New Club Sweeping Up Fun

Sunday the Sooner Curling Club met at Arctic Edge Arena in Edmond for a special Learn-to-Curl opportunity where students were taught the basics of curling at a reduced rate.

The Sooner Curling Club was started by Dylan Smith in 2010 when he was a freshman at OU.

“Mostly I just wanted something to do.” Smith said, “Like when I first came here I didn’t, y’know, I didn’t really know that many people. I was kind of bored and I had watched curling on the Winter Olympics and was like ‘that looks kind of cool, I want to try that’ so I started it up.”

The Learn-to-Curl opportunity brought 11 students out to learn the ropes of curling. OU senior Andrew Belliveau stepped out onto the ice to try his hand at curling for the first time.

“I came because my friends encouraged me to come and I have been interested in curling ever since the Winter Olympics last time.” Belliveau said, ”So I just wanted to try it out.”

The new curlers were taught the basics of curling from the Oklahoma Curling Club, an adult club. The new curlers were able to pick up the sport quickly.

 Rachel Davenport releasing the curling stone.

“My favorite part was everybody was really nice and there was a real sense of community around the sport of curling.” Said Belliveau, “and it was really satisfying seeing yourself improve... and it was fun sliding the stone across the ice.”

Smith had not played the sport before he created the club, but he has been happy with the results.

“70 people probably have learned to curl while I have been president.” Smith said, “Um like in the last two years. But there have been a lot of other people that have come to various meetings. So, like, it’s getting pretty big. We have taught quite a few people how to curl.”

OU students after sweeping the curling stone.

Smith will be stepping down as president next fall semester, he wants to stay focused for his senior year, but he already has his replacement picked out. He wants to make sure that his club survives past his four years at OU.

There will be another Learn-to-Curl session on Dec. 2, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The price is $5, reduced from the normal $20.

Fivefingers on One Foot

Vibram didn’t invent the foot. They only invented the Vibram Fivefingers. Vibram Fivefingers are shoes which fit onto feet like gloves fit onto hands. They have dedicated toe holds. They were debuted in 2005 and their popularity has grown since.

“I began in about July of 2010 and sales began to rise quite a bit because they had been popular on either of the coasts.” Said Benjamin Nichols, a sales associate at the outdoor store Backwoods, “But that momentum began to move to the middle of the state. And so people would like them for running or working out or anything. Just the idea of being barefoot seemed like a lot of fun.”

The shoes require the wearers to walk and run differently. Runners who are used to running long mileage should not run the same distance with the Fivefingers at the beginning. It takes time to work up to the same mileage that they are used to in other shoes.

“I do tend to run more on the balls of my feet.” Said Michael Bibens, a Health and Exercise Science Senior and also an owner of a pair of Fivefingers, “My calves and my feet sometimes are sore after running less miles than I normally do.”

Some claim that by using Fivefingers, or similar footwear, that you can have healthier feet.

“Especially if you have foot problems you might just try them on the side. “ Bibens said, “I mean, you are already spending a lot of money on orthotics and shoes anyway. So you might as well try something different.”

The footwear is not for everyone though, and the issue of running barefoot or with minimalist shoes like Fivefingers is highly contested. The companies that have been making the modern running shoes are not ready to give up on their current business model yet; though many of them are introducing minimalist shoes of their own, such as the Nike Free.

“Almost all the feedback has been positive.” Nichols said about Fivefingers, “Sometimes it’s negative. I think some of that has to do with not everything works for everybody.”

It is difficult to gauge whether these minimalist shoes are only a fad, or a larger sign of a changing marketplace for footwear. The owners of the Vibram Fivefingers seem to enjoy them.

“I don’t wear them every day per se but some days I will wear them to class and some days I will wear them to work out and some days I will wear them to run…” Bibens said, “But I wear um, y’know, except for like to church. You name it, I probably wear them to it.”

Regional Food Bank Gearing Up for Holiday Help

There are 25 resources for food and hygiene aid in the local area. Many of these are run by the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.

 According to the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Angie Gaines, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma serves about 90,000 Oklahomans each week with aid for food. These are distributed through various organizations such as the food pantries, soup kitchens, meals on wheels, and other sources.

Gaines also mentioned that there is a new way they disperse food for those looking for it. There are three food resource centers which are set up to be like grocery stores. Clients are given a dollar amount and left to shop within the store. She stressed that this was important for people with allergies.

According to an article from NewsOK about the Food Resource Centers, there are three food resource centers open now, and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma plans on opening 40 food resource centers in the next several years.

Most food pantries have limits to how many times they can be visited a month. At McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church it is twice a month. The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma does not regulate this, or the individual site’s rules about what the client needs to have to receive help.

 “We don’t ask them about what other programs the client has… signed up for.” Pat Stewart, a volunteer at the McFarlin Methodist’s food pantry, said, “We just qualify with one question and that is ‘Do you live in the Norman, Noble, or Little Axe area?’ cause that’s the area we serve. And we work through the Regional Food Bank in Oklahoma City.”

According to Gaines, the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma aids local food pantries by supplying most, if not all, of the food they give out.

In a pamphlet from the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma it states that in 2012, 42.2 million pounds of food was distributed to families, seniors and children. And that one in four children in Oklahoma struggles with hunger every day.

The food pantry at McFarlin Memorial Methodist Church is open every Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11 and 1-4. On Thursdays they also have utilities assistance available.