The University of Oklahoma’s student body seems to be constantly involved and active. From the Big Event in April to various philanthropies throughout the year, OU students (Greek and non-Greek alike) continue to serve the community they live in for four years while in school. The Greek students are particularly known for being involved in philanthropies and fund-raising events, such as Shack-a-thon, which begins Tuesday, October 25 and goes through Wednesday, October 26, may be the largest of the sort.
Shack-a-thon is an annual event at the University of Oklahoma that raises money for the Cleveland County Habitat For Humanity. All money raised is used to support struggling families in the Norman area. Fraternities and sororities team up with each other and build a “shack” creatively composed of cardboard boxes, wood and any other materials they can make fit together. The students begin building Tuesday morning and keep watch of their shacks overnight. Wednesday, they sit outside of them on the University of Oklahoma’s south oval lawn and ask other students walking by to pitch in some change.
“The hours are long and it takes a lot out of you, but its well worth it in the end,” said Dustin Gallup, an OU student who is involved in the human relations department of Habitat For Humanity. “This is my first year working for Habitat, but so far this is the most significant event for us that I’ve seen, as far as student participation.”
Anyone who is interested in the Cleveland County Habitat For Humanity and the other events they support can visit cchfh.org or contact Tracy Curtis, Director of Operations at tracy@cchfh.org.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Exercise is a necessity for good health – it helps your body stay fit as well as fight diseases. Anyone interested in how exercise affects the body may like the field of Exercise Physiology. Exercise Physiology is the field of study regarding exercise and its effects on the body. Exercise Physiologists are health professionals who study the body’s responses to different types of stress, such as exercise. These professionals use their knowledge to help people through phase I and II of cardiac rehabilitation, train athletes to enhance performance and to do research on various subjects. Dr. Beck, who graduated with his Masters and PH.D at the University of Nebraska and now works at the University of Oklahoma explains that every Exercise Physiologist has a different niche that they specialize in. The Exercise Physiology department at the University of Oklahoma specializes in focusing on what he calls “motor control strategy.” Using a surface EMG, the Exercise Physiologists record the signals the brain sends to a muscle when the subject contracts his or her bicep. “We examine the signals that are picked up with sensors, which tell a lot about how the person’s brain is motivating the muscle,” Beck said.
As for training athletes, Beck suggests large, multi-joint exercises using dumbbells. “There is very little carryover from training a single joint to training multiple joints,” he explains.
Matthew Stock is a graduate student of Exercise Physiology at the University of Oklahoma and currently conducts research alongside Dr. Beck and the other Exercise Physiologists. He explains that he and his colleagues analyze some people who have their eyes open, and some who have their eyes shut. “Studies have shown that the way people contract their bicep varies depending on whether their eyes are opened or closed,” he said.
The EPs (Exercise Physiologists) examine the results of their research, and then write a research paper that is submitted to other professionals in the industry. The goal is to get the research paper published in a scientific journal. The professionals ‘peer review’ the research paper and provide feedback. If the paper is accepted, it is published in the journal.
The Exercise Physiology department at the University of Oklahoma continues to conduct research in the specialization of how the brain motivates muscle contractions by subjects who either have their eyes open or closed. Mr. Stock expects to graduate this May. Anyone interested in being a subject for a study should contact Matthew Stock at mattstock@ou.edu or visit Collums, near the Everest Training Center on the University of Oklahoma campus.
VIDEO: Kevin King, 1:26
As for training athletes, Beck suggests large, multi-joint exercises using dumbbells. “There is very little carryover from training a single joint to training multiple joints,” he explains.
Matthew Stock is a graduate student of Exercise Physiology at the University of Oklahoma and currently conducts research alongside Dr. Beck and the other Exercise Physiologists. He explains that he and his colleagues analyze some people who have their eyes open, and some who have their eyes shut. “Studies have shown that the way people contract their bicep varies depending on whether their eyes are opened or closed,” he said.
The EPs (Exercise Physiologists) examine the results of their research, and then write a research paper that is submitted to other professionals in the industry. The goal is to get the research paper published in a scientific journal. The professionals ‘peer review’ the research paper and provide feedback. If the paper is accepted, it is published in the journal.
The Exercise Physiology department at the University of Oklahoma continues to conduct research in the specialization of how the brain motivates muscle contractions by subjects who either have their eyes open or closed. Mr. Stock expects to graduate this May. Anyone interested in being a subject for a study should contact Matthew Stock at mattstock@ou.edu or visit Collums, near the Everest Training Center on the University of Oklahoma campus.
VIDEO: Kevin King, 1:26
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Jews and Muslims in the Middle East
Guest speakers are great learning experiences and opportunities for students to hear real-world information from credible sources. Every Wednesday in Gittinger Hall, the University of Oklahoma has Just For Lunch lectures, which is a program that hosts lectures by guest speakers. On Wednesday September 7, the guest speaker had a lot of interesting information on the history of the relationship between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East. He has traveled to many places to give speeches, and in fact, was headed to Britain in the next few days after this lecture for a television interview with the British media. At this particular event, he began with his lecture, which described the Jews’ relationship with the Muslims and some of the events that led to their separation, and then allowed questions towards the end.
In his lecture, the speaker began by clarifying to us that Jews and Muslims have parted ways in a very physical sense. He informed us that there used to be over 1 million Jews living in the Muslim world, and that only about 5% are left from a century ago.
Jews did not have much economic freedom in pre-modern Europe. They were limited to jobs such as tax collectors, innkeepers, etc. However, that was not the case in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, the Jews began to look for something better, something outside the traditional Muslim social system. They were eventually able to have European privileges; they were protected subjects. Furthermore, these privileges increased in the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1900, they had 26,000 pupils attending schools, and Muslims viewed this western education with suspicion and hostility.
The lecture concluded stating that there has in fact been a parting of the ways between Jews and Muslims, but the destiny of both groups is bound up – they will converge again. This was an interesting way to end the lecture because it left it open-ended to have the audience thinking.
There people of all ages at this event, which makes one think that this subject interests all different types of people. Joe Jankowsky came to hear this speaker with his wife for the first time. He said he came because he is interested in the subject. “This lecture gives us new knowledge of the situation, and it is very topical,” he said.
“The world is a very tenuous place for Jewish faith,” says Valarie Harshaw, one of the people who helped put on the event. “Israel is caught in the middle of a scary conflict, and it is important to get an idea of who the Jews are.” She said she helped put on this particular Just For Lunch lecture to help students understand the Middle East conflict. “As someone who has been a Christian their whole life, Jews have always been ‘out there’, not close to home,” she said. She wants to see them become more politically involved as well.
Just For Lunch lectures are held on the first Wednesday of every month. Next month’s lecture will be from a rabbi from Oklahoma City about Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism.
In his lecture, the speaker began by clarifying to us that Jews and Muslims have parted ways in a very physical sense. He informed us that there used to be over 1 million Jews living in the Muslim world, and that only about 5% are left from a century ago.
Jews did not have much economic freedom in pre-modern Europe. They were limited to jobs such as tax collectors, innkeepers, etc. However, that was not the case in the Muslim world. Nevertheless, the Jews began to look for something better, something outside the traditional Muslim social system. They were eventually able to have European privileges; they were protected subjects. Furthermore, these privileges increased in the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1900, they had 26,000 pupils attending schools, and Muslims viewed this western education with suspicion and hostility.
The lecture concluded stating that there has in fact been a parting of the ways between Jews and Muslims, but the destiny of both groups is bound up – they will converge again. This was an interesting way to end the lecture because it left it open-ended to have the audience thinking.
There people of all ages at this event, which makes one think that this subject interests all different types of people. Joe Jankowsky came to hear this speaker with his wife for the first time. He said he came because he is interested in the subject. “This lecture gives us new knowledge of the situation, and it is very topical,” he said.
“The world is a very tenuous place for Jewish faith,” says Valarie Harshaw, one of the people who helped put on the event. “Israel is caught in the middle of a scary conflict, and it is important to get an idea of who the Jews are.” She said she helped put on this particular Just For Lunch lecture to help students understand the Middle East conflict. “As someone who has been a Christian their whole life, Jews have always been ‘out there’, not close to home,” she said. She wants to see them become more politically involved as well.
Just For Lunch lectures are held on the first Wednesday of every month. Next month’s lecture will be from a rabbi from Oklahoma City about Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism.
Fraternities and Oklahoma Football Gamedays
Saturday morning in autumn, cookouts, tailgates – the American way. What do these things all have in common? There is nothing quite like college football in the state of Oklahoma, and all the festivities that come with it on game days within the Greek system at the University of Oklahoma.
Just like families do, fraternities at the University of Oklahoma set up tailgates near the stadium hours before kickoff and have pre-game cookouts and get-togethers. The fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon has a game day tradition where the company Benchmark, which cooks many fraternities’ meals during the school week, cooks a conglomerate of food items such as hamburger patties, baked beans, potato salad and more. Fraternity members, their families and alumni are welcome to attend to hang out and have a good time. Food begins three hours before the game starts and lasts until kickoff.
“My favorite part of Saturdays here is visiting with all of the alumni that come back to see each other and eating all the tremendous food we have here,” said Trevin Gallaway, a freshmen at the University of Oklahoma and a future member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “Its so much fun to spend time with good friends before heading to the stadium to watch OU football.”
Ben Becker, a junior member of SigEp shares a similar view. “I couldn’t imagine game days without the fellowship that takes place here before the game,” he said.
Sigma Phi Epsilon and other fraternities at the University of Oklahoma participate in tailgates and pre-game festivities every Saturday morning there is a home game. They are designed for students and alumni to mingle and have a good time. These events essentially create the atmosphere of football game days. They get fans and students excited for the day and is a major reason we love autumn and football season so much.
Just like families do, fraternities at the University of Oklahoma set up tailgates near the stadium hours before kickoff and have pre-game cookouts and get-togethers. The fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon has a game day tradition where the company Benchmark, which cooks many fraternities’ meals during the school week, cooks a conglomerate of food items such as hamburger patties, baked beans, potato salad and more. Fraternity members, their families and alumni are welcome to attend to hang out and have a good time. Food begins three hours before the game starts and lasts until kickoff.
“My favorite part of Saturdays here is visiting with all of the alumni that come back to see each other and eating all the tremendous food we have here,” said Trevin Gallaway, a freshmen at the University of Oklahoma and a future member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “Its so much fun to spend time with good friends before heading to the stadium to watch OU football.”
Ben Becker, a junior member of SigEp shares a similar view. “I couldn’t imagine game days without the fellowship that takes place here before the game,” he said.
Sigma Phi Epsilon and other fraternities at the University of Oklahoma participate in tailgates and pre-game festivities every Saturday morning there is a home game. They are designed for students and alumni to mingle and have a good time. These events essentially create the atmosphere of football game days. They get fans and students excited for the day and is a major reason we love autumn and football season so much.
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