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Friday, April 15, 2011
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Unrest overseas strains student travel OU postpones study-abroad program in Egypt because of area conflicts CARMEN FORMAN The Oklahoma Daily
Violence in the Middle East and parts of Africa has proven problematic for OU international and exchange students. “We did have an outside provider that was running programming in Egypt that
we had listed on our website — and we did suspend that — but we didn’t have any students participating in that,” Education Abroad Director Jack Hobson said. “We just kind of removed it as an option for right now.” The university doesn’t have any students in dangerous nations in the Middle East or Africa, said Monica Sharp, International Student Services director. OU doesn’t run short-term exchange
programs with countries that have state department warnings, Sharp said. “OU does not send OU students to those countries, but they are certainly welcome to come to OU from those countries.” The university has an affiliate provider that runs a summer program in Jordan, Hobson said. This program will still take place this summer because things have been quiet in Jordan, Hobson said. “Until something changes we won’t alter
any of our plans for Jordan,” Hobson said. International students on campus from nations currently engulfed in fighting and rebellion face their own set of problems. “I think they’re all extremely concerned with the safety and status of their family members, particularly our Libyan students,” Sharp said. “Many of them have SEE PROGRAM PAGE 2
Musicians to exhibit digital works
STUDENTS BUILD FROM THE GROUND UP
Computerized compositions from students, artist will blend music and technology RACHAEL CERVENKA The Oklahoma Daily
CHASE COOK/THE DAILY
Landscape architecture graduate student Alex Tyler, left, and construction administration graduate student Caleb Breer, right, pass along compressed-earth blocks down a chain of volunteers Thursday in a residential section of Norman. Tyler and Breer were part of a group building a garden wall for a home under construction by Cleveland County’s Habitat for Humanity.
Students learn to build with earth Energy-efficiency research findings will go to Habitat for Humanity home built next summer CHASE COOK The Oklahoma Daily
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residential section of Norman became a classroom Thursday when College of Architecture graduate students and faculty applied research and knowledge to help the community. All five divisions of the College of Architecture have started construction on a garden and retaining walls built of compressed-earth blocks. Both are being built to teach students and faculty how to handle and use the earth blocks, said Scott Williams, professor of landscape architecture. Research will be conducted on the finished walls to see how they fare against real-world elements. The research will be applied when a house made of compressed-earth blocks is built in summer 2012. The garden wall, retaining wall and CHASE COOK/THE DAILY
SEE EARTH PAGE 2
Compressed-earth blocks are stacked together to make a garden wall Thursday in Norman. The blocks are created by compressing soil, a cement mixture and water.
Students make bank for scholarships Sooners collect change in piggy banks to raise cash for study abroad LANEY ELLISOR The Oklahoma Daily
College of International Studies students collected money from piggy banks Thursday to fund study-abroad scholarships. The International Affairs Society previously distributed piggy banks to international studies students and asked them to collect change, society
chairwoman Emily Ward said. The banks — part of the college’s Promote International Giving campaign — were collected at the CIS Piggy Bank Round Up from 3 to 4 p.m. Thursday outside Hester Hall. The event featured pork barbecue, piggy bank decorating and games such as ring-around-thepiggy, a candy-filled pig hunt and a pig-version of Angry Birds. “It’s going to be a fun way to not only do something important but to celebrate our new college,” said Becky Bailey, CIS
A LOOK AT WHAT’S ON Visit the news section to read a story about a book sale today to help fund a new student-initiated program
Piggy Bank Round Up committee chairwoman. The three students who collected the most money received bronze, silver and gold pigs, said Ward, an international relations and economics sophomore. Committee members collected at least $100 before the event thanks to a donation from OU President David Boren, said Bailey, an international studies senior. By the end of the event, she said the total was over $200, and only a small portion of the donations had been counted.
THE OKLAHOMA DAILY VOL. 96, NO. 133 © 2011 OU Publications Board www.OUDaily.com www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily
All donations will go into an open account, which will then be allocated by the college, Ward said. The CIS Piggy Bank Round Up committee hopes to name one scholarship with the piggy funds. College of International Studies Dean Zach Messitte said the college will consult with Ward and Bailey on how to award the scholarship. There are always students who need extra money to study abroad, he said. “In my opinion, there’s no donation that’s too small,” Messitte said.
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A musical experience featuring the digital works of computer and electroacoustic composers is coming to campus. Two recitals will take place from 6 to 8 tonight and Saturday in the Pitman Recital Hall in Catlett Music Center as part of an annual festival called inner sOUndscapes. Today’s performance will showcase composer and visiting artist Elizabeth Hoffman as she performs pieces involving computer interaction with live musicians, a video-art piece and fixed media works, said Konstantinos Karathanasis, music technology and composition professor. Hoffman is a music professor at New York University. Her areas of interest and research include electroacoustic music and computer composition, according to the NYU Department of Music website. Saturday’s performance will feature the compositions of OU students. Students performing computer compositions for this event have each completed eight semesters of music-technology coursework, Karathanasis said. Computer composition involves programming a computer to track parts of the performance such as pitch and dynamics to make it “understand” the playing of a live performer, Karanthanasis said. The computer then reacts by modifying the live sound of the performer in real time in order to create a virtual duo. Electroacoustic music is made with computers and played through speakers, electroacoustic composer Steven Eiler said. It uses the whole world of sounds as potential material. “In a way it can be difficult for new listeners because it doesn’t sound like what they call music, but with a little generosity and imagination it can be quite thrilling to hear the symphony and cacophony of everyday sounds and otherworldly sounds arranged into a work of art,” Eiler said. Students should expect to experience a very different type of music that blends traditional and abstract idioms, composer Dexter Ford said. “Some of the music made with computers is quite accessible, whereas there will also be more unfamiliar and bizarre elements — but still fun,” Ford said. Large metropolitan areas have venues that host electroacoustic music, but this type of event is rare here, Karathanasis said. “I believe that it will be a sensational experience for those people who have an open mind and the curiosity to listen to innovative music that goes beyond the limitations of catchy beats, melody and harmony,” Karathanasis said.
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