Notes from the Newsroom NewsOK.com Blogging Community

It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz:

1. Which of these combinations of Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have received the most donations from Oklahoma so far?
a) Clinton and Giuliani.
b) Clinton and Huckabee.
c) Obama and Giuliani.

2. Lobbyists are spending more money on what activity so they can visit with lawmakers?
a) OU football games.
b) Weekend trips to the mountains.
c) Golf.

3. Nearly 1,100 people lined up to get what at the Oklahoma City-County Health Department?
a) Free cough drops.
b) Free flu shots.
c) Free eye examinations.

4. In his first NFL game in his home state of Texas, Adrian Peterson:
a) Left in the second quarter with an ankle injury.
b) Had more penalties than rushing yards.
c) Scored one touchdown in a losing effort.

5. Twenty years ago, Oklahoma State University associate head coach Joe DeForest played three NFL games for the New Orleans Saints, but then was cut. Why was he cut?
a) He was injured.
b) He was traded to the Houston Oilers.
c) He had played during the players’ strike.

6. In its recent gubernatorial race, Louisiana elected Bobby Jindal to the governor’s mansion. He is:
a) The state’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction.
b) The oldest governor in the nation.
c) The world’s most elected man.

7. A thief broke into a car in Tulsa and stole a large case containing a moisture and density gauge, but he may be sorry he did. Why?
a) The gauge contains a locating device that will lead police to him.
b) If the case is opened in the wrong way it will explode a dye bomb that will color him an indelible blue.
c) The gauge contains radioactive Cesium 137.

8. In order to overcome some bad influences in college basketball games, the “point of emphasis” rule this season asks officials to stringently enforce a rule against:
a) Cursing.
b) Spitting on the floor.
c) Throwing items at the players.

9. Oklahoma City’s Flaming Lips band was honored with the dedication of what?
a) Street name and signage.
b) Alley name and signage.
c) Bricktown water taxi named for them.

10. The U.S. has increased diplomatic efforts to keep Turkish forces from invading a section of what country?
a) Western Greece.
b) Northern Iraq.
c) Northwestern Iran.

11. What does Oklahoma House Bill 1804 do?
a) Requires local law enforcement officials to check immigration status.
b) Ends state-sponsored benefits for those who cannot prove they are legally in the United States.
c) Both of the above and in addition, makes it a crime to transport, hire, harbor, house or conceal illegal immigrants.

12. After spending two days upside-down in a wrecked car, Red Andrews Christmas Dinner organizer Betty McCord said she couldn’t wait to:
a) Eat a cheeseburger.
b) Get back behind the wheel.
c) Try out a new restaurant in downtown Oklahoma City.

13. A federal study found out that the food served in school is:
a) Getting healthier.
b) Getting sweeter.
c) Getting moldy.

14. An unexplained glitch hit AT&T’s new digital television service, causing subscribers in Oklahoma and nationwide to lose programming for nearly 12 hours. What’s the name of AT&T’s digital TV service?
a) iVerse.
b) U-verse.
c) We/verse.

15. Some Oklahoma legislators said they don’t want a centennial copy of what book?
a) The King James Bible.
b) The Book of Common Prayer.
c) The Quran.

16. A $950,000 donation to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will be used to …
a) Help scientists uncover more dinosaur bones in Oklahoma.
b) Purchase the bones of a Tyrannosaurus rex from a Colorado excavation.
c) Build enthusiasm for science among children through hands-on initiatives.

17. The United States posed economic sanctions against the military and banks in what country?
a) Turkey.
b) Iran.
c) China.

18. What is the name of the space shuttle that was launched Tuesday morning?
a) Discovery.
b) Endeavour.
c) Atlantis.

19. The superjumbo Airbus 380 jet, which can hold up to 853 passengers, made its first commercial flight, ending the 747’s reign as the most spacious passenger plane. Among the perks on the inaugural flight operated by Singapore Air were:
a) An in-flight swimming pool.
b) A discotheque.
c) Suites with double beds.

20. Randall Stephenson, chief executive officer of AT&T, told the Downtown Rotary Club that Oklahoma is:
a) First in the country to have broadband service in every central office in the state.
b) In the Top Ten states scheduled for future investment by the company.
c) The last state still limited to rotary phones in certain smaller markets.

How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-A, 2-C; 3-B; 4-C; 5-C; 6-A; 7-C; 8-A; 9-B; 10-B; 11-C; 12-A; 13-A; 14-B; 15-C; 16-C; 17-B; 18-A; 19-C; 20-A

Another week has passed, and here is your chance to catch up on what you might have missed.

At a workshop Saturday at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum about teaching the Holocaust, Cathleen Cadigan discussed some of the most common related myths and misconceptions. Cadigan is a regional museum educator with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Following are those myths, and the correct information about them, based on Cadigan’s presentation.

Myth: Hitler was Jewish.
Fact: Hitler is the fourth child of Alois and Clara Hitler. Allegations that Hitler’s father was Jewish stem from rumors surrounding Hitler’s grandmother, Maria Schicklgruber. There is speculation that Schicklgruber worked in a Jewish household and that her child, Alois, was fathered by the son of the house. Post-1945 investigations found that no Jews had lived in that area.

Myth: Hitler was elected by the German people.
Fact: The Nazi party received 33 percent of the vote in the 1932 elections. Other parties were the Socialist, Communist and Catholic parties. Hitler, however, was appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg on Jan. 30, 1933.

Myth: Hitler survived the war.
Fact: It is believed that on the morning of April 29, 1945, in a civil ceremony in his bunker, Hitler married his mistress of many years, Eva Braun. The next day, they both bit into thin glass vials of cyanide. As he did so Hitler also shot himself in the head. A handful of remaining Nazi loyalists wrapped his body in a gray blanket, carried him out, saluted in honor and ignited his body.

Myth: Hitler was a homosexual.
Fact: One of Hitler’s close associates was a known homosexual. Fearing his rising political power, Hitler ordered his execution along with several of his allies in the infamous “Night of the Long Knives.”

Myth: The Jews are a race.
Fact: First and foremost, Jews are adherents of a religion — Judaism — around which a culture has evolved based on laws, rituals and customs regarding the Sabbath, holidays, diet and other matters. Second, they are a people with a national identity based on a shared history and historical homeland of Israel. The Nazis decided that if a person had one Jewish grandparent then that person was to be considered Jewish. While that strategy does work for determining someone’s national heritage — Irish-American or Mexican-American, for instance — a person can have grandparents of one religion but identify completely with another.

Myth: The Jews were the only victims.
Fact: People who could identify with other groups also were killed. They include:
-The mentally and physically handicapped, because they did not meet the standards of Hitler’s desired “Aryan race.”
-The Roma or Sinti, more commonly known as Gypsies, on racial grounds.
-Jehovah’s Witnesses, because they refused to salute Hitler or serve in the German army on religious grounds.
-Homosexuals, because they could not advance Hitler’s goal of increasing the population of Aryans.
-Prisoners of war, including 3 million Soviet risoners.
-Clergy.
-Freemasons.
-Political dissidents.
-Other groups of people viewed as inferior, including Poles and other Slavs.

Myth: All camps were the same.
Fact: There were four types of camps: concentration camps, transit camps, labor camps and death camps. Though many people died in all the camps, only the death camps existed for the sole purpose of extermination and used gas chambers. Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis created thousands of them in all occupied countries.

Myth: All camps used tattoos.
Fact: Only those sent to Auschwitz received tattoos of numbers on their arms.

Myth: The Nazis routinely made soap out of human fat and lampshades out of human skin.
Fact: After examining all the evidence, including an actual bar of soap supplied by the Soviets, the Nuremberg Tribunal declared that “in some instances attempts were made to utilize the fat from the bodies of the victims in the commercial manufacture of soap.” But, it was not a routine practice. The only confirmed practice relating to the making of lampshades is of Ilsa Koch, who had tattoos she thought looked interesting removed from people’s bodies to make products out of them.

Myth: The Jews went like sheep to the slaughter.
Fact: There were many types of resistance, including spiritual resistance by praying or learning Torah or teaching Hebrew; smuggling food; raising armed resistances; and staying alive, the primary defiance of the goal of the Holocaust.

Myth: The King of Denmark donned the yellow star to show his support for Danish Jews.
Fact: Jews in Denmark were never required to wear a Jewish star. The Danish people did save a lot of Jews by taking them on boats in the night to safety in Sweden. A similar widely believed myth is that Norwegians wore paper clips to show their resistance against the Nazis and solidarity with the Jews. There is no evidence of this, either.

Myth: All Germans were Nazis and all Germans were perpetrators.
Fact: There were perpetrators who took action against Jews and other undesired people, and there were bystanders who did not speak up about what happened. There also were pockets of resistance. White Rose was a nonviolent resistance organization made up mostly of German students. Its leaders were beheaded.

Wendy K. Kleinman
Staff Writer

I never cease to be amazed at the “treasures” that are available online. Just today, reporter Susan Simpson emailed me about a product called Flavor Paper’s scratch and sniff wallpaper. That’s right: For those of us who couldn’t get enough of scratch n’sniff stickers when we were kids, we can now adorn our bathroom walls with fruity, scratchy goodness.With flavors like bananas, Cherry Forever, and Tutti Frutti, rarechic.com promises that your fingers will never get tired of scratching and your nostrils will never tire of sniffing.

So how is scratch n’sniff wallpaper made? According to the site, fragrance oils are encapsulated into microscopic porcelain balls, which are then dipped in water-based adhesive and applied by silk screen to the paper. When scratched, the balls — which number in the millions — pop and release the fragrance.

What will they think of next? Scratch n’sniff blankets? Scratch n’sniff tabletops?

Lindsay Goodier
NewsOK.com Editor

I had to write an article this week about Storybook Forest at Arcadia Lake, so I attended the event Thursday night.  Storybook Forest is a trick-or-treating trail at Arcadia Lake for children ages 12 and under.

 As an adult, it would have been awkward walking around the trail by myself, so I brought my 8-year-old nephew with me. I was nervous because I didn’t know how he would behave. Would he behave like a nice little quiet angel and let me do my job and conduct my interviews? Or would he act like a typical 8-year-old boy and run wild at the site of free Halloween candy? The answer was the latter. 

He ran up and down the trail getting candy and looking at the various characters and decorations that lined the trail.  Of course, I had to chase him to keep up with him. After about an hour, I was exhausted and ready to go home. I definitely got my workout for the night.

On the positive side, my nephew had the time of his life.  He enjoyed seeing the other children dressed in their costume and getting free candy for himself.  There was also a hot dog and marshmallow roast and a hayride where attendees could ride around the park on the back of the trailer.  More than 300 children attended the event on Thursday, and they all seemed to be having a blast.

 Storybook Forest will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. through Wednesday at Arcadia Lake’s Spring Creek Park located 2 and half miles east of Interstate 35 on E 15th Street.  Cost is $5 for children and free for adults.

 Tim Henley, staff writer

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to a group of sophomores at Putnam City West High School about what I do as a journalist. Specifically, I am an online editor, and one of my greatest interests is trying to find new ways to present information in a way that is appealing for you, the viewer.

In an online session with newspaper redesign guru Mario Garcia, we in the newsroom learned that some people actually read online stories in their entirety. Then there are some of us who have a short attention span and tend toward infosnacking – a term that means jumping online from place to place and “snacking” on what you desire – whether it be videos, stories or podcasts. I like to read about two paragraphs of a story online, and move on to an interesting photo gallery or video that pertains to the story.

While talking to the teenagers yesterday, I asked them what their ideal news web site would be.

“I want the anchor to pop up and tell me all the stories,” one student said.

Going off of that idea, one student added, “I want the anchor to answer my questions and interact with me.”

These seem like lofty ideas, right? The thought that an online reporter could actually answer questions about a story seems a little incredulous.

As their teacher offered, these teens want the news handed to them on a platter. But why shouldn’t it be? We should make news intake as simple as possible for you. It is your job to decide what you think about the news presented, not to dig to understand what the news is.

So how do you want to see your news online? Through a talking head? Through a simple story? Through an elaborate slideshow presentation? Share your thoughts.

Lindsay Goodier
NewsOK.com Editor

With cooler weather approaching, Oklahoma City Fire Department officials remind its citizens that it’s time to think about fire safety in homes.

“The most important aspect of home fire safety is making sure that every home has a working smoke detector, and that these detectors are checked monthly and batteries are changed annually,” Deputy Chief Tony Young said.

Oklahoma City resident may call the fire department’s public education office at 297-3318 to request a free smoke detector battery, smoke detector and installation.

Young offered these tips:

Space heaters
— Dust and lint may have accumulated in the heater. Clean them thoroughly with a vacuum cleaner.
— Gas space heaters need to have the flame adjusted to blue in order to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide build up.
— Tell children to not stand close to a space heater to warm up because their clothes could catch fire.
— Give space heaters their space. Combustible materials should be at least three away from space heaters.

Floor furnaces
— Furnaces are safest when they are equipped with a thermostat and automatic shut off device.
— Clean floor furnaces by removing the grate and using a vacuum to remove dust and lint from inside the unit.

Central heaters
— Clean or replace the furnace filter.
— Clean the entire furnace area using a vacuum to remove dust and lint.
— Remove brooms, boxes, magazines, newspapers and other combustible material stored in heater closets.

Fireplaces
— Inspect fireplaces and chimneys at least once a year. Look for cracks in the firebox, flue, and chimney. Check for soot and creosote build-up inside flues.
— Open the damper enough to allow the smoke and gases to escape up the chimney.
— Don’t start fires with gasoline, kerosene or other flammable liquid.
— Always keep a good-quality metal fireplace screen in front of fireplaces when it’s being used to prevent burning logs from rolling out or embers from flying out.
— Keep a three-foot area in front of and to the sides of fireplaces clear of any combustibles including, logs, kindling wood, paper, rugs, clothing, or furniture.
— Don’t leave fires unattended. Make sure fires are completely out before leaving your home or going to bed.
— Don’t burn charcoal in fireplaces. Charcoal gives off deadly carbon monoxide gas that can fill a room and overcome the occupants.
— Don’t cook using fireplaces. Grease from food can build up inside flues and catch fire.
— Don’t burn more than two or three natural logs at one time.
— Artificial logs made of compressed sawdust and wax should be handled differently than natural logs because they generate more heat. Burn only one artificial log at a time and don’t burn an artificial log with natural logs.
— Make sure fireplace ashes are placed in a metal container. Don’t put hot embers in a combustible container such as a trashcan. Allow ashes to cool thoroughly before disposing of them.

Brian Sargent
Staff Writer

It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz:

1. Which world leader recently made a surprise call to Venezuela’s president during a broadcast?
a) Vladimir Putin
b) Fidel Castro
c) Nicolas Sarkozy

2. Who did the University of Nebraska turn to after firing their athletic director in the wake of a 45-14 drubbing by the Oklahoma State?
a) Former Cornhusker coach Tom Osborne
b) Former Sooner coach Barry Switzer
c) Former Dallas Cowboy Troy Aikman

3. A city in Oklahoma set a record for rainfall in a calendar year. Which city?
a) Tulsa
b) Norman
c) Oklahoma City

4. Which pizza maker plans to open 26 stores in the metro area in the next three years?
a) Papa Murphy’s
b) Papa Smurf’s
c) Papa Roni’s

5. What did U.S. District Judge Ronald White say a psychologist reported about former state Sen. Gene Stipe?
a) The doctor said Stipe was competent
b) The doctor said Stipe was incompetent
c) Stipe’s mental state couldn’t be determined

6. According to a national study, how many slot machines does Oklahoma have?
a) 1 for every other resident
b) 1 for every 48 residents
c) 1 for every 79 residents

7. Which sandwich chain announced plans to open nine more state locations?
a) Subway
b) Jersey Mike’s
c) Schlotzsky’s

8. Which country music star from Oklahoma is releasing a new album?
a) Toby Keith
b) Carrie Underwood
c) Reba McEntire

9. A hearing was set in the court case between this NBA team and its current city, which will provide some insight whether the team will call Oklahoma City its home next year.
a) Seattle Sonics
b) LA Lakers
c) Chicago Bulls

10. Scientists in Argentina have discovered the skeleton they believe to be a previously unknown dinosaur, a giant plant-eater 105 feet long. They named the dinosaur:
a) Gigantosaurus
b) Reallybigosaurus
c) Futalognkosaurus

11. An Oklahoma City company recently won a contract from NASA to provide testing that could help astronauts go where?
a) Mars
b) The moon
c) West

12. Because of some exceptional circumstances, Atlanta is short on:
a) Water
b) Pepsi
c) Democrats

13. A growing number of parents are claiming what exemptions to prevent their children from getting shots?
a) Medical
b) Religious
c) Mental

14. Because of warnings about a possible assassination plot, Russian President Vladimir Putin delayed his trip to what city?
a) Tehran, Iran
b) Xiamen, China
c) Hyderabad, India

15. Crossroads Mall will implement a new policy Oct. 26 as a way to create a more family-friendly environment. What’s the policy?
a) Earlier store closings on weeknights
b) “Family shop” Tuesdays
c) Weekend curfew for those younger than 18

16. What is the second-biggest decorating holiday in the United States?
a) Halloween
b) Thanksgiving
c) Easter

17. Record swimmer Samantha Woodward of Edmond Memorial High School has committed to what NCAA school?
a) Stanford University
b) The University of Oklahoma
c) The University of California

18. All except which one of these reasons are driving up orange juice prices in the U.S.?
a) Rising land prices in Florida
b) Citrus canker
c) Shortage of water

19. A farewell ceremony was held Thursday for 2,600 Oklahoma National Guard members leaving for training before going to Iraq. Where was the ceremony held?
a) Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City
b) Lloyd Noble Center in Norman
c) Coca-Cola Bricktown Event Center in Oklahoma City

20. Oklahoma hospices must return millions in Medicare funds because:
a) They collected funds for nonexistent patients
b) Terminally ill patients lived longer than expected
c) They charged Medicare multiple times for the same patients

How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-B; 2-A; 3-C; 4-A; 5-B; 6-C; 7-C; 8-B; 9-A; 10-C; 11-B; 12-A; 13-B; 14-A; 15-C; 16-A; 17-A; 18-C; 19-B; 20-B

Another week has passed, and here is the chance to catch up on what you might have missed.

Many parents are having to help their children choose sports’ activities, and they often are perplexed about selecting the right sport and the best coach. To help parents and children make the best decisions for all, speaker and author Joe Zemaitis has written “Joe’s Rules: “How Every Parent Can Help Their Child Excel Through Sports.” He firmly believes that participation in youth sports teaches children invaluable life lessons, and he provides a roadmap for parents to guide them through the difficult-to-navigate terrain of youth sports, and to pave the way for their children’s future success in life. Among his rules are:

       –  Know your child and find the right fit. 

       – The coach matters more than the sport. 

       – To reach their full potential, they must want it for themselves. 

      – Balance is the forgotten hero of athletic performance. 

      –  Encourage healthy competition. 

      –  Help your child build character through participation in sports. 

      –  Properly fuel the fire. 

-Jim Killackey, medical writer.