Blog 8

A 45-year-old tradition, the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts took place from April 24 to April 29 in downtown OKC.

Amongst various booths filled with paintings, sculptures and foods, Collin Rosebrook’s Paseo Pottery returned to the festival with a paint-your-own pottery stand.

As part of the Paseo Arts District, Paseo Pottery opened in 1989, selling pottery of all types as well as offering pottery-making classes.

Paseo Pottery makes its presence at the fair annually, attracting customers of all ages, including OU freshman Bailey Sanders.

“I think it’s a great idea to have this stand at the fair,” Sanders said.

“Even though it’s an arts fest, there are very few do-it-yourself type booths. So its cool that they give the opportunity to make something on your own.”

Paseo Pottery is open Monday through Saturday in Oklahoma City. Information about classes and studio hours can be found on their Facebook page. 

Blog 7

Freshman Catherine Holtmyer practices her dance at Kappa Hall for the talent portion of the upcoming Lambda Chi Alpha White Rose Pageant.

     Eleven freshman sorority members prepare to serve as representatives of each Greek house in Lambda Chi Alpha’s annual White Rose Pageant, on Wednesday, April 18.

     The pageant was started in 1986 by Matt Hamilton and his fellow fraternity brothers, and continues today as one of Lambda’s biggest fundraising event, according to the OU Lambda Chi Alpha Alum website.
     All fundraising proceeds from the White Rose Pageant go to the Big Brothers of Cleveland
County.
      Like most pageants, White Rose is comprised of various sections, including a questionnaire and talent portion.
     Whether it is tumbling, playing an instrument or dancing, a wide variety of talents from each sorority are expected to take the stage in this year’s pageant.
     Freshman Catherine Holtmyer has selected a familiar ballet piece to use for her talent section.
     “I think a ballet variation, especially on pointe, is a good talent representative because it shows such beauty and strength in each movement. I’m really excited to have the chance to perform this and show my friends how pretty of a piece it is,” Holtmyer said.
     Last year’s winner, Kappa Alpha Theta Sarah Klein, won the pageant with her talent of a piano and song piece. Delta Delta Delta Alicia Clifton was first runner up, with her originally choreographed dance, all according to OU’s Lambda Chi Alumn website.
     Sophomore Claire Henson, Holtmyer’s sorority “big sister”, attended the pageant in 2011 and plans to go to this year’s event.
     “I know there’ll be some good competition this year, but I think Catherine will be great in the pageant because of how poised she is. She handles herself very well and I don’t think it will come across any different on stage,” Henson said.
     The pageant will begin at 7 p.m. in Holmberg Hall. Tickets will be sold prior to the event and at the door for 10 dollars.

Blog 6

Students in OU’s Printmaking classes in the School of Art and Art History are adding final touches to their latest projects in preparation for the upcoming “print swap.”
 All intermediate level lithography classes are required to take part in the now annual print swap. Students are instructed to create an original print project based on a pre-determined theme and make multiple replicas of their work. Once the work period of the project is over, the prints are submitted to the professors, who then assign each print a number. Then, each student comes and draws a series of numbers and keeps the prints that correspond to their number.
 According to OU’s School of Art website, students are allowed access 24 hours a day, every day, to work on their print swap pieces, among many others,
 “I’m up here all the time honestly,” junior Courtney Creedon said.
“This is one of our most enjoyable projects so far though so I don’t mind that I practically live at the studio.”
The theme to this year’s print swap is “Fables and Fairytales,” so creativity was abound as students produced prints with detailed fire-breathing dragons, prehistoric fish, and many other imagined images.
 “This is a really cool theme that we were given this year to work with,” senior Alex Fuller said.
 “It’s not incredibly difficult, but at the same time it forces you to think a little further to create something that wouldn’t be expected from your basic childhood fables.”
 Creedon’s creation, which is a simple print of three fish with a thick, dark edging, is part of the greater portion of student prints that do not have the look of a typical fairytale or fable.
 “I wanted to go with something different than what was expected. I think it’ll be a unique piece to add to someone’s print collections,” Creedon said.
 The print swap will be held before the end of April in the third floor of the Charles M. Russell Center in the Lithography classroom.

Midterm project: Breaking the Stereotype

The September 11, 2001 attacks created problems for more than just the United States: Muslim-American citizens became one of the most discriminated groups in the country. But with time has come a slow following of acceptance for the Islamic culture.

                Over the past 10 to 20 years, attacks and threats to the United States led by organized Middle-Eastern terrorist groups have led to widespread discrimination and stereotyping of Muslim-Americans. However, 56 percent of American Muslims polled said they were satisfied with the direction the country was headed, according to a 2011 Pew Research Study.

                “I think that Americans have started to understand that not all Muslims are bad. There is good and bad in every religious sect, not just Islam,” junior Amru Abualneel said.

                Although discrimination against Muslim-Americans has continued to be prevalent years after the September 11 attacks, the blatant hatred towards the religion and its following has seemed to begin to subside.

                Unlike many other American born Muslims, Abualneel and his family have not encountered the unfair instances of discrimination as many others have.

                “I’ve known Amru for a while, and for as long as I have known him I can’t think of a time where anybody has looked at him differently or been rude to him just because of his race,” University of Texas junior Jay Mariscal said.

                As wide-spread hatred and discriminatory actions have begun to diminish, Muslims have established a more secure and equal place in both American society, and amongst their religious community.

                Places of Islamic worship have climbed to 74 percent in the last decade and 91 percent of these mosque leaders said they believe Muslims should further their involvement in United States politics, according to “The American Mosque 2011” survey conducted by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies and other Islamic civic and religious groups.

                “I think that even if Amru were ever falsely stereotyped, he would probably turn the other cheek. He’s not exactly 100 percent devout like other Muslim Americans I know, but he knows what he believes and is proud of his faith,” sophomore Rachel Krummanacher said.

                Although Muslim-American discrimination has not completely ceased, many Islamic followers like Abualneel have recognized its slow disappearance upon entering another decade, giving hope to breaking stereotypes in the future.

Unversity of Oklahoma junior Amru Abualneel discusses stereotypes of Muslim-Americans and how they have impacted his life.

News Story 3

Recent health inspections reveal that two restaurants in OU’s Oklahoma Memorial Union did not meet criteria for a clean bill of health.

                  Both Sbarro and Wendy’s were issued follow-up activities, according to reports by oudaily.com. Wendy’s was issued follow-ups with two health inspections prior to the most recent one.

                  Wendy’s received violations for rodent droppings on the floor and trashcan, excessive black residue in fryer baskets and having more than 10 items held at incorrect temperatures.

                  “Even though I really didn’t eat at Wendy’s too many times before, this definitely gives me a reason not to ever return,” sophomore Anna Prince said.

                  Similar to Wendy’s, Sbarro received violations for black residue in the ice machine, several food items held at wrong temperatures and live roaches found under the front counter.

                  According to an oudaily.com poll, 71 percent of students surveyed said that the restaurant’s health reports would keep them away.

                  “I really can’t see myself coming back to eat at the Union for a while. I’ll go to Starbucks, but besides that I’m going to try and keep the amount of food I eat from here to a bare minimum,” Prince said.

                  Although the restaurants did not formally receive citations, both were issued follow-up activity which is expected to be completed within ten days of receiving the violations, according to rules implemented by the Cleveland County Health Department.

                  Follow-up activities are issued when a problem can easily be resolved. Activity can include anything from a power-wash, to scheduling more frequent pest control visits.

                  “In regards to restaurants owned by the Union, Sbarro is a privately operated company. With respect to food services for the Union, Wendy’s food temperature and preparation works to follow the food temperature guidelines,” Marketing and Public Relations specialist Lauren Royston said.

                  No specific updates on follow-up activity for the two restaurants have been released.

Students wait for their orders at Wendy's in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. 

Sophomore Anna Prince chooses Starbucks' coffee over food items from the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Recent health reports of two Union restaurants have caused negative publicity for the food establishments.

Sbarro is one of two restaurants in the Oklahoma Memorial Union to receive violations from a recent health inspection.