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W W W.O U DA I LY.C O M
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DISGUISe IT
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STUDeNT LIFe
Coed floor residents form community 15 percent of applicants received coed housing for 2012-2013 year PAIGHTEN HARKINS campus reporter
This fall, the east wing of Walker Center’s fifth floor looks a little different than it has in past semesters. This summer, an unprecedented option was added to the list of available freshman residence communities. The new option called for a co e d flo or, where women and men could live together in the same community, just not in the same room or the same suite. This option was added
this summer after the proposal for gender-neutral housing — which would allow men and women to live together in the same ro om — was denie d by President David Boren, The Daily reported on June 19. The coed floor takes up an entire wing of Walker Center’s fifth floor, and the wing was chosen because the resident director, in addition to a resident adviser, lives on the floor. It also is smaller than a typical wing in Walker, holding 50 to 60
residents. A normal floor holds about 70 residents, Walker Center Coordinator Erin Simpson said. “With a new program, you want to have as many eyes on it as possible to assess and make sure we’re doing the right things for our students”, Diane Brittingham, associate director of Housing and Food Services and director of Residence Life, said. When the emails were sent out in mid-June to gain residence in the new coed wing, the response was astounding, Brittingham said. There were more than 400 students interested in the
the student completed their applications and paid their enrollment commitment contracts, Brittingham said. “If you completed your Location: Walker contract in February and center, fifth floor, east paid your enrollment comwing mitment by March 1, that Applicants: more than put you at the top of the list,” 400 Brittingham said. In Brittingham’s 23 years Residents: Between of working with various 50 and 60 selected types of communities in a Source: Housing and Food Services residence hall, she’s found that students on a coed floor form more of a community floor. and are a lot more social, The students were chosen she said. for the floor based off their That’s exactly the case for priority number, which is determined by how early see COED pAGe 2
At A gLAnce Coed Floor
Sooners scramble for victory
mARK LAmBie/tHe AssociAted pRess
UTeP defensive lineman horace Miller, left, rushes OU quarterback Landry Jones (12) during Saturday’s 24-7 win in el Paso, Texas. Jones completed 21-of-36 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns to up his career total to 95 touchdowns, which is good for a four-way tie for 18th most all-time in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history. The senior entered the season already holding the OU program record for career touchdowns. One of his two touchdown passes was a 68-yard connection with junior wide receiver Kenny Stills, who totaled six catches for 121 yards in the victory.
CITy OF NOrMAN
Norman resident struck, killed by train Victim not OU student, police say LINDSEY RUTA campus editor
A Norman resident was killed by a train Saturday morning near campus, according to the Nor man Police Department. A north-bound train struck a man at the intersection of Boyd Street and Classen Boulevard shortly before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Lt. Chris Amason said. Police know the individual’s identity but will not release it until they can notify the family. The identity will be released sometime today, Amason said. He said they did not believe the person was an OU student. The only witness as of now is the train’s conductor, he said. There is no information
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yet as to whether alcohol was a factor in the accident, Amason said. Lt. Eric Lehenbauer said it will be several weeks before the medical examiner will announce whether or not alcohol played a role in the accident. Boyd Street was closed in the east-bound lane from Jenkins Avenue, along with the intersection at Lindsey Street and Classen Boulevard into mid-afternoon. Joe Bogan noticed the train going by this morning from the top floor of Loft 401 — the living complex on the corner of Boyd Street and Classen Boulevard — where he lives. Bogan, who used to work on trains, said he didn’t see the accident but noticed the train had abruptly stopped. He said he found that to be odd. As he looked over his west-facing balcony, he saw
the police beginning to put up tape, so he decided to go down to figure out what was going on, he said. Once down on Boyd Street, he said he could see a body lying under one of the train’s cars. “Then a police officer came up and kindly asked me to leave,” he said. Lehenbauer said accidents involving trains and individuals happen several times a year in Norman. There has been a decrease in train accidents involving cars over the past few years, he said, but he attributes this to construction shutting down intersections with tracks. Amason reminded people that walking along the train tracks is not only dangerous, it also is illegal. Lindsey Ruta lruta@ou.edu
ASTrONOMy
Physics team verifies theory Researchers first to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity ARIANNA PICKARD campus reporter
A team of researchers that included an OU physics professor recently became the first to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity. By observing the orbit of two stars, Mukremin Kilic, OU physics and astronomy professor, and his team detected the gravitational waves that gave proof to the theory. Other Einstein theories have been confirmed before, but this is the first time the theory of relativity has been verified, said Alexandros Gianninas, postdoctoral researcher in the Physics and Astronomy Department at OU. “This discovery confirms Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which says that mass bends space, and if there are two massive objects in a confined amount of space, the two objects will accelerate each other,” said team member Warren Brown, astrophysicist at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The team observed two white dwarf stars — stars with burnt-out cores that used to shine as bright as the Sun— orbiting each other, Kilic said. One is about the size of Neptune, and the other is about the size of the Earth. “They orbit each other every 12 minutes, roughly speaking,” Brown said. “That means they eclipse each other every six minutes — one goes in front of the other one.” The research team — which includes members see THEORY pAGe 2
Penn State begins Bill O’Brien era with loss to Ohio Sports: saturday’s loss to Bobcats signals start of long line of struggles on the football field for former power (Page 6)
Taxpayers should not fund party conventions Opinion: the political party conventions are glorified pep rallies, not public events deserving public funding (Page 3)
VOL. 98, NO. 14 © 2012 oU Publications Board free — Additional copies 25¢
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A BNSF railway police investigator takes photos next to a stopped train at the Boyd street crossing Saturday.
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9/3/12 10:27:26 PM