Former OU wrestler loses year-long bout with leukemia (page 5) The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
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Sooner delegates visit state Capitol to bring attention to higher education investments
OU to expand campus parking
Students lobby for state funding SEAN LAWSON
Campus Reporter
A group of 44 OU students lobbied to legislators for increased higher education funding for the state’s academic institutions Tuesday at the state Capitol. The effort was part of Higher Education Day, which brought together student delegates from colleges and universities around
ins,” which entailed stopping by legislators’ offices with an informational packet and a pitch, Higher Education Day coordinator Steve Sichterman said. “We have people all on every floor of the capital,” Sichterman said. “They’re dropping by every office to explain just how important OU’s funding is.” The packets provided information, but the office visits were intended to tie a face and a story to
the state. The day’s activities were intended to remind state legislators of the importance of higher education funding, political science sophomore Akash Patel said. “It’s important that we keep getting the money we are getting and hopefully more,” Patel said. While at the Capitol, OU’s student delegates performed “drop-
pHoto provided By niCK Jones
Akash Patel, poitical science sophomore (left), talks see FUNDING pAGe 2 with Rep. Charles Key, R-Oklahoma City, Tuesday.
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MCAT studying builds anxiety Sooners prepare themselves for rigorous test JAKE MORGAN
Campus Reporter
As Eric Ray emptied a payload of Me dical College Admission Test preparation materials from his backpack, each hefty book hit the floor with a resounding smack. The resulting pile, complete with six paperback tomes and four stacks of bundled notecards, grew into a formidable mountain of chemistry, biology, physics and verbal reasoning at the zoology junior’s feet. “I have eight weeks of studying left,” Ray said. “After that, I’ll have my life back.” Ray is not alone. He is but one of OU’s soon-to-be medical school applicants, who must brave the onslaught of late nights and practice problems as they prepare to take the MCAT in the coming months. OU is the sixth largest producer of medical school applicants in the country, pre-medical adviser Nancy Blass said, citing National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions statistics. Blass, who advises OU’s approximately 1,800 premedical students, said the exam often terrifies students. “ It ’s l i ke t h e g re atgrandma of exams,” Blass said. “If they go in with a lot of fear, they won’t do well.” Professional preparation courses can cost up to $2,000, but Blass said she’s not a proponent of such measures because they do not always result in good scores. Selfstudy materials, such as the Examkrackers study see STUDY pAGe 3
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Samantha Wafer performs her poem, “in need of Prevention.” The multidisciplinary senior finished third in friday’s Poetry Slam, hosted by the OU Write Club at Café Plaid on Campus Corner.
Sooner finds outlet in poetry Poet places third in OU Write Club’s Poetry Slam NICK WILLIAMS
life & Arts Reporter
You would’ve thought it was the lunch rush. The crowd was swelling, each chair was filled and the atmosphere was brimming with excited conversation. However, the darkening sky outside and the sound of washing dishes emanating from a back room were the only things that revealed it was near closing time at Café Plaid on Campus Corner.
OUDaily.com Listen to a recording of samantha Wafer performing her slam poetry. oudaily.com/life&arts
The reason for the late-night ruckus: The OU Write Club was hosting its first Poetry Slam. And Samantha Wafer was stepping up to the microphone to deliver her poem. “It’s always a really exciting
experience,” said Wafer, who finished third in the slam. “I’ve been doing live poetry readings for about three years now and still love it.” Wafer, multidisciplinar y senior, has been expressing herself through the written art form since her early teenage years growing up in Lawton. “I was definitely one of those frustrated teens growing up,” Wafer said.
MARK SIMPSON Campus Reporter
Demolition crews leveled an OU landmark to make way for a new commuter parking area in an effort to address student concerns, according to a university spokesperson. The demolition of Rhyne Hall, former home to the OU School of Social Work, paves the way for a new 58space parking lot merging the adjacent lots to the south and east at Jenkins Avenue and Page Street. However, the demolition and subsequent construction of the parking area will force the closure of the small commuter parking lot to the east of the Rhyne Hall location, according to the OU parking services website. Rhyne Hall was constructed in 1928 as a home for the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, though the building had become dilapidated at the time of its demolition, OU Parking and Transportation Services spokeswoman Vicky Holland said. “We can always use more parking on campus,” Holland said. “The Rhyne Hall location is a prime spot on the main campus and it already had parking areas behind it and to the see PARKING pAGe 3
AT A glAnCe rhyne Hall • originally for the alpha Tau Omega fraternity in 1928 • Purchased by the university to house the School of Social Work • named for Jennings J. Rhyne in honor of his long service to OU and the state of Oklahoma in social work in 1977 Source: Rhyne Hall plaque
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Star Party provides out-of-this-world opportunity Previous parties canceled due to unfavorable skies JALISA GREEN
Campus Reporter
Ascending a rusty narrow staircase along the side of the OU Observatory, one reaches a roof open to the night sky.
A dozen bystanders look upward through the chilly night air into the clear sky sprinkled with stars. No one makes a sound as they gaze up. These were attendees of the first OU Star Party, hosted Feb. 15 by astrophysics professor Mukremin Kilic and astrophysics graduate student Sara Barber.
Kilic had to cancel the first two parties because of cloudy skies and cold weather, but parties are scheduled for every Wednesday for the rest of the semester, excluding March 21 and depending on weather, according to its website. Barber currently researches constellations and telescopes and teaches a
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Demolition crews tear down Rhyne Hall for new lot
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Website pairs musical, alcoholic cravings
Sooners competing with each other for best game
Match your mood and the music you’re listening to with the perfect drink using the website Drinkify. (Life & arts)
Want to get your game on? Check out a student group designing video games for a competition. (Page 7)
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Requested document and purpose
Take advantage of this historic chance to impact the national election by getting informed and voting. (Page 4)
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see in books,” Barber said. Guests can look at constellations, planets and galaxies at a high magnitude, she said. The telescope is highly computerized with higher optics and uses curved mirrors to reflect light and form an image.
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class at OU, she said. “I was the only one given permission to use the telescope as part of my research,” she said. “As other students are learning from me ... we decided to host these star parties to allow the public and OU students the opportunity to see through the telescope and those things that you just
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Sophomore guard Morgan Hook (10) drives to the basket during the Sooners’ 64-55 win against the defending national champion Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday in norman. Hook had 19 points. (Page 5)
Date requested
Budgets for winter road maintenance for the past 10 years — To learn more about how much funding comes from student fees and what happens to money left over due to mild winters such as this one.
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total squirrel fees accumulated for each of the past 10 years — To gather information about the amount of money OU receives from squirrel fees and what percentage of all student fees squirrel maintenance accounts for.
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total student fees for each of the past 10 years — To learn more about the breakdown of student fees and how it has evolved during the past 10 academic years.
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