The Oklahoma Daily

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MONDAY DAY FEB FEBRUARY BRUARY 11,, 22010 010

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

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Student’s good fortune leads to game show OU junior chosen as Wheel of Fortune contestant after random selection and a test of skills AUDREY HARRIS Daily Staff Writer

Wheel of Fortune will air an episode April 9 featuring an OU student as a contestant. Kristin Bernard, psychology junior, auditioned for the show after a friend told her about a commercial she saw for the Wheelmobile. The Wheelmobile is a division of Wheel of Fortune that travels a couple of times a month to recruit contestants for the show. The group stopped at the Kickapoo Casino outside of Shawnee one weekend in October. Bernard and two friends,

Kevin Ewing and Scott Spicer, auditioned. “It was pretty exciting. She was the one out of us three that was really determined to get on the show,” said Ewing, accounting junior. “Me and Scott were kind of along for the ride. It was pretty crazy for her to get that opportunity.” The Wheelmobile set up a tent in the casino parking lot and held six audition sessions during the weekend. In each session, names were called at random to come play the game. Only the names that were called would be able to continue through the application process. Bernard’s was one of them. “It was kind of random how it all happened,” Bernard said. “It was just by luck that I got chosen in the first place.” Those chosen were divided into groups of five and played a mock round of the game. Each

person was evaluated as a potential candidate, Bernard said. Those who did well were told they’d be called back for a second audition. A month and a half later, Bernard received an e-mail from Wheel of Fortune inviting her to a second audition in Oklahoma City. The audition was in Oklahoma City’s Wyndham Garden Hotel with a group of 70 to 80 people. There was a screen projecting a puzzle at the front of the ballroom. “They called our names randomly to stand up in our spot and have a turn,” Bernard said. “We had a chance to stand up, look at the screen and guess a letter.” Those who guessed correctly continued with their turn until they missed. Representatives from Wheel of Fortune spun a mini-wheel for the candidates. FORTUNE CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

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Kristin Bernard, psychology junior, auditions for Wheel of Fortune. Bernard was selected for the show.

ARTIC BLAST INVADES NORMAN

Research tower up for award Wind-powered facility to be first of its kind, say medical foundation officials KATHLEEN EVANS Daily Staff Writer

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/ THE DAILY

Icicles line a bench on campus Thursday afternoon after an ice storm passed through Norman. OU was closed Thursday afternoon through Friday due to the inclement weather and icy roads.

Reflection Room relocated; hours extended Room moved to Bizzell Memorial Library to increase accessibility CASEY WILSON Daily Staff Writer

The Bizzell Memorial Library just got another place where students can have peace and quiet, but not for studying. The Reflection Room was moved from the basement of the Oklahoma Memorial Union to Room 214 in the library to extend the room’s hours while keeping it in a convenient location, Barbara Boyd, Religious Studies Program director of outreach, stated in an e-mail. While in the union, the room closed at 7 p.m. weekdays and was not open weekends, Boyd said. “But in the library, where there is security and convenient hours, the Reflection Room is now more available to everyone,” she said. Boyd said she received positive feedback from The Muslim Student Association about the move. “They are happy to have access to the Reflection Room for longer hours,” she said. The Reflection Room is designed for quiet time, meditation, prayer, reflection or thinking, but not a place to study or meet with others, she said. “The room belongs to the entire OU community and is not for a certain religious group

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or only religious people,” Boyd said. Chairs, cushions, floor space and rugs mark various spaces for reflection, she said. Margo Belanger, University College freshman, said she supports the idea behind the Reflection Room. “It just kind of shows how culture-friendly OU is being,” she said. Kaitlyn Smoleroff, University College freshman, also said she thinks the Reflection Room is a good idea, as long as the room is open to all religions and all students. “Bizzell Library is a good location for the Reflection Room,” Smoleroff said. “The Union is pretty noisy, so I couldn’t see people wanting to reflect in there.” Boyd said she became aware of the need for the Refection Room when she attended an event hosted by Muslim women. She said the women had to pray inside restrooms or go to the library when they didn’t have a designated space. “I realized that we were a campus without a space for all the inhabitants of the OU community to have a space for reflection, regardless of religious or spiritual practices,” she said. Boyd said she then met with OU President David Boren and asked him if he would approve the relocation of the Reflection Room. “He not only supported the idea, he put funds toward making this a reality,” she said.

JALL COWASJI/THE DAILY

James McKinney, University College freshman, meditates in the Reflection Room at the Bizzell Memorial Library on Sunday.

REFLECTION ROOM CHJANGES New location: Room 214, Bizzell Library Sunday: Noon to 2 a.m. Friday to Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.

© 2009 OU PUBLICATIONS BOARD

The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s new research tower has been named a finalist for an Excellence in Renewable Energy Award. The tower was nominated for the award because of plans to integrate energy-efficient technology into its design. It will be the first building of its kind to use wind power for the majority of its energy, said Shari Hawkins, public affairs specialist for the foundation. The foundation expects the tower will save fuel and cut carbon dioxide emissions. “Research facilities are typically energy hogs,” Stephen Prescott, foundation president, said in a press release. “When we designed this tower, we wanted to create a space that would be conducive to scientific discovery while also minimizing our carbon footprint.” The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, located in Oklahoma City on the OU Health Sciences Center campus, is an independent nonprofit organization that researches human diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and cancer, according to its Web site. Its new tower will be completed in 2011. The tower will harness wind using 24 wind turbines in a double helix shape, Hawkins said. The turbines work to accelerate wind and then use that wind to power the building. In addition to the wind turbines, the tower will have many windows in order to use sunlight rather than electrical lighting, Hawkins said. Also, its air conditioning system recycles condensation to cut back on water usage. Construction on the tower began in May. It will house lab space and research space, including a clinic for patients suffering from autoimmune disease, Hawkins said. “This (tower) is a bold investment that will pay major dividends for our state’s TOWER CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

VOL. 95, NO. 88


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