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Oklahoma art community stresses importance of art education in midst of budget cuts, failure of SQ 779

After a failure to pass State Question 779 in November, art educators and students in Oklahoma are becoming increasingly concerned about the future of art education. Education in Oklahoma has already taken a hit with a $1.3 billion budget deficit, resulting in cutting programs, laying off teachers, increasing class sizes and shortening the school week; making art programs some of the first to go.

State Question 779 would have increased the state sales tax by one percentage point to generate a predicted $615 million per year for education funding. The Dean of the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the University of Oklahoma, Gregg Garns, says, when compared to other possible solutions, the failure to pass SQ 779 is troubling.

“If you think about the three places where you could get resources; you’ve got sales tax, you’ve got property tax and you’ve got income tax, and of those three, sales tax was by far the favored mechanism and so the fact that [State Question 779] failed was a little disconcerting,” Garns said.

Those in opposition to the state question were concerned that the wording of the article might allow the funds to be used in ways other than for education and also that it would make the state’s sales tax rates the highest in the nation. While there is still no current solution proposed, Garns says art education will suffer if the budget continues to shrink.

“As budgets continue to tighten, if I’ve got to make the decision between whether I teach math or art, art’s probably going to be relegated every time and schools are having to make those decisions,” Garns said.

Garns explained that one of the leading consequences of budget cuts in Oklahoma has been a loss of teachers.

“We have lots of good folks that want to stay in Oklahoma, they’re doing great jobs teaching in Norman and Edmond, and all kinds of different places, but if they can immediately leave for another state and make another $20,000, it’s hard to want to stay some place when financially, increasingly, it’s difficult,” Garns said.

Jime Wimmer, an AP Art teacher at Edmond Memorial High School, says she has experienced Oklahoma’s lack of funds for education first hand. Wimmer says that she came to Oklahoma from a poor, rural school district in Pennsylvania where she was strongly supported with funds for materials each year.

“To put it into a realistic perspective, last year I made less with a Master of Fine Arts and 10 years’ experience in Oklahoma than I did ten years ago in Pennsylvania with a Bachelors degree and no years of experience as a new teacher. This was a poor community but the legislature was behind art education; had I stayed in Pennsylvania, my salary would have been documented as $64,000 a year,” Wimmer said.

In 2016, the average salary for a high school art teacher in Oklahoma was documented as $33,000 a year. Wimmer says she hopes that the failure to pass State Question 779 will force the legislature to change teacher pay with another well-developed plan that the public can agree on.

“These art teachers are going above and beyond to bring experiences to their students that our current legislature does not recognize,” Wimmer said.

As the state legislature goes into session in January and works through May, Garns is hopeful that there will be a better solution proposed, but also concerned about the state of education in Oklahoma if there is not.

“If the legislature can make a substantial impact long-term solution for funding teacher compensation early in the session, then I think we’re going to be okay going forward. If we make it through this legislative session and there’s not a solution, I think we will lose a ton of teachers,” Garns said.

While the Oklahoma Arts Council has experienced the effects of budget cuts, as well, Jennifer Allen-Barron, the Oklahoma Arts Council Arts Education Director, says that they have remained adamant in advocating and supporting art education in Oklahoma.

“As a state agency, we’ve also had some changes in our budget and some reductions over the past couple of years and whenever we are faced with a situation like that, we try to be a little bit creative in how we work can with schools,” Allen-Barron said.

The Oklahoma Arts Council provides several grants for schools and educators which help with starting art classes and programs, as well as affording art supplies and materials. Since the Oklahoma Arts Council also receives funding from the National Education Association, they are able to continue this funding in the midst of state budget issues.

Joel Gavin, the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Oklahoma Arts Council, says that despite the state legislature having to make hard decisions on what programs and projects to fund, they have continued to see value in the Oklahoma Arts Council for 51 years now.

“All things considered, we have a good relationship with the legislature and when they are able to see the impact of our services in their communities and in their schools, I think they see the value in the investment,” Gavin said.

Allen-Barron says she believes that it is important that they keeping making the case for why arts are important in education. According to Allen-Barron, Oklahoma is one of 10 pilot states in the Americans for the Arts’ State Policy Pilot Program, which is seeking to strengthen arts education by advancing state policy.

The program has commissioned a study compiling 32 different studies on the benefits of art education. Allen-Barron says that the arts can help students focus on creative expression and trusting their own voice, while also developing ideas and learning to think critically.

Caroline Corley, a junior Visual Communications student at the University of Oklahoma, says she hopes art education becomes a major priority for the legislature because she has experienced the benefits of art education first hand.

“I think art can be a huge confidence booster, so the more you express yourself, you are getting a better experience and that experience kind of stays with you; so even if you don’t pursue art long-term, you are getting the benefits of what art can be to people,” Corley said.

Christopher Baumgartner, an Instrumental Music Education professor at the University of Oklahoma and the Director of the New Horizons Band, says he has also seen the benefits of art education during his time instructing the “eclectic” group of students in his band, who range in ages from 18 to 85.

“I get to practice my art and craft my art, but I also get to teach other people how to do it and I think that’s what keeps me coming every day,” Baumgartner said.

Baumgartner says that while he believes that art education does have an impact on the improvement of students’ grades, the importance of arts education and in the continuance of such programs in schools and the community has to do with who we are as human beings.

“Does participating in music make you smarter or make you do better on tests? Maybe. But we know that the arts are what makes us human, whether it’s drama, visual art, musical art, dance; that taps into the aesthetic part of who we are as humans and if we don’t nurture and continue to develop that in human beings then we’re going to have a bunch of robots walking around,” Baumgartner said.

Sources include:

https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma_One_Percent_Sales_Tax,_State_Question_779_(2016)

https://ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma_state_budget_and_finances

http://okgazette.com/2016/05/11/budget-woes-put-oklahoma-arts-in-jeopardy/

http://www.arts.ok.gov/

https://ballotpedia.org/Public_education_in_Oklahoma

http://kfor.com/2013/01/23/house-bill-would-eliminate-arts-funding/

https://legiscan.com/OK/bill/HB1895/2015

http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-High-School-Art-Teacher-l-Oklahoma-City,-OK.html

http://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/legislation-policy/state-policy-pilot-program

http://www.americansforthearts.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2014/by_program/networks_and_councils/arts_ed_network/navigator_series/AFTA_Navigator_Facts-and-Figures.pdf 

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Term “Boomer Sooner” stirs campus-wide debate due to origins

In recent months, multiple organizations and student groups at OU have protested the use and establishment of offensive language toward Native Americans. 

 The term “Boomer Sooner” has particularly been a topic of debate amongst students and OU administrators. The OU Sooner football team is a constant reminder of a dark past for many indigenous students and people. However, there is no solution in place yet to change this sports and university-wide tradition. 

 Organizations around campus however, are taking a step towards the change. The OU Gender and Equality Center and Title IX offices have recently removed the term “Sooner” from their One Sooner sexual misconduct prevention program. The name change was initially brought up by a group of student protesters who felt the name was offensive and remindful of violence toward indigenous people during the Land Run of 1889. The Title IX and Sexual Misconduct Offices along with the GEC are working to improve transparency and inclusivity. 

 “I think if people see the term, and they’re offended by that term, they’re not going to participate in the program,” said GEC graduate assistant Eli Sullivan.

 Sullivan said students who want to change the rape culture on campus have also protested the “Sooner” name because of its violent nature. 

 “A lot of people are offended by the term so we have taken it out. We want to make sure that we are not offending any students, so obviously the term ‘Sooner’ is going to be offensive to indigenous people,” said Sullivan. 

 Many native students have been outspoken about the controversy and the history behind the terms commonly used at OU. 

 “We don’t want to celebrate the history but we don’t want to erase it,” said Bianca Hill, president of the Native American sorority Gamma Delta Pi. 

 Hill said she grew up supporting OU football and saying “Boomer Sooner,” but didn’t realize its true impact and origins until much later. 

 “I don’t wear any shirts that say ‘Boomer Sooner’ anymore because I am more educated on the problem, but I’m not going to change schools because of it.”

 Even though Hill said she realizes its offensive nature, she still thinks most native students support the university regardless. 

 “We don’t want to sanitize Oklahoma of that history because Oklahoma is and was Indian territory. But I don’t necessarily think that right now it’s the most pressing issue that Indians in this country have to deal with.” 

 Hill said she would be in favor of a name change but also thinks it’s not presently a viable option. 

 “I think in general, the overall population doesn’t listen to Indians. It’s sad but it’s true,” said Hill. 

 Other native groups on campus have reached out to the student government requesting action to be taken. In response, the SGA passed a bill for Columbus Day to become Indigenous Peoples Day, which went into a one-time effect last year. SGA University College representative, Sarah Steward said Indigenize OU came to the SGA asking for OU to stand with them in their fight to change offensive language used at the university.

“It would definitely take a lot to change the name,” Steward said. “I feel like there will be great resistance against it. If it’s something this campus really wants, I think it should be done.” 

 Last year, President David L. Boren released a statement saying the 245,000 OU alumni would have to request the term “Sooner” be taken out in order for any real change to happen. OU financial donor and alumni Robert Jennings said he’s never thought much about the controversy over the terms “Boomer” and “Sooner.” 

 “It’s kind of funny when I’m at the Cotton Bowl especially after we’ve just beat Texas, and they call us ‘land thieves.’ I’ve always thought it was a bit amusing, so it’s never bothered me.” 

 Because many OU alumni financially support the university, President Boren said it would be unlikely for the name change to occur. 

 “I think there’d be some upset people and some happy people,” said Jennings. “I wouldn’t personally be in favor of it being changed.” 

 According to OU’s enrollment statistics website, there were 977 American Indian/Alaska native students enrolled during the 2016 spring semester. That totals to 3.8% of the OU student body. These students also had a negative one percent annual rate of change from the previous year. This is the only reported group to have a decreasing rate of enrollment at OU. It is unclear whether this directly corresponds to the seemingly offensive nature of the university toward native students. 

 The president of the OU American Indian Student Association, Justin Tiger, says he wants native students to be able to express themselves and share their culture with other students on campus. Tiger addressed how he and other Native Americans see the term “Sooner.” 

 “The native community sees that as those are the people that came and stole their land essentially.” 

 AISA has worked with university administrators to create some changes at OU. 

 “Last year we met with President Boren over some other topics affecting the native community, and one of those was the term ‘Boomer Sooner.’ The progress that we came up with at those meetings was to get education on the terms and the history of the terms brought into the diversity training that all the freshman here at OU take. I think once more people can understand where we’re coming from, we’ll start to get more sympathy and understanding from the rest of the community.” 

 Tiger felt it will take some time to make the change he and so many other indigenous people want to see.

 “Maybe 50 to 100 years from now, we’ll see some more sway on thing where people may be willing to change.” 

 Only time will really tell, but the familiar term “Boomer Sooner” may not always be so familiar.

Resources include: 

http://www.ou.edu/publicaffairs/oufacts.html

http://www.ou.edu/irr/data-center/enrollment-statistics.html

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208806115

http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=la014

http://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-s-one-sooner-training-program-to-remove-sooner-from/article_75bf0454-9581-11e6-b578-9b12b749e147.html

http://www.ou.edu/content/studentlife/diverse_communities/gec/onesooner.html

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=208806115

http://www.oudaily.com/news/ou-president-david-boren-says-changing-the-word-sooner-unlikely/article_cceb6668-6635-11e5-a43a-6b2022e9ca09.html

http://urbanplanning.library.cornell.edu/DOCS/landrush.htm

http://www.fightmusic.com/lyrics/big12_oklahoma.html

http://nas.ou.edu/native-american-resources-at-ou

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/homestead-act

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Multimedia Project #2

Source list: 

http://awsmonline.org/

http://awsmonline.org/ive-learned-jenny-dial-creech/

http://awsmonline.org/2016-convention/

http://www.ou.edu/gaylord.html

http://www.ou.edu/content/gaylord/people/staff.html

https://ounightly.com/category/sooners-sports-pad/

https://twitter.com/@awsm_oklahoma

https://www.facebook.com/ouawsm/

http://awsmonline.org/students/awsm-student-chapter-faqs/

http://awsmonline.org/about/board/

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OU’s AWSM seeks to advance women in sports media

OU’s American Women in Sports Media chapter is making efforts to increase membership and spread its mission this year. As one out of 14 national chapters, OU’s AWSM has become a support group for the currently involved women, teaching them to handle sexism in the sports media field and helping further confidence in their abilities as reporters. The OU chapter began in the fall of 2014 and has since seen many of its former members experience success and become professionals in the field.

President of OU’s AWSM chapter, Blakely Durham, hopes to create an environment where students connect as young professionals in the field of sports media.

“I think it’s something that’s kind of underrated right now because our chapter is really new at OU,” Durham said.

The faculty advisor for AWSM, Barry Orr, and his co-adviser, Lee Reynolds, share the same sentiment. Since the chair for the national AWSM organization, Jenny Dial Creech, is an OU alumna, both Orr and Reynolds agree that it’s especially important to make the OU chapter live up to its name.

“I think we've gotten a vision and we have some energy and [are] balancing speakers with social and fun things and really having it be something where all of the membership can benefit,” Reynolds said.

OU’s AWSM brings in a wide range of sports media professionals as guest speakers for their meetings. Previously, the chapter has hosted professionals from within the OU community as well as outside such as Joe Castiglione, OU’s athletic director; Sam Gannon, a sports reporter for KOKH FOX 25; and Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. During their time at OU, AWSM members are provided with many networking opportunities for their present and future careers.

“I see the young women who are in AWSM getting jobs in the media and pursuing their careers, and at least some small part of it has to do with this organization and them coming to our meetings and them hearing from the experts who we bring in to talk to them,” Orr said. 

In the future, the chapter plans to have more philanthropic activities, as well. An AWSM day is in the making for young Norman high school students, who would have a chance to visit OU, get a feel for what sports media is all about and see a strong female presence in the field.

AWSM provides its members with more than just professional and networking opportunities, though; it has also become a support system for the women of sports media. Sammi Steele, a sophomore member of AWSM and this year’s treasurer, says she enjoys seeing women from many different backgrounds come together.

“Just looking around the room and being like ‘wow this is incredible’ because I cannot wait to see, in 20 years… how well and how impactful our careers are going to be after we graduate, I’m just so excited to watch everything unfold,” Steele said.

According to Durham, the AWSM chapter has become a place where she can discuss sports with people who know and care about the subject. It’s not just females who partake in this group either; Orr says there have been a few guys who have been involved with the organization before, and he himself is very passionate about it, as well.

“It's important to me because as I went through my own career I had a few things occur that I can directly look at and say ‘wow,’ that lets me know what so many young woman must feel like sometimes when they have to come do this,” Orr said.

The women and men of AWSM have taken away many different lessons from being a part of the organization, but most agree that the playing field in sports media can be leveled just through hard work.

“I just know that if I advocate for myself and I’m good at what I do, I can do just as well as [men] can and do it from a different lens because there are just as many girls as there are guys in the world and just as many females who are interested in sports,” Steele said.

However, if a case of sexism is ever experienced by anyone, the members of AWSM are ready to reach out.

“Know that if you encounter that, it's not something that needs to be a solitary experience; there is this AWSM organization that will be there to help advise, counsel, guide [and] mentor,” Reynolds said. 

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Report vs. Story

The New York Times’ article: “Tulsa Officer Charged in Fatal Shooting of Black Driver” primarily discusses the fact that Tulsa officer, Betty Jo Shelby was charged with manslaughter in the Terence Crutcher case. Consequentially, Shelby is also a central character in the story. 

The five basic w’s of this story are as follows:

Who: Betty Jo Shelby

What: she was charged with manslaughter

Where: Tulsa

When: Sept. 22, 2016

Why: she shot unarmed man, Terence Crutcher

This story could easily be made into a narrative as the end of the article describes the incident as told from Shelby’s side. Simply changing the statements to direct and more personal ones from Shelby, instead of those of her attorney, and using first-person pronouns could easily turn her perspective of how events preceded into a short story. Then you would be given a climax, being the shooting, and a resolution, being her sentence. However, in this case, the story works better as it was originally presented, a report. This article is coming from a wide-known news source that many people will be turning to in search of facts on this incident. Giving them a long narrative from Shelby’s view would initially be counter-intuitive. A better move might be to later include something like Shelby’s point of view in a feature story, where people will be interested in and expecting something in more of a story-like format and not just seeking brief facts.

Read the NY Times article here: http://nyti.ms/2cVOUIT

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Four Categories of Pictures

1. Informational

2. Graphically Appealing

3. Emotional

4 Intimate

5. Combination: Graphically Appealing and Emotional

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OU Italy Week Spreads Awareness for Study Abroad in Arezzo

OU Arezzo kicked off its annual Italy Week in hopes of inspiring students to study abroad. Italy Week commenced its three day program with a pasta making class and a sauce competition. OU offers numerous locations to study abroad, highlighted by its annual study abroad fair, but Italy Week is completely dedicated to OU Arezzo. There were numerous events from September 6 through September 9, allowing students to attend whatever events interest them and fit into their schedule. Faculty and staff have geared these events to help inform students about the various opportunities study abroad can offer.

The first goal in putting on an event as large as Italy Week is to make sure the student body knows about it. The event has been on OU’s calendar since the beginning of the semester and word of mouth has also been very strong. Events early in the week also seemed to attract students to come back for later events. “I went to the Italy Week thing on Tuesday, the coffee and biscotti (event), and they had a whole schedule for the week…” said Adrienne Peak, a freshman at OU.

Something that helps keep Italy Week very strong is that people who get involved want to stay connected and continue to help the program grow and become larger. “My freshman year I was in PLC (President’s Leadership Class), and we went as the PLC class. We went for a summer program, and I’ve been attending the Italy Week things every year they’ve had it,” said Morgan Stanley, a senior at OU. Senior leadership is prevalent all throughout the OU Arezzo program. After experiencing these programs, students want their peers to have the same encounter. “From the start, I wanted to be involved. And then once I went abroad, I wanted to help recruit other people to go to Italy and be interested in Italy and studying in Arezzo,” said Italian minor and senior Nick Marchetti.

Italy Week continues to accomplish its goal of getting more students involved in studying abroad and reinforcing just how important it is to live within a different culture. Several students returned with positive feedback.“It was like hands down the coolest thing I’ve ever done. You learn about yourself and you learn about other people and how they travel,” said Stanley. Everyone involved in Italy Week completely believes in the importance of studying abroad and that is the goal of the event. “It’s a huge personal growth being able to take time away from everything you’ve grown up knowing and just completely immerse yourself in another culture,” said Marchetti. Italy Week is clearly important in helping people decide if they want to study abroad and if it is important to do so.

Italy Week includes both entertaining and informative ways to reach students. OU Arezzo staff members hope to provide an immersive experience that will lead students to consider the benefits of studying abroad. Italy Week is a tradition here at OU, and if it continues to produce the reaction it currently is, it will be coming back year after year for a very long time.  

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Comparison of Multimedia Stories

          When comparing the multimedia journalism styles of “Snow Fall” and “Crisis Guide: Iran”, the differences become most apparent in the layout of the stories and how simple they are or aren’t. Both styles use very intriguing and engaging visuals, but I believe “Snow Fall” became more of a watershed moment because of the way that those visuals are included and laid out.  

           When one first begins diving into the “Snow Fall” story, it appears to be like any other news article, but when one begins the “Crisis Guide: Iran” story, it’s as if one is beginning to watch a documentary. Both styles could be engaging for different audiences, but I think most people looking for a story from a news organization would be seeking something quicker and more to-the-point than an 8 minute video. The fact that “Snow Fall” incorporates short videos related to the text works in its favor in that it helps keep the audience engaged but also allows them to go at whatever pace they like, for the most part.

           The “Crisis Guide: Iran” story does a nice job of also including infographics and interactive visuals that convey different types of data, but it’s done in such a way that becomes a bit confusing and overwhelming. There is so much information packed into just one visual, it becomes easy for the reader to stray and miss the overall point of the information in the first place. The way that the “Snow Fall” article guides its readers through the information and specifically lets the reader know when the information is vital completely one-ups the “Crisis Guide: Iran” story.

           Overall, the “Crisis Guide: Iran” story had strong points in that it had much information to convey and did it with intriguing visuals and interactive infographics, but it fell short to the “Snow Fall” story because the layout was a bit confusing and the information was so dense that the presentation just became overwhelming and ultimately a bit disengaging. Meanwhile, “Snow Fall” remained very to the point and guided the reader through the information to avoid those issues; the information in “Snow Fall” was presented as simply as possible, but still kept engaging with visuals similar to the images and videos in “Crisis Guide: Iran”, but shorter and with narrow- but important- bits of information.

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Snow Fall Multimedia Analysis

What appealed to you most about the story?

This story was appealing to me because of the initial use of very descriptive and engaging interest, but after reading so many words even the most avid reader can become bored; so it was the consistent inclusion of other information in different formats that maintained my interest and kept the story appealing to me.  

Did you feel the multimedia aspects of the presentation enhanced the story? If so, in what ways?

Yes, I would say that the multimedia aspects of the presentation enhanced the story because they were able to further my interest and keep me entertained as a reader; they also helped to make me feel more engaged and personally involved in the story. I particularly liked the videos incorporated into the text and how the text was highlighted to let you know when you should begin watching the video. The story became way more personal and heartfelt hearing a person who had experienced it speak.

  Was there anything you felt the story needed, or did you feel the story conveyed a sense of completeness both textually and visually?

I think this story felt extremely complete with all of the multimedia aspects coming together to give the readers the fullest experience possible with this particular story.