the
Volume 118, Issue 14
INSIDE
VISTA “Our Words, Your Voice.”
See Pg.5
Bryce McKinnis @McKinnisBryce
A volunteer heath worker receives a COVID-19 vaccine at the Ayeyarwaddy COVID treatment center, Jan.27, 2021, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)
International students in OK eligible to receive vaccine Amanda Siew
@amandasiewyk Contributing Writer
Broncho sports recap Sports editor Tanner Johnson and writer Rudy Barnes break down the recent UCO baskebtall games. See Pg.6
UCentral Media For more stories from the editors and contributing writers of The Vista, visit UCentralmedia.com See Pg. 2
Apply online to be a Vista reporter or photographer at jobs.uco.edu
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
UCOSA not meeting while off-campus
Reddit vs. Wall Street President of esports at UCO, Ty Wallace, breaks down the events surrounding reddit and GME.
vistanews1903 @thevista1903 @thevista1903 The Vista ucentralmedia.com
International students in Oklahoma will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines free of charge when it becomes available, according to the Oklahoma State Department of Health. “Yes, if they are living here for the purposes of school, we will vaccinate,” said Keith Reed, the health department’s deputy commissioner. “That helps break transmission of COVID in the state.” According to Reed, international students will receive vaccines in Phase 3 of the state’s vaccine priority population framework, which includes “teachers, students, residents and administrative staff in educational set-
tings outside Pre K-12.” However, the health department currently does not have an estimate of when Phase 3 will begin. “Oklahoma’s progress through the priority phase plan for vaccine distribution depends on two things: vaccine supply from the federal governContinued on Pg. 2
"With the past administration, it was up in the air if international students would get the vaccine or not."
-Han Seth Lu, UCO student
Managing Editor
The UCO Student Association operated under a temporary amendment to the Oklahoma Meetings Act that allowed it to vote virtually to pass legislation during the fall semester. That amendment, OK-SB661, was terminated Nov. 15. UCOSA can not vote on any legislation under UCO’s off-campus status, which is set to be lifted Feb. 8, without an extension to that amendment. The date for which UCO is set to hold on-campus classes was pushed back from its original start date on Feb. 2 when UCO President Patti Nuehold-Ravikumar announced the extended restrictions on Jan. 26. “At some point in the semester, as a recommending body, we need to have some say,” said UCOSA Chair De Shannon, “we need to hold votes that are influential for students.” The possibility of an extension to the amendment is on the horizon, Continued on Pg. 3
Bronchos basketball sweep previous week Rudy Barnes
@RudyBarnes15 Contributing Writer
Isaiah Wade made a short layup with three seconds remaining to help the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos beat the Washburn Icahbods 74-72. Wade, a senior forward, finished the game with 21 points, 18 rebounds with 11 second-half points. This is his first playing season in two years since transferring from Washington State. “He was big time tonight, he’s capable of anything and can finish multiple plays,” Bronchos coach Bob Hoffman said. “He’s finally getting his legs underneath him after not playing
any significant minutes the past two years.” The Bronchos Callen Haydon added 14 points and Cam Givens contributed 10 points, shooting 2-3 from downtown. The Ichabods Tyler Geiman had a career-high night as he scored 32 points to lead his team. He also had help from teammate Levi Braun who scored 15 points, with all of them coming from beyond the 3-point line. The game started rough with both teams missing multiple shots and with four teams fouls each, both teams quickly approached the foul bonus with 14 minutes left in the half, 9-8 Ichabods.
Freshman guard Taylor Dement shoots against the opposing team. The Broncho’s are 9-4. (Provided/Broncho Sports)
“They’re young, but they’re smart,” Hoffman said. “They just have to hang in there and things will go their way.”
2 | The Vista
February 2, 2021
International Students
International students in OK eligible to receive vaccine
Continued from pg. 1
ment, and local vaccine uptake,” Reed said. “It will take some time and our efforts will continue over the days, weeks, and months following initial
the
receipt of the vaccine. “We ask for patience and understanding as we progress through this complicated endeavor.” “With the past administration, it was up in the air if international students would get the vaccine or not,”
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Han said. “I’m actually just glad that, now, it’s clear that we’re going to get it.” Han said he wants to be vaccinated not only for his health but also for the sake of the people he meets as an early childhood education major. “I feel like I interact with both vulnerable populations,” Han said. “A lot of my professors are over 60, and I also deal with kids.” Han said that he will have to interact with kindergarten students in person this semester to complete 60 clinical hours in teaching and assessment for his degree. While it is unclear when the vaccines will be available for students, Han said that it is “not a huge concern” for him to get it now because he is not in the vulnerable population. Han said he would recommend other international students get the vaccine. “International students tend to travel a lot,” Han said. “We may travel back home or we may use spring break weekends to visit somewhere. “I do recommend it for the sake of people they will be interacting with, especially because UCO has a huge faculty and staff population who are in the range of vulnerable populations.” According to data from the Open Doors Report on Educational Exchange, there were 7,328 international students in Oklahoma in 2020, with 843 coming from the University of Central Oklahoma. When the vaccines are available, the health department said they recommend students to receive the vaccines
even if they have already contracted COVID-19. “You should wait until 90 days after you test positive for COVID-19 to get the vaccine,” Reed said. “Since this virus is new, we don’t know how long natural immunity might last, but the CDC reports it likely lasts around 90 days.” On Jan. 28, the health department reported that 10% of eligible adults in Oklahoma had received at least the first dose of the vaccine, which is about 373,279 doses. According to Reed, getting either COVID-19 vaccine may come with side effects, saying the majority were of “mild to moderate severity” and a “very few” were serious events. “Most of the side effects reported are in line with other commonly received vaccines, such as your annual flu shot, including pain at the injection site,” Reed said. “Other commonly reported side effects include muscle aches, headache, fatigue, and shivering and occasionally fever.” He also said that side effects are more noticeable after the second injection.
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UCOSA
February 2, 2021
The Vista | 3
UCOSA not meeting while off-campus
Continued from pg. 1
as a Oklahoma senate bill has been proposed to allow and encourage virtual public meetings. “So much of our life now is conducted online, and in the short-term will remain so due to the pandemic, it makes sense to carry forward the measures that brought increased access and transparency to government at all levels,” said Senator Pro Tempore Greg Treat. “It’s looking like it’s going to be extended,” Shannon said. “And that’s being said if UCO extends virtual. “If they don’t extend, as long as we have in-person quorum, that doesn’t apply to us.” Shannon claimed that UCOSA is not required to operate under the OMA, although the Congress prefers to do so for “full transparency, but the requirement to comply with the OMA is what triggered this dilemma. As previously reported in The Vista, UCO is a public body that distributes public funds, and student governments are considered to be a committee under their university and required to follow OMA and the Open Records Act. Although UCOSA removed the language from its constitution that explains OMA and ORA in September, it is not absolved from its responsibility to comply with both. UCOSA Senator Emily Grim, who chairs the Committee for Accountability, Reform, and Transparency, told The Vista last semester that UCOSA meetings must follow the OMA. “We still do have to follow [the OMA],” Grim said. “Essentially, we’re still held to it, in the same way that we’re held to all UCO, OSGA, and Oklahoma guidelines for groups like ours.” If UCO continues to extend virtual learning and that amendment is not extended, UCOSA may face another obstacle that could affect UCO students: drafting and voting on budget recommendations for student organizations for the next fiscal year starting on July 1. UCOSA Congress discussed budgets during its first virtual meeting of the semester on Monday. Shannon, who was previously a member of the Ways and Means Committee, said that if UCOSA is not able to vote on budgets by its own five-week timeline, it will still be able to make its budget recommendations as long as they are completed by the end of the semester. “If the state legislators don’t get anything until April [on UCO funding],
UCOSA last met in the fall semester, but has been unable to meet in 2021 thus far due to the University of Central Oklahoma moving online. (Provided/Vista Archives)
we can still vote on that, and the money will be the same,” Shannon said. “As long as it’s approved by July 1 or the end of school, [student organizations’] money won’t be affected.” Shannon said that if circumstances do not allow for a vote to be held, he intends to pursue a solution with the “chain of custody.” “Some of the students that are in those groups, that’s their passion in college,” Shannon said. “If someone is passionate about a group and has events they’d love to plan and we can’t give that to them, that’s something, personally, that I would hate.” Shannon has considered introducing solutions outside of a vote in case UCOSA cannot vote. “If it comes down to it that the whole semester is washed on if we can’t vote on anything, I think importance would prevail,” Shannon said. The UCO Student Association has operated its first two weeks without a secretary, whose role is to fulfil the requirements under the Open Records Act. Hannah Turner, who had previously served on UCOSA Congress as vice chair, dismissed herself from Congress during winter break due to a heavy class schedule, Shannon said. “Hannah’s someone that loves to give it her all,” Shannon said, “and she didn’t feel like she could necessarily do that with her major classes getting harder.” Former Secretary, DeLauren Diaz, was promoted to Turner’s position, leaving a hole in the secretary position. The secretary would otherwise be voted in by UCOSA Senators during
the election cycle, but that vote cannot happen until UCO returns to on-campus learning or other allowances are made to meet virtually. . Statutes within UCOSA’s constitution have no precedent for filing a congressional seat during a term without a vote, leaving Shannon and Diaz some autonomy to fill the opening. “Not even Cole [Stanley] as an advisor has seen this,” Shannon said. Shannon launched a form for senators to apply to fill the seat with interviews to follow. “We just felt it was a lot easier and a lot more efficient to appoint this person,” Shannon said, “unless there was senator feedback that wanted to grant an election. “We didn’t have any push-back on the application, interview section,” Shannon said. “But there is that whatif.” Shannon has considered including UCOSA President James Limbaugh and Vice President Christian Coleman into the decision, although he wants to avoid excessive intersections between the responsibilities of the executive and congressional branches. “With two people voting, it’s kind of iffy,” Shannon said, “so if need-be, I’m kind of open to opening it up to UCOSA [executive] as a whole. “I would hate for someone that’s wanting to apply for the position to not feel like they have any chance because there’s two of us,” Shannon said. Shannon hopes to fill the position by UCOSA’s third Congress on Feb. 8. The interim secretary would serve throughout the remainder of the spring semester.
“In our exec meeting, we brought up maybe adding something to the statutes,” Shannon said, “so it’s a lot easier for the people that come after us if this happens, to kind of look back and see how to do it, how not to do it.” UCOSA Congress also discussed some of their priorities for the spring semester during a meeting on Monday. The executive branch discussed introducing an “after-hours” program that would extend available times for students to utilize virtual services. “UCO has been able to do a lot of things virtually that they never thought they could do before,” Shannon said. “There are no very efficient services for students that can’t go during those traditional nine-to-five hours to get any help. “So, if you have a question about your FAFSA and you can’t get to school on time. . . that just keeps getting pushed back,” Shannon said. Shannon said UCOSA has received support from Christopher Lynch, the UCO Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success. The congressional branch will also be responsible for adjusting the number of senator seats allotted to each of the five colleges. Similar to the U.S. House of Representatives, each UCO college is allotted a given number of senators based on its total student enrollment. UCOSA has not been able to redistribute those seats in two years, due to campus closing in spring 2020 for COVID-19, during which time they would usually update their numbers. UCOSA is also considering options to extend its compliance within the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act, including live-casting UCOSA meetings for students to attend or uploading meetings following their adjournment. “I don’t know exactly how that works,” Shannon said, “but that’s definitely something that we want to do.” According to Shannon, running fair UCOSA elections in April is one of his highest concerns. “One thing that I’d like to see from my side. . . is making sure [elections] are run efficiently,” Shannon said, “making sure it’s fair, it’s smooth.” UCOSA also has aspirations to encourage UCO in establishing a “green fund” to increase sustainability efforts, Shannon said. The congress also discussed solutions to provide graduating seniors with an in-person ceremony in May. UCOSA Congress meets next at 4 p.m. Monday.
4 | The Vista
February 2, 2021
GME/Cheer
How Redditors shook the stock exchange Ty Wallace
@HALTexe Contributing Writer
GameStop’s current stock price is about $325.00 as of writing. A month ago it was around $19. This massive jump in stock price was orchestrated by one Reddit user by the name of Roaring Kitty. His real name is Keith Gill, and he works at a life insurance company and has two kids. On the side, he would live stream to YouTube educational content on the stock market. While the stock market in general is what he covers, has been monitoring the price of GameStop stock since at least April. Gill’s Twitter, with 704 posts, contains “$GME” in most Tweets. Sometimes that is the only thing in the tweet accompanying a meme. So how did the GameStop price rise so quickly from his rallying? Gill and a group of others purchased GameStop stock options, which essentially is a way to reserve the right to buy a stock at a certain price and is considered safer than outright buying the stock. Options also allow the user to pull out from the trade at any time. GameStop at the time was what investors would call a “risky buy”. With the sales of games moving most-
ly to digital storefronts such as Steam, Epic, Microsoft and PlayStation, brick and mortar game stores struggled to keep up. All of this with a pandemic thrown on top, GameStop was looking at bankruptcy. Gill was looking to profit off of a “short squeeze,” which Investopedia defines as “A short squeeze occurs when a stock or other asset jumps sharply higher, forcing traders who had bet that its price would fall, to buy it in order to forestall even greater losses. Their scramble to buy only adds to the upward pressure on the stock’s price.” Overall it worked. In total, Gill invested $754,991.37, with over a 4000% gain, he now has over 46 million in his stock account. But Gill is not cashing out yet. This investment, along with others has become a rallying cry against the 1%. Memes poured onto Twitter citing the “reclamation of the stock market from the rich”. The app Robinhood also came into the picture when they removed the ability for users to trade GME and AMC stock, due to their perceived volatility. While they have recently opened those stocks back up for limited purchasing, users were unhappy with the removal. These stocks were locked by Robinhood, an app for entry-level
In this Oct. 15, 2020 file photo, a woman wears a face mask as she walks past a GameStop store in Des Plaines, Ill. Two hedge funds are bowing out of their short positions on the money-losing video game retailer. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
stock trading, meaning that most of the people blocked from trading, were the ones that might have less say in the market. Nilay Patel, @Reckless, noted on Twitter that Robinhood actually states in their terms and conditions that they have the right to lock trading on specific stocks on their platform. Most of the commentary from those involved orbits around the idea that they have nothing to lose, only
gain. Many posts on the r/Wallstreetbets subreddit have also come from people reporting that after trading GME, they were able to pay off different loans, bills, or other expenses that their regular income had prevented payment before. A common symbol on Reddit and Twitter has been the rocket emoji, showing that the stock is soaring, and that their destination is the moon.
UCO cheer team handles challenges with COVID-19 Lillian Myers Contributing Writer
The erratic trading in shares of underdog companies like GameStop that turned markets combustible last week appears to have migrated to commodities, sending silver prices surging to an eight-year high. (Nicole Pereira/New York Stock Exchange via AP)
With COVID-19 restrictions in place on campus, UCO cheer has had to do things differently for their season. The first three weeks of the spring 2021 semester have been online at UCO. Cheer can still practice, but it is different. Ruthie Ross is a junior on UCO cheer. She has been a part of the cheer team since she was a freshman. Ross stated: “At first the team was told that since classes would be starting online, we weren’t going to be able to practice. A few days later we got confirmation that we could practice but only with 25 people.” Dakota Ross is a junior at UCO. He has been on the cheer team since he was a freshman. “The only thing that has really changed is the mask thing,” he stated. That was probably the hardest thing to adjust to. Something else that has changed is we are not allowed to have more than 25 people in the gym at
one time. Normally our team consists of 30 or so people. Not being able to have everyone there because of that has really made it harder to buckle down and start putting things together.” Even though practice looks different this season, the team is excited to still be able to practice and compete. Dakota Ross stated: “I personally think that interacting with my cheer team has been affected, but in a positive way. This pandemic has made me realize that I am very lucky to be a part of this team.” Zoe Grigg, a sophomore, has been on UCO cheer since her freshman year. Grigg stated, “Even though there are restrictions and things have never been this way, I’m just happy we are still able to practice with each other.” The National Cheer Association hosts the National Cheer Competition which is UCO cheer’s biggest competition each year. This year, competition will be held virtually for UCO cheer because of the travel ban on athletes until the end of March.
Basketball
February 2, 2021
The Vista | 5
Bronchos basketball sweep previous week
Continued from pg. 1
The Bronchos finished the first half strong with a five-point lead at 39-34, despite strong play from the Ichabods Tyler Gieman with 14 points. The Bronchos continued their hot streak as they started the s econd half on a quick 8-0 run, highlighted by a monster dunk from Wade. The Bronchos maintained a healthy lead until inside of three minutes. Central found themselves tied with the Ichabods 72-72 with nine seconds left, and Isaiah Wade made the game-winning layup with two seconds left off an assist from Jaden Wells. The Bronchos stole Washburn’s inbounds pass and time expired. The Bronchos improved their record to 5-5 and the Ichabods drop to
11-3. The Bronchos play next at 6 p.m. Tuesday against the Lincoln Blue Tigers at Hamilton Field House. Women's Basketball: The University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos women’s basketball team hit late-game shots in a 74-73 win over the Washburn Ichabods Saturday. The Bronchos avenged their 10-point loss to the Ichabods from earlier in the season. Senior forward Kelsey Johnson displayed her dominance in the paint; she scored 24 points, with eight from the charity stripe. “She’s just good, every team in the league wishes they had Kelsey,” Bronchos coach Guy Hardaker said. “Kelsey gets moved a lot while taking her shots. She doesn’t get to go to the
line as much as she should.” “Under a minute and we’re up, we’re gonna let them dribble across half court and foul them, make them hit their free throws,” Hardaker said. The Bronchos Jaci Littell and Brooke Rayner both had 11 points with the majority of those points from the first half of the game. The end of the first quarter it was tied at 16 despite the Bronchos having taken seven more shots than the Ichabods. In the second quarter, the Ichabods controlled the tempo of the game with tough defense. This led to a 7-0 run led by Abby Oliver and Hunter Bentley that was answered by the Bronchos with their own 7-0 run. But the Ichabods ended on a 4-0 run
at the end of the second quarter with a 32-28 lead. The start of the third quarter showed signs of hope for the Bronchos. Raynor, Carly Donica, Karly Wadsworth hit 3-pointers to give the Bronchos a 47-45 lead at the end of the third. The fourth quarter was back-andforth until late. With 40 seconds left, Bronchos freshman forward Caley Young drained a wide open 3-pointer and a couple more free throws to put the Bronchos up 72-69. The Bronchos continued to foul the Ichabods to avoid any tying or winning 3-pointers to seal the game. Central moved to to 9-4 after the win over the Ichabods. The Bronchos play next at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Nebraska-Kearney.
Defense leads UCO men, women to wins over Hornets
UCO guard Shemar Smith shoots over Ben Smith of Emporia State on Jan. 28. UCO won the game 73-61. (Provided/Broncho Sports)
Tanner Johnson @tdjohnson28 Sports Editor
Women's Basketball: The University of Central Oklahoma women's basketball team beat the Emporia State Hornets 77-70 Thursday night at Hamilton Field House. Kelsey Johnson led the way with 18 points and four rebounds, and Brooke Rayner filled up the stat sheet, finishing the game with 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. "Our defense really helped us late," UCO women’s head coach Guy Hardaker said. "They helped with forcing turnovers and they helped with limiting open shots. Emporia was making everything in the first half and the girls did a good job tonight of responding with a really good second half." It was a back-and-forth battle for the majority of the first quarter. The Bronchos made their first three shots, all from different players. Back-to-
back 3-pointers from Brooke Rayner made the score 10-8 with 6:41 to go in the first quarter. The Hornets would answer by going on an 11-0 run over the next four minutes to make the score 19-10. Central would finish the quarter strong, and a buzzer-beater by Clary Donica made the score 19-17 going into the second quarter. Emporia made four 3-pointers in just the second quarter, but the Bronchos managed to stick around. After a 3-pointer and transition layup from Avery Allen, Central took the lead 33-31 with three minutes to go until halftime. Going into the half, the Bronchos trailed 40-37. Central's defense stepped up in the second half. Their defense made the Hornets shoot just 25 percent from the floor in the third quarter. A pair of free-throws from Jaci Littell brought UCO's lead to six, but in
the fourth quarter, the Hornets took the lead back with six minutes to play. Kaci Richardson hit a 3-pointer and Johnson made a driving layup with four minutes to play, and the Bronchos did not trail the rest of the way. Caley Young finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. Allen made three 3-pointers, finished with 11 points and four assists. Littell and Richardson each scored six points. The Bronchos moved to 8-4 overall. Men's Basketball: The University of Central Oklahoma men's basketball team beat the Emporia State Hornets 73-61 Thursday night at Hamilton Field House. The Bronchos played the Hornets in two of their last three games, they also won the first meeting 71-59. "We did a good job in a lot of different areas tonight, I'm just really proud of our guys," UCO head men's basketball coach Bob Hoffman said. "We shot the ball very well tonight, one of our better games. We moved the ball, and we played good defense."
Jaden Wells led the team in scoring with 16 points, hitting five 3-pointers. He also tacked on five rebounds and two steals. A 3-pointer on the right wing from Wells with 18:17 to go in the first half gave Central a 5-4 lead. A driving layup by Callen Haydon capped off a 20-7 run, and Central led 25-11 with 8:33 to go until halftime. Emporia responded by eating away at the lead, and the Bronchos' 14-point lead was brought down to just five at halftime. Central led 33-28. At the 12:58 mark in the second half, the Hornets took the lead 42-40, but Wells stopped Emporia's momentum with his third 3-pointer of the night. The Bronchos would not trail for the remainder of the game. Haydon finished with 13 points on 6-11 shooting, along with seven assists. Isaiah Wade had a near double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Cam Givens also had a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. Shemar Smith tacked on nine points and three rebounds,
UCO forward Kaci Richardson looks for open teammates in a a transition breakaway on Jan. 28. UCO won the game 77-70. (Provided/Broncho Sports)