More Bob Barry

If you need more, here's a link to a feature that I did for The Oklahoma Daily.

Enjoy

http://oudaily.com/news/2010/oct/14/sooner-broadcaster-reflects-50-year-career/

Midterm Preface - Bob Barry

His career spans 55 years of Oklahoma radio play-by-play history. He has narrated many of the great OU plays of the last several decades with his unique play-by-play style, adding in a dash of Oklahoma charm.

Bob Barry is putting the finishing touches on his 50th season of broadcasting play-by-play football, but he began way before that when an incident left him confined to his bed to recover from his injuries.

In 1961, OU Coach Bud Wilkinson picked him out of 13 other contenders to be the play-by-play man for Sooner football and basketball. He then left the friendly confines of the Sooner broadcasting booth to call games for the University of Tulsa for a season (1972-1973) and broadcasted for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 1974-1990. Barry then rejoined the Sooner family for the 1991 season and has been a Sooner treasure ever since.

Beginning in 1966, when he was not behind the microphone at a football game, Barry was anchoring for KFOR News Channel 4. In 1970, he was named the station's sports director, a position he held until 1997. He continued with KFOR as a sports anchor until Dec. 2008, marking the end of his television broadcasting career.

With his extensive career, Barry has learned a thing or two. Here he has some advice for upcoming journalists

Midterm Project - Bob Barry

Slideshow

Big/Little Terminology

Here's a little "Big and Little" Terminology:

Big - an older sorority sister who has chosen you to be her little

Little - a sorority sister that has a Big sorority sister

Twins - sorority Littles that have the same Big sister

Grand-Big - the Big sister of a Little's Big sister

Temp - a temporary Big or Little sister. Term is used during the selection process so the sisters involved can find out more about each other

Preffing - selection process where girls list who they want to be their Big/Little in order of preference.

Sisters...Big and Little

Sisterhood is a big part of the sorority experience. This sisterhood element is even more evident for those who have a "Big" or "Little" sister in their sorority. Bigs and Littles are deeper, more personal relationships with specific girls inside a sorority.

The selection for "Big and Little" can happen a number of ways. Initially, girls are paired based on common interests. A girl can connect with another right away and know that they will be paired. Other ways of matching "Big and Little" include going out to social events with "Temp" (temporary) big or littles to get to know each other and get a better feeling if they are compatible. Another option is "Preffing" where big and little candidates write down their preferences of who they want to be their respective big or little on a sheet of paper in order of inclination. Depending on the order of preference of what the girls have written down, will determine how the Big and Littles are matched. According to sorority member Erin McColm, this process is not always smooth, though, and can at times be intense.

The Big/Little relationship does not just make one pair of girls exclusive to each other. McColm, a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, said the process sororities go through is a great way for every girl in the house to meet the newcomers and learn about present members.

"A person you get to know and click with best out of the new pledge class," English junior McColm said about the selection process. "You just there to get used to college and get through stuff. Your big is the person you call if you have a bad break-up." Outside of just helping each other with relationships, Big sisters will help Little sisters adjust to overall college life, like getting through exam weeks and being a source of confidence, motivation and support. The Big/Little bond does not just stop at the end of the participant's college careers. McColm said alumni return to visit their Little sisters to check how they are doing, even participating in each others' weddings.

"You've been picked by that person — That person wanted you," McColm said. "So it's something really cool, and the also it's something you feel loyalty to."

Delta Gamma house at the University of Oklahoma. Delta Gamma is one of many sororities at the university that use the Big/Little system that brings members together.

Audio Test

Touchdown Oklahoma!

So Many Reasons...

Sororities for Dummies conducted a survey last week concerning the reasons why girls decided to join a sorority. The survey yielded unsurprising results to most. However, some feedback from young women in sororities at The University of Oklahoma informed that the

survey could have been more specific.

Results from the survey showed that sororities are not all about social events, parties and such. If it did the unanimous answer to the survey would have been social aspects. But respectable percentages answered that girls joined for community service and philanthropy as well as alumni or continuing legacy (when the mother of the girl is in the same sorority the girl is in now).

Ashlan Barta, a member of the Sigma Phi Lambda sorority, joined for other reasons than those listed in the survey.

However, the answers from the survey were not deemed specific enough for the survey to be answered. Sororities for Dummies spoke to experts in the field of psychology and sociology to explore other reasons why girls join sororities.

Some additional reasons offered by the professors were reasoned and thoughtful. "A basic human need of belongingness," Dr. Nicole Campbell, professor of psychology at the University of Oklahoma said. "Sororities help to make a smaller community within a large campus. I can see how women who did not have sisters in the home would be drawn to that, but I can also see how women who did have sisters in the home would as well." Others were comical. "Because they like boys," Dr. Jennifer Hackney, professor of sociology, said. The reasons girls join sororities are varied and many. Each young woman would provide a unique reason as to why they individually joined.

The process to join a sorority is made out to be a difficult, exhausting and sometimes degrading process. The Rush is a very anticipated event here at the University of Oklahoma and undoubtedly across many universities across the country. Sororities for Dummies explores the process, what goes on during Rush and finds out what does it take to make the sorority.