Applications for OIDJ 2016 will be available around November 2015. Please check back on this site for the application. High school students who will be sophomores – graduating seniors in fall 2016 are eligible.
The quaint corners of the Midtown district in Oklahoma City are mostly quiet during the day. But one night a month, from the spring to the fall, the H&8th Night Market brings the downtown area alive with vibrant food trucks and live music. The nickname H&8th stands for the intersection where the event takes place, between Hudson and northwest 8th street. “The point of all this is to create an Oklahoma City night on the town,” said Brian Bergman, event coordinator for H&8th. “In the four-plus years we’ve been an event, Hudson Street was empty businesses, now they are full.”…
As recently as 2008, Oklahomans were able to witness hundreds or even thousands of monarch butterflies on their journey south for the winter. However, last year festivalgoers at Monarch in the Park in Blanchard, Oklahoma, only saw a few butterflies. One local factor contributing to the population decrease of monarchs is the killing of milkweed plants in the Midwest, particularly with herbicides and roadside mowing. Global factors include deforestation and urban development, as well as biofuel development. These factors are “indicators that we are poisoning our environment,” said Robert Robbins, a Smithsonian curator of Lepidoptera — or the order of…
Renewed debate about Native American-themed mascots is rippling from the Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to the one in Oklahoma City. Prompted in part by the legal fight to force the renaming of Washington’s National Football League team, school mascots are getting attention from the public, and questions as to whether or not schools should change those mascots are asked more frequently. Closer to home and after weeks of controversial debate, Capitol Hill High School this spring abandoned the Redskins nickname its sports team had played under for 88 years. “We started to notice that schools in other surrounding areas…
“For many years the animals had no control of fire. They, of course, had always seen the forest fires and the lightning. They knew that the fire was powerful, beautiful and dangerous. … The little water spider watched the others, and she quietly thought, ‘All these animals want the fire badly, but something is missing. The thing is preparation. We must prepare if we are really to get and keep the fire. …’ She needed something to carry out the fire so it wouldn’t get wet, so she wove a little basket to carry the fire. She carried the little basket…
Working hard on a story only to have the content scrapped before publication is something former Norman High School student Makenzie Millsap is familiar with. Millsap wrote an article about the popular but sexually explicit book “50 Shades of Grey” by E.L. James for her high school yearbook, but school’s Principal Scott Beck removed the story before it could be published. Millsap said she knew the story might be controversial, but she thought she could “write around the parts that were bad.” “My main goal was to write an interesting story on how big the movie got and how crazy…
Alan Espinosa, 15, is a Del City High School sophomore who plays soccer and clarinet in band. Like many teens, he has a cellphone and considers himself “obsessed” with it. Espinosa said he checks his iPhone constantly, up using it for about 10 hours a day. He said the extended use has led to “headaches and a tingling sensation in my hand while I’m on it for long period of time.” He is not alone; in fact, there’s even a name for his affliction. Among physical therapists, “there is a new term: ‘game-keeper’s thumb’,” said Matt Miller, a physical therapist…
Kaela Moore smiled all the time. Unbeknown to many, the Northeastern State University student experienced five to eight panic attacks a day. Crippling depression once brought her to a place “no one wants to go,” she said. Moore, now 19 and living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, attempted suicide during her freshman year of college. Although television sensationalizes college life in a grand and flawless manner, Moore’s reality proved somber. She said she often contemplated killing herself. In a sea of statistics, her struggle stands as one individual in a national mental health epidemic across college campuses. According to the World Health…
Ed Kelley knew his calling at a young age. From working at a small-town newspaper to taking over as the new dean of his alma mater at Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma, he constantly yearns to meet new people. Although Kelley first started writing about sports, he also has an interest in politics and history. By age 8, Kelley knew the presidents in order, and his family constantly encouraged him to read about politics. “I really liked history, studying politics; I liked sports too. My parents obviously encouraged me to read and…
Campus Corner, which is right across the street from the University of Oklahoma and features more than 70 businesses, has been a popular destination for more than a century. Even in an era when chain businesses are increasingly prevalent across Oklahoma, Campus Corner still keeps it predominately local. The area features 10 corporate chain restaurants compared to four locally owned chain and 18 non-chain restaurants. The mix keeps it full of loyal customers during both the summer and school year. “I like to go to local restaurants,” incoming freshman Zach Armendariz said. “It’s more personal. People start a restaurant because…