Wednesday, April 1, 2015

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Boren appoints former senator as VP Former legislator chosen to lead new diversity programs DAISY CREAGER Staff Reporter @daisycreager

OU alumnus and former state legislator Jabar Shumate was named OU’s vice president for university community at a press conference Tuesday morning.

In the position, Shumate will oversee all diversity programs, including admissions, at all three OU campuses, according to a press release. Shumate will also work with OU President David Boren and college deans to make faculty decisions and help diversify the applicant pool. “No one will be able to wave a wand and make drastic changes … it starts with

visiting with college deans,” Shumate said about diversifying faculty at the press conference. Shumate worked four terms in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and was elected to state Senate in November 2012. Before his political career, Shumate was OU’s press secretary, according to the press release. Shumate resigned from the state Senate in January.

Boren said at the conference that Shumate will be paid with non-appropriated, private funds during the first part of his service. At the conference, Boren expressed full confidence with Shumate’s abilities. “I can’t think of anyone better to service as vice president for university community than Jabar Shumate,” Boren said at the conference. SEE DIVERSITY PAGE 3

JJ/THE DAILY

Jabar Shumate, newly appointed vice president of university community, speaks at a press conference with OU President David Boren Tuesday morning in Beaird Lounge in Oklahoma Memorial Union.

How does your garden grow? OU workers brightened up the South Oval Tuesday afternoon

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ater arced across the flowerbeds on OU’s South Oval as landscape and grounds crew workers planted flowers for spring, filling the brown blocks of dirt with green flower sprouts.

TONY RAGLE/THE DAILY

Ron Parks with OU’s landscaping department tills a plot of land and plants a Dianthus flower Tuesday morning on the South Oval. Workers worked throughout the day to plant flowers.

The workers began their day at 6 a.m., said Angel Mejia, a landscaping and grounds crew member. They worked until around 2 p.m. as the morning’s heavy fog gave way to blazing 80-degree heat. The workers planted about 500 flowers today, Mejia said. The workers should be able to finish planting tomorrow, weather permitting. The workers took red dianthuses from a greenhouse and planted them in the beds on the South Oval, Mejia said. The workers then quickly watered the flowers, giving the flowers nourishment SEE NATURE PAGE 3

Unused hours OU Women’s Outreach to host events will be applied for Sexual Assault Awareness Month to intersession Center to kick-off April with “Start By Believing” program

Summer courses allow students to free up semesters TYLER HALL

Staff Reporter @tyylersh

Registration for OU summer intersession courses is now open. The courses will run July 27-Aug. 14 and will compress 16-week classes into a shorter time frame, according to the OU University Outreach Intersession website. Under OU’s flat-rate tuition, students who took less than 15 hours in the fall or spring semester (or less than 30 over the course of the academic year) have banked hours that they can use in the summer, according to the website. For example, if a student took 12 hours in the fall and 12 hours in the spring, then they would have six credit hours that are already paid for, and they will not be charged extra. Intersession classes can

WEATHER Partly cloudy, high of 83, low of 63. Updates: @AndrewGortonWX

be convenient, said Karisa Cooper, psychology junior. “It balances out my workload for the fall and spring semesters, so that I’m not pressured to overwhelm myself with a ton of classes,” Cooper said. “Since it’s right before school starts back, it frees up a lot of my summer so that I can focus on my internship and my job.” Multidisciplinary studies junior Derek Lehman said there are multiple benefits to intersession classes. “I was actually behind because I switched my majors, and even one class can make a world of difference,” Lehman said. The last day to register for summer intersession courses is July 28, according to the website. Students can withdraw at any time from now until the second day of a class and will receive a full refund.

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SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH EVENTS

PARIS BURRIS

April 1

News Editor @ParisBurris

Sexual Assault Awareness Month, aimed at educating communities to prevent sexual violence, is a busy time for the OU Women’s Outreach Center. With more than a dozen events planned for the month of April, the center is working to include OU students in the fight against sexual violence, said communications senior Katelyn Burks, who organizes the events. The center will kick-off its initiative in an effort to break the knee-jerk reaction of society to victim blame, Burks said. “Start By Believing is a campaign to change our society and nation’s reaction to cases of sexual assault to, instead of being suspicious or blaming the victim, just believe them from the start,” Burks said. “That’s hard for a lot of people to do just because of different ideas we

Start By Believing campaign kick-off, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union food court. JJ/THE DAILY

Communications senior Katelyn Burks stands Tuesday afternoon in the Unity Garden. Burks, an interpersonal violence intern for the Women’s Outreach Center, is working with the center to host events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

have of victim blaming.” It’s important to include men in the conversation, not just women, Burks said. The center will release a video featuring important male figures on OU’s campus making a pledge against sexual violence, Burks said. “Men will pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women or girls,” Burks said. “We’ve been contacting about 20 or so prominent men on campus.” The video will be released during the White Ribbon

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Campaign, an initiative to engage men and boys in the conversation about violence against women, April 20 and 23, Burks said. “As something on a college campus we just need to address it,” Burks said. “It is such a taboo issue,” Burks said. “People shy away from it, they don’t want to talk about it ... I think it’s important to open up that dialog in a constructive way.” For more information or to participate in an event, email woc@ou.edu.

April 6 Awareness tabling, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the South Oval April 7 Day of Action demonstration, 10 to 11:30 a.m. on the South Oval April 8 Awareness tabling, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the South Oval

OUDaily.com Go online or the full list of this month’s events oudaily.com/news

OU YAK OF THE DAY

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“I like seeing people drive around with their parking ticket still on the windshield like ‘maybe if I ignore it itl’ll go away.’”

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