Celebrating 100 Years American Democracy oject
The Student Voice Since 1903 UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
TUESDAY, MARCH 30, 2004
UCOSA election dates still uncertain by Lauren Pulsinelli Staff Writer The UCOSA Supreme Court met at noon March 29 to determine when student elections will be held. Nicholas Harrison, candidate for vice president, filed the petition for the case. He addressed the court and defended his petition to hold elections the second Wednesday in April, as is stated in the Constitution. According to Article V, Section 3.A, the stu-
Campus Announcements ■ Major League Soccer will hold its second exhibition game at UCO April 10. General admission tickets for the game between Dallas Burn and Kansas City Wizards are on sale at the Bursar's Office for $10. An exhibition game between UCO and ORU will be at 10 a.m. that same day. ■ Current students, incoming freshman and transfer students are encouraged to apply for the Fern Brown Memorial Scholarship. Application forms are available in the Office of Prospective Student Services/Scholarships, room 136 of the Nigh University Center. Applications are due April 1.
dent body vice president "shall be popularly elected by a majority vote of the ballots cast in a spring election on the second Wednesday in April." The grievance written by Harrison states that the UCOSA election commission's decision is unconstitutional. It also states that the candidates and students are harmed by the decision because they will not get a chance to get to know the candidates or discuss the issues. "The election will be reduced to a popularity contest," Harrison said. Harrison argued his case for 10 minutes, and
Senate Pro Tempore Amy Dunaway took the stand in defense of the election commission. Dunaway said that the election committee has the power to change the date and time of the election as long as the House of Representatives approves, and they did. Harrison said that the date was never documented in the new set of rules. However, Dunaway commented that the House of Representatives was fully aware what date the election commission intended to hold the election — April 5.
■ University official responds to the March 10 committee hearing about Chartwells contract negotiation. by Sherrod Wall Staff Writer Dr. Robert Epstein, assistant vice president of Administrative Services, recently addressed issues concerning Chartwells that were called to attention in a March 10 hearing. Chartwells representatives were not present at the hearing in which students expressed concern over Chartwells' limitations. "There was a miscommunication with the parties that the Senate was originally speaking to, and once we spoke with Dr. Epstein, those communication problems disappeared," said Nicholas Harrison, chairperson of the UCOSA Senate University Policy Committee. The first issue concerned Chartwells allowing the International Student Council to hold their International Food
Festival inside the Nigh University Center allow the ISC to use the NUC's kitchens, if weather prevents them from having it food preparation facilities or ISC electrical or flame cooking devices. Only tables will outside. be provided, Epstein said. "For the specific instance This offer will be availof the International Food Festival, the Nigh University "At an appropriate able to the ISC annually. The second issue Center can be used as an early stage in the involves students having alternative venue if the planning of offerrepresentation in the preweather does not permit the sent meal plan negotiaprogram to take place out- ings or during negotions and being represide by Broncho Lake," tiations, student sented at Chartwells Epstein said. However, if ISC fails to input is and will con- meetings. Epstein said students adequately leave the NUC tinue to be solicited have opportunities to space upon completion of their event as it was initially regarding officials voice their opinions through the Housing found, then there will be a that affect them." office, the Auxiliary labor and repair charge that - Dr. Robert Epstein Enterprises office and the will be calculated by the Vice President of Office of Student work that is required to Administrative Services Services. He also said that return the space utilized to students can speak directits original state. ly to Chartwells staff on a The agreement does not daily basis. "At an appropriate early stage in the planning of offerings or during negotiations, student input is and will continue to be solicited regarding issues that affect them," Epstein said. Student input will soon be solicited regard-
■ Students, staff and faculty will volunteer in the local community from noon to 4 p.m. Deadline to register is 5 p.m. April 9. For more information, call 974-2621 or email vpena@ucok.edu .
Applications are being ■ accepted for participation in the 2004 "Speaking in Tongues annual poetry event. The event will be from 7 to 9:30 p.m. March 31 at the UCO Jazz Lab. Call 9745647 for more information.
ing meal plan offerings, he said. "It is the responsibility of individual university employees to engage in negotiations with university vendors," Epstein said. The third concern is the catering prices of the NUC. Student organization members say that prices are too expensive for them, as they have limited budgets and want to conduct programs on campus. For this reason, students said they would like Chartwells to consider developing "student prices" that are less than what outside groups and University faculty and staff are charged. "There is already such a 'student price list' available," Epstein said. "In addition, student groups are allowed to bring into NUC rooms where food is permitted any food purchased from the NUC convenience store," he said. The final concern are the dining hours made available to students in the Central cafeteria. For instance, some students said that they feel that Chartwells should serve dinner instead of breakfast on Sunday because this meal is more desirable for some students. "As a result for hearing this concern from other sources, Chartwells has currently planned to offer a Sunday brunch and dinner instead of breakfast, starting in the fall semester," Epstein said.
British educators to visit UCO, study A+ Schools program
The annual Liberal Arts ■ symposium, "Passport to Knowledge," will be held April 14 in the Liberal Arts Building. Student organizations can bring representatives, do an exhibit or pass around material. For more information, call Linda McDonald at 974-5635 or email Imcdonald@ucok.edu .
Nomination forms for ■ student organization Sponsor of the Year are now available for download at bronze.ucok.edu/forms.htm . The award will be presented April 15.
The Supreme Court's decision will be published in Thursday's edition of The Vista.
Official responds to student concerns with Chartwells
If you would like to ■ work with UCO Representatives on new student recruitment, attend college fairs, give tours of campus and visit your old school, then you should apply to become a member of the UCO Student Ambassadors. Applications are available in the Office of Prospective S t u d e n t Services/Scholarships, room 136 of the Nigh University Center. Deadline to apply is April 5. For more information, call 974-2727.
■ Free income tax help will be available from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturdays through April 13 in Room 347 of Thatcher Hall. For information on what to bring, contact Dr. Mary Sheets at msheets@ucok.edu or call 974-2834.
The Supreme Court has seven members and not all members attended. A meeting for these justices will be held at 12:15 p.m. March 30 in the Human and Environmental Sciences Building. Chief Justice Travis Davis said a verdict will be announced on the morning of March 31.
Photo by Justin Avera
Sheila Miller, sophomore, holds up "Roxanne" March 29 outside the Art Building. The "fish" is an assignment for her Fundamentals of 3D design class.
ROTC takes prize in rifle match
by Lauren Pulsinelli Staff Writer The Broncho Battalion shooting team took first place honors at a rifle cornpetition against Oklahoma State University March 20. With only three weeks notification, Sgt. William Santos set up two shooting teams of four people. The teams spent their spring break preparing for the competition. "The teams were really dedicated. They practiced
during their break and were prepared in a short amount of time," Santos said. In the competition students used M-16 rifles and shot from distances of 100, 200, 300 and 400 meters. Shooting positions included standing, sitting and lying on their stomachs. The students also participated and were tested in a variety of tasks that were not a part of the competition. Joshua Hollman competed and said, "Shooting, marking and "resighting" were done
The British government is looking for ways to improve its public education system and will send a group of educators to the University of Central Oklahoma to gather new ideas. The group of 14 people from London, including eight teachers, will be at UCO on March 30 to learn about the highly successfill Oklahoma A+ Schools program. Also among the group will be a film crew to document the visit. While in Oklahoma, the British educators also will visit several inner-city, suburban and rural public schools involved in the A+ program, and will focus largely on the interaction between the schools and their communities and the role of arts in A+ schools. "This is a tremendous opportunity for A+ Schools to demonstrate our successes," said Jean Hendrickson, director of Oklahoma A+ Schools. Now in its third year, the Oklahoma A+ Schools project is a comprehensive, integrated approach to teaching and learning, encompassing the idea of a
whole-school curriculum. The 19 Oklahoma schools currently participating in the program combine interdisciplinary teaching and regular arts instruction for all students including dance, drama, literary arts, music and visual arts. Research shows that A+ Schools report better attendance, reduced disciplinary problems, higher test scores and improved teacher morale. "We know the program works here in Oklahoma, and believe it will work in Great Britain, as well," Hendrickson said. "We're proud to have been chosen as an effective example of positive change in education." Rapid expansion of the project made it necessary for Oklahoma A+ to restructure its management from a consortium of state colleges and universities, and to consolidate its operations in one place. The program is now permanently housed at UCO. For more information, contact Hendrickson at (405) 9743787.
to help with testing sight alignment." The dime drill tested steadiness. A dime was placed at the end of a rifle and then fired without actual ammunition. The dime staying in place proves that they are steady shooters. • The students also received video training with a laser gun. The event was at the Oklahoma Rifle Club and was sponsored by the Oklahoma Military department.
The Central students who competed are now eligible to win a $ 1,000 scholarship from the Civilian Marksmanship Program. "The CMP has been around for a long time and promotes marksmanship and weapon safety," Santos said. The winners of the rifle competition are Christopher Mcwhirter - first place, Kyle Thomason - second place, James Wallenfelsz - third place and Joshua Hollman fourth place