29 February 2016

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

february 29, 2016 issue 19 ~ volume 101 64

62 63 61

65

59

57

58

46

48

45 60

47

1

43

40

38 37

11 39

12

20

23

24

33

34

32

18

31

29

30 27

28

42 13

14

16

17

21

6

35

19

15

10

56

36

44

66

54

51

50 41

55

53

52

49

22

7

25

26

2

5

9

8

4

Graphic by Elias Brinkman

3

...OR DON’T COMPLAIN. Some things require your participation to work. If you still have a well-informed suggestion, you can always email tucollegian@tucollegian.org.

SA elections see a 7.4 percent voter turnout, p 3

Bernie Sanders visits Tulsa, p 5

TU student takes semester off to join Cruz campaign, p 4

OK Policy’s guide to understanding Okla. legislature, p 6

News

The Collegian: 2

29 February 2016

Service Day 2016 brings students to Tulsa charities TU students once again offered up their time to benefit area non-profits.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor Last Saturday was Tulsa University’s annual Service Day. The event, organized by the Student Association, allowed over four hundred volunteers to attend one of fifteen service sites and, in the words of Austin Carr, who organized the event, “give back to the community,” if only for a brief time. Among the sites were a variety of non-profit, educational, religious and secular organizations.

Catholic Charities is one such organization. Located just a few miles down North Harvard, the charity means to provide the community a wealth of support programs.

Their educational services, for example, include English language, personal finance and parenting skills classes.

For marriage and family counseling they have on-staff licensed professionals available on weekdays.

The primary function of Catholic Charities, however, is emergency assistance, such as food, clothing and social service.

It was with these efforts that the TU students — from New-

man Center, Christian Nurses, Chi Alpha and Wesley association— contributed the most, helping to reorganize and sort through the food and clothes pantries located on the church’s campus.

Renee Skalenda, the volunteer leader present at the site, said she was very appreciative of the students’ help.

She added, however, that if she “could get them to come and volunteer every month,” she certainly would. “The organization

resumes, and help assess what job a client would be most applicable for.

The clothing the organization provides is entirely donated, meaning no client is ever charged a fee for any of these services.

Serving an ever-growing client base ranging from teenage to elderly women, of all ethnic and economic backgrounds, Tulsa’s Dress for Success is moving to a larger building at 3103 S Harvard.

Service Day volunteers were

“This year’s Service Day had a record attendance.” needs more voluntary leaders, and I think these students could fulfill that role.”

Another local not-for-profit organization featured in the event was Dress for Success. Their mission, to “empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help them thrive in work and in life,” is accomplished in quite a unique way.

The clients of Dress for Success are unemployed women in need of formal clothes for interviews, and, if necessary, the remainder of the work week. Career Development Programs are also available to improve interview skills, enhance

tasked with aiding this moving process, helping to sort through articles of clothing and move furniture within the new location.

According to the organizer I spoke to, “Dress for Success offers a number of opportunities for volunteers, and would appreciate any kind of support from TU students.”

A Third Place, perhaps the most unique of the organizations hosting TU volunteers, is located in an impoverished area of north Tulsa, where food insecurity is especially high.

The leaders of A Third Place bought and cleared a block of dilapidated abandoned homes in favor of a community-run orchard

five years ago, and have devoted their work to improving the space, adding a greenhouse for yearround accessibility.

The orchard serves as a kind of commons for families who would be otherwise unable to purchase fresh vegetables, as the nearby grocery store can’t afford to provide them. Much of the food is run to the organizations’ local free food store, available to families suffering from poverty.

A Third Place hosts a variety of community festivals and parties throughout the year, hoping to emphasize the community’s sense of kinship. “We might be growing a garden here, but more importantly we’re growing a community,” the head volunteer, who simply went

by Ron, said in introducing the site to the student volunteers.

There, approximately three dozen volunteers worked according to the ‘Eden Gardening Method,’ helping to lay down the foundation for new gardens with cardboard and mulch.

This year’s Service Day had a record attendance of approximately 425 students. Volunteers were treated to a free breakfast, a boxed lunch, and sweatshirts. Despite the high attendance, the process of getting students to their proper locations occurred without much difficulty this year.

The Student Association attributes this to better weather conditions than last year, a more favorable selection of charitable agencies and the efforts of its organizers. The association hopes to match this success for years to come.

425 students participated in this year’s Service Day.

Learn more all photos by Greg Diskin

Students at A Third Place lay down cardboard in order to form a base for the gardens.

A Clinical Experience Like No Other The on-campus Lobeck Taylor Family Advocacy Clinic offers student attorneys unparalleled community-driven experiential learning opportunities.

Every incoming first-year JD student who holds an undergraduate degree from The University of Tulsa receives an automatic renewable $18,000 scholarship to TU Law. Additional merit-based scholarships are available for students who qualify.

Learn more and apply for an application fee waiver at law.utulsa.edu/ales.

3L Cybil Rajan, 2L Bethany Jackson, and 3L Joe Lang, under the direction of Professor Anna Carpenter (standing), Director of the Family Advocacy Clinic, complete a semester project report, A Roadmap for Reform: Addressing the Oklahoma Access to Justice Problems Through a Continuum of Interventions, for their client, the Oklahoma Access to Justice Commission. See the report at law.utulsa.edu/fac.

TU is an EEO/AA institution.

29 February 2016

News

The Collegian: 3

SA Senate elections pass with little fanfare

Uncontested and incumbent Senators result amid low voter turnout.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer Last week’s election had a little more than 350 out of roughly 4, 680 students voting, which SA’s Chief Election Officer, Colleen Yoder, said is “pretty normal” for Senate elections in the Spring.

Senate seats are divided into different constituencies. Four of these are related to where students live: residence halls, apartments, commuters and Greek housing.

All of those constituencies except for Greek housing are entitled to five senate seats. Greek housing is only entitled to two because of its smaller population.

Each of the six colleges at TU is also entitled to two senate seats. Finally, the “atlarge” constituency has five senate seats.

Seats are evenly divided between the fall and spring semesters.

In the case of an odd number of seats, the fall semester will have one more seat open.

Since Akram Alake dropped out of the race for the residence halls seat, that election was uncontested.

Incumbent Anna Rouw, a sophomore political science major, retained her seat with 69 votes. Kimberly Bartlett, a freshman psychology major, is the incumbent for an at-large seat, but she’ll now represent the residence halls because of her 32 votes.

Sophomore Kelly Scrivner, an accounting and finance double-major, was the only person who ran for Greek housing’s one seat. She received 57 votes.

Three people ran for the two available seats for the apartments. Jessica Pongonis, a junior political science major, received 71

graphic by Elias Brinkman

votes and will get one seat.

Incumbent Matt Neyer, a senior chemical engineering major, received 63 votes and will get the other seat. He is also SOC chair.

Incumbent Nathan Williams, a junior information technology major, received 13 votes

freshman biochemistry major, received 19 votes and therefore will not retain her seat.

Emma Stewart, who currently represents Greek housing, was the only person to run for the College of Arts and Sciences’ single seat. She is a junior English major and re-

“SA Vice President Conner Wurth is able to appoint people to fill any seat that is empty.”

and will not retain his seat.

The commuters also had three people run for two available seats. Harvard Wong, a junior petroleum engineering major, received 34 votes and will get one of the seats.

Sophomore and petroleum engineering major Nehal Patel received 20 votes will get the other seat. Incumbent Joanna George, a

Feb. 11 5:45 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to a report of an employee misconduct at the Hurricane Hut. Upon arrival, officers encountered the disruptive employee and attempted to communicate with the disruptive employee, when a second employee started acting disorderly, and refused to return to their work station inside the ACSU. While being escorted by security officers, the second employee made an aggressive motion towards officers and officers placed them into handcuffed. Both employees were released without charges and were escorted off campus and advised to not return pending the outcome of their employer’s own internal investigation.

Feb. 16 12:15 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Mabee East to take a report of a stolen bicycle. Upon arrival officers met with the victim who stated that they came out to find their bicycle missing.

Feb. 12 11:10 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible hit and run motor vehicle accident at the intersection of 4th & Harvard. Upon arrival officers spoke with a University Of Tulsa Student which stated they were involved in a hit and run accident. Tulsa Fire Department, Emergency Medical Service Association and Tulsa Police Department arrived on scene. EMSA evaluated the TU student and did not transfer them to the hospital.

Feb. 18 5:25 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Fisher West to investigate a report of an individual entering a student’s dorm room while they were asleep. The student reported that when they woke up there was a subject standing in the commons area of their dorm room staring at them. When the subject noticed they had woken up they ran out of the room. Officers searched the area but did not find anyone matching the description given.

Feb. 13 1:35 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Hardesty Press storage center for report of a suspicious person sleeping on the dock. Upon arrival, officers made contact with the suspicious person who immediately stood up and began yelling at Officers . The individual would not comply with Officers and denied using any illegal substances but admitted to having been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Upon searching the individual officers found a knife and so TPD was contacted. Officers waited until they arrived and informed the individual they were on private property escorted them off property.

3:20 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched assist Parking Enforcement. Upon arrival, officers found a student who refused to leave their vehicle that was found in the process of being towed for parking violations. The student refused to communicate with officers. The student was allowed to leave but was notified further violations would result in towing and a student misconduct report would be completed.

Feb. 17 3:30 University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to John Mabee Hall to take a report of a stolen bicycle. Upon arrival officers met with the victim who stated that they came out to find their bicycle missing.

The bicycle was secured to a bicycle rack with a padlock and cable and the padlock had been cut.

The Collegian does not edit the Campus Crime Watch except for content and brevity.

ceived 87 votes.

Sawyer Clement is a junior biology premed student. He was the only person to run for the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences’ seat and received 137 votes.

Lincoln Brown, a senior management major, is the incumbent for the College of Business. He was the only person to run for

the seat and received 69 votes.

Incumbent Michael Mancini, a former SA president, was the only person to run for the single seat available to the Graduate School.

He received 14 votes.

Neither the College of Health Sciences nor the College of Law had anyone run to represent them.

The at-large seats were uncontested.

Whitney Cipolla, the current GOC chair, is a junior English and education doublemajor who currently represents the College of Arts and Sciences. Chase Cocking is a sophomore petroleum engineering major who currently is the FAC chair and senator for the residence halls.

Those who won their election will take office on March 1. SA Vice President Conner Wurth is able to appoint people to fill any seat that is empty.

Monday, February 29 at 7:30pm Lorton Performance Center, Gussman Concert Hall TU Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Winds The Wind Ensemble is conducted by Richard Wagner, and the Symphonic Winds are conducted by Tom Stout and Andrew Anderson. Among the works scheduled are John Mackey’s Strange Humors and Morten Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium.

The concert is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, March 2 at 7:00am to 7:00pm Your polling place!

Super Tuesday!

Go vote this Tuesday at your assigned polling place. Remember your vote matters, and voting is your civic duty.

Wednesday, March 2 at 8:15am to 1:15pm Mayo Demonstration Academy Read Across America Day Read Across America is the National Education Association’s annual reading motivation and awareness program that celebrates reading on the birthday of beloved children’s author Dr. Seuss. Motivating children to read is an important factor in student achievement and creating lifelong successful readers. Research has shown that children who are motivated and spend more time reading do better in school.

Thursday, March 3 at 6:00pm Lottie Jane Mabee Hall Around the World in 80 Plates Lottie Jane Mabee Hall will be hosting a whirlwind world culinary tour of five countries: China, Mexico, India, Greece and Nigeria.

All residents are invited to come for the food and gather information on study abroad and travel scholarships - for these countries, and any other country, you may want to visit.

Thursday, March 3 at 6:00pm to 7:00pm Student Union, Chouteau Faith and Food: Would Pope Francis Smoke with Me? John Leyendecker from FOCUS will be speaking to us about what the church says about smoking marijuana.

The general audience and students are allowed to attend.

Thursday, March 3 at 7:00pm to 10:00pm Gilcrease Museum, Vista Room TU Law Talent Show The Public Interest Board hosts the 2016 TU Law Talent Show at Gilcrease Museum. All proceeds benefit students pursuing public interest positions in summer 2016.

Attire is business casual; Appetizers and cash bar Advance tickets are available. Alumni/law firm tables are also available for only $100.

To purchase advance tickets, or if you are interested in participating in the show, please contact Erin Leach, Public Interest Board President.

Tickets are $10 in advance or $12 at the door. Children 12 and under get in free.

Friday, March 4 Guthrie Green Museum Association’s First Friday Join University of Tulsa Museum Association (UTMA) for our first event, Brady Arts District’s Art Crawl! This event features all of the galleries, studios and museums as well as the part-time galleries in various shops that open their doors to show art. We will meet on campus and drive over together.

News

The Collegian: 4

29 February 2016

Ryan Wylie on how to become an activist

Documentary director Ryan Wylie discusses how the advocacy around Joe Amrine’s wrongful death sentence provides a template for how to make local activism more engaging.

James Whisenhunt Student Writer Ryan Wylie was an Assistant Director, Producer, Editor and Cameraman for Unreasonable Doubt: The Joe Amrine Case.

The Missouri documentary focused on Joe Amrine, who had been sentenced to death for murdering a fellow inmate while in prison.

Initially, there were three inmate witnesses stating that Amrine had committed the murder.

Since the sentencing, all three have recanted their statements, admitting that they lied due to coercion and fear of repercussion from interviewing officers.

This left no evidence linking Joe to the murder, but the Missouri legal system failed to take him off death row.

At the time Wylie and the rest of the film crew got involved, Amrine had been on death row for 16

years, which Wylie said is “not uncommon.”

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the national average waiting time between receiving the death sentence and being executed was 15 years and 6 months in 2013, the result of a consistent upward trend over the last 30 years.

Wylie was the first of his friends to find out about Amrine’s case, at that time working as an independent filmmaker.

A friend of a friend tipped Wylie off to the case and told him that he

by the case, wanting to make the movie because “the case of innocence is so universal.”

Amrine was the next in line to be executed when Wylie got involved, so he remembers feeling “some pressure being applied… so it was a very strange moment in the local political and social landscape.”

This pressure pushed the crew to film and edit the entire film in three months.

Initially, the documentary was about 40 minutes and compiled all available evidence to present

Wylie’s activism goes beyond Amrine’s case, wanting to abolish the death penalty completely. Wylie believed that the death penalty is pervasive because “it’s not present on people’s minds… but when you make it present, they always come to the humane, reasonable conclusion.”

He also gave advice to local activists looking to change something in their communities. The key seems to be personal engagement.

Wylie remembered a showing of the documentary in Texas, when

“The death penalty is pervasive because it’s not present in people’s minds... but when you make it present, they always come to the humane, reasonable conclusion.” should come to an Innocence Project meeting regarding Amrine.

At the meeting, he met an activist named Jeff Stack, who was able to get Wylie in contact with Sean O’Brien, Amrine’s lawyer.

O’Brien gave Wylie copies of two of the inmate interviews and an unpublished article from Webster University graduates about the problems in the prison facility Amrine was being kept in.

Wylie recalled being floored

to the people responsible for Joe’s sentence.

The movie was made in the early 2000s, before the rise of the internet, so VHS tapes of the movies were distributed to activist groups and interested people.

Wylie mentioned these tapes cost of about $2/tape to produce, but were being given away for free. There was also no money was put into the production of the film itself.

a very religious woman spoke in favor of the death penalty.

Wylie applied a religious angle to his argument against the death penalty to help her understand his side.

“You reach them how they need to be reached,” as Wylie put it, “one person at a time.” This helped create, in Amrine’s case, what Wylie calls a “citizen’s movement” to increase pressure for action.

In addition to the individualistic

approach, Wylie mentioned that it’s important to “put a human face to [the problem].”

In his case, putting Joe’s face on the issue of the death penalty and having such a clear-cut case of innocence helped mobilize people toward a common good.

Wylie mentioned that in his experience, “people take much more interest in local news,” even in the internet age. Wylie and his crew would approach local stations with reports and soundbytes ready to go on air.

He learned in his experience that “[local] news agencies are starved for time and resources and personnel… you just need to make it easy for them.”

In Wylie’s case, the crew’s efforts and outreach were successful and Amrine was set free.

An additional 10–15 minutes were added to the documentary, focusing on the beginning of Joe’s life after prison.

Currently, Wylie has branched out into other social issues, currently working with activist communities against human trafficking.

Wylie hasn’t had much recent contact with Amrine, but his most recent knowledge is that he’s working with Sean O’Brien’s law firm to help abolish the death penalty.

TU student leaves school to join Cruz campaign Sophomore Mary Brown is accompanying the Ted Cruz campaign as it travels across the United States.

Caitlin Woods Satire Editor A TU student left school for the semester to volunteer on Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign. TU sophomore Mary Brown is an English and political science major who hopes to go to law school. I reached out to Brown to find out what it’s like to be a college-age student working in politics.

Brown told me she took the semester off because she is “extremely impulsive.” “Ted Cruz rocks,” she shared, “Ted and his family are really amazing people.”

Brown said she really looks up to the way that Cruz has stood up to Washington in the past. Her mom’s friend is a friend of Cruz’s, and Brown told me she’s the one who made the argument for Brown to drop out to help with the campaign. “Because I am a few semesters ahead and would have otherwise had a blank semester before law school started, I went ahead and dropped out of of college,” she said. “I got my foot in the door now too so that’s pretty neat.”

She said she was first sent to New

Hampshire to help get the vote for the primary. There she helped with the town halls and rallies Cruz held, and spoke to voters to inform them on Cruz’s policies.

Then, she said, she went to South Carolina.

“I worked from their headquarters doing a lot of volunteer bookings and computer projects that would probably make my job sound rather boring but it’s really not.” She’s now at the national headquarters in Houston, Texas, where she’s originally from. There she’s working on getting ready for the Kansas caucus, and placing sergeant speakers at as many caucus locations as possible.

“Working on a campaign is an amazing experience,” Brown told me. “The people I work with are really neat, welcoming, experienced and intelligent.” “Although it can be hard and mentally draining at some points, I have learned more in the past few weeks than I have in my past three semesters at TU. It’s unfortunate one costs $100,000 and the other one does not.”

Brown, who said she sees herself having a future in politics, recommends everyone should drop out of college once “if granted an alternative opportunity to receive handson experience.”

“Many of my co-workers are receiving college credit from their universities while working on the campaign,” she said, adding that she thinks it would be beneficial for more universities to have such programs.

“I am a few semesters ahead and would have otherwise had a blank semester before law school started”

Sammie Hottel Student Writer

Palestinian fugitive dies at embassy in Bulgaria A fifty-two year old Palestinian fugitive plunged to his death at the Palestinian Embassy in Bulgaria, where he had been holed up for two months in order to avoid extradition. Omar Nayef Zayed was wanted for stabbing a Jewish student to death in Jerusalem in 1986. He was found Friday morning by the embassy staff behind the fourstory building, and he died before paramedics could reach him.

Palestine immediately accused Israel of arranging his death, but Israel has denied any involvement. Bulgarian authorities have yet to determine whether he fell, jumped or was pushed from the building. Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon made no comment except “this is not an Israeli issue.”

Plane crash in Nepal, the second within three days An Air Kasthamandap plane crashed in northwest Nepal on Friday, killing two pilots and injuring nine passengers. The single-engine plane, which was carrying eleven people, descended too steeply and crashed nose-down, landing in a mountain field. The plane was the second one in Nepal to go down within the last three days. The first, a Tara Air plane, crashed midway through its nineteen-minute flight, killing all twentythree people aboard. The cause was determined to be poor weather and dense fog. The crashes occurred over one hundred miles apart, but both were in mountainous regions of Nepal.

Gunman opens fire in Kansas killing three Cedric Ford, a gunman residing in Kansas, opened fire at the lawn mower factory where he worked, killing three people and injuring fourteen others. Ford had a criminal record, and the shooting occurred soon after he received a restraining order that prevented him from seeing someone he had abused. Ford first fired for nearly half an hour on a highway in Newton, Kansas and later at the factory in Hesston, where he was killed in a shootout with a police officer.

Police officers believe his violent act could have been in response to the restraining order. Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton stated in a news conference, “I’ve never seen anything like this. He was randomly shooting people.”

Organizations ask Europe to not arm Saudi Arabia One hundred aid and human rights organizations came together in an international coalition to push for Western countries to stop arming Saudi Arabia, which is currently heading an air campaign against Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen. The organizations, collectively known as the Control Arms Coalition, released a report which stated that the bombing in Yemen is a “gross violation of human rights and possible war crimes.”

The report listed eleven countries that sold drones, missiles and bombs to Saudi Arabia in 2015. Among the countries were France, Britain, Germany and the US. According to the United Nations, more than 6,000 Yemenis have died as a result of the conflict since March 2015, and at least 35,000 have been wounded.

Britain’s George Osborne predicts spending cuts

courtesy Mary Brown

Brown believes her experience on the Cruz campaign will be beneficial for her future career.

British Finance Minister George Osborne warned that he might cut public spending more deeply than he had anticipated. He stated that the country’s economic growth fell short of what he had predicted in his plans to get rid of the budget deficit. In an interview with the BBC on Friday, he foresaw “storm clouds” that had gathered over the global economy and would likely hurt Britain.

Osborne is considered to be the frontrunner of Britain’s Conservative Party, and he is likely to run for Prime Minister. His comments, which John McDonnell of the Labor Party called “total humiliation,” will likely hurt his reputation down the road.

News

29 February 2016

The Collegian: 5

photo by Elias Brinkman

Sanders’ visit to Tulsa brings thousands to rally As the sun set behind the Tulsa skyline, some members of The Collegian Staff continued waiting in a long line outside and wondered if Senator Sanders’ “bern” could indeed make up for the loss of heat.

Hannah Kloppenburg Commentary Editor Sanders in Tulsa Oklahoma is known to be an extremely conservative state, so it is rare when a Democratic party candidate attempts to campaign here. It’s even more rare when they garner the support of more than 9,000 people.

The line for the Bernie Sanders rally in Tulsa stretched around the BOK Center, even though the rally itself was held in the Cox Business Center.

Outside the event, campaign organizers roamed the crowd, explaining how they would be going door-to-door and encouraging voters to support Sanders in the primaries.

An Oklahoma teachers interest group gathered signatures for a petition, and hawkers rolled carts of brightly colored

Giselle Willis Editor-in-Chief welfare, and called out Trump for dividing the nation with his policies.

At one point, his wife asked him to stop the speech because someone in the audience had fainted, so he did until EMSA showed up and took care of the individual. The room reverberated with chants of “Ber-nie! Bernie! Ber-nie!”

Sanders also extrapolated on recent racial tensions in the United States, as well as recent legislation allowing samesex marriages throughout the country. He referred to the problems faced by racial minorities and women and asked their white and male allies to support them.

He wryly referred to Republican candidates as “my Republican friends,” and, “my colleagues,” before critiquing Republican policy.

“[Sanders] referred to the problems faced by minorities and women and asked their white and male allies to support them.”

buttons and hats up and down the line.

The line shuffled along for three hours as the sun lowered and the air grew crisp. Those who got inside crowded into a standing-only event hall.

Sanders waited 15 or 20 minutes to begin his speech, attempting to allow as many people into the room as possible.

If Trump supporters rally around a distrust of foreigners, Sanders supporters stand together in revulsion for the “one percent” and “Wall Street.” Sanders again lauded his plans for free tuition, a singlepayer health care plan, a minimum wage of fifteen dollars an hour and three-months paid maternity leave.

He called out Wal-Mart for paying its “associates” so little that they have to go on

The crowd was devoid of protesters for the most part. Instead, the audience booed and cheered loudly on cue.

Campaign officials reported that 7,100 people made it inside to hear Sanders’ speech, and about 2,000 people were still outside. After giving his speech indoors, Sanders jumped onto a railing outside and addressed the remaining attendees. “All of you know that democracy is not a spectator sport,” he told the crowd, encouraging them to vote in the primaries.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz News Editor

behalf of his wife, and Sanders went on to Oklahoma City after his Tulsa appearance.

Oklahoma will be a swing state for the Democratic primaries because it has the

advantage.

Oklahoma also has a history of socialism. Woody Guthrie’s hit, “This Land is Your Land,” is reminiscent of that

“Leading up to Super Tuesday, Oklahoma has been hotly contested by the Democratic candidates.”

most unclear margins of candidate support out of the thirteen states and one territory voting on March. A Public Policy Poll goes so far as to say Hillary and Bernie are only separated by about two points in Oklahoma polls. Meanwhile, Hillary and Bernie are projected to win roughly similar amounts of the thirteen states, so Oklahoma could be a deciding factor.

The Oklahoma primary system favors Sanders because of his popularity amongst independents. In Oklahoma, primary-goers must vote along the party lines that they registered in; Democrats agreed to allow independents to vote in their primaries, but Republicans did not. If independents can only vote in the Democratic primary and typically favor Bernie, he will have that

past, and Sanders acknowledged the icon of midwestern populism by stopping by the Woody Guthrie Center in downtown Tulsa during his visit. Oklahoma’s 1907 constitution has plenty of populist influences as well, as some of Oklahoma’s original settlers brought the Populist movement with them from Kansas.

There are several sites which gather information from nationwide polls and crunch the numbers to get a composite percentage such as Real Clear Politics, Huffpost Pollster and Public Policy Polling. These websites show that Sanders is consistently polling higher than Trump and any other Republican candidate, but is still polling just bellow Clinton on a regular basis.

The 99 percent Leading up to Super Tuesday, Oklahoma has been hotly contested by the Democratic candidates. Bill Clinton came to speak at Booker T. Washington high school on

photo by Kayleigh Thesenvitz

Oklahoma is quickly becoming a swing state due to Sanders’ popularity. photo by Elias Brinkman

The Collegian: 6

News

29 February 2016

Oklahoma Legislative Primer details 2015 legislative actions The 2016 Oklahoma Legislature Primer, released by the OK Policy Institute, gives citizens an overview of 2015 legislature, how bills become law and the fiscal year 2016 budget and appropriations.

Michaela Flonard Student Writer Recently, the Oklahoma Policy Institute released their 2016 Oklahoma Legislature Primer. This document provides an overview of 2015 in Oklahoma politics, including information about individual politicians and policy.

The House of Representatives, with 101 members, has been controlled by Republicans since 2004. Twenty-two representatives were elected from 2014-2015, 14 of whom were Republicans.

Nineteen members are term-limited in 2016, meaning they have run out their twelve-year term limit of any kind of legislative service. The Senate, with 48 members, is also controlled by Republicans. Twelve new senators were elected, 8 of which were

Republicans. Eleven members are term-limited in 2016. The governor, Mary Fallin, is a Republican re-elected in 2014.

The 2015 legislative session was designated as the First Session of the 55th Legislature; 2016 will be the Second Session.

Sessions last from the first Monday in February to the last Friday in May, unless a special session is convened.

In 2015, the Legislature considered 2,176

as well as 952 in the House.

Bills are first “read” into their respective legislative journals, which must be done by the end of February. During the second reading, bills are referred to committees for further discussion or debate.

Committees must then hear and may change the bill. During the third reading, which must occur by March 10, bills must receive a majority of support of the full

“Nineteen members [of the House] are term-listed in 2016, meaning they have run out their twelve-year limit of any kind of legislative service.” joint resolutions and bills. 214 Senate measures and 184 House measures became law.

Seventeen measures were vetoed by Governor Mary Fallin, and only one of these vetoes was overridden by the Legislature.

In the 2016 session, most measures not acted on in the 2015 session will be discussed. The 2016 session will start with 1,724 measures from the 2015 session. In addition, 746 new bills and joint resolutions were filed in the Senate for the 2016 session,

membership to pass.

They are then sent to the opposite chamber, and will undergo the first, second and third reading. The third reading, in the opposite chamber of origin, must be done by April 21. From here, the author of the bill can either accept amendments and move to further readings, or reject the changes and send it to a conference committee. Once this process is done, Gov. Fallin can then sign or veto the bill.

During the legislative session, the state budget is also under consideration. In January, Governor Fallin submitted the executive budget for consideration. The legislature reviews and passes state agency budgets during its session. State agencies may either be paid for by state appropriated funds, federal funds or revolving funds, like fees and copays.

Based on December 2015 Board of Equalization estimates, the fiscal year 2015 will see a general revenue collection of $5.655 billion, which is $71 million less than FY 2015. The majority of this collection comes from personal income and sales.

Fiscal year 2016 appropriations, which are $6,962 million after January cuts, are $273 million less than the final fiscal year 2015 budget. Appropriations mainly come from general revenue, but also other sources, like the lottery and state transportation.

Common and higher education take the largest of the appropriations of the 2016 fiscal year, with 35 and 13.5 percent. Medicaid also takes 13.6 percent of appropriations.

For more information, visit the OK Policy Institute’s website.

Four new GOC bills add operational clarity to SA On February 23, Senate passed four GOC bills, including two possible constitutional amendments.

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer Last week, Senate passed four bills from the Government Operations Committee (GOC). While Senate passes allocations to clubs almost every week, GOC bills occur less often. While all of the bills have to do with the internal operations of SA, two of them require a constitutional amendment to pass.

One of the bills was authored primarily by Brett Baumgartner. It’s titled the “Filibuster Prevention Act.” Before the bill, there was a

two minute limit on speaking for each senator for discussion and comments at the end of the Senate meeting.

However, there was no limit for how long senators are allowed to speak during the rest of the meeting. If a discussion seems to go on for a long time, the only ability sena-

“Two of [the bills] require a constitutional amendment to pass.” tors had is to “move the previous question,” which ends all discussion and moves Senate directly to a vote on a measure.

Baumgartner thought this was too strict since someone might still have a new point to bring up. His bill allows Senate to cut a senator off if he or she had been talking for

Applications now accepted for the Future Alumni Council

Freshman signs up for Future Alumni Council and shows you how to do it too.

James Terrell Student Writer

The Future Alumni Council for the University of Tulsa is currently accepting applications for spots in its student organization.

The FAC is comprised of students currently enrolled at TU who have a passion for their school. They are directly connected to the Alumni Association, and they also run certain events such as Taste of TU at the Homecoming Bonfire or the Bell Ringing.

The organization claims they provide experience in leadership, assist the TU community in general, and, as the name suggests, help current students network with alumni. They have five officer positions,

more than two minutes. Baumgartner says he doesn’t expect the bill to be invoked this semester, but during his freshman year there was a senator who would sometimes speak for more than six minutes at a time.

The bill would also codify speaking privileges for guests. The bill passed with a rela-

from president to treasurer, as well as over 20 current members.

There were zero freshman in the organization, so I decided to sign up. The application starts off with basic questions, such as name, age, GPA, etc, and then it moves into more in-depth questions regarding personal attitude toward the university as a whole.

These questions include, “Please describe why you wish to be a member of the Future Alumni Council and what kind of a contribution you will make to the organization,” and “Explain how your past experience at TU and in the community would make you a good member of the Future Alumni Council.” These questions shouldn’t be incredibly difficult, but they do require some personal thought before answering.

The deadline to apply for the FAC is Sunday, March 6. It’s completely free and there aren’t dues once one becomes a member.

tively close margin.

Another bill was titled “Let’s Trust Cabinet.” It removes the requirement that a GOC member attend each cabinet meeting and report on it. The bill passed without objection.

The other two bills were proposed constitutional amendments that would have to be

voted on by the student body.

The voting would be during the executive elections towards the end of the year. Senate just voted to approve the amendments for voting by the student body as a whole.

One of them was titled “Scribing a Clerical Name Change.” It would change the name of the Senate clerk to the scribe.

This measure was also authored by Baumgartner. There are currently two SA positions with the title of clerk. One position is for the Judicial Council and one is for Senate. Baumgartner thought the duplicity of the title made it confusing. The bill passed without objection.

The other amendment was titled “Let There Be Freshman.” It would allow clerks for the Judicial Council to have fewer than 12 hours of credit.

Trey Barnett case updates Fraser Kastner Managing Editor The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) has named the University of Tulsa as one of the ten worst universities for free speech.

In an article published on February 17 in the Huffington Post, President and CEO of FIRE placed the University of Tulsa on the list, citing the 2014 case of Trey Barnett.

Trey Barnett, a senior at the time, was suspended over Facebook posts critical of a professor and a student. Despite Barnett’s fiance claiming authorship of the posts, Senior Vice Provost Winona Tanaka found Barnett guilty of harassment. Barnett was suspended until January of 2016 and restricted from getting a degree in his field of study, effectively requiring that he start over as a freshman. Barnett is currently suing the university, claiming that TU did not follow its own policies when investigating the accusations, while the university denies these charges.

The article also cited the university’s threats against Collegian editors Conor Fellin and Kyle Walker when they approached the administration for comment about the suspension.

The University of Tulsa has declined to comment on FIRE’s assessment.

You can earn college credit by writing for the Collegian!

Sign up for the Journalism Practicum, JS-3001, and you can earn

one credit hour each semester for writing for the Collegian. You don’t even have to go to class! Just write one story a week and turn them all in at the end of the semester. Not to mention you will be paid $10 for every story you write! Contact Professor John Coward for more information about this course.

29 February 2016

Sports

The Collegian: 7

Hurricane move closer to NCAA Tournament

photos by Matt Rechtien

Clockwise from top left: James Woodard drives to the basket against Temple in the win last Tuesday. D’Andre Wright brings down a rebound on defense against Temple. The team is pictured with the jersey of Steve “Silk” Harris who passed away last week. Harris was an All-American when he played for the Golden Hurricane and left the school as the all-time scoring leader with 2,272 points. His number (#20) was retired in 1995.

Remembering a Hurricane legend

Last week, a Golden Hurricane Legend, Steve “Silk” Harris passed away at the age of 52. Harris, from Blue Springs, Missouri, played all four years at Tulsa, with one of the best stat lines in TU history. 2,272 points, 428 rebounds. 243 assists and 271 in 122 career games in the Blue and Gold.

He was given his nickname by KJRH sports director Jerry Weber for his shooting ability—55 percent from the field and 85 percent from the line. He finished his career as the leading scorer for the Golden Hurricane (since broken by current Assistant Coach Shea Seals). Harris was named to United Press International’s All-America second team as a senior, earned Missouri Valley Conference honors three times and led the Golden Hurricane to three NCAA appearances. He scored double-digit points in 109 of his 122 games and was drafted in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. In his honor, we searched through our archives and found a story from his senior year which we have printed below.

Sports

Sports staff tries to predict baseball season once again

The Collegian: 8

After last year’s miserable predictions from the sports staff, we decided to put our reputations on the line again with our 2016 edition of division predictions!

Sports Staff Pitchers and catchers finally reported last week, meaning it’s officially time to be excited about baseball again. So, again, us here at the Collegian staff don our Nostradamus caps and try to predict the upcoming season.

National League East- Wade Crawford Last year, I predicted that the Nationals would run away with the division, leaving the Mets and Marlins to fight over second place. The Nationals then proceeded to fall on their face (and Miami, for that matter), leaving the Amazin’ Mets as the division (and, eventually, league) champion.

This year, I have to go with the defending squad. The Mets have a scary rotation—and they’re only getting better. Yoenis Cespedes will keep the offensive firepower up, and who knows, maybe even actually pick up some fielding ability along the way. As far as second place, that’ll go to Washington.

With Dusty Baker being an improvement over Matt Williams, the Nationals squad will probably be better. However, the power of their rotation and Danny Espinosa’s facial hair won’t propel them past the reigning champs. The real fun in this division is who will occupy the bottom, with the Marlins, Braves, and Phillies all limping out squads reminiscent of Major League. But this isn’t Hollywood, and Charlie Sheen isn’t anyone’s closer (yet), so these teams will be far away from the top squads in the division.

National League Central- Joseph Edmunds Last season, the NL Central was stacked.

They featured the league’s only 100 win team (the Cardinals), and the top three teams in the division owned the top three teams in the entire league. It can’t be said for sure that the division will be as dominant this season, but they will be strong again, that’s for sure. In my prediction last year, I said it was the Cardinals division to lose.

Now, I don’t feel confident saying that. The Cubs look to be the cream of the crop in the division this season. However, their success hinges on their core of young players performing as well as they did last season, and continuing to improve as they are expected to. There is a clear cut line in the division: the Cardinals, Cubs, and Pirates will all be contending for playoff spots, while the Reds and Brewers will be trying to float through rebuilding seasons, and won’t be in contention. If Adam Wainwright can come back from his injury and dominate like he has in the past, I think the Pirates won’t stand a chance in keeping up with the Cardinals and Cubs, and will be fighting to earn a wild card spot in the postseason. Between the top two, it’s a hard choice. The Cardinals have been at the top more consistently than any of the other teams in the division in recent memory, and have a solid team to do it again this year. However, the raw talent on the Cubs roster looks tough to beat. This year, the Cubs will narrowly beat out the Cardinals for the division championship, but the Cardinals will make the postseason in a wild card spot.

Monday

National League West- Mason Morgan It’s pretty dope that I get to preview the division with this year’s World Series winner. No seriously, this is happening, it’s an even year. The Giants won in 2010, 2012 and 2014, it’s going to happen again. They have the best infield in all of baseball and it’s completely homegrown. They signed Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Denard Span, who will all probably be awesome. As far as runner-ups go, the Dodgers are your best pick. They have some interesting questions though. How much will their young guys (Joc Pederson and Corey Seager) contribute? Can Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda fill Zack Greinke’s old spot? What is a Yasiel Puig??? Questions aside, they will still be relatively better than the bottom three for sure. Arizona is playing the part that San Diego played last year, where they spend a bunch of money and trade a lot of prospects without addressing real holes such as a middle infield. Also, investing in starting pitchers in a hitters’ park is not ideal, just ask Colorado. The Rockies will try and find future homes for Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon. Meanwhile, the Padres are stuck with the lesser of the Uptons, a punchless offense and good live arms decomposing in San Diego because the front office still believes they can contend. Congrats San Francisco, it’s good to finally see something go your way.

American League East- Justin Guglielmetti As a member of the most inclusive fan base in sports, I welcome you all aboard the 2016 New York Yankees hype train!

You better hop on soon, because tickets will only be available for a limited time once the Bronx Bombers start decimating the league. Behind the greatest bullpen ever assembled (Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman? Come on!), the next generation of pinstriped greats in Luis Severino, Aaron Judge and Greg Bird, and contributions of wily old veterans like Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner and Mark Teixeira, I fully expect this team to win 90+ games and compete for the pennant. Right on their heels will be the Toronto Blue Jays, led by reigning MVP Jared Donaldson and a historically great offensive lineup. The Jays’ rotation will be reeling with the loss of David Price, but their bats afforded them by far the highest run differential in the majors last year and the best record after the All-Star game. Expect a Wild Card appearance in 2016. Price’s addition to Boston will make the Red Sox a dangerous team and a threat to return to the postseason for the first time since their 2013 World Series win.

I think they will fall just short of the playoffs this time around but if key contributors like Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval bounce back from disappointing seasons and Mookie Betts develops into a legit MVP candidate, the AL East will be housing three juggernauts. Behind the upper tier of the division are two also-rans in the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays. Neither is lacking in talent, but players with a bad injury history and the unfavorable condition of playing in MLB’s most competitive division will push their championship hopes back to 2017. Keep an eye out for some emerging superstars though: Orioles third baseman Manny Machado could steal the MVP out from under the nose of his position and di-

Tuesday

Wednesday

29 February 2016

vision rival Donaldson and the Rays’ Chris Archer will be one of the preseason favorites to take home the Cy Young.

American Rechtien

League

Central-

Matt

I’m still haunted by all the wrong predictions that I’ve made as Sports Editor. I’ve yet to pick the Super Bowl winner, and last year’s baseball prediction… I don’t even want to get into that. Which makes me pretty upset that I got the American League Central because it’s one of the more difficult divisions to get a read on. First things first, the back-to-back AL Champions and reigning World Series Champs, Kansas City Royals are back with almost the same team as last season. And for the second straight season, most writers have them with under 80 wins this season. Part of their success last season was their strong bullpen and three players having career best seasons. People kept saying that their luck was going to run out, and they won a World Series out of spite. Everyone’s saying the same thing this year, but I have to stick with the champs, they’ve proven me wrong too many times. It’s not going to be easier for them this year, because the rest of the division made moves in the winter to try and catch up. The White Sox will be the biggest challenger for KC, because, after the dead-last finish in runs-per-game last year, they shipped off most of their infield for newcomers Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie who should add some more power to their lineup. The Tigers will only be as good as Verlander and Cabrera play because their depth stops after their new additions of Upton and Zimmerman. The Indians shored up their middle defense to avoid a collapse like last season, but I don’t see them making a run. And the Twins, well they’ve got Buxton to look forward to at least.

American League West- Greg Diskin Ever since the Astros arrived in the AL West in 2013, they have been seen as one of the weaker teams going into every season.

This season changes all of that. The Astros are coming into 2016 with one of the youngest teams in the league and players like Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve that will be top players in the league for years to come.

Their pitching rotation is strong with 2016 Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, a Tulsa native, and newly signed Ken Giles leading the bullpen. The Astros’ neighbors, the Rangers, will finish in a close second and snag a wildcard spot in the AL. Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish are one of the most exciting 1-2 punches in the MLB and they basically have brought back their lineup from last season, which was good enough to win the division. The Mariners will finish around .500 and miss out on the playoffs. I think Cano will have a bounce back year and Felix Hernandez will resume being Felix Hernandez again, but their bullpen is too much of a question mark to predict. The Angels will finish fourth with Mike Trout leading the team, but their remaining roster leaves a lot to be desired. If the A’s weren’t in such turmoil and were doing as well as many predicted last season, the Angels would be a distant last place in this division. The A’s will finish last because they did not make any moves to try to get any better. Their offseason was stagnate with average players leaving and average players coming in and unless a prospect has an otherworldly performance, I don’t see that changing.

Thursday

Birt named Player of the Week Pat Birt was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the week last week, for helping the Golden Hurricane beat UCF and Cincinnati to get to 10 wins in conference play (at the time). In the win of the Bearcats, Birt had 13 points, including 6 of 7 free throws. In the win over the Knights, he had a game-high 26 points, including 4 of 8 three-pointers. This is the first Conference Player of the Week award for Birt, but the third one for Tulsa this season as James Woodard and Shaquille Harrison both won it in November.

Saarteinen wins as well Saara Saarteinen won the American Athletic Conference Female Tennis Player of the week last week as she went 1–0 in both singles and doubles play in beat UCF. This is both the first weekly award for Saarteinen and the first such award for the women‘s tennis team since Tulsa joined the American Athletic Conference.

Women’s soccer announces schedule The Golden Hurricane women’s soccer team announced their spring schedule last week, a seven-game schedule that includes four home games. Their first games, a double-header, are next Saturday against Stephen F. Austin at 1:30 p.m. and North Texas at 4:00 in Dallas. At the end of the month, Oklahoma State will visit, after which Tulsa will travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU. They play their last three games at home in the span of two days.

First on April 9 they host Kansas at 1:00 p.m. and after that Central Oklahoma at 4:00 p.m. Their final game of the spring season is the next day against in-state rival Oklahoma at 2:00. They will host their annual Alumni 8v8 Event, the following week.

Women’s golf finishes sixth In their first event of the spring season, the Amelia Island Collegiate, the women’s golf team finished sixth out of a field of 16. The top of the standings were tightly contested, as their final 54-hole total of 898 was only three strokes away from third. Nadia Majidizadeh led the Golden Hurricane with a final score of 223, for an 18th place finish. Antonia Von Wnuck placed 26th overall with a final score of 226, Brydie Hodge finished 31st with 227, Alex Haun finished 34th with 228 and Johanna Samuelsson finished 56th with 234.

North Florida won the team title, with a 54-hole total of 879, and Daytona’s Ji Sun Kang won the individual title with an overall score of 215. The next event for Tulsa is the Cover Cup from March 11–13 in Arizona.

: Feb 29–March 6 Friday

Saturday

Women’s Basketball @ The American Conference Tournament

Indoor Track @ The Amrican Championships

No Events No Events No Events

Women’s Basketball @ The American Conference Tournament

Rowing vs. Kansas Softball vs. Iowa 12:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis vs. Wichita State 1:00 p.m.

Men’s Basketball vs. USF 4:00 p.m.

Softball vs. Lamar 4:30 p.m.

Sunday

Women’s Basketball @ The American Conference Tournament Softball vs. Lamar 12:00 p.m.

Softball vs. Iowa 2:00 p.m.

Men’s Tennis @ SMU 4:30 p.m.

Men’s Golf @ Auburn Tiger Invitational

Sports

29 February 2016

The Collegian: 9

Tennis teams enter national conversation

TU dominates with impressive wins; women’s preserves win streak, men’s team set to face off against top-ranked opponents.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor After big wins by the men and women’s tennis teams in the past few weeks, both saw their national rankings jump up this past week. The women moved all the way up to No. 14 while the men moved up to No. 22.

The women’s team, currently 10–1, has not lost a match since Jan 23 when they fell 0–4 to the No. 5 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. In the five matches since then against Baylor, Arkansas, DePaul, Purdue and UCF, they only lost two individual games. One against Arkansas and one against UCF last weekend.

That match against UCF earned senior Saara Saarteinen an American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor, as she and Mahitha Dadireddy won their doubles match 6–4 before Saarteinen won her single match in straight sets (6–2 and 6–1). Since the Golden Hurricane has started dual play

(playing both doubles and singles matches) they have compiled a 39–5 record in singles play and three Golden Hurricanes are still undefeated at this point, including Marcelina Chichon (9–0) and Rongrong Leenabanchong (5–0) who both won against UCF. Dadireddy is the third undefeated Golden Hurricane with a 3–0 record.

The No. 14 ranking is the highest ranking that the women have had in school history, five spots higher than the No. 19 ranking that they had in the 2011–12 season.

Perhaps more indicative of the team’s strength is not any one of their wins, which they have been dominating with, but a game they did not play. Two weeks ago they were supposed to host TCU at home, but the match was cancelled because the two teams could not “come to terms.” While there was no official reason for what that means, the fact that they could not come to terms would seem to indicate that they did not want to play against Tulsa.

Their match against North Texas on Friday was the first outdoor match of season.

The Golden Hurricane won handily, 4–1.

TU took the early 1–0 advantage in doubles play when Leenabanchong and Martha Matoula and Saarteinen and Dadireddy both

won their matches. They continued their dominance in singles play, finishing 3–1, to push their overall singles record for the season to 42–6.

The men’s team moved up seven spots after last weekend when they beat Santa Clara 4–0 before losing to Oklahoma 4–1. Their overall record heading into this weekend sits at 6–3, with a long stretch of ranked opponents over the next couple weeks.

The first game is in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they will play against No. 31-ranked Washington and No. 28-ranked Michigan.

In those two games, the Golden Hurricane will face two top-100 players in the country in Mitch Stewart for Washington (95) and Jathan Mali for Michigan (60).

On Saturday the men defeated No. 31 Washington 4–1. TU won the doubles point after three closely contested games, before winning all but one of the singles matches.

The men improved their overall record to 7–3. Their second match was not finished before this article was sent to press.

Next up for the women’s team, they will host Wichita State and OU in the next week and for the men, a road trip to Dallas to take on SMU next Sunday.

In their home game for the week, Tulsa battled the No. 20 ranked USF Bulls. They weren’t fazed by the Bulls ranking in the first half, and held a two point lead at the halftime break.

The second half didn’t go quite as well as the first. The Bulls opened the third quarter on a 15–6 run, and doubled up Tulsa in the period. The Golden Hurricane tried to come back in the fourth quarter, but fell short, and

lost 72–66.

For their last game of the regular season, Tulsa faced the Bearcats in Cincinnati. The first half was a tale of two quarters, and the Golden Hurricane played good defense in the first quarter, taking a 16–9 lead. In the second quarter, they gave up 20 points. At halftime, Tulsa led 32–29.

Tulsa’s offense flowed smoothly in the remaining two quarters, as they scored 22 points in each quarter. The Golden Hurricane had three players score double digits on the day (Ashley Clark with 27, Ashley Hughes with 14, and Kelsee Grovey with 10), and pulled away from the Bearcats for the 76–63 win to end the regular season on a high note.

Tulsa’s regular season record finished at 11–18 (8–10 American Athletic Conference). They hold the 6th place spot in the conference heading into the conference tournament in Connecticut this week. Their opponent and game time is still to be determined.

TU basketball faces Bulls, Owls and Bearcats

As the women’s basketball team concludes their regular season on a high note, the men’s team climbs conference rankings.

Joseph Edmunds Student Writer

tucollegian@tucollegian.org editor-in-chief

Giselle Willis managing editor

Fraser Kastner news editor

Kayleigh Thesenvitz sports editor

Matt Rechtien variety editor

Abigail LaBounty commentary editor

Hannah Kloppenburg satire editor

Caitlin Woods photo & graphics editor

Elias Brinkman

business & advertising manager

Paul Moses web manager

Sam Chott

distribution managers

Kayleigh Thesenvitz, Kirby Hockensmith and Trent Gibbons

The Collegian is the student newspaper of the University of Tulsa. It is distributed Mondays during the fall and spring semesters, except during holidays and final exam weeks. The University of Tulsa does not discriminate on the basis of personal status or group characteristics including but not limited to the classes protected under federal and state law. Inquiries regarding implementation of this policy may be addressed to the Office of Human Resources, 800 South Tucker Drive, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74104-9700, 918-631-2616.

Requests for accommodation of disabilities may be addressed to the University’s 504 Coordinator, Dr. Tawny Taylor, 918-631-3814. To ensure availability of an interpreter, five to seven days notice is needed; 48 hours is recommended for all other accommodations. Advertising Policy: Advertising appearing in this publication does not imply approval or endorsement by the University of Tulsa or The Collegian for the products or services advertised.

For advertising information, email the Collegian at advertising@tucollegian.org. The deadline for advertising is 12 pm on the Friday prior to publication. Letter Policy: Letters to the editor must be less than 500 words and can be sent to tucollegian@tucollegian, or dropped off at Oliphant Room 110. Under no circumstances will anonymous letters be published. The name of the person submitting the letter must be published with the letter.

We reserve the right to edit or reject all letters. The deadline for letters is 5 pm on the Friday prior to publication. Editing Policy: The Collegian reserves the right to edit all copy submitted by all writers. This editing may take place in many forms, including grammar corrections, changes in paragraph structure or even the addition or removal of sections of content. Editorial Policy: Columnists are solely responsible for the content of their columns.

Opinions expressed in columns may not represent the opinions of the entire Collegian staff, the administrative policies of the University of Tulsa, the views of the student body or our advertisers.

Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team recently faced off against the Temple Owls, who currently holds first place in conference rankings.

In the first half, Tulsa started out cold.

Temple pulled ahead to a 10 point lead, and looked to be the better team. However, the Golden Hurricane started to chip away at the lead. Pat Birt hit a couple of shots, and Marquel Curtis also converted a couple times in this span, as Tulsa’s offense started to flow. By halftime, they had came all the way back, and taken a two point lead.

Tulsa kept up the pressure in the second half. They never gave up the lead, and played great defense, as they pushed forward to a double-digit lead. Temple didn’t have an answer, and the Golden Hurricane came away with the 74–55 victory.

With the win, Tulsa is only one game behind Temple in the American Athletic Conference standings, with a record of 19–9 (11–5 AAC). Two games are left, and the Golden Hurricane have to hope that either Memphis or Tulane can beat the Owls to force a tie at the top of the standings.

Also, the large margin of victory against the current first place team in the conference should look good in the eyes of the selection committee, as Tulsa continues to make their case for why they deserve a spot in the NCAA tournament.

courtesy American Athletic Conference

Women’s tournament preview

Left to right: Junior Or-Ram Harel serves during the AAC tournament last season. The men’s team celebrates after a win in the tournament. Sophomore Juan Gonzalez returns a serve during the conference tournament.

The final games of the regular season end with the conference tournament next weekend. Here’s a preview of what to expect.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor The women’s basketball season is just about to finish up the regular season, and the field is almost entirely decided for the conference tournament this year. All that’s left to play for the few teams that have games remaining on their schedules is seeding, and adding one more win to their NCAA resume for March.

You can’t talk about the American Athletic Conference Tournament, or even just the conference itself, without addressing the elephant in the room. It will be near impossible for anyone to compete against UConn. They will most likely finish out the regular season undefeated, will take the first seed in the conference tournament (their third-straight conference title) and will probably win the automatic berth for the American. They lead the country in points-per-game (88.6) and scoring defense (48.3), and won’t be letting up going into postseason play.

What’s so surprising is that, even though they are undefeated in both conference play and overall, it still took them until the final week of the regular season to clinch first seed and the conference title. That’s because USF, with only three losses in conference play so far, was keeping pace with them throughout most of conference play.

The Bulls will probably take the second seed in the conference, with one game left to play on Monday against UConn who will be playing to finish the season undefeated still. The Bulls have had four-straight twenty win seasons, and though they will probably not win the conference tournament, are still projected to make the NCAA tournament.

[Game on Saturday] Temple will take the third seed, but will need a strong showing in the tournament-at least a trip to the finals against UConn-to make the tournament, because as they sit now they are one of the first four out with two games left on the regular season schedule.

For the rest of the conference, the conference tournament is the only chance that they will have to make the NCAA tournament.

Tulane and Memphis will play for the fourth seed, and they are the final two teams with winning records in the American. SMU and Tulsa are fighting for the sixth seed, but the Mustangs hold the edge with one more game remaining against East Carolina, while TU finished the regular season at Cincinnati on Saturday.

East Carolina, Cincinnati and UCF will all jostle for the next three seeds, while Houston has already clinched the 11th seed and will play either Tulsa or SMU. It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Golden Hurricane as they finish either sixth or seventh in the conference. They will have to win four-straight games again the gauntlet of the conference to push their season into the NCAA tournament. Their first game, regardless of seed, will be on Friday in Connecticut.

Variety

the Collegian: 10

29 February 2016

TU Festival showcases student films

The University of Tulsa’s film department recently hosted its annual Spring Film Festival, demonstrating a wide range of genre and talented filmmaking.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor

On Monday, the University of Tulsa Film Department hosted its Eighth Student Film Festival. The event, conducted in the Lorton Performance Center, allows student directors to screen their films to an audience of friends, family and classmates. Ashley Etter, who organized the event, says that it is “very instructive for a filmmaker to see how a film plays in front of an audience.” She adds that “Making a movie and showing it to an audience can be terrifying. It takes enormous courage and supportive peers.”

This year, eight films were shown, with a surprising amount of variety. Genres ranged from film noir in Chandler Bennett’s “Pawn” to comedies with cheery romantic endings, such as “First Date” and “Springtime of Youth.”

Many of the films were decidedly unique, such as “I Can’t Decide” which was a music video of the Scissor Sisters’ song by the same name, depicting a college student’s efforts to rid himself of his obnoxious roommate. Strangely enough, one of my favorite projects was “Deaf Code,” a twist on MTV’s “Girl Code,” in which deaf students clarified the dos and don’ts of interacting with and understanding deaf culture.

Keith Daniels (center) won Best Actor for his role in “Magicians Anonymous” at the TU Student Film Festival.

There were several awards given out at the festival. Among them was Best Score, claimed by “Magicians Anonymous.” The short film, directed and scored by student Tim Aston, took runner-up for best film as well. The story followed a support group of magicians learning to cope with their rather unique career choice. Keith Daniels won Best Actor for his performance as a gifted magician struggling to live up to his father’s grand reputation.

“Sweet Kitty,” a dark comedy in which an ungrateful slob is tasked by his girlfriend to take care of her cat for a few days, took the Audience Choice Award. The film cuts intermittently between a real cat whose improvised and instinctual reactions make its screen-time

pleasantly comical, and a POV shot from the same animal, with only the occasional fake cat arm reaching into view to knock over bottles, plates and knives. Summer Thompson, who directed the feature, also won the award for Outstanding Senior, but was unable to accept it in person as she is currently studying abroad in Italy.

In the words of Ashley Etter, Summer “has been an exceptional and sociable student. She understands that filmmaking requires a lot of sharing.”

Winner of the Best Film award was “Pawn,” the previously mentioned film noir tribute directed by student Chandler Berrett. The short film featured a hardboiled detective, lengthy cryptic mono-

logues, a femme fatale and was even filmed in black and white.

When asked why he chose the genre of film noir, Chandler cited its “history and visual design.”

While classic noir films were usually “cynical manifestations of the fallout from the Great Depression and World War II,” he noted that the genre survives in “neo-noir stories that take the outline of noir and graft it onto relevant issues.”

Finally, Chandler admitted that visually the “silhouette of someone in a trench coat and fedora smoking a cigarette has always made [him] a bit weak in the knees.” After working on “Pawn” the entirety of last semester, he was thankful to have other people view it and offer constructive criticism. He says

courtesy Morgan Krueger

he’s trying to use the experience to improve his future work.

The festival has a promotional aspect as well, allowing students to establish useful ties with the Tulsa community. In attendance of the event were a number of representatives from upcoming local film festivals. One such was Tulsa Overground Film Festival, which will be occurring March 24 in the Circle Cinema and the Fly Loft.

Another, the Tulsa American Film Festival, is a newer organization, and is hoping to premiere independent features and short films. Both organizations offer student film programs and can be contacted on their respective websites.

The Tavern Burger: Worth the $13, definitely worth 7 “twenty-one plus” Custom cocktail creations and accompanying critiques presented by TU’s own hobbyist mixologist.

Sara Douglas Student Writer Blue Sky 2 oz. Heisenberg Blue Ice vodka 1 oz. horchata ½ oz. Goldschläger ½ oz. blue curaçao 1 egg white rimming sugar Coat the rim of a martini glass with sugar, then chill.

Add all ingredients except the curaçao to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Shake vigorously until very cold and foamy.

Pour into chilled martini glass.

Use a funnel or straw to pour the

curaçao into the base of the glass.

Sprinkle with sugar on top and serve with a cocktail stirrer.

Drink this if: You’d like to reminisce about Walter White’s Heisenberg and his Blue Sky creation. This sweet and spicy cocktail may be as close as you can (legally) get to tasting Blue Sky for yourself, perhaps while binge-watching Breaking Bad. A creamy cinnamon concoction like this would be a perfect sipper to savor on a warm New Mexico afternoon—spring in Oklahoma is close enough, right?

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Managing Editor Fraser Kastner and friend visit the Tavern on Brady to try the halfoff burger, wrestle with impossible french fries and debate the substance of the Tavern’s bathroom decor.

The Tavern on Brady is, you guessed it, a tavern located in the Brady District, on the corner of Brady and Main. The website describes it as “a modern interpretation of the classic neighborhood pub,” and then goes on to use words like “inspired,” “seasonal” and “artisanal,” which should give you some idea of what kind of place it is.

After nine o’clock, the Tavern’s hamburger is sold at half price, and in the interest of getting cheap food journalism I enlisted an old friend and set off towards downtown.

When we got to the restaurant it became clear that we were both underdressed. No one looked at us funny or anything, it’s just that the diners were mostly late-20’s, early-30’s young professional types who tend to dress nicer. My friend and I, meanwhile, were both dressed like college students.

Maybe it’s because we were there on a Friday after 9, but the place was also pretty loud. I mean loud enough that my companion and I had to speak up just to hear each

other from across the table.

I’m not quite sure how to discuss the burger without dipping into the language of religious revelation. Let’s just say that it was definitely a $13 burger, and the fact that I only paid $7 for it made it taste so much better. The burger itself was fairly small, but it was complimented nicely by grilled mushrooms and a challah bun, which absorbed the juices nicely and added a nice soft texture to the entire affair.

The fries, while delicious, plentiful and garlicky, were cut into impractically thin strips. I have a feeling this was supposed to add some feeling of fanciness to the fact that I was eating a giant pile of french fries, but to be honest I just felt like there wasn’t a logical way to approach them. Was I supposed to eat them one at a time?

That would have taken too long.

Eating them four or five at a time got me a decent amount of fry in each bite, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was not a fancy enough behavior for the restaurant we were in. I ended up eating them

with a fork, which in retrospect was probably the least dignified way to do it. My friend agreed that the fries were too thin, adding that they made him uncomfortable.

Finally, the bathroom decor was weird. Most of the men’s room was what you would expect a slightly-upscale restaurant to look like on the inside. However, the western wall was papered with a bizarre grid of pulpy illustrations portraying a cowboy chasing a scantily clad woman with a knife, culminating in her shooting him.

The images seem to be out of order, making it hard to determine the exact progression of events.

The whole thing was kind of weird and seemed out of place in an otherwise classy establishment.

On the whole, the Tavern’s halfprice burger is a solid investment.

But remember, if you’re gonna go, maybe dress slightly nicer than you would otherwise, and try not to spend too much time determining the progression of events on the bathroom wallpaper.

Variety

“Freaks of Nature” tries too hard to satirize everything, fails at most of it

29 February 2016

Last Sunday, the Circle Cinema showed the 2014 film “Freaks of Nature” starring Tulsa-native actor Josh Fadem as part of its “Tulsans in Film” series.

The film bills itself as taking the “kitchen sink” approach to tropes, but ends up being another obnoxious teen movie.

Caitlin Woods Satire Editor

“Freaks of Nature” is about a small town where humans live together with zombies and vampires, however their cohabitation falls apart when aliens arrive on Earth.

It starred such prominent actors as Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Bob Odenkirk, Keegan Michael-Key and the voice of Bavarian filmmaker Werner Herzog, as well as Tulsa native Josh Fadem. Fadem is a Booker T. Washington graduate who has been in 30 Rock as Liz Lemon’s agent and, more recently, as Joey Dixon in the AMC series “Better Call Saul.”

The film was produced by Columbia/Sony Pictures, but suffered a limited release in 2014 with no press surrounding it, as a result of

a previous scandal surrounding the Sony film “The Interview,” which had been greenlit by the same executives.

Originally pitched under the name “Kitchen Sink,” the film really did have everything—teen drama, vampires, zombies, aliens and even werewolves (though not until the very end). With that being said, it also had all the obnoxious tropes and juvenile humor that come with teen drama and supernatural horror/comedies. What I mean to say is that “Freaks of Nature” was obviously created to do well with a tone-deaf high school audience. Most of the jokes center around a boy losing his virginity, and there are several ableist and sexist jokes (zombies taking the short bus? Who thought that was a good idea?), making it obvious that the creators didn’t have a socially-aware audience in mind when writing them.

Though the movie was built around offensive jokes and teen film stereotypes, one thing it did well was its play on supernatural genres, and the question “What if vampires and zombies lived with humans?”. One of the main characters gets bitten by a vampire at a party early on, and spends the rest of the movie wrestling with feelings of shame and self-loathing af-

ter one night’s mistake has left her permanently changed.

On the one hand it seems like a pretty old-fashioned message about girls protecting their chastity, but the movie is actually pretty sympathetic to the character, and what initially seemed like it was going to be another tone-deaf, victim-blaming joke ended up being more about society’s tendency to place labels on girls who appear un-chaste. This plot point also ad-

Yokozuna “Rudeness is merely the expression of fear.”

Accuracy: 0/5 Yokozuna is the kind of place that a think piece from five years ago would have made fun of. It has exposed brick, black and white photos of old-timey sumo wrestlers, and a blackboard with punny daily specials posted on it. The food is good, but relatively pricey.

The fortune, on the other hand, was garbage. I expect to be told how to live my life, but instead, I just get some advice that gives me a better perspective on how other people feel? Personally, I only get rude when I’m angry or dealing with anxiety, so this fortune cookie has been disproven with a sample size of one person. I’ve also heard that some Yokozuna fortunes are coupons for free food or shots, so I was frustrated that getting drunk for free wasn’t in my future. Disappointing.

ling, 70s decor and the sense that a gang of neighborhood toughs might walk in and start charging protection fees. It’s only a few blocks off campus, it serves good food with generous portions, and it’s the cheapest restaurant I’ve ever been to, in the best way. The only caveat is that they only take cash, though, so come prepared.

I went to New Hong Kong when I definitely should have been studying for a test, so my fortune was actually very apt. Whether I passed or failed, I would still grow as a person, and learn integrity, which is allegedly more important than anything I can learn in a classroom. The only reason I’m not giving this a 5/5 is because I would have really preferred a fortune that told me to prepare for more questions on conceptual models, which would have actually been helpful.

the Collegian: 11

dresses dangerous relationships and what it’s like to be a victim of a sexual predator.

However, what might have been the one redeeming part of the film ended in a pretty derivative punchline when another character, the school’s sweetheart, gets bitten and makes a joke about her boobs getting bigger as a result.

All in all, “Freaks of Nature” is a pretty subpar movie, but the Circle Cinema’s showing of the

In “Freaks of Nature,” the town of Dillon is thrown into chaos when aliens invade.

movie was a neat attempt to highlight Tulsa natives in Hollywood.

Fadem, who starred in the movie alongside Nicholas Braun and Mackenzie Davis, held a Q&A session after Sunday’s matinee showing.

The movie ran for a week at the Circle, as part of an ongoing series highlighting Tulsans in film.

courtesy Sony Pictures

Fortune cookie review: cookie outsmarts writer

Sometimes fortune cookies are vague and obscure, sometimes they’re free shots and sometimes they just state facts.

You may not believe in judging a restaurant by its prepackaged cookiewrapped paper, but we at The Collegian believe there’s nothing you can’t judge.

Sam Chott Student Writer

Ever since an enterprising restaurateur realized that they had too much bland cookie dough and vague advice and not enough money, fortune cookies have accompanied checks at restaurants around the world. It’s strange, then, that they attract little attention, with most people choosing restaurants based on things like their “ambiance,” “price” or “quality of food.”

With that in mind, I’ve decided to review four of the most accessible Asian restaurants around TU with regards to the accuracy of the fortunes inside their cookies.

New Hong Kong “Calamity and prosperity are the touchstone of integrity.”

Accuracy: 4/5 When I walked into New Hong Kong, my first thought was that I had stepped into a Bruce Lee movie, thanks to the wood panel-

Star Ginger “A great adventure is just around the corner.”

Accuracy: 2/5 I went to the Star Ginger on campus, so, in the words of the great T.I., you know what it is.

One thing to note is that, though the rice bowls are aggressively mediocre, their pho is actually

pretty decent. If you haven’t tried it, then you’re missing out.

This fortune is vague, as befits a cookie fortune. Unfortunately, it’s so vague that I can’t use it to guide all of my life decisions, which is what I really want from my cookies. There’s also the question of whose definition of “great adventure” it’s using, because I consider staying in to read more a “grand adventure.” Also, if you’re wondering whether it was talking about a literal corner, I checked, and there were no adventures near where I opened the cookie. This fortune was optimistic, but unusable.

Guang Zhou Dim Sum “Listen attentively. You will come out ahead in the coming week.”

Accuracy: 5/5 I was excited to go to Guang Zhou Dim Sum, because I’ve never had Dim Sum, but it turns out that they only serve it from 11-3 on weekends, operating as a standard Chinese restaurant the rest of the time. The restaurant is located in a refurbished McDonald’s, which you can tell because of the style of the building, the remaining drivethrough windows and the fact that the doors still say “McDonald’s,”

despite Guang Zhou having been in that location for at least five years. In any case, the food was hit-or-miss, with great dumplings but soapy tofu, and it was more expensive than I’d prefer.

The fortune, on the other hand, was something else. First of all, it actually told me to listen to it, which seems like a bold move for a cookie. It also gave me a very specific timeframe for how long it would take to come true, which would be strange, unless you take into account that this article will already be in print by the time the week is up.

All in all, this is the first time I’ve ever been outsmarted by a cookie. The cookie knew that I would have to judge it before the fortune’s timeline expired, and so wouldn’t be able to give a good evaluation. To make matters worse, I’m scared to say that the cookie was inaccurate, just in case it has some way to stop me from coming out ahead. While I can’t say that the fortunes at Guang Zhou Dim Sum are accurate, I do know that they’re always one step ahead of me, like a chessmaster or a dance teacher. You win this round, Guang Zhou.

“India Talkies” celebrates culture and dance

photo by Adam Lux

This week, the Indian Student Association hosted the India Talkies in ACAC. The event was a celebration of Indian dance, music, food and fashion, showcasing dress and wedding garb from throughout the different states of India.

Commentary

The Collegian: 12

29 February 2016

Shooting range’s “No Muslims” policy based on unfounded, racist suspicions

Policies like the “No Muslims” policy at a gun range in Oktaha, OK are unreasonable, unfounded and discriminatory. Data don’t support Muslim terrorists as the most significant threat.

Michaela Flonard Student Writer Last week, U.S. Army reservist Raja’ee Fatihah visited the the Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range in Oktaha, OK. This range recently made news for its “No Muslims” sign. Fatihah, a Muslim and member of Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), wanted to test this policy.

At first, Fatihah said he was treated respectfully, as a regular customer. Upon revealing his religion, however, he claims he was treated with suspicion, and asked if he was there to murder others at the range.

After his experience at the range, Fatihah filed suit in the US District Court in Muskogee, alleging anti-Islamic discrimination.

The business tells a different story. According to Robert Muise, a lawyer from the American Freedom Law Center who is representing the range, Fatihah was denied service because he was a danger.

In this version of events, Fatihah brought a loaded AK-47 to the

A typical shooting range. These are generally open to the public, but the Oktaha range attempted to ban Muslims from the property.

range on a rainy day which most wouldn’t shoot in. The owners “feared for their safety,” he said, and Fatihah acted belligerent.

Muise applauded the owners of the range for “resisting political correctness and doing what was right under the circumstances.”

He further argues that the policy is within the bounds of free speech.

It is unclear which version of the story is correct until further investigation is conducted. But the details of the specific event itself are inconsequential. What matters is the religious discrimination present in these circumstances.

One of the owners, Chad Neal, hinted at this discrimination in his explanation of the store policy.

Neal said the sign was posted in response to the July 16 attacks at two military institutions in Chattanooga, TN. The owners say they do not want to train any jihadists who could go on to commit other attacks. As a US Army veteran, Neal

said he has “seen what Muslims and jihadis do to people. It’s just not going to happen in my store.”

This policy is not unique to the Oktaha store; Neal said his range was “behind” similar ranges in other states.

Some of these ranges have also been sued. CAIR sued a Florida firearms retailer in 2015 for violating the federal public accommodations law. This suit was dismissed, as the sign was considered free speech and the activists couldn’t prove they’d been harmed.

But these policies are extremely harmful. Such policies treat all Muslims as potential terrorists, deeming them guilty for believing what they do.

This ideology goes against the basic belief of “innocent before proven guilty.” By painting all Muslims as potential jihadists, these policies further divide the country. Divisions make it easier for anger to develop, and issues to arise.

courtesy canarymission.org

Fatihah is a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). In the past, CAIR sued a Florida firearms retailer for a similar discrimination allegation.

Developments in Eric Harris case show that police must earn trust

News that Tulsa sheriff’s officials pressured investigators in the Eric Harris case makes it difficult to trust county police. Police officers have a responsibility to protect citizens before looking out for their own.

Fraser Kastner Managing Editor

When I was a kid, my parents always told me that you could trust the police. If I were ever in trouble, I could always find a police officer and ask for help.

Recently, Maj. Robbie Lillard, an official with the Tulsa Sheriff’s Department, testified that two other top officials within the department pressured him to report the death of Eric Harris as a justifiable homicide, rather than the manslaughter that investigators determined it to be. Another one of the officials later encouraged Capt.

Billie McElvey to meet with Eric Harris’ brother to discourage him from seeking legal council.

In the opinion of Maj. Lillard, the two officials who pressured

him, Maj. Tom Huckeby and Undersheriff Tim Albin, were motivated by personal allegiance to Robert Bates, the reserve deputy who accidentally shot and killed Eric Harris during a weapons sting.

This has disturbing implications, not only for the Tulsa Sheriff’s department, but for the way police officers everywhere are perceived. As the old cliche goes, it is the duty of any law enforcement officer to protect and serve the people. They are expected to act in the best interests of the people in their community, rather than the interests of their friends and coworkers.

This should be obvious, but it seems that personal allegiance has time and again clouded the judgement of the top brass at the Sheriff’s department. Even before the shooting of Harris, Bates was getting special treatment from the department. He was allowed to do things that no other reserve deputy would be allowed to do, like skip parts of his training. You know, the training that’s supposed to make sure the cops don’t accidentally kill anyone.

It’s natural to want to protect your friends, to want to do them favors. But more is at stake here than that.

When someone is tasked with protecting an entire county, they can’t use that authority to do special favors for their friends the way Sheriff Glanz did, and they

can’t try to cover up their mistakes the way Albin and Huckeby did. If they do, how are we supposed to trust the police?

It isn’t terribly profound to say that the police should do their jobs correctly. Everyone knows that.

What we seem to have forgotten is that when someone has been given more power and authority than usual, they should also be held to higher standards.

Is the favoritism displayed by the Tulsa Sheriff’s Department understandable? Absolutely. But that doesn’t make it okay. The fact that we all do favors for our friends does not make Eric Harris less dead, nor does it restore my faith our county’s law enforcement.

In addition to telling me that I could always trust the police, my parents told me that trust is something that is earned. If someone does not act trustworthy, you are foolish to trust them.

I believe that the majority of police officers and other law-enforcement officials are good people who genuinely want to make their communities safer. But even under that assumption, if the institutions themselves allow actions like Albin and Huckeby’s, it casts doubt on the whole operation.

Regardless of how understandable it may be, it is a perversion of the criminal justice system if the officials are operating under the same sort of protect-our-own code of silence that characterizes organized crime.

Just like being denied service for the color of your skin, being denied service for your religious beliefs makes one feel like a second-class citizen.

Instead of treating all Muslims as time-bombs, these ranges, and all Americans, should perhaps work on educating themselves about Islam and befriending devout believers, so they can determine how threatening the religion really is. Some of these gun range owners, like Neal, claim to understand Islam, and thus recognize it as a credible threat.

While the definition of terrorism is not set in stone, data show that most domestic terrorist attacks are not committed by Muslims. While the image of Muslim jihadists has been the most frightening threat to these range owners, the data doesn’t support them.

The FBI’s survey of terrorism through 2002 to 2005 found that, with the exception of a white supremacist bombing a synagogue in Oklahoma City, all domestic terrorist incidents were committed by animal rights and environmental extremists.

Terrorism preventions, in which a potential attack was averted, during this period were mostly from right-wing extremism, which was involved with white supremacy, anti-abortion movements, and others. Internationally, there were incidents by regional jihadist groups in primarily Muslim countries during this period that did claim American casualties.

Princeton University’s Loon Watch complied FBI data from 1980 to 2005, and found that Islamic extremists were responsible for 6 percent of terrorist attacks.

A review of attacks in European Union countries finds similar data.

In 2013, there were 152 terrorist attacks in the European Union.

Only two of them were religiously motivated, while 84 were related to ethno-nationalist or separatist beliefs.

If these gun range owners are worried about training the next jihadist, data suggest their worries are misplaced. Most terrorism, at least on domestic soil, isn’t committed by Muslims.

Data suggests mass murderers are more of a threat to Americans than a Muslim-American is to them. If range owners want to prevent American deaths, perhaps they should consider how to not train the next mass shooter.

One might try to argue that Muslim extremist attacks result in more casualties than in other threats. But according to a 2013 report by Charles Kurzman, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina, Muslim-American terrorists were responsible for 37 murders out of more than 190,000 in the US since 9/11.

Meanwhile, the Congressional Research Service estimates that since 9/11, 281 people have died in 38 mass public shootings, categorized as the murder of four or more people, not including the shooter, in one instance.

The data also shows that the people who commit most mass murders are of a totally different demographic than most MuslimAmericans.

Of 62 cases from 1982-2012, forty-four killers were white

courtesy Pixabay

males, with an average age of 35 years, many of whom had mental health problems. That’s a totally different profile than the Muslim extremist painted by these policies.

So should all white males of a certain age not be allowed to train at shooting ranges?

Now, most people would feel uncomfortable banning all people matching this profile from using ranges. So why is banning Muslim-Americans okay?

While religious terrorism often receives the most media coverage, data shows that it is not the most common, or even the most deadly threat facing Americans.

How these range owners determine if someone is Muslim is also up for scrutiny. This determination is where issues of racism come into play. Because how can you tell who is a Muslim?

Unless they wear clothing associated with Islam, like a headscarf, one must rely on skin color and facial features, which will play into stereotypes of what ethnicities are Muslim, and what they look like— usually brown-skinned.

According to Neal, his time in Iraq has given him the ability to “know what Muslims look like and how they act and talk.” None of his clients before the ban were Muslim, Neal said in a recent interview, so the issue hasn’t come up. But if these ranges want to continue their policies, in face of the data that suggests they’re unnecessary, they need to come up with a surefire way of telling people’s religion without relying on skin color.

Not all gun ranges have been so lucky. The Gun Cave Indoor Shooting Range in Arkansas has faced allegations of discrimination by an East Asian father and son who have elected to remain anonymous.

The pair claim that the owner asked if they were Muslim. They are Hindus, but one of the pair says they were questioned because of their skin color. The owner has a different story. She claims the father and son seemed to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and as this posed a safety hazard, she asked them to leave, mentioning nothing of Muslims or Islam.

While it’s unclear whose story is true, the threat of denying service because of appearance, especially skin color, remains. Just because someone looks to be a stereotypic Muslim, they might not necessarily be Muslim, just as it is with any other religion.

While the Florida firearms retailer with a “no-Muslim” policy had its suit dismissed, the legality of these kinds of policies is still unclear. If the ranges qualify as “private clubs,” they may not be covered by Title II of the US Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination based on religion, according to Michael McConnell, director of the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. State’s laws on discrimination in public places vary, which further complicates the problem.

This new suit may provide answers. No matter which way this case goes, however, Americans should work to stop these policies, as they are harmful.

Commentary

29 February 2016

The Collegian: 13

Apple court case bigger than one iPhone

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Apple’s decision to oppose an FBI order to unlock an iPhone affects issues of privacy, and its outcome will set a legal precedent.

Apple is right to oppose the FBI’s order to write an new version of iOS in order to access a phone which belonged to one of the San Bernardino shooters.

Sam Beckmann Student Writer Apple is currently refusing to unlock an iPhone 5c previously owned by one of the San Bernardino shooters, and many voices are coming out for and against them in this complicated issue.

If you haven’t been following the case, here is a brief summary

of the events that have transpired so far: 1. Before the court order to Apple, the FBI asked San Bernardino County to change the iCloud password on the phone in question.

Since the phone was owned by the county, they had this capability.

The county complied. As a result of this, it is no longer possible to extract a backup of the phone and retrieve that data.

2. A federal judge ordered Apple, according to the All-Writs Act of 1789, to help the FBI gain access to the phone. The order asked Apple to write a new version of iOS, iPhone’s operating system, to do the following: Disable the iPhone’s ability to wipe itself after ten incorrect password attempts, allow passwords to be submitted to the phone electronically and remotely, and eliminate the artificial delay between password attempts.

3. Apple refused to comply with this order, publicly announcing its intent to do so in “A Message to Our Customers” written by CEO

Tim Cook and posted on Apple’s website. (apple.com/customerletter) The letter stated that the order violated its consumers’ right to privacy, and this case would set a dangerous precedent.

4. After much debate and discussion in the media, Apple released a follow-up FAQ about why they are fighting the order, and what’s at stake.

5. As the appeal process continues, Apple has announced its intent to argue that the FBI’s order is a violation of free speech.

Many people have been siding with the FBI in this battle, and honestly, it’s not hard to see why.

At the most basic level, it appears Apple is refusing to help the FBI access the iPhone of a terrorist.

However, I’m of the opinion that the particular wording of this request, as well as what would be required to fulfill it, means this case is much larger than this one particular iPhone.

First, let’s look at the FBI’s order. It is important to note here that

the order is not for Apple to unlock the iPhone in question. The order is forcing Apple to build a tool that will allow the FBI to unlock the phone.

Essentially, this boils down to the FBI telling Apple “Your encryption is too strong on this phone. Make the encryption weaker, so we can hack into it.”

There are two aspects of this that are worth bringing up. First, the FBI is directly asking Apple to reduce encryption. In a world where our phones and computers have more personal data than ever before including banking information, medical records, and personal photos, this is a worrying factor.

Second, the FBI is not asking Apple to hand over some code it has. They’re asking Apple to write new code that allows them to crack the weaker encryption.

This is the main point of Apple’s argument against the FBI. Apple’s position is that the government cannot force them to write new code, as code has legal precedent

of being upheld as free speech, so the FBI would be compelling speech. This, in Apple’s view, violates their first-amendment rights.

But, as many people have said, the reason this case is important is not that this one particular iPhone will be unlocked.

Since Apple is making a case against the FBI, whatever the outcome of the case will be, it will set a legal precedent.

If Apple wins, that precedent will be that the government cannot force companies to write code for them. If Apple loses, the precedent will instead be that law enforcement can request Apple (or any other manufacturer) to weaken the encryption on any phone, even if that is not currently possible with the tools available.

Apple has already reported that law enforcement across the country has “hundreds” of phones they want Apple to unlock if the FBI wins this case.

It’s bigger than one iPhone.

Alan Grayson’s superdelegate Ted Cruz a “naturalpoll is ultimately meaningless

Though Alan Grayson’s decision to hold an online poll to determine his superdelegate vote could have profound implications, it is more likely to be a onetime affair.

Kayleigh Thesenvitz News Editor Representative Alan Grayson is known by his Floridian constituents to be an anti-establishment Democrat.

However, he is also known by the Democratic Party as a superdelegate. In political terms that title would usually be associated with being pro-establishment, not anti-establishment. Why? Because superdelegates are appointed by the party.

Regular delegates are chosen by the state they represent, and in most states are required to cast their vote according to how their constituents voted, although that is not always the case.

The job of a superdelegate is to be among the parties’ deciding vote at the national convention in the summer. After the votes from all of the delegates from every state are tallied up, superdelegates are those few people whose primary vote actually matters.

Unlike delegates who are encouraged to vote according to what their constituents want, the superdelegate votes have as much sway, but are not representative of the people. Superdelegates’ votes

represent the will of their political party.

That is the rule most superdelegates play by. Grayson, on the other hand, is playing way left of field in uncharted and questionable territory. He has offered up his vote to an online poll.

On February 17, Grayson announced his decision to let the people decide his vote on Facebook saying, “I’m a ‘superdelegate.’ In July, at the Democratic Convention, I will be voting for Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton.

Unlike ‘some people,’ I will not be making this decision based on who can host the best fundraiser for me.

I will not be making this decision based on what my fat-cat donors tell me.”

“If this works, then maybe other ‘superdelegates’ will follow suit, and netroots activism can turn one of the least democratic elements of the UnDemocratic Party into something really special—a decision Of the People, By the People

and For the People,” he concluded.

Any and every person in the US can go to graysonprimary.com and vote for either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

This has the potential to be a very significant step toward truly representative democracy in our country. This could cause the parties to care more about their constituents than about party politics.

But it won’t.

This is a circular problem that is going to end in a one time hurrah for the average American person and nothing more.

Grayson is a polarizing figure within the Democratic party elite much like Sanders is, except grumpier and lacking charisma.

The most likely response from the Democratic party establishment regarding Grayson’s actions is an eye roll.

TL,DR; Enjoy your second, and more influential primary vote, but don’t think too much of it.

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Superdelegate Alan Grayson has chosen an unconventional route for his primary vote.

born” citizen, eligible for the presidency

Despite being born in Canada, Ted Cruz is still effectively a “natural-born” citizen and is eligible for the presidency.

Wade Crawford Student Writer Ever since he first announced his candidacy for President of the United States, Senator Ted Cruz has been in the middle of controversy surrounding his ability to even run in the first place.

Since Cruz was born in Canada, there has been a hot debate of “natural-born” citizenship and how it applies.

Rafael Edward Cruz was born in Calgary, Canada in 1970, to a Cuban father and an American-born mother. Though the citizenship of his mother should guarantee American citizenship for Cruz, the concept of “natural-born citizen” is still up for discussion.

The Constitution doesn’t make things abundantly clear,

either. The three main qualifications are that the candidate must be 35 years of age or older, they must have lived in the US for 14 years, and that they must be a “natural-born citizen.”

Cruz fits the first two qualifications (his family moved to the US when he was four). As for the third and final qualification, most people agree that Cruz fits the bill for that as well.

Though the “natural-born citizen” term was defined in the Constitution originally as only people born on American soil, the Naturalization Act of 1790 stated that children born internationally to a US citizen parent were citizens themselves.

The question of whether or not Ted Cruz is a natural-born citizen has been hotly debated since he declared that he was running for president.

To me, it seems perfectly reasonable for Cruz to run. He was born in Canada, sure, but the Naturalization Act explicitly states that he’s a citizen.

The situation has surfaced before—Barack Obama’s father was African, and John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone. Neither of those men were disallowed to run.

So, even though he was not born in the fifty states, Ted Cruz is still very eligible to run for the office of President.

Commentary

The Collegian: 14

29 February 2016

Release of Joe Mixon assault video: the right decision at the wrong time

The public release of video footage of OU football player Joe Mixon’s assault of a female student accomplishes little at this point. It only serves to open old wounds, though it would have been helpful at the time of the initial incident.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor Nearly twenty months ago, OU football star Joe Mixon was involved in a case of physical assault involving a female student.

The incident was captured by a camera located in Pickleman’s Gourmet Cafe. Accessibility of this footage has, until recently, been restricted to news reporters and law enforcement. However, a recent court ruling might grant the public access to the video.

A police report of the footage describes Mixon as having aggressively approached the female student, who responded by slapping him. Mixon then “struck her on the left side of her face with his closed right fist, knocking her into a table top and then to the ground where she laid motionless.”

Nearly two years ago, news outlets which had requested copies of this surveillance footage were instead allowed to view the recording within the Norman Police Department. Not long after approximately 40 media entities had sent reporters to watch

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Mixon is a member of the OU Sooners football team.

the tapes, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters received a response to its own request, in which the District Attorney claimed that the footage was no longer in their possession, “as it has been given to the victim.”

After a series of denials and contradictory exchanges between the DA’s office, the NPD and the OAB, the Norman Police Department finally defended its refusal of the OAB to access the tapes, thus admitting that the footage was still or at least had been in their possession at the time of OAB’s request.

Among the Norman Police Department’s reasons for not allowing the OAB to view the tapes was the fact that as of November 2014, when the footage was first captured, the city was not legally obligated to release the video.

Furthermore, Mixon was never arrested, “as the person appeared himself to answer for the public offense with which he was charged.” Finally, the video was private property belonging to Pickleman’s cafe, meaning it would have been unlawful of the

NPD to retain the tapes. After a Cleveland county judge sided with the city, the OAB appealed the ruling.

Now, two years later, Oklahoma courts have concluded that “the trial court erred in dismissing OAB’s petition,” ruling that the footage be made public record.

While I agree that the footage should have been public access from the time of its recording, I question whether the conclusion of this case should be triumphed, especially considering its timing. After all, the case is, at this point, two years old. What kind of precedent does it set if a court is allowed to attempt to right its wrongs after the fact at the expense of its defendants?

Admittedly, I don’t regret the controversy this case will bring to Joe Mixon himself.

When facing questions regarding the abuse, he comes off as remorseless—perhaps even cocky. A tweet of his from 2015 dedicates his performance that season to his ‘haters.’

To worsen this is his reluctance to admit his mistake. In response to reporters he calls himself a good person, with no regrets. He seems content in digging a hole for himself.

I regret, instead, the ability that rulings similar to this one could have in opening up old wounds. In cases where defendants or past criminals have paid their dues to society, usually greater than the simple one-season suspension faced by Joe Mixon, releasing the footage of their crimes might only be effective in reinvigorating a social stigma against them.

A genuinely repentant individual could face the indignity of having their past wrongdoings posted for little more than public consumption. It’s easy to watch a video a few minutes long and condemn someone’s entire life.

In cases like this, where the footage is made public long after the trial concluded, it serves no real purpose. Had the footage been released at the time of the initial incident, the uproar that would have ensued might have earned Mixon more than a slap on the wrists and a time-out from football.

Today, however, little good can come from its publicity.

Mattel’s new Barbies are a step in the right direction

Mattel’s new, more diverse Barbie dolls are inclusive and give girls of all backgrounds something to look up to.

James Terrell Student Writer A few weeks ago, Mattel revealed their newest change to a timeless classic. On top of being anything she wants, Barbie now has more accessibility to officially look however she pleases. While she doesn’t have every option under the sun, Barbie now has three different body types, as well as different hair types and skin colors. The result shows how progressive the company has truly become.

Barbie is infamous for her original look; tall, skinny, blonde, white girl with extremely long, thin legs that would collapse under her if she were actually a real human being.

With this unrealistic idea of beauty, parents have complained over how it gives their children bad expectations.

Originally, Barbie had a larger bust and a sideways glance that seemed too “adult” to parents, so the company adapted and changed the model. One thing they wouldn’t change, however, was her size and skin tone.

That could be why Barbie has had various “friends” over the course of her existence, because the idea that Barbie could be anything other than a white thin supermodel

was crazy.

Ever heard of Christie? She’s Barbie’s African-American friend. How about Barbie’s friend Becky, who uses a wheelchair?

These characters were designed so the company could punch their card and say they were being inclusive.

Of course there are the few who argue this inclusivity is something that shouldn’t matter and that Barbie should stay the way she is. They also worry that their children will question why race matters when presented with the new Barbies.

It’s perhaps one of the strangest arguments, because at the end of the day, they still can purchase the original Barbie. This remodeling is to provide variety and to show that anyone can look at Barbie and see themselves in her.

If one doesn’t like the idea of change, they can always buy blonde skinny Barbie, but that’s not the only option now.

Others would argue Mattel didn’t do enough, that there should be even more skin tones and various other body types.

This argument is also odd, because one can’t expect the entire world to change in a day. These new dolls can be stepping stones for something greater, but that proof takes time. It’s better to appreciate the fact an effort is being made, while keeping an open mind and a hope that they’ll make even more types of dolls.

It isn’t enough to make “friends” for Barbie because sadly, at the end of the day no one is going to remember Becky or Christie.

It’s great to finally say Barbie is more than a single set idea.

One of the biggest requirements of being successful in the toy business is appealing to the consumer, and the people want dolls that are both mental and physical role models.

Yes, Barbie can be a scientist or an astronaut or a ballerina, but that Barbie was just one type of person before. Now she can be

courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Barbie is an age-old classic that’s getting a new, diverse and much-needed makeover.

any shade and any size, and still rock those jobs, showing children that they can too when they’ve grown up.

Mattel has finally come to this realiza-

tion, and it’s beautiful how they’re allowing Barbie to reach her full potential.

Commentary

29 February 2016

Instagram pets

The Collegian: 15

• Confusing • Profitable • Best in small doses

Instagram pets are a baffling and slightly uncomfortable internet phenomenon, but they are also a great way for pet owners to make a profit, and famous pets are much less likely to suffer embarrassment or emotional harm than famous humans.

Sam Chott Web Manager

graphic by Elias Brinkman

The Collegian’s rendering of an Instagram pet profile. Meet internet sensation Queen LaTurtle.

FREAKY

FAST SANDWICHES

Ten years ago, if you had asked me where to find sickeningly cute pictures of animals, I would have directed you to either my greataunt, whose decor consisted entirely of cat kitsch, or one of my classmates, whose dogbased notebook collection was unrivalled in my school.

Now, I would just tell you to get your pet fix on the internet. Obviously, there are a few different places that you might go, with Google, Reddit and Tumblr probably topping the list, but when it comes to animal pictures, Pet Instagram is perhaps the cutest place on the internet.

When viewing different Instagram accounts for pets, very little stands out. @ chloekardoggian, a typical Instagram pet account, features a skittish-looking Chihuahua, with pictures that mostly feature her sitting on a blanket or pillow looking at the camera. Only her follower count, at 73.9k, seems remarkable.

The captions on her photos, however, rather than the small comment from the owner that I expected, are first-person accounts from Chloe the dog, always expressing some kind of vague TGIF-like sentiment.

“Block me from any inch of this sunshine and pay the price, human. SUNday Funday starts NOW!” reads a caption from a picture of her squinting in the sunlight. A picture of her wearing a red wig is accompanied by the caption “I don’t always understand fashion trends but I’ve gotta keep up with what the kids are into to stay relevant!“ Chloe’s Instagram doesn’t even tell the whole story. She has official accounts on Facebook and Twitter, though they have less followers than her Instagram. A professional-looking website devoted to her has links to an online shop and various media outlets featuring her, including Buzzfeed, People and the Webby Awards. Next to every instance of her name is a small ™. Chloe is trademarked.

Chloe is by no means unique. @biddythehedgehog mostly posts pictures of the titular hedgehog, with captions like “Happy tongue out Tuesday!!”, along with links to different shops where you can buy Biddy the Hedgehog shirts and calendars. @norbertthedog sells Norbert stuffed animals and has a line of children’s books. Though @picathepom doesn’t appear to have any merchandising, some of its pictures feature a Pomeranian posing with products from the Yummy World toy line. Almost all of the large pet Instagrams are monetized in some way.

Though it’s difficult to tell how much money goes through Instagram in terms of sponsorships, it’s estimated that an Insta-

gram account with 50k followers can expect around $1000 for appearing at a sponsor’s event. Sponsors of Instagram pets are primarily pet-focused companies, but different companies are increasingly getting in on the game. @toastmeetsworld features a King Charles with 349k followers, who is the face for Karen Walker brand sunglasses in addition to selling Toast Meets World shirts, hoodies and tote bags.

To be honest, this was a little bit terrifying to me at first. First of all, it seems a little strange that pet Instagrams communicate from the pet’s point of view. At the risk of using a buzzword, it feels a bit too curated.

The managers of these accounts are likely trying to make the interaction between a human and a dog that live thousands of miles apart feel natural, by telling us what the dog wants to say, which is conveniently exactly what their large audiences want to hear.

Maybe that’s a good thing, though. Interactions between people over the internet will always have some tinge of falseness to them, making us question whether we’re actually experiencing a genuine connection.

For obvious reasons, we can never experience a real connection to a dog over Instagram, so why pretend?

There’s no reason to believe that @mensweardog can ever be anything but a momentary distraction, or that it ever accurately depicts the ups and downs in the life of the Shiba Inu it features. Social media is inherently too curatable, as in we have too much control over how we present ourselves, to ever actually tell the entire truth. @mensweardog understands this by dressing a dog in an expensive sweater, having it pretend to watch the Super Bowl and having it encourage us to buy Subaru products. Why not?

There’s also a clear reason to obsess over pets, rather than people. Unfortunate things happen to people who get famous on the internet. Ghyslain Raza, the unwitting star of “Star Wars Kid,” at one point the most watched video on the internet, suffered severe harassment not only from the classmates that initially posted the video, but also from the public at large. “What I saw was mean. It was violent. People were telling me to commit suicide,” he said in an interview with Maclean’s. While I’m sure that famous animals still get hate mail, by keeping the owners out of the picture, they likely won’t be targeted directly.

In addition, it’s also worth noting that pet Instagrams are run largely by one person. While there are social media firms that handle some of the PR for the accounts with many followers, most of the work is ultimately done by the owner. When many industries are moving away from a franchised or corporate model, I think it’s encouraging that the animal picture industry is following suit.

I’m tempted to question why these Instagrams even exist. Why don’t we all just get pets? Many of the commenters compare the Instagram pets to their own, so they’re not just vicariously owning pets. I can definitely understand following @mensweardog because dogs wearing people clothes is objectively amazing, but I just don’t get most of the rest of the Instagram pets.

Even though I don’t understand it, clearly following these animals and their fictitious exploits satisfies some urge in people. For what it’s worth, though, I’m glad that they have this, I’m glad that it’s on a relatively small scale, and I’m glad that there’s always a chance for me to make a living off of pictures of my dog.

SERIOUS DELIVERY!

TM

★ JIMMYJOHNS.COM ★

TO FIND THE LOCATION NEAREST YOU VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM ©2016 JIMMY JOHN’S FRANCHISE, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

courtesy Pixabay

Instagram pets are often small, cute animals like chihuahuas.

29 February 2016

The State-Run Media

the

State-Run media Can somebody attack me please?

New candidate Bej Hedge surprises GOP A mustachioed mystery man has taken the GOP by storm, providing an alternative to career politicians and bombastic candidates.

James Whisenhunt Beginning a write-in campaign

Who is this mustachioed new contender for the Republican nomination?

graphic by Madeline Woods

Last week in South Carolina, Jeb Bush suspended his presidential campaign. As more states have cast their votes, less-successful candidates have begun leaving the race. Unfortunately, Jeb is no exception.

However, one surprise candidate is now taking the GOP by storm.

Bej Hedge has been making great strides in his initial campaign, gaining as much as nine percent in national polls in the last week.

To many Democrats and some Republicans, this new candidate and his shrouded origins seem very suspicious. Many are demanding his birth certificate, and others wish to see him deported from the country due to the possibility of him being an illegal immigrant.

To others, however, Bej is a breath of fresh air. The hot topic of this election cycle is whether or not a candidate is a “career politician.” As there’s no history of Bej Hedge’s existence before last week, there’s no voting history to come back to haunt him. Political science senior Evelyn Tajna feels that Bej’s shrouded past keeps him interesting to the public.

“Amidst a slew of people with established platforms,” Tanja

notes, “a wildcard candidate like Bej keeps voters on their toes.”

Hedge has also been successful in getting people to watch the Republican debates. According to CNN, last Thursday’s debate brought in 14.5 million people, the highest number since last December.

According to interest polls of debate viewers, 46 percent of viewers said their main reason for watching the debate was to learn more about Bej’s views. Another 18 percent wanted to see how he will react to Donald Trump’s bombastic nature.

Hedge was impressively civil in the debate, consistently focusing on the issues and not getting caught up in other candidate’s often volatile discourse. Trump was not afraid to attack Hedge, calling him “the new joke candidate since Bush left.” He also urged the American people to “demand to know his birthplace because I’ve got a million bucks on Guatemala!”

Despite attacks, Hedge’s choice to take the high road has given the GOP an excellent foil and competitor to Trump’s aggressive nature.

With three important states’ votes already cast and Super Tuesday in just a day, Bej has a long way to go in a short amount of time to become the frontrunner.

Tanja feels that this is a strategic position on Hedge’s part, suspecting that “his novelty may lead people to the polls.” Only time will tell whether Hedge is able to cut down the competition.

TU students mimic Neko Atsume, collect real cats

Obsession over virtual cats goes IRL, with intense and potentially dangerous consequences.

James Whisenhunt Still looking for Lady Meow-Meow

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector, a simple phone game where players put out toys and food to attract cartoon cats, has taken TU’s campus by storm.

Despite the simple premise, it’s surprisingly gratifying to see Joe Dimeowgio pose by his baseball or see Billy the Kitten put his cowboy hat on. However, some students may be taking the game too far by trying to collect and document the cats on campus.

Food bowls and cat toys have been strategically placed in and around campus buildings. Students can be seen filling the bowls with various types of food, leaving for 20-30 minutes, and returning to find cats a-plenty.

The toys left for these cats range from quaint to spectacular in scope. Mechanical engineering student Emily Rohr recreated the

game’s 3D Tunnel item, giving spots for four different cats to stick out their heads and/or bottoms for the viewing pleasure of TU students. Students have attempted to appropriate many of the game’s other features to TU as well. One popular feature in Neko Atsume is the ability to rename the cats to whatever the player wishes. On campus, an attempt at this feature has proven rather controversial, as students can’t seem to decide on a name for a popular black cat.

Two opposing groups, #TeamTwinkle and The Puddles Posse, have gone back and forth for the last two weeks naming the cat Twinkle and Puddles, respectively.

The rivalry is growing more and more heated by the day, as team members are on constant lookout to change the name tag on the cat’s collar.

Puddles Posse leader Audrey Pluvo feels that “this has become less about Puddles and more about sending a message.” She refuses to let the “Twinkle Terrorists” win.

The cat in question, last pictured in the conductor’s seat of the Cardboard Choo-Choo with the name Twinkle, has not been seen for three days.

The TU campus cats inspire students to participate in a real-life game of Neko Atsume.

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Student too stressed to attend “Stress and Resiliency” workshop

It’s a commonly-known fact that college students are always stressed out, and as it turns out some of them won’t do anything to fix that.

JD Wessinger Can’t talk right now, super busy

Last week, the university hosted a Stress and Resiliency Workshop to help students who are struggling to maintain a healthy balance between school and other activities. The night of the event, hitting his stride after three Red Bulls and a two-and-a-half minute nap, TU junior Donnie Johnson began work on his four midterms and a nine page paper due that

midnight, sources stated Thursday morning. Johnson was reportedly heard muttering “I think I can, I think I can,” while getting lunch at ACAC that day.

“The stress workshop seemed like it would be really good for him,” Johnson’s roommate Grant Wynn told reporters, “But when I told him about it, he said that he

“The stress workshop seemed like it would be really good for him, but... he said that he was coping just fine.”

was coping just fine.” This was right after Johnson, reportedly, had begun dehydrating 5-hour energy shots so he could better mix it with his coffee. One of Johnson’s professors also told the State-Run-Media, “I’m sure he’s paying attention in class, I’m just not sure whether he blinks at all.”

As of press time, Johnson was unavailable for comment.