At Oklahoma State, a Campus Grieves

Monday, January 29th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) â€” It was supposed to be a day of Super Bowl Sunday revelry in this college town, with the only worry being whether stores would run out of popcorn, beer and peanuts.

Instead, the mood was as cold and dreary as the rain soaking the streets following the crash of a small airplane bringing people home from Oklahoma State University's basketball game against Colorado.

``It's like a part of the school died,'' said Justin Battista, a freshman walking in the rain toward Sunday morning Mass.

Ten people were killed in Saturday's crash in a field 40 miles east of Denver, including two reserve basketball players and six staffers and broadcasters. The pilot and co-pilot also were killed.

The crew made no distress call before the crash, said Arnold Scott of the National Transportation Safety Board.

The school scheduled a memorial service for 3 p.m. Wednesday in the campus' Gallagher-Iba Arena.

At Eskimo Joes, a normally rowdy off-campus hangout, one student couldn't keep from crying as she seated the few customers on the quiet Sunday morning. At a bagel shop near campus, there was no laughter.

``Everyone is pretty melancholy,'' said freshman Chris Shumake. ``They're just walking around like zombies, sort of. You hear of airplane crashes like in Europe and overseas, but you never think of it hitting home.''

``It's always hard when you didn't get a chance to say goodbye, or didn't get a chance to say sorry for yelling at you a day ago or whatever,'' she said.

Katie McCollon, a high school senior who also attends Oklahoma State, said she and her parents knew many of those killed.

``I grew up in Stillwater,'' she said. ``OSU is like three blocks from my house. It's really close to home. OSU basketball is one of the highlights of the year for my family.''

Sports information director Steve Buzzard said he expected the other players would spend the day in seclusion.

``I would be remiss to tell you I know what they're doing today because it's a private time,'' he said. ``They were together last night for most of the night and I would guess they'd be together today.''

The campus woke up slowly Sunday, although Sara Byerly was up earlier than most to attend church and check her e-mail at the library.

``Everybody is going to go back to life,'' she said. ``But there are some people who are pretty upset still.''

â€”â€”â€”

On the Net:

Oklahoma State University: http://pio.okstate.edu/