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UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
Traditional folk dance
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2002
`Come out' at UCO's National Observence by Stephanie Nease sn@thevistaonline.com
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Last year's International Festival, held in the Nigh University Center, celebrated different cultures with food, music and dancing. This year's festival will be Oct. 4 from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
Culture crosses paths at festival by Summer Pratt sp@thevistaonline.com The International Student Council will host the 27th Annual International Festival from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 4 in the Nigh University Center Grand Ballroom. During the International Festival, international student associations will have booths set up with items representing their countries. The students will also give cultural performances throughout the day. Jalal Daneshfar, director of Immigration and Activities, said the booths and performances will be judged and the winners will have their countries' names put on a plaque in the International Office. Samee Abdul Qureshi, chairman for the International
Festival Committee and president of the Pakistan Student Association (PSA) said this year's format'ciii be different than in previous years. "We will have performances and booths at the same time," Qureshi said. In the past the display booths were in the morning and the performances at night, Qureshi said. The PSA will have traditional Pakistani kites and sweets at their booth. They will do a blend of American and Pakistani style dance. "It's a very good opportunity for us to show our cul-
see Festival page 4
ROTC cadets suit up for two days of training by Michael Larson ml@thevistaonline.com Sgt. Chris Spivey followed close behind the two cadets as they plodded through the dense foliage, overstepping gullies and kicking spiny vegetation from their path. Cadets Alison Pierce and Atlanta Welch counted their paces and checked their compasses to make sure they were following their azimuth — the exact degree they were wishfully pacing toward. "I can't find it," Pierce shouted, walled away from Spivey by an impassable wall of brush and toppled trees. "Well it's there," Spivey shouted back. "I helped plant those points myself." Welch and Pierce were participating in a land navigation course Sept. 27 as part of their ROTC training. In order to pass the course, they would have to scour the wilderness of Lake Arcadia and locate seven out of nine points within three hours. Spivey said less than I 0 percent of students get a first time go. The cadets began a coil - a spiral sweep of a surrounding 10-meters radius
Photo by Allison J. Bounds
Cadet Atlanta Welch and Cadet Allison Pierce prepare their maps during Land Navigation Training.
— being sure to keep within visual range of one another. Ten minutes passed, and the cadets were no closer to locating the point. "I swear these points are impossible," Welch said. She took a mounted land navigation course once, where she rode a vehicle around on roads, following a map. This was different. In the wilderness, cadets are on 'foot, with little visibility. Cadets are taken into the woods to get rid of their terrain association. In the thick of the forest, a lot of trees can look the same. Class had taught them how to plot points on a map and shoot an azimuth. Now they were relying on those calculations. They'd suited up in forest-camouflage BDU's, ballistic helmets, smeared their faces with dark, greasy paint and paced several 1 00-meter stretches of gravel road to determine their pace-count. For their first point, they would have to beat brush, a term used for traversing the most tangled, uneven forestry. Spivey took the lead and the three entered the moist basin of a dry creek. Mud filled spaces between the patches of grass and black trees trunks leaning toward the ground. There were deep tracks from an animal Spivey figured to be a large buck. The area was unfamiliar. Spivey's helmet cast a shadow down his stubbly face. He'd seen combat in Desert Storm, and was bound for Fort Riley when a superior called and assigned him to UCO, where he now serves as senior military instructor. He asked to see the cadets' protractors. "There's your reason," he said, hold-
Photo by Allison J. Bounds
ROTC Cadets face a 40-foot rapelling tower on Sept. 28 as part of their training. ing the transparent plastic sheets to his and examining the markings. "You're off by 30 meters. There's no way you can coil 30 meters." He flicked his wrist and spun the defective protractor off into the distance. "This other one is only off by five meters." Welch removed a plastic bag from her backpack. Inside was a notepad with jotted coordinates from her earlier calculations. She frowned. They would have to take out their maps and refigure, a pro-
see ROTC page 5
UCO's Gay Alliance for Tolerance and Equality (G.A.T.E.) plans to have a candlelight vigil observance in honor of "National Coming Out Week" at 8 p.m. Oct. 9 by the Broncho Lake. G.A.TE. is a sanctioned UCO student organization for gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual students, as well as heterosexual students who support tolerance and equality. Jimmie Witcosky, acting president of G.A.T.E., said the group participates in borderline political events like Oklahoma City's Gay Pride Parade, but they don't feel the need to take a hard-line political stand on campus. Karl Tyler, junior MIS major, said, "The fact that we exist is a political statement." Since The National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights Oct. 11, 1987, gay and lesbian university students have recognized the seven days ending with Oct. 11 as "National Coming Out Week.'' Among the gay and lesbian community in the United States, Oct. 11 earned the designation "National Coming Out Day." Witcosky, a marketing and dance major, said that, G.A.TE. is a comfortable social gathering that happens to be mostly gay. "This is our family," he said with a sweep of his hand that encompassed the whole room during a weekly G.A.T.E. meeting. Amanda Whitten, the group sponsor, said G.A.TE. would like to be utilized by UCO to help new students with alternate lifestyles get acquainted with campus life. The group meets 7 p.m. Wednesdays in Room 234 of the Liberal Arts Building. For more information, contact Mandy Whitten at 974-6726 or visit G.A.T.E. at http://wmc.ucok.edu/GATE/.
Broncho football pulls off a last minute win over Texas A & M Commerce. — Page 8
Monarch butterflies flutter through Edmond on their way to central Mexico. —Page 4
Iraq promises access for inspectors unless resolution passed by Rajiv Chandrasekaran The Washington Post BAGHDAD, Iraq Three Democratic congressmen visiting Iraq said Sunday that they received assurances from Iraqi officials that U.N. weapons inspectors would be given unconditional access to sites they wish to visit as long as they respect the country's sovereignty as well as its cultural and religious beliefs. Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California urged the Bush administration against pushing for a new U.N. Security Council resolution that would threaten the use of force against Iraq, saying that such a step could prevent the inspections. Although Iraq has promised to allow the inspectors to return, Iraq's vice president said Saturday that his nation would not submit to inspections under any new resolution that threatens military action or incorporates demands by the Bush administration to revise the rules. Iraqi officials insist the inspectors must follow procedures previously agreed to by the United Nations when visiting presidential sites, including providing the Iraqi government with advance notice and conducting the inspections in the presence of diplomats. Iraqi officials also have asked for assurances that inspectors would not conduct inspections on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer. The congressmen said in a group interview at their hotel that the Iraqi government should be given an opportunity to demonstrate good faith and inspections should first be tried under the existing rules. Bonior said the White House should allow the chief U.N. weapons inspector, Hans Blix, "to do his job without interference." "They need to step aside," Bonior said. "Iraq needs to step aside. Mr. Blix needs a chance to do his work." Blix is scheduled to meet with Iraqi officials Monday in Vienna to discuss details of the inspectors' return. He has said the inspectors could arrive in Baghdad as early as
see Iraq page 5
Fashion alert: The manpurse debuts in Oklahoma city. —Page 6
"Sweet Home Alabama" leaves sour aftertaste — Page 7
Broncho soccer continues with undefeated record. — Page 9