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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

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The Daily breaks down week four of college football.PAGE 3

Read about some of the

most notable music releases.

PAGE 6

NEWS BRIEFS

PATIENT WITH UNKNOWN ILLNESS PASSES AWAY

FORMER CHAIRMAN BOOKED ON CHARGES

JURY CLEARS OU GRAD OF RAPE CHARGES

owl.ou.edu

Wednesday’sWeather

82°/56°

Robe r t Ch i l e s , f o rme r Oklahoma Democratic Party Affi rmative Action chairman, was transported from the Cleveland County Jail to the Oklahoma County Jail Monday, where he was booked on charges of check fraud and check forgery, said an offi cer at the Cleveland County Jail.

Chiles worked with Miranda Norman, polit ical science senior, during her fall 2008 run for the Oklahoma House of Representatives.

-Lara Saavedra/The Daily

Billy Anderson, a patient at OU Medical Center with an unidentified illness, died Saturday.

A memorial service will take place for Anderson at 10 a.m. Saturday at Destiny Church in Broken Arrow.

Anderson ’s w i fe , N ikk i Peterson, has been raising awareness of her husband’s mysterious condition through the Web site prayforbilly.com.

On the Web site, Peterson made daily updates about her husband’s health.

Anderson was on the OU Medical Center charity fund that covered most of his costs, but not physician’s costs, which Peterson said on her Web site “are also fi nancially devastat-ing.”

Anderson spent time in three Missouri hospitals before he was finally transferred to OU Medical Center in August 2008.

Articles in both the March 4 and May 11 issues of The Daily detailed Anderson’s battle with his mysterious illness.

In the March 4 s to r y, Peterson said that her hus-band’s illness stemmed from immune system and abdominal ailments.

However, The Daily reported May 11 that Anderson’s health had shown signs of improve-ment.

“There is nothing more that [Billy] wanted than to come home to his family, to walk and laugh again and to get his health back,” wrote Peterson in her Sept. 26 blog post on the Web site. “We should all live with the appreciation of the blessing that we call life. It can be gone in an instant.”

-Jared Rader/The Daily

A jury in the Cleveland County District Court found OU graduate Blake Dilliner not guilty of second-degree rape Friday afternoon, accord-ing to a clerk for Cleveland County District Judge William C. Hetherington.

In September 2008, Dilliner, of Richardson, Texas, was charged with second-degree rape of a 20-year-old female in May 2008, according to an affi davit.

-Ricky Maranon/The Daily

MERRILL JONES/THE DAILY

Brett Jones, mechanical engineering junior, and Ryan McMahon, management information systems junior, relax in their dorm room in Couch Tower Monday night. The roommates decked out their dorm, creating a “pimped-out” environment for people to come hang out.

Upperclassmen’s Couch Tower

tri-suite houses camaraderie

BRITTNEY BROWNDaily Staff Writer

Two students on the second floor of Couch Center prove dorm rooms do not have to be boring.

Ryan McMahon, management information systems junior, and Brett Jones, mechanical en-gineering junior, split a tri-suite, a room designed to hold three people.

McMahon and Jones have found a way to take up the space a third person would, since besides the basic dorm furniture, they have two sofas, car-pets and a lamp with dimmers.

The lamp provides “mood-altering effects,” ac-cording to Jones.

They also have a 52-inch television, a Wii, a computer, and an extensive movie and game collection.

None of those things, however, are as impor-tant as a pair of inexpensive items.

“We have matching claws,” Jones said as he and his roommate held up two plastic claws on long sticks. “So we never have to get off the couch to get a drink.”

He demonstrated by reaching over to the duct tape handle on their refrigerator - installed pri-marily for this purpose - and getting a Powerade out with his claw.

The room is a great way to make friends, both said. McMahon and Jones keep their door open so people can just walk in.

“It’s like a place for people to come hang out,” McMahon said. “People close their door and hang out in their rooms by themselves. It’s cool to have a bunch of seats [in here].

“There’s almost never not people here.”Chris Beaudoin, University College freshman,

said he spends a lot of his free time in their room. “I fell asleep on the couch a dozen times this month,” he said.

“Right off the bat, I started hanging out here,” said Ross Greenfield, aviation management sophomore.

Jones and McMahon have been friends since they went to Union High School together and have been roommates since their freshman year at OU. “We acquired our stuff over time,” Jones said. They bought most of it with their own money from working some summers.

Students turn dorm room into ‘pimped-out’ home

GO ONLINE TO CATCH VIDEO THAT SHOWS THE INSIDE OF THIS DORM ROOM GONE CRIB.OUDaily.com »

“I just think it’ll be easier to

use. It’s all in one place.”

-RYAN BLACKBURN, UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE FRESHMAN

“I hate it. It’s just another Web

site we have to remember. We

have so many Web sites to go to

anyway. I think it’s stupid that

we have now another Web site

we have to use.”

-MADISON SCHULTZ, MECHANICAL

ENGINEERING SENIOR

“It’s more convenient.”

-ZACHARY HERRING, JOURNALISM JUNIOR

“I think it’s much easier because

there have been times where I

keep forgetting about what site

I have to go to, and I don’t know

how to get there or, I open up

three tabs on the Internet.”

-REINA LYONS, BROADCAST AND

ELECTRONIC MEDIA JUNIOR

SOONER SAMPLER » THE DAILY’S LARA SAAVEDRA ASKED STUDENTS WHAT THEY THOUGHT

ABOUT OU MERGING MULTIPLE SOONER PORTALS INTO ONE WEB SITE

Supreme Court justice to visit College of Law

ANTHONY KENNEDY

Visit will include question

and answer session

MEREDITH MORIAKManaging Editor

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy will be on campus Thursday to teach two classes and participate in a fireside chat as part of the OU College of Law’s centennial celebration.

“There are 180 law schools in America and very few have Supreme Court justices come to them, espe-cially as far away and as difficult to get to as Oklahoma,” said Andrew Coats, dean of the College of Law.

Coats said it is important law stu-dents have exposure to Kennedy

and are able to hear him speak.“These young people will under-

stand and learn to love the majesty of the law,” he said. “Having a justice of the Supreme Court will inspire them.”

Kennedy will teach Constitutional Law to first-year law students at 10 a.m. in the Dick Bell Courtroom.

“I may never be in the same room as a Supreme Court justice ever again,” said first-year law student Jade McCarthy-Caldwell. “We read about him, and now we get to meet him.”

At 3 p.m., Kennedy will speak with second and third-year law students in the Dick Bell Courtroom and an-swer questions from the audience.

“We’re very excited, and it’s an in-credible opportunity,” said first-year

law student Jenna McCarthy.Kennedy will participate in a fire-

side chat hosted by OU President David Boren during a 7 p.m. invita-tion-only, centennial dinner at the Embassy Suites Conference Center. Law school alumni, faculty, staff and law students will attend the dinner, Coats said.

“It is truly an exciting time for us as we celebrate the centennial of the law school, and to have a justice from the Supreme Court celebrate with us is awesome,” he said.

Students attending sessions at the law school are asked to arrive at least 30 minutes early for security clearance, Coats said. Backpacks and electronic devices will not be allowed in the courtroom.

“Justice Kennedy has some star

power and everyone has a feeling of excitement about the whole centen-nial celebration,” he said.

K e n n e d y r e -ceived his law de-gree from Harvard University in 1961 and was nomi-nated to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1975 by President Gerald Ford and to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan.

“It’s a high point in my time as dean,” Coats said. “Having someone like Anthony Kennedy is a real trib-ute to college and what we’ve been able to accomplish.”

How did life fi rst begin? Check out one doctor’s explanation inside.PAGE 2

news

ORRIIIIIIIII

Meredith Moriak, managing editor

dailynews@ou.edu • phone: 325-3666 • fax: 325-6051

2 Tuesday, September 29, 2009

OUDAILY.COM » LOG ON TO OUDAILY.COM TO READ A STORY ABOUT

TWO OU SCHOOL OF DRAMA GRADUATES WHO WERE

THE CREATORS OF “THE TROOP, ” A NEW NICKELODEON

TV SHOW ABOUT KIDS WHO FIGHT MONSTERS.

The Daily draws all entries for

Campus notes on OUDaily.com’s

comprehensive, campus-wide

calendar. To get your event

noticed, visit OUDaily.com and

fi ll out our user-friendly form

under the calendar link.

TODAYCAREER SERVICES

Career Services will pres-

ent How to Write a Resume

for a Federal Government

Job at 2 p.m. in the Union.

Career Services will pres-

ent an informational ses-

sion with Marathon Oil at

5 p.m. in the Union.

Career Services will present

a Chevron informational ses-

sion at 6 p.m. in the Union.

CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS

Christians on Campus will host a

Bible study at noon in the Union.

INTELLIGENT DESIGN AND EVOLUTION AWARENESS CLUB

The Intelligent Design and

Evolution Awareness Club

will present a screening of

“Darwin’s Dilemma” at 7 p.m.

in the Sam Noble Oklahoma

Museum of Natural History.

WEDNESDAYCHRISTIANS ON CAMPUS

Christians on Campus will

host a Bible study at 12:30

p.m. in the Union.

OU VOLLEYBALL

The OU Volleyball team will

host Nebraska at 6 p.m. at

McCasland Field House.

OKLAHOMA SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION

The Norman Oklahoma

Science Fiction Association

will meet at 7:30 p.m. at

New York Pizza and Pasta.

YOUTH FOR CHOICE

Youth For Choice will hold a

women’s study library at 7:30

p.m. on the 5th fl oor of the

Physical Sciences Center.

CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST

Campus Crusade for Christ will

meet at 9 p.m. in the Santee

Lounge at the Oklahoma

Memorial Stadium.

The following is a list of arrests

and citations, not convictions.

The information is compiled

from the Norman Police

Department and the OU Police

Department. All those listed are

innocent until proven guilty.

ACTUAL PHYSICAL CONTROL OF A MOTOR VEHICLE WHILE INTOXICATEDJordan K. Monroe, 22, Asp

Avenue Parking Garage, Sunday

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEAllison Marie Sharp, 24,

600 W. Lindsey St., Sunday,

also false impersonation

Michael Oluwatomisin Osisanya,

20, 500 E. Boyd St., Sunday, also

failure to carry proof of insurance

Deidre Sue McClendon, 26,

500 W. Brooks St., Sunday,

also transporting an open

container of alcohol

Julie Marie Adams, 23, 200

E. Boyd St., Saturday

Jake Andrew Loftis, 21, Boyd

Street and College Avenue, Friday

Samantha K. Mysel, 21, 500

Buchanan Ave., Thursday

Bobby Bruce Kinsey, 33,

E. Boyd Street, Sunday

DRIVING WITH A SUSPENDED DRIVER’S LICENSEChelsea Kay Ferguson, 21,

200 E. Boyd St., Saturday

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANAJoseph Wes Rutelonis, 18,

Walker Tower, Friday, also pos-

session of drug paraphernalia

Josue Ribeiro Gonzalez,

22, N. Jones Avenue,

Saturday, also possession

of drug paraphernalia

PUBLIC INTOXICATIONDouglas P. Proffi tt, 27, Felgar

Street and Jenkins Avenue, Friday

DISTURBING THE PEACECharles Joseph Buck, 23,

2400 W. Brooks St., Sunday

DISCHARGING A FIREARM WITHIN CITY LIMITSJoshua C. Dewitt, 24, 825

Biloxi Drive, Saturday, also

molesting property

MUNICIPAL WARRANTCharles Allen James, 36,

703 Asp Ave., Sunday

Robert Lee Willhoite, 31, 831

Biloxi Drive, Sunday, also munici-

pal and county warrant and

interfering with offi cial process

PETTY LARCENYEthan Paul Mead, 18, 333 N.

Interstate Drive E., Sunday

DRUNK IN PUBLICDenise Darnell Whitehead,

46, 123 N. Interstate Drive E.,

Sunday, also possession of

controlled dangerous substance

POLICE REPORTS CAMPUS NOTES

MARCIN RUTKOWSKI/THE DAILY

Stephen Meyer speaks in Meacham Auditorium Monday night. Meyer is the director of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle.

Campus science club hosts guest speakerSigns of design present in DNA

code, according to speaker

JARED RADERDaily Staff Writer

The case for intelligent design is based on the same method of reasoning that Charles Darwin pioneered in the “Origin of the Species,” an intelligent design advo-cate told an audience Monday at Meacham Auditorium in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

Stephen Meyer, director and senior fel-low of the Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle, outlined his belief in the scientific authenticity of intelligent design, which he explains in his new book, “Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design.”

“If you apply Charles Darwin’s method of reason-ing to what we know now that he didn’t, you come to exactly the opposite conclusion that he did,” Meyer said. “There is evidence of design in nature, and you find that evidence most obviously on display in the digital code that is stored in the DNA.”

Meyer explained the code in human DNA is very similar to a computer program, only much more complex than any program ever created.

“If we trace information back to its source, we always come to a mind, not a material process,” he said

Meyer said this logic points decisively to a “prior designing mind” when applied to the discovery of information in DNA and the complex information processing system that surrounds it.

He explained that he believed the three most common explanations of the origin of life — chance, pre-biotic natural selection and self-organization — all fail to offer the origin of the produced information.

“I think it is a false analogy, because

computer systems do not reproduce, and do not mutate as greatly, or as quickly as life does,” said Gregory Maus, philosophy sophomore and vice president of the Darwin Student Association.

Maus said Meyer’s argument was similar to the idea of finding a watch in the desert and assuming it was created by an intelligent designer.

“This is similarly flawed in its comparison to the development of life, because watches cannot likewise reproduce, or mutate,” Maus said.

Joshua Malone, microbiology sophomore and president of the Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Club, said he hoped

students would realize that intelligent design is a legiti-mate scientific argument.

“Our organization is pro-moting discussion on the question of design,” Malone said. “We really want stu-dents to gain a better un-derstanding of the debate that is going on between

natural selection and intelligent design.”Meyer said evolutionists reject the intel-

ligent design argument partly because it challenges evolutionists’ religious devotion to Darwin’s theory.

“I hope that people realize that this is a fas-cinating topic and one that can be discussed with energy, passion, but also civility,” he said. “It’s the great question.”

Meyer earned his Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from Cambridge University for a dissertation on the history of origin of life biology and the methodology of the historical sciences.

The Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Club sponsored Meyer’s lecture.

The Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness Club will host a screening of “Darwin’s Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Era” at 7 p.m. today at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. After the showing, a discussion will be hosted by Meyer and Jonathan Wells, a biologist and proponent of intelligent design.

SCREENING TIMEWhat: “Darwin’s Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Era”

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Sam Noble Museum of Natural History

CATHOLIC?Join us at

St. Thomas MoreStudent Center!

College Nights Wednesday, September 30 at 7 p.m. at the Union. Mass to follow at 9 p.m with Archbishop Beltran.

Stinson

Timberdell

LINDSEY

JEN

KIN

S

Farmer

St. ThomasMore

Stadium

Huffman

For more info, contact Erin Cleto, Campus Minister, at (405) 321-0990 ext. 205 or visit our website at www.stm-ou.org/students

Annelise Russell, sports editor

dailysports@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 3

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK FOUR WRAP-UPJONO GRECODaily Staff Writer

With the No. 8 Sooners idle over the weekend, OU players, coaches and fans had a chance to take a look at the rest of the college football world.

A lot of storylines came out of week four – here are a few things we learned from OU’s bye week.

T H E K E Y T O B E A T I N G T H E HURRICANES HAS BEEN FOUND

It is not that much of an upset that the No. 6 Virginia Tech Hokies handed the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes their first loss of the season.

Entering the game the two teams were ranked just two spots apart, but Virginia Tech flexed its muscles and easily defeat-ed Miami 31-7 at home.

In the Hokies’ victory, they exploited some of the Hurricanes’ defensive defi-ciencies, with the most important being putting constant pressure on and rattling Miami sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris.

The Sooners should be able to look at the game tape and find what Virginia Tech did to get to Harris early and often, and emulate that with their talented front four.

Through three games this season OU has racked up 12 sacks, including six in its last game against Tulsa.

If the Sooners are able to get constant pressure and sack Harris often this week in Miami, Fla., then they should come back to Norman with a victory and thank the Hokies for showing them and the rest of the nation how.

BEING A TOP 10 TEAM DOES NOT GUARANTEE SAFETY

The theme to the 2009 season has been which top 10 team will fall, but it is hard to believe almost half of week four’s 10-best teams would lose.

Four teams ranked in the top 10 – Mississippi, Penn State, California and Miami – lost either Thursday or Saturday, and one other, Louisiana State, narrow-ly escaped joining that list with a goal line stand at the end of its game against Mississippi State.

Through four weeks, eight teams in the top 10 have been defeated.

The Sooners lost their No. 3 ranking in week one, Oklahoma State lost its No. 5 ranking in week two and the Southern California Trojans and Brigham Young Cougars lost their top-10 rankings in week three.

Now that conference play has started for many teams, expect for more highly ranked teams to lose from here on out.

Each top 10 team has a big target on its back, so no game should be taken lightly until bowl season returns.

HAVING A BYE WEEK CAN SOME-TIMES BE A BAD THING

With multiple top tier teams losing this weekend, it was expected there would be a shake-up in the polls released Sunday morning.

But, it seemed the Sooners got the short end of the stick for not playing during a week that many teams want to forget.

Heading into the weekend OU was ranked No. 10, and jumped two spots after this weekend’s activities.

Climbing in the polls is always nice, but not playing in a week with a lot of im-portant losses seemed to have hurt the Sooners with two other teams jumping OU.

Both the Trojans and Hokies jumped

five spots with their respective victories over Washington State and Miami. USC moved from No. 12 to No. 7, and Virginia Tech moved up to No. 6 from No. 11.

This concept may help the Sooners later on down the road if they are put into the position of jumping an idle team, but for the time being it was not one of the Sooners’ friends in week four.

Get used to losing during college football seasonThere is a new craze sweeping

college football, and as much as it is hated by hardcore fans who live

week-to-week de-pending how their team performs, i t may be here to stay.

The days of unde-feated powerhouses teams are beginning to wane, making way for a new age of col-lege football where the one-loss teams reign supreme.

Losing is becom-ing normal in the race to the champi-onship, which has been throwing off teams, fans and, more importantly, the polls for nearly five years now.

The last team to go undefeated and capture a national title was the 2005 Texas Longhorn team under the direction of Vince Young.

B e f o r e t h a t ? T h e 2 0 0 4 U S C Trojans, 2002 Ohio State Buckeyes, 2001 Miami Hurricanes and the 2000 Sooners.

So what’s behind this shake-up of power? Parity.

Today, we’re seeing a number of great coaches head programs that never had a chance, taking NFL-caliber players and cultivating them into studs who lead their team to top-25 ranks and ESPN top-10 plays each Sunday.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at

the current top 25 and list the teams ma k i n g na m e s f o r t h e m s e l v e s. Houston, a team that you probably haven’t heard of since former Cougar Andre Ware won the Heisman in 1989 (if you paid attention to college football when you were a toddler), is being considered an offensive giant,

especially after watching their yard-age stack up after games with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State - which we know are programs of top offensive production.

Think about TCU, a team that has risen up as one of the nation’s best defensive programs in recent times.

The Horned Frogs are now ranked No. 11, and could give any top 10 team problems in the regular season. Before that, they were someone you wanted on your non-conference sea-son because you were sure to emerge the victor.

I n a d d i t i o n , B o i s e S t a t e h a s emerged an impressive team, still hated by Sooner fans for their upset-ting bowl win and successful sea-sons. Whether or not these teams

belong at their rank is another argu-ment, but it’s safe to say if you don’t prepare for these teams or just don’t show up on Saturday, you are likely to get beat.

That’s just what the 2007 Michigan Wolverines did against Appalachian State, and look where it has lead us now. There are now plenty of inspi-rations, like the Michigan upset, for these smaller teams to one-up the programs which historically never lose.

I t ’s a f e e l i n g v e r y c o m m o n among Sooner fans, who are, in fact, spoiled by the “Stoops’ Troops” performance.

It’s not very often you witness a Sooner loss, but lately there have been seasons with odd missteps that have placed a one in the loss column for the Sooners.

It’s only four weeks into the sea-son, but we’re already beginning to see a repeat of years like 2007.

The time of our fathers’ college teams have gone, and in its place comes a mass of confusion in decid-ing who needs to be number one.

Or number 10 for that matter. Is there a cure for programs who tradi-tionally control the sport? Doubtful.

As the number of potential spoiler teams and trap games rises, expect the numbers of losses to rise too.

Luke Atkinson is a broadcast and electronic

media senior.

LUKEATKINSON

Tomorrow, The Daily previews the big match against Nebraska.

«VOLLEYBALL

FOOTBALL

AP PHOTO

Virginia Tech rover Matt Reidy (23) celebrates a defensive touchdown as Miami punter Matt Bosher (25) and Tech split end Marcus Davis (7) look on during the first half of an NCAA college football game at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va. Saturday.

COLUMN

“The time of our fathers’ college teams have gone, and in its place comes a mass of confusion in deciding who needs to be number one.”

SOONER FOOTBALL SOUNDBITES

•Head coach Bob Stoops on Heisman winning junior quarterback Sam Bradford’s progression in practice.

“He looked good and [he is] seeing the fi eld fi ne. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but we’ll see once he’s in there and he’ll put some ice on it. How [his shoulder] feels [Tuesday] morning probably mat-ters. I think there’s a gradual buildup to the number of throws and how you throw it during the week. I think it’s something that’s going to take some days here until we know.”

•Senior offensive lineman on playing the No. 17 Miami Hurricanes after losing to No. 6 Virginia Tech Saturday.

“I think it’s a little bit more scary because I know they’re going to come out with vengeance and they’re going to play hard coming off a tough loss. When we lost to [Brigham Young University] I know the feeling that we had coming out the next week. I know [the Hurricanes] are going to come out with a full head of steam.”

–Jono Greco/The Daily

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It is difficult not to notice the sad state of news in this country. Lately it has been the source of endless frustration for me and for all who care about the causes of objectivity and information, on which any real democ-racy must rely.

Traditional forms of journalism are dying. Every paper is down-sizing, and many are folding. The cable news networks are appealing to ever-narrower demographics, and so-called news programs are spiraling toward opinion.

Opinions, half-truths and lies pervade the media, and with every increase in their presence, serious journalists and guardians of reason and understanding in our society are more compelled to taint their own cov-erage, all in the name of the dwindling ob-jectivity they strive to protect.

That is why I take great pains - and any person who shares his or her words must - to articulate something vital, clear and uncorrupted by the swirling deluge. What can anyone say to lift the level of sanity in our discourse? How can I convey what I believe?

And what can I say of truth and any im-portance, without simply adding to the gross glut of our public commentary?

I spent my summer in Europe, mainly as a volunteer teaching orphan children in rural Bulgaria.

And as anyone who has spent much time abroad knows, America’s political and cul-tural presence is constant and pervasive.

I found myself the subject of constant projections. American culture, it would seem, is pervaded by violent films and music, our leaders full of bluster and owned by dark and malevolent interests.

Many, however, shared with me an instant and deep feeling of hope and gratitude. An old man I encountered on a dark side-street in Istanbul shared a cup of tea, and in bro-ken English, said we were brothers.

And I came, through constant interac-tion with those of other cultures, to better understand our own, to define myself and to know for myself what was most essential in my American identity.

That though we love free enterprise, we know we must protect those whose enter-prises would be infringed. Though we strive for liberty, it must be matched with justice.

My last night in Europe, I was up late packing in my London hotel room, and I watched twice with morbid curiosity a BBC interview with Dr. James Lovelock, the 90-year-old earth scientist, member of the

Royal Society and Knight-Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

His words have haunted me desperately for every day of the last month. He said we have no hope – that global heating is beyond

helping and bound to do us in and that in the next century there will be a hellish dwindling of humanity from a population of nearly seven billion to no more than one.

And my Prius, and all of the work being done around this world by people who care all of a sudden, seemed more an exercise in futility – a petty, humiliating afterthought next to the vast waste we all have on our hands – the world hamstrung by gridlock and corruption of the

powerful.Indeed, my whole summer was a drop

in the ocean of need that is swallowing our world.

The health care debate in recent weeks seemed to die with Ted Kennedy, left to lan-guor in petty political gamesmanship and timidity.

Two years ago this fall, my brother was diagnosed with brain cancer, and a tumor the size of a lemon was removed from his brain. Anyone who knows me well knows that the days have been long and difficult for our family. It has been my highest prior-ity to spend time with my family and to forge a stronger friendship with my brother.

It has been a powerfully moving time for me, and I have grown to understand my brother deeply and to better know myself.

It has been a Herculean struggle for our family. The financial burden of surgery, ra-diation and chemotherapy could break a family of any less means.

Two years ago, my brother’s doctor told him he would be taking chemotherapy for the rest of his life. And now, after many months of excruciating treatment and de-spite odds giving him weeks or few months, he is cancer free.

That is why I am hopeful - that amid an ignorant and acrimonious debate, reason may still hold sway; that in a world of des-perate need, service is still vital and wel-comed; that in a season of nightmarish problems and the most difficult gridlocks, people will, in spite of the odds, understand each other.

Slater Rhea is an English literary and cultural studies

and letters senior.

How do we evaluate what someone thinks? What is the goal of the academic community and experience? How do we meaningfully communicate about reality and ourselves?

Many questions have come to my mind when thinking about my collegiate experience thus far.

My studies have been limited. I teach English to international students. I study the topic that I teach. I don’t understand fully the complexities of an architec-tural design or the steps to a complicated dance. I don’t comprehend the man-ner in which electronics

are engineered or the numerous computer languages.

I most definitely don’t understand mo-lecular biology or biochemistry in their com-plexities, but there are those who do. And on the issue of the origins of life, sometimes they even disagree.

Case in point are the lectures on campus Monday and Tuesday regarding Darwinian natural selection and the idea of intelligent design.

Regardless of the irritated blustering of the naturalists populating OU’s Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, the

“pseudoscience” of what the members of the Discovery Institute are engaging in seems to be what actually falls under a historical definition of science, observing natural phe-nomena (e.g. the Cambrian Explosion or the human cell) and making inferences from that data.

Even if rejected initially (ask Copernicus about scientific consensus), eventually more evidence will surface about the ori-gins of mass amounts of information. The information itself is irrespective of religious conviction.

If popular biologists like Richard Dawkins can study what he himself describes in his book “The God Delusion” as “apparent de-sign” in nature and then reject it, making the inference that God does not exist because Darwinian natural selection can explain all human complexity, this is a troubling dichotomy.

On one hand, the naturalist biologists are asserting that science has proven the “truth” of the macroevolution of species. They con-clude that no non-natural cause could have caused it.

But who is making the truth statement here?

Science itself has no grounds for making truth statements, only hypothesizing on what reality appears to be. As such, if opposing ideas about the interpretation of information

surface (some by the religiously-driven, oth-ers certainly not), I think I should at least lis-ten to them.

On the other hand, we have the intelli-gent design proponents advocating that ob-servable information in nature comes from a mind or intelligence rather than purely naturalistic causes. They explain the origin of matter and information itself as having to originate from a mind rather than purely naturalistic explanations previously thought to be law.

This comparison is further troubling in statistics on campus.

As I try to evaluate the previous events on campus related to science and the over-whelming spirit of the day on campus, I am fascinated to find that while the intelligent design and evolution awareness group has brought in a single event to the OU museum (back in February), there have been or will be 29 campus events championing the cause and findings of Charles Darwin this year alone. Hardly a case of giving dissent an op-portunity to speak, eh?

And even as another event is planned for Tuesday (the screening of a new film, “Darwin’s Dilemma”), the museum has re-sponded with free admission and a separate lecture prior to the screening titled “The Cambrian Explosion and the Burgess Shale: No Dilemma for Darwin.”

Even for a film screening discussing the possibility that natural selection doesn’t ex-plain the complexity of the Cambrian fossil record, everybody gets up in arms.

As such, I am very interested to attend both events on campus. I want to see how the es-tablishment addresses the issue of fossils and human DNA. I want very much to see if the arguments of those in the intelligent design camp are actually “pseudoscience” or not.

But perhaps most of all, I want to see how they interact with each other.

To have some sort of meaningful discus-sion of these things requires that we make clear our presuppositions about the nature of reality and life. No one is outside the realm of bias. We’re all influenced, but how we get past that, I think, determines how we can look at the information presented to us.

We, as college students, aren’t stupid or ignorant. Even though I don’t understand all of the terminology doesn’t mean I can’t think deeply and discuss meaningfully the impli-cations of scientific findings, be they religious or non.

Let’s see how these events go and evaluate from there, not the reverse. I’m an English teacher. You may be an architect. But we all might see our undergirding beliefs surface if we could at least rationally discuss this.

Jon Malone is an English education graduate student.

OUR VIEW STAFF COLUMN

STAFF COLUMN

STAFF CARTOON

Will Holland, opinion editor

dailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

4 Tuesday, September 29, 2009

SLATERRHEA

JON MALONE

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COMMENTS OF THE DAY »In response to Tarrant Carter’s Friday column, “‘God is probably not pro-life’”

YOU CAN COMMENT AT

OUDAILY.COM

“This article struck me as uninformed and callous. I would encourage Mr. Carter to actually interview some Christians and look in the Bible him-self before making so many assump-tions. I was very offended by many of the points he makes here.”

-b00mer

“If a soul needs to get here, it will find a womb to come through. In the meantime, women have a right to control their own bodies.”

-Sartia

Students should keep an open mind about evolution debate

Message of hope emerges following family’s hardship

AJ Stafford is a psychology senior.

No matter where each of us came from, one thing is true of all OU students: they all graduated from some form of high school.

And although students at OU have al-ready passed that step, education should remain important to them.

After all, some students are the teachers of tomorrow, and even those who aren’t going into the field of education are likely to have kids, many of whom will be directly af-fected by America’s academic system in the future.

According to a Sunday AP story, President Barack Obama said he is in favor of longer school days and academic years for children in grades K through 12 because he believes it will make America’s children better quali-fied to compete will children from other countries, many of which already have lon-ger school days and years.

While we are in favor of improving America’s educational system, we are not sure making the school days longer is the answer. Sure, longer days may allow stu-dents and teachers to have more time

together to go over lessons and clarify un-clear information.

But we think the U.S. should focus on making the educational system better, as opposed to simply making kids stay in the classroom for more time. We realize this is not an easy thing to do, but if everyone does their part, improvements to education could be made.

Teachers have a responsibility to inspire their students and convey their lessons bet-ter. Colleges of education, therefore, must train prospective teachers better. Students must be engaged learners, and parents must make sure their kids are keeping up with their schoolwork.

We think back on the time we spent in high school, and remember instances of uninvolved teachers, parents and students. This may not have been the norm, but if we could eliminate these instances, maybe all students would have better high school ex-periences and get a better education, or at least a better shot.

Quality trumps quantity when it comes to education

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5

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Universal Crossword

SILLY WILLY by Pannie Elder

ACROSS 1 “Poppycock!” 5 Happy as ___ 10 Autumn

birthstone 14 Operatic

offering 15 “___ Lady”

(Tom Jones song)

16 Cabbie’s customer

17 Hardly decisive

19 Abscond 20 Apartment

dweller 21 “CSI” actor

George 23 Not

aboveboard 24 Big name in

foreign news, ITAR-___

27 At a rapid tempo, in music

31 Sound of little feet

33 “His” towel owners

36 0.45 kgs 37 Spanish for

“that girl” 38 It’s out of

your mind 39 Skier’s

quarters 40 Beelzebub’s

bailiwick 41 “Where ___

sign?” 42 Coral Sea

gulf 43 Subtle

emanations 44 1958 Bobby

Darin hit 47 Acted the

coquette 48 1999

combatant 49 A foot has

304.8 (Abbr.) 52 Amino or

hydrochloric 54 Eye intently 56 Friend of

Otter and Mole

59 Waste time vacillating

62 Ship that sailed to Col-chis, in myth

63 “Let’s Make ___” (game show)

64 The Who name

65 Just around the corner

66 Blackjack player’s cry

67 Watery expanses

DOWN 1 Cries one’s

eyes out 2 A college at

Oxford 3 “Badlands”

star Spacek 4 Cries of

derision 5 Something

hard workers break?

6 Dance half 7 Gibson ___

Paul (guitar) 8 Court king

Arthur 9 Wild

mandrake 10 Counter-

balance 11 Trusted

chum 12 “Blessed ___

the meek ...” 13 “He Got

Game” direc-tor Spike

18 Abominable Snowmen

22 Blah 25 Brownstone

features 26 Parodies 28 “Rawhide”

beast 29 Contem-

porary of Edison

30 Academic hurdles

31 “Once Upon a Mattress” legume

32 Wine and dine

33 In the ___ of (among)

34 Rope-___ (Ali’s strategy)

35 Priestess in Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers”

39 Hoity-toity 40 “Excuse

me?”

42 There are 60 trillion in a min.

43 Equally awful 45 Joe Lieber-

man’s middle name

46 Diamond-shaped pattern

49 Bar brawl 50 122-square-

mile Medi-terranean republic

51 Eyelid maladies

53 “Little ___ know ...”

55 Blasts with a ray gun

56 Acquire a bronze tone

57 Lorry lode, perhaps

58 ___ Khan 60 ___ bygones

be bygones 61 Felonious

flight

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

Edited by Timothy E. Parker September 29, 2009

© 2009 Universal Press Syndicatewww.upuzzles.com

Previous Answers

7 8 3 1 44 6 1 5

8 2 93 1 7

2 4 17 6 3

3 9 4 59 5 3 2 1Instructions: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

9 2 7 1 8 5 4 6 35 3 1 7 6 4 2 8 94 6 8 2 9 3 1 5 71 4 6 8 3 9 5 7 28 9 5 6 2 7 3 4 13 7 2 5 4 1 6 9 82 1 9 4 7 6 8 3 57 5 4 3 1 8 9 2 66 8 3 9 5 2 7 1 4

Millions of Americans expose themselvesto noise levels above 85 decibels for hours ata time – the level audiologists identify as thedanger zone. Lawn mowers, sporting events,live or recorded music, power tools, eventraffic and crowded restaurants can sustainthese levels. If you’re around noises likethese for prolonged periods, you’re riskingpermanent hearing loss. For more on the 85dB threshold, and ways to protect yourhearing health, visit ASHA.org.

1-800-638-8255

Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Social situations could work out far better than usual, so don’t be a loner. You might even meet someone right now who will become “special” in your life as time marches on.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- You won’t have to concentrate on your desires to improve personal conditions for yourself; they could automatically occur. An important someone will be the focal point.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- If possible, be footloose and fancy-free; you’ll be happi-est when thinking and moving in a carefree manner. You’ll end up putting your ideas into action.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Some of those same situ-ations that have proven costly to others will be exceptionally fortunate for you. You have the Midas touch, so use it to your benefi t.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- With remarkable resiliency, you will bounce back from any situation that impedes your progress. Keep rubbing your rabbit’s foot, especially while it’s working so well.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- You’ll achieve results that others merely dream about when given half a chance. Additionally, people will support you right now without even asking, so make the most of this advantage.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Find the time to work on that new project or interest that needs to be developed. Condi-tions are especially fortunate for advancing enterprises that could use a little help.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- “Proceed without delay” needs to be your motto, especially with regard to career or work-related projects. This might be one of your more fortunate days for working things out.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- An extremely fortunate encounter with a knowledgeable individual could put you onto something of real signifi cance. Your solution will prove benefi cial.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- Don’t hesitate to accept an offer of assistance from someone who has successfully managed a situation similar to one in which you now fi nd yourself. This person will help make you a winner.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- The luck of those with whom you’ll be associating will rub off, so pick companions who fi t the bill. Something good will develop in large part owing to your friends.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Spend time on that project of vital importance to you, because things will work out far better than they normally would at another time. Lady Luck is willing to help you through the rough spots.

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Cassie Rhea Little, L&A editor

dailyent@ou.edu • phone: 325-5189 • fax: 325-6051

BRAND NEW: “DAISY”

More than anything, Brand New seems to want to do what you don’t expect them to. “Daisy” is just that : an album that no one would have predicted to come but made all the better for how unexpected it is.

The Brand New of old seems like a far cry from what they are now. They used to sound like the brothers of Taking Back Sunday; now they sound

more like a third-cousin by marriage twice-removed.

The pop-punk sound of the first re-lease, “Your Favorite Weapon,” has been further diluted with each release since then. It was almost to the point of non-existent with its previous album, “The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me,” and with “Daisy,” any remnant of the original sound has been stamped out.

“Daisy” is the darkest, heaviest and most mysterious release of its career, and will undoubtedly be the most polariz-ing as well. Brand New almost split into a whole new band with “The Devil and God,” and “Daisy” deepens that rift even further.

Largely written by guitarist Vincent Accardi, “Daisy” misses a little of the bril-liance and connective quality of Jesse Lacey’s lyrics that have made thousands of fans feel like Lacey was writing about their own lives. However, Lacey is still undoubtedly the heart and soul of Brand New, and he’s the one that gives the songs a flicker of light below the murky exterior.

True to form, Brand New pulls the most unexpected move right off the bat. “Vices” opens with an old opera record-ing that gingerly twirls around before in-cinerating into a thrust of thudding guitar chords that has startled more than a few listeners as Lacey throws into full blown screaming in one of the most surreal mo-ments on any Brand New record.

The album immediately chills and sim-mers with the lovely call of “Bed” before soaring yet again with the heart-thumping anthem “At The Bottom.”

“Gasoline” yet again finds Brand New thicker and heavier with Lacey’s hungry yelp and bumping guitar hook driving it along.

Then the openly vulnerable “You Stole” sees Lacey laying out his heart slow burns into flashing flames and bolting guitar shears.

The drifting twang of “Be Gone” gives way to distorted incoherent vocal effects that require extreme focus to decipher any sort of lyric or phrase, and is that awe-somely wacky experiment that sounds more like an Animal Collective duet with Devendra Barnhart than Brand New.

“Sink” sounds like Brand New at its most comfortable with rip-roaring guitar shreds and Lacey striking a brilliant bal-ance between power and melody, while the title track feels like the summation of the minimalist heartfelt anthems of the past.

In the end, “Daisy” is a genre-defying affair that has seemingly been built to be

performed in a live setting as it dips be-tween hard and soft, slow and fast, but heavy in every moment.

Any sort of expectation of Brand New has certainly been dashed by this point, and perhaps the most unexpected thing for it to do now is going back to the pop-punk sound.

THE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS: “THE ALMIGHTY DEFENDERS”

When I think of gospel music, I would n e v e r t h i n k o f Black Lips or King Khan. These are two of the most notoriously crazy live bands tour-i n g t o d ay w i t h antics including n u d i t y , u r i n a -tion, vomiting, fireworks, flames and al l around naughtiness.

A f t e r B l a c k Lips were boot-e d o u t o f India after p e r f o r m -i n g s o m e “ h o m o -sexual acts” o n s t a g e , t h e b a n d retreated to King Khan’s r e s i d e n c e in Berlin. Whether r e p e n t i n g f o r t h e i r sins, or just looking for a w a y t o k i l l t i m e , t h e r e s u l t w a s “ T h e A l m i g h t y Defenders,” a n a l b u m recorded and written in about two weeks.

Their sins are definitely redeemed by the all-out fun and intrigue of the album, one boiling over with good old-fashioned religion.

This isn’t the polished, glossy gospel music of today though, and it’s not music you would expect to hear blaring at any church around here.

King Khan becomes the preacher with Black Lips the choir. The sermon is a bouncy, joyous affair, dipping through oc-casional bouts of introspection but much more consumed with waving your arms and shouting out praise.

The scratchy shutter of “All My Loving” b e g i n s t h e s e r v i c e w i t h Ki n g K ha n screeching out the Word while Black Lips smoothly echoes behind him.

The bluesy strut of “The Ghost With The Most” and “Bow Down And Die” be-come a slow marching processional that drifts into the choral praise of “Cone of Light,” a standout moment due to its up-beat vocals and soulful spring of shakytambourines and static guitar bursts.

Khan gets a bit of fire and brimstone out with the nasty bombast of “30 Second Air Blast” and “Death Cult Soup n’ Salad.” Then comes the call for redemption with the vintage crack of “I’m Coming Home,” which feels more true to gospel music than you might have ever expected.

They close with the plunging rush of “The Great Defender” as King Khan sol-emnly bids the end of the service.

You will probably be left wondering what the hell just happened as the album draws to a close, but you will feel a bit of a spring in your step and invigorated soul

as you stumble away from the most bi-zarre service you’ve ever witnessed.

M O N S T E R S O F F O L K : “MONSTERS OF FOLK”

Supergroups a l w a y s sound great i n t h e o r y . H o w c o u l d m e m b e r s of several of y o u r f av o r-ite bands do wrong?

W e l l , m o re o f t e n

than not, the result is disastrous.

However, 2009 has sud-denly become the year of high-profile supergroups. F i r s t c a m e T i n t e d W i n d o w s ( H a n s o n ,

S m a s h i n g Pumpkins), t h e n T h e D e a d W e a t h e r (The White

Str ipes, The Kil ls) and Operation Aloha (Phantom Planet, Maro on 5) . O n the horizon we can look forward to releases from Them Crooked Vultures (QOTSA, Led Zeppelin), Blacroc (Black Keys, Mos Def, RZA) and Dead by S u n r i s e ( L i n k i n Pa r k , Julien-K).

Surprisingly enough, all of these albums have sounded phenomenal so far, and the latest stellar entry comes from the bril-liantly named Monsters of Folk, a band consisting of Conor Oberst, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), M. Wa r d a n d M i k e M o g i s (Bright Eyes).

P r o b a b l y t h e b e s t sounding folk-supergroup this side of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Monster Fo l k ’s c o n c e p t f o r t h e

band arose way back in 2004, but busy schedules and other projects delayed the finished debut for five years.

This is, however, very telling of the balance Monsters of Folk finds with their debut.

Largely, the album feels less like a col-laborative effort than you might think. Most of the songs come off more like a fea-ture for one of the players with the other three simply guesting on the track.

“Dear God,” an exotic swirl of strings and billowing keys over a crunchy base, has Jim James written all over it, while the clear twang and strut of “Ahead of the Curve” is dominated by Oberst. The ambling stroll of “The Sandman, The Brakeman And Me” is a gorgeous stripped down beauty, though clearly the brain-child of Ward.

This is a very half-hearted complaint though, as each player is a master of his craft, and each melody grows ever richer with even the slightest contribution from the others.

“Say Please” marks the most collab-orative feel of the whole record, as each singer sort of dives in and out of the verses as they holler the chorus together.

All in all, the strengths of each musi-cian complement the others. Bringing in Oberst’s sincerity, James’ wild ear, Ward’s craftsmanship and Mogis’ mastery, the songs feel finely honed and complete. The effort may not feel completely shared, but working together has definitely brought about a delightful result.

The verdict is still out on supergroups, but Monsters of Folk provides some strong evidence in support of them.

Joshua Boydston is a psychology sophomore.

» The Daily’s Joshua Boydston reviews his picks for some of the most notable new music releases.

JOSHUABOYDSTON

PHOTO PROVIDED

Album covers from three of this week’s most notable new music releases including “Daisy,” “The Almighty Defenders” and “Monsters of Folk.

« LISTEN UPHear samples from the albums featured in this week’s New Music Tuesday.

OUDAILY.COM«

6 Tuesday, September 29, 2009