The “Good Luck Duck” is essentially a duck trophy that the Davenport team stole out of the Grizzlies locker room seven seasons ago. The Battle for the Duck is a best-of-five series played every season. The winner of the trophy paints the Duck in their school colors, as a sort of mockery to the other team.

“The Duck belonged to some friends of mine, Brent Hable and Kyle Wilson, and somehow ended up in our locker room,” said Director of Hockey Operations Corey Hagood. “But a few years ago, after our game against Davy, they broke into our locker room and stole it.”

The moniker of ‘Good Luck’ to the trophy is due to the fact that since 2007, the team that has won the Duck has won nationals. Oakland won the Division 2 National Championship that year. Since joining division 1 in 2008, Davenport has won the Duck each season and in turn, has won nationals.

“Both teams have always been good and won multiple national championships,” said Hagood.

Hagood described the rivalry as being similar to the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche rivalry in the 90’s.

The series is currently tied at one game apiece this season. The first two games were played the first weekend of December, on the second and third. In the first game played at the Onyx Ice Irena, OU shutout Davenport 5-0. The Saturday game was played in Grand Rapids, with Davenport defeating the Grizzlies 3-2.

Forward Alex Hoffman scored both goals for Oakland in the second game. The first game saw goals by five different Oakland players — Dustin Hopfner, Brian Jacobs, Anthony Colizza, Frank Matyok and Adam Novak.

The series continues this weekend, with Oakland hosting Davenport at the Onyx at 8pm on Friday, February 3. The Saturday game will be played in Grand Rapids. If Oakland can get wins over Davenport in both games, they will win the Good Luck Duck for the first time since the 2007 season. If the series is split once again, a fifth game will be played February 24 at the Onyx.

The Golden Grizzlies are preparing for the game with one goal in mind, and that is to win.

“For that, you don’t really have to do anything to psych yourself up for that. I’ve been here for four years and have never won that Good Luck Duck,” said defenseman Jacob DeSano. “Every year Davenport has won it, they’ve won nationals.”

Oakland has a picture of the Duck in their locker room, painted in the Davenport colors, to use as motivation.

The importance of this year’s Good Luck Duck series has never been higher.

“We are having hard good practices and going over game film. The coaches are preparing them well,” said Hagood.  “I don’t think you do anything different; every game is huge but this is bigger than years past since first place in the conference and an auto bid to Nationals is on the line.”

“If you want to see what OU Hockey is about, this is the game to come to the game that will make you like hockey,” Hagood said. “Support your school, have fun, be loud. It is a fun time and you’ll be hooked if you come out.”

“Thank you all,” Romney said, “To the people of Florida tonight, thank you for this great victory.”

In his victory speech Romney choose not to go after his other Republican appoints, but choose instead to focus his attacks on the white house and President Barack Obama.

Romney said: “Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses. In another era of American crisis, Thomas Paine is reported to have said, ‘Lead, follow, or get out of the way.’ Mr. President, you were elected to lead, you chose to follow, and now it’s time for you to get out of the way.”

Romney took home 46 percent of the vote in Florida as compared to second place finisher Newt Gingrich at 32 percent.

In response to members of the media speculating that he may drop out of the race, Gingrich said: “So, I just want to reassure them tonight, we are going to contest every place, and we are going to win.”

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, finished third and fourth respectively.

Gingrich did however, get more support than Romney did from people who classified themselves as “very conservative.” According to CNN’s exit poll Gingrich got 41 percent, to Romney’s 30 percent.

Romney greatly improved his reputation with Latino voters. According to CNN’s exit poll 54 percent of Latinos voted for Romney, this is up from 14 percent in the 2008 Republican Primary.

The Florida primary saw the continuation of big spending on political adds.

Including “Supper PACs” Romney’s campaign spent around $13.3 million on adds, while runner up Gingrich’s campaign spent around $2.5 million according to CNN.

Supper PACs are a new kind of political action committee who has the ability to raise and spend unlimited funds on a candidate, according to opensource.org.

According to CNN, 93 percent of TV adds in Florida were “negative.”

With the win in Florida, Romney receives 50 delegates, which puts his total number of delegates at 84. Gingrich currently has 27, Paul has 10 and Santorum has 8. To receive the Republican nomination a candidate needs to have 1,144 delegates.

The next stop on the campaign trail for the candidates will be Nevada, for the Feb. 4 caucuses.

I think of our wonderful athletic teams, the camaraderie and close-knit atmosphere of Rochester, and the excellent academic opportunities from our world-class faculty.

But after hearing word that one year after graduation I would lose my Oakland University e-mail address, I was shocked and appalled.

Whatever happened to forever?

In 2003, the e-mail servers at Oakland were overhauled, as the growing student population had rendered the old server obsolete.

The last straw was in October 2002, as a total system failure caused the loss of all e-mail inboxes.

Technology had advanced a great deal to this point, and some portions of the system had not been touched for nearly 20 years, including some of the file structures. It was definitely time for an upgrade, and the state-appointed Board of Trustees voted for the overhaul in February 2003.

At that point in time, Michigan was still doing decent.

The financial crisis and subsequent perils of the auto industry had not happened yet. Unemployment was still low, and homes were selling.

Let’s fast forward to 2012. The economic climate has taken a severe downturn. Families are struggling to survive. While the auto industry survived, the housing market still took an abrupt hit and led to many foreclosures.

Students attend college to gain an advantage in the competitive global marketplace, but eliminating alumni e-mail addresses one year after graduation seems ludicrous, even with a much greater emphasis on saving dollars and cost-cutting.

I believe that these e-mail accounts are extremely important to our alumni because of the economic malaise Michigan is in.

The networks we create through our years of matriculation have never been needed more than right now.

Now while it is true that websites such as Yahoo! offer free e-mail accounts and it is possible to migrate important contacts, I always thought of my Oakland account as my main one. It was a sign that I had been accepted into a renowned university.

It was a sign that my dream of finishing my bachelor’s degree was about to come true.

I had made it.

That feeling was worth much more than twelve months. It felt like forever.

—-Contact contributing reporter Shawn Minnix via e-mail at sdminnix@oakland.edu

In protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Acts, many websites went black on Jan. 18.

According to the Washington Post, Google Inc. has collected over seven million signatures from people in the U.S. as part of their online petition to Congress against the SOPA and PIPA acts.

Google also blacked out its logo on their search engine and the user-created Internet encyclopedia, Wikipedia, among other sites, blacked out their entire U.S. website on Jan. 18.

Instead of seeing the content that a user was looking for, they were directed to a page that explained the bills and provided a link to help the user find their local representative.

According to a statement released from the Wikipedia Foundation, “162 million people experienced the Wikipedia blackout landing page … more than eight million U.S. readers looked up their Congressional representatives through Wikipedia to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.”

After the protest, 13 congressmen who were co-sponsoring the bill withdrew their support.

Under the SOPA act, which was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith on Oct. 26, 2011, the U.S. government would have the ability to more closely monitor the Internet.

The goal of the bill would be to crack down on web sites that are allowing their users to illegally obtain copyrighted materials, and intellectual property, which would contain sound recordings, videos of live music performances, and “trafficking in counterfeit labels, goods or services.”

SOPA is directly aimed at various foreign and domestic web sites including “The Pirate Bay,” a torrent website used for downloading.  Besides torrent websites, SOPA would also impact popular social networking sites like Facebook and YouTube.

Under the bill, people would no longer have the right to post videos of concerts, clips of movies or any other piece of material that might be considered theft of intellectual property.

The proposed bill would require online websites and search engines like Google, to “withhold services from an infringing site or prevent users located in the United States from accessing the infringing site.”

SOPA would also focus its energy on eliminating sites that promote illegal medications and sites that distribute prescription drugs to people with out a prescription.

According to opencongress.org, support for the bill has come from NBC Universal, Ford Motor Company, MCA Records, Walmart, Netflix, Disney and others.

The driving force for opposition of SOPA has been many online service providers including Google, Twitter and Facebook among others.

SOPA’s detractors claim that the bill will allow the government to over censor the internet and will destroy what the Internet was created for: sharing information.

PIPA was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy and outlines many of the same things that are in SOPA.

As of Jan. 20, both SOPA and PIPA have been indefinitely postponed.

In a press release issued after the decision had been made to postponed the voting on the bill, Smith said that the best way to diminish the amount of Internet pirating would be to re-address the issue.

—-Contact senior reporter Christopher Lauritsen via e-mail at lauritsen.chris09@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @ChrisLaurtsen

As journalists, we obviously hold deadlines in high regard.

So, when the Oakland University Student Congress announced they had failed to advertise the deadline for OU students to declare candidacy in the upcoming elections, we were chagrined.

Student Body President Benjamin Eveslage sent The Oakland Post an e-mail Jan. 25 explaining they “didn’t realize” the deadline for students to submit their declarations of candidacy was nearing for legislators, the vice president and president.

Buried within this notification was the fact the deadline to apply was on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. — a mere five days away.

The OUSC bylaws clearly state that candidates for the election must submit their names for the ballot eight weeks prior to the election date in March.

Yeah, as journalists, we should have been playing watchdog and caught the fact that the deadline date was approaching.

Even so, it is OUSC’s ultimate responsibility as the student governing body to inform students of what is going on and to give everyone an equal chance to run.

OUSC is having no problem with forgetting to spend student money this year, however.

They receive $86,301 in Student Activity Fees, which they spend on events, causes and their payroll.

That money is also supposed to be used for advertising.

Advertising for things like elections, that is.

After OUSC announced the nearly missed deadline, they voted to extend the period an entire week to Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.

Because, in a week, all 19,379 students at Oakland will have been well-informed of the election and some may even decide to run.

Last year, four teams of student candidates took the plunge into presidential candidacy, along with 29 legislator hopefuls.

With all of the sloppiness of the current administration and lack of notice, we don’t think everyone has been given a fair opportunity in this year’s election.

Eveslage said he believes one week will be enough time for students (because they are now advertising on social media like Facebook and Twitter), but if there is a lack of applications for candidacy this year, we have to wonder if lack of advertising was to blame.

What’s worse is they missed the deadline for something as important as the next student governing body — the next group of individuals to represent the voice of the students.

How can they forget something that important?

We’re not advocating for continuous election coverage like we see on the national level, but we do think students deserve more than a few days to make that kind of decision.

Especially after last year’s campaign drama, we don’t think it’s a good idea to rush into elections this time around.

Hopefully next year’s administration doesn’t make the same mistake.

We won’t next time.

—–
The staff editorial is written weekly by members of The Oakland Post’s editorial board.

The donation was made by long-time benefactor to OU, Stephan Sharf.

Sharf is a retired Chrysler executive and matched his retirement funds from the company with his own money to create OU scholarships available to Chrysler employees and their children.

In 2007 he has also received an honorary doctorate degree of science from the university.

President Gary Russi declared the gift will aid Southeastern Michigan as it transitions from the current economic struggles into a future of economic prosperity.

“This remarkable gift strategically targets two key areas of Oakland’s academic mission —namely programs that will allow (OU) to help southeastern Michigan and the state as a whole transition into a thriving, knowledge-based economy,” Russi said.

The two areas Russi referred to are the School of Engineering and Computer Science and the William Beaumont School of Medicine.

Both departments, along with the women’s golf team, were granted $14 million of the $21 million gift.

The remaining $7 million will be directed to campus operational and capital needs, according to Russi.

Russi said these departments will receive enhancements that will prepare students to become successful leaders in the 21st century through scholarships, research and “enriching” extracurricular activities.

“Another factor that makes this gift so significant is the fact that countless students will benefit directly from it. We are tremendously fortunate and grateful that our donor took the best interests of our students to heart,” Russi said.

He praised the hard work of the students, faculty and staff, who he said have made OU among the top universities in region. The gift, according to Russi, is a testament to what they have accomplished and will accomplish.

“(The gift) is an investment in Oakland University’s future,” he said. “This kind of positive reinforcement that our mission is valued really makes an affirmative statement in the community and the state that Oakland University has an integral role in educating Michigan’s future leaders.”

Russ Cunningham, the coach of both the women’s and men’s golf teams, also noted the long -term results of the gift and echoed the fact that it strengthens a bond with the community.

“We are very grateful (for the gift). Anything we receive will help us in our goal of capturing our first conference championship,” Cunningham said. “It is exciting for the university as a whole. It shows the overall enthusiasm in the community. It’s a great time to be an OU student, staff member and alumni.”

Eric Barritt, vice president of community engagement and university relations, believes that the reaction from the OU community is important to note.

“We are extremely grateful and humbled. (The gift) will benefit countless students and faculty through scholarships and research,” Barritt said.

RECENT BENEFACTORS OF OAKLAND UNIVERSITY

MAGGIE ALLESEE Namely a donor to the Music, Theater and Dance department, Maggie Allesee has donated millions of dollars to Oakland University during her decades of philanthropy. She has established an endowed chair in geriatrics and rehabilitation nursing in the School of Nursing, where she also serves on Board of Visitors. She also serves on the Board of Visitors for the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble in the MTD department.

ANN NICHOLSON Former Board of  Trustees member Ann Nicholson has made numerous donations to OU. She and her husband, James, are members of the Meadow Brook Society, which honors those who donated between $500,000 and $1 million. Nicholson has donated to the OU William Beaumount School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the School of Business Administration, the Honor’s College, Kresge Library and the MTD department. The Ann V. Nicholson apartments are also named for her.

DENNIS AND CARLOTTA PAWLEY The husband and wife duo has made over $7 million of donations to OU. Dennis has served on the board of trustees and the OU Foundation Board of Directors. He also established the Pawley Lean Learning Institute, which strives to share concepts that improve efficiency in education and create leaders at the university and in the community. In 2004 Carlotta and Dennis Pawley Hall was named in honor of a $4 million donation the couple made to the School of Education and Human Services building.

STEPHAN SHARF A donor since 1981, Sharf has made the largest contribution, $21 million, to the university in the history of the institution. His connection to OU began in the 70s when he served as the chairman at the Meadow Brook Music Festival. In 2000, one of his numerous his contributions helped to establish the R & S Sharf Golf Course, named for he and his wife Rita, located on OU’s campus. In 2008 he made an anonymous $4 million to the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

Contact senior reporter Jordan Gonzalez via e-mail at jrgonzal@oakland.edu

Hats are just one way students across campus express themselves through fashion while staying warm.

Animal hats, baseball caps and brightly colored knit caps, in addition to berets and fedoras, are popular among the student body.

Personal preference plays a part, but there are some guidelines to follow.

For warmth, many students stick to faux fur and woolen hats. These provide the most insulation during chilly winter months. Aviator hats and knit caps are great for guys, while berets work well with many popular styles for young women.

“I like my knit hat because it keeps me warm in the winter while still looking good,” Antonio Davis, a freshman, said. “The hat’s pattern is cool and it blocks out the wind.”

They pay close attention to colors. Neutral shades are very versatile, pairing perfectly with a variety of coats and clothes. Or you can choose to go bold with bright shades to contrast and stand out in the crowd.

Embellishments like bows and flowers on women’s hats add extra style and self-expression, while many young men use hats as a place to show appreciation for their favorite sports team.

“Baseball caps (are my favorite kind of hat),” sophomore Clay Spencer said. “They come in a lot of different colors and designs. I like wearing my Detroit hat because it represents my city and favorite team.”

Contact Staff Intern Stephanie Sokol  via e-mail at sasokol@oakland.edu

It was a game of two halves as the Oakland University women’s basketball team suffered their worst home loss of the season, dropping 61-51 against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

The Golden Grizzlies (10-10, 6-5 Summit League) came into Monday night’s game having won five of their last six games, all coming within the month of January. Coupled with the team’s impressive 7-2 record inside the O’rena, Oakland looked to hand the Jackrabbits only their second conference loss of the season.

Meanwhile, South Dakota State (15-7, 10-1 Summit League) came into the game holding the top spot in the Summit League conference.

Redshirt freshman guard Amy Carlton surprisingly stepped up to lead the Grizzlies’ initial charge, scoring the first five points of the game.

Oakland head coach Beckie Francis was very pleased with Carlton’s play, highlighting her will on the court.

“What freshman takes the starting spot and scores the first five points in this kind of game,” Francis said. “She is a hustle player, always getting her nose in there, she really is my replacement for Zakiya. She is my ‘Rudy’ story, she’s a walk on, and the fact that she is starting like this and producing is incredible.”

Zakiya Minifee was lost for the season after a lower leg injury in the game against IUPUI in early January. Minifee was previously the team’s leading rebounder and one of the team’s top scorers.

While Carlton helped to set the tone early, it was senior center Brittany Carnago who stole the spotlight in the first half — and rightfully so. Carnago notched her 260th block of her career early in the game, setting a new school record. The previous record had been held by Brenda McLean, and had stood since 1985.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Carnago said. “It’s quite the honor to be up there with such excellent players”

With walk-ons stepping up and records being broken, Oakland was able to ride a 7-0 run into halftime and take a 29-23 lead into the locker room. The run was capped by a buzzer beater lay up by Carnago.

While Oakland carried the momentum into halftime, the Golden Grizzlies came out flat in the second half. Out of the break the Jackrabbits reeled off a 12-2 run to retake the lead for good, attacking the Grizzlies with a barrage of three pointers. SDSU went an impressive 7-12 from behind the arc in the second half, while Oakland matched with a dreadful 0-5 from the same distance.

“I thought what really hurt us was our defense,” Watterworth said. “And we went cold there for a little while, and we didn’t hit a shot which hurt us.”

Finally, freshman forward Shelby Herrington hit a jumper to stop the bleeding — but it was too little too late. SDSU took control of the game, shooting 46.7 percent in the second stanza, to Oakland’s 28 percent.

Oakland gave up a season high 12 three-pointers to the Jackrabbits, who relied on shots from the outside to seal the victory.

Watterworth led the Grizzlies’ attack with a game-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds, which also tied for the game-high in that category.

Senior guard Sharise Calhoun was the only other Grizzly in double-figures, notching 11 points. Carnago chipped in seven.

South Dakota State sported a balanced attack with Jill Young having 15, Rachel Walters adding a career-high 12 off the bench and Ashley Eide contributing 10.

“We’ve done really well against (the top teams in the conference)” Francis said. “We have just a little bit more work to do and we’re focusing on peaking in March.”

The Grizzlies begin a two-game roadtrip with Western Illinois on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and then IUPUI on Feb. 6.

Contact Timothy Pontzer at trpontze@oakland.edu and follow him on Twitter @timothy_pontzer