The 13-1 Colorado Buffaloes have established themselves as one of the premier teams in the Big 12 Conference in women’s basketball over the last couple of years.

The 5-10 Oklahoma State Cowgirls are trying to put together a program that is similar to that of the Buffaloes.

Tonight, OSU and CU will battle it out at 7 p.m. in Gallagher Iba-Arena.

“Every game in the Big 12 is a big one,” OSU coach Julie Goodenough said. “There are no nights off, there are no easy games — every game is going to be a challenge.”

The Buffaloes have won 10 of their last 11 games and are currently riding a two game winning streak with a 74-54 win against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and a 71-50 win against the Kansas Jayhawks. CU is 3-1 in the Big 12 and have a road record of 5-1.

OSU has a 3-3 home record and are currently 1-3 in the Big 12.

The Cowgirls won their last game at Gallagher-Iba against the Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 60-56 on Jan. 15, but the team is coming off of a 95-45 loss against the Texas Tech Lady Raiders in Lubbock at the United Spirit Arena in front of 13,280 fans.

The last time that the Cowgirls lost by 50 points or more to an opponent was a 91-39 loss against Michigan State on Dec. 29 against Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich.

The Cowgirls followed that up by beating then-No. 8 ranked Arkansas 60-58 three days later at Gallagher-Iba.

The Buffaloes have defeated the Cowgirls the last two times they have played in Stillwater. CU leads the series between the two schools by a 23-19 margin.

The Cowgirls made the trip up to Boulder last year and lost by a final score of 79-57, despite a 24-point and 11-rebound effort from Cowgirl Trisha Skibbe.

Mandy Nightingdale had 16 points and five assists to help the Buffaloes come out on top.

The key matchup tonight will be between Skibbe, the OSU junior center, and CU junior center Tera Bjorklund. Skibbe averages 16. 3 points per game and 6.7 rebounds. Bjorklund, an All-American candidate, averages 16 points per game.

Junior guard Kate Fagan and senior forward Sabrina Scott average 13.3 and 10.3 point a game for the Buffaloes, respectively. Scott also averages 6.8 rebounds per game to lead CU.

“Colorado does a great job running their triangle offense,” Goodenough said. “Our defensive awareness will have to be tremendous for us to win.”

The Buffaloes are coached by Ceal Berry who has coached CU for the past 20 seasons. Berry has led the Buffaloes to a 20 win season eleven times and won the inaugural Big 12 Tournament in 1997.

Along with Skibbe, OSU is led by freshman guard Meghan Craig who averages 7.7 points per game and senior guard Thia Willis who is averaging 7.2 points per game. Craig scored nine points and led the Cowgirls with three assists in the loss against the Lady Raiders on Saturday.

“The key is to stop their dribble penetration,” OSU guard Deidra Johnson said of CU’s offense. “We will have to play hard and communicate on defense.”

Brian Nachtwey can be reached

via e-mail at

bnachtwey@ocolly.com

A few minutes after 11 a.m. Tuesday, a group of about 20 people began marching around the library lawn to spread the message of peace despite the cold air. The group was mainly composed of members of OSU Students For Peace and steadily grew as people joined throughout the day.

Providing a sight not often seen on campus, the protesters led a rally of marching, music and speakers in a peaceful display.

Carrying signs with slogans ranging from “War Kills the Innocent” to “How Many Deaths per Gallon?” and a papier-mache effigy of President Bush with missiles in place of his arms, the group marched and chanted until a little after noon, at which point the day’s speakers began speaking over the PA system.

Clarence Cunningham, retired U.S. Army colonel and former associate professor of chemistry at Oklahoma State University, was one of the speakers.

Cunningham said he witnessed the first test of the hydrogen bomb Nov. 1, 1952, as a part of Operation Ivy. He said he resigned his position with the program as soon as he came back from the testing.

Cunningham said he believed the drive for war is motivated by oil and our dependency on it and noted that he had presented a paper in 1954 suggesting a move to a hydrogen fuel base because of that dependency.

He said Iraq probably did not possess weapons of mass destruction because the facilities and engineering capabilities necessary for such would be extremely difficult to hide. He said he does not count chemical weapons as weapons of mass destruction and said they are only really useful to terrorists and on a small scale.

Another speaker was Earl Mitchell, associate vice president of multicultural affairs.

“Old men quarrel, young men die,” Mitchell said on the way of war. He said when the United States talks about going to war, the highest levels are making the policy and not telling us why we might go.

“For the first time, I’m ashamed the U.S. has become the aggressor,” he said.

He said the situation is similar to that of Europe in 1939 when Germany’s invasions began as part of a policy of protection similar to the current U.S. policy.

However, he said he believes Saddam Hussein does need to go but war isn’t the way to do it.

Jeff Lile, history junior, said the “War on Terrorism” is not a correct idea because terrorism is not a nation.

Lile suggested that rather than going to war, there should be a global effort to police small terrorist groups.

He said there are obviously issues with Iraq but he does not believe war is the way to solve those problems.

He said he is opposed to war “because in war you have the suspension of morality.”

Mehmet Bayanay, computer sciences graduate student, said, “We should look at it to see why this was happening.”

He said the troubles in the Middle East during the last century, as well as the need for oil and resources so abundant in Third World countries, are probable motivations for war.

Meredith Downing, philosophy and journalism broadcasting sophomore, looked to history as an example.

“People don’t realize that we’re not trying to spread peace,” she said. “We’re following the trend of empire building that Rome used, that Britain used,” she said of the United States.

She said she is “not really big on protest rallies,” but that “everyone is an extremist. No one is speaking for moderation.”

Michael Lopez, engineering freshman, said this was his first rally and he is “adamantly against” war.

Lopez said he has yet to hear a reasonable excuse for war and wonders why the United States has any more of a right to weapons of mass destruction than Iraq or North Korea.

“If Bush wants Iraq to disarm, he should lead by example,” Lopez said.

Leah Thorp, nutrition freshman, echoed the antiwar sentiment, saying the United States shouldn’t have war because “it’s useless killing. War’s never going to take us anywhere and will only lead to more war.”

Thorp, who just returned from a protest in San Francisco, said OSU’s rally was “smaller, but it still gets the message across.”

Stuart McAllister, education sophomore and member of the Air National Guard, also spoke at the rally.

“War is a travesty, but when it comes time, I have to fight,” he said.

He said he wanted everyone to keep in mind that the ones who will fight will be “your sons, your brothers, your fathers, your uncles, even your sisters.”

One of the common messages from the rally was that Bush has yet to give a reasonable justification for going to war with Iraq. Many of the attendees had their own opinions on the matter however, and these ranged from the need for oil to the president himself as possible driving factors behind the war.

Emily Kaiser and Julie Kelly, business sophomores, fall more into the latter camp.

“War is not inevitable, but stupid presidents are,” Kelly said.

Kaiser said she blamed the push toward war on Bush having ruined the economy “and now he wants to fix it with war.”

Perhaps the best part of the rally was the idea to have the rally.

Erin Canada, secondary English education freshman, said it was a “good start to letting people know that they are not alone. It points out that a lot of people believe what you believe.”

McAllister said he was all for the rally.

“Every American has the right to protest and to believe what they want to believe,” he said.

Brian Deer, philosophy graduate student and teaching assistant, said the rally format “seems like a good way for people to get involved and voice opinions.

“It’s better than doing nothing and watching CNN,” he said.

Ros can be reached via email at rbrown@ocolly.com

After more than a week, we’re still hearing cheers and moans about outgoing Illinois governor George Ryan’s commutation of 167 inmates’ death sentences following a year of death penalty scandals in that state. This is just the last installment in a death penalty saga that has been raging for longer than any of us have been alive.

For decades, even centuries, the prevailing view was that sentencing meant suffering. Criminals were to pay for their crimes, and their punishment was to serve as an example to others. A countering position was that sentencing should rehabilitate criminals, ensuring the greatest level of justice and opportunity for all, including former criminals.

What both positions miss is that the primary goal of our judicial system is neither punishment nor rehabilitation.

Its function is to identify those members of our society who endanger others and isolate them so they are no longer able to cause harm. Punishment or rehabilitation are secondary: they can only be carried out after the initial goal is reached. America’s reluctance to remember this has caused a bloated, biased, ineffective justice system that abuses both law abiding and law breaking.

If our system were currently designed around this goal, laws would be focused on whether or not someone is harmed. This would result in major changes. Smoking marijuana would be no different than drinking beer or smoking tobacco. Sexual activity between consenting adults would be nobody else’s business. Our justice system resources would not be wasted enforcing these “crimes” and taxpayers would no longer have to foot the bill to imprison people who pose no danger. But the death penalty presents a whole different problem. Regardless of your position on the death penalty, there are a few undeniable truths. Death penalties do not prevent crimes. Nobody halts mid-way through a brutal crime and says “Hmm, I better stop now or they’ll send me to the death chamber.” It just doesn’t happen.

We also have to admit that innocent people are found guilty. Even one innocent execution casts us perilously close to being a society of murderers.

Executing a prisoner does not save us money. Studies in state after state have revealed that executing a person can cost up to six times more than incarcerating a prisoner for life. For that additional money we may satisfy our urge for revenge, but we are no safer.

Finally, the death penalty (as well as many other sentences) are not imposed equally. Gender, race and wealth have been proven to affect the severity of sentences. Given America’s current mood, I dare say religion, also comes into play.

We do have a right to protect ourselves from those who cannot live, even in prison, without creating a continuing threat to us all. The right to protect ourselves is as primary as any right can be.

So how do we balance these seeming contradictory pressures? I would argue that we do so by reserving the death penalty for those who have proven that they cannot be safely separated from the rest of society by any other means. For example, the convict who planned the murder of Judge Richard Matsch from prison should, in my opinion, be given the death penalty. However, death penalties should not be handed out to those from whom society can protect itself by other means, regardless of the crime’s severity. Sometimes being moral means accepting something we don’t like. This is one of those times.

The system we have now is simply flawed. Recognizing this, Governor Ryan did the only moral, honorable thing. He ensured the safety of his state by commuting the sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, but also ensured his state’s morality by refusing to risk unjust execution.

For us, he also reopened dialogue on this difficult issue. If we’re wise, we’ll use this opportunity to reflect on the role of law in our society and work to make law more effective in performing its primary objective.

Despite falling state revenues from sales tax collection and general revenues, the Stillwater economy has been experiencing an increase of sales tax revenues.

“For the year through December, we are up 1.79 percent,” said Nancy Franklin, accounting supervisor for the city of Stillwater. “We are not at the level we were last year, but we are up.”

Franklin said although sales tax revenues are up, the city still did not make budget for the year.

“We budgeted the revenue to be flat from last year, and we didn’t quite make budget,” she said. “Right now we are holding off on any capital purchases that are not absolutely essential until we see how it goes. That’s really the major change we made.”

Stillwater Mayor Larry Brown said the sales tax revenues have not affected the local economy much.

“Have sales tax revenues done what they thought we would do? No, they have not,” Brown said. “Has it caused any major effects in the city of Stillwater as far as our ability to provide services? No, it has not. So we’re still in pretty good shape, to be quite honest.”

Shawn Ashley, public information officer for the Office of State Finance, said the state’s sales tax revenues make up about 28 percent of state government appropriations .

The state sales tax revenues so far this fiscal year are down $29.9 million, or 4.7 percent below last year. The actual revenues are $63.9 million, or 9.6 percent below the estimates for this year.

“Because sales tax and other sources of revenue are down this fiscal year, it means that we have had to impose budget cuts,” Ashley said, “Plain and simple, that’s the impact.”

Ashley said he could not fully explain why Stillwater has not had a problem with falling sales tax revenues, but he said he thinks Oklahoma State University might have something to do with Stillwater’s relatively stable economy.

“The university helps (in Stillwater),” Ashley said, “I don’t know the Stillwater economy that well, but obviously if revenues are doing well for the city, it means that the economy continues to bubble along at a pretty good pace.

“Oklahoma is a pretty big and diverse state, and we continue to see statewide that we are lower than we would like to be.”

Some local retailers said they have not seen an unusual decline in sales.

David Mooneyhan, store manager of Wal-Mart at 111 N. Perkins Road, said he hasn’t noticed a difference in sales.

“This is our slow time of the year,” Mooneyhan said. “So if you compare it to last year, it will be pretty similar.”

Ashley said other states are having similar problems and it is hard to tell what will happen next.

“Right now, it’s too hard to tell if we’ve hit rock bottom and are leveling off or if we are starting to tick up,” Ashley said. “We need more data to determine that.”

Eric Bost can be reached via e-mail at ebost@ocolly.com

One student visited and studied glaciers. Another worked for changes in the federal food stamp policy. Still another composed music.

For students surrounded by ideas but lost about how to start on their own, the Lew Wentz Foundation will present a seminar Thursday about writing research project proposals and applying for other Wentz scholarships, including a new one for non-traditional and transitional students.

The seminar, open to students and faculty, will be at 4 p.m. in Case Study 2 in the Student Union. Applications for research projects for 2003-04 are due Feb. 14.

“It’s extremely rare in this country for a student to do undergraduate research,” said Robert Graalman, director of the Office of Scholar Development and Recognition.

Forty to 50 students, guided by faculty mentors, are chosen to do the self-created $4,000 projects each year. Such opportunities have gotten graduate school appointments or jobs for many students.

For one research project, Blaine Greteman wrote a paper on “The Grapes of Wrath” and its effects on Oklahoma psychology. The project helped lead Greteman to being named a Rhodes Scholar, Graalman said.

However, some students don’t know what constitutes a good proposal, which prompted Graalman to organize the seminar.

He said students should write proposals descriptively but not with so much jargon that the selection committee cannot understand it.

He also recommended students limit the scope of their research topics.

“You can’t do a whole book on a large topic in one year,” Graalman said.

Jack Vitek, interim executive vice president, created the research project format because it teaches students to think critically.

“Each individual grows in this process,” he said. “That’s taking them above and beyond that typical class.”

Vitek recommended that students make sure they will be able to carry out their project ideas. He also said most faculty members are glad to serve as mentors.

Other Wentz scholarships for undergraduates include $2,500 general scholarships, $2,500 humanities scholarships, advancement of teaching scholarships ranging in amounts and new non-traditional and transitional book scholarships of up to $750 each.

Martha McMillian, director of University Academic Services, said the new books scholarship will target students who have been on probation, who didn’t meet Oklahoma State University or college admission requirements or who are non-traditional.

Others may have overcome great obstacles in their lives but want to focus on education, she said.

“Many students who had difficulty think they never can achieve such an award scholarship, but they can,” McMillian said. “I had a student once who had been suspended twice but graduated with a 3.0.”

The books scholarship requires students to have a 2.5 grade point average, whereas the other scholarships require 3.0 or 3.5 GPAs.

“This gets back to Lew Wentz’s original goal, and that is to help students who qualify financially based on need,” McMillian said.

The program, started in 1926 with a $50,000 donation from Lew Wentz, originally gave student loans, evolved into a work-study program in 1960 and for the past eight years or so has offered more academic-based scholarships.

Graalman said he likes the symbolism of a books scholarship — “Books should be the centerpiece of education at a university.”

April Marciszewski can be reached via

e-mail at amarciszewski@ocolly.com

As everyone knows, this recent spectacle has swept the country. The loyal television junkies of the era have hailed reality television as the next big thing. For those of you who are confused and hooked on PBS, here are some examples: Survivor, The Bachelor/ette, American Idol, The Osbournes, etc.

Traditional entertainment was based on stories often conveyed through live performances. This led to early television shows being classic sitcoms and dramas. The introduction of “regular folk” into programming involved game shows, where average, blue-collar Joe could win microwaves or televisions for the family if he knew the capital of Canada. The new millennium rang in the widespread conquests of reality television, where initial creativity is high but the rest is purely coincidental. Such shows require less work from program staffers.

Today’s audiences have gotten so accustomed to instant gratification, that they immediately love something or hate it. In the past, people did not have much power in what was on television. They simply accepted whatever was on because there was less competition. Nowadays, shows are forced to make a breakthrough first impression. This is why sitcoms and prime-time dramas must take a backseat to reality shows that do not require clever writers; blue-blooded, cold-hearted, network producers will do.

What’s the big deal? Who are these random people on Leno? Why are mega-corporate sponsors battling for airtime? Who watches this trash? I’ll tell you who: everyone.

What is more addictive than watching other people? Think about it: ever since you are first introduced to this place called society, you are curious about the people around you (whether you admit it or not). Some of us become stalkers, and others have reality television.

The reason we keep watching is because these individuals actually exist. Not characters designed out of flat specifications, they are somewhat actual beings, just living their lives surrounded by cameras. I say “somewhat” actual. It should be obvious to the average lab monkey that many of the occurrences in these shows are influenced by network executives (not to mention the heavy product placement).

The impact these shows make upon our way of life is enthralling. People are trying even harder to positively present themselves in order to showcase their personal lives for all to see. With personal online kingdoms, complete with chat rooms, photo pages and webcams, some people truly live the digital dream. The Sims Online computer game is an example of how one can live a separate life online. An alternate reality where the poor can be rich, the lazy become productive, the boring seem witty and the ugly are beautiful.

These network producer types have successfully found a way to pull the strings of our desires and are possibly on the verge of something that could someday be disastrous. I don’t know; it’s still too soon to tell.

The more connected our world becomes, the sooner we could lose our privacy. Movies such as The Matrix and Minority Report foretell the consequences of a world without privacy. Even Orwell and Huxley prophesied our doom in their classic novels, 1984 and Brave New World. One day, it seems, that the touch of a button will show us everything about everyone, anywhere and anytime.

Hopefully, I’m not scaring you into nightmares of a post-apocalyptic world. Even I’m a hypocrite. I watch my share of seven strangers picked to live in a house, or an idiotic, fat widow who pathetically wastes away her life or a low-income nobody who lies to women about his wealth. I also enjoy chatting online, e-mailing pictures, and maintaining a home page. There’s nothing wrong with participating in the new reality. It’s just the people who live their entire lives within the completely artificial world that concern me. I recommend interacting with the real world — you’ll live longer.

To everyone who is too caught up in all the hype and snug in your little hiding spots, don’t complain that your personal space is violated when the Homeland Security Division arrests your grandmother to violently interrogate her about the “special” brownies that she baked for you.

Shall we do a roll call?

“An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”

“We need a regime change in America!”

“No blood for oil!”

“Goodbye Jews!” Whoa, that last one just slipped in. Sorry, but due to the latest climate, me thinks it may soon be upon us.

Ah, yes, it’s time yet again for another round of peace rallies and even in the conservative confines of Poke State the bongo-sluts and placard-whores turned out by the dozen - or was it a handful? - to bash G.W. and the current administration’s obsession with what the protesters seem to see as “oil” and “war.”

The Poke-test, which I observed for maybe 10 minutes, took place on the library lawn, and truth-be-told, it was a rather dignified affair compared to the countless others I’ve followed over the last few days (it was taken from the course “Protests 1023: Forming a More Perfect Oval). There were a few children, some students and what appeared to be a few professors all taking advantage of what the Constitution refers to as the “right to make a public spectacle of oneself.”

No burning of American or Israeli flags, no pictures of mauled Palestinian children, no obscenity on the placards, none of the usual was present so far as I could tell (though I did get the gloriously ‘we get the heaven or hell we deserve’ feeling seeing parents toting children who will certainly grow up to be just a hair to the right of Rush Limbaugh; in psychology, this is known as Alex P. Keaton Syndrome).

Elsewhere, at capitols and colleges, anti-Zionist, anti-Semitic, anti-American and pro-God-only-knows-what peaceniks rallied in support of everything from dope to communism. The big rally in D.C. over the weekend featured the usual bonanza of narco-terrorists, black nationalists and Jew-hating swine that is so prevalent among the modern American left, at least that portion of it which enjoys taking to the streets so folk such as myself studying at libraries can have a good laugh at them.

My favorite slogan among such is “only peace can bring peace.” A quick survey of history will note this for the tripe that it is (I suppose the acreage of military cemeteries along the still-speaking-French-and-not-German French coastline should testify to this, so I’ll let it drop).

While any intelligent person should have questions about whether or not we should partake in a bit of war (I certainly do), when I see what the people who are truly against the war are for, I begin to wonder why everyone isn’t for it.

The humor in all of it is that the self-righteous and absurdly naive will talk about how great it is that students are exercising their right to assemble and protest, something which is about as noble and profound as noting that your nine-year-old can speak in complete sentences. The reason we can assemble in protest has very little to do with peace bringing peace; rather, it has more to do with some people recognizing that at times blood must be shed in order to get results and enact change, leaving the indecisive peaceniks to pontificate and second-guess them every step of the way. This, of course, is why I love America and despise the Left.

Ciao.

The way it’s lookin’, Heritage Hall is going to have to clear out a space in the trophy display. The Bedlam Bell is getting closer to Stillwater by the minute.

Oklahoma State is off to a 6-0 lead in the Bank of Oklahoma Bedlam Series by winning the first six events, and the best part about it all is that the University of Oklahoma never saw it coming.

It all started with women’s soccer. The Sooners had beaten the Cowgirls in 2001 with a trip to the Big 12 Tournament on the line. Coming into their Nov. 1 match-up against the Sooners — and the first Bedlam game of the year — the Cowgirls were feeling a sense of deja vu. They were needing a win against the Sooners in their last game of the year to advance to the Big 12 Tournament with the Sooners needing a win or a tie to stay alive. Talk about your classic standoffs.

Eighty-four minutes in, and the Sooners looked to take an early lead in the Bedlam Series, not to mention ending the Cowgirls hopes of a playoff appearance. But OSU coach Karen Hancock took a gamble by bringing a defender up for the last six minutes off the game, and it paid off. Of course, “paid off” isn’t nearly strong enough. The defender, Jeni Jackson, scored the first three goals of her career in under six minutes — the last goal coming with 18 seconds left — to send the Cowgirls to the Big 12 Championship. It was time to chalk one up for the ‘Pokes.

And then came the snowball effect. OSU grabbed up another point with the placing of the men’s and women’s cross country teams over OU at the Big 12 Championships. The women’s squad finished four spots ahead of the Sooners in Columbia, and the men finished seven spots up.

Cross country led into the motherlode of them all, football. Unlike other games, the Bedlam football game was worth two points in the Bedlam Series scoring system. With a win in Stillwater, the Sooners would tie up the Cowboys in the Bedlam Series.

Everyone already knows what happened next. The Sooners were left staring in stunned amazement as Les Miles took the Bedlam Bell for the second year in a row. They didn’t know what hit them, and they’re still trying to figure it out or pretend it hasn’t happened.

Take Kelvin Sampson as an example. Sampson dramatically waved off a shot in the middle of the court at the Bedlam basketball game in Stillwater. It was almost as if he couldn’t believe it — the shot — and OSU’s dominance so far this year had happened. He waved it off trying to pretend it never happened in hopes that it would go away.

Sorry, Kelvin. Shot counts. So does the win. A win which brought OSU to six points in the Bedlam Series and left OU staring at a very, very deep hole.

But the final toll of the bell (pardon the pun) on Bedlam thus far this year was hit Sunday afternoon as OSU faced off against OU in wrestling at the NWCA National Duals Team Championship. Imagine, OSU and OU facing off on a national stage with national recognition on the line. For fans of Oklahoma sports, it was quite a pleasant surprise.

The outcome, however, was not much of a surprise. OSU had already picked up its fifth point in the Bedlam Series by winning the Bedlam dual in Norman. OSU won 23-16 despite not having two of their top starters because of injury. Which explains why OSU’s 27-6 win over OU in the NWCA National Duals was not much of a surprise. Mostly because the Cowboy wrestling team did what it usually does — win — but also because the entire OSU athletics program has displayed a winning attitude in each game this year against their fiercest rival.

Sure, OSU’s win in the NWCA Nationals doesn’t count towards the Bedlam Series standings, but anytime a ‘Pokes win can keep the Sooners from being anywhere near associated with the word ‘national’ then most OSU fans are all for it.

Which leaves us with our present picture of OSU dominance. The Cowboys have picked up six points through six events this year and need only four more points to capture the Bedlam Bell back from Norman. It’s a long series and there are still a lot of points and events (15) to go through, but OSU has put itself in good position to regain the Bedlam Bell for the first time since it’s inaugural season in 2000-2001.

If OSU athletics gains nothing more from this early stretch run other than a couple of smaller Bedlam Bells — the smaller Bedlam Bells are traveling trophies which are given to the school that wins an individual sport — at least they’ve earned some respect from their southern neighbors.

One major complaint about the decision to move the OSU-OU football game from the end of the season is that it moves the game away from the traditional rivalry weekend. It’s one of the best collegiate rivalries, and it’s not being played with all of the other top games. Rivalry weekend becomes a Thanksgiving without the turkey.

And most Sooner fans would probably agree.

Sooner and Cowboy fans may hate their rivals schools but at least they love to hate each other. Like Boston Red Sox and New York Yankee fans, Sooner and Cowboy fans would be lost without each other. That crazy condition has an end result of producing one of the best collegiate rivalries in the entire country. When the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University square off against each others, it’s more than just a game — it’s Bedlam.

Six events in, and Bedlam’s prized possession draws closer and closer to Stillwater. And when the final bell tolls (pardon the pun) on another Bedlam season, here’s to hoping that it’s tolling in Stillwater. That way, the rest of the nation that the state of one of the nation’s greatest rivalries is Cowboy country.

Today is the 30th anniversary of what is arguably one of the most influential and controversial U.S. Supreme Court decisions ever handed down — Roe vs. Wade.

The case that legalized abortion, making a sweeping movement of progress for women’s rights and causing a giant step back for anti-abortionists, marks more than what lies in the all-too-often touchy topic of abortion.

Still today, the debate concerning abortion is going on, with each side presenting equally appealing arguments for their cause. Often these debates have the ability to spilt America in many sectors, ranging from race, gender and religious beliefs. Still today, abortion has the ability to spilt so many Americans on this issue.

If Roe vs. Wade were overturned or had abortion never been made legal, there would still be abortions in America, only these abortions would be much more dangerous than they are now.

Setting aside the issue of abortion, there lies underneath this court decision an important fact that often goes unseen. There is an aspect to this decision of personal rights and privacy.

Roe vs. Wade made progress for the right of an individual, albeit in this case women. But the finding of the court made way for a person’s body to be out of the realm of control from the government.

Whether you agree with the initial findings of this case should be irrelevant. If you are for it then you still today have the right to that option and choice. If you are anti-abortion, you too are guaranteed the right to protest and demonstrate your disagreement peacefully.

First there was none.

Then came Dolly. Next came pigs, goats, mice, cows and even cats. And then, finally, came the first human clone, Eve — or maybe not.

Scientists around the world continue to show skepticism about the world’s first human clone, especially since the company Clonaid has not shown any proof for their claim to fame.

Michael Guillen, a freelance journalist and scientist, organized a team of independent experts to verify Clonaid’s clone but was denied access to the baby. The Associated Press reported Guillen said he thinks the announcement of the cloning could be a deception to gain some instant publicity.

Some Oklahoma State University professors, who believe that cloning humans is not right, also share that feeling.

“The human clone is not done — the whole thing is a hoax,” said Jerry Malayer, associate professor of physiological sciences. “They have not produced any evidence that the individual is cloned and technology is not available to produce such cloned individuals.”

G. Reed Holyoak, associate professor of veterinary medicine, agrees the technology to conceive a perfect clone is not presently available.

“I have significant reservations about cloning (at) this time, because at this point of time the technology hasn’t (been) developed to a point where we can guarantee no adverse side effects,” Holyoak said. “Also, there are problems in fetal development.”

The study into cloning was started purely for the betterment of the world. Scientists believed with the advent of cloning, deadly diseases and other crises, such as starvation, could be eradicated from the earth.

Cloning could also bring new insights into the process of aging, possibly delaying it or maybe even removing it.

Cloning, in a nutshell, is a process to produce an individual that is an exact copy of another individual using the same genetic material. Since the successful cloning of Dolly, a six-year-old sheep, many questions have been raised:

Would the clone be the exact duplicate of the donor? Would the behaviors and mannerisms be the same? What is the success rate of cloning?

Malayer said the cloned individual is different from the one copied because it grows in a different environment.

“If somebody cloned you, the clone won’t have the same family and environment — each individual is unique,” Malayer said.

“Paired twins are much more alike than an individual that is cloned.”

The AP reported that research shows 97 percent of cloning attempts don’t work. In the case of Dolly, 277 sheep embryos were required for the cloning procedure to become successful.

“The cloning activity is extremely risky and there are not a lot of benefits to come out of it,” said Edward Lawry, professor of philosophy. “There are no clear reasons to do cloning and the only reason for it to occur are commercial purposes or vanity — none of this is a good motivation.”

Holyoak suggests some other form of technology for childless couples and advises them not to consider cloning as an option.

“There are other options for childless couples such as adoption and in vitro fertilization,” said Holyoak.

“Human cloning should be kept out of the picture.”

Not the whole world is against this scientific technology, though. There are a few advocates for the practice.

“I think it’s an advancement, like the wheel,” said Vidyadhar Uppaluru, computer science junior.

“Failures are always there, but how will you know without giving it a try?

“Human cloning should be given a chance — man has to grow up.”

Parves Shahid can be reached via email at pshahid@ocolly.com

Editor’s Note: This is the second in a four-part sexual health series.

Last semester changed one Oklahoma State University student’s life forever when she gave birth to her daughter Oct. 27.

Prioritizing her baby over her school work was the biggest challenge.

“Before I had a baby, I was involved in my college,” said Emily Boozer, interior design senior. “Once you have a baby, they take priority over your school work and it’s different from just being involved on campus.”

Boozer, 22, said before she had a baby sitter, she had to bring her baby to class when she was sleeping all the time.

“It’s hard to find someone that you can trust,” Boozer said. “I did not want to send my child to a day care and I did not want her exposed to all the illnesses.”

Because mostly girls were in her classes, they were always happy to see the baby, Boozer said. “Nobody gave me a negative response and in most of my classes, my teachers were very accepting.”

In 2002, mothers between the ages of 18 and 23 gave birth to 256 newborns at the Stillwater Medical Center, said Shyla Eggers, director of public relations. That is 32 percent of the 792 births at the medical center last year.

If a woman suspects she is pregnant, she can get a pregnancy test at the University Health Center and will be given options if tests confirm pregnancy.

“We provide counseling and direct one-on-one counseling for the patient,” said VonDa Moore, University Health Center registered nurse.

Because the health center does not have an obstetrics program, students who discover their pregnancies at the center will be referred to a specialist, Moore said.

However, students who want to learn more about birth control options and pregnancy can visit the health center any time.

“A lot of girls do not have the information they need to make an educated decision,” said Becky George, University Health Center registered nurse. “She can expect to see a doctor first, whether the test is negative or positive. She will talk to the doctor again for options.”

The health center offers many birth control methods including the pill, injections and condoms.

“Oral contraception is probably the number one birth control method that I see here at the clinic,” George said. “If you do not take the pill as directed, you risk pregnancy.”

Depo-Provera is the injection that does not contain estrogen and the injections are given every three months. However, the injection, like the pill, does have side effects and consulting a physician about those effects is encouraged.

“If they are going to be taking Depo, we would encourage a well-rounded diet that’s rich in calcium or make sure they are taking a calcium supplement,” George said.

The patch known as Ortho Evra and the NUVA Ring are the newest birth control methods used today that contain hormones.

The patch is applied on the shoulder, hip or abdomen once a week for three weeks each month, George said. The NUVA Ring is inserted in the cervix and used once a month for three weeks.

For those who do not want to use a hormonal birth control method, the condom and diaphragm are offered at the health center.

“If you are just going to use condoms, make sure you use them always, and condoms are even more effective with spermicide,” George said.

A diaphragm covers the cervix and keeps the sperm from getting to the egg, she said. The device can be inserted six to eight hours before sex.

For a permanent birth control option, George said women can undergo a tubal ligation to close the fallopian tubes and men can have a vasectomy to cut the tubes that carry the sperm to the penis.

“Abstinence is also the one birth control that can prevent sexually transmitted diseases,” she said.

Bethany Krottinger can be reached via e-mail at bkrottinger@ocolly.com

It’s midnight and time for a break from studying or drinking. Some Oklahoma State University students channel surf for something to watch and tune into “Bargain World,” a live auction that puts the real in reality television.

The show airs Tuesday through Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on channel 3 and has something for everyone, as long as they have a bidder number.

Nick Dalton, manager, said “Bargain World” started six years ago in Shawnee by owner Jeff Daly, who buys all the items for the auction.

“He buys it all over the United States and has a main company he goes through to get most of it,” Dalton said.

He said Daly has a good reputation that allows him to buy hard-to-get merchandise year round.

“This time of year it’s so easy to get merchandise, anybody off the street can go up and buy it from this company,” Dalton said. “But at certain times of the year, he is the only one because he has been such a good customer.”

He said Daly is able to get the merchandise because he buys in bulk quantities.

When it comes to the show, Dalton said he can be demanding.

“I’m very picky about how I do the show,” he said. “If you see me around air time, you’d think I was 80 years old because I’m griping so much.”

Dalton said he does try to have fun.

“When everything goes right, I like to have fun,” he said.

Annabelle Brandt, operator and customer service cashier, said she has fun working at “Bargain World” because the employees get to try out some of the merchandise.

“We had NERF balls we got to play with and a deer hunting game,” Brandt said.

She said working there has also been an educational experience.

“I learned what a sump-pump was,” Brandt said. “I’ve learned what a lot of tools are.”

Brandt said one of the hardest things about her job can be the customers.

“They get hot-headed sometimes when you don’t do what they want,” she said.

Dalton said bidding in an auction can change people.

“I have friends, one minute they’re calm and the next minute, in an auction, they go crazy,” he said.

Dalton said some customers are so dedicated that they call at 9:01 p.m. if the show hasn’t aired and they line up at 4 p.m. the next day to get their items.

“After a big night, I bet I had 40 people standing out there and they were fighting to get in the door to be first,” he said.

Being in Stillwater, Dalton said many of his customers and employees are OSU students.

“I’ve had a lot of fun,” he said. “I’ve had people come down and do some weird stuff.”

Dalton said some of the on-air tactics used to get people to watch the show have been eating cat food and other varieties of gruesome snacks.

“One guy walked in and said ‘I need to buy my wife some cigarettes, can I do something? I heard you guys do some weird stuff and I need five dollars,’” Dalton said.

Preston Baustert, broadcast senior, said he watches “Bargain World” because it’s entertaining.

“I’ve watched quite a bit,” Baustert said. “It’s hilarious to see those guys describe the items in such detail, even if they have no idea what it is.”

Baustert said he has only bought one thing from the auction.

“I got a gold-plated duck bell that rings whenever someone comes through the door,” he said. “I bid $2 for it.”

Dalton said the range of items put up for auction is vast.

“I’ve seen everything,” he said. “Right when I think I’ve seen everything, something different comes through.”

Dalton said he has sold everything from herbal teas, to a car, to even people.

“We’ve sold each other for two hours of labor,” he said. “We didn’t have a license to sell the car, but we found ways to get around it.

“I sold a $1300 grill the other night,” Dalton said. “I’ve never sold anything like that before.”

Baustert said his favorite part of the show is when the audience sees what goes on to make the auction work.

“I like when they take you behind the scenes and show you the other people who work there like the stockers and the people who answer the phone,” he said. “Sometimes you see people you know.”

Sara Plummer can be reached via e-mail at

splummer@ocolly.com

Today is the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that legalized abortion, and several Oklahoma State University students will celebrate it by educating others.

The OSU chapter of the National Organization of Women will hand out fliers chronicling the history of the case and its legal impact on the nation to students outside of the Student Union Bookstore.

In 1970, Norma McCorvey, an unmarried pregnant woman, used the pseudonym Jane Roe to file a class action lawsuit opposing anti-abortion laws in Texas.

McCorvey lost the case at both the state and appeals court levels but finally won the battle on Jan. 22, 1973, after the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in favor of overturning the Texas law and legalizing abortion in all 50 states.

According to the NOW national Web site, the Supreme Court currently holds a 5-4 vote in favor of upholding Roe v. Wade, but Republicans hold the majority of the House of Representatives and Senate seats, which may leave abortion rights advocates celebrating their last year of laws legalizing abortion.

President Bush has already begun taking steps to put his conservative views into action by declaring Jan. 20 as “National Sanctity of Human Life Day” and freezing the funding for the United Nations Family Planning Fund, which provides services such as contraceptives and HIV/AIDS prevention projects in 142 countries, according to the Web site.

Dinah Cox, president of the OSU chapter of the NOW, said it is especially important to remember the case because it led to various improvements for women and families.

“Roe v. Wade secured the right to safe and legal abortion in the United States,” Cox said. “It’s important now more than ever to preserve those freedoms and keep abortion legal.”

Abortion rights are vulnerable and could be outlawed at any time, Cox said.

Titania Jahromi, public relations senior, said she is an abortion rights advocate and does not agree with anti-abortion campaigns.

“I believe in every circumstance it’s the woman’s right to choose,” she said.

However, anti-abortion advocates believe that conception begins at birth and the baby should be given the right to life.

Dan Boone, OSU’s Campus Crusade for Christ director and anti-abortion advocate, said he has read stories of women who have had abortions and have post-abortion mental issues to deal with.

“I would say (abortion) is mainly a life issue, but there are ramifications, from what I’ve read, for women who have abortions,” he said. “It’s difficult to lose a child.”

Boone said he feels abortions should be outlawed, regardless of the circumstances.

Some feel making abortions illegal would force women to revert to self-induced abortions and unsafe underground abortion procedures.

“There would be a lot of quack doctors out there like there were in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Alexandrea Burton, human development in family science senior. “A lot of women would become infertile because of self-induced abortions, too.”

Ayanna can be reached via

e-mail at news@ocolly.com