Monday, Aug. 29, 2011

Replacing Texas A&M: Who’s likely and who’s a long shot? (page B5) The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916

M O N DAY, AUG U S T 2 9 , 2 011

W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M

NBA star joins former Sooner hoops players on campus

2 010 G OL D C ROW N W I N N E R

ACAdEMICS

drop policy to include new limits All students should consider decision to withdraw from courses beforehand BlaYklee BUchaNaN Campus Reporter

astrud reed/tHe daiLy

Blake Griffin receives a standing ovation from the players and crowd during the Alumni Legends game Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center. The Los Angeles Clippers forward played at OU from 2007-09, winning the 2009 Naismith College Player of the Year in his final collegiate season. In 2011, his first official year in the NBA, Griffin was named an All-Star, the slam dunk contest winner and Rookie of the Year. (Sports, B1)

Students with a habit of dropping classes might want to rethink such action upon implementation of a new policy limiting the number of course withdrawals.

Under the new policy, students are allowed up to five withdrawals during their tenure at OU. The limit goes into effect after the two-week “free drop” period at the beginning of each semester.

Class withdrawals were previously unlimited and the deadlines were different, said Joyce Allman, associate provost for academic advising.

“The first two weeks were free, as it’s always been, with no record on your transcript,” Allman said. “Weeks three to six [students] could drop with an automatic W; weeks seven to 10 they had to have a professor’s signature with a grade of W or F circled on the drop slip.

“Weeks 11 to 15 they then had to have the drop slip see DROP paGe a2

HoWdY WEEK ’11

Freebies not enough to meet increased attendance Some call foul over food shortages aNGela To

Campus Reporter

Large crowds flocked to free food during OU’s backto-school Howdy Week, but increased turnout left some students empty handed.

How d y We e k , o r ga nized by Campus Activities Council, took place during the first week of school, and while organizers considered the high turnout a success, food was often in short supply.

Events offering free Papa John’s pizza or Jimmy John’s sandwiches would take place for 15 minutes before all of the free food was handed out.

“There’s like hundreds of people waiting for their food. It’s also a good time to connect with all the new freshmen and other students.”

JIMMY ANDRADE, GEOGRAPHY SENIOR

Chemical engineering junior and event chairwoman Beth Huggins considers the exhaustion of its food supply an inevitable problem. She acknowledged Howdy Week encounters this every year; however, she didn’t consider

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East Coast deals with Hurricane Irene

it a problem.

“I’m not disappointed with the amount of food we had, or how fast it ran out,” Huggins said. “I think that as long as you know we’re trying to get it out there as much as we can, that’s all we can do.

“And to me, as the chair, I think it’s a good thing it runs out quicker because it means we did a good job publicizing it and a lot of people were waiting for it.”

Even though the first couple days showed signs of these setbacks, CAC could not take any immediate

meLodie LettKeman/tHe daiLy

Campus Activites Council Howdy Week volunteers entice students with platters of watermelon at the see FOOD paGe a2 event’s watermelon bash Aug. 22. Chairwoman Beth Huggins said their low food supply was inevitable.

School of Social Work opens for new year

More than four million homes and businesses are without power. (page A3)

Volleyball team wins Nike Invitational The Sooners won all three games during a weekend tournament. (page B1)

LIFE & ArTS

oU student moves past devastation

dustbowl draws patrons, vendors

How the fire at The Commons affected one student. (oUdaily.com)

Local and out-of-state artists came to Norman on Saturday. (page A5)

Chevron gives OU scholarship gift OU recently received a $150,000 donation from the Chevron Corp. to provide scholarships and student program funds.

Chevron representatives made the gift presentation at a Tuesday luncheon attended by OU deans and directors.

The donation will fund scholarships and programs including those within the College of Business, the College of Earth and Energy and OU Career Services.

SporTS

MULTIMEdIA

CAMpUS BrIEFS

Law professor completes fellowship

auBrie HiLL/tHe daiLy

OU President David Boren (left) and other dignitaries cut the ribbon at the dedication of Zarrow Hall on Friday. The School of Social Work was previously located at old Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house.

think of all the quarters you’ll save!*

An OU law professor completed a monthlong taxation and business fellowship in Sydney.

Jonathon B. Forman was awarded the Abe Greenbaum Fellowship by the Australian School of Taxation and Business at the University of New South Wales.

Forman collaborated on a paper and speech titled, “Pension Reform: What Can the United State and Australia Learn from Each Other?”

Forman also met with Australian tax representatives.

Staff Reports

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A2

• Monday, August 29, 2011

news

Chase Cook, managing editor dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666

drop: Other options available for undergrads Continued from page A1

Sara Schneckloth’s art exhibit will be on display in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art’s Lightwell Gallery. Schneckloth’s exhibit will be on display until Sept. 9.

Tuesday, Aug. 30 U.S. national anthem auditions to sing during OU home games will take place from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Catlett Music Center’s Pitman Recital Hall. All students are welcome to audition. Sign-up sheets are posted in the Choral bulletin board outside room 128 in the music center.

Wednesday, Aug. 31 A dream-course lecture on the role that universities and cities play in designing a regional sense of space will be from 4 to 5 p.m. The lecture will be given by Kelly Kolar from Kolar Design. The lecture will take place in Gould Hall’s Joe & Jane Buskuhl Gallery. The lecture is free.

A film and lecture will be presented by music professor Eugene Enrico from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Catlett Music Center’s Pitman Recital Hall. The lecture is free, but seating is limited.

Campus Activities Council’s open house will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The event will take place in the Walker Residence Hall.

The Dodos with the Luyas will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. as part of CAC’s and the Union Programming Board’s concert series. The event will take place on the Oklahoma Memorial Union lawn.

A general interest meeting for the Union Programming Board will take place from 9 to 10 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Scholars Room. The meeting will inform students how to further get involved on campus.

TIG NOTARO will perform at 9 p.m. at the Opolis, 113 N Crawford Ave. NOTARO is a comedian who has performed on the Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson late night shows.

She also has appeared on NBC’s “Community.”

Thursday, Sept. 1 Fall 2011 first billing statement.

A lecture by Sara Schneckloth will be from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Fred Jones Jr. Art Center. Schneckloth has an art exhibit on display until Sept. 9 inside Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The lecture is free and open to the public.

A closing reception for visiting artist Sara Schneckloth will begin at 5 p.m. and last until 7 p.m. in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art’s Lightwell Gallery. The reception is free.

The Sound Lounge will host a free concert from 8 to 10 p.m. on the Oklahoma Memorial Union lawn. The concert will feature local music talent.

The concert is free for OU students.

Friday, Sept. 2 Final day to change from audit to credit.

Last day for full refunds on dropped classes and complete withdrawals.

Financial aid enrollment confirmation deadline.

Last day of no recorded grade for dropped courses.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger” tides will be shown at 6:30 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight for free in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Governor’s Room.

Women’s soccer will play Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. at the OU Soccer Complex.

Corrections The Oklahoma Daily has a commitment to serve readers with accurate coverage and analysis.

Readers should bring errors to The Daily’s attention by emailing dailynews@ou.edu.

In a page 1 story of Thursday’s edition of The Daily, Gina Petruccelli of the College of Architecture was mistakenly identified as the college spokeswoman. Petruccelli is the college Web and communications coordinator.

New policy • Limited to five withdrawals • First two weeks free drop • Weeks 3-10 automatic W • Weeks 11-15 drop slip with dean approval

Old policy • Unlimited withdrawals • First two weeks free drop • Weeks 3-6 automatic W • Weeks 7-10 professor signature with W or F • Weeks 11-15 drop slip with dean approval

Source: Joyce Allman, associate provost for academic advising

registrar and vice president for Enrollment and Student Financial Services, said that he and Allman serve on a graduation-retention task force.

Hamilton said several professors researched institutional policies within comparative institutions with higher graduation-retention rates before rewriting the policy. “ Th e re s e e m e d t o b e a more intentional focus among students at some of these comparative institutions when they had limits on the number of [withdrawals],” Hamilton said. “It seemed to prosper a more thoughtful enrollment by those students.”

Still, Hamilton said students should keep withdrawals to a minimum. High numbers of withdrawals could become disadvantages when applying to professional schools that would expect an explanation. The fewer the better, Hamilton said.

Some students seem to think along the same lines as Hamilton.

“It might just help people become more serious about their grades,”said Micah Lankford, chemical engineering and biotechnology sophomore.

University College freshman Laura Eason said she believes the new withdrawal policy is a good idea as well.

FOOD: Long lines create new connections Continued from page A1 action to better accommodate the high turnout. Food was donated by sponsors and the number of donations was already set and couldn’t be changed.

Geography senior Jimmy Andrade, a first-time volunteer, said by Friday he had already worked for four or five hours helping ensure the event’s smooth operation.

The biggest surprise he encountered was the hectic lunch shift, he said.

“There’s like hundreds of people waiting for their food.

It’s also a good time to connect with all the new freshmen and other students. I mean, I guess I didn’t expect that to happen, but it’s happening, and I’m glad it is,” Andrade said.

Zoology sophomore Austin Leone transferred from Baylor University this

semester. Howdy Week is also geared toward transfer students like him to help make their transition to OU an easy one. Leone said he first heard about the event Monday by getting a free snow cone and thought he would try his luck Friday for a free lunch.

“I think it’s kind of biased to only the South Oval because if you’re in the North Oval you can’t even hear the music playing or see it

happening, but who doesn’t have classes in the South Oval because that is where most of the academic buildings are?” Leone said.

Huggins said if she could change one thing about it next year it would be reaching out to different demographics on campus with different events.

“There are a lot of different types of students here and so uniting them together would be great,” Huggins said.

UOSA

Council tackles office spaces First meeting addresses students’ concerns in center Joel Shackelford Campus Reporter

UOSA President Hannah Moris and Vice President Laura Bock presided over the first official meeting with UOSA executive council Sunday evening, tackling one issue that has some student organizations on alert.

The meeting was mostly dedicated to organization, but a recent concern was addressed for a number of student organizations — the loss of office space due to the renovations in Conoco Student Leadership Center.

“The university is investing in renovating the second and third floors, which means that we had to get rid of the cubicles that were up there,” Morris said.

The loss of this space led to a more competitive selection process for offices and some student organizations begin the year officeless.

Morris said she was committed to doing whatever is necessary to see they are given space to operate. “ Th i s i s t h e i r spa c e,” Morris said. “We are more than happy to accommodate them.”

The general area has the ability to facilitate several meetings at the same time, as it has couches and tables spread throughout.

More Online Visit OUDaily.com to read the complete story

V

Today around campus

signature, plus they had to petition their dean [for approval].”

Aside from the drop limit, changes focus on permissions, Allman said.

“Now, the new policy is that they get week three all the way through week 10 without needing anybody’s permission — it’s an automatic W,” Allman said. “The rest is the same; weeks 11 through 15, they do have to petition through the dean.”

However, the new policy does not apply to complete withdrawals. If a student completely withdraws from OU, the classes they withdrew from do not count toward the limit of five. It also does not apply to withdrawals prior to the new policy.

This new policy applies to all undergraduates, with the exception of University Colle g e and Colle g e of Engineering students. They must consult their college office before making any changes in their schedule.

Matthew Hamilton,

AT A GLANCE Drop policy changes

“I understand that there are situations where people need to drop a class midway into a semester, but I think limiting the number of times they can do that will certainly encourage people to work hard in their classes,” Eason said.

There are also options other than withdrawing if a student cannot complete a course. Auditing — paying to attend a class without participating in classwork or receiving credit — is a choice because it does not affect GPA or count against the limited amount of withdrawals, but allows the audited student to experience the class still.

A course can be switched from credit to audit within the first two weeks of class.

Another option to keep in mind is the repeat policy, of which Allman said, “allows you to repeat four classes, or 18 hours, whichever comes first, in any class in which you earned a D or an F.” “The first grade remains on the transcript, but it’s removed from the retentiongraduation GPA,” she said.

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NEWS

Monday, August 29, 2011 •

A3

HURRICANE IRENE

Storm weakens, but flooding a concern 4 million homes, businesses without power on East Coast

STATE-BY-STATE LOOK CONNECTICUT

Irene made landfall Sunday with winds of 60 mph. Thousands were evacuated along the shoreline, with more than 30 municipalities directing people to leave their homes.

DELAWARE

At least 36,000 homes and businesses are without power. A tornado damaged 15 structures near Lewes. No injuries were reported.

FLORIDA

A surfer was killed after being tossed off his board by heavy waves. A New Jersey tourist also died in rough surf.

MAINE

Heavy rains on Sunday. Winds clocked at 35 mph at Portland. More than 86,000 lost power by Sunday afternoon. Flash flood warnings went in effect Sunday for northern and western Maine.

MARYLAND

More than 830,000 homes and businesses are without power. Police reported a tornado touchdown on the lower Eastern Shore with no injuries.

MASSACHUSETTS

Irene reached southern New England on Sunday. In Boston, public transportation was shut down. The American Red Cross positioned emergency response vehicles, mobilized disaster workers and prepared supplies.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Drenching rain and high winds reached the state Sunday afternoon. More than 100,000 homes and businesses lost power. The American Red Cross plans to open four shelters.

NEW JERSEY

Irene made landfall along the New Jersey coast near Little Egg Inlet with 75-mph winds, the first hurricane to make landfall in the state in more than a century. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for nearly 1 million visitors and residents. More than 15,000 people are in shelters. Atlantic City casinos shut down for only the third time since gambling was legalized 33 years ago.

NEW YORK

Irene made landfall Sunday near Coney Island. In Manhattan, some streets flooded, and two major thoroughfares closed. More than 905,000 homes and businesses statewide lost power. Bungalows floated down streets in Queens while rescuers searched for anyone inside. New York City’s public transit system, the nation’s largest, was shut down until at least Sunday. Five main New York-area airports also closed.

NORTH CAROLINA

Irene made landfall Saturday morning near Cape Lookout. At least five people were killed. More than 560,000 people lost electricity. The Neuse River poured over its banks and into the city of New Bern. Several dozen people had to be rescued from homes as up to 4 feet of water rushed in.

More than 60 shelters opened in 26 counties. 1,300 prisoners evacuated from two coastal prisons.

PENNSYLVANIA

Three men were killed. There is flooding in several counties in central and eastern portions of the state. More than 500,000 lost power.

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Hurricane Irene’s winds and storm surge fell short of the doomsday predictions, but with rivers still rising, severe flooding is feared across much of the East Coast over the next few days.

More than 4 million homes and businesses along the coast were still without power Sunday, and at least 20 deaths were blamed on the storm.

With roads impassable because of high water and fallen trees, it could be days before the full extent of the damage is known. But by Sunday afternoon, most of the damage reported was downed trees and power lines.

At the same time, officials warned of the possibility of extreme flooding as runoff from the storm makes its way into creeks and rivers.

Irene brought six inches to a foot of rain to many places along the East Coast. In one eastern North Carolina neighborhood, two-dozen homes were destroyed by flooding and officials feared more damage could be uncovered there.

Some areas of the Northeast had soggy ground even before the storm because of a rainy August.

“We are going to look at a record flooding situation here, both at the shore and inland,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The storm was still pummeling New England on Sunday, dropping below hurricane strength but still dangerous with 60 mph winds and heavy downpours.

Floodwaters were rising across New Jersey, and more than 2,000 National

RHODE ISLAND

Irene made landfall Sunday as a tropical storm. More than 200,000 customers lost power. Three hundred National Guard troops are on standby.

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SOUTH CAROLINA

Stay connected with The Oklahoma Daily for campus, sports and entertainment news

VERMONT

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Irene was moving away from the state Saturday morning. Beach erosion was reported at high tide Friday evening on Edisto Island and Folly Beach.

Heavy rains began falling early Sunday, with flash flooding and evacuations ongoing in southern Vermont by late morning.

VIRGINIA

Millions lost power. The full extent of the damage may not be known for days because some roads could remain impassible and rivers have yet to crest, officials said. Three deaths have been reported.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

At least 36,000 homes and businesses are without power. Sunday’s dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was postponed.

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Top: Spc. Caleb Lowery with the Army National Guard helps clean out a homeowners hot tub after it flooded in the wake of Hurricane Irene on Sunday in the Kennels Beach section of Arapahoe, Pamlico County, N.C. Right: Bonnie Chapman watches as floodwaters from Hurricane Irene stream down a road Sunday in Highland, N.Y. Torrential rains forced hundreds in the Hudson Valley from their homes, caused widespread power outages, closed 137 miles of the state’s main highway and swelled creeks and rivers to previously unrecorded levels.

STEVE BORLAND/TIMES HERALD-RECORD

“We are going to look at a record flooding situation here, both at the shore and inland.”

CHRIS CHRISTIE, NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR

Guardsmen were helping with search and rescue work as officials assessed the damage. The Raritan River, which caused disastrous flooding after it was swelled by rain

from Hurricane Floyd 12 years ago, was not expected to crest until Sunday evening.

Still, some of those living on the coast were cautiously optimistic.

After spending the night hunkered down in his Pleasantville, N.J., home overnight without electricity, Harry Webber went outside in a fruitless search for place to buy a cup of coffee.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of my town is still in one piece,” he said.

The Associated Press

A4

• Monday, August 29, 2011

OPINION

Comment of the day on OUDaily.com ›› “May Campus Corner never boondoggle the city and its residents for special treatment again.” (Bubba)

EDITORIAL

Irene’s worst damage avoided Our View: The fallout from Hurricane Irene shows states were more prepared than in the past.

event” being thrown around before the storm hit, we should be grateful that the storm weakened before it hit the major residential areas, and that it failed to reHurricane Irene has garnered much media atten- develop like some scientists feared it could. tion for making landfall so unusually far north on the Any death toll is regretable, but 15 deaths pales in East Coast and threatening major metropolitan areas comparison to the losses from other major storms. that rarely see such storms.

In light of the relatively benign outcome, it seems Some scientists have speculated this isn’t easier to ask the tougher questions. Was the last hurricane destined for the region this this enhanced response really an attempt The Our View season. But despite its unusual path — or to avoid another Hurricane Katrina, or was is the majority perhaps because of it — Irene inspired a govit different because Irene threatened the opinion of ernment response both early and extensive.

East Coast? After all, Hurricane Ike hit the The Daily’s New York and New Jersey declared states southern United States in September 2008, 10-member of emergency well ahead of the storm, shuteditorial board causing $29.6 billion in damage and killing ting down public transportation services.

112, according to the National Hurricane New York City ordered its first mandatory Center. And we certainly didn’t see this level evacuation, affecting around 250,000 residents. of media coverage, governmental response or wideAtlantic City shut down its casinos under its own spread preparation bordering on overreaction. evacuation order, for only the third time since gamThen again, maybe we’re finally learning from past bling became legal in 1976. mistakes. We won’t know these answers until we’ve Even with such preparation, CNN reported Sunday had some time to analyze the response. Until then, that Irene has caused at least 15 deaths in six states, there are people who need our help. left more than 4 million people without power and If you want to help, you can donate to the Red Cross caused at least $1 billion in damage. through its website or by texting “REDCROSS” to “I want people to understand that this is not over,” 90999. You also can donate to the Salvation Army or President Barack Obama said Sunday. “The impacts Habitat for Humanity through their website, or doof this storm will be felt for some time, and the recov- nate to the Humane Society to help benefit animals ery effort will last for weeks or longer.” displaced by the storm.

But it could have been worse. With phrases like Comment on this at OUDaily.com “hurricane of historic proportions” and “100-year

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COLUMN

Cherokee Freedmen merit benefits

T

Sarah Garrett is an anthropology senior.

Tom Taylor is a political science graduate student.

Put our portion sizes into perspective

Chris Lusk Chase Cook Annelise Russell James Corley Katherine Borgerding

To cast your vote, visit

Kimberly Johnson is an environmental design sophomore.

other has the expendable income necessary to make investments. By the time the student loans are repaid, the difference in their net worth could easily exceed $50,000.

Remember, this difference has nothing to do with how hard they work and everything to do with their family’s social and economic status.

The benefits we receive from our parents do not end with financial contributions. When I look at my 3- and 5-year-old daughters, I recognize that the language they use in their average conversation is befitting the children of two college-educated parents who do not dumb down their vocabulary around their children. Young children can be genetically predisposed for genius, but their early language skills will reflect that of their environment.

Thus, background heavily influences the starting point at which a child enters formal education. This means that while some children will start out ahead in kindergarten, others will be playing catch up from the very first day.

Just ending up at the same point academically upon high school graduation will require one child to work harder than the other. Even if that child works harder, there is no guarantee he will ever catch up to those born with more privilege.

It is difficult for the vast majority of people to succeed in life without hard work. At the same time, it is quite easy to fail in life no matter the level of effort put forth.

Business ventures can go bankrupt, reasonable investments can nosedive, layoffs can happen, economic conditions can pose problems to finding employment and hard work can go unrecognized.

Be thankful for the benefits you’ve had in life and remember that others have worked just as hard as you without as much to show for it.

COLUMN

O

With the new drop limit in effect, do you still plan on dropping courses?

and see the calories and fat OPINION COLUMNIST nutrients we are consuming. So why not put the portion size on the box?

The government could put something like “one serving of this product is one serving of grains.” At least instead of trying to Kimberley Johnson have our generation guess kimm.johnson@ou.edu how many serving sizes they’ve taken that day, it could be regulated on the box.

It would cost money to regulate and implement, but with the ever-changing state of our nutrition guides, we can use all the help we can get.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If we can get behind preventative health care, Oklahoma can rise in the rankings.

At least then, maybe we can beat Texas.

Family strengthens success F

klahoma is the unhealthiest state in the nation — and the United States is one of the least healthy of the world’s First World nations.

America’s Health Rankings 2010 report lists Oklahoma in 46th place for overall health and for prevelance of obesity, and last in daily consumption of fruits and vegetables.

The United States ranks 36th in terms of life expectancy, according to the United Nations. This is due in part to the gluttony of our country. However, the bigger problem we face is ignorance and apathy regarding food and nutrition.

More than that, it is the inability of the government to settle on a single nutrition guide. In the last 20 years, the food chart has changed at least three times.

We’ve seen pyramids with horizontal distributions of food and pyramids with vertical lines about what we should be shoving down our throats. Now we’ve trashed the age-old pyramid for a plate with sections for meat, grains, dairy, veggies and fruit.

However, we continuously fail to control our portion size. We don’t want to measure out the ounces or cups of food we are eating — that’s not convenient.

We like to be able to check the side of our Raisin Bran box

» Poll question of the day

OPINION COLUMNIST he Cherokee Nation Supreme Court ruled Wednesday to maintain a 2007 ruling that overturned the citizenship of, among others, all Cherokee Freedmen, descendants of the Sarah Garrett slaves of Cherokees. The sarah.garrett@yahoo.com Cherokee Nation, a sovereign country inside the U.S., has the right to a non-federal, sovereign constitution under a series of treaties with the U.S. government from the 19th century onward. Citizens of the Cherokee Nation voted in 2007 to overturn the citizenship of “freedmen”: African-Americans who were forcibly removed to Oklahoma along with their Cherokee owners.

No person, family or political entity wants to be responsible and culpable for such an unethical practice as human slavery. But we cannot ignore the ramifications of such wholesale trauma on an entire people (nor, the violence that is normalized in our whole society). Race, slavery and the long, sordid history of injustice in our country are going to take longer than a century and a half to clear up and will probably require continuous attention from all parts of society.

This is really unfortunate, because certain views and the corresponding actions of individuals, families and political entities are inherently responsible for enslaving humans, forcibly removing them from their nations and then systematically denying them rights associated with citizenship and humanity.

Although the power that comes with sovereignty does not excuse exercising the same kind of erasure and injustice upon others, perhaps that power can help explain current events. The descendants of Cherokee Freedmen have had their citizenship in the Cherokee nation (which confers benefits such as education subsidies and public health care) rent from them by a combination of racism and slavery apologetics, wrapped in ethnic pride. The exercise of tribal sovereignty has been cited by Cherokee Nation activists who support the withdrawal of citizenship rights, but certainly the federal government has undermined tribal sovereignty often enough to present itself as a legitimate threat to that sovereignty, more so than Freedmen, who have individually and as a group participated in the nation since they were included as “residents” in the treaty of 1866.

No one wants to feel bad, and therefore we’ve made necessary reparations to the descendants of slaves for having structurally undermined the freedom, lives and rights of slaves and their descendants.

This and the current and historical relative poverty of Cherokees and the nation (after the trauma of being militarily removed from their land) is the justification for kicking out the black Freedmen — a group whose ancestors had to bear not only military removal from Africa and political, social and economic subjugation in the United States but also had to withstand the second trauma of military removal from the eastern United States under Cherokee political, social and economic subjugation. Cherokee tribespeople have their own histories of violent removal and subjugation with which to deal.

The Cherokee Nation currently uses federally mandated law to determine citizenship; an applicant to the Nation must be able to trace descent from an ancestor who signed the Dawes Commission Roll at the turn of the 19th century signifying that they are “Cherokee by blood.” This use of “blood quantum,” the exact percentage of “Indian blood” a person can trace to a Cherokee family member, excludes black freedmen.

Cherokee-ness, and other identities and ways of being in the world, are not transmitted by blood, but they could be transmitted by shared experiences of dehumanization, military removal and continual undercuts by the federal government. This is another manifestation of the idea that culture, history and identity are genetic. Identity, feelings of belonging and certainly citizenship are transferred not biologically, but culturally, through shared experience.

It is disappointing that for the combined reasons of money and funds, the Cherokee Nation has gone the same route as the federal government in denying citizenship to rightful residents who share cultural practices and history, dispossessing rights conferred by citizenship in the name of antiquated, racist ideas about blood purity.

COLUMN

ormer OU footOPINION COLUMNIST ball coach Barry Switzer once said, “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” His point was that people can be oblivious to the benefits they’ve been Tom Taylor granted in life. tomtaylor.home@gmail.com Taking Switzer’s metaphor a step further, I must point out that many people also fail to realize that they were born on first or second base.

As you go through life, you may feel compelled to believe that everything you have is due to your own hard work. You may also feel compelled to believe that those who don’t have as much must not work as hard. Both of these are often fictional narratives, and unfortunately they are very easy to fall into.

I am not stating that hard work is not an ingredient to success — it is. The key thing to remember is that it is one of many.

Probably just as important as how hard you work in life is the family you were born into. Family is something few people have any control over, and it is something that not only shapes a person’s childhood but their career as well.

The easiest way to observe this is through the benefit of parental income. Take the hypothetical situation of two male students from OU who come from different families, take identical courses and make identical grades. One of these students has his education paid for by his parents while the other is attending college through student loans and grants.

The simple fact is that the poorer man will have to pay $20,000 or more in debt after leaving college while the

?

Mary Stanfield, opinion editor dailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666

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The Oklahoma Daily is a public forum and OU’s independent student voice.

Guest columns are accepted and printed at the editor’s discretion.

Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and must be fewer than 250 words, typed, double spaced and signed by the author(s). Letters will be edited for accuracy, space and style. Students must list their major and classification. To submit letters, email dailyopinion@ou.edu. Letters also can be submitted in person Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall.

Our View is the voice of The Oklahoma Daily Editorial Board, which consists of the editorial staff. The board meets at 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall. Board meetings are open to the public.

Columnists’ and cartoonists’ opinions are their own and not necessarily the opinions of The Oklahoma Daily Editorial Board.

Monday, August 29, 2011 •

Life&arts

A5

Katherine Borgerding, life & arts editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-5189

Left: Passers-by react to a table of monster teddy bears at the Dustbowl Arts Market on Saturday on Campus Corner.

Below: A table of monster teddy bears growl at passing visitors during the Dustbowl Arts Market on Saturday.

PHOTOS BY DERRICK ADAMS/THE DAILY

Dustbowl

Local artists display creations at festival Crowd beats the heat, shops for unique artwork Sydney Allen

Life & Arts Reporter

Patrons and vendors alike flocked to Campus Corner f ro m a re a s t h ro u g h o u t Oklahoma and Texas for the weekend’s Dustbowl Arts Market, selling and purchasing unique goods.

The biannual festival, w h i c h t o o k p l a c e f ro m noon to 5 p.m. Saturday on Buchanan Street, featured many local as well as outof-state artists who sold their handmade crafts and artwork.

Artist Isabella Dennis, a Dallas native, was attracted to selling her products at Dustbowl through Norman friends on Etsy, an online craft marketplace, and drove from Texas on Saturday

morning.

Dennis said she was interested in checking out the market out after she heard about the designers in Oklahoma.

Dennis’s company, Fifi du Vie, sold screen-printed canvases, tote bags and greeting cards at the market.

“It seems like a pretty good turnout even with how hot it is,” Dennis said. “It’s really, really hot, but there’s still a crowd here. I haven’t really seen much of Norman, but this is a neat area.”

While Dennis was a newcomer at this year’s market, other vendors have watched Dustbowl grow to the wellknown event it is today.

Samantha Lamb, resident of Hobart, Oklahoma, participated in the first Dustbowl Arts Market in 2009 with her photography venture, Samantha Lamb Photography.

“I’m just really in love with Dustbowl and all it stands for.” samantha lamb, photographer

“The first year, vendors showed up late ... you didn’t really know what to plan for,” Lamb said. Lamb believes that the Dustbowl Arts

Market provides a unique venue for those who attend to connect with art.

“I’m just in love with Dustbowl and all it stands for, really,” Lamb said. “It gives us a great opportunity to sell our goods and to see friends.

“Just anybody who is willing to put their blood, sweat and tears into this, just for us artists, I give respect.”

Patrons also enjoyed the market, purchasing goods and watching bands and other musical acts well into the evening.

“It’s really been a blast,” said Laura Wagner, 2009 OU graduate and Norman resident. “I was able to buy some burp cloths for a friend who’s having a baby. I’ve actually been up here twice today.”

A s h l e y S aw y e r,

elementary education senior, said she went to the market at Norman Music Festival.

“It’s been a lot of fun today,” she said. “It is hot, but we’ve been going in some stores.”

The Dustbowl Arts Market will return to Norman’s Main Street during the fifth annual Norman Music Festival in spring 2012.

CARTgps.com takes the guesswork out of bus arrival times

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You now can access real-time bus arrival predictions at any Norman stop in the transit system.

Access this information by computer or cell-phone browser, or call CART’s automated phone service at (405) 217-3463. Or, send a text message to 41411 with “CART” and the stop number in the message to get a text reply with estimated arrival time.

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A6

Life & Arts

• Monday, August 29, 2011

dustbowl

Bands perform in heat for fanbase Norman music scene lets loose at Saturday’s festival Megan Deaton

Life & Arts Reporter

The end of the summer heat seemed to be nowhere in sight Saturday afternoon, but that just gave Norman residents an excuse to hold their lighters high at Norman’s Dustbowl Arts Market.

The musical gathering took place during and after the arts market Saturday, which allowed local arts and crafts vendors to sell their wares on Buchanan Street in Campus Corner.

Blackwatch Studios organized the lineup and included well-known bands such as The Pretty Black Chains and Colourmusic but also some local, independent groups.

Bands began playing at noon, and the music did not stop until 5 p.m. when Colourmusic, the last group, left the stage.

The concer ts, tucke d snugly into the parking lot of Hideaway Pizza, were a hit with OU students like musical theater senior Shannon Hucker who were able to enjoy great, free music so close to campus.

“We really like the music

“We really like the music scene in Norman. It’s actually still kind of understated, but I think it’s going to start spreading.”

Shannon hucker, musical theater senior

scene in Norman,” Hucker said. “It’s actually still kind of understated, but I think it’s going to start spreading.”

Most of the bands were from Oklahoma, and some even called Norman their home at some point. “[Performing artist] Sherree Chamberlain is an Oklahoma City native — and she’s gone so far with her music — but it’s cool to see that she comes back and helps out at events like this,” English junior Jonny Hupp said.

Around 9 p.m., Dead Sea Choir took the stage and busted out some instrumentals before sweeping the crowd away with soulful falsetto harmonies. The show on Saturday night was impressive, as the first time the band played together live in more than a year.

“We don’t really do it for the publicity,” said Geordan

Top: Visitors browse through one of the many booths at the Dustbowl Arts Market Saturday on Campus Corner. The biannual event, founded by three local business owners, will return as part of the 2012 Norman Music Festival 5.

Right: Samantha Lamb (right) processes a sale on her iPad at the Dustbowl Arts Market Saturday. Lamb was at the festival to sell her homemade goods and photography.

Taylor, bass player for Dead Sea Choir. “We just like to play.”

The crowd began to thicken when The Pretty Black Chains prepared to take the stage.

The concert series’s emcee said the band will go into “hibernation,” and will not be playing together again for

PHOTOS BY DERRICK ADAMS/THE DAILY

a while.

The Pretty Black Chains regularly sells out its concert venues, so it was a treat for fans to be able to see it for

free.

The band did not disappoint: Lead singer Kellan McGugan sounded just as flawless as he does on the

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band’s album, and entertained the crowd with snappy, gyrating movements akin to Elvis Presley after five energy drinks.

5 days until football season — Oklahoma vs. Tulsa, 7 p.m. Saturday

SPORTS

B

M o n d a y, Aug u s t 2 9 , 2 011

Soccer

Volleyball

Sooners lose to Oklahoma State, SMU in weekend matches

Sooners to face first big test

OU unable to snap losing streak Tobi Neidy

Sports Reporter

The Sooners (1-3) collected two one-goal losses against No. 11 Oklahoma State and SMU during the weekend, but not before junior goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire did her part on the Sooner defense.

The OU goalkeeper is more physical this year, and it’s the kind of tempo that can’t be found on the stats sheet.

Following an SMU corner kick with less than a minute left on the clock in the first half, OU almost watched the Mustangs take the first lead of the game with a good look to the net and plenty

“It’s starting with our defensive shape.

We’re not winning goal kicks, and they’re coming right back at us. We not executing in a lot of areas. At the end of the day, it’s just our mistakes.”

of space in between.

With 45 seconds left in the first half, SMU’s Rikki Clarke was left untouched by the OU defense to take a shot, right-to-left of the goal, that momentarily silenced the healthy Sooner home Nicole Nelson, OU soccer coach crowd.

“They were in our half toward the last minute, and we couldn’t get it out,” Devonshire said.

“Once it got here, I just remembered footwork, “And I saw that shot, and I just remembered and then our defense cleared it,” Devonshire what we worked on in practice: footwork.” said.

Devonshire hunched down and extended her Devonshire has been dramatic in her saves frame across the posts to make a diving save, for the past two seasons in goal for the Sooners, keeping the teams deadlocked at 0-0 going into see soccer page B3 halftime.

Former players, coaches say alumni weekend a success

Astrud Reed/The Daily

Kelvin Sampson, encircled by his winning alumni team, proudly displays the 2011 OU Basketball Alumni game trophy. Sampson coached from 1995-2006.

Game hosts old, new faces Banquet honors Sooner alumni impressed with coach Kruger’s direction Alex Hilton

Sports Reporter

Under the direction of new coach Lon Kruger, the OU men’s basketball program hosted its first Alumni Weekend on Friday and Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.

Sooner hoop alumni like Hollis Price (1999-2003), Stacey King (1985-89), Michael Neal (2005-07) and the Griffin brothers (Taylor, 2005-09; Blake, 2007-09) were among the 100-plus invitees who made the trip back to their former stomping grounds for a golf tournament and a dinner banquet honoring the 2002 Final Four team Friday night, ending with the Alumni Legends game Saturday afternoon that went into sudden-death overtime.

Many of the returning alumni expressed their excitement about the direction Kruger is leading the Sooners.

“Coach Kruger’s doing a great job. It was a fantastic weekend with a lot of old stories,” Chuck Watson (1983-87) said. “I think they’re going to up the tempo, and we’re going to get some excitement back at the Lloyd Noble.”

Watson was not the only one happy about the program with Kruger at the helm.

“He’s got this going in a family-oriented direction. We had a blast down here all weekend. He’s that type of guy,” Darryl “Choo” Kennedy (1983-1987) said. “I’m expecting the team to do great things this year.

I can tell by the way Coach Kruger’s doing things that we’ve got this thing headed the right way, so I think it’ll be a great season for see alumni page B2

Final Four alumni Reunion brings largest turnout to Norman over game’s weekend Tobi Neidy

Sports Reporter

Oklahoma basketball couldn’t have asked for a better turnout for its alumni reunion last weekend.

The alumni dinner featured one of the biggest groups of alumni present for the event, athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

Names like Ernie Abercrombie (1994-96), Stacey King (1985-89), Alvan Adams (1972-75), Michael Neal (200507) and Blake Griffin (2007-09) were on hand to pay homage to the 2001-02 squad, the most recent Final Four team for the Sooner program. see 2002 page B2

Sooners will play against Colorado State tonight Luke McConnell Sports Reporter

The No. 16 Oklahoma volleyball team faces its first big test of the season at 7 tonight when the Sooners take on the No. 15 Colorado State Rams at McCasland Field House.

The Rams come into the match undefeated after sweeping Arkansas, Middle Tennessee State and McNeese State at the Arkansas Invitational last weekend.

The Rams went 26-5 in 2010, losing to Stanford in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Rams lost four starters from last year’s team.

This season, the Ra m s w e re p i cke d t o win the Mountain West Conference championship in a vote by the league’s coaches. The team has won the past two conference titles.

Ten of the 16 players on the Colorado State roster stand at 6-foot-1-inch or taller, topped by 6-foot-4inch senior opposite hitter Katelyn Steffan. Steffan took home the tournament MVP from last weekend’s Arkansas Invitational.

Junior Megan Plourde, 6-foot-3-inches, is the team’s best player at the middle blocker position.

She ranked second nationally last year in blocks per game (1.62).

O U c o a c h Sa nt i ag o Restrepo said he knows the size of the Rams is going to be a big test for his team.

“It’s going to take an effort from every single one of us to try to beat them,” Restrepo said. “These are the kind of teams we’re going to see once we get into the NCAA tournament, so we have to beat these very tall, very good players.”

It will be a battle of OU’s speed against Colorado State’s size and power, and Restrepo said a win would be huge for his team as it tries to associate itself with the nation’s elite teams.

“It would be a great confidence booster,” Restrepo said. “Colorado State has been a team that has been in the top 20 for so many years in a row. They have a great reputation and a great team.”

Volleyball

OU conquers first three matches Sooners displayed different playing styles for games Luke McConnell Sports Reporter

Being fluid is important in any team sport. No two games are played exactly the same, and the best teams can adapt and fit their play to whatever style the game.

The OU volleyball team showed last weekend that it has the ability to switch style and adapt, even in the middle of a match. The Sooners won all three games it played last weekend in the

Nike Invitational, defeating Southern Methodist (-20, 27-25, -16), Oral Roberts (-16, -17, -15) and Missouri State (-22, 28-30, -18, -21) to open the season 3-0.

Although the Sooners won convincingly in all three matches, they did it in three very different ways.

Against SMU, the Sooners were a little rusty at the start of the match and struggled to find their groove offensively.

However, in the second set, the Sooners were able to work out the kinks, and by the third set, everything was clicking on all cylinders.

OU showed it can win in

dominating fashion when the offense and defense are both playing at a very high level.

Oral Roberts posed a different kind of threat: laziness. ORU is a very young team this year and was the weakest team in the tournament, so OU had to battle the temptation of looking past the Golden Eagles.

Statistically speaking, it was a pretty ugly match, but OU was able to capitalize on mistake after mistake by ORU and swept once again.

If the Sooners, who hit

Melodie Lettkeman/The Daily

The OU volleyball team celebrates a win against Oral Roberts on Saturday afternoon at McCasland Field see TOURNAMENT page B2 House. The Sooners beat all three teams it played to win the Nike Invitational.

B2

Sports

• Monday, August 29, 2011

tournament: Team increases defense, hitting Continued from page B1

Astrud Reed/The Daily

Former Sooner Stacey King (1985-89) talks with reporters after the Alumni Legends game Saturday at Lloyd Noble Center.

2002: Former players proudly reminisce Continued from page B1 Former coach Kelvin Sampson (1995-2006, 279-109) also returned to congratulate his former team that went 31-5 that season before falling to Indiana in the national semifinals.

While most remembered that season as a miracle run Catch up with: for a Sooner team that returned only two starters from Joe King the previous season, former starting forward Quannas Joe King, a member of the 1955-58 team, was one of the White (2001-03) talked oldest members of the alumni about his alarm miscue begroup to return for the event. fore the pivotal Connecticut King, a former sports editor matchup that season. at The Oklahoma Daily during “We thought we woke up his time at OU, became the at the right time, but the bus second-best shooter in the was gone,” White said. “I program’s history at the time of knew I was going to start that his graduation. King is now 31st game, but when I walked in, on that list. coach was drilling into me.

However, King didn’t let the statistic keep him from taking I guess he wasn’t too conback the main stage when fident in me starting that asked about his opinion on game. I came off the bench, what the current paper should but we won that game, and write about this weekend’s that’s all that mattered.” festivities.

Connecticut featured “The headline would read: s o m e b i g na m e s o n i t s Joe King was there,” King said. roster that year, including Emeka Okafor and Ben Tobi Neidy, Gordon, but White was just Sports Reporter a junior-college transfer who hadn’t played in the ranks of Division I basketball before that Final Four season. But having been a former high school teammate of Hollis Price (1999-2003) helped get White a visit and place on the team.

Stacey King (1985-89) talked about his relationship with former head coach Billy Tubbs (1981-94), one of the most celebrated coaches in the program’s history, who compiled a 333-132 record at OU. Sampson even credited Tubbs’ success at OU as the reason for Sampson to take the head coaching position in 1994.

The Griffin brothers, Taylor (2005-09) and Blake (200709), also were in attendance. Although Blake Griffin ended up not playing in the alumni game, he did sign autographs during the postgame wrap-up and said he appreciated getting to be introduced with some of the biggest names in the program’s history.

“All I have to say is that if Stacey King felt young compared to those guys, then I certainly feel young,” he said.

“But this is great for OU basketball.”

Alumni: Players return to Norman for event Continued from page B1 the Sooners.”

A banquet honoring the 2001-02 squad (31-5) took place Friday night on the floor at Lloyd Noble, where some of the former OU greats laced up their sneakers and relived their glory days the following day.

Although many of the players were no longer in tiptop shape, Saturday’s event was not some “Norman GlobeSooners” game. It was intense and competitive — just ask Anthony Bowie (1984-86). The former third-round selection of the Houston Rockets tore a quadriceps tendon about 10 minutes after King, threetime NBA champ with the Chicago Bulls, threw the honorary tipoff.

The 1995 Associated Press Coach of the Year, Kelvin Sampson (1995-2006, 279109), took the reins for the Cream Team. Dave Bliss (1975-1980, 77-62), who coached OU to a Big Eight Championship in 1979, coached the Crimson squad.

The rosters included players from throughout the program’s history, includling

Longar Longar (2005-08), Skeeter Henry (1988-90) and Keith Miller (1948).

The Crimson team’s Price went 3-for-3 from 3-point range right off the bat as if he was back playing Iowa State on Jan. 18, 2003, when he went 9-of-16 from downtown and scored 39 points.

Price’s backcourt counterpart from the 2002 Final Four team, Quannas White (200103), answered for the Cream squad with a few nifty drives and dishes of his own.

When the game was neck and neck with less than one minute to go, Cream’s Nate Erdmann (1995-97) nailed a 3-pointer to put his team up.

However, David Godbold (2004-2008) launched a miraculous 30-footer as the buzzer sounded, tying the game at 74 and forcing sudden-death overtime.

Erdmann swooped in for a finger roll about 30 seconds into the period to earn Cream the victory.

“Oklahoma has a very, very proud basketball tradition,” Kruger said after the game to the crowd of a couple thousand who came out to watch. “We hope you’ll take ownership. Let’s have fun together.”

only .182 for the match, had played that way against a good or even a decent team, they likely would have lost. However, OU showed it could win despite not playing anywhere close to the level at which the players know they can play.

The last match against Missouri State was easily the Sooners’ toughest test of the weekend.

Missouri State came in off an NCAA tournament appearance last season and also wanted revenge for a loss to Oklahoma in the Bears’ home tournament in Springfield, Mo. The Bears fought hard, taking the second set from the Sooners, 30-28, but OU showed a new weapon in its arsenal coming out of the locker room for the third set: mental toughness.

Instead of getting into a slugfest with the Bears, OU came out and dominated the third set by ratcheting up the defense and hitting more efficiently. Missouri State tried to regain the momentum in the fourth set, but OU weathered that storm as well, holding on to win the match, 3-1.

Th re e match e s a n d three different ways of winning. OU’s performance last weekend really showed the talent and experience this Oklahoma team possesses.

It also was an encouraging sign for fans to see Oklahoma exert itself and win games that it should.

Melodie Lettkeman/The Daily

Sophomore middle blocker Sallie McLaurin spikes the ball against Oral Roberts during the Nike Invitational tournament last weekend in Norman. The Sooners won all three games to start 3-0.

If OU is going to have a successful season, it has to avoid inexcusable losses against lesser opponents.

The season is off to a good start, but Monday night’s game against No. 15 Colorado State will pose a

challenge on a much higher level. The Rams are a very good team and come into Norman after a win in the Arkansas Invitational in which they swept all three opponents they played.

If Oklahoma wants to

be the best, it is going to have to play and beat good teams. The weekend was a good indicator of how good the Sooners can be, but a win against Colorado State would speak a lot louder for the Sooners.

sports briefs Volleyball

Boulavsky on shortlist for CLASS Award Senior right side Suzy Boulavsky was selected among 30 nominees for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, the organization announced Thursday.

The award, which is an acronym for “Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School,” is awarded to a student-athlete who encourages students to use their platform as athletes to positively impact their communities, according the press release.

Boulavsky, a Houston native, was named to the 2010 American Volleyball Coaches Association AllCentral Region honorable mention team and was a first-team All-Big 12 honoree.

Boulavsky also was named to the Academic All-America third team and was named to the Academic AllDistrict first team.

She led the Sooners with 3.45 kills per set, totaling a record-best 445 kills to set a new rally-point era school record as a junior last season.

Suzy Boulavsky, senior right side, is among 30 nominees for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award honoring student-athletes who make positive impacts on their communities.

She hit .273 last season and averaged 2.36 kills per set during the NCAA Championship in 2010.

Boulavsky not only works to impact the Norman community but also in her home town of Houston.

She worked on a home featured on ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” in Norman last year.

She also worked with the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and volunteers her time as an animal servicer.

Boulavsky is a member of the OU Fellowship of Christian Athletes, volunteering with the organization to speak at area high schools.

She has contributed to KinderCare and Camp Crimson as a volunteer.

Boulavsky helped with the Big Event, a campus-wide community service project, and worked as an instructor at free volleyball clinics for local youth.

The candidate list for the 2011 CLASS Award includes nine AVCA AllAmericans and eight honorable mention All-Americans from last season.

More than half of the 30 student-athletes have maintained a cumulative gradepoint average of 3.5 or better in their first three years of college.

Ten of the candidates play for teams ranked in the AVCA preseason top-25 poll.

The list of 30 will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season.

Daily staff reports

Are you on Twitter? Follow

@OUDailySports

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Sports

Monday, August 29, 2011 •

B3

Soccer: Sooners unable to score against SMU Mustangs, lose 0-1 Continued from page B1 but watching the North Richland Hills, Texas, native turn her 5-foot-7-inch frame into a mile-long defender is something the Sooners have enjoyed as their last line of defense.

The Sooners needed the upperclassman soccer intelligence during a time when the rest of the team is struggling to create opportunities on offense.

“We’re creating a few opportunities but not finishing them,” OU coach Nicole Nelson said. “We have a lot of inexperience on the field, but we’ve been working for the past eight months, so it’s just not good enough. We have a lot of players on the field that have not played at this level.”

Only two Sooners ended the game with shots on goal against the Mustangs.

Sophomore forward Zoe Dickson and freshman forward Abby Hodgen were the only two players to come close to squeezing in a goal for OU. A l t h ou g h S M U ’s Courtney Smith blasted a free kick to take the lead 1-0 midway through the second half, Devonshire’s ability to take away opportunities in the first 45 minutes of game helped give the Sooners a chance to make things happen on offense.

Nelson said she wants to see more of that tempo in the rest of her team.

“It’s starting with our defensive shape,” Nelson said.

“We’re not winning goal kicks, and they’re coming right back at us. We not executing in a lot of areas. At the end of the day, it’s just our mistakes.”

During the nonconference Bedlam match Friday n i g h t , D e v o n s h i re w a s forced to make five saves against No. 11 Oklahoma State.

Although the Sooners lost the match, 0-1, Devonshire’s ability to make saves when needed helps give the OU offense something to build on.

“We’re learning some hard lessons,” Nelson said.

“But they’re getting good experience and we’ll keep working.”

The Sooners will be back in action for a pair of home games next weekend beginning at 7 p.m. Friday when OU hosts Oral Roberts at John Crain Field.

Photos by Marcin Rutkowski/The Daily

Freshman midfielder Abby Hodgen (8) dribbles down the field during a home game against Southern Methodist on Sunday. The Sooners were unable to score despite an energetic performance by junior goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire that OU coach Nicole Nelson said the rest of the team should seek to emulate.

Left: Junior defender Katharine Nutman (23) dribbles the ball down the field. The Sooners were unable to snap a two-game losing skid Sunday night in Norman.

Right: Senior forward Kelsey Kraft, (back middle), attempts to head the ball into the goal during a home game aganst Southern Methodist on Sunday. Oklahoma lost 0-1.

sports briefs Football

Oklahoma readies for Tulsa offensive attack The Sooners were busy finishing final preparations for the season last week. However, while it was not officially game week yet, the team was already looking to its first opponent.

“We’re getting some extra Tulsa work in while still kind of competing against each other a little bit,” coach Bob Stoops said after practice last week.

Now that it’s game week, the Sooner defense is preparing for a high-powered offensive attack not too unlike the one found in Norman. While Oklahoma’s offensive prowess has been well publicized, Tulsa has plenty of weapons to

Defensive line ready despite Lewis’ status The biggest question for Oklahoma heading into the season opener is whether starting senior defensive end Ronnell Lewis will be eligible to play.

While the issue will remain a point of concern until it is resolved, OU’s coaches are very confident in the young talent

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and depth they have at the position.

Geneo Grissom and Chuka Ndulue, both redshirt freshmen, have been making a push for playing time, and defensive ends coach Bobby Jack Wright said both will contribute this year.

Ju n i o r s D a v i d K i n g a n d R . J. Washington also will see significant time in the rotation, and senior Frank Alexander leads the group. The unit is talented, driven and continues to push each other.

“It lends itself to great competition,” Wright said. “They’ve got a great relationship with one another. They’re very competitive, and they know you’ve got to compete and you’ve got to earn your way onto the field every day.”

keep defensive coordinators guessing.

“They have a great quarterback, an explosive receiver, and they have an offense that averaged 41 points a game and over 400 yards,” Stoops said. “So, (we have to prepare) for a little bit of everything.”

The Sooners host Tulsa at 7 p.m.

Saturday in Norman.

Greg Fewell, Sports Reporter

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HOROSCOPE

By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2011, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 Although your goals and desires might not be realized in rapid succession in the year ahead, they can be reached one by one. If you’re not too impatient, substantial improvements can be made that will better your lifestyle.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -If you’re planning a group endeavor, get on the horn and do something about bringing those you need together. People won’t jump on your bandwagon unless they’re asked.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Don’t be surprised if it seems like everybody’s attention is focused on you.

Because of the genuine concern you show for them, people can’t help being drawn to you.

Previous Solution

Monday- Very Easy Tuesday-Easy Wednesday- Easy Thursday- Medium Friday - Hard

Instructions: 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.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -What makes you such a standout among your peers is your philosophical outlook, which helps you to not only acquire knowledge but also to easily disseminate it as needed.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Even some of your opponents will be in awe of the way you handle challenging developments that suddenly arise. While others are scurrying for cover, you’ll be settling things.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Although you tend to handle things single-handedly, you might establish a temporary partnership for mutual reasons. Once your purposes are accomplished, you’ll go your own way.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- There won’t be anything selfish about your current outlook. In fact, your primary concern will be that others fare as well as you. You’ll even offer whatever help you can.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Dan Cupid is likely to be either looking to revitalize an old romance for you or casing the scene for a new target at which he can aim. In either case, things look good.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Getting off to a good start early in the week will help make the work you need to accomplish much easier to finish within the next few days.

You’ll be ahead of schedule.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -Someone who can make your heart beat faster might display much more than a platonic interest in you. It’ll be up to you to let him or her know it is welcomed.

Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy E. Parker August 29, 2011

ACROSS 1 Plant crops 5 Window covering 10 Deceitful trick 14 “The African Queen� scriptwriter James 15 ___-Dixon line 16 Doughnut center 17 Novel cover 19 Bearer of the Golden Fleece 20 “Game, ___, match!�

21 Boats like Noah’s 22 Capital of Poland 24 Wagon tracks 25 Playwright Oscar 26 The Five ___ (“In the Still of the Night� group) 29 Trident prong 30 ___ Locks (Great Lakes passage) 33 Computer command 34 Right-hand man 35 Synagogue 36 Citrus fruit drinks 37 Bearing weapons 38 Lots and lots 39 Wrap for Rocky 40 Financial encumbrance

41 Your sister’s son’s sister 42 Act human, according to a proverb 43 Off in the distance 44 Go downhill 45 Arab princes 47 Colorful part of the eye 48 Debussy or Monet 50 Novelist Leon 51 “Jumpin’ Jack Flash� is one 54 Twelve ___ (“Gone With the Wind� plantation) 55 Protective device 58 Place for padding 59 Biological remake 60 ___ meridiem 61 Organs with drums 62 Caravan stopovers 63 You may make light of it?

DOWN 1 Short-lived crazes 2 Feverish chill 3 “A body at ___ tends to ...�

4 NYC opera house 5 Stings 6 Lousy writers 7 Uses the information

desk 8 Forest forager 9 Interlaced 10 Piece of pottery 11 Game with ringers 12 Aquarium growth 13 “Got milk?� plaint 18 Quick trip 23 London libation 24 Laundromat cycle 25 Add a lane to 26 Alley feat 27 Extreme passion 28 A shoot-out, e.g.

29 Stopwatch 31 Prevention dosage?

32 Cub reporter for The Daily Planet 34 Sills solos

PREVIOUS PREVIOUSPUZZLE PUZZLEANSWER ANSWER

8/28

8/26

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -Because you’ve been extra nice to a number of pals lately, they might want to do something special for you, each in his or her own way.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- It’s quite possible that even those friends who are closest to you aren’t aware of your wants and desires. Thus, you can’t expect any help from them unless you verbalize your desires.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Some of your greatest benefits this week are likely to come from people you don’t even know. They won’t be purposely doing things on your behalf; it’ll just turn out that way.

8/29

35 Hubbubs 37 In the open air 41 Clangorous 43 Word after “visual� or “hearing�

44 Corresponds, in a way 46 Clio and Calliope 47 Ryan of “The Beverly Hillbillies�

48 Steelmaker’s need 49 Wood or Turner 50 Abduction vehicles, supposedly 51 Sequence of DNA 52 Countertenor 53 British machine gun 56 Phrase on some menus 57 Make illegal

Š 2011 Universal Uclick www.upuzzles.com

Š 2011 Universal Uclick www.upuzzles.com

GETTING DRESSED By Evelyn Manor

SPORTS

Monday, August 29, 2011 •

B5

COLUMN

Candidates line up for Big 12 expansion I

f the reports are true; SPORTS COLUMNIST The Texas A&M drama is about to kick the Big 12 into action.

The Big 12 board of directors met Saturday regarding A&M’s anticipated departure, and one league source told The Associated Press Chris Lusk the conference expects the chris.m.lusk@ou.edu Aggies to announce within the next week that it plans to leave.

The source, who was given anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks, said although A&M officials didn’t specifically say they were leaving, their message was heard loud and clear: Start looking for replacements.

So if the conference realignment shuffle heats up this week, where does this leave the Big 12?

If Texas A&M does cash in its Heartland chips for Southern glory, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe will be left with a nine-team league after losing Nebraska and Colorado last year — not exactly a sign of stability.

From Internet rumors to athletic directors, everyone seems to have an opinion about not only who the conference should invite, but how many teams the league needs to regain a position of power in the college football landscape.

Personally, I would like to see a return to a mathematically correct conference, but sifting through the potential candidates, I have a hard time convincing myself there are three teams worth adding.

That being said, I am a fan of keeping the Big 12 together — as long as it is viable for Oklahoma — so it appears the conference will have to welcome at least one school to its ranks.

Here’s a rundown of six schools rumored to be on the Big 12’s radar or who are anxiously waiting for Beebe’s phone number to appear on their caller ID.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Why: Notre Dame is a national brand with a devout following from the Roman Catholic Church.

Sure, the Fighting Irish have only won two bowl games in the past 10 years, but the addition of Notre Dame would be an immediate boost to the Big 12’s image.

Why not: As many problems as the Longhorn Network has caused, Notre Dame’s partnership with NBC (which began in 1991) could complicate things with the other league members.

Distance from Norman to South Bend, Ind.: About a 15-hour drive.

Probability: Quit dreaming. There’s a .001-percent chance the Fighting Irish forgo their independence to join a Big 12 that’s missing Nebraska and Texas A&M.

Arkansas Razorbacks Why: As a member of the Southwest Conference until 1991, the university has deep ties to this area. Arkansas has never enjoyed much national success, but the Razorbacks are a competitive team that would help stabilize the Big 12.

Why not: There are 17 million to 20 million reasons why Arkansas is not a candidate, and it’s all about the dollars.

The SEC is a profitable league for the Razorbacks, and they are comfortable in their current position.

Distance from Norman to Fayetteville, Ark.: About a fourhour drive Probability: Keep moving. You’re looking at a 1-percent chance Arkansas ends up in the Big 12.

Brigham Young Cougars Why: Like Notre Dame, BYU’s religious affiliation with the Mormon church would bring national — and worldwide — interest to the Big 12.

The Cougars also have one national title (1984) and 23 conference championships to their name.

Why not: The Cougars have their own TV network — BYUtv — that could further fracture relationships around the conference. Also, BYU doesn’t play sports on Sundays, which could cause scheduling headaches for smaller sports.

Distance from Norman to Provo, Utah: About a 19-hour drive.

Probability: Pretty good. I’d say the Big 12 has a 90 percent chance of luring the Cougars, who left the Mountain West Conference to become independent this year.

Southern Methodist Mustangs Why: SMU athletic director Steve Orsini believes the Mustangs are ready to join an automatic-qualifier BCS conference, and he is

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making his case to Big 12 officials.

Why not: SMU offers nothing new to the Big 12. The university is in Dallas (a market the league already owns), and the program is not extremely competitive.

Distance from Norman to Dallas: About a three-hour drive.

Probability: Better than I’d like it to be. Saying SMU has a 50-percent chance might be about right. The Big 12 doesn’t appear very interested, but the Mustangs could be an option if the league decides to return to 12 teams.

Houston Cougars Why: The Texas Legislature could play a big role by advocating for Houston in order to replace Texas A&M with another Texas university. The Cougars would help keep the interest in the Big 12 Conference high in Houston, which is a big market for Texas A&M. Why not: Again, what have you done for me lately?

Houston has an all-time record of 365-326-15 (.528 winning percentage).

Distance from Norman to Houston: About a seven-hour drive.

Probability: Keep an eye on the Cougars. There is enough appeal in holding on to the Houston market that it could be a 75-percent chance the university gets an invite to the Big 12.

Air Force Falcons Why: The conference would like to re-expand its footprint out west (which it lost when the Colorado Buffalos moved to the Pac-12), and if the league adds BYU, Air Force would be a geographic partner.

The Falcons are located in Colorado, a market that is familiar with the Big 12.

Why not: The service academies aren’t driven by money like other universities, instead focusing on increasing enlistment.

Distance from Norman to Colorado Springs, Colo.: About an 11-hour drive.

Probability: There might be a 40-percent chance that Air Force starts making regular trips to Norman, Stillwater and Austin.

Chris Lusk is a journalism senior and the editor in chief of The Daily. You can follow him on Twitter at @ChrisLusk.

B6

• Monday, August 29, 2011

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