thursday, february 2, 2012

AJINUR SETIWALDICampus Reporter

Today’s economic conditions are not only affecting current col-lege graduates but also those who left college years ago.

Because of the benefits of higher education, older undergraduates

and graduates are coming back to college. In 2010, OU had 21 under-graduate students over the age of 60, according to the 2011 Factbook. In 2002, there were only five.

The number of graduate stu-dents over age 60 is increasing as well, with 21 enrolled at OU in 2010, according to the Factbook.

OU dance graduate Marilyn Gaston drives a Toyota Corolla, which is older than the average undergraduate at OU and plans to

drive it until the engine falls out, she said. She has danced for over a dozen ballet companies in the U.S., Germany and France for over 15 years. And she was born in 1945, the year World War II ended.

There are two reasons older stu-dents like her come back to col-lege, Gaston said.They come back to get necessary credentials they didn’t get earlier or to enrich their lives with knowledge.

The average weekly earnings of

employees with master’s degrees is almost $500 more than those with associates degrees, according to a 2012 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Also, as education levels in-crease, unemployment levels de-crease. The unemployment rate for workers with a bachelor’s de-gree or higher was 4.1 percent in December 2011, compared to a

SARAH MARTINCampus Reporter

S e ve ra l O U stu d e nt s, some with the help of an OU class, have started training

to prepare for the marathon that will circle Oklahoma City in April.

The marathon brings the city together to remember the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995 and encourage excite-ment about health and well-ness, said Amy Davenport,

dire ctor of Fi tness and Recreation at the Huston Huffman Fitness Center.

The event, which takes place April 29, includes a 13.1-mile half marathon and 26.2-mile full marathon, ac-cording to the marathon website.

To provide additional

c o a c h e s f o r r u n n e r s , Davenport organized a free program to help 12 students prepare for the half mara-thon, which begins Tuesday at the center, she said.

The eight sessions will be recorded and posted on iTunes University said Davenport. The goal is to

have the recordings avail-able online next fall.

The classes will focus on overcoming the mental as-pects of preparing for a half marathon, Davenport said.

“Making changes in your life is not easy,” said Melinda

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Save the home where Sherlock Holmes was written (opinion, page a4)

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opinionSome need break before universityA little time off before college can help some students. (page a4)

CampuSou donates food to hungry communityLeftovers from university restaurants given to local organizations. (page a5)

SportSgymnastics keeps eye on the prizeSooners maintain focus despite recent winning tradtion. (page B2)

SportSjayhawks trample oklahoma in KansasSooners crumble against No. 8 Kansas in tough road contest. (ouDaily.com)

Design professor clothes students in skills, pride

astrud reed/tHe daiLy

Lloyd Cracknell, University Theatre head costume designer, pre-pares a “Mary Stuart” costume Friday for performances that run Feb. 10-18. He also teaches costume design at OU. (page B5)

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all drafted recommendations by the president’s tobacco advisory Committee from jan. 1, 2012 to present — This was requested to gather more information on the recommendations provided to President David Boren before the tobacco ban was implemented.

all contracts between ou and the contractors of Headington Hall — This was requested to gather more information on the construction plans and costs to the university of the new residence halls.

a list of all open records act requests made to the ou open records offi ce from Dec. 1, 2011 to jan. 31, 2012. — This was requested to gather information on the types and number of requests submitted to the university.

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College oF meDiCine

Budget to correct physician shortage

KATHLEEN EVANSAssistant Campus Editor

T h e O k l a h o m a S t a t e Regents for Higher Education

approved a budget request Thursday that wil l give $500,000 to increase the num-ber of students admitted to the OU College of Medicine, pending approval by the legislature .

Oklahoma ranked as 44th in the U.S. in number of

physicians per 100,000 resi-dents in 2010, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. To address this fact, both the OU College of Medicine and OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in-creased medical class sizes in 2009.

The OU class size will in-crease from 165 to 200 , and OSU from 88 to 115 , pending extra funding, according to the Regents’ agenda.

In the request, called the Oklahoma Healthcare Physician Shortage Initiative , b o t h s c h o o l s a ske d f o r

$500,000, as well as a $1 mil-lion allotment for two-year health-care programs around the state.

The extra funding should increase the number of stu-dents in Oklahoma medical schools and, ideally, those who stay to do residency

programs in the state, OU President David Boren said in an email. Almost 80 percent of Oklahoma medical stu-dents stay in state to practice as physicians, Boren said.

T h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f

Potential $500,000 increase in funding for medical school

see MONEY paGe a2

Sooners get jump start in English

program

Exchange aid program expands to help students

VICTORIA GARTENCampus Reporter

A 2-year-old program to bridge the cultural gap for Chinese exchange students at OU has been given its own space to expand and eventually accommodate any interested student.

Sooner Jump Start of-fers a two-semester pro-gram intended to better acclimate international students to American and college life in conjunction with the Center for English as a Second Language and the Center for Independent and Distance Learning.

The program was origi-nally a branch of OU China Outreach, but when China Outreach could no longer facilitate the program’s growth, it was moved to a larger office and appoint-ed a director and graduate assistants.

“It’s worth it because not only will they learn English while they are studying at [the Center for English as a Second Language], they also get the undergraduate 12 credit hours,” program graduate assistant Kelly Lin said. “It’s in a smaller classroom so they get more attention. Rather than just moving straight into the main campus, they get extra care.”

Each student must take two Tests of English as a Foreign Language , the first before being accepted to OU to assure they have ad-equate English language skills and the second after their first semester of Sooner Jump Start before moving on to the program’s second phase.

T h e p ro g ra m i s i n -tended to cultivate stu-dents’ English skills while providing experiences in American culture through

see JUMP paGe a3

Community

Program helps students prepare for marathonClass to focus on hurdling mental obstacles

see TRAIN paGe a3

paCKage laBel

Carey FLaCk/tHe daiLy

Marilyn Gastosn, dance graduate student, instructs her beginners class in ballet technique on Tuesday. Gaston has been dancing for many years and decided to con-tinue her dance education through OU to make herself a better candidate for jobs.

Economy brings back older studentsOU attracts increasing number of returning students over 60

see RETURNING paGe a2

field trips to the Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City’s Asian District, outlet malls and Thunder games, program director Sally Blair said.

The first phase focuses on language skills to help stu-dents pass the English as

a Foreign Language exam, and the second phase al-lows students to take 12 credit hours in the Center for Independent and Distance learning. The program has five professors in history, calculus, American govern-ment, English and health and exercise science.

University College fresh-man Menglu Li participated

in the program and said what she took away from the pro-gram was the language learn-ing help, American food and humor.

“I hope the program will incorporate more travel with American and other interna-tional students in the future,” Li said.

Sooner Jump Start has two partners in China that attend

educational fairs and various schools to recruit students and encourage them to join Sooner Jump Start.

Blair recently returned from a tr ip to China in October to talk about the pro-gram to Chinese students.

“We want all our students to have a head start, so they have the chance to shine and blossom,” Blair said.

Laney Ellisor, campus editorKathleen Evans, assistant campus editor

Chris Miller, assistant campus [email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666

A2 • Thursday, February 2, 2012

CaMpus

CorreCtionsThe Oklahoma Daily has a commitment to serve readers with accurate coverage and analysis. Readers should bring errors to The Daily’s attention by emailing [email protected].

today around Campus

An information session for students interested in the Journey to Latin america program will be held at 4:30 p.m. in 221 old science Hall.

A meeting of the animal Volunteers alliance group will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in oklahoma memorial union’s alma Wilson room. the group will discuss the benefits of spaying and neutering pets and create dog toys out of jeans.

Friday, Feb. 3An opening reception will be held for “reclaimed and remixed: Chicano art” by narciso argüelles at 5 p.m. in Fred Jones Jr. museum of art’s Lightwell Gallery. the reception is free to public. exhibit runs Friday to Feb. 17.

The women’s gymnastics team will host a quad meet against nebraska, minnesota and Centenary at 7 p.m. at Lloyd noble Center.

A film screening of “eadweard muybridge, Zoopraxographer,” directed by thom anderson will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Fred Jones Jr. museum of art’s mary eddy and Fred Jones auditorium.

saturday, Feb. 4The women’s basketball team will play oklahoma state at noon at Lloyd noble Center.

A tennis match against nebraska will take place at 1 p.m. at Gregg Wadley indoor tennis pavilion.

The men’s basketball team will play iowa state at 5 p.m. at Lloyd noble Center.

sunday, Feb. 5A faculty recital with Vicki schaeffer on organ will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in Gothic Hall, Catlett music Center. recital is free.

returning: Dancer on her way to higher salaryContinued from page A1

money: Meeting health needs poses challengeContinued from page A1

Thursday, February 2, 2012 • A3Campus

literature

Historic Holmes threatenedProfessor petitions to preserve house, literary landmark

SAM HIGGINSCampus Reporter

An OU professor is leading the fight to prevent the reno-vation of a British literary landmark.

Jim Davis, professional writing professor and presi-dent of the International Association of Crime Writers, is petitioning for the protec-tion and preservation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s home in Hindhead, Surrey, U.K., he said.

This is the site where Doyle wrote such Sherlock Holmes novels as “The Hound of Baskervilles” and “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” and en-tertained literary guests, in-cluding “Dracula” author Bram Stoker and “Peter Pan” author J.M. Barrie, ac-cording to the Undershaw Preservation Trust website.

Current plans for the home are to renovate it and divide it into four flats, Davis said. The home should be trans-formed into a museum, cul-ture center or “place that can be shared with the public,” he said.

“Turning [the home] into apartments would basically destroy the history,” Davis said.

Doyle designed and built

his home, the Undershaw home, in 1897, according to the trust. His wife was suffer-ing from tuberculosis, and he had hoped the property would alleviate some of her pain.

Doyle sold the property in 1921 for £4,000, a loss consid-ering Doyle bought the prop-erty and had the home built for around £10,000, accord-ing to the trust. From 1924 until 2004, the home served

as a hotel before a developer purchased the land. It cur-rently stands vacant, the site of vandalism and wear by natural elements.

Davis has been a professor at OU since 1991 and writer of fiction since childhood. His first novel “The Murder of Frau Schütz” was pub-lished in 1988 and got him involved in the International Association of Crime Writers, he said.

Davis enjoys crime and mystery writing due in part to the freedom it provides: Authors in the genre can go anywhere and comment on the furthest recesses of hu-manity, he said. The crime genre also draws him because it tells the stories of people under pressure, he said.

“Only under pressure do we find the true measure of a person,” he said. “Crime writing is also anchored in the reality of the physical and psychological world, where-as some types of fiction play tennis without a net.”

So much of mystery writ-ing can be traced back to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s pro-tagonist Sherlock Holmes, Davis said.

“I have come to admire many different aspects of the stories, from the trick solu-tions, to the vivid charac-terizations, to the feeling of the time period,” Davis said. “They are much richer stories than many people think.”

“The movies mostly sim-plify them, and that’s what people remember — the pipe, the hat, things that aren’t really important in the stories,” he said.

Davis’s petition has col-lected signatures from per-sonalities such as “Sherlock H o l m e s” d i r e c t o r G u y Ritchie, actor Stephen Fry, author Anne Perry and other writers and actors.

astrud reed/tHe daiLy

J. Madison Davis, professional writing professor and president of the International Association of Crime Writers, reads a story by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Tuesday in his office.

American Medical Colleges predicts that the number of students entering medical practice will need to increase by 30 percent to cope with physician shortages and the strain of increased patients with insurance.

The physician shortage problem is only expected to increase in Oklahoma, OU-Tulsa President Dr. Gerry Clancy said. The Patient Protection Act, which will re-quire everyone to purchase health insurance by 2014, is expected to increase the num-ber of insured Oklahomans by 400,000.

“Oklahoma is in the bot-tom 10 states in virtually every category as far as physicians apply, including doctors per capita, specialists per capita and age of physicians,” Clancy said. “Oklahoma is the most challenged state in meeting the health needs of citizens in the next 10 years.”

OU medical students have

the opportunity to study all four years in Oklahoma City or split their time between OKC and Tulsa. The OU Tulsa School of Community Medicine specializes in train-ing physicians for under-served urban and rural areas in the state, Clancy said.

The requested funding will be allocated for building up

the Tulsa school and its com-munity outreach programs, according to the agenda.

In the past 25 years, the life expectancy of Tulsa-area residents has increased less than any other Oklahoma re-gion, including a 14-year dif-ference between north and south Tulsa, Clancy said.

The increase of students,

as well as a program with the Kaiser Family Foundation that pays students to work in these areas, should increase the number of physicians available throughout the state, especially in under-served areas, Clancy said.

The budget request will now be presented to legisla-ture, which opens Monday.

rate of 13.8 percent for those without a high school diplo-ma, according to a 2012 news release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“If you plan to make a ca-reer in academia, you know you’re going to need those pieces of paper because oth-erwise you’re going to hit a wall where you’re not going to be paid as much as any-body else,” Gaston said.

Gaston originally received a bachelor’s degree in ballet at Texas Christian University in 1966, she said. She also re-ceived a master’s degree in creative writing from Queens University in North Carolina in 2008.

She could barely support herself with her earnings as a part-time dance instruc-tor, Gaston said. She needed a master’s degree to compete in the jobs economy, which she will receive from OU in May for dance.

“I didn’t have any trouble finding work; I had trouble being paid as much as peo-ple who were half my age,” Gaston said. “They didn’t have any experience, but they had a degree. Now we’re going to be even.”

Gaston began her per-forming career as a ballerina

train: Sooners run in memory of bombingContinued from page A1

Williams, who will be teaching the program’s first session on setting goals. “But if it is something you are truly moti-vated for and you can focus on the reasons why it’s impor-tant, [then] you will be able to be even successful on those days when it is just so difficult.”

Kat Woodward, psychology sophomore, is not partic-ipating in the class but began running on her own four days a week to prepare for her first half marathon.

“I kind of wanted to do it so that I could prove to myself that I could set a goal and reach it,” Woodward said.

Though it is her first half marathon, Woodward said she is confident she will be able to finish.

“Physically I have pushed my body before,” Woodward said.

When psychology senior Lacy Brame first ran over five miles last year, she said she became obsessed with run-ning. Brame is training to do the Oklahoma City half mar-athon again after first competing in it last spring.

“Running with thousands of people is a real surge of en-dorphins,” Brame said.

Brame runs regularly and will not have to change her habits to prepare for the race, she said.

“I think I might be addicted to it, addicted to the endor-phins maybe, she said. “I sleep better, I eat better — it is a good lifestyle.”

Training for the marathon does mean extra running for Jarred White, multi-disciplinary studies senior. White plans to do three 20-mile runs during training to get in better shape for the race, which will be his third full marathon.

“The first time I ran it to prove that I can do it; the sec-ond time was to beat a time goal; and this time is to stay in shape,” White said.

The Oklahoma City Memorial marathon and its atmo-sphere was what attracted White to train for marathons.

“It would not be as big of a deal if the Oklahoma City [Memorial] marathon wasn’t as big,” White said.

jump: Program helps Chinese students adjustContinued from page A1

Carey FLaCk/tHe daiLy

Dance graduate student Marilyn Gaston (left) corrects the form of one of her students in a ballet class she teaches on Tuesday. Gaston decided to return to school to make herself a better candidate for jobs.

after graduating from col-lege by dancing with com-panies in Fort Worth, Texas, Atlanta, German and France. Because of the high-demand work schedule, she decided to forgo her master’s at the time, she said.

After her professional dancing career, Gaston spent over 20 years in Baltimore,

where she taught ballet at high schools, colleges and her own dance studio, she said. Gaston also taught in Texas for over two years and in Florida.

Gaston had to foreclose on her house in Florida and declare bankruptcy before coming to OU in 2009, she said.

“Sometimes you just have to go with what happens,” Gaston said. “What hap-pened was that I got the op-portunity here.”

Gaston said she chose OU because the program was willing to recognize she was a professional in her field and give her life credit for some of the courses.

Gaston is required to take all the core classes dance majors take, but she doesn’t have to take all the technique classes, she said.

Though she is older and has worked for years, she still has to worry about rising tu-ition and fees, she said.

“The student fees, I was stunned,” Gaston said. “I thought, ‘Well, I’m not going to make it.’”

OU does not offer any scholarships based on age because non-traditional students are covered by the same policies and approach-es as the rest of the campus, OU spokesman Michael Nash said in an email.

Gaston is here to get her credentials in order to apply for better employment, but she said she also wants to learn something new.

“You should never stop learning,” Gaston said. “You should never sit back and say, ‘I know everything there is to know.’ You don’t.”

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Our View: Preserving the home where Sherlock Holmes was created is important.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is responsible for cre-ating Sherlock Holmes, one of the most widely recognized, well-loved literary characters in mod-ern history. And now, his last remaining home, Undershaw, where he wrote much of his most famous work, is in danger of being re-modeled into high-class flats.

OU professional writing professor Jim Davis is helping lead efforts to petition the city of Hindhead in Surrey, England, to pro-tect the home and keep it available for pub-lic access, The Daily reported today.

But there’s a lot more Sooners can do to help save this important historical landmark.

This issue may not seem to be as important as many we have highlighted in this space. After all, just this month, we’ve urged you to help fight racial inequality, to bring equal rights to gays in Norman and to demand free speech online.

So maybe this issue isn’t going to save lives or improve the lives of a repressed minority. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t important.

Preserving the homes of literary greats is about more than just protecting a part of history or hon-oring their accomplishments. It’s about giving the public a space where they can go to contemplate the importance of literature. It’s about maintaining a hallowed ground where anyone can go to feel the touch of genius.

It’s about dedicating a monument to intellect and art and everything else that gives meaning to the daily toil of human existence.

These things are worth protecting. They’re worth honoring. Humans need spaces that take us out of

the little stresses and great hardships of everyday life and allow us to think about culture, human ac-complishment and society’s legacy.

These spaces are like churches for the intellect, and no group should be more dedicated to their importance and protection than a university cam-pus like our own dedicated to the pursuit of learn-

ing, truth and art.In the U.S., we have preserved Edgar

Allen Poe’s home in Baltimore and Ernest Hemingway’s home in Key West, Fla., among many others. If you’ve never had the opportunity to visit these places, we urge you to make one a pit stop — or a main destination — on your next vacation.

And while you’re there, drop a few dollars in their donation tin.

And if you’re a believer in the importance of lit-erature to our society, or you just so happen to be a fan of Sherlock Holmes in any of his incarnations, you can find out more about the campaign to save Doyle’s home at SaveUndershaw.com.

From there, you can sign the petition, find out more about the threat to Undershaw, see what ce-lebrities who endorse the project have had to say about the importance of the home and find other ways to help the cause.

So like the campaign’s page on Facebook, fol-low its Twitter feed and share the issue with your friends — the real and the virtual.

It may not be the flashiest or most pressing issue of our time, but if those of us spending time and money in the pursuit of an education don’t recog-nize the importance of preserving this intellectual legacy, who will?

Comment on this at OUDaily.com

EDITORIAL

Preserve intellectual legacy by saving a literary landmark

COLUMN

Students must study abroad to see cultures

COLUMN

Education is not always linearCollege isn’t for

everyone. Maybe it’s not for you. I

don’t necessarily mean it never will be, but who you are right now is certainly not who you’ll be at a later date. That later version of you might just be the right one to earn a degree.

There seems to be a strong stigma against taking any sort of break in one’s education. Associated terms are rarely positive: dropping out, flunking, failing. But failing is OK, sometimes.

Those who go directly into college from high school can lose time otherwise spent developing a plan and getting to know themselves better. Many cultures encourage and praise some sort of coming-of-age pilgrimage, whether abroad or otherwise, to go see the world and find oneself. In addition to missing that world exposure, the jump from high school to college is a much bigger one than we often give it credit for. College is not high school 2.0; it’s college.

For many students, their first time at a university is also their first time living alone. Sure, there are many amenities and things taken care of — like room and board with no pressing need to keep track of bills — but it’s still, for many, the first time without a parent around to nag them. Living independently is a wonderful thing, but only if you’re ready.

Freshman year also frequently marks the first real en-counters with alcohol, substantial partying and other cor-poreal distractions (ladies, I’m lookin’ your way). By now, I’m sure at least most of the freshmen reading this who thought they knew what it meant to party will admit they had only had a taste.

So what’s the point? I am a strong advocate for breaks in education. That’s not to say it’s best for everyone, but I will say it’s certainly not best for everyone to just plow through from kindergarten to a bachelor’s degree and be-yond. I often think of the quote by the great educator Sir Ken Robinson: “Life isn’t linear, it’s organic!” There’s not a set track that works for everyone, so let’s stop behaving that way.

Many people fear the idea of taking a year off between high school and college — it’s practically pounded into our heads that people who do so are not likely to ever attend a university . Those who don’t have a “college attending” mention after their names at senior graduation are often viewed as inadequate or lesser . Turning 18 is supposed to signify the entrance into adulthood, but this isn’t the case for everyone. College isn’t for everyone, especially not

based primarily on being in the 18th lap one takes on Earth around the sun, which is supposed to signify some sort of grown-uppedness.

I wasn’t ready after high school. Every sign pointed to yes. I had great grades, great AP test scores, great SAT/ACT scores and I was 18 years old — seems like a short list to judge a college entrant by, doesn’t it? I came, I tried to look busy while having close to no clue what I was doing and I managed to hang around for three years. It was entirely too long if you ask me.

After taking around three years off and working with my hands in a very satisfying blue-collar job, I’m back. This time, I have a purpose and understand the concepts of hard work and responsibility to my fellow humans. There are many like me who, in their first attempt, floundered, but went out into the world, grew and returned to kick some ass.

Additionally, doing poorly is hardly the only reason to take a break. If I had known it was even a reasonable op-tion back then, I would have changed majors or just left. I wasn’t happy with what I was doing; poor performance was the side effect, not the problem.

One of the most genuine and compassionate people I’m lucky enough to know, Jeff Rothman, took a one year break because he had the awareness and maturity to realize he wasn’t really working toward a purpose. “I was just walk-ing down a path with no real drive or reason,” he told me. “It took my leaving college to recognize my desire to be a therapist. Knowing that goal, I have seen the path I need to follow to get there.” Now in the school of social work, he says he’s “realized his love for helping people.”

Kramer Harrison took a year off between high school and college to take a tour of the South in a van with bunch of “skateboarding hooligans.” After returning and working in a metal shop for several months and building a financial foundation, he purports, “Then I remembered: Oh yeah! I should go to college.” Now you can find him lurking around the physics and math quadrant, hair ablaze as he teases apart mathematical proofs and the inner workings of the universe.

Myself, I’m in astrophysics. I’m going to find us another planet before we completely trash this one (I’ll save that rant for another day). The truth is this: there is much to be gained by spending time other ways than rigorously studying. College is hardly the only source of education in life. And while you’re truly lucky to have this opportunity, if you take a break and see the world, OU will still be here when you get back — and who knows, you might just find a purpose.

Ben Strickland is an astrophysics senior.

Since last August, I have been part of the international

exchange program at OU. I am from Spain, and I decided to come to OU because of its exceptional educational system and because I wanted to know what U.S. culture is like.

I believe spending a year abroad is one of the most important experiences you can have. We live in a globalized world. Quick means of transportation and communication have turned the world into a global vil-lage, as Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s. Business, politics and people have gone global. Therefore, it is important to foster a better understanding among the different cultures living on this planet. Spending a year as an exchange student can be a good way to do so.

But, more importantly, it can give you irreplaceable experiences.

First, living in a foreign country forces you to adapt to an alien culture. Of course, that depends on the country you go to. It is easier to adapt to a European state’s lifestyle than an Asian country, such as China or Japan. However, the level of adaptability should not be the reason to choose your destination. You should choose based on your affinity or interest in that particular country. Because how you get used to that new country depends more on how open you are to new experiences. If you have a negative attitude, even a country like the U.K. might be difficult.

Second, you will make friends from different countries. You should not be worried about going alone, because you will not be alone at all. Once you get to your desti-nation, you will meet other students in the same situa-tion as you. And they will be as desperate as you are to make friends, because being abroad makes you realize things you did not notice before, such as the need to have friends. Therefore, you will be exposed to people from dif-ferent cultures who will enrich your knowledge of diverse countries.

Thirdly, during your year abroad, you will have breaks to be able to travel. You could seize those holidays to visit other places and have a broader knowledge of that par-ticular culture.

The U.S. is such a big country that it might take you sev-eral hours or a plane ride just to go to a different state. But think about Europe. It takes around 19 hours to drive from Paris to Stockholm, Sweden, which is just an hour less than going from Norman to Las Vegas. And in the former example, you would have crossed part of France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. If you went to South America, you also could visit many nearby coun-tries, and it’s the same in Asia or in Africa. Spending a year overseas can give you the opportunity to travel and dis-cover more than one culture.

Besides, you can learn or improve a new language. OU has agreements with many universities throughout the world. However, language pre-requisites are not neces-sary in many universities, said Alice Kloker, director of the education abroad office. Furthermore, many universities do not require you to speak the language of the country. Thus, your opportunities are not limited to the English-speaking countries but open to the world.

I believe travelling is one of the most important activi-ties to carry out while you are a student. It offers you dif-ferent points of view, gives you different perspectives and sharpens your critical thinking. You learn and discover new things and places, and you have a better knowledge of yourself and the world in which you live. In other words, travelling opens your mind.

If you are interested in one of the exchange programs, Kloker said students need to have a good GPA (around a 2.5), a letter of recommendation from a professor and a language level appropriate for those universities that re-quired them.

Students can go to ou.edu/ea to see a list of the study abroad opportunities offered through OU, check what level of language is required and apply for the programs. There also is information about scholarships for outgoing students and OU’s financial aid programs.

“This year, around 800 OU student’s have gone over-seas, and we are looking forward to increasing those fig-ures,” Kloker said. She welcomes any interested students to drop by the Education Abroad offices in Wallace Old Science Hall to find out more information.

Adrian Espallargas is a journalism junior.

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

?Is it beneficial to take a break from school before starting college?

» Poll question of the day

To cast your vote, visit

Mary Stan� eld, opinion [email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666

A4 • � ursday, February 2, 2012

OPINIONComment of the day on OUDaily.com ››“Classical economics recognize human capital as a real resource and factor of production. Something does not have to be physical to be real.” (LinnyO, RE: Column: Intellectual Property Is � eft)

Ben [email protected]

OPINION COLUMNIST

Adrian [email protected]

OPINION COLUMNIST

Thursday, February 2, 2012 • A5Campus

Dusti GasparovicLife & Arts Reporter

Scarcity of food may not be a problem on OU’s campus, but for many residents in surrounding areas, that’s often not the case.

To combat this problem, an OU Housing and Food Services initiative is in place that donates around 1,200 meals per week to a range of aide-based nonprofit organizations.

An average of 12,000 to 15,000 meals are served on campus daily, Housing and Food Services spokes-woman Lauren Royston said.

About 1,500 meal exchanges are used each day in Couch Restaurants alone, cafeteria manager Sharrie Sanders said.

Even with so much food con-sumed on campus, approximately 170 meals are untouched and tra-ditionally went to waste, Royston said.

In a community where 16.7 per-cent of Norman’s 110,925 residents are below the poverty line accord-ing to the Federal Register of the Department of Health and Human Services, OU administrators sought to put that wasted food to better use, food services General Manager Dot Flowers said.

In September 2010 the univer-sity took the first steps to providing food for the larger community by implementing the OU Food Rescue Program, Flowers said.

The program collects leftover food from Couch Restaurants and athletic cafeteria and donates it to organizations including local volunteer outreach program Compassion Pointe.

Housing and Food Services board member Leila Holland first addressed the need to do some-thing with the leftover food that was at the time just being thrown away, she said.

When the wasted food was brought to the attention of food

community service

sooners dish up donations for locals

services administrators, they knew they could find a better alternative, Flowers said.

“We knew partner ing with Compassion Pointe was an excel-lent idea,” Flowers said.

Compassion Pointe consists of roughly 30 to 35 volunteers and serves local resource centers, founder Tony Gray said.

These volunteers collect food and hygiene products daily and distribute them to local shelters including The Women’s Resource

Center, The Salvation Army, Food and Shelter for Friends, and Crosspointe Church, Gray said.

“The [organization] started as a Christmas project three years ago,” Gray said. “Some friends of mine said there were some needy people living down by the South Canadian River, so we collected some hygiene products and food and took it down there to them. After that, we saw what a need it was and knew it had be become more than a project.”

To facilitate Compassion Pointe’s

distribution, all uneaten perishable goods prepared in campus cafete-rias and food that can no longer be reheated is put into large contain-ers provided by Compassion Pointe each day.

Gray arrives on campus around 11 a.m. each day to pick up the food donations.

After receiving the donations, Gray distributes the food where it will do the most good, he said.

“ T h e W o m e n ’s R e s o u r c e Center is our priority,” Gray said. “Depending on the amount of food donated, we may also donate to The Salvation Army which feeds 25 to 30 people daily, or Food and Shelter for Friends which feeds roughly 125 people daily.”

The Women’s Resource Center is a safe house where abuse victims and their children can stay and re-ceive care, according to the organi-zation’s website. On average there are 30 to 40 people at the center daily who need food , Gray said.

In addition to the Women’s Resource Center, Food for Friends is a leading recipient of OU’s food donations, employee Casey Churchwell said.

“We serve the food we receive as the daily meal,” Churchwell said. “The people who eat here are homeless no doubt. Any food that

is not picked up is packaged into eggshell containers available for the homeless to pick up and take with them.”

Stories of OU’s donations being put to good use motivate Gray to continue Compassion Pointe’s re-lationship with OU, he said.

“Children are the ones that will be effected the most by lack of nutrition, safety and a place to call home,” Gray said. “When it all breaks down, it comes to the children.”

Food Rescue Program gives leftover campus meals to local shelters

RicaRdo Patino/the daily

Arielle Foldoe brings a bucket of mashed potatoes to the storage tub Wednesday. Every morning women’s shelter Compassion Pointe sends a truck to Couch Restaurants to pick up the leftover food from the previous day’s meal.

RicaRdo Patino/the daily

Julie Moles wheels carts with food from Couch Restaurants to be placed in a refrig-erator Wednesday. Every day, trucks come from Compassion Pointe women’s shelter to pick up the food donations.

AT A GLANCEPoverty guidelinesHousehold income per residents:

no. income 1 $10,890 2 $14,710 3 $18,530 4 $22,350 5 $26,170 6 $29,990 7 $33,810 8 $37,630

For families with more than eight persons, add $3,820 for each additional person.

Source: 2011 Poverty Guidelines

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NEW YORK — Facebook made a much-anticipated status update Wednesday: The Internet social network is going public eight years after its computer-hacking CEO Mark Zuckerberg start-ed the service at Harvard University.

If its initial public offering of stock makes enough friends on Wall Street, Facebook will probably make its stock-market debut in three or four months as one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Facebook, which is now based in Menlo Park, Calif., hopes to list its stock under the ticker symbol, “FB,” on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stock Market.

In its regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook Inc. indicated it hopes to raise $5 billion in its IPO. That would be the most for an Internet IPO since Google Inc. and its early backers raised $1.9 bil-lion in 2004.

Joining corporate America’s elite would give Facebook new financial clout as it tries to make its service even more pervasive and expand its au-dience of 845 million users.

The intrigue surrounding Facebook’s IPO has increased in recent months, not only because the company has become a common conduit

A6 • � ursday, February 2, 2012 NEWS

NATION NEWS BRIEFS1. OLYMPIA, WASH.

State to hold gay marriage voteThe Washington Senate will vote Wednesday on a

proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.The bill has narrow support in the Senate, but is ex-

pected to pass because supporters have secured 26 “yes” votes — one more than the 25 required for approv-al. Four senators, one Democrat and three Republicans, have not committed their votes.

If passed by the Senate, the measure moves to the House, which has enough votes to pass the bill. Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire supports the measure and said she will sign it into law, which would make Washington the seventh state to approve gay marriage.

The Associated Press

2. EAGAN, MINN.

Romney supports automatic hike in federal minimum wage

GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney renewed his support Wednesday for automatic increases in the federal minimum wage to keep pace with inflation, a position at odds with traditional GOP business allies, conservatives and the party’s senior lawmakers.

“I haven’t changed my thoughts on that,” the for-mer Massachusetts governor told reporters aboard his chartered campaign plane, referring to a stand he has held for a decade.

He did not say if he would ask Congress to ap-provethe change if he wins the White House this fall.


3. PORTLAND, MAINE

Man says he found $3B in wreckA treasure hunter said Wednesday he has located

the wreck of a British merchant ship that was torpe-doed by a German U-boat off Cape Cod during World War II while carrying what he claims was a load of platinum bars now worth more than $3 billion.

If the claim proves true, it could be one of the rich-est sunken treasures ever discovered.


12 3

DALLAS — The parent of American Airlines wants to eliminate about 13,000 jobs as the nation’s third-biggest airline re-makes itself under bankruptcy protection.

The company proposes to end its tradi-tional pension plans, a move strongly op-posed by the airline’s unions and the U.S. pension-insurance agency, and to stop pay-ing for retiree health benefits.

AMR Corp. said Wednesday that it must cut labor costs by 20 percent. It will soon begin negotiations with its three major unions, but the president of the flight atten-dants’ union quickly rejected the company’s ideas as unacceptably harsh.

CEO Thomas W. Horton said Wednesday that the company hopes to return to prof-itability by cutting spending by more than $2 billion per year and raising revenue by $1 billion per year.

AMR lost $884 million in the first nine months of 2011, and $904 million for December alone. It has lost more than $11 billion since 2001.

“We are going to use the restructuring process to make the necessary changes to meet our challenges head-on and capital-ize fully on the solid foundation we’ve put in place,” Horton said in a letter to employees.

AMR’s 88,000 employees have braced for bad news for weeks. AMR, American and short-haul affiliate American Eagle filed for bankruptcy protection in November. Horton said in December that the company would emerge from bankruptcy with fewer workers.

L a u r a G l a d i n g , p r e s i d e n t o f t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f P r o f e s s i o n a l F l i g h t Attendants, said the proposal was more drastic than she expected. She claimed that the annual reduction in employee costs, which AMR put at $1.25 billion, would be closer to $2.8 billion.

“This is an absolute outrage,” Glading said. “There’s nothing in here that’s remote-ly acceptable.”

Transport Workers Association President James Little declared, “We’re going to fight this.” His union represents American’s me-chanics and bag handlers, who would be hit hardest — 40 percent would be laid off.


BUSINESS

Facebook to friend stock marketCompany could make stock-market debut in 3 months

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his company announced Wednesday plans to sell stock on the open market. Its debut is likely to be the most talked-about initial public offering since Google in 2004.

—for everyone from grand-mas to teenagers— to share information about their lives.

Z u c k e r b e r g , 2 7 , h a s emerged as the latest in a lin-eage of Silicon Valley prodi-gies who are alternately hailed for pushing the world in new directions and re-viled for overstepping their bounds.

Zuckerberg set up two classes of stock that will en-sure he retains control as the sometimes conflict-ing demands of Wall Street exert new pressures on the

company. He will have the final say on how nearly 57 percent of Facebook’s stock votes, according to the filing.

Forbes magazine esti-mated Zuckerberg’s wealth at $17.5 billion in its most recent survey of the richest people in the U.S.

A more precise measure-ment of Zuckerberg’s fortune will be available once the IPO is priced and provides a con-crete benchmark for deter-mining the value of his nearly 534 million Facebook shares.

The IPO will mint hundreds

of Facebook employee as mil-lionaires because they have accumulated stock at lower prices than what the shares are liked to be valued at on the open market. Facebook employed 3,200 people at the end of last year.

Depending on how long regulators take to review Fa c e b o o k ’s I P O d o c u -ments, the company could be making its stock market debut around the time that Zuckerberg celebrates his birthday in May.


BUSINESS

American Airlines to put13K jobs on chopping blockParent company needs to cut labor costs by 20%, officials say

Stay connected with � e Oklahoma Daily for campus, sports and entertainment news

@OUDaily@OUDailySports@OUDailyArts

26new Sooners

Oklahoma recruiting class ranked No. 10 by Rivals.com; Stoops says team met all its needs heading into the offseason

T h u r s d a y, F e b r u a r y 2 , 2 0 1 2sPOrTs b

FOOtball

Sooners sign new players Football recruits bring strong skills

analySiS

ricardo patino/the daily

OU football coach Bob Stoops listens to a question while addressing the media on national signing day Wednesday. OU signed twenty-six athletes with intent to play football at Oklahoma.

Bob Stoops enlists 26 new athletes on football team

Fresh faces ready to tackle problems, prepare for comeback season

GreG FewellSports Reporter

Bob Stoops has typical-ly recruited a lot of defen-sive players in his tenure at Oklahoma. However, OU’s head football coach is not op-posed to recruiting offense. Stoops acknowledged that offense is exactly what he was after this recruiting season, and that strategy is reflected in the numbers.

At the end of national signing day, Oklahoma had signed eight new defensive players and 17 offensive play-ers. Stoops said he is happy with the holes the team filled during this offseason.

“We answered all of our needs,” Stoops said. “We came into this recruiting sea-son and knew where most of our shortcomings were and that we would have to sign more offensive players than defensive players.”

Oklahoma continued its trend of signing at least one quarterback by signing San Antonio native Trevor Knight, a four-star recruit rated as the No. 5 quarterback in the na-tion by Rivals.com.

Knight gives the Sooners a n o t h e r d u a l - t h r e a t

quarterback to go along with sophomores Blake Bell and Kendal Thompson.

“I think everything starts with us with throwing the football,” Stoops said. “I think (Trevor’s) got a great release in how he throws the ball, and then he’s got excellent feet to go with it. And that’s exciting.”

As excited as Stoops is about Knight, Landry Jones ended all talks of a quarter-back competition when he decided to forego the NFL

draft for his senior season with the Sooners.

Therefore, one of the things Oklahoma needed to find this offseason was a new target for Jones to throw to since the best receiver in school history graduated. The Sooners came up huge in that department.

Oklahoma landed four of the nation’s top recruits in Trey Metoyer, Durron Neal, Sterling Shepard and Derrick Woods along with the No. 12-ranked junior college player

in the country, Courtney Gardner. Metoyer, who is al-ready enrolled and on cam-pus, highlights the class as the No. 2 receiver in the en-tire nation.

“All of these guys are spe-cial athletes,” Stoops said. “The high school guys are fabulous athletes. Speed, quickness, size, catching the football, running with the football, returns-these guys are all really special. I think

Jordan PhilliPsSports Reporter

Going into the offseason, the Sooners had their fair share of question marks.

They needed to address a glaring weakness at tight end, add depth to an aging offensive line and bring more size and speed to the defensive line and backfield.

After graduating two tight ends, in James Hanna and Trent Ratteree, and losing the once-heralded Austin Haywood in a transfer to Central Arkansas, the Sooners re-sponded by signing four tight ends — the most a Stoops’ class has ever produced.

On the offensive line, Oklahoma is bringing in big-name JUCO prospect Will Latu and fellow four star recruits Ty Darlington and John Michael McGee.

The Sooners also made it a priority to sure up their usu-ally stout, but recently porous defense.

Adding size at cornerback, the Sooners signed Gary Simon, Zack Sanchez and Kass Everett. Everett enrolled early to participate in spring practices, and Simon has drawn comparisons to former Louisiana State star and now All-Pro corner Patrick Peterson.

In order to replace pass rushers Frank Alexander and Ronnell Lewis, the Sooners signed three defensive ends with Chaz Nelson, Charles Tapper and Mike Onuoha.

On paper, OU appears to address many of the issues that plagued a 10-3 team that was ranked No. 1 last preseason.

Of course big names like Durron Neal, Taylor McNamara and Will Latu get all the attention, but highly-touted players rarely reach their mountainous potential, booming about as much as they bust.

It’s the “raw” guys — the fixer-uppers, the guys who come in as coal ready to be pressed into diamonds, those are the guys Mike Stoops likes.

see recruit page B2 see athletes page B2

COURtney GaRdneRPosition: WRHeight: 6’3”Weight: 215Hometown: Reno, nev.

daniel BROOkSPosition: atHHometown: Port lavaca, texas

ty daRlinGtOnPosition: CHometown: apopka, Fla.

kaSS eveRettPosition: WRHometown: Philadelphia

laitH HaRlOWPosition: teHometown: tallahassee, Fla.

Will latUPosition: OtHometown: St. Petersburg, Fla.

kyle MaRRSPosition: OlHometown: San antonio

JOHn McGeePosition: OGHometown: texarkana, texas

CHaz nelSOnPosition: deHometown: Columbus, Ohio

zaCk SanCHezPosition: CBHometown: keller, texas

GaRy SiMOnPosition: CBHometown: St. Petersburg, Fla.

david SMitHPosition: RBHometown: Midlothian, ill.

SaM GRantPosition: tight endHeight: 6’6”Weight: 240Hometown: north Royalton, Ohio

BRannOn GReenPosition: teHeight: 6’4”Weight: 260Hometown: altamont, kan.

deRRiCk WOOdSPosition: WRHeight: 6’1”Weight: 185Hometown: inglewood, Calif.

eRiC StRikeRPosition: lBHeight: 6’1”Weight: 195Hometown: Seffner, Fla.

SteRlinG SHePaRdPosition: WRHeight: 5’11”Weight: 185Hometown: Oklahoma City

alex ROSSPosition: RBHeight: 6’1”Weight: 205Hometown: Jenks

Mike OnUOHaPosition: deHeight: 6’7”Weight: 230Hometown: edmond

dURROn nealPosition: WRHeight: 6’1”Weight: 195Hometown: St. louis, Mo.

tRevOR kniGHtPosition: QBHeight: 6’3”Weight: 200Hometown: San antonio

taylOR McnaMaRaPosition: teHeight: 6’5”Weight: 235Hometown: San diego

tRey MetOyeRPosition: WRHeight: 6’2”Weight: 198Hometown: Whitehouse, texas

CHaRleS taPPeRPosition: deHometown: Baltimore

JORdan WadePosition: dtHometown: Round Rock, texas

daMien WilliaMSPosition: RBHometown: San diego

B2 • Thursday, February 2, 2012 SportS

ty russell/ou athletics communications

Junior OU gymnast Jake dalton performs a steel rings routine in a home meet last year against Ohio. dalton won two individual nCaa championships a year ago.

atHleteS: Built-up defense promisingContinued from page B1

Jan. 2 - Jan. 5

Thursday, Feb. 2

OU Write Club Open Mic Night | 7-9 p.m. at Cafe Plaid, Campus Corner. This week will feature the fi rst ever poetry/writing slam, with the winner taking home a prize. Email [email protected] for more information.

Friday, Feb. 3FREE Film Screening: “Eadweard Muybridge, Zoopraxographer” | 7 p.m. at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The fi lm draws parallels between Muybridge’s reclusive lifestyle and genius and the explosive, very public birth of cinema. Director Thom Anderson spent 10 years animating Muybridge’s photographic studies of human and animal movement.

OU Women’s Gymnastics: OU vs. Nebraska, Minnesota and Centenary | 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center. Admission is FREE for OU students and 250 FREE “Go Red!,” dress pins will be given away. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

FREE Movie: “The Muppets” | 6, 9 p.m. and midnight in Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union. Come and see this fi lm before it’s available on DVD for FREE courtesy of the Union Programming Board and Campus Activities Council.

Saturday, Feb. 4

OU Women’s Basketball: OU vs. OSU | noon at Lloyd Noble Center. Admission is FREE for OU students. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

OU Men’s Tennis: OU vs. Nebraska | 1 p.m. at the Headington Family Tennis Complex. Admission is FREE for OU students. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

Meacham Matinee: “The Muppets” | 1 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union. Come and see this fi lm before it’s available on DVD for FREE courtesy of the Union Programming Board and Campus Activities Council.

OU Men’s Basketball: OU vs. Iowa State | 5 p.m. at Lloyd Noble Center. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

Zen Nite | 6-9 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Food Court. Come and relax and enjoy FREE massages, sushi, tea tasting and blending, aromatherapy and quick women’s and men’s hairstyles and trims and makeup touch-ups and samples from the Paul Mitchell School of Norman. Presented by the Union Programming Board. There’s ALWAYS SOMETHING at the union, www.ou.edu/upb.

This University in compliance with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, genetic information, age, religion, disability, political beliefs, or status as a veteran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not lim-ited to admissions, employment, fi nancial aid and educational services. For accommodations on the basis of disability, please contact the sponsoring department of any

program or event.

Michael Onuoha certainly fits the bill as a raw talent.With impressive size — he’s listed at 6 feet 7 inches —

and a quick first step, Onuoha possesses a similar skillset to 49ers rookie end Aldon Smith, who led the NFL in sacks among rookies this season.

Stoops is known to build a hard-nosed defense in his own rugged image. During his heydays at Oklahoma, Stoops employed a defense that utilized big linebackers, like Torrance Marshall, Teddy Lehman, Rocky Calmus, and big defensive backs, such as Brandon Everage, Roy Williams and Derrick Strait.

Going forward, expect to see the change in personnel re-flected in the recruiting.

Coach Stoops decided to trim the fat before the bowl game against Iowa, hoping to purge the team of poor at-titude and work ethic.

The result has been an opportunity for many of the new signees to see immediate playing time on a team that re-turns 15 starters, a rarity in college football.

As spring practices draw near, the excitement for a bounce back season in 2012 is starting to gain momentum, thanks in part to a solid recruiting class.

they’re going to have a chance to make a huge impact.”Oklahoma also landed four tight ends in this year’s re-

cruiting class but took a slightly different approach than in recent years. Whereas the Sooners have utilized smaller tight ends with speed and athleticism the last couple of sea-sons, the team seems to be once again looking for size.

Oklahoma’s four new tight ends, Brannon Green, Taylor McNamara, Sam Grant and Laith Harlow are all over 6’4” and 235 pounds. Whoever carries the load at the position next season will be the team’s biggest tight end since All-American Jermaine Gresham.

Apart from being pleased with the positions he was able to fill both offensively and defensively, Stoops said he was pleased with how much of the country the coaching staff was able to recruit.

The 26 new Sooners in this signing class come from 11 states across the country. Stoops said he hopes the wide-spread recruiting effort opens up more pipelines for the team in the future.

“I love to recruit the entire country,” Stoops said. “You just have so many more opportunities, I feel, moving for-ward. Usually players recruit players, so now I feel as we go back into those areas next year and the years after it could be a great opportunity.”

recruit: Players from 11 states join teamContinued from page B1

Men’S gyMaSticS

Oklahoma sets bar highSooner gymnasts stay movivated despite success

GreG FewellSports editor

In the last four seasons, OU has claimed one nation-al title, two third place fin-ishes, and one second place finish while posting a total record of 101-10.

The problem that some-times comes with that kind of continued success is complacency and a sense of entitlement among ath-letes. This team has very lofty goals, and the mem-bers of the No. 1-ranked Sooner squad are not afraid to admit it.

“We want to finish off this season like we started the preseason, ranked No. 1,” junior Chris Stehl said. “And then go on to win the national championships as well as conference.”

Of course setting high goals and actually having the dedication and ambition to accomplish those goals are two different things.

The gymnasts who are good enough to crack the lineup at Oklahoma are among the best in the coun-try, and suddenly they are a part of the nation’s No. 1 col-lege program. So, how does a coach keep a gymnast mo-tivated when he has essen-tially reached the top of his sport?

Coach Mark Williams said that is not difficult because the high level of competition at Oklahoma does not allow any sense of entitlement.

“ Yo u k i n d o f h av e t o earn your place at the top,” Williams said. “Nothing is guaranteed. Even if we have talented guys, they still have to do the work. So, by no means are they entitled

to anything. Every year is a new year.”

It makes sense that the OU gymnasts have to stay hun-gry. After all, the best gym-nasts in the nation are arriv-ing at Oklahoma year after year. If an upperclassman is not doing his job, he will not be hard to replace.

Gymnastics is unlike many sports, though. A gymnast can be a national champion, make the national team and compete against the best in the world, even if he is part of a very average team.

Ta k e O U j u n i o r Ja k e Dalton, for example. Dalton won two individual NCAA championships last year and competed with the Senior National Team at the World Championships. Regardless of how the Sooners fare as a team this season, Dalton has high hopes of competing

in this summer’s Olympic games. What, then, is it that keeps athletes like Dalton involved during the grind of the NCAA season?

“I’m the type of person that I don’t even like to have a bad workout,” Dalton said. “I don’t think anybody does, but I don’t like to fall. I don’t like to mess up. I know per-fect isn’t really possible, but it’s what I try to shoot for all the time.”

Pe r f e c t . That w o rd i s used a lot around the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center. The Sooners strive for per-fect practices, perfect rou-tines and perfect meets. However, the team’s per-fect season was spoiled Saturday by No. 2-ranked Illinois. The Sooners led the Illini for the entire meet. However, Illinois was able to pull ahead of OU on the final

rotation of the night .It was an early season set-

back the team certainly had not planned on. However, it could be just what this young team needed. Oklahoma’s 18-man roster is made up of 10 freshmen. Williams hopes the loss will serve as a lesson to his young team to always show up ready to go down to the wire.

“Maybe some of the guys started believing a little bit what we’ve been saying that we can’t take for granted that we can just go to a meet and feel like showing up is enough to win,” Williams said. “It was a great lesson.”

The OU squad is young and inexperienced. However all the talent is in place for big things. The Sooners just need to follow Dalton’s ex-ample and always strive for perfection.

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[email protected] • phone: 405-325-2521ClassifiedsThursday, February 2, 2012 • B3

FIND A JOBin the

CLASSIFIEDS

1

ACROSS 1 Wheelchair

access 5 Arabian

cargo boats 10 Yodeler’s

rejoinder 14 From

whence some worship

15 Comaneci of gymnastics

16 Comfort-ing reply to “When?”

17 Stunned 19 Voluminous

volume 20 Longtime

Susan Lucci daytime role

21 “My Friend ___” (Martin-Lewis film)

22 ___ out a living

23 Stone-washed pants

25 American of Japanese ancestry

27 Brief time periods, briefly

29 Change, as the Consti-tution

32 Ascended 35 Empty bags 39 Christmas

carol emo-tion

40 Kennel sound

41 Sense of complete-ness

42 Solicit responses

43 Munched or lunched

44 Colorless animal

45 “Desperate House-wives” role

46 Rambouil-lets

48 1970s Tony Musante cop show

50 Alternative to a QWERTY keyboard

54 Margarita option

58 Jessica of Hollywood

60 Teen trial 62 Jason’s wife,

in myth 63 Ear-piercing 64 Battle

fatigue 66 Starlet’s

dream 67 Make fun of 68 “Dies ___”

(Latin hymn) 69 Items on

a concert stage

70 Tacked on 71 Cousin of a

gullDOWN 1 Spread like

wildfire 2 Blazing 3 Expert (var.) 4 Right on the

money 5 Forensic

science tool 6 Visitor to

Mecca 7 Aerosol

targets 8 “The

Flintstones”

character 9 “Paradise

Lost” villain 10 Regard

highly 11 Stereotypical

hiding place 12 Range

dwelling? 13 Dollar bills 18 Invitation list

entry 24 Regatta

racer 26 Sushi bar

beverage 28 High-hat 30 Proboscis 31 Dick Van

___ of “Mary Poppins”

32 Scandina-vian rugs

33 Boy Scout recitation

34 Parking lot feature

36 Tire pressure letters

37 Bee, to Andy Taylor

38 Emulate Bing Crosby

41 Crime big-wig or guitar attachment

45 Single, in Fenway Park

47 Dodges 49 Dads’

counterparts 51 Dreadlocked

Jamaican, for short

52 Felt the effects of overexertion

53 Bread ma-chine cycle

55 Be wild about

56 Former Re-nault model

57 Already spoken for

58 ___ Romeo (foreign car)

59 Rich soil 61 “What ___

can I say?” 65 Acted as a

guide

Universal CrosswordEdited by Timothy E. Parker February 2, 2012

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2012 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com

BE CAREFUL! By Joel Portman2/2

2/1

Thursday FEBRUARY 2, 2012

There are strong indications that your horizons are likely to be expanded in the year ahead when you begin attempting things that you never dared try before. Your prob-abilities for success are far better than you think.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- You should give top priority to matters that are of personal importance. You won’t be nearly as effective if you have to divide your time juggling multiple projects for others.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- You have far greater reserves to draw from than you might realize. This will become evident when you have to deal with an unexpected challenge, and do so with aplomb and ginger.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- This can be a good day for launching a new endeavor, especially if there are other people involved. Although, it might be up to you to prime the pump -- do so!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- Developments are stirring that could enhance your security. Any dealings you have that directly affect your status and material circumstances should work out swimmingly.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Don’t neglect getting in touch with one of your benevolent contacts who is presently separated from you by distance. Something good could come from re-establishing a line of communication.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You’re a tough customer to deceive because

you won’t take anything for granted or at face value. However, even if you catch someone fi bbing, you won’t blow things out of proportion.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Because of your desire to be cooperative, others will fi nd you a jovial presence. Any concessions you make will be matched with equal vigor.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Don’t waste any more time in focusing efforts on your most ambitious objectives. What has been unattainable in the past is likely to be achieved with relative ease at this juncture.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Check out anything new that you would like to learn. Your ability to absorb knowledge and information is keener than usual, enabling you to pick things up quite quickly.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Provided you leave nothing up to chance, the end results that you were hoping for will come to pass. However, carefully monitor every step you take.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Due to support that was previously denied you, sunshine could now be fi ltering into several situations that have recently been shrouded by dark clouds.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- It could be an interesting day, one where you will fi nally begin to generate some increased earnings. Do the best job that you can, because your rewards will be proportionate to your productivity.

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2012, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

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

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B4 • Thursday, February 2, 2012 Advertisement

Lindsey Ruta, life & arts editorMariah Webb, assistant life & arts editor

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666LIFE&ARTS� ursday, February 2, 2012 • B5

PHOTOS BY ASTRUD REED/THE DAILY

Lloyd Cracknell, University Theatre head costume designer, works Friday on a “Mary Stuart” costume that will be worn in the performances that begin Feb. 10.

DUSTI GASPAROVICLife & Arts Reporter

n the basement of the OU Fine Arts Center in a room called “The Costume Shop,” a former fashion designer ponders the pro-duction of period-piece petticoats.

As University Theatre’s head costume designer, he’s preparing to

stage “Mary Stuart,” an Elizabethan-era production calling for corsets, hip rolls, high collars and an assort-ment of other once-fashionable clothing items.

Lloyd Cracknell didn’t anticipate ending up in this position, but now that he’s here, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I finally found where I belong,” he said. “Exciting is really the first word that comes to mind ... and challenging, because it is constantly changing.”

Cracknell began his professional life as a fash-ion designer, but he quickly found the work unrewarding.

“I didn’t care about the length of a skirt anymore, quite honestly I grew bored with fashion design,” Cracknell said. “The difference between fashion design and costume design is fashion changes seasonally as well as environmentally, whereas costume changes with every performance.”

He decided to return to school and earn his master’s in drama with an emphasis on costume design at OU, and took over as the head costume designer last year when Michael Buchwald brought a 40-year career to a close by stepping down with his shop manager Coopie Mason.

“They were a great team who taught me a lot,” Cracknell said.

Despite his experience in the fashion industry, Cracknell said he quickly found he had a lot to learn in his new profession, and there were a few blunders along the way.

Lloyd Cracknell (left), University Theatre head cos-tume designer, works with Stephanie Orr on Friday to put the finishing touches on a “Mary Stuart” costume. Cracknell took over the head costume designer posi-tion after he returned to school to get his master’s degree in drama.

Designer uses experience to craft well-stitched attire

“We like to say we create magic here.”

LLOYD CRACKNELL, UNIVERSITY THEATRE HEAD

COSTUME DESIGNER

He said his biggest faux pas was committed when he de-signed animal costumes for a show called “Ensorcelled.”

“I painted the leotards in various colors to resemble fur on woodland animals, and when we washed them all the dye came off, and I had to repaint all of them the night before we opened,” he laughed.

Cracknell may have be-come more experienced since those early days, but he said there are still challenges that present themselves dur-ing the design of each show.

“The greatest challenge of costume design is time — time and working within a budget. It’s rather hectic,” said Cracknell. “This se-mester alone there are four main stage productions, not to mention smaller shows in between.”

Not only the dynamic nature of costume design appeals to Cracknell, but he said he is drawn to the environment.

In the fashion industry, you make decisions that ap-peal to someone else’s tastes, but with costume design you meet and work with a team of people, he said.

That team-oriented en-v i r o n m e n t e x t e n d s t o Cracknell’s work in the class-room, where he teaches sev-eral design classes within the OU School of Drama.

“I love to see the light bulb go off when someone thinks they can’t stitch and then they realize they can,” he said.

That enthusiasm is infec-tious, and leads to productive classes, costume design se-nior Christina Draper said.

“He is understanding in that he doesn’t give us more

SEE COSTUME PAGE B6

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Lloyd Cracknell (left), University Theatre costume designer, and Stephanie Orr put the finishing touches on a “Mary Stuart” costume Friday that will be worn in the performances that begin Feb. 10.

COSTUME: Cracknell teaches, expects qualityContinued from page B5

Iran has been all over the news these past few months. Its

nuclear ambitions have been discussed in maybe half of the GOP debates so far, and the onslaught of sanctions now facing Tehran, Iran, has many leaders awaiting its reac-tion nervously.

Some say war, or at least some manner of armed confrontation, is inevitable. Meanwhile, the average American is too woefully igno-rant of Iran’s culture and its government to offer an edu-cated opinion on whether or not this is desirable.

This cultural ignorance is not healthy. It means public opinion is malleable, that Americans could easily be fed false impressions. Worse, if we did find ourselves in a full-scale conflict, it would likely impede progress in the region, much like our inability to grasp pre-existing ten-sions in Iraq contributed to our failure there.

So the question is how do we, as Americans, educate ourselves? How do we come to understand a culture so different than ours? The answer isn’t Wikipedia.

We should read books, specifically autobiographies of people who grew up in Iran and lived in the society. Only they can cast the Islamic Republic in such a way we can come to understand what its people are like.

Over the break I read two such books — a memoir, “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” by Azar Nafisi and a graphic

novel, “Persepolis,” by Marjane Satrapi . Both are set in Iran, both have female narrators and both divulge important details of life in the theocracy. In addi-tion to being very good reads, they are remarkable sources of information for anyone who seeks a greater understanding of what Iran is — and what it isn’t.

“Persepolis” tells the story of the 1979 Iranian Revolution through the eyes of a young girl, chronicling the death of the

Pahlavi dynasty and the birth of Iran in the modern era. It tells us how the severe religious laws came to promi-nence and how leaders came to regard the West as deca-dent and symbolic of depravity.

“Reading Lolita in Tehran” is more concerned with describing the condition of life under the theocratic re-gime than explaining how it came about. The author does this by referencing famous banned works of litera-ture like “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov to highlight the intimacy of the oppression and the lack of empathy Iran has for its inhabitants.

Beautifully written and affecting as they both are, we can learn a good deal about Iran’s history from these two books alone, and develop a sympathy for its people that is sorely lacking in today’s political lexicon.

Both books show us how Iran imposes a fantasy on its citizens, how it conjures an unworkable notion of human nature and expects everyone to accept it. As we see by numerous instances of censorship in either story, things we naturally long for humans, like art and self-expres-sion, are purported to not exist.

As citizens of the country leading the global charge against Iran, we have something of a duty to teach our-selves about the government we’re threatening and the people our sanctions affect. It would behoove us to be more educated and aware of this culture so unlike our own. I urge readers, rather than picking up the lat-est vampire romance fiction the next time you’re at the bookstore or library, pick up books like the two I’ve men-tioned here and come to your own conclusions. We have a responsibility to be more globally aware and conscious.

Steven Zoeller is a journalism sophomore.

COLUMN

We should read books to grasp different cultures

Steven [email protected]

LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST

“Beautifully written and affecting as

[both books] are, we can learn a

good deal about Iran’s history

from these two books alone.”

than we can handle,” Draper said. “Once we understand a concept we move on instead of going over and over the same thing.”

Master stitcher and stock manager Amy Kercher has worked with Cracknell since he was in graduate school, and she said his manage-rial style puts faith in those around him.

“I love working with Lloyd, and I love looking at his

drawings,” Kercher said. “I’m honored that he trusts me to do my job and doesn’t feel the need to watch over my every move.”

Cracknell helps students realize their true potential, costume design sophomore Melissa Perkins said.

“We learn something new with every show, he makes us realize our talents,” Perkins said.

Cracknell does place an emphasis on education, but he also has expectations for well-produced results, he said.

“The costume shop is a mixture of an educational lab and one that which pro-duces high quality products,” Cracknell said. “We like to say we create magic here.”

The theater’s latest piece of magic involves the costumes

f o r “ Ma r y S t u a r t ,” a n d Cracknell wouldn’t have it any other way, he said.

“I enjoy designing period pieces very much,” Cracknell said. “Anything extravagant with lots of detail and texture makes the job of costume de-sign challenging and exciting, leaving room for the creative mind to run wild.”

T h e n e x t U n i v e r s i t y Theatre production will be the Italian opera, “Don Giovanni,” which will call for a drastically different de-sign than “Mary Stuart,” but Cracknell said that variety is what he loves most about his job.

“90 percent of the world is visual,” he said. “From the very moment a char-acter steps onto the stage the audience starts to draw assumptions.”

“I love to see the lightbulb go off when someone thinks they can’t stitch and then they realize they can.”

LLOYD CRACKNELL, UNIVERSITY THEATRE HEAD

COSTUME DESIGNER

Editor’s note: In the conclusion to Stieg Larsson’s trilogy, Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist, Erika Berger and their loved ones � nd themselves tangled up in a nasty web of conspiracies, hatred and thirst for revenge.

Starting “The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” for me was

bittersweet. I’ve come to ap-preciate and genuinely like all the protagonists and share their sense of fear and loath-ing toward their dangerous enemies.

It really bothers me that this is the last book because I feel like Lisbeth Slander has so much more to tell us about herself. Her antisocial tenden-cies ease up a bit as she reluctantly accepts help from old and new friends, and I think by the end of the book, she’s ready to have real relationships with people, and I want to read about those relationships.

At the beginning of the book, we find Salander barely cling-ing to life as they rush her to the hospital to dig bullets out of her brain, shoulder and hip.

Unfortunately, that’s only the beginning of a long and pain-ful recovery for Salander, as she attempts to clear her name while getting help from unexpected friends, as well as Mikael Blomkvist. Her road to redemption is astonishing, and I’m pleased how well she adapts to her new challenges.

Other secondary stories pop up throughout the book as

well, and I thought Stieg Larsson did a nice job of weaving other characters’ problems into the main plot.

So many characters are affected by Salander’s situation that I found it hard to remember them all. Remembering hard-to-pronounce Swedish names isn’t exactly my forte, and I literally had to carry a piece of paper around with the name and character description to know who Larsson was talking about. I also thought the long pages talking about the government’s secret activities to be a little hard to understand and tedious, but everything clicks at the end in a satisfactory conclusion.

Blomkvist finds himself possibly in love with a new char-acter, and I was happy to read about his confusion and feel-ings about being in a monogamous relationship, especially because I was so annoyed with him and his previous sexual endeavors in “The Girl who Played with Fire.”

Erika Berger becomes a well-developed character in this novel, which was refreshing after two books of limited devel-opment. We also receive some much needed background in-formation about the government employees who destroyed Lisbeth’s childhood.

Overall, this was another well-written book by Larsson, and I can’t accurately convey how sad I am to be finished with the series. I wish I could say I had a favorite book out of the three, but I love them all for different reasons. I have extremely high expectations for the new movies, and I hope I won’t be disappointed. Be warned David Fincher, Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig.

Katie Piper is a journalism senior.

Katie [email protected]

LIFE & ARTS COLUMNIST

Third novel just as pleasant as othersBOOK REVIEW

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