THURSDAY OCTOBER 15, 2009
THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE
Read the final preview for this weekend’s game between OU and Texas. PAGE 7A
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Find The Daily’s preview of this weekend’s U2 concert inside. PAGE 3B
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Friday’s Weather
67°/46° owl.ou.edu CAMPUS BRIEF TRAIN PROVIDES MORE ROOM FOR TRAVELLING SOONER FANS Amtrak will be adding more seats to the Heartland Flyer for the OU-Texas game. More seats were added for the high demand for travel to the football game this weekend, according to representative for Amtrak. Dubbed the “Sooner Express,” the train travels to downtown Dallas in addition to its normal Ft. Worth destination. The return trip leaves Dallas Union Station Sunday afternoon. Last year, about 350 people rode the Heartland Flyer during the OU-Texas weekend. -The AP contributed to this report -Daily staff reports
OU OUTREACH TO HOST WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
U2 concert to make parking more difficult in Norman Norman Police to temporarily close Asp Avenue for Sunday show NATASHA GOODELL Daily Staff Writer
As thousands of U2 fans pour into Norman Sunday evening, city and university officials are treating it just like any other gameday. The Norman Police Department will handle all traffic, while OU Parking and Transit Services will sell parking in campus lots. “Street parking should not be affected,” OUPD spokesman Lt. Bruce Chan said. “It will essentially be the same kind of restrictions as there are on gamedays.” Kris Glenn, spokesman for OU Parking and Transportation Services, said most of the lots on the main campus will be pay lots for fans attending the concert Sunday. Glenn said OU parking permit holders may park in those spaces at no charge. In addition, the multipurpose lot north of the Huston Huffman Center will be reserved for housing and priority housing parking permit holders from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, Glenn stated in an e-mail. Chan said OUPD will be directing, as well as coordinating traffic control, focusing on the areas that are close to campus. Currently, the stage setup at the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is affecting traffic flow for those on and around campus, Chan said. North of Lindsey Street, northbound Asp
LUKE ATKINSON/THE DAILY
A road closure sign blocks the Asp Avenue entrance to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Students will not have access to the road while the stage for the U2 concert is being built. Avenue is closed, forcing those using the stadium parking garage to drive through the South Oval before entering the garage. “The concert setup is affecting traffic right now,” Chan said. “A lot of construction is going on in the stadium.” Nick Burnett, multi-disciplinary studies senior, said he hopes parking won’t be a problem for him, but said the parking lot where he lives at Summer Point Apartments, located at 12th Avenue and Boyd Street, usually gets filled up during gamedays. Chan said Asp is closed all of this week and for the first few days of next week. According to an e-mail from Norman Police, all traffic routes in and around campus will
return to normal Thursday. “They have to take down the stage and put the stadium back the way it was before [U2] came,” Chan said. Crews began setting up the stages Monday for the Black Eyed Peas and U2 concert on Sunday evening. “The Claw,” U2’s tour stage, is one of the largest structural stages for a concert tour, according to the U2 tour Web site. Attendance is estimated to be in the range of 50,000 to 60,000 for the concert, according to Norman police. Lloyd Noble Center at Jenkins Avenue and Imhoff Road is the preferred parking venue for those attending the concert, Glenn said.
Women to speak, share ideas KATHLEEN EVANS Daily Staff Writer
OU Outreach is hosting its first Oklahoma Women’s Symposium, titled “The Time is Now ... Reinvent, Reinvest & Reshape Your Life,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. The symposium will feature a series of speakers and presentations aimed at empowering women, according to the event Web site. The goal of the event is to allow women to share techniques and ideas on how to face obstacles in life, from work to family or both. The OU Outreach program is part of the College of Continuing Education and the College of Liberal Studies, and gives opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students to complete degrees through online courses, independent study or concentrated classes. Megan Cowell, program coordinator, said the concept for the event came from the idea that even in tough economic times women have to make changes. The Outreach program decided the symposium was the best way to bring women together to share strategies on facing challenges. Presentation topics at the symposium include living in today’s economy, remembering to include fun in one’s life and finding one’s leadership style. As the coordinators began thinking of ideas for the symposium, they chose to represent multiple aspects with which women would have to deal, Cowell said. For the symposium, they created a schedule of topics they felt were most important to women and that women of all ages could benefit from. The emcee and first speaker is Robin Marsh, who will engage the audience in an emotional exercise, according to the event schedule. Marsh is co-anchor of KWTV NEWS 9. She has also been nominated for an Emmy award and has received national journalism awards for her work. OU women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale is also among the presenters and will speak about how to “live with purpose.” Since coming to OU in 1996, Coale has led the women’s basketball team to multiple regular season and Big 12 tournament titles. She is also the president of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association. Cost to register for the convention was $35. More info can be found at cafe.ou.edu/women.
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STUDENT BUILDS GADGETS FOR STORM RESEARCH Junior doubles as tornado researcher in spare time LARA SAAVEDRA Daily Staff Writer
JEREMY DICKIE/THE DAILY
John Leeman, meteorology and geology junior, works in his lab Wednesday afternoon in Sarkeys Energy Center. Leeman designed and built the probe behind him.
John Leeman spends hours a day in a 10foot-by-five-foot lab in Sarkeys Energy Center building probes, working on data and conducting experiments. When not in his lab, Leeman, a meteorology and geology junior, is out in the field with his storm data-collecting equipment. Being out in the field, in the heart of a severe storm has become second nature for Leeman, who has been collecting data from storms since before he could drive. “It’s amazing what these storms can do,” Leeman said. “How fast things are moving, the accelerations involved, the mass of it is pretty incredible.” Leeman said his main research interest focuses on electric field data of tornadoes. STORMS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
New program sparks interest in China Student group opposes appointment of professor among students, Norman residents applaud Harper’s strong and Political opinions of demonstrated commitment new director source to teaching excellence.” Wright said Harper’s writof current controversy ings while he worked at political think tanks such as the RICKY MARANON Daily Staff Writer Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs and the Heritage A student group is op- Foundation are one reason posing the creation of the why the group is concerned. new Institute for American Harper wrote his reflecConstitutional Her itage tions on freedom after seeing again. the movie “The Patriot” while Oklahoma Students for a working for the Oklahoma Democratic Society opposed Council for Public Affairs. the creation of the new “My first imprescenter last spring, but sions in Paris were this time their camhow weak and paign is against Kyle tired many of the Harper, an assistant people look; unlike professor of classics Oklahomans, these and letters, whom OU aren’t a people who President David Boren want or deserve freeappointed as director dom,” Harper wrote KYLE of the center. for the Oklahoma “We are not criticiz- HARPER Council for Public ing Harper for his perAffairs in August sonal or political convictions,” 2000. said Ian Wright, a member of Harper continues to write the group, an opinion colum- about how many in the southnist for The Daily, and eco- ern and western parts of nomics and political science France admire things such as sophomore. “Nor are we ques- Robert E. Lee, the Confederacy tioning in any way his formi- and wide open spaces. dable credentials as a classics Harper was also the scholar. We consider Harper e d i t o r i n - c h i e f o f “ T h e to be an invaluable asset to the university, and we especially PROFESSOR CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
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JARED RADER The Oklahoma Daily
The OU Confucius Institute is helping students learn all things Chinese with its new program, Chinese Corner. Chinese Corner is a free campus activity for anyone who is interested in Chinese language and culture. Chinese professors help participants practice their speaking abilities, and educate them on Chinese culture every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Buchanan House in Cross Center.
The OU Confucius Institute was established in 2006 in partnership with Beijing Normal University in China. Its mission is to promote the teaching of Chinese language and culture through partnerships with governments, corporations, and educational and research institutions, according to the OU Confucius Institute Web site.
GO ONLINE TO OUDAILY.COM TO READ THE REST OF JARED RADER’S ARTICLE ON THE CHINESE CORNER PROGRAM.
JALISA HAGGINS/THE DAILY
Xin Chen, a visiting professor from Yunnan University in China, speaks Wednesday afternoon in Cross Building in Buchanan Hall during Chinese Corner. VOL. 95, NO. 41