monday, december 12, 2011

Back to the desertBack to the desertW W W . O U D A I L Y . C O M 2 0 1 0 G O L D C R O W N W I N N E R

THE SEMESTER IN PHOTOS

As the semester races to a frenetic fi nish, the time has come to refl ect upon the people, places and events that have shaped our collective university expe-rience these past 16 weeks.

For this reason, The Daily has compiled these photos of fall’s most memorable moments and issues.

Whether it was the near collapse of the Big 12, the proposal of a tobacco ban or a vigil held to honor lost loved ones, since August, Sooners have made history and memories in equal measure this semester.

For more photos, see Page B9.

AUBRIE HILL/THE DAILY

Students and friends hold candles while listening to stories at a candlelight vigil in September in the Unity Garden on the South Oval. The vigil marked the one-year anniversary of the suicide of Zach Harrington, a bul-lied, gay teen from Norman. Harrington’s suicide sparked reform among students on campus. Some of the participants officially came out of the closet as gay individuals in front of the candle-lit crowd. Leaders of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community on campus showed their support to OU students who attended the vigil.

Sooners look to end season with bowl victory (Page B1)

KINGSLEY BURNS/THE DAILY

Cast members perform a snow-swirled ballet during dress rehearsal for “The Nutcracker” on Nov. 29 in the Rupel J. Jones Theatre. The classic holi-day ballet was the last show for University Theatre before winter break.

FALL 2011FINALS WEEK

JAMES CORLEY/THE DAILY

OU athletic director Joe Castiglione (left) and President David Boren laugh during a press conference with OU football coach Bob Stoops in September to announce the Big 12 Board of Directors’ decision to keep the conference together. Texas A&M and Missouri will leave the league and West Virginian and Texas Christian University will join in 2012.


Michelle Simer, multidisciplinary studies senior, smokes a cigarette on the South Oval. The tobacco committee is now looking to make OU tobacco free.

MELODIE LETTKEMAN/THE DAILY

Contestants perform during the opening acts of the second annual Mr. Black OU pageant Nov. 16. Zoology sophomore Felton Knighton was crowned Mr. Black OU. Knighton performed a hip-hop rou-tine for his talent and modeled in a golf athletic outfit for the active wear portion.

REmEmBERInG fALL 2011

Chase Cook, managing [email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666

A2 • Finals Week 2011

news

Kathleen evansSenior Campus Reporter

An OU professor who re-ceived $75,000 for resign-ing because of question-able research practices may have had a pattern of unsafe behavior.

OU Health and Exercise Science professor Chad Kerksick began a study on creatine nitrate exercise sup-plements and its effects in February 2011 for the compa-ny ThermoLife. In June 2011, the OU Institutional Review Board began investigating the study after graduate stu-dents filed complaints.

The university and Kerksick reached a settlement agree-ment in September, stating he would receive $75,000 for resigning after a yearlong leave of absence.

Unsafe practicesIn the complaints filed, stu-

dents said he coerced them into having him practice muscle and fat biopsies on them, and some of them had painful bruising. Kerksick told the review board he had done 305 of these biopsies in the past five years with no re-ported complications.

However, an OU business professor involved in a differ-ent study in December 2010 said his thigh biopsy left him hurting for weeks.

“They said I would be jog-ging right out of the place and could go lift weights afterwards,” professor Jeff Schmidt said. “I could barely walk to the car afterwards.”

A muscle biopsy involves sticking a needle into the tis-sue to remove a small piece to examine. This study looked at the effects of aging on muscle and the amount of different muscle types in participants.

After the biopsy, Schmidt said he couldn’t walk without pain for two weeks, let alone

work out. The site was swol-len for months, and the scar started healing after a year.

In the study protocol, Kerksick said risks involved are only “minor pain and bruising at the site of needle insertion.” All participants should have received a sheet detailing how to take care of the wound afterwards.

Throughout this process, Schmidt said he felt like he was never given proper in-f o r m a t i o n t o m a k e a n i n f o r m e d d e c i s i o n t o p a r t i c i p a t e in the study. Schmidt cur-rently teach-es a class on marketing re-search, and h e t e a c h e s about informed consent to his students. Kerksick, whom Schmidt described as very charming and confident, never mentioned any down-sides to the biopsy, even when asked.

“When he was doing the incision, there were probably six to seven doctoral students watching,” Schmidt said. “I thought it was weird that if they were doing like 50 of these things that it shouldn’t be that exciting to see.”

On top of that, Schmidt

never received his results, the entire reason he signed up for the study.

The settlementUniversity officials will not

comment on the Kerksick investigation or the settle-ment, which was part of the agreement.

Employee complaints are not uncommon in a system with 11,000 faculty and staff members, university spokes-man Michael Nash said. About 95 percent of these cases never reach a court.

However, only about 11 to 20 of these claims a year re-sult in financial settlements, Nash said. Of those 11 to 20 cases, the median settlement is $11,500. Kerksick received more than six times that fig-ure, an amount that is about one and a half times his an-nual salary of $53,024.

“Primary considerations certainly involve a cost-ben-efit analysis,” Nash said in an email. “Potential costs to the Board of Regents include fi-nancial exposure in the way of legal liability, litigation ex-penses (which can be more costly than settlement), and time, effort, stress and strain on faculty, staff, departments and academic units when it’s necessary to prepare and un-dergo litigation.”

Kerksick’s study thus far

BlayKlee BuchananCampus Reporter

The Advisory Committee on Tobacco Policy’s final recom-mendations are slated to be announced by President David Boren at the Jan. 20 meeting of the OU Board of Regents.

But Gary Raskob, committee chairman and College of Public Health dean, said there is nothing new to report.

“Discussions continue in looking into all aspects of a policy on campus, including evaluating possible implementation of designated smoking areas,” Raskob said.

President Boren said in a press conference in November that the possibilities the committee is contemplating, includ-ing designated smoking areas or a ban on all tobacco.

Raskob said students, faculty and staff still are encouraged to voice their opinions to the tobacco committee’s email,

[email protected].“While the committee may not be able to respond to all

emails, rest assure all recommendations and suggestions will be considered by the committee in drafting their own recom-mendations for President Boren,” Raskob said.

Raskob also dispelled rumors that the policy would take ef-fect in January with the new semester.

“The committee plans to have its final recommendations presented to President Boren in time for the January Board of Regents meeting,” Raskob said.

But, Raskob said, if whatever recommendation the com-mittee does decide to make is passed, it would take effect this summer.

No matter the outcome, the committee is still encouraging students, faculty and staff to kick the habit with the programs offered through Goddard Health Center.

“Cessation programs would continue to be offered to help those who want to quit using tobacco do so by the time the policy takes effect,” Raskob said.

AT A GLANCEKerksick timeline of events• January 2006: Kerksick hired as assistant professor of Health and Exercise Science

• December 2010: Creatine nitrate study approved by IRB

• February 2011: Creatine nitrate study began

• April 2011: Allegations filed against Kerksick for creatine nitrate study

• June 30, 2011: All studies by Kerksick terminated by the IRB

• Aug. 31, 2011: Kerkisck signs resignation agreement with university

Source: Documents acquired by The Daily, Patrick Dib

Kerksick accused of unsafe practices

has cost more than $2,000 in equipment and in lab results for his study participants, including himself, which is against research rules, ac-cording to receipts requested by The Daily.

Questionable sponsorKerksick’s latest study was

sponsored by ThermoLife, a company managed by a con-victed felon.

It is not uncommon for these exercise supplement industries to use a univer-sity to try to legitimize their products, said Dave Ellis, president of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dieticians Association. This is a nonprofit organization that looks to protect athletes.

“This is a shining example of what we are up against with supplement companies,”

Ellis said. “They can change the whole record of cred-ibility through people like Kerksick.”

His organization attempts to be the first point of con-tact for athletes instead of the companies and scientists with false data, he said.

Often, these studies hap-pen by researchers either cre-ating false data or manipulat-ing the way data is analyzed so that it seems more or less important than it really is, Ellis said.

The OU review board ap-proves all research through a heavy application process in which researchers outline their studies, how they will conduct it and any potential harms or benefits.

For outside companies, they also attempt to look into the people sponsoring it to

make sure they are able to pay and have a clean record, vice president of research Kelvin Droegemeier said.

“This includes screening for international security purposes, verification that the organization is not on the debarred or suspended list and ensuring the orga-nization is current on pay-ments if the university has entered into business with this organization previous-ly,” Droegemeier said in a statement.

As a result of the settle-ment, Kerksick can still list OU as an employer, accord-ing to the document.

Kerksick cannot work at an institution governed by the OU Board of Regents, but he could still find a job doing re-search again, a former gradu-ate student Patrick Dib said.

CHAD KERKSICK

In-DEptH

Professor’s past alludes to recent questionable behavior

Possible policy would take effect this summer, committee chairman says

MELODIE LETTKEMAN/ THE DAILY

University College freshman Mickey Mei walks toward Adams Center while smoking a cigarette, which might change at OU this summer.

SmoKE-fREE CAmpuS

Ban decisions soon to be announced

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Finals Week, Fall 2011 • A3News

Blayklee BuchananCampus Reporter

On most days, Jordan John gets up before the sun rises and heads to baseball practice. From there he goes to class and then tries to fit in study time before practice again.

John is a geographic information sciences junior and a redshirt sophomore pitcher for the Sooners. He also is president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which represents student athletes.

John said his days are a constant combination of bal-ancing practice, conditioning, school obligations and in-season traveling.

He said traveling during school can be difficult, espe-cially during finals, but it is possible if students use their time well.

“When we’re traveling we still have study hall in the hotel … and you bring your laptop on the bus so you can knock out some homework,” John said. “It is like a job, but it’s a great job because you’re doing something you love.”

Outside of performance on the court or field, the OU Athletic Administration stresses the importance of ac-ademic success, said Nicki Moore, Senior Associate Athletic director. Moore said the study hall located in the Student Athletic Academic Services center in Oklahoma Memorial Stadium offers study opportunities to help stu-dents stay on track.

“We have a cadre of academic assistants — academic coaches — to help students organize what they should be doing, learn study skills, etc,” Moore said.

The study center also helps coaches ensure their play-ers fulfill expectations as student athletes, John said.

“Basically it’s a way for coaches to make sure you get your work done and are on top of studying so you can be eligible,” John said.

Athletes must meet certain academic requirements to remain eligible for their sports.

Freshmen have to log a minimum of 10 hours per week while some upperclass-men athletes don’t have to log any, because some athletes have proven they can stay ahead in their ac-ademics, John said.

This includes maintain-ing the universitywide 2.0 GPA — which, on average, all sports are maintaining.

The average GPA of all student athletes at OU is about a 3.0, according to a record provided by OU’s Open Record Office.

Women’s track and cross-country had the highest av-erage at a 3.4. Men’s basketball held the lowest average at a 2.6.

Paighten harkinsStaff Reporter

The number of freshmen enrolled this spring semester will not be determined until the third week of the semes-ter, but planning has been in the works since April of last year.

To prepare for the semes-ter, many individuals must work together and make pro-jections based off various data, such as application and admission reports and trend charts.

Matt Hamilton, vice presi-dent for enrollment and stu-dent financial service and registrar, said spring enroll-ment is in some ways easi-er to predict, because new enrollments are not near-ly as large as fall. Most are continuing students so the planners have a good idea what classes they will need, Hamilton said.

For many years the average retention rate for entering freshmen from the fall to the spring semester is 95 percent, said Cheryl Jorgenson, asso-ciate provost and director of OU Institutional Research.

The timeline for prepara-tion for spring enrollment starts in April of the previous year when the Classroom Management office sends information to academic de-partments about the spring schedule. That information is updated in June or July, and the classrooms are as-signed by September before spring semester.

Planning for the fall semes-ter is done in much the same way, with preparation begin-ning 15 months before class-es begin. The projected num-ber of incoming freshmen is based upon areas including

expected yield rates, number of housing contracts, enroll-ment commitments and en-rollment appointments, said Hamilton.

The size of any entering class is related directly to the number of high school graduates from Oklahoma and Texas, specifically in areas which are the source of a large number of nonresi-dents, Jorgenson said.

Leading up to this year’s record freshman enrollment, OU had experienced growth in that area, which generally has “risen with the ripple of the baby boom from 2000,” Jorgenson said.

But growth hasn’t been smooth, Jorgenson said.

In 2006, OU’s enrollment of first-time students was 3,342 students, according to OU Factbook. The number rose in 2007 to 3,883 and dropped in 2008 to 2,803. Enrollment in 2009 was 3,760, and simi-lar in 2010 with 3,724. In 2011, the freshman class is more than 4,000.

Nancy Mergler, senior vice president and provost, said once OU realized the fresh-man class would be so robust, administrators began work-ing with classroom schedul-ing, academic advisors, Vice President of Instruction Paul Bell and chairs and direc-tors so that there were suffi-cient seats for freshmen in all classes.

Measures were taken, including increasing the size of sections, sometimes necessitating changes of classrooms.

Options are still being taken to have more classes open in the summer for stu-dents who were unable to get into a particular course for the fall or spring semes-ter, and Mergler said the uni-versity is trying to remain as

flexible as is possible to ad-dress any unforeseen issues caused by such a large class.

The Introduction to Film and Media studies classes are one of many classes that have been affected by increased enrollment.

Generally, the course is of-fered in two classes — one 40-person majors section and one 200-person non-majors section. This year with such a large freshman class, there was enough demand for an-other introduction class that an extra 100-person section was added.

Katrina Boyd, professor of film and media studies, has taught classes of up to 285 students, but generally teach-es classes of around 200.

She said this freshman class is the most problematic that she’s ever had, and much of that can be attributed to the obvious problems asso-ciated with teaching a large lecture class, namely getting students engaged and fo-cused on the lecture.

Schedule changes, additional sections prepared for class Sooner athletes must balance their

grades with their athletic obligations

Spring enrollment

Largest class an adjustmentAthleticS

Students stay on top of work

More onlineVisit oUDaily.com to read

the complete story

ASTRUD REED / THE DAILY

The Class of 2015 student committee carries its banner proudly displaying hundreds of student signatures from the largest freshman class in OU history during the Homecoming 2011 parade on Oct. 22.


the complete story

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A4 • Finals Week, Fall 2011 News

Jake MorganStaff Reporter

When history senior Liz Stevens sent in her December graduation application, she had one thought.

“I’m going to be done, and I’m going to be out of here,” Stevens said.

Stevens, along with about a thousand other students, will graduate at the close of the fall semester.

Although a set number of December graduates for this year hasn’t been determined, Becky Heeney, director of OU’s graduation office, said the figure would be compa-rable to the previous year’s count of 1,025 conferred degrees.

GPA and college break-out information are not yet avail-able, but December gradu-ates usually encompass a wide range of majors, Heeney said.

There are, however, a few differences between the fall and spring graduation pe-riods. Most notably, com-mencement, the university-wide graduation ceremony, is held only at the end of the spring semester. Those who graduate in December or August still have an invita-tion to return to campus and attend the ceremony.

Each college holds convo-cations or recognition cer-emonies for both December and May graduates. At these gatherings, each graduate will be recognized individu-ally, have his or her picture taken and be presented a di-ploma cover by his or her col-lege dean, Heeney said.

Stevens said she doesn’t plan to attend commence-ment or her convocation.

“I will have my diploma

Victoria gartenCampus Reporter

There was no question for Hispanic microbiology senior Alia Ramirez whether she would have a college education.

Ramirez said she considers herself lucky to have had the help of her father, a first-generation college graduate, in pursuing her education.

“A lot of us are having to pay for our own college and don’t get help,” Ramirez said. “So many people don’t real-ize Hispanic students face different obstacles.”

The four-year graduation rate of Hispanic students who enter OU in 2006 was 23 percent, up more than 3 percent from 2005, accord-ing to recent reports from OU Institutional Research and Reporting.

However, according to a recent New York Times article among Mexican immigrants age 19-23, fewer than six-per-cent are enrolled in college.

“It is important that the university continues its efforts to ensure Latino students are not only enrolling in college but graduating with a degree,” said Crystal Garcia, Hispanic American Student Association adviser.


Ana Maria Meléndez, a psychology student from Colombia, sits in her Traditions East apartment with her new set of luggage, pur-chased to carry home purchases from her semester in Oklahoma.

SIMONE ORJIAKO/THE DAILY

Jaren Collins, entrepreneurship and venture management senior, takes pictures of graduating Makaela Dunn, social studies education senior, on Sunday on the South Oval. “Fall graduation is less of a produc-tion in comparison to the spring commencement, we do not even get a convocation speech by President Boren,” Dunn said.

Commencement not as important to some OU seniors

fall 2011 graduation

Grads take pride in diploma

when I finish my last final, and that’s graduation for me,” Stevens said.

Women’s and gender stud-ies senior Caitlin Campbell had a similar reaction upon handing in her graduation application.

“I thought ‘woo-hoo!’ I was already finished in May, but now I’m [truly] finished,” Campbell said. “I can’t wait to see my name on a diploma.”

Campbell, who is current-ly studying abroad in Arezzo, Italy, accumulated enough hours to graduate in May but decided to travel abroad as a bonus this semester.

“I have also previously taken two years of Italian at OU, so studying abroad in Italy seemed like an appro-priate way to round out my OU career,” Campbell said.

The Atlantic Ocean will keep Campbell from attend-ing her convocation, but

she said the most important thing is knowing that she is a college graduate.

B o t h S t e v e n s a n d Campbell have set plans for the future. Stevens will com-plete an internship in Rome during the spring semester, and Campbell plans to pur-sue a Master of Public Health degree at an undetermined institution.

Campbell, who will gradu-ate summa cum laude, said OU has provided her with many opportunities and made her into a determined, more confident individual.

“I have met many amazing individuals at OU — profes-sors, students, administra-tors, guest speakers and inter-national students,” Campbell said. “Here, I learned that education is something that continues throughout the life span, and I will never stop learning.”

international students

Hispanics face difficult goalsNumber of students at OU rises despite poor federal funding for disadvantaged

AT A GLANCEou colleges

• College of Architecture

• College of Arts and Sciences • College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences

• Michael F. Price College of Business

• Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education • College of Engineering

• Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts

• College of International Studies

• Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication • College of Liberal Studies


the complete story

Mary Stanfield, opinion [email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666OpiniOn

Finals Week, Fall 2011 • A5

The Oklahoma Daily is a public forum, the University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice and an entirely student-run publication.

Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and must be fewer than 250 words, typed and signed by the author(s). Letters will be edited for accuracy, space and style. Students must list their major and classification. To submit letters, email [email protected]. Letters also can be submitted in person Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall.

Guest columns are accepted and printed at the editor’s discretion.

Columnists’ and cartoonists’ opinions are their own and not necessarily the views or opinions of The Oklahoma Daily Editorial Board.

Our View is the voice of The Oklahoma Daily Editorial Board, which consists of nine members of the editorial staff. The board meets at 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall. Board meetings are open to the public.

One free copy of The Daily is available to members of the University of Oklahoma community. Because of production costs, additional copies may be purchased for 25 cents by contacting The Daily business office.

Chris Lusk Editor in ChiefChase Cook Managing EditorAnnelise Russell News EditorJames Corley Sports EditorKatherine Borgerding Life & Arts Editor

Kingsley Burns Photo EditorMary Stanfield Opinion EditorLindsey Ruta Multimedia EditorChris Miller Online EditorJudy Gibbs Robinson Editorial Adviser

contact us 160 Copeland Hall, 860 Van Vleet OvalNorman, OK 73019-0270

phone:405-325-3666

email:[email protected]

Editor’s note: The Daily publishes an editorial in every issue advocating for change on an important issue. Some of these have produced changed; others have seen a suspicious lack thereof. The following are some of the noteworthy editorials and the action that has followed them.

‘Smoking debate shows the need for greater student input,’ Sept. 16

We argued that President David Boren’s decision on the smoking ban was obviously unilateral, and that the tobacco advisory committee would not provide enough of a forum for student input.

Students were able to express their opinions to the com-mittee during an open forum on Nov. 10, but committee members were criticized for offering no real information and simply promising to take these concerns into account. On Nov. 14, The Daily urged the administration to make the committee’s meetings public to provide greater accountabil-ity and let students ensure their views are being represented.

Boren said July 1 is the target date for the on-campus to-bacco ban to begin.

‘GLBT tragedies spark reform, but work remains,’ Sept. 19

The Daily wrote a three-part series raising awareness about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues and advocating for greater equality. We detailed what more the military can do now that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, and urged the administration to create gender-neutral hous-ing for gender nonconforming students.

In November, the Staff Senate created a committee to con-sider suggesting OU extend equal benefits for same-sex cou-ples. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends student group and Students for a Democratic Society con-tinue to work toward gender-neutral housing.

‘Wall Street protests demand attention,’ Sept. 28

The Daily covered the Occupy Wall Street movement while most other media outlets were ignoring the story. We demanded politicians, journalists and the public pay atten-tion not just to this burgeoning movement, but to the dis-turbing stories of police brutality coming from the camps.

Media coverage of the occupations has picked up, but much of it has been confused and limited. Occupy Norman began Dec. 3 in Andrews Park, planning to run until Dec. 17.

‘Phones hinder proceedings,’ Oct. 11Inspired by a proposed policy in Texas that would ban

public officials from using distracting electronic devices dur-ing government meetings, The Daily urged UOSA to pass its own version of the bill. Banning these devices would help ensure that the students representing the entire student body and controlling a $750,000 budget are focused on the important tasks at hand, and not on playing Angry Birds.

On Oct. 18, Student Congress discussed and rejected the first version of legislation to ban electronic communication during meetings. On Oct. 25, it discussed a second version of the restriction as part of a larger standing rules reform. During the discussion, Representative Eric Lyle argued against the restriction, commenting, “To be honest, we’re UOSA. We’re not the state legislature; we’re not running an entire country.”

He went on to argue, “I personally feel like sometimes it is a waste of my time because other members are not using their time appropriately, or what I consider appropriately.” Lyle said that because all the representatives are students and have classes, other work and family to balance, they should be allowed to take a break during meetings to text friends or talk to family.

This blase attitude is disgraceful. This organization is re-sponsible for a huge budget and is charged with represent-ing the entire OU student body. Everything they decide is

relevant and must be seriously discussed. If students’ repre-sentatives would rather update Facebook than do their jobs, no wonder so many view Student Congress as pointless and impotent.

Student Congress members voted to table the bill for fu-ture discussion.

‘Meeting minutes demand more focus,’ Oct. 12

The Daily reported that Student Congress was potentially in violation of the Open Records Act because its minutes were unclear, lacked detail and only included voting and at-tendance records in a separate document. We encouraged Student Congress to update their minutes to more clearly re-flect the meetings and bring them in line with the law.

UOSA began taking more detailed minutes, with all re-quired information, starting with the Oct. 18 meeting. This has greatly increased transparency since then.

‘Norman City Council should focus on real issues,’ Oct. 14

We decried the Norman City Council’s efforts to add “In God We Trust” to the city council chamber as a waste of time and effort — a distraction from the important, but more dif-ficult issues at hand.

On Nov. 9, the council decided to add the nation’s slo-gan, along with the state slogan “Labor Conquers All,” to its chambers. Hopefully, now it can move on to more pressing issues, such as the Human Rights Commission’s push to add sexual orientation to the city’s nondiscrimination policy. Oklahoma City passed a similar measure on Nov. 16, and at-tention from the Norman City Council could help the com-mission pass this proposal quickly and easily.

‘Students deserve recognition for academic success,’ Oct. 17

In an interview with The Daily, Boren mentioned plans to create a “Scholar’s Walk” on the South Oval, similar to the walk honoring athletes near the Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. We encouraged him to pursue this plan quickly, to emphasize that OU is a college first and a football team second.

The OU Board of Regents approved the plans to turn the right side of the South Oval into a walkway with statues and plaques featuring OU’s academic elite at its Dec. 2 meeting.

‘Campus elections require student voice,’ Nov. 2

With General Elections coming up, we outlined the ballot questions and urged students to participate in this impor-tant election to express their opinion on the tobacco policy.

This fall’s election only drew 1,064 students, about 4.5 percent of the Norman campus’ student population — a decrease of about 300 students from last year’s fall elections. This outcome is disappointing, and we urge students to do better in the spring.

The redistricting ballot question passed, giving UOSA power over its own redistricting.

The question urging the administration to create des-ignated smoking areas as a compromise to the proposed smoking ban did not pass. But with 4.5 percent voting, that’s hardly a mandate.

‘Students shouldn’t add to the city’s pet problem’ on Nov. 7

We urged students to vote for the much-needed $3 million renovations to the animal shelter on the Nov. 8 ballot. But a simple vote is not enough. We also reminded students that they play a huge role in the growing problem of abandoned pets in Norman.

The shelter renovations were passed by 68 percent.

UPdAtE

Fall editorial follow-upsEditOriAL

Media utilize open records to empowerOur View: Freedom of information is necessary for journalists to continue to inform the people and aid them in healthy democratic decisions.

This semester, The Daily has made a concerted effort to educate our readership on freedom of in-formation issues and to advocate for greater trans-parency from the administration and the local government.

The issue of free access to information is not just important to journalists, it is an absolutely essen-tial right for any citizen of a democracy.

In a democracy, it is vital that citizens stay in-formed and keep an eye on what their representa-tives are doing. If the voting public is uninformed or misinformed, democracy cannot function. These officials work for the public, so the public

has the power and responsibil-ity to hold them accountable for their actions. These are the people making your laws and spending your money. They need to know you are watching.

It creates a culture of account-ability that helps keep officials

in line. Even the most honest public official could be tempted to do things the easy, unethical way at some point in their career. Public accountability is necessary to keep the country running smoothly and in the best interests of the people.

This is where journalism comes in. Media out-lets are a bridge bringing information to the pub-lic, so you can stay informed. Any citizen could file an open records request and keep watch over public officials. But because the average person doesn’t have the time or training to do that, jour-nalists are necessary. Like with any other business, when a need arises, people step up to fill it.

Journalists are able to devote their days to the important task of watching the actions of public bodies and reporting their findings to the public. We do this so you don’t have to.

We’re not going out there requesting records just looking for trouble, waiting for a representative to mess up. Filing records requests is simply part of our job. It’s how we keep track of what’s going on. It’s how we investigate and find information to report. It’s how we ensure important information doesn’t slip through the cracks.

We request many records that never turn into stories because nothing is off about them. If things are going right, people simply are doing their jobs. And a public official doing his or her job correctly is not news — it should be the status quo.

You cannot just trust public relations depart-ments, as one commenter on OUDaily.com sug-gested. Spokespeople have a clear conflict of in-terest, as they are hired to make a company look better. Their goals are in direct conflict with those of a journalist — they are paid to spin information, in some cases directly evading or downplaying the truth. Open records give us a way of externally verifying the truth.

We at The Daily — like most journalists — are not motivated by a dislike of our public officials or a hunger for sensational stories of wrongdoing. We’re simply motivated to provide a service that is in the best interest of our community. Making information public and holding officials account-able can only improve the OU community.

Recent national stories have vividly illustrated how easy it is for horrible secrets to hide from the public eye for decades. Locally, without public records, no one ever would have known that OU paid off a professor accused of dangerously ex-perimenting on his students and allowed him to represent himself as an employee of OU while he searched for a job.

He could have been hired by a university with no idea what he is accused of, and OU could have never been held accountable to the public for this questionable decision.

In order to continue the important service of keeping our representatives honest and our read-ership informed — and to keep empowering you to make informed decisions about who and what to support or protest — we will continue to work next semester to increase transparency and im-prove open records policies.

Comment on this at OUdaily.com

I am a feminist. I like to wear dresses and skirts and anything frilly. I

want to get married, have 2.5 kids and a small dog. I can only hope that chivalry is not dead. I have no prob-lem being a stay-at-home mom who is president of the PTA. I love to do laun-dry, watch HGTV and make sandwiches.

So I’ve realized that sometimes, after I tell people these things, they’ll say things like, “Wow, wait to put yourself back into the 1950s.” Or, “Feminists are really going to get at you for that one.” Or my personal favorite, “You just set back the feminist movement by 50 years.”

But when people say this, my first thought is who the hell do you think you are?

Wasn’t the idea of the feminist movement equality? Yes. Sure thing, sugar. But just because I want to do these things doesn’t mean I think every woman wants the exact same thing. We are all different people. Just because I love these “antifeminist” roles doesn’t mean I think we all need to have the same “antifeminist” role.

Being a feminist means believing that women can do anything they want to do. If I know that I am good at laun-dry, being in the kitchen and doing other domestic things, why should I be forced into the corporate world? Everyone screams about equality on the street corner, but I think the only equality we need is the freedom of choice.

I don’t think a woman who wants to be a stay-at-home mom should be given any grief for this. She is the atypical feminist.

Women have fought long and hard for the rights they have in this country. However, this was so we as women could live how we see fit. If every women’s right’s activist says we need to get out there and reclaim male-dominated jobs, they are hindering the feminist movement just as much. This move-ment is not about being as “important” as the male.

It is the freedom to pursue any opportunity — not to shift the stigma from one place to another. If a woman wants to be domestic, let her. If she wants to be an engineer, let her do that. Both of these are hard work, and both of them should be choices someone makes because they like it and not because of guilt or lack of opportunity.

And opportunity for everyone is the only thing that femi-nism should be about.

Kimm Johnson is an environmental design sophomore.

In the kitchen, barefoot and feministCOLUMN

The Our View is the majority opinion of The Daily’s 10-member editorial board

Kimm [email protected]

OpiNiON COLUMNiST

OUDaily.com ››The finals week phenomenon, Bizzell Memorial Library’s silent rave must remain completely quiet to not disturb, but fascinate students.

Katherine Borgerding, life & arts [email protected] • phone: 405-325-5189

A6 • Finals Week, Fall 2011

LIFE&ARTS OUDaily.com ››OU professors discuss the link between stress over � anls and dreams. [email protected] • phone: 405-325-5189LIFE&ARTS over � anls and dreams.

Finals Week, Fall 2011 • A7LIFE&ARTS

T is the sea-

son to be

jolly .

I want to get my

parents something

they will like, my

friends something

thoughtful and my significant other some-

thing special, but I have little to no money

to fund all this gift giving. Does this sce-

nario sound familiar?

Some of the best gifts are homemade,

and I’m not talking about the tacky maca-

roni picture frames you made your mom

or dad in elementary school. Believe it or

not, there are some great gift ideas that are

easy and inexpensive to make.

W e have compiled lists of the top five ele-ments of campus life: dorm boo-boos that we have all heard about, retweets by the notorious @OUProblems Twitter

feed that is such a source of enjoyment, study spots that you may not have known about, but you now must hunt out, desserts offered by Couch Restaurants you must have before you leave this semester and some websites that will make great alternatives to Facebook stalking at 2 a.m. in a desperate attempt to distract yourself from studying.

TOP 5 THINGS NOT TO DO IN THE DORMS1. Don’t give birth in the bathtub:I am sure we all remember or have heard about the

Walker Baby. 2. Don’t adopt a stray dog and house it in the basement:One of Walker’s residents actually did bring home a stray

dog and kept it as a pet in the basement. 3. Don’t give tattoos in your room:The stuff of OU dorm legend. It’s a moneymaker yes, but

also a no-no. 4. Don’t install a hot tub or a stripper pole in your room:Again, the stuff of legend, although I am sure it made for

some great study breaks.5. Don’t bring a fog machine and set off the fire alarm:For the life of me I can’t understand why you would need

a fog machine in your dorm room, but to each his own.

Dusti Gasparovic is a University College freshman.

TOP 10 WEBSITES TO DISTRACT YOURSELF WITH THAT AREN’T FACEBOOK.

1. Cute Roulette:The best part about Cute Roulette is that you know that

no matter how many times you play, the outcome will most likely make you coo with delight.

2. Draw a Stickman:It’s exactly what it seems, and yet there’s so much more

to it! It will mystify you for days.3. Emotional Baggage Check:Leave a message detailing how awful your life is, and get

Steps to managing study time:

1. Open up Word document. Post sta-tus about writing a term paper: “Ugh, writing term paper, yuck.”

2. Write heading in the top left corner of docu-ment. Check to see if any-one has liked my status. One person. Facebook-stalk them momentarily.

3. Write a few sentences. At this rate, your paper will be finished … never. Good

luck.This is my routine process when it comes to anything

school related — write term paper while Facebook-stalking; study for quiz while Pinteresting. The gap in this logic, how-ever, can be found in the fact that Facebook and Pinterest have absolutely nothing to do with making an A on my up-coming test.

In honor of finals week, on Monday, I made the deci-sion to have my roommate change my password on my Facebook so I wouldn’t be tempted to do anything other than, well, study. After a period of two hours, I painfully realized this decision was going to take a bigger toll on my

daily routine than I thought. I found myself constantly clicking the Safari button on

the bottom left hand corner of my computer, then selecting Facebook from my selection of top sites … only to — over and over again — realize that I was not able to log on.

To see if this constant preoccupa-tion with time-wasting sites in re-placement with studying was a com-mon trend, I asked 15 of my class-mates around campus to keep track of how many times they checked their Facebook or Twitter account and compare it with how many hours they studied that day.

“I’m a procrastinator, and when I feel like I have enough time, I waste it on Facebook — then I soon real-ize there is no time left to study,” University College freshman Kelsey Baker said.

The results were not surpris-ing. More than half of the students spent more time on Facebook and Twitter than they had studying.

For me, Facebook was a distraction from studying, a hin-drance from the potential A that I was hoping to get. Other students viewed their constant visitation of such sites in a

different light.“I find that Pinterest or Facebook don’t necessarily af-

fect my studying,” said Michaela Tomalin , international and area studies sophomore. “I might check either one for a few seconds, as a quick study break, but I still study majority of the day studying or in class.”

Whether you consider social sites such as Facebook to be a hindrance or merely a quick break from study-ing, it is always helpful to be aware of the time you actually spend on them. For me, it was a rude wake up call to the time I was wasting in the day.

For the duration of time when I could no longer get on Facebook, I was made aware to how much I could actually get done in one sitting with-out any distractions.

Especially as finals are just around the corner, take time to stop and

evaluate how much time you are actually wasting. You just might need your roommate to change your password to Facebook as well.

Brooke Buckmaster is a University College freshman.

Money doesn’t have to be an issue with giving gifts during the holidays

MAKING YOUR OWN ORNAMENTS

Make your own Christmas orna-ments. Buy a clear, round ornament

from Michaels or Hobby Lobby and decorate the outside with puff paint. You can even fill the ornament with beads and pearls or shrink down a favorite picture and slip it in-side. Finish the ornament off with a ribbon tied around the top.

Ornaments are great gifts by themselves or added to a decorative wreath.

REPURPOSING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

For another ornament idea, get out the old Scrabble board game tucked away in the back of the closet and hot glue some letters together to spell a friend’s name, “Merry Christmas” or “Boomer Sooner” and attach some fishing wire to the top.

You can also use Scrabble letters to personalize picture frames. Simply paint a wooden frame a base color and then hot glue the Scrabble letters on the frame. Frames can be purchased at any local craft store.

Other picture frame ideas include using a Sharpie to write inside jokes, song lyrics or memories around the frame for friends or significant others . Fill the frame with a picture that you believe will make them smile or a favorite quote or scripture.

ADDING CHEER TO CANDLES Candles are used year-round but are especially great for the holiday

season. Decorate and personalize candles with ribbon and puff paint.

SPRUCING UP HOLIDAY COOKING

Food is one of the best holiday gifts. Everyone enjoys a sweet treat. For deli-

cious and easy holiday sweets, visit www.allrecipes.com.Just to be a little bit different, instead of plain ol’ choco-

late chip cookies, bake a sheet of brownies and use cookie cutters to cut out fun shapes. You can even add some sprin-kles, M&Ms and chocolate chips to your brownies.

Dusti Gasparovic is a University College freshman.

a song in return. If you’re feeling chipper, leave a song for someone else.

4. Is Ryan Gosling cuter than a puppy?:A timeless argument wrapped up into one comprehen-

sive reference (by the way, the answer is yes).5. Flurrious:It’s like making those paper snowflakes, without the

mess … or the paper cuts.

Megan Deaton is a journalism sophomore.

TOP 5 LITTLE-KNOWN STUDY SPOTS1. The basement of Evans Hall (Administration):I have heard students tell of a great little study spot for

one or two people under the stairs of the basement. It’s not a group study spot, but if you need a quiet getaway in the middle of the day, this is for you.

2. Second floor of Zarrow Hall:The second floor of the new School of Social Work fea-

tures a cozy set of table and chairs nested by the windows facing campus is perfect for three or four students looking for a spot for group studying.

3. Children’s book collection, basement of Bizzell Memorial Library:

If you are stuck in the ‘Biz’ this week, make a trek down to the basement for coffee and then settle down with the children’s books. If you need a study break, grab some light reading.

4. Fine Arts Library, Catlett Music Center:One of OU’s spectacular libraries, the Fine Arts Library

houses books on everything from Renaissance art to graph-ic design to modern jazz music. This library has a perfect atmosphere and is usually pretty quiet.

5. Western History Collection, Monnet Hall:The Western History Collection is housed in a library

that looks as old as OU itself. The library makes a perfect setting for the quietest of quiet study. The library atten-dants will ask to keep your bag, but the views are amazing.

Katherine Borgerding is a journalism senior and The Daily’s Life & Arts editor.

TOP 5 COUCH CAFETERIA DESSERTS1.Pie: Nothing puts me into the holiday mood like a slice

of pumpkin pie. Whether you select pumpkin, sweet pota-to, pecan or just plain chocolate, a slice of pie topped with a dollop of whip cream will definitely make you anticipate being home for the holidays.

2.Fudge Brownie: A huge slab of chocolaty goodness. Need I say more?

3.Lemon Bar: For those who aren’t too into the choco-late scene, the sweet and tangy mixture of the lemon square is by far the most delicious way to fulfill that sweet tooth.

4.Chocolate Overload Cake: When the words “choco-late” and “overload” are in the same sentence, you know it has got to be one heck of a cake.

5.Cheesecake: Depending on the day, the Caf always has a variety of cheesecakes, anything from cookies and cream to just plain and simple. If you never know what to get, a slice of cheesecake is never a regretful option.

Brooke Buckmaster is a University College freshman.

TOP 5 RETWEETS BY @OUPROBLEMS1.Tom_Diamond: When I was I freshman I was set to

prove you could walk under the clock tower and graduate in 4 years... And I was wrong. @OUProblems.

2.KirstyBaze: “Please, if you can, bring a flashlight to your exam. In some areas of the classroom, the lighting is not as bright as others..”@OUProblems

3.carterbaum15: girl sending a mass email to our class asking someone to send her an invite for pinterest... #seri-ously #OUproblems

4.dearestbrittany: My roommate is watching her freshman fifteen jiggle in the mirror #ouproblems #roommateproblems

5.MackenzieGibbz: Our light switch just officially broke the rest of the way. On the bright side our cable is fixed. #bittersweet #dormlife @OUProblems

Sydney Allen is a broadcast and electronic media sophomore.

OU has the good, the bad, the ugly to offer Sooners during the semester

1

2

3

4

top5s

Brooke [email protected]

LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST

“Facebook was a distraction

from studying, a hindrance from the potential A that I

was hoping to get.”

Time spent online takes away from study time, could hurt final grades

Dusti [email protected]


A8 • Finals Week, Fall 2011 LIFE&ARTS

Return your rental books now through:

December 19, 2011

RENTALCHECK-IN

forfor

University BookstoreMemorial Stadium | 405-325-3511

Visit www.oklahoma.bkstr.com for additional buyback hours and locations.

2nd16th

Everyone knows you’re supposed

to listen to classical music or something while you’re study-ing, have you actually tried it?It’s boring, and besides we’re in college and deserve high-tempo songs to accompany a time of the semester as frenetic as finals week.

Thus, I bring you a finals week playlist that will have you studying like a rock star, and not falling asleep to Mozart.

1 “You’re the Best” by Joe “Bean” Esposito Everyone needs a little positive self-encour-

agement every now and then. It’s pretty self-ex-planatory how “You’re the Best” could help with that. Pull out your pencil pouch and get going to some ’80s motiva-tional tunes. Also, this song was in “The Karate Kid,” and what’s more inspiring than that?

2 “Wetsuit” by The Vaccines Now that you’re in study mode, we can tone

it down a little. The Vaccines will soothe your weary mind and remind you not to forget to have fun every once in a while. Study break time?

3 “Octavio” by Viva Voce This is a chill song if I’ve ever heard one. It’s

chill enough to help you relax and stop pulling out your own hair but upbeat enough to keep you from drooling all over your final paper. That would be bad.

4 “The Calculation” by Regina Spektor

This is for all of you math and engineering majors out there to get you in the calculating mood.

Yay, numbers!

5 “Don’t Slow Down” by Matt & Kim

Uh oh, I can tell at this point you might start to lose speed. Don’t slow down! Seriously though, that’s pretty much the premise of this song. We don’t need any confus-ing concepts to muddle your overworked brain.

6 “When I’m Small” by Phantogram Let’s slow it down again with some breathy

whisperings. You might actually be able to focus during this one, so use it to your full advantage.

7 “Puzzle Pieces” by Saint Motel Nothing says study time like a song about plas-

tic surgery. It’s a metaphor, or something. Not to mention, it will make you feel like you’re on the sunny beaches of California.

8 “Harold T. Wilkins, Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time” by Fanfarlo

Three cheers for great background music. Repetition and senseless lyrics are the key to this one.

9 “Late Nights” by Brown Shoe At this point it’s probably about 2 a.m. Thus,

“Late Nights” is a song you will be able to relate to, and don’t you love that a band named “Brown Shoe” feels the same way you do? I know I do.

10 “Something We’re Becoming” by Time Machine and Maggie Horn

This is your celebration song! You’ve made it through the playlist, so hopefully you’ve gotten at least a smidgen of work done. Wake your snoring study buddies up and start a dance party. You deserve it.

To listen to the whole playlist, find me on Spotify. Search for the username “meggiejennie,” and look for the OU Daily Finals Week Play List.

Megan Deaton is a journalism sophomore.

OUDAILY.COMGet the playlistLink: Search for the username “meggiejennie” on Spotify and look for the OU Daily Finals Week Play List. To download Spotify, go to www.spotify.com/us

‘HOME ALONE’ (1990):Being a ’90s kid, no Christmas would be complete with-

out the wildly hilarious “Home Alone,” which showcased the impeccable comic timing of Macaulay Culkin . One won-ders what happened to that cute, mischievous little trouble-maker who went on to become the biggest child star in the world before disappearing off the face of the Earth. Ah, well, we still have this holiday classic to admire his talents and watch him cleverly orchestrate a Christmas butt-kicking for a pair of unfortunate burglars, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) .

‘BAD SANTA’ (2003):Now that we are old enough to view rated-R movies with-

out parental supervision, we all can appreciate Billy Bob Thornton’s cheerful obscenities in the raunchy “Bad Santa.” This is, of course, an adult Christmas film not to be con-fused with the cutesy, inoffensive Tim Allen flick “The Santa Clause.” While this is by no means a sappy, heartwarming affair, it does supply some outrageous gags and spirited chuckles. No matter how politically incorrect this Santa may be, it is easy to warm up to the jolly banter, drunken delights and crude charms of Thornton’s terrific performance.

‘A CHRISTMAS STORY’ (1983):Who could forget the meek, starry-eyed Ralphie Parker

(Peter Billingsley) , his eccentric parents (Darren McGavin and Melinda Dillon) , the suggestive stripper leg lamp or the infamous pole-licking scene? As a coming-of-age story, the film brilliantly captures the pressures, anxieties and awk-wardness of adolescence in a darkly comical fashion. As a holiday-themed tale, it is the ultimate Christmas film with enough heart and humor to go around.

‘ELF’ (2003):Displaying an irresistibly charming and lovable perfor-

mance from Will Ferrell , “Elf” is a modern holiday treat that will melt the hearts of even the grumpiest of grinches. Ferrell stars as Buddy the elf, a human raised in the North Pole who travels to New York City to meet his biological father (James Caan) . One clumsy mishap at a time, Buddy wins his stern father’s affection and compassion in both comedic and heartwarming ways.

‘THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS’ (1993):

OK, OK, so it is not a Christmas movie, exactly. Whether you watch Tim Burton’s enchanting “The Nightmare Before Christmas” for Halloween, Christmas or both, there is enough visual spectacle and invention to satisfy any mood. When Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) , king of the seedy Halloween town, discovers a portal to the colorful, festive Christmas town, bizarre misadventures and misunder-standings ensue. This cinematic gem is a marvelous feast for the eyes.

Laron Chapman is a film and media studies senior.

It is that time of the season. No, not the holi-

days, but a different cause for celebra-tion: the end of the semester.

However, while the end is near, it cannot be fully appreciated without the completion of the ... you guessed it, the fatal finals week. As students struggle

to get swept up by the Christmas spirit, the consequences of procrastination begin to take effect as mounting assignments and exams threaten to steal everyone’s joy.

Well, that simply won’t do. I have created the perfect holiday diversion to keep your spirits high and your anxieties low, sprin-kling some festive optimism on top of a likely stressful week. There’s nothing like a few Christmas classics and rich treats to liven up our Scrooge or Grinch-ish attitudes.

study Get your

onClassical music can be boring, but to upbeat songs for finals

Laron [email protected]


ILLUSTRATION BY CHRIS LU

SK/

THE

DAILY

Megan [email protected]


Finals Week, Fall 2011 • A9LIFE&ARTS

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A10 • Finals Week, Fall 2011 Life&Arts

Just because fi-nals are creep-ing up on us,

it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t allow our-selves to take breaks and enjoy the holiday spirit around us.

Take a break from all of that study-ing and enjoy some of the most fantastic Christmas lights and decorations around the area, consider visiting some of these festive places this year.

CHICKASHA’S FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS: This festival began on Nov. 22 and will continue through

New Year’s Eve. It takes place in Chickasha, about 45 min-utes from Norman, but the main attraction is well worth the drive. The park is open each evening from 6-11 p.m., and a live nativity scene is performed four times every night until Dec. 18. The great thing about this place is that it’s free to the public and feels like a Christmas wonderland with thousands of lights that you can enjoy driving or walk-ing through.

NEIGHBORHOOD LIGHTS DANCE TO RADIO STATION: Off of Highway 9 in Norman is the

Downs family’s Christmas lighting dis-play. At 2900 72nd Ave., the light show is said to last around 18 minutes and is syn-chronized to music played on 107.1 (FM radio). Park up close and watch the light display come to life. Several holiday tunes will play, including selections from the Nutcracker and other holiday classics. The family who hosts this annual light show also has a donation tub as you drive out, so if your feeling the giving spirit, be sure to drop off a donation, small or large.

LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD CLOSE TO CAMPUS:

If you’re just looking for a quick, 10-minute break, head off campus and visit the Tarman Circle, a roundabout filled with many lit-up homes and a variety of beautiful deco-rations. When you’re leaving campus, head toward 12th Street on Boyd. Before you reach 12th Street, you will cross the railroad tracks and just a short ways before 12th Street, you will see the entrance to Tarman Circle in the neighbor-hood called Lincoln Terrace on your right. It’s a short drive and definitely worth taking a glance.

OKC BRICKTOWN: In downtown OKC, the Bricktown district is deco-

rated with many festive lights. What began on Nov. 25, Bricktown’s “Downtown in December” event features fun festivities for all. Lights decorate the ice rink and line up along the canal and Automobile Alley. The water taxi rides are free from 6-9:30 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays until Jan. 1. This may not just be a quick drive-through, but it is sure to be a fun evening break.

Alex Niblett is a University College Freshman.

LightitupAlex Niblett

[email protected]

Life & Arts CoLumnist

View these local areas illuminated in lights

Above: sitting across from Dale Hall tower on elm Avenue, residents made their home look like a wrapped gift, using flood lights to keep the look even after dark. in a shining display of holiday cheer, Christmas lights show how much norman residents enjoy the season.

Left: Creating a winter wonderland in their front yard, residents of a street off Berry road employed lights in the shapes of reindeer and trees, as well as holiday mannequins on their porch, to enhance the lights on their roof, porch, trees and bushes.

photos by MELoDIE LEttKEMAN/thE DAILy

Oklahoma will play in its 13th straight bowl game when the team takes on Iowa in the Insight Bowl on Dec. 30 in Tempe, Ari. That is a big deal. That many bowl games in

consecutive seasons is a solid sign that a program is having success.

Try telling that to Sooner fans, though.The Sooners entered the 2011 football season as

the top-ranked team in the nation for good reason. The team finished 2010 with a win in the Fiesta Bowl and had virtually every impact player return-ing. Both junior quarterback Landry Jones and se-nior receiver Ryan Broyles were touted as Heisman

contenders, the entire offensive line was returning, the receiver position appeared to be loaded and the defense was looking like it could be Oklahoma’s best in years.

Once the season was under way, OU did not give anyone reason

to doubt its prowess as a national powerhouse. The Sooners opened the season at home against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and rolled to an easy 47-14 victory.

In a highly touted matchup with No. 5 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla., Oklahoma took care of business on both sides of the ball and silenced any doubters with a clutch fourth quarter that led to a 23-13 victory.

“Our offense and defense, when we’re on the same page, we’re going to be very tough to beat,” senior linebacker Travis Lewis said after the game. “When we needed them, they stepped up, and when they needed us, we stepped up.”

Desertdeja vu

F i n A L s W e e K , F A L L 2 0 1 1

Bowl preview

oKlahoMa SoonerS VS. ioWa haWKeyeS — inSiGhT boWl, DeC. 30

sue OgrOCKi/The assOCiaTeD Press

Sooners return to Arizona — again

Top: Sophomore linebacker tony Jefferson (1) celebrates with fel-low sophomore linebacker Corey Nelson (wearing Austin Box’s No. 12) after an interception during ou’s 62-6 blowout win against Ball State on oct. 1 in Norman. Jefferson finished with three interceptions during the game, ending three straight Cardinal drives.

left: Sophomore wide receiver Jaz Reynolds (16) scores a touch-down during ou’s 41-38 loss to texas tech on oct. 22 in Norman. Reynolds finished third on the team in receptions and yards, just behind fellow sophomore wide receiver Kenny Stills. the loss to tech ended ou’s 39-game home win streak.

At A GlANCeSooners in arizona bowls» 2011: insight bowlTempe, Ariz.

After a 9-3 regular-season fi nish dropped ou to fourth in the Big 12, the Sooners will face off against the iowa Hawkeyes in the insight Bowl.

ou coach Bob Stoops, wide receivers coach Jay Norvell and tight ends coach Bruce Kittle graduated from and coached iowa.

the only time ou and the Hawkeyes met — in 1979 — Stoops started for iowa as a redshirt freshman safety, and the Sooners won, 21-6.

» 2010: fiesta bowlGlendale, Ariz.

oklahoma redeemed itself in the desert, winning in the Grand Canyon State for the fi rst time in 34 years.

the Sooners beat the Big east champion Connecticut Huskies, 48-20.


West Virginia ran up and down on the Sooners during a 48-28 romp.


Hook-and-ladder and the Statue of liberty.

ou may never forget this 43-42 overtime loss to Boise State.

» 1994: Copper bowlTucson, Ariz.BYu 31, ou 6

» 1982: fiesta bowlTempe, Ariz.Arizona State 32, ou 21

» 1976: fiesta bowlTempe, Ariz.ou 41, Wyoming 7

Source: OU athletic department

PhOTOs by Kingsley burns/The Daily

OU prepares for fourth postseason trip to same state in last six years

MORE INSIDEoklahoma’s offense hasn’t been the same in the three games since Broyles’ injury.PaGe b5

see SOONERS Page b3

“Obviously, the sea-son didn’t go the way we planned,” junior center Ben Habern said. “We have to take ownership of what happened.”

Now the Sooners are left with a Dec. 30 appearance in the Insight Bowl against their head coach’s alma mater, Iowa — unbelievable consid-ering where OU started the 2011 season.

Undoubtedly, the Sooner players are just as disap-pointed as their loyal fans. With only one more chance to finish this season on a strong note, though, the team cannot afford to be disap-pointed. A loss in the Insight Bowl could turn the season from terrible to disasterous in the eyes of Sooner nation.

“I think we’re going to come back and finish strong,” sophomore fullback Trey Millard said. “We have enough character to do that.”

The Sooners still do have their character to defend, and of course, there is the prospect of a shiny new Insight Bowl trophy to satisfy the fans until next year.

Oh yeah, and there’s al-ways next year.

Greg Fewell is a journalism senior and the assistant sports editor for The Daily. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregfewell.

Looking for a course to fulfill Gen-Ed

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These courses still have seats available. Enroll now, before someone else takes

your seat!

LTRS 2103 Introduction to Constitutional Studies

(Butterfield, Porwancher, CRN 27469)CL C 3113 Greek Epic Poetry in

English Translation (Knudsen, CRN 23214)

CL C 3613 Classical Influences on Modern Literature (Coodin, CRN 26526)

LTRS 3143 The Examined Life (R. Huskey, CRN 27509)

Consider taking one of our elective courses

LTRS 3510 Supreme Court and the U.S. Constitution (Lomazoff, CRN 27471)

LTRS 3923 Oklahoma and the U.S. Constitution(Lomazoff, CRN 27810)

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(Coodin, CRN 27475)CL C 2413 Medical Vocabulary

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B2 • Finals Week, Fall 2011 Advertisement Finals Week, Fall 2011 • B3

Bowl previewThe team had cleared one

of its toughest hurdles of the year and was heavily favored in every game the rest of the season, but games are not played on paper.

The Sooners got a taste of that lesson the very next week on their home field, when — despite poor play and no intensity — OU scraped by Missouri with a 38-28 victory.

A win is a win, but every-one on the team expressed disappointment with the performance.

“We had mental bust after mental bust, and it was a very easy game plan,” defensive coordinator Brent Venables said after the win. “We practiced poorly this week, and we played poorly and coached poorly. You can’t let your guard down. You lose your edge, lose your respect for the game, and you’re going to get exposed. It’s very disappointing.”

Was the game a fluke, sim-ply a reminder to the team that if it doesn’t play well, it can lose? Or was it more of an omen of things to come?

It does not take much to get football fans in Oklahoma riled up. However, OU fans did not worry long.

Oklahoma rolled over Ball State at home the following week, and all worry was put aside when the team domi-nated Texas, 55-17, in the an-nual Red River Rivalry.

Oklahoma seemed to have reached another peak with that win, having hurdled its second major obstacle en route to a national title.

The question was an-swered: Missouri was noth-ing more than a fluke, a let-down after a splendid perfor-mance on the national stage.

Or so it seemed. OU rolled to its sixth win

the following week, beating unranked Kansas, 47-17. Just like that, the team found it-self in a valley.

Texas Tech came to Norman on Oct. 22, un-ranked and struggling to find itself, but the Red Raiders broke the nation’s longest active home winning streak by knocking off the No. 3-ranked Sooners, 41-38, at Owen Field.

“They came out, and they flat out beat us,” senior de-fensive end Frank Alexander said. “It wasn’t anything spe-cial they did.”

A simple statement, but painfully true. Texas Tech played the same football it had been playing all year.

The problem was the Sooners did not. They played like they played against Missouri; this time, though, it got the best of them. The Missouri game was sud-denly less of a fluke and more of a symbol for this team’s

SoonerS: OU losses force team to watch promising season slip awayContinued from page B1

Kingsley burns/The Daily

Redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Bell (10) celebrates after rushing for a touchdown against Baylor on Nov. 19 in Waco. Bell scored 10 touchdowns in the final five games out of the “Belldozer” formation.

inconsistently.OU faced No. 8 Kansas

State the next week, going from losing at home to a sub-.500 team to blowing out a top-10 team on the road.

Led by the new “Belldozer” package, the Sooners’ offense was un-stoppable, and the defense decided to show up that week. Oklahoma blew out the Wildcats, 58-17, and everyone wondered more than ever what went wrong against Texas Tech.

The Sooners — minus ju-nior sensation Dominique Whaley, who suffered a season-ending injury against K-State — returned home the next week and had a repeat performance against Texas A&M. Two straight wins against ranked opponents, combined with other top-five teams being defeated, meant the Sooners still had an out-side shot at a national title.

But without senior All-American Ryan Broyles — who saw his college career abruptly end against the Aggies — and Whaley, the road became considerably more difficult.

If OU shot itself in the foot in the Tech game, the Baylor contest was more of a knife to the heart. Unlike the Missouri and Texas Tech games, OU did not lose to Baylor by falling behind early — they lost the game in crunch time by making mul-tiple errors with minutes to go and the game on the line.

A false start, a timeout that probably shouldn’t have been called and a defensive breakdown resulted in a 45-38 loss.

“I never questioned our players’ want to and fight,”

coach Bob Stoops said. “But in the end, [Baylor] made a few more big plays than we did, and that’s the difference in the game.”

It was true. OU played with heart the entire game. The team played with intensity and played through mistakes to give itself a chance to win. Despite that, or maybe be-cause of that, the loss some-how seemed more painful.

After easily dispatching Iowa State, only OSU stood between the Sooners and a shot at a BCS bowl to redeem their season.

But by the fourth quarter of Bedlam, Oklahoma had five turnovers, Oklahoma State had almost 500 yards of offense and the peck-ing order in Oklahoma had just taken a huge hit. The Cowboys gave the Sooners their most embarrassing loss of the year, a 44-10 blowout, to become outright confer-ence champions.

The once-favored future national champions had finished the year 9-3 with another trip to the desert in their future, only this time not as glamorous.

Greg [email protected]

SpoRtS ColumNiStThe Daily’S beST of 2011

offeNSeryan broylesYear: Senior Position: Receiver Season stats: 83 catches, 1,157 receiving yards, 10 touchdowns (nine games) Overview: Broyles’ impact on ou football will be felt for quite a while. the Norman native is, stastically, the best receiver the Sooners have ever had and holds all but a few school receiving records. Broyles acounted for 25 percent of landry Jones’ passing yards this season, including yards gained in the three games Broyles sat. Jones did not throw another touchdown pass after Broyles’ injury.

DefeNSefrank alexanderYear: Senior Position: Defensive end Season stats: 51 tackles (18 tackles for loss), 8.5 sacks, one interception, three forced fumbles (one recovery), six pass break-ups Overview: After lots of hype as a recruit and flashes of promise throughout his career, Alexander put it all together this season in his finest year at ou. He was a dominating force and anchor for oklahoma’s defensive line and was the Sooners’ most consistent defender, putting together impressive games regardless of whether the rest of his team was.

SpeCiAl teAmSMichael hunnicuttYear: freshman Position: Kicker Season stats: 20-of-23 field goals (long of 53 against Kansas State), 51-of-51 extra points Overview: After a few unstable performances by senior Jimmy Stevens, Hunnicutt was handed the reins to the most tumultuous position on the Sooner squad and performed admirably. even though two of his misses were from close range during ou’s three-point loss to texas tech, he has been consistent throughout the rest of the season, including making several kicks of longer than 40 yards.

Compiled by James Corley,Sports Editor

B4 • Finals Week, Fall 2011

BOWL PREVIEWFinals Week, Fall 2011 • B5

BOWL PREVIEWBlanking without BroylesPlayer’s injury had lasting influence on Sooners’ seasonJORDAN JENSONSports Reporter

When Dominique Whaley went down with a broken ankle, many felt the Sooners’ offense could still thrive. After all, before the season began, Roy Finch was ex-pected to take over as the starter.

But when Ryan Broyles went down with a season-ending ACL injury, there was panic among Sooner nation. How would the of-fense finish the regular season without its leading receiver?

The Oklahoma State game provided the answer, and it wasn’t a pretty one.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic to come out of Broyles’ injury is the lack of touchdowns junior quarterback Landry Jones has had in the games since then. In the three games Broyles did not play, Jones threw for no touchdowns.

While the argument would be that Blake Bell has taken the touchdowns Jones would have had, as Bell scored seven in those final three games, the reason the “Belldozer” package was installed in the first place was because Jones and the offense strug-gled in the red zone.

Jones’ lack of touchdowns was only one area that began to plague the Sooner of-fense as the season went on.

The receivers knew they would have to play without Broyles at some point — they just assumed it would be dur-ing the 2012 regular season. When he went down, a greater weight was placed on the shoulders of Kenny Stills, Jaz Reynolds and the other receivers and tight ends. It was a weight they were never fully able to carry.

As was evidenced in the OSU game, several play-ers had key drops or failed to fight for the ball. Those things, along with an inability to get open like Broyles could, led to a dramatic increase of turnovers.

In their first nine games with Broyles starting, the Sooners had 16 turnovers. In the three games without him, the offense had 12 turnovers. This means that 43 percent, nearly half, of OU’s turn-overs came without Broyles in the game.

With this lack of a go-to receiver, OU was forced into many third-and-longs. With Broyles starting, OU converted 45.5 percent of its third downs. Without him in the last three games, that number plummeted to 32 percent. With the offense unable to stay on the field, it put more pressure on the defense, which helps ex-plain some of the issues that plagued that side of the ball.

The offense was able to put up points against Baylor, but it struggled the rest of the time to have any real success. With the coaches realizing their biggest playmaker was gone, they put the ball in Jones’ hands. While he is a great quarterback, it was obvious the offense was simply not the same with Broyles out of the lineup.

With a bowl game against Iowa still to come, the offense has time to begin to figure out how to find success without Broyles. That game could dictate how the Sooners play in 2012, as they begin their first full year without Broyles.

As was evidenced by the last three games of the regular season, replacing him will be no small task.

hen Dominique Whaley went down with a broken ankle, many felt the Sooners’ offense could still thrive. After all, before the season began, Roy Finch was ex-pected to take over as the starter.


The Oklahoma State game provided the answer, and it wasn’t a

Perhaps the most alarming statistic to come out of Broyles’ injury is the lack of touchdowns junior quarterback Landry Jones has had in the games since then. In the three games Broyles did not

While the argument would be that Blake Bell has taken the touchdowns Jones would have had, as Bell scored seven in those final three games, the reason the “Belldozer” package was installed in the first place was because Jones and the offense strug-

Jones’ lack of touchdowns was only one area that began to plague the Sooner of-


In their first nine games with Broyles starting, the Sooners had 16 turnovers. In the three games without him, the offense had 12 turnovers. This means that 43 percent, nearly half, of OU’s turn-

With this lack of a go-to receiver, OU was forced into many third-and-longs. With Broyles starting, OU converted 45.5 percent of its third downs. Without him in the last three games, that number plummeted to 32 percent. With the offense unable to stay on the field, it put more pressure on the defense, which helps ex-plain some of the issues that plagued that side


With a bowl game against Iowa still to come, the offense has time to begin to figure out how to find success without Broyles. That game could dictate how the Sooners play in 2012, as they begin

BY THE NUMBERSSooner offenseOU’s offense lost effectiveness after the loss of senior receiver Ryan Broyles, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Texas A&M with three games to go.

Third-down efficiency

45.5 Percent of third-down

opportunities the Sooners converted with Broyles in the nine games prior to his injury

32 Percent of third-down

opportunities the Sooners converted

without Broyles in the three games after his injury

Turnovers

16 Turnovers Oklahoma suffered in the nine

games prior to Broyles’ season-ending injury

12 Turnovers Oklahoma suffered in the three

games after Broyles’ injury

Scoring passes

28 Touchdown passes thrown by Landry

Jones in the nine games prior to Broyles’ injury

0 Touchdown passes thrown by Jones in the

three games after Broyles’ season-ending injury

Completion percentage

64.6 Completion percentage of

Jones’ passes in the nine games prior to Broyles’ season-ending injury

59 Completion percentage of

Jones’ passes in the three games after Broyles’ injury

Wins-losses

8-1 OU’s record in the nine games prior

to Broyles’ injury

1-2 OU’s record in the three games after

Broyles’ injury

Compiled by Jordan Jenson, Sports Reporter

KIN

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Senior All-American wide receiver Ryan Broyles ended his OU career after suffering a knee injury against Texas A&M on Nov. 5 in Norman.

After OU’s Fiesta Bowl win against Connecticut in January, the Norman native opted to forego the NFL for one more season to return for his senior year.

He amassed 1,157 receiv-ing yards from 83 catches and scored 10 touchdowns in the nine games before his injury.

Broyles finished his Sooner career with 4,586 yards, a Big 12-record 45 touchdowns and an NCAA-record 349 catches.

Broyles also holds school records for receptions (game, season, career), yards (game, season, career), receiving touchdowns (season, career) and 100-yard receiving games (season, career).

COLUMN

Injuries continue to cripple Sooners

Jordan [email protected]

SPORTS COLUMNIST

The last time OU won a national cham-pionship — 2000

— most of the players on the current roster were still in elementary school. Since that time, the Sooners have fielded teams on a yearly basis that could compete for national championships.

Each of those teams argu-ably was loaded with more talent but was still unable to produce an eighth title. While there are several fac-tors that determine a sea-son’s outcome, the one that clearly separates that 2000 team from others is quite simple: injuries.

Under coach Bob Stoops, the injury bug historically has bitten his teams almost every year he has been in national championship contention — Jason White in 2001 and 2002, DeMarco Murray in 2008.

In 2009, when the Sooners had the opportunity to field their most talented team, they lost key pieces Jermaine Gresham and Sam Bradford, along with a majority of the offensive line.

Any time a team loses key pieces on its roster, it drasti-cally alters its season.

Case in point, the 2011 Oklahoma Sooners. In a season that began with lofty expectations with OU ranked as the No. 1 team in the initial preseason polls, a fully healthy team could have made it to New Orleans. The last time all 24 projected starters going into the season made it through a complete game was against Texas, clearly the best per-formance the Sooners have had all year.

From that point on, at least one Sooner player has gone down in every game. While coaches will preach that backup players are ready to fill in and play, the fact remains it is increasingly difficult to replace key play-ers on a weekly basis.

Against Texas Tech, a team that has struggled ever since its stunning win in Norman, OU was without three defensive starters. Those three players — Casey Walker, Tom Wort and Jamell Fleming — are key in stop-ping the run and the pass. It was in this game that Texas Tech moved the ball at will against Oklahoma, with OU

ultimately unable to keep up on offense since the Sooners were without Dominique Whaley at running back due to an illness.

The Sooners should have been back on track for the rest of the year, as they had yet to see a player injured for the season. Instead, they have seen three players go down with season-ending injuries in three consecutive weeks, an alarming number.

All three losses have great-ly affected the Sooners.

Without Whaley, the Sooners lost the nation’s most explosive walk-on and a running back on pace to have a 1,000-yard rushing season.

The loss of Ryan Broyles is clearly the most devastating, as OU lost one of the top re-ceivers in all of college foot-ball and Landry Jones’ go-to receiver.

The loss of defensive end

Ronnell Lewis brought with it an immediate impact against Baylor. The Bears scored 17 points in the two quarters Lewis played and 28 points in the two quarters he did not. His absence leaves Oklahoma without one of its most explosive pass rushers on defense.

The Sooners also had Frank Alexander go down with an injury against Iowa State, but he returned for the Bedlam game.

It isn’t always difficult to replace players who go down with injuries, and the back-ups for OU have certainly filled in admirably. But re-placing players as talented as Whaley, Broyles and Lewis doesn’t come easily. Imagine an Alabama team without Trent Richardson, an OSU team without Justin Blackmon or an LSU team without the “Honey Badger,” Tyrann Mathieu. It would

Above: Junior running back Dominique Whaley, on crutches, moves off the field after OU’s 44-10 loss to Oklahoma State on Dec. 3 in Stillwater. The walk-on suffered a season-ending ankle injury during OU’s game against Kansas State on Oct. 29 in Manhattan, Kan.

Right: Junior defensive end Ronnell Lewis is attended to by trainers during OU’s 45-38 loss to Baylor on Nov. 19 in Waco. He suffered a sprained knee during the game. The team has not released whether Lewis will return in time for the Sooners’ bowl game against Iowa.


greatly impact the type of team the coaches would put on the field.

The 2011 season allows for comparison to the 2009 sea-son, a season that is remem-bered for what could have been were it not for numer-ous injuries that occurred.

While it’s possible OU still may have lost to Texas Tech and Baylor this sea-son, having a fully healthy team would have made for

different games entirely. Without injuries, it is pos-

sible OU could have beaten OSU and be preparing for a national championship matchup against LSU.

Instead, the Sooners find themselves with those hopes dashed.

If Oklahoma is to win the Insight Bowl against Iowa, it will most certainly depend on the players who were waiting for their opportunity

to contribute. Injuries may have de-

railed the Sooners’ national championship and Big 12 championship aspirations, but the backups playing in OU’s bowl have a chance to save what little is left of the Sooners’ season.

Jordan Jenson is a film and media studies senior. You can follow him on Twitter at @oujordanjenson.


@OUDailySportsAre you on Twitter? Stay connected with the sports desk for news and updates about Sooner sports by following the action at

www.soonerbowl.com

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BOWL PREVIEWFinals Week, Fall 2011 • B5

BOWL PREVIEWBlanking without BroylesPlayer’s injury had lasting influence on Sooners’ seasonJORDAN JENSONSports Reporter

When Dominique Whaley went down with a broken ankle, many felt the Sooners’ offense could still thrive. After all, before the season began, Roy Finch was ex-pected to take over as the starter.


The Oklahoma State game provided the answer, and it wasn’t a pretty one.

Perhaps the most alarming statistic to come out of Broyles’ injury is the lack of touchdowns junior quarterback Landry Jones has had in the games since then. In the three games Broyles did not play, Jones threw for no touchdowns.

While the argument would be that Blake Bell has taken the touchdowns Jones would have had, as Bell scored seven in those final three games, the reason the “Belldozer” package was installed in the first place was because Jones and the offense strug-gled in the red zone.

Jones’ lack of touchdowns was only one area that began to plague the Sooner of-fense as the season went on.

The receivers knew they would have to play without Broyles at some point — they just assumed it would be dur-ing the 2012 regular season. When he went down, a greater weight was placed on the shoulders of Kenny Stills, Jaz Reynolds and the other receivers and tight ends. It was a weight they were never fully able to carry.


In their first nine games with Broyles starting, the Sooners had 16 turnovers. In the three games without him, the offense had 12 turnovers. This means that 43 percent, nearly half, of OU’s turn-overs came without Broyles in the game.

With this lack of a go-to receiver, OU was forced into many third-and-longs. With Broyles starting, OU converted 45.5 percent of its third downs. Without him in the last three games, that number plummeted to 32 percent. With the offense unable to stay on the field, it put more pressure on the defense, which helps ex-plain some of the issues that plagued that side of the ball.


With a bowl game against Iowa still to come, the offense has time to begin to figure out how to find success without Broyles. That game could dictate how the Sooners play in 2012, as they begin their first full year without Broyles.

As was evidenced by the last three games of the regular season, replacing him will be no small task.

hen Dominique Whaley went down with a broken ankle, many felt the Sooners’ offense could still thrive. After all, before the season began, Roy Finch was ex-pected to take over as the starter.


The Oklahoma State game provided the answer, and it wasn’t a

Perhaps the most alarming statistic to come out of Broyles’ injury is the lack of touchdowns junior quarterback Landry Jones has had in the games since then. In the three games Broyles did not

While the argument would be that Blake Bell has taken the touchdowns Jones would have had, as Bell scored seven in those final three games, the reason the “Belldozer” package was installed in the first place was because Jones and the offense strug-

Jones’ lack of touchdowns was only one area that began to plague the Sooner of-


In their first nine games with Broyles starting, the Sooners had 16 turnovers. In the three games without him, the offense had 12 turnovers. This means that 43 percent, nearly half, of OU’s turn-

With this lack of a go-to receiver, OU was forced into many third-and-longs. With Broyles starting, OU converted 45.5 percent of its third downs. Without him in the last three games, that number plummeted to 32 percent. With the offense unable to stay on the field, it put more pressure on the defense, which helps ex-plain some of the issues that plagued that side


With a bowl game against Iowa still to come, the offense has time to begin to figure out how to find success without Broyles. That game could dictate how the Sooners play in 2012, as they begin

BY THE NUMBERSSooner offenseOU’s offense lost effectiveness after the loss of senior receiver Ryan Broyles, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Texas A&M with three games to go.

Third-down efficiency

45.5 Percent of third-down

opportunities the Sooners converted with Broyles in the nine games prior to his injury

32 Percent of third-down

opportunities the Sooners converted

without Broyles in the three games after his injury

Turnovers

16 Turnovers Oklahoma suffered in the nine

games prior to Broyles’ season-ending injury

12 Turnovers Oklahoma suffered in the three

games after Broyles’ injury

Scoring passes

28 Touchdown passes thrown by Landry

Jones in the nine games prior to Broyles’ injury

0 Touchdown passes thrown by Jones in the

three games after Broyles’ season-ending injury

Completion percentage

64.6 Completion percentage of

Jones’ passes in the nine games prior to Broyles’ season-ending injury

59 Completion percentage of

Jones’ passes in the three games after Broyles’ injury

Wins-losses

8-1 OU’s record in the nine games prior

to Broyles’ injury

1-2 OU’s record in the three games after

Broyles’ injury

Compiled by Jordan Jenson, Sports Reporter

KIN

GS

LEY

BU

RN

S/T

HE

DAI

LY

Senior All-American wide receiver Ryan Broyles ended his OU career after suffering a knee injury against Texas A&M on Nov. 5 in Norman.

After OU’s Fiesta Bowl win against Connecticut in January, the Norman native opted to forego the NFL for one more season to return for his senior year.

He amassed 1,157 receiv-ing yards from 83 catches and scored 10 touchdowns in the nine games before his injury.

Broyles finished his Sooner career with 4,586 yards, a Big 12-record 45 touchdowns and an NCAA-record 349 catches.

Broyles also holds school records for receptions (game, season, career), yards (game, season, career), receiving touchdowns (season, career) and 100-yard receiving games (season, career).

COLUMN

Injuries continue to cripple Sooners

Jordan [email protected]

SPORTS COLUMNIST

The last time OU won a national cham-pionship — 2000

— most of the players on the current roster were still in elementary school. Since that time, the Sooners have fielded teams on a yearly basis that could compete for national championships.

Each of those teams argu-ably was loaded with more talent but was still unable to produce an eighth title. While there are several fac-tors that determine a sea-son’s outcome, the one that clearly separates that 2000 team from others is quite simple: injuries.

Under coach Bob Stoops, the injury bug historically has bitten his teams almost every year he has been in national championship contention — Jason White in 2001 and 2002, DeMarco Murray in 2008.

In 2009, when the Sooners had the opportunity to field their most talented team, they lost key pieces Jermaine Gresham and Sam Bradford, along with a majority of the offensive line.

Any time a team loses key pieces on its roster, it drasti-cally alters its season.

Case in point, the 2011 Oklahoma Sooners. In a season that began with lofty expectations with OU ranked as the No. 1 team in the initial preseason polls, a fully healthy team could have made it to New Orleans. The last time all 24 projected starters going into the season made it through a complete game was against Texas, clearly the best per-formance the Sooners have had all year.

From that point on, at least one Sooner player has gone down in every game. While coaches will preach that backup players are ready to fill in and play, the fact remains it is increasingly difficult to replace key play-ers on a weekly basis.

Against Texas Tech, a team that has struggled ever since its stunning win in Norman, OU was without three defensive starters. Those three players — Casey Walker, Tom Wort and Jamell Fleming — are key in stop-ping the run and the pass. It was in this game that Texas Tech moved the ball at will against Oklahoma, with OU

ultimately unable to keep up on offense since the Sooners were without Dominique Whaley at running back due to an illness.

The Sooners should have been back on track for the rest of the year, as they had yet to see a player injured for the season. Instead, they have seen three players go down with season-ending injuries in three consecutive weeks, an alarming number.

All three losses have great-ly affected the Sooners.

Without Whaley, the Sooners lost the nation’s most explosive walk-on and a running back on pace to have a 1,000-yard rushing season.

The loss of Ryan Broyles is clearly the most devastating, as OU lost one of the top re-ceivers in all of college foot-ball and Landry Jones’ go-to receiver.

The loss of defensive end

Ronnell Lewis brought with it an immediate impact against Baylor. The Bears scored 17 points in the two quarters Lewis played and 28 points in the two quarters he did not. His absence leaves Oklahoma without one of its most explosive pass rushers on defense.

The Sooners also had Frank Alexander go down with an injury against Iowa State, but he returned for the Bedlam game.

It isn’t always difficult to replace players who go down with injuries, and the back-ups for OU have certainly filled in admirably. But re-placing players as talented as Whaley, Broyles and Lewis doesn’t come easily. Imagine an Alabama team without Trent Richardson, an OSU team without Justin Blackmon or an LSU team without the “Honey Badger,” Tyrann Mathieu. It would

Above: Junior running back Dominique Whaley, on crutches, moves off the field after OU’s 44-10 loss to Oklahoma State on Dec. 3 in Stillwater. The walk-on suffered a season-ending an ankle injury dur-ing OU’s game against Kansas State on Oct. 29 in Manhattan, Kan.

Right: Junior defensive end Ronnell Lewis is attended to by trainers during OU’s 45-38 loss to Baylor on Nov. 19 in Waco. He suffered a sprained knee during the game. The team has not released whether Lewis will return in time for the Sooners’ bowl game against Iowa.


greatly impact the type of team the coaches would put on the field.

The 2011 season allows for comparison to the 2009 sea-son, a season that is remem-bered for what could have been were it not for numer-ous injuries that occurred.

While it’s possible OU still may have lost to Texas Tech and Baylor this sea-son, having a fully healthy team would have made for

different games entirely. Without injuries, it is pos-

sible OU would beat OSU and be preparing for a na-tional championship match-up against LSU.

Instead, the Sooners find themselves with those hopes dashed.

If Oklahoma is to win the Insight Bowl against Iowa, it will most certainly depend on the players who were waiting for their opportunity

to contribute. Injuries may have de-

railed the Sooners’ national championship and Big 12 championship aspirations, but the backups playing in OU’s bowl have a chance to save what little is left of the Sooners’ season.

Jordan Jenson is a film and media studies senior. You can follow him on Twitter at @oujordanjenson.


@OUDailySportsAre you on Twitter? Stay connected with the sports desk for news and updates about Sooner sports by following the action at

www.soonerbowl.com

Christmas Eve - Saturday, Dec. 24thOpen 10am-4pm

Open 10am-2am

OPEN 5pm-2am

OPEN 5pm-2am

Christmas Day - Sunday, Dec. 25th

New Year’s Eve - Saturday, Dec. 31st

*Reservations suggested, ask about our specials!

Open all other days of winter break at 10 am. Sundays we will open at noon.

New Year’s Day - Sunday, Jan. 1st

550 24th Avenue N.W. 405-360-3634

Holiday Hours

Merry Christmas

& Happy Holidays

from the Staff at

ON CAMPUS CORNER 730 Asp Ave. Suite 210 Norman, OK 73069

(405) 310-4477call today

If you think you might have ADD or ADHD,call now for an appointment

Coming up short

Luke McConneLLSports Reporter

The 2011 season for the Oklahoma Sooner volley-ball team was supposed to be one of the best in program history.

Ho w e v e r, t h e s e a s o n ended earlier than expected in the first round of the NCAA tournament at the hands of Tulsa.

For the Sooners, it was a disappointing finish, but the big picture of the program re-mains extremely bright.

“I am already excited for next year,” OU coach Santiago Restrepo said. “We have new blood, very talent-ed new blood, which is very exciting for a team that per-haps needs a change.”

Coming into the season, the Sooners were ranked 16th in the preseason AVCA coaches’ pol l and were picked by Big 12 coaches to finish second in the confer-ence behind Texas.

Bolstered by the return of all but one starter, the Sooners were poised to cap-ture the program’s first Big 12 title. The likelihood of that possibility increased sig-nificantly when the Sooners knocked off preseason fa-vorite Texas on Sept. 28 in Norman.

“Obviously the exciting part of our season is that we made it into the tourna-ment,” Restrepo said. “We also beat Texas in a nation-ally televised match that was really exciting for people in Oklahoma, people across the nation to see how our sport has grown and how Oklahoma volleyball has got-ten much better.”

However, even in the midst of that dramatic win, the Sooners began to show some chinks in their armor.

Three straight five-set matches took their toll on the Sooners and led to a pair of losses in October to Iowa State and Texas A&M.

The Sooners closed the first half of conference play at 6-2 and were still in good position to make a run at a conference championship.

However, the Sooners stumbled out of the gate in the second half, losing their first four and finishing 2-6 for an overall record of 8-8 in conference play and 21-12 overall.

Injuries were a major prob-lem for the Sooners this sea-son, something Restrepo’s team had not had to deal with in the past several seasons.

“I think it was a combina-tion of a lot of things,” he said. “At the end of the season, our bodies were pretty beat up. We have a couple injuries to our key players and, overall, we didn’t play as tough as we were accustomed to from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.”

The biggest problem, though, was the Sooners’ in-ability to perform in crunch time. The Sooners were just 5-8 in four-set matches this season. The Sooners only won three games in which they trailed after three sets,

and none after the Sooners defeated Kansas on Oct. 15.

“I think the bottom line is I should have put a lot more pressure on them, but I didn’t because there were seniors, and I thought they would take the responsibil-ity,” Restrepo said.

Restrepo added that the success of the team was his responsibility no matter how the team performed on the court.

“I take the full responsibil-ity for the blame, and it’s my responsibility to change what happened,” Restrepo said.

.246 Attack percentage for the Sooners

this season

.191 Opponent attack percentage allowed

by Oklahoma

13.5 Kills per set tallied by OU during the

2011 season

15.6 Digs per set averaged by

Oklahoma’s defense

14-3 The Sooners’ record at

McCasland Field House

4-7 OU’s record away from Norman on the

road in 2011

5 Seniors graduating from OU’s volleyball program

this year

4 Number of starters plus libero returning for OU

next seasonSource: OU athletic department

BY THE NUMBERS Sooner volleyball

Derrick ADAms/The DAily

Senior middle blocker Carlee Roethlisberger (7) blocks an attack during a game this season. Roethlisberger, a former OU women’s basketball player, used her fifth year of eligibility to play volleyball.

In several matches, includ-ing the Sooners’ NCAA tour-nament loss, OU had a better attack percentage, but a less-er number of total kills and a failure to come through in the clutch really killed the Sooners’ ability to have a more successful season.

2011 wasn’t a failure by any stretch of the imagina-tion, but the Sooners didn’t meet the expectations they laid out for themselves at the beginning of the season.

With 10 letterwinners re-turning next season, plus the incoming recruiting class, the foundation has been laid for OU volleyball to continue to be a force.

Restrepo said he and his staff aren’t feeling any pres-sure to continue the winning tradition OU is establishing.

“To me, once you coach for the excitement, to make the team every year better, to me there is no pressure as far as continuing the suc-cess,” Restrepo said. “We just try to continue the tradi-tions, continue what we have established here, realize that we have new blood, but with the new blood comes a lot of responsibility and accountability.”

Luke McConneLLSports Reporter

OU volleyball sophomore middle blocker Sallie McLaurin has been a big presence ever since she set foot on campus in the fall of 2010.

Now, with the 2011 season in the books and one of the most decorated classes in OU volleyball history depart-ing, the 6-foot-2-inch Midwest City native will be needed more than ever to make her presence felt on the court.

“I definitely like being a leader,” McLaurin said. “I like leading by my actions. I like to calm down the team and stay stable for them.”

OU coach Santiago Restrepo said the graduation of five seniors and next year’s small senior class will re-quire McLaurin to shoulder a heavier role next season if the Sooners hope to be successful.

“She’s going to have to become a bigger voice, bigger role, bigger leader, a better player for those young ones to follow,” Restrepo said. “She is going to have to step up, and I think she’s looking forward to the challenge.”

Restrepo said McLaurin has done a great job of step-ping up her first two years as a Sooner.

“She came in as a freshman and had to do a role as a starter, but she didn’t necessarily know what to expect,” Restrepo said. “She went and took the job and established herself as one of the big-time middles in our conference, and this year she was our defensive player of the year and led the Big 12 in blocks.”

McLaurin said winning the Big 12’s de-fensive player of the year was an honor considering all the other great players in the conference, and added the award wasn’t solely for her.

“It ’s awesome,” McLaurin said. “I wouldn’t have it without my teammates. Basically, it’s just lucky I feel like.”

While McLaurin racked up individual awards, the team didn’t fare as well as it would have liked, finishing just 8-8 in conference play and a first-round exit from the NCAA tournament.

“I definitely don’t think that we made our goals, but I think the season went pretty well,” McLaurin said. “It wasn’t what we expected, but it was a winning season, so you have to be happy about that.”

McLaurin said every team the Sooners played this year came out with their ‘A’ game and seldom had a bad performance.

It was a lesson she and the rest of the team learned the hard way.

“I just learned that you have to come out every night expecting the best from the other team,” McLaurin said. “If you do watch film of them losing and they are not the best team, just know that they can play lights out. Whenever they are playing you, they’re a different team than playing anyone else.”

Since coming to OU, McLaurin has worked hard to im-prove her game and make it more complete.

“Last year, people probably weren’t expecting [senior setter Brianne Barker] to set me because I was a fresh-man,” McLaurin said. “But this year, they normally had a double block. I had to learn how to work around and try to check the other team whenever I was approaching and hitting.”

Restrepo said McLaurin’s transitions make her a dom-inant force in the middle.

“She gets off the ground very fast and lands and turns and gets off the net and goes up and hits as fast as she can,” Restrepo said. “The transition has to be one of the biggest things for her.”

The 2012 volleyball season is still a long way away, but for McLaurin, the disappointments from this season make her and the rest of the team wish it started sooner.

James Corley, sports [email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666


SPORTS

Fast start ends in disappointment Future of Sooner program rests with McLaurinSophomore will need to take a bigger role moving forward, Restrepo says

Sooners didn’t play tough all the way through, coach says

Salle Mclaurin

8-8

Overall record Key victory Most Valuable Player Most Improved Player Offensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Newcomer of the Year

In front of a crowd of 2,074 on Sept. 28 at McCasland Field House and a national TV audience, the Sooners knocked off the Big 12 leaders in five sets.

Big 12 record

21-12 Texas Brianne Barker

Keila rodríguez

Suzy Boulavsky

María Fernanda

Tara Dunn

SMu — W, 3-0 • Oral roberts — W, 3-0 • Missouri State — W, 3-1 • Colorado State — W, 3-0 • Cincinnati — L, 3-1 • North Texas — W, 3-0 • Sam Houston State — W, 3-0 • Arkansas — W, 3-1 • Florida A&M — W, 3-0 • Auburn — W, 3-0 • Miami (Fla.) — L, 3-1 Wichita State — L, 3-2 • Texas Southern — W, 3-0 • Arkansas-Little Rock — W, 3-0 • Arkansas-Pine Bluff — W, 3-0 • Boise State — W, 3-2 • Baylor — W, 3-1 • Texas — W, 3-2 • Texas Tech — W, 3-2 • Missouri — W, 3-2 • Iowa State — L, 3-1 Texas A&M — L, 3-2 Kansas — W, 3-2 • Kansas State — W, 3-1 • Missouri — L, 3-0 • Iowa State — L, 3-1 • Kansas State — L, 3-2 • Baylor — L, 3-1 • Kansas — W, 3-1 • Texas A&M — L, 3-1 • Texas Tech — W, 3-0 • Texas — L, 3-1 • Tulsa — L, 3-1

Com

pile

d by

Luke

McC

onne

ll

OUDaily.com ››In a video by The Daily’s Zack Hedrick, OU men’s basketball players say open practice gives them a boost when fans show up.

ACROSS 1 Vegetarian’s

no-no 5 Administers

medicine 10 Black, in an

ode 14 A good shoe

supports it 15 Ringlike

coral island 16 Pew locale 17 Colorful

growing building

19 “True ___” (Wayne flick)

20 Six-Day War participant

21 Cardinals’ nickname

23 “Pod” starter 24 Prevent from

having 25 Infringe

upon 30 Arrowed

street sign 33 Digestive

fluid 34 Suspend 36 Color quality 37 Redding, the

singer 38 Birds of

peace 39 Largest city

of Latvia 40 Tony winner

Cariou 41 Missing from

one’s post 42 Roman way 43 Exhibit

principal 46 Climbs

awkwardly 49 Scottish

hillside 50 Anatomical

egg holder 51 Madagascar

language 55 Tooth

covering 59 Mild

expletive 60 Colorful

Navy show squad

62 Gaming cubes

63 Actress Kedrova and singer McCann

64 State, in France

65 Prepares a printing press

66 Abrasive file 67 ___ serif

(plain type style)

DOWN 1 “The Gift of

the ___” 2 Boots

an easy grounder

3 Computer brand

4 Movie houses, in Britain

5 Mexico’s na-tional flower

6 Siouan speaker of Oklahoma

7 Lip-pucker-ing

8 Otherwise 9 Musher’s

team 10 Caboose’s

opposite 11 Colorful

deep-voiced

singer 12 “The Art of

Love” poet 13 New Jersey

team 18 Roman

emperor 22 “Reindeer

Games” star Affleck

25 Virus named for a river

26 Saltpeter 27 Colorful “Put

Yourself in My Shoes” singer

28 Chuck wagon grub

29 Chaos 31 Boring tool 32 Insurance

policy mea-surements

35 “Gimme a Break!” star Carter

38 Single and lacking bag-gage

39 Lung protectors

44 Muslim decrees

45 Droop in the middle

47 Comparable to pie?

48 “Blinded by the Light” singer Man-fred

51 Prefix with “gap” or “care”

52 Once more, in Dogpatch

53 Fat, as a chance

54 Christmas season

56 “I ___ man with seven wives”

57 Dash of panache

58 WWII land-ing crafts

61 Corn measure

Universal CrosswordEdited by Timothy E. Parker December 16, 2011

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2011 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com

BEING COLORFUL By Harper Dantley12/16

12/15

ACROSS 1 Indian gar-

ment 5 “... and make

it fast!” 9 Bettor’s bet 14 Queenly role

for Liz 15 Old king of

rhyme 16 “Come here

___?” 17 Curriculum

sessions to overcome?

20 Man from Katmandu

21 It’s held in the hold

22 .com kin 23 Adj. modifier 25 Advanced

degree in mathematics?

26 Bit in a feedbag

29 CD track 31 “I saw a

mouse!” 33 Seize before

it passes 35 Brushes with

the law 38 Typewriter

type size 39 Traffic jam

causes, sometimes

41 Blithering fool

43 “For fun it’s a wonderful toy” item

44 Applesauce topper

46 “Help!” et al. 47 “Graphic”

opening 51 Word

preceding a woman’s birth name

52 Rugged

coastline feature

54 “Quiet on the ___!”

56 Third-Sun-day-in-June honoree

57 Turn a deaf ___ (ignore)

59 Apply im-properly

61 Tripper-uppers

65 Bad and then some

66 Cafeteria offering

67 Bottom-of-the-barrel stuff

68 Christmas dinner bird

69 “To be,” for Caesar

70 Classic Ice-landic poetry

DOWN 1 Biscuits

served with tea

2 Reflective power, as of a planet

3 Took an-other turn on “Wheel of Fortune”

4 Extremely small amount

5 Insured event

6 “Do re mi fa ___ ...”

7 “30 Rock” co-star Baldwin

8 Nut used for pie

9 Hooligan 10 “Hair” do 11 “___ now or

never!”

12 Poker term 13 Warrant

officer’s su-perior (Abbr.)

18 ___ mode (topped with ice cream)

19 Dinner discards

24 Bridal con-cealers

26 ___ Day & the Knights (band in “Animal House”)

27 Play a role 28 Title’s first

word, often 30 Best man’s

best friend, often

32 Mournful bell sound

34 Resin in adhesives and paints

36 Unlike sign language

37 Barbershop sounds

39 Dental

concern 40 Touring

company 41 Wayfarer’s

lodging 42 Deserved

recognition 45 Future

woman 48 Brought forth 49 Disguised, in

a way 50 City in west-

ern Texas 53 “Once upon

___ ...” 55 “___ death

do us part” 57 Australian

ratites 58 ___, tens,

hundreds 60 Catch of the

day, perhaps 61 Bend under

pressure 62 Number for

the show? 63 Venusian

vehicle, e.g. 64 Sign along

an interstate




TROUBLE AHEAD By Donald Stubin12/15

12/14

ACROSS 1 Throw with

great effort 6 Received 9 Like some

wits or cheeses

14 Harold who composed “Over the Rainbow”

15 Stat for a clean-up hitter

16 Bear’s treat 17 Saber fish? 19 Rarin’ to go 20 Altoids

containers 21 Sculpture

material, sometimes

22 Alla ___ (cut time, in music)

23 Down greedily

25 Fluffy scarf 27 “Super-

man” baddie Luthor

28 Amazonian shocker

29 Hawaiian porch

31 Large lunch sandwich, for short

34 Done before an operation

38 Heel wheel 40 Take in, as a

movie 41 Yard neat-

ener’s tool 42 Like overt

crimes 47 Young male 48 Immune-

system unit 49 Shepherd’s

milieu 50 Poetic work 52 “King of the

Cowboys” Rogers

53 Footrest 58 ___ Gras 60 “The Iron

Horse” Gehrig

61 “___Jail” (Monopoly directive)

62 1966 Mi-chael Caine title role

63 Colorful squawker

65 Wheels at sea

66 Grow older 67 Pasta in

tubes 68 Up until now 69 Peas’ pack-

age 70 A lot of as-

sessments?DOWN 1 Cause of

waste? 2 “Desert Fox”

Rommel 3 “All ___ the

Watchtower” (Jimi Hendrix hit)

4 Left page, in a manuscript

5 Beginning’s counterpart

6 Without poise

7 Theater award

8 Up to, briefly 9 “Whole”

thing 10 Coating of

frost 11 Opposite of

devilish 12 “Superman”

actor Christopher

13 Beaker material

18 Princeton mascot

24 Salesman, briefly

25 Aristocratic 26 It may go for

a dip in the ocean

30 Every breath you take

31 180 degrees from NNE

32 Certain news agency (Abbr.)

33 Swimming stroke

35 ___ of Galilee 36 “Alias”

equivalent 37 Batted first

(with “off”) 39 GOP fund-

raising org. 43 Spooky to

the max 44 ___-mo (re-

play feature) 45 Rain more

gently 46 “Put some

meat on those bones!”

50 Largest city of Nebraska

51 Evans and Carnegie

54 Baddies in many bed-time stories

55 Daybreaks, poetically

56 When the mouse ran down the clock

57 Classroom jottings

59 Two-fifths of one quarter

60 Building block for kids

63 Music style 64 “Great”

creature




SOMETHING’S FISHY By Henry Quarters12/14

12/13

ACROSS 1 Hair line 5 Poetic foot 9 Cowboy boot

feature 13 Filled cookie 14 Juicy pear 15 Superboy’s

sweetheart Lang

16 What an also-ran may get?

18 Part of the eye

19 Granola grain 20 Belfry resi-

dent 21 Garden

walkway 22 Literary

sisters Emily and Anne

26 “You’ve got a ____ nerve ...”

28 Didn’t linger 29 Letters with

“messenger” or “transfer”

31 Like many diet products

34 ___ grabs (available)

36 Relevant, to lawyers

38 More than displeasure

39 Abbr. after many a gen-eral’s name

40 They may be current or foreign

42 U.S. gun lobby

43 “A Christmas Carol” com-ment

44 Adhered (to) 45 Birds or fruit 47 Acoustic

term

49 Televise 51 Jazz great

Brubeck 52 “Dear ____

Madam ...” 54 Spent time at

Betty Ford’s 56 One of the

four Gospels 58 A day in

Spain? 60 Feel sick 61 Potent pints 62 Small kitchen

appliance 67 Hardly

healthy-looking

68 TV group featuring Mr. T

69 Celsius freez-ing point of water

70 Report-card blemishes

71 Hint to an unexciting speaker

72 “Thanks ___ so much!”

DOWN 1 “The Gold-

Bug” author 2 “Woof” alter-

native 3 ___ Speed

Wagon (old vehicle)

4 Rogers Cen-tre locale

5 Schubert’s “Fantasia ___ Minor”

6 “This looks like ___ for Superman!”

7 Point of a fable

8 Certain gar-ment worker

9 Don, as a sweater

10 What Hal-loween lips are made of

11 Inventory item

12 Allergy reaction, sometimes

14 Second photo in a testimonial ad

17 Scarf down 22 Book jacket

bits 23 Already-aired

TV show 24 Readily avail-

able, as parts 25 A big mess 27 Russian city

or oblast 30 Site of

Churchill’s 1943 Turkey conference

32 Get there 33 Made one’s

hair stand on end?

35 It’s kept on track, hope-

fully 37 Far from

flexible 41 Path of a

cresting river 46 Put on a

pedestal 48 Gets the

suds out 50 Coin of the

___ 53 Cowboy’s

calf catcher 55 Even-steven

situation 56 Mocking

comment 57 Count ___

(Lemony Snicket vil-lain)

59 Cruise film, “____ Good Men”

63 Summer air circulator

64 Gun, as an engine

65 Miner’s vein contents

66 “Neither rain ___ sleet ...”




F TROOP By Hank Bowman12/13

12/12

ACROSS 1 Knight in

training 5 Jackson 5

hairdos 10 Singer-actor

Kristofferson 14 Opera solo 15 Having had

too much to drink

16 Cheep accommo-dations?

17 Good bet-tors follow it

19 Spanish jar 20 2,000

pounds 21 Well-

mannered 22 Perry Ma-

son, e.g. 24 Illustrations

and such 26 ___ Fein

(Irish political party)

27 Suffix with “social” or “urban”

28 Twists out of shape

32 Billiards stroke for sharks

35 Like a plug, but not a socket

36 Follow, as a suspect

37 Suffix with “sermon” or “cigar”

38 Charlton Heston role

39 Add to the payroll

40 Roger Rabbit, e.g.

41 Currier’s partner

42 Made it through crunch time?

43 One reason for italics

45 ___ Leandro, Calif.

46 Contem-porary of Raymond and Agatha

47 Anatomical quintet

51 Bogart- Hepburn movie locale

54 Source of misery

55 Sound that broke the silence of the lambs?

56 Like a long shot’s chances

57 Think tank product

60 Global extreme

61 ___ nous 62 Grades K-6 63 Clairvoyant 64 Type of

surgery 65 Not one,

to Jethro Bodine

DOWN 1 Lasagna or

linguine 2 Knightwear 3 “Fee-fi-fo-

fum” sayer 4 Hearing aid? 5 Esteem 6 Monk’s robe 7 Ancient

German

character 8 Homophone

for “won” 9 Penthouse

views 10 Ignoramus 11 Depend (on) 12 Skye or Man 13 It may

twinkle 18 CD alterna-

tive 23 Formicary

inhabitant 25 Smart aleck 26 Cobbler’s

stock 28 Court events 29 Parade

stopper 30 It keeps on

rolling 31 Luge 32 Allot 33 Tiny source

of energy 34 “Say no

more” 35 Dinner com-

panion?

38 Identify incorrectly

42 Borge’s countrymen

44 ____ de Triomphe

45 One with a confession

47 Word with “laissez” or “savoir”

48 Fever-caus-ing virus

49 Less plenti-ful

50 Rat Pack pal of Dean and Frank

51 Snakes in hieroglyph-ics

52 Ice mass 53 Infuriate 54 Some make

it to Cooper-stown

58 Genetic material

59 Royal flush component




LOTS UPSTAIRS By Harper Dantley12/12

12/11

Instructions:Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

Previous Solution

Monday- Very EasyTuesday-EasyWednesday- EasyThursday- MediumFriday - Hard

2


Previous Solution


1


Previous Solution


3


Previous Solution


4


Previous Solution


5Solution 5

Finals Week, Fall 2011 • B7Puzzles

B8 • Finals Week, Fall 2011 SPORTS

Potential is a gro-tesque word. It’s one of those lethal

words in the English lan-guage no one describes or elaborates about until it’s too late.

It’s a word used in pass-ing and in expectation of the future. It’s not a word we have come to associate with the superlative sporting few — after the fact.

After winning six NBA rings, earning five MVPs and de-livering two Olympic gold medals, no one says of Michael Jordan, “He had so much potential.” That word isn’t as-sociated with any of the following in today’s times either: Lindsey Vonn, Mia Hamm, Lance Armstrong, Pelé, Jim Brown, Mickey Mantle, Wayne Gretzky, Cheryl Miller.

To use that word when describing any of the aforemen-tioned seems downright demeaning because by claiming they have so much potential, you’re also claiming they never met their full potential. You’re nullifying the com-pliment and adding a qualifier that needn’t be.

Oklahoma’s men’s basketball team, on the other hand, does have an exorbitant amount of the grotesque: poten-tial. As a fan of Oklahoma, that should scare you.

The Oklahoma teaming play throughout the 2011-12 season is brimming with athletic ability, great coaching and work ethic. Also, they’re young; too young.

But these men have shown they are coachable, they listen, and they will stand and fight for one another. They don’t act like they know they are not supposed to win.

Knowing the disheartening facts about the Sooners, Oklahoma assistant coach Chris Crutchfield, a coach with 10 years’ experience at the Division-1 level of the game, sees a team with the tools to win more than it will lose.

“We’ve improved a lot from where we started from,” Crutchfield said. “The guys have really bought into what we’re talking about, what we’re teaching, and they’re working hard. We’ve still got a lot of things to improve on, but if they keep doing what they’re doing, by the first of January, we have a chance to be a good ball team.”

So far, coach Lon Kruger hasn’t started a senior — of which there are only three — or a man taller than 6-foot-8-inches. Yet, early this season, the Sooners are getting it done on both ends of the court and where it counts: the win-loss column.

Through six games, Oklahoma dropped just one.It scored at least 82 points in three of those games and

averaged 79 points per game as a team through the first week of December, despite a roster of 13 possible players that was recently cut down to 12.

Oklahoma lost 13 points per game — artillery it has no choice but to replace with more minutes from fewer play-ers — and its purest scorer on the floor in Calvin Newell. The sophomore guard was more than capable in one-on-one situations and starting scoring runs for the Sooners.

Yet, next year, Oklahoma will likely get his points back and then some. It likely won’t come from Kruger’s incom-ing 2012 class but from a towel-waving, ever-grinning 6-foot-9-inch forward from Bordeaux, France, with a last name many Oklahoma fans will still fumble well into the 2012-13 season.

In December 2011, Amath M’Baye embodies one word: upside.

He has the tools — right this instant — to play profes-sionally overseas. In time, the Wyoming transfer could be ready for the NBA.

Many sportswriters will fawn over this man’s skill set in the coming years, provided he avoids injury and allows his coaches to continue to keep chipping and smoothing away at his marble. Until then, M’Baye will be a loud voice on southern end of Lloyd Noble, rooting on his team as it prepares to enter the meat grinder better known as the Big 12 conference schedule in January.

It’s murderous, that conference. Kansas and Baylor will likely ascend to the top of it, though they’ll be bludgeoned and bloodied too.

Only the Mariana Trench rivals the depth of that con-ference, and Big 12 coaches picked the group of men from Norman to finish tied for last place. Yes, the same Sooner team that started the season with just one loss in six games.

And you know what? They’re probably right.The Sooners will exceed the expectations of many if

they win 21 games and give Lon Kruger his 500th career victory in his inaugural season at Oklahoma. It would shock many and confound a few more.

The hustle is there, as are the pieces to orchestrate a beautifully surprising season. Yes — the potential is there.

See? It’s a grotesque word.

RJ Young is a second-year professional writing graduate student. You can follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young.

Tobi NeidySports Reporter

T h e 2 0 1 1 O k l a h o m a S o c c e r s e a s o n c a n b e summed up in one word: incomplete.

After beginning the sea-son with a combined eight goals scored in exhibition and the season opener, the OU offense sputtered during the second half of the sea-son, producing just six goals during the last 10 games for a 2-8 record.

What was supposed to be a maintenance term for a pro-gram that saw tremendous success in the Big 12 confer-ence last year turned into a sub-par performance from a Sooner team that returned eight starters from 2010’s re-cord-setting season.

O U w a s s u p p o s e d t o avenge a Big 12 champion-ship trophy that was stripped away last season in penalty kicks. The Sooners also were looking to stay near the top of the loaded conference for consecutive seasons after claiming the program’s high-est Big 12 ranking (third) last season.

But for the 2011 Sooners, neither happened as the team fell hard in the latter half of the season to post a 2-6 Big 12 record.

There were three main factors that contributed to the Sooners’ late-season meltdown:

Replacing PalmerThe void left by gradu-

ated all-time program scor-ing leader Whitney Palmer p rove d t o o l a rg e t o f i l l immediately.

OU initially looked to ju-nior forwards Caitlin Mooney and Dria Hampton to pick up the slack due to their past performances and seniority on a team mainly consisting of underclassmen.

Both veterans scored in the season opener and per-formed well during the sea-son, posting a combined 10 goals and 11 assists.

Mooney’s six goals and Hampton’s six assists both led the Sooners in their re-spective categories this season.

However, the duo didn’t have much success scoring game-winning goals.

Not having that go-to scor-er with the game on the line hurt the Sooners. OU never rallied to win after falling behind this season, and the Sooners dropped five games this season by one goal.

Inconsistent defenseIn postseason interviews,

the players said coming from behind to win is harder than holding off an opponent.

Against then-No. 20 BYU, the Sooners owned the entire game from box to box on the defensive side. Junior goal-keeper Kelsey Devonshire didn’t give up a goal and did not have to the make a save

RJ [email protected]

SpoRtS ColumniSt

ANALYSIS

Meltdown ends high hopes

during her 90 minutes in goal.

OU won, 2-0, by attacking the net early and often. Both of the Sooners’ goals came in the first half at the 17th- and 21st-minute marks, and the defense didn’t let up, giv-ing up just four shots to the Cougars in the second half.

This stat is significant when taking into account that the Sooners let 24 of their op-ponents’ 36 total goals come after halftime.

While the BYU game high-lighted the Sooners’ defen-sive potential, it was one of the few instances OU played a complete game this season.

Following the BYU win, OU dropped five straight games by a combined goal total of 11-2. In the three final games of that stint, the Sooners failed to score a goal while the opponents scored two or more goals each game.

As the last line of defense for OU, Devonshire only had three shutouts this year.

She allowed 33 goals in 19 games this season after

allowing just 30 goals in 23 games last season.

Tough conferenceOU struggled to finds wins

in the unyielding and talent-ed Big 12, besting only Iowa State and Kansas during the regular season.

And it didn’t play to the Sooners’ favor that the Big 12 had the nation’s top scor-ing offense (Texas A&M, 3.17 goals per game) and top de-fense (Oklahoma State, .337 goals allowed per game).

The Big 12 sent five teams to the NCAA championship tournament, with OSU mak-ing it to the quarterfinals before losing to top-ranked Stanford.

OU was the only team in the Big 12 to finish below .500 this season, but the team was able to top Iowa State in the standings due to a head-to-head tiebreaker.

OU’s season ended in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament, when OSU snatched a win away from the Sooners in the last two

minutes of the contest. The team’s woes also con-

tinued into the offseason when coach Nicole Nelson tendered her resignation to OU’s athletic department just nine days after the season-ending loss to the Cowgirls.

Now, with an incomplete coaching staff and a team that is still struggling to put the pieces together, OU soc-cer will need to make the most of the offseason in order to come back next year with a solid team.

The Sooners plan to return 10 starters next season from this year’s roster, includ-ing Mooney, Hampton and Devonshire, who will take their final tour in crimson and cream in 2012.

Combine those three with several experienced under-classmen and OU could be ready to make another run at the Big 12 championship.

Although 2011 left many unanswered questions, the upcoming 2012 season has the potential to put the pro-gram back on track.

Sooner basketball has potential to win

COLUMN

Melodie lettkeMan/the daily

Senior forward michelle Alexander (left) fights for the ball with a tennessee player during ou’s 3-1 loss to the Volunteers on Aug. 21 in norman. the Sooners won just two of their last 10 games this season.

At A GlAnCE Nelson leaves programFormer head coach nicole nelson just finished her fourth year

at the helm of the Sooners, compiling a 29-46-6 record at ou. After coaching the Sooners to a 3-14-1 record during her first

season, nelson compiled a 26-31-6 in the last three season, including the 12-8-3 winning record in 2010.

the Yukon native directed the program to its first ever Big 12 championship game appearance where ou remained tied with oSu through regulation before relinquishing the trophy during penalty kicks. She earned co-Big 12 Coach of the Year honors due to the Sooners’ 2010 success.

What looked like a perfect marriage between an oklahoma native and a program needing a strong leader dissipated when nelson decided to leave the program after the 2011 season with no pertinent reason other than the fact that she thought “it would be in the university’s best interest to look for new leadership.”

Tobi Neidy, Sports Reporter

Season ends below high expectations for OU soccer team

BY tHE numBERSSooner soccer

29 Goals scored by the Sooners in 20

games this season

12 Academic All-Big 12 members on the

ou soccer squad

2 televised games at John Crain Field, the

first and second ever in program history

1 Road wins by the Sooners this season

Source: OU athletic department

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Finals Week, Fall 2011 • B9SemeSter in photoS

Astrud reed/the dAily

Students fill the top of the Union Parking Garage for the Union Programming Board’s annual foam party Sept. 9. Students dance and slip around with friends. The foam party was the eighth one hosted by UPB. Last year, a little fewer than 800 guests attended the event. Students could enjoy the foam while waiting for the party to begin, a new feature this year. UPB places students’ safety first when conduction an event such as this. Admission was free with ID.

FALL 2011FINALS WEEK

Kingsley Burns/the dAily

The new Stuart Wing of OU’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, an 18,000-square-foot expansion of the exhibit space, opened Oct. 22. The wing is home to one of the nation’s largest collections of Native American art.

Kingsley Burns/the dAily

A 1,200-pound statue of former OU quarterback Sam Bradford was erected Aug. 31, in time for the Sooners’ season-opening game against Tulsa.

Melodie lettKeMAn/the dAily

A kitten paws its cage at the Norman Animal Welfare center. Norman voters passed a ballot measure in November to provide $3 million in improvements for the shelter through increased property taxes.

MAtthew griffin/the dAily

Members of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and Delta Upsilon fraternity perform “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” during dress rehearsal of University Sing 2011: The Underdogs on Nov. 2. Delta Delta Delta sorority and Delta Tau Delta fraternity won the competition.

VictoriA gArten/the dAily

A protestor leans outside Dale Hall on Nov. 2. The Occupy Norman movement has seen few participants, aside from a few protestors who claim to have come from out of state.

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