• $5k payment attractive to college students

JAMIE BIRDWELL

The Oklahoma Daily

Clinics report the number of young women interested in donating eggs has increased significantly due to the current economic crisis.

Karen Johnson, coordinator at the Bennett Fertility Institute at Integris Baptist Hospital, said although inter-est is increasing, not all applicants are becoming donors because of the strict requirements to donate.

“People are looking for a new way to subsidize their income,” Johnson said.

Former donors also are interested in donating again,

said Joan Reese, director of the Egg Donation of Dallas. Reese said she estimated about 15 percent of previous donors have decided to donate again recently.

Because of high tuition costs and the flailing economy, the average $5,000 payout for an egg donation becomes an alternative for young college women to make money, Reese said.

“The biggest attraction is the money,” Reese said. “It’s a lot to do and the commitment better be worth the time and effort!”

The donor also has all medical and travel expenses paid for by the egg recipients, said Michelle Starkey, a nurse at OU Physicians Center for Reproductive Health.

Egg donation clinics actively pursue college-aged women because they are the ideal donors, Reese said. College women are young, which means they produce more eggs which are generally healthier than older wom-en’s eggs, she said. College women are also perceived

to be more intelligent, which makes them attractive to recipients, she said.

Allie, an OU student who asked not to be identified due to the anonymity of the egg donation process, has

Fertility clinics see rise in egg donors as economy wanesThe addition to Gaylord Hall is almost

complete. See what Phase Two will include on

page 2.

“This Week in Comics” features the work of

My Chemical Romance’s lead singer, Gerard

Way. Check it out on page 9.

Need some ideas on how to decorate your

dorm room for the spring? See page 12.

The women’s basketball team moves on to

the Sweet 16 after taking down Georgia Tech

Tuesday night 69-50. Page 7.

The men’s basketball team faces off against

Syracuse Friday night in a Sweet 16 match up.

For more details on how both teams got there,

see page 8.

The baseball team remains perfect

at home this season after the Sooners

cruised past the Central Arkansas Bears

12-6. Page 7.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009© 2009 OU Publications Board

FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

VOL. 94, NO. 118

FERTILITY Continues on page 2

STIMULUS Continues on page 2

ORGANIZATIONS Continues on page 2

THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

Campus Notes 11Classifi eds 10Crossword 10Horoscope 11L&A 9, 12

News 3, 5, 6, 11Opinion 4Police Reports 7Sports 5, 6Sudoku 9

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WHAT’S INSIDE

TODAY

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20%

30%

• Rising costs complicate group activities

CADIE THOMPSON

The Oklahoma Daily

The economic tsunami has hit more than just local businesses; it has also stormed OU student organizations, leaving some groups to scrounge for cash to put on events.

“It’s just a tough time economical-ly for everyone,” said Brett Stidham, UOSA budget chairman. “I’ve heard several instances where groups have had to downsize or cancel events because of costs.”

All $6,000 of the emergency funding set aside by UOSA to assist student organizations lacking money for events has been allocated this year, and an additional $1,500 has been added to the emergency funds as an absolute last resort for groups in need.

Stidham, international business sophomore, said one reason the fund-ing has been exhausted is because there was less funding this year. UOSA didn’t distribute all of the $8,000 it had available for emergency funding last year, so the amount was decreased for this year.

There will be $9,000 to $10,000 allo-cated for the funds next year, Stidham said.

But some student organizations that received emergency funding are still feeling pinched for funds this year.

Vinay Singh, India Student Association president, said the organi-zation has seen a reduction in funding and an increase in operational costs.

Singh, whose organization received $450 in emergency funding, said sponsorships have gone down this year, including sponsorships from the President’s office.

Last year, the group received $2,500 from the President’s office, but this year it is only receiving $1,000, he said.

Jay Doyle, university spokesman, said sponsorships from the President’s office are given on a case-by-case basis as a last resort for funding.

Sarah Shutts, International Advisory Committee president, also said the amount of funds given by sponsorship are down this year for the group but said it received more sponsorships this year.

International Advisory Committee received $625 in emergency funding from UOSA but still made small cuts, like using disposable instead of china dishes, to the group’s annual event, Eve of Nations, which is set for April 3.

But it’s more than just lack of fund-ing that is stressing the student orga-nizations; it’s also the cost of renting facilities to put on events and host meetings.

Singh said India Student Association paid $6,500 for one day at the Lloyd Noble Center for their cultural event Friday. The cost for rental was the same amount the organization paid for two days last year.

Economic pinch hits student organizations

• CART set to purchase five new buses

LEIGHANNE MANWARREN

The Oklahoma Daily

The City of Norman and Cleveland Area Rapid Transit will receive mil-lions of dollars of President Barack Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s first round of funding for transportation.

$1.8 million will go to CART to be used for the enhancement of the fleet as part of transit improve-ment.

Theta Dempsey, CART adminis-trative director, said CART plans on using the funds to purchase five compressed natural gas buses.

“We already have three com-pressed natural gas buses and the three of the five will be used to

replace our diesel buses with the other two being additional for the fleet,” Dempsey said.

The OU Board of Regents is expected to vote on the purchase in today’s meeting.

“Since it is a university purchase, it must be approved by the regents,” she said. “After that, we need approval from [the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments] and Federal Transit before we can move forward.”

Dempsey said CART anticipates getting the buses by fall 2010.

Stimulus funds coming to Norman will be administered for road and bridge improvement.

“We have received about $3.2 million distributed by ACOG which we plan to use for road improve-ments, specifically road resurfac-ing,” said Shawn O’Leary, Norman Public Works director.

O’Leary said the funds will be

$5M in federal stimulus money coming to Norman

Zach Butler/The Daily

CAC College Bowl chair Mallory Gladstein (center), junior communications major, helps two contestants who are dressed for the “Ace in the Hole”

theme for the CAC College Bowl Tuesday evening in the Weitzenhoffer Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. The early rounds of the College Bowl

were held in the Sooner and Heritage Rooms in the union, and the later rounds will be held in the Will Rogers Room.

»»

»

James Cornwell/ The Daily

CART buses wait to pick up students just south of Adams Hall on the South Oval. Norman is giving its $1.8

million in stimulus money to CART.

Elizabeth Nalewajk

AP photo

“People are looking for a new way to subsidize their income.”

Karen Johnson, Bennett Fertility Institute coordinator

ODDEVEN

EVEN ODD

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

NewsWednesday, March 25, 20092

OUR COMMITMENT TO ACCURACY

The Daily has a long-standing commitment to serve readers by provid-

ing accurate coverage and analysis. Errors are corrected as they are identi-

fi ed. Readers should bring errors to the attention of the editorial board for

further investigation.

CORRECTION

The Daily misquoted Lesleigh Owen in the Feb. 2 article about retail

discrimination against fat people. The quote in the fi nal paragraph should

read, “Fatness should never be viewed as a means to judge someone, to

deny them rights, or to make assumptions about their health or lifestyle.”

ERROR SUBMISSIONS

e-mail: dailynews@ou.edu

phone: 325-3666

Continued from page 1

Organizations

Continued from page 1

Fertility

Continued from page 1

Stimulus Gaylord addition nears completionConstruction crews are putting the fi nishing touches

on Gaylord Hall Phase Two and the building will be

ready for classes by next fall.

The new addition will feature space for a larger

broadcast studio, an auditorium with studio capabili-

ties that will allow fi lming of speakers and events, and

an area for graduate and doctorate students, said Celia

Perkins, Gaylord communications director.

Phase Two will maintain aesthetic continuity with

Gaylord Hall, keeping the woodwork and marble

fl ooring consistent in the new space, but students can

expect a new vibe on the second fl oor of the addition,

she said.

“It’s going to be a completely diff erent feel to what’s

existing in Gaylord Hall,” Perkins said.

The new facility also will host a student-run adver-

tising and public relations agency with an adjacent

computer lab on the second fl oor.

Movable furniture, new work stations in the

computer lab and oversized ottomans will also add

a diff erent feeling to the new space in Gaylord Hall,

Perkins said.

“There will be bright colors on the walls, there’s

red walls, yellow, green; it will be very creative and

stimulating,” she said.

—RENEÉ SELANDERS/THE DAILY

donated eggs three times in the last two years. She heard about it from a nurse while working at Integris Baptist Hospital one sum-mer who told her she would be a good candidate for egg donation.

“I was really excited,” she said. “The money was great, but I was going to be able to help some-one.”

Before the procedure, Allie had to give herself daily injections to prepare her body.

Post-procedure, Allie said she almost never thinks about the fact that her eggs have been given to someone else.

“I have so many [eggs],” she said. “I don’t really need them.”

The application process begins with an interview and staffers compile a detailed profile of the donor for prospective recipients, Reese said.

Donors must pass very detailed psychological and background checks before being approved.

Prospective recipients apply for egg donations usually because they either have fertility problems or the mother has inheritable traits that she does not wish to pass on to a child, Reese said.

“These are people who have tried all other options,” she said.

Although adoption is an option for people in this situation, many couples want to have a biological link with the father, Reese said. The recipients review profiles to find a donor who has similar traits with the mother, she said.

Although rare, there are some side effects to donating eggs, Johnson said.

“While complications aren’t common, we discuss them in length to our donors,” Johnson said.

There is a risk of infection and bleeding and possibly damage to the ovaries, Johnson said, but none of the donors at the Bennett Fertility Institute have ever been hospitalized for problems with the procedure.

Although the process is exten-sive, most donors say they would do it again, she said.

“It’s a win-win situation,” Reese said. “The women are grateful to be pregnant and it’s phenomenally rewarding for the donors.”

Emad Alabbad, Saudi Student Association president, said he has also encountered problems with the costs of renting facilities.

Alabbad, petroleum engineering senior, said the organization struggles

to find funds to hold meetings. Although some rooms in the

Oklahoma Memorial Union are free of charge for student groups, he said it’s hard to find available rooms on short notice to hold executive meetings, and

his group cannot afford to rent one of the rooms that have a fee.

Stidham said the cost of renting facilities not only hinders student organizations, but the OU community as a whole.

“I just don’t believe groups should be charged so much when they are trying to enrich campus life, which is the goal the OU campus prides itself on,” he said.

immediately put to use. Norman and ODOT hope to take project bids in June and begin construction in July.

“While it is great that the stimulus package will prob-ably create more jobs, my concern is do we have enough resources to get the work done in such a short amount of time?” he said.

O’Leary said future stimulus opportunities for Norman include water treatment, improvements for the police and fire departments and green info structures.

Restaurant raises money for clean water

This week, Victoria’s Pasta Shop

on Campus Corner is participating

in a nationwide project raising

money to help the world’s children

get clean water.

According to a press release, the

restaurant is asking people to do-

nate $1 or more for the tap water

they usually get free. The proceeds

will be donated to the second

annual Tap Project, set up by the

United Nations Children’s Fund.

Victoria’s will accept donations

until Saturday, the release said.

Last year, more than 2,300 restau-

rants raised more than $855,000,

the release said.

Griffi n Miller, a server at the

restaurant, said the family of the

owner of Victoria’s has sup-

ported UNICEF for a long time, and

because the Tap Project involves

restaurants, they thought it

seemed like a good opportunity to

get involved.

According to the press release,

more than 4,000 children die each

day because they are not able to

get clean water.— WILL HOLLAND/THE DAILY

Zach Butler/The Daily

Students participate in the early rounds of the 2009 CAC “Ace in the Hole” Campus Bowl Tuesday evening in the Sooner Room in the Union.

Amy Frost/The Daily

The statue of Edward L. Gaylord faces the rear of the new

edition of Gaylord Hall.

364-2100 • 722 Asp Ave. CAMPUS CORNER

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Nijim Dabbour, managing editordailynews@ou.eduphone: 325-3666fax: 325-6051For more, go to oudaily.com.

Campus NewsCampus News Wednesday, March 25, 2009 3

• Millions of British government documents available online

KATE CUNNINGHAM

The Oklahoma Daily

Students can now access centuries-old reproductions of British government docu-ments from home.

Bizzell Memorial Library is expanding its collection of primary source online documents this semester to provide better resources for student and faculty research, said Karen Rupp-Serrano, librarian and associate professor of collection development.

OU is one of the first universities to pur-chase State Papers Online, an online database that includes million of pages of British gov-ernment documents. Among them are 380,000 reproductions of manuscript documents that are linked to fully searchable calendar entries of documents produced by the government of Great Britain between 1509 and 1714, accord-ing to a publication produced by the database’s developer, Gale Cengage Learning.

The database also contains scanned images of the documents produced by the government of Great Britain.

“In the past, we haven’t had access to this

kind of primary source material,” Rupp-Serrano said. “You can read [these documents] for your-self and draw your own conclusions.”

The database, which is accessible to anyone online, also has helpful tools like guides to Latin and paleography, which helps students read archaic script, as contemporary readers might not be familiar with the material, Rupp-Serrano said. The database also has a feature that allows students to make their own notes and save them for their next log-in.

The database cost OU more than $50,000, but many professors and students say the resource is well worth the cost.

“I know that the price seems high, but in my view it is absolutely worth it,” Roberta Magnusson, professor and director of under-graduate studies for the history department, said in an e-mail. “I have already used it for my own research ... and was able to track down more information in a single afternoon from the comfort of my home computer than I could have found in weeks spent at a library housing the printed collection.”

Magnusson also said she appreciates that the database is easily searchable.

But the database isn’t always easy to find the first time around.

Taylor Krebs, international and area studies and economics sophomore, said she had some trouble navigating through LORA to find State Papers Online while researching for her Irish history class.

“Even with an interest in the history of

the geographic area, it’s difficult to find what you’re looking for,” Krebs said.

Finding the database might have taken her some time, but Krebs said it won’t keep her from using it in the future. She said users need a working knowledge of English history to navigate the database but the tools are very helpful.

She said tools like the monarch timeline and money converters put historical figures into modern terms and helped her put history in perspective.

OU Libraries plan to make the database’s second, third and fourth installments available when they are released later this year and in 2010. Students and faculty will have access to hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic British historical documents once the collec-tion is complete.

The database will be most useful to his-tory, religious studies and English students, Rupp-Serrano said, but also will help science students with the addition of the Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, a source of classical biologi-cal research techniques.

To access the database, log on to http://library.ou.edu/eresources/LORA and search “State Papers Online.”

Library database gives instant access to history

Photo Provided by The British Library Board

This engraving plate of Queen Elizabeth I from “The

Booke of Kings,” published in 1618, is part of a British

archive available online through the OU Libraries.

STATE BRIEFSOklahoma personal income posts fourth-quarter growthTULSA — Oklahoma’s personal income grew

just 0.1 percent from the third to the fourth

quarter of 2008, but that was still enough to

rank it sixth nationally as most of the country

continued to see the eff ects of an economic

downturn last year.

The estimates, released Tuesday by the U.S.

Bureau of Economic Analysis, also showed that

Oklahoma ranked 28th in per capita personal

income levels at $36,899 — slightly less than

the $39,751 national average.

But Oklahoma’s per-capita income still

ranked higher than other states like Oregon,

Michigan and Georgia.

Personal income, defi ned as the total income

received by all persons from all sources, includ-

ing salary, topped $135 billion in Oklahoma

in the fourth quarter, which lasted through

December.

Nationally, the change in state personal

income ranged from a 0.9 percent increase in

Alaska to a 1.8 percent decline in North Dakota.

But even with its 0.1 quarterly growth, the

data indicate a slowdown in Oklahoma, which

posted growth rates of 1.2 percent, 3.1 percent

and 0.5 percent in the fi rst three quarters of

last year.

The energy industry continued to help buoy

the state, even as the rise in oil prices peaked in

the middle of 2008.

Some economists predicted the worst might

be yet to come for Oklahoma, as the national

recession fi nally catches up with the state.

House committee clears nuclear power billOKLAHOMA CITY — Legislation that would

streamline the review process for nuclear power

plants in Oklahoma was sent to the fl oor of

the state House Tuesday, but critics said the

measure does little to protect consumers from

onerous rate increases that would be needed to

help pay for it.

The House Energy and Utility Regulation

Committee voted 17-4 for the Senate-passed

measure as Corporation Commissioner Dana

Murphy and representatives of the state’s

two largest electrical utilities, Public Service

Company of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Gas and

Electric Co., monitored the bill’s progress.

Murphy said she wants to be sure that law-

makers give the bill “thoughtful consideration”

and that the commission, which regulates util-

ity rates and the oil and gas industry, is involved

in its development.

The measure’s author, Rep. Scott Martin,

R-Norman, has said it is intended to off er incen-

tives to power generators to consider building

a nuclear plant, which would cost between

$5 and $10 billion and take a decade to build.

They include allowing utilities to pass on some

of the cost of the plant to ratepayers during

construction.

Former sheriff gets 79 years for abusing female imatesOKLAHOMA CITY — Former Custer County

Sheriff Mike Burgess was sentenced Tuesday to

79 years in prison for sexually abusing female

inmates and drug court defendants in a case

that a prosecutor said sends a clear message for

public offi cials “not to use their position to the

disadvantage of others.”

Burgess, 56, was also fi ned $15,000 by As-

sociate District Judge N. Vinson Barefoot during

a hearing in which Burgess apologized to two of

his victims but maintained that he was innocent

of allegations that he had also abused others.

Burgess was found guilty in January on 13

felony counts, including fi ve counts of second-

degree rape. But jurors acquitted him of 23

other counts that included charges of forcible

sodomy and rape by instrumentation.

Defense attorney Steve Huddleston said an

appeal is planned.

Besides fi ve counts of second-degree rape,

Burgess was convicted of three counts of brib-

ery by a public offi cial; two counts of forcible

sodomy; and one count each of kidnapping,

sexual battery and engaging in a pattern of

criminal off enses.— AP

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Among the waves of popular crises currently bogging our minds, declin-ing fertility rates seem to be one of the lesser known. We are all aware of global warming, dense urbanization and worldwide economic concerns.

These things are constantly empha-sized in the media and in the class-

room to remind us of our assumed respon-sibilities as the next generation of Captain Planet kids.

Obviously, some of these issues are serious problems we will inevitably face, there are many prob-lems not receiving proper attention. The recent documentary

“Demographic Winter” addresses the issue of declining fertility rates.

Over 40 years of accumulated demographics from around the world, hundreds of interviews with everyone from sociologists, demographers, and even Dr. Gary S. Becker, who received the Nobel Prize in economics in 1992.

Many in these fields are aware of the problem, yet outside of their own professions the general public

remains relatively unaware of the serious implications that are about to hit the entirety of the western world and even beyond.

The two magical words in all of this are “replacement fertility,” and it’s something in which the developed world is lagging behind. A fertility rate is basically the average number of children born to a woman during her child-bearing years.

That means in a woman’s lifetime, she would have to give birth to 2.1 children to replace the current popu-lation (the 0.1 represents birth mor-talities and inequalities in gender populations).

Not a single country in Europe is above replacement level. The U.S. barely hits the mark, and even Mexico is predicted to drop to 2.1 by 2015. For those complaining about Mexican immigration, be careful what you wish for.

You might think this drop in fertil-ity is a good thing. After all, haven’t we been told our entire lives how the global population has been drastically increasing and that soon there won’t be enough room and food for every-one? Think again.

The U.N. has already cut 1 bil-

lion off its 2050 global population estimations. The consequences of a “babyless” society are only now being recognized.

The very real threat of aging baby boomers is going to be a painful and extremely expensive wake-up call for Americans.

The largest generation in our coun-try is retiring, and we are going to be paying the Social Security and Medicare bills. This wouldn’t be as much of a problem if there were more of us.

However, it really isn’t surprising why many haven’t heard more about this problem. It isn’t a politically cor-rect issue. As the numbers and data continue to rack up, statistics are showing us that the traditional fam-ily structure is the most effective and ideal setting for high fertility rates.

In a society with rising divorce rates, sexual promiscuity and a gen-eration that is becoming ever more interested in being entertained rather than being parents, it is no surprise why demographers are starting to see a pattern.

Beyond fertility rates, though, the implications of increases in divorces have begun producing disturbing fig-

ures.According to sources spanning the

U.S. Census Bureau to the Family Research Council, a child living with a single parent due to divorce or a child living with two cohabitating parents (parents who aren’t married) is less likely to obtain a high grade point average, more likely to commit a felo-ny, less likely to marry and, if married, more likely to divorce compared with children coming from a traditional household.

Am I saying that children with divorced parents are going to be crim-inals? No, and I do believe there are many justifications for divorce in many circumstances.

Yet it is also true that divorce rates

have been surging dramatically over the last 40 years, partially because of fewer societal pressures on spouses to maintain their relationships.

Perhaps the irony in all of this, as we celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday this year at OU, is that the demographic groups in the world most likely to have children are those of fundamentally religious backgrounds.

Secular families with high income are some of the lowest.

It would be quite bizarre if those most friendly to Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection become the ones who eventually go extinct.

Tucker Cross is a letters sopho-more.

Haven’t we been told our entire lives how the global population has been drastically increasing and that soon there won’t be enough room and food for everyone? Think again.

Ray Martin, opinion editordailyopinion@ou.edu

phone: 325-7630, fax: 325-6051For more, go to oudaily.com.OpinionOpinion

STAFF CARTOON

TUCKERCROSS

OUR VIEW

STAFF COLUMN

Matt Reed — broadcast and electronic media senior

T H E I N D E P E N D E N T S T U D E N T V O I C E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F O K L A H O M A

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Wednesday, March 25, 20094

It’s time to worry about declining birth rates

Facility fee increaseslimit student groups

Funding for UOSA student groups isn’t increasing. But prices for the facilities where student groups hold their events are.

A student group that recently reserved the Lloyd Noble Center for an annual event paid as much this year for a one-night as it did for a two-night event last year. Students who want to bring notable speakers to Catlett Music Center have to pony up hundreds of dollars just for the space. Events that require more seats in bigger venues are thousands more. Groups that wish to meet in the Union have to pay for space if the few free rooms are occupied. See page one for more details.

Student groups should be encouraged to host events, includ-ing lectures, debates and con-certs. But in order to do so, they need money. Most groups receive funding, but few receive enough money to stage events that appeal to, or can accommodate, large

numbers of students.If more funding for student

groups is out of the question, as we understand it’s likely to be, given the current economic cli-mate, places like the Lloyd Noble Center, McCasland Field House and the Union should stop increas-ing their rental prices.

It’s not entirely up to OU to provide the means for groups to host events. They should strive to raise funds on their own, from sources outside the university. But doubling prices for rental facili-ties makes it much more difficult for students to organize the types of events that make OU a great university.

If OU is to remain a market-place of ideas, it needs to create an atmosphere in which its students are encouraged to create, debate and disseminate these ideas. And it should be financially possible for students to do so without sac-rificing an arm and a leg.

Many self-righteous intellectuals in all levels of media propagate all kinds of popular but dishonest myths about libertarians, and have done so for decades. However, as many people get much of their information from newspapers, it is worthwhile to examine these bold claims more closely.

Staff columnist Max Avery asserted Monday that, “histori-cally, when countries enacted the type of extreme free-market economic principles advocat-ed by libertarians, there have been popular uprisings, rapid economic decline, corrupt gov-ernment, dictatorships and civil wars.” None of these claims are supported by actual history or facts.

First, and most important, is the absurd idea that free-market principles lead to “rapid eco-nomic decline.” It is obvious from this statement alone that Avery is a political science major and not an economics major, because the lat-ter type of student knows the exact opposite is true. For example, in Southeast Asia, there are a large variety of politico-economic systems, from near-complete socialism in North Korea to near-complete libertarianism in Singapore and Hong Kong. Though Southeast Asian countries are,

for the most part, similarly endowed with natu-ral resources and other factors, countries like South Korea, with greater economic freedom, outperform regulated and controlled economies nine times out of 10.

What is true for Southeast Asia is true for lit-erally every region in the world.

In an annual study, the Heritage Foundation found that those countries with fewer regula-tions and greater freedom in trade, business and labor have much higher standards of living, and countries that remove laws and restrictions see consistent increases in GDP per capita and stan-dards of living, with rapid declines in poverty.

Unfortunately, as is the case with many dog-matic pro-government demagogues, Avery relies more on his own unsubstantiated ideas than proof or facts.

Next is his claim that libertarianism leads to corrupt governance and dictatorship.

This idea is so ridiculous that it is almost not worth the time to address. Libertarianism is a political ideology based on respect for personal liberty and minimal government, and as such, any type of dictatorial or kleptocratic govern-ment cannot result from a true libertarian move-ment.

The abuse of government power necessarily requires the existence of powerful government – which, of course, is antithetical to everything

for which we libertarians fight.Certainly, a corrupt government can call itself

libertarian or can even limit the scope of its theft and coercion to a few oppressed regions or industries, but that does not make it libertar-ian. Avery should have seen this glaring hole in his argument.

His claim that businesses are the most truly authoritarian institutions on Earth is a myth that, unfortunately, has gained traction recently.

This is due to a misunderstanding of power. The only truly authoritarian institution is one that can use force and violence against its sub-jects, and the only such institutions are govern-ments or those businesses whose violence is encouraged by government.

Microsoft and Wal-Mart are often said to be more powerful than many governments, but this is patently untrue.

Each and every transaction undertaken by these and all private corporations are done with people who willingly exchange labor for wages or payments for products.

Certainly, Wal-Mart can fire employees who slack off at work, but to compare this to even a small government’s power to jail its citizens for refusing to comply with tax laws or other laws is fallacious at best and intellectually malicious at worst.

In his claim that consumers lose faith in lib-

ertarian markets, Avery again demonstrates that he is neither an economics major, nor has he been tracking the Dow Jones and Co. average, which has fallen precipitously since President Barack Obama’s announcements of his various spending and regulation schemes.

Nor has Avery been tracking statistics of busi-ness activity, which has continued to slow. Avery also must be unaware that, while President George Bush and Obama both declared all kinds of spending and laws in an attempt to stimulate credit and capital markets, it has come to a pain-ful halt because banks and other businesses are unsure of their chances in a political environ-ment downright hostile to their activities, from screaming about small bonuses to threatening to block foreclosures.

While Avery’s column may have made pleas-ant fodder for those who already agree with his viewpoints, and while he does give our ideol-ogy a back-handed compliment at the end in an attempt to seem fair, his claims are both unsub-stantiated and plainly untrue.

Perhaps he ought to more thoroughly research his claims before he passes himself off to the student body as any kind of political and eco-nomic historian.

Eric Staib is an economics sophomore and member of OU Libertarians.

GUEST COLUMN

ERICSTAIB

Column misrepresented libertarian ideals

Nation Wednesday, March 25, 2009 5

• Couples reconsider family planning in light of financial hardships

DAVID CRARY AND MELANIE S. WELTE

Associated Press

The pregnant woman showed up at the medical center in flip-flops and in tears, after walking there to save bus fare.

Her boyfriend lost his job, she told her doctor in Oakland, Calif., and now — fearing harder times for her family — she wanted to abort what would have been her fourth child.

“This was a desired pregnancy — she’d been get-ting prenatal care — but they re-evaluated expenses and decided not to continue,” said Dr. Pratima Gupta. “When I was doing the options counseling, she inter-rupted me halfway through, crying, and said, ‘Dr. Gupta, I just walked here for an hour. I’m sure of my decision.’”

Other doctors are hearing similarly wrenching tales. For many Americans, the recession is affecting their most intimate decisions about sex and family planning. Doctors and clinics are reporting that many women are choosing abortions and men are having vasectomies because they cannot afford a child.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois clinics performed an all-time high number of abortions in January, many of them motivated by the women’s economic wor-ries, said CEO Steve Trombley, who declined to give exact numbers. Abortions at Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis-area clinics were up nearly 7 percent in the

second half of 2008 from a year earlier — ending a stretch in which the numbers were dwindling.

Planned Parenthood said it has no up-to-date national abortion figures, nor do other private or gov-ernment agencies. However, Stephanie Poggi of the

National Network of Abortion Funds, which helps women in need pay for abortions, said calls to the network’s national helpline have nearly quadrupled from a year ago.

“A lot of women who never thought they’d need

help are turning to us,” Poggi said. “They’re telling us, ‘I’ve already put off paying my rent, my electric bill. I’m cutting back on my food.’ They’ve run through all the options.”

Vicki Saporta, president of the National Abortion Federation, said her organization’s helpline is receiv-ing many calls from women who postponed an abor-tion while trying to raise money to pay for it.

Such delays often mean riskier abortions at even higher cost — the price can double in the second trimester.

Among the women recently obtaining financial aid was Lalita Peterson, 23, of Painesville, Ohio, who in a thank-you note described the partial subsidy of her abortion at Cleveland’s Preterm clinic as “probably the only relief I’ve felt during this very lonely time.”

Peterson, who is studying cosmetology and has a 3-year-old daughter, learned in February that she had become pregnant despite using contraception.

“I thought, ‘I totally cannot afford another child,’” she said in a telephone interview. “I knew immedi-ately what I had to do.”

Peterson said she is a single mother, unable to collect child support from her daughter’s absent father and struggling to get by with the help of food stamps. Her financial situation, she said, “is tighter than tight.”

Sometimes, the decision goes the other way.Brooke Holycross, 25, of Port Orange, Fla., was

offered financial assistance for an abortion and went to the clinic this month, but changed her mind after seeing a sonogram of the 15-week-old fetus. Holycross already has three daughters, and her common-law husband was laid off.

“We’re in a spot where we’re scared,” she said. “Babies are expensive. ... I’m just praying to God I did the right thing.”

Meltdown impact extends to abortion, birth control

• Dow, S&P post biggest percentage gain since Oct. 28

TIM PARADIS

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Wall Street gave back some of its gains Tuesday as investors reassessed the market’s strength a day after its biggest advance in five months.

Some pullback was to be expected after the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 498 points, or 6.8 percent, on Monday. Investors extended a two-week rally as the government detailed a plan to take over up to $1 trillion in bad mort-gage securities with the help of private investors. An unexpected rise in home

sales also lifted traders’ moods.With little economic data to go

on, investors will again be looking to Washington for direction. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are making a rare joint appearance at a congressional hearing to testify over bonuses at American International Group Inc.

They are also expected to face ques-tions on details of the bad debt plan and are seeking greater power to safely dis-mantle big financial companies like AIG that pose risks to the economy.

Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors in New York, said investors are pleased by the moves out of the Treasury and Fed but that they will need to see more signs that the economy is improving for the market to hold onto the gains. He said renewed worries about trouble spots

like unemployment could shake inves-tors.

“I can absolutely expect some profit-taking here,” Orlando said. “We are treating this cautiously as we recognize that there are still some storm clouds on the horizon.”

In midmorning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 33.69, or 0.4 percent, to 7,742.17.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 5.90, or 0.7 percent, to 817.02, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.21, or 0.9 percent, to 1,542.56.

On Monday, the Dow and the S&P 500 posted their biggest percentage gains since Oct. 28. The market’s reaction to the announcement was a departure from last month, when stocks tumbled after Geithner announced the bad asset program but offered few details about how it would work. Stocks tumbled at

that time, sending the Dow down by more then 380 points.

The retrenchment wasn’t surprising Tuesday as part of the normal ebb and flow of the market but some analysts warn that stocks could find it harder to extend their gains now that they’ve risen about 20 percent from March 9, when the Dow and the S&P finished at their lowest levels in about 12 years.

Earlier advances, like a 20 percent rise from late November to January, eventually fizzled as fresh worries about the economy dogged traders.

In the latest run, large financial stocks rose 54.5 percent from their lows only two weeks ago. For the recovery to continue, investors will be looking for further signs that banks could begin to patch holes in their balance sheets. Traders are looking to the government’s plan to help vacuum up much of the cor-rosive debt.

But many analysts also say some sta-bilizing in the overall economy is neces-sary for banks to regain their footing. There are still plenty of worries: The unemployment rate sits at 8.1 percent, the highest level since the punishing recession of the early 1980s.

Wall Street gives up some ground after it receives huge gains

AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Nurse practitioner Sharon Spiller, left, and physician’s assistant Tiernie Garbers, right, work in a lab at the Planned

Parenthood of East Central Iowa, Tuesday, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jenifer Vick, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of

East Central Iowa, says there’s been a sharp rise in the number of women who need help paying for birth control.

“I can absolutely expect some profit-taking here.”

Phil Orlando, chief equity marketing strategist

$1,000 Fellowship

to Study WIND

ENERGY! Accepting applications for the

2009-2010 Mark Coleman Fellowship on the Environment

“Wind Energy: The future for Oklahoma?”

Many experts are predicting that wind generated electricity will be

the next major growth opportunity in the Oklahoma energy industry.

• What are Oklahoma’s assets that drive this prediction?

• What are the obstacles to the growth of the wind industry in

Oklahoma?

• Who are the winners as this industry develops?

• Are any stakeholders losers in this process?

• What is the potential role and economic niche for distributed

vs. centrally generated electricity?

Hands-on Experience in Environmental Decision Making

Both semesters of the 2009-2010 academic year will be spent

researching the history, regulatory context, ecological, economic,

and political aspects of wind energy. The project will culminate in

one or more public presentations on the work and submission of a

20-page paper.

Money and Academic Credit, too!

The Coleman Fellowship carries a stipend of $1,000 plus

reimbursement for three hours of tuition & fees at the in-state rate

(one credit hour in Fall and two credit hours in the Spring), supplies,

and travel associated with the research.

Who Can Apply?

Any full-time, regularly enrolled, undergraduate at the University of

Oklahoma, who is planning to graduate no earlier than May 2010

and no later than May 2012.

For application information, please email ipe@ou.edu or call 325-0595.

Application Deadline: April 8, 2009

World NewsWednesday, March 25, 20096

• Freedom of speech challenged by government

HEIDI VOGT AND AMIR SHAH

Associated Press Writers

KABUL — The manager of an Afghan television network who refused to censor images of women dancing in short skirts and plunging necklines was arrested in what appeared to be a new sign of the government’s struggle to define the role of Islam in a coun-try once led by extremists.

The government has previ-ously censured television stations and taken others to court, but the arrest of Emrose TV’s Fahim Khodamani on Monday was the first for airing overly salacious content, the Afghan deputy attor-ney general said Tuesday.

The debate over television in this conservative Muslim country heated up after U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

The militant group, which practices an extreme version of Islam, banned television and other forms of entertainment that it deemed un-Islamic when it ruled the country in the 1990s. It also required women to cover themselves under an all-encom-passing burqa.

Since the Taliban fell, televi-sion stations have flourished, pit-ting the issue of freedom of the press against conservative norms in a country where most women wear clothes that cover every-thing but their face and neck.

The issue has become even more complicated with the resur-gence of the Taliban in southern Afghanistan in the past few years — gains that President Barack Obama hopes to counter by sending an additional 17,000 U.S. troops to the country this year.

Afghanistan’s culture minister has warned that the Taliban use racy broadcasts like those on Emrose as a tool in their culture

war — recruiting villagers who feel that the government is too influenced by Western morals.

Aggressive Afghan government attempts to censor TV programs could be part of a strategy to tem-per conflict with the Taliban. Or it could be an attempt to siphon support from Afghans drawn to the Taliban’s conservative style of Islam.

Many Afghan TV stations cut or blur scenes with women show-ing more than their face or neck, taking a conservative stance to avoid violating a vague govern-ment law that prohibits media content that is not “within the framework of Islam.”

Khodamani was arrested for refusing repeated requests to pix-elate or otherwise obscure images of women dancing in short skirts or outfits with low necklines, said Deputy Attorney General Fazel Ahmad Faqiyar.

The videos are relatively tame by Western standards, but manny do feature women in tight outfits or showing off cleavage. In one typical video, an Indian woman emerges from a pool of water with a thin dress that clings to her body.

Afghanistan’s media over-sight commission repeatedly reproached the channel for the amount of bare skin on its pro-grams, and for airing pop music videos during the Islamic holiday of Ashoura in January, accord-ing to Faqiyar and the station’s owner, Najibullah Kabuli.

Kabuli confirmed that Khodamani refused to edit or censor the programming, saying it was station policy to air unal-tered programs.

He said the demand and Khodamani’s arrest were “against freedom of speech and democra-cy.” Kabuli, who also is a member of parliament, said the arrest may have been masterminded by his political enemies.

The arrest came days after Afghanistan’s top Muslim clerics called on the government to block stations from “airing prohibited and hypocritical anti-Islam pro-grams and immoral scenes and movies.”

Afghan TV station under crackdown

• Combat efforts effective thus far

DELVIN BARRETT AND EILEEN SULLIVAN

Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of federal agents, along with high-tech surveillance gear and drug-sniffing dogs, are headed to the Southwest to help Mexico fight drug cartels and keep violence from spilling across the U.S.-Mexico border, Obama administration officials said Tuesday.

The border security initiative, which expands on efforts begun during the Bush administration, is aimed at drug traffickers who have wreaked havoc in Mexico in recent years and are blamed for a spate of kidnappings and home invasions in some U.S. cities.

The plan was announced as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton prepares to travel Wednesday to Mexico for the start of several weeks of high-level meetings between the two countries on the drug violence issue. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder are expected to meet with Mexican officials in early April.

The Obama administration’s multi-agency plan includes nearly 500 agents and support personnel. However, officials did not say where the additional agents would come from or how long they would stay at the border.

Napolitano said officials were still considering wheth-er to deploy the National Guard to the Arizona and Texas borders with Mexico, which the governors had requested.

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said the com-bined efforts of the U.S. and Mexican governments would “destroy these criminal orga-nizations.”

Rep. Lamar Smith, the senior Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said he was happy to see the administration getting more aggressive with the cartels, but he worried about what would see less attention in the U.S.

“I am concerned that when you’re taking almost 500 law enforcement agents from one place to another, wherever place they’re leaving is going to be understaffed and will mean that some laws are not being enforced,” said Smith,

R-Texas.Authorities said they will increase the num-

ber of immigrations and customs agents, drug agents and antigun trafficking agents operating

along the border. The gov-ernment also will allow fed-eral funds to be used to pay for local law enforcement involved in southwestern border operations, and send more U.S. officials to work inside Mexico.

Prosecutors say they will make a greater effort to go after those smuggling guns and drug profits from the U.S. into Mexico.

Napolitano acknowledged that the fight against the drug cartels is not just in Mexico but in the U.S. where the

drugs are sold.“This is a supply issue, and it’s a demand

issue,” she said. To address the demand, she cited funding set aside for drug courts in the recent stimulus package. She said these drug courts “have been very effective in reducing recidivism among drug offenders.”

The administration is also highlighting $700

million that Congress has already approved to support Mexico’s efforts to fight the cartels.

Officials said President Barack Obama is particularly concerned about killings in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, and that he wants to prevent such violence from spilling over into the United States.

Among the moves the government is mak-ing:

—Sending about 350 additional personnel from the Homeland Security Department for a host of border-related work, including doubling the border enforcement security teams that combine local, state and federal officers.

—Adding 16 new Drug Enforcement Administration positions in the southwestern region. DEA currently has more than 1,000 agents working in the region.

—Sending 100 more people form the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to the border in the next 45 days.

—Boosting the FBI’s intelligence and analysis work on Mexican drug cartel crime.

—Increasing the inspection of rail cargo heading from the U.S. into Mexico and putting X-ray units in place to try to detect weapons being smuggled into Mexico.

Napolitano said her department has already seen success with stepped-up efforts.

White House intensifies anti-cartel border fight

AP Photo/Guillermo Arias

A Mexican marine stands guard along the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, Wednesday, March 18,

2009. The administration of President Barack Obama is preparing to send federal agents to the US-Mexico

border as reinforcements in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

“This is a supply issue, and it’s a demand issue.”

Janet Napolitano,

Homeland Security

Secretary

YOU ARE INVITED!

7 p.m.Friday, March 27Pitman Recital Hall

Catlett Music Center

Public Master Class

Former Star of the Metropolitan Opera, praised by critics as having “the greatest voice of the 20th Century”

Marilyn Horne

Steven Jones, sports editordailysports@ou.eduphone: 325-7630, fax: 325-6051For more, go to oudaily.com. SportsSports 7Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Softball

Sooners look to extend winning streak against North Texas this eveningAARON COLEN

The Oklahoma Daily

The softball team is scheduled to close out a four-game home stand tonight against North Texas.

Junior infielder Amber Flores, Big 12 Player of the Week, hit .600 as the Sooners went 3-0 last week.

OU outscored its opponents 26-7 over those three games.

“We’ve been spending a little extra time in the cage and putting in a lot of hard work,” Flores said.

The Sooners have never lost to North Texas, having gone 15-0 against the Mean Green in the all-time series. Flores said the Sooners cannot

take North Texas lightly, however.“We need to make sure we go out there with

energy,” Flores said.OU comes into tonight’s game on a four-game

winning streak. The team has gone 9-2 since

struggling in The Preview presented by Worth at the beginning of the month.

“We had a tough, tough schedule,” Flores said. “We got a little bit of time off and everybody just regrouped.”

The pitching rotation has benefitted from the return of senior pitcher D.J. Mathis, who won against Iowa State on March 21 in her first start since Feb. 22.

“D.J. is an awesome pitcher. She’s a beast on the mound,” Flores said. “We’re so happy to have her back.”

After the game against North Texas, OU will return to Big 12 play for the next 12 games, start-ing with a series this weekend in Austin, Texas, against Texas. The Sooners are currently 4-0 against Big 12 teams this season.

Eli Hull/The Daily

Junior shortstop Amber Flores slides into first base during

OU’s game against Northwestern on March 7.

GAMES TO AIR ON ESPNOU announced Monday two Sooner softball games

will air on the ESPN family of networks this season.

The Sooners home fi nale against Texas A&M at 1 p.m.

on April 19 will be broadcast on ESPN.

Also, OU’s fi nal game against Oklahoma State, which

will be played at 7 p.m. on April 29 will air on ESPNU.

— DAILY STAFF

Baseball

Sooners stay perfect at home, win 12-6

CLAIRE BRANDON

The Oklahoma Daily

The baseball team extended its home winning streak to 13 after Tuesday night’s 12-6 win over Central Arkansas.

The Sooners showed patience at the plate when Bears’ pitcher Reece Cross allowed four walks in the first inning.

After three consecutive walks, the Sooners got off to a hot start.

Freshman third baseman Garrett Buechele took advantage of a bases-loaded opportunity by hitting a grand slam, the first home run of his career.

Then, senior second baseman Matt Harughty gave the Sooners another homer and gave them a 5-1 lead after one inning.

In the second inning, shortstop Bobby Pritchett hit the ball out of the park to record the first Bears’

homer of the night.A double by junior first base-

man Aaron Baker brought sopho-more left fielder Casey Johnson home. Baker was thrown out try-ing to extend the hit to a triple.

By the third inning, the Sooners had pulled away from the Bears and had an eight-run lead, 11-3.

Starting pitcher Garrett Richards was relieved by C.J. Blue after five successful innings, excluding a wild pitch early in the first.

In the seventh inning, pitcher Stephen Porlier struck out two batters in his first appearance on the mound since 2007. Surgery on Porlier’s throwing shoulder kept him out in the 2008 season.

The Sooners will host Nebraska this weekend in a three-game series to continue the Big 12 schedule. The first game will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Elizabeth Nalewajk

Junior pitcher Garrett Richards (26) pitches Tuesday night at L. Dale Mitchell

Park against Central Arkansas University. OU won, 12-6.

• Sooners heading to OKC for Sweet 16

ANNELISE RUSSELL

The Oklahoma Daily

The Sooners are back in the Sweet 16 after a dominating 69-50 performance Tuesday night against Georgia Tech in Iowa City.

Georgia Tech played a full court press the entire night, but OU managed to handle the pressure from the beginning.

Freshman guard Whitney Hand had the first 8 points for the Sooners and outscored the Yellow Jackets 8-6 for the first 10 minutes.

Georgia Tech struggled from the floor as OU went on a 9-2 run early in the first half.

It looked like OU would run away with the game, but OU lacked intensity at the end of first half and head coach Sherri Coale decided to pull junior forward Amanda Thompson, who had been resting a foot injury, off the bench.

OU and Georgia Tech headed into the locker room knotted up at 29.

The Sooners picked their game up in the second half and their guards continued to roll by shooting from outside and driving to the basket in transition.

Georgia Tech, just like the Sooners, is a team that relies on strong post play, but the Yellow Jackets were not able to work the ball underneath.

Senior forward Ashley Paris struggled to score, but led the Sooners when senior center Courtney Paris rode the bench with four fouls. Ashley Paris had 17 rebounds.

Hand proved that she is healthy with her best performance since her finger injury on Feb. 21, as she ended the game with 15 points.

Sophomore guard Danielle Robinson led the OU offense with 17 points and six assists.

With this win, OU enters the Sweet 16 and heads home for the next round in OKC.

OU and Pittsburgh will meet Friday at the Ford Center for a chance at the Elite Eight.

Women’s Basketball

OU handles Tech, 69-50

Charlie Neibergall /AP Photo

Senior center Courtney Paris reacts during OU’s second-round women’s NCAA college basketball

tournament game against Georgia Tech, Tuesday night in Iowa City, Iowa. The Sooners won the game,

69-50, and advanced to the Sweet 16. Paris scored 9 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the game. The

Sooners will next play Pittsburgh Friday.

Way To Go!

Adopt - An - AreaArea Ratings For This Week

Delta Tau Delta

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Our Earth

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Adams

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Keep Up the Good Work!

ALFA Flight

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The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution. For accommodations on the basis of disability, call 325-2340

Volunteer�ProgramsStrengthening Our Traditions through Service to State and Societyleadandvolunteer.ou.edu College of Liberal Studies

The University of Oklahoma

Thursday, March 26, 20097 p.m.Dick Bell Courtroom, University of Oklahoma College of Law300 Timberdell Rd., Norman, OKReception to follow in the Sneed Lounge

Robert L. Thompson, Ph.D.Gardner Endowed Chair in Agriculture,University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Thompson is active in the global trade debates of the World Trade Organization and will share his thoughts on the world food crisis. He holds an in-depth perspective on the world food economy and its predicted demand and supply, and the effects of national and world exports and imports of agricultural food and dairy products. As an international expert, he has lectured, consulted or conducted research in more than 90 countries worldwide, while carrying on projects in rural development with a focus on food productivity and distribution.

25thAnniversary

Feaver-MacMinn

The World Food Crisis: Its Roots to the Future

Public Lecture

A Tradition of Excellence in Scholarship Sponsored by the

For additional information visit:

www.ou.edu/cls/fm

Date:

Time:

Location:

Speaker:

SportsWednesday, March 25, 20098

STAFF COLUMNMen’s Basketball

Dissecting OU vs. the Orange• Take a closer look at OU against Syracuse

ERIC DAMA

The Oklahoma Daily

NO. 3 SYRACUSE

How they got hereThe Orange cruised past No. 14 seed

Stephen F. Austin 59-44 in the first round and then pulled away from No. 6 seed Arizona State in the second half to finish with a 78-67 victory.

Team MVPSophomore guard Jonny Flynn. Flynn is

averaging 17.3 points and 6.7 assists per game this season. Earlier this week, OU head coach Jeff Capel said Flynn is one of — if not the — best point guards in the country.

The talented sophomore is the No. 1 reason Syracuse made it to the Big East tournament championship game, even after playing seven periods of overtime along the way.

Watch out for...Eric Devendorf. The junior guard has

scored at least 20 points in four of the Orange’s last five games. Shooting 40 percent from 3-point range on the season, Devendorf is one of two players — along with junior guard Andy Rautins — the Sooners will have to watch out for on the perimeter.

Must overcomeThe Griffin brothers. The Orange has had

significant trouble this year against teams with prominent big men. Four of their seven Big East losses — to Connecticut, Pittsburgh and twice to Villanova — were because they were overwhelmed down low.

Throw junior guard/forward Juan Pattillo into the mix and Syracuse may have big prob-lems come Friday night.

NotableSyracuse is 9-2 all-time as a No. 3 seed

and won the championship as a three-seed in 2003.

NO. 2 OU

How they got hereThe Sooners destroyed No. 15 seed Morgan

State 82-54 and then held off a late surge by 10th-seeded Michigan for a 73-63 win.

Team MVPSophomore forward Blake Griffin. What,

you were expecting Ray Willis?

Watch out for...Freshman guard Willie Warren and senior

guard Austin Johnson. The two guards have shot a combined 9-20 from three and scored a combined 51 points in the Sooners’ first two tournament games.

Syracuse runs a 2-3 zone on defense, so you can expect both Warren and Johnson to have plenty of open looks Friday night.

Must overcomeSyracuse’s zone defense. As just mentioned,

the Orange’s defensive scheme will give OU’s perimeter players lots of shot opportunities, and they’re going to have to make those if OU is going to advance.

The Sooners overcame Michigan’s 1-3-1 zone in the second round with solid out-side shooting, but Sooner fans have seen them also shoot themselves to a loss (see: 3-19 from three in Big 12 tourney loss to Oklahoma State).

NotableThis is the Sooners’ first appearance in the

Sweet 16 since 2003. Then a No. 1 seed, OU went on to lose in the Elite Eight to... you guessed it, Syracuse.

Upsets lacking in NCAA tournamentI t wasn’t that long ago when

the tournament was intrigu-ing and upsets were likely

to take place at a vast rate. You could almost be certain to see an array of different seeds in the Sweet 16.

Now, it just seems like pick-ing the favorite in every game all the way to the champion-ship game is the way to go for a high-percentage bracket.

For instance, someone in a bracket pool I entered picked the favored teams all the way through the bracket, and I was disappointed with the lack of effort in the thought process. But somehow that person is in the lead.

The talent gap between top teams and mid-majors now is bigger than it has ever been.

I mean other than Gonzaga and Xavier – who are argu-ably powerhouses regardless – there aren’t any mid-majors that can even compete with the top seeds.

Sure, there are those few games where an upset surpris-ingly happens – like Cleveland State taking down Wake Forest or Sienna beating Ohio State – but it usually doesn’t happen past the first or sec-ond round.

Last year was history. It marked the first year in which all four No. 1 seeds consumed the Final Four. And that could very likely happen again this year.

Yeah, Davidson shocked the world by making the Elite Eight last year, but there isn’t a team that can excite us beyond the top seeds this season.

There is no Cinderella this year. No D a v i d s o n , W e s t e r n K e n t u c k y , G e o r g e Mason, or any underdog for fans to cheer for.

Arizona is as close as it gets, being the only double-digit seed remaining, but the Wildcats are from the Pac 10. I hardly call them being here still a shock since they have one of the best histori-cal basketball programs in the nation.

I expect each No. 1 seed to be challenged on route to the Final Four, but I ultimately don’t see it any other way than dominance from the one seeds this year.

And since the committee is recently doing a terrific job selecting accordingly, the dominance could stay this way for years to come.

If only football could be this way.

MJ CASIANO IS A BROADCAST AND ELECTRONIC MEDIA SOPHOMORE.

MJCASIANO

JOIN OU DAILY’S LIVE CHATWhat: A live chat with The Oklahoma Daily’s sports staff during the men’s

basketball’s Sweet 16 game against

Syracuse

Where: OUDaily.com

When: Beginning 6:27 p.m. Friday

Log on to OUDaily.com Friday night to participate in the conversation.See tomorrow’s paper to learn more about

Syracuse, OU’s Sweet 16 opponent.

James Cornwell/The Daily

Sophomore forward Blake Griffin (23) drives past Michigan’s Zack Gibson in OU’s 73-63 second-round win

over the Wolverines Saturday night. With the win, the Sooners propelled themselves into the Sweet 16 for

the first time since 2003.

SOONER SENDOFFSee the Sooners off as they leave tomorrow

for Memphis, Tenn. for the Sweet 16 in the

NCAA tournament.

The team will be leaving at 4 p. m. today

from the South tunnel at Lloyd Noble Center.

Be there to see the team off before they play

Syracuse on Friday.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

ARE YOUGRADUATING?

Do you have your Commencement rain location tickets?

In the event of inclement weather, Commencement will be held at

the Lloyd Noble Center. Graduates and guests must have a Commencement rain location ticket

in hand for admittance. Please visit ou.edu/Commencement

for complete Commencement rain plan information.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

The deadline to pick up your Commencement rain location tickets is

Wednesday, April 1Tickets are available for pick-up

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

at the Graduation OfficeLissa and Cy Wagner Hall, Suite 203.

ou.edu/Commencement

Congratulations Class of 2009

ARE YOUGRADUATING?

Do you have your Commencement rain location tickets?

In the event of inclement weather, Commencement will be held at

the Lloyd Noble Center. Graduates and guests must have a Commencement rain location ticket

in hand for admittance. Please visit ou.edu/Commencement

for complete Commencementrain plan information.

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

The deadline to pick up yourCommencement rain location tickets is

Wednesday, April 1Tickets are available for pick-up

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.Monday through Friday

at the Graduation OfficeLissa and Cy Wagner Hall, Suite 203.

ou.edu/Commencement

CongratulationsClass of 2009

Life & ArtsLuke Atkinson, L&A editordailyent@ou.eduphone: 325-5189, fax: 325-6051For more, go to oudaily.com. 9

CROSSED #4 The survivors of the “Crossed Outbreak” disease fi nd

themselves hunted by a group of the infected that are now

growing smarter and organizing. The source of the disease

still cannot be found and our heroes are quickly running out

of supplies and options.

For Garth Ennis fans who are used to his disturbing and ex-

plicit writing style, this is his most twisted and horrifi c book

to date. Despite the gore, he is still able to deal with each

character’s personal problems amidst this great catastrophe.

Some might argue that the art by Jacen Burrows is too simple

and lacks a lot of detail, but pairing this style with the grizzly

subject matter of the book is magnifi cent and creates some-

thing amazing to read.

UMBRELLA ACADEMY:DALLAS #5

After killing their captors, Séance, Spaceboy and Kraken

go back in time to 1963 to stop “Number 5” and “The Temps

Aeternalis” from assassinating J.F.K. in Dallas.

Though it sounds a little far-fetched, but readers of this se-

ries know this type of whimsical plot is normal in the Umbrella

Academy universe.

The witty style and oddball characters of Gerard Way, the

lead singer of My Chemical Romance, keep readers entertained

in this highly creative book.

I’m not really used to Gabriel Ba’s (of Casanova Volume One)

clean and smooth style of illustration in a superhero comic, but

it works very well, especially when he does “splash” pages.

I really hit it off with this girl during spring break. We’ve been talking on Facebook and I’m thinking of visiting her in New Hampshire. Should I?Katie: It’s important to remember while you may think you really know someone, you might not. I’d say wait at least two more months and continue to talk to her. If things haven’t fizzled and the criminal background check came back fairly clean, consider it from there.

Tyler: Don’t listen to her, it’s not serious and it never will be. Don’t kid yourself. These things never work out. Especially if “getting to know her” included tequila and a disco-tech. You may expect a romantic airport kiss and a “When Harry Met Sally” reunion, but the actual conversation will be awkward and contrived. “So, um. Hey. How are you?” “Good.” Silence. Then you’re stuck in New Hampshire. My advice, take it for what it was and move on. Spring break can never be recreated. She’s probably not as interesting as you remember anyway.

A rumor has been circulating that my boyfriend had “more than just a good time” during his spring break. How should I confront him about this alleged infidelity?Katie: It’s important in these instances to check your sources before confronting him. However, it’s still something you should talk to him about. Find a time when he isn’t rushed. Remember to be willing to listen to his side, but also be assertive about what information you do know.

Tyler: Well, if everyone knows except you, then he probably did cheat. It usually works out that way. I would say there are two ways to handle the situation. You either have a no-tolerance policy and tell him to get lost, or you forcefully block it from your memory forever. Each mechanism has its benefits. Ultimately though, what were you doing dating a guy who didn’t take you on trips with him anyway? Seems like you’re the loser who fell for the “I need some me time” trick.

TYLER BRANSON IS AN ENGLISH SENIOR AND KATIE J. PARKER IS A JOUR-NALISM SENIOR.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This week, The Daily’s Katie J. Parker and Tyler Branson answer questions about spring break’s loose ends. If you would like to submit a question, join our Facebook page, OU Daily Advice.

OSIZIMETE AKEN’OVA IS A FILM AND VIDEO STUDIES JUNIOR.

R.T. Conwell, advertising managerclassifi eds@ou.edu

phone: 325-2521, fax: 325-7517For more, go to oudaily.com.ClassifiedsClassifiedsWednesday, March 25, 200910

PLACE AN ADPhone

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Advertisers understand that

they may not discriminate in

employment on the basis of

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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.

1 day ............. $4.25/line

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20-29 days.... $ .90/line

30+ days ..... $ .85/line

Line Ad. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 a.m.Place your classifi ed line ad by 9 a.m., Monday-Friday to run in the next issue.

Display Ad. . . . .3 days priorClassifi ed Display or Classifi ed

Card Ad are due 3 days prior to

publication date.

DEADLINES

RATESLine AdsRates are determined by the

price per line, per day. There

is a two line minimum charge;

approximately 40 characters

per line, including spaces and

punctuation.

Classifi ed Display AdsRates are $16.00 per column

inch, per day with a minimum of

2 column inches.

Classifi ed Card AdsClassifi ed Card Ads are $170 per

column inch with a minimum

of 2 column inchs and run 20

consecutive issues. Ad copy

may change every fi ve issues.

Game SponsorshipsClassifi ed Display Ads located

directly above the following

games/puzzles. Limited spaces

available – only one space per

game.

2 col (3.792 in) x 2 inches

Sudoku ...........$760/month

Boggle............$760/month

Jumble ...........$760/month

Horoscope .....$760/month

1 col (1.833 in) x 2.25 inches

Crossword .....$515/month(located just below the puzzle)

PaymentPayment is required at the

time the ad is placed. Visa,

MasterCard, Discover and

American Express; cash,

money orders or local checks

accepted.

Credit AccountsBusinesses may be eligible for

credit in a limited, local billing

area. Please inquire with

Business Offi ce at 405.325.2521.

rrs TM

PAYMENT

POLICY

Announcements

SPECIAL NOTICESHookah Bar!

Grand Re-opening at 117 N CrawfordLive Belly Dancer every Saturday!

Next Door to Opolis 321-0826

TransportationC

AUTO INSURANCE

Auto InsuranceQuotations Anytime

Foreign Students WelcomedJim Holmes Insurance, 321-4664

Services

PROFESSIONAL SERVICESWe solve DUI problems affordably.

Call O’Quinn & Nelson Law Offi ce, 290-1441

Employment

HELP WANTEDDeputy Marshal (Part-Time)

Municipal Court

Graduation from college and currently attend-ing law school. Valid OK Driver’s License and satisfactory motor vehicle record. Knowledge of courtroom proceedings and practices. $8.00 per hour. Work Period: 15 hrs a week maximum. Ap-prox. 10 hrs in the courtroom on Tue, Wed, and Thu afternoons and 5 hours serving processes. Selected applicants must pass a background investigation and drug screen. Application Dead-line: Open Recruitment. Obtain application at: 201-C West Gray, Human Resources Dept., City of Norman, (405) 366-5482.Web: NormanOK.gov EOE/AA

Now hiring lifeguard, swim instructors, and AM pool managers. Apply at the Cleveland County Family YMCA, 1350 Lexington Ave. EOE.

GREAT STUDENT JOBPart time leasing agent, M-F

Rotating Sats. Pay based on experience.Must be friendly & detail oriented.

Apply at 2900 ChautauquaOr call 360-6624 for more info.

THE MONTNow accepting applications for the following positions:

SERVERS-must be available for day shifts beginning at 10:30 am, experience preferred HOSTESS must be available nights and week-ends. Apply in person M-F, 2pm to 4pm, 1300 Classen

MERCURY POST & PARCEL needs p/t custom-er assistant. Apply at 121 24th Ave NW.

STUDENTPAYOUTS.COMPaid survey takers needed in Norman100% FREE to join. Click on Surveys.

Make up to $75 per online survey, student opin-ions needed www.cashtospend.com.

BILL’S RESTAURANT

Now hiring part time servers. Apply in person. 1101 Elm St. 364-2530.

Traditions Spirits is seeking a motivated,energetic, and personable Bar Supervisor for Riverwind Casino. The ideal candidate must:

have at least 1 year experience in high volume club, hotel, or resort; be skilled in staff

management; be knowledgeable of wine and spirits, and have open availability. Apply in person at 2813 SE 44th, Norman or email

resume to michelle.snider@traditionsspirits.com 405-392-4550

SUMMER EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Instructor/Lifeguards $8.50-$9.50 per hrLifeguards (Water Slide) $7.25-$8.25 per hr

Pool Maintenance Workers $7.25-$8.25 per hrPool Cashier (AM or PM) $7.25-$9.50 per hr

Baseball Supervisor $8.50-$9.50 per hrLittle League Umpires $10.00-$15.00 per game

If you are interested in any of these positions, please call our job line or access our website to fi nd out the minimum qualifi cations. Selected ap-plicant must pass physical exam, drug screen, and background investigation.

Obtain application at:201-C W Gray, Human Resources Department

CITY OF NORMAN (405) 366-5482JOB LINE (405) 366-5321Web: cityofnorman.com

EOE/AA

CAYMAN’S seeks part time Sales Associates. Must be motivated, fashion-driven, self-starter with excellent customer service skills. Some Sat-urdays and holidays required. Apply in person 2001 West Main.

Here is your chance!Blu Fine Wine and Food is now accepting ap-plications for waitstaff and experienced cooks. Must be 21. Apply in person between 2-4 pm

M-F, at 201 S Crawford. 360-4258.

SeekingSitters is open in the Moore/Norman area, and is looking for qualifi ed, reliable sitters

to work fl exible hours. FT, days, nights, and weekends available. If you are interested apply

at seekingsitters.com.

Bartending! Up to $250/day. No exp nec. Train-ing provided. 1-800-965-6520, x133.

Eskimo Sno NOW HIRING for ALL locationsFun & Energetic people for Spring/Summer

Full/Part Time. Must be able to work weekendsand have reliable transportation.

Summer Bonuses available. Call 321-SNOWor come by Eastside store @ 867 12th Ave NE

$5,000-$45,000PAID. EGG DONORS for up to 9 donations,

+ Exps, non-smokers, Ages 19-29,SAT>1100/ACT>24/GPA>3.00

Contact: info@eggdonorcenter.com

Housing RentalsJ

APTS. FURNISHED$400, bills paid, effi ciency LOFT apartments, downtown over Mister Robert Furniture, 109 E Main, fi re sprinkler, no pets, smoke-free. Inquire store offi ce.

APTS. UNFURNISHED1 BLK FROM OU, very nice 4 room apt, 800 sf, wood fl oors, 1016 S College, Apt 1, $295/mo. Call 360-2873 or 306-1970.

P/L Now for Summer & Fall!$99 Deposit! No Application Fee!Models open 8a-8p Everyday!

7 Locations to Choose from!Elite Properties 360-6624or www.elite2900.com

$99 1st MONTH/$99 DEPOSIT*Immediate Move-Ins Only

Prices Reduced / 2 beds Available!Pets Welcome! Large Floor Plans!

Models open 8a-8p Everyday!Elite Properties 360-6624 or

www.elite2900.com

CONDOS UNFURNISHEDSummer Rent Slashed in 1/2!

Leasing 1-4 bdrms, amenities galore, The EdgeCall Iris, 303-550-5554

HOUSES UNFURNISHEDFOR RENT

915 W Lindsey, NEAR OU, 1/2 bd, 1 ba, NO PETS, $500 per mo.1104 Grover Ln, NEAR OU, 2 bd, car garage, CHA, W/D, stove, refrigerator, microwave, com-pactor, NO PETS, $800 per mo.Contact: 329-1933 or 550-7069

817 Birch - Short walk to campus! 3bd/2ba 2 car garage. Remodeled kitchen & master bath. W/D & lawn service included. $1200 mo. Call Steve Gray 214-455-4508.

322 S Lahoma, 2/3 bdrms, 1 bth, CH/A, w/d, dw, no pets, $700/mo + security dep. 719-748-5141.

4 bed/3 bath/2 car garage + study in Norman. All bills paid. Available NOW. $1600/month, $1200 deposit. Call 366-0074.

3 bdrm, 2 bath, 1 mile east of campus!New carpet and paint, fridge, w/d included. Pets okay, $825/mo. Call 637-7427.

AVAILABLE IN MAYA short walk to OU, 1-5 blks west of OU, nice brick homes, wood fl oors, CH/A, w/d, disposal, good parking. 3 Bdrm $750-$1500 2 Bdrm $600-$800 1 Bdrm $420-$460

MISTER ROBERT FURNITURE9-4 pm, Mon-Sat, 321-1818

Clean 3 bdrm, 1 bath near campus, big yard, fi re-place, basement, $800/mo. 447-8313.

805C Cardinal Creek Condo’s, 2 bdrm, 2 bth gated community, pool, weight room, on-site washer/dryer, close to campus, nice enviroment to study, overlooks OU golf course $585/mo. Call (580) 763-4278

TOWNHOUSES UNFURNISHEDTaylor Ridge Townhomes

2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, Fully RenovatedTownhomes near OU!

Pets Welcome! • Call for current ratesand Move-in Specials!!!Taylor Ridge Townhomes

(405) 310-6599

ROOMS FURNISHED

NEAR OU, privacy, $250, bills paid includes cable, neat, clean, parking. Prefer male student. Call 329-0143.

Housing SalesJ

CONDOSEdge Condo, 4 bd/ 4 bath, $126,900 - 1st time homebuyers: $8000 tax rebateCall Carol Lindley 401-0246 - Dillard Group

Employment

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oudaily.com

True SoonersDon’t Haze.

Report Hazing.

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The University of Oklahoma is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

Previous Answers

7 53 6 2

2 6 4 88 1 3 4 6

4 58 3 1 5 4

4 9 2 87 5 6

5 7Instructions: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

6 7 2 9 5 3 8 1 48 9 4 6 2 1 5 7 31 5 3 8 4 7 9 6 29 1 7 2 8 4 3 5 65 3 8 7 6 9 4 2 12 4 6 1 3 5 7 9 87 6 5 3 1 8 2 4 93 2 9 4 7 6 1 8 54 8 1 5 9 2 6 3 7

Universal Crossword

“EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY” by Carrie White

ACROSS 1 Optimistic,

as an outlook 5 Curb

queuers, sometimes

9 Predicted 14 Plane

alternative 15 Clay crock 16 Sticky stuff 17 Helen’s

home 18 Symbol of

craziness 19 “___ when?” 20 Bring-a-dish

event 23 Animal’s

breadbasket 25 Earthquake

relief, e.g. 26 Standard of

perfection 27 Tillable 29 Hard-to-

swallow verbiage

31 Microwave’s foil?

32 Hunger sign 33 Brief current

matters 37 Informal

event 40 Celebrated

Wimbledon winner

41 Charity do 42 Mediterra-

nean gulf 43 Alaskan

cape 44 More

minuscule 45 Printer type 48 Boat,

pronominally 49 Word with

“doctor’s” or

“greens” 50 Pregame

get-together 54 Open-

ceilinged rooms

55 The rial world?

56 Intents and purposes

59 Belgian treaty city

60 A ___ and a promise

61 Heal, like a broken arm

62 Bog plant 63 They’re

pushed in before driving

64 Like meringue

DOWN 1 Unpopular

singer? 2 “… the

winter of ___ discontent” (Shak.)

3 One’s fea-tured on “60 Minutes”

4 Fluctuate 5 Flock

watcher 6 Orally 7 Group that

votes alike 8 Went to the

bottom 9 Abutting 10 Add one’s

two cents 11 Summer or

Mills 12 Do a bang-

up job 13 Decorator of

Easter eggs

21 Running total

22 Australian wild dog

23 Venomous black snake

24 Sectors 28 Endure a hot

spell 29 Serve, as

stew 30 Peruvian of

yore 32 Baby buggy

in Hyde Park 33 Cut from the

same cloth 34 Altering 35 Reduce to

mush 36 It may be

glassy 38 Greek

marketplace 39 Wickerwork

willow 43 Make

ineffective 44 They’re

given in

November 45 Bat maker’s

tool 46 Broadcast 47 It supports

the cast 48 Maneuvering

room 50 Price holders 51 Arcade foul 52 Buffalo

shore 53 Give partner 57 Fighter plane 58 Place to

wallow

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

Edited by Timothy E. Parker March 25, 2009

© 2009 Universal Press Syndicatewww.upuzzles.com

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 11

POLICE REPORTS

Names are compiled from the Norman Police Department and OUPD. The reports serve as a record of arrests, not convictions. Those listed are innocent until proven guilty.

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA

Daniel James Paine, 19, Muldrow Tower, Monday, also possession of drug paraphernalia and cultivating marijuana

MUNICIPAL WARRANT

Blake Lindsay Boswell, 22, 2200 Classen Blvd., MondayNathaniel Alan Straight, 20, 2600 W. Lindsey St., Monday, also public intoxicationChris Alan Stroup, 42, 1403 McKinley Ave., MondayJerry Dale Walker, 36, 242 Hal Muldrow Drive, Monday

COUNTY WARRANT

Dwight Tilford Davis, 44, 1333 E. Lindsey St., Monday

ANIMAL CONTROL VIOLATION

Joseph Parker Pinkerton, 25, 2301 Natchez Drive, Sunday

CAMPUS NOTES

TODAYCAREER SERVICESCareer Services will host a lunch with OG&E at noon in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

CHRISTIANS ON CAMPUSChristians on Campus will host a Bible study at 12:30 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

CAREER SERVICESCareer Services will host an interviewing workshop at 2:30 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

OKLAHOMA UNDERGRADUATE INDIA SOCIETYOklahoma Undergraduate India Society will host an India themed festival at 6 p.m. in Holmberg Hall.

THURSDAYCAREER SERVICESCareer Services will host an internship workshop at 1:30 p.m. in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

OKLAHOMA UNDERGRADUATE INDIA SOCIETYOklahoma Undergraduate India Society will host an India themed festival at 6 p.m. in Holmberg Hall.

COLLEGE OF LAWThe College of Law will host a public lecture about the world food crisis at 7 p.m. in Coats Hall.

SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENTThe sociology department will host a public lecture about America and immigration at 7:30 p.m. in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.

• Sin tax hikes ignite protests

ROGER ALFORD

Associated Press Writer

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — Faced with huge budget holes, states from Connecticut to Arkansas are eyeing higher taxes on cigarettes and booze, infuriating consumers who say the goods are the last vices they’ve got to help cope with lost jobs, a deepening recession and overall economic misery.

In Pittsburgh, protesters dumped beer and liquor into a river after county officials approved a 10 percent tax on poured drinks. Patrons in Oregon bars downed brews while writing lawmakers to oppose a proposed beer tax increase. And in Kentucky, pro-testers poured bourbon on the Capitol’s front steps to demon-strate their opposition to a 6 per-cent sales tax on all booze.

“The way things are going right now with the economy, the first thing people want to do is go get a bottle or a beer, and soak their sorrows,” said Jack Weaver of Louisville, who gathered with other Teamsters in a union hall last month to rail against Kentucky lawmakers who voted to raise the taxes as of April 1.

Sin tax increases to help bal-ance budgets are nothing new, but the economic meltdown has leg-islators proposing them even in states like Kentucky, where alco-

hol and cigarettes have long been sacred cows. After all, it is famous for its bourbon whiskey and is a leading producer of tobacco used in cigarettes.

“Sin taxes have quickly emerged — as they did in the last recession — as one of the popular tactics that states have adopted to bring in the extra revenue in an environment where raising most other taxes are still pretty politically radioactive,” said Sujit Canagaretna, a senior fiscal analyst for the Council of State Governments.

Faced with an unprecedented $456 million revenue shortfall, Kentucky ignored protests and raised the taxes.

Arkansas increased its cigarette tax this month, and other states considering it include Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina and Oregon. Other states — including California, New York and Hawaii — are also con-sidering raising taxes on alcohol products.

The federal government has already increased the cigarette tax by 62 cents a pack to $1.01, and Kentucky doubled its state tax to 60 cents a pack. Together, the taxes will push average prices for name-brand cigarettes to as much as $44 a carton, a $10 increase.

“It’s a little extreme,” said Scott Harper, 63, a former heli-copter mechanic now living on Social Security and Veteran’s Administration benefits. “I’m going to quit. I’ll have to.”

Harper was trying to buy a carton of Swisher Sweets at Bo’s Smoke Shop last week, but he had to settle for a pack because smokers have been flooding state tobacco stores to stock up before the tax increases.

Though some smokers and drinkers are angry, public health groups see it as an opportunity to convince people to give up their bad habits.

“This was an extremely popular public health initiative,” said Tonya Chang, advocacy director for the American Heart Association in Kentucky. “When combined with the federal tax increase, we believe this will prevent more than 50,000 Kentucky children from becoming smokers and will help thousands of Kentucky adults who want to quit.”

But opponents in both the legis-lature and the alcohol and tobacco industries say they’re afraid the tax increases could lead to huge

drops in sales, costing jobs and dis-appointing lawmakers with lofty revenue expectations.

“Ultimately, we all have limited budgets,” said David Ozgo, chief economist for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. “And if government is taking a greater share, that reduces what you can spend on yourself.”

Even in years when states are flush with cash, Ozgo said, alcohol is a popular target for tax increas-es. But he said they sometimes backfire when people facing high-er taxes drink less.

Records from the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau show that a 1991 federal excise tax

increase created a slight bump in revenues in 1992, followed by four years of decline, from nearly $3.9 billion to $3.6 billion.

State Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, said the taxes could devastate Kentucky’s alcohol and tobacco industries, which together employ some 6,000 people. Tobacco farms are seemingly everywhere in Kentucky, and bourbon distilleries dot the state’s Bluegrass region.

“It’s really easy for lawmak-ers to understand how giving tax breaks to an industry will help that industry,” he said. “Why is it so dif-ficult for them to understand that increasing taxes on an industry will hurt that industry?”

Tax my beer and cigarettes? Not without a fight

Ed Reinke / AP Photo

Mike Wood walks out of the Red Dot Liquors store with a case of beer as a sign urging patrons to call their legislators over the alcohol tax bill is posted by the door

in Frankfort, Ky., on March 9. On April 1 Kentucky will begin imposing a 6 percent sales tax on all alcohol sales and double the sales tax on cigarettes to 60 cents per

pack. Faced with huge budget holes, states from Connecticut to Arkansas are eyeing higher taxes on cigarettes and booze, infuriating cash-strapped consumers who

say they can’t afford to pay more in tough economic times.

Details

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Pay attention to your hunches or intuitive perceptions because they could be extra sharp. You shouldn’t have any trouble fi gur-ing out how to use what they are telling you.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- An off-the-cuff comment or spur-of-the-moment offering from a friend will serve to forge the relationship. At the very least, it will warm your heart in a way that only a pal can make happen.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Your mind is sharp and your muscles strong, so don’t let your industriousness go to waste on useless activities. Aim for achieving objectives that demand excellence of purpose.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- The ability to make potential prospects want to deal with you may come more easily than normal. It’ll be that special way you display talent and knowledge that makes you desirable.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Trou-bling conditions may do a sudden turnabout, so be alert for fresh opportunities you didn’t expect to happen -- especially when it comes to dealings of a monetary nature.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Because you will be sharper than usual with regard to details, this is an especially good day to enter into any kind of signifi cant agreement. Finalize anything you have in the works.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) -- Do not put reins on your imagination because it is capable of unusual deductions and formulations. There’s a chance you might conceive a much better way of performing important work.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) -- A chance meeting may introduce a new friendship that will prove to be exciting and stimulating. This relationship might turn out to be one of your more fun associa-tions.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) -- Once you take aim at a target, you won’t toy with alternatives because your focus is sharper than usual. Desirable results are in the making as long as you keep your eyes on the prize.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Although a strong emotion or sudden feeling may dominate your desires, it won’t cloud your judgment when analyzing what situations can provide the great-est happiness and success.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- Now is the time to expand upon and develop situations that could be meaningful to you in material ways. You are sharper than usual in these areas, and you’re likely to generate substantial returns.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) -- Don’t hesitate to go it alone if others don’t see things as you do. Your drive and foresight are particularly in tune, and you could derive large benefi ts from your actions right now.

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

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Life & ArtsWednesday, March 25, 200912

REDECORATING YOURDorm Room

▲

Cover up the dorm’s ugly tile fl oor with a colorful rug. Not only are

they decorative, but they are also much nicer on the feet than the

hard cold fl oor.

Want to spice up your room this spring? The Daily’s Laura Peden gives you a few décor pointers so you can have the coolest pad in the tower.

Lamps are great for lighting your room, but get original and make your own! Put

a light fi xture on the top shelf of an organizer like this and surround it with thin,

decorated paper.

▲

It doesn’t have to be

Christmas time to

put up lights. String

lights can brighten up

the mood of the room

with multiple colors.

If you want to stick to

something easy – and

sometimes classy – use

regular white lights.

▲ Boomer Sooner!

Flags are a

great way to

show your school spirit

and take up blank

wall space. You can

get them as big as you

need them to be to

liven up that boring

wall.

▲

Posters are the easiest way to spruce up a room quickly. Show off your favorite

witty sayings, bands or movies. Nothing says “Welcome to my room” like a

picture of Scarface with the text “Say hello to my little friend!” underneath him.

▲

Musical

instruments

aren’t just

handy for wooing a

love, they can also be

used as decoration. If

you have an elaborate

instrument, use it as

a centerpiece to catch

the eye of your visitors.

Amy Frost/The Dailyillustration by Luke Atkinson/The Daily

OU Summer in ChinaIn one summer, travel 6,800 miles to experience

5,000 years of history.

Journey to ChinaMay 24 through June 26

During this five week study abroad program, students will travel to four different Chinese universities:

Xi’an International Studies University, XianYunnan Normal University, KunmingPeiking University, BeijingFudan University, Shanghai

For more information, contact Alice Kloker at kloker@ou.edu.

••••

Summer Session in ChinaJune 29 through July 24

During this four week session at Yunnan University in Kunming, students will attend two classes taught in English by OU faculty members Karl Rambo and Gus Palmer. Students enroll as part of the summer session at enroll.ou.edu, beginning April 6, and pay tuition through the OU Bursar’s Office. Classes offered are:

ANTH 2613 - Native Peoples of North America, Non-Western CivilizationANTH 4623 - Approaches to Cross-culture Human Problems, Non-Western Civilization upper division general education

For more information, contact Karl Rambo at krambo@ou.edu or visit china.ou.edu.

Intensive Chinese Language ProgramMay 31 through July 25

Designed for learners at all levels, the eight week Intensive Chinese Language Program will focus on the Chinese language also known as Mandarin. The course work will be at Yunnan University in Kunming, China and will be transferable to OU as foreign language credit. The OU course equivalents will be established by the Chinese language

faculty at OU based on the level of language proficiency acquired.

For more information, contact Ming Chao Gui at mgui@ou.edu or visit china.ou.edu.