Friday, September 18, 2020
Will power
Being Stillwater’s mayor isn’t what it used to be
Zoe Boschee Mayor Will Joyce, who doesn't even have an office at city hall, has to lead a city during a pandemic and balance a day job.
little bit different because if the phone rings and it’s the health department or if something comes up, you can’t really ignore it or tell them, ‘I’ll call you back in three hours,’” Joyce Ryan Novozinsky said. “You have things that are a little more pressing.” When it comes to the tasks Stillwater Mayor Will Joyce performs as mayor durJoyce carries a power title, yet can’t even claim an office in city ing a pandemic, it’s all about constant communication. Joyce hall. So much for perks of the job. has to ensure that various large In a normal year, the signifi- organizations across the city cant issues a Stillwater mayor has are engaging in daily chats, and that the information is accurate. to deal with ranges from riding “It is sometimes difficult Oklahoma State’s homecoming parade, a few ribbon-cutting cer- to balance all the competing demands and try to keep up emonies and some city developwith everything and make sure ment and zoning. we’re getting everything going Not in 2020. and having the conversations During the pandemic, we need to have,” Joyce said. Joyce’s name makes national headlines (for the wrong reasons) “From my perspective, my role because of COVID-19 in Stillwa- during the pandemic, a lot of it has been coordinating converter –– but being the mayor isn’t sation, making sure it’s being even his full-time job. “It’s been weird,” Joyce said. shared across different parts of the community, making sure “It’s tough to describe… (Being Stillwater’s mayor) is a pretty de- I’m hearing from the Payne fined set of things that we gener- County Health Department and the hospital and the city and the ally deal with. But this has been schools and the university… entirely unlike what our normal “I think my role is to try set of issues would be.” to aggregate a lot of that and Joyce, a lawyer who serves make sure that communication as general counsel at Stillwaterbased technology company Inter- is not being siloed and make sure people are having those Works in his “day” job, juggles conversations together.” many things in his daily schedule. Usually he’s able to block time off to adhere to his mayoral duties. Not in 2020. See power on page 3 “With COVID, it’s been a
Welcome to the hotel corona A look inside OSU's off-campus quarantine hotel
By Ryan Novozinsky Trevor Rzeszutko sits in his Hampton Inn room, 103 degree fever, suitcase disorganized, comfortable beds and a non-working ethernet port. Oklahoma State University’s director of housing and residential life
Leon McClinton put him in there. “It’s a pretty renovated and updated hotel,” Rzeszutko said of his experience at OSU’s off-campus COVID-19 quarantine hotel room. “It’s fairly nice. You put the trash outside your door and put your laundry outside your door and they’ll do that for you. There’s a shower and bath in here. The ethernet port doesn’t work,
which kind of sucks. Other than that I think it’s kind of alright. There’s no cabinets or anything, it’s just one little closet.” Rzeszutko, who tested positive for COVID-19 through OSU’s university health services on Sept. 9, is one of 34 students currently residing in the university’s quarantine housing. See hotel on page 3
Trevor Rzeszutko An inside look at Trevor Rzeszutko's room at the Hampton Inn in Stillwater, OSU's quarantine hotel.
COVID resurrects the radio stars
Kelly Kerr The OSU theater department is recapturing the 1950s with its production of radio play “War of the Worlds.”
Chase Congleton Oklahoma State University’s department of theatre converted its fall season to accommodate radio plays instead of tra-
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ditional staged plays. The department head David Kersnar worked to create shows that would be able to be produced during the pandemic. Once schools started shutting down because of the pandemic back in March, Kersnar had to figure out a backup plan. “What we were trying to do was create a
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season that was COVID proof,” Kersnar said. “At that point, we didn’t know what April was going to look like.” Radio dramas were a staple in American entertainment until the 1950s when television began dominating the market. See radio on page 3