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THE“CAMPUS

September 12, 2018 – Volume 112 Issue 3

Campus police identify suspect in attempted abductions Emily Wollenberg

When we saw him on campus, things just started to fall in line.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Campus police identified a suspect in an attempted abduction case that occurred last semester. A man approached two female students outside Oklahoma Methodist Hall and inside Cokesbury Court Apartments on March 6. He offered a ride to the first student, who declined, and attempted to grab the second student, who screamed and ran away. OCU Police Chief Jennifer Rodgers said campus police identified the non-student suspect in August because he was placed on a watchlist on other campuses. “Speaking with the other campus officers and talking about car descriptions, things started to fall in line,” Rodgers said. “When we saw him on campus, things just started to fall in line.” But, because the victims were international students and have since returned to their home countries, there is no longer anyone available to identify the suspect as the perpetrator, officials said. Rodgers said campus police have given the suspect the notice to stay off university property, but no official charges can be submitted. “We know who it is, we know a car, and, of course, this is just a suspect, this is just our best guess of who did this,” she said. “But, without a witness, we are not completely sure.” Rodgers said, unless the witnesses return to the United States, campus police cannot make any arrests or take additional action. Destiny Carrington, psychology junior, said that, when the attempted abduction occurred last semester, campus police set out informational cards reminding students of the “Never Walk Alone” program. “They made sure they put it in the library because that’s where the girl was walking from,” Carrington said. “I think, in all, they’re

Jennifer Rodgers police chief

making the steps that need to be made to make it more safe for us.” The “Never Walk Alone” program allows students to be escorted on campus by campus police officers if they ever feel unsafe. The officers will escort students by vehicle or on foot. Campus police also dealt with a suspicious persons case Aug. 24 when two dance students reported unfamiliar people on campus trying to talk to them. Maureen Austin, dance sophomore, said she was leaving auditions in Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment and walking to United Methodist Hall when she was approached by a woman with children. The woman asked her about her religious beliefs and if she could pray for Austin. Austin said, because she is religious, she felt comfortable talking to the woman. But, when she tried to leave, the woman followed her. “She kept trying to ask me questions about where I came from, what brought me here, why I am dancing, my religious background, and just everything,” Austin said. While the woman was talking to her, a policeman approached her with another student who had informed the officer. The police-

man also approached two other men who were with the woman. Austin said the officer questioned her about the situation. “I think campus police do a good job of not only handling situations, but also following through,” she said. Rodgers said the officers determined that the suspicious persons were a religious group passing out materials. After the officers investigated, the group was asked to leave campus. Because the university is private property, no outside entities or groups are allowed on campus without a permit, she said. “They had said that they had a permit to do it. I said ‘no, this is a private university, you are on private property, you are not a student, so you need to leave,’” she said. “They’ve all been identified, so if they come back, they’ll be arrested for trespassing.” To stay safe on campus, Rodgers said students should always lock their room and car doors. She also advised students to pay attention to their surroundings when walking around campus. “If they would keep their head up and pay attention to what is around them, it would discourage someone from coming up to them with some kind of intent to commit a crime,” she said. Students also can download the Guardian app, a new initiative of the police force, Rodgers said. They can find the app by searching “Rave Guardian” in the app store. The app allows students to quickly call the police if necessary, alert the police of their location and give anonymous tips about suspicious persons. The app icon is of a blue shield, and it is available for iOS and Android. Students can call campus police at the non-emergency number 405-208-5001 or the emergency number 405-208-5911.

Orange is the New Black author to visit campus as distinguished speaker Amanda Miller

STAFF WRITER

A best-selling author is scheduled to visit campus this month as part of the Martha Jean Lemon Distinguished Speaker Series. Piper Kerman, author of the memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison, will have two lectures on campus. The same memoir also was adapted into a Netflix series, running six seasons. This is the second lecture taking place on campus since the Distinguished Speaker Series was brought back last year. The series returned thanks to a donation from the Lemon family. The first lecture was technology writer Clive Thompson. Kerman will be featured in a mid-afternoon discussion, moderated by Dr. Tracy Floreani, professor of English and the director of the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature. Waltman TheNicole discussion will be at 1 p.m. Sept. 25 in Room 100 in Sarkeys EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Science and Math Center. The afternoon session is open to students only on a first-come, first-served basis.

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Since writing her memoir, Kerman gives lectures in classrooms and bookstores. She also works with a variety of organizations, according to her website, piperkerman.com. “Piper collaborates with nonprofits, philanthropies, and other organizations working in the public interest and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association and the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing For Justice Fellowship, InsideOUT Writers, Healing Broken Circles and JustLeadershipUSA,” her website reads. There also will be an evening lecture that’s open to the campus community, as well as Oklahoma City. The evening lecture will focus mostly on issues of women’s incarceration and prison reform, Floreani said. The student session in the afternoon will cover many of the same themes, she said. “The characters in her story and her own experience tell us something about the world we’re living in,” Floreani said. She encouraged students not to spend too much time focusing on differences between the book and the show. “What matters is whether the adaptation does justice to what the

book wants, the cultural work the book wants. That’s what I’m hoping the conversation will focus on at the student session,” Floreani said. Natalia Botello, music junior, said she has watched the Netflix series. “I honestly did not know there was a book,” Botello said. But she said she enjoys watching the show because all of the characters are different. “They all ended up in that space. They all have different stories,” Botello said. The evening lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Henry J. Freede Wellness and Activity Center. Admission is free, but requires a ticket through the Eventbrite page at okcu.edu/piper.

Officials raise university fees to keep up with rising costs Chandler White

COPY EDITOR

Students are paying more to attend OCU this academic year. Though the tuition rate is the same, university officials increased a per credit hour fee. The fee increased $300 for students taking 30 credit hours per academic year. Kevin Windholz, vice president for enrollment management and university communications, said the increase was to keep up with rising costs in things like

utilities and other services for students. “ The cost to maintain OCU naturally goes up, so, because of that, OCU has to have slightly more revenue to keep up with the rising costs,” Windholz said. “The reason we did the fee and the $300 a year was because it was a way for us to meet the need to keep up with the rising costs but still serve the students. The costs aren’t about us, they’re about the students.” While the university fee has increased, the tuition rate itself has not changed since 2014, Windholz said.

We didn’t want people to be paying thousands more a year than what they paid last year.

Kevin Windholz enrollment management vice president

“Three hundred dollars was a low impact compared to what it would have been like to raise tuition because we didn’t want people to be paying thousands more a year than what they paid last year,”

he said. Catherine Maninger, chief financial officer, said increases in costs to the university were inevitable, so university officials tried to minimize how much it would affect the

students. “The primary goal, really, is for the university to be able to offer an education that’s affordable and certainly has a return on investment,” Maninger said. “We’re not a public university, so we have to have tuition and fees, but I know that we’ve been trying to keep it down.” Students who were interviewed said they were not made aware of the change. Carlos Sanchez, English junior, said scholarships like the Clara Luper Scholarship and the Pell Grant he receives are the only reasons he can

attend OCU at its current rate. “Without a scholarship, I wouldn’t be able to go here,” Sanchez said. “Not in a million years.” Windholz said any more changes in fees or tuition will be decided by the budget committee and board of trustees by early November.

SAC announces Homecoming theme, partners with child cancer foundation Emily Wollenberg

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

The new Homecoming theme encourages creative storytelling. Student Activities Council officials announced this year’s Homecoming theme last week. Homecoming will be Oct. 26 through Nov. 3. The theme is “Once Upon a Star,” which allows students to tell a story through fairy tales and fantasy. The committee decided on

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“Once Upon a Star” to let organizations be creative and go in their own direction. Madelynn Buckmann, dance senior and president of SAC, said the committee gets together during the summer to brainstorm ideas for a theme. “There’s so many stories that can be told with it, because you can go with fairy tale, with a faroff world, you can go with a mystery,” Buckmann said. “There’s so many things that can be done with it, and that was kind of the goal. Not everyone is doing

the same storyline, so hopefully more stories will appear.” Joshua Lewis, vocal education senior and Homecoming commissioner, said the committee picked a theme that reflects the campus community. “We decided on ‘Once Upon a Star’ just because it creates that journey that each of us go through, when you arrive on campus and you see everything that’s bright, everything that’s new,” Lewis said. “It’s all about that. ‘Once upon a time, I was at OCU, and then I became a

star.’” Homecoming events include lip sync, banner, float, window, and OCU Cares, a volunteer service day. Lewis said SAC has created a new partnership this year with the OK Kids Korral for Homecoming. The organization provides resources and lodging for Oklahoma children with cancer. “We’ll be sending out students to help with cleaning the facility and to help with the kids,” Lewis said. “We will continue as a university to partner

with them, and we’re going to do a big dance marathon in the spring.” A group of the children will attend the Homecoming events, and they will help judge events like lip sync, Lewis said. “We’re so excited to bring them into Homecoming week. I mean, they’re going to be at lip sync, they’re going to be giving out the awards, they’re going to be doing everything, so we’re just glad that they’ll be here and they’ll be able to experience that with us,” he said.

Katelyn Jassoy, vocal performance/music theater senior, said she wants to see more creative themes in the future, but is looking forward to see what organizations put together for the events. “I think that it’s unoriginal, because it’s like a bad prom theme, but exciting because I love Disney,” Jassoy said. Contributing: Photo Editor Elina Moon

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