Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Volume 121, Issue 18
VISTA The
Formula One Page 6
“OUR WORDS, YOUR VOICE.”
Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022
Volume 119, Issue 19
Professor emphasizes solidarity as Anti-LGBTQ+ bills increase in Oklahoma
Students who walked out of classes last Friday chanted “Hey hey, ho ho, Ryan Walters has got to go” while they marched across the UCO campus. (VICTOR LOPEZ/THE VISTA)
Jake Ramsey Managing Editor
University of Central Oklahoma students marched from the College of Liberal Arts building to Old North on Friday, staging a walkout in protest of the recent death of a non-binary student in Owasso. “It’s about solidarity,” said UCO Professor of Political Science Cornel Pewewardy, “It’s about looking at all the people that have been trashed and trivialized in mainstream society.” Like Owasso student Nex Benedict, who died after a confrontation with fellow students, Pewewardy is a Native American. He performed a remembrance song at the walkout in honor of Benedict. Throughout the protest, many students were shouting chants like “Hey hey, ho ho, Ryan Walters has got to go,” “Tom Woods has got to go,” “Justice for Nex,” and “Protect trans kids.” While the official cause of death has not been released, multiple investigations are ongoing, including one led by the U.S. Department of Education. Advocacy groups have been pressuring officials to continue investigating the claims that the event was a hate crime following a rise in anti-trans hate across the country. According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), hate crimes re-
The Women’s and BGLTQ+ Center in Thatcher Hall and Center for Counseling and Well-Being have resources avaliable to UCO community members who need support at this time. (VICTOR LOPEZ/THE VISTA)
lated to sexual orientation made up 17.2% of all hate crimes in 2022, and hate crimes related to gender identity made up 4%. This is up 2.3% and 1% respectively from the 2021 statistics. The 2023 statistics have yet to be released. “It is normalizing the abuse, it is normalizing the discrimination, it is normalizing the prejudice against them,” said UCO professor of sociology Leeda Copley when discussing why there has been a rise in hate crimes against the transgender community. Copley goes on to talk about the use of culture war rhetoric in politics and how it impacts our society, along with the media’s role in using clickbait as a form
of content. “It’s clickbait, this is what’s going to get people angry, this is what’s going to get people to watch,” said Copley. She goes on to discuss how politicians have begun using rhetoric that will help them get attention through the use of emotional outcry from the public. A recent example of the culture war rhetoric making its way into politics is through State Senator Tom Woods’ recent comment saying, “I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma.” Woods’ made this comment at an event in Tahlequah following Benedict’s death. In response to Woods’ statement, Copley said, “If you’re go-
ing to be a politician, that means you are a public servant, and that means you need to serve the entire public.” Copley goes on to talk about the rise of acceptance and tolerance for the LGBTQ+ community and how that may be a cause for some of the pushback. According to a study conducted by the ACLU Oklahoma currently has 54 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in effect or advancing through legislation. This includes 17 which are directly related to K-12 education in Oklahoma. One of the bills recently introduced is HB 3120. This bill would see adjustments to curriculum on sex education, which would involve a classification of males and females based on biological sex and emphasize abstinence outside of heterosexual marriage. Another bill introduced is HB 3135 which states, “A public school, charter school, technology center school or institution of higher education shall not use public funds to promote, encourage or provide instruction on topics related to sexual choice, sexual orientation, drag queens or similar topics in public educational institutions.” If passed, these bills would threaten the funding of various organizations and clubs across both public schools and state-funded higher education
Fizz brings anonymous posting to UCO through brand ambassadors Shanice Hopkins Contributing Writer
The new social media app Fizz arrived on the UCO campus on February 19. The app received over 2,000 downloads from UCO students within the day. Despite its instant popularity across campuses, students were left with questions and concerns regarding the new platform. Fizz is a platform that promises anonymity within posts. Students often compare Fizz to platforms such as Twitter and Reddit. Founded in 2020, Fizz was created in response to the lack of communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. To create an account, students must use their school email. Along with providing this information, every user is given the choice of creating a unique handle or keeping their account as “anonymous.” In the case that a user wants to comment on a post with other anonymous accounts, the users will be labeled as “Anonymous 1,” “Anonymous 2” and so forth. While given a number, users cannot find out the identity of a user unless a user posts something that would hint at their identity. Comment and post history is only available for the poster to see and other users cannot track or view someone else’s history without their school email information. “We thus set out to create Fizz, a private
campus-specific platform that facilitates authentic conversations while being properly moderated by other students in the community,” said Fizz’s official website. To promote the app on UCO’s campus, Fizz employed student labor. The Fizz company paid UCO students to be “ambassadors” for the app, in return, they would be paid a minimum of $50 with incentives of earning up to $90. Mercedes Cosby, a UCO student and Fizz ambassador, shared her experience working for Fizz. “I personally did not feel like I was the face of Fizz, but a lot of people I promoted the app to took me as the face of Fizz. When a lot of negativity came on the app, a lot of people [began] coming up to the ambassadors for help, but there was nothing I could do to help them. If you were able to get three friends to download the app and two friends in the Fizz GroupMe, then you gained 15 extra dollars. There was extra money available to be made but $50 was the standard.” says Cosby. The standard was to promote the app for at least three hours in order to get paid, Cosby said. If students downloaded the app in front of an ambassador, they were given a Krispy Kreme donut in return. Despite Cosby promoting the app, she was unable to receive her payment from Fizz due
to her not having a Venmo account. Daleigh Harrison, another Fizz ambassador, shares details on how she received payment. “I made a total of $65 — $50 from doing my 3 hour shift and then $15 from sharing Fizz on my Instagram story. If you made under $100, you would get paid through Venmo or gift card value. You were also able to also talk to the marketing manager about a different payment method. If you made $100 or more, you were paid through direct deposit.” Harrison said. Ambassadors were required to complete a training via Zoom before promoting the app and a target goal of 4,000 downloads. Despite receiving payment from the company, students say the communication between them and Fizz was limited. Fizz relied heavily on students promoting the opportunity to work for them rather than contacting students individually, according to Cosby. “I interacted with friends who were also ambassadors more than Fizz representatives. However I did have a little communication from Fizz.” Cosby said. Per Fizz’s frequently asked questions page on their website, the company assures users that the platform is not affiliated with any educational institution and does not generate revenue from downloads. Fizz Company has not responded to a request for comment.