TUESDAY DAY JJULY ULY 14, 2009 9
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TRADITIONS HOUSING FRUSTRATES STUDENTS Traditions residents upset with fall housing LUKE ATKINSON The Oklahoma Daily
Housing and Food Services released housing assignments to students Monday, leaving some returning residents upset. Some students who applied to live at OU Traditions Square are unhappy with the results of their housing matching because some returning residents were not given the rooms or roommates they had requested, and many showed their frustration on their Facebooks and Twitters. Megan Underwood, meteorology sophomore, said she signed a contract with Housing and Food Services in October in the hope of getting the room she wanted. “I signed up for who, where and which apartment I wanted to live in,” Underwood said. “We were told since we were early, we would get what we wanted. I signed up at the tables inside Cate [Center] and was guaranteed I would get what I requested.” When Underwood received her housing assignment Monday, however, she did not receive what she had requested. Her assignment
puts Underwood with her requested roommate, but in a different room with additional roommates. Lauren Royston, marketing and public relations specialist for Housing and Food Services, said OU Traditions Square uses a matching system which prioritizes roommates above rooms, which may explain why students weren’t given the rooms they requested. “Roommate preference is the highest-ranked preference on contracts, which could be why certain students receive a housing assignment with their preferred roommate, but not necessarily their firstfloor plan preference,” Royston said in an email. With fewer two-bedroom apartments available, students who do not wish to move out might keep those rooms, making it difficult to fulfill room requests, Royston said. Travis Darling, meteorology junior, received the opposite of Housing and Food Service’s priorities. Darling said he completed an application in April for a fourbedroom apartment and, in May, changed his application to request a two-bedroom apartment. He was matched up with the room he had requested, but not his roommate. “My friend and I had requested each other, but weren’t placed
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Traditions East and West offer students convenient on-campus housing, however, many feel discontented with their proposed living arrangements for the 2009-2010 school year. together,” Darling said. “I went to the front desk and was told a ‘computer error’ didn’t match us.” Underwood said she can understand if OU Traditions Square couldn’t accommodate all of her requests, but was upset that she didn’t know the reason why. “I think they need to be better organized or make it more clearly
known,” Underwood said. For students who would like to change their living assignments, students could go to Housing and Food Services Offices in Walker Tower to speak with an assignment specialist, Royston said. She said students can also apply for a “Move-Around,” which allows residents to relocate, if a move is
possible or needed. “We will do all we can to provide residents with a community that supports them, provides them with useful amenities and keeps them at the heart of their University,” Royston said. Students may also email housinginfo@ou.edu for more information.
Oklahoma football legend Switzer recognized for community service JONO GRECO AND JAMES LOVETT The Oklahoma Daily
Former OU and Dallas Cowboys football head coach Barry Switzer has won national championships and a Super Bowl, and Tuesday night he will add another honor to his vast trophy case. Switzer has been named the recipient of the 2009 John F. Kennedy Community Service Award by the Oklahoma chapter of the Knights of Columbus, and will receive the honor at a 6 p.m. banquet at Our Lady’s Cathedral in Oklahoma City. Knights of Columbus, a 126-year-old Catholic organization with 1.7 million members, named the award in honor of the only Catholic U.S. president. Former Gov. David Walters, who serves as president of the Knights of Columbus Building Corporation of Oklahoma City, said Switzer is receiving the award because of his service with the Special Olympics of Oklahoma over the past four decades. “One of the things folks don’t appreciate about Coach Switzer is how much he’s done beyond athletics,” Walters said. “He’s been head coach for the Special Olympics and
attended all the Special Olympics games, and has traveled with them all across the U.S.” Walters said the former coach has always been well-received at Special Olympics events in Stillwater, despite his history coaching against the Cowboys. “I always found it ironic that he’s always been warmly received in Stillwater, given his enormously successful athletic record in Stillwater, but it’s an indication of his good work,” Walters said. The award ceremony and dinner will benefit the Santa Fe Family Life Center in Oklahoma City, which is owned by the Knights of Columbus Building Corporation of Oklahoma City and the Uniting Our Community Campaign. The guest list for the event reads like a who’s who of the OU athletics program, and includes current head football coach Bob Stoops, athletic director Joe Castiglione and Heisman Trophy winners Billy Simms and Steve Owens. Individual tickets for the event cost $150, and table reservations for eight range from $2,000 to $5,000. Long-time Oklahoma event promoter Lee Allan Smith will present the award to Switzer.
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Then-head football coach Barry Switzer leads the 1988 Sooners onto the field against the USC Trojans. More than 20 years later, Switzer is being honored with the John F. Kennedy Community Service Award for his work with the Special Olympics and other charitable organizations.
OU receives $500K grant from Ernst and Young OU only school to receive full foundation grant in 2009 CHARLES WARD Oklahoma Daily
A $500,000 grant from the Ernst and Young Foundation will launch a program to attract more students into the field of oil and gas
accounting. The program creates two new classes, one for undergraduate students and one for graduate students, along with an internship program. It also endows $100,000 of scholarships for students that are interested in pursuing careers in energy accounting, and will create the Ernst and Young Learning Center, a room in Evans Hall for the program.
ELIZABETH NALEWAJK/THE DAILY
Professor Terry Crain explains the details of the gas and accounting program in his office Wednesday afternoon. OU was the only university in 2009 to receive the full $500,000 endowment granted by the Ernst and Young Foundation that aids in establishing accounting programs in specific fields. FREE — ADDITIONAL COPIES 25¢
“We have the energy management program here, we have a concentration in the MBA program in energy. And, of course we have petroleum engineering here,” said Terry Crain, associate professor of accounting. “And so [the Ernst and Young Foundation] thought it would be a natural fit if we did something in oil and gas accounting,” “We wanted to invest where some of our best and brightest students come fromsaid Ryan Burke, an Ernst and Young partner in Dallas. “One of the things we’re hoping that this does is get folks more interested in energy accounting.” Students with knowledge and an interest in oil and gas accounting are in particular demand. “What we’ve found is that there’s been a shortage of students entering the energy accounting industry itself,” Burke said. “Whether it’s with the big four [accounting companies] , or it’s within one of the large oil and gas companies. One of the things we’re trying to do is encourage people and say ‘Hey, this industry is a large career.’ It’s probably, the No. 1 — from an industry stand point — employer in this part of the country.” The Ernst and Young Foundation gives universities up to $500,000 to establish programs in specific areas. OU was the only school to receive the full amount in 2009. The program begins in the fall, with Crain teaching the undergraduate class. He will teach the first graduate-level class in the spring. Crain estimated that 25 students had
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already enrolled for the fall. He said that each class can hold 48 students, but he expects about 30 students in each class. Another part of the program will fund a student researcher who will work with Crain in reviewing disclosures in the financial statements issued by publicly-traded energy companies. The rules surrounding those disclosures changed in the wake of the Enron scandal. Accounting practices in the energy field offer other challenges besides those presented by new rules. “The way that companies do it, is instead of taking 100 percent of the deal, they will share so that everybody takes a quarter of this deal and a quarter of another deal,” Crain said. “So you’ll see one large oil company partnering with another one to develop a field. All of those transactions are very complicated, and the accounting for them are complicated.” The grant from Ernst and Young will fund all parts of the program, except the permanently endowed scholarships, for 10 years. “If we’ve had quite a few students ... getting good jobs, the firms are really looking forward to being able to come here and recruit the students in this particular area, then I would assume that the university or the college would be able to continue it,” Crain said. ”But, you know how the oil and gas industry is, though. It goes up, it goes down At the end of the 10-year period, if we happen to be at a trough point in the oil and gas industry, the answer might be different than if we were in a boom period.”
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