WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 16, 6, 22009 009
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The Daily checks in with the OU men’s basketball team on their offseason progress. PAGE 1B
Read one Daily writer’s thoughts about the new Muse CD, “The Resistance.” PAGE 3B
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Thursday’s Weather
77°/62° owl.ou.edu CAMPUS BRIEFS FAMILY GAME NIGHT FOR AGES FIVE AND OLDER The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will host a family game night Friday, where families can eat dinner and enjoy fun activities together. Game night begins at 6 p.m. and costs $10 for museum members and $12 for nonmembers. During the event families will play games outdoors, eat dinner together and then design their own game to take home. “We started this event because of requests from parents,” museum spokeswoman Linda Coldwell said. “Parents saw their kids participating in the events and wanted to join.” These activities are for families with children ages five and older. To register call 325-4712 or for more information visit www.snomnh. ou.edu. -Colbi Beam/The Daily
SUSTAINABILITY FILMS SCREENING WITH PANEL The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will host a series of films addressing sustainability issues beginning Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and running through Sunday. Films being featured include “Fresh,” “The Great Squeeze: Surviving the Human Project,” “The Greening of Southie,” “Food, Inc.,” “No Impact Man,” “Earth Days” and more. After the final screening on Sunday, there will be a panel discussion entitled “Sustainability in Oklahoma: Where Do We Go from Here?” Local experts including Bruce Edwards, director of Urban Harvest at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, and Shauna Lawyer Struby of Sustainable OKC will lead the discussion. Tickets are $6 for college students with an ID and $8 for adults. For more information and specific show times, visit www.okcmoa.com/film.
Health care bill likely to be signed by end of year Finished product may contain changes due to ongoing debate CAITLIN HARRISON The Oklahoma Daily
The recent news buzz about health care reform may have left some students confused
about exactly what’s being discussed — and how they will be affected. Wes Glinsmann, director of state legislative and political affairs for the Oklahoma State Medical Association, said the president will likely sign some type of health care reform bill before Christmas — it’s just a matter of what it will contain. “It’s a very fluid process right now. What will
WHAT’S STAYING:
WHAT’S BEING DISCUSSED:
WHAT’S BEING ELIMINATED:
• Requirements that many individuals carry insurance • Penalty, possibly as high as several thousands of dollars, for those who do not get insurance • Requirement for insurers to accept customers regardless of pre-existing conditions • Subsidies and expansion of Medicaid to help poor and lower-middle classes buy insurance • New insurance exchange for individuals and small businesses to comparison-shop for plans • Trimming payments through Medicare to help pay for health care legislation • No coverage gap when switching jobs
• Public option: a government-funded plan to compete with private insurers • Nonprofit co-operatives to compete with private insurers • Surtax on families earning $350,000 a year or more • Mandate on employers to provide coverage to employees • Fine of up to 8-percent payroll on businesses that fail to provide workers with coverage
• Medicare reimbursement for end-of-life planning • Single-payer concept that would make the federal government the sole provider of health care in the U.S.
Although Democrats and Republicans have not agreed on everything, Glinsmann said most government officials agree insurance companies should be required to cover individuals regardless of pre-existing conditions. Most have also consented the bill should include a provision on portability issues, so individuals do not experience a gap in coverage when they change jobs. A public option is on the table, but Glinsmann
said it has caused significant debate and isn’t likely to make it into the bill. A public option would be a government-run insurance program available to all U.S. citizens that would aim to reduce costs and compete with private plans. If a reform bill passed, students may not feel the impact until after graduation since most are still covered under their parents’ insurance, Glinsmann said. “[When] it might be an issue is for older
Source: The Wall Street Journal
UOSA Student Congress also discusses plans for Green Week 2010 RICKY MARANON The Oklahoma Daily
TUTORS NEEDED FOR GRADES 6 THROUGH 12
-Daily Staff Reports
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS RELEASES CALENDAR Tuesday Tutors is looking for volunteers to tutor students in grades 6 through 12. The Tuesday Tutor Program tutors students during the afternoon and early evening at local schools. If you have a strong academic background in one or more subjects and would like to help with this program, please e-mail program coordinator Elizabeth Windes at lizwindes@ cox.net. -Daily Staff Reports
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students who can’t be on their parents’ insurance anymore, who don’t have a full-time job or can’t afford to go out and buy their own insurance,” he said. The health care reform bill is a work in progress, Glinsmann said, but he expects the president to sign something in the coming months. “Both sides have made it clear that if we want to get this done, we’ve got to get it done by the end of the year,” Glinsmann said.
OU Hillel addresses Westboro church protests
-Breia Brissey/The Daily
The 2009-10 calendar of events from the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts is now available and contains more than 350 performances from the art, drama and music departments. “This is our second year completing a season calendar that includes events for all of the schools within the College of Fine Arts,” said dean Rich Taylor in a press release. The calendar includes drama, musical theatre, dance, music and opera events, in addition to information about special exhibits and events at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. For more information, visit http:// www.ou.edu/finearts or call Holly Jones at 325-4242.
be in the final bill, I think, will be very different from what it looks like right now,” Glinsmann said. “The difference is how should we get there ... Should we do things to support the private market, or do we need the government taking over and reforming health care from the top down?” he said.
TEEKO YANG/THE DAILY
Amanda Hearn, Physical Plant spokeswoman, talks to members of UOSA Student Congress about upcoming Green Week 2010 activities Tuesday night.
Members of OU Hillel alerted members of Student Congress Tuesday that the Westboro Baptist Church will protest their celebration of Rosh Hashana, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday. A posting on the Westboro Baptist Church Web site states that members of the church will protest at Hillel at that time on Friday, and then will stage three protests in Oklahoma City. Members told Student Congress that they are planning events to counter the protest that will portray the Jewish community in a positive manner, but they also were expecting other students to counter the protest in a manner of noisemaking. “We want to represent the Jewish community and our traditions in a positive manner, but we also wanted to let everyone know what is going on,” said the
two students who represented OU Hillel. “We are thinking of having an open house or some other event.” Student Congress also began planning for Green Week 2010 by giving the Physical Plant $1,500 to implement a more efficient recycling program. “We all have to do our part, and tonight, it starts with us,” UOSA Student Congress Chairman John Jennings said. “2010 and Green Week will be here before we know it.” Though Green Week 2010 is going to be held in the spring, UOSA began to plan Tuesday on ways to improve upon Green Week 2009. Student Congress also heard about the Physical Plant’s environmentally-friendly initiative, Crimson and Green. “We have a new Web site that allows students to make green commitments across campus,” Physical Plant spokeswoman Amanda Hearn said. “For every commitment received, we will contribute to $2 to green initiatives.”
PROTESTS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
New CIA Officer in Residence provides practical knowledge Students interested in intelligence information now have a new mentor JARED RADER The Oklahoma Daily
Don Hughes is OU’s new CIA Officer in Residence, coming to Norman after a stint in the Agency’s Office of Congressional Affairs. The CIA’s Officer-in-Residence program selects about eight to 12 CIA officers to send to universities to broaden understanding of national security intelligence and missions in an academic setting, according to the CIA’s Web site. Hughes said his main goal is to bring to students a practitioner’s perspective of national security issues, rather than a scholarly view. “I’d like to give some students a bit of a different picture about how bureaucracies work and the tough decisions that you have to make,” Hughes said. “The work I’ll do is a
little more practical, a little bit less theoretical.” Hughes said he came to OU too late to teach any classes this fall, but he expects to teach a class or two of political science or international and area studies in the spring. In the meantime, he said he would visit classes to teach, sit on discussion panels and host seminars. He also said that he would offer resources to other universities and colleges in Oklahoma. Hughes began his career with the CIA in 2000, moving to the CIA’s Office of Congressional Affairs in 2006. The OCA informs Congress of CIA activities. “As a general rule, the CIA is very specialized internally,” Hughes said. “Working in [the OCA] exposes whoever works there to the whole gamut of things the CIA is involved in.” While working in the OCA, Hughes said he assembled written products or teams of briefers whenever Congress wanted information
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on CIA activities. Hughes said that while it may seem like 2006 was a particularly controversial time to work for the CIA - given the fact it was around the time the Iraq war effort was coming under fire - citizens should know the CIA is always active. “There’s always something going on somewhere that may not be on your TV or your computer screen or on page one of the newspaper,” Hughes said. Hughes said the Officer-inResidence selection process is competitive, and he became interested in applying for the job at OU because of the influence OU President David Boren and his son, Dan Boren, had on the U.S. intelligence community. President Boren was once the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and his son is now a member of the House Intelligence Committee. “[David Boren] did a lot of good things on the Senate Intelligence Committee that strengthened
national security,” Hughes said. “There was this kind of OU connection that I got interested in that was a principal reason why I competed for this position.” Hughes looks forward to having discussions with students interested in national security and hopes he can help encourage students who are interested in working for the CIA to learn more about it. CIA regulations, however, prevent Hughes from recruiting in any form, he said. Hughes said while one does not get recognized for one’s work in the CIA, given the secret nature of the job, it is essential for national security. “You don’t read about it, but you know it’s great work, it’s honorable work, it’s challenging work,” Hughes said. “It’s the mission that makes it worthwhile, and if the mission doesn’t excite you, then [the CIA] wouldn’t be the right place for you.”
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