November 30-December 3, 2017

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W E E K E N D E D I T I O N | N O V E M B E R 3 0 - D E C E M B E R 3 , 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

OUDAILY

For 101 years, the student voice of the University of Oklahoma

ABBY HUCKELBURY/THE DAILY

Protesters hold up signs as they walk down the South Oval Nov. 29. The Grad Student Walkout was part of a national demonstration protesting potential tax increases for graduate students.

TAXING EDUCATION OU graduate students protest legislation that could tax tuition waivers for university employees NICK HAZELRIGG • @NICKHAZELRIGG

M

ore than 60 demo n s t rat o r s gat h ered and marched o n O U ’s ca mpu s Wednesday to protest potential tax increases that could affect graduate students across the nation. At noon on Nov. 29, demonstrators stood across from Kaufman Hall on the South Oval holding signs and chanting, “Defend, not defund” and “Grad students pay rent, we are not the 1 percent.” The tax bill passed recently by the House of Representatives would make tuition waivers for graduate students working at universities taxable, but that provision is not in the Senate version of the bill. The tax plan passed t h ro u g h t h e S e nat e Bu d g e t Committee Nov. 28, and if the full Senate passes its version, it will need to reconcile that legislation with the House bill. The protesters marched in a circle twice around the South Oval and were joined by passers-by when they saw what the demonstrators were protesting. Alise Dabdoub, a first-year industrial/organizational psychology doctoral student and an event organizer, said she was happy with the turnout, which

showed that the community recognized the importance of graduate student work and how this bill would negatively impact grad students. “It’s going to make it to where only people from wealthy backgrounds can even go to graduate school,” Dabdoub said of the bill.

“Legislators who voted ‘yes’ on this don’t support education — they support corporations. The stipend is well below the poverty line for many graduate students. Increasing taxes isn’t going to work for most people.” ALISE DABDOUB, INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY DOCTORAL STUDENT

Dabdoub said graduate students work long hours and make small stipends already, and if taxes were increased, many graduate students wouldn’t be able to afford things as basic as rent. “Legislators who voted ‘yes’ on this don’t support education — they support corporations,”

Dabdoub said. “The stipend is well below the poverty line for many graduate students. Increasing taxes isn’t going to work for most people.” Samantha Elliott, a second-year industrial/organizational psychology doctoral student and another event organizer, said the main purpose of the event was to convince people to become civically engaged in the debate over the bill. “We need people to contact their representatives and tell them it is not okay for that reform bill to go through with that provision,” Elliott said. “If our representatives aren’t being contacted, then this isn’t doing what it needs to.” For Peyman Hekmatpour, a graduate student studying sociology, an increase in taxes doesn’t just mean financial burden — it means he’ll have to drop out of OU and return to his home country of Iran. “Our only source of income is teaching here. If I’m going to have to pay more in taxes, I think that I will have to go home if this happens,” Hekmatpour said. “Being here means a lot to me. I did everything to get here and to have access to better education than

what’s offered in my country.” Hekmatpour said this unsure fate would be the same for many international graduate students at OU should the bill pass. Dabdoub said graduate students wouldn’t be the only ones hurt by this legislation if passed, but that undergraduate students currently being taught by graduate students would feel the effects. “Graduate students teach classes, and now those classes are going to have to get a lot bigger. Students aren’t going to get individualized attention or be able to help them as much,” Dabdoub said. “ They’re not going to have as good a quality of education as they could have.” Elliott said she believed this bill would be a deterrent for students pursuing graduate work, which she said will damage research across the country. “A lot of our research at universities across the country are conducted by graduate students,” Elliott said. “If representatives aren’t paying attention to this provision, it means they’re not caring about higher education.”

VOTING TIMELINE Nov. 16 The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the bill after the legislation was introduced Nov. 2.

Nov. 28 The Sentate version of bill passed through the Senate Budget Committee. The Senate version does not include the tax on tuition waivers.

Nov. 29 The Senate passed a procedural vote on the bill, which will move to an official Senate vote later in the week. If the Senate passes its version of the bill, it will need to reconcile that legislation with the House’s bill.

Nick Hazelrigg

hazelriggn@gmail.com

Offensive line coach pushes for perfection Finalist for coaching award expects excellence ABBY BITTERMAN • @ABBY_BITTERMAN

CAITLYN EPES/THE DAILY

OU co-offensive coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh coaches the offensive line before the game against Baylor Sept. 23.

BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP Who: OU vs. TCU

Where: Arlington, Texas

When: 11:30 a.m., Dec. 2

How to watch: FOX Source: soonersports.com

Before Bobby Evans was even enrolled at Oklahoma, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was coaching him. When Evans came to Oklahoma on a recruiting trip, he found himself in the film room with Bedenbaugh. The two watched Evans’ film together as Bedenbaugh quizzed him on play calls. It was a moment that stuck with Evans because no other coach had done something like that with him. At t e nt i o n t o d e t a i l a n d a high level of intensity are key to Bedenbaugh’s teaching style. It has fostered one of the best, deepest O-lines in the country and made him a finalist for the Broyles Award, which is given to the best

assistant coach in college football. Bedenbaugh is a perfectionist. Now in his fourth year in Norman, he has turned the offensive line into one of the Sooners’ most consistent position groups. Widely known as one of the top O-lines in the country, it has been groomed to near perfection under Bedenbaugh. But near isn’t good enough — not for him. “He has a good balance of being a funny and complimentary coach while still being completely crazy,” said Gabe Ikard, a former Oklahoma offensive lineman. “He expects so much out of his guys that it really drives you to want to be the best player you can be.” When Bedenbaugh arrived in

2013, he had an immediate impact on the O-line and the offense. In his first season, the Sooners averaged 62.5 more rushing yards per game than the previous season. The Sooners have averaged more than 200 yards rushing per game since his arrival. Oklahoma is the latest successful stop in Bedenbaugh’s career. He built lines at Arizona, Texas Tech and West Virginia that led to conference-leading and program record-breaking offenses. The success he’s brought comes from the way he teaches, putting an emphasis on more than just the line or individual positions. see COACH page 4


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