The Oklahoma Daily

Page 1

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

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news Read about an OU student who broke a world record this summer. PAGE 3

OU and Tulsa face each other this weekend. Check the preview inside. out th side. PAGE 6

Read about the University Theatre production “Is He Dead?” in the Life & Arts section. PAGE 11

OUDAILY.COM » BECOME A FAN OF THEE OKLAHOMA OKLAHOOMA DDAILY/OUDAILY.COM AI LY/OUDA ILY ON FACEBOOK AC E B OOK FFOR OR UUPDATES, PDAT E S , VIDEOS AND MORE OF ALL YOUR DAILY FAVORITES.

U.S. HOUSE PASSES STUDENT LOAN BILL

Saturday’s Weather

30%

80°/65° owl.ou.edu CAMPUS BRIEFS THE HUFF CLOSED FOR HOME FOOTBALL GAME

OU’s Huston Huffman Center will be closed all day Saturday because of the OU-Tulsa football game. Huston Huffman will close at 10 p.m. tonight and reopen at 2 p.m. Sunday, said Chris Thompson, a front desk worker at the Huston Huffman Center.

Higher education plan simplifies FAFSA and could save billions RICKY MARANON The Oklahoma Daily

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would, if it becomes law, remove private lenders from the student loans business. The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (H.R. 3221) is the adoption of President Obama’s higher education plan and passed 253 to 171. “No student in America should have to

Certain sites will not fully function as records are transferred

FAN FEST CANCELLED FOR OU-TULSA GAME

MEREDITH MORIAK The Oklahoma Daily

-Jono Greco/The Daily

LECTURES TO BE GIVEN OVER DARWIN’S THEORY

Elliott Sober, research professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will deliver three public talks on the general topic “Philosophical Reflections on Darwin’s Theory” during the 11th Biennial David Ross Boyd Lectures at OU this month. Lecture titles and dates are “Darwin and Intelligent Design,” Sept. 21, “Did Darwin Write the Origin Backwards?” Sept. 23, and “Darwin and Group Selection,” Sept. 25. All lectures are scheduled for 5 p.m. in room 128 of Dale Hall, 433 W. Lindsey St. For more information about the lectures, please contact Reinaldo Elugardo at 325-6324 or relugardo@ ou.edu.

-Daily staff reports

the change in the way the government would administer student loans, if the bill is passed in the U.S. Senate and signed by President Obama, would generate $87 billion in savings to the federal government over the next 10 years. But there are other provisions to the bill aside from the change in student loans. According to the press release from Miller’s office, the bill simplifies the FAFSA and provides loan forgiveness for members of the military who are called to active duty in the middle of the academic year. It would also invest $40 billion BILL CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

Students to encounter oZONE conversion difficulties

-Charles Ward/The Daily

Saturday’s Fan Fest activities prior to the Oklahoma-Tulsa game have been cancelled due to wet grounds, said OU and Sooner Sports Properties officials in a press release. “The grounds were soft for last week’s game and we’ve had more rain since that time,” said Eric Barnhart, general manager of SSP. “We don’t want to subject the fans to muddy grounds and we also don’t want to do any damage to the track and field facility.” Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.

mortgage their future to get a good education,” stated the bill’s author, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., in a press release. “This legislation provides students and families with the single largest investment in federal student aid ever and makes landmark investments to improve education for students of all ages – and all without costing taxpayers a dime.” Miller stated the bill would allow students to borrow through a direct loan program set up by the federal government rather than through lenders who participate in the federally-guaranteed student loan program. According to the Congressional Budget Office,

Today and for the next 10 days, students will have limited access to many OU student-focused Web sites like Enroll, Degree Navigator and Student Services. However, beginning Sept. 28, students will have around-the-clock access to the sites from a new portal called oZONE. “This is the largest technology project ever done at the University,” said Eddie Huebsch, technical project lead and OU IT director of projects. The conversion of more than two million student records from a 40-year-old mainframe system to the oZONE portal will begin today and continue through Sept. 28. Desire to Learn and Exchange e-mail will not be affected by the conversion, said Nick Key, oZONE spokesman. On Sept. 28, the portal will go live and combine existing student services Web sites, like Learn, Enroll and Exchange, in one place, Key said. OU formed an oZONE team in June 2005 and began looking for solutions to remove information from the university mainframe system that was launched in 1968, Huebsch said. Members of the oZONE team said the new site will look different to students. “Change is going to be hard for students and hard for the staff,” said Melanee Hamilton, director of web communications. “It will be a tough change but so much better in the long run.” Team members predict oZONE will be most effective for incoming students who are learning to access their financial aid, e-mail and other student services before arriving in Norman. “There [was] no clear path [with the old system] ... with this, they will have everything right in one place and it will streamline their experience,” Key said.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MERRILL JONES

OU’s enrollment OZONE CONVERSIONS procedures, financial During the conversion of more than two -studentservices.ou.edu aid and bursar needs million student records, some sites will -Degree Navigator did not allow a confunction normally, some will work as version outside the read-only and others will be completely Sites completely unavailable: regular semesters, Key unavailable. -Admission application said. -Financial aid, no disbursement availDuring the converSites to function normally: able sion period, student records will be frozen -exchange.ou.edu -Bursar, no refunds from bursar and reflect static in-learn.ou.edu accounts formation from Sept. -pay.ou.edu 18, Key said. Sites to function as read-only: “Change isn’t al-enroll.ou.edu SOURCE: Nick Key, oZONE spokesman ways easy, but it’s very foundational and reFor more information about oZONE, log on to ally a positive thing overall,” Key said. www.ou.edu/ozoneinfo.

Democratic leader-elect chosen by caucus OU golf course stays

green with grey water

Sen. Andrew Rice to lead party from 2011-12

Practice saves on water, frees up funds

CAITLIN HARRISON The Oklahoma Daily

Sen. Andrew Rice. D-Oklahoma City, was chosen today as Democratic leader-elect by the Oklahoma state Senate Democratic caucus. “I’m honored to have the chance to do it. It’s a very diverse caucus,” Rice said. “The margins are very close [between] the senators … a lot of votes come very closely.” Rice will serve as leader for the 201112 legislative session. Current leader Sen. Charlie Laster, D-Shawnee, will serve as leader for next year’s legislative session and step down at the end of next year. He has served as democratic floor leader since January 2007. “I have been honored to serve as leader of the Democratic caucus and share my Democratic colleagues’ desire to work with Sen. Rice as we fight aggressively to regain the majority in the Oklahoma state Senate,” Sen. Laster stated in a Capitol press release. Rice said he hopes to gain Republican support that will help push Democratic legislation, as well as foster the Democratic party as a whole. “I think our party is moving in a different direction,” Sen. Rice said. “The leaders designated in the House for the Democrats are both younger and

RICKY MARANON The Oklahoma Daily

MICHELLE GRAY/THE DAILY

Andrew Rice, current Oklahoma State Senator for district 46, speaks as part of his campaign for a spot in the U.S. Senate, Wednesday afternoon in the Sooner Room in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Rice's fellow state senator, John Sparks (district 16), and Wallace Collins (right), a candidate for state representative of district 45, stood behind him during the speech Rice delivered last fall campaign for the U.S Senate. we’re both from the Oklahoma City area where you see growth for our party.” Rice said the party’s leaders have typically come from the state’s rural areas, so he hopes his urban background will serve as a positive change. He said the party’s leaders are divided evenly between rural and urban areas, and that the party’s focus on rural policies won’t change. Rice was elected to District 46 in 2006 with nearly 70 percent of the vote, and also ran unsuccessfully for

the U.S. Senate last year. “I congratulate Sen. Rice on being chosen by his colleagues to serve in this important capacity, and I’m excited to work alongside a democrat with his ability to energize our younger voters,” state Rep. Scott Inman, D-Oklahoma City, stated in a press release. “I know we are both committed to being a strong voice for all Oklahomans, and I’m confident we will work together to bring a fresh message to move our party and our state forward in the coming years.”

The Jimmie Austin OU Golf Course uses grey water to keep its greens free from brown patches. Grey water, or recycled water, is equivalent to water that someone has been used to bathe in or wash dishes in, not sewage, according to the 1998 Water and Environment Journal, published by the Charter Institute of Water and Environment Management. “We at [the] Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club are proud that we have the capability to use recycled or grey water to water our golf course,” Eddie Roach, assistant superintendent of the golf course said. “The use of grey water for irrigation purposes is becoming more of an everyday trend, especially on golf courses, since water restrictions on golf courses are becoming more of an issue.” Roach said the water is collected in a 500,000-gallon tank located directly south of

the course’s clubhouse. Jason Faires, Jimmie Austin superintendent, said the water is pumped to the golf club from the waste water treatment plant located about a mile south of the golf course. “Our golf course is greener in the sense that we have the capability to water our course with water that is being recycled rather than from water that is bought directly from the city like many other golf courses throughout the nation have to do,” Roach said. However, Faires said there were some problems with grey water use. “The biggest misconception about using reclaimed water is that it is free water,” Faires said. “The water may not cost as much as ground water or city water, but using it has adverse effects on soil structure and turf.” Faires said more aerification and gypsum applications are needed just to make turf grow as it would if it were watered with fresh water, which means higher than normal labor and fertility WATER CONTINUES ON PAGE 2


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