The Oklahoma Daily

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THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S I NDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

VOL. 94, NO. 96 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

MONDAY, FEB. 16, 2009 © 2009 OU Publications Board

Childers arrested in Broken Arrow Friday night • Former student accused of attacking professor LEIGHANNE MANWARREN The Oklahoma Daily

Photo provided

Micheal Joseph Childers’ police mug shot. Childers was arrested on Friday for allegedly attempting to kidnap Japanese instructor Mano Yasuda.

WHAT’S INSIDE Members of the OU community didn’t receive an emergency message from OU President David Boren until two hours after a former student with a gun had left campus. Page 2. A new program could raise almost $1.5 million for OU’s general scholarship fund by selling bronze statues made by local artists. Page 5.

LIFE & ARTS Passions ignited this weekend as OU Lab Theatre presented “Anna in the Tropics.” Read about it on page 12. From top chefs to top actors, this is a big week for the small screen. Check out The Daily’s TV recommendations on page 11.

SPORTS The women’s basketball team travelled to Kansas on Saturday to take on the Jayhawks. The Sooners took home the road win to stay perfect in conference play, but the way the Sooners got the victory was different than usual. Page 7.

TODAY’S INDEX L&A 5 Campus Notes 11,12 Classifieds 10 10 Crossword Horoscope 11

News 3,5,6 Opinion 4 Police Reports 5 Sports 7, 8,9 Sudoku 10

WEATHER FORECAST

TODAY LOW 32° HIGH 53°

TUESDAY LOW 43° HIGH 60° Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab

A former OU student allegedly pointed a gun at a professor in an attempted kidnapping on campus Friday afternoon and was arrested in Broken Arrow the same night. Michael Joseph Childers, 27, allegedly attacked Mano Yasuda, a Japanese professor, on the second floor of Kaufman Hall. After being arrested by Broken Arrow law enforcement, OU Police Department detectives traveled to Broken Arrow to interview Childers. He was booked at 5:20 a.m. Saturday and is being held without bail. OU President David Boren said Childers would probably be transferred Tuesday to the Cleveland County facilities where the state will file charges of attempted kidnapping, unlawfully pointing a firearm and possessing a firearm on a campus.

The alleged attack caused temporary chaos as students and faculty on the second and third floors of Kaufman said they heard screams in the hallway around 3 p.m. Friday. They emerged from their classrooms and offices to find a woman struggling with a young man dressed entirely in black. The man appeared to be attempting to throw her down the stairs, witnesses said. As students and other faculty members approached the struggling pair, the man fled. Rob Clark, sociology professor, said he was in his office on the third floor of Kaufman about 3 p.m. when he heard a woman screaming. He walked to the second floor and the struggling pair, which was quickly surrounded by students and other faculty members. Clark immediately went back upstairs to call police. Childers, who was charged with a computer crime against Yasuda in 2007, was identified as the suspect in an e-mail sent to OU students and faculty by Boren about two hours after the attack. The e-mail said Childers was not a danger to the general university community. It said the incident was considered “a domestic dispute between two individuals,” but Boren said Saturday there is no evidence of romantic involve-

ment between the two. Yasuda is a former professor of Childers’, who according to his Facebook profile studied economics and Japanese and was scheduled to graduate in 2008. According to court documents, Childers illegally hacked into one of Yasuda’s computer accounts in 2007. He gained access to her OU 4x4 account and bought products online, which he had shipped to her house “as a means to harass and intimidate Yasuda.” Childers was charged with violating the Computer Crimes Act, a misdemeanor. Boren said after Childers was convicted of cyber crimes, the university dismissed him from school. “[OUPD and University officials] have had this individual on our radar screen for approximately two years,” Boren said. A Web site listed on Childers’ Facebook profile displays eight poems, two of which refer to “Mano,” police and law enforcement. University legal staff counseled Yasuda in September 2008 after Childers allegedly tried to talk to her friends

CHILDERS Continues on page 2

Campus groups unite to ‘Raise the Roof’ • Students build home for fatherson duo ASHLEY BODY AND DALENESIA KENDRICK The Oklahoma Daily Joseph Johnson and his 6-yearold son will soon be living in a house built by the OU Greek community and Habitat for Humanity. The Greek community joined Habitat for Humanity for their first “Raise the Roof” ceremony Saturday. Students helped construct the Johnsons’ new roof and celebrated the efforts they had made toward the house. In May, Johnson and his family will move into the house. Johnson and his son JoJo were chosen to receive the home because of the financial difficulties facing them. JoJo was born with Down syndrome and was diagnosed with leukemia in June 2006. He is currently in remission and will end treatments in September. Due to the medical expenses and hospital trips, Johnson lost everything and had to move them into temporary housing. Johnson said the temporary housing agency, Community Action, suggested he apply for a house built through Habitat for Humanity. Johnson said he was excited when he found out he had been chosen from 100 potential applicants. “I really didn’t think I would be chosen whenever I signed up, especially with the way my luck had been going lately,” he said. Ground was broken for the Johnsons’ home during winter break and its construction began Feb. 6. The home is expected to be complete in May.

Chelsea Garza/The Daily

Members of Lamda Phi Epsilon raise the roof with the soon-to-be homeowner Joseph Johnson pictured in the red hat, Saturday morning in Norman. Various greek organizations teamed up with Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity to help build a house for a deserving homeowner. “As I see [the house] get further along, the more I can’t believe it,” Johnson said. “As a father, it’s great because I can watch my son have fun in our backyard and not have to be cooped up in an apartment.” The house was tweaked by a design and interior decorating team from the OU College of Architecture, said Josh Carson, construction manager for Habitat for Humanity and construction science junior. Carson said he has gotten the chance to know Johnson and said he has done what he can for those helping him. “I’m learning more and more about [Johnson] every day, he’s a great guy, always out here willing to work,” Carson said. “It’s so

ool to get to work hand in hand with the people who will be living here.” “Raise the Roof” is the first philanthropic event the entire Greek community has been a part of, said Caitlin Williston, Panhellenic Association student representative and advertising sophomore. She said the community is excited to do something that allows them to work together and build relationships. Bill McManus, chairman of construction committee for Habitat for Humanity, said the most difficult part of the project was raising the money needed for Chelsea Garza/The Daily the house. The Greek community Members of Lamda Phi Epsilon help build a roof Saturday morning in Norman. and the OU Habitat for Humanity

Various greek organizations teamed up with Cleveland County Habitat for HOME Continues on page 2 Humanity to help build a house for a deserving homeowner.

Unexpected dorm room birth catches mother, roommate off guard • Mother noticed no signs of pregnancy until labor RENEÉ SELANDERS The Oklahoma Daily EDITOR’S NOTE: Although The Daily has a policy that prohibits using anonymous sources in most circumstances, editors decided it would be appropriate to grant anonyminity to a freshman who gave birth in the dorms Thursday in order to protect the young woman’s privacy. An hour and a half of labor pains was all the warn-

ing one University College freshman received before she gave birth to her baby in Walker Tower Thursday morning. The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said she did not know she was pregnant until she was delivering her baby in the resident’s shared suite bathroom. She said there were no noticeable changes in her weight or her menstrual cycle that would indicate she was pregnant. At around 4:10 a.m. Thursday, the mother woke in pain. Her roommate said she woke when she heard the mother’s painful gasps. The mother went to the bathroom, where she stayed alone until about 5:30 a.m., when the roommate went into the bathroom and discovered the mother giving birth.

“The child wasn’t completely born when I walked in,” the roommate said. The roommate said the baby was born at 5:38 a.m. After unwrapping the umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck and clearing its throat, the roommate said she handed the newborn to its mother and called 9-1-1. The paramedics arrived by 6 a.m. “It took, I thought, way too long for the paramedics to get here,” the roommate said. The roommate said though they made a lot of noise, no other residents from the hall came to see what was going on. She said the resident adviser did not know anything was happening until the mother and her baby were wheeled out on a stretcher to the ambulance. The mother, her baby and the roommate were

taken to Norman Regional Hospital, where the roommate stayed with the mother until her family arrived. The roommate plans to become an obstetrician physician’s assistant, and said the experience, though scary, helped her realize she has a passion for the work. “I had never experienced anything like that before,” she said. “It just confirmed that was what I want to do.” Her first patient said she supports her roommate’s decision to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant. “I think she’d be great at it,” the mother said. The mother and baby are at home with the girl’s family. The mother said she is unsure of her plans for the remainder of the semester.


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