University of Central Oklahoma
The Student Voice Since 1903
Mi
O
TUESDAY February 25, 1992
WORD WRAP
Racism in media examined 10 20 30 40 50
350
Groundwater tests eld pesticides
4%
Black
Bird crack-lands jet OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An American Airlines jet had to make an unscheduled landing at Will Rogers World Airport after a bird hit the windshield and cracked it, airport police said. Sgt. Cliff Skopak said the plane landed safely Thursday afternoon. Skopak said the plane was on a flight from. Seattle to Dallas when the bird struck the right windshield and the jet was diverted to Oklahoma City. See World Wrap, pack page
36%
Total Stories Showing Race
300
250
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal hydrologist says a study of aquifers in central Oklahoma show traces of pesticides, in use only during the past 40 to 50 years, in some groundwater. Alan Rea, with the U.S. Geological Survey, said the levels were very low but still a cause for concern. The groundwater study began in 1986. Researchers studied 3,000 square miles of aquifers in central Oklahoma. The findings will be compared to future studies to see if the groundwater is deteriorating.
6%
70
25%
White
15% 11%
A
200
Other
23%
19°/
6%
17% Positive
150
Negative IN Neutral
100 25%
6% 5%
50 1%
2%
AM \ Black
1%
2%
1%
r
2%
AM' ,..\1/4 Akkk
White
Other
AI/
Unknown
Positive Negative • Neutral
Graphs show by both number of stories and percentage of stories the results of a content analysis. Main graph shows relation of all stories to each other. Subgraph shows relation of only those stories specifying race.
By Penny Owen Staff Writer
Are newspapers shining a biased light on the news? Some blacks say so, blaming the media for not treating them fairly in its coverage. But a recent Vista content analysis of 21 area newspapers indicates racial bias, though difficult to measure, may not be as blatant as some believe. In fact, most stories did not address race one way or the other. However, although there were more negative stories about whites overall, a higher percentage of negative stories was reported in news involving blacks than in news involving whites. Accusations of social bias have ranged from telling the negative news about blacks while ignoring white wrongdoing cornpletely, to intentional disregard for black issues. See Racism, page 5
UCO maintaining financial stability By Sam Powell Staff Writer
While colleges and universities across the country are raising tuition and facing massive deficits, officials say the University of Central Oklahoma is experiencing fiscal stability. According to'a report from the American Association of State Colleges and Universi-
ties (AASCU), 19 states have cut allocations for colleges and universities. But last year the State Regents for Oklahoma Colleges allocated additional funds for UCO. The 1991-92 fiscal year UCO operating budget shows an increase of almost $5 million over 1990-91. Funding rose from approximately 38 million in 1990, to more than 43 million for this year. See Budget, page 6
Date Rape: Would you report it? By Pam Thurman Staff Writer
Brian and Valerie went on a date. They had dinner at an elegant restaurant followed by a party at a friends house, then they went back to Brian's apartment for a drink. Brian said they had sex; Valerie said she was raped. Brian and Valerie are actors who performed a skit at a recent panel discussion on date rape held at the University of Central Oklahoma. But date rape is not always a planned performance. One out of six college women will be sexually assaulted at some time during their college career. After women enter mainstream society their chances of being raped increase to one out of three women, said Georgie Rasco, director of the YWCA Rape Crisis Center. "Eighty-five percent of all rapes that happen are acquaintance rapes," she said. Also from the center was the assistant director, Can Routh. The panel included three members of the university faculty: Dr. Lewis Irving, professor of sociology; Janis Chapel, substance abuse counselor; and Dr. ,
Harold 0. Schweizer, assistant professor of sociology. Rasco described the typical date rape scenario as a date where the woman may really like the guy, and may agree to kissing and making out, but has decided she will only go so far. The man wants to go on with it. He is getting his power messages confused with his sexuality messages, and decides no woman is going to say no to him, Rasco said. He ends up raping her. In his mind it's having sex, but it's not sexual if force is involved in any way, she said. "The majority of males on your campus, as well as everybody, when they hear 'no' they're going to respect that, and that's going to be the end of it. But there are those few that make every single female we know scared of rape, and have to change her lifestyle when it is the male with the deviant behavior. He is the one choosing not to listen," Rasco said. Irving said he thinks the problem may be in the signals men and women give one another. "I think the main suggestion for everybody is if we have a 'no statement' or an
`implied no,' we stop and forget about it. If we persist we have the potential of being charged with rape. If we don't say no, we have the potential of becoming a victim, so both sides lose," Irving said. Rasco said when a woman is in a situation where she realizes her "no" is not being heard, if she can turn her initial fright into anger she will have an 85 percent chance of escaping an attack unharmed. "However, that is not a hard and fast rule. You don't know what is motivating him," Rasco said. "The rule is to educate yourself fully about what the crime of rape is, and then act assertively, as much as you can." Rasco suggested that women keep their head up, look in the backseat of their car, look underneath their car, and take all the precautions that children take. The number one thing for women to do, she said, is trust their instincts. "Do whatever it takes to survive. If that means giving in to him sexually, and doing things with him that you never thought you would do, then do it. That may very well be the thing that saves you," Rasco said. See Date rape, page 5
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will soon take place in the Old North Tower to commemorate the installation of an elevator. (Photo by Mark Zimmerman)