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Monday, February 21, 2011
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Women leaders in short supply Number of female professors has risen from 12 to 17 percent during last 10 years NICHOLAS HARRISON The Oklahoma Daily
With Joan Smith’s Friday announcement of her June 30 retirement as dean of the College of Education, female representation among the deans and departmental vice presidents on the Norman campus may soon fall to about 10 percent. Smith has served in her current position for 15 years and is the only female dean at the university. Besides Provost Nancy Mergler, there are two female vice presidents, Catherine Bishop and Chris Purcell. University spokesman Chris Shilling said
President David Boren was responsible for the appointment of each of the women to their current positions. “Although several of those deans and vice presidents were at the university prior to President Boren’s arrival, none of them were in their current vice president or dean position until after President Boren arrived,” Shilling said. Mergler was appointed as Provost in January 1995, Smith was promoted to dean in July 1995, Bishop was elevated to vice president in June 1998, and Purcell was named a vice president in July 2000 — all under Boren’s tenure. There have been no females appointed to a vice president or dean position on the Norman campus in the past 10 years.
However, Shilling said Boren had appointed several female deans on the Health Sciences Center campus, including Lezelle Benefield in the College of Nursing and JoLaine Reirson Draugalis in the College of Pharmacy. Former appointments include Carole Kenner from the College of Nursing and Carol Sullivan from the College of Allied Health. Shilling also said Boren appointed Liz Woollen, the first female chief of the OU Police Department. The university had one female dean and three female university officers when Boren took office on Nov. 16, 1994, according to SEE GAP PAGE 2
TRANSPORTATION
CART adds green buses With 6 additions, almost half of the 21-bus fleet now runs on cleaner natural gas JIYEUN HEO The Oklahoma Daily
MUSICAL | COMEDY HITS HIGH NOTE
KATHARINE BAIN/THE DAILY
Curry Whitmire as Senex, Ryan Wood as Pseudolus, Carl Culley as Hysterium and Joel Behne as Marcus Lycus perform “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” during the OU University Theatre and Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre’s musical “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to The Forum” Thursday. Remaining shows will be at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Fine Arts Center’s Rupel J. Jones Theatre, 563 Elm Ave.
A local transit system has taken steps to be more environmentally conscious this semester by adding six vehicles powered by natural gas to its rotation. With the implementation of the compressed natural gas buses since January, Cleveland Area Rapid Transit has 21 buses and 12 vans in service, CART spokeswoman Vicky Holland said. Among the six new vehicles, three are 26 feet long with 16 seats available at the cost of about $120,000 through government allocations from the office of U.S. Representative Tom Cole, Holland said. The three other vehicles are 29 feet long with 25 seats and are used on the fixed route bus system at the cost of about $130,000. These vans run the Research Shuttle, West Norman Link and other routes, Holland said. “These new vans burn compressed natural gas,” Holland said. “The buses are environmentally cleaner in burning fuels than the usual gases such as diesel or gasoline.” The CART system had converted three older buses from diesel to compressed natural gas prior to 2010. Those new models were built as native compressed natural gas vehicles, Holland said. With the purchase of the six new vehicles, CART has a total of 11 buses and three vans that burn compressed natural gas and the rest of the vehicles in
Visit OUDaily.com to read a review of the performance. SEE CART PAGE 2
PROFILE
Scavenger hunt to kick off Engineering Week
OU custodian works to overcome disability OU janitorial employee pushes past limitations
A tradition spanning more than 90 years begins today as the College of Engineering celebrates Engineering Week. The event will kick off with a campuswide scavenger hunt requiring the completion of engineering problems, according to the Engineer’s Club’s website. It will end with a banquet honoring outstanding members of the college and will nominate the king and queen of the college. Other events will consist of games, quizzes and shows. Will Nichols, webmaster of the Engineer’s Club, attended last year’s event and recommends it to students. “It’s an opportunity for engineers to get out and have some fun,” said Nichols, petroleum engineering junior. The events will be held all week and engineering students are encouraged to attend. Visit OUDaily.com for the full schedule. — Chase Cook/The Daily
A WEEKLY LOOK AT OU WORKERS
RJ YOUNG The Oklahoma Daily
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RJ YOUNG/THE DAILY
OU janitorial custodian Bobby Hoskins picks trash up around campus. Hoskins, who is in his 10th year as an OU employee, has Down syndrome, a congenital disorder.
A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON Visit The Daily’s Life & Arts blog to watch new videos of the day selected by staff members
THE OKLAHOMA DAILY VOL. 96, NO. 99 © 2011 OU Publications Board www.OUDaily.com www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily
e walks around OU’s campus casually picking up candy wrappers, fast-food containers and other pieces of litter. While he works, a student passes within arm’s reach of him. He waves, but the gesture is not reciprocated. Still, Bobby Hoskins, janitorial custodian, finds a reason to smile and wave again at the student’s back. “I love OU,” Hoskins said. “I really do.” Hoskins is in his 10th year as an OU employee. He is not tenured. He has yet to receive his first bonus, and he does most of his work outdoors. While he is a paid staff member at OU, Hoskins is unique. He has Down syndrome, a congenital disorder caused by the appearance of a 21st chromosome, and needs constant, verbal guidance to help him accomplish his tasks throughout the day. Hoskins is involved in Able Bodies Learning to Excel, a private, non-profit organization that provides housing and job opportunities for men and women with developmental
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disabilities. The organization has worked in conjunction with OU for more than a decade, providing jobs in the Food and Housing Department. Able Bodies Learning to Excel job coach Gladys Hines is here to assist Hoskins with his day-to-day duties. She directs him, encourages him, sympathizes with him. Hines watches Hoskins make his way across the sidewalk and sand outside Cate Center. She smiles. “ R e a l i z e t h i s ,” H i n e s s a i d . “Everybody has a disability; for those of us that wear glasses — like you and me — that’s a disability. “Nobody is perfect; there’s always a flaw,” Hines said. She turns back to Hoskins and focuses her gaze on him. “Once you get passed the flaws, you can realize that everybody is unique in different ways,” she said.
TODAY’S WEATHER
57°| 34° Tomorrow: Partially cloudy, high of 65 degrees