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Portions of the roof are being worked on. The construction started before spring break and should be done this week.
Parts of the UCO musical department could use an upgrade.
Men’s and Women’s golf start strong at Midwestern State Invitational.
MAR 25, 2010
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THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S students voice since 1903.
Politics
FORMER BRONCHO SETS HIS SIGHT ON WASHINGTON By Ryan Costello / Staff Writer Oklahoma County Democrats Secretary Tom Guild, a 27-year veteran as a University of Central Oklahoma professor, will officially announce his candidacy for the state’s 5th District congressional seat later today. The seat for the 5th District, which includes Pottawatomie, Seminole, and most of Oklahoma County, will be vacated when Republican Rep. Mary Fallin begins her campaign for Oklahoma governor. Guild is the only Democrat to come forward for the July 27 primary election, a decision that he says was made not in the halls of the downtown headquarters of the Oklahoma County Democrats, but in his own living room in the company of a collection of his closest friends and colleagues. “I had been talking to friends, supporters, and other folks that could give me the best honest advice they could,” Guild said After teaching political science and legal studies at UCO for 27 years and in turn earning the title of professor emeritus by the university’s board of regents, the 55-year-old Guild taught for three years in the Master of Business Administration program at Oklahoma City University’s Meinders School of Business. Guild took his current position on July 14, 2009, but began considering a run at thesoon-to-open congressional seat while reading a series of articles in the Edmond Sun on the candidates who had already announced campaigns for Fallin’s position. “Some of [the other candidates’] positions struck out of the mainstream,” Guild said. “Somebody needed to tell the other side of the story and give them some competition.” Those who’ve already announced cam-
paigns in the upcoming election include Independent Clark Duffe of Edmond, Republicans Dr. Johnny Roy and James Lankford from Edmond, former state Rep. Kevin Calvey of Del City, Rick Flanigan of Bethany, and State Reps.
“We can burn the buildings and run the government down, or we can fix it.” Shane Jett of Tecumseh, and Mike Thompson of Oklahoma City. Guild hopes to remind frustrated voters that their elected officials are responsible for providing a functional government instead of simply joining the foray of talking heads in chastising Washington. “We need to make sure the government is working, and working well, to help every American achieve the American dream instead of bashing the government. … I think there’s been too much of that going on lately,” Guild said. “A lot of people aren’t happy with the government right now and aren’t convinced the government is there to help them. Now, we can burn the buildings and run the government down, or we can fix it.” Part of fixing the government, Guild said, is trimming down the national debt, something he plans to insist Washington address should he claim the congressional seat. Combined with the slow but steady economic upswing, Guild said the best opportunity to do so will be in the coming years as soldiers and war effort dollars are gradually pulled out of Iraq and Afghanistan. “With all of those things, if we’re careful, we can pull [the economy] back in the right
direction,” Guild said. Strategies aside, supporters of Guild have concerns that Oklahoma, the only state in which every county reported red in 2008’s presidential election, is too conservative a political climate for a Democrat to win an election, especially for a seat that has long been held by Republicans. “This seat has been Republican for a long time, so people will say there’s no chance for a Democrat to win that seat,” Guild said. Guild, however, was quick to point at recent tradition-breaking election results on both sides of the aisle, such as Republican Scott Brown’s seizing of Edward and John F. Kennedy’s seemingly perpetually Democratic seat in January, and Democrat Bill Owens’ upset victory in the race for New
York’s 23rd Congressional District, a seat held by Republicans for more than a century, two months earlier. “Will it be easy? No, but with the right people behind you, it’s doable,” Guild said. To compete with a well-funded opponent, Guild hopes what he’s calling a “grassroots” fundraising effort will be enough to sustain his campaign, admitting, “I don’t have a lot of rich friends.” For the time being, Guild is engaged in the whirlwind of preparing a budding political campaign. “We still have to make all kinds of arrangements,” Guild said. We’re running at a breakneck pace to get everything done.” Nonetheless, even amid the busy life of a politician, and even during his tenure at OCU, Guild says he can hardly remember a day that he didn’t see a student who he hadn’t taught over his 27-year career on the UCO campus. “[UCO] is a pretty special place to go to school,” Guild said. Should Guild win the Democratic nomination, his next step will be to garner enough votes for the general election on Nov. 2.
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DID YOU KNOW? The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence – he invented dynamite.
Young Democrats Russell Griggin, Jonathan Still, Kristen Gadlin, Erik Roscom, Cassi Peters and Alex Butterfield. The Young Deomcrats of Oklahoma State Convention will be at UCO.
By Jenefar DeLeon / Staff Writer University of Central Oklahoma Young Democrats will host this year’s Young Democrats of Oklahoma State Convention at 10 a.m. Saturday. The spring convention is a great opportunity to get involved with local politics and meet other young Democrats throughout the Oklahoma area. The convention will be at the Nigh University Center, Room 300.
The event will have elections for Young Democrat Caucus officers for caucus groups including president, minority chair, women chair and rural. On Wednesday, March 23, the UCO Young Democrats had their weekly meeting in Liberal Arts, Room 128 at 6 p.m., along with several running officers, three of which include a UCO graduate student and alumni.
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By Jack Chancey / Staff Writer
Despite legal setbacks from a year ago in which an abortion bill was deemed unconstitutional, three separate measures were taken from it and voted on in the Senate. SB 1890, by Sen. Todd Lamb, R-Edmond, which makes abortions based on gender illegal, passed 43-2. A fine of $10,000 will be levied for the first offense, and there will be larger sums for repeat offenses up to $100,000. The bill would also revoke or suspend the license of any provider who violates the law. Concerns about the bill came from Sen. Mike Johnson, R-
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