L&A: Journalism brings all the boys to the yard (Online)
Opinion: Out with the old, in with new (Page 3)
Sports: Conference seed up for grabs (Page 5)
The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M
2 013 PA C E M A K E R F I N A L I S T
F R I D A Y , M A R C H 7, 2 0 14
HAPPY Students to dance 12 hours for Soonerthon : F E E T JAYE PELLEY, Campus Reporter MEGAN DEATON, ESCAPE Editor
PHOTO PROVIDED
Sooners will dance (or stand) for 12 hours Saturday to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation to help children who aren’t well enough to do so themselves. OU’s Campus Activities Council’s official philanthropy event, Soonerthon, will take place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the Huston Huffman Fitness Center. Soonerthon is OU’s largest student-led philanthropy, according to CAC’s website. Soonerthon is based on a larger event called
ENGINEERS
RETRIEVE
Persistence pays off for women in engineering
Seek and ye shall find: lost items may be recovered
Female students welcome on teams KATE BERGUM
Campus Reporter @kateclaire_b
Studying in a field traditionally dominated by men, some OU women are using competition to better their engineering skills. Seventy-eight percent of students in the engineering program are men while 22 percent are women, according to the OU Factbook. This gender gap is reflected among the competitive engineering teams within the college, mechanical engineering senior Lauren Woodbury said. Woodbury, who works as the suspension and dynamics lead for the Sooner Off Road team, is the only woman on the team, she said. Joining the Sooner Racing Team as a freshman, Woodbury was afraid that her teammates, all but one of whom were male, would judge her because of her gender. However, she was surprised at how welcoming they were and how positively they responded to her questions, Woodbury said. “They would be so excited, and they just loved teaching me stuff,” Woodbury said. Anna Masters, industrial and systems engineering senior and the frames systems lead and chief of design of the Sooner Racing Team, also joined the racing team as a freshman and was intimidated at first by her teammates, who were primarily men and upperclassmen, she said. However, Masters said she learned that her worth as a team member would be judged by her efforts, not her gender. “Anyone who adds value to the team won’t be turned away,” Masters said. Though OU has provided an accepting environment, Woodbury said people have not always supported her decision to pursue engineering. During high school, Woodbury took a cosmetology class to earn money in college. Some of the women
OU’s lost and found has a multitude of unclaimed items MATT WOODS
Campus Reporter @mataphor
H
urrying through halls between her classes, a student rushed to retrace her steps in pursuit of lost treasure — her glasses. Despite her desperate search, she couldn’t remember where she’d left them. They were gone. University College freshman Ashley Marullo said she never even tried to call the university’s central lost and found after losing her glasses last semester. In fact, the small, brown office tucked away inside the Facilities Management compound had completely escaped her notice, she said. When she learned someone else could be wearing her glasses today because of a university lost-and-found policy, Marullo laughed. Credit cards, car keys, baby toys, a half-empty bottle of lube — smaller lost-and-founds across campus swallow each semester’s haul of abandoned campus miscellany.
Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High near 65F.
SEE DANCE PAGE 2
The university donates or sells lost-and-found items in an annual sale after a minimum of six months. Every December OUPD sells unclaimed bicycles to the public, netting the university around $1,000, said Carla Greeson, Facilities Management’s customer service supervisor. Along with the forgotten bikes, the year’s remaining lost-and-found items are sold for an unrecorded sum of cash and added to the university’s general fund, Greeson said. Some items — like Marullo’s old glasses — are given special treatment. As a rule, glasses are donated to Lion’s Club, an international charity distributing glasses to needy recipients. Cell phones are donated to another charity, while car keys are thrown away, Greeson said. Selling off students’ abandoned items isn’t an uncommon practice for universities. Oklahoma City University follows the same routine, auctioning off the SEE RETRIEVE PAGE 2
Stoops talks spring practice Defending Sugar Bowl champs to hit the field Saturday JOE MUSSATTO
Assistant Sports Editor @joe_mussatto
Spring football practice opens Saturday and coming off the squad’s Sugar Bowl victory and winter workouts, coach Bob Stoops is pleased with the offseason progress the Sooners have made. Stoops went position by position as he outlined his 2014 squad at his annual spring football press conference Thursday afternoon. Oklahoma is still riding the wave of momentum it gained in New Orleans, according to the coach. “ Ju s t t a l k i n g t o Je r r y Schmidt, our strength coach, we really believe it’s been our best or one of our best years we’ve had out of season,” Stoops said. “Their overall speed, attitude and work ethic have been really positive,” he said of his players. “We’re in great shape coming into spring ball.” Set to begin his 16th season patrolling the Sooner sidelines, Stoops acknowledged the talent the team lost after last year but showed confidence in his underclassmen. OU’s 2014 signing class added 27 new members to the squad. Spring practice gives the coaching staff a glimpse of inexperienced players who may be ready to make an impact on Saturdays. “It’s my most exciting time SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 2
VOTING
Last day to register for potential voters Students can vote in city elections MATT WOODS
Campus Reporter @mataphor
Friday marks the last day for potential voters to add or update registration for Norman city elections on April 1. Voters will address the Public Safety Sales Tax proposal, which would permanently retain a temporary 0.5 percent sales tax and continue funding 71 police and fire positions along with improved emergency facilities, according to the official voting ballot. Norman voters will also elect candidates for even-numbered wards to the city council. OU students are encouraged to register and participate since the university’s population has swayed past local elections, said Anette Pretty, Cleveland County Election Board secretary. “The more people that vote, the better,” Pretty said. However, out-of-state students should check their financial aid to ensure registering won’t affect certain scholarships dependent on their current residency outside Oklahoma, Pretty said. Potential voters can find printable voter registration forms online at ok.gov. Forms are also available at the Cleveland County Election Board Office located at 641 E. Robinson St. and at any county tag agency, post office or public library. Matt Woods, matt.woods@ou.edu
SEE ENGINEERS PAGE 2
WEATHER
Dance Marathon, which is a nationwide event where over 150 universities and high schools participate to raise money for local children’s hospitals and foundations, said Linzy Hall, senior development officer for Children’s Hospital Foundation. All the money raised at the event will go toward research, education and clinical care for the children, Hall said. Last year, Soonerthon raised over $196,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and the Children’s Hospital Foundation
FOOTBALL
City council elections near March forum will feature candidates MICHELLE JOHNSTON Campus Reporter @alohamichelleee
Norman residents can vote for city council members in Wards 2, 4, 6 and 8 during the Norman City
CONTACT US
INDEX
@OUDaily
Campus......................2 Classifieds................4 Life&Ar ts..................4 Opinion.....................3 Spor ts........................5
theoklahomadaily
OUDaily
Council elections on April All candidates filed for 1. election during the filing Candidates will partic- period from Jan. 13 to 15. ipate in a public forum at Candidates running for 6:30 p.m. on March 24 at Ward 2 include: City Hall to answer commu•Clint Williams nity members’ questions. •Matthew Leal The L eague of Women •Aleisha Karjala Voters will sponsor the •Gary D. Caissie forum, City Clerk Brenda Hall said. SEE VOTING PAGE 2
VOL. 99, NO. 115 © 2014 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢