L&A: Tinder brings out the worst in humanity (Page 5)
Sports: National Championship up for grabs this weekend (Page 3)
Opinion: Light up opportunities for OU athletics (Page 3)
The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M
2 014 S I LV E R C R O W N W I N N E R
F R I D A Y , A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 14
COMMUNITY
Local stores out, chain stores in Rising rent prices are driving away iconic Campus Corner businesses SARAH PITTS
Life & Arts Reporter @s_spitts
Campus Corner is known for its unique boutiques, local restaurants and being easily accessible from campus. Such a great location in Norman is bound to have expensive rent, but the high cost is starting to turn away local businesses. Small shops, family-owned restaurants and college bars
make up the character of Campus Corner, but that may not be the case much longer. BeLoved Bridal Boutique was asked to vacate Campus Corner to make room for a CVS, said owner Andrea Mantooth. The store moved to downtown Norman on Main Street. “The rent over here is half the price that it was on Campus Corner,” Mantooth said. “We wish that the owners would keep campus a local hot spot with local businesses, but that doesn’t seem to be in their plan.” Campus Corner was established in 1917 to provide local goods and services to OU students and staff who, at the time,
were not allowed to have a car on campus, according to the Campus Corner website. The proximity to campus provides the shops and restaurants with a large consumer base to support the smaller local businesses. Having this combination of local businesses and high consumption results in a better economy for Norman, according to Keep It Local co-founder Bryce Bandy. Keep It Local works with local businesses around Oklahoma by helping market them and inform people about the best local spots. This way, local businesses have a SEE COMMUNITY PAGE 5
ONLINE
MEDIEVAL
Thousands enroll in Janux courses Interactive online learning community welcomes variety of participants KATE BERGUM
Campus Reporter @kateclaire_b
TONY RAGLE/THE DAILY
The King and Queen are escorted across the square by a set of guards and followed by an entourage of royalty. The pair stop by the costume contest and wait to congratulate the winner and address the crowd.
Medieval Fair still in session Lecture and film educate on Medieval times Friday JAYE PELLEY
Campus Reporter
A
lthough the Medieval Fair ended weeks ago, Norman citizens can still learn more about the time period with two events this Friday. The Medieval Fair Free Lecture Series offers free lectures for people interested in the Middle Ages. Friday OU history professor James Hart Jr. will give a lecture titled, “The
Extraordinary Journey of Finch and Baines.” The lecture will focus on the lives of two men trying to build careers during the Middle Ages, said Joyce Coleman, co-organizer of the Medieval Fair Lecture Series. Through their stories the audience can understand more about European society, diplomacy and intellectual exchange, according to a press release. The lecture will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Norman Public Library, 225 N. Webster, according to the press release. The next medieval event will be a
screening of the film “And They Sang a New Song: Twenty-four Musical Elders at Santiago de Compstela.” The screening will take place at 7 p.m. at stART Norman, 227 W. Main Street, according to the press release. The film is by OU’s Susan Caldwell and Eugene Enrico. A question and answer session will follow the screening, according to the press release. The film discusses the interaction of spirituality, music and sculpture in one of the great medieval cathedrals, Coleman said. Jaye Pelley, ojayepelley@ou.edu
During the first semester of Janux, OU’s open interactive learning community, around 17,000 people enrolled in the courses to learn anything from the chemistry of beer to civil rights and civil liberties. Janux allows students to take courses for class credit or just for the learning experience. This semester, the program offered 13 courses. In addition to the thousands of people enrolled in the free, not-for-credit version of the courses, approximately 1,000 students are taking the Janux courses for OU class credit, said Erin Yarbrough, associate AMY MCGOVERN vice president for web commu- PROFESSOR OF POWER AND ELEGANCE OF nications, marketing and new COMPUTATIONAL THINKING media. Two popular Janux courses have been the Power and Elegance of Computational Thinking and Introduction to Computer Programming. Yarbrough said that roughly 1,300 students are enrolled in the open version of Introduction to Computer Programming, and about 600 are enrolled in the open version of the computational thinking course. Amy McGovern, the professor of Power and Elegance of DEBORAH TRYTTEN PROFESSOR OF Computational Thinking, said INTRODUCTION TO the computer science courses COMPUTER PROGRAMMING offered on Janux are so popular because students know computer skills are marketable in the workforce. Deborah Trytten, the professor of the introductory computer science course, said many students who enroll SEE ONLINE PAGE 2
GREEN
OU’s environmental goals accomplished Measures to decrease energy and water usage have been successful KELLY ROGERS Campus Reporter @KellyRogersOU
ACTION
the press release. “Our goal is that people will walk away with a tool kit and hope and with the understanding that the more knowledge they gain the more observant they will become,” Freeman said. “When we put all of this together, lives will be saved.”
Through the combined efforts of the on-campus organization Crimson and Green and OU Facilities Management, internal energy conservation goals set years ago have been accomplished. Since the project goals were announced in 2008, they have been completed or are ongoing to keep up with the continual renovations of buildings on campus, said Jason Hancock, past campus utility analyst who currently works between the university and Corix Institute to oversee OU’s utility projects. These renovations include: • vending machine misers that power down machines when no one is around • lighting replacements to decrease wattage output • air-conditioning unit upgrades • water-efficient toilet systems
SEE ACTION PAGE 2
SEE GREEN PAGE 2
Experts to tackle suicide issue Seminar addresses suicide prevention EMMA SULLIVAN Campus Reporter
OU Outreach will be hosting a health seminar next week in partnership with the Norman Regional Health System to discuss suicide prevention in Oklahoma.
WEATHER
After doing research on suicide prevention around the world, Renelda Freeman, OU Outreach health seminar’s planner and coordinator, said she found serious gaps in U.S. prevention programs, which prompted the seminar. Oklahoma has the 13th h i g h e s t s u i c i d e rat e i n the nation and for 15 to
34-year-olds in Oklahoma, suicide is the second leading cause of death, according to a press release. The seminar will be based on the Circle of Care Methodology theory, which holistically approaches the issues and care required to address suicidal “ideations, attempts, completions and the aftermath,” according to
CONTACT US
INDEX
@OUDaily
Campus......................2 Classifieds................5 Life&Ar ts..................5 Opinion.....................4 S p o r t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Mostly sunny skies. High 74F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. theoklahomadaily
OUDaily
VOL. 99, NO. 140 © 2014 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢