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The Student Voice of the University of Central Oklahoma Since 1903
June 14, 2007
Budget cuts from state lottery revenues affect UCO by Lyndsay Gillum Copy Editor
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by Vista photographer Chris Otten
State lottery revenues were cut from Oklahoma universities for June. UCO cut more than a quarter million dollars from its budget.
In April 2003, the Oklahoma legislature created the Oklahoma Education Lottery Act and the Oklahoma Education Lottery Trust Fund. Legislation creating the Lottery Commission was added by a vote of the people on Nov. 2, 2004. The mission of the commission is to "maximize revenues for public education through creation and marketing of fun and entertaining products consistent with the highest levels of service integrity and public accountability," according to the Oklahoma lottery website. However, because of a lottery shortfall, UCO must cut more than $261,000 from its budget this month due to a reduction of allocations to state universities by the State Regents. In the Regents meeting on May 25, an overall higher education budget reduction of more than $6 million was approved. The cut in allocations will affect all colleges and universities in the month of June to make up for the shortfall, according to an AP story on KOTV.com . This reduction was a result of a shortfall in state lottery revenue owed to pay for bond debt incurred by the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority. UCO Executive Vice President Steve Kreidler said
it is a challenge when money, which has already been given to the university and has been put into the budget, is taken away. However, Kreidler said, UCO has dealt effectively with tight budgets before and the university will manage this shortfall by using reserve funds. State government's fiscal year ends June 30, leading to complications at the universities, which long ago had budgeted for the month at expected allocation levels. Ben Hardcastle, the state regents' spokesman, said in an AP story on KOTV. corn that the cuts were based on the regents' funding formula. Consequently, a larger college, such as Oklahoma State University, was cut $1.3 million, while a smaller one, like Northwestern Oklahoma State lost a little more than $87,000. "Each institution has a different situation and will find a different way to respond," Hardcastle said. On April 18, the annual Legislation Breakfast, organized by the Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce, education funding and the lottery shortfall was discussed. According to the Edmond Chamber of Commerce website, panel members were asked about per-student budgeting at UCO. Sen. Clark Jolley said that funding for UCO is under the control of the state board of
regents, not the Legislature, but that he, Rep. Marian Cooksey and Rep. Ken Miller are "trying to make adjustments in funding at UCO." Jolley also said that many lawmakers foresaw the problem with the lottery shortfall. "We highly suspected the promises made on the lottery were a pipe dream," he said. Jolley said some legislators are proposing a six-month halt on lotterybased funding and then making appropriations based on actual proceeds, not on predictions. County Commissioner Ray Vaughn offered a request to House members, asking them to pass Senate Bill 138, increasing the reimbursement rate for Department of Corrections prisoners in county jails. "We are not going to be making cuts in operating budgets or salaries, or anything like that. This will not impact our students, faculty or staff," Kreidler said. "Because UCO has become one of the nation's most efficient universities, we have learned how to do more with less. Still, this hurts and we will have to continue to do even more with even less."
Lyndsay Gillum can be reached at Igillum@thevistaonline.com.
Iran becomes senator's focus Internet scam empties "Iran's greatest problem is its leader, which makes criticism of Iran easy." -Dr. Husam A. Mohamad by Abha Eli Phoboo Staff Writer
While President George W. Bush returns from his whirlwind tour through Europe, there are issues at home waiting to be addressed. Possibilities of the United States bombing Iran have been speculated for years, but when Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, stated on the CBS News program, "Face the Nation," on June 10 that the U.S. should launch attacks on Iran, it stirred up fresh controversy. "Lieberman is someone who would say something like that," said Dr. Husam A. Mohamad, UCO assistant professor of Political Science. "Democrats and Republicans think that use of force against Iran is an option that should not be taken off the table, instead utilize diplomacies and rely on European allies." Lieberman went further that the government's position on the issue to criticize Iran for harboring destructive weapons and training Iraqis to use them against American soldiers. However, even officials admitted to lack of evidence to prove that such activities were indeed going on. "Lieberman's main point of view is to maintain balance of power in Israel's interest. Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons, but the U.S. vehemently support them, because it is considered to be in 'good' or 'right' hands. It is all part of a double standard against what they con-
sider wrong hands. India and Pakistan were rewarded for their nuclear weapons," added Mohamad. Lieberman's statements have triggered varied reactions. At UCO, it is mostly against any more attacks, as Dr. Louis S. Furmanski, professor of Political Science, said, "It would be completely irresponsible and an act of aggression. I doubt if it would happen. There are indications that high-ranking offices in the military are opposed to it. Our presence in Iran also would lead to gasoline prices skyrocketing to $5 to $6 a gallon. Is the government prepared to saddle the American public with such prices?" Iran has been receiving a lot of criticism and its diplomatic relations with the United States are indeed strained. However, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's blatant remarks at international conferences and comments, such as the one denying the Holocaust, have not helped. "Iran's greatest problem is its leader, which makes criticism of Iran easy," said Mohamad. "He's not serving Iran by making such outrageous statements. It is easy to call him crazy or demonized and justify attacking him. But the ones who will suffer are the Iranians." Liebarman implied that attacking Iran would be in the public interest of the United States. "I think we've got to be prepared to take aggressive military
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action against the Iranians to stop them from killing Americans in Iraq," Lieberman said on CBS news. "And to me, that would include a strike into... over the border into Iran, where we have good evidence that they have a base at which they are training these people coming back into Iraq to kill our soldiers." "We can tell them we want them to stop that, but if there's any hope of the Iranians living according to the international rule of law and stopping, for instance, their nuclear weapons development, we can't just talk to them," Lieberman said. "If they don't play by the rules, we've got to use our force, and to me that would include taking military action to stop them from doing what they're doing." If the United States were to attack, it would serve against the national interest, said Dr. Furmanski. "It would jeopardize the safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and prompt Iran toward acquiring nuclear weapons expeditiously. It would be immoral and irrational, and enough reason to impeach the president. It would be a tragedy," he said.
Abha Eli Phoboo can be reached at aphoboo@thevistaonline.com.
student's bank account by Andrew Knittle Staff Writer
Aside from offering consumers a highly customizable homepage and access to millions of other users, MySpace. corn also serves as a haven for pedophiles and other hustlers who prey on unsuspecting and trusting individuals, often children or young people inexperienced in the ways of the world. UCO student Chris Otten, a senior photography major, found this out the hard way last month after he found himself the victim of an advanced fee scam involving a "woman" he met while trolling on MySpace.com . "I saw herpicture on MySpace and noticed she lived in the Oklahoma City area," Otten said. "I contacted her and we started talking on Yahoo Messenger." The "woman" Otten referred to is Mariah, a fictional single white female supposedly living in an apartment complex in Northwest Oklahoma City. The pair chatted regularly for the next couple of days, but after less than a week of correspondence, Otten said his new friend started in on him. "She told me she was on a trip to Nigeria and that she had been robbed of all her money and she needed help to get back to Oklahoma City," Otten said. Otten said he told Mariah he couldn't send her funds to pay for the hotel bill and return airfare from Nigeria. "I had my questions, of course," Otten said. "I asked her if she had anyone else she could get a hold of for help." Undaunted by his refusal to send money to cover her "travel expenses," Mariah moved on
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Photo illustration by Chris Albers
Scam artists are using Myspace to target students.
to Plan B, telling Otten she had $5,000 in traveler's checks — which, of course, she would need his help to secure as she couldn't cash them in Africa. Often agreed to help and sent $150 to Nigeria to pay for the shipping of the traveler's checks to his home in Edmond. Weeks later, a UPS letter showed up with 10 travel's checks inside — each one worth $500. With $5,000 in fraudulent documents in hand, Often made his way to the Citizens Bank of Edmond on the UCO campus. Once at the bank, Otten said Ray Ofosu, a senior teller at the branch, questioned the checks briefly before seeking the opinion of the bank's manager.
"I had told them the traveler's checks came from Nigeria, but nothing past that," Otten said. Otten said the bank manager told Ofosu it was fine and even asked whether he would prefer a cashier's check to avoid carrying around so much cash. Moments later, Otten left the bank with a $5,000 cashier's check in his pocket and eventually sent the money via Western Union to Nigeria, he said. Within a matter of days, the checks were returned as fakes and Otten lost all of his money — around $2,300. "I was really worried about what would happen to my
see Scam, page 3
"Character is higher than intellect. A great soul will be strong to live as well as think." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
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