education, faith & community

March 29, 2013

Keith HumphreyChief of Police

Clark MitchellJourney Church

Dr. Joe SianoSuperintendent

OU has thehighest ranked

student body academically at a public university in Oklahoma history.

Norman Ranks in

the Top 100Small Cities

to Live in

Both high schools

wereranked in the Top 1000 High Schools

in 2012

Oklahoma has the largest

Native American population of any

state in the U.S.

Stained glass windows showcase the 12 disciples at Saint Mark's Catholic Church. photo by Julie Bragg

photos provided

The Signs Of SpringIn 1870, the U.S. Land Offi cecommissioned Abner E. Norman

to survey the Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma Territory, in anticipationof the future settlement of the area.

On April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma Land Run brought

settlers streaming across the Kansas and Texas borders to claim their piece of land.

In a single day, over 150 people piled off of the Santa Fe

Railroad at the Norman station and spent their first night in makeshiftcamps on their newly established town site. The next morning a downtown was already under construction.

The city of Norman was formally incorporated

on May 13, 1891, sixteen years before Oklahoma Statehood.

By 1902 the downtown district already had two banks,

two hotels, and a fl ourmill. By 1913 there wereover 3,700 residents living in Norman.

Growing upthe fi rst cluesthat Easter was near could always be foundtucked in the back of the copper-brownrefrigerator

at our northeast Norman home.Looking for after-school snacks was an everyday occurrence for growingboys. When my brothers and Idiscovered extra eggs and whippingcream, we quickly sounded thealarm.

Mom always bought extra eggsfrom Meiser’s farm on TecumsehRoad and a pint of whippingcream from the milkman JohnPotts. Nevermind that you couldalready whip the top layer of creamfrom the quart milk bottles.

Meisers was a place where youcould bond with the contented chickens that were supplying theEaster eggs and Potts’ cows wereeasy to spot in south Norman. The whipped cream made a nice finishto a piece of Easter Sunday pecan pie. What usually followed the eggdiscovery was a wave of shoppingtrips. The girls needed dresses and bonnets. The boys could use some sprucing up, too. That usuallymeant a Saturday trip to MidwayBarber Shop and the semi-annual hauling out of the homemade shoe-shine kit that was tucked awayin a corner closet. Nowadays, the signs of springand Easter’s arrival are all around us. Merchants have seized on spring

as an opportunity to move someproducts that have limited shelf life.One marked his winter goods down 75 percent last week. That rackdidn’t last long.

Localchurches arebeginning to get more aggressive,too. Yard signs,sometimes competing for space with political races, welcome the unchurched. Flyersstuck in doors giveme the service times and attiresuggestions. Other signs forme are the annual daffodil entrance.Bulbs planted by my daughtersand their Brownietroops 20 yearsago still manage to pop up in front of McKinleyElementary.

Even through drought,construction and hundreds of trampling students, the yellowflowers manage to arrive about thetime students return from spring break.

Lately, early-morning drivesthrough OU’s north campus en route to the Cleveland CountyFamily YMCA include springrabbit sightings. My unscientifi cresearch says the large rabbitsmake the morning moves after 45degrees, which usually happens in

mid-March.For the rabbits, the chickens

and the fl owers, spring is a seasonof renewal and rebirth. For

Christians, it is the most important season of the year. Our faithis formed by thecrucifi xion, deathand resurrectionof Jesus.Spring cleaning

means more than removing clutteraround the yard,home and offi ce.It easily translates to our hearts and minds. Baggagecarried from years past serveslittle good. It’s an ideal time to drop grudges, makepeace with friends,co-workers andestranged family members.Although

my country music knowledge israther limited, there’s a line inthe Shedaisy song, “Don’t WorryAbout A Thing” that always seemsto roll around in my head this time of year.

“We all carry a little junk in ourtrunk,” the bridge goes. It has taken me a long time but I know they’renot just singing about our cars.Andy Rieger366-3543editor@normantranscript.com

by Andy Rieger

Baggage carried from years past serves little good. It’s a

good time to drop grudges,make peace with friends, co-workers

and estranged family

members.

4 - March 29, 2013

bigbigIt’s The OneStudents say “thank you”by paying service forward.

Come April 13, Norman and thegreater Oklahoma City metro area willbe fl ooded with over 5,000 volunteersserving their community as a part of the University of Oklahoma’s BigEvent.

In its 13th year, OU students,faculty and staff are serving over 150jobsites — community-based and non-profit organizations and agencies— doing various projects. Big Event Chair Krishna Suthar, microbiologysenior from Tulsa, said the entirely student-run event allows students togive back to the community. “For me The Big Event is veryimportant for our campus and community because it serves a variety of purposes, gets students out into thecommunity to serve and meets needs for nonprofits and organizations,”she said. “A lot of work is paintingand yard work, providing supplies theorganization is unable to fulfill throughfinancial constraints and more. We’reable to make a large impact.”

This year’s Norman jobsitesinclude: Kennedy Elementary,Assistance League of Norman, East Main Place, Middle Earth Child Development Center, CommunityServices Building, Inc., ClevelandCounty Family YMCA, NAIC Norman Addiction Information& Counseling, Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency,and Council for DevelopmentalDisabilities.

Judy Vasiloff, Middle Earth ChildDevelopment Center interim executivedirector, said the center has been participating in the event for severalyears. Everyyear volunteershave assistedthe center in performingheavy labor. Thisyear, volunteerswill be painting severalclassrooms as well as spreadingsand around the playground area.

“We’renonprofit soit’s tremendous help to us,” Vasiloff said.“In some yearsthey’ve providedequipment we didn’t have to get thatwork done. In some years they’ve evensupplied the paint. In terms of the cost of labor, that’s critical.”

Vasiloff said her favorite part ofthe Big Event experience is the sense of camaraderie created betweencommunity members and students.The mutual good feelings has been sogood, she said some volunteers haveeven returned to apply for teachingjobs at the center. That sense of community is

exactly what makes this service eventso unique, OU President David Boren said. “OU’s Big Event has continued

to grow since itsstart in 1999, breaking recordsfor studentattendancerecently. Seeingthousands of our students joining together to give back to our universityand surroundingcommunities sends a strong message about our values as a university family,”Boren said. “I

am grateful to our students for theircontinued commitment to OU’s Big Event.”

The Big Event began at TexasA&M University in 1982 as astudent-led initiative to return the service and support to the universityprovided by the surroundingcommunity. Since then the event hasbecome an annual event at morethan 60 major universities acrossthe nation. - by Hannah Cruz

Seeing thousands of our students joining

together to give back to our university

and surrounding communities sends a strong message

about our values as a university family

- David L. BorenPresident, University of Oklahoma

The University of Oklahoma Big Event is no longer accepting jobsiteapplication submissions for this year’s event on April 13. To sign upnext year, community organizations can visit bigevent.ou.edu in lateOctober/November. For more information email bigevent@ou.edu.

(top)Bradyn Littles, left, and Harmony Hughes dig a hole where they will plant fl owers Saturday afternoon at Roosevelt Elementary School during the Big Event.

(bottom) Caleb Van Horn pushes a wheel barrow full of soil as he helps other OU students do landscaping work at Roosevelt Elementary School during the Big Event Saturday morning. photos by Kyle Phillips

A Capital Investment- Norman Public Schools always looking ahead. The Norman Public Schooldistrict is now in the fi nal phaseof its 2009 Bond Issue projects,and though this is cause for great pride, the work is never“finished” and the process ofimprovement is ongoing.

“Capital investments are anongoing process,” said Superin-tendent Joe Siano. “You make your investment, you evaluatewhere you are, look at districtgrowth and demographics toanticipate where they might be,and then you plan the next stepforward.”

Approved by voters Dec.8, 2009, the bond issue encom-passed renovations to each ofthe district’s school sites, new technology for every schooland a new elementary school, Reagan Elementary.

The bond’s lease revenuemodel, new to the district, en-abled NPS to complete its proj-ects fully and quickly by consoli-dating community approval to asingle vote, and saving taxpayersmillions in low interest rates. “Whether a Normanresident has a kid in the schoolsor not, these are community facilities, and everyone here hasa stake in what we do,” Sianosaid. Focusing especially onrenovations and expansionsto the district’s four middle schools, Superintendent JoeSiano described the bond issue as “transformational” for thedistrict’s facilities. Still, the district’s mission toserve its growing students anda growing student populationmeans that administrators must keep looking forward.

“From my viewpoint, bondsmust be based on needs assess-ment. We’re in the process nowof running a facility study of theentire district and coupling thatwith our demographic study of projected student growth, andfrom there we’ll create a needslist. That will be the beginningformulation of our projects,”Siano said. “This next bond is-sue we’re preparing for will takethe next step in that transforma-tion of facilities.”

Siano and Assistant Super-intendent Roger Brown saidthat, though planning stages arestill in the data-gathering and as-sessment phase, they expect the next bond issue will focus on thedistrict’s two high schools. “Both of our high schoolswill need to be a priority,” Siano said. “We did a lot of work atour high schools in the previousbond issue, but not to the levelwe worked on elementary andmiddle schools. I don’t want topre-determine the study, but Iwould see our high schools beinga priority in the next bond is-sue.”

Also of paramount concernin the next bond issue: school security. “One of the main thingswe’re doing is, we’ve developeda district safety committee of Norman police, mental health representatives, a parent fromthe citizens’ advisory committee,and we’ve introduced what NPSand the NPD have already beendoing,” Brown said. “Also we’reanticipating a security reviewas part of our pending facility study. Security updates were apart of the last bond issue, but

we need to continue that and tieboth the committee and facility study results together.”

The study is expected to becomplete in late April to early May.

Brown anticipated thatby the start of the 2014/2015school year, updated guidelinesand crisis plans will be in place,but more importantly, he said, aclimate of aid and accesible carefor students who need it.

“We think of capital invest-ments, and that’s good, butwe need to build the climatewithin the school of awarenessof student needs and sharinginformation. So if a studenthears or sees something, theyshould be in a climate wherethey feel comfortable sharing it with a teacher or administrator,” Brown said.

Additionally, collaborationbetween the school and other agencies within law enforcementand mental health will be crucial to future school safety policy. “If a situation arises wherea student needs assistance, wehope to have assessment teamson each school site to help determine the best response, and the committe is helping us make good contacts and ensure thatwe’ll have professionals to helpus,” Brown said.

“What a school should beis a hub or facilitator that uses professionals within the com-munity,” Siano said. “We need acollaborative way to get needed services to the right people atthe right time. We gain a lot bycollaborating.” - by CaitlinSchudalla

7 - March 29, 2013

Reagan Elementary School during construction. photo by Jerry Laizure

Construction workers use a crane to set steel posts at the Norman

Public Schools administration building Monday, March 4. photo

by Jay Chilton

Norman parents check out the interior of Reagan Elementary photo by Kyle Phillips

Children gather at Reagan Elemetary for an assembly.photo by Kyle Phillips

A Time To Question Faith- Prof. Charles Kimball explains why college students and faith don’t always mix.

or many, going away to college meanscutting the apron strings and learning several of life’s lessons along the way.

For some that means simpletasks of doing laundry, paying billsand even learning how to cook for

themselves. And, being away from home for thefirst time, can also lead some students to questiontheir religious upbringing. Charles Kimball, presidential professor anddirector of the Religious Studies Program at theUniversity of Oklahoma, said students strayingfrom their faith in college is not groundbreaking.

“Part of the college experience, part of thegrowing up experience, is to learn to be more onyour own, to be more of an adult, to think, to askquestions,” Kimball said. For many students, going to college is a timewhen they first realize there is a larger world outthere, leading youth to learn how make sense oftheir own place. “That doesn’t mean abandoning what oneholds true, but to realize that there are various religious traditions and various cultural contextsand various ways of seeing the world. You areliving with a roommate in college who has a verydifferent nuclear family than you do,” Kimball said. “It has been a case for a long time thatcollege is a time when a lot of students begin to challenge their own perception or questionthings, one of the areas that comes under a lot of scrutiny is their religious background. That

doesn’t mean abandoning religion. There are allkinds of people that will drift away from whatmom and dad taught them and fi nd their wayback to that. There are others who might havegrown up Baptist and question some things andend up marrying a Presbyterian.

There is no predictable outcome, but I tryto help students intellectually as they are taking religion courses to learn to think for yourself andask questions. Whatever you conclude, that isyour business.”

Traditionally, college students can stay intouch with their faith through campus ministry.However, due to financial strains, Kimball said,many churches have been forced to scale backtheir presence on campuses. “I think there’s a lot of changes going on interms of campus ministry. In the last 30 to 40years, a lot of campus ministry has slowly shiftedaway from a denominationall base. They are stillaround, but for a lot of the churches, a lot ofthe money for campus ministry has dried up. A lot of non-denominational groups have made amajor push on college campuses,” Kimball said. “I think we are seeing a time of transition nowand part of it is driven by funding. Many of the major denominations that historically have hada presence on campus are just in tighter fi nancialstraights as their numbers have been shrinking.”

But, Kimball adds, many new models forcampus ministry have been forming. Kimball usesthe Second Wind Coffee House as an example.The coffee house, which is located on CampusCorner, is operated entirely by volunteers and is a division of First Presbyterian Church.

“That’s just a new kind of model that ismaking a welcoming place. You don’t have togo there to go to a Bible study or go there to listen to a speaker, you just go there and havecoffee. I think part of the approach there is to provide some kind of environment and someprogramming for people who are interested, butit is communicating that you can be a person of faith and you can ask questions,” Kimball said. Studies show, Kimball said, that collegestudents are not the only ones that have atendency to question their religion. “There is quite a significant trend in the

country documented by a Pew Study in October that there is a large group of ‘nones’, peoplewho check ‘none of the above’ when it comes toreligion,” Kimball said.

According to the professor, between 2007-2012, 15 to 20 percent of the population of people in America considered themselves to not be affi liated with a certain denomination.

“At the same time, well over 50 percent saythat they pray, even the people who check noneof the above. And over 60 percent believe in somekind of God or ultimate reality of spirit. So it’snot a complete ‘no’ to religion, but it seems to be more of a ‘I don’t feel the need to identify myselfwith a particular religion or a particular tradition within Christianity,’” Kimball said. “That’s a veryclear trend. It demographically tracts from one age group to the next. So when you look at thetotal population, in this most recent study, it’s 1in 5 people say that they don’t check any of theabove. If you take the World War II generation,it’s only 1 in 20 that would check none of the above. Each generation, there is a growingnumber who don’t identify with organizedreligion.”

Kimball also notes that studies show thatthere are quite a signifi cant percentage of peoplewho don’t identify a religion because they havebeen turned off by the politics of religion and therole that religion plays in politics.

“The impression they get from TV preachersand from religion politics is if I am this, a Christian, then I have to believe X, Y or Z orGod is a Republican or whatever it might be,”Kimball said. “From a social standpoint, it seemsfar less important that people identify themselves specifi cally. This may be an outgrowth of a largertrend. When I was growing up in the ’50s inTulsa, people very clearly identified themselves asEpiscopalian or Baptist or Lutheran or whatever.The last 20 or 30 years, an awful lot of people,and I’m not talking about younger people but older people, too, they couldn’t tell you muchabout what separates the Methodists from thePresbyterians. They can tell you which church hasthe best youth director and the basketball league their kid is playing in and the church wheresomething is happening.” - by Shana Adkisson

F

8 - March 29, 2013

photo provided

For The Community - Norman is full of opportunities to volunteer

Be it health, education, mentorship or the arts, in Norman, there’s a place in Norman for every volunteer to find a cause they are passionate about.For example, Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Sam Noble or Fred Jones. Check out the list below to discover a good match for yourself.

eenagers can volunteer theirtime serving the community with the

United Way of Norman’s TeenAdvisors of Norman program.

Diane Murphree, UnitedWay of Norman director ofcommunity impact, said the community service programis for 10th to 12th grade high school students.

“I think it’s important forkids to volunteer because it gets them out of themselves, itallows them to see that there’sa bigger picture than whatthey’re involved in on a dailybasis at school,” Murphree said. “I think there’s a senseof accomplishment and pridethat they’re actually going

out and helping other people and not just themselves. Ithink it’s a really humbling experience a lot of times and Ithink it provides an emphasisfor them to go on and havethat philanthropic attitude throughout their lives.”

Projects vary from year toyear but may include raisingfunds or supplies for schools,hosting parties for Head Start programs, gifting variousobjects to those in need, and more.

Murphree said the groupof 30 students meets severaltimes a month.Applications can be filled outon the United Way website atwww.unitedwaynorman.org orpicked up from school counsel.

he Norman Arts Council is seeking volunteersfor a variety of eventsthroughout the summer.

Norman Arts Council ExecutiveDirector Erinn Gavaghan said the helpis critical in hosting successful events.

“Obviously we have a very smallstaff so when we do these large eventswe need a lot of help,” she said. “It’s agreat way to support an organizationwhether or not you can make amonetary donation. Man hours areimportant as well.” Volunteers are needed duringfor The One Event, NAC’s only yearlyfundraiser, March 30 at MAINSITE,120 E. Main St. Two shifts areavailable, 6:30-8 p.m. and 8-11 p.m.,for volunteers to: check-in and selltickets at the door, monitor the auction and raffl e, housekeeping, courtyard

supervision, bar help, raffl e ticket/auction sales and clean up. During the Festival of the Arts,April 23-28, in Downtown OklahomaCity, NAC needs volunteers to assistKona Ice, a sno-cone booth, in makingand serving sno-cones. Several shiftsare available each day.

Norman Open Studiosneeds volunteers May 11 to stamp “passports” and greet guests atstudios and to provide information atMAINSITE. Two shifts are available 9a.m. to 12 p.m. and 12-3 p.m.Norman Public Arts Board needs volunteers for various projectsthroughout the spring. Moreinformation is available to those interested. For more information visitwww.normanarts.org or call 405-360-1162.

he Norman Regional Health System (NRHS) offers volunteeropportunities for

teenagers, college students andadults interested in a wide-range of activities.

NRHS Volunteer ServicesCoordinator Jessica Carwile said each campus stands in need of volunteers in a variety offunctions such as manning the front desk and gift shop, assistingin the emergency room or participating in service projects. The adult programsincludes positions for information desks, gift shops andthe hospitality house, as well as assisting in surgery waiting areas. The college programincludes positions in the

emergency room department to assist with various tasks, help atthe Health Club or assist with distribution and transportation of hospital equipment.

The teen program includesa monthly service projects during the school year, and weekly projects during thesummer. No matter the function,Carwile said volunteers help ensure an improved experiencefor hospital patients.

“The volunteers give thehospital experience a personal touch for people who are in a really difficult time.”

For more information onvolunteer opportunities visitwww.normanregional.com or call Carwile 405-307-1789.

United Way of Norman

T T

Norman Arts CouncilNorman Regional Health System

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11 - March 29, 2013

Pioneer Library Provides More Than Books- To serve East Norman better, the library is adding a satellite at Irving. In Norman, public library service will expand in2013 to include service points on the east and west sides of the city in addition to the downtown main branch site.With more than 750,000 books, DVDs, periodicals anddownloadable items as part of its collection, the PioneerLibrary System offers a variety of resources one typicallywould expect from the library.

To better serve customers in East Norman, Pioneer’s24-hour Library is due to open later in the spring on the campus of Irving Middle School. The 24-Hour-Library is a self-service, standalone unit, similar to the library system’s Movie Boxes but much larger. It will holdabout 400 items and will be available for books, moviesand items on hold, and can be used for check-ins and checkouts.

The facility, produced by Envisionware, is in use inseveral places worldwide, including hundreds of unitsthroughout China. But the PLS 24-Hour Library will be the fi rst of its type in the United States. It will be locatedon an island in the parking area to the northwest of the school building.

Late 2013 is the projected opening for a WestSide Satellite of the Norman Public Library in the Pioneer Building at 300 Norman Center Court. The 25,000-square foot building also will houseadministrative functions for the system, with those personnel and resources expected to move into thebuilding this summer. The building formerly was thelocation of Borders Bookstore.

The satellite library will be housed in 6,617 squarefeet of that space and will feature books, computer workstations, a Movie Box and eventually a 24-Hour Libraryoutside the building like the one on the east side of town. Plans also are in place for a café on the northwest corner of the facility to be run by an outside vendor.

Kaighn Associates isthe architect handling theredesign of the building,with Meyer, Scherer &Rockcastle, planning thedesign of the satellite libraryspace. That group also didthe design for the newest PLS branch, the Southwest Oklahoma City Public Library,which opened in March 2012.CMS Willowbrook is serving as the Project Manager. The Pioneer LibrarySystem provides library

services in Cleveland, McClain and Pottawatomiecounties, through 10 branch libraries and eight Information Stations in rural communities. Anyonewho lives, works, attends school or owns property in thethree-county area is eligible to have a library card free ofcharge.

PLS transfers items between its libraries six days aweek to quickly get a reader what they are seeking. Whileaccess to books and a quiet, cool place to read them is a part of the library, so too are the variety of programsoffered for all ages.

In spring, the library system takes part in thenational initiative The Big Read. The seventh editionof The Big Read in March and April centered on theTobias Wolff novel “Old School,” and culminated withWolff visiting Oklahoma to speak in Shawnee andNorman. Past selections for The Big Read include AmyTan’s “The Joy Luck Club,” Dashiell Hammett’s “TheMaltese Falcon,” and John Steinbeck’s “The Grapes of Wrath.

During June and July, PLS libraries open their doorsfor programming options nearly every day of the week.The 2012 Summer Reading Program brought in totalattendance of more than 12,000 children, teens andadults who signed up to participate, and thousands morebeyond that number came through the doors of the 10branch libraries during their busiest time of the year. While these events garner a lot of attention,the library’s programmingscheduleruns year-round.In the previous

fiscal year, more than 136,000 people attended nearly4,000 programs put on at PLS branches.More than 20 book discussion groups hosted by PLSlibraries meet monthly, including several tailoredspecifi cally teens or even tweens in the 8- to 11-year-oldrange. Throughout the system, about 30 to 35 programsa week for children are offered, ranging from the musical Rhythm Babies and Music Connectionsprograms in Norman to Baby and Lapsit Story Timesfor the youngest of library users and their caregiversto a number of outreach Story Times in communities,including Norman staff conducting a weekly SoonerMall Story Time that draws around 75 guests each week. The PLS Virtual Library branch has more than40,000 downloadable eBooks and audio books, whichare available for download to a number of eReaders,including the Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and Sony Reader, as well as other mobile devices such as a Smartphone or an MP3 player.

The library system subscribes to several onlinedatabases, such as Ancestry.com for genealogyresearchers, Reference USA and BusinessDecision forsmall business entrepreneurs or Brainfuse for studentsand homework help.The Norman, Moore and Noble libraries also offerin-person homework help for school-age from volunteertutors during the school year. And the PLS Literacy Department is in tune with the needs of adult literacy,

with volunteer tutors working with both English as aSecond Language students as well

as native speakers who need help with their literacy skills. The Pioneer LibrarySystem operates branchlibraries in Blanchard,

McLoud, Moore, Newcastle,Noble, Norman, Purcell,Shawnee, Southwest Oklahoma City and Tecumseh. Each of thelibraries is open seven daysa week. For a schedule of hours, activities and servicesoffered at each library, goonline to the PLS home page, www.justsoyouknow.us- by Christian Potts

photo provided

Gaylord GreatsStudents celebrate 100 years of OU Journalism.

In the fall of 1913, when the University of Okla-homa’s newly formed school of journalism, housedin the College of Arts and Sciences, acceptedits fi rst students, print was king and modernAmerican journalism was still in its infancy. That first semester, the school offered two courses to 28students, who had one degree option: journalism.

One hundred years later, the school has beenelevated to college status - with an enrollmentof about 1,200, the fifth-largest at the university;its faculty, staff and students are housed in abeautiful, spacious and state-of-the art facility; and students have the choice of several degree optionsin addition to journalism: advertising, broadcast-ing and electronic media, professional writing, and public relations. As the Gaylord College of Journalism andMass Communication celebrates its centennial, two current Gaylord College students - one ofwhom is pursuing the recently initiated doctoraldegree program in the college - and two recentgraduates were asked to share their experiencesin a fi eld that, while grounded in solid journalismvalues, is changing as rapidly as an IM.

- Bryan CarrWhen Bryan Carr began his doctoral studies at

Gaylord College in fall 2010, he had never before steppedfoot on the OU Norman campus. His decision to pursuehis postgraduate education at Gaylord College was made after meeting with some the college's faculty in 2008 atthe Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Chicago, where he recalls being “really impressed with the faculty and the program”and the “welcoming and accommodating atmosphere” they portrayed.

As a doctoral student in Gaylord College, Carr sayshe has had a myriad of opportunities, as he puts it, “to do things I would never have expected to do.”

Last summer, for example, Carr created andtaught a course called Survey of Gaming and InteractiveMedia, in which he covered the social and technologicaldevelopments of video games and other forms ofinteractive media, as well as their impact on culture and the role they play in society.“I'm also working on a book of essays and research aboutrace, gender and identity in superhero media with my

committee chair Dr. Meta Carstarphen and shopping it around to major publishers,” he said.

He has nothing but praise for Gaylord College's newdoctoral program. “The Ph.D. program is fantastic. Thedepth and breadth of courses offered has been incrediblyuseful not only for a deeper understanding of coreconcepts but also for improving research skills and generalknowledge. …The faculty are incredibly diverse and veryknowledgeable, and more importantly will challenge yourknowledge and perceptions about the world. They arededicated to seeing students succeed, and offer support and guidance even when they don't have to.”He added, “The facilities are fantastic and facilitate manyforms of research and teaching. Moreover, if you havea good idea for a course or want to pursue a particular area of study, it is easy to make your case and find facultysupport. It is incredibly benefi cial to someone that is juststarting their academic career. My only wish is that I had more time!” But has his course of study in Gaylord Collegeprepared him for a future career? Responds Carr, whowill earn his Ph.D. in May: “I should say it has, as I haverecently accepted an assistant professor position at theUniversity of Wisconsin-Green Bay!”

- Rachel WorthenRachel Worthen transferred to OU the spring of

her sophomore year after attending a small private schoolin Missouri. A public relations major, she says she was frustrated by the lack of opportunities to develop outsidethe classroom at the other school. She transferred to Gaylord College in part becauseof the strong presence of the OU chapter of the PublicRelations Student Society of America there. Other sellingpoints she identifi ed were the Lindsey + Asp advertisingand public relations agency within the college and the beautiful, state-of-the-art Gaylord Hall. Worthen said Gaylord College has met herexpectations - and more. “I've loved getting to be involvedwith the PRSSA as the webmaster, programming directorand now chapter president. …Though we're large (107 members), I still feel like people get a chance to be involvedand get to know each other. I've loved being a mentor inour mentorship program and being involved in differentcommittees. Our chapter adviser, Robert Pritchard, is also the PRSSA National Faculty Adviser. I constantly have students at PRSSA conferences tell me how jealous

they are of our chapter because of Pritch. He is a greatencourager and asset to the chapter.”

She called her involvement with Lindsey + Asp fromthe fall of 2011 to the present “a phenomenal experience,” adding, “I adore having a space specifi cally devoted toagency students where we can work for our clients as wellas do our work for classes.”

During her first year with the student-run PR/advertising firm, Worthen served as an account coordinatoron an American Airlines team, which was responsible for monitoring conversations on social media platformsand compiling a monthly analysis of travel trends andconsumer issues from various airlines. In fall 2012, she worked as an account executive in charge of the ZenithAwards, a national competition for public relations andstrategic communications students, and also as a member of the Bystander Initiative, a program developed toeducate students about measures they may take to avoid orprevent sexual harassment, to be implemented this spring.

This semester, Worthen was appointed as accountexecutive for the agency's newest client, U-Jam Fitness, andcontinues to work on the Bystander Initiative team.

“I have already seen my experiences in the agencyhelp me obtain internship offers and am confi dent theywill continue to help me post-graduation,” Worthen said. “Working in the agency gives students an amazingopportunity. The chance to not only work for well-knownclients, but to be in charge of strategy developmentand implementation for these clients gives me and other students the confi dence we need to step up in ourinternships and post-graduate jobs.”

Upon graduating this May with a bachelor's degreein journalism with an emphasis in public relations,Worthen hopes to pursue a public relations career “in apublic relations fi rm to continue developing my skills andcontinue learning about the variety of ways public relationsskills can be used across a wide spectrum of industries.”

- Keegan Kirkhart Keegan Kirkhart, who graduated from OU in May2012 with a bachelor of arts degree in broadcasting andelectronic media, calls his time at Gaylord College “some of the best” of his entire life.

“I never had a hard time choosing which universityI wanted to attend,” he recalls. “In high school, I knew instinctively that I wanted to apply to OU. It was one of those obvious decisions … And then because I was so

involved in video production in my hometown, I knew Ihad to go straight for a broadcasting degree. So I calledup Gaylord College and set up a tour. After seeing the computer labs, news studio and the editing bays, I was soldon Gaylord College 100 percent.” While attending Gaylord College, he was part ofthe original crew that started OUr Sports Pad, a student-produced sports show that allowed him to work with theOU men's basketball and wrestling teams, as well as direct the show live on air. He also worked for OU Nightly, oneof the top, award-winning student-produced newscasts inthe nation. Through that involvement, he says, “I was ableto see fi rsthand how a TV and an editorial crew workedtogether to produce a daily newscast that was visible by 186,000 homes. I worked my way up from cameraoperator to director over the course of five years and Iended making some of the best friends in my life.”

Calling Gaylord College “one of the most cutting-edge colleges on campus,” Kirkhart related: “I can't tell you the number of times I have seen students from othercolleges using our study lounges or commenting on hownice our facilities are. … I made Gaylord College mysecond home. I would literally attend classes at GaylordHall, stay during the afternoon for our news shows and then utilize the computer labs and editing bays to fi nishup all of my homework. You almost don't even realize justhow awesome Gaylord College is, in terms of access toprofessional equipment, until you graduate and no longerhave access to it.”

Upon coming to OU, Kirkhart continued workingon a business he had established several years earlier thatfocused on mobile DJ, web design and video productionservices. “I kept the business running, but really focusedon expanding my knowledge of broadcasting and video production,” he said. “I also received plenty of hands-onexperience with live sports and news shows during thistime. Today, my business has expanded, and because of theexperiences I had at Gaylord College, I was able to land afreelance position at SoonerVision, where I have workedon over 75 shows in the last five months.”

In addition to serving as a technical director or audioengineer for SoonerVision at live sporting events, he alsocurrently owns Kirkhart Studios, a multimedia companythat specializes in DJing, video production and web design. - by Jerri Culpepper

12 - March 29, 2013

- Bryan Carr - Rachel Worthen - Keegan Kirkhart

photos provided

Video games do not qualify for startingthat new activity you promised yourself almost three months ago while toasting the calendar change. Spring is here, winteris over and there are many options to getoff the couch and start having fun, notelevision or computer screen needed. The Norman Parks and RecreationDepartment will sponsor many options foroutdoor fun and friendly competition. Tokick off the season, Norman’s NE LionsPark will host the George Hulsey MemorialTrout Derby at willow pond. The pond willbe stocked early in the fi rst week of Aprilwith rainbow trout and be off limits until8 a.m. Saturday, April 6 when children 15and under will gather around the pondwith an adult to try to catch a four fish limitbefore noon. To prepare the kids for thederby, 12th Avenue Recreation Center willhold a trout fi shing clinic to teach angling

basics to help the young people return home with a full

stringer of fish.May 18Norman High

School Track will be filled with kidsseven to 15 years of age competing in theHershey’s Track and Field Games. Entrydeadline is Friday, May 10 and check-in atthe track will begin at 2:30 p.m. and races kick off at 3:30 p.m.

Late registration is still open for youthbaseball and softball or spring volleyball. The season for youth baseball and softballbegins April 29 and spring volleyball will begin April 18. Spring junior golf is starting atWestwood Golf Course where they willhost fi rst-time options for juniors new tothe game and well-known national and regional programs such as First Tee andtournaments conducted by the South Central Section of the PGA. Age specific junior tennis clinics beginMarch 29 and run through May 22 atWestwood Tennis Center with an optionfor more advanced players interested in

competitive play.Norman parks and recreation

has many spring programs foryoungsters but the adultcommunity has not been

forgotten. NormanAmateur Softball starts its season

April 26 atReaves Park andregistration is atthe east complexof Reaves park.

Westwood Golf Course hosts its Men’sGolf Association on Thursday afternoons and Westwood Tennis Center right next door offers walk-in drills for beginnersevery Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. and drillsfor intermediate to advanced players everyMonday.

The spring season started and runsthrough May 31 with the summer season starting June 1 for women, men and doubles. Socials and tournaments areoffered throughout the season.

For more adventurous outdoor fun theNorman Roundup Club on the east side of 60th Avenue N.E. between Alamedaand Robinson offers fun for all ages. The Norman Roundup Club focuses on youth events and rodeos for girls and boys of allages but also has opportunities for adults who ever wanted to strap onto the back ofa bull and try to go the full eight seconds,run fl at out against the clock to a hair-pin turn around a barrel or lasso a steer,competing for prizes and cash. Outdoor fun is not only for thecompetitive at heart. For people fortunate to live in or near Norman and ClevelandCounty, recreational options are abundant.Lake Thunderbird and the Little River State Park lies on our doorstep offeringcamping, horseback riding, fi shing, skiingand all the advantages of a large lake facility while the City of Norman enjoys seven recreation centers and 62 parks. - byJay Chilton

OU is home to one of the two largest natural history museums

in the world associated with a university. The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History has more than 7 million artifacts and contains 195,000 square feet on 40 acres of land.

Frank Lloyd Wright visitedthe campus and termed

the architectural style “Cherokee Gothic” because of the combination Native American and European infl uences.

The highly acclaimed journal of international

literature, World LiteratureToday, is published at theUniversity of Oklahoma.

An OU Debate Team from theShannon Self Debate Program

has won the national championship in debate four of the last six years.

Dance Magazine places the OU School of Dance in the top three of

all dance programs in the country.

OU ranks No. 1 in the nation among all public universities in the

number of National Merit Scholars enrolled.

Just Push Play- Get out there and have some fun

VIPsSome names and numbers to knowNorman Parks and RecreationJud Foster, Director 366-5427

Westwood Golf CourseDavid Lisle, Head Pro 292-9700

Westwood Tennis CenterDavid Minihan, Tennis Pro 366-8859

Norman Roundup ClubKimberly Bartle, Chairman of the Board 503-6442

Cleveland County Family YMCA 364-9622

Norman Optimist Club 366-1177

Lake Thunderbird State Park 360-3572

14 - March 29, 2013

photos provided