Adobe at OU

By: Connor Galvin

A creative software company will be meeting with University of Oklahoma students and professors on Thursday.

Adobe Systems’ discussion session this week with students and professionals is at the University of Oklahoma. The discussion is on Nov. 6 at the OU IT Store on campus corner in Norman from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Ryan Dietz, a Solutions Consultant for Adobe Systems, will lead the discussion. The Adobe Creative Cloud 2014 and the Adobe Acrobat XI will be the main topic of Thursday’s discussion with an emphasis on incorporation in the classroom.

Adobe Creative Cloud 2014, Adobe’s creative software suite, will be one of the main topics of discussion. The suite has been developed to utilize a classroom environment and empower the users.

“It isn’t a hands on training but more showing some new features and how they apply in EDU,” said Bridget McNamara, an account manager for Adobe Education.

This session will help show users how to better apply adobe products in their life.

The discussion session is still open for participants and will provide lunch for attendees. Those interested can visit the OU IT Store for more information or email Adobe at kennedy@adobe.com.

Alpha Tau Omega Raises Money, Raises Spirits

By Jennifer Phillips

Norman runners and community members anticipate the second annual Alpha Tau Omega Spooky Sprint 5K race and carnival as it quickly approaches.

            The Spooky Sprint 5K will take place on Sunday, November 2 from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. and will begin at the East lawn of the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the Norman campus.

            The carnival will be held during and after the race on the East lawn as well, and will feature games, a costume contest with prizes for the best male and female costumes, candy and a dunk tank.

            The spooky sprint raised over $4000 dollars last year for Community After School Program, or CASP. The program provides afterschool care to approximately 650 children in all 17 Norman elementary schools according to the organization’s website.

            208 runners plan to participate on Saturday, a hefty 250 percent increase from last year’s 78 people. Alpha Tau Omega expects a larger turnout for the carnival, too; up to 400 people, twice as many as last year.

            The reason for the flux in participation this year is due to the 3-for-2 sign up rate offered at the beginning of the sign up period. “It boosted our numbers significantly,” said Adam Wagner, senior Alpha Tau Omega member and chair of the event.

            The 5K committee began talking about programming and advertisement in early April. “The biggest difference as far as getting the word out is we started the conversation much earlier this year and got people talking about the race early on,” said Wagner.

            Wagner set the fundraising and attendance goals high this year to really motivate his committee. “The 5K and carnival work toward such a great cause in a way that’s fun for everybody,” said Wagner. “It’s hard to justify not putting your all into something that benefits so many people in such a big way” said Wagner.

            The location of both the race and the carnival changed from the previous year due to new university policies that regulate 5K routes for safety and security reasons.

            The event will also no longer include a one-mile fun run for the kids in attendance due to the new route and location.

The Spooky Sprint 5K and carnival is open to children and families of all ages. More information about the event can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/events/799502903403881/?ref=22

            Runners interested in participating in the race may sign up at

https://www.signmeup.com/site/online-event-registration/103225

Food and Philanthropies Storm Greek-Row

Four Greek chapters held philanthropy events in one week to raise money for national organizations.

            Delta Tau Delta and Chi Omega started off the fundraising with a bang at the annual “Delt Dive” on Sunday, October 19. Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Omicron Pi hosted their events on the 21st, and Gamma Phi Beta rounded out the week with a chili cook-off on Wednesday, October 22.

            The money raised from these events will go to various organizations and causes like the Make A Wish Foundation (Delt Dive), United Way of Norman (Gamma Phi Beta), the Arthritis Foundation (Alpha Omicron Pi) and awareness for domestic violence (Alpha Chi Omega). The chapters will announce their grand totals as they receive their final checks and donations, but any amount is sure to help.

            Students came out in waves to enjoy barbecue, pies, chili and the company of their fellow students while giving their time and a small amount of money to causes that many find generous.

            “I love the chili cook-off so much because it’s a great and fun way for my sisters and I to bond with each other while supporting such a good and helpful cause,” said senior Gamma Phi Beta member Lindsay Malbec.

            Gamma Phi brought in the Oklahoma basketball team to judge the chili cook-off, a fun and favorite tradition that students anticipate each year.

            “The basketball team enjoys judging and being around the student body. One of my favorite parts of the chili cook-off is hanging out with the team,” said Malbec.

            The Alpha Omicron Pi barbecue gives money toward the Arthritis Foundation, and this year they had a miracle family attend the event. A miracle family is a family that has been affected by a disease and needs help. AOII graciously opened their house to a special family.

            “I thought the BBQ was a lot of fun! Between the live DJ and photo booth it’s hard to choose what I enjoyed the most, but I’d say meeting our miracle family because it was just and unforgettable experience,” said Sophomore AOII Shania Tari.

            “Have a Pie at Alpha Chi” brought together the fun of music and prizes with pies. There were all flavors of pies, chocolate, apple, cherry and many more. Along with the tasty treats, there were raffle drawings for prizes that attendees could win.

            There are more Greek philanthropies coming up. Go to http://www.ou.edu/content/studentlife/get_involved/fssl/panhellenic/calendar.html for more information.

University Up for College Media Award

BY CONNOR GALVIN

Over 2,000 are attending a college media convention in Philadelphia this year, including students from the University of Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Daily and Sooner Yearbook.

Seven students and their faculty advisor Judy Gibbs Robinson are attending the ACP/CMA Fall National College Media Convention from Oct. 29 to Nov. 2 at the Philadelphia Downtown Marriott.

The convention will have several different sessions, workshops and other events hosted by students and professors that attendees are encouraged to attend. It will also hold award ceremonies for different mediums of student-produced media.

The editor of the Oklahoma Daily, Blaykee Buchanan and Robinson will be leading different sessions at the conference. Robinson is hosting several workshops on news connecting with readers, and Buchanan is participating in a roundtable on the challenges of running a collegiate newspaper.

“One of the most exciting aspects of the conference for us is that Sooner is a finalist for the Pinnacle award,” said Nick Jungman, the Director of Student Media at OU.

The Associated Collegiate Press presents their Pinnacle award to the best quality work from university journalists. The Pinnacle award is thought of as a Pulitzer Prize for college Journalism.

The students will find out at the conference during the week if the Sooner Yearbook will win the Pinnacle award.

Halloween on campus

A local organization is holding its first free haunted house in celebration of Halloween on Wednesday evening on campus.

The event, Haunt the Union, is coordinated by the campus organization Union Programming Board. It will be held in the Oklahoma Memorial Union on the University of Oklahoma campus from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The haunted house is open to everyone and will take place in the Governors, Regents and Associates rooms located on the third floor of the Union.

Students will first meet at the Will Rogers Food Court as they wait in line and have different options such as play trivia, watch a scary movie, take pictures in the photo booth and eat free food.

The event is expected to be feature a variety of chilling surprises and dark thrills, according to UPB’s website.

“We want students to be unaware of what is to come,” said Alexandra Len, Haunt the Union director. “But it’s going to be pretty scary!”

The event was planned with the help of over 90 UPB members, along with the helpers for the day of the event. There are four core groups of staffers for Haunt the Union, such as design directors, Will Rogers directors, character development directors and promotion directors.

“This is UPB’s first year to ever have a haunted house, so don’t miss a once-in-a-lifetime experience of thrills and screams!” said Len.

For more information about Haunt the Union, visit Union Programming Board’s website at upb.ou.edu.