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Posted on November 29 at 5:16 p.m.Suggest removal
I think Occupy Wall Street has a valid message. And, I applaud recent decisions by organizers to avoid being co-opted by other political organizations which have failed to hold the system accountable.
However, I disagree with the notion (asserted in this column) that Occupy Wall Street should continue to deliberately avoid any engagement in the political process.
The movement itself is an inspiration which should remain focused around general ideas rather than any political ticket or platform. However, at some point, there needs to be some form of spin-off -- people involved in the movement, breaking away and using the energy surrounding this effort to push for fundamental changes through the electoral process.
Even if the problems are systematic, surrendering the mechanisms of power and control to monied interests and confining things to the public parks and sidewalks really doesn't make much sense to me. It is conceding the system to them when the movement's underlying message should be that the system belongs to the people.
Posted on November 10 at 7:18 a.m.Suggest removal
Kudos to the Oklahoma Daily for taking this task on. There is a lot to report on at OU. And, the campus newspaper plays an important role in holding people accountable.
To sher8427, this is the job of the press. And, frankly, I'm surprised that you can go through any education system and not understand and appreciate that.
Did nobody ever teach you to ask questions? Or, do you just blindly accept that whatever any authority figure does must be for the best?
OU is a public institution of higher education. And, as such, it is the property of the People of the State of Oklahoma. That means that anything and everything it does is subject to public oversight. And, the press has a right to figure out what's going on and to report that information so that an informed public can make decisions.
Moreover, in an academic setting, one might even argue that all of the institution's stakeholders should have say in how things are run.
That idea, the concept of shared governance, is something that has been around at colleges and universities in the West for centuries. And, the campus newspaper plays an important role in informing the university community so that they can participate in the process.
In recent years, there has been a push to put influential figures into positions as university presidents and to shift away from a shared governance model to one of centralized CEO-style corporate governance -- where the refrain is always "it's a personnel issue" and we're supposed to just accept that.
However, that is not the traditional academic model. Campuses are supposed to be places of engagement and exchange.
Indeed, the true quality of the education that someone receives is really determined by their participation in the institution's decision-making processes.
Speaking from experience, you will learn a lot more outside of the classroom than you will in it. And, that's the way it should be if you're attending a real university and fully taking advantage of the opportunity to receive a higher education.
Posted on September 9 at 9:35 a.m.Suggest removal
The Provost's statement that UOSA decided with the Faculty Senate that professors have the option of posting their evaluations online is a bit misleading and inaccurate. I'm not a staunch defender of UOSA, but I'm not sure student government has ever taken the position that evaluation results should be withheld from the students.
Traditionally, there is a split between the Graduate Student Senate (which has a lot of GAs and TAs) and Student Congress. However, UOSA has never really had the power to decide the policy -- one way or the other. And, in the past, they have actually paid Pick-A-Prof, a private company that collects evaluations independently and publishes them regardless of whether the professor consents. The only downside to that is that the response rates are traditionally much lower than those when the university collects the information itself.
As this article discussed:
http://oudaily.com/news/2011/apr/01/c...
Peer institutions are split over whether the information should be released. And, generally from other states, it appears that it usually takes a move by the State Legislature to force institutions to release it because they think their students should be entitled to it. Most institutions have not really shown much of an inclination to do it on their own.
There remains a legal question over whether the information is public record. OU and OSU have both claimed that these evaluations fall within the "employee evaluations" exception to the Open Records Act. And, members of the press have said that these documents are not the same thing -- as they're more like customer reviews rather than supervisor evaluations meant to be covered by the act.
However, it will take a lawsuit before the university publicly releases the information. And, like they do with many open records issues, the administration does what it wants and simply plays the odds that noone cares enough to file one.
Posted on July 3 at 10:57 a.m.Suggest removal
Reporters can find people's birthdates using such search engines. The issue here is matching it with certain public records. That's why journalists want and need access to that information.
A good example of a situation might be some of the "tips" that anonymous readers posted about me when I ran for student body president. They basically ran a search on OSCN and put up all of the hits that came up with my name. Of course, the problem is that the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area has 1.2 million people and there are several people with the same name. So, most of the hits had nothing to do with me.
The Oklahoma Daily found at least four or five other people using the search engines you mention. So, they didn't run anything. That may not always matter to the people digging up dirt to discredit people, but reporters generally try to get the story right.
Personally, I would have liked to have seen the birthdates released so that it would have been apparent that some people were full of it. However, you take that one example and you apply it on a statewide scale -- with figures a lot more important than student body president candidates. And, you should be able to see why it's important for the press to be able to match things up.
You'd also be surprised how often potential employers run OSCN searches and make hiring decisions based on the hits they get without birthdate verification. I know a hotel that used to do that with its desk clerks as a cheap alternative to a full background check.
Posted on May 10 at 1:14 p.m.Suggest removal
LOL @ noonespecial and DylanC94. The one thing I will not miss at OU is reading both of your comments on all of my articles. If anyone is jaded and vindictive, it's the two of you guys.
It's truly unfortunate that someone on this campus can't raise some of the same issues that are being discussed on every public college and university in this country without subjecting themselves to constant personal attack.
Posted on March 11 at 11:49 a.m.Suggest removal
The issue, Dylan, is that you have a faculty member making slanderous statements about a student to her classes. That's not kosher. And, I'd be very interested to know which professor it was so that I can take that issue up with the administration.
People are free to criticize my articles or to attack me for bias or whatever else. You can contact my editor at any time. I save all of my e-mails, my notes, and my interview recordings.
However, please refrain from just making things up about me. Saying that I am misrepresenting myself as an attorney or that I have a violent criminal history is slander. And, the next time anyone makes those statements I'd challenge you to have them provide proof.
Posted on November 19 at 8 a.m.Suggest removal
I don't think I've ever seen more contradictory statements woven together in seven sentences before in my entire life.
It is interesting that the author chooses the words "acting in good faith" -- since that is the legal defense the people use when they do something wrong in ignorance. And, it is evident that this is exactly what has happened with SQ 755.
(1) To be clear, there is no absolutely no danger whatsoever of American courts ever using Sharia (islamic law) in their decisions. Judges in the United States haven't been handing down decisions on that basis -- ever. And, no American cities have fallen to Muslim invaders -- or are even in any danger of such. And, I would challenge the author to provide any real evidence of this "threat" -- from someone other than a politician trying to stir up fear and prejudice from ignorant people to get votes.
(2) The bill does create some significant legal problems because the politician who wrote it slipped in "international law" -- which would invalidate all international contracts, trade agreements, and foreign treaties in Oklahoma, if this provision weren't so blatantly unconstitutional that it will be thrown out the first time it comes before a judge.
(3) It is not patriotic to "defend our culture". And, I think that's the idea that people take greatest offense to because it implies that open-minded people who believe in freedom and justice for all are somehow less American than everyone else. I love America because it is a place where no one can impose their religion and their culture on me. And, I will fight just as hard and lay down my life to insure that my religion and culture is not imposed on anyone else. That is patriotism.
(4) SQ 755 does hurt Oklahoma's economy. We've been trying to build up a reputation as a state that's ready to join the high-tech, global economy. And, all of the initiatives that we've started over the past 20 years to do that are undercut when people see the state questions that we passed this year and write off Oklahomans as being close-minded and ignorant.
Posted on October 9 at 8:19 a.m.Suggest removal
As a general rule, I usually never comment on my own columns. However, these outright lies are getting tiresome.
A Student Affairs representative is at every meeting of the GSS and they can attest to the fact that I never stepped out of line. No complaint has ever been made to anyone. No one can cite a specific time, date, or place and no one can provide any witnesses. It's all just gossip that Susan has spread -- capitalizing on people's prejudices about veterans.
And, if I ever hear or read it again, I will trot down to the Cleveland County Courthouse and file a libel lawsuit.
Posted on October 7 at 7:01 a.m.Suggest removal
Having participated in both, the fraternity and the residence hall association, as an undergraduate, I can safely say that I understand and appreciate both perspectives. Like anything, there are positives and negatives.
Fraternities and sororities instill a lot of teamwork and camaraderie. And, they invest a lot of time and energy improving the campus and the community. However, there is a lot of privilege. And, they're not known for their diversity -- of race, culture, background, or ideology.
Rather than taking a knee-jerk reaction anytime the Greek community is painted in a bad light and condemning the "bias" of the Oklahoma Daily (who, by the way, provide a lot of positive press coverage), I think it's important to be able to understand and appreciate both, the strengths and weaknesses, of the organizations one chooses to be involved with.
Students don't really get the full university experience unless they step outside of their comfort zone and get involved with different groups of people.
Try deliberately doing something not as a fraternity or a sorority, but as an individual -- something that your brothers and sisters aren't involved with, just to get a different perspective. It helps you grow and develop as a more well-rounded person.
I'm not saying that noone does that, but I can definitely remember a lot of people in my house who could've used more exposure.
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Posted on November 29 at 5:25 p.m.Suggest removal
This series of articles is some really good investigative reporting. From personal experience, I know that this stuff isn't exactly material that comes out in one of Catherine Bishop's press releases. My kudos go out to Kathleen Evans and the Oklahoma Daily. You've put a lot of work into digging up the facts.
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