2 November 2015

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

november 2, 2015 issue 9 ~ volume 101

Cross country sweeps American Conference titles, p 11

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet includes Tulsa native, will perform in LPAC, p 8 SA Judicial Council unnecessarily confidential, p 5 TU symphony orchestra concert a good start to the season, p 9 World Health Organization finds link between processed meats and cancer, p 3

Graphic by Elias Brinkman

News

The Collegian: 2

2 November 2015

Students enjoy night of pumpkin carving before Halloween Students gathered at Lafortune Hall last Wednesday to carve pumpkins and get into the holiday spirit!

all photos by Chuyi Wen

May 2016 Graduates

Nominate the high school teacher who inspired you TU undergraduates who will graduate in May 2016 may nominate the high school teacher who inspired them. The winning teachers will be recognized during the May commencement ceremony. Only high school teachers throughout the United States are eligible. n Nominations are due by 5:00 p.m., December 14, 2015. n Selected teachers will receive a $2,000 award and their high schools will receive $1,000. n Students whose nominated teachers are selected will receive $500. n For more information including the nomination criteria, go to the Student Affairs website: www. utulsa.edu/student-affairs/inspirational-teacher

Collegian Ad HS Teacher Nomination-revised.indd 1

n Graduating seniors should send nominations to the dean’s office of their college via e-mail as follows: — Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences: Stephanie-Boulden@utulsa.edu — Collins College of Business: Tami-Barrett@utulsa.edu — College of Engineering & Natural Sciences: Dottie-Smith@utulsa.edu — College of Health Sciences: Laurie@utulsa.edu

10/26/15 1:48 PM

News

The Collegian: 3

2 November 2015

Lesser-known Republican candidates

Here are some Republican presidential candidates that may have received less media attention.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz Variety Editor

Jeb Bush: Bush is a former Florida Governor. During his two-term tenure in office, Bush passed legislation for conserving the Everglades and education reform.

In respect to the issues he is campaigning for, Bush proposes simplifying the tax code, creating a balanced budget, reducing the size of bureaucracy and increasing government intervention in Iraq and Syria.

Ted Cruz: Cruz is currently a US Senator for the state of Texas. His time in Senate has been spent working to repeal Obamacare and defend first and second amendment rights.

Cruz is campaigning for a defense of constitutionally protected rights as well as backing out on the Iran deal and protecting traditional marriage.

Chris Christie: Christie currently serves as the Governor of New Jersey. During his time in this position he has led relief efforts for Hurricane

Sandy, passing education reform, and finding alternative solutions to jail time for nonviolent drug offenders.

Christie hopes to extend his jail reform, to cut back on, but maintain, entitlement programs and to increase national security intelligence.

Jim Gilmore: Gilmore is the currently serving Governor of Virginia. Throughout his tenure Gilmore has reduced property taxes in his state and implemented education reform that included standardized testing.

Gilmore is running for president on the grounds of immigration and border control reform, repealing Obamacare and reducing business tax to 15 percent.

Lindsey Graham: As US Senator for the state of South Carolina, Graham has routinely voted for legislation to reduce spending, reform entitlement programs and reduce government involvement in business.

Graham is campaigning for religious freedom globally, traditional family values and a military defeat of radical islamic terrorist groups.

Mike Huckabee: Huckabee is the current Governor of Arkansas. Throughout his time in office Huckabee has implemented tax cuts, K-16 educational outreach programs which encourage

colleges to help high school students apply for and succeed in college and state health care reform.

Huckabee is running on the platforms of energy independence, locally run education and national reform of veterans benefits and VA hospitals.

Bobby Jindal: Jindal is the Governor of Louisiana and has made efforts toward ethics laws, schoolchoice based education reform and publicprivate partnerships with hospitals on health care issues.

Jindal is running on increasing jobs in the fields of oil and natural gas energy, defeating radical Islamic groups and repealing Obamacare.

John Kasich: As the Governor of Ohio Kasich signed legislation which allowed first time nonviolent drug users to seek rehabilitation instead of jail time.

Kasich is running for president on the grounds of cutting taxes for families and businesses, reducing and controlling funding for entitlement programs and achieving energy independence.

George Pataki: The former Governor of New York led the state through 9/11, reduced state spending on education and health care and voted in favor of gay rights legislation.

Pataki is running pro-abortion with strict limitations, large tax cuts and continued allowance of states deciding on marijuana legalization.

Rand Paul: Paul is the currently serving US Senator for the state of Kentucky and also a former ophthalmologist. Paul filibustered against the use of drone strikes inside the US, filed a lawsuit against the NSA and argued for criminal justice reform that restored voting rights for nonviolent drug offenders.

Paul is campaigning on ending NSA surveillance, returning to free-market health care and improving the immigration process so that legal immigration is easier Marco Rubio: Rubio is the US Senator for Florida. Who has voted on tax reform, higher education reform and national defense issues.

On the issues Rubio stands for fighting communism in Cuba, strengthening social security and medicare and modernizing the military.

Rick Santorum: Santorum is a former US Senator for Pennsylvania. During his tenure in office he passed legislation against abortion and in favor of autism advocation.

Santorum is campaigning on immigration reform, fighting radical Islam and anti-abortion laws.

Dr. Whitney Phillips has spent years conducting psychological research on internet “trolls,” and has found several reasons she believes lead to the formation of troll subculture.

that have been tampered with for fun and comments designed specifically to provoke.

Despite all of this, Dr. Whitney never came out against trolling. While she was against the extreme examples of harassment and verbal abuse conducted by some, she was keen to make a distinction between harassment and trolling. Harassment is abhorrent and illegal. Trolling on the other hand, while not completely innocent, should not be treated with the same gravity.

She even stated that those who are calling for banning and prevention of trolls are not only fighting a battle they can’t win, but also a battle they shouldn’t fight. This is because trolling has changed and will continue to change so rapidly that it is impossible to counter it in a way that doesn’t hurt everyone. The good news is that as trolling becomes more common, it becomes easier to spot and ignore.

Once she had made this distinction, she moved to talk about the social structure of the trolling subculture. This subculture consists largely of inside jokes. However, unlike a typical inside joke that requires friends to share an event, these jokes are shared by strangers, many of whom were never a part of the original event.

She cited things like mass prank calls as a great example of this as they are still funny years after they take place to those who were never a part of the initial event.

She ended her presentation with a sort of disclaimer, stating that over the last few years, the mainstream media has given so much attention to sites like 4chan and Reddit that most of the “hardcore trolls” have dispersed to other sites in search of a new home. These sites are not less active; in fact, the influx of people coming to these sites has diluted the troll community.

She believes the internet is in a transition period, and for now the days of wide spread malicious trolling are more or less gone.

The anatomy of a troll

Jacob Eddy Student Writer

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Here we see a troll in its natural environment, attempting to make contact with real humans.

WHO finds cancer link with processed meats

The North American Meat Institute contends the claim that processed meats and red meats are carcinogenic if consumed immoderately.

Lauren Rogers Student Writer

The World Health Organization released a study last week in which they determined that all processed meats are carcinogenic, and red meats are “probably” so. This comes from an analysis of decades of research done by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the WHO. The World Health Organization defines “processed meat” as meat that has been altered in some way to either prolong its shelf life or change its flavor, this includes, but is not limited to, bacon, sausages, salami, beef jerky, ham and hot dogs. Red meats, according to WHO, are “all mammalian muscle meat,” such as pork, beef and lamb.

The IARC suggests that the more processed meat consumed, the greater the risk.

According to an analysis of ten studies, a 50-gram portion of processed meat eaten every day can increase the risk of colorectal cancer by almost 18 percent.

The risks of red meat were more difficult to pin down because the evidence linking red meat to cancer was not as strong. WHO stated that the IARC had not yet proven that red meat has a causal relationship with cancer. However, if such a relationship were to be proven, then the risk for cancer would raise 17 percent for every 100-gram portion of red meat eaten on a daily basis.

When asked about the recent reports, TU students had varying reactions. “[The study] made me consider being a vegetarian even more,” said TU student Autumn McBride. “But I don’t like red meat anyway, it’s awful for you.”

TU students Kyra Manlove and Rachel Weems share a different view.

“Life itself is a carcinogen,” said Man-

love. “Therefore, we shouldn’t worry about whether meat causes cancer or not. Anything can give you cancer, so who cares?”

Weems agrees, stating that “if you’re going to live your life being afraid of everything that can give you cancer, then life isn’t worth living.”

The meat industry also stands in firm opposition of this research. North American Meat Institute Vice President of Scientific Affairs Betsy Booren, Ph.D., stated that “it was clear sitting in the IARC meeting that many of the panelists were aiming for a specific results despite old, weak, inconsistent, self-reported intake data.”

Booren believes that in addition to the IARC seeking to prove that red and processed meats are carcinogenic, they have very found few substances that do not cause cancer.

“Red and processed meat are among 940 agents reviewed by IARC and found to pose some level of theoretical ‘hazard.’” Said Booren. “Only one substance, a chemical in yoga pants, has been declared by IARC not to cause cancer.”

Booren believes that if people were to live life by the IARC’s research, they would be limited to only a few activities.

“IARC says you can enjoy your yoga class, but don’t breathe air (Class I carcinogen), sit near a sun-filled window (Class I), apply aloe vera (Class 2B), drink wine or coffee (Class I and Class 2B), or eat grilled food (Class 2A). And if you are a hairdresser or do shiftwork (both Class 2A), you should seek a new career.”

In light of this research, the World Health Organization does not suggest that people stop eating red and processed meats altogether.

In their Question and Answer page regarding the issue, WHO states that “eating meat has known health benefits.”

However, they go on to advise people to “limit intake of processed meat and red meat, which are linked to increased risks of death from heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.”

Dr. Whitney Phillips is an assistant professor at Mercer University with a PhD in English. She has done years of extensive research around internet culture, specifically trolls.

She opened up her speech with a definition of what trolling is, or at least what she is referring to when she says “trolls.”

While “trolls” are usually defined as those who are stubborn or who cause unnecessary confusion and chaos for a laugh, too many people have done this at one point or another to consider them all trolls.

Dr. Whitney instead refers to trolls as those whose whole life style seems to revolve around these kinds of laughs, those who identify with the troll subculture—not your everyday jokester.

After all the formal terms were defined, she dove into what she believes to be the origin of trolling. According to Whitney, trolling subculture first surfaced around 2003, in the earlier days of the internet. They were largely unheard of and had no real public attention, that is, until 2008. That year marked the first real media attention given to trolls (mostly by Fox News).

As attention increased, so did the number of people who identified as trolls, and as the internet spread, so did trolling. Now it has become engrained in internet society; it is extremely easy to find examples of polls

Letter to the editor: The recent article “My journey into a BDSM dungeon,” recounting the activities in a local sex dungeon, was intended as a celebration of the accompanying consensual sexual encounters.

Despite assertions that this grim sexual exploitation is “beautiful,” “healthy” and “loving,” the hard truth is that no one comes out of a BDSM dungeon a better person, focused on truth, love or beauty.

A genuine desire for another’s good is never the motivation behind the infliction of sexual pain and shame upon another person. Choosing to receive or impose pain for the fulfillment of emotional and sexual desires is ultimately unloving and unsatisfying—harming another person for pleasure will not satiate the deeper source of discontent.

Getting a pleasure high from giving or receiving abuse calls for spiritual and emotional counsel, not affirmation.

The necessary understanding that the purpose of BDSM is not for the benefit of the other person, but rather for cor-

rupting, selfish gratification, reveals the greater issue that mutual consent has no bearing on whether the actions are right or wrong.

Two people’s agreement to use each other to indulge their individual, destructive desires does not magically transform their actions into constructive, benevolent practices. Regardless of consent, the mutual pursuit of sexual sadomasochism remains a harmful practice for the physical, emotional and spiritual health of all involved.

Contrasted with the contention that any sexual choice is right and good provided that both parties are willing, I put forward the countercultural conviction that right and wrong are independent of opinion. That there is an absolute designation of right sexual choices, of beauty, and of apt subject matter in the student paper. And that a BDSM dungeon is none of these.

Sincerely, Muriel Unseth

News

The Collegian: 4

2 November 2015

Yellow bikes honored with sustainability award The Henry Bellmon Sustainability Award was presented to the university this September because of our Yellow Bike Program and the TU Riders Network (TURN). Both programs have contributed to the health of our campus’ students and environment.

Sara Douglas Student Writer Several years ago, in an effort to increase foot-traffic and reduce the amount of driving on The University of Tulsa’s campus, university president Steadman Upham collaborated with the Sustainability Committee, Student Association, Campus Security and the Physical Plant to introduce the Yellow Bike program to TU. Since then, it has seen wide success.

With this award, the Yellow Bike program was recognized for creating “a campus culture of healthier living and environmental conservation.” Sustainable Tulsa and the Tulsa Southside Rotary Club and Foundation are responsible for granting the statewide annual Henry Bellmon Quality of Life for All prize.

The decision is based upon dedication to “quality of life, responsible economic growth and environmental stewardship.” In the video accompanying the Sustainability Award announcement, Upham states, “we wanted a pedestrianfriendly campus … (and) to accommodate clean, green transportation” on campus with the Yellow Bike program.

One of the challenges faced in getting the program up and running was “finding bikes that would be durable enough,” Upham says, as they are exposed to the elements and heavy usage.

But after a few brand changes, the last couple orders of new bikes have been placed through a consistent provider, and the bikes are of higher quality than in the early years.

The program began as a workaround to what many students viewed as a problem: biking was just a way to get to class faster once the parking system changed to lot-specific permits. Also, the university undertook construction efforts to move parking lots to the campus’ perimeter in 2008, sparking the need for improved non-driving transportation routes for students.

However, the bikes quickly became valued on their own

University officials accepted the Quality of Life for All award at a gala on Sept. 17 in Tulsa.

merit. Students soon recognized the ease and enjoyment of having a bike, and the demand for the program’s expansion grew. The University had purchased 350 bikes at the offset and found themselves having to purchase more in quick succession.

Now, more than 500 bicycles are involved in the program, each being checked out to a student for a semester. By 2016, the University expects to have more than 800 bikes available for students’ use. Bikers are also provided helmets and padlocks to ensure their and their bike’s safety. Also on campus are bike racks and repair stations in addition to the Bike Shop.

Along with involving students by employing a few at the Bike Shop, the Yellow Bike program also seeks to encourage biking through TURN , the TU Riders Network. The group provides resources to students, faculty and staff who wish to commute to work on bikes and also provides opportunities to bike to events in the community, like Food Truck Wednesdays at Guthrie Green.

“We believe that encouraging our students to be active is just part of having a well-rounded student body,” said Lau-

Sammie Hottel Student Writer US deploys Special Forces in Syria The White House announced on Friday President Obama’s decision to deploy a group of Special Forces troops in northern Syria to advise the Syrian forces fighting against the Islamic State. The troops will be stationed in rebel-held territory and will be responsible for coordinating airdrops and resupplies, as well as possibly coordinating air strikes from the ground. White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated that “less than fifty” troops would be deployed and that they “do not have a combat mission.” The area of deployment, however, is a hot combat zone, and the troops have the right to engage the enemy if attacked. They may also join the rebel forces on raids, but only if they receive explicit permission from Washington.

Irish Marriage Act 2015 signed into law After several months of delay, the Marriage Act 2015 was signed into law by the Presidential Commission in Ireland. The act, which legalizes same-sex weddings, was first introduced in May by popular vote. Ireland was the first country to introduce same sex marriage by popular vote, with over 60 percent of voters supporting the referendum.

After several legal battles, the Senead, Ireland’s equivalent of the Senate, passed the bill last week and the Presidential Commission signed it into law on Friday. According to Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald, wedding ceremonies could begin by mid-November.

The Marriage Act coincides with the controversial Gender Recognition Bill, which passed through the Senead in July, allowing transgender individuals to self-declare their gender.

Guantanamo Bay prisoner returns to Britain after release Shaker Aemer, a former British resident and Saudi national, was released from Guantanamo Bay Prison, arriving at London’s Biggin Hill Airport on Friday. He was first captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and was brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2002. He was suspected of being a “close associate of Osama Bin Laden.” He garnered support from British human rights groups after claiming that he suffered abuse and was imprisoned without formal charges. In a statement issued through his lawyers, Aemer thanked his supporters for their efforts to “bring an end to Guantanamo.”

Both British and American authorities will continue to monitor Aemer. A US official said, “They asked for him and now they got him. They’ll do what they need to do to watch him.”

China changes one-child policy, allowing parents two children In an effort to ensure China’s economic growth, the Chinese Communist Party leadership announced on Thursday that married couples would now be allowed two children. The National Health and Family Planning Commission, which enforces the child policy, stated that the change would “benefit sustained and healthy economic development” and that it would ““increase labor supply and ease pressures from an aging population.” The one-child policy was first imposed in the 1970s by Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who said the rule was necessary to ensure that “the fruits of economic growth are not devoured by population growth.” The recent change marks a dramatic shift in the party’s position on the issue.

North Korea to hold Worker’s Party convention North Korea’s ruling Worker’s Party, under Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, will hold its first party congress since 1980. The gathering will take place in May of next year and will mark the seventh official congress of the party. The official purpose of a party’s congress is to review or change significant party policies or to elect new leaders. According to a report from the official Korean Central News Agency, the party’s politburo stated that the congress was needed to strengthen the party’s role under the supreme leader. Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in South Korea, speculated that “Kim Jong-un will likely use the congress to present his new vision for his country and officially declare to his people that his era has arrived.”

courtesy utulsa.edu

ren Wagner, manager of TURN. Yellow Bikes also make it easier to get out into the local community for students without cars; they can bike to Drillers baseball games, concerts downtown, nearby coffee shops, nature trails and other places that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Yellow Bikes are not restricted to on-campus biking, although the Bike Shop’s manager, Steve Caywood, has expressed concern in the past over how students treat their bikes. Leaving them downtown or at Oktoberfest, not using the provided padlocks or laying them on the ground rather than standing them upright for storage are all easy ways for the bikes to get damaged or stolen.

The Henry Bellmon Award serves to emphasize the real benefits of having the Yellow Bike program on our campus.

Besides imbuing uniqueness to our campus culture, which University Ambassadors can point out while guiding campus tour groups, the Yellow Bikes enhance the health of our environment and community.

Tuesday, November 3-18 at 6:00 to 7:30 The University of Tulsa Bystander Intervention Training Bringing in the Bystander is a 90-minute training session that allows you to learn more about how you can play a role in ending sexual violence.

You will learn skills and tools to intervene safely and effectively in cases where sexual assault may be occurring or where there may be risk. You will develop skills to recognize inappropriate behavior relating to sexual and relationship violence and how to respond, using direct and indirect intervention methods, while keeping your own safety in mind.

A 4.5-hour session offered on Nov. 14 will certify attendees to train others on bystander intervention.

Registration required. Sign up at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BystanderTU. You will be notified of the location of the training after registration.

Wednesday, November 4 at 12:10pm to 12:50pm Lorton Hall, Room 314 CSAS Workshop: Stress Managment CSAS (Center for Student Academic Support) provides a number of workshops on a group or individual basis related to study skills, test-taking strategies and preparation, stress management, test anxiety, job search skills, presentation preparation, general anxiety, etc. Workshops are free and open to any student. Many instructors give extra credit for attending the workshops and attendance verification slips are available at the sessions.

No pre-registration is required. Bring your lunch and join us!

Thursday, November 5 at 4:00pm to 5:00pm Tyrrell Hall, 3020 Changing His Mind at the Speed of Thought: Einstein’s Failed Attempts to Undiscover Gravitational Waves The Honors Program invites you to this talk which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the theory of General Relativity.

In November 1915, Albert Einstein published his theory of General Relativity. This talk examines Einstein’s life over the next several years, a period of war, poor health and personal turmoil, which ended with him becoming world famous in 1919 as a result of the famous British eclipse expedition which vindicated his theory.

We also examine one important physics prediction that he deduced from the theory: gravitational waves. Here too, the path was far from smooth, and Einstein remained, for many years, very skeptical of their existence. This culminated in 1936 when he angrily withdrew a paper from the Physical Review after being criticized for trying to prove that his theory did not, after all, predict their existence.

All Workshops are on Wednesdays from 12:10 p.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Friday, November 6 at 7:30pm Lorton Performance Center, Gussman Concert Hall Cappella Chamber Singers and TU Chorale The University of Tulsa School of Music presents Cappella Chamber Singers and TU Chorale in a fall concert November 6.

Dr. Kim Childs will conduct the concert, featuring the J. S. Bach motet Jesu, Meine Freude. Other works include Samuel Barber’s Reincarnations and compositions by Haydn, Clausen, Sametz and others.

The concert will also feature student conductors Carter Jameson, Melanie Piché, Katie Creed and Thomas Adams.

The concert, which will be held in the Gussman Concert Hall at the Lorton Performance Center, is free and open to the public.

Saturday, November 7 at 10:00am to 12:00pm Keplinger Hall, M1 Mind and Meditation Join us for a blissful morning of meditiation, with a guided meditation session, the science of breathing, and its relation to the mind.

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

Contact News Editor Fraser Kastner at fjk219@utulsa.edu with events.

Commentary

2 November 2015

The Collegian: 5

SA’s Judicial Council should be more transparent

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer SA’s Judicial Procedure currently keeps everything confidential. That should change.

As it currently stands, basically all of the records involving SA’s Judicial Council are confidential.

Section 7 of the Judicial Procedure states that “The proceedings, minutes, and other documents of the Judicial Council shall be considered confidential property of the Judicial Council, and cannot be released.”

In practice, this means that judicial hearings are closed to anyone not directly connected to a case and that those who know about it can’t say anything except for the outcome. By outcome, I do not mean the opinion.

For instance, Jeffery Bacon, a representative for TU for Bernie Sanders, was able to tell the club’s members that the Judicial Council did not rule in their favor, but he couldn’t share any part of the one or two page opinion that explained why the Judicial Council ruled the way that it did.

Such a strict policy should require a compelling justification.

However, I couldn’t find one. In contrast, there are several good reasons to have an open court system.

One of the reasons cited for the confidentiality is the desire to uphold the reputation both of SA and of the parties involved. Keeping the proceedings confidential would keep any sort of defaming statements made during the hearing from becoming public. Also, since the Judicial Council has the power to review elections, it could

become the theatre in a political food fight.

While SA has a legitimate interest in addressing these issues, they are hardly compelling reasons for a universal gag rule. If an SA official does something in violation of SA’s governing documents, it’s only right that it be known publicly. If the violation was done maliciously or recklessly, he deserves to have a hit to his reputation.

I’m not convinced that defamation would be a major issue, though. While the Judicial Procedure is extremely broad, it still only covers the actual judicial process. It doesn’t prevent someone from talking about the case before the hearing. I find pre-hearing rumors far more likely to occur than someone doing so at the hearing itself.

Even if one is concerned about defamation at the hearing though, changing the policy would allow the victim to respond better. It would bring light into the process that would better enable the recognition of a bad actor.

For a similar reason, fear of political food fights is misguided.

An open process would provide a greater incentive not to bring petty or frivolous suits. As it stands, someone can do so in secret, but an open process would mean that someone could face ridicule from the student body for bringing such a suit.

The fear of political food fights also ignores that many of the cases of the Judicial Council are institutional in nature. SA President Whitney House said that, of the cases she’s aware, there were cases involving elections, the power of the Vice President to reschedule a Senate meeting, the President’s line-item veto and a club charter.

The latter three all relate directly to the institutional workings of SA. Their nature rises above mere personal battles in that the student body has a tremendous interest in knowing how its student government operates.

A totally different reason for the confidentiality is concern about FERPA requirements. FERPA is a law that requires universities to

keep student academic records, which include things like transcripts, enrollment and disciplinary actions, to be kept private. This would be a compelling reason if SA was involved with FERPA issues, but it isn’t.

Yolanda Taylor, the Dean of Students, provided The Collegian with this statement: “Student Association proceedings generally are not considered academic records… The Student Association can implement specific policies governing judicial cases but, again, the proceedings are not protected

by FERPA. As it stands, no party in the case can talk about the decision or the proceedings. However, this is not a FERPA requirement.”

In contrast to the inadequate reasons for the confidentiality, there are many good reasons to support more transparency. One of them is for the benefit of the Judicial Council itself. By not having the opinion be public, people are left to guess at the Judicial Council’s motives. It’s unable to explain itself. If someone suspects ill-motives as to an opinion, there is no way to see if perhaps the Judicial Council had some good points.

Another reason is for the benefit of Senate and the President.

Each year the President appoints justices and the Senate confirms.

While one can infer the outcome of many proceedings, one can’t actually know how the justices voted. If one justice consistently offers absurd or malicious legal opinions, there would be no way to know.

Theoretically, a justice could have written an opinion based solely on personal reasons, and neither Senate nor the President would know.

Ryan Lane, an associate justice, wrote, “If we expect Senate to make an informed decision when justices are up for re-confirmation every year, how can they do so if they aren’t privy to the decisions that the Judicial Council makes? I think shrouding the workings and decisions of the Judicial Council in needless secrecy serves to benefit no one and is a disservice to the idea of a transparent Student

Association.” of what happened. That I wasn’t Another reason, already touched able to talk about what I witnessed upon, is for the benefit of students. and said in the meeting was very Students deserve to know how strange, and made me rather untheir government functions. For comfortable.” instance, in the TU for Bernie Secret courts with confidential Sanders case, there were mentions proceedings have a tendency to of IRS policy as a justification for make people feel uncomfortable. the decision.

GOC will consider changing the The only mention of the IRS in Judicial Procedure soon. Ideally, any of SA’s governing documents almost all of the confidentiality has to do with “the IRS standard rules would be repealed. A good mileage rate.” Must organizations reform would be to allow hearings now familiarize themselves with to be open to other students and the tax code? Not totally. The IRS The Collegian. justification was about TU retainThe most important thing, ing its non-profit status. though, is that judicial opinions Institutions can lose it if they and proceedings be open to disdo anything that could be inter- cussion. If GOC does believe that preted as supporting a particular confidentiality might be needed in candidate. Still, if this is a new the future, it could always make it standard, albeit one that has no ba- possible to conceal the opinion afsis in SA’s governing documents, ter a request is made by one of the students should be aware that they parties involved and if a majority now have to look at both SOC and of the justices agree to concealing some IRS guidelines. it. Transparency should be the deOne more reason for more trans- fault, though. parency is that the judicial procedure appears to be partly unenforceable.

People involved in a hearing do not sign a confidentiality agreement. When asked if SA would take any action against a non-SA official who violated the Procedure, Whitney House said no. Rules that remain on the books but that have no potency serve no real purpose and unnecessarily threaten students.

TU for Bernie Sanders representative Morgan Krueger (full disclosure: she is also The Collegian’s Editor in Chief) said, “it Ryan Lane, associate justice was strange that I wasn’t allowed to tell my club members most

I think shrouding the workings and decisions of the Judicial Council in needless secrecy serves to benefit no one and is a disservice to the idea of a transparent Student Association.”

The biological side of crime: Helpful or harmful?

Neurocriminology is a new field that has some worried about labeling someone a criminal before they’ve committed a crime.

Linh Phan Student Writer When brain imaging started twenty years ago, it opened up a way for researchers to study the brains of violent people and compare them to normal ones.

This new field is called Neurocriminology.

It is considered to be, “an emerging subdiscipline of biocriminology and criminology in general, which applies brain imaging techniques and principles from neuroscience to understand, predict and prevent crime,” according to our good friend Wikipedia.

The new field is more roughly known as explaining crime based on brain imaging.

Adrian Raine, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is a pioneer in this field.

He conducts brain imaging studies on murderers and the results have convinced him that there exists another side to violent behaviours, apart from what we have known such as the social or environmental ones.

“There’s a biological basis also to recidivistic violent offending,” Raine stated in his book: The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime.

Raine said this will help us redirect our way of preventing as well as rehabilitating the criminals.

If criminal behavior is indeed caused by the biology of one’s brain, then parts of those behaviours are uncontrollable. Should we still hold people fully responsible?

According to Raine’s research, his own brain scan image resembles that of the serial killer Randy Kraft.

It encouraged him to think of why he doesn’t become a violent offender, and what keeps him away from that path.

He answered the question himself that love could be the critical ingredient.

“I always felt loved. There was always a roof over my head. There was always a secure environment.

And I got on with my brothers and sisters.”

This also raises a question about the death penalty.

In criminal law, there are two broad elements to a crime: actus reus (the guilty act) and mens rea (the guilty mind).

The rationale behind the rule is that it is wrong for society to punish those who innocently cause harm.

Since the brain, which you are born with and unable to control, is involved in the act, should the mens rea be reduced in some way, and therefore should the punishment be mitigated?

Type in “death penalty” in Google and one of the top ten results you’ll get is “doesn’t work.”

Maybe it really doesn’t help deter crime at all?

The death penalty has been abolished in many parts of the world.

Raine is from England, where the death penalty doesn’t exist.

“You just think, ‘That’s crazy, having the death penalty,’” he said.

Another question arises is the help of this research in detecting violence.

Can we just go and scan everyone’s brains, or at least the suspect’s, to find out if they have a chance of being a violent criminal?

And to secure safety for everyone by preventing future wrongdoing, should those people be under watch?

This somehow conflicts with

the actus reus (guilty act) requirement of criminal law.

It is clearly irrational to put someone in jail for what they haven’t done yet.

Neurocriminology has proved to have certain effects on court and society’s legal decision.

Brain scans are beginning to be used as mitigating evidence by US legal defense teams.

While there are not yet preventative programs in place that would utilize the recent field of

neurocriminology, there do exist offender rehabilitation programs.

These interesting concepts are potentially groundbreaking in moving our insight and effectiveness in dealing with criminal behaviours forward.

Nevertheless, a deeper and broader understanding will only be more compelling.

And hopefully, based on that, legislators can bring the law one step closer to “justice.”

graphic by digitalbob8

In the future, more sophisticated brain scans may be able to predict crime before it occurs. This creates the questions of what society should do with such information.

The Collegian: 6

Commentary

2 November 2015

What to look for after the Republican debate

graphic by flickr

The GOP has produced a plethora of presidential candidates this election cycle. The three front runners are billionaire Donald Trump, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former CEO Carly Fiorina. However, there are other candidates who are likely to receive the Republican nomination.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer The most likely candidates for the GOP nomination aren’t necessarily in the top three.

Previously, The Collegian has provided in-depth coverage for three of the current Republican presidential candidates: Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump.

At one time, all these candidates were at the top of the polls. Trump and Carson still are.

However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that any of them will be the nominee.

Trump, with all his bombast and ignorance of policy, is unacceptable to a sizeable portion of the Republican Party.

Carson has shown difficulties with policy, and has had a few stumbles along the cam-

paign trail that would likely keep more establishment voters from embracing his candidacy. Of the three, Fiorina could probably be the most unifying, but she’s dipped in the polls, and the fact that she’s never held office could also be a problem for her.

So, in effect, the candidates The Collegian has covered so far all have major hurdles to the nomination, despite the high poll numbers for Trump and Carson. Of the twelve major GOP candidates remaining, four probably have the best chances after the October 28 CNBC debate.

Marco Rubio The most notable of these candidates is Florida senator Marco Rubio. While his previous debate performances received some praise, in this debate he has been almost universally described as the winner.

Recently there’s been some controversy about how often he misses votes in the Senate. Jeb Bush, his former mentor, called on him to resign during the latest debate. Rubio responded in a way that was dignified but made Bush seem petty. He basically accused Bush of only bringing up the issue since Rubio is now his competitor. It’s widely considered a winning moment for Rubio in the debate.

Rubio is an eloquent speaker who has an

obvious command of the issues. His campaign stresses the theme of “a New American Century.” His youth is also an asset since it helps him with that message.

Perhaps his greatest asset is that he’s considered acceptable to a broad part of the party. He’s competent and electable enough that the establishment can accept him, but he also has tea party roots and is generally not considered an unacceptable candidate to the base. The one exception is the most fervent anti-immigration parts of the GOP, who see him as too open to amnesty. At this point in the race, analysts typically give him a greater chance of becoming the nominee than they do any other candidate.

Jeb Bush Jeb Bush had a poor performance during the last debate. His other debate performances have been underwhelming, so he needed to impress with this one. He failed to do that. He also lost when he directly engaged Rubio. However, this doesn’t mean Bush is out of the race yet. He still has a considerable amount of money with his campaign committee, but the real money is with the super PAC supporting him. The Iowa caucuses aren’t until February, so Bush still has time to improve his campaign.

Chris Christie However, should Bush falter, a lot of analysts think that Chris Christie is best poised to take his place as the establishment favorite. He had a solid debate performance. He was able to look directly into the camera and tell the American people that the government has been lying about entitlements.

Also, with Donald Trump in the race, there is little concern about Christie being too combative. He looks downright docile by comparison.

Ted Cruz Analysts generally described Ted Cruz as doing very well in the debate, and this has helped them consider the possibility that he will be the Republican nominee. Ted Cruz is solidly aligned with the Tea Party and has the reputation of being a fighter. This has made him very popular with a certain segment of the right, but has made others more weary of his candidacy.

If Trump or Carson’s campaign falters, he may pick up support from their voters. He’ll have to win over more moderate voters in order to win the nomination, but he’s well poised to be the “conservative alternative” should any of the other three candidates become the likely nominees.

I’m Tired: Being black and dealing with the police brutality narrative in America The recent incident involving Deputy Officer Ben Fields is yet another example of how the US doesn’t think #blacklivesmatter.

Isaac Sanders Student Writer

I am going to attempt to put into words the irritation and fury that resides in my body after witnessing another black teenage girl get manhandled by an authority figure.

The situation between Deputy Officer Ben Fields and the student who was being disobedient in class has floored me, and every time I see someone defending this man’s actions I feel personally attacked.

Before I delve into that, I want to set the scene for people who are asking for “the full story.” The girl in the video was recently put into a foster home due to the death of her mother. The foster home was in a different school district so she had to uproot her life, go to this new school and restart, which is not easy for anyone.

Fast forward to math class where the student refused to go to the office for having her phone out in class. After refusing both the teacher and the administrator that was called in later, Deputy Ben Fields made his appearance. The student refused to leave the class, was told she was under arrest and then was flipped out of her desk into another desk which cut open her face. Another student who was enraged by the incident was also arrested because she verbally challenged the officers actions. Deputy Ben Fields has been

fired and the two students are the possibility brutality. people who are supposed to protect you are of one thousand dollar fines or up to 90 days This is common, this has become around and I AM TIRED. in jail. expected and I am tired. I am tired of living Also, honestly, I am tired of talking about With that being said, I want to ad- in a world where fifteen year old black girls police brutality and race but I promise you, dress this next section to the people who can be sat on by police officers and detained. until it is resolved, I will scream from the agree with Deputy Fields actions’. I want I’m tired of reading hashtag after hashtag highest mountain top, the lowest valley, the you to understand that this situation and the of unarmed people killed by police. I am steps of McFarlin, until I am blue in the face death of unarmed black people in America, tired of seeing people blame black people that my life matters because for some reais the reason I do not feel my life is valued for their own deaths over and over and over son, America does not get that. as a black man. Any way you paint this pic- again. I’m tired of being fearful of police ofture it still is a power dynamic based on ficers in every situation of my life. It is hard More information on police brutality can race, class and sex. Ben Fields can claim his being black and not feeling safe when the be found at wetheprotestors.org. black girlfriend is proof he isn’t racist all he wants to, but it does not change the systemic racism in the law enforcement institution in the great country of the United States.

At least 257 black people have been killed in the United States due to police violence in 2015 alone. Black people are 3 times more likely to be killed by police officers than white people, and 33 percent of those black victims were unarmed compared to the 18 percent of white victims. I am six times more likely to be killed in Oklahoma than in Georcourtesy wikimedia gia due to police Protestors carry signs in New York City as a part of a Black Lives Matter demonstration.

2 November 2015

Commentary

The Collegian: 7

Variety

2 November 2015

the Collegian: 7

Yoshi’s Woolly World leaves players feeling warm and fuzzy

courtesy nintendonews

Yoshi’s newest adventure has incredible music and creative level design, all wrapped up in an adorable textile package.

James Whisenhunt Student Writer Yoshi’s Woolly World is the first Yoshi game on a home console since 1998’s Yoshi’s Story on Nintendo 64. The new Wii U title was developed by Goodfeel, who found success in another textilethemed game, Kirby’s Epic Yarn for Wii. The main similarity between Epic Yarn and Woolly World is also the first thing players will notice about Woolly World: the game is adorable. The yarn-knit Yoshi runs, jumps and eats his way through a bright and colorful world made of fabric, yarn and cotton.

This cute vibe is supported by the soundtrack, which provides happy-go-lucky tracks that range from electronic to country tracks and jazz. The tracks use an extraordinary diversity of instruments to help convey each level’s mood.

While Epic Yarn and Woolly

World look very similar, Yoshi’s newest romp takes its gameplay inspiration and scenario from the Super Nintendo classic Yoshi’s Island.

The basic gameplay is simple: Woolly World is a 2D sidescrolling platformer. Yoshi moves from left to right toward the end of the level, jumping over pits, throwing eggs at obstacles and enemies, and eating enemies and objects to create new eggs to throw.

The core gameplay is based around these three simple actions.

However, each has its own intricacies that allow the player a lot of room for creativity and give them plenty of tools to use as they see fit. For example, eating an enemy and creating eggs from those enemies both stop Yoshi in the air, allowing players extra time to wait for the movement of platforms or stay above other enemies.

Another tool Yoshi always has at his disposal is his flutter jump.

By holding the jump button, Yoshi’s yarn legs will transform into a propeller, giving his jump extra length and a small height boost at the end. This can be used for everything from recovering from a misjudged jump, to avoiding being hit by aerial enemies, to discovering a level’s secret passages.

Those secret passages will re-

quire every tool Yoshi has, as many of them are very well-hidden in Woolly World’s adorable levels.

The levels all feel passionately and intelligently designed by the Goodfeel team. Multiple levels in every world will introduce completely new elements, like yarn outlines of platforms that need to be filled in or birds to throw that leave cloud trails that Yoshi can walk on. These levels do a good job of exploring the possibilities of each of the elements they introduce.

Some may feel that this breakneck pace of new mechanics can make the game feel a bit disjointed. The game’s six worlds don’t have overall themes to unify their eight levels, which is fairly atypical when talking about Nintendo’s platforming games. While Woolly World’s design philosophy may not be the most consistent, the constant influx of new ideas makes the overall game more enjoyable.

On the surface, Woolly World is a fairly easy game. One thing that didn’t carry over from Yoshi’s Island, and something that is thankfully beginning to fall out of popularity in the platforming genre, is a life system that kicks players out of the level after an arbitrary number of deaths.

The only penalty for death in

this game is being reset to the last checkpoint. This allows players to continue working on the pieces of levels they struggle with without forcing them to replay the rest of the level over and over again.

Another way to reduce difficulty is to use the Mellow Mode.

This mode gives Yoshi wings, effectively allowing him to breeze past parts of the game that are too challenging to complete on the game’s regular mode. This allows players with less experience in the platforming genre to enjoy the entire game as well.

While levels are never very difficult to simply finish, it can be surprisingly difficult to find all of the hidden collectibles needed to reach 100 percent completion, which also requires completing each level with full health.

One such collectible is five yarn balls hidden in each levels. Finding all five of these in a level will give the player a new costume of Yoshi to use.

These costumes are a big incentive because they are creative and adorable. Some costumes are based off other characters in the game, like Shy Guy Yoshi or Poochy Yoshi.

Others are created simply because they’re cute, like the personal favorites Moo Moo Yoshi and

Citrus Yoshi.

Another way to collect costumes is to scan in Nintendo’s Skylander-esque “amiibo” character figurines. Scanning amiibo in the overworld will give Yoshi a costume based on that character. It may not be worth running out to buy amiibo for, but it’s certainly a bonus for people that already own the figures.

Despite a few small design problems, Woolly World is a showcase of what makes Nintendo’s platformers great. Its levels always feel fresh and the designers are always able to impress with their new ideas. Its music is enjoyable and catchy enough to absent-mindedly whistle while going about your day. The textile graphic style is used creatively and succeeds in making the game feel warm and inviting.

Most importantly, though, is that Yoshi’s Woolly World is fun!

It is highly recommended to newer players looking for something to play a couple levels at a time with a friend, as well as to platforming veterans that are willing to search high and low to complete the game and unlock all the adorable prizes Goodfeel has hidden for them.

tucollegian@tucollegian.org

“twenty-one plus”

editor-in-chief

Morgan Krueger Custom cocktail creations and accompanying critiques presented by TU’s own hobbyist mixologist.

Sara Douglas Student Writer Cinn-Gin Crantini* *Approved by Jess Chouteau Outstanding Senior 2 oz. London dry gin 1 oz. amaretto 1 oz. triple sec 1 oz. cinnamon liqueur 2 oz. cranberry juice 2-3 crystallized ginger slices few dashes orange bitters orange peel twist 1 tsp. cinnamon + 1 T. sugar

Giselle Willis news editor

Fraser Kastner

over a bright cranberry base.

The dry gin incorporates almond, orange and herbal accents that are emphasized by the amaretto, orange liqueur and bitters, crystallized ginger and cinnamon. A subtle sweetness underlies nearly all of the components of this cocktail, resulting in a sharp yet satisfyingly sippable libation. It’s really the perfect autumnal apéritif.

sports editor

Matt Rechtien variety editor

Kayleigh Thesenvitz commentary editor

Hannah Kloppenburg satire editor

Caitlin Woods

Dip rim of martini glass in cranberry juice, then coat in cinnamon sugar blend and chill. Muddle crystallized ginger with orange bitters in mixing glass. Add gin, amaretto, triple sec, liqueur, juice and ice. Stir vigorously to chill drink, then strain into martini glass. Garnish with orange peel twist.

Drink this if: You’re already looking forward to Thanksgiving break—who isn’t?—and want a fresh but savory drink to accompany autumn’s briskness. Modeled after my grandma’s cranberry jam recipe, this gin-based martini mixes crisp citrus with warm spices

managing editor

photo & graphics editor

Elias Brinkman

business & advertising manager

Paul Moses web manager

Sam Chott

distribution managers

Katie Hill, Walker Womack, Witt Womack and Kyranna Gilstrap photo by Sara Douglas

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

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

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

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

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

Variety

the Collegian: 8

2 November 2015

LAGQ guitarist returns to hometown

courtesy publicbroadcasting

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, a world-famous group with a T-Town connection, will be visiting the University of Tulsa next week.

Hannah Kloppenburg Commentary Editor Do you like Bach? How about bluegrass?

If not, maybe classic rock? Or Latin music?

Congratulations! The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has something for you.

LAGQ is a Grammy award-winning guitar quartet, one of the most notable in the world of classical guitar.

The group is famous for albums such as

“Guitar Heroes” and “LAGQ-Latin,” and its four members each have outstanding solo careers as well.

The quartet covers contemporary and classical music ranging from Latin, African, Far East, Irish, Folk and American classics in each concert.

Though LAGQ is an internationally renowned classical guitar group, they also have a local connection: one of their members is a Tulsa native.

Matthew Greif is the youngest and most recent member of LAGQ, having joined the group in 2006.

He comes from a family of musicians, which ensured that his early musical education included a myriad of instruments and musical styles.

Despite focusing on the violin as a child, he first began to show a strong interest in the guitar at the age of 12, when he got his first electric guitar.

Greif began playing classically around 13 or 14, and the rest is history. He studied extensively throughout college and went on to join the Falla Guitar Trio and finally, LAGQ. Greif has studied classical styles in Spain, has extensive experience with jazz, rock, flamenco and bluegrass, and has played with a variety of well-known guitarists such as Chet Atkins.

He has also studied with TU’s own classical guitar professor Michael Fowler.

Matthew Greif currently teaches classical and jazz guitar at Cal State University,

El Camino College and Los Angeles Harbor College.

Greif’s musical versatility speaks for the talent of the entire group—an LAGQ concert is an unparalleled experience, spanning countless musical genres, styles and time periods.

Next Monday, Matthew Greif and the rest of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will be returning to Tulsa once more.

The concert will be held in Gussman Concert Hall at the Lorton Performance Center and begins at 7:30 pm.

The performance is free and open to the public.

Spielberg strikes cinematic gold with Bridge of Spies Steven Spielberg’s latest film ranks among his best works in plot, style and superb acting.

Joshua Ridgway Student Writer Wow, just wow. That is the only reaction I can have after watching this movie. I wasn’t even outside the theater before I was on the phone telling my mother to go see this masterpiece.

I believe this is the best movie Spielberg has ever done, and this is coming from a diehard Saving Private Ryan and Jurassic Park fan.

The combination of the performances, technical aspects and plot combined to

make Bridge of Spies a potential candidate for movie of the year. Nearly everything about this movie is so close to perfect, I’d compare it to The Godfather.

The ability of Spielberg to pull off this kind of quality is all the more amazing since this is not an allstar cast. With the exception of Tom Hanks as the lead, there are no big name actors. Instead the cast is made up of relatively unknown character actors including Mark Rylance as Rudolph Abel, Amy Ryan as Mary Donovan, Scott Sheppard as Agent Hoffman, and Austin Stowell as Francis Gary Powers.

The story itself is relatively simple. A Russian spy is caught and Hanks’ character, James Donovan, is asked to represent him in court. Afterwards Donovan negotiates a prisoner exchange for the spy and two Americans, a pilot and a student.

Tom Hanks gave an outstanding performance in Steven Spielberg’s newest film.

I was afraid that the bulk of the movie would focus on the trial of Rudolf Abel, the spy, in a To Kill a Mockingbird way (with the moral implications zeroed in on every

deals with the world around him that’s ready to explode.

Each performance is enthralling. None of the actors dared turn in merely “good”

“Throughout Bridge of Spies it was sometimes hard to remember that Hanks is not the real James Donovan.” man deserving equal treatment before the law). I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t the case.

Instead the focus is on Donovan, his convictions of right and wrong, and how he

courtesy IMDB

performance, especially Hanks. Not many actors have managed to remain a cultural icon for over 25 years, and it’s performances like this that keep Hanks in the public eye. Throughout Bridge of Spies it was sometimes hard to remember that Hanks is not the real James Donovan. Rylance and Shepherd also gave stand-out performances among the cast.

Visually, the film captures the symbolic bleakness of the world at the time. Oodles of grey, deep blues and browns blanket the set; all other colors are extremely muted. A dramatic shift takes place in the color scheme during the final scene, when the world is allowed to hope again.

If the movie has any downside, it’s the music. This is one of the few Spielberg movies not to be scored by John Williams, and it’s painfully obvious. Thomas Newman stepped in, and while the score is not horrible, it lacks a certain intensity we’ve come to expect with Spielberg’s movies. Most of the time you won’t even notice it’s there, it’s that generic. Not horrible, just disappointing.

All in all, this is an incredible telling of an incredible true story. With so many films billing themselves as “based on a true story” in recent years, like Pearl Harbor, Argo, U-571, and Pocahontas, it’s refreshing get the sense that there are no embellishments or creative license made to this one.You feel as if you are watching the events as they happened in real life.

A fantastic historical movie that actually gets its history right, I give Bridge of Spies a standing 5 out of 5 stars, with a strong recommendation that you go see this in theaters ASAP.

Variety

2 November 2015

the Collegian: 9

TU’s opening Symphony Orchestra production a hit

The TU school of music’s opening production was a success that showcased our young talent.

Linh Phan Student Writer On Monday, October 26, TU’s school of music had the opening symphony orchestra production of the season.

Every year, the school of music has a calendar full of events, from September to April.

“Unless specified otherwise, all performances [on the School of Music calendar] are held in the Lorton Performance Center and are free and open to the public.”

Having always considered myself a music lover, I cannot miss any chance to go to concerts. The first big concert of the year, which took place in Gussman Hall, was undoubtedly a huge success.

The concert started at 7:30 pm and was comprised of three pieces: an Overture by Mendelssohn, a work for Strings and Harp

by Elgar, and a full symphony by Tchaikovsky: “Little Russian.”

Crane prepared for this event at a conducting workshop at the University of Colorado.

courtesy Drew Crane

TU Orchestra was wholly presented, along with two conductors. One of the conductors was Professor Richard Wagner, the second one TU junior Drew Crane. The presence of a student conductor brought a new air to the orchestra.

After the concert, I had a chance to talk with our two wonderful conductors. When asked why these pieces, Professor Wagner

Crane said, “It feels like home, and at the same time so amazing up there.”

Crane also shared that the orchestra practiced hard for this, and due to time conflicts, he had to practice with each group separately. At first, the musicians had problems following his baton, but step by step, they got used to it, and it finally bloomed into a magnificent performance last Monday.

“The concert was indeed a wonderful opening to what will hopefully be a good season for the TU Symphony Orchestra.” proudly said: “I chose them! I chose these because they are pieces that can show off the competency of the orchestra.”

According to Professor Wagner, it took eight weeks to practice and prepare for the stage. He said in order to know whether the night was a success, look at the audience.

Based on what I saw that night, it must have been! Everyone stayed, lingered, cheered and chatted. Since the audience was happy, the performance must have been a success.

What made this year’s opening a special one was the presence of a student conductor. Professor Wagner claimed that this only happens whenever we have a student who is qualified enough for the job.

Crane is a junior studying Piano Performance and has taken several conducting classes. However, TU does not offer a conducting major.

Crane shared that this was not his first time conducting an orchestra or TU ensembles, but it was his first official time with TU symphony orchestra.

Of the three pieces, Crane conducted the middle one, Sospiri, which means “Sighs” in Italian. It’s a beautiful work about the death of the composer’s close family friend, who is a violinist.

“This is not a simply sad piece,” Crane said.

Sospiri was originally a companion to Elgar’s popular “Salute d’Amour,” which explains the romantic air found in a piece about war and loss Crane said the piece, “describes love at a more mature stage, like an older couple still in love. It doesn’t contain the fiery passion as young love does (like Salut D’Amore), but rather it has a more mellow energy, like a sigh of content.”

The concert was indeed a wonderful opening to what will hopefully be a good season for the TU symphony orchestra, featuring all the best and most brilliant of our musicians. Due to their earnest devotion to bring joy and pleasure to the audiences, I am looking forward to future performances.

Halo 5: Guardians fails to deliver, has few redeeming qualities Halo 5: Guardians is filled with a lot of issues like the lack of split-screen, unfriendly multiplayer and a disapointing campaign.

Jacob Eddy Student Writer In case you were somehow immune to Microsoft’s marketing, Halo 5: Guardians recently released, marking 343 Industries’ second entry into the Halo series.

Being a longtime fan of the previous, I decided to pick up a copy. After waiting for a hefty nine gigabyte update, I jumped straight into campaign.

Halo 5’s campaign was marketed as being the deepest, most expansive in the series.

It was supposed to feature new characters, a duo-tagonist system where the player gets to enjoy the story through both the eyes of Master Chief and the newly introduced Locke, and the most engaging gameplay of any Halo title to date, all at a stunning 60 frames per second.

As it turns out, 343 Industries enjoys celebrating April Fools Day year round because the campaign was anything but what they promised.

The new characters lack, well… character. Most of the characters’ dialogue is strictly exposition, as if the whole purpose of them being present was to explain why they are present.

There are maybe one or two instances when the characters have anything interesting to say but the rest just sounds like bad fanfiction.

Halo 5’s advertising built the story up to be some manhunt for a rogue super soldier, as if the master chief had suddenly turned traitor.

In the actual game, Master Chief is only a couple of missions, spanning maybe a

ize the game, but I didn’t really notice the change from 30 frames per second. Considering that they dropped co-op gameplay (something the Halo series is known for) and a lot of graphical fidelity to acquire this, I’d call it a tremendous loss.

The levels looked interesting but lacked any replay ability. The friendly AI, designed to help out and revive you when you need it was so dumb it hurt.

More often than not the AI would get stuck trying to figure out the best way to walk around a boulder.

There were very few interesting encounters. The largest “boss” battle was a gigantic, menacing machine that looked like a cross between a reaper from Mass Effect and one of those tripods from “War of The Worlds.”

Sadly, just as I was getting excited to fight this monster of an enemy, I found out it had one very obvious weakness and it was nothing but rubble in under a minute.

This type of experience is a trend in Halo 5: build something up, make it look interesting, then throw it away as quickly as possible. Halo 5’s campaign can best be described as a chocolate Easter Bunny filled with lint. On the outside it looks like a lot of fun and you can’t wait to get your hands on it, but after one bite a wave of regret washes over you.

The outside still isn’t bad, but you’ll never get that taste out of your mouth.

“343 Industries enjoys celebrating April Fools Day year round” few days at most. On top of that, the scene where he “goes rogue,” consists of him saying he’s going to check something out really quick and be right back.

It seemed like an overreaction to declare him dead, make up a false story about how the hero of the galaxy was killed, spread that story across all of known space, and assemble a team to hunt him down.

The actual gameplay of the campaign isn’t much better. They advertised the 60 frames per second as if it would revolution-

While the campaign may leave a lot to be desired, the multiplayer is actually quite good.

The new 24 player mode called “Warzone” is large scale Halo chaos which only escalates the further into the match you are.

The beginning of a match consists of entire teams engaging each other with regular assault rifles and pistols. By the

end all the stops have been pulled out and the game becomes a wonderful mixture of heavy ordnance and guerrilla warfare.

The addition of REQ packs makes War-

concerns. I hate being betrayed as much as the next guy, but such a strict system means it could be very hard for somebody who is just starting to learn how to play.

“Halo 5’s campaign can be best described as a chocolate Easter Bunny filled with lint.” zone all the more engaging, as players can earn one-time-use cards which can be used in game to spawn vehicles, weapons or power ups.

Each item is given a different tier based on how powerful it is, and as the game progresses, players are allowed to use increasingly powerful tiers. This prevents players from spawning something like a tank at the start of a game.

My experience with the classic multiplayer was also incredibly fun, for as long as it lasted.

My first game of the classic multiplayer (called “arena”) was far more engaging than I was expecting. My team was winning, I had the second most points, and all was going well. That is, until I threw one of the new grenades.

The function of this grenade is to explode once, then explode again if anyone walks where it was thrown. Five seconds after I threw it, an unsuspecting teammate rounded the corner and met an explosive demise.

I didn’t think much of it, after all, it was an explosive, it happens.

A few minutes passed and I found myself in a firefight with another enemy player. I threw another grenade, this time sticking him right in the chest, when he ran up to my teammate and caught him in the explosion.

Immediately and without warning I was kicked from the game for being a team killer.

Once this happened, I started to have

Furthermore, why put extremely powerful explosive weaponry on a very small map? Considering the cost of betraying a teammate, why not just disable friendly fire?

With these questions in my head I decided it was worth a second shot, so I started up another game.

This time I was extra careful not to disgruntle the easily agitated automated ban hammer.

I kept my grenades to myself and ended up making it all the way to the end of the game. As the screen displayed the “Defeat” message and the game wrapped up, I was suddenly disconnected from the match.

Games often have these problems right after launch, so it wasn’t a huge deal. The ban hammer overlord disagreed with me, and I was immediately slapped with a ban lasting three hours.

Thus ended my exploration of Halo 5: Guardians.

In summation, the campaign was a disappointing mess, the lack of split screen leaves a large portion of the Halo audience abandoned, the sacrifices to ensure 60 frames per second are more noticeable than the payoff, and the only multiplayer modes that don’t seem to want to ban you on a moment’s notice are Warzone and free-for-all.

Honestly, the multiplayer gameplay by itself is actually pretty great and the game might even be worth buying solely for it, but that’s like saying a house fire is pretty good as long as you just want to roast marshmallows.

courtesy meristation graphic by Eli Brinkman

Sports

The Collegian: 10

2 November 2015

Women’s basketball season preview The women’s basketball team will begin their season a week from Friday, and will look to build off of their success from last season.

Tulsa finished ahead of Tulane in conference play, the Green Wave made it to the NCAA Tournament because of their nonconference play. This season includes games against Kansas State, Saint Louis, Arkansas

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor The start of the women’s basketball season is less than two weeks away, and the Golden Hurricane are excited to begin their second season in the American Athletic Conference after finishing their inaugural season with a third place finish.

“It’s probably the most excited I’ve been since I’ve been at TU about our team and about the season starting,” Head Coach Matilda Mossman said.

This is Mossman’s fifth season at Tulsa, and she’s looking to take Tulsa to their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2006.

This year the Golden Hurricane are led by seniors Ashley Clark, Kelsee Grovey and Antoinet Webster.

Mossman said, “Each senior class has raised the bar a little bit more from the year ahead of them and so the team won eighteen games last year and we went to postseason play. Now as seniors there is a legacy that they want to leave and what is that? I think it’s getting to the NCAA Tournament.”

One of the big changes for the Golden Hurricane is a new approach to their nonconference foes. Last season, even though

it was announced that Tulsa is projected to finish sixth in the conference—behind UConn and USF who are both ranked in the top-25—and Ashley Clark was named to the All-Conference Second Team.

“It’s probably the most excited I’ve been since I’ve been at TU.” and Oklahoma.

All of that being said, one of the biggest challenges lies within the American Athletic Conference, and that’s the defending conference and national champions UConn Huskies who have won the past three national championships.

Having UConn in the conference is a double-edged sword. On one hand, they are a powerhouse and will continue to be one of the elite teams in women’s basketball, but on the other they raise the stature of the conference and can attract recruits to AAC schools like TU. Mossman said, “As you’re getting ready to go into conference knowing that [UConn] is your kingpin [and] that’s the team that everyone is trying to be like, it raises the standard for every other team in the conference.”

Last week at the American Athletic Conference media day for women’s basketball

In preparation for the season, Tulsa hosted their first of two exhibition games on Friday against Rogers State, dominating throughout the game for a 85–51 win.

Four different Tulsa players scored double figures in the game including Webster (19), Grovey (12), Clark (14) and Jordyn Holmes (12).

Mossman spoke about the strong starts to each half after the game.

“The group that started each half did a great job on defense. They held RSU to eight points in the first quarter and four points in the third quarter. I was pleased with what the starting group was able to do, especially on the defensive end, and we scored a lot of points when they were in the game.”

The Golden Hurricane will host their second exhibition game on Friday against Southeastern Oklahoma State, and will open up the regular season the following Friday, Nov 13 hosting Kansas State.

man advantage.

They put the man-advantage to good use, as senior Dillon Alexander first put Tulsa on the scoreboard, netting a long-distance strike at the 30 minute mark. The goal was the first of Alexander’s collegiate career.

After halftime, Juan Sanchez got in on the scoring, after a well-placed cross from Lesley Nchanji, giving the Golden Hurricane a 2–0 lead. Michael Mitrik closed out the scoring when he added a tally in the 75th minute off of a cross from Zach Jackson, giving Tulsa a 3–0 victory.

From the start, the game was not closely contested. Tulsa resoundingly outshot Memphis, 16–4. Goalkeeper Jake McGuire only needed two saves to record the shutout.

Coach Tom McIntosh was pleased with how the Golden Hurricane played, saying, “We showed a good combination of patience and urgency, which is hard to do

when you play up a man. Our guys showed good composure.”

With the win, Tulsa finished up the regular season with a 7–6–3 (3–3–2 American Athletic Conference) record. Their conference record earned them fourth place in the conference heading into the conference tournament.

In the tournament, the top eight teams play. The lower seed earned the right to be the home team in the quarterfinal round, before the tournament moves to Tampa for the semifinals and final. As the fourth seed, Tulsa clinched a home game in the first round.

They will play against UCF at 6 pm on Saturday. When the two teams met in the regular season, Nchanji netted the only goal to give Tulsa the win in a tightly contested game. That game, however, was an away game for the Golden Hurricane, played at UCF.

Cups in Russia and the US, respectively, before voting even took place!

These plans fell through though, because FIFA received bribes from Qatar that awarded the 2022 World Cup to the nation of Qatar. Qatar is a rapidly developing nation with a large market, but the World Cup takes place during the summer, which in Qatar consists of days that top 104 degrees.

Not only is the temperature a bad reason for Qatar to be holding the World Cup, but it has come out that Qatar is creating harsh conditions for the workers who are building much of the infrastructure that will be needed for the World Cup. As many as 1800 migrant workers (not just people working on the World Cup) were reported to have died between 2010–2013 in Qatar.

One of the worst things is the kafala, which is a restriction on foreign workers—who make a up almost 90 percent of the World Cup workforce—that doesn’t allow them to leave the country without permission. In addition, some report that some workers are not being given their paychecks, leading others to argue that this is

akin to modern slavery.

Disregarding a country’s characteristics when awarding the World Cup is a fairly common occurrence for FIFA. The two most recent hosts, Brazil and South Africa, have regretted hosting the event due to capacity issues. FIFA requires multiple stadiums to be built; many of which are rarely used after the World Cup is over. With all of these issues, hosting a World Cup can negatively affect a country, especially economically.

Although Blatter has not yet stepped down, many predict that he will be gone soon. Still, corruption throughout this organization runs so deep that replacing Blatter will not make much of a change.

Replacement candidates are people like FIFA Vice President Prince Ali bin alHussein, UEFA’s Michel Platini, France’s Jerome Champagne and South Africa’s Tokyo Sexwale. Even though they sound like a new age rap squad, most of them have ties to FIFA’s corruption history and will continue to make everyone uncomfortable when they are enjoying soccer.

Men’s soccer wins big, will host quarterfinal

The men’s soccer team finished off the regular season with a strong win over Memphis on the road.

They will now look to defend their conference tournament title next week.

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer

The Golden Hurricane men’s soccer team put on a dominating performance against the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, clinching the right to host the quarterfinal round of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

Early on, Tiger Carlos Hurtado was shown a red card, ejecting him from the game. For the last 70 minutes of the game, the Golden Hurricane would play with a

FIFA’s corruption runs deep

If you’re a fan of soccer you know that FIFA is one of the biggest organizations in the game.

However, they are also one of the most corrupt.

Mason Morgan Sports Writer

It doesn’t really matter at this point who is running FIFA, as it will remain one of the most corrupt and unethical organizations out there.

Sepp Blatter, who is still amazingly the current president, is under a three-month suspension for bribery. He is turning his focus towards the United States this time, with claims that US FIFA sponsors (Coke, Visa, McDonald’s, Budweiser among others) are the ones responsible for the attempt to impeach him.

While Blatter may not be wrong, there is definitely reason behind these corporations’ doings. First of all, Blatter had already decided to place the 2018 and 2022 World

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures

Women’s Soccer vs. Cincinnati @ American Quarterfinals

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures Women’s Soccer @ American Semifinals (if they advance)

Volleyball Swept and Sweeps The volleyball team traded sweep this week, falling to SMU on Wednesday three sets to none, and responded by sweeping the East Carolina Pirates on the road Friday. While they didn’t win a set against SMU, the “worst” they lost by was 7 points. And SMU is the top team in the conference so the game was much closer than the final result would indicate. Erica Bohannon led with 14 kills and sophomore defensive specialist Ashton Anderson led the Hurricane with 17 digs. On Friday, the Hurricane travelled to Greenville, N.C. looking for the season sweep over the Pirates, which they did with a sweep of the Pirates. Bohannon again led the Hurricane with 17 kills and junior outside hitter Rebecca Reeve had 15 digs for TU defensively.

Soccer Player Earns First Team Honor Senior midfielder Katy Riojas was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic AllDistrict VII first team. This is not the first such award for Riojas, who was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District second team and the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team last year, and C-USA Academic Medal Winner her sophomore and freshman year. The women’s team had an off week this past week, but will begin the conference tournament in Dallas on Tuesday against the Cincinnati Bearcats.

That’s Three Junior wide receiver Josh Atkinson was named to the Biletnikoff Award Watch List—an award that recognizes the outstanding receiver in college football— joining teammates Keyarris Garrett and Keevan Lucas. Atkinson has 40 catches and 675 total yards, while average 96.4 yards per game. Atkinson had five straight 100-yard games earlier this season and fell just short of tying the school record of six straight against Memphis where he was held to 99 yards. There is a fan part of the vote, where the player receiving the most fan votes gets one vote in the final decision. Semifinalists will be announced on Nov 12 and the winner will be announced at The Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Dec 10.

: Nov. 2 – 8 Friday

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures

Women’s Golf Takes 13th The women’s golf team took home 13th place at the Palmetto Intercollegiate last week in their final event of the fall season.

Senior Alex Haun paced the Golden Hurricane with a one-under par performance on the final round to earn a 23rd place finish with a final score of 223. Junior Nadia Majidizadeh was right on her heels,with a final score of 224, which earned her 28th place. Johanna Samuelsson (234 and 69th), Mackenzie Medders (234 and 74th) and Antonia Von Wnuck (236 and 78th) rounded out the scoring for Tulsa. Next up for the Golden Hurricane is the spring season which will start on Feb 22 at the Amelia Island Intercollegiate in Florida.

Rowing @ Tulsa Fall Invitational Volleyball @ Cincinnati 7:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball vs.

SE Oklahoma State (EXH.) 7:00 p.m.

Saturday

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures Rowing @ Tulsa Fall Invitational Football vs. UCF 11:00 a.m.

Men’s Soccer vs. UCF 6:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs.

Haskell Indian Nation (EXH.) 3:00 p.m.

Sunday

Men’s Tennis @ ITF Futures Volleyball @ Memphis 1:00 p.m.

Women’s Soccer @ American Championship (if they advance)

2 November 2015

Sports

The Collegian: 11

Cross country win sixth and third straight titles

courtesy American Athletic Conference

The men and women’s cross country teams celebrate their conference titles after their wins on Saturday morning. Marc Scott won the individual men’s title and Rachel Baptista led the women’s side with a third place finish in the 6K race. In Tulsa’s first two seasons as a member of the American Athletic Conference, they have swept both cross country titles each year.

The Golden Hurricane cross country teams continued their streak of conference titles with their second straight AAC titles.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor On Saturday morning the men and women’s cross country teams did what they do best: winning conference titles. In their first two seasons in the American Athletic Conference, the Golden Hurricane have swept the men and women’s conference titles.

Their streak, however, extends beyond their membership in the American. This is the sixth straight conference title for the men and the third straight for the women.

Last week, after being named the Division I Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and the American Athletic Conference Cross Country Athlete of the Week, Marc Scott took home the men’s individual title for the second year in a row.

Tulsa had four of the top five finishers in the men’s 8K race and all five scorers were in the top-11. Ben Priesner (2nd), Luke Traynor (3rd), Adam Roderique (5th) and Austin Del Rosso (11th) rounded out the scorers for the men.

All four of them as well as TU’s sixth runner Elijah Silva earned all-conference honors for their race.

After the win, Head Coach Steve Gulley talked about Marc Scott and the men’s race.

“I’m always proud of Marc. He led them.

We throw a lot of stuff around Marc, and I think he got the guys really riled up. He’s a great leader. I’m very proud of Adam Roderique and Austin Del Rosso. We weren’t sure how we would run in the four and five holes, and they answered that question.”

“I think the whole men’s team ran a good race. They ran way faster than we thought we could on this course.”

Joining Marc Scott as the AAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week last week, Rachel Baptista followed that honor with a third place finish women’s 6K. The women had three of the top six runner and all five scorers finished in the top16. Baptista was followed by Stacie Taylor (5th), Nicole Lee (6th), Clara Langley (14th) and Alyssa Bolliger (18th).

cent years: do these superstar athletes live up to the standards of the role models we hold them to?

Modern society looks up to professional athletes as we watch the incredible feats they perform in their respective sports. We hold them in a special regard for those abilities. Many kids look up to these professional athletes. They wear their jerseys and mimic their highlight reels.

Yet these athletes aren’t perfect. Their status magnifies not only their achievements but also their shortcomings. Being elevated by the public comes with a lot of pressure.

In past years, some major news stories have come out of professional athletes’ run-ins with the law.

In case you need a refresher on their incidents, here’s a brief summary. In 2003, Kobe was accused of sexual assault by an employee of a hotel he stayed at. In 2004, World Peace was the center of attention in the infamous “Malice at the Palace”, which involved a brawl between players and fans during an Indiana Pacers vs Detroit Pistons NBA game. Peterson was indicted of abusing his son in 2014 and Ray Rice was caught on video beating his then-fiancee, now wife at a casino.

These incidents highlight a few of the

extreme occurrences that received a lot of news headlines. Other incidents occur frequently, but don’t necessarily make national news headlines. The NFL, for example, hasn’t gone a month without a player being arrested since 2009. It was newsworthy when September of this year came within a day of being the second such month since Roger Goodell has been commissioner.

However, it was later learned that Tennessee’s wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham was arrested for an unpaid speeding ticket on the last day of the month, continuing the streak.

Though these minor incidents may not receive the national spotlight, they don’t go unnoticed. What impact does it have on a kid that finds out their favorite player is suspended for the next game because of some illegal activity? It’s a bad example for kids, set by someone they look up to.

Yes, these athletes have incredible physical abilities. But we need to realize that that is why we appreciate them; we admire their athleticism, not their superhuman decision making skills. They’re people just like us.

It’s easy to point to the athletes and say that they don’t meet our standard of role models.

That’s not on them, though, if we have our expectations set too high.

Baptista, Taylor, Lee and Langley earned all-conference honors for the women’s team.

In addition to that, Baptista, Taylor and Lee ran their fastest times at TU in this race and all five of the men’s scorers did the same.

“The women’s team, it came down to a dig down deep, tough race and the young ladies stepped up well,” Gulley said after their race.

“Alyssa Bolliger (really stepped up for us). I think we felt we had a solid four going into this season. Alyssa was probably our eight runner coming into the season, and ended up performing incredibly as our fifth runner at the conference championship.”

The Golden Hurricane will next race at the Midwest Regional Championships on Nov 13 in Lawrence, Kansas.

Pro-athletes are not great role models Tulsa rein Professional athletes have an interesting place in American society. They are famous because of their athletic ability, but does that qualify them as good role models?

Joseph Edmunds Sports Writer If you follow the NHL you’ve probably heard of the accusations that were brought against Chicago Blackhawks star forward Patrick Kane. At the beginning of August, the four-time All-Star was accused of raping a woman at a private party at his home.

The accusation against Kane is, well, just that. An accusation. He hasn’t been proven guilty, and he feels confident that he will be found innocent. Since he has not been found guilty, he can’t be punished by the NHL. However, he was removed from the cover of the video game NHL 16. The game’s cover originally was to feature Kane and teammate Jonathan Toews; Toews will now be featured alone.

Though he has only been accused at this point, Patrick Kane’s case brings up a larger issue that has become more prevalent in re-

College football has crazy and chaotic season

Their has been no shortage of incredible teams, fantastic performances and thrilling upsets through the first half of the college football season.

Wade Crawford Sports Writer

Some teams have risen above expectations to rise to the top of their conferences and the polls, while others have seen a humbling fall from grace.

Some of the usual suspects are among the undefeated teams, such as Ohio State, LSU, TCU and Michigan State. However, some surprising teams have found themselves among the unbeaten. Schools such as Iowa, Oklahoma State, Toledo, Houston and Memphis are currently sitting without a blemish on their record, all looking for, at the very least, a New Year’s bowl berth.

On the other side, some schools have seriously underperformed based on their preseason expectations. A popular playoff pick, the Auburn Tigers are now struggling to stay above .500. Georgia has also suffered from yet another year of optimistic predictions, sitting at 5–3. Perennial powerhouse Oregon is sitting at the same record, far away from their run to the College Football Playoff last year. But probably the biggest disappoint-

ment of them all has to be Georgia Tech, who went from Orange Bowl champions to a measly 3–6 record.

Though they sit at such an abysmal record, they hold one of the most incredible plays of the year—a blocked field goal attempt returned for a touchdown, knocking off then-undefeated Florida State. But that hasn’t been the only last-second scores of the year. The Michigan State defense picked up a fumbled snap on a punt and returned it for a last-second touchdown, and just last weekend the University of Miami returned a kick for a touchdown to beat Duke, with the help of eight laterals and some help from the officiating crew, missing a few calls and reviewing a penalty that, by rule, they should not have.

Some teams didn’t need a last-second play to pull off the upset this season. Toledo went into Fayetteville and came out with a 16–12 victory over Arkansas. Utah went into Oregon and stomped the then-ranked Ducks team by 42 points. Texas proved yet again that things are different in rivalry games, as they gave Oklahoma their first loss of the year while winning only their second game. Memphis proved they were a legitimate threat when they beat a visiting Ole Miss by two touchdowns. Finally, Temple came within a few plays of beating Notre Dame.

The race for the individual awards is just

as tight as the race for the top spots in the rankings. LSU’s Leonard Fournette has ran for over 1,300 yards, and seems to be at the top of the race. However, TCU’s Trevone Boykin, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield have made very strong cases. Dark horse candidates come out of the American, as Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. and Memphis’s Paxton Lynch have carried their teams to the polls.

With all the chaos that has ensued this year, there is still a lot to be sorted out. LSU and Alabama play in a pivotal SEC game this weekend. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and TCU still need to play each other. Clemson remains undefeated, but they still need to host dangerous Florida State.

Ohio State and Michigan State still have yet to play, in a matchup that will likely determine who goes to the Big Ten Championship Game. Finally, Houston and Memphis will play to possibly determine who will get to play on New Year’s Day. It’s already been an incredible college football season. However, there is still a lot of meaningful football left. Undefeated teams still need to face each other, and punch their respective ticket to their conference championship games. Then, out of all of this, the playoff committee must select only four teams to participate in the second College Football Playoff. It’s going to be a thrilling ride, so sit back and enjoy it.

in SMU Mustangs on the road

The Golden Hurricane won their first conference game of the season on the road against the SMU Mustangs on the strength of their ground game.

Wade Crawford Sports Writer The Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team traveled to SMU on Saturday, and got back on the winning track with a 40–31 victory.

D’Angelo Brewer and Justin Hobbs both had big days, rushing and receiving for 119 and 150 yards, respectively.

SMU started out strong, with Courtland Sutton and Jeremiah Gaines both getting touchdown passes from quarterback Matt Davis. A Redford Jones field goal was the only Tulsa scoring, as SMU led 14–3.

Zack Langer made yet another short touchdown run, cutting the lead to four. The next scoring play came on an interception thrown by Davis, as defensive back Kerwin Thomas returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.

SMU answered with a trick play, as running back Xavier Jones took a Matt Davis pass and threw it to receiver Xavier Castille, who easily ran in for the touchdown.

With less than 20 seconds left in the half, running back D’Angelo Brewer made a tremendous touchdown run, running through several defenders right at the goal line to score.

Tulsa further built upon their 23–21 halftime lead, with Langer running in another touchdown. A pair of field goals by either team brought the score to 33–24 Tulsa after three quarters.

SMU found the end zone again in the final quarter, as Sutton made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone. However, Zack Langer’s third touchdown of the day sealed the fate of the Mustangs, as the resulting 40–31 lead stood.

Tulsa also defeated SMU 38–28 at home last year. In that game, Dane Evans passed for five touchdowns and Zach Langer rushed for over 150 yards.

Next week, Tulsa will look to win backto-back conference games as they host a winless Central Florida team. Meanwhile, SMU hosts the Temple Owls who will be looking for a win after almost upsetting Notre Dame.