Collegian Issue 5, Vol 98

a student newspaper of the university of tulsa

october 1, 2012 issue 5 ~ volume 98

#1 Harvard University, #1 Princeton University, #3 Yale University, #4 Columbia University, #4 University of Chicago, #6 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, #6 Stanford University, #8 Duke University, #8 University of Pennsylvania, #10 California Institute of Technology, #10 Dartmouth College, #12 Northwestern University, #13 Johns Hopkins University, #14 Washington University in St. Louis, #15 Brown University, #15 Cornell University, #17 Rice University, #17 University of Notre Dame, #17 Vanderbilt University, #20 Emory University, #21 Georgetown University, #21 University of California – Berkeley, #23 Carnegie Mellon University, #24 University of California – Los Angeles, #24 University of Southern California, #24 University of Virginia, #27 Wake Forest U n i v e r s i t y, #28 Tufts University, #29 University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, #30 University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, #31 Boston College, #32 New York University, #33 Brandeis University, #33 College of William and Mary, #33 University of Rochester, #36 Georgia Institute of Technology, #37 Case Western R e s e r v e University, #38 Lehigh Universit y, #38 University of California – Davis, #38 University of California – San Diego, #41 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, #41 University of California – Santa Barbara, #41 University of Wisconsin – Madison, #44 University of California – Irvine, #44 University of Miami, #46 Pennsylvania State University – University Park, #46 University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, #46 University of Texas – Austin, #46 University of Washington, #46 Yeshiva University, #51 Boston University, #51 George Washington University, #51 Tulane University, #54 Pepperdine University, #54 University of Florida, #56 Northeastern University, #56 Ohio State University – Columbus, #58 Fordham University, #58 Southern Methodist U n i v e r s i t y, #58 Syracuse University, #58 University of Maryland – College Park, #58 University of Pittsburgh, #63 University of Connecticut, #63 University of Georgia, #65 Purdue University – West Lafayette, #65 Texas A&M University – College Station, #65 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, # 6 8 Brigham Young University – Provo, #68 Clemson University, #68 Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey – New Brunswick, # 6 8 University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, #72 Michigan State U n i v e r s i t y, # 7 2 University of Iowa, #72 Virginia Tech, #75 Stevens Institute of Technology, #75 University of Delaware, #77 American U n i v e r s i t y, #77 Baylor University, # 7 7 Col orad o School of Mines, #77 SUNY College of Env i r o n m e n t a l S c i e n c e and Forestry, #77 University of Alabama, #77 University of California – Santa Cruz, #83 Clark University, #83 Drexel University, #83 Indiana University – Bloomington, #83 Marquette University, #83 University of Denver, #83 #89 Auburn University, #89 Binghamton University – SUNY, #89 Miami University – University of Tulsa, Oxford, #92 St. Louis University, #92 Stony Brook University – SUNY, #92 Texas Christian University, #92 University of San Diego, #92 University of Vermont, #97 Florida State University, #97 University of Colorado – Boulder, #97 University of Massachusetts – Amherst, #97 University of Missouri

Tulsa seeks top 50 status Oscar Ho Steven Buchele Student Writers

Fall in rankings considered insignificant by TU administration­—plans to move up still intact.

I

n this year’s U.S. News and World Report rankings of best colleges, released Sept. 12, the University of Tulsa dropped from 75th to 83rd. Although this may have been unexpected, the administration has downplayed it as a source of concern. The drop in the rankings is statistically insignificant, returning President Steadman Upham said: “(the drop) was a result of a couple of decimal points.”

TU appears to have dropped seven places, but because many institutions tie for spots, the drop is actually closer to two or three places, according to Provost Roger Blais. This year, TU shares a ranking with six other schools.

Record enrollment has mostly contributed to the drop. The percentage of classes with fewer than 20 students dropped from 70 percent to 60 percent, while the percentage of classes with more than 50 students rose from 1 percent to 2.7 percent. Most of these large classes are introductory math and science classes like calculus, physics, chemistry and geosciences. However, in all other categories measured by U.S. News, the University of Tulsa has either remained constant or improved. In fact, TU’s undergraduate reputation, historically the hardest score for the university to influence, rose slightly over the past year.

Changes and improvements In many ways more important to the administration than the statistics from U.S. News is the experience that students have at TU, like student-professor interactions. TU regularly scores very high on the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, two studies aimed at determining how well

students can learn from and engage with their professors.

While TU has long had the goal of becoming a “Top 50 School,” Upham sees this as “a proxy statement for improving the university for students and providing a stronger education.” While the rankings are useful benchmarks for TU, they aren’t the “velvet handcuffs they are for many institutions,” said Dr. Kayla Acebo, Vice President of Public Relations. TU does not focus on rankings as its sole measurement of success, she said.

Rather, TU believes that providing a quality education with a fantastic student environment will naturally raise the university’s ranking.

The University is planning to fix some issues raised by the rankings, however. Class size particularly is something Upham would like to work on. “We’re going to look into the scheduling of classes, like what rooms are being used and what kind of classes are being taught in them,” says Upham.

“Some classes like orchestra or choir require a large enrollment, but we want to work with the large lecture style classes.” This could mean hiring new faculty.

However, most of the proposed improvements do not aim to influence the rankings directly. The School of Community Medicine, a joint venture between the University of Oklahoma and TU, is meant to both help the community in the development of medical professionals and “really build greater strength in the science department,” Upham said. The West Park development, a partnership between TU and the KendallWhittier community, stemmed from TU’s commitment to service and has helped stabilize the Kendall Whittier neighborhood. The new Henry Zarrow Center for Arts and Education—a collaboration between TU and the City of Tulsa—will provide research, conference and teaching facilities to take advantage of some of the great treasures at the Gilcrease Museum. Additionally, TU is committed to keeping its older buildings on par with the rest of campus.

The recent remodeling of historic Tyrell Hall has transformed it into

How are the rankings calculated?

The U.S. News and World Report rankings can seem esoteric, perhaps even temperamental.

Despite this, they are based on a mathematical system. Below is a table of the factors U.S. News takes into account and the weight each category and subfactor is assigned.

Category

category weight (%)

Subfactor

subfactor weight (%)

Undergraduate reputation

22.5

Peer assessment survey

66.7

High school counselors ratings

33.3

Student selectivity

Faculty resources

Graduation and retention rates

15

20

20

Acceptance rate

10

High school class standing in top 10%

40

Critical Reading and Math portions of the SAT and composite ACT scores

50

Faculty compensation

35

Percent faculty with top terminal degree in their field

15

Percent full-time faculty

5

Student/faculty ratio

5

Class size, 1-19 student

30

Class size, 50+ students

10

Average graduation rate

80

Average freshman retention rate

20

Financial resources

10

Financial resources per student

100

Alumni giving

5

Average alumni giving rate

100

Graduation rate performance

7.5

Graduation rate performance

100

one of the most “high tech” buildings on campus.

Other improvements on the horizon may include the addition of a new large dormitory to accommodate the University’s growing residential population. Work may also begin to more efficiently linking far-flung parts of campus, such as Keplinger Hall. “Access to the northeast area of campus is just not as easy as we would like it to be,” says Upham. He would like to see the area become more accessible so that it feels more like “part of the campus.”

“It is one thing to look at the difference between this year and last, but the really profound thing is seeing the difference between 1997 and now,” said Acebo. 15 years ago, TU was ranked a third or fourth-tier university, and was not even given a ranking in the U.S. News. Since then, the university has risen further and faster than any other institution in that time.

Current TU students are attend-

ing a school that Upham says is “as good or even superior” to famous coastal institutions. Upham attributes this massive jump in rankings to a comprehensive 10year plan enacted by the board of trustees, a massive jump in quality of the student body, and an “outstanding” faculty.

After the 10-year plan Looking forward, Upham and Acebo are anticipating more improvements to TU. The Board of Trustees’ 10-year plan is nearly completed, though there have been several recent additions. As the university has always done, it intends to continue improving academics, student life and resources for academic study. Several longterm strategies that the administration may pursue include a renewed focus on growing endowments for scholarships, faculty positions and student facilities.

L. Duane Wilson, chairman of the board of trustees, underscored

Upham and Acebo’s optimism last Tuesday when he spoke to the Student Association. Wilson said the board has held “a long-term strategy” of “pursuing recognition in the top 50” domestic universities.

According to Wilson, there is “no question” that this strategy will continue, and he further suggested that the dismissal of Dr. Geoffrey Orsak from the presidency in no way indicates that the Board intends to go “in a different direction.” The Board’s decadelong building plan made a decisive mark. As Wilson points out, “10 or 15 years ago,” current students “wouldn’t recognize the place.”

“We’re very proud of the progress that we’ve made and our intention is to continue along the path that got us here,” he said.

With these continuing improvements, the administration is sure the rankings will follow. “We have always had ambitious intentions,” Upham said, “and we keep getting better and better.”

Sports

1 October 2012

the Collegian : 2

UAB Blazers drop the ball

J. Christopher Proctor / Collegian

A coach affectionately embraces De’Aundre Brown after Brown sacks a Blazer defender, earning his coach’s enthusiastic approval.

J. Christopher Proctor / Collegian

Blazer quarterback Austin Brown foreshadows the final score, letting the football slip through his fingers in the fourth quarter of play.

The Hurricane had seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss, retaining its national lead in the two categories.

TU, predicted to win by 14, bested the University of Alabama–Birmingham Blazers by a single touchdown on Saturday afternoon in Birmingham.

J. Christopher Proctor Managing Editor

The University of Tulsa may have been a multiple-touchdown favorite when it arrived at historic Legion Field this Saturday, but apparently the UAB Blazers did not get the message.

While the game was much closer than expected, the Hurricane was able to escape Birmingham’s iron grip with a 49–42 win as the Blazers failed to produce the lategame heroics needed to pull off an upset.

The stands were mostly empty as the 13,000 present hardly made a dent in the ancient 70,000-seat Legion Field. Sparse attendance did not stop the Blazers from lighting up the crowd from the very start.

On the first play from the line, UAB quarterback Austin Brown connected with a wide-open Jamarcu Nelson for a 75-yard touchdown, giving the Blazers a lead after only 10 seconds and setting the intense tone for the majority of the game.

Tulsa was able to respond just two minutes later, as a fumble deep in UAB territory forced by senior Daeshon Bufford led to a quick touchdown rush by Alex Singleton to level the score.

The ping-pong match continued as a 30-yard run and a 39-yard pass allowed UAB to score on its next drive, and a 10-play effort set up another Singleton touchdown to tie the game 14–14.

Tulsa was able to gain momentum after a stout defensive stop,

and pulled ahead 21–14 after an impressive 80-yard drive was capped off by a 21-yard pass from Cody Green to Willie Carter.

The lead would not be sustained, however, as a blocked punt on the first play of the second quarter allowed UAB to once again even the score 21–21.

Tulsa was finally able to pull away during the second quarter, as the defense started getting stops while the offense kept strong, scoring on an 11-yard pass to Keyarris Garrett and an impressive 45-yard run by Green to close out the half with a 35–21 TU lead.

The scoring trend continued through the third quarter, with the teams trading touchdowns and Trey Watts scoring on a 10-yard run.

On the first play of the fourth, however, UAB forced a Green fumble and was able to punch in a quick TD to come within seven points of TU. After an ill-timed Tulsa threeand-out, the Blazers burned Tulsa on a 50-yard scoring run that brought the score to a shocking 42–42, with just over nine minutes left in the fourth.

Luckily for the Hurricane, UAB was not up to accomplishing the upset. DeAundre Brown picked off Blazer quarterback Austin Brown to give TU the ball in the red zone. UAB’s defense was not able maintain the tie, and the Tulsa offense marched into the endzone as Singleton pegged his third TD of the game.

The Blazers had one final drive to keep their fiery hopes alive, and after a dramatic conversion on a fourth and 17 put them at midfield, they were down seven with about two minutes to play. But the Golden Hurricane stood strong, and Mitchell Osborne forced a fumble on a huge quarterback hit to effectively end what had been a

wild game.

While the Tulsa defense allowed 42 points—a far cry from the stingy performance at the Fresno State game—it was able to rack up a stunning seven sacks and 14 tackles for loss, holding the UAB offence to only a single net rushing yard on the day. Tulsa now leads the country in both sacks and tackles for loss, with 26 and 53, respectively.

Despite the high final score for UAB, the defense looked decent for most of the game, but allowed a half-dozen huge gains to dictate the pace of the game.

The offence was solid, rebounding well from the shaky showing against Fresno State.

Green was 34–39 for 237 yards and two touchdowns with one interception and a fumble. Watts had 93 rushing yards on 10 carries and one TD along with 41 receiving yards. Singleton had a standout game with 58 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, Bufford was absolutely dominant, with four solo tackles, three sacks, five tackles for loss and a forced fumble.

Tulsa is now 4­–1 and 2–0 in the C-USA. TU is commanding the conference, as its four wins are equal to the combined wins of the rest of the C-USA West.

The Golden Hurricane’s hard work has also been recognized nationally. Tulsa received one vote in the USA Today Coaches Poll, meaning that one voter thought that Tulsa is the 25th best team in the nation.

The Hurricane will look to keep up the good work as it travels to Huntington, West Virginia to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd this Saturday at 2:30. The game will be on CBS Sports Network, and The Collegian will have live coverage of the game via our Twitter feed, @TUCollegian.

Men’s soccer slaughters Herd

J. Christopher Proctor / Collegian

Hurricane defensive end Cory Dorris charges Blazer quarterback Austin Brown as he attempts a pass. Brown was no stranger to the turf this game, thanks to he hard work of the Tulsa defense.

Think you ’Cane?

After narrowly avoiding upset in Birmingham, the Golden Hurricane will attempt to survive a potentially dangerous Marshall game. The Thundering Herd has lit up the scoreboard in the last two weeks, earning 41 points in its loss to Purdue and 54 in its double-overtime thriller against Rice. While Tulsa should be the favorite, hopefully it will learn from its wild shootout against UAB and not make the same mistakes that allowed the Blazers to stick around deep into the fourth.

Hurricane fans anticipate a repeat of last year’s thrashing of Marshall and the team’s return to Tulsa at 5–1 for the season.

TU manages an exciting and close victory after an intense away game with the Houston Cougars.

Staff Writer

Kyle Cummings scored a goal in the first half and Oscar Mata, the second. TU men’s soccer continues a strong season by defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd in Hurricane Stadium on Saturday. The women beat the UTEP Miners 2–1 at Hurricane Stadium on Sunday.

Students: 14,000 Mascot: Marco Record: 2–3 2011 Record: 7-6 Last Week: L to Purdue 51–41 Last meeting: 2011 TU won 59–17 ACT 25th/75th Percentile: 19 / 24

Hurricane volleyball sweeps Houston

Helen Patterson

Oscar Ho / Collegian

Location: Huntington, WV

On Sept. 28, the Golden Hurricane triumphed over the Houston Cougars on Cougar turf in a narrow 3–2 (21–25, 25–18, 25–19, 23–25, 15–13) win. The win bumped the Golden Hurricane to 4–0 in Conference USA play.

“It was a rollercoaster of a match for us,” Head Coach Steven McRoberts said. “Houston did a great job defending us. I’m proud of the way we fought and it’s good to get a close victory away from home.”

The win was led by outside hitter Tyler Henderson, who had set a season high with 31 kills and hit .286 during the match. Outside hitter Kellie Culbertson snagged her 11th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 15 digs.

Other impressive stats came

from senior setter Jordan Clampitt (35 assists, 10 digs), senior libero Jessica Adams (22 digs) and sophomore middle blocker Carly Boatwright (12 kills, seven digs, three aces, and hit .556).

The Hurricane started the first set down 24–19, and despite a rally thanks to a pair of service aces

by Boatwright, the Cougars took the set with a 25–12 margin. The Hurricane took the lead in the second set and refused to relinquish it, ending 25–18.

The third set went back and forth through 12 ties and seven lead changes, but the Hurricane ultimately took the victory with a 25–19 margin. Houston rallied for the fourth set, taking a 23–25 win.

The fifth set was nerve-racking for the Hurricane as Houston took a 7–4 lead, but after tying the game up at 10–10, the Hurricane took the 15–13 victory.

On Sunday the women once again rallied for a 3–2 away victory over the Rice Owls. They will return to the nets to play Southern Mississippi in Hattlesburg at 7 p.m. on Oct. 5.

the Collegian : 3

1 October 2012

NFL, NHL lockouts waste season Sam Morton Student Writer

No one should be surprised, but the ticking time bomb that is Charles Barkley’s mouth just went off again.

This week, Australian golfer Greg Norman claimed that Tiger Woods is past his prime and intimidated by young golf star Rory McIlroy. Woods, who has been in the media’s crosshairs for the last few years, took little public offense to Norman’s comments.

The only person who did take offense was, inexplicably, Charles Barkley. Barkley, a.k.a. “The Bread Truck,” a.k.a. “The Round Mound,” had this to say on Norman’s comments, “I would like for him to just blast Greg Norman … That situation gave everybody a chance to dump on you, and (Tiger) still tried to take the high road. I’m not a high road guy. I want him to come out and really blast Greg Norman. I wish he would go ballistic on Greg … I wish I could put some of my blackness in him … like toughness … (I’ve been) arrested eight times for fighting … just because I’m Charles Barkley, you can’t disrespect me … you just can’t say anything to me anytime you want to.”

Yes, that is right. Charles Barkley wants to put his blackness in Tiger Woods. And, yes, Tiger Woods was blasted by Sir Cumference himself for taking the high road.

In other news, Tiger is quietly putting together a pretty good season of golf. In other other news, Charles Barkley’s PR guy may have the hardest job in America.

The referee lockout has ended for the National Football League, but the National Hockey Association is still entrenched in the bureaucratic nightmare of the season lockout.

Will Bramlett Student Writer

Sports fans around America have been rightfully upset as the two top leagues have implemented referee lockouts. The National Football League locked out the officials from the referees’ association beginning in June because of disputes over pay, number of officials and retirement.

The National Hockey League locked out all players starting the night of Sept. 15 and requested that the National Hockey League Players Association agree on the league’s revenue division.

The NFL finally reached a compromise with its officials on Wednesday, but the mess caused by the replacement officials should never have happened. The hockey lockout still continues, with the first talks in weeks between the league and the players’ union beginning last Friday.

To prevent another dismal situation like the recently resolved NFL official lockout or the 2004–2005 NHL season, the NHL needs to quickly resolve its differences and compromise with the players.

Before the NFL season began, many were worried that some replacement referees were unqualified and unprepared to officiate high-level games. Fans’ fears have been confirmed as replacement referees made horrible mistakes such as misplacing the ball, wasting time, allowing challenges for unchallengeable things—sometimes for teams that were out of challenges—slipping up a receiver with a hat, botching a call at the end of a game which resulted in a major upset, and allowing dangerous and illegal hits.

The base salary for a NFL player is $400,000. According to Sports Illustrated, Photo courtesy Kyle Christy Photography the lowest-paid position is tight end, yet Charles Barkley’s strong opinions on a critique of an average tight end will still bring in over Tiger Woods may have been more offensive than their $850,000, while an average quarterback, instigator. the highest paid position, earns just shy of Well we finally got our refs back, folks, en- $2 million. These numbers include backup joy and rejoice. But this replacement refs players.

The NFL has also deals with CBS, NBC, situation is the most banded-together I have FOX and ESPN, which pay billions to air the ever seen our country on any topic. Ever.

NFL’s games. From these and other sources Why can’t the American public do this for of income, the league was able to amass a real issues? staggering $9.4 billion in revenue last year.

Last December, the NFL made a deal with CBS, FOX and NBC, increasing the networks’ collective payment from $1.94 billion per year to $3.1 billion per year for nine years, and recently ESPN agreed to increase their annual payment from $1.1 billion to $1.9 billion over the next eight years for nothing more than Monday Night Football, the rights to video clips and the possibility of a wild card playoff game.

All 121 of the NFL’s officials each make an average $149,000. While most people Photo courtesy Wikipedia would consider this a lofty salary, around In a time of political turmoil, America has found itself four times the value of an average American unified under, at least, the banner of a fairly-called income, the NFL demonstrates in its player football game. salaries and other spending that it is willing Here is an interesting quarterback statistic. to pay the best money for the best people.

The NFL forks out weighty cash to avoid The only three quarterbacks that have not settling for second-rate, but they used secthrown an interception through week three ond-rate officials over a relative pittance of the season are Christian Ponder, Kevin of a pay increase over the next eight years, Kolb and Blaine Gabbert, despite the fact changing the officials’ pension plan to a that these three were predicted by yours truly to be three of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this year.

I guess this shows the evolution of the “game manager” type quarterback, with handoffs and check-downs boiled down to a fine science of efficiency. Trent Dilfer and Objectivity may be hard to establish Brad Johnson would be so proud. Watching in sports rankings, but the pother game-managing quarterbacks throw their of the current system has left three-yard completions, however, is the en- many teams and fans wronged and tertainment equivalent of watching paint dry. disappointed.

For my money, I would rather watch a gunslinger Brett Favre-type quarterback any Amanda Schenk day, interceptions be damned. Brett Favre Student Writer might lead the interceptions thrown category forever, but he played action-packed games Despite being the most-watched collegiate that were a lot of fun to watch. sport, football may have the most complicated ranking system of any NCAA sport.

This is due to the fact that the NCAA Division I football subdivision rankings, which cover the top level of college football, including the University of Tulsa and 119 other schools, are made up of four separate polls: the Associated Press poll, the Coaches’ Poll, the Harris Interactive College Football Poll and the Bowl Championship Series Standings.

The AP and Coaches’ Polls are both released weekly, with the Harris Interactive Poll released after the sixth week of the season and the BCS Standings released after the seventh week.

Adding to the complication is that football is the only NCAA sport that does not have an NCAA-organized playoff series or tournaPhoto courtesy Minor League University ment, and as such does not have a National Brett Farve threw entertaining and risky passes that Championship title awarded by the NCAA. were better for the stands, if not as secure for the Instead, the Bowl Championship Series was stat boards. introduced in 1998 to help determine the an-

Taylor Gulley / Collegian

The Hurricane men’s cross country team poses after a major triumph at the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational spearheaded by Chris O’Hare.

401(k) to grandfather officials in with their pension and training for new officials.

Fans have grown accustomed to consistently paying for the industry to support, first-rate officials they can know and love and hate. Luckily, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came to an agreement with the referee association before week four began and issued an apology to the fans for the season’s substandard officiating.

The NHL’s situation is even more absurd than the NFL’s. Since Gary Bettman became the league’s commissioner almost 20 years ago, there have been three lockouts; one that wiped out the entire 2004-2005 season and caused a 2-percent pay decrease for players.

This time the league proposed a drop from 57 percent of hockey-related revenue providing for player salaries to 43 percent. The number has risen to 47 percent, but would still be a serious cut to pay for the players.

The league’s situation has improved since the last player lockout, but an estimated 16 of the 30 teams are still losing money each year. The league and owners would like to stop bleeding money from many of these teams, and have proposed that the players take drastic pay cuts; in other words, use the skin of the players to bind the wounds of the league.

The players have argued that the league should have a better revenue-sharing deal like that of the NFL, in which all revenue is split equally among the teams, and teams that are failing financially are moved out of bad markets, such as Tampa Bay and Phoenix. Bettman is firm in his belief that the National Hockey League should truly be national, but the current situation colors his belief idealistic.

Fans believe another way the league could bring in revenue is by actually playing the sport. More frequent games could mean more integrated, passionate and spendthirifty fans. A friend back home who was never a fan of hockey told me in reference to the St. Louis Blues, “I was actually looking forward to following them this season.”

Browsing ESPN.com and Facebook, it is clear why this is not an uncommon mindset.

Each time Americans finally start to show interest in the game, it seems the league forgets to play.

Gary Bettman should realize that there is only so much the league can deprive players of before these teams, which consist of mainly foreign players, start looking to play overseas. The league should stop investing in cities that have no desire to see hockey played, keep the players healthy and happy, and bring back hockey to the lifelong fans.

Bettman surely does not wish to see a mass of hockey fans outside of his office in New York; we have been known to get rowdy.

Cross country places first at Notre Dame TU men’s cross country rises 19 places from their original standing to win the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational, and the women post a strong showing as well.

Andres Gomez Student Writer

The Golden Hurricane men’s cross country team scored a major victory this Friday, taking first place by a 35-point margin at the Notre Dame Cross Country Invitational, despite initially being ranked No. 20.

This defeat of nine other ranked competitors was spearheaded by Chris O’Hare, who took first, running a 23:33 8K, his best personal time. TU had many other personal bests, including Paulo Pinheiro in eighth place with a time of 23:55, Dennis Hodapp placing 13th at 24:01, Andrew Heyes clenching 15th with a time of 24:05 and Danny Thater bringing the team home at 24:39, finishing 67th. Overall, the men scored 104 points to claim the win.

This is a significant victory for the Hurricane men, who have continued to wow fans this season. Coach Steve Gulley said he was proud of his team for putting themselves in the lead during the first couple miles and finishing the race strong.

The women’s team placed 12th with a score of 282 points, led by Sarah Macpherson in 15th place in the 5K with a time of 17:02. She was followed by Erin Huddleston in 51st with a personal best of 17:29, Josie Wilcox who ran a 17:38 finishing 70th, Melanie Hughes running a personal record of 17:41 to finish 74th, and Brandi Krieg adding to the TU score with a 78th-place finish in 17:44. The team finished strong, leading 13th place Texas A&M by 65 points.

This season, the Hurricane cross country team claimed men’s and women’s titles in the Missouri Southern Stampede, many individual titles and triumphs in the Hurricane XC Festival at Mohawk Park and, last season, eight Nationals spots at the NCAA Midwest Regionals.

With such a strong tradition and such a promising beginning behind it, the Hurricane has the potential for an excellent season. TU is scheduled to compete at prenationals in Louisville, Ky. on Oct. 13.

BCS rankings imprecise, subjective, mysterious nual national champion.

The BCS now consists of four bowl games (the Sugar Bowl, Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl) in addition to the BCS National Championship game. The BCS bowl games are more prestigious than the 30 non-BCS bowls, and are theoretically played by the ten best teams in the country.

The BCS’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams play in the BCS National Championship game each year, and other highly-ranked BCS teams play BCS conference champions, which are guaranteed an automatic BCS bowl bid.

These BCS rankings are potentially the most complicated part of the whole process.

They take into account the weekly subjective Harris Interactive and Coaches’ Polls, as well as the computer-generated ranking.

This collective computer-generated ranking is actually made up of six separate rankings run by different people country-wide.

To get the final computer-generated ranking for a team, the highest and lowest of the six computer rankings are removed, and the remaining four are averaged.

This collective computer ranking is then summed with the Harris Interactive and Coaches’ Poll results and averaged for a final BCS ranking. The BCS ranks teams 1 though 25 and determines who participates in the BCS Bowl games.

This ranking system, which was introduced in 2004, is different from the system created in 1998. Before 2004, the BCS

standings included the AP Poll instead of the Harris Interactive Poll. The Internet contains a great deal of conflicting information about how the BCS rankings are calculated, which is a matter of contention for many, regardless of the rankings’ accuracy and objectivity.

While this system is better than an entirely subjective one, the factors that determine a team’s final computer-generated ranking are complex and seemingly shrouded in mystery.

With clearer origins but highly questionable objectivity, the Coaches’ Poll third of the BCS ranking is determined by how coaches rank teams, which can introduce a significant amount of bias.

Additionally, if a team loses a game during the season, there is almost no way that team can compete in any BCS Bowl game, regardless of whether the loss is representative of the team’s ability.

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the various rankings that contribute to comparing NCAA collegiate football teams each week. While many online polls reveal that a large number of people would like to see a playoff, attendance at Bowl games has mostly risen over the past few years, removing a fiscal motive the NCAA might have had for changing its protocol.

Regardless, it is clear that collegiate football is a superpower in the US, and changes to any organization and business as entrenched as this one will be slow and tedious.

NEWS

1 october 2012

the Collegian : 4

Research shows cultural disconnect on science

Americans’ beliefs about scientific understanding differ strikingly from those of citizens of other countries.

Lily Clough Student Writer

True or false: • Lasers work by focusing sound waves.

• It is the father’s gene that decides whether the baby is a boy or girl.

• All radioactivity is man-made.

• The universe began with a huge explosion.

• Human beings are developed from earlier species of animals.

These statements were taken from surveys designed to assess scientific literacy in 31 countries: the US, 25 members of the European Union, Russia, China, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Citizens of the United States, while correctly identifying the statements about radioactivity (false), genes (true), and lasers (false) the most or second most frequently, finished next to last in correctly identifying the bottom two statements (both true).

Prominent researchers such as Jon Miller, a researcher at Michigan State University, feel as if the United States still has a long way to go before achieving widespread scientific literacy.

One study, completed in 2006

by Miller, shows that the percentage of Americans who are considered scientifically literate is below

30 percent. According to a report

by Carolyn Scearce, “There is substantial agreement in the academic community that levels of national and international scientific literacy among the general public are undesirably low for our technologically driven society.”

Robert Hazen, a professor at George Mason and coauthor of “The Sciences: An Integrated Approach” described scientific literacy as: “a mix of concepts, history, and philosophy that help you understand the scientific issues of our times”.

Scearce’s report stated, “For democracy to flourish, a voting populace must have the capacity to attain at least a general un-

the point of irrelevance. Only an audience with the capacity to understand and evaluate the issues under debate can sift through the complexities in order to form well considered opinions.”

Another study performed by Miller, who has been involved in the assessment of scientific literacy for several decades, found that “A third of American adults indicated that evolution is ‘absolutely false’; the proportion of European adults who thought that evolution was absolutely false ranged from seven percent … to 15 percent … one in three American adults firmly rejects the concept of evolution, a significantly higher proportion than found in any western Euro-

“A third of American adults indicated that evolution is ‘absolutely false;’ the proportion of European adults who agree is between 7 and 15 percent” derstanding of the issues they are called on to decide … Currently, two issues that have come up frequently in political debate involve human influence on climate change and the utility and ethics of stem cell research.”

Scearce suggested that “to understand the science behind (these) matters requires not only acquaintance with climatology and cell biology, but some familiarity with the scientific process.”

She observes that “political debate often simplifies scientific issues to

pean country.”

Miller said that this percentage shows a degree of scientific illiteracy, because, “when presented with a description of natural selection that omits the word evolution, 78 percent of (American) adults agreed to a description of the evolution of plants and animals. But, 62 percent of adults in the same study believed that God created humans as whole persons without any evolutionary development.”

The difficulty seemed to lie with reconciling modern genetics with

Nimrod Conference ideal opportunity for students The University of Tulsa is home to Nimrod International Journal, which will be hosting its annual conference this October.

Helen Patterson Staff Writer

TU students have the opportunity to attend Nimrod International Journal’s annual writing workshop and conference from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 27 at the Allen Chapman Activity Center. The workshop is free to TU students and open to writers of all levels.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend panel discussions, master classes and a lunch with readings. There will also be breakfast and tea.

In the morning, participants can choose between two concurrent panel discussions and several concurrent master classes. Following a lunch featuring readings by U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine and National Book Critics Circle Nominee and novelist Gish Jen, there will be a second segment of concurrent masterclasses.

The day will end with tea, followed by one-on-one editing workshops and invitational read-

religious beliefs, while working with a poor understanding of evolutionary theory. Miller also found that “fewer than half of American adults can provide a minimal definition of DNA.” Miller speculated that a major reason for this disconnect between the United States and other countries could be because “the evolution issue has been politicized and incorporated into the current partisan divide in the United States in a manner never seen in Europe or Japan”.

Scientifically literate citizens would potentially be able to recognize the politicization, and refrain from forming their opinions about scientific issues through political

ings by memoirist Mira Bartok, New York Times-bestselling steampunk author Gail Carriger, novelist Pam Houston, award-winning poet Kate Kingston and awardwinning writer and editor Jack Smith.

The Nimrod workshop is an excellent opportunity for TU students to hear and learn from over 40 distinguished authors. “They have the chance to actually work one-on-one with lots of different writers and editors,” said Managing Editor and author of The False Princess, Eilis O’Neal. Small class sizes, question and answer sessions and the lunchtime session allow students these opportunities to work closely with nationally and internationally recognized authors, O’Neal said.

Students will also have the opportunity to work one-on-one with a Nimrod editor or a guest writer.

Students who wish to take advantage of this must indicate this on the registration form, and turn in the form, along with two to three pages of poetry or four to five pages of fiction, by Oct. 20th. Students are free to send in work in any genre that they would like.

There are several new classes being offered in addition to the usual classes about fiction, poetry and publication that might be of

particular interest to TU students.

“I’m personally very excited about the steampunk class … steampunk is becoming one of the hottest subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi,” said O’Neal. The steampunk masterclass will be held by Carriger in the afternoon.

There is also a morning masterclass, taught by Abby Wendel, that will focus on “incorporating technology into poetry and getting poetry out into the world” said O’Neal. Participants in this masterclass will have the opportunity to turn the short poems that they bring into podcasts.

Students interested in applying can pick up a registration form in Zink Hall at the English Department Office, on the web at www.utulsa.edu/nimrod or in Nimrod’s office in Zink room 337.

TU students should make a note on the form to avoid getting charged for attendance. Lunch and lunch time readings, cost $10. There will be late registration at 9:30 a.m. the day of the workshop, but most sessions will likely full at that point.

For questions or more information, go online to www.utulsa.edu/nimrod or contact Nimrod at 918-631-3080, or nimrod@utulsa.edu.

Students should feel free to swing by Nimrod’s office, Zink 337.

channels. According to The New York Times, out of the 435 members of the House, only seven percent had any rigorous scientific training. Within that seven percent are one Ph.D. physicist (the other lost his seat to a Tea Party nominee in 2008), one chemist, one microbiologist, 6 engineers and 22 with medical training.

Two physicists of the House in 2008 formed a bipartisan political committee called Ben Franklin’s List. The New York Times explained, “(its) goal was to offer engineers and scientists the credibility and money they need to win office.”

Other organizations working to encourage scientists to reach out to the public are the National Science Foundation and the National Academy of Science. The Public Broadcasting Service and the National Public Radio also try to increase scientific understanding through their programming.

Several scientists have also made efforts to increase scientific literacy through books, television series, articles, social media and speeches. Many have dedicated a great deal of their lives to the cause, including the late astronomer Carl Sagan, author of “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Light in the Dark”, “Contact” and the “Cosmos” series (as well as co-creator and narrator of the television series “Cosmos”).

Astrophysicist Brian Greene, who wrote “The Fabric of the Cosmos” and “The Elegant Universe,” also puts great effort and time into increasing public awareness of scientific issues. Bill Nye has devoted almost his entire adult life to educating children about science.

In order for these efforts to succeed, however, parents and educators must encourage children to become scientifically literate by becoming scientifically literate themselves.

Carl Sagan wrote about how he saw science: “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge … Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage—at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.”

TU employees enter state fair competition Carynn Smith, of Housing and Dining, has good chances in Tulsa State fair scrapbooking contest.

Beate Hall Student Writer

The Oklahoma state fair has opened, and with it, the competitions for those highly-prized best-in-show purple ribbons have begun. The University of Tulsa has several employees who are competing, but scrapbook artist Carynn Smith may be bringing home the most ribbons.

Smith, who works in TU’s housing department, has eight entries in the state fair this year. Smith entered one small scrapbook layout, one rubber-stamped scrapbook page, four traditional scrapbook layouts, one decorated canvas and one amateur photo. The decorated canvas is a new category this year, and Smith is hopeful that she will do well. Her amateur photo is of a family friend who was both excited and honored to be entered in the state fair, she said.

Smith has been very proud of her accomplishments as a scrapbooker and honest about her photography skills. Every entry in the

fair costs a minimum of $4, so Smith typically enters her favorite pieces of photography or pieces specifically created for the fair.

For the mini-scrapbooking pages, Smith used leftover wallet photos from her wedding because they were more appropriately sized to the page. Smith’s husband, Jeremy Smith, also of the housing department, did not enter the fair but was proud of his wife’s accomplishments. “She loves scrapbooking a lot,” he said.

Smith has been competing in the state fair for the past six years and has won several ribbons every year. This year, Smith took home seven ribbons: two blue first place, two red second place, and three white third place. Smith is hopeful that she will win a purple best-in-show ribbon some day, but for now she says that “competing against others who love my hobby” is enough to keep her returning to the fair.

Smith has been scrapbooking for about eight years. She teaches classes in paper craft at Michael’s Craft Stores in Tulsa. Scrapbooking has become a national pastime for soccer moms and crafters

See Fair page 5

Someone you know thinks she might feel a lump.

Make an appointment at one of four Tulsa locations.

www.ppheartland.org | 1.855.841.7526

NEWS

the Collegian : 5

Eye on the world:

Magdalena Sudibjo Student Writer Africa Guinea The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have decided to cancel more than $2.1 billion of Guinea’s foreign debt, two-thirds of its total, after Guinea qualified for the organization’s program for heavily indebted poor countries.

Dictator Lansana Conte, who died in 2008, had left Guinea impoverished after more than two decades of misrule and corruption.

According to the United Nations, about 75 percent of the country’s

population lives below the poverty line.

For the people already struggling, the debt forgiveness offers little direct relief. “It doesn’t feed me,” said Fatou Bonte Bangoura, a fish peddler working in Guinea’s capital.

President Alpha Conde, however, stated that the decision was “the first step on the road to economic recovery.”

Nigeria A suicide car bomber targeted a Catholic church in Nigeria, killing two and injuring 45. Authorities suspect the radical Islamic group Boko Haram is behind the inciThe student was accompanied by what was determined to be her parents. EMSA was contacted and the student was evaluated.

6:35 p.m.

Sept. 20 10:16 a.m.

A Security officer was dispatched to Westby Hall to the report of harassing e-mails. The officer made contact with the victim and obtained the emails. Contact was made with the suspect.

Officers responded to the report of a vehicle and bicycle collision at 5th and Gary Pl. There were no injuries and neither party wished to contact Tulsa Police.

Neither subject was affiliated with the University of Tulsa. Both subjects reached a mutual agreement and departed the scene.

12:37 p.m.

Sept. 22

Security met with a student who had his phone stolen on 08 Sep 2012. The student stated that he had been notified that his phone had been activated via Find My Phone App. The location was tracked to campus. The phone has not yet been recovered but is being monitored.

12:38 a.m.

11:33 p.m.

Officers on patrol observed a vehicle parked in violation of University Regulations and obstructing traffic. Officers were unable to make contact with the owner of the vehicle. The vehicle was impounded.

8:34 p.m.

Officers responded to a medical emergency at Chapman Stadium.

Upon arrival, it was determined that a female had collided with a juvenile male while he was playing catch. The female was treated and transported by EMSA.

Officers responded to the report of a possible burglary from an automobile. Upon arrival, the victim stated that he had parked his car and walked to his apartment and heard his alarm go off.

He returned to the vehicle to find that the trunk had been opened.

There were no items missing from Sept. 23 the vehicle.

1:07 a.m.

Sept. 21 1:26 p.m.

Officers responded to the Alexander Health Center in reference to an ill student.

Upon arrival, it was determined by healthcare professionals that the student be referred for a mental evaluation.

The student voluntary consented to an evaluation and was transported to the appropriate facility.

Officers responded to a medical emergency at 8th and Florence. Upon arrival, officers discovered that a guest from the football game was walking and tripped over the curb.

The subject fell and struck her head. She was treated by EMSA and transported for further medical attention.

5:20 a.m.

dent, though no group has claimed responsibility for the terrorist act.

Police believes that Boko Haram is responsible for the deaths of more than 680 people this year alone.

Boko Haram participated in the bombing of a Catholic church near Nigeria’s capital last Christmas Day, taking around 40 people’s lives.

Asia Hong Kong A Hong Kong tycoon is offering $65 million to any man who marries his lesbian daughter.

Cecil Chao, chairman of Hong A short time later, the officer observed the subject attempting to ride the bicycle again.

The subject was arrested for public intoxication and transported to David L Moss Correctional Facility.

6:26 a.m.

Officers responded to a noise complaint in Brown Village. Contact was made with the residents and they were advised to lower the noise.

Officers responded a short time later as the noise increased. It was determined that the same residents had disregarded verbal warnings in days prior. A student misconduct was issued.

Sept. 24 1:51 a.m.

An officer on patrol observed a vehicle unattended near 11th street at the Reynolds Center Gate. The vehicle was obstructing traffic. Officers were unable to make contact with the owner.

Sept. 25 2:18 a.m.

Campus Security was contacted in reference to an ill student in Lorton Village. Officers arrived and were informed that the student had been experiencing chest pains. EMSA was contacted and the student was transported to Hillcrest Hospital.

While on routine patrol, an officer observed a vehicle parked in violation of University parking regulations and city ordinance blocking a crosswalk.

A Tulsa Police officer approached the student driver and asked for ID. The driver refused and proceeded into John Rogers Hall. Officers followed the student inside.

The student eventually provided her identification and began filming officers alleging misconduct.

From Fair page 4 breast cancer. Not only is Smith example, Smith recently helped a competitive, but she gives back to the community with her talents and skills.

Smith’s hobby of scrapbooking keeps her busy outside of her work here at TU. She works as a housing assignment specialist in the TU Housing and Dining Department, where she sometimes shares her talent with her colleagues. For

Kong property developer Cheuk Nang Holdings, made the announcement after purportedly learning that his daughter Gigi Chao had obtained “a church blessing in Paris” with her partner of seven years.

In response, Gigi Chao said that she was not upset with her father.

She explained, “It’s really his way of saying, ‘baby girl, I love you.

You deserve more,’ basically.”

Despite her father’s disapproval, Chao claims that she and her father maintain a close relationship.

In a city-state where homosexuality was decriminalized only two decades ago, Gigi stated that people can perhaps tolerate a private lifestyle choice but are still reluctant to accept homosexuality as a social statement.

Same-sex marriage is not recognized by law in Hong Kong.

Nepal A small plane headed for a resort on Mount Everest crashed Friday, killing all of its 19 passengers and crew.

Almost immediately after take off, the plane hit a vulture and swerved out of control. According to witnesses, the pilot managed to avoid a nearby settlement before the burning plane crashed 1,600 feet away from the Kathmandu runway to land on the banks of the Manohara River.

The International Civil Aviation Organization has ranked Nepal as having one of the worst aviation safety standards in the

9:12 a.m Campus Security was notified of a possible assault that had occurred between two students.

Security began an investigation and met with the alleged victim and multiple suspects. Based upon the investigative results and statements provided by all parties, it was determined that no crime had been committed.

1:55 p.m.

Officers responded to the report of missing calculators. Upon arrival, the reporting party stated that she had left her two graphing calculators in a classroom. She returned a few hours later and did not locate either one.

2:01 p.m.

An officer responded to the complaint of threatening letters left on an apartment door.

Upon meeting with the reporting party, she stated that a neighbor had been confronted regarding trash left in a common area.

The subject retaliated by placing threatening notes on the reporting person’s door.

4:09 p.m.

Officers responded to a complaint of possible possession of drug paraphernalia. Upon arrival, officers discovered that a student had been smoking in the residence hall.

coworker figure out how to use an Advanced Tape Glider, a tool is commonly used in scrapbooking to attach pictures to a page for a layout.

Another housing professional staff member, Ash McLain, also entered the state fair, but the results of her entries are unknown at this time.

Asia-Pacific region.

Europe Russia After the 2010 passage of a law requiring foreign drug companies to test their products on Russians before these drugs can be marketed in Russia, an increasing number of Russians have eagerly lined up for potentially risky medical experiments, often as the only way to receive modern health care.

The number of Russians who participated in medical experiments shot up 96 percent during the first six months of 2012 compared to the same period last year.

“It’s wonderful,” said test participant Galina Malinina of a trial weight-loss drug, despite having vomited every day for the first two weeks of the experiment. Malinia lost 22 pounds in a year and claimed to have gained more energy.

Pharmaceutical companies have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Russia’s public health sector to gain access of the country’s large mass of potential test subjects. Good results in Russia might help convince the United States Food and Drug Administration to approve the product.

Russia is not alone in demanding local testing: countries like Singapore and China are also offering incentives for drug companies to conduct clinical trials locally.

Upon contact, officers also discovered a large quantity of drug related paraphernalia. The investigation is on-going.

7:26 p.m.

An officer responded to the complaint of vehicle vandalism.

Upon arrival, the victim stated that his taillight had been removed from his vehicle. Officers were unable to determine if the offense had been committed on campus.

7:40 p.m.

Officers responded to a vehicle collision in Mayo Village. Upon arrival, officers met with the reporting party who stated that his vehicle had been struck and a note was left on his car.

The person made contact with the driver of the vehicle and the other driver stated that he did not have insurance but would pay to have the damage repaired.

10:41 p.m.

Officers responded to the report of a stolen iPhone. Upon meeting with the reporting party, she stated that she had misplaced her phone and while a friend called it a male answered.

It was determined that the male who possessed the phone was a student. Officers were able to recover the phone and return it to the owner.

president

11:08 a.m.

An officer observed an intoxicated person on a University bicycle.

2:30 p.m.

The subject attempted to flee from officers.

Officers responded to a medical Contact was made and the subemergency near LaFortune House. ject was released to the care of a Upon arrival, the officers observed friend and it was determined that a student having a seizure. the bicycle did not belong to him. Sept. 26

extraordinaire, but state fairs provide one of the few outlets for competition in a growing field that is expanding beyond scrapbooks and photo albums being shown in living rooms.

Smith has hosted events centered around scrapbooking that raise money and awareness about

1 october 2012

Dear Students, Faculty, Staff, and Otherwise, I can’t believe it’s already October! The semester is flying by, and it just gets busier from this point on. Your Student Association has a lot of cool stuff planned for this month, so I’m going to give you the highlights.

On Wednesday, Oct. 10, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is planning to hold a movie night on Skelly Field and watch a sports film on the jumbotron!

Senate is sponsoring the event, so there will be plenty of food. It’ll be a great way to get pumped up for our Thursday night home game the next day.

And that brings up the next event, an SA tailgate on Chapman Commons (the New U) on Thursday, Oct. 11, for our 7:00 PM game against UTEP. Come on out, get some free food, and watch our boys beat the Miners.

Then the countdown to Homecoming begins. On Monday, Oct.

15, we’ll have a Chariot Race at Chapman Commons. Then that Tuesday we’ll have our traditional street painting from 6:00 to 9:00 PM on Glenn Dobbs drive outside the football stadium. Wednesday is the Color Run, a 5K starting at Zink Hall that will see gold, blue, and red (dry) paint flying everywhere. On Thursday Tulsa native Ben Rector is playing a show for us at the Reynolds Center (doors at 7:00, show at 8:00), and then Friday is the Homecoming bonfire on the old U at 7:30.

And, of course, we’ll be beating the Owls of Rice in football the next day at 2:30. Wouldn’t want to forget that!

Finally, save the date for Hurricane Hoedown, a southern food and dancing event on the New U. That event will be Oct. 25, a Thursday night. More details to follow!

Best, John Lepine SA President

variety

1 October 2012

the Collegian : 6

iPhone 5 amazes Photo courtesy CBS Television Studios

There are a variety of new television shows starting this fall, including CBS’ latest, “Elementary,” pictured above. The series is a modern take on the ever-popular cases of Sherlock Holmes, and features the eccentric detective living in New York City.

New fall series show promise, diversity As new television shows hit the air, what will hit and what will miss?

Helen Patterson Staff Writer

Looking for new shows? As always, there are many new contenders vying to win big in the ratings game. It is hard to tell which shows are going to succeed in the long run and which are going to flop.

Here is a line-up of some of the more promising prospects for those days when students just cannot bear to do any more homework.

In the comedy category, “The Mindy Project” has promise, despite a disappointing opening. The show follows Dr. Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) as a smart ob-gyn who does not have her private life together.

“Ben and Kate” offers humor with squabbling “grownup” siblings Ben and Kate Fox (Nat Faxon and Dakota Johnson) who, despite their differences, are ultimately looking out for each other.

“The New Normal” stars a nontraditional family centered around the gay couple Bryan and David (Andrew Rannells, Justin Bartha) and their quest to start a family through surrogate mother Goldie (Georgia King).

Some are already up in arms about the new show; a NBC affiliate announced that it would not be

aired in Salt Lake City. Hopefully the rest of the country will give it a chance.

Drama lives in “Nashville,” which is great fun for country fans, pitting the older Rayna Jaymes and the younger, meaner Juliette Barnes (Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere) against each other.

This show could be very good or very bad depending on whether or not it degenerates into an extended cross-generational cat-fight.

“Revolution” gives viewers a chance to appreciate, from the safety of the living room, the apocalypse caused by the complete shutdown of all forms of power. Hopefully, the show will offer a plausible explanation for every form of energy ceasing to work. It had better not be aliens.

For the Sherlock Holmes junkies, “Elementary” stars Jonny Lee Miller as the beloved London sleuth and Lucy Liu as Watson.

Fans of Benedict Cumberbatch may not be okay with this.

For the superhero fanatics, “Arrow” stars Stephen Amell as DC superhero Green Arrow, and Katie Cassidy as his ex, Laurel Lance, possibly destined to become Black Canary later on in the season.

Hopefully “Arrow” will not join the CW’s teen angst-fest.

Dennis Quaid stars as Ralph Lamb, the sheriff charged with keeping order in a 1960s mobsteroverrun town that is the quickly growing city of “Vegas.”

If none of these are appealing, remember that many old favorites are returning. If nothing else, there is always “Jersey Shore” for those days when students need a selfrespect boost.

The iPhone 5 is certainly the biggest update that any iPhone has ever seen, and features a taller screen, a sleeker and slimmer body and many other new modifications.

Will Bramlett Student Writer

On Sept. 12th, Apple announced the iPhone 5, which features a taller screen, faster wireless internet, a speedier processor, the introduction of the new operating system iOS 6 and a thinner, lighter and slightly modified body.

I was not planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5, but once again, Apple convinced me to spend my money on one of its products. Best of all, it performs even better than I had anticipated.

My biggest fear for the new iPhone was the larger screen. Of the many phones I have used, the iPhone has always felt like it fit the best in my hand. I was worried a larger screen would lead to a wider phone and a less comfortable feel.

Rather than increasing both the height and width of the iPhone, Apple only made the screen taller.

This made the transition from an older iPhone to the iPhone 5 much easier.

With the extra screen room, Apple has added an additional row of icons to the home screen, and apps now show more text. For example, when viewing a news article on a webpage, only a few extra lines of text are visible on the iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4S. However, even with the extra room, the iPhone 5 does not show anywhere near as much text as the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Until an app is updated for the new screen size, the app will be centered on the screen and letterboxed, that is to say, bordered by a black box on the top and bottom.

Unfortunately, this moves the keyboard up, which can sometimes lead to mistyped words. Thankfully, many of the more popular apps have already been updated, including Facebook, Tweetbot and Instagram.

Moreover, videos look much better on the the iPhone 5 when compared to previous generations.

Photo courtesy Apple

The iPhone 5 is almost 20 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S, which results in a phone that with a sophisticated and modern look, that is anything but a brick.

Many movies are shot at a ratio of 16:9—some are even narrower—which matches the iPhone’s screen, meaning that the letter boxes that once surrounded these videos are gone. As a result, the videos look dramatically larger.

Although the screen is taller, Apple’s designers have cut out space around the home button and earpiece, so the phone itself has not gotten any larger. It is also noticeably lighter than older iPhones, while avoiding the use of cheap plastics.

Each of the previous iPhones were just shy of fives ounces.

Remarkably, the iPhone 5 drops nearly an entire ounce, and weighs under four ounces. Combine this with the fact that the iPhone 5 is almost 20 percent thinner than the 4S, result in a phone that is anything but a brick.

In addition, the back of the phone is almost entirely aluminum, rather than glass. However, there have already been plenty of reports that this aluminum scratches, which Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Shiller, passes off as “normal” for aluminum. The best way to avoid scratching on any devices is a protective case.

The bottom of the phone has also been updated. The headphone jack has been moved to the bottom of the phone, and—unless you are coming from an iPod touch—will require some time to get used to.

Furthermore, there are now three microphones on the iPhone 5 which seek to reduce background noise during phone calls. The speaker, along with the new earbuds—which do sound and feel better, even though they are horri-

bly called “EarPods”—is Apple’s way of returning to music.

Unfortunately, many are angry with Apple because of the new “Lightning” port on the bottom of the phone. Some believe it is a way to force those who buy Apple products to repurchase cables and docks, while others are upset with the use of another proprietary solution rather than the more commonly used microUSB. Lightning, however, is much more durable than other connectors. It can be inserted either way, which should benefit those who always seem to insert a USB into their computer the wrong way. Additionally, there is a chip inside the cable which allows for reversibility and possibly other uses in the future.

With the iPhone 5, Android owners have lost a major trump card. Apple has created its own processor, the A6, which is much faster than the A5 featured on the iPhone 4S and iPad 2. The A6 is nearly 2.5 times faster than the A5 and it beats out almost all of the Android-powered phones and tablets.

The iPhone 5 also supports Long Term Evolution cellular networking. LTE offers speeds that are much faster than the average household receives with a landline connection.

The iPhone 5 is by far the biggest update to the iPhone yet, however, there are a variety of fantastic phones for sale, such as the Galaxy S3 and Nokia Lumia 920. The best advice for students is to play with the phones in the stores, read reviews and ask questions to find the phone that is right for their needs.

xx’s “Coexist”: musically wonderful, lyrically disappointing With “Coexist,” the xx’s have moved away from electropop to dingy European club thumps.

Nicholas Foster Student Writer

When The xx’s eponymous debut album was released in 2009, it became an instant indie classic.

It was the sort of record that resonated in listeners in the same way that singer Romy Madley Croft’s vocals reverberated throughout the tracks—dark and smoky, but slightly playful.

Its unique atmosphere demonstrated how effective the use of space can be in an otherwise “pop” setting; clean, single-note guitar lines intertwined with slick electronic drums, all very much under the canvas of late teen angst.

These elements were omnipresent throughout the album, but what defined the sound was between the lines. Somehow it is fitting that space, again, makes and breaks “Coexist,” the band’s newest release.

Aesthetically, this album is superb. The biggest change from “xx” to “Coexist” is how bare this album plays out—the music is so stripped-down that every instru-

Photo courtesy The XX’s

Musically, the English Indie-pop band has not let fans down with “Coexist.” However, lyrically, the band severely lacks, as the rhymes are simple and uninspired.

ment is significant. This is a bold move from a band that was already minimalist, though it plays well into the darker tone of the record.

Most of the drum beats have morphed from electro-pop to dingy, European club thumps, which comes through less subtly than expected. Combined with the deep, droning bass and seemingly endless reverb on Croft and bassist Oliver Sim’s vocals, songs like “Missing” and “Swept Away” evoke dark, MDMA-infused raves at three in the morning, when nobody is quite ready to go home.

Each barely older than 20, the band members prove time and time again that they have gained a mastery of musical textures well

beyond their years. The lead-off single, “Angels,” is sublime in this way: choosing heart-wrenching moments to bring in drums or drop out guitars has long been a forte of the xx’s, but this particular talent truly shines here.

“Reunion” begins with the saddest steel drums anyone has ever heard, while “Tides” opts to start simply with a vocal duet—Croft and Sim’s hauntingly dissonant octaves make for as powerful an opener as anything on the record.

But for all their sonic intellect, what holds “Coexist” back is the terribly inadequate lyrical content.

Usually, this would be moderately annoying at worst, the way that Led Zeppelin or Red Hot Chili

Peppers would often leave listeners shaking their heads. But in this format, with so few instruments, the lyrics are consistently the focus, which puts every word at a premium.

And the lyrics here are often so miserable to get through that it overshadows the nuances of the music. They so frequently take the easiest, cheapest rhyme that it becomes distracting.

“When I look into your eyes/I see no surprise” sounds as though it was pulled off of a high school band’s MySpace page, which is embarrassing twice over because nobody even uses MySpace anymore.

The first album was convincing with its lyrics because, while genuine, it was also both self-aware and snarky. The band never took itself too seriously, even at its most sincere moments.

“We watch things on VCRs/ With me and talk about being in love,” was brilliant in its purposed naivety. And it is not so much the loss of this element—everyone grows up—but the lack of any new identities to fill the void. There is no effort to conceal meanings through metaphors, or even become the least bit profound, which is all listeners can ask for.

To effectively pull off the hearton-your-sleeve, lovesick misery that they attempt to convey, there has to be something strong and connective, so each and every listener will hear a line and think, “That’s exactly how I feel. Why

didn’t I say that?”

But, save the refrain of “Angels,” almost none of their lyrics emote anything, much less grab an audience and drag them across the pains of heartbreak in an intimate, thoughtful or even catchy way.

And to make matters worse, every word is clearly understandable, which makes lines like “We bide our time/Though the time is fine” so much more unbearable.

Being direct is a tactic that should be reserved for those who have something to say, and on “Coexist,” Sim and Croft show more often than not that their lyrics are merely placeholders, and not good ones. For an album that is naturally predicated on what is being said, this is a real letdown.

“Coexist” will not likely develop the cult following that its predecessor did, but is often a worthy-enough album to be put into regular rotation. While not groundbreaking, it does push the barriers of what we know as indie/ pop music by pulling out textures like a game of Jenga, until the songs barely have enough substance to stand on their own.

The lyrics play no such games, however, and without even a pretense of depth, many of the songs wisp away under the slightest scrutiny. But give them time. Just barely out of their teens, and with two albums under their belt, they have all the tools to put together a true masterpiece. Unfortunately, this album just is not it.

Variety

the Collegian : 7

1 October 2012

By Helen Patterson

Discarded RankingJumping Schemes Photo courtesy Mumford and Sons

English folk rock band Mumford and Sons does not disappoint with its latest album, “Babel.” From left to right, the band consists of bassist Ted Dwane, Winston Marshall on banjo, frontman Marcus Mumford on guitar and vocals and keyboardist Ben Lovett.

Mumford and Sons’ latest thrills Through its brooding lyrics and powerful vocals, “Babel” presents its listeners with honest confessions and moving imagery.

Student Writer

Anna Bennett Student Writer

I just love listening to people talk here in Ireland. I keep a page in my notebook of all the little differences in language. Here are a few new words I have picked up so far...

Craic—Pronounced “Crack.”

Refers to fun, or a good time. Used as a noun, as in “The party last night was great craic.” Use with caution—or not. Perhaps I will use it with my mom: “I’m going out tonight, I’m looking for a bit of craic.”

Brilliant—Awesome. Self-explanatory, but it is the word everyone uses. You will get laughed at if you say “awesome” or “cool.”

Often shortened to “brill.”

2. Create an Internet meme to gain the sympathy of the people. Use the power of popular opinion to force a revision of the rankings.

3. Kidnap U.S. News and World Report officials and hold them captive in the dark basement of Kep until our demands are met.

Conor Fellin In folk rock band Mumford and Sons’ new album, “Babel,” everything occurs on a grand scale. The rollicking banjo that dominated “Sigh No More” is as prominent as ever, and so are some regalsounding brass sections.

Songs like “Babel” and “I Will Wait” have Mumford and Sons shouting with more energy than they have ever mustered before.

Lyrically, thrones are built and walls collapse.

Even the artwork feels bigger than ever: where “Sigh No More” presented a stylish but stark storefront, “Babel” gives us a busy and colorful festival.

Like its predecessor “Sigh No More,” “Babel” deals with the themes of failure and redemption in the context of a relationship. The allusions to sacred and secular antiquity that run rampant throughout “Sigh No More” are present here, but reigned in considerably.

Instead, “Babel” presents its listeners with pointed confessions, from the brutal honesty of “I’m a cad but I’m not a fraud” in “Whispers in the Dark” to the humble appreciation of “You forgave, and I won’t forget” in “I Will Wait.”

“Babel” also offers poignant original imagery; the combination of disappointment and continued expectation seeps through when, in the title track, the narrator promises “to press (his) nose up to the glass in (his beloved’s) heart.”

Standout track “Lovers’ Eyes”

1. Hack into U.S. News and World Report’s computers. Return TU to its rightful place as No. 75.

4. Follow the admirable example set by the public school system.

Begin paddling the students who are “holding us back.”

Photo courtesy Island Records

captures the spirit of the album quite well. The song begins with whispered vocals, a quiet, brooding acoustic guitar part and equally brooding lyrics, as the narrator asserts that he “must live with [his] quiet rage.”

The tempo builds rather quickly, and the instrumentation has swelled to include blaring trumpets when the song shifts suddenly to an entirely new melody that— though more upbeat—begins as spare as the first one.

The narrator now sounds wary but hopeful as he proclaims, “I’ll walk slow … I’ll be on my way.”

Soon the trumpets have rejoined for a finale that is nothing short of majestic. By the end, Mumford and Sons have taken us on a thrill ride of musical and lyrical highs and lows.

Indeed, the sheer inventiveness with which the songs are constructed may very well be “Babel’s” greatest pleasure. Nearly every song on the album has a surprise twist—a sudden change in tempo or an unexpected instrument that joins the melody.

Of course, one could legitimate-

ly criticize Mumford and Sons’ strategy of upping the tempo and building up the instrumentation as a song progresses as a formula in itself, but the effect leaves room for enough varied strategies that the songs remain consistently fresh.

For instance, “I Will Wait”— even while adhering closest to the more typical verse-bridge-chorus pop structure—manages to swing from tender unaccompanied harmonies to rousing fully-backed choruses and nearly everywhere in between, in a way that is neither linear nor predictable.

Such a writing style also occasionally creates songs whose structural integrity is questionable, as is the case with “Hopeless Wanderer.”

In an album as cohesive as “Babel,” however, such variation within the songs is forgivable.

Listening, one quickly forgets the individual songs and loses oneself in the experience.

With its grand feel and hidden surprises, “Babel” feels like a lush foreign countryside, demanding admiration and exploration.

Grand—Not to be confused with brilliant. Grand equals fine, or OK. Such as, “How are you doing?” “Grand, yourself?” It is an underwhelming sentiment.

If someone says last night was “grand,” it was not that great.

Thanks a Million—People say this in the States sometimes, but it is what everyone says over here. It is not “thanks a lot” in Ireland, it is “thanks a mill.”

Hen and Stag Parties—Bachelorette and Bachelor parties.

Makes sense, no? Apparently Temple Bar is always full of them.

Pissed—Drunk. Wasted. Inebriated. Sloppy.

Cinnire—The Irish equivalent of an RA. More directly, it translates to “mentor.” Our cinnire does

not live in the building, she lives just down the street. So, a lot less hands-on than American RAs. Her name is Mairead and she is awesome. Excuse me, brilliant.

Chips—French Fries—thickcut and delicious. Not skinny and wimpy. Best served with a lot of salt and vinegar plus a hefty slab of cod. They also serve garlic cheese chips, which are evil. In a delicious way. Also, curry chips.

Nom. Crisps—Potato chips. Totally makes sense. They have a brand over here called “Tayto,” and the mascot is this dapper, happy yellow potato.

You can follow my adventures at: travelsizedwanderer.blogspot.com

5. Create robots.

Program robots to bring honor and glory to TU and read The Collegian religiously.

Replace TU students with robots.

6. Enroll students

in government research for money.

Use accrued funds to create “Vice Presidential Scholarships.” Lure more high-caliber students to boost rankings.

7. Study the Dark Arts. Find spells that will bring greatness to TU and loss of federal funding to all highlyranked universities.

8. Step one: infiltrate higher-ranked universities. Step two: internal sabotage. Step three: rankings-jump.

9. Convince President Obama to forgo reelection and become the new President of TU. 10. Place subliminal messages in The Collegian to mold students into rank-obsessed drones (mission: accomplished).

Tulsa State Fair excites Open until October 7th, the Tulsa State Fair features exciting games, rides and, of course, a variety of deepfried fair food.

Ryan Martinez Student Writer

For those newbies just beginning to earn the title of “Okie,” Tulsa holds an annual fair around the close of September and the beginning of October—this year, it will last 11 consecutive days.

Entry gates are located between Harvard and Yale on 15th Street, an approximately 25-minute escapade southeast for everyone that loves walking and is too impatient for the partially predictable ‘Cane Transit buses to shuttle them there.

Of course, most Tulsans and nearby Oklahomans anticipate this large-scale event, resulting in a grand annual procession passing through the gates. Do not have an anxiety attack over security issues because there are countless, stubborn guards posted near gates, around the parking lots and strolling through the festivities themselves.

What are some of the wonders and oddities featured at the TSF? The selection of rides boasts a dependable Ferris wheel, one magnificent merry-go-round, amateurthrilling mini coasters and things that could make weak-constituted individuals feel a bit queasy.

Strangely enough, rides are not the central attraction at the TSF. Food, the universal requirement for extension of life, contributes to the draw of the event. The fair has red, white and blue funnel cakes, chocolate-dipped corn dogs for the customer’s delight, shishkebabs’ savory scents wafting on the air, caramel apples dipped

into sweet vats with care, tacos in two fashions—both Indian and fish—crispy-cooked bacon atop most anything you wish, turkey legs that beckon to the hungriest of attendees, ice cream available from accommodating vendors, pizza rolled up or skewered on a stick, enough sausage and beer to make most Germans sick, freshsqueezed lemonade with a slight tangy zing, and cotton candy for which the fair bards do sing.

If that is not enough for occupy a person for an entire visit, do not fret.

How could there be room for anything else? Because there is more than the massive blacktop area upon which vendors are set up to reel in business. The fairgrounds include two enormous indoor facilities where most traveling entrepreneurs take up residence.

Yes, the eyes of visitors shall be overwhelmed with the immensity, the variety. Many of those offering merchandise have shops located in Tulsa or in nearby towns.

Others make the trip to Oklahoma to milk the crowd for as much revenue as possible.

Generally speaking, one can buy furniture, homemade goods, made-right-before-one’s-eyes delicacies, clothing, knickknacks, insurance, etc. If money is out of the picture by the time one gets halfway through with browsing through everything, there are still scheduled musical performances and farm animal displays in smelly, industrial-sized barns.

Luminescence lovers should attend the festivities when night takes over; dazzling lights spin and blink in a captivating and delighting show. After all is said and done, the TSF is a great place to be with friends and family.

For those interested in attending the fair, ticket prices are $8 (Mondays-Thursdays) and $10 (Fridays-Sundays). Prepare to spend extra for rides and food.

opinion

the Collegian : 8

1 October 2012

Should college rankings be first-place issues?

It is not conducive towards a university’s goals to aim toward jumping in the rankings, as they do not capture the true essence of what makes up a university.

Conor Fellin

Student Writer

The University of Tulsa recently dropped from 75th to 83rd in US News and World Report’s Best Colleges ranking. The decline in TU’s score, based upon such factors as reputation among peers, retention rate and teacher resources, raises questions about the role that rankings like those compiled by US News should play in motivating change within a college.

For clarification: this article is not attempting to make an assertion about the policies of the University of Tulsa and whether or not college rankings are guiding these policies. Rather, it seeks to answer the question of whether a university should or should not allow college rankings to play a role in

College rankings conveniently allow institutions to compare themselves to others, while giving a sense of pride to the students at those colleges.

J. Christopher Proctor Managing Editor

Rankings are great.

Much ado has been made about the University of Tulsa’s push to make its way into the illustrious ranks of the top 50 national universities on US News and World Report’s annual college rankings list.

While some have criticized these rankings as unrepresentative of the true quality of our educational institutions, I think these critics overstate the problem and miss out on some of the benefits of rankings.

Looking at the methodology of the rankings, while some may disagree about the relative weights of each category, most agree that

determining its policies.

Rather than motivating a college to perform better, third-party rankings shift colleges’ focuses to superficial measures that provide no positive measure of the true educational experience of a college.

Before one can adequately evaluate whether college rankings aid a college in achieving its purpose, one must answer the question of what a college’s purpose is. There are about as many answers to this question as there are college students, professors and administrators. Attempting to answer it conclusively would probably be a futile venture.

In the multiplicity of such opin-

cannot say with any degree of certainty what the goal of a good college should be, then it can say with little more certainty what colleges are achieving such a goal.

Still, it may not be practical to stall a decision about the merits of a college until one has absolute clarity about what a college should do. It is probably worthwhile to provide a few common answers, and size up third party rankings in comparison to these answers.

One view is that a college’s purpose is solely to prepare students for their careers. For the sake of argument, I will treat the version of this idea that includes not only vocational training but also any

“Third-party rankings shift colleges’ focuses to measures that provide no measure of true educational experience” ions alone, one may find one a weakness of the third-party ranking system: when there is widespread disagreement about what purpose a college can serve, the supposition that an algorithm can assign a college an empirical ranking for effectiveness is absurd.

If US News and World Report

sort of education that would make someone a better worker, such as training in public speaking. This is necessary if one is to give the argument much credence; only a small portion of college graduates go on to have careers in their major.

This standard appears to come closest to the standard that US

each input represents a quality that excellent universities possess, and in our case, qualities that we want the TU to have.

Rankings are a great way for universities to assess how they are doing in relation to their peers.

They compile all the things universities want to see in themselves and allow them to make the cross institutional comparisons that are typically so difficult. They also offer a decent guide to would-be students who can better assess the academic quality of their potential school of choice.

But practical reasons aside, rankings are fun. As any fan of college football can tell you, rankings—and the controversy that inevitably surrounds them—are often more fun than the game itself.

People love rankings. They love a simple, easy way to abstractly judge things in a concise and obvious manner. No. 7 is good, but not as good as No. 3, and not nearly as good as No. 1. No more thought needed; the rankings took care of the rest.

Every night during the Olympics we all had to check the medal standings to see how our beloved Team USA was doing against our new Red Olympic rival. Why? Be-

cause there was a system of ranking of national quality and if there is going to be a ranking of national quality, the United States damn well better be at the top.

Likewise, if there is going to be a ranking of higher educational institutions, TU damn well better be near the top.

Now I know we’ll never best Harvard, but we easily belong in the top 50 or better.

There are great things going on here at the University of Tulsa, and the rankings need to reflect that.

I’m all for doing what we can to aggressively climb in the rankings because improving in the qualities measured by the rankings will make us a better school.

Sure, there are intangible things that cannot be measured that contribute to the quality of education, but categories like class size and retention rate serve as surrogates for those qualities.

Rankings, while not perfect, are good enough. And due to the benefits of rankings—especially the intrinsic benefits we all receive from our deep love of numerically pitting ourselves against one another—college rankings are here to stay.

Law school competition creates innovation The competition that is characteristic of law school and lawyers forces those involved to find new areas of relevance for their degrees in a world of juristic oversaturation.

Myriah Downs

Student Writer

Headlines have been cropping up across the country about the increased competition for law school admissions. In such pieces, journalists often comment on the decrease in traditional legal jobs and on how unwise it is to apply to law school.

Gossip blogger Caity Gawker said that “law school is for suckers.” She calls law school a “systemic scam” and urges young Americans to “go forth and do anything you want in this world, except going to law school.”

The word “competition” implies

that there is some distinguishing factor that would make one able to win. However, conflicts with my interpretation of the law, which holds that the law in its most basic form should be created to address the great needs of the class of people it aims to protect. It should come as written regulations for a game we are already engaged in.

That being said, each person who is motivated and willing to dedicate the time and effort necessary should be able to comprehend the law. However, an increase in applications to law schools across the country has led to raised admissions standards for law schools.

This can only serve to be helpful as legal education continues to be profoundly important to increasing the amount of representation for disenfranchised individuals.

The impact of legal education spreads beyond the borders of the United States into the world abroad. It was in the Philippines that I was able to understand the impact of our legislative systems on the rest of the world. The regulations placed by national agencies largely dictate the climate of corporations’ actions abroad.

Textile production is one such

area. Because of grave economic situations in the Philippines, there has been inadequate effort to ensure that the individual rights of citizens and workers are placed first. While there, I witnessed the destruction of homes and families in order to allow for the construction of a factory. Hundreds of families were forced from their homes and into the streets.

They asked me to listen, to hear their story and use my voice where they could not. Increased representation of these people may have allowed hundreds of families to keep their homes. Legal education would have allowed those opposed to the destruction of these homes to speak out against it from within the system.

Variety of purpose is the most distinguishing aspect of the legal field. Few other career paths proffer the same opportunity to do great works of good in the world.

Because there is such a desperate need for legal representation, there is little chance that a prospective lawyer will be left without this kind of work to do.

The issue comes into place

See Law page 9

News and World Report gives.

“Your investment in a college education could profoundly affect your career opportunities, financial well-being, and quality of life,” its website says in discussing the purpose of a college ranking system.

Even in something as simple as enabling career success, however, one can easily dispute the effectiveness of rankings for determining the value of a college. Large amounts of money per student do not necessarily imply that money is being used to teach a student worthwhile lessons, and selective admissions standards do not necessarily imply that the right kind of students are being selected.

The other view that this article will treat understands college as an act of self-discovery, in which a student can encounter a wide variety of ideas and engage in a plethora of activities away from the normative pressures of home in order to develop a deeper sense of his or herself. To appropriate a quote from Ralph Ellison, a good college education should give a student the intellectual independence and resources to answer “questions, which I, and only I, could answer.”

It is by this definition that college rankings most drastically fail.

There cannot be an empirical ranking that measures the freedom a university’s culture gives a student for self-expression or the amount of challenge to do so in a meaningful way.

Perhaps, one might argue, reputation could reflect a culture of academic independence, but the assumption that an independent spirit within a college will generally, or even most of the time, be recognized by outsiders is a shaky one.

Here, ultimately, lies the flaw in allowing third-party rankings to guide a college’s choices; in the end, a college should be concerned with serving the educational needs of its students before its image in front of the public.

If a university cares more for its self-perpetuation than for the good of the students it exists to serve, then it has utterly lost track of its purpose.

Yes, ratings may very well be the most reliable measurements that someone has to quickly and empirically measure a college’s performance. They can play a limited but useful role in choosing a college.

But to allow success on an external measure to control a university’s decisions would be a crime against the purposes of education.

Unions not a bust The recent agreement between the teachers’ union and the mayor of Chicago is a good outcome for all involved. It allows teachers to focus on teaching, and the increased amount of school time keeps kids off the street.

Will Bramlett

Student Writer

On Sept. 10, the teachers of Chicago’s public schools went on strike for eight days, demanding such things as better pay, preventing a rise in the cost of their health insurance policies, more chances for future raises and reduced importance of test scores on a teacher’s evaluation and pay.

The city was able to increase the hours the teachers were working and the number of days the teachers would be working each year.

This new deal between the teachers’ union and the city of Chicago is a win for the teachers, the mayor’s office, the city of Chicago, the parents of students and— most importantly—the students.

The teachers have gained a great deal because they now can worry about their students rather than how they will be paid or if they will even have a job next year.

As confidence increases due to job and economic security, people are willing to spend more, which will bolster our economy.

This is something upon which both Democrats and Republicans tend to agree.

The mayor’s office should be happy to get kids back in school and off the streets. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel can now be known as the man that kept Chicago students in school longer. CNN has reported that Emanuel believes the extra days and time will “effectively (add) more than two years of instruction time to the

school career of a student who starts next year.”

With kids in school for longer hours, the parents and all of the people of Chicago can rest assured knowing the kids of Chicago have a safe place to be. As violent crimes rise in Chicago, a school should be thought of as a safe zone—a refuge—by students and their parents.

Last summer, as schools were let out for break, the rates of violence in Chicago skyrocketed as kids were either in the wrong place at the wrong time because they had nowhere else to go or were permitted to commit these crimes--a trend attributable to many factors.

Of course, the entire city of Chicago is not filled with violence, and nearly every person would love to see the violence end, but a small fraction of the population can still terrify entire neighborhoods. While Emanuel does still need to work at enforcing the laws and stopping these few bad seeds that haunt parts of Chicago, he has applied a decent bandage to reduce the risk that a child might be involved—either intentionally or unintentionally—in these senseless acts of violence.

The group that has benefited the

See Union page 9

Opinion

1 October 2012 From Law page 8

tal intervention to technological advances.

Such is also true of the legal profession. While it seems simple to say that there are less demand and more lawyers and therefore less financial opportunity for the legal profession, the statement fails to take into account the great demand for legal services that cannot be compensated.

The bottom line is that because of a combination of factors, more lawyers are being forced into new and innovative fields. This has the potential to add great advantages

where lawyers must work for individuals who can pay. From recent trends we can see that law has become an oversaturated field because of the increase in lawyers.

This proves to be a tenuous assessment of the problem. For an analysis we can look to a basic Keynesian economic model.

Under such a model, the amount of aggregate demand and the aggregate supply behave in a manner not equal to each other, but influenced by a number of outside factors ranging from governmen-

the Collegian : 9

to the industries and groups of people affected as they will begin to have greater access to legal representation. Whether an increase in legal representation is a good or bad thing depends on the criteria one chooses to assess it by.

On one hand, increases in legal representation help to further the cause of those who would otherwise be unable to have their voices heard in the courts. On the other hand, it can lead to a decrease in the financial value of legal representation.

Still, such a dichotomy seems to

be an oversimplification because there are so many additional factors influencing the financial value of lawyers. Such a thing is far too subjective to assess from one point of view. To the domestic violence victim who has been granted a protective order because of the work of her lawyer, the financial value of a lawyer is priceless.

Yet, to the lawyer crippled with debt who is forced to take the client who can pay versus the one who cannot and still needs her help, the value of a legal education depends on each lawyer and how

they choose to apply it.

Even still, it seems fitting that lawyers walk this path between the two contrasting ideals. It has never before been more important to have legal representation because now it is increasingly equated to access to justice.

It is my belief that lawyers take it upon themselves to take an oath to speak for those who cannot. In the face of a shrinking job market, increasing debt and fading optimism, this seems to be the only remaining guidepost to a world that has been turned on its head.

From Union page 8

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most from this strike was the students. While they surely enjoyed the eight days off from school, they have gained so much during that time. They now have teachers that are more focused on them rather than finances and standardized tests, a safer place to be for longer hours and more days, and more time to learn and consume the knowledge that their teachers share with them.

Hopefully the kids of Chicago will take advantage of the extra schooling being offered to them by working hard so that someday they will be able to return value to the city and make it a shining example of why we should always be investing in education, no matter the economic situation.

T:5.125”

TU Buzz

How do you feel about Steadman Upham’s return?

“People are all fake happy about him because he’s familiar. And people like familiar and it makes them happy.”

“I’m mainly excited because other people are excited.”

“It was a good conservative move.”

“Everyone loves Stead and it’s good to have a man whose talents have helped the University gain more than Seven million.”

Connor Langford, Sophomore

Tess Cain, Senior

Will Dalthorp, Freshman

Alex Button, Junior T:10.25”

RULING

from the Office of Public Affairs and Ecenomic Development

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Talk to a recruiter today.

It’s a beautiful day in the

True Blue Neighborhood!

TU Rallies Against Hunger Join Athletics, APO, and the True Blue Neighbor Volunteer Center as we rally against hunger. Hunger is a growing epidemic, not only in the Tulsa area, but nationwide. 44% of children go to bed each night without dinner, not because they are being punished but because they have no food. The noticeable Blue Tubs will be placed across campus collecting food for the Food for Kids Backpack Program. Help us, help hungry children.

Art off the Square Art off the Square is a fundraising event benefitting the Kendall Whittier Community Food Bank. Volunteers are needed at 2:00 October 11th, for setup. This event showcases Tulsa’s art culture and community with local artists. There will be entertainment and food. Volunteers make these events possible.

Be a Zooper Trooper If you love animals and enjoy walking on the wide side, you can be a Tulsa Zoo volunteer. This is a low-commitment opportunity, you choose the event and times that work best with your schedule. Special upcoming events to volunteer at: ZooRun, Saturday, Oct. 6th; HallowZOOeen, Sat. Oct. 27th – Wed. Oct. 31st.

Talk to a recruiter today to learn more.

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Marcy Lawless Service Awards Marcy Lawless Service Award applications/donations will be available next week.

A BIG THANK YOU to the students at the BCM who helped with last week’s food drive for the Kendall-Whittier Emergency Food Pantry. They placed the True Blue

For more information about these or other volunteer opportunities, contact Kathy Shelton in the True Blue Neighbor Volunteer Center in Holmes Student Center, room 25.

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editor-in-chief—Kalen Petersen managing editor—J. Christopher Proctor news editor—Kyle Walker sports editor—Aubry Midkiff variety editor—Stephanie Hice opinion editor—Patrick Creedon photo & graphics editor—Jill Graves staff writers—Helen Patterson, Victoria McGouran business & advertising manager—Liz Cohen distribution manager—Tyler Magill web editor—Mary Carol Franko adviser—Kendra Blevins

1 October 2012

the

THe State-run media: 10

State-Run media No. 1 in news since 2012.

TU ranked No.

To the delight of the University of Tulsa, TU has been ranked number one in the world, and all parallel worlds by US News and World Report’s annual ranking of colleges. For the seventy-fourth year in a row, TU humbly accepts the title of pretty much best college ever. Surprise abounds as the recent release of former-President Emeritus Steadman Upham from his duties as emeritus president was thought to put TU’s ranking in jeopardy for sure. One anonymous administrator reportedly said, “Thank god no one noticed that debacle with Upham, or we’d be seen as no better than those plebeians at Vanderbilt.”

Though TU does not rank as highly as, say, Harvard or Yale in standardized test scores or graduation rates, our esteemed university broke the scale in the lesser known categories of “Height of President” and “Illogical Parking Puzzles.”

One of TU’s many deans let slip that the university now intends to gun for number one in all eleven dimensions for which string theory calls, saying that TU needs the “most illustrious reputation amongst all colleges that ever were, ever could be, and probably weren’t.”

However, he projects that this will not be accomplished until 2023.

It has come to our attention that your esteemed newspaper mistook our geographical location in your Eye on the World article last week, replacing it with that of our repugnant neighbors­, the Spanish.

We are very hurt and offended by this action. The French are proud readers of The Collegian and we are saddened to know that despite our affection for your fine

Dear France, Wow, guys. Oops. We totally screwed that one up. We’re really sorry about that.

You know, we really do like you, France, and we didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just that all you little European countries are so small! It’s really hard to see which countries are which on our tiny little computer screens.

But really, how could we mistake the land of wine and cheese with the land of bullfights and

University of Alabama* Editor-in-Chief

On Saturday, the University of Tulsa defeated the University of Alabama* 49-42. While TU is unranked, the University of Alabama was ranked No. 1 among all NCAA Division I football teams in the nation before this weekend.

The game was significantly closer than expected, as many observers had predicted a much bigger score gap between TU and

king How are midterms here But the year has just begun Where did the time go?

King John I

youth unemployment?

We promise we won’t make the same mistake again. If it makes you feel any better, we have put a map of your country up on our bulletin board, along with all of the great symbols of your illustrious capital: Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abby, Tower Bridge and the London Eye. Oui hope you can forgive us The Collegian Staff

An open letter to the single women of the University of Tulsa

Tulsa beats Alabama*.

The University of Alabama* opened the game with a touchdown on the very first play of the game, rolling like a tide over TU’s defense.

However, the game turned into a drawn-out fight, with TU and UA* trading blows up and down the field.

Under the leadership of legendary coach Nick Saban, the University of Alabama’s defense had looked almost perfect coming into

newspaper, you do not even know on which side of the Pyrenees our fair country is located.

While it pains us to do this, we are left with no choice but to cut off diplomatic ties with The Collegian.

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

Sincerely, France

France

in the world

Kalen Petersen

France

this week.

After scoring 49 points against Alabama* and holding its offense to only one rushing yard, TU received national attention as it saw a dramatic increase in the number of votes it received in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

The University of Alabama, which has won two of the last three national championships, is one of college football’s perennial powerhouses did not expect a loss to Tulsa when they saw their schedule at the beginning of the year.

Alabama had outscored opponents 168 to 21 before this weekend, and was in the discussion for the greatest college football team of all time.

After this victory, many have begun to wonder if TU can also beat the University of Texas** when they come to Skelly Field in two weeks. * Birmingham **El Paso

Are you tired of your nonexistent love life? Looking for a man who knows how to treat you right? A man who is good with words?

Well, have you considered a newspaper man?

We single men of The Collegian may be exactly what you are looking for. We are sporty, opinionated and have a wide variety of interests. We also have a humorous side that we think you will enjoy.

We’re sure you’ll be our type, and we hope you’ll be impressed (and not the way the English navy does it).

Give us a chance and we’ll make an imprint on your heart.

Sincerely, The single men of The Collegian P.S. You can contact us by email at Collegian@utulsa.edu.

We’re also tech savvy.

No one notices who writes these articles; writer disappointed Jebediah Futzgummond Student Writer

Lonely Collegian satire writer Jebediah Futzgummond is disappointed that nobody notices that he writes these articles, despite his original intentions of getting people to notice how funny he is by writing these articles, sources confirmed.

Witnesses reportedly heard crying followed by laughter and then more crying in the dorm next door to Futzgummond’s.

“We just heard a lot of crying at first, and we started to feel bad.”

Futzgummond’s neighbor said.

“It was hard to pick out over the sobs, but I think he was moaning about some crummy newspaper—I think it was called the O’Collegian, or something,” he continued, “I’ve never heard of it.”

“We thought he might have gotten better, but then he started crying again, so we decided he must just be crazy and left to go get some food,” another dorm dweller

said.

Other witnesses report seeing Futzgummond run out of a room crying on Wednesday.

“I was minding my own business, laughing at the exceptional article about Geoffrey Orsak being sent back in time from the last issue by Jared Starkweather, when Jeb just got hysterical and ran out of the room,” another student said.

“He yelled something like ‘I’m right here and you don’t even notice me!’” she said. “I hadn’t even gotten to read his article yet. It wasn’t very good.”

Another student gave some insight on a different perspective.

“Maybe he’s just upset that nobody ever recognizes him for his outstanding work,” the student said. “All of those things would have never happened if people would stop being rude and actually recognize an artist for their work,” he concluded.

As of press time, no one has read either Futzgummond’s article or Starkweather’s.