The Oklahoma Daily

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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 0, 20 2009 009

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Read about a local band performing this Thursday. PAGE 6

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The OU volleyball team plays tonight’s game in memory of a young Sooner. PAGE 3

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NEWS STORY FORMER OKLA GOV. HENRY BELLMON PASSES AWAY NATASHA GOODELL Daily Staff Writer

Members of both Republican and Democratic parties mourned the loss of former Oklahoma Republican Gov. Henry Bellmon, who passed away Tuesday at 88 years old after a long battle against Parkinson’s disease. “Henry Bellmon will be remembered as one of the greatest Oklahomans in our state’s history,” OU President David Boren stated in an e-mail. “In an age of politicians, he always stood out as a statesman with the moral courage to do what he thought was right. Ever since I entered public life 40 years ago, he has been my friend, adviser and a constant source of encouragement to me. His death leaves a gap in the lives of all of us.” Bellmon became Oklahoma’s first GOP governor since statehood. Bellmon was the father of the state’s modern Republican party, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore) stated in an e-mail. “He served his nation as a soldier in a time of world war. He led Oklahoma Republicans out of the wilderness in the 1960s. And, as governor and U.S. senator, he served our state and nation as a statesman,” House Speaker Chris Benge (R-Tulsa) also stated in an e-mail. “He leaves a legacy that all can celebrate and a model of service for other public officials to follow.” Gov. Brad Henry ordered that all flags on state property be flown at half-staff Tuesday in Bellmon’s honor. “Oklahoma mourns the passing of a legend,” Gov. Henry said. “Henry Bellmon was not only a proud Oklahoman, but in many ways embodied Oklahoma — toughminded, hard-working, honest, patriotic and a true son of the land. He was a man who preferred deeds to words. Most important, Henry Bellmon was a superb leader and public servant who always sought to better this state he so dearly loved.” As governor in 1990, Bellmon saw the passage of the Education Reform and Funding Act (House Bill 1017), which called for a 27 percent increase in funding for public schools. “His legacy will perhaps be greatest felt in education, where he fought valiantly to ensure every child in Oklahoma received a solid education and a world of opportunity,” Todd Goodman, chairman of the Oklahoma Democratic Party, stated in an e-mail. In 1982, Bellmon spoke out about his own party’s supply-side economics policies, telling the U.S. Senate Budget Committee that they were hurting farmers with their policies. “During a time when a drought severely struck Oklahoma’s wheat harvest, I walked the wheat fields of northwest Oklahoma with Governors Bellmon and Keating as Bellmon showed us the drastic impact the drought had on Oklahoma’s farms,” Todd Lamb (R-Edmond), Oklahoma state senator and family friend of the Bellmon’s, stated in an e-mail. Cole said Bellmon led on every issue with courage, commitment and integrity, Cole said. “Like tens of thousands of other Oklahomans, I honor and appreciate his life, mourn his loss and offer my heartfelt sympathy to his family. Henry Bellmon was an Oklahoma political pioneer — we won’t see his like again,” Cole said. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Changes in Women’s Studies Department to encompass both genders NATASHA GOODELL Daily Staff Writer

T h e O U Wo m e n ’s Stu d i e s Department is expanding its curriculum beyond its focus on the issues and equality of women this year to include issues of gender to reach a broader group of students. “I think the gender aspect has always been a huge part of women’s studies, but now I think it’s more inclusive,” said Garrison Warren, women’s and gender studies and political science junior. Warren said he thinks there is easier access to this department now. “My roommate last year became a women’s and gender studies minor right as they were changing CHANGES CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

DUKE LAMBERT/THE DAILY

A campaign to stop violence occurring against women of the Democratic Republic of Congo hangs in the newly named Women’s and Gender Studies office. The previous name of the department was Women’s Studies.

Students must revote on old ballot measures

UOSA hears reform arguments at meeting

Congress addresses mishaps from last spring’s election

Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society argues for new body of Congress

RICKY MARANON Daily Staff Writer

Students will have to vote again on a resolution to add “sexual orientation” to OU’s non-discrimination clause in the upcoming fall general

election, but this time they will also add “and gender identity” to the ballot. Though a resolution to amend the UOSA constitution was approved by the student body last spring, the resolution did not change the university’s non-discrimination clause. MEASURES CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY

Student Congress Chairman John Jennings, management information systems senior, presides over the UOSA meeting which took place Tuesday in Adams Hall.

RICKY MARANON Daily Staff Writer

Members of Student Congress heard arguments from Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society on how student government should be reformed Tuesday night. Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society had previously parliamentary spoken out of order and interrupted the Student Congress meeting on Sept. 22 when they began their Take Back UOSA! campaign. Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society had two members speak before Congress: former UOSA Graduate Student Senate member Nicholas Harrison and Oklahoma Students for a Democratic Society spokesman Matt Bruenig. “I initially was not a part of SDS until I saw what they were campaigning for,” said Harrison, law and business graduate student. “I was a member of the Graduate Student Senate [from fall 2008 to spring 2009], and the biggest thing we did was approve of a mixer. I tried to pass initiatives on things like sexual orientation but it was lost in committee, and no one wanted to talk about them when they were brought up.” Harrison said as someone who was formerly active in student government, he has personally seen disappointments in student representative government. “We are proposing a constitutional change that gives student organizations like SDS and GLBTF a voice in Congress,” Harrison said. “We also want uncontested races to automatically come up for re-election in the next general election.” Harrison mentioned to members of Congress that they could have extended the deadline to allow people more time to sign up to run for office, but they chose not to last spring. ARGUMENTS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

Professors benefit from repaired Hubble Space Telescope Additions to the telescope make it ‘more powerful than ever’ RICKY MARANON Daily Staff Writer

Astronomy professors said they are benefiting from the recent repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, which provides them information for research and classroom teaching. “This marks a new beginning for Hubble,” said Ed Weiler, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, upon completion of repairs. “The telescope was given an extreme makeover and now is significantly more powerful than ever.” According to a NASA press release, a new camera and spectrograph were added to the telescope, and an additional camera used for advanced surveying and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph were repaired at the circuit board level.

“I use the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph,” astronomy professor John Cowan said. “We use it to look for radioactive elements in some of the oldest stars in the universe, and with information collected from this research, we can know what elements and types of stars were present at the very beginning of the universe.” Cowan said the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph stopped working two years ago when the instrument’s power supply failed, and he was forced to study backlogged data acquired as early as 1993. He said he was unsure if a repair was going to be made when the instrument broke two years ago. “Previous NASA administrators didn’t want to fix Hubble at all,” Cowan said. “There was a great deal of doubt if there was going to be any repair made to any part of the telescope.” After an administrative change, Cowan was TELESCOPE CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

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ESTEBAN PULIDO/THE DAILY

Professor John Cowan in his office Monday in Nielsen Hall. Cowan was slated to use the Hubble Space Telescope before it was repaired and is now waiting for approval to continue his research. VOL. 95, NO. 30


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