The Oklahoma Daily by OU Daily

SPORTS, PAGE 7

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VOL. 93, NO. 69 FREE — Additional Copies 25¢

Students violators of shared housing residential ordinance • Violators of 74-year-old ordinance could face up to $500-per-day fine JAMIE HUGHES The Oklahoma Daily An OU senior named Lindsay lives in a house with four other women, and if her neighbors complain, it could mean trouble for her and her housemates. In effect since 1954, the City of Norman’s Three Unrelated Persons Ordinance states that no more than three unrelated people can live together in a single family home, including apartments, condominiums and town homes, unless the apartment has obtained a zoning exception. According to city zoning codes, residents must be related by blood, marriage or adoption to live three or more to a single-family house. The city’s Web site states that if a citation is issued, those in violation could receive a fine of up to $500 a day. The ordinance was instituted to maintain the family feel of neigh-

borhoods, said Kathryn Walker, assistant city attorney for the City of Norman. The city and its residents don’t want rent houses to dominate neighborhoods and weaken the community, she said. Lindsay, who asked not to be identified by her last name for legal reasons, said she didn’t know about the ordinance and said she thinks it is “ridiculous.” “Renters are the ones renting the property, and it’s their business if [they] think the quantity is not OK,” she said. Lindsay said she doesn’t think it’s a problem if there are five unrelated people living in a house together. While some college students are violating the ordinance, few have been affected by the rule, said Linda Price, revitalization manager for the City of Norman. Price said she can recall two or three violations this fall but did not know the exact numbers. “[It has] not been a major issue,” she said. “[It is] usually a loud party that brings attention to a specific area.” Walker said the City of Norman issues violations on a complaintspecific basis. Complaints from neighbors, she said, are caused by everything from loud music and parties to too many cars parked at a house. “[There was a] rash of complaints last spring,” Walker said. “Word

got out and people started being quieter or not doing things to generate complaints.” According to the city, after a complaint is filed against a house, an investigation will begin and the property owner will be contacted. If an investigation produces evidence of a violation, police contact the tenants. According to the city’s Web site, if the problem is voluntarily resolved within a given time frame, there will be no citation issued. College students aren’t being targeted, Walker said, though students are involved in the typical citation. Lindsay said she doesn’t think her neighbors have a reason to complain about her living situation. “We aren’t disturbing,” she said. “[There are] no wild parties, no loud music, and our yard looks nice.” The city has been working to come up with a more effective way to raise awareness of the ordinance, Walker said. Price said the city has looked at requiring landlords and tenants to fill out forms related to the ordinance before a group moves into a new house. The City Council would have to approve the forms before the city can require landlords to use them, she said.

OU ECONOMY SERIES: PART 1

SPORTS

Ready for recession

Lighting the way

• Pres. Boren says university has policies in place to cut costs

CAMPUS BRIEFS Regents meet today in Union The OU Board of Regents will discuss the transformation of the musical theater program from a department to a school and ﬁnalize funding for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at its meeting at 9 a.m. today in the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

OUDAILY.COM

MEREDITH SIMONS The Oklahoma Daily

y sports editor Corey DeMoss ap• The Daily’s peared on ESPN’s First Take Monday morning to take on the Texas fan who created the “Lest we forget” Facebook group. Check out OUDaily. com’s Newsroom Blog to watch DeMoss’s argument.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a threepart series about OU’s efforts to deal with the economic crisis. Today’s article addresses the university’s cost-cutting measures. Wall Street sank again Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average sliding 7.7 percent on the same day that an economic research group officially declared the United States economy in recession. Across the country, universities are struggling OU ECONOMY to cope with the effects of a recession that has Today endowments shrinking and donors, students and Part 1: Cutting parents scrutinizing their costs at OU spending. At the University of Tuesday Georgia, student learning Part 2: Donor reac- center hours have been reduced to cut costs, while tions to recession the University of Hawaii is turning off the air condiWednesday tioning during nights and weekends, according to Part 3: The the Chronicle of Higher economy’s eﬀect Education. on endowments But OU administrators have expressed confidence that the university will be able to survive the financial crisis without implementing any drastic measures.

Looking ahead

If you’ve gone to OU women’s basketball games this season, you may have noticed a new face knocking down 3-pointers. That face belongs to freshman Whitney Hand. Page 8.

• Gov. Brad Henry will be one of several governors who meets with President-elect Barack Obama today in Philadelphia. Henry is hoping Obama’s economic stimulus package will include money for bridges and roads in Oklahoma. • Barack Obama announced Monday former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton will be his Secretary of State. But with tension ﬂaring between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai terrorism, some are concerned that Clinton’s longtime support of India will set her up for diplomatic problems before she takes oﬃce. • For more on these and other nation and world news stories, visit OUDaily.com. Photos by Amy Frost/The Daily

ABOVE: Misheala Giddings, international and area studies sophomore, helps light the menorah at the Holiday Lighting Celebration Monday night at Burr Park. Members of three different religious groups spoke at the ceremony. BELOW RIGHT: The Christmas tree.

OU President David L. Boren said he began to prepare for an economic slowdown months before the stock market began to slide in September, and he has been preparing the university to withstand a financial shock since this summer. Boren said while he wrote and promoted his book “A Letter to America,” his ideas about the American economy took shape in a worrisome way. He felt the United States’ debt was out of control and a financial crisis “wasn’t a matter of if, but when.” When the subprime mortgage crisis began to accelerate just as Boren was speaking to audiences about his book, which covers economic issues, his fears deepened. “Things just crystallized in my mind,” Boren said. “You can’t spend a trillion a year and not pay for it and not eventually have a day of reckoning.” At the time, OU was preparing a slate of new construction projects and engaging in a hiring spree that had brought on so many additional faculty members that 100 of them had been left without adequate office space. “I kept waking up in the night during the sum-

large red switch flipped and immediately the Christmas tree at David A. Burr Park was aglow. OU President David L. Boren and a group of children hit the switch to light the tree Monday evening as part of OU’s annual Holiday Lighting Celebration. Charles Kimball, religious studies director, drew a connection to light as a representation of knowledge and wisdom during his speech at the celebration. “Light dispels the darkness,” he said. “When the light is on, you can see, and when you can see you can know.” Boren said the holiday season is a time to reflect. “Hearts are not changed, minds are not changed purely by military power,” said Boren. “The power of kindness itself is often

RECESSION Continues on page 2

LIGHTS Continues on page 2

• Annual ceremony emphasizes common spirit of the holidays that binds religions WILL HOLLAND The Oklahoma Daily

TODAY’S INDEX A&E Campus News Campus Notes Classiﬁeds Crossword

5 3 2 6 6

Horoscope 7 Opinion 4 Police Reports 2 Sports 7, 8 Sudoku 6

WEATHER FORECAST

TODAY LOW 33° HIGH 59°

WEDNESDAY LOW 44° HIGH 50° Source: Oklahoma Weather Lab