Tomorrow’sWeather

ANYTIME THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE comOUDaily

OUDAILY.COM »

59°/74°

WEDNESDAY APRIL 29, 2009

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SWINE FLU? CHECK OUT THE DAILY’S COVERAGE OF THE OUTBREAK AND LEARN MORE ONLINE AT OUDAILY.COM/SWINEFLU

Are you a fan of “The Bachelor” on ABC? Look inside to fi nd out about the star of season 10’s visit to campus on Tuesday.PAGE 3

newsThe softball team heads to Stillwater tonight for a Bedlam matchup with OSU. PAGE 6

Not sure about sushi? Check out The Daily’s guide to In the Raw’s sushi selection.

PAGE 7

60%

© 2009 OU PUBLICATIONS BOARD VOL. 94, NO. 143FREE — ADDITIONAL COPIES 25¢

Competitive program has some students

spending exorbitant hours on projects

CLARK FOYThe Oklahoma Daily

The occasional all-nighter is common for college students, especially with finals rapidly approaching. But for architecture students, this style of life has become second nature.

Some work on their projects so much, they skip days of sleep. Some can be been found snoozing in the school’s temporary location on Main Street between long shifts in the studio.

Students said that while such a demanding schedule is not necessarily required by the college, the drive to outshine their peers and impress instructors keeps them coming back for more.

Architecture sophomore Aric Yarberry said a recent accredi-tation review recommended the studio to limit its hours to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. instead of being open 24 hours a day so students can have normal social lives, avoid all-nighters and deprived sleep schedules.

He said while he understands the concern, he does not want to lose the opportunity to work extra hours.

“Because of the nature of the profession, we can’t settle for that,” Yarberry said. “We are all very competitive. It’s not that we cannot finish in the time allowed, it’s that I want to beat the guy sitting next to me.”

The competition leads to a different way of thinking as well,

Yarberry said. The work becomes much more important than the grade.

“The ultimate goal is to be proud of your work so that the final day you can be as proud as possible,” Yarberry said. “When I finish a project, I don’t show you the letter grade [because] they don’t matter. I would show you what I did and how I did it

Architecture students lose sleep for success

OU to save $30k a year by

eliminating paper pay stubs

MELISSA MORGANContributing Writer

Paper pay stubs are no more at OU’s Norman Campus, giving way to online state-ments as part of OU President David Boren’s Green Campus initiative.

OU employees no longer receive pay state-ments in the mail. Instead, digital statements are available at hr.ou.edu the week paychecks are dispersed.

Payroll administrator Michelle Boydstun said she believes OU accomplished three significant goals with the project.

First, the university is effectively using technology that puts access and control in the hands of its customers, she said. Second, the project is an effective way to reduce OU’s en-ergy footprint on the planet, directly support-ing the university’s Green Campus initiative.

Finally, online pay statements result in im-mediate savings to the university by directly reducing administrative transactional oper-ating costs, Boydstun said.

OU projects savings of $30,000 a year on the Norman campus by eliminating the costs of printing and distributing pay stubs.

The cost-cutting endeavor will not result in job losses, however.

“The employees who were involved in printing and distributing earning statements can now focus more of their energy on other projects and responsibilities, such as cus-tomer service,” said Marcy Fleming, Human Resources communications coordinator.

Electronic pay statements have been in place on the Health Sciences Center campus and the Tulsa campus since Jan. 1 and have been very successful, Boydstun said.

Boydstun said employees desiring hard copies should try printing the statement, but predicts few will do so.

“Old habits will take some time to change, but our experience during this transition on the HSC and Tulsa campuses has shown that

when given the option, most people won’t print a paper copy,” she said.

Some employees are struggling to view their pay statements online.

“The Human Resources Web site isn’t very user friendly for figuring out how to view them,” said Britton Rife, Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative employee.

Boydstun recommends that anyone with difficulties contact the OU IT Help Desk at 405-325-HELP.

University pay stubs enter the electronic age, save paper

New residents for the fall

semester may face rate hike

RICKY MARANONThe Oklahoma Daily

Last year, law student Lawrence Wheeler signed a 12-month lease at Traditions Square, with the promise that his rates would not change for five years.

When he applied to renew his lease this month, Housing and Food Services told him it no longer offers the 12-month contract and he would have to sign a nine-month lease with a separate sum-mer extension instead.

H & F Services Director David Annis said the policy change is to help pre-serve the quality of Traditions Square Apartments.

“We needed to find a way that gives maintenance staff enough time to get into the apartment to clean, paint and repair appliances, and by splitting the 12-month contract into two contracts, we found that we could gain access to the apartment to do necessary upkeep,” Annis said. “We don’t just want people living there for years at a time without us being able to properly maintain the quality of the residence.”

He said during the summer, residents who sign up for the extension may have to temporarily move to another unit for repairs, but can move back for the fall semester.

Annis said people who are currently on 12-month contracts will receive the 12-month rate, but will have to sign two different contracts.

T h e p o l i c y c ha n g e ha s s o m e Traditions Square residents worried higher rent is on the horizon.

Annis said the locked-in rates still will be applicable to all residents who currently live in Traditions Square. However, the new residents for next fall, mainly current freshman moving out of the dorms, “may face a possible increase in rent pending approval from the board of regents,” he said.

Annis said if the rent increase is ap-proved, rates would jump around 3 percent.

“The local market for a two bedroom/two bathroom apartment has increased in price, and we want to make the re-pairs and may have to raise rent to re-main competitive and still offer a quality place to live,” Annis said. “We can’t just let Traditions Square go without proper maintenance while we wait for some-one to graduate or move out.”

Some students planning to move into the apartments in the fall are unhappy with the possibility of a rent increase.

“Traditions are already highly priced,” said Josh Majed, University College freshman. “That’s a big negative.”

He mentioned that one of the reasons he chose to live in Traditions Square was because he could pay his rent with student loans.

Traditions Square revises lease policy

LILLY CHAPA/THE DAILY

Architecture sophomore Aric Yarberry shows a preliminary sketch for one of his projects. Yarberry said there are many steps to creating a project.

ANYTNDEPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSTUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDENT VOICEEEEEEEEEE

AMY FROST / THE DAILY

LILLY CHAPA/THE DAILY

A room in the architecture studio on Main Street is filled with projects and homey comforts alike. Students often spend over 70 hours per week working on architecture projects.

THE UNIVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY OF OKLAHOMA’S I

he s

The softballteam heads to Stillwater tonight for a Bedlam matchup with OSU

N

“Old habits will take some time to change, but our experience during this transition on the HSC and Tulsa campuses has shown that when given the option, most people won’t print a paper copy.”

MICHELLE BOYDSTUN, PAYROLL ADMINISTRATOR

UOSA EXPEDITES SELECTION OF NEXT CAC CHAIRMAN

Student Congress passed a bill Tuesday night that will make Kely Van Eaton the next CAC chair.

The bill already has passed the Graduate Student Senate and is expected to be signed today by UOSA President Katie Fox.

Nick Bender wrote the bill, which will temporarily change the bylaws of the UOSA Code Annotated to allow the last CAC candidate to claim the win if all other opponents drop out. Since Eaton is now running unopposed he will be the winner if approved by the president.

Congress also passed a bill appoint-ing committee chairs for fi ve of the six committees and approved the cabinet members for the executive branch.

— Cadie Thompson/The Daily

ARCHITECTURE CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

JAM

ES C

ORN

WEL

L /

THE

DAILY

MERRILL JONES / THE DAILY

because that is what is important.”Dayo Yinka, a fifth-year architecture student, said he

“easily spends 70 hours or more” working on his projects every week.

“I think everyone gets tired of it at times,” Yinka said. “But one thing I’ve always told people is that I’d rather work on a model for 10 hours than read a textbook for one.”

Yinka is currently designing a Chickasaw Cultural Center. The project requires him to design the building and parking areas which include a day-care, art gallery, medical facility and many other things.

“It is definitely frustrating at times and I just feel like, as a whole, people don’t know how much work we do,” said Nick Safley, fifth-year architecture student.

Safley said it is not uncommon to sleep three hours a night, and then go to class and work on his projects at the

architecture studio the rest of the day.And the hefty time commitment doesn’t end with late

nights and long hours.The architecture undergraduate degree is a five-year,

160-hour program during which students take a studio class every semester where they work on projects to build their portfolios, Safley said.

After the completion of the second year, architecture students submit a portfolio with all of their work. If it does not meet the standards of the college, they are not allowed to continue in the department, Safley said.

Students who get kicked out can reapply, but their odds of getting back in are slim, Safley said.

“I just don’t see how you can improve your work that much after its already been done,” he said.

Still, the long weeks and hours working on projects do take a toll, but Safley said he does not regret his decision for a minute.

“It’s not like we’re up here suffering,” Safley said. “We’re all really close and do a lot of things up here. I’d totally do it again; it’s been a blast.”

2 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Beginning this week, OU’s new all-inclusive Web site, oZone, will inform students of their fi nancial aid awards for the fi rst time.

Students who are receiving fi nancial aid or have missing fi nancial aid data will receive an e-mail which will prompt them to log into oZone. Then, by clicking on the “money” tab, students will have access to what they have been awarded and will be able to click on what they want, and don’t want, Information Technology spokesman Nicholas Key said.

Financial aid is one of the fi rst components ready via oZone, the largest technological project in OU’s history, which eventually will encompass all Web sites students use. More than 200 faculty and staff members from sev-eral departments are working on it.

“We’re taking 30 years worth of data and services and moving them into a new system in a short time period,” Key said. “It’s an interesting project that is going to have a lot of positive impacts.”

oZone initially was created because the cost of manag-ing individual Web sites was becoming too high.

“Specialists were moving onto new jobs and fi nding personnel to work on a new project became too expen-sive,” Key said. “To save costs and improve services and student business services, we moved forward with a stu-dent system that would integrate all the information into a single system.”

The Web site that is up right now is only a phase, Key said, and the site will be fully functional by September.

“Sep. 18-27 will be the ‘Big Bang,’” he said. “Everything business will be moved into oZone and the Web site will be up 24/7. Students will be able to access just about anything, and will already be logged into enroll, D2L and their e-mail after they log into oZone.”

Faculty also will be able to access and update student records, manage class schedules and submit grades through oZone.

After the “Big Bang,” pay.ou.edu will join the Web site, and the last phase, “The Ever Evolving Portal” will adapt to students’ needs.

“We will regularly release new oZone channels, partner with departments to enhance the personalized experience, work with students to increase our offering and measure data available to determine ways to better serve our stu-dent,” Key said.

The team is considering adding tabs for students to customize the site with their favorite channels and include personalized announcements and calendars. They have not made any concrete plans about what social or enter-tainment channels will “roll out” after the “Big Bang.”

Key also said they will launch a new site for download-ing free music to replace the old “Ruckus” program, which closed down in February.

“OU IT is exploring replacements [to Ruckus] this semester and will promote recommended download ser-vices this fall as part of a copyright-infringement aware-ness campaign,” Key said.

—Ashleigh Woodall / The Daily

OU WEBSITES TO MERGE

Student organizations

co-host Israel Week event

RENEE SELANDERSThe Oklahoma Daily

U.S. participation is absolutely neces-sary for the possibility of a viable two-state solution for repairing Israeli-Palestinian relations, a panelist told an audience of students and faculty Tuesday evening in Meacham Auditorium.

Three professors offered their per-spectives and opinions at “The Chance for Peace in the Age of Obama” panel, answering a mix of pre-determined and audience-submitted questions.

OU Hillel Jewish Student Organization, Sooners for Peace in Palestine and Sooners for Israel co-hosted the panel as part of Israel Week.

Ariel Ahram, political science and in-ternational and area studies professor, and Husam Mohamad, political science professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, spoke about Middle Eastern politics. David Ray, political science pro-fessor, used his academic background on U.S. foreign policy to make connections between the Obama administration and its influence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I think the United States needs to be very aggressive in trying to use its leverage to make a two-state solution viable and push both parties into serious negotia-tions,” Ray said. “I think that not only be-cause nobody else will do it, it won’t hap-pen on its own, but as I said earlier, I think the situation is worsening.”

The panelists spoke on a range of topics concerning the complex conflict between Israel and Palestine, including the future of Hamas in Palestinian government and the highest priority for the U.S. in the Middle East.

The final question looked for panel-ists’ outlooks on the possibility of hope for peace between Israel and Palestine with the Obama administration.

Mohamad said there may be peace if Palestine is granted what it has wanted for 40 years – the unlikely return of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel cap-tured in 1967. On that note, he said that peace could always be in the future.

“It’s possible,” Mohamad said. “It’s a dream. It’s good to have dreams.”

Though the other two panelists echoed Mohamad’s grim outlook, Ray stressed the importance of efforts despite the despera-tion of the situation.

“The reason why I think we have to try even if the prospects are bleak is because I think the situation will grow more danger-ous if we don’t,” Ray said. “I think, as in so many other ways, the Obama administra-tion raises the possibility for change, and

on that we should attach some hope.”Zoology senior Mounes Habj-Bik at-

tended the panel, and he said while he is hopeful for peace, he knows the issues are far more complicated than a sense of hope can repair.

“Hope is funny, because you could be hopeful for anything,” Habj-Bik said. “It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. You’re always hopeful when a new president comes in talking about change; that’s al-ways a plus, that’s always a benefit. Now whether or not it’s going to happen, that’s a different story.”

Isaac Freeman, vice president of stu-dent programming for OU Hillel, mod-erated the panel for the second round of questions. He said while the panel took place during Israel Week and shifted some of the attention away from more positive aspects of Israeli culture, the discussion was successful in opening up peaceful dialogue about a sensitive subject.

“It’s impossible to talk about Israel without in some way addressing the po-litical aspect because it is so ingrained in what Israel is,” said Freeman, international security studies sophomore.

Sooners for Peace in Palestine President Bekah Stone said that by hosting the panel with Sooners for Israel and OU Hillel, ev-eryone achieves the same goal of inform-ing others about the conflict.

“We might seem very different, but at the same time we all have this unifying goal of peace,” Stone said.

Panel discusses prospects of peace in the Middle East

ArchitectureContinues from page 1

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 3

Cuban Americans can now

freely travel to the island

ALEX LYNN

Th e Oklahoma Daily

OU faculty and students are hopeful about the warming relations between the United States and Cuba.

After half a century of diplomatic im-passe, the nations have begun to offer warmer words and real steps to ease the deep rooted tensions.

America imposed an economic embargo on Cuba in 1963, after it’s new communist leader, Fidel Castro, came to power and expropriated U.S. owned business on the island.

Since then, diplomatic relations have stalled with little more than antagonistic words and failed attempts to reconnect.

But now, the rhetoric has warmed, said Robin Grier, an international and area stud-ies professor who studies development in Latin American countries.

Before a regular meeting of North and South American leaders, President Barack Obama’s administration announced it was loosening some restrictions. Cuban-Americans now are allowed unlimited

travel to the island, and they can transfer money to relatives in Cuba.

Following Obama’s diplomatic moves, Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s unofficial succes-sor, announced his willingness to discuss “everything” with the American president in order to reach a compromise.

Many trade regulations still are in place, however, and are likely to remain for some time.

“I think the biggest implication for both the U.S. and Cuba is the prospect that the trade embargo might be dropped alto-gether in the future,” Grier said. “I person-ally don’t see this happening any time real soon, but this was definitely a move in that direction.”

Grier said U.S. businesses have pushed to lift the trade embargo for years.

“They see Canadian and European busi-nesses making money there, and feel like they are unfairly being held back by the em-bargo,” Grier said.

Emilie Blanchard, Latin American stud-ies and Spanish senior said she believes the future of U.S.-Cuba relations is now up to Cuba. She said Obama has made the first step by lifting some sanctions; it is now up to Raul Castro, who assumed leadership of the Cuban government after his brother stepped down due to illness last year.

CUBAN-AMERICAN RELATIONS BEGIN TO THAW

JAMES CORNWELL/ THE DAILY

Lt. Andrew Baldwin discusses the Navy Health Services Scholarship Program with OU’s Pre-Med Club in the Scholars Room in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Tuesday evening.

AP PHOTO/JAVIER GALEANO

Students holding posters of Raul Castro and former President Fidel Castro chant slogans during a march to mark the 48th anniversary of the triumph of Cuban forces during the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, in Havana, Saturday, April 18. Trading their warmest words in a half-century, the United States and Cuba built momentum toward renewed ties on Friday, with President Barack Obama declaring he “seeks a new beginning,” including direct talks, with the island’s government.

U.S. Navy physician hopes to

motivate others to make a difference

RICKY MARANON

Th e Oklahoma Daily

“The Bachelor” came to OU Tuesday night in the Scholar’s Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, but instead of looking for love, he offered encouragement and inspiration.

Lt. Andy Baldwin starred in the 10th season of the popu-lar ABC reality show, but before he was “The Bachelor,” he served as a Navy physician deployed on missions around the world.

Baldwin spoke at the union to members of the Pre-Med Club about his experiences as a Navy doctor.

“It is a priceless and life-changing experience,” he said. Baldwin grew up in Pennsylvania, and said he never

dreamed he would be traveling around the world helping others.

“I was the first person to be a physician in my family,” he said. “People told me I couldn’t do it, but I said ‘just watch me.’ Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do anything.”

He said he worked three jobs and began saving up money for college, but received an offer from the Navy that helped him pay for college.

Baldwin said his travels have impacted his life positively.“You’d go into a village to treat people for parasites and

other sicknesses and the kids would listen to my iPod and 50 Cent, and you couldn’t help but smile,” he said.

When the Navy offered him the opportunity to retire, he turned it down because he loved his career, and wanted to do more.

He then gave the audience his personal e-mail address if they needed any advice, and also offered students a free trip to San Diego to tour the hospital where he currently is stationed.

“Anyone interested in studying medicine for the Navy can come over,” he said.

Baldwin also talked about his experiences being “The Bachelor.”

“Because of the show, I have a bigger opportunity to make a difference because I am now a public figure,” he said. “I’m working with the Surgeon General on childhood obesity, and it’s because of the fame, it’s why I have that chance and many like them.”

Students enjoyed seeing the “real” side of Baldwin.“It was nice to see him talk about his life outside of ‘The

Bachelor,’” studio art senior Mariah Johnson said. “His ex-periences and stories are very inspiring.”

TV’s former ‘Bachelor’ gives motivational speech at OU

HP, Epson, and Canon Printers

25% OFF

Dell 1320c Laser Printerup to 16 ppm 2 color$160

$80

Dell 1720 Laser Printerup to 28 ppm 2 b&w$125

$60

Dell 1110 Laser Printerup to 17 ppm 2 b&w$65

$30

PRINTERS

iPod Shuffle(new style)

4GB: $70

iPod Classic120GB: $220

iPod Shuffle(old style)

1GB: $40

iPod Nano8GB: $12916GB: $180

iPod Touch8GB: $20016GB: $27032GB: $370

APPLE COMPUTERS APPLE IPODSSOFTWARE & ACCESSORIES

MacTrak Software: $40

Apple Wireless Keyboard: $60

Wireless Mighty Mouse: $50

iPod Speaker Systems: 15% OFF

Apple Time Capsules: 15% OFF

Microsoft Software: 10% OFF

Apple Software: 10% OFF

Adobe Software: 10% OFF

Apple Cinema Displays: 15% OFF

Airport Extreme: 15% OFF

AppleTV: 20% OFF

All Cases: 33% OFF

OU Brand Bags: Buy one, get one free

Iomega 250GB Hard Drive: $100

LaCie 1TB Hard Drive: $135

AppleCare: 15% OFF

MacBook13” White 2.0GHz: $85013” Aluminum 2.0GHz: $110013” Aluminum 2.4GHz: $1350

MacBook Pro15” Aluminum 2.4GHz: $170015” Aluminum 2.53GHz: $198015” Aluminum 2.66GHz: $207017” Last Generation 2.5GHz: $1300

Mac Mini(last generation)

1.83GHz: $4002.0GHz: $500

iMac(last revision) 20” 2.4GHz: $85020” 2.66GHz: $95024” 2.8 GHz: $100024” 3.06GHz, 2GB RAM: $1500

Headphones: 33% OFF

Apple Cables: 33% OFF

iKlear: 33% OFF

Microsoft Mice: 33% OFF

Limit 2 per item per person. Quantity limited to stock on hand. Prices valid in-store only, and while supplies last. Buy one get one free items must be of equal or lesser value. Sale ends 5/1/09 at 5 pm.

Limited quantities of all items!

All items are brand new, unopened, and not refurbished!

Open 9 am to 5 pm The OU IT Store is located on the southeast corner of Lindsey and Jenkins.

JEN

KIN

S

LINDSEY

FOO

TBA

LLST

AD

IUM

OU ITSTORE

huge graduation saleleave with more than a DIPLOMA.

FRIDAYMAY 1, 2009

Editor’s note: This is a counterpoint to Zac Smith’s Tuesday column. Look for further dialogue and a response from Zac on OUDaily.com.

I think we’re all used to Oklahoma Daily columnists making outlandish statements, but a Tuesday column re-ally took it to the next level. Jesus prob-ably never existed, the article explains, and besides, the gospel story really sucks.

The controversy! The shock! The hor-ror of it all! Okay, I’ll take the bait.

The column en-titled, “Story of Jesus a ‘pervasive nonsen-sicality,” examines a version of what you m ig ht f i nd on a n evangelistic tract, and shows some knowl-edge of biblical proof texts. It claims there is no extra-biblical evidence that Jesus ever even existed. It says there are contradictions in the bible.

It also says the writers of the canoni-cal gospels borrow their narratives from the stories of mystery religions.

From the outset, the column posi-tions itself within the New Atheism movement, which is generally dismis-sive of religion and particularly viru-lent toward Christianity. Authors like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins write about these things.

These professional atheists often show serious misunderstandings of theology and philosophy and our au-thor is no different – except worse. Scholars write massive tomes dedicated to understanding the issues addressed

in this column, but this column figured it all out in a few short sentences.

This is problematic.The material available for under-

standing many of the mystery religions is relatively small and the relationship between those and Christianity can be quite complicated.

Some scholars believe Christianity influenced many of the mystery reli-gions themselves. Still, our author is certain the gospel-writers stole their ideas from them.

Concerning discrepancies over cer-tain details between the gospel texts, anyone with a cursory knowledge of New Testament scholarship is aware of such things and despite the Synoptic Problem, many of them haven’t aban-doned their faith. In truth, some “con-tradictions” aren’t always what people claim them to be.

As far as whether Jesus of Nazareth ever existed, the scholarship really isn’t behind those who say he’s a fictional character.

Historians have been examining the evidence for a historical Jesus since the 18th century, and very few of them have concluded that Jesus never existed.

But little of this matters when a col-lege student only aims to write for the shock value.

The column simply dismisses a 2,000-year-old religious tradition and a lot of contemporary scholarship to boot. Not bad for less than 1,000 words.

It doesn’t stop there.The column goes on to do a literary

analysis of narrowly defined Christian themes and finds the traditional story of Jesus lacking. The author is not a big fan of the moral demands of a holy God.

He finds the doctrine of substitution-ary atonement a rather silly concept.

He thinks Jesus’ passion wasn’t nearly enough work to be seated at the right hand of the Father.

And he even jettisons some “horrible advice” from the Sermon on the Mount. These complaints are arbitrary. They leave readers asking a big, “So what?”

The very nature of much of Christian doctrine leaves personal feelings aside. How a person feels about Jesus’ ethical teachings is largely irrelevant to wheth-er or not they are true.

Since we already know our author doesn’t think Jesus even existed, we are left wondering what all the complain-ing is about it.

And here we get to the jest of the column.

In a clumsy sort of way, we’ve been presented with a summary of the Christian religion, from snide refer-ences to Old Testament violence and mockery of the sufferings of Christ to claims about contradictory texts and mystery cults.

The intention is to mock. There are very few arguments, and the ones that are made are cheap imitations from the latest New Atheism bestsellers.

In the end, we’re encouraged to dis-miss all of this Jesus of Nazareth hooey and go read some good literature like Kurt Vonnegut and Vladimir Nabokov. It’s playground name-calling dressed in undergraduate academic pretensions.

This kind of rhetoric is a less inter-esting combination of the thought of Richard Dawkins on a bad day and the rhetoric of Ann Coulter on a good one. It lowers our public discourse to the level of talk radio shock jocks – which is to say, it’s nonsensical.

Kyle Williams is a classics and letters sopho-more.

Jesus column amusingI was much amused by Tuesday’s col-

umn, “Story of Jesus a ‘pervasive nonsen-sicality’.” There are factual errors, such as the parallels drawn between the Christ story and the deity narratives of Osiris or Mithras. No reputable scholar, believing or skeptical, accepts that those legendary events parallel the death, burial and resur-rection of Jesus. To state there is no extra-biblical evidence for Christ’s existence is egregious, and completely ignores the an-cient biblical writings of Tacitus, Josephus, Lucian, Mara ben Serapion, Clement of Rome, Tertullian, Dionysius of Corinth, Origen and Ignatius, to name a few. But these evidences are not even the best line of argumentation.

For Jesus’ greatest apologetic is to be made in the lives that are changed in his name. Having worked with people for sev-eral years who struggle with drug addiction and mental illness, I can attest that no sin-gle hope better brings people to a changed life than Christ. No other name has given such hope to people without any. The au-thor of Tuesday’s column might turn to Vonnegut, Moore or Nabokov for hope and meaning in his life – a point to which I have no business taking exception. But the stark reality is, no one I work with will find salva-tion from their prisons of drugs and abuse in a serial comic or a fiction novel.

In the dark halls of the night, there is no “Rorschach” or “Nite Owl” to save the mentally ill from their paranoia. In the guilt of the addict who has violated proba-tion for the fifth time and is heading back to jail, there is no Campbell there to draw strength from.

At the midnight hour, there is no inspi-ration from Nabokov for these folks that oftentimes have been thrown away by society. Christ works overtime though, through people like me, who find meaning in the service the body of Christ can bring to people who need hope.

- Matt Dowling, zoology Senior

Jesus story misunderstoodTo me, Jesus’ story is not “pervasive

nonsensicality” but is one of love and for-giveness. God chose a simple story so that everyone, all over the world, would be able to understand how to be restored to Him.

To some, this story of love and forgiveness may seem foolish, but for those who seek understanding, it is the very power of God for salvation.

The story of Jesus is a rather simple one: God created humans and lived in perfect fellowship with us. We messed up and broke that fellowship and are incapable of restoring ourselves to perfection on our own. God desperately wanted – and wants – to be reunited with us, so he sent Jesus to live a perfect life here on earth, to take our punishment for messing up and provide an avenue through which fellowship can be restored.

Those who do not accept the work of Jesus on the cross spend their lives (now and for eternity) out of fellowship. So why did Jesus agree to this deal? He willingly came down from heaven to the earth he created to show us a better way to live. To show us how to seek the good of others be-fore our own, and to show us how to love each other unconditionally, even to the point of laying down one’s life for someone in need. Those teachings are not “horrible, horrible advice.” What a wonderful world it would be if we all lived like that.

Jesus did not have to do what He did, but it was the only way we could be reunited with God. And since there is no other way to restore fellowship, it is neither a shirking of responsibility nor a loophole to receive the work that Jesus did for us. Indeed, for our part, we must take responsibility for our actions and recognize that our own ac-tions and screw-ups were why Jesus had to come to earth in the first place.

- Tim Hart, JD, CPA, Ph.D. candidate, Price College of Business

mistakes regarding uosa court are unacceptable

The UOSA Superior Court would like to correct a few false statements made by The Daily’s editorial board in “Our View: Court ignored rules in CAC case” and by Nicholas Harrison in “Your View: Court guilty of paranoia.”

First, the court followed all rules re-quired in the Code. The decision The Daily was advocating would have required the court to break UOSA law. Tyler Nunley was accused of violating campaign spend-ing limits by as much as 35 percent by the

UOSA Election Board; he appealed the de-cision to the Superior Court and we found that the board had not proven he violated the spending caps to that extent.

All that was proven was that he violated the cap by 9 percent. UOSA law prohibits disqualifying a candidate unless that can-didate overspends by at least 15 percent. The Court was prohibited from disqualify-ing Mr. Nunley.

The Daily completely and irresponsi-bly misrepresented the Court’s decision. The Daily claimed the Court said Nunley’s overspending was “reasonable.” Whether it was reasonable or unreasonable was not part of this Court’s analysis.

Next, The Daily stated that Nunley had not been punished for his violations. He was fined $150 and recommended to Student Affairs for possible disciplinary ac-tion. These false claims misled the public and were biased against Nunley.

Addressing Harrison’s accusations, he stated the Court seems to see itself as the protector of voter rights. That, the UOSA Constitution requires.

We must address grievances by students especially when they involve violations of the Student Bill of Rights or the UOSA Constitution.

Harrison accuses the Superior Court of “taking on a role that no court in the entire country would assume” being involved in an election. We suggest he read the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore and see the UOSA Code for this Court’s ex-plicit role.

Harrison then goes on to unilaterally define “undue influence.” If he, as the co-author of the legislation, wanted that term defined, then he should have included a definition like any normal drafter of legis-lation. Harrison asserts that undue influ-ence means coercion.

This is against Black’s Law Dictionary, which defines undue influence as, “unfair persuasion. . .” and explicitly states, “Today the gist of the doctrine is unfair persuasion rather than coercion.” This definition is available through basic legal research.

But, Harrison asserts the Court should look at how other courts throughout the country rule on these issues. No other court on the planet is interpreting the stat-ute governing the CAC election. There is no precedent by any Court determining what UOSA statutes mean.

Harrison makes the courageous leap to

call the Superior Court lazy. We work hard to reach a reasoned, educated decision, without compensation (unlike many other UOSA positions.) Van Eaton and Nunley both stand by the decisions of this Court. Harrison has a severe bias, and The Daily was, at least, negligent. In both instances the student body has been ill-served and misinformed.

- The justices of the UOSA Superior Court

column an absurd missA column by Joe Hunt on Monday

lambasted Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society and claimed the peti-tion to remove the McClendon name from the honors college is “absurd.”

While it was difficult to separate the rea-sons for this claim from Hunt’s personal at-tacks on OSDS and its members, I was able to discern that Hunt feels that suggesting McClendon’s gift be returned due to his political affiliation “is nothing less than short-sided absurdity.”

The problem: OSDS never advocated returning the money outright. The petition itself does criticize McClendon’s support of certain conservative groups, and raises questions about potential strings attached to the gift – questions that, until recently, were not answered by the administration. It does not suggest returning the money unconditionally, but simply suggests that if the donation would give McClendon im-proper influence over the Honors College curriculum, OU should renegotiate or re-consider the terms of the gift.

What is absurd is Hunt’s blatant mis-characterization of the petition, Hughes and OSDS. Also absurd is the suggestion that McClendon’s successful business career and his generosity toward OU pre-clude criticism for his other philanthropic interests.

McClendon’s support of Focus on the Family is most troubling – the group is blatantly homophobic in its support of “traditional family values.” Last year the, Washington Post reported its misrepre-sentation of sociological research to sup-port its anti-gay stance. The group also supports school-sponsored prayer and a religiously centered conception of the American state.

- Ian Wright, University College freshman

Meredith Simons Editor-in-ChiefNijim Dabbour Managing EditorJamie Hughes Assistant Managing EditorMack Burke Night EditorRay Martin Opinion EditorZach Butler Photo Editor

Dane Beavers Senior Online EditorWhitney Bryen Multimedia EditorSteven Jones Sports EditorLuke Atkinson Life & Arts EditorJudy Gibbs Robinson Editorial Adviser R.T. Conwell Advertising Manager

The Oklahoma Daily is a public forum and OU’s independent student voice.The opinion page is produced by a staff of columnists and cartoonists who are independent of The Daily’s news staff. Letters to the editor are welcomed. Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and should be fewer than 250 words, typed and signed. Letters may be cut to fit. Students must list their major and classification. OU staff and faculty must list their title. All letters must include a daytime phone number. Submit letters to dailyopinion@ou.edu or in person Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall.

Guest columns are encouraged. They can be submitted to the opinion editor via e-mail at dailyopinion@ou.edu. Comments left on OUDaily.com may be reprinted on the opinion page.’Our View’ is the opinion of majority of the members of The Oklahoma Daily’s editorial board.Editorial Board members are The Daily’s editorial staff. The board meets Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall. Columnists’ and cartoonists’ work is representative of their own opinions, not those of the members of The Daily’s Editorial Board.160 Copeland Hall, 860 Van Vleet Oval

Norman, OK 73019-0270 phone:405-325-3666

e-mail:dailynews@ou.edu

contact us

Ray Martin, opinion editordailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

comments oF tHe day »in response to adam kohut’s tuesday column about the pos-sibility of norman music Festival charging for admission.

YOU CAN COMMENT ATOUDAILY.COM

“The point of Norman Music Festival is to have this great, FREE, event for music fans in our demographic. The idea of selling tickets is silly. And put-ting it in a field? Really man? The setting for the festival is one of the greatest things about it. I would much rather have several smaller, indoor stages that are located at

local businesses than a few big ones outdoors. This gives the festival a really great local and, I hate to say it, “indie” feel, much like SXSW. The thought of puttting it at a park is just atrocious to me.”

- DWALKER2006

4 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

letters to tHe editor

staFF columnour VieW

Column was outlandish, nonsensicalPaperless effortsshould continueand expand

OU has made a noticeable effort to go paperless lately. Pay stubs are all now digital, and many teacher evaluations will be done online at the end of the semester.

In the midst of a green campaign, we commend these efforts and, indeed, think they should continue unabated.

Much across campus is printed on paper and could in-stead by distributed online. It doesn’t stop with pay stubs and teacher evaluations.

We think professors who assign multiple essays through-out the semester, and who aren’t doing this already, should at least consider using the drop box on desire2learn.

If professors want a hardcopy of a certain essay, they can make the decision to print. Simply e-mailing essays would also work, provided professors don’t mind papers filling their inboxes.

Syllabuses also could go online. It would save thousands of sheets of paper that most students are likely to throw away before the semester ends, and are sure to once it fi-nally does.

Most professors already put them online, in case stu-dents lose it or don’t have it with them when they need it. They might as well take the next step, stop distribution and refer students to the class syllabus online.

With the explosion of social media like Facebook and MySpace, it’s not unrealistic to reduce the amount of re-cruiting material sent to prospective students via snail mail and increase the amount sent via e-mail and social networking sites.

High school students are more connected online than ever. Prospective Student Services already has made tech-nological moves in the form of blogs and online applica-tions. There’s no reason it can’t continue to make similar strides.

It’s obviously unrealistic to request all paper distribution on campus come to a halt.

But we think students and professors alike should sim-ply minimize the amount they use, and make sure to throw what they do into recycling bins (which there are increas-ingly more of across campus) rather than trash cans.

kyleWilliams

Steven Jones, sports editor

dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 5

BASEBALL SPORTS BRIEFS

SENIOR GYMNAST BROOKS TO COMPETE IN MOSCOW WORLD CUP NEXT MONTH

Gymnastics senior Chris Brooks was invited to compete in the Moscow Stars World Cup in May, his fi rst international assignment as a member of the U.S. senior national team.

Brooks will compete in Moscow May 29-30, along with 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Raj Bhavsar and former world championship team members Guillermo Alvarez and David Sender. The event is part of the World Cup series, in which gymnasts earn points and prize money for individual apparatus.

Brooks earned All-American status in the all-around, fl oor exercise and vault at the NCAA Championships earlier this month.

OU assistant coach Rustam Sharipov will be one of two coaches accompanying the U.S. squad to Moscow. Sharipov won Olympic gold medals with the Unified Team in 1992 and on parallel bars for Ukraine in 1996.

Former Sooner standout Jonathan Horton, who won two medals at the 2008 Olympics, is scheduled to compete at the Japan Cup, July 18-19 in Makuhari.

Horton, Brooks and sophomore Steven Legendre all quali-fi ed to the 2009 U.S. Gymnastics Championships in August in Dallas.— Amanda Turner/The Daily

MEN’S GOLF IN 12TH HEADING INTO FINAL ROUND OF BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The men’s golf team is in 12th place after 54 holes of play at the Big 12 Championships in Hutchinson, Kan.

The Sooners, who were in ninth place after Monday’s fi rst two rounds, shot a + 26 Tuesday to fall to last place. The Sooners have a team total of + 77 currently.

Four Sooners, juniors Tyler Rody and Eric Durbin, redshirt freshman Riley Pumphrey and sophomore Liam Logan, are all at + 21 heading into the fi nal around.

The only other Sooner in competition, junior Ryan Sirman, is holding on to a share of 55th place after three rounds of 71, 81 and 81, leading to a +28.

Oklahoma State is leading the tournament by thee shots over Colorado.

Individually, Baylor’s Bill Alcorn is atop the standings with a -1 through three rounds.

The Sooners will fi nish off the tournament today. Live scoring of the 18-hole fi nal is available on www.golf-

stat.com. The Sooners tee off at 9 a.m. from the 10th hole.

— Daily Staff

CHRISBROOKS

The Sooners host Kansas for three games this weekend: Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., Sunday at 1 p.m.

BASEBALL »

ZACH

BU

TLER

/TH

E D

AILY

ZACH BUTLER/THE DAILY

Junior pitcher J.R. Robinson pitches against the California Bears March 9. The Sooners won the game, 9-6.

SOONERS GO INTO EXTRA INNINGS IN ARKANSAS

READ THE FULL STORY AT OUDAILY.COM

Closer Duke allows game-

tying home run in ninth

JONO GRECOThe Oklahoma Daily

Tuesday evening’s Big 12/SEC matchup between the No. 9 Sooners and No. 12 Razorbacks provided all that fans in Fayetteville, Ark., could ask for, but nine innings was not enough to decide a winner.

A two-run ninth inning homer by Arkansas sophomore center fielder Brett Eibner off OU sophomore pitch-er Ryan Duke tied the game and sent the game into extra innings.

The two squads exchanged four

runs each during the first six innings, but two seventh -inning runs with the bases loaded allowed the Sooners to take the short-lived lead.

The Razorbacks got to within one in the bottom of the eighth before sophomore pitcher Tyson Seng left the bases loaded by striking out the only batter he faced.

It seemed the game was in hand for the Sooners after junior shortstop Bryant Hernandez provided some breathing room with a solo blast in the top of the ninth to give the squad a two-run lead, but Eibner’s two-run shot evened the score at seven going into the tenth inning.

OU got a good outing from junior pitcher Stephen Porlier, but he was

not credited with a decision. He went six innings while allowing four runs on five hits and struck out six.

The bulk of OU’s offensive attack came from the four-through-seven holes of the lineup. They combined to go 6-14 with six RBIs.

Senior catcher J.T. Wise led that group by going 3-3 with a double while driving in three runs.

Hernandez had a solid night at the plate, too. He went 3-5 with the solo homer and was plated three times.

At press time the game was tied 7-7 in the tenth inning.

At The University of Oklahoma, Intersession gives students three opportunities a year (December, May and August)

to earn college credit between regular semesters.Graduate on time or early!!!

The University of Oklahoma Outreach

Check out our class schedule at:

or call (405) 325-2899

May 18 - June 6, 2009

August 4-22, 2009

6 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sooners travel to StillwaterBig 12 regular season

champs OU face Oklahoma

State at 7 tonight

AARON COLENThe Oklahoma Daily

After a huge weekend series dur-ing which the softball team swept the then-10th-ranked Missouri Tigers and climbed into the top 10 of the na-tional rankings, the Sooners close out the regular season against Oklahoma State in a rivalry game that is sure to keep the team focused.

The No. 10 Sooners (37-13, 12-4 Big 12) will travel to Stillwater today with the Big 12 regular season title already secured. However, if the previous game in the Bedlam Series is any indication, OU still will compete with a high level

of intensity.The last time the Sooners played

the Cowgirls, OU prevailed 8-1 in Norman.

In the game, se-nior pi tcher D. J. Mathis threw 5.1 in-nings, allowing one run and striking out seven batters. Junior second baseman Amber Flores had four RBIs against the Cowgirls.

The game marked the beginning of the team’s current six-game winning streak, which ended a slump of incon-sistent play.

The team received several individu-al awards this week recognizing some

of the contributors to the Sooners’ re-cent success. Sophomore outfielder Krystle Huey was named Big 12 player of the week.

She hit .545 in the Sooners’ three games last week, one against North Texas on Wednesday and two over the weekend against Missouri. She went 6-11 with four runs scored, including a game-winning run in the first game of the Missouri series.

Senior pitcher D.J. Mathis was named Big 12 pitcher of the week, the third time in her career she has won the honor and the first this season.

Mathis went 2-0 in the series against Missouri, pitching two complete games and recording a 2.00 ERA. She is now 15-4 this season.

The first pitch in the game against the Cowgirls is scheduled for 7 tonight in Stillwater.

STAFF COLUMN

I ’ve heard it hundreds of times: “Oh, I love to watch gym-nastics!” For a few weeks every four years, Americans love to watch gymnastics during the Olympic Games.

In fact, gymnastics consistently ranks among the most pop-ular Olympic sports.

Then, when the closing ceremonies end the Olympics, everyone forgets about gymnastics for the next 1,400 days because they don’t love to watch gymnastics. They love Olympic gymnastics. It’s back to football, baseball and bas-ketball for Americans.

Despite gymnastics’ place as the quintessential Olympic sport, the games aren’t the only time and place to see great gymnastics, and real fans know this. World champion-ships take place every year but the Olympic year, and in the year prior to the games, this meet serves as the qualifier for

teams and individuals wishing to make the Olympics.

The U.S. national championships also take place each summer, and new junior and senior national champions are crowned for both men and women. Similar events take place in countries around the world.

Europe hosts the European champi-onships each year, and this event often serves as a predictor for potential world and Olympic champions in the coming years.

The NBC-televised American Cup airs each spring, drawing an international field of athletes who usually end up at worlds in the fall. A whole series of World Cup and other international events also take place throughout the year. And that’s just elite gymnastics.

By January, NCAA gymnastics is in full swing. And unlike elite gymnastics, college gymnasts compete nearly every weekend throughout their four-month season.

The NCAA season doesn’t overlap with the elite season of summer and fall, providing year-round opportunities for gymnastics enjoyment.

And although most female college gymnasts don’t have the pixie appeal of their Olympic counterparts, they are still scored under the ever-popular and simplistic 10.0 system, which disappeared from elite gymnastics in 2005.

Additionally, college competitions appear more often on network and cable television than international elite meets. The NCAA championships, held each April, often provide as much drama and many of the same tricks seen at the Olympic Games.

So when people tell me they love to watch gymnastics, I can only wonder how many of these events they’ve seen or even heard about. Some of them you have to seek out live streaming video on the Internet or catch them at the

obscure hours they make it on television. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

If even one-tenth of the viewers tuned into Olympic gymnastics events every four years expressed interest in the world championships, we might actually get to see it on television, and those gymnasts America loves so much at the games wouldn’t have to disappear back into obscurity for another quadrennium.

They’re always there, you’re just not watching.Gymnastics isn’t a once-every-four-years sport. Don’t be

an every-1,400-day fan.

Kelsey Witten is a journalism junior.

KELSEYWITTEN

SPORTS BRIEFS

MEN’S BASKETBALL TO HOST ARIZONA NEXT SEASON IN BIG 12/PAC 10 SERIES

OU will host Arizona on Dec. 6 next season as a part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. Last season, the Sooners hosted the University of Southern California as part of the series. OU beat the Trojans 73-72.

OU is 4-1 against Arizona all-time. This past season, Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16 and fi nished the season at 21-14.

In the Big 12/Pac 10 series last season, the Big 12 went 10-7.

The other games that will take place during the series:

Sunday, Nov. 29 Nebraska at USC

Thursday, Dec. 3 Washington, at Texas TechUSC at Texas TechUSC at TexasBaylor at Arizona State

Friday, Dec. 4 Colorado at Oregon State

Saturday, Dec. 5 Oregon at MissouriIowa State at CaliforniaWashington State at Kansas State

Sunday, Dec. 6 Kansas at UCLAArizona at OU

Wednesday, Dec. 16 Oklahoma State at Stanford

Tuesday, Dec. 22 Texas A&M at Washington

SEVERAL FORMER SOONERS SIGN FREE AGENTS CONTRACTS WITH NFL TEAMS

Five former OU football players were drafted in this week-end’s NFL draft, and since that time, several more have been picked up in free agency.

Center Jon Cooper signed with the Minnesota Vikings where he will join former teammate Adrian Peterson and recently drafted Phil Loadholt.

Safety Lendy Holmes signed a contract with the Redskins, where former OU receiver Malcolm Kelly was drafted last sea-son.

Also inking a contract was guard Brandon Walker who signed with the Houston Texans.

All the players who signed contracts with teams will be able to fi ght for roster spots this summer.

SOFTBALL SENIORS TO BE HONORED FRIDAYThe softball team’s seniors, first baseman Samantha

Ricketts, pitcher D.J. Mathis and outfi edler Jeannie Douglas, will be honored at 6 p.m. Friday at the OU Softball Complex.

A fan fest also will take place where OU fans can face Sooner players in contests. Infl atable games will be available, along with free food and drinks and autographed merchandise will be given away.

SOFTBALL SIGNS JUCO ALL-AMERICANThe softball team added another player to next year’s

roster as head coach Patty Gasso announced last week that Texarkana College’s Haley Nix signed a national letter of intent to play for OU.

“Haley meets the needs of this team in several areas,” Gasso said. “She is a very versatile player who brings experi-ence from the junior college level. It’ll be key having a player with two years of collegiate experience enter this program and bring in that maturity. Haley has a smooth, almost-effortless swing that generates power. She has a good arm and can play fi rst base or outfi eld, and we look for her to be a big contribu-tor immediately.”

Nix has played two years at Texarkana College and split time at fi rst base and in the outfi eld.

Nix earned NJCAA third team All-American. That year, she hit .429, totaling 85 hits and scoring 52 times. She also had nine home runs and a total of 53 RBIs.

During Nix’s sophomore year, which is still ongoing, she hit .508 with 90 hits, 65 RBIs, nine home runs and 53 runs scored when she was signed by the Sooners.

In high school at Daingerfi eld High School in Texas, Nix was selected to the All-State team in 2007 and was named to the All-District team three times.

She was named the offensive most valuable player by both the Texarcana Gazette and Longivew News Journal and was on the All-East Texas team as well.

She hit .750 her senior year with six home runs.Nix also lettered in volleyball all four years in high school

and was named to the fi rst team in volleyball as well. — Daily Staff

SOFTBALL

ELIZABETH NALEWAJK/THE DAILY

Senior pitcher D.J. Mathis pitches during OU's matchup against OSU April 15. The Sooners will face the Cowgirls at 7 tonight in Stillwater.

KRYSTLEHUEY

Don’t be a once-every-four-years fan

AMY FROST/ THE DAILY

Sophomore Natalie Ratcliff performs her beam routine March 6 against Texas Woman’s University and Illinois State.

MORE SPORTS ONLINE

For more sports content, go online to OUDaily.com.

Boyd Street eatery takes advantage of technology to enhance dining

T uesday afternoon, I had the opportu-nity to check out the “in the raw” on Boyd Street and University Boulevard,

Norman’s newest sushi joint. The experience was not one to disappoint.

The inside has a sleek, modern feel. As I walked in, I got a sense of the length of the

place and the height of the ceiling. A square sushi bar sits in the restaurants cen-ter like an island. Stairs lead up the left wall to an out-of-the-way loft. Out the back door is a small, quiet brick patio perfect for those nice, sunny days away from the hustle and bustle of Campus Corner during high noon.

But the part of the restau-rant that most impressed

me was how interactive and geared it is to-wards students, which helps it stand out among stiff competition.

Chris Le, owner of the restaurant, explained what he was trying to do with Norman’s “in the raw”.

“We’re looking to cater to students,” Le said. “We are open to suggestions and making it their place. A lot of restaurants say that, but we’re already changing things based on stu-dent feedback.”

This sort of interaction can be easily seen in

the restaurant’s iPhone app that allows people who come in with iPhones to be able to log onto “in the raw’s” Wi-Fi network and vote on the next song to be played.

“It’s interesting when younger people come in and change the music,” Le said. “It gets pop-pier and dancier.”

The restaurant also has a Facebook page which allows people to stay updated with what’s going on with the restaurant. Sometimes discounts are offered through passwords sent out to members of the Facebook page.

In addition to its breakthroughs in the cyber realm that makes other restaurants look so 20th century, “in the raw” has a very customi-zable menu, allowing each patron to literally have sushi that has never been made before.

Le said the chef special, ranging anywhere from $10.95-$14.95 depending on the size of the roll you get, allows the customer to choose what they want on and off their sushi roll, al-lowing the chef to do the rest of the work.

“Just tell the chef or server what you don’t like and they make something completely new,” Le said.

Next, I got to indulge in three of the restau-rant’s rolls – the Prince roll, which is the res-taurant’s most popular, the Boyd Street roll, and the Nirvana roll, the latter of which is Le’s personal favorite off the menu. The Prince and Boyd Street rolls are not on the menu, but can be ordered the same way just by asking the server.

During happy hour, customers can get $3 sushi rolls that are normally priced at$10. The restaurant also offers drink specials of $4 Skyy

and Fusion drinks. “We are updating our wine list and beer list

to what’s been requested,” Le said. Though “in the raw” is definitely a sushi

restaurant, they also offer a wide variety of menu items that are not raw fish.

Le points to the beef filet as being ridicu-lously good.

“A couple used to go the Charleston’s for their steak but now they come here,” Le said.

Not only does “in the raw” have great sushi, but it is also unique in how interactive they are with students. They often host bands and

events in their effort to cater to students. “in the raw” is a great restaurant. For the

price, you get tasty sushi and a great experi-ence. If I could point to one thing that makes Norman’s “in the raw” a great restaurant, it would be its customizable nature, from the music you can vote on to play to ordering a never-before-made roll through chef ’s specials.

“We really want to involve the student body,” said Le.

Kyle West is a professional writing junior.

Gran Torino R Taken PG1312:30 4:00 7:05 9:20 12:55 2:55 4:55 7:30 9:30

Last House On The Left R Confessions of a Shopahollic PG

12:40 2:45 5:00 7:15 9:35 12:45 2:45 4:45 7:10 9:10

Paul Blart Mall Cop PG He's Just Not That Into You PG13 7:00 9:40

12:50 2:50 4:50 7:25 9:25 Hotel For Dogs PG 12:35 2:35 4:35

$1.00 All Shows after 6pm Before 6pm

All Shows

ROBINSON CROSSING 6I-35 & Robinson Crossing 447-1005

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 7

Luke Atkinson, L&A editor

dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 325-5189 • fax: 325-6051

BATTLEFIELDS TANKIES #1In Garth Ennis’ third outing in the Battlefi eld series

with artist Carlos Ezquerra, he switches from World War II planes to tanks.

He tells the story of a British tank crew that is stuck behind enemy lines, struggling to rejoin their squad. To add to their problems, they can't stand their commanding offi cer, Corporal Stiles.

As usual, expect Ennis to inject his own twisted brand of humor into this story, but like all his Battlefi eld stories, he is able to write a good, almost tear-jerking story about men bonding under the extreme pressure of war.

Osizimete Aken’ova is a film and video studies junior.

L&A BRIEFS

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS SETLIST ANNOUNCEDAUSTIN, TX – The setlist for one of the nation’s biggest festi-

vals was announced Tuesday amongst groans and praises of many fans.

The three-day-long music festival will begin Oct. 2 at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas and will run through Oct. 4.

PLUG PULLED ON ‘FALLUJAH’ WAR VIDEO GAME

NEW YORK — The publisher behind a video game based on one of the Iraq war’s fi ercest battles has pulled the plug on the title, called “Six Days in Fallujah.”

A spokeswoman for Japanese game company Konami Corp. confi rmed Tuesday the company is no longer publishing the game, which was set to go on sale early next year.

The game, which was still in development, sought to re-create the November 2004 Fallujah battle from the perspective of a U.S. Marine fi ghting against insurgents. Fallujah had been an insur-gent holdout until U.S. forces stormed it in one of the war’s most intense ground battles.

“Six Days” was developed by another company, Atomic Games, with input from more than three dozen Marines. Before deciding not to publish the game, Konami had advertised it as a realistic shooting game “unlike any other,” combining “authentic weaponry, missions and combat set against the gripping story of the U.S. Marines on the ground.”

The game was criticized by some veterans, victims’ families and others who called it inappropriate.

AP

DARK AVENGERS #4Norman Osborn is not too pleased after the Dark

Avenger’s fi rst mission and decides to make changes in his line up. This might not be such a good idea, since some very powerful and angry people might be cut from the team. Speaking of angry, the Cabal comes back for the fi rst time after the Dark Reign and they are out for blood.

I can't believe I haven't written anything about the Dark Reign or the Dark Avengers, everything I've heard about this series is phenomenal especially when it's written by one of the hardest working men in the business, Brian Michael Bendis. Plus it comes in two incredible covers. Just look at this one; it's just beg-ging to be framed.

THE BANDS

• Pearl Jam• Dave Matthews Band• Beastie Boys• Kings of Leon• Ben Harper and Relentless7• Thievery Corporation• John Legend• The Dead Weather• The Levon Helm Band

• Ghostland Observatory• Sonic Youth• Mos Def• Toadies• Flogging Molly• The B-52s• Lily Allen• Citizen Cope• Arctic Monkeys• The Decemberists• Coheed and Cambria

« MOVIE REVIEWS

Check out OUDaily.com for a review of “The Soloist,” starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.

OUDAILY.COM

AMY FROST/THE DAILY

Sushi chefs Jeff Chauchaleune and Ben Fox prepare rolls at “in the raw” Tuesday afternoon.

KYLE WEST

Sushi restaurant off ers interactive experience

WE DON’T JUST PROVIDE FOOD FOR THE HOMELESS.

1-800-899-0089 www.VolunteersofAmerica.org

There are no limits to caring.®

WE PROVIDE JOB TRAINING SO THEY CAN BUY GROCERIES.

The Oklahoma Daily is responsible for one day’s incorrect advertising. If your ad appears incorrectly, or if you wish to cancel your ad call 325-2521, before the deadline for cancellation in the next issue. Errors not the fault of the advertiser will be adjusted. Refunds will not be issued for late cancellations.

The Oklahoma Dailywill not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religious preference, national origin or sexual orientation. Violations of this policy should be reported to The Oklahoma Daily Business Offi ce at 325-2521.

Help Wanted ads in The Oklahoma Daily are not to separate as to gender. Advertisers may not discriminate in employment ads based on race, color, religion or gender unless such qualifying factors are essential to a given position.

All ads are subject to acceptance by The Oklahoma Daily. Ad acceptance may be re-evaluated at any time.

POLICY

PLACE AN AD

Phone: 325-2521

E-Mail: classifi eds@ou.edu

Fax: 405-325-7517

Campus Address: COH 149A

RATES

Payment is required at the time the ad is placed. Credit cards, cash, money orders or local checks accepted.

Businesses may be eligible to apply for credit in a limited, local billing area. Please inquire with Business Offi ce at 325-2521.

rrs TM

PAYMENT

Line AdsThere is a 2 line minimumcharge; approximately 45characters per line, including spaces and punctuation.

Classifi ed Display,Classifi ed Card Ads orGame SponsorshipContact an Acct Executivefor details at 325-2521.

2 col (3.792 in) x 2 inchesSudoku ...........$760/monthBoggle ............$760/monthHoroscope .....$760/month

1 col (1.833 in) x 2.25 inchesCrossword .....$515/month(located just below the puzzle)

1 day ............. $4.25/line2 days ........... $2.50/line3-4 days........ $2.00/line5-9 days........ $1.50/line10-14 days.... $1.15/line15-19 days.... $1.00/line20-29 days.... $ .90/line30+ days.......$ .85/line

Line Ad ..................2 days priorPlace your line ad no later than 9:00 a.m. 2 days prior to publication date.

Display Ad ............2 days priorClassifi ed Display or Classifi ed Card AdPlace your display, classifi ed display or classifi ed card ads no later than 5:00 p.m. 2 days prior to publication date.

DEADLINES

Housing RentalsJ

APTS. UNFURNISHED

Housing RentalsJ

APTS. UNFURNISHED

Housing RentalsJ

APTS. UNFURNISHED

Housing RentalsJ

LOST & FOUND

REWARDLost necklace on campus. Sentimental value. Silver chain w/ Peace sign & gold ring. 820-6269

AUTO INSURANCE

AUTO INSURANCE Quotations AnytimeForeign Students Welcomed

Jim Holmes Insurance, 321-4664

HELP WANTED

PT LEASING AGENT12:45pm-6pm M-F, Rotating Sats

Pay based on experience.Must be friendly & detail oriented.

Apply at 2900 ChautauquaOr call 360-6624 for more info

$5,000- $45,000PAID EGG DONORS up to 9 donations,

+ Exps, non-smokers, Ages 19-29,SAT>1100/ACT>24/GPA>3.00

Contact: info@eggdonorcenter.com

Looking for leasing agent at Bishop’s Landing Apts. Call 360-7744 for applica-tion. $7.50-8.00 / hr, fl exible hours. F/T during breaks.

MetroShoe Warehouse now hiring ener-getic persons for FT/PT sales and mgmt trainees. Hrly + comm. Apply at 1732 24th Ave NW, Norman.

Downtown OKC law fi rm seeks F/T para-legal with great communication/writingskills. Need a self-starter. Email/fax re-sume to haley@cunninghamandmears.com, or call 232-1675

P/T offi ce assistant/receptionist for OKC advertising agency. Answering phones, fi ling, errands, etc. Email resume to ideas@insightokc.com - $8/hr, 20 hrs per week.

Looking for a Great Job?Sitel in Norman is Now Hiring!

Inbound Customer Service Agents* Great Bonus Opportunity

* Advancement Opportunities* Paid Training

High School Diploma or GED req.Apply today at www.sitel.com or at2701 Technology Place, Norman

STUDENTPAYOUTS.COMPaid survey takers needed in Norman100% FREE to join. Click on Surveys.

Fantasy Sports Company seeks talented, aggressive people to promote products this summer. Earn generous commis-

sions while having fun! 423-667-5718 or bruce@paythefan.com

Bartending! Up to $250/day. No exp nec. Training provided. 1-800-965-6520, x133.

SUMMER LIFEGUARDS& SWIM INSTRUCTORS.

Aquatic staff and competitive swimmers.Apply at the Cleveland County Family

YMCA, 1350 Lexington Ave. EOE.

Make up to $75 per online survey, student opinions needed www.cashtospend.com.

Attention College Graduates!If you are looking for a career in the

Criminal Justice Field, please call Avalon Correctional Services, Inc.

405-752-8802 or 800-919-9113Ask for Human Resources!

APTS. FURNISHED

Room for rent $314/month.Most bills paid, fully furnished.

Call 321-8877

Furnished 1 bdrm studio, utilities pd, cor-ner of Flood & Boyd, bills paid, 329-2310.

$400, bills paid, effi ciency LOFT apart-ments, downtown over Mister Robert Fur-niture, 109 E Main, fi re sprinkler, no pets, smoke-free. Inquire store offi ce.

APTS. UNFURNISHED

Summer Special! 1 BLK FROM OU, very nice 4 room apt, 800 sf, wood fl oors, 1018 S College, Apt 8, $295/mo. Call 360-2873 or 306-1970.

1 BLK FROM OU, very nice 4 room apt, 800 sf, wood fl oors, 1016 S College, Apt 1, $295/mo. Call 360-2873 or 306-1970.

Post Oak Apartments 1-2 bed apts avail-able! Newly renovated. Visit postoakliv-ing.com - 364-3039, 705 Ridgecrest Ct.

FREE RENT or up to $300 off First Mo!

Student and Military Discounts

Models open 8:30-5:30 M-F; 10-4 Sat

1-2 bedroom apts/townhomes with

washer/dryer hookups in 2 bedrooms.

Pets Welcome! Free Tanning! Immediate

Move-in!

Two locations:

Apple Creek and Hillcrest Estates

Call us at 329-2438 or 360-2048 or

look us up online, apartmentguide.

com

3 bd $820/mo. & 4 bd $870/mo. Less than 1 mile from OU, CART, w/d, pool, 24hr maintenance. www.oig.biz or call 364-5622

CONDOS FURNISHED

4 Bed/4 Bath Condo for Rent Norman

- The Edge Less than 1 mile from

Campus. Furnished Living Room,

Dining Room, Kitchen, W/D, Hi-speed

internet. $350/Mo + utilities - pdawson.

pd@verizon.net

HOUSES UNFURNISHED

4 bdrm, 4 bath, 2 living, 2 dining, most

bills paid. Call 329-2310.

AVAILABLE IN AUG

Short walk to OU, 4-6 blks west of OU,

nice brick homes, wood fl oors, CH/A, w/d,

disposal, good parking.

4 Bdrm $1,600

3 Bdrm $1,500

Bob, MISTER ROBERT FURNITURE

Mon-Sat, 321-1818

Available 4/18

1700 Jackson Dr. 3/2/2 $950

Available 6/1

1413 Peter Pan 3/1.5/2 $950

140 Alameda Plaza 3/2/2 $1000

321 Waterfront 4/2/2 $1260

Contact Wendy at KW, 473-6832

805C Cardinal Creek Condo’s, 2 bdrm, 2 bth gated community, pool, weight room, on-site washer/dryer, close to campus, nice enviroment to study, overlooks OU golf course $585/mo. Call (580) 763-4278

JUNE RENTAL850 S Flood - $475+bills. 212 S Flood

- $600+bills. Smoke-free, no pets, 1 year lease, security dep. 360-3850

405 E Acres, 3 bd, 1 bth, fenced back yard, hardwood fl oors. $600/month.

714-726-1204

Summer Special! NICE 3-4 bd, 2.25 ba. 929 Branchwood, $700. 1621 Chaucer, $800. 2326 Lindenwood, $1000. Call 360-2873 or 306-1970

3/4 bed, 2 ba, W/D, yard maintained. Ad-

jacent to S Greek area. $1000/mo.

918-271-3336

NEAR OU, 1415 McKinley - 2 bd, 1 ba, garage, W/D, stove, ref, CH/A, $675.911 Nebraska - 2 bd, CH/A, W/D, ref, ga-rage, stove, $650NEAR OU, 717 Wilson - 2 bd, 1 ba, car-port, CH/A, $675

NO PETS, References Required.Contact: 329-1933 or 550-7069

SHORT WALK TO OU1-5 blks west, nice brick homes, wood fl oors, CH/A, w/d, disposal, good parking. 4 Bdrm $1,800-$2,000 3 Bdrm $750-$1,500 2 Bdrm $600-$800 1 Bdrm $420-$460

Bob, MISTER ROBERT FURNITUREMon-Sat, 321-1818

TOWNHOUSES UNFURNISHED

Griffi n Park Townhouse, 2 bd, 1.5 bth, combined living & dining room, all appl, unfurn, neutral colors, 329-2310.

Taylor Ridge Townhomes2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, Fully Renovated

Townhomes near OU!Pets Welcome! • Call for current rates

and Move-in Specials!!!Taylor Ridge Townhomes

(405) 310-6599

Lost & FoundL

TransportationC

Employment

Housing RentalsJ

oudaily.com

R.T. Conwell, advertising manager

classifieds@ou.edu • phone: 325-2521 • fax: 325-7517

8 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Save a Life.Call the Hotline at

325-5000to report hazing,

illegal or unsafe drinking.All calls are anonymous.

The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

Previous Answers

9 8 23 6 17 1 3 94 3 89 2 1 46 5 3

2 6 8 59 1 7

8 4 3Instructions:Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

Previous Solution

Monday- Very EasyTuesday-EasyWednesday- EasyThursday- MediumFriday - Hard

5 2 4 6 8 3 7 1 99 8 3 5 1 7 6 2 46 7 1 2 9 4 5 8 31 5 9 3 2 8 4 7 67 6 2 1 4 5 9 3 84 3 8 7 6 9 2 5 13 9 7 8 5 6 1 4 28 1 6 4 7 2 3 9 52 4 5 9 3 1 8 6 7

Universal Crossword

“ALL SET” by Albert Kingsley

ACROSS 1 Sepulchral

structures 6 Take a siesta 10 Did a number 14 Parting of the

Seine? 15 EASY-OFF

target 16 “A Death in

the Family” author

17 Monopoly battleship, e.g.

18 Great excuse for a party

20 “___ he drove out of sight …”

21 Be cheap 23 Crossed

one’s i’s and dotted one’s t’s?

24 A device for finding furniture in the dark?

25 Makes lovable

27 Mirror 31 Making eyes

at 32 Falsify, as

prices 33 Put to the

test 36 Crinkled

cotton fabric 37 It shoots the

breeze 38 In a foul

mood 40 It may be

tapped 41 Jackie’s

second 42 Golf great

Arnold 43 Site for a

state slogan, perhaps

46 Books that may display where and tear?

49 Four-string guitars, for short

50 Formulaic 51 Crossed

one’s fingers 53 GPs 56 Yellow flower 58 Net letter 60 Analgesic’s

target 61 Tree bump 62 Do the

honors on Thanksgiving

63 Tops or props

64 ___-bitsy 65 Work, as

doughDOWN 1 Where to see

Warhol in London

2 Taste stimulus

3 Hammer found in whodunits

4 “Akeelah and the ___”

5 Tanning agent

6 Giving two tablets, say

7 Avis, formerly?

8 Dirigible 9 180 deg.

from WSW 10 Buffalo

skaters 11 “Phobia”

start 12 Of a more

recent vintage 13 Does a

stableman’s job

19 Warren Beatty flick

22 Card in a royal flush

24 Hop, ___ and jump

26 Faultfinder 27 It may be

picked 28 Storybook

monster 29 Cassini of

fashion 30 Type of

alcohol 33 Plebe’s sch. 34 Annotation in

proofreading 35 Bronte

governess 37 Like some

flowers 38 CD player

precursor 39 Builder’s

add-ons 41 Another card

in a royal flush

42 Certain lap dog, for short

43 Some coffeehouse orders

44 “That makes sense”

45 Furnish 46 When to look

at curves? 47 Hatchet-

burying event 48 Supple 52 Possessive

pronoun 53 She ain’t

what she used to be

54 Female opera star

55 Bob in the Olympics?

57 Box score stat

59 Sphinx riddle answer

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

Edited by Timothy E. Parker April 29, 2009

© 2009 Universal Press Syndicatewww.upuzzles.com

129 N.W. Ave.360-4422

127 N. Porter360-4247

1215 W. Lindsey364-1325

HIGHLIGHTING OR COLOR

WITH HAIRCUT • $49.99WEAVE OR FOIL ADD $10.00

HAIRCUT • $10.99Non-Requested Stylist Only

The Works$15.99

Shampoo/ Cut/Blowdry

116 S. Main, Noble872-1661

Open 7Days A Week!

Must present this coupon

9 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

TIM TALLEYAssociated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — Michael Ivins left his hammer-and-sickle T-shirt at home and Wayne Coyne didn’t drop the “f ’’ bomb, but The Flaming Lips band mem-bers still managed to reflect their non-conforming style Tuesday as their song “Do YouRealize??” was proclaimed

the official rock song of Oklahoma. Gov. Brad Henry signed an executive order flanked by all four band members in front of about 300 cheering fans at a cer-emony that almost didn’t happen after conservative Republicans in the Oklahoma House blocked a resolution to honor the song because two House members objected to band members’ clothing and language. “ W h a t a c o o l e f f o r t f o r a c o o l

state,” Henry said as he prepared to sign the order. “Their music is origi-nal, it’s daring, it’s eclectic and it’s fun.” Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, sponsor of the unsuccessful resolution, said honoring The Flaming Lips and their song will shine a spotlight on a part of the state that is rarely seen — the contri-bution to rock music by the group and other Oklahomans like Wanda Jackson,

Leon Russell, J.J. Cale and Hoyt Axton. “We hear a lot about country music, but we don’t hear a lot about the roots o f O k l a h o m a ro c k ,” D o r m a n s a i d . Coyne said the Oklahoma City-based group was honored to have its song named the state rock song “despite the silliness that happened at the end of last week.” “ W e a l w a y s f e l t p e o p l e a l -w a y s b e l i e v e d i n u s,” C o y n e s a i d . “We really do believe in all of you.” Coyne also had kind words for Henry, who signed the executive order to honor the results of an online survey in which more than half the voters picked “Do You Realize??” to be the state’s official rock song. “This is a class thing you’re doing h e r e ,” C o y n e t o l d t h e g o v e r n o r. Jill Simpson, director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, described Henry as “a governor who has now raised the cool factor for the state of Oklahoma.” Almost 11,000 people picked “Do You Realize??” as their choice for the official state song in a survey last year in which more than 21,000 people voted from a list of 10 songs selected by a panel of experts. The Senate voted 46-0 last month for a resolution making it the official state rock song, but the House voted 48-39 on Thursday when it takes at least 51 votes to pass a mea-sure in the 101-member chamber.

The House vote occurred after one law-maker complained that Ivins wore a T-shirt bearing a hammer and sickle, a symbol of communism, when the band was introduced in the House earlier this year. Another said he was offended by Coyne’s foul language when the band was feted at an event last year that was sponsored by city officials.

FLAMING LIPS TUNE NAMED STATE ROCK SONG

O K L A H O M A C I T Y — P l a n s b y General Motors to eliminate Pontiac from its line of cars would have a di-rect impact on more than 50 dealer-ships across the state that sell the sto-ried brand.

Jerry Ferguson, whose family has ridden Pontiac automobiles to busi-ness success, is concerned.

“I just got the news a few hours ago,” Ferguson said Monday. “Of course there’s been a lot of speculation. I’ve been hearing rumors. But still ... .”

B r o k e n A r r o w ’ s F e r g u s o n Superstore and Norman’s Ferguson Pontiac Buick GMC are among the dealers in line to feel the effects of

GM’s plans to cut the 83-year-old brand no later than next year. The au-tomaker is trying to stay alive in the worst auto sales climate in 27 years.

Oklahoma’s Pontiac dealerships also sells other cars, and this could help blunt the impact of eliminating the Pontiac line. However, another major concern is the automaker’s plans to reduce its dealership ranks by 42 percent from 2008 to 2010.

GM accounts for 108 of Oklahoma’s 300 new-car dealerships, each one supporting 30 to 70 employees or more. Other automakers, including Ford and Chrysler, also are talking about closing dealerships.

“I think it’s going to have its big-gest impact in the rural communi-ties,” said analyst James Kenderdine. “It will affect big cities, where you will have people lose jobs, but the hit on ad valorem taxes and the hit on the kind of contributions to the commu-nity they make will be much greater in the smaller communities.

“You take a car dealership out of Purcell, even a town as big as Pauls Valley, and you’re going to feel it al-most immediately,” said Kenderdine, professor emeritus of marketing and supply chain management with the University of Oklahoma Price College of Business.

Dealerships brace for loss of Pontiac

CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN/AP

Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, left, and Flaming Lips singer Wayne Coyne pose for a photo after Henry signed a proclamation making the Flaming Lips song ‘ Do You Realize??’ Oklahoma’s official rock and roll song at the Oklahoma History Center, Tuesday April 28, 2009, in Oklahoma City.

AM

ENIT

IES

SUBJ

ECT

TO C

HA

NG

E |

SEE

OFF

ICE

FOR

DET

AIL

S

������������� ��

������������������

������������� ��

������������������

10 Wednesday, April 29, 2009

ADAM GELLER

Associated Press

NEW YORK — The swine flu outbreak is unleashing a side effect the global econ-omy is in no condition to handle: fear.

Travelers are canceling or delaying trips to Mexico, and on Tuesday Cuba became the first nation to ban all flights to its neighbor. China, Russia and South Korea have banned imports of some North American pork, de-spite assurances that the flu is not spread through meat. Investors just starting to re-gain their nerve have again caught the jitters.

The threat of a pandemic comes just as the world economy is showing the barest glimmerings of what analysts say might be the light at the end of what re-mains a long, dark tunnel. And now this.

“This is just another neg-ative shock when the econ-omy can least afford another negative shock,” said Jay Bryson, global economist at Wachovia Corp.

So far, fear of the flu is at least as responsible for the economic disruption as the disease itself. The number of confirmed cases in the United States climbed to 68, and federal officials warned that deaths were likely. In

New York, the city’s health commissioner said “many hundreds” of schoolchil-dren were ill at a school where some students had confirmed cases.

President Barack Obama asked Congress for $1.5 bil-lion in emergency funds to fight the disease.

Economists remember well the financial damage

the SARS outbreak inflicted in 2003. An epidemic of that scale or greater could inflict severe damage on a global economy already badly listing.

“On top of a synchro-nized global financial and economic crisis, an out-break of swine fever is the last thing we need just now,” Neil MacKinnon,

chief economist at The ECU Group PLC, based in London, wrote this week.

There already are early signs that swine flu fear is taking an economic toll. In Mexico City, canceled events and closed movie theaters, night clubs, museums and other establishments are costing at least $57 million a day.

Swine fl u fear is catching fast in weak world economy

AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN

Sano Shinsuke wears a mask to protect him from swine flu as he walks through Times Square after arriving on a flight from Japan Tuesday in New York.

NEWS BRIEFS

OBAMA ORDERS REVIEW OF FLYOVER

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has ordered an inter-nal review to determine how the decision was made to send one of his offi cial airplanes on a low-fl ying photo op past the New York City skyline. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina will lead the review. Gibbs said the point is to determine “why that decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again.” Gibbs said Obama was “furious” when he heard about the incident. Obama has called it a mistake.

PAKISTANI JETS POUND MILITANTS

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani jets and attack helicopters struck Taliban positions in mountains close to the capital Tuesday as part of a widening offensive against militants spreading out from the lawless region along the border with Afghanistan, the military said. With residents reporting ground troops also moving into the Buner area, the operation could allay worry in the U.S. and other Western nations that nuclear-armed Pakistan lacks the will to fi ght extremists in the northwest, where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding.

COSTS SOAR FOR IRAQI MILITARY TRAINING

BAGHDAD — Iraq is falling fall far behind schedule in creat-ing a system to maintain its own military equipment, costing American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to fi ll in the gaps, according to a new U.S. audit. The U.S. has spent billions of dollars to develop Iraq’s secu-rity forces with an emphasis in recent years on developing Iraq’s maintenance and supply capabilities — seen as essential for the country to maintain a self-suffi cient force after the lifeline from Washington is trimmed back.

—AP

Gold CrownSooner 2008/Crimson Traditions 2007 and OUDaily.com

Pacemaker Sooner 2007/ Crimson Traditions 2006

Pacemaker fi nalistOUDaily.com and Sooner 2008/ Crimson Traditions 2007

Honor Roll Yearbook AdviserLori Brooks, associate director

Designer of the YearJohn Salvie, Advertising design manager

Admiral William J. Crowe AwardMeredith Simons, The Oklahoma Daily editor

DID YOU KNOW?OU Student Media is among the nation’s best.

21Professional Awards

59Collegiate Awards

3 Best in Show

7 Best of Collegiate Design

4 SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards

2 Hearst Awards

42 Gold Circles

27 Sooner and Crimson Traditions

13 Oklahoma Daily

2 Sower Magazine

1 CNBAM Award

Visit www.studentmedia.ou.edu for more information on all the awards listed above.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. Student Media is a department within OU’s division of Student Aff airs. SOWER

THE OKLAHOMA DAILYSOONER YEARBOOK

V I S I T O RG U I D E

S T U D E N T

M E D I A