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Clinton honors state’s courage
MUSIC FESTIVAL
BOOMING
Norman Music Festival’s growth from humble beginnings to two-day spectacular suggests possibility for further expansion, event organizers say
RICKY MARANON Assignment Editor
OKL AHOMA CIT Y— Former President Bill Clinton returned to Oklahoma City on Wednesday to remember the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Clinton said in the 15 years since the terrorist attack in downtown Oklahoma City, he has seen many examples of courage that were first put in place when the people of Oklahoma responded to the explosion. “ Ma n y p a r t s o f t h e world have been affected by your courage,” Clinton said. “Courage that began here and echoed out into the rest of the world like a ripple in a pond.” Clinton shared moments in his presidency and times in his global initiatives in which he said he could clearly see the lessons the world learned April 19, 1995. “I met a man in a park in Haiti painting pictures outside of the airport right after the earthquake,” Clinton said. “He said he had lost his wife and all of his children, and that he came out there because that was his way of coping ... This man is your brother in spirit.” The world learned lessons on how to cope with tragedy because of what happened how Oklahoma responded to the bombing of the federal building, Clinton said. Before Clinton arrived at the dinner at the Oklahoma Western Heritage Museum, he made an unscheduled stop at the Oklahoma City National Memorial to lay a bouquet of flowers on the memorial chair of Alan Whicher, a secret service agent who protected Clinton in the first part of his presidency and then was transferred to the Murrah Building and died in the explosion. “From that day on, I have never called anyone who works for the federal government a federal bureaucrat,” Clinton said. “He moved out here because he believed Oklahoma is one of the finest places to live in this country and he was absolutely right.” Clinton said America must remain strong in its efforts to fight terrorism. “I remember giving a speech to some college students telling them that terrorism for them will be like the nuclear bomb was to my generation, but as we’ve seen from other attacks that have come that isn’t so. I wish I was wrong,” he said. Clinton said America must fight terrorism together without partisanship. “We can’t kill and jail every terrorist this country can face,” Clinton said. “We can’t fight every enemy combatant, but we can work together to reduce future attacks.”
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MATT CARNEY Daily Staff Writer
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY PARKER HUBBARD/THE DAILY
Who would have thought that a man doing calisthenics in his underwear would have contributed to a $2.5 million boost in Norman’s economy? Norman Music Festival fundraising chairman Jonathan Fowler says it’s true. President of the Norman Arts Council Board of Directors, Fowler served as the main stage manager at NMF last year when Kevin Barnes, the frisky frontman for headliners Of Montreal, resorted to unique measures to pump his band up for the big show. “My wife and I were backstage waiting on them to show up,” said Fowler, the star-struck music fan. “Kevin Barnes walks up in regular street clothes and proceeds to strip down to nothing but tighty whities ... [the band] get into a circle, and, without warning, they broke into a sprint and the music starts as the first foot hits the stage. It’s something I’ll never forget.” Fowler, who’s Norman-born and Norman-bred, is armed with more than just bizarre stories about rock-band weirdos and festival-going hippies. He’s got hard facts and good intentions. Last year’s economic impact survey of city businesses substantiates his $2.5 million claim, a statistic he and the rest of the festival planners on the Arts Council are committed to increase for this year’s festival and into the future, at the behest of the downtown store owners, whose street the council shuts off to set up outdoor stages. “We’re guests of the downtowners. It’s their street and they allow us to do this,” Fowler said. “The grand goal that all the board members have is that it keeps getting bigger and bigger, moving forward.” That’s not bad for a big, public party the Arts Council initially thought they were getting away with. “If you’d have asked any of us that first year if we’d thought we’d be able to do it again, we would’ve told you no and laughed,” Fowler said. Now, the council’s long-term vision models itself after top-notch spring and early summer festivals South by Southwest and Coachella with the possibility of growing into a four-day schedule or a quarterly teaser format, said Stephen Koranda, Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director. “The possibilities are endless,” Koranda said. One thing’s for certain: The Norman Music Festival has been, is and always will be a communityhosted event dedicated to building unity by showcasing music, with plenty of good-natured fun thrown in along the way. SHOWCASING MUSIC It would be easy to write Norman off as a dull void for music in the Dark Ages before the music festival, but Fowler claims that’s not the case. The lifelong resident of the city and OU alumnus said Norman has never lacked quality music or venues, though it has suffered a general lack of cohesion between interested parties. “The only thing I’d say that’s really different about what things were like before the festival is the cooperation,” he said. “Everybody’s done a really good job realizing that there’s a way to FESTIVAL CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
Author’s promise becomes Groups to honor other a lifelong devotion to service Land Run perspective Greg Mortenson spoke to Wednesday about his philanthropic endeavors
Jacobson House to host exhibit of 89er Day from American Indian perspective, director says
TROY WEATHERFORD Daily Staff Writer
AUDREY HARRIS Daily Staff Writer
When best-selling author Greg Mortenson decided to build his first school for an underprivileged region in 1993, he was recovering from climbing the second-highest mountain in the world. He didn’t make it to the top of the mountain, but he has since succeeded in other ways. During his recovery, Mortenson met a group of children using sticks to write in the sand. He promised to help them build a school and then followed through on that promise. He returned to the U.S. and began sending letters to celebrities asking for donations. In the first year, he spent $126 on postage and received only a $100 donation check from Tom Brokaw. He lived out of his car for a period of time, but in 1996, the first school was completed. Since then, he has started or significantly supported more than 130 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also has authored two best-selling books about his work in the Middle East. Mortenson said Gen. David Petraeus determined three lessons from his book, “Three Cups of Tea,” that should be applied to U.S. foreign policy: listen more, use respect and build relationships. Mortenson has influenced military men of all levels. In fact, “Three Cups of Tea” is required reading for U.S. Special Forces deploying to Afghanistan. Speaking to a packed audience Wednesday
at Lloyd Noble Center, Mortenson said the title of his book is a metaphor for the long process of relationship building. During the first cup you’re a stranger, the second cup you’re a friend and the third cup you’re family, Mortenson said.
Today in 1889, settlers rushed to claim parts of Oklahoma in what is known as the Land Run of 1889. The term “Sooner” originated from this day — those who staked claims before the run began to get the best pieces of land first. But the land was already inhabited by American Indians who were forced there from their original homes. To some, the day is an important one in Oklahoma’s history, but not one of celebration. The Moore-Lindsey Historical House and Museum and the Jacobson House Native Art Center will host an exhibit called “180 for 89er’s Day Perspective.” The Moore-Lindsey home will feature an exhibit of the Land Run participants, while the Jacobson House will feature the American Indian land lost through artwork, stories and photographs, said Kricket Rhoads-Connywerdy, Jacobson House executive director. The Jacobson House is in the process of setting up the exhibit today, she said. Both will open Friday. Connywerdy said there will be a human perspective through the artwork and stories, including some person accounts from American Indians. “I think Native American people might come to the Jacobson House first, and I think the people that celebrate 89ers Day, as opposed to mourn it, would go to the MooreLindsey home. Then they can come here, and our constituents can go there and see both sides of the story,” she said. Connywerdy said she thinks the presentation will be tasteful, but has always wondered why 89ers Day is considered a celebration. “It was a real hard time for the pioneers, but it was hard here too,” she said. “There’s a difference between history
MORTENSON CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
LAND RUN CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
NEIL MCGLOHON/THE DAILY
Greg Mortenson, author of New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea,” speaks Wednesday evening in Lloyd Noble Center about raising awareness for issues across the world.
© 2010 OU PUBLICATIONS BOARD
VOL. 95, NO. 140