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Volume 118, Issue 18
VISTA “Our Words, Your Voice.”
Student speaks out against military coup
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INSIDE
vistanews1903 @thevista1903 @thevista1903 The Vista ucentralmedia.com Tuesday, March 2, 2021
March for Julius Jones in OKC
Spring Graduation
UCO gave an update on whether or not students will be able to walk for Spring graduation this May. See Pg. 4
Han Seth Lu (right) stands in front of crowd at the “Solidarity With Myanmar” rally at the OK Capitol, Feb. 6. (Provided/Liankip Pa)
Amanda Siew
Forensics Recognized UCO ranked first in the country for forensic science. See photos from their department activites.
See Pg. 5
UCO Tennis in ITA The tennis team played at the Indoor National Championships this weekend. See how they performed. See Pg. 6
@amandasiewyk Contributing Writer
“I tell myself it’s a zombie apocalypse, with the zombies being the military,” UCO senior Han Seth Lu said. “It’s how I’ve been coping with everything.” The international student from Myanmar recalled the chaos that unfolded in his home country this month after the Myanmar military staged a coup while he was over 8,000 miles away in Oklahoma. However, none of this surprised him as military rule was something he grew up under for 14 years of his life.
High school students will tour campus this week and meet faculty members. along with much more! See Pg. 2
Continued on Pg. 3
Protesters in Oklahoma City speak out for Julius Jones, a man on death row whose case has faced doubt by a growing population. (Provided/ Manuela Soldi)
The “godfather of iron” returns to UCO Bryce McKinnis @McKinnisBryce Managing Editor
Around Campus
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, spent decades under a military dictatorship following two coups in 1962 and 1988. It would not be until 2011 that the military junta was officially dissolved, and the Burmese people would finally gain democracy. “Since I was born within the military dictatorship era, I didn’t really know what it was like to have freedom,” Han said. “We had a lot of restrictions and rules to follow, but everything just seemed normal.” Han grew up in a family that were strong supporters of the National
Jared Ka’aiohelo was quick to accept an offer from UCO football head coach Nick Bobeck to fill the vacant strength and conditioning position after the departure of Jason Smelser last month. “When [Bobeck] contacted me,” Ka’aiohelo said, “he asked if I could come in and help with the rest of the semester to kind of give them time to figure out what their next step is.” Of all options to fill the position, there was hardly a better solution for
Bobeck than to bring back the coach who pioneered the UCO strength program. Ka’aiohelo is now the owner of Athlete Inc., a professional and amateur athletic performance and recovery facility in Oklahoma City. He played high school ball down the street at Edmond Memorial, where he helped the Bulldogs to a State Championship in 1989 — still their only state title. He retired from a professional playing career in 1999 and swiftly found a spot on the University of Oklahoma’s strength and conditioning staff in 2000, where he spent a couple seasons
before landing the UCO job in 2002. “When Chuck Langston got the head football job at UCO,” Coach K said, “he hired me there as the first head strength coach in school history.” From establishing a football strength and conditioning program in his first year to expanding the weight room to include performance training for all UCO sports in 2003, Coach K created a now-integral foundation for the UCO Athletic Department. He even helped to furnish the weight room. Continued on Pg. 6