Feb 21

THE“CAMPUS February 21, 2018 – Volume 111 Issue 18

Student stuck in falling elevator asks for permanent fix

A

student who was stuck in a falling elevator Feb. 14 in Oklahoma United Methodist Hall dormitory is asking for a solution.

Stephanie Nozomi-Krichena, percussion performance sophomore, was riding the elevator from the fourth floor to the first floor when it started falling in increments.

“I started freaking out, like what if it had dropped from the fourth floor to L2,” Nozomi-Krichena said. “Because that’s like a six-story drop.”

Nozomi-Krichena said she was in the falling elevator for about three minutes. She first tried to communicate with a student on the other side of the elevator door before she pressed the emergency button in the elevator and spoke to police.

“I was very frantic and crying and not able to communicate at all,” she said.

When Nozomi-Krichena reached the first floor, she met with campus police and housing officials. She was in a panic, but was uninjured and did not need medical attention, officers said.

“She was completely upset,” Police Chief Jennifer Rodgers said. “She was hysterical. I’m sure it would freak anybody out.”

Rodgers said OCU Police Lt. Michael Kavenius tested the elevator afterward and experienced the same issue.

Police decided no one was getting back on that elevator, Rodgers said.

Nozomi-Krichena said she had to attend class five minutes after the incident and was still distressed.

Persisting issues There was no indication the elevator wasn’t functional at that time, Nozomi-Krichena said, but she heard reports of this type of incident happening before in Methodist Hall.

Nozomi-Krichena said the elevators have had issues in the past with maintenance officials actually going to fix them.

Nozomi-Krichena said she was told something similar happened to another group of students several weeks ago, which resulted in the placement of an “out of order” sign that was taken down by the time she used the elevator.

There have been other instances of the “close” button not functioning on the elevator door, Nozomi-Krichena said. She also said she hopes maintenance fixes the problem because she’s afraid of living in Methodist Hall.

“I really hope that this time maintenance can come and permanently fix this issue,” she said. “We’ve all had issues like that, and people could have been hurt.”

Kevin Culbertson, head resident assistant for Methodist Hall, said facilities officials are working with the elevator contractor KONE to repair the issue.

“It has something do with the braking system in there,”

I really hope that this time maintenance can come and permanently fix this issue.

Stephanie Nozomi-Krichena percussion performance sophomore

Culbertson said.

Culbertson said the fact that the elevator fell in increments is positive because it means the emergency settings are working.

If the brake sensors were off, the elevator would’ve jolted and it would have felt like a harsher drop, he said.

Moving forward KONE manages all elevators on campus. Culbertson said they are sending the parts needed to repair the elevator, but there is no timeline available for elevator repairs.

“It’s a matter of KONE getting back with us and telling us what’s going on,” he said. “All that we’ve heard is that our part is on order with no timeframe on it, unfortunately.”

For the time being, the emergency doors are closed and there is an “out of order” sign on the door on each of the floors.

Culbertson and Michael Burns, head of housing and residential life, spoke to Nozomi-Krichena after she came out of the elevator.

“She was just shaken up, of course, as anyone would be,” Culbertson said. “I would probably be just as scared. I don’t like heights and I don’t like the feeling of falling.”

Culbertson said he hasn’t received reports of the elevator falling in the past, but he heard about the broken button from students.

“The elevator’s been out of commission because it may not have worked, but it’s never fallen before,” he said.

Reporting issues Culbertson said students should contact maintenance if there is an issue with housing or elevators and contact police if there is a danger, especially if an elevator is shaking or falling.

Students also can fill out a work order at myschoolbuilding. com or contact maintenance officials in case of an emergency at 405-208-5382.

Nozomi-Krichena said she’s fine, but she doesn’t want to ride an elevator anytime soon.

Zoe Travers Student Publications

An out of order sign was placed on the emergency door of the elevator where Nozomi-Krichena experienced falling on Feb. 14 in United Methodist Hall.

The elevator is out of commission until a contractor from KONE inspects it.

“I just really want them to fix the elevator,” she said.

Mark Clouse, director of facilities, and Andy Wiley, head electrician, were unavailable Feb. 16 for comment.

By News Editor Zoe Travers

Students take on college debt Sage Tokach

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Students have access to scholarships, but some still take out loans to help to pay for OCU’s tuition.

The university was recognized earlier this semester on a list of 150 private colleges with the least average student debt.

LendEDU, a company that provides advising services for various financial products, ranked OCU 89th in the U.S. in a Jan. 25 article. It listed $26,329 as the average amount of debt per borrower with 57 percent of OCU students graduating with debt. The data was based on the class of 2016.

OCU also was referenced in a Jan. 25 BuzzFeed article in which Alumna Bonnie Porter said she regrets not going to a “more affordable school.”

Porter said she got a good education but graduated with $20,000 in debt, an amount she is unable to pay off with her current job, according to the article.

Elina Moon Student Publications

Donut let love hurt

Melissa Feldman, vocal performance senior; Jacob Elliott, Katie Sperry, music theater seniors; and Alex German, vocal performance senior, take a picture at Alpha Chi Omega sorority’s Donut Let Love Hurt event Feb. 15. It was a philanthropy event to benefit the Young Women’s Christian Association. The sorority had an all-you-can-eat doughnut buffet for $5 and musical entertainment. They raised more than $1,000.

M MEDIAOCU.com

Paying for school One semester of tuition as a full-time undergraduate student at OCU costs $13,638 for the academic year.

When fees, housing, meal plans, and other expenses are added, the total semester cost reaches between $30,000 and $43,000 without scholarship, depending on each student’s major and situation, according

to okcu.edu.

The estimated cost of attending college as an undergraduate full-time student ranges from $11,000 to $20,000 for resident students and $16,000 to $35,000 for non-resident students at public universities, according to okcollegestart.org.

Scholarships are available to help students manage the cost.

Incoming students are guaranteed at least $1,700 in academic scholarship per semester if they maintain at least a 3.0 GPA in college. Students also can apply or audition for talent and departmental scholarships based on their major.

Some students afford costs through the United Methodist Church, Reserve Officer Training Corps, athletics, or one of the other scholarships available to all majors.

More than 90 percent of students are awarded financial aid, according to okcu.edu.

A full list of scholarships is available at okcu.edu/financialaid/types-of-assistance/ scholarships.

Beth Woodall, vocal performance senior, said she will graduate with debt despite having several scholarships.

“OCU does charge a lot, but if they raised the amount of academic and talent scholarship for vocalists, it wouldn’t be as bad,” Woodall said.

scholarships made OCU a financially smart choice for her.

“My dad is a Methodist pastor, which means that I’m on the clergy dependent tuition waiver,” Wade said. “Plus, being an RA and other general scholarships, I’m never paying more than a couple thousand dollars a semester.”

Resident assistants are students who are trained and chosen to be peer leaders in campus residence halls.

RAs receive free university housing.

Pricing education Tomorrow Denton, cell and molecular biology senior, said the residence halls are reasonably priced, but the university still overcharges students.

“It’s private, and it is a good university, but the tuition rate and the fees are both really high,” Denton said.

Wade said the university’s cost is a better deal for certain majors.

“Comparatively, I think OCU is overpriced depending on what your major is,” she said. “For performance majors, I feel like they get more out of their money than other majors.”

Tuition reduction Anna Wade, early childhood education junior, said

A bartered bride

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opinion Talk Back:

“What is the meaning behind your tattoo?”

“The tattoo on my side is designed like on the side of a bridge. My dad worked for the department of transportation and they named a bridge after him.”

“There's a song by Rend Collective called 'Lighthouse.' It basically symbolizes Jesus and how, when you're in a place of darkness, he shines like a lighthouse.”

Ike Schmiedel biomedicine sophomore

Mackenzie VanZee religion/psychology freshman

“The top part is a sexual abuse survivor symbol. The German means 'love and become who you are.'”

“It's the women's sign. It's for women's equality and women in my life that are important to me.”

Madelynn Buckman entertainment business junior

Celina James music theater sophomore

“I got a tattoo of the Arizona outline on my arm. It's just a way to ground me and remind me I come from a place of love, and that I’ll always have a home there.”

“It's 'always' from Harry Potter.”

Mark Munoz vocal performance freshman

Emmaline Seyler dance performance junior

“My tattoo is a tattoo I got on Friday the 13th. It is a rose because it is my grandma's favorite flower.”

“It is the semicolon project that symbolizes people who struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. The arrow symbolizes being pulled back to fly forward.”

Kathryn Sugianto business administration sophomore

Ethan Zambrano dance pedagogy junior

Respect differing opinions in conversations following shooting The campus community needs to come together and avoid divisiveness following a Florida mass shooting.

A school shooting occurred Feb. 14 in Parkland, Florida, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Seventeen people were killed and at least 14 more were injured. A dialogue about gun control and mental health care has followed, as it has after previous mass shootings.

When young people die in such horrible ways, emotions are high and people are likely to be more sensitive about these issues than normal. This is perfectly natural-feelings of grief, anger and sadness find a way to come out. But students should be careful not to let these feelings prevent them from having productive conversations.

Gun control is an issue that has been discussed for a long time, and it’s just as important today to address it in a practical, fact-based manner. Even when two individuals disagree, there still must be room for differences of opinion without aggression or acrimony.

If someone expresses an opinion that is different from yours, remember to listen and try to understand them before stating your own point. Students must remember to see their peers not as mindsets or opinions, but as complex individuals with life experiences that shape who they are and how they think.

School shootings are an ongoing issue in America, and it seems like there is no progress toward a solution. Refusal to cooperate between politicians is perhaps the largest cause of failure to address this issue. If students, faculty and staff can’t conduct dialogue on

the issue without room for respectful disagreement, then we’re making the same mistake that has prevented progress on the issue in the first place.

Educate yourself on the issues you see as important and have constructive, thoughtful conversations about them. Don’t blame people or generalize. Be polite, but don’t wait for action. If things are to change, the community needs to rally together and figure out how to make those changes happen. But, the only way to really accomplish this is to hear each other out and listen first before reacting.

Columnist discusses gun control solutions, challenges I’m angry. Seventeen people are dead and more are wounded after a man with a history of violence, expulsion and gun obsession walked into his former school and opened fire with an AR-15.

To those of you who are saying that this is a mental health issue, I agree. So let’s get funding and some type of screening so young people who brag on Facebook about wanting to kill people with AR-15s cannot legally obtain them. Some Republicans will say that it’s not a gun issue, but will then vote against funding for any sort of mental health screening.

While I agree that this is a mental health issue, it is irresponsible to deny that it is also a gun issue. Let’s be real here, we are the only country in the world with this epidemic. Yes, other countries have violence and crime, but we suffer more mass shootings and more gun

deaths than any other country in the world.

Taking away guns is obviously not the correct answer.

Too many Americans already own guns, and guns are an essential part of our constitution and our republic as a whole. But let’s analyze what specific guns are being used.

Fifty-eight people were killed in my hometown of Las Vegas last year at the deadly shooting near the Mandalay Bay hotel.

The shooter used an AR-15.

Forty-nine lives were taken in 2016 at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and the shooter used an AR-15.

Twenty children between the ages of six and seven were killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The shooter used an AR-15.

Seventeen high schoolers, coaches and teachers are dead after the events that took place on Valentine’s Day in Florida.

The shooter used-you guessed

Harrison Langford is an acting junior from Las Vegas who loves golden retrievers and the New York Giants.

it-an AR-15.

There are countless other massacres where “America’s most popular rifle” has been used to slaughter innocent civilians. Let’s try to put this into perspective.

If AR-15s were illegal, and these shooters only had access to handguns, then I am certain the loss of life wouldn’t be as catastrophic. I find it sad, though, that I have to compromise the loss of innocent lives at all.

The AR-15, a military grade semi-automatic rifle that can be modified to be fully automatic, needs to be outlawed and taken off our streets.

I also turn my eyes to Repub-

lican representatives. After the shooting in Las Vegas, nothing changed. There was a bill on the floor in Congress to outlaw the sale of bump-stocks, the device used to modify a semiautomatic rifle into a fullyautomatic rifle. That bill was denied by Republicans who receive campaign funding from the National Rifle Association.

Republicans also denied a bill that would outlaw people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns legally. Why? To keep their pockets full of money from the NRA. My heart broke on Valentine’s Day as I watched television footage of children running

out of their school with their hands above their heads, surrounded by men with big guns.

A teacher who was being interviewed said she felt let down by her country. I agree with her.

We have a societal issue with guns. We idolize them and think having an AR-15 in case of a government takeover or home invasion trumps the safety of country music concert goers, six and seven year olds, people at a nightclub, or children trying to get an education in one of the safest counties in America.

Lastly, I must question the people calling this a “tragedy.”

By definition, tragedy is fated and inevitable. Nothing can be done to stop it. This was no tragedy.

Can we really be shocked that this happened? Militarygrade weapons and high-capacity magazines are legal. The FBI didn’t do enough to track his suspicious YouTube comments or Facebook posts before the

shooting. When the Las Vegas massacre happened, people told me it was too soon to discuss the problem with guns.

Well, here we are yet again.

Is it still too soon?

According to the victims who lived through this violence, the answer is no. It is not too soon.

Students from the Florida high school are speaking out on television and in front of big audiences. They are using their young, empowered voices to express their disappointment in our government and their lack of action.

They are calling “BS” on representatives who refuse to take action. They are encouraging everyday people, like you and me, to stand with them, to stand against gun violence and the corruption within our executive branch.

Call your representatives.

We need to put an end to the slaughter of the innocent.

Campus Calendar Calendar items must be received in the Newsroom or stupub@okcu.edu by noon Friday for inclusion in the following Wednesday issue.

TODAY Baseball vs Sterling at 3 p.m. at Jim Wade Stadium Pizza 23 Night for Gamma Phi Beta's National Ovarian Cancer Coalition Week from 5-8:30 p.m. at 600 N.W. 23rd St. THURSDAY B.A. Theater and Performance Short Play Festival from 5:30-9

p.m. at OKC Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive Coffee for a Cause at 7 p.m. at the Gamma Phi Beta house in Nellie R. Melton Panhellenic Quadrangle TheatreOCU Stage II presents: Mother Courage and Her Children at 8 p.m. in Black Box Theater in Wanda L. Bass Music Center

Ad Astra/Chorale Choir Concert at 8 p.m. at Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 3214 N. Lake Ave. Weekly Play Club meeting at 10:30 p.m. in honor's lounge in Gold Star Memorial Building FRIDAY Student Philanthropy Committee Meeting at 1 p.m. in Room 307

in Lacy Admissions and Visitors Center

Medium Rehearsal Hall in Wanda L. Bass Music Center

Baseball vs Central Christian at 3 p.m. at Jim Wade Stadium

SATURDAY Women's basketball vs Texas Wesleyan at 3 p.m. in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center

TheatreOCU Stage II presents: Mother Courage and Her Children at 8 p.m. in Black Box Theater in Wanda L. Bass Music Center Project 21 concert at 8 p.m. in the

February 21, 2018, Volume 111, Number 18

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Associate Community Manager: Harrison Langford Web Editor: Nicole Waltman Associate Web Editor: Emily Wollenberg Staff Writers: Rodney Smith, Callie Dewees

TheatreOCU Stage II presents: Mother Courage and Her Children at 8 p.m. in Black Box Theater in Wanda L. Bass Music Center Pancake Palooza from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Gamma Phi Beta house in Nellie R. Melton Panhellenic Quadrangle

The Campus has served the Oklahoma City University community since 1907. It is published Wednesday during the academic year, with the exception of holidays and exam periods.

THE CAMPUS Editor-in-chief: Miguel Rios Associate Editor: Sage Tokach Copy Editor: Chandler White News Editor: Zoe Travers Photo Editor: Elina Moon Community Manager: Lauren Berlingeri

Men's basketball vs Texas Wesleyan at 4:45 p.m. in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness

and Activity Center

The Student Publications staff welcomes unsolicited material and let-

Photographer: Hannah Rogers Columnist: Caroline Hawthorne Videographer: Emily Haan Proofreader: Tyler Patton Circulation Director: Kalen Castor Faculty Adviser: Kenna Griffin

ters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s phone number, address, major, and classification. The staff reserves the right to edit all letters. The staff also reserves the right to refuse letters without explanation. Letters can be sent online at mediaocu.com, emailed to stupub@ okcu.edu or dropped off at the Newsroom in Walker Center for Arts and Sciences. Submitted items may appear on MediaOCU and in the print edition.

The first issue of The Campus is free. Each additional issue costs 25 cents. Contents copyright, 2018. All rights reserved.

February 21, 2018

“

news

University alumnus wins Oklahoma City mayoral election Miguel Rios

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Oklahoma City’s next mayor is an OCU alumnus making history.

David Holt got 78.5 percent of the vote in the Feb. 13 election for mayor, while Candidates Taylor Neighbors and Randall Smith split the rest of the votes. Holt will be sworn in April 10.

“I’m just very grateful to the people of Oklahoma City,” Holt said. “It’s the greatest honor of my life to be the mayor of my hometown.”

Holt will become Oklahoma City’s first new mayor in 14 years, following Mick Cornett. He also will be the city’s first American Indian mayor, the city’s youngest mayor in more than a century and the nation’s youngest mayor of a city with more than 500,000 people.

Holt has a law degree from the OCU School of Law. He attended three-hour night classes at OCU, four nights a week for three and a half years before graduating in 2009 with a juris doctor.

“I’m proud of my OCU degree. OCU has been very supportive of my career, and

I’m proud that they take pride in me,” Holt said.

Holt said he feels tied to the university. He taught a class on policy in 2012 with President Robert Henry, who he said has always been a friend and supporter.

“I wish I could do it every semester. It was a blast,” Holt said. “Robert Henry has been a friend throughout this adventure that I’ve been on.”

In an email statement to Student Publications, Henry wrote that Holt is “bright, innovative and creative.”

“I think he will be a mayor in the tradition of the Norick family that has provided two great mayors of Oklahoma City-both lovers of OCU as well,” he wrote.

Jim Norick served as mayor in 1959 and 1967. Ron Norick, his son and chairman of the board of trustees, was mayor in 1987. Henry bought Jim Norick’s cufflinks at an estate sale and gave them to Holt in 2015.

“He said he was giving them to me because he wanted me to be mayor some day,” Holt said.

“I’ve had them ever since, and I never wore them until Tuesday on election day.”

Holt is an attorney and a

I feel the obligation to take responsibility for this community’s future. OCU is a big part of that. I value the students that we have at that institution.

David Holt mayor-elect

Republican State senator for Oklahoma’s 30th district. He will resign from the Senate before being sworn in as mayor.

Holt said he’s proud of serving as a senator and staying focused on improving life in Oklahoma.

“A lot of the headlines out of the legislature are goofy things that are not helping our state be a better place, and I always try to stay focused on things that I sincerely felt—and I think others would’ve felt—made the daily lives of Oklahomans better,” he said.

Holt said he has always been open to compromise, which may have helped him win the mayoral election.

“I ended up getting 80 percent of the vote. I mean, who gets 80 percent of the vote? But it’s because I embraced the idea that partisanship is holding us back,” Holt said.

David Hall, sociology/music

education junior, said he was concerned with Holt’s membership to the American Legislative Exchange Council, an “organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism,” according to alec.org.

“However, there was no better candidate when you look at experience and ability to truly make a difference in changing the face of Oklahoma City—there’s no way around that fact,” Hall said.

Hall said the mayor in Oklahoma City has the same power as city councilors, so special interest ties wouldn’t affect the city.

“Considering he did not have to have tons of work put in to win, he has virtually no extra power, and we, as a city, now only need 6,498 signatures to create the city, schools and

structure we want for the next four years through initiative petition,” he said. “I do not think the special interest groups are something to worry about anymore.”

Holt will replace Cornett, Oklahoma City’s longest-serving mayor. He said it would be easier to follow an unpopular, failed mayor, but is confident that he can keep moving the city forward.

“I think the people of Oklahoma City want to see the momentum continue, and so I think we’ll all work together and it will be successful,” he said.

Holt said the city is going in the right direction and he wants to keep it that way. He campaigned on improving infrastructure, investing in police and fire protection, and promoting job growth. He said he wants the diversity of Oklahomans to be represented.

“The diversity of the city is not really accounted for in our leadership and our decisionmaking process,” he said. “The city is changing. The city has become more diverse and the decision-making process needs to account for that.”

Holt said he wants to make sure OCU’s graduating students

can enter a good job market without having to leave.

“We would love for them to use that great education here in Oklahoma City and so we want to make sure we have a job environment for them,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re meeting their needs, and so we also have to talk to them and ask them. It’s not enough for us to assume we know what a 21-year-old wants.”

Since the city and the university share a name, they are tied for eternity, Holt said.

He said he wants the city to have a quality of life students enjoy and to “make OCU the highlighted institution in our community that I think it should be.”

“I feel the obligation to take responsibility for this community’s future. OCU is a big part of that. I value the students that we have at that institution,” Holt said. “I hope that, whether they’re here for four years or lifetime, they feel a part of Oklahoma City, and I hope they feel that the door is open to the mayor’s office for them.”

Student helps start composting program, looks for other locations Emily Wollenberg

ASSOCIATE WEB EDITOR

Hannah Rogers Student Publications

Premiering worldwide Top: Emily Holguin, music theater/vocal performance junior, sings “Spring is Made for Love” as “Rosa” during The Vaudevillian. The show had performances Friday through Sunday in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. It was the show’s world premiere.

Above: Caroline Allen, music theater sophomore; Colton Kastrup, music theater senior, and Brooke Melton, music theater freshman, introduce the show. The Vaudevillian is inspired by the rise and fall of Rosa Ponselle, a real life soprano who performed in a vaudeville sister act. The next opera is The Bartered Bride with performances at 8 p.m. March 2-3 and 3 p.m.

March 4 in Burg Theatre in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center.

A composting initiative in the caf is lowering food waste and fertilizing a local garden, but they might need a new place to do it.

McAlyn Forbes, acting junior, came up with the idea.

“I began looking into composting on college campuses because I thought it couldn’t be that difficult,” Forbes said.

Forbes talked to Alumnus Ken Williams who started the Repurposing Club on campus. Williams advised her to communicate with Biology Professor Dr. Adam Ryburn and Dr. Anthony Stancampiano, associate biology professor, to put the composting initiative into action.

Forbes, Ryburn and Stancampiano met with Arthur Drain, director of dining services, to figure out a plan for the caf.

“We came up with a plan to start composting pre-consumer waste, so that’s all the stuff that they cut up and discard before they send it out to the caf,” Forbes said.

Patty Franklin, a caf worker, said she and the other staff members set aside the food to be composted when they are preparing for the day.

“When we do our prep for cold food, the peels from pineapples, melons, tomatoes, and berries, all the fruits and vegetables, they all go in there, and they put them in the ground, and they compost, and then they’ve got it for the yard, they’ve got it for the flower beds. It’s free fertilizer, the best kind,” Franklin said.

Franklin said composting is efficient and less wasteful.

“It’s an easy process, and it’s better than throwing it in the trash.

That’s what we were doing. I think it’s a wonderful idea they came up with,” she said.

Franklin said the only food they give to be composted is food from the kitchen, not food that students don’t eat.

Forbes said she and Stancampiano pick up the compost from the caf on Mondays and Wednesdays to take to the OCU community garden, located behind the Oklahoma Children’s Theatre.

She said they use the science department’s golf cart and garbage cans to transport the compost materials.

“There’s this giant box we dump it all in, and then, I think two times a year, we turn it, which is this huge big process,” Forbes said.

Forbes said, after the compost has turned into dirt, they use it

“

to fertilize the garden.

Natalia Botello, vocal music sophomore, composted at CommonWealth Urban Farms, 3310 N. Olie Ave., to fulfill her service learning credit for her environmental ethics class.

“What I’ve learned from my service learning is just that we waste so much food that can go back into the earth,” Botello said.

Botello said she learned most food products can be composted, but people don’t like to compost meat and dairy products because of the smell.

Franklin said they do not send meat, dairy or other foods besides fruits and vegetables to be composted.

Forbes said she is looking for other places to send the compost since the garden is small and the caf produces a lot of waste to compost.

“We’re not going to be able to continue for the whole rest of the semester, but I’m in communication with an off-campus composting service that is going to be in communication with the caf to hopefully get some compost going in an area that can sustain a larger amount of food waste,” she said.

Composting doesn’t cost anything, but, if officials decide to find a place off campus, it would cost to transport.

Botello said composting is a positive change for the university.

“The earth does so much for us, we should try to take care of it. It is a long process, but it’s honestly not that hard. I mean, imagine how much food is going to waste,” she said.

Students interested in helping with composting can email Forbes at msforbes@my.okcu.edu or Stancampiano at ajstancampiano@okcu.edu.

“Just having more people involved in general would be really helpful. It would bring more attention to the fact that it’s important,” Forbes said. “We need to create a culture of less waste because people don’t think about it, but just being more vocal about it and bringing more awareness to it is a good first step.”

Recycling program in Methodist Hall continues taking shape Chandler White

COPY EDITOR

The recycling pilot program in Oklahoma United Methodist Hall dormitory might expand, depending on feedback.

Recycling bins were distributed in January to all of the rooms in Methodist as part of the Student Government Association’s Blue Initiative, a three-part plan to make the campus more environmentally friendly. The recycling pilot program is the first part of the plan.

Teddy Edgar, music theater/vocal performance sophomore, is the recycling facilitator, a work study position responsible for emptying the recycling bins. Chazz Miceli, guitar performance junior, is the other recycling facilitator.

February 21, 2018

Edgar said officials will consider the success of the pilot program to see if they will expand it.

“The housing staff lives in Methodist, so they’re going to try it there and see how it works,” he said. “How this semester goes will dictate what will happen in years to come.”

Students can only recycle paper and cardboard in the bins.

Austin Gipson-Black, religion/political science junior and Student Senate president, said they plan to include other recycling options like glass or plastic.

Gipson-Black said including glass or plastic as recycling options would involve another bin in each room.

“We weren’t sure if the work studies would be able to do that,” Gipson-Black said. “But we are definitely looking for-

We thought a few people would do it. It exceeded everything that we thought would happen.

Teddy Edgar music theater/vocal performance sophomore

ward to doing that later on, probably next semester.”

The next recycling program will either be in Banning Hall dormitory or Walker Hall dormitory, Gipson-Black said. He said officials will either gauge freshman interest in recycling programs or just introduce recycling as a part of OCU’s culture.

The work study positions are what will make the program stable, Gipson-Black said.

“As long as we have the bins,

which aren’t going anywhere, and as long as we have someone to pick up the bins, it’s going to stay and be pretty sustainable,” he said.

The schedule for emptying current bins in Methodist Hall is: - fourth floor on Mondays, - third floor on Tuesdays, - second floor on Wednesdays, and - first floor on Thursdays.

Recycling facilitators start

emptying bins at 7 p.m.

Items that have come into contact with food should be cleaned before placed in the bins to prevent dirtying the bins and contaminating recyclables, officials said.

Bins should be brought back inside the room when not waiting for emptying to prevent odor in the hallways, Edgar said.

Any damage made to bins is the resident’s responsibility, though no exact fine has been established yet. RAs and housing staff will report any items in the bins that are against housing rules.

The materials in the bins are put in a recycling dumpster behind Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center.

The dumpster fills quickly, so program directors are considering investing in another one, Edgar said.

“We weren’t really expecting it to be that successful,” he said. “We thought a few people would do it. It exceeded everything that we thought would happen.”

Students showing interest and sharing ideas with the facilitators is important for the success of the program, Edgar said.

He said students have told him that the recycling program is “the best thing that’s ever happened at OCU” and they’ve been waiting for the program.

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lifestyles SHINING STAR

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Economics senior prepares to move back to Serbia

ladimir Kalajdzic, economics senior and goalkeeper for the men’s soccer team, balances class work, soccer practices and two jobs.

Kalajdzic came to OCU from Novi Sad, Serbia, for the chance to play college soccer. He said his career plans changed significantly since his freshman year.

“I wanted to play soccer professionally, then work in the U.S., then attend a grad school in the U.S.,” he said. “Now I have a desire to go back home again.”

Kalajdzic said he plans to go back to Serbia after graduation and take time to enjoy being out of school before pursuing jobs and career opportunities. He said he will use his degree back home or somewhere else in Europe.

Kalajdzic started on OCU’s soccer team his freshman year and has won several awards for goalkeeping. He made the NAIA all-conference team three times and was named the conference defensive player of the week six times. He was also named Conference Goalkeeper of the Year in Fall 2017.

“Balancing a sport with other activities is hard because you have to communicate with your professors, coaches, teammates, classmates, and bosses about making adjustments during the season,” Kalajdzic said. “However, OCU’s athletes

are some of the hardest-working athletes I have been around, and such an environment pushes every one of us to be better.”

Kalajdzic works two jobs in addition to his class and soccer schedules. He has a job at the OCU Campus Store and works at John B. Davis and Associates, a small, private law firm in Oklahoma City.

The worst part about graduating is leaving the people, Kalajdzic said.

“I will miss my teammates, my roommates, a couple of professors, and my bookstore boss, Christina,” he said.

Bookstore Manager Christina Chapman said it has been a pleasure to watch Kalajdzic grow at OCU. “Vlad is a great teammate, friend, leader, student, and employee,” Chapman said. “I can’t wait to see what amazing things his future holds.”

The store’s inventory is kept in the “Vladimir Kalajdzic Storage Room,” which was named after him last February.

Kalajdzic said he has loved his time at OCU, but he is ready to graduate.

“I am most excited to get away from homework and exams,” he said. “I am also ready to start cooking my own food. Four years at the cafeteria were a bit too much.”

Submitted Vladimir Kalajdzic, economics senior, spins a soccer ball on his finger.

Kalajdzic started as goalkeeper on the OCU men’s soccer team in 2014.

Seniors should finish out the year strong, Kalajdzic said.

“You do you, not what someone else wants you to do,” he said. “I wouldn’t change a thing about my college career if I did it all over again.”

By Associate Editor Sage Tokach

Student, alumni ska band releases album dedicated to former student Zoe Travers

NEWS EDITOR

Students and alumni are working together to create music.

LFNC is a local ska band composed of students and alumni. Ska is a blend of punk, reggae and jazz. LFNC members are: - Michael Louladakis, vocal performance/music theater senior; - Cameron Fults, music composition/guitar performance junior; - Brayden Stonecipher, guitar performance junior; - Chazz Miceli, guitar performance junior; - Sam Charlton, trombone performance senior; - Sam Key, trumpet performance junior; and - Alumnus Chris Desien.

The band released a new extended play record at a performance on Feb. 10 called “Quiet Beginnings.” EPs are recordings that contain about five songs. This EP contains three new songs.

“For almost a year now, we haven’t really gone out of the way to schedule events because so many people ask

us already,” Louladakis said.

“We thought making a ska band wouldn’t be popular, but I think our ability to be virtuous in the music has made people be like, ‘holy cow, I don’t care about ska music, this is just some vibrant stuff, man.’”

The band members recorded the EP at the University of Central Oklahoma Jazz Lab in Edmond. Members said they recorded all the music in one day, using money earned from shows, selling merchandise and CDs. Recording in one day felt rushed, and many of the songs were improvised in the studio, but members said they’re happy with the songs.

“There were definitely some bass lines that I recorded that I had never played before,” Miceli said.

Though the band is ska, members also are influenced by rock music, stemming from members’ interest in metal.

Charlton said he’s been trying to make a ska band since he was in high school.

The band’s origins began when Charlton noticed Fults wearing a T-shirt of Streetlight Manifesto, a well-known ska band.

The band was formed by

Submitted LFNC, a local band made up of OCU students and alumni, released a new record Feb. 10. Their next show is at 7 p.m. March 19 at The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave.

2015 and experienced a couple lineup changes before the current members came together.

“It was really all the right pieces falling into place,” Charlton said. “From the first rehearsal, we were super pumped.”

The band members said they’re happy to have the support of students, even though scheduling can be difficult with performances for the school.

LFNC has performed on campus at the housing office’s “Spooktacular Halloween” and at Relay For Life.

The origin of the name “LFNC” is unknown, even among members, but Fults said the idea came from a series of letters on a license plate.

Band members said it could be “Light the Flame, No one will Change” and “Liquidtight Flexible Non-Metallic Conduit.”

In their first show, members said the “C” stands for Capri Sun. “It’s really just four letters,” Fults said.

Upcoming shows include a performance with UK-based ska band Chainska Brassika at

7 p.m. March 19 at The Root, 3012 N. Walker Ave. LFNC members credit much of their success to The Big News, another local band on the lineup.

“They’ve helped us out a lot,” Miceli said.

The band has plans to tour, possibly to the west coast.

“We almost tried to play for Drake Bell,” Louladakis said.

Stephanie NozomiKrichena, percussion performance sophomore, attended the EP release performance and has known the band since they began.

“A lot of people don’t know what ska music is, and it’s basically a punk band with some concert band instruments like trombone and trumpet,” she said.

Nozomi-Krichena said she got a copy of the EP at the release show, and one particular aspect caught her attention.

“What really got me about the EP is that, on the back, it says that it’s dedicated to Vinnie Franco, who lost his life very recently,” she said. “He was close friends with a lot of the members of LFNC and was a huge fan.”

Franco was a pre-medical/ guitar freshman who died Dec.

31. LFNC dedicated their closing song to Franco at their release show.

“It was so sweet of LFNC to do that,” Nozomi-Krichena said. “It was apparent that everybody appreciated that.”

Miceli said Franco was the band’s biggest fan, which is why they dedicated the record to him.

“He told Brayden, when he first started hanging out with us often during our freshman year, that ‘Sam’s Song’ was something he listened to every day,” Miceli said. “It helped him get through things."

Miceli said Franco’s death was difficult for the band members.

“The feeling of having a brother leave us the way he did was really, really tough at first, and it still crosses our minds every day,” he said.

Miceli said Franco is still an inspiration to the members.

“It was really freaking tough, but the reality is that life comes and goes,” he said.

“We just want him to know that we are still thinking of him, and we still love him.”

Local tattoo artist featured on national television competition Nicole Waltman

WEB EDITOR

A local tattoo artist is a competing on a tattoo reality show.

Frank Ready, an artist at “Black Magic Tattoo,” 29 N.E. 9th St., is a participant on Season 10 of Ink Master. The show was filmed last year and is now airing on Spike.

“My experience on the show was pretty fantastic,” Ready said.

“I thought I was going to be on a TV show and that there was nothing more to it, but it ended up being a ridiculously hard, really challenging competition.”

Clara Drew, dance freshman, has a tattoo of mountains and said it’s great that a local artist received an opportunity to be on Ink Master.

“OKC has so much more culture that I had no idea about

until I came to school here, so showing the world all it has to offer is awesome,” she said.

Ready has been a tattoo artist all over the country for 12 years, he said. Ink Master producers found and reached out to him to participate in Season Nine of the show, which was the “team” season. The opportunity didn’t work out at the time because Ready didn’t have a teammate he wanted to participate with, he said.

“They remembered me for Season 10, gave me the callback, I did the audition, and, within two weeks, I was in the house filming,” he said.

Ready said his experience on Ink Master was educational and challenging.

“All of the people I was in the house with were other amazing artists,” Ready said. “We pushed

Submitted Left: A client shows off their tattoo by Frank Ready, artist at “Black Magic Tattoo.”

Right: Frank Ready gives a client a tattoo at “Black Magic Tattoo,” 29 NE 9th St. Ready is featured in season 10 of the show “Ink Master,” airing on Spike.

each other, and we ended up learning how to use new mediums and doing all these crazy challenges together.”

The filming process took two to three months, depending on how long a participant was on the show. If a contestant was eliminated, their time was shorter.

“I can’t say how far I’ve gotten,

but I can definitely say that it’s been an amazing ride, and there’s a lot more to come,” Ready said.

“It’s definitely changed how I work and what I do.”

Drew said a tattoo artist’s level of experience is important to her.

“Getting a tattoo from someone with that kind of experience and feedback on their work

sounds great,” she said. “It’s important to research artists, and the fact that he was chosen for that says a lot about his work.”

Originally from California, Ready moved to Oklahoma in 2004. He developed an interest in tattooing at the age of 17 when he was in high school. He was a wrestler for the Midwest City Bombers and planned to go to college for wrestling, but injuries prevented this from happening, Ready said.

“While I was recovering, there was a tattoo studio in Midwest City that was opening up, and I had a few ties to them,” he said. “I knew people around the area that went there or worked there, and I started hanging out.”

Ready then began mopping floors and spending his afternoons outside of school at “Different Image Tattoo Studio” in Midwest

City.

“It became a home away from home,” he said. “I dug that these people were making a living for themselves, doing whatever they wanted to, and not taking the real traditional route.”

Ready kept a sketchbook of tattoo art, and the studio eventually offered him a chance at learning how to tattoo, he said.

“Even then when I started, I had no clue what all tattooing could bring me,” Ready said.

“I’ve put everything into it for the past decade.”

For more information about Ready’s work, visit blackmagic. tattoo and click on the picture under “Frank Ready III.” See Page 2 for students’ tattoos and their meanings.

Peace all year round Students, faculty and staff play a Coke drinking game at the Chinese New Year celebration Friday in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. Each contestant was given 10 cups of Coke, and the first person to drink all 10 won. The event included food, games, musical performances by students, and a raffle for prizes.

Prizes included a pillow set, Chinese poppers and lucky money given in traditional red envelopes.

Carolann Stout Student Publications

February 21, 2018

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