Assignment: Radio

It's the final episode of the Spring 2015 season of Assignment: Radio. The theme is "crossing the line." 

When thinking about people who cross the line or push the limits, usually a specific person comes to mind. It could be a friend, a celebrity, a sibling or maybe yourself. They are the people who won’t let the rules stop them from having their own adventure.

A coyote, running away from men who wish to imprison him decides to outsmart them using their weakness - greed.

The coyote hides money in a tree, and when the men find him, he says he wants to make a deal. He said if they would let him go they could have his magic money tree. The coyote shakes the branches and money falls to the ground.

When thinking about people who cross the line or push the limits, usually a specific person comes to mind. It could be a friend, a celebrity, a sibling or maybe yourself. They are the people who won’t let the rules stop them from having their own adventure. 

University of Oklahoma communications student Jenny Nuñez's friends say she doesn't follow trends, but sets them. One day, she got a tattoo that says, “mischief managed.”

It's the next episode of the Spring 2015 season of Assignment: Radio. Lydia Theban, Pamela Ortega, East Central University's Caroline Harris and Hayley Thornton talk to a few fascinating people with interests from indigenous tribes to creating new apps and taking on the Digital World.  

In 2013, Oklahoma was ranked the 5th worst state in the nation for extent childhood homelessness by The National Center of Family Homelessness. 1,481 homeless people can be found in a single night in Oklahoma City. City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City works to fix these problems. Sonny is one of the 600 people that lives there and he says he hasn’t always gone without.

An art show in Oklahoma City also took a classic concept: Art, and turned it into a nontraditional event.For over a decade “Momentum” has been creating and recreating its exhibit to give young artists an occasion to show off their work.

In the 2004 comedy Mean Girls, Lindsay Lohan’s character describes some of the fashion choices young women make every October 31.

But with ever-shifting social boundaries, how exactly do you define what makes an “appropriate” Halloween costume?

The idea of “cultural appropriation” and the use of Native American attire made headlines earlier this year after Gov. Mary Fallin’s daughter Christina posted a photo of herself wearing a Native headdress on Instagram. But if you explore any Halloween costume shop this October and there is a good chance you will find Native American costumes, many featuring a feathered headdress.

But this year, some costume manufacturers are experiencing pushback from people that believe the costumes are culturally insensitive.

The idea of local, sustainable food isn't new. It's pretty much the only way early settlers on the Oklahoma prairie didn't starve to death.

But in the 21st century, everything from home gardens, to restaurants, to huge organic agribusinesses help pass the practices, and the connection between the land and the food that comes from it, to future generations.

Katie Shauberger’s yard has two small garden plots, which she showed me on a cool September night. Katie is a senior at The University of Oklahoma and an avid gardener who has many reasons for growing her own food

October gets a lot of attention as a month dedicated to raising awareness of breast cancer, but in September many organizations recognize childhood cancer. Last month the group CureSearch sponsored a walk to help raise research funds.

College a cappella choirs are more popular than ever, but at the University of Oklahoma, there’s still only one – The Redliners. Assignment Radio’s Madeline Stebbins takes us inside rehearsals and the minds of some of the Redliners the week before the final concert of the semester.

Madeline Stebbins is  an alto in The Redliners. There are 19 Redliners, and every semester they sing pop, rock, and musical theater songs. For some of them this concert is the last one.

Stepping down after nearly two decades as OU’s senior vice president and provost, Dr. Nancy Mergler is preparing for possibly the most significant transition of her career — being able to sleep at night. In a spare moment, Mergler spoke with Assignment Radio’s Molly Evans about concluding the 19-year chapter of her professional life, starting as the only female provost in the Big 12 in 1995 and ending as the longest-running chief academic officer in June of this year.

There are some endings that come with growing up, moving away for college, learning to support yourself and graduation. But nonetheless, the opening and closing of a new chapter is hard. I talk to my mentor in my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, about what it’s like to face the next chapter in her life, graduation.

It’s the latest episode of the Spring 2014 season for Assignment: Radio. This week Madeline, Molly and I explored telling stories with sound, in a series of "sound rich" stories. Soothing music, loud clanking of scrap metal, and the hypnotic sounds of a treadmill await you in this episode of Assignment: Radio.

Basketball shoes squeak on the polished wood floor, grunts emerge from the weight room, and tennis shoes pound a hypnotic rhythm on the belt of a treadmill. Many people have to force themselves to go to the gym, but here, Tyler Johnston finds peace.

Tyler is a personal trainer at the University of Oklahoma, and says the most important thing to him, is his clients.

The Norman Medieval Fair has transported visitors to a fantastical age of chivalry and tradition for nearly 40 years through staple performances, peddlers and people such as the Saltfork Craftsmen. Every year, the group of blacksmiths revives the centuries-old trade for fairgoers, like Assignment Radio’s Molly Evans, who spoke with member Brahk Hadick about his pyrotechnic passion for turning scrap metal into something unexpectedly beautiful. 

More than six million higher education students are taking at least one course online, according to a 2011 study by the Babson Survey Research Group. At the University of Oklahoma, approximately 3,000 students are taking advantage of the college’s current online options. Assignment Radio reporter, Molly Evans, spoke with an English major and leaders of OU’s digital initiatives about incorporating online learning into the traditional college experience. A sea of more than 30,000 students floods the University of Oklahoma’s campuses each year.