THEVIsrA
University of Central Oklahoma
•
TUESDAY February 6, 1996
The Student Voice Since 1903
Behold Miss UCO...
Enrollment slides UCO's enrollment declines in two consecutive years By Rob Gallavan Staff Writer The Oklahoma economy might be one of the reasons UCO's enrollment has dropped in the past two years. A nationwide survey conducted by the American Council on Education (ACE) stated that a good economy and fewer students of traditional college age contributed to the declining enrollment at nationwide colleges and universities. "When the economy is good, the enrollment drops," said Jerry Legere, registrar and assistant vice president for enrollment management. "When the
Lisa Poling is crowned Miss UCO 1996 by last year's Miss UCO Kristi Hall Saturday night. Poling also won the Outstanding Interview Award. Other winners includeAmy Eschman, first runner up; Carmen Clark, second runner up; Sarah Wilhite, third runner up and People's Choice Award; Tyler Wooster, fourth- runner up and Michelle LaZure,Director's Award.(Staff photo by Laurette Graham)
n ter 4, 1t0' Ii hold a +drawing for yn ~w'Ice Crean firing the fair.
.e
economy is bad, it rises. Oklahoma has a good economy this year." UCO suffered a 4.4 percent drop in enrollment from Fall 1994 and Fall 1995, said Laura Tyree of the Institutional Research and Planning Office. The enrollment for Fall 1994 reached 16,039 compared to Fall 1995's enrollment of 15,334. That drop continued through Spring 1996 with enrollment peaking at 14,513. However, international student enrollment has been rising the past two spring semesters, said Legere. International student enrollment rose from 1,285 last
spring to 1,367 this spring. Legere said the reason for the international student increase might be due to UCO's reputation outside the country. "A lot of international students hear about UCO by word of mouth," he said. "We're very multicultural." The ACE survey revealed that Oklahoma suffered a 0.2 percent drop in enrollment Âśrom Fall 1994 to Fall 1995. Despite the current numbers, the U.S. Department of Education is predicting that enrollment will rise slightly this year.
Student nabbed for extortion By Gayleen Langthorn Staff Writer "Do you remember what happened downtown?! You can't stop the wrath of God!" Those words, uttered by a man - in the UCO student accounts office, led to his arrest one week after the incident. Kary D. Pace was arrested Jan. 31 for attempted extortion. The UCO and Warr Acres police arrested Pace at his home in Oklahoma City and transported him to the Oklahoma County Jail. At approximately 8 a.m. Jan. 24, the "irate" 38year-old student threatened the accounts office personnel, said Ted Jones, assistant chief of UCO police. Pace was upset with the instruction he was
receiving in three of his classes and wanted to drop them and add another class, said Drew Duke, UCO burser. Pace wanted a full refund on the classes he wanted to drop, but the deadline for full refunds had been the previous week, said Duke. When accounts personnel told him that was impossible, Pace began making threats that personnel took as references to the April 19 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building. "I felt like it was a personal threat and I asked him if it was. At that point he had the opportunity to recant on it and he didn't," said Duke. Jones explained that Pace was charged with extortion because he was trying to get money from the university by means of making a threat. V See THREAT, Page 3
INSIDE TODAY INDEX Editorial 2 Sports 5 Around Campus 7 Around Campus 7 Classifieds 8
4
COMPUTERS Dean of Liberal Arts (LA) Clif' Warren checks out the new computers in the LA Building.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH Meet UCO's first African American professor as he reminisces about the past.
6
CONSTRUCTION Get the latest update on construction trivia in and around the campus.
7