The faculty created cookbook is displayed in The University Bookstore. The books are selling for $10 each and the proceeds go towards the United Way campaign.

Campus Cuisine

A cookbook created by OU faculty and staff to benefit this year’s United Way campaign is close to being sold out, 500 cookbooks were originally available starting this past Monday and as of yesterday afternoon there were only about 40 left. The books are sold for ten dollars a piece, which will result in five thousand dollars towards the campaign.

The cookbook entitled ‘Boomer book for the Sooner cook’ includes over 300 recipes falling under one of the six following categories: Breads and Breakfast, Appetizers and Beverages, Soups and Salads, Side Dishes, Entrees and Desserts. Faculty and staff submitted their recipes to a website that was created specifically for the project by Career services. OU community celebrities such as Mrs. Bradford and Mrs. David Boren contributed to the book.

“I think the United Way campaign is something on campus that everyone can relate to in some way and everyone was willing to donate their time and talents to make [the cookbook] successful,” said Susan Sasso, Associate Vice President and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and leader of ‘Boomer book for the Sooner cook’ project.

More copies of the cookbook will not be printed this year but the creators are already talking about creating another cookbook again next year.

Click here to listen to Susan Sasso talk about the recipe that stuck out to her the most.

A box of tea that is sold at Roscoes coffee shop in Cate Center displays the fair trade logo in the bottom left hand corner. The logo lets customers know that the farmers that made the product they are buying were paid a fair wage.

Petitioning for Injustice

Students gathered in The Oklahoma Memorial Union to watch a documentary called ‘Black Gold,’ which discussed the fair trade movement; OU is currently a 50% fair trade campus. Fair trade is a worldwide movement that advocates farmers getting paid fair wages for their labor.

The student organization for fair trade or SOFT, has a mission to educate the OU campus about the fair trade movement. In the past the group petitioned president Boren to acquire fair trade products on campus, which got the campus up to its current fair trade status. The group is currently working on another petition to make the entire campus fair trade. This petition was started in the spring of 2007 and currently has over 1,000 signatures.

“Oklahoma is a really progressive university, for example the wind energy contract and the crimson and green campaign, so I know that if students are made aware then they will want to do something. When you buy a cup or bag of coffee you are voting with your dollars and you are saying that you support what the providers of the product do,” said Cindy Woods, SOFT president.

SOFT will present the petition to President Boren during the first week of December.

Click here to listen to Woods discuss what supporting fair trade means to her and why she got involved on campus.

23 year old volunteer, Jessica Crytzer, walks Sugar outside of Second Chance Animal Sanctuary in Norman. Many students volunteer at Second Chance by walking dogs or doing odd jobs around the facility.

College Students out to Change World

More college age students in America have been volunteering in the past couple of years than ever before, greatly benefiting the non-profit organizations and the communities they serve.

“You are really seeing this call to service in the millennial generation,” said Susy Jorgenson, Director of the Non-Profit Leadership Program at OU.

Between 2002 and 2005 the number of college students who volunteered in America increased 600,000 students from 2.7 million to nearly 3.3 million according to a report by Corporation for National Community and Service.

The National Center on Education Statistics predicts that by 2010, over 18.8 million students will enroll annually in post secondary institutions and by 2014 the number of annual enrollments will be more than 19.4 million. With the projected growth in the number of college students the number of college volunteers could increase substantially.

This generation is so willing to give their time because their grandparents lived through the Great Depression and because of that their parents were raised in a very money conscious environment. This caused their parents to be primarily concerned with making money and providing for their families and instilling a sense of ‘go chase your passion’ into this generation. Because of these factors, this generation of college students is more financially secure and willing to take big risks with their future, said Jorgenson.

Between 2006 and 2008 the average national rate for volunteering among college students was 26.3% per year, according to a study by the Corporation for National Community and Service.

In Oklahoma, between 2006 and 2008 the average volunteer rates for college students was 28.5% per year, making the state average higher than the national average, according to a study by the Corporation for National Community and Service.

Since the volunteering rate is so high among college students in Oklahoma; the OU campus has created many different outlets of volunteer opportunities.

One of the main sources of volunteer opportunities is the office of Leadership Development and Volunteerism. The office hosts at least 25 events each school year and each event has grown annually in the number of participants.

The office of Leadership Development and Volunteerism has a database where non-profits in the Norman area can post a need and students who are wanting to volunteer can then be matched with them, said Kari Dawkins, Assistant Director of Leadership Development and Volunteerism.

One event that many OU students get involved in every spring is The Big Event, which is an event where participants sign up to do volunteer work for one Saturday at non-profit organizations within the Norman region.

Last year the Big Event had more students registered to participate than ever before, said Kathryn Kramer, chemistry senior and Assistant Chair of The Big Event.

Another volunteer opportunity on campus is the Non-Profit Leadership Student Association, which is a student group that volunteers their time as a group. Each member is required to volunteer at least five hours each semester.

The group was started in 2006 and only had about 8 members in 2007, last year the number jumped to 60 and this year it’s close to 100.

Many students are starting to find the program as freshmen and sophomores instead of as seniors and the interesting part of this trend is that a lot of these students aren’t even wanting to do this professionally, they are just that passionate, said Jorgenson.

The Non-Profit Student Leadership Association participates with many organizations in the Norman community where the student members regularly volunteer. One of the most popular student volunteer destinations is Habitat for Humanity, where the number of college volunteers doubled between 2008 and 2009.

OU students greatly contribute to that number of college volunteers through projects such as Greek build, which is a project where the Greek community raises money for a house to be built for a deserving family.

Another popular destination for college volunteers is Big Brothers Big Sisters; during the past couple of years 90% of their volunteers have been college age students. Most college volunteers participate in the in-school program, which is where the big brothers and sisters go spend time with their little brother or sister during school hours.

I think it’s really important for students to volunteer in their college communities because they don’t realize the needs that the community has until they become more involved, said Cheryl Fisher, office manager at Second Chance Animal Sanctuary.

A new way for students to document their volunteer hours is in the making, it will be called engage.ou.edu. This website will house a personalized way for students to track their volunteer hours by logging them into a system that will document their hours an then will require that the hours be verified by the organization the student volunteered at. This will enable students to print out their volunteer transcript when their time at OU comes to an end.

This system, which will hopefully be launched in the fall of 2010, will provide a more legitimate way of tracking volunteer hours than students tracking it themselves. The hope is that this system will better motivate students to put together an impressive volunteer resume, said Dawkins, who serves on the engage committee.

Many of the students that will use the engage website will be Non-Profit Organizations minors. The Non-Profit Organizations minor has been offered for years but it was renovated by adding news classes in 2006 and again in the spring of 2009. There were about 25 Non-Profit minors last spring but this fall there are 75.

The College of Arts and Sciences is currently working on adding a graduate and undergraduate certificate for Non-Profit Organizations that should be in place by fall of 2010. A Non-Profit Organizations major is being talked about but is still about five years away from being offered.

Some students, such as Mary Gray, Journalism and English Writing senior, did not start volunteering until they got to college. She went on a mission trip to Africa to work in an orphanage when she was a sophomore and fell in love with the idea of working for a non-profit one day.

Gray is not minoring in Non-Profit organizations but is volunteering to get experience because she eventually wants to work in the Non-Profit sector.

“I think my volunteer hours will be beneficial to my future because I want to work in a Non-Profit organization some day. I think volunteering helps you to become selfless and to give back in a world that is so center-focused,” said Gray.

Having volunteer hours on your resume is seen as an asset by Career Services. Volunteer hours can be considered equal to internships or even jobs.

Whether volunteering will be helpful in a student’s future comes down to what type of work was done. It looks especially good if the student is volunteering at a consistent location, said Sarah Cole, Assistant Director of Career Services.

The Norman community has come to rely more on the amount of volunteering that has come out of this generation of college students.

OU students are what fuels our chapter, if they ever stopped volunteering it would be devastating to us, said Elizabeth Barnes, Big Brothers Big Sisters Enrollment Specialist. They mean so much to their little brothers or sisters and they do so much for our community. I hope that this trend only continues to be positive.

Click here to listen to Keri Dawkins further discuss the volunteer opportunities on the OU campus.

The two environmentally friendly mail cars are charged behind the Collums Building which houses the central mail offices. The cars are completely electric and have zero pollution emission.

Green Mail

The OU campus mail service is slowly integrating more environmentally friendly vehicles in accordance with the Chicago Climate Exchange that president Boren signed.
The first electric mail car went into use at the beginning of 2009. The car is made by Miles Automotive Group. It can get up to 25 miles per hour and can obtain a full charge in 4-6 hours.
"There are certain things that you have to take in to consideration with delivering mail on campus, such as sidewalks. These cars are perfect for the job," said Beth Gatewood, assistant administrator printing, mailing and document production services.
In the next two to three years the other mailing vehicles will be replaced, with electric cars, as their leases expire.

Click here to listen to Gatewood further discuss the advantages of the electric cars.

One of the clothing donation boxes for Positive Tomorrows located in Norman. This box resides and the George and Stinson intersection next to the OU intramural fields.

The Little Red Bin That Could

Red donation bins for clothing have been placed throughout the Oklahoma City region including Norman, making it easier for the community to impact the lives of others. One donation to these bins has three impacts. The first place clothing goes is Positive Tomorrows, a school in Oklahoma City that is specially for homeless children, then any extra is shipped to American Recyclers in Tulsa and extras from there are shipped to third world countries.

Positive Tomorrows educates homeless students Kindergarten through 5th grade. The students are usually living in a shelter or are in some other kind of unfortunate living situation. Positive Tomorrows was created for these students because they were getting left out of the public school system since they didn't have a permanent address.

"We are trying to make a difference in a child's life, it's not just educational skills," said Sandy Thomas, volunteer coordinator at Positive Tomorrows.

In the spring of 2010 Positive Tomorrows will undergo the application process to become an accredited school. If this is granted to them then new funding opportunities will arise so that they can offer education through the 12th grade to a larger number of students.

Click here to listen to Sandy Thomas talk about what a regular day is like for a Positive Tomorrows student.

"The Fourth Kind" premiered in Meacham Auditorium in the Oklahoma Memorial Union on Tuesday night. The movie is set to release in theatres on Nov. 6th.

Picking a Crowd Pleaser

Over 200 students showed up at Meacham Auditorium on Tuesday night to view the premiere of "The Fourth Kind," which isn't set to release in theatres until Nov. 6th. Meacham often hosts movie events similar to this one and the movies that are featured are chosen by two students.

The film series was started back in the 80s as a free alternative to typical Friday night plans for students. The film series consists of two components. The first is the Union Programming Board, on which Lucas Potter, journalism sophomore, serves to pick out movies that have already been in theatres from a website called swank. For every movie shown between eight and nine hundred dollars is paid for the licensing fees. The second component is the Campus Activities Council, on which Greg Emde, microbiology sophomore, serves to decide which movies should premiere at OU. Movies that premiere are usually free of charge to the university because the movie corporations want student feedback and for students to spread the word about the upcoming movie.

“In order to choose movies we got together at the beginning of the semester and compiled a list of movies that appealed to us and then narrowed it down, the movies that do well in theatres do well at Meacham,” said Potter.

Meacham’s next big features will be "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

Click here to view more images of "The Fourth Kind" premiere.

Willie Tedoe, Phi Beta Sigma president returns from a Norman resident's home with a donation of canned goods. The canned goods will be given to Mission norman to support the homeless population.

Providing for the Less Fortunate

Forty students slept outside on Friday night to show that they care about the homeless in Norman as a part of Phi Beta Sigma's sleep out for the homeless.

This is the 9th year that the fraternity has hosted this event. The event raises awareness by having a Mission Norman representative share some facts about the homeless population in Norman. The group has also been collecting money, canned goods and clothing all week. The event also consisted of a 'scavenger hunt' which involved the students going around local neighborhoods asking for a donation of money, canned goods or clothing.

"We believe a lot on giving back to the community so it's great to have an event that people have responded to and to have something that they are willing to get involved in," said Richie Mills, Phi Beta Sigma's social action chair .

The donated goods will go to Mission Norman who will make sure that those who are less fortunate receive the items.

Click here to view more images of sleep out for the homeless.

Anchor slam participants played three on three basket ball to support service for sight. Service for sight is a charity that helps the blind and visually impaired and raises awareness in communities.

Ballin' for the Blind

The OU pool is currently closed because of renovations causing the Delta Gamma philanthropy event, anchor splash, which utilized the pool to be turned into the first ever anchor slam, which took place in the Huston Huffman instead.

Anchor slam is a three on three basketball tournament in which teams from different sororities and fraternities entered a double elimination boys or girls bracket. The winners of the girls bracket received a basketball signed by OU women’s coach, Sherri Coale and the winner of the boy’s bracket received a basketball signed by OU men’s coach, Jeff Capel. The event benefited service for sight, which is a charity that aids the blind and visually impaired by providing services and raising awareness of the cause.

“Since this is the first year of anchor slam replacing anchor splash we were really nervous about its success but the support and turnout has been great,” said Ashleigh Koerner, co director of anchor splash.

Anchor slam will continue to replace anchor splash in the future as a part of the Delta gamma’s annual philanthropic effort.

Click here to see more images from anchor slam.

Katie Chrisman, University College freshman and Lauren Auer, University College freshman work the Women's Outreach Center booth in the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Chrisman and Auer are a part of the planning committee for breast cancer awareness month.

Pink Phenomenon

October is national breast cancer awareness month and there will be multiple events set up in an effort to educate students on breast cancer and to make them more aware of the disease.

The Women's Outreach Center will put on events such as t-shirt decorating, hosting cancer survivors to speak to students and setting up health huts where students can drop by to get information about breast cancer.

"I think [breast cancer awareness month] is really important in order to raise awareness in our students and to make [breast cancer] more of a dominant thought," said Elizabeth Hart, Komen graduate assistant for the Women's Outreach Center.

The 16th annual Race for the Cure, which is always regarded as the main event during the month, happens next Saturday. The Women's Outreach Center has 40 people signed up to walk with them, this is the largest amount of members in their team's history.

Click Here to see more images:

Honors College students gather for "Conversations with the Dean," which is an event where Dean Ray, of the honors college, brings in a guest speaker to address students. This event was know as "Dinner with the Dean" last year but this year's large honors freshmen class created need for more classes so there isn't enough money to provide a meal for attending students.

Bright Freshmen Class Creates Big Problems

The 2009 freshmen class is the highest ranked class at a public university in state history, because of this the honors classes are filling up faster and are exceeding the 19 person limit.
This year's freshmen class includes 196 National merit Scholars and 70 regents scholars. Over 90 percent of National Merit Scholars are admitted into the honors program.
"This creates a need for more classes. The honors organic chemistry class that is offered through the chemistry department has close to 40 students enrolled in it. Students have made it clear that they are unhappy stating that they were promised no more than 19 students per class," said Dean Ray of the Honors College.
For the spring semester, the honors college plans to add eight to ten additional classes to try to accommodate the larger number of students. They will also be looking to add more honors courses offered outside of the college for the 2010-2011 school year.

Click Here to listen to Dean Ray give more detail about the Honors College's future plans.