The Vista Jan. 23, 2018

Page 1

Volume 116, Issue 2

the VISTA

Flu Virus Plagues the Nation

“Our Words, Your Voice.”

ucentralmedia.com vistanews1903 @thevista1903 @thevista1903 The Vista

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

UCO Mural Runs Its Course

Katie Standlee @katiestandlee Reporter

This year’s flu virus is now widespread in the U.S. with many hospitalizations and some deaths, prompting organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to urge people to take extra precautions this flu season. “The one [report] we put out last Friday shows the flu is widespread in the United States, but the flu activity is higher in the South and the West coast,” said Kristen Nordlund, CDC spokesperson. There have been several hospitalizations throughout the U.S., but according to Eric Howard, epidemiologist for the Oklahoma City County Health Department, there have been 1,020 hospitalizations statewide. “Within Oklahoma County we are sitting at 233 hospitalizations,” Howard said. Howard said that these numbers are from Jan. 6 and the data is little over a week delayed. Deaths have also been rising this flu season. Howard said that in Oklahoma, at least 23 have died from the flu this year. “When we have H1N1 season, they are typically less severe than H3N2,” Howard said. “This year has shown that we are getting, nationally, about 80 percent of all cases of the flu are H3N2 and it’s more of a pesky kind

Painted in 1994, 105 years after the Land Run, the mural on the outside south wall of the Communications Building is set to be removed this spring following controversy over the nature of the Land Run. (Vista Archives)

Christian Tabak @CaffeineWallace Reporter

After more than a decade of controversy, the Land Run mural painted on the University of Central Oklahoma’s Communications Building will be replaced with a more inclusive work later this semester. The announcement came as unexpected news during the Native American Student Association’s Spring Semester Kickoff celebration. “We are excited to announce that in several months, the Land Run mural will be removed and repainted with something that is representative of the UCO students on campus in a

continued on pg. 3

positive way,” said Savannah Anderson, public relations chair for NASA. Commemorating the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, the mural is an especially contentious topic for the university’s Native American community for its celebration of a time when Native Americans were forced from their lands to accommodate incoming settlers. Depicting a rush of wagons, cowboys and a photographer, the 10 foot tall and 107 foot wide mural portrays nothing of the Native American perspective, an oversight that Anderson said is unacceptable for UCO’s inclusive campus.

“The main focus of the new mural will be the cultural diversity that is represented here on campus instead of just focusing on one perspective, which is one of the reasons the Land Run mural is so bad,” Anderson said. Awareness for the historical context of the mural has been a central focus for NASA in recent years, building on the organization’s mission to educate the community on issues related to the Native American community. Last spring, the organization hosted an open forum to discuss both the history and future of the mural. continued on pg. 5

OKC NEWS

Factory Obscura SHIFTs OKC’s Perspective

on pg. 8

BRONCHO SPORTS

UCO Women’s Basketball Locks Down Rivals on pg. 12


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.