O'Connell's Irish Pub & Grille to close first location

   Longtime Norman nightlife staple O'Connell's Irish Pub & Grille will be closing its Lindsey Street location in January next year, leaving the local business' Campus Corner O'Connell's its sole location. 

   According to owner Jeff Stewart, the popular bar and restaurant received notice at the beginning of December from OU, which owns the property known as "the Corner" of Jenkins and Lindsey streets. 

   "[There were] several ideas that they were going to put here, I understand, and dormitories met the best use for the property," said Stewart, who has been renting the property from OU since it acquired the area in 2008 after the state Board of Regents' approval. OU also bought property behind O'Connell's off of Lindsey on Lincoln Avenue in summer 2009. 

   This closing notice, which neighboring businesses like Subway, Pad Thai and Campus Market received as well, came after the Board approved the $75-million project this fall. 

   "It's of my understanding that by mid-February they'll bulldoze all of it," Stewart said.

   OU plans to construct new, mid-rise Sooner Center Student Housing facilities starting sometime next year that will include more than 380 beds, central dining, computer labs, study rooms and a Faculty-in-Residence apartment. Parking will include approximately 65 spots. 

   Minutes detailing the project design, which was to be presented to the board for approval this fall, hadn't been posted at the time this story was written. The project will be completed by fall 2013.

   Norman residents and O'Connell's regulars Gordon Mercer, Greg McDougal, Robert Killian and OU alumna Cassie Carson have been coming together for five years to watch Monday Night Football games while drinking from beer taps at their table.

   Mercer, who has been coming since 1970 to O'Connell's, said its atmosphere is what has kept bringing him back, and isn't happy to see his favorite Monday-night locale shut down. 

   "I think it's wrong," he said. "[O'Connell's] has been here a long time, it's a place where kids can go and release some steam from all the work that's required from education." 

   Mercer and his friends said they don't know where they will go for hang-outs instead. 

   "We'll meet somewhere, we've been doing it for a long time," he said, joking as the others sitting next to him laughed too. "Probably at the top of the parking garage!"

Runtime: 1:40 

Video by: Alex Ewald and Chelsey Kraft

OU music professor is all about The Beatles eight days a week

OU bassoon professor Carl Rath listens to an NPR about Rolling Stone 
in his office surrounded by Beatles posters.

Audio: Rath talks about how perfectly timed The Beatles were as he was growing up in the 1960s. 

OU bassoon professor Carl Rath never went to a Beatles concert when the band was together as a teenager in the '60s growing up with their music, but that hasn't stopped him from amassing a collection of more than 300 books and dozens of posters about The Fab Four.

"I don't get into the knick-knacks very much," Rath said. "[Out of the 300], I would honestly say five to eight are really well researched and well-written books. Almost every book that comes out I find a mistake in."

Rath lets his reeds for his bassoon soak in a Beatles mug.

Rath, who turned 57 the day iTunes released The Beatles' music on Nov. 16, teaches a Beatles Seminar class in the spring, in which students learn the history of the band before and after the Fab Four's international success.

Rath said the class spends a lot of time on The Beatles' early years in Great Britain and Europe because the band's members worked together best in the initial years. The Beatles' success was due to their refreshing music, in an industry chalk-full of girl-group and standards music, he said. 

"[The band] was just something very, very different, and at the same time it was something that people have been trying to describe ever since," he said. "Throughout their whole career everything about the Beatles has been such a positive feel."

Since The Beatles appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February of 1964, Rath has listened to anything the band released, and was in college when the band finally called it quits in 1970. But that hasn't stopped him from continuing to listen to their music. 

Beatles fan Rath has collected many posters 

and other memorabilia of the band.

"When they broke up, it really affected me for several years, to tell you the truth, but I still listened to their music," he said. "We will always have their music. Just like Mozart and Beethoven, it's there, and that's a good thing."

In 1989, Rath and other School of Music professors formed general cover band Mid Lyfe Crisis that they call "The world's most educated rock band," which opens every February for Beatles cover band 1964. Rath plays the drums in his band.

"I think we've only played enough gigs to maybe match a month of Beatles gigs in 1963," he said about the band's success. 

Each member brings his own personal style of music to song selections. Rath himself said The Beatles' pop style has greatly influenced him, going so far as to compose woodwind quartet music of their songs such as "Yellow Submarine" featured with pieces like "La Mer." Rath is also writing an essay about protest music against the Vietnam War in the '60s for the Norman Public Library, in which The Beatles are included. 

"I didn't really get into all this long, improvisatory type of music ... it just didn't appeal to me, it wasn't what I was first approached with from The Beatles," Rath said. "So I gravitated toward anything that was melodic, had interesting harmonies, rock rhythms ... that was just what I liked."

Audio: Bassoon professor Carl Rath, who also plays the drums, explains how he would 'play with' the greats in his basement.

Canned food drive competition hauls in volunteers, donations

Students from OU Intervarsity Christian Fellowship plan their construction of a clicker pen for iCantribute on Friday. (PHOTO/Zack Hedrick)

  OU student organizations spent Friday, Nov. 12 building structures out of cans for community service group Circle K International's first iCantribute canned food drive competition.

Chi Omega's winning structure.
(PHOTO /Alexis Tautel)

   The drive, which was moved to the Cate Main Social Lounge due to rain concerns, was presented with Campus Activity Council's Winter Welcome Week. Circle K donated all of the cans that were used in the competition to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
   "We [in Circle K] just wanted to come up with a clever way to collect food for a food bank," Circle K freshman representative Alexis Taitel said. "[iCantribute] a good way to get different groups organized and excited about collecting food because they can compete with each other and see who can build the best construction."
   Six groups built structures made out of collected cans such as a castle, a ship, an Etch-a-Sketch, or an organization symbol. Structures were judged on creativity, appearance and overall presentation. Four other campus organizations, including the LGBTQ and Resident Student Association, donated cans directly to the drive.

Pi Kappa Phi's castle structure, which won second place.

(PHOTO/Alex Ewald)

   Sorority Chi Omega won first for its structure of an owl, the sorority's symbol. Fraternity Pi Kappa Phi won second for its castle that featured a makeshift draw-bridge, knight pictures and turreted towers, because the rules called for structures "as sturdy as possible," a member of the fraternity said.
   Pi Kappa Phi philanthropy chairman Evan Fry said the organization wanted to participate in iCantribute because it was a groundbreaking, new event that involved the entire campus.
   "We want to show that fraternities and sororities, while they may seem exclusive to a lot of people, we're really involved with life on campus and we don't just want to stay within the greek community," said Fry, University College freshman.
   Jen Herrmann of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship said the group recognized the importance of helping those in need during the holiday season. Hermann said Intervarsity, which won for most cans, collected more than 700 cans to build its structure of a clicker pen.
   "I think obviously it's really important to help out people who don't have the resources to have the holidays like the rest of us do," said Hermann, professional writing and film and video studies sophomore.

Hermann explains why Intervarsity made a clicker pen for its structure:

   Taitel said the event was successful because of this very reason for helping the less fortunate during the holiday season, so the group plans to have the event again next year.
   "We made some mistakes, but we will take what we learned and create an even better event next year," she said. "The most important goal was to raise food for people in need, and since we certainly accomplished that, I think that we were successful."
   For its next community service project, Circle K International is planning a book drive.
   More photos of all the structures from iCantribute will be up later this week on Circle K International's Facebook page.

Boxes of canned food lined up at Friday's iCantribute, which was organized by Circle K International. 
(PHOTO/Zack Hedrick)

"Crazy" cameraman shares works of wisdom with young journalists

CBS' "60 Minutes" photojournalist Ray Bribiesca talks to Gaylord College students about his experiences with filming combat in the field Monday, Nov. 1. (PHOTOS: Katie Piper)

   When Ray Bribiesca spoke to OU's Gaylord College students Monday, Nov. 1, he said he could count on one hand how many hot showers and hot food he had while in Vietnam on business.

   That business was filming the intense overseas combat as a Marines combat cameraman when he was 17. 

   Having worked at CBS for more than 30 years as an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning photojournalist, Bribiesca recently had his newest documentary segment, "A Relentless Enemy," aired on "CBS News" about American soldiers fighting the war in Afghanistan in September, where he put himself on the line several times while filming scenes of the conflict.

   A so-called "crazy" cameraman by his family and friends, Bribiesca said he has just reacted to the battles without paying attention to the very real dangers. 

Photojournalist Ray Bribiesca

   "The quote-on-quote 'crazy shots?'" he said in a video on for "60 Minutes," "Lara Logan Under Fire." "Those are the shots that when I see combat I always say, 'What does the face look like?'"

   Lara Logan, the "60 Minutes" CBS News chief foreign correspondent who traveled with Bribiesca to the Afghani-Pakistani border for the segment, recalled in the video that Bribiesca didn't get back in the truck during an ambush attack in a dried riverbed. 

   "You are literally being lurched from side to side, smashing your head [in the truck]," Logan said. "The tension is building, building, building, and you're just waiting for it."

   It happened when shots were fired soon after the truck had been pulled off a boulder. While Logan said she ran for cover, Bribiesca calmly stood outside with the soldiers looking for the best shots, effectively putting himself in the line of enemy fire at the same time.

   "You don't think," he said to the students. "You just react to that [scene] as a cameraperson. That's all you're thinking about ... not of anything else." 

   He said he is aware of the dangers involved in his job, but it doesn't deter Bribiesca from capturing the real stories.

   "We as journalists think we're invincible, [like] "No one can hurt me,'" he said. "You're wrong."

   While serving in Vietnam as a combat cameraman, Bribiesca was injured twice and taken hostage once.

   After his last story, a segment for CBS on Yemen, where he and Logan will travel to tell the story, Bribiesca plans to retire. Bribiesca even had his camera and equipment in the car ready to go after speaking to the students.

   "You're only as good as your last story," Briebiesca said. "As a journalist, I listen [and] I watch, because everyone has a good story to tell."

   Having worked for 46 years as a journalist, he told the student journalist his job has always required complete dedication.

   "Doing this took me years," Bribiesca said. "But that's another story..."

The Oklahoman's George Lang: All about the deep end of journalism

Working in a newsroom as a leader demands a lot on Oklahoman Assistant 
Entertainment Editor George Lang's part, as seen in this video.

   It's hard to keep up with the long, quick strides of George Lang as the seasoned reporter briskly walks between the partitions of the Daily Oklahoman's cubicles and makes his way to the disaster site that is his office on the eighth floor of the OKC building. He shares desks, as luck would have it, with fellow extreme hoarder/resident 'Food Dude' Dave Cathey.

The seventh-floor news office of the Daily Oklahoman behind the glass.

   Stacks of CDs, boxes of free DVDs and promotional goodies cover Lang's desk. To his right a Dwight Schrute bobblehead and figurines of the MAD Kid and the Spotted Elephant (from the "Rudolph" TV special) sit together — it's as if they're watching him write his latest story, a review of "The Walking Dead" premiere. With a photo of a crawling zombie on his screen, it makes sense why he'd leave his lights off. 

   "This is George," Lang says into his chiming office phone, but caustically hangs up after hearing no answer and returns to his computer to finish his story.  

   To make a long story short, the assistant entertainment editor/reporter is anything but lethargic around the office. Besides writing print reviews free promos and Los Angeles press junkets, Lang also updates his NewsOk.com  blog StaticBlog, which includes columns, reviews and indie music videos. Named after a column he started while an OU student, the blog's live music program "Static" began in February 2009 as a forum for emerging local and national musicians, whom Lang interviews on an acoustic soundstage. 

Stacks of books wait to be signed up for reviews.

   "'Static' brings together my love of both substantive rock journalism and amazing music," Lang writes in the About Us of the blog. "The total focus is on the performance and the musicians, achieving an understanding of both their background and their art, and presented in a way that all great musicians deserve." 

The Oklahoman launched the updated Static site last Tuesday for its 38th guest appearance. The re-designed page now has more accessible information about featured and past guest bands, such as a "submit your band" button on the home page. 

   As the first online-based "Static" column Lang has written since college, StaticBlog is also the first blog on NewsOk.com. 
   Lang said his so-called "blogging experiment" is simply another different medium he uses to reach and communicate with people. 

   "I think that NewsOk is an incredibly free thing for us, because you can write until there's nothing left to write," he said. "On my blog, I can write 2,000 words on the latest 'Mad Men' episode," adding with a laugh, "It's there for you if you choose to [read it]."

In this clip, Lang says professionals are still important in the changing news industry:

   After the Oklahoman went into a convergence deal with News 9 in 2000, Lang and other reporters were trained for video, and he was one of the first to willingly go on camera. More recently, Lang has been turning more to social media as another different tool, using Twitter, for example, to drive people to his stories.

   "People are going to get a little more nuance from multimedia," he said. "You can describe the earthquake [for example], but if you can include security camera footage of the earthquake actually happening, that makes it more visceral and maybe more personally understanding to people."

Lang stands behind a camera in the studio where he films his blog Static.

   Depth of coverage has always been the key ingredient in Lang's reporting, ever since he picked up his first copy of Rolling Stone magazine — which recently added a pay wall for its complete online archives — when he was 15 in 1981. While at Jenks High School, Lang was inspired by Rolling Stone writers such as Stephen Holden and Kurt Loder to seriously write about his musical passion with all seriousness.

   "Rolling Stone treated rock 'n' roll ... like it deserved serious treatment, like it deserved some knowledgeable consideration into what was going on," Lang said of why the magazine kept his attention for so long. "There was no [online music website like] Pitchfork — there was no place you could go and instantly get information, so Rolling Stone was kind of it for me."

   After six years in the U.S. Navy mainly presenting military information to his superiors, Lang came to OU in 1991. Eventually graduating with a journalism degree in 1995, he worked for the Oklahoma Daily  and created his "Static" column, whose "snide, caustic tone" became widely popular with students and professors alike, according to Lang.

   "I was kind of flying blind," he said. "I didn't know if I would find a job — if I would be able to support myself doing [journalism], but I also believed that this was probably my main marketable skill."

The first Rolling Stone George Lang read, from Oct. 29, 1981 

with an exposé on Elvis. Lang talks about the magazine's formerly 

exclusive authority in pop culture here:

   From OU, Lang went to a job in hard news at the Oklahoma Gazette, spending all of 1995 and part of 1996 on stories about the Oklahoma City bombing.

  Lang learned while at the Gazette that it was essential to learn how to cover his subjects in a serious manner, even as he moved to more entertainment-related news and eventually to the Oklahoman in 2001. He later became the assistant entertainment editor in 2004, contributing regular entertainment content in both print and online.

   "I don't want to covers something frivolously; I want to find something that is substantial," Lang said. "If I'm writing about 'Megamind' [an upcoming animated film starring Will Ferrell and Tina Fey], I'm still going to find a way to cover it substantively."

   In other words, Lang won't be the one heard asking the dumb question at the round table. In "Megamind's" case, he will probably write about technical considerations of making the film and Tina Fey's recent winning of the Mark Twain Prize. 

   So while he said some of his colleagues actually asked questions like, "Mr. Ferrell, your character is blue. Have you ever been blue?," Lang isn't a fan of such "ridiculous" questions.

The Oklahoman's Assistant Entertainment Editor George Lang has had his share of office messes. 

Lang advises young journalists to know more than they cover, referring to his review of the film 

"The Blind Side" specifically.

   For more information about The Oklahoman's George Lang's "repository" of "musings and harangues," go to blog.newsok.com/staticblog with all of your TV, movies and music needs.

Cate Main Cafe rocks hard, folks

Study: Despite increased state funding, many Okla. freshmen aren't returning for second year

   The Tulsa World published this story today saying many freshmen do not return to college after their first year in Oklahoma, despite state expenditures in the last five years totaling more than $130 million on these very students.
   The recent report comes from the American Institutes of Research, with page 13 showing Oklahoma's general spending on first-year students that comprise state and federal grants and appropriations. Further, the report's introduction on page 4 shows that both state and federal grants to these students are quickly rising.
   According to the World, research universities like OU and OSU are most successful at second-year retention, the state has about a 30-percent overall retention rate that's near the national rate.