TUESDAY NOVEMBER 17, 2009
THE UNIVERSITY SITY OFF OKLAHOMA’S OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT IND STUDENT VOICE
T to sports Turn tto find a Q&A with freshman w bbasketball player TTiny Gallon. PAGE 2B P
Read reviews for two of this week’s new music releases. PAGE 6A
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news ws Curious about out international al food and drink?? PAGE 3A
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Wednesday’s Weather
52°/36° owl.ou.edu CAMPUS BRIEFS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HEADS TO CAMPUS Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. will visit the OU College of Law today to speak with students in several classes and to deliver the Henry Family Centennial Lecture. “This is a very significant event in the life of our college and our concluding centennial event,” Andrew Coats, dean of the College of Law, stated in a press release. “It is believed that this is the first time in the history of Oklahoma that a JOHN sitting chief jusROBERTS tice has come into our state.” Roberts, the 17th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was appointed by former president George W. Bush and has served since Sept. 29, 2005. Roberts received his bachelors degree from Harvard College in 1976 and his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1979.
Okla. senator to propose bill to counter hate crimes law Sen. Steve Russell claims legislation is morality issue RICKY MARANON Daily Staff Writer
An Oklahoma state senator plans to offer a bill in the spring legislative session that would give the state of Oklahoma the power to opt out of federal requirements for carrying out the newly amended hate crimes law. State Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, said the newly passed Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes
Prevention Act, which extends hate crimes law protections to include actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, oversteps the bounds of the federal government and hinders free speech and religious freedom. “The federal government should not be creating a special class of people, and that is just what STEVE they did when they passed RUSSELL and signed this bill,” Russell said. “All crimes against another person have some level of hate in them, and people can be assured
that our laws that protect people against crimes such as murder are sufficient to protect everyone.” Russell said because the government has decided to intervene on issues of morality, he is worried that religious leaders who speak out against any lifestyle could be imprisoned for their speech. “The law is very vague to begin with,” Russell said. “Sexual orientation is a very vague word that could be extended to extremes like necrophilia.” Russell said he is also concerned
if someone is attacked and killed for his or her sexual orientation, the suspect could pass the blame onto a religious leader who preached out against the lifestyle of the victim who was attacked. Russell said, as a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, he is upset that the new hate crimes bill was attached to a defense spending bill. “This bill couldn’t stand on its own merits through multiple sessions of Congress, so a few activist representatives stuck it into a defense spending bill,” Russell said. “A bill supporting the troops BILL CONTINUES ON PAGE 2A
International students feast on Thanksgiving dinner
MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY
Anoopdeep Bal, University College freshman, dines during the OU Cousins Thanksgiving dinner Monday in the union.
NORMAN POLICE TO SET UP ALCOHOL CHECKPOINTS This weekend, the Norman Police Department will set up multiple police checkpoints throughout the city in an effort to increase enforcement of drunken drivers this holiday season. Police will use checkpoints, saturation patrols and educational tactics in order to reduce the number of intoxicated drivers. This is the kickoff to a larger initiative that will continue through 2010. Funding for this program will come from the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office.
OU TO HOST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK Approximately 60 local high school students will join the OU Department of Geography today for a hands-on opportunity to learn more about geography, and current geotechnology directly from professors and geography experts and celebrate Geography Awareness Week. Students from AP Human Geography and AP Environmental Science classes at Norman, Moore and Southmoore High Schools will explore Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing to learn how outdoor enthusiasts, politicians and emergency responders use geotechnology to answer questions and help make people’s interactions with each other and their environment safer and more rewarding. The students will also complete an activity using Global Positioning System technology, a tool becoming widely used in commercial products such as car navigation systems. In addition to learning how to use GPS technology to map their surroundings, the participants will explore its many other uses in human geography and environmental science. “Geotechnology has been identified as an emerging major growth industry by the U.S. Department of Labor,” said Jason Julian, assistant geography professor. “This event will introduce teens to the technologies currently being used by geographers and other scientists, show them the impact of this rapidly growing field.” -Daily staff reports
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Thien Nguyen, microbiology senior, shows his Thanksgiving turkey he created out of an apple and candies during the OU Cousins Thanksgiving dinner Monday evening in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
Event part of OU Cousins program KATHLEEN EVANS Daily Staff Writer
Many international students experienced their first Thanksgiving Monday evening at the OU Cousins Thanksgiving dinner in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s food court. The three-course feast included traditional Thanksgiving foods like turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie. OU Cousins has hosted the event for more than five years as a way to introduce international
MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY
Marion Capot, business and foreign languages junior, cuts out a hand-turkey Monday night in the union.
students to American culture, said Quy Nguyen, OU Cousins staff adviser and assistant director of Student Life. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays with which everyone can identify, Nguyen said. Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, being thankful is something universal that everyone can come together and celebrate, he said. Shota Nagahisa, an economics and business sophomore from Japan, said that Japan has a holiday similar to Thanksgiving in May, but it is not a feast day like the American Thanksgiving. “The food was very, very delicious,” Nagahisa
said. Nagahisa said this was his first traditional Thanksgiving feast. Although the experience and food were different, he still enjoyed it, citing the turkey as his favorite part. Nagahisa attended the dinner with his OU cousin, computer science senior Eric Guinn. Guinn said he studied abroad in Japan last year for the summer, fall and spring. He met Nagahisa at the OU Cousins pumpkin-carving event, and signed up to be his cousin because of their common interest in Japan. THANKSGIVING CONTINUES ON PAGE 2A
Entrepreneur shares experience with Fair Trade at lecture Business model promotes equality between producers, product vendors KARLIE TIPTON Daily Staff Writer
To promote fair trade — equal and sustainable trade among international entities — Manish Gupta, owner of Handmade Expressions, an Austinbased company, shared his experiences about being a fair trade advocate. Gupta, an entrepreneur, presented the lecture “Fair Trade: The Power of Choice” Monday evening at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. “I think that the work this small community is doing is exemplary,” Gupta said of Norman. “The education that they are doing here and the number of people talking about different initiatives
is an example for the entire country, so it is an honor to be here and to share my experience with this community.” Gupta entered into the world of Fair Trade some years ago when he left his job as chemical plant manager to found his own company, Handmade Expressions, which sells jewelry, clothing and other items made by artisans in India. “Now that I think about it, I think it was crazy,” Gupta said about quitting his job to start Handmade Expressions. “The initial stage of leaving was the inspiration that I got from meeting the artisans. I saw that they have so much talent, but they can’t make a living … and after seeing that I couldn’t let that happen.” As a result of the efforts Gupta and his team put forth, the company has grown over the past four years. “We are fortunately growing well,” Gupta said. “I think consumers and FAIR TRADE CONTINUES ON PAGE 2A
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Manish Gupta, one of the founders of Fair Trade, addresses questions from the audience Monday night at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. VOL. 95, NO. 63