Slideshow

This slideshow is conducted of the sights and sounds from the group tables in the Bizzell Memorial Library.

Roddick Brothers to Play in Oklahoma City

OU men’s tennis coach, John Roddick, and his brother Andy will play as a doubles team in the Oklahoma Tennis Classic on Sunday, September 25, at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

The Roddick brothers, unlike other tennis siblings Venus and Serena Williams or Bob and Mike Bryan, were unable to play doubles matches growing up. The Williams sisters are separated by one year in age and the Bryan brothers by just three minutes while the Roddicks are six years apart

“When you’re 18 and he’s 12 it’s just too hard to play. As far as juniors go the age difference was just too extreme.”

The two started their doubles endeavors in 2001.

“We used to do some of these when I traveled with him full-time as his coach. We did several of these, usually against the Bryan brothers. We played doubles in Washington D.C. in one of the U.S. Open series events in 2001.”

The two will play against Mardy Fish and David Martin, both of which have been coached by John Roddick.

The Oklahoma Tennis Classic is a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls club, but is also designed to bring awareness to tennis in the Oklahoma City area.

“They do these in a lot of cities. For here I think it’s important for the city and for the awareness of tennis. They don’t get a ton of tennis events. I think this is the first kind of big time tennis event since Davis Cup in 2002.”

Though the match is an exhibition, the Roddicks have a passion for tennis and share an intensity to win.

“Andy and I had a similar playing style as far as our passion, but I see it as you have two choices: you can either win or lose and I want to win,” Roddick said.

"Definition of Marriage" Lecture

Photo Courtesy of JohnCorvino.com.

On Friday, September 9, the OU department of philosophy welcomed speaker, writer and philosopher John Corvino to speak at OU’s campus to address an audience of around 100 students and faculty members.

The department of philosophy invites four or five speakers per year as a part of their colloquium. Graduate students and faculty members of the department choose the speakers.

“We had two people suggest Corvino and that’s what brought him to our attention,” said Martin Montminy, philosophy department professor.

Montminy added that 45-50 people typically attend an event made up of mostly philosophy faculty and grad students, but they expected more of a general audience to attend Corvino’s lecture and were surprised by the turnout.

Corvino’s lecture was over his paper called “The Definition of Marriage,” which was taken from an approaching book he is co-authoring with Magie Gallagher, “Debating Same Sex Marriage.”

According to his website, Corvino has produced books, multiple columns, a DVD and lectured for professional organizations, government contractors, churches, and hundreds of college and university audiences.

Though he has spoken at multiple venues, some close to Corvino had shown uncertainty about him speaking at OU.

“Some friends of mine expressed concern that I was speaking about issues related to gay marriage in Oklahoma. To which my respone was ‘well, how bad could it be, their state song is a show tune,’” Corvino said in his opening remarks.

Corvino’s lecture over the subject of same-sex marriage is a thought provoking one. Corvino says it is his goal to get people to think more clearly about the issues of same-sex marriage.

“With this paper, I want people to understand that while the "Definitional Objection" raises some interesting philosophical questions, ultimately it is a distraction from the more pressing moral question of how to treat gay and lesbian individuals, couples, and their families.”