Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Page 1

L&A: Keep up with what to watch and listen to (Page 6)

Opinion: First Amendment rights matter, even for OSU (Page 3)

Sports: Lebron James vs. Kevin Durant for MVP? (Page 5)

The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916

W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M

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W E D N E S DA Y, M A R C H 5

HONORS COLLEGE

Education evolving to fit future Anniversary luncheon discusses qualms in higher education learning Tuesday EMMA SULLIVAN Campus Reporter

Reduced government funding, vocationalism and using new, advanced technologies in the classroom are some of the challenges facing higher education in the 21st century. OU President David Boren and three OU alumni and Rhodes Scholars gathered for a panel discussion about education in the 21st century as part of the Honors College 50th anniversary luncheon Tuesday. The luncheon was held at noon Tuesday in Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Molly Shi Boren Ballroom. Mubeen Shakir, 2013 OU alumnus and Rhodes Scholar, said one of the major problems was finding a balance between creating an informed citizenry and adapting to a changing economic climate. Andrea DenHoed, 2008 alumna and Rhodes Scholar,

said one of the challenges was students’ tendency to consider intellectual pursuits as a luxury in a society that values efficiency. As well, in the 21st century, it’s important for students to work as a team with people from different disciplines, said Jason Sanders, 2000 alumnus and Rhodes Scholar. “It’s how some organizations thrive and some completely disappear,” Sanders said. The panel continued by discussing the importance of universities and what the country would look like without them. “If we don’t have universities, we don’t have a chance to communicate and dialogue with people who are different,” Shakir said. Some of the luncheon’s attendees included Queen Marine Sonya Swinton, who is currently on a national tour for Women’s History Month, and former U.S. Ambassador Edwin Corr. Esiya Muhyila, geography sophomore and Davis Scholarship recipient, said she attended the event to meet

people. “I like to expose myself to lots of influential people,” Muhyila said. Honors College Dean David Ray opened the luncheon by discussing the history of the college and giving an award to Carolyn Morgan, associate professor of sociology, human relations and women’s and gender studies, and Nancy Mergler, senior vice president and provost, for their service to honors students. The Honors College became an official university college in 1996, shortly after Boren arrived, Boren said. “To me the Honors College is a catalyst for our whole campus and it really gets people talking about important things,” Boren said. Emma Sullivan, emmanic23@gmail.com

CRIMSON SKIES

WATER ISSUES

Sooners leave building after pipeline burst Facilities Managment stopped leak 30 minutes after evacuation ALEX NIBLETT

Assistant Campus Editor @alex_niblett

MICHAEL WILLMUS/THE DAILY

Members of Crimson Skies test their plane Friday on an airstrip south of Lloyd Noble. The team will be competing April 11-13 in Wichita, Kan.

Sooners passionate about aerospace prepare aircrafts for national contest OU’s Design/Build/ Fly team expects best rankings yet ETHAN KOCH

Campus Reporter @sportsmaestroOU

W

alking into Chip R o b b e r s o n ’s house, there is a wall full of pictures of airplanes in flight. Each photo includes the signatures of the crewmembers who designed and built the plane. Take a closer look at the photos on the wall, and it’s obvious they aren’t commercial sized. They are R/C aircrafts, and OU students built each one. Robberson flies for the OU’s Design/Build/Fly team Crimson Skies. The signatures come from the members who helped build each plane, and each picture is Robberson’s fee. He doesn’t charge a penny more for his services. “Coming down here and coming back to school, I was this ‘closet nerd,’ for [lack of] a better word,” Robberson said. “So, I get to come down WEATHER Rain and snow showers mixed in the afternoon. Cold. High 37F.

here and get to talk numbers members on the roster this for the operation, Robberson. to these guys and get to be year, with six in the core Robberson was a pilot for around these people, and I group. Together, the team Cessna Aircraft Company belove it.” calculates and designs a fore coming to OU to get his Th i s yea r ’s tea m w i l l plane for the AIAA competi- aerospace engineering decompete in the American tion, Powers said. gree. One day, team adviser Institute of Aeronautics and The team built this year’s Alfred Striz asked Robberson Astronautics, or AIAA, com- prototype in two months, if he was interested in flying petition in Wichita, April 11 but they will make a second for the team, since he had exto 13, where they look to finish in the top five. Crimson Skies is an aerospace engineering capstone project I think the coolest thing is working with a bunch of that consists of five to six students that have the same passions that you do for members the aerospace world.” i n t h e c o re MATT POWERS, g ro u p e a c h CRIMSON SKIES PROJECT MANAGER year. Despite the capstone label, the group is open to all plane in less time to get ready perience with R/C aircrafts. undergraduates on campus, for the competition, Powers Robberson and his friend said Matt Powers, Crimson said. Jim Ellis have helped the Skies project manager. Each team must have a team ever since. “I think the coolest thing is pilot to fly the plane. This is When his mom became ill, working with a bunch of stu- important because the teams Robberson withdrew from dents that have the same pas- aren’t flying unmanned air- OU. Despite not being ensions that you do for the aero- crafts, Powers said. rolled at OU, he can still fly space world,” Powers said. This year, the team has The team has nearly 100 chosen an experienced pilot SEE CRIMSON SKIES PAGE 2

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theoklahomadaily

OUDaily

Students and faculty evacuated the Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center on Tuesday after a high-pressure pipe burst above the building’s southwest stairwell. Fire alarms went off around 12:30 p.m., and the OU Police Department and the Norman Fire Department arrived shortly after. George Richter-Addo, OU presidential professor and department chairman of the Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center, said Facilities Management employees told him they turned the water off and were repairing the leak. Facilities Management employees were not allowed to comment on the situation. The water that covered all three floors’ lobby areas near the stairwell did not damage the building’s science labs and classes, Richter-Addo said. Students and faculty went back in the building after waiting nearly 30 minutes outside. Laura Bousquet, organic chemistry graduate student, was in class when the pipe burst. “We just smelled a bad smell like sulpher,” Bousquet said. Bousquet saw large amounts of water running down the inside of the building when she and other classmates exited. The research center is almost 4 years old. The $75 SEE PIPELINE PAGE 2

Chromium-6 cause for concern in Okla. City of Norman proposes improvement to concerning water conditions in area MATT WOODS

Campus Reporter @matopher

Norman’s water treatment program is waiting for federal guidelines before implementing a plan to filter a potentially cancer-causing element from Norman’s water. The city will act on the Environmental Protection Agency’s mandate when it is released and will accordingly address the water supply’s levels of hexavalent chromium, commonly called chromium-6, said Geri Wellborn, Norman’s water treatment laboratory manager. “Norman knows that there are changes in the works, and we welcome those,” Wellborn said. City officials worried that acting before an official EPA ruling could result in spending a lot of money and still not meeting the new guidelines, Wellborn said. California’s Department of Health proposed a $156 million plan to pare chromium levels down to 10 parts-per-billion last August, according to the California state website. SEE DRINKING WATER PAGE 2

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