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Going Greenride The University of Central Oklahoma continues to work to provide more environmentally friendly options for its campus community, adding a "GreenRide" carpool initiative and more bikes to its "Bum-aBike" alternative transportation service beginning this fall.
Andrew Browne wishes the world would stop giving value to only a select few. -Full story page 3
-Full story page 6
Lending a hand College volunteers didn't mind a bit lending a hand at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop in Oklahoma City, even on a morning when a fiery August sun shot temperatures easily past the 100-degree mark. Volunteers from the University of Central Oklahoma were there for one reason â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the work is needed and is part of their faith's ongoing mission here on Earth. Page 5
Threat costs money The April 22 bomb threat hoax, which suspended student Jason Ray Shandy plead guilty to, cost the university about $14,000, UCO Police Chief Jeff Harp said Monday afternoon. Page 6
Features Perspectives on college The largest object on the UCO campus is a living organism: the student body. It may not actually be an organism, but it is definitely alive and has a life cycle. According to Institutional Research, 15,425 students started school at UCO this week. PAGE 3
New AD shares vision You can't keep an Oklahoma boy out of Oklahoma. That's what new UCO athletic director Joe Muller believes. Muller served two years as associate athletic director for external relations at Purdue University before being hired by UCO earlier this summer. PAGE 11
Wake up: time for the new school year a.m. received a free Wake Up in Wantland t-shirt. Sports Editor "It's a very lively and exciting scene," said student, Anthony Anderson. Students scored free food, The event was put together games, and more at Saturday and hosted by UCO student night's "Wake Up in Wantland" volunteers. event from 9:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. "It's a sensational experience to Among the attractions were gather with such a phenomenal karaoke, laser tag, video games, group of people," said volunteer free pizza, popcorn, cotton Tucker Malone. "It's a privilege candy, and henna tattoos. to meet so many generous Students had the opportunity students." to participate in games including For several years "Wake up soccer, Frisbee and football, in Wantland" has been the as well as a game in which the traditional fall semester kickoff by Vista photographer Chanel Henry goal is to have the least brain to the start of the academic year. activity. Freshmen Shawna Letz and Stephanie Wills enjoyed cotton candy at Wake up Whoever was still left by 2:00 in Wantland Saturday August 16 at UCO. By Kaylea Brooks
Changes in progress to campus parking By Nelson Solomon
Co-Editor
UCO students and faculty are arriving to a changing campus this fall, and much of the changes deal with parking on campus. "One of the big things right now is that we have lost Lot 15, because they're going to build the Forensic Science Institute on that area," said Raul Martinez, assistant director of Transportation and Parking Services. Martinez said students are already voicing their concerns about the loss of this parking and asking what the department is doing in response to the loss. "As soon as we got word that this was going to happen, we already started making plans. [The] first thing we did was we sought additional parking," he said. Part of the solution was creating Lot 12, the new lot locatedjust north of Edmond's Fire Station #1 on 2nd Street.
"That didn't answer for the entire loss, iiut-we also fought for a parking lot in the areas where the Broncho Apartments once stood," Martinez said. "And we got it." The constant rain has caused delays in starting the construction of the new lot, but once it is completed, there will be more parking than there was before the changes, he said. Martinez said additional steps were taken to increase parking opportunities for visitors to the campus. "We talked to First Christian Church, and they are now leasing a parking lot with us, and that gives an additional 57 spaces on the west side of campus," he said. In addition, the Baha'i Center created additional parking, which comprises a total of 72 leased spaces on the west side of campus, Martinez said. He added that the department is still
looking for other alternative lots on the west side of campus: - â&#x20AC;˘ Changes were also made to existing parking lots on campus, in particular Lots 26 and 27, located close to the Chambers Library and the Education Building. Lot 26 used to be for faculty and staff 24 hours a day while Lot 27 used to become multipurpose after 4 p.m. "We decided that, because in the evenings, you have less faculty and staff on campus, why should we give them a bigger lot?" Martinez said. "We said the need is for more commuter parking next to the library, and plus they don't want to park further away. Some parents are concerned with their kids parking that far away at nighttime," he said.
see PARKING, page 5
Departments receive royalties from book sales By Andrew Knittle
Staff Writer
Although the topic of high textbook prices isn't anything new on college campuses around the nation, a recent article in the Wall Street Journal has brought another issue with the required materials to the forefront. According to the article, which appeared in the July 10 issue of the paper, "custom" textbooks designed specifically for a particular school - are becoming more and more common at universities throughout the nation. Casey Carr, textbook manager at the Barnes and Noble UCO Bookstore on campus, said UCO is among those colleges and universities selling "custom" textbooks to its students. "I don't know exactly how many we have of them ("custom" textbooks"), but there's a lot of them," Carr said. "There's got to be at least 12 of them, but there's probably more than that."
Carr said courses in accounting, business, English, health, nutrition, history and humanities require students to purchase "custom" textbooks here at UCO, adding that those subjects were all she could remember off hand (as one can imagine, she's pretty busy this time of year). So, what's the big deal? A textbook is a textbook, right? The two main issues with "custom" textbooks, at least what's causing a stir at schools like the University of Alabama where the tailor-made books are sold by the thousands, are that some schools are (1) receiving royalties from sales of the required texts while at the same time (2) not allowing them to be sold back at the end of the semester when the course is finished. At UCO, things seem to be a little different.
Photo illustration by Ashley Smith
Students begin to feel the weight of customized textbooks in classrooms. Books that are customized are not allowed to be returned at the end of the semester or when the course is finished.
see TEXTBOOKS, page 6
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