See Page 7 for Men’s and Women’s Golf Volume 113, Issue 20
the VISTA “The Student Voice Since 1903”
Follow the Vista: UCentralMedia.com vistanews1903 @TheVista1903 thevista1903 The Vista Monday, Oct. 3, 2016
New Softball Studium Being Built for Next Season Elisabeth Slay @Eslayslay Reporter
In spite of major budget cuts, the University of Central Oklahoma is building a new softball facility across from the Wellness Center which should be completed by March 1, 2017. Half of the money for the new field comes from student activity fees, while the other half is from various donations and fundraising to the athletic department acquired over the last few years, according to Athletic Director Joe Muller. “Part of it came from student activity fees which was part of the deal when students passed the last activity fees and athletics agreed to spend that money not on anything other than facilities,” Muller said. Although the vote was decided in 2012, the project was approved just this year. See Softball on 5
Dave Timberlake, Cody White, Joe Muller, Don Betz, Jon Hunter, Gerry Pinkston and David Reed break ground at UCO’s softball field where the new softball stadium is currently being built. Photo by Ryan Naeve, The Vista.
Campus Support for Lactation Room Lagging Queila Omena @queilaomena Reporter
Mothers around the world find it challenging to breastfeed while not receiving the support from the community. This year, the University of Central Oklahoma implemented lactation spaces dedicated for mothers on campus which are located in the Nigh University Center and Wellness Center. The idea to implement lactation rooms started last fall when Erika Cerda, senior employer relations specialist at UCO and certified breastfeeding educator, along with Carrie Irwin, director of employer relations at UCO, decided UCO needed to accommodate mothers on campus and show community support for breastfeeding. For that, UCO needed to develop a worksite lactation policy that would be supportive to mothers who choose to breastfeed their infants. When Cerda worked on the lactation worksite policy this January, she reached out to different buildings at UCO to acquire more space for lactation rooms. Despite the UCO’s great support for mothers on campus, Cerda found it difficult to utilize
more areas on campus dedicated for breastfeeding mothers. “I started reaching out to different buildings, and different people on campus. I really tried to advocate for more spaces on campus, but I haven’t got a lot of good traction. I’ve got a lot of pushback, and I understand that spaces are limited here, but I have been a little disappointed,” Cerda said. Cerda said that despite the pushback at first, UCO designated locations on campus to support mothers by providing a comfortable, clean and private environment for nursing mothers during their time on campus. See Breastfeeding on 5
A new breastfeeding pod, called Mamava, now sits in the Wellness Center on campus, and allows mothers a private space to nurse their children.Photo by Miranda VanMeter, The Vista.
Got a Concern? Go to UCO’s Student Congress Kateleigh Mills @kateleighsuz Editor-in-Chief
The University of Central Oklahoma’s Student Congress gathers every Monday at 1 p.m. in the Will Rogers Room in the Nigh University Center where a portion of the meeting is to discuss student concerns. UCO’s Student Congress is the Legislative Branch of the UCOSA, UCO’s Student Association. The members
include senators, Chair of Student Congress, Caleb Shaw, Vice Chair of Student Congress Stockton Duvall and Secretary of Student Congress Kalina Popova. There are also seven congressional committees, which include: Accountability, Reform, and Transparency, Campus Development, Graduate Student Affairs, Human Diversity, Public Relations, Ways and Means and Academic Affairs, according to UCOSA’s website.
According to Parliamentarian of UCO Student Congress, Caleb Power, when a student has a concern it usually comes in two forms. According to Parliamentarian of UCO Student Congress, Caleb Power, when a student has a concern it usually comes in two forms. The first type of concern is where a student has an issue they wish to bring to UCO’s Student Congress but they do not know how they would fix it. See Concerns on 3