4 April 2016

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

Long lines, voter fraud inhibit democracy p. 9

april 4, 2016 issue 22 ~ volume 101

the Collegian: 2

Variety

4 April 2016

Super Springfest takes off with food and games

Top: Students pose as their favorite heroes in the Student Union.

Bottom: On Chapman Commons students partake in free food and superhero-themed events, such as Thor’s hammer toss.

Holi Festival brings color to campus

photos by Greg Diskin

An on-campus event, hosted

by TU’s Indian Student Association, celebrates spring with the Holi Festival, also known as the Festival of Colours or the Festival of Sharing Love.

Photos by Luke Lau

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.

Variety

4 April 2016

the Collegian: 3

“Food Truck Wednesday” leaves disappointing aftertaste For better and for worse, Food Truck Wednesday manages to provide a wide selection of food while ditching the usual illusions of the food industry.

Sam Chott Apprentice Editor It’s been coming to my attention that I’m a little late to this whole food truck thing. I want to blame living in the Midwest; most food trends seem to start on the coasts and work their way into the flyover states over a couple of years. When I went to high school in St. Louis, I didn’t eat at any of the few food trucks there, due to a commitment to staying in more. But now, thanks to a Guthrie Green food truck event, I’ve had the opportunity to be as trendy and underwhelmed as the rest of the nation.

When I went to the Green last Wednesday, there was a modest crowd, despite intermittent showers, and a respectable twelve food trucks showed up. They ranged from what you’d expect — I don’t think you can go anywhere in Tulsa without running into the Andolini’s food truck — to the slightly more hipster versions of what you’d expect, like the gourmet grilled cheese truck, filling the obligatory upscale comfort food role.

After seeing what all the different trucks had to offer, I decided to join the relatively sizeable line at Lone Wolf Bahn Mi, feeling vaguely guilty about passing up less popular food trucks whose food was probably just as good. My Soy Dijon Portobello Banh Mi took a while to make, which I’ve found is fairly typical when you order vegetarian items at a meat-focused restaurant, and wasn’t especially good. My friends got Andolini’s and grilled cheese, and also ordered from Lick Your Lips Mini-Donuts, which were reportedly pretty tasty.

I feel like my dissatisfaction with Food

Truck Wednesday, and food trucks in general, doesn’t really come from the food — it was pretty good, on the whole — but more with how it displays attitudes toward food.

In a typical restaurant, we’re encouraged to imagine some team of auteurs, who’ve dedicated their lives to the restaurant, wearing spotless toques and chef jackets, agonizing over perfecting their recipes, and just getting up to general Ratatouille-style shenanigans.

Food trucks partially shatter that illusion.

They literally let you see who’s doing the labor, which turns out to be mostly teenagers and immigrants. Though there still might be good food there, it’s clearly less about the food and more about the cash. The Lone Wolf Truck was launched less than four years ago, and specializes in the kind of accessible fusion cuisine that sells well.

While their website claims that the food truck was started out of a “passion for banh mi,” I don’t think that anyone who sells a sandwich combining barely cooked portobello, soy sauce, dijon mustard and jalapeno aioli sees their food as much more than an amalgam of trendy words and dollar signs.

With that said, I’m probably being too hard on food trucks. Part of the point of food trucks is that, if you don’t like a food truck, you can just walk ten feet and get something else, which is what I should have done.

There’s a much lower entry barrier to run a food truck then there is to run a restaurant, which can be especially helpful if you’re not a white dude and you want to own a business. Food trucks also take away some of the pretension that’s present in restaurants, meaning that it’s easier to judge the food and not the ambiance.

Ultimately, you should probably just decide for yourself, at least if you care about the social implications of food trends; who doesn’t, right? Alternatively, if you just want some mostly-reasonably priced food for lunch on a Wednesday, swing by the Guthrie Green from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

10 immediate reactions to Springfest’s super theme

graphic by Josiah Moser

Michaela Flonard Apprentice Editor 1. Thor Thursday. There was an opportunity to say Thor Thursday and instead SA went with Comic Carnival? I will possibly never be over this. There was a “Captain America Run,” so why wasn’t Thor assigned a whole day? It’s what the day was named after, historically.

2. Superheroes is a theme guaranteed not to fail. “Batman v Superman,” which garnered dismal critical reviews, still broke box office records for the month. In that way, it’s much like Springfest. No matter what happens, people will go to the events. There’s free food, prizes and weird activities. At Springfest. Not at theaters. The food is the opposite of free at theaters. This theme seems like a super — ha — safe choice in an era some would argue is oversaturated with capes and cowls.

3. This week definitely was more Marvel than DC reminiscent, even with the showing of “The Dark Knight.” Marvel’s recent fare, formulaic as it may be, is a mix of humor, action and genuine emotion, whereas DC movies have been gritty and dark. Other than Tuesday’s movie, it’s quite possible the only things gritty and dark about this week were the lines. Not to dismiss the lines, as they were quite long, and prevented me from getting a blanket. My room is cold. I wanted that blanket.

4. The number of events directly tied to superheroes seems quite low. Where was my Wonder Woman lassoing contest? That has always seemed like a worthwhile skill, and what better place to learn it?

courtesy Guthrie Green

5. Is it paranoid to think this whole theme was just to showcase Stead, a hurricane, Captain Cane and Goldie in superhero out-

fits? Goldie is very cute, so it’s understandable. Although a hurricane superhero seems problematic, and also very disturbing. Why was it so built?

6. On that note, Goldie is adorable.

Dressed as a superhero, I see no legitimate reason for me not to adopt her. I love superheroes and dogs; this week combined them.

Can the next theme just be animal related?

If so, I get to keep them all at the end. My roommate is totally in support of this plan, so there’s no real obstacles.

7. I’m still way too angry about Thor Thursday. Wonder Woman Wednesday, full of lassos and the zipline instead of invisible planes. Fantastic Friday could’ve still happened, with hamster balls for Invisible Woman’s force fields or taffy for Reed Richard’s rather disgusting powers. Teen Titan Tuesday could’ve had a lot of different events, since practically everyone has been on that group. Like the Flash or Robin. And Mutant Monday. We could’ve had a psychic here, in the place of Charles Xavier, and “Juggernaut” piano drop.

8. Out of all the movies to show, picking “The Dark Knight” was a pretty questionable choice. The success of this movie seemed to convince Hollywood execs to make new DC movies gloomier and darker.

It’s also probably the most overplayed and identifiable, of the DC movies.

9. So this is basically just like an early Halloween. There’s free candy and food, people in costumes and weird events. Like those Halloween parties hosted by churches and malls in an effort to protect the young of today. What exactly are we being protected from? Are there alternative Springfests out there, with more devilish activities and illegal foodstuffs?

10. Is there going to be a sequel?

“Sondheim” showcases talent of TU theatre, Sondheim himself “Sondheim on Sondheim” manages to spotlight one of theater’s most highly praised artists, while tactfully avoiding pretension.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor The University of Tulsa’s Department of Theater recently performed “Sondheim on Sondheim,” a musical revue featuring the works of Stephen Sondheim. As a composer and lyricist Sondheim has gained unparalleled praise from contemporary critics. “Sondheim on Sondheim,” as a selfdescribed docu-musical, manages to capture his creative spontaneity, spotlight his personal influences, and — to my pleasant surprise — avoids what I thought to be an inevitable tinge of narcissism about the man.

This being a musical revue, there’s not really a plot per se. Audiences are instead treated to upwards of forty musical numbers which, despite a few exceptions, are largely unrelated in every detail except for the man that wrote them. Machele Dill, who directed TU’s performance of the revue, said that one of the most frequently asked questions regarding the show concerns the apparent absence of a plot. “What is the plot of life,” she asks. “You see how hard of a question that is to answer.”

This isn’t to say anyone interested in learning more about the renowned lyricist will feel cheated of any insight into his life.

He talks much of his parent’s divorce and his consequently spiteful mother, who wrote him a note before a life-risking surgery informing him that his birth was her only regret. He speaks highly of Oscar Hammerstein, who became a surrogate brother of his

in his lonely childhood. According to Sondheim, he was always destined to follow Oscar into whatever career he chose, whether that be a construction worker, a politician or a theatre enthusiast.

Video clips from past TV appearances and recent interviews of Sondheim are intercut throughout the show and occasionally even ‘interact with’ the songs being performed live. Perhaps my favorite example of this phenomena occurs during “Do I Hear A Waltz,” in which the musical number is performed by an uppity, cheerful singer — in this case, student Madison McAllister — before it is interrupted by footage of Sondheim himself, who explains why the song “doesn’t really work” and was eventually cut. Turning back to the audience, the girl shrugs and finishes the piece.

Something similar happens during “God,” a piece Sondheim wrote about himself. While the on-stage cast sings his high praises, turning upwards to him as if he were absolutely divine, Sondheim can be lightly heard describing his pencil-sharpening habits and other odd quirks, all the while staring down at a notepad with a lethargic appearance that struck me as delightfully frog-like.

When asked if he considers his work to be a kind of poetry, Sondheim denied it, claiming his lyrics lacked the denseness of poetry.

This, he says, is intentional. A poem can be read over and over again in order to grasp its meaning, while a live audience can only hear a lyric once.

The man seems surprisingly grounded, especially for someone so aware of their own importance in the musical world. He talks of his disdain for beginning a piece and his methods of procrastination, whether that be working on his back so he can nap or drinking from shot glasses so he can return to his kitchen incessantly. Alcohol, after

Stephen Sondheim is a renowned lyricist of contemporary theatre.

all, helps to clear his inhibitions before he writes.

Director Machele Dill also said of Sondheim that he writes for actors who happen to be able to sing. This is a statement true of the entire cast of TU’s production. Ryan Box is terrific as the blood-crazed Sweeney Todd in his performance of “Epiphany,” Austen Naron is limbered in his frenzied performance of “Frank Shepard, Inc.” and Kaylin Rogers’ penultimate singing of “Send in the Clowns” is sentimental without feeling corny. Every actor has an opportunity to

courtesy Wikipedia

shine in “Sondheim on Sondheim” and they nearly universally succeed in doing so.

On a final note, Machele added that the original actors who performed “Sondheim on Sondheim” ranged in age from 20 to 80 years old. “Obviously college students can’t relate to 80 something. So they are approaching the characters from where they are. They are using their own life experiences to relate to the songs. And that’s the thing about Sondheim. He writes relatable music.”

News

The Collegian: 4

4 April 2016

Who will be your next SA President?

On Wednesday and Thursday of this week students will have the ability to vote for executive officers for SA. The presidency is the only contested office.

The two people running for that office are Haley Anderson and Patrick Culp.

Lauren Rogers Student Writer

Brennen VanderVeen Student Writer

Patrick Culp Patrick Culp is a junior who currently serves as a senator for an at-large seat. As a senator, he has a position on the Financial Allocations Committee (FAC). He’s been involved with SA since his freshman year, but his first two years were spent in Cabinet rather than in Senate. He was an Associate Director of Community Service.

During his sophomore year, he was Executive Director of Community Service, a position that put him directly in charge of Service Day. He said he believes working in both Cabinet and Senate helps him to prepare for potentially being president. He thinks knowing through direct experience how both operate will help him increase the communication between the two groups.

While he believes his experience in SA is his primary qualification, he also said that he’s served as the philanthropy chairman for Pi Kappa Alpha.

He said that gave him experience in getting people to show up for something they might not necessarily want to do.

This is Culp’s second time running for an executive office. He had run for Treasurer last year, but ended his campaign before the election because of a car accident.

He said his proudest accomplishment for SA was Service Day last year. Freezing rain caused a lot of sites to cancel on SA, so Culp said he basically had to reorganize it from scratch.

That involved finding new locations and assigning people to them. It also involved rescheduling the catering plans. Still, he was able to make sure that Service Day happened just two weeks later.

Culp also explained several of the changes he’d like to see in SA. Some of them have to do with Springfest. One is to stop Springfest plans from being kept secret for as long as they are.

He’d also like to see more outreach for it. He said he’d like to see advertising to the high schools in Tulsa’s suburbs in order to

help recruit potential new students. He’d also like to increase advertising in Norman, Stillwater and Claremore in order to boost attendance.

Increased outreach would also apply to TU itself. He said that several of his friends very recently were still not aware of who the Springfest artist is.

He wants to make communication from SA more prominent overall as well. While SA has a bulletin board on the second floor of ACAC, he doesn’t think many students pay particularly close attention to it.

He thinks one solution might be to have an SA-event-only bulletin board near Benvenuto’s and Tossed.

Another thing Culp discussed was to make TU more green. He hopes to get every apartment a blue recycling bin so that more apartment residents recycle.

Unlike the dorms, apartments have to provide their own disposal bins, so some students only get a trash can and don’t separate waste for recycling.

Another consideration would be to have a “souvenir cup” that could be refilled in ACAC. This would potentially reduce waste associated with the disposable cups restaurants offer now.

Patrick Culp

courtesy Colleen Yoder

Students on Springfest:

Students were asked: 1. Do you think Springfest was a good use of SA money?

2. Do you have any ideas for a theme, or something you would like to see changed next year?

Justin Guglielmetti

Student Writer

Haley Anderson Haley Anderson is a junior who is currently the Executive director for Springfest, and has been an officer of Student Association since the beginning of her freshman year. Previously, Anderson served as the Associate Director for Homecoming her sophomore year, and the Associate Director of Springfest her freshman year. Anderson states that her time planning events like Springfest and Homecoming provided a lot of difficult and intensive work that taught her “the more you give to something, the more you will get out of it,” which is why she feels prepared to do her best to continue making positive impacts at TU. Some of Anderson’s proudest accomplishments throughout her time on SA have been executing events that gave students memorable experiences at the University of Tulsa.

“When students look back on their time at TU, I hope that they remember the time that they saw a piano come crashing through the sky onto the New U, or when they flew across Tucker Drive on a zipline. I hope they remember making a 3rd grader’s day when greeting them at Kendall Whittier,” Anderson stated. “T-Shirts will fade, prizes will be forgotten, but the memories of your time here will be what remain at the end.”

Outside of SA, Anderson has served on the Executive Committee for University Ambassadors as the Special Events Chair, and she is an Orientation Leader. Anderson has also been an officer of a Greek Organization, and has recently chartered a new campus organization, the Tulsa Quidditch Club.

Anderson stated that she wants to do everything within her power to provide students with the best TU experience they could ask for. She also wants to ensure that the student voice is actively incorporated into SA operations, and relayed to the University Administration.

One of Anderson’s main goals is to expand upon the initiative that was started with SA’s

internal committee, which she plans to accomplish by instituting a Student Activities board. This Student Activities Board would meet once every month for a free lunch and conversation with SA Officers. These meetings will be directed toward leaders and representative from various campus organizations, or any other interested students.

“The purpose of this initiative is to have an open discussion with all students regarding campus operations,” Anderson explained.

Anderson is running for this position as part of a ticket nicknamed “The Golden Ticket” that consists of herself for President, Whitney Cipolla for Vice-President, Chase Cocking for Treasurer, and Kaitlyn McKee for Secretary.

Anderson said she and her running mates, “have very congruent ideas and a solid vision for the future of SA. I think that working together so early on has allowed us to develop a cohesive group bond, which is crucial for an effective executive team.”

Anderson wants to assure every voter that she will do everything within her power to give them the experience that they deserve.

She says that she values their opinions, needs, and desires, and she will give them every opportunity to have their voice heard.

Haley Anderson

courtesy Colleen Yoder

Sarah Pook: 2. “Here’s my theme: we do TV shows, every event is based off a popular Netflix show. For example, do a frozen banana stand from Arrested Development; the money is always in the banana stand, that’s the scavenger hunt. Day 2, House of Cards, literal house of cards building competition, and then you have to find out who is the most corrupt team there. Bob’s Burgers, we have a burger stand, The Office, office Olympics, and the student body as a whole elects a Dwight and everyone pranks that person all week.”

Aaron Krusniak: 1. “It seems like a lot of people are coming here, a lot of people are enjoying it, free food is always a plus. It’s great.”

2. “Space expedition and exploration, I think that would be pretty cool.”

Darcy Elmore: 1. “I don’t think Springfest is a bad thing…I think funds around the school are misused, considering how much money we have.”

Karly Newell: 1. “Yeah, Springfest is really fun and it’s a great opportunity for students to take a break from finals in the spring. I think it’s great!”

2. “I don’t know, I definitely liked last year’s though; it matched the vibe of Tulsa, artsy like downtown, you know?”

Haley Rooney: 1.“No, I feel like it would be better to have more smaller events rather than one week of large events, because it’s really difficult to attend this many events in a compacted time. The seven to eight or six to eight every day, you can’t make those times consistently.”

Joey Penna and Stuart Cornett: Joey: 1. “I think it’s a wonderful use of SA’s money and lets all the people of the campus come together and have fun and just have a good time.

2. Personally, I think we should make it more interactive for the students, not that they’re not already having a great experience, but this way you can multiply that.”

Stuart: 2. “I like the outdoor kind of stuff. We’re always inside, it’s nice to do outdoorsy stuff. Like the movie on the lawn!”

Will Schuller: 1. “I definitely think Springfest is a good use of money, just by seeing how many students go to the events throughout the week.

And they’ve done a good job this year of getting bands that all the students are really excited about.”

2. “I can’t think of one off the top of my head. I really like the theme this year with all the big superhero movies coming out.”

Gracie Kempf: 1. “Heck yes it’s a good use of money. I dig it because it’s a good way to bring people together at the end of the year. I think not very many people have a chance to hang out as a group at Tulsa because with SA funding it’s all really club-to-club basis, so it’s good because it’s like the one time where you can actually create solidarity between people.”

2. “Hunger Games, and clubs have to kill each other off, but figuratively. It would be like a scavenger hunt.”

2. “Stereotypical themes should really be steered away from because almost all schools have proms with those themes so everyone has already been through them.

Currently with the Mabee Week theme, my high school did the exact same theme, and we did all of the exact same stuff, it just feels very repetitive.”

Chase Gordon: 1. “Yeah absolutely, it brings the campus together for certain events. I certainly believe that it’s able to unite the campus around a central theme for a whole week and bring people to know more about the school and each other in a sense.”

2. “I would get Andolini’s Food Truck, that’s all I’m gonna say.” photos by Justin Guglielmetti

News

4 April 2016

The Collegian: 5

Criminal Justice Panel offers no clear solution

The Criminal Justice Panel on Sentencing Reform featured viewpoints of those in the field about the future of Oklahoma’s criminal justice system.

Michaela Flonard

Apprentice Editor Last Thursday, the TU Black Law Students Association and the Federalist Society held an “Oklahoma Criminal Justice Panel on Sentencing Reform.” The panelists included district attorneys, public defenders and a federal prosecutor.

This event was hosted in hopes of starting a conversation about criminal justice reform, especially given that State Question 780 and 781 are initiatives planned for the November 2016 ballot. State Question 780 would reclassify simple drug possession and certain property offenses as misdemeanors. The money saved by this move would, under 781, be used to fund rehabilitative programs.

These measures are supported by Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, especially former Republican House Speaker Kris Steele.

Bill Otis, adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University who was influential in the Bush administration, began the night.

In his opinion, reformers have a “naive view of the attitudes and behaviors of people who go into prison.” Shorter sentencing or early release, he believes, has costs which are more easily pushed to innocent victims, whereas prison puts these costs on “the criminal who made his own choices.” By letting out, or keeping criminals in prison for shorter periods of time, the government runs the risk of letting the wrong person out.

When this occurs, innocent victims pay the price, victims, he believes, have been kept safe if the releases/shorter sentencing hadn’t occurred. He referenced the story of Wendell Callahan, a convicted crack dealer who left prison early under new federal guidelines. Callahan fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend and her two kids in Columbus, Ohio. If the new guidelines were not in place, Callahan would have still been in prison at the time of the murders.

“Given the staggering frequency at which inmates return to their criminal ways,” Otis stood firm in his belief that shorter sentences/ early release was not the answer.

The push for lower sentencing and similar reforms, he said, was part of the country’s “settling for a lower standard in the name of equality.”

While he believes the Callahan case was tragic, Damario Solomon-Simmons, a defense attorney and part of OK Policy In-

stitute, thinks “we don’t talk about the success stories of those who got out early.” These stories don’t make good headlines, he said, so they’re often ignored. Danny Williams, a United States attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma, also added that when people are released, most want a job, education, and counseling if they have mental illnesses or addictions. But, as he, and several other panelists mentioned, these may be hard to obtain with the current way former criminals are treated.

Other panelists disagreed with Otis’s view of people in prison.

Williams, noted that while he rarely meets with defendants as part of his day-to-day job, those he has met with have similar histories of dropping out of school, drugaddict parents and a lack of many choices in life. Jill Webb, a Tulsa county public defender, added that the “damage we do [through incarceration] to their lives, families’ lives and community is real damage,” as Otis had only argued that shorter sentencing damages innocent victims.

Several panelists argued racial discrimination continues to haunt the criminal justice system. Solomon-Simmons argued that the “War on Drugs” was really a war on black and brown people, which former aides to Nixon also have recently said. “With this backdrop of racial inequality,” he said, “we must revisit the criminal justice system.”

“We live in an age of discrimination,” said Marvin Lizama, a Tulsa county defense attorney “and discrimination abounds within our criminal justice system.”

For instance, in 2007-2011, he said, 82 percent of Blacks arrested for crack cocaine went to prison, while only 14 percent of similar white counterparts did.

Those currently paying the price in the justice system, according to Webb, are the poor. “The north side feels like police are detaining

them,” she noted, “while the south side feels like the police are protecting them.” By addressing this inequality, Webb believes the justice system can work better. Webb hopes reforms can occur sooner, because “we shouldn’t wait until we treat rich people how we treat poor people” for them to happen.

A disagreement arose on the role of the prosecutor. Steve Kunzweiller, a Tulsa county DA, has shaped his career around advice received from a past judge — that prosecutors are there to “teach people the morals they either never learned or that they forgot.” From this lesson spring three different methods of treating defendants,

“If we’re going to continue to incarcerate people,” Luck said, “we have to do it right.” He advocated for exploring more costeffective solutions with better outcomes than prison, due to the overcrowding and understaffing, which he believes poses a dangerous risk.

During discussion, an audience member asked what holds the state back from reforms. Luck noted that Texas affected changes several years previously to their criminal justice system when it became apparent that within a few years, the prison population would massively swell. “The evidence for needing to address the problem

as part of his solution. One of his major tenets was communication between the different groups involved in criminal justice and with the defendant. If judges took time to talk with defendants before sentencing, he believes recidivism (person’s relapse into criminal behavior after being released from incarceration) would decrease, because finally someone in the system would show they care. In addition, he made a plea for increased pay for public defenders because at the current rate of pay, his office experiences a good deal of turnover, which makes work harder.

Otis, meanwhile, suggested

“We live in an age of discrimination...and discrimination abounds within our criminal justice system.” which he learned from raising children: lecturing, grounding or spanking. Webb, however, argued that for many cases, teaching morality isn’t the issue. Mental illness or addiction are mental issues, so he cannot teach defendants anything in such situations.

Adam Luck, the Oklahoma State Director of Right on Crime, which follows a conservative approach to criminal justice, brought up the prison budget as an issue that should affect the discussion of criminal justice reform. He agreed with Otis in that deciding who to release early was not a good choice to make; instead, he believes the system needs to better determine who goes into prisons in the first place.

Not fixing this system means “we’re on the trajectory to disaster,” according to Luck, who noted Oklahoma’s prisons are 123 percent above occupational capacity, and about 140-150 percent above design-rated capacity. Either prisons will be forced to let people out early, which he did not support, or there will be “loss of life in prison.”

isn’t there,” he said of Oklahoma’s situation. In Texas, the number of predicted new prisoners was upwards of 10,000 and would require new prisons to be built. Oklahoma doesn’t have such large predicted numbers, making the state lack an impetus foe change.

Solomon-Simmons added that many state officials run unopposed, which means no conversation happens about such issues.

On a different note, Otis said the savings received from the potential victims of those in prison was not visible in such calculations of reforms, but still important.

Everyone agreed on the negative effects of prison privatization.

Because “they make money filling beds,” Harris said, there’s no incentive to reduce prison populations. Solomon-Simmons also brought up that DA offices can make upwards of 50 percent of their budget from fines and fees.

Since they are often inadequately funded, “it’s hard to convince them to change.”

The discussion did not reach a clear consensus on what to do.

Kunzweiller offered multiple ideas

more prisons. “When we have more prisons, we have less crime,” he noted, as part of his opposition to shorter sentencing. In addition, he believes concealed carry laws have been part of the drop in crime rate.

Tim Harris, former Tulsa county DA, reported several decisions state criminal justice subcommittee for sentencing had agreed could help the issue. These included changes from a felony to a misdemeanor description in several crimes, support for alternative courts, community sentencing for misdemeanors and other changes.

He reminded the audience of Einstein’s definition of insanity — repeating the same act and expecting different results. “We have to come together as a community, and take a chance on something different,” he argued, because at the current rate, a good deal of the population will be felons.

Williams summed up the night best with his closing statement.

“We can’t incarcerate ourselves out of this,” he said, even though he believed he didn’t have any quick solutions to fix the system.

photo by Michaela Flonard

Panelists from left to right: Marvin Lizama, Jill Webb, Steve Kunzweiller, Danny Williams, Bill Otis, Tim Harris, Adam Luck, and Damario Solomon-Simmons, with the president of the TU Black Law Students Association at the podium.

Panel explores how money influences politics A recent panel hosted at Oklahoma University addressed the issue of political finance, with a particular interest in electoral campaigns.

Trenton Gibbons Apprentice Editor On Tuesday, Tulsa’s League of Women Voters hosted a panel titled “Money Power VS. Power of the People.” Panelists included Trent England, a member of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Tamara Piety, a Professor of Law who teaches at TU’s College of Law and Rodger Randle, the Director of Human Resources at Oklahoma University. As the name suggested, the panel was intended to inform audience members of the influence of money in political campaigns.

After a brief preamble by Elizabeth Harris, the president of the Women’s League of Voters, the audience was shown an informative, albeit youth-oriented youtube video. The video covered America’s recent history of regulations (or lack thereof) of political finance, especially electoral campaigns.

This meant a detailed elabora-

tion on the Supreme Court case of Citizens VS. FEC, or the Federal Elections Committee. At that time, the FEC intended to prohibit the corporation of Citizens United from releasing its film “Hillary: The Movie,” which the committee claimed violated the BCRA (the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act), as the film was not only politically motivated but funded by a private corporation with unlisted donors.

Citizens United, in turn, accused the BCRA of running counter to

power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

Prof. Piety concurred, for the most part, with Hughes. She emphasized the degree to which modern media has transformed the political environment, creating an unfortunate increase in illegitimate news sources and echo-chambers.

On the topic of Citizens United, Piety criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to grant corporations the same privileges as citizens, spurring a movement towards “Cor-

amount of money can effectively sell a bad product, such as Jeb Bush or New Coke, England interjected and the two argued semantics over what constituted a “good product.”

Before the panelists began taking questions, Professors Randle and Piety agreed that freedom of expression was never meant to apply to advertising agencies or corporate representatives, whose vast influence on the public’s opinion requires some sort of regulation.

In closing, Professor Piety ex-

“No law we can pass will protect us from our own incompetence as citizens.” the first amendment, as it was attempting to restrict free speech.

The Supreme Court ultimately reached a 5/4 ruling in favor of Citizens United, a decision whose lingering effects each of panelists gave their opinion on. Professor Randle called our modern political relationship with money dystopic, and cited the founding fathers. He quoted George Washington’s farewell address, in which he warns of the threat of corporations becoming “potent engines by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the

porate Civil Rights.” Money, she argued, had been equated to the speech of corporations.

Trent England found himself, as he did for much of the event, in disagreement with his fellow panelists. The federal government, he argued, had lost its case against Citizens United the moment it claimed it could ban books should it deem it necessary. He went on to say that we must remember that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that the government is that ‘corrupting force.’ Later, after Piety made the argument that no

plained that Citizens United could be overturned either by the Supreme Court or by an amendment to the Constitution, consequently returning America to a healthier place of American politics. Trent

England used the opportunity to argue that Brazil’s corruption should be perceived as a warning sign of government power gone too far, and that Oklahoma certainly needed more transparent government at the state level. Finally, Professor Randle seconded Piety’s hope that the ruling would be overturned but warned that “no law we can pass will protect us from our own incompetence as citizens,” urging the audience to stay politically vigilant on both local and national issues.

The event closed with a similar plea by Elizabeth Harris, who also informed the audience that the League had recently begun a two year project in which they would research the effects of Citizens United to better develop an opinion on the ruling.

In last week’s issue, we attributed a graphic to Josiah Grange. It should have been attributed to Josiah Moser.

News

The Collegian: 6

March 26 2:55 a..m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to US Apartments South for a noise complaint. Upon arrival officers were not able to find a vehicle causing the noise that was complained about. Officers did find a student stumbling near their vehicle and appeared intoxicated. Officers determined that the student was underage and the PSM was contacted. Officers escorted the student to their room at John Mabee Hall and turned them over to the PSM.

March 21 11: 40 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate barricades and cones being removed from reserved parking spaces. Officers wrote a citation to one individual who was scene removing a cone and placing it into their vehicle.

March 22 10:00 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to Stephenson Hall for possible vandalism. Upon arrival officers met with the reporting party and were able to determine that it was just a prank played by their friends. The reporting party did not wish to file a complaint or press charges.

March 23 1:55 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security offi-

cers were dispatched to Case Tennis parking lot in regards to our parking enforcement officer accidently scratching a TU student’s personal vehicle with the security bicycle. Student was made aware of the incident and didn’t want to file a report.

6:30 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible non injury motor vehicle accident at 11th Street and Tucker Drive. Upon arrival officers found a motorcycle that had crashed as well as a separate vehicle involved in the accident. Officers identified witnesses and involved parties of the accident and controlled traffic until Tulsa Fire Department, EMSA and Tulsa Police Department arrived on scene. After determining no TU-affiliated individuals were involved in the incident, the scene was turned over to Tulsa Police Department

March 28 4:50 p.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a possible non injury motor vehicle accident at the McFarlin Library Parking Lot. Upon arrival officers made contact with a TU student who claimed their parent had struck a parked and unoccupied vehicle while attempting to find a parking place. The parked vehicle’s owners arrived and spoke with officers and exchanged information with the other vehicle’s occupants.

4 April 2016 March 29 9:15 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate a suspicious individual sitting at the dock behind the Hardesty Press Storage Building. Upon arrival officers made contact with the individual who was identified as a non TU affiliate.

They stated they were just walking through to their residence a few blocks away and sat down for a minute to rest. Officers informed them that the area is private property and for future reference, they would need to stay on the public sidewalks.

11:20 a.m.

University of Tulsa campus Security officers were dispatched to investigate possible property damage at University Square West Apartments. Upon arrival officers spoke with a university housing staff member who discovered a broken glass door at University Square West Apartments pool house. The cause of the damage was unknown.

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

Sammie Hottel Student Writer

Bridge collapses in India, at least 20 dead

Monday, April 4 at 7:00pm to 8:00pm Student Union, Choteau

Get the Scoop Come get the scoop about the SA Exec candidates and their ideas for Student Association this coming year.

Each candidate will give an overview of their platform and then the floor will be opened for questions.

Freckles ice cream will be served to attendees.

Tuesday, April 5 at 11:00a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Student Union Community Forum on Child Abuse Tulsa Young Professionals will host a Go Vote event to encourage students to vote in Tuesday’s election and register students.

Free food and games will be served. The band Count Tutu will play.

Tuesday, April 5 at 5:30pm to 7:00pm John Rogers Hall Community Forum on Child Abuse The Child Protection Coalition will host a Community Forum on Child Abuse at TU’s College of Law in observance of Child Abuse Prevention Month. The forum will heighten awareness of child abuse and offer insight into the changing landscape of child protection in Tulsa County.

Experts from the Tulsa child welfare and research communities will examine the trends and challenges of child maltreatment in Tulsa County followed by a Q&A with the audience. The event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, April 5 at 7:00pm Reynolds Center Springfest: MisterWives and The Mowgli’s Concert The Springfest concert features MisterWives and the Mowgli’s, with Knox Hamilton opening.

Free and open to students.

Wednesday, April 6-April 7 Student Union and Pat Case Dining Center SA Executive Elections Voting will be accessible on Harvey in quiz format. Polling booths will also be located in the Student Union from 11am to 1pm, and Pat Case Dining Center from 5pm to 7pm.

Polling booths will have a cotton candy machine for voters. Voters will also be entered into a drawing.

Thursday, April 14 at 7:00pm Family and Children’s Services Crisis Center Mental Health and Incarceration Join HeadStrong, Mental Health Association Oklahoma, Reformed University Fellowship, and United Campus Ministry for a panel discussion focused on the intersection of mental health and incarceration.

Free and open to the public.

Friday, April 8-April 10 Reynolds Center

Heartland Gaming Expo The Heartland Gaming Expo is a weekend event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that invites computer gaming enthusiasts of all ages to explore the industry’s products, designs and latest technology.

Middle school, high school and college students from around Oklahoma and the region are encouraged to participate in four areas of gaming competition, and a gaming tournament is open to the general public.

A bridge collapsed in the Indian city of Kolkata on Thursday, killing at least twenty people and injuring over seventy others.

The bridge was under construction at the time, and workers were pouring concrete when around 100 meters of the structure fell onto crowded streets below.

Initially, firefighters and residents worked to free victims trapped under concrete slabs.

Teams from India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and military personnel were later brought in to aid the search and rescue effort, using sniffer dogs, concrete cutters and special cameras.

According to Javed Ahmed Khan, disaster management minister for the state of West Bengal, the death toll will likely rise because of the large number of injured victims.

China bans April Fools’ Day Xinhua, China’s state news agency, released an online message officially “banning” April Fools’ Day in the nation on Friday.

The message stated that Western pranks “go against socialist values,” and it encouraged people not to “believe, spread, or create rumors.” The post ended with a smiley face emoji.

Several social media users, however, took the warning lightly. One user wrote, “In the West, it’s only for a day, but a certain (TV) station is fooling 365 days non-stop.”

In previous years, the Chinese media has been deceived by several western April Fools’ Day articles.

In 2012, The Onion released a satirical article, citing North Korean leader Kim JongUn as sexiest man alive.

Not understanding the joke, a Communist Party Newspaper published a fifty-five page photo spread of the leader, praising his appearance and quoting The Onion.

As a result, the Chinese government launched a campaign to stop “irresponsible rumors,” and citizens can face up to three years in jail for deliberately deceptive online posts.

South African President denies spending scandal South African President Jacob Zuma denied allegations on Friday of a scandal involving improper state spending at his private home.

On Thursday, a court ruled that Zuma had failed to uphold the constitution by not returning the $16 million in state funds spent on renovations for his personal residence.

In a televised address, Zuma apologized and offered to pay back some of the money.

However, he denied any willfully illegal action.

“I wish to emphasize that I never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution,” Zuma said.

“Any action that has been found not to be in keeping with the constitution happened because of a different approach and different legal advice.”

Steel company sells plants in UK, sparking crisis Tata Steel announced on Thursday its plans to sell all of its UK plants, which currently employ nearly 20,000 people.

Prime Minister David Cameron called an emergency crisis meeting, stating that the government would do “everything it can” to keep steelmaking in Britain.

“This industry is in difficulty right across the world,” he said. “There’s been a collapse in prices, there’s massive overcapacity.”

Recently, the steel industry in Britain has been hard hit by cheap Chinese imports, which cause depressed prices.

According to the UK government, Tata Steel is currently losing one million pounds ($1.4 million USD) a day in Britain.

In recent history, regional candidates endorsed by the Kremlin have won by large margins.

Egypt examines hidden chambers in King Tut’s tomb A new theory suggests that secret chambers may be hidden in the walls of King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

On Friday, Egypt invited archeologists to come and examine the new data collected from radar scanning.

A conference in Cairo is to be held in May, where the nation hopes to bring scientific rigor to the new clues.

British Egyptologist Nicolas Reeves speculated that the possible chambers, which would lie directly behind the northern and western walls, could contain the tomb of Queen Nefertiti.

The data suggests that two open spaces lie behind the walls, both containing metal and organic matter.

Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani, however, cautioned speculators, stating “We are looking for the truth and reality, not chambers.”

News

4 April 2016

The Collegian: 7

“Go Vote” event to increase student participation

On Tuesday, Tulsa Young Professionals will host an event as a part of their #provethemwrong campaign.

Michaela Flonard

Apprentice Editor On Tuesday, TYPROS will be registering students to vote, encouraging registered students to vote in Tuesday’s election for a new sheriff and several Vision 2025 related items and providing information about the topics and voting procedure. There will be pizza, games and live music.

The TYPROS campaign has three main parts — registration, education and “get out the vote,” according to Daniel Regan, chair of the organization. Tuesday’s event falls into the third category.

It focuses on local elections as a starting point. Here, according to Regan, people can see the most impact of their vote, since many elections are decided by a small percentage of votes.

“We don’t care how you vote, but that you vote,” said Regan of

the campaign. Because many prospective voters complain about lack of information, part of TYPROS work is to provide educational material on the issues in question, without a partisan leaning.

The #provethemwrong campaign started in March 2015, as TYPROS tried to mobilize students for the school bond vote.

Because this vote had such a large increase in voter turnout, the organization wanted to expand on this theory, working on more factors than just communication with members.

Regan said the larger campaign, which the TU event is a part of, began through a conference trip in September. The campaign uses peers, in the form of TYPROS and its members, to connect and communicate with young people, as well as captive audiences such as the ones at job fairs or festivals.

As opposed to waiting for young people to become interested, the campaign involves targeted outreach, using places and events that might appeal to a younger demographic.

He hopes that through the suc-

School districts sue the state Several school districts in Oklahoma claim the state owes them millions in back pay.

Lauren Rogers

Student Writer

48 school districts in the state of Oklahoma are currently suing the State of Oklahoma, including State School Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, the Oklahoma Tax Commission, and Oklahoma State Treasurer Ken Miller, over funding issues that they allege have been occurring over the past 22 years.

The issues are a result of the Oklahoma Department of Education neglecting to use a calculation required by law to determine funding for school districts between 1992 and 2014. This calculation takes into account propertytax revenue from agricultural and commercial personal property.

“Neither the Oklahoma state Tax Commission nor the Oklahoma state Department of Education has followed the law until very recently,” said Ponca City Superintendent David Pennington. “As a consequence, the taxpayer funds that should have stayed in these local school districts have been diverted to other districts where taxpayers paid a lower rate.”

Education professionals from around the state believe that this miscalculation has been unfair to students.

“We simply believe that what has happened to our children and our taxpayers is unfair and de-

serves to be remedied,” the Ponca City Superintendent stated. Mike Garde, Muskogee Public Schools superintendent, says that the state owes his district $3.7 million dollars.

“I think it is a matter of fair equity. What is fair is fair. We were underfunded. Citizens of this county paid that extra money. It should have stayed here. It needs to come back here,” Garde stated.

“They received an additional three million dollars; Muskogee paid it back.”

Smaller school districts around the state are also suffering from this issue. The miscalculation has cost Millwood Public Schools about $400,000, which amounts to around 7 percent of its budget.

“We’re a pretty small school district but that’s a significant number for us,” said Millwood Public Schools Superintendent Cecilia Robinson Woods. “I think so often, especially with the cuts going on around the state, people don’t understand the fight that schools have to have just to stay adequately funded.”

The previous state schools Superintendent Janet Barresi acknowledged the issue in late 2014, stating that she did had not received the necessary data from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

The Education Department corrected the issue in 2015, and paid schools the proper amount, but this did not make up for previous improper amounts. Oral arguments for the case in front of the State Supreme Court are scheduled for April 26th.

cess of this campaign, Tulsa can become a model for other states.

“Every community is trying to get young people engaged,” he noted.

If voting can “increase another 10 percent or even better,” Regan said, “it gives us a really great opportunity to showcase Tulsa in a positive light.”

Tuesday’s event is part of the soft launch of the TYPROS voting campaign. In May, before the

graphic by Elias Brinkman

courtesy Wiki Commons

The fate of SB 1187 will soon be decided at the Capitol.

SB 1187 languishes in House

SB 1187 has garnered controversy as it would allow schools to request exemptions from state regulations.

Apprentice Editor

courtesy Wiki Commons

bill supported by the organization would allow for pre-registration.

This change would allow those under 18 to be automatically registered when they came of age; pre-registration could occur while applying for a driver’s license.

Such changes might increase voter registration in Oklahoma, which, then, may change voter turnout.

The #provethemwrong campaign hopes to encourage young people to vote in local elections.

Michaela Flonard

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister

state’s registration deadline, more events will be held.

The organization is also trying to lobby for several bills. Bill 313, passed in 2015, would allow for online voter registration. Currently, the Oklahoma State Election Board is working on such a system.

Next session, there may be a bill which would shorten registration deadlines. Another possible

Currently, the Oklahoma State House is debating Senate Bill 1187, which passed the Senate in the middle of last month. If SB 1187 does not get a hearing in the House Appropriations committee by the end of the week, the bill will be dead.

The bill would establish a School District Empowerment Program, to be administered by State Board of Education.

This program would allow school districts to request an exemption from “all statutory requirements and State Board of Education rules from which charter schools are exempt,” to encourage more local control instead of that of the state.

As a part of this request, school districts would need to submit goals and benefits of the change.

Administrators and a majority of the teachers would need to approve of the request.

Senator Clark Jolley sponsored the bill. The Oklahoma Public School Resource Center requested the bill because of at least two rural school board–Atoka and El Reno.

Superintendents of these districts requested this to have more flexibility and better financing and staffing options.

But while Craig McVay, super-

teacher shortage.

The bill is not without controversy. Alicia Priest, Oklahoma Education Association President, said the bill “fails to hold all schools to the highest standards. Instead, it allows for shortcuts that weaken our education system all because our state refuses to properly fund our schools.”

Other opponents believe the bill could allow districts to eliminate teacher minimum salary schedule, the requirement to participate in

“‘I’m not sure if I’m for SB 1187 the way it is right now.’” intendent of El Reno Schools, has advocated for such a bill for six years, now says, “I’m not sure if I’m for SB 1187 the way it is right now.”

According to Jolley, the bill allows schools to hire adjunct and retired teachers without paying them the minimum salary schedule or participating in the retirement system.

He believes this would allow districts to hire such individuals more easily, lessening Oklahoma’s

teacher retirement system, health insurance or school background checks.

Senator Ron Sharp believe unqualified adjunct teachers could be hired as a result of this bill.

“It concerns me that it is possible we could, according to this piece of legislation, pay full-time teachers less than what is required to be paid,” said Senator J.J Dossett, echoing another common worry.

The Collegian: 8

Commentary

4 April 2016

TU needs gender-neutral bathrooms A lack of gender-neutral bathrooms at TU leaves transgender people feeling unsafe.

Tara Grigson Student Writer In 2013 the University of Tulsa adopted a nondiscrimination policy. This was achieved after many years of fighting by concerned students, faculty, and staff. This addition is certainly a step to having a more inclusive campus; however, just saying campus is inclusive is not the same as actually having an inclusive campus.

Some people are transgender. This means that the sex they were designated at birth (typically “male” or “female”) does not match their experience of their gender. They may not “fit” into gender expression categories (like masculine or feminine).

They may not appear to other people to be the gender with which they identify. Regardless of any of these things, transgender people deserve safety and respect.

Because transgender folks do not necessarily fit into the binary this society has created, they often cannot go to certain places or do certain things without being in danger.

One prominent problem faced by trans folks is that they often cannot safely use the bathroom because of the potential for threats and violence from other people.

I cannot describe how absurd this feels to me. Trans people, like all other people, have intrinsic human dignity and should be afforded the amenities that come with that dignity. Specifically, the right to use the bathroom safely. They are human beings and sometimes they need to pee because that is how human bodies work.

Because I am a cisgender student, I spoke to several trans students and alumnae — Kelsey Erwin, Alex Wade, Brynn Jellison, and Allister Hall — to get their perspectives on TU’s lack of gender neutral bathrooms.

Kelsey (they/them) is a Philosophy and English major who identifies as neutrois.

Alex (he/him) is an English and Gender Studies major who identifies as a trans man.

Brynn (they/them) graduated with their Master’s in Mechanical Engineering in 2013, and identifies as genderqueer transfeminine. Allister (he/him) is an Education and English Major, and identifies as a man.

To clarify, someone who identifies as a trans man would be someone who was designated female at birth (DFAB) but is actually a man. Neutrois and genderqueer are both nonbinary identities. The binary refers to “man” and “woman,” so nonbinary folks

me and whether altercations could occur.”

Allister said he experiences “panic” about the lack of gender neutral bathrooms on campus, because “I have to deal with either being questioned (or worse) about whether I’m using the correct facilities.”

There is yet another danger to trans folks with the threat of being “outed” based on their choice of bathroom. Allister referenced this, stating, “Since I’m not necessarily ‘out,’ I have to choose whether I want those I know, or strangers, to access private information I’m not confident enough to address just yet.”

This lack of safety could, in many ways, be resolved with the designation of gender neutral bathrooms on campus. Brynn stated, “Gender neutral restrooms remove all of that anxiety and fear and I never have to worry about other people trying to police which restroom I should be in.” courtesy Wiki Commons Gender neutral bathrooms create a safer Conceptualization of a gender-inclusive bathroom sign. space for all students. The University claims are neither men nor women. not to discriminate on the grounds of gender I asked all participants if they knew of identity, but students not being able to safeany gender neutral bathrooms on campus. ly use a bathroom on campus is a clear-cut For the most part, they could not think of example of discrimination. any. The only person who knew of one was Allister referenced this, stating, “I feel Brynn — they mentioned that the bathroom like the lack of gender neutral bathrooms is in the Little Blue House is neutral (which is a violation of the non-discrimination policy true). Based on other’s responses, and my because I cannot perform a basic human own experience on this campus, the Little function without extreme anxiety. InstituBlue House bathroom is the only one on tions of education should be a safe place for campus. In lieu of having neutral, safe bathpeople of all, and no, genders.” rooms, Alex referenced seeking out “singleTU’s anti-discrimination policy is part of stall, secluded” bathrooms, which he said the battle. It does make campus better for do exist on campus: Tyrell Hall and the third trans students, at least on the surface. Brynn floor of Chapman Hall. described it as, “[it] means that I know I Kelsey said that although the bathrooms (ostensibly) have the university’s support are only one issue among several that trans if someone wants to cause an issue about folks, and trans TU students, face, “it is one which bathroom I use, but it absolutely does more thing in the day that makes [them] not reduce the anxiety and fear that an altersad.” Alex stated that he transitioned during cation could actually take place in the first his junior year, so a lot of people on camplace.”

Although the policy does, on some pus knew him as female. Because of this, level, protect trans students and community he says, “when I go into male bathrooms, I members, it does not do anything to ensure get looks. I avoid going in non-single stall bathrooms now.”

As a trans person begins to transition, they receive a legal letter that allows them to go into the bathroom of their true gender.

This is a problematic system on a number of levels, not the least of which being that it assumes a gender binary which makes nonbinary identities less visible.

It is also far from perfect — Alex states “I carry [the letter] in my wallet at all times... this isn’t going to stop someone from harassing me in the bathrooms, but if authorities were to be involved they would know I have a right to be [there].”

A number of the folks I spoke to referenced the lack of safety around the bathrooms at TU (and off-campus). Part of this lack of safety is in not having identities respected. Brynn referenced how, “As a feminine leaning individual, I would generally prefer the women’s restroom if only gendered options exist, but as I am generally looked at as male, this comes with its own anxiety and fears of how people will view

their physical safety. A policy is one thing, but concrete action is entirely different.

Right now, this university is not a safe place for all of its students. Right now, this university is discriminating against transgender students.

And this is absurd, because part of what is so astounding about the lack of gender neutral bathrooms is how incredibly easy it is to solve.

Both Alex and Kelsey suggested simple solutions. Alex said, “It would be easier if there were at least a couple gender neutral bathrooms, especially in buildings where there are zero single stall bathrooms.”

Kelsey suggested buildings have “at least one neutral stall...like the “family” handicap accessible restrooms at airports.”

No one expects the university to build new bathrooms — just re-designate existing ones. At Pride events that are held outside of the Blue House, we designate bathrooms as gender neutral. We go into a building — let’s say Chapman Lecture Hall — and put paper signs on the doors that say “this bathroom is for everyone” or “gender neutral.”

It is actually that easy.

I recently attended a conference at OU where the bathrooms were marked “with urinals” and “without urinals.” Both of these changes created safer spaces, and came at literally the cost of a sheet of paper and some tape.

TU states that it does not discriminate against a number of groups. Transgender folks are one of those groups. If TU actually does not discriminate against these students, it will do everything in its power to make this campus safe. Right now, this campus is not safe.

Designating some bathrooms gender neutral is certainly a great start to increasing the safety of all students on this campus.

Having a nondiscrimination policy is fantastic — having a campus that does not discriminate is far more important.

A pair of obviously gendered bathrooms at Seoul World Cup Stadium.

courtesy Wiki Commons

Oklahoma politicians, voters don’t care

Oklahoma is one of the lowestranked states in terms of education. I’m beginning to suspect this isn’t an accident.

Fraser Kastner Managing Editor The state of education in Oklahoma is positively shameful. This is not news. Time and again Oklahoma legislators have cut funding, decreased salaries, and fought against the measures necessary to improve our state’s public education system.

SB 1187 has recently been passed. These measures will drastically decrease the quality of education in Oklahoma, if such a thing were even possible. Standards will no longer apply, teachers could legally get paid less than minimum wage (in a state already facing a teacher shortage) and, worst of all, nothing will be done to increase the funding for schools that desperately need it.

It’s easy to point the finger at our state government. After all, a $1.3 billion budget hole doesn’t happen overnight, and it is their

graphic by James Whisenhunt

responsibility to make sure that these sorts of situations don’t happen. So why haven’t legislators faced reality, bitten the bullet and raised taxes?

I don’t mean to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it occurs to me that if the state were purposefully trying to make education as bad as possible it would look a lot like it does now.

It’s no secret that the Republican party has a stranglehold on Oklahoma politics.

It’s also no secret that Republicans get elected by promising lower taxes. Pew Research Center shows that those who attend college, especially those who receive post-graduate degrees, are more likely to vote Democrat.

If I were in the Republican party, the temptation to create fewer college-bound indi-

viduals would certainly exist.

Now, before you break out your tinfoil hats and start researching chemtrails, no, I’m not actually suggesting that Republicans want us to be stupid, but that the state of education in Oklahoma is so bad that it looks like it was designed this way.

But a large part of the blame lies with us. Yes, us, the voters. The thing about Oklahoma is that we are deathly afraid of taxes. Oklahoma is the sort of place where it’s relatively easy for some people to get a nice house in the suburbs and promptly stop caring about what happens to everyone else who isn’t in their range of vision.

To people like this, taxes don’t correlate with better schools, better roads or a better life for anyone. They just mean less money.

If we are to change the nature of education in this state, we have to start caring about what happens to people we can’t see.

Our entire state is made worse because entire generations of young people are not receiving adequate education. Everyone is worse off. We have to stop electing people who cut funding to education. We have to accept that sometimes raising taxes is necessary in order to help ourselves and our fellow man. We have to grow less attached to money and short-term comfort at the expense of our entire state’s well being.

I would urge anyone reading this to keep up with election cycles, to vote in local elections and to pick responsible leaders at a local level, even if it isn’t easy to do. The future of our state depends on it.

4 April 2016

Commentary

Failure to Protect laws criminalize victimhood

Oklahoma’s Failure to Protect laws are making it more difficult for victims to heal.

Abigail LaBounty Variety Editor 29 states in the US have laws that criminalize being a parent or guardian of a child who is a victim of abuse. These laws, called Failure to Protect laws, were mostly passed in the 1960s during a large movement to eradicate child abuse. Oklahoma has one of the strongest of these laws. In Oklahoma, “enabling child abuse” is a felony that carries the same sentence as child abuse itself.

In a study to find ways to reduce Oklahoma’s prison population, the “enabling child abuse” law was pointed to as a major reason why Oklahoma incarcerates so many more women than the rest of the US. Now, I’m all for protecting children from abuse. If you’re a parent and know your child is being abused, and decide to turn a blind eye because you don’t want to go through the effort of reporting it, or you decide it’s not worth the pain to the abuser, than you deserve to be punished in some capacity. Unfortunately, most of the time this is not the scenario that plays out.

The first problem with failure to protect laws is that they overwhelmingly affect women more than men. One study found that when a father is charged with child abuse, the mother is nearly always charged with failure to protect, but that fathers in the same situation are rarely, if ever, charged for their partner’s abuse. However, this study didn’t provide numbers. A separate study found 73 cases of failure to protect charges against women and only four against men in ten states over a span of 10 years. In two of those cases, the mother received a longer sentence for enabling abuse than the abuser received.

The main problem with failure to protect laws is that in many if not most cases, the person who is charged with enabling abuse is also a victim of abuse. Often the laws are actually used against women who have been abused. In the ultimate act of victim blaming, prosecutors contend that if a woman has tried to leave an abusive relationship before, she was not helpless to stop the abuse, or even point to an abusive relationship as evidence of poor decision making.

Study after study has shown the difficulty of leaving an abusive relationship. Social pressures, financial issues and fear for one’s own and one’s children’s lives make leaving an abusive relationship extremely difficult.

But for some reason, instead of protecting abused women and offering them support and ways to make themselves safe, we’re criminalizing them and telling them that it was their fault.

Enabling child abuse laws also hurt the children who were the victims of the abuse.

A child who suddenly loses both parents will grow up being bounced around foster homes and group homes rather than being allowed to remain with the abused parent and heal along with them. One child told Buzzfeed that he would rather have gone through the abuse for the rest of his life, if it meant his mother wouldn’t have had to undergo her 20 year sentence (longer than her husband’s 15 year sentence).

In some cases, mothers are convicted, but given “suspended” sentences that allow them to remain with their children. But given the difficulty of getting a job as a felon and the bans that some states put on government assistance programs, this still puts an inordinate amount of stress on a parent’s ability to provide for themselves and their children. On top of that, visits from parole officers who treat abuse victims like criminals disrupt the children’s lives even further.

These stresses and distractions place huge roadblocks in the healing process for both child and adult victims. Instead of criminalizing victimhood, we should create more support structures that allow women to leave abusive relationships, support their children financially after the loss of a partner’s income and mentally support women and children as they heal from (sometimes a lifetime of) abuse.

The Collegian: 9

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Arizona voter fraud has the internet comparing America to banana republics TULSA_5_125x10_5.indd 1

3/24/16 3:12 PM

Arizona’s voter fraud debacle is a clear misplacement of priorities from officials in a nation that prides itself on democracy.

Morgan Kreuger Editor-In-Chief Emeritus This is not a conspiracy. These are not some far left-wing grumblings. This is real, and has been confirmed by the Arizona Secretary of State.

Secretary of State Michele Reagan established that thousands of Arizonans had their voter registration changed from their registered party to Independent without their knowledge. Since Arizona is a closed primary, that means those individuals were not able to vote in their chosen party’s primary.

Many think the voter database was hacked, but this has not been proven. However, it happened; this change in party affiliation reportedly occurred less than 24 hours before the polls opened.

Voters who checked their registration status the day before they went to the polls confirmed that they were unable to vote due to this unexplained, last minute change in registered party.

This wasn’t the only issue that occurred in Arizona. Obscenely long polling lines took up to four hours long to get through on election day, which meant masses of people were unable to vote.

Some newspapers estimate that tens of thousands of voters could not vote due to these lengthy polling lines. This problem was due in part to a large, and mostly unexplained, reduction in polling locations.

For example, in Maricopa County the

graphic by Josiah Moser

number of polling places was cut from 200 to 60. Helen Purcell, who was responsible for organizing the election in that county, summed the situation up correctly when she said, “We obviously made some mistakes…

We made some horrendous mistakes.” She went on to blame budget cuts as one reason for this problem.

Dean Palmer of Maricopa County, an Air Force veteran, described his voting experience. “My experience down there, it was tough…People in wheelchairs and canes in the heat…We were out of provisional ballots at 7 a.m. …So many people, they couldn’t take it. They had to leave, people were crying.”

The most frustrating part of this is that there is an easy solution. This isn’t one of the government’s broken systems that no one knows how to repair. If people are too paranoid to go to an online voting system (which is understandable, as the government isn’t known for being particularly tech savvy), then there need to be enough polling stations for people to vote relatively quickly.

In America, voting is a more fundamental right than any other. Budget cuts don’t prevent our country from giving tax breaks to corporations. Budget cuts don’t stop us from engaging in multi-trillion dollar wars.

So why do budget cuts strip our citizens of their right to vote?

The Collegian: 10

Commentary

4 April 2016

Eating disorder treatments are worth costs despite presenting financial barriers

A standard treatment for an eating disorder can cost upwards of $100,000. However, it may be worth the cost for sound treatment.

Kyle Crutchfield Student Writer

Eating disorders affect more people than you may think. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, approximately three percent of the US population suffers from some type of eating disorder.

The causes of eating disorders (anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder) are highly contested by doctors. Because not much is known about why eating disorders arise, treatment for them can be tricky and extremely costly.

A typical treatment for anorexia, for example, can easily cost upwards of $100,000.

If the patient is in a severe enough condition, the first cost will come from hospitalization. Without insurance, this can cost up to $10,000 or more, depending on the duration of the stay and quality of care received.

Next comes inpatient treatment. A patient with chronic anorexia would need to stay at the hospital for at least three to six months, engaging in recuperative activities such as psychotherapy, medication treatment, nutritional education and weight restoration. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, the average cost per month spent in inpatient therapy is about $30,000. So, for the minimum stay of three months, the cost skyrockets to $90,000. (Remember, this is the minimum potential cost.)

After this comes outpatient treatment.

This includes continued psychotherapy and medication treatment, as well as things like support groups. Outpatient treatment can easily tack on another $50,000.

You do the math. Receiving treatment for an eating disorder is not cheap. But does it have to be so expensive?

Part of the reason why these treatments are so expensive is because they can only be performed by doctors. The biggest chunk

of this cost comes from inpatient treatment, where the immediate physical damage from the disorder must be fixed. This means medication to fix the imbalances in the body brought on by the disorder, medication that requires specific knowledge that only doctors possess. Additionally, cognitive-behavioral therapy is needed to restore healthy eating habits, which also requires specific, professional knowledge. (Often, cognitivebehavioral therapy is used in conjunction with medication.) When a patient is on the brink of death, they require professional care. You can’t find a cheap substitute for this process, unless you want to risk the patient’s life.

Outpatient treatment, however, could possibly be a bit more flexible in terms of cost. Repairing any immediate bodily damage is solely a doctor’s responsibility, but any continued treatment outside of the hospital can be performed by a multitude of people, depending on the patient’s unique needs. For example, some patients require extended medication and therapy, which, again, would be difficult to find a cheap alternative. However, other patients need only support groups, which can be found on the cheap. Overeater’s Anonymous, for example, is an online support group where for only $6 a day, people can discuss their disorders and treatment progress with other survivors. There are even completely free therapeutic alternatives, such as art or exercise, that work well for some people.

Because there is no established guidebook for treating eating disorders, and responses to any form of treatment vary greatly from patient to patient, it can be a very frustrating process. As a result, many insurance companies don’t cover the costs of these treatments, because the research behind them is not promising. Insurance companies aren’t asking about cost; they’re asking about effi-

$$$

graphic by James Whisenhunt

with the guide of a trained therapist, rehabilitate their children themselves. There’s also places like Overeater’s Anonymous.

The problem, however, with all of these alternatives (save research participation) is that they’re even less promising than formal treatment. None of them offer even close to the same quality of care as that of formal treatment programs. Parents, although full of love for their children, can never offer the same quality of care as a qualified doctor. Likewise, anonymous online users cannot provide sound therapeutic advice like a licensed therapist can. Armchair doctors are not the same thing as real doctors.

Even though it’s worth spending the money on real treatment rather than on tenuous alternatives, there’s still the problem of the actual payment. It may be worth spending

“Although the cost of eating disorder treatments is problematic, I don’t necessarily think it’s immoral.” cacy. And the inconsistent efficacy of eating disorder treatments is not helping patients financially deal with their disorder.

If the insurance provider does not want to provide coverage, there are alternatives methods. Patients can participate in treatment research programs at hospitals, wherein they pay nothing with the requirement that they be subjects in the research. Or, if the patient is younger, parents can opt for family-based therapy, where the parents,

money to save a loved one’s life, but for some people, it may not be worth destroying their financial security in the process.

There’s also the question of morality: Is it right for health care companies to charge so much for their treatments? Are they taking advantage of their patients?

Although the cost of eating disorder treatments is problematic, I don’t necessarily think it’s immoral. I may be being naive here, but I think it would take an exception-

graphic by Elias Brinkman

Protest groups clash outside Dallas mosque The Barricade highlights noteworthy protests or demonstrations around the world.

Hannah Kloppenburg Commentary Editor

Racial tensions arose on Saturday in Dallas at a protest in front of the Nation of Islam Mosque.

A group of mostly black South Dallas residents showed up to the mosque on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to counter-protest a mostly white group which routinely holds demonstrations outside mosques.

The protest group, The Bureau on Ameri-

can Islamic Relations (BAIR), is a staunch opponent of “radical Islamism,” and planned to protest against Nation of Islam based on accusations that the mosque had openly promoted violence against Americans.

The counter-protesters included members of the Huey P. Newton Gun Club and the New Black Panther Party.

Both groups were armed. BAIR members wore camouflage and carried an American flag, while the counter-protesters wore black, vowed to defend their streets, and raised cries of “black power.”

The protests ended without incident soon after the counter-protesters arrived.

䨀漀猀椀愀栀 䴀漀猀攀爀

ally cruel person to take advantage of someone who can’t even take care of themselves.

Health care specialists may be pricey, but they’re not medical Machiavellians. In order to make money in the future, doctors need patients who will come back to them because they trust them. If patients feel like they’re being strong armed into paying for something they can’t afford, they won’t go back to that doctor. It’s long-term moneymaking over short-term.

The biggest reason why formal eating disorder treatment is so expensive is because it’s grounded in sound science, with trained professionals using state-of-the-art machinery in safe environments in order to provide top-notch care to patients. Although the desired results of the treatment process are not always met, the process itself always meets its expectations. Eating disorder treatments are like horse races against time, and I’d rather try my luck with a polished purebreed than with a potentially lucky mutt.

More research on eating disorder treatments is needed in order to provide better clarity on its efficacy, but in the meantime, hunting for alternative payment methods might be better than hunting for alternative treatments. And if there aren’t alternative payment methods, then talking with professionals about other (medically sound!) treatment options is possible. People, I think, are here to help, not hurt.

Sports

4 April 2016

The Collegian: 11

Football hosts annual Spring Game

photos by Greg Diskin

Clockwise from top left: Redshirt freshman Avery Gragg runs the ball against the defense on Saturday. Sophomore wide receiver Justin Hobbs runs into contact against the Golden Hurricane’s starting defensive side. Hobbs was second on the team in both receptions (5) and yards (35). Sophomore back-up quarterback is sacked by redshirt junior Craig Suits. This was one of five sacks recorded by the defense in the game.

Sophomore running back Ramadi Warren runs through the defense in one of his 17 runs. He finished with a team-high 176 yards and one touchdown.

The football team hosted their annual Spring Game which is the first opportunity for the public to see the Golden Hurricane before the season begins next fall.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor The Golden Hurricane football team fin-

Monday

ished up their spring practice schedule on Saturday with their annual Spring Game.

The team ran 161 plays between the different starting lineups, with the most successful position being the running backs. Ramadi Warren and D’Angelo Brewer ran for 176 and 123 yards respectively and each had a touchdown of 66 yards.

Head Coach Philip Montgomery was happy with the game, and the other 15 practices that the team held in the weeks leading up to the game.

“The best part of today is we got healthy.

Tuesday

No Events No Events

Wednesday

Softball vs.

Oklahoma State 6:00 p.m.

We didn’t get anybody else banged up and now it’s time to pack this one up and move on. I was pleased with our effort,” said Montgomery.

On the passing side, starter, Dane Evans was 14-of-24 for 147 yards and one touchdown while sophomore Chad President was 7-of-14 for 62 yards. Redshirt freshman, Ryan Rubley saw a large number of snaps, but was only 6-of-18 for 45 yards. On the receiving side, junior Nigel Carter led all wideouts with 76 yards on six receptions.

Defensively, the Golden Hurricane

Thursday

:April 4 – 10 Friday

Women’s Golf @ Texas Tech Invitational

No Events

forced 13 3-and-outs, in addition to two interceptions from Jeremy Brady and Diamon Cannon. They also compiled 12 tackles for losses, with five of those resulting in sacks.

“Defensively, we really flew around. I think our young guys played extremely well.

We had a ton of three-and-outs and that’s exactly what we wanted to see,” Montgomery said. The Golden Hurricane have no more events for the public until the start of next season, with the opening game at home against an old Western Athletic Conference (WAC) rival, San Jose State on Sept 3.

Softball @ UCF 4:30 p.m.

Men’s Tennis vs. Texas Tech 5:00 p.m.

Saturday

Rowing @ Knecht Cup Women’s Golf @ Texas Tech Invitational

Women’s Tennis @ Houston 11:00 a.m.

Softball @ UCF 1:00 p.m.

Sunday

Rowing @ Knecht Cup

Softball @ UCF 11:00 a.m.

Men’s Tennis @ New Mexico 1:00 p.m.

Women’s Tennis @ Rice 1:00 p.m.

The Collegian: 12

Sports

Baseball’s back Baseball has one of the longest offseasons in professional sports, but finally, Major League Baseball is back. Here are some of the stories to watch out for this season.

Wade Crawford Student Writer

Rowing nationally ranked The women’s Lightweight 8+ was ranked sixth in the country in the first USRowing Collegiate Poll of the season last week. Fifteen schools are ranked in the weekly poll, with Stanford taking the top spot this week. Rodney Mott, the Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing, said, “It is a good start to the season and it is our highest ranking in program history. It is based off our first race against MIT, which was good early competition for us. We performed well against them so rewarded for that.” The team consists of, Emalia Seto, Abigail Elggren, Annie Martin, Madeline Oleksiak, Julia Herrel, Audrey Brown, Lindsay Crute, Micah Gibbons and Betsy Govig.

Track send three to Stanford The No. 15 men’s track and field team sent three runners to Stanford on April 1 to compete in the Stanford Invitational. Ben Preisner competed in the men’s 3000-steeplechase, finishing sixth in his section, and 23rd overall in the event.

Luke Traynor and Tim Rackers competed in the men’s 10,000-meter run, finishing 13th and 14th in their section respectively, and 24th and 25th overall.

On Sunday, the 2016 Major League Baseball season finally began, with a solid matchup between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a divisional matchup between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays, baseball fans were treated to an immediate matchup between last year’s World Series contenders, the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets.

For the rest of the league, the season opens on Monday. Either way, the regular season is upon us. After an offseason of free agent signings and blockbuster trades, we finally get to see how these teams perform on the field.

In the American League, we’ll get to see if the Red Sox can get out of their recent downturn, with the addition of Craig Kim-

brel and David Price and the demotion of Pablo Sandoval to the bench. In the same division, Starlin Castro will try to consistently perform for the Yankees and Aroldis Chapman will get to terrorize an entire new league of hitters. Finally, the Kansas City Royals will have to defend their World Series championship in the face of criticism by the press as well as surging teams, such as the Blue Jays and the Houston Astros.

In the National League, the Chicago Cubs look to make another run to end the World Series curse that has plagued them for over a century, this time with the help of Jason Heyward. The San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks will look to try and topple the talent-laden Los Angeles Dodgers as they employ their new top pitchers (Johnny Cueto and Zack Greinke, respectively).

In the Eastern division, the Mets will try and carry their young rotation to the postseason yet again; however, the Nationals may give them a run for their money.

It’s impossible to tell what the new season will hold for each team. With over 162 games and 30 teams, there will be several events that will drastically change the course of the 2016 season. The only sure thing about the season is that it’s finally here.

Tennis teams begin final stretch of the season

The women’s and men’s tennis teams are entering the final stretches of their regular seasons, and both of them had big wins at home this weekend.

Matt Rechtien Sports Editor

ly, and Tulsa took the win in their final home match, unless they make the NCAA Tournament, which Tulsa is histing this year.

The women’s team only has two more matches left in the regular season, at Houston and at Rice, before heading to Memphis for the American Athletic Conference Tournament, which the Golden Hurricane are defending champions of, on April 20.

The men’s team recovered from their loss to No. 19 Texas last week with an upset victory against Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon. The Cowboys, who are the No. 8 team in the country, have an overall record of 16–3, but the Golden Hurricane, who were 9–9 at the time of the match beat them 4–1.

The deciving part of the men’s record is that of the twenty matches they have played so far this season, 16 of them have been against top-40 ranked opponents, which is why they still maintain the No. 24 ranking.

TU took the doubles point after all three

Softball sweeps Pirates After a 3–11 loss to Wichita State in a non-conference game on Wednesday, the Golden Hurricane returned to Tulsa for the weekend and earned a sweep over conference foe, the East Carolina Pirates.

The first two games were blowouts for the Hurricane, resulting in 12–3 and 8–0 wins on Friday and Saturday. In the series finale on Sunday, TU finished off the Pirates with an 11–3 win in just five innings.

Tulsa is currently two spots out of the top-25 national rankins, currently receiving 16 votes. No. 25 Louisville currently has 29 votes. The Golden Hurricane has an overall record of 26–7 and 5–1 record in conference play. Their next game is against Oklahoma State at the Collins Family Softball Complex on Wednesday, before traveling to Orlando next weekend to take on UCF.

The women’s tennis team lost to No. 17, in-state rival Oklahoma State on Tuesday, 0–4, snapping their four-match winning streak, but bounced back with a 4–0 victory over Tulane on Saturday afternoon, their final home match of the regular season.

After their loss to Wichita State on March 9, snapping their season-high six match win streak, the women’s team beat Oklahoma, Charleston Southern, Charleston and Kansas, and none of the games were even that close. The Jayhawks put up the biggest fight, but the Golden Hurricane still beat them 4–2.

Women’s golf at Oxford Junior Nadia Majidizadeh finished sixth in the Rebel Intercollegiate, and led the Golden Hurricane to a nonth-place finish in a 15-team field. Majidizadeh’s finish was her highest of the season, and her 54-hole total of 219 was ten shots behind Tryo’s Fatima Cano who claimed the top individual score with 209. Freshman Mackenzie Medders shot 227 (21), senior Antonia Von Wnuck shot 235 (61) and Alex Haun and Olivia Jackson both shot 236 (tied for 66). In addition to the five that shot for Tulsa, three Golden Hurricane athletes competed as individuals.

Nikki Marquardt, Johanna Samuelson and Brydie Hodge shot 232, 232 and 238 respectively.

Tulsa was ranked No. 21 in the country heading into Stillwater, but the Cowboys jumped out to the early 1–0 lead in doubles play, and kept up the pressure with three-straight singles victories, all of them in straight sets, preventing the other three matches from even finishing. The loss hasn’t affected their ranking yet, so the women stayed No. 21 going into their regular season home-finale against the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday.

This time, Tulsa jumped out to the early 1–0 lead, and kept their momentum up, winning the singles points, and similar to the Oklahoma State match, in straight sets.

Rongrong Leenabanchong, Martha Matoula and Renata Kuricova won their matches ear-

matches went the distance, and Francois Kellerman made the lead 2–0 with a quick win over the Cowboys’ Mateo Ruiz Naranjo in the No. 5 match. Majed Kilani made it 3–0 Tulsa before Lucas Gerch beat Juan Matias Gonzalez to give the Cowboys’ their lone point of the match. Daniel Santos finished the No. 6 match, giving the Golden Hurricane a big upset going into the final stretch of the season.

Sunday’s match against No. 23 Tulane did not finish before this article was written.

Their next match is at home against University of Arkansas - Pine Bluff on Tuesday, after which they will head to Texas Tech to take on the Red Raiders.

low Drake to come to the ballpark, he envisioned that the boy would be present at a few dozen games throughout the 162 game season, more than the average big-leaguer’s child for sure, but nothing that would be seen as disruptive to the operations of the organization.

Instead, Drake was present at around 120 of the team’s games, a veritable 26th man on the roster, and was even fitted with his own locker next to his father’s in the clubhouse.

Nothing was ever said directly to LaRoche addressing his son’s presence as a problem, but it’s been reported that several players and staff members complained in private to team management. And when 2016 Spring Training rolled around with Drake once again appearing every day, Williams decided to put his foot down.

Williams sat down with LaRoche a couple weeks ago and asked him to scale it back in bringing his son to team events. By all accounts it was not presented as an ultimatum. Drake was never going to be banned and was still to be welcomed in the clubhouse, just not as frequently, and certainly not every day.

This request, as reasonable as it might sound, was of course not in line with what

LaRoche had been promised when he signed with the team and sources around the team say that nothing changed after the meeting.

Later, upon seeing Drake standing on the pitcher’s mound during a practice, Williams snapped and told LaRoche that he had lost his privilege altogether, a decision he reneged on shortly afterwards in favor of the original request. But it was too late to appease a disgruntled LaRoche, who promptly packed his bags and announced an early retirement.

Naturally, there was a tremendous amount of blowback from the team, especially given the respect that LaRoche commanded and the fact that the majority of his teammates had seemed to have no issue with Drake’s presence. Newly signed star Todd Frazier said he was a “big loyalty guy” and decried the actions of the White Sox management.

Players nearly boycotted an exhibition game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Superstar pitcher Chris Sale was the most vocal on the issue, claiming that the team was “bold-faced lied to” by “someone we were supposed to trust” while praising Drake’s maturity and contribution to team morale.

Around the league several players including former teammates of LaRoche have also

“The deceiving part of the men’s record is that of the twenty matches they’ve played, 16 of them have been against top40 ranked teams.”

4 April 2016 There is no more question about it. As the prophecy foretold, the successor has been found and Tulsa once more has a Bleacher Creature.

Justin Guglielmetti is…

the

bleacher creature

Keep on Rolling ‘Cuse If you had told me before the NCAA Tournament started that one of the Final Four teams would have to pass through Dayton and be an unranked double digitseeded team with a color in the name of their mascot and a legion of doubters proclaiming that they shouldn’t have made the tourney in the first place, I would have asked you if Stead made a deal with the devil to make sure TU won the whole damn thing.

Of course, it’s not the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the Final Four but the Syracuse Orange who have been the Cinderella story of the 2016 college basketball season (Syracuse was not a participant in one of the First Four games in Dayton but had to beat the University of Dayton in the first round).

By the time you are reading this article, Syracuse may already have been eliminated at the hands of the supremely talented University of North Carolina team, in which case I hope all of you had been rooting for them. Or they could be squaring off in the championship game against either Villanova or Oklahoma, in which case...you better still be rooting for them.

Yeah, OU might have been your childhood favorite team, so what?? Syracuse represents everything that TU stood for in this tournament, defiance to the man, the will to win, the possibility of unprecedented upsets! A win for them is a win for us!! Or maybe I’m still just salty that we lost and am living vicariously through them, who knows.

Why are we so mad at Russell?

The controversy surrounding De’Angelo Russell and Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers has been covered to death, so you’ve probably heard this story already. But just in case you haven’t, the quick synopsis is that Russell, a nineteen-year-old rookie, recorded Young, a talentless hack (relatively speaking of course, he’s in the NBA after all) talking about all the women he has cheated with while in a relationship with his fiancee Iggy Azalea.

Young had not known he was being recorded and when the video surfaced, he and his teammates made a big show about freezing out Russell, who has also been put on blast by just about everyone in the sports world for violating the “sanctity of the locker room and teammate confidentiality,” or some nonsense to that effect.

Meanwhile, Young has for the most part been left completely off the hook for his actions. Look, I’m not trying to defend Russell; he shouldn’t have been recording anybody without their permission, it’s a violation of their privacy.

But the hate that’s been directed towards him in the past week seems equal or even greater to me than what is given to all sorts of other scumbags who play professional sports, be they domestic-abusers, dog-fighters or even killers, despite his offense being a pretty small deal in the grand scheme of things. It was a prank gone awry!

And if it affects Young’s wedding plans?

Too freaking bad, the man shouldn’t have been a serial cheater in the first place. It’s funny, I don’t remember anybody freaking out when Donald Sterling was recorded against his will.

The fallout of LaRoche and White Sox break up One of the hot topics in the offseason this year was the decision by Adam LaRoche to retire early after being told he couldn’t bring his son to the ballpark. We break it down here.

Justin Guglielmetti Student Writer When veteran slugger Adam LaRoche signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Chicago White Sox in 2015, he made it clear to the organization that one thing above all else would be required: his 14-year-old son Drake would be allowed to accompany him to the ballpark at any time.

It’s a request that shouldn’t have been unusual to anybody around baseball who follows LaRoche, known around the league as a devoted family man, when Drake had been a fixture in the locker rooms of several teams LaRoche had previously played for.

Inking the deal, the White Sox organization could never have imagined the sort of controversy that would erupt from the situation.

It is likely that when White Sox General Manager Ken Williams agreed to al-

spoken out mostly against Williams’ action while pundits remain fairly split on the controversy. There have been passionate voices on both sides but the truth is that there is probably no easy answer to this question.

Yes, the White Sox gave LaRoche a promise, yes baseball is an American institution that has been passed down from father to son for generations and yes baseball is at heart a children’s game.

But the White Sox didn’t write that agreement down contractually, a father does not need to spend every waking hour with his son to teach him a lesson and playing in the MLB is, at the end of the day, a job. The ballpark is the workplace. Even if most weren’t complaining, the fact that any were should be given credence.

If LaRoche had been working an office job and bringing Drake every day, he would have likely received less support, and it can be argued that the principle between the two scenarios is the same. But either way, whichever side you take, it looks clear that the situation has left the team in a disgruntled state and out of a winning mindset, and as the season rolls around that will end up being the most significant fallout.

4 April 2016

Sports

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The Collegian: 13

4 April 2016

The State-Run Media

the

State-Run media Walker Womack come get your student ID.

Springfest concert undergoes last-minute changes SA scrambles to find a quick solution after a spring break disaster costs them their concert headliners.

James Whisenhunt Future Misterhusband Student Association’s annual Springfest concert is typically well-attended and well-received by students, and in addition, it brings good press to the oft-criticized SA. Unfortunately for the organization, a grave error was made when planning this year’s concert.

Headliners MisterWives and The Mowglis, both misunderstanding the concept of Springfest, came to TU to play over Spring Break to an empty Reynolds Center.

MisterWives vocalist Mandy Lee admitted on Twitter that she expected “a smaller group since they wanted us to perform over the break, but we never thought the turnout would be this low.” The turnout, Lee was quick to discover, was zero.

Lee was not willing to villainize SA for the incident, however, calling it “a legitimate lapse in com-

Misterwives played in front of an empty stadium over spring break.

munication that happens to bands a lot more often than people know about.”

This unfortunate incident has made SA the laughing stock of social media, however, with hashtags like #MisterWhere and #Breakfest gaining hundreds of posts every day since the incident.

Springfest Committee chair Andrea Akats apologized for the mistake in an all-campus email, calling it “atypical of our committee and something that will not happen in the future.”

Though all bands scheduled to appear were willing to come to Tulsa again and waive the second performance fee, SA couldn’t find the money in their already-tight budget to pay for the artists’ travel a second time.

Their solution, though a dangerous gamble, was impressively unique and resourceful. Reaching out to TU’s musically inclined students, SA facilitated the creation of local cover bands MisterVVives and The M0wglis to perform tomorrow.

It’s official: I am the new Pokémon

graphic by Josiah Moser

Inspired by bands like VVeezer and OutCast, these bands strive to bring as authentic an experience as possible for Tuesday’s performance.

MisterVVives lead singer and Vocal Performance senior Angelica “Mandi Lei” Retter sees this opportunity as a silver lining to get her on the map before graduation.

Lei and the rest of the band have spent the last three weeks studying everything they could find on MisterWives to ensure accuracy.

Of course, appeasing the irate

Ben Carson speaks to his supporters.

student body isn’t going to be easy. “A lot of them are mad at SA and mad at us by extension,” Lei notes of the student body, “but I think we’re gonna surprise them with a killer performance.”

Lei reassures students that the show will be worth the strife. “After everything that’s happened,” Lei states confidently, “we’re definitely gonna turn it up to 11 when we get on stage.”

photo courtesy Wiki Commons

Ben Carson endorses Trump in accordance with Holy Bible

Sam Chott may be used to playing Pokemon, but he’s about to start living it.

The first Pokémon from the Pokémon Sun & Moon editions has been announced, and it’s me.

Sam Chott Chott them all

To commemorate the franchise’s 20th anniversary this year, two new Pokémon games are scheduled to be released. While there hasn’t been much information about these new games, Nintendo recently released concept art indicating that I will be a Pokémon.

This is all completely legal, since I entered into a raffle for a free Nintendo 64 when I was eight and, long story short, I didn’t read the fine print and Nintendo technically owns me now. I’ll have to put my college career on hold, since I’m being told that I’ll have to work as myself in a Nintendo theme park for the rest of my life.

Look, I’m as disappointed by this as you are. I always thought I’d get famous from doing something stupid in the background of a local TV broadcast, or from being a serial killer’s victim. I never

wanted to be involved in a dogfight between magical animals.

A lot of fans have been wondering what kind of Pokémon I’ll be.

Most Pokémon can learn about fifty moves or so. I, on the other hand, will only be able to learn three moves total. One’s Struggle, and the other’s Rest. Nintendo hasn’t announced the third move yet, and I’m hoping it’ll be something cool like Surf or Attract, but a leaked document has indicated that it’s probably just Splash.

That same document also indicated that I’m the second in a chain of three evolutions. When a Pokémon gains enough levels, it turns into a different kind of Pokémon. I’ll apparently be evolving from some kind of monkey-like Pokémon, and the Pokémon I evolve into is basically identical to me, but has a slightly higher sperm count.

Many fans have been wondering why the first Pokémon to be announced is a gangly college student and not a fire-breathing peacock or a capybara with psychic powers. First of all, I’m very easy to make a convincing 3D model of, since I don’t have much muscle definition. The animators won’t

The Grand Old Party gets Old Testament as failed have to work very hard, since I basically stay in one place all the candidates bow to their conquerors. time. graphic by Elias Brinkman

Even with the lack of precedent, I’m pretty excited about this. Even if I’ll be posing for pictures at theme parks and conventions for the rest of my life, I’ll still have better job security than most college graduates. I’m kind of worried that I’ll be overshadowed by the next generation of Pokémon, though. Rumor has it that they’re planning on turning actually impressive people into Pokémon, like the Star Wars Kid or the mean lady on The Bachelor who somehow always sticks it out to the end of the season.

I’m now being told that it’s time to stuff myself into this tiny Pokéball, to be placed on the carry-on rack during my flight to Japan. I’d like to thank my professors for helping me prepare for this, but it turns out that an incomplete undergraduate education can’t help me understand the angry shouting of Japanese Nintendo executives, and certainly hasn’t make me more flexible. I guess I’ll see you all again when Pokémon on Ice tours through Tulsa.

James Whisenhunt Right wingin’ and God fearin’ “Promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” – 2 Peter 2:19, New American Standard Bible Dr. Ben Carson suspended his presidential campaign earlier this month, after polling around or below 10 percent since January.

Soon after, he endorsed former political enemy Donald Trump’s run for the GOP’s nomination.

When interviewed about why he decided to endorse Trump, Carson felt that “this is what God was telling me to do,” citing 2 Peter 2:19 as his main source of clarity.

“When I look at this verse,” Carson explains, “it shows me something about myself and the political system as a whole.”

Carson’s analysis of the verse is that, since Trump has ‘overcome’ him in the race, he has earned Car-

son’s endorsement as a symbol of political slavery.

Carson is not Trump’s first victim, either. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorsed Trump last month, expressing a bit more bluntly than Carson that “to serve the man who felled me is the greatest honor a political warrior can know.”

Though biblical scholars tend to analyze this verse with a negative connotation, Carson seems to see it as a humbling realization. He noted in his endorsement speech that he does “fight for freedom, but if this Christian nation did not want me, I must be a slave of corruption and in need of more light from God.” Trump commented on both Carson’s and Christie’s endorsements in an interview with Fox News, saying “they aren’t as nice as the guys’ heads on my mantle, but they’ll do.”

Trump later noted, however, at a rally in Los Angeles that he doesn’t “want losers’ faces in my house. Carson and Christie?

They’re losers. They lost.” Trump, with a smug grin on his face, was then happy to point out that “my house is full of photos of me and my family: good, strong faces, the best faces.”