January 30-February 1, 2017

W E E K D AY E D I T I O N | J A N U A R Y 3 0 - F E B R U A R Y 1, 2 0 17 | T W I C E W E E K LY I N P R I N T | O U D A I LY. C O M

OU DAILY CRAIG RUTTLE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

OCEANS APART Protesters assemble at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Saturday after two Iraqi refugees were detained while trying to enter the country. Countries included in President Donald Trump’s executive order ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, which are all Muslim-majority nations.

Travel ban hits close to home for OU international students “And now you’re accused to be a terrorist, but this is my home. I’m a citizen. This is my home. I chose to be American, to be a proud American.”

FARID OMOUMI, DOCTORAL STUDENT

DANA BRANHAM/THE DAILY

Mehri (left) and Farid Omoumi (right) pose for a photo outside Copeland Hall Sunday. The Omoumis’ plans to have family visit from Iran were suddenly halted as a result of President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration.

F

DANA BRANHAM • @DANABRANHAM

o r Fa r i d a n d Me h r i Omoumi, plans for family to visit from Iran were suddenly halted when President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries, Iran included.

Fa r i d a n d M e h r i h a v e a daughter due in June and no way for Mehri’s mother to come to the United States to see and help care for her granddaughter. Farid is working toward a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering and spends long days in the research lab.

Without her mother to help care for her daughter, Mehri doesn’t know how she’ll be able to start a graduate program at OU in the fall.

“I didn’t shop for anything for my baby because I was waiting for my mom, so we could do all of this together,” Mehri Omoumi said. “Then this happened, and I just was screaming and crying because I have nobody here. I don’t have anyone.”

Her husband Farid arrived in the United States in 2008, leaving behind friends, family and a promising career. He was a practicing physician and the director of a large medical facility in Iran. When he came to the United States, he started over.

“I gave up all of that to be h e re,” Fa r i d O m o u m i s a i d .

“And now you’re accused to be

a terrorist, but this is my home.

I’m a citizen. This is my home.

I chose to be American, to be a proud American.”

OU President David Boren advised international students from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Sudan not to travel outside the United States, and students outside the United States were urged to return as quickly as possible in a statement issued Saturday.

Currently, 113 international students from these countries are enrolled at OU. Boren emphasized his strong support for international students on campus, calling the implications of the executive order damaging to America’s educational opportunities for students from around the world.

“Those who study in our country become persuasive and articulate friends of the United States when they return to their home countries,” Boren said in a statement. “When we reduce the opportunities for young people to come to America to take advantage of the educational opportunities here, we not only harm them, but we also damage the image and inspiration of America around the world.”

Another doctoral candidate who asked only to be identified by her first name, Elham, came to the United States from Iran to further her education, like many high-achieving Iranian

students. Since Elham arrived, her view of the United States has changed.

“This situation contrasts with what I had in my mind about America,” Elham said. “I had a vision of America as a land of freedom, and this kind of thing is not like that.”

Elham said she sees the executive order as a way to discriminate people based on the region they happened to be born in. “ B e cau s e I wa s b o r n i n a country in the Middle East, I’ve been punished every day of my life. I am blamed because of my nationality, because I come from an Islam-majority country, but that’s not my choice,” Elham said. “We were born with this religion, but it doesn’t mean anything bad about us.

We can’t do anything about our nationality, our religion. We don’t have to be punished because of them.”

In response to the execut i v e o rd e r, t h e O U St u d e nt Liberation Coalition wrote a petition to Boren, Vice President for the University Community Jabar Shumate and the Office of University Community, calling on OU to commit to protecting its non-citizen students.

The petition urges OU to follow the lead of the University of Michigan, whose president reiterated his support for international students regardless of immigration status and vowed

not to partner with any law enforcement agencies to share student immigration status unless required by law to do so.

It also presses OU to designate itself as a sanctuary campus — to adopt policies that would protect undocumented students. After Trump’s election in November and his promises to deport more than 3 million undocumented immigrants, a similar petition was circulated with no official university response.

Late Sunday, the Trump administration said green card holders wouldn’t be banned from entry to the United States.

But for those with families overseas without green cards, the message of the executive order was clear. “ I t ’s t u r n e d t h e s a m e a s my ow n countr y r ight now.

Un f o r tu nat e l y n ow , w h e n I look at the United States right now, today, there is no difference between the United States and Iran. The same thing. The same culture, the same comments on the social media,” Farid Omoumi said. “And I’m sad, because I gave up all my life to just go to some place where I can provide a better life for my son or my daughter. Now, I’m not sure.”

Dana Branham

danabranham@ou.edu

Students pursue glory, prizes in gaming Growing community of e-sport enthusiasts finds home on campus ANNA BAUMAN @annabauman2

The weekend before dead week last semester, with exams looming, Mujahid Egan was in St. Louis at a major “Super Smash Bros.” tournament, dueling fictional characters in a fantasy world for a shot at $10,000.

For Egan, the weekend away paid off: The chemical engineering sophomore played in-person against celebrity-status e-sport athletes from Japan and Mexico, strengthening his resolve to one day earn his own spot at the top.

“I can definitely do that also if I put in the time, I put in the work,” Egan said. “These guys are top players, but they’re still just players.

There isn’t much difference from them and me besides the amount of

practice they’ve put into this game and just how good they are at it.”

Egan is ranked 10th in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in the state of Oklahoma, a position determined by a five-person panel composed of head tournament organizers and other top gamers in the community.

He competes at a semi-professional level in e-sports, or competitive video gaming, a category whose most popular games include “League of Legends,” “Dota 2,” “Counter Strike,” “Super Smash Bros.” and “Hearthstone.”

While there are vast differences between the way each is played, the games all enjoy a huge worldwide following. The industry is worth $493 million, with a total of 148 million avid viewers who regularly tune in to watch the action via live-stream, according to market research analyst Newzoo.

Despite its global scope, e-sport enthusiasts can be found interspersed throughout the OU student body.

Computer science sophomore

Michael O’Connell said he is an avid fan of “Cloud 9,” a North American “League of Legends” professional team, and watches an average of 10 to 12 hours of e-sports per week.

“If it’s on and I’m not doing anything or if I’ve got an hour between classes, I’ll flip it on on my phone or my iPad,” O’Connell said. “I’ll walk out of class and have turned on the ‘League of Legends’ stream that is ongoing. Just yesterday, walking out of my macroeconomics class, I pulled up the ‘League of Legends’ stream and started watching it and the guy right behind me was like ‘Oh, who’s winning?’”

Chemical engineering sophomore Connor Matthews said he thinks e-sports is growing in popularity among students.

“You can just walk down a hallway somewhere and you’ll see people on their laptops playing together,” Matthews said. “You’ll see people eating lunch and playing ‘League,’ you can see people huddled up by a TV in a classroom playing ‘(Super) Smash Bros.’ over the

ALEX KAELKE/THE DAILY

Computer science sophomore Michael O’Connell (left) and chemical engineering sophomores Mujahid Egan (middle) and Connor Matthews (right) all actively participate in e-sports.

projector.”

While a large percent of the population might follow e-sports or play video games casually, the professional level of play involves a higher level of thinking and more strategy, Egan said.

“You can’t just sit there and just do some sort of mindless input all the time. You have to be thinking about it,” Egan said. “The competitive players have different

see GAMING page 2

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• January 30-February 1, 2017

NEWS

Andrew Clark, news managing editor dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com • Twitter: @OUDaily

Day by day, signs of strength OU student defines how PTSD impacts life, relationships MITCHELL WILLETTS @MitchBWilletts

Trigger Warning: This article contains graphic content about suicide and sexual assault.

It was the summer of 2015, and Alyssa Cherry wanted very badly to die.

The plan was straightforward: find a bridge, unbuckle the seat belt, stomp on the gas, and let the bridge be the brakes. To first responders in Colbert, Oklahoma, it might have looked like an accident — another reckless teen driver — but the truth was she had been preparing for months.

“Suicide was on my mind all the time, it never stopped,” said Cherry, an anthropology freshman at OU. “I had planned everything. I had written notes. I had a box of stuff filled with things that I wanted to go to each person that I loved.”

Suicide is a solitary act, but in Cherry’s case, she said she had help getting into the driver’s seat. Her cousin, who sexually assaulted her a few years before, set her on the path, saddling her with all the pain and self-loathing he could give.

He is in the army now, she said, out of sight but rarely out of mind. Riding shotgun in spirit, he had a hand on the wheel that day.

trauma would work its way out of her memory. Instead, left alone, it compounded, breeding depression and anxiety.

But Cherry fought for control, stopped short of the bridge and headed home to her mom instead.

That night her mom took her to the hospital, where she spoke to child protective services and a social worker.

She did not say a word about her cousin, about how she was 13 and he was 18, and how she once trusted him.

Her mom knew but did not like talking about it.

“It’s not that she didn’t want to help me, it’s just that she didn’t understand it almost,” Cherry said. “I think it made her feel like she failed at protecting me.”

Cherry said she didn’t blame her mother for the attack any more than she did for the suicide attempt. Cherry didn’t blame her cousin either. She only blamed herself.

In the months following the assault Cherry had confronted her cousin, looking for an explanation, a degree of closure, an apology, anything.

“He said that as a woman, I should know better than to be alone with men and to know better than to trust him,” Cherry said. “He said he didn’t feel guilty at all.”

He said more, and with every word he opened the wounds he left.

“He said it was my fault, that I was worthless. ... I really believed these things for the longest time,” Cherry said.

“It can be any (number of) events. It can be a car accident, or it can be childhood abuse, a sexual assault, or violence in the home.”

KAREN VAUGHN, OU COUNSELING CENTER ASSOCIATE CLINICAL DIRECTOR

Cherry said she did not fully understand the breadth of the damage he had inflicted yet, now that she had developed post-traumatic stress disorder. In her mind she always turned away from the assault, hoping with time the

By 3 a.m., after the suicide attempt, Cherry, then 17, had checked into a children’s crisis center at the Red Rock Behavioral Health Services facility in Oklahoma City. For the next few days she said she was taking pills prescribed

seemingly to immobilize.

The cycle of sleeping and vomiting was broken up by two-hour sessions with a psychotherapist digging through her thoughts, searching for a diagnosis. Eventually they found one: post-traumatic stress disorder.

K a r e n Va u g h n , O U Counseling Center associate clinical director, said PTSD is something that builds, a growing pressure that needs to be released from the mind — or else it ruptures.

“They might be able to succeed initially in just avoiding it and avoiding anything that reminds them,” Vaughn said.

“But the longer that it goes without being addressed or treated, the symptoms have the chance of becoming more and more intense.

Then they’ll hit some situation ... and they may truly experience what they consider a breakdown.”

For years, avoidance is precisely the tactic Cherry used.

She said she had never sought help for her PTSD — she never even knew she had it and had never connected her depression and dissociation episodes to their source. Her week-long stay at Red Rock helped her connect these dots.

“It made it more real. It made me connect to it more than I was before because I would just block it out,” Cherry said. “I wasn’t even facing it head on, I was just ignoring it.”

Vaughn said discussing the damage with a trained professional is the most effective means of treatment.

“It’s through the talking that they can heal those wounds,” Vaughn said. “Those emotional, spiritual and mental wounds but also reclaim the power they feel like they lost through that experience.”

In the years before coming to OU, Cherry said she attended regular counseling sessions dissecting the trauma.

“Within those two years, I stopped taking my medicine because I didn’t need it anymore. The depression

Students to help combat hunger on campus New OU food pantry aiming to open in February KAYLA BRANCH @kayla_branch

OU’s future food pantry has pushed back its opening due to infrastructure details that still need to be finished.

Jennie Hill, executive director of community engagement for the College of Arts and Sciences, said there is not a specific date set, but hopefully the pantry will open in February at its location in Stubbeman Place, next to Papa John’s.

“We don’t have any hardand-fast date because part of it right now is just getting the students trained and feeling like we have the infrastructure in place to work it properly,” Hill said. “Once we have these pieces shored up, we’ll be doing sort of a beta-testing soft launch, and we’ll definitely do a big, ribbon-cutting hard open for the public to know we are here.”

One known detail is the process by which OU community members can obtain food and where the food will come from, Hill said.

The process to utilize the pantry will be to submit a form on OrgSync where one can give basic information and where it is listed which food products are needed.

Then student volunteers will pack the boxes, which can be picked up during any of the

two times a month the pan- not be paid, but that this has try will be open, Hill said. The not deterred those who have OU Food Pantry will partner applied.

“This is all volunteer, so with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and work with no one will be getting paid,” other vendors and donors to Marks said. “It would be nice to get paid, but what’s great collect food, Hill said.

Students who will hold is that it’s people who want staff positions for the pantry to serve from their heart attended a training session and want to help others, Jan. 24. Pre-nutrition scienc- and you can’t put money on that. So it’s es sophomore Melissa “It is a real problem great that we H e n n i g e r on campus, and so if have people who have was among we can do anything stepped up them. to help bring more into these Henniger w i l l a c t a s food here locally, we v o l u n t e e r positions one of the will.” and realvolunteer ly want to coordinaMELISSA HENNIGER, serve.” tors for the PRE-NUTRITION SCIENCES Marks pantry, helpSOPHOMORE said he ing organize hopes those the students who will come to volunteer. who use the pantry will feel She said she is excited for the comfortable because of pantry to open so that food the secure location and the insecurity on campus can be non-judgmental staff.

“I want people to feel addressed. comfortable knowing that “There are a lot of reasons why having the pantry on they can come to this place. campus is important, be- The entrance is kind of in a cause it’s so hard to do well secure, private location, and and be a part of the commu- there are not a lot of people nity or do well in your job if who are back there if they are you are hungry,” Henniger afraid people are going to see said. “It’s hard to think. It’s them,” Marks said.

“I want people to know hard to do anything. It is a real problem on campus, and so that we want them to come if we can do anything to help and they are not going to be bring more food here locally, judged,” Marks said. “We want to serve them, and I we will.”

Matt Marks, broadcast want them to feel reassured journalism junior and student about that.” director of the pantry, also atKayla Branch tended the training. He said kaylabranch@ou.edu the student staff positions will

SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY

Anthropology freshman Alyssa Cherry sits on a bench Friday on Elm Street. Cherry is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

subsided almost completely,” Cherry said. “The only thing that still lingers after that is sometimes I have episodes.”

The episodes are nothing new to Cherry and not unusual in PTSD sufferers.

Combat veterans with the disorder commonly experience flashbacks and disconnect with their surroundings at a certain sound or sensation that reminds them of their trauma, Vaughn said. This is called dissociating. Episodes of dissociation vary in intensity — not everyone with PTSD will experience dissociation, but those who do can feel as though they are vividly and lucidly reliving a traumatic moment, Vaughn said.

A popular misconception is that true trauma, the kind that would cause PTSD, belongs only to those who have experienced combat or witnessed great violence, Vaughn said.

“It can be any (number of) events. It can be a car accident, or it can be childhood abuse, a sexual assault, or violence in the home,” Vaughn said. “It can be many numerous forms of traumatic events that can result in the symptoms of PTSD.” Cherry said she dissociates

GAMING: Continued from Page One

setups that are the most efficient, most optimized.

They have certain ways that they go about playing the game that’s just entirely different than playing on a casual level.”

In order to break into the professional sphere, Egan trains every day for at least two hours, either individually at his house or with other top players in the area. He also competes in weekly regional tournaments to improve his skills and gain experience.

“You sit there, you figure out what you need to learn, what you need to practice, and you sit there and you just grind it out,” Egan said. “You sit there all day, as much as possible, just practicing it, learning it.”

Every month or so, developers introduce new elements or characters that fundamentally alter the way a game can be played and players must react accordingly or fall behind, Egan said. The n e e d f o r p ra c t i c e b e comes more apparent upon examining the inner workings of the game.

Competitive players analyze and test various scenarios until they develop new strategies to adapt to game modifications, Egan said.

“This kind of changes things because you can’t just learn and master the game once,” O’Connell said.

“You’ve learned this,

once or twice a day at most, a significant improvement over the estimates she offers prior to treatment. Sometimes there is an identifiable cause, an unexpected touch or a slammed door setting off an exaggerated startle response.

Other times there is no apparent trigger at all.

She said her high school sweetheart, biology freshman Joseph Schnitker, has been there through countless episodes. The episodes vary in length and depth, he said — no two are the same. He can help keep her calm and help cut them short, but it is never a sure thing.

“Sometimes you just have to wait them out,” he said.

Cherry’s trauma will always be a part of her. It is not something she can cut loose or leave behind, but a fresh start in a place less familiar has given her some distance, the couple said.

“Now that we’re here in Norman, this is new, this is like, ‘We’re safe here.’ Things have gotten a lot better,” Schnitker said.

“I was worried when I first got here. I thought I was going to have to deal with a lot of shaming. I’ve always been afraid of being made fun of for

having a mental illness and I know that’s kind of an irrational fear, but people have done that to me before,” Cherry said. “And no one’s done that to me here.”

Control is the goal, Cherry said. There is no cure, there is only acceptance, and a constant fight to diminish the fear and the doubt.

“I know the image will never leave my head. I know it. You’ll always remember it,” Cherry said. “There’s no way we can just take it out of my brain, but there’s ways of controlling it.”

PTSD is like every mental illness in that it feeds off silence. Neglect it and it just grows. Facing it alone comes with a set of similar problems, as solitary thoughts are often the most damaging. This is a burden to share, Vaughn said.

“Do not expect to just get over it. ... It’s not just a matter of the passage of time, that they should be better by now, which they may hear from other people,” Vaughn said.

“It’s not a sign of weakness to reach out and get help, it’s a sign of strength.”

they change this, suddenly it stops working or something else works better. It both keeps people interested that are playing the game actively, and it can make it very, very difficult for pros to keep up with what’s actually best right now.”

While Egan practices as often as he can, he must also keep up with the demands of school. The competing priorities often conflict, he said.

“It ’s extremely hard,” Egan said. “You obviously have to prioritize school.”

Despite his ultimate goal of becoming a professional gamer, Egan said he is pursuing his bachelor’s in chemical engineering as a necessary back-up plan. He said he thinks dropping out of college would be an extremely bad idea.

“The thing about e-sports is, even if you do go professional, until you get sponsored by a team, you do not have a set income,” Egan said. “Your only income is what you can earn from winning tournaments, which is extremely hard because there’s so many players at your level or better that are going to these tournaments and looking to win also.”

While Egan manages to achieve good grades in his classes, he said it is difficult to balance his two challenging pursuits without sacrificing some aspects of each. “ I n e e d t o ma ke su re my grades are kept up, but then I also need to keep up with the practice, so I end up cutting a bit from each side just at certain points in time,” Egan said.

Likewise, O’Connell often pulls up Twitch, a

video game streaming platform, to watch games on his phone while completing schoolwork.

“My other activities, be it playing or watching games, tend to overlap too much with my school work, where I try to have homework out while this game is going on on my phone,” O’Connell said. “I’ll be doing one thing while checking in periodically to see what’s going on in the game, which is not great for productivity, and it’s probably why I’m not doing as well in school as I could be.”

In light of these sacrifices to school, Egan said his parents do not support his pursuit of professional gaming.

“They aren’t stopping me necessarily because they understand it’s something that I really want to do and it’s something I enjoy, but they’re not necessarily supporting me all that much either,” Egan said.

“They don’t really like it all that much, but since they understand that they don’t get the appeal, they don’t get what it is behind it, they don’t understand how it works — they know that they don’t, so they aren’t stopping me from it.”

Egan said his parents’ hesitations have not deterred him from his goals but only strengthened his resolve.

“I want to be top-10 player internationally, top-five player internationally, so I can be like ‘Mom and Dad, I’ve done this and it’s actually paying me a nice sum of money now, this is actually something that works,’” Egan said.

Mitchell Willetts

mitchell.b.willetts-1@ ou.edu

Anna Bauman

anna.m.bauman-1@ou.edu

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OU students resist pipeline Community reacts to Trump’s decision to continue DAPL KAYLA BRANCH @kayla_branch

Many OU community members have reacted to President Donald Trump’s decision to continue construction on the Dakota Access pipeline with a stronger resolve to continue fighting for Native American and environmental rights.

Brittany McKane, Native American studies and anthropology sophomore who went to the Standing Rock Sioux camp in North Dakota last year, said she’s not surprised by the action but believes it will help shed light on the struggles faced by indigenous people.

“It’s not a surprise to Indian people, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less and it doesn’t make us want to give up,” McKane said. “We still want to fight back and we still want to preserve our land. We aren’t just fighting for ourselves, we aren’t just fighting for our ancestral lands, we now have to show people how to take care of the earth and the environment.”

“It is concerning, and I think that the reaction is, for many, is that we have to remain vigilant.”

HEATHER SHOTTON, NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES PROFESSOR

Apollonia Piña, a senior studying cross-cultural epistemologies in science and math, said the memorandum is in violation of the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1851 and shows Trump’s disregard for tribal treaties in general. The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe also said the action violates the treaty.

“This demonstrates that he does not care and will not listen to the treaties that were

made in 1851. ... And just because this was a treaty from 1851 doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have any legal meaning today — it does,” Piña said.

“He is completely ignoring that, he is completely ignoring tribal sovereignty.”

“Ultimately, this is a continuation of the Indian Wars.

For my generation, it is unprecedented for us to have a president in office that is so vehemently against tribal sovereignty and Native American treaty rights,” Piña said.

Piña said Trump hanging a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office holds significant weight, as well.

“That speaks volumes about the kind of nationalism that he wants to project and especially the image he wants to project to Native people,” Piña said. “That’s huge, that’s very huge.”

Corey Still, a doctoral student studying adult higher education, said the effects of Trump’s actions will be the reinforcement of those who have been fighting against the pipeline.

“What it has done is reinforce the efforts of the water protectors up north and reinforced the understanding of why our water needs to be protected,” Still said. “And it is not just indigenous issues. We are talking about water issues, environmental issues — issues that are going to affect not just our indigenous communities but all of our communities.”

Heather Shotton, Native American studies professor, said Trump’s move is no shock and there is reason for concern in multiple areas, such as Trump’s previous involvement in companies like Energy Transfer Partners and Phillips 66, the companies behind the Dakota Access pipeline.

“I don’t think anyone is really surprised that he is pushing for it,” she said. “He made the statement prior to the election that he was in support of the Dakota Access pipeline. But it is concerning, and I think that the reaction is, for many, is that we have to

SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY

Crowd members at the No Dakota Access Pipeline march listen to a speaker near the end of the march Friday at the Oklahoma State Capitol building. President Donald Trump decided to continue construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.

remain vigilant.”

The pipeline has a history of controversy, from environmental concerns over potential oils spills, to the legality of federal construction affecting Native American lands without tribal consent, to the protests against its construction that have been going on for almost a year.

Supporters have argued that the pipeline would create jobs and economic growth and help push America to be more energy independent.

Backlash came quickly after Trump signed the memorandum Jan. 24, with protests in many places, including a march at the Oklahoma State Capitol Jan 27.

Psychology and international studies junior Hannah Asfeldt and undecided junior Mekenna Marak attended the protest to show solidarity and

support for the fight against the pipeline.

“I am completely aware that I need to use my privilege as a white person to support these issues. ... I want to use the privilege that I’ve been given to really speak for these issues and give a voice,” Marak said.

Asfeldt said she saw Marak post about the protest on Facebook and decided to join her.

“I don’t think it’s enough to just say, ‘It’s the Native peoples’ fight,’” Asfeldt said. “It’s humanity’s fight because we are all drinking the same water, we are all breathing the same air and we are all being shaded by the same trees.

And once that goes, nobody is going to be left standing.”

PIPELINE PRESS CONFERENCE WHEN: 2 to 3 p.m Monday WHERE: Media room on the fourth floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol WHAT: A press conference announcing a campaign against the Plains All American Diamond Pipeline being built from Cushing, Oklahoma, to West Memphis, Tennessee Source: Facebook event

Kayla Branch

kaylabranch@ou.edu

Students on medication fight stigma Treatment for some mental illnesses still misunderstood MADISON HOSTETTER @meehostetter

“Lauren had to take her crazy pill and go home.”

History and political science freshman Lauren Lyness remembers clearly the moment that ended her friendship with a former best friend.

It was her sophomore year of high school. She was in treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder — and a part of that treatment was medication.

“I had to go home from school because I was having a panic attack. I told her what happened because she sat with me at lunch and she had seen me earlier that day,” Lyness said. “I thought I could trust her. She ended up telling my whole table.”

In addition to the betrayal of Lyness’s trust, that incident is indicative of greater societal attitudes toward medications used to treat mental illness.

“People think because it’s our brain and we can think, then we should be able to pull ourselves out of mental disorders, and that’s often not the case,” said Ed Hill, a psychiatrist at OU’s University Counseling Center.

This idea is common not only among friends and family members of those with mental illnesses, but among those who deal with mental illness as well. Lyness witnessed her younger brother go through the same process of diagnosis and treatment before she did, so it was easier for her.

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

History and political science freshman Lauren Lyness talks about mental health awareness and her experience with obsessive-compulsive disorder in the David L. Boren Student Lounge Jan. 18.

However, for Cheryl Frazier, philosophy doctorate student and graduate teaching assistant, the idea of taking medication for depression and anxiety was initially an admission of weakness.

“I felt like I couldn’t do this basic human thing — I couldn’t make myself happy — and there was something really wrong with that,” Frazier said. “I was really resistant to taking medication because I thought this was a problem I should be able to fix. I wanted to be normal, rather than have to take any kind of medication.”

Now, Frazier said medication has been better for her than therapy alone. For Lyness, starting medication has been one of the best

decisions she has made in her life.

Frazier and Lyness are both open with their friends and family about their struggles and have found that community to be supportive, even if it takes time for people to understand what they are going through.

“Once they know that this is a legitimate medical thing that needs to be treated in the same way that you would treat a broken arm or the flu, I think people are more understanding about why you would need medication,” Frazier said.

Understanding a friend with mental illness is not always immediate. For many, it is a process. Frazier recalls feeling hesitant to tell her friends about her medication

because of things they had said in the past.

A few of her friends had expressed a belief that depression could be cured by “choosing to be happy” and that by taking medication, Frazier was “taking the easy way out” rather than putting in hard work to solve her problems.

“That’s not true at all. I’m just trying to maximize my chances of being happy,” Frazier said. “Medication happens to be a route that works for me in addition to everything else I’m doing.”

Before starting therapy and medication, Frazier had been battling her mental illness for a decade without treatment, she said. The choice to be happy was one she had been trying incredibly hard to make, but she could not succeed on her own.

“I didn’t want to tell my friends because I was embarrassed,” Frazier said. “I felt like there was something wrong with me rather than just having a health condition.”

Lyness said she has also noticed the idea that treatment of a mental illness is like flipping a switch rather than a long and difficult process.

“Whenever you see somebody with depression on a TV show, something happens in their life and they’re magically cured. It’s not the actual process of having to go through therapy, working at it, in addition to medication,” Lyness said. “Medication is not just a quick fix, it’s a process in addition to other things you have to do to get better.”

Lyness also said that people do not always understand what it is she takes medication for.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is shrouded in stereotypes that do not accurately represent what she and her brothers deal with on a daily basis, and those stereotypes play into some of the stigma surrounding her treatment.

“When people find out that I take medication for OCD they think, ‘What? You take medication for organizing your pencils?’ But that’s not what it is,” Lyness said. “The stigmas that surround the mental illnesses themselves affect the medication part of it.

A lot of people don’t recognize it as an actual illness, so they don’t realize why you have to take medication for it.”

How ever, Lyness and Frazier said they have both noticed a willingness to learn and understand in their friends. For them, learning to accept a friend with mental illness is as much a process as treatment itself — far from instantaneous.

Hill said he is hopeful that mental illnesses and their treatments will continue to carry less of a societal stigma.

He recalls being hesitant to even tell people he was a psychiatrist 25 years ago. Now, Hill said his profession is not an issue at all. He said he has noticed a similar increase in acceptance for people with mental illnesses.

“I don’t know that it’s quite as positive as what I’ve described in myself, but I’m hopeful that people with mental illness will continue to see less stigma,” Hill said.

Madison Hostetter

madisonhostetter@gmail.com

4

• January 30-February 1, 2017

OPINION

Audra Brulc, opinion editor dailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/opinion • Twitter: @OUDailyOpinion

Oscars overlook misogyny, abuse Allison Weintraub

allison.weintraub@ou.edu @AllieFrances12

Th e re’s a l o t t hat t h e Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has gotten wrong about the Oscars. #OscarsSoWhite is a product of recent outrage, a hashtag that had re a l , t a ng i b l e, p o s i t i ve results.

So where is the outrage over Mel Gibson and Casey Affle ck ’s nominations?

Gibson is nominated for Best Director, and his film is nominated for five other awards. Affleck is up for Best Actor. Both men have histories of abuse and violence toward women.

Gibson is an old-school trifecta: racist, sexist and homophobic, with a sprinkle of domestic abuse accusations and anti-Semitism. Despite that, the Academy has decided to break their 21-year streak of ignoring his nonsense to nominate his most rec e nt d i re c t o r i a l e f f o r t, “Hacksaw Ridge.�

So why nominate it?

For Gibson to be nominated with such a conservative film — it’s full of white men fighting a war against a racial “other� but centers around a Christian objector — means something too. In a field so diverse, “Hacksaw Ridge� seems like a stagnant choice, hearkening back to before #OscarsSoWhite changed the Academy.

In addition, it’s important to think about the implications of what nominating Gibson for an Oscar at this point in his career means.

Not only is it confirming that the Academy wasn’t taking a stand in ignoring Gibson’s work to counteract his bigotry, it seems like a shady underhanded move: wait until people forget Gibson’s hate speech and then reward him again like nothing has happened.

T h e r e ’s h i s t o r i c a l

PHOTO PROVIDED BY IMDB

Director Mel Gibson’s most recent film “Hacksaw Ridge� has been nominated for five awards while Gibson himself is up for best director, despite the homogeneity of the film and Gibson’s reputation of racism and sexism.

precedent here: Woody Allen gets nominations, despite his daughter’s allegations of childhood assault; Roman Polanski was nominated years after he assaulted a 13-year-old girl.

Onscreen, there’s also a nominee who faced assault charges: Affleck.

Two women, Amanda White and Magdalena Gorka, have accused Affleck of sexual assault after working on “I’m Still Here.� Both cases settled outside of court, allegedly in part for credit on the project.

However, there hasn’t been much discussion about those cases during Affle ck ’s press tour for “Manchester by the Sea.�

There are some cr itical questions to ask about Affleck. Namely, if assault was such an issue w ith Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation,� then why isn’t there similar uproar over Affleck’s history of sexual assaults?

In summary of Parker’s s candal, he made “ The

Birth of a Nation,� which reclaimed its title from a racist film. It debuted at Sundance and took home top awards.

“

The question that all these nominations leave me with is: What does it mean for the Academy when they continue to nominate white men accused of misogyny and abuse?

ALLISON WEINTRAUB, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ASSISTANT EDITOR

Once Parker was on the press tour, it came to light he had been acquitted of s exual assault while in

college. Then, after Parker gave some non-empathetic interviews, Variety broke the story that the alleged victim had committed suicide in 2012.

Suddenly, the buzz surrounding the film shifted tone. Parker gave a series of increasingly uncomfortable interviews where he attempted to head off the story, but it became increasingly clear that he and “The Birth of a Nation� would forever be tied with the scandal.

While Parker’s alleged crime is more intense than Affleck’s, the men’s stories diverge in interesting ways.

Affleck hosted “Saturday Night Live� as part of his Oscar campaign. Parker was condemned and his film was not nominated at any major award shows.

A f f l e ck ’s n o m i nat i o n created some outrage in t h e a c t i ng c o m mu n i t y .

Constance Wu of “Fresh Off the Boat� posted a note to Twitter that says, among other things: “ ( A f f l e c k ’s ) r u n n i n g for an award that honors a craft whose purpose is examining the dignity of the human experience & young women are deeply human.�

The question that all these nominations leave me with is: What does it mean for the Academy when they continue to nominate white men accus e d of mis og yny and abuse?

These nominations make the Academy look bad, yes, but without any organized protest, there will be no solution. Affleck might take Best Actor and Gibson might take Best Director over more qualified men.

(I use the term men bec a u s e, o n c e a g a i n , t h e Academy did not nominate any women for Best Director).

It t o o k a c o n c e nt ra ted effort through social media to get the Academy to nominate movies with people of color, and this year there were several nominees, both behind and in front of the camera.

In terms of nominees w h o a re n o t re s p e c t f u l to women (and Afr ican

HOROSCOPE

By Eugenia Last

Copyright 2017, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2017 Helping others will bring you high returns. Finding a unique way to effect positive change for others will pay off. Do your best to expand your interests. DonĘźt wait for someone else to make the first move. ItĘźs a good year to become a pioneer and an entrepreneur.

my friend’s got mental illness

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- An unexpected change in the way you handle financial or contractual matters will prove to be advantageous.

Look past any limitations you face and forge ahead.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- YouĘźll be frustrated by the constraints imposed upon you. DonĘźt give in when you can figure out a way to get around any obstacle. Navigate your way to victory.

To a friend with mental illness, your caring and understanding greatly increases their chance of recovery. Visit whatadifference.samhsa.gov for more information.

Mental Illness – What a difference a friend makes.

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.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- YouĘźll be ready to take on the world, but that doesnĘźt mean you should be impulsive. Think first, but donĘźt hold back once you are ready to make your move.

a trap that will lead to discord.

Engage in striving for personal gains and exploring the endeavors that fascinate you. Protect your reputation and your health.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Put everything youĘźve got into what you want to achieve. Personal and professional perfection will be the result if you stay focused and intent on doing what you do best.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- YouĘźll be torn between what you want to do and what you should do. Take care of your responsibilities early so you can enjoy what and who mean the most to you.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Your changeable attitude will confuse your inner circle. Try not to make impulsive decisions that could disrupt your home and family. Work on improving yourself instead of criticizing others.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Put your time and effort into learning, reconnecting with people youĘźve lost touch with and making your home more inspiring and conducive to creativity.

Physical improvements will boost your confidence.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Stay focused on whatĘźs important to you and what will bring you closer to SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) your goals. Helping others will add to the knowledge and experience you -- Not everyone will be on your side.

Emotional manipulation will be difneed to advance. ficult to deal with. DonĘźt let anyone GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Restrain take advantage of your generosity or free-spirited nature. yourself from getting involved in organizations that may conflict CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Be with your beliefs or background.

Emotional manipulation is apparent. careful what you say and do. Problems with peers, relatives and people Be prepared for some negative who oppose your way of thinking can consequences. be expected. Protect your assets, possessions and physical well-being.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Pace your actions, and donĘźt fall into

Americans, Hispanic people and Jews, in Gibson’s case), we, the non-voting viewers, need to organize to make sure that the voters know their nominees are unacceptable.

Last year, the Oscars had Lady Gaga performing her song “ Til It Happens to You� surrounded by sexual assault survivors. This year, one of the trophies might go to one of the very people she wrote the song opposing.

If the hypocrisy doesn’t strike you, you’re not thinking enough ab out these nominations. And these nominations require lots of thought to see that when you validate misogyny, you make it a part of your organization until enough people get mad enough about it to protest.

Allison Weintraub is the assistant arts & entertainment editor at The Daily. The Daily welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns from the OU community. To submit a letter or column, email dailyopinion@ou.edu.

A&E BEST PICTURE REVIEW SERIES • The Daily’s arts & entertainment desk will write a series of reviews about each of the 2017 Academy Award Best Picture Nominees. • Reviews over “Hidden Figuresâ€? and “Hacksaw Ridgeâ€? will be released this week. • This is the first time in the history of the Oscars that black actors were nominated in every acting category. • For more information and related content about the Best Picture Review Series, visit oudaily.com.

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Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy Parker January 30, 2017

ACROSS 1 Be it?

5 Register drawers 10 Sage 14 Tartan wearers 15 Moron 16 Sandler of the movies 17 “I almost forgot ...�

18 Foot bones in astir?

19 Infamous emperor 20 “OK, class, in order, AT words�

23 Drug bust units, often 24 It goes ’round and ’round in woodshop 25 Boot part 28 Alternative to magic mushrooms 30 Head ’do 31 Beat, as a heart 33 Also 36 “OK, class, in order, IT words�

40 One of a common couple 41 Meek, quiet and timid 42 Hindu royal 43 Proves to be a foodie 44 What love at a campfire produces?

46 Argot 49 Bay of Naples isle 1/30

51 “OK, class, in order, OT words�

57 Climb up 58 Vietnamese city 59 Collection of miscellaneous pieces 60 General vicinity 61 The javelin toss, e.g.

62 ___ on (put trust in) 63 Bosc, for one 64 Positive responses 65 What Simon does DOWN 1 Striker’s foe 2 Fitzgerald of jazz 3 Three o’clock, in directions 4 Cheap imitation 5 Jot 6 Popular potato, or its source 7 Italian “dollars� no more 8 Needing directions 9 Blend in a bowl 10 Classified r thing 11 That is to say, formally 12 Comedian Silverman 13 Act too dramatically

21 Be under the weather 22 It can keep one from going to jail 25 Long-range weapon 26 What’s black, Jacques?

27 Uses a chair 28 Highfalutin’ 29 Abbreviation for Potter on “M*A*S*H�

31 Because of this 32 That man’s 33 Peter or Ivan the Terrible, e.g.

34 Farm cry 35 Inventor Elisha 37 Insect’s adult stage 38 New walker 39 Treasoning is their reasoning

43 Cause affection for 44 Divides evenly 45 Any MLB player 46 Deep-six or eighty-six 47 French valley known for wine 48 Where you may catch my drift?

49 Ice cream holders 50 Make amends 52 Unnamed ones 53 It starts a nice day?

54 Type of bargain 55 Like a mechanic’s rags 56 Santa’s handouts

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

1/29 Š 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication 1/26 Š 2017 www.upuzzles.com Andrews McMeel Syndication

ELEMENTARY SPELLING LESSONS By Timothy E. Parker

January 30-Febuary 1, 2017 •

SPORTS

5

Spenser Davis, sports editor dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/sports • Twitter: @OUDailySports

Young team wilts against Florida

Oklahoma suffers worst loss at home in nearly 100 years JOHN WALKER @jtw2213

Start from the perimeter, use a bevy of hesitations and dribble moves to work the defender o f f - b a l a n c e. I f i t s u cceeds, drive to the basket.

If it fails, pass the ball to the next man and repeat the process.

Mix in the occasional pick-and-roll, and it’s a sequence that epitomized Oklahoma’s offense in its 84-52 loss against No. 25 Florida. “ We d i d n ’ t m ov e t h e ball very well,” coach Lon Kruger said. “We didn’t finish opportunities when we had them. We have to get a lot better.”

The Sooners’ four-assist performance against the Gators complemented the 27 percent shooting affair in the team’s 32-point loss.

It wasn’t the first obscenely-low assist total outing, as similar results occurred against Wisconsin in December (four) and Texas earlier this week (three).

But without a consistent scoring threat or welltuned ball distribution, the still-green S ooners morphed the offense into dribble-drive isolations and indecisive, ineffective ball movement. And when Oklahoma fails to achieve t h e d ou b l e - d ig i t a s s i s t mark, the Sooners are 1-4.

“I feel like we were kind of getting away from what we were doing earlier in t h e s e a s o n ,” f r e s h m a n guard Kameron McGusty said.

At the nucleus of O k l a h o m a ’s 3 2 - p o i n t blowout was senior guard Jordan Woodard.

The four-year veteran has been a staple amid the Sooners’ turbulent season, as evident by Oklahoma’s winning record with Woodard in the starting lineup (8-7) and unsucc e s s f u l re c o rd w i t h o u t him (0-5). Woodard is the team’s lead point-maker and ball distributor.

But against Florida, Wo o d a r d s u f f e r e d h i s worst game to date. He was held scoreless and assist-less for the first time in his four-year career. Ball

movement runs through Woodard and when Woodard’s play tanked, the offense followed.

Wo o d a rd p l a y e d j u s t three minutes in the second half as Kruger cited dizziness for his brief post-halftime appearance.

And when Woodard was kept on the sidelines, the Sooners weren’t much better in generating points.

Oklahoma shot just 31 p e rc e n t e n ro u t e t o 2 4 points after intermission.

Freshman guard Jordan Shepherd’s triple made 23 minutes into the game w a s O k l a h o m a’s o n l y converted three-pointer.

Freshman forward Kristian Doolittle failed to replicate his stellar 29-point performance against Texas on Wednesday, scoring just nine points on 11 attempts. Sophomore guard Christian James failed to register a basket, marking another down performance in a tumultuous season for the second-year Sooner.

By the end, the Sooners were subjected to their worst home loss since 1922.

“Not much good there,” Kruger said. “We didn’t win many battles.”

The Sooners will have two days to fix their flaws before opening the Lloyd Noble Center to welcome rival Oklahoma State on Monday. The search for offensive production could be easier to find against the Cowboys, who statistically hold the title as the Big 12 Conference’s worst defense.

But it could take much longer to uproot the fundamental flaws of the Sooners’ offense, which focuses on dribbling ability and athletic prowess over patience and skill. But the team recognizes the flaw and seems to be willing to work on it, which is a solid first step.

“We want to get back,” McGusty said. “We got to practice first and work on the things we didn’t do well today and get back on the court Monday.”

John Walker

john.t.walker-1@ou.edu;

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Sophomore guard Rashard Odomes goes up for a shot against the Florida Gators in a game Saturday. Odomes had 13 points.

Senior’s aggression leads to OU triumphs Maddie Manning attributes success to offensive fight GEORGE STOIA @GeorgeStoia

Averaging 12.8 points per game before Sunday’s contest against Baylor, OU senior Maddie Manning has been the backbone of the Oklahoma team so far this season.

In 11 of her last 14 games, Manning has s core d in double-figures, including a pair of 20-point performances. She’s been the main catalyst for the No. 20 Sooners, who currently sit in third place in the Big 12 standings.

Manning believes her success is a result of her aggressiveness.

“I think I’m being successful because I’m being aggressive,” Manning said.

“I want the ball, I want to score. That’s kind of different for me, that’s a mentality I’ve had to develop.”

Manning has been part i c u l a r l y l e t ha l o f l at e, shooting more than 50 percent from beyond the arc in her last three contests.

Defensively, she has been just as good, leading the Big 12 in steals per game at 2.3.

Head coach Sherri Coale also thinks Manning’s aggressive play is the secret behind her recent success.

“She’s been super aggressive offensively, and I think that sets the tone for everything else,” Coale said.

“I think I’m being successful because I’m being aggressive.”

MADDIE MANNING , SENIOR GUARD

The S ooners have already faced four top-25 teams in the Big 12 and are currently ranked No. 17 in the RPI. Much of their success can be attributed to Manning’s maturity on the court.

“I think she’s just growing into herself,” Coale added.

George Stoia

george.s.stoia-1@ou.edu

SIANDHARA BONNET/THE DAILY

Senior guard Maddie Manning eyes the basket on a drive against sophomore forward Jentry Holt in the second half Jan. 22.

Manning averages 12.8 points per game.

6

• January 30-February 1, 2017

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Chloe Moores, a&e editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/a_and_e • Twitter: @OUDailyArts

Festival sweetens pot for arts

Firehouse center envisions more creative, educated OK ARCHIEBALD BROWNE @archiebaldmoses

Hu n d re d s o f p e o p l e flowed into the ballroom of the Marriott Conference center of the NCED hotel Saturday with awe-filled faces, their hands holding empty boxes, anxiously awaiting to stuff them w ith a few of the thousands of chocolate samples awaiting inside. The crowds were gathered for a 35-year-old Norman tradition, the Firehouse Art Center annual Chocolate Festival.

For four hours masses of people flowed in and out of the room filled with donated chocolate samples from local restaurants, bakeries and businesses. More than 20 vendors were represented at the event, including restaurants like Legend’s Restaurant & Cater ing, La Baguette, Eskimo Sno, O’ Connell’s Irish Pub & Grille, and Rusty’s Custard Factory.

All proceeds from the event went to Firehouse Art Center’s visual arts education programs. In addition to hosting regular exhibitions and workshops for adults, the Firehouse Art Center’s primary goal is help fund arts programs in elementary schools located in Norman, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and smaller towns around the state, said Douglas Shaw Elder, executive director of Firehouse.

The Firehouse Art Center is a non profit organization. Although an artistic nonprofit can apply to get money from the state, “You still have to raise money to put on art events and work with kids,” Elder said.

Elder believes that smaller towns will hurt more from the defunding of arts because they don’t have as much support as other bigger cities have, he said.

“Since 2008, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the main funding source for the state in arts, has been cut 26 percent. As

AMANDA KUTNOCK/THE DAILY

Christine Burleson from Chocolate Fountains of OK hands out various items dipped in chocolate at the Chocolate Festival Saturday. The Chocolate Festival was hosted by the Norman Firehouse Art Center at the Marriott Conference Center & Hotel.

funding is cut and cut, we with healing arts and all of won’t be able to go into our prices will probably go the schools, we won’t be high,” Elder said. able to help our elderly Hosting events like the Chocolate Festival helps the Firehouse Art Center “The arts and keeps its prices low and investment in the continue to maintain the arts leave a lasting organization’s vision statelegacy and send a m e n t , “e n h a n c i n g o u r through the vitremendous signal community sual arts,” Elder said. to talented creative Richard McKown, artist, real estate director and people that this former board member of is a place where Firehouse Art Center, said talent and creativity Oklahoma is making a big is valued and mistake by continuously cutting education and welcomed.” therefore arts funding.

RICHARD MCKOWN, “We are sending a mesARTIST, REAL ESTATE DIRECTOR sage to our young people, AND FORMER BOARD MEMBER our best and brightest, our OF FIREHOUSE ART CENTER most talented, from the state Capitol, that if you’re

talented and you’re creative, you should leave the state,” McKown said.

McKow n said cer tain events in Oklahoma’s history, such as the land run and the Dust Bowl, gave way to some of the state’s most creative citizens.

“We are not telling ourselves that story and we are not teaching the next generation to have those same creative skills, and we are sending a message that if you think creativity is important, then go somewhere else,” McKown said.

A city immersed in the arts acts as a magnet drawing intelligent, interesting people into one location and events like the chocolate festival, McKown said.

“Communities all over

the w orld have stre ets, water lines and sewer lines; few communities throughout history have invested in the arts,” McKown said.

“The arts and investment in the arts leave a lasting legacy and send a tremendous signal to talented creative people that this is a place where talent and creativity is valued and welcomed.”

The Firehouse Art Center has been able to keep the chocolate festival going for 35 years, although “it’s been tricky,” Elder said.

“We have a lot of local support from these restaura nt s. Ev e n t h ou g h i t ’s not quite Jazz in June and showing up for music, everybody loves chocolate.”

As Chocolate Festival

attendees left, they were able to submit a vote on which vendor was their favorite. Kristyn Brigance, executive assistant to Firehouse, said at the end of the day the votes re v e a l e d t hat L e g e n d’s Restaurant & Catering took fourth place, La Baguette took third, The Diner took second and Apple Tree Chocolate came in first.

The Firehouse Art Center w ill not know the total amount of proceeds from the festival until later this week, Brigance said.

Archiebald Browne archiebald.browne@ ou.edu

Best of Norman coffee: Gray Owl like home Eclectic local coffee shop boasts art, unique beverages MADDIE ROPER @maddieroper4

Over the grinding of coffee beans and sizzling of steamed milk, barista Katie Murray calls out to the customers at Norman’s Gray Owl Coffee from behind the counter. Students type away on their laptops under the retired bicycles hanging from the ceiling.

Murray, elementary education sophomore and Norman native, has worked at Gray Owl for two years.

One of the most enjoyable parts of her job is meeting regulars and helping the shop foster community, Murray said.

“I like to think we have a very welcoming vibe,” Murray said.

Established in 2009, Gray Owl Coffee ser ves Normanites from 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday – Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Saturday and Sunday. Since opening, Gray Owl has become a popular study spot for OU students.

Preston Melchert, biology and German senior, said he visits Gray Owl once a week in order to escape the

sometimes mundane university library and explore what Norman has to offer.

Free local publications scattered on Gray Owl’s tables give OU students opportunities to connect with the Norman community outside of OU. Melchert often looks at Gray Owl’s bulletin board in order to stay clued in on events in the area such as concerts, lectures and classes, he said.

“It’s a good place to meet up with people,” Melchert s a i d w h i l e t ra n s p o s i ng notes from his laptop. “And the coffee is good, too.”

Melchert’s favorite Gray Owl drink is the vanilla latte. This is the most popular order among customers.

Behind the counter, the baristas once played customer bingo. One of the spaces reads “five vanilla lattes ordered in a row.” It did not take long to cover that spot on the bingo card, Murray said.

In addition to the vanilla latte, Murray said she enjoys Gray Owl’s cold press.

Cold press is a technique of making coffee in which baristas filter grinds into cold water and allow them to steep in a fridge for a set amount of hours.

While other coffee shops brew their cold press for six to eight hours, Gray Owl

MADDIE ROPER/THE DAILY

A glass of Gray Owl cold press coffee, a copy of The Daily and two notebooks sit on a table in Gray Owl’s coffee shop. Gray Owl was established in 2009.

allows theirs to steep for a full 24 hours.

“It makes it a really concentrated, good flavor,” Murray said.

Gray Owl uses Topeca coffee and espresso beans, Murray said. Topeca is a brewing company located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that roasts beans from all over the world.

In addition to coffee, Gray Owl boasts many kinds of tea. A menu scrawled out on a chalkboard indicates

a pot of tea can be bought for $4. “ We n o r ma l l y sp l i t the ginger tea,” Addison Rosenquist, visual communications junior said. When she and fellow visual communications senior Frances Gotssch are not in the studio, they are at Gray Owl, Rosenquist said.

Aside from the drinks, many patrons enjoy Gray Owl for the atmosphere.

O n Tues day afternoon, students typed away at a

collection of rectangular tables, equipped with warm lamps and electrical outlets. Their chairs looked as if they came from a garage sale down the street.

“I like the fact that there’s art on the walls,” Fatima Khan, environmental sustainability senior, said.

Gray Owl has its own art curator. The art changes every two months, and the waiting list to have art displayed is backed up through October 2017, Murray said.

Khan visits Gray O wl weekly. The art gives the shop a homey yet eclectic feel. Khan has enjoyed studying at Gray Owl throughout her college experience, enjoying the jasmine green tea and the view of Gray Street, she said.

“It’s a social experience as well as a studious one,” Khan said.

Maddie Roper

maddieroper4@ou.edu