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Put a ring on it The OCU Cheer team celebrates after being presented with their inaugural National Championship rings at a ring ceremony at halftime during the women’s soccer game Sept. 9 at Stars Field. The ceremony originally was planned for Aug. 25, but was rescheduled because of inclement weather. Left: Members of the 2017 cheer team try on their new championship rings at a ring ceremony. The rings were awarded for the team’s National Championship at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Competitive Cheer and Dance Competition in March 2017. The Stars earned a score of 87.08 at the championship and beat the second-place team by 4.15 points. It was the first year cheerleading and pom were included as a sport by the National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics, making the team the first ever national champions.
McAlyn Forbes Student Publications
Campus tech installs new online printing system Sage Tokach
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Campus technology officials implemented a new printing system, PaperCut, that allows students to print to any public printer on campus from their own device. PaperCut replaced the university system that required students to transfer their papers to a flash drive or school computer before printing. Before accepting print jobs, the old system required a StarCard swipe at the printer connected to the computer in use. The new system, implemented this semester, allows students to print from their own computers and mobile devices, as well as university computers. Instead of choosing from a list of printer options, students connect to the air print option “okcu_print.” They can send documents from anywhere on campus, as long as they are connected to the OCUsecure Wi-Fi. Their papers will print at any public printer on campus if they swipe their StarCard or enter their BlueLink login information on the printer screen. Students can use their printing and BlueLink password to log into their online PaperCut account, which gives them access to the details of their printing information. They can view past and pending print jobs, as well as their card balance and environmental impact. The website also allows students to add money to their card balance. Printing costs 10 cents for black and white and 20 cents for color copies. “I think the new printer is more convenient, but sometimes the student before me forgets to log out and I get confused,” said Lin Li, TESOL graduate. “I only have 20 minutes during break
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It’s very nice to not have to print to a specific printer, but it’s definitely not flawless yet.
Anthony Edwards Dulaney-Browne Library circulation technician
time, so I appreciate when I can log in and print right away.” Gerry Hunt, chief information officer at Campus Technology Services, said there’s been a lot of excitement from staff about the new system. “It’s much simpler than before, and it’s now easy for students to print from their own devices,” Hunt said. “It’s a brand new system, so we don’t know all the bugs yet. So far, some individual devices have had problems, but we’ve been able to solve them on a case-by-case basis.” Dulaney-Browne Library staff members said they are excited about the new program because they manage the main student printers on campus, but they have experienced intermittent difficulties. “It’s great when it works,” said Dr. Kristen Burkholder, access services librarian and associate professor of library science. “The areas in which we have the most frequent problems are printing
PDFs and printing within browsers. Sometimes, if you switch browsers, it works better.” Anthony Edwards, circulation technician, said he agrees that the system looks hopeful. “It’s very nice to not have to print to a specific printer, but it’s definitely not flawless yet,” Edwards said. “One way or another, though, we’ll get it printed for you.” If students have trouble immediately connecting to the printer server, they can visit okcu.edu/campus/resources/technology and choose the “Printing, Copying & Computer Resources” tab. From there, students can follow specific mobile printing instructions, view a full list of printer and copier locations and access the PaperCut login page. Campus tech officials have installed the basics of the system, but they hope to add more features as the semester progresses, Hunt said. One feature of PaperCut allows printer screens to show the environmental impact of the print job, down to the percentage of a tree it will kill. Hunt said administrators are encouraging professors to put assignments online, so this feature may help enforce that. Some students said they were pleased with the system once they figured it out. “I was really confused at first, but once they explained it to me, I thought it was the best thing that happened to this school,” said Franziska Harms, acting senior. “On a campus like this, where we’re all so busy and our time is so valuable, this is important.”
Officials continue testing acronym change to distinguish university Emily Wollenberg
STAFF WRITER
University officials are conducting a two-year experiment to change OCU’s acronym to “OKCU.” The university is marketing OCU as “OKCU” to incoming freshmen and transfer students. Based on how often the term is used in the next few years, officials will determine whether the acronym change should be permanent. Kevin Windholz, vice president for enrollment management, previously said “OKCU” would distinguish the university from other universities in the surrounding area and would define the university as “Oklahoma City’s university.” Leslie Berger, senior director of communications and marketing, said the testing phase has been smooth so far and students and faculty are using “OKCU” and “OCU” as they wish. Windholz and Berger are September 13, 2017
Whether we’re wearing ‘OCU’ or ‘OKCU,’ we will always embody the tradition of the Oklahoma City Stars. Abbey Renner biomedical science junior
overseeing the change, which still is not official. Athletic Director Jim Abbott said no one has directed him or the athletic department to refer to OCU as “OKCU,” but, if the switch happens, it could affect athletics financially. “It might require us to spend money on new uniforms or signage in our facilities,” he said. There was some concern about OCU’s reputation in athletics being impacted by the change, but Abbott said OCU is usually referred to as “Oklahoma City.” “I think who we truly are is Oklahoma City University. Athletically, we enjoy a very positive
reputation nationally, so I don’t think it matters what our acronym is,” he said. Abbey Renner, biomedical science junior, is on the basketball team. She said there are positives and negatives to the change. “As athletes, we hold the OCU athletic tradition very near and dear to our hearts. There has been a reputation built with the name ‘OCU’ over the years, and it makes it hard to accept the change to ‘OKCU,’” Renner said. However, Renner also said “OKCU” could help distinguish OCU from other similar metro area schools, such as Oklahoma Christian University (OC) in
Edmond, Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) in Oklahoma City or University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond. “Adding a ‘K’ to our name will bring attention and set us apart as the amazing program that we are,” Renner said. The switch in acronyms could unintentionally distance alumni from the university, Abbott said. “There will probably be some alums who won’t be very happy about it,” he said. “We used to be the Chiefs and now we’re the Stars. I can tell you that some students who were here when we were the Chiefs aren’t happy about the fact that we’re no longer the Chiefs.” University officials will continue the acronym test in hopes that “OKCU” will catch on with incoming students. “Whether we’re wearing ‘OCU’ or ‘OKCU,’ we will always embody the tradition of the Oklahoma City Stars,” Renner said.
Elina Moon Student Publications
Game on Senior Middle Blocker Holly Randall tips the ball over the blockers at the women’s volleyball game Sept. 7 in Abe Lemons Arena in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. The Stars won the game, 25-20, 25-18 and 25-22 against St. Gregory’s. The next women’s volleyball home game is at 3 p.m. Sept. 23 against Central Christian.
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