Nov. 11, 2020

THE CAMPUS

November 11, 2020 – Volume 114 Issue 5

Lifestyles

Alert level remains at moderate Sou�ce: okcu.edu

Officials respond to concerns from students, faculty Francesca Iacovacci

NEWS EDITOR Jessica Casebeer Student Publications

Read about students voting in the 2020 presidential election (Page 2).

News

Melissa Campbell Student Publications

Continue reading about the residential Covid-19 screening (Page 3).

Opinion

Mackenzie Shaw Student Publications

Columnist reviews cartoon series “Over the Garden Wall” (Page 4).

Arts & Entertainment

Sou�ce: OCU CARE OCU CARE hosted a virtual race and ethnic diversity town hall (Page 5).

Semester in Review

Jessica Vanek Student Publications

A semester review in pictures (Page 6-7).

Sports

Cou�tesy o� OCUspo�ts.com

Ruthie Lacy, nursing freshman, broke a

Officials responded to student concerns about the university’s COVID-19 alert level.

T h e u n i v e r s i t y’s c u r r e n t COVID-19 alert level remains at moderate despite the increase of COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma City and the surrounding community. The moderate alert level is the second alert level for OCU. The “Responding to COVID at OCU” document on the university’s COVID-19 information page states this alert level means OCU and local communities can operate at moderate densities and protective measures are in place. A high alert level means OCU and local communities can operate only in low-density environments, the document reads.

The “Triggers for Raising & Lowering Alert Levels” document states the OCU alert level may be raised due to events such as a significant increase of COVID-19 transmission on campus, significant transmission increases in the local community if the institution cannot minimize interaction with the local community, evidence the campus population is disregarding safety guidelines or insufficient healthcare capacity or COVID-19 testing availability. The alert level may also be raised due to local, state or national government policy.

Joey Croslin, vice president for human resources, said the reason why the campus alert level hasn’t changed is because it is only for the OCU community, though the Emergency Operations Committee does monitor the county alert level.

She said they have not observed any of the current alert level triggers in the campus community.

“We haven’t seen that yet, so far,

and I hope we don’t,” Croslin said.

“I want to make clear there isn’t just one specific trigger of the data we monitor that would cause us to make a change to alert level. We’re looking at all of the data holistically and how that relates to our campus community and doing what we can to keep people safe.”

She said the EOC monitors COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the local community to help determine the campus alert level “The hospital capacity in the metro area, as well as around the state, has increased to record levels, and that is definitely creating stress on our hospital system, but we continue to have access to health care both on-campus and off-campus,” she said.

The university has tried to help mitigate an increase in transmission by implementing restrictions, such as limiting student organization in-person activities, events and meetings to no more than 10 people, she said.

Croslin said the EOC also monitors the Harvard Global Health Institute website, where you can see data organized by state and county.

As of Nov. 5, the state of Oklahoma is in the red, which means there are more than 25 infections per 100,000 people tested, and stay-athome orders are deemed necessary.

Oklahoma is currently ranked 23rd in the country for most COVID19 cases.

Croslin said the reason the university is doing well in containing the virus is because students are complying with the health and safety protocols.

“That has made all the difference,” she said. “I know it’s getting tiresome and people talk about pandemic fatigue, but we’re really

close to the end of the term, and I really appreciate all the effort students have put in. They really have made this a success.”

Levi Harrel, dean of students, said the cases on campus this semester have been manageable so far.

“So, when we look at that, while the goal would be to have no cases in our campus community certainly, we know that that is manageable. We have resources to meet that need on campus, our campus clinic continues to be well resourced to meet those student’s needs,” he said.

Mark Davies, professor of social and ecological ethics, said he’s confused why the university implemented more restrictions without changing the alert level.

“It sounds like they changed some practices that the university would have, had they moved the alert level up, but they didn’t move the actual alert level up,” Davies said. “So, my question would be, if you’re making changes based on what you said you would do if you had to move the level up, then why isn’t the alert level going up?”

Davies said universities across the country should not only think about cases on campus, but also in the community.

“I think sometimes – and this is not just an OCU thing – I think universities are focusing so much on how many cases they have internal to the university, whether it be students, faculty or staff, that they’re not thinking about the negative impact that’s having on the community around the university,” he said.

Davies also said he doesn’t think the Oklahoma state alert level system is adequate to influence decisions the university makes

because it is almost impossible to raise the alert level to red, and there are no current red counties in Oklahoma based on the state alert system.

Melissa Goldberg, music theater senior, is attending classes remotely this semester.

“I can’t really speak to the situation on campus or in Oklahoma because I am not there, but from an outside perspective, it seems very negligent on OCU’s part to make OCU seem invincible,” she said.

“It’s really not, and it’ll be really upsetting when an asymptomatic student who went out to a bar or something gives an old professor COVID and then there are no hospital beds left to treat that professor.”

Lisi Levy, acting senior, said she thinks the university should raise the alert level.

“I don’t feel safe with the current alert level,” she said. “I think we had the most hospitalizations in the state of Oklahoma yesterday than we have the entire pandemic, and that’s horrific and terrifying. If they don’t think the state of Oklahoma statistics don’t directly impact our community, then I think they’re wrong.”

Kaylila Pasha, acting student, said she doesn’t think the university alert system should be different than Oklahoma City’s.

“I don’t think you can completely separate the two because our campus is in Oklahoma City, and our students are integrated into the city whether it be where they work or restaurants they eat at or fitness classes they attend. The city’s status directly affects the campus’ status,” Pasha said.

Professors adjust curricula due to severe weather closure Luke Barrett

MANAGING EDITOR

Students and faculty are adjusting to curriculum changes caused by the power outage on campus.

An ice storm recently caused the Oklahoma City University main campus to lose power from Oct. 26-30. The main campus closed at 2:28p.m Oct. 26. and remained closed through Oct. 30, when an email was sent through the emergency Blue Alert system announcing the resumption of classes on Nov. 2.

George Sims, interim provost, said every faculty member needed to make curriculum adjustments.

He said the need for faculty members to make adjustments to their schedules or be lenient with students who did not have electricity was not new or surprising given the overall circumstances of the semester.

“It’s one of those things; we remind everybody, ‘please work with students and make reasonable and flexible adjustments for folks who are overcoming the power failure and all like that,’ and everybody says ‘yeah, tell us something else that’s obvious,’ because it is kind of the obvious thing to say,” Sims said.

Enrollment for students with 60

or more credit hours continued as scheduled last week. On Oct. 29, Registrar Charlie Monnot sent an email to the campus community announcing pre-enrollment for students with 30 or more credit hours would be delayed until Nov. 2 and enrollment for all students would open Nov. 3.

Monnot said he consulted with Sims, deans and student success coordinators and heard students could continue with enrollment via their phones and advisors could also assist students by performing enrollment for them. He said advisors recommended registration be paused for the last two days due to difficulties related to the ice storm.

“I would say it was because it was the freshman group too, and it’s the first-time enrollment, and with all the confusion, and there was some backup, and there were some issues with electricity going out for some of the advisors too, and so that’s when they asked me to put a halt on it, and then I proceeded to do so,” Monnot said.

Curricula continued on 3

Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Campus residents take COVID tests Francesca Iacovacci

NEWS EDITOR

The university conducted COVID-19 surveillance testing this week for all residential students.

The Office of Student Affairs sent an email to residential students Nov. 3 that they would receive a testing kit to screen for COVID-19. The tests were conducted Nov. 5-8 on a virtual, Zoom appointment with the campus clinic.

Levi Harrel, dean of students, said the screening is both in response to the university’s power outage and a preemptive measure before students travel home at the end of the semester.

“The goal is two-fold. First, it meets that need that we--in these already unprecedented times--we had an ice storm in the middle of October that caused people to go off-campus for heat, electricity and resources, but it will also provide an insight to students as the end of the semester approaches and will at least provide a snapshot for them and some reassurance as they return to their families at home,” Harrel said.

COVID tests continued on 3

rowing world record (Page 8).

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lifestyles

Students organize environmental activist group Jessica Vanek

LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Students are working to organize a new climate change activist group on campus.

Nathan May, music theater junior, and Maya Ferrer-Toolsie, acting senior, are working to create a chapter of the Sunrise Movement at OCU. Sunrise Movement is a youth-based group centered around climate change policy and activism. The group incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2017 and gained national attention when a group of activists occupied Nancy Pelosi’s office and demanded climate action. May said the group aims to fight climate change and create jobs in the process, as well as seeking environmental and economic justice.

The group works to unseat candidates and politicians who deny climate change, talk to elected officials about climate change and fight for communities who are affected by

the climate crisis.

May said Sunrise Movement came from unrest in environmental communities.

“People realized there are a lot of politicians out there spreading misinformation and denying the existence of climate change,” he said. “The politicians had no real plan to address it the way that science says is necessary.”

May said he first began working with Sunrise Movement in Dallas during quarantine after attending an online educational camp.

“I have been aware of Sunrise Movement for a while because environmentalism and climate change are important to me,” he said.

“I had a great time with them, and I felt like I was making a difference.”

May said he noticed Oklahoma City does not prioritize climate justice and that energy companies are hurting the environment.

“In Oklahoma City, there’s no Sunrise hub. There’s a real lack of organization in Oklahoma around environmental justice,

but there’s a dire need for it,” May said.

May said the group is working to become an official group on campus, but currently they are organizing with a small group chat system. He said he hopes to meet with the national organization and figure out how to start the group by next semester.

Jo Muscarella, acting junior, said they heard about Sunrise Movement in Dallas during the Black Lives Matter protests.

Muscarella said they began finding a passion for activism in college.

“Since coming to college, I’ve been growing more and more aware of activism. The protests over the summer was the first time that I realized this was a serious thing that I needed to commit myself to,” Muscarella said.

Muscarella said they are enthusiastic about having a group at OCU because it creates a space for students to put their activist energy. They said it is essential for students to have a place to turn energy into change.

Cou�tesy o� Sunrisemovement.o�g

“It’s important for students to be involved in activism,” they said. “It’s important to not just ‘talk the talk’ but ‘walk the walk’ and actually do something with all of that energy.”

Students submit absentee ballots, participate in 2020 election Jessica Vanek

LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Students have prepared to make their voices heard in government.

The Student Civic Engagement Committee hosted a notary drive to allow students from different states to get their ballot notarized depending on the requirements of their home state.

The states that require ballot notarization or a witness signature are Ala., Maine, Miss., Mo., Okla. and S.D. The drive ran through the three weeks before Election Day, from Oct. 12-30.

Reid Powell, political science junior, serves as the executive director of the SCEC. Powell said the notary initiative is new to campus.

“I’ve been having a lot of conversations with both faculty and staff about the importance of mail-in voting, especially in the middle of a

pandemic and with a campus population that is nearly half out-of-state,” Powell said.

“It is crucial that students are able to get their absentee ballots notarized.”

Powell said the SCEC paid for postage so students can have access to free stamps for absentee ballots. Powell said it is many students’ first time voting in a presidential election.

“It’s been really exciting to see students so passionate. When the committee hosted a voter registration drive a few weeks ago, a lot of students had already been registered to vote and had made plans on how they will be voting,” he said.

Powell said civic engagement is a necessary aspect of democracy.

“It’s especially important that young people start early with getting involved in voting,” Powell said. “I hear a lot that people feel like

“

Jessica Vanek Student Publications

voting doesn’t matter, but if young people begin to vote, the government will start to notice and listen to young people.”

Dr. Richard Johnson, professor of political science, said the current political system

favors the older generation due to voting participation.

“The system is balanced against young people because older people tend to vote, so the ideas that they support tend to be favored in elections,” Johnson said. “It’s

more important than ever to make sure your vote is fair, and hopefully there’s a result from the election that gives us a clear sense of direction.”

Johnson said students have an important decision to make, and he has never seen such an unusual set of dynamics in an election.

“There’s such a stark choice difference between the president and former vice president,” Johnson said.

“You need to express yourself.

Whether you’re a friend of the president or the former vice president, there’s a lot of deep-seated issues.”

April Galindo-Liongco, accounting junior, is mailing in her ballot for election day. Galindo-Liongco said voting is a powerful way for students to take control of their futures and the future of the country.

“I hate when people complain about politics but then they don’t vote. You have

the right to complain, but you had the opportunity to make change,” Galindo-Liongco said. “For the longest time I felt like I didn’t know enough or that my opinion didn’t matter. If we don’t participate, then the people who are the loudest get their opinions heard.”

Galindo-Liongco said young people have power in numbers and have the potential to change the course of history. “ W h a t I l ove a b o u t democracy is that it’s for the people. It’s about what’s going to work for people today and in the future,” she said. “Our country is at this turning point where the younger generation is really involved and has as strong of a voice as the older generation.”

SGA upgrades gender-neutral bathrooms, PATS initiative Tyler Robbins

STAFF WRITER

Upgrades to gender-inclusive bathrooms are in the works on campus, including an update to the Pads and Tampons initiative.

The Student Government Association executive committee plans to upgrade the Pads and Tampons initiative and provide cleaner signage on gender-neutral bathrooms across campus.

Abby Banks, former Student Government Association president, said the PATS initiative started under the previous SGA president’s administration, and it supplies menstrual hygeine products in the restrooms located on campus. She said her team has seen a need for these resources.

“There is an issue with individuals not being able to afford these items. We do not want any of our students to be without something so necessary,” she said.

Banks said her team will be expanding PATS both in scope and accessibility.

“We will be adding feminine products to all gender-inclusive bathrooms.

Our team has also purchased automatic dispensers that will help with access and minimize contact,” Banks said.

OCU implemented gender-inclusive bathrooms throughout campus, however the signage on these facilities does not clearly state what they are. Reid Powell, current SGA president, proposed the idea to modernize and update signage for these 2

We are hoping to do this to best represent all of our students and make them feel comfortable.

Abby Banks

former president Student Government Association

spaces.

Banks said the funding for this update will come from the initiative’s budget allocated each academic year to the SGA executive committee.

Banks said she believes the campus is outdated in various areas and updating the signs for the gender-neutral bathrooms allows for a more well-rounded and welcoming environment.

“We are hoping to do this to best represent all of our students and make them feel comfortable,” Banks said.

“We also hope in doing so we will spread awareness that diversity makes the campus body.”

The timeline for this change should be within November 2020. Banks said she hopes to have the project completed this term.

“Our goal for this is to have the signs installed by the end of the semester. That is a hefty goal, but we will shoot for spring 2021 if not sooner,” Banks said.

Emmett Reese, acting sophomore, said he understands the pressures related to finding a bathroom on campus and feeling comfortable using said facility.

“There is often that awkward feeling for binary trans

people to choose whether to use a bathroom they identify with or use the one they socially read as or pass for,” Reese said. “It is definitely stressful and can be met with ridicule.”

He said he thinks the proper signage will be a good step for the university.

“The use of gender-neutral spaces alleviate pressure on a trans or non-binary person to decide which they feel most comfortable,” Reese said.

Banks said she feels that these resolutions will provide more quality to campus and allow students of all backgrounds to come to find a home on campus and be comfortable.

“I truly believe our community is one of inclusivity welcoming everyone,” Banks said. “We have much to do to modernize some areas around campus, and we need to take ownership of that.

With these actions, not only are we taking a stance for gender-inclusive spaces and resources, but also broadcasting the need for acceptance of all on campus.”

Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Hoop ‘til you droop Kate Morton, music theater/vocal performance junior (left), Wyatt Long, computer science sophomore (middle) and Thomas McElyea, political science sophomore (right), compete in a hula hooping competition Oct. 16 on the quad hosted by Intramural Sports. Intramural Sports plans to host more events throughout the semester, including a corn hole competition, dates TBA.

Homecoming condensed into one day MaKayla Baxter

SPORTS EDITOR

OCU’s 2020 Homecoming has been postponed.

The OCU Homecoming Committee decided to delay Homecoming events, previously scheduled for Oct. 26-30, due to power outages on campus and throughout Oklahoma City. The committee chose to condense the activities into a single day of celebration, now scheduled for Nov. 13.

Allison Hudson, assistant director of student engagement, said the date was chosen in hopes of giving students time to focus on other responsibilities.

“After the ice storm, which was absolutely the

most 2020 thing that could have possibly happened, we looked through the calendar for the rest of the semester trying to find a good time to have it,” Hudson said. “We didn’t want to overshadow the election or finals week, so this date was the best way to consolidate that.”

Hudson said scheduling details are still being finalized.

“It’s been difficult to fully communicate with the power outages, but we will be meeting virtually to iron everything out,” Hudson said. “That information will be coming out pretty soon.”

Hudson said the committee hopes the Homecoming activities achieve an overall sense of solidarity and pos-

itivity within the campus community.

“Our student committee is dedicating so much time to this,” Hudson said.

“They’re wanting to bring that sense of joy and the feeling of community and family our university represents. We want everyone to join in and take part in that and celebrate with us.”

To read more about the upcoming Homecoming day, readers can see the full story on MediaOCU.com.

November 11, 2020

news COVID-19 tests Continued from 1 Though students who live off campus may schedule an appointment to be tested for COVID-19 at the campus clinic, they are not part of the mandatory testing program. Levi Harrel said he recommends off-campus students be rigorous in self-monitoring symptoms.

“If they feel fatigued, if they have a loss of taste and smell, if they are running a fever, if they have persistent headaches, my advice is to get tested and not second-guess that for themselves and their own friends and family,” he said.

Joey Croslin, vice president of human resources and chief human resources officer, said students who live on campus pose the highest risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“It’s nothing to be alarmed about, but we just want to do a check-in with all of the events last week and Halloween. We are concerned about the issues the ice storm and power outage could have caused as it relates to our management to COVID on campus.

We’re watching that very closely,” she said. “We want students who may have been in large gatherings or who have traveled, not wearing masks or social distancing, to report that, and we can allow them to quarantine, and they can get a screening test at the clinic. If they have concerns, we would encourage them to do that.”

Zac Butler, film junior, said it makes sense the university would conduct a COVID-19 screening before the break.

“I think, just to be safe for their families or whoever they’re going back home to, or to just keep the end of the semester safe for people, it makes sense,” he said. “It can obviously be a little annoying and out of the way to do it, but if it keeps people safe and everyone aware of who has COVID or who doesn’t, it’s okay.”

Butler said he thinks it’s important to limit transmission of the virus on campus.

“I think whether you believe in COVID being that lethal or not, it’s still a problem, and people need to take it seriously before it goes away. Even though we’re a smaller school, keeping it low-to-minimum risk is ideal, and if the only way we can do that is to test and

OCUPD releases annual security and fire report

quarantine, then that’s what we’ve got to do,” Butler said.

Rachel Hundley, psychology freshman, said she thinks screening residential students is a good idea.

“I think, honestly, it’s the safe thing to do because, with the ice storms, a lot of people were out of the state, and since it coincidently fell on Halloween, there were a lot of people going to a lot of unsafe parties,” she said. “So, I think that it is a safe and almost necessary precaution just to make sure that our numbers aren’t rising, and if they are, that we handle it correctly.”

Hundley said she feels safer knowing the university is taking the pandemic seriously.

“I think I do feel safer, especially since I just don’t know where my peers have been. The majority of my classes are in-person, and it just kind of adds an extra sense of security to know the school is taking this seriously and is aware that people were at an increased risk of exposure this past week and are doing something about it,” she said.

St u d e n t s c a n s c h e d u l e a COVID-19 test by calling the campus clinic at 405-373-2400.

Josh Eliot

Crime Statistics Offense Type

2017

2018

2019

Robbery

0

0

0

Burglary

4

5

5

Motor Vehicle Theft

0

1

2

Forcible Sex Offenses

3

2

0

Stalking

0

1

0

Hate Crimes

0

1

0

Francesca Iacovacci

NEWS EDITOR

The Oklahoma City University Police Department released the 2020 Annual Security and Fire Report on Oct. 8.

The Annual Security and Fire Report is required by federal law and contains crime statistics and policy statements for the university. OCUPD sent the report in an email to the campus community. The report is also posted annually on the OCUPD website. The policy statements address the university’s policies, procedures and programs concerning safety and security. The statistics list certain types of crimes reported to have happened on campus, on property owned by the university or on public property adjacent to the campus in the past three years, the email read.

Dexter Nelson, chief of police for OCUPD, said the main crime occurring on campus is theft. The report lists 12 total cases of burglary and six cases of motor vehicle theft in 2019.

This includes crimes from the surrounding area.

“We are a known target for people around our campus for thefts. They come to our laundromat, and they steal clothing.

We’re getting a high number of clothing thefts reported to us as well,” Nelson said. “Keep in mind though, the way our society is, thefts will always be with us. People are always going to steal given the opportunity.”

Nelson said he encountered four people a few weeks ago on campus who admitted they were there to steal bicycles. He said the people told him the stolen bicycles go to an area near Penn Square mall underneath Northwest Expressway where they are deconstructed, reassembled and sold.

Nelson said when he worked for the Oklahoma City Police Department, the annual reports would cover crime statistics

OCU Campus

within a half mile of his jurisdiction. Nelson said he was surprised he was only required to report on crimes on the university’s property and adjacent to it.

“If you looked at the stats within a half mile of us, the numbers would have been much higher,” he said.

Nelson said another notable statistic on the report is there was one murder in 2019, but it was not affiliated with the university.

“There was a gentleman that was found dead on McKinley, and McKinley is our Eastern border right off campus. It had nothing to do with the university, but it was on a street adjacent, so we had to list it,” he said.

To read more about the annual crime report and students’ thoughts, readers can find the full story on MediaOCU.com.

New doctorate program raises awareness of physical therapy Camilo Gonzalez STAFF WRITER

OCU’s new Doctor of Physical Therapy program celebrated National Physical Therapy Month during October and is continuing to raise awareness of physical therapy.

Dr. Maria Jones, founding director of the physical therapy program, led the celebration alongside her new physical therapy students to provide information and raise awareness about physical therapists. Jones joined OCU’s faculty in January of 2017, but the physical therapy program began this year. Jones welcomed the program’s first group of students in June.

Jones said physical therapy has a place in everyone’s life, even in the basic activities people do, like going to class or going to work.

“We can go in and analyze the way somebody moves. That can be how they do their job at work in terms of working at their posture and their balance and those sorts of things to improve how their workstation’s set up,” she said.

Jones said people should pay more attention to how they’re sitting now that Zoom classes have become a new normal.

“We also want to be making sure in this Zoom world that we’re in right now, that we’re being conscientious about what our posture looks like when we’re on Zoom calls, or if we’ve been sitting at a computer, which we have a tendency to round our shoulders and slump down, to make sure that we’re paying attention to what that does and how that affects our movement, especially when we’re doing it over the long term,” she said.

To read the full story, readers can visit MediaOCU.com.

Curricula Continued from 1

Cleaning up campus Right: Tree limbs and branches have collapsed around the sorority houses on the north side of Methodist Hall. A cold front passed through Oklahoma Oct. 26-30. The cold front brought freezing temperatures and freezing rain. The main campus of OCU lost power Oct. 26-30, due in part to the ice’s effect on trees and power lines.

Below: A truck hauls broken limbs and branches from campus. Facilities workers began clearing ice from walkways and removing tree branches on Oct. 28.

Luke Barrett Student Publications

Paul Dower Student Publications

November 11, 2020

Student Publications

Charlie Monnot said the registration process was generally unaffected by the ice storm for several days. Monnot keeps a tracker for pre-enrollment numbers each semester for enrollments performed by students, advisors and the registrar’s office. Pre-enrollment for the spring semester in 2018 (prior to the enrollment dates for those with fewer than 30 credit hours), included 936 students. In pre-enrollment for the 2019 spring semester, 1,045 students had enrolled by that point.

This year, 1,003 students had enrolled. There was a roughly 3% increase in enrollments performed by advisors this year.

Monnot said he received a message from housing personnel that students were nervous about enrollment, but he otherwise received no complaints from students. He said if students ever have feedback, they can share it with the registrar’s office by emailing registrar@okcu.edu.

Amy Cataldi, dean of Petree College of Arts and Sciences, said courses within the Arts and Sciences have not been adversely affected by the closure.

“Each faculty person is different in the way that they handle their schedule, and their syllabus and their work assignments.

Everybody tried to be as flexible as possible as the week rolled on. Oftentimes faculty will build in a buffer course at the end of the semester for any sort of abnormality, weather or otherwise,” Cataldi said.

Cataldi teaches a statistics course and said she has utilized the time provided by their scheduled buffer day to combine course content in order to cover the majority of the syllabus. She said the ice storm is another in a series of stressors this semester.

“The stress that we’ve all been under from a multitude of fronts is practically unbearable. And I have faculty and amazing staff and beyond amazing students who have tried to go with the flow, who have tried to adjust, who have tried to voice their concerns as needed. So, I think it’s just one more layer of stress that people are enduring,” she said.

Cataldi said she hopes, despite the circumstances of the campus closure, students were able to find some comfort in the break from classes.

Jake Harrell, English/religious education junior, said he lives on campus and woke up Oct. 27 to the power outage in Cokesbury Court Apartments. He said the impact of the ice storm on his college career has been dramatic.

“One of my advisors enrolls me for me, but she even had trouble enrolling me in the classes that I needed, and it looks like I’m not going to graduate in four years because of the mishaps with enrollment,” Harrell said.

Harrell said he focused on preparing for finals, since he expected they would not be canceled or changed significantly. Many of his courses have either cut content from the end of the syllabus or condensed the remaining lecture material, he said.

He said some of his professors have given students days off or previously cut material from their syllabi in order to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed. He said he was thankful for his friends and professors who stepped up to listen to students’ concerns.

3

opinion

Editors urge students to continue to push change The Associated Press recently projected that Joe Biden will win the 2020 presidential election.

No matter where you stand with the election, there is still a great deal of work to be done at the ground level in American politics. While it may be nice to have a president who doesn’t lash out at his political opponents on social media, collective action will still be needed to affect change regarding key issues America has ignored for well over 20 years.

America still needs to address systemic racism, which includes confronting police brutality and instituting reform at the local, state and national levels to divert resources from systems of oppression into those which will support and fund marginalized communities.

The time window to properly address climate change is closing. We may already have passed a point of irreparable harm to our ecosystem. Additionally, climate change continues causing extreme weather which may make natural disasters more frequent, presenting a severe infrastructural danger to affected regions. In order to address this, America needs to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and begin the work of transferring to greener energy sources instead of fossil

Talk Back “What did you do during the power outage?”

fuels. Only by confronting these issues can we begin to build a sustainable, national system that will contribute to slowing the effects of climate change.

America is also one of few world leaders to have not adopted a nationalized healthcare system. While Joe Biden plans to expand Medicare coverage in some forms, a slight increase in coverage will not prevent the personal economic harm, anxiety and fear caused by the private healthcare system.

We want to encourage readers to continue participating in every political discussion possible. If anything, participate more vigorously than you have the past four years.

For those frustrated with slow change at a national level, calling or emailing your city council members, your mayor or your governor can affect change in your hometown and begin the grassroots work toward improving our nation. It is important to make your voice heard at every level, and if enough people work to share their voices, change will eventually begin. So stay strong, everyone. The work is always beginning.

“Built a card tower” Meredith Crain music theater/vocal performance junior

“Wood whittling”

McKay Clark bass senior

“Went home”

“Stayed in and played board games”

Gladys Green psychology freshman

Madison Noel Chang dance sophomore

“I went home because I'm from the metro area!"

“Played a lot of board games”

Sonia Ruiz marketing and finance freshman

Megan Sullivan dance universal sophomore

Students review 2020, give it one, two stars of five Students have taken to Yelp to provide a review of the year 2020 because this year has been one for the books.

Jack Supan, music theater junior, said he gives 2020 one pity star out of five. Supan said 2020 has not been good.

“It just keeps getting worse,” Supan said. “It’s on the up and up now, but it’s almost the end of the year. Pretty much everything in between March and now was garbage.”

Supan said he learned something about himself this year.

“I learned that people tend to like me more when we’re all in quarantine and they don’t have to be around me,” Supan said.

Supan said 2020 is like a restaurant that keeps bringing him the incorrect drink.

“I kept asking for a margarita and they keep giving me nasty white wine with an olive in it. And I said ‘hey this was kind of a curveball, can I just get another drink,’ and they

Jessica Vanek is a music theater senior with a minor in mass communications from Las Vegas, Nevada. Jessica spends her spare time obsessing over Stephen Sondheim, listening to ASMR and eating cookie dough.

said ‘no, because you suck and we hate you.’ They also never brought me my french fries.”

Supan said he just hopes there is a vaccine soon.

Cass King, music education senior, gives 2020 two stars out of five. He said if there was a manager, he would like to speak to them.

“So yeah, like, 2020 has been really shitty,” he said. “I’m still alive; I’m still kicking. It didn’t kill me, but it was definitely really bad.”

King said the year has seemed never-ending.

“We’ve been in 2020 for way too long. It seems like five years,” King said. “I would like for it to end.”

King said he would compare

2020 to the manager at every Steak and Shake to ever exist.

“I feel like every Steak and Shake I’ve been to, the manager has been this middle-aged man with long nails. And I’m like ‘why do you have long nails if you work in the service industry,’ but since they’re the manager they can do whatever they want,” he said. “They give you your food with their long nails, and it makes you want to vomit, but you’ve already paid for your food, so you just have to sit there and eat it anyway.”

King said 2020 is the equivalent of a sad meal.

“2020 is a really expensive dinner that tasted terrible, and the service

is terrible, and you don’t get a lot of food, but the good thing is we still survived,” he said.

King said he thinks this review will make people wonder, ‘is Cass OK?’ King also said at the time of interview his power was still out from the spontaneous ice storm, and he had no food.

Hannah Kimball, design and production senior, also gave 2020 two out of five stars. Kimball said 2020 was not the year society was expecting.

“I was thinking about how we were all excited when the Roaring ’20s were going to be our thing, but then I looked into the 1920s, and it was bad. There was the depression, the resurgence of the KKK, the explosion of mass media, and I think it was more of a warning for us,” Kimball said. “I guess we got what we asked for.”

Kimball said 2020 taught her she has more patience then she expected.

“Ironically, my favorite things in

the world are musicals, the Olympics and dogs, but I haven’t been able to see any musicals, the Olympics were canceled, and I can’t go to the OK Humane Society to see dogs,” she said. “2020 has really given me a reason to not feel bad for drinking wine by myself every night.”

Kimball said despite the setbacks, 2020 had some good news for her.

“I personally have never been to New York, but it’s the end goal.

When COVID hit and all of the New York internships went out of the window, I still ended up getting a New York internship in July, which is great,” she said. “I also improved my six-pack of flab to a 12-pack of flab.”

Kimball said she is hesitant to predict what will happen in the future.

“Here’s the deal: I say it can’t get worse, but I can’t say that until after the election,” she said.

“I’m really excited for that reset button on New Year’s Eve. This is all a fever dream.”

Columnist reviews 'Over the Garden Wall,' calls it a 'haunting tale' Nothing quite captures the fall spirit like Cartoon Network’s animated series “Over the Garden Wall.” For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it just turned six years old this season and is a must-watch for anyone seeking autumnal or cottage-core vibes to complement their post-Halloween, pre-winter spirit.

The series follows two brothers, “Wirt,” the older brother voiced

by Elijah Wood, and “Greg,” the younger brother voiced by Collin Dean. The two brothers seek a way home as they wander through the surreal and ominous land called only “The Unknown” and flee from a being enshrouded in darkness called “The Beast.” Each episode of the 10-part series is 11 minutes long, so it makes for a perfect weekend night binge when the moon is high and the air is just on the brink of chill.

But the true beauty of “Over the Garden Wall” comes from the show’s penultimate episode twist, which redefines the themes of the show in a darker, somber light. So, if you haven’t watched the show, find a friend with a Hulu account and schedule a watch party before reading the rest of this piece, because it’s all spoilers from here.

Luke Barrett is an acting senior from the edges of time.

They enjoy all aspects of geekery, collecting the bones of things long dead and antifascist music.

In the penultimate episode, it is revealed the brothers are actually normal kids from our world. They have normal lives in a normal house in a relative average suburbia of the (presumably) 80s. They fell into a frozen lake on Halloween, and The Unknown is a liminal space between our world and an afterlife.

Up until this point, the show had been filled with macabre images and themes. From a ghoul possessing a young woman, to a town filled with skeletons dressed in pumpkins, to the “Woodsman” who searches desperately for wood to fuel The Beast’s lantern, in which the Woodsman believes his daughter’s soul is being kept alight.

Normally, these images would simply be spooky set pieces for the setting and tone of the show, but letting the viewers know the brothers are sinking in a lake recontextualizes these images.

While the images could initially have been taken as part of a real, but fantastical, setting, the new information defines the brothers as something real in a surreal land, separating them from the members of The Unknown and making their journey toward darkness even more solemn and horrific.

Even the song that plays over this revelation, “Old Black Train”

by The Blasting Company, tells the audience the brothers don’t belong in The Unknown.

“There’s an old black train a-coming / scrapin’ ‘long the iron / You don’t need no ticket, boys / It’ll take you when it’s time. / Now, come on now, young strangers / Weren’t you someone’s son? How’d you find this depot? / ‘Cause it ain’t where you belong,” the lyrics read.

If the brothers aren’t a part of The Unknown and the afterlife, their story changes from a fantasy Scanned by CamScanner

THE CAMPUS

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responsibility throughout the journey and repeatedly blamed Greg for their situation. The Woodsman refuses to believe his daughter may be dead. Both are desperate to preserve the fictions they have created for themselves. By taking The Beast’s lantern, they become a beacon of darkness, shining someone else’s light instead of their own and refusing to examine their own situation.

Defiance of The Beast is a form of acceptance. It is also self-actualizing. When Wirt saves Greg and decides to leave the Unknown, he is able to do so because he has accepted the reality he was trying to escape from when they fell into the lake. The Woodsman finally decides to accept the mortality of his daughter and extinguishes the lantern’s light, turning his back on The Beast and escaping The Unknown as well.

So, if you want a haunting tale about brothers trying to escape limbo, or a somber story about the need to accept mortality, visit The Unknown in “Over the Garden Wall.” Wander through the woods and enjoy the last turns of autumn before winter arrives and Hallmark reigns supreme.

The Campus has served the Oklahoma City University community since 1907. It is published Wednesdays during the academic year, with the exception of holidays and exam periods.

November 11, 2020, Volume 114, Issue 5

Editor-in-chief: Paul Dower Managing Editor: Luke Barrett Photo Editor: Stephen Jackson News Editor: Francesca Iacovacci Lifestyle Editor: Jessica Vanek Arts & Entertainment Editor: Troy Freeman Sports Editor: MaKayla Baxter

story about a hero’s quest to journey home and becomes a poignant reflection on responsibility.

The characters of “Over the Garden Wall” have passed, sometimes literally, into archetype and symbolism. The Unknown gives them a place to exist and a place to be content after their time on Earth is done. They belong somewhere else now, somewhere they can go on new journeys or be content in their existences.

In the brothers’ final confrontation with The Beast, Wirt realizes The Beast’s lantern is a lie, and it does not contain the Woodsman’s daughter’s soul. Instead, it is a source of power for The Beast, who convinces people to keep it alight by lying to them about its contents.

Only by defying The Beast do the brothers and the Woodsman manage to escape The Unknown and return to the world again.

While The Beast could represent the possibility of death, the skeleton citizens of Pottsfield represent death in a far more literal way than The Beast. What The Beast does represent is a denial of circumstances.

The Beast targets Wirt and the Woodsman. Wirt has denied

Video Editors: Josh Eliot Shelby O'Brien Columnists: Luke Barrett Paul Dower Troy Freeman Francesca Iacovacci

Staff Writers: Anette Barrios-Torres, Camilo Gonzalez, Hannah Prentice, Tyler Robbins Photographers: Annie Bragg, Jessica Casebeer, Stephen Jackson, Mackenzie Shaw

The Student Publications staff welcomes unsolicited material and letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s phone number, address, major, and classification. The staff reserves the right to edit all letters. The staff also reserves the right to refuse letters without explanation. Letters can be sent online at mediaocu.com, emailed to stupub@okcu.edu or dropped off at the Newsroom in Suite 112 of Walker Center for Arts and Sciences. Submitted items may appear on MediaOCU and in the print edition.

The first issue of The Campus is free. Each additional issue costs 25 cents. Contents copyright © Student Publications 2020.

All rights reserved.

November 11, 2020

a&e

Smash through zombies

Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Left: Farley McDaniel, acting freshman portraying “zombiekllr 14,” stands tall, hammer in hand, after annihilating every zombie in sight.

Above: Grant Wilson, acting junior portraying “Tobias,” starts his weed whacker to defend his home from the strange happenings in the neighborhood.

Right: Amaya Perkins, acting junior portraying “the non-player character,” clasps garden shears, demonstrating the power of the weapon against the undead.

Student group hosts diversity panel Troy Freeman ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

OCU Creatives for Artistic and Realistic Equalities hosted a twonight town hall discussing race and ethnic diversity within the university and the entertainment industry as a whole.

OCU CARE is a student organization which advocates for marginalized groups in the performing arts on campus. According to OCU CARE’s Instagram page, the first night, “A Panel with Professionals,” featured a panel of six professional artists of color – including four OCU alumni – and the second night, “Examining Inwards,” featured a panel of current OCU students of color sharing their experiences. The event took place at 6 p.m. Oct. 24-25 over Zoom.

Nasir Panjwani, OCU CARE president, said hosting town halls to educate the community was one of the early pillars for OCU CARE. He said the race and ethnic diversity panel was the second of a series of town halls. This panel

will be followed by town halls for disability, neurodivergence and accessibility, LGBTQ+ inclusivity and body empowerment.

“It started with the idea of having people outside ourselves talk about their experiences because we have already been having a lot of conversations with the administration, which is incredible, but sometimes it feels like you hit a wall when you’re talking to people who don’t share your experience,” Panjwani said.

Panjwani said bringing in guests with unique experiences balances out the power dynamic between students and faculty and allows for further growth within the community. Ánh-Mai Kearney, race and ethnic diversity branch leader, said the town hall was vital for both educating the community and helping current students of color feel heard. She said the lack of professors of color on campus and a lack of representation on stage is disheartening to students of color.

“In our ecosystem, it can get

lonely for people of color,” Kearney said. “When we were coming up with our town hall, we kind of went back to the roots of what our goal is: to educate, inform and shed light on the situations of people of color in our industry and the realities of students of color in school now.”

Kearney said the weekend was impactful and affirming to her as a student of color. One of the guest panelists, Manna Nichols, is an OCU alumna and Broadway actress who comes from Asian, white and Native American heritage. Kearney said Nichols sharing her experiences as a biracial performer made her feel understood in a profound way.

“I had never actually heard from the mouth of someone else who has the same makeup as me talk about their experience in the industry.” Kearney said. “I felt so known and understood. I got kind of emotional just talking to her and hearing her experience because these were the same thoughts that I thought about. These are the same

things I wondered about. These are the same things I struggled with as an Asian American woman in the industry.”

Vangeli Tsompanidis, music theater sophomore, is a member of the race and ethnic diversity branch. He said meeting Nichols was an important steppingstone for him as a biracial performer.

“I’m half Greek/half Puerto Rican, and I’ve been very insecure about my heritage. I’ve always felt like I’m not enough of one or the other. Attending these two seminars made me feel so confident about my experience as a BIPOC person because a lot of these experiences are things that I’ve held inside of me,” Tsompanidis said.

Tsompanidis said both nights consisted of a question and answer portion and a breakout room portion in which students would split off into small groups and discuss specific issues with different panelists.

“It was really interesting. I had internalized so much of my experiences, and when I was actually

asked, and given a chance to think about it, I felt such a connection to all of the people who experience things similar to myself,” Tsompanidis said.

Tsompanidis said when OCU CARE produced their “Color Cabaret,” he didn’t participate because he was worried he would misrepresent his own community. He said the race and ethnic diversity town hall gave him the confidence to embrace his heritage within the context of his life as a performer.

“I got to speak to Manna Nichols and connect to her on social media. Making that connection with someone who has a similar kind of experience was a huge deal for me,” Tsompanidis said.

OCU CARE will announce future town halls and events on their Instagram at the handle ocu_care.

One semester, 14 weeks, 20 productions

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School of Theatre prepares Shakespeare readings Anette Barrios-Torres STAFF WRITER

The School of Theatre’s Shakespeare sections are preparing full readings of Shakespeare plays in place of a scene showcase.

Lance Marsh, professor of acting and head of theatre, teaches the Shakespeare classes each year to junior and senior performance majors. The courses usually culminate in a showcase of scenes from various Shakespeare plays as performed by students. He said this semester has presented a new set of challenges and an ever-changing schedule, so adapting has actually provided them with a fresh set of opportunities.

“Our intention is always to try and create the most performance opportunities for our students,” Marsh said. “We definitely had to November 11, 2020

Our intention is always to try and create the most performance opportunities for our students.

Lance Marsh

head of performance school of theatre

adjust to what’s changed this year. For example, where usually we’d be doing scene work in class, they took on monologues.”

Ma r s h s a i d w o rk i n g through a different medium while still allowing the students to put their process into practice has been something he counts as a unique upside to taking on this project.

The practice of studying and performing Shakespeare involves analyzing structural elements such as scansion

and rhythm. Marsh said the actors work through the pieces technically during table work, then bring these tools with them when moving into the rehearsal “Zoom” room.

“In this case, we actually have the chance to do something that these students otherwise wouldn’t have been able to do,” Marsh said, “This gives them the experience of to applying what they’ve been learning in class.”

Marsh said regardless of

the mode of messaging, the many stories they will be telling ultimately come down to the same topic.

“Every play we are working on has to do with love,” Marsh said.

Mark Mendez Muñoz, music theater senior, is one of the students involved in the project and will be playing the roles of “Launce” and “Thurio” in the virtual reading of “Two Gentleman of Verona.”

“When working through pieces like these, people tend to think that Shakespeare is out of reach. It still comes down to knowing from your tablework: what is it that we are really saying? That doesn’t change no matter how the show is performed,” Mendez Muñoz said.

Mendez Muñoz said he is grateful for a chance to be exploring Shakespeare in a more complete way.

“Most Shakespeare classes never actually get to put on a full piece, and we have that,” Mendez Muñoz said.

Mendez Muñoz said as a music theater student, his connection to Shakespeare has proven to be stronger than he thought. He said he connected the language to music because the patterns and beats used to communicate in Shakespeare’s writing mirror the thoughts and feelings of the characters within these stories, much like songs do in musicals.

“I think Shakespeare makes sense to musicians,” Mendez Muñoz said, “It’s about intonations and rhythms. It’s a form of expression that comes from musicality.”

Mendez Muñoz said he is optimistic and excited about the possibilities coming from simply knowing others are watching, regardless of the

production taking place virtually.

“What’s so interesting is that you still get the experience of knowing that this is all happening as other watch us. There’s still no stopping.

Live theater, to me, means any performance that is happening while people watch in real time,” Mendez Muñoz said.

The virtual performances will run through the week of finals, with a different show performing each night at 8 p.m. The productions will run as follows: “Twelfth Night” on Nov. 19; “All’s Well That Ends Well” on Nov. 20; “Macbeth” on Nov. 21; “Romeo and Juliet” on Nov. 22; and “Two Gentlemen of Verona” on Nov. 23.

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semester in review Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Lights, camera, action!

The film “Out of Exile” shot a few scenes at the Flamingo apartments across from campus on Oct. 15.

Let’s talk about that!

Oklahoma Artist Holly Wilson talks with students in person and over Zoom about her work during her guest lecture, Native Thoughts in Contemporary Art, in the Nona Jean Hulsey gallery in Norick Art Center on Sept. 24.

Socially distant studying Bailey Webb, psychology senior, studies for a quiz

Starting off strong

Josh Eliot

in the library during the

Student Publications

last few weeks of class.

Tyler Harrell, acting freshman, leads the new freshman class in the chorus of the “What’s New Scooby Doo?” theme song during Open Mic Night on Aug. 13. The New Student Orientation leaders organized the event as a part of a safe and fun Stars Week to welcome new students to campus amid the pandemic.

Fighting for justice A protester holds up a sign during a protest at Northwest 23rd and Classen on Sept. 23.

The protest was in the wake of the sentencing of the police of-

Annie Bragg Student Publications

ficers who killed Breonna Taylor on Sept. 24.

Jessica Casebeer Student Publications Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Josh Eliot

Student Publications

Masking up musicals “Sir Robin,” played by Colton Stricklin, music theater junior, gazes down upon his fellow cast members from a safe distance.

The Wanda L. Bass School of Music performed “Monty Python’s Spamalot: A Socially Distant Concert-ish Version” for a virtual audience on Oct. 9-10.

Keeping campus healthy OCU faculty members helped the campus community by placing signs and bottles of disinfectant around campus so returning students could remember to stay safe.

Mackenzie Shaw Student Publications

Responding with love Sophia Boyer, acting sophomore, (left) watches Maxwell McIntire, acting senior, (right) deliver dialogue in the play “The Women of Lockerbie.” The School of Theatre performed “The Women of Lockerbie” in the Burg Theatre with tape squares to mark six feet between actors.

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Chart reflects COVID-19 case numbers of the state of Oklahoma from March 2020 to November 2020. Source: Oklahoma State Department of Health.

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sports

Freshman rower breaks rowing world record MaKayla Baxter

SPORTS EDITOR

An OCU rower recently broke a world record.

Ruthie Lacy, nursing freshman, set a new world record on the Concept2 Indoor Rower for the Lightweight Women 17-18 category, with a mark of 317 meters rowed in one minute. Lacy broke the record Sept.

28 at Devon Boathouse in Oklahoma City.

Lacy said she first considered attempting to break the record after seeing the record’s marks online earlier in the semester.

“I just kind of looked it up on the internet and saw that it was a number I thought I could break. So, I told my coach, and he was like, ‘yeah, let’s go for it,’” Lacy said.

Lacy said Hadzo Habibovic, head rowing coach, was required to send in a video of her weighing in and completing the piece, as well as a photo of the rowing machine displaying her final marks, to the Concept2 rowing database for the record’s verification.

“Honestly, I just went for it,” Lacy said.

“It’s fall season, so our training is geared more towards lower intensity workouts and things, so I wasn’t training at all for it. It was definitely cool to see that I could still pull super hard numbers, even with a different training environment.”

Lacy said her teammates were supportive of her throughout the process.

“They were super excited,” Lacy said. “In a way, they were more excited than I was, which is really funny. They were super hype about it and always cheered me on, which was very nice of them.”

Lacy said being a world record holder has not changed the way she views her athletic ability.

“I don’t really feel any different, to be completely honest,” Lacy said. “Maybe it just hasn’t set in yet. I’m not sure how exactly to describe it, but I just feel like I did my best, personally, and that feels nice.”

Lacy said breaking the record could help her with future athletic endeavors.

“Going into college, I didn’t really have a lot of expectations for myself,” Lacy said.

“I just kind of thought, ‘whatever happens, happens.’ This feels like it’s really setting up my college career pretty well, and it will look good on my rowing resume if I decide to go for national teams. So, this could really help me out in the long run.”

Hadzo Habibovic said he was confident in Lacy’s ability to set a new record.

“We thought the world record was certainly attainable,” Habibovic said. “We realized early on, while doing speed work and short-interval pieces during practice, that she may be in the ballpark for beating the record for her age and weight category.”

Habibovic said he believes this record is just the beginning of Lacy’s athletic

“

She’s very driven a n d c o m m i t te d, which is very rare, especially for such a young athlete.

Hadzo Habibovic head coach rowing

accomplishments.

“She views it as being not such a big deal, because there are a lot of different rowing records out there for several different times and distances and events,” Habibovic said.

“I think she’s going to break a few more, to be honest.”

Habibovic said he plans to work with Lacy to attempt more records before she ages out of her current category.

“Once she turns 19, things get a bit tricky with the age categories,” Habibovic said. “That happens next month, I believe, so I’m hoping for some more records before then. She wants to be on the national team, eventually, so I’m hoping that will give her a little spark.”

Habibovic said Lacy’s achievement speaks to her character and integrity.

“She’s always ready to go, whatever the challenge is,” Habibovic said. “She’s always asking to be pushed more and more. She’s

very driven and committed, which is very rare, especially for such a young athlete. This is just a small example of that.”

Lacy said she encourages students to give rowing a try.

“I honestly wasn’t going to do rowing at first, as my main sport,” Lacy said. “What’s really cool about it is that anyone can join at any level. A lot of the best Olympic rowers actually started in college, so it’s not like soccer or golf, where you basically have to do it from birth. So, I think anyone should try it if they’re interested at all.”

Habibovic said he regularly accepts new members of the rowing team.

“If students want to come see the boathouse or give rowing a try, we are pretty lenient with giving people a week or two to see if they want to stick around,” Habibovic said. “If anyone on campus is interested in trying a new sport, I encourage them to contact me.”

Students interested in joining the rowing team can contact Habibovic at hhabibovic@ okcu.edu. For more on the rowing team and other sports updates, readers can visit the OCUSports website.

Women’s basketball ranked top 10 in preseason Camilo Gonzalez

To me, it honestly doesn’t matter where we’re ranked because we’re going to go out and put our best foot forward every single night.

STAFF WRITER

The women’s basketball team ranked No. 6 in the 2020-21 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Top 25 preseason poll.

The Top 25 poll was voted by a panel of head coaches from the Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups representing the nation’s conferences. The poll was previously split between NAIA Basketball Divisions I and II, but both divisions were combined for the preseason poll following the NAIA’s 2018 decision to move to a single division for men and women’s basketball, beginning during the 202021 season.

OCU was voted No. 3 in the 2019-20 Division I preseason poll. OCU was also placed second in the SAC 2020-21 preseason poll.

Mallory Lockhart, business marketing junior and shooting guard, said she was pleased with this year’s ranking.

“I think No. 6 would be really good because NAIA division one and two combined, so there’s a lot more teams in our division, and we are competing with a double amount of teams,” Lockhart said. “So, I think a sixth-place ranking is really good for us.”

Brett Tahah

head coach women’s basketball

Lockhart said this year’s ranking met the team’s overall expectations.

“Last year, our preseason ranking was third, and we could have stayed up there, but my freshman year, two years ago, we were ranked 10th overall. So, it’s a common range that we stay in, the top 10,” Lockhart said.

This year marked the Stars’ 11th consecutive NAIA top 10 preseason rating.

Lockhart said rankings ultimately hold little significance to her and her teammates at this point in the preseason.

“You can be disappointed in your seat, but you can also be very proud of where you’re seated,” Lockhart said.

“We come out and practice every single day, and being seated sixth is not going to change how we practice.”

Brett Tahah, head women’s basketball coach, said the team works hard to improve no matter what rankings they receive.

“ To m e , i t h o n e s t l y doesn’t matter where we’re ranked because we’re going to go out and compete and put our best foot forward every single night,” Tahah said. “We’re going to plan on moving up in the rankings and hopefully get into that No. 1 spot at some point.

Our main goal is to win in a conference tournament and win in the national championship, because that last ranking of who finishes No. 1 is all that really matters.”

Tahah said the team remains focused and determined.

“We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied,” Tahah said.

“We’re going to strive to put our best foot forward every single day to move up in the rankings and just get better every time we step on the court.”

Tahah said she is proud of the team.

“I’m really proud of how the girls have handled COVID-19 and the resilience we have of making sure that we’re following all

the protocols and staying positive, and just working hard and preparing for our upcoming season,” Tahah said. “It’s going to be a good one, and I can’t wait to get it started.”

Selena McDonald, exercise and sports science junior and power forward, said the team has faced many challenges preparing for their season during the COVID19 pandemic.

“It’s honestly been a little difficult having to adjust to the masks and not being able to practice as a whole team,” McDonald said. “It’s been strange because normally, we would be playing games right now. We’ve been scrimmaging other teams, and it’s like we’re in season, but we’re not in season yet.”

McDonald said the challenges have helped bring the team together.

“I think it’s also a blessing in disguise because it gives us a lot more time to actually come together and get to know each other better and get that chemistry on the court with all the new players that have been brought in,” McDonald said.

For more information on the women’s basketball team, readers can visit the OCUSports website.

Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Take it to the Net Above: Erika Ankney charges down the court at the Nov. 16th, 2019 OCU vs. Haskell game in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. The Stars won 82-46. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the Stars are set to begin their competitive season in the spring 2021 semester.

Esports team set to produce new slate of podcast series Anette Barrios-Torres STAFF WRITER

OCU Esports recently produced the first episode of a new slate of podcasts.

Paul Vaughan, esports coordinator and head coach, said the esports team had many conceptual ideas for this project and decided to create multiple podcasts, so the team could divide and conquer various topics.

“They will be targeting things like the esports industry news, game releases and anything that covers local high school esports teams, as well as our own league,” Vaughan said.

Most of the podcasts are still in development, but the first episode of the “Esports Playmakers” series is available to watch on the OCU Esports YouTube channel.

Vaughan said he hosts “Esports Playmakers,” with the goal of speaking with industry professionals to encourage students to learn what to look for if they pursue a career in esports.

“It’s a show with just me and the guest of the week, talking about how they got to where they are – the insides of the industry,” Vaughan said. “We’re starting our work locally and getting bigger as we go along.”

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Cou�tesy o� OCU Espo�ts

Vaughan said creating spaces geared toward specific interests and discussion topics can help set the team’s podcasts apart from the rest and possibly bring more prospective students to the program.

“This is really interesting to the niche aspects of the industry,” Vaughan said. “The intention is also definitely to attract people to OCU so that they can see what we’re about.”

“Esports Playmakers” is set to be a weekly series. OCU Esports also plans to release a

student-run podcast with monthly episodes and an esports news podcast with twice monthly episodes. The second episode of “Esports Playmakers” was set to be uploaded the week of Oct. 28 but was postponed due to power outages in Oklahoma City. A new release date has not been announced at press time.

Jack Broyles, political science/acting sophomore and esports team member, said he especially loved the idea of a news pod-

cast, as it would give students the freedom to do industry-based research and reporting on their own.

“I think that the podcast is going to be a fantastic thing,” Broyles said. “The multimedia people were already wanting to do some sort of covering of this anyway, so this is a really cool way to see what’s happening in the esports world, especially because our peers are the ones bringing us the information.”

Broyles said he looks forward to watching the podcast network and audience grow and hopes it can become a go-to resource for esports news.

“As it’s hard to keep up with everything that goes on in the industry, this kind of podcast allows us to stay involved competitively,” said Broyles.

For additional information and updates, readers can visit OCU Esports on their Facebook group, on Instagram @ocu_esports and on Twitter @OCUEsports.

November 11, 2020