UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
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Students gain experience at the health center PAGE 6
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•Crossword PAGE 18 •Horoscopest PAGE 18 •Classifieds PAGE 19
The Student Voice Since 1903
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BRIEFS >News Crowning Moments International students will try to sing, dance and dress their way to a crown at the first International Pageant Sep. 29 Page 4 ✓
>Sports The Broncho football team lost its third game of the season to Eastern New Mexico and fall to a 1 and 3 record. ✓ Page 7
>Features Hi-ya Two UCO Aikido Club members will display their skills for a balck belt in the sport Sep 24 Page 3 ✓
TODAY IN HISTORY Jonathan Chapman, born in Massachusetts on September 26, 1775, came to be known as "Johnny Appleseed." Chapman earned his nickname because he planted small orchards and individual apple trees across 100,000 square miles of Midwestern wilderness and prairie.
QUOTE OF THE DAY Life is action and passion; therefore, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and ation of the ti, at peril of being jueged not hto have lived.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
WEATHER Sunny. High in Tue. the low 70s..
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TUESDAY • SEPT. 26, 2000
Fires blaze 100,000 acres around Edmond BY MIKE GREER
Staff Writer
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ecent fires endangered thous'ands of people across the Sooner state, including many UCO students. "I live on 33rd and Coltrane. I was on my way to work and there was a fire right there. It was about a mile from my house. We were watering our lawn, our trees, our house," said Patricia Mitchell, Jr. advertising major. The fires, which surrounded Edmond, began the afternoon of Sept. 19 and blazed through the night, taking more than 100,000 acres of Oklahoma
land with them. "The biggest fire was less than two miles east of our house and another was just a mile south. There was smoke in practically every direction and a glow to the east," —{1 : said Christy Smith, interior design graduate student. Several homes were destroyed in the all-night inferno. "I turned on the television and my old house was burning down. I
couldn't believe it. I lived there three months ago," said Mary Beth Bullock, Sr business major. There were no reported fatalities and few injuries attributed to the flames by press time. "The fires were within a mile of my parents' house Tuesday. Thursday there were four arson fires just as
close. My brother was home by himself but the way the winds were blowing he was safe," said Carrie Bischoff, Jr. math marketing major. A change in the weather has decreased the danger of fires across the region, but fire safety is always encouraged, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The agency recommends that homeowners keep brush and vegetation a safe distance from their homes and keep gutters and roofs free of dried leaves and tree matter. "I've been in Oklahoma over ten years, these are the worst fires I've ever seen," Smith said. •
Flu vaccinations may be late due to component shortage BY SARAH DAVIS
Staff Wri ter
eople who are prone to the flu may have to wait longer for vaccinations this year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a possible delay in distribution of the A/Panama strain of the flu vaccine. Manufacturers are having difficulty producing the strain. The A(H3N2) component of the influenza is lower than expected, limiting the supply of vaccine that can be developed. Other manufacturing issues are contributing to the problem. The Advisory Committe on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has recommended the delay of mass influenza vaccination campaigns to November. Campaigns are usually recommended for October through the middle of November. "We've received two letters about this, one from the company that sends us the vaccine and one from the CDC. When we actually receive the shipments of vaccine, we will receive an updated letter giving guidelines of when to
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vaccinate," said LaBette Wallenmeyer, directer of the UCO Student Health Center. The Student Health Center is following the CDC guidelines recommended from what they know so far. Vaccinations in November will be given only to those who are 65 or older or have chronic conditions and to health care workers in contact with high risk patients. "We will need to have some kind of proof of identification for those getting early vaccinations," Wallenmeyer said. In December, household members of high-risk patients and other health care workers may be vaccinated. After December, remaining people may be vaccinated. The CDC recommends that persons at high risk for complications from the flu proceed routinely with regular health-care visits. Also, other antiviral drugs approved by the FDA to treat acute, uncomplicated influenza
See VACCINE, Page 13
PHOTO RY TSUYOSHI SHIRAISIII
Misha Mowdy, RN, gives finance major Hetal Parekh a checkup at the Student Health Center.