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Department withholds public records Replies to The Daily’s requests for health code records violate the Open Records Act JOEY STIPEK
Special Projects Editor @JoeyStipek
The Cleveland County Health Department has violated the Oklahoma Open Records Act, according to state and federal Freedom of Information experts. Health department officials waited for approval from the department’s attorneys before giving The Daily requested health code violation records, which violates Oklahoma’s Open Records Act section 24 A.5. As well, The Daily was not permitted to electronically reproduce hard copies of the health inspection reports, which violates the opinion of former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.
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The Daily eventually acquired the records after paying copies of the inspection reports, Katherine Cintron, ad$53 for 212 pages used for a follow-up article about health ministrative technician for the Cleveland County Health code violations found in Campus Corner establishments. Department wrote, in an email dated Aug. 15: “I’m afraid Joey Senat, an Oklahoma State University journal- not. Current policy states that the procedure we followed ism professor and former Freedom of this time is the procedure that we must The agency violated Information Oklahoma president, said follow each time.” in these instances, the Cleveland County Inspection reports are kept in an elecOklahoma’s Open Health Department is violating the tronic database, said Keith Reed, regionRecords Act section original intent of the Oklahoma Open al director of Cleveland and McClain Records Act. County Health Departments. The re24 A.5 Freedom of Information Oklahoma ports are entered into the database, is a statewide organization actively supporting individuals which can be publicly accessed through the department’s and organizations working to acquire open records and pro- website. The database does not include scanned copies of vide access to open meetings. the inspection report, nor is it standard practice for the department to scan the inspection reports electronically.
INSPECTION REPORTS
When The Daily requested to make its own electronic
Bookstore FRENZY
SEE HEALTH PAGE 2
RESEARCH FUNDING
Congressperson visits OU campus Rep. Tom Cole met with physics and astronomy students to discuss science KATE BERGUM
Assistant News Editor @kateclaire_b
TONY RAGLE/THE DAILY
Students brave long lines to purchase their books for the fall semester.
The first weeks of school pack the OU Bookstore with thousands of students looking for their course materials MIKE BRESTOVANSKY Assistant News Editor @BrestovanskyM
Students and their families dart between the shelves, as lanyard-wearing staffers usher them onward. During the early weeks of class, the OU Bookstore maintains a delicate balance between manic efficiency and outright chaos. The madness begins when the incoming freshmen move into their residence halls. However, it is not until the Friday before classes that the store becomes truly hectic, store director Tina Wieden said. “It would be absolutely impossible to measure, but easily thousands of people come through here in a single day,” Wieden said. “Thousands and thousands.” O n We d n e s d ay a n d Thursday before school starts, students are still settling into their new homes, Wieden said. But on Friday,
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w h i l e t h e s t u d e n t s a re as high as 80 or 90. Wieden spending time at their orien- and those students have tation events, a lot of parents been working at the bookcome in to pick up their chil- store from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. dren’s books. At first That ’s not to glance, the mention the bookstore reupperclassmen sembles a who try to buy chaotic zoo books. of Sooners, To cope with but this year this massive the bookIt would be influx of shopstore seems absolutely pers — which to be running continues until impossible to s m o o t h l y — weeks after least some measure, but at classes start — Sooners think the Bookstore easily thousands so. hires students of people come “It could just to tempobe because I’m rary positions. through here in used to it, but it These workers a single day.” definitely feels manage invenfaster,” said , TINA WIEDEN, tory, guide cuscomputer engiBOOKSTORE DIRECTOR tomers, work neering junior. registers and “Sometimes everything in between. I need to come back a few Wieden said she’s hired days later because a book over 50 temporary workers isn’t here, but not this time.” this fall, but mentioned that Wieden said the bookstore the number could have been has made improvements to
its efficiency this fall. This is partly a result of more students ordering their books online before school, which saves bookstore workers the hassle of tracking down limited copies. “Our goal is for people to only have to come in once before classes begin instead of buying a few before class and waiting a week for the others to be delivered,” Wieden said. As the bookstore machine winds down a few weeks after school starts, most of the hired temporary employees will leave the bookstore, but many of them will stay through the fall and winter — just in time for the store to spring back into frenetic motion as students return their books.
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A group of physics and astronomy students met with Rep. Tom Cole Tuesday evening to demonstrate the importance of science funding at universities. The students, researchers in the OU Physics and Astronomy Department, met at 4 p.m. in the Nielsen Hall’s atrium to talk about research they conduct, including super novi, semi-conductors, rubidium and unformed planets. Evan Rich, an astrophysics graduate student, said he and his fellow researchers wanted to enthusiastically represent science research and show Cole how important science funding is to university programs and students. Cole has supported science education in the past, said Shayne Cairns, a graduate student studying condensed matter physics. A student since 2008, Cairns said he has seen research funding dwindle since “We’ve been able to around 2010. C a i r n s s a i d O U ’ s weather the storm.” Physics and Astronomy SHAYNE CAIRNS, Department is surviving financially, though pro- CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS GRADUATE STUDENT grams at other universities have failed. “We’ve been able to weather the storm,” Cairns said. However, he said funding is still crucial. Grants allow graduate students and faculty to produce better research faster. This brings more prestige back to the OU community, Cairns said. Brent McCoy, a graduate student studying high energy particle physics, said the research of his field is almost exclusively funded by national grants. McCoy said that he and the other OU graduate students who spoke to Cole represent all students who benefit from research funding. “We’re the faces of science,” McCoy said. McCoy said members of the OU Physics and Astronomy Department are conducting important research, which makes funding even more important to research programs. “We’re on the cutting edge of discovery,” McCoy said. In addition to talking with the group of students, Cole toured the research laboratories of Michael Santos, professor of condensed matter physics, and James Shaffer, professor of atomic, molecular and optical physics. Santos said the meeting with Cole was largely planned by Sara Barber, a graduate research assistant for the department.
JIANG JIAXIN/THE DAILY
Congressperson Tom Cole speaks with students during a visit to Nielson Hall Tuesday.
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