thursday, august 23, 2012

12
MELODIE LETTKEMAN Campus Reporter After a three-year decline in new trans- fers to OU, officials expect recent enroll- ment increases to continue and that may increase demand for transfer-student spe- cific services. New transfer enrollment went up 5.9 percent between fall 2010 and fall 2011, according to a document from associate provost Cheryl Jorgenson. Final numbers for Fall 2012 will be available Sept. 10, after the add/drop deadline. “We traditionally enroll a lot of students [the first] two weeks,” Jorgenson said in an email. Kyle Butcher, Couch center coordinator and co-adviser for the Oklahoma Association of Transfer Students, said the increase is welcome be- cause it creates more po- tential members. Butcher hopes the new group can ease the transition between schools. “Social and cultural adjustments, aca- demic workloads and the overall adapta- tion to a new environment can be difficult for any student,” he said. The executive team is currently work- ing out events and will tailor information- al meetings for transfers around student feedback. Current planned topics include student involvement, study abroad, aca- demic integrity and campus resources, Butcher said. LINDSEY RUTA Campus Editor University-provided stu- dent health insurance will now cover birth control and other preventative health care measures at no cost to students, according to Human Resources officials. “The OU student health plan is covering most pre- ventive services and increas- ing maximum available ben- efits on surgery, pharmacy and mental health services,” said Nick Kelly, vice-presi- dent of Human Resources, in an email. These new measures are mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act, which was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28. Although all private insurers are re- quired to implement the health care reform, self- insured institutions are ex- empt from the changes, ac- cording to the government health care website. OU is one of seven uni- versities in the Big 12 that is self-insured and there- fore not required by law to cover preventative health care such as birth control. Although not mandatory, Kelly said the decision to im- plement preventative health care coverage was made in an effort to remain competi- tive with other universities. “Our ongoing review indi- cates that the changes made at OU are seen commonly WWW.OUDAILY.COM 2011 SILVER CROWN WINNER THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012 e University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916 Sooner Hockey Sports: Transfers bring experience (Page 6) OPINION: EDITOR IN CHIEF RESPONDS TO CONTROVERSY (Page 4) BY SAM HIGGINS Campus Reporter The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $9.7 million grant funding University of Oklahoma’s research in molecular biology. Oklahoma Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, or COBRE, grants are given to insti- tutions doing biomedi- cal research in order to strengthen their infra- structure, according to the website. Ann West, a professor in the department of chemis- try and biochemistry and the project director for the grant, said many oppor- tunities are now open be- cause of the money. “One of the things these funds will allow us to do is upgrade some very so- phisticated instrumen- tation in our core facil- ity,” West said. “Our cur- rent [X-ray machine in Stephenson Life Science’s Instruments to be updated with new funds SEE GRANT PAGE 3 KINGSLEY BURNS/THE DAILY John Cardwell sings during the “Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin” concert on Wednesday outside the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Read more in Life & Arts (page 11) and on OUDaily.com FUNDS $9.7 M given to OU for research Sooners still love Boris Yeltsin Facebook facebook.com/OUDaily Twitter twitter.com/OUDaily VOL. 98, NO. 7 © 2012 OU Publications Board FREE — Additional copies 25¢ INSIDE TODAY Campus ...................... 2 Classifieds ................ 8 Life&Arts .................. 10 Opinion ..................... 4 Sports........................ 6 Welcome to the world of comic books Life & Arts: Comic books aren’t just for children and superheroes anymore, everyone can be a fan. (Page 11) YOUR VIEWS: Letters to the editor sent by students, alumni Opinion: OU community expresses thoughts on Cooke article. (Page 5) HEALTH CARE Birth control covered by university Student health plan covers most preventive services SEE HEALTH PAGE 3 Transfer enrollment up 5.9 percent from fall 2010 to fall 2011 ENROLLMENT Transfer rate expected to increase SEE TRANSFER PAGE 2 KYVEN ZHAO/THE DAILY Camp Crimson Leaders demonstrate activities during Camp Crimson on the 8th floor of Couch Tower on June 21. DAILY FILE PHOTO Joshua Landis stands with a photo of a mosque outside his office. Landis is the director of the Center for Middle East Studies On Wednesday, Aug. 29, OU professor Joshua Landis will speak in front of OU students, staff and faculty and public as part of a President’s Associates dinner. Landis, who is the direc- tor of the Center for Middle East Studies, will discuss the current revolution in Syria with his presentation, “Syria at the Crossroads,” in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. “He will discuss the cur- rent situation in Syria and factors which have led to it,” President Boren said in a press release. Landis is a well-renown middle-eastern scholar often cited by other news outlets such as NPR and the Wall Street Journal. “President Boren loves having speakers,” said press secretary Michael Nash. “He is very excited, and we are all really happy and lucky to have Dr. Landis on the staff at the University of Oklahoma.” The reception is at 6 p.m. with dinner and the lecture following at 6:30 p.m. Seating is limited so those interested in reserving a spot can call the OU Office of Special Events at 405- 325-3784. Lindsay Bodman Campus reporter SPEECH OU professor to speak to Sooners about Syrian revolution University of Oklahoma: self insured Oklahoma State University: self insured University of Texas: self insured University of Kansas: privately insured Baylor University: self insured Iowa State University: self insured Source: Big 12 universities AT A GLANCE Big 12 Health Insurance oud-2012-8-23-a-001,002.indd 1 8/22/12 11:21:17 PM

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

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Page 1: Thursday, August 23, 2012

MELODIE LETTKEMANCampus Reporter

After a three-year decline in new trans-fers to OU, officials expect recent enroll-ment increases to continue and that may increase demand for transfer-student spe-cific services.

New transfer enrollment went up 5.9 percent between fall 2010 and fall 2011, according to a document from associate provost Cheryl Jorgenson. Final numbers for Fall 2012 will be available Sept. 10, after the add/drop deadline.

“We traditionally enroll a lot of students [the first] two weeks,” Jorgenson said in an email.

Kyle Butcher, Couch center coordinator

a n d c o - a d v i s e r f o r t h e Oklahoma Association of Transfer Students, said the increase is welcome be-cause it creates more po-

tential members. Butcher hopes the new group can ease the transition between schools.

“Social and cultural adjustments, aca-demic workloads and the overall adapta-tion to a new environment can be difficult for any student,” he said.

The executive team is currently work-ing out events and will tailor information-al meetings for transfers around student feedback. Current planned topics include student involvement, study abroad, aca-demic integrity and campus resources, Butcher said.

LINDSEY RUTACampus Editor

University-provided stu-dent health insurance will now cover birth control and other preventative health care measures at no cost to students, according to

Human Resources officials.“The OU student health

plan is covering most pre-ventive services and increas-ing maximum available ben-efits on surgery, pharmacy and mental health services,” said Nick Kelly, vice-presi-dent of Human Resources, in an email.

These new measures are mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act, which

was upheld by the Supreme Court on June 28. Although all private insurers are re-quired to implement the health care reform, self-insured institutions are ex-empt from the changes, ac-cording to the government health care website.

OU is one of seven uni-versities in the Big 12 that is self-insured and there-fore not required by law

to cover preventative health care such as birth control.

Although not mandatory, Kelly said the decision to im-plement preventative health care coverage was made in an effort to remain competi-tive with other universities.

“Our ongoing review indi-cates that the changes made at OU are seen commonly

W W W . O U D A I L Y . C O M 2 0 1 1 S I L V E R C R O W N W I N N E RT H U R S D A Y , A U G U S T 2 3 , 2 0 1 2

� e University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916

sooner Hockeysports: Transfers bring experience (Page 6)oPinion: EDITOR IN

CHIEF RESPONDS TO CONTROVERSY (Page 4)

BY SAM HIGGINSCampus Reporter

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a $9.7 million grant funding University of Oklahoma’s research in molecular biology.

Oklahoma Center of Biome dical Res earch Excellence, or COBRE, grants are given to insti-tutions doing biomedi-cal research in order to strengthen their infra-structure, according to the website.

Ann West, a professor in the department of chemis-try and biochemistry and the project director for the grant, said many oppor-tunities are now open be-cause of the money.

“One of the things these funds will allow us to do is upgrade some very so-phisticated instrumen-tation in our core facil-ity,” West said. “Our cur-rent [X-ray machine in Stephenson Life Science’s

Instruments to be updated with new funds

see GRANT paGe 3

see XXXXXX paGe XX

KinGsLey BuRns/tHe daiLy

John Cardwell sings during the “someone still Loves You Boris Yeltsin” concert on Wednesday outside the Oklahoma Memorial Union. read more in Life & arts (page 11) and on OUDaily.com

fUnDs

$9.7 M given to OU for research

Sooners still love Boris Yeltsin

Facebookfacebook.com/oudaily

Twittertwitter.com/oudaily

VOL. 98, NO. 7© 2012 oU Publications BoardFREE — additional copies 25¢

INSIDE ToDaYcampus......................2

classi f ieds................8

Life&ar ts..................10

opinion.....................4

spor ts........................6

Welcome to the world of comic books Life & Arts: comic books aren’t just for children and superheroes anymore, everyone can be a fan. (Page 11)

YOUR VIEWS: Letters to the editor sent by students, alumniOpinion: ou community expresses thoughts on cooke article. (Page 5)

HeaLTH Care

Birth control covered by university Student health plan covers most preventive services

see HEALTH paGe 3

Transfer enrollment up 5.9 percent from fall 2010 to fall 2011

enrOLLMenT

Transfer rate expected to increase

see TRANSFER paGe 2

Kyven ZHao/tHe daiLy

Camp Crimson Leaders demonstrate activities during Camp Crimson on the 8th floor of Couch Tower on June 21.

daiLy FiLe pHoto

Joshua Landis stands with a photo of a mosque outside his office. Landis is the director of the Center for Middle east studies

on Wednesday, aug. 29, ou professor Joshua Landis will speak in front of ou students, staff and faculty and public as part of a president’s associates dinner.

Landis, who is the direc-tor of the center for middle east studies, will discuss the current revolution in syria with his presentation, “syria at the crossroads,” in the molly shi Boren Ballroom in the oklahoma

memorial union.“He will discuss the cur-

rent situation in syria and factors which have led to it,” president Boren said in a press release.

Landis is a well-renown middle-eastern scholar often cited by other news outlets such as npR and the Wall street Journal.

“president Boren loves having speakers,” said press secretary michael nash. “He is very excited,

and we are all really happy and lucky to have dr. Landis on the staff at the university of oklahoma.”

the reception is at 6 p.m. with dinner and the lecture following at 6:30 p.m. seating is limited so those interested in reserving a spot can call the ou offi ce of special events at 405-325-3784.

Lindsay BodmanCampus reporter

SPEECH

OU professor to speak to Sooners about Syrian revolution

university of oklahoma: self insured

oklahoma state university: self insured

university of texas: self insured

university of Kansas:

privately insured

Baylor university: self insured

iowa state university: self insured

Source: Big 12 universities

aT a GlaNCE Big 12 Health Insurance

2 0 1 1 S I L V E R C R O W N W I N N E R

oud-2012-8-23-a-001,002.indd 1 8/22/12 11:21:17 PM

Page 2: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Lindsey Ruta, campus editorChase Cook and Jake Morgan, assistant editors

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666oudaily.com • Twitter: @OUDaily

2 • Thursday, August 23, 2012

CaMpus

RecoRd RequestsThe Oklahoma Daily regularly asks for access to public information from ou officials. Here is a list of the most-recent requests our reporters have submitted to the university.

Visit OUDaily.com/openrecords for a full list of requests

Requested document and purpose Date requested

coRRectionsThe Oklahoma Daily is committed to serving readers with accurate coverage and welcomes your comments about information that may require correction or clarification. to contact us with corrections, email us at [email protected].

Visit OUDaily.com/corrections for an archive of our corrections

today aRound campus

Library orientation sessions will be held at 9:30 a.m. and noon at Bizzell memorial Library.

Commuter lunch Free papa John’s pizza will be offered for commuters at the Lloyd noble center bus stop at 11:30 a.m.

Super hero test the union programming Board will host a booth where students can determine which avenger they are and take a picture as a super hero on the first floor lobby of the oklahoma memorial union from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Tee party bring a blank t-shirt to the school of art and art History to have it printed with a design for free from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Free pizza and soda will be provided.

Night at the Huff basketball, volleyball and dodgeball tournaments will be held from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Huston Huffman center.

aug. 9

Drug test results — the results of drug tests for ou football players from Jan. 1, 2009 to aug. 9 2012

Ac c o m m o d a t i o n s f o r new transfers were made b y C a m p C r i m s o n i n spring 2012, when it was announced that the camp would offer a transfer ses-sion. The camp brought 58 students up to speed on Sooner traditions during the July 21-23 session.

The sometimes-difficult transition between schools can include changes to costs, especially for students transferring from commu-nity colleges. Four scholar-ships exist for transfer stu-dents only, offering awards for tuition and housing.

The Transfer Student Ad v i s o r y B o a rd , w h i c h meets every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Oklahoma Memorial Union, provides support for current transfer students and assists with transfer re-cruitment. The board pub-lishes a monthly newsletter, available on their website, which announces events for transfer students to come together, helps them navigate OU technology and provides financial aid information.

Transfer students, using the general scholarship ap-plication, can also be con-sidered for the Transfer Leadership Class their first

Kyven ZHao/tHe daiLy

Camp Crimson Leaders demonstrate activities during Camp Crimson on the 8th floor of Couch Tower Thursday, June 21, 2012. Camp Crimson usually hosts more than 2,000 students each summer, and students are divided to smaller groups during the event.

BY THE NUMBERSTransfer student enrollment

1,327 new transfer students attended ou in 2007. after this year the number

of transfer students enrolling began decreasing each year.

1,195 new transfer students attended ou in 2011. officials expect this number to

increase. source: ou enrollment statistics

SooNER allY

Women’s Outreach looking for recruits

an ou program dedi-cated to helping LGBt stu-dents succeed in college is recruiting students, faculty and staff members for this

year. sooner ally, a four year-

old program run through ou’s Women outreach center, focuses on training people to act as human resources for LGBt stu-dents and spread aware-ness about LGBt prejudice and issues.

the organization hopes

the training sessions will recruit more people to serve as allies, said Kathy moxley, director of ou Women’s outreach center.

sooner ally will also offer a refresher course for people who have been trained as allies, but it’s been a couple years since they were active, moxley

said.Jake Morgan

Assistant Campus Editor

Transfer: First Camp Crimson session offeredContinued from page 1

year at OU. The organiza-tion, “gives members the opportunity to build rela-tionships with incoming and former transfers, facul-ty members, staff, campus resources and community organizations,” according to their website.

Melodie Lettkeman [email protected]

See more onlinevisit oudaily.com

for the complete story

oudaily.com/news

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All CART stops in Norman have a CART-gps.com sign listing the website address, the phone number, and the number for that stop to assist customers in retrieving information.

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Page 3: Thursday, August 23, 2012

OU has been a self-insured institution for 14 years, Kelly said. The difference in self-insured plans, as opposed to those provided by private companies, is that the self-insured group assumes the financial risk for providing its participants benefits, he said.

“In practical terms, a self-insured plan sponsor pays for all covered benefits, and the cost to administer the plan, instead of paying a fixed premium to an insur-ance company for a fully in-sured plan,” Kelly said.

This type of coverage helps keep students’ cost as

low as possible, he said.However, the university

may be looking to change its health care coverage.

Diana Malott, who is the associate director of stu-dent health services at the University of Kansas, said OU officials contacted her recently interested about the program through which

they insure their students. Kansas is not a self-insured institution and offers student health insurance through a multi-state compact be-tween universities, called Midwest Higher Education compact — she said.

Malott said she does not see the benefit of universi-ties self-insuring.

“At this t ime the only benefit that I can see is that they are not covered by the Affordable Care Act if they are self-insured, but I don’t see that as a benefit to the students or the univer-sity because the students don’t get the additional

benefits that come with [the Affordable Care Act] and the university as I’ve seen and worked with some uni-versities that are self-funded can be out a huge amount of money paying for claims.”

Kelly said there are not any current plans in place to change the university’s health care coverage, but they are continually evalu-ating health insurance op-tions to ensure the best cov-erage possible for students.

Lindsey [email protected]

NEWS Th ursday, August 23, 2012 • 3

Are you on Twitter?stay connected with the daily

@OUDaily, @OUDailyStudent,@OUDailyArts, @OUDailySports@OUDailyOpinion, @OUDailyGov

Heavy Civil Competition Design Build CompetitionConstruction Management Competition International Design Build Competition

WANT TO JOIN A WINNING TEAM?University of Oklahoma Construction Science teams placed fi rst in ALL categories at the

17th Region V Associated Schools of Construction/TEXO Student Competition and the sweep was a fi rst for any university in the region and a fi rst in the competition’s history.

For more information about the Construction Science Program,call 405.325.6404 or visit cns.ou.edu

Extremely high employment rate!Paid interships! High starting salaries!

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Open HouseToday, 7-9 pm

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Christians on Campus

number crisisline9

325-6963 (NYNE)OU Number Nyne Crisis Line

8 p.m.-4 a.m. every dayexcept OU holidays and breaks

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ou researchers at the college of medicine have discovered a way to debili-tate a pneumonia-causing bacterium by targeting an essential toxin, according to a press release.

streptococcus pneumo-niae is the most common bacterium responsible for pneumonia cases, and 800,000 children under the age of fi ve lose their lives each year because of the microbe, according to the press release.

Rodney tweten, ou college of medicine profes-sor, and his colleagues focused on this aspect of the bacterium and devel-oped a form of the toxin that fails to bind to choles-terol and allows the body’s immune system to appro-priately respond, according to the press release

a new vaccine effective

against many strains of the pathogen could emerge from the dis-covery, according to the press release.

“this would make a much less expensive, but much more effective vaccine in terms of broad coverage,” tweten said in the press release.

the technology was recently licensed to an international non-profi t called patH, which is working to accelerate the development of such vaccines, according to the press release.

chair of pediatrics terrance stull said the approach could help to improve the health of children across the globe, according to the press release.

Jake MorganAssistant Campus Editor

Research Center] is about 12 years old now.”

There are plans to build another facil ity, West said.

West’s research focuses on molecular structures of macromolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. The research then can be applied to devel-oping new drugs, treat-ments and better under-standing of diseases such as cancer.

“We’re interested in what is the shape of those molecules, what are their three-dimensional struc-tures, because then we c a n g l e a n s o m e t h i n g about how they function,” she said.

Project funds also will go to junior investiga-tors who are just getting started in their career and need funding to get their projects off the ground.

Dr. Blaine Mooers, who works in the Department o f B i o c h e m i s t r y a n d Mo l e c u l a r Bi o l o g y at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City, is someone who is ben-efiting from the grant. The grant will allow Mooers and his team to create more copies of RNA, and he will benefit from the ac-cess to the new X-ray ma-chine in Norman, thanks to funds going to West’s team.

“What we have will be newer and more reliable and help us out a lot,” Mooers said.

These grants aren’t easy to get. Many institu-tions apply for this grant, but only about 10-15 per-cent of the applicants are granted funding in the end, West said.

The applications for NIH COBRA grants are peer reviewed and con-sidered on the merits of significance, researchers, innovation, approach and environment, according to the website.

Sam [email protected]

the Women’s outreach center will be hosting a voter registration drive in honor of women’s equality.

students can register for voting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. august 27 and 28 on the south oval in honor of Women’s equality day — a national holiday celebrating women’s achievements and the united states’ commit-ment to gender equality, according to the White House website.

the holiday, which was established last year by president Barack obama is actually aug. 26, but since that day falls on a sunday, the Women’s outreach

center is hosting the event monday and tuesday when students will be on campus, said Kathy moxley, director of ou Women’s outreach.

“For the women who fought for [the right to vote], voting was not the end of the journey for equality, but the beginning of a new era in the advancement of our union,” obama said in his proclamation, according the website.

“it’s important to recog-nize that women haven’t always had the right to vote in this country and we need to celebrate that by executing our voting rights,” moxley said.

all students — male and female — are encouraged to vote, but women who participate will be given a button encouraging sooner women to vote, moxley said.

the Women’s outreach center is currently in need of volunteers to work at the registration tables. Because it is a nonpartisan event, volunteers are asked to not wear any political attire, according to the press release.

Emma HamblenCampus Reporter

oUTREaCH

OU Women’s Outreach Center to host voter drive

GranT: Funds go to junior researchers Continued from page 1

HeaLTH: OU models health care program after KansasContinued from page 1

“If they’re actually going to do it, that is excellent. I am

happy.”aMaNDa FEHlBaUM,GRaDUaTE STUDENT

at other major universities, whether the plans are self or fully insured,“ he said.

After reviewing informa-tion provided by the federal government this summer, Kelly said the decision to adopt the changes was fi-nalized this month and went into effect Aug. 12.

“ If they’re actually going to do it, that is excellent,” s a i d g r a d u a t e s t u d e n t Amanda Fehlbaum. “I am happy.”

Fehlbaum, who is 27, is one of 2,938 students cur-rently insured under OU’s student health care plan. She reached out to Human Resources at the end of July to see if OU’s health in-surance would now cover her birth control per the Affordable Care Act, but was told it would not, she said.

Kelly said the decision had not yet been made to adopt preventative coverage at the time of Fehlbaum’s call.

Fehlbaum said she is re-lieved to hear the student insurance plan will now cover her birth control. She is looking forward to using the money she is saving on other necessary living ex-penses, she said.

Of the students insured through the university, 1169 of them are women, mean-ing if they do use birth con-trol, they can now get their prescription at the Goddard Health Center without pay-ing a co-pay.

This will save the average, insured 25-year-old woman over $8,000 in their lifetime, according a cost calculator provided my Mother Jones — a nonprofit organization that specializes in investiga-tive, political and social jus-tice reporting.

aaRon FaviLa/tHe associated pRess

a filipino salesgirl holds different contraceptives that are being sold at a drugstore in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines, aug. 5. The United nations has expressed support for a proposed law that would provide government funding for contracep-tives that popular Philippine President Benigno aquino III backs and the dominant roman Catholic church opposes.

RESEaRCH

Researchers find way to weaken pneumonia-causing bacterium

oud-2012-8-23-a-001,002.indd 3 8/22/12 11:21:26 PM

Page 4: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Reader comment on OUDaily.com ››“Just because you have the fact does not mean you have to publish them for the world to see. Do you even understand how many people your article has hurt? Her younger brother is still a student here.” (OUstudent1991, RE: ‘Casey Cooke autopsy report says she had been drinking when she died’)

QUOTABLE: “ The question is where is the respect and sensitivity for our community and Casey’s loved ones?,” said senior Nicole Jenkins about the Casey Cooke story. (Page 5)

Mary Stan� eld, opinion editorKayley Gillespie, assistant editor

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666oudaily.com/opinion • Twitter: @OUDailyOpinionOPINION

4 • � ursday, August 23, 2012

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

Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and must be fewer than 250 words, typed and signed by the author(s). Letters will be edited for accuracy, space and style. Students must list their major and classi� cation. To submit letters, email [email protected].

Our View is the voice of the Editorial Board, which consists of nine student editors. The board meets at 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday in 160 Copeland Hall. Board meetings are open to the public.

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

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

To advertise in The Oklahoma Daily, contact advertising manager Kearsten Howard by calling 405-325-8964 or emailing [email protected].

One free copy of The Daily is available to members of the OU community. Additional copies may be purchased for 25 cents by contacting The Daily business of� ce at 405-325-2522.

Laney Ellisor Editor in ChiefJared Rader Managing EditorLindsey Ruta Campus EditorKedric Kitchens Sports EditorCarmen Forman Life & Arts EditorMary Stanfield Opinion Editor

Kingsley Burns Visual EditorJoey Stipek Online EditorKyle Margerum Copy ChiefKearsten Howland Advertising ManagerJudy Gibbs Robinson Faculty Adviser

contact us 160 Copeland Hall, 860 Van Vleet OvalNorman, OK 73019-2052

phone:405-325-3666

email:[email protected]

Our View: Don’t let our mistake cloud your judgement on the accessibility of autopsy reports.

The Daily reported Tuesday that OU student Casey Cooke was drunk at the time of her June 3 death, according to the autopsy report. The story included a link to the full autopsy report, which also was included in a tweet about the breaking news.

When a public outcry arose against the inclu-sion of the document, the editorial board had a long discussion about the ethical and moral con-cerns involved in the decision.

Autopsy reports are considered public records by many states, including Oklahoma, which gives the public access to them. This access is essential because of the important and often unexpected role these reports can play in investigations.

However, in this case, after listening to the con-cerns of the community, we have determined that the graphic details in Cooke’s autopsy report do not serve that purpose or any other practical purpose.

They only served to cause pain and discom-fort to the OU community, which was not our intention.

We decided to remove the autopsy report from our website and, in the future, we will consider the value of such reports against the damage they might cause to ensure such a misjudgment does not happen again.

But do not let our mistake convince you that there is no value in public access to autopsy re-ports. Important investigations would not be pos-

sible without access to them.Autopsy reports have helped

journalists uncover medical errors and expose doctors with histories of deadly mistakes or bad prac-tices. If these errors had remained hidden, families would have been denied compensation, and unethi-cal doctors would be allowed to

put unknowing patients at risk.These reports also have been used by journalists

to track health care epidemics, such as the staph infection epidemic that has gained increasing exposure in recent years. Such reporting enables patients to protect themselves from these diseases and keep an eye out for common symptoms so they can get immediate treatment.

Some such epidemics are discovered by medi-cal organizations, but others are not noticed until someone finds the connecting thread in the records.

They are useful outside the medical realm as well. Many investigations have utilized autopsy

reports to point to ineffective criminal justice policies or mistakes made by law enforcement. Journalists have discovered suspicious deaths in jail and during arrests, revealed failed law en-forcement responses and overturned the sup-posed justification for a shooting at the hands of police.

If these situations had gone undiscovered, law enforcement agencies might never have been forced to change ineffective, harmful policies or punish wrongdoings within their ranks.

Autopsy reports even have been used to protect some of the population’s most vulnerable mem-bers by uncovering abuses by nursing home staff that led to the deaths of elderly patients.

Nearly half the states in the U.S. severely re-strict the public’s access to these valuable docu-ments, and recent cases in South Carolina and Pennsylvania have further questioned the legality of such access.

Nearly 40 percent of autopsies yield at least one unexpected finding that contributed to a pa-tient’s death, according to a 2008 analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology.

This information may not always be relevant, but on many occasions it can lead to impor-tant knowledge — and even, eventually, needed change.

Even details that may not seem initially relevant may end up being relevant to the case in the fu-ture as law enforcement and journalists follow up. Some details may end up being important for other cases that have nothing to do with the origi-nal crime but may reveal broader abuses or sys-tematic problems (as in the examples above).

So, while all autopsies reveal graphic and dis-turbing details about the individual, sometimes those details make the difference between a bur-ied secret and a public cry for justice. For all those reports that could eventually lead to one or more saved lives, autopsy findings must remain acces-sible to the public.

Comment on this on OUDaily.com

LETTER

Cooke article re-opened fresh woundsMy name is Cameron Ghafil, I am currently a mechani-

cal engineering pre-med senior. This letter is in regards to the online article and recent tweets posted by the OU Daily, which discuss the details of Casey Cooke’s death.

While the OU Daily depicts itself as an independent student voice, I cannot help but question the integrity of the people in-volved with these posts.

There should be a line between what you have the right to publish and what you think is ethically correct to pub-lish. Evidently, this was not taken into consideration.

As Casey’s boyfriend, I had the pleasure of getting to know her and her family very well over the past two years. Casey was known to be shy and only discussed private issues with the people closest to her.

For this reason and many others, I am truly saddened by the handling of information surrounding Casey’s cause of death by the OU Daily.

The decision to include a link to the full autopsy report with extremely personal details was both disrespectful and unnecessary. I can assure you that this decision has upset her family, friends and several of your readers.

The grieving process is far from over for those who knew Casey. With the beginning of a new semester, came the reality that life is moving on without her. As is the case for several of her friends, her younger brother and I still

attend class on this campus. Believe me when I say there isn’t an easy day; passing by Evans Hall is a constant reminder of Casey’s loss.

This blatant act of insensitivity by the OU Daily only adds to these challenges.

Anyone that felt the need to view the autopsy report in its entirety could’ve done so themselves. Therefore, if there was a purpose behind posting the report for everyone to see, we would greatly ap-preciate an explanation.

On the other hand, if this was done for publicity pur-poses, I can only hope you realize the pain you have caused. After all, if you had lost a loved one, would you want a similar report to be on public display?

Or more importantly, do you think Casey would have wanted this information shared with everyone? Without any doubt, the answer is no.

Cameron Ghafil, mechanical engineering senior

A little before 8 p.m. Tuesday, in the middle of

designing Wednesday’s front page, I received notification that OU stu-dent Casey Cooke was drunk when she died June 3, according to the autopsy report.

Within the following hour, we sent a tweet from the OUDaily account linking to the report.

That never should have happened.In our haste to cover the breaking news, and be-

cause I was busy with my normal production duties and failed to review the tweet, we sent out information without carefully thinking through our actions or their repercussions.

If we had taken time to consider the sensitive nature of the story instead of treating it like any other news, we would have recognized that while there is value in re-porting the context of Cooke’s death, there was no need to provide the autopsy report because its facts went be-yond what was relevant to the story.

One of our most important roles as journalists is to ensure the public has access to documents kept by the government or government agencies.

Oftentimes we take that duty further by providing links to those documents in an effort to facilitate easy access for our readers.

We had those tenets in mind when we put the autop-sy report on OUDaily.com, but we failed to weigh them against another journalistic responsibility: minimizing harm to the community we serve.

You, our readers, voiced your strong opinions that this particular document added no value to the story.

We heard you.My editors and I gath-

ered in the newsroom con-ference room today to dis-cuss how to move forward, keeping at the forefront of the conversation the re-sponse from our audience.

Ultimately, we decided that, in this case, the value of facilitating public access to a public document did not outweigh the negative

effect on the OU community. We took down the report.In the future, we will continue to promote transpar-

ency in government through open meetings and re-cords, as well as to host those records on OUDaily.com.

However, in the case of personal records, we will take time to consider the pertinence of the information con-tained therein, reviewing each story on a case-by-case basis.

We also have established a hierarchical process to ensure breaking news is not put on social media with-out the approval of the editor in chief or managing editor.

Those safeguards were put in place because of your feedback, which we value and welcome. You reminded us that we are public servants who should consider the wants and needs of the public we serve first.

We failed in that regard last night, and in doing so, we failed each of you.

I apologize on behalf of The Oklahoma Daily and the editorial board for our hasty decision-making. And I, as editor in chief and, more importantly, as a fellow human being, am sorry for the hurt those decisions caused Casey Cooke’s friends and family.

Laney Ellisor is editor in chief of The Daily.

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

?Should OU insurance be providing free birth control and other preventative measures?

» Poll question of the day

To cast your vote, log on to

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

EDITORIAL

Autopsy reports must be open, despite our mistake

“Believe me when I say there isn’t an easy day; passing by Evans Hall is a constant reminder of Casey’s loss.”

• Michael Berens and Ken Armstrong at The Seattle Times reported high rates of MRSA infections. After the report, a law passed requiring hospitals to screen high-risk patients for the disease.

• Detroit Free Press reporter Robin Erb

uncovered suspicious deaths of patients in several nursing homes.

• Several public � gures have died of surgery complications. Access to their death records could put to rest the suspicion that their deaths cold have been avoided.

AT A GLANCE Autopsy-based reporting

Laney [email protected]

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Cooke autopsy decision failed to place needs of community first

“In our haste to cover the breaking

news ... we sent out information without carefully thinking through

our actions or their repercussions.”

oud-2012-8-23-a-004.indd 1 8/22/12 10:02:39 PM

Page 5: Thursday, August 23, 2012

I was shocked and deeply disap-pointed by the way in which The OU Daily reported on the

release of the autopsy report in the tragic death of Casey Cooke.

The decision to provide a link to the entire autopsy report with its graphic language was completely insensitive. It demonstrated a lack of concern for her memory and a lack of kindness for her family and friends.

The right of free speech and free-dom of the press is essential to the maintenance of a free society.

The OU Daily is an independent student newspaper. Censorship is dangerous because the power to sup-press even irresponsible expression is subject to abuse.

The right of free expression should be exercised with a strong sense of responsibility. In this case I firmly

believe that it was not.Instead of turning to censorship

we should use our own right of free speech to express our disapproval and to voice support for our own values.

My hope is for the university to be a community with a true sense of fam-ily where we treat each other with kindness and mutual respect.

I have already heard from many

members of the OU community who are joining me in expressing strong disapproval of the insensitivity and irresponsibility of The Daily in this instance.

Let us use this inexcusable lapse of judgment by the newspaper as a learning experience for the entire university community.

OU President David Boren

While the autopsy report of Casey Cooke is a matter of public record, the need to make the report the subject of a tweet directed to over 5,000 followers crossed the line of journalism ethics. Many students and friends of Casey still struggle with this unspeakable loss, in-cluding myself. This could have happened to any-one. I do not believe that

publishing such a document provides any gain to the uni-versity. However, it opened healing wounds for many in the Sooner community.

The question is not if pub-lishing a public document is ethical. The question is where is the respect and sensitivity for our commu-nity and Casey’s loved ones? While I recognize that not all will agree with my opinion,

I would still ask all fellow Sooners to respect Casey’s legacy to our university by not reading her autopsy report.

Thank you for consider-ation of my proposal and may Casey always be re-membered for the person she was.

Nicole Jenkins, elementary education senior

What is and what is not appropriate to feature in a news article? Merriam-Webster suggests that news is both “a report of recent events” and that such news is “previously unknown information.” When I stumbled across the Casey Cooke article in Wednesday’s OU Daily, I learned “new informa-tion” about relatively “re-cent events.” The article by itself, which has been a topic of much controversy on various social media sites, is not so terrible. The event was tragic, and considering the location of the accident, it seems

nearly appropriate that the university’s newspaper re-port the facts.

What was neither neces-sary nor appropriate, how-ever, was the publishing and hosting of a copy of the full autopsy report by The OU Daily. Certainly, there is a fine line that must be walked when deciding what information should be pub-licized and what — for the protection of the dignity of the victim and for respect to their family and friends — should be kept private. While autopsy informa-tion is public knowledge, there is good reason as to why this information is not

publicized by the medical examiner directly. It is, in-stead, given only by request.

It is my hope, and the hope of many others at this university, that our peers who write these articles would step back and put serious thought into what they’re publishing. I am pleased to see that The Daily removed the autopsy report, but perhaps in the future this is a step that can be taken during editing — not following a post-print public outcry.

Mitchell West,chemistry senior

I am a 2008 graduate of OU in political science and a 2011 graduate of the OU College of Law. I’m writing to file a complaint with you regarding The Oklahoma Daily’s decision to post a link to Casey Cooke’s full autopsy results with your August 21 story. For purpos-es of full disclosure, I did not know Casey, but I do know members of her family and many of her friends. I have not spoken to any of them regarding your story, your link to her autopsy results or this email.

Although the autopsy re-port is certainly available to anyone in the public who would like to view it, I do not believe providing a link was necessary to convey to your readers the pertinent infor-mation surrounding Casey’s death. Simply because an action is legal does not mean that it is ethical, moral or necessary. During my

seven years as a student at OU, I remember there being several student deaths, none more tragic than any other. I may be incorrect, but I do not ever remem-ber The Oklahoma Daily publishing the full autopsy results of any deceased student, under any circum-stances. If I am mistaken, then please consider this email a complaint regarding the entire practice of pub-lishing deceased student autopsy results, rather than solely in this instance with Casey Cooke.

I’m aware that you all have received dozens of comments over social media and on the story it-self, and I’m sure that you are receiving calls and emails throughout the day regarding your decision to post this autopsy report. I, along with what I would guess to be most people, have no problem with the

article itself. This story is certainly newsworthy to the readership of The Oklahoma Daily. However, posting the autopsy results does nothing but inflame the sensibilities of your readership without provid-ing any substance to the story itself.

The next time you are dealing with such sensi-tive subject matter, I would hope that The Oklahoma Daily makes the decision to report the facts, and all the facts, in the most respectful way possible. Publishing the irrelevant autopsy results of a private student, in my opinion, shows a complete lack of social awareness, in-tegrity, empathy and, most importantly, respect for the family and friends left be-hind. The Oklahoma Daily can, and should, be better.

Jake Krattiger, OU alumnus

OPINION � ursday, August 23, 2012 • 5

Are you on Twitter?Stay connected with The Daily

@OUDaily, @OUDailyStudent,@OUDailyArts, @OUDailySports@OUDailyOpinion, @OUDailyGov

Letters to the Editor

Report should be kept privateOpen but not ethical to post

More respect, sensitivity needed

Huge misstep cannot be undoneI a m w r i t i n g i n r e -

s p o n s e t o t h e C a s e y Cooke story and its sub-sequent updates, tweets and Facebook posts from The OU Daily. I appreci-ate your staff’s dedication to keeping the OU com-munity informed about this case. Understandably, the fact that she was drunk when she died makes it hard for many people to take the story as anything but insensitive, but the

facts remain.That being said, I think

posting links to her autopsy was a huge misstep. Those files may be readily avail-able to your organization, but the OU population does not need this at their dis-posal. That type of informa-tion is personal and sensi-tive. It is not “hard-hitting journalism,” it is simply of-fensive copy/paste of a link for a graphic document on a late OU student who still

has friends and family that read this. Of course, what is done is done, and you will not be able to remove that link fully from the inter-net. Personally, I believe an apology should be printed expressing remorse about the lapse in judgment for posting that link and think-ing it was a wise journalistic decision.

Alex Rivera, vocal musiceducation senior

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oud-2012-8-23-a-005.indd 1 8/22/12 10:58:08 PM

Page 6: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Carter BaumSports Reporter

OU teams make national championship runs all the time, and the OU hockey team is no exception.

The Sooners lost a heart-breaker in the national tour-nament a year ago, and with 12 new recruits, they look to be even better in 2012.

Of the 12 new recruits, four transfers come from NCAA teams.

Forwards sophomore Stan Smrke, junior Mark Jackson and junior Chad Liley are all moving to Norman from NC AA Division III pro-grams to play club hockey, while sophomore forward Brandon Dennis comes from a NCAA Division II program.

Coach Peter Arvanitis worked hard on his first re-cruiting class after taking the coaching position late last summer.

“We’re going to have a strong team in this league,” Dennis said. “I think this is [Arvanitis’] first real year with his team, where he’s picking his team, and he got to recruit.”

Dennis was named to the Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie team last season after leading Franklin Pierce in scoring. The economics major from Williamsport, Md., said OU was the whole package.

“I can get a better educa-tion, still play a high level of hockey and go to school where I want to go,” he said.

Jackson, a native of Bixby,

Kedric Kitchens, sports editorDillon Phillips, assistant editor

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666oudaily.com/sports • Twitter: @OUDailySportsSPORTS

6 • Thursday, August 23, 2012

hockey

Recruits may be difference in new year

kingsley burns/the daily

From left to right: Sophomores Darrell Boldon, Brandon Dennis and Stan Smrke and junior Mark Jackson stand in Blazers Ice centre after a team scrimmage Wednesday. Dennis, Smrke and Jackson all transfered from D-II and D-III schools to join the Sooners this sea-son. The walk-on tryouts for the team started Tuesday and will conclude later today.

4 transfers bring NCAA experience to hockey club

Okla. , transferred from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota for several reasons.

“I’ve never heard anything but good things about OU hockey,” Jackson said. “OU has a better petroleum ge-ology program, and it’s way more affordable and closer to home, so my parents can come watch me play.”

Jackson scored four goals and tallied four assists in eight games at Gustavus Adolphus last season.

Jackson isn’t the only transfer moving closer to home. Smrke grew up in Ajax, Ontario, but his mom now lives in Tulsa. He trans-ferred from Oswego State in New York without playing any games for the Lakers, coming off a knee injury that kept him off the ice for a year and a half.

“I was away from my mom for quite a bit,” Smrke said. “I just wanted to be closer to her, so I moved back here to play so she could come watch me.”

Liley transferred because h e w a nt e d a c ha n g e o f scenery.

“I wanted to go to a bigger school with a little bit more opportunity,” Liley said. “When I came down for a visit, I just fell in love with the campus and the people here. Everyone’s so nice.”

In 24 games last season with Northland College in Wisconsin, Liley had nine goals, four of which were power play goals, and 13 assists.

M o s t D - I I a n d D - I I I schools are much smaller than the highly populated OU campus. All four trans-fers said the biggest change

would be in the size of their new school.

“I’m a little overwhelmed right now,” Liley said.

Another big adjustment will be moving from the

NCAA level to a club-level team.

“It’ll be quite the culture change for me, coming from Minnesota where you’re the big sport on campus,” Jackson said.

The talent level between NC AA and club hockey teams will not be an issue for the new players.

“Every guy on the [OU] team is more than capable of playing at the NCAA level,” Jackson said.

Some even believe the tal-ent level could be better.

“We’ve got players here that could’ve went and

played D-I,” Liley said. “A lot of good players these days want to go to school and enjoy the real college experi-ence, and I think that’s why this league keeps getting better and better.”

With the four NCAA trans-fer players, as well as the rest of the recruiting class, the Sooners said they hope to have their best season yet.

“I’m just excited to play some hockey and win some games,” Jackson said.

The ultimate goal is to re-turn to the national champi-onship tournament for the eighth consecutive season

and maybe bring home the first national championship in program history.

“I’m just hoping with my-self and some of the other recruits coming in that we can add a little bit more to the foundation that we al-ready have to try and win a national championship,” Smrke said.

The Sooners will begin regular season play against Arkansas at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 21 at Blazers Ice Centre in Oklahoma City.

Carter Baum [email protected]

AT A GLANCE2011 SeasonOu finished the year ranked no. 7 in division i of the aCha — the highest level of club hockey — with a record of 26-13-2.

oud-2012-8-23-a-006.indd 1 8/22/12 10:26:10 PM

Page 7: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Dillon PhilliPsAssistant Sports Reporter

With the rise of high-flying spread offenses, the fullback position has become a rarity in modern college football.

Elite fullbacks are few and far between, and even at a storied college-football power like Oklahoma, the list of great fullbacks is a short one.

Sure, the Sooners had the likes of Lydell Carr, Jermaine Fazande, J.D. Runnels and the father-son duo of Jim and Seth Littrell.

B u t t h o s e a r e o n l y a h a n d f u l o f p l a y e r s plucked from more than a century of OU football.

H o w e v e r, this season,

the Sooners just might have another fullback to add to that short list : Junior Trey Millard.

“[Millard’s] as good a foot-ball player as I’ve ever been around,” offensive coordina-tor Josh Heupel said. “We ex-pect him to have a huge year for us.”

The fullback position has changed drastically since Switzer’s wishbone days — when it was more of a hand-in-the-dirt, lineman-in-the-backfield position.

N o w a d a y s , t h e p o s i -tion requires tremendous versatility.

Fullbacks must be well versed in catching passes out of the backfield and carrying the ball in the open field, as well as possessing the tough-ness to knock some heads in the trenches.

Millard is to fullbacks what

Millard brings versatility to Sooners offense

sports Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 7

Football

oU fullback is anomaly in college game

Kingsley Burns/the daily

trey Millard (left) lifted by trent Ratteree (right) in celebration after Millard’s touchdown during a game on oct. 22, 2011, in Norman.

Dippin’ Dots is to ice cream.He’s the crimson’n’cream

fullback of the future.“[Millard] does a little bit

of everything for us,” coach Bob Stoops said at Big 12 Media Day. “I truly believe he is absolutely one of our

best players on either side of the ball. So between catch-ing the ball, running with it, [he should get the ball] 12, 14, 15 times a game.”

When attempting to ex-plain how unique of a foot-ball player Millard is, look no further than his early sports career.

It wasn’t until eighth grade that Millard first strapped on football pads.

His sport of choice before football? Soccer.

“I played on a competitive soccer team, and we played forever together,” Millard said. “I was a year younger than a lot of those guys, so a

lot of those guys, when they were freshmen, they went to play with the high school team. So then, I didn’t have a fall sport.

“At that point, my stepdad really was behind me in try-ing to play football. From there it’s history, I guess.”

Millard said he still plays soccer with some of his OU teammates — or at least pre-tends to.

“When we joke around (at practice) we kick the ball around,” Millard said. “You can tell some guys have defi-nitely never played soccer before, and they’re out there struggling. It’s fun.”

During summer camp, Millard was featured on SoonerSports.com’s “Mic’d Up” series. A camera crew outfitted Millard with a mi-crophone and followed him around practice to get an in-side look at the action.

“It was definitely a fun ex-perience out there just prac-ticing,” Millard said. “I try to have as much fun as possible at practice.”

The experience didn’t c ha n g e t h e w ay h e a p -proached practice that day, Millard said, but with the cameras fixed on him during practice, he had to be weary of what he said.

“It’s just interesting to know that someone’s always watching you while you’re practicing,” Millard said. “I think I definitely tried to chill out on the language. That’s something I’m always trying to do, though, so that helped me with that.”

After Monday evening’s practice, Millard was named a team captain, along with four other Sooners — senior quarterback Landry Jones, junior offensive lineman Gabe Ikard, senior defensive lineman David King and se-nior punter Tress Way.

“[Millard] had so many votes, special teams and of-fense, that he was between the two of them,” Stoops said.

“ It ’s a g re a t f e e l i n g ,” Millard said. “That was one of my goals in the offseason, to become a captain. It’s a goal that I set and accom-plished, and I’m thankful that my teammates recog-nize some of the effort I’ve been putting in.”

But with the title of team captain comes a wealth of responsibility.

“I got to be the guy that comes prepared every day to sell out for the team,” Millard said. “Doing that, I have to hold everyone else account-able to that standard, and I’ve got to set that standard.”

Dillon Phillips [email protected]

“[Millard’s] as good a football player as I’ve ever been

around. We expect him to have a huge

year for us.”OffenSive cOORdinAtOR JOSh

heupel

tRey MillaRd

At A GlAnceMillard at oUMillard has 48 rushes for 243 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 7.1 yards per attempt. he also has caught 29 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns.

Source: SoonerSports.com

Aug. 23-26Thursday, August 23FREE Breakfast | 9 a.m. on the South Oval. FREE Sonic breakfast burritos and coffee and Crimson and Whipped Cream baked goods. Presented by CAC Howdy Week.

FREE Commuter Student Lunch | 11:30 a.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center bus stop. FREE Papa John’s Pizza for commuter students. Presented by CAC Howdy Week.

Group Fitness Sale | 1-5 p.m. at the Huston Huffman Fitness Center front desk. Enjoy all group fi tness classes for only $35 for the entire semester (regularly $50) during this special sale. Visit www.ou/edu/far for more information.

FREE Coke Floats | 2-4 p.m. in the Student Life Offi ce, third fl oor of the student union above Crossroads restaurant. Presented by the Student Life Offi ce.

Night at the Huff | 8-11 p.m. at the Huston Huffman Center. Bring your friends to the huff and enjoy basketball, volleyball and dodgeball tournaments. Presented by Fitness and Rec Services.

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 limited 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.

Friday, August 24Group Fitness Sale | 7-11 a.m. at the Huston Huffman Fitness Center front desk. Enjoy all group fi tness classes for only $35 for the entire semester (regularly $50) during this special sale. Visit www.ou/edu/far for more information.

FREE Breakfast | 9 a.m. on the South Oval. FREE Crimson and Whipped Cream baked goods. Presented by CAC Howdy Week.

FREE Lunch | 11:30 a.m. on the South Oval. FREE Raising Cane’s Chicken, Papa John’s Pizza and Jamba Juice while supplies last! Presented by CAC Howdy Week.

FREE Movie: “The Avengers” | 6, 9 p.m. and midnight in Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union. Come and see the summer’s biggest movie before its available on DVD! Presented by the Union Programming Board and Campus Activities Council.

Art After Hours: Oblique Strategies | 6-7 p.m. in the Dee Dee and Jon R. Stuart Classroom, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Get acquainted with works from the museum’s permanent collection in these 45-minute discussions featuring 20th century art. Visit http://www.ou.edu/fjjma for more information.

Sunday, August 26OU Women’s Soccer: OU vs. Vanderbilt | 1 p.m. at John Crain Field. Admission is FREE to students with a valid OU ID. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

Family Days: A Century of Magic | 1-4 p.m. at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Explore A Century of Magic: The Animation of the Walt Disney Studios and enjoy a variety of hands-on art activities for the entire family. Admission to the museum is free on Family Days. Visit http://www.ou.edu/fjjma for more information.

Saturday, August 25OU Women’s Volleyball: OU Vs. Western Michigan | noon p.m. at the McCasland Field House. Admission is FREE to students with a valid OU. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

OU Women’s Volleyball: OU Vs. Tulsa | 7 p.m. at the McCasland Field House. Admission is FREE to students with a valid OU. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

FREE Movie: “The Avengers” | 8 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union. Presented by the Union Programming Board and Campus Activities Council.

Saturday, August 25

Friday ContinuedOU Women’s Soccer: OU vs. Nicholis State | 7 p.m. at John Crain Field. Admission is FREE to students with a valid OU ID. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

OU Women’s Volleyball: OU Vs. Missouri State | 7 p.m. at the McCasland Field House. Admission is FREE to students with a valid OU. Visit soonersports.com for more information.

Night at the Huff | 8-11 p.m. at the Huston Huffman Center. Bring your friends to the huff and enjoy basketball, volleyball and dodgeball tournaments. Presented by Fitness and Rec Services.

Avengers Assemble | 8 p.m. in Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union. Come and enjoy free food, trivia and prizes before the 9 p.m. screening of “The Avengers”! Presented by the Union Programming Board. There’s ALWAYS SOMETHING at the union, www.upb.ou.edu.

oud-2012-8-23-a-007.indd 1 8/22/12 10:45:56 PM

Page 8: Thursday, August 23, 2012

PLACE AN ADPhone: 405-325-2521E-mail: classifi [email protected]

Fax: 405-325-7517Campus Address: COH 149A

Payment is required at the time the ad is placed. Credit cards, cash, money orders or local checks accepted.

rrs TM

Line AdThere is a 2 line minimum charge; approximately 42 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation.(Cost = Days x # lines x $/line)

Classifi ed Display, Classifi ed Card Ad orGame SponsorshipContact an Acct Executive for details at 325-2521.

2 col (3.25 in) x 2 inchesSudoku ..............$760/monthBoggle ...............$760/monthHoroscope ........$760/month

2 col (3.25 in) x 2.25 inches

Crossword ........$515/month

1 day ..................$4.25/line2 days ................$2.50/line3-4 days.............$2.00/line5-9 days.............$1.50/line

10-14 days.........$1.15/line15-19 days.........$1.00/line 20-29 days........$ .90/line 30+ days ........ $ .85/line

Line Ad ..................................................................................3 days priorPlace line ad by 9:00 a.m. 3 business days prior to publication.

Display Ad ............................................................................3 days priorClassifi ed Display or Classifi ed Card AdPlace your display, classifi ed display or classifi ed card ads by 5:00 p.m. 3 business days prior to publication.

The Oklahoma Daily is responsible for one day’s incorrect advertising. If your ad appears incorrectly, or if you wish to cancel your ad call 325-2521, before the deadline for cancellation in the next issue. Errors not the fault of the advertiser will be adjusted. Refunds will not be issued for late cancellations.

The Oklahoma Daily will not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religious preference, national origin or sexual orientation. Violations of this policy should be reported to The Oklahoma Daily Business Offi ce at325-2521. Help Wanted ads in The Oklahoma Daily are not to separate as to gender. Advertisers may not discriminate in employment ads based on race, color, religion or gender unless such qualifying factors are essential to a given position. All ads are subject to acceptance by The Oklahoma Daily. Ad acceptance may be re-evaluated at any time.

DEADLINES

PAYMENT

RATES

POLICY

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-2521

8 • Thursday, August 23, 2012

CLASSIFIEDS Announcements

SPECIAL SERVICESUniversity Psychic - Palm/Tarot readings & advisor. Specialize in reuniting loved ones! Walkins welcome. Appts preferred. 321-2401, 1915 S Classen, Norman.

For Sale

Great GE REFRIGERATOR, like new, white, icemaker, 29” x 64”. $295 cash.329-3625

For Sale: Tailgate Bus. Invested $25,000. Asking $5,000 OBO. Call 568-9675.

MAYTAG Bravos ed. Washer/Dryer, matching white set. 2 yrs. old, excellent working condition, physically pristine, bought new from Home Depot. Washer: top loader, Dryer: front loader. Units are fantastic and dream for any owner. Mov-ing, can’t take them. $900 cash only. 832-259-2500, [email protected].

TransportationC

Auto InsuranceQuotations AnytimeForeign Students Welcomed

JIM HOLMES INSURANCE, 321-4664

Christian Counseling: 204-4615grace-river.org

Chimy’s hiring all positions! Open Sun, Closed Mon. 310-6240. 529 Buchanan Ave, Norman

Bartending! Up to $300/day. No exp nec. Training available. 800-965-6520, x133

Now Taking Applications for Fall 2012. Community After School Program now taking part-time applications to work in school-age childcare programs in Norman Public Schools. Hrs: M-F 2:30 - 6 p.m. Begin work August 17. Closed for all NPS holidays and professional days. Competi-tive wages start at $7.25/hr. Higher pay for students with qualifying coursework in education, early childhood, recreation and related fields. Complete application online at www.caspinc.org.

Part-time non-smoker nanny needed for one toddler. Must have transportation & references. 10-20 hrs/wk. 208-9336.

Full or part-time Clerk and licensed Phar-macy Tech needed. Apply in person, M-F, 9-7 at Noble Pharmacy, 125 S Main.

Gymnastics Instructors for pre-school girls and boys classes, tumbling, P/T, flex sched. Bart Conner Gymnastics, 447-7500.

FINANCE/ACCOUNTING INTERNThe City of Newcastle is now taking ap-plications for a part-time, paid finance/accounting internship. Pays from $10/hr - ??/hr, depending on college credits. The position will report to the City Manager. Requires minimum two years of college with 12 hours accounting. Candidate must be seeking an accounting degree.

The intent of this position is to provide training for a permanent position with the City of Newcastle. The City is willing to work with school schedules to facilitate the position. Valid driver’s license, drug screen and satisfactory background check required. Applications may be ob-tained at City Hall, 422 S. Main, or online at www.cityofnewcastleok.com. Please return completed applications to our office or mail to City of Newcastle, Attn: Human Resources, PO Box 179, Newcastle, OK 73065. EOE.

Note Takers Wanted! Avail. positions in the OU Athletics Department! Junior, Senior, Graduate and Post-graduate ap-plicants only! Hiring for Fall 2012. Call 325-4828 for more info!TUTORS WANTED! Avail. positions in the OU Athletics Department!! Junior, Senior, Graduate and Post-graduate applicants only! ACCT, ANTH, ASTR, COMM, ECON, ENGL, GEOG, GEOL, HES, METR, PSY, SOC, BIOL, MATH! Hiring for Fall 2012. Call 325-0554 for more info!

Housing RentalsJ

Clean 3 bdrm, 1 bath near campus, big yard, fireplace, basement, $900/mo. 826-4527.

Convenient location! 4/bd, 2.5ba, fire-place, 2/car w/openers. Large fenced, pa-tio, all appliances. 364-1633, 210-5633

1518 Sunset Dr, 3 bd/1 bth/1 car, centrally located, quiet, CH/A, large back yard, wood floors, ceiling fans. Available now, $800/mo. Call (580) 763-4278.

502 Fleetwood: 4bd/2ba, CH/A, wood floors, all appliances, lawncare incl. $1350/mo, $1000 dep. No pets.CALL 550-7069

BILLS PAID, 1bd & 2bd - 360-3850

MOBILE HOMES UNFURNISHED1999 Clayton Single Wide Mobile Home FOR SALE OR RENT TO OWN. 3bd/1ba, Goldsby. 580-491-2119

ROOMS FURNISHEDNEAR OU, privacy, $250, bills paid, neat, clean, parking. WiFi available. Prefer male student. Call 405-410-4407.

ROOMS UNFURNISHEDAug12-Jun13 for responsible student. Norman, easy access to OU. $500, bills paid, incl. util & laundry room. 203-8354

MISC. FOR SALE

AUTO INSURANCE

Services

MISC. SERVICES HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

HOUSES UNFURNISHED

today’s news fortoday’s college

student.

focused on

you.

oudaily.com is a product of Student Media, in OU’s division of Student Affairs.

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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

THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2012

When you take on responsibilities that others avoid, your chances for advancement become much greater. Even if these chores should test your mettle, you’ll still do a good job.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Your powers of observation are especially sharp, which is well and good, pro-vided you don’t start nitpicking to others about things you think they’re doing incorrectly.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Possibili-ties for gain look better than usual for you. In fact, when it comes to a group involvement, you will likely be the one who guides things to a fi nancially successful conclusion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Taking pride in what you do is an admirable thing. However, being proud purely for vanity’s sake is something else again. Be able to distinguish between the two.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- To operate more effectively, you should do your best not to call attention to yourself or your activities. If you allow outside infl uences to get in-volved, you’ll get thrown off course.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Although you might think that you’d enjoy a little solitude, you’d be much happier engaging in a group activity. Being a loner isn’t apt to pay off, spiritually or fi nancially.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- An important objective can be achieved if you give it your full dedication. If you start questioning your convic-tions, however, things are likely to

grind to a halt.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- This is an excellent day to take on projects that require a creative touch and a dash of imagination. Light up the room if you’ve got a bright idea.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Being infl exible almost always works against you, especially if you happen to be involved in a joint endeavor. Be as intellectually mobile as possible.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- When it comes to matters where you allow your feelings to color your judgment, you’ll suffer. Do your best to keep emotions out of your decision-mak-ing and to view things logically.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- An immense feeling of gratifi cation is likely to come from being of service to another. Don’t be reluctant to put yourself out for someone.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Your organizational abilities are apt to be a shade or two sharper than usual, so don’t hesitate to use them to your advantage. Start with tackling a big project or two.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- It will be up to you to guide an important endeavor to a successful conclusion. Take things one step at a time, and make sure you don’t leave anything up to chance.

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2012, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

ACROSS 1 Kind of salts 6 Faculty title

(Abbr.) 10 Cheese

lovers 14 Wavelike

fabric pattern

15 Change the decor

16 Ones, in Madrid

17 Keeper or leaker of confidential information

20 “Told you!” 21 Hoods’ guns 22 Bruce

Wayne’s butler

23 Underlying idea

25 “No ___, no glory”

26 Fluid parts of blood

28 Draw into an argument

32 Sitter in a eucalyptus tree

34 Math-ematician/philosopher Descartes

35 Shock jock’s overseer, for short

38 Acceptable for the masses, say

42 Seek an answer

43 Without much slack

44 Burn slightly 45 Forage crop 48 Estate of a

feudal lord

49 Gave a whirl 51 Residences

for cardinals 53 Ideal place 55 Heart of the

matter 56 Polloi

preceder 59 Prey for

some big corporations

62 State firmly 63 Port between

Buffalo and Cleveland

64 It lasts 30 days

65 Basil or sage 66 Fax or FedEx 67 Outlaw

huntersDOWN 1 Grounded

big birds 2 Cornmeal

bread 3 Distract from

the main subject

4 Vein material 5 On-ramp

sign 6 For the time

being 7 Races, as an

engine 8 Dedicatory

poem 9 Thrown ___

loop 10 Coffee

amount, perhaps

11 Chemically nonreactive

12 Cotton- candy holders

13 Cornerstone abbr.

18 Answered a

summons 19 Casbah

setting 24 Saintly ring 26 Antarctic bird 27 Years and

years and years

29 Slurpable soup

30 A pastor, perhaps (Abbr.)

31 ___-in-a-million

33 The merchant of Venice

35 Some cement workers

36 Hamster home

37 Music symbol

39 Subject of a cigarette rating

40 One may be slangily overhead

or literally underfoot

41 Strain, as flour

45 Exceptionally good

46 Delta competitor

47 Flatland 49 ___ off

(forestall) 50 Hand-raising

activity? 52 Subway

dangler 53 Home to

five national parks

54 Parade rtes., sometimes

55 Toothy look 57 He gave us

a lift 58 Key in the

water 60 Stanza

writer’s “before”

61 U.S. federal documents producer

Universal CrosswordEdited by Timothy E. Parker August 23, 2012

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2012 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com

OVER AND OVER AND OVER By Rob Lee8/23

8/22

oud-2012-8-23-a-008.indd 1 8/22/12 8:00:21 PM

Page 9: Thursday, August 23, 2012

advertisement Thursday, August 23, 2012 • 9

OU STUDENTSYOU ARE INVITED!

One of the Leading Scholars Internationally on Syrian Studies

andDirector of OU’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies

6 p.m. - Reception6:30 p.m. - Dinner and Talk

Wednesday, August 29Molly Shi Boren BallroomOklahoma Memorial Union

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

Joshua Landis is regarded by many as one of the world’s leading experts on Syria and its surrounding countries. He is most notable for his “Syria Comment,” a daily blog on Syrian politics that attracts some 50,000 readers monthly, ���������������������������������������������Syria. He has lived over 14 years in the Middle ����������������������������������������������award-winning teacher and the recipient of three Fulbright grants, Landis has lived four years in Syria, most recently spending 2005 in Damascus as a Senior Fulbright Research Fellow and has returned most summers until the revolution began.

Dinner and Talk“Syria at the Crossroads”

Featuring Joshua Landis

oud-2012-8-23-a-009.indd 1 8/22/12 8:01:20 PM

Page 10: Thursday, August 23, 2012

Carmen Forman, life & arts editorWestlee Parsons, assistant editor

[email protected] • phone: 405-325-3666oudaily.com/life&arts • Twitter: @OUDailyArtsLIFE&ARTS

10 • Thursday, August 23, 2012

local business

Native Roots to close doors Winter ballet auditions begin Saturday

Dance

Evin Morrison/ThE Daily

sérgio cantú, 2008 ou alumnus, arranges tomatoes Tuesday in native Roots Market on Main street. The local grocery store announced it will close this month, citing increased competition from natural Grocers. The store will open a new location in oklahoma city later this fall.

Megan DeatonLife & Arts Reporter

Empty shelves hide in the back of Native Roots Market, and no customers were seen walking down the local business’ aisles.

Due to pressure from larger competing organic food companies, Native Roots Market is relocating to Oklahoma City.

The store will close by the end of August, although the decision to move was not made completely by choice, manager Joel Blackmon said.

“Since Natural Grocers opened, we’ve done nothing but lose money, and they’ve taken a lot of our customers because they are a corpo-rate chain, and they can do things cheaper,” Blackmon said.

Other natural food stores will be opening in the area in the near future, such as Sunflower Farmers Market, making business hard for the non-corporate store, Blackmon said.

“We don’t want to have ou r bu si n e ss i n a tow n where they over-saturate the market,” Blackmon said.

Loyal customers of Native Roots have taken the news with disappointment.

“ T h e p a s t f e w w e e k s we’ve been telling people, and we’ve had so many dif-ferent reactions,” Blackmon said. “We’ve had people cry. We’ve had people get angry at us for moving.”

Na t i v e R o o t s Ma r k e t employee Sérgio Cantú

Dancers and actors needed for November production of ‘Oklahoma Nutcracker’

Local organic market to move to Oklahoma City

Shannon BorDenLife & Arts Reporter

The norman Ballet Company will be holding auditions for the nov. 25 production of “The oklahoma nutcracker.”

The auditions will be held saturday at the Marjorie Kovich school of Ballet.

Dancers are required to contact the norman Ballet Company ahead of time to make an audi-tion reservation.

There will be a $10 audition fee for each dancer or actor, accord-ing to a press release. all positions in the pro-duction are unpaid.

The company is looking for dancers, company members and apprentices. Dancers from various parts of oklahoma are welcome, and children as young as 7 years old can audition for roles in the production, according to a press release.

Participating in the production can be very reward-ing, as performing “The nutcracker” is “a right of passage for ballet dancers,” artistic director Marjorie Kovich said.

actors and stage performers with dance skills are needed for roles as the “nutcracker” prince, parents in the party scene and other roles in the first act.

if chosen, company dancers will be required to attend a minimum of three ballet classes per week.

For auditions, female dancers are to wear black leotards, pink tights, pink ballet shoes and pointe shoes if applicable. Male dancers are to wear white T-shirts, shorts or black tights and ballet shoes or heavy socks.

The performance will be at 3 p.m. nov. 25 at the nancy o’Brien Center for the Performing arts.

Shannon Borden [email protected]

had worked there since November after leaving his mortgage company job to work for a business that supports his passion for lo-cally grown food.

“With the ecology of the food industry, it doesn’t make sense to bring food from other places when we can develop our own food industry and support our local economy,” Cantú said.

B o t h B l a c k m o n a n d Cantú expressed their hope that former Native Roots customers will continue to

support their local econ-omy at stores, such as The Earth Caféw and Deli and Dodson’s Health Foods and Vitamins.

Jamie Hanley has worked at The Earth for about a year and sees Native Roots’ de-parture as part of a larger trend.

“We’re saddened to see them go,” Hanley said. “We have a friendship with them, and it’s disheartening to see the trajectory and the way this country is going by los-ing small businesses.”

Bl a ck m o n i s p o s i t i ve Native Roots will not be dropping any of the local suppliers they use, even after the move. Loyal cus-tomers willing to travel a farther distance to frequent their favorite store will find Native Roots Market on NE 2nd Street and Walnut in Oklahoma City, although the store will not open until the middle of September.

Megan Deaton, [email protected]

AT A GLANCEauditions for “The oklahoma nutcracker”To set up an audition:

Call Norman Ballet Company (405) 364-1818

confirm audition by emailing admin@normanballetcompany

Marjorie Kovich School of Ballet 1312 s. Berry road

NORMAN: Sooner Mall (3447 W. Main St.)OKLAHOMA CITY: 10109 N. May (Between Hefner & Britton Rd)TULSA: 6808 S. Memorial Drive

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oud-2012-8-23-a-010.indd 1 8/22/12 7:57:43 PM

Page 11: Thursday, August 23, 2012

LIFE&ARTS � ursday, August 23, 2012 • 11

KINGSLEY BURNS/THE DAILY

Phil Dickey (left) and John Cardwell of Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin perform during the Howdy Week concert Wednesday outside the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

COLUMN

Welcome to the world of comic books

The Howdy Week concert kicked off Wednesday with a local band and a spectrum of lights illuminating the

East Lawn of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Swift beats, catchy lyr-ics and synthesizers set the indie-pop mood for the eve-ning. The audience was just as upbeat as the music.

More than 100 people stood at attention waiting for the headliner, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, to go on stage.

Someone Still Loves You sounded like a lovechild of The Shins and The Beach Boys as they fed off the

energy of the crowd on the warm night.

The danceable rhythms and relatable lyrics merged, keeping the crowd moving to the music into the night.

Parke Metzer is a film and media studies sophomore

TONY BEAULIEULife & Arts Reporter

The influence of comic books can been seen every-

where in our culture: From Hollywood blockbusters like “The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” to the clothing we wear.

Yet, readership for comic books is shrinking annually, making what was already a niche marketplace even smaller.

For all of their influence in other forms of media, comics themselves largely have been ignored and stig-matized in mainstream cul-ture. People who regularly read comic books are used to being part of the nerd stigma.

In actuality, graphic lit-erature is one of the pur-est and most effective

storytelling mediums. There are a few misconceptions many people have about comic books that need to be dispelled.

Contemporary comics aren’t for kids

First and foremost, con-temporary comics are not for kids. This was true in the ’60s and ’70s and even into some of the ’80s.

The kids who read comics during those decades grew up and matured, so the me-dium matured with them. The ’80s brought transfor-mative creators and books, such as Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Returns” and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ “Watchmen,” which kick-started a shift in the in-dustry to titles with more mature themes and subject

matter.There are a handful of

small publishers who still produce comics specifically targeted at a younger read-ership, but a majority of the medium belongs to adults now.

Comics aren’t just for superheros

Sequential art is capable of facilitating any type of story, in any genre, follow-ing any narrative format.

Today it is mainly the big two — Marvel and DC Comics — that publish the bulk of superhero comics. Countless smaller publish-ers like Dark Horse, Image and IDW release comics in genres ranging from histori-cal fiction to autobiography to gonzo journalism.

“Comics are just words and pictures,” said Harvey

Pekar, author of the au-tobiographical comic “American Splendor.” “You can do anything with words and pictures.”

There is a comic out there for every taste, whether its Art Spiegelman’s dramatic and heartbreaking “Maus,” or the postmodern horror of Charles Burns’ “Black Hole.”

Getting started in comics

For people considering getting into comics, they should not necessarily start with the first issue of a se-ries. Sure, it’s always great to get in on the ground floor, however all monthly comic book series either start new storylines every few issues or undergo creative team changes somewhere along their run.

These events serve as

great jumping on points for new readers. Publishers are aware of this and try to make jumping on points as accessible to newcomers as possible.

But perhaps the idea of waiting a month between is-sues doesn’t suit you; you’d rather get the entire story all at once. Lucky for you, most comic book companies now collect individual comics in a series and turn them into graphic novels.

A graphic novel can be several issues of a regular comic book put together in one paperback or hardback book.

The most successful graphic novel is largely con-sidered to be the aforemen-tioned “Watchmen.”

In order to get comics now, you don’t have to go to a comic book store. Most

publishers now offer their comics digitally through their websites or through the Comixology app for Android and Apple devices.

Comixology is free to download and includes a digital store and comic book reader.

Additionally, many major publishers now publish dig-ital comics the same day as their print counterparts.

The medium of comics offers a lot to explore, as well as many ways to explore it. And comics remain one of the cheapest forms of enter-tainment around, so there’s really no reason not to give comics a read.

Tony Beaulieu is a film and media studies junior.

Parke [email protected]

LIFE AND ARTS COLUMNIST

CONCERT REVIEW

Howdy Week concert set an indie-pop tone for evening

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oud-2012-8-23-a-011.indd 1 8/22/12 10:50:03 PM

Page 12: Thursday, August 23, 2012

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