By Lucas Jackson In today’s world, media like movies and television can often affect people’s perception of reality. So when filmmakers and show-runners attempt to tackle the complex topic of mental health conditions & issues, it’s important to get those depictions just right. This provides an opportunity to break down many …
By Thalia Henry, Lawton MacArthur High School As certain effects of the pandemic start to subside, people around the nation are still facing financial burden and food insecurity. Despite this, local food pantries are continuing to try and aid those in need, including the OU Food Pantry and another called …
By Jensen McKey, Epic Charter Schools Students, educators, and professionals alike are coming to terms with the lasting effects of the pandemic on their studies, work and lives. Before the pandemic, 62% of college students had never been enrolled in a virtual class. Then, in March 2020, many colleges around the country …
By Kylee Crisswell, Yukon High School Eight years after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled the Ten Commandments could not stand on state property, a new push would propose putting them into public schools. The recurring debate over whether this is constitutional is once again coming back into the public eye. …
By Ethan Dixon, Frisco (Texas) Heritage High School Soon-to-be college students are left asking how the Supreme Court’s recent decision to ban affirmative action might affect them. Affirmative action, first enacted in 1961, survived through the Cold War, 12 presidents, 22,460 days, and over 61 years before its federal ban …
Hanna Joo, Norman North High School Many college students struggle to pay for their education, often through minimum wage jobs. These students live in constant dread of not having enough money to make ends meet. And for Alyx Sabina of Midwest City, the past three years have been a series …
By Houston Williams, Walnut Grove High School, Prosper Texas The University of Oklahoma is most known for its football team hitting the field each fall, but that’s one of many groups to make their debuts. One of those is Welcome Black Weekend. The OU coordinator of African American programs and services, …
By Lucas Mann, Bartlesville High School Ashley Winn is a nurse in Oklahoma but she never thought she’d be the one needing help. Winn has is polycystic kidney disease. She is one of several thousand in the nation with chronic kidney disease. Katie Hallum is another Oklahoman with kidney disease. …
By Joslin Tinline, Plainview High School, Ardmore Though he is only months into his first term in office, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters continues to generate controversy. So far this year, Walters has called the teachers union terrorists, banned books and demanded a teacher to be removed for advising …
By Rylie Lockerman, Vandegrift High School, Austin, Texas The towers that once cast shadows over OU’s campus have slowly come tumbling down this summer, making way for a new beginning. One that allows for the past to be appreciated, but a successful future to be built. Adams Center, which stood 12 …
By: Keely Betenson Fall is officially upon us as the summer comes to a close. As students scurry to pack their totes with college essentials and begin browsing for places to stay, there may be certain aspects they either overlook or simply don’t know. In order to fully understand the …
By Jeremiah McBurrows, Heritage High School, Frisco, Texas In light of the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, college students and graduates across the nation were stripped of a chance to be relieved of a major financial roadblock in their lives. Gigi Robertson, …
By Zyer Henry, Lawton MacArthur High School After 44 years, the Service Station is running out of gas. The Service Station is a gas station-themed restaurant just north of the University of Oklahoma’s Campus Corner where you can grab food such as fried chicken and burgers. On top of that, …
By Santos Castaneda, Bartlesville High School As kids are preparing to head back to school this fall, some students may find several book titles either restricted or banned from their school’s library shelves. Book bans are not a new topic to the U.S., with the first book ban in what’s …
By Jaxon McElwee, Bixby High School Name, image and likeness has a major effect on their current and future athletes, especially so at schools like the University of Oklahoma where sports has greater prominence relative to many universities. On June 19, Sports Illustrated ranked college sports programs based on revenue, …
By Eboni Montgomery, Crowley (Texas) High School On average, teachers work 53.3 hours a week teaching and doing school-related work, according to a job recruitment website Zippia. That doesn’t even include the work they might have to do at home like grading papers and creating lesson plans because they don’t have …
By Madisson Cameron, Mustang High School With the pandemic forcing a reckoning with mental health, support systems have become more accessible to in-need communities. But gaps still exist, particularly in the same places that serve these communities. It poses the question, who provides mental health care for the mental health …
By: Kate Menz, Bishop McGuinness High School Oklahoma’s weather is already extreme, and it’s only going to get worse. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, climate change will cause Oklahoma’s weather to become warmer; droughts and floods are going to become more severe. “People have increased the amount of carbon …
By Becca Jolly, Harding Charter Preparatory, Oklahoma City As of 2023, Oklahoma ranks 49th in education. The year before, the state ranked 45th. After the COVID-19 quarantine in 2020, schools across the state have been experiencing decreases in grades and test scores. Reports from the State Department of Education have …
By Madisson Cameron, Mustang High School The pink world of Mattel is all anyone can think about with the new live action Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie. However, the nature of the doll has been controversial since it first debuted in 1959. There are hundreds of arguments for both sides, most …
By Rylie Lockerman As the highly anticipated live action Barbie awaits its release to theaters, we fortunately were fed a piece of what the movie experience will be like with the soundtrack. I made no hesitation to dissect and replay the songs. 9 to 5 Dolly Parton Much like Barbie, …
By Hannah Joo and Becca Jolly We hate coffee. On our journey to becoming coffee lovers, we decided to go to Starbucks. We asked the barista to make us a drink that coffee haters would like. She gave us a brown sugar, oat milk iced blonde espresso. Starting off with …
By Kylee Crisswell, Yukon High School Similar to how wind can carry waves softly and peacefully, music can carry emotion. The sound of music wading in the listener’s ear can be comforting. However, looking past the surface, there are often more complexities and rough edges waiting to be discovered underneath …
By Kylee Crisswell, Yukon High School Culture and demographics often shape a person’s ideology. What people are raised to believe is what people believe. What people believe ties back into how they perceive the world around them. What happens when people are encouraged to question things? What happens when people …
By Becca Jolly, Harding Charter Preparatory, Oklahoma City Taylor Swift shocked fans with the re-release of her third album Speak Now on July 7. Call me a hater, but this album has always been lower on my rankings. I don’t even know why because I love so many songs. Many fans, including …
By Jensen McKey, Epic Charter Schools “Across the Spider-Verse” was a highly anticipated film, which caused many people to inflate their expectations, and ultimately be disappointed. The movie had amazing characters, including a “spider society” where different versions of Spider-Man/woman all interacted, and worked together to keep the spider verse …
By Madisson Cameron, Mustang High School Billie Eilish released her song and music video for What Was I Made For [From the Motion Picture “Barbie”] on July 13. The somber song has a lot of symbolism within the lyrics and the video. One of the lyrics that sticks out to me is, “Looked …
By Becca Jolly, Harding Charter Preparatory, Oklahoma City “Guts” by Olivia Rodrigo comes out Sept 8. Rodrigo recently released the first single off this album called “Vampire.” I have been a fan of Rodrigo since she was on the Disney show Bizardvark. I continued to follow her work as she starred …
By Santos Castaneda, Bartlesville High School Zyer Henry believes in brief moments of beauty. He wants to share that with the world. He discovered his interest in photography in high school. He was with his best friend, Seth, outside after a basketball game. Zyer was looking at the sky, commenting on …
By Kate Menz, Bishop McGuinness High School, Oklahoma City Thalia Henry is not most people’s idea of a typical 17-year old girl. The high school senior devotes much of her time to her faith, as well as helping others around her, which is what she learned to do growing up …
By Zyer Henry, Lawton MacArthur High School Envision, a path with three crossroads lies in front of you, crossroads that will change the course of your future, for better or worse. Journalism, broadcasting and psychology are these crossroads for Santos Castaneda. A choice that he’s going to need to make …
By Karolina Yaschenko What has changed in my life since Feb. 24, 2022? I don’t want to think back, even in my mind. My name is Karolina Yashchenko, and I am a Ukrainian. I believe you already have a rough idea of my country, because in the last few months, …
By Sofiіa Korol On Feb. 24, at 4 a.m., Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For five months now, missile attacks on military and civilian infrastructure have been taking place every day across the country. Martial law has been declared in Ukraine. Due to constant shelling, civilians are hiding in …
By Thalia Henry, MacArthur High school Although there are countless mascaras on the market right now, whether they are ranging from volume mascaras to length mascara, I would like to talk about my favorite one right now. Telescopic by L’Oréal, is not only an affordable mascara but it has many …
This year for the first time OIDJ virtually hosted two Russian students as participants, Milana Khaikhan and Ekaterina “Kate” Kitova, both of Taganrog. Despite an eight-hour time difference that kept them working late into the night, these students learned from the OIDJ instructors, connected with the Oklahoma students and produced …
OIDJ student photographer Jason McDaniel shares the stories of many animals up for adoption in Norman. Currently many shelters are at capacity due to people returning pets they acquired during the 2020 quarantine. …
By Olivia Abdalla Holland Hall High School Originally started by a Methodist church and established in 1983, Food and Shelter of Norman began as a way for congregation members to reach out to their community and assist those who needed their help. The church’s way of helping the Norman community …
By Jensen McKey Epic Charter Schools When the pandemic hit in 2020, many people started working from home, and they adopted pets to pass the time. Animal adoption shelters like Second Chance Animal Sanctuary in Norman saw adoption rates soar. However, as people began returning to work, they found they …
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the normal in-person weeklong OIDJ workshop at Gaylord College shifted to a one-day virtual event conducted via Zoom. From the OIDJ directors, Yvette Walker and Melanie Wilderman COVID-19 changed so many planned events starting in March, and the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism …
Story by Silas Bales, Highland Park High School—Dallas, Texas The media has been a prevailing part of the world for years, and with the rise a global pandemic, the use of technology has been pushed to the forefront. Information about anything and everything can be accessed at any time through …
Story by Miranda Renteria In the spring, COVID-19 took many by surprise with its impact closing down businesses, suspending travel, and making most schools switch to virtual learning for the rest of the year. With school already underway at some schools and universities and rapidly approaching for others, many changes …
Story by Bailey Coyle The coronavirus has introduced many challenges to high school seniorsgraduating in spring 2021 when it comes to applying to college. The biggestchallenge may be the inability to take standardized testing. Testing centers for SAT and ACT closed in March and left the class of 2021unable to …
The numbers aren’t pretty: About one in four Oklahomans will experience a mental illness, while only one in three of those residents will get the services they need to be well. Three times as many people die by suicide than by homicides each year in our state. Oklahoma had the …
By Gigi Robertson …
By Silas Bales It is the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity in Journalism, the program the students have been attending this week. The students have been writing, working and learning all about the journalism world in a short week filled to the brim with workshops, tours and …
By Kiami Whitfield College is a stressful time for everyone. Being away from home, finding a job and adjusting to a new atmosphere can be extremely difficult. However, this stress can be elevated especially among student athletes. In fact, 80 percent of college students say they frequently experience daily stress, according …
Once a high school teacher, now an OU graduate assistant, Qwantis Bradley quickly realized times are much different now than they were when she was in school. Through research and trying different teachings, she said she’s taking the Sooner Ally campus training course to help further her understanding of LGBTQ+ …
An annual camp named for a former OU football player occurred this week in Norman to give children with special needs a unique outdoor experience. The J.D. McCarty Center’s Camp Claphans aims to provide a fun-filled summer camp adventure for children with developmental disabilities. …
A row of couches stretches from the front of the entrance toward the back. Home paints are against the wall. Shelves of books, movies and music are behind the cash register. This is no ordinary store. The money earned here feeds back into the community, helping families move into homes …
Growing up in Fresno, California, Caleb Kelly had a mentor who showed him football as a path to a safe life. Now at the University of Oklahoma, the junior linebacker has a mentoring program that shows football players paths to being successful men after they leave the game. …
As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, Safety Town is helping the Norman community in ways its founders never could have envisioned. “We have noticed that children are now playing backseat drivers, telling their parents to get off their phones or telling them not to speed up through a yellow light,” …
While it may be convenient to buy an apple from the local Walmart, where does the apple came from? And where is the money is going? More than likely, the apple is not locally grown, and the money spent on buying the apple isn’t invested back into the community. Charles …
It’s rare in life that you get a clean slate to make new traditions, develop communities and decide the future. In fall 2017, students at The University of Oklahoma will do just that in Headington and Dunham colleges. …
The Book Stall, the last used bookstore in Norman, is closing in July after 44 years because of declining sales. While its closing date is undecided, owner Susan Townly and manager Rick Hall said they will be shutting the doors after they liquidate their remaining inventory. …
Today was my first day at OIDJ, for the second time around of course. I was lucky enough to be selected to attend this journalism camp for two years in row. Last year I was the new kid on the block, just like every one else. This year, however, I …
Today I woke up tired, which is really funny because I got at least eight hours of sleep. I have a room to myself, since I am the only guy here, and went to bed significantly early. I was really nervous about today because at my school we do not …
My experience at OIDJ so far has been eye opening. I got to visit The Oklahoman, and what I experienced was not what I expected it to be. The atmosphere was very modern and it felt very friendly. It did not feel intimidating to be there, while speaking …
As the subject of campus rapes from Stanford to Baylor to Vanderbilt and beyond grab headlines across the nation, it resonates at the University of Oklahoma as well. According to the 2015 Sooner Safety and Fire Report, OU had 12 sexual offenses reported to law enforcement in 2012, 22 in …
