SPORTS • PAGE 9
Sooner runner excelling for cross country team Molly Ferguson has a passion for running, one that is pushing her teammates to also improve. Read a feature about Ferguson inside.
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Quake leaves no lasting structural damage Second-strongest earthquake in state history shakes up campus Wednesday morning RENEE SELANDERS The Oklahoma Daily
Other than a skylight in Dale Hall, the 5.1-magnitude earthquake that rumbled Wednesday morning across Oklahoma caused no structural damage to campus buildings, university spokesman Chris Shilling said. A team of structural experts brought in by OU President David
Boren found no damage in other buildings across campus, and no injuries were reported as a result of the quake, Boren said by e-mail. Students in classrooms across campus reported feeling the ground shaking at approximately 9:05 a.m. Wednesday. The quake was centered six miles southeast of Norman in Noble, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. “Everyone in our class stopped for a little bit. Then our professor told us to move our desks away from the projector so we could continue class,” University College
freshman Katharine Ekonomou said. Shilling said OU Police did not evacuate any classrooms, though students were ushered away from the Dale Hall skylight in case the glass shattered. The skylight was inspected and students were allowed to go about their normal routines later Wednesday, he said. The U.S. Geological Survey initially released a report stating the
Wednesday’s earthquake » Magnitude 5.1 » Six miles southeast of Norman » Felt as far away as northern Texas and southern Kansas *Source: The Oklahoma Geological Survey
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VIGIL | GLBTF ADDRESSES SUICIDE PREVENTION WEDNESDAY NIGHT
Community remembers lost lives The Oklahoma Daily
T
ROHAID ALI
he latest meeting of the OU chapter of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends was a somber event and attended by about 40 students and community members. Following recent suicides of several gay young adults, including Norman North High School’s Zach Harrington, two guest speakers discussed the growing problem of intolerance and suicide that plague the gay community. “What people need is to be heard,” said Amy Morgan, training and prevention outreach coordinator of Heartline, a community support group that operates a suicide hotline. “Please, don’t think you’re alone. You’re not.” Suicide is the second leading cause of death in Oklahoma for young people and the state is ranked as the 13th worst state in the nation in terms of suicides per capita, according to Morgan’s presentation. Following the meeting, more than 200 people attended a candlelight vigil in the South Oval’s Unity Garden. The vigil honored lives lost.
The Oklahoma Daily
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Sociology junior Haley Brown attends a candelight vigil Wednesday evening in the South Oval’s Unity Garden. The vigil was hosted by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and friends to speak out against anti-gay movements and act as a presentation of people supporting efforts to prevent suicides.
University green project up for state award Meteorologists, architects work to bring environmental technology to university CHASE COOK The Oklahoma Daily
An experimental green roof on the National Weather Center is up for a Keep Oklahoma Beautiful award in the Educational Institution category. The meteorology and architecture departments have joined forces to grow plants on the roof of the National Weather Center to test their effect on energy usage and stormwater runoff. “It can help with cooling and if we get natural cooling it helps reduce energy consumption,” meteorology professor Petra Klein said. “It also has positive impacts on air quality ... the plants themselves help to clean the air and by using less energy means less emissions.” The roof was installed April 13 and is part of a research project led by professors Reid Coffman, Klein and Lee Fithian.
Fungal inhibition discovery in OU labs Chemists able to prevent oral yeast infections with new microorganism research
DANNY HATCH
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ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS LUSK/THE DAILY
Green roof facts » Russian Stonecrop and Hardy Ice Plant are typical green roof plants because of their tolerance for extremely harsh environments. » Native plants such as Blue Grama Grass and Prairie coneflower are being grown for comparision with the typical green roof plants. *Source: National Weather Center
HELEN GRANT/THE DAILY
Graduate research assistant Jose Galvez and meterology senior Monica Deming download data from the green roof observation masts Oct. 8 on the It consists of a large series of trays National Weather Center. Galvez and Deming were careful not to disturb the filled with plants that redirect natu- plants, which are a part of a different study. ral elements like light and water through absorption and reflection. It also reduces the amount of contemporary support in the last consumer market in climates like stormwater runoff. This is water 30 years. It is most commonly used Oklahoma’s. “ We a r e t e s t i n g t o s e e i f that picks up impurities while flow- in the temperate climates to the it will be successful after ing through roofs and drains and east, Coffman said. He hopes the roof will bring deposits them into drinking water. The green roof concept has been results that will benefit both the around for centuries, but found green initiative as a whole and the SEE GREEN PAGE 2
A LOOK AT WHAT’S NEW AT Visit the multimedia section to watch video of students preparing their chalking contest entries
THE OKLAHOMA DAILY VOL. 96, NO. 40 © 2010 OU Publications Board www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily
INDEX Campus .............. 2 Classifieds .......... 7 Life & Arts ........... 5 Opinion .............. 4 Sports ................ 8
While studying unique chemical signaling pathways among microorganisms in the human mouth, a team of OU researchers may have discovered something much greater: a better way of treating infectious diseases, which could help lessen the risk of creating new antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Chemistry and biochemistry professor Robert Cichewicz and professor Felicia Qi led a team of chemists and microbiologists that discovered a certain microorganism, Streptococcus mutans, can inhibit the growth of the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans. The inhibition of pathogenic substances is a relatively new concept. Over the years, the direct killing of pathogenic substances has led to resistant strains of bacteria, also known as superbugs. “By inhibiting yeast this way, we can potentially inhibit the selection for resistant strains of yeast that could result in even more severe diseases,” Cichewicz said. Traditional antibiotics could be reserved for more extreme cases. Candida albicans exists in two stages: a relatively harmless yeast phase in which the microbe does not cause damage to the body and a pathogenic filamentous phase that has the capability of invading human tissue, Cichewicz said. “We have discovered a molecule that inhibits a yeast cell’s morphological transformation into the latter — the filamentous phase,” Cichewicz said. Thrush, a disease caused by human pathogenic yeast, occurs during this phase. It often appears as a white film that can be seen in the oral region, and it typically occurs in immunologically compromised individuals. “Newborns, HIV patients, organ transplant recipients — these are all groups where thrush is likely to present itself,” Cichewicz said.
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TODAY’S WEATHER 76°| 51° Friday: Mostly sunny, high of 81 degrees Visit the Oklahoma Weather Lab at owl.ou.edu