Has anyone else noticed those random marquees that were erected on the oval this week? Well, so did I. And I really want to know what they were there for.

I figured that I would probably figure that out in the next couple of days when I saw a party there, or a very large meeting of Oklahoma's democrats, or even a very small group of Oklahoma's republicans.

But, much to my dismay, I just saw them being dismantled and taken away. For no apparent reason, lots of burly, tanned men in red shirts spent the best part of a week erecting the marquees only to take them down on Thursday night. And now I may never know what that random piece of action was all for. That makes me sad.

And it's gotten me thinking. Look around the campus at any given time and you're likely to see something random and unusual, but most of us never think to ask what is happening.

I asked my KGOU radio station compatriot, Arash Davari (he's the one with the really big hair), what he thought about students not getting involved in the campus and he said he thinks "It's a cryin' shame." I couldn't agree more. It is a cryin' shame.

It's inspired me, albeit in the last 10 minutes, to get more involved with my university next semester. It's too late in the semester for anyone to think about anything else but school and upcoming exams at the moment, but I urge you to join some kind of on-campus group next year. Whether it's the ever-popular church groups, or the Frisbee group or even the tree climbing group, join something that gets you involved.

And I doubly urge you to join if this is your junior or senior year: you don't have much time left. You only get to do college once (for most people, anyway) and it's so important to feel part of the campus community.

I think my contribution will be to go to more UOSA meetings and grasp a better understanding of what they do for us and what I can do for them. Whether it's writing more columns on them or just getting the word out, it would make me a more involved student.

No one can deny that OU has a stunning campus with gorgeous landscaping, interesting architecture and really, rather lovely people, but it also has a deep sense of separation between those who want to be associated with the university and those who just think they're here to get a degree. On one hand, you have those people who are members of 17 campus groups and aren't on Thefacebook.com because they simply don't have time, and on the other hand you have people who lived off campus for all four years and couldn't even tell you where the campus post office is located (it's in Oklahoma Memorial Union near the food court, by the way).

I really feel sorry for these people because I think they're missing out on so many "good times," as the kids say.

So next time you're walking across campus and you see a booth on the oval with eager-looking volunteers, ask them why they're there. If they try to offer you a credit card you have my full permission to ignore them and Arash's permission to punch them in the face.

The bottom line is, just get involved.



?Lindsay Hodges is a journalism junior. Her column appears every other Wednesday. She can be reached at opinion@oudaily.com.
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