FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
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Pixar art director inspires students to dream Love of vehicles leads to success with popular animated movies DUSTY SOMERS The Oklahoma Daily
Pixar Animation Studios art director Jay Shuster knows a lot about sketching and designing cars — and he ought to. His life began in one. “[My dad’s 1969 Chevrolet Corvair] is most likely the car I was conceived in,” Shuster said Thursday at a lecture at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. For nearly two hours, Shuster self-deprecatingly regaled the audience with tales of his boyhood love for all things vehicular, the shenanigans that take place at Pixar’s headquarters just outside San Francisco and his awe of the original “Star Wars” trilogy. One year, Shuster’s dad designed a Jawa — a short, hooded “Star Wars” alien — costume for him for Halloween, completely with glowing LED eyes, Shuster said. “I’d hang out at the house in this thing,” he said. “[And]
it just freaked kids out walking down the sidewalk.” His love for “Star Wars” eventually led Shuster to a job at Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed environments and vehicles for the prequel trilogy, including many of the podracers in “Star Wars: Episode 1.” But just because he worked on the prequels doesn’t mean Shuster thinks too highly of them. “The original trilogy was fantastic,” Shuster said. “What they did with the technology they had back in the day was phenomenal. ‘Star Wars’ changed my life; ‘Episode 1’ changed it back.” From there, Shuster moved to Pixar in 2002 where he began designing vehicles for 2006’s “Cars.” He said it was then — designing mechanical things — when he found his niche. He went on to design main characters WALL·E and EVE in 2008’s “WALL·E,” a process that took a year and a half, he said. Shuster showed pages and pages of sketches and the extensive preparation work that goes into designing characters. WALL·E required the biggest model packet of DIRECTOR CONTINUES ON PAGE 2
LAUREN HARNED/THE DAILY
Jay Shuster, art director at Disney’s Pixar, signs autographs for visual communication juniors, Lisa Phan and Courtney Saunders. Shuster lectured in the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Thursday afternoon.
Assistant professor uncovers genetic patterns GRESHAM TO MISS
SEASON OPENER
New research challenges previous theories of continent population
Team considering options for treatment JONO GRECO The Oklahoma Daily
JARED RADER The Oklahoma Daily
New questions of human origin could shed light on what makes groups of people more or less prone to certain diseases, an OU researcher has found. Cecil Lewis, assistant professor of anthropology and director of the OU Molecular Anthropology laboratory, studied genetic diversity among American populations. His research is not only groundbreaking for anthropology but it could also affect future health research. “I made a number of surprising discoveries, some of which actually applied to the Americas as a whole,” Lewis said. Lewis’ research, which was recently published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, focused on the genetic variations in the Americas. What he found has challenged previous assumptions of the human origins in the country. The genetic evidence of Lewis’ research in South America suggests the continent was populated first from the east to the west. Lewis said this goes against the more common idea that North America was populated first in the western coastal regions, with people then migrating to South America and populating the continent from west to east. “When it comes to genetic data, there is an expectation for what area of the Americas should have the largest genetic diversity,” Lewis said. This expectation is dependent on what population geneticists call the “founder effect,” he said. Lewis explained a founder effect occurs when there is a “parent population” that has a lot of genetic diversity. If a small group of the population moves away from the parent population to form a “daughter population” in another area, that population would be expected to only have less
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genetic diversity present in the parent population. Lewis’ research about South American genetic diversity challenges those expectations. He said his data shows local populations in the east of the continent, and when pooled together, yield a much greater genetic diversity than in the west. “Now the real story here is that when we look at the genetic data we have to rethink our original idea for the peopling of South America,” Lewis said. “There’s much more we need to look into before we can make that kind of a strong statement, but it’s certainly true that the genetic data is not fitting the pattern we would expect if the West coast had the initial migration.” Lewis said the founder effect could be traced back to the theory that humans originated from Southern Africa. He said examination of the genetic diversity of populations in Northern Africa and the Middle East reveal smaller subsets of the genetic diversity
found in South Africa. European and Asian populations follow this trend, having subsets of the genetic diversity found in the Middle East. North American populations, in turn, have subsets of diversity found in Asia. Lewis’ study of founder effects and genetic diversity holds important clues for disease risk and resistance among population groups. “This history of founder effects helps us determine how well one local population’s genetic risk factors might reflect the risk factors of a larger community,” Lewis said. He said this research is important because it will help determine whether medical studies should focus on general populations or smaller subsets of the population. Lewis is currently leading a study to help answer this question. The research involves the study of genes of blacks in Georgia and comparing the results with the same study being done on blacks in Oklahoma.
The No. 3 Sooners will be without senior tight end Jermaine Gresham in Saturday’s season opener against No. 20 Brigham Young University due to cartilage damage sustained in his right knee. OU head coach Bob Stoops said in a press release that Gresham, team doctors and athletic training staff members are currently considering treatment options that would determine how soon he could return. The 6-foot-6-inch Ardmore native suffered the injury during Tuesday’s practice, and team doctors and trainers are continuing evaluations on the knee, Stoops said. At the end of summer practices, Stoops said Gresham was the team’s best receiver after the departures of wide receivers Manuel Johnson, Juaquin Iglesias and Quentin Chaney. Last season, Gresham was a finalist for the John Mackey Award, awarded to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision’s best tight end, after bringing in 66 receptions for 950 yards and 14 touchdowns. OU’s depth chart listed Gresham as OU’s No. 1 tight end prior to his injury. Offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said in a press release sophomores Trent Ratterree and James Hanna will be stepping up to fill the role. Hanna saw playing time last season, while Ratterree did not. In 13 games last year, Hanna caught one pass for a loss of one yard against the Texas A&M Aggies. Ratterree did have a good showing at this past spring’s RedWhite Game, where he caught four passes for 11 yards before he had to leave the game due to a minor injury. The only other option the Sooners have at tight end is senior center Brody Eldridge, who will start at center against BYU despite recently moving over to the position. In the past, Eldridge has played tight end, fullback and at blocking back. Outside of the tight ends, Bradford will have to rely on the running backs and inexperienced wide receivers to make plays in OU’s passing game be the difference makers in the offense. The only wide receiver with significant playing time is sophomore Ryan Broyles, who is listed as the starting slot receiver but has played as a split end.
THE CRIME REPORT ROBBERY AT TRADITIONS WEST
PIZZA DELIVERY MAN ROBBED
Two students living in Traditions West reported a theft to OUPD. Students said a package was left outside of their door containing passports, and the package was allegedly stolen around 3 p.m. Wednesday. OUPD is investigating. No witnesses have come forth so far with information.
A Pizza Shuttle delivery driver was robbed while delivering pizza at the Commons on Oak Tree. According to a Norman Police report, two men walked up to the driver and grabbed the pizza and ran away from the scene. While the two men successfully made off with the pizza, the driver said the two men did not ask for or attempt to take away any of his money or other personal belongings.
POLICE INVESTIGATE TWO CASES OF VANDALISM Norman Police and OUPD are investigating two cases of cars being vandalized. The first car, a black Mazda 350Z convertible, was parked at The Edge apartments. The owner said the soft top of his car was cut open, and damage is valued at $500. The second car to be vandalized was parked in the parking lot west of the Couch Cafeteria. The owner of the vehicle said she believed the scratches on her car were made by someone using a car key. This is the fourth case of reported car vandalism this week on and around campus. Both police jurisdictions are investigating.
FRESHMAN CAUGHT IN DORM WITH MARIJUANA OUPD responded to a tip about a person suspected of having marijuana in Couch Center around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Officers conducted a consent search of the dorm room on Couch-5 East and found drugs and drug paraphernalia. The person who was living in the dorm was arrested and taken to the Cleveland County Detention Center. -Ricky Maranon/The Daily
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Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham have a momentary celebration during last season's game against TCU on Sept. 27, 2008. VOL. 95, NO. 13