 20 small universities in the world. The weekly magazine, based in London, is the United Kingdom’s leading publication in the field, and has been re-

porting on higher education since 1971.

“All the universities featured in this ranking cover four or more broad subjects out of arts and humanities, engineering and technology, medicine, life sciences, physical sciences and social sciences,” stated Times Higher Education writer Carly Minsky in the article accompanying the list.

This year, Times Higher Education placed the University of Tulsa at number 15.

“All six subjects, including medicine, are covered in various departments,” Minsky continues, “and the university is well known

across clinical, arts and science subjects.”

The magazine defines a small university as one with less than 5,000 students. TU fit in as the third largest on the list, with 4,597 students.

“For a small university,” wrote Minsky, “it is particularly impressive that the University of Tulsa manages to attract some worldrenowned academics to its Gothic halls in Oklahoma.”

One TU students was not surprised that the University achieved a global ranking.

“The University of Tulsa has the perfect student to faculty ra-

tio,” said TU freshman, Caitlin Marcoux. “While providing a high standard of education, professors can cater to the individual student; making the material attainable. It’s obvious that the university puts students first by providing ample research and job opportunities specific to each student.”

Also included on the list were schools such as California Institute of Technology, which came in first with its combination of a small student body and interdisciplinary collaboration which sets it apart from other universities.

Caltech is the second smallest school on this year’s list.

Next on the list came two French schools, École Normale Supérieure in second place, and third place École Polytechnique.

Times Higher Education prides itself on its methodology as their rankings are “the only global performance tables that judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook,” according to their article.

Times Higher Education also has a broad ranking for every university in the world, with TU falling in the 501-600 range out of 800 schools.

whom were not.

The two speakers, Dr. Jocelyn Lee Payne and Dr. Dewayne Dickens, were representatives from the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation. The Center is located in Greenwood and intends to continue the legacy of John Hope Franklin, a Tulsan historian, scholar and activist. The organization does so through education, scholarship and community outreach programs with a focus on equality and social justice.

Dr. Dickens is a professor at Tulsa Community College and is on the JHF Center’s Board of Directors. Dr. Payne is Executive Director of the JHF Center.

After introductions, discussion began with a historical summary of the Tulsa Race Riot and the aftermath of the riot.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Tulsa Race Riot, it occurred on May 31-June 1, 1921, when white Tulsans destroyed most of the Greenwood district through burning, looting and violence towards its citizens. The Greenwood district was a predominantly black and wealthy area, and was known as “The Black Wall Street” before the riots occurred.

The riots began in response to a black man who accidentally bumped into a white woman on an elevator. Witnesses claimed he

attacked her, a back-and-forth of small aggressions began and tensions eventually reached a boiling point in the form of the race riot.

The two speakers discussed some of the main events and players in the riot, including the preceding conflicts between black and white Tulsans, the effects of desegregation on the revitalization of Greenwood, and Buck Franklin, who sued the city of Tulsa over ordinances which effectively prevented black citizens from rebuilding in Greenwood.

Systemic racism, they told the audience, is often kept in place by laws and ordinances.

On a broader scale, the speakers discussed responses to racial violence, particularly in a modern context.

One aspect of systemic racism which perpetuates violence is that people tend to “forget” the effects of racial violence, and therefore they cannot relate to those who are affected by it.

“For example, not knowing that it’s wrong to call a black woman of a certain age ‘gal,’” Dr. Payne proclaimed. She continued to explain that racial violence is sustained in part by those who don’t understand the struggles of others and don’t care to take the time to learn about them.

Dr. Dickens added on to this point, mentioning that during the

Tulsa Race Riot, there was a separate category of people who were bystanders—they wanted nothing to do with the riots, but didn’t act against them, either. Being a bystander, he told the audience, perpetuates racial violence as well.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A in which students in the au-

dience asked more specific questions about the race riot and responding to racial violence.

The two speakers ended on the note that racial violence, if it hasn’t already reached you, will reach you in some way at some point. The best response is to learn and address it before this happens.

TU SAVE hosts discussion on racial violence

TU’s Student Alliance for Violence Education hosted two speakers from the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation for a discussion on racial violence and the Tulsa Race Riot.

Hannah Kloppenburg Commentary Editor

“History rhymes.”

Dr. Dewayne Dickens paused to look at the audience before continuing on to explain that one person’s experience with racial violence in New York last Thursday probably mirrors another person’s experience in Baltimore seven months ago. Or someone else’s experience in St. Louis two years ago. Or in LA a decade ago.

Or in this case, the city of Tulsa 95 years ago.

On Wednesday, February 3, TU’s Student Alliance for Violence Education (SAVE) hosted two speakers for a discussion on racial violence centered around the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 and the effects of racial violence in Tulsa today.

The event garnered about fifteen or twenty attendees, many of whom appeared to be regular SAVE members but some of

photos by Hannah Kloppenburg

Dr. Payne (top) and Dr. Dickens from John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Center.

Variety

8 February 2016

Goth meet-up suffers from lack of attendance

the Collegian: 5

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

Managing Editor Fraser Kastner attends the first Tulsa Goth Meet-up of the year, meets some cool people and watches a movie.

Sara Douglas Student Writer Java Piquant 1 ¼ oz. coffee liqueur 1 oz. dark rum 1 oz. Irish cream 1 oz. horchata ½ oz. orange curaçao ¼ oz. cinnamon schnapps optional: 1 oz. espresso

In the interest of personal growth, I have decided to embark on a quest to make myself as uncomfortable as possible. I figure this way I can learn about myself, learn about other people and probably get the Collegian to pay for the whole thing. With that in mind, last Friday I put on as much black as I could find, let Caitlin Woods do my makeup and attended the first Goth Meetup of the year at the Circle Cinema screening of Aliens.

The first thing I learned about going to goth meetups is that timing is everything. If you show up too early you’re just some asshole in black nail polish trying to make small talk with the other movie

goers (none of whom mentioned how good I look in eyeliner, the ingrates).

After a while, Vixx and Stephen showed up. The couple owns Tulsa Obscura, a cool little vintage store on 15th and Harvard that specializes in gothy art pieces and other accoutrements. Vixx and Stephen were hosting the event, and were dressed as an alien and an alien hunter.

Soon, others began showing up.

A few were friends of the hosts, and there were a few apparently unfamiliar faces. There was even this older dude who dressed up as a Weyland-Yutani worker, complete with facehugger stashed in pocket.

While it was fun to meet everyone who showed up, there weren’t that many people. I feel like the whole thing would have been more fun if there had been more people there.

In terms of discomfort, there it actually wasn’t that bad. I did feel somewhat out of place in goth clothes, but my costume might not have been sufficiently gothic to get a big reaction. I did get a few weird looks at the grocery store on the way home, but that probably had more to do with my aforementioned eyeliner.

Note to self: go big or go home.

Don’t be afraid to get weird with it.

Drink this if: Creamy, coffee-y, cinnamony concoctions cheer you up. With a touch of refreshing citrus taste provided by the curaçao, this one hits your lips with a sweetness that soon transforms to smooth spiciness softened by enveloping cream. Throughout you’ll find the smoky, bittersweet essence of coffee (especially if you add a shot of espresso) and underlying sharp caramel notes from the rum.

If you’d prefer a winter warmer, just heat this drink up; it will retain its deliciousness—but don’t let it boil or you’ll lose the alcohol!

The latest exchange between B.o.B and Neil deGrasse Tyson graces the world with two new diss tracks, a beautiful interaction between rap and science and lovely new reasons to make fun of B.o.B.

life” and “if we came from monkeys why are there still monkeys,” the question, “what shape is the earth” is one of those timeless questions that we really can’t answer for sure.

The rapper B.o.B recently brought that very question up on Twitter, claiming that the Earth was flat, and that NASA, along with the general scientific “establishment,” had duped us all by faking photos of the earth, lying about geography and apparently something related to Masonry?

I’m not entirely sure on the details of B.o.B’s philosophy.

Needless to say, people disagreed with this. Most notably, Neil deGrasse Tyson tweeted a series of responses, taking B.o.B’s allegations of lies one by one and explaining that the Earth is, more or less, round. As one does, B.o.B promptly released a diss track, directed at popular scientist and edutainer Tyson.

If anything can be said for “Flatline,” it’s that it’s musically solid. B.o.B is a professional, and it shows. He matches his tone perfectly to the instrumental, and it has some solid wordplay. Near the end of the song, B.o.B uses a spoken word sample, which

I’m always a sucker for, of Tyson talking about the shape of the Earth. Thanks to the backing track, the sample somehow makes the affable Tyson sound legitimately sinister.

That is, until you listen to the words. In the sample, Tyson is literally just saying facts, which doesn’t seem especially damning. The lyrics of the rest of the song, while pretty, don’t function especially well as either a diss track or a refutation of scientific thought.

B.o.B, elsewhere in the song, allies himself with famous Holocaust denier David Irving. So there’s a lot going on in the track, and none of it really aligns, even when it works musically.

I was both relieved and disappointed that Tyson didn’t release a response. On one hand, he’s a scientist promoting an idea that’s universally accepted, and he shouldn’t have to deal with this.

On the other hand, I really want to hear NDG spit fire. (Un?)fortunately, his nephew, an actual

Mix all ingredients and shake with ice until chilled.

Pour into a chilled tumbler and serve over ice.

B.o.B, Neil deGrasse Tyson duke out science with diss tracks Sam Chott Student Writer

Remember learning about Christopher Columbus? When I was young, the story I was always told was that everyone thought that he was sailing off of the edge of the world, and that Christopher Columbus alone knew that the Earth was round.

Later, of course, I learned that, not only did humanity realize that the Earth was a globe as far back as Ancient Greece, but we could also calculate its circumference with a reasonable degree of accuracy. By the time of Columbus, the question of the shape of the Earth had largely been settled.

At least, that’s what someone who doesn’t use the Internet would say. It seems that, along with “what is the meaning of

love spoken word samples, but the ones used in “Flat to Fact”, which are just Neil Tyson reading his own tweets, seem hokey and forced. The track, overall, sounds like an English teacher rapping Shakespeare—endearing, and maybe an interesting exercise, but not something that I would actually want to listen to.

I’m a little confused as to what we’re supposed to think about this. Normally, beef between rappers takes the form of interpersonal conflict, but in this case,

“TYSON’s track is much more focused than B.o.B’s. It’s clearly a diss track, speaking directly to B.o.B, where “Flatline” only had one or two jabs at the elder Tyson.”

The lyrics are generally unfocused. Even if I were on board with literally ignoring all professionals and academics from multiple fields, I might be taken aback by the implication that all world leaders are “mirror lizards.”

One couplet of the track, “Stalin was way worse than Hitler/ That’s why the POTUS gotta wear a kippah,” seems out of place, until you realize that

graphic by Elias Brinkman

rapper confusingly named TYSON, released his own track defending Neil Tyson, entitled “Flat to Fact.”

“Flat to Fact” is a parody/ homage to a Drake song, “Back to Back”—which was originally made as a diss track directed at Meek Mill—that uses the same instrumentals and makes references to the original track. Unfortunately, as with most parodies, I’d rather listen to the original instead.

TYSON’s track is much more focused than B.o.B’s. It’s clearly a diss track, speaking directly to B.o.B, where “Flatline” only had one or two jabs at the elder Tyson. In places, it’s lyrically superior, constantly referencing “Back to Back,” as well as Neil Tyson and B.o.B’s careers.

However, TYSON isn’t the best rapper. His Soundcloud makes it clear that he’s an adept producer, which makes it more confusing that he raps over a track that doesn’t work with his voice. While B.o.B consistently sounded at home in his music, letting the words flow with the backing track, TYSON sounds like he’s racing to the end of every line. His syllables sound over-elocuted, and he clearly has some problems with breath control.

I mentioned earlier that I

TYSON is probably factually correct, and B.o.B is wrong. On the other hand, Tyson’s diss song was really bad?

To the extent that there’s ever a “winner” in feuds, I guess B.o.B won, because, at least for mainstream audiences, he went from “that guy who did ‘Airplanes’” to “that guy who did ‘Airplanes’ and also has beef with famous scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson.”

TYSON also came out on top, though, since people actually know he exists now. Maybe we all won, because we got a good song to listen to and a bad song to ignore?

Despite both tracks having some serious problems, I’m excited to see where this goes now that there’s precedent for spitting science, both literally and figuratively. Will thesis defenses start to include a freestyle section?

Will Ph.D. and MC start to be used interchangeably? Will the hard sciences/soft sciences split finally coalesce into the rap battle that we’ve always wanted?

Whatever the future of sciencecore hip-hop, I think there’s one thing we can all agree on.

The Earth is round, and it orbits the sun. Come on.

Variety

Leona Mitchell dazzles LPC

the Collegian: 6

Award winning operatic soprano Leona Mitchell performed at the Lorton Performance Center last Tuesday. She serenaded the audience with classical musical pieces as well as jazz renditions.

Helen Patterson Student Writer

On Tuesday, February 2, TU’s Lorton Performance Center had the privilege of hosting the famous soprano Leona Mitchell in a concert that was free and open to the public.

An Oklahoma native, Mitchell received her BA in music from Oklahoma City University and studied at Julliard. She went on to become a Grammy Award Winner who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for 18 seasons. Mitchell also sang internationally, appeared on television, collaborated with The Three Tenors Pavarotti and Domingo and Carreras, and performed for several US presidents.

Mitchell has been honored with induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Women’s Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma African-American Hall of Fame. She was appointed Oklahoma’s State Cultural Ambassador in 2003.

The first half of the concert was mostly classical music. The songs were thematically unified: they were about love. Marsha Lines accompanied on piano.

Throughout, Mitchell’s technical prowess and vocal beauty were on full display. Mitchell main-

tained a resonant, focused, beautiful sound throughout each piece, projecting so that her voice filled the auditorium, even when she was singing quietly.

Her dynamics were excellent throughout, lending much expression and emotion. This, combined with her impressive enunciation, helped Mitchell to convey clearly what each song was about even though her selections were mostly non-English.

“Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen was a crowd favorite. Mitchell’s voice sailed effortlessly through the French, conveying the fickle and unpredictable nature of love. Following “Habanera,” Mitchell gave a stunning rendition of “Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore” from Pucinni’s Tosca. The rich, emotional piece seemed made for Mitchell’s voice.

Mitchell ended the first half of the program with a delightful rendition of the spiritual “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”

She received such a long standing ovation following that song that she sang an additional piece: “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady. Though she gave a beautiful rendition of this well-liked song, it was somewhat of a letdown following “Habanera” and “Vissi d’arte, vise d’amore.” Mitchell’s voice felt confined within the repetitive melody, and it wasn’t until the final few bars when she was allowed to really soar that the song flowed as freely as her other pieces.

During the second half of the program, Mitchell switched musical directions completely, though the pieces were still unified thematically by love. She has come to a turning point in her career, and she has begun to move more into the world of jazz. She collaborated with pianist Spencer Sutton on a

8 February 2016

Leona Mitchell is a Grammy Award winner who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for 18 seasons.

series of jazz renditions of modern classics.

Mitchell’s operatic training promises great things for this new direction in her vocal career. She brought the same precision and control seen in the earlier classical pieces into the jazz pieces. This gave her exceptional range in her dynamics and expression in her performance while still allowing her the fluidity necessary in jazz.

She also brought the wisdom and experience of her extensive career and long life into her performance,

Courtesy University of Tulsa

a necessary requirement for a successful jazz singer.

In true jazz style, these pieces were improvised. Mitchell and Sutton were focused and in-tune with each other throughout, following each other’s lead and making the improvisation seem effortless and natural.

“It’s Always You” by Kris Allen and “A Taste of Honey” by Bobby Scott and Rick Marlow were particularly delightful. For her finale, Mitchell was joined by Bruce Guthrie for a rendition of

the well-known “Summertime.”

Mitchell and Guthrie each sang the melody in their own styles before collaborating in a finale that allowed Mitchell to improvise more, showing off her remarkable range and control.

Leona Mitchell’s concert was delightful, and TU was lucky to host her. There are many concerts through the music school throughout the rest of the semester that are free and open to the public, and students, faculty and staff are encouraged to attend.

equal parts homage, parody and critique of Old Hollywood. Studio lots stretch for miles, with stages housing aquatic orchestras, Roman marches and even sea-faring musicals. We’re treated to plenty of these performances, as tonguein-cheek as they are visually impressive. The film goes out of its way to portray the showmanship and efficiency of filmmaking at a time when studios were movie factories. This was a topic addressed in the directorial duo’s Barton Fink, but only sparingly.

Hail, Caesar! is quirky, and several degrees further than the usual Coen Brothers’ mystery or drama. One could not be blamed for mistaking Caesar for one of Wes Anderson’s films, especially with Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton so often on-screen. Anderson’s films are often strange for strangeness sake’; Caesar embraces that approach wholeheartedly. The result is a film with a lack of substance, often sacrificing character for comedy.

It’s bittersweet to watch a new film by tried and true directors because there’s a standard of quality in mind. In the case of the Coen Brothers, this bar is unusually high. Thus, Caesar manages all at once to be impressive, entertaining and yet disappointing.

choosing out weird clothing choices that hipsters would make.

The best one of the three was certainly “Fuckyboy” which involves a young 20-something coming out to his parents as the titular fuckboy. It felt very modern with the son complaining that he never texts his Tinder matches back after hooking up with them.

While “Delightfully Sketchy” was obviously a work in progress being tested out, it was most certainly a fun distraction. I am very glad that things like this are happening on campus. In the end, the symbiotic relationship benefited both O’Gara, who wanted to test out her material, and the audience, who wanted to laugh at a live performance on a Friday night.

Hail, Caesar! fails to deliver

Hail, Caesar! is the latest film from the much acclaimed Coen Brothers, whose previous ventures have ranged from lighthearted O Brother, Where Art Thou? to the bleak, gritty No Country For Old Men. The cast this time around is quite the ensemble, with both familiar faces and devoted fans of the twins’ directorial biographies.

Among the characters are Deana Moran, a romanticized beauty fittingly played by Scarlett Johannson, Laurence Laurentz, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes as a refined and demanding director, and George Clooney as a similarly legendary actor, Baird Whitlock. The premise revolves around Whitlock, who is kidnapped whilst filming the movie’s titular production by a

group that calls itself The Future.

Unfortunately, while the movie is technically well-made—stunning even—the cast and premise seem to have a wealth of untapped potential.

Part of this untapped potential stems from The Future itself, the supposed antagonists of the film.

Their nature is revealed early on to be much too well-meaning to pose any real threat to the protagonists or the institutions they promote.

This would be fine if the cast underwent their own character arcs or experienced any serious revelations, ala Big Lebowski. Instead, the characters seem to be in a psychological stasis. Few are different at their conclusion than they appeared in their introduction.

The conflicts in Caesar don’t quite involve the audience because we don’t care about the people involved. The exception to this is Hogey, a naive young man whose dull speech and strong accent have him typecasted as a Western star.

The story of his being forced into Thespian acting under the strict counsel of Laurentz is one of the few that had me invested, and yet it has so little to do with the film’s primary narrative that it seems distracting at best.

With Hail, Caesar! the Coen Brothers have made a film that is

troduced the sketch simply read out that she moved around without grace while the performer stood, scanning her lines to know what was next.

This was part of an event last Friday evening in Tyrell Hall. It was a comedy sketch show entitled “Delightfully Sketchy” which was written, directed and produced

by Maggie O’Gara. Upon entering the show she handed audience members a list of sketches with a note at the bottom explaining that what would be performed were works in progress and they very much felt that way.

The entire performance was shorter than an hour and featured nine sketches. All of them were simple but enjoyable. For ex-

ample, the first one of the night, “Crash Into Me,” featured a teenage son apologizing to two very understanding parents for totaling the family’s Subaru, which they had owned for years. But when they find out that a beautiful Porsche was damaged in the incident, it quickly turns into a yelling match.

The actors were all people who are currently or formerly involved in TU theatre, and they overall did a good job. Before the sketch, a narrator would announce the title of the piece and each cast member would give the name and appearance of their character. During the sketches they would just read lines out of a booklet on the stands in front of them, every now and then

looking at each other or making an expression.

Even when a character left the scene, the actor would not move from their spot. It was pretty obvious that their familiarity with the material was limited, but that did not stop them from being able to perform as best they could. Due to the low-key nature of the affair, it was obvious that they felt very comfortable and were enjoying themselves, even breaking character once to laugh.

Three of the sketches relied entirely on stereotypes. “Don’t Know” featured a valley girl who was very bad at her job as a barista, but certainly felt more fresh than “Hipsters Go Shopping” which involved two characters simply

Courtesy Universal Pictures

In Hail, Caesar! Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by a group called The Future.

Hail, Caesar! is entertaining, but doesn’t live up to the promise of a star-studded Coen Brothers movie.

Trent Gibbons Student Writer

“Delightfully Sketchy” lives up to its name

Delightfully Sketchy, a show

by Maggie O’Gara, was a fun, entertaining night, but obviously a work very much in progress.

Joe Moran Student Writer

Five performers stood on stage at their stands, each reading from a script. The comedy sketch performed was called “I’m a Dancer” and was about a girl who shows up to a ballet class and obviously thinks she is a much better dancer than she is. We know this because during what was supposed to be a dance break, the narrator who in-

Variety

8 February 2016

the Collegian: 7

The Big Short sexes up the 2008 recession

The Big Short combines The Wolf of Wallstreet with an economics lecture to make you care about the housing crash.

Giselle Willis Editor-in-Chief

On the stage of the last Democratic debate, Hillary and Bernie got to talking about the 2008 economic recession, as they are prone to do. Now I’ve seen my fair share of these debates, and my brain prepared for an onslaught of numbers and tax systems I didn’t understand. But for once, their words didn’t just melt off into meaninglessness.

The Big Short had succeeded.

Based on a book by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball), The Big Short explains how banks morphed an initially stable mortgage-based loaning system into an unstable one, didn’t notice (or did but didn’t care), and then brought the economy crashing down. But ignore whatever sounded boring in that sentence and focus on the kind of action that a word like “crashing” carries.

Because that’s what director Adam McKay did.

The cast is star-studded, the soundtrack oozes mid-two-thousands cool and the dialogue is snarky. Initially, The Big Short looks like it’s going to be another Wolf of Wall Street. Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) is a suave banker who teams up with Mark Baum (Steve Carell), a cranky loudmouth.

And yes, there is alcohol and there are strip clubs.

Still, these guys aren’t trying to hide from the FBI. They aren’t doing anything illegal by being the first to notice that the housing market isn’t as stable as it seems, but they aren’t really heroes either. Everybody in the movie, and in the audience, knows that the recession is inevitable. By the end, The Big Short is more like Argo except that the main characters get all of the exhaustion that comes from saving diplomats without actually saving anyone. So, the movie isn’t trying to be preachy or motivate you to sign

In The Big Short, Ryan Gosling plays a trader who hears about the predictions of the housing market crash.

a petition. It does, however, want you to be educated.

Whenever the script gets full of banking terms, the characters break the fourth wall and explain them to the audience. Usually, these explanations involve celebrity guest appearances and definitions (not your average Merriam-Webster’s kind) that appear at the bottom of the screen. The film is so eager to make sure you care about stuff like collateralized debt obligations that it does everything it can to “sex up” the economic points of the film.

This occasionally results in the blatant objectification of women, but at least instead of doing it to sell a product, they’re trying

Chasing Airwaves a hit and miss

Chasing Airwaves will be released on February 16, 2016.

A new album by a Tulsa band sometimes feels like a successful original work, but at others seems like a collection of covers.

Adam Lux Student Writer

Chasing Airwaves is an 8 track album by the local Tulsa band Tony Romanello and the Black Jackets. I almost decided to do a review of this album based solely on the cover art, because let’s face it I’m just that much of a jerk. But Chasing Airwaves is a prime example of covers not reflecting quality of content.

The album is a weird combination of 80s, 90s, and 2000s topped off with some synth and sampling which makes it sound equal parts nostalgic and fresh. TRatBJ show impressive, controlled guitar-work. The bass and drums fill the sound out well and have a few moments where they become centerpieces in their own rights.

Overlay some synth and sampling and Chasing Airwaves becomes a much more modern sounding album. All these elements were mixed together very professionally, never feeling amateurish or unpolished.

Throughout the album I heard influences of Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie,

Courtesy Tony Romanello and the Black Jackets

The Killers, U2 and even a bit of Sublime.

These influences sometimes came through a bit too heavily, though. There were two or three songs that I thought to myself “this could totally have been by [insert popular band name].”

This wasn’t a constant problem throughout the album. Particularly the fourth track, “The Start” I feel successfully combined the band’s influences in a way that created a new sound. Subsequently I’d probably say “The Start” was my favourite track on the album.

A second criticism I had was that the album felt a little disjointed. Each track pulled me to a different style or time period, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case I felt it was less an artistic juxtaposition and more of a distraction.

However, it is very clear that Tony Romanello and the Black Jackets have talent and despite a few imperfections, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album. Chasing Airways gets the Lux thumbs up. Recommended tracks: 1,4, and 8.

Chasing Airwaves releases February 16 and will be available via most digital retailers and physically through cdbaby.com.

There will be an album release show at The Shrine in Tulsa on February 20.

to teach you about Wall Street. In fact, the scenes are desperately unapologetic, almost implying that if you, the ignorant viewer, had kept a better eye on the economy, the movie wouldn’t have to make gratuitous use of female bodies.

Sometimes mixed in with the glamour of Wall Street life are stills and videos of the consequences of the increasing instability of the mortgage-based loan packages. Unpaid bills, abandoned houses and crying families flash by to remind viewers of what it means for the protagonists to win their bet against the housing market. But once they do win, the pacing of the movie slows down for the final twenty minutes or so. All of the wacky

Courtesy Paramount Pictures

Hollywood stars let themselves relive the 2008 crisis, but now they have the knowledge to understand the stupidity-backed fraud that let it happen. And the audience does too.

If you wonder why everyone seems to hate Wall Street, are genuinely curious about the causes of our 2008 recession or just want to make yourself angry/sad, The Big Short is there for you. The cast does a marvelous job of making each character memorable and unexpectedly comical. Thanks to the movie’s educational nature, you might even get inspired to catch the next financial crisis before it happens.

Commentary

The Collegian: 8

8 February 2016

The Oklahoma legislature’s 2016 session began last week. The Collegian’s student writers discuss some of the proposed legislation.

SB 440, SB 898, and HJR 1059

Private parties should not have to service same-sex weddings

While the government itself should refrain entirely from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, it should not punish private entities that don’t service same-sex weddings.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer In recent years, there has been much discussion on how private companies should not be allowed to refuse services to same-sex weddings. Or, in states like Oklahoma, there have been attempts to make a refusal of service explicitly legal. Both attempts are misguided, but the side in favor of banning discrimination is more so.

Let me say at the outset that there’s a distinction between government and private entities. I agree entirely that the government should not engage in any sort of discrimination based on sexual orientation whatsoever.

While I don’t agree with the Supreme Court’s reasoning in stating that the Constitution, or specifically an amendment adopted in 1868, requires states to have samesex marriage, I do think same-sex marriage makes sense from a legal perspective. If I were a legislator, I would vote for it. Also, all levels of government should most

certainly have non-discrimination policies regarding personnel. That policy should also be extended to government contractors.

However, there are many people, particularly on the left, who want discrimination against samesex weddings to be banned for private parties as well. Part of this is a disagreement of values, but certain errors are also made with regularity.

The first error is to be shocked that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is legal or to be infuriated when conservative lawmakers propose legislation that would “make it legal.”

The reality is that virtually no action is illegal until the government makes it so. In Oklahoma, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has never been banned at the state level. That also holds true for several other states and at the federal level.

To say that a law would “allow discrimination” is nonsense. In almost all cases where such laws have been proposed, discrimination is already de facto allowed.

It is for this same reason that enacting laws to allow for this sort of discrimination is misguided.

It’s legally superfluous and makes it look as though social conservatives are trying to change things, when in fact progressives are the ones proposing substantive changes to the way the law treats discrimination.

Another error, related to the first, is the assumption that current anti-discrimination laws extend farther than they do. Under federal law and the laws of several states, race, religion, national origin, etc. are all protected classes. Discrimination on the basis of any of those is almost always illegal.

However, there is no general entitlement to receive service, and discrimination on another basis is generally legal. For instance, everyone is familiar with the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” rule.

Just being based on religion isn’t enough to say that discrimination is currently illegal.

If a Hindu had a policy of only serving those who do not consume beef, so long as that isn’t a way to turn away non-Hindus, the policy would presumably be legal. As long as (non-Hindu) vegetarians are still being served, he could still defend himself.

Of course, that policy would still come under scrutiny, so I wouldn’t recommend it from a legal perspective, even if he might win.

A third error is equating refusal to service a same-sex wedding as refusal to service someone on the

basis of sexual orientation. Many religious business owners believe that by providing services for a same-sex wedding, they are involving themselves in that ceremony.

Perhaps the government enacts a ban on the above Hindu from turning away consumers of beef.

That still would not be analogous to banning discrimination in regards to same-sex weddings.

A more apt analogy would be a law requiring a Hindu to provide services for a hamburger party.

Those in favor of banning discrimination in regard to servicing same-sex weddings often argue that religious business owners

individuals are unethical

Two proposed bills attempt to limit bathroom use based on biological sex. These bills are both unethical and impossible to enforce.

Caitlin Woods Satire Editor Last week, the 55th Oklahoma state legislature began its second regular session. At this meeting, several bills were introduced, among them two bills that would

The bill has raised concerns among transgender activists on sites like Advocate, an LGBT+ print and online publication, as well as questions concerning the actual enforcement of this law.

Along with Senate Bill 1014, another proposed piece of legislation titled House Bill 3049 focuses more on public schools, and if passed the ensuing law would “Contain a requirement that in any school facilities or settings where a student may be in a state of undress in the presence of other students...school personnel shall provide separate, private areas designated for use by students based on their biological sex.”

The term “biological sex,” according to Article B of HB-3049, refers to “the biological condition of being male or female as determined at birth based on physical differences or, when necessary, at the chromosomal level.”

that their gender is different from their biological sex be provided with an available accommodation that meets their need,” however, said accommodation “shall not include access to the school restroom, locker room or shower of the opposite biological sex.”

While this provision within the bill is an attempt to recognize and assist transgender individuals who would otherwise be displaced, it instead singles them out as different, which could induce more stress and anxiety on students who experience gender-related dysmorphia.

Bills like SB-1014 and HB3049, which target individuals on the basis of their gender, are unconstitutional and unethical.

As one comment on the Oklahoma State Legislature website read, “Is there going to be restroom security guards asking for birth certificates to prove whether

“The government has no place determining which restrooms people can use” restrict restroom use to “biological gender”, or sex assigned at birth.

Senate Bill 1014 states that, if enacted, “It shall be unlawful for a person to use a gender-specific restroom when that person’s biological gender is contrary to that of the gender-specific restroom.”

These proposed bills present concerns for the LGBT+ community, as the references to “biological sex” appear to specifically target transgender individuals.

HB-3049 includes a requirement that “students that exclusively and consistently assert at school

hugged and he left.”

To me, that sounds like a reasonable chain of events. It didn’t end there, though.

The Washington State Attorney General sued Stutzman, as did her friend and his partner. She lost the case. Being in favor of these sort of anti-discrimination laws is being in favor of harassing business owners until they fall into submission.

One of the strongest arguments by proponents of same-sex marriage was that legalizing it would have no impact on anyone who has a religious objection to it. Laws like that in Washington make that argument untrue.

Now the argument is that someone can still believe whatever they want, she just can’t follow those beliefs in her business. Freedom of belief, but with the compulsion to violate that belief, can hardly be

“Freedom of belief, but with the compulsion to violate that belief, can hardly be described as freedom.”

SB 1014 and HB 3049 Bathroom-use bills that target transgender

shouldn’t object since they aren’t really taking part in the wedding.

Based on that reasoning, so long as a Hindu isn’t actually required to eat any hamburgers, forcing him to provide services for the party is completely okay.

One can be for banning discrimination for the most part but oppose extending it to the provision of services that someone finds objectionable.

While I personally am in favor of discrimination being legal generally, in every case with which I’m familiar, the controversy has been about serving same-sex weddings.

Take the case of Barronelle Stutzman. Stutzman worked as a florist in the state of Washington, which had anti-discrimination laws. One of her male friends was going to get married to a man. He asked for her to provide flowers

the person entering a bathroom is in actuality male or female?”

The government has no place determining which restrooms people can use, especially when the proposed bills would presumably be difficult to enforce.

for the wedding, something she couldn’t do based on her Christian faith.

She wrote in the Seattle Times, “If all he’d asked for were prearranged flowers, I’d gladly have provided them. If the celebration were for his partner’s birthday, I’d have been delighted to pour my best into the challenge.”

Her providing service isn’t just a hypothetical; she had done so for years. It wasn’t even as if the man was unable to get flowers at all. In the Washington Post, she wrote, “I gave him the names of three floral artists that I knew would do a good job, because I knew he would want something very special. We

described as freedom.

This is a difference of values.

I value tolerance and pluralism.

With this issue, the left cannot claim that.

In the Stutzman case, it was not a progressive supported by the ACLU who wrote “We all have different viewpoints about how to live our lives. One thing I’ve loved about our country is that we protect the freedom of artistic expression and the right to disagree over these kinds of issues without one side being threatened by the government over it.” On the contrary, it has mainly been progressives fighting against that idea.

SB 869: Most dramatic bill in existence

While founded on a good reason, the proposed bill banning two-year colleges from giving athletic scholarships to out-of-state students is a bit over-thetop.

Morgan Krueger Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Senate Bill 869 prohibits “two-year colleges from offering certain scholarships to certain students for certain purpose.” Well, that’s enlightening, isn’t it?

The bill also claims to be “declaring an emergency.” I’m not sure what is quite so urgent about preventing scholarships, but hey, this is Oklahoma. Maybe the legislatures just got bored of passing laws to fight meth.

So this new piece of legislation will outlaw two-year colleges from giving athletic scholarships to non-Oklahoma

residents. They will no longer be able to offer athletic scholarships covering housing, tuition or textbooks as of July 1 of this year.

The reasoning behind this bill seems to hinge on the fact that these two-year schools are funded by state appropriations.

The state doesn’t want to pay for a non-Oklahoman to come to Oklahoma and attend school, which is logical. These two-year schools should not be looking to spend Oklahoma revenue on bringing in out-of-state students so their football team will have a slight advantage. It’s silly to use this money for an athletic advantage.

However, the content of this bill does not seem to make it “immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety” and therefore “an emergency is hereby declared to exist.”

If you don’t want to pay for another state’s kids to come play sports at Oklahoma schools, just say so. Don’t make it a matter of public peace, or national security, or any of the other scary-sounding phrases that the government is fond of throwing around. Using such terminology flippantly doesn’t make the bill sound important, it makes our government sound silly.

Commentary

8 February 2016

The Collegian: 9

World Hijab Day provides a learning experience for non-Muslim students

The Malaysian Student Association offered a firsthand perspective on the hijab and a valuable opportunity to TU students.

Giselle Willis Editor-in-Chief World Hijab Day, an international invitation to wear the headscarf traditional to Islam, came to TU for the first time last Thursday.

Sarah Azami, a TU marketing major, arranged a table in ACAC through the Malaysian Student Association (MSA). She and her friends ordered and donated about sixty hijabs for the event, and by the time I arrived around 1 p.m., there was only one left.

First, she put a type of long headband around my hair to keep the headscarf from sliding around.

Then she pinned the hijab into place, and I was simultaneously grateful for the warmth around my

“Before you judge, cover up for a day.” Nazma Khan, who came to New York from Bangladesh when she was eleven, began the movement because she was concerned about the widespread misrepresentation of the hijab as a symbol of oppression. The hashtag #worldhijabday spread through various social media platforms and has since reached millions of participants.

Back in Tulsa, Azami explained that she had organized the event through the Malaysian Student Association as opposed to the Muslim Student Association because she wanted to make it as much of a casual, culturally-focused (rather than religious) event as possible.

She said it was “reassuring to see so many non-Muslim students wearing the hijab.” Normally, when she wears it she feels like an outsider.

Fellow volunteer Wan Firda Asila added that the “TU family really came out to show their support.” Faculty and staff participated in the event, and even a few guys tried on hijabs.

Asila thinks of World Hijab Day as providing the catalyst for interaction. She and Azami would rather people ask them about their hijabs than make assumptions about their reasons for wearing them.

Azami believes Islam says women should wear hijabs, but she also

TU students wear the hijab for a day.

head and vaguely unnerved about not being able to hear as well.

Azami whipped out a mirror to let me see myself with the hijab.

It was difficult to recognize myself without my hair. The hijab also made me feel foreign, even though plenty of white, American-born Muslims wear the hijab. Then, she took a Polaroid of me holding a whiteboard that said #worldhijabdayTU and offered me a cupcake.

“You can keep the hijab!” she added.

The slogan for the movement, which first debuted in 2013, is

maintained that wearing it should be a choice. The forced wearing of a hijab defeats its purpose, and the girls resent media portrayals of hijabs as something that is enforced in certain countries.

In fact, more countries ban or partially ban the hijab than mandate it. Azami has found the veil to be empowering because it allows her to avoid the male gaze and makes her feel modest and focused. On the other hand, sometimes she feels as though people who aren’t familiar with the hijab only see her headscarf and let that

All photos courtesy TU Malaysian Student Association

Participants pose with a #WorldHijabDayTU whiteboard while wearing hijabs given out by the Malaysian Student Association.

overshadow other aspects of her personality. She explained that there are many different ways to wear a hijab, and that there are plenty of YouTube tutorials on pinning them as well. Hijabs can cost anywhere from one American dollar to fifty, and there is a huge industry in Malaysia built around them that is generally run by women: brands like Fareeda and dUCk have become wildly popular.

Reeza Rosnan, a junior studying petroleum engineering, was the one who originally pitched the idea to the Malaysian Student Association because he saw the hashtag online. He said that he doesn’t think the hijab itself should be equated with dignity; rather, the choice behind wearing the hijab is what gives dignity to those who consciously wear it or do not. Some women, he said, “undoubtedly” wear the hijab just to be trendy, not because they are actually modest.

I don’t know if my own experience wearing the hijab was about modesty, but I could actually feel my brain struggling to accommodate this new perception of the hijab—something I had never really thought about except in passing, and even then there were subconscious assumptions about oppression. Suddenly, the concept of covering up my entire body and becoming a floating pair of eyes didn’t seem too bad; I wouldn’t have to worry about anybody (read: men, apparently) getting distracted by my bra straps or elbows or whatever. People would only be able to judge me based on my words and actions, and not my appearance.

It’s a nice idea, but I think it ultimately takes more than extra clothing to keep people from

objectifying you. Nevertheless, there’s something incredible about feeling control over the way people perceive you. If you like the way you look in the clothes that

you choose for yourself, celebrate the hijab as another addition to the stylebook.

Kendall Hall bathrooms: A follow-up

An editorial written last semester about the state of the Kendall Hall bathrooms resulted in faster repairs.

It’s important for students to speak up about issues on campus.

James Terrell Student Writer Last semester I wrote an article about the mess that was the Kendall Hall bathrooms. Appearancewise it was a disaster, and the plumbing was severely outdated.

In response, I received an email from the manager of maintenance and construction detailing how they had been previously informed on the issue, and how the bathrooms would be receiving major repairs over the summer. In the

meantime, they were willing to fix the visible damages, including the stalls. Of course I was ecstatic, and a few weeks later, they followed up on the promise they claimed.

The stalls were replaced/repainted, and the walls’ borders had been fixed as well. The plumbing wasn’t solved, but the email made me hopeful that it would be in the future. The article, as well as the voices of many, brought to life such an important issue. With the election coming up soon, it seems vital to mention that there’s a call to action, not only politically, but also in everyday life.

Several students had been vocal about the problem at hand. Facebook, Instagram, and various other social media sites housed photos, from both TU students and alumni, of the bathrooms. They were unafraid to stand for an issue they had with the university, and that should be something everyone strives for.

It can be said that when students stand up and declare concerns at this university, their voices can be heard.

Does that mean they’ll always get the answers they want? Of course not, because at the end of the day, the administration still has the right to say no. Even so, with

the amount of money being poured into this school, it’s still extremely important to at least try. Students are the ones paying to go to school here, so the school will have to listen if enough of us speak up.

I was asked by someone to write the Kendall article, and I was very hesitant because I didn’t know whether or not it would get me in trouble. I don’t care for complaining, but it was desperately needed, so I said yes. It’s okay to be scared to make a decision, but knowing that others support the same problems you see makes the decision so much easier. With the amount I, along with other people, have to pay to attend this university, it’s not only a choice but a necessity to raise concern over situations like this.

Overall, the bathrooms aren’t perfect, and there’s still work to be done, but progress has been made.

It’s the student’s duty to keep the ball rolling. Write letters, use social media, do everything it takes to let the student body’s voice be heard. From Hardesty to Kep, this school is our home, so let’s not hesitate to take care of it.

photos by James Terrell / Collegian

Photos depicting the state of the Kendall Hall bathrooms pre-maintenance. Many of these damages have since been repaired.

Commentary

The Collegian: 10

B.O.B and the flat Earth:

B.O.B and Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Twitter-based argument about the shape of the Earth is an example of “Twitter beef” which is both enjoyable for spectators and preferable to violent conflict.

Wade Crawford Student Writer Recently, many famous figures have broken out their Twitter fingers, and taken to the popular social networking site to throw down in “Twitter beefs.” Among the circus of Kanye West, Meek Mill and others, a very unexpected argument surfaced. Rapper B.O.B and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had a extravagant debate about the shape of planet Earth.

The argument is about flat earth theory, the belief that the Earth is nothing more

8 February 2016

Online feud proves that “Twitter beef” beats other forms of conflict

Rapper B.O.B gazes upon a flat Earth.

than a flat disk. Though the last major following of the theory was phased out in the 17th century, there’s still a small subset of people that hold on to the theory–including one Bobby Ray Simmons Jr., better known as B.O.B. The episode began when Simmons tweeted a picture of himself from two cities that are sixteen miles apart, where he commented on the lack of a noticeable curve of the Earth. Then, he began posting over 50 tweets (with several images and diagrams) “proving” that the Earth was flat. One of his last tweets said, “I’m going up against the greatest liars in history. You’ve been tremendously deceived.”

Tyson decided to stand up to Simmons the next day. Tyson refuted every one of Simmons’s claims, with explanations be-

graphic by Elias Brinkman

hind the New York City skyline, the position of Polaris, etc. Tyson ended his side by affirming that “being five centuries regressed in your reasoning doesn’t mean we all can’t still like your music.”

That wasn’t enough for Simmons, as he took to the mic to support himself. He posted a song called “Flatline,” with lines such as “Globalists see me as a threat,” “Neil Tyson need[s] to loosen up his vest,” and “indoctrinated in a cult called science.” Simmons must’ve thought that making a song about his theory would give him a victory over a non-artist.

However, in a surprising twist, Tyson responded with a track of his own (performed by his nephew), dubbed “Flat to Fact” in the tune of Drake’s “Back to Back.” From the first line of “He learned the game from

Carl Sagan, you can never check him,” to “I could make another one and another one/ The DJ Khaled of teaching Bobby about the sun,” it was a decent, albeit poorly-performed, rebuttal.

So there’s two things to be learned from this exchange–Bobby Ray Simmons needs to brush up on his elementary-level science, while the younger Tyson needs to brush up on his rap game. While it’s worrying that someone with as much influence as Simmons believes that the earth is flat, it did make for a pretty amusing exchange.

Let’s face it, there’s now a trend of famous people taking out their frustrations on others with 140 characters or a three-minute track on Soundcloud. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it. Twitter beefs are a relatively harmless way of settling feuds between artists, especially considering how messy the East Coast-West Coast rivalry was in the 1990s.

I’m sure that both fans and artists alike will take a keyboard battle over the murder of two artists potentially due to a feud. Sure, it can be exploited for popularity and record sales (for the record, B.O.B’s last release was last September), but famous people have come out for attention prior to a release for a multitude of other reasons. For the rest of us, it’s certainly fun to sit back and watch the beef stew.

Polling places alienate voters; should be welcoming, accessible

Polling places located in police stations and churches can alienate some demographics and make them less likely to vote. People should never be afraid to vote.

Michaela Flonard Student Writer After months of election hype, polling season is finally upon us. Iowa had its caucus Tuesday, and soon other states will follow suit.

This election is, of course, not without controversy. In St. Louis County, eighteen polling stations are located within a police station, and locating polls in police stations means that those with outstanding warrants may be less likely to vote. Some might fear that entering a police station would threaten their freedom.

And since there are about 450,000 warrants currently outstanding in St. Louis County, according to Dave Leipholtz, the director of Community-Based Studies for Better Together, many in St. Louis County may not vote.

These warrants aren’t all for felonies.

Some may be for mundane things, like parking tickets. But if the tickets stack up, and a person cannot pay for them, then a warrant may be placed on them.

In Snohomish County, Washington, for example, a man had an outstanding warrant for “unlawful burning of garbage,” and another for fishing without a license. While the environment may not appreciate these men’s crimes, surely they should still be able to vote.

The disproportionate impact on the poor and minorities is what makes this polling issue concerning to the local NAACP chapters in St. Louis. Because in a choice between freedom from jail and performing your civic duty, which one is most important? The county already has low participation of voting-age individuals in municipal elections, compared to the national average—9.41 percent and 21 percent, respectively.

Low voting turnouts mean that certain groups are overrepresented. Pew research has repeatedly found that those who vote are more likely to be white, older, richer college graduates. Letting them dominate the ballot means that their concerns are on politicians’ minds.

If voting is what ensures a fair shot for everyone in America, then continuing with low voting rates kills that notion.

Some may argue that if people want

A sign outside a US polling place.

rights to all with felony convictions, even after being released.

Other states prevent voting while on probation. These laws are harsh compared to European allies; about half of European countries allow voting while in prison.

Felony disenfranchisement laws result in about five million Americans being unable

“In a choice between freedom from jail and performing your civic duty, which is more important?”

to vote, they shouldn’t have committed a crime. The felony disenfranchisement laws in the US certainly agree with this position.

Forty-eight states, and the District of Columbia, prohibit voting while incarcerated for a felony, while four states deny voting

courtesy Wiki Commons

Polling places located in police stations or churches can turn some voters away from the ballot boxes.

to vote, most of which are people of color, especially Black males.

In three states, about one in five Black adults is disenfranchised. Historically, this system was used to stifle the vote during the post-Reconstruction era, and while that may no longer be the stated goal of felon disenfranchisement, it is still occurring to an alarming degree.

Being convicted of a crime doesn’t mean a person is incapable of making the decisions necessary when voting. It means the person has committed a crime. No state makes people take a competency test before voting; that harkens back to the post-Reconstruction and Civil Rights era struggle of Blacks, with grandfather clauses and literacy tests.

What occurs when a person is convicted of a crime that makes them unable to do the simple, civic duty of placing a ballot in a ballot box?

It could be argued that voting is a privilege, and that by committing a crime, you have lost that privilege. But the principle of universal suffrage is that any may vote; voting is not some privilege granted upon you by the gracious government.

courtesy Wiki Commons

Making voting work like that would ensure the government only allowed its supporters to vote. And, for a long time in this country, it worked in a similar way. Universal suffrage allows any to vote because allowing all to vote gives the country more balance.

By denying a large swath of the population the ability to have their say in decisions, democracy is stifled. As the US’w prison population steadily grows, felony disenfranchisement means we lack the opinions of those directly affected by the “tough on crime” policies.

Losing the right to vote is probably not going to deter someone from committing a crime. And the majority of the people affected are not incarcerated at the time.

A Sentencing Project study in 2010 found that 75 percent of those affected by these laws were not incarcerated, but merely on probation. In such a scenario, people are working, paying taxes, and being a part of society, but unable to make decisions regarding society. This loss of an essential right further harms reentry into the community after prison.

Voting is a way to feel engaged in the community. One study, by Uggen and Manza in 2004, found that from individuals that had been previously arrested, those who voted were more likely to not be re-arrested.

While this correlation does not mean causation, voting may indicate a desire to participate in larger society, and may tie the person to the community’s well-being.

Polling places should stick to the basics: schools, libraries, community centers and city halls. Placing polling stations in police stations can make people afraid. People should never be afraid to vote. Our country has already struggled with this, with African-Americans striving to vote against the bigoted. Ideally, polling places should be welcoming and easy to get to, so that more people are encouraged to vote.

8 February 2016

Commentary

The Collegian: 11

Public breastfeeding shouldn’t be shamed

Shaming women for breastfeeding in public is ridiculous. Breasts are intended to feed newborn babies and should not be sexualized to the point where women who need to breastfeed are excluded from public spaces.

Tara Grigson Student Writer

courtesy Twitter

Trump’s comments about Kelly are ironically sexist, given that she had previously asked him about his mistreatment of women.

Trump’s comments on Megyn Kelly are disrespectful and inappropriate

Donald Trump’s rude behavior towards Megyn Kelly is indicative of a commonly held belief in the U.S. that women cannot be both successful and openly sexual.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz News Editor I have never been a fan of Megyn Kelly.

That is to say, I don’t agree with her political views, and I don’t think it is appropriate for a news anchor to share their personal beliefs so openly on air. However, it would be wildly unprofessional of me to say any of the following things: “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” “I might be the best thing that ever happened to her. Who ever heard of her before the last debate?”

“I liked The Kelly File much better without @megynkelly. Perhaps she could take another eleven day unscheduled vacation,” “Wow @megynkelly really bombed tonight. People are going wild on twitter!

Funny to watch,” Nor would I retweet other people’s insults such as: “The bimbo back in town. I hope not for long,” “Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @ megynkelly will consider other programs,” It would also be unethical of me to take a

completely unrelated photo of her modeling for GQ magazine and use it as evidence for her inadequacy as a reporter. (screenshot of tweet below) It would be wrong to assume that because Kelly is modeling, that she is also giving men everywhere a license to objectify her.

All of these statements and actions have exactly two things in common. First, they are completely unacceptable forms of adult behaviour unbecoming of anyone who wants to be respected. Second, they were all perpetrated by Donald Trump.

I hesitate to take the attitudes of one childish man and extrapolate to the public at large, but I think the fact that his behavior has gained him supporters instead of turning people away is evidence of parts of US society that we should be ashamed of.

The assumption that women can either be attractive or professional but never both is one of these parts of society. We have come far enough to grant that women can be successful in the workplace, but we assume they must only be “working girls.”

Women cannot be successful and also be openly sexual, otherwise it demeans them.

It is for exactly this reason that Kelly has been called a “bimbo.” Not because she is unintelligent or unprofessional, but because she is a pretty woman, and so she shouldn’t be any more than that.

You might think “no, that can’t be true.”

The world wouldn’t do that to women. But, if someone in the running for “Leader of the Free World,” thinks it is perfectly acceptable behavior, and he has a significant backing in the US, than you can’t deny that it is a sad but commonly held belief.

Trump’s harrassment of Kelly is disrespectful to her both as a journalist and a human being. More-so, it is a sign of disrespect to every woman in the United States of America. Regression into a country where women are treated as less than men will in no way make America great again.

Let’s talk about the policing of women’s bodies. From fat-shaming to thin-shaming to slut-shaming to virgin-shaming, we need to learn to leave women’s bodies alone.

As a woman with a body, having to have this conversation over and over and over again is exhausting.

I want to emphasize that the policing of bodies is not limited to cis women. Oklahoma is currently contending with a spate of legislation attempting to police the bodies of transgender and nonbinary folks. The

es—because they need to breastfeed.

Newborn babies are literally built to breastfeed. The physiological design of their swallow mechanism is totally built for breastfeeding. It is completely different from an adult’s swallow mechanism, because it has an entirely different and adaptive purpose.

And, in much the same way that a baby’s swallow mechanism is designed to breastfeed, the breasts on female bodies are designed to lactate and feed babies. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with a female-bodied person who cannot or will not breastfeed. It is their right to make whatever choice they feel is best for themselves and for their families. However, the idea that it is acceptable to shame and ban women who breastfeed in public is absurd.

It is not shameful to use your body to keep your baby alive. It is not shameful to have breasts or to use them.

If a female-bodied person cannot breastfeed in public—literally sustaining life with their breasts—why is it acceptable for a male-bodied person to mow their lawn without a shirt?

I was going to give a recent example of a breastfeeding controversy, but when you google that phrase you get an overwhelming number of responses. Women being thrown out of restaurants, forced to leave gyms and even my favorite place in the world, Target.

There are so many stories of female-bodied people trying to take care of their children

“It is not shameful to use your body to keep your baby alive.” policing of male bodies is real, however it is different in that men have a historical advantage over women.

Certainly, historical precedent is part of the reason this trend persists—the policing of bodies serves to emphasize the role of women as objects. It serves to silence us and to keep us below men in political and social situations.

By far, the most egregious and absurd form of policing women’s bodies comes in the form of shaming women for breastfeeding in public or for shaming women for choosing not to breastfeed or being unable to breastfeed.

The most obvious form of this is certainly in limiting women’s access to spaces—social spaces, business spaces, service spac-

in the way they think is best, and being discriminated against because of that.

Every mother deserves to make choices about what is best for her baby without judgement from others—especially when that choice is empirically supported. No one should be policing female bodies, which certainly includes sexualizing a female body without the occupant’s consent.

Babies need to eat, and often the best way for that to happen is through breastfeeding.

The act of feeding a baby should not be sexualized and women ought to be able to make their own choices about how they use their bodies.

courtesy hugabub / Flickr

Women have the right to breastfeed their children without being ashamed or ridiculed.

courtesy Wiki Commons

Donald Trump’s (right) harassment of Megyn Kelly (left) is indicative of a worrying societal trend.

Sports

The Collegian: 12

8 February 2016

Golden State Warriors are still on pace to beat the ‘95– POINT-COUNTERPOINT: The 96 Bulls single season win record, but should they break it?

Jordan should keep the record

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer In the ‘95-’96 season, the Chicago Bulls accomplished something no other team in NBA history has been able to do: they won 70 games. More specifically, they won 72, posting a historic 72–10 record, which has stood unchallenged ever since. Until this season, that is.

The Golden State Warriors may have

Records are meant to be broken

remain with the Bulls. Having been born the same year that their historic season started, I obviously had no clue about them as they made history.

However, basketball has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I remember going to watch my dad play in his work league as a young kid, and bouncing a miniature ball in my basement shortly after I was able to stand. And, as long as I’ve played, I’ve always regarded Michael Jordan as a legend, the greatest player to ever

“The best season in history belongs to the best player” something to say about that come the end of this season. They started out the year with 24 wins, a record win streak at the beginning of a season. And, at this point in the season with their 46–4 record, they are on pace to break the Bulls record for best mark in a single season.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are trying to become the best trio in history, replacing the current best of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman from the record-holding Bulls squad. Curry has already made his mark as one of the best players of this generation, setting and re-setting the record for most three-pointers made in a season.

It’s cool to think that I could witness the best season in the history of the NBA, but at the same time, I would like to see the record

play basketball. Like Mike may be my favorite movie ever, and I always chose to wear No. 23 when I was able to.

As great as the best players of the current generation are (Kobe, LeBron, Steph), I still think Jordan holds the spot of the best player ever. I don’t believe this belief is unfounded, either. He came out of retirement and promptly won another three consecutive NBA titles. I think that’s pretty good as far as qualifications are concerned.

As a result, I personally think it’s fitting that the best season in history belongs to the best player. So, as far as this season is concerned, I won’t be cheering for history to be made. Nothing against the Warriors, but I don’t think anyone can compare to Jordan’s greatness, and to me that is worth the best record in history.

After a loss in overtime to Temple, the men’s team avenged an earlier loss to Houston on Sunday.

after short Owl spurts. Temple kept fighting back, though, and managed to tie the score at 61 with two minutes remaining. Devin Coleman knocked down a three-pointer for the Owls with three seconds remaining, and that tied the score at 70 as it headed into overtime.

In the extra period, Tulsa had trouble getting momentum. The teams traded a few buckets, but then Temple closed the game on a 9–4 run to seal the victory.

On Sunday, the Golden Hurricane hosted Houston looking to avenge their earlier loss to the Cougars on the road. On the strength of Pat Birt’s best game as a Golden Hurricane—27 points including 5 three-pointers—Tulsa beat Houston by 14, 77–63.

The Golden Hurricane drop from their tie for second in the conference, and now sit tied for 4th in the crowded American Athletic Conference with a record of 15–8 (7–4 AAC).

Men split home and away Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer On Thursday, Tulsa’s men’s basketball team nearly pulled off a road victory against conference for Temple, but fell short in overtime, 83–79.

In the first half, neither team was able to pull away for much of a lead. Each time one team had a run, the other would counter with a run of their own. At halftime, the score was knotted at 27 each.

Tulsa came out hot in the second half, and opened up a lead with a 15–3 run. Until five minutes left in the game, the Golden Hurricane were able to keep the lead over five, coming up with some clutch three-pointers

Justin Guglielmetti Sports Writer

72-10. It’s one of basketball’s most hallowed records, the greatest single-season win total in history achieved by the 199596 Chicago Bulls. Those Bulls were a juggernaut the likes of which had never been seen before, outscoring opponents by a whopping margin of 12.24 points per game and rolling through the playoffs with a 15-3 record. With all due respect to the ’85-’86 Boston Celtics and ’71-’72 Los Angeles Lakers, those Michael Jordan-led Bulls are generally regarded as the greatest team of all time, a title they have held unchallenged for 20 years. At least until this season.

If you follow NBA basketball, you are already familiar with the remarkable success of the Golden State Warriors, off to a 45-4 start and on pace to break Chicago’s record for the most wins in a season. Like those Bulls, the Warriors are led by a dynamic star playing at a historic level–Stephen Curry –along with two largely unheralded lesser superstars in Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and perhaps the deepest, most talented 12 man rotation ever assembled.

They are redefining the NBA, bombing three pointers with incredible efficiency at an unprecedented rate and playing seamlessly—switching positionless defense that has yet to encounter an offense capable of outsmarting it. For a group coming off a championship last year, the Warriors have shown no signs of relaxation or complacency, looking shockingly aggressive and hungry for success from the first game of the season. Now more than halfway through the schedule and on pace for 75 wins, you can bet that they won’t be letting up off the gas any time soon. If Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson are anxious about maintaining their record, they should be sweating right about now.

Of course, it’s not only the members of the ’96 Bulls who are concerned about the

Women’s team snaps streak against ECU

The women’s basketball team snapped their three-game losing streak against East Carolina this week.

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer

The Golden Hurricane women’s basketball team played a single game this week, against East Carolina. In this tightly contested match, they were able to snap their three-game losing streak.

The first quarter was back-and-forth, as the score was tied a couple times, and the lead changed a few times as well. Near the end of the second quarter, ECU was able to pull ahead to a bit of a lead, as they went on an 11–2 run. At the halftime break, ECU

led 27–22.

In the third quarter, each team shot well.

However, ECU shot 3–4 from behind the three point line, and pushed their lead out to 8, at 45–37.

Tulsa needed a comeback in the fourth quarter to come away with a win. Ashley Clark and Erika Wakefield took matters into their own hands, and scored all of the Golden Hurricane’s 18 points in the quarter. The defense helped out as well, holding the Pirates to 9 points, and Tulsa came away with the 55–54 victory.

With the win, Tulsa remains in 7th place in the American Athletic Conference, with a record of 8–15 (5–7 AAC). On the schedule this week are two home games, first against Houston on Feb. 10, and then against UCF on Feb. 13.

Monday & Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Men’s Golf @ UTSA Oak Hills Invitational

Men’s Basketball @ SMU 8:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs.

Houston 7:00 p.m.

tucollegian@tucollegian.org

editor-in-chief

Giselle Willis managing editor

Fraser Kastner news editor

Kayleigh Thesenvitz sports editor

Matt Rechtien variety editor

Abigail LaBounty commentary editor

Hannah Kloppenburg satire editor

Caitlin Woods photo & graphics editor

Elias Brinkman

business & advertising manager

Paul Moses web manager

Sam Chott

distribution managers

Kayleigh Thesenvitz and Trent Gibbons

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

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

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

: Feb 8 – 14

Friday Softball vs. Wright State 12:30 p.m.

No Events

72 win mark. Fans of the team, as well as a surprisingly vocal community in social media, are rooting for the Warriors to fail down the stretch, to fall short of the record for reasons that I can only assume are based in blind nostalgia. For the most part, these are the fans who don’t like the small-ball revolution that is taking over the NBA and is best exemplified by the Warriors’ gun slinging style. This is understandable as people tend to be uneasy with change in any form, but guess what: the game evolves! Critics once railed against Lew Alcindor and his gosh-darned dunking, even going so far as to ban the act in college basketball. Before that, George Mikan was disliked simply for showing the advantages of being exceedingly tall and broad and Earl Monroe angered traditionalists with his rule-bending crossovers and spin moves. Today’s game exhibits all of these changes and I don’t know of many fans who wish it otherwise. So when guys like Charles Barkley complain and make broad claims like “a jump-shooting team can’t win an NBA championship,” take it with a grain of salt and recognize that this is just the next step in the league’s development.

There is also a community that wishes the Bulls to maintain their record simply because of the presence of Jordan on the team. Admittedly, there is something poetic about the greatest player ever being a part of the greatest team, but let’s remember that basketball is ultimately a team game. If the Warriors break the record, win the championship, and go down as the greatest team ever, that does nothing to diminish Jordan’s status or accomplishments! He’ll still be as great as he ever was.

Ultimately, I am rooting for the Warriors because I believe in that oldest cliché about records: they’re made to be broken. Where’s the fun in hoping the Bulls keep their record forever? I wasn’t around to see them I have no emotional investment in them, and I want to see something new, bigger and better! I’m an American after all!

Softball vs. Hofstra 2:45 p.m.

Men’s Tennis vs. Arkansas 6:00 p.m.

Men’s Tennis @ National Indoor (thru Sunday)

Indoor Track @ Iowa State Classic (Saturday) Indoor Track @ Tyson Invitaional (Saturday)

Saturday

Women’s Basketball vs.

UCF 2:00 p.m.

Softball vs. Penn State 2:45 p.m.

Softball vs. FAU 7:15 p.m.

Men’s Basketball @ UConn 7:00 p.m.

Sunday

Softball vs. Hofstra 10:45 a.m.

Women’s Tennis vs. Purdue

Sports

National Signing Day 2016

8 February 2016

The Collegian: 13

The first Wednesday in February is almost a small holiday in the world of college sports. This is the first day that recruits in football and soccer can officially sign letters of intent to play college ball. For football this serves to bring college’s most popular sport into a month that would otherwise remain inactive. While most media focuses on football, men and women’s soccer use the fist Wednesday to start their signing period as well. Tulsa was active in all three sports, signing 20 players in football, eight in men’s soccer and four in women’s soccer.

Montgomery bolsters offensive and defensive lines Wade Crawford Sports Writer

In a time where the only sports available are basketball or hockey, the emergence of National Signing Day gives football fans a reason to be excited in the offseason. Fans follow high school recruits (often way too closely) to see if they sign with their favorite school to play their college career. The University of Tulsa recently added twenty of these new faces to the football team.

The offensive and defensive lines were bolstered with this class, with the signing of five offensive linemen and four defensive

linemen. Three linebackers were signed, as well as two wide receivers, defensive backs and athletes (players that played multiple positions in high school). Coach Montgomery continued to use his Texas pipeline, signing eleven players from the Lone Star State. This was more than twice than the second state (Oklahoma, with five). Signees also came from Arizona, California and Louisiana.

The top signee in the 2016 class is Deya Mhiesen, a 6’7”, 305-pound junior college transfer from Arizona Western College in Yuma. The top high school recruit came from TU’s backyard, as offensive guard

Jordan Brown

Keenen Johnson

Offense

Wide receiver

Athlete

Stillwater High School

Alto High School

Three-year letterwinner, caught passes for 355 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 279 and three touchdowns during his junior season. Was rated the No. 14 prep senior in the state of Oklahoma by 247Sports.

Played receiver and defensive back at Alto, where he rushed for 2,669 yards and 38 touchdowns during his senior season, and also recorded 42 tackles, three for losses, eight pass break-ups and three forced fumbles.

Tiller Bucktrot Offensive lineman Stroud High School Four-year letterwinner and three-year starter, where he played both offensive and defensive line. Helped lead Stroud to the second round of the state playoffs both his junior and senior season. Was named the District 2A-5 Offensive Lineman of the Year as a senior and rated as the No. 16 perp senior in Oklahoma.

David Fitzwater Tight end Calvary Baptist Academy Four-year letterwinner and started three years on offense and two on defense (defensive end). Was moved to tight end during his senior season where he had 78 yards and two touchdowns. Had five sacks and 91 tackles as a defensive end in the same season. Was named a first-team all-district player as a tight end and a defensive end.

Rowdy Frederick

Deya Mhiesen Offensive lineman Arizona Western College (Jr.) Was the No. 10 ranked Junior College offensive lineman in the nation and the 46th overall prospect in the country. Only played one season for Arizona Western Colllege.

Waahid Muhammad Offensive lineman La Vega High School Two-year letterwinner where he started on both the offensive and defensive lines. Only played football during his junior and senior seasons. Recorded 70 pancake blocks and 20 knockdowns as a senior, when he helped lead his team to an undefeated record and the UIL Class 4A-1 state title.

Luke Skipper Quarterback

Offensive lineman

Forney High School

Broken Arrow High School

Three-year starting quarterback completing 175 of out 299 passes for 2,706 yards and 33 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns during his senior season. Was named the District 12-5A Offensive Player of the Year in that same season.

A three-year letterwinner and starter, earned first-team all-state honors from the Tulsa World and the Oklahoman as a senior, the same season that he helped lead his team to a runner-up finish in the Class 6A-I. Rated as the No. 22 prep senior in Oklahoma.

Rowdy Frederick was signed from Broken Arrow. The rest of the top five signees are linebacker Robert Revels from Houston, Texas, wide receiver Josh Stewart from Cedar Hill, Texas, and defensive tackle Johnnie Williams from Austin, Texas.

In a press conference held on Wednesday, head coach Philip Montgomery was excited about the upcoming class. “I’m excited about this class. We were able to sign a lot of tremendous kids.” Montgomery then went on to break down the class. “As we looked at it, we really had to start up-front on both sides of the ball with this recruiting class,” he said of the nine linemen signed. Mont-

gomery continued, highlighting the receivers and athletes, saying “We added some length and speed at the receiver position and really believe we have some outstanding candidates there. I’m excited what they bring to the table and their talent will allow us to keep doing the things we like to do offensively.”

National Signing Day is a time where football fans can look forward to the future of the team. Head coach Philip Montgomery has signed another solid recruiting class, and with each class comes the possibility of one of these signees reaching their dreams of becoming a star college football player.

Defense

DJ Allen Linebacker Brennan High School Four-year starter in high school, top year was his junior season where he recorded 113 tackles, with 20 of those for losses and four sacks.

Manny Bunch Safety Roland High School A three-year starter, played both quarterback and free safety at Roland. Led his team to a first place district finish as a quarterback in his senior season. Recorded 87 tackles, 10 for a loss, 10 pass break-ups and three interceptions. Rated as the No. 24 prep senior in Oklahoma.

Cooper Edmiston Linebacker Gatesville High School Four-year letterwinner and three-year starter playing as a linebacker and tight end.

Credited with 145 tackles, eight for losses, three pass break-ups and two sacks as a senior. Named the District co-Defensive MVP as a senior.

Keanu Hill Cornerback Long Beach Community College (Jr.) During his sophomore season he recorded 40 tackles, 10 pass break-ups and two interceptions. Before Long Beach he was a twoyear starter at Junipero Serra High School where he helped his team win a state championship in his senior season.

Jimmy Nelson

Montray Norris Cornerback Davis High School Played cornerback and wide receiver where he earned second-team UIL all-district 186A honors as a senior.

Robert Revels III Linebacker John H. Reagan High School A three-year letterwinner and starter at middle linebacker. Collected 75 tackles, seven for loss, three sacks, four fumbles recoveries, 10 quarterback hurries and three interceptions, while returning two for touchdowns during his senior season. Named the District 20-6A Defensive MVP his senior year.

Shemarr Robinson Defensive tackle Central High School A four-year letterwinner and starter on offense and defense. Credited with 65 tackles, 16 for losses and nine quarterback sacks in his senior season. Tulsa Wolrd named him to the all-metro team in the same season.

Earned all-VYPE Class 4A honors as well.

Tyarise Stevenson Defensive tackle Donaldsville High School Played on both offensive and defensive lines in high school. Received a three-start rating from 247Sports. Chose Tulsa over Texas Tech, Tulane, UCF and UNLV.

Johnnie Williams Defensive end

Clay Greathouse

Josh Stewart

Offensive lineman

Wide receiver

Martin High School

Rider High school

Cedar Hill High School

Played left tackle in high school where he was a two-time first-team all-district 5-5A performer. Helped lead his team to 5–2 mark in Class 5A Region I District 5 during his senior season.

Helped lead Cedar Hill to a 9–2 record as a senior when he caught 20 passes for 353 yards and six touchdowns, while averaging 40.6 ounting yards.

A two-year letterwinner and starter where he played defensive end and tackle, recording 72 tackles, 16 for losses, seven sacks, six quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during his senior season. Was named the District 4A-6 Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.

A four-year letterwinner and three-year starter in high school where he played defensive end and tight end. Was named the District 26-5A Lineman of the Year as a junior when he recorded 135 tackles and 13 sacks. Was a second-team all-state selection as a junior.

team to the 2012 Disney Showcase finals and the 2013 Dallas Cup quarterfinals. He was also a member of the USCS U15 PreAcademy, and the USSF U16 and U18 Development Academy.

Puig, a forward, plays for OFC98 ‘A’ (Oklahoma Football Club) club team and Deer Creek High School in Edmond, Okla.

While with OFC98 he helped lead the team to four-straight state championships. Playing for Deer Creek as a three-year letterwinner, he helped lead them to a Class 5A State Championship in his junior season.

Venstad, a defender from Skjetten, Norway, played for Lillestrom SK, where he helped them to a runner-up title in the 2014 U19 National Championship, a third-place finish in the division for the 2014 LSK Reserves and a regional championship with the 2013’s U19 team.

Viox, a midfielder, plays for St. Louis

Scott Gallagher Metro Academy, where he serves as the captain of the U18 IL Academy Team. He is a Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News top-150 recruit.

Pedace, a sophomore midfielder, played his first season at the University of San Francisco, playing in fourteen games and starting in four of them. Before college he played for Pateadores Academy U18, Arsenal Academy U16 and Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, Calif.

Talking about the incoming class, Head Coach Tom McIntosh said; “ I am very pleased with the group as a whole. We needed to address immediate needs at the center back, as well as left-sided players that can play in midfield or at the back. In addition, we added a forward, as well as depth in midfield. This group compliments a strong group of returners who comprised the youngest team in the country.”

ships in addition to a second, third and seventh place finish at ECNL Nationals. She also plays for Ralston Valley High School and was named a Top Drawer Soccer top150 recruit (#44).

Melton, a goalkeeper, plays for the Tulsa Soccer Club Hurricane where she helped lead them to a ECNL Texas Championship in 2013, the same year where she was invited to participate in the OSA Elite Goalkeeper Camp. She also plays for Union High School where she helped lead her team to a Class 6A State Championship, a 2015 Top

Drawer Soccer National Championship and three district championships.

Morris, a forward, plays for FC Dallas 98, who she helped to third-place finishes at the U19 and U17 Texas Conference Championships, eighth-place at the U16 National Champions League Finals and a 10th-place finish at the U17 National Champions League Finals. She also plays for Wylie East High school, where she helped lead her team to a Class 5A State Championship (junior season) and a Class 4 State Runner-Up (sophomore season).

Men’s team signs eight new players

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

The Golden Hurricane men’s soccer team signed seven incoming freshmen and one sophomore for the 2016 season and beyond.

After being one of the youngest teams in the country last season, Tulsa will return almost their entire team—the 2015 squad only had two seniors, after all.

The freshmen include Ryan Alpers, Alejandro Chavez, Aidan Dunne, Garrett Garwood, Matthew Puig, Casper Venstad, David Viox and Vincent Pedace, who is transferring from the University of San Francisco.

Alpers, a defender, plays for Blitz United and Union High School in Tulsa. Playing for

Blitz, he helped lead them to three straight championships in 2013–15. With Union, he helped the team to a three-year record of 30–9 while advancing to the Class 6A State Championship quarterfinals in all three seasons he started.

Chavez, a midfielder, plays for TSC Hurricane and Broken Arrow High School.

A three-year starter at Broken Arrow, he helped lead his team to Class 6A State Championship semifinals in his sophomore and junior seasons and the quarterfinals in his freshman year.

Dunne, a defender, has played for St. Louis Scott Gallagher for the past three seasons, where he helped win two division championships.

Garwood, a defender, plays club soccer for Solar Chelsea, where he helped lead his

Women’s team adds depth across the board Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

On Wednesday the Golden Hurricane women’s soccer team signed four players to letters of intent for the 2016 season. All four players, Mackenzie Coupens, Alyssa Kaiser, Hailey Melton and Valiree Morris, will be freshmen.

Coupens, a defender, plays for the Okla-

homa Football Club 98 (OFC98), where she has led her team to three state championships, the 2012 President’s Day Cup Championship and four regional quarterfinal appearances. She also plays for Deer Creek High School, where she led Deer Creek to three straight class 5A State Championships.

Kaiser, a midfielder, plays for Real Colorado ECNL (Elite Clubs National League) National Team, where she helped her team win three ECNL Conference Champion-

Defensive end

Lyndon B. Johnson High School

The State-Run Media

8 February 2016

the

State-Run media Democracy is dead. The White House is a McDonald’s.

President raises tuition from yacht

A new price increase was announced this week at TU, a university where the cost of tuition is thousands of dollars over that of the average private college.

Sam Chott Once touched the hem of Stead’s robe

President Upham, who has had a total annual compensation of over one million dollars since at least 2008, recently announced an increase in tuition for all students while standing on the deck of his yacht, currently anchored on the Arkansas River.

“This represents a great step forward for the university,” said a spokeswoman for Upham. “We

average price increase of over one thousand dollars per year. Meanwhile, in a show of solidarity with students unable to graduate due to the rising expense, Upham’s own annual compensation has decreased from his initial pay of $1.485 million to a meager $1.355 million. Insider sources have indicated that this year, instead of buying a Rolls-Royce as per tradition, he purchased a brand new Range Rover to cut costs.

Despite this reporter’s best efforts, the State-Run Media was unfortunately unable to get a statement from Upham. Even after evading the guard dogs patrolling the bank of the river, the sides of the yacht were too slippery to climb due to decorative gold plating.

“I think this is a good development for the university,” said Sid

“The university would only charge what they need to, right?”

believe that, by charging more, we can create a positive learning environment for students.”

This is just the latest in a series of annual tuition increases, with an

Crumble, a junior Energy Management major. “The university would only charge what they actually need to, right? And we’ve had a lot of improvements on campus

graphic by Elias Brinkman

President Upham contemplating a raise in tuition from his yacht.

in the last few years. I mean, we got a drone, right? So the advertisements are a lot cooler now.”

Some students aren’t so sure.

Mandy Wu, an undecided senior, says that she is having trouble paying for her education. “I’m not really sure that this is a good idea.

I mean, besides the buildings getting a little nicer, I don’t see any of the money I’m paying going into my education. I just wish I knew what we were using all of this money for.”

Upham’s spokeswoman assured us that, even as a private univer-

sity which had no legal obligation to share financial information, the University of Tulsa was committed to full transparency. However, when asking where students could find information on how their considerable tuition was being used, this reporter found she had already escaped through a nearby window.

Clinton/Sanders tie proves State-Run Media your opinion doesn’t matter Mad-Libs Are you bitter about the world, but too selfinvolved to really do anything to change it? If so, you just might have what it takes to write for the State-Run Media!

Test your creativity with this mad-lib, and we’ll process the results to determine if they are As Iowa fades away into the back of America’s collective consciousness, it leaves in its wake the results of last week’s caucus, and the cold truth that nobody really cares what you think about the candidates.

James Whisenhunt Not convinced “caucus” is a real word

As anyone who has at least a remote interest in the future of this country knows, last Monday the Democratic Caucus in Iowa resulted in a virtual tie between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

The close poll results prove something that the shadowy government-funded puppeteers of the State-Run Media have known for a long time: your opinion doesn’t matter.

It seems that every article on your Facebook feed, every politics-related retweet, and every time you shoehorned your preferred candidate into conversation has yet to lead the American people to a decision.

So at this point, what is there to do? More politically inclined people may say not to give up hope.

satisfactory.

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Clinton and Sanders had a near tie last week in the land of corn.

They may believe that every vote counts and that engaging more people in the political process is the best way to determine what the American people really want.

Thankfully, we at the State-Run Media know better. Congratulating mediocrity and indecision isn’t going to get the nation anywhere.

If thousands of maize-maniac Iowans can’t figure out who the president is going to be by literally just standing around to “caucus” for their favorite upper-class white person, who can?

It’s obvious that the system is broken beyond repair. It’s time for a political movement to save this nation from itself. Some people say the best way to enact change is

It’s time to make your voice heard, resident of Tulsa. Follow this simple two-step process, and you too can #StopPolitics as we grow ever closer to #NoVoteNovember.

1) Every time you feel the sweet, sweet urge to click that share button on a dank Trump meme or yet another article about Hillary’s emails, just draw a really big cat on Microsoft Paint and post it. People will get way more enjoyment out of how wacky the size of that cat is than they ever would seeing some poll.

2) Please check the primary date for your state (March 1 for Oklahoma), and promptly forget it. Please remember your polling

“#StopPolitics” to vote. We’ve unfortunately seen where that got us, so the only reasonable solution is to enact change by mass failure to vote. If nobody votes, the system falls apart under its own weight. No votes = No president. It’s practically PoliSci 1013.

The founding fathers made a grave error with the assumption that people would want to engage in political action and discourse.

Granted, in their day there wasn’t that much else to do instead.

place, though, so that you may effectively avoid it for the rest of your days.

It’s going to be hard to adhere to these rules, but it wouldn’t be worth doing if it was going to be easy. As Martin Luther King Jr. may or may not have said at some point in time, ”Politics is kinda dumb.” Truly inspirational.

_______________ introduces new ____________ -ridden mattresses The price of _______ makes up a large amount of both _______ and ______ spending, and the high cost prevents a lot of _______ from ______ on campus. With this new policy, ______ is projected to become much more ________. _____ ______ University _____.

The University of Tulsa’s _______ department has recently implemented a new policy — using ____, ________, _____-ridden mattresses for the freshman dorms. The department claims that by using these beds, bought from a _____ homeless man down on ______ and ______, the school is saving _______ of dollars a semester, which in light of recent

events could, in fact, lower tuition.

“It’s just overall a great idea,” said _______ spokesperson ____ ______ . “If the school can save money on bedding for the increasingly large freshman classes, those funds can go elsewhere, like _________.”

Not only does this new policy allow for the university to diversify its spending, but lower costs of beds means lower costs of ______. The mother of one new student has expressed her approval of the new beds. “My little ______ gets to live on campus this year because housing costs have dropped so low!” she told StateRun reporters. “I’m just so _____ my child gets to enjoy the full college experience.”

While no _______ have yet to use these new beds, overall reception has been very _______. When asked if the University had any other plans for lowering spending, ______ muttered, “Well, there’s always the _______.” making a sideways glance toward _______.

8 February 2016

The Collegian: 15

CONNECTION

COMFORT

CONVENIENCE

Finding a roommate has never been easier TU’s online Roommate Finder service makes the process quick and painless.

1

Log on to the roommate finder service

2

Complete a simple profile.

3

Review a list of compatible roommates.

Please see the housing website for additional information on roommate options and requirements.

ROOMMATE EVENTS: Pat Case Dining Center Garage, Thursday, February 11, 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 21, 7 p.m. FREE PIZZA

Promotions Each student who completes a license and makes a selection will qualify for that day’s drawing and every drawing thereafter.

(Limit one daily prize per person.)

Feb. 10 – Feb. 22: $25 Target Gift Cards given away each day.

Win an iPad Mini! One iPad Mini winner will be drawn Feb. 23.

@TUCampusHousing

Housing Office: 918-631-2516

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The Collegian: 16

8 February 2016

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