The OU Board of Regents approved plans to establish a joint four-year community
medical education program with the University of Tulsa during their December meet-ing Tuesday in the Scholars R o o m o f t h e O k l a h o m a Memorial Union.
The program would be cen-tered around helping those most in need of medical care, according to the meeting’s
agenda. “We already have a history
of working together very ef-fectively,” OU President David Boren said. “There’s a tremen-dous amount of enthusiasm for this when you think about the very substantial benefit to
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news
CAMPUS BRIEFSFREE FOOD AT CHIPOTLE FOR OU COMMUNITY
Chipotle Mexican Grill invites students, faculty and staff at OU to enjoy a free meal from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. Chipotle is located on Campus Corner.
Members of the OU commu-nity will need to show a valid OU I.D.
The restaurant will open to the public at 11 a.m. Friday.
SANTA CLAUS COMING TO NORMAN CAMPUS
Santa Claus will be on cam-pus today and Thursday for Fill the Trolley, an annual initia-tive by Cleveland Area Rapid Transit to fi ll four trolleys with Christmas gifts.
The trolley will pick up gifts from 65 academic departments, administrative departments and campus organizations.
For more information, call Kris Glenn at 325-6080.
SEASON TO LIGHT UP THE TREES BEGINS
OU will hold its annual holi-day tree-lighting celebration at 5:30 p.m. today in David A. Burr Park, located south of the Huston Huffman Physical Fitness Center and east of the residence towers.
The Univers i ty Chamber Ensemble and The Pride of Oklahoma Holiday Pep Band will perform seasonal music. OU President David Boren and others will speak at the event, which will honor all holiday tra-ditions.
PUBLIC FORUM TO DISCUSS HEALTH CARE REFORM
The OU chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will host a public forum on health care reform at 4 p.m. Thursday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union’s Scholars Room.
A panel of four experts will discuss their perspectives on the issue, including Brian Karnes, executive director of Health for Friends; David Kendrick, kaiser chairman of Community Medicine at OU-Tulsa; Jason Sanders, OU alumnus, Rhodes Scholar and health care con-sultant; and Sarah Tracy, direc-tor of OU’s Medical Humanities Program.
A reception will be held prior to the event at 3 p.m. For more information, call Kyle Harper at 325-4063.
‘THE BOOMER BOOK FOR THE SOONER COOK’ AVAILABLE FOR ORDER
The Savvy Sooner Women are taking orders for a reprinted version of “The Boomer Book for the Sooner Cook,” back by popular demand.
Those interested can place orders with cash or checks by Friday at the Offi ce of Student Affairs in the union, room 265, or at the Offi ce of Administration and F inance in Evans Hall, room 204. Checks should be made payable to United Way of Norman. All proceeds will ben-efi t United Way.
Books can be picked up Friday, Dec. 11 from the loca-tion ordered.
-Daily staff reports
Thursday’s Weather
owl.ou.edu41°/27°
US to send 30,000 more
troops to Afghanistan
JAMIE HUGHESEditor-in-Chief
OU President David Boren issued a statement Tuesday announcing his concern over President Barack Obama’s decision to order 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
Boren said as a private citizen, he is concerned about the cost of human lives and the potential for more troops to harm the United States’ already weak economy.
“While I understand the pressures
on the president, history indicates that attempts to occupy Afghanistan have been unsuccessful and have exacted a heavy human and finan-cial toll on those who have tried it,” he stated. “I am gravely concerned about the added pressure which escalation will place on our armed forces and feel that we must not keep sending the same soldiers into harm’s way through multiple over-seas combat assignments. In addi-tion, I am worried about the burden placed on our fragile economy and that escalation in Afghanistan will lead to higher budget deficits.”
Obama appointed Boren to the President’s Intelligence Advisory
Board in late October. The board pro-vides Obama with an independent source of advice on the effectiveness of the U.S. intelligence community, according to the White House’s Web site.
Boren served in the U.S. Senate from 1979-1994 and was the longest-serving chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Obama announced Tuesday eve-ning he plans to send more troops, but said the nation will begin with-drawing American forces in 18 months.
In his address at the U.S. Military Academy, the president said his new policy was designed to “bring this
war to a successful conclusion.”“We must deny al-Qaida a safe
haven,” Obama said in articulating U.S. military goals for a war that has lasted for eight years. “We must re-verse the Taliban’s momentum. ... And we must strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s security forces and government.”
Obama said the additional forces would be deployed at “the fastest pace possible so that they can target the insurgency and secure key popu-lation centers.”
—The Associated Press contributed to this
report.
BOREN CRITICIZES OBAMA’S DECISION
ESTEBAN PULIDO/THE DAILY
Chris A. Purcell, Vice President for University Governance Chris A. Purcell, Chairman A. Max Weitzenhoffer, President David Boren, Vice Chairman Larry R. Wade in break for a moment during Tuesday’s Board of Regent’s meeting in the Scholars Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.
OU Board of Regents approves plan for joint medical education program
Dorm decorating rules still apply
Students reminded to not damage
property, remove decorations
RICKY MARANONDaily Staff Writer
OU Housing and Food Services said dorm decorating rules are still in effect when students decorate their dorms and apartments during the
holidays.With the holiday season at hand, many students
will be decorating their dorms and apartments until they can go home and enjoy their holiday break at home. However; some restrictions still apply to how students who live on campus may decorate.
“A large number of freshmen and upperclass residents call OU residence halls home during the academic year,” said Lauren Royston, Housing and
Food Services spokeswoman. “Just as they would with their families, roommates and suitemates are encouraged to take an active part in their OU com-munity and make their space festive for the holi-days. To assure the safety of all residents, several decorating guidelines are in place.”
Royston said holiday candles and candle warm-ers are prohibited in the dorms because of an open
MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY
Christmas decorations hang in the windows of a Cate Center dorm Monday. Housing and Food Services is encouraging students to abide by certain rules when decorat-ing for the holiday season.
Student Congress
votes to retain leadersTrue Democracy Act goes to
UOSA president for signature
RICKY MARANONDaily Staff Writer
The UOSA Undergraduate Student Congress met behind closed doors for most of their meeting Tuesday.
The closed-door meeting comes as a procedur-al requirement of members of Student Congress to discuss and critique those in leadership positions at the beginning of a new session of Congress. Members discussed whether Student Congress Chairman John Jennings, Student Congress Vice Chairman Matt Gress and Student Congress Secretary Brittany Pritchett should be retained in their leadership positions. At the end of individual discussion of each leader, members of the body voted on whether to keep or remove a member from their leadership position.
All three members were allowed to keep their leadership roles.
Jennings was allowed to keep his position as chairman but received two votes opposing his re-tention by Shayna Daitch, humanities district ju-nior, and Kody Shipley, communications district
the state.”It is anticipated there will be a national
shortage of physicians in the next 10 years, and Oklahoma already ranks among the lowest of all states in number of physi-cians per capita, according to the meeting agenda.
The universities are creating the program to help address the state’s low health status, low health systems performance and physi-cian shortage, according to a press release from the regents.
OU’s goal is to begin the program in the fall of 2014, according to the release. Boren said the program’s planning process will
take 12 to 18 months. He said a planning committee with representatives from both universities will be in the works soon.
TU has already established a core of sci-ence education and research programs, the regents press release stated, and OU has an established medical training program in Tulsa.
“It will be a very large undertaking,” Boren said. “It would also set in motion a very good ... mechanism for bringing in po-tential interested medical students into our medical program. I think it’s a very good op-portunity for the state and the university.”
The regents also approved the design, preparation of construction documents and revised budget of $11,440,000 for the 29,000-square-foot Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, to be constructed
southwest of the intersection of Elm Avenue and Brooks Street.
Boren said the building’s construction will be funded by $5 million of private funds and $6 million of stimulus funds allocated by Gov. Brad Henry.
“We’re very happy,” Boren said. “It will virtually triple the usable amount of square footage by the school. The school has a wonderful reputation.”
Boren also announced the regents will award a Regents’ Professorship to John Snow, dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, for his commit-ment to science education and service to the university.
“His efforts have led Norman to become the weather center of the country,” Boren said.
The professorships are awarded to faculty who have achieved an unusual distinction in research, service or their ability to teach and guide students, according to a press re-lease from the regents.
Snow has already announced plans to resign as Dean, effective June 30, 2010, to return to teaching and weather technology development.
Boren also announced a major gift to the OU Cancer Institute from the Chickasaw Nation, which will establish cancer support services for American Indians in the state, as well as help raise the standard of cancer care for this group of individuals.
“It is a very, very significant help to the cancer institute and to our fundraising drive,” Boren said.
flame being a large fire hazard.“Students are allowed to decorate for
the holidays as long as they do not dam-age any university property and decora-tions are removed and disposed of prop-erly,” Royston said. “Also, due to extreme fire hazard, items that contain an open flame like candles or potpourri pots and warmers are prohibited in the residence halls at all times.”
Royston said if students have ques-tions about what they may use to deco-rate their dorm or on campus apartment with, they should consult their commu-nity living guide.
T h e g u i d e l i n e s l i s t e d i n t h e Community Living Guide mention both holiday and non-holiday decorations.
“Light strands and hallway floor mats are not allowed in the halls due to fire-safety rules,” the guide states. “Door [and] hallway holiday decorations must be taken down within one week after the holiday. Hanging any type of lights from the ceiling is strictly prohibited.”
The guide states that paper and other flammable substances used as decora-tion outside of a dorm room is strictly prohibited because of fire code.
“We encourage you to decorate your residence hall room; however, please take a few details into consideration,”
the guide states. The guide states that decorating
windows for university–sponsored ac-tivities or national holidays will be al-lowed provided the display is hung by means that will not damage the window or surrounding walls and the display is removed one week after the activity [or] date.
“Residence Life staff have the authori-ty to ask a student to remove inappropri-ate or offensive decorations,” the guide states. “Failure to remove the decora-tion or display could result in a failure to comply citation.”
Freshmen who have decorated their rooms said they don’t have much room to put up elaborate decorations.
“I brought a little tree from home,” said Summer Randall, University College freshman. “I’m going to put some lights on it and even some ornaments.”
Randall said she has seen many peo-ple in her hall bring some small decora-tions from home.
“I have a little tree, but there aren’t even any lights on it,” said Lindsay Bolt, University College freshman. “I doubt I’ll be breaking any rules or making a mess with decorations. It’s a small tree.”
Randall said though she does have some decorations she won’t be having any elaborate decorations.
“It’s a small dorm room,” Randall said. “We don’t have much room for any big decorations.”
The following is a list of arrests and citations, not convictions. The information given is compiled from the Norman
Police Department and the OU Police Department. All those listed are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
OWNING/KEEPING/HARBOURING A BARKING DOGJeffery Alan Dismukes, 46, 1310 Ann Arbor Drive, Thursday, Nov. 19
POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE WITHIN 1000 FEET OF A PARK OR MINOR UNDER 12James Steven Box Kessler, 22, 2217 24th Ave. S.W., Monday, also domes-
tic abuse in the presence of a minor and Cleveland County Warrant
MUNICIPAL WARRANTBrandon Anthony Pippin, 18, 1325 Glen Oaks Court, Sunday
GRAND LARCENYCurtis Lee Thomas, 19, 2900 Oak Tree Ave., Monday
junior.Vice Chairman Gress received one vote
in opposition but the vote was more out of humor than any actual belief to remove him from office.
“I love Gress, but I’m voting ‘no’ just so there is some opposition,” said Forrest Bennet, University College district freshman. “It’s not out of any real problem I have with him.”
Secretary Pritchett was able to keep her
position without any opposition.Congress also passed an amended version
of the True Democracy Act.The amended version of the bill now states
that UOSA General Counsel must approve any recall and initiative petitions within a reason-able amount of time.
The bill now goes to UOSA President Katie Fox’s desk for her signature.
Because of Dead Week restrictions on club and organization meetings, Tuesday’s meet-ing was the last Student Congress meeting for the fall semester.
RetainContinued from page 1
DecoratingContinued from page 1
RegentsContinued from page 1
POLICE REPORTS
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 3
Formal event an opportunity to unite the
community
NATASHA GOODELLDaily Staff Writer
The OU community is celebrating a holiday honoring African-American culture and heritage tonight at the 11th annual Kwanzaa Ball.
“It’s not a religious holiday, but it’s a cultural event that does not require people to compromise their religion or beliefs,” said D’Andre Fisher, human relations and business junior. “This celebration excludes no one and it encourages everyone to celebrate.”
Kwanzaa, meaning the first fruits of the harvest, was creat-ed in 1966 as a way for African-Americans to connect to their African roots and celebrate their cultural heritage.
The Kwanzaa Ball, hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and Zeta Phi Beta sorority, begins at 7 p.m. in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom of the Oklahoma Memorial union.
“It’s a formal ball that presents the opportunity to unite the African-American community and the community as a whole,” Fisher said.
Fisher, Kwanzaa Ball chairman representing Alpha Phi Alpha, said event activities include dinner, a speech by Robert Con Davis-Undiano, a jazz band performance and members from OU’s African Student Association will bring African art to display.
“I enjoy how we are bringing together another culture and bringing it to the campus,” Fisher said. “And just trying to bring awareness to what Kwanzaa is.”
Fisher said there are usually anywhere from 225 to 275 people at the event each year and this year they are hoping and expecting more people to come.
“Kwanzaa is not a religion, it’s just a culture and an
awareness of the African culture,” he said. “That alone just lets me know that my heritage is still strong today. I really enjoy this type of event and I am so grateful that OU is allow-ing us to host this event and has been for 11 years. That’s re-ally a blessing.”
Nicole Minter, human relations senior and Kwanzaa Ball chairwoman for Zeta Phi Beta, said she attended the ball last year and found it to be very informative.
“I always thought Kwanzaa was more a religious thing than a cultural thing,” she said.
Minter said she got to see African dancers perform for the first time at the event last year.
“I think the Kwanzaa Ball is a good thing to kind of pro-mote unity because a lot of people misunderstand Kwanzaa,” she said. “Whether it brings one or two groups together or numerous groups together on campus, I think it’s doing its job to promote unity.”
Minter said she thinks they have had a lot of support for this event and she said she hopes that support continues this year.
“There are seven days of principles of Kwanzaa,” she said. “It’s more of a community-based holiday instead of religious-based to bring the community together as one, which is why I think it will be good to bring this to the OU campus.”
Sasha Orjiako, petroleum engineering and mathematics senior, said she was a participant in one of the acts performed last year by the University Gospel Choir.
“I think it was a very culturally diverse event,” Orjiako said. “There were a lot of different parts in the event that celebrated different cultures. Kwanzaa is full of tradition and it’s a holi-day that is celebrated differently all across the world.”
African-American heritage celebrated tonight at Kwanzaa Ball
RICKY MARANONDaily Staff Writer
T h r e e p e o p l e w e r e charged with first-degree murder Monday in connec-tion to a dead body found in the trunk of a burning car last month.
S h e i l a R e n e e S t a r r, Antonio Cordell Mendoza and Michael Anthony Shields of Oklahoma City have been charged with first-degree murder, third-degree arson, conspiracy to commit a felo-ny and desecrating a human corpse for the purpose of im-peding or prohibiting detec-tion, an Oklahoma County Court probable cause af-fidavit stated. Though the alleged crime took place in
Cleveland County, all three suspects will be prosecuted in Oklahoma County.
Norman Police officer Justin Wishon stated in the affidavit that the victim, Julian Ramirez Cazares, went to visit Starr at her house Nov. 15.
“She invited him in and offered him a beer,” Wishon stated. “Mendoza then abruptly began to assault the victim inside the residence. The victim fell to the floor and all three assaulted the victim by punching, kicking and choking him.”
Wishon stated after as-saulting Cazares, the three placed him in the trunk of his own car. He later stated Starr drove Cazares’ vehicle
while Shields rode in the car behind her with Mendoza.
Wishon stated Mendoza told him that he stopped and filled up a gas can before continuing into Cleveland County with Shields and Starr.
“Mendoza advised that he poured the gasoline on the body and inside the ve-hicle,” Wishon stated. “Starr advised that she lit the lid of a cigarette pack and threw it into the vehicle to start the fire. [They] then got into Mendoza’s vehicle and left the area.”
Wishon stated the three suspects each confessed to their own roles in the action that night.
THREE CHARGED WITH FIRST-DEGREE MURDER
TODAY
CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS
Christians on
Campus will host
a Bible study from
12:30 to 1:15 p.m.
in the Oklahoma
Memorial Union.
CAREER SERVICES
Career Services
will help students
with resumes,
cover letters and
job search strate-
gies from 1:30 to 4
p.m. in the union.
SAM NOBLE MUSEUM
The Sam Noble
Oklahoma
Museum of Natural
History will host a
special preview of
the new science
fi ction com-
edy series, “Outer
Space Astronauts”
with creator
Russell Barrett
and castmembers
from 7 to 9 p.m.
in the Robert S.
Kerr Auditorium
at the Sam
Noble Oklahoma
Museum of
Natural History.
STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY
The Students for
Sensible Drug
Policy will meet
from 8 to 9 p.m.
at Crossroads
in the union.
CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST
Campus Crusade
for Christ will meet
from 9 to 10 p.m.
in the Oklahoma
Memorial
Stadium’s
Santee Lounge.
THURSDAY
BOOK SALE
The Oklahoma
Library and
Information
Studies Student
Association will
host a children
and teen’s book
sale from 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m. in the
Bizzell Memorial
Library room 100.
CAREER SERVICES
Career Services
will help students
with resumes,
cover letters and
job search strate-
gies from 1:30 to 4
p.m. in the union.
LATKES FOR LOVE 2009
The center for
Jewish life on
campus and Alpha
Epsilon Pi, the
Jewish fraternity,
will host the Latkes
For Love, an
annual charity din-
ner, from 6 to 10
p.m. at OU Hillel.
CAMPUS NOTES
JEREMY DICKIE/THE DAILY
Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor candidate Kenneth Corn speaks to members of Young Democrats Tuesday night in Dale Hall. He discussed the need for job creation in Oklahoma and education funding for two-year career-tech colleges.
LT. GOV CANDIDATE SPEAKS AT OU
LOG ON TO OUDAILY.COM TO READ ABOUT CORN’S VISIT.
For whatever reason, violence justified by philosophical and religious positions has be-come a target of unending contempt.
Fountains of glittering but meaningless words will spring out today like sparks from televisions, words like “tolerance” and “diversity” and “acceptance,” while commentators spend hours worrying about the effects of religious fundamentalism.
But what is actually wrong with ideological vio-lence? Is it not simply acting out one’s beliefs? Is this not
a very noble and courageous practice, to go through the trouble of doing something that often entails great risk and gives no immedi-ate, tangible reward?
(To avoid confusion, it would be best to point out here that this column is by no means arguing for any sort of ideological fanaticism. Rather, the purpose is simply to look at our modern society’s hatred of ideo-logical violence, and question whether it is justified.)
At the Second Vatican Council, which ev-eryone loves for making Catholicism so much more open-minded, it was said that “the man who sincerely obeys his conscience intends to obey God himself, even though sometimes in a confused way and without knowing it, and that man must be judged worthy of re-spect.” Who would deny this?
And when considered in relation to some other causes of violence, ideological grounds can be much more respectable.
Consider, for example, war. Many of them begin because of selfish motives: Somebody wants more gold and slaves, or somebody’s wife was stolen.
But these are the wars we so often vener-ate; Caesar and Alexander are praised for ful-filling their personal ambitions while need-lessly killing thousands.
After that, how can we attack the king who dies on Crusade, who thinks he is just doing his duty? One might complain that he didn’t actually believe in it, and just wanted an ex-cuse to invade another country and get more volunteers.
But in that case, it is no longer true ideo-logical violence we’re talking about, and you
should stop complaining.Of course, being American, you probably
think that ideologies should never be used in violence.
However, you yourself have probably de-nied that same position throughout your life; you almost certainly believe that some form of violence may be used against those who themselves practice violence.
Few would say that it is wrong to forcibly incarcerate violent criminals, for example. That belief, by the way, is part of an ideology, even if it is held by many.
Perhaps you wish to argue that this is the only legitimate use of violence. Then make that argument.
Some, however, will not be convinced be-cause their ideology will say that some things are worse than violence, and can be prevent-ed by it; these people simply have different priorities.
Perhaps you do not agree with those pri-orities, but violence follows quite naturally from them.
Therefore, since most of us are perfectly fine with using violence based on an ideol-ogy, it is astonishingly hypocritical to be so outraged whenever others do exactly the same thing. They do have much broader areas in which violence is permissible, but they are using the same tools to justify it, and their opinions on the matter demand just as much respect from us as any other opinions we disagree with.
“You wouldn’t say this if you were being persecuted.” Yes I would.
Personally experiencing effects that have already been theoretically deduced should be no reason to change one’s ideas. I would still say the same thing, and I would do my best to admire their conviction.
To end this, it would probably be best to re-mind the reader that this is not an argument for violence. It is also not an argument that we should allow others to be violent; our ideol-ogy says they are wrong and may stop them violently, and it would be silly not to follow our own ideology.
This merely says that we ought to stop pre-tending we are so much better than those who have some different ideas about things.
Gerard Keiser is a classical languages sophomore.
The intellectual establishment takes itself quite seriously, often to a major fault.
I, for one, am terrifically good at pretend-ing that I understand what someone else is
saying and giving him or her the time of day when I really don’t even acknowl-edge what he or she thinks, believes or states.
It’s understandable that what a person says should be consistent with his or her actions, but far too commonly I disregard the argument someone makes. This, friends, is fallacy, the dreaded concept we pre-
tend to avoid but still rush headlong into. Why? Because we’d actually have to think
about the other side in order to address it adequately.
I obtained much of the following informa-tion on fallacy definitions from a professor in the OU Department of Philosophy, Chris Swoyer, who wrote “Critical Reasoning: A User’s Manual,” which was used for my un-dergraduate critical reasoning course.
I learned the names of and ways which these fallacies are used then, but in watch-ing the climate of campus and the highly-charged politics of Washington, D.C. these days, I thought re-reading and writing about them would be an excellent and worthwhile exercise for me now that I think of myself too highly as a graduate student.
Dictionary.com provides us with a useful definition of the term “fallacy” in philoso-phy, defining it as “any of various types of
erroneous reasoning that render arguments logically unsound.”
The examples of these are plentiful, and I could spend much more than a short column describing each one.
The ones that linger in my mind that I fear most, both from my undergrad class and from observing the way people argue, are three: (1) Argument Against the Person (ad hominem); (2) Fallacy of Irrelevant Reasons (“Red Herring” or “non sequitur”); and (3) The Strawman Fallacy.
I’m really good at these, and perhaps you are, too.
So what do these mean? First, the ad hominem.
This means that in my argument or analysis of another’s, rather than ad-dressing the topic or rea-sons given for a person’s position, I choose to at-tack the person in order to undermine his or her credibility.
A common illustration is that if my friend makes the historical argument for a Just War, I might respond “you just want to go to war because you hate people, wear ridiculous clothes, and you’re a conservative fundy.”
Conversely, if it’s someone who opposes war, I would say, “You’re simply a flaming liberal who wants to sit around, drink organic coffee and not shower.”
Rather than discussing what his or her rea-sons were, I attack the person.
Sadly, the blogosphere is full of these types of arguments. People like to belittle others in
order to make themselves look good, and I’m often guilty of this. But what good does this do us?
Both sides do this politically, and both are dangerous.
Secondly, the more subtle Fallacy of Irrelevant Reasons. Also called the “Red Herring” or “non sequitur,” I’m trying to get the reader to believe my conclusion on the basis of premises completely unrelated to the conclusion.
For example, much of the current debate on health care in the U.S. centers upon a govern-ment-run public option, over which there is a fire storm of controversy. But if I wanted to defend the public option (while committing a dastardly Red Herring), I would say something like “we need to pass this legislation be-
cause people are dying for lack of health care, as well as because Europe has this system, and Europeans are really cool. I love British accents. They make people more funny.”
This is interesting, but completely unre-lated to whether this legislation on health care reform should pass. Again, altogether too easy and far too common.
Third, and in my experience the one I’m best at, is the Strawman Fallacy. This one is defined by Swoyer as “when we distort or weaken someone else’s position or argument in an effort to discredit it.”
It’s an attempt to fill up the opponent’s
position with straw in order to knock it down and smash it easily.
Again, examples are everywhere, but a common one I see in my experience is with people from many different religious back-grounds. We assume to understand a re-ligion or set of beliefs without having ever gone to the source of those beliefs, which in most major religions is some sort of text, to discover whether these beliefs are actually consistent with the teachings.
I could say that Jewish or Muslim people hate pigs without going to their teachings about why they don’t eat pork. I could com-bine every group that names itself “Christian” without actually reading the Bible to find out what a Christian is.
This can happen in religion, politics, social commentary or anything else in which we make an assertion that might be considered controversial. Easy, but utterly worthless.
Ultimately, if I am going to strengthen my arguments, I need to understand the op-position well. I can’t just rely on a couple of out-of-context sound bites to get the full un-derstanding of what they are saying or assert-ing. I have to do the difficult thing and think it through.
Some of the issues I am most passion-ate about are ones which are controversial, and those should be the ones that I focus on learning the strengths of the opposing side.
If we do that, then we might better exam-ine our own set of beliefs to see if they mea-sure up to reality.
Jon Malone is an English education graduate student.
GERARDKEISER
JON MALONE
Jamie Hughes Editor-in-ChiefMeredith Moriak Managing EditorCharles Ward Assistant Managing EditorRicky Ly Night EditorWill Holland Opinion EditorMichelle Gray, Merrill Jones Photo Editors
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COMMENT OF THE DAY »In response to Tuesday’s news story, “Tailgate attendance reflects success”
YOU CAN COMMENT ATOUDAILY.COM
“Not sure why people con-sider things Housing & Food provides as “donated.” The students who are forced by the regents to live in the exorbi-tantly priced dorms are paying for those hot dogs. They are
not donated from some spe-cial place in the sky.”
-soonerboomers
Some of the issues that I am most passionate about are ones which are controversial, and those should be the ones that I focus on learning the strengths of the opposing side.
Understanding opposing arguments the key to establishing beliefs
Are our attitudes toward
ideological violence justified?
Opinionated?The Daily is hiring columnists and cartoonists for spring
2010. For more information on how to apply, e-mail [email protected].
Health care in Oklahoma may get a boost within the next decade thanks to the combined efforts of OU and the University of Tulsa.
The two universities announced Tuesday that they would be joining forces to create a medical school in Tulsa, where both schools already have smaller medical centers (see page 1 for details).
Although the new school is not set to open until 2014, we support this move because it should benefit both schools, as well as the state of Oklahoma. Not only should this allow more of Oklahoma’s medical students to have better training, but it should attract bet-ter and brighter students to our state.
In addition to both of these things, more medical students might grad-u a t e f ro m a n O k l a h o m a m e d i c a l school, which means more medical
professionals might stay in the state t o s t a r t t h e i r c a re e r s, s o m e t h i n g Oklahoma badly needs due to our state’s already mediocre-to-bad health status (a recent report ranked the state next to last in the U.S. in terms of overall health).
As with anything else that is still in the preliminary planning phase, this plan still has questions that need answers.
Is the fact that the school will be half private going to make it cost more? From which university will the school’s graduates be receiving degrees? Will this water down the requirements to get in to an Oklahoma medical school?
We don’t yet have the answers to these questions, but one thing is cer-tain: We think this is a positive devel-opment upon first glance.
Combined medical school good for state
Adopt - An - AreaAdopt an Area starts next week! Look for your organization!
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Walker
Way to go! Keep up the good work!
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Volunteer�ProgramsStrengthening Our Traditions through Service to State and SocietyLeadership Development and Volunteerism • leadandvolunteer.ou.edu
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Learn the Languages of Law, Medicine, and
the Sciences
Take Greek or Latin to Satisfy Your Language Requirement
The professional vocabulary of lawyers, doctors, and scientists comes from Greek
and Latin. If you take courses in these languages, you’ll know what stare decisis means, what hematopoiesis is, and why
you’re called a homo sapiens.
Besides, it’s just fun to tell people that you know Greek and/or Latin.
We also have some great Gen-Ed courses in English: Survey of Roman Civilization (CL C 2613), Ancient Epic (CL C 3113), and Classical Infl uences
on Modern Literature (CL C 3613).
For more information, contact the Department of Classics and Letters, 100 Carnegie Building | 325-6921 |
Go online tonight for a recap of the men’s game. OUDAILY.COM
«BASKETBALLGo online tofor a recap omen’s gameOUDAILY.COM
«BASKETBALL
BEDLAM WRESTLING DEADLOCKEDSooners and Cowboys fi nish Bedlam wrestling in a tie Tuesday night at McCasland Field House
MJ CASIANODaily Staff Writer
The No. 11-ranked Sooner wrestling team saw its toughest action of the season thus far against unde-feated and in-state rival No. 3 Oklahoma State Tuesday night.
The duel went down to the wire, literally, as neither team came away with the victory.
OU (4-0-1) and OSU (1-0-1) were given a tie in a 16-16 duel. Bonus points are usually the tiebreaker, but both teams had one each.
Heavyweight No. 2 Jared Rosholt tied the score at 16-16 after a decision against OU’s No. 13 redshirt ju-nior Nathan Fernandez.
The only scoring in the heavyweight match consisted of escapes. This match settled the 16-16 tie.
Senior Eric Lapotsky, No. 7 at 197 pounds, got down 0-2 early. But Lapotsky leaned on his experience, never gave up and scored six straight unanswered points, ultimately upsetting the Cowboys No. 4 ranked Alan Gelogaev 10-6.
OSU’s No. 11- ranked Clayton Foster reminded every-one of redshirt freshman Erich Schmidtke’s inexperi-ence. The ranked Cowboy took the win in a 17-5 major decision at 184 pounds.
However, OU’s No. 8 Jeff James had a major deci-sion up his sleeve as well en route to 14-5 finish at 174 pounds, including a 5-1 run in the third period from James.
There was another battle of the ranked at 165 pounds between OU’s No. 16 freshman Tyler Caldwell and OSU’s No. 12 Alex Meade.
Caldwell was down from the start and Meade finished him off with a 5-1 OSU win.
The Sooners’ No. 8 redshirt sophomore Shane Vernon
didn’t need many points to become victorious; Vernon posted a 3-1 win for the Sooners from a takedown in the final seconds of the third period over OSU’s No. 7 Neil Erisman.
It was expected for OU’s No. 5-ranked redshirt senior Kyle Terry to emerge victorious over OSU’s Quentin Fuentes, and he did.
Terry went on a 3-0 run in the third period to break
the tie and add points to OU’s score.OSU’s Jamal Parks and Jordan Oliver got the decision
at 141 and 133 pounds, respectively. OU’s freshman Jared Patterson surprised the crowd
with a 6-3 decision over OSU’s No. 7 Chris Notte at 125 pounds.
OU will next see action Friday in Primm, Nev. in the Cliff Keen Invitational.
MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY
Senior Eric Lapotsky wrestles with an Oklahoma State opponent on Tuesday evening in the McCasland Field House.
>> Visit our Web site, OUDaily.com, for a video recap of Tuesday’s Bedlam wrestling duel
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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.
HELP WANTEDPanhandle Opportunities: working with in-dividuals with developmental disabilities. 7.50/hr to start, paid training. Flexible hrs, benefi ts. Positive environment, Norman area. 942-4822 or fax resume 942-4993.
Survey takers needed! Make $5-$25 per survey! www.getpaidtothink.com
Bartender & Wait Staff - Club Fusion, SW 89th & Western - 833-1828
Part-Time College and Young Adult Coordinator Needed. College and
Young Adult Coordinator needed for a large
church located near the University of Oklahoma in Norman. This individual will guide and develop small groups of people primarily in their 20’s into a closer relationship with God. Please
send resume to [email protected] or PO Box 6390 Norman, OK 73070 att
Randy Wade.
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CHRISTMAS BREAK JOBS
Not going home for the holidays? The C Lazy U Guest Ranch in the Colorado Rockies has positions available from Dec 19 thru Jan 3 - after Jan 3, you are wel-come to stay w/ free room & board, to ski & snowboard the local resorts for 5 days. Email Phil Dwyer at [email protected] or call 970-887-3344.
STUDENTPAYOUTS.COMPaid survey takers needed in Norman100% FREE to join. Click on Surveys.
Bartending! Up to $300/day. No exp nec. Training provided. 1-800-965-6520 x133.
The Cleveland County Family YMCA is seeking AM Lifeguard and PM Swim In-structors. Apply in person at 1350 Lexing-ton Ave. EOE.
www.soonerfan.ws
MISAL OF INDIA BISTRONow accepting applications for waitstaff.
Apply in person at 580 Ed Noble Parkway,
across from Barnes & Noble, 579-5600.
Hiring Leasing Agent Immediately - Large apt complex seeking responsible student P/T & Sat, fl exible schedule, F/T during breaks. $7.50 - $8.50 based on ability. 613-5268
Housing RentalsJ
APTS. FURNISHED$400, bills paid, effi ciency LOFT apart-ments, downtown over Mister Robert Fur-niture, 109 E Main, fi re sprinkler, no pets, smoke-free. Inquire store offi ce.
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
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Having a partner or working in close conjunction with someone toward a common goal could be quite fortunate for you. You will complement each other’s thinking.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- This could be a good day to enhance your fi nancial or material base. Don’t lower your expectations or settle for a lesser job when much more is being offered.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Because you have something extra that is quite captivating, others will fi nd you enormously appealing and your popularity will rise considerably. Make the most of it.
PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Beginnings will not be nearly as important as endings, so give it your all as you race to the fi nish line. The satisfaction of a job well done will infl uence you for a long time to come.
ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You won’t have to go far to increase your circle of friends. There will be people all around interested in your ideas and what your thinking can do for them.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- There are all kinds of doors opening for you, but the ones you’re apt to like best are those developing in areas that infl u-ence your career or fi nances. Big bucks can be made at this time.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Success can be yours in areas that you can control or direct, so devote as much time as possible to matters that are personally signifi cant. Be both the director and star of your own show.
CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Even though chance may play a signifi cant role in your affairs, Dame Fortune herself is direct-ing your life. You could benefi t greatly from something being run by another.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- It behooves you to get involved in some type of activity that requires a unifi ed effort. You may or may not be the leader, but there will be surprising benefi ts garnered from group undertakings.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- More opportunities than usual may open up in areas involving your work or career. Although there may be a plethora of them, you could miss out if you’re not on your toes.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Your open mind and powerful desire for learning might elevate you to a different level. You could encounter issues that could benefi cially advance your most ardent interests.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- Someone who thinks highly of you could help fulfi ll a material desire. You will be expected to make the most of it in ways that can better your life.
« WEEKEND UPDATEFind a list of things happening this weekend int Thursday’s Life & Arts section.
OUDAILY.COM
ASHLEY BERNTGENDaily Staff Writer
When Chipotle founder Steve Ells founded Chipotle Mexican Grill in 1993, he had a vision, not of serving fast food, but of serving good food fast.
Now, 16 years and dozens of locations later, Norman is finally able to be a part of this vision.
Norman’s first Chipotle will open its doors Friday at 11 a.m.
To help celebrate the opening, the res-taurant is having a free tasting day today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for all OU students, faculty and staff with a valid OU ID.
While Chipotle is well-known for its enormous burritos and other Tex-Mex staples such as tacos and guacamole, the restaurant has recently been carving out a niche as a socially responsible and eco-nomical Mexican eatery.
In 2001, Chipotle released its Food With Integrity mission statement, a phi-losophy that holds the company to high standards in terms of where the food comes from and how it is prepared.
The restaurant only serves meat from naturally raised, vegetable-fed livestock and make a priority to ser ve locally grown vegetables.
“All of [the] meat is naturally raised and a third of our beans are organic,” Chipotle marketing consultant Jen Granillo said.
According to Granillo, all the food Chipotle restaurants use throughout the day is freshly prepared as it is needed, as opposed to being prepared days in advance.
As a result, she said the food is much fresher.
Granillo said she thinks Chipotle is an appealing choice for the budget-con-scious college students not only because Chipotle can offer a large portion of food for a reasonable price, but because they
can offer high-quality food at a reason-able price.
“I think college kids now are more par-ticular with what they eat,” Granillo said. “If they have their $10 to vote on where they’re going to go to lunch, they want something that’s really awesome food. For $6, and maybe 50 cents with tax, you get a huge burrito. You get amazing qual-ity food.”
Chipotle employee Sharon Kersey said she is excited about working for a com-pany that puts so much emphasis on serving quality food.
“These people stand behind their food and they’re not afraid to show it,” Sharon said. “ They tell you what’s in it.”
T h e p a l p a b l e e nt hu s i a s m f o r t h e Friday’s grand opening has made its way out the restaurant itself and into the OU student community.
With several other options for Mexican cuisine on Campus Corner, one might think excitement in the community wouldn’t be as high as it is.
However, this is not the case. Alex Dalke, business senior, said he is
very excited about Chipotle’s arrival in
Norman. “My freshman year, me and some
friends used to drive all the way down to Dallas to get Chipotle. But now that they have Chipotle up here, I’ll save some gas,” Dalke said. “ I love that you can get a giant burrito for cheap.”
The restaurant will officially open at 11 a.m. Friday but free burritos are available today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. for all OU students, faculty and staff.
Chipotle is located at 765 Asp Ave. on Campus Corner.
PHOTO PROVIDED
A dish from Chipotle’s menu. Chipotle will open in Norman at 11 a.m. Friday. Students, faculty and staff can try the restaurant free today from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a valid student ID. Chipotle is located at 765 Asp Ave. in Norman.
CHIPOTLE BRINGS FRESH, FAST FOOD TO NORMAN
8 Wednesday, December 2, 2009
» The Daily’s Osi Aken’Ova reviews three of this week’s new comic books.
“HAUNT #3”
After the first two issues of “Haunt” introduced us to the Kilgore brothers and the mysterious mercenary Cobra, Kurt’s co-workers finally give the details of Haunt’s
powers to Daniel. A few weeks ago, I commented that co-writer and inker Todd
McFarlane’s artwork, which, aside from giving it a frazzled look, didn’t do much.
But his writing skills are—in my opinion—holding this series back.
Of course since Robert Kirkman also writes this book, there is no way anybody could know for a fact who had certain ideas or wrote specific dialogue. But anyone that has read any Kirkman or McFarlane book can easily point out which writer is in the driver’s seat.
For example, Kirkman takes a lot of time and effort creating emo-tional attachments between his characters and the readers as seen in “Invincible” and “The Walking Dead.”McFarlane’s writing style is
more focused on revenge and violent characters. With the fast-paced action, manic violence and two-dimensional characters, you know McFarlane is in charge.
Hopefully this week’s comic will be much better that the previous two, and have more Kirkman than McFarlane.
OSIAKEN’OVA
“WHAT IF? SECRET INVASION”
Continuing with the Marvel “What If?” tradition, this issue spotlights what could have happened if the Skrulls Secret Invasion had ended differently. The first story, written by “Underworld” scriptwriter and actor Kevin Grevious sheds light on how the war would have ended if Mr. Fantastic had died before he escaped from the Skrulls.
The next story doesn’t really venture into new territory when it goes into what might have happened if the Skrulls’ invasion hadn’t been discovered and remained secret.
As with all “What If?” stories, the writers are given the freedom to do whatever they want to characters that they couldn’t do in the mainstream.
I’ve read a couple of “What If?” stories and a few of them are really interesting while most are pretty mundane.
However, the Secret Invasion was a very big story arc and might be interesting to revisit.
“DARK AVENGERS ANNUAL #1”
As soon as Marvel Boy figured out that the New Avengers were actually the bad guys, he escaped, but Osborn still wants him because he could be a powerful asset to the team.
Superstar writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Chris Bachalo join forces to bring you this critically acclaimed, giant-sized issue.
Although I’m not reading “Dark Avengers,” this annual along with others gives po-tential buyers a little sample of what’s going on in that series and if they like it, they can start buying them.Osi Aken’Ova is a film and video studies senior.
PHOTO PROVIDED
Comic book covers from “Haunt #3,” “What If? Secret Invasion” and “Dark Avengers Annual #1.”
