Turn the television off and get back to the basics was the message from a learning expert who spoke on campus Sept. 16.

OCCC’s Child Development Center and Lab School recently hosted Susan Donchin, a 15-year veteran of the Ready to Learn program.

Ready to Learn is a community outreach program partnered with Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and Department of Human Services.

An injury automobile accident and a stolen wallet kept campus security officers busy during the second week of September.

At about 3:47 p.m. on Sept. 8, a Yukon man called campus security and reported he had been involved in an accident at the intersection of SW 74 Street and Drexel Avenue, according to a report filed by Safety and Security Officer Tanya Vroenen.

Federal stimulus dollars will provide a $200,000 grant to remove asbestos from the college’s recently-acquired Capitol Hill Center at 325 SW 25 St., said Chris Varga, Oklahoma City project coordinator.

Varga said the funding is coming from the Brownfields Program, which provides federal funding and grants to help clean up buildings and properties that have environmental issues.

“The Brownfields Program helps in identifying and removing hazardous environmental situations in buildings,” he said.

If you were lost on campus or wondering whether class was canceled, what would you do?

For those with iPhones, there’s now the option of using a new application aptly named “OCCC.”

Online Marketing Coordinator John Richardson said the app was created to help students with those issues and more.

The application provides users with real time GPS navigation of the campus, OCCC news and events, polls, links, and the OCCC Twitter feed.

“The coolest feature is the campus maps,” Richardson said. “The app uses GPS location and Google Maps to help the user navigate around campus.”

He said testing has shown this feature to work well.

Early tests involved walking around campus, trying the capabilities of the GPS locator.

At about 12:20 p.m. yesterday, an OCCC student was taken away in handcuffs by campus security officers following an alleged altercation in the classroom where onlookers said he attempted to attack a female student.

Cinnammon Prather, child development major, said she was in the Vocabulary and Spelling classroom, located in room 3E4 on the third floor of Arts and Humanities, when an incident involving OCCC student Seth Settle took place.

“The young lady who was sitting in the class said something to Seth that he didn’t like,” Prather said. “The next thing you know he jumps up out of the chair, jumps in her face, told her what he was going to do to her, called her a b-i-t-c-h, the c-word and everything else.”

Having a speech lab for students to practice and perform their oral presentations has been a goal of speech professor Julie Corff since she was hired full-time four years ago.

Corff said her vision is now on the brink of becoming a reality.

OCCC is one of the fastest-growing colleges in Oklahoma and has been for some time, said Stu Harvey, planning and research executive director.

To no one’s surprise, fall numbers showed another increase — 5.7 percent in credit hours and 5 percent growth in headcount.

Currently, 13,999 students are enrolled for fall 2010.

Harvey said at any given time there can be more than 15,000 people on campus, including students, faculty, and staff. This is larger than many towns in the state, he said.

This page requires Javascript. Rachel Morrison/PioneerEmergency crews secured the area surrounding the Arts Festival Oklahoma dining tent, which collapsed around 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 6, on the OCCC campus. Eight

Throughout the month of September, college students across Oklahoma — including OCCC — will be able to visit the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, located at 415 Couch Drive in downtown Oklahoma City, free of charge.

Bryon Chambers, assistant education curator, said this is the first time OKCMOA has offered the event, called College Month.

Raising money for nursing school scholarships is the goal of the Nursing Student Association’s second annual Life Saver 5K and 1-mile Fun Run.

The events begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, on the OCCC campus.

“This event is a fundraiser to help those who want to obtain a nursing degree but lack the funds to do so,” said Deborah Myers, assistant nursing program director and race director.