Pippi Dons the Crown
Pippi Lotta Enok, an OU sophomore originally from Estonia, became the NCAA heptathlon champion in June. Enok dominated a grueling, two-day event and is the first Sooner to win a “multis” national title. She finished with 6,165 points, shattering OU records, and set personal records in high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash and 800-meter run. The seven required heptathlon events also included 100-meter hurdles, javelin and long jump.
A Fighter Meets Fire
After nearly six years in the U.S. Army and becoming a paramedic, Kimb Frey earned a 2022 OU anthropology degree while simultaneously working as a firefighter for Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Today, she battles fires—and sometimes sets them—for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore the evergreen landscape of the Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge. Frey calls her work “much like a doctor’s plan of treatment."
Pippi Dons the Crown
Pippi Lotta Enok, an OU sophomore originally from Estonia, became the NCAA heptathlon champion in June. Enok dominated a grueling, two-day event and is the first Sooner to win a “multis” national title. She finished with 6,165 points, shattering OU records, and set personal records in high jump, shot put, 200-meter dash and 800-meter run. The seven required heptathlon events also included 100-meter hurdles, javelin and long jump.
Brain Food
Whether you’re eating a Carolina reaper pepper or a decadent chocolate brownie, scientists believe our neurons process taste in the same region of the brain as touch. OU researchers recently received a $1.9 million National Institutes of Health grant for a five-year study that will help reveal where taste and touch intersect and how our brain circuits influence human behavior. The results may shed light on how the brain is organized and offer insights into health and disease.
Home Again
OU’s Jacobson House Native Art Center reopened in May after a yearlong renovation. The house was home to Oscar Brousse Jacobson, inaugural director of OU’s School of Art. Jacobson promoted Native American artists, including the famed Kiowa Six. Restoration of Jacobson House—which is on the National Register of Historic Places—included significant structural work, plastering and landscaping. The center celebrates Native American art and culture through exhibits and programs from lectures to children’s story times and tribal singing events.
OU Student Tackles EMT Crisis
Sophomore Daniel Zavala Paramo learned Oklahoma struggles to attract and retain Emergency Medical Technicians and that 22 other states belonged to a compact allowing EMT licenses to be used across state lines. Zavala Paramo approached his state representative, OU ’22 Engineering alum Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, who authored House Bill 2422 adding Oklahoma to the compact. The bill was signed into law in May. “We all have a right and responsibility to be engaged in government,” says Zavala Paramo, who interned in Washington, D.C., this summer.
Operation Ukraine
Explosive weapons have left thousands of Ukrainians with life-threatening head and neck injuries–and too few prepared surgeons. OU Health stepped into the breach as the only U.S. site training Ukrainian surgeons on advanced head and neck reconstructive techniques through hands-on clinical simulations and observation experiences. Cohorts visit OU for one-month rotations under the guidance of facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Mark Mims.
Sail Away
Sightseeing Sooners is offering the trip of a lifetime–a Greek Isles cruise chartered exclusively for OU alumni with President Joe Harroz Jr. and Ashley Harroz. Discover ancient wonders and sail the Aegean Sea for seven nights aboard the all-inclusive, 100-guest ship, Emerald Azzurra. Spots are filling quickly; to learn more, visit https://globaltrackstravel.com/.
Treasures of Tuscany
Treasures of Tuscany: Renaissance in Arezzo will introduce visitors to Arezzo's major artworks, goldsmithery, textiles, and incunables, many of which have never before been exhibited outside Italy. Organized by the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Treasures of Tuscany is the first international exhibition devoted entirely to the Aretinian Renaissance with artworks drawn from more than 20 Italian institutions and private collections. The exhibition will run Oct. 12 through Jan. 28. Admission to the museum is always free.
Sooner Style
A stash of Sooner Magazines from the 1960s and early '70s resurfaced during a renovation project at Oklahoma Memorial Union. Groovy, no? If you have memories to share, e-mail us at soonermagazine@ou.edu.