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Miss SWOSU Contestants
Eight
Southwestern
Oklahoma
State
University
coeds will compete for the title of Miss SWOSU at this year's
pageant on October 25. The pageant, which is a preliminary contest
for the Miss Oklahoma/Miss American pageants, will be at
7 p.m.
in the Fine Arts Center
on the SWOSU campus in Weatherford. Also this year, SWOSU is hosting
for the first time ever a Miss SWOSU Outstanding Teen Pageant that
will be held in conjunction with the Miss SWOSU Pageant. Miss SWOSU
contestants this year are (front): Alyssa Troy, Woodward. Second row
from left, Megan Miller,
Piedmont
; and Tori Nichols,
Oklahoma City
(
Putnam
City
). Third row from left,
Rebecca Witt, Tipton; McKenzie Smith,
Yukon
; and Ashley Slemp,
Gracemont. Back from left Kaeli Carothers, Hollis; and Whitney
Sexton, Apache.
Legislative Receptions Planned
Southwestern
Oklahoma
State
University
is hosting a reception to honor area legislators this Saturday,
September 27, from 4:30-5:45 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center
Upper Lounge on the Weatherford campus.
Everyone is invited to
attend.
SWOSU Assistant to the President Randy Beutler said
the reception is to honor the legislators for the commitment to
SWOSU and higher education.
Honorees
include Senators Tom Ivester, Mike Schulz and Mike Johnson and
Representatives James Covey, Purcy Dale Walker, Ryan McMullen, David
Braddock and Ray McCarter.
For
more information, contact Beutler at (580) 774-7193.
SWOSU Student Honored
Southwestern
Oklahoma
State
University
senior English
major Corey Mingura of Hollis recently received high praise for a
research paper he delivered at the William Gilmore Simms Symposium
in Athens (GA).
Mingura’s
paper, entitled "Cash is Conqueror': The Critique of Capitalism
in
Simms’s 'The Western
Emigrants' and 'Sonnett - The Age of Gold", "pointed
out the historical connections he had identified in Simms's poetry
between the materialist ethics of 19th-century American capitalists
and the forced removal of the Choctaw nation from their Mississippi
homeland to Oklahoma.
The
symposium featured the work of professional scholars from as far
away as
Germany
and
Japan
, several
prominent American scholars, and three advanced graduate students.
Mingura's paper, however, was the only undergraduate work
accepted for presentation.
The
unanimously positive response to Mingura's paper was summed up by
the symposium’s director,
University
of
Georgia English
professor James Kibler.
"Corey's
paper would have been significant if it had come from an established
Simms scholar, "Kibler said. "Coming from an
undergraduate student, it can only be called miraculous."
Mingura
was also invited to submit his paper - the product of 11 months of
research and revision - for publication in The
Simms Review.
Leadership Class Endorses Pickens Plan
The
Southwestern
Oklahoma
State
University
's
President's Leadership Classes have officially endorsed and plans to
work with the Pickens Plan as an energy policy leadership project
for the classes.
The
PLC is a four-year leadership program for top students at SWOSU in
Weatherford. The program was founded in 2006 by SWOSU President John
Hays and is primarily supported by private donations.
The
Pickens Plan is considered a bridge to the future - a blueprint to
reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy
alternatives, and give the
United States
time to develop new energy technologies.
The
classes have determined that besides the Pickens Plan formulating a
viable energy policy for the
U.S.
, this direction
will also have a dramatic, positive impact on western
Oklahoma
due to its emphasis on
wind energy and use of compressed natural gas (CNG).
Weatherford
is home to a major wind energy farm that was established by Florida
Power and Light in 2005 and produces up to 147 megawatts of
electricity for American Electric Power/Public Service of Oklahoma.
The city is also home to Chesapeake Energy's field office
which is a major natural gas exploration company and leader in the
drive to use CNG for transportation.
"This
is one of the most important decisions this country is going to face
in the history of the
United States of America
," said Justin Simpson, SWOSU freshman from Antlers.
"It is going to affect every single person."
According
to Randy Beutler, director of the SWOSU program, the PLC classes
have been divided up into several committees that will analyze all
aspects of the plan and its effect on
Oklahoma
and future generations. The
students will also be contacting elected officials in regards to the
plan and speaking to civic groups around the area.
"The
plan is sure to catalyze our nation's progress toward becoming more
self-sustained and energy efficient." said Allen Deak of
Mustang, who is a sophomore member of the PLC. "I'm excited to
see the implications this will have on our environment and economy,
and I'm privileged to be involved with these new developments in our
country."
Another
PLC member, junior Sarah Sullins King of Granite, said "We
believe it is imperative that our country develop a logical, energy
policy for our future economic well-being.
A part of that policy should include wind power and
automotive and fleet use of CNG."
Any
organizations or clubs that are interested in having members of the
PLC speak should contact Beutler at 580-774-7193 or randy.beutler@swosu.edu.
Each
year 15 of SWOSU's top entering freshmen are selected to be PLC
Scholars. Each scholar is awarded a $1,000 scholarship and receives
four years of leadership training that fosters both intellectual and
personal growth. Beutler said the PLC develops leaders who will have
a profound understanding of leadership and its responsible
application within organizations, communities and their state.
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