Dorm Room Haunting

Business major sophomore Annie Dowling claims that she was visited by the supernatural during the 2010 spring semester in Adams Muldrow Tower. Early in February, Dowling says that she encountered a spirit while sleeping in her dorm bed late at night while her roommate was absent. Dowling does not think the spirit was malicious, but she still wants people to be aware of her experience.

Dowling remembers sleeping when her suitemate came into her room through the bathroom door and asked to get in bed with Dowling claiming that she was scared and cold. When her suitemate got into the bed, Dowling recounts “an intense cold and a feeling of pressure on [her] stomach, like someone was wrapping their arm around it.” Dowling turned to face her suitemate when a bright flash of light erupted next to her and she found no one in her bed. The next day, Dowling asked her suitemate if she had come into her room the previous night and her suitemate said no. Dowling said that she was surprised to learn that her suitemate had a similar experience of Dowling asking to get in her bed.

Dowling does not know if the spirit has visited the new residents of her former dorm during this semester, but she does think that “there is a definite possibility that the spirit is still in Muldrow.” According to resident advisor Lauren Young, no one else has reported a similar occurrence to Dowling’s that she is aware of.

Paranormal expert, leader of Oklahoma Paranormal Research Institute, and self-proclaimed psychic Christy Clarke confirmed that the spirit was not malicious. According to Clarke, when a spirit intends to harm someone bruises or scratches can be found on a person’s body. Dowling did not report and physical abrasions.

Dowling hopes that people with consider her experience seriously and not be afraid to investigate paranormal activity. She has no plans to join a club that researches the supernatural, but she does support them.

For more information, visit www.okpri.com to learn more about the paranormal.

Blogging for Social Change

Award winning New York commentator and columnist Mona Elthaway spoke at the seminar “Blogging for Social Change” on Wednesday September fifteenth in the Board of Regents room at the Oklahoma Memorial Union. She emphasizes the importance of blogs and social media to countries in the Middle East struggling for human rights. Elthaway asserts that blogs and social network sites are integral for highlighting injustices in the Middle East when the government violates civil liberties.
Without blogging and social network sites, Elthaway claims, many who live in the Middle East that are usually silenced by the government would not have an outlet for their concerns about their rights and their nation. To spotlight this point, Elthaway gave an example of a young man named Ali in Bahrain who was beaten to death by police after he was discovered videotaping them sharing the benefits of a drug bust. A picture of Ali’s mutilated corpse surfaced in the media and began to cycle through various media channels, like blogs and facebook, enraging many who opposed the lack of government reprimand for the police involved in Ali’s death. When the anger of the citizens reached a maximum level, protests began in the streets of Bahrain for the violation of Ali’s rights. In response to the demonstrations, the government gave the officers involved a harsher punishment for their crime; however, the officers are still employed by the country as police. Elthaway attributes the more severe chastisement of the officers to the fact that blogs and social networks were used to spread the information of Ali’s untimely death.
Many news outlets today are wrought with stories and videos of police brutality in the Middle East. Citizens of these countries post videos or information about injustices on social networks like facebook, or twitter to expose the world to the dangerous plights people living in these countries face, while most in America use the social networks for an alternative purpose. If this trend of citizen journalists continues in the Middle East, perhaps the governments located there will reform their human rights laws and the people will be able to live in peace and protection.
Elthaway recounted many times when a Middle Easterner would contact her through social networks to expose a social injustice that occurred. “I would do everything I could to help those that reached out to me,” Elthaway said. She admits to using those who contact her through social networks as sources and leads for her stories. “Without some of these people who write on my facebook wall, or tweet me, I wouldn’t have such in depth and personal stories,” Elthaway says.
Elthaway teaches a course at the university titled “Women and Media in New East.” She will continue teaching this course at the university through September and remain a supporter of human rights. Elthaway plans to continue her blogging and social networking to improve her work as a journalist.