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State of the Union
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LABYRINTH RESEARCHER COMING TO UCO
Wikileaks
By Amy Stinnett /
By Brittany Dalton / Staff Writer
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BREAKING BARRIERS By Nicole Ford / Staff Writer She walked into her corner office, sat down at her desk, propped herself straight up, her face displaying concern, recalling the incident as if it were yesterday. “I do remember. The exhibit was called, ‘The Breaking Barriers African-American Exhibit.’ The exhibit addressed aspects of an experience that has been mostly over looked in a historical narrative of our campus. This exhibit was designed to respectfully present an account of African-American students and faculty at UCO in their endeavors to achieve a quality education.
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WEATHER TODAY
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TOMORROW H 43° L 18°
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DID YOU KNOW? M&M’s stands for the last names of Forrest Mars, Sr., then candymaker, and his associate Bruce Murrie.
WIKILEAKS: MISUNDERSTOOD? Through publication of thousands of classified government documents, Wikileaks secured a large amount of media attention in 2010. Seen as a threat to international relations, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was arrested in December by U.K. police. The site has been the root of many an outcry, including former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who on his Fox News program, called for Assange’s execution. When PayPal claimed credit for freezing Assange’s assets, retaliation ensued against PayPal. Wikileaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson told reporters that Assange’s arrest was an “attack on media freedom,” but that the arrest would not deter the site from the sharing of information. On the Wikileaks website, they argue against cries of unethical behavior, claiming their only intent is to bring the truth to light. “Our goal is to bring important news and information to the public. We provide an innovative, secure and anonymous way for sources to leak information to our journalists,” they claim. “One of our most important activities is to publish original source material alongside our news stories so readers and historians alike can see evidence of the truth.” They also state that while they welcome submission of these documents to the site, they do not actively solicit the information. Dr. Louis Furmanski, chair of Political Science at UCO, believes Wikileaks is not necessarily another Watergate, though he does agree the situation should be noted. “Wikileaks, like Watergate, provided insight into the darker corners of government,” he said. “Most Wikileaks documents as related to government are observations diplomats made on foreign governments.” Furmanski explained that if Ameri-
the materials. “When thousands of individuals have clearance to this ‘top secret’ material, how classified is it, really?” Furmanski said. “And so the War on Terror claims another casualty.” Furmanski believes, however, that the severity of Wikileaks does not match that of Watergate. “It did show that our diplomats were at least reporting back to D.C. in well quality,” he said. “You could argue that the administration in power at the time could have paid better attention to the findings, but as it stands, we’re only getting a partial picture of the situation.” Furmanski believes that ultimately, Assange is living up to what his site professes. “He’s providing information to the public,” Furmanski said. “From his standpoint, mainstream journalism cans paid attention to international happens there, it GRAPHIC BY CODY BROMLE Y would be hurt if he were to be preDespite being likened to Watergate, UCO politcal science chair Dr. Louis Fur- vented from publishing the informamanksi believes Wikileaks will not hurt Americans’ trust in their government. tion.” In Furmanski’s opinion, Wikileaks news, the things Wikileaks brought also affects Americans at home.” will not significantly lessen Amerito light may not be as surprising. To be an informed American citizen cans’ trust in government as Water“In my opinion, very little of the Furmanski said, individuals must be gate did. He noted that Watergate information revealed is surprising,” willing to seek out the information. rattled American confidence in the he said. “Wikileaks was not the orchestraNixon administration for its cover-up Furmanski noted that American tions of one person,” he said. “Rather, of wrongdoings in which the presipress in recent years has placed less it is a conduit of information, which dent was involved. emphasis on foreign news. was submitted to them. The informa“I don’t believe that after this is said “Our press is negligent in that re- tion came to them.” and done, this situation with Wikilegard,” he said. “While the larger Furmanski points to security meaaks would diminish the confidence newspapers like the New York Times sures enacted after the 9/11 terrorist with which we feel our government is do a much better job, you’d be hard attack, as part of the cause of the leak performing,” Furmanski said. pressed to find much in-depth for- of information. eign reporting on a more local scale.” “After 9/11, some things were done For more information on He added that Americans seem to to allow easier information sharing WikiLeaks, use your smarthave a diminished interest in what among agencies,” he said. “The enactphone to scan this tag: happens outside of U.S. borders. ment of these measures made WikileWikileaks brought information to aks possible, in a way.” light, Furmanski said, that surprised He noted that the government had many Americans because it was not made it difficult for information to be something they had previously paid shared with the general public, unmuch attention to. til the measures were enacted. The “You have to have an interest in measures allowed clearance for more what’s happening in the rest of the individuals, which Furmanski noted world,” Furmanski said. “Though it diminished the “classified” nature of
MLK Competition
STUDENT CARRIES ON MLK DREAM By Brooke Roshell / Contributing Writer UCO freshman, Vincent Burr won the Martin Luther King Enterprise Oratory Competition. On Jan. 19, UCO hosted the final round for the oratory competition in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The competition was open to all UCO students, as well as high school students from throughout the state. Over 25 applications were submitted on Nov. 17. The final round for high school students was held on Dec. 1, which served as the qualifying round for Central students. College students competed for cash awards of $150 for third place, $250 for second and $500 for first. High school winners received UCO tuition wavier awards of $300 for third place, $500 for second and $1,000 for first. Enterprise Rent-A-Car teamed with Central’s Multicultural Student Services, Undergraduate Admissions and the Department of Mass Communication to sponsor the event. Director of Multicultural Student Services, MeShawn Conley, said that she has been “hoping for this event to happen for a while now.” The theme, “His Dream, Our Reality,” influences students to make a “connection to Dr. King’s impact on their life today put in their own words,” Conley said. Competitors wrote 10 minute speeches centered on what the theme meant to them. Competing for the prize and pride, the three Central students who qualified for the final round were freshman biology major Vincent Burr, senior corporate communication major
P H O T O B Y VA L E R I E S E B E S T Y E N
Dr. Kevin Ladd will be making an appearance on campus Tuesday, Jan. 25, to share his research about prayer and meditation as they pertain to wellness. The Department of Kinesiology and Health Studies along with the Edmond First Methodist Church Labyrinth Guild are hosting the event. The seminar will begin at 4:00 p.m. in Pegasus Theatre located in the Liberal Arts building. Ladd is an associate professor at Indiana University South Bend with multiple degrees including one from Princeton Theological Seminary. His backgrounds in theology and psychology have been synthesized into research that aims to “help define mental, emotional and behavioral aspects of prayer,”
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THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S
Contributing Writer
JAN. 25, 2011
Joe Thomas and junior political science major Mike Maxey. Maxey started the series of speeches with his interpretation of the theme by beginning with history relevant to Dr. King’s time, then emphasizing the golden rule of treating others as we would want to be treated and equality. Burr’s speech began with the fact that King started speaking at age 14, in an oratory competition. He then spoke of his interpretation of the theme with deriving his own acronym for the word change, then concluding his speech “with change, his dream will be our reality.” Thomas introduced his speech to the audience with the verse of the Negro National Anthem by James Johnson. Then he focused on the theme by describing “our reality…in this technological world,” stating whether society has become “his dream or his nightmare?” A senior from Deer Creek High School, Bryce LaFon delivered his winning speech at the final round of the MLK Oratory Competition while the judges deliberated. Judge and recruiting manager for Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Alysha Hoisington, recognized the college winners. The third place winner was Maxey and the second place winner was Thomas. UCO’s MLK Enterprise Oratory Competition winner entered the competition for the money. He said, “I enjoy learning about Dr. King.” Writing his speech began with reading books about MLK and highlighting important facts. He believes that his different interpretation on the theme set him apart from the UCO freshman, Vincent Burr won the Martin Luther other contestants. King Enterprise Oratory Competition on Jan. 19.