Group works on ‘exposing international

students to American culture’

NATASHA GOODELLDaily Staff Writer

Several countries besides the U.S. practice the tradition of decorating their homes with lights during the holiday season, but many international students could not fathom the immensity of the lights at the Chickasha Festival of Lights.

On Friday, OU Cousins took a trip to the Chickasha Festival of Lights, as did other international students Saturday evening.

Jonas Knoll, a first-semester exchange student from Paderborn, Germany, said he thought the lights were really good, despite the cold weather he endured at the festival.

Students watch horror movies in

honor of days before fi nals

CAITLIN HARRISONDaily Staff Writer

For four OU students, dead week is, in fact, dead. Or at least zombies are, anyway.

The students plan to continue their tradi-tion of watching zombie movies and playing zombie video games this week as a way to honor all things “dead” during dead week.

Ryan McMahon, management informa-tion systems junior, said the new twist on the week started during last spring’s dead week when he and a few friends in his residence hall decided to get a zombie movie to watch.

“We went to Walmart and they had a lot, so we all just bought like three of them, and we had a collection,” McMahon said.

McMahon said it wasn’t until after they bought the movies they realized they had created a dead week-themed movie collec-tion, so they began associating the tradition with dead week ever since.

Some of their movies include “Night of the Living Dead,” “Day of the Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” and “Shaun of the Dead,” said Travis Bullard, science education junior.

“Pretty much anything that has zombies

Mayor emphasizes benefi ts of

new tax, some citizens disagree

TROY WEATHERFORDDaily Staff Writer

Voters in Oklahoma City will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether or not to pass a 1-cent sales tax, which will pay for a growing infrastructure in the city.

The tax, known as MAPS 3, would begin in April, starting the day after an existing sales tax ends, and would continue for seven years and nine months, according to OKC.gov/maps3.

Because of the existing 1-cent sports facil-ity sales tax, Oklahoma City’s sales tax rate would not change if MAPS 3 passes.

Following the group’s Metropolitan Area Projects, MAPS, which focused on revitaliz-ing Bricktown, and MAPS for Kids, which di-rected money toward schools in Oklahoma City, MAPS 3 proposes eight projects for Oklahoma City and is estimated to cost $777 million dollars, according to the Web site.

“This proposal dreams big, and it contin-ues the momentum and renaissance of the last 15 years,” Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett stated in a press release. “I believe it will achieve the goals that have always de-fined MAPS projects – creating jobs and im-proving our quality of life.”

For a new sales tax to pass, it is only re-quired that more than 50 percent of voters are in favor of it, according to the Web site.

It is estimated that if the initiative were approved, the project would not be finished until nearly 2020, according to the Web site.

“If this initiative moves forward, the next 10 years of this city’s history will be more exciting than the last 10,” Cornett said. “We have hardly scratched the surface of what this city is capable.”

But not everyone is as enthusiastic as the mayor is about MAPS 3.

Susan Adams, a retired Oklahoma City police officer, is against the initiative and said the money should be going to necessary proj-ects like street and bridge improvements.

Student sends predictions

through networking site

KATHLEEN EVANSDaily Staff Writer

One freshman is trying to change the quality of weather forecasts for OU students through a Facebook group.

Robert Burns created the group “OU/Norman Forecast” as a way to provide students with a three-day weather forecast of the Norman area. He bases his prediction by compiling data from weather Web sites.

“My friends always wondered what the weather was going to be tomorrow, so they would look to me to provide information,” said Burns, University College freshman. “I start-ed the group about a month ago so I can provide a three-day forecast to my friends and anyone else who is interested.”

To develop a forecast, Burns uses weather-tracking sites, including the Oklahoma Weather Lab’s Web site, he said.

The Oklahoma Weather Lab is a student organization that allows OU students to create forecasts and gain experience in tracking and predicting weather, according to its Web site.

The desire to give students a more accurate forecast than the Weather Lab was a big reason in creating the group, Burns said.

“Sometimes I would look at [the

Weather Lab’s] forecast and com-pletely disagree with it,” Burns said.

Burns also uses information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service, Twister Data and the College of DuPage models to design his forecasts, he said. These Web sites have different graphics and models about different aspects of weather, such as pressures and temperatures.

After reviewing and compiling data, Burns said he updates the group daily with his forecast and explana-tions about what is going to happen and why he believes so. Explanations vary in technicality, with an overview

of highs, lows and weather condi-tions, followed by a detailed descrip-tion of the science and theory behind the forecast.

Jennifer Anderson, University College freshman, said she receives messages in her inbox every time Burns updates the group with a forecast, making the group easier to check than a weather forecast Web site.

“It’s not like I have to go check a page every day,” Anderson said. “It’s really easy and really useful.”

She has only been in the group a few days, but says that so far his

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The Sooners took on Arizona Sunday night. Find out who got the win.PAGE 7

Check out the top holiday fl icks to watch during the season.PAGE 8

Read about how Norman is promoting

Fair Trade initiatives.

PAGE 5

news

© 2009 OU PUBLICATIONS BOARD VOL. 95, NO. 74FREE — ADDITIONAL COPIES 25¢

40%

Tuesday’sWeather

51°/35°

ZOMBIES CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

WEATHER CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

LIGHTS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

VOTERS CONTINUES ON PAGE 2

JEREMY DICKIE/THE DAILY

Robert Burns, University College freshman, checks the forecasts for various cities. Burns created a page on Facebook that updates weather forecasts every day.

GRAPHIC PROVIDED BY WWW.OKC.GOV

TEEKO YANG/THE DAILY

Brett Jones, mechanical engineering junior; Ralph Anglade, liberal studies junior; and Travis Bullard, science education junior, watch the zombie flick “Dawn of the Dead” in Couch Tower Sunday afternoon as part of their zombie movie marathon.

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Freshman forecaster brings weather to Facebook

OKLAHOMA CITY VOTERS TO DECIDE ON SALES TAX TUESDAY

Eight projects proposed by the initiative:

• A park connecting downtown OKC with the Oklahoma River (estimated $130 million)• A rail streetcar system (estimated $130 million)• A new downtown convention center (estimated $280 million)• Sidewalks throughout the city (estimated $10 mil-lion)• Bicycling and walking trails (estimated $40 mil-lion)

• Oklahoma River improvements, including a kayak-ing facility and upgrades to the rowing racecourse (estimated $60 million)• Health and wellness aquatics centers for senior citizens (estimated $50 million)• Improvements to the state fairgrounds (estimated $60 million)• Contingency funds to cover unforeseen costs (esti-mated $17 million)

MAPS PROJECTS

The Sooners accepted an invitation Sunday to play in the 76th Annual Brut Sun Bowl against the Stanford Cardinal.

OU fi nished the regular season with a 7-5 overall record and 5-3 in the Big 12, which was tied for third in the Big 12 South. Stanford went 8-4 dur-ing the regular season with victories over Southern California and Oregon.

“We appreciate the invitation from the Brut Sun Bowl and are anxious to make the trip to El Paso,” head coach Bob Stoops said. “We look forward to a number of our fans being there as well. In Stanford we are facing a fi ne program. Like many others, we have been impressed by the job coach [Jim] Harbaugh and his team have done this season, and we understand the quality of the opponent we’ll be facing.”

OU and Stanford have met four times before, with the Sooners leading the series 3-1. The last time the two teams faced each other was in 1984.

The game is slated for Dec. 31 at noon and will be aired on CBS.

-Jono Greco/The Daily

SOONERS TO PLAY STANFORD IN SUN BOWL

OU Cousins sends students to seeChickasha Festival of Lights

Student zombies bring dead week to campus

in it, we watch it,” Bullard said.Brett Jones, mechanical engineering ju-

nior and McMahon’s roommate, said they usually watch one or two movies each night of the week.

“We watch it and then go to bed, get up, maybe do some studying — maybe — then

watch some more,” he said.Jones said he did not

have to log as much study time for finals in the

spring, so he was able to devote a

significant por-t i o n o f t i m e to the zombie

movies.“This dead week,

I have to study more, but we’ll probably watch quite a few movies,” he said.

The tradition also centers around zom-bie video games,

Bullard said.“Last year, it

w a s a l l a b o u t ‘Resident Evil 5’

because it just came out,” Bullard said. “Now ‘Left for Dead 2’ has come out, so we’ve been spending a lot of time already playing that. We’ll probably spend a lot more time play-ing that.”

Bullard said the video games mainly en-tail killing zombies, the methods of which are based on what each level instructs the player to do.

Jones said, rather than distracting them from studying, the zombie movies and video games simply help him and his friends stay mentally focused for finals.

“In the movies, if you make a mistake, there’s going to be some dire consequences, so whatever you do, you have to execute flawlessly and quickly, and watching those movies all week, we get in that mind set,” Jones said. “Then we get to the final, and that’s just another challenge ... we’re not going to mess up on because then we’ll be a zombie, we’re dead. We just knock out those tests because of the zombie movies.”

Jones said although the group who watch-es all the movies consists of about four guys, other people often join them throughout the week.

The guys concluded their all-time favor-ite zombie movies, included “Zombieland” and the remake of “Dawn of the Dead.”

“They’re good movies. I like watching them,” McMahon said. “It’ll help with dead week [to] take a break from studying.”

“We have Christmas lights in Germany, but not that many,” he said.

Knoll also said he enjoyed hang-ing out with his OU Cousin, Tom Pederson, and with Tom’s friends.

“I would say it [OU Cousins] has helped a bit [getting to know American culture],” Knoll said. “The problem is that Tom isn’t exactly the average American. He was born in Japan and spent some years in Germany.”

Pederson, accounting sopho-more, said he and his cousin de-cided to go to the lights Saturday evening, rather than Friday eve-ning with the OU Cousins’ group,

because he already knew some friends going Saturday.

“He had fun, as far as I know,” Pederson said. “I don’t think Christmas lights are done near-ly to that degree in Germany.”

Pederson said he spends a few hours every other week or so with his OU Cousin, and they have attended two or three of the events with OU Cousins this year.

“It has been good,” Pederson said. “We’ve really connected and we relate well. I used to live in Germany. We can both relate to both German and American cul-ture, and we speak German togeth-er sometimes; I guess it’s more of a practice for me than it is for him.”

Pederson said he thinks OU Cousins was a great idea.

“It’s a lot of fun getting to meet someone from another country and seeing how they view what is

really normal and get another per-spective,” Pederson said.

Michael Nash, entrepreneurship and marketing junior and student director for OU Cousins, said they had 100 students sign up to go to the Festival of Lights in Chickasha this year.

“Exposing international students to American culture is the direction

we have moved this year, with the pumpkin carving, Thanksgiving dinner and Festival of Lights,” Nash

said.He said they try to make

sure all of the events they plan get students involved in the OU Cousins program, both inter-national and American.

“There were several stu-dents that had never seen so many lights in one place be-

fore,” Nash said.Nash said the things we’ve be-

come accustomed to in America are usually things that internation-al students have never experienced before.

“Our main goal is to create an atmosphere where international and American students can inter-act with each other,” Nash said. “It’s

a good time to just let loose and enjoy [the Festival of Lights] before finals.”

Meredith Moriak, managing editordailynews@ou.edu • phone: 325-3666 • fax: 325-6051

2 Monday, December 7, 2009

OUDAILY.COM »

GO ONLINE TO CATCH VIDEO OF FORMER

ALASKA GOV. SARAH PALIN’S VISIT TO

NORMAN THURSDAY NIGHT.

VotersContinued from page 1

LightsContinued from page 1

ZombiesContinued from page 1

forecasts have been accurate in letting her know how to dress for the day.

“I use it to know how bundled up I need to get,” Anderson said.

Over the OU winter break, Burns said he will not update the group page, but he wants to expand his services by providing weather forecasts for cities where students are spending their breaks. Members of the group can request a specific area, and Burns will send a three-day forecast to their inboxes.

Updates for the Norman area will continue after Jan. 14, 2010, according to the group’s home page.

Burns said he plans to continue studying meteorology at OU. Most of his experience comes from working at the Oklahoma Weather Lab, as well as forecasting weather for fun in his home state, Virginia.

Other than the OU/Norman group, Burns also manages a group to pro-vide forecasts for Richmond, Va., he said. Even though he goes to school in Oklahoma, he still updates the Virginia group because of his interest in meteorology.

WeatherContinued from page 1

“The money is not going to take care of the many issues of the city, it’s going to take care of downtown,” Adams said.

Adams is part of an opposition by the citizens and police and fire unions in Oklahoma City. The group, which runs the Web site KillTheMapsTax.com, said the city is short on police and firefight-ers and money should be for different things.

The group also said the estimated costs of the projects are not accurate, a tax increase would hurt the economy and lower-income families would suf-fer from the regressive sales tax.

More than 3.5 million lights shine in the Shannon Springs Park of Chickasha for the Festival of Lights.

The annual electric bill is approxi-mately $15,000.

There are an estimated 40,000 vehicles and over 250,000 visi-tors through the park each season, which begins the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and runs through New Year’s Eve.

The park is open nightly from 6 to 11 p.m., and displays are free of charge.

Find more information online at ChickashaFestivalofLight.com.

FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

“He had fun, as far as I know. I don’t think Christmas lights are done nearly to that degree in Germany.”

-TOM PEDERSON, ACCOUNTING SOPHOMORE

TODAYPEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL CEREMONY

A Pearl Harbor memorial ceremony will

be held from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Oklahoma

Memorial Union’s Stuart Landing.

CAREER SERVICES

Career Services will hold walk-in hours

from 1:30 to 4 p.m. in the union.

CAMPUS NOTES

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Affordable individual and family health care coverage from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma.

Monday, December 7, 2009 3

Norman on its way to becoming official ‘Fair Trade Town’Overcoming fi nal hurdle

requires city council’s

commitment to purchase

Fair Trade products

KARLIE TIPTONDaily Staff Writer

Norman may soon be joining a very elite group of U.S. cities as stu-dent organizations push to get the home of OU certified as an official “Fair Trade Town.”

“In the U.S., we only have 14 cit-ies, so we have a lot of catching up to do,” said Ajit Bhand, a Norman Fair Trade founding member.

“This idea of not only people buying Fair Trade products [food, clothing and other items bought and sold with equality and sustain-ability in mind], but communi-ties themselves being Fair Trade, originated in the U.K., where there are now over 400 Fair Trade cities,” Bhand said.

In order to achieve this title, there are many criteria a town must meet.

There are five basic require-ments: a steering committee to or-ganize the campaign, support from the community and businesses (for Norman, this means at least 20 es-tablishments that carry Fair Trade

products or one for every 5,000 residents), Fair Trade products used at various public places (such as schools or churches), media at-tention focusing on the campaign and the city council must both pass a resolution supporting Fair Trade and commit to buy the products themselves, Bhand said.

Currently, the city lacks only one of these requirements.

“Right now we are focusing on urging the city council to buy Fair Trade products,” Bhand said.

Norman Fair Trade is asking stu-dents and residents to help over-come this final hurdle.

“We just started a petition on change.org, which has a link on Facebook, trying to collect sig-natures to get the city to commit to purchasing Fair Trade prod-ucts,” said Gene Perry, Norman Fair Trade steering committee member.

If the petition is successful, Fair Trade advocates are hoping the city’s certification will have a deep impact.

“It will give us prestige but also show that we are a progressive city and we’re trying to move forward. It will just show that we’re looking toward the future, trying to help people,” said Cindy Woods, presi-dent of the Student Organization for

Fair Trade and steering committee member of Norman Fair Trade.

Some Norman businesses said Fair Trade products have shown positive results for their businesses.

Sara Kaplan, owner of Native Roots Market on Main Street said, “ has definitely been a big draw to our store.”

Kaplan said she is hopeful busi-ness will increase once Norman

becomes an official Fair Trade Town.

Matt Runkle, Native Roots owner, said “the more people that start buying [Fair Trade], the bet-ter it becomes for us. ...There’s so many Fair Trade things right now that we can’t sell because people don’t know what it is, but if there was more awareness of it, all that means is that we can go and buy from the other 50 people we have

lined up.”Norman does not only stand to

gain financially from its certifica-tion, however.

“It simply makes us a more con-cerned, compassionate commu-nity,” said Mary Francis, Norman Fair Trade steering committee member.

Groups like Norman Fair Trade also hope that this will only be a stepping stone on the way to more cities in Oklahoma and beyond re-ceiving their own title.

“One of the things that towns can do once they are certified is mentor other towns,” Bhand said. “So that’s something further down the line for us.”

Although such a prestigious title for the city is one of the Fair Trade organization’s goals, it emphasizes that the point of this and all of the other activities is ultimately to shed light on the subject.

“We want to get more people to hear about Fair Trade,” Perry said. “They often don’t understand it ... but we’re confident once they learn they will be more interested in buy-ing Fair Trade products.”

For more information on sign-ing the petition, a list of other certified towns or Norman Fair Trade, you can visit the Web site at NormanFairTrade.org.

POLICE REPORTS

The following is a list of arrests

and citations, not convictions. The

information given is compiled from

the Norman Police Department

and the OU Police Department.

All those listed are presumed

innocent until proven guilty.

OTHER WARRANTBarbara Alane Anderson, 43,

West Main Street, Thursday

MUNICIPAL WARRANTSuporah Emon Margaret Busby,

29, 2116 W. Brooks St., Thursday

Francisco Isai Garcia, 25,

Classen Boulevard, Thursday

Loyd Keith Morris, 27, West

Boyd Street, Friday

Clint Allen Vitosh, 29,

Unknown, Saturday

COUNTY WARRANTTravis Donald Davis, 30, 1400

N. Northcliff Ave., Thursday

Rickey Lynn Craig, 51, 1100

Oak Tree Ave., Friday

Kyle Taylor Fillis, 40, 1100

Oak Tree Ave., Friday

Lonnie Carl Handcock, 25,

West Main Street, Saturday

April Dawn Nigh, 28,

Unknown, Saturday

PUBLIC INTOXICATIONMaria Kathryn Fairchild, 47,

317 E. Duffy St., Wednesday

Dillon Kay Henry, 20, East

Lindsey Street, Saturday

Sergio Augusto Najera, 19, 500

Buchanan Ave., Saturday, also

outraging public decency

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIAJames Matthew Hightower, 40,

East Robinson Street, Thursday

PETTY LARCENYSandra Denise Parker, 50,

333 N. Interstate Drive E.,

Wednesday, also for trespassing

Vicki Michelle Ricketts, 36,

831 N. Berry Road, Thursday,

also assault and battery

Carlos Jose Lopez, 24, 333

N. Interstate Drive, Saturday,

also for trespassing

Patricia Ann Lozano, 26, 333

N. Interstate Drive, Friday,

also for trespassing

Sharri L. Merrell, 53, 333 N.

Interstate Drive, Saturday

HOSTING, PERMITTING OR ALLOWING A LOUD PARTYJoshua David Cain, 20, 1601

E. Imhoff Road, Friday

POSSESSION OF MARIJUANACameron Terrence Gulley, 22,

3000 E. Robinson St., Friday

Aaron Isaac Micah Mosley,

18, 1300 N. Interstate

Drive West, Thursday

Westin Garrett Schultz, 20,

Bedford Lane, Thursday, also pos-

session of drug paraphernalia

Joseph Brian Westphal, 52,

3000 E. Robinson St., Friday

AGGRAVATED DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEGregory Paul Lopez, 23, 1100

West State Highway 9, Friday

MINOR IN POSSESSION OF ALCOHOLJames Cole McIntyre, 19,

1601 E. Imhoff Road, Friday

Christopher Thomas Fitzer, 19,

2200 Classen Blvd., Saturday

Chandler William Martin, 19,

800 Chautauqua Ave., Saturday

Amy V. Oxley, 20, 2200

Classen Blvd., Saturday

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCEDarby Nicole Richardson, 23,

12th Avenue Northeast, Friday

David Joe Southerland, 49,

1901 E. Lindsey St., Friday

James Alexander Berardo, 18,

Classen Boulevard, Saturday

Brook Lauren Gidney, 20,

Chautauqua Avenue, Saturday,

also misusing forged docu-

ments as identifi cation

Daniel Hugh Peacock, 30,

4031 120th Ave. N.E., Friday

Austin Keith Powell, 21,

Asp Avenue, Saturday

ASSAULT AND BATTERYDustin Trent Holland, 19, 1100

Oak Tree Ave., Saturday

OUTRAGING PUBLIC DECENCYBrian Douglas Turner, 36,

750 Asp Ave., Saturday

LAUREN HARNED/THE DAILY

Norman will soon become an official fair trade town due to the push by student organizations to get the city of Norman certified.

2009 oklahoma basketball2009 oklahoma basketballdon’t forget to pick up your basketball tickets!

the 2nd men’s basketball student distribution begins:

today through wednesday

Pick Up Dates Opponents Game DateSun., Dec. 6 - Wed., Dec. 9 Northern Colorado

Maryland EasternShoreOklahoma StateMissouri

Dec. 19Jan. 4

Jan. 11Jan.16

Print-at-Home Hours:Hours of Offi ce Distribution:

Sun. 5 pm - Wed. 3 pmMon. - Wed. 8 am - 5 pm

For information regarding the student distribution schedule, please visit the “Student Ticket” page at

Students who purchased student season tickets must either print their tickets at home by logging onto www.soonersports.com or pick up their ticket to each home game at the Athletics Ticket Offi ce before Wednesday dur-ing the distribution week with their OU student ID. After Wednesday, any unclaimed student tickets are subject to be sold beginning the following Thursday morning at 8:00 am.

Reflecting back on this semester of writing opinion columns for The Daily has been interesting.

I have enjoyed writing even if I have not enjoyed meet-ing self- and editor -imposed deadlines. Which leads me to the question: Why would anyone with the crazy kind of class and work schedule that I have, voluntarily submit to writing 600-to-800-word columns every two weeks?

Other than saying I am masochistic, my real motive is that I enjoy writing.

Sometimes it can be tortuous when writer’s block sets in, but it is worth it to have my ideas in print and subject to public scrutiny.

Part of writing an opinion column is formulating what exactly you be-lieve on a particular issue. I tend to do a lot of mini-editorializing in my head whenever I hear or read something controversial or interesting, so forcing myself to write a column forces me to think through my thoughts.

I also volunteered to write because I believe that The Daily is only as good as the people who work and write for it.

I write because I want people to know that there are alternate points of view out there. Not everyone here is left or right; I find that most people tend to be an idiosyncratic blend of the two.

I write because in my not-so-hum-ble-opinion, I think my ideas are good, and I want other people to know

about them. Of course you might disagree with

me and insult and refute me. You can do so online in the comment box, but it would be even better if you wrote an actual letter to the editor, and it would be best if you volunteered to set up your own soapbox every other week in the pages of The Daily.

If you think your ideas are better and your opinions stronger, then write them out and see if they can stand the light of day away from your own head. See if they can withstand the scrutiny of the small readership of The Daily.

Yes, we columnists can be a bit egotistical.

Yes, we are not always relevant.

Yes, we love to write about the issues of sex, re-ligion, abortion, global warming, r e l i g i o n , a b o r-t i o n , s e x a n d nonsense.

Not much else seems to draw a reaction out of apa-thetic college students.

However, reading the paper daily shows that there are students and columnist who do care about other issues.

We care about what is happening around the world in Africa and Iraq.

We care about Congress bungling the bailout and health care bill.

We care about what happens in Oklahoma.

And we care about Tiger Woods’ latest affair with a fire hydrant and golf club. OK, maybe not so much that last one, a topic that has been way too

over-exposed. But the point is, there are other is-

sues and philosophies to write about. The content of the opinion page, how-ever, is limited to the creativity and re-sourcefulness of the columnists.

That is why I want to encourage people to write in, to show they care about more than slogging through college with more than a few beers and a degree under their belts.

Yes, I know the paper is full of er-rors and inconsistencies in coverage, but I do not hold it to the standards of professional publications like The Oklahoman or The New York Times.

I k n o w e v e r y semester at least o n e c o l u m n i s t writes to drum up student support and participation. Let this be it.

I f y o u w a n t t o i m p rov e t h e p a p e r, y o u c a n help. Write a col-umn, have your

event or cause covered and let the edi-tors and reporters know what content you want to find between the front page and the Sudoku.

The world is awash in words, at least help us make them quality words.

Oh yes, and one last reason for writ-ing. The man-to-woman ratio on the opinion staff is ridiculously skewed. If I did not write, it would be even more skewed.

So, please ladies, let the men know that we have strong opinions too.

Sarah Rosencrans is a zoology and biomedical

science senior.

SARAHROSENCRANS

Jamie Hughes Editor-in-ChiefMeredith Moriak Managing EditorCharles Ward Assistant Managing EditorRicky Ly Night EditorWill Holland Opinion EditorMichelle Gray, Merrill Jones Photo Editors

LeighAnne Manwarren Senior Online EditorJacqueline Clews Multimedia EditorAnnelise Russell Sports EditorCassie Rhea Little Life & Arts EditorJudy Gibbs Robinson Editorial AdviserThad Baker Advertising Manager

The Oklahoma Daily is a public forum and OU’s independent student voice.Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and should be fewer than 250 words, typed, double spaced and signed by the author(s). Letters will be cut to fit. Students must list their major and classification. OU staff and faculty must list their title. All letters must include a daytime phone number. Authors submitting letters in person must present photo identification. Submit letters Sunday through Thursday, in 160 Copeland Hall. Letters can also be submitted via e-mail to dailyopinion@ou.edu.

Guest columns are accepted at editor’s discretion.’Our View’ is the voice of The Oklahoma Daily. Editorial Board members are The Daily’s editorial staff. The board meets Sunday through Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in 160 Copeland Hall. Columnists’ and cartoonists’ opinions are not necessarily the opinions of The Daily Editorial Board.

160 Copeland Hall, 860 Van Vleet Oval Norman, OK 73019-0270

phone:405-325-3666

e-mail:dailynews@ou.eduCONTACT US

T O D

Will Holland, opinion editordailyopinion@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

4 Monday, December 7, 2009

STAFF COLUMN

OUR VIEW

COMMENT OF THE DAY »In response to Friday’s Our View, “UOSA should amend its constitution to prevent such pointless issues”

YOU CAN COMMENT ATOUDAILY.COM

“Less than 1300 people voted in the last election. That’s 5% turnout. The last election indi-cates people think the UOSA is a joke not worth bothering with. Sounds a lot like the sen-timents these amendments are

portraying to be honest.”

-soonerboomers

If you want to improve the paper, you can help. Write a column, have your event or cause covered and let the editors and reporters know what content you want to find between the front page and the Sudoku.

Th e Daily off ers students soapbox to express opinions

Comment Box

Opinionated?The Daily is hiring columnists and cartoonists for spring 2010. As mentioned in the column above, writing for The

Daily offers students the opportunity to make their voices heard on campus. Each day, more than 10,000 copies of The Daily are distributed throughout campus and Norman. For information on how to apply,

e-mail dailyopinion@ou.edu.

As of Sunday afternoon, these were the online comments on Friday’s news story, “Supporters, protesters go ‘rogue’ in Norman.” To read that story or to comment on any Daily article, visit OUDaily.com. The following comments have not been edited.

“Evans should give me a copy of that book. I can either sell it on eBay to some idiot for thousands of dollars or better yet, I can use it for starting my fi replace. I heard B.S. burns really well.

Did the Daily have to pay 16 dollars for that picture of Palin? I’m sure the Conservative Daily would pay just about anything to get Sarah Palin (‘s picture) in their pocket.”

-Cambrian

“This story feels like one big Sarah Palin love fest. Thanks for providing decent and equal coverage of those who “pro-tested.” It pains me to think that there are people out there who think she’s intelligent enough to be president of this country.”

-whatsherface

“‘The rules included no pictures to be taken with Palin while she is at the signing table.’

Interesting that the Daily has a picture of her sitting at the table. HAHA.”

-williamcombs

“So... how many people turned out to see her? or is that not news worthy?

You say there were several people there acting queerly? Wonder what they think of uber-liberal New York defeating homosexual marriage by a landslide?”

-mustafa

“We all know the protesters were conservative operatives only there to make liberals look bad.”

-dargus

“I sat behind Sally Kern in line and she was there for over 24 hours just like the rest of us. Just like the Daily to write a statement without checking the facts or citing your sources. I have pictures to prove it.”

-fresh

“‘We all know the protesters were conservative opera-tives only there to make liberals look bad.’

I’m the person who organized the event, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that this statements is 110% patently false.

‘This story feels like one big Sarah Palin love fest. Thanks for providing decent and equal coverage of those who ‘pro-tested.’ It pains me to think that there are people out there who think she’s intelligent enough to be president of this country.’

For the most part, the media did its best to ignore us and present the illusion of a state where everyone loves her. Moreover, they tried to give her a rockstar welcome. The music playing on the loudspeakers was part of creating that atmosphere. Which is why we brought Hunter in with his Jeep and sound system to try and drown out the pro-paganda. You should see some of the quotes I am snipping out of the coverage as to why people think Palin ought to be president. Its really funny.”

-keithontap

Today is the first day of the infamous dead week, and if your schedule is anything like ours, this doesn’t mean too much to you because the same amount of (if not more) work is required in your classes this week as in every other week of the semester.

While this may not be the case for every OU student, it certainly is the case for some, and this is frustrating to us because we (like many of you) feel like we have no break between the end of classes and the beginning of finals to study.

This is made even more frustrating when one considers the fact that this is not the case at a lot of other universities around the coun-try. Students at other schools have days off from school during their dead weeks or their classes are not required.

We’re not convinced we want to see this type of thing at OU, but we are positive we need more time to study for our all-important final exams.

To allow for this, we propose an overhaul of OU’s dead week policy. We would like to see the week immediately preceding finals be all about reviewing. We are not calling for a complete cancellation of classes, but it would be nice if

nothing new was covered in classes, and noth-ing (at all) was due during that week.

This would give students a breather before exams and allow them to be refreshed during (arguably) the most stressful week of the school year.

Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen any-time soon. Last year OU’s Faculty Senate voted to not review the dead week policy until 2014, when most (if not all) current OU students will have left.

So maybe this editorial is pointless, but maybe not.

Even if the policy may not be reviewed for an-other five years, we encourage individual pro-fessors to listen to our argument that we need more time to prepare for finals.

If you make your classes during dead week strictly about reviewing for finals and don’t re-quire any work to be turned in during that span, you will have helped your students, and per-haps this will be evident in terms of final exam grades.

This may not be the case, but we believe it’s at least worth a try.

Dead week policy doesn’t give students time to study

Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down

THUMBS UP

The Florida Gators football team lost Saturday, prompting quarterback Tim Tebow to shed some tears.

As more holiday decorations spring up and the weather turns colder, the holiday season is in full swing.

Head football coach Bob Stoops put the rumors to rest last week, as he said he would not be the next Notre Dame football coach.

The city of Norman has a new and much improved Web site.

THUMBS DOWN

At the State Regents’ meeting last week, the freeze on tuition hikes was retracted, meaning it may get more expensive to attend OU.

The Texas Longhorns football team won the Big 12 championship Saturday, effectively clearing the way for it to play in the BCS National Championship.

This year marks the fi rst time in four years that the OU football team will not play in a BCS bowl game, as the Sooners will battle the Stanford Cardinal in the Sun Bowl.

Very few students attended an oZONE forum last week, despite the fact that nearly 2,000 are in the Facebook group, “I Hate oZONE.”

OU STUDENTSYOU ARE INVITED!

Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist and Foreign Affairs Columnist for The New York Times

4:30 p.m.

TODAYSandy Bell Gallery

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

Please respond by calling the Office of Special Events at 325-3784.

For accommodations on the basis of disability, call the Office of Special Events at (405) 325-3784.

Informal DiscussionThomas Friedman

The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution.

Thomas L. Friedman is the

author of five books on foreign

affairs and globalization, with

several focusing on world affairs

following the Sept. 11 attacks on the

World Trade Center and Pentagon.

His latest book is the No. 1

bestseller Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America, which focuses on

globalization, specifically climate

change and the rising competition

for energy. It follows his earlier

bestseller The World is Flat.

PLACE AN ADPhone: 405-325-2521E-mail: classifi eds@ou.edu

Fax: 405-325-7517Campus Address: COH 149A

Payment is required at the time the ad is placed. Credit cards, cash, money orders or local checks accepted.

rrs TM

Line AdThere is a 2 line minimum charge; approximately 42 characters per line, including spaces and punctuation.(Cost = Days x # lines x $/line)

Classifi ed Display, Classifi ed Card Ad orGame SponsorshipContact an Acct Executive for details at 325-2521.

2 col (3.25 in) x 2 inchesSudoku ..............$760/monthBoggle ...............$760/monthHoroscope ........$760/month

2 col (3.25 in) x 2.25 inches

Crossword ........$515/month

1 day ..................$4.25/line2 days ................$2.50/line3-4 days.............$2.00/line5-9 days.............$1.50/line

10-14 days.........$1.15/line15-19 days.........$1.00/line 20-29 days........$ .90/line 30+ days ........ $ .85/line

Line Ad ..................................................................................3 days priorPlace your line ad no later than 9:00 a.m. 3 days prior to publication.

Display Ad ............................................................................3 days priorClassifi ed Display or Classifi ed Card AdPlace your display, classifi ed display or classifi ed card ads no later than 5:00 p.m. 3 days prior to publication.

The Oklahoma Daily is responsible for one day’s incorrect advertising. If your ad appears incorrectly, or if you wish to cancel your ad call 325-2521, before the deadline for cancellation in the next issue. Errors not the fault of the advertiser will be adjusted. Refunds will not be issued for late cancellations.

The Oklahoma Daily will not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religious preference, national origin or sexual orientation. Violations of this policy should be reported to The Oklahoma Daily Business Offi ce at325-2521. Help Wanted ads in The Oklahoma Daily are not to separate as to gender. Advertisers may not discriminate in employment ads based on race, color, religion or gender unless such qualifying factors are essential to a given position. All ads are subject to acceptance by The Oklahoma Daily. Ad acceptance may be re-evaluated at any time.

DEADLINES

PAYMENT

RATES

POLICY

Thad Baker, advertising managerclassifieds@ou.edu • phone: 325-2521 • fax: 325-7517

6 Monday, December 7, 2009

Employment

HELP WANTED

ACCEPTING SERVER APPLICATIONS

Looking for outgoing, energetic and smil-

ing individuals who enjoy the excitement

of the hospitality industry. Apply in person

at O’Connell’s, Lindsey store or Campus

Corner store, today before 6pm. Limited

openings.

Panhandle Opportunities: working with in-dividuals with developmental disabilities. 7.50/hr to start, paid training. Flexible hrs, benefi ts. Positive environment, Norman area. 942-4822 or fax resume 942-4993.

Part-Time College and Young Adult

Coordinator Needed. College and

Young Adult Coordinator needed for a

large

church located near the University of

Oklahoma in Norman. This individual

will guide and develop small groups

of people primarily in their 20’s into a

closer relationship with God. Please

send resume to rwade@mcfarlinumc.org

or PO Box 6390 Norman, OK 73070 att

Randy Wade.

BEST ENERGY DRINK!AND INCOME FOR LIFE!

GO TO: www.myandfriendsfuture.com

Bartending! Up to $300/day. No exp nec.

Training provided. 1-800-965-6520 x133.

STUDENTPAYOUTS.COM

Paid survey takers needed in Norman

100% FREE to join. Click on Surveys.

MISAL OF INDIA BISTRONow accepting applications for waitstaff.

Apply in person at 580 Ed Noble Parkway,

across from Barnes & Noble, 579-5600.

The Cleveland County Family YMCA is seeking AM Lifeguard and PM Swim In-structors. Apply in person at 1350 Lexing-ton Ave. EOE.

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

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

Contact: info@eggdonorcenter.com

Now Hiring for the Spring Semester

Community After School Program is now hiring part-time staff to work in our school-age childcare programs in Norman Public Schools. Hours: M-F 2:20pm - 6:00pm. Begin working Jan 4th. Closed for all Nor-man Public School holidays and profes-sional days. Competitive wages starting at $7.25/hour. Higher pay for students with qualifying coursework in education, early childhood, recreation and related fi elds. Complete application in person at 1023 N Flood Avenue or online at www.caspinc.org.

Survey takers needed! Make $5-$25 per survey! www.getpaidtothink.com

www.soonerfan.ws

Housing RentalsJ

APTS. FURNISHEDLarge bedrm for sub lease in 3 bd ground fl oor apt - furnished, pvt bath - 2 mi from campus. $459/mo, util incl. 918-916-4294

$400, bills paid, effi ciency LOFT apart-ments, downtown over Mister Robert Fur-niture, 109 E Main, fi re sprinkler, no pets, smoke-free. Inquire store offi ce.

APTS. UNFURNISHEDWINTER SPECIAL! NEAR OU, 1012 S College $295/mo. 360-2873 / 306-1970.

IMMEDIATE Move Ins$99 DEPOSIT / 6 Month Free Fitness

1 & 2 bed $445-$580Pets Welcome! Large Floor Plans!Models open 8a-8p Everyday!360-6624 or www.elite2900.com

HOUSES UNFURNISHEDWalk to class, 3/2/2, fi replace, patio, CH/A, 801 Elmwood. 329-4119.

4 BDRM, 2 Bath, walking distance to campus, kitchen appl incld, w/d, pets OK. Avail Jan 1 - Call 826-1335.

TOWNHOUSES UNFURNISHED

Taylor Ridge Townhomes2 Bdrm, 2.5 Bath, Fully Renovated

Townhomes near OU!Pets Welcome! • Call for current rates

and Move-in Specials!!!Taylor Ridge Townhomes

(405) 310-6599

ROOMMATES WANTEDFemale Roommate Wanted

Spring Semester in The Cottages of Nor-man - 3 bdrm, 2 story cottage w/great roommates - FULLY furnished, bills incl. with rent. 5 minutes from Campus. Call Jen for pricing: 817-821-5090

Employment

HELP WANTED

Housing RentalsJ

Universal Crossword

STRIKE A CHORD by Henry Quarters

ACROSS 1 Piece of

chewing tobacco

5 Mail delivery org.

9 Like a brand new dollar bill

14 Croissant, for one

15 Distillery mixture

16 Be an omen (of)

17 Smoker in Sicily?

18 Galileo’s hometown

19 Male bee 20 Brenda Rus-

sell hit song 23 What shifty

eyes do 24 Need

medical attention

25 Dissolved substance

28 One way to gain interest?

30 “Enter the Dragon” star

33 American chameleon

34 Brownish purple

35 Kind of loser 36 Change of

heart? 39 ___-do-well 40 Critic’s

positive review

41 Lace Junior’s shoes, e.g.

42 Mag. execs 43 Quaintly

attractive 44 Ritually pure

45 It may have a big head

46 Sketch of a person, for short

47 Portable storage containers

54 Aberdeen folk

55 Etching fluid 56 “The

Thinker,” for one

57 Violent spasm

58 Break the news

59 Mouth widener

60 Birthday units

61 Nero’s “being”

62 Rectangular paving stone

DOWN 1 Ready for

surgery, for short

2 “An Iceland Fisherman” author Pierre

3 Radius companion

4 Of the endo-crine system

5 Decision-maker at home?

6 John, Paul or George, but not Ringo

7 Sibilant summons

8 Ruler toppled in 1973

9 Golf bag carrier

10 Mayber-

ryesque 11 Russian-

born com-poser Stravinsky

12 Like pocketed pool balls

13 Palm model 21 Made from

a common grain

22 Spots for house martin nests

25 Lyon river 26 “No Turn

___” 27 Theater

boxes 28 Smooth 29 Teen-y

problem? 30 Averse 31 Orange-

skinned Muppet

32 “Abandon hope, all ye who ___ here”

34 Fall lead-in? 35 Premeal

prayers 37 “___ words

were never spoken”

38 Smoking gun 43 “Yours truly”

and others 44 Arouse, as

interest 45 All the stage

is his world 46 More than

simmers 47 Be heartsick 48 “The Last

of the Mohicans” heroine

49 Go out with 50 Sorbet

relatives 51 Act the

femme fatale

52 Abridge, maybe

53 Forwarded 54 Cleanup

target

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

Edited by Timothy E. Parker December 07, 2009

© 2009 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com

Instructions:Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box.

Previous Solution

Monday- Very EasyTuesday-EasyWednesday- EasyThursday- MediumFriday - Hard

4 8 5 3 1 2 9 7 66 3 2 9 5 7 4 8 17 9 1 6 4 8 5 3 25 6 9 4 7 3 2 1 88 4 3 2 9 1 6 5 72 1 7 8 6 5 3 4 91 7 4 5 2 9 8 6 33 2 6 7 8 4 1 9 59 5 8 1 3 6 7 2 4

4 9 2 68 7 3 6 1 2

1 73 2 4 8

4 2 6 3 59 5 4 3

5 91 3 5 2 7 99 3 8 5

Previous Answers

Monday, Dec. 7, 2009

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) - When seeking fi nancial advice, be wise and selective as to whom you go to for help. Bypass best friends who don’t know any more about monetary issues than you do.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) - Even though you might feel very good about what you want to accomplish, keep your plans to yourself. Others could be involved with their own objectives and don’t want to hear about yours.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) - There’s a chance you could commit yourself to something you know would be wrong simply to appease another. Later when you attempt to fulfi ll your promise, you could end up in trouble.

PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) - Help you were counting on is not likely to be forthcoming. In order to be on the safe side, you had better have a back up plan in place for when you are on your own.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) - A partnership situation in which you’re involved will run out of steam if either you or your sidekick get tired and begin to leave all the hard stuff to the other. Quit while you’re ahead.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) - You may be able to talk a good game, but when it comes to doing what your mouth claims, you could leave a lot to be desired. Better leave all the bragging until after you’ve proven yourself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) - Attempting to keep up with the spending of your friends could turn out to be expensive. Don’t be a victim of your pride and/or the mismanagement of your resources.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) - If you believe you have to come on strong in order to impress others, you could be in for a tough lesson. Throwing your weight around might induce a heavier person to throw his/hers right back at you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) - As-sociates aren’t likely to be enamored by your bright ideas, so don’t attempt to impose your thinking on them. Ideas have to be fully exchanged with everyone while keeping an open mind.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) - Something you’ve been hoping to acquire can be purchased at a pretty good price, but, in order to do so, you must not be too laid back or lazy about search-ing for a bargain. Check all your sources.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) - Usually you’re a fair and balanced person who treats everyone in a magnanimous fashion. Yet for some reason you may start to place importance on yourself and what pleases you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) - There’s a possibility that you will be your own worst enemy and refuse to listen to another’s point of view. All viewpoints need to be considered in order to iron out a complicated development.

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Copyright 2008, Newspaper Enterprise Assn.

Annelise Russell, sports editordailysports@ou.edu • phone: 325-7630 • fax: 325-6051

Monday, December 7, 2009 7

Pick up a paper Tuesday for a look at all the bowl matchups.

« FOOTBALL

SOONERS TAME WILDCATS SUNDAY NIGHTCLARK FOYDaily Staff Writer

After losing three straight, the men’s basketball team has rebounded by win-ning their last three games ,with the lat-est victory coming last night against the Arizona Wildcats 79-62 in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

The Sooners jumped out to a quick lead with eight of their first 13 points scored by sophomore guard Willie Warren.

With just under two minutes left in the first half, Warren had 17 points while Arizona had just 21 as a team. He would fin-ish the game with 25 points on 10-14 shooting from the field and four assists.

They hit seven of their last eight shots to end the half, with four straight com-ing from Warren.

The team ended the half on a 14-7 run after a two-point buzzer beater by freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin.

The Sooners were actu-ally outscored by one point in the second half 36-35, but thanks to Warren’s hot start, the second half deficit did not have any effect on the game, as Arizona was out of reach most of the game.

“My coaches, especially coach (Oronde) Taliaferro, has been getting on me saying that I’m just looking like I’m not into the game early and I’m always looking like I’m ready to score once I need to score,” Warren said. “He said that I can’t do that anymore. I have to always attack from the jump. That’s something I’m going to work on and some-thing I have to continue to do.”

OU showed a great defensive effort in the first half with six steals ,while only commit-ting one turnover.

The team held Arkansas to 57 points —their lowest amount in five seasons. Last night, the team had 21 points off of 17 Arizona turnovers and held Arizona to their second lowest scoring effort of the season.

“I’m proud of our effort and thought we

got off to a good start, especially on the de-fensive end,” head coach Jeff Capel said. “This is the best that we have been with moving the basketball, and it all starts with our defense.”

Mason-Griffin had the difficult task of guarding Arizona’s senior guard Nic Wise, who averages a team high 16.8 points per game. Wise had just 15 on the night.

The three-game win streak features a team that is much different from the one that went to Alaska and is partly because of the new Sooner starting lineup, which features junior guard Cade Davis as the third guard and senior guard/forward Tony

Crocker playing the power forward position.

Capel had several in-centives in making the decision for a different starting five.

“Well, we needed the experience, that was the main thing, so we put our three most experienced guys in the lineup,” Capel said. “It also gives us our best offensive lineup – we’ve got four guys out there who can dribble, pass and shoot, and hav-

ing pretty good shooters out there really spreads the floor.”

Arizona is a well-known basketball school, and Capel and his players thought that the big name of the Wildcats contrib-uted to why they played so well Sunday night.

“I feel like that helped us out a lot, with their name, being a basketball school and all,” Warren said. “We let three games get away from us this year and we know that, so we need the big-name schools, we need those wins to help our resume out.”

Defeating Arizona marks the 16th con-secutive non-conference win against non-conference opponents while also winning 74 of their last 76 home non-conference games.

The Sooners continue home play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Centenary College.

ESTEBAN PULIDO / THE DAILY

Senior forward Ryan Wright (1) dunks the ball to score in the second half of the OU-Arizona game Sunday night in Lloyd Noble Center. The Sooners took the win, 79-62.

>>LOOKING FOR STAFF PICKS?

CHECK OUT TOMORROW’S PAPER

TO SEE WH0 TOOK THE WIN.

OU 79, ARIZONA 62

OU leading scorers:•Willie Warren: 25 points•Tiny Gallon: 14 points•Tony Crocker: 13 points

Arizona leading scorers:•Nic Wise: 15 points•Jamelle Horne: 13 points•Derrick Williams: 11 points

BASKETBALL

8 Monday, December 7, 2009

Cassie Rhea Little, L&A editordailyent@ou.edu • phone: 325-5189 • fax: 325-6051

I am not unfamiliar with the tragedy that ac-companies this time of the year—and I refer not to finals week, but to a fate much worse.

The scenario plays out once you realize you have an itch to escape into some delight-ful piece of Christmas-themed cinema, but all that the chan-nels of your television yield are pitiful attempts such as “Christmas with the Kranks” and the Governator’s forget-table “Jingle All the Way.”

Do not lose heart, though, for quality Christmas movies do exist, and they aim to please.

Here are three I always count on.

“IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE”Director Frank Capra was already proving

with his classic film in 1946 that a Christmas movie can have meaningful substance without also needing to be overly sappy. Considerably dark, the film’s narrative pushes its all-around “good ol’ boy” protagonist George Bailey (played by James Stewart) to an ultimate state of want-ing to end his life. However, George’s suicide attempt is prevented on Christmas Eve by the guardian angel Clarence, who allows George a glimpse of just how terrible life would be for the rest of Bedford Falls were he not alive.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” garnered five Academy Award nominations, including Best Actor and Picture, and today is highly regarded by the American Film Institute, and rightly so. Sixty-plus years after its release, “It’s a Wonderful Life” st i l l proves i ts value as a staple of Christmastime.

“NATIONAL LAMPOON’S CHRISTMAS VACATION”Coming third in the popular “Vacation” se-

ries, the 1989 “Christmas Vacation” was directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik and was written by John Hughes (who directed titles such as “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”).

The film equals, if not surpasses, the glory of the original “National Lampoon’s Vacation,”

and clearly puts to shame the disappointment that is “European Vacation.”

In this installment, the Griswolds remain at home while the “vacation” comes to them in the form of an assortment of cranky, geriatric and otherwise eccentric relatives. (Watch for Mae Questal of “Betty Boop” fame as the hilariously senile Aunt Bethany.)

The film’s PG-13 rating allows it just the right amount of coarse language and sexual humor to appeal to adults while still remaining on the “nice” list, and with gems such as “Don’t throw me down, Clark,” “Merry Christmas! Shitter was full!” and “You couldn’t hear a dump truck driv-ing through a nitroglycerin plant,” the film is easily one of the most quotable Christmas mov-ies of our time.

“BAD SANTA”

While I don’t think I will go so far as to claim

that Terry Zwigoff’s 2003 comedy is a Christmas classic, I do have to commend it for its irrev-erent humor, for where else can film fans find Santa floating his liver with booze, having sex in Women’s Big and Tall stores and dropping more f-bombs than presents?

Even though acting legends Bill Murray and Jack Nicholson were tapped for the role of mall Santa/safe-cracker Willie, only Billy Bob Thornton could give the character the unapolo-getic vulgarity that makes the film work. Also, the scenes between gone-too-soon actors John Ritter and Bernie Mac now add a touch of poi-gnancy in a sea of obscenities.

Available in its theatrical version, an unrated “Badder Santa,” as well as a director’s cut, “Bad Santa” provides ample opportunities to make your Christmas just a little filthier.

Lunden England is a film and video studies senior.

Festive fl icks enhance holiday spirit

LUNDENENGLAND

PHOTO PROVIDED

Billy Bob Thorton, Harrison Bieke and Tony Cox performing in the 2003 comedy “Bad Santa.”

1.) PHOENIX- “1901”A sleek, stylish blend of

European electro-pop and indie dance rock that shone like a glimmer in the corner of everyone’s eyes.

“1901” was both attrac-tive enough to catch the ear of Top 40 listeners and fresh enough to draw in the hip-ster crowd. With its plush melodies and swanky guitar, it unified all music lovers on the dance floor.

2.) GRIZZLY BEAR- “TWO WEEKS”

No single this year was as hopelessly romantic as “Two Weeks.” The slow marching piano jabs and gushing, lus-cious vocals evoke vintage, dusted music boxes that open up to a pair of porce-lain figures twirling around each other. It’s simple, lovely baroque pop that has been intricately fine-crafted well enough to last to the ends of time.

3.) ANIMAL COLLECTIVE- “MY GIRLS”

Dueling with the equal-w o r t h y “S u m m e r t i m e Clothes” for positioning, “My Girls” edges it out just slightly with Animal Collective’s ev-er-spacey approach, finding room to create something a bit more accessible with its acid-wash psychedelia and otherworldly verve, strong as ever.-Joshua boydston/The Daily

SINGLES OF 2009

OUDAILY.COM » See the t o p 5 0 o n l i n e

« BEST OF THE DECADECheck out The Daily’s picks for best music, movies and TV of the year and decade in Life & Arts and at OUDaily.com all week.