SGA Inauguration and RSO Banquet

Monday evening, campus leaders met to celebrate the closing of a very successful year at the Student Leadership Inauguration and RSO Awards banquet.

Student leaders from every major organization looked on in Beaird Lounge as the new SGA leaders were sworn into office. OU’s new Vice President of SGA, Madeline Grunewald said of the experience, “It feels like a million bucks.”

SGA’s head of the Department of Student Organizations, KatieBeth Gardner, planned the event. Gardner spent much of her time the past few weeks making sure it went off without a hitch. She said her favorite part was getting to see all of the amazing things OU’s student organizations have done.

Many student organizations received awards such as Outstanding RSO, Outstanding New RSO, and Outstanding Student Organization Leader.

With past achievements being recognized, new campus leaders like Grunewald are looking forward to the future.

“We are looking to advance the purpose of SFC, continuing effort for RSO mandatory training online, and uniting the student body in the fight against increasing cost of higher education,” Grunewald said.

The banquet was a wonderful event and a reminder to former leaders and graduation seniors that this is not goodbye; it’s see you later.

OU Hosts Iron & Wine

This past Saturday, university students filled the east lawn of the Oklahoma Memorial Union to hear Iron & Wine perform live—and for free.

The Campus Activities Council, Union Programming Board and OU Summer Session collaborated to end the year on a high note with this one last concert. Leesa Allmond, CAC Concert Series Chair, played a key part in organizing the event. With the help of the UPB Concert Series Chair and Student Life advisers, the team came together and pulled off a very successful event.

“We all have our strengths, and combining them to serve the OU community was a great feeling,” Allmond said.

After many attempts to secure an artist for this concert, the team was able to book popular acoustic artist Iron & Wine with Cory Chisel as the opener. Iron & Wine is singer-songwriter Sam Beam who resides right outside the Austin, Texas area.

When asked about the challenges this event presented, Allmond was very positive, stating that everything went very smoothly and everyone involved was very helpful.

As Saturday night came around, approximately 4,500 students gathered on the east lawn of the Union to listen to both of the talented artists. The success of the event left great memories for everyone involved.

“Preparing for the show and the actual concert was a blast,” Allmond said. “A memory I will cherish forever.”

 

(This is Ben. He likes spring bow ties, music, and he’s also kind of a big deal around OU.) Let the Good Times Roll When Ben Rector’s concert at Meacham Auditorium sold out in advance, he added a second show. When his second show sold out forty minutes later, he called his contact at the university because he thought it was a fluke It wasn’t a fluke. For a twenty-something that grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rector has been experiencing a notable degree of success. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he has now released four albums, the most recent being “Something Like This” in 2011. This young, bowtie-wearing artist is no longer wet behind the ears. He’s starting to earn his spurs. Rector’s concert was part of his spring tour for 2013, dubbed “The Rectour”, a 32-city tour spanning U.S. and Canada. It wasn’t too long ago that he was here in Norman touring with Andrew Belle, but this time the show is all about rising star Rector. In an interview with The Oklahoma Daily, Rector said he wanted to come back to Norman because of the special ties he has to this part of the country, specifically to the home of the Sooners. “There’s actually a studio in Norman where I made some of my records,” Rector said. “It was definitely somewhere I wanted to get back to.” Rector also said in The Daily interview that it is incredibly enjoyable playing for college-age audiences—specifically because of the energy they possess. “College is a fun time of life,” Rector said. “There’s a cool energy. They’re excited to be there. I’m excited to be there.” He wasn’t the only that had a good time at his concert. Advertising sophomore Caitlyn Kayser said he surpassed her already high expectations. “He sounds just like his records,” Kayser said. “He also has a very good sense of humor and interacts with the audience while he plays, so it makes it that much more fun to be there!” Ben has definitely made his mark on the students of OU; one can only hope he keeps coming back to Norman to “let the good times roll”. (To understand the above reference, check out one of his classic hits: Let the Good Times Roll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE2YeW99_tE .) Happy touring, Ben Rector. Thanks for stopping by Norman! Did You Know? -While he did take piano lessons as a child, Ben didn’t start seriously pursuing music until high school. -His first band in high school was called “Euromart”; the band dissolved after graduation. -Ben didn’t study vocal performance at the University of Arkansas—he was a marketing major. -However, in his freshman year of college he won the grand prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006 with an EP featuring the song “Conversations”. This event was brought to you by Union Programming Board.

(This is Ben. He likes spring bow ties, music, and he’s also kind of a big deal around OU.)

Let the Good Times Roll

When Ben Rector’s concert at Meacham Auditorium sold out in advance, he added a second show. When his second show sold out forty minutes later, he called his contact at the university because he thought it was a fluke

It wasn’t a fluke.

For a twenty-something that grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Rector has been experiencing a notable degree of success. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he has now released four albums, the most recent being “Something Like This” in 2011. This young, bowtie-wearing artist is no longer wet behind the ears. He’s starting to earn his spurs.

Rector’s concert was part of his spring tour for 2013, dubbed “The Rectour”, a 32-city tour spanning U.S. and Canada. It wasn’t too long ago that he was here in Norman touring with Andrew Belle, but this time the show is all about rising star Rector.

In an interview with The Oklahoma Daily, Rector said he wanted to come back to Norman because of the special ties he has to this part of the country, specifically to the home of the Sooners.

“There’s actually a studio in Norman where I made some of my records,” Rector said. “It was definitely somewhere I wanted to get back to.”

Rector also said in The Daily interview that it is incredibly enjoyable playing for college-age audiences—specifically because of the energy they possess.

“College is a fun time of life,” Rector said. “There’s a cool energy. They’re excited to be there. I’m excited to be there.”

He wasn’t the only that had a good time at his concert. Advertising sophomore Caitlyn Kayser said he surpassed her already high expectations.

“He sounds just like his records,” Kayser said. “He also has a very good sense of humor and interacts with the audience while he plays, so it makes it that much more fun to be there!”

Ben has definitely made his mark on the students of OU; one can only hope he keeps coming back to Norman to “let the good times roll”.

(To understand the above reference, check out one of his classic hits: Let the Good Times Roll. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE2YeW99_tE .)

Happy touring, Ben Rector. Thanks for stopping by Norman!

Did You Know?

-While he did take piano lessons as a child, Ben didn’t start seriously pursuing music until high school.

-His first band in high school was called “Euromart”; the band dissolved after graduation.

-Ben didn’t study vocal performance at the University of Arkansas—he was a marketing major.

-However, in his freshman year of college he won the grand prize in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2006 with an EP featuring the song “Conversations”.

This event was brought to you by Union Programming Board.

Soonerthon Catapults to New Heights

The music is blaring, and the energy in the room is palpable. Over a thousand OU students are dancing in the Huff. Sometimes the dance is coordinated, as seniors Amy McGiffin and Elvie Ellis attempt to teach a full-blown dance routine. Most of the time, however, students are just dancing to dance.

No, this isn’t Camp Crimson. It’s something even bigger. This is Soonerthon.

Soonerthon is hosted by the Campus Activities Council to raise money and awareness for the Children’s Hospital Foundation through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Soonerthon has an impact in the community around campus; it helps to fund research in Oklahoma City that directly benefits the Children’s Hospital Foundation and families in Oklahoma.

How did Sooners raise awareness? They danced. They danced for 12 hours last Saturday, which is the normal length of a nurse’s shift. This symbolizes the commitment nurses in Oklahoma make daily to help children—which serves as good motivation around the 8th hour when most students are gasping for a second wind.

This event has been in the works for months, as Soonerthon Chair John Fraser and his executive committee have worked tirelessly to meet the high standard set by last year’s “Dance Marathon”, which raised $105,379 and vaulted the event to one of the top 20 programs of its kind at any university in the nation. Did Fraser and his team succeed?

Dance Marathon 2012: $105,379

Soonerthon 2013: *$196,034.62*

You do the math.

 

But What Does it Mean?

$196,034.62 is a really, really big number—by gargantuan porportions when compared to the average college student’s bank account. What that number means to children, however, is even bigger.

It means children don’t need to be driven down to Dallas to receive proper treatment. It means children like Brock (picture above on the right) can finish his chemotherapy in Oklahoma. It means children like Spencer (picture above on the left) have a chance at a next-to-normal life.

The money raised helps the families of these children stay in Oklahoma for treatment. No 8-hour round trips. No transferring from hospital to hospital. It takes an enormous burden off of their shoulders, so that parents and siblings can focus on what’s important: being a family.

If you were a part of Soonerthon 2013, you didn’t just partake in one of the greatest parties since Camp Crimson’s Retro Night—you made an impact. You stood up for those who can’t stand for themselves.

You stood for the kids.

For the kids.

#FTK

Sooners recycle phones in a LG-sponsored competition    My fellow Sooners—let’s be real.    Most of us are in our twenties now, or getting very close. By this point in life, there are likely three or four phones collecting dust in a drawer somewhere that used to be an extension of you; you know, those phones you used to have before you upgraded to smart phone technology. They are filled with phone numbers from middle school friends, text conversations from 2004, and many other things that now have little use for us.    So why not recycle them?    SGA will be collecting phones in the SGA Office (a.k.a., the SafeRider voucher office) in a campaign sponsored by LG to recycle these long-unused relics. The campaign is a collegiate competition between seven other universities; whichever school donates the most phones, or phone accessories, will win $5,000 of funding for student activities.    Now, I know what you are thinking, blog reader—“What’s in it for me?”    Don’t worry, LG has got you covered—with *free* stuff (the best kind of stuff). The first 250 individuals who donate a phone will receive a $5 gift card to Starbucks, and also the chance to win a new hat or fleece.    So to sum: you turn in your old phone, and then go get a tall Vanilla Spice Latte with caramel while having fun on your current phone; did I mention you’re also wearing your new fleece in preparation for the potential 2013 Snowmageddon everyone said was coming?    If that’s not a win-win, than I don’t know what is.    Stop by the SGA Office over the next two weeks and donate your old phones! Thanks for reading, and Boomer Sooner!

Sooners recycle phones in a LG-sponsored competition

   My fellow Sooners—let’s be real.

   Most of us are in our twenties now, or getting very close. By this point in life, there are likely three or four phones collecting dust in a drawer somewhere that used to be an extension of you; you know, those phones you used to have before you upgraded to smart phone technology. They are filled with phone numbers from middle school friends, text conversations from 2004, and many other things that now have little use for us.

   So why not recycle them?

   SGA will be collecting phones in the SGA Office (a.k.a., the SafeRider voucher office) in a campaign sponsored by LG to recycle these long-unused relics. The campaign is a collegiate competition between seven other universities; whichever school donates the most phones, or phone accessories, will win $5,000 of funding for student activities.

   Now, I know what you are thinking, blog reader—“What’s in it for me?”

   Don’t worry, LG has got you covered—with *free* stuff (the best kind of stuff). The first 250 individuals who donate a phone will receive a $5 gift card to Starbucks, and also the chance to win a new hat or fleece.

   So to sum: you turn in your old phone, and then go get a tall Vanilla Spice Latte with caramel while having fun on your current phone; did I mention you’re also wearing your new fleece in preparation for the potential 2013 Snowmageddon everyone said was coming?

   If that’s not a win-win, than I don’t know what is.

   Stop by the SGA Office over the next two weeks and donate your old phones! Thanks for reading, and Boomer Sooner!

Not even the freezing cold temperatures and snow could stop students Executive Branch students from taking on the Capitol last week. Last Tuesday, a group of student representatives braved the cold and trekked to the Oklahoma City Capitol to lobby for more funding for Higher Education in the state’s budget. With the recent rise in tuition at OU, many students found it crucial to make sure their voice was heard. Rachel Simpson was one of those students. “With tuition rising all over the U.S., I felt it was really important to take a stand and let our senators and representatives know what cutting state funding means to us,” Simpson said. A lot of work and preparation was done before our students took on this great task. Each student who wanted to participate was required to attend a workshop in order to speak intelligently with the representatives. Laura Shapiro, SGA director of the exterior, put in a lot of work as well. She and her team called 101 State Representatives and 48 State Senators before the event even took place. The senators and representatives seemed to listen to our students and their concerns. “I really like to think that our efforts made a difference. The representatives and senators were very attentive,” Shapiro said. “And I trust that they will make sure that Higher Education remains a priority for the state of Oklahoma.”

Not even the freezing cold temperatures and snow could stop students Executive Branch students from taking on the Capitol last week.

Last Tuesday, a group of student representatives braved the cold and trekked to the Oklahoma City Capitol to lobby for more funding for Higher Education in the state’s budget. With the recent rise in tuition at OU, many students found it crucial to make sure their voice was heard.

Rachel Simpson was one of those students. “With tuition rising all over the U.S., I felt it was really important to take a stand and let our senators and representatives know what cutting state funding means to us,” Simpson said.

A lot of work and preparation was done before our students took on this great task. Each student who wanted to participate was required to attend a workshop in order to speak intelligently with the representatives.

Laura Shapiro, SGA director of the exterior, put in a lot of work as well. She and her team called 101 State Representatives and 48 State Senators before the event even took place.

The senators and representatives seemed to listen to our students and their concerns. “I really like to think that our efforts made a difference. The representatives and senators were very attentive,” Shapiro said. “And I trust that they will make sure that Higher Education remains a priority for the state of Oklahoma.”

“I love going to mandatory meetings with people I don’t know!” –Said no one ever OU’s student government does a lot of great things for the student body. One of its biggest services is delegating funding from the university to all the student organizations on campus. The catch? In the past, student organizations had to send representatives to a painfully slow meeting where they were walked through the necessary paperwork, practices and procedures of being a happy, healthy and fully-funded student organization on OU’s campus. It has been likened to pulling teeth. It also cost $5,000. SGA, therefore, has adapted to meet the needs of student body. Moving to the W-W-W Instead of a Council of Student Organizations meeting, or COSO, registered student organizations are now only required to complete a brief training program, which can be done from the comfort of their own laptop computer. After going through the program, each organization is required to take a quiz over the training information. If an organization flunks the first time through, no need to get alarmed. SGA will tell organizations via automatic email what information they got wrong, so they can go back to the training program and find the answers. If student organizations need more help or want to real-talk it out with their student government, SGA is all ears. The Department of Student Organizations will have office hours in the Conoco Student Center this Wednesday from 2:00-5:00pm, and Thursday from 1:00-4:00pm. Don’t have time to come into the office hours? Totally understandable—email SGA! You can shoot a note to COSO@ou.edu with any questions, comments or concerns about the new program. Shoot, if anyone wants to complain about it, they could even do that—but I doubt anyone will. This program is the next big thing. A big shout out to KatieBeth Gardner who designed the program from scratch, and an even bigger shout out to YOU, Sooners, for reading this blog—go out and tell your organizations to complete their training so they can get funding! You have until this Thursday! Thanks for reading, and make sure that this week you test Sooner!

“I love going to mandatory meetings with people I don’t know!” –Said no one ever

OU’s student government does a lot of great things for the student body. One of its biggest services is delegating funding from the university to all the student organizations on campus.

The catch?

In the past, student organizations had to send representatives to a painfully slow meeting where they were walked through the necessary paperwork, practices and procedures of being a happy, healthy and fully-funded student organization on OU’s campus.

It has been likened to pulling teeth. It also cost $5,000. SGA, therefore, has adapted to meet the needs of student body.

Moving to the W-W-W

Instead of a Council of Student Organizations meeting, or COSO, registered student organizations are now only required to complete a brief training program, which can be done from the comfort of their own laptop computer.

After going through the program, each organization is required to take a quiz over the training information. If an organization flunks the first time through, no need to get alarmed. SGA will tell organizations via automatic email what information they got wrong, so they can go back to the training program and find the answers.

If student organizations need more help or want to real-talk it out with their student government, SGA is all ears. The Department of Student Organizations will have office hours in the Conoco Student Center this Wednesday from 2:00-5:00pm, and Thursday from 1:00-4:00pm.

Don’t have time to come into the office hours?

Totally understandable—email SGA! You can shoot a note to COSO@ou.edu with any questions, comments or concerns about the new program.

Shoot, if anyone wants to complain about it, they could even do that—but I doubt anyone will. This program is the next big thing.

A big shout out to KatieBeth Gardner who designed the program from scratch, and an even bigger shout out to YOU, Sooners, for reading this blog—go out and tell your organizations to complete their training so they can get funding! You have until this Thursday!

Thanks for reading, and make sure that this week you test Sooner!

This Week with SGA

Coffee. Town hall. World peace.

Okay, the last one might be a stretch, but SGA is *definitely* delivering the first two. Let’s tackle these one at a time.

Coffee Beans and Real Talk

Midterm season is right around the corner, and sleep schedules are starting to warp. Do you know what you need? Coffee, obviously—and we’re giving it to you for free. You read right, Sooners—we just pulled out the “free stuff” card.

All you have to do is roll out to Cate Main anytime from 3:30-5 on Tuesday, February 5th, and you can get a free cup of coffee with the leaders of SGA and OU’s Housing Center Student Association. Hot coffee, cool people— no catches! Just real talk with your student leaders.

Got Questions?

Everybody has questions—sometimes people ask them, other times they spew them out as lamenting tweets to @OUProblems. Let US help YOU find answers to your questions. Come to our town hall at the student union’s Will Roger Room at 11:30-12:30 on Wednesday, February 6th, and bring your hard ball questions. We’ll answer them.

World Peace

Again, a stretch, but we have made the world a little easier for you! If you are part of a registered student organization (RSO) that applies for funding from the university, one of our own has made your lives much easier. We’ll have more next week about how KatieBeth Gardner has cleared out the old COSO convention to make way for a slick-and-savvy online alternative to apply for funds.

Free coffee, hard ball questions and money for your student organizations. If you need more good news and warm fuzzies, feel free to listen to Kid President in the video above—he’ll probably be a part of SGA one day.

(Above, Sooners enjoy the “WWW Snowball Fight”. Click the photo above to see the schedule of everything that happened last week.) Winter Welcome Week makes it Snow at OU As classes kick off in the spring, students young and old return to campus—and welcoming them back is Emma Hunsaker, Winter Welcome Week Chair, and her executive team for Winter Welcome Week, putting both the “Winter” and the “Welcome” back into the first week of school. What made this year stand out from the past years is how the executive team broke out of the old mold, according to Hunsaker. “Instead of just repeating events we have “always” done, we started with a theme and plugged ideas, both new and old, into that,” Hunsaker said. Thanks to a generous donation of ice from Sonic, WWW hosted its inaugural “WWW Snowball Fight” in the Walker-Adams mall—a snowball fight of gargantuan proportions, considering Sonic donated 2,000 pounds of ice. Some of the ice even remained on the ground the morning after. The motto for the week played on people’s desires to make New Year’s resolutions: “A New Year, a New yOU”, with themes like “Learn a New Skill Day” and “Get Fit Day”. A challenge in planning WWW is Hunsaker’s team had so little time—like Howdy Week, the executive team only had a semester to plan events, as opposed to the traditional calendar year most CAC events have. “While planning for just a week’s worth of events in a few months seems easy enough, when your team has schoolwork and other obligations on top of it, it’s pretty difficult to manage,” Hunsaker said. Despite these challenges, Hunsaker and her team pulled off a successful and fresh take of WWW that has kicked off the semester right. Hunsaker would like to thank her team and everyone involved in the process. “Chairing CAC WWW has been one of the best experiences I could’ve had, not just at OU, but in life. Thanks to everyone who made this happen! #anewyOU” –Emma Hunsaker, WWW Chair Welcome back, Sooners. Start the year off right with #anewyOU! Fun Fact: Winter Welcome Week kicked off in 1974—at the time, however, it went by the name “Aardvark Week”.


(Above, Sooners enjoy the “WWW Snowball Fight”. Click the photo above to see the schedule of everything that happened last week.)

Winter Welcome Week makes it Snow at OU

As classes kick off in the spring, students young and old return to campus—and welcoming them back is Emma Hunsaker, Winter Welcome Week Chair, and her executive team for Winter Welcome Week, putting both the “Winter” and the “Welcome” back into the first week of school.

What made this year stand out from the past years is how the executive team broke out of the old mold, according to Hunsaker. “Instead of just repeating events we have “always” done, we started with a theme and plugged ideas, both new and old, into that,” Hunsaker said.

Thanks to a generous donation of ice from Sonic, WWW hosted its inaugural “WWW Snowball Fight” in the Walker-Adams mall—a snowball fight of gargantuan proportions, considering Sonic donated 2,000 pounds of ice. Some of the ice even remained on the ground the morning after.

The motto for the week played on people’s desires to make New Year’s resolutions: “A New Year, a New yOU”, with themes like “Learn a New Skill Day” and “Get Fit Day”.

A challenge in planning WWW is Hunsaker’s team had so little time—like Howdy Week, the executive team only had a semester to plan events, as opposed to the traditional calendar year most CAC events have.

“While planning for just a week’s worth of events in a few months seems easy enough, when your team has schoolwork and other obligations on top of it, it’s pretty difficult to manage,” Hunsaker said.

Despite these challenges, Hunsaker and her team pulled off a successful and fresh take of WWW that has kicked off the semester right. Hunsaker would like to thank her team and everyone involved in the process.

“Chairing CAC WWW has been one of the best experiences I could’ve had, not just at OU, but in life. Thanks to everyone who made this happen! #anewyOU” –Emma Hunsaker, WWW Chair

Welcome back, Sooners. Start the year off right with #anewyOU!

Fun Fact: Winter Welcome Week kicked off in 1974—at the time, however, it went by the name “Aardvark Week”.

UOSA Gets Ready for the Big XII Student Government Conference

As students look forward to the weekend and Thanksgiving break coming up OU’s student government gears up for the Big XII student government conference.

The conference occurs every year at different Big XII universities to bring together different student governments and share their different leadership styles. UOSA’s Director of the Exterior and planner of the event Laura Shapiro is looking forward to coming together and gaining new friendships with our conference.

“My biggest goal is that all the delegates connect with representatives from other Big XII schools and are able to share their experiences with student government,” Shapiro said.

Vice President Rainey Sewell and President Joe Sangirardi of UOSA have been preparing for this since the summer. OU has known it would host this year’s conference for the past two years.

“I am looking forward to seeing my friends and making new ones at this years conference,” Sewell said.

The delegates will arrive on Thursday evening and will have a weekend full of leadership development training and team building activities while seeing different campus locations, showing off OU’s beautiful campus.

“I hope we gain a better understanding of how the leadership styles vary at each school. Each campus’ student government makes an impact, but in a different way. It will be great to brainstorm with the delegates from each school and possibly bring some of their successful initiatives to OU’s student body,” Shapiro said.