Students camp out overnight to hunt for bargains at OU IT Store one day sale






Even the threat of rain didn’t stop OU students, faculty, and other members of the community from standing in line for hours to take advantage of the OU IT Store’s One Day Sale on Friday, April 30. For the first time in the sale’s history, students set up a tent and camped overnight to be the first in line.

“There was a young man and a young woman who set up a tent around 5 pm on Thursday. I guess they watched movies and played games all night and made a whole event of it,” Matt Singleton, OU IT Store’s director of external relations and strategic ventures, said. Singleton believes the students’ efforts paid off. “They got some tremendous deals,” he said.

Mark Walvoord understood why the students wanted to be first in line. He said he attended last fall’s One Day Sale and waited in line for hours.

“I tried to come by at 9 am and that was a huge mistake,” he said. This time, Walvrood arrived at 7 am. He planned to buy a laptop for his wife.

The sale has always drawn a crowd because of the bargains available, Singleton said. By 8 am, he estimated that the line stretched from the front of the store, down the street and around the block to the parking lot of O’Connell’s. It was the largest turnout the store ever had, Singleton said.

The store offers low prices on nearly everything, from computers to software, thanks to volume discounts from the manufacturers. The store stocks up on items just before new generations of products are released.

“We’re able to discount the previous generation products for the One Day Sale and have the new generation of products in place for a reasonable price as well,” Singleton said.

Advertising senior Jacob Blocker arrived at the store at 5:45 am to buy an Apple MacBook Pro. He waited for almost three hours but he felt his purchase was worth the wait.

“I never could have gotten this computer for that low of a price,” he said.

This was the last One Day Sale in the store’s current location. Over the summer, the store will move to Campus Corner to occupy the space formerly used by Harold’s.

“After the first One Day Sale, we knew we were going to find a bigger place,” Singleton said.

OU student Jessica Tankersley explains how she turned a hobby into a company that donates 100% of its profits to charity.

OU student's company helps entrepreneurs around the world

Three years ago, OU fine arts sophomore Jessica Tankersley thought making handmade greeting cards for friends and family was nothing more than a fun hobby. When people offered to pay her for her creations, she realized she could start a company. Instead of pocketing her profits, however, she decided to use the money to help others.

“I had heard about an organization called Kiva, which enables people to lend directly to entrepreneurs in third-world countries. So I put the two together, selling cards and Kiva’s micro loans, and started Cards for Kiva with my friend Kara Blain. We started Cards for Kiva, making and selling these handmade greeting cards, and then lending 100% of our profits to entrepreneurs in developing countries through kiva.org. With kiva.org I can personally enable someone to pull themselves out of poverty with a micro-loan. The cards we sell are a win-win for our customers, with their purchase they support a local business while at the same time making a global impact ,” Tankersley said.

Tankersley said that she makes an average profit of $3 per card. Since the company was founded, Cards for Kiva has donated approximately $3000 to more than 100 borrowers in 23 countries. The cards are available for purchase online at cardsforkiva.com and several retail locations in Norman and Tulsa.

Speed networking event connects students and professionals

OU’s Public Relations Student Society of America hosted a speed networking event on Thursday. Students met with professionals to practice initiating conversations and make contacts for future internship and employment opportunities. Professionals also offered advice about finding jobs after graduation. The concept of speed networking is similar to speed dating; participants spent just a few minutes with each group of professionals before moving on to the next table.

Bob Pritchard, faculty adviser for PRSSA, said this is the first time the organization hosted a speed networking event. PRSSA officers participated in a similar seminar at their national conference in San Diego and decided to try the concept at OU. Approximately 20 students attended the event and enjoyed dinner on the Gaylord College terrace. PRSSA programming director Rachel Bradley said PRSSA plans to host another speed networking event next year.

“Networking helps students prepare for the professional world. It gives them a head start when they start looking for jobs,” Bradley said.

Start Smart encourages women to reach for their $1 million

OU’s Women’s Outreach Center presented a free workshop on Tuesday. The Start Smart presentation discussed the gender wage gap and offered advice for women for overcoming pay discrepancies. The class participated in activities ranging from creating a budget to determine a minimum acceptable salary to researching the economy of their target location.

“It’s so important for women to understand that a wage gap exists so they can take steps to overcome it. Women are paid 77 cents for every $1 a man earns. A starting salary benchmarks future wages so we have to do our research and know what a job is worth before accepting an offer,” said Kathy Moxley, coordinator of the Women’s Outreach Center. Moxley said the average college woman will earn $1 million less than her male counterparts over the course of her career.

The next Start Smart class is scheduled for Tuesday, April 13 at noon in the President’s Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Part II of the workshop will include advice and tips for salary negotiation. The presentation is open to all students.

New program offers free financial aid information to students and parents

UCanGo2, a new outreach program of the Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program, hosted a free financial aid seminar at the Moore Public Library on Thursday night. Presenters shared tips for students and parents about common mistakes to avoid when applying for financial aid. The program also included information about scholarships, grants, and other resources available from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

“We’ve been working on UCanGo2 for almost two years. We’re here to assist in the planning and preparing for college for all ages, from students to adults who are returning to school. Our ultimate goal is to create an atmosphere of early awareness for college planning,” said Kelli Kelnar, a student/lender support services specialist. Kelnar said the organization is working on an agreement to partner with Smart Start Oklahoma to distribute college information to parents of newborn babies before they leave the hospital.

A schedule of upcoming events is available on the program’s Web site, www.UCanGo2.org. Materials from the lectures are posted online as well. The site also features podcasts and videos that offer advice for college students about budgeting, repaying student loans, and banking.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History offers free admission to parents of OU students during Parents' Weekend.

Parents’ weekend fails to attract museum visitors

While a visit to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is always free for OU students with a valid student ID, adults usually have to pay an admission fee of $5. During Parents’ Weekend 2010, sponsored by the Campus Activities Council, admission was free for parents who were accompanied by an OU student. Few students took advantage of the opportunity to explore the museum with their families.

Carl Wood, an information desk specialist with the museum, said attendance was down compared to last year.

“I thought it’d be busier since it’s Parents’ Weekend and we usually get a runoff of people from the Medieval Fair. I haven’t seen anyone today, other than students who are working on assignments,” he said.



An exhibit in the McCasland Foundation Hall of the People of Oklahoma sits empty during Parents' Weekend at OU.

Wood doesn’t believe the Medieval Fair had a negative impact on the museum. In fact, he believes that the fair usually increases attendance, but the rainy weather on Saturday may have kept potential museum visitors from attending the fair.

“Saturdays are usually our busiest day, especially during the Medieval Fair. I’m used to seeing people who stop by after the fair, still in their costumes. In years past, we’d get a lot of visitors, especially if the weather is hot. People come in because it’s free and air-conditioned,” museum security guard Ross McClish said.


Communications senior Rachel Olson said she would have taken her parents to visit the museum if she knew about the free admission.

“My parents love seeing all of the different things we have on campus and if we could have seen them for free, that’s even better. I didn’t even realize that it was Parents’ Weekend until I saw it on the OU website today. That’s why I didn’t go so I wonder how many other people just didn’t know about it,” she said.

Despite the lack of visitors this weekend, Wood said the museum will continue to offer free admission during Parents’ Weekend.

Students shop smarter by winning the grocery game

Shopping sales and using coupons are two ways that students can save money on groceries. TheGroceryGame.com is a website that combines the two methods and promises that it can help consumers save up to 60% on groceries.

Teri Gault, founder of TheGroceryGame.com, tracks sales at grocery stores and drugstores in a database. Every week, she creates a list that combines current advertised and unadvertised sales with manufacturer coupons. Gault said that most stores repeat sales on certain products every twelve weeks. By holding coupons and waiting until the items are marked down, consumers can maximize their savings.

Teri’s List is color-coded to indicate whether the items can be received for free, or if the sale is the best deal the store offers. Site members are encouraged to stock up on items when they’re sold for rock bottom prices. Other items are listed as treats. The prices aren’t the lowest the store has ever offered but it’s still worth purchasing if a shopper needs that specific item.

Allison Daugherty, sociology criminology junior, and Leslie Hartsook, communications senior, heard about Teri’s List and decided to sign up for a 4 week free trial on the website. Accessing the lists costs $10 every 8 weeks for one store list, or $15 every 8 weeks for 2 store lists. Teri’s List is available in all 50 states, although the stores vary from state to state. In Oklahoma, store lists are available for CVS and Walgreens.

Hartsook searched Teri’s List for items she was interested in but she only found one thing that she wanted to purchase. While using the coupon with the sale price saved her $5 off a candle, she’s unsure that she’d use Teri’s List again.

“I don’t use a lot of the items that are on the list. I couldn’t find coupons for the stuff that I do use. I know the coupons are worth the savings since they can help you save on paying the tax for an item, but the list was a lot of work to match everything up. I think it’d be useful for a family, though, since the list seemed targeted toward people with larger households. My roommate and I live in an apartment so we don’t have the space or need to buy in bulk,” she said.

Daugherty said she enjoyed using Teri’s List to shop for household necessities. She plans to use coupons more often.

“Every opportunity for saving is important when you're in college. Every little discount adds up and I bet people would be surprised by how much they can save by using them,” she said.