College freshmen have to decide what to take to school
University of Oklahoma resident assistant Beth Anne Underwood holds up some of her essential items in her room at Couch Tower. (Photo by Steve Sisney/The Oklahoman)
As many of you know, I’m occasionally called upon to step away briefly from the entertainment brief and contribute stories from other areas to The Oklahoman’s special sections and projects. This story is from today’s Collegebound special section for next year’s college freshmen. I’m posting it here in the hopes some of you might find it useful or interesting.
Will it stay or will it go?
College freshmen graduate from high school belongings
Once they’ve picked the right school, selected their class schedules and agonized over a major, college freshman have another decision-making process to navigate: what to take along and what to leave behind when moving into their new home-away-from-home.
“I brought way too much stuff to the dorms. … I ended up taking like two big tubs back home,” recalled Stephanie Bidelspach, now a junior physical geography major at the University of Oklahoma. “Dorms are rather small, especially when there are two people living in them.”
Incoming freshmen often worry so much about taking essential items that they overpack. When Bidelspach first moved from Chickasha to OU’s Couch Tower, she toted along too many clothes, sheets and towels. And she wasn’t alone.
“Some of the people that I roomed with were from at least 200 miles away, and they too brought a lot of stuff that they really didn’t need and ended up having to leave it in their car until they went home next,” she said.
New students should remember that they will have to haul everything they bring to their room, and on moving day, elevators may be hard to catch. They also will accumulate more stuff during the course of the school year.
In the excitement of moving away from home, students shouldn’t forget to stock up on necessary school supplies, along with an umbrella for the inevitable cross-campus walk in the rain.
“I went through a lot of notebooks … and pencils and pens do disappear,” Bidelspach said.
The most useful item Bidelspach said she brought along her freshman year was her laptop.
“There’s a lot of stuff on the Internet that you have to do for school,” she said. “It gets really inconvenient when you go down to a (computer) lab and there’s not a computer available.”
She also suggested that freshmen invest in a mini-refrigerator, coffee pot, microwave and storage shelves or boxes for snacks. Stocking drinks and munchies from the supermarket is much cheaper than constantly hitting the vending machines, campus store or coffee shop.
“I did a lot of cooking in my dorm with a microwave. There’s a lot of recipes out there that you can use a microwave for instead of an oven, and that saved a whole bunch of money,” said Bidelspach, who now lives in a house off campus.
While microwaves and coffeepots are permitted, Beth Anne Underwood, a resident assistant at OU’s Couch Tower, cautioned students against turning their rooms into a restaurant. Indoor grills and mini-stovetops aren’t allowed, and neither are alcoholic beverages.
“You can’t bring candles or anything with an open flame,” added Underwood, a junior majoring in social sciences and organizational students.
The Alex High School graduate advised incoming students to buy storage devices that will help them maximize their small residence hall space. A shoe rack that hangs on the back of a door, squat plastic tubs that can fit under a bed and shelves or cubbies to stow toiletries in a shared bathroom can keep roommates and suitemates organized.
Another essential item no college student should leave home without: their health insurance card. Underwood, who also works in the campus health clinic’s pharmacy, said parents should request an extra card from their insurance company before school starts.
“Students will come in and they’ll just be like, ‘Yeah, I have insurance, it’s through my parents.’ And then we’re like, ‘Well, do you have your card?’ ‘No, you should be able to look it up, can’t you?’ No, we can’t,” Underwood said. “Even a copy would be better than nothing … as long as they have both sides of the card copied.”
But OU freshmen can leave at home the often-recommended rolls of quarters for laundry. The campus washers and dryers don’t take coins; students swipe their ID card and use their debit account to operate the machines.
“All the kids that come with quarters get really angry. … It’s like, ‘Sorry, go spend them at McDonald’s because they’re not going to do anything for you here,” Underwood said with a laugh.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on March 28
Jennifer Koch Wells as Elizabeth Bennett and Tyler Woods as Fitzwilliam Darcy in Reduxion Theatre Company’s “Pride and Prejudice.”
Today’s featured event:
See Reduxion Theatre Company’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” at 8 p.m. today at City Arts Center Theater at State Fair Park. It’s your last chance to see the second production of the theater company’s inaugural season in Oklahoma City. Reduxion Theatre Company’s Managing Director Erin Woods directs from her original script, and it’s the world premiere of her version of the classic Austen story.
For more information, call 651-3191 or go to www.reduxiontheatre.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Oscars Best Picture Showcase showing at AMC Quail Springs
“The Reader”
The AMC Quail Springs Mall 24 theater, 2501 W Memorial Rd., is participating Saturday in AMC’s 2009 Best Picture Showcase, which offers people the chance to see in one day all five films nominated for best picture at the Oscars.
The Best Picture Showcase is set for Saturday, with the first movie starting at 10:30 a.m.
The Oscars ceremony will air live at 7 p.m. Sunday from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. You can follow along with the awards show here during my live-blog of the events.
The best picture nominees are “The Reader,” “Milk,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Frost/Nixon.” They will play one after another in a dedicated auditorium throughout the day, according to a news release.
Here is the schedule:
- “Milk” at 10:30 a.m. (ends at 12:38 p.m.)
- “The Reader” at 1:05 p.m. (ends at 3:07 p.m.)
- “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” at 3:45 p.m. (ends at 6:33 p.m.)
- “Slumdog Millionaire” at 7:15 p.m. (ends at 9:15 p.m.)
- “Frost/Nixon” at 9:45 p.m. (ends at 11:47 p.m.)
Guests can purchase an exclusive AMC Best Picture Showcase All-Day Pass for $30, or $25 for AMC MovieWatcher members. That price includes admission to all five films, a souvenir lanyard and a large popcorn with unlimited refills for the entire day. (AMC places the value at more than $50 to see the films and get the lanyard and popcorn.)
The lanyard will feature artwork from the five nominated films and give guests the freedom to come and go throughout the event as they please.
This is the third year AMC has offered the Best Picture Showcase.
For more information, go to www.amctheatres.com.
-BAM
Book review: Salvation in Death
From Sunday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
“Salvation in Death” advances series
J.D. Robb’s series of futuristic police thrillers keeps going strong with the 27th installment, “Salvation in Death” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $25.95, 353).
Set in 2060, the latest “In Death” book from Robb (a pen name for romance novelist Nora Roberts) has hard-nosed homicide cop Lt. Eve Dallas and her peppy partner Detective Peabody trying to solve a priest’s poisoning death at St. Cristobal’s Catholic Church in New York’s Spanish Harlem.
But the coroner’s examination yields some puzzling results: faded scars from knife wounds, signs of extensive plastic surgery and, most telling, a removed tattoo, which when reconstructed, reveals a gang connection.
Dallas begins to suspect that Father Flores wasn’t the holy man he made himself out to be, but an imposter. The conclusion leaves her with more than one mystery: What was Flores true identity and why was he posing as a priest? What happened to the real Father Flores? And who killed the phony parishioner?
As far as whodunits go, “Salvation in Death” stands as one of the strongest in the series, with layers of suspense that kept me guessing for much of the novel.
But the book doesn’t build much on the great characters and relationships that make the series so fulfilling; it especially seems to skimp on interplay between Dallas and her billionaire husband Roake. Outside Dallas’ discomfort with religion, a theme Robb has explored before, the book doesn’t continue the author’s steady streak of advancing the genuine, relatable characters.
Still, Robb’s “In Death” series remains one worth following, which is good news, since the novelist has two more books in the series set to come out this year.
- Brandy McDonnell
Happy Birthday, BAM’s Blog!
I’m please to announce that today marks the one-year anniversary of BAM’s Blog!
The blog started Feb. 14, 2008, with my first post: a list of recommended Valentine’s Day movies. An updated and modified version of the post appeared in The Oklahoman and here on the blog Friday.
Since then, the blog has featured more than 2,060 posts and 1,140 comments in 65 different categories. I’ve live-blogged the Oscars, “American Idol” finale, the Golden Globes and the three major country music shows: The CMT Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards and Country Music Association Awards.
Besides regular stories, reviews, features and videos, I’ve invited you to celebrate a variety of special days of extended coverage, including Carrie Underwood Day, “Twilight” Day, Metallica Day, Jonas Brothers Day and Eddie Izzard Week.
BAM’s Blog finished 2008 as The Oklahoman and NewsOK’s top blog of the year. And I have you, my loyal readers, to thank for the success. Thank you so much for reading my ramblings, commenting on my musings and adding the blog to your favorites or blogroll. I appreciate your support.
There’s plenty more to come as we enter Year 2, with my second Oscars live-blog coming up Sunday and an ACMs live-blog planned for April. That’s in addition to the usual slew of daily stories, news updates and event listings.
If you have suggestions for the blog, please feel free to share them in the comments.
Here’s to another great year!
-BAM
Greg Behrendt is just not that into Valentine’s Day
The film adaptation of Greg Behrendt’s best-selling relationship guide “He’s Just Not That into You” opened Friday, conveniently timed as a date movie for Valentine’s Day.
But Behrendt, who co-wrote the book with Liz Tuccillo, just isn’t into the holiday.
“It sets up a false expectation and expectation is where we always go wrong in relationships and then people use it as a standard bearer really more to like, ‘Well, if you don’t get me this on this particular day …’Those sort of situations are what break relationships down, so I’m not a fan of it really,” he said in a recent press conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
How does he spend Feb. 14?
“I ignore my wife,” he joked. “I don’t know. It just sort of comes and goes. I love my wife. I send her flowers just ‘cause. It sounds corny but we just don’t … she doesn’t have an expectation. She doesn’t want it. So, we either do something because we were motivated to eat sugar or we don’t.”
-BAM
Grammys to be handed out Sunday night
Keith Urban (Associated Press photo)
Two-time Grammy winner and current Grammy nominee Terence Blanchard, Grammy winner and 2009 MusiCares Person of the Year Neil Diamond, current nominee M.I.A., Grammy winner Smokey Robinson, current nominee Robin Thicke, 2009 Trustees Award recipient Allen Toussaint, 25-time Grammy winner and current nominee Stevie Wonder, along with a special tribute to Bo Diddley featuring current nominees Buddy Guy, B.B. King, John Mayer and Keith Urban, have been added to the list of performances for Sunday night’s star-studded Grammy Awards.
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be broadcast live from Staples Center in Los Angeles from 7 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
Actress Kate Beckinsale, the reunited band Blink 182, eight-time Grammy winner and current nominee Natalie Cole, actress/musician Zooey Deschanel, Grammy winner Sean “Diddy” Combs, Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, three-time Grammy winner Green Day, actor Dwayne Johnson, five-time Grammy winner John Legend, current Grammy nominee Leona Lewis, two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J, current Grammy nominee Jason Mraz, actress Emily Procter, three-time Grammy winner and current nominee will.i.am and two-time Grammy winner and current nominee Leann Rimes are the latest presenters announced for “Music’s Biggest Night,” according to a news release.
Previously announced performers include Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood, Adele, Chris Brown, Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Jonas Brothers, Kid Rock, Lil Wayne, Paul McCartney (with special guest drummer Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters), Katy Perry, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Radiohead, Rihanna, Sugarland and U2. Additionally, previously announced collaborative performances include: Estelle and Kanye West; Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus; T.I. and Justin Timberlake; a Four Tops Tribute featuring Duke Fakir (2009 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and original member of the Four Tops), Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo; and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West in a special performance of their hit single “Swagga Like Us.”
Previously announced presenters include actor Simon Baker , actor/musician Jack Black, nine-time Grammy winner and current nominee Sheryl Crow, current three-time Grammy nominee Duffy, talk show host Craig Ferguson, nine-time Grammy winner and current nominee Al Green, current nominee Josh Groban, three-time Grammy-winning jazz musician and current nominee Charlie Haden, actor Samuel L. Jackson, actor Jay Mohr, Academy Award-winning actress and current Grammy nominee Gwyneth Paltrow, Grammy winner Queen Latifah and rapper and current nominee T-Pain.
John Mayer has five nominations: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media for his single “Stay,” Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals (”Lesson Learned” with Alicia Keys), Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance (”Gravity”) and Best Long Form Music Video (”Where The Light Is – Live In Los Angeles”).
Leona Lewis and will.i.am each are up for three awards. Lewis is nominated for Record Of The Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Bleeding Love” and Best Pop Vocal Album (Spirit). will.i.am has nods for Song Of The Year (”American Boy” with Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray, & Kanye West), Best Urban/Alternative Performance (”Be Ok” with Chrissette Michele) and Producer Of The Year.
Jason Mraz has two nominations: Song Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “I’m Yours.”
Terence Blanchard, Natalie Cole, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, MIA, Leann Rimes, Robin Thicke, Keith Urban and Stevie Wonder each are nominated. Terence Blanchard has a nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo (”Be-Bop”). Buddy Guy and B.B. King each have a nod in the Best Traditional Blues Album category; Guy for Skin Deep and King for One Kind Favor. M.I.A. garnered a nomination in Record Of The Year for “Paper Planes.” Leann Rimes is nominated for Best Female Country Vocal Performance (”What I Cannot Change”). Robin Thicke earned a nod for Album Of The Year (as an artist and producer on Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III). Keith Urban is up for Best Country Collaboration With Vocals (”Let The Wind Chase You” with Trisha Yearwood). Stevie Wonder has a nomination for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (”Never Give You Up” with Raphael Saadiq and CJ Hilton).
The Grammys Pre-Telecast Ceremony will take place on from 3 to 5:45 p.m. Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The ceremony will be streamed live internationally on www.GRAMMY.com. Hosting and performing at the Pre-Telecast will be current Grammy nominees Wayne Brady and Tia Carrere. In addition, live performances by Latin Grammy-winning folk/jazz singer and current nominee Lila Downs, Grammy-winning classical artist and current nominee Hilary Hahn and current Grammy nominee Heavy D will also be seen. In addition, four-time Grammy-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams, producer/host of “Millennium of Music” radio show Robert Aubry Davis, GRAMMY-winning songwriter/producer Lamont Dozier, Grammy-winning children’s folk artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, comedian Alex Raymundo and actor Blair Underwood will present Grammy Awards in approximately 99 categories. The live stream of the Pre-Telecast will remain on www.GRAMMY.com for 30 days following the event.
You can follow along with the Grammys Sunday night on my colleague George Lang’s Staticblog. And I’ll be posting photos and winner lists here on BAM’s Blog after the fact.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Feb. 2
Celine Dion (Associated Press)
Today’s featured event:
TULSA – Hear Canadian pop star Celine Dion at last at 8 tonight at the BOK Center, 200 S Denver. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Today is the rescheduled date for the show. All tickets previously purchased for the original date will be honored. Refunds will be available at point of purchase.
Time: 8:00pm
Tulsa is one of 45 cites and the only city in Oklahoma on this tour. Throughout her career, Dion has been honored with more than 1,000 swards, including Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes, World Music, Juno and Felix Awards. She is the biggest-selling female artist of all time.
For more information, go to www.bokcenter.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Jan. 23
Ali Harter
Today’s featured event:
Hear Oklahoma City singer-songwriter Ali Harter with John Moreland and The Black Gold Band, Turnpike Troubadours and Camille Harp at 8 tonight at The Conservatory, 8911 N Western.
For more information, go to www.conservatoryokc.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Welcome to the new and improved BAM’s Blog!
Well, loyal readers, I alluded a few weeks ago to some upgrades going on here at BAM’s Blog, and as you can see, the all-new look has now officially been unveiled.
It is designed to make the entertainment news, commentary and other tidbits that I share here more attractive and easier to find, access, read, enjoy, agree with, dispute, ponder, puzzle over, giggle at, or otherwise utilize. Hopefully, you’ll find that’s the case.
Take a look around and feel free to let me know what you think of the new format. Personally, I love the awesome new banner our Web geniuses whipped up just for you and me, though my new photo makes me glad I’m growing my hair out again.
Since we’re newly callibrated, all shiny and clean, around here, I propose that we celebrate with a bouncy musical interlude from one of my favorite bands, Collective Soul. Just click on the video, embedded here courtesy YouTube, and you too will be feeling “Better Now.”
-BAM
