The Student Voice Since 1903 UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006
Martinez details neo-Nazi past in speech by Heather Warlick Staff Writer
Security was tight and cameras were not allowed as former white supremacist, Tom Martinez, spoke in Constitution Hall to a group of 250 students and faculty Feb. 4 at the Oklahoma Conference on College Student Character. In his keynote speech "Hate Begins and Ends with You" Martinez told the story of his neo-Nazi past to promote tolerance and education about diversity. Martinez wrote "Brotherhood Of Murder" which details how he became involved with the Ku Klux Klan and The Order and how he turned his life around and became a government informant. Martinez said that he was not born a racist. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming a baker, like his father. He was entering junior high school in a small suburb of Philadelphia when the school integrated and "all Hell broke loose." ' "Poor black kids were bussed into this Kensington neighborhood, which was a bunch of poor white Irish kids and they mixed us up like a bunch of rats. There were no diversity programs... none of that stuff,"
see CONFERENCE, page 3
by Vista photographer Travis Marak
A mural painted by Dr. Bob Palmer on the west side of the Bricktown Canal for the upcoming Oklahoma Centennial.
UCO's Palmer paints Oklahoma history in Bricktown by Nathan Winfrey Staff Writer As Bricktown develops into Oklahoma's cultural and social hub, UCO professor Dr. Bob Palmer's murals color buildings across the budding district, portraying scenes from Oklahoma's past and looking to the future as its centennial draws near. Perhaps most noticeable is Palmer's Oklahoma flag he recently completed with the help of two UCO students across the front of an old downtown grain
elevator that has since been the smaller building the crew converted into the OKC Rocks had to use a scaffold attached Climbing Center. to the roof, which Palmer said Royce Bartlett and Darroll he feared was unstable, and Reddick applied the base coat the added hazard of wind and and signage to the converted pigeons made the lengthy prosilo, Palmer said. cess frightening. "The hardest part was not That was actually the scarithe grain elevator but the little est part," Palmer said. building next to it because it Of the 12 people he asked all had to be hand-scaffolded," to help him, only Bartlett and Palmer said. Reddick would do it, and that He said everything on the everyone else said, "Nope, too grain elevator could be painted _ high," Palmer said. with a 120-foot crane, but for The grain elevator mural
took a month and a half to complete but Palmer said one of his other downtown murals took only three days. "I call it the 'Post Card Mural' because it's taken from post cards of early Oklahoma," Palmer said. Painted last summer by Palmer and his students, the mural runs along the canal and features street scenes and antique cars from postcards dated 1935, 1945 and 1955. Though it took only three days to complete, it took a year and
a half to get approved by committees. "You just have to go through tons of red tape to get this through," Palmer said. He said he is awaiting approval from the city to begin a new mural in Bricktown that will run alongside the Santa Fe railroad. "We're proposing a timeline of Oklahoma," Palmer said. "It's even bigger than all of these combined."
see MURAL, page 7
'Good to Great' program offers open forum to students, faculty
Kicking off UCO Blazers Night
by Alex Gambill Staff Writer
UCO students, faculty and staff can cast their views for UCO's future on the new "Good to Great" Web site. The "Good to Great" program, directed by Steve Kreidler, vice president of administration, is based on Jim Collins' book "Good to Great." Kreidler said Collins' book is about making current assessments to bring successful conclusions. Kreidler said the site enables an open forum to students, faculty, and staff in creating future strategies to improving UCO. "The website is a good tool to getting straight to the presi-
dent," said Jermichael Thacker, industrial safety senior. Kreidler spoke at an open meeting Feb. 2 about the university's "good to great" process intended to keep UCO competitive and goal oriented. The meeting, held in the Education Building Room 115, centered on the "Good to Great" scenario plan and website located on the Internet at administration.ucok.edu/good2great. "We believe for the last few years that this university has been on a curve upward," Kreidler said. He said the site features a "Hopes and Dreams" blog where anyone can post their comments so the administra-
Steve Kreidler tion can make an assessment of where it should focus its energy effectively.
see GREAT, page 3
RHA sponsors speed dating by Nathan Winfrey Staff Writer
by Vista photographer Brett Deering
Isaiah Brown, UCO vocal performance sophomore, sings "God Bless America" before the Oklahoma City Blazers game Feb. 3 for "UCO Blazers Night."
Steelers sink Seahawks Hines Ward was named Super Bowl MVP and Jerome Bettis rode away into the sunset as the Steelers topped the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
See News pg. 5
The Central Plaza Coffee Bar will host Speed Dating at 7 p.m. Feb. 9, sponsored by the Residence Hall Association. Rowynn Ricks, English senior and RHA president, said the event is open to any campus residents who would like to come. Shelli Novotny, biology senior and RHA secretary, said the event will be a fun way to meet other students. Ricks said they will follow basic speed dating format. A speed date is like a mini-date and
UCO catches Chuck Norris fever The martial-arts-hero-turned-cultural-icon has garnered a following recently that borders on phenomenal. UCO students attempt to explain how 'Walker, Texas Ranger' suddenly became funny.
See Entertainment pg. 8
usually lasts only a few minutes until it is time to rotate dates. "Since we are anticipating more girls than guys, we will probably have the girls circulate," Ricks said. "We will give everyone an ID number so that they can remain anonymous if they want to. Then we will give them each a card where they can indicate who they are interested in. And when the interest is mutual, we will provide them with the contact information that they have given us," Ricks said. Ricks said students who participate will receive dating tips as well as a list of questions to help
Conference foe visits UCO Men's basketball team tames the ECU Tigers while the women's team gets bitten.
See Sports pg. 12