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Campus Quotes
Cans for Roses
Economy
Basketball
What are your plans for Thanksgiving Break?
An Edmond flower shop is giving away roses when people bring in canned food donations.
Why have the cost of boneless chicken wings gone up?
Bronchos remain undefeated after weekend tournament.
NOV. 23, 2010 uco360.com twitter.com/uco360
THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S
HUNGRY FOR THE
P H OTO BY K AT H L EEN WEL L S
student voice since 1903.
HOLIDAYS By Kory Oswald / Editor-In-Chief & Cody Bromley / Staff Writer While most Americans will enjoy their Thanksgiving dinners, some Americans will go without them. According to a new study released last week by the United States Department of Agriculture, 17.4 million households in the United States will potentially not be able to participate in the tradition of gorging on turkey before falling into tryptophan-induced coma. During 2009, 14.7 percent of households in the U.S. lacked adequate money for food some point during the year. Of those households, 5.7 percent experienced what the survey defines as “food insecurity,” where at least one member of the home had to eat less than the others, or their food patterns were disrupted in some way due to lack of resources for proper nutrition. The study also found that food insecurity has a higher prevalence in large cities than in rural areas. Households with children headed by single parents, as well as African-American and Hispanic households had higher instances of food insecurity. The number of food-insecure homes has remained essentially the same since 2008, and is the highest since 1995, when the first such study was conducted. On their website, USDA claims the fact that the numbers of food-insecure homes in the U.S. have remained largely unchanged over the last year, in spite of increased unemployment and poverty in the country. The agency website said that this is a promising sign that reflects the importance of government food assistance programs. “These programs are designed to respond rapidly and automatically to emerging needs in times of economic change and will expand and contract with the economy,” Kevin Concannon, the under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said. “We anticipate that food security will improve as the economy improves but in the near-term, without these benefits, many families would face far more severe problems getting the nutritious food they need.” Major government programs are currently at or near record levels. In May, the number of Americans receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million. With unemployment at some of the highest levels in recent years, people have flocked to government assistance to prevent themselves from falling into food insecurity. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has risen 19 percent in the last year, and set new records almost every month. The number of people on government assistance for food programs is not expect to go down soon though, but instead projected to rise to over 43,000,000 in 2011.
Dinners will not be on every American’s plate this Thanksgiving, with 17.4 million households falling into the classification of “food insecure.” About a third of the households that are classified as being food insecure are at high risk for skipping meals, cutting the size of a meal or not feeding the children in the home.
• In 2009, 85.3 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the year. The remaining 14.7 percent (17.4 million households) were food insecure, essentially unchanged from 14.6 percent in 2008. • About a third of food-insecure households were in the severe range of food insecurity where food intake was reduced and normal eating patterns were disrupted. • Although children are usually shielded from disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake, children along with adults experienced instances of very low food security in 469,000 households • Food insecurity was more common in large cities than in rural areas and in suburbs and other outlying areas around large cities. • Fifty-seven percent of food-insecure households in the survey said that in the past month they had participated in one or more of the three largest federal food and nutrition assistance programs.
Creativity World Forum
WEATHER TODAY
H 65° L 49°
STATE OF CREATIVITY WELCOMES REST OF NATION, WORLD By Samantha Maloy / Copy Editor
TOMORROW H 71° L 32°
More weather at www.uco360.com
DID YOU KNOW? On Nov. 23, 1936, the first issue of the pictorial magazine Life was published, featuring a cover photo of the Fort Peck Dam by Margaret Bourke-White.
Scotland. Shanghai. India. What do these places have to do with Oklahoma? These cities and countries, along with Oklahoma, have been deemed as premier creative districts in the world. The list includes Baden–Württemberg (Germany), Catalonia (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Lombardia (Italy), Nord–Pas de Calais (France), Qingdao (P.R. China) and others. That is correct: the Sooner State ranks at the top of global creative hotspots and was honored this past week to host the 2010 Creativity World Forum. This forum sought to connect the brightest and most creative leaders in business, technology and education from around the globe. The main events were held at the Cox Convention Center, and a few other Metro locations from Nov. 15-17. More than 35 states and 17 countries were represented at the forum. This “District of Creativity Network” was established in 2004 and the first forum was held in Flanders, Belgium, that same year. The 2010 forum marks only the second time the conference was held in the U.S.; the first time was in 2005 in Maryland. With splashes of Indian dancing and drums, mu-
Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, was one of the speakers at the Creativity World Forum.
sical performances by Hanson and Sandi Patty and presentations by leading columnists, authors and entrepreneurs, the Tuesday, Nov. 16 session left no
part of the blank canvas uncovered in the celebration of creativity. After a brief introduction from astronaut John Herrington, David Pogue took the stage. Pogue is a tech columnist for the New York Times and appears weekly on CNBC with a comic tech video section. He touched on the powerful combination of technology and creativity. Citing examples like the “Will it Blend” video series on YouTube, the Ocarina app for the iPhone, and the Google Maps directions from Taiwan to China (no, seriously- check out step 24), Pogue illustrated just how much a little creativity in business can increase sales and spark imagination. “Creativity is the key to excitement in life,” Pogue said. Next on stage was Daniel Pink. Pink is a NewYork Times bestselling author and discussed the art of motivation in the workplace and that creativity is something that must be nurtured and cultured in the work place to produce cutting edge results. He pointed out that for simpler, less complex tasks, the motivational method of “a carrot on a stick” worked just fine. For more complex tasks, he said frankly that it just did not work that well. “Pay
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