Clarence W. Cooper II and DHS

Norman,  May 9th

DHS forced Clarence W. Cooper II to sign away his parental rights to his children in 2007. Today, he gets to hang out with his 17-year old son.

VIDEO:Michael Runyan.  Runs 2:05

     In 2010 the United States had 408,000 children in its foster care system.  Of that number, 254,000 children, or about half, represented new entries (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).   The total amount of children in foster care has decreased about 115,000 since 2002, while the number of children entering the system increased to a high point in 2005 with 307,000 children and decreased to its low point in 2010 at 254,000 new arrivals. 

     However, if the number of children in foster care and entering it have decreased, there are still too many of them for the number of foster homes available to the Oklahoma DHS.   According to a 2010 article by the U.S.A Today, the state of Oklahoma had around 9,000 children in foster care, but only around 5,000 foster homes ready for use.  The number actually in use in 2010 was not included in the article.

     According to a 2009 audit of DHS by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, only Nebraska sent a higher percentage of its children to foster or group care. By the numbers, 13 out of every 1000 Oklahoma youths reside in some form of DHS care every day.  The nation sends 7 out of every 1000, for contrast.  In Oklahoma's last federal Child and Family Services Review, the state did not meet national standards in the six categories based on all children residing in somewhere in DHS's care.  The state was in the bottom half of the nation in two of those categories: number of moves in foster care, and efforts to reunify splintered families.  Part of this problem lies in family foster turnover.  In a five-year study done of foster parents who started in years 2001, 2002, and 2003, these numbers were found.  With the first year of getting licensed, 23 percent of new foster homes are no longer available. Within three years, 56 percent of the families are no longer available.  The percentage grows to 74 percent within five years.

     Jonathan Cooper, who is Clarence's son, knows first hand how unstable foster care can be.  "I was physically and verbally abused in a few homes while I was in foster care...  I was moved to fifteen different places."  Those fifteen homes, he said, were not all differant places.  Sometimes he would be shuffled back to a home he had previously left.  Out of all those homes he visited, though, there was only one foster house where he felt like part of the family, a place where he would want to live.

     Oklahoma Department of Human Services will be implementing parts of the revised Pinnacle Plan (Source: newsOK) by the end of the year.  The plan is a reform effort developed as a part of the settlement of a class action lawsuit.  Parts of the plan that were moved up to December 31st of this year include halving the time for home studies, decreasing the time spent in the certification process, and no longer putting infant victims in state shelters.  The complete reform process will go on until 2017.

President David Boren talks Budget

April 30th, Norman

University of Oklahoma President David Boren talking about next year's finances.  PHOTO: Michael Runyan

     University of Oklahoma President David Boren talked to students and faculty Monday about the challenges facing the university in the coming fiscal year.  The biggest one, according to Boren, is almost 9 million dollar increase in fixed costs, such as facility maintenance, healthcare, and utilities.

     Boren said that the last time Governor Mary Fallin and he talked, he was told that the state budget for higher education would be a flat one.  "But really," Boren said "A flat budget is a cut, because where am I supposed to get the money?"

According to a graph provided for the lecture, the percentage of the University of Oklahoma's budget paid for by the state has dropped from around 40 percent in 1980 to less than 20 percent in 2012.  Small increases in other funds helped make up some of the gap, but most of it was transferred directly into student fees and tuition, which has grown to around 28 percent of the 2012 budget.

James Yang, a concerned international student.  PHOTO: Michael Runayn

James Yang, a international graduate student, said that he was really concerned that Boren would cut the College of Education's funding.  "Personally I'm suffering financial problems, because in the college of Education, the final problem gets worse and worse now.  You know, lots of doctorate students worry about funding source."  He went on to say that in previous years, many of the doctorate students got GA teaching jobs to help offset the costs, but that was no longer the case really.

Boren said he could not be definite on what the State of Oklahoma's budget would be, as it has not yet been made. Therefore Boren was not certain whether he would have to raise fees or let faculty go. However, he said he will stay in touch with students during the process.  He also urged students to e-mail their representative, and have family and friend do the same to tell them how important education is for the future of the state.

Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts- Saturday

April 28th, Oklahoma City

A piece of art at the Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts.  Photo: Michael Runyan

A piece of art titled "Top."  Photo:  Michael Runyan

     Thousands gathered in Saturday in Oklahoma City's Myriad Gardens to enjoy and sell art of all kinds in the annual Oklahoma City Festival of the Arts. 

     The festival this year contains over 500 visual artists and 300 entertainers.  The projected attendance for the event is 750,000 people.  Real numbers are not yet available, since as of press time the festival is still going on.

     The  event has been held annually for more than 40 year.   It currently resides in the newly renovated Myriad gardens, but didn't always do so.  Tim Rhodes, an University of Oklahoma alumni, said the festival started out on the west lawn of city hall, about a half block square of area. Eventually, it moved to the Myriad Gardens, with an area of about four blocks.

Darby Perrin has painted aviation art for about 30 years and has displayed his art at many other festivals, but this is his first time appearing at the Oklahoma Festival of The Arts.  "It's a nice setup and everything, (but) sales are iffy." he said.  He elaborated that he had not sold any originals, but had seen several of his prints go by and would know how many of those had sold at the end of the day.  The prints are sold in a separate booth at the festival.

Monday April 30th, the Arts council will present "Art moves," as part of Arts Day at the Capitol.

How to make a reel

University of Oklahoma Professor Kyle Bergersen.  Photo: Michael Runyan

Norman, April 25th


    Kyle Bergersen talked to students at a meeting of the Oklahoma College Broadcaster’s Club about the do's and dont's of reel-making Wednesday night in Gaylord Hall.  The talk, which lasted about 30 minutes, consisted of 2/3's lecture, along with a few sample reels.

     A reel is a video of short clips demonstrating one’s own work.  The kind of clips vary by the desired job.  Also, reels are not only limited to broadcast, but are also popular in demonstrating film and animation skills, among other things.

     Students seemed to enjoy the talk and accompanying video.  Cailey Dougherty, the groups president for the upcoming year, said "It was really interesting.  I think I would probably want to take one of his classes in the future."

    Bergersen said that the main thing to remember when creating a reel was that "most of the people who will be watching the reel will only watch enough to make up their minds."  This time is usually 30 seconds or less, so it is critical to put the best work in the front of the reel.

     The Meeting was the last one of the semester for the OCB club.  They may be reached via their facebook page.

RUF/NEKS smoker

The RUF/NEKS smoker.  PHOTO: Michael Runyan

A close up of the sign.  PHOTO: Michael Runyan

     Friday the University of Oklahohoma RUF/NEKS held their annual smoker, an event during which they and their sister organization, the LIL' SIS's, recruit new members.  The smoker is usually a barbeque as well, but not this year.  RUF/NEKS President Bobby Nash. said that issues with getting organized forced that part to be dropped.

     The all-male spirit squad of 11 was seeking five additional members for it's 2012-2013 run, despite the fact that it was raining.  The group has been active at OU for 96 years.

      Nash said that the name RUF/NEKS originates from the time when former some varsity football players appeared at a basketball game and "they were being really rowdy, an elderly woman just yelled at them and refereed to them as a bunch of rufneks." After that, the name stuck.

     When asked what it was like to be a lil' Sis, Cassandra Nguyen talked about riding in the front of the Sooner Schooner.  "It's just like  you're going through this  roller coaster in a way.  It's like more fun than a roller coaster."

     Next for the RUF/NEKS is the OU spring football game.  For more information about them, click here.

Medival fair

Medieval fair: Saturday

     In this short video, we see a few of the sights and sounds of the Norman Medieval Fair.  Included in this video is some great music and people.  The video was taken Saturday March 31, 2012.

VIDEO: by Michael Runyan.  Runs 1:04


     Norman played host to thousands of people this last weekend as the Medieval Fair visited town.  Many a lord and lady came and partook of the music, food, and sights contained by Reaves Park.
 
      Held annually since 1977, the Medieval fair has been a staple in the Norman community for quite some time.  Last year's fair drew a estimated 300,000people.

    Over its history the Medieval fair has expanded several times and moved a couple of time.  For the first couple years, the event was held on the south oval and lasted a single day.  After that, the event was moved to the beside the duck pond and another day was added.  In 1993 the event expanded to 3 days to accommodate student participation.  Finally, in 2003, the Medieval Fair moved a couple of blocks over to Reaves Park, where it currently resides.

           Dante Threatt, who came for his third year to the fair said that he brings his family to the Medieval becuase he feels it is good for his kids, and that at the fair they got to see things that they normally would not have gotten to see, including swords, blacksmiths, and jousting.  "It's just a very cool kind of place.  Very family oriented."

     Next up for the City of Norman is the Norman Music Festival April 26-28.  More information about the music festival can be found here.

     Here is an interview with the resident Norman Troll, as a reward for reading all the way to the bottom of this page.

VIDEO: by Michael Runyan. Runs 1:04

A day in the life of Antoinette Castillo

     Antoinette Castillo is always learning.  Affectionately called Toni by her students, Castillo is a Professor at Rose State College who teaches Philosophy and English.  She holds a M.A. in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy from the University of Oklahoma, a M.Ed. in Multicultural, Bilingual and English as a Second Language from the University of Central Oklahoma, and a B.A. in English from Oklahoma City University.   Currently she is an unclassified graduate student at the University of Oklahoma.  What that means in plain English is that she is not taking classes at OU for a degree, but rather for the knowledge she gains from them.

     Castillo often attends lectures at OU, but the classes she takes there are more sporadic, the ones that catch her eye.  She is especially interested in non-western philosophy currently, because it doesn't have such a obsessive focus on reason.  She explained “I'm not at a place in my life where I can have discussions about philosophy where I'm not doing the teaching and the lecturing, that is with people who know more than I do, so this gives me an opportunity to be challenged.”  Also, the classes help her to continually grow mentally and spiritually, one of her life goals.   

     In order to offset the cost of taking classes at the University of Oklahoma, Castillo teaches an overload at Rose State, one class more than she usually teaches.  Castillo makes around $30,000 a year.  The University of Oklahoma charges around $310 per credit hour for graduate students.   Two of her children also go to the University of Oklahoma, “So OU is getting a lot of our money right now.”  The drive over from Rose State in Midwest City to Norman is not that bad, but the drive back to her house on the opposite side of Oklahoma City when she has a late class can be rather challenging.  Investing in an OU class involves giving up some of would normally be preparation for the classes she teaches, and some personal time.

     Castillo is part of a group known as non-traditional students.  Non-traditional students ages 35 and over students made up 2.1% of the educational system in 2009, or 3,383,000 by number according to a report by The US Census Bureau.  For reference, that same year, 56.5% or 73,905,000 of persons 3 to 34 years were enrolled in some kind of school.

     Professor Castillo has no idea when she is retiring, but said she thinks it will be when she longer given any value to her students and instead is merely part of the machine.

     In this video, we follow Professor Antoinette Castillo through her day, starting at her office, going to teach a class, going to the University of Oklahoma for her class she takes there, and then returning home.   Castillo takes classes at OU to increase her knowledge base for herself and her students.  Castillo is a professor at Rose State College in Midwest City.

VIDEO: Michael Runyan, Runs 1:43