October 26-29, 2017

W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | O C T O B E R 2 6 - 2 9, 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

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

IN RUFF WE TRUST

OU assistant head coach Ruffin McNeill gives the team a pep talk before the Red River Rivalry game in Dallas Oct. 14.

Lincoln Riley’s first hire brings energy and experience to Sooners KELLI STACY • @AKELLISTACY

R

uffin McNeill stood with his hands planted on his hips, face stoic, as Kansas State drove inside the Sooners’ 40-yard-line, down 35-28. The Wildcats’ student section, directly behind the Oklahoma sideline, roared to life.

McNeill remained expressionless, his calm demeanor a testament to his belief that if he prepared his line well enough during the week they would perform to his expectations without him yelling at them during the game.

He had to stand there and trust his players – and trust himself.

“If you’re barking on game day, it’s a problem because that means you haven’t prepared them the right way,” defensive ends coach Calvin Thibodeaux said. “Typically on game day he’s calm, and he’s their biggest fan. He does an awesome job with that.”

Trust is something McNeill has built his career on, and it’s a large component in his coaching philosophy today. When others have trusted him, he’s risen to the occasion, and by trusting his players, he’s hoping they’ll do the same.

OKLAHOMA Thibodeaux drove to the airport last June to pick McNeill up.

The two had already met when Thibodeaux was in high school and McNeill was trying to convince him to commit to Texas Tech.

They weren’t in the car long after their reunion when Thibodeaux thought, “Man, I really like this guy.”

That sentiment is now shared by the entire Sooners team.

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley hired McNeill just one week after being named head coach. The hire wasn’t a shock, as the two have worked with each other for years and have a close relationship.

As a first-year head coach, Riley wanted to bring in someone he trusted, and McNeill was the

perfect fit: energetic and tough.

“He’s very positive, very uplifting, and that’s good for us,” defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said.

“That’s good for our team. He’s always in a good frame of mind. No matter what the situation is he’s always upbeat and very positive.”

Oklahoma’s staff quickly accepted McNeill into the fold, and the players have placed their faith in him. His tough exterior at practice gives way to a kind, caring interior that players can relate to. It’s something Thibodeaux saw on that home visit years ago, and it’s something McNeill still possesses today. “ I t ’s a w e s o m e . H e l o v e s them, and they love him back,” Thibodeaux said. “They do that because they know that he’s genuine, and any time a guy’s personable and you can go and approach him about anything, any facet of life, and get an answer, that’s somebody that everybody’s going to gravitate to.”

At practice, McNeill is intense.

His loud booming voice can be heard above the rest. Monday through Friday, he pushes them to be their best. His expectations are high and they’ve yielded results.

The defensive line has been the strongest unit on defense by far this season. Oklahoma has held three opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards and only allowed two to rush for more than 200.

McNeill keeps his energy level high all week, but when it comes down to game day, he has faith he’s prepared his line to perform.

He trusts the process, and the team trusts him.

“You’ll never get him to lose his composure,” senior corner Jordan Thomas said. “He’s one of those guys that’s going to be calm, but obviously once he needs to get to his guys and just relate to them he will.”

And if things aren’t going as planned on game day

— the preparation isn’t showing — McNeill will use one of his many sayings: “Fido.”

Forget it and drive on.

EAST CAROLINA Damon Magazu opened the door of his Charlotte, North Carolina, home and extended his hand toward McNeill. Instead of shaking Magazu’s hand, McNeill pulled him in for a big hug. Just like with every other person McNeill has met, he left an immediate impression on the defensive back.

“The impression was just a wow factor,” Magazu said. “This guy is real. He tells you the truth, tells you how it is. He’s just the most downto-earth person I’ve ever met.”

“He’s very positive, very uplifting, and that’s good for us. That’s good for our team. He’s always in a good frame of mind. No matter what the situation is he’s always upbeat and very positive.”

MIKE STOOPS, DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR

During his years at ECU, McNeill cultivated a family atmosphere. He had an open door policy, eager to listen and guide his players in all aspects of their lives.

Former Pirates quarterback Shane Carden was a frequent visitor in McNeill’s office, stopping in during breaks from film to ask about McNeill’s family or ask how his day was going.

“He created such a great environment and family oriented team,” Carden said. “That team was so close. It was full of guys that really cared about each other and you felt the coaches cared about you. It was a brotherhood. We were truly a family there. Even as a

redshirt freshman, I felt like I was part of it.”

McNeill was hired at his alma mater in 2010, going 42-34 with four bowl appearances before being fired in 2015. He brought a new era of success to East Carolina, recording the second best season in program history in 2013 with 10 wins. With the help of Riley, his offense was in the top five in passing, first downs and total offense in 2014.

The success never got to McNeill, though. His focus remained on establishing trust with his players and creating a family out of the team.

“What you see is what you get,” Magazu said. “He cares about the players, but he also cares about their families. If you go to him he won’t judge you. He just wants you to be the best person you can be first and then the best player you can be.”

McNeill created an environment he and the players could take pride in. Along with that came a certain way of presenting yourself, and as such, another saying was born: “P.I.P.” Pirates in public.

TEXAS TECH In 2000, then-Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was on the hunt for a coach. He and McNeill had met at a coaching convention years prior, and Leach remembered the passion McNeill never seemed to be without. It was exactly what he needed.

“I felt like we needed more energy on our defense, and I wanted a real energetic guy,” Leach said.

“Someone who could talk directly with the kids and get on them and get them to play.”

He hired McNeill, and over the next 10 seasons, the energetic coach moved from linebackers to special teams to defensive line and eventually defensive coordinator.

In 2008, his first season as

defensive coordinator, McNeill helped the Red Raiders upset a No. 1 Texas team led by Colt McCoy, holding them to 101 yards below their season average.

Lubbock, Texas would end up being a pivotal place for McNeill and Riley both, as it’s where they first met. Riley walked on at Texas Tech in 2002, and they’ve been nearly inseparable since. The Muleshoe, Texas, native’s playing career didn’t last long, but he stayed on with Tech as a graduate assistant, eventually working his way up to a full-time position.

Texas Tech is where McNeill and Riley developed the trust they have in each other now. In 2009, Leach was fired for allegedly mistreating a player with a concussion.

The Red Raiders were headed to the 2010 Valero Alamo Bowl, and McNeill was given the nod to step into the interim head coaching position. It was then that McNeill gave Riley his first vote of confidence, naming him interim offensive coordinator.

“It meant a lot that he had that confidence. Despite being shocked by it, I was really excited to do it,” Riley said. “I had got to do it some in practice, and I got a little taste of it behind the scenes, so I knew I wanted to do it.”

From coaching alongside him in the Alamo Bowl to McNeill giving Riley his first offensive coordinator job at ECU, the veteran coach has been present for a majority of Riley’s successes. Now, Riley had the chance to reverse the roles and bring McNeill in as his assistant head coach and defensive lines coach at OU, returning the trust McNeill had in him during the Alamo Bowl.

“I never dreamed it would be in that situation,” Riley said. “It was great that he had confidence in me and turned me loose.”

Kelli Stacy

kelliastacy@ou.edu

RUFFIN MCNEILL’S PATH TO OU 1976

First year playing at ECU

1985

First college coaching job at Clemson

2000

Hired at Texas Tech

2008

Named defensive coordinator at Texas Tech

2010

Named head coach at ECU

2015

Hired at Virginia

2017

Hired at OU

2

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• October 26-29, 2017

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October 26-29, 2017 •

SPORTS

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

Football’s highest honor evolves Five Sooners have earned Heisman since its inception JOE BUETTNER @joe_buettner

CHAPTER 1 Manufacturing a Winner The Heisman Trophy has evolved from a humble accolade to a year-long production, orchestrated by media outlets and wishful athletic departments.

Kenny Mossman suspected Sam Bradford would win the 2008 Heisman Trophy, an award now forever attached to his name, before the former Oklahoma quar terback was announced the winner in New York City.

The Heisman Trophy Trust, which works to uphold the award’s integrity, didn’t inform Mossman, the director of athletics media relations at Oklahoma at the time.

Rather, he noticed camera crews starting to make their way to Bradford and his family during the commercial break immediately preceding the announcement on ESPN, positioning themselves to capture the recipient’s reaction.

Nearly four decades earlier, Steve Owens found out he won the 1969 Heisman secondhand while walking on campus in Norman. He later got a phone call that confirmed his achievement, but unlike Bradford, there was no public relations team like the one Mossman led to promote Owens as college football’s most outstanding player or a live ceremony on national television to announce his victory.

“There was no campaign,” said Al Eschbach, a sports talk host on WWLSFM in Oklahoma City.

“Nobody talked about it, nobody was writing about it in the paper or anything.

There was no talk radio then.”

In the modern day, television rights, award sponsorships, social media and digital-savvy public relations teams have transformed the landscape of the Heisman Trophy and how a candidate is promoted. Still, there isn’t a perfect formula to promoting a Heisman hopeful. Flashy numbers are a key factor

OU’S HEISMAN WINNERS 1952: Billy Vessels 1969: Steve Owens 1978: Billy Sims 2003: Jason White 2008: Sam Bradford

COURTESY OF OU ATHLETICS FILES

Previous OU football players who have received the Heisman Trophy are Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims, Jason White and Sam Bradford.

of what defines the best player in the country, but at some point in the season, everyone has statistics, Mossman said. What it comes down to is who has the most intriguing backstory, the most attractive highlight reel and a creative public relations team to accent everything special and talented about that player.

Halfway into this season, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield checks many of those boxes. He’s t h row n f o r 2 , 3 4 7 ya rd s passing, 19 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

He planted the flag after defeating Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, threw the game-winning pass against Texas and played through a shoulder injury in a win at Kansas State. All that after walking on to his second Big 12 football program and earning the starting job.

If Mayfield receives his second-consecutive invitation to New York as a finalist in December, the annual presentation on ESPN will be all the more dramatic for Oklahoma fans after he finished fourth in 2015 and third in 2016.

Th e s ig n i f i ca n c e a n d tradition that follows a Heisman Trophy winner is unlike any other in college football. And in Norman, Mayfield’s likeness would soon be cast as the sixth statue standing east of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium — the same place where he attended Sooner home games, hoping to one day stand among the heroes he watched as a kid — if he were to win.

“I don’t even think I could use words to describe it correctly,” Mayfield said.

“Coming up to tailgate and

playing backyard football right there by Heisman Park, before Bradford’s ( s t at u e ) w a s t h e re a n d right around the time Jason (White) was earning his, to realize I was there cheering on the team at that point in time before their statues were even there, so that obviously just shows I was their biggest (fan). Having something like that next to them would be such an honor, and we’ll see what happens.”

...

It was just 40 years ago the Heisman Trophy presentation truly took off as a national spectacle, televised for the first time in 1977.

Eschbach remembers the era in college football before the award wasn’t exhaustively discussed and debated nonstop from the conclusion of one season to the end of the next.

The commercialization of the Heisman Trophy was initially met with some skepticism. The late Rev. Edmund P. Joyce, former vice president of the University of Notre Dame, once told The New York Times the Heisman “was not designed as a vehicle for selling soap or beer.”

The prestige of the trophy seemed to be in danger as television rights were shopped for the presentation of college football’s mostcoveted individual prize. It had done just fine without sponsorships and television since its inception in 1935, honoring college football immortals like Davey O’Brien, Doak Walker and Ernie Davis.

In 1952, Oklahoma running back Billy Vessels was

HOMECOMING SCHEDULE OU’s Homecoming Reunion Week will wrap up this weekend with a parade, football game and other events. The schedule is as follows: THURSDAY, OCT. 26 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Sidewalk chalk competition on the South Oval

SATURDAY, OCT. 28

Noon: Lunch pass-out on the South Oval

Noon: OU vs. UT Arlington hurricane relief charity basketball scrimmage at Lloyd Noble Center ($5 suggested donation)

5-10 p.m.: Homecoming benefi t night at Fuzzy’s, Louie’s and Qdoba

4 p.m.: Parade starting at Felgar and Asp

7 p.m.: Alumni speaker Dari Nowkhah, ESPN correspondant, in Meachum auditorium

7 p.m.: OU vs. Texas Tech football game at the Gaylord Memorial Stadium with royalty coronation at halftime

7:30-10 p.m.: Boo!mer night by Film Series on the South Oval FRIDAY, OCT. 27 4 p.m.: OU Ring Ceremony on the South Oval 8 p.m.: Rah! Rally at Lloyd Noble Center

3

SUNDAY, OCT. 29 2-10 p.m.: Day of the Dead Street Festival

the first of five Sooners to capture the award. One of his teammates, Merrill Green, fondly recalls the days playing alongside Vessels with memories of the tough and rugged tailback that highlighted the early stages of the Bud Wilkinson era. “(The Heisman Trophy) was not that prominent, especially back in our part o f t h e c o u n t r y ,” G re e n said. “It was not like, ‘Gee, looks like Billy’s probably going to win the Heisman,’ like today. You start about (October), people start thinking about who the possible candidates are for the Heisman. That didn’t happen at all.”

“(The Heisman Trophy) was not that prominent, especially back in our part of the country.”

MERRILL GREEN, TEAMMATE OF BILLY VESSELS

It wasn’t to say the Heisman Trophy wasn’t a big deal. It just wasn’t the pres entation fans have come to tune into each D e cember w ith myr iad cameras and lights shining on a handful of college football’s finest players with their coaches and families behind them and the past winners in attendance, waiting to initiate the next member into one of sports’ most-exclusive fraternities.

The humble roots of the Heisman Trophy, however, lend to its significance today.

“There’s so much tradition tied up in that award,

that all of a sudden you get this sense that this is something that’s going to happen that is going to forever impact the life of the person who wins it,” Mossman said of seeing the live ceremony. “They talk about that a lot when you’re up there.

Once you’re a Heisman winner, that’s really what you are the rest of your life.

You’re going to be identified as that.”

...

Not every Heisman candidate is made equal in the age of television and social media. Increasingly, the Heisman moment can propel a campaign in the era of viral video.

Desmond Howard’s stiff arm. Johnny Manziel running for his life against Alabama. Bradford’s helicopter flip at Oklahoma State.

Nearly two decades have elapsed since Superman arrived for a brief moment at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl.

Two minutes remained in regulation, and the No. 5 Longhorns trailed the No. 3 Sooners 7-3 on Oct. 6, 2001. Oklahoma safety Roy Williams soared over a Texas running back and flew headfirst toward quarterback Chris Simms.

As the Texas quarterback dropped inside his end zone, he cocked his arm with the football in his left hand vulnerable to the airborne Sooner who draped himself like a cape over Simms. Oklahoma linebacker Teddy Lehman was perfectly planted a few yards away to snatch the ball his teammate knocked free, walk in the score and spoil any hope of a late rally for the rival Longhorns.

Williams’ play is now

regarded as one of the most iconic moments in the Red River rivalry’s fabled history, and for Mossman, it was just as important in the weeks to follow. “‘Superman’ was a gift on a platter for us,” Mossman said.

The junior safety’s signature play was as clear as the Texas skies the day he etched his name in Sooners lore. The play was perfect to promote a Heisman Trophy candidate, and Williams became a strong contender for the award with the aid of his highlights and the campaigning from the Oklahoma athletics department.

“Defensive players are so much harder to promote for that award,” Mossman said. “So we had to get a little bit more creative, and I felt like we are able to do that. Roy helped a lot quite honestly, because he made some spectacular plays that got a lot of national video coverage. I just felt like we took a defensive player and really made him a serious threat.”

Williams ultimately finished seventh in the voting.

It’s a feat Mossman is still proud of to this day, considering Williams’ primary kryptonite was playing defense.

T w o y e a r s l a t e r, Mossman made it to his first Heisman presentation with Jason White. The trip was as grand as the city that hosts the ceremony. It made it even better coming during the holiday season, he said. Once the day arrives, however, tension gradually builds inside the intimate confines of the 2,100-seat venue where the ceremony is held.

It ’s an over whelming process only 80 men who’ve been presented the trophy have experienced, but the relief following the show is well worth the wait to go down forever in history as a Heisman Trophy winner.

“The buildup is very significant,” Mossman said.

“And then, of course, right before they present the trophy, they go to commercial, so they take it out even longer. It’s really overwhelming. The other thing I think that’s overwhelming about it — you do get some sense of this on television — is so many of the past winners are there, and you’re talking about a who’s who of college football. The greatest names to ever play the game.”

Joe Buettner

joebuet@ou.edu

OUDaily.com

This is the first of the series. For upcoming stories, visit projects.oudaily.com/ heisman-evolution/

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Way to go! Keep up the good work!

Source: Staff Reports The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution. For accommodations on the basis of disability, call 325-7869.

4

â&#x20AC;˘ October 26-29, 2017

NEWS

Emma Keith, news managing editor dailynews@ou.edu â&#x20AC;˘ phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com â&#x20AC;˘ Twitter: @OUDaily

DeBarr Avenue to be renamed City council votes to change name of infamous street NICK HAZELRIGG @nickhazelrigg

In a meeting filled with emotional appeals from members of the Norman community, the Norman City Council voted unanimously to rename DeBarr Avenue by June 1, 2018.

Spurred by local activists at its Oct. 24 meeting, the council agreed to amend its original resolution regarding DeBarr Avenue, named for former OU professor and Ku Klux Klan chaplain Edwin DeBarr, to better meet the requests of the community.

Norman Citizens for Racial Justice, a new activist group, led the nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s push on city council as part of its â&#x20AC;&#x153;DeBarr Avenue Action Week.â&#x20AC;?

The councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original resolution proposed sending the issue of renaming city streets to the City Council Oversight Committee, a solution that caused many demonstrators to accuse the council of dragging its feet and being complicit in racism.

After hearing hours of public commentary, the city council unanimously passed

issue of DeBarr Avenue, said he was tired of playing â&#x20AC;&#x153;respectability politics.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whether property owners or this council wants to accept it, standing in the way of this name change is being complicit in white supremacy at the least,â&#x20AC;? Osborne said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actively encouraging white supremacy at the most.â&#x20AC;?

George Henderson, an OU professor emeritus and longtime civil rights activist, also gave an emotional speech about Norman being his home. Many support renaming the street after Henderson himself. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I, as a member of the genCAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY The street sign for DeBarr Avenue Oct. 22. DeBarr Avenue is named after a former OU profes- eration of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;50s and the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;60s, have waited too long,â&#x20AC;? sor and chaplain of the Ku Klux Klan.

Henderson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The time for Norman to change its an amendment added by to rename the street imme- Norman City Hall chanting, policy about that street â&#x20AC;&#x201D; council member Breea Clark diately, but he was satisfied â&#x20AC;&#x153;Change the name.â&#x20AC;? that particular street â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is promising to change the with the results of the meetOnce the city council now.â&#x20AC;? street name by June 1, 2018, ing. He said he would be at meeting began, demonstraif not earlier. the meeting of the oversight tors holding signs with illusThe council also voted to committee Nov. 8 to help see trations of various council remove two sections from the name change through. membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; faces lined the its original resolution which â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sometimes it seems like back of the councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chamsaid the city did not origi- one step forward and one bers as Osborne took the nally name DeBarr Avenue, step back,â&#x20AC;? Osborne said. podium. since many demonstrators â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not going to tell anyâ&#x20AC;&#x153;For 116 years the city has said they saw this section as body what to do or what to allowed that name to be on the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attempt to avoid think going forward. But that street,â&#x20AC;? Osborne said. blame.

I am going to accept this â&#x20AC;&#x153;When it comes to white Deon Osborne, political resolution.â&#x20AC;? people and racism, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s HELP WANTED communications senior and An hour before the meet- never enough proof, and alNorman Citizens for Racial ing, Norman Citizens for ways enough excuses.â&#x20AC;?

City of Norman Justice leader, said his ideal Racial Justice led a march Osborne, who has been City Clerk / Building Maintenance Custodian (Permanent Part-Time) solution was for the council f r o m A n d r e w s Pa r k t o a longtime activist on the

Henderson spoke about the importance of Norman being a family and a community for all, something threatened by the divisiveness of people like DeBarr. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have defended this place we call Norman proudly and resolutely,â&#x20AC;? Henderson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can fuss and we can fight in here, but letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get it together. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get it together because I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want my great-great-grandchildren coming before city council to ask they change that name.â&#x20AC;?

No r m a n C i t i z e n s f o r Racial Justice is supporting a panel on race relations in college towns at 6:30 p.m.

Thursday at the Mercury Event Center.

A high school diploma or GED preferred. Knowledge of cleaning methods, procedures, materials, chemicals, products, equipment, occupational hazards, Workplace Hazardous Materials Information Systems, (MSDS), and safety practices. Cleans offices, meeting rooms, hallways, lobbies, entries, and restrooms. $10.98 per hour. Work Period: 6:00pm to 11:00pm M-F. Selected applicant must pass background investigation, physical examination, and drug screen. Application Deadline: Open Recruitment. A complete job announcement and application are available on our website at www.normanok.gov/hr/hr-job-postings or call (405) 366-5482, or visit us at 201-C West Gray, Human Resources Dept, City of Norman. EOE

High school diploma or equivalent.

Some college or experience with social service agency and/or working with juveniles preferred. Valid Oklahoma driverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s license and satisfactory driving record. Knowledge of business practices associated with community service agencies, programs and juveniles. Supervise juveniles performing community service projects with various agencies and organizations. $10.50 per hour. Work Period: (Hours will vary. Must be available weekends.) Selected applicant must pass drug screen and background investigation. Application deadline: Open Recruitment. A complete job announcement and application are available on our website at www.normanok.gov/hr/ hr-job-postings or call (405) 366-5482, or visit us at 201-C West Gray, Human Resources Dept., City of Norman. EOE

CLASSIFIEDS

OU Board of Regents approves presidential search nominees HANNAH PIKE â&#x20AC;˘ @H_PIKE_

OUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Regents decided the members of the presidential search committee at an Oct. 23 special meeting. Faculty and at-large members will have one vote each, staff members will have half a vote each and students will have one-third vote each. The following individuals representing various parts of OU will serve on the committee: NORMAN CAMPUS FACULTY: -Mary Sue Backus, law professor -Sherri Irvin, philosophy professor -George Richter-Addo, chemistry and biochemistry professor

NORMAN CAMPUS through the vice president GRADUATE STUDENT: for university governance -Carrie Pavlowsky, chair of the Graduate Student The members were Senate chosen from nominees, which were selected by HSC STUDENT: faculty, staff and student -Krystal Mitchell, vice pres- governances. The compoident and senate chair of sition of the committee is the HSC SGA

OU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER FACULTY: -Michael Bronze, professor and chair of the department of medicine -Kelly Standifer, professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences

â&#x20AC;&#x153;AT-LARGEâ&#x20AC;? MEMBERS: -David Rainbolt, chair of the committee -Gregg Garn, dean of OUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education and vice chair of the committee -Barbara Braught -R. Marc Nuttle NORMAN CAMPUS -Russell Perry STAFF: -Robert Ross -Matthew Rom, facilities -Charles Stephenson management manager

OTHER APPROVED AGENDA ITEMS: -An initial search budget of $250,000 -Criteria for the selection of the president NORMAN CAMPUS -Amendment to the search UNDERGRADUATE committee responsibiliSTUDENT: ties, stating that the com- C a m e r o n B u r l e s o n , mittee will submit updates S t u d e n t G o v e r n m e n t to the Regents through its Association vice president chairperson rather than HSC CAMPUS STAFF: -Nancy Geiger, manager within the department of otolaryngology

Nick Hazelrigg

hazelriggn@gmail.com

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.

the same as the one used by the 1993 presidential search committee that selected OU President David Boren.

Hannah Pike

hmaepike@gmail.com

Universal Crossword Edited by Timothy Parker October 26, 2017

ACROSS 1 Gel amounts 5 Pulverize 9 Swiss city 14 Norwegian capital 15 Common lotion ingredient 16 Ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital 17 Something one with cabin fever longs for 20 Shade for old photos 21 Was about to fall over 22 Attempted 25 Winter hazard 26 It can help you stay on 33-Down 28 Church recess 32 â&#x20AC;&#x153;And moreâ&#x20AC;?

37 Honolulu hiya 38 Deciding factor 41 Overdramatize 42 Horror-film feature 43 Noted loch 44 Sailboat necessities 46 ___ Diego 47 Baffled 53 Wonderland event 58 English Channel city 59 Like some stickers

10/26

62 Stadium 63 Verve 64 Populous continent 65 Out of practice 66 Prefix with â&#x20AC;&#x153;bucksâ&#x20AC;?

67 Fenderbender result DOWN 1 Use a divining rod 2 Fire residue 3 Radar images 4 Bulgariaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital 5 Late Chinese leader 6 TV alien from Melmac 7 Not hard 8 Not villainous 9 Moisten while cooking 10 Pain 11 Surgery reminder 12 Pennsylvania port city 13 Country cooking fat 18 Wray of â&#x20AC;&#x153;King Kongâ&#x20AC;?

19 Carve in glass, e.g.

23 Pitcher fit for a picture 24 Offer up a challenge 27 Tart, spicy qualities

28 Dershowitz or Alda 29 Jab with a finger 30 Females in general 31 Spockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prominent features 32 Biblical garden 33 Racerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concern 34 Corp. money managers 35 Juvenile newts 36 Tool for a placekicker 37 â&#x20AC;&#x153;___ missing something here?â&#x20AC;?

39 Folding beds 40 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whileâ&#x20AC;? beginning, once 44 Cleopatraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love

45 Country song?

46 Appetizer with peanut sauce 48 Pkg. delivery co.

49 Singlecelled organism 50 Aplomb 51 Puckish 52 Skim the cream off the top, e.g.

53 Old ruler of Russia 54 Neutral shade 55 Mythical war god 56 Emulate a hot dog 57 Eliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school 60 Old horse 61 Genetic letters

PREVIOUS PUZZLE PREVIOUS PUZZLEANSWER ANSWER

AN IFFY PUZZLE By Timothy E. Parker

City of Norman Municipal Court Juvenile Community Services Assistant (Part-Time)

PLACE A PAID AD Phone: 405-325-2521 E-mail: classifieds@ou.edu

Fax: 405-325-7517 Campus Address: COH 149A

DEADLINES Line Ad ..................................................................................

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HOROSCOPE

By Eugenia Last

Copyright 2017, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017 ASTROGRAPH by Eugenia Last Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stifle your creativity. Use your imagination to come up with the best solution for every situation you encounter this year. Be true to yourself and trust in your ability to do whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right and whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best for you. Communication will be your vehicle to success.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -Make your home your haven. A creative space that you can tinker in will lead to a pursuit that you find inspiring and others will be intrigued by.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Protect against physical or emotional stress. Stay on top of unfinished business to ensure that it is completed before itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s due. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let temptation turn into a financial loss.

10/25 Š 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication 10/23 Š 2017 Andrews McMeel Syndication www.upuzzles.com www.upuzzles.com

HELP WANTED

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Mesh the past with the present and you will be able to build a solid future. Reuniting with old friends or colleagues will open doors that can lead to new beginnings.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -There is no room for risk. Jumping into a deal without doing proper research will put you in a difficult position personally and financially.

Make health, diet and exercise priorities.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Your participation in community events or a joint venture will give you a chance to show off your skills and offer unique solutions. Someone close to you will be jealous.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Emotional decisions are not likely to turn out the way you want.

Think before you act. Personal growth, general improvement and stabilizing your future should be your goals.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Finish what you start. Your reputation will get a boost if you can turn chaos into order. An intellectual discussion with someone very different from you will be enlightening.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- An emotional incident will leave you questioning your next move. Take better care of your health and emotional frame of mind. Finish one job before you start another in order to avoid criticism.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel the need to make an abrupt change or impulsive decision. You have plenty of time to research and figure out what exactly you want to do. Refuse to fold under pressure.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Avoid people with colds and flus, and places likely to have lots of germs.

Protect your health and stay focused on getting plenty of rest, eating properly and exercising to keep fit and remain productive.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Networking functions will lead to new opportunities. Adapt to whatever changes come your way. Your ability to go with the flow will help you accomplish your goals.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say or do something youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll regret.

Revealing a secret or arguing over something trivial will not help you win friends or favors. Personal growth should be your goal.

ADVERTISEMENT

October 26-29, 2017 •

You Are Invited!

Class of 2018 Ring Ceremony Honoring

Carol and Bob Stoops

F

Honorary Ring Recipients and Homecoming Parade Co-Marshals

or the past 18 years, Carol and Bob Stoops have generously given of themselves in their service to the university and to the broader community. The Stoopses are worthy role models for students and have left a lasting impact on OU. The longest-tenured coach in college football and winningest football coach in Oklahoma history, Bob Stoops, who announced his retirement in June, joined the Sooners as a rookie head coach in 1999. During his 18 seasons with the Sooners, he led them to a national championship in 2000, a school-record 18 consecutive bowl berths, 10 Big 12 titles and 190 total victories. He is the only head coach in the Bowl Championship Series era to have won the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl.

Stoops was named Walter Camp Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2003 and was named Big 12 Coach of the Year six times. He also coached two Heisman Trophy winners: quarterbacks Jason White (2003) and Sam Bradford (2008).

In addition to his legendary contributions to the OU football program and to the university as a whole, Stoops has been a pillar in the Oklahoma community. Through his Bob Stoops Champions Foundation, he has raised more than $2 million to benefit children who are ill or at risk. The foundation has partnered with worthy causes such as March of Dimes, OU Children’s Hospital, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Make-A-Wish Foundation, as well as many other local charities.

During his tenure as head football coach, Stoops gave tirelessly of his time.

He visited patients at OU Children’s Hospital frequently, forming personal relationships with the children and their families and always welcomed them to practices and games. He also participated with Special Spectators to bring seriously ill children and their families to a game each season, fully immersing them in the Sooner football experience and welcoming them to the OU family.

His wife, Carol Stoops, recently retired from Mary Kay Inc., after 25 years with the cosmetic company. She joined the company in 1991 and became a national sales director in 2005.

4 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 27 Class of 1950 Plaza and Oklahoma Memorial Union Courtyard In the event of rain, the ceremony will be moved to the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom.

For additional information or for accommodations, please call (405) 325-3784.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo

- THE PRIDE OF OKLAHOMA

5

6

NEWS

• October 26-29, 2017

MEGAN ROSS/SOONER YEABOOK

Doug Gaffin, interim Honors College dean, sits in a biology lab Oct. 2016. Gaffin started teaching at OU in 1995.

Biologist named interim dean Well-loved professor ‘a cheerleader’ for students’ success EMMA KEITH @shakeitha_97

Doug Gaffin adeptly holds a squirming scorpion by its stinger as it glows fluorescent in his darkened office.

He’s been stung eight or nine times in his life, but he’s still in search of what makes these creatures tick.

Gaffin, the newly named interim Honors College dean and a staple of OU biology for over 20,000 students, is continually driven to learn by something beyond himself.

“I’d like to say it’s just for the love of the students ... but

it’s more the love of the question, the chase — the pursuit of the unknown,” Gaffin said.

At OU, Gaffin has found a haven for his scorpion research. But the academic has also found a home, a place to grow and lead, which he will continue to do when he replaces Honors College Dean David Ray in December.

When Gaffin arrived at OU in 1995 from Oregon, he had no connection to the state or the university. His future wife followed him a year and a half later, and the two were married in OU’s Jacobson Hall and lived in Couch Center as faculty-in-residence for three years afterward. “ P re s i d e n t B o re n a l ways used to say it was on our honeymoon we moved

into the dorms,” Gaffin said.

“That’s not actually accurate.

There were several months in between, but the way he tells it is better, so I’ve come to believe that as well.”

Today, Gaffin and his wife, Mariëlle Hoefnagels, an associate professor of biology and microbiology, live just two blocks north of campus.

The two have watched the university transform under Boren’s administration, and have seen their lives grow more and more entwined in every part of the community. “ Ev e r y t h i n g w e d o i s somehow related to the university,” Hoefnagels said.

each morning to his office in Richards Hall. One building away in George Lynn Cross Hall is Hoefnagels, who said the two have everything they need in walking or biking distance — they fill their shared car with gas once every month and a half.

Sometimes, when the two do leave Norman, they’ll leave their home in a student’s care. Gaffin said it’s the university’s “continual influx of new and great students” that makes OU home to him in the first place.

“If students can engage in this passion together, it’s all science and it’s all biology and there’s no right answer ‘CHEERLEADER AND — the answer’s out there, A CHAMPION’ but we have to find it,” Gaffin Gaffin, an athlete since his said. “And if I can train them younger days, rides his bike a little bit into that world,

into the culture of science and how we go about doing this ... once they get a few successes, then it’s really quite exhilarating.”

Kendall Hughes, a neuromedicine senior and member of Gaffin’s scorpion lab for the past three years, said the professor is consistently invested in student success.

“I think he’s a really good cheerleader and a champion for his students and making sure that they’re successful in all their pursuits,” Hughes said. “I also think that his passion for his research is infectious. If you talk to him about your research, you can just feel how excited and enthralled he is about scorpions and scorpion navigation and everything. It’s incredible.”

The scorpion lab is where Gaffin gets to focus on his main passion. He leads a team of seven students in their own research pursuits, but is also able to focus on his research in insect and animal navigation.

For years he also taught students zoology basics, leading lecture classes with upward of 500 students, a daunting figure when those class sizes were larger than the populations of some students’ hometowns, Gaffin said. The challenge never extinguished his love for his work.

“I do love teaching, and I do love trying to communicate it in a way where light see GAFFIN page 7

OU environmental group, SGA intertwine Student coalition joins forces with campus leaders NICK HAZELRIGG @nickhazelrigg

After minimal success on its own, OU’s Student Environmental Coalition h a s j o i n e d f o rc e s w i t h the Student Government Association to create a more direct avenue for environmental change and advocacy on campus.

At its Oct. 10 meeting, SGA voted to bring the Student Environmental Coalition under its umbrella to better facilitate sustainable efforts on campus between environmental groups, said Jessica Murphree, Student Environmental Coalition secretary and biology senior.

The coalition, Murphree said, includes groups such as OUr Earth and the Environmental Concerns Committee.

“We basically just want to have a direct line of communication to SGA from all these clubs,” Murphree said.

“So our job is not to make policy or to tell people what they should be focusing on.

Our job is to, hopefully, to take their voices and then just give them directly to the people at SGA who can help them most.”

Murphree said the coalition focuses on organizing environmental groups to better increase turnout at meetings and events promoted by groups involved with SEC, as well as focus environmental efforts of multiple groups to be more efficient. Murphree said these groups and their ideas often have trouble gaining traction due to lack

PAUL LE/THE DAILY

A Student Government Association meeting Oct. 18. SGA is joining forces with OU’s Student Environmental Coalition.

of communication.

“Basically, we just want people to talk to each other,” Murphree said. “There are over 10 different environmental groups on campus and a lot of them don’t have many members, and that sucks because a lot of them have a very similar goal: ultimately, helping the environment and how we interact with it.”

Murphree said the coalition joining SGA could

see increased legitimacy under the umbrella of SGA and offer more opportunities for funding initiatives.

Murphree said the coalition, which has existed since 2014, had not been “as effective” as she had wanted it to be, and hopes to see SGA help the group work more efficiently.

In the past, campus environmental groups have pursued ambitious projects such as OUr Earth growing food for campus use, or OU Green

Week lobbying university administration to promote sustainability. Murphree said the SEC will help environmental groups work as a united front to complete their goals more efficiently in the future.

Daniel Hayden, president of OU’s Botany Club, says his group’s efforts to get more involved in environmental sustainability can be better achieved now that it has decided to join the coalition.

“We want to get involved with other student groups because a lot of what they do can be related back to us,” Hayden said. “So what the SEC has been hoping and striving to do is get student groups connected.”

Tim Kuketz, political science junior and member of the Undergraduate Student Congress, was one of the authors of the bill that brought the coalition under SGA. Kuketz said the partnership

is something SGA had been working on since last spring.

“This allows the coalition to have tools of SGA at their disposal,” Kuketz said. “That way, if they need something, they can ask SGA and SGA can help facilitate that, whether it be funding or communication with the university.”

Hayden said some weren’t sure about the coalition joining SGA at first, but said it will overall benefit the group in the future.

“I think membership in SGA will be good for the coalition going forward,” Hayden said. “Now we’re actually a part of the SGA, the SEC can do more that it hoped to accomplish in the past.”

Murphree said she is optimistic the coalition will see better organization under SGA and be able to program more events.

“I want us to be able to speak with a united voice on the behalf of the environmentally-inclined students at OU,” Murphree said. “We want to go to the SGA to say, ‘Hey, these are the ideas that we had … Here’s the amount of support that we have. We really need to do something about this,’ because right now, it’s just 20 people in our group.”

Kuketz said he is looking forward to the new initiatives SEC could accomplish going forward with SGA. “I’m excited about what the SEC can accomplish,” Kuketz said. “I’ll be able to feel happy knowing I played a small part in having it come together.”

Nick Hazelrigg

hazelriggn@gmail.com

NEWS

GAFFIN: Continued from Page 6

bulbs go off ... if I can help students get there, it’s just really exciting for me ... but, it’s hard — you have to want to do that,” Gaffin said. “You’ve got to like to do that. I mean, I figure out better ways to teach all the time so that it doesn’t become stale or you’re not just getting into a rut.”

Gaffin chooses his best students to participate in his lab. There aren’t many other labs worldwide that focus on scorpion research (Gaffin pointed to one in Germany), and in his, students are able to collaborate and receive unique handson experience, Hughes said.

“He pushes his students to learn,” Hughes said. “He expects a lot out of them, of course, but he really cultivates learning, and I think that’s his legacy at OU.” ‘NOBODY’S NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH’ Hoefnagels, more naturally reserved than Gaffin, said her husband’s teaching style and interactions with students have helped her grow as a professor and member of the community. “ Fo r m a n y s t u d e n t s , there’s a real sense of trust there that we’re approachable, we’re available and that we’ll do what they need, whether it’s inside the classroom or outside the classroom,” Hoefnagels said. “I learned that from Doug.”

Large class sizes are no longer a barrier for Gaffin, who now teaches much smaller groups in the Honors College.

Ga f f i n a d m i t s t hat at first, he was “really bad” at managing those more focused class environments after routinely teaching up to 1,000 students a day.

Talking with Ray gave him the strategy he needed to move forward effectively,

October 26-29, 2017 •

he said.

“I asked (Ray) what his secret was, and he said, ‘All you’ve got to do is give them something interesting to think about and get out of their way,’” Gaffin said. “And that’s what I’ve been trying to do is trying to simulate with something engaging that really captures their attention, and then try to get away from them and let them go.”

As Ray retires and Gaffin steps into his role in December, Gaffin said he finds himself in tough shoes to fill.

“He’s upped the intellectual vitality of the Honors College in a really major way, and I think that’s exactly what President Boren envisioned with the Honors College,” Gaffin said. “So it scares the pants off of me to have to follow Dean Ray because he’s so beloved by students, faculty and staff.”

Gaffin said he will take advantage of all the time he has left with Ray, taking notes and seeking advice

tools he needed to prepare for this job, he said.

“I started as University College dean without any experience at all, administratively,” Gaffin said. “I really learned from scratch — I started asking people questions and reading books. I made lots of mistakes … you just learn.”

No matter what environment he’s in, Hoefnagels said it’s his attention to students that makes him a teacher and leader worth emulating.

“He’s just really good with people. Everybody gets a fair shake, everybody gets the attention that they deserve. Nobody’s not important enough — everybody’s important,” Hoefnagels said. “He’s just really good at that, at making everybody feel important.”

Any success the couple has found at the university is based on the support of their respective departments, said Hoefnagels, who works as a textbook author as well as a professor.

“I think he’s a really good cheerleader and a champion for his students and making sure that they’re successful in all their pursuits. I also think that his passion for his research is infectious.

If you talk to him about your research, you can just feel how excited and enthralled he is about scorpions and scorpion navigation and everything.

It’s incredible.”

KENDALL HUGHES, NEUROMEDICINE SENIOR

from his predecessor. He has a list of about 40 questions to ask Ray; he’s trying to soak it all in so he can lead students and maintain the national reputation of the college.

This isn’t the first time Gaffin will lead an OU college. From 2002 to 2012, he served as dean of the University College, a position that challenged him but ultimately gave him the

“You can work hard at stuff and if the administration doesn’t support you in that, then you’re not going to be able to continue to do it,” Hoefnagels said. “And that we’ve been allowed to develop according to our talents and not according to some pre-defined notion of what faculty are supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it — that’s incredible.”

7

ESTEBAN PULIDO/THE DAILY

David Ray will retire as dean of the Honors College at the end of the semester.

‘IT’S JUST A PASSION’ Gaffin’s talent for teaching and engaging with students extends beyond the classroom — sometimes, it reaches the volleyball court. Once a college club volleyball player at Oregon State University, Gaffin said he’s still able to beat most students on the court, and he mentors students in the game to create competitive players. “ I j u s t l ov e t o d o m i nate them — I still can too.

There’s a few that can beat me, but most can’t,” Gaffin said. “I was always an athlete, so it’s not really work for me.”

Gaffin and Hoefnagels also attend OU sporting events and students’ fine a r t s re c i t a l s o r p e r f o rmances. In 2014, both were namesakes at OU’s Camp Crimson.

They’ve accompanied students on various study abroad trips. Hughes said she met Gaffin and learned about his research during a trip to Arezzo, Italy.

The university feels like a home, Gaffin said — not just because of the students,

but because of the spirit of stewardship and care the community has for OU. When Gaffin was University College dean, David Boren and Molly Shi Boren walked through the new Wagner Hall and pointed out changes they wanted made — down to the artwork that would decorate the building.

“No place has a president and first lady that (are) hands-on like this,” Gaffin said. ”It’s unbelievable their attention to detail, all the way down to where a vase should be put on the bookshelf in Wagner Hall ... it’s just that sort of spirit that they have. They don’t do it as just a rubber stamp. They put themselves into this.”

After over two decades of receiving countless awards and honors like the David Ross Boyd Professorship, of pouring himself into research, of teaching and exploration, Gaffin shows no signs of slowing down — there’s still so much for him to know.

As he teaches, he learns.

He’s kept up with evolving technologies, teaching

himself to code during a sabbatical after realizing it could be helpful in his scorpion research.

While he won’t continue teaching during the spring 2018 semester so he can focus on his duties as dean, Gaffin said he won’t necessarily step back from his research.

“I’ve got some things near and dear to my heart ... you just don’t turn that off,” Gaffin said. “I think that’s part of modeling scholarship, to keep yourself in that ... I’ll certainly be intellectually engaged.”

Gaffin never truly plans to let go of his scholarly pursuits, even post-retirement.

“Even after I retire, I don’t think you really ever retire as an academic because we’re kind of so locked into our pursuits,” Gaffin said. ”We’ve been thinking about them and writing about this for so long that it’s hard to walk away from it ... to me, it’s not really work.

“It’s just a passion.”

Emma Keith

emmakeith97@ou.edu

YOU ARE INVITED! Public Master Classes

Marilyn Horne Former Star of the Metropolitan Opera, praised by critics as having “the greatest voice of the 20th Century”

JORDAN MILLER/THE DAILY

Protestors raise signs to voice their opinions about recent cuts to mental health and substance abuse services outside the Oklahoma State Capitol Oct. 24. The fourth floor of the Capitol was filled with attendees 10 minutes after the event started.

Activists protest budget cuts for mental health Citizens gather in OKC in response to financial changes HANNAH PIKE @h_pike_

Oklahomans rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday in response to budget cuts to mental health and substance abuse services.

Participants spoke with their legislators and asked them to find a funding solution. The Capitol’s fourth floor rotunda was full by 10:10 a.m. Attendees wore re d and gre en and had matching hats and buttons that said “Save Our Services.”

On Oct. 18, the Oklahoma D e p a r t m e n t o f Me n t a l Health and Substance Abuse Services announced it would have to end state-funded outpatient services if no additional funds are appropriated. The proposed

cuts would go through the first week of November and impact nearly 189,000 Oklahomans currently receiving outpatient services.

“Unfortunately, if these cuts go through, we know that people are going to die,” said Jeff Sims, director of communications for the department. “And that’s the reality of these illnesses when they’re allowed to progress and they’re allowed to get this serious.”

Teresa Collado, the executive director of Norman Addiction Information and Counseling, attended with other NAIC staff.

“If it were some other kind of disease that affected 200,000 people, this would not be happening,” Collado said. “It’s a public health issue, and they’ve got to fix this.”

Collado said she sees the impact of NAIC, which is an outpatient treatment center for substance abuse, on a

daily basis.

“These are people that someone might have thought, ‘Just throw them away,’” Collado said. “And they become productive citizens of our communities.

They become parents and employees.”

Susanne Bradley, one of the rally attendees, wore a superwoman costume.

Bradley said she was there for her daughter.

“We need power, don’t we?” she said.

Rep. Cas e y Murdo ck, R-Felt, also spoke with rally participants.

“We do not need to be holding our health care system hostage for political gains,” Murdock said. “That irritates me to death that we’re holding our hospital and our health care system in Oklahoma for political gain.”

Hannah Pike

hmaepike@gmail.com

7 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 26 Pitman Recital Hall Catlett Music Center OU Fine Arts Free and Open to the Public For more information, go to www.ou.edu/finearts The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo

- THE PRIDE OF OKLAHOMA

8

• October 26-29,2017

OPINION

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

The Daily endorses Meraz

Jesse Pound Editor in Chief

THE EDITORIAL BOARD

Emma Keith News Managing Editor

After watching the Oct. 23 debate and interviewing members of all four tickets, The Daily’s editorial board has decided to endorse Vanessa Meraz and Jake Mazeitis for president and vice president of the Student Government Association.

Meraz and Mazeitis are both well-qualified individuals who know how student government works, but they also acknowledge the need of student government to reach out to students and have a strong vision for how their satellite office hours would operate.

They have tangible ideas for addressing the issue of sexual assault among college students and have built relationships with different groups on campus that will serve them well in office.

Their ideas for making SGA more transparent are also admirable.

We are somewhat concerned by the size of the platform, which, at 14 pages long, may be overwhelming if elected. We would also caution them against relying too much on the mechanisms of student government. If a student brings a concern to the executive branch, that student likely doesn’t want to become part of SGA – the student instead expects SGA to address their question without having to be an active participant.

The ticket of Dan Williams and Lauren Lyness is in many ways similar to that of the Meraz/Mazeitis

Kelli Stacy Sports Editor

dailyeditor@ou.edu

Siandhara Bonnet Engagement Editor

Supriya Sridhar A&E Editor Dana Branham Enterprise Editor Caitlyn Epes Visual Editor Emily McPherson Copy Manager Audra Brulc Opinion Editor Mandy Boccio Print Editor

contact us

Jake Mazeitis and Vanessa Meraz are running for SGA vice president and president.

team. They are experienced with SGA and have perhaps too large a platform.

While we think their hearts are in the right place with a lot of their platform, we are concerned that their plans for addressing some issues, such as adding a social worker at Goddard to help with mental health, will not be feasible. They do seem knowledgeable and engaged with sustainability issues on campus, and we hope whoever is elected runs with some of these ideas.

T h e t i c k e t o f Ya s e e n Shurbaji and Hannah Hardin has some strong ideas but lacks experience.

Shurbaji’s experience creating Swipe-to-Share shows he is talented and cares for students, but we are worried

he and Hardin together may not have the knowledge of SGA necessary to create widespread change. Their campaign seems more narrowly focused on Housing and Food issues, which is where Shurbaji has experience, but we are not sure his success there will be replicable across other parts of campus. Their idea for a video series to better publicize the actions of the executive branch is a good idea, and we applaud their desire to reach students in a more digital-friendly way than a post on the SGA website or some sort of newsletter.

The ticket of Chandler Hiatt and Jack Aubel is by far the least experienced of the four and also has the weakest vision. Hiatt failed to articulate fresh ideas during

the debate, often simply agreeing with a speaker who went before him. There is nothing inherently wrong with an outside voice, but the Hiatt/Aubel platform is short and vague, lacking specific proposals for change. One bright spot is a focus on SGA’s social media presence, which would be smart for another campaign to adopt.

There is also the issue of Hiatt’s now-deleted Twitter account, which arose during the crowd-sourced question portion in the debate as OU students discovered he had liked tweets that many understood to be racist, misogynistic and transphobic. Aubel confirmed it was Hiatt’s account that was deleted – we appreciate his addressing

PROVIDED BY MATTHEW MARTIN

phone:

this directly – and that his running mate has grown up a lot over his college career and should not be judged by old social media activity. While this may be true in some part, at least one of the tweets in question was from April 2017. The rest of their campaign is not nearly strong enough to overcome these concerns.

We hope all students will take the time to learn about each ticket and to vote next week. Overall, we believe Meraz and Mazeitis provide the best chance for real improvements on campus.

Their experience, specific goals and unified vision are what this campus needs.

The Editorial Board

OU alum encourages public service Daniel Pae

dlpae95@gmail.com @daniel_pae

“I believe in my generation and the future.”

This was the topic I spoke on for the 2012 Lions Club High School Speech Contest. My speech centered around my leadership experiences in student council and National Honor Society. I emphasized how young and old Americans alike know that the next generation will need decisive leaders.

We can and will fulfill that need if we stay creative and innovative in a life full of volunteering and service.

Five years later — after having graduate d from Lawton High School and the University of Oklahoma — I’m even more confident in my generation and the future. My conviction and passion for pursuing a career in public service has motivated me to run for elected office.

U ltimately, this campaign is about the journey, not the destination. I’ve just started the first quarter, and as we all know, the most interesting developments happen during the fourth quarter.

I’v e n o w k n o c k e d o n nearly 1,000 doors in Lawton. This is the heart and soul of campaigning.

You can’t win based solely on financial contributions, name recognition or social media — you have to connect with voters on a personal level and demonstrate that you genuinely care about their concerns, dreams and ideas.

I’ve also discovered the three absolutely essential items to carry when knocking doors: campaign pamphlets, bottled water and bug spray.

Let me be clear : some days are far more challenging than others. It’s tough to persevere after

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NOOR EEMAAN/THE DAILY

Former Student Government Association president Daniel Pae speaks at the class of 2020 convocation Aug. 18, 2016.

interacting with individuals who are rude, patronizing and confrontational.

However, perhaps the most satisfying conversation thus far has been with one individual in front of his yard. We spoke for nearly an hour about topics ranging from taxes to education to medical marijuana. I also found out that his wife works in Lawton’s city government with me. Indeed, there have been several instances when I’ve encountered family friends, high school teachers and community members whom I haven’t seen in a long time.

Their joy and encouragement give me the energy to carry on.

What has also kept me from giving up is always remembering that our generation has the possibility and responsibility to

profoundly shape the direction of the 21st century.

You are never too young to answer the noble call of public service. Attend your city council meetings. Run for elected office. Establish a local nonprofit.

I believe our generation is inherently pragmatic.

We grew up amid two wars in the Middle East and a global financial crisis. The polarization between the two major political parties widened and thus many younger voters are registered as independent.

Therefore, we think differently from previous generations of Americans along with being more socially accepting. This generation isn’t willing to settle for hyper-partisanship and gridlock. Unfortunately, common sense and civility have become rare commodities

in the policy making process. Instead of politically grandstanding the issues o u r g e n e ra t i o n s h o u l d work towards thoughtfully solving the issues.

We need more individuals with the right combination of wisdom, tenacity and empathy to tackle the various policy challenges facing the world. None of this will be simple and straightfor ward but w e cannot afford to let the cynics and skeptics decide the terms of the debate.

So much of our modern politics is driven by charlatans and demagogues manipulating the anger, fear and anxiety among voters about a rapidly changing economy and society and relying on sensational, inaccurate soundbites that deteriorate the quality of civil discourse. Indeed,

w h e n I i nt e r n e d at t h e Oklahoma State Capitol and the United States C o n g re s s, s o m e t i m e s I wasn’t sure whether I was i n a g ov e r n i ng i n s t i t u tion or on an elementary playground.

We can — and must — do better.

As participants — not spectators — in the arena, each of us can be someone, as President Teddy Roosevelt described, “who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great e nt hu s i a s m s, t h e g re at devotions.”

Daniel Pae graduated from OU in May 2017 with a B.A. in economics and an M.P.A.

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VOL. 102, NO. 89

© 2017 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢

October 26-29, 2017•

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

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Supriya Sridhar, a&e editor dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 405-325-3666 oudaily.com/a_and_e • Twitter: @OUDaily

Family shop bakes with love Local bakery, deli values high quality service, pastries

she smiles sweetly as she remembers how they first began thier business and the changes they made along the way.

ABIGAIL HALL

FAMILY BEGINNINGS In the beginning, it was just family: John baked the pastries while Debbie and their then-high-school-aged daughters Dara Rice and Darcie McCabe, prepped their sandwiches, soups, casseroles and salads.

Other family members such as Debbie’s aunts, mother and sister flooded in to help. Her father was their most loyal customer — he would stop by every day.

They decided to name the shop after their two daughters, Dara and Darcie Marie.

After only a few years, the business began to boom in the community. They have never paid for advertising.

They have always existed simply on word-of-mouth. “ We’v e ma d e a l o t o f friends with our customers.

They’ve become family to us,” Debbie Wullich said.

While its popularity increased, the business’ physical space decreased. When it first opened, it had booths to seat up to 28 people. As the road on Porter was reconstructed, the Wullichs’ business was given less parking and they decided to restructure their capacity.

For a few years they were take-out only, but to make up for what they expected would be a loss of profit, they instituted their gift shop, which shortly took off in popularity with various specialty soaps, clothes and houseware.

Despite the business’

@heartofabigail

August of ’99 birthed a cozy scratch bakery that would come to be known as Dara Marie’s : a local business off of North Porter Avenue.

The shop is half bakery and deli and half gift shop. Covering the walls are brightly colored baby clothes, Tyler Candles, turquoise vases and bright green air plants.

The bakery and deli bar offers various treats the shop is known for, such as holiday cookies, chai lattes and chicken salad.

When John and Debbie Wullich opened the shop in 1999, it was a dream. For years John had wanted to open a bakery on the side.

However, the couple had been running other businesses such as concrete, vending and concessions.

All of their ventures slowly fell through — their concrete business was bought out, the vending business was sold to Coca-Cola and the concessions business contract ended. In the wake of this, the couple decided to go for their bakery dream and give it a shot.

Now, John and Debbie sit at one of the dark wooden tables in the center of their shop. John wears a gray baseball cap and a pink, striped polo shirt, laughing and joking with Debbie. In a leopard-print cardigan,

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

Dara Marie’s bakery and gift boutique on North Porter Avenue Oct. 17. The shop is half deli and bakery and half gift shop.

limited space, customers come from near and far — Paul’s Valley, Oklahoma City, Moore and Edmond — to try its famous holiday cookies and brownies. In addition to this, Dara Marie’s has a crew of Norman regulars that drive across town every day to buy one of the shop’s chai lattes.

Due to its location, a wide variety of customers has come from the hospital across the street, as well as from the businesses and the neighborhood adjacent to the shop. “(Patients at the hospital ask) ‘Where’s a good place to eat?’ And they say Dara Marie’s is down the street,” Debbie Wullich said.

Eye-catching footwear, like Dr. Martens, is a must for fall and winter.

ROBYN CRAIG/ THE DAILY

Fall into bold shoe favorites From boots to booties: a guide to seasonal footwear ROBYN CRAIG @robyncraig21

It is my favorite time of year. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are changing and it is finally time to bring out the boots! Below are a few of my favorites for both the fall and winter.

1. BROWN BOOTIES ARE A MUST If you tune into my fashion column on a regular basis, then it is clear I am a sucker for brown suede shoes. Nothing is better than pairing light brown shoes with any outfit. It’s a versatile shoe for the spring, summer and fall.

Also, they are so easy to find! Nearly every major s t o re h a s s o m e p a i r o f brown booties available to purchase, with some for

prices as low as $20.

2. IT’S NICE TO HAVE A BOLD SHOE ON DECK Although I love to stay in my comfort zone, I always like to have a bold pair of boots in my closet. Whether it’s a bright color or a print, it’s always nice to have a shoe that can be a statement piece in your outfit.

For me, that piece is my pair of white Dr. Martens.

Not only are they waterproof and keep my feet warm during the fall, but no matter what I wear, I always receive compliments on them. If you are afraid of white shoes (I understand, they can get dirty) there are a variety of colors available for Dr. Martens or dupes.

Although Dr. Martens can be on the pricey side, the shoes will definitely last a long time and can handle various weather and seasons. Also, keep an eye out for stores like Journeys

that constantly have Dr. Martens on sale.

3. NEVER BE AFRAID OF A HEELED BOOTIE Going out in the fall and winter months can be tricky. Regular open-toe shoes can leave toes cold.

Therefore, I love to have a pair (or two) of heeled booties in my closet available whenever I need to go out in the fall. Last year, I added a pair of lavender-heeled booties to my collection.

The color is perfect for the winter and can go with many different outfits and looks.

Next week I will show how to put together diff e re nt l a s t- m i nu t e D I Y Halloween costumes.

Robyn Craig

robyn.craig04@gmail.com

QUALITY BAKING After 19 years, John Wullich still loves baking his pastries for customers.

He wakes up every morning at 4 a.m. and spends the day baking fresh pastries from scratch. Debbie manages the business’ finances, while their daughter, Darcie McCabe, who has been working full-time for Dara Marie’s for 12 years, is the organizational side of keeping the business running.

The Wullichs’ business secret is simply charging for quality. From the beginning, they have used high quality in everything they have done. From their Italian espresso to their famous

chai lattes and even to their freshly baked pastries, they give their loyal customers high quality in every aspect.

Dara Marie’s lunch combos cost $7, various cookies cost $15 a dozen and their famous chai lattes are $4 a cup.

“It’s kind of expensive, but I just think, ‘Let’s get it and charge for it.’ That’s kind of a new idea. People want quality,” John Wullich said.

When asked what mark Dara Marie’s has left on Norman, McCabe said, “We try to always be friendly and joyful.”

“There are people who have moved away, and they say, ‘You know, when we’re back in Norman, we make it

a point to come back here.’

And we get that a lot,” John Wullich said.

Camryn Gavras has been going to Dara Marie’s since s h e w a s a f re s h m a n a t Norman North High School, located a mile away from the bakery. Now, as a junior at OU, she still visits.

“It’s just a family-oriented place,” Gavras said. “I know everyone’s name, so it’s very comforting. They have the best cookies.”

Abigail Hall ahall@ou.edu

10

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