The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
Thursday, May 5, 2011
www.OUDaily.com
Free — additional copies 25¢
Students will see tuition rise State budget cuts will cause tuition to rise by unknown amount, David Boren says NICHOLAS HARRISON The Oklahoma Daily
OU President David Boren announced a possible tuition increase during an informal discussion with students Wednesday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Beaird Lounge. Although he did not present a precise figure, Boren said there would not be a doubledigit increase and he would try to keep it below 5 percent. “I would say it’s going to be somewhere in the low to mid single digits,” Boren said. “That’s my
best guess.” Boren cited $14.8 million in additional costs on top of a state budget cut of between $4.3 million and $9.9 million. The university has already absorbed $41.5 million in additional costs and state budget cuts over the past three years, Boren said. “As a general policy, we have avoided laying people off, we have avoided salary cuts except for a dozen of our top administrative offices at the university, and we have avoided cutting courses,” Boren said. Boren said he knew the state was facing a $400 to $500 million shortfall this year. In September, he said he directed colleges and
departments on campus to cut costs by about 5 percent — raising about $9 million to soften the impact of the shortfall. “I said to them in essence, ‘Look, here’s what’s coming at us. This is the train coming at us. How are we going to cope with this? We’ve got to start figuring that out right now.’” Boren said. “So, I asked all of the colleges and the departments in the colleges to make a 5 percent reallocation.” The university has also monetized its utilities systems to create some bridge funding to further soften the impact of the shortfall, Boren said. However, a tuition increase of some sort will still be necessary.
“Obviously to close the budget gap this year, if the Legislature does the best it can, there is still going to be some kind of modest increase — and I want to underline the word ‘modest,’” Boren said. At the conclusion of the discussion, Boren fielded questions and comments from the students in attendance. Carli Lewis, visual communications junior, asked that tuition increase rather than fees. “My one request is that it be more on the tuition side than fees because tuition is tax deductible,” Lewis said. “We can recover from
SEE TUITION PAGE 2
STUDENTS STUDy AND SOAK IN SUN
CART will combine some routes, alter schedule for break Cleveland Area Rapid Transit buses will run on an alternate schedule during the summer. The CART alternate schedule is set to begin May 16 and will run through Aug. 19 when students return for the fall semester, CART spokeswoman Vicky Holland said. CART uses an alternate schedule due to a dip in ridership during periods when many students are away from campus, Holland said. “For example, the week of spring break our total passengers were 5,397,” Holland said. “The week after spring break our total passengers were 22,948.” CART expects ridership numbers for the summer to reflect the spring break week numbers CART experienced this year, Holland said. CART’s Lindsey East, Lindsey West, Campus Loop, Research Shuttle and Lloyd Noble Center shuttles will run on alternate routes during the summer, according to the CART Route Schedule and Transit Guide. The alternate schedule has the Lindsey East and Lindsey West routes running every 60 minutes, the Lloyd Noble Center Shuttle and Research Shuttle combine into one route that runs every 30 minutes, and shuts down the Campus Loop entirely, according to the transit guide. CART runs on an alternate schedule to conserve resources and operate efficiently during periods when the numbers of people using the buses are not as great, according to the transit guide. CART utilizes 14 buses during peak hours of operation but only six during the same period when running on its alternate schedule, Holland said. — Tyler Thomas/The Daily
ALEX EWALD/THE DAILY
Studio art senior Mick Tresemer moves his relaxing review session to enjoy the weather on the North Oval after studying in the Bizzell Memorial Library. “It was too good to pass up [studying outside],” he said. With finals quickly approaching, students are taking any and every opportunity to find coveted study space whether it be outdoors or cuddled in the couches of the library during its 24-hour finals week hours.
3-day OU IT sale brings in business ERIN WILSON
The Oklahoma Daily
Employees to analyze sales revenue before deciding to host future 3-day events OU IT Store employees still are evaluating the revenues from the store’s recent three-day sale before determining the future of the event, an IT spokeswoman said. T h e s a l e t o o k p l a c e f ro m Wednesday to Friday, and sales increased after iPad 2s were placed on store shelves on Thursday, Information Technology spokeswoman Becky Grant said. The store sold 64 white iPad 2s on Thursday and Friday of its biannual sale after lowering the item’s price to $525, Grant said. The product comes with 3G network and Wi-Fi access. The original price of the 32-gigabyte iPad 2 is $599, according to Apple Inc.’s online store. Store employees decided to sell the iPad 2s despite previous plans not to include it, Grant said. “We didn’t want to put any additional items on sale Thursday that had already been purchased on Wednesday to ensure we were fair to everyone that attended the sale on day one,” Grant said. The store’s three-day sale of discounted Apple and PC computer products took place from Wednesday to Friday. Only OU students, faculty and administration
are allowed to make purchases in the store. Macbook laptops were in the highest demand, Grant said. The most popular item was the 13-inch, 2.4 gigahertz Macbook Pro laptop, which cost $800, Grant said. Its original price was $1,399, according to the online store. The white Macbook laptop, which cost $600, was the first item to sell out during the sale, though it was not as popular as the Macbook Pro in overall sales, Grant said. The white laptop originally costs $999, according to the online store. Savannah Shades, journalism sophomore, said it was inconvenient bursar account charges were no longer accepted at the store, where she went Wednesday to buy her brother a Macbook Pro laptop for his high school graduation. “I don’t think that’s really fair. I mean, I think that it would have been easier for a lot of the students to [pay using their bursar accounts], because I know I don’t have $1,000 just lying around,” Shades said. “It was kind of a hassle for my grandfather to send me the money.” Store employees also attempted to significantly reduce the length of the lines. Eric Harp, social studies education sophomore, noticed the difference from last semester’s one-day sale. “The lines were still a bit long, but they were way better than the
A lOOK AT WHAT’S ON Visit the multimedia section to read the transcript of Wednesday’s tuition hearing with President David Boren
MERRILL JONES/THE DAILY
IT Store customers wait in line to purchase discounted Apple and PC products. This semester was the first time the IT store held a three day sale. The store is still evaulating profits to determine the structure of future sales. other sale, in my opinion. I got there pretty early on Wednesday, but I didn’t get the free printer [with a computer purchase],” Harp said. “You win some; you lose some.” Grant also noticed that the lines in the store were long on Wednesday, but said she thinks the lengthening of the sale did alleviate some of the traffic. “We did still have a long line and crowded store on Wednesday morning, but I think the people
THE OKlAHOMA DAIly VOL. 96, NO. 147 © 2011 OU Publications Board www.OUDaily.com www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily
that waited were happy they did as we did sell out of some of the more popular items by mid-day Wednesday,” Grant said. Store employees will evaluate the sales and profits for several weeks, Grant said. Store employees are looking into having another three-day sale next semester, but plans have not yet been finalized. Alex Ewald contributed to this report.
WHAT’S INSIDE Campus ................. Classifieds ............. Life & Arts .............. Opinion ................. Sports ...................
2 7 6 4 8
Students to study US drug use in Honors course Chocolate, marijuana, alcohol and other illegal and legal substances will be discussed in a course offered to honors students about the use of drugs in America. A new course titled “Psychoactive Substances in American Culture” will be offered by the Honors College during May intersession. Students will receive three hours of honors credit and examine the use of illicit and legal drugs from a historical, sociological and economic standpoint. The course is designed to teach students from any background about the issue of drug use in America, according to a Honors College newsletter. “Drug education classes in high school are important,” said Sarah Tracy, Honors College professor. “But sometimes they don’t present the big picture and only focus on one side of the issue.” The course will study psychoactive substances like opium or heroin. Much of the class will focus on drugs in American politics, economy, medicine and how they have been regulated differently throughout history, according to the newsletter While there is no lab with the course, there has been one in the past where students made different coffees and teas from areas like South America. Students instead will read books, watch films and hold discussions over class topics, Tracy said. For further information on the course call the Honors College main office number at 405-3255291. - Juan Sanchez/The Daily
TODAy’S WEATHER
76°| 53° Tomorrow: Mostly sunny, high of 83 degrees