Sept 14 issue by MediaOCU

THE CAMPUS

September 14, 2016 – Volume 110 Issue 29

: s u p m a c n o l l a m e ‘ h c t a C Pokémon GO craze hits OCU

okémon GO, a smartphone game released in July, sparked the interest of students who are grouping together to play. During its first week in the App Store, Apple confirmed the app had become the most downloaded in history, surpassing even Twitter with 500 million downloads. The game uses GPS capabilities to find virtual Pokémon characters that show up in the app’s camera, as if they truly exist in the real world. Players advance by capturing and training Pokémon, as well as battling other players to control gyms and increase their Pokémon’s strength, which is determined by Combat Power.

game without being on their phones constantly, will be released Friday. “As you pass by a PokéStop, the device will light up and vibrate to alert you to the location. You’ll be able to collect new items with a push of a button! If there’s a Pokémon hiding nearby, lights and vibrations will alert you of the chance to catch it,” according to the official Pokémon GO website, pokemongo.com. Safety concerns Laughrun frequently plays the game on campus and recently had his phone stolen while playing, which resulted in an injury. Accidents connected to people playing Pokémon GO have been a common subject in news across the country since the game’s release. “I think it is strange that we assign risks to Pokémon Go specifically,” Laughrun said. “In my case, I happened to be playing the game, but the real problem was that I was outside in a sketchy neighborhood alone. Pokémon GO is not inherently dangerous.”

Teams and gyms A gym is a battle arena where players can fight each other’s Pokémon for control. Teams work together to keep control of their gyms or battle rival teams to take over their gym. There are four gyms on campus: - Jim Wade Baseball Stadium, - Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel, - The Rev. Price Beauregard Hicks Statue, and - OCU Centennial Bench. When players encounter their first gym, they must join a team identified by a color. The team choices are Instinct as yellow, Mystic as blue or Valor as red. Gage Rancich, acting junior, is a member of team Instinct. “We’re all about following the first impulses we get,” he said. “Team Instinct is interested in using Pokémon for friends and companionship. Battling is just an extra option.” Team Valor’s goal is to discover the full power of Pokémon, so battling is at the forefront, Rancich said. Team Mystic focuses on the evolution and growth of Pokémon, he said.

Pokémon on campus Wesley Yang, psychology and youth ministry senior, created a Facebook group to find other students who wanted to hunt Pokémon together. The group is “Official Pokemon Go: OCU.” “The group is a place where we can share information on tips and tricks, as well as inform others if a rare Pokémon appears on campus,” Yang said. “It’s nice to be able to easily find friends to hunt with. A few members were talking about having Pokémon teams of bigs and littles.” Yang organized an initial Pokémon GO gathering on Aug. 25 where players hunted and ate pizza. “The event went very well, and there was a decent amount of Pokémon,” Yang said. “I think about 100 people attended. I love the friendship and rivalry the app creates.”

Other features In addition to gyms, the game includes PokéStops, real world locations that provide resources like eggs, potions and Poké Balls to help players capture more Pokémon. PokéStops also allow players to place lure modules, which activate as pink flower petals that envelop the stop and increase Pokémon spawning. For 30 minutes straight, Pokémon will appear every two to five minutes. Any player can capture these Pokémon. One key feature in the original Pokémon games allowed players to trade Pokémon with each other. That ability was advertised in the Pokémon GO trailer, but is not yet possible with the app. Evolution is another feature that separates Pokémon GO from the older games. Pokémon GO players try to catch several of the same species of Pokémon, accumulating candy. The candy can be fed to the characters to make them power up or evolve. In previous games, Pokémon leveled up through battles. Each character had four moves that they took turns using. The battling was simplified for Pokémon GO, giving each Pokémon two moves: one quicker attack and one powerful charge move. “They don’t take turns in battles anymore,” said Jeffrey Laughrun, music theater sophomore. “Now, it’s just Pokémon smacking each other with water and fire and shit.”

Poké-phenomenon Laughrun heard about the game last fall and downloaded it immediately upon release. “I’ve been a Pokémon fan my entire life,” he said. “The game became instantly popular because it made people like me who stayed inside playing go out into the world. People saw other people playing and word got out.” Older Pokémon games were reserved for specific Nintendo systems like Gameboys or the Nintendo DS. Bringing a free version of the game to phones, a device that virtually everyone already owns, made Pokémon GO extremely accessible, Laughrun said. By Lifestyles Editor Sage Tokach.

Upcoming updates Niantic, the company Nintendo partnered with to create the app, recently announced an upcoming update for the game. The update will introduce Buddy Pokémon, allowing players to pick their favorite Pokémon to become their buddy, “opening up unique in-game rewards,” according to pokemongolive.com. Pokémon GO Plus, a wearable device that lets people play the

Madelyn Parker Student Publications

Talk Back “Which of your Pokémon are you most proud of?” “Ponyta. It took me a really long time to catch it, which is sad.”

“Probably a Taurus because it’s the only Pokémon that can only be found in North America.”

“I am proud of my 1738 CP Hypno, Trap Queen, because I am meme trash.”

“I have an Onix and I am super proud of that. Jeffrey doesn’t even have one.”

Caitlin Chamness criminal justice sophomore

Bobby Tankersley psychology freshman

Jeffrey Laughrun music theater sophomore

Christopher Heron music theater sophomore

“Arcanine. I caught this fire daddy when he was around 1500 CP in NYC while I was interning.”

“I’m most proud of my Vaporeon. She has a perfect stats appraisal. She’s my first and only perfect Pokémon.“

“My Gyarados. He was really tough to raise and evolve, but it was worth it and now he’s my strongest partner.“

“I’m proud of my Magnemite. I actually went to Dallas and caught him there.”

Anna Nguyen marketing senior

Callie Cay cell and molecular biology junior

Lucas Haupert vocal performance junior

Chelsey Hines vocal music education junior

M MEDIAOCU.com

Continued on Page 2

Sorority bidding

Godspell

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Read about continuous bidding See pictures from OCU Stripped’s first production of the year

Ten years ago

Read a review on the 2006 movie “Children of Men”

opinion Website redesign may help current, prospective students The university’s website is undergoing a long overdue redesign. Read more about the redesign on Page 4. OCU is a school of arts, creativity, uniqueness and high standards where every student “is a name, not a number,” but the current website doesn’t communicate any of that. Although the current site is OCU blue and includes our star, it actually doesn’t represent the university well at all. Its appearance is outdated and bulky, its search menu and pages are difficult to navigate, and utilizing it from a mobile device is nearly impossible. It’s good that university officials decided to redesign the site. It could make OCU stand out more to prospective students. As editors, we used the website most when applying to the university. OCU applicants are not physically here to see everything we love about our school, so we need to convey those things through the website. If a school’s website is confusing or unorganized, potential students are more likely to miss

deadlines, overlook important information or become frustrated with the school, if they even consider it at all. The redesign also may benefit current students by helping them find information and resources quickly. It also will be wonderful if we are able to view the site on a mobile device and see a monthly shot of the calendar without scrolling for hours. Hopefully the redesign is more modern and clean looking. We also expect it to be much easier to navigate so we don’t have to search through everything to find the academic calendar, First Year Experience information or the class schedule. It should also be more informative about other links students use often, such as D2L and BlueLink, so students don’t wait to find out about them when they arrive on campus and need to use them. The redesign also should include more photos and videos of students. Not everyone who goes to our website wants to shuffle through a lot of words and links. More photos and videos will help

Talk Back

(cont'd from Page 1)

“Which of your Pokémon are you most proud of?”

officials easily catch visitors’ attention and communicate with them more simply. The photos and videos should represent the university well, but that doesn’t mean they need to be posed photos to promote the university. It’d be cool to ask students or organizations to submit some photos from around campus and show people what OCU truly is like. It’s great that university officials finally decided to redesign the website. Hopefully the project will finish on schedule and live up to expectations. If it does, prospective students will see some of what OCU has to offer before ever visiting campus and current students will have a less stressful time getting what they need. This redesign is a chance to make the best first impression possible of OCU and to be able to maintain that impression for all four years. We’re looking forward to seeing the new design.

"My Gengar. He's my favorite Pokémon, highest CP and his appraisal is perfect."

“I would say Vaporeon because it took me a lot of walking to level up to get it.”

Lysa Engle film production sophomore

Tomorrow Denton cell and molecular biology junior

“My Squirtle. I just caught it and he's so beautiful."

"My Nidorina because she is beautiful and rare."

Rachel Necessary acting sophomore

Jennifer Morris music theater senior

“I'm most proud of my trinity of Eeveelutions. I have one of each. I named them after my pets at home."

"I like my Venomoth because it took me a long time to level him up."

Kyla Bruegel film production sophomore

Tyler Malinauskas acting sophomore

"I'm really proud of the Dragonair because it was really hard to find."

"Nidoking. It's the most powerful Pokémon I've caught."

Natalie Taylor vocal performance junior

Sarah Thias dance sophomore

Sausage Party's clever premise lacks intelligent humor With an animated movie, a filmmaker can have almost complete control of every single component: every character movement, every environment, whatever their brains can come up with can be put on screen exactly how they want it. Usually, animated films are oriented for a younger audience, and though there are some truly great ones, looking at you Pixar, it’s a shame that there aren’t more of them geared toward older viewers. Apparently, Seth Rogen and his friends thought the same thing and tried to remedy that

with their latest effort, Sausage Party. Sausage Party’s clever premise focuses on the what-if scenario of what life would be like for the food we eat. Rogen, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera play sausages while Kristen Wiig and Salma Hayek play a bun and a taco respectively. Yeah, it’s that kind of movie. When our characters begin to realize what actually happens to the food that gets bought by the humans they revere as gods, their worlds are changed drastically as they come to terms with the truth. Again, it’s a pretty hilarious

Danielle Petersen is a violin performance graduate from San Jose, Calif. She likes playing with her cat and watching films.

premise, but, unfortunately, the content doesn’t do it justice. While there are some genuinely funny moments, much of the movie is filled with jokes of the low-hanging fruit variety, pun only partly intended. I enjoy a good food pun every now and then, but if they end up being the funniest parts of the movie,

that’s a problem. With the film geared toward an adult audience, I expected the jokes to be a little more clever than that. The filmmakers seem pretty content with continuing to rely on the fact that a cartoon sausage and bun are swearing and doing drugs. It may be funny at first because it’s an amusing visual,

but when that’s really all the movie is, it starts to get old. If it was cut down to a 15 minute short, it would’ve been fantastic, but even with a runtime of just 89 minutes, Sausage Party feels overly long. There are parts that work. The food realizing what they’ve actually been bought for is pretty great, and there are some twists in the plot that are difficult to predict. In the end though, it seems like a movie that was only made because the creators got a couple laughs out of the idea. The problem is that they didn’t follow through and

execute the concept, instead just seemingly phoning it in. Even trying to turn your brain off and enjoying it for what it is doesn’t work. With The Interview, another recent Rogen movie that’s almost equally ridiculous but leaps and bounds better, you can enjoy it because, even though it’s completely unrealistic, it felt like everyone involved actually tried. No one was going to take a movie like Sausage Party seriously, but it’s disappointing when it seems like the filmmakers didn’t either.

Columnist suggests re-evaluation of note-taking methods OCU is not a school to be left behind in the forever-rising technological age. Nearly every college student has a laptop, iPad or tablet, and, if you don’t have some kind of technology to use for your studies, the university is quick to cater to those digital needs by providing rentable tablets through the Dulaney-Browne Library. A computer is never hard to find, and never hard to charge with plugs lining nearly every table in most classrooms. But an overabundance of advanced learning tools may not be what’s needed for successful collegiate studying.

I’ve started to hear more often from teachers and family alike that writing notes by hand actually is better than taking notes by computer. I didn’t initially believe this. To me, when I can type more words per minute than I can write with a pen, especially when that writing is usually frantic and illegible during lectures, it makes more sense that note taking on a laptop would be more efficient. Like a good parent, however, when my mom sent information about the benefits of handwritten notes, she sent a link to the article “Take Notes by Hand for Better Long-Term Comprehen-

words and more verbatim overlap with the lecture, compared to the notes that were written by hand. Overall, students who took more notes performed better, but so did those who had less verbatim overlap, suggesting that the benefit of having more content is canceled out by “mindless transcription,” according to the article. These results indicate that laptop note-taking is much easier to do without consciously thinking about what you’re typing. While the article did reassure that writing notes by stylus created the same effect as writing with pen and paper, the idea of

writing notes by hand seemed nerve-wracking. It may be a slower transition for me from keyboard to paper. I certainly feel more secure knowing I can get everything written down with my lightning speed typing skills and still maintain a 3.97 GPA (curses to the plus/minus system). Whatever the case for which kind of note-taking is better, I hope that OCU students are taking whatever kind of notes make them feel comfortable, but are willing to try something new if there’s a chance it could improve their academic success.

from 2-6 p.m. on the intramural sports field

Room 215 of Dulaney-Browne Library

Evensong Worship from 8-9:30 p.m. in Watson Lounge in Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel

Dr. Kate Pritchett's horn recital from 8-9:45 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall in Kirkpatrick Fine Ar ts Center

WEDNESDAY OCU Blue-White Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Belle Isle Restaurant banquet room, 50 Penn Place

TUESDAY Career services resume development from 12:30-1:15 p.m. in

SGA Freshman At-Large election voting begins via OrgSync, orgsync.com

Madelyn Parker is an English and studio art sophomore who loves to rant about feminism and tell stories.

sion,” on the website for the Association For Psychological Science, psychologicalscience. org. Using laptops to take notes in class might actually be detrimental to long-term retention of lectures, according to the article. Even in non-academic environments, like faculty meetings, it was harder for laptop note-takers

to remember what actually was discussed. The article referenced a study where students were asked to watch TED Talks, and different students took notes using a laptop or pen and paper, and asked what the students could remember. The results were interesting. “The notes from laptop users contained more

Campus Calendar Calendar items must be received in the Newsroom or stupub@okcu.edu by noon Friday for inclusion in the following Wednesday issue.

THURSDAY Chapel Service from 1-2 p.m. in Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel FRIDAY OCU Stripped presents "Godspell" from 8-10:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall in K irk patrick Fine Ar ts Center

SATURDAY Religious Life volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Meet at 7:30 a.m. in Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel OCU Stripped presents "Godspell" from 8-10:30 p.m. in Petree Recital Hall in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center

Volleyball game vs. John Brown 1 p.m. in Abe Lemons Arena at Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center SUNDAY Intramural flag football from 2-3 p.m. on the intramural sports field MONDAY Intramural kickball tournament

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

THE CAMPUS

September 14, 2016, Volume 110, Number 29

Editor-in-chief: Miguel Rios Web Editor: Maleyia Vaughn Lifestyles Editor: Sage Tokach Photo Editor: Elina Moon Community Manager: Lauren Berlingeri Photographers: Courtney Beyer,

Donovan Lawson, Olivia Johnston, Kelsey Simmons, Ali Wonderly Staff Writers: Taylor Rey, Prisca Lynch, Chandler White, Zoe Travers, McAlyn Forbes, Megan Carter, Tatum Nelson, Nicole Waltman Senior Staff Writer: Emily Wiley

Last day to vote in SGA Freshman At-Large elections via OrgSync, orgsync. com

The Student Publications staff welcomes unsolicited material and let-

Columnist: Madelyn Parker Film Critics: Danielle Petersen, Mary McLain Circulation Director: Brianna Demuth Faculty Adviser: Kenna Griffin

ters 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 Walker Center for Arts and Sciences. Submitted items may appear on MediaOCU and in the print edition.

September 14, 2016

news

Ali Wonderly Student Publications

Assist and attack

Junior Defensive Specialist/Libero Kenzie McMullen passes the ball during the women’s volleyball home match Sept. 7 in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. The team won 25-14, 25-19, 25-12 against St. Gregory’s. Left: Sophomore Outside Hitter Fia Faa’agi spikes the ball during the women’s volleyball match Sept. 7 in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. The next home game is at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Methodist Hall water issues:

Underground springs cause leaks in entrance from parking Megan Carter STAFF WRITER

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The east stairwell of the Level 2 parking garage in United Methodist Hall has become home to a puddle that appears without notice, sometimes after a rainfall, sometimes not. The leak has been a concern for students and facilities for several months. After an unsuccessful attempt to fix the issue last

spring by redirecting the building’s rain gutters, housing officials know what is causing the stairwell to become a prolific puddle producer. “The campus sits on quite a few underground springs,” said Kevin Culbertson, coordinator of housing operations and resident director of Methodist Hall. “It’s underground well water.” During the summer, there was less rain, so the underground water level did not get high enough to leak into the

stairwell, but now that rain has increased, the leak has returned, Culbertson said. Maintenance staff is working toward creating a solution that will stop the leak, but will not limit students’ access to Methodist Hall entrances. “The water repellent on the foundation may have worn away,” Culbertson said. “They’ll have to dig down 20 feet to get to that and fix it.” While this does seem to be the only answer at the moment,

digging to the foundation would block at least one of the four outer doors to Methodist Hall. “They are assessing it now, and they’re trying to do it in a way that won’t affect students being able to traverse the entrances on the side,” Culbertson said. Culbertson said students should watch where they step in case there is a slippery spot. “We mop it up as often as we can, but we never know when

it’s going to leak,” he said. Although the water does not pose a health hazard other than the occasional slip, some students still are annoyed by it. “I avoid that stairwell because the water stains are an eyesore, and I can’t just wear my rain boots every day in case there’s a puddle,” said Joey Simpson, religion junior. There is not yet a timeline set for repairs of the foundation and water repellent, but Culbertson said they are work-

ing on it. “Maintenance is aware of the leak and is working to fix it as soon as possible,” he said. Culbertson said students should report any issues by submitting a work order or calling him at (405) 208-6363.

Students forced out of dorms to escape flooding Zoe Travers STAFF WRITER

Two students woke last week to a flood in their Methodist Hall dorm room. Chandler Hardy, economics/mass communications junior, and Keziah Williamson, acting senior, were awakened at 6 a.m. Sept. 8 to the sound of maintenance crews banging on the door to their fourth floor room in United Methodist Hall. The women’s room was flooded, and they were forced to leave. “My roommate noticed there was standing water in our kitchen, and we had to leave the room to go to the caf,” Hardy said. They were initially told they could move back to their dorm by Thursday, but housing officials realized the damage will not be repaired by then. They’ve been asked to relocate indefinitely. They are moving to a room on a new floor. In the meantime, they temporarily moved to Hardy’s parents’ house in Oklahoma City, about 15 minutes away from campus. The new room’s living room is tiled instead of carpeted, but otherwise, it is identical to their original room before the flooding. “It was a hassle to move out things, but OCU has been very accommodating and even let us pick out new furniture for the room,” Hardy said. Six rooms had to be vacated because of the flood, but only three of those rooms housed students, officials said. Other rooms also were damaged, but not to the point of evacuation. So m e s t u d e n t s we re given the option to move September 14, 2016

My roommate noticed there was standing water in our kitchen, and we had to leave the room to go to the caf. Chandler Hardy economics/mass communications junior

out, but decided against it. The flooding was caused by a ruptured gasket in a chill water line, which is the cold water that feeds into the air units, officials said. Kevin Culbertson, coordinator of housing operations, said the break was most likely caused by the Sept. 4 earthquake in Pawnee, Oklahoma, which measured at a 5.8 magnitude. “Those lines don’t just break,” Culbertson said. “The earthquake was probably just the thing that set it off.” The flood was discovered at 5 a.m. Sept. 8, and the facilities workers were called to respond. After they had assessed the damage, a disaster response team came to clean up the dorms. The disaster response team is performing water tests and moisture ratings on all rooms in the northeast corner of Methodist to ensure that the walls of the building aren’t damaged. “There’s going to be a lot of construction going on and a lot of inconvenience,” Culbertson said. Fans and humidifiers are set up in the hallways to dry out the lower floors. “All hands are on deck right now,” Culbertson said. “Facilities and disaster response are working hard. They’re doing their best to assess the issue.” Culbertson said he apolo-

gizes for the inconvenience and sympathizes with students who are studying and preparing for rehearsals while they’re being forced out of their dorms. “I don’t think there’s anything we could have done to prevent this from happening,” Culbertson said. “This stuff happens. It’s just one of those things, but everyone has been very cooperative.” Construction on Methodist Hall began August 2006 and it opened a year later. The dorm cost the university nearly $23 million to build, according to Student Publications archives. Administrators identified the dorm as needing significant repairs in May 2015, according to Student Publications archives. Flooding has been the main issue in Methodist Hall. The first flood was in 2008, causing almost $100,000 in damage. There were two more floods in January and February 2011, causing more than $50,000 in damage. Students were relocated and reimbursed for losses as a result of the floods. Administrators attributed the floods to pipe bursts, but the facilities workers at the time said they were construction-related issues, according to the archives.

news

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Officials to launch redesigned university website in October Chandler White STAFF WRITER

By the time they reach college, most students are familiar with the toil and difficulty that comes with navigating a college website. Amid all the business of senior year of high school, one of the most influential factors in the selection of a college is the design of its website according to a study by Robert Morris University. OCU has decided to enact a redesign on the university website for this reason, making information more available and easier to follow, according to the university

tech staff. Since the beginning of this semester, OCU’s web division has been working to program a new, updated version of the university website. A ground-up restructuring of the templates, layout and aesthetic has been planned, and among its new features are mobile compatibility, a modified content management system and an overall reworking of the interface. “It’s the entire site, so everything will have a new look,” said Leslie Berger, senior director for university communications. “It’ll actually be a drastically different look, drastically improved.”

It’s the entire website, so everything will have a new look. It’ll actually be a drastically different look, drastically improved. Leslie Berger senior director university communications

As well as taking a generally modernized approach to the website, the OCU web division has not been working alone. In order to make the redesign as sharp as

possible, they’ve been collaborating with an Oklahoma City-based company, Staplegun Advertising, to update the site with all the best possible efficiency. It only benefits

“

Learning from an expert

the process that a number of OCU alumni work at Staplegun, making the business-based partnership a more personal and involved process, Berger said. “It’s been really cool to collaborate with them because they have a vested interest in the university,” Berger said. The design process was done under the guidance of research and surveys. Prospective and current students were interviewed, and their answers were used to inform the choices made by the team. Many students are encountering difficulties with the site’s previous format.

“I’d really like it to have a clearer layout of what the freshmen need to use, especially for applications and the beginning of school,” said Hannah Mansfield, acting freshman. “I didn’t even know what D2L was until the beginning of the first week.” With at least three years of dust atop the current university website, it’s time for an update. Due to the incoming influx of high school seniors, the new site is scheduled to launch in October.

Elina Moon Student Publications

Alumnus Kristin Chenoweth points out her goosebumps after seeing Brandon Stalling, music theater sophomore, perform at the third annual Kristin Chenoweth Masterclass on Sept. 6 at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center, 701 S. Main St. in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Left: Megan Carpenter, music theater sophomore, sings “No One Else” from “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812” at the third annual Kristin Chenoweth Masterclass. Students auditioned from all around the world to participate in the masterclass. Five out of nine students chosen are OCU students: Megan Carpenter, Brandon Stalling and Jeffrey Laughrun, music theater sophomores; Holly Gibson, vocal performance junior, and Celia Tedde, music theater/vocal performance sophomore.

Applications for the physician assistant program double in second year Nicole Waltman STAFF WRITER

Physician assistant program officials are interviewing 300 applicants, which is 140 more than they interviewed last year. The interviews will take place the week of Sept. 12. The PA program was created in 2013 and will accept its second class of 36 students in January. Dr. Daniel McNeill, clinical professor and director of the PA program, said he thinks the increase is due to OCU offering more than other PA programs. “We built this program, beginning in 2013, to make it special and exceptional,” McNeill said. “We offer things that are not offered to that extent in other PA programs, like an emphasis on the humanities, charitable care and medical practice management.” The program’s outreach to out-of-state students has been successful and should continue to improve. “About 25 percent of our students are from out of state, so that’s pretty good, given that last year we weren’t even accredited,

We b u i l t t h i s p ro gr a m , beginning in 2013, to make it special and exceptional.

Dr. Daniel McNeill director physician assistant program

and now we are,” McNeill said. With the PA program, students are able to spend 28 straight months after college preparing for a job that is well paid and easy to find, he said. Most of the students even have a job before they graduate. PA programs are in increasing demand nationwide and were recognized as the No. 1 master’s degree for jobs by Forbes.com.

Taylor Henderson, first year PA student, said, although the PA program is selective, the purpose is to benefit each student. “The PA program has allowed me to meet lifelong friends and build firm professional relationships with leaders of the PA profession, as well as the top practitioners of varying specialties,” she said. “There is nothing greater than studying alongside your best friends and having the support of the program faculty and local practitioners in all that you strive to accomplish. I know that the professional and personal relationships I have built will continue to push me to attain a successful career as a PA in the near future.”

Interfaith dorm to open in 2018 Zoe Travers STAFF WRITER

St u d e n t s w i l l s e e a n increase in campus activities with an interfaith focus while faculty and clergy make plans to transform the abandoned Smith Hall into a dorm to house people of all faiths and denominations. A planning committee met Aug. 29 and discussed different events that would take place in Smith Hall that would help OCU students become “better global citizens” and “move beyond coexistence to cooperation.” Among these plans are fireside chats with religious leaders and participation in the OKC area Interfaith Tour. The events in Smith Hall will tie into The World House Scholars Program and possibly world religion courses. The World House Scholars Program is a program that teaches global responsibility and social change. “I’m sure there are World House Scholars who would be interested,” said Dr. Joseph Meinhart, director of World House Scholars. The main goal of the dorm is to create interfaith dialogue outside of public forums and September 14, 2016

guest speakers. “Our hope is that the interfaith dorm will allow for more organic conversations to happen,” said the Rev. Dr. Charles Neff, vice president for university-church relations. To remain sensitive to the residents’ religions, food in the dorm will be separated to adhere to Hillel and Kosher requirements, and there will be space provided for students to gather and pray. Opposite sexes will be separated if it is required. The planning committee is in their fundraising phase. The project is estimated to cost $2.1 million, and a third of that has been raised so far. The plan is to open the dorm by Fall 2018, Neff said. Last April, there was no set date for completion and the cost ranged about $2 million. There are already opportunities for students to be involved in their faith communities on campus. Dr. Imam Imad Enchassi leads the Jumah prayers in the interfaith prayer room in Kramer West every Friday, and there is a new organization on campus called The Jewish Stars. There are also Baptist and Catholic student groups on campus. “What we’re trying to do in church relations and religious life is bring those groups togeth-

er,” Neff said. “The interfaith dorm is just one piece of that overall emphasis upon interfaith dialogue and cooperation.” Neff said he hopes that, in the meantime, students can continue to form relationships with people who share different beliefs and come from different areas. “It just takes intentionality,” Neff said. “The biggest barrier to interfaith dialogue is ourselves and our apprehension of asking questions.” Melissa Feldman, voice junior and member of the Jewish Stars, said she feels like the dorm would be a great idea for anyone who wants to stay true to who they are. “I’ve always been a devout Jew, and I love being in an organization that is dedicated to bringing awareness,” she said. In addition to housing people of faith, Smith Hall will also house students who identify as atheist or agnostic. The purpose of the dorm is not to convert anyone to a particular religion, but for people to “understand each other and come together as people,” Neff said.

Donovan Lawson Student Publications

Yes, and... Hannah Green, acting senior, and Lindsay Steinberg, acting sophomore, perform a scene at OCU Improv auditions Sept. 6 in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. The improv troupe hosts “Improv Jams” open to all students on the first and third Tuesday of every month. Show dates are TBD.