IONEERPOklahoma City Community College

www.occc.edu/pioneer

• White House too restrictive, editorial, p. 2.• OCCC summer sports plentiful, p. 7.• Tennis camp, anyone? sports, p. 8.• Campus clubs plan retreat, clubs, p. 10.

This WeekInside July 23, 2007

Vol. 35 No. 40

Nature’s showers

Photo by Jay RocamontesPharmacy freshman Jan Ban (left) and psychology freshman Candace Franks try

to make it from the Library to the Main Building without getting soaked. Downpoursduring the months of June and July produced record-setting rainfall amounts throughoutthe state, reported the National Weather Service.

Planning earlyfor fall classesrecommendedBy Eric NguyenEditor

The beginning of the fallsemester is one of the

busiest times of the year forcollege faculty and staff,Learning Support SpecialistMary Turner said, so stu-dents should start preparingfor the fall semester nowwhile lines are short, and fac-ulty staff has more free time.

“It’s a pretty hectic time,trying to get everybody situ-ated and make sure [stu-dents] have what they needto get started,” she said.

The first order of businessis enrolling in classes.

Public Relations sopho-more Kelsey Northcutt rec-ommends students follow herlead and enroll right away toget classes they want.

“Definitely [enroll] early be-cause you have a wider se-lection of choices to meetyour need and your sched-ules,” Northcutt said.

Students have several op-tions when enrolling inclasses.

Turner said students canget help scheduling classesby making an appointmentwith an Advising and CareerServices adviser. The office islocated on the first floor of theMain Building.

Students also can enrollonline with MineOnline, lo-cated on the college website,www.occc.edu.

To access MineOnline, stu-dents will need a username,which is a student’s firstname, middle initial and lastname, and a password, whichis the last six digits of theirsocial security number.

When choosing classes,Turner said, students shouldprioritize their schedules out-

side of school and plan well.“[Students] need to be real-

istic about what they can doand when they can be [atOCCC],” she said.

“If you’ve got a 7:30 a.m. or8 a.m. class and you can’t getup that early, there’s not a lotwe can do about that excepttry to counsel you to plan bet-ter next semester.”

After enrolling, Turner said,students should begin to lookat supplies and textbooksneeded for class.

“You can start doing thosethings now even though we’restill in summer,” she said.

“The bookstore may nothave all of the books but theycan give (students) a prettygood idea of what they willneed for their classes.”

Electrical engineering soph-omore Elijah Gay agrees withTurner.

“I start looking for my text-books early so I can find thecheapest price,” Gay said.

For returning OCCC stu-dents, Turner said, preparingfor graduation and beginningthe transfer process to an-other college should be priori-ties.

She said students can runa degree check throughMineOnline to see if all re-quired courses are scheduled.Turner said students ready to

See “Prepare,” page 12

Security cameras are watching

“Definitely [enroll]early because you have

a wider selection ofchoices to meet your

need and yourschedules.”

—Kelsey NorthcuttOCCC Student

By Charli NewNews Writing Student

OCCC campus parking lots arenow under surveillance since 10

Sony RX550 security cameras were ac-tivated July 12.

The cameras are located on outsidebuilding walls across the campus, saidSafety and Security Coordinator KeithBourque.

Campus Safety and Security DirectorIke Sloas said the cameras captureseven frames per second and storesthem to a hard drive. The FBI recom-mends security cameras capture a mini-mum of two frames per second for ef-fective video surveillance, according towww.video-surveillance.us.

In April 2007, eight incidents were re-ported in campus parking lots, accord-ing to Safety and Security records.President Paul Sechrist said the cam-eras will help prevent such incidents.

“We recognize that surveillance cam-

eras provide a deterrent to car theft andthose kinds of things on campus whichwe’ve had some issues with,” he said.

“We see the surveillance cameras asproviding an additional layer of safetyto students, guests and employees whocome to the campus.”

The cameras, a wireless network,laptops, and a hard drive cost an esti-mated $95,000, Sloas said.

Every parking lot is equipped with atleast one camera, he said. Parking lotA, the largest, has three cameras.

Sloas said Campus Safety and Secu-rity personnel monitor images taken bythe cameras.

In addition, he said, officers will con-tinue to patrol the parking lots andmonitor the cameras from screens intheir vehicles.

“We are looking for anyone who looksout of place … suspicious people.”

Sloas said an officer would be dis-patched immediately if cameras showany criminal activity.

2 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Editorial and OpinionEditorial

Vol. 35 No. 40Eric Nguyen..........................EditorMatt Caban...................Staff WriterCarrie Cronk.................Staff WriterDrew Hampton..............Staff WriterJay Rocamontes......PhotographerTim Cronk...................Ad ManagerTrish Arnold....Circulation ManagerRichard Hall.............Lab AssistantRonna Austin.............Lab DirectorMark Schneberger....Faculty Adviser

The PIONEER is a publica-tion of Oklahoma City Com-munity College through theDivision of Arts and Humani-ties. It is published weeklyduring the fall and spring se-mesters and the eight-weeksummer session.

All opinions expressed arethose of the author and do notnecessarily represent those ofthe publisher.

The PIONEER welcomes let-ters to the editor and encour-ages the use of this publica-tion as a community forum.All letters must include theauthor’s name, address,phone number and signature.However, the PIONEER willwithhold the name if the re-quest is made in writing. ThePIONEER has the right to editall letters and submissionsfor length, libel and obscen-ity.

Letters to the editor can bedelivered to the PIONEER of-fice, mailed to: Pioneer Editor,7777 S. May, Oklahoma City,Oklahoma 73159 or faxed to(405) 682-7843.

Letters may also be e-mailedto editor@occc.edu. A phonenumber for verification mustbe included.

The PIONEER can be ac-cessed on the Internet at:www.occc.edu/pioneer.

Library offers sources on travelingGovernmentrestricts vital

info from public

To the Editor:One of the major charac-

teristics of modern times isthe phenomenon of travel.

Most of the inventions inthe world have, in some way,contributed to the increasedability of people to travel.

People talk of visitingstates, capitals and exoticplaces around the world.

It is seldom one goes to aparty or social functionwithout hearing people talkabout far away or glamor-ous places they have vis-ited.

Those who want to travelshould carefully plan theirtrip to help keep expensesdown and save headaches.

You may need to learnabout regional food, culture,climate, package tours, autoclubs, rental cars, timezones, business etiquette,and holidays of a specificstate, region or country thatyou intend to visit.

The OCCC library has awide variety of materialssuch as books, magazines,maps and audio/visualmaterials that may help an-

swer your travel questions.“Fodor’s USA” by Fodor's

publication is organized byregional, state, and citychapters.

The main idea is to beboth more selective andcomplete.

It offers material on vaca-tions in every stage and alsogives useful details on themost popular destinations.

The beginning of the bookfeatures a United Statesmap with states, capital cit-ies, major highways, andAmtrak lines for your con-venience.

“North America and Alas-kan cruises” is written byexperts in the field.

It provides practical ad-vice and a general under-standing about an area’shistory, culture and people.

It also covers natural andcultural history, worthysights, and detailed infor-mation on dry land, hotelsand restaurants.

“Fodor’s Europe” is a fas-cinating book about people,places and routes of 31countries.

This book takes you alongmajor routes, and helps youexplore the towns, villagesand beauty spots.

Special features includenew and noteworthy tips,plus basic vocabularywords, numbers, days ofthe week, and some usefulphrases.

Come to the library andmake use of our sources.

—Jay RamanjuluLibrary Public

Services Coordinator

Recently, three former U.S. Surgeon Generalsappeared before Congress to testify in regard topolitical interference with their office.

Richard Carmona, former Surgeon General forthe President George W. Bush Administration, tes-tified members of the administration interfered inthe release of reports covering topics such as stemcell research, sexual education and the immediatedangers from exposure to second-hand smoke.

When government offices serving the public areforced to report only information that supportspoliticians’ agendas, the public’s best interests arenot being considered.

Leaders in those offices have a responsibility tospeak out about such interference, just asCarmona did.

By doing so, they provide the people the oppor-tunity to speak out and say such behavior is notacceptable from our elected government represen-tatives.

One of the most important duties of the SurgeonGeneral’s office is to inform and educate the pub-lic about new developments concerning medicalscience and health issues.

By restricting the topics on which Carmona couldreport or discuss, the Bush Administration pre-vented the public from having access to informa-tion that could be pivotal to life decisions.

After appointing Carmona to the position inMarch 2002, Bush said, “Translating medical re-search into practical life-improving changes is acritical function of the Surgeon General,” accord-ing to his March 26, 2002, speech as found onwww.whitehouse.gov.

But the interference by the president’s office pre-vented Carmona from doing exactly that.

The Declaration of Independence states, “whena long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuinginvariably the same Object evinces a design to re-duce them under absolute Despotism ... it is theirduty, to throw off such government, and to pro-vide new Guards for their future security.”

Essentially, the Declaration of Independencestates when government officials abuse their powerin an oppressive manner, those with the ability toenact change have the responsibility to do so.

If we don’t want politicians telling us only whatsuits their interests and not ours, then we mustexercise our right to representation by writing toour congressmen and women.

We must let them know we will not tolerate themrestricting and interfering with the release of in-formation that directly concerns our lives.

We must remind them it is the people who pos-sess the power to vote them out of office.

—Carrie CronkStaff Writer

All letters to the editor must include the author’s name,address and phone number. However, the Pioneer willwithhold the name if the request is made in writing.

July 23, 2007 • PIONEER • 3

Comments and Reviews

Everyone at OCCC is committed to helping eachstudent succeed in college.

We believe that a college education is the mostsignificant investment you can make to ensure abetter life for yourself and your family.

This focus on student success is not just a sloganat OCCC.

We continually look at what we do inside andoutside of the classroom that could help more stu-dents succeed.

We measure success not only by the number ofstudents who successfully complete college courses;we also measure it by how deeply each studentlearns the materials in the class.

Recently, we have decided to organize our efforts tohelp more students succeed around an initiativecalled, “Achieving the Dream.”

This comprehensive initiative provides a focus tothe many projects designed to improve studentpreparation for college, presistence of our studentsfrom semester to semester, right through the accom-plishment of a degree or certificate.

Why the increased focus on student success?Simply put, too many students in Oklahoma dreamof going to college and finishing a college degree andnever see their dreams fulfilled.

Less than half of the students who initially enrollin college will ever complete a degree.

Among the 50 states, Oklahoma ranks 42nd in thepercentage of its residents (per capita) who hold acollege degree.

Jobs that only required a high school diploma aredeclining, while jobs that require a college degree,are increasing.

A college education has never been more impor-tant.

OCCC is a place where everyone can have theopportunity to achieve the dream of earning a collegeeducation.

Doing all that we can to make sure that thisopportunity is one that ends in success is at theheart of OCCC’s “Achieving the Dream” initiative.

—Paul SechristOCCC President

“Hairspray” is the latestmusical film set to be re-leased by New Line CinemaJuly 20. It is based on the2002 Tony-award winningplay, which was based onthe 1988 comedy film.

Musical films have seena subtle resurgence in thenew millennium since“Moulin Rouge,” and “Hair-spray” arrives on the heelsof recent mainstream hitssuch as “Chicago,” “Rent”and “Dreamgirls.”

Most␣ musicals carry aclear, underlying messageand “Hairspray” is no dif-ferent, preaching the valueof being different and pre-senting issues of inequal-ity in the early ’60s.

Singing and dancingequates to not much

The story follows␣ pudgyoverachiever Tracy Turn-blad (played by cinemanewcomer Nikki Blonsky)and her dreams of gettingon a Baltimore dance TVstation, “The Corny CollinsShow.”

Despite not fitting in atschool and being misin-formed by her mother Edna(played by a John Travoltawho is strapped in fakeweight, a dress and a wig),Tracy impresses CornyCollins himself (played byJames Marsden) at a schooldance.

Tracy then earns a spoton the show, wows the au-dience and becomes a sen-sation, much to the disdain

of the show’s leading star-let, Amber Von Tussle (Brit-tany Snow), who plans tobring␣ Tracy down.

But Tracy has othertroubles of her own as herchildhood friend PennyPingleton (Amanda Bynes)stirs up controversy by de-veloping an interracial re-lationship with SeaweedStubbs (Elijah Kelley).

During a protest againstracial segregation, Tracyends up on the local police’swanted list and has to gointo hiding at Pingleton’shouse.

Meanwhile, the heatedrivalry between her andVon Tussle continues andends up being settled by a,you guessed it, singingdance-off between the two“Miss Teenage Hairspray”candidates.

The musical perfor -mances of “Hairspray” arecomical and over-the-top,but feature some very goodacts by Blonsky as TracyTurnblad, and QueenLatifah, who plays Stubbs’mother and glossy kinder-garten teacher Motormouth

Maybelle.Despite a solid perfor-

mance by Blonsky, whois␣ backed by a strong castthat also includes MichellePfeiffer, Allison Janney, ZacEfron and ChristopherWalken, “Hairspray” lacksheart and sincerity.

The actors aren’t super-ficial, but their charactersare. “Rent”␣ has characterswith␣ more authentic strug-

gles␣ and “Dreamgirls” hasmore vibrant performances.

“Hairspray,” rated PGand running 117 minutes,is fun and colorful, butthe␣ story of hope and tri-umph is lost beneath a hol-low spectacle of too muchfeel-good satisfaction.

Rating: C—Eric Nguyen

Editor

Questions, comments or concerns? Send them to editor@occc.edu.

Comments and Reviews4 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Lifetime’s pilot episode fortheir new series “Side Or-der of Life” captures view-ers well with its combina-tion of light humor andunavoidable drama.

The series is set to air 7p.m. Sunday evenings onthe Lifetime cable network.

The series focuses on thelife of Jenny McIntyre,played by Marisa Coughlan(“Boston Legal,” “SuperTroopers”), who is a maga-zine photographer sufferingfrom a severe case of thejitters.

In the pilot, Coughlan’ssituation causes her to ob-sess over every little detailof her upcoming wedding,as well as relationship withher fiancée, Ian, played byJason Priestley (“BeverlyHills 90210”).

That is until her bestfriend Vivy, played byDiana-Maria Riva (“Studio60”), shows up for lunchwearing one of the worstbridesmaid dresses of re-cent history, and proceedsto inform Jenny that shehas cancer.

After the shock of Vivy’snews, Jenny’s jitters growinto doubts, and her pho-tos begin to reveal more to

Action, intrigue and thestrange world of Victorian-era Britain collide in Mi-chael Crichton’s 1975 novel“The Great Train Robbery.”

Set in Victorian Londonbetween 1854 and 1857,the novel tells the story ofEdward Pierce, an ambi-tious well-to-do criminalmastermind.

Pierce, after much plan-ning, decides to steal ahuge shipment of gold fromtwo virtually impenetrablesafes on board a trainbound for Europe — some-thing that had never beendone before.

Because dynamite hadnot yet been invented andsafes of the period were in-

credibly heavy devices us-ing key-based locks,Pierce and his accom-plices are forced to seekout copies of the safes’keys.

In the process of find-ing them, Pierce and hisaccomplices pull off sev-eral elaborate confidencegames and burglaries asintricate as the final heistitself.

On the eve of the rob-bery, however, unex-pected complicationsforce Pierce and his ac-complices to improvise abrilliant and inadvert-ently hilarious backupplan.

A number of things make

“The Great Train Robbery”one of Crichton’s best nov-els.

The most notable ofwhich is the fact the book’splot, characters and dia-logue are heavily based onhistorical records of the1885 Great Gold Robbery.

While embellishedslight-ly for the story’ssake, Crichton seems totake pains in following theactual events fairly closely.

In “The Great Train Rob-bery,” Crichton also ex-plains several oddities ofVictorian England at rel-evant points of the book.

This helps readers un-derstand otherwise non-sensical events without

noticeably interrupting thestory.

These characters are an-

other of the book’s majorstrengths. While many ofthem are described spar-ingly because of limited his-torical records, they stillcome to life in a very believ-able way.

The result is a collectionof characters and settingsthat feel very much alive, ina story reminiscent of“Oceans 11” or “The ItalianJob.”

At 329 pages, “The GreatTrain Robbery” isn’t a shortbook but is compellingenough to keep casual, aswell as dedicated readers,interested in the story rightup to the epilogue.

—Drew HamptonStaff Writer

Classic Crichton novel about intrigue and action

TV series mixeshumor and drama

her than what is immedi-ately apparent.

While Jenny struggleswith the choices she isfaced with in her personallife, her career flourishes asher increased emotionalsensitivity spreads to herwork, and she moves froman average photographer,to a photojournalist ca-pable of capturing the feelof the moment in both pic-tures and words.

Comic relief is providedby Vivy’s panicky reactionto her abbreviated lifespan,and from Jenny’s reactionsto events and conversationswith a total stranger overthe cell phone.

The show captures theessence behind the saying“Life is what happens whileyou’re busy making otherplans,” and Coughlan’sperformance captures theemotional roller coastercreated by life’s dilemmas.

This is a show manypeople will be able to relateto, as it brings comedy,drama and a sense of theuniversally mysterious tothe audience.

Rating: A—Carrie Cronk

Staff Writer

One of rock’s best acts, the Foo Fight-ers, recently released a special editionof the album that made them stars byadding six extra songs.

The 1997 album known to us meremortals as “The Colour and the Shape”remains a modern rock classic.

The extra songs are a mixed lot — acollection of B-sides and covers. Fourof the six tracks are cover songs fromartists such as Killing Joke and GaryNuman.

The Foo Fighters fall short on boththeir renditions of “Requiem,” a KillingJoke track and the Vanity 6 song,“Drive Me Wild.” Both songs sound flatwith almost inaudible vocals and over-done, distorted guitars.

Two other covers, Gary Numan’s“Down in the Park” and Gerry Rafferty’s“Baker Street” exemplify the Foos attheir more melodic moments.

Adding smiles to fans’ faces are theband’s two originals, “Dear Lover” and“The Colour and the Shape.

“Dear Lover” is the father to “NextYear” and “MIA” on the band’s third al-bum, “There Is Nothing Left to Lose”while “The Colour and the Shape” isreminiscent of the Nirvana track “Scent-less Apprentice.”

Overall, the additions are nice, butreally just remind listeners of a greatband’s origins.

Every track is part of a great emotionalroller coaster ride where the music

moves listeners.While the album is well known for

singles such as “Everlong” and “MyHero,” the entire record paints a pic-ture of heartache, happiness and every-thing in between.

The album is an essential for rock fansnew and old alike.

It stands out for its heart and greatsound which was captured by veteranproducer Gil Norton (Jimmy Eat Worldand the Pixies).

The special edition’s added tracksdon’t all live up to the album’s legacy,but they are a good pick up for the Foofan.

Rating: A-—Matt Caban

Staff Writer

Special release shouldcater to all Foo fans

July 23, 2007 • PIONEER • 5

Library provides Visual Thesaurus

By Matt CabanStaff Writer

A false fire alarm and lar-ceny from a motor vehiclewere reported on campusJuly 9 and 13.

The fire alarm sounded at1:29 p.m. July 9, on thesecond level of the Science,Engineering and Math Cen-ter, according to a reportfiled by Safety and SecuritySergeant Larry Lundy.

According to the report,after fire alarms sounded inthe Main Building, it wasevacuated along with theSEM Center while classeswere in session.

Lundy went to the SEMCenter and checked forsmoke or signs of a fire butfound none according tothe report.

A call made to the Okla-homa City Fire Departmentwas canceled at 1:34 p.m.and everyone was allowedback into the building at1:38 p.m., according to thereport.

On July 13, Student TylerStephens reported the theft

By Julissa Niles andEmily JacobsonNews Writing Students

Are you a person of few words?The college library has a new toolthat can help you build your rep-ertoire.

The library added a trial sub-scription of Thinkmap’s VisualThesaurus to their online re-sources this summer.

According to www.visualthesaurus.com, the resource “is aninteractive dictionary and thesau-rus which creates word maps thatblossom with the meanings andbranch to related words.”

Library Circulation AssistantSupervisor Jessica Viner said stu-dents can access the websitethrough a link located at the topof the library’s homepage, www.occc.edu/library.

To use the thesaurus, the userenters a word to activate the ani-mated visual map.

The map provides informationabout the word including theword’s definition, alternate and

of his wallet and 60-gigabyte video iPod from his2005 Ford F-150 to OfficerDennis Shelton.

Stephens said the iPod’scar adapter was visible in-side the vehicle but hedoesn’t know how someonegot to them.

“There weren’t any signsof a break in and I know Ilocked it,” he said.

Stephens, a senior bio-medical/zoology student atthe University of Okla-homa, said he was at OCCCearlier that day for a Span-ish II class.

“On my break from class,I put my wallet and iPodinto the center console,” hesaid.

Stephens said he noticedhis wallet and iPod missingwhen he returned to his carafter class.

Stephens said his walletcontained his Oklahomadriver’s license, a lifetimefishing license and aMasterCard.

Stephens said purchasestotaling more than $2,000were made at several local

stores.He said two of the stores

had surveillance video butwould not release it to him.

However, an employee atone of the stores gave himthe description of a 1997-98 maroon Ford F-150,Stephens said.

He said the driver was a5’11” or 6’ skinny andscruffy white male wearinga ball cap in his late 20’s.

Stephens said he filed areport with the OklahomaCity Police Department.

Shelton said Stephenswas unsure if the itemswere stolen when he was athome or on campus.

“He came back to campusafter he found they weremissing,” he said.

Officer Shelton said helooked for the incident onSafety and Security’s newvideo camera system.

“On camera there was noone near the vehicle at [thetime Stephens was inclass],” he said.

Staff Writer Matt Cabancan be reached at SeniorWriter@occc.edu.

False alarm, theft highlight crime

synonyms.Users can click on one of the

word’s synonyms to access themap for that word as well.

Circulation and Reference Li-brarian Linda Boatright said theonline thesaurus is a good tool forstudents and professors alike.

The program is designed to helpspark interest in reading, writingand building vocabulary, she said.

“It was the library’s intention tohave this program as a tool forwriters and to expand people’sreading and vocabulary.”

“Written communication is a vi-tal skill and is often neglected.”

The thesaurus provides many ar-ticles to help prepare students towrite papers for their classes, shesaid.

The articles cover topics fromproofreading and interviewingtechniques, to web writing, plagia-rism and how to use quotes.

The section “Bad Language,” ad-dresses common writing mistakesstudents make, while the Educa-tors section contains lesson plansand other helpful tips for teachers.

Yousef Kazemi, a student tutorin the Communications Lab, saidalthough he had not yet learnedabout the Visual Thesaurus, hewould begin recommending it tostudents, as the Comm Lab triesto make all students aware of anyand all resources available to them.

OCCC and University of Okla-homa student Gretchen Biagi said

the thesaurus could be helpful.“It would be really nice to use

when you’re writing papers,” shesaid.

Students and faculty are encour-aged to use the resource before theend of the trial period on Oct. 31,as the library will consider pur-chasing a full subscription if theprogram is widely used.

The Visual Thesaurus is an animated map that displays the word users enter,and illustrates other synonyms of the word through interactive branches.

6 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Former student gracing televisions near youBy Carrie CronkStaff Writer

One of OCCC’s graduateshas become a familiar faceto many members of Okla-homa City’s Spanish-speaking community.

Rony Medrano can beseen most nights on theTelemundo T30 news at 5p.m. and 10 p.m. on Chan-nel 30 and Cox CableChannel 5,

Medrano graduated fromOCCC in November 2002,and went on to earn abachelor’s degree in Broad-cast Journalism from theUniversity of Central Okla-homa in 2005.

Medrano has worked forthe station as a general as-signment reporter sinceMarch 2006.

He said he covers the seg-ment “T30 On Your Side.”

Medrano said the seg-ment helps the Hispaniccommunity in the same

Rony Medrano

manner as consumerwatch segments on thelarger news broadcasts.

“We do a lot of situationswhere we go on their sideand we investigate,” hesaid. For instance, a lot ofemployers don’t pay themfor weeks of work thatthey’ve done, or somebodyat a car dealer tries to ripthem off.”

He said many undocu-mented residents are takenadvantage of because manyof them do not speak En-glish well, and many arealso here illegally and lesslikely to take action.

Medrano said he under-stands the issues facing theHispanic community.

“I was in their shoes atone point in my life,” hesaid. “I didn’t speak anyEnglish when I first cameto this country, so I kindafeel that connection withthem.”

In 1991, Medrano and his

family moved to the UnitedStates from Guatemala,where they lived in a neigh-borhood with only threehouses, no running waterand no electricity, he said.

“There’s a huge … cultureshock.”

Medrano said the twothings he enjoys mostabout his job are giving

back to the community,and the constantly chang-ing nature.

“It’s not like any other jobwhere you’re stuck behinda desk all day … staring atthe clock … wonderingwhen your shift’s going toend,” he said.

“Time flies by.”Medrano said his job of-

fers a continuous learningexperience. He said jour-nalists meet new peopleevery day and often have todo research for the storiesthey are assigned to cover.

Medrano said his experi-ence at OCCC helps him agreat deal in his career.

He said while the largermedia markets have muchmore specialized positions,at T30, “you do everythingfrom start to end on yourown.”

“You have to shoot yourown [video], edit your own[work], and write your own[copy].”

He said his OCCC classesand professors helped toprepare him.

“When I first walked in[Rick Lippert’s class], Ididn’t even know how toturn on the camera,” hesaid. “Now it’s … secondnature.”

“I feel like everything hetaught us from lighting toediting to shooting. It hashelped me a lot,” he said.

Medrano said studentsshould learn as much aspossible about the variousaspects of journalism be-cause they may be requiredto do more than just reporton the story.

“I feel like the educationat OCCC was just as goodor maybe even better than[at] UCO,” Medrano said. Ifeel like I had amazing pro-fessors and I learned … alot.”

Staff Writer Carrie Cronkcan be reached at StaffWriter2@occc.edu.

New foreign language courses scheduled for fallBy Brian HodgesNews Writing Student

OCCC will offer two new foreignlanguage courses in the fall 2007semester.

Intro to Vietnamese, a three-credit hour course, will be offeredat 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mondays andWednesdays, beginning Aug. 20.

Intro to Vietnamese will intro-duce students to the Vietnamesealphabet and related symbols inorder for them to develop basicskills for communicating in everyday situations, Diane Broyles,Communication and the Arts act-ing chairwoman, said.

Italian for Travelers, a three-

credit hour course, will be offered9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays begin-ning Nov. 10. It will be a Fast Trackweb-enhanced class.

“We’re very excited to offer theseclasses,” Broyles said.

Students enrolling in eithercourse should have sufficientknowledge in their first languageand little or no knowledge in thelanguage they want to learn,Broyles said.

Professors have yet to be chosenfor the classes.

Special Initiatives Dean SusanVanSchuyver said the Intro to Viet-namese class is the first OCCCclass to be offered in Vietnamese,and there is an opportunity to ex-

pand.Broyles said the class is espe-

cially for beginners and people whowant a refresher course in the sub-jects.

She said Intro to Vietnamese isbeing offered because there was in-terest in the Vietnamese commu-nity for a class, and the Commu-nication and Arts departmentwanted to expand the number ofcourses.

Italian for Travelers will be con-ducted along the same lines.

The course will teach studentsconversational Italian and offer ba-sics for reading and writing Ital-ian, Broyles said.

“I will actually be taking the Ital-

ian for Travelers course,” Broylessaid. “I was in Italy a few years agoand I was embarrassed by my lackof knowledge in Italian.”

The Italian for Travelers courseis being offered in preparation fora trip to Italy over winter break thatsome students and faculty are go-ing on, Broyles said.

The trip can be used as a Hu-manities credit, Broyles said.

Students taking the course arenot required to go on the trip.

Both class capacities are 25.The classes are integrated with

the World Languages and CulturalCenter, where students can shareand learn about different cultures,Broyles said.

College’s nanotech program aims to be one of best in stateBy Robert MatejkaNews Writing Student

Students who would like to earn a degree inNanotechnology will soon have the chance atOCCC. Gregory Holland, engineering professor,will coordinate a new program in the fall 2007.

He has been lobbying for the program sincehis hire in January 2005. It will require 63credit hours, according to the degree sheet.

Nanotechnology is all sciences on a very smallscale, Holland said. It allows science students

to see their work at the level of molecules.“We are going to provide experience for fu-

ture technicians in the field of nanotechnology,”Holland said.

The field is increasing in Oklahoma andOCCC wants to provide it with knowledgableworkers, he said.

The Nanotechnology degree can be the endroad for students who can then work in thefield or they can move to a four-year collegeand specialize in a specific field of study, hesaid.

The classes can hold up to 25 students butwill probably start small and grow as interestgrows in the courses and field. Holland saidseveral students already have shown interestin earning the degree.

Holland said OCCC’s access to certain equip-ment is what helps the college stand out.

“OCCC might be the only two-year college thathas access to certain equipment such as anatomic force microscope (AFM) and a scanningtunneling microscope (STM) to practiceNanotechnology.”

July 23, 2007 • PIONEER • 7

Summer of sports reigns supreme at OCCCThe chess camp wraps up OCCC’s summer sports camps

July 23 through 27.Rita Manning, Recreation and Community Services assistant,

said the sport of kings rounds out the 10 youth camps held thissummer.

She said 190 children participated in sports camps such asbasketball, baseball, chess, football, golf, soccer and tennis.

There also were two camps for some sports such as basketball,golf and tennis, she said.

Manning said this year’s camps had a comparable number ofcampers to last summer’s camps.

This year’s largest camp was soccer with 39 campers, Manningsaid. She said it also was last year’s biggest camp with 45 camp-ers.

Manning said the second largest camp was tennis with 34 camp-ers and the third biggest camp was boys’ basketball with 28 par-ticipants.

The fourth and fifth largest camps were baseball with 23 camp-ers and golf with 22 participants.

Although the numbers for most camps were comparable to lastyear’s camps, there was an exception, she said.

Manning said the girls’ basketball camp did not have enoughparticipants to go on as scheduled June 18 to 22. She said lastsummer’s version of the camp had 20 campers.

Half of the camps took place on campus, Manning said.The off-campus camps were baseball at the USA Softball Com-

plex on Shields Avenue, golf at Earlywine Golf Course and tennisat Fairmoore Park in Moore.

Junior Yellowfish, 10, charges thebasket during a scrimmage in the OCCCWellness Center. Children from thecommunity participated in an OCCCyouth fitness for life basketball camphosted by Recreation CommunityServices.

Above: Thirteen-year-old Park Hyunsung practices his newly acquiredputting technique in the OCCC youth golf camp held July 9 to 13. OCCCGolf instructor Gary Martin has been teaching children discipline andform for the last seven years.

Left: Concurrent enrollment student and U.S. Grant High School juniorShawna Bieger uses the Wellness Center gymnasium to practicevolleyball serves. The size of the gym accommodates a variety of sportsfrom basketball and tennis to golf and volleyball.

Text byMatt CabanPhotos by

Jay Rocamontes

8 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Sports

UPCOMING

OCCCINTRAMURALS

EVENTS

•July 27-29: The OklahomaLong Course Age Group Cham-pionship starts at the OCCCAquatic Center. It is an event forall registered USA Swimmingathletes ages 19 and underwithin Oklahoma. Competitionbegins at 10:30 a.m. July 27 to28 and at 10:45 a.m. July 29.

Entry fee and deadline infor-mation is available from Meet Di-rector Eileen Hatfield. All entriesare due by noon Friday, July 20.For more information, contactHatfield at 405-834-2892.

•July 30: The Wellness Centergymnasium will be open duringthe day. It was closed daily from8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for summersports camp usage.

Beginning July 30, gymnasiumhours are 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.Monday through Thursday and 6a.m. through 6 p.m. Friday. Thehours will change after Friday,Aug. 24. For more information,call the Wellness Center Cage at-tendants at 405-682-1611, ext.7310.

Dive in

Swimmers go head first into the men’s 100-meter freestyle race July 18 at the Aquatic Center. OCCC playedhost to the Speedo Champions Series Central Section Region VIII meet July 18 to 21. The meet brought 598swimmers and 53 swim teams from neighboring states to compete in 34 Olympic-grade long course events.Preliminary heats were held each morning of the event . The four fastest swimmers from each heat moved on tothe finals, which were held the same evening.

Photo by Jay Rocamontes

By Matt BishopNews Writing Student

Tennis camp is in full swing atOCCC.

Coach Alice Ratway led the wayfor the boys and girls for two weeksof camp from July 9 to 13 and July16 to 20.

Many of the participants, ages 10to 14, and many of them were try-ing tennis for the first time.

The boys and girls were taughtthe basics of serving and hitting theball.

They watched videos on how toserve and hit the tennis ball, thenwent into the gym to learn withhands-on experience.

Racquets also were provided sothat all participants were able toplay, Ratway said.

It was Ratway’s first year teach-ing the camp at the college and saidshe will be looking forward to com-ing back.

“I love the program and love thefacilities,” she said.

Ratway has been a teacher at

Western Heights High School inOklahoma City for seven years andworked at a racquet club for 26years.

Those years of experience arewhat the kids need for starting anew sport, she said.

Several parents and grandpar-ents were glad to see their childrenand grandchildren participate inthe tennis camp.

Jerry Jackson, of Oklahoma City,said his granddaughter Karen wasplaying tennis for the first time.

“This is Karen’s first week toplay,” Jackson said.

“She loves it and is learning alot,”he said.

Jackson said that he and hisgranddaughter would be back nextyear for the camp.

Coach Ratway said participantslearned a lot and improvedthroughout the course of the camp.

“I love watching the kids find outthat they can do something thatthey have never done before,”Ratway said.

Her favorite part of the camp wasseeing Paula Tran, a smaller-sizedgirl who could barely hold aracquet on the first day, accom-plish her first overhead serve,Ratway said.

“I am blessed to have this oppor-tunity to be teaching tennis here,”she said.

Ratway said she gave out awardsto all camp participants.

The awards included ones forhustle, most improved and strokeform, she said.

First-time coach leads campWestern Heights teacher shares tennis with children

Stay updated! Visit thePioneer Online oftenfor news from yourcollege community.Visit www.occc.edu/

pioneer today.

Have a greatsports story youwant to share?

Know an athletethe Pioneer

should talk to?Contact Matt at

405-682-1611, ext.7675 or by e-mailat seniorwriter@

occc.edu.

“I love watching the kids find out that they can dosomething that they have never done before.”

—Alice RatwayTennis Camp Coach

July 23, 2007 • PIONEER • 9

Photo by Jay Rocamontes

Jerry Steward, vice president of Government Relations and Community Development, speaksat the open house dedication of the OCCC computer lab July 10 at the Hillcrest Senior Center,2325 S.W. 59th St. Steward recognized Barbara Baker, Oklahoma City Senior Citizen Housingsupervisor (left) and Jessica Martinez-Brooks, Community Outreach director (right) for their workin planning the computer labs located at senior centers across south Oklahoma City.

New nursingprogram holds

open house

OCCC offers classes,computers for seniorsBy Drew HamptonStaff Writer

In a small cafeteria cov-ered in patriotic decora-tions, dignitaries fromOCCC and the OklahomaCity Housing Authorityhelped dedicate new com-puter labs at senior centersacross south OklahomaCity Tuesday, July 10.

The ceremony, an openhouse held at the HillcrestSenior Center on S.W. 59thStreet, began with an intro-duction by Jerry Steward,vice-president for Govern-ment Relations and Com-munity Development.

Steward said the labs,installed with the help ofOCCC’s Information Tech-nology department, are in-tended to give seniors andmembers of the communitynew ways to educate them-selves and keep in touchwith family.

“In the future, if youwant to send or receivephotographs of relativesand friends, you’re going tobe able to do that,” he said.

Each lab consists of twomodern Internet-capabledesktop computers and aprinter, available to bothresidents and those livingin the immediate area.

The computers were setup at Hillcrest and other lo-cations, including ReddingSenior Center on S.W. 28thStreet, Andrews Square onS. Harvey Avenue, andShartel Towers on S.Shartel Avenue.

Steward said OCCCwould provide free classesat the college to teach thecenters’ residents how touse the new systems. Hesaid the Housing Authoritywould provide transporta-tion to and from the college.

“We thought about howgreat it would be if you …could not only have accessto computers and theinternet, but someone toteach you how to usethem,” he said.

Board of Regents memberAlice Musser also spoke atthe ceremony.

“We are walking into the21st century today,” shesaid.

“We are here to celebratea partnership that pro-motes education, quality oflife and computer literacy.”

Mark Gillet of the Okla-homa City Housing Author-ity, spoke briefly, thankingthe regents for making thecomputer access possible.

“Residents on fixed in-come can’t (afford to) do

this on their own,” he said.Joyce Boyd, a resident at

Hillcrest and grandmotherof five, told the audienceshe loved the freedom com-puters had given her andencouraged them to learnhow to use the new tech-nology.

“I hope you enjoy it asmuch as I have,” she said.

A number of OCCC em-ployees were recognized atthe open house, includingJames Riha, chief technol-ogy officer, Mark Davis,vice-president of Businessand Finance, and JessicaMartinez-Brooks, directorof Community Outreach.

State Senator DebbieLeftwich attended the cer-emony, as did representa-tives from congresswomanMary Fallin’s office.

One resident, BessieDavis, said she likely wouldnot use the new computers.

“I don’t think so, not atmy age,” she said. “Itwouldn’t do much good.”

Other residents, includ-ing Larry Snow, were morepositive.

“I think it’s a great deal,”Snow said. “It’s a goodthing.”

Staff Writer Drew Hamp-ton can be reached atStaffWriter3@occc.edu.

By Drew HamptonStaff Writer

On July 11, OCCC hosted an open house for thefirst students of the new OU/OCCC CollaborativeBachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program.

Nursing Professor Debbie Myers and representa-tives from OU distributed information about theprogram and helped answer students’ questionsduring the open house.

“[The program consists of] junior-level nursingcourses that will be taught here at OCCC, at [our]tuition and [fee rates], by our nursing faculty,” saidOCCC Director of Nursing Rosemary Klepper.

Klepper said these students will also be enrolledas full-fledged bachelor degree students at the Uni-versity of Oklahoma while taking classes at OCCC.

In addition to the cost of tuition, books and fees,students enrolled in the program are required topurchase laptops, health insurance and liabilityinsurance, and pay for random drug screenings.

Klepper said the program was inspired by a simi-lar effort at Tulsa Community College, both of whichshare the goal of expanding the number of bacca-laureate-prepared nurses in the state.

“The baccalaureate nurse is an important com-ponent of the nursing community,” she said. “Theyare the people who go on and get their master’s andteach or [enter] management.”

She said these nurses are in high demand in largepart because of a shortage of nursing faculty acrossthe nation.

Without new nursing teachers, Klepper said, theshortage of both baccalaureate-equipped andtradtional nurses will become more severe.

“This in no way replaces our associate degree pro-gram,” she said. “It will continue to be the heart ofnursing education at OCCC.”

Of the 24 students expected at the open househeld in room 1N2 of Health Professions, 13 attended,most of whom were female.

“I’m really looking forward to [the program],” saidAngie Collins, who is enrolling in the program after11 years of operating Airborne Warning and Con-trol System aircraft (AWACS) as a Technical Ser-geant in the Air Force.

“[The Air Force] can be rewarding, but nursing isas well … we’ll see what it brings.”

Brandee Keele, a student who attended courseswith Collins, also is enrolled in the program andsaid she hopes to work in obstetrics.

“We’re excited about it,” she said.Heather Madron, an OU student, said she decided

to enroll in the program after taking accountingcourses last semester and hating them.

“I wanted to do something to make a difference,and nursing can do that,” she said.

Orientation for the program is scheduled for Au-gust 8, and classes begin on August 20.

Staff Writer Drew Hampton can be reached atStaffWriter3@occc.edu.

10 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Photo by Jay Rocamontes

HighlightsChesapeake scholarship offered

Chesapeake Energy Corporation is offering 10 $1,000scholarships to Chesapeake Scholars for the 2007-2008academic year. The scholarship provides assistance toOklahoma natives and students who attended high schoolin the state. Students eligible to apply must have completeda minimum of 12 credit hours at OCCC with a minimumgrade point average of 3.0. The student must also be in-volved in an OCCC club or a community organization. Stu-dents should apply no later than July 31. Those needingan application should contact the Oklahoma City Commu-nity College Foundation office at 405-682-7591.

Fall tuition waivers availableDepartment tuition waivers for the 2007 fall semester are

available to students in the Financial Aid Office. Waiversand academic histories must be submitted to Financial Aidno later than 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1. For more informa-tion, contact the Financial Aid office at 405-682-7527.

Engineering scholarship offeredKelly Engineering Resources is accepting entries for its

fifth annual Future Engineers Scholarship Program. Sopho-more- and junior-level college students can apply by sub-mitting an essay on a designated engineering topic for achance at the $5,000 scholarship. Applications are due Oct.1. For more information, contact Amy Grundman at 248-224-5630, or visit the organization’s website at www.kellyengineering.com.

Frontier City and White Water Bay tickets availableConsignment tickets to Frontier City and White Water

Bay are available for purchase in the OCCC Bookstore.Tickets are $19 for a one-day pass and $65.01 for a sea-son pass. Also available are one-day passes to Six Flagsat $28 each. For more information, contact Bookstore Di-rector Brenda Reinke at 405-682-1611, ext. 7242.

All Highlights must be submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Retreat offers students helpin running clubs efficientlyBy Drew HamptonStaff Writer

The start of the 2007 Stu-dent Leadership Retreat forclub officers and sponsorsis fast approaching, Stu-dent Life Assistant MarcyRoll said.

Held Aug. 10 to 12 at Ro-man Nose State Park inWatonga, the retreat will bean event to help studentofficers and sponsors learnto efficiently manage theirrole in campus clubs.

“It’s training,” Roll said.“They’re learning to be bet-ter leaders. Probably half[of the students] are newleaders of their clubs,” shesaid.

“A few (student leadersare) returning, but most areprobably new.”

According to materialsprovided by Student Life,all student clubs are re-quired to have at least onemember attend the retreat

to retain the club’s statuson campus.

Roll said those who missthe material may attendmake-up sessions, whichhave yet to be scheduled.

“It’s important material,”she said.

The retreat costs eachstudent who attends $25,which helps to pay fortransportation, lodging,meals, a T-shirt, and enter-tainment.

“Most of [this] is coveredby student fees from thecollege,” Roll said.

In addition to trainingsessions and time spentreviewing the Student Or-ganizations Manual, Rollsaid, participants would

also have plenty of oppor-tunity for recreation whileat the retreat.

“There will be a specialspeaker and then there willbe free time the studentswill have,” she said.

Roll said the resort offershorseback riding, minia-ture golf and a swimmingpool, as well as StudentLife’s leadership activities.

Roll said another retreatis being planned for thespring semester, likely to beheld locally in January.

For more information onthe retreat, call the StudentLife office at 405-682-7523.

Staff Writer Drew Hamp-ton can be reached atStaffWriter3@occc.edu.

New blood

Visit the Pioneer online at www.occc.edu.

“It’s training ... they’re learning to be betterleaders. Probably half [of the students] are new

leaders of their clubs.”—Marcy Roll

Student Life Assistant

OCCC freshman Brandon Gorman attends a Student Life-sponsored new student ori-entation July 17. New freshmen are encouraged to attend the orientation to acquire gen-eral knowledge about the campus, learn to find and identify the various campus labs, andlearn valuable skills to help them succeed in the upcoming semester.

July 23, 2007 • PIONEER • 11

Pioneer Classified Advertisingis free to all enrolled OCCC stu-dents and employees for anypersonal classified ad. Adsmust be submitted in writingwith IDs supplied or work areaand college extension in-cluded. Deadline for advertis-ing is 5 p.m. Tuesday prior tothe publication date. For moreinformation, call 405-682-1611,ext. 7674, or fax 405-682-7843.

LOOKING FOR SOMETHINGFAST-PACED AND EXCITING?Trappers Fish Camp is now hiringexperienced waitstaff. We haveone of the largest per person guestcheck averages on Reno rangingfrom $17-$24 per person. Applyin person @ 4300 West Reno inOKC from either 9-11 a.m. or 2-4p.m., 7 days a week.

THREE LOVELY WEDDINGGOWNS FOR SALE! One is satin,and two are off the shoulder. Allhave tags. Call Janis at 405-635-0656 in the evening. $50 each.

FOR SALE: Three-year-oldLudwig Doetsch violin with soft-side case. In excellent condition.Kid graduated. A real buy at$1,500. Contact 405-306-3290 or405-306-1396.

Class ifi eds

FOR RENT: Big home, niceneighborhood. 5 minutes fromOCCC, 20 minutes from OU onSW 102nd street. You only pay$300 for everything: furnished liv-ing, dining & kitchen, high-speedinternet & cable, washer & dryer.It’s best for an international stu-dent or someone with a part-timejob. Call: 405-822-5651.

ROOMMATE WANTED: Ma-ture female part-time student andfull-time educator wants to shareapartment near OCCC duringschool week. Non-smoker, non-drinker. Please call 405-255-7752and leave message or e-mailBattershell@aol.com.

ROOMMATE WANTED: Forthe Fall/07 and if possible Spring/08. To share a 3 bedroom, 1 bathhouse with a male friend and I.Two minutes away from OCCC.Quiet and clean environment forstudies. $220 a month for rent.Bills shared among 3 of us, about$150 for internet, light, water,

TEXTBOOK FOR SALE: I havean introductory & intermediateAlgebra book, 3rd edition for sale.Great condition! 405-206-4125.

Tim Tanner Air Nat ional Guard Repres entat ive Air Nat ional Guard Repres entat ive Air Nat ional Guard Repres entat ive Air Nat ional Guard Repres entat ive Air Nat ional Guard Repres entat ive

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AFFORDABLEAFFORDABLEAFFORDABLEAFFORDABLEAFFORDABLEFURNITURE

REFINISHINGRay Russell: 601-6076

Classified Ads up to 7 lines are free to OCCCstudents and employees unless business related.

Put your energy, enthusiasm& quest for success behind

one of the hottest nutritional &sports performance productlines available in the U.S.

Be in business for yourself.Live the lifestyle you want.Get on the fast track nowfor an incredible future.

Small Investment.Call 405-703-0522 or

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As a member of theAir National Guard

you will enjoy the benefitof attending state funded

colleges & vocational training100% tuition free.

Prior and non-prior service.Call 405-703-0522 or

e-mail waynohart@juno.com.

FREE KITTENS: Free to a goodhome. Eight-week-old kittens.Please call 405-812-1112.

FREE TO GOOD HOME: Full-blood black Labrador Retriever.Male, 2 years old. Very gentlewith children, loves to play, veryintelligent. Needs a family that willgive him the attention he needsand deserves. Please call 405-324-4056 after 6 p.m. or e-mailredfred1964@aol.com.

It’s easyeasyeasyeasyeasy to

PioneerFax your ads to405-682-7843

or e-mail ads toadman@occc.edu.

advertise in the

FOR SALE: ’07 Ford Mustang.Leather, loaded. Need to sell forwhat I currently owe or find some-one to take over payments. Lessthan 9,000 miles! I am movingoverseas. Contact 405-408-3051.

FOR SALE: Microfiber sofa andlove seat made by Ashley. Mochacolor. One owner, good condition.Asking $300 O.B.O. Contact 405-682-1611, ext. 7377 or e-mailkrystal.webb@weatherford.com.

NANNY NEEDED: Seekingtrustworthy, dependable nannyservice or live-in nanny to care forand love my 2-year-old-son. Cre-dentials, references and back-ground check a must. Call Chrisat 405-473-1267.

trash, and gas. We are both stu-dents at OCCC. Room is avail-able August 13th. If interestedcontact Ethel at 405-361-0251.

PART-TIME LIGHT CON-STRUCTION HELP NEEDED:$80-$100 a day. Call 405-550-1377.

Do you want to ...learn to speak and write Chinese?

Have you ever wanted to travel to the Great Wall?Have you ever considered working in China?

OCCC is offering Intro. to Chinese this Fall on Tues. & Thur. from11 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. If you are interested in learning more about

this fun and interesting course, check out www.occc.edu/acoakley.

Zio’s Italian Kitchen2035 S. Meridian

Now Hiring 12 ServersApply in person Monday

thru Thursday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

12 • PIONEER • July 23, 2007

Attempted car theft results in stabbingBy Carrie CronkStaff Writer

Engineering studentChase Key was stabbed inthe back, on his left shoul-der July 17 in parking lotG after he encountered aman who had broken intohis Chevrolet Tahoe.

At approximately 5:13p.m., Key returned to hisvehicle to find it being bro-ken into by a suspect hedescribed as being white,nearly 6-feet tall, about 185pounds, with light-coloredhair and a receding hair-line.

Key said his dashboardwas pulled apart and hisnavigational system re-moved.

“When I came down, Iheard my alarm going offand I thought I hit the key-less entry,” Key said.

“When I got about [to theend of the actual lot], I sawsomebody in my car.”

Key said he then ran tothe driver’s side of his ve-hicle where he and the sus-pect got into an “alterca-

tion.”That’s when the suspect

stabbed Key with a screw-driver, then fled in a 2007or 2008 Ford F-150 truck,which was found aban-doned late July 17 byOCCC security at the inter-section of 89th Street andMay Avenue, within a blockfrom the college.

Key said one of OCCC’sSafety and Security officerstold him they had seen thevehicle in which the sus-pect fled on campus the daybefore the break-in.

Safety and Security Di-rector Ike Sloas issued acampus-wide statement viae-mail within hours of theincident describing the sus-pect and vehicle.

Sloas said people shouldimmediately notify thecampus security office at405-682-1611, ext. 7477,or the Oklahoma City po-lice at 911 if they see any-one fitting the suspect’sdescription.

“It can be assumed thatconditions continue to ex-ist that may pose a threat

to members and guests ofthe OCCC community,”Sloas said.

“It is the duty of the in-stitution to warn of possibledangerous conditions on ornear campus.

Photo by Andrea JarmanOCCC engineering student Chase Keys talks to an Oklahoma City police officer July 17 after

being stabbed in the shoulder with a screwdriver by a man he caught breaking into his vehiclein parking lot G. Following the confrontation the man fled in a late-model Ford F-150 truck,which was found by OCCC security late July 17 at the corner of 89th Street and May Avenue.

“Please do not confrontthis suspect or other sus-pects while on campus.”

A Safety and Security dis-patcher said Key was givenfirst aid treatment but itwas unclear when and

Students need to beaware of requirements

graduate also can double-check course requirementswith Records and Gradua-tion Services.

“That way, there are nosurprises at the last minuteand they’ve got all of theirrequirements and they’vegot all the hours they need.”

She said OCCC studentswanting to transfer shouldpay close attention to whatclasses transfer to the othercollege, she said. Studentscan do this by attaining adegree checklist from the

other college.Some students don’t re-

alize some classes they tookat OCCC may not be com-patible with degree require-ments of the other college,Turner said, therefore,maintaining contact withadvisers from both collegesis a must.

“There is a lot of confu-sion about [transferring],”she said. “They just need tobe talking with people atboth campuses to makesure they have everythingthey need.”

Editor Eric Nguyen can bereached at editor@occc.edu.

“Prepare,”Cont. from page 1

New students:√ Get admitted√ Take placement tests if necessary√ Enroll in class, including Success in College and Life course (required for incoming

students with fewer than nine college credit hours of a C grade or better)√ Get student ID card and/or parking sticker from Records and Graduation Services front desk√ Buy textbooks and supplies√ Attend class

Returning students:√ Check degree requirements at Records and Graduation Services or MineOnline at the www.occc.edu to see which courses to take√ Enroll in class√ Validate student ID card for fall semester√ Buy textbooks and supplies√ Attend class

Students planning to transfer from OCCC:√ Schedule appointment with OCCC adviser at Advising and Career Services to check if

credit hours are in order and to ask questions about transfer process√ Check degree requirements to see if all required OCCC courses have been taken√ Contact transfer institution(s) and send all documents required to be transferred, including final transcript√ Get admitted√ Meet with advisers at transfer institution and plan degree checklist√ Enroll in class

where it was given.The Pioneer will update

the story as more informa-tion is available.

Staff Writer Carrie Cronkcan be reached at StaffWriter2@occc.edu.

Student checklist

Have a story idea?Have a story idea?Have a story idea?Have a story idea?Have a story idea?Call 405-682-1611, ext. 7409Call 405-682-1611, ext. 7409Call 405-682-1611, ext. 7409Call 405-682-1611, ext. 7409Call 405-682-1611, ext. 7409

or editor@occc.eduor editor@occc.eduor editor@occc.eduor editor@occc.eduor editor@occc.edu