How powerful is the annual Red River Showdown football game between the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma? It easily overpowered an outbreak of anxiety after America’s first diagnosed case of Ebola, right here in Dallas.
But when the news broke last week, editors at the Oklahoma Daily on the OU campus quickly noticed students’ concerns about a virus that always seemed half a world away.
“We thought it might be good to write something about this in case OU students were shocked or worried about it,” said Kaitlyn Underwood, an editor at the campus paper and a graduate of McKinney Boyd High School. “That first day, just from talking with other students, it seemed people were really surprised that something like this could happen, and so close to Norman.”
So Underwood put together a story about the virus and how it spreads, “just to let our readers know.”
Despite what some describe as “highly contagious” worry about Ebola in the U.S., the article and the lure of the big game Saturday overcame any lingering student concerns.
“I haven’t noticed any overwhelming reaction” to the single Ebola case, Underwood said. “And I haven’t spoken to anyone who isn’t going to go to Dallas for the weekend.”
The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau reported much the same.
Two organizations with meetings in Dallas requested information about the Ebola situation, said Frank Librio, a vice president with the convention and visitors bureau. Neither planned to cancel, he said. They just wanted the latest updates.
For that, Librio thanked health officials who made it clear that members of the public aren’t at risk from what so far appears to be one isolated case.
The Cotton Bowl at Fair Park still expects to host more than 96,000 football fans on Saturday, Librio said.
Many of them were already southbound on Thursday afternoon, Underwood said.
“A lot of people have already left, and anyone going to Texas this weekend is leaving soon,” she said.
“Friday is a holiday at OU,” Underwood said, “the OU-Texas holiday.”
