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The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
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ACADEMICS
Not all majors provide same OU experience Some programs have thousands of students while others have one KATE BERGUM
Assistant News Editor @kateclaire_b
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TONY RAGLE
Aquatic life generates power Information may lead to medical field advances JUSTINE ALEXANDER NEWS REPORTER @CAFFEINEJUSTINE
A
n OU biology research- understanding bioelectric siger has received a grant naling systems, like our brains, to conduct research on muscles and heart. a topic that’s particular shocking Markham’s current project is — electric fish. focused on understanding the O U B i o l o g y r e s e a r c h - weakly electric fish’s bioelectric er Michael Markham earned energy requirements and how a $716,000 National Science they are optimized to use the Foundation CAREER least amount of energy grant to support a to achieve the greatSEE five-year project est amount of inforresearching the mation transfer, he MORE ONLINE biology of electric said. Visit OUDaily.com fish. The research The weakfor an audio recording may eventually be ly electric fish of the fish sending out able to be used in Markham works electric pulses. medical research, with communicate according to an OU and observe the world press release. Real world through electric signals, applications could include the Markham said. By sending brief creation of biological pacemak- electric fields with a specialized ers, Markham said. electric organ in their tails, the Markham said that in the most fish “see” by detecting distorgeneral terms, he is interested in tions of the electric field created
by their surroundings, he said. Markham said he uses the electric fish model because they use exactly the same molecular mechanisms as our bodies to produce their electric signals. Markham explained how the fishes’ current-generating organs operate on the same principle as the sodium channels in human cells. The fishes’ cells in their electric organ have a very high number of these channels and generate an electrical current when all channels are open. “One of the reasons we study these fish is because the energy required for this system is really extreme,” he said. “They discharge 500 times per second, 24 hours a day for their entire lifetime.”
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Kate Acone is the only undergraduate in her major. Kaitlyn Dorrough is one of four undergraduates in her major. The same goes for Caitlin Keefe. OU has 166 majors, ranging from advertising, to electrical engineering, to stage management. Biology, the most popular major in the College of Ar ts and Sciences, has 1,365 undergraduate students, according to records provided by the college. Meanwhile, Everyone sort some programs are much smaller, such as the piano of looks out for pedagogy program in the themselves in a Weitzenhoffer College of Fine Arts, which only has bigger major.” one undergraduate. KATIE ACONE, In the case of piano PIANO PEDAGOGY SENIOR pedagogy, its lone undergraduate is Kate Acone. Acone has taken courses in which she has been the only student. “I’m the only one in a very personalized program,” Acone said. Instead of feeling lonely in her classes, Acone said she loves the personalized attention she receives as the only piano pedagogy undergraduate. The pedagogy program’s small size means Acone is very close with her professors, Acone said. Within two weeks of starting the piano BY THE pedagogy program, proNUMBERS fessors were asking Acone if she needed any help and OU majors if there was anything they Total could do for her. majors However, while Acone at OU, ranging from is the only piano pedaadvertising to stage gogy undergraduate, she management doesn’t spend all her time in classes with just herself and a professor. There are about 15 graduate students Students in biology, in the piano pedagogy prothe most popular major in the College gram who share some of her of Arts and Sciences classes, Acone said. Acone also takes courses with Piano pedagogy piano performance majors. undergraduate Before she changed her student major to piano pedagogy her sophomore year, Acone was a zoology major. She has found that the smaller piano program is more intimate than her former program, she said. “Everyone sort of looks out for themselves in a bigger major,” Acone said.
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SEE FISH PAGE 2
SEE MAJORS PAGE 2
SALE
Annual OU Libraries book sale event starts Wednesday An assortment of cheap books will be sold for less than $2 this week DANA BRANHAM
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday
News Reporter @danabranham
An array of cheap books will be offered to students Wednesday and Thursday as part of OU Libraries’ annual sidewalk book sale. The sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the south side of Bizzell Memorial Library’s Neustadt Wing. The books in the sale are often gifts to the library donated by the public or by retiring professors, said Starla Doescher, head of acquisitions for OU Libraries. Because the books are donations, the types of books in the sale vary from year to year. “They’re just a complete assortment of things,” Doescher said. Hardback books will be sold for $2, paperbacks will WEATHER Partly cloudy today with a high of 88, low of 67. Follow @AndrewGortonWX on Twitter for weather updates.
GO AND DO OU Libraries sidewalk book sale Where: South side of Bizzell Memorial Library’s Neustadt Wing
be $1 and magazines will be 50 cents. Doescher said students should attend the book sale both Wednesday and Thursday for extra discounts, as they generally cut prices on the second day. “So even if they’ve bought some the first day, they might get some really good bargains the next day,” Doescher said. Dana Branham branham.dana@gmail.com
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The Bizzell Memorial Library will host the OU Libraries’ annual sidewalk book sale this Wednesday and Thursday.
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