Geocaching
Hockey
Looking for something to do this extended weekend? Geocaching is a GPS treasure hunt spanning the globe. Page 9
UCO Hockey faced the OU Sooners last weekend for two very tough matchups. Page 11
OCT. 18, 2011 uco360.com twitter.com/uco360
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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S student voice since 1903.
WIND IN THEIR SAILS So far this season, the UCO sailing team has been in the habit of winning. The team opened the season with a victory at the Blackwell Blowout Regatta in Stillwater, which was the first time the school had ever won a sailing regatta. The team followed up their performance with a first place finish at the Kilpatrick Regatta Oct. 8. Although the team is off to a tremendous start, it did not always appear as if the team could be this successful. A year ago, Dr. David Bass, a professor of biology, was asked to resurrect the school’s sailing team, a program which had previously been absent from the school’s athletic offerings for four years. Bass, who has more than 40 years of sailing experience, accepted but knew the challenges the team would face after their first organized practice. “Imagine you were given the task of putting together a hockey team to play the University of Michigan or something. You have three weeks to get ready, and nobody knew
how to skate,” Bass explained. “That’s where we were last year. No one had ever been on a sailboat before except for one person and they were out racing against big schools like Texas, [Texas] A&M, OU, OSU.” Michelle Powell, treasurer of the sailing team, also recalls the struggle that was the first team practice. “It was a hot mess,” Powell said. “Like, before you start practicing you have to do a capsize drill, and I’m afraid of heights so it was hard for me to get from the dock into the boat at first. I had a terrible, terrible fear of that, and then I can’t swim, so they’re asking me to flip over a boat and try to recover it. It was awful.” Though they started almost literally from square one, Bass says the team learned fast, and was able to finish in the middle of the fleet at most regattas, progress the team’s coach was more than pleased with. “We have a good group of kids. They’ve worked hard, they’re very coachable, they do what we ask of them, they pay attention and they want to do better,” Bass said. If the team’s first season could be described
as taking baby steps, certainly some would compare the second season to leaping great bounds. After only a year of training, the team has sailed its way to the status of best college sailing team in the state. To an outsider, the club’s sudden success may seem sudden, but team members see their current prosperity as part of a slow and steady process. “It’s a new program, so last year we had one person who knew how to sail, and then this year we now have that one person plus four or five more, so all of their experience is built off that one person,” team member Charles Shafer said. “This year, we’ve added in about five or six more people, and they’re building
WEATHER
By Ben Luschen / Staff Writer
TODAY H 63° L 40°
off the people that learned it last year. We’re building from a central point out.” Though he is new to the team this year, with over a decade of sailing experience Shafer is far from a rookie. Upon finishing high school in 2004, Shaffer joined the Navy. Though his time in the Navy did not directly improve his sailing skills, Shaffer says it did improve his navigational skills and general self-confidence.
Continued on page 6 Photo: Members of UCO’s Sailing Team practice at Arcadia Lake, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
TOMORROW H 63° L 34°
More weather at www.uco360.com
DID YOU KNOW? The Super Soaker was invented by a NASA engineer. It was originally called the Power Drencher.
OPINION
2
OCT. 18, 2011
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EDITORIALS Opinion columns, editorial cartoons, reviews and commentaries represent the views of the writer or artist and not necessarily the views of The Vista Editorial Board, the Department of Mass Communication, UCO or the Board of Regents of Oklahoma Colleges. The Vista is not an official medium of expression for the Regents or UCO. LETTERS The Vista encourages letters to the editor. Letters should address issues and ideas, not personalities. Letters must be typed, double-spaced, with a maximum of 150 words, and must include the author’s printed name, title, major, classification and phone number. Letters are subject to editing for libel, clarity and space, or to eliminate statements of questionable taste. The Vista reserves the right not to publish submitted letters. Address letters to: Editor, The Vista, 100 N. University Dr., Edmond, OK 730345209, or deliver in person to the editor in the Communications Building, Room 131. Letters can be e-mailed to vistauco@gmail.com.
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“I’m going to Indianapolis for the national Future Farmers of America Convention.”
“I’m not sure. I want to spend some time with my grandparents.”
“I’m going home to Tulsa to visit my family.”
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MEGAN GRISHAM
ANGEL ALBA
Sophomore - Forensic Science
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UNPLUGGING SPEECH There’s a fine line between protecting children and unwarranted censorship. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Britain, commissioned a report on commercialization and sexualization aimed at children from Reg Bailey, the CEO of the Christian charity Mother’s Union. When the report was released last June, Cameron gave it strong support and is expected to act upon the reports findings, according to the Guardian. The report proposes, among other things, creating a new website called ParentPort, where citizens could complain about any service, product, advertisement or television program inappropriate for children, and the site would automatically forward the complaint to the relevant service. Additionally, the four largest broadband internet providers in Britain, serving 17.6 million of the 19.2 broadband customers, have announced they will make new subscribers choose whether or not to activate parental controls, which would block all pornography. Even if the subscriber choose not to activate them, one of the providers, TalkTalk, will use a service that tracks every location they visit. None of these changes, on their face, seem very unreasonable or alarming. Campaigning against the trend of selling sex to children, with suggestive clothing and advertising is not a dastardly cause, either. But taken as a whole, the report proposes a top down change of a large portion of the media and dissemination of information in Britain, and that change seems more and more likely. The campaign for the children isn’t isolated to Britain. Legislation for a blacklist of websites in Australia has been moving around since May 2008. While it hasn’t progressed near a vote, a few Australian Internet service providers have already voluntarily agreed to a small blacklist. Is this just the beginning? After the famous, or infamous, 2004 Super Bowl incident massively raised the fines issued by the Federal Communication Commission for any other “malfunctions” and the Fbomb, a blacklist here doesn’t seem so unlikely. Legislation is already floating around for an Internet kill switch here in America, the same kind of switch used against Libyan and Egyptian dissenters. The Internet is a powerful tool has given every person the power of instant mass communication, with all the dangers and responsibility that power entails. Our generation, raised on Facebook and the Internet, is probably the best informed and equipped to determine a reasonable line between protection and censorship. A blacklist, even if it is adopted by a provider instead of being legislated, is not the answer. Neither is a killswitch.
“Staying down here.”
“Studying and hanging out with my friends.”
“Probably going ride my motorcycle, maybe to Guthrie, up to Stillwater and back.”
By Evan Oldham / Cartoonist
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011 Theatre
3
Opinion
LYRIC THEATRE HIGHLIGHTS UCO THEATRE STUDENT AND GRAD
By Josh Hutton Once Upon a Jaw Line
James Michael Avance (left of center) a former UCO student, and Desmond Dansby (center) a current UCO student, pose with the rest of the cast of Lyric Theatre’s production of Altar Boyz. Photo Provided by Lyric Theatre
By Bryan Trude / Staff Writer When someone thinks of the road to salvation, very few people will seriously consider a blending of a New Kids On The Block style and the Jonas Brothers’ message. If “Altar Boyz,” the newest Lyric Theatre production now running at the Plaza Theatre in OKC, is to be believed, salvation is just a concert away – if only from a humorless existence. “Altar Boyz” is a one-act play that parodies a concert put on by the eponymous Catholic boy band, the last stop of their national “Raise the Praise” tour. Led by straight man Matthew (Skyler Adams), the group consists of the closeted Mark (James Michael Avance), bad boy Luke (Desmond Dansby), Latino heartthrob Juan (Ross McCorkell) and the token Jew, Abraham (Jamie Goldman). “I auditioned for Lyric, they have their big auditions in March for the summer season,” Avance, a 2011 UCO musical theatre graduate, said. “They had this auditioning at the same time. I didn’t get summer season, but I got this, so it all worked out.” First beginning as an off-Broadway production in 2004 at the New York
Musical Theatre Festival, “Altar Boyz” satirizes the phenomenon of boy band culture and Christian musical acts, often through double meanings in the lines and lyrics. For example, one of the band members remarks over his battles with “exhaustion,” heavily implied to mean alcoholism. Throughout the concert, the band seeks to relieve the “burden of sin” that hangs over the audience with the help of the “Sony Soul Sensor DX-12.” However, by the end, they will have more than the audience’s burden to worry about. For the 255 members of the audience who had “their souls saved” by the band on opening night, the experience was a hilarious, energetic affair. “I feel great, I feel it’s honestly good to have an audience,” Dansby, currently a musical theatre major at UCO, said. “You can feel the love from them, and you can give everything that you have in your performance. I take my performances as if they’re my last ones, so it was good to have them there for support.” For both Dansby and Avance, the challenges that stage actors face with musicals were magnified by the fact that “Altar Boyz” is a boy band musical.
“The biggest thing was that we had to know our lines and know the songs before we even started rehearsals,” Avance said. “We had a very small amount of time to put up a large amount of things.” Dansby said, “It’s difficult in the sense that there is only five of you. You really have to prepare, do your homework every night, just make sure you are mentally in your script for two weeks.” “Altar Boyz” will continue to run through Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Plaza, located at 1727 NW 16th St. in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District. Tickets are $40.
For more information the Lyric Theatre website at www.lyrictheatreokc.com
goo.gl/97GyS
International Festival
FAITH UNITES AT PRAISE FESTIVAL By Mervyn Chua / Contributing Writer On Friday night, the Nigh University Center played host to the sixth-annual International Praise Festival. Held in Constitution Hall of the Nigh University Center, the theme this year was “A Night of Worship with the World,” featuring speaker Kirk Goss from the All Nations Church. This program included a Praise and Worship session, a mime presentation and testimonies, as well as singing performances in different languages. Local campus ministries and churches from the area, including the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), Chi Alpha (XA), Campus Crusade for Christ(CRU) and the Wesley Foundation, have put their heads together for the past three months in planning for this year’s event. “This is an opportunity for us, as many different Christian organizations, to come together to worship from all nations,” Charlie Bunn, director and campus pastor of XA, said. “It also presents Christ to the nations and shows Christianity is not just a Western religion.” Kerby Goff, a former senior staff member of CRU and Bridges International said, “It gives Christian international students an opportunity to express their faith especially in the campus setting.” Andrew Ee, a senior broadcasting major from Malaysia, has previously attended the International Praise Festival three times in years past. “It is amazing to see people of all races and backgrounds come together to worship one God,” he said. “It baffles me how people with so many differences also have so many things in common.”
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Breaking news: men, as we know and love them, are becoming extinct. While once testosterone waterfall’d through the male form, now the secondary sex characteristics of men stagnate in tiny pools. I cannot speak for every dude out there, but I know I’ve grown tired of having the jaw line of a 9-year-old girl, a voice like Spongebob Squarepants, and hips like Marilyn Monroe. So, what causes the genocide of manliness? When men go through andropause, a natural decline in testosterone beginning at age 40 occurs. This steady decline drops in very small increments of one to two percent each year. Currently, however, low testosterone has started to plague adolescents and young men. The three major contributors to the decline of classic masculinity are obesity, contaminated water supply, and consumables containing estrogen. As a man becomes overweight, a drastic conversion from testosterone to estrogen occurs within the fat cells. In other words, be careful of your coping strategy when you discover you will never have the jaw line of Kirk Douglas. Double-fisting Ben and Jerry’s will only make your jaw line look more like Betty White’s. The conversion of testosterone to estrogen in overweight men is a major cause of decreased sex drive, a fact Morgan Spurlock echoed repeatedly after gaining weight in his seminal documentary, “Super Size Me.” The waste treatments of cities across the globe do not have a filtration system keen enough to detect traces of pharmaceutical drugs, meaning the pharmaceutical drugs end up in our water supplies. Many of the substances happen to be feminine products. So, with each glass of tap water, a rugged lumberjack of a man becomes more like a lovely lady. Investing in a filtration device for water at home eliminates the levels of estrogen in the drinking water. I’m going to be straight with you: if you are a dude, you must develop a deeply rooted hatred for soybeans. Soy contains a strong dosage of estrogen. A good alternative to soy, if you are lactose intolerant, is almond milk. Almond milk contains no hormones, and will keep a man healthy, hairy and wise. Also, be wary of eating too many foods that contain estrogen. Lists can be found on WebMD showing foods high in the female hormone. From olive oil to eggs, estrogen is prevalent in our diets. Fasting acts as a superb way to boost testosterone levels in men. Do not fast too often, however, because that can cause a decline in metabolism. Men do need estrogen, just not too much of the hormone. Keeping that body lean, investing in water filtration devices, and being informed when it comes to food will help with the production of testosterone. Let men have the jaw lines of Greek busts. Be informed, save masculinity.
4
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
Study Abroad
STUDY TOURS TEACH BOTH PROFESSORS AND STUDENTS HOW TO LEARN INTERNATIONALLY sel said. “The stipulation for the faculty is that they are required that, within two years of being a part of CASTLE, to lead a study group somewhere.” This year’s CASTLE group will be travelling to the Adriatic Sea area, visiting locations in Italy and several former Soviet-bloc nations. Nations that border the Adriatic Sea include Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
se Miller, photography instructor; Desiree Hill, broadcast instructor; Dr. Jill Rooker, professor of library media; and Dr. Youngtae Shin, professor of political science. “I just went through the CASTLE link on the UCO web site and applied,” Hill said. “They had a questionnaire that had a variety of questions that talked about why I wanted to be involved with a study group, what travel I had done in the past, that type of thing.” Student applicants who are selected will be called in for inter“I believe that students views, Wetsel said. can learn a great deal Out of those students, those seby traveling to different lected for CASTLE will be notified sometime around Thanksgiving. locations,” “I believe that students can learn - Desiree Hill, broadcast instructor a great deal by traveling to different locations,” Hill said. “I myself parThough a training program for ticipated in a study abroad program faculty, CASTLE invites students so when I was working on my masthat the faculty has a group of stu- ter’s degree, so it really enriched my dents they can learn from, Wetsel knowledge greatly. I’m a big believer said. that so many experiences can be en“The cool thing for students riched that way.” In this Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010 picture, people sit in a tea house in the town of Novi Pazar, Serbia, 175 kilometers (110 miles) south of Belgrade. Turkey, the modern state that replaced the Ottoman empire, is staging is that students only have to pay After completing the program, a comeback. Its fast-growing economic clout is allowing it into Europe by the back door, through trade $1,500,” Wetsel said. “It is always Hill plans to lead a study abroad and diplomacy with the Balkans. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic) abroad, and always over spring group to the United Kingdom, break.” Washington, D.C., or to Arab Spring Experience) study tour program be- son for the center for global compeBy Bryan Trude / Staff Writer Though only $1500 for students, countries such as Egypt or Tunisia. ginning after fall break. tency. Every spring the group takes the rest of the expense is covered Deadlines for student applicants The UCO Office of Academic CASTLE was designed four years four to seven teachers, as well as six by Academic Affairs. The trip costs will be announced once the appliAffairs will begin accepting ap- ago to teach faculty members how to seven students. $1,000 for faculty members. cation process opens. plications for the 2012 CASTLE to lead UCO Study Abroad groups, “Applying is a process that the The faculty members in this year’s (Creating a Study Tour Learning said Dr. Janette Wetsel, faculty liai- faculty members go through,” Wet- CASTLE group include Wetsel; Jes-
Financial Aid
Parking
PELL GRANTS CHANGING
PARKING CONSTRUCTION ONGOING
By Mervyn Chua / Contributing Writer
By Josh Wallace / Contributing Writer
House Republicans released a proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year last week, that would preserve the maximum Pell Grant at $5,550 but change the program’s eligibility criteria. The budget would also make deep cuts to colleges that serve minorities and block enforcement of some of the Education Department’s controversial program integrity rules. The Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid and is usually awarded to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or professional degree. Among the biggest impacts the budget plan would have on the Pell Grant program. Students who attend college less than half-time would no longer be eligible to receive the grants. The grants could be used for only 12 semesters, not 18. Students who are eligible for less than 10 percent of the maximum grant would receive nothing. The bill would also change income protection allowances and lower the income level that results in an expected family contribution of zero. Prior to the Oct. 1 budget deadline missed by Congress, additional bills were put forth, the effects of which would impact students at a local level. The first was a proposal to revoke Pell Grant eligibility for students who attend school less than half time. However, according to Susan Prater, financial director in UCO’s Office of Student Financial Services, records show that only 1 percent of UCO students who receive Pell Grants are less than half-time. The second bill aimed to reduce lifetime eligibility to six years, down from nine. Of UCO graduates, approximately 75 percent graduate within five years, with an additional 5 percent taking a sixth year. Another bill sought to reduce the income threshold to qualify for an automatic zero Expected Family Contribution (EFC) to $15,000, down from $31,000. So far, it is unknown to what extent this
would impact Pell Grant eligibility. However, the bill does not exclude students from receiving a Pell Grant. “This change does not mean the student would not be Pell eligible, but that the income level would drop for an automatic maximum Pell level determination,” Prater said. Over all, the changes would cut $2.3 billion from the Pell Grant program in 2012. The budget would also cut all national and community service programs, including AmeriCorps, and programs in international and foreign language education. One bill was introduced which called for reinstatement of previously excluded untaxed income. What extent to which this would affect UCO students and their eligibility overall is still uncertain. However, certain untaxed income information had been taken off the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form for year 2010-2011. This was done as an attempt to simplify the form, since the majority of the untaxed amounts did not make a difference in eligibility. The last bill introduced would eliminate Pell grant awards to students whose EFC would result in an award less than 10 percent of the maximum award. It is believed that students in this situation are eligible for a fairly small Pell grant. To apply for a Pell Grant, students must complete and submit the FAFSA form to apply for student federal grants, loans and work study jobs, which include Pell grant. Eligibility is based on family information entered on the FAFSA, which includes areas such as income, assets, household size and number of dependents in college. These will reflect whether the student is Pell eligible or not. If eligible, the amount of eligibility will vary depending upon the student information input on the FAFSA. The amount also depends on the student’s enrollment status as full-time, three-quarter time, half-time or less than halftime.
Parking is an ever-present issue on college campuses, and UCO is no exception. Currently there are some changes being made to our parking lots that you might have noticed. Lot 4, just north of the Liberal Arts building, is currently under construction. Chip Nolen, parking manager for Transportation & Parking Services, said, “Everyone has full access to lots 4, 5 and 6 the only thing we’ve changed is the southeast corner of lot 4 is temporarily closed off, because we’re changing the entrance location.” While the entrance is currently closed off, students will instead have to drive through the northeast or northwest corners, but have full access to the lot. Currently, none of the 459 parking spaces in lot 4 are being impacted by the construction projects. “The northeast and southwest corners we expect to be done in the next couple of weeks, they’re almost done, they’re just wrapping it up,” Nolen said. “Also, the expanded entrances and exits to lot 6 should be done in a couple of weeks as well. They’ve already expanded the entrance exits, they’re just going to have to paint them and cement in the stop signs.” As for the southeast entrance that is currently being torn up and will be relocated, Nolen did not have an estimate on when it would be completed. Since parking is a concern for students, future expansion is a common topic. As for parking lot expansion via a parking garage, Nolen said that is not currently an option. “This isn’t an exact number, but it costs between $11,000 and $15,000 per space for a parking garage, so a good parking garage is going to be several millions of dollars. We’re doing everything we can, like this construction project, to prevent having to build a parking garage.” The added expense of starting such a project would be passed directly on to students through increases on parking decals and other fees. Nolen also said that compared to other universities in our state, UCO’s actual vehicle
to parking ratio is actually quite reasonable. Therefore, there is currently no need to undertake such a large and expensive project. While it may seem as though most parking spots fill quickly, there are several lots that are rarely, if ever, filled to capacity. Multipermit parking lots 1, 2 and 3 around Wantland Stadium and lots around the Wellness Center are often underused and provide plenty of parking when other lots are full. While these lots may be a little further away from the school than most students would like, Nolen offers some advice. “I understand that at times if you try to get a front row spot it can be a little frustrating for some people,” he said. “Parking and transportation was always a factor when I scheduled my classes for the semester. How long it will take me to get to class, how long will it take me to find a spot, so whenever I would make my schedule I always made sure to plan that in.” He recommends students allot at least an extra 10 to 15 minutes to find a spot, in case they have to walk a little farther to get to class. Taking these extra precautions will ensure students make it to class on time, and will hopefully prevent students from parking illegally and facing the cost of a ticket.
For a map of the parking lots on campus, scan this barcode:
goo.gl/FfPHC
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
5
National
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
LIFE-AT-FERTILIZATION INITIATIVE HITS MISS.
The Vista encourages letters to the editor. Letters should address issues and ideas, not personalities. Letters must be typed, double-spaced, with a maximum of 150 words, and must include the author’s printed name, title, major, classification and phone number. Exceptions on size may be granted as space allows. Letters are subject to editing for libel, clarity and space, or to eliminate statements of questionable taste. The Vista reserves the right not to publish submitted letters. Address letters to: Editor, The Vista, 100 N. University Dr., Edmond, OK 73034-5209, or deliver in person to the editor in the Communications Building, Room 131. Letters can also be e-mailed to vistauco@gmail.com.
October 4, 2011
In this June 6, 2011 file photo, Dr. Beverly McMillan, president of Pro-Life Mississippi, left, thanks supporters at a prayer rally in Jackson, Miss., for their support on efforts to get a proposed “personhood” constitutional amendment offered to voters. The amendment offers a definition of a person not now found in the Mississippi Constitution. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
By Emily Wagster Pettus / Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A national effort to put abortion bans into state constitutions is looking for its first victory next month in Mississippi, where voters are being asked to approve an amendment declaring that life begins when a human egg is fertilized. Supporters hope the so-called personhood initiative will succeed in a Bible Belt state that already has some of the nation’s toughest abortion regulations and only a single clinic where the procedures are performed. The initiative is endorsed by both candidates in a governor’s race that’s being decided the same day. While Mississippi is the only state with such an amendment on the ballot this fall, efforts are under way to put the question to voters in at least four other states in 2012. Any victory at the state level would likely be short-lived since a life-at-fertilization amendment would conflict with the U.S. Constitution. Leaders of the movement say their ultimate goal is to provoke a court fight to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that established a legal right to abortion. Opponents say defining life as beginning at fertilization could block some common forms of birth control and deter Mississippi physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they’d fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn’t survive. They also say supporters of the amendment are trying to impose their religious beliefs on others to force women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest. Those campaigning for the Mississippi initiative — including the Tupelo-based American Family Association — are using glowing images of babies in utero or chubby-cheeked newborns, and say they’re trying to end a sin that blights America. The proposal being decided Nov. 8 has divided the medical community and bewildered some physicians. “We feel like the docs and the patients are getting caught in the middle of a war between the anti-abortion folks and the pro-choice folks,” said Dr. Wayne Slocum of Tupelo, head of the Mississippi section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a group that opposes the initiative. George Cochran, a University of Mississippi constitutional law professor, said even if Mississippi voters adopt the initiative, he believes it’s unlikely to ever be enforced because it’s certain to be challenged and overturned in court. “Suits are brought, they have it declared unconstitutional,” Cochran said. “It’s not very difficult.” Cochran said there’s a 5-4 majority on the U.S. Supreme Court now to uphold Roe v. Wade. That and other Supreme Court rulings have required states to allow abortions up to the point that a fetus could survive outside of the womb — approximately 24 weeks. Still, a win at the ballot box “will send shockwaves around this country, then around the world,” predicted Keith Mason, co-founder of Personhood USA, the Colorado group that’s pushing the petition drives around the country. Mason’s group eventually wants to amend the U.S. Constitution to say life begins at fertilization, and he hopes the push for state constitutional amendments will create momentum. Similar “human life” amendments have been introduced on the federal level repeatedly over the past 30 years and have failed. Thad Hall, a University of Utah professor who has written a book about abortion poli-
tics, said people who want to outlaw abortion are seeking state-by-state changes that often put the question to voters, rather than federal changes. “What you see here is a kind of difference between slowness and difficulty in policy changes on federal level ... and the ease with which states can change public policy,” Hall said. People are gathering signatures in Florida, Montana, Ohio and Oregon to try to put personhood initiatives on ballots starting in 2012, Mason said. He said similar efforts will begin soon in eight other states. Personhood Ohio said Friday that it had reached its first threshold toward the 2012 ballot by gathering more than 1,000 signatures, allowing it to start knocking on doors to gather the rest of the 385,000 signatures it needs. Previously, Mason’s group got amendments on Colorado ballots in 2008 and 2010, but they were rejected. Some groups that oppose abortion, including Eagle Forum, opposed the Colorado efforts, saying the ballot initiatives only enriched Planned Parenthood and other groups that support abortion rights. In Mississippi, the state’s largest Christian denomination, the Mississippi Baptist Convention, is backing the personhood proposal through its lobbying arm, the Christian Action Commission. “The Lord expects us to value life, even as he does,” the commission’s executive director, Jimmy Porter, says in a video. The state already has several laws regulating abortions, including parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion and mandatory in-person counseling and a 24hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy. The Mississippi State Medical Association says it is not supporting the initiative — a step short of actively opposing it. “I agree with the sentiments of this movement; but, I can’t agree with throwing a physician into a system where the decision will not be malpractice but wrongful death or murder,” the group’s president and family physician Dr. Thomas E. Joiner wrote in a letter to members. Slocum, who leads the ob-gyn group, said the amendment could ban forms of birth control that prevent a fertilized egg from implanting, such as the IUD or the morning-after pill, and that it might limit physicians’ willingness to perform in vitro fertilization. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine also opposes the amendment, saying it would “unduly restrict an infertile patient’s right to make decisions about embryos created as part of the in vitro fertilization process.” Dr. Freda Bush of Jackson, an obstetriciangynecologist who’s campaigning for the ballot measure, said she believes the initiative would not affect hormonal birth control pills or curtail in vitro fertilization. She said opponents of the ballot measure are spreading rumors to scare people. The Mississippi initiative has already survived a legal effort to keep it off the ballot. One of the plaintiffs was Cristen Hemmins of Oxford, who was raped by two strangers in 1991 in Jackson. She said she didn’t become pregnant through the rape, but she’s insulted that any woman who does should have to carry out an unwanted pregnancy, whether it came about through rape or other circumstances. “I just think it’s a travesty in America that the government could make me bear a child that I don’t want to have or that could endanger my life as a victim of rape or a violent crime,” Hemmins said.
If we are to take Mr. Oldham at his word by his unflattering portrayals of the left, we should assume that everyone on the conservative side of the ledger is knowledgeable and responsible, and those on the other side are not, period, end of statement. One supposes that in Mr. Oldham’s little corner of the universe, the Tea Party is a sincere populist movement run by respon-
sible, hard-working citizens filled with civic virtue, and the Occupy Wall Street protesters are a mindless rabble of punk rockers and know-nothings. Mr. Oldham, your bias is showing. Please pull up your trousers, or get a belt. - Glen Garcia
October 13, 2011 UCO’s annual ‘Shack-a-Thon’ currently is on show, and it claims to raise awareness for poverty. Sure, money may be raised for the homeless, but this is only somewhat justified. What is on display outside of the Nigh Center is disgusting- it’s a glorified camping trip for the white bread students of UCO, under the guise of “raising awareness for poverty”. What’s almost ironic about this whole display is that it did make me aware; it made me aware of how out of touch fraternities and sororities are with the real issue of poverty. This “Shack-a-Thon” is a mockery of a very real, very sad subject that deserves attention. Not the sort of attention that is shown at UCO; two minutes of walking past these makeshift ‘shacks’, and you would think that homeless folks have iPhones, Macs and carefree attitudes. Have any of these people been to downtown Oklahoma City? Do they really know that the afflicted population doesn’t have access to tarp and plywood? Heck, one could even take away from this that homeless people love decorative duct tape, creating emblems of allegiance to certain groups. If students took those supplies and made real shelters for real homeless people,
it would make a much better use of what a waste those materials are serving now. The idea that homeless people living in shacks is about as stereotypical as thinking homeless people carry their personal belongings with a broomstick and a red bandana; and I’m honestly surprised I didn’t see that. I saw a student with a shopping cart, just standing up in it. Has UCO lost its pride? Where is the dignity in this? Maybe the UCO fraternities and sororities should wear blackface to raise awareness for racism; or bald caps to raise awareness for cancer. Because that would be as offensive as what’s taking place outside of UCO. If this continues to happen, I implore the rational-thinking students everywhere to raise money to rent a bus, pick up poverty-stricken people, and bring them down to the brats outside the Nigh Center. Let’s make it fun and tell these folks that where they are staying, there’s free computer access. If they were so concerned about poverty, they’d gladly give up their ‘shacks’ and let it serve a real purpose. Let’s see how committed to the cause they really are. - Kevin Kersey, senior elementary education major
October 15, 2011 Dear editor, You’re one to talk about taking more than your required courses; isn’t it your job to report the news, not interpret it? I would leave off interpreting to the philosophers and talking heads, since you’re obviously bad at it. You cast the auspices of “occupy-whatever” on a single group, ignoring that everyone has some stake in it. That’s if you’re not a CEO and I doubt you are… despite the hot air you spew. Another thing, not as important as the first, but it merits
attention: you don’t understand hipsters. The “Occupy-whatever” movement grew far too mainstream for that crowd when it found more than five people and you lump them in with people who actually read! So, you’re doing two things wrong: unethically stereotyping and failing to do research. Did you pay attention in your required composition classes? - Phillip Harvey
6
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
Continued from page 1
SAILING TEAM
Dr. David Bass, professor of biology and sailing team coach, coaches members of the sailing team during the UCO Sailing Team practice at Arcadia Lake, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
Shafer is enrolled in his first year at UCO, but knew Dr. Bass before enrolling. “Dr. Bass is actually part of the Oklahoma City Boat Club, which is right on Lake Hefner. That’s where [my family] usually sails out of,” he said. “I came back [from the Navy], and he was like, ‘there’s a sailing team.” Shafer describes the sport of sailing as “playing chess on a treadmill,” which seems to be an adequate analogy for a sport that can be not only mentally taxing, but physically tiring. Many of the sailors have various bruises and battle scars to show for getting tossed around by speedy winds and ever-swaying lake water. “It’s kind of great, because you don’t have to be a super athlete,” Sara Summers, sailing team vice president said. “It’s a lot of tactics, it’s a lot of thinking, it’s a lot of remembering everything you’re told and doing research on your own. But it also takes physical ability, so it’s kind of like every sport combined.” Though still competitive, it should be noted the team plays at the club level, meaning they are not officially affiliated with UCO’s Athletic Department. Unlike UCO’s official sporting teams, the sailing team does not receive a budget for travel, lodging, or equipment. Members pay dues as in most other clubs and receive an allotted budget from UCOSA. The boats used by the team are owned by the Lighthouse, which is the charitable side of the Oklahoma City Boat Club. UCO has also partnered with Oklahoma
City University’s sailing team for assistance in fundraising, traveling and training. Though they race separately in regattas, the relationship between the teams is not that of fierce competitors, but of close companions. The real enemy for the state’s sailing teams lies south of the border. “UCO and OCU, we’re a tight group, but our real plan is to get [all the college sailing teams of] Oklahoma to grow and to go beat up on Texas, because Texas has a really good program,” Shafer said. If the team continues their current success, they may earn their way into the Sugar Bowl Regatta in New Orleans, run by the same group that hosts the annual college football bowl game of the same name. It is one of the most prestigious events in collegiate yachting, and Dr. Bass says it would be quite an honor if UCO were invited to compete against the best in the nation. However, an invitation is still a long way off, and until then the team will keep doing what got them this far. “We practice,” Bass said. “We practice like we race. I don’t think there’s any reason to cut corners.” For more information about Central’s sailing team, contact coach Dr. David Bass at (405) 974-5772 or dbass@uco.edu. Charlie Shafer prepares a boat before the UCO Sailing Team practice at Arcadia Lake, Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
7
ZOMBIES TAKE THE CITY
By Ben Luschen / Staff Writer According to several health professionals, simply taking a stroll around town can help you live longer. That is, of course, if you are not already dead. The ACM@UCO hosted its first Bricktown Zombie Walk Friday, Oct. 14, despite an apparent lack of health benefits for the living dead. Susan Wortham, chief operating officer of ACM@UCO, says now that UCO has officially purchased the Oklahoma Hardware Building which houses the academy, the school must begin to make its own impact on the downtown community. “We’re here now, we own the building, so we want to do some more things that are really geared toward collegeaged people,” she said. “One day we just thought, ‘I don’t know, let’s do a zombie walk.’ Who doesn’t love dressing up like a zombie?” Wortham also says the popularity and recent return of the AMC series “The Walking Dead” served as inspiration for the event. The first season finale was the most-watched basic cable series for the 18-49 age demographic.
The walk began at 6 p.m. in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot, then proceeded up to Sheridan Ave, passing Pearl’s Crabtown and the Mantel Wine Bar and Bistro. The gruesome procession then traveled down Mickey Mantle Ave, receiving many puzzled glances from some slightly more fleshy pedestrians as they reached their final destination: the plaza in front of Harkins Theatres. Perhaps the most ironic part of the walk was that the marching zombies were treated to a full police escort as they rampaged through the city streets. “We had to do an activities permit, and the biggest concern was crossing the really busy streets,” Wortham said. “It kind of takes away from the vibe if all the zombies have to wait for the lights, right? It’s not optimal, but we want everyone to be safe.” Some who attended the walk said it served as an alternative to the March of 1,000 Flaming Skeletons, an event that is usually hosted by the Flaming Lips in Oklahoma City but was discontinued this year. Others, like Edmond resident Raife Knight, who heard about the event on
Facebook, were just there for some cheap entertainment. “It’s free, there’s a concert,” Knight said. “Plus we’re meeting somebody who’s coming up from Texas for an event downtown, so might as well knock two birds out with one stone.” Several local bands with ACM@UCO ties performed at the outdoor concert following the walk. Among those who graced the stage were Gum, David Goad, Moon, Giraffe Massacre, and Chateau. While the walk was all in good fun for most of the participants, there are those, like Oklahoma City’s Sarah McAdams, who stress the seriousness of the zombie threat. “I’m a firm believer in the zombie apocalypse,” McAdams said. “Some people may call me crazy, but I’ll just add them to the list of people I’ll go to when the zombie apocalypse actually hits.” Despite McAdams’ enthusiasm for a brain-eating doomsday, she still holds that zombies should not be cast as sympathetic figures. “They’re complete nuisances. They’re burdens.”
Photo: Zombies walk around downtown Oklahoma City during ACM@UCO’s first ever Bricktown Zombie Walk on Friday, Oct. 14. Local bands with ACM@UCO ties also performed at the event. Photo provided
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8
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
Occupy Wall Street
FEEDING THE MASSES, FUELING A MOVEMENT
In this Oct. 11, 2011 photo, a sign warns Occupy Wall Street protesters to limit themselves to one meatball per person at the group’s Zuccotti Park kitchen in New York. The kitchen in the center of the park is the ever-evolving heart of the Occupy Wall Street encampment, managing to feed thousands daily even as it struggles to figure out how to deal with an endless flow of donations. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
By Helen O’Neill / Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Seventyyear-old Phyllis Coelho plunged her blue gloved hands into a plastic sink of gray soapy water and spent an afternoon last week cheerfully washing dishes “to support the revolution.” The retired social worker had traveled from Belfast, Maine, the day before with her 78-year-old friend and fellow dishwasher, Jane Sanford. They headed directly to the protest at Zuccotti Park because, they said, it was time to “show up.” At a table behind her, Nan Terrie, an 18-year-old law student from Orlando, Fla., was furiously chopping carrots and onions even as she juggled cell phone calls from people wanting to donate food, and hand-
ed hastily scribbled “to do” lists for other volunteers. Anj Ferrara, a 24-year-old artist, was tearing open some of the 40 boxed pizzas that had just arrived. And Tom Hintze, a 24-year-old bike tour guide, was trying to figure out the logistics of getting a truck and driver to pick up massive trays of pulled pork that someone wanted to send from Brooklyn. The makeshift “kitchen” in the center of the park is the ever-evolving heart of the Occupy Wall Street encampment, managing to feed thousands daily even as it scrambles to figure out how to deal with an endless flow of donations. But the people who work there — and those they serve — say it is much more, imbuing it with the same fervor that has marked the
protests from the beginning. “Revolution is fueled by eggplant parmigiana!” cried David Everitt-Carlson, smacking his lips and cleaning his plate after dinner. Sitting cross-legged in a cardboard box daubed with the words “I think outside the box” the unemployed 55-year-old said that, after months of homelessness, he had never eaten better. Bagels and eggs for breakfast; pizza and burritos for lunch; fresh salads, organic vegetables and casseroles, pasta or barbecue chicken for dinner. Endless helpings — all fresh, all free. And all served amid the deafening din of protest: masks and marchers, drums circles and dancers, chanters gripping signs exploding with rage at corporate gluttony, all surrounded by barricades and a phalanx of police officers. “There is so much ingenuity and innovation right here in this kitchen that is so lacking in so many other areas of the country,” said Sam Tresler, a 32-year-old consultant from Brooklyn as he dropped off a pot of mashed potatoes he had cooked that morning. “It’s inspiring.” The kitchen has no on-site oven or refrigerator or stove, just foldup tables, tarps, racks of food and tanks of water. Truckloads of fresh fruit and vegetables arrive daily from organic farms in upstate New York and Vermont and Massachusetts, steaming containers of chicken and rice, burritos and lasagna are sent from restaurants all over the city, tubs of Ben and Jerry’s chocolate and cookie dough ice cream arrived one sunny morning (and was scooped by the company’s chairman of the board, Jeff Furman), and there is a seemingly never-ending delivery of pizza pies, ordered by phone from supporters all over the world. In the general spirit of the protest, the kitchen has no appointed leaders, just what volunteers jokingly refer to as an “organic hierarchy,” meaning those that have been around the longest make the key decisions and assign the daily tasks. Newcomers — and they have come from Haiti and Colombia and Japan as well as from all over America — are generally put on cleanup duty. Others monitor the compost pack and environmental water filtration system. There is a receiving table for locals who show up with bags of corn or a homegrown eggplant or a bush
of basil. At another table a volunteer jots down the names of people who offer their home kitchens for protesters to cook and clean in. “What you see in this kitchen is pure and inspirational and filled with great hope that we are moving towards something better,” says Hintze, who generally makes a living hosting bike tours around the country. But he says he wouldn’t be anywhere else. “We needed a reality check and the Arab Spring gave us one. This is where I’m meant to be.” As he is speaking an 80-year-old Jamaican woman who is visiting her daughter in Queens walks up, gives him a great big hug, and gleefully stuffs a single $100 bill into the plastic donations container. She doesn’t want to be named, she says, because she intends to do the same next week and “I don’t want people to think I’m rich.” Later another woman silently drops an envelope containing $1,000. Other donations have come from organized groups. The Corrections Officers’ Benevolent Association of New York City donated food to feed approximately 800 people. And the United Federation of Teachers donated a huge storage space on Broadway, about seven blocks away, where the hundreds of UPS boxes arriving every day — filled with canned food, and sleeping bags and blankets — are sorted and stored. But from the kitchen perspective, the most crucial donation happened a few days ago, when the Rev. Leopoldo Carl of Overcoming Love Ministries in Brooklyn wandered into the park and offered the use of his soup kitchen — a state-of-the-art commercial operation capable of cooking for more than 1,500. The church, he said, had plenty of cold storage too. “My congregation wants to help,” he boomed. “And many of them are homeless.” Volunteer Heather Squire was incredulous. She had spent the past week desperately searching for such a space, so that the protesters could store fresh produce for the winter and move away from the daily trips to home kitchens that are simply not equipped to cook in volume. She had even talked with a real estate agent about renting a commercial facility — a sore point among some protesters who would rather spend donated money on food. “I’m an atheist,” Squire says. “But there is something mystical happen-
ing here.” The 31-year-old sociology graduate from New Jersey works in restaurants because she has been unable to find a permanent job. She joined the movement on Oct. 1, the day of the march on the Brooklyn Bridge and was one of 700 arrested that day. It was “chilling” being behind bars for hours, Spire said, but it solidified her resolve to stay with the protesters. And so, the next day, she found herself washing dishes in a very different kind of kitchen. Amy Hamburger, 29, had been backpacking in Kentucky a short time before the protest began, but came home to Queens to spend time with her ailing father. A friend encouraged her to go to the first protest and though she had never considered herself an activist, something compelled her to stay. “It just feels like this is exactly where I am meant to be,” said an exhausted looking Hamburger one evening last week, red-eyed from working at the kitchen for nearly 48 hours. By now, she’s getting used to lack of sleep. She has been volunteering since the very beginning, when protesters were surviving on peanut butter sandwiches and pizza. For Hamburger, the evolution of the kitchen has been nothing short of a miracle. “There is this amazing synchronicity,” she said. “Every time we really need something, it just seems to appear.” “There’s a gestalt here,” said Deborah Mulligan a 57-year-old attorney from Madison, Wis., who, having slept on the marble floors of Wisconsin’s State Capitol during the union protests last winter, felt an obligation to join the protesters in New York. “When you eat together and break bread together, you talk and you learn and you get even more informed and inspired,” she said. Shane Stoops, who has also been in the kitchen since the beginning, has a more personal take. The selfdescribed “Renaissance man” from Washington state says he has always been a bit “radical” and always had a testy relationship with his dad, a shipyard pipefitter. “For the first time in his life, my father told me he was proud of me for standing up for something I believe in,” said Stoops, 23. “Feeding people is a beautiful thing, but so was hearing those words.”
x
NEWS
OCT. 18, 2011
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MARKS THE SPOT Looking for something to do over fall break? Try Geocaching, it’s nothing but looking!
What is Geocaching?
Pronounced gee-oh-cash-ing, it is simply the world’s largest game of hide and seek. Using GPS techonology and the Internet, hiders and seekers use latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates to find items instead of only using clues. Geocaching doesn’t take a specific skillset, just a GPS.
Know the Lingo
Muggle For Harry Potter fans, this one may be self-explanatory. The term Muggle is used to refer to someone who does not know about geocaching. Muggles often will give geocachers weird looks, or might be very confused if they stumble upon a cache. By reading this page, you are no longer a Muggle. Traditional Cache A traditional cache is the original flavor of cache, consisting of at least a logbook or logsheet. Some may contain other items for trade. “Nano” or “micro” caches are tiny containers with only a logsheet. ROT13 Hints for geocaches are often encrypted using a simple cypher where each letter is rotated 13 characters up or down in the alphabet. ROT13 Decryption Key A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z (Note, the key works both forwards and backwards)
Ready to Hunt? Go to Geocaching.com and create an account to download coordinates for the many caches around Edmond, Oklahoma City and beyond. The site also allows cachers to leave comments, hints and TFTC (which means “Thanks for the Cache”).
EXV 5 is a traditional cache hidden on UCO’s campus. On a map it’s located near Murdaugh Hall, for a more precise location enter N 35° 39.423 W 097° 28.392 into a GPS.
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OCT. 18, 2011 CROSSWORDS
Part-Time Office Help Broadway Tag Agency Hours: Mon-Fri 1:005:00 and Sat 9:00-12:00 Email resume to Contact@BroadwayTagAgency.com
Help Wanted PT TECHS. OPT NORTH AND OPT SOUTH ARE HIRING PT TECHS. PLEASE FAX YOUR RESUME TO 936-6493 OR SEND IT BY MAIL TO 3705 WEST MEMORIAL ROAD, SUITE 310, OKC, OK 73134 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS THE OPT OPPORTUNITIES.
For Rent
Help Wanted for front Townhouse for Rent: desk. Apply in person at Jefferson Square. 1450 Across the Stafford Inn. 1809 E. sq ft, 2b. 2ba, enclosed FUN FACT 2nd St. Edmond, 73034. backyard, Washer & 1. Musical sign dryer hookup, garage, $725/month. Call 340- Hallmark sells a line of “encouragement” cards 5. Wearing shoes 8147. you can send to people who’ve lost their job. 9. Prison guard, in slang 14. Fit 15. O. Henry’s “The Gift of the ___” 16. Ancient 17. Adjoin 18. Sundae topper, perhaps 19. Auto pioneer Citroen 20. Habitual procedure (2 wds) 23. Determined beforehand OCT 13 CROSSWORD ANSWERS 24. Backless seats with three legs 27. Treatment of illness 31. Baby’s first word, maybe 32. Cottontail’s tail 35. Dash SUDOKU 36. Affectedly creative 37. Unacceptable diplomat (3 wds) 40. Ancient colonnade 41. ___-friendly 42. BBs, e.g. 43. Adage 44. More beneficial to the environment 46. Magnetic induction units 48. Dorm room staple 53. Method of examining in minute detail (3 wds) 57. Fern’s leaf 59. Hip bones SUDOKU 60. Clare Booth ___, Puzzle 1 (Easy, difficulty rating 0.39) American playwright 61. ___ dark space (region in a vacuum tube) 1 2 62. Effort 63. Long, long time 6 7 1 64. Golden Horde member 8 2 6 9 5 65. Bind Design Editor needed: 66. Quaker’s “you” 5 2 8 3
Experience in Photoshop, indesign, Illustrator and examples of work required
8 3
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Contact: Teddy Burch tburch2@uco.edu or call (405) 974 5123
5
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1 2
Down 1. ___ at the bit 2. Work 3. Avoid 4. Unborn offspring 5. Peanut butter choice 6. Dwell 7. Arch type 8. Christian name 9. Ramshackle hut 10. Complex unit 11. Message transmitted by wireless telegraphy 12. “To ___ is human ...” 13. 25th letter 21. Begin (2 wds) 22. Colorado resort 25. Kind of ticket 26. ___ bean 28. Clear, as a disk 29. Hindu queen 30. ___ squash 32. Bristles 33. Type of embroidery stitch (2 wds) 34. ___ Today 36. Branch 37. “Check this out!” 38. Care for 39. Role for Dana 44. Male goose 45. Heir’s concern 47. ___ Evans, “Dynasty” actress 49. Enthusiastic approval 50. Not smooth 51. Host 52. Corpulent 54. Fastidious 55. Assortment 56. Farm call 57. ___ Tuesday (Mardi Gras) 58. Biochemistry abbr.
SPORTS
OCT. 18, 2011
11
Central Hockey
A WEEKEND THEY WOULD SOONER FORGET By Bryan Trude / Sports Writer The UCO Hockey team returned from the ACHA Division I Showcase looking to rebound from their first losses of the season. However, in their first of three home-andhome series against the University of Oklahoma, the Bronchos fell short and dropped two games to extend their losing streak to four. The Bronchos (5-4) opened the series Thursday, Oct. 13, against the Sooners (8-2) on OU’s home ice, the Blazers Ice Center in Oklahoma City. Central ended the first period tied 2-2, thanks in part to a 5-on-3 power play goal by forward J.M. Biron. However, Oklahoma exploded in the second, scoring three unanswered goals. The Sooners added two more in the third, putting the game away despite a late attempt by Donald Geary to mount a comeback, putting in a goal on a power play with four minutes to go. OU came away with the victory, passing UCO 7-3. “We were looking good in the first period,” Craig McAlister, UCO head coach,. said. “But in that second period, we had a breakdown of systems, had a problem with defensive zone coverage. We had mistakes and with a team like OU, if you make mistakes in the zone, they’ll make you pay the price.” The game was the second consecutive start for freshman goaltender Tory Caldwell, who posted his lowest save percentage of the season thus far, .806 on 35 shots. “In the second period, [Caldwell] was
struggling, but I wanted him to work through it,” McAlister said. “It wasn’t to be tonight.” Emotions on both sides ran high as the game progressed. Midway through the third, UCO’s Tyler Benson and OU’s Taylor Paziuk both received game disqualifications: Benson for spearing, Paziuk for fighting, following a scrum that occurred on top of Caldwell following an OU charge on the net. “I got cross-checked into Tory, and I turned around and slashed the kid,” Benson said. “I’m not going to sit there and let a guy go after me and go after my goalie on top of that. I was taught better than that.” McAlister challenged the disqualification call. However, the referee’s ruling was upheld by ACHA Division I Commissioner Brian Moran, forcing both players to serve a one game suspension. The Bronchos returned to Edmond’s Arctic Edge Ice Arena hoping to rebound with the support of the home crowd, the largest crowd for a Bronchos hockey game this season thanks in part to a large group from UCO’s Greek organizations. The crowd bolstered the tired Bronchos’ spirits. Despite entering the third period with a 2-1 advantage on goals by Anthony Knuth and Corey Allen, though, the Sooners managed to escape with the 4-2 victory, including a garbage goal in the closing seconds on an empty net. “The effect of the crowd is huge, it changes the entire game,” forward Kevin Bergquist
UCO’s Luke Ward (26) tries to gain control of the puck during a game between UCO and OU at Arctic Edge arena in Edmond, Friday, Oct. 14, 2011. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
said. “There is a noticeable difference in the way we played tonight because that crowd is there, we can feel that.” Freshman goaltender Brett Patchett stood tall in net for the Bronchos, keeping them in the game until the final minute, turning away 37 of 40 shots for a .925 save percentage. UCO hockey will return to action over fall break, hosting top-ranked Lindenwood University.
The Lions (3-2), ranked first in the most recent ACHA rankings, is coming off the showcase ended with a 4-1 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils. The puck drops on the first game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct 21 at Arctic Edge. Tickets are $7, $5 for UCO students and faculty with ID.
Sports Opinion
SUPERCONFERENCES TO ANSWER PLAYOFF PRAYERS By Trey Hunter / Sports Editor Who wants a playoff? The first BCS standings were released Sunday and for all those begging for a playoff in the nation’s biggest collegiate sport, don’t worry. It’s here. Let’s face it. Everybody except for the people running the BCS wants a playoff. We all watch the NCAA tournament in March and envision the elites of college football battling it out in the same way. We want upsets. We want exciting games. We want everybody involved to have the chance of walking away with the crystal ball.
If you are on the playoff side of the argument, your chance has finally come to show those opposed who’s right and who’s wrong. The top four teams in the first installment of the polls have LSU and Alabama sitting at one and two and Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at three and four. The twist to this year’s system will provide us all with a mini-version of what could be if the BCS were eliminated. The Tigers and Crimson Tide are scheduled to play Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa in the first part of a four-team playoff. The Sooners and Cowboys will battle it out in the second part in Stillwater on Dec. 3. The winners
of these games, should all four stay undefeated before the matchups, will play for the national championship in January. This is as close as we will ever get to a playoff, unfortunately. In fact, if the conference realignment comes to fruition, there will never be a playoff. The elites in football are aiming at four 16-team conferences, which will produce playoffs of their own. Let’s take the “future” Pac-16 conference. The four teams added to what is now the Pac-12 would likely be Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech. Those four teams would join Ari-
zona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah to make up the southern division. The other eight teams, California, Southern Cal., UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and Washington State would make up the north. Each team would play the other seven teams in their division while playing against four of the other eight. Most likely top two teams from each division would square off before playing in the conference championship game. The conference championship would then send the winner to a BCS game and maybe a shot at the national title. Why would we even need a play-
off if this happens? So consider this season a preview of what’s soon to come. Bob Stoops, head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, commented that the superconferences are likely the way of the future. He is right. Luckily for all of us, the future looks bright.
Next Football Game: VS Fort Hays State Tigers
2 p.m. Sat., Oct. 22, Wantland Stadium
Sports Opinion
VISTA SPORTS PREDICTIONS: NFL WEEK 7 This fall break weekend will pre-empt our Thursday issue, so we bring you our predicitions two days earlier. While UCO is hitting the halfway mark in the semester, there still lies 11 more weeks of the NFL season.
NFL Week 7
Trey Hunter Vista Sports Editor
Bryan Trude Vista Sports Writer
Garett Fisbeck Vista Photo Editor
Amber Pyle Vista Sports Writer
Terry Fox UCentral’s “The Huddle”
Kyle Renfrow UCentral Weather
Courtney Landsberger UCentral’s “The Huddle”
Chargers @ Jets
Jets
Jets
Jets
Chargers
Chargers
Jets
Chargers
Bears @ Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Buccaneers
Bears
Bears
Seahawks @ Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Browns
Falcons @ Lions
Lions
Lions
Falcons
Lions
Lions
Lions
Falcons
Broncos @ Dolphins
Broncos
Broncos
Dolphins
Broncos
Broncos
Dolphins
Dolphins
Texans @ Titans
Titans
Texans
Titans
Texans
Titans
Texans
Titans
Redskins @ Panthers
Panthers
Panthers
Redskins
Redskins
Panthers
Redskins
Redskins
Steelers @ Cardinals
Steelers
Steelers
Cardinals
Steelers
Steelers
Steelers
Steelers
Chiefs @ Raiders
Raiders
Raiders
Chiefs
Raiders
Raiders
Chiefs
Raiders
Packers @ Vikings
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Packers
Rams @ Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Rams
Rams
Colts @ Saints
Saints
Saints
Saints
Saints
Saints
Saints
Saints
Ravens @ Jaguars
Ravens
Ravens
Ravens
Ravens
Ravens
Ravens
Ravens
Last Week’s Picks* (W-L)
9-3
7-5
9-3
8-4
9-3
7-5
8-4
Season Picks* (W-L)
62-27
52-37
55-34
57-32
59-30
54-35
57-32
* Does not include the results of Week 6’s Dolphins v. Jets game, whose results were unavailable before our print deadline.
12
SPORTS
OCT. 18, 2011
Central Football
ICHABODS DOMINATE CENTRAL 48-3 By Trey Hunter / Sports Editor The UCO football team dropped its 11th straight road game 48-3 to the Washburn Ichabods in Topeka, Kan. on Saturday. The Bronchos, who haven’t won a road contest since Halloween of 2009, allowed 565 total yards to the fifth-ranked Ichabods. Washburn quarterback Dane Simoneau completed 19 of 31 pass attempts for 338 yards and five touchdowns, and backup Mitch Buhler completed four of six passes for 79 yards and a touchdown. The six scores were the most UCO has given up through the air all season. Washburn had two wide receivers combine for 244 yards and five scores. Ronnell Garner caught six passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns and DeJuan Beard caught five balls for 117 yards and three scores. Matt Kobbeman caught the sixth touchdowns and had five catches for a total of 60 yards. Central’s defense wasn’t able to stop Washburn’ s rushing game, either. The Bronchos Steve Caldwell (16). Photo by Garett Fisallowed a total of 184 yards on the ground beck, The Vista
with Sean McPherson accounting for 124 on 16 attempts. Justin Cooper rushed the ball 18 times for 47 yards as well. The Bronchos, who are known for their wide open passing game, rushed the ball a season-high 33 times for a total of 130 yards. Josh Birmingham accounted for 51 yards on 16 carries, Dante’ Lipscomb had seven rushes for 39 yards and quarterback Ethan Sharp had 21 yards on five rushes. Sharp completed 22 of 36 passes for 161 yards before sophomore Landon Greve took over in the final period. In his first action of the season, Greve completed five of 11 passes for 27 yards. Christian Hood led the Bronchos with seven receptions for 64 yards and Tucker Holland caught three passes for 29 yards. UCO’s only score came off the foot of kicker Chris Robbs who nailed a 40-yard field goal in the second period. Robbs missed on a 55yard attempt with 3:55 left in the first period. The Bronchos fell to 1-6 on the season after playing six of their first seven games on the road. UCO has now played two of the top five teams in the nation: Washburn, who is
ranked fifth and North Alabama, who is currently ranked number one in Division II. Central will now finish the season with four straight home games starting this Saturday against Fort Hayes State at 2 p.m. The Bronchos are scheduled to play Black Hills State on Oct. 27, Northeastern State on Nov. 5 and Lindenwood (Mo.) on Nov. 11 to end the year.
RESULTS Women’s Cross Country Chile Pepper Classic (6 km) Fayetteville, Ark. 114th - Brooke Klimek (22:50) 192nd - Heather Braley (24:21) 197th - Cara Cox (24:24) 198th - Jaquelynne Skocik (24:27) Unranked Katie Kerns (24:35) Bailey Hawkins (25:29) Angel Vick (26:32)
Sports Opinion
INDYCAR DEATH AN EXCUSE TO PONDER RISKS By Bryan Trude / Sports Writer At the Las Vegas Indy 300, held on Sunday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, defending Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon died in a wreck involving 15 cars. He was 33. While tragic, this story would normally have little to no impact on my day. I do not follow racing, much less even understand the allure of it, especially the Indycar series. My first reaction when I heard the news was “Aw, that sucks,” followed by me returning to the football game I had on my TV and a Facebook conversation I was having with someone about computer processors. It only took 20 minutes, but one image, one song and a little bit of web browsing was enough to make a man I had never heard about, much less cared about, in a sport I didn’t give two cow pats about, the most important thing to happen that day in my mind. I decided to navigate on my browser to Sports Illustrated’s web site to look up more info on a post-game fight between Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz and San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh following the Niners’ 25-19 victory. In another tab, I had Youtube up, playing Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” On SI’s main page was a photo by Jeffrey Stewart of the U.S. Presswire, showing Whel-
don’s car as a flaming ball of wreckage in what was likely one of the last moments of consciousness of his life. Freddie Mercury sang “I’m a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva. I’m gonna go, go, go, there’s no stopping me.” Such an unlikely situation would likely produce an ironic giggle in the darker, more cynical corners of the Internet, but it left me to think. Following such a tragedy, many will likely be looking for someone to blame. Some manufacturer of some random part could be vilified in the court of public opinion, akin to events following the death of NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt. Executives at Indycar will likely introduce some token rule change, if only to make it look like they responded in some way. However, one of my first thoughts on seeing that image was from the 2000 film “Gladiator.” In it, Russell Crowe was standing in the middle of the Colosseum, screaming at the audience, admonishing them for their bloodlust. “Are you not entertained?” he demands. In some corner of his mind, I can’t imagine Wheldon not understanding that what he was doing carried a degree of risk. Any reasonable person wouldn’t strap themselves into an engine on wheels and go whipping around in circles at over 250 miles per hour without un-
derstanding that death is a very real risk. While many racers do it for love of the sport, they also do it because there is money to be had. The reason there is money to be had is because people will pay it to watch these men and women drive in a circle really fast for three hours. I’m not saying that they should stop racing altogether, or that the consumer is to blame. All I am saying is that in between the vitriol
of hatred of drivers –go ask any NASCAR fan about Kurt Busch, I’ll wait– and the dismissal of professional sport as routine, fans should remember something. Athletes put their lives on the line every day for our entertainment, whether it’s racing, football, or even golf – google “Jeremy Brenno.” Just keep that in mind.
Drivers crash during a wreck that involved 15 cars during the IndyCar Series’ Las Vegas Indy 300 auto race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. Dan Wheldon was killed in the crash. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, Jessica Ebelhar)