The Student Voice Since 1903
THEVI
WWW.THEVISTAONLINE.COM
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2003
West Hall cooling system to be updated by Mark Schlachtenhaufen ms@thevistaonline.com Portions of West Hall will be without air conditioning until work is complete on a $165,000 project designed to connect those sections to UCO's central heating and cooling system. About 160 residents in A, B, C and Host halls will be without air conditioning starting sometime during the week of March 10-14, when Johnson Controls begins work on the switch-over, said Housing
Department Director Tom Hulm. The work should be finished in early May, at which time the affected residents will have greater control over heat and air delivery, Hulm said. During the first two weeks there should be no noticeable difference in the comfort level, he said. "In the last couple of years we've reorganized the housing department," Hulm said. "We've been trying to build up our funding reserve so we can better serve our students. It's
really turned things around for us." Officials decided to begin the project this week because Spring Break provided a window of opportunity not available any other season of the year, Hulm said. Work will be finished before the hottest months and the heat will still be available during any remaining cool nights, he said. Hulm said maintenance
Photo by Juli Barker
West Hall is undergoing air conditioning rennova-
see West Hall page 4 tions in parts of the east sides.
UCOSA candidates line up for office seats by Thad Danner td@thevistaonline.com The first group of UCOSA officer candidates dealing with the ramifications of online voting is set. Kate Thrift, Derek England, Kristin Ellen Hoffman, Hanan Shahid and Yuma Takahashi will be running for President and Vice President. The election will be held April 9 from 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. The two candidates running for president` are Derek England and Kate Thrift. England, junior, said he wants to "push it [UCO] to its potential and possibly even beyond." England said he has no specific platform
Vacation policy change affects Spring Break
in mind and isn't sure what kind of campaigning he wants to do, aside from a "lunch on the lake". He said he will draw on his other leadership roles such as Secretary of the President's Leadership Council (PLC), President of Murdaugh Hall and co-founder of Springfest. Kate Thrift, the other presidential candidate, is a junior political science major. She is currently the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Asked why she wanted to be President instead of Senate President Pro Tempore, Thrift said, "I'm more tied up with legislation. I don't get to talk to the students. I want to get more involved on that one-on-
one level with everybody." Her platform is specific, she wants committees to look at an enrollment waiting list holding classes for future semesters, increasing focus on international students and more of a focus on the tuition increase. "In the past two years we've lost 300 international students. We're no longer the least expensive institution for out-of-state and international students," she said. Three candidates are running for vice president. They are Yuma Takahashi, Kristin Ellen Hoffman and Hanan Shahid. Blake Fry, director of Campus Life and
see Candidates page 4
Eyes on the Ball
by Caroline Duke cd@thevistaonline.com UCO staff members were notified March 3 by the Office of Academic Affairs that a vacation during Spring Break would be mandatory. Janet Bellows, administrative assistant to Dr. T.H. Baughman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has worked at UCO for 15 years and said this isn't the first year the vacation has been made mandatory. She said a vacation has been made mandatory more often than optional. Bellows said when fulltime staff members are hired, they receive 10 hours vacation each month, which adds up to be about three weeks a year. She said this is already an unusually high amount of vacation time, so it allows for a week to be taken away for Spring Break. The 2002-2003 calendar states that offices are open Spring Break, but does not specify what offices. Bobby Hardrick, payroll technician, said it is typical for academic offices administrative offices to be open and for academic offices to be closed during the break. Hardrick said it is in the employee handbook that the university will not be closed Spring Break week. The memo stated that "Prospective Student Services will remain open with limited staff., and they will be informing callers and visitors of this contract policy." Cindy Brown, secretary in Business Administration, said . she was made aware of the policy when she was hired, and she has no problem with it. Shelley Stumbaugh, administrative secretary to the assistant dean of the Liberal Arts College, said she does not like the mandatory hours policy. "I'd rather take my 40 hours vacation in May or July," she said. "It's too busy [during Spring Break] to take a vacation."
Central Oklahoma wrestlers will carry the longstanding tradition of UCO championship wrestling to the national stage March 14 -15 in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Photo by Juli Barker
Freshman Yusake Oki and sophomore Sumie Yanada play pingpong at Murdaugh Hall March 12.
- Page 7
Vote sends lottery bill to state Senate by Mark Schlachtenhaufen ms@thevistaonline.com Legislation that would let Oklahomans vote on an education lottery was passed by the House 52-49 March 11. Following several hours of debate, representatives voted on the Lottery for Education Act, reversing the March 5 vote. A motion by the bill's author, Rep. Ron Kirby, D-Lawton, gave the measure three more days to be considered. Now the measure goes to the Senate, historically kinder to higher education issues than the House, Kirby said. Kirby did not know ,when the bill would come up for action again. "We are where we should have been two weeks ago," Kirby said. "I am extremely tired but extremely happy." Since the March 5 vote, Kirby and Gov. Brad Henry were phoning representatives, asking for their support of House Bill 1278, which seeks to send the lottery to a vote of the people. Henry has said he wants Oklahomans to have that opportunity sometime this summer. Changing their stances and voting for the measure March 11 were Bill Case, RMidwest City, Terry Ingmier, R-Stillwater and Wayne Pettigrew, REdmond. Pettigrew switched sides after getting reassurances that changes would be made to the bill if it returns to the House. Henry has estimated a lottery would generate $300 million in new revenue annually. About half would go to public education, the other half to higher education in the form of college scholarships.
State legislature passed a measure March 10 to ban smoking in restaurants and other public places. - Page 5
Students present petition against House bill 1748 to Senators. -Page 5
Federal agencies to use UCO for terrorism drill by Mark Schlachtenhaufen contractor, staffs and operates ms@thevistaonline.com Representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department will be among those participating in a computer-based terrorism training exercise at UCO during Spring Break week. During the drill, representatives from more than 20 state and federal agencies will respond to a fictitious largescale terrorist attack, said Kimber Winter, National Homeland Security Training Center (NHSTC) spokeswoman. UCO will host the "tabletop exercise" conducted by the NHSTC, based at Camp Gruber, located near Muskogee. Titan Corporation, a civilian
the training program. The planned scenario will involve an attack by a terrorist unleashing a weapon of mass destruction, Winter said. In order to maintain secrecy until the event, she declined to be more specific about the scenario to be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 19. During a morning briefing, the attendees will learn where and when the attack occurred, what kind of weapon was used and by what terrorist group, Winter said. After the scenario "begins," they will coordinate their response to the attack. Dr. Don Powers, director of Quality Assurance and Safety Management, said having the NHSTC in Oklahoma is a bonus for the state, affected by
domestic terrorism. in 1995, when Tim McVeigh detonated a bomb that critically damaged the Murrah Building in downtown Oklahoma City. Having well-trained firs responders will result in a higher survival rate after a terrorist attack, Powers said. Following the exercise, the organizations and agencies will be able to evaluate their performances. "It's going to be a real good exercise because it's a real tough problem," Powers said of the scenario. "I think what we'll learn is that we have a lot more to learn." Powers said UCO has been communicating with Homeland Security since November, when the federal
government created the Department of Homeland Security. The exercise could be a springboard to future in-house drills, Powers said. Charlie Johnson, UCO News Bureau director, said to his memory, this is the first such event to be held at UCO. "We are constantly evaluating our emergency preparedness plan based on where the world is today and this is part of that," Johnson said. Johnson said following a terrorist attack, communication would be a crucial element of the response. Training for any scenario increases preparedness levels, he said.
Students rally on campus for peace March 12. - Page 3
see Drill page 4