The Vista March 5, 2013

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INSIDE • Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 2 • David Bowie . . . . . . . . . PAGE 3 • Mad World . . . . . . . . . PAGE 5 • Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . PAGE 6 • Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . PAGES 7 & 8

THEVISTA University of Central Oklahoma

The Student Voice Since 1903

WWW.UCENTRALMEDIA.COM

New apartment, retail building sprouting up near campus

BASKETBALL SEASON FINALE Page 7

TUESDAY • March 5, 2013

Event brings light to human trafficking • MERVYN CHUA, Staff Wrtier •

The Edmond City Council approved the construction of a three-story apartment/retail building on the northwest corner of Jackson and Campbell. Photo by Cyn Sheng Ling, The Vista

BROOKS NICKELL, Staff Writer Students at the University of Central Oklahoma looking for close off-campus housing opportunities could soon find new options available. Members of the Edmond City Council approved a site plan for a three-story apartment and retail building on the northwest corner of Jackson and Campbell streets. The new 44,797-square-foot building will have 30 apartment units on the top two floors while the bottom floor will have 7 spaces open for retailers. Jan Fees, City Planner and Urban Planning Board Staff Leader for Edmond said that the multi-use project, being built by Turner and Co., is what city officials are looking for in the Central Edmond Urban District. “The mixed use of this urban design is great. In Edmond we tend to segregate our uses. The retail and residential can’t mix. This complex will be nice. Someone can leave

their apartment and go downstairs to a coffee shop.” Edmond’s central urban district runs north and south from Danforth to 9th Street and east and west from Fretz to Kelly Street. While city officials may be excited about the upcoming project and what it might bring to the Edmond urban area, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm. In an interview with Diana Baldwin for NewsOk.com, Brenda Miller of 217 E Edwards St. said that parking in the area is already atrocious. “I can’t even get in my driveway. I have lived there 20 years and the last year it has been miserable.” Turner and Co. originally came to the Edmond urban planning board proposing 42 apartment units. The amount of parking needed is figured by the capacity of each unit plus the amount of spaces needed for the retail areas on the bottom floor. The first layout of the new

complex brought up the same concern with board members that Miller had, there wouldn’t be enough space for efficient parking. “One of the unique things about the urban district is the ability to come forward with a pre-application request. If it’s not development in the urban district you just present your plans and the project is voted on,” Fees said. “The concept plan within the urban area allows applicants to revise their building plans before the board votes.” Turner and Co. came back for their final presentation to the urban board with new floor plans allowing for the necessary amount of parking. “The board really felt that Turner and Co. had listened to the concerns about parking,” Fees said. “The concept plan really helped this apartment complex to Continued Page 4

The UCO Institute of Hope hosted a presentation on domestic human trafficking last Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pegasus Theater of the College of Liberal Arts. Lieutenant Marc Evans, an 18-year veteran with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) was invited to give the presentation. The event was free and open to the public. Members of the Oklahoma City and Edmond law enforcement present for the course received Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training (CLEET) certification. The goal of the presentation was to assist the public in understanding the differences of smuggling or trafficking, victimology, forms of recruitment and surveillance techniques used by human traffickers. This course was administrated via videos, photographs, discussion, study groups, case studies, reviews and lecture. The workshop examined the issue of sex trafficking in the U.S. and offered a brief overview of international human trafficking and a more in-depth study and comprehension of sex trafficking in the U.S., as well as role of gangs as they gravitate towards this crime. This presentation helped the public understand the graphic nature and violent behavior of those engaged in this crime. The workshop also studied how vulnerable women and girls are compelled to participate in this crime. As an undercover investigator for LAPD’s Premier Vice Unit, Lieut. Evans has conducted more than 3,000 prostitution-related investigations and handled a variety of human trafficking related investigations as the lead investigator for Internal Affairs. He has also conducted LAPD’s Field Training Services Unit, which develops LAPD’s training curriculum. Dr. Brenda Chappell, the director of UCO’s Institute of Hope and the chair of the department of Sociology and Substance Abuse Studies thinks that this workshop is vital in raising awareness. “Sex trafficking is one of the issues that we don’t talk about, that we don’t think happens in the U.S. but it is a multi-billion industry and as long as there is surplus, there is going to be money made from this. And if we do nothing, there is going to be so many lives that are lost and destroyed.” Jeanetta Sims, a family and childhood education sophomore, agrees. “I think that it is so scary that human trafficking is still happening today. In fact, I heard on the radio the other day that statistics show that there are more slaves today than there ever were before. Continued Page 4

Pultizer-winning composer to hold workshop, concert at UCO OLANREWAJU SULEIMAN, Contributing Writer

Photo provided

The UCO college of Fine Arts and Design is hosting a threeday workshop called The Colgrass Experience. The event was put together by UCO’s Director of Bands Dr. Brian Lamb. Lamb has been planning it for more than a year and it was brought to UCO by a grant he organized. “The entire project has been mine, and I have been working on it for over a year,” he said. “The grant was through the UCO Office of Research and Grants. The goal was to bring a Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer, Michael Colgrass, to our campus.” With the grant, the UCO Wind Symphony will record a CD of some of his works for bands and chamber ensembles. The event is open to all people who are part of the university community. “Colgrass is one of the world’s leading authorities on Neuro-

Linguistic Programming, and his workshops are truly transformative learning experiences,” Lamb said. “Students and faculty from every discipline will be challenged to think and discover ideas in new ways.” The Colgrass Experience has three distinct workshops for each day. They are Creativity, Excellence in Performance, and The Key to Creativity: How to Think Like a Kid. The first workshop is Tuesday, Mar. 5 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the NUC ballrooms. The second is Wednesday, Mar. 6 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and is also in the NUC ballrooms. The last workshop, Key to Creativity, is on Thursday, Mar. 7 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Constitution Hall in NUC. The Colgrass Experience is not only made up of workshops, it has three concerts as well. The first concert is Mar. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Hall Theater. The last two take place

on Mar. 7 at 2 p.m. in the Center for Transformative Learning, and 7:30 p.m. in the Mitchell Hall Theater. “I hope that Mitchell Hall is filled to capacity at each concert, and that people find themselves inspired by his amazing music,” Lamb said. Tickets are $4 for Central students, $6 for faculty and staff, and $8 for the general public. Lamb believes that each person who attends will gain valuable skills on how to use critical thinking with creativity. “In the entire history of the university, there has never been a Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer in residency on our campus,” he said. “I want people to be able to access their thoughts and emotions in a new and different way that helps to promote critical thinking skills, excellence in applied skills, and most importantly, creativity.


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