June 9, 1983
Central State University, Edmond, Oklahoma
Vol. 81, No. 55
Drinking motorists to lose driving licenses Between now and the end of the year, more than 23,000 Oklahoman's will lose their driving privileges for at least nintey days if April's trend continues. Under the state's new drunk driving law, 2,637 drivers have had their licenses suspended for a minimum of ninety days as the result of driving under the influence (DUI) arrests made during April. A total of 3,083 DUI revocation forms were sent to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety during April. Of those, 2,477 surrendered their licenses because a breath test showed them to be driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.10 (ten-hundredths) or above. The remaining 606 lost their licenses because they refused to submit to a test for intoxication. Of the 3,083 who surrendered their licenses, 446 have filed written requests to appeal the suspensions. Under the new law which became effective April 1st, the arresting officer immediately seizes the license of any driver who fails a test for intoxication or who refuses to take the test. He then forwards it to ODPS along with a breath analysis report or a refusal affidavit. The driver is issued a thirty-day temporary driving permit, pending an appeal of the license suspension. A written request for an administrative hearing must be filed with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety (ODPS) within fifteen days from the date of arrest.
The arresting officer then files the drunk driving charge in addition to the license suspension. "Those 2,637 drivers who chose not to appeal are automatically under suspension thirty days from the date of arrest," said Public Safety Commissioner Paul W. Reed, Jr. "We expect the number of suspensions for April to go much higher as the appeal process is completed," he said. In the past, more than ninety percent of all suspensions have been upheld. "Just looking at our experience during the first month under the new law, we could easily suspend more than 23,000 licenses by the end of the calenday year," Reed said. "Compare that to 8,180 alcoholrelated license revocation orders issued on 1981 convictions and 9,862 issued so far for convictions on 1982 DUI arrests." Complete figures will not be available for either year until all cases are processed through the court system. "However, we would hope that as potential drinking drivers realize we're very serious about enforcing the law, they'll voluntarily decide not to drive after they've been drinking," said Reed. "When that happens, I think we'll see a decline in the number of arrests and subsequently, the number of license suspensions," he said.
This fire escape at East Hall is one construction project in store for the campus during the summer. Others include adding more fire escapes and also a new nursing building.
Campus newspaper wins third All American The Vista, Central State's campus newspaper received the rating of All American by the Associated College Press (ACP). This is the third time in three consecutive semesters that The Vista has garnered the All American award. The ACP, a national critique service sponsored by the University of Minnesota, bases their judging on what a broad range of publications are acheiving. It judges both collegiate and high school publications. Papers are classified on the basis of school enrollment, frequency of publication and printing process. The purpose of the critique is to provide the students and advisors with an outside opinion of their work and to provide them with ideas that might help to improve the paper. "We've had five All American awards in the last six years," commented Dr.Ray Tassin, administrative publisher and head of the journalism department, "which I think is excellent for a program of this size. We always rank extremely high in photography. We've been stronger in reporting and editorial writing than in other areas."
The 1982 fall semester staff included Barbara Boatman, editor; Patricia Uselton, assistant editor; Dwayne Long,assistant editor; Robert Slankard,sports editor; Donald DeVault, paste-up artistcirculation manager; and Mike Sherman, staff writer. Said Dr.Tassin of the editor and staff, "She (Barbera Boatman) had a very good supporting staff and that makes the editor's job easier." The Vista was given a rating of "superior" in the areas of newswriting, sportswriting, and editorial cartoons. Ratings of "excellent" were given in the categories of scope of sources, balance of sources, timeliness and vitality of content, sports coverage, copy editing, range of opinion content, design, printing quality, cutlines, and also in art and graphics. "If a newspaper is to mirror it's community with a wide range of content, The Vista does it excellently" wrote John Vivian, one of the ACP's judges.He went on to describe The Vista as having a "good range and mature approach" in regard to coverage and content. He also described the
In this issue. . . Sudent wins photo award...page 4 Boys state held at CSU...page 5 Special olympics feature...page 6 Ball team wins dist.9 title...page 8
paper as being "highly readable," and also being strong in art and graphics. Hank Mooney, director and executive editor of The Vista said, "We compete with newspapers across the country. The fact that The Vista has won it (All American) three semesters in a row is significant. The fall staff as a whole did an excellent job. Even though we have our problems, which I would be the first to admit, The Vista and its staff must be doing something right to receive the award for three consecutive semesters. "The staff puts in many more hours per week than they are paid for and we need at least two more paid slots on the staff to cut the overtime down for all. Our new
Mycro-Comp front end system has helped but has also caused a number of problems. It just means that we now have more to teach the students in the same amount of time. But, its worth the trouble since the industry has gone almost completly to computers. "Our front end system is used in more than 1100 newspapers over the country, therefore our students are better prepared and understand the word processor and are able to achieve entry positions before others. "We have a real and valid need," Mooney continued, "for our own disk drive and controller in our office. Since we are in the office sometimes late at night and on the weekends, we need access
to the storage capability of the
disk but since we are hindered by the print shop closing at 5 pm and turning off the equipment it hampers the operation. We really must get something done as soon as possible about the situation," he said. "Its not the print shop that is at fault; its the weather and our long connection lines to the print shop. We must disconnect the equipment to protect it. "We have been hit by lightening on four occasions this year and it costs several thousand dollars to repair it or if I do it which I have done the last three times it takes a little over 15 hours to rebuild all the equipment. There is just a lot more to a newspaper today than most people understand," he concluded.
Balman reassigned to teach By Matthew Driskill and Donald DeVault The Academic Advisory staff will be the first to feel the university's budget knife when eight members are cut to seven. Dr. Gail E. Balman, academic advisor will be cut from the staff, but will return to the classroom in the fall semester. Balman is the advisor for social studies, geography, history, journalism and oral communications. Dr.Balman had no comment on the matter. Donna Guinn, academic advisement coordinator said, "That's true," about the Balman transfer from advisor to instructor. Guinn believed that the move would not be a help to the students. "I don't think that's a step in the right direction," Guinn said. Dr.Bill Lillard, CSU president, said that the ad-
visement program "will continue to provide the same, if not improved service, to the students with one less advisor." "Our service to the students will not suffer," Lillard said. But Guinn said that the advisor's workload will be redistributed among the remaining seven advisors. Guinn went on to say that the transfer may affect more than the people in Balman's area of advisement. Dr.Frank Finney, dean of the school of Liberal Arts, said that Dr. Balman will be transferred to the political science department in the fall. Dr. Patrick Cassens, vice-president for academic affairs, had no comment except to say that the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges would have the final say on the subject. The Regents, in their May meeting, reaffirmed the Balman transfer from advisor to assistant professor of political science.