The U. Texas campus was on lockdown for nearly four hours Tuesday after a shooting incident that ended when the gunman, armed with an AK-47 rifle, took his own life after unleashing a barrage of bullets and being cornered by police on the sixth floor of the Perry-Casteñeda Library.

Campus administrators identified the gunman as UT mathematics sophomore Colton Tooley.

A half-dozen law enforcement agencies, including the Austin Police Department, University Police Department, Department of Public Safety and the Austin Independent School District Police Department, responded to the shooting and its aftermath.

Officials said no other students were injured during the shooting and that a couple of students were mildly hurt during the evacuation process.

“I am grateful to our campus community for the way it responded to the emergency that took place at the Perry-Castañeda Library [Tuesday] morning,” Powers said, praising the university’s response to the shooting in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. “I extend my sympathy to the family, friends and classmates of the young student who took his life.”

The lockdown lasted almost 4 hours and was lifted at 12:15 p.m. UT was then closed to all non-essential personnel for the remainder of Tuesday. UT shuttle bus routes ran, but only in the outbound direction so students and staff could get home, said UT Spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon.

UT Student Government President Scott Parks said the shooting incident was a scary moment for everyone.

“It’s sad that any student felt like they needed to do that, that a student got to that place mentally. I think we can continue to support our student mental health services,” he said. “To ensure things like this don’t happen in the future.”

The incident began just after 8 a.m. as Tooley walked from 21st Street near Guadalupe Street, heading towards campus, wearing a dark suit, ski mask and carrying an AK-47 in his hand.

The university sent the first text messages warning of an armed man on campus at 8:23 a.m. That message was quickly followed by a warning from UT officials for students and staff to take shelter.

“He had a black mask and he was walking down the street,” said Ruben Cordoba, a maintenance worker at Dobie Center who was working on the plaza level of the dormitory, which is three stories above 21st Street. “I thought he was joking because he had an AK-47 in his hand… I heard three shots to the left and three shots to the right.”

Other eyewitnesses said they heard as many as 10 shots and said they thought he was shooting at the University Catholic Church and at the South Mall. After shooting, he continued to walk toward the PCL, the main library on campus.

Officers chased Tooley off the street and into the library, Acevedo said. Once inside, he said, Tooley ran to the stairwell and climbed the stairs to the sixth floor, where he killed himself.

“Almost immediately, members of [APD] and [UTPD] ended up on campus, spotted the suspect and gave chase to that suspect,” said Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. “I want to commend the students of the University of Texas that led the way to (the) suspect — that as our officers ran and tried to find and chase after him, the students kept pointing [the officers] in the right direction.”

In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, tactical response teams from the Austin Police Department and Texas Department of Public Safety searched surrounding buildings for a rumored second suspect. However, officials ruled out any such possibility and said that reports of a second suspect were due to conflicting descriptions of the initial shooter.

UTPD Chief Robert Dalhstrom and APD Chief Acevedo credited joint exercises between UTPD and APD for the quick response and lack of fatalities.

“There’s no doubt that the training paid off in this situation and prevented a much more tragic situation than what we had happen this morning,” Dalhstrom said.

— Additional reporting by Gerald Rich

The Red River Rivalry might be an away game for Oklahoma U. students, but the OU Club of Dallas strives to make Oklahomans feel right at home in Texas.

The OU Club of Dallas is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the Dallas-area students, parents, graduates, previous students, fans or friends of the U. Oklahoma who support the Sooners in academics and athletics, OU Club of Dallas President Tina Tuccelli said.

OU-Texas weekend is the major fundraising weekend for the club, according to Tuccelli, a 2000 alumna.

She said this is the club’s 60th year as hometown hosts of OU-Texas weekend events.

Proceeds from the events help to fund the club’s scholarship program and make donations to the Pride, Sooner Club, Alumni Association, the President’s Associates and other colleges and departments at the university, she said.

“The weekend is also fun to host Sooners in our city with great activities,” Tuccelli said by e-mail.

Since 1988, the club has awarded more than $500,000 in academic scholarships benefiting more than 225 students. In addition to academic scholarships, the OU Club of Dallas has contributed more than $350,000 to OU between November 1978 and December 2009, Tuccelli said.

After graduation, some recent OU alumni move or return to the Dallas area. The club provides a great way for Sooners to stay involved with OU from Dallas, said Autumn Dillon, 2010 OU alumna now living in Dallas.

“The club helps me stay connected to the OU community by being able to watch the games with other OU fans, and also continue meeting people after I’ve graduated,” Dillon said by e-mail. “It’s great to have a place to go on Saturdays to watch the games, especially when everyone there is rooting for your team.”

All OU students are encouraged to attend any and all club events throughout the year as well as take advantage of the club’s hotel discounts and travel information for OU-Texas weekend, said Toya Harris, vice president of events for the club, in an e-mail.

The club will provide busses to and from the game Saturday.

“For those who have fought traffic trying to get to the fair or waited in line for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, you’ll agree that the OU Club of Dallas busses are the way to go,” Harris said.

Ages in the club range from recent graduates to fans in their 60s.

“You aren’t just a Sooner for the four or five, or six years that you attend OU, you are a Sooner for life,” Harris said.

The Oklahoma U. School of Music will be presenting three jazz concerts throughout the month of October, sponsored by Republic Bank and Trust and the Norman Transcript.

The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, a jazz group featuring two sons of Dave Brubeck, an accomplished jazz musician, will be performing as part of the Norton Visiting Artist Series at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 in Sharp Concert Hall.

The quartet features Dan and Chris Brubeck along with Mike DeMicco and Chuck Lamb and will cost $8 for adults and $5 for OU students, faculty and senior adults.

The OU Trombone Choir will also be presenting guest artist and Grammy Award-nominee Conrad Herwig in a free concert at 8 p.m. Oct. 13 in Sharp Concert Hall.

The regularly scheduled OU Jazz Band performance will also take place at 8 p.m. Oct. 5 in Sharp Concert Hall, featuring music by Eubie Blake, Sammy Nestico, Mike Woods and many other composers.

Tickets to this performance will cost $8 for adults and $5 for OU students, faculty and senior adults.

Bryce Bandy and Chris Branson wanted to figure out a way to highlight the uniqueness of Oklahoma. The solution — give people discounts for shopping at local businesses.

Bandy and Branson created the Keep It Local OK card, a rewards program that gives members deals at local restaurants and boutiques. The card costs $10, and gives the buyer multiple discounts around the Oklahoma City and Norman.

When researching ideas, Branson found local initiative programs in other cities such as Austin and Portland, but he wanted to go beyond just a program and give people the tools to find local places.

The Keep It Local card began in Oklahoma City in January, and the majority of the participating businesses are still there. Now, Bandy and Branson are expanding the program to Moore, Edmond and Norman.

“I think it is a good fit with the culture of Norman and spending locally,” Bandy said.

Participating Norman businesses include Crimson & Whipped Cream, Interurban and Iron Starr Urban BBQ.

Buying local may be more expensive, but it’s worth it, Bandy said. Buying from local businesses is like buying from neighbors, and it gives money back to the community, he said.

The Keep It Local card is a calendar-year card so every year, a new one must be bought. Using the card two or three times usually pays for the card itself.

To purchase a card, visit keepitlocalok.com.

Graduate school is a big expense, but one scholarship fund is literally making it worth students’ while.

Chuong Nguyen, Oklahoma U. Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student, is in Hong Kong for a week as the latest beneficiary of the T.H. Lee Williams International Scholarship.

Nguyen is presenting her research project at the International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP) and said she appreciates the technical feedback she gets from experts there.

“My research project aims to find algorithms/methods to mimic the way human process visual information, i.e., images or videos,” Nguyen said in an e-mail.

The scholarship pays half the costs, up to $1,800, for students to attend an international conference. The students’ college or department must match that amount for a total of up to $3,600, according to their scholarships’ website.

In its second year, the scholarship has already allowed nine students to attend conferences in India, France, Singapore, Italy, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, Spain and China.

Graduate students from any department can apply.

Chemistry graduate research assistant Gopal Abbineni attended a December conference at the Indian Institute of Technology in Guwahati, India. His research focuses on genetic modification of bacteriophages and their biomedical applications.

Abbineni said students should not underestimate the value of face time at these conferences.

“When graduate students present their research in international conferences, they usually receive lots of attention from world-renowned scientists,” Abbineni said.

Abbineni has been invited to speak at Andhra University in Andrapradesh, India. He also was invited back to speak again at the Indian Institute of Technology after he completes his doctoral degree.

This conference opened up several other opportunities to Akiko Yoshida, as well. After presenting her dissertation at one of the most prestigious international conferences in the field of sociology, the International Sociological Association World Congress of Sociology, she said she “was informally invited to sit in panels at other conferences and to submit [her] papers to academic journals and conferences in Japan and other countries.”

T. H. Lee Williams said the program aims to give students more opportunities to present their work at OU internationally.

“Students do not aspire to put in papers for major conferences because they worry about the expenses involved in going and believe they cannot go,” Williams said.

This up-to-$3,600 scholarship only requires that the conferences students present at are internationally prestigious events. The Graduate College pays for half of the trip and asks the student’s department to come up with the funding for the other half.

The next scholarship deadline is Oct. 15.

Recent scholarship conferences

Chuong Nguyen Electrical & Computer Engineering July 2010 Conference: International Conference on Image Processing in Hong Kong.
Paper: “Modulation Doman Texture Decomposition”

Jonathan Mui Zoology July 2010 Conference: International Congress of Neuroethology in Salamanca, Spain
Paper: “Regional distributions of active spinal cord neurons during four fictive behaviors”

Even though Oklahoma U. got dismantled 3-0 last Saturday at Iowa State, its first top-10 competition of the year, the team is still off to a solid start. Prior to losing to the Cyclones, the Sooners had won six straight games.

However, tonight’s opponent is the toughest the team may face all year: No. 3 Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers are consistently one of the top teams in the country, and they are also one of the Sooners’ biggest rivals. The OU team is well aware of Nebraska’s reputation and would love to take the perennial powerhouse down in front of a home crowd. On top of that, OU has never beaten Nebraska under current coach Santiago Restrepo, something that gives the Sooners added motivation.

“We really want to beat a team like Nebraska,” Restrepo said. “That’s a team that we have never beaten since I have been here, and we really want to send them out with a loss in their last year in the conference.”

Nebraska is off to its usual fast start this year with only one loss, none in conference play. OU, on the other hand, is 2-1 and trying to avoid falling to .500 in the Big 12. This game has serious implications both locally and nationally. The Sooners want to seize one of their last opportunities to beat the Huskers, and a Sooner victory would also surprise the nation.

The teams face each other twice during the regular season, but this will be the only time that OU gets the Huskers in Norman. Though it’s still early, this game has season-shaping potential for OU: Win and the Sooners are looking at a 3-1 conference record, national respect and one of the biggest wins in program history; lose and they are simply fighting to stay above .500 in the Big 12.

The Sooners host Nebraska at 7 tonight at McCasland Field House.

Oklahoma U. alumni heading to Saturday’s OU-Texas game can reconnect with former classmates Friday in Dallas.

Michael F. Price College of Business will host its annual Red River Reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Hilton Anatole Hotel, 2201 Stemmons Freeway. The event is by invitation only and features a reception geared toward donors, said Mary Stephens, executive assistant to the dean.

Also held at the hotel’s Topaz Room, the OU College of Architecture will host an open reception serving hors d’oeuvres from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Guests can RSVP at 405-325-2444.

The Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication will hold its annual Beat Texas! reception from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Moroch and Partners office building, 3625 N. Hall St. It is open to alumni and students.

Larie Marie

Larie Marie opened shop in early September on Campus Corner. Owner and manager Brooke Wood wanted to create a version of the Edmond Larie Marie that would fit in with the Norman campus lifestyle.

“I always loved the University of Oklahoma and Norman,” Wood said. “I was looking for a way to grow my business and Campus Corner was my dream.

“My goal when I was creating the store was to make it have a vintage Hollywood glamour feel.”

Located between Victoria’s Pasta Shop and Crimson and Whipped Cream Bakery on White Street, the store boasts some architectural accents from back in the day.

“I loved this space as soon as I saw it,” Wood said. “I loved the high antique ceiling, the stucco walls and everything about it. I walked in and I saw the store in my head, I saw the chandeliers and drapes and huge mirrors and tried my best to create that image.”

The paintings of vintage Barbie dolls that line the walls are made by a local artist and the hair accessories are designed by Chinh Doan, a journalism junior at Oklahoma U.

The bulk of the items in the store are clothing, with an emphasis on designer denim. Popular denim brands such as 7 For All Mankind and Rock and Republic are promoted in the store, but if one isn’t ready to shell out some serious cash for a pair of jeans, there are more affordable lines like Costa Blanca and Urban Behavior.

Wood plans on getting involved in the community with a holiday fashion show that would feature other campus merchants.

With the addition of Larie Marie, there are now seven shops on Campus Corner that offer women’s clothing or accessories.

Wood is hoping that customers leave her store with a little more confidence than they came with, she said.

“I want them to feel like they are glamorous and beautiful while they are inside our store and trying on our clothing,” she said. “I want customers to enjoy their experience.”

Stash

Rebecca Bean and Della Patterson spent a lot of time traveling the world and seeing the sights, but now they have come home to share their experiences with Norman.

Just east of the corner of Main and Classen, Stash offers Norman shoppers a mix of things old and new.

“We want to encourage people to buy new things that are really old things re-purposed,” Bean said. “We want all of our items to be both beautiful and practical.”

Stash strives to only sell fair trade or sustainable U.S. products.

They have clothing and purses made in Norman as well as beadwork from South America and soap from Portugal.

“People are always welcome to bring their ideas to us; we would love to some day have a flea market that would resemble the traditional Parisian flea market with artisans and designers, as well as people selling baked goods and fresh flowers,” Bean said.

The choice to locate Stash in Norman was an easy one for the two owners.

Inspired by the popularity of the once-monthly Art Walk, they wanted a location that was close to downtown and offered them a lot of room to grow, Bean said.

“We are just a little part of the movement that is going on here,” she said. “We see the other stores like us in Norman as our sisters and brothers — stores such as Roxy’s, Birdie and Native Roots Market.

We don’t want to be the only store like this in Norman; we just want to be one great little shop that people can come to.”

Focused on making their store a benefit for everyone involved, Bean and Patterson do their best to keep their items moderately priced.

“The problem with stores on the coast is that you can rarely find anything there under 20 bucks because they increase the prices of their imported items by as much as 200 percent,” Bean said.

“We know that the dollar goes a long way there, and the more we sell the more they get to make.

“We look at our items as things that people can treasure for a long time.”

In an effort to inform young drivers about the dangers of the road, the Oklahoma Safety Council will host the Alive at 25 program on Saturday, Oct. 2nd. Norman has the third highest number of traffic collisions within the 15-24-year-old age group in the state, according to Oklahoma Safety Council Marketing & Events Manager Kellie Warrior.

“The Alive at 25 program brings awareness to young adults and teaches them how to make better driving decisions,” The program is directed towards Norman to help lower the amount of traffic collisions by young adults.

Between 2006 and 2009, there have been 6,068 traffic collisions involving young drivers between ages 15 to 24.

The course costs $40 and will be held at the Oklahoma Safety Council in Oklahoma City from 9 a.m to 1 p.m.