The University of Oklahoma

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LIFE & ARTS • PAGE 5

Fair opens today with $1 admission for all The Daily’s AJ Lansdale highlights food, music and events at the Oklahoma State Fair, which kicks off today and ends Sept. 26.

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City deals with increasing water demand Residents opposing water rate increase leaves Norman officials searching for plan SPENCER POPP The Oklahoma Daily

City officials and water planners are scrambling to balance the budget and build a plan with longterm solutions to fulfill the city’s growing demand for water since Norman residents voted against water rate increases Aug. 24. The proposed increase would have funded day-to-day expenses of the Norman water treatment facility as well as capital projects, salaries and benefits, operating

costs, debt from previous projects and the exploration of long-term water sources for the city. The city finance committee met Sept. 2 to discuss possible solutions on how to shore up the budget but no final decisions have been made, said Anthony Francisco, City of Norman finance director. “There are some capital expenditures that can be delayed or cancelled, and that will be a short term solution to addressing the financial problems to the rate increase now,” he said. Some of the options discussed for delay or cancellation include the construction of a water tower

Somewhere, we need more water. If we continue adding more people, homes, businesses, we are not going to like it when we all have to ration in the summer.” — CHRIS MATTINGLY, NORMAN WATER TREATMENT PLANT MANAGER in south Norman, improvements to the water treatment facility and the construction of more wells. There are 10 wells expected to be completed this year as part of the last Norman rate hike in 2006, but this will only bring Norman back to a production level similar to five years ago, said Chris Mattingly, City of Norman Water

Treatment plant manager. The level of water treatment and production was reduced significantly in 2005 when the EPA changed the standard for chemicals in water like arsenic, forcing 16 out of 31 wells to close. The well construction is only an intermediary solution to Norman’s water supply needs, as there is a

limit to the number of wells the city is allowed to drill into the Garber-Wellington aquifer before it would no longer replenish itself, Francisco said. “We know we’ve got to back off overusing our wells,” said Bryan Hapke, City of Norman Water Treatment plant supervisor. But as far as long-term solutions for the city, Francisco said the planners will have to go back to the drawing board. “Any long-term water supply solution is going to be costly and cannot be addressed within our

SEE WATER PAGE 2

OU COUSINS | FAMILY AWAY FROM HOME

Graduate receives award; will visit Qatar Former student wins worldwide essay contest; 1 of 2 in nation LAUREN CASONHUA The Oklahoma Daily

Only two students each year are selected as winners of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators Student Writing Competition, and this year OU College of Law 2010 graduate Aleksei Tarasov nabbed one of the awards. The competition is open to fulltime seniors in four-year programs and graduate students at accredited universities worldwide. The association is an international organization that “supports international energy negotiators around the world and enhances their effectiveness and professionalism in the international energy community,” according to its website. Tarasov, who completed law school and received a political science degree at OU, submitted a 130-page thesis paper, “The Making of Empires: Russia’s Gasexporting Pipelines v. Nabucco,” from his International Petroleum Transactions class to the competition at the encouragement of his

SEE AWARD PAGE 2

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI / THE DAILY

OU Cousins prospective members gather before matching with another student Wednesday evening at the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center.

International, exchange students matched with new Web program OU Cousins kicks off year with welcoming festivities TREVOR SHOFNER The Oklahoma Daily

OU Cousins unveiled its new technology Wednesday that enables international and exchange students to be instantly matched with American students known as “cousins.” This technological advancement, developed by OU Information Technology, will greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to match students with cousins — something that took weeks in the past. “Everyone in the past has had to go online and fill out an Excel sheet, send it back to

us, and then we had to manually one by one match each individual person,” said Michael Nash, OU Cousins Advisory Board student director. “But thanks to OU IT, who we’ve been working with for the past two years, now students just log on with their fourby-fours, fill out a questionnaire and with a click of a button, we can match them, a process which used to take almost a month.” OU Cousins kicked off the year with a meet and greet Wednesday at Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center that featured loud music, icebreaker games and hundreds of name tags. The initiation of the new software allowed SEE COUSINS PAGE 2

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI / THE DAILY

Ashly Mendez, University College Freshman, submits her online registration form Wednesday during the OU Cousins Matching Event at the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center.

Sooner spins her way into world record book for dancing Freshman gains recognition through dance; wants to focus on career, beauty pageants MEGAN DEATON The Oklahoma Daily

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MARCIN RUTKOWSKI / THE DAILY

University College freshman Alicia Clifton poses for a picture. Clifton set world records for the highest number of consecutive pirouettes and the most fouettés in 30 seconds. She is in the Guinness World Records.

A LOOK AT WHAT’S NEW AT Visit the multimedia section to hear why PETA Vice President Bruce Friedrich thinks eating meat is unethical

t age 18, University College freshman Alicia Clifton already has two world records under her belt. Clifton, who’s been dancing since she was a toddler, holds the records for the most consecutive pirouettes and the most fouettés in 30 seconds. In 2005, Clifton established the world record for the most consecutive pirouettes by doing 36 in a row. Clifton admitted that she had never done 36 before the judged event. “With all the adrenaline and

THE OKLAHOMA DAILY VOL. 96, NO. 21 © 2010 OU Publications Board www.facebook.com/OUDaily www.twitter.com/OUDaily

ONLINE AT OUDAILY.COM » Video: Watch Alicia Clifton accomplish her first world record by completing the most consecutive pirouettes

excitement and all the people watching, I just somehow pulled out 36, so it was pretty cool, pretty scary and pretty interesting,” Clifton said. Later, Clifton attempted to beat her record when she appeared on “Live With Regis and Kelly,” but managed to spin out 31 pirouettes. This past spring, Guinness World Records contacted Clifton to ask her if she wanted to try for a second world title.

INDEX Campus .............. 2 Classifieds .......... 8 Life & Arts ........... 5 Opinion .............. 4 Sports ................ 9

After flying to Rome for the Guinness TV show, Alicia gained another world record title when she did the most fouettés in 30 seconds, racking up a grand total of 48. “We felt very strongly that she could break the record, so we weren’t too surprised when she beat the previous record of 42 fouettés,” said Clifton’s father, Rodney. Alicia calls her parents her “backbone” and support for everything she does. “She sets her goal, and she works toward it. We let her make her own decisions and support her in everything she wants to

SEE DANCER PAGE 2

TODAY’S WEATHER 88°| 72° Friday: Mostly sunny, high of 91 degrees Visit the Oklahoma Weather Lab at owl.ou.edu


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