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T U E S DA Y, J A N UA R Y 2 9 , 2 013
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2 011 S I LV E R C R O W N W I N N E R
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Opinion: Should women be allowed in combat units? (Page 3)
OUDaily.com: OKC’s first Fashion in the Snow dressed to impress Sunday.
Sports: Does it work, is it fair? (Page 5)
tOBaCCO BaN
OU BriGaDeS
Sooners complain about smoking
Student seeks to advance group
Community frustrated with violations of smoking ban AJINUR SETIWALDI campus reporter
The OU Police Department has received 25 complaints of violations of the on-campus smoking ban, OUPD spokesman Lt. Bruce Chan said. At least one of those complaints came from the Kraettli Apartments, located south of the residence halls, and took a few months to resolve. OU physics graduate student Hemantha Maddumage contacted the Daily last semester through email and said he contacted OU Housing and Food Services and OUPD multiple times to report violations of the smoking ban in the Kraettli Apartments. “I have an infant at home and therefore [am]
very worried about secondhand smoking,” Maddumage said in the email. At first, Maddumage didn’t see the officials do anything to sort out the issue, he said Friday. Then H&F Services sent an email to everyone in the building, but the smoking continued. Maddumage said he complained to officials four to five times. The first two times the police didn’t show, he said. “They didn’t really do anything,” Maddumage said. Chan said in an email that he wasn’t familiar with Maddumage’s complaint, but whenever OUPD receives a complaint, they dispatch an officer to investigate. The university’s policy requires an initial verbal warning and reminder of the policy before officers can finally give out a citation, Chan said. “We try to be informative first,” Chan said.
It took three months to resolve the issue, Maddumage said Friday. The smoking stopped after OUPD warned the violators of the ban. “The policy was new, and the system didn’t know how to react,” Maddumage said. “It’s getting better now.”
aT a Glance What you can do if you see an area where the policy is violated enforcement is an ongoing process that involves community awareness and cooperation. certain areas on campus may need more resources to increase compliance with the ou tobacco-free policy. if you know of any, email comments to Breatheeasy@ou.edu
fitter fOODS
A health front rolls into Weather Center
Sooners prompt improvement HALEY DAVIS
campus reporter
One OU student is leading the charge to change a student organization after being inspired by a trip overseas. Beth Huggins, chemical and biomedical engineering senior and administrator of OU’s Global Brigades chapter, plans to change the chapter to make a bigger difference, she said. Huggins was inspired after going on trips with Global Brigades to Honduras and Ghana. “The experience totally revolutionized me and the way I thought about healthcare,” Huggins said. Global Brigades is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. It develops sustainable health initiatives and provides relief where there is limited access to healthcare , according to the Global Brigades website. The OU chapter works see HEALTH paGe 2
Famed girlgroup returns with single and compilation album
micHeLLe neHRenZ/tHe daiLy
above: Kevin Biehl (left), University College freshman, waits in line as mona Springfield (middle), an event manager at the National Weather Center, orders food from linda Upton, a Housing and food employee at the flying Cow Cafe in the National Weather Center during an event monday to promote the cafe’s new healthier food options. these options were added as part of fitter foods, an initiative of H&f Services to promote healthy dining options at OU. Below: meteorology professor ming Xue (left) orders food from Colena Gerard (right), an Housing and food employee, at the flying Cow Cafe.
L&A: destiny’s child comes back with “nuclear” and a remastered collection of its most romantic songs. (Page 6)
Road losses prepare Sooners for March Sports: ou men’s basketball team gains confidence, learns from defeat. (Page 5)
VOL. 98, NO. 87 © 2012 OU Publications Board free — additional copies 25¢
insiDe TODaY micHeLLe neHRenZ/tHe daiLy
above: travis Smith (left), a staff member at the Cooperative institute for mesoscale meteorological Studies and Kurt Hondl (right), a staff member at the National Severe Storms laboratory, eat lunch at the flying Cow Cafe in the National Weather Center.
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