FEB. 14, 2012
Dancing with the Bronchos
Old North
Madison Berryman of UCO’s track team and her partner Al Jones won the competition held Friday night. Page 8
The historic building edges ever closer to reopening, but the inside still has much work to be done. Page 3
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THE VISTA
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA’S student voice since 1903.
Office of Campus Activities
UCO GOES PINK FOR BREAST CANCER By Christina Dickens / Contributing Writer
This week, UCO will be celebrating “Paint the Campus Pink Week,” a weeklong philanthropic event supporting breast cancer awareness. Appropriately held on Valentine’s week where the existing pink décor supports the event, there will be many festivities to promote awareness and raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “According to statistics, one out of eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. At UCO, that means that 1,172 can potentially be diagnosed at some point in their lifetime,” Courtney James, assistant
director of Campus Activities, said. “Big Pink exists to educate our community members on this fact but to also raise money for the women and men that are already affected by the disease.” All events of Pink Week precede the five-day volleyball tournament from Feb. 20-24, where participants will play with a four-foot pink volleyball. Paint the Campus Pink Week began on Monday with a Pink Rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second floor of the Nigh University Center, where students could join the Big Pink Committee and get informed about what will be happen-
ing throughout the week. For $1, students could make buttons supporting the cause. The theme of this year’s Pink Week is “Oh the thinks you can think with Big Pink!” Dr. Seuss puts a spin on the fundraising and will be implemented in some of the events, including Pink Eggs and Ham day tomorrow at the Broncho Lake Blue Tent. Pink eggs and ham, similar to their green counterpart from the children’s book, will be served from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Other events include cookie and card decorating today in the NUC ballrooms and Zumba and night
climbing on the rock wall at the Wellness Center tomorrow. Students can tie-dye T-shirts for a $2 donation in addition to rock climbing. Thursday is UCO Pink Day, where students are encouraged to wear pink. Faculty and staff may have a dress down and pink day for a $5 contribution. Pink Day will sponsor events in the NUC such as the kickoff volleyball event, the “Can Breast Cancer Affect Me?” educational program, and distribution of pink treats such as cotton candy, popcorn and lemonade. The first 200 people to submit their entry forms for the volley-
ball tournament will receive a free Big Pink headband. All proceeds raised by donations during Pink Week will be contributed to the Cure-Central and Western Oklahoma to assist men and women affected by breast cancer in the Central Oklahoma area. In its inception last year, Big Pink raised $3110.02. “Big Pink Volleyball and Paint the Campus Pink Week are about so much more than a volleyball tournament and other activities,” James said. “These events raise awareness for members of the UCO community of the real dangers of breast cancer.”
FIRST SNOW OF THE SEMESTER
Alyssa Humphreys, a photographic arts junior, makes a snowman by the Mass Communications building, Monday, Feb. 13, 2012. Photo by Garett Fisbeck, The Vista
T HI NG S
Despite what many people might believe, Valentine’s Day was established as a church holiday and not by greeting card companies. The day was first sanctioned as a holiday back in 498 A.D. by Pope Gelasius.
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Who is the actual St. Valentine? We may never know. The Catholic Church acknowledges three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus. All three were martyrs.
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The oldest Valentine’s poem in known history is one written by Charles, Duke of Orleans. The duke was being imprisoned in the Tower of London and he had written the poem for his wife.
#4 Legend has it that the first “valentine” was sent by the saint himself. The story goes that while being held in prison, Valentine fell in love with his jailer’s daughter. The daughter would visit him in his cell and before his death he wrote her a letter signed, “From your Valentine.”
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WEATHER
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TO KNOW ABOUT VALENTINE’S DAY
TODAY H 56° L 40°
The first commercial valentine greeting cards made in the United States were created in the 1840’s by Esther A. Howland.
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TOMORROW H 63° L 31°
DID YOU KNOW? The original Mr. Potato Head was a kit that included face and body parts that kids jabbed into real potatoes.
More weather at www.uco360.com